Rune_Alchemist

The Zea of Worlds

Not really a fan of posting orders. I find they usually hinder more than they help.

Using common sense and letting people post every few posts after them should be good.

The ECS Stellaria - A Sci-fi Fantasy exploration adventure

"Uhm...but none of us can use magic." Malia replied when the elf commented about his dislike for modern medical practices as they walked. "And erm, ignoring standard protocol is likely going to get you in trouble with Captain Drakath." Druidic magic? While perhaps interesting, and fantastical, it wasn't something he was willing to risk his own life on out here in the vast reaches of space. Not that he really had a say in such matters.

It didn't take long for them to arrive at the crew quarters. The room looked spacious enough, but it was as one might expect, metal and standard military issue. At least it looked roomy enough to potentially add some things too later.

"Thanks," Malia replied cheerily. "Ah, I've been carrying these things all day. Mokthraki are not good at heavy lifting..." He walked into his own room, quickly setting the suitcases down and stretching. "And uh, Malia will do fine, Harisa." He replied, before following her to the briefing room.

---

"Elders, huh?" Erka replied, standing up. "I'll be an 'elder' when I'm old, soft, and can't handle a rowdy humans jabs." Of course, he went ahead and walked through the door to the briefing room. He was curious about meeting the elves and the Mokthraki that was supposed to be their engineer. He'd get to know them later, but for now he walked to the back of the briefing room, taking a position at the back wall and leaning quietly against it as he waited for the others.

---

"He's a quick learner from what I've been told." Kiri replied, stepping into the elevator after Jess. "So he shouldn't be too much of a problem." Pressing the button for the 1st deck, she continued. "I'm more worried that these elves will prove utterly useless. Issiliandria is...palatable at best, but I have no knowledge of the other two. From what I've seen so far though...I am sorely unimpressed." She sighed as the elevator stopped its descent from the top deck, stepping off the Elevator. "They're like children - worse, even compared to Myrkith children. A Myrkith child understands basic self defense by age ten!" She harrumphed grumpily. Truthfully, if they got into trouble, she'd have to consider cutting their losses.

And the elves were quite expendable in her opinion.

The Zea of Worlds

And a post from me.
Was going to write more, but I ran out of time.

I'll describe the crash and get people moving in my next one~

The Zea of Worlds

~~The Eventide~~

Ah...

Such a beautiful sea...

The nebulae! Such bright colors she had no name for! Oh yes, there was the standard fares of reds, blues, and greens, but so many others! Ah, it almost hurt her eyes! The presence of black, the vast expanse of space and the tiny twinkling of stars beyond were there as well. Ah, it reminded her of that time she had accidentally almost got sucked into the Twilight Void when she was a child, messing around with things better left to myth.

But those weren't the things that drew the Ebon's attention. No, it was everything else. Such odd impossible phenomena! A flower with a mountain the size of a planet! Gears, chugging and floating, producing the Sel'Chroma's light! Ah, no, the light wasn't there's but someone else's. No matter, it was of no concern to the Ebon then.

And then...there was something else. The persistent feeling of being watched.

"Captain!"

"Ah, such a voyeur! Ah, such a passionate gaze! If you want to see my darkest pits, all you must do is ask, little watcher!" Shael giggled brightly, blatantly ignoring the tension in the air as their ship careened through this space that she had not a name for. A cursory examination of the instruments proved futile. They could read nothing. Not their position in the galaxy, and their comms could not reach any communication relays.

"Jester Sallatha! We've lost near complete control of the ship! Life support offline, power and shields failing-"

"A-ah, little Ebon." She interrupted. "Stating the obvious is no good. Remaining power to shields! Tell the Magisters to pool their energy and strengthen it!"

"Affirmative!" The crew in the bridge began quickly rerouting all power they could to the shielding systems, a quick and sharp order in their own ethereal native tongue was barked over the intercoms.

"Hmmhmmhmhmm~" She began humming a jaunty little tune to herself as she gracefully moved across the floor, moving out of the bridge and down the hallways of the smaller 'corvette' class ship, sprinting quickly with long, swift steps. The people were expendable. What she needed to do was ensure the protection of the food stuffs and science equipment. As long as they had that, they could survive practically anywhere. It was fine, they were going to have casualties no matter what. Less mouths to feed...or so she told herself. A captain didn't have the luxury of saving everyone.

Of course, it didn't stop the other Ebon's from running around like the sun was falling on them. Bad when that happened, indeed, the escape vessels were all jammed and busted. As the ship careened to that rocky planetoid, it was either going to be their grave or new home. She intended to make sure if it was the latter, it wouldn't turn into the former.

The ship rocked as a wave of fire crashed into the ship, causing her to stumble only briefly as she acrobatically rolled with the rocking motions, making her way to the science portion. An odd sense of protection seemed to invade her mind. Something trying to save them? Oho, well, she couldn't let this good will go to waste, no! She wasn't such a skilled arts user like the President was - there was no way she could envelop the entire ship, but she could at least protect this small part of it as best she could.

The ship crashed through a solid stone wall - causing most of the crew trying to keep the ship under control a shout of surprise as it proved to be an illusion. Glancing through a window as the ship careened, and completely unfazed by the chance of death - this wouldn't be her first dance with it, after all.

She had only a little time - ah, she wondered if she was going to make it?

Leaping through the doors, scaring the living twilight out of one of the Ebon, she clapped her hands together - and the small portion of the science bay became wreathed in the soft embrace of the twilight, before slamming into the planet below.

I, the Demon King, Will Summon My Own Damned Heroes!

~The cavern~

---

"...well someone's been enjoying himself." Ash mused. "Feeling better? It likely would have tasted better cooked somewhat, but we didn't have the luxury. I'm glad to see you feeling better." Naji certainly did quickly fill his stomach, didn't he? She glanced over the goblin corpses, eyeing them curiously before turning to the Wisp that was with him. "A friend of yours?" She asked bluntly. It didn't seem hostile, but she didn't get to inquire further as something mildly unexpected happened.

As Reoth finally made his presence known, Ash swiftly turned to her new...ally, Colchain, as he hissed in alarm. Firstly making sure he hadn't just been attacked, Ash quickly took a few steps towards the lizard. Seeing the collar fall off of his neck though, made any fears unjustified. The lizard gave what appeared to be a thankful gesture of some sort, but did little else.

"...hello, I take it you are human as well?" She asked. He had freed the lizard, so that was a logical conclusion. More importantly though - Scott seemed to be feeling a little bad about not being able to help.

"Don't worry, Scott. We're all alive, and at least have a source of food for the day." She walked over to the goblin corpses. "I can't make fire, but we could carry some of their meat back with us. I have a small camp I made with a friend nearby. Relatively out of the way and Naji could rest there." Climbing on top of the goblin corpse, Ash took a few chunks of meat from its body with her jaws, chewing and swallowing before turning her head and hissing at Colchain to do the same. Might be awhile before they hunt again, after all.

Inventory

Throat Pouch:
- 1x Mana crystal
- 1x healing stone
- 3x empty slots.
Rawhide Backpack
- 5 slots

Current party

Dominated Fanged Lizard - Colchain

The ECS Stellaria - A Sci-fi Fantasy exploration adventure

"Hmph. Thank you, Sir Heartcheer." Malia dusted off his dress with his four hands, hovering a few feet away from the human before setting down. "One doesn't need culture to build a ship. Have you seen those bulky heaps of scrap metal the Myrkith build?" Malia straightened a few strands of his white, flurry hair. "And you'll be quite wrong, if you think I don't mind getting a little dirty. I know my basic Myrkith technologies...the Myrkith military doesn't take people who don't have some skill." He paused, black eyes scanning over the engineering bay. He had a few uniforms for this, but he wasn't entirely sure about a 'tank top' or 'overalls'. He was told to wear standard issue things while on the job, but that didn't mean during down time he couldn't enjoy his normal clothes.

"A-ahem...anyways..." His face reddened again. "...crew quarters?" He questioned quietly, hefting his four suitcases. She had offered to help him find them earlier, after all.

---

"Myrkith just use live practice drills." Erka chuckled. "They think using live ammunition during training is good practice. There's a few rules, and medics area always on standby, but there are accidents." It was no secret part of the reason he was likely here, was to test how well the humans military training methods were. For all their talk of wanting to ally themselves, they still had mostly selfish reasons for playing nice, after all.

---

"Oh," Kiri's eyes widened in slight surprise at the news of Jess' Dads death. She herself was never particularly close with them, or her own parents for that matter. Most Myrkith didn't linger on such a thing as death too much. It was a fact of life, after all. "I see...well, better to have no regrets about leaving." She mused, offering a small smile to Jess. "And I am glad to have you here...between you, Erka, and Issiliandria, perhaps we'll actually accomplish something."

"Now then..." Sliding the headset over her head, she pressed the button over the comms. "This is Captain Drakath speaking. I thank you all for coming here today. I trust everyone is ready and packed for the mission at hand. If you will all make your way to the briefing room on the first deck, we shall begin preparations for leaving." Silencing the headset, she turned back to Jess and her question.

"Well...I think he's someone you should meet yourself." Her mouth turned into a smirk. "I've only met him briefly once when he was first selected for this position, but he's quite the character. Fairly skilled, considering his background...though unfamiliar with human tech so he may need a little guidance at first." She motioned to the elevator. "After you, Jess."

The Zea of Worlds

Ya know
Actually, the Consortium would love to meet an AI and learn how he was made for exploitation purposes.

They'd want to be friends with everyone, so they can then proceed to insert the wonders of unrestrained ~Capitalism!~ and ~Beuracracy!~ into their beliefs! Tallyho, good people!

more seriously.

Their first course of action is going to study everything about this fun new planet and its inhabitants. They will try to make friends with everyone, since violence isn't something they're suited too usually.

The Zea of Worlds

Well I'm up for Shael to run into anyone first.

Just be prepared for her special brand of shenanigans.

The Zea of Worlds

Shael

Name:
'Jester' Shael'Sallatha

Species:
Sel'Ebon

Age:
63

Source:
Original

Appearance Description:
Standing at a tall, graceful 6'5, Shael is fairly average as far as her own species goes. Weighing in at just 100lbs even, Shael is a lanky, but graceful if not physically adept creature. Though hardly ever seen, her skin is the color of obsidian, with bright blue eyes. Normally seen wearing simple, regal clothing reminiscent of what one might call a 'jester'. She has long, unusually styled white hair with ornaments braided into it. It's hard to tell where her clothing ends and the skin begins.

Personality:
Evasively playful, and needlessly wordy would be a good way to describe Shael upon first impression. Indeed, she does her job of being a jester well, often replying with witty and mildly sarcastic remarks, poking fun at others and herself. Otherwise friendly and chatty though, she'll always be up for idle banter and doesn't take things too seriously.

Like most of the Ebon Consortium, she is always looking for information, understanding mysteries, and other academic and scholarly pursuits. She has a healthy curiosity about her and loves learning about almost anything, no matter what it is. This can often get her into some odd or otherwise not exactly helpful situations as she has a tendency to do whatever she wants.

Backstory:
Born and raised on the Solar Synchronous planet of Sal'Xanits, within the territory of the Ebon Consortium, Shael has never been anything special compared to the rest of the Ebon. But perhaps that's what makes her more useful or rather, more skillful than her kin to have once attained the position of Adviser to the President. She has trained most of her life in matters of diplomacy, state affairs, and even military tactics, but her main role has always been as always, to study, advise, and ensure the Presidents well being - until she quit.

It wasn't until a group of human explorers came to their planet did they themselves gain an interest in the stars. After a brief, but otherwise successful exchange and quelling of a rebellion by two other species that inhabit the planet, they built their own star ship and set off to explore. Enthralled by the humans technology and with a thirst for knowledge, Shael left the Presidents side and with command of her own ship, was ordered to catalog anything she came across in the galaxy.

Power section

Skills:
Academic:
A wide type skill that encompasses many academic, scientific, and scholarly pursuits. Shael has studied everything from physics, biology, and other similar scientific pursuits. Can reasonably understand and figure out most physical phenomena, even those relating to magical 'sciences'. As after all, magic is just phenomena not yet documented or understood by science.

Diplomat/Negotiator:
Oddly charismatic, Shael has a tendency to say what is needed to both get a point across and allow two different parties to come to a mutual understanding. After all, violence is not conducive to proper scientific study...save for when it is.

Sel'Ebon Arts:
While not really suited to fighting, the Ebon do have some forms of martial arts for self defense. It focuses more on quick, elegant moves, acrobatic maneuvers and avoiding physical confrontations. The Ebon are naturally flexible and while physically frail, are quick witted and not entirely pushovers as one might expect. However, even so, their physical strength is still lacking and rely on their more 'magical' abilities to win confrontations.

Otherworldly Chef:
Was a skilled cook. However, she is not used to human ingredients, and as such, you should likely not eat anything she makes with them.

Traits:
Flexibility & Agility:
At times, it can seem like the Sel'Ebon have no bones, with how gracefully and how unnaturally they can seem to move with impossible feats of acrobatics. It stems from a natural flexibility, and a bone structure that is incredibly light and has more joints and muscles designed for agility than the human skeleton.

Mental Fortitude:
Although many times it can seem as though Shael is not taking things seriously or focused, one should keep in mind she was the Presidents adviser and isn't easily manipulated and will not crack under pressure. Most Sel'Ebon share this trait, as their inherent physical weakness means most choose to sharpen their minds.

Physical Weakness:
To put simply, she's not a bastion of physical strength. The Ebon are not a physically inclined species, always relying on their more esoteric, mental, and negotiating skills to solve problems. She can barely lift 20lbs without straining herself. Likewise, her bone structure is not designed to take any sort of extreme trauma and she could be injured fairly easily.

Quick Learner:
All Sel'Ebon have a natural capacity to understand many things ranging from math, science, philosophies - you can always expect one to pick up on new information presented to the quite easily.

Powers:
Crepusculum Codex:
The planet Sal'Xanits is a curious thing full of many rare happenstances that most planets would only have one of. Solar Synchronous orbit. Three different, yet similar forms of sentient and intelligent life. An abundance of a rare otherworldly mineral that allows these almost ethereal, fey like people to live comfortably. All forms of life on this planet can tap into this natural energy in some way. The Sel'Ebon call theirs the 'Twilight Codex'. A book of skills and otherworldly effects that can be performed by drawing on this power.

Crepusculum Codex:

Ars IV, Vell Visus - A simple spell that allows one to see in low light conditions.

Ars XXXIII, Falsa Aurorae - A spell that creates false copies of the wielder. While they have no substance, it is difficult to detect them through normal means using the five senses. Other methods may be marginally more successful if they can differentiate energy/magic from physical beings.

Ars XII, Crepusculum Occultat - A spell designed to minimize ones presence. Does not offer true invisibility, but rather it's a sort of cognition inhibitor. It creates a cloak around one that simply makes it more difficult for people to consciously recognize a persons existence. Could walk down a street in broad daylight and not have people notice.

Ars XIII, Opacare Vell - A spell designed for defensive purposes. Puts a barrier around them that lasts so long as the user focuses. Strength varies, but is often sufficient for most medium and small arms fire and trauma.

Ars XXV, Do Framea - An offensive spell that is made of spears of Twilight. A simple but fairly powerful art with surprisingly good penetrating power. Her most often used offensive spell simply for its versatility and effectiveness.

Ars XXVIII, Gloam Aqua - Both a utility and offensive spell. Summons a ball of dusk-kissed water to be used in various ways. The cooling waters can be used to cleanse the body, heal poisons, and invigorate the drinker. Yet, it can also be used as a weapon if enough is manipulated. Manipulating enough for large scale fighting however, is quite difficult and draining.

Ars I: Finis - An art that is technically forbidden, and was the first one developed by the first of the Sel'Ebon. Summoning a powerful singularity, it will begin to suck in nearly anything around it until the user closes it or its void has been filled. Incredibly dangerous to use, and the user can easily loose control of it. Said to have been used by an old hero to swallow a sun, and secure the Sel'Ebons dominance on their planet. Things sucked into the singularity will be drawn into a twilight lit void that is difficult to escape from.

Equipment:
N/A

Eventide

Ship name:
Eventide

Origin:
Ebon Consortium

Captain:
Jester Shael'Sallatha

Size:
Corvette - recon class.

Source of Long range Travel:
Standard Magitech wormhole tunnel. Creates a wormhole to jump from point A to point B.

Offensive Modules:
Several magitech laser batteries and a smaller Railgun.

Defensive Modules:
Like their creators, they are designed to be sleek and fast, with an emphasis on maneuverability. While its physical structure is lacking, it makes up for it in some fairly durable magic-assisted shielding. Has a chameleon camouflage, but requires the ship to move slowly to be effective, as well as the shields can be used to deflect traditional radars from detecting it at cost of effectiveness.

Original Crew:
25

How any Crew remain:
13, including Shael.

Ebon Consortium

Name:
Ebon Consortium

Origin:
Sal'Xanits, Ebon Consortium

Population:
13 left of the Eventide

Important Members:
Jester Shael'Sallatha

Available Gear:
- Energy Rifles, carried by every crew member. Some destroyed in crash, perhaps salvageable.
- Military Grade 3D Printer. Put raw materials and blueprints in, completed product comes out. Slightly damage, but still usable.
- 5 Obsidian-grade military suits.

Resources:
- Various scientific and research equipment of physical and magical nature.
- Stores of food for a few months. Most were saved from harm during the crash.
- munition for rifles

Knowledge:
A plethora of intact databases on the ship regarding many scientific topics.
The ability to both teach and refine magical things, should one have capacity for it
The ability to read and interact with otherwise magical things

The ECS Stellaria - A Sci-fi Fantasy exploration adventure

"Tiring? Only for extended periods." Malia replied, scrunching his face up in thought. "You'll have to ask one of the other two, though. I'm not some...scientist. I'm a musician - err, and an engineer. Sorta - eeep!" Before he could continue that line of thought however, Harisa wrapped her arms around his midsection, pulling him from the air and into her arms. Ooh, it was kind of nice being held like this. For a few seconds he simply sat there, letting Harisa run her hand over her head before realizing it was both embarrassing, and giving him a bad image.

"Ack!" He gave a sudden shout, making a few more annoyed sounding grunts as he struggled in Harisa's grasp, face as red as a tomato once again. "Harassment! Haaaaaraaaassment!" Ah, humans were indeed terrifying, weren't they? "Lemme gooo you uncultured brute!" Oh, how inelegant this was. Letting a human do whatever she wanted to with him. He pouted angrily, looking over the the elf. "Y-you! Elf! Tell this human to release me at once!"

---

"Camouflage?..." Erka paused, turning his head. Really, then? For a few moments the Antathlon looked like he was going to comment before he quietly turned back to his pre-flight checking. "You humans come up with some interesting things." He finally commented, using two of his arms to press a few buttons, alternating the power and checking the wings. "You wouldn't see that on most Myrkith tech, you're right. Most are too caught up in charging in head first and blowing a hole in the front door." He chuckled. "Works most of the time."

His tone of voice through his suit seemed to indicate he perhaps had a slightly negative view of that method, but he didn't seem keen on commenting more.

---

"Lover? Ha!" Kiri laughed heartily, brushing off some dust from the dark blue uniform. "I have no interest in such a...permanent relationship. You of all people should know that, Jess." She mused, sliding the button up uniform over her body. It was easy enough to fit, and made from the finest Mokthraki silks. "I've mostly been learning different elvish cultures and customs, like I told you before I left. You know how rigid Myrkith thought can be sometimes." She buttoned the last button on the uniform and pulled down the collar. She walked over and grabbed the black pants that were thrown haphazardly onto the bed.

"If we don't adjust our thought slightly to understand others at least a little, we'll make a lot of enemies." She quickly pulled the pants over her chitinous legs, having only a little trouble getting the fabric over a few of her more pointy bits. "I was decided as the best candidate for that after my service in the war." Kiri sighed, not sounding entirely impressed with that prospect as she collected her boots. "No matter, though. That's what I signed up for after I joined the military." Strapping her boots to her feet, she took one last look in the mirror. Satisfied with her appearance, she turned back to Jess.

"I trust you have been well since we last saw each other?" Kiri asked, amber eyes flashing with obvious interest as she picked up the headset she had used earlier to speak with the elves. "No reservations about leaving for unknown parts of the universe? Home will always be just a short jump away with the wormhole generator you humans have, but we won't have time for luxury trips often."