TLDunn213

South American Shamans Stone Softing Liquid. 10 parts Acitic acid(vinegar) 9 parts Citric acid (orange juice, ect) 8 parts Oxalic acid (from rhubarb leaves) Just noting it here so I don't forget. Check out stuff about Geopolimers to learn more about this. Geopolimers, by the way, are how a lot of the Megalithic structures were made. See also Egyptian "concrete"

Magnus Wing. I'm putting this here because why not. Anyway, I'm assuming that anyone reading this has heard of the Magnus Effect and the few attempts made at using it for aircraft. If not, go look it up so you'll know what I'm talking about. My idea is to try using the Magnus Effect in a way that gets around the biggest problem with how it has been tried before. That is, if you use a single large drum in place of the wing, when you lose power you fall. Because a drum doesn't let you glide. My idea: a wing made of several rows of smaller drums. This should allow one to tap into the Magnus Effect for extra lift while still having enough of a wing that you would still be able to glide without power, at least well enough to land. I can't be the only person to have thought of this, but I can't find anything about anyone having tried this. If anyone reading this has heard of this being tried, let me know I'd love to see how it worked or didn't. After all we don't have these things flying around. So, either I am the only one who has thought of this so far, or I just haven't found the info on where it was tried and what the problem was that keeps it from working; or maybe just keeps it from being practical. Anyway, if anyone knows anything about this, let me know? Thanks. Well, I found one thing where the drum was replaced with just a flat piece. Just an RC model, so they weren't looking at safety features like locking the panels in place in case of power failure. Might work, but still risky. Panels might not lock in at the right angle, and being a flat piece and not a true wing shape, probably wouldn't glide all that well. And still not close to what I have in mind.

While poking around on the gravity resistant thing I ran across a thing Where this guy; Bushman; had done a test involving crazy strong rare earth magnets. Placed N to N and dropped off a building they were landing later than two equal sized pieces of the same stuff that weren't magnetized. Claims that this is an anti-gravity effect Sadly I can't buy it without better testing. Steel rebar in the wall of the building is most likely to be why the magnets fell slower. Take the magnets up in a balloon and drop them over an empty field. If you get the same results, then, Then, we are on to something. Until then, it's just a pipedream fueled by wishful thinking and sloppy science.

"We need answers, and to get them we need more information, and one place to get that is the Scarlet Stag." I said getting up from the table and putting my dishes in the sink. "O.k. I'll head over there and see what I can find out." Fantasia said adding her dishes to the sink. "I was thinking of going myself, Need to talk to Tatanya about something that's between us, and get it settled before we go forward with any sort of alliance for dealing with the ongoing problem." "I see... Well, don't let me get in the way of resolving a personal score with a Fay." "Now, Just a minute;" Pheron said sliding his plate across the table, where Fantasia could reach it. "Didn't we just escape from the Scorps ? And won't they be looking for us ? Which would make walking the streets a sort of crazy thing to be doing just now ? " "Well, it would be; If I was to go out there looking like this; Or relying on a glamour. But Full on shape shifting is a lot harder to see through. As Fantasia demonstrated by rescuing us." "Okay, fine, have it your way. It's still crazy. Then again so's leaving a personal score with a Fay standing any longer than you have to; Or even having a personal score with a Fay in the first place. How did...? No. On second thought; I don't think I really want to know."

It took us a couple of hours to get to the side channel we were looking for. Surprisingly, none of the Styx Gollums from the fortresses followed us. I wondered if I should take it as a good sign or a bad one, but came to no conclusion on that point. I took the time to swap out the sleep spells for binding ones, and take a look at the rest of the book. As expected there wasn't much of use to us just now. But quite a lot that Melkior could use in his research. After all knowing how a Styx Gollum or Dracolich is made can be quite useful in figuring out its weak points. Once we reached the point where we were on the map it was a simple matter to repair the spell that keeps it up to date. In fact it took longer for the map to settle down after. It seems that the map has a rewind abilitie; allowing one to check for trends in the way things are moving around. I took a few minutes playing around with it, but didn't spot any shifts likely to be fast enough to matter to us. As to paths in and out, There weren't any good ones, But I found a couple that we could deal with well enough.

Maybe they did ask and it was edited out. But then they'd just edit out the oops part. As to being watched; This is a writing site, it's a fiction thing isn't it. 😊 "Gravity resistant" I'm going to have to do some poking around to see what I can find on that one.

Going back to the hidden passageway, Zatar takes a moment to scan the still unconscious Snypiuer. After finding no major damage, and placing a general purpose heading spell on him, just in case, teleports him to the, by now customary, couch in the Tavern. "He'll be fine. Now, bring me up to speed on what happened to you?" "O.k. " Qwerty said, putting the stunner in its holster and setting off down the hidden passageway "I was down by the Vaults of Time, trying to figure out which way to go to reach 'just a bit past' " " Sorry, about that. You Teleported in next to the Vaults ?" Qwerty nodded. "I'm normally coming from the Kitchen/Larder direction." "Ah, of course, picking up food for the hatchling; I should have thought of that. Anyway, before that insight had occurred, this evil looking clown shows up and starts wrapping me up in this sticky sleep cocoon stuff. Would have had me too, if I hadn't remembered this spare body I'd left at your place last year." "I'd forgotten about that, So, the breakaway stasis spell broke when you mindshifted in ?" "Had to give it a bit of a mental shove, But it worked pretty much like we wanted."

Zatar looked back and forth between the two Qwertys reflexively shifting to Magesight and aiming the med-Scaner at the armed Qwerty... Zeta; and with traces of a stasis spell clinging to him. Zatar turns his gaze and Scaner tword the other Qwerty, only to find him vanished. A stunner beam rips through the empty space a second later. "Really gone then, I was hoping he'd just gone invisible." "Should I have you bring me up to speed now or after?" "After, if you can get a lock on his teleport trace. I'm not sure what he/it Really is; So no clue how hard it will be to track." "Very;" Zatar said after a few minutes of murmured spells and adjusting of settings on the Scaner. "He didn't teleport, so much as dissipate. He seems to have turned into smoke or vapor and drifted off this way... and then sank through the floor... about here." Zatar finished coming to a stop a few yards further down the original hallway. "Seems to be an innate ability too, as I'm not picking up any traces of spell work of any type I've ever seen before."

Snypiuer's screams of panic had stopped rather abruptly. Growing worried Zatar sends a small glowing mote of magic trailing after his earlier spells, and lengthens his stride. He's almost running when his light mote takes a sharp left into and through a large wall hanging. Skidding to a stop Zatar reaches out with his magic to lift the tapestry out of the way. Revealing a secret passageway with an unconscious Snypiuer on the floor. Pulling a Med Scaner from his cloak Zatar notes a lump on Snypiuer's forehead and a low support beam. "Knocked himself silly, I take it ?" Qwerty observed as he glided to a stop next to Zatar. "Looks like it. Now to see if he did any damage to..." "IMPOSTOR!!" Qwerty yelled from further down the passageway; charging forward with some sort of ray-pistol in hand, aimed at the Qwerty standing next to Zatar.

???? Like...Dude What are you smoking?

Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof. I was asking the other day; why we don't have water fueled cars, if everything needed to make them is off the shelf technology ? And then I went looking for an answer. And I found one. Which begs the question of why we don't hear this tidbit of information trotted out whenever the topic of water fueled cars comes up ? Oh, the answer; Disappointing really; Which may be why it's not brought up. The energy needed to break water into Hydrogen and oxygen is the same as the energy you get when you burn that Hydrogen as fuel. A bit more actually as no system is perfect and some energy gets lost along the way. So, yep, Thermodynamics strikes again. But...We see these water fueled cars driving around? We do. But there is always another source of power in play one way or another. Extra batteries, gasoline being mixed with the Hydrogen, or stuff added to the water that reacts to give off extra hydrogen. Sorry, but you can't get around thermodynamics. Spread the word, so we can stop wasting time on this a focus on options that do work.

While I don't have the D&D books for this class I've heard enough to see them as being more or less the same as the Dracons that I already have in the Shardscape. With the only real difference between the two being what they are bonded to. Or are drawing their Essence from, in the case of Ronini Warlocks. Now D&D doesn't have Ronini Warlocks, at least as far as I know. But I see no reason to not include them in the Shardscape. As well as "Blood" types; which D&D does have; sort of. In so far as they have Plane Touched, Tieflings, Azamars, etc. They don't really seem to have anything for those descended from The Great Old Ones, But the Thulians here in the Shardscape could cover that fairly well. And with the Ronini option also comes the Mongrel Warlock. Someone who, in their quest for power has been grabbing whatever supernatural essence they can get, and so are now well on their way to becoming...? If you are having trouble following what I'm talking about here, Check out my Dragons and Dracons post. And if you have questions after that, Please ask. And I will try to explain.

So, I've been doing some research and; Vibro-blades are a real thing, Go figure. Not a huge surprise but still cool to know. And there's some evidence that a sort of tuningfork sonic drill was used to cut and carve stone back in ancient times. And that the stones used to build the Great Pyramid are a type of geo-polymer cement/concert. Which in a way could also explain things like the London hammer and other stuff found in ancient stones. Bad part about that idea is that "natural " geo-polymer processes are a thing geologists should already know about. And if they somehow didn't That would put the age of a LOT of stuff into question. Unless we just have really bad geology work on these few "out of place" artifacts. Any thoughts, anyone ?

Interesting thought about the great pirmaid. There is the idea that it was some sort of power generation system. Which has left me with the question of Where was the control room? And now they are talking about finding a big empty space above the grand gallery. If it is the missing control room then there should be a connecting passageway starting not too far from the front door. But haven't we already looked for hidden doors and passages all along the way there ? Mostly just thinking out loud here, But if anyone reading this knows anything or has any thoughts on this...

*#Note: the events in this post happen somewhat before the events in Regel's post Wanderer returns. #* "Zatar, Yo, Z, are you down here ?" Qwerty calls looking around. "He said that, that new project of his was down here, ' just a bit past the Vaults of Time. ' " "Well, there's the Vaults of Time. Now, which way along this creepy dark coridoor to reach 'just a bit past' ?" Poundfoolish couldn't believe it. What luck. Someone Zatar knew looking for the Wabe. Shifting into his evil clown form, Poundfoolish sent streams of cotton candy cocoon at the unsuspecting zeta. Just as he was finished wrapping up his prey and stuffing him into a forgotten broom closet Poundfoolish felt a wave of arcane energy surging through the Keep of the Mighty Pen. Energy specifically tuned to drive out evil clowns. How ? How, can this be ? How can anyone even know he is here? He'd been so careful. Quickly shifting to his new form, the false Qwerty slammed the closet door and placed Wards to protect the cotton candy cocoon. Now, to find the source of this unexpected attack... *#cut to Regel's post: Wanderer returns #*

One of the noteable counter arguments to the idea of a precursor high tech civilisation is the lack of secondary evidence. There is primary evidence, all the buildings made from huge blocks of stone. But where is the rest of it ? The pot shards, and art work, tombs and trash ? Did they burn their dead ? Were they super eco-friendly? Is this lost civilisation being actively hidden ? And if so, why ? And by whom?

Noting that Snypiuer's yelling sounds a bit like screams of terror, Zatar finishes his Saurian brandy and heads out the door. "What's his problem, anyway. It's just a clown suit." "Maybe he's afraid of clowns" Qwerty said shimmering into existence next to Zatar. "*Sigh*" "Could be, I guess. Easy enough to check." And with a snap of his fingers and a flick of magic the clown suit is transformed into a more normal outfit. Zatar and Qwerty continue down the hallway listening to see if the screaming stops. #*Note: See my post: on Nerfs and Gribbles, for related events.*#

Zatar glances at the open door, lets out a soft sigh and with a quick flick of magic clothes Snypiuer in a clown suit. "If you're going to act like a fool; you should at least dress the part." He muttered. Then raising his voice slightly, "Another Saurian brandy over here; and a round for Peredhil and his friend over there, whatever they're drinking."

Aara-Illith A rare sub type of Illith that arise from using a Dracon as a form doner. The failure rate for this is naturally quite high and there is the risk of pissing off a Dragon if the Dracon isn't a Ronan. The few recorded cases of Aara-Illith mention two noteable details that set them apart from other Illith. The first and most easily noticed is the wings. All Aara-Illith develop them regardless of whether or not the Dracon had them before the morphoses and unlike other draconic traits they may have or develop; the wings are permanent. No one has any ideas as to why the other draconic traits can be called and dismissed as with normal Dracons and the wings cannot. There are those that say this isn't the case and that all traits become locked once the morphoses is complete. This is possible given that the other notable feature of Aara-Illith is the hybrid mind. While Shuls and Kuls have remnants of the other mind it is only in the Aara-Illith that a true fusion occurres. It is also worth noting that the morphoses process is slower and less painful for those Dracons who chose to embrace the change. While all Draconswho resisted the process either succeeded totally or died trying.

While the term is often used to refer to the victims of the spell it is more correct to list the victims as Nocs and the spellcaster gaining benifets as Mal. But I should start at the top for those of you who don't know about this particular bit of dark magic. There are in fact two forms of the spell, but for now I will focus on the more common one. Which sets up a lifelink between the Mal and the Noc or Nocs as there are normally several. After all that is rather the point. Having many people to do stuff for you like bleeding and dying, healing from wounds, and just plain old aging, and even eating and sleeping if you want to take it that far. The spell is set up using Runes which can be inscribed on shackles, amulets, and the like; or directly onto the people involved by way of brands or tattoos. If the Mal is a spellcaster and the Nocs are as well, then it is possible for the Mal to use their spell energies as well. This is the darkest from of the MalNoc spell in which the Mal is a master parasite feeding on many victims at once. There are in fact two less vile applications for the MalNoc spell. The first is the creation of a Champion to deal with a crisis. Here everyone volunteers to support the Hero; Who then goes out with the power of the whole town behind him, very literally. And once the crisis is over the spell is broken and everyone goes back to their normal lives. The second is a true variant of the spell creating a band of MalNocs rather than a Mal and Nocs. In a Band everyone is linked to everyone else with a two-way connection. So no one dies until everyone does. But if one of the members is caught in something that keeps hurting them everyone is getting hurt until the link is broken. So think very carefully about what you're getting into before using magic like this.

Adding to this mostly to pull it out of the pile and put it on top again. If there's anyone, Guest or Member who'd like to comment on stuff like this... Well, it's sort of dead around here lately. I'm not sure what all a Guest can and can't do here But becoming a member isn't all that hard. Just a few clicks and simple questions, if I remember right. Guest can use the chatbox I believe, so if you need help just ask there and someone will get back to you.

Later at Lady Fantasia's "So, how did the Scorps manage to take over so quickly and completely?" Stephen ask as they sat around the kitchen table having a much needed meal. "It started with the riots in Over Louis about a month or so ago." Fantasia explained. "A lot of street people were coming down to the Gobblin Quarter and the Council didn't like it. And there was this Group of Scorpanocs in town...Next thing you know there's a whole Company of them here, the regular Watch can't be found, the Council's declared Martial law and haven't been seen since." "If Melkior's right, and there are Varna involved, it all makes sense. "Except for the Scorps working for them in the first place." Pheron cut in, "After all they were made during the Gith Rebellion to help fight the Thulians; so them working for them..." "Well, they are Mercenaries and the War was a rather long time ago." Fantasia said, refilling her coffee. "And with Varna involved they might not know who/what they are really working for." Stephen offered. Pheron's brow wrinkled in thought, "Maybe; But I just don't see them not checking out their employers well enough to find out. But I can't see them working for them if they knew..."

Once we had Kabaru pulled up onto the beach Latara put the Tome down on an empty rowing bench; and opening to a marked page said "Here, this branch of the Styx will take us in to this swampy reagon; With this spot marked 'Lair' right in the middle of it. There are passages in here that talk about meeting with the Dracolich in her Lair..." "...and you think this is a map to that Lair?" Yerico cut in. "Yes" "And are you thinking we can take out a Dracolich, or are we assuming it was destroyed during the War ?" "I'm assuming that we're stealthy enough to scout the place and find out, without getting spotted doing it." Yerico gave Latara a searching look then nodded. "A bold plan; But not a reckless one. Do the rest of you agree?" I gave the map another look, tracing pathways through the swampy region, "If there is a Dracolich in there, it's something we'll have to deal with sooner or later." Targon ran a finger along the edge of his axe and smiled. Hawk matched the smile, and gave a short nod, resting his hand on the top of his quiver. "We'll have to scout carefully and likely make our own map; places like this tend to shift around." Kain said, also tracing pathways on the map. "There's a spell on the map to keep it up to date; it's a bit degraded, but I think I can get it working again once we get there." Latara said. "That should help." "So, we are all agreed then?" *nods and grim smiles all around* "Good. Then let us do this."

Meanwhile: "*I hate running from these guys. Fighting them is what I was born to do.*" "*Maybe. You haven't come into your powers yet. And given that you are the only Wylding Wyrdling hybrid we know of; We don't even know for sure what your powers are, or if you'll even have any.*" "*Angmar sure seems to think I'm fated to be his downfall.*" "*I hope you are. The world would be much better off with him gone. But the first step in making that happen is keeping you alive long enough to come into your powers and learn how to use them.*" They ran on for a while after that as Anna though about what Garm had said. "*So, where are you taking me anyway ?*" "Ultimately to Melkior's Keep. He'll be able to figure out what your powers are and train you in how to use them to best effect. Short term; We're going to Bristol. It's big enough to hide us from the Naazz and it's where Tanis will most likely head for once she's done leading them in circles. And it gives us the best range of options for our next move no matter which way things go. And with a Mage School there we might even get a chance at figuring out what your powers are and start training you in how to use them. *" "*Really?!*" "*Why not. Melkior's good, but if we can get started without him; I don't think he'll mind too much.*"

The ground began to rise as they ran and soon they were leaping over gullies and fallen trees. After twenty minutes of this they came to a fallen tree bridging a deep ravine. "*do you think they would try to lead their horses across this ?*" "*Maybe; Depends on how well trained the horses are and if they have any levation magic strong enough to try jumping it.*" They padded across and jumped to the ground on the far side, where Tanis resumed human form. "If we've got enough of a lead on them I might be able to make a trap out of this." Tanis said drawing the Rune Dagger she had used before. Holding it blade up in her left hand with her right palm facing the dagger and the way they had come she began chanting softly. After a minute or so a faint glow formed in the air between the dagger and her palm. "Good, they're just now reaching the edge of the broken ground. That should give me just enough time." Tanis climbed back onto the fallen tree and began carving Runes into it with the dagger and whispering Words of Power. After about five minutes she plunged the dagger into the tree in the middle of the spell speaking a final Word of Power. Causing the whole thing to glow brightly for a moment before fading from view. "I'll miss that dagger, we've been through a lot together. But with a little luck I'll be able too make a new one in Bristol." Tanis jumped down from the fallen tree and resumed her cat form "* let's go, we will want to be well away from that when it goes off. *" "*won't they know that you did a spell, because of the tracking spell they're using ?*" "*They will know that I did a spell, but they won't know what I did. If they slow down enough to find my trap and avoid or disarm it...Well, it's not as good as a kill; But it will give us a heck of a lead on them.*"