NationStates Jolt Archive


Splitting the Thaum

Harmonia Mortus
18-09-2004, 22:24
OOC: Development topic:
http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=357267

IC:
Out in the wastelands of Harmonia Mortus the first Thaumic detonation of all time was about to take place.
Right now there wasnt much to see.
A sphere about five feet to a side, encased in iron, sat...well...sitting. Beside it a number of round crystals floated like watchful eyes...which they were.

Fourty miles away in a reinforced bunker the crystals counterparts sat, displaying the sphere to a number of currently empty chairs, a few other spheres showed views from further away.
In another bunker a number of mages stand on a magical octagon heavily enscribed with magic sigils, chanting the final spells to arm the bomb.
Weyr
19-09-2004, 02:21
They were magi'i, arrayed in niellen black as dark as the depths of the Star Ocean, their faces hidden by black helms. They waited outside the bunker, leaning against its surface, chatting via a closed link.

"Primitives"

"They're humans. What do you expect from them?"

"To grow up."

"A skeezgraw will fly before that happens."

"Bah. I wonder if they even know they're badly warping the Gronza subdivision formula?"

"They're humans, as you said. Just like Gronza."

"True. Decent guy. A bit arrogant, but decent."

"The bastard fried his brains with his own equation."

"Heh. Do they really think they're the first?"

"Probably. I don't have the will to pop their baloon."
Sir Peter the sage
19-09-2004, 03:01
Sir Pircival's private helocopter landed near the bunker. A cadre of government psychics and scientists stepped out of the helicopter along with the secretary to observe this test. *I wonder what those guys dressed in black are thinking. They look as if they know something...*thought Sir Percival as they entered the bunker.
Akaton
19-09-2004, 06:48
A few kilometers from the bunker, a D-15 dropship pulled up from its orbital dive, slowing and leveling off at 500 meters. The dropship flew low in order to pinpoint a good landing zone. Coming in for a landing, its forward thrusters fired, kicking up a large cloud of dust.

A pneumatic ramp lowered from the front of the dropship with a hiss of steam. Techno-magus Vanyar slowly walked towards the bunker, his long cloak whipping about in the jet exhaust of the dropship. In the place of his right eye the magus had a strange sensor device, its many lenses constantly refocusing. As he approached the bunker, Vanyar nodded respectfully to the Weyrian magi'i.
Harmonia Mortus
19-09-2004, 14:53
OOC:
Actually, Weyr, the team is made up of Humans, Elves (dark), Goblins, Trolls, Imps, dragons, and some other things...

IC:
A man in iron plated robes walked out of the bunker and cupped his hands.
"Gentlemen, the test will begin in ten minutes, It is advisable that you be inside at such a time. Those who wish to remain outside will need to sign a disclaimer and provide proof of health insurance. Also, refreshments are currently being served."
Weyr
19-09-2004, 16:28
OOC: Yes. But from my experience thus far all of your wizards/mages/whatever have been humans

The two magi'i bowed slightly to the Akatani delegate.

"Oh, goodie," the thought was accompanied by undertones of sarcasm.

"Yep."

The magi'i walked past the man, and into the bunker, where they resumed their previous positions of leaning against the wall.
Akaton
19-09-2004, 23:31
OOC @ Weyr:
FYI, a person from Akaton is an Akatani. (I changed the "o" to an "a" because Akatoni looks weird.)

IC:
Magus Vanyar followed the Weyrians (that is what your people are called, right?) into the bunker. As he stepped out of the bright sun and into the structure, a new lens clicked into place on his eyepiece, giving off a faint greenish glow.

Despite his distance from the bomb site, Vanyar could clearly detect the vast energies being channeled into the Thaumic weapon. He wondered for a moment whether the bunker was safe, knowing all too well the cost of failure in such research. Reaching into his pocket, he withdrew an ornate amulet, a lattice of arcane runes made of pure psionic crystal and mithril steel. Placing the amulet on a chain around his neck, he remembered that it had saved him once when the Hell Gate collapsed. Though he had survived, the memory of the disaster haunted his thoughts.

He thought to himself the last words of his former master, spoken only moments before a horde of demons was unleashed against Akaton's capital: "There is always some risk in science." Vanyar feared that the risk here was too great, knowing that what was about to happen here could never be undone.
Camel Eaters
19-09-2004, 23:53
The Camel Eaters observer was loud and boisterous. "Where's ma screwdrivers and milk?" he roared before falling on the ground he righted himself quickly.
Harmonia Mortus
20-09-2004, 00:43
One of the Thaumologists glared up from his station at the crystal ball, "Would the two gentlemen in the armour please content themselves with whispering? You are interfering with the reception on the CB," He gestured to the wobbling image showing the metal spheroid, "Its hard enough to make the damn things work around the bomb. Sir, your...drink is on the bar there." The man gestured to an oak table straining under the load of a number of differnt types of drink...a number seemed to be trying to escape from the cups. Beside the table a Goblin was attempting to fish the drowned worm out of a beer mug.
"Ah, gentlemen, welcome to the United Kingdoms of Harmonia Mortus, I take it that your trip was pleasureable? If you will all please take your seat we can soon begin. The mages have finished the arming spell and we can detonate the bomb once everybody is ready." A large, friendly looking man who looked something like a politician of a thosand years ago, he wore brightly coloured robes and boots. They had curly toes.
At this point a really huge crystal ball was rolled into the room, it was nearly seven feet to a side, behind it were two Goblins wedging it along with sticks, another two were polishing the sides as it rolled and a final one was greasing the path. Once the sphere was in the middle of the circle of chairs it was secured in place with a number of wooden wedges, the Thaumologist mumbled a quick incantation and the image of the bomb, some miles distant, filled the space inside, displayed in such a fashion that walking around the sphere would show the bomb from all angles, giving the impression that one was walking around an area several miles in circumfrance while only moving a few feet.
"Its quite a clever system, actually. We positioned a number of smaller crystal balls in a few miles radius around the bomb site, then link them all to the main sphere. It uses quite a few crystals, and I can tell you, it was bloody hard to find anything this big, we had to settle for quartz though." He beamed at the image inside the sphere.
Akaton
25-09-2004, 05:41
OOC: It's been very hard to find this thread, but I wouldn't want it to die just before it gets interesting.

Vanyar moved out of the way as the goblins wheeled the massive crystal ball into the room. Walking slowly around the crystalline sphere, he was intrigued by the way it allowed a 360-degree view of the bomb. Once again, a series of lenses clicked in his eyepiece, accommodating the much closer view of the thaumic bomb. Remaining silent, Vanyar studied the device carefully, trying to commit it's design to memory before it was detonated.
Crazed Marines
25-09-2004, 06:20
TAG untill a later post
Dar-Kavryn
30-09-2004, 20:34
<Tag> (in case it continues)
New Shiron
30-09-2004, 22:51
Lets hope that your researchers have a better computer than the Deep Thought version (complete with ants) they were using at the Department of High Energy Magic in AnhkMarpork
New Shiron
30-09-2004, 22:53
The government of New Shiron wishes to voice its concerns before your nation proceeds with such a risky experiment....

Please assure us that you are not using any researchers that are the 7th son of a 7th son,

No one named Rincewind is involved

Some kind of containment has been established

your Patrician has approved of this test
Harmonia Mortus
02-10-2004, 19:26
OOC:
Sorry for my absence...we had a major problem with our ISP, resulting in a much longer absence from NS than I forsaw, IE: More than a day or two...
Curse you Qwest! YOU WILL BURN!
I just have time now do write up these messages for the right spots, Ill be back tommorow though, I hope...unless the Evil Qwestians try to cut me off again O_O
Harmonia Mortus
03-10-2004, 15:51
Out in the desert the bomb...sat.
Miles away the mages said their final incantations and a burst of magic traveling at several times the speed of light arced out over the desert and earthed itself in the sleeping bomb.
Nothing happened.
A few seconds later...nothing happened.
About six seconds later, lots of things happened.
The first thing that happened was that a Thaumaturgist walked up and tapped the crystal ball.
The second thing that happened was that the bomb exploded.
The third thing that happened was that the Thaumaturgist was thrown across the room and turned into a newt.
Most of the room wasnt looking though, most of the room was focused on the strangely inverted mushroom cloud glowing all manner of colours, sending off sparks and various strange patterns. Blue, four sided triangles danced through the room as peripheral magic escaped through the crystal ball, the highest prime number coalesced into a corner and hid itself forever, three or four of the goblins ran around in circles.
Outside the strange mushroom cloud was quickly sucked into itself, leaving a sort of hole, which promptly removed the topsoil for five miles around itself and made two species of bird extinct.
Now the large crystal ball went blank.
The dimplomat blinked a few times, then, determined not to look impressed, said, "Shall we go to the viewing platform? We should be safe now that the initial detonation is finished, there may be a little background magic, but there is no health hazard, well, mostly no hazard, I think one of those bloody triangles caught me across the head."
A few kind people scooped up the unfortunate mage and put him in a glass jar with some insects and water.
Weyr
03-10-2004, 16:01
"Of course," one of the magi'i in black nodded, sending two puffs of steam at the ceiling.

"Most impressive,"

"Meh. I've seen better,"

"Where?"

"We made the Naru system go nova by separating a leyline,"

"Ah. That was pretty."

"Yep."
Crazed Marines
03-10-2004, 16:49
"HOLY COW! That was beautiful! On a scale of pyro, I rate that a 9.3!" The diplomat from Crazed Marines said as he was sipping his Mountain Dew.
Akaton
03-10-2004, 17:43
Magus Vanyar watched intently as the bomb exploded, his sensor eyepiece clicked and hummed with a dizzying speed. A moment later, his natural eye observed a startling magical feedback through the crystal ball. Barely dodging a paradoxical polygon, his protective amulet flashed, forming a shimmering arcane shield around the magus. As quickly as it had appeared, the chaos in the bunker subsided. Checking that he was still the right species (half elf if anyone is wondering), Vanyar spoke for the first time since his arrival.

"I congradulate you on a job well done. This thaumic bomb is among the most magnificent examples of applied magick I have seen."
Harmonia Mortus
03-10-2004, 21:25
The main event had finished, though the bomb was still releasing energy. Flashes of light filled the air and the local wildlife was departed or a differnt species.
"And that gentlemen, is that. We hope you had a nice time, please take some time to visit Harmonia Mortus' tourist locations, oberserve the culture, whatever. The next test will be in a week, that will be using a 'clean' bomb of processed magic, not so spectacular, but we think it will have more practical military applications, since it is MUCH more powerful explosion wise."
Ankhmet
03-10-2004, 21:41
"Commander.You should see this."
"What?Oh, great.More of those damned shinies doing their funky magic thing."
"Should we observe?"
"yes.Launch IDF probe 17.Damned shinies, messing with stuff that could damage everything.If that bomb catches on you can kiss goodbye to IDF travel for the next 800 years."
"I don't think it'll catch on."
"Huh, are you a psyker all of a sudden?Just launch the damned probe."
"Ooooooooh, I'm a shiny scryer!look at me!"
"Just launch it, Bob."
"Sorry."
"Woa!Look at that.They seemed to have royally f*cked up the timeline. All sorts of crazy stuff going on. Those damned shinies. All right, begin IDF incursion. Send unit AC//DC....Hehehe...Who named that unit?hehehe."
"Launching.IDF rays punching through....It's in Quasispace..Lowering to hyperspace...Now in realspace...Or then in realspace...Or something."
"Latcch on to one of those black cloaked dudes."
"Yessir."
Harmonia Mortus
03-10-2004, 22:09
OOC:
^What just happened there? O_O
Weyr
03-10-2004, 23:36
OOC: *sigh* Am I going to have to glass another nation? Really, messing around with magi'i who've been alive for six centuries isn't smart. Then again, messing around with representatives from a place that glassed its own populace and shredded the leynet of a major city isn't smart either.
The VaxintorianCitadel
04-10-2004, 07:09
OOC: May I send a representative to the next test?
Harmonia Mortus
05-10-2004, 02:38
OOC:
Yes, you may send a rep.

Would somebody care to explain what Ankhmet just did? Is he sending in a probe of some sort, or attacking me?
Demonic Gophers
05-10-2004, 02:51
OOC: I think it was a probe....
Ankhmet
05-10-2004, 16:21
ooc:Oh crap.I should be clearer.its just a harmless little probe....Muahahahahaha!
Weyr
05-10-2004, 19:33
OOC:
@Ankhmet :: So...what does this probe do?
Ankhmet
05-10-2004, 21:19
ooc:It spies.And steals shiny things.
Harmonia Mortus
06-10-2004, 01:58
OOC:
Just to let you know, any attempts at violence and/or theft will be ignored. If you would like to arrange this, you should PM me, but for now I would most likely decide not to allow such things to happen, Im fairly new and I want to keep my toys to myself.
Aside from that, my parents are angry at me and I seem to be semigrounded, so my responses will be further apart...feel free to do some diplomatic thingummies in the mean time, talk about how EVIL and DANGEROUS this little nation is, and how you plan to carpet bomb it and such.
;)
Crazed Marines
06-10-2004, 03:20
The CM diplomat, with his steel cup and helmet, went over drinking his Moutain Dew and saying how hilarious it was that the guy was turned into a newt because he touched the magic ball and how he could take over the universe using this weapon.
Akaton
06-10-2004, 05:12
Magus Vanyar took a moment to admire the devastated test range before leaving. He thought the glowing patterns of light around the crater had a strange beauty about them. Though he knew the blast area was filled with a chaotic inferno of arcane energy, from such a great distance it seemed deceptively calm. Speaking to the non-newt mage,
"I thank you for allowing me to view this test. If all goes well, I will return in one week's time to observe the next test."

As Vanyar walked past the Weyrians on the way out of the bunker, he thought for a moment that he saw a small probe. A split second later, it disappeared, as though ignored by reality itself. He made his way to his dropship quickly, not wanting to be exposed to magical fallout from the blast any longer than necessary. As soon as the hatch closed, the engines of the dropship roared to life, sending the bulky vehicle skyward.
New Exodus
06-10-2004, 06:15
(Tag) OOC: Looks good. I've been working on an Anti-Thaumic shield idea for a while, and it looks like I've got good reason. Hope the rest of the testing goes well.
Weyr
06-10-2004, 18:46
OOC: As in a null-shield? All you gotta do is stand outside the sphere radius and chuck fireballs and such......

"You will not mind if we examine the blast area, I hope," one of the magi'i in black inquired, his words sounding between a question and a statement.
The VaxintorianCitadel
07-10-2004, 01:26
OOC: Hm... Maybe I'll have my observer arrive early.
Harmonia Mortus
07-10-2004, 01:39
OOC:
Shall we go on to next week?
Oh, BTW, I planned on using this thread for some other developments, namely magical automatons and 'walkers', some improved weaponry (Combining normal bullets and special 'go faster' crystals? Possibly exploding/burning crystals...the fun never ends :) )

Also, if anybody wants to establish an embassy now would be good, unless you want your rep. staying at the diplomatic hostle?
We have lots of building space, above and underground.
Crazed Marines
07-10-2004, 01:55
The CM representative walked over to the Harmonia Mortus rep. and asked, "Can we establish an embassy?"
New Exodus
07-10-2004, 05:13
The representative from New Exodus/Crystal Ireland (Its a very intimate alliance), who seems to have appeared out of thin air, approaches and nods to his CM counterpart. "We would also like to establish a small embassy, preferably close to the Crazed Marines locale." He produced a small datapad and handed it over. "In exchange, we offer a large number of magical plants and animals from the Crystal Ireland conservatory."
Akaton
07-10-2004, 06:40
A dozen meters from the other delegates a point of light appeared out of the air, expanding to form an etheric portal. In a single step, Magus Vanyar and a delegation of the Akatani diplomatic corps moved across the great distance between Akaton and Harmonia Mortus. After the last delegate stepped through, the portal closed with a distinctive flash of electric flame.

While Vanyar remained a short distance from the ambassadors of the other nations, the lead Akatani delegate walked right up to the group. He was an elf by the name of Salarien, roughly six feet tall and wearing ornate clothing resembling that of a 1700's noble. Speaking to the Harmonia Mortus representative, he spoke;
"The Empire of Akaton would like to establish and embassy in Harmonia Mortus. In return, we could provide you with several supernatural technologies that should prove most useful to you."
The VaxintorianCitadel
07-10-2004, 07:31
OOC: Do I need to make any special arrangements for air travel over your territory?
Harmonia Mortus
07-10-2004, 14:43
OOC: Assume all arrangements have been made

IC:
"Very well gentlemen, if you would please follow me, we need you to fill out some forms. There will be a small charge for the realestate, but nothing too huge. Perhaps, G100,000 each? Local contractors can be contacted if you wish to have assistance in the construction of your embassy.
The VaxintorianCitadel
07-10-2004, 20:45
A strange, vaguely triangular craft approached; it was first visible as a constantly changing swirl of blue and purple light in the sky. The vehicle, which looked like its frame had been constructed from scrap metal, had a large glass dome in the middle and and a small one on each "wing" tip. The back half of the large dome was pitch black; later, it would become apparent that it held an intricate array of pale blue, translucent rings.

The Skimmer slowed as it drew near the group, then unfolded four legs and lowered quietly onto the ground. A moment later, the blue and purple light vanished, the front of the dome split in two pieces and retracted into the vehicle, and the Vaxintorian observer emerged.

This particular Vaxintorian had four legs, two arms, and a slender build; he was about eight feet in height. He wore a black robe and a complicated set of jewelry, both marked with a number of runes and symbols; though hisclothing was that of a mage, he carried a flamberge broadsword sheathed across his back. Three straight horns projected from his head; his skin was gray-green in color, and lacked the biological armor most Vaxintorians favored.

"Greetings!" he said, bowing.
"I am Zarix Mergam, Third Mage of the Vaxintorian Citadel. Thank you for allowing me to attend."
Weyr
07-10-2004, 21:47
One of the magi'i in black went out, and began abscently walking towards the center of 'ground zero'. At some point, his niellen-black clothing and armor began to glow, red glowworms snaking over it in complex patterns. He halted, pulled something from one of the slots in his belt, waved it around, put it away, then walked back to the bunker.

The remaining magus decided to accompany the wizard now working on peddling out land for embassies. A few moments later, a craft with hull charred from coubntless atmospheric entries landed not far from the structure. Hovering a dozen meters above the ground, a hatch opened in the craft's underside. A large crate dropped out, making a heavy depression in the ground where it hit, and the craft departed as swiftly as it had come.

"Will that amount be sufficient?" the magus inquired, his voice not showing a hint of emotion.
Harmonia Mortus
08-10-2004, 02:04
*poke*
Crazed Marines
08-10-2004, 02:06
*The diplomat then walks away to survey the new embassy, he is replaced by a scared Marine in full plate armor*
Akaton
09-10-2004, 06:18
Ambassador Salarien spoke,

"Though I am not sure as to what G100,000 would translate to in Akatani credits, This (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v379/DraconisX13/Mech1.bmp) ought to be sufficient payment. It is the latest in combat automaton technology, a walker powered by a trapped soul. As for the embassy, we do not require the assistance of local contractors. I do hope that a structure resembling a gothic cathedral fits in with the surroundings."
Harmonia Mortus
09-10-2004, 15:15
"I beleive that 1 Gold Piece contains exactly one United States dollar worth of gold. And while your offer is VERY generous Im afraid we require cash. We would like to enter discussions with you as to the purchase of this...mech, since we are currently engaged in our own giant killer walking robot w/chainsaws."
Weyr
09-10-2004, 18:47
"Cash..." the magus searched for the word. After a moment, he pulled out a gray plastic card with a magnetic strip and an embedded rod logic assembly containing more processing power than a giant supercomputer, muttered something. "This has one hundred and one thousand universal standard dollars, in order to compensate for any surcharges. If you cannot accept four tons worth of gold, then this is the best that the Kingdom can do."