Dawn of Worlds

[Dragyn]

Despite having seen the updated map early, I can't really think of anything I wish to do this turn.  I shall, accordingly, perform no actions.

I vote we move to the 3rd age.

[Fen]

EEEENCOMING!

Catastrophe (-10)
A huge, black, smoldering rock streams out of the sky with a horrible wailing. The fiery boulder crash-lands in the forest south of Deadmarsh, and the landscape there becomes charred and barren. The Tek, desiring to study it, attempt to perform magic on it to move. The act causes the great stone to tremble, and it opens up, revealing within it an unmoving golem of the same material.

Create Avatar (-7)
The golem moves, rising up from the fallen meteor, and declares allegiance with those who had awoken it; the Scales. It is given the name "Terros" and lifts the husk of the meteor, bringing it to the Tek capitol city for study.

Advance Civilization (-5)
The Study of the stone, now called Terrosium after the golem, is discovered to vastly enchance magical properties, and is extremely resistant to most forms of damage, only capable of being changed while under the influence of magic, wherein it takes physical properties similar to iron.

The Tek fashion many magical amulets for magical pracitioners, and lock away the little remaining Terrosium under Tek'Rael's chamber for safekeeping. Wishing for more of the previously unknown material, they turn their gaze to the stars...

(Tek-Wide Amplification of Magic, and new interest in Astrology)

4 points remain.

(Terros is an effectively nonliving entity; it does not eat, drink, breathe, or sleep, but possesses awareness, emotion, and thought. It moves on its own and has all the properties of Terrosium. While capable of speech, Terros refrains from it often and acts without any indication as to what it will do, making it seem rude at times, but in reality it constantly thinks and re-thinks situations, consequences, and courses of actions for everything it encounters.)

[Fax]

The Jaeskine do not take well to the attacks from the Red Reyn pirates and so quickly devise countermeasures. Using their own smithing capabilities alongside the close examination of a number of captured pirate ships results in the Jaeskine developing an entirely new style of naval craft, the Runecast Warship. A number of these advances are also applied to their merchant ships. Further, the Jeaskine also develop a new class of weapon, the Runecast Cannon, after trading with the Turu'hraim and encountering their beloved explosives. These two main advances allow the Jaeskine counter the pirates effectively.
Advance Civilization (Runecast Ships) (-5), Advance Civilization (Runecast Cannons) (-5)

Garath Copperspire foresees a great deal of coming turmoil and believing that things must be done, to this end he gathers a group of the Brothers of the Azure Flame to create a army. The brotherhood's army then sets about protecting the besieged shipping lines
Command Avatar (Raise Army) (-1)

The northern Jaeskine clocksmiths, inspired by the Turu'hraim explosives devise a rune powered mechanism that enables their clockwork machines to self propel and power themselves, producing massive amounts of energy.
Advance Civilization (Rune Engines) (-5)

The Jaeskine gladly trade with any race willing to reciprocate, to that end they attempt to establish trade relations with the Goblins, the Tek, Larepin and Turu'hraim.

[Fax]

Fax - 17 - 16 + 11 + 3 = 15
Dragyn - 15 - 0 + 9  = 24
Kenku - 13 - 12 + 7 + 3 = 11
Fen - 26 - 22 + 4 + 1 = 9
EccentricOrbit - 19 - 18 + 9 + 3 = 13
Raf_Cian - 13 - 9 + 6 + 3 = 13
Radioactive_Toast - 12 - 10 + 9 + 3 = 14
Nagolinc - 11 - 11 + 4 + 3 = 7
Donnie - 15 - 12 + 7 + 3 = 13

A new age has arrived! The age promises to be one of great strife and turmoil!




 
 



Avatars

an eldritch abomination - sleeping somewhere deep and dark in the world
-Created by Fax
Tek'Rael, The Grey Father - a giant eyeless, tailless grey quadrupedal skink
-Currently residing in the floating city of the Tek
-Created by Fen
The Grand Dragon, Raval Brightwing - wandering the skies the world round
-Created by Fax
"The Flames Hand" - a 9 tailed kitsune associated with the burning lands
-currently in the burning lands
-Created by Kenku
Miserable Failure - A depressed walrus monoped in a knit sweater
--Currently in self exile north of the burning lands
-Created by Nagolinc
The Lord of Balance - A potent grey fox who is a lord of balance and order.
-currently somewhere in the Oryxian lands
-Created by Donnie
Noctellus, the Animate Shadow - A shadow Demon based out of the southwestern island chains
-Created by Dragyn
Andarcas, the blond afro'd inventor - big talking, lazy bully of Miserable Failure
-currently in the burning lands
-Created by Radioactive Toast
Garath Copperspire, Brother of the Azure Flame - A Jaeskine explorer knight
The Takers - A group of Rakey who took power from the great red crystal in the middle of Recycled
Shard - A fragment of the great Glyph
Terros - A giant Golem alligned with the Tek that arrived in a meteor from the sky.
Toe-stub - The enormous disembodied purple toe of Andarcus


Races
-Turu'hraim - a reptilian-like race with a love of explosives
-Neutral (+0)
--Order: The Cult of Kerspelowd - a religion focused on explosives and explosions
---Subrace: Hraim'turu - A subrace of the Turu'hraim primarily focused on implosions
-Advance - explosives & explosive excavation
-Created by Radioactive_Toast

-Phoraj - a sulphur dwelling race of crustacean like traders
-Neutral (+0)
--Order: The Guild of the Flaming Ice - The Phoraj's guild of traders and merchants/ diplomats?
-Created by Radioactive_Toast

-Edraei - A race of faries dedicated to serving the avatar Miserable Failure
-good (+2)
--Order: Order of the Plaid Sweater - Dedicated to creating a beautiful sweater for Miserable Failure
--Subrace: Glueiao - an offshoot of the Edraei who believe Miserable Failure doesn't need a new sweater but rather something else entirely that has yet to exist
--Advance: Elegant Weaponsmithing
--Advance: magic-infused fabrics
--Order: The Fire Weavers - a skilled group of Edraei that have mastered the flaming loom, and act as caretarkers of the landscape to which their magic is fed.
-Created by Nagolinc

-Larepin - Extremely individualistic rabbit-fox-cat people created by the Lord of Balance
-Chaotic neutral (0)
--Order: Order of the White Eagle - Warrior Priests dedicated to guiding the Larepin and providing them with wisdom
-Created by Donnie
--Subrace: White Larepin - Tolerant albino larepin
-Advance City: Gurrier - Martial Skill and Minutemen
-Advance City: Irfang - Magitek Capabilities
--Order: The Ministry of Order - The Ministry of Order's current goal is to prepare for potential hostilities as well as an ambitious project to be performed in due time.

-Oryxians - Oryx people
-Good(+1), The Oryxians are very much of family based society that does its best to keep everyone within it safe and protected.
--Order:Ring of 5 and Council - Leaders of the 5 major villages(not yet cities), and the council of representatives below them, elected by the villages.
--Advance - Agriculture
---Note: Currently recovering from widespread paranoia due to the actions of the Lord of Balance.
-Created by Kenku

-Greryn - A race of Grey Fox people
-Nuetral(0), Wealth can lead a person down many a path
--Order: Merchants and Explorers guild: Wealthy Nobles of the Race who lead expansion and trade.
--Order: The Humane Society - A group dedicated to putting Miserable Failure out of its misery
--Advance - Naval Powerhouse
-Created by Kenku

-Jaeskine - Ferret-Squirrel-Taur metalsmiths and miners
-Neutral (+0)
--Order: The Order of the Rune Smiths - Teachers of the art of metalsmithing
--Advance - Metalsmithing
--Advance - Rune Enchanting
--Advance - Clockwork
--Advance - Runecast Ships
--Advance - Runecast Cannons
--Advance - Rune Engines
--Order: The Brotherhood of the Azure Flame - Wandering, benevolent explorer/ guardians tasked with protecting the common people of all races. They are to act in accordance with what they believe is right.
   -1Army
--Order: Bordermarch Gvantanz Regulars - Guardians of the Bordermarch based out of Gvantanz, an organzied military force.
   -1Army
-Created by Fax

-Rakey - a race of tree dwelling monkey-rats
-Good (+1)
--Order: The Watchers - A group of Rakey who are mesmerized by the great red crystal of their island and work to protect it
--Advance: Architecture
--Subrace: Resalk - Much more rat-like cousins of the Rakey
       -1 army
       -Advance Civilization : The art of Prolonged Warfare
       --Order - Red Rats - A Red Reyn/ Resalk gang secretly formed by the Takers
--Order: The Guild of Towers - The Rakey Trade and development guild
-Note: The city of Recycled is currently Neutral (0)
-Created by Raf_Cian


-The Goblins - A race of fruit bat people
-Good (+1)
--Order: The order of the spiral nerd-glasses (aka the mathematicians guild) - exactly what it says on the tin. Also they act as teachers and students
--Advance: Abstract Thought and Higher Mathematics
--Subrace:The Vampires - Goblins who drink the blood of innocents to extend their own lives.
--Subrace: Survivors of Archive - The survivors of the disaster that destroyed the city of Archive, all of whom have been transformed into shapeshifting silver liquid.
     --Subrace Advance: Shapeshifters
     --Order: Shapeshifting Spies - Shapeshifting goblin explorers
-Order: Vampire Circles

-Created by EccentricOrbit


-Tek - Magical grey lizard people, children of Tek'Rael.
-Good (+1)
--Order: the Grey Robes - 'a religious/magi group based in the capital city, devoted to discovering new magics and worshiping Tek'rael.'
--Order: The Scales - A group dedicated to exploring the world outside of the boundries of the Green bastion and Tek lands in general.
--Advance - Magic
--Order: Cothar's Blades
--Advance - Magic Amplification
-Note - Due to the arrival of Terros, the Tek have gained a new interest in Astrology
-Created by Fen

-Noctus - Bipedal red marked black wolves created by Noctellus
-Neutral (+0)
--Order: the Cult of the Animate Shadow - A religious cult dedicated to the demon Noctellus
--Advance: Shadow Magic
--Sybrace: Abyssus - Aquatic Noctus focused on the deep sea trench
--Advance: Longshadow Spires/ Shadow travel
-Created by Dragyn

-Krump - Aggressive Giant flower lizards
-Evil (-1)
--Order:  Templarians - A faction that constructs temples entirely out of flowers
--Order: The Society for Appreciating the Subtle Artistic Difference between Flowers and Walruses - The society dedicates itself to expressing the beauty of flowers through art, primarily in the form of paintings similar to the Japanese style of painting water-lilies.
-Created by Radioactive_Toast

-Dreoinin - quarrelsome Bat-like cliff dwellers of the bottomless pit who believe all others to be lesser than they.
-Evil (-3)
--Order: Bottomless Secrets Society - a society dedicated to seek out the secrets hidden in the depths of the bottomless pit
--Advance - Dark Magic
--Advance - necromancy
-Created by Nagolinc

-Kycamuuni- A race of very fuzzy four tailed zealots
-Chaotic Evil (-1)
--Order: Order of the Shroom - An ultra-religious cult that worships EDOPS
--Order: Order of the Secondmost - seeks to understand the mystery of Miserable Failure's misery
--Advance: Kycalloy Armor
-Note: The Kycamuuni continue to attempt to convert the Krump over to their mushroom loving ways
-Created by Donnie

-Red Reyn - distant relatives of the Greryn
-Evil (-1)
--Order: Assorted Pirate Ships
--Advance - Naval Powerhouse
--Order - Red Rats - A Red Reyn/ Resalk gang secretly formed by the Takers
--Advance City: Las Flotas - Gladiatorial Combat
-Created by EccentricOrbit

-The Scourge
-Evil (-3)
--Order: the Temple of the Maw
-Advance - Swarm
-1 army
--Order: Bite his Butt! - A gathering of the scourge who attempt to devour the newly arrived Miserable Failure
-note: Currently the Lord of Balance is encouraging a group of Scourge who preach the ideas of 'Moderation' and 'Control', particularily with regards to the Scourge's massively expansionistic worldview
-Created by Radioactive_Toast

-The Glyph Scarred
-Evil (-1)
--Order: the Shard Blessed - The Glyph Scarred with the greatest "Crystal Corruption"
-Advance - Corruption
-Note - The Glyph Scarred are at open war with the Scourge
-Created by Kenku

-Wattor
-Good (+1)
--Order: The Circle of the Dead - a religious order dedicated to listening to the wisdom of those who have passed away
--Order: Well, Let's Celebrate Society - A group of Wattor who spend their time throwing lavish parties in honor of Miserable Failure
-Created by Raf_Cian

-Fennecs - A race of desert dwelling fennec foxes living in the eternal desert
-alginment ??
--Order: Desert Rangers - The Fennec Desert Rangers are a group that keeps the peace in Fennec territory. There is no place too barren for these foxes to survive, or too remote for them to reach. They have a proficiency with skirmish tactics, and know how to hide in desert territory.
-Created by EccentricOrbit




-Misc. Orders
--Order: The cult of the true seeing eye - the cult is composed of all races, drawn in by the Eldritch Abomination. Their primary goal currently is simply to spread the word of the abomination worldwide, however they are currently situated primarily on the southern continent.

[William Swiftfoot]

Advance Civ- Gryryn The merchant guild of the greyryn have become powerful traders that are expertly skilled at trading and bartering, and getting a good deal in so. (Advancement Trade)

Command Race - Gryryn Rumors swirls about the lands about the happenings of Redwoods nieghbors. The learning of the Jaeskine's "magic sigil ships" sparks much interest among the guild. It is decided to send a diplomat to the their shores with a plan of trade of service in sailors(and thus better protection agianst the Red), for either aquirement of some of thier new vessels, or instructions on how to enchance their own.(Trading with Jaeskine)

Command City - RedwoodThe rumors of the "dark ones"(Noctellus) along Redwoods border has troubled many among the city and neightboring villages. While they have not attacked the Gryryn, many among the people feel very uneasy about them. As a precationary measure, the city creates a milita.(+1 Army at Redwood).

Command Avatar - Shard - Glyph-Scarred The Shard sees that there is a need for creater numbers if it is to better corrupt the Scourde, and thus pulls more Scarred out from the wilderness to do its bidding.(+1 Army)

Addendum to last turn: The sighting of the Kyca mercenaries is seen with a bit of curiosity, as the only history about the two races for the Gry are that of savagery and cultism. Allowing them to dock at shore with an escort, and state their. A feeling of comfort however is began to be found, as the Kyca speak of change, and it is decided after some discussion that a pair of outposts shall be constructed in the near future.

Command Avatar - Flame Hand - Oryxians Rumors from the landing reach the Kitsune, and among them he learns of the Oryxians. Curious about the creatures, he arrives among them, first disguising himself to walk about them, before showing himself as "A messanger of the Sun". The Orxyians for the most part are in awe of him, and for the most part follow his supposedly holy words. This words include the development of a central city connecting and bettering relations between the five, a city to be called "Alora". (Create the city at the fork of the river at F7, and have 5 small villages circiling it.)

[Fen]

Command Avatar (-1)
Terros, in the interest of finding new lands, marches to the West, eventually arriving in the land of the Larepin, on the Coast of D6. It continues to march West North-West until it arrives at Irfang. It travels from town to town on the way, collecting information as it goes. Upon arriving at Irfang, it proposes trade between Larepin and Tek.

[PrincessHotcakes]

In the lands of the Edraei, Andarcus wanders about, eventually settling down for a time on the southern coast where he sets up a lab, experimenting on subjects as diverse as the culinary uses of tarantulas (coming to the resounding conclusion that no matter what recipe is utilized, they taste horrible), investigating the psychology and mental pathologies of various… temporarily captive guests of various races (discovering that Rakey and cinnamon should not be mixed under any circumstances), to investigating various mysteries of biology.

In this process the Grand Inventor managed to intrigue and fascinate one Edraei who he initially held for experiments named Vedirai.  Possessing an extremely good natured disposition but rather clumsy handling of himself, he stuck around even after Andarcus had finished with him, and grew to be a sort of lab assistant… of sorts.   Offsetting his tendency to knock experiments over and repeatedly set fire to the premises, Andarcus kept him around principally because of 1) his gullible nature and his eagerness to offer himself as a guinea pig for just about anything and 2) his seemingly unmatched resilience  against misuse and less than healthy experiments.

Then one fateful day, when the Grand Inventor was testing on Vedirai, trying to discover just what the heck the real function of an appendix is, a colossal magical explosion rang out that would have killed any mortal creature on the premises at the time, but left Andarcus merely running for the seashore cursing at his hair for being on fire.  Expecting to see no one alive, he was instead confronted with…

A white dragon.  Vedirai had been somehow transformed into an 25 ft immensely powerful magical creature, who’s first action was to immediately apologize for causing the explosion and attempt to sweep the charred burning crater up with a now proportionally tiny broom and dustpan.  Upon being informed this was a less than efficient manner to clean up a disaster site, Vedirai apologized profusely for his stupidity and suddenly flew off, retrieving a tree he had ripped from the ground and attempted to sweep using that.

At this Andarcus threw his hands up in the air, declared he was bored of the Lands That Burn, the Edraei and their Glueiao cousins, saying they all had the odor of Miserable Failure all over them.  He then proceeded to walk off, and when the new dragon tried to follow him, he exploded in one of his rants and told Vedirai “Go… fly off and do whatever do good fairy stuff that pops into your head.  Go clean up someplace else that you’ll find actual people, I’m leaving!”

Vedirai considered this decree from his… well, departing master, thinking maybe it was part of his assistant training; he needed to help people and do good!  Starting where he was, he spotted a ship out to see.  He flew out to what turned out to be a Red Reyn pirate vessel and loudly asked if they needed assistance cleaning their ship.  Somehow this didn’t quite go to plan and after a confused scuffle and one sunken ship later, Vidirai baffledly considered what had gone wrong, and pondered his future… for now anyway… if he was going to help clean maybe he should sneak up on people and clean for them while they weren’t looking so there wouldn’t be any misunderstandings!

(That counts as a create Avatar 8 points )

Far in the north, in the glaciated peninsula of A10, the Cult of Kerspelowd funds several exploratory mining expeditions, as reports of rich treasure troves of minerals are being uncovered.  It is an utterly frozen landscape all but impassable and unreachable even to the hardiest races; except of course for the arctic and subterranean dwelling Turu’hraim, who set about to construct not just an outpost, but a grand sister city to Y’skhealkt, a beacon of the ice shores of the north just as the capital is a monument carved into the mountains (Command Race, 3 points-found city).   Here they found the city of  Burkt’ek.
----
In the lands of the west, the drumbeats of war beat from the hides of fallen enemies as Scourge of the capital Horgharghn rally in a feverish bloodlust to throw the might of their swarm against the striking hordes of Glyph Scarred, bolstering the size of their contingents further as the constant war intensifies (Command City, 2 points-create army).

14-8-3-2=1 point remaining

[Raf_Cian]

Starting Points: 13
Command City (-2)
Command Avatar (-1)
With great ceremony, the Takers announce to the Seekers that the age of action is upon us. Both acting to the full extent of their ability, they begin gathering in people from the countryside to swell the ranks for the Taker’s Blades.  With the order and discipline instilled across Resalk culture they’ve tripled the ranks of their soldiers and barely even begun to exhaust their potential recruitment pool. Numerically, this means two new armies have been raised in the city of Salkyn.

Command City (-2)
In the city of Las Flotas, the Red Rats make a final move to cement their powerbase. At the edge of the ever growing port the guild builds a massive coliseum/training ground two work as their base of operations. The training areas are public, with a measure of security provided by the Red Rats. The coliseum grounds are the final step in the organized fights that the Red Rats have been encouraging for the past few decades.

Command Race (-3)
The Circle of the Dead sense a level of disapproval from the ancestors. The Wattor are a prosperous people, but they are also stagnate. Aside from the small party cult that formed a few centuries back, all the Wattor appear to do is live, and the ancestors are no longer satisfied with this. So the Circle of the Dead gather many Wattor together and found a city at the center of F4. This city will be slow in growing now that the age of centuries have passed, but it will be the first and best chance the Wattor have in marking their legacy upon the world. As such, they name it Kindle... what could go wrong?

Ending Points: 5

[nagolinc]

Starting Points: (7)

Commmand Avatar: (Create City) (-1)

After much contemplation, Toe-Stub wanders out from the maze of caves in which he came to life.  He is surprised and delighted to learn about such things as sunlight, flowers and most of all cheese.
It isn't long before Toe-Stub stumbles upon the rather pathetic civilization of the Hraim'Turu.  Toe-Stub feels a strange kinship with these unusual beings.  Perhaps because like them, he too was created mostly to mock one of the Diety Andrew's Creations. 

As he continues to dwell among the Hraim'Turu, Toe-Stub soon recognizes that their disunity is a severe weakness.  For a society obsessed with the idea of implosions, Toe-Stub finds it unusual that the Hraim'Turu haven't thought of the idea of compressing their civilization together a little.  Soon, he convinces them that they will be much more successful if they all come together.  Thus, the first Hraim'Turu city is founded: If We all Squish Together, We can Squash the World  or "the city of Squish" for short.

The most notable features of Squish are the disturbingly small apartments and the uncanny tendency of buildings there to spontaneously collapse, especially around major holidays. 


Command Order: (Create Army) (-2)

As the ruthless dictators who command the Bottomless Secrets Society solidify their grasp on Dreoinin Society, they also turn their eyes outward.  For long, they have lusted after nothing but the secrets that lie every deeper in the bottomless pit in which they well.  Now, however, some of the leaders lust after the lands controlled by other races as well.

Sensing the time for conflict is almost at hand, the society summons an army (Army +1).  When at last this labor is created, they have created a truly terrifying war-machine.  By utilizing their powers of dark-magic and necromancy, the Dreoinin have an army that actually becomes stronger the more casualties it takes.  If the army has one weakness, it is that its leaders so lust for power that they will not stop short of killing one-another in order to gain a slight advantage.

The Dreoinin look outward at a world ripe for the taking and plot their next move.


Command Avatar: (Create Order) (-1)

Miserable Failure flees the land of the Scourge, wishing all the while that he had a hand or two with which to rub his incredibly sore bottom.  It isn't long before he discovers the land of the Goblins, a land which is all that much easier to find thanks to the trails of puzzles leading the way. 

Miserable Failure, who has had a lot of time to think in his life, finds that he is actually quite good at solving the puzzles laid out for him by the goblins.  As the continues to follow the trail of increasingly difficult puzzles, Miserable Failure eventually finds himself in the Goblin city of Archive, which is gradually being rebuilt despite the catastrophe that destroyed it (transforming a number of goblins into shape-shifters in the process). 

Impressed by Miserable-Failure's puzzle-solving prowess, the goblins invite him into their inner sanctum where they work on the most difficult math-problems imaginable.  Finally, they task him with the solution of the Ultimate Problem, one which has evaded the best goblin logicians for ages.  Their goal is to create a mathematical theory so perfect and so beautiful that it can actually prove its own correctness.

Miserable Failure sets to work, his ego boosted by finally having a group of friends to hang around who are almost as weird as he is.  Unfortunately, even Miserable Failure's genius is no match for the ultimate problem.  Try though he might, Miserable Failure is unable to find a logical system that is both consistent and capable of proving its own consistency. 

Finally, in a moment of despair, Miserable Failure lets out a fateful lament.  "This is impossible!  This statement cannot be proven!"  Alas, Miserable Failure is more correct that even he had feared.  By the end of the night, Miserable Failure had written the outlines of a proof that no logical system can be both consistent and complete.  Its as if the laws of mathematics themselves are taunting him.

Miserable Failure woefully relates the details of his proof to his goblin companions.  The goblins do not take kindly to Miserable Failure's discovery however.  Goblin society is build upon logic and reasoning.  The knowledge that there are things that can never be proven could easily tear civilization apart.  Hence, the goblins form the society They Must Never Know What They Will Never Know.  The "Never Never Society", as it is called seeks to ruthlessly stamp out all knowledge of Miserable Failure's Incompleteness Theorem.  People who learn of the theorem are disappeared in the middle of the night.  They are frequently taken out into swamps and drowned.

The Never Never Society also attempts to eliminate Miserable Failure, the source of the Incompleteness Theorem.  After finding him incredibly resistant to fire, drowning, suffocation, and being tied in a sack and beaten with wooden sticks, the Never Never Society has to settle for banishing Miserable Failure from Goblin society forever, warning him that if he ever returns he will be made to suffer far worse.



Ending Points: (3)

[EccentricOrbit]

@nagolinc: Awesome picture! Did you make those models yourself? What program did you use?

It's unfortunate that the Goblins would do that - a disproof is just as valid as a proof, after all. It may mark the first time Miserable Failure has succeeded at something - a Miserable success? Ref. Godel's theorem was pretty clever, 

Red Reyn: Command Order: Pirate Ships (-2)
Red Reyn: Command Order: Red Rats (-2)
Kidnap The Flames Hand

Pirate Captain Emelio cursed his luck. It seemed like such a good idea at the time. Unfortunately, wild boasts made the night before in the tavern were very hard to back down from when evaluated in the cold light of sobriety. But then, that's how most classic Red Reyn adventures start, and on the off chance it didn't kill them all, it would be epic.

The Red Reyn were slowly and haltingly growing in wealth and power, but there were setbacks at every turn. The Jaeskine, once easy and insanely profitable prey, were becoming harder to take on the high seas. The Rakey repelled the ill fated expedition of Captain Lorenz. Many of the other races of the world were developing powerful magic or had some sort of divine patronage. Unfortunately going off on half-cocked nautical adventures leaves little time for the scholarship that most magic requires. And the Reds couldn't find reverence with a map in the Vatican, so they were unlikely to endear themselves to any gods anytime soon.

"How come none of these gods ever do us pirates any favors?", Emelio waxed eloquent, bottle in hand. "That kitsune Flames-Hand is a fox, right? Maybe a little on the snooty side - after all, he could never be bothered to give us any fortune or powers, but I'm sure we can get him to see things our way."

"Oh yes, I can see this now", Admiral Marta said, laughing. "Let's go actually drawing the attention of a god. Please sir, won't you help us pillage the high seas? After all, we are so pure and stuff."

"Pure *something* anyway! Har! If you made the Captain's tavern his shrine, half of us might accidentally attend a service", Lorenz guffawed.

"Shut up, Lorenz!", the other Captains shouted.

"Exactly!", Emilio said, not quite following the conversation. "All we have to do, is get his attention. If we kidnapped him, he'd have no choice but to hear us!"

Admiral Ponfilo pounded the table with laughter. "Ah yes! You're going to just walk up to this critter and clobber him with a belaying pin, are ye? And when he wakes up halfway back to Las Flotas, we can all watch the pretty lightshow on the horizon"

"I'm not an idiot", Emilio said. "I ... have a *cunning plan*!", he put one paw on the table and gestured dramatically.

"Now we're really worried, since when did you have plans?"

"The Flames Hand isn't at home. He's currently abroad among the Oraxians. We don't have to kidnap him *directly* - we can kidnap some of those grass-eaters he seems to like so much! If he's such a good god, he wouldn't hesitate to walk right into our trap to spare his followers. And if he's not so good, he'll have to do it anyway, or he'll lose all his grass-eating worshippers when they discover what a self-serving jerk he is."

"You don't just walk into a foreign country", Lorenz cautioned. "They could have traps, armies. The land itself could be so hostile that you'll never make it to your destination", he said, shuddering.

"Shut up Lorenz!", all the pirate Captains shouted in unison.

"Oraxia, land of adorable doooom. What are the Oraxians going to do, make bambie eyes at you?", Admiral Marta said. "They're almost as scary as those monkeys that beat you by climbing trees and staying out of your way as you blundered about the jungle!"

"No, no, Lorenz has a point", Emilio said. "We can take those gladiator types with us to round up the villiagers! They're rough enough to handle anything these grass-eating hippies can throw at us. And then, when we have them, we'll send word to that Flames Hand that he must surrender to us."

"And then, just as your ships hoist anchor, all your sails will catch on fire."

"One of those gladiator types", Emelio said, motioning to a captured Tek slave, "knows how to make anti-magic wards. And we'll keep him in a hold lined entirely with glass and water, in a steel cage suspended in the air. There will be nothing for him to light on fire - he'll be trapped!"

"Well, this has been a delightful game", Admiral Marta said, "Too bad there's no one here who actually has the guts to do it."

"What?! I have plenty of guts!", Emelio shouted. "I'll do it!"

"Oh will you?", Marta said, with lidded eyes. "This I'll have to see."

"I will! My ship leaves at dawn!", Emelio said.

"You might as well take Lorenz along - he has experience beating hasty retreats from unarmed natives", Marta said. "The boldness and ridiculousness of your plan has moved us all ... to tears ... heehehe." She handed him a package.

"What is this?", Emelio asked.

"Asbestos trousers - you're going to need them!"

[Dragyn]

Starting pts: 24


Advance Civilization: Noctus Spy Network (6 pts)
The Noctus, starting to hear rumors of war and unrest, start training some of their more capable shadowwalkers to enter the cities of other races, listen and observe, and send reports back to the priests of Noctellus.  Through this newly formed Spy network, the Noctus learn that the Greryn of Redwood have formed an army against them.
(The Noctus now have a spy network.)

Command Race:  Form Alliance (3 pts)

Noctellus, ever cautious, suggests his people send peaceful representatives to the Greryn, to seek a mutually beneficial alliance.  This they do, offering their unique abilities as a defensive aid should war arise.

The Noctus also send representatives to speak with the Jaeskine, Krump, Kycamuuni, Oryxians, and the red Reyn, offering each their services, though they don't truly expect alliances with all of them.

Command City:  Longshadow: Form Army (2 pts)

The Noctus form an army, based at the Longshadow Spire.  Thus, they are able to quickly arrive at most nearby cities, should they be needed.

Command City:  Longshadow: Stealth Combat Tactics (2 pts)

The Noctus Army trains to step through enemy shadows, in order to always be mobile and harder to locate, as well as placing themselves in advantageous positions. 

Side Note:  Why is Longshadow not labeled on the map?  It is a city, after all.

Ending Points:  11

[William Swiftfoot]

EO: Need a little clarification, are you attempting the actions this turn or next?

As for the Noctus Peace Ambassador, the Greyryn will greet him with hospitality and calmed spirits. They will probably inquire about possible trade agreements and what natural resources and technologies they posess, for monetary reasons of course  .

Edit: Race corrected herpaderp.

[EccentricOrbit]

I'm attempting it this turn.   (Or whenever it is convenient to write a response).

[Dragyn]

Er...I don't think Nagolinc sent any ambassadors...

[William Swiftfoot]

(k, Ive looked at this, and LOB interference or no this is probably the best response I can think of).

About 2 months after the crew set out on their task, a derelict ship was found on the seas outside Las Flotas shores. An hour after the discovery, a salvage crew was sent out, and found a horrid sight. The ship was burned and scarred from ship to stern, its sails turned ashunder from its masts, and the hull barely holding agianst the water. Many among them wondered how it had even floated home. Its crew had also not survived whatever has plagued this ship as all that remained of them was melted metal and scorched bone.

It is from this gruesome scene that the Flame Hand appeared from below deck. Looking upon the reds that had found him he sighed. "Take me to that who leads you" he said to them, "I believe we need to talk."

and it was thus that the Kitsune came to Las Flotas to give a blessing to the red(next turn), but not without a "price".