Game Story teasers... (Modern Awakenings)

[mroberon1972]

This is a story teaser for a chapter beginning. I wrote it up for use to give the feel of a D20/Sci-Fi/Fantasy setting I'm working on. Opinions are welcome... (Beware, magic is a part of the setting...)

Come to think of it, I expect comments...

-------------------------------------------------

8.3 minutes. It doesn’t sound like anything, really… Just a measure of time… Could be anything…

Not to me.

I should start with my family. My mom was a paladin. I know, you think of a woman in shining armor and on a white steed. Actually, in the old days, that was what it was like. Huh… I bet it was no more glorious than what my mom does… Did… back home. She didn’t have a steed, but the council gave her a private HoverBike. She used to take my sister and me on rides on it across the city when she was not on duty. Actually, she was always on duty. She never wore shining metal armor, just an armored bike jacket and really cool helmet. She was a field paladin. She enforced laws and protected people. With her life, if need be. She was real careful never to let us see her hurt. More than once she was “Staying at the Guardhouse to work late” when she was really getting patched up at Talon’s Memorial Hospital. I think she fooled my sister, maybe.
Dad was a factory technical wizard, and worked on the assembly line building Crystal Vids. I loved to watch Pro Adventuring on the C.V. Mom always said I shouldn’t watch “that trash”, and that the show was a waste of the lives of the poor fools that played it. Dad let me watch when mom was out. He always let me do stuff like that. Dad was cool. He even watched with me on some nights when mom worked later than usual. He tried to warn me that they were really dying, and that they were doing it for money and fame. I thought that was what heroes were. And it always looked so glorious… To me, they were heroes with a capital ‘H’. Now I know what heroes are…

The Portals were the crowning achievement of magic. They allowed transport from anywhere to anywhere. They allowed a man to live in one city, and work in any other in the world. Just stroll down from your apartment to the sector Gatehouse, pay the toll, and just walk through a designated Gate to the part of the city you want to be in. If you want to go somewhere else, just pay a little more and go to the Crossroads of the city. From here, you can travel to any city in the country. Another gate also allows you to travel to the Bordergates, which allow you to travel to other countries and roam the world at large. They guard the Bordergates a lot heavier than the others. I never really understood why back then. I do now.
The Gates took a lot of wizards, or a really powerful one, to open them. And they ate tons of power from the city power weave. Power was cheap, though, and no one complained about it. One wizard that taught at MN&T said that the portals took less power overall than trying to make private transportation for everyone. He went on about how much safer portals were in comparison with other modes of transportation: horses are dirty, powered vehicles are dangerous, teleport spells can end you up in a wall if you make a mistake… The list went on and on. Gods above and below, how I hate him for being such a fool. It’s not fair, really. He could not picture how dangerous a portal is. I can see you don’t, either. You will…
The first gates were developed in the Era of Power, over 20,000 years ago. They made a lot of things back then. Well, these first portals were better than the ones we have now. The Emperor, a man whose name is lost to time, used them to travel across the world and beyond. No, not the moon… We can do that now. I wish we couldn’t… No, what I mean is that he could go to other dimensions beyond this one. He traveled to places and learned things we cannot imagine.
Then, one day, he opened a gate to someplace bad; I mean really bad; with a capital ‘B’. He found a place that was cold, and dark, and filled with endless seas of acid… And he found the BioWraiths. Oh? You’ve heard of them? I can see why. The governments of Creation have tried for centuries to kill them all off. No matter what they did, there were always more. Well, back then, they were pretty primitive in some ways. They had great magic, but only for a select few. The common armies only had swords and thin metal armors to wage wars with. Needless to say, the BioWraiths slaughtered thousands with their advanced weapons.
“And the city was razed by dark fire, and the Empire undone…” That was the quote they taught me in school. Then they told us how it could never happen again. They told us of the great Magus May. She was the one who discovered the old gates, and forever closed and destroyed the WorldGates. She was the one who understood them, better than any who have ever lived. Even now, we just use the formulas she provided, not really understanding how or why they work. We use them like we use gravity, to get around.
She was smart, and removed the part of the formula that allowed travel to other worlds. History says she knew how, but no one ever figured it out. She was real smart. Problem is, she was not smart enough.
I remember the night that I first heard about 8.3 minutes. The news-being was Delihla Silverhair, an elven reporter for the Bardic News Network. The first they spoke of it, all of the portals to Laughfield city had stopped working, and several Crossroads in other cities exploded. We thought that a shadowcult had finally done the impossible and bombed several Crossroads at once. The truth was worse. BNN transports began scrying the area with Crystal Senders. Even Delihla was silent as the scry showed the sky on fire above where the city should have been. The trees were burned bare nearly 20 miles from the edge of the city. As they got closer, there were no trees, just ash. The pilot said the heat outside could have rivaled the hells themselves. I think the sight of the city alone beat any hell I could picture. My dad cried as he looked on at the ruins of the city proper. The metal and glass buildings were on fire. Stone and bricks were melted into a twisted landscape that made it hard for me to understand it was a city, and not some kind of twisted art. The BNN reporters could not leave the transport due to the heat and poisons in the air outside. Even then, they stayed and attempted to look for survivors in the horror. They never even found bodies.
Oh, there were survivors. They were the ones who were not there when it happened. Everyone within 10 miles died instantly. Farther out, and you had a chance. At about 30 miles, it was survivable… But that didn’t mean they were in good shape. My mom did not come back that night. I saw her again about a week later, dirty, tired, and utterly heartbroken. She cried on dad, and me, and holding Xinla, my sister. She told us what the news services had not figured out: What happened.
Did you know that Gates, while instantaneous travel for anyone passing thought them, take time to open the other side? Wizards and Druids long ago found out that magic, like light, take time to move from one place to another. It’s really fast, about 125,000 miles per second. That means that a spell cast on one side of the world could effect someone on the other side in less than a tenth of a second. Guess that’s why no one noticed for so long. The first gates to the moon taught them that something was up. They nearly had a panic at the facility when the wizards opened the Gate. Nothing happened. Then, three seconds later, the portal opened and everything was fine. That was nearly 100 years ago. Now we have colonies on the moon. The point is, it takes time from the time the spells are completed, to when the gate opens to the other side.
Mom told us that it took 8.3 minutes for the gate to open from the time the blackops wizards activated the PowerGate. About an hour before, they had hooked up the Gate to the local power weave. They knew someone was opening an illegal Gate, but it took time to find it. Mom told us about the support wizard that had been partnered with a Laughfield paladin named Taldwin. I think mom knew him, his name was Vinnik Tumbers. He had arrived just as the ritual had been finished. He thought that an army would come running out of the gate, or that the gate would explode with pressurized seawater or lava, but nothing appeared but a circle of inky blackness. The wizards that opened the gate teleported away in groups, leaving only one. He told Vinnik that it was too late, and that he had about 8 minutes to get away. When the force arrived on the scene about 2 minutes later, they found Vinnik staring at the portal… It still had not opened…
Having no idea what was going on, and knowing that whatever was going to happen would take about 5 minutes, they began scrying to find where it was going, and why it was seemingly refusing to open. After about 2 more minutes of tinkering, mom said that Vinnik figured it out, and he screamed…
They knew they couldn’t shut the PowerGate; it was already opening, and they did not have enough time or power to reverse it. They only had time to try and shutdown the Crossroads. They got about half of them offline, some by ritual, others by violence. Vinnik destroyed three of them himself before time ran out. Mom said he cursed himself as a coward, when he teleported away with 5 children that just happened to be nearby. He cried as mom told him the level of devastation. Even as he understood what happened, he failed to understand how destructive it had been. He had left his family in the Jameswitch suburb, 17 miles from the blast center. Vinnik told them all he knew, gave times and faces. But in the end, it was too much for him. Before he could be stopped, he teleported home, to his family. I don’t think they ever even found his house. Mom was never the same after that. Dad either…

You see, Vinnik figured it out from basic astronomy and physics. It takes light 8.3 minutes to reach Creation from the sun.

It was only open for a moment before the energy released by the Gate disrupted the spell, but it didn’t need to be open long. In an instant, all of the force of the sun exploded into the city of Laughfield, and wiped it from the map. The Crossroad Gates that didn’t shut in time allowed the hellstorm into other cities, destroying the Gates, and everyone near the Crossroad building before they were snuffed shut. It was a weapon of absolute destruction. Delihla Silverhair named it well on the news: The HellFire Gate.
No one knows how they gained the coordinate for the HellFire Gate. Nothing could survive that close to the sun, and you have to know the place to open a gate to it. Of course, it happened, so it is possible. The formula somehow became public, uploaded to the InfoWeave. Now anyone can know the formula. It’s taught in advanced Thaumaturgy classed dealing with teleportation and gate technology. Sure, it takes an archmage and tons of power to use it, but he can use it repeatedly. Once the gate is opened, he has 8.3 minutes to leave.

HellFire Gates destroyed three more cities before Gregory Asklin figured out how to stop one once it was opened. One of them was Steel city, my home.

Most of it was a jumble. I heard the horns, and dad grabbed up both Xinla and me and ran. We rushed by people as dad ran faster than I had ever seen him move before. I’m pretty sure he used a spell, but I was young, and he just may have been that fast… “Fear gives you wings…”, Ya’ know? Anyway, people started shoving us, and one even stepped on me when I fell down. Dad just picked the one guy up and threw him. Hard. I don’t think he made it out of the city. When we got to the Crossroads, armed guards were stopping people from passing through the Gates. When dad asked why, he was told to go back home, and that the situation was under control. He told the guard that if the situation was under control, then there should be no problem with anyone going through the gate.

The guard pulled his blaster on dad.

Dad killed them. All of them.

I don’t know if he really knew, or if he was just desperate. But he shoved Xinla into my arms and slung me through the gate. I hit the ground hard, and rolled to keep from hurting my sister. I broke my elbow, but Xinla seemed OK. When I turned around to ask dad why he did it, I was looking at a blank wall. The Gate was shut. His last act was both the most selfish, and the most giving, thing I have ever witnessed. I never saw my mom or dad again.
At the hospital, I saw the news report about Steel city being gone. I couldn’t cry with my sister in the room. The doctors were nice, but had no time to deal with one of dozens of new orphans in the place. I swore right then, that I would die before I would let another HellFire Gate destroy anyone else’s life.
Now you know why I do this, now you know why I trained to be a wizard, like my dad. Now you know why, when the 8.3 minute horn goes off, I’m on the site within the “ point - 3” part. And now you know why I’m a GateKeeper. It’s what I am. It’s what I do. And I always finish within 8.3 minutes.

 

[Gilladian]

Wow! You're a really good writer. I was disappointed to come to the end. You've got to write more about this world. I usually hate magic/tech crosses, but I want to know more about your concept.

Gilladian

 

[DanMcS]

So magic propogates at the speed of light. Interesting premise.

Are your city-to-city portals based on teleportation circles? That's the feel I get from them. In standard 3e, teleportation type spells propogate through the astral plane, making them instaneous. I take it you've changed this too.

I don't think this effect would have gone unnoticed until they tried to portal to the moon. Is the infoweb you mention magically-based? For precision computing, a tenth of a second is noticeable lag, when your processor would run a hundred million instructions in that time.

If magic doesn't propogate instantly, how long does it take to reach another plane? Commune, summon monster, planar binding, planes shift... there's a big list of things to be affected by this.

If you say it's instaneous to another plane, some clever terrorist archmage is going to go to an alternate one and open two portals to the prime: one to the sun, one to Creation. Instant sunburn, instead of 8 minute lag.

 

[mroberon1972]

Dan, reread the story. They cannot travel the planes. Said so right in the story.

They told us of the great Magus May. She was the one who discovered the old gates, and forever closed and destroyed the WorldGates. She was the one who understood them, better than any who have ever lived. Even now, we just use the formulas she provided, not really understanding how or why they work. We use them like we use gravity, to get around.
She was smart, and removed the part of the formula that allowed travel to other worlds. History says she knew how, but no one ever figured it out. She was real smart. Problem is, she was not smart enough.

And here is something my wife advised me to repeat to you:

"It's only a story."


For my last statement, I have to say this: You have to assume, in any story world you are not living in, that the rules exist even if you don't have them handed to you at the time. Otherwise, the story does not get told, and you have a textbook instead.

What fun is that?

 

[DanMcS]

Dan, reread the story. They cannot travel the planes. Said so right in the story.
And here is something my wife advised me to repeat to you:
"It's only a story."

For my last statement, I have to say this: You have to assume, in any story world you are not living in, that the rules exist even if you don't have them handed to you at the time. Otherwise, the story does not get told, and you have a textbook instead.

What fun is that?

Listen, you. And your wife! I'm getting double-teamed. I read the story. I liked the story. You asked for comments, I gave them to you, and now you're giving me crap for it? That's just mean, man!

I didn't understand the part about planar travel being verboten. I was reading that the portals made it possible for anyone to do it, like they do for teleportation, and the loss of the ability for a portal to go to another plane, didn't necessarily preclude a wizard doing it by conventional spell. They could still do the sneak attack plan, btw, by creating a halfway station exactly between Creation and the sun, cutting warning time down to 4.15 minutes instead of 8.3. Look, Ipossible plots

You said it was a d20/scifi/fantasy setting, I was pondering how it was different from standard. There's a fair amount of exposition, but some things still weren't clear.

You're going to be running in this setting? Got stats?

 

[mroberon1972]

Try this instead:

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HighRage Academy


“Ok, people… Settle down and get seated.” Jerico stopped to survey the room and his students. The usual group toward the back were roughhousing and being too loud. He sighed and scanned the more promising students to the front. Dusty caught his eye, causing him to smile inwardly. Dusty was one of his prize pupils, a student that not only took interest in his studies, but also questioned and tested every idea placed in front of him. At the moment he was testing his ability to get Diana in the seat next to him to giggle. He seemed to be doing a pretty good job of it so far.
“Ahem?” Dusty suddenly looked up. His face colored lightly as he realized he’d been caught.
“Sorry… Is he here yet?” Dusty asked the question with a hint on concern. Jerico knew that he wanted to catch Professor Neriul in order to ask him about some of his theories in person. Jerico did not know who to feel sorry for first, but settled on Neriul; Dusty was a good talker, and persistent too.
“Nope. If he follows his normal form, he’ll be about an hour la… Whoops, speak of the devil!” The Professor had arrived around the corner at nearly a jog. He did not look out of breath, only slightly frazzled. Behind him jogged a small kobold in a styled wrap, her scales gleaming as if oiled. She carried a briefcase and purse, and was speaking to someone over a crysphone. Even from behind her dog-like features, the intelligence shone through like a beacon. Putting away the phone, she whispered something to the Professor. Neriul nodded and flashed Jerico a smile as he stepped forward, holding out his hand.
Jerico took it. “Welcome to HighRage Academy, Professor Neriul. I’m glad you could make time for my students.”
“Yes, of course! Not a problem at all. Sadly, I only have about an hour, so we had best get down to business.” His eyes scanned the room, narrowing at the ones still chatting quietly in the back. He coughed once, attempting to get their attention. Failing at that, he raised his hand and spoke rapidly, rotating his hand in a quick gesture.
The room was suddenly a lot more quiet. The students in the back looked up in surprise as they realized their voices did not carry any longer. Neriul raised his chin and looked up for a moment, seeming to savor the silence of the spell he has cast. “Ah, that’s better.” His eyes focused on the class, and he took a deep breath. “First, I would like to thank all of you that I did NOT have to cast a spell on.” Laughter evoked from the front of the class. “And Master Jerico, for a chance to corrupt his students.” Jerico smiled slightly as his students snickered. “I believe I was called here to chatter endlessly about my specialty: Technomancy.”
“Before we can discuss this, though, we must understand magic itself. What is it? Where does it come from? What can we do with it?” Neriul’s eyes gleamed as he warmed to the topic. “Magic is defined as ‘The manipulation of the universe through power channeled from the Weave.’ It comes in many forms. The minister, mending the flesh and bone of his patient; the sorcerer, touching the Weave through instinct and force of will; and even the wizard, casting spells of silence across the back of a room so that he might be heard.” Laughter followed the grin of the Professor, as he paused for effect.
“Magic is power, pure and simple. If a person knows how, he or she may wield the near limitless power of the Weave. ‘What is the Weave,’ you ask? It is a name we give to the part of the universe we draw magical power from. Tests have been done; several by myself at the Institute of Magic, Nature, and Technomancy. They have so far been inconclusive. The nature of the Weave is for it to be changed by its use. Anyone capable enough to draw magic from the Weave, upon scrying it finds he has changed it’s fundamental nature. The Weave, is then, literally what we make of it. It is how we make pocket dimensions for storage, teleport ourselves, create seemingly unlimited amounts stone and iron out of air, anything…”
“But we can’t make gold.” The voice was that of Min, a halfling student from the suburbs south of the city.
“ ‘But we can’t make gold…’ ” Neriul said it slowly, like a man savoring a fine wine. “True, we cannot make gold.” He began to count off his fingers. “We also cannot make lead, adamantium, mithreal, living tissue, and a host of other things.”
“If we can’t make living tissue, how do we summon creatures and heal? I thought that summoned creatures were created in the flesh as…” she looked through her knowledge crystal, “ ‘Iconic creations of our own subconscious’? “ She looked up intently.
“First: WE, as in you and I, cannot heal. Clerics, druids, and some sorcerers can heal. They do this by stimulating the natural healing abilities of the body while feeding carefully guided amounts of magic into the patient. They CREATE nothing. They assist. I believe this is something you could look up on your own?” The Professor’s voice trailed off, one of his eyebrows raised as he looked at her. She sunk down in her chair as several other students chuckled. He continued, cutting them off. “As to the second question: You are correct, and wrong.” Several people perked up and waited.
Neriul took another deep breath. “Summoned creatures ARE ‘iconic creations of the subconscious’. But they are not flesh and blood. While they can be hurt, and bleed, and ‘die’; they have no true physiology. It is all a part of how we see them. We ‘know’ that a celestial has silver blood, and that his wounds glow from within. We ‘know’ some demons and fiends have blood of acid that can eat through steel and stone.” He looks around again, building his presence and raising his voice slightly. “But the point is, the flesh is a sham. It is magic given form, and fades as soon as the summoner stops providing it power.”
“So, demons and celestials are just figments? Creatures with no more reality than our own minds give them?” Dusty spoke for the first time. His eyes showed what he was doing. He was attempting to debate with the Professor.
“Don’t let a cleric hear you say that.” The class, or at least some of them, snickered. “Yes and no. We know that some creatures seem to have an existence beyond what we give them. We call these entities ‘named’ creatures. They can be summoned by two differing wizards, and relay messages between them with unerring accuracy. They seem to think, and even plan. Named celestials speak of the City of Light, but seem unwilling to discuss it further. Named creatures can take a dislike to a job given to them, and even complain about it, even as they perform the task. Summoning a creature is a complex business, as both an intellectual and moral pursuit. I myself try to avoid it.”
“But…” Neriul waved his finger at Dusty, shaking his head.
“Back on subject…” He paused, straightening his tunic and taking a drink of water from the glass the kobold had offered him.

“In ancient times we wielded magic either by casting spells, or by the use of magically imbued items. Wands, staves, potions, rings, weapons; all were made using the same process we use even today for such devices. The individual binds an amount of their own spirit into a device, awakening it to the presence of the Weave. This binding allows the magic user almost unlimited ability to customize and create items of power that do not deplete his own strength when used. It is SO effective a way to wield magic, that we do it even today.” He had once again warmed to the speech he was giving.
“But these items of power could not be mass produced. Since each item must have a portion of the caster’s spirit bound into it, any attempt to make hundreds of items would lead to the creator in question fainting quite quickly, and loosing a major chunk of his spirit to boot!” The classroom was silent now.
“Technomancy answered all of these problems, and created a few new ones. The primary change in technomancy consists of the fact that it takes no spirit in order to make the device. While it still takes the skill of a trained magic using individual, he no longer must tie himself to the item, allowing him to produce several at a time. Even better, without the need of a spell caster to fuel the creation, other magical devices could assist in the creation of new devices. The effect of this was the industrialization of magic.”
“But as I said, there were new problems. To make these new items, without the use of a caster’s spirit, there were tradeoffs. The first, and most important, is that the device was enchanted without a connection to the Weave. It was effectively useless. This was a strange situation: An item of great importance to our way of life, designed nearly 3000 years before its time. What happened next was pure luck.”
“Gate magic was already in use across the world. While only the most powerful wizards might wield the power of a Gate, several built permanent ones. These Gates were used to allow instant travel from one site to another. Regardless of the original intent, they were found to have another ability as well.”
“Gates, when placed in the proper configuration, can make a WeaveGate.” He once again paused, touching the controls on the podium and causing it to show an image of a pulsing, glowing fog with a dense core. “The first known WeaveGate was a rift that lasted for about half a minute, and collapsed before the wizards who made it realized what they had done. It was nearly ten years later until they were able to repeat the effect. On the 5th day of Frost’s call, 5294, they created the worlds first known ‘controlled’ WeaveGate. It was a crude attempt by today’s standards, and only lasted 97 seconds with their best effort. But they could repeat it, and learned more with each attempt.”
“The first thing they learned, was that the use of magic items and spells near the WeaveGate caused it to close quickly. The second was that anyone using such an item or casting such a spell tended to be killed by the amount of power that coursed through him. The survivors learned quickly that they were not going to harness this power for personal use.”
“The irony is that the WeaveGates were developed due to the stubbornness of a group of intelligent wizards who foolishly insisted on drinking from a raging water elemental.” The class fell apart with laughter at this. And the kobold rolled her eyes. Jerico grinned and guessed that she had heard that quote far too many times to enjoy it anymore.
Giving a few moments for everything to calm back down, he continued. “Again, by pure luck, one of the wizards was carrying an ancient technomagical device without even knowing what he had. Good fortune for us all, since if he had thought it was at all magical, he would have never let it near the WeaveGate. As it was, we will never know what the device was supposed to do. It exploded. The wizard, named Argon, survived the blast. He and the other wizards began examining the remains of the device, and figured out the basic concept of its design.”
“It took decades of research to figure out what was really going on. It was very simple: Spirit-linked items were made to draw on the magic of the Weave. When placed near the unshielded power of a WeaveGate, they drew power directly from it. There was nothing to impede the flow of power, and the item was burned by it from the inside-out. Wizards attempting to cast spells near one did the same thing, usually before completing the spell.”
“Technomagical devices, though, has no tie to the weave. They were missing the spirit needed to do it. While still a focus for magic, they had no power, and were incapable of being used. At least, this was the case before the discovery of the WeaveGates. These special Gates changed that forever. Suddenly, wizards found an unlimited well of power, and a way to use it.”
“And so began the War of the Weave. To make a long story short: Power corrupts, Absolute power corrupts absolutely… It was the bloodiest war in all of history. Common soldiers, for the first time, had access to weapons only a few before could use. Nearly half of the population of almost every race was slaughtered in the carnage. During this time weapons tech increased by leaps and bounds. Factories, powered by wizards and slaves, produced innovation after innovation. First came WeaveNodes, which allowed the safe distribution of power across miles. Next came power crystals that allowed the weapons to leave the proximity of a WeaveGate or Node and still function. Finally, tools and other devices began to show up to use the available power of the WeaveGates. It was a most wonderful, and horrible, time.”
“Enough of history… Let us discuss how a modern WeaveGate works. Due to the nature of a WeaveGate, it needs a fairly large building with an interior chamber for the Gate of about 30-foot squared. The actual chamber for it must be shielded heavily, not only to protect others from the effects of magic burnout, but also to prevent stray magical emanations from destabilizing the WeaveGate. A control chamber controls the stability of the WeaveGate by introducing small, controlled bursts of magical energy in patterns meant to keep the Gate from closing. Unlike the WeaveGates made during the war, we now have the ability to make ones that could easily last for decades. While it still takes wizards or sorcerers of great power to create the initial WeaveGate, it can be used for around 30 years. Wizards who cast the spells usually own half value in the company itself, allowing them a source of income for research and experimentation. This further helps to push the envelope of technomancy to new levels.”
“Power is distributed across the city and local countryside by use of WeaveNodes. These devices are placed high above the city on towers, so as not to be blocked by large buildings that might impede the flow of power. These R-Nodes relay power not only to smaller Nodes on buildings nearby, but also to other Nodes that send the power farther abroad to outlying communities near the city. Finally, the S-Nodes on each building send power to the personal nodes that each home has. These P-Nodes provide power for every device in a modern home: Vision Crystals, Crysphones, Ovens, Cleaners, even the running water you enjoy.”
“WeaveGates produce power that is used in every home, business, and factory in the world. It is safe, cheap, and clean. It uses no resources, except in its inception, and costs only coppers for anyone who wants to rent a P-Node to use it.”
The kobold’s timer suddenly chimed pleasantly. She looks at the Professor and pointed at it with a frown. The professor sighed and turned back to the class. “Well, that was timed better than I could have hoped. Normally, I would allow questions, but at this moment Kirla is reminding me that I have three VERY impatient people wishing to speak with me about…”
“Three minutes ago.” Finished the Kirla. Jerico was glad to finally have a name to go with the face.
Neriul smiled, and looked back at the class. “Well now, you see? Even the greatest wizards have someone they have to answer to. In my case, it’s Kirla.” Several students chuckled again. “As it is, being an archmage does have some benefits though…” He clapped his hands three times.
Both Neriul and Kirla were gone.

(edited for grammer...)
(edited for terminology...)

 

[mroberon1972]

<TAP> <TAP> <TAP>

"Hullo?"

<TAP> <TAP> <TAP>

"Is this thing on?"

 

[jaults]

    Very cool so far... I like it. Have you done any work to codify it into a campaign setting?

Jason

 

[mroberon1972]

Yes, actually. We already have the rules for damage and modern armor in beta, and the overall theme hammered out (in iron, not steel...)

The point of these stories it to give the feel of the world. To allow you to immerse yourself into the world and fill in the gaps that a static set of rules cannot. It is a world, one that did not remain stagnant. It has people who make discoveries and inventions. It is a world built on the success of previous generations, over and over again. It IS D&D. Monsters still exist, Ruins litter the wilderness that still takes half the world, and the gods are still among them. It is a world where paladins are sustained by the faith of the people instead of the gods, and archmages can control vast corporate empires. Where adventurers are televised by the Bardic News Network, and Defenders of the Public fight to shut down illegal "Black Clinics" run by evil cults.

A world that never stopped needing heroes.
A world that needs them more than ever.

The world of Modern Awakenings...

(Whoops... Somewhere in there I went into script mode! Sorry about that...)

Mr. Oberon
"Heroes are a luxury we can ill afford to do without."

 

[mroberon1972]

"A Druid in the City"

Ever wonder what a druid does in a city? Try this on for size:


"A Druid in the City"

I had known it was going to be a bad day when I saw the elf in front of my clinic. He was bleeding from what seemed to be a slug wound in his left arm. From the amount of blood on his jacket, he had been doing it for a while. My first instinct was to turn around and take the day off. When will I ever learn? When you’re a veterinary druid, ALWAYS follow your instincts.
I finished walking up the predawn street toward him and took a better look. He was pale, mostly from blood loss, and wore the colors of a Highrunner. From what I heard, most of them were the kids of local elves that didn’t keep their kids under tight enough a leash. This one looked like he had bit off more than he could chew. As he looked at me, his gray-green eyes locked on mine.
“You the druid?” His voice was slurred. He looked like someone decided to beat him with a pipe after they shot him. “I’m hurt…” Duh! I wondered if he’s any smarter when he’s not in shock? Probably not…
I knelt down next to him and laid a hand lightly on his chest. Closing my eyes, I cast a small spell to figure out how bad off he was. Hmmm… Fractured ribs, mild concussion, and a clean slug wound. The slug passed right through him. Bet it was an armor piercer. Deciding he was going to live for a few more minutes, I got up.
“Hey? You gonna help me?” His voice sounded like a squeak.
“Yup! I’m gonna call an emergency medical clinic and get a minister to look at those wounds. You need real attention for those cracked ribs. I’ll bring out a couple of blankets and make you comfortable until they get here.”
“NO!” The shout startled me, but I refused to show it. Keeping my face impassive, I listened. “You’re a druid! You can heal! Right? If a temple clinic gets me, they have to report a slug wound!” The kid was panicking, trying to get up. I grabbed him and spoke quiet and calmly in the same voice I used for wild animals.
“It’s ok… Fine… I’ll take you inside and you can rest on the couch… We’ll get all of this taken care of…” I continued to drone my voice as I helped his stumbling form to the front door of the clinic. It was a challenge to remove the wards, unlock and open the door, and hold onto the kid all at the same time. Good thing he was light.
By the time I had him in the waiting room, I had blood all over me. I set him down on the couch and walked into the office. Wendy, my assistant, wasn’t going to be in for another half-hour. He was out cold by this time, and I was seriously considering calling the medical clinic when I realized he had started breathing erratically.
Grabbing him, I focused the spell that allowed me to monitor his body. He was unable to breathe properly due to the damage his ribs had taken. I shouldn’t have moved him.
I was unlicensed to practice medicine, but had all of the paperwork for an emergency medical healer. All druids are expected to take the class as soon as they get past the basics. I wasn’t up to brain surgery, but this I could work with. I didn’t bother with the jacket, and laid my hands on the flesh above the damaged rib. I could hear his breath coming in shallow pants, and could sense the dangerous situation he was in. My eyes closed as I gathered energy for the healing I was about to perform. As the power built I began pushing it into the damaged area around his ribs. He groaned in pain as his ribs shifted in his chest. Once, I even heard a meaty, popping noise from beneath my hands. Finally, after what seemed like minutes, I opened my eyes. He was looking back.
“Don’t move.” I warned him. “The healing is started, but I only knitted the bones back in place. Any real stress could re-break them.”
“No worries,” He whispered. He seemed afraid to breathe too hard. “But it still kinda hurts. Can you help that?”
“Sorry, no. If you had let me call a medical clinic, instead of nearly killing yourself, you would already be better. As it is, you could have died on my couch.” I looked down at my outfit. “Oh, and thanks for the new clothes.”
“New clothes?” His face blanked.
“Yup. The new clothes your going to buy me for ruining these.”
“Sure, no problem. I have money.” His voice sounded tired. “Just have to call my dad.”
“Good.” I smiled, and immediately changed my voice to razor sharp ice. “Now, if you would be so kind as to tell me why you were sitting on the walk in front of MY animal clinic?”
It was a good thing he actually had the courtesy to look embarrassed. I might have tossed him out otherwise. “Sorry ‘bout that…” He sighed, always a good sign. “Somebody had told me that a druid lived on 6th street. When the ‘oinkin Gnashers thrashed me, I figured you would know how to heal an elf. You guys work on fey creatures, right?”
I couldn’t help it: I laughed. He scowled as I held my sides and tried to get control of myself again. Then I looked at him: I started laughing all over again.
“What’s so funny?” The look on hit face made it worse. All that petty pride mixed up with confusion. I decided to tell him.
“You think you’re fey?” I wiped the tears from my eyes. “You? Born and raised in a city? Your parents probably born and raised in the city?” His face blushed a bright red. “You wouldn’t know a fey if she bit you on the…” I couldn’t finish. It was just too much.
“Hey! I can survive in the wilderness! I go camping every year!” His voice squeaked again. I was laughing so hard at this point I fell out of my chair.
He left without even paying for my outfit or the healing. That’s gratitude for you.


I cleaned myself up with a sweep of my hand, and then did the same for the couch. Walking from there to the street, I held the cleaning rite until it reached the spot where I’d found him. I wondered if he would get the healing attention he needed, or if he would run back to his gang and try to hide out again. I decided to swab up a sample of his blood from the spot so I could check on him later. I swept the rest away and released the rite.
After checking the office for any notes, I went about the process of morning inventory. I found nothing amiss. Never do. Wendy was an exquisite assistant. I decided not to tell her about the elf. Why worry her? She never liked me coming down to the clinic this early, and he would use the morning’s adventure to drive the point home again. I sighed and setup a pot CoCaf in the machine.
Wendy got in a little late. She looked irritable about it.
“Sorry. The UDF’ers were protesting about something again.” She scowled at me, as if I put them up to making her late.
“Don’t give me that look! I can’t control them anymore than you can. If they want to protest,” I paused to look at the calendar and read it aloud, “the inhumane use of an endangered species for experimentation, let ‘em.”
“Squirrels.” She replied.
I blinked. “What?”
“They are protesting the hurting of squirrels.” Her face was completely straight.
I felt I had to say something, like a dog biting at a wound. “Squirrels are endangered?”
“Only in the city.”
“Uh?” I was totally at a loss this time.
“Seems the Shocker Lizards that people keep buying as pets are eating them.”
“Oh…” I gave up and started looking for something else to discuss.
Wendy would have none of it and continued with a sadistic grin. “And you call yourself a druid.” Her grin got wider. “Leaving all those poor, poor, squirrels to suffer at the claws of the evil corporations.”
“All right! What were the ‘Evil corporations’ doing to the ‘poor, poor, squirrels’?”
“They were using them to show the effect of WeaveRift power transmissions on living creatures.” Her grin took up her entire face now.
I shook my head and rubbed my eyes with the palms of my hands. “But WeaveRift transmissions have no effect on any living thing. Right?”
About this time, I thought the top of her head should fall off. There was nothing between it and her jaw but teeth. “Right! But the druids are protesting it anyway!” I groaned and poured me another cup of CoCaf.