Dravanian hinterlands aether currents

making a modpack for a small group of friends with limited computing power, mostly want the ability to automate basically anything to limit grinding, so we can use the time to explore and fuck around instead
in pizza terms, a blanket base of tech and machinery, a sauce of varied dungeons, biomes and creatures, a lovely extended game progression cheese, with a topping of just generally fun mods that you can fuck around friends with.
if any modpacks meet this very vague description or any mods you think could go into a collection that meets this very vague description; gimme
edit: the current pack we have includes. mekanism, battle towers, thaumcraft, crawler dungeons tinker's construct, aether, ICBM, minecolonies and thaumcraft (aswell as a bunch of QOL shit) mostly want to just make a super beefed version of the current pack using the guidelines listed above, but an existing pack that fits the bill works aswell

Greetings! We are 7/8 static group of (mostly) Asia/Oceania time zone people located in Aether. We are currently looking for a tank (preferably) or melee to join our group for progging and reclearing P9S-P12S. We are looking to clear the tier in 4 weeks, then get BIS for everyone. After finishing the tier, we are looking at doing UCOB, and then most likely either hitting current expac ultimates or trying BLU savage. Majority members of the group cleared up to p7s in the first week. We have: :DRK: :WHM: :SCH: :SAM: :DNC: :SMN: :NIN: [Nin spot is flex] Looking for either: Non-DRK tank (preferably), or Non-SAM melee
Usual schedule: Tues 10.30PM AEST for 3 hours Wed 10.30PM AEST for 3 hours Some of us sometimes run additional days as well (especially when progging new savage tier). However this is completely optional! Expectations: • Respecting everyone's time. As we have member from US side waking up early to be with us, it is essential that we are notified ASAP if something comes up in life, where possible. • Familiarity with savage/ultimate prep requirement (know your class/rotation, gearing, food, pot, preparing for the fight beforehand, etc) • Previous raid experience • Willingness to improve and consider constructive criticism • Relatively easy going, but is able to focus up when we are aiming for a clear. • We also primarily communicate over discord VC during raid time, but having mic is not essential. If you are interested or have any questions, please contact me KBD#9154 or Renoaru#8399 on discord.

Listing this as midcore group due to large range of experience in group. Quint legend and some prior HC members, but also some who have not done Savage before. Realistically aiming for clear of tier by week 8-10. Group was casually running UCOB before the tier dropped (we made it to Adds).
Seeking two melee DPS or one melee and one RDM/SMN for 6.4 Savage tier.
Raid times (Eastern time):
Wednesday 9:30p-12:30a
Thursday 11:00p-1:00a
Friday 9:30p-12:30a
Current comp:
Tanks: WAR, PLD
Healers: AST, SCH
Damage: BLM, MCH
We're on Aether but doesn't really matter as long as you are NA and can datacenter travel.
If interested please send reddit DM or Discord message Clarice#8519.

Data Center: NA Aether
Server: Adamantoise
Primary Focus: making new friends and completing content (static, maps, farming items, etc)
The Remnant Agency FC is recruiting! We’re aiming to create a community with the sole purpose to create a fun an social place to run content with others! We’d love to have you, whether you’re a new player or vet. We’re currently in the process of finding us a house, so in the mean time we are using my house as a temp fc house, 24/7 buffs and a discord with growing resource channels. Our events may include maps, old and new extreme trials, weeklies and more! If you’re not social or interested in events, we still encourage you to join us! DM me for details.

Out there - Patreon (for all those curious or wanting to support :))
At the Beginning
Adventure Arc - Arc 2
Wilderness Arc - Arc 3
Academy Arc - Arc 4
Previously on Leveling up the World…
Apologies for the lack of posts. I had some personal issues. To make up for it, there will be more chapters during the weekend :)
Enjoy :D
 
“Always glad to accommodate people of power,” Dallion repeated. Magic certainly made people, and organizations, change their attitude towards someone. In the past, the Mirror Pool had mugged, blackmailed him, even tried to kill him. They’d made him the star of a game in one of their gambling dens. Now, they were acting like servants.
A small part of Dallion was tempted to root out this den of villainy. He had the power and the political backing to ensure that there’d be no consequences. Just a few hours and the most ominous underworld organization of Nerosal would be no more. No one would come to harm—at least no one that didn’t deserve it. People might even praise him. However, doing so would make him no different from the last Star.
Closing his eyes, Dallion took a deep breath. He’d recite the names of the Moons if he thought that would make things better. Sadly, it wouldn’t. Thinking about it just risked worsening his mood.
Err, the thread is moving towards you, Gem said. It’s getting longer.
Dallion split into ten instances.
“I see it,” he said. Quite brave for his spy to venture so close to an open space. “Gem, I want you to move so you're on the other side of the thread.”
Hmm? The aetherfish sounded confused.
“Just make sure that it’s between you and me.” Dallion stood up. “I’ll take care of the rest.”
Something in his action must have alarmed his pursuer, for the aether thread quickly moved away. Unfortunately, it was already too late.
Trip up everyone! Dallion ordered, using his empathy trait.
A split second later, he cast a flight spell and darted in the direction of the thread.
Beneath him, people started tripping. For the most part, it was that non-awakened that started tumbling down beneath him. There was no logical reason or it—just a freak coincidence turned epidemic. Most of the people even found it humorous, though not much so the performers who struggled to remain on the ropes above the plaza.
Focus on furies, Dallion clarified, rushing after the thread. A few moments later, the glow vanished, as the person he was chasing cut off the air current like a lizard’s tail. A good strategy, though pointless. Dallion had no doubt that his target was a fury and furies relied on air currents to move about. Even with one gone, more would appear and Gem was going to sniff them out like a bloodhound.
The threads vanished, the aetherfish said.
“Stray there,” Dallion ordered. Evenafter all this time, Gem still wasn’t the most reliable being when it came to tracking things in the real world. “Get ready, Ruby.” Dallion’s fingers vast a new spell.
A portal emerged in front of him. Using the aetherfish as an anchor point, he teleported half a mile from the plaza and immediately burst into instances. Hundreds of him spread out, covering several blocks of the city, and then Dallion found it: the unmistakable emanation of magic that had been spying on him since his room. He only glanced at the figure for a moment, but it was enough. Two new spells were cast. Clusters of lightning engulfed the area, draining magic from everything they touched. At the Academy, this would be a devastating spell; here it was a scalpel only noticed by people with magic—in other words, furies.
You don’t have to go overboard, the armadil shield said.
“It won’t hurt them much,” Dallion replied as his own flight spell lost its strength.
With all magic in the area gone, gravity pulled him back to the ground. For someone with a body trait of over sixty, that was hardly an issue, though. Dallion spread his arms and legs, letting himself glide for a bit. It wasn’t exactly gliding, and it merely slowed his fall for fractions for a second, but enough to hear the hump of someone else hitting the ground.
Got you! Dallion thought, as he crashed down moments later. Rolling forward on contact, he quickly jumped up, dashing in the direction of the sound.
Only two of his instances sprained an ankle. The rest took different routes in an attempt to catch up to the fury. Alas, by the time they had reached the point of impact, there was no one there. The only thing that remained behind were a few marks on the ground.
Clever, Dallion thought.
A while back, the neighborhood was bustling with shops and mid-tier guildhalls. With the changes the countess had imposed, the guilds must have moved or closed down. No one had said it openly, not even the overseer, but the internal conflicts must have reduced the awakened population significantly. On the surface, the buildings remained almost the same they had been years ago, but it was all an empty shell. In all likelihood, it would take years to fill up again—possibly even decades considering the greater war taking place. That made it the perfect place to hide.
Hundreds of Dallion’s instances checked the doors. A few words with the guardians was all that was needed for him to see whether someone had gone inside. The answer was always no, but in one case Dallion spotted an inconsistency: a trail of fresh dust leading to a building and an area guardian that insisted that no one had been there for months.
Ruby fluttered off Dallion’s shoulder, ready to slice up the door open.
“No,” Dallion whispered. There was no need to kill anyone. A quick spell and the lock opened.
In five of Dallion’s instances, the door burst open, as a wave of ice pushed him back. In the rest, Dallion shattered it with a measured point attack.
Ice fragments flew everywhere, shooting out of the building’s windows. Taking advantage of the momentum, Dallion rushed in. From the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of someone rushing down the staircase to the building’s basement.
Nice try. He cast a zap spell and sent it in the person’s direction. Had it been a normal bolt, it would have hit the wall, causing no harm whatsoever. Unfortunately for Dallion’s target, before that happened, the bolt curved, spinning down the staircase.
Dallion was just about to follow when a large figure in full metal armor blocked his way. A massive broadsword slashed three quarters of his instances, making it clear that he wouldn’t be able to win this on magic alone. Of course, that wasn’t a reason for him to give up.
Five aether barriers formed between Dallion and the blade, slowing the attack down. The strength of the attack was impressive, for all five of them were shattered without issue.
Leaping back, Dallion drew his harpsisword. Metal clashed again, metal, as blows were exchanged faster than the eye could follow. In mere seconds, hundreds of attacks and counter attacks had taken place, after which both Dallion and his opponent stopped.
“They said you were nowhere to be found.” Dallion took a step back, still holding his harpsisword.
“No one really looked.” The person in armor removed her helmet, revealing March’s face.
For several seconds Dallion just stood there, not moving a muscle. Even with all his magic, he knew that the woman could end him if he let his guard down. She’d already done that to at least one mage Dallion knew of. In the past they had been guildmates, more than that—they’d even been friends, but time and war had a tendency to change anyone. Maintaining a few dozen instances at the ready, Dallion tried to determine how things stood between them. When March put away her weapon, he let out a mental sigh of relief.
“You’ve improved a bit,” she said. “I thought that after joining the Academy, you’d only rely on magic.”
“Lucky that I didn’t.” Dallion didn’t expect their first meeting to be like this. “I heard you were dead.” He lowered his own weapon. “Or imprisoned somewhere.”
“I’m always imprisoned.” March tapped her armor. “Part of my punishment. You’ve done pretty well for yourself. From fugitive to mage. Usually, it’s the other way around.”
Dallion forced a semi-smile.
“And where’s Vend? Still among us?”
“Oh, he’s alive, just not in the best of shape. He’d have liked to see you, but…”
“I can heal him,” Dallion said without hesitation. “I have the skills now.”
“I know. Maybe later. He never got along with authorities, even you. Nothing personal.”
Dallion’s first mentor didn’t want to see him and that wasn’t supposed to be personal?
“You didn’t have to spy on me,” Dallion quickly changed the topic. “If you wanted to talk, I’d have come see you.”
A faint purple glow covered March’s face. It lasted a fraction of a second, but Dallion noticed it. And the moment he did, he reacted. His harpsisword thrust forward, flying towards the woman’s chest. Caught by surprise, March barely managed to move to the side, letting it scrape her breastplate. The action was uncharacteristically sloppy, giving Dallion enough time to prepare a new spell.
“You’ve not March,” he said in a firm voice, a nine circle-spell near completion around his left hand. “Who are you?”
“Stop!” a voice said. While there was no one nearby, Dallion noticed the thin thread of magic coming from the basement. It was the same that had been spying on him all day. “I was spying on you!” A fury emerged.
The moment he saw her, Dallion’s eyes widened.
“Di?” he blinked. In his mind, it had been yesterday when he left her in Hannah’s care. In truth, over a year had passed and in that time, she had become unrecognizable.
The punky teen was a full head taller than what he remembered. Slender and elegant, she resembled a young woman. If it weren’t for her white skin and blue hair, one might almost mistake her for Jiroh.
“Skye,” the fury said. As she did, March’s face changed color, then the shape turned into a cloud. The creature flew out of the armor, leaving the empty husk to fall to the floor with a loud clang. Regaining its fox shape, it curled around Diroh’s neck.
That was Skye? Dallion wondered. He should have felt the creature despite its disguise. Instead, it had completely fooled him.
“Guess you’re not the only one who’s changed.” Dallion ended his spell, causing it to fizzle away. “I remember you being nicer.”
“Oh, she still likes you. She just gets overprotective at times. And I had to learn a few tricks to keep her, and myself hidden.”
Some tricks. Dallion knew mages that weren’t as capable as that. Now that the cloud puff had left the armor, he could sense some of its emotions. As the fury had said, he still felt a lot of positive emotions towards him, along with vicious protectiveness.
“Blocker items?” Dallion asked. “Blocker armor?” he kicked the armor with the tip of his shoe.
“Hannah told me not to try to see you, but… I thought I could pull it off without you noticing. It always worked in the past.”
“There weren’t any mages in the past,” Dallion said.
He was half right. Even with Adzorg done, there was one person who had the potential to become a mage—Diroh herself. It wasn’t the standard type of magic. The trait didn’t seem to be as defined as his; rather, she seemed to have acquired a new unique set of skills which she could control—like a crimson fury, only different. More importantly, though, he could tell she had become a double digit.
This is an unexpected turn of events, the armadil shield said. Didn’t see that coming.
Which part? Dallion asked.
All of it. A self-taught ice fury is even more impressive than you.
Nil had said something similar at the time. According to the old echo, such furies weren’t supposed to exist, but came about due to some accident or other. The crimson furies—or blood furies, as some called them—were supposedly created by the Imperial family. In a way, they were like the emperor’s Praetorian guard, loyal to him above everything else. Di, on the other hand, was the result of an accident due to a hunter hiding the skill gem of magic within her realm for years.
“Don’t worry.” For the first time in a long while, Dallion felt a natural smile come to his face. “Everything is fine now.”
Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this story, consider joining my patreon or check out my other stories on redditserials:
The Scuu Paradox (a Space Opera Sci Fi)
The Cassandrian Theory (a Space Opera Sci Fi)
The Impeccable Adventure of the Reluctant Dungeon (Dungeon Core Adventure Comedy)
Uncharted Waters (An Urban Fantasy Detective Noir)
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This question pops up relatively frequently, and for good reason - there’s a good difference comparing a warrior that fought alone against a god, and a group of them. Of course, with azem’s crystal, that debate becomes a lot simpler, but still leaves room for interpretation- are all the warriors of equal strength?
I wanted to throw my hat in the ring, so here’s my quick takeaway from the lore:
The WoL usually fights in a group, whether with adventurers, scions, or summons, but is leagues above their companions (similar to certain job quests - the WoL demolishes enemies while the rest play support/antagonize and chip away) A great comparison would be the final main Elidibus fight - he becomes a WoL and is the main enemy, with his summons (great warriors in their own right/dimension) being annoyances that buzz around, but could kill you if you’re not careful. Or really, any boss fight that summons mini enemies, Athena as an example. This explains why the boss is usually only interested in the WoL, they take massive priority.
But why mention/have these friends to begin with, if the WoL outclasses them? To make sense why there’s a duty finder, and nothing else.
It’s a similar situation to why the WoL often doesn’t help out much in cutscenes - for cutscene, it’s animation/dealing with the myriad of different models and possible clothes etc; for fights, it’s an MMO, so battles don’t really seems as fun/aren’t designed to be played alone. (Although, here me out, imagine a new version where the boss uses the same attacks/moves, with damage adjusted for one player, with the first “hard” difficulty becoming “what if the boss did ~, and the WoL needed the crystal’s blessing?”)
For specific fights, however, whether it’s specifically stated or not, it gets complicated, especially in raids. For example,for the Eden storyline, the WoL fights alone. For the recent fights with gods, it’s mentioned the WoL goes to get companions (which makes sense, since Mor Dhona is right there), but at the same time - you gotta pull sure strings to logic how the WoL gathers adventures to fight gods, and then go “hey can y’all leave now so I can go talk with them and learn secrets of the universe.” Same with the void arc - the WoL gets a team of adventures to somehow fly to the arc (they wouldn’t have a prototype skycutter), then, as soon as the most obvious danger passes, goes “hey, can y’all leave so we can have an important scene?” Of course, specific story fights - such as the WoL against Ultimate Weapn, the Kami, etc, the WoL is fighting alone.
But since the WoL is pretty much a power fulfillment fantasy, it’s still important to figure out their strength. To be frank, it doesn’t really matter if the WoL fights alone or not; even if every single summon fought at the same level as the WoL (which I would say isn’t accurate), they’re still op. There’s all the talk about their strength of their body and soul, as well as the lore-acceptable implication the WoL has mastered all formed of combat, most modern magics, and can craft pretty much anything (apparently, building their own mech and flamethrower for the mechanist quests), all over the course of a few years (with any technique learned past ~50-60 being completely independently created/enhanced/mastered). Plus, the main difference in magics between the WoL and Y’Shtola/G’raha seems to just be learning/experience, with the implication that the WoL can instantly learn most spells cast on them (blue magic, 100% learning rate when playing dungeons with a group, lore wise, there’s no reason the WoL would be confined just to spells that appear in the book)- at least a version they can currently control. Enemies, even Gaius, can straight up create phantoms/shades, use transformation magics, create familiars, and fly, and the main difference in power between Emet and the WoL, in terms of magic, just comes down to experience/innate understanding and aether reserves (which is dealt with through white magic & astromancy). Of course, there’s also the vague power of seeing the past/future with the echo!
Of course, because this is an MMO game, with limited animations and a need for a structured system, the WoL is limited to a single class/certain spells, fighting with a bunch of powerful adventures against some op boss. Lore wise, the WoL is probably jumping around , leaping into the atmosphere while masking their presence and using ninja mutra to blend perfectly with the sky around them, before smashing into a boss with the force of a dragon + 14 open chakra gates, before quick casting some transformation spell to weaken their enemies, as their shades zip past, gutting the boss’s minions - all as a group of adventures/summons prevent the boss from focusing on blocking the attacks.

Petite Jupiter sits in an otherwise empty room in Buckingham Palace, genuinely nervous for the first time in a long time. He keeps peering at a watch he wears under his plum coloured suit. He occasionally hears the sound of cheers and boos through the walls, like the very building is vibrating with the FBE crowd.
"I have no idea how they got the Palace to agree to this", he thinks, looking around, "but whoever sealed that deal deserves a raise from Capital STEEZ".
Not a minute later, a door swings open, and the Commissioner stands there, a towel around his shoulders, catching the last of the sweat from his forehead following his match with Jay Castle.
A little shocked, STEEZ looked at PJ with incredulity at first. The London local smiles back at him and said, "Commissioner, good to see you as always. I'm glad you seem to have got my note. And my apologies for the surprise - only one other person knew about this, and I wanted to keep it that way until the last possible moment."
Holding out a hand to shake the retired Hall of Famer said, "Good match out there. But, I'm afraid we'll have to catch up more a little later if you have time for a pint. I've got some business to tend to..." PJ gestures to the beautiful trophy for the winner of the inaugural Shining Light League. "The tournament has my name on it, so it only feels right that I'm one of the first to congratulate the winner..." PJ smiles, and STEEZ smiles back, as the pair shake hands, before PJ grabs the trophy and makes his way to the gorilla position.
"The winner of the match, and the inaugural Shining Light League winner: Dr Logan Wright!!!"
The crowd roared with ectascy as Dr Logan Wright scores the victory, and the referee holds his hand aloft. And amazing match, rounding off a fantastic Anniversary Show. As PJ nervously looked over someone's shoulders at a monitor at gorilla position, he waited for his cue. As Logan walked up the ramp to the back, taking in the adulation of the crowd on each side, he stood facing the ring to close out the broadcast. As he did, PJ started walking forward, giving the cue to one of the production staff.
Suddenly, the lights go down in the arena, and a second later the crowd hears this.
The crowd erupts again, as PJ walks out from the back, and towards Logan, holding the trophy in his hand. Logan, looking genuinely shocked, sees PJ walking towards him, smiling. He hands him the trophy, and leans in towards his ear and says, "You've come one heck of a way since we last shared a ring. You totally deserve this champ. That was one great match. Enjoy this moment."
Standing to Logan's side, PJ holds the hand not holding the trophy aloft, and with his free hand points to the winner of the match, and the cameras linger on that image as the closing shot of the show.
Logan, still fairly astonished, looks back at PJ as the cameras go off the air. PJ turns to him and says,"We'll catch up later champ. As I said, enjoy this moment, it's yours. But you should should get something to drink, and you've probably got some interviews to be doing, so don't let me hold you up! Besides...",he said, glancing at the ring, "...I've got some people to thank for coming out tonight!" He smiled, and particles Logan on the back, applauding him as he walked though the back.
With sweaty palms, and a short, sharp breath out, PJ slowly walks down to the ring, high-fiving the people in the rows by the entrance ramp. Walking up the steps and stepping through the ropes, he wondered if he'd remember everything he wanted to say. But on the other hand, he thought it was a little too late for that now.
As someone at ringside gave him a microphone, PJ felt a strange confidence rise up within. He had been away for so long. He hadn't been back since he retired. But, he felt at home, once again.
"Good evening London, how is everyone?" The crowd roar back a cheer in response. "Did you enjoy an incredible anniversary show?" Another cheer in response, and another wave of confidence welled up, and a feeling like putting on an old pair of comfy shoes. "I said, did you enjoy an incredible anniversary show?" They roar back even louder. "I thought you might have done!", said PJ, "And you know what, I did too!"
Walking round and talking to the audience on each side of the ring as he spoke, he said, "Given this show was coming from London town, and given the final of the Shining Light League was taking place, I thought I had to show up and be a part of this occasion. It would be rude otherwise, right, given the League had my bloody name on it!" The crowd laughed back as PJ smiled at them. "But, as you all know, FBE have the best fans in the entire world. You are everywhere, and you follow us everywhere. Your passion is unrivalled, and - although I'm biased - I know the best fans are Londoners." With that, a huge roar echoed around the hall. "Careful you lot! You'll wake the King! You lot aren't going to have voices tomorrow! But anyway, I just wanted to thank you all from the very bottom of my heart from coming. Without you, the show, and this company, are nothing. You are the life blood of all we do, and the reason the boys in the back bust a gut and leave everything in this squared circle every single night. Thank you so much for coming, it has been so good to be here and to share this with you, and to personally give Logan the accolade his performances in the Shining Light League deserve. Now, get home safe and..."
"Aye now mate, what's the rush?"
PJ turns to the top of the ramp to see a very familiar face walking down towards the ring: his former stable-mate, and the current FBE World Champion, Inferno.
"You really thought you were leaving without so much as a hello... or even a thank you? We both know things have changed since you left, but I was fuckin' certain you hadn't forgotten your manners! A little respect to the man who invited you to these holy grounds would be appreciated. After all, the Aethers hold all the aces in FBE now."
PJ, perturbed by Inferno's new brash persona, listens in as the crowd start to boo their champion, before saying "Seems like these people don't seem to agree."
"You're taking their word over mine? These luddites don't know shit!", Inferno retorts spitefully.
"Inferno, I don't know what really seems to have gotten into you over the past couple of weeks, but this isn't the guy I used to run FBE with alongside Desmond Caid", he said gesturing to the FBE Champion. "This isn't the man who knew dignity and politeness, as well as the anger and the fury, who could expertly navigate that space between the dark and the light. I don't see an Ace... All I see is... Well... A bit of a prick". With that, the crowd roared again, in seeming approval.
Inferno, standing on the opposite side of the ring simply stands there, and laughs at the man known as the Shining Light. "If that's what you think - I'll wear it like a badge of pride! Damn straight I'm a prick, and I'll even go one further and say I'm a full-fledged bastard! But above all, you know what else I am? The best. Both as World Heavyweight Champion... and at Pure Rules. You may be the pioneer, but I'm the master, and I've murdered more careers than you've had matches. When the sun sets and our boots are worn, you know we'll be knocking back drinks in Camden, but right now, there's something more pressing that's been on my mind since I stomped Desmond Caid last week. I've beaten them all... except you. My white whale, my forgotten brother, my forever counterpart. I'm no God but the word on the street around here is that I may be unbeatable, and wouldn't it be to your interest to dispel that idea by doing the one thing you never could - beat the man on the throne? Unless, of course, you're scared to take up the challenge? Because you're past it, and know you wouldn't stand a chance?"
The pair had been long time friends, so Inferno knew all the right words to press PJ's buttons. The Shining Light was no coward, and scared of no challenge. As the crowd noise swells, with break outs of "Yes!" chants around the room, PJ half hears the pumping of blood in his ears, and half hears Inferno say, "How about it then? Petite Jupiter Vs Inferno, at P.U.R.E.!"
In response PJ uttered the three words he had become synonymous with during his time in FBE:
"Bring. It. On."

[STATIC][SAVAGE][LFM] [NA/Aether][Cactuar] [LGBT][6/8]
Looking for:

1 Non-WAR tank 1 DPS (melee)

ABOUT US: - Midcore - Currently all gay guys (but open to anyone that is chill and doesn't mind joking that frequently leans in that direction - Have raided together since Eden's Promise
EXPECTATIONS: - 18+ - Good attendance - Some raiding experience required. Not asking for a clear of last tier, but please have cleared at least 2+ savage fights in the past with blue+ parses - Know your rotation, be ready to improve if needed and stock your own food/pots - Must have cleared EX5 and have that weapon AND your prog BiS ready for Savage
SCHEDULE: Tuesdays and Thursdays: 8PM EDT - 10PM EDT
Sundays: Optional -- 8PM - 10PM EDT. Open to anyone who wants to come/pug (on weeks where we're close to a clear we might try extra hard to see if everyone can come)
Send me a message here or on discord (overnightsiren#5578) if you're interested or have any questions!

I like the idea of pix finally figuring out how to make a fun and viable sniper robot (after Jaeger and Railguns failed) so I don't want to see Crisis nor Reaper killed. However, Reaper in it's current state is just absurd, and while Crisis is rather balanced, I think it should be just a little bit easier to punish for making mistakes.
Crisis Changes

• After your stealth drops, it takes 2 seconds longer to return (NERF)
  • Crisis can already be punished if it uses its ability at the wrong time, but now it should be a little easier for enemies to take this high-value target off the field when it makes a mistake.

Reaper Changes

• Removed anti-forcefield, anti-reflector, and anti-Theseus properties. Anti-DR remains. (NERF)
  • The ability to ignore these defense systems simply needs to be cut. It does not belong in the game. Many robots who have these defense systems have low health and expose themselves (typically via flight) with the expectation that they will have protection during this period of exposure to deal their damage. The downside to this strength is that their abilities tend to have long cooldowns.
  • Reaper makes it so that these bots are literally flying into certain deaths. When Reaper comes into more peoples hands, any robots with these defense systems are going to be essentially unjustly removed from the game because using their ability means guaranteed death. Having gotten a mk2 reaper crisis from the creator program, I can tell you its open season for these robots (AND TITANS) if you have reapers:
    • Harpy, Siren, Hawk, Seraph, Skyros, Fafnir, Nether, Aether, Luchador, Minos.
• Added reload while firing properties (BUFF)
  • This is to give it a little more utility for finishing off low HP enemies as a tradeoff for the loss of all of that resistance penetration.
• Reload reduced 7s -> 6s (BUFF)
  • This will make it fire 1 shot per second when it's empty.
• Damage reduced by 15% (NERF)
  • The damage Reaper does is already enough to instakill most enemies, this nerf is mainly to counteract the reload and RWF buffs to avoid making it have too strong of a burst (with RWF it will get an extra shot in its burst)

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Ooooh boy, it’s happening. Ok everyone, stay calm and get to your positions for the defense plan! All around my domain, my denizens spring into action, gathering on the eastern shore in preparation for the oncoming assault. The first line of defense is once again made up of my cats, all rushing back from their scout positions to form walls of ice and snow on the mountainside to create a difficult-to-navigate terrain. Joining them will be my entire legion of bunny brawlers as well as the swarms of dire demon rabbits. On the western edge of my island, Leonardo and Giorno join up and then rush towards my sanctum so that they can oversee the battle from its safety. Although Emmett is also a non-combative scion and thus would normally join them, he’s busy with directing some of the large worker termites and my few terrorspines in transporting large clay vats from his workshop to the main entrance of my little island.
Here, the termites and porcupines are working together to assemble hastily constructed wooden barricades with several spots left open just enough to allow a flechette-pine to spray their needles at any approaching enemies before ducking back under cover to regrow their ammunition. Hecate and Selene meanwhile swim over alongside all of the froglings. To maximize their potential, I’m going to have them stick to the lake where they will hold the advantage in maneuverability as well as make full use of their inherent water affinities.
As for Jackie? She’s quick to abandon her role as a tour guide with an apologetic bow towards Lydia before bounding away outside. There, she hops onto Alexa’s back and they fly up into the branches stretching out over the eastern side of my island together. Over the past week of combat, Jackie has increased her affinity enough with her bow that she’s now able to adjust the life aether that it is made of, effectively allowing her to grow or shrink the length of its limbs at will. I feel a tad silly now, thinking back on how long we spent debating the pros and cons of making a shortbow vs a longbow now that she can essentially have it in either form as needed, but ah well. For this battle, she’ll be taking the role of a sniper, putting gravity to her advantage to take out targets from far above with her special weapon in longbow form.
Left alone inside of my sanctum, Lydia simply turns to me with a single eyebrow raised. Ah, right. Still no Voice so I can’t exactly tell her what’s going on. I’ve really got to get that figured out at some point. Hmmm, but maybe I can cheat in a workaround in the meantime? Hey Giorno! Try inviting the inspector into our network with your telepathy. I don’t know if it will work, but it's worth a shot so she can get clued into what’s happening. He’s a little surprised by the idea but complies nonetheless. Almost immediately, a red alert pops up flashing in my UI.
[You may only communicate to outsiders through your Voice.]
Besides me, the inspector lets out a small exclamation of surprise that echoes twice, once through physical sound, and the second from the mental exclamation that mirrors it in our telepathic link. Hmm, interesting, despite the warning still flashing in one corner of my UI, the connection still went through, though nothing more than surface thoughts seem to be coming from out of the inspector’s side. Furthermore, when I ask if she can hear Giorno or me clearly, neither of us get any kind of response. What does get through, is a mental picture of the current preparations underway as I watch the soon-to-be battlefield. This prompts her to simply nod, and then stand beside my core as a silent observer. Hmm, I wonder if this isn’t unlike setting up a tv screen with a bunch of security camera feeds linked to it for her, but with all the sound muted. I’d ask, but that’s a no-go for obvious reasons. And besides, I’ve got more important things to attend to at the moment, like not dying.
From out of the crevice that leads beneath the ground pour a continuous horde of honey badgers, just like before. This time, however, instead of hissing and lashing about in a mindless fury, they’re lining up neatly into row after row of tightly packed bodies, waiting for more of their forces to emerge before beginning the attack. From down the mountainside, I get a report from Kelvin who has just got back from escorting the delvers out to safety. Staying hidden in the snow and rocks, Kelvin watches as all along the timberline on the eastern side waves of bears charge out of the forest. He seems to have caught the tail end of it, as he can see a great many of them already nearing the top of the peaks. I guess Deepholm is using an up-and-over approach for these forces since they wouldn’t fit through the crevice that the badgers are using.
Glad for the heads up, I tell Kelvin to take the first of the prototype batch of invisibility potions and to stay where he is. Once the bears have cleared the area, I want him to try and find where they came crawling out of. Congrats kitty, you get to be my secret weapon against Deepholm while he’s distracted against my defense up here. I decide to ignore the disheartened “yay” I get in response to that. This was the plan from the start, after all. We were just hoping for a bit more time to prepare for it.
So far that makes for badgers, bats, and bears, oh my. Yet, despite the late hour, no bats have taken flight into my skies as of yet. According to what Kelvin can see outside, they seem to have amassed farther out and are evidently waiting for something before joining the fray. Well, they can take as much time as they like, I’m not about to just sit around and wait for them to act. Alright Alexa, it’s time for phase 1! Swapping out her Cache for Kelvin’s storm affinity, Alexa then gifts that to the twins. From their practice during the two times they’ve swamped my garden in fog, the twins have become quite proficient in forming clouds from their water magic. However, the added variables of controlling said clouds high up in the sky and getting them to behave the way we want them to in addition to factors like wind and other weather have necessitated the addition of storm magic to ensure this next step goes smoothly.
On the shore of my island, the clay vats each have their lids removed to reveal a dark purple, dehydrated paste inside. It’s a nasty mix of all the various poisons my various types of frogs produce, harvested and then distilled into a paste by all my froglings for storage. Casting in tandem, Selene and Hecate work together to absorb it all into giant balls of water. From there, they utilize their new storm affinity to send it all up into the sky and form dark rain clouds over the battlefield, following close behind so that they don’t lose control of it due to distance.
As soon as the bruised purple clouds begin to darken the night sky, my enemies make their move, charging and hissing into my assembled forces. With spears and bows, tooth and claw, my rabbits fearlessly fling themselves into battle while my cats back them up from behind with their snow magic, splitting up into roles just as they had before during the battle against the bats. Even as the first few bears crest the mountaintops and come charging down with the aid of gravity assisting their charge, their lines do not falter.
A shrill whistling sound heralds the arrival of Jackie’s supporting fire, several bears’ heads exploding from the aether-enhanced impacts and sending their corpses tumbling into the mobs of badgers instead. Up above, Hecate and Selene continue their complicated casting while Alexa guards them against any unwelcome interruptions with her newly born owls. As useful as a cloud full of poison is after all, besides violating several Geneva conventions it also has the slight problem of being just as deadly to my own denizens as it is to Deepholm’s. To address this, Selene is using all her strength to bless the cloud with her magic, so that any water that falls on those marked as allies will instead impart her healing magic, as well as a litany of minor buffs such as increased stamina and strength. Hecate, meanwhile, is using her time to worsen the effects of the poison by adding several of her own curses to the mixture, most notable of which is the liberal application of her festering wounds curse.
This makes for a lengthy and dangerous process, one that quickly leaves my fish scions all but completely empty in their mana reserves. Once their combined spell is completed, I order them both back to rest deep within the waters of my lake where they can safely recuperate. It’s just in time too, more and more bears have made their ascent, enough so now that all the mountainside I can see is covered in the brown and black hues of their fur looming over the much shorter hordes of honey badgers that still have yet to cease pouring out of the depths. With just the bodies I can see, I can tell that my forces are easily outnumbered by 5 to 1, at the least.
Luckily for me, unlike you Deepholm, I go for quality over quantity. The first drops of rain begin to spatter lightly down, turning slowly from a drizzle into a downpour. With it comes the blessings of Selene, renewing the defender’s vigor and filling them with energy. The cats all roar as they redouble their efforts, resorting to claws and fang once their magic has run dry. My rabbits, on the other hand, are keeping things lively by competing with one another for the most invaders slain while the dire demon rabbits attack with a feverish abandon that was worthing of matching even the berserker badgers.
As for the invading horde? At first, they paid the rain no mind, it was just a feeble distraction at best. But then, when the water began to soak their furry hides through, and the caustic substances started to eat into their flesh did they begin to writhe in pain and confusion. With a terrible sizzling sound, acidic burns ran rampant through the enemy forces, and in the worst cases, flesh began to slough off of their bones soon after. Many were left twitching from paralytic symptoms as Hecate’s curses spread necrosis through rapidly blackening and rotting flesh.
Despite the fact that only Jackie and Alexa remain with any mana to spare amongst my defending forces, my fish scion’s spell has allowed us to firmly hold the line with martial strength alone. Bursting with pride at the achievements of my denizens, I take a moment to glance back at the inspector, wanting to perhaps gloat a bit about how well everyone was doing. Instead of getting that chance however, I’m met with an accusing stare directed at my core as the inspector bears witness to the carnage currently unfolding.
What? Don’t look at me like that. Oh come on, what else was I supposed to do against such a big number difference? It’s effective, isn’t it? And it’s not like I’d ever use this against people or anything, so there was no reason to include those vats as part of the tour. This is purely for emergency defensive measures, honest! So please just put those eyes away!
Though I know it’s useless since she literally can’t hear me, I can’t help but to plead my case anyways. Eventually, she gives an aggrieved huff and her eyes become unfocused once more as she turns her attention back to the battlefield. Feeling rather chagrined, I do the same. Though I’ve suffered my fair share of casualties as well, the enemy numbers are clearly dwindling much faster, and I can’t imagine the battle will continue on much longer as it is.
That’s just the thing though, isn’t it? Up till now, Deepholm has shown a clearly intelligent approach to each attack he’s made against me, so there’s no way in hell I believe that this is all he’s got in store. The question is, why hasn’t he made his move? Where are the bats, or his scions? Just what in the world is he waiting for? It isn’t long before I get my answer.
At this point the numbers between each side have dwindled down to become roughly evenly matched, the rain having exacted a heavy toll. Most of the invaders left standing are the smaller honey badgers using corpses for cover or animals too wounded to care and putting every bit of their remaining strength into inflicting as much harm as possible upon my defenders before collapsing to the ground one final time. From deep within caverns echoed a new noise now, a heavy thwump, thwump, thwump, growing ever louder, and faster, as it approached. Before long the very ground was shaking from the force of it, and the distinct sound of something huge galloping at full speed beat out a drumroll to announce the arrival of Deepholm’s first scion to arrive on the scene.
I kid you not, and without an ounce of shame admit to you that if I still had a physical body I would have needed a swift change of pants, as I’m sure anyone who could have witnessed what came next would agree with me. The mountainside around the crevice fully erupted. Huge chunks of rock that were as comfortably as big as a house were sent flying through the air, scattered across the battlefield, some pieces even reaching so far as to land within my lake. Broken and newly unsupported stone and snow fell away in a cascade of death, crushing friend and foe alike in its unforgiving path. In mere moments, this scion had pulled off what Deepholm’s entire army could not, decimating my defenders by the droves.
And then, it stood up. Towering above everything else, stood an enormous grizzly monstrosity, large enough to take up most of a football field from snout to tail.
[Direbear Collosus]
That’s all the information the UI had to provide, but really, what more needs to be said? This behemoth’s danger certainly speaks for itself. Raised up on its hind legs, the bear scion released a titanic roar that chased waves across the entirety of my lake. Seriously, what is up with Deepholm and all of his scions being so damned loud? I know, objectively, that this is clearly not the time or place to be thinking of such trivial things, but hey! A girl’s gotta cope with crippling terror one way or another.
Scanning around at my survivors who are busy pulling each other from the rubble, the giant bear seems to be searching for something in particular. Though its head and body are now being pelted by the cursed storm courtesy of my fish scions, the damned thing hardly even bats an eye. I watch, incredulous, as a patch of fur falls away from its head along with a layer of flesh underneath it, only for new tissue to quickly bubble up and take its place. Ah, I see. The giant bear monstrosity has regenerative powers. Because of course it does.
Before long, the colossus’ gaze falls upon one snow leopard noticeably larger than the others, assisting its brethren in trying to save as many of my denizens as possible from a rocky tomb. Without so much as a peep, the bear lunges forward, bringing its paw down upon the poor kitty like a meteor strikes the earth, leaving behind nothing more than a red smear where it and anyone unfortunate enough to be standing nearby once were. As if by that signal, a cloud of bats entered my airspace shortly after, led by none other than the bat scion as it used its sonic magic to disintegrate the clouds hovering in the sky.
As I had feared, Deepholm had made it a priority to eliminate Kelvin, who he perceives to be my biggest available threat since his battle against the bats. While I'm glad that I had anticipated that particular point of action, I do still feel quite sorry for the poor displacer beast who had to act as bait while the real deal is slinking through Deepholm’s caves with rudimentary invisibility potions. Clearly, Deepholm was being cautious of my cat scion pulling another atmospheric bomb on them. With the skies now cleared, the Nightwing bat commanded its forces to attack the owls gathered above my tree for a much-anticipated rematch between the two air forces.
Curiously, instead of charging into battle and pitting itself against Alexa, it decided to hang much farther back, gathering a large amount of sonic affinity mana in its throat. Before I could even question its actions further, it opened its maws into a bellowing, magical roar, or at least looked like it did. For once, no deafening sound blasted at my ears, instead what was released was a massive wave of sonar, too high in frequency to be picked up through normal means. An odd choice really, I mean, why waste the opportunity you’ve made by deciding not to attack? Instead opening up with something that’s generally best for searching…, for…
…Oh.
Oh no.
The thing about sonar is that it’s really good at finding cavities and such hidden within wood and stone, especially so if it's got the power of magic backing it up. Despite the lack of an actual body, nonetheless, I feel my blood freeze over. Looking up from its game of whack-a-mole with my poor leopards, the bear scion stops and stares directly at my core, each of its 4 beady eyes blood-red with hatred.
It can see me. It knows.
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Author Notes://
So yeah, rather than waste resources enhancing the more mundane spawns, Deepholm is the kind of dungeon to go all in on investing in the only units it actually cares about, its scions; heavily upgrading and evolving each one over the many years. Will its strategy of putting all its eggs into those three baskets pay off in the end? Stick around and find out in the next few chapters!
P.S. In case you're curious, I have it written down that the bear scions height when standing on two legs is at precisely 83 meters (including the ears).

[LFM][7/8][MC][SAVAGE][AetheNA]
Hello, we are a midcore group who have varying experience in savage raiding. We are looking to clear within 2-3 months at the latest. Please be up to constructive criticism and lets get better together and have fun while downing baddies.
Current Comp: GNB PLD SCH WHM DRG RPR SMN Needs: BRD/DNC
Our raid times are Tuesdays and Wednesdays 8-10Cen/9-11EST. Please DM me here or on Discord: BauseSauce#9757 with your interest and logs if you'd like but they are not required

Hello!
You can call me Evan. I'm a 22 y/o trans guy from Australia. I work on AEST (+10).
Apologies in advance for the mobile formatting!
Rules:

1. For my own comfort, all partners and their characters must be a minimum of 20.
2. I am currently looking for MxM as a switch, or MxF.
3. 3rd person only and 1 - 3 paragraphs minimum, but I can write more with the right partner. I'd like this to be a long term RP.
4. Discord only. Please message me via chats or messages to express interest.
5. I will not reply every day, so please do not hassle me for responses unless it has been at least a week.
6. To ensure I knew you read this, please include ‘cobblestone’ as the c0de.
7. Do not control my character / do not godmod.

Breaking rules will result in a warning and reminder, and further issues will result in the RP being dropped. Please respect my rules, as I will with yours.
———
I’m looking for someone to play the characters in plain text. I will be writing the characters in italics.

• Tartaglia/Childe X Zhongli
  
• Tartaglia/Childe X Aether / Lumine (your choice depending on preferred gender)
  
• Tartaglia/Childe X Lumine
  
• Diluc X Lumine
  
• Arataki Itto X Gorou
  
• Arataki Itto X Miss Hina Please note for this option Miss Hina will be a completely separate character to Gorou, his female cousin if their relationship is brought up. She will be written as a cis woman whose famous for her modelling career and love of literature and all things “soft and cute”.
  

I’m welcome to hear your ideas or we can work a plot out based around these starting points: - Modern AU - Canon divergence, making our own story based off the in game events - Canon divergence, bad end / darker version of Teyvat - Archon era / ancient Teyvat AU
———
If you're interested feel free to send me a message or chat. Please include:

• An introduction about yourself (including age, pen name and location).
• Your character and preferred ship.
• The code.
• Any additions to the plot, setting, etc.

I will ignore messages without these points.
I hope you have a good day / night!
I am 18+ and all participants and characters must be 18+

Hello!
You can call me Evan. I'm a 22 y/o trans guy from Australia. I work on AEST (+10).
Apologies in advance for the mobile formatting!
Rules:

1. For my own comfort, all partners and their characters must be a minimum of 20.
2. I am currently looking for MxM as a switch, or MxF.
3. 3rd person only and 1 - 3 paragraphs minimum, but I can write more with the right partner. I'd like this to be a long term RP.
4. Discord only. Please message me via chats or messages to express interest.
5. I will not reply every day, so please do not hassle me for responses unless it has been at least a week.
6. To ensure I knew you read this, please include ‘cobblestone’ as the c0de.
7. Do not control my character / do not godmod.

Breaking rules will result in a warning and reminder, and further issues will result in the RP being dropped. Please respect my rules, as I will with yours.
———
I’m looking for someone to play the characters in plain text. I will be writing the characters in italics.

• Tartaglia/Childe X Zhongli
  
• Tartaglia/Childe X Aether / Lumine (your choice depending on preferred gender)
  
• Tartaglia/Childe X Lumine
  
• Diluc X Lumine
  
• Arataki Itto X Gorou
  
• Arataki Itto X Miss Hina Please note for this option Miss Hina will be a completely separate character to Gorou, his female cousin if their relationship is brought up. She will be written as a cis woman whose famous for her modelling career and love of literature and all things “soft and cute”.
  

I’m welcome to hear your ideas or we can work a plot out based around these starting points: - Modern AU - Canon divergence, making our own story based off the in game events - Canon divergence, bad end / darker version of Teyvat - Archon era / ancient Teyvat AU
———
If you're interested feel free to send me a message or chat. Please include:

• An introduction about yourself (including age, pen name and location).
• Your character and preferred ship.
• The code.
• Any additions to the plot, setting, etc.

I will ignore messages without these points.
I hope you have a good day / night!
I am 18+ and all participants and characters must be 18+

About Us: We're a casual/semi midcore tier static with a focus on clearing the savage tier. We are a group of people that have been raiding with each other since the beginning of Endwalker. We are currently looking for four people who are open to communication through discord. We have no problem with cross datacenter travelers, however we will always be raiding on aether. Schedule: Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday: 7pm - 10pm EST Expectations: -Friendly and patient -Be respectful -Be ready to raid on time Please send me a DM/Chat if interested and want to learn more, we will be running content with prospects this weekend. We look forward to raiding with you <3 Current Roster: Warrior, Scholar, Dancer, Summoner

Out there - Patreon (for all those curious or wanting to support :))
At the Beginning
Adventure Arc - Arc 2
Wilderness Arc - Arc 3
Academy Arc - Arc 4
Previously on Leveling up the World…
Book 3 is now available for pre-order on Amazon! :D
 
The room was exactly as Dallion remembered it. Clean, yet untouched, it was almost as if Hannah was expecting for him to return some day, even after all this time. Apparently, him moving out to Eury’s place and joining the Academy had never taken place.
Hey, Dal! A wave of greetings erupted. Welcome back!
Normally, he had developed a habit of ignoring guardian small talk, but it was a bit different here. These were guardians he knew better than most. Other than the ones he traveled with, these were the among the first guardians he’d spoken with, and as the saying went, one never forgot the first of anything.
“Heya,” he said, slowly making his way to the mirror. “I’m just here for a few days.”
It was ironic that he found the need to provide explanations to low-level guardians he probably wouldn’t see in years, or maybe not at all.
We know, the building guardian replied. Hannah told us.
“She spoke to you?” Dallion asked in a gotcha moment.
She mumbles to herself when annoyed. She comes here every week to clean up, then locks the room again.
So, she really had been keeping the room ready for him all this time. The innkeeper had done the same for Jiroh too, and yet not for Eury. Whatever had transpired there must have been more serious than either of them was letting on.
The stone orchid was also in the room. What little progress had been made in the past was all gone. Thanks to his magic sight, Dallion was able to see the aether threads within the chunk of stone. Unfortunately, that also helped him see how much the big had regressed.
I think that ship has sailed, the armadil shield said. You’re just going through the motions. Which wouldn’t have happened if you had followed my advice.
Dallion looked away, not even in the mood to argue.
“I’ll take a nap,” he said, taking off his gear. “Please keep an eye out for me.”
Of course, the room guardian said, along with several item guardians.
Part of Dallion was afraid he’d get some nasty nightmares while resting. On the other hand, it could hardly be as bad as what he experienced downstairs. The Nox dagger always with him, Dallion lied down on the bed and instantly dozed off.
When next he opened his eyes, it was almost evening. Golden light was shining through the window into the room. In a semi-annoyed state, Dallion grumbled that he should have pulled the curtains, when something caught his attention. A purple thread, no thicker than a hair, had made its way through a minuscule gap in the window-frame into the room. If he didn’t have a magic trait, Dallion wouldn’t have noticed. Now, though, it contrasted to the lack of magic anywhere in the room. Due to his circumstances, Pan made sure to keep a low profile, which included keeping the inn as magicless as possible. Having a magic thread invade the room could mean only one thing: someone from outside was spying on Dallion.
Gem, Dallion thought. Go invisible and follow the thread.
Err, okay, boss, the aether jellyfish replied.
I don’t want you to attack or get too close. I’m fine with a general location.
Yes, boss.
And tell me the moment you see anything strange, not before that.
Err… sure, boss.
Pretending to ignore the thread, Dallion stretched then got up from the bed. For the next minute or so, he went through his exercise regimen—something that hadn’t been doing adequately as of late. Once done, he cast a quick spell to get rid of the sweat, then geared up again.
Seeing that the thread hadn’t reacted in the least made him think this wasn’t so much a spell as natural magic. More than likely a fury was spying on him. As tempting as it was to think that it might be Diroh, Dallion rather suspected it had to do with the general. That would definitely explain how the snob was always so well informed. Thanks to his small army of furies, he could spy on the entire city without anyone knowing. It would take a mage, or at least another fury, to even spot the air current threads; and since mages almost never came here, it was all but certain that he wouldn’t get caught. Adzorg had probably been aware from the very beginning.
So, that’s how you know I was an empath, Dallion thought. Even alone, he had spoken to items out loud.
“See you later, all,” Dallion said, heading to the door.
Wouldn’t it be a bit obvious taking me along? The armadil shield asked.
After last time, not that much, Dallion replied mentally.
A small crowd had started to gather at the inn. Dallion was able to catch some murmurs regarding Di on his way out. From what he could make out, this was the first time the fury wasn’t there to serve. Considering that neither war, nor the Countess’ brutal restrictions had prevented her from doing so in the past, this was viewed as rather unusual.
Dallion didn’t know whether to be proud or concerned. Apparently, his presence was considered far worse than the provincial civil war.
The first thing he did when leaving the inn was to look around for a Mirror Pool agent. Finding one proved a lot easier than expected. The disfocus artifacts that were so efficient at making someone invisible glowed like purple beacons.
You should have spent some time making them mage proof, Dallion thought as he walked directly to a stall merchant. The woman wasn’t someone Dallion had met before—at least the Mirror Pool had the wisdom to get everyone he knew away from here. Unfortunately, that wasn’t good enough.
“Hi,” Dallion said in a low voice. “Tell whoever’s in charge to meet me at the Performer’s Plaza.”
“Excuse me?” the woman asked in utter disbelief. This was probably the first time anyone had seen through her disguise artifact.
“Don’t waste time. You know who I am and you know what I can do. Convey my message or I’ll scorch you, then go to the next person and ask the same.”
The threat was a bit too much, but it had the desired effect, causing the woman to rush off. Her figure disappeared among the crowd. Moments later, all other purple glowing members also rushed out of sight.
You definitely have a strong effect on women, Vihrogon sighed. I don’t think you’ll be able to use that trick again anytime soon.
“I don’t have to.” Dallion split in a few instances and looked around. No other members of the Mirror Pool were in sight, although the magic thread from his room had moved so as to follow him. Whoever was following him was rather persistent.
Gem, have you found the source? Dallion walked down the street.
Not yet, boss. It’s constantly moving.
How far have you gone?
Err, not far. It’s just moving a lot.
That made sense. Air currents had a limited range. The fury spy was probably no more than a few hundred feet from his current location. If he wanted, Dallion could easily split into a hundred instances and catch the culprit. For the moment, he preferred to let them be. As one would say at the Academy: better leave someone just enough thread to hang themselves.
Going to the plaza was accompanied with a thousand smells, the vast majority good. The only reason Dallion didn’t stop at a stall to buy something was because he didn’t have the right currency to do so. This represented a huge difference from the time when he had first arrived in the city. Back then, it was a struggle to find anything he could, but with the few copper and silver coins he owned. Now, he could buy entire buildings with what he carried in his pouch.
The sound and music of Performance Plaza hit Dallion long before he reached the location. The place had maintained its undisputed charm, but a high perception turned every small imperfection into an eyesore. Clearly, there was a reason why nobles preferred theater performances to spending time among less skilled performers. As much as he hated to admit it, Dallion could fully understand why top-tier awakened didn’t mingle with anyone else.
Ropes crisscrossed the space above the plaza, creating lines on which performers could dance, play, and juggle often while doing acrobatic tricks. It almost seemed like yesterday when Gloria—Dallion’s childhood sweetheart—had engaged in a performance duel with one of the locals. That was long before her involuntary involvement with the Mirror Pool and subsequent marriage.
You really should see how she’s doing, the armadil shield said. Now that you’re pretty much single.
“I’m not single.” Dallion looked about for a place to sit. Even without the festival crowds, the plaza remained quite packed.
Keep telling yourself that. Either way, you won’t lose anything by paying her a visit. At worst, you’ll be catching up with an old friend. And if it so happens that things between her and Falkner aren’t as rosy as they seemed, maybe it’ll be better for everyone if you stepped in. People fall for mages, trust me on that.
“If that were the case, why’s Katka single?”
Spotting a nice bench, Dallion whispered to the respective item guardian to loosen a bit—just enough to cause the person sitting on it to slip off. The result was painfully hilarious, causing the unfortunate soul to move away cursing. His spot was quickly taken by Dallion, who not only mended the bench but also improved it for good measure.
Smooth, Vihrogon said. And as for Katka, she’s also a possibility. Personally, I don’t think you’ll be a good match, but, hey. Who am I to judge?
“You’ve become very talkative lately.” All the more since we returned to Nerosal. “Anything you’re not telling me?”
Plenty of things. The shield laughed. Sadly, not always by choice.
Dallion was just about to inquire more on the matter, when a fury in a rather elaborately expensive dress appeared on the bench next to him. She wasn’t fast enough to keep Dallion from noticing her approach, although for most people in the plaza, her sudden arrival remained unnoticed.
“Hello, champion,” the fury said with a confident smile. The last time they’d seen each other, Dallion was the one begging to buy magic artifacts from her. “How may the Mirror serve you?”
“You?” Dallion frowned. “You’re in charge of the Mirror Pool?”
“In a way. Our prince decided it would be better to send someone you’re familiar with to discuss matters on his behalf. In that regard, you can consider me as the voice of the Pool.”
Several dozen aether threads spread from the fury, serving both as a lookout and a means to ensure privacy. Unsurprisingly, the thread that had been following Dallion in the last ten minutes had disappeared.
Gem, are you still on the thread? Dallion asked.
Yes, boss. It’s moving around your area…
Keep at it. “I see business is better now that the countess is gone,” Dallion told the fury.
“The Mirror Pool is extremely fond of the Archduke,” the woman stressed. “Just as we are fond of your progress. It’s not often that we deal with esteemed members of the Academy.”
Given that they had dealings with the current archmage on several occasions at least, Dallion found the response hilarious.
“I’ll only be here for a few days and I want everything to be calm during that time,” Dallion said directly. “Am I clear?”
“Of course. It was going to happen, even without your request.”
So far, so good. The Pool was smart enough to acknowledge his current position.
“Tell me everything you know about the Icepicker guild.”
“Are you interested in the official story? Or the rumors?”
Dallion narrowed his eyes.
“Most of the local captains are on their way back,” the woman said, catching his drift. “Officially, many of the banished guilds are expected to make a return, including the Icepickers. Many of the local members who were forced to change guilds are already wearing their Icepicker emblems. The vice guild master has already paid a large sum of money to have the guildhall rebuilt.”
That was interesting information, though not what Dallion was interested in.
“For the moment, the future of three of the guild’s stars remains uncertain,” the fury continued. “It remains unconfirmed, but word is that the guild master has agreed to take the position of viscount and gain control of the city. Given his relation to Archduke Lanitol, there’s little surprise there. The county, though, will fall under the direct rule of the archduke himself.”
“Go on.”
“Captains March and Adzorg remain unknown. Adzorg was said to have left the city long ago. In fact, rumor is that you’ve actively been searching for him ever since the… changes at the Academy.”
It remained a mystery how the Mirror Pool got their information, but they were spot on.
“As for March, matters remain unclear. According to some sources, she’s still in the city’s prison. Others say that she was released when Archduke Priscord was informed of her promotion. Some believe she’s hiding in Nerosal, some even claim that she was killed and secretly buried in an unmarked grave. I’m sad to say that even we can’t say what’s true and what not.”
“You seem to be slipping.” Dallion wasn’t able to miss the opportunity.
“Former imperial soldiers are extremely loyal to one another.” The fury’s smile didn’t falter, but Dallion could feel the faint emanation of annoyance coming from her. “Vend has also been lying low. A few times we thought he showed up, but he vanished before we could reliably confirm it.”
“He’s always been skilled. I heard that he was part of the Mirror Pool at one point?”
“A very minor part a long time ago. Would there be anything else you desire?”
“No.” Dallion leaned back. “You have my thanks.”
“I’m glad. The Pool is always glad to accommodate people of power.”
Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this story, consider joining my patreon or check out my other stories on redditserials:
The Scuu Paradox (a Space Opera Sci Fi)
The Cassandrian Theory (a Space Opera Sci Fi)
The Impeccable Adventure of the Reluctant Dungeon (Dungeon Core Adventure Comedy)
Uncharted Waters (An Urban Fantasy Detective Noir)
Next

Previous post, with the cards from Shadespire
For those unfamiliar with Warhammer Underworlds, it's Games Workshop's card/mini/board game set in the Mortal Realms. Almost every card in the game has a small snippet of lore on it in addition to its rules text; some of the lore is simple statements about the card's effect, but others describe the setting or the fighters or provide in-universe quotes. I haven't found a card library that compiles these lore snippets (they are understandably focused on the rules), so I decided to compile them myself.
This is my second post of the project, compiling the cards from the second season of the game, Nightvault. The cards for Shadespire, the first season, are at the link above. For brevity, I've skipped any reprinted cards with the same lore text as their previous versions.
Cards for the season starer warbands:
Thorns of the Briar Queen:

Text	Card Name
By decree of the Great Necromancer, the souls of all trespassers withing the Mirrored City are forfeit.	As Nagash Commands
There is no escaping death. It claims all things in the end.	Death Sentence
Those unfortunates taken into the Shadespire dungeons shall never see the light again.	Drag Them Down
'Thou has been marked, encroacher. Thy soul is damned.' - Varclav the Cruel	Execution
'Let them feel the freezing claws of death close around their hearts.'	Swarming Spirits
'This city belongs to the dead. And we shall claim it.' - The Briar Queen	Take the City
The hour of the dead has come.	The Vengeful Dead
The dead care nothing for honour or mercy, only that the living share their wretched fate.	Treacherous Foe
Shadespire is claimed by the spectral dead.	Vengeful Advance
Inexorable and terrifying is the advance of the spectral dead.	Drifting Advance
The dead despise the living, for mortals know nothing of their torment.	Endless Malice
Spectral chains ensnare the victim, rendering them helpless against the tearing claws of spiteful gheists.	Grasping Chains
A pitch-black void of shrieking wind opens in the air, dragging the victim towards it.	Howling Vortex
Harsh, mocking laughter rings out over the clatter of combat.	Maddening Cackle
A howl of purest torment and malice sends icy daggers through the hearts sends icy daggers through the hearts of all who hear it.	Rending Scream
It is no simple thing to land a telling blow upon a being of ethereal matter.	Spectral Parry
The grasping fingers of a vengeful gheist can sink through armour to tear the flesh beneath.	Spectral Touch
Gheists disappear and manifest at will, taunting and terrifying the living.	Sudden Appearance
Even as they are cast out of reality, gheists use the last of their strength to drag the living with them.	Vengeful Curse
A single touch from this creature's ethereal claws can freeze the heart of its victim.	Chill Touch
To feel an ethereal being pass through one's body is to be touched by the chill of the grave.	Creeping Terror
The Briar Queen's mastery of magic allows her to wither spells and enchantments to nothing.	Curse of Unbinding
The spectral dead feel nothing but bitterness and spite.	Driven by Hatred
The countenance of a gheist is enough to unnerve all but the most redoubtable warriors.	Face of Death
The thorns of a black rose cut deep indeed.	Grasping Thorns
Like the shadow of death, the Briar Queen will never stop hunting her foes.	Inescapable Foes
Even among his hateful kind, Varclav's cruelty stands out.	Sadistic Strike
Varclave drinks in the suffering of those he binds with his spectral chains.	Shacklegheist Chains
A spectral length of rope lashes out, wrapping around the victim's throat with the strength of a constricting serpent.	Strangling Coil

Stormsire's Cursebreakers:

Text	Card Name
'The light of the heavens burns away the taint of corruption.' - Ammis Dawnguard	Blessed Banishment
Stormsire's battle-wizards cut down their foes in a whirlwind of blades and lightning.	Devastating Blow
The warrior-mages of the Sacrosanct Chambers attack as one, with a flurry of graceful, interwoven strikes.	Fight as One
With a gesture the aether-mage calls the storm to their fingertips, unleashing its devastating power upon their foe.	Harness the Storm
Sigmar's arcane champions arm themselves with all manner of enchanted items.	Heavily Armed
'We are the storm and the flame. The blazing comet that strikes from the heavens. Turn now and run, or face your ruin.'	Magical Supremacy
'Magic is a dangerous tool indeed. One must channel it precisely, and to decisive effect.'	Measured Strike
Few can stand before the unleashed power of the Sacrosanct Chambers.	Overwhelming Storm
'Even this forsaken place will be cleansed by the light of the God-King.'	Purify the Earth
'Let your opponents' attacks flow past you, like wind rushing over an aetherwing's feathers.' - Averon Stormsire	Aetherwing Stance
Trails of crackling lightning surround the caster, reaching out to sear the flesh from nearby foes.	Chain Lightning
The caster unleases a bellow of thunderous power that shatters stones and crumbles bones to dust.	Cry of Thunder
'The power of Sigmar's tempest cleanses us even as it destroys our foes.' - Averon Stormsire	Empathic Conduction
'Let the tempest surge within you, its power growing with every passing moment. Only then unleash it, and see your foes swept aside.' - Rastus the Charmed	Gather the Storm
This warrior's weapons slash and weave in a blinding web of light, too fast for the eye to follow.	Lightning Assault
The caster transmutes into a streak of living lightning, surging forward with startling speed.	Lightning Step
'We ride the spirits of fallen heroes to their rightful place at the God-King's side.' - Ammis Dawnguard	Safeguard Spirit
The weapons of Sigmar's battle wizards crackle with fulminating energy, a devastating charge that is unleashed the moment they strike home.	Stormstrike
The sheer force of the God-King's storm can turn aside an onslaught of lesser magic.	Stormward
It is said that Stormsire's blade was blessed by the Celestant-Prime himself, after the bloody battle of Gaspar's Hold.	Blessed Blade
A spear of lightning erupts from this weapon's tip, arcing out the sear flesh and char bone.	Corposant Staff
Busrst of electricity wrack the victim, their weapon dropping from their grip as their muscles agonisingly convulse.	Disarming Blow
Wizards of the Sacrosanct Chambers wield the fulminating power of the heavens.	Eye of the Storm
A sudden roaring gale sends the fighter rushing past their foe.	Hurricane Step
A coil of lighting wraps around the foe, and the stench of burning flesh fills the air.	Lightning Whip
The Evocator blocks and attack with a blast of thunder, leaving their assailant reeling.	Stunning Blow
'Surrender to the aetheric current. Let your body become a conduit for the raging storm.' - Ammis Dawnguard	Tempest's Might
Rastus cuts the enemies of Order down with a merciless fervour born of fathomless contempt.	Unstoppable Zeal
Ammis slams her enemies with a thundering emanation, sending them reeling.	Warding Blast

The set's universal cards:

Text	Card Name
The screams of routed foes make for a most stirring choir.	Annihilation
'There is a pattern to reality. A greater design that escapes our comprehension. For now.'	Hold Objective 1
'Crystallised magic is the raw essence of creation, there to be shaped to our desires.'	Hold Objective 2
'Death is insufficent to punish your betrayal. Eternal imprisonment is far more fitting.'	Hold Objective 3
'A cruel concept, perhaps, but no less lethal a sentinel for that.'	Hold Objective 4
'Soul-transferral experiments ten to forty-one unsuccessful. I have requested more subjects.'	Hold Objective 5
The Mirrored City itself shrinks before your might.	Supremacy
Grit your teeth and get the task done.	Determined Effort
The ground splits to devour the unwary, splintering into a grinding maw of razor-sharp shards.	Grinding Earth
The revitalizing touch of magic seals gaping wounds and stitches together shattered bones.	Vital Surge
'Stand and fight, you slippery wretch!'	Escape Artist
This unassuming token thrums to life whenever it detects the flare of magical energy.	Lucky Trinket

​
Only one of the fighters in the set has lore on his card.

• Averon Stormsire: A specialist in the breaking of curses and the sundering of dark enchantments, Stormsire is one of the God-King's most trusted arcane agents.

[LFM][6/8][MC][SAVAGE][AetheNA]
Hello, we are a midcore group who have varying experience in savage raiding. We are looking to clear within 2-3 months at the latest. If it takes us slightly longer but we are still progging and having fun then that is ok.
Please be up to constructive criticism and lets get better together and have fun while downing baddies.
Current Comp:
GNB,PLD SCH,WHM DRG,BLM
Needs:
Non-drg Melee Physical Ranged
Our raid times are Tuesdays and Wednesdays 8-10Cen/9-11EST. Please DM me here or on Discord @ BauseSauce#9757 with your interest and logs if you'd like but they are not required

First / Previous / Next
-----------------------------
“Ok, scan complete,” Daniel declared, reattaching the armour on his left arm to cover his prosthetic. “Now we can get onto the fun part.”
“I can’t understand what we’re meant to do though,” Oprin replied, flicking through a few pages. “The documentation around the multi-floor mode is really lacking, and it looks like it was written as more of a summary than a fully detailed guide. Certainly nothing about bit data."
"Someone probably wrote the first part as a fully detailed guide to help teach people how the whole system worked, and to inspire interest in new developments, and this bit was written more practically, justifiably thinking that the exact bit data is meaningless to people," Daniel sighed. "The multi-floor mode was obviously an afterthought given it was a buggy patch."
"I don't suppose your scanner can figure out what position the bits were in the past?"
"Nope, sorry, it's not a time machine. It can sense high speed particle disturbances from long ago by the quantum effects they make, but the actual normal states of a bit operating don't make such effects. At least not ones I can detect."
"So, that's it. We can't fix it," Oprin mumbled, sinking into a nearby chair.
"Don't give up so easily, there's bound to be other options. Besides, if we really need to, we can manually power the systems that prepare the cryo pods for transit if need be."
"Of course you're going to have a way to do that," she chuckled, shaking her head.
"What I think we should look at next is how the computer sends signals out. Do you know how it works?"
"Sorta," she replied, getting to her paws as she pointed at various machines in the room. “So the main computer connects to the data hubs, which control and report the status of the various cryo systems. When the right port receives power, it activates a procedure in the hub which causes specific things to be powered, be it the cryo pods, coolant valves, or anything else they need to control.”
“So, to prepare the cryo pods for transport, what ports do we need to power?”
“First, we’ll want to power these five,” she told him, pointing to five cables leading out of the main computer to five separate hubs. “That will open the coolant valves, filling the cryo pods up across all floors. Once they’re full, the power will need to stop to close the valves again. After that, we’re going to have to send out a rapidly pulsing electrical signal to tell it to disconnect specific banks as we need them, and it’s going to be over these 20 ports.”
“Great,” he moaned. “... Do we at least know the patterns?”
“It might be in another book,” she replied, heading over to a stack of books and sorting through them. As she searched, she created a pile of checked books on the side of the old wooden table they were stacked on, which creaked under the weight.
“Sounds like even the furniture here is struggling,” Daniel commented.
“Yeah, maintenance obviously hasn’t been good,” Oprin agreed, setting another book onto the pile.
As if the universe had been listening in, the table cracked under the weight, sending splinters of wood flying out in all directions. Oprin let out a short squeal as she jumped out, checking to see if she had been hurt, but only finding that her armour hadn’t even noticed the chunks of wood impacting it.
“Damn it,” Oprin growled, shaking her head. “I swear I am so-”
Oprin was suddenly cut off as Daniel yanked her backwards by her shoulder as a section of the concrete wall crashed to the ground where she had been standing.
“What the-”
“This place is a damn deathtrap,” Daniel told her, relieved he caught the cracks forming after a large chunk of wood impacted the weakened wall, though it was short lived as more cracks began to form now less weight was being supported. “Ok, time to go.”
“Wh- Hey!” Oprin yelped as Daniel quickly pulled her towards the door.
Daniel heard rock shattering, and he looked up to see a large chunk of the ceiling coming towards them. His instincts quickly took hold, causing him to throw Oprin through the door to safety, as his mind began to work out any potential solutions to the issue. A port on his left arm’s armour opened up, and he deployed the pulse laser hidden in his wrist, letting off a powerful blast of energy that cut a hole clean through the concrete, causing it to shatter into harmless pieces. He heard a metallic tearing behind him, and he glanced back to see the computer banks being completely crushed.
He swore and made for the exit, looking up to once again see more falling ceiling, only this time the capacitors in his laser were still recharging. He began to panic, and rapidly clawed at the mana inside of his mind, pulling a thread of it out to connect to his spell, shattering the slab. Not wanting to push his luck further, he sprinted out of the room where Oprin caught him and moved him out of the way.
“... How did we…?” Oprin murmured.
“Well, we no longer have to worry about buggy computers,” he commented, drawing in a deep breath, releasing it moments later as he began to scan the surrounding structure for more signs of failure, but everything was contained to the room they had left. He felt his stomach sink as he activated his comm. “Captain, we have a problem.”
“We just heard something collapse, is everyone ok?” Captain Harris asked, the sound of running faintly being caught by her mic.
“We’re fine, but we no longer have a proper way of controlling the cryo systems,” he replied.
“... Understood. Stay where you are, we’re on our way.”
“What are we going to do now?” Oprin asked.
“... We’ll figure it out. We can force the coolant valves open manually via other means if we have to, and we’ll just disconnect the pods one by one of required,” he sighed. “On the plus side, we have a lot of people in the fleet that aren’t doing too much, so it might not be as bad as it initially seemed.”
“Right….”
“Hey, I didn’t hurt you when I threw you, did I?”
“Hmm? Oh, no, you didn’t, you just surprised me,” she assured him. “Would our armour have protected us from that though?”
“Yeah, it would have, but we’d have been buried, and I’d rather not be stuck in that position.”
“I see…. Oh, thank you for protecting me.”
“Not a problem,” he replied, looking over as Captain Harris and two medics burst into the room.
“Are you both ok?” Captain Harris asked as she jogged over to them.
“Yes, we’re fine,” Daniel told her once again.
“Good, but you’re both still getting checked over,” she told them, turning her attention to the pile of rubble. “And I want to know our current situation.”
-----------------------------
“Well, that could have gone better,” Daniel sighed as he watched one of the mining ships deploy a tunnel bore at the bunker’s entrance.
“I just wish I knew more about the systems outside of the control room,” Oprin replied as she boarded the shuttle.
“Someone from your bunker is on their way that can help with that. It’ll be fine,” he assured her as he boarded and closed the door, and the shuttle took off moments later. “Let’s just rest up so we can focus on Bunker 07 tomorrow and get it out of the way while everyone else gets to work. With any luck, this will be all over in a few days.”
“Yeah…. I just can’t believe what I did….”
“You didn’t do anything. For something as small as that to set it off, it was probably going to fall on its own very soon. Besides, it’s not like you had any way of knowing the table was just going to break so easily, and then break the wall. It’s just an unfortunate event, that’s all.”
“But still….”
“If anything, I really should have put a shield generator down as there wasn’t one in there, and whoever put them down in the bunker to begin with shouldn’t have skipped the room. There were many chances to prevent it before you even got close to the table, but for one reason or another, nothing was done, so don’t blame yourself for what happened.”
“But-”
“There’s a good chance that it would have collapsed after we’d left. If it went down that easily, it was going down soon regardless.”
“Thanks, Daniel,” she replied.
“Just make sure you don’t beat yourself up over it, ok?”
“I won’t,” she promised as there was a loud clunk as the shuttle docked to the Trailmaker.
“Good. Let’s get something to eat, and get some rest, ok?”
“Ok,” she agreed, exiting the shuttle and heading into quarantine, shedding her armour and passing after a quick scan.
The pair then headed straight for the mess hall, finding Milla already sat down with her food, and Hannah’rah just getting hers. They gave them a quick wave, got their own food, and dropped down next to them, both finally allowing themselves to relax.
“How was it down there?” Milla asked.
“Shit,” Daniel replied, letting out a single chuckle. “Bunker 07 is good, but Bunker 14 had another collapse that destroyed important equipment, so we’re resorting to spells to force the right things to happen.”
“Well, it should work the same in the end, right?” Milla pointed out.
“Not quite. We don’t get the monitoring we otherwise would have had, but the machines weren’t exactly operable to begin with, so we honestly didn’t really lose too much I guess,” he shrugged.
“Daniel, I have a question,” Oprin announced. “Back when the ceiling was falling down, how did you destroy the large sections? I saw you do something the first time, and it looked like you shot it, but you didn’t have a weapon, and the second….”
“Requesting permission to present arms,” Daniel stated, looking at Hannah’rah.
“Hmm?” Hannah’rah asked, quickly swallowing her mouthful of carrot.
“We’re not at alert, I need your permission,” he pointed out.
“Oh. Granted,” she replied.
“So the first, I shot with this,” he began to explain to Oprin, flicking his wrist down a little as the laser focus housing protruded from the back of his wrist. “A high power pulse laser I keep as a side arm, meaning I’m always armed. And the second I broke with a spell, as the laser wasn’t ready to fire again.”
“I’ve heard terms like ‘spell’ and ‘magic’ brought up a few times, but I’ve never really asked or understood what’s going on,” Oprin admitted. “I assumed it was some kind of technology that’s enhancing you or forms to your will or something, but that….”
“Ok, an introduction to Aetheric manipulation,” Daniel began, having a quick sip of cola and taking in a deep breath. “Now, I know that's not going to translate correctly because you don't have a word for it, so it's just going to become 'magic', but essentially there's a dimension filled with energy that we can tap into and manipulate. Spells are just us doing that in a specific form, allowing us to change the environment around us. There are limits, and we do have a sort of resource that determines how much manipulation we can do at any time, but that is essentially it. Following me so far."
"I think so," Oprin replied, blinking in confusion a few times. "So how can you manipulate it in the first place?"
"There are beings we refer to as Deities that grant us access using our minds. Oh, and I think our concept of Deities is different from yours, so don't worry about it too much," he warned her. "So, these Deities grant access and a set of terms, best summarised by 'don't be a dick', and allow us to cast spells to do almost anything we'd like. I should add that it's theoretically possible to manipulate the Aether without the aid of a Deity, but I doubt anyone will figure it out for a few thousand years, as we know so little about the Aether, and we've made next to no progress in understanding it. Not even the Deities like to study beyond the surface."
"So if I were to get on the good side of one of these Deities, will they give me access to this magic?"
"You don't really even need to get on their good side really, just ask, and as long as you haven't intentionally violated any person's fundamental rights, you should get it. I'd advise waiting until you're in UPC space and have had a few basic lessons about magic, but there's nothing stopping you from asking now-"
"I'm not quite sure that's the case," Milla interrupted him. "Each of our species are named in the Divine Contract and for magic access, but the Langan aren't. It's likely that they'll need to be added before the Deities start providing them with access."
"Divine Contract?" Oprin asked.
"Oh, just a document that states what the Deities will, can, and won't do. Essentially, it just assures we all have full free will, whilst also allowing the Deities to use their powers to help people," Milla explained.
"... I won't lie, a lot of this isn't making sense, but I think I'm following you enough," Oprin admitted. "I'm going to wait until this stuff is more relevant then."
-----------------------------
First / Previous / Next

I, 20F have only been in my current friend group for a year (sophomore year) , introduced through A (20M) with whom I shared the same classes my second semester. The group consists of three other guys G(20M), K(21M) and D(21M) as well as F(19F), V(19F) and S(20F). I have noticed over the past year that the guys can say sexist things veiled as jokes or "ironic" statements or shitposting but I've kept quiet 'cause I've been told that I can be quick to react. Moreover, being new to the group I did not want to start an argument and have made excuses for their behaviour in the past explaining it away as dark humour.
The whole thing started when F asked the guys if they'd be okay if their wife earned more than them. To their credit, A and G said yes immediately. However, K said that after a woman gives birth to a child, the female who is "nurturing" should during infancy take care of the child as it is an extremely important stage while the man has a responsibility of being the bread winner. This comment perturbed me and I just responded with my belief that the attribution of traits as either feminine or male is subjective. I let it go since I know that K is from the hinterland and that people are to a large extent a product of their upbringing and environment.
However, when G responded with how he didn't understand why women felt "the need" to be equal to men and K added that women shouldn't consider men as a benchmark which I found to be disgusting because it is ignorance that would prompt you to idolise your gender and put them on a pedestal and think that's all a woman aspires to. I responded to G's comment asking him if he believed in feminsim. When he said no I stated that while men and women have biological differences, all we ask is for equal opportunities in intellectual and creative fields (I firmly believe in a meritocracy). I also told him that a subset of women whom he used to point out the flaws of feminism shouldn't shape his view of feminism and discredit the entire movement. He responded with and I quote, "Honey, not all women are as intellectual as you." Not only did I find the comment patronising but I also stated how even though sexism may not be blatant we need to continue to educate ourselves in order to avoid microaggressions.
I mentioned how the text thread only had the guys as admins and asked for one if not all the girls to be added as admins. When they changed the setting so 'only admins' could send messages it really annoyed me and I quit the group. When they added me back they were laughing and stating that I couldn't take a joke and was being petty, at which I point I told them it wasn't the 1920s anymore and that they were all being assholes. A responded saying that I should stop being such an "ultra woke feminist" and learn to take a joke. Though the girls saw the messages they did not respond. To give you context, A & F have been dating for a year and a half and G & S have been a couple for 9 months. I felt completely unsupported and hurt. I just felt like if you saw that your joke was hurting your friend's feelings and that they were visibly affected, you should've stopped the joke. Also if this is a recurring theme for your jokes, you need to come up with new material because the jokes are stale and lazy and unfunny.