TLDunn213

OK as some people aren't up to speed. I'll explain what a Dracon is for those who don't know or are confused by the different types. For our purposes there are three types of Dracon. Blood, Bound, and Ronin. With the Ronin having two sub types; those who started out Ronin and those who became Ronin. A Blood Dracon of course had a dragon for a parent (or ancestor) and so can access some of the abilities of a bound Dracon even without a patron. But most will take service under their Dragon parent if possible. In the case of a Dragon ancestor further back than grandparent some event is typically needed to awaken the Dragon blood. But not always, converging bloodlines can spawn a Blood Dracon with no Dragon in the family tree for generations. Typical Awakening Events include the Dracon Rituals; of course; exposure to strong magic, especially magic relating to Dragons and/or their Elemental type. But any traumatic event, if strong enough, can potentially, awaken latent Dragon blood. The Bound Dracon is of course the most common type. Simply put this is a person who swears service to a Dragon in exchange for being Ritually adopted by that Dragon. And so a bond is formed somewhat like the bond between a witch/wizard and their familiar except that the Dracon is slowly becoming a dragon of the same type as their Patron. Ronin Dracons are either Bonded Dracons who have lost their Patron or at least the link to them. Or they gained Dragon Essence and thus Dragon powers by way of rituals designed to extract Dragon Essence from anything that might have it. Shed scales, Bones, Spilled blood, other Dracons, Dung... Ronin Dracons must either find a patron or gain Dragon Essence in other ways if they wish to continue advancing tword full Dragonhood. In some cases this can include taking a for hire role with a Dragon or stronger Dracon. Short term, no Bond; for an agreed upon amount of Dragon Essence. Some of course chose the Ronin path because they only want some Dragon powers and not the full transformation. It is mostly from Ronin Dracons who went all the way that the Mongrel Dragon breeds of today arose. (With a few being due to converging bloodlines) And it is because of this that Dragon powers, colors, and alignments don't always match with ancient dragon lore.

It was pointed out to me by some elves that there were Druids in the form of Elven Tree Priest well before the time of the Wylding Zombie wars. And that Treefolk were also major players on the side of life during the war. Facts that I'll deal with in more detail later, as this section is more focused on the origins of the Wyldings.

The first thing to consider here is Dragons and where they come from. Seeing as Dracons arise from Dragons even as later Dragons arose from the first Dracons. So, the first or Elder Dragons came during the Fay Migrations. The first of which was around the start of the Saurian Thulian war. As to why they chose to leave the deep realms of Fairie, there are several factors. Boredom and curiosity being the ones more readily admitted to by the more powerful Fay. With fear of the rising threat of Yuuxath being an equally strong, if far less admitted, reason . Now to look at these factors in a bit more detail. Boredom is such an ongoing thing with the Fay it can be taken as a given. But the related curiosity is worth noting as it derived from the Gith. Namely the Gith slaves who found ways to escape into the borderlands of Fairee. Now some Fay had found their way into the realms of the shard Scape even before this. Which is part of how the escaping Gith found their way into the Fay Realms in the first place. And Fay being Fay crossbreeding occurred giving rise to Elves, Orks, and indirectly Goblins, but we will look at that another time. And I think I will save exploring the connections between Yuuxath, the Outer Void and the Deep Realms of the Fay until later as well.

The Wabe... Zatar shimmers into reality. "I'd forgotten how bad the time distortions are around Honah Lee the rest of the year. Autumn Mist really is the only way in and out that doesn't take reshaping reality. And Puff is off Goddess knows where, doing the Gods know what. Left him a note so he'll know who's been rooting around in his library. As if he'd be able to tell the difference, except it's maybe a bit more organized. Total book horder, so good odds that rare tome you're looking for is in there Somewhere. Actually finding it...That could take Awhile." "So what was you looking for Boss ?" Gus ask as Zatar pulled a thick, dusty tome out of his cloak. "The answer to our egg riddle, I think." Places the book on a stand and opens to a bookmarked page. "Take a look at this. '...The reason no one has ever hatched a Jabberwock egg is that Jabberwocks are the adult form of the Frumious Bandersnach.' That's why we were getting a match for both when we tried to ID that egg's DNA. That and the fact that the data base only had common Bandersnach DNA. Seems whoever compiled the data didn't know there are two types of Bandersnach, Common and Frumious. Which is why no one made the connection until Victor Rasputin stumbled on to it in the 1800s, and given his reputation... Well, no big surprise that word didn't get around."

Unlike my other works this is a true story. Well, mostly true anyway. I likely embellished a few bits here and there. Anyway, this is from a few years ago. Back when my now ex-wife GK and I were just becoming a thing. Now her 1st husband had walked out on her shortly before this. And by being a (insert exploitive) had caused the car she had been driving to get repoed. And that's where I come in. I had the day off and so was free to give her a lift to the used car place after she got off. Now it's worth noting that I'd been reading one of the Annetta Blake books by Laural K Hamilton (sorry if I flubbed the spelling) In which the focus was on werewolves. You'll see why this matters in just a bit. Other bit to note was my get up. Mocsian boots, camo pants, black T-shirt with a pentagram on it, and terminator type shades over my regular specks . So, its afternoon and the sun is reflecting off of something on the wall behind the salesman's desk. Which is why I left the shades on. Anyway, he and GK are talking and he's typing stuff in on his computer. Then he ask who I am. Now I just got done paying off my car and ain't going to be part of this deal. So I say, total deadpan, "You don't need to know who I am." He looks a bit non-pulsed but let's it go. Now GK's youngest had asma back then. So we needed the car of a non-smoker. And to be sure we got it... I sniffed the seats. No way to do something like that and not look a bit odd. Now remember what I had on and what I'd been reading; and I think you'll see why I didn't even try not looking weird. I went with it and played it to the hilt, and on up to the pommel It went a bit like this: First car: *sniff sniff* " totally a smoker's car. It down in the foam rubber. You'd need to soak this in fabreese overnight at least." Salesman dude is a bit weirded out. But not too bad, after all anyone could have smelled that. Second car:" not a smoker's car; but it's been smoked in. Someone taking a smoke during a test drive I'd say. The smell is just in the cloth not down in the foam; and not any stronger than the fried chicken someone had in here the other day." Salesman is close to bolting, and Gk tells him her youngest is asmatic. The look on his face was on par with someone being tossed a rope in quicksand. Third car: "non smoker. No one has ever smoked in this car. Someone had burgers and frys in here about a week ago. But mostly hasn't been eaten in or anything." GK: how much ? Salesman gave an amount that was too high. GK said it was too much. Salesman said he'd see what he could do. We got the price we wanted or at least close enough, with a per month that worked. Not quite the end. About a week later the salesman called GK to see if she; that is the car was OK. We had him on speaker so we all heard the slip. Checked a calander after the call, and yep It had been a full moon the weekend before. Amazing what some people will believe ain't it ?

Where the Wind Blows There I'll make my Way When the Wind Blows I'll be on my Way When the Wind Blows Be it Night or Day Wherever the Wind Blows There I'll make my Way And where the Wind stops That is where I'll stay Until the Wind Blows Then I'll be on my Way When the Wind Blows Be it Night or Day When the Wind Blows...

Now as any student of history knows the Yuun-Xi managed to Prevert the spells used to grant the Wyldings their powers. Giving rise to both the Cursed disease Lycanthropy and the Ritual of Yuuxath. The later, for those fortunate enough to not know of it, is how other races are transformed into Yuun-Xi. Interestingly enough, it is this Ritual that the Dragons later adapted for the creation of their Dracons. But more about them another time. What is far less well known, are the spells the Druids developed which gave rise to the Redemption Ritual and the Rights of the Deathless Ones. Sadly this knowledge is fading nowadays. True, the need for it had largely passed, But there are other uses to which such spells could be put. Good uses. The dark uses are all to obvious. After all these were evil spells turned to better ends to start with. So turning them to evil... Well, that is why they are such closely guarded secrets now isn't it.

Darkness Come Oh Darkness, My dear friend I have need of thee again Enfold Me in your Sable Shroud and hide me from the hostile crowd As I above the rooftops fly Seeking one who's soon to die From your folds my Bolt shall fly And in your Embrace they then shall lie Untouched as Ages march on by Until we hear our Master's Call To gather in The Shadow Hall Then on Wings of Night we'll haste away To play our part in The Final Fray And when that Battle is Fought and Won Then Our Journey Shall Be Done. Rest Now I lay me down to rest With a Dagger on my chest Beneath this Stone I shall lie As I watch Time go marching by Beneath the Ground I shall wait Until they open wide The Final Gate Then into Hell I shall go There to face The Final Foe And When that Battle is Fought and Won Then My Journey Shall Be Done.

It was during this time that Druids arose. Before this there had been Shamans, who worked with assorted nature Spirits and a few arcane spells they might learn along the way. And Priest devoted to a single god or goddess or rarely to a pantheon. Priests got their magic spells from their gods. Now some Shamans did turn Priest in the course of seeking stronger Spirits to form Pacts with. Some were good Shamans looking for the best Spirit Pact to be had. Others were evil and just looking for more power. But with the rise of the Necromancers there came a need on both sides. The Shamans needed the help of a Great Spirit to help them against these things that were not of Nature. And due to the rapid spread of Necromancy Gia needed Warrior Priest who already knew how to fight and how to cast spells. Thus the Druids, Rangers, and Gray Guards came to be. The first Gray Guards were so named because they chose to be bonded to wolf spirits. And while many other animal spirits soon joined the cause, the Cats being most notable among them, The term Gray Guard mostly stuck. Gray Hunter being common with the cats. In part due to their habits of hunting Necromancers alone. While the Guard mostly focused on protecting towns and people from the undead hordes.

Now that we've talked a bit about zombies(and yes the Necromancers did weponize the drain effect to make more deadly undead later) But now on to the Wyldings and the Shamans who made them. A Wylding is a person(normally human, but other races can play too) who has had an animal Spirit melded with their own so that they can become that animal and later as the melding becomes more complete a hybrid form combining both. The improved vitality of Wyldings grants them both fast healing and improved resistance to undead drain and fear effects. As silver and the full moon are part of the Ritual for becoming a Wylding both have effects on Wyldings. The full moon calls strongly to their inner animal making it more asendent at such times. Silver is both boon and bane to a Wylding. In Wylding hands a silver weapon is a magic weapon just as their claws and fangs are when transformed. The bane part is in the fact that silver weapons used against them overcome their supernatural resistance to damage and slow their healing to "normal" rates for such wounds. Not that magical healing can't be used normally, only their iniate healing is slowed, and only for the wounds caused by the silver weapons. Magical weapons may also have this effect, depending on the nature of the magic involved.

The Necromancers started with simple undead, zombies and skeletons. The spells for them were simplified forms of the spells used by arcane wizards to animate objects and the spells priest used for golems. The notable difference being that by using a formerly living body the Necromancer could skip the step of imprinting their mind onto the object and simply re-energize the imprint left from when the creature was alive. Thus greatly simplifying the process. The other difference is more subtle and less well known. And that is where these things get their power. Animated objects draw their power from the ambient magic around them and the kinetic energy of nearby movement. Light spells are a bit dimmer, an arrow doesn't fly quite as far ect. Golems are powered by a bit of life force from the priest, their god, or a sacrifice in the case of evil priests. Undead draw their power from the ambient life force around them. A single zombie might make your lawn wilt a bit. But an army of them...

Also known as the Shaman Necromancer War. Was started by Yuuxath while he was impersonating Charon. Not too long after Charon took over for Cronos as collector of the dead. It took Yuuxath some time to build up his cult of Necromancers and start displacing Charon. But he started being noticed by Gia around the end of the Gith Rebellion. Which was also near the end of the Saurian Thulian War and the Rise of the Yuun-Xi and the beginning of the first XerEk XarAk Swarm Wars. Not that the Saurian Thulian War ever ended in any formal sence. No one ever surrendered. Both sides just lost the ability to mount any major attacks. More to follow.

Across the river, under the boughs grows a circle of mushrooms A faire ring Can you hear the music Will you join the Dance and with the Fair Folk wildly prance. Will They stay and let you play Or in an instant fade away ? Will you dance till break of day And like a Mist then fade away... Next line: Will you join the dance

Yuun-Xi blood, depending on how it's processed, can be mutagen, poison, sleep agent, or mind altering halusinagen. To name some of its more common uses. Which shouldn't be too surprising when you consider all the compounds the Med-dusa can create inside their own bodies; not to mention the natural mutagens the Saurians can generate. Some Yuun-Xi have one(or, rarely, more) of the gaze bases powers of the opt-dusa. Most common among these are the Hold and Charm abilities, but any of the gaze abilitys are possible. There are even reports of other, spell like abilities beyond those normally found among the Opt-dusa. As to the Nag-dusa, they seem to be the source of the more snake like looking Yuun-Xi, who tend to also have the stronger, but more subtle Psi-powers, such as, remote viewing, pre and retro cognition, and most telepathic abilities.

The Yuun-Xi are a corrupted offshoot race that arose from mating between the Saurian/Lizard folk and the assorted Dusa sub-races; most notably the Optdusa, Medusa, and the Nagdusa. (More on these beings elsewhere.) While it is unclear just when and how the Yuun-Xi fell under the sway of Yuuxath; it is accepted as fact that some element in Yuun-Xi blood makes anyone exposed to it extremely susceptible to Yuuxath's influence. Seeing things that aren't there, hearing voices, a feeling of being watched, ect. All Yuun-Xi have some mental disorder, and most tend tword an evil alignment. They also tend to have some innate powers gained from their Dusa/Saurian heritage. (Which I will cover in more detail later.)

Yuuxath, is an insane "god" who is the force behind the Forever War, and several other events in Shard Scape history that don't seem to make a lot of scence; the Shamen Necromancer war, for example. Yuuxath got his start at the far end of history. He knew that the other "gods" were coming to cast him into the Outer Darkness, and he was ready for them. He arranged things so that his passage to Outer Darkness happened at the same time as the launch of the Great Ship "The Maelstrom's Bore". And so even as he was being flung into the Outer Darkness, he was sowing Mind Seeds into the hive mind of the ZerEk Swarm as it plunged into the Paradox Maelstrom in pursuit of the Morlock's Great Ship. Thus sowing the seeds for his own rise to Power and Madness. Far back in the dim and distant past a young Yuuxath found a dying ZerEk, infected with a MindSeed from the far future. The Seed leaped from the dying ZerEk into the mind it had been intended for all along. And so the circle of madness begins by becoming complete. Now the Forever War is an ongoing effort by Yuuxath to drive Cronus insane, or at lest distract him to the point that he can't really do much to stop Yuuxath. So inspite of what people my think the real point of the Forever War is to create as many contradictory time lines as possible, while also spawning as many paradoxes, paradox objects, and paradox people as possible while weaving them into history so that removing them will make even more paradoxes than leaving them in the now tangled fabric of history. The Necromancer Shaman War was Yuuxath's attempt to both keep Charon from taking over as "god" of death for Cronus and to distract Gaia with swarms of undead things that had no place in Nature; Nature versus Unnature to the greater detriment of Nature. More on the Necro/Shamen War, and the rise of the Wyldlings and Shadow people elsewhere.

Zatar shimmers into reality. "Gus, have the Tolves got the Wabe set up yet ?" "End of the week; Give or take a few finishing touches" "Good. That'll give me time to set the temporal distortion spells on the Nerf pens. You don't happen to know anyone with Nerf herding experience, who wouldn't mind being time distorted, do you ?" "Not off hand, Boss, but I'll put the word out that you're looking. Why is we needing a Nerf herder, we only got a dozen Nerfs ?" "We're going to be having more, a lot more. Bandersnacths and Jabberwocks are hungry beast." "You finally got a line on that DNA you was looking for ?" "Not exactly... Can't even find a clean enough sample for a positive match on this egg. 75% chance it's a Jabberwock; according to the best sample on that front. But, get this, the best Bandersnatch sample gives a 75% match as well." "So, how do you figure out what we really got ?" "Easy. We hatch the egg." "But, with out something to match against..." "wonderland castle claims to have a stuffed Jabberwock, and a stuffed Bandersnatch. No good for DNA, But good enough for a visual identification."

Zatar shimmered into being near the door. " Let's have a look at this magic resistant egg you've found." "I put it on this pedistal over here, and placed a Circle around the whole thing. Didn't know how much good it would do, but..." "Better safe than sorry. Standard Wards I assume ?" "Yea, I figured you'd want to take a close look once you got here." Zatar takes a moment to study the Circle Gus has setup around the pedistal. "Good Work. If this can't hold it... We'll have to get creative real quick like." Zatar traces a Symbol in the air, mutters a Word, and steps inside the Circle. " I take it that nothing has changed since you put it in here ?" "That's right, boss. No change. If it hadn't come out of that bush so easy..." Zatar makes a couple of passes over the egg mumering soft words of power. "Fascinating. Migic just slides around it. Well, where Magic fails, maybe Tech can prevail." And so saying he pulls a scanner out of his Cloak. "Well, whatever we have here, it's rare enough that it's not in the scaner's onboard database. I'll have to go back to the Keep and check the main database there. And it should be fine where it is. Magic flows around it but that won't get it out of a closed Circle." Gus raised a stone eyebrow. "The Timefreeze on the Moamrath bush was basically a net of Magic; so it could slip through the open parts of the weave..." "...But a Circle is really a globe." Gus did a facepalm. "I must be getting old or something, forgetting basic stuff like that." "No worries. You made the right call; it just took you a minute to remember why it was the right call." "Anyway I've got to go see if I can find a match for this in the main database." Zatar let's himself out of the Circle and vanishes .

The Scorpanocks are believed to have been created by the ZaRak as support troops for the Gith during the Rebellion. At first they were a male only race. If you can be said to be a race with only one gender. However the Morlocks later cut a deal with the Scorps agreeing to provide them with females. Just what the Morlocks got in return is unclear, so it is hard to say if the Scorps got a bad deal or not. But they got less than they were hoping for as the females were not able to reproduce in a truly sexual way. Oh they mated, and laid eggs, which hatched. But the young were always female. Almost clones of the mother. Almost, in as much as all their DNA was from the mother, with the unexpressed DNA getting mixed in. It is unclear if the Morlocks did this on purpose, or by accident. But the Scorpanocks were and are, less than happy about the whole thing. Some want to talk with the Morlocks and see if a new deal can be worked out. Others are rumored to be seeking a deal with the Varna. Who are rumored to be working with the FeroSidhe of Under Louis to become an independent race, separate from the Thulians.

Can only understand the translation, But like it very much.

The crystal pulsed softly, and Zatar reached up to give it a gentle stroke. "Boss ?" a voice said in his mind. Keeping a finger on the crystal he thought back "yes ?" "You need to come take a look at what the Tolves found in one of the Momrath bushes" "Can it keep ?" "Not sure. It doesn't seem to be effected by the time freeze you put on da bushes. Da Tolves was able ta just lift it right out." Zatar griped the crystal more tightly and focused his mind so he could see through the gargoyle's eyes. Gus was holding a large mlotted egg in his left claw while resting his right on the com-crystal. "I'll be there in just a bit. The talks have stalled for the day, again anyway."

My mind leaped to both what they needed me to do, and the most obvious problems that went with it. Namely what to do with Targon while the rest of us were playing bookworm. Melkior had managed to get the big guy to learn how to read, but it wasn't one of his favorite things to do. I couldn't take him to Miskatonic. There was no way I could hide that Axe of his, not with all the anti-magic runes on it. And asking him to leave it behind... No not even going to think about how that would go. So, option two, Leave him here, board... Well, maybe... If I could set up some sort of training ground for him.

It is and it will be, Because it always wasn't. Seek what you shall not find And there it won't be, If you don't look. And so shall the Raven become the writing desk As the Blreg Nog boils on the frozen Shadow hob of unburning dark fire And Chaos Shall Inhearet The Earth While the flowerful flower of flowery flowerness was in flower So then did it flower in flowery flowerfulness For this was the time of flowers.

Gribble Breeding Pens... Zatar fades into reality. "Gus ?" "Yea, Boss " "Keep an eye out for a troupe of Slivey Tolves; and a delivery of Mimisy Boragoves. They are for the Wabe room, second door down tword the Time Vaults. The Sundial should already be set up. And double check that the crates of Momrath bushes are still secure, don't want anyone getting grabbed by them. Especially after that little mishap with the Gribbles a few months ago." "Sure thing Boss. Will the Tolves be staying long ?" " Maybe a few months; depends on how fast we can get everything set up. After all, the Wabe is just the anchor point for the Tulggy Woods simulation. And I still haven't gotten a line on any Jabberwock or Bandersnatch DNA yet. Why do you ask ?" "Well, I hear Tolves like deepfryed gribble..." "And you were thinking of that batch of duds that hatched out last week ?" Zatar thought about it for few moments then gave a quick nod. "Keep back about a dozen or so in two pens, well away from the others. I still want to know why they went dud But if the Tolves like them we may want to start a new strain for a new market. Gourmet Gribbles... Put yourself down for 10% if it takes off. Anyway I've got a meeting in UnderLouis. I'm supposed to mediate a dispute between the Scorpinocks, Goblins, and FeroSidhe. I've got to be out of my mind to get mixed up in all that." "So, an extra bottle of Saurian Brandy for when you get back ?" "Pull two, and use one to marinade the Gribbles."

Thank you. I think it's sometimes called imagination.