I have traveled and observed the area called Jong Guo for 2 months at the Saint's command. I have found the area largely devastated by a golemn plague. The plague seems limited to drow and high elves. There remain pockets survivors scared and desperate. Though there are many resources to scavange for their survival many are too afraid to venture far from their pockets of safety for fear of contracting the plague.
Though, unlike in neighboring Babylon, these survivors are never hostile. They seem to let reason guide their actions before impulse. Strangers are treated with trust and kindness on a whole.
These people need the protection of the Red Army and will be loyal, grateful and devoted subjects.
There are occasional dissapearances. I believe the Cyrstal Empire is still somehow influencing the scene. I have seen yellow lights that correspond with Imperial strong holds and pockets of armed military camps. The remaining elements of the plague are still here as well and need to be eliminated before hope of large scale settlement can be realized.
This is my report. I stand ready to answer whatever Inquiries the Saint of his appointed officers may have.
Sunday, April 28, 2013
What is Justice?
Everyone has it. The sense of what is fair and unfair. More than that everyone wants that fairness to be reflected in the world around them. When someone sees something that is unfair a part of their soul is offended and calls for justice -- to make it right. This inborn passion for justice drives people and societies to act in fairness and enforce that fairness upon each other. When justice is successfully enforced that inborn desire is satisfied and prosperity joy and happiness follow.
However, some of the above is a lie. People cry out when injustice is inflicted upon them. They cry for someone or some other force to make right when they have been wronged. However, when they wrong another or their actions violate fairness people do not cry for justice but strive to hide from it or worse--beg for mercy.
Justice is fairness. Reward or punishment is attributed with perfect singularity for every action. Perfectly deserved consequence creates perfect.
If people are born yearning for justice, why does it become corrupted? Mercy love compassion are the enemy of justice. They erode it and destroy it. People have learned they can be unjust and prosper. They see others cheat their fellows and not get caught. They see no negative consequence for unjust actions. They are tempted, no encouraged, to commit actions of injustice in order to prosper. When mercy withholds punishment it perpetuates injustice.
Only if justice is upheld and enforced can the people learn to live a just life and trust in its rewards.
It is those who perpetuate mercy and forgiveness who cause the greatest pain. It is those who preach compassion over consequence that threaten to destroy the fabric of a good society. It is those who perpetuate any virtue above Justice who are to blame for every ill which now plagues society.
The gods have the power to and responsibility for this. It is they who have failed. It is I who will succeed. The Red Army will march and the Saint shall extend his reach. Consequence good and ill shall befall the world until it is made just. Only through the Justice of the Saint can we be saved.
----The Red Canon Preamble
However, some of the above is a lie. People cry out when injustice is inflicted upon them. They cry for someone or some other force to make right when they have been wronged. However, when they wrong another or their actions violate fairness people do not cry for justice but strive to hide from it or worse--beg for mercy.
Justice is fairness. Reward or punishment is attributed with perfect singularity for every action. Perfectly deserved consequence creates perfect.
If people are born yearning for justice, why does it become corrupted? Mercy love compassion are the enemy of justice. They erode it and destroy it. People have learned they can be unjust and prosper. They see others cheat their fellows and not get caught. They see no negative consequence for unjust actions. They are tempted, no encouraged, to commit actions of injustice in order to prosper. When mercy withholds punishment it perpetuates injustice.
Only if justice is upheld and enforced can the people learn to live a just life and trust in its rewards.
It is those who perpetuate mercy and forgiveness who cause the greatest pain. It is those who preach compassion over consequence that threaten to destroy the fabric of a good society. It is those who perpetuate any virtue above Justice who are to blame for every ill which now plagues society.
The gods have the power to and responsibility for this. It is they who have failed. It is I who will succeed. The Red Army will march and the Saint shall extend his reach. Consequence good and ill shall befall the world until it is made just. Only through the Justice of the Saint can we be saved.
----The Red Canon Preamble
Saturday, April 27, 2013
From one little larva
They were beautiful in their creation. One larva had all the material and genetic memory of every member of their twisted "RACE". They were more than a hive they in their truest sense they were one organic creature. It spreads a film over the ground like a celluar membrane. Their buildings were actually organs of the whole connected through the membrane to the others feeding the larva whatever stimuli is required. The individual moving creatures were connected psionicly. They could spawn and mutate creatures so fast it the psionic connections would quickly be over powered and crowded if you tried to control all of them at once. This was the source of his brilliance.
Instead of directly controlling all of them with his own psionic energy, he built the queen and overlord. They were units that created a network of control. Each would psionically control a portion of the population and then each queen would psionically control a portion of the overlords and they would in turn be controlled by the zergtul. And the zergtul's answered to the overmind and the over mind to Zyr. Zyr could give over arching directives to the overmind and watch them be fulfilled or he could take direct control of any piece of the network and give direct orders down to the very unit. It was wonderfully autonomous and able to be preciously tuned.
Zyr laid the larva on the ground and commanded it to create a hive. It mutated in moments and began spawning its own larva. He commanded the larva to transform into drones, simple creatures that could consume the environment around them and bring raw materials to the hive to digest. An hour later the surround trees and creatures and been consumed and the hive has spawned more larva which mutated into other organs for the hive. The creep, film of live for this hive, spread and reached out over the darkwood floor.
Too many creatures were being created, the hive population was into the hundreds within another hour. So overlords and queens were needed. Once the structure was in place to support a vast population he mutated one of the larva to a Zertul and linked it to the overmind. Then he built his forces.
The simple zergling. It was an eating and blood thirsty insect. Laughable as a single creature but they were spawned in the thousands and meant to overwhelm battle lines of much tougher fighters.
They were supported by Hydralisks. Slythering creaters that were a bit slower but could spit acid at a distance.
The Multalik had wings and could spit acid as well.
Roaches were a back bone of the force used to burrow into enemy territoy and with strong shells of armor they could take lots of punishment. They were best against defense structures of an enemy, their corrusive bile would destroy stone and steel.
Then there was the ultimate fighting machine -- the Ultralisk. Think armor coverred its body, massive claws and teeth allowed it to quickly destroy anything it wanted. 100 times the size of a man he was confident these could fight dragons.
Then there was the glory of the zerg in the Corruptor. They were so great because they could adapt to any situation. This often required aquiring new dna to use for mutating new creatures. Or infecting the enemy with zerg eggs to control them directly. This is was the corruptor did. Spraying spores it could infect anything organic with the zerg eggs and bring them into the hive is the strength of the overlord allowed it. It could also consume and process the genetic make up of other organics and mutate larva spawned at the hive to imitate the consumed creature. This was why the zerg will always win.
Oh and so much more. The zergtul were capable of controlling this hive but he wanted something special. Something that knew how the creatures on the prime fought and thought. It would need to be something with psionic abilities in order to work in this network and something with the will to hold their control over the zerg hive. Yet he would need it to be completely loyal to him. He knew who he wanted but did not yet know where to find her.
Zyr looked over the colony that had spawned in less than a day. Thousands of creatures and miles of hive. He then took one little larva in his and and with an audible pop arrived on the blood isles well behind his defensive lines and laid the larva on the ground.
Sunday, April 21, 2013
Overmind
The Grey Haven's did not fall despite killing their King. Now the Council of Wyrms rallies allies from among the lesser humanoids and constructs and will not fall. Zyr was Vegeta how could so much stand in the way of the ever victorious? He simply needed more troops.
His claim as Vegeta rallied many, all those who followed the heretic imposter Malekite now fought under his banner. But he would need to unite all Demonkind -- Bateezu and Tanari to fulfill his destiny. Perhaps his anger drove him to strike his enemies on the prime first instead of gather his strength. It appeared that they would all fall so easily at the beginning, not until this Red Saint opposed him did he feel true opposition and now it surrounded him.
He would have to become involved in the Blood war and conquer more recruits. That would take decades. He had decades but not when the Wyrms were so close to facing his vengence. He had his finger around their throat he simply needed to squeeze.
What he was considering was brash and risky. He had barely controlled them the last time. He created a race of beings from the make up of outer plane goblinoids. He magically mixed demon blood and his own essence with them and forged a psionic dependence with them -- they were a mindless hive their own self will absent and replaced with the will of Zyr.
They were perfect-- they did not start that way. It took many many generations for them to mutate and adapt properly. But in the end they crossed a barrier, an evolutionary gap, in their ability to infest others and make them part of the swarm. They were ruthless, fearless, every reproducing killing machines.
In the end they proved too adaptable-- they evolved their own conscienceness independent of Zyr. It called itself the overmind and no longer answered to Zyr. Zyr lost control of the swarm just as the Greyfoot raised his army.
He followed the records of its history. The overmind agreed to serve a lich named Trevor in exchange for magically assisted development. They fought in the Raven war against Geneva under Trevors command until Mordin destroyed the Overmind.
The mindless swarm nearly consumed itself until Ishmael found them and tamed them. He again used them as a weapon to defend his heart of darkness. But with his death they again were left leaderless, mindless and on the verge of extinction. However, they did what they do best, what they were designed to do--adapt. With the absence of an overmind, instead of dieing or cannibalizing, they simply retreated into hybernation.
Now Zyr and found their centeral hive--asleep. Psionically he reached out into the sleeping swarm and found the psionic structures he had once created. He implanted himself and flexed his will over the swarm.
They awoke and for the moment at least they served their master. He only needed to bring one larva out of the hive. That would be enough to start and they would consume the world.
His claim as Vegeta rallied many, all those who followed the heretic imposter Malekite now fought under his banner. But he would need to unite all Demonkind -- Bateezu and Tanari to fulfill his destiny. Perhaps his anger drove him to strike his enemies on the prime first instead of gather his strength. It appeared that they would all fall so easily at the beginning, not until this Red Saint opposed him did he feel true opposition and now it surrounded him.
He would have to become involved in the Blood war and conquer more recruits. That would take decades. He had decades but not when the Wyrms were so close to facing his vengence. He had his finger around their throat he simply needed to squeeze.
What he was considering was brash and risky. He had barely controlled them the last time. He created a race of beings from the make up of outer plane goblinoids. He magically mixed demon blood and his own essence with them and forged a psionic dependence with them -- they were a mindless hive their own self will absent and replaced with the will of Zyr.
They were perfect-- they did not start that way. It took many many generations for them to mutate and adapt properly. But in the end they crossed a barrier, an evolutionary gap, in their ability to infest others and make them part of the swarm. They were ruthless, fearless, every reproducing killing machines.
In the end they proved too adaptable-- they evolved their own conscienceness independent of Zyr. It called itself the overmind and no longer answered to Zyr. Zyr lost control of the swarm just as the Greyfoot raised his army.
He followed the records of its history. The overmind agreed to serve a lich named Trevor in exchange for magically assisted development. They fought in the Raven war against Geneva under Trevors command until Mordin destroyed the Overmind.
The mindless swarm nearly consumed itself until Ishmael found them and tamed them. He again used them as a weapon to defend his heart of darkness. But with his death they again were left leaderless, mindless and on the verge of extinction. However, they did what they do best, what they were designed to do--adapt. With the absence of an overmind, instead of dieing or cannibalizing, they simply retreated into hybernation.
They awoke and for the moment at least they served their master. He only needed to bring one larva out of the hive. That would be enough to start and they would consume the world.
Sunday, April 14, 2013
Ah Dragon Spit
Raven sat on the beach scared. She was scared of a great many things, but mostly herself. She was afraid of the darkside within her, and what it made her capable of. She was afraid the mist already had her and that somehow this sliver of hope she had grasped was only a lie. She had give everything to become the Empress of the sith, then she had given all of that for a chance at forgiveness. And now after hitting bottom and having lost all she worked for it would be a waste, for the mist would claim her.
Malekite once told her the worst kind of torture was hope. There can be no true suffering with out hope. Once people learn they are helpless they stop trying, stop caring, stop wanting more...you can not lose something you do not desire. The real trick, he taught, was to make them think they could win, to make them believe in a better world and that they could live there, give them something to love and take it from them.
How funny, she, a master of every form of torture, had done the ultimate routine upon herself. She actually let herself believe redemption was possible. What she found instead was gitty little children so happy to lead the Empress on a leash and make her their weapon and pet. She let that resentment build until the Shogun could do nothing to crack her shell. She pretended and played obedient padawan when it suited her and led Reven here to their end.
She new Balthier was up to something and it involved a master skeleton key, Ravenloft, the Fox and the DarkOne. She still was not sure if she pushed him to this mission because she wanted to be a hero, or because she just desperately wanted to break free of him. He was not so bad, certainly not deserving of whatever fate the mist handed him after she manipulated him. How could she atone for such actions?
He was not the first she had cursed to a path of darkness and destruction. Kittiara showed resilient to her manipulation, most likely because she did not have a deep enough emotional investment in the prize. However, Lux fell beautifully. as a well constructed symphony falls note by note into a masterpiece greater than all its smaller parts. She had thought a lot about saving Lux. Killing her was the easiest and maybe best option...but in Ravenloft that would only seal her fate. She had removed the cursed ring and put that burden back on herself -- where it belonged-- but her heart still broke into shards because she knew exactly what she saw when looking at Lux--herself.
So now at the end she was trapped in Ravenloft the end certain. The ship they hoped to escape on had been destroyed. They hoped to break the curse be delivering the bodies for burial at Graben island. They had delivered the bodies but were still trapped. Maybe she could still think of a way. The ship was cursed because it did not deliver bodies of the dead Graben family from Assyria to Graben island. Which was total flaming Dragon spit because how would an Assyrian family have burial plots and an island in Ravenloft, how would a low magical kingdom like that have such a connection to the mist lands?
Balthier maybe the key. What scheme was he pulling? He was after a key that the Fox, a forsaken, had stolen. She had already theorized that the forsaken may try to use that to free the Dark One fragment from his prison in Ravenloft. --The Tarot card Vicenzia just showed Lumeria was a Fox. -- George claimed the body was killed by chaos magic.
It was not some Graben family. It was the forsaken using Captain Garvyn to ferry these dead bodies into Ravenloft. He was cursed because he failed to make the deliveries. BLOOD AND BLOODY ASHES...we just delivered those bodies and fulfiled the Forsakens' plan. AH DRAGON SPIT!! What will happen next?
Malekite once told her the worst kind of torture was hope. There can be no true suffering with out hope. Once people learn they are helpless they stop trying, stop caring, stop wanting more...you can not lose something you do not desire. The real trick, he taught, was to make them think they could win, to make them believe in a better world and that they could live there, give them something to love and take it from them.
How funny, she, a master of every form of torture, had done the ultimate routine upon herself. She actually let herself believe redemption was possible. What she found instead was gitty little children so happy to lead the Empress on a leash and make her their weapon and pet. She let that resentment build until the Shogun could do nothing to crack her shell. She pretended and played obedient padawan when it suited her and led Reven here to their end.
She new Balthier was up to something and it involved a master skeleton key, Ravenloft, the Fox and the DarkOne. She still was not sure if she pushed him to this mission because she wanted to be a hero, or because she just desperately wanted to break free of him. He was not so bad, certainly not deserving of whatever fate the mist handed him after she manipulated him. How could she atone for such actions?
He was not the first she had cursed to a path of darkness and destruction. Kittiara showed resilient to her manipulation, most likely because she did not have a deep enough emotional investment in the prize. However, Lux fell beautifully. as a well constructed symphony falls note by note into a masterpiece greater than all its smaller parts. She had thought a lot about saving Lux. Killing her was the easiest and maybe best option...but in Ravenloft that would only seal her fate. She had removed the cursed ring and put that burden back on herself -- where it belonged-- but her heart still broke into shards because she knew exactly what she saw when looking at Lux--herself.
So now at the end she was trapped in Ravenloft the end certain. The ship they hoped to escape on had been destroyed. They hoped to break the curse be delivering the bodies for burial at Graben island. They had delivered the bodies but were still trapped. Maybe she could still think of a way. The ship was cursed because it did not deliver bodies of the dead Graben family from Assyria to Graben island. Which was total flaming Dragon spit because how would an Assyrian family have burial plots and an island in Ravenloft, how would a low magical kingdom like that have such a connection to the mist lands?
Balthier maybe the key. What scheme was he pulling? He was after a key that the Fox, a forsaken, had stolen. She had already theorized that the forsaken may try to use that to free the Dark One fragment from his prison in Ravenloft. --The Tarot card Vicenzia just showed Lumeria was a Fox. -- George claimed the body was killed by chaos magic.
It was not some Graben family. It was the forsaken using Captain Garvyn to ferry these dead bodies into Ravenloft. He was cursed because he failed to make the deliveries. BLOOD AND BLOODY ASHES...we just delivered those bodies and fulfiled the Forsakens' plan. AH DRAGON SPIT!! What will happen next?
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