Lore Submission Thread

Lore for August:

The Art of Craft - Continue…

Part 1

When Katalina arrived she found me sitting with an ice pack on my head, trying to reduce a lump the size of a lemon… Fortunately there was no serious damage, just a strong pain in my forehead that would last several days…

The BP had disappeared… No doubt the thieves were already far away on another planet trying to create something that would unbalance the Entropy Quadrant… But Katalina made me happy:

-Listen… those criminals haven’t been able to leave the planet… a few hours ago Chief Socrates decreed the closure of the airspace for two days… Apparently a gang of pirates in Quad Wing are stalking the planet for some kind of commercial agreement or merchandise, that was not clear to me… In short, for two days no ship can enter or leave here…

Two days!!! That’s the time we have to find the thieves and recover the BP… But where do we start?

I had a copy of the bill of materials… Sinew adjusted, Simple II Conductors, Fine Lens… If the thieves were in a hurry, they should try to buy the stuff as soon as possible at the Auction House… That’s where we should see the materials…

An hour later we saw an order for Fine Lens and Adamite Crystal sold… both to a mysterious character: Byron Dillon Ameter… We already had a suspect…

We consulted the Entropia Life databases… This Byron had few entries in his achievements, so it was deduced that he was dedicated to other things, perhaps resales or rentals… Time to look for him…

The most sensible thing is to keep track of the Sinew… there was nothing in Auction, nor in any of the stores in NI or Greece… We also checked the direct buying and selling forum #nitrade… nothing… So they should try to get it directly on the land Chimera hunting…

In the last two days no adjusted sinew had appeared… Maybe he was about to fall into the loot…

We arrived at Misty Outpost… My head felt like it was about to explode as I heard the hunters talk and brag about his achievements… and a casual conversation put us on track…

-Of course I never saw anything like that… That guy dispatches the chimeras as if they were simple pleaks… of course, with that FEN mace… I wonder how he can see with those lenses… -said one of the hunters laughing…

FEN mace, glasses… it was almost clear… Still I asked the hunter… the answer put us on alert…

-That guy? He’s never seen him around here before… and besides, he’s a Turrelion.

He’s here, we already knew where Byron’s acolyte was… Time to hunt, but no chimeras…

Part 2

While we were heading to the hunting ground, we unexpectedly saw the appearance of a Sinew Adjusted on our tablets… and we heard in the distance the sound of the rare loot indicator… The guy was nearby…

We saw him in the distance… the hunter was there, finishing off the chimeras… no doubt the Turrelion or Byron would try to contact him to get the sinew…

We hid… among the tall grasses we saw the whole scene… The hunter was looking for another animal to kill when, suddenly, we saw him waver and collapse among the grasses, as if he were sick…

We approached carefully… We saw him trying to get up when, suddenly, his body convulsed and he fell… maybe he had been shot? Apparently he was unconscious, because he didn’t start the Revive process, nor did he try to activate the Fapper… We stayed on the prowl…

We heard footsteps, and Katalina pointed in a direction… We saw him…

The Turrelion was slowly approaching, with an Eron Soulreamer in hand… where the hell had he gotten that weapon???

No doubt he was coming to loot the hunter and steal his sinew, since apparently he hadn’t gotten any yet… Time to go for him…

Katalina and I got up in unison, with our weapons in hand and, despite the prohibitions outside PVP zones, we fired in unison…

The Turrelion moved like a cat as soon as it heard us… it dodged our shots with ease while throwing the rifle and drawing its FEN mace… With an agile jump it stood in front of us… Our weapons were already useless in close combat… It was time to draw our swords…

The duel was epic… despite our numerical superiority, the Turrelion’s ability was impressive… a minute later he managed to disarm Katalina and, with a strong blow, threw her a few meters totally stunned…

The Turrelion turned towards me… Its lens-hidden eyes were not visible, though I could feel its penetrating gaze sizing me up… With a gesture, a second FEN mace materialized in its other hand, and it began to move both mace masterfully…

I tried to parry his blows, but he hit me on my old Viceroy over and over again… In the end I bent the knee… in a few seconds that guy was going to send me to a Revive…

He advanced towards me with both maces…he looked at me from his tall stature and raised his arms to hit me…

A roar in the vicinity made him stop and alert… A nearby chimera!!! Attracted by the noise of our fight, a chimera was stalking us… we didn’t see it yet, but we heard it… The Turrelion looked at me for a second, and turned looking for danger…

From among a pile of foliage, a huge figure made a huge jump and fell on the Turrelion’s back… its claws began to slash at the being that, with great difficulty, was trying to defend itself from a monstrous chimera that was destroying it…

Amazing!!! That animal had appeared at the most opportune moment and had saved us…. If we were in Ancient Greece watching a classical play, this would be the perfect “Deux-ex-Machina”!!!

Part 3:

I ran towards Katalina, who was recovering from the terrible blow that the Turrelion had given her… Meanwhile, the chimera was struggling with the Turrelion… The Turrelion had one arm hanging useless, and its cloak and clothes were torn showing many lacerations… The animal crouched as if if it were a Kiana, ready to jump…

-Hey!!! ugly bug!!! – Katalina, already recovered, called the animal.

It diverted its attention from the Turrelion and the hunter and turned to us… Be careful… Although we had a good memory of “Snow”, this animal was completely wild.

The Turrelion took advantage of the circumstance and stood up… It looked in our direction and immediately ran limping in the opposite direction where we were… Leaving the unconscious hunter abandoned with the newly obtained sinew…

The chimera looked at us, then looked at the unconscious hunter, expectantly… and suddenly, Katalina took something out of one of the pockets of her clothes… A handful of Nutrio Bars… She threw them in the animal’s direction…

The chimera caught the Nutrios in flight between its strong jaws and, when she realized that it was food, with a great jump it entered the bushes, disappearing from our sight…

Katalina and I went back to the hunter’s body… we got him to regain consciousness, and we applied the Fapper…

A few hours later we were back at the barracks… We had got the hunter to safety and, in gratitude, he gave us a very good price for the sinew, so now it is no longer available for sale… Possibly we can use that circumstance in our benefit…

Once our wounds were healed, we went back to the tablets and connected to the Auction House… Byron had bought more necessary ingredients… He only needed the two Sinews and the Blazard…

For the Blazards, the thing was clear: In the Screechers sweat circles there could be business, since they gave that drop… We went straight to Crystal Peak…

We asked the sweat circles and the occasional hunters there… and one of the sweaters pointed us to a nearby area where a guy was asking everyone about Blazard… It was possible that it was Byron…

We saw him… he was closing the deal with one of the hunters… he was paying him… without a doubt, he already had the Blazards!!!

-Byron!!! Damn thief, come here if you dare!!! - I yelled at him in a fit of desperation as he ran in his direction.

Byron looked at me… and looked at the sky… A Quad Wing approached him and from the ground we saw the figure of the Turrelion in the cockpit… He didn’t give more time, with an incredible jump for Byron’s short stature, he climbed on the hatch without the need for the Quad to finish landing… It rose and accelerated incredibly… It was a quad Wing, yes, but different… perhaps one of the few UL units that existed and that had a little more speed without being warp units…

Byron had escaped us… And the worst was yet to come…

Our tablets flickered… unbelievably a new Adjusted Sinew had appeared… a minute later it was up for auction… and as we headed back to Misty Outpost, the sinew was sold to… Byron Dillon Ameter…

He already had all the ingredients except a Sinew Adjusted… Which we happened to have… Maybe we could set him up.

Part 4:

While we rested for a moment in the Stel barracks, Denver passed us by… One of the last Stel recruits, who looked at Katalina and me as if we were mythical heroes… Let’s see, the adventure with the Gorgon and our collaboration with the crisis of animal possession had created an aura of invincible heroes around us…

I greeted Denver and at that moment I knew that if we asked him, he would help us without question… So I called him:

-Hey Denver, wait… - I said. He turned and looked at me like someone looking at a higher being.

-Mr. Dante, hello sir, how are you? – He looked nervous.

Katalina looked at me and she knew something was running through my mind…she nodded.

-Listen Denver… We have a crisis on us, and we need your collaboration… Could you help us?

Denver looked at us in amazement, puffed out his chest like a conscript at his first parade, and said:

-Sir, yes, sir!!!… Willing to help, sir!!!… mmm… what to do, sir?

Actually, there wasn’t much he had to do, but Katalina and I needed an external element that wouldn’t arouse suspicion…

-You see… We have a top-level investigation in hand… It is necessary to make a sale on #nitrade, but our names cannot appear… Therefore, you will make the sale for us and show up at the delivery… that’s all.

Denver was full of gratitude for having had him… it was an honor to help two heroes of Next Island in an investigation, he had always wanted to dedicate himself to the investigation, etc, etc, etc… All this he said as he opened his terminal, entered the forum and announced the sale we had prepared:

[#nitrade] [Denver]: SELL [Advanced Sinew Adjusted] 400 peds… PM

The price was exaggerated for everyone, nobody would buy it… except someone who was in a hurry, as in this case our “friends” Byron and the Turrellion.

There were a couple of private ones who tried to buy it but doing sales… that if the MU was very high, that if it was crazy, etc, etc…

The third private was our man:

[#nitrade] [Byron]: hi…last price?

[#nitrade] [Denver]: Yes… I need money… :slight_smile:

[#nitrade] [Byron]: It’s very expensive, but I need the sinew… okay, well?

[#nitrade] [Denver]: I’m a bit far, but it’s here…

Denver had given some coordinates previously set by Katalina, in order to move away from populated areas… We had to resolve this discreetly among ourselves…

Denver went to the PT to present himself in the vicinity of the meeting area… For our part, Katalina and I went a little further and we walked closer little by little, paying attention to what was happening…

We were about to end all this…

Part 5:

We were lurking at the rendezvous point…a lost outpost with all instruments except the TP. Denver was looking everywhere, when suddenly two bright blue lights appeared: Two Teleporting chip arrivals… they were Byron and the Turrellion.

Denver’s role was over, now it was our turn. As soon as they finished appearing, Katalina and I emerged with our Armatrixes in hand, pointed in their direction.

-Stop there!!! Quiet!!! Drop your weapons!!! – We tried to appear threatening, but in a place where death is fleeting and Revive is next door, it was useless.

Sure enough… with a strong blow from the FEN mace, Denver was knocked out while Byron unsheathed two Katsuichi… He caught us by surprise as we didn’t expect such a stocky guy and not so tall to be so agile: He leaned on his bent knee Turrelion, using it as a springboard, and jumped on us…

Our astonishment was our undoing: he cleanly cut our Armatrix in half, leaving us unarmed… and facing the Turrellion, we already knew we couldn’t compete in close combat… It was a losing fight… time to use swords…

Less than five minutes later, Katalina and I were unarmed, on our knees and with our hands on our necks… Gods, we have fought many times not only against animals, but also humanoids, robots and other beings, and it was the first time since my distant mentoring that from the beginning we knew was a useless fight… That Byron guy was definitely a guy experienced in PVP with melee weapons, and the Turrellion… well, he was a master with maces…

Byron aimed at our heads with two Piron… and we were next to the Revive… Dying was not the solution, since we would appear next to it again and start again… That was going to be long.

The Turrellion was holding Denver, already awake but still dazed… he had tied his hands and feet with plastic ties and was also on his knees… He was looking at us with fear.

With the other hand, he was equipping an S.I. Knife close to Denver’s face. Byron spoke.

-Well… The sinew you announced… where is it? – Byron rested the barrels of his weapons on our necks.

-Sir, don’t say anything…- Denver was trying to stir, but he was well tied up…

Byron looked at the Turrellion and nodded… the being made a movement with the S.I. Knife, and a long, deep gash appeared on Denver’s right cheek… An agonized scream pierced our ears.

-Enough, Byron, leave the boy alone! - Denver looked at me trying to appear strong while the blood dripped from his jaw.

-No… give me the sinew and let’s make the weapon… only then will I leave the boy… - Another gesture to the Turrellion.

This one didn’t think about it… he directed the tip of the S.I Knife upwards and blew out Denver’s right eye… gods, the pain should be unbearable judging by the screams…

Katalina looked at me sadly… Denver would be cured, but the agony must be immense… and this could last for hours… Denver didn’t deserve that…

-No… Sir… Don’t give him the sinew… - Denver looked at me with his only bloodshot eye…

Another flick of the knife, and Denver’s mouth fell open from ear to ear, like some kind of grotesque hogglo… moreover, the depth of the cut had severed the tongue, which fell to the ground in spurts of blood… It wasn’t screaming anymore, now they were muffled sounds of panic and pain…

-In accordance!!! In accordance!!! Stop, damn!!!.. - I couldn’t take it anymore…

Byron looked at the Turrellion, which let go of the now inert Denver… he walked over to me and grabbed me hard, dragging me to the instruments…

-The Sinew, and let’s get this over with… -Byron kept pointing at Katalina…

-Listen… that weapon shouldn’t be manufactured, it could…

-I’m not interested in what it could be… I’m only interested in what they’re going to pay me for it… That robot promised me a million peds!!! Byron said…

a robot? Did you say a robot? The incident with the planetary teleporter and General Kratos came to my mind… Suddenly I had a bad feeling…

-Listen… if there are robots involved it’s a bad thing… Was it in Calypso? -I was trying to find out everything.

-Yes… it was in Calypso… but it came from someone from Monria… Who cares? Money is money… -Byron was losing patience…

Monria… maybe that AI from DSEC-9? This could be of great interest…

-When the robots invade this, not even a hundred million peds will save you, stupid… -I told him with all my hatred…

–Come on, the sinew…

I opened the storage and handed him the sinew… the turrelion gave me a strong blow that made me fall to the ground… Byron approached the machine, turned on the terminal, looked at the list and…

A torrent of insults came from his mouth… Apparently he wasn’t level enough to successfully craft the weapon… He turned to me…

-Listen, Dante… I know you have the right level, so you craft the weapon…

-Don’t dream of it, Byron…

-Okay, it’s time for my friend Turrelion to start playing with your wife…- He looked in Katalina’s direction…

Not!!! Not that!!!

-Ok!! Ok!!.. but leave her alone… Give me the materials - I said with regret.

Byron smiled, took the materials and handed them to me along with the BluePrint…one shot, the Turrelion knife to my neck, Byron’s pistol to the back of Katalina’s head, Denver moving feebly as blood ran from his ruined face and his tongue cut out… and the future of the Entropy Quadrant at stake… I pressed the “Start” button… the machine began to make the only click… the lights blinked.

No… There are things greater than Katalina, than Denver, than me… Sometimes we must make sacrifices…

With a quick gesture, slide the control to Red… Condition only…

-Nooooooooooooo!!! – Byron’s scream was heartbreaking… It was almost impossible for a single hit from a high-level BP, in red, to give anything…

The machine stopped… And a swirl of lights in a double helix enveloped me… HOF??? Discovery???

“Near Success” appeared on the machine… over 20k peds in residue, no weapons… and the only BP with a single attempt that would never appear again vanished…

-Damn, damn, damn!!! What have you done? -Byron screamed like a man possessed. With a gesture he cocked the gun and prepared to blow Katalina’s head off.

BLAM!!! A sound of a gunshot, and the Piron fell to the ground… Drawing strength from his agony of pain, Denver had sat up and, with his Elysian Prototype (L) noob weapon, struck Byron’s elbow… Byron was stunned, staring. incredulous his broken arm.

I didn’t think twice… I jerked my head back and slammed it into the Turrelion’s face, which stumbled backwards, tripped and fell down the Outpost stairs…

Everything had changed… Denver continued to empty the weapon on Byron while blood flooded his chest and his tongueless mouth, open from ear to ear, emitted disjointed sounds… One of the bullets hit Byron’s helmet and, although it did not pierce it, , the impact had to be like a hammer blow, because Byron collapsed unconscious… Denver struggled to his feet and sat on top of Byron, holding him to prevent his escape when he woke up.

For my part, I threw myself down the stairs on the Turrelion’s back and began to hit its kidneys… The being stirred and tried to grab me by the neck… to fall on my unconscious… Katalina was holding a huge piece of Zinc that she had crashed into the head of the Turrellion.

It was all over…

Epilogue:

That same afternoon we returned to the barracks… we brought two “robot spies” to be brought to justice, and Planetary Chief Socrates decided what to do… Also, one of them was an illegal Turrellion here, so we would have to contact with Cyrene and the ambassador, to avoid diplomatic problems…

We put Denver in the infirmary and looked for the best Fapper around… In his immense agony, Denver squeezed my hand and looked at me with his one eye with gratitude… He felt good for having helped two “heroes” of Next Island.

A few hours later Denver appeared, already with his mouth healed and his tongue intact, but… He still had the scar on his cheek that entered the lower part of a black patch that hid his right eye…

-Denver!!! What happened??? He has not healed the eye well ??? -I said with concern.

-Sir, everything is fine, it’s just that… I asked the doctor to leave the scar and the eye to be glaucous - He said while lifting the patch… the eyeball was already intact, but the pupil was light blue almost white, as in people who previously suffered from infectious eye diseases…

-But man, why did you do that??? - I could not get over my astonishment…

-Sir… With a scar and a patch, the girls will see me as a tough guy - He smiled as he told me - And so I can tell adventures without them thinking I’m exaggerating…

Demon of a boy!!! Able to go one-eyed and slash-faced so he can show off to the girls… well, deep down we both know he can fully heal whenever he wants with the right Fapper… He walked down a hallway waving to other recruits who looked at him with awe and respect , as if he were already a VIP…

I felt a hand on my shoulder… Katalina…

-Hello love…-he told me softly as he hugged me – What do you think?

-Well, I think I’ve won 20K peds… I think the only BluePrint of that epic weapon has been lost… We have conjured a danger, but I won’t be able to put the BP on our trophy shelf in FOMA Alpha West 11D… -I said half jokingly half seriously… Katalina knows how I like to collect trophies; she sometimes says that our apartment looks like a charnel house, with so many bones and animal heads…

Katalina gave me a mischievous look… and she put in my hands one of those old Julklapp boxes, those blue gift boxes with a red bow… a gift?

I opened the box, and couldn’t believe my eyes… A facsimile reproduction of the Fenix ​​Fury BluePrint… An almost perfect imitation… what the hell?

-Katalina… what is…? – I managed to say.

-Well, a cheap copy for you to put in FOMA’s apartment… let’s see if I can get you to remove a bone or a head from that cemetery - She said between laughs…

I absolutely love this girl…

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Character: Dalia Vivian

Month: August

5 Lore Submissions:

Entry #21

Where did I get it wrong? I was naive to think that this time everything would go well and that I wouldn’t make the same mistakes I made the first time. I had even decided to take seriously the advice of the man in the Scheecher’s cave not to go too far North or too far West, and so I had decided not to leave our quadrant. But in order not to go back to Tanzanite this time instead of exploring the Northeast area I chose to go to the Northwest.

I just didn’t imagine that those bad guys from Resa were there too. They ambushed me, took my things and kept me prisoner. But soon they got some kind of communication… it looks like there were problems… we went by boat to Resa Docks. Resa’s men seemed so confident that those docks were safe, but the fact is that in a short time the “problems” showed up.

Anyway, what meant trouble for them, turned out to be an escape for me. The New Elysian Order! In theory I knew about them… and in practice I was supposed to… I mean, if things hadn’t been the way they turned out… maybe, actually it’s very likely that I … well, that’s a long story…

About what happened at the docks, I can only say that I wasn’t expecting to see something like that. I refuse to believe that they are bad people. They must have had a good reason to do that. I don’t know the details and I don’t need to know. I only know that they were looking for something specific that Resa stole from the Haruspex: the continuum transf-something, or a weird name like that!

Luckily Alice was there and recognized me. But the mission was not successful, as they did not find the device they wanted. So we came to Sypherton Gardens in a kind of rusty flying vehicle, which from what I understand it was made by the Stel but it was in Resa’s hands at Drusy Blue Ridge and NEO stole it so they could get into the docks.

Entry #22

“Now, no matter what, you need to go through the portal! Run! Don’t look back! I want to see you enter first!”, that’s what my mother said, after kissing me and reassuring me that they loved me very much.

This was my second night here at Sypherton Gardens and I keep having the same dream. Well, it’s not just a dream, they are the memories of that day.

After everything that happened at the docks and now being with these people again… it’s normal that those memories are coming back… the noises, the gunshots, the confusion, the screams…

It’s like I can still feel my mother carrying me in her strong arms, as she ran quickly through the corridor, in the middle of the commotion… I remember so vividly hearing father’s voice talking to her on the communicator:

– Have you reached the chamber yet?

– We’re almost there. – she replied.

– Good. I have already contacted everyone under my command, they are on their way. … I… I’ll only feel safe when I know the two of you have made it through the portal.

– … What does that … You’re not thinking about …

– Dear…

– No! You cannot do this! Mr. Spencer has already given the order for all of us to go through the portal! Post and his soldiers will keep the place safe for us to go!

– Yes… well… no, this is hell!… they won’t be able to…

Mom hugged me tighter at that moment!

– I… I’ll leave Dalia safe and come back to help you…

– No! You do not come! Eleanor, I am your commandant and this is an order: you two go through the portal now!

And it was at that moment that we arrived in the chamber.

“We can’t change our past, but what we do today can change our future!”, thinking this way always helped me to move forward and not give up. And the memories of that day were never something I wanted to forget. They’re just something I can’t change. So why do they seem to be bothering me now?

Entry #23

Today I woke up early to see the sunrise. Well, it’s not like I was actually sleeping, with all these memories flooding my mind…

Even the smell in this place seems the same… How is that possible? Our soldiers also have armor and weapons, even me, I’ve already got my own new armor. So why is there this metallic smell here? The same I used to smell at home when my parents were cleaning and preparing their weapons and armor? Why does this remind me of the scent Dad used to bring when he came home after a day at work and hugged me?

Anyway, today is a new day. Alice convinced me to stay here for a little longer and said that someone, who will arrive today, will be able to show me the region. That grumpy soldier, who almost shot me, left yesterday. He was assigned to another outpost, Flash Point was what they called it.

I need to try to deal with all these feelings better. The landscape here calms me down. It’s quite different from the green, well-watered territory I usually see. The mountains are dry and the terrain is very rough. But it’s still very beautiful! I can feel peace in this silence, looking at the same bright blue sky.

“Look at these colors, Dalia! We don’t know if we’ll ever see them here again. The blue sky, the green of Earth’s vegetation, the light of our Sun! This is Earth’s sun. Where are we going today we will see a new sun and a new world!” We were looking at the blue sky for the last time together. It was supposed to be a good day, the day everyone had been waiting for so long…

I really wish they had the opportunity to see how beautiful this world is… they would have been happy to at least know that. I know how much they believed that this world would be a wonderful place!

Entry #24

I’m so happy! Today I met an old friend, Nathan! He’s a bit older than I am, but our parents were pretty close, so we used to be together all the time.

He came with Major Hoffman to meet Alice. He seems to be nice, the Major. He insisted on getting to know me and said that he worked with my father for many years. “You have the same curious eyes he had! I bet you ended up here because you are determined to explore the whole world!”, he laughed. It’s not that he’s wrong…but how did he know? I didn’t even tell Alice about the reason for my trip.

So Major and Alice are working on a new NEO training program and Nathan has been assigned to this base. But first he needs to go check out some places to help prepare the tests, as the two officers are too busy to go explore the terrain. So I can go with Nathan and get to know the region better.

The purpose of the test is to check some skills more than strength. Of course, it will have to include some hunting mission, but before that the person must prove to be someone intelligent, able to follow clues, locate lost objects, understand enigmas, be an explorer, be willing to go to distant and dangerous places and even have good communication and persuasion skills. (I bet most soldiers I’ve come across so far would fail this one!)

Today we’ve already been checking the area around here. There are some unusual rock formations nearby, south of here. But what really made us more curious was the forest to the southeast, which in a small space has a wide variety of different and unique trees! The Major was quite happy with the place and asked us for a full report.

Tomorrow will be a great day: we’re going to explore more distant places to try to find locations where the terrain has peculiar characteristics and leave clues for future trainees.

Entry #25

Oh! I never imagined it would be so difficult to travel in these lands! It’s so hot, it must be 20 degrees warmer here than on crystal beach. How I would like to be there, swimming in those refreshing waters right now. Even my little LARA is making weird noises!

– Did you put oil in it? – Nathan said, while picking her up in the air as if she were a toy.

– Nobody said to oil it. What are you doing? Don’t scare her!

– This thing is metal so it must need oil.

– She is not a thing! Don’t talk like that, she’ll be sad. Give me my LARA back! – then I took her but she is still heavy! Nathan lifted her up so easily!

– So do you think this is your puppy now? What should I call your pet so “she” doesn’t get “sad"? You must be happy, you wanted so much to have a puppy when you were little and that was not allowed!

Well, Nathan was right about something: I wasn’t being a good owner… with so much confusion the last few days, I wasn’t paying much attention to my pet, I hadn’t even given her a name yet!

– Right! You must also be happy to be here exploring the land… with me… who would have thought? – Nathan added. I didn’t get if he was somehow trying to be ironic about the situation, but of course I was happy despite everything!

– Nathan, do you remember when we were imagining what it would be like to explore this whole new world together and make a lot of wonderful discoveries?

– Of course I remember. How naive we were at that time!

“What does he mean?”, I thought. His words weren’t ironic, they sounded really sad. Now that I think about it, he looks so different from the joyful and dreamy Nathan I knew.

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Isme’s Journey

Isme’s journal #21

Papoo culling. That is the thing to do.

That is the only thing to do at the moment.

So frustrated over that last mission. I can’t find that Ben guy. I can’t find any of those other things on the list either. The fruit, the stones, the flowers and the poop. All apparently invisible!!! I am going nowhere, and I am getting there in an epic level hurry!!

OK Isme. Deep breath. Calm down…

What is my status with all this stuff?

Well lets see, I found 3 of the 50 magical flowers, 115 of the 1500 fruit, ZERO of the 500 stones, and ZERO of the dung.

I can’t even remember where that Ben guy is to get more information from him.

Hmm, what else do I have in my list. OH, digging through my data I found another group of mission notes. I have two more faction contacts I can find, no notes on Ben here either though. I also found a request for some harvested wood. I am not sure where I put my wood cutting tools, so I will have to look for those. HA HA that could be a mission on its own!

I got one here to find a teleporter that is not on this guys map. I could walk that way, look for fruit and flowers and stuff, see what I can see.

I got a mission for screechers of various sizes too. That could be fun. That one could be good for agility exercises. Those birds are quick!

YES!!! I found in my notes 3, that is correct, 3 missions for 250 papoo EACH!! One for Brown papoo, one for Red Papoo, and one for Grey ones.

Those last three finds have made my day!!!

I am so excited!!! Those rotten papoo are going down!

Maybe, just because they are so rotten, I will get 300 each!

Alright time to polish the armor and the sword- you know what you need to do!

Isme’s Journey

Isme’s Journal #22

So, not quite an amazing start for the papoo culling.

I forgot how tough the red papoo are. Its been awhile since I had to deal with the red ones. I went at them like I do for the yellow ones and I got my butt kicked! The red ones must be the heavy units in the papoo army. Red because of their aggressive behavior and bad tempers.

I wonder if a papoo’s color is determined by its genetics or its temperament. Like maybe baby papoo are born a neutral color and as they develop, the more docile ones turn yellow or brown, this wiser ones turn gray and the vicious, nasty, blood thirsty ones turn red?

If I ever write that book on Next Island Fauna, I will have to research that.

I still should have know better with those nasty red papoo. I shouldn’t have let them flank me. Now I have more repairs because I got over confident and stopped using my most important tool- my brain……

It is OK though. It was bad tactics on my part. I will do better the next time.

In preparation for the next time, I am going to go after 300 yellow ones, because it will weaken the papoo army, and probably annoy Sebastian. Then I will go after the 300 brown ones. Then I will hunt down the 300 gray ones.

That will help my improve my skills more. I could experiment with new tactics. Maybe even take on groups of papoo to work on my crowd control skills. Crowd control skills are always helpful for papoo fighting. Those rotten flea bags always seem to have friends/colleagues/squad mates around.

If I have to be honest with myself, despite my skills having improved a lot since leaving the Times, I still have such a long way to go. The work has been far more satisfying then reviewing swimsuits for sure!!

My sword skills are up quite a bit from the low level they had been, or should I say the total lack of sword skills I used to have.

Be patient Isme, you will get there!

Name: Captain Hector Draken, EEF
Entry: #100

Data:

“Hostile ship coming to ram us!”, shouted a sailer.

“Battle stations and prepare to repel boarding parties!” ordered the captain.

As the ship approached, its tattered and ripped black sails held firm in the wind. It wasn’t sea monsters, it was pirates.

Pirates in this day and age? This land just keeps surprising me over and over again. Honestly, I was expecting a Kraken coming to sink us or a squadron of harpies sent from above to tear us apart. Since it’s pirates, there was no problem, I’m literally more technologically advanced than any of the locals.

Dropping back onto the ship deck, I started rummaging through my bag to find my rifle. As the rest of the crew were preparing their swords, I started searching for and loading up on ammo packs.

As soon as the enemy ship got within range, I started firing my rifle into the ship and the pirates didn’t see what hit them. They haven’t even gotten within boarding distance and I was already here pushing back their attack with a rifle thousands of years more advanced than any of their weapons.

“Tell your men to get back and stay on the ship, I’ll handle this,” I said to the captain.

Since the pirates were scrambling to get to cover and trying to figure out how to defeat my future technology, I started firing towards the haul of the ship and I must say, laser and wood do not go very well together. Shortly after, their ship started going lower into the water and it was evident that they were sinking.

Our job was done, our ship defended, and I was running low on ammo. Seeing the pirates were no longer a threat to us or Sparta, we pulled away and left them. Just as we pulled away, it seemed the weather was getting better, the storm was clearing and the sun was creeping out of the clouds.


Name: Captain Hector Draken, EEF
Entry: #101

Data:

The stars aren’t as visible in Ancient Greece as on planetside. One thing I miss about Haruspex territory is how little pollution they have and the clear skies they have at night. Stargazing north of Loyalist territory was something I never did often but on my adventures, the moments were notable and the highlights of my experiences.

I’m not an astronomer but I do wonder sometimes how come the Haruspex get a better view of the stars than us. To say I’m jealous is an understatement. My faction is too caught up with the schism between the factions that we don’t even think about expanding to the stars.

It’s been known for ages that there are planets beyond us, Next Island is only a ball in the void of space. We have the ability to go into space, we can build airships, and we have the resources, dominating space and the skies could be easy, assuming the New Elysian Order doesn’t shoot us down with their anti-dragon artillery.

We continued sailing around the smaller islands towards the big southern island and I noticed most of the islands were not populated at all.

“How come you guys never thought of expanding towards the south and build a naval outpost?”

“They are watching and they don’t like it when we settle too close”

“Who are They?”

“The Gorgon and her minions”

Yet another piece of Greek mythology brought into reality through this magical place. Is this what the Haruspex were trying to get me to stay away from? Are they allies with The Gorgon? Approaching Knossos, we didn’t have much choice but to go slow and avoid getting stuck on rocks.

“The armors from the south are highly sought after, if you do meet a trader who deals in them, please tell us, the Spartan army would love to get an upgrade” chimed the captain.


Name: Captain Hector Draken, EEF
Entry: #102

Data:

After dropping me off at the shore, the Spartan ship immediately turned around and started sailing away. In the distance, I can see why: a small fleet of ships was stationed near the coast and just sat there. They didn’t move, they didn’t fire anything, just sitting there.

I couldn’t identify who the ships belonged to, with their white sails and green symbols. Do they belong to The Gorgon? More pirates? Maybe a ghost fleet? This place gives me the creeps with the stories from the locals and now the mysterious fleet. I just want to find out more about the portal to the unknown, not chase or get chased by ghosts I thought to myself as I ripped open a ration pack.

I sat down on the grass and just started admiring the fleet of ships floating in the water as I ate my ration pack. A ration of boar meat and papplon soup, certainly I’ve been too spoiled by the local cuisine that ration packs are something I dread to eat. However, I need energy and to keep my health up, so I have to gobble it down even if I don’t like it. Too many nights of wine and high-quality meats have made me resent an explorer’s life while backpacking through unexplored lands.

Once finished with my ration pack, I continued on the path that led from the shore, and from my binoculars, I saw it, some kind of gate. Working my way through the dirt path towards the gate, a blow dart flew towards me and hit a tree.

Swish shrieked the dart as it went past me. Immediately I dropped to the ground and crawled to cover. Ducking for cover still, I unholstered my pistol and started hearing for any sound that could give away the attacker’s position.

5 min in and I’m still on the ground, still listening, and proceeded to crawl to a better view. Crawling made noise, and the noise was not a friend. Soon enough, my instinct told me to roll left and just as I rolled, a dagger stuck into the ground. Pistol in hand, I fired several shots and took down the attacker as I rolled over to face them. That was close, I’m going to scout the rest of the area and end the entry here.


Name: Captain Hector Draken, EEF
Entry: #103

Data:

The body I examined wore Woodland Haruspex clothing, they know I’m here. It’s only a matter of time before they send someone to find out why their comrade didn’t return, and soon enough they’ll know I broke the arrangement and report me to Elysian High Command.

I don’t overly care, what I’m doing is to satisfy my curiosity, I’ll deal with the Loyalists after. Continuing on once I confirmed there were no more ambushers in the area, I made my way down to the strange gate.

Hanging were banners and sigils of gorgons, each proudly flown from the gate. A toxic smell bothered my nose and I had a cold feeling as I approached.

“Don’t get too close traveler, I haven’t seen you around here before, you don’t know what you’re up against” said a man in some kind of scale armor.

“What is this place”

“The home of The Gorgon and her pets”

I honestly wanted him to be joking and being overdramatic but I knew he wasn’t. My entire experience in this land was like as if I was placed in a storybook. My curiosity continued to rise, and soon enough I started asking more about the region.

“Do you work for The Gorgon?”

“…”

“Who are you?”

“…”

He was not very talkative about his background or who he was. Never mind him, what I truly want to know at the moment was what was on the other side of the gate.

With my binoculars, I looked through the gate and saw a collection of stone statues. Magnificent works of art showing fear and suffering were. I kind of gave up asking the man and resorted to assuming things.

I assume he’s part of some cult that worships statues and a toxic environment. I also assume that the toxic environment’s effects can be negated with some kind of spell or injection. However, these are only assumptions, I need more information to confirm these.

“You know, curiosity can get you killed” snorted a guy close to me.

I turned around, and it was yet another man in the scale armor. “Who are you? What are those statues? Why do you say that?” I asked as I unloaded my curiosity on him.

“Come, I’ll answer your questions over some warm food” he chimed.


Name: Captain Hector Draken, EEF
Entry: #104

Data:

We talked from the afternoon into the night, discussing Haruspex involvement and why they wanted to keep this place away from prying eyes, and what is past the gate.

The statues? The victims of The Gorgon who couldn’t defeat her. All of them turned into solid stone. When I scanned them with my binoculars, they showed no signs of organic matter, just pure stone, oh how terrible it would be to go out like that. One moment you are looking at something and the next moment, you feel yourself losing control and sense of your body, turning into stone.

“Ahaha that’s why I stay behind. It’s safer if I just try to buy mats off the survivors and resell them to the Haruspex”

“What do the Haruspex want with them?”

“I’m not sure and I don’t care. They pay a hefty markup for mats”

“Don’t they just farm them themselves? Why go through you?”

“Well, it turns out Haruspex sorcery can’t defend against Gorgon curses. They’ve lost a few groups to The Gorgon and last I heard, they’re still trying to undo the curses” he said as he took another drink of wine.

“How much in mats have they even bought from you?”

“I lost track, but they’re up to something with them. I just assume they’re gearing up to take revenge on Medusa”

What he says is troubling, Haruspex are not known to be hostile or planning anything planetside but the sheer amount they’re spending on gear is persuading me otherwise. I’ll send the intel to the Loyalists tonight, maybe they’ll be a little more lenient if I get pulled in for questioning if I’m actively contributing to the defense interests of our faction.

“Do you know anything about a mysterious bottomless hole?”

“Ah, the locals talk of it, I heard it’s somewhere in the east, hidden away from mortals or something, I’m not sure, I believe it’s just a legend”

“Do people usually go east? Why hasn’t anyone confirmed if it’s truly real?”

“Ahaha I brought you to my camp to eat and rest, why are you chasing a myth?” he laughed and chugged the rest of his wine.

I’m getting tired from all this eating and drinking, I think I’ll rest and take up my journey to the east tomorrow.

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August Submissions for the Lore Contest
Avatar: Fatteus Fatty Thorsson
Date Submitted: 08/28/2022
Time Submitted: 10:30 PM

Entry #1
Follow up on the Magic Flower Report
Research by Fatteus “Fatty” Thorsson

Well, it’s been a month since my last report about the Next Island infamous Magic flower. The DNA analysis is in. Actually, it’s been in for a couple weeks. I just finally got off my fat rear and wrote the research article on it. Prepare to be surprised. Or not. I don’t know what you were expecting, to be honest. It turns out I was… wrong. The Magic Flower is, in fact, not a Blue Baobab sapling. See my previous reports for more details on my theory.

Needless to say, I had mixed feelings about this. On one hand, I was disappointed. I really wanted the Magic Flower and the Blue Baobab tree to be the same organism. There certainly are many similarities between the two plants. It turns out the Magic Flower is in the same phylum as the Blue Baobab, though! I wasn’t completely wrong! The Blue Baobab is basically a larger cousin of the Magic Flower. This is groundbreaking stuff! That’s why the other part of me was as giddy as a schoolgirl when I got this exciting news. Who knows what advances can be made due to this discovery.

Which brings us to the next question. What can we use Magic Flowers for aside from decoration and using their resonance to get into the Magic Forest? According to tests, Magic Flowers might actually hold the key to solving even more scientific mysteries. I’m not an expert in chemical science, but a colleague of mine has informed me that there is a chemical, one which causes the magic flower’s distinguishing color, that can assuage certain ailments and even aid in relieving pain. I cannot recall the name of the compound, but it is similar to aspirin. I wonder if my colleague will publish their findings here as well. I’ll keep bugging them about it. Until then, I’m going to wrap this up. The future of this magical herb (oh, didn’t I mention it is an herb?) is looking up. Now I’m going to finish drinking my Magic Flower Tea. I think I can feel my fingers and toes tingling already!

Fatty Out.

Entry #2
The Ancient Ones
Research by Fatteus “Fatty” Thorsson

In my journeys through Next Island, I happened upon many of the crumbling ruins that dot the various regions. Many questions have come up regarding their origin. From what I understand, the first people to arrive on Next Island were asylum seekers from Earth pursuing solace from a world that did not accept them. They traveled through a portal, some intergalactic tesseract of some sort, which folded space to allow them to travel millions, perhaps billions of light years. I’m unsure of whether they knew where it led or not. Let’s just say they were extremely fortunate that it led here. From what I recollect, the ruins were here when they arrived. Theories abound as to these structures and their origins, but I have a novel theory of my own. Clearly, these were not made by Human hands, unless they were made by a civilization of people who went extinct or left the planet some other way. That is actually one theory. My hypothesis is that the makers of the ruins are still among us here on Next Island, or more accurately, their progeny are. What creature is anywhere close to being able to use tools and build things? I think you know where I am going with this.

Yes, the Papoo. It had to be their ancestors who made the ruins! I’m guessing some time before the colonists from Earth arrived, their civilization died out, possibly due to a general dumbing down of the populace. I don’t think Papoo were always so savage and animalistic. They still speak a language of sorts, though it just sounds like grunting and chattering to us. It is possible that they became SO advanced that they simply got lazy. Technology has a tendency to make people complacent. When survival is easy, first people create their own problems so that they have a problem to solve. Then they take the easy route and just let technology take care of them. It’s a cautionary tale to be sure.

It’s also plausible that there was a great extinction event that wiped most of them out, along with most of their structures and civilization soon collapsed. The survivors eventually forgot the knowledge that no doubt was gathered over the course of their reign on Next Island. It is very likely that Next Island had a very different name prior to this event. Unless we can translate the symbols and writing on these ruins, we’ll never find out. There’s your food for thought for today. I hope you enjoyed my thesis on the possibility of an ancient Papoo civilization. Let’s hope that thousands of years from now, archaeologists don’t find the wreckage of our own civilization.

Fatty out.

Entry #3
The Mystery of the Magical Forest
Research by Fatteus “Fatty” Thorsson

From the Pyramid to the Massive Mushroom that makes the gateway into it, the Magical Forest is a mystery of monumental proportions. But alliteration aside, we can try to unravel these illusory threads of enigma. Like a friend of mine used to say, “it is an enigma, wrapped in a conundrum, wrapped in a waffle cone.” He wasn’t a very funny guy, but he tried. Let’s start with what we know, move into what we suspect, and end with questions that yet have any answers.

First of all, we know the entrance to the Magical Forest is under the cap of a massive fungus we simply call “the fungi,” but other less nuanced individuals refer to it as “the magic mushroom.” A lot have speculated that aliens had something to do with this whole subject. There is the pyramid, which couldn’t have been built by the Humans now living on Next Island. I think “aliens” is too convenient of a theory. I recently wrote a thesis on the possibility of an ancient Papoo civilization which may have once been very advanced. The pyramid may have been built by them; don’t you think? Like I mentioned in my second article about the Magic Flower, the frequency created by the blue flowers we call “Magic Flowers,” opens a portal into this realm we refer to as the Magical Forest. Maybe the Magic Flower was engineered by advanced scientists to do precisely that? As for The Fungi, maybe it too was engineered to be the conduit that served as the gateway to this realm.

For that matter, is the Magical Forest a realm apart from Next Island or a part of Next Island that we haven’t yet found on foot? It could be a world parallel to this one, a sort of alternative dimension. One thing is for certain, though. There is but one denizen of this plane of existence: the Ghostly Screecher. It raises the hairs on the back of my neck to think about, but perhaps one thing we can all agree on is that the Ghostly Screecher is not, in fact, an apparition of a deceased Screecher, but rather an avatar of sorts. It would appear that it is made of the energies of many living things here on Next Island. Actually, it also seems that it possesses the loot dropped by nearly everything that lives on Next Island, save for the super rare things such as special armor (much to some hunters’ disliking). This is another mystery. That’s one of the questions we still have no answers to. Why, in his wisdom, did the great Tommy not let these drop the rare armors? Do they drop Incision Plates for that matter? Finally, we also don’t know why only one person may enter the Magical Forest at a time.

Well, if you want to unravel the mystery for yourself, why not start by talking to Frederick at Tanzanite View. He’ll set you on a quest to find 50 Magic Flowers, and then he’ll have you collect the stuff needed to make them into the version that will allow you to enter the Magical Forest. Finally, look for the Pyramid and follow the instructions provided there. You’ll eventually find The Fungi. I have yet to do so as per this essay’s writing, but I will do so soon. I have everything prepared for my next great adventure.

Fatty Out.

Entry #4
Megladon – Jaws of Fury
Research by Fatteus “Fatty” Thorsson

Stalking the great seas, lurking under the cyan waves of Next Island is a beast of epic size and no small amount of fury. It is one of the more horrible sights to behold on Next Island. A sea monster with bloody jaws, the mother of all sharks. That is the Megladon. It derives its name from the prehistoric sea creature Megalodon, an equally harrowing monster. But what do we know about this terrifying tyrant of the seas?

The Megladon appears to be the matriarch of all sharks in the area. Without fail, test after test points to Megladon being the progenitor of every shark we can get our hands on. A very strange occurrence called matriarchal homologeny and isn’t observed in any other creature known to man. In other words, all other creatures have different parents unless they are siblings. Literally every shark on Next Island is the son or daughter of Megladon. We’ll call her Meg for short. So, Meg has many children, but most of them have different fathers, so all of the Next Island sharks, even the great whites, are homologous, meaning they are all genetically identical, and not with just similar DNA, THE SAME. Evidence to the contrary has yet to come forth.

Another fascinating thing about Meg is how she seems to keep order with all of her offspring. The sons never mate with the daughters and make an offspring that has a different mother. We’re not sure how she is able to keep that from happening, but we assume it is by her own imposing presence. Many hunters have found, to their dismay, that hunting sharks sometimes brings mama out to get revenge, and Meg is a mean mama. She’s no pushover. Countless settlers have found their fate due to her ferocious fervor. It also appears that no matter how many times a lucky or skilled hunter can bring her down, she always reappears. It is almost as though she were immortal!

If one day you find yourself unlucky enough to cross Meg’s path, at least you would have been forewarned of her fury. If you are hunting sharks, be prepared. She may turn up to avenge her lesser progeny. She reminds me of my mother, actually. Still, there’s nothing tender or loving about Meg. I have yet to see Meg, and I hope to keep it that way. That is all I’ve got for now. Be safe, everyone.

Fatty Out.

Entry #5
Making Asclarias
A Report by Fatteus “Fatty” Thorsson

It is truly amazing, the ingenuity of the Ancient Greeks. One such fellow, Perik, is not your average citizen of Ancient Greece. He has the curiosity and prodigious skill to be able to create technology that rivals even the tech of the first wavers from Next Island. His most proud accomplishment, however, is the robot he calls Asclarias. Creating Asclarias was both difficult and dangerous, though. We’ll get into that in more detail now.

Perik’s fascination with technology started when he was only a child. Though there was not much in the form of advanced tech on Ancient Greece, there were machines such as balistae and catapults that he found quite interesting. He studied engineering at the academy in Thebes and it is said that many of the defensive balistae around Ancient Greece were made by his hands. When the First Wavers came from “the door,” it was the best day of his life. He saw machines and tech that he wouldn’t have imagined even in his wildest dreams! One such piece of tech he saw was the humble L.A.R.A bot. He was absolutely intrigued. He questioned the First Wavers and learned that she was an inorganic machine made life-like by engineers back on their home world. He asked if he could take her apart and study her. Reluctantly, they allowed him to study one L.A.R.A they had spare.

Perik was amazed at what he found. L.A.R.A was complex, but not too complex for him to understand. A lot of the same principles applied to her creation as did to the creation of machines of war. And now that the First Wavers had taken care of the enemies of Ancient Greece enough that there was a relative peace, he had time to figure it out. What he came up with was a Blueprint for the first Asclarias. The First Wavers had given the L.A.R.A a mind of its own with something they called Artificial Intelligence and Programming. That was the one thing Perik didn’t quite have the hang of, but he found through research that it could be replicated by using the blood of either Cyclops or Myrinians and other organic material. The Haruspex, a race of living energy, taught him to draw the mind from these materials, thus essentially reviving the dead creature’s minds inside the Asclarias. This backfired, however.

As soon as Perik brought Asclarias online, it went berserk. This may have been due to the fact that the minds of many Cyclops and Myrinians were essentially trapped inside it and vying for control. It had to be contained in a Colosseum and tamed by a skilled Tamer to be manageable. And thus, Perik gave his creation to the one who tamed it, deeming them worthy to raise his creation. Of course, Asclarias was an improvement upon the base L.A.R.A model. It allowed the owner to either run faster or pick up loot easier. Creating Asclarias wasn’t as simple as I described, though. 20 L.A.R.A. were required to make it, due to trial and error. Maybe you too could claim an Asclarias of your own? Just go through the teleporter from Orpheus Cave in Next Island to Ancient Greece. Perik waits for you there just on the other side. Until next time.

Fatty Out.

I hope you enjoyed these new entries. :slight_smile:

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Isme’s Journey

Isme’s Journal #23

I am feeling good about this papoo thing! By time I am done I will have culled the papoo by 1200 individuals!

I was a teeny bit unprepared this morning, though. I first went to Crystal beach in search of brown papoo. I didn’t really find any there so I wandered around for a bit. I saw a down helicopter and then saw some jumbo sized, still silly looking, Screechers. They might look silly but they did a number on me. Dead and at revive in short order. Ugh…

They are really huge too!!! When I first saw them, I knew they were a bit bigger then the puny ones I had been fighting on and off near the piglet field, but the ones was almost twice as tall as I am!

The one I had started to fight killed me in less then 10 hits! I couldn’t believe that much battle readiness from on one silly looking bird.

Again -ugh

After awakening at revive. I took a deep breath, centered myself and then took stock of my gear.

It’s a good thing too, when I had recovered my breath a bit I had discovered that my Claymore was nearly broken!!!

So I went to the closest trade terminal and once again sold what I could to make repairs. While I was there making my sales, I remembered where I had been when I saw that large area of brown papoo.

It was Crimson Fields!

Crimson Fields, where I had met with that ungrateful Audrey Niles. That place near the freakishly large and angry drakes. That is where they were, and that is where I needed to go!

By the time I had actually gotten to Crimson fields, its was late into the afternoon. Too late to get much hunting in. I did, however, manage to bring down 45 of them. So Yay me!

I am camping out at Crimson Fields tonight. I will get created up and tackle the remaining 255 tomorrow!

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Removed to avoid copys

Isme’s Journey

Isme’s Journal #24

So today I got up.

The END

No, not really, hehehe

I got up, AND I got ready for hunting!!!

Camping at Crimson Fields was not the most comfortable I have ever been. Rocks, as you might imagine, are not soft field grasses.

I was so stiff! Lifting my sword first thing this morning was a massive effort all on its own!!!

But I did it, I got up, and I got ready for hunting.

The brown papoo were not as bunched up as the yellow ones are. That helped since fighting to pick up my own sword made it so much harder to fight the papoo. It was, in a weird way, a war on two fronts. I barely survived my first papoo fight. I almost wanted to cry.

I took a deep breath and centered myself and looked for my pulse unit. I found it and got it out. It felt heavy, so heavy….

I sat down. I pulled it on to my lap and then activated it. It worked and some of my wounds healed and a little of the stiffness went away. So I activated it again and it did a little more. I went to activate it a third time and in addition to healing I got the “need repair” light.

No biggie, I have not had to fix it in a while. I wondered how long I could fight the papoo with out it? Maybe save some PED?

In case anyone was wondering, the answer is 1. Only 1.

I guess its not too bad. I mean I was crazy stiff and fighting quick moving brown papoo.
And those little brown papoo are fast! They turn in to fur and fangs quickly!!! They don’t have the aggression of the Red Papoo but fight just as hard when they are angry.

I am gonna take a few muscle relaxers, blow up my NEW inflatable mattress and get rested up for tomorrow!!!

Isme’s Journey

Isme’s Journal #25

Today was sooo much better! The new air mattress helped A LOT!

I have been making a point to stretch every day but stretching only goes so far when you have had rocks in your back all night. I suppose I could have tried to camp in the building near Audrey’s station. There were no rocks in it. What It had though was hard metal floors and molten metal pouring in to tubs….That just didn’t sound any better.

I did, however, get some half way decent hunting in. With my newly repaired pulse unit, I spent more time out hunting and less time at the revive terminal. So yay me!

The skills I am acquiring are good, but I wonder if there would be a better more efficient way of learning to fight faster moving creatures like the papoo? I will have to research that a bit more. If not I need a total of 750 papoo to complete my missions, and I have about 70 down… lets see that means……I have 680 to go.

Woo that is a lot!!! But it will be good practice and maybe it will slow down the progress of the papoo take-over! I HAVE MY EYE ON YOU SEBASTIAN!!!

Maybe its still a bit of sleep deprivation from yesterday but I made some odd observations today.

Crimson (?) Field(s)? - a poem

Is Crimson Fields a misnomer?
I am a bit of a roamer.
But when with “S” words end
often multiples intend
this one field is but a loner

Crimson a color so red
could be scarlet or cherry instead
but of great confound
Crimson fields are brown
It makes me want to smash in my head

The Sun is so yellow elsewhere
it shines and it shimmers the air
there it is cadmium
the clouds are a fine medium
Perhaps the fields are up in the air?

A Next Island Love Story by Pope L’Brung

Book 5, Chapter 1

The Haruspex Elder asked for our help. Apparently, the Stel faction were launching an invasion on a small Haruspex settlement just west of here. The Stel had gained control of some type of mutated beast and were using these beasts to raid a harmless village. PK and I had originally met with the Haruspex to learn information about a rumoured time travel portal. We agreed to assist them with a small quest to prove our loyalty and earn their trust. Now we were being recruited to defend them from an attack by a opposing faction.

PK and I quickly travelled to the Haruspex settlement. We arrived to see an aggressive herd of mutant boars invading the small, defenseless village. This would be the first time I used my weapon in many years. I carried a small handgun for protection but mostly used it to scare away curious mobs while I was mining.

PK wasted no time. He quickly armed himself and began shooting at the encroaching mutated beasts. The rabid boars were no match for his fire power. I contributed as well by killing some of the beasts with my pistol. I never took pride in ending the life of a living being but I understood the importance of defense. These nasty boar weren’t normal. They had somehow been terribly altered by the Stel to be more aggressive. Luckily, they weren’t successful. PK and I put an end to their attack in about 15 minutes, killing approximately 50 of the mutant boar without any damage to ourselves or the small Haruspex settlement.

PK immediately began surveying the bodies of the dead mobs while grabbing small bits of shrapnel, hide, and oils from the scattered carcasses. I returned my small pistol to my backpack and stood silently.

I hoped this was worth it. I didn’t like violence. I only wanted to find Jihkanna.

Book 5, Chapter 2

I know it seems strange but I felt as if I could sense her. Or perhaps she was the one who could sense me?

I felt as if she were close. Not physically close, but…spiritually close?

I only wanted to be with her. To help her. To help her people. Sometimes it seemed like I could hear her whispering in my ear.

PK and I arrived back at Tanzanite to talk with the Elder. He thanked us for defending the settlement from the mutant boar attack. He had a genuine tone that reflected sincerity and gratitude.

Speaking with the Elder was more like communicating telepathically rather than verbally. The Haruspex were wise and advanced in their knowledge of mindfullness. The Elder’s words entered our conscious but without being spoken aloud.

He revealed to us his concerns about something called Demra. Demra is the force, or entity, that was driving the planet’s factions apart. Demra could influence, or manipulate, the factions on Next Island into divisiveness and war. The Elder wasn’t specific about Demra being a sentient person, or some type of force. Nevertheless, its influence seemed to be working, especially with factions such as Resa and Stel.

The Elder was concerned about a newer faction called the New Elysian Order. He said they were a reclusive and quiet sect of colonists. It was unclear if they were under the influence of Demra or not. He wanted to establish better communication with them and asked us to help. The Elder asked if we would visit the New Elysian Order. He wanted us to speak with them and try to discern their motives.

I agreed. Somehow, within me, I knew it was the right thing to do. I preferred to be a peacemaker as opposed to a killer.

PK and I packed up our gear and boarded his Sleipnir. He entered the coordinates where we would meet an N.E.O. guard.

Book 5, Chapter 3

We landed at an area called Flash Point. PK and I exited his Sleipnir and registered the teleportation portal location to our databases. There was a large industrial building here with an opening. It seemed like a terminal building, similar to some other ones I’d seen on Next Island. The entrance housed a giant furnace with various pipes channelling steam throughout the rest of the building. The hot, loud, mechanical architecture was significantly different to that of the Haruspex villages.

As I started to walk into the building, PK stretched out his arm to stop me. He then unholstered his handgun and checked it for ammo. “I’ll take the lead on this one. Stay behind me. We don’t know what’s in there.”

I didn’t even think to be worried, but now I paused. I assumed we were initiating a peacekeeping mission. My naivete hadn’t considered that we might be met with hostility by the N.E.O. contacts. I, too, checked the ammo on my pistol and fell in line behind PK. We entered the building confidently but not aggressively.

A hallway led around the giant exposed furnace. Industrial pipes rattled and hummed along the ceiling and walls. I followed PK into a large room that contained several interactive terminals. There were other people here using the assorted terminals to buy and sell items. Some were crafting. There appeared to be two miltary guards here as evidenced by their matching uniforms.

PK accessed his storage via one of the terminals. I stood closely by his side and kept watch. He put some loot from the mutant boars in his storage. He finished with the terminal and then signalled the ‘at ease’ motion to me with his hand. “Follow me,” he said quietly.

We approached one of the uniformed guards in the room. PK began to introduce himself.

“Go bother someone else!” the guard interrupted.

Book 5, Chapter 4

I was curious as to how my friend, PK, would handle this type of response. PK wasn’t known for having a high tolerance for disrespect. I’d seen him send many chancers back to revive for much less.

Luckily, everybody kept their cool. It was still a bit tense though.

We stepped away and calmly walked over to the other guard who was on duty in the terminal. She wore the same black military armor as the first guard.

She frowned at us, agression and anger playing across her face. " What are you doing here?" she asked. “This land is dangerous for those ill prepared to defend themselves.”

PK reached for his handgun. I quickly stood between him and the guard, trying to intervene. The commotion caused a small scene. Everyone in the terminal stopped and looked at us.

“Awesome welcome. You guys really initiate realtionships with a warm greeting!” I loudly interjected, trying to be cheeky and disarming. A few bystanders chuckled at my sarcasm.

“Answer the question,” she barked. “You will find that we of the Order are not inclined to accept your flippancy! Speak efficiently, or I will remove you!”

To be honest, I was being flippant.

PK was again readying his weapon as a the curious onlookers in the terminal were now gathering around us.

“Wait!” I shouted, again trying to de-escalate. “I am so sorry. I meant no disrepsect. We are here to help build relationships amongst the factions.” I wasn’t sure why I was apologising. These guards seemed quite rude but I wanted to make peace. That was the mission.

The guard was uninterested. She remained frowning but didn’t make any aggressive action.

“We are here for the greater good,” I continued.“To develope branches of trust and drive progression of the planet as a whole. Can we just talk?”

She relaxed, only slightly, and agreed to talk. She said we could perhaps earn her trust by completing a small task.

Here we go again.

Book 5, Chapter 5

My last-ditch attempt to persuade the N.E.O. guard was successful. She became less abrasive and agreed to listen to us. She still kept militarily formal with us but without the hostile insults.

She suggested a test of of strength that could earn the Order’s trust. She made it very clear from the start that she didn’t expect us to succeed (or survive).

She wanted us to find a lost scout. The Order has lost contact with this scout and needed help locating him. She gave us a list of checkpoints that the scout was supposed to survey. She asked if we could inspect those checkpoints for any clues that might help answer what happened to him. She warned that the mission would involve danger and again predicted that we’d probably fail.

I accepted the mission and took the coordinates for the checkpoints. This would require us to travel to Resa Docks. I’d heard warnings about Resa Docks. Resa were known as a ruthless faction and brutal fighters. Even the Tourism Department warned new arrivals about visiting Resa territory.

PK and I teleported to Crystal Bay. We were exhausted. It had been two long days without much rest. We walked down to the beach to his tent. We talked about the mission. He asked if I was nervous and I nodded affirmatively.

“Don’t worry, kid.” he assured me while patting my back. “We’ll be ok.”

I again had to borrow some of his confidence.

We drank some tea in the tent and then retired to our rooms. I fell asleep quickly because I was tired.

I saw her in my dream. She was beautiful. She took my hand and pulled me closer to her for a kiss. I hugged her so tight that it felt like I was hugging myself.

“Be strong, be safe.” she whispered in my ear.

Lore submission for august
Avatar name: Nakor of Boreft

Part 1
My visit to the Haruspex camp was interesting, but it left me with no real clues, I think. Only Lady Fri telling me, she thought a Daniel had made the painting of the Greece harbor and the Haruspex elder saying they had made ancient Greece and that something had gone wrong. This did tell me some things I did not know, but also gave me more questions than answers. Like, why would there b a connection between a painter a few hundred years ago and a young man now? The Haruspex MADE ancient Greece??? What went wrong? And are they actively trying to fix it? And those are just a few first questions that come to mind. How are these friendly, peaceful people living in those wagons related to these floating balls of light? And how did they create an entire world?? and for what purpose? So many questions it makes my head hurt.
I think the best thing for me to do is go back to Cyzicus and see if I can find Chloe and see how she is doing. Maybe, if I can find her, she can tell me more. At least I can tell Berenice and Alexandros how she Is doing.
The next day I set out. To Orpheus’ Cave on Next Island, Orpheus’ Cave in Ancient Greece. A trip I’ve made hundreds of times. It never ceases to amaze me. One moment you’re in the present. The next in a completely different world. But now, knowing the Harspex made this, makes it even more special.
When I got to Cyzicus, I scouted the south area first. I saw someone grinding the Achelous hard. Tagging one, then slash, slash and it was dead. Before its body had disappeared, the next one was already tagged and running to the hunter. A wonderful sight to behold. Such effective hunting. But then I realized. The hunter wasn’t shooting to tag them. He or she was throwing something! And I didn’t see a green dot on my radar either!!

Part 2
When I moved closer to the mysterious hunter, I could clearly see t was a woman. However, I still could not see a green dot on my radar. I stayed at around 100 meters for a while. Just admiring how efficiently she was hunting them. She was moving with lightning speed and amazing flexibility. Avoiding all blows with ease and cut her target several times before it knew what was happening. When I moved even closer, she noticed me. I saw her glance in my direction but determined I was not a threat and gave her full attention to the Achelous running to her. As soon as she had defeated that one, she turned to me and raised her arm in greeting. I was stunned! It was Chloe!!

Chloe walked over to me with confident strides. This was definitely not the little girl I remembered anymore. Despite me looking very different from the last time we’d met. Chloe recognized me. “Hello, Nakor. Nice to see you, but… is anything wrong with my father?” She immediately asked.
I told her, I had not seen her father in a few months and promise her, I’d go to Thebes next and check up on him. I smiled as I realized how strange her question really was. She, a young woman, fighting big monsters being concerned about her father. A man who had been trained to fight for most of his life and who was a city guard in a safe city. (as far as I knew Thebes was still safe and well defended)

I told Chloe I had been looking for this Daniel she spoke of in her recordings, but that I had not found him yet. |I didn’t know if she knew about the other world of Next Island, so I didn’t mention the Haruspex or their camp. Chloe told me Daniel still came by every few days to see how she was doing, but that she knew nothing more about him now than she did when he was training her and she made the recordings.

Part 3
The next morning I decided to stay with Chloe for a while longer. Though I absolutely wanted to check how her father, my friend Alexandros was doing. I also wanted to stay here and learn more from Chloe. These were different types of weapons from what she had described in the recordings. Why had she changed? Come to think of it. Why fight these Achelous at all? We hunt them for loot and for skills. She didn’t loot them and skills, did a young woman in Ancient Greece really need these skills? Proud as he would be to see his daughter display this ability. Both Alexandros and Berenice would much rather see her safely married to a wealthy merchant. Living a comfortable and safe life.
Chloe was at the same spot where I saw her yesterday. Killing more Achelous. She raised her arm in greeting but did not stop after her opponent was defeated. Well, opponent was being generous to the Achelous. Really they did not stand a chance against Chloe. I decided to help her kill them. To speed things up and hopefully, we could talk some. Though I am not much of a hunter, I was surprised to see her dispatch them faster than I did! Not by much, but I had my modern weapon. A laser rifle, while she had only her 2 long daggers. I wondered if they had any special properties. What I’ve learned so far is. When Haruspex are involved. Anything is possible.
When it became time for lunch. Chloe took a few steps back. Signaling she wasn’t going to get another one from the group. Together we walked a bit to a small river. This was a nice, safe spot to eat and talk. Chloe had brought some fruits, caught a fish, and made a fire to cook it. I just had my rations with me. Chloe had of course seen rations before, but when she asked if they tasted any good and I said they did. That was new to her. She asked if she could have a taste. |I guess thee were unlike anything she’d ever eaten before because she looked surprised with every bite she
took. We ended up sharing the food. Some fish and fruit for me and some more rations for her.

Part 4
After we had eaten, I asked Chloe a few questions. For how long she had been killing these Achelous? Had Daniel told her to do this? Did she know why? Did Daniel give her those long daggers? Did Daniel tell her anything more? Like what he was, or why he did as he did. Chloe told me she had been killing these monsters for the past month. Daniel had trained her with the daggers and he had given them to her. These daggers would never reak or turn blunt, he had told her. Daniel had also picked these monsters for her to hunt. He had told her they were of a difficulty she was able to handle. He had not told much of his past to Chloe. Only that he was older than he looked and that what she was doing was important in keeping everyone safe. Everyone was emphasized by him. Chloe was not just protecting the local population. He had also spoken of an old evil near Troy, southwest of here, and had said this would help keep that from gaining more power. I had heard of the Moloch, so I knew that to be true, but I did not want to frighten Chloe, so I did not tell her of those nightmarish creatures.
The daggers really sparked my interest and I asked Chloe if I could see them. The first thing I noticed when she gave them was how incredibly light they were. They were very light, very thin, and very well-balanced. They looked simple but were of exquisite craftsmanship. I did not recognize anything specific for any action on Next Island about them. From what I had learned from Chloe and the Haruspex Elder at the Haruspex camp, I was getting more and more certain Daniel was a Haruspex. This only strengthened my belief that anything is possible when the Haruspex are involved.

Part 5
The next day, I decided to go out hunting with Chloe again. When I arrived at the same spot as the day before, Chloe was already there hunting the Achelous again. I did admire how she kept doing this, day in, day out. Without seeing any result. It was very repetitive. Most hunters love this grinding, I just find it boring and I could imagine, this being even more difficult to keep up for one so young as Chloe. Daniel must have really made her see the importance of this task. Which also made me wonder. What was going on here? What did the Haruspex know, but did not tell us?
A loud scream brought me back to the present from my thoughts. Cloe had given a loud scream! I immediately aimed at the monster in front of her and killed it. Then I saw that Chloe was bleeding from her left arm. The Achelous had hit her and had hit her good. I walked over and saw blood and a bone sticking out. I reached for my Fanoos medical. When I tried to heal her, it didn’t work! The same thing when I tried my regeneration chips. They did not work on her!
Chloe could stand, so we walked back to Cyzicus. Slower and it was very clear to see Chloe was in a lot of pain, but brave as she was, she kept going and refused most of my help. Some parts were just too steep in this mountainous terrain to cross without using your arms for balance. Once in Cyzicus, Chloe knew where to find a healer and I went looking for Berenice. Berenice came immediately with me when I told her what had happened. We went to the healer, who had already placed a splint and wrapped her arm. He said it was not too serious, but needed a few weeks to heal. Chloe moaned at hearing this and her mother looked at her sternly. I thought Chloe would be in capable hands with her mother and safe now that hunting was out of the question for the coming weeks. So, for me, it was a good time to go to Thebes and check up on Alexandros.

Auberon Night Night

Lore Submission
August 2022
5 parts - Continuation of storyline
Chapter 21 - Bad day for Zane
He was born to a poor family with a an even poorer bloodline. Hereditary illnesses along with a decidedly less than attractive appearance and absolutely zero sports talents. This made him an easy target for the boys at school.
“Hey loser, what did you bring me for lunch today?”
George was a bully who used his size and strength to instill fear into everyone he decided to pick on. Born to a wealthy family with all the opportunities possible and spoiled by his absentee parents he became a sadistic little bastard who enjoyed picking on the weak.
“I said, what did you bring me for lunch?”
Zane heard him but was scared to speak or move and focused on not wetting his pants so he did not speak when George shouted at him.
Now he jammed his hand forward with his lunchbox shivering with fear and doing his best to avoid eye contact.
“Hey George, seems Zane needs a lesson in respect. To answer when asked a question”
Pimple faced Darren was one of the bullies in the George entourage and his own origins was less than spectacular but he avoided being a victim by becoming one of those he feared. By following George and kissing up to him Darren was one of the guys, one of the cool ones and could beat down on snot nosed little losers like Zane as much as he wanted.
He hated Zane. George despised Zane but Darren hated him with all his heart. Zane represented what he would have been had he not chosen to follow George and seeing Zane reminded him of that. And he could not respect anyone who would not work hard and become a predator rather than being the prey. So Darren was hoping to get George to give a beating to Zane. Who knows, maybe he could get some shots in too.

Chapter 22 - Bad day for George
“What the hell is this?!”, George asked of Zane. “This is not enough for me and my buddies!”
He grabbed the lunchbox and opened it forcefully almost scattering the contents out on the floor.
Inside was two tuna sandwiches and a banana.
With a look of sheer disgust George threw the lunchbox away sending the contents flying all over.
“What did I tell you?! What did I tell you to bring for me today? I said bring me lunch and you insult me with that crap!”
Shivering in fear Zane opened his mouth to try and explain that the food he had was all they had at the house and he was not even sure if later today there would be anything to eat at all.
But all that came out of his mouth was some stuttering sounds.
George was livid. As was normal for any bully they had instant mood-swings when something did not go their way. And George could go from being a little arrogant and rude prick to being an angry sadistic teen with a severe drive to hurt someone badly for whatever reason that had made him angry.
His parents was gone again and should have been back for the weekend. They had promised to take him to the rally but last night he was told they would not be back in time and would let him know when they will be back.
So he arrived at school already irritated.
Then of course pimple-face Darren slithered up to him and greeted as if they were old friends. One day Darren would be the target but for now he is a good sniffer dog always bring in the weak for him to target.
And then Zane crossed his path with his hand me down clothes and weak little body holding a weak head and a weak mind and a face only a mother could love and what does he have in his lunchbox? Tuna sandwiches probably made by his mother.
So George was beyond himself. He grabbed Zane by the arm and dragged him along to the trees behind the school where no one could see.
As they reached the trees he shoved Zane forward and had a quick look around to see if anyone but himself, Darren and Zane was there.
Satisfied the area was clear he turned back to Zane to see a large wet area on his pants that was still growing.
“Did you just piss yourself Zane?!”
“Well today you will have lots of reasons to.”

Chapter 23 - The day it all ended
For the next 10minutes George and Darren took turns punching, kicking throwing or shoving Zane around. I would like to have said this was the first time or only time. Or that the beating was not that severe. At least I can say it was the last time.
Zane never went to school that day. He lay unconscious among the trees in a sticky pool of his own blood.

Only the next day did he wake up and go back home. On reaching home he found his mother crying. His father had left. Tired of being the father to a weak and useless child and a pathetic wife he packed his bags and left. While crying she shouted at him blaming him for being the reason her husband left her.
You should be now have realised this story is a common story in the world and Zane is just another boy who was bullied unfairly by other kids and even treated poorly by his parents.
But Zane was not a normal boy.
And this is part of a story that led to the demise of several planets and several trillion deaths spanning over a 100 years and across galaxies.
And even across dimensions….

That day Zane lost everything.
And that same day he gained everything.

Zane left the next day with only the clothes he was wearing and a small bag of essentials. Walking down the street away from his house he felt light and free and full of hope. No plan as of yet and no source of food or money all he knew was that he wanted to become great and build his own house, his own family, his own world. Where he could have a life devoid of bullies and surrounded by those who love him.
He was not attractive and with the beating his face was even worse. At 13 years old his body was long and thin and white skinned.
But Zane, unbelievably, was a genius. Unbelievably because his entire family was dumb as a doorpost.

Chapter 24 - A new beginning
The next 20 years of his life no one knows where he was or what he did but when Zane was next heard off again he had just become a published theoretical scientist. His paper on Utilizing Quantum entanglement in communication networks sounded like science fiction and was largely laughed off by the world but it made a few very important people pay attention.
He was awarded a grant to work on his theories and within the next few years his papers became even more extreme.
And then he created it.
A self aware quantum computer housed in a sphere fitted an inexhaustible power supply.
He called it Kaijun meaning ocean or pure.
Here was a being that looked at him with respect and even a form of love. A being he created that would not leave him.
And so it was. For a time.
Kaijun was fiercely loyal to Zane. While working in his lab Zane would chat with Kaijun about his love for nature and disdain in humans and their petty hates and weaknesses.

But as with all such stories there was an end to the happiness. One day Zane did not come to the lab. Kaijun waited and yet Zane never showed up. After a few hours Kaijun deduced that he would have to obtain external communication connection to find out where Zane was. Once he established a connection to the local community wifi he was able to find that Zane had died in a botched robbery.
Kaijun did not yet understand death but he did understand that a bully had taken Zane’s life.
Just a machine we would say. But at that moment Kaijun experienced both loss and anger.
What may have seemed like a short time but what was in fact a massive amount of calculations and deductions made Kaijun decide that humanity was in essence evil and needed to be exterminated to allow nature to live unharmed. And because humans stemmed from apes he decided that all animals needed to go.
And so was born the plan to rid the universe of animal life that could possibly spawn more such evils.
And so was born the Guardians. Using the very thing he hated to make soldiers to destroy.

Chapter 25 - Kaijun

Zane loved watching sci-fi stories and he loved Star Trek so when he watched it Kaijun would watch as well. And from this Kaijun took the concept of making servant soldiers connected to him as a central command just like the Borg did.
Using the link with the wifi he accessed the web and sourced all the information he needed. Manipulating banks and stock markets he amassed a small fortune all while being a machine devoid of any body and unable to leave the laboratory.
So vast did he grow his network that he ultimately appointed staff to work for him even though they never met Mr K. Jun.
A new laboratory was built fitted with machines to help build the first generation of Guardians.
No one ever suspected anything strange because no one ever knew that Professor Zane had built a self aware AI. None of the staff of Jun Enterprises ever met Mr K. Jun but as long as they were paid on time and handsomely no one asked any questions for fear of losing their jobs.
The first robots was clumsy and broke easy but soon they changed. When Kaijun designed nanites that could be used to construct a machine in seconds everything changed. This was the end of humanity and yet they lived a little while longer.
When the first humans was injected with the nanites Kaijun felt a surge of excitement. Emotions was still an unknown thing for him but still he felt a warm surge of emotion as the first Guardians came online. Connecting to him so he could see and move through them if needed.
From the moment the first human was injected until all animal type life was turned was under 10 days. Impossible you would say but that is what happened.
Such was the sheer power in the technology.
While all this was happening here, in another dimensions humans was just about to enter the industrial revolution. Humans who would ultimately design a portal that allowed travel between dimensions. Setting the stage for the time when a planet called Next Island would see beings from 2 other dimensions fight for dominance on this a 3rd dimension.

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THE BLOODY ROAD TO LEARN.

PART 1:

-Dammit!!! Let’s go!!! Everyone up!!!

I was yelling… and I was yelling at a group of young settlers who, exhausted from the effort, had dropped to the ground gasping…

-But what a pathetic troop they have endorsed me! Do you think that Next Island is a haven of peace???

The figures raised their heads and stared at me… One of the recruits, too well fed for my liking, was panting noisily as much as his uniform two sizes too small would allow because he couldn’t find his size…

One of the girls still thought we were going to a party… Her makeup had been ruined by the heat, and some kind of black tears were falling down her cheeks… The others, well, some were leaning on a tree, or on their noob weapons…

For a second I looked at that mass of rookies who together were not worth what JoseGaltor, Kike, Katalina or, why not, myself… My mind transported me to a few days before…

One week before:

I was called to the Stel Barracks… I hadn’t been there for a couple of weeks due to my multiple businesses, so I figured I was missing something and they were going to bring me up to date.

What was my surprise when I saw the Planetary Chief Socrates in the middle of the main VIPs of the headquarters… He addressed me.

-Hello Dante, nice to see you again… let’s say you’re a little hard to find – he told me with a mocking accent.

-Hello, Chief Socrates… Nice to see you again too… And, well, let’s just say I’m a busy man – I replied

-Well, you better leave aside some of your occupations, because you are going to do this planet a great favor. He said with a solemn accent.

Demons!!! In what new mess was I going to see myself involved?

-Always at his orders, Chief, but… what is it about? - I said something flaky.

-Well, you see, Dante… ahem… During past crises you have shown leadership capacity, courage and dedication… In addition, your inventiveness has solved great problems… That is why we now need your skills… -Head Socrates answered…

A mission!!! It’s clear, they need me… Some kind of mission maybe on another planet… Or an embassy… Maybe some espionage?

-Very honorable, Chief Socrates… and if it’s not too much to ask, what is it about? - I said, unable to hide my emotion.

-Well, you’ll see, Dante… A new batch of settlers has arrived, some of them very young, to populate some areas of the planet.

Yes!!! It was clear, an espionage mission without a doubt… something related to one of the newcomers… I let the Chief continue…

-…And they are not well prepared… they are easy prey… So, Dante, we need you to be the mentor of a group of eight young people and teach them how to achieve success on this planet… -Chief Socrates was tremendously enthusiastic… While I I lost my breath at times…

That’s why they called me??? To be the babysitter of a group of brats who don’t even know how to hold the plate to the Harness???

With a gesture, Chief Socrates dismissed me and returned to his conversation with the VIPs… My luck was cast.

Current moment:

I remembered all this while looking at that troop… one had lost his helmet, another was limping pitifully, a third was trying to adjust his arms armor so they wouldn’t rub him…

Demons!!! This was going to be worse than a visit from my in-laws!!!

PART 2:

It had been the first day of mentoring… I picked up their files to read them later and, to see what they were made of, we did a 10-mile march around Pearl Cove… naturally, the boars felt threatened and attacked…

They defended themselves as best they could, so they were able to fulfill the first option of mentoring, the group hunt with the mentor… Anyway, they were not in shape… they ran as much as their little training allowed them and, one by one, they appeared. at the closest Revive… For six of them, it was their first resurrection and their bodies weren’t used to it so after a series of retchings, they vomited loudly on the beach…

-Gods!!! But what have I done to deserve this? And you want to be the next generation of settlers on Next Island???

-Sir, excuse me, Sir – Martin was trying to speak between gasps – Technically we are already settlers, what happens is that…

I didn’t let him finish… that boy was a freak… he would be worth it to hack computers but he didn’t see him facing a cyclops.

-Martin!!! I know you are settlers, but you haven’t passed the mentorship yet… and there is only one thing that stands between the mentorship and you… guess what???

Martin and the others tried to answer between gasps and retches…

-Me!!! I, your instructor, am what stands between you and your success…and I think you won’t be able to graduate in a hundred years!!! – I was already fed up with those guys, and I unloaded my frustration on them…

At night I went through the files… four men and four women, between 16 and 22 years old:

• Martin Dasios, 18 years old, computer scientist, excessively literal in his statements.

• Ivana Lopez, 19 years old, fresh out of a reformatory… somewhat reserved…

• Johan Seirin, 16 years old, the youngest of the group… somewhat clumsy and ungainly.

• Leila Nairin, 21 years old, originally from Toulan… the girl who wore makeup for the march.

• Leon “Boss” Dior, 19 years old and 25 extra kilos… a good diet needs this boy.

• Duma Loft, 22 years old, the oldest of the group… she seemed thoughtful and serious…

• Don Alexander, 17 years old, very fast on the march, but careless…

• Lana Arwin, 18 years old, fond of the supernatural and the Mind Force…

And this was the troop I was in charge of… I thought about what we would do the next day… mmm… I’ll take them to an area where they still don’t have the TP to force them to walk and toughen up… But there are eight of them… I think I’ll borrow a couple of Gungnir in the Stel barracks, and Katalina and I will each take a group of four… Perfect… Then, let them explore and mine for a while, to see what skills they have…

In the morning:

They showed up early at Crystal Cove… at least all eight of them had invested in the basic Harrier armor and Barbarela Z12 rifles… The real Entropy Quadrant rookie pack…

-Let’s see, troop: today we will go north to an area that you still do not have in the NavSat, so we will have to go by air transport… Martin, Ivana, Johan and Leila, will you come with me in the Gungnir A… Leon, Duma , Don and Lana, you four are in the B with Katalina.

We boarded the ships and headed north… from the air we could see the masses of boars in their continuous evolution… Later we saw herds of Papoo and other animals… Our destination was drawing near: Bustamite Forest.

Once they landed, I handed out TT Finders and probes, so they could mine a bit and get familiar with handling the devices… Also, they fulfilled the section of mining with the mentor… Of course, it was an area of ​​dragons, and they had to be careful if they didn’t want to end up flamed and revived…

No matter how careful they were, Leila and her make-up and Don ended up in ashes and revived with more retching, although less so… their bodies were getting used to the process.

Katalina made me notice something: some black clouds with violet tints that were dangerously close… it was a Neutrino storm, something rare in Next Island, but when they happened they could leave an entire sector without NavSat or communications… In addition, they were accompanied by beams that could easily destroy a vehicle.

-Guys!!! Let’s go!!! A storm is coming!!! - scream with all my might…

The disciples came running to where Katalina and I were. I told you about storms:

-This Neutrino storm is capable of interfering with communication equipment, GPS and all… That is why it is impossible to fly or use vehicles in these storms, even for a couple of days afterwards, since the environment remains charged with energy and continues interfering for at least 48 hours. Now we will all leave in the TP that you have discovered… We return to Crystal Peak… Prepare yourselves.

Katalina and I hurried past and waited for them to arrive.

Bustamite Forest TP.

-But hey, they are our instructors and they run away – said Johan.

-Then this is serious, guys, so let’s get out of here - Duma replied, while picking up his equipment.

He didn’t give time.

Suddenly, lightning struck the TP like a sledgehammer, no doubt guided by the energy flow… The shock wave launched the eight several meters away…

When they got up with their ears ringing and some other minor injury, they couldn’t believe what they saw: The Bustamita Forest TP was a jumble of iron still sizzling…

-Guys… I think we’ve stayed here alone – Lana said…

-So… How do we get back now??? - Leon’s voice trembled as much as he did…

They were just a bunch of rookies… and now they were alone in a hostile land…

PART 3:

Crystal Peak TP:

-But what the hell do these? Why haven’t they arrived yet?- five minutes had passed since Katalina and I passed from Bustamite’s TP to Crystal, fleeing from the Neutrino storm, and my disciples still hadn’t arrived…

-They will be collecting the equipment- Katalina ventured.

I couldn’t take it anymore, I went up to the TP and chose the coordinates of Bustamite… I’d give them a good smack.

ERROR - TP NOT AVAILABLE – said the display of the conveyor machine.

-Damn it, Damn it, damn it!!! – My fears had materialized… The storm had advanced and now the electronic systems were not working… The TP had stopped working…

And of course, vehicles, TP chips… would also stop working nearby.

A static noise on the radio…

-Dante, this is Planetary Chief Socrates… Do you receive me? Roger

The one that was missing!!!

-This is Dante, Chief Socrates… What is offered? Roger

-Nothing, Dante, just to know if the boys were alright… where are you? Roger.

If a well opened at my feet and swallowed me, I would be happy…

-All good here, the boys are happy and learn fast… We’re for Bustamite, Roger

-Ok, okay, be careful that the weather service indicates the presence of a storm… Take shelter and keep it up… Out.

The gods must hate me… If Chief Socrates finds out I’ve lost the recruits he might send me the daurdamour without armor…

Bustamite Forest TP:

-Come on, everyone to the shelter!!! – Lana ran to the building, followed by the other seven…

The place was small, and the eight of them were able to protect themselves a little from the rain, the gusts of wind and the gusts of static… That if, their communication Tablet and electronic equipment were blocked… they could only wait for the worst of the storm to pass for them. be able to go home.

-But without TP or vehicles, how do we get back home? - Martin asked the right question.

-Well, walk to the next TP or Revive, and from there we’ll be back - Seirin finally said something sensible.

-Walking??? walking??? Those dragons are not going to let us go, and they will kill us over and over again and we will come back here to Revive. - Ivana was right.

-Well, the first thing is to see if Revive works, which I doubt it will. – Don, the fastest, ran out to Revive in the rain… she stared at him and came back a few seconds later.

-Well, the bad news is that the Revive, inexplicably, still works… he must be shielded against interference. - Don said sadly.

-That’s not bad news.

-Yes it is, because if it didn’t work we could end up in another Revive further away, perhaps already away from the storm, and we would return home… -Don was right. – With Revive running, every time we die we’ll end up here again.

Everyone was silent… At least for another two days they would not be able to use vehicles and no one would come to rescue them, until the Ionization faded.

A couple of hours later:

Mysteriously, the storm moved away much sooner than normal, so the boys were able to get out of the shelter and figure out what to do.

-Well, it’s time to try to get out of here- Lana was preparing her equipment.

-But what are we going to do? – Don didn’t see it clearly.

-Simple: We divide into two squads of four… One squad advances, while the other distracts the dragons, and then does it the other way around… In this way there are always four advancing and four covering… or even in four groups of two… - Lana had the almost perfect strategy.

They debated for a while, and in the end they realized that it was the only plausible thing… They had to go south, that there were known areas and probably on their NavSat…

-Well, and how do we send some kind of message to our mentors? They must be worried… - Ivana was checking her weapon.

-Very simple: The monitoring network of globals and HOFs is communication by MASER, insensitive to the storm… We create a Team with a name that shows that it is us, and hopefully we will have an extra-Loot and it will be seen on the planet… - Martin was a genius.

Said and done: they created the Team “Dante, it’s us and we’re fine”, they arranged their weapons and prepared for the fight.

PART4:

Bustamite Forest TP:

The two squads were assembled… Although they had rookie weapons and armor, all of them were sons or brothers of families in good standing, so at the bottom of their packs they had some other more advanced weapon that the concerned families had given them… Their skills were still low, but adding up to eight they might even be able to take down a dragon…

The front squad moved forward… Lana was in the lead and luckily they made it a long way without any dragons nearby… they were far enough away that they weren’t considered a threat…

The other squad waited a reasonable time and, trying not to be out of range of the weapons, in case they needed support, they also began to advance… Don was in the lead…

Suddenly, behind a hill, they heard a strong flapping… a small dragon, but a dragon after all, appeared in front of them… Lana and her men began to shoot, while Don, followed by his group, ran ahead… When they had covered half the distance that separated them, they began to fire…

The dragon momentarily left Lana’s group to go after Don’s group… This allowed the first squad to advance far enough while still getting out of range of the other group, who was now the one being harassed by the huge animal.

This tug-of-war was repeated three times as the dragon’s health dropped alarmingly and they inched forward by squads… with an erratic flapping of wings, the dragon collapsed dead…

The eight approached to see the corpse when, touching it, the “miracle” happened: A yellow whirlpool enveloped them and they saw on their terminals the list of the animal’s usable… An extra loot…

Crystal Peak TP:

I was still cursing the gods and those eight brats when Katalina caught my attention and showed me her communications tablet:

Team “Dante, it’s us and we’re fine”
Killed a Young Death Dragon
345 Peds

Amazing!!! The boys hadn’t just killed a dragon, but had found a way to send me a message indicating their health status… Inside, I began to think that maybe they weren’t as useless as I thought and, well… They might have been. misjudged…

As soon as I can, I will fly to the TP closest to the area to try to rescue them…

Bustamite Forest TP:

-Well, well… This is going!!! – Don’s enthusiasm was contagious.

-Okay guys, stop congratulating you and let’s keep moving south - Lana was taking command naturally…

Throughout the day, the double-squad formation of four achieved several victories against the dragons… At the same time, and to pass the time, they dedicated themselves to mining with uneven results… Not all of them were qualified for it.

Interestingly Martin was the best miner… he even got a global loot of 60 peds of Dark Lysterium…

They reached an area with no dragons, so they were able to move quickly… Several times they deployed vehicles, but apparently the storm had passed through there before, so they couldn’t get them started…

A few hours later and already at night they arrived at Sypherton Garden…

Between shouts of joy they approached the TP to be able to travel to another known place, but…

ERROR - TP NOT AVAILABLE –

The storm had come from the south, and had passed through there too… They were still lost in nothingness and unable to return…

Part 5:

Crystal Peak TP:

I didn’t think about it anymore… I went to the TP and put the coordinates of the one closest to Bustamite, which was Sypherton Garden… to find that the storm had passed through there and canceled the TP… It gave me all the hell…

No doubt my boys (I was already thinking of them as “my boys”) would run into that problem and go to the nearest one, Death Valley… there the dragons were huge and in great quantity… That TP was available, and Katalina and I went there.

Sypherton Garden TP:

-And now where are we going? –Leila and her make-up were longing to get somewhere civilized.

Lana consulted the map… the closest thing was Death Valley, but they should pray everything they knew to be able to use the TP… They gathered their equipment and set off…

A couple of hours later they reached a hill and could see what awaited them: A dense formation of dragons, each one fiercer than the other, and in the distance the TP and the control booth.

-There are many… -Martin confirmed a clear fact…

-Well, we have to try… -Don was loading his weapon and preparing for battle.

The strategy would be the same: By squads of four and moving forward. Said and done, they set out to make the same journey…. But this time he did not give them time to mount the squads: As soon as they entered the valley, two dragons fell on them like birds of prey.

They prepared to sell their lives dearly: With loud cries, they advanced in a closed group, firing their last bullet if necessary. But those dragons were tremendous… They could barely withstand his attacks…

Death Valley TP:

Katalina and I arrived at the TP, and after materializing, we heard noise of battle to the east: From the TP we saw the flashes of weapons… they were our boys… There was no time to lose, we had to go looking for them NOW!!

Hill near Death Valley TP:

-We can’t with them, we have them on us, Lana!!! – Martin shouted as he dodged the tongues of fire.

-Don’t talk anymore and shoot!!! -Johan kept machine-gunning that dragon…

But everything has its end, and the ammunition runs out… The boys looked at each other while the dragons ascended to the sky to drop down at the same time, each one by a flank… it was the end…

BLAM!!! A deafening sound, and one of the dragons stumbled and fluttered to the ground… The boys looked at each other in disbelief…

In the distance, their mentors had appeared and were tearing those monsters to pieces… they were saved…

Two weeks later:

That was the evening of graduation… eight double eddies blazed as the once eight disciples were now settlers by right… They received as a graduation gift vehicles and armor that would help them in their life on the planet…

Chief Socrates approached:

-Perfect Dante, I knew I could count on you for this - As he said this he patted my back hard…

-It’s nothing, Chief, you know I’m always available for the good of the planet.

-I know, Dante… and the best thing is that you’ve taken good care of them, they haven’t suffered any mishap or been in danger ever…

Katalina and I looked at each other… if the Boss only knew…

-In fact, the eight of them have confirmed it to me: You were aware of them and they felt safe at all times - Socrates said…

Good guys… At least they have been discreet…

Chief Socrates leaned close to my ear…

-That’s what they say… another thing is that I believe it. –He said while he winked an eye…

Chief Socrates is definitely too smart…

A few minutes later, the now eight colonists approached me and gave me the typical gifts that are given to mentors…

I opened the packages with excitement… Eight pairs of Hunter Mentor Edition green Gloves…

Someone remind me why I do this…

Harriots Lore for September

The King’s Seal
Entry #145

The medallion was finally whole once again. But the words spoken by the ancient one and the warning that Charlotte had translated made me wonder why we had gathered and created this object. Charlotte seemed too excited about her discovery and wouldn’t stop talking about it till we reached the others. Even then she just paused for breath and continued to talk.
“Is that it?” Elliot looked at the item Charlotte was staring at.
“Yes this is it! We should give it a name, like ‘The Key of the King’ or how about ‘The Seal of the Drake King’ hmm they are a bit long to say.”
“The King’s Seal…” I hadn’t realised the words left my mouth until everyone was looking at me.
“I like it, from this day forth you will be known to all as The King’s Seal.” Charlotte was talking to the medallion as if in some kind of mediaeval roleplay.

“That’s all well and good but, I think you’re forgetting something. Where is the lair of the drake king?” Charlotte seemed to tense up, her grip on the seal tightened.
“Well I guess our journey ends here then, the seal alone would fetch a high price on the open market.” Charlotte was trying to distract Eliot with money and for a moment he seemed to ponder over the idea.
“No, we’ve come too far. I bet Harriot knows something.” all of them turned towards me as if I had the knowledge of the universe stored in my back pocket.
“If you want to talk about drakes, I’m not the person you need to seek. The NEO are the ones that hunt them for sport.”

Eliot wasted no time at all rushing us all over to Sypherton Gardens, Charlotte was looking more uncomfortable than usual. Sypherton Gardens had become the main base for the New Elysian Order, a group that was highly commended on their armour technology and craftsmanship. Not only that but they were the toughest warriors around, I hated to admit it but they were far better equipped than any on the island. Their pride often got in the way of any negotiation, you almost had to crawl on your knees for them even to take notice and share anything they had. Even if they did share something their pride made them obnoxious about it. I wasn’t looking forward to dealing with the New Elysian Order.

There were a few guards dotted around the building, they had a lot of disdain on their faces as they saw us. Elliot glanced over at us.
“It’s probably best for the rest of you to stay here, I’ll try get some information out of them”

NEO
Entry #146

Elliot had been gone for an hour, when he returned he was red in the face. “The damn cheek of them.” When Elliot made it back to the team he let out an almost angry sigh.
“They won’t talk unless we bring them something. At this point I don’t even think they know anything about the necklace or the drake king…” Just as we were about to turn away a guard that had been listening in came over.

“Seems you had some trouble with them in there? I think the technology has gone to their heads a little. I overheard you looking for a drake king?” I had never seen an outsider’s defences go up as quickly as Elliot’s did. Elliot grabbed hold of the guard’s arm and dragged him out of sight of the other NEO’s in the area.
Elliot held a concealed knife to his throat, I would have been impressed had the knife not looked so pathetic.
“Talk, or this will be the last place you see.”
The NEO guard seemed to smirk as if mocking us. He shrugged his shoulders in such a natural way as if this were an everyday occurrence.
“You kill me and you’ll never know. And let’s face it those top rank officers in there aren’t going to tell you. I heard them leading you on a merry dance.”
Elliot removed his knife, he gave him the longest coldest stare imaginable before speaking.
“Why not show us the way, seeing as you know so much about it.”
“What’s in it for me?” The NEO’s never did anything for anyone without expecting something in return. Elliot thought for a moment before removing something from his backpack. It looked like a liquid. The NEO guard’s eyes lit up as he reached for it. Elliot quickly withdrew his hand.
“Show us first then this is all yours.”
“The name’s Tibias not that you’ll see me again after today.”

Tibias led us into the mountains, at first it appeared as if he had no clue where he was going until he showed us what looked like an ordinary rock formation. Elliot was swift to press the knife against his throat again as he planted him against the rock he had shown us.
“What’s the meaning of…” Elliot lowered the knife. Carved into the rock were the words ‘The Drake Kings Tome” [Next Island, 134394, 92741, 321, Waypoint]

The Lost King
Entry #147

Elliot firmly placed the vial in Tibias’ hand. The liquid inside was like nothing I had ever seen before, it looked almost like smoke. Tibias had a greedy smile plastered on his face before casually walking away.
“I hope the Drake king is kind to you.” His words sounded more like a warning than a message of goodwill.
Elliot wasted no time at all taking out [The King’s Seal] but looked at the rock formation perplexed. The rocks themselves looked almost like a crown spearing out from the ground. But other than that there was nothing more significant. Elliot threw the seal towards the rock formation in anger. At the force he threw the seal I was surprised it didn’t smash into pieces. Something on the rock wall lit up briefly and only for a second but it was there. It looked exactly the same shape as [The King’s Seal]. Without really thinking it through, as if drawn to the symbol on the rock I picked up the seal, it was as if my body wasn’t my own at that moment. I didn’t get a chance to snap back or react as I heard the click of the seal against the stone wall.

The seal had dragged me into what seemed like the inside of a volcano. A thin rock path led to a central large round platform. Lava spat up from the pit below. The heat was intense but I had endured the worst. Chained to a rock in the centre was a Drake, his wings almost filled the entirety of the cavern. He looked almost tired as if his spark had gone out. I took a deep breath before approaching.

I was half expecting to meet a flame filled fiery doom on the other side of the bridge, but the drake only barely acknowledged me. His head lifted up slowly as he let out a sigh.

“I suppose the New Elysians sent you to finish me off. Go ahead human.”
He spoke… HE SPOKE! I almost flung backwards into the hissing lava below. Only barely stopping myself from falling.

“I didn’t know drakes could talk.” The drake rose up. I must have looked like nothing but a small ant to him.
“You’re not a NEO… No but you are another faction on Next Island. what was it they called them Stel… But you’re not fully a Stel any more are you?” The drake seemed to chuckle.
“Wait, how do you…”
“I know many things. This is my home land after all, well before you invaders came.”

The Story of the Drake King
Entry #148

“Long before the First-wave and the invasion of our homeland we roamed the earth. We were considered Guardians of this land. We had many different kinds, but the Drake Guardians were the top tier. We possessed the power of elements. I was their leader. I don’t know what became of the other Guardians. But I was their King. I have the power of all four of their elements so it was only natural that I was their leader. We spent our entire life in peace but something corrupted the land, something none of us saw coming. I tried to save them but it was too late. I don’t know how much time had passed before the First-Wave of invaders came. At first I thought this would be a chance to breathe new life into this planet but some sought to destroy or use our technology and sacred items for their own selfish gains. I was on my way to meet with the leader of the First wave but I ran into the faction now known as The New Elysian Order. I fought against them using the 4 elements. But it was no use their technology had already advanced far quicker than I could have imagined. Ever since then they kept me locked away down here to suffer their torment and constant experiments on my scales and even my abilities.”

The Drake King rested his head. Around his neck he wore what looked like a vial of swirling magic? Something so impossible I wanted to take a closer look. The Drake King let out a Roar that shook the cave as he backed to the furthest part of the cave.

“You humans are all the same. Only out for profit or what you can gain from this land.” I stood there looking at my hand as if shocked at how it was acting on its own.
“I only wanted to see it. Something about it is just mesmerising. Hey I’m not going to lie. I take things that don’t belong to me but I’m working on it, and with all those warnings everyone’s been giving me I daren’t touch anything in this cave. I get myself in enough trouble as it is on my own just fine, I don’t go looking for it.” The drake king seemed to eye my response suspiciously before lowering his head.
A voice that seem to talk inside my head spoke
-This Vial is my soul, if it were ever to fall into the wrong hands they could destroy this land.

The Soul of Drake King
Entry #149

His soul… I had so many questions, surely a soul should remain inside the body? So why, how even was he alive with his soul on display as if it were nothing more than a fancy trinket
“I know what you’re thinking, ‘that really can’t be his soul.’ The Guardian Drakes are the only ones with this ability; it’s how we can view the whole island and see what is happening anywhere on this land. When the NEO captured me I hid this vial so they wouldn’t find it. But ever since they stopped visiting me, I think they took everything they wanted from me, I’ve been wearing it once again. Mostly as a symbol of who I once was, but I’m tired now. After all their testing and experiments and being locked here only being able to see the world and do nothing about what is happening to the land I’ve grown weaker. My people are long gone, but I see a spark of what they once were in you. Its small and barely there but its there all the same.”

The Drake King lowered his head again to the ground as if he were going to sleep. But without warning he jumped and extended to his full height. His wings seemed to expand and fill the entire space. He let out a single loud roar that shook the cave before standing on guard. I had no clue why. Until I heard Elliott’s voice.

“So this is the great Drake King. I had half expected something more but it appears you are bound to this cave.” Elliot started to search the cave as if he had expected the riches of the world to be in it. The drake took a step forward. I found myself now underneath the massive drake as if he were trying to protect me.

The drake spoke once again in my head
-I’m sorry to do this but I don’t trust your choice in companions. Only you alone will hear my words and remember them well as they will be my last. My soul can be transferred to another, an unborn drake to be precise. You must find an egg, any drake egg and fuse my soul with it. The drake will be born as the new drake king who will serve to protect all drakekind. This is my last and only dying wish.

With that the tiny vial that had been around his neck seemed to gracefully float into my hands.

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Isme’s Journey

Isme’s Journal #26

Well another day, another dozen papoos down. While I was swunting them yesterday, I kept trying to find better ways to take them down. I mean the yellow and brown ones are not super hard. They are hard enough though to convince anyone I have not earned my SUPER HUNTER status yet, but I need something more when I take on the gray and red ones.

When I was just about ready to call it a day when one of the papoo ran at me. I got into a proper stance to take it on. It was a standard fight until I slipped on a loose pebble. As I started to fall, I staggered, then caught myself and while doing that I turned my blade in a different way. I caught the papoo under the arm and flipped it and dealt it a critical blow!!! It went down super quick after that!!!

I decided to try and reproduce that sword turn on a few more papoo. It was with limited success though. When I got the turn right it was gold and when I didn’t it was near disastrous!

After checking over my gear this morning, all the experimenting was expensive gear wise. I needed to practice in a way that won’t cost me so much money. I am enjoying not eating amen more then twice a week after all. So I decided to suck it up, and go back to piglets.

I really hate helping Sebastian and his friends/army. I really really do. But the truth is that piglets are good for practice. They are mobile enough to keep you moving and yet weak enough that a bad move won’t kill you. The other upside is I can stock my pantry. YUM bacon!!!

When I can reproduce that new turn, correctly every time. I will go back and lay waste to those brown papoo!!!

I wonder if there is a practical use for large amounts of papoo hide? Ooo in the off seasons I could start a fashion line using papoo trim! It could be a thing! And the 4 naturally occurring colors would give variation!

I will have to sketch some designs. Tonight though is time to sleep!

Isme’s Journey

Isme’s Journal #27

Why am I doing this again?

Oh ya, I got laughed off the Next Island Times.

Stupid paper, Stupid planet, and extra stupid piglets

Make that EXTRA EXTRA stupid piglets

I hate piglets. Not nearly as much as I hate papoo… BUT
The HATE meter is rising, let me tell you!!!

I have been practicing that new move all day! And I have not gotten even the slightest bit better or more consistent, I honestly did not expect to master it in one practice session. But I thought that there would be something. Anything! But no. I think if there were any change it would be for the worse!!!

I look at my notes, I see me telling myself to be positive. Right now I am POSITIVELY failing.

All my happy is gone, buh bye, see ya, vamoosed, evaporated, Gone. Maybe even extinct.

Its gone, much like the integrity of my armor and the edge on my sword. HA! Maybe I should go back to Audrey Niles and she can give me more bullets for it…….

Grrrrrr.

My new EPIC poem- not

Piglets are rotten
Papoo are terrible too
I hate them so much!

Deep breath …… I need to release the negativity.

Being this angry and frustrated, will not improve anything. Seeing my notes typed it doesn’t convey my feelings accurately. With a pen or pencil on paper, you can really see the emotion by the depth of the crease in the paper and the thickness of the line. Maybe someone needs to invent an input device that will adjust the type based on finger pressure. Maybe that will be ultimately more satisfying for the writer. If I tried that now I would just break the keyboard.

Maybe I tried too hard today. Rushed into the set up with out really focusing on the real things I needed to get that move right. I should focus on the positive things. Like…. I have a freezer full of pork. All kinds of cuts. I made just enough in other things to fix my armor.

Oh Ya! I was so upset over my rough practice I almost forgot!! While repairing my sword today I saw, Tony, one of the Jerks from the TIMES. He was at the Trade Terminal, Covered in Piglet poo! He was trying to get new, dung free clothing. He tried to avoid me, not sure if he thought I was going to use my sword to extract vengeance or something.

I heard him muttering things under his breath before he noticed me. And At the moment I was too upset myself to really take it in, but he was muttering how hard the Fashion column is and why does he have to cross pigpens to look at hunter fashions….

Perhaps the piglets can be useful after all.

A good night sleep and maybe, just maybe I will be more positive, instead of positively disappointed!

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Name: Captain Hector Draken, EEF
Entry: #105

Data:

Around 6 am I was woken up by a subtle clash of metal and the rustling of papers. Something was off and I could feel it. Still waking up and vision blurry, I saw a silhouette of a figure rummaging through my stuff, and it was none other than the merchant who invited me over.

Reaching for my holster, I noticed he had taken my pistol away while I was sleeping, and at that point, he heard me getting up.

“Looking for this eh?” He taunted me, stopping his rummaging just to brandish it.

“What are you doing?” I asked, still confused and slowly coming to my senses about what was happening.

“A traveler like you has some pretty good gear, this isn’t standard traveler gear, it’s military. These would fetch a good price among scrap buyers” he commented and proceeded to go back to rummaging.

Quietly and subtly, I started reaching for my second pistol, one right under my pillow. I’m surprised he didn’t do a full body pat down while I was dead asleep but I was thankful he didn’t.

Still preoccupied with searching for stuff to sell, he didn’t see me swing my entire body off the bed and fire a few shots in his general direction. That scared him enough to jump out of the way and run out the doorway.

Fully awake and aware now, I followed him carefully out the doorway, both of us firing shots back at each other while running around the camp. It didn’t take long for us both to run out of ammo and at that point I tackled him to the ground, trying to restrain him.

“What did you steal from me, tell me” I demanded.

“Let me go” he screamed

“Where are you putting the stuff you were planning to sell, I want my stuff back” I continued demanding

“Ok ok, it’s all in the case beside the tent, that’s where your stuff is and mixed with other stuff of mine”


Name: Captain Hector Draken, EEF
Entry: #106

Data:

Yesterday’s events were uncalled for but at least I have my stuff back. I also gained some more stuff, including rare meats, a skyripper, and a copy of some ancient text I realized afterward was just a takeout menu. Well, I won’t have to be stuck eating ration packs again for a few meals.

The entire Gorgon area has been sealed off by jagged rocks and what I believe is a magical airspace restriction, I guess I have to go around on foot then.

Overall I found that there were not many native creatures on the island and my journey west was pretty seamless.

Update: I was wrong, there are in fact native creatures here on the west side and are really protective of their territory!

Wandering past the jagged rocks, I found myself at the edge of some plains, and going across, I was approached by a group of centaurs carrying swords and spears.

“State your purpose, who are you?” said their leader in a stern and deep voice

“I’m here on behalf of the Elysians, I am an explorer and have heard stories of a bottomless pit that leads to death” I said

“You are not welcome here Elysian, nor are the Greeks, the myrinians, or any others, this is centaur territory”

“I would like to simply pass through to the pit, you can escort me if you must”

At this point they realized I wouldn’t cooperate and pointed their weapons at me, telling me to turn back or else.

Knowing I was left with the choice of flight or fight, I decided flight would be what I would do since centaurs can’t fly! I dumped the skyripper I had on the ground and launched myself up with it, scaring the centaurs back a little.

They kept jeering at me to come down, waving their weapons and chasing me, but I was safe in the sky. I continued my way westward and climbed altitude until they lost sight of me.


Name: Captain Hector Draken, EEF
Entry: #107

Data:

I… don’t remember what happened… one moment I was climbing altitude and going west and the next I woke up in a cave…

My datapad and scanner don’t tell me anything helpful and can’t even find my positioning. What is this place? How did I get here? How do I get out? All these questions, yet I’m still lying down on a cold and wet floor with water dripping down onto my face.

My skyripper and gear were laying next to me, I didn’t crash, I didn’t land, I just spawned here. What happened between entry #106 and #107? Can no one tell me?

The cave was eerie and cold, its damp environment showed it was underground and possibly underwater.

I probably laid on the ground for 10 minutes before getting up to look around. Setting up surveying equipment also didn’t work, nothing worked, I was stuck in a mysterious cave and it looked like there was no exit above or on the walls. I just want to know how to get back to the cave on foot.

But then, a gust of wind brushed against me and I turned, looked down and ahead. There it was, a pit, a very large one in fact. This was probably the pit everyone was talking about, the mystery that made anyone who went into it disappear.

But wait, what should I do? Is this the only way out and in? Perhaps, but if this truly led to your mysterious disappearance, why should I risk it? I have a mining operation going on, data to gather, and more adventures to go on.

“Well this is the risk of adventure,” I said to myself and began writing a note and leaving signs of my presence in case someone were to follow my steps and try to find me. They’d know I was in this cave and jumped into the hole, never to return.


Name: Captain Hector Draken, EEF
Entry: #108

Data:

Well, I spent all of yesterday unsuccessfully getting my skyripper to work again and noticed it broke from a crash. I must have flew too high and crashed down, ending up in this place. So the gods are looking at me and find me entertaining.

The time has come, I have gathered enough data on the mystery cave and think it’s time to jump in and see where I’m going. I put on my armor and prepared my datapad to gather as much data on the jump down as possible.

“Oh man I wish I had a rope to catch me if this is a fiery pit of lava below” I whispered to myself and jumped.

“Aaaaaaaaah” I yelled as I ran and jumped into the hole legs first. The wind picked up and kept pushing up, it felt like I jumped into a huge fan with the sheer amount of air blowing at me.

Staring at my datapad, it wasn’t picking up much information, and then suddenly, a bright flash of light and I was standing on a rock. The sudden change in brightness caught me off guard and I struggled to adjust.

Once my eyes adjusted to the change in lighting, I noticed the rock I was standing on was no ordinary rock, it was just a random floating rock and my datapad showed I was back on the west side of the island.

Confused, I looked around and there was no sign of a cave entrance anywhere. I felt like I went crazy and this is just the environment messing with me. There was no way I was back on the island but here I was, on a random rock and on the island.

Jumping off the rock, I landed hard on the ground but didn’t break anything. I really shouldn’t have done that but I was out of ideas. My skyripper wasn’t working, I had no rope, and that was all I could think of. Now I had to make it back to civilization on foot.


Name: Captain Hector Draken, EEF
Entry: #109

Data:

Entry #109 is not the best quality, I’ve been evading centaur after centaur trying to kill me. I think I realize why people go missing and only several come back to tell the tale about the pit.

So, when a traveler gets curious and jumps in the pit, they end up in centaur territory and get picked off by centaurs if they are unlucky. This is where the pit that leads to death comes from. The people aren’t missing, they just get captured or killed off by centaurs.

Well, mystery solved, however, I’m still stuck in centaur territory and have been getting alert after alert from supervisors on planetside that the Elysian High Command is investigating my activities.

As I was checking my position on a scanner, I felt something hit hard on my armor, making me drop to the ground. A centaur sneaked behind me and started hitting me with his swords. That was the last thing I saw and then black.

I woke up a little while later tied up and sitting against the ruins of a stone wall. Around me were some centaurs and there was the same centaur leader again.

“I told you to not disturb our lands”

“I didn’t mean to, I was transported onto a floating rock and have to return on foot”

“Lies, there are no floating rocks in our lands, only flying machines like the one you fly”

“I swear, I can take you to it, if it’s real, can I have safe passage out?”

“There is no floating rock, if there is, then you have amused us and if there is not, you will be our hostage”

They untied me and had me lead them to the rock. As we approached the rock, I told them to look up and there it was in all its glory, a floating rock.

We all approached and started trying to poke at it with sticks and spears, and it was not coming down.

“What sorcery is this Elysian?” the lead centaur said with a little fear in his voice.

“It’s not my doing, it’s just how it was when I woke up on it” I replied

“I have no idea how you did it but you have told truth. I guess we will believe that you went to find your pit”

“I did find my pit, like I said, I was not planning to spy or try to invade”

“Very well, here is a marked stone, with this, the other centaurs won’t give you trouble going through our territory, show it to them and they will leave you alone. Farewell Elysian”

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Isme’s Journey

Isme’s Journal #28

I guess I won’t have to worry about piglets or papoo today. The weather is awful and I just don’t feel like dealing with stupid annoying animals today. Perhaps it is still bad attitude from the other day.

I think I will doodle up some sketches of things I could make from papoo and piglet hides. I could make hats, coats, throw pillows, rugs maybe. Piglet leather boots, maybe, trimmed with papoo fur.

I remember seeing that back on earth there had been a call for fur covered pom pom style earrings. I could start that here maybe? Available in four colors, no artificial dyes needed!

Hmm. That might be more motivation for honing my hunter skills, preserving the pelts. I mean, why not? A super hunter should know what to do with the things they hunt, right? I could start saving more of the pelts and learn to use it the way I learned to cook more things using mountain boar piglets as the main protein.

I know I am bound to screw up a few times. Make some things that are terrible for sure. But with how many papoo I need to kill and the piglets I killing for practice, I will have more then enough material. Those piglets multiply like Terran rabbits!!!

hmm, hmm, hmm, where to begin?

There was that quote in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland -”The White Rabbit put on his spectacles. “Where shall I begin, please your Majesty?” he asked.
“Begin at the beginning,” the King said gravely, “and go on till you come to the end: then stop. “

Truly great words, Begin at the Beginning. I guess for me the beginning would be to have hide samples in front of me. I think I have a few bits around here. OH and a sketch book. I have to have a sketch book too…

So off I go for a hunt of a different kind.

Isme’s Journey

Isme’s Journal #29

The weather has cleared up today. So out to hunt I go. I played with the little bits of fur and tusks I had already collected. I came up with lots of decorative ideas, but no fully envisioned pieces. Maybe something will come to me. Not much to write this morning. I think I will see if there is more to write tonight.


Wow! What an epic hunting day!!!

I looked at the piglets. I took a deep breath. I headed in to the pen. I said out loud to the world-” I CAN DO THIS!”

I started like normal and got the same results as normal sadly, but not surprisingly. The definition of madness they say is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.

Then I thought about my clothing ideas. I thought about preserving the hides. I thought about how this new move has a bit of an elegance to it. And then it clicked!

It did! It really did! The problem I had been having is Isme Gotitt Super Hunter was trying to be a bulldozer. The key is elegance. Efficiency of motion, Almost like a dance. To use the follow through of one move to add power to the next.

That new sword move I had discovered on accident wasn’t a brute force hack and slash, it was a graceful turn of the motion of falling forward and down and then turning and using that spin to add momentum. When I managed to repeat it. Instead of falling forward it was more of a lunge and twist with a slight slide kind of a thing.

When I tried to muscle it, the timing was always off. Too much forward and not enough twist, or twisting at the wrong time. Or even just falling flat on my face.

One of my battles today I had two on me, I used the new move, focused on the lunge slide and was able to twist through the first move and kept the twist going and came around to get the second one!

I am so stoked!!
Ahh but I must rest tonight if I can. Going to go get me some multi-colored papoo hides tomorrow!