Tag: dsm

LORE24 ENTRY #30 – Saida Entoris

Category – Person

Saida Entoris is an elven arcanist and specialist in draconic lore who finds herself in the center of a very delicate situation, torn between competing loyalties with no easy way out.  Having worked for DSM for over a century, she has worked her way through the ranks and ascended to a position as a Tier-2 member of the Arcane Research and Development branch of the company through a combination of her arcane abilities and mastery of ancient draconic language and history.  Young and ambitious, she once dreamed of reaching the very top of the company, the legendary Tier 5 of the AR&D branch, perhaps one day even unseating the seemingly eternal Rivalle Volcari herself.

Such ambitions are often the purview of the young and foolish, however, and it only took a chance meeting with one Reina Pridewing, a human pilot whom Saida had hired to handle her personal travel needs (unusual in itself as Reina had no prior ties to DSM), for her carefully plotted life to spiral into chaos.  Saida would never have expected that she’d be so taken with the human woman, nor that they would develop a close, passionate relationship as Saida performed her various research duties, the long hours traveling between systems giving them plenty of time to explore their budding love for one another.  It came as an even greater surprise when Reina was discovered to know the draconic language as well, and was perhaps even more fluent in it than Saida herself, easily translating passages in the much more difficult High Draconic form of the language.  It was only with some reluctance that Reina revealed how this was to Saida, knowing that this particular event would put her directly in the sights of Rivalle Volcari should she find out.  

And find out Rivalle would, when, after retrieving an ancient dragon scroll, highly sought after by the head of DSM, something went awry when Reina and Saida were studying the scroll, some ancient magic laid within the document triggering upon a touch from Reina, the scroll somehow transferring its power into Reina, marking her with a distinct tattoo of a copper-colored dragon upon her back.  In a near panicked state, Reina fled, leaving Saida with her greatly split loyalties, unable to make herself simply tear herself away from the path she had chosen to walk, no matter her feelings for Reina.  instead, she would do what she could to protect Reina from within DSM, leaving out many details in her official report (which is reflected above) on the incident to Rivalle, while putting on a halfhearted show of tracking the missing pilot down.

Perhaps growing suspicious of Saida’s loyalties, Rivalle Volcari decided that she wanted the issue resolved immediately.  As such, Saida was given a simple command, to the effect of:  “Retrieve Reina Pridewing, intact, no matter the cost, before I lose my patience.”  Saida, feeling no small amount of terror under the gaze of her superior, would turn her full attention to finding Reina.  Rivalle, however, untrusting of Saida to do as commanded, sent along a security measure in the form of Murissa, the Crimson Blade, a ferakatian mercenary whom had been captured during a failed assassination attempt on Rivalle, and who possessed a unique psychic “scent” that made her a most effective tracker.  The fact that Murissa was likewise placed inside a newly developed cybernetic armor, developed by the Tier 5 group, and with the ability to be controlled directly by Rivalle if needed, sent a very clear signal to Saida.  

So, with her love for Reina on one side, and the might of Rivalle Volcari pressing down on her from the other, Saida set off towards the Demon Sector, specifically Aphelion Station, the last known location of Reina, her mind working furiously to figure a way out of the dire situation she found herself in.

 

LORE24 ENTRY #18 – The UCSD-0001 Incident

Category – Event

A demonstration of power by the megacorp DSM, the UCSD-0001 incident, more commonly known as the Ruvale Blockade outside the official channels, was a show of force by the company, proving that they had the resources and manpower to quickly and efficiently blockade an entire planet in order to secure stolen corporate resources and capture those responsible.  Officially, this demonstration/training exercise went off with only minor issues, the largest of which being a chemical spill aboard one of DSM’s cruisers that resulted in significant damage to the ship’s hangar, and the actual blockade was was fully enforced, tested, and released within 72-hours.  The response of the local populace was stated to be “negative and vocal, but overall insignificant” regarding the inconvenience.

Unofficially, there was much more to the blockade, all of it revolving around the discovery of a relic of unknown origin by a mining company working upon one of more distant planets in the Ruvale system, their corporate headquarters based on Ruvale itself.  The object, listed as “Unknown Crystalline Storage Device – 0001” in company records, was roughly spherical in shape, and only about an inch in diameter.  Within the red-colored gemstone, which was as hard as diamond, were microscopic symbols that were determined to be of an ancient Draconic language; the object itself radiated magic energy.  All attempts at reading the data within the device were unsuccessful, and the mining company reached out to other groups for assistance in deciphering the data contained within the object.

This search for an arcanist put the compnay, and UCSD-0001 on DSM’s radar.  Once DSM had attained knowledge of this relic, their CEO, Rivalle Volcari, immediately initiated hostile takeover procedure of the mining company.  Within two weeks, the company was part of DSM, but its former CEO had gone missing, along with UCSD-0001, just before the final steps were completed.  Moving with remarkable swiftness, having confirmed that the object had yet to leave Ruvale, DSM initiated further measures to fully blockade the planet and secure the object.  The relic had been confirmed to have been taken by the former CEO, and had then been stolen by a third party.  A fast-response security team was dispatched to Ruvale to secure the relic, but the thieves managed to fight their way through the security team and subsequently disappeared.

Initially, a massive manhunt was started locally, with the capitol city, Radermere, being locked down by local law enforcement, working with DSM’s operatives.  Within forty-eight hours, having yielded no results, DSM green-lit the planetary blockade to secure the relic, and their nearest ships were pulled off their assignments and redirected to Ruvale, with others following within a handful of hours.  Hackers intercepted encoded corporate transmissions, however, and word was able to spread on Ruvale of the coming blockade.  Those in the know began preparations to leave the system immediately and spread the word to everyone who would listen.  As it would turn out, the thieves responsible for stealing UCSD-0001 were more resourceful than DSM could have imagined, and were able to smuggle themselves and the relic off-world during the mass exodus of ships that were leaving the planet as the first of DSM’s fleet arrived.

 

LORE24 ENTRY #11 – Mass-Produced Spell Wands

Category – Magic / Spell

Although not strictly the domain of the DSM Arcane Research & Development department, this group is most often associated with mass-produced spell wands.  Though the creation of true magic wands isn’t a lost art, the craft has become much more rare in modern times as many of the reasons to carry such an item have been supplanted by technological items that replicate the effects of such spells, and for much less investment in time and resources, with the ability to be used by anyone, with or without magical talents.

In the case of a mass-produced wand, however, the costs have been minimized through the use of cheaper materials and the implementation of a single charging; once the power of the wands have been used, the artificially-created crystal holding the spell  charge crumbles, as often does the wand itself as the cheap composite materials break down over the lifespan of the wand.  Each wand is keyed to a single spell, and once crafted, this cannot be changed, whereas with a traditional wand, one of sufficient skill can create them with multiple spells stored within.

The benefits of a mass-produced wand are numerous, however.  Firstly, it allows for the group using them to easily equip their members, even those with minimal magical talents, with extra offensive and defensive options while leaving their personal spellcasting resources open for more powerful magics.  Second, in the event of losing such a wand, the loss is minimal in terms of cost to replace and time invested in its replacement.  Third, having a variety of additional spells available for an arcanist can give them greater advantage against those who oppose them, either in terms of offense and defense, or allowing the arcanist to use magic they normally are not capable of using, simply by uttering the activation phrase assigned to the wand.  In a pinch, those spellcasters who are familiar with the construction of wands can even supplement their own arcane energies by absorbing charges from the wands.

Generally, such wands hold limited charges, much fewer than a traditional spell wand, allowing for perhaps 20-30 castings of a lower powered spell, or as few as 10 or less of a more powerful spell.  As they cannot be recharged, once the power is expended, the wand is rendered useless.  Further, the power of spells from such wands is fixed, meaning that the spells cast from them are usually at a reduced magnitude of effect compared to the user having cast the spell themselves from their own reserves.

 

LORE24 ENTRY #2 – The DSM Corporation

Category – Organization

DSM, or Dynamic Solutions Multiversal is the single largest corporate entity in the known galaxy, and one of the most reviled, even though they are the monolith in which all other corporations are overshadowed by.  Even planetary governments pale in comparison to their power and reach.  They own hundreds if not thousands of smaller companies, having taken them over through various methods, most of them shady.

DSM was originally created following the fall of the Great Elvish Dominion, the last vestiges of the old-world hierarchies that were struggling in vain to survive with the coming of a space-faring, galaxy-spanning civilization.  Following a great war amongst the stars, from the ashes of the old empire came the founder of DSM, Rivalle Volcari, with a new vision of how she and the remaining elvish great houses would continue to manipulate and control the newly developed galactic population, namely through commerce.  Though initially a somewhat unassuming company dedicated to experimental technology and preserving arcane knowledge, DSM rose through the ranks of the early galactic economy, and would eventually become the most powerful and feared megacorporation in the galaxy.  DSM will do whatever it takes to see that their competition is crushed beneath its power, either through economic manipulation, ruthless corporate spying, or the might of its private armed forces.  Over the course of its history, it has taken over countless smaller companies.

The looming monolith of DSM has become something of a galactic boogeyman, with rumors abound of dozens of highly secretive black-sites where their mysterious Arcane Research & Development division perform dark and perverse experiments that threaten the very fabric of the universe.  Though other rumors state that these black-sites are simply private prisons, no different from the massive prison systems ran by the dark elf clans.  If anyone knows the truth of the matter, they aren’t talking.  Of all the divisions within DSM, the AR&D department is the only one personally overseen by Rivalle Volcari herself, and to cross her by allowing information about this group to be made public would be most unwise.