Zurvan's Guardians

[Cytibor]

First and foremost, a general statement: If you're in my Thursday game and are not involved in this? Please do not read on, some of what follows will tie-in to that campaign, granted in sometimes-mysterious ways, and not only does that carry the risk of spoiling the surprise, but I just don't want you to. Please respect this.

[Cytibor]

Second: Our cast of characters!

Evie: A young woman from Rifts Earth, saying she is the first of the 'Aegis Guard'. A goodhearted warrior, easy to like for her friendly wit and charm, but proud in the way she carries herself and in her refusal to allow herself or her friends to be looked down upon.

Elr'in Makeen: The more mysterious member of our team, an Eldar Warlock hailing from Craftworld Ulthwe, in a parallel universe far in the future. His training along the path of the Seer should prove useful to our team, as will his expertise in combat and his ability to keep cool under fire.

Lyssa: A newborn Zaayr Crystal Dragon, curious and naive, but figuring things out quickly with the help of her new comrades. Provides a refreshing viewpoint to the others, and her magic should come in handy to boot.
Note: Currently back-benched due to schedule changes, but expected to return in time.

Trisana Shanab: A young Psiber Knight who recently graduated from her training to become a full Lady of demonstrably excellent character and high morals, recruited on Rifts Earth in July of the year 100 P.A.

[Cytibor]

Now... down to business.

Spoiler:

Prologue:
Hello Goodbye

The scene opens with Elr'in Makeen aboard the Wraithship Suin Daellae ["The Doom That Wails"] relaxing as the wraithbone vessel slipped effortlessly through the Webway towards its' destination. He and the Exarchs aboard roused when summoned to the bridge by the Banshee Exarch Anariel. Upon arriving, Elr'in took up a position for the briefing by the ship's pilot, a Guardian by the name of Malth'or, with Anariel taking up a position beside him just a little too close for casual friends.

Malth'or outlined the plan: They were en-route to Borune Alpha II, a Tomb World of the Necrontyr, servants of the Yngir that had been enemies of the Eldar for eons. At present, however, they were unable to access any present information about the planet, as the Empyrean was interfering with their systems. All they knew was that they had detected the pulse of the Necrontry's foul energies within the planet, and had been sent to investigate lest the Yngir gain a foothold in the universe once more. Deciding it was time he consult his Runes for a glimpse of the future, Elr'in headed back to his quarters, but he never had the chance to 'throw the bones', for the ship was wracked by incoming fire within mere moments of emerging into real-space.

The Empyrean's disturbance had masked the fact that the Yngir's servants had more than awoken, they had roused their Monoliths, and the Mon-Keigh had already arrived to defend their nearby interests. Unfortunately for the Suin Daellae and her crew, however, they had emerged directly in the cross-fire of the Imperial Navy's heavy ordnance and the Necrontyr's vile energies. An arc of green lightning tore the front section of the Wraithship from its' middle, and Elr'in immediately knew that Anariel and the other Exarchs were gone, and a second bolt of green energy sent the ship's remnants careening into the planet's atmosphere.

Wrestling with his grief at his fellow Eldar's demise and his own imminently approaching, Elr'in was understandably surprised when the everything around him simply stopped. In place of the roaring of the ship burning through the atmosphere, he heard a vast, echoing voice from which his Seer-path senses could feel an endless span of years.* "Elr'in Makeen... do you want to live?" Not looking a gift horse in the mouth, Elr'in shouted his desire for life, and found himself plucked away from the still-plummeting wreckage of the Wraithship, and into a realm of blank whiteness.

Sitting on the apparent 'ground' within the realm of nothingness, Elr'in was given a box containing the Spirit Stone of Anariel, with the same voice offering its' condolences for the loss of the others, for a broken Way-Stone meant that his comrades' spirits had been devoured by The Great Enemy of the Eldar race, Slaanesh. Taking the stone, Elr'in thanked the voice for it, and kept it close on his person as he moved through the tunnel entrance that the voice had apparently made for him.

Emerging on the other side, Elr'in found himself in a large open field under a blue sky. Wandering around, he found himself at a river, and unintentionally walking in upon the bath of a young lady of twenty-or-so with long, dark hair, slightly curled, with a dark tan-ish skin-tone and emerald eyes. After ducking down into the water, she proceeded to give the unfortunate Eldar a bit of a verbal lashing, during which a Zaayr Crystal Dragon landed nearby and used herself to provide cover for the woman to make it to the bushes to dress, though Elr'in had already respectfully turned away.

Once dressed and in a better mood, the woman introduced herself as Evie, and the dragon hatchling as Lyssa [pronounced Lisa], and the trio met their mysterious benefactor in-person. He appeared through a hole in the air, pouring through as a gelatinous substance before forming a solid cube, then pouring into a liquid to pool on the ground, before a humanoid head and torso rose from the puddle. Expressionless and seeming to think nothing of the display, the being introduced himself as Zurvan, a 4th-dimensional being who had decided it was his duty to perceive the 'tapestry of time and space' and to ensure that it did not unravel. But even one such as himself was unable to look at the entirety of the tapestry at once, and so he had decided to place agents within each strand to be his eyes and ears, to ensure that the path that strand was meant to take was followed.

With the three agreeing to assist him in this matter, Zurvan showed them a group of cultists worshiping the 8-pointed star of Chaos Undivided, and explained that this cult was spreading throughout the lower levels of Center, and posed a threat to the myriad possible futures stemming from Phase World. The trio were more than eager to assist in this matter, for the Ruinous Powers were another of the Eldar's ancient foes, and Evie also seemed familiar with them, and suitably pleased to have the opportunity to apply her boot to their backsides, or her halberd to their necks. Lyssa decided it was the right thing to do, and seemed also to have decided these two would be her mentors, of sorts.

Zurvan told them to make certain that they were prepared before their departure, and the trio promptly began sparring to get a feel for their respective skill levels, with a particularly fierce duel waged between Elr'in and Evie, ending with a single blow each, though Evie acknowledged that the Eldar Warlock beat her in skill, she was simply blessed with good fortune. Seeing that their newly hatched friend was in need of some combat training, they decided to take some time to assist her before their mission, which bothered their patron not at all, for his ability to send them to where they needed to go was made far easier by the fact that his realm existed outside the usual flow of time altogether.

Will our team manage to root out the cultists of Chaos Undivided in the depths of Center? Will Evie and/or Elr'in open up about their personal lives to their comrades, or keep it strictly professional? Well, stay tuned to find out.

So that's our inaugural session, and we had a blast. Here's to many more in future!

[taalismn]

Spoiler:

Hopefully no one takes poor old Elr'in's silences as an insult, he's had a rough day. XD

Spoiler:

And there's nothing like an Eldar for serious brooding.

[DhAkael]

..and no, I didn't peek
I be a good boy.

[taalismn]

..and no, I didn't peek
I be a good boy.

"Check his pockets, scan his eyeballs, and wipe his memory before he leaves the building."

[Cytibor]

..and no, I didn't peek
I be a good boy.

"Check his pockets, scan his eyeballs, and wipe his memory before he leaves the building."

"Thank you for taking our complimentary tour, please pause for a complimentary photo as you leave." *Puts on mirrored sunglasses, poses with the nice people. -FLASH-*
"Alright ladies and gentlemen, if I could have your attention? Thank you for assisting us with our group photograph testing of our new hyper-clarity lens, your time is greatly appreciated. Have a nice day."
*Shoos the slightly lost tourists outside, takes the picture from the security office, tucks it into a folder amidst dozens of others.* "Ah... good times."

[taalismn]

"Thank you for taking our complimentary tour, please pause for a complimentary photo as you leave." *Puts on mirrored sunglasses, poses with the nice people. -FLASH-*
"Alright ladies and gentlemen, if I could have your attention? Thank you for assisting us with our group photograph testing of our new hyper-clarity lens, your time is greatly appreciated. Have a nice day."
*Shoos the slightly lost tourists outside, takes the picture from the security office, tucks it into a folder amidst dozens of others.* "Ah... good times."

This would perhaps account for how I wind up driving and suddenly realize I just autopiloted the last mile without engaging short-term memory of doing it.

[shiiv-a]

<.< >.> <.> owies . . . >.<
eyes don't work that way
-that said and silliness out of the way . . hmm

Spoiler:

oh me oh my. whatever will young Lyssa do? with the memories now rising and taking root, her past as a money source for evil corrupt beings is over and her future as an agent . . seem to be the most profitable
. . .
now if only she could remember not to think things are fun and games still

[shiiv-a]

*sigh*

oh well.
real life intrudes in th form of a full time job
char is hereby withdrawn.
game on, cheers and see you guys later. . . .

[Cytibor]

Been some changes to the roster, and there may be more, so holding off on the updates for the moment, but we'll be back before you know it.

[Cytibor]

Game called this week on account of severe -meh- warnings, shall pick it up again next week.
Sorry for the inconvenience, folks.

[Cytibor]

-sigh- Sorry folks, I hate delivering bad news, but for the time being ZG is on hiatus. Plot complications arose that made the event I had been laying down plans to reach no longer possible, and restructuring the entire plot just wasn't working out given the investment of time and creative energy going into my main game on Thursdays.

Many apologies, shall post again when/if the game is picked up on.