Updated List of Playable Races

Shear ushers you all into a lounge inside the building he conjured. Starry-eyed, the dragon, bone centaur and two robots hang onto every word as he explains the totality of the playable races in the Nexus, via hyperlink, starting with the old guard: (Ignore Racial Hit Dice, Two levels worth of Level Adjust are considered paid off at this point)

Human – These come in four varieties. The standard configuration are the Morcinian/Carracans, technologically advanced abyss salvagers who are currently at war with one another on the continent of Ungerland.

Morcinians have extremely urban lifestyles, manning factories and fueling their comfortable lifestyles with Aether powered replicas of modern comforts. The capital of their country is a multi-layered metropolis with a population in the millions. They gain Undercommon as a bonus language and have a +2 racial bonus to Use Magic Device.

Carracans live as nomads or shepherds, and convert technology pulled from the abyss into functioning tech. Some groups make their fortune in the Desert of Glass, where they export Aerthersand from the edge of the Abyss. Carracans gain +2 to Handle Animal and Survival, and speak their own language as well as Common.

                On the summit continent of Fruschia, humans have evolved to be closer with the abundant Aether flowing from the Crystal Mountain and live in abject surplus, using their magic frivolously.  These humans gain no bonus feat or skill points, instead starting with +2 Intelligence and the ability to cast Disguise Self at will.

                The Dingiri reptilians have spent generations modifying Humans for their true purpose, to be slaves! These primitive looking folk lose the bonus feat and skills, and have an Arcane Spell Failure Chance of 100%, as the Dingiri have bred out their magic ability. In return, they gain +2 Strength and +4 Constitution.

https://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/SRD:Humans_(Race)

Gnome – The traders of the free world, gnomes can be found in every region. Their homeland, Austland,  is a series of airborne islands, along which flows the Austbruck River, connecting Fruschia and Morcina.

https://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/SRD:Gnome

Centaur – Centaur are the roaming champions of the Plains of Ophir. They value honor and the pursuit of glory. Religious and scholastically inclined members gather in Provenance, home of the premier University in all the Nexus, and the Paragnostic Assembly. The largest city in Ophir, Provenance sits between the massive lake at the base of the Crystal Mountain and the base of God’s Cradle, where the Nebulim reside.

http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/centaur.htm

Phyrtha – In the shimmering polygonal labyrinth of Byzantium, the moth-like Phyrtha skitter about, coveting mineral wealth and competing between royal houses for the limited subterranean space they inhabit. Legend has it they once resembled humans, but fell under the curse of a vindictive dark god. Phyrtha have dwarven stats, but also count as elves for racial purposes. They have four arms and can use them effectively, qualifying for multi-attack feats.

http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/dwarf.htm

Varren – From the depths of the Abyss, great Fungal Forests consume their way across the land, carried on the blooded bodies of the Varren. Varren have bodies like a human, but heads resembling those of a reptilian goat. Their body is covered in a coarse green fur, lined with spores from the fungal treetops they call home. Along either arm are bony protrusions, which count as natural weapons. Varren spread the forest wherever they raid, and those who die in the fight must be incinerated, lest their bodies explode into quick-growing fungus. Racially, they count as orcs.

http://dnd.arkalseif.info/races/magic-of-incarnum--74/skarn--18/index.html

Slee’gir – Hardy lizard-like humanoids, Slee’gir make up the bulk of the reptilians in the continent of Din’gir. They often travel the land, looking to prove themselves by bringing treasure and glory to their house.  Each house have long lineages modeled after the chromatic dragons, and their scales match the color of their house.

http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/lizardfolk.htm

Din’gir – Din’gir are the high-bred reptilian folk, resembling snake-men more than lizards. They alone of the reptilian houses are allowed nobility by birthright, and often pursue mercantile or mystical careers, as they are physically weaker than their low-born counterparts.

http://dnd.arkalseif.info/races/races-of-the-dragon--83/spellscales--123/index.html

Mer – Resting in a enormous cradle of earth and crystal riverine, the Upper Sun Sea eventually drains into a waterfall that feeds the Sun Sea. Mer live in both, but the lower ones control the series of islands and bridges connecting Morcina and Carracas. They resemble humans, but have bluish skin, finned arms and sharp teeth. Mer take advantage of their central location and heavily tax the trade between nations in Ungerland, as well as exporting oceanic goods.

http://dnd.arkalseif.info/races/stormwrack--87/aventi--43/index.html

However, the explosion in trade and exploration in recent months has enticed many more peoples to join the race for adventure:

Kobolds – These small, rat-like humanoids live in subterranean communities under the plains and jungles of Ophir. Typically shying away from other races, they’ve started venturing into the Abyss to find magical shinies to hoard. Kobolds have the Earth subtype instead of reptilian, and a burrow speed of half their land speed. Their base language is Terran.

http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/kobold.htm

Warforged – Deep within the Abyss, the Clockwork Plane of Mechanus houses the remnants of many destroyed planes. Dragging themselves out of the wreckage, the living machines called Warforged are making a splash in the world at large due to their hardiness and esoteric knowledge. Many have no knowledge of where they come from, and seek to fill that hole in their life.

http://dnd.arkalseif.info/races/eberron-campaign-setting--12/warforged--45/index.html

Tiefling – After years of back-room dealing with the denizens of the Abyss, the taint of the demonic has started to manifest in the populace. Tiefling resemble humans, but often have Abyssal characteristics, like dark or reddened skin and horns or fangs.

https://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/SRD:Tiefling

Goliath – In the lands of Jotunheim, Goliath live as the literal small-folk. Tribal and common, they are forbidden to take up arms by the giants there, and as such rarely become adventurers. The Goliath of Xen’drik, however, are expert marksmen and live off the land, enjoying equal status to the giants.

http://dnd.arkalseif.info/races/races-of-stone--82/goliath--13/index.html

Hengeyokai – On the outer fringes of the Xen’drik Giants’ lands live small, close-knit communities of intelligent animals. Hengeyokai normally take on their animal forms, but can turn into humans to travel secretly among them. Each area has their own clans, and they rarely interact unless they occupy the same land, like the wetlands in the Thunder Plains, where the carp, crane and crab clans often fight over land or prank one another.

http://dnd.arkalseif.info/races/oriental-adventures--96/hengeyokai--38/index.html

Muckdweller – Past the Fire Swamps of Xen’drik, where the water’s calm and the marshland is relatively pleasant, mischievous Muckdwellers lurk in the shallows. Life here is easy and boring, so many of these bipedal salamanders leave the marsh, seeking adventure and subsequently being smashed underfoot.

http://minmaxforum.com/index.php?topic=1281.0 Serpent Kingdoms, pg.71

Tortle – The tenderfoot denizens of the Xen’drik marshland, Tortle spend their days lounging and tending their crops. Tethering their homes and walkways from tree to tree, they are the maintainers of gentlefolk’s society.

http://minmaxforum.com/index.php?topic=1281.0 Dragon #315, pg.72

Raptoran – Scattered about the Thunder Plains in loose colonies, Raptoran live free of worry, often assisting giants on their hunts by spotting from high in the air. In return the giants build them spires to nest on and crafted equipment. The resemble bird-like humans, with full wings and a penchant for hunting. Raptorans have one large city, Toronto, which is built atop massive trees that jut out of the silty lake at the entrance to the western Frozen Steppe.

http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/iw/20050106b&page=1

Hill Giant – In the Thunder Plains, Hill Giants are the main civilized inhabitants. They are hunters and small-town farmers, and prefer to stay out of the squabbles between the other Giants. Some leave the plains to work as laborers in Stormreach or seek out a new life in Jotunheim as tradesmen. The other races of Giants are absorbed in their own internal struggles and aren’t typically found outside of their lands.

https://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/SRD:Hill_Giant

Drow – The living remnants of a bygone age, Drow come from one of two places. Long ago, they migrated to Xen’drik, claiming wide swaths of jungle. Before that though, they took refuge in the destroyed land of Thulanthar, surviving Rune’s slaughter of the gods. Drow resemble humans with pointed ears, dark gray skin, and white hair.

http://dnd.arkalseif.info/races/monster-manual-v35--5/drow--6/index.html

Yuan-ti Pureblood – It’s said the Din’gir race originated from jungles deep in the Abyss. Whatever originator they have must be shared with the Yuan-ti. From my dealings with the snake-men of Xen’drik, their plans range from dark to evil. The purebloods that venture out of the abyss seem amicable at times though, and resemble humans more than snakes. Rarely adventurers, most Pureblood characters are exiled or members of evil parties.

http://dnd.arkalseif.info/races/monster-manual-v35--5/yuan-ti-pureblood--93/index.html

Shear leans forward, and in a hushed voice, alludes to certain explorers inheriting or gaining power from their lands of origin:

Dark Creature – Beings from the shattered remains of Thulanthar seem to be one with the shadows themselves.

https://www.realmshelps.net/monsters/templates/dark.shtml

Dragonborn (of Bahamut) – Many Slee’gir undergo the trials of their clan leaders to gain the power of a dragonborn.

http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/iw/20060105b

Half-Dragon – Purportedly true dragons live alongside the Dingiri clans and a rare few interbreed with lesser beings.

https://www.realmshelps.net/monsters/templates/halfdragon.shtml

Primordial Giant – Clergy and arcane casters in the giant clans are specially bred in the ways of old.

Secrets of Xen’drik, pg.79

Half-Fey – When the Court of Stars broke away and floated into the void, many of the residents managed to escape.

https://www.realmshelps.net/monsters/templates/halffey.shtml

The Story So Far Redux

Our crew has had many adventures over the past few months to get to this point. Accidentally killing Dingiri nobility on an escort mission across the Lower Sun Sea, they found themselves flung across the globe by the wrath of the water dragon god of Trade and Seafaring, Matsya, landing in the outer crust of the Upper Sun Sea. The caravan they were escorting lost, they set out into a confusing network of crystal caves. Gathering an exorbitant amount of riverine crystals as they escaped a horde of rust monsters, they set out into the calm waters towards Chelonia, the mithral city carved into the back of the dragon turtle god of Protection, Kurma. Readily breaking the economy with a truckload of rare materials, the party took a few odd jobs wiping out pirates before heading deeper into the Sun Sea to petition Matsya for atonement.

                Upon arriving at the lighthouse city, they were faced with earning citizenship to freely take in the sights, and did so readily. They took up many quests and successfully captured a dragon hoard in the game of Xorvintaal, losing the venerable monk Asheed in the process. Evi’jien used the earnings to undergo experimental Illithid surgery, gaining the monstrous features of a minotaur. The cleric-knight Levin convinced the party to follow up a lead on the local church of his god, Rune, the god of Destruction. This path led them deep into the abyss, through the fungal forest, where the first vestiges of demonic presence were felt. Finding the massive corpse of a young thunder behemoth, Levin bartered with a mad druid they found in the forest, obtaining enough black onyx to raise the beast from the dead.

The cult’s trail led through a segment of the desert of glass, where a chuck of the Old World had emerged, settled by Carracan humans, who named it Century. It was here that Cabella joined the Paragnostic Assembly and Sneaky Pete got his hands on a functioning Abrams tank. The party found the cult at war with a small group of Old World humans attempting to recover an ancient weapon with the power to demolish a city, deep inside a salt mine. Ever ready to obtain power, the party delved deep within, obtaining many Old World relics. Their tag-along cleric of Rune discharged the force of a nuclear warhead into a specially prepared relic staff, dying in the process. They were confronted by an avatar of Rune thereafter, who traded a powerful staff of destruction for the unwieldable weapon the cleric made.

                Back in Century, the party picked up a quest to do away with a dry lich and his men, who had been harassing supply lines on their way through the desert. Pete went undercover and investigated the cult of Phyrtha surrounding the lich. While preparing for the impending fight, the party picked up a new member, Melchizdek the warforged alchemist. After fighting their way to the lich, he presented them with a non-hostile solution to free him and his cult from the temple where he was trapped. Going through with the mind-spinning request, they retrieved his canopic jars from their respective dreamlands. However, before returning the jars to the lich, Melchizdek demanded he give up the men who killed so many caravaneers. Eternally faithful to his followers, the lich took umbridge and a fight broke out. As the battle ended, the absence of Sneaky Pete was noticed. He must have snuck off somewhere. Several loud explosions went off outside, and the behemoth zombie Levin left to guard the tank made short work of leveling the cultist’s makeshift town.

                As the party raced out the door to fight the remaining cultists, they saw the  auto-piloted tank finish blowing apart a massive weirdstone that had anchored the temple onto the material plane. As the stone broke apart, the form of a human was revealed, bellowing forth an evil aura. Cabella identified him as the devil lord of Stygia, Levistus. Evi’jien dumped a full magazine of holy bullets from his bible-thumping rifle into him and the fight was on. As the temple grounds spiraled through many layers of the abyss, the crew did battle with the newly awakened devil, culminating with him wiping Levin’s memory and plane shifting away, leaving the party with a boon for freeing him and putting up a good fight. The group now found themselves smaller, a paltry three in the center of a rusted desert, deep within an abyss of gnashing gears, Mechanus.

                Resting a full week, they grabbed the attention of a beholder surveying the newly arrived temple. He told them of an axial dragon who’d gone mad after reading from the books he found from their sacred archive. Vowing to return the books, the party set out to free the dragon of the chaos that gripped him. They delved into the raw chaos which changed them in severe ways. Evi’jien’s lawful power grew to define him, Cabella’s flesh withered off the bone, and Melchizdek’s form became as elemental stone. Rescuing the true form of the mad dragon, they force-fed him to himself, breaking the curse as well as freeing the warforged slaves he’d taken in his madness. One of them, a hulking juggernaut named Oldren, joined the party in their travels.

                They returned the books to the beholder, who allowed Cabella a glimpse into the forbidden knowledge within. Great insight was given into the origins of the Nebulim and Devils, as well as leads on powerful artifacts deeper into the Abyss. Taking their leave of the temple, the party traveled up the face of a neighboring gear, where they destroyed a lesser Devil to gain the trust of the ant-centaur folk (Formians), who gave them safe passage through their hive. Nearing the edge of the gear, they found a gnome-run tavern near a portal to Fruschia. A tough-looking woman there beseeched them to help steer a law-bringer construct off the trail of her friend. They did so by coincidence, starting a race with him in the morning and disabling his motorcycle before trapping him in the air and dousing him in glue. The girl thanked them and took off on his cycle, her actions in repairing the totaled vehicle in a single gesture hinting at some hidden power. Leaving the law-bringer to his sticky fate, the crew took off for the next gear; the vaunted land of Xen’drik.

                Xen’drik is an infamous destination for experienced adventurers. Once a secretive island full of danger, it now holds a central position in Mechanus and draws heavy traffic due to its bevy of ancient ruins full of material and mineral wealth. As the innkeeper said, crews from all over the Nexus have been pouring in, most notably a contingent of Dingiri dragon-ilk and a full clergy led by a man shining with holy light. (Cabella’s insight into forbidden things led him to believe this was an avatar of the god of the Sun, Hanu). Arriving at a temple, the party had to clear out a bramble beast and reactivate the poral within. Their first foray into the portal brought them face to face with a stone colossus guarding a minor creation forge. The enormous golem proved to be no match for a hastily arranged ballista full of tree-sized splitting arrows manned by Evi’jien. His falling mass crushed Oldren flat. Melchizdek and his aides worked tirelessly for hours to piece him back together. MVP of the mission, the warforged alchemist bypassed the hostile constructs within the facility. The crew repaired a wrecked warforged there, who claimed to be over a thousand years old. He had the hardware to prove it, as well. Taking over the creation forge’s production, Shear the ancient machine man joined the party, offering support in the way of a place to call home. When they returned to the temple, Shear began reconstruction immediately, establishing the temple as an forward operating base for any enterprising adventurers. He even went so far as to repair the unfortunate side-effects the raw chaos reaped on Evi’jien. Through the ingestion of a trance-inducing brew of primordial ooze mixed with a bit of chaos, he conducted a séance with his old draconic form and rebuilt himself anew. Shear then sat the party down for a long info-dump, explaining how the dark god Rune is responsible for the warped state of the Abyss, having killed the pantheon of three worlds before angering the overgod and being smote into his current form, his portfolios and divinity scattered across the land. With an all-too-serious plot hook look in his robo-eye, Shear explained that Rune was on his way to resurrecting an ancient dragon of destruction that is his true form, Tinjin. He then went on to plot dump about all the playable races that have unlocked up to this point, which will be featured in my next post. Enjoy!

THE STORY SO FAR PART II

     After returning the beast to it's owner, the party turned in their bounties and set about looking to spend their fortune in the small town of Rustwall. Seeking upgrades for his firearm, Sneaky Pete went to haggle with the gunsmith. While there, he ran into Levin, a knightly Slee'gir in heavy armor, who was testing out his new gunlance on the dummy in the shooting range, blowing it to bits in the process. The two of them quickly bonded over their shared interest in boomsticks. Meanwhile, Phylip returned to the Slagheap Bar and got into a drinking contest with a couple of gnomish patrons. Despite their size, gnomes can really pack it away, and the poor Phyrtha spent the better part of a day sleeping off the booze in a back room at the bar.

     The rest of the party sought out more adventure, rallying at the bounty booth in the town square. Poor lady there has to deal with these guys more and more often. While purveying the available quests, something caught Cabella's eye: a wanted poster, featuring a drafted 3-D sketch of a Din'giri human female, with the unmistakable mark of one of the Touched burnt into her left cheekbone. What was so salient about it, however, was the murky brown glow emanating from the mark, a far cry from the normal blue-black of a Touched. He pocketed a copy of the poster, in case they ran into this woman called Mutt. The young boy with the Yakguana walked into the booth about the time the party was getting bored, and greeted them cheerily. He had a escort job from his father to post, and Pete jumped on it, trying to bargain for better rewards. The boy paid to post it and turned half the reward money over in advance to the excitable bunch, who did another round of shopping before following up on a rumor posted on the board.

     Levin, always the honorable sort, dragged the group to investigate rumors of shady goings-on in a town to the south. Upon arrival, they asked around for information from the locals, before finding a man on his smoke break that readily pointed them in the right direction, towards an abandoned cannery in the scummier, northern part of town. Upon arrival, they found the door broken off the hinges, and a basic trap, a magic rope placed across the hallway leading out of the lobby. Levin readily demolished the thing with his lance. Arcane chanting carried down the hallway, alongside the muffled whimpers of a damsel in distress. Springing into action, the party entered the cannery working floor, guns blazing. Three men, heavy cloaks obscuring their deformed bodies and faces, stood around a girl, chanting and sharpening a machete blade. The girl was already missing an arm and a leg, though she didn't bleed from either, and drifted in and out of consciousness. After the initial volley from the party, the tallest of the three ducked behind a stack of loading pallets, slinging spell after spell at the group. As the vanguard, Levin got the brunt of the barrage, being held in place by one, preventing the others from leaving into the room. Thinking quickly, Cabella cast an illusion, dropping barred cages around the advancing cultists, keeping them in place long enough for Levin to shrug off his paralytic state.

     The magically inclined cultist kept his cover behind the pallets, and summoned a cloud of mist to hide his movements, then set to work forcing a loading dock door to open despite years of rust and disuse. Asheed and Pete took turns pot-shotting the one cultist over Levins shoulders, until the other one, wielding a wicked machete broke free from Cabella's illusion, charging at Levin. He got in several good hits before being put down, leaving Levin bloody. Cabella pushed his way past the crowd, sprinting to the girl, and plucked her up from the instrument strewn table. The hallway bottleneck broken, the other members took up positions inside the room. Reckless as always, Sneaky Pete swapped out his aether cartridge for a spreadshot variant, and approached the mist cloud, firing blindly at the last cultist. He was met with the crackling black energy of the clerics wounding grasp. Luckily, most of the energy discharged through the metal at his feet, so Pete was just left feeling dead on the inside instead of dead as a door-nail. The cleric's position revealed, Levin charged across the room plunging his gunlance into the man's chest. He locked eyes with the twisted monster of a man and pulled the trigger, sending him flying against the wall, and crumpling to the floor. The day saved, Asheed patched up the girl as the party searched the area, finding a floor-safe under a desk in an office room. The lot of them tied a rope to it's handle and forced it up out of the hole to pick their way into later. They found an abandoned pallet jack in the alley behind the building and rigged up a cart to carry their prize and the wounded girl back to Rustwall, where they turned her in and accepted their reward. The garrison captain from the Morcinian army came to personally thank them for their efforts, apparently the cult they fought had been trafficking girls from the area for a while, but always proved elusive to the loose militia that kept law in these parts. Happy with their good deed, the party settled in at the Inn and reunited with Phylip, while Levin took his leave and went off on a side quest of his own. They took a night of rest before preparing for the upcoming caravan escort mission.

     The morning sun beat down on our travelers as they headed west. Raikon, the father of Paul, drove his truck along slowly with the yakguana-pulled carriage, laden with supplies, following behind. All was calm for a while, until farmland gave way to forest, and Phylip's keen eyes spotted a pillar of smoke ahead, in the distance. Cautiously scouting ahead, he spotted a group of wild-eyed men dancing and shouting around a truck filled with burning lumber. Hatching a plan, the party took up position in the bushes, ready to snipe the men if things went awry. Raikon and his caravan stayed back, and the hardy Carracan took up position on top of his truck, pulling out a wicked looking heavy rifle of Carracan make.

     Cabella approached the group, noticing almost immediately the murky brown glow from their eyes. These men were Touched, alright, but like the woman from the bounty board, something was off about them. When Cabella tried to make conversation, they talked as if they recognized him, then switched to hostile and friendly again in the blink of an eye. Some of them talked to each other as if they were replying to unasked questions, and the whole lot were acting crazy in general. Making no headway in conversation, Cabella took his leave of the men, backing away. One of them followed after him, grabbing at an axe from the read tire of the burning car. The centaur wizard, thinking quickly as usual, cast a massive illusion spell, trapping the crazed men in a virtual maze of earthen walls. Through sheer attrition, the party managed to funnel the men towards the exit, into the waiting sights of a firing squad. One of the men thought he'd get into the burning truck and drive it through the wall. The aethersand in the engine sprayed out into the heat of the flame and exploded, destroying the front-end of the vehicle and sending a couple flying. Most of the men were so convinced of the earthen illusion, they were trapped and had to be coerced out to finish them off.

     Two men, wrapped in conversation and oblivious to the whole fight, took off running down a frontage road. As the party finished off the last of the crazed fighters, they heard a distant crash and screaming. Pete climbed onto Cabella's back, casting a spell of speed on him, and the two rode off towards the sound, Phylip and Asheed following after. They came upon a wild sight, one man had driven a small transport bus into the side of a cabin, pinning the other man under the wheel. The last surviving woodsman jumped up and down, hooting at his dead comrade. Phylip, riding up on wizard-back, took aim and blew off the nutter's head with his Baby-Killer rounds.

     The aethersand from the bus's engine sprayed through the hole in the cabin, and as the party investigated, aka looted this cabin, they found several corpses, lying in every other bed. At the end of the building, billowing up from the chest of a dead gnome, a smoky elemental bared it's fangs at the party. Phylip quickly took aim at the thing, and the party took turns murdering it via firing squad. All said and done, they walked away with a fat chunk of loot from the personal possessions of these poor, crazy lumberjacks.

The Story So Far

I'll be periodically updating this page with the abbreviated exploits of our brave adventurers. Enjoy!

THE STORY SO FAR

     Let us set the scene. The morning sun slides into place, its flat face painting the town of Rustwall an earthy red. Shop owners roll up the shutters to their stores, and the town's militia stroll the main street leading out of the disused factory belt. Our intrepid heroes sit around a table in a smoky bar, the plinking of a technician's stylus occasionally interrupting the silence. Cabella the centaur wizard, Asheed 'Ki the goat-like Varren monk, Phylip the insectoid Phyrtha ranger and “Sneaky” Pete the human bard, sitting and standing around in a cruddy steel-mill-turned-bar, waiting for a tech to finish fixing the job board so they can earn some honest pay. How do they know each other? Not important! Men of action need only mutual admiration to fuel their companionship!

     Anyways, Cabella and Pete became restless and decided to question the bartender about the issue with the job board. They clopped on over. Pete, pulling a boombox out of his leather hoodie, did his best to encourage the barman and technician to give up some information, then Cabella noticed something peculiar about the technician. A faint, flame-like aura of black rimmed the man's collar, a tell-tale sign of a Touched one, people who've received a blessing from the Nebulim. Being a Nebulim fanatic, Cabella enthusiastically questioned the man, while Pete put on a show of his street dancing prowess for the bored barman.

     Meanwhile, Phylip noticed a strange couple in the back corner of the bar. Two Phyrtha, like himself, an aged male with a sallow look handcuffed to a young female, who bore cropped antennae. Intrigued by the taboo look of the girl, Phylip approached their table. The male explained her predicament, for she was unlawfully bred outside of the limits, and would need to be repatriated. The girl flipped Phylip all four birds as he walked away, shocked at her parents disdain for Phyrtha law.

     A fluorescent glow traced its way along a pipe on the ceiling, flowing into the board as the technician finished his work and began to pack away his tool-bag. The orange light swirled into the aethersand contained within the board, solidifying into posted job requests and bounties. Surveying the few available postings, the group decided to take up a ladies offer to put down her father. The old man had passed away in his study, listening to music while reliving his glory days in the war. As we all know, people of experience who die often manifest the crystallized Anima in their hearts, which draw in surrounding Aether, reanimating their bodies. The music box, pulling a direct stream of Aether out of the wall, provided plenty of energy to power up a corpse. And so poor Mary Everett was in need of someone to put her father to rest in the neighboring town of Rustvale.

     Before they left the bar with a task in mind, Ol' Sneaky Pete convinced the technician to share some Nebulim info with the trembling Cabella. The man leaned forward and uttered the cryptic phrase, “I am Legion, for we are many.” and chuckled to himself, walking out the door. The party followed into the narrow streets of Rustwall. Sunlight streamed through hanging wires and rats scurried away at their feet as they headed to the Mall, the town square, to stock up before leaving. The buzzing of ethereal energy pumping through exposed piping above their heads did nothing to silence the pleas for help coming from an alley ahead.

     Asheed heroically rushed towards the cries, coming face to face with three of his fellow Varren, beating an old man beside a loading lift. His martial prowess failed him, however, as the three thugs lashed at him with their horned arms, wounding the old goat and knocking him unconscious. The other three rounded the corner in time to see this. Pete fired his handgun at one of the Varren, who crumpled as the energy burst plowed into his side. Cabella, thinking quickly, doused the fighters in grease, causing them to slip and fall, then distracted the one who'd downed Asheed by conjuring illusory walls around the angry goat-man. Phylip provided covering fire with his rifle while Pete retreated, and together they took down the third Varren, who chased after Pete down the alleyway. The goat inside the illusory jail could not figure his way out, angrily pounding at the illusion. Deciding the risk of his ire was too great, the party finished him off through the illusion.

     Asheed pulled himself together and stabilized before passing out, while the old man groaned in the corner. He was grateful for the rescue, and offered a mysterious tincture to cure the wounded monk. While Cabella held open his jaw, Phylip emptied the vial into the goat mouth, which puckered, turning blue. The fur around his mouth shriveled back as if burnt, and the wound on his chest healed instantly. Our ever persuasive bard Pete interrogated the man about his wonder drug and his Varren attackers. Thoroughly convinced Pete was an ally, he spilled everything about the drug-deal gone awry that prompted the assault. The man pulled out a small baggie filled with golden green paste. Spore, he called it. Had Asheed been conscious, he could have warned them; but Pete, impulsive as ever, took the drug and smeared a dab on the old man's bruised face. Immediately the man grew pale, growling at the bard for his foolishness. His bruises faded away, and in their place, bulging muscles and veins. Foaming at the mouth, he struck at Pete, who quickly snuck away. The nearby centaur was his next target, and the old man launched himself off the ground, squarely planting his fist in the poor wizard's jaw. The ranger deftly took the old man out from range while Sneaky Pete pocketed the baggie of Spore. As the old man hit the ground, his frothing increased in magnitude. Green, plant-like fungus rapidly grew out of the twitching body, growing half a foot in a matter of seconds. Panicking, for Pete new he had screwed up royally, he yelled for Cabella to cast a grease spell on the writhing fungus, then lit it up with fiery prestidigitation. The group gathered up Asheed and quickly left behind the billowing fire, deciding to leave town directly after that debacle.

     A few hours later, we find our party squatting in a patch of grass outside of Rustvale proper. Resting up after a harrowing journey, they decided to approach the Everett estate under cover of night. Ignoring the late arrival, Mary Everett welcomed the foursome in, explaining her father's demise. Leaving Mary in the safety of the front room, they all took point outside the study, waiting for Phylip to breach the door. They could hear the shuffling and slurred swears of the reanimated corpse within.

     All in one action, Phylip kicked in the door, while Asheed rushed in, punching and striking the zombie with his forearm horns, ineffectively. Old Man Everett was decked out in full regalia, his military riding coat, blue and gold with pleated iron plates on the front, matched perfectly with the ornate pistol held at his side. The radio continued to drone on in the corner, a military anthem filling the room with its grandeur. Pete snuck into the room behind the zombie, and blew a smoking hole in the music box with his handgun. Focusing on the beast before him, perhaps flashbacks of the war against the damned goat-men devils fueling his decayed will, the zombie fired a shot at point blank range, nearly killing Asheed outright. Asheed took cover, tending to his wounds as the other fighters drew the zombie's attention. Through attrition and careful aiming, the two firearm wielders whittled down the powerful undead, while Cabella used illusion to confuse and delay him. As the zombie collapsed, Cabella felt the pull of energy from the corpse, and lowered his hand over Mr. Everett's heart. The flesh soon began to bulge, until a jagged amber colored crystal emerged, which Cabella quickly captured with a cloth satchel. He knew just what to do with it.

     Pete, sneaky and puerile as usual, stripped the zombie of his armored jacket and pistol. About that time, the music box burst into flames, it's inner working having smoldered after being shot. Conjuring a burst of water, Cabella put out the fire before it caught anything else alight. To cover up taking the old man's weapon, Pete pieced together some scrap from the music box, hoping it'd look like a broken pistol, then preceded to the front room, leaving the party to clean up the mess. He thought it'd be a great idea to pressure Mary Everett for a payment up front, and bullied her into giving up her watch and necklace for all the trouble they had in putting her father to rest. Sneaky Pete is an asshole.

     The party took their leave and traveled back to Rustwall, holding up in a motel to sleep until the administrative office for the town garrison opened, so they could turn in the bounty. Never one to stay out of trouble, Pete wandered off into the warehouse district of town, where a late night party was being held. Humans and gnomes danced and drank together, while two Varren sat on the sidelines. A cheerful gnome disc jockey stood on a table casting dancing lights from his fingertips, dazzling the dancers. Pete approached the Varren, looking to offload the Spore he acquired from the back alley drug dealer. The stronger looking of the two negotiated with him, while his timid partner shook behind him, hugging one arm and looking around shiftily. The strong one offered a trade, since he was short on cash, and led Pete out to the back parking area.

     Next to a dumpster was parked a compact two-seater truck, which the big Varren approached. He popped open the truck box and pulled out a rifle, causing Pete to tense up. Instead of bringing the barrel to bear on the bard, he cracked open the rifle and popped out the cartridge within. The ammo-casing was roughly hewn, and the words, “Baby-Killer 9000” were childishly scrawled across it in marker. Pete gleefully accepted the trade and they all returned to the party. The music and dancing were enjoyable for a bit, until Pete noticed the Varren in the corner, mixing up the Spore he traded them in a bowl, preparing to imbibe it. He quickly snuck away. Pete stealthily watch through a window as the drugs kicked in and the enraged Varren made their way towards the unwary dancers. The roided out goat-men turned the group into a bloody mosh pit, swinging their horned arms at the party-goers, sending viscera flying. Sneaky Pete is an asshole.

     Fleeing the scene, Pete was passed by a militia battle-wagon. This town had seen it's fair share of Varren rampages, so the garrison commander had a couple of these things special ordered. A massive armored truck with a flame throwing mechanism on top rolled up to the warehouse, where only the two Varren remained, dancing in the fungus erupting from the corpse pile; the disc jockey gnome left the music playing when he ditched to alert the militia. The side of the truck fell open, and four heavily armored men leaped out, towing forward a massive machine gun. The barrel grew red-hot as they poured fire aspected rounds into the structure, tearing apart the goat-men. A fifth man pulled himself up from inside the truck, manning the flame turret up top. The rapidly growing fungal trees wilted and shrank under the searing flames.

     Morning came, and the party woke in their rooms, ready for another day of work. They turned in the bounty at the office, and did some shopping, obtaining useful healing drinks from the general store and eating some imported fried octopus balls from a smiling Mer in the town square. Cabella asked around a bit before finding directions for a specialized magic shop in a back alley. A shriveled old lady answered his ring, pulling up a window shutter and offering her wares. Cabella pulled out his satchel and held aloft the gently glowing Anima crystal. She asked him to hand it over and placed the rugged stone into a bracketed vise. Pulling out a hand-cranked buffing tool with multiple heads, she set to work refining the crystal into a usable, safe to handle form. The crone threw the polishing service in free of charge, since Cabella purchased a couple of other things, and blew him a kiss as the centaur cantered away.

     A suspicious character caught the three other's attention, selling dubious healing goods out of his coat lining at a cheap price. Pete traded some of the Bluevile potions he scored in his exploits for more legitimate healing tinctures. Heading to the gunsmith, Pete and friends rented out the firing range to try out the new ammo cartridge he got from the Varren. Replacing a normal Aether burst, from the end of his gun erupted jagged, razor-like Aether, which punctured the target and left an ugly gash on the dummy target. Pleased with their purchases, the party sought out another quest.

     The next task they took on was a personal request posted on the board in the administrative office, a Carracan teen's yakguana had gotten loose and escaped down a maintenance tunnel, where only authorized personnel could go. With an outbreak of Varren Spore cases on their hands, the militia couldn't afford the people to try to capture the thing. These horse-sized woolly lizards can be dangerous if they feel threatened, but are typically docile, seeing extensive use as farm animals in the country of Carraca. The boy who posted the bill stood near the entrance; Pete immediately started hassling him for information, and extra pay. The boy had nothing on him, but offered nebulous connections with his father's merchant caravan, which would prove useful. Satisfied, they told the guard posted at the tunnel they were there for the posted bill.

     Entering the dark tunnel, the party crept along, bent low to avoid Aether conducting pipes running along the ceiling. Occasional bouts of steam kicked out of the pipes. Spotting the yakguana ahead chewing on a pipe, the foursome came up with a plan and put it into action. Sneaky Pete sneaked along the corridor, leaving a trail of ration bread and some of his leftover octopus balls at intervals. Cabella conjured an illusion of a small rabbit, teasing the starving creature towards their trail, and occasionally letting the lizard catch its prey, to keep it interested. Phylip lay in wait in a side tunnel, rope in hand, and launched himself at the large beast, deftly hog-tying it without breaking a sweat. The party dragged the beast out of the tunnels to the waiting boy, who gleefully jumped on the thing, petting it vigorously.