Campaign: Ticking Clock - Dispatch

Archivist's note:

It my be interesting to the student of Amicae history, that despite the controversy surrounding the Usurption in the Combine Era, Amrunrosse was given command over the Vigiles military forces during one of Brangwyn's many torpors.

Records from what is referred to as the Ticking Clock campaign, in the Age of Veeshan, are remarkably complete, and nearly stand on their own merit as a testament of the motives and tactics in that period.

---

::: Urgent Dispatch :::

Need-to-Know

To:

~~~redacted~~~

Follow-up repoort on suspect Veset dal' Glennil, alleged do'Velahr

Suspect sighted within last 42 hours, Jade Tiger tavern, North Freeport. Suspect seen in company with Hyrokon D'Arkoth - minor Nerian nobility and trading house, on alleged diplomatic mission. Personal guard was dismissed to unspecified duties in the city on verbal orders. D'Arkoth seen accompanying suspect to Jade Clinic and Operating Theatre. Suspect seen briefly in public taproom shortly after, unaccompanied.

D'Arkoth has not been seen since.

Personal guards intercepted, bringing letter to proprietor, Julia. Surrendered written orders received after D'Arkoth's dissapearance. Evidence being held by agent on site, Baarca Schuemakkar.

Vigiles forces mobilizing now, siege equipped. Expected to make landfall on D'lere within six hours. Rendezvous in the Jade court. Suspect assumed hostile, hostage situation.

Recommend specialists with mental shielding.

-F. Amrunrosse, Interim Commander of Vigiles Military Corps

- - - - -

We do not prefer to engage M.'s forces directly - pray we arrive before he can. D'Arkoth is a trained dreadnaught, estimated power potential devastating.
-Flo

From the eleventh volume of The Lives: Multum Mendacis

Archivist's note:

This particular letter is unusually short for the subject, who was widely known for his prolific correspondence and varied publications. Although it is not directly related to the overt campaign which the Vigiles launched shortly after the date of this letter, it may provide the reader some of the context in which that campaign was executed.

For further consideration of the Second Usurption, the avid student may refer to the wealth of primary material available in the Apocryphal Journals, as well as the excellent four-volume Lives: Caduceatoris, and of course, the several chronicles specific to the campaign.

Although undated, the passionate entries in the Apocryphal Journals referring to this letter indicate that this message was received an astounding twenty-four hours after the retreat from - and subsequent critical failure of the engine core of - the Vigilant, on 17 Blossoming of Fenin Ro in the Age of Veeshan.

---

My dearest F. Amrunrosse

It pains me to hear of your current loss. I am left wondering what I might have been able to do to help stay the hand of fate - alas, that life does not work so!

I am all too familiar with what must be a trying time for you and your little band of soldiers. As such, I open my arms in the name of our Great Goddess to you, and extend the protection She offers to all in your band of freedom fighters.

Come. Find rest. Find healing. The Praetor Ariahdnia would not want you to grieve so.

Archbishop Marconis Fiac

Nearly Midnight News, May 8th

*steps up to a pile of dust and sighs* 

"You know, I might just have to clean that myself. Maybe I should have just taken a disinfecting wipe to it or something… But the burning was pretty neat..."

*shuffles a few papers*

"Well, anyways. Welcome to the Nearly Midnight News, April Fools Edition!"

Kaimos tells rplfg, "finally"

"Er...May Flowers Edition? TIME! WITH WEATHER! That may and may not be snow. I am your anchorette, Folodu Amrunrosse. And I have very little planned tonight, which is not much dissimilar from most nights!"

Karreth tells rplfg, "Along with Smarch, we now have the month: May-not"

"May-not? How am I supposed to work that in the calendar? Maybe it has twelve days, and I pull some from Frostfell… Add an hour to November… And draw smiley faces on October. There! Good as new!"

"In tonight's news, we have a shocking case of Dragon Love brought to light!"

"It seems, what with the cities being held under siege for so long, a few of the more impressionable minded have taken a slight liking to our oppressive Dragon regime."

"This phenomena, known as Dragon-Bubble Stockholm Syndrome (how it's Stockholm, when there is no Stockholm in Norrath, we may never know), has been observed in a large portion of people who, for some reason, refer to themselves as "Furry", regardless of the dragons not having fur at all, and usually they don't either!"

Ikro tells rplfg, "No no, we are scalies. Do your research!"
Saireena tells rplfg, "that is, basically, true"

"In the words of one prominent cultist, "We are Scalies! Hisss!" Mind you, they were hissing with a non-forked tongue. And also, there was some mention of a Temeraire, though it was like speaking Gnoll to me."

Ikro tells rplfg, "Iksar do not have forked tongues either."
Hyalit tells rplfg, "Iksars got blue tongues don't they!"

"Hey, who's doing the news here? We don't need to facts for News! We just need a fifth of whiskey and some dice… and a new dartboard."

Ikro tells rplfg, ":P"
Saireena tells rplfg, "is this a Fox subsidiary? it must be"

"And maybe a spot of coffee? Venti caramel macchiato with a side of coffee."

Corydonn tells rplfg, "What have I logged in to."
Hyalit tells rplfg, "Will they have blue fox furries in the new expac?"

"So anyways! Scalies! Probably better for you than Scabies, but I imagine the itching is still present."

"In further news, Norrath experienced quite a shock yesterday when everyone lost consciousness for something called an "Update". I feel no better informed, but at least my hand no longer looks like a bat wing."

Karreth tells rplfg, "lol"

"For those who have experienced this or other such problems, they are unique experiences, and it really is just you, you freaks. Don't bother seeking a counsellor. They wont understand. It's best just to give all your money it the NMN staff so that we can afford research."

"Or at least a picture book so we can tell what kind of tongue iksar have. Not that it comes up often, mind you."

"So, money. Send it. Your life will have meaning again. Maybe."

Ikro tells rplfg, "Rounded tip, very long. Iksar can lick their eyes to clean them."

"Elsewhere on Norrath, NMN staffers were creeped out when an iksar licked their own eye."

Xiathe tells rplfg, "Just the tip."
Alupia tells rplfg, "(LOL)"
Kaimos tells rplfg, "delicious"

"There is nothing else to report, and this incident seems limited to a few social graces that have not been instilled. Like when Kerra lick themselves in public."

Ikro tells rplfg, "And here I was going to be nice.."
Karrha tells rplfg, "That's for your edification."

"Or Koada get all high and holier-than-thou. Or when Teir torture their little brother. Which totally is the same thing, but a little different."

Fendrigal tells rplfg, "I'm sure everyone tortures their little brothers..."

"...Probably."

Alupia tells rplfg, "My little brothers happen to -like- when I torture them. Of course they are also Koada'dal... hmm… My family is very twisted."

"Moving on! In further news, a new bar is going to be openning...what, in a little over a week? It will be called the Harpy, and the proprietor expects very large tips in the form of coins."

"I am possibly getting some kick-backs to say that. So tip good or you will continue to suffer the Wrath of the News. Also, it's very classy in there, and suits us soldiers quite well."

"So look for the Harpy in a week!"

"In other, more personal news… It rained, and a bunch of snails came out. I have here about a pound and a half in a couple jars."

Coribyn tells rplfg, "What...no earthworms?"
Susana tells rplfg, "I took the earthworms already."

"I'll probably have to put a picture on the RM forums..."

Susana tells rplfg, "They're fantastic for mash."
Kaimos tells rplfg, "please, no more pinworms"
Coribyn tells rplfg, "Oh, i see"

"Because it's seriously kind of creepy, how their little eyestalks are all moving and waving about."
"And as I opened the door, I disturbed a nest of sparrows, and my idiot failcat ran out and snatched one out of midair! and ran off with it."

Xiathe tells rplfg, "That sounds like the opposite of failing to me."

"A cat that can’t jump 17 inches onto a couch. Yea, he's an idiot savant. More idiot than savant."

Kaimos tells rplfg, "surely to give it a ride home?"

"Probably. To a very eternal home."

Fendrigal tells rplfg, "*starts a release the snails petition followed by picketing with signs*"

*starts an escargot club*

"In weather tonight, it's... dear gods, I don't want to look. The paper is going to say snowing in Thurgadin. It -always- says snowing in Thurgadin!"

*looks*

“...raining littler frogs in Feerrott. Well. there is a change of pace."

Xiathe tells rplfg, "Let's talk about the weather in the only place that matters. Neriak."

"Neriak will continue to experience eternal night until they get their collective Teir heads straight and move somewhere where there is sun. Like Maj’Dul."

Alupia tells rplfg, "*hisses*"
Xiathe tells rplfg, "But Maj'dul is bright. And ugly. And smelly. And not dark."

"Also, that will take care of their little vampire problem."

Alupia tells rplfg, "We are not a problem. We are population control… *smirks*"
Vaelenn tells rplfg, "But vampires are hot without the sun."

"NMN! Solving societal problems one city at a time!"

Susana tells rplfg, "Neriak needs population control like Norrath needs another sundering. Have you seen how vacant these places are? The sparse NPC population is appalling."
Kaimos tells rplfg, "i want riotous crowds!!!"

"And now to an expert on vampires, Field Agent Folodu! "

"Thank you! We have vampires! A whole slew of them in the Faydark! Well, a little less than before, after a few adventurers went into the castle."

Xiathe tells rplfg, "Now THAT'S population control."
Kaimos tells rplfg, "vampires are just doing the jobs others wont do"

"I think they went to give Mayong a gift basket."

Vaelenn tells rplfg, "OF PAIN!"

"It had water, and some kindling. And someone brought a pound of rice. Which no one could figure out why! Back to you!"

Kaimos tells rplfg, "sounds like a wedding"

"Wow, adventurers are weird!"

"Further upcoming events include Pay It Forward and the ... What is it, Faydwer Faire? The one where they have all the cupcakes and fae flying around singing Kum By Ah?”

“Nothing serious to report there. News is for maiming."

"Of which, tonight in sports, we saw the Thundermist Centaurs versus the Splitpaw Gnolls for a rousing game of "Kill as many as you can"!"

Coribyn tells rplfg, "*mumbles* why would anyone want to cook Mayong some rice...he would not give them enough time to do so anyways"

"While the game is still going strong, the crowd favorite tonight, the Gnolls, have arranged a cheer leading squad. Come out and see it! But not too closely, as I have heard Gnolls have Plague. And are ugly."

"Thank you for tuning in. I was your anchorette, Folodu Amrunrosse. And now I'm on a horse!"

Report: Taitos Erikson

Incident Report:

8 Blossoming, Fenin Ro, Veeshan

Attn:

Council, Senators, Tribunes

*

Location:

Jasmine Blossom Tea House, Mara

Regarding:

Follow-up on request for audience, Taitos Erikson

*

From:

Equites Amrunrosse 

*

Attachments:

initiation request form

---

I was recently contacted by the aforementioned male human in regards to the Declaration. This is the same that sent out informants attempting to get my attention recently from Halas.

I set a meeting in Mara, with Vigiles Karrha and Foederatti Kerrath assigned as guards.

Taitos sought the veracity of my claims, and seems filled with fury that such a being as Marconis can exist.

His primary motivation seems to be justice. 

I offered to welcome among the ranks, and he first reacted like he hadn't even considered allies. He accepted quite gladly. He has no oaths as yet to the Amicae.

I used my scape stone to pull us both to the hall and see to his room, as he had just gotten off the ship and went straight to waiting for me. 

He has not yet asked about his friend in Maj'Dul.

Survey of Norrathian History: The Age of Refuge

(( Technically, a portrait of Rokovon:
but seems like it might make a good frontispiece. ))

Survey of Norrathian History

A Neutral Account, Written for the Beginning Student 

by

Archivist Threadcutter

*

The Age of Refuge: The First of Our Own Ages

*

In the early days of the Age of the Shattering, the seas were riotous with tempest and thick with hungry drakes. No ship dared go more than half a day from the shore, and in those shallows lay the wreckage of the rent lands. As many fishing boats snarled on the ruins of lost towers as they did on reefs and rocks.

What survived of Qeynos was besieged by gnolls, and rabid, starving wildlings, and their own unquiet dead. The lawless and unlettered moved among them, smuggling contraband into the city, and stealing goods and people from it. Trade was chancy at best: every merchant that would make the attempt overland hired mercenary guards to defend them, for the Queen's armies were stretched thin already holding the city alone.

Freeport fared little better: the city's farms became a desert, and the orcs lay siege to the walls. They toppled the outer walls, and the city struggled to feed itself, caught between the unceasing waves of the orcs, the predations of unwashed bandits, and the ravenous unbound dead. The Overlord opened Citizenship to any soul who would swear to the city's defense, and created a new class of Overseers to rebuild the armies.

Between the riven contents of Karan and D'Lere, lies the Sea of Refuge. Though in the early days after the shattering it was fraught with tempests, they were shorter and less fierce than in the other seas. The sea claimed no few ships, but some of the souls, the sea gave back. Thousands washed ashore the islands and the mainlands, bereft of home and memory.

It was in these days that the Far Seas Trading Company was established. Initially the Far Seas was beholden to and permitted within neither remaining city, but had permissions to land at the colonies of both. They built an empire on ferrying supplies to ill-provisioned colonial outposts, and selling refugees to the commanders of the same.

Representatives of the Company were posted in two places along the Coldwind coastline: by the Antonican lighthouse and the Thundering Steppes docks. Along the Tempest coast of D'Lere, the Company was in tight competition with the Blackshield for the use of the outlying harbors, and relied instead on overland caravans from the Crossroads trade outpost to the treacherous pirate port at the Naythex beachhead. The Company maintains liaisons in these places even today, though the areas are pacified - almost civilized, compared to the days of Refuge.

Even in the chaos of the time, there remained some small settlements outside the great cities, and many of the martial, arcane, or mystical orders which had an establishment in relative seclusion chose to remain there despite the danger. Many of these, of course, fell to the ongoing tremors, the depredations of wild beasts, savage races, or the unquiet dead. Those who remained often signed treaties of fealty to the nearest City, and received a detachment of the regular army to protect them. Others relied on their ability to hire passing sell-swords and explorers to defend them or fetch supply.

It is difficult to convey to the modern reader how incredibly perilous the world was in this Age. The relative peace which is now enjoyed the world over was bought at great cost by generations of blood, and legions of elite heroes. The Reader who now shelters behind the great force-shields against the attack of the Awakened may well scoff at the idea that they live in an age of peace, but the heroes of the Age of Refuge would likewise be amazed to see drakes only in small pockets of the world, and it is unlikely that even a sight of any one of today's bustling harbors would convince them that the sea-lanes are well and truly open.

In this time, the Ulteran spire network was entirely shattered, and what powers it had once drawn upon were in such flux that even had the arcanists of the day recovered some fragment of how to work upon them, they would have been unlikely to survive any attempt to touch them. It is generally agreed by historians that the nexus storms were in many cases catalysts for the storms and tremors that manifested in the physical world, and may have lent a mad sort of strength to the savage races of the day, at the cost of course, of whatever sanity they might have once possessed.

It has been theorized that the savages have since been irreparably damaged in their blood by the chaos of that age, and their strength further diluted by excessive inbreeding. Various tribes were as isolated from one another as the outlying civilized settlements, with none of the natural advantages which our own peoples posses.

Likewise, the mystical circle-roads were impassable in this time. Some ruins of the original Gates remained, but though contemporary memoirs suggest they retained some resonance of their former glory, they were no more than nostalgic landmarkers during the Age of Refuge. Nor were all of them even discovered: like the ruins of the old spires, there were fragments scattered across the known world, and other pieces which were not discovered for generations after.

What little translocation and stasis magic did function in this era was exceptionally limited. Living creatures could only be moved a few leagues, and at great personal cost to the caster. Contemporary accounts indicate this cost was so great that it was indeed preferable to maintain a riding beast and remount string rather than rely on the mere possibility that such a limited Gate would function at need. The most common use of these limited magics at the time was by the various courier companies which together composed the world-spanning Post. Nothing larger than a single cubit could be sent by post at all, and the magical cost of maintaining the letters and parcels in such stasis was significant at the time. In many cases, it was cheaper to hire a physical courier for such work, and there is strong evidence that such work comprised at least a quarter of the work done by free-lance bonded mercenaries.

The chaos of the outlands was so extreme during this age, in fact, that securing food for the cities was a significant logistical problem. The fertile land in Karan yielded more, of course, but the variety was severely curtailed by what could be grown quickly in that climate, and brought to the city for preservation. Exorbitant tariffs and trade restrictions were put in place by the Queen and the ruling council against all foreign food and drink: the proceeds were funneled directly to that portion of the Army which oversaw the planting and harvest in Antonica itself.

D'Lere, of course, has always been a harsher sort of country, especially after the irrigation system in the commons was destroyed by the catastrophic events following the Shattering. Early attempts to militarize planting and harvest proved disastrous, and led to the loss of three outlying districts of the City itself to the invading orc tribes. Shortly after that, the Overlord began issuing letters of marque to ships as well as land companies, and these were written in such broad strokes as to legalize the seizure of ships, wagons, artifacts, and provisions from any "Enemy of the State" for any cause whatsoever. Enemies of the State remain loosely defined to this day as any citizen of a foreign power not currently in formal alliance, or treasonous citizen of Freeport itself.

Mercenary companies who did well on these ongoing supply raids were the first to be tapped for more targeted work: rogue arcanists, revanent epidemics, drake nests, savage warleaders, lesser wyrms, and the reopening of trade routes. The Reader who is interested in the histories of individual companies will find few official histories from this period, but it was not uncommon for officers of these companies to keep personal memoirs.

Those who were lucky enough to live to something like a retirement age often published revised versions of these as entertainment: the taste of the time tended toward such things, and they were read in much the same spirit as the patently fictitious, sensational "confessions" and wonder-tales of the day. No formal exercise of history was practiced at that time, and there is little evidence that the reading public discerned, or even had concern for, the distinction between fact and fiction in the chronicles of their age.

It leaves us, therefore, with a curious but sensational muddle, to tease out the threads of truth and bombast from one another as we attempt to reconstruct the details of the age which had so much to do with how our own was formed.

Report: To the Council, Regarding potential ally of Marconis

Incident report 

5 Blossoming in the Year of Fenin Ro in the Age of Veeshan

At: 

Soulfire club

Regarding: 

new meeting, Veset, a potential ally of Marconis

From:

Equites Amrunrosse

I attended the Soulfire Club initially as an official Priestess of Bristlebane on the night listed. It seems to have recovered from what hold the Great Prankster had on it, save there was a sentient Billy that wanted a story.

It was after the doll was sent away that a young, rough, androgynous woman joined me, commenting on being called Professor by Euryale. She said the Boss never used that title for me before.

The woman refused to reveal who the Boss was, and I employed a staff member of the Soulfire to assist in this.

Needless to say, I have only suspicion.

However, I did see the woman leave with a fae, and after explaining to the staff why I wanted to know who the Boss was, after some confusion, I found the fae was sibling of a sort to Koural, who is daughter to Ginneve. Also in attendance was Amaury and Vezzexx, a monk and Necromancer in training.

I lead the trio to the clinic listed as Veset's and stayed out of sight. The fae was recovered, though Koural seems to have been bespelled and claimed weakness and exhaustion. I had us retreat, still not learning who the Boss is.

We went back to their stronghold, where I gave some instruction to Vezzexx to attempt to heal Koural. I left before I could ensure she was fine, but the healing was going well.

Before leaving the Soulfire, I left word with Veset that I would await her Boss on Lucan's Mount. I am observing the area, and requesting back up in case it is as I fear.

Selections from: Notes on Diverse Magicka - Kenetica

Notes on Diverse Magicka

by

Legatus Pax Sytan Fiac

---

Author's note:

This is a series dedicated to informing those with limited or non-extant abilities in arcana on the various forms of magic and their uses. This is not intended as an in depth study, nor does it go into all details. For many, the usage of leylines or nodes will never manifest, nor will the finesse to guide the blood magicka explicitly.

This discourse will cover the concepts of similarities and differences among the branches, and peel back some of the mysteries.

The first section will cover my specialties of hematurgy and necromancy.
The second will cover natural magicka.
The third will touch on the psionic talents.
The fourth will delve into the divine controversy.
The fifth will touch upon the delicate and complex question of void.

It is to be hoped that the interested student will find the more technical treatises on the above topics more readily accessible for this humble offering. Any errors or elisions in this work must be attributed to the difficulty of enumerating in plain language what becomes a nearly reflexive, intuitive impulse for the grand adept.

---

Natural magicka can be broken down into the two base components that are very much related to blood magicka. In the previous section we gave our attention to the so-called pure Elementalist, and in this we shall discuss the most common expression of the kenetic type: conjuration.

Conjuration is, as previously stated and all other writings on the subject indicate, related to necromancy most closely. It relies on ritual and animation to direct and guide an action.

However, conjuration itself is a misnomer for most. It captures everything from making giant golems to the journeyman kineticist working the shuttles on industrial looms. All conjurors gain the skill necessary to do the smallest of the works - simple animation, and only those, again, who can work the leylines and nodes can accomplish the larger scale works.

It is worth noting: where the elementalist by definition must be able to See and Feel the magic they work with (although they may not be interested or capable of putting that experience to formal analysis) the keneticist has no such limitation and in fact, they are unlikely to miss the ability at all. They work directly upon existing manifestations of both pure and mixed elements, and with similarly physical creatures thereof.

These two extremes show how differently the paths branch - one is most significantly military, and the other most significantly civil. No matter the background or civilisation lived in, there will always be pressure to find what is the most that can be done in the full exploitation of any skill. The kenetic collegia have often been referred to as the Wellspring of Industry, and that designation is as pragmatic as it is poetic.

This does lead to some error in understanding the skill base, as a conjuror that can make a golem could run more than half of a city’s industrial equipment alone, and unaided. Similarly, the current industrial kineticist could be utilized for launching small, numerous, destructive projectiles with a corps or archers. The fact that Industry and the various militaries do not organize in that manner is as much a factor of custom as of suspicion and greed.

Those conjuror-kenetics who can subjugate a Greater magical creature - or animate a vast mass with artificial sentience under the direction of the caster's will - rightly terrify both the lords and dependants of Industry. Accordingly, the various collegia are united in ensuring that those with such potential are herded to the battlefields along with the Master and Adept class elementalists.

It is more comfortable for the untrained masses to honor their fallen Arcanists as Great Heros, than to learn to school their fear of such power moving too closely among them. What mundane mortal could gainsay the demands of such a person, should it occur to them that they are, in fact, in a position to make those demands? No reader of this work can be unaware of the tyranny that may arise among the mundane, and it may perhaps too easily be imagined what terrors might manifest under a mageborn regime.

I digress.

Because of the difference in power and the personal energies being so varied, it is not feasible for even a large group of kineticists to summon a golem for longer than a few minutes. As soon as one is out of their personal reserve, the bit under their control would fail. Accordingly, the kenetica rarely work cooperatively, or upon any of the permanent magics.

The rare exception is the Grand Adept of the Kinetic Arts, who through intuitive or ritual harnessing of node-bound mana is capable of crafting immensely ingenious automata - many of which may continue to function long after the death of the caster. Properly tuned and maintained, these Permanent Kinetic Magics can be tended by a specially trained cadre of lesser kinetics even though they could never recreate them once destroyed.

There is not as much competition among conjurors as there is among necromancers, but among the Masters and Adepts there still tend to be intrigues. These skew towards matters of military, rather than magical interest, and therefore is of little relevance for the casual student.

There is not as much to say about the functional details of this line that has not been discussed and compared in other works. The only remaining crucial point is this: where a kineticist is unlikely to be capable of manipulating greater magical forces by Sight and Feel, the usual course of extensive memorization and precise ritual may be entirely circumvented if they have the luck, talent, or ruthlessness to acquire a True Familiar.

Not all magical, elemental-bound creatures have the capacity to serve as a True Familiar, though they may aid a mage's work by increasing their base affinity with that element merely through proximity. Those that do have the potential to become True Familiars, could well be classed as mages themselves. Through their alliance with - or control over - those creatures, a Kinetic may well amass and deploy such immense power that they can - and do - challenge the greatest of Grand Adepts.

The reader by now must be well able to imagine what consequence such association or exploitation this practice may have on the sanity and ethical capacities of both Mage and Familiar, and no doubt is aware that many of the great mage-battles of the past have involved at least one such pairing on any given side.

Therefore, we close this lecture early, and move to the next general concern, which has personal significance for even the most unMagickal of persons.