Rico Penguin

  I’ve been on a journey of sorts through my life, to prove to folks that likely nothing is black and white. Now honestly, could something like “How many people are you?” be that complicated of a question? I mean obviously, you are one person, I am one person, it seems so simple.

  Well lets go on a very short journey, through an entirely plausible series of events, merely limited by current medical technology. I’ll then ask a few simple questions and we’ll see how straight forward they are.

  For reasons unknown, Markus, has entered a hospital to have a peculiar surgery done. The hospital is going to cut Markus completely in half from tip of his head to his groin. The brain itself can survive as damaged as 50%, which means that a perfect cut with optimum tools and technology would leave two halves that only are limited by the organs that remain. We would need to either build or donate an extra heart and any other organs that are not perfectly split. Essentially the ‘open’ side would then be closed with a bionic enclosure. Nothing fancy, an apparatus that helps enclose both sides so that now we have two living halves that both function.

  My first question is a simple one. What would each side know? Would one side be able to speak and the other not? Does the brain store certain information in a raid between both halves? What would the halves say to one another?

  Perhaps some deeper more philosophical questions. Would the halves themselves feel one another? In theory if we have a soul we would be dealing with one entity that now experiences two separate sets of sensation. What metaphysical ramifications come from each not communicating with the other?

  Now I ask you. Given this situation that could quite easily happen with some small gains in the medical field. Is this just one person or two people? If you argue that it is one person, would you arrest one half if the other (unbeknownst to it) robbed a bank? If you didn’t arrest both of them then you are acknowledging that they are both separate people.

  But now we have a new question. At what point did we take one person and make them two? What was it that defines a person? Is it simply the bridge between the two hemispheres? Or is it merely how many functioning bodies are present. In the face of the split man you have taken one functioning body and made it into two with a few modifications.

  So that’s my conundrum. A problem that could be so easily fixed by just having a brain that does not operate when the hemispheres are disconnected from one another. This of course isn’t my finest work but the simple scenario and questions should keep folks busy which is what is important.

  It is a term that gets thrown around so much that it got me thinking. Following off the theme of the last post my question is this: Is anything you do not a waste of time?

  Perhaps it is just a matter of the glass being half empty, half full, or perhaps just twice as big as it should be. But isn’t everything a waste of time?

  Every book you read, every thing you do, every mark you make, each of these things will be null in respect to you once you die. Every person you influence in any manner will also die and with them the events become null. Given humanities overall inability to separate from ancient fantasy I have doubts that humanity will ever make it off the Earth. We are likely to see cycles of intellectual growth, great destruction caused by fantastical ignorance, and then a recovery period. This will extend the time and resources needed to reach a colony in space and just might push us up until the big end.

  That big end for the Earth of course being when the sun expands and swallows it. Every single activity ever committed by a person will be scorched to cinders and yanked into the center of the sun. In that moment every single action of humanity becomes moot. For the exception of maybe some satellites that are well out of harms way but it is only a matter of time before something destroys them.

  So really isn’t everything a waste of time? Then again how do you properly use time? Who is the judge of what is a constructive use of time? These are questions that so frequently seem to be treated as self evident when the answers are hardly so.

  People often ask the question of “Why are we here?” Which I believe I’ve touched on before but most recently it popped a similar thought into my head. To be succinct “Why Not?” Of the massive number of possible formula’s for universes that could possibly exist each has the same chance of existing as every other universe.

  Mathematics, Physics, Biology, and every other science that I don’t fully understand are based specifically within our own universe. It is one of those tautological “It is because it is.” kind of situations. So we are no more special than any other possible universe, sure we have life as we know it, but that is a self fulfilling setup. Anytime we find life it’ll be life as we know it because we have found it and thus we know it.

  Life as we know it has changed over the entire span of human existence and was different before we existed. Life as we know it will continue to change and if we discovered another universe (or even another planet) with different life following rules that we do not fully understand we will now have a new understanding of life as we know it.

  All that separates life in this universe from another universe that may or may not exist from being under our oh so wonderful “life as we know it” tag is us finding it.

  Because of this I see nothing special about this universe which makes me wonder. So it isn’t a question of why we are here, there is no reason why we shouldn’t be here. Not all why questions are necessarily ones that have an actual answer. Just like “Why do people generate more energy than the sun.” I can’t take credit for that revelation, Richard Dawkins had a similar one “Why are Unicorns Hollow.” Just because you can ask it doesn’t necessarily mean it is a valid or important question.

  My question isn’t necessarily better. I realize the irony or hypocrisy in me asking it, but I am finding it odd to assume that life shouldn’t be here. There is no better chance of any other universe than this one, and everything that makes it special is only special because it involves us in some manner or another.

  As a point of clarification before closing this little thought, I don’t hate our reality, in fact I find it very awesome, but I don’t need some unanswerable question to justify that feeling. Since we exist I see reason enough.

Waz: Hi. Welcome to an Interview with a Scionian. The goal with these interviews will be to help flesh out the inhabitants of the IoS universe. Our first guest in this series is none other than Deki Stargazer. Welcome Deki.

Deki: Thank you Waz! I’m very flattered that you decided to pick me for the first interview. So many people to choose from and you go and choose little ole me.

Waz: Don’t be silly. You are the protagonist of the first book, you are the natural choice for the first interview. A milestone if you will, so shall we begin?

Deki: Of course. Ask away.

Waz: What would you say is the most remarkable thing about you?

Deki: Wow. That’s a tough question. I’m often told that being a blue orc is pretty remarkable. People gawk at me and whisper about me. It’s enough to make you insecure. I also can’t remember anything from my life before the Alten incident.

Waz: Do you have any formal training in combat or arts?

Deki: Not really no. I have gotten better at fighting lately but it has hardly been formal training. Unless you count highwaymen trying to rob you as formal.

[Deki and Waz Laugh]

Waz: No I can’t say that I can.

Deki: As for arts, I have recently gotten interested in writing a diary. I don’t think that counts either but it has helped me.

Waz: You say it helped you. Are you referring to your amnesia?

Deki: Yes. I haven’t been able to pinpoint the cause, it is hard. Sometimes I can feel my own memories melting away.

Waz: That’s pretty intense. Has there been any further loss of memories since Alten?

Deki: That’s the unfortunate thing here. I don’t know. I’d imagine so as I have some holes in what happened. Whenever I feel these memory holes I assume that I’ve lost something forever.

Waz: Not to change subjects but we are limited on time. How would you describe your personality?

Deki: Insecure maybe. But certainly caring, I don’t want to see anyone innocent hurting. I get uncomfortable in serious situations. I like to use comedy to help ease any situation like that. Then again I’m not all that funny so it only seems to help me most times. If I were to describe myself in a short alliteration I’d say something like “Nice, Neurotic and Nerdy.”

Waz: What food do you like best? If it isn’t a single food then perhaps a food type.

Deki: I’m a big fan of anything spicy. Spicy and really warm foods, I like the feeling in my tummy.

[Waz flips through interview notes]

Waz: Have you ever been in a war before?

Deki: Objectively I want to say no. But subjectively I feel like that would be a lie. I’m sure being blue I’d stand out like a firefly at midnight, I’d surely get wounded or worse. War scares me to death.

Waz: How do you feel about death? Not necessarily in yourself but witnessing it.

Deki: I fall apart. I’m not good in those sort of situations. The adrenaline is nice but otherwise it is a terrible experience.

Waz: You say “I fall” and not any form of hypothetical, are you eluding that you may have already been involved in this sort of incident?

Deki: Is there anything else you want to ask me? I am also on a short time frame.

Waz: Well by all means we could reschedule for a second interview at a later date? Would that be best for you.

Deki: Yes. I think I would really prefer that. It was a pleasure Waz.

  I’m a fairly young man, most of the time I don’t even think about it, but then there are those days. I in part blame the recent healthcare battles between the two unusually short sighted parties that make up this adorably dysfunctional American political system.

  I find that it is only exacerbated by me currently watching a marathon of House M.D.. Now I understand to a small degree some of the intricate ways that our minds try to correlate everything we experience to ourselves and to other things we know. As it stands I’m fairly certain I’ll actually make it to at least my 50th birthday. Now I’m hoping for at least triple digits but I tend to be a realist. Perhaps a naive realist (in other words not one).

  But I was thinking about the Macabre (Macab?) and how much we are infatuated with death. It is the greatest of ends (dare I say the ultimate one), it is something so powerful in our psyche’s that we create entire stories around just what happens instead of death. I even wonder just how much of our infatuation with death ties in with the nearly violent battle against national healthcare.

  Imagine if you will the concept at its rawest. There are quite literally people who find problems in the idea of preventing disease, pain, or death. There are literally people who see life-health-as a business. This is, to me, the ultimate erotic obsession with the macabre. I can in no way describe how disgusting this view is. There are no amount of words, no amount of gestures, no amount of violent acts, no amount of hypocrisy, I can think of no level of anything that would describe or display just how much I detest these people.

  Is it extreme? Oh yes. Is it short sighted? I’m sure. However this is true. Because at the end of the day, I feel nauseous to the point of nearly vomiting just by discussing death. When I feel minor discomfort I immediately assume it is something that is cutting off years from my life. All of these feelings, each of them compounded a trillion times over would not nearly be as bad as any of them actually being true. I cannot even truly grasp the terror of finding out that your life is about to end, even if that about is 20 years from now. The ultimate macabre is that all these fears, all these pains, and indeed millions of lives could all be spared, but they are not because of a bottom line.

  Personally, and again I’m sure this is part of my own hypocritical naivety, there is no amount of money that is too much to stop these fears and these realities. Mainly because there is no amount of money that has value when everyone is gone.

A Contest Entry for a Grunty Pet in WoW .

- – -

Mengsk approached the small metallic insect that stood motionless upon his desk. "Jenson! Do you think this will really work?"

Jenson pressed a few small buttons on the plate protecting his skull, each giving off a distinct click as they depressed. The little insect began to animate on the table before them, its teeth chattering endlessly as it gazed back and forth in the room.

"Emperor. I present to you our ultimate weapon against the Zerg. What sits before you is the result of the combined knowledge power of the entire Terran people. This is the essence of all our intellectual accomplishments…the apex of our minds." Jenson snapped his fingers, the large doors to Mengsk’s office opened to reveal a cage harboring something beastly: A Zergling.

"Are you mad! Bringing one of those foul beasts into my office! I should have you killed this instant!" Formless shadows moved around the room as the Ghosts of Mengsk targeted the Zergling.

"Madness and Brilliance truly look the same sir. But please allow me to show you where that line truly becomes grey." With another snap of his fingers the guards beside the cage opened the door. In a flash the Zergling launched itself towards Mengsk, as it did the chattering insect on the desk darted towards the face of the Zergling. It plummeted into an eye of the beast sending it straight to the ground screeching, in a matter of seconds an orchestra of grinding bones and splitting flesh filled the room. Not a speck of blood escaped the orgy of gnawing mouths and slurping tubes as the insect replicated countless times. As quickly as it began it ended, not a single sign of the Zergling was left. Just a pile of the insects all stacked upon one another like a house of cards.

Mengsk was speechless.

"You see sir. Project Sargeras will go off without a hitch. We have finally created something that can truly decimate the Zerg onslaught." Jenson walked silently out of the room, the tiny insects following him in a duckling like row. Their little metallic teeth chattering incessantly.

~ ~ ~

"We-g-" The voice was broken…or perhaps it was just his ears. "-ou-her-"

Grunty’s vision was foggy at best. His head turned left and right weakly as he tried to make sense of the watercolor painting that flowed before him.

Slowly the string of sounds began to form a tapestry of words. "Get you out of here!" The scratchy voice repeated. "The Worgen aren’t going to let up! We need to get out of here!"

A stubby green hand reached down and lifted Grunty off the ground. "Come on friend! I can nearly see our home from here. We’ll be safe!"

He stumbled on with the little green man away from the battlefield.

~ ~ ~

"So what you think this is?"

"Dunno. Looks like something the Dwarves might have made. You think he’s alliance?"

"Lots of thinkin’ but no answers here."

Grunty sat up quickly as the voices nudged him back to consciousness.

"Oh good you are awake. You not alliance are you?"

Grunty gazed over at the little green people. His large pearl eyes focusing in on their exaggerated features. Ears like kites and long pointed noses.

"Alliance? I-I-I’m a Terran."

One of the green one’s approached Grunty. "Terran? You look like a Murloc to me."

Grunty looked at his hands, slender three fingered hands, his skin oily and slick.

"Murloc? I’m just a Terran. I work under the order of Arcturus Mengsk…"

"Does this Mengsk require you be naked? Quite embarrassing bringing a naked man home, my wife here still doesn’t believe the story."

Grunty went to speak but was interrupted.

The wife grinned, her teeth all jagged. "Yes when you brought home Audi the Needle I suppose she was merely a find from the last battle with the Worgen eh?"

Once again Grunty failed to interject.

The husband gulped. "That was different! She…she had lost her pants! Don’t question me here I’m trying to help this fellow."

Finally he could take no more, shouting quickly his voice squeaked. "My armor! Have either of you seen my armor!"

The wife rolled a familiar item across their table. "Nope. Just this little toy here."

Grunty would recognize his rifle anywhere. The Terran army manufactured their weapons so that only those within a regiment could fire them, he was safe in knowing that it would appear to them to be nothing more than a shiny bauble…

"That’s a very important possession."

The husband pulled up a small wooden stool and sat beside the bed. "You don’t realize how lucky you are. Any other goblin would have left you to be gobbled up and taken this shiny thing here. But me and my wife are different. We are here to help."

The female goblin continued. "Yeah like you helped Audi."

The husband turned to his wife his face turning a deep brown with rage. "I’m sick of you accusing me! I swear I was just trying to help her! You just happened to come in when we were both naked. It was entirely coincidence and harmless!"

The wife scoffed and turned away from both Grunty and her husband.

The husband’s face returned to its green…slowly. "I love my wife dearly but she is the most skeptical goblin I’ve ever met. Maybe that’s how we’ve survived this long. So what exactly brought you naked to the battlegrounds like that little Murloc?"

"My name is Grunty and I’m not a Murloc."

The husband laughed. "Alright Grunty. You aren’t a Murloc and I’m not Fizzlesticks Sprocketgear."

Grunty shrugged. "Alright then who are you?"

"I’m Fizz…Look let’s just try and figure this out."

"Well I was investigating a wormhole via the instructions of my commanding officer. It was a rift created from a project of the Terran army that had gone awry."

"Wormhole? You must be living somewhere with some mighty big worms." Fizzlesticks shivered. "I hate worms…"

Grunty sat at the edge of the bed. "No a wormhole. You know…a portal. It is how I got to your planet."

"Our planet? You are starting to sound like those silly Dranei. As if there are other planets. The world is flat and we are just floating along in the middle of a bunch of decorations I say."

Grunty squinted one eye confused. "Dranei?"

Fizzlesticks pulled out a photo album and flipped a few pages, he turned the book towards Grunty and stuck his finger beside the picture of a Dranei. Grunty gasped.

"That looks exactly like Sargeras!"

Fizzlesticks’ Wife stood up and approached Grunty. "Where on Azeroth did you hear that name. You will not speak it in our home."

Fizzlesticks placed his hand against his wife’s belly and pushed her back a few inches. "Calm down Remi."

Grunty apologized. "I won’t speak it again. But I am very surprised that you’d have a picture of the machine."

"They are a pain to deal with but I’d hardly call them machines." Fizzlesticks said.

"We built him. Or at least…we built what became him. My people were at war with a great evil, a biomass known as the Zerg. At first we thought it had been defeated, after defeating the overmind we thought we had won. But something happened. Suddenly the numbers boomed, Zerg spread across the Galaxy with a speed that had been previously thought impossible. We had to act fast.

That’s when we began to fund Project Sarg…" Grunty pointed at the picture. "Him. At first it seemed perfect, we had produced a self replicating insecticide robot. It would consume the biomass and use the energy generated to replicate itself and continue the hunt. Once all the Zerg were eliminated it would simply die off. However to do this we had to give it an AI, an intelligence that literally expanded upon trial and error. It was in essence…alive.

Everything went well at first. Planet after planet were cleansed of the Zerg, no flora or fauna were harmed. It had a 100% success rate. The numbers of Project S expanded exponentially, their numbers quickly matched those of the Zerg. As they grew in mass their knowledge also grew, little did we know that just like the Zerg the machines had also begun to have a hive mind. An intelligence growing exponentially every single second.

It was only a matter of time before the create had begun to devise its own goals…its own moral structure. It was then that we realized what we had created. As the insects began to coalesce with one another forming a massive singular entity. It gave itself the same name as the project. Inevitably its knowledge became so great that it fully understood the workings of space and time, or so we assume. Because the machine ripped a hole in the very fabric of space and time. I was ordered to investigate this portal…to see where it lead.

Now you find me here. On your planet."

Fizzlesticks rubbed his muttonchops, the hair giving off an audible crunch as he stroked it. "I’d know a liar. You are no liar little Grunty. But I’m sure we’d know if some battle in the sky was going on. That little toy you got over there seems even too advanced for the best of the goblins…or…those blasted gnomes."

Grunty stood up, wrapping the blanket around his waist. "I am from the 26th century."

Fizzlesticks leaned as far back as his stool permitted. "The future…I’m starting to wonder if a Worgen bit me and I’m just hallucinating."

Remi grabbed a pair of Fizzlesticks pants from their drawer and chucked them to Grunty. "Here you go space fish. I’d rather your goods not be rubbing all over my blanket."

He snatched the pants out of the air, the force of which sending the blanket to the floor. Remi caught a glimpse and blushed. Fizzlesticks quickly lifted it back up. "Hey! Now who is the philanderer! Double standards not be the Goblin’s way!"

Remi eyed Fizzlesticks.

He reprimanded himself. "Alright…alright…they are the Goblins’ way. But still!"

Grunty slipped on the slacks. They were loose but otherwise fit him well. Grunty grabbed the rifle from the table and turned to Fizzlesticks.

"So where can I find my armor?"

~ ~ ~

It turned out that being found by Goblin’s was one of the luckiest things that had happened to Grunty lately. Fizzlesticks had helped Grunty work out some of the greater intricacies of his plight. They had acquired a boat to a port known as Booty Bay. On their way it had become quickly apparent to Grunty that he had not only landed on a distant planet…but likewise an entirely new period of time. He wondered if Sargeras too was here.

He even learned of people just like him far to the north. A race of ‘Murloc’ that much like him could actually speak. Grunty did not know how long he would be within this land and time but he was very interested in meeting his likely ancestors.

"Come on Beardo! Just tell me who bought it!" Fizzlesticks was notably upset with his fellow Goblin.

Beardo jiggled a sack of coins and grinned ear to ear at Fizzlesticks. "Looks like you need some information my brother…perhaps we could make a trade."

Fizzlesticks put a hand over his mouth and leaned in to whisper to Grunty. "How good are you at acting?"

Grunty responded quietly. "I won an award for a high school play. But that was ages ago."

"Good enough. I need you to start rambling off as angrily and drunkenly as you can possibly imagine. Make it look like you are going to eat him. I’ll save him and we’ll get that info we need…follow my lead."

Beardo attempted to lean in and listen on the conversation. But to no avail, the moment he heard a single syllable Fizzlesticks clapped his hands and Grunty jumped onto Beardo gnashing his sharp teeth and drooling madly.

"Alright Beardo! My little entranced pet here is going to consume you unless we find out where that armor went. He’s right mad that his trophy was stolen."

Beardo shrieked. "Guards! Guards!"

Fizzlesticks laughed loudly. "They’ll never hear you over his grunting! It is only a matter of seconds he is going to gnaw your face off brother!"

Beardo began to wet himself and cry. "Alright! Alright! Put him back in the trance!"

Fizzlesticks clapped his hands once more and Grunty gave the cutest puppy dog face he could muster then backed off of Beardo.

"So let’s hear it Beardo."

"Kumi’isha! The Collector bought it up and went back to the blasted lands!"

Fizzlesticks grabbed Beardo by the collar. "Don’t lie to me! You know as well as I do that he is dead!"

Beardo opened his hands in surrender. "I swear it! I never question a sale and anyone who can return to life is certainly not to be questioned!"

"What on Azeroth is going on!"

Grunty walked out to the edge of the dock and stared off to the horizon. "Could this be the work of him? Why would he want my suit."

Fizzlesticks walked up behind Grunty. "Who?"

"Sargeras." Grunty looked over his shoulder to Fizzlesticks. "I think he’s taken the form of this Collector person. Why would he need my armor?"

Fizzlesticks grew pale. "The Dark Portal is in Blasted Lands…"

"There is a Portal here! Why didn’t you tell me before?"

"We try to forget about that Portal in Azeroth. It has brought nothing but tragedy to us all."

Grunty rubbed his slick oily chin. "What would he be planning with my armor at the port…oh great emperor. He is going to unleash the Zerg here!"

Fizzlesticks stood noticeably confused. "Why?"

"He can consume nothing but the Zerg. If he releases them here he will once again have a supply of food. He must have run out of energy doing whatever he has done in the past. My armor likely has the parts necessary to alter the portal. We haven’t much time!"

Fizzlesticks grasped Grunty by the wrist and rushed up a series of steps. Rushing through building after building they reached a stern faced bipedal cow and another goblin. Fizzlesticks bowed to the goblin.

"Alright Baron. We need to get to Blasted Lands a minute ago. What is the fastest Wyvern you have?"

The Baron grinned and pointed towards a Wyvern whose color was slightly off from the rest. "If you can manage to hang onto Gertrude the entire time I’ll pay you."

Fizzle sticks threw Grunty onto the back of Gertrude and then hopped on behind him. "Deal! I’ll be back for my money!"

~ ~ ~

He had battled on the front lines of some of history’s worst battles, he had looked a Hydralisk right in the face. However holding onto the back of a Wyvern soaring through the sky at breakneck speeds put a feeling of terror in Grunty that he had thought was otherwise impossible.

The Wyvern scouted over the blasted lands as Fizzlesticks looked around for the Collector. As they approached the Dark Portal he pointed and shouted to Grunty over the rushing wind. "Right there!" Fizzlesticks slapped the Wyvern on the backside and shouted something in Goblinic. The Wyvern quickly took a nose dive towards the collector, just as impact seemed inevitable it barrel rolled around the collector and latched onto the ground.

Grunty went flying off the back of the Wyvern. Fizzlesticks shouted out to him. "My bad! I meant to say hold on tight!"

Grunty stood up slowly, his back cracked as he straightened out. "Gah! That sucked." The Collector shoved the Wyvern out of the way effortlessly with one hand, in his other Grunty’s armor.

Fizzlesticks shouted as the Wyvern smashed into a nearby boulder.

Grunty picked up his rifle and pointed it towards the Collector.

"Stop right there Sargeras!"

The Collector paused. "Sa-rg-e-ras." He began to rub his head. "Sa-rg-e-ras." His eyes grew hollow and colorless. "I-am-sar-ge-ras."

Grunty armed his rifle and shot the Collector in the chest. The illusion of the collector broke at the impact point revealing a series of damaged robotic insects. A few of the highly damaged ones crumbled off the front of the machine.

The head of the collector rolled off and burst into dozens of the insects. Grunty began firing on them as they approached him. The rest of the collector collapsed into a pool of insects, in their center the armor, too rushing towards Grunty. For each that he destroyed there seemed to be four more. The gap was closed quickly, Grunty closed his eyes preparing for the worst. The familiar chattering of teeth was not accompanied with a single pinch or pain. He opened his eyes slowly to find he was standing alone. Behind him the chattering of Sargeras.

"The Portal!"

Sargeras was rushing towards the portal with the Armor in tow. His many forms prying and clipping pieces of the armor to prepare the proper reaction to the technology he had used to initially open the dark rift.

Grunty chased on firing as he went. He feared that he’d run out of ammunition before he could stop Sargeras. Worse still this small clutch of insects was merely a fraction of the tiniest amount compared to his full girth.

Sargeras crawled up the side of the portal and as he moved pieces of the armor were left behind filling in cracks. Grunty fired on with no avail as the creature slid like a slug around the surface leaving a trail of mechanics behind him.

"If I can’t kill you I’ll at least trap you here!"

Just as the last piece was placed Grunty fired upon an emplaced chunk of his suit shattering it. The portals color shifted into a miasma of a thousand different hues. It bubbled and frothed, Sargeras hissed loudly.

The bits of Sargeras rushed into the portal, Grunty shouted and rushed after him.

"You will not win!"

Grunty dashed into the portal, ripples traveling out from his impact point.

Fizzlesticks pushed the Wyvern out of the way, he groaned with pain, a few of his rips broken.

"Great. I owe the Baron some money."

Fizzlesticks held his chest and approached the Portal. For a moment there was nothing but silence, just a pool of rippling color that had seemingly no purpose.

Without warning a roar blasted out from the portal with such force that it knocked Fizzlesticks to the ground and sent him sliding along the crater the portal resided in. Dust plumed up into the air a mile high, amidst the dust Fizzlesticks could just barely make out the silhouette of something…something as wide and tall as the portal itself. The stone holding the portal in place began to crack as the figure expanded further. The pain in his chest grew ever worse and Fizzlesticks slowly slipped out of consciousness.

"By-the-gods…"

islesofscion.net has shrunk to theios.net

Mainly because it is much quicker to say, so when you tell someone to check out the sight you don’t have to spell everything .

I’ll also be posting the first draft of a story for a contest for a game .

First Draft of Avatar of Passion – Ignis the Tyro Pyro, please leave any thoughts here or (the more popular option) by email. This is also in my drop box for anyone signed up for that.

- – -

Day 1 of Expedition to Onyx Forest, 3rd of Gefil:

Day 1 of the Expedition has been quite fruitful. Adura and Myself have found the recently formed Onyx forests. Reports of the newly birthed forest have flooded out to all nearby cities. High activity of Infernal Beasts suggests a strong concentration of high energy crystals. We have been informed that it is almost certain that a burst cave is in the area and that such region will house the crystals. I am skeptical, the information is a bit too direct for my tastes, our contractor knows more than they are telling us.

Slightly unrelated but worthy of note, Adura has told me many times now that she feels we are being followed. Because of this we are taking shifts sleeping, however I pity anyone who underestimates either of us.

Ignis

~ ~ ~

Day 3 of the Expedition to Onyx Forest, 5th of Gefil:

We have not yet located the burst cave. However we have spotted at least two dozen Infernal beasts, one of which was an exceptionally large Sapphire Dragon. The Canopy of Onyx has kept us relatively hidden from the large predators but I am skeptical of the safety in this expedition. As it stands we have no short supply of food, the trees are high in nutrition and exceptionally tasty. Likewise I brought some rock candy with us, hopefully this guilty ration will last the entire trip, these fruitless days are a bit of a bore.

Catching up on my previous entry: Myself and Adura have both now seen someone-something-at least sneaking around the woods around us. Adura is quite worried but I have reassured her that nobody will be able to harm us as long as I’m here. I have a sneaking suspicion that bandits heard of the cave and are hoping to steal the loot from under our noses. They obviously haven’t heard that a Pyromancer is on the mission.

Ignis

~ ~ ~

Day 4 of the Expedition to Onyx Forest, 6th of Gefil:

There is good and bad news on this day. The good news is that we have indeed found the Burst Cave, confirming my suspicions it lies almost exactly where they told us we’d find it. I worry something is up, to compound my fears, Adura has become ill. She is getting a little too cold for comfort at this point. I will give the trip another two days, if we do not locate the crystals by then I am going to call off the mission and we’ll get her back. I am not about to lose my friend over what has from the beginning unsettled my stomach.

There appears to be three things following us, none of them are beasts that I can tell, I’m not even sure if they know I am tracking them as they track us. However the amount of beasts around the cave borders on obscene, it is nothing I cannot handle, but I worry that Adura’s sickness may make this a more difficult expedition than anticipated.

She seems visibly upset, not because of her health, but of the burden she has become. I wish she’d realize that she’s never a burden to me.

Ignis

~ ~ ~

The cracking of Crystal woke Ignis from her sleep. She eyed around quickly, the burning cinders of the blast cave kept the entirety of it glowing like a fire in its death throes.

"Adura? Where are you?" Ignis stood quickly, eying around visibly worried. On the ground 50 feet from her lie Adura; face to the floor. "Adura!" Ignis shouted, dashing towards her partner.

Adura rolled over slowly, her stony skin glowed from the warmth of the blast cave floor. "Ignis?" She yawned, sitting up from the floor weakly. "I’m sorry. I suddenly got tired."

Ignis ran her fingers through Adura’s silver hair. "I’ll take watch for the rest of the night." Ignis moved Adura’s arm over her shoulder and helped her back to the camp.

Adura frowned. "Is it alright? I’m sorry." Shaking her head in shame.

"No no no. Don’t worry at all. I just want you to get better." Ignis responded.

Adura laid down on the woven asbestos bedroll and almost immediately fell back to sleep. Ignis looked on with worry.

"Please get better." She whispered.

Ignis walked over to one of the blast cave walls. Running her hardened stone fingers across the surface, the friction causing sparks to dance off the wall. Ignis began to concentrate and the sparks that showered towards the floor halted in mid air.

She turned and gestured into the air before her with her hands. The tiny fragments of flame followed her command and began to dance in front of her. A ballroom dance of fire, like a few dozen fireflies, they spun around one another. Eternal lovers caught up in the moment.

The infernal waltz glowed in her emerald eyes, each entirely devoid of pupils, merely large green orbs resting comfortably within her hard stone head. Stands of shimmering steel hair ran down her back. Around her wrists a pair of hardened titanium bracelets given to her at her birth. An unassuming figure upon the Isle of Tartaro, but she was so much more.

A land entirely engulfed in endless fire and brimstone, a sea of scorching chaos, she was one of an extremely rare breed. A pyromancer, not merely gazing upon the wonders of the land, but controlling it. She was the manifestation of passion, a force of nature whose full strength was not fully realized, at least not yet.

With a twist of her fingers the embers fell to the ground. She began to concentrate deeper, slowly at first the embers crawled along the ground. Each rolling unto another, until two small figurines of flame stood in front of one another. Like a puppetmaster she began to pull unseen strings, the first figure gestured to the second for a dance. With a few twists of the wrists they were dancing around with one another, the embers that were their heads fixated upon one another.

The twisting and turning left a trail of smoke, a momentary history of their embrace. The two figures danced around the sleeping Adura, as Ignis smiled warmly.

"We’ll get you back home. I promise."

Another crack caught Ignis’ attention. One of the figures crumbled to the ground while the other, in tandem with Ignis, looked towards the sound. A moment later it too fell.

"Who is there?" Ignis spoke, her voice stern but soft enough not to wake Adura. "Show yourself now if you value your lfe."

A slender sliver of flame crawled towards toe duo, a small flaming centipede, curiously approaching. Ignis lowered herself to the ground and opened her palm towards the insect. "Come here little one."

As if it understood the insect sped towards her and climbed into her palm. Her hand began to glow red as the two warmed one another. It began to give off a tiny humming chatter with its obsidian incisors. With her free hand Ignis began to pet the centipede. "What are you doing in here? You sense the crystal too don’t you?"

Ignis raised the centipede to her shoulder. "It is warm up here too. You can take watch with me tonight." It’s one hundred legs carried it from her hand to her shoulder where it quickly proceeded to curl up, resting its own head on its coiled body. The hum of its teeth was a calming harmony in the nearly silent crackle of the cave.

~ * ~

It was difficult for the average Tartarun to gauge the time of day on Tartaro. It was an Isle eternally hidden beneath a cloud of Sulfur and Steam, blocking out any true stellar light source that would hint towards a standard cycle. Instead it was the response of nature that gave the citizens a hint of what time it was.

In the case of Ignis she could sense the change of the land itself, the subtle increase of the firestorms, the infernal cousins to dust storms on distant lands. Feel the slight increase in the scorching heat, and the increased activity of the wildlife, all these things combined in her mind to help her know more accurately than nearly anyone else just what time it truly was.

She stroked the cheek of Adura. "Wake up. We are almost there." Adura smiled, still in a bit of a daze.

"I’ll be ready in a minute mother."

Ignis chuckled. "Still dreaming?"

Adura’s eyes began to glow as she came to. "Hmm?"

"You called me mother." Ignis responded.

"I did?" Adura was obviously embarrassed, her cheeks began to glow, a sign of warmth that pleased Ignis.

"I’m flattered but you are older than me. I’m talented but not quite that talented."

Ignis began to repack their supplies as Adura gathered her energy. A single asbestos bedroll, a small sealable basket of foodstuffs, and a rod of solid diamond. In all her trips this had been all she had needed, and it was beginning to look like it would be all she needed once more.

Blast caves are essentially regions of Tartaro where intense levels of energy are instantaneously released not unlike a volcano. The results are incredibly deep caves that attract all sorts of Tartarun flora and fauna, and for explorers like Ignis they also reaped a very reasonable living.

This particular cave was a bit different however, whereas all her previous experiences with them resulted in many catacomb like systems this particular one had a singular path. A linear drop deep into the land. The further they went the cooler the cave got, something was draining the heat out of the cave.

As they went deeper Adura was becoming noticeably uncomfortable.

Ignis began to rub her hands together until they grew red hot and sparked. Tensing her mind the sparks began to spin, with such an intensity that they were creating friction in nothing but the air. In a matter of moments a half dozen orbs of fire floated in the air.

Adura smiled weakly. "You are such a show off."

Ignis smiled back, her orbs floated towards and surrounded Adura. Their combined light reflecting off of her. "Thank you."

Ignis waved her hand. "Don’t mention it." Ignis took a step. "No really. I have a reputation to keep." She joked.

The two laughed and then silence, the moment felt like an eternity, until a small chatter broke in.

"Oh. Looks like my little friend is awake." Ignis rubbed the head of the centipede. "Hope you were comfortable."

Hours passed as they marked on. Even Ignis was finding that the cool was unsettling. Something was draining the energy around her without cease. Even the orbs she had formed to warm Adura were spinning with increasing fury to maintain their size and temperature, the only source of light in the entirety of the blast cave at this point.

Then suddenly in the distance.

"Did you see that?"

A faint flicker of light in the otherwise endless darkness broke forth. It was momentary and un repeating, Adura hesitated to mention it again. A minute or so later it glowed once again.

"I saw it that time. That must be it."

Adura sighed with relief. "I’m so glad we found it before you had to break off the expedition."

Ignis frowned. "Stop. Stop blaming yourself. It isn’t your fault you are sick. We’ll get the crystal, get out of here, and get you back to the city before you know it." Ignis tightened her fist and the orbs grew larger. "You’ll be ok and we’ll have a feast celebrating the find. Just you and me."

As the two approached the light source the cave began to glow once more, but it wasn’t a glow of warmth, a violent radiance flooded the cave around the crystals. In an instant Ignis knew what she was gazing upon.

"Dark Crystal." She had read about it in expedition manuals and encyclopedias, however she questioned its existence. The crystallized essence of Dark Energy. Without any doubt this was the greatest find of her entire four century long life.

It may have been the immensity of the find or the entrancing glow of the crystal but Ignis had befallen something that hadn’t happened to her in almost one hundred years: an ambush.

Quickly dashing back Ignis barely missed being beheaded from something falling from the ceiling of the cave. Crouched in front of her was a lengthy being, a Tartarun who looked as if they’d been put stretched to breaking. Long spindly arms of stone ended with two stumpy hands wrapped tightly around a diamond blade.

As Ignis backed up she bumped into a wall, a wall with hands. Two massive hands wrapped around her and lifted her into the air. "We’ll be taking that." Called out a voice. To her right from behind the massive Tartarun was an old man, even by Tartarun standards. A long obsidian bared stretched down to his waist, his bald head glowing with the flames twirling around Adura…Adura!

Ignis began to look around herself frantically.

The spindly man stood up from the ground. "Looking for your friend?" He cackled, in any other situation Ignis wouldn’t dignify such a fool with a response, but she was without options.

"Where is she." Ignis screamed, her body subtly glowing ever brighter.

"I’m amazed she made it this far little traveler." The older man responded.

Ignis’ eyes cooled with fear.

"We gave your friend quite a strong concoction of Crystalytes. They’ve been crawling inside of her for days now, telling us exactly where you two were. Turns out that once you had found the cave we didn’t even need you anymore…or her." Her unfurled his hand pointing back towards the entrance of the cave. "On long linear path…who’d have thought that something so precious would be so easily found."

In Ignis’ mind there was only one thought: Rage. With a deafening scream she tensed her fists to the nearly point of cracking. Her body in an instant glowed a bright red, a flash of cinder firing out in every direction, startling her captor. The massive hands released her, she fell to the ground and dashed towards the spindly man.

He raised his sword preparing to fell her, once she came within range he swung down splitting her in two. Like butter the form he cut melted away into nothingness, his cocky grin turned to an expression of confusion. An instant warmth build up in the center of his chest and suddenly it went molten. A diamond staff exploded out his chest from behind him. Ignis lifted him off the ground with the staff and with one quick twirl launched him towards his massive partner.

As he fell Ignis could finally see Adura, lying lifeless on the ground, her eyes as empty and cold as space rock. The ground around Ignis danced from the energy she began to emit. As she turned to the old man he held the shard of Dark Crystal out in front of himself.

"Too slow. Even you are not strong enough to stop me no-" The molten hot fist of Ignis plunged through the old man’s throat, the dark crystal fell onto her back and melted into her infernal flesh. Grasping the back of his neck she swung him to the ground behind her, a rush of energy flooding her form from the crystal.

All Ignis could feel was pain, an endless swirl of pain deep at the core of her soul. Energy rivaling that of a sun began to flow from the base of her feet raising her into the air before the collection of crystal. Her entire body gave birth to wave after wave of fire. Inside her mind she could hear the chatter…of her small friend.

"I consumed him?"

The thought was instantly vanquished with the realization that Adura was gone. Her friend was gone…her Adura…

Slowly she turned, opening her hands she began to concentrate. The Dark Crystal fragments all severed their connection to the cave and rocketed towards her. Impacting with her skin and melting into her. With each piece she became ever more powerful. The old man held his hand over his punctured throat.

"Impossible! The master said I was the chosen!"

In his eyes she could sense everything, her powers had grown exponentially and he was just like any beast of Tartaro. She could smell it…his fear.

The purest form of Passion floated before the old man and his partners. The entirety of Tartaro shook under the weight of Ignis’ scream. A surge of fire rocketed out of the blast gave, liquifying the entire Onyx forest surrounding the blast cave and separating the sulfur clouds above.

As the three melted Ignis could see everything they knew, everywhere they had been, every order they had ever been given. Also she could hear the faint whisper of something else in her mind. The sweet voice of her Adura.

"I’m sorry Ignis." The voice called out.

"Don’t be my Adura. "

In an instant Ignis was floating above the entrance of the blast cave. She knew who had given the orders to the men, she knew who was responsible for the death of her Adura. She knew everything.

The Novice Pyromancer had in an instant become the ultimate incarnate of Passion, she and Adura had become one, she would avenge her Adura. She would show Adura’s true killer the face of fear, the ultimate end of all who stand against passion’s decree.

"I will avenge you."

Ignis screamed, her voice carrying across the entire Isle. "I have awoken. The Avatar of Passion. I am Ignis and you will forever fear my name."

Turning to a form only she could see, Ignis whispered sweetly.

"As long as we are one my love…I am invincible."

  Every Month in the Scionic Calendar has 28 days in it. This number is derived from the 27 known Lesser Seraphim, each day of the month has a special sub name derived from the names of these entities. The 28th day is a special day in each month that is considered a time of prosperity that even the most war torn nation observes and respects, mainly for fear of repercussions from the Seraphim themselves.

  The Months themselves are named after the Seraphim Lords and Barons. Of which there are 13 in total. This conveniently enough results in a year that is 364 days long and thusly makes all understanding of events transpiring in the land of Scion relatively simple. It works out almost too well.

  In Order from the beginning of the year to the end the months are, Aurin, Chas, Kalmine, Dimil, Gefil, Hidrone, Ghein, Thananus, Kalma, Atune, Tartun, Phobus, and Scius. The Calendar has been in action for so long that even after the seemingly eternal separation of each Isle they each still use the same Calendar (unbeknownst to them).

  In an almost impossible manner, while all Isles are separated to the most extreme of degrees, the Forbidden still exist. More widely known as “The Cult of the Forbidden” these groups of beings, each a select few from the races of their staple Isle, are searching for rare artifacts known as the “Shards of Thanatos”.

  No group has ever met another and yet they each work hardily and without halt towards this ultimate goal. Each connected by some dark event in their life, murder of a loved one, theft of innocence, or some other agent that drove them to the darkest of followings. None of them knows for sure what will come of their acquisition but many pray that it will bring closure to their tattered souls.

  Assassinations, disappearances, and other acts of secret destruction can safely and accurately be tied back to these groups. Even on the most pious of nations these groups exist and they seem almost unstoppable, if only because so few believe they exist. A slick sliver of steel stabbing deeply into the spine without ever being seen are they.

  Some forty shards are all that stand between the entire planet of Scion and what many assume to be the darkest of days. The ceasing of time and quite truly the ultimate end.