Etherian

Deeper & Deeper so goes each installment. Rabbit hole? What rabbit hole? Reader! You have fallen into 'the' rabbit hole! I remain,

Well...once again, wolfie rises up with a unspoken truth. There is a reason why the Sheep go with the current, not against it. Against the grain, one must have resiliance. A LOT of it. Deep fortitude if you will. Never give in, never give up. Even if you have to play by the rules to rise up later. So be it... I remain,

honey I'm home... legit. These men & women have a death wish! Hazard pay anyone? Million dollar life insurance for the family you left behind? I remain,

promptly begins destroying the room he resides in... Mudvayne - Not Falling I remain, p.s.~ Demons. Don't drag me down!

Pinback - Proceed to Memory

Just to be clear - It wasn't the Seraphim who lost 20%... It was everyone ELSE's populations - the Dwarves, the Humans, the Elves, the Orcs, the Lizardmen, and even the Kobolds that were affected. Thanks wolfie. I obviously missunderstood. Could have swore it pertained to the Seraphim getting wiped out after their last bout with Millenium Weed. Ah well...live & learn. I remain,

Another Winter Weather Advisory via NOA. Supposed to be the worst storm in our region *Pacific Northwest* thus far. Calling for a foot of snow with high wind speeds. In comparison however, our winter has been mild to date. A couple months ago, I spoke with some old timers here in our area. Retired farmers, sitting down drinking their coffee at a local morning watering hole. They all recalled one winter, 31 years ago now. Thanksgiving night, of that year, the area recieved 28 inches on the ground. I am 34 and have never seen 28" in one night. Insane! I remain,

Massive Attack - Teardrop I remain,

A 20% population reduction would be severe. Add this time around, the outcome would be much worse is catastrophic. To think the Seraphim cannot procreate! Another *two thumbs up*. I remain,

A side note of importance. Finally found this tidbit of information from Ker's history. Now I understand why Ker licks her lips when around Dragons. If you can never publish any works from DarkMatters in book format. Perhaps some of this talent will flow into the hands of a Game Developer. Then they promptly offer you a JOB. You deserve at least the opportunity! Par for the course. Another great read. "The fifth and final tome in the series is a bit longer than the previous entries. I found myself having to hold back. As it is, the book STILL takes up 6 1/2 printed pages in MS Word using 12 point type. The previous entries were 2 - 4 pages each. I could have gone on added more but I wanted to go easy on the folks who will be doing the translations. This book is different in one other aspect - it'll only be available somewhere inside the Great Machine facility - for reasons that will make sense as you get to the end of the tale. In it we'll meet six rather familiar people and how they've drastically changed the course of Ancarian life and how they did it... One other thing to note. I had to create new months of the year. I incorporated the month names from the Lost Diaries previously noted. The final month of the Ancarian year - assuming a 12 month calendar - is Valka. Note the final date... So... Without further adieu... Journal of Aesma Daeva 4 1 Yal 4158 I finally got a chance to plead my case in front of the Ministry of Warfare with regards to sentient experimentation. They were practically shaking in their boots with the reports that were filtering in from all over Ancaria. It was an easy sell. They had one stipulation. They would send volunteers. 2 Yal 4158 Our new lab in the west won’t be ready for some time, so our first experiments will have to be done in our current facility. The first volunteer arrived today at the Na’Fian portal on the west side of the city. He isn’t exactly a striking figure. Below average build. I questioned him about why he volunteered. He said he didn’t have much to look forward to. He said he had been ill and didn’t have very long to live. Something about a war injury that never quite healed right and the doctors said he didn’t have all that long to live. Eh. As long as he survives the infusion… 4 Yal 4158 Our T-Energy tank is fully stocked. Our volunteer is prepped and about as ready as he’ll ever be. 4 Yal 4158 Test Subject A’s infusion was…interesting to say the least. His infusion drained the entire tank’s worth of T-Energy. He is about 1.5 times as large as he was before, much larger than a typical Ancarian High Elf. And he is quite blue, similar in shading to our dearly departed Algernon and Ben. He retained his memories and knowledge. He knows where he is and what’s been done to him. He’s been eating like a wild beast. We’ve estimated so far, he’s eaten approximately 14 average dinners in the space of a few hours. There doesn’t seem to be any evidence of his previous injury. The T-Energy appears to have healed him. It appears Test A was a success. 5 Yal 4158 The first of the interdimensional aliens arrived in Ceria Delith this morning near the Temple of Tears in the east. It was one of those flying monstrosities and it called itself a follower of Sakkara. It appears to be sentient as well. It demanded our unconditional surrender with the obligatory “or else”… Our Test A subject decided to face the monster. He arrived at the surface and calmly walked through the throng of people attempting to flee west. People thought it rather strange to see a rather oversized blue glow in the dark High Elf calmly walking toward the danger they were fleeing and stopped in their tracks. They did not follow our champion who stopped a few horse lengths from the invader and simply raised his arms and a large number of Fen Fires appeared out of nowhere and swarmed the invader and promptly exploded as they came into contact with this Sakkara character. The monstrosity collapsed after wave after wave of the Fen Fires hit with what seemed like ruthless abandon. After the monstrosity collapsed, the Test A subject summoned a few waves of the Fen Fires and dispersed them amongst the people who were injured by the beast. The Fen Fires promptly healed their injuries. The people were in awe of our first test subject. Some even bowed in prayer. Amazing. 6 Yal 4158 Our test subject returned to the lab and promptly devoured half of a roast hog, generously donated by an eatery owner who was about to be stepped on by the Sakkara monster but was saved by the hero of the hour. Speaking of our hero... He has decided he needs a name. He’s decided that his old name and identity just won’t do as he has changed so drastically. He’s decided that since he is the product of Test A, he would like to be known as Testa from now on. Testa is now in the process of reading every book in my collection. He has become as ravenous in the pursuit of knowledge as his appetite for food. 7 Yal 4158 It’s amazing. In the span of a day, Testa has read every book in my extensive collection – and managed to somehow store that vast repertoire in his mind. I’ve quizzed him on a few subjects and it’s amazing. He has full recall and an amazing insight into the subjects he’s studied. He’s now in the process of assimilating my research notes and log entries with regards to our T-Energy experiments. 8 Yal 4158 Testa has completed reading my notes and has made a few suggestions on how to make the process more efficient. His suggestions have been forwarded to the construction team in the Dwarven region. He’s also come up with a possible reason as to why Algernon, Ben and the dog met their demise. It would seem that the T-Energy infusion (as we’ve done it thus far) didn’t entirely replace the being’s normal tissues. The T-Energy ate away at the tissues – all while stimulating its life force. But overall, the damage was far greater than the regenerative properties and when there was nothing left of the tissues – boom! He suggested a tonic of his own creation that could better sustain his and any other subject’s tissues to keep himself and anyone else we subject to this treatment a longer life after the infusion. In the meantime, the Sakkara’s remains seem to have cooled off enough to approach it. The invader appears to be made from rock. There’s not much that can be gleaned from the remains. Whatever was inside the creature is now a mass of solid rock. 4 Nosk 4158 Testa, our first creation is still amongst the living. He’s been alive for 28 days post infusion. The last few weeks have been a bit of a blur to the point where I haven’t had so much as a moment to collect my thoughts, let alone commit them to the log. Construction in the new facility is coming along nicely. Testa, in the meanwhile has been busy. In addition to his research with us, he’s been called away numerous times to deal with our uninvited guests. Good thing he doesn’t seem to need any sleep. His appetite, on the other hand is simply astonishing. He eats enough food per day to feed a medium sized army. Good thing the military and the Seraphim are happy to contribute to his grocery list. We seem to have hit a snag in our experimental progress. By Testa’s calculations, there isn’t enough naturally occurring free T-Energy in the east Bluestone Lake area to transform more than one or two more subjects. My analysis confirms his estimates. Unfortunately, we need far more than three of our creations to deal with the hundreds of invaders that have come through the portal. We’ve also had a bit of an invasion of what can best be called the ‘undead’. We’ve occasionally had problems with corpses buried too close to T-Energy pools coming back to what can be called “unlife”. The appearance of the invaders, specifically the energy given off by Sakkara followers seems to have reacted with T-Energy naturally occurring in graveyards and has brought skeletons back from the great beyond. Meanwhile, we’ve heard the tale that the Dwarves are working on something that will close the portal in the Southern Desert permanently. We wish them luck. Anything that will stem the tide of the invasion is welcome news. 5 Nosk 4158 Testa has come up with a solution for our T-Energy shortfall. He’s come up with a way to extract pure T-Energy from the land itself. The designs for the T-Energy siphons have been forwarded to the appropriate artisans have been given plans and teams of plumbers have been assembled to build a network of pipes across the face of the central continent that lead to our lab in the Dwarven region. 17 Nosk 4158 The first few siphons have been put into place and the pipeline that will feed our new facility will be ready by the end of the year. I only hope that we survive long enough to implement this grand plan. We will be leaving for the new facility tomorrow. 2 Valka 4158 Our move is finally complete. Whoever said moving was fun, never had to move a staff of thirty, their books, notes, assorted lab implements, beakers, test tubes, and the other things that make our work possible. Fortunately, there’s a portal near our destination. The new complex is amazing. It spans several levels with all manner of controls for filling and maintaining the flow of T-Energy into the main reservoir. Speaking of which, the reservoir is an incredible sight to behold. It’s HUGE! We even have a large contingent of Temple Guardians to provide security. 3 Valka 4158 Our second and third test subjects have arrived. They’ve been briefed on the procedure and what to expect. They’re both in agreement with everything and have signed documents to that effect. The T-Energy reservoir in the center of the new infuser is nearly full and the secondary reservoir that feeds into it is catching the overflow. The first of our second batch of subjects is male and his records show that he’s been a naughty boy. He was first a convicted killer in civilian life who was sentenced to life in the military. I suppose the powers that be felt his talents would best be served being channeled into something more productive. It also seems he went berserk and killed several of his comrades one night in a drunken brawl. He was to be executed for his treasonous acts and would have been had it not been for our little program. Sounds like a perfect addition to our forces. The second subject is female. She is not, however, a convict. She is actually a volunteer to the program. Her records say she’s a Dryad healer and philosopher who decided to enlist after her home was invaded by our unwelcome guests. There’s something in there about her tribe being wiped out by a nasty dragon. No matter. Anyone bent on revenge is fine by me. 4 Valka 4158 Testa briefly stopped by to inspect the volunteers before they were infused. He’s given his nod of approval to both. The male went into the new infusion chamber and the switch was flipped. A beam shot from the reservoir and hit him square in the chest. The reservoir was nearly fully drained before it stopped. The infusion appears to have been successful. After a few hours, the reservoir was refilled from the storage tank inside the mountain to the east and the female stepped inside the chamber. She was amazingly calm and collected for someone about to undergo the transformation. After the two had a chance to rest a bit and feast (in much the way Testa did when he was transformed), Testa himself went in to greet his new siblings. They introduced themselves as Kuan and Kybele. 5 Valka 4158 The siphon network and the pipes leading to our facility are now complete. We are now able to refill the storage reservoir and the infusion reservoir in a matter of a few hours. With enough volunteers, we can create a rather substantial army of gifted warriors to fight for the cause. The fourth and fifth test subjects arrived today. It seems the general populace has been given an opportunity to sign up for transformation. The military had run short of people they could spare. Testa has looked them over as well and has given his approval to both. The male volunteer is a priest of the Church of the Creator who lost his entire congregation to an attack by what he called the “devil himself”. The female is a High Elf. Her records show she spent the last few years in the university at Thylysium and she studied philosophy. Her reason for enlistment – it was only logical to do something to save the world. Meanwhile Kuan and Kybele have both been dispatched to areas in the most need of their enhanced services. I’m not entirely certain how useful Kuan will turn out to be. His special talent involves a rather intoxicating breath that causes those who catch a whiff of it to go insane and attack anything and everything that moves – friend or foe. Kybele’s talent, on the other hand is a bright light that heals the injured (on our side) and reinforces them to carry on the attack. It would seem she is best suited to follow in Kuan’s footsteps, repairing our forces that were cut down by his bad breath. 6 Valka 4158 With the reservoir now fully restocked, we were able to proceed with our fourth and fifth test subjects. Since we couldn’t figure out which one should go first, we flipped a coin, an Ancarian 50 Goldpiece. The girl won the toss. She stepped into the chamber and the switch was pulled. Her body was flooded with T-Energy just like Kuan and Kybele had been. Success! Her transfiguration went without a hitch. Again, a few hours later, the male stepped inside the chamber after the reservoir was refilled and he was likewise transformed. The new female warrior now calls herself Forens and the male calls himself Lumen. Forens’ gift is quite useful. She can cause attacks made by the invaders to be reflected back at them. As long as she keeps her concentration up, she can reflect damage back until the enemy has destroyed themselves. Lumen’s talent is quite impressive as well. He can cause his body to glow incredibly brightly. The light, when it hits one of the invaders, causes it to burst into flames. The only thing left of one of those Sakkara followers is a pile of molten slag. Dragons, on the other hand, wind up being a pile of charred bones and ash. They, like their siblings, have ravenous appetites as well. 25 Valka 4158 This may well be my final entry. The invaders aren’t nearly as stupid as they seem. They’ve organized a well thought out attack strategy that called our team of five enhanced beings away from the facility to far remote places where they couldn’t easily get back. In the meantime an attack force of at least ten dragons and demons came knocking on our front door. We’ve sealed the outer door and have activated the fail-safe mechanism Testa came up with. It’s quite brilliant, really. It infuses four common Ancarian fleas into huge battle ready monsters. Should those Sakkara followers make it to the infusion chamber, they’re in for a very, very nasty surprise. I wish I had thought of that little trick myself. We’ve sent a message to our five gifted warriors, but I fear they may not return in time. 25 Valka 4158 (later) It seems this will be my final entry. My mousey, but quick thinking assistant, the one who brought the extra food for the rats has gotten rather brave or insane. It’s hard to tell. She made a break for the Infusion chamber and reset some of the controls. We tried to talk her out of doing it. But she couldn’t take the pressure any longer. She pulled the switch inside the room and her transformation is the most bizarre of the lot. She appears to have merged with one of those Ancarian fleas. It would seem one of the fail safe surprises jumped on her body and the two of them have somehow merged. She now has SIX arms. Her hunger and bloodlust is nearly insatiable. Her first task once she emerged from the chamber – was to attack my staff and kill half them. Worse yet, she started feeding on them by drinking their blood. She made her way to the surface and managed to get the door open. The carnage that ensued was truly a hideous sight to behold. The remote viewers placed outside of the facility caught most of it. It was quite terrifying. She jumped on the back of a dragon, bit into its neck and drained it of its life giving juices. Next, she stood before one of the Sakkara followers and waved her hands. It started obeying her. In no time at all, she and her new pet attacked its former comrades and eliminated half a dozen of them. She jumped on the back of another dragon and sucked the life out of it as well. She then sent her pet down the path toward the fortresses guarding the facility. She had it attack the guards that were stationed there. In no time at all, they were wiped out. She is now on her way back to the facility. The flying fish aliens and the ones with the skin made of hardened bone stood no chance before her. She will be here in a few minutes and I really hate to think what she will do with me should she get back inside. Whatever it is, it isn’t likely to be pleasant. I’ve locked the doors again and reset the fail safe device. I’ve sent the rest of my staff back to Ceria Delith by way of the portal along with my research notes and a model of the infuser. Perhaps someone can continue my work. Perhaps Testa, as long as he survives, can continue. It isn’t safe here any longer. It’s only a matter of time before my former assistant and her new pet will break through the outer door and then I’m likely finished. I merely hope that the people of Ancaria forgive us for the Chaos we’ve unleashed upon the world. And to think I finally learned her name just yesterday… Ker." I remain,

"There's an important clue as to the identity of our Dwarf" Once again, I read the last installment twice over. Missed the important clue as to our Dwarf. “Do you have any suggestions as to who can, theoretically, devise such a device?” Sophia asked “Given the native talents of various species on Ancaria, it would likely be a Dwarf,” TARA replied. These two brief lines of question & answer is all I could drum up...if the clue resides inside. I am blind to the clue. However, it does seem our little dwarf friend, who has an obvious appetite, is far more important than just being the son of the Master Blacksmith. I remain,

Varthorne, in hopes this will aid you further in your quest of the "Technobabe". As described earlier. A varient. Skills: 1. Rev. Tech. Lore 2. Combat Discipline 3. Armor Lore 4. Rev. Tech. Focus 5. Constitution 6. Ancient Magic 7. Sheild Lore 8. Concentration 9. Toughness 10. Warding Energy Lore Mastered Armor Lore, Rev. Tech. Focus & Ancient Magic first. Combat Arts: AW- Salvo, Lock, Vulnerable (boss killer) FN- Impulse, Stun, Flux (mob control) WE (buff)- Projectile Reflection, Magic Mirror, Block (wait until Platinum) BFG (buff)- Enhancement, Enhancement, Accuracy Note: I only cast the BFG buff for the added benefit. Never used the BFG weapon. Find a %LL polearm to use in conjunction with the BFG buff & AW for boss thrashing. Gear: Helmet- Helmet of Insanity (I&B unique) Shoulders, Chest & Waist- Revelation of the Seraphim (set) Arms & Legs- Twilight of the Gods (mini-set) Gloves, Wings & Feet- Endijian's Artifacts (set) Weapon & Sheild: Primary Weapon- Tinwora's Curse Seondary Weapon- %LL Polearm (boss's only) Sheild- Glacial Defender This is not meant to be descriptive. Only serves as a *general* guideline. If you need anymore information. I will be happy to answer any and all questions to the best of my capability. Happy Hunting! I remain,

-26 outside? Good day to be inside and have a fake *cough* cold. Sorry boss, feeling under the weather lately. Promptly fires up good old Sacred 2 start-up once again. I remain, The weather: 31 here, balmy in comparison.

The Avengers circa. 2012 Hulk vs. Loki Best Cinema Fight Scene? No! Best Cinema Thrashing. Yes! I remain, EPIC

Maybe the Mod Team can add that emoticon to our roster? I remain,

BRAINS... "Send more paramedics". Famous movie line from 'The Return of the Living Dead'. circa. 1985 I remain,

I built a very similiar build in mention. A variation. She is currently at level 134. The only reason I mention this information is simple. Character development takes considerable time & investment. The "Technobabe" is a very late bloomer. An advanced build. Most characters I create start to flower at around level 50. Begin a full bloom at level 80. The "Technobabe" really starts to flower around level 80. Then comes into full bloom at around level 100. It is really hard to answer any questions pertaining to your above post. I see alot of early "problems" touched upon...but this is somewhat normal with this type of late bloomer build. Level 34 is in the early stages of R&D. Keep in mind, in theory, the more aspects a character works in, the longer the build takes to show true potential. Knowing this before I started a variation of the "Technobabe". I decided early on to only run in the Rev. Tech. aspect tree. Making room for a lot more defensive skills. Thus, by default also maxing out her damage early. Focusing early on Rev. Tech Lore, Rev. Tech. Focus & the game clincher, Ancient Magic. I have found through experience for any pure caster, Ancient Magic mastered early is key. Mastery at level 75. A true game changer. In only running one aspect tree. I have made this pure caster much more easy to manage. Through experience, I have found running multiple aspects on a late bloomer extremely difficult. Impossible, NO! Much patience required, YES! Much experience, YES! Hope my experience & 2 bits helps you on your quest. I remain,

Thus far. Line of the series. The Green Monster in Boston has nothing on this Home Run. I remain, p.s.~ indeed, I read it twice over. Hence the 2nd post.

Write that in a book! emphasis added. Splashes page with all favorable embelishments of emphasis. Bravo! wolfie. I remain,

And that class is what is known as school! I remain,

The Tunguska Event is a rare, but very important reminder of what can & will most likely happen again according to so-called experts. Location of the event in Siberia Russia. Modern Map. Trees knocked over by the Tunguska blast, as if they where tooth picks. June 30, 1908. Date of event. The Southern Swamp, epicentre. Photo taken in 2008. 100 years later, the forest is still leveled. Flattening 770 square miles of dense forest. Seen by glowing sunsets the globe over. Imagine. Moscow, London, New York City, etc. Tick, Tock. I remain,

Really got into HALO 2 back in the day. Was the last first person shooter I really enjoyed. In fact, I recall a couple controllers becoming useless due to overuse. HALO 2 also had a BFG, the Grenade Launcher. Semi-Auto AR-15. 50 cal. BMG sniper rifle. Duel Wield pistols, 45 ACP, if I remember correctly. 12 guage mossberg pump shotgun. Very fun up close and personal. Point is, if & when the Zombie Apocalypse does come knocking. Anything which can lob lead down field will suffice. Anything is better than a tire iron or 2x4 with nails on one end. I remain,

The Seraphim being immortal. It would be logical to say their DNA is unlike our mortal DNA. Therefore, they may have completely different wiring. A different way of viewing time. What is time to a Seraphim? Time as we know it could be all together different to the vastly long lives the Seraphim endure. A curse in my book, but to the Seraphim, what is a few Elven Empires. Speaking of...I am curious just how long is an Elven Empire? Elves as we all know, also have abnormal long lives. I remain,