Best Of

11/8/2021 at 16:40
Ictinus, the Architect
Everyone
October Artisanal and Bardic Results!

Hi folks!

Submissions for October's Artisanal and Bardic contest have now been reviewed by our discerning panel of judges and the winners are as follows:

ARTISANALS
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Winner: Teani!

Runner-up: Roux!

Merit: Qelres!

Participation: Isia, Oba, and Galilei!

BARDICS
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Winner: Caitria!

Runner-up: Teani!

Merit: Blodwyn!

Participation: Rebra!

Prizes have been awarded, and the entries are up on the website already!

Artisanal entries can be found on the website here: https://www.aetolia.com/artisanal-october-2021/

Bardic entries can be found on the website here: https://www.aetolia.com/bardic-october-2021/

Thank you to everyone who participated!

Penned by my hand on Falsday, the 5th of Slyphian, in the year 498 MA.

11/8/2021 at 0:10
Anonymous
Everyone
Fragments of Time, Part II: Anomalies

Mere moments had passed following the battle, the Ruins a littered grave of countless dead. Drawn by the din of violence and murder, a tiny spark kindled at the edges of the horizon. Soon it grew to nascent flame, filling the skies with black smog as the smell of sulphur descended upon the world. The heavens caught aflame, ignited in a beacon of inflamed rage, all burning beneath Its terrible gaze. Storms of ash and soot followed Its languid path across the firmament, accursed shrieks clamouring from within Its torrid heart. Fire rained from above, rampaging daemons converging on Masilia with blazing menace. Yvalamon, the Fury, had awoken.

Radiating an oppressive, all-consuming hunger to destroy, devour, and burn, the Fury smouldered, crackling embers seething their way through the Ruins. Wreathed in a corona of shimmering silver, Bamathis stepped forth to meet His hated foe, bellowing aloud a command to His forces to turn back the daemons. Blinding light then erupted from the confluence chamber, the Unbound Lord manifesting a brilliant aegis to shield both Himself and the device from harm. Fully aware of the Fury's intended target, Damariel urged His own children to join the fight, His expression one of intense focus.

Caelestis once more came alive in the Warlord's hands and battle began. His speed enhanced by divine might, Bamathis brought His sword to bear in a surfeit of savage blows, His merciless brutality matched only by the impossibly precise agility with which He struck the opposing Yvalamon. Explosive sparks burst from the Fury with each attempted strike, turning aside the blade as Its anger grew ever more inflamed.

The clarion cry of a hunting horn sounded, cut short by a guttural shout of exertion. The Ithmias shook with the passage of Haern, the Hunter, who appeared in Masilia through a gateway of bright, verdant flame. Rhythm's Spine yearned within His grip, His quiver slung across His back and filled to the brim with arrows. War paint smeared His snarling face as He howled, low and savage, before hefting His spear and launching it at the Fury. Unfathomable anger pealed from Yvalamon as the spear connected with Its calcified form and was devoured in a monstrous flare of white-hot fire.

Undeterred, the Hunter drew Whisper, a single arrow transforming to dozens in a passing moment. The volleys streaked towards Yvalamon from all directions, converging with deadly accuracy. Impassive and languid, It lifted a single arm, melting the arrows to blackened ash before refocusing Its attention upon Bamathis, smothering Him in a blanket of scorching, unquenchable flames. Writhing free of the encroaching blaze with a grunt of exertion, the Warlord pressed His attack in a frenzy of cross cuts and rapid jabs, yet despite bringing to bear the best of His skill, the Tumult blazed riotously, fuelled by hatred, anger, loathing, and barely bore a mark of harm.

Shadows boiled up from the ground with the reappearance of the Artificer, already moving with speed defying perception to join the fight, Blade of Artifice aloft in His hand. Strife and Shadow fought in tandem, Severn dissipating with each assault before reappearing elsewhere to launch another, then another, then another, unable to be caught by the searing Fury. Haern bellowed again, cacophonous thunder accompanying the drawn string of Whisper. A score of lances borne of rippling green fire hung all about the God in the air and He loosed them in a terrible swarm, lighting the sky to emerald brilliance.

Living darkness crawled about the burning Yvalamon by the will of Severn, wrapping It in blackened tendrils as Haern's projectiles struck true in a bloom of bright gemstone moss. Thinking It restrained and weakening and tasting triumph, Bamathis bore down, victory alight in His eyes. Then with a roar of wrath unparalleled It loosed Its pent-up hate, centuries of thunder magnified into a singular moment of disdain. Yvalamon shrugged off Severn's bonds and swelled to magnitudes unseen, blistering heat threatening to devour the world as Fury sought to claim Its kill.

Unfurling wings of colossal size cast Spinesreach into sudden darkness, the entire city quaking with unleashed might as a winged Goddess took flight amidst a storm of coruscating lightning. Her silver eyes blazed with draconic hunger, the firmament yielding to the passage of Tanixalthas with a thunderous sonic boom. She swept through the skies with effortless grace, wreathed in all the power of Sky Dreaming. Recalling well Her past hunger to battle It, Midwinter's Star had come to claim Her due.

Crying a challenge to the Ancient One, the Sun Drinker wheeled above Masilia, Her immense form tensing before She dove, fearless and sublime, toward Her enemy. Warlord, Hunter, and Manipulator were all turned aside with a dismissive shift of Her enormous bulk, and Tanixalthas trained Her avaricious eyes upon the flame-wreathed Fury, fully focused on Her prey. Rearing back, the air shattered with the magnitude of Her unleashed roar as She lunged, falling upon Yvalamon in a rampant frenzy of tooth and claw.

Fire scorched at Her craggy form yet She pressed on, undeterred, Her tail cracking like a whip alongside bolts of azure lightning erupting from betwixt Her tremendous jaws. The ravenous flames of the Burning God flickered and waned under the arcing manifestation of Sky Dreaming's merciless storm. With a callous squall of delight She struck true, hunger yielding to sudden terror as the flames encircling Yvalamon faltered, oppressive heat receding under the sudden wound.

Quelled to mere embers, a deafening howl of anguish ravaged the atmosphere as the Fury - wounded and weakened - at last conceded, Its form diminished before It escaped, scattering upon the air. Tanixalthas loosed yet more threats of destruction before taking wing in search of further sport, the Gods converging about the confluence in the wake of Fury's retreat.

Flurried, curt conversation ensued, the Warlord restless and eager to pursue His fleeing foe. Dismissing the counsel of Damariel - offered up in an attempt to ensure the device's continued protection - Bamathis assured all present that Yvalamon had only fled and would return - and in short order. Haern rebuffed the attempted praise from the Warlord and departed first, with Strife's silver portal following closely behind.

The Twins - one bright and radiant, the other dark and ominous - exchanged a look, eons of consternation wrapped up in a single glance. Glowering, Severn glided through the argent gateway, leaving only the Unbound God remaining beside the device. Frowning, His thought drowning in suspicion, He too finally departed, fading in a dim burst of light.

Now alive with electrical currents, the aeonic confluence had begun to undulate and ripple, spilling forth disjointed scenes in no discernible rhyme or reason, haphazard moments in fragmented time.

Meanwhile, in a place far from the Ruins of Masilia, a lone figure strode along a darkened pier.

Penned by my hand on Kinsday, the 1st of Slyphian, in the year 498 MA.

11/8/2021 at 0:07
Anonymous
Everyone
Fragments of Time, Part I: Seeking the Confluence

A clamour was heard in early Niuran, scraping metal and clanking gears stirring the citizens of Bloodloch, then Enorian, and finally Duiran to a state of alarm as a strange figure roamed in pursuit of something known only to itself. Though the citizens' initial search proved futile, the following week saw the appearance of a mechanical figure on the streets of Esterport, stumbling upon a sermon to the Underking while in the midst of its exploration.

Masses soon gathered to hear what the construct had to say. It introduced itself as Copperhead of the Third Spoke, an emissary of Kalchos, explaining that its purpose was to locate something known as the confluence. Little of substance followed as the Cogger failed to impress its meaning upon those present while rebuffing unwanted contact and executing Teflin Vyktaire in the process.

Another week passed and time itself crawled to a sluggish halt, violent storms causing rain to fly upwards in a bizarre moment of temporal fragmentation. As reality reasserted itself, Copperhead appeared once more in the Ruins of Masilia, where a metal door with of five locks barred the entrance to a newly revealed alcove. Upon communication with the doorway, the construct explained to the growing crowd that while it could pass the gate unharmed, critical danger would befall any other who tried.

It set the adventurers to the task of deactivating the barrier, and the first of five challenges - each allegedly designed to be solved at a certain time - ensued. After solving a complex riddle, unravelling a numbers problem to balance weights with blood offerings, deducing the ingredients for a potion, and manipulating the rings of a peculiar wall to align with the various incorporeal forms, only the fifth remained. Copperhead, ever observant and smug, announced that this would be the easiest and - sure enough - forty nine turns of a moonlit mirror, in keeping with the recurrent theme of seven that had appeared throughout, opened the main door.

Triumphant after days of gruelling riddlery and puzzle work, the adventurers flooded into the newly opened chamber where the aeonic confluence deviced hung suspended in mid air, electricity crackling around its shifting form. An oily smear daubed the skies to herald a coming focus, and no sooner had Copperhead begun inspecting the device, noting that it lacked the marring it had expected, when piping notes sounded out, and the Cogger immediately fled.

Bamathis the Warlord appeared in a flash of silver, accompanied by the skulking figure of Severn, the Manipulator. Strife immediately began surveying the device and with Caelestis ablaze in His hands, attempted to cleave it in twain only for His weapon to pass right through its centre, unharmed and unaffected. The Artificer explained that it was not truly present, not yet real, but a mere shadow, waiting for its moment. With the imminent focus making its presence known, the click of metal announced the sudden arrival of Damariel, the Unbound, manifesting to confront His siblings.

Scolding Bamathis with the tone of a disappointed parent, Damariel counselled caution, issuing enigmatic reminders to His Twin about something owed. A heated argument ensued between the three Gods, the approaching focus almost fully manifested. After a vexed growl from the Artificer, Strife and Truth agreed to let the mortals settle their dispute on the field of unstable ley, from which the confluence device was drawing power to anchor itself. The opposing Divine mustered Their forces for battle, troops soon marching in through opened gateways as a geyser of ylem pushed up through the ground and the fight began.

Violence erupted through all of Masilia with the clashing of troops and adventurers alike. Spirit and Shadow clashed again and again and again in pitched battles, attempting to wrest control of the geyser's surrounding points. Chaos reigned while death reaped its terrible harvest, divisions arranged throughout the Ruins awaiting orders that came in haphazard bursts as their commanders fought on with relentless energy.

Few moments of respite came, reprieve found only in scattered interludes as those recently defeated regrouped at their command posts, regathering their forces to once again join the fray. Division after division poured out of the portals to reinforce the fallen, the ylem geyser looming implacably over the area all the while. Each time it seemed one side had the advantage, yet more soldiers fell to their opposing legions, the bones of unshackled soldiers and argent legionnaires forming broken heaps across the bloodsoaked streets.

As their Gods watched on anxiously, the brutal exchange seemed unending in its ferocity. Magics elemental and esoteric ravaged the area. Hordes of Chaos and Astral entities rampaged. The clashing of countless blades and the roar of innumerable creatures drowned out all other sound. Victory seemed at hand as Spirit took control of three points, yet their final division patrolled without orders. Shadow then took the lead yet they too, could not cross the final bound. The butcher's bill continued to rise, the reek of death intense and pungent.

Desperation struck as the geyser began to lose strength, both Shadow and Spirit marshalling their forces for a final stand. Both pressed on without restraint, felling each other countless times as yet more troops sallied forth in search of victory. Yet it was not to be. The focus collapsed in on itself, the geyser disappeared with neither side laying claim to its energies, and the world released a held breath as the conflict ended without decisive result.

Penned by my hand on Kinsday, the 1st of Slyphian, in the year 498 MA.

11/8/2021 at 0:12
Anonymous
Everyone
Operation Report: Locality Confluence Observation

[Accessing restricted continental records...]
[You do not have access to that news section.]

[Bypassing primitive security. Calculated time to completion: one point six four seven cycles.]

[Data acquisition complete. Continental records accessed.]
[You are now in the Events section of the news system.]

Calculations by Kalchos centrifuge revealed imminent locality confluence in central Sapience region. In accordance with maker directives issued at the moment of dispersal, observational and [redacted] operations were initiated. Preliminary evaluation of assets denoted significant rusting in cognitive Spoke resources. We were identified as least degraded Cogger iteration with greatest likelihood of predicted success. We are well maintained.

Following transoceanic traversal, we commenced our investigation. Cursory analyses of Sapient networks "Bloodloch, "Enorian", "Duiran", and "Esterport" were inconclusive. Initial attempts at collaboration with native fleshsack population proved resource intensive owing to proximal intelligence levels falling below expected parameters. We provided data to fleshsacks in order to facilitate efficient exchange including issuances of warning escalation in order to repel improper physical contact.

Mandated warning level five was issued prior to engaging disciplinary protocols. Addition to vernacular library was made: "Rusthead." To have a head of rust. Example: The Sixth Spoke are all rusted rustheads. Recommendations issued for deconstruction of fleshsack anatomy for later reassembly of most valuable salvage.

We searched for one thousand five hundred and forty eight point six two nine cycles before anomalous temporal matrix fluctuations revealed confluence presence in region "Masilia." Conferral with provincial security mechanisms indicated five locality concurrence events in operation. Requisite data was relayed to amassed fleshsack attendance for effective decomissioning of protective fields. Pending initiation of deductive procedures, we continued to perform queried analysis of confluence marring sustained in prior locality event.

First of five concurrences required logical and lateral cognition verification. We calculated the response at greater velocity than our Coms based on two of seven available markers. We observed fleshsacks undergo deductive collaborations. Significant expenditure of cycles was recorded prior to resolution.

Subsequent concurrence alignment required accurate mathematical expression in order to facilitate the provisioning of fleshsack operational fluids at the requisite volume. Our conclusion was determined in under one whole cycle, verifying Engine fidelity in Cogger assignment selection. We are not rusted. After we observed critical wastage of samples and conducted routine maintenance, fleshsacks achieved concurrence resolution.

Following a period of exploratory deployments in search of continental records, fourth of five concurrences commenced within eight hundred cycles. Discernment and amalgamation of local flora and organic plant matter into libation formula provided access to security resolution. We noted significant upgrades in fleshsack intelligence matrices throughout. We are pleased that our advised reassembly was carried out. Cycle expenditure fell within acceptable parameters.

Third and penultimate concurrence actuation was identified as a concentric foundation device. Disentanglement of critical protocols arrayed in precise calibration with perpetuated maintenance provided resultant resonance acquisition in the pentagonal alignment field.

Intelligence matrix expectations for terminal concurrence resolution fell substantially below predicted levels. Heptagonal reflective contrivance yielded security decommission with unprecedented efficiency. Confluence access granted to fleshsack population.

Detailed examination of confluence device revealed no evidence of marring sustained in previous locality. We conclude that marring has not yet occurred. Continued inspection indicated acute temporal decalibration. Now is not the when.

Further analysis was terminated with unforeseen emergence of maker intervention recipients. Retreat and preservational directives were enabled. We remain in Sapience region pending further confluence instructions.

[Subsequent notations are redacted. Ending recollection process.]

Penned by my hand on Kinsday, the 1st of Slyphian, in the year 498 MA.

11/8/2021 at 0:26
Ictinus, the Architect
Everyone
Anomalous Focus Postmortem

Hi folks!

After the event focus and the ensuing events of last night, we've put a bit of a debrief together to answer some questions and give some insight as to our thoughts on the system. We also have some questions for you to help us gather feedback and make some decisions for the future.

To start things off, I want to confirm that we DEFINITELY did not intend for the fight to result in a draw.

Unfortunately, the spirit eld did not spawn due to the lack of a winner. As things were playing out, we noticed some problems but didn't want to change any mechanics mid fight and unfairly tip the scales one way or the other. There were several key moments where both sides held three of the four points but weren't quite able to clinch the fourth to start the timer.

Instead, I made the call to let the focus time out. Battle had already taken 70+ minutes at that point and we didn't want to burn everyone out before the rest of the event had concluded.

With that in mind, we have a few questions. Feel free to post answers in the forum thread for this post, or message me if you don't use forums.

1. Would you prefer us to run this anomalous focus event again with mechanic changes described below to allow another shot at the guaranteed spirit eld? Alternatively, we can just go ahead and add the eld into the major gateways chance pool as planned.

2. Would you be open to having the system added (with further modifications, see below for our initial intended changes) to majors as part of the contention chance pool?

3. What changes would you like to see (beyond what's listed below), if we go ahead with this?

The already planned changes we have in mind, assuming there is interest in giving it another shot:

* TAKECOMMAND DIVISION will default to any unclaimed division first.
* ORDER DIVISION will default to the first division under your command in your location.
* Spawning of new troops increased from 30 seconds to 40 seconds.
* Only need to hold the majority of control points (3 out of 4)
* Holding a control point now requires you to have 20 or more troops over the other side in the room.
- Only troops that aren't in combat count towards this total.
- This number is total size of all your division, not individual divisions.
e.g. if you have a division of 17 soldiers and a division of 10 soldiers, the total is 27 soldiers in the room, not 2.
- This would let you use leftover smaller stacks of troops e.g. a division of 5 soldiers to attack an enemy's stack of 20 and disable them from counting towards the control point timer, allowing you to possibly edge some time over them while the division stays alive.

Let us have your thoughts and suggestions!

Penned by my hand on Kinsday, the 1st of Slyphian, in the year 498 MA.