Tag: lore24

LORE24 ENTRY #35 – Supers Month #4 – Mecha Musume

 

Hero Name

Mecha Musume

 

Real Name

Emi Koike

 

Description

Emi is a young and pretty Japanese woman, with dark hair and a pleasant face framed by a pair of glasses, standing just barely at five feet tall.  She wears her hair at shoulder length in a plain cut, and typically dresses neatly, usually wearing a proper skirt, blouse, hose, and sensible shoes.  She’s still getting over her more introverted nature, and doesn’t go out of the way to draw attention to herself.  She does dress more casually when at home, though this usually means she’s wearing some kind of coverall and covered with grease and metal shavings as her favorite hobby of late is tinkering with her armor.

As Mecha Musume, she stands nearly seven feet tall, broad and bulky in the humanoid powered armor.  The current Mk. I design is painted in dark gray and black until she decides on a proper color scheme, the armor several inches thick in most places.  The backpack unit resembles that of an astronaut’s pack, equipped with powerful thrusters that enable her to fly and leap much further than the weight of the suit might indicate it is capable of.  The weapons are likewise much too large to use by a regular human, a large directed energy cannon that she uses like a pistol, and the energy sword stored in the backpack resembling a good sized pipe.  

 

Powers and Abilities

Though Emi doesn’t possess any flashy superpowers, her mind is her greatest asset.  Though she can’t process information at the speeds that Becky does, she has a far greater ability to grasp complex concepts and a far deeper understanding of engineering and robotics, and can learn practically anything if she applies herself.  Her true passion is robotics, though, and that shows in her armored alter ego, Mecha Musume.

Initially appearing as something of a walking tank, Mecha Musume’s armor is continually being refined and modified to adapt to new situations and the ever-changing face of super-powered villainy in Sentinel City and beyond.  The armor itself is extremely dense and heavy, but manages not to overburden most of the city streets, and is capable of shrugging off small arms fire without a scratch, and can even absorb anti-tank rounds to some extent.  The armor is incredibly strong as well, allowing her to lift several tons without putting a strain on the suit’s mechanics.  Having modeled her designs after her favorite mecha anime, Emi’s initial loadout of weaponry were decidedly too much for dealing with most of the criminals she would initially encounter, the powerful energy cannon and sword easily tearing through anything up to an armored truck like a hot knife through butter, even on lower settings.  Emi would adapt her arsenal as time went on, expanding and tweaking it like the rest of the armor.

Though she was never one to get into physical altercations growing up, Emi has had to learn to fight now that she’s embraced her heroic side, practicing with both guns and in various weapons, though she still relies mostly on absorbing damage and providing heavy firepower against more dangerous villains.  She has become something of an amateur martial artist while she’s not tinkering with her armor, learning  unarmed techniques and how to use Japanese swords and naginata, modifying her techniques to better serve her inside her armor.  

 

Background Info

Emi was born and raised in Tokyo, Japan as the only child of her parents, dutiful government employees, though her father was often absent due to travel requirements.  From an early age she displayed an amazing intellect, a child prodigy, though her interests always leaned toward the sciences.  Though placed in accelerated courses in school, Emi was not entirely out of touch with pop culture, having fallen in love with the giant robots seen in various manga and anime.  It was perhaps no surprise that she would begin delving into studies on robotics as she rapidly advanced in school.  She had attained a college-level education by the time she reached puberty, and had attained doctorates in engineering and robotics by the age of sixteen.

Though still dedicated to her field of study, Emi also had a desire to see the world and experience American culture, and, against the wishes of her parents, though they would still support her decision, Emi went to America to see the ‘college experience’ first hand, even though she had already surpassed anything they offered.  It was in college that she met Becky Dodgers, who was a couple years older than her, and the two became fast friends and more, sharing a love of technology and her favorite mecha anime.  It was during a summer trip back to Japan after that first year that Emi would learn the truth about her father, that he was actually a highly trained operative performing various clandestine missions for the Japanese government, perhaps even with some lingering ties to the Yakuza, and that he had worked and even clashed with Becky’s father several times over the years.  Though her father was adamant she severe ties with Becky, Emi refused and returned to America, though she learned that Becky was completely clueless about the nature of the work her father did, and to this day, still doesn’t grasp that he’s not a simple accountant.

In the days following the world’s awakening to super powers, Emi worked with Becky to learn the extent of her newfound ability, and for a time thought she hadn’t been gifted with any such changes.  However, she would soon begin to work out designs for technology the likes of which were only in the earliest conceptual phases, and had envisioned her very first powered armor, the early-phase prototypes following in secret soon after, with only Becky aware of what she was doing.  Later, following their graduation and arrival in Sentinel City, with a little help from her father’s contacts within the government to obtain a few particular materials, the two would develop the first working prototype power armor, just before Emi started her new job as a teacher of robotics at Sentinel City University.

As fate would have it, the first test of the armor’s functions would also be the pair’s first encounter with the criminal element of Sentinel City in the form of the Clean Sweep Gang.  Though there would be some trouble during this encounter, the two would emerge victorious, and Emi would tirelessly refine and improve her design from there on, though there always seemed to be an underlying cooling issue for the inside of the armor, one that she has yet to puzzle out.  It would be after an encounter with Clean Sweep herself that the pair would join forces with the mysterious mage Black Cat that would put them on the path to confronting the thieving Pink Pussy, and eventually confronting Dollface and learning of her otherworldly boss.  

 

Known Enemies and Rivals

Clean Sweep (Enemy)

The Clean Sweep Gang (Enemy)

Dollface (Enemy)

Grover Bloomenthal (Rival)

Demon Lord Kurae (Enemy)

Kitsune (Enemy…?)

 

LORE24 ENTRY #34 – Supers Month #3 – Cyber Seer

 

Hero Name

Cyber Seer

 

Real Name

Rebecca “Becky” Dodgers

 

Description

Normally, Becky appears as an attractive if rather plain looking young woman, with green eyes and wearing her hair long, midway down her back.  She usually embodies the ‘gamer’ look when outside of work, favoring t-shirts and shorts more often than not.  She tends to keep her hair its natural black color, though has been known to ‘photoshop’ its appearance from time to time into a different color or style, using her powers.  When she’s on duty, she dresses professionally, though typically in a more business-casual style for now since most of her duties have been relegated to fixing stuff around the office.  She’s not ashamed of her Texan accent in the slightest, and pulls off the ‘charming Southern girl’ schtick pretty well.

In her alternate persona as Cyber Seer, Becky has fully adopted the ‘cyber goth’ style, wearing her hair in dreadlocked bundles that freely shift color on their own, and dressing mostly in layers of dark latex striped with neon green, her costume featuring long gloves and stockings, a short skirt and bustier-style corset along with a fishnet bodystocking beneath it all, and heavy-duty platform boots that add a good six inches to her height.  She hides her eyes behind a pair of tech goggles, and wears a voice-changing respirator mask that changes the pitch of her voice while she adopts the full valley-girl way of speaking.

 

Powers and Abilities

Becky’s powers are deeply tied to the internet and cyberspace; in fact, she can’t actually use them if she’s cut off from a network connection, either through a physical, cable connection, or via the pretty much omnipresent wireless internet found throughout the city.  She has the ability to access and control any computers and technology she can access through the networks, usually hacking through any security features in moments.  Her mind functions very much like a computer itself, registering and processing massive amounts of data in moments, and due to this, is resistant, if not outright immune, to any powers that would influence her mind.  Further, she has developed the ability to dive into cyberspace, traveling through these networks and emerging elsewhere in the blink of an eye.  She can also ‘photoshop’ herself, changing her appearance in almost any way imaginable.

Additionally, she can create digital constructs of varying size and complexity, from a simple tool to guns and vehicles, though the greater the complexity, the greater the strain it puts on her ‘RAM’, requiring more and more of her concentration to maintain, though this limit is slowly increasing the more she uses her abilities.  As a side effect of her powers, Becky is ‘always on’, and hasn’t slept in ages, always aware of the world around her in some form or another through her wireless connectivity, though she has discovered ways to dull her technology sense to some extent.  

Physically speaking, though, Becky isn’t as impressive as other heroines in town.  Though she’s a decent shot with a gun, she’s not a fighter, and is best when she’s working from behind the scenes.  The few times she has showed up to fight crime in person have not gone well, typically with her winding up in some kind of trouble that requires intervention from one of her allies.

 

Background Info

Becky grew up in Austin, Texas as the only child of a struggling single mother, having never known her father.  Even from a young age, she exhibited a keen understanding of technology, especially computers, though she didn’t have the chance to truly learn more until her mother remarried to a very successful government accountant, and they moved onto his large ranch in the country, and they could finally afford pretty much anything she could imagine.  Though his work often had him away for many days or weeks at a time, Mr. Dodgers always made it a point to spend any and all time he could with his wife and adopted daughter, even after Becky’s mother passed away just before Becky finished high school.

Much to her father’s chagrin, Becky decided that she needed to get away for a while, and enrolled in college in California.  Still, ever the supportive father, Mr. Dodgers trusted Becky to make the right decisions, and let her do as she wanted.  While moving into the dorm, Becky discovered that her roommate was a Japanese transfer student named Emi, and the two immediately hit it off, both women sharing a love of advanced technology.  Their friendship would grow from there, and the two would remain together throughout college.  Once the pair had graduated, they moved to Sentinel City, into one of the suburban homes Becky’s father owned, to pursue their work; by this time Becky learned that she was one of those gifted with super powers, when she suddenly woke up one morning to find that her hair had changed from black to something akin to fiber optics, color shifting seemingly like the LEDs inside a computer, and could sense every piece of technology connected to the internet in the dorm.  Given the nature of her father’s work, and her own incredible abilities, she would join up with the FBI Cybercrimes unit in Sentinel City, where her abilities could be of the most use.

Outside of work, she would assist Emi with her own incredible project, creating a suit of advanced power armor, and the two would eventually make their debut appearance during a robbery by the Clean Sweep gang, and would soon find themselves mixed up in a much larger plot involving the disgraced heroine Pink Pussy, and eventually Dollface and her mysterious, otherworldly backer.  Following these events, she and her partner Emi would often work with Pink Pussy, Gun Bunny, and Black Cat, with Cyber Seer acting as the eyes and ears for the heroes, handling all their communication needs.

Becky is not without her flaws, though.  Perhaps being a product of the Information Age, and her powers being so closely tied to the internet, she is known to be a bit too obsessed with porn, the kinkier the better, and is very into the BDSM scene, sometimes to her detriment.  Thankfully, Emi is usually there to keep her focused, and assists her with some of her more kinky needs, especially when it comes to ‘unplugging’ for a while.  She can be a bit dense as well, especially when it comes to her father and the nature of his work, and has been in more than a few bad relationships throughout her college years, though she can’t quite seem to quit some of them.  

 

Known Enemies and Rivals

Clean Sweep (Enemy)

The Clean Sweep Gang (Enemy)

Dollface (Enemy)

Gloria McBride (Rival)

Demon Lord Kurae (Enemy)

Kitsune (Enemy…?)

 

LORE24 ENTRY #33 – Supers Month #2 – Gun Bunny

 

Hero Name

Gun Bunny

 

Real Name

Laura Conway

 

Description

By day, Laura is a detective with the Sentinel City Police Department.  Tall and a bit on the lanky side, she keeps her platinum hair on the longer side, though usually held back in a ponytail or bun when on duty.  She has a pleasant face and demeanor most of the time, and has brown eyes.  Though she typically dresses in pantsuits, leaving her rather nondescript, Laura has a rather shapely body with long legs, though she often downplays her own attractiveness so that she’s rarely the center of attention; she generally leaves that to her best friend, Cat.

As Gun Bunny, Laura lets her body shine, wearing a (mostly) classic-style bunny suit that shows off her cleavage, her long, curvy and muscular legs in full view an further highlighted by fishnet stockings and strapped high heels, and typically lets her hair fly free; somehow the domino mask she wears manages to keep her identity hidden quite well.  Given that she’s known for her amazing feats of gunplay, Gun Bunny’s suit also comes equipped with a pair of pistol holsters on her thighs and a load-bearing harness on her torso for carrying her larger weapons, though the big, white puffball of a tail on her costume seems to have some special qualities, linking to an unknown space large enough to store an RPG or two at least.  Her long, droopy black bunny eared headband likewise contains a tactical radio that she uses to communicate with other heroes and to monitor police transmissions.  

 

Powers and Abilities

Laura has a detail-oriented and analytic mind, and is a skilled detective with several years serving the SCPD, and was already a gifted marksman before adopting her heroic persona.  As Gun Bunny, her capability with firearms is (mostly) unmatched,  and her agility and speed have increased to superhuman levels, making her capable of performing amazing trick shots, fire her weapons at blinding speed, run like the wind, and even dodge incoming bullets, if she doesn’t just shoot them out of the air.  She can also perform amazing leaps, easily clearing most buildings short of a skyscraper in a single leap, allowing her to easily keep up with her partner Pink Pussy, even in her heels, which have been reinforced and known to be able to deliver powerful kicks.

 

Background Info

Laura was raised in Sentinel City in an upper-middle class family, having decided early in her life to follow her father’s footsteps and become a detective.  She had a keen interest in firearms in her early years, and having spent many summers with her extended family in the country, became familiar with their functions and proved to be an amazing shot.  She studied hard in school, and was well on her way to her goals when she first met Catherine “Cat” Ramos, the two hitting it off quickly, her more rational mind and cooler head serving well to balance out Cat’s hot-blooded nature.  The pair would have a few adventures during their high school and college years that showed their heroic leanings.

Working her way through the ranks at the SCPD, Laura has proven herself a skilled detective, and is currently paired with her partner, a more junior detective named Walsh.  She maintains her record as one of the best marksmen on the force, and is often urged to join up with the SWAT team as a sniper, though she continues to refuse the invitation, believing it would be a waste of her analytical skills, though deep down, in spite of her talents with firearms, she doesn’t think she could pull the trigger on someone through a rifle scope, managing only disabling shots on any perpetrators she’s had to fire upon thus far.

At least, that was the case until recently.  When Cat went missing after becoming the Pink Pussy, only to reappear wearing a mask and committing various robberies, Laura was assigned the case.  She had to keep her ties to the Pink Pussy a secret, and eventually managed to set up a trap with the aid of some of the newest heroines in Sentinel City to finally capture the pilfering Pink Pussy in the city museum, revealing a connection to not only Dollface, but a mysterious villain dubbed Kitsune, who stole a relic from the museum when Pink Pussy failed in her task.  After learning of the existence of the villain known as Dollface, and her hidden lair, Laura was left to tend to the matter of arresting Pink Pussy while the better-equipped heroines dealt with the matter, though her instincts told her that something was amiss, that she should be doing more.  With Cat safe for the time being, Laura found herself fighting with herself over what to do when her own powers awakened within her.  So, she geared up with some guns from her personal collection and donned last year’s Halloween costume and took off for Dollface’s warehouse, leaping her way through the city.

Once she had arrived, she observed from a distance, learning that the other heroines, Cyber Seer, Mecha Musume, and Black Cat, were revealed to be under Dollface’s control, with Pink Pussy’s rival, Shadow Lynx, held captive and ready to be fitted with her own mask.  Kitsune had the relic and had opened a portal to some other realm, but in the moment, before Dollface could take control over Shadow Lynx, Gun Bunny discovered that she was capable of taking the shot, taking down Dollface with a single well-placed bullet.  Thankfully, the villain’s mask slowed the bullet enough to stop it from killing the villainess, and the intervention of one of Dollface’s former captives, a young medical student, saved the woman’s life, allowing her to be sent, in a coma, to the Edgewater Institute for care and observation.

Following this event, Laura would fully embrace her Gun Bunny identity, becoming Pink Pussy’s partner to deal with the massive amounts of superpowered crime that filled the city, though she maintained her position at the police department in a precarious balancing act; luckily for her, she was possessed of amazing agility.

 

Known Enemies and Rivals

Dollface (Enemy)

Bonnie O’Hara (Rival)

Little Suzie (Enemy)

The Order of Immaculate Chastity (Enemy)

Demon Lord Kurae (Enemy)

Kitsune (Enemy…?)

 

LORE24 ENTRY #32 – Supers Month #1 – Pink Pussy

 

Hero Name

Pink Pussy

 

Real Name

Catherine “Cat” Ruiz Ramos

 
Description

In her daily life, Cat is an attractive Latina woman with bleached blond hair, and blue eyes, and a healthy, muscular build, honed from years of training in various fighting styles.  For a while, she was an up and coming MMA fighter, relying on her above-average agility to outwit her opponents and get thin into various submission holds.  Since taking up the heroic mantle of Pink Pussy, she has lessened her time in the ring, focusing on work as a personal trainer and self-defense instructor in her hometown of Sentinel City.  She’s known to be rather headstrong and tends to leap into things before thinking them through, and has had to be pulled out of a bad situation more than once by her friend and lover Laura, a detective with the Sentinel City police.  

When transforming into her heroic persona, Pink Pussy, Cat becomes arguably more beautiful, or at perhaps, more voluptuous.  Her body becomes even more muscular, her hair grows much longer and turns a bright shade of pink, and she takes on feline features, including ears, tail, eyes, and large claws on her oversized, paw-like hands and feet.  The transformation is violent, shredding any clothes she happens to be wearing at the time, but thankfully her body is covered in soft, pink fur, or mostly so; the fur is placed in a way as to leave plenty of skin exposed, earning her the ire of some of the more conservative types.  Her more playful and seductive personality as Pink Pussy has also gotten her plenty of accusations of being a slut or attention-whore, but her army of loyal fans know better.  She is friendly and outgoing, eager to fight crime and those willing to do evil, but loves getting praised for her actions, and is most definitely out to be even more famous than she already is.

 

Powers and Abilities

When transformed into Pink Pussy, Cat possesses enhanced agility, stamina, and strength befitting her nature as a large feline, with very keen senses of smell, hearing, and sight.  She also gains extraordinary recuperation, making her able to recover from serious injury must faster than normal.  Her large claws are both intimidating and functional, allowing her to easily climb walls and hold onto slick surfaces, while also being able to slice through anything she’s come up against so far, even shields of magical force.  She doesn’t necessarily understand how that’s even possible, and even her magically gifted ally Black Cat hasn’t puzzled it out yet.  She tends to focus on quick, agile strikes, keeping her enemies off balance until she can snatch them up and work them into a submission hold, often in the most sexually suggestive way possible.  Somehow, she always manages to leave behind an autographed photo of herself when she leaves defeated foes behind for the authorities or if she happens across an adoring fan, though nobody really knows where she keeps them, and Pink Pussy certainly isn’t telling.

Her powers aren’t without their flaws, however.  Cat sometimes has to fight with her inner self to avoid transforming into Pink Pussy, the beast within wanting to take over during times of great duress, or if she faces danger, headless of whether it would reveal her secret identity or not.  Transforming will destroy any clothes she happens to be wearing at the time, so she either has to find an out of the way place to strip down, or have a stash of spare clothes tucked away somewhere when she comes out of her alternate persona.  Once she transforms back to her normal self, Cat is often starving, and has earned a reputation as a big eater, and is frequently hitting Mr. Wong’s Chinese buffet after performing her heroic deeds.  Though not necessarily seeing it as a downside, Cat also tends to get very horny once she’s back to normal, and has to relieve her frustrations once business is taken care of.

 

Background Info

Cat grew up in Sentinel City, a rather typical middle-class upbringing, though she was always getting into fights, with her brothers and sisters, or more often, other kids in school, due to some perceived slight or what she judged to be some kind of wrongdoing.  Known as something of a troublemaker, she would turn herself around after she met Laura Conway in high school.  The two hit it off rather quickly, Laura’s cooler head tempering Cat’s hotheaded nature and managed to get her focused on applying her fighting spirit toward bouts of a more sporting nature.  This would continue through their college years and beyond, with Cat seriously taking up training and eventually entering into various MMA events.  It would be during her MMA years that she would earn the ire of one Anita Winters, a bulky, brute of a woman who seemed to be the exact opposite of Cat, all muscle and no style; the two would clash many times, though Cat got the upper hand more often than not.

It was only after the world suddenly found itself with super-powered individuals that Cat left her MMA career behind, moving in with Laura and starting work as a personal trainer to give her more time to fight crime.  She was amongst the earliest of the emerging superpowered personas to go public, and quickly earned a growing reputation for fighting the good fight, and legions of adoring fans.  It was a few months later that she earned another rival in the form of Shadow Lynx, another feline-themed Latina heroine with a growing fanbase that often clashed with one another over which of their chosen heroines was the best, and whenever the two met, there were always sparks as their personalities clashed.

Cat ran afoul of the villainous Dollface soon after the villainess made her debut.  Captured, Cat was forced to wear one of the villain’s special doll masks, which took over her mind and left her as an unwilling servant, quickly becoming the most powerful of Dollface’s minions, and being forced into committing thefts so that the villainess could increase her power and influence throughout the city, though it was discovered that Dollface was working under the direction of another, perhaps one not even of this world.  She would remain this way for several months, until a group of newcomer heroines would manage to finally free her, though her reputation would be greatly tarnished by this.  Coming out of the dark days as an unwilling minion of Dollface, Cat, never one to give up easily, has started rebuilding the good name of Pink Pussy, and has redoubled her efforts to keep Sentinel City safe, working alongside her newfound allies to uncover the mysterious figure backing Dollface:  Gun Bunny, Mecha Musume, Cyber Seer, and Black Cat.

 

Known Enemies and Rivals

Anita Winters (Rival)

Shadow Lynx (Rival)

Dollface (Enemy)

The Order of Immaculate Chastity (Enemy)

Demon Lord Kurae (Enemy)

Kitsune (Enemy…?)

 

 

 

LORE24 ENTRY #31 – Holy Order of Rashnikova

Category – Organization

Founded during the Age of Legends to combat both a resurgence in demonic activity and an upsurge of undead and other supernatural threats, this holy order was originally founded by the paladin Melisande no’Synstralia de’Rashnikova of Arcavarlon, upon the planet Andyllion, originally under the divine guidance of the goddess Lashana and her drive to punish evil in all its forms.  The Holy Order has survived to modern times and has since opened its doors to those of other faiths who have dedicated themselves to combating supernatural evil.

Though not a prerequisite, nearly all of the Order’s membership possess divine or natural magic abilities, divided mostly between the clergy and the paladins, with the paladins being the ones most often sent to the frontlines to deal with the threats, while the clergy handle healing, more complex rites of exorcism, and research.  In the current times, the most common threat the Order faces are the undead, though lycanthropes and other evil shapechangers and similar spirits are not entirely uncommon.  On rare occasions a true demon has been encountered, requiring a much more significant response to deal with.

Though a relatively small group, they are backed by multiple organizations and individuals across known space.  As such, the Order has access to some of the best craftsmen, mystics, and technology available to perform their holy exterminations, with its members possessing some of the most highly enchanted arms and armor available, including their customized Fenrir assault rifles, now something of an iconic weapon.  Trained in all forms of combat, not just firearms (because some creatures simply won’t die until their heads are removed with a silver blade or a stake to the heart), many of their members come from related backgrounds, such as mercenary or military groups, often with a particular incident they managed to survive driving them onto their new path as a holy slayer.  

 

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 #29 – The Badaxe Clan

Category – Cultural / Organization

Historically, the Badaxe clan originated upon the world of Andyllion, forged through many generations to be the strongest and most prosperous of orcish clans, eventually earning the honor of serving the High Emperor himself as his most loyal and trusted soldiers and bodyguards.  This was further bolstered through strong leadership within the clan and their embrace of ancient Aerian combat training methods.  Even after they cut ties with the Empire, the clan remained strong, and became a unifying force for the orcish people of Andyllion, especially during the Age of Legends when their clan chief, Mantok Badaxe, ascended to godhood.

In modern times, the Badaxe Clan has evolved into something much different.  Though the descendants of the original clan still exist and control their own nation on Andyllion, they have continued evolving with the times.  Today, many know the Badaxe Clan as an elite private military company, now open to any of orcish blood from any world, and still holding its members to strict training based upon the old ways, adapted to modern weapons, technology, and tactics.  The Badaxe Clan mercenaries pride themselves on their ferocity, endurance, and adaptability, and are often seen as rivals to even the aerians, and while both are fiercely competitive, the rivalry between orc and aerian is mostly friendly…as much as a rivalry based upon combat can be.

Organizations across known space employ Badaxe Clan mercenaries for the most dangerous operations or to protect their high value targets, assuming they can afford the premium rates the clan demands for their expertise.  Even DSM is known to employ several units of Badaxe Clan members, with some working directly for Rivalle Volcari herself, even though the company has long been elf-dominated and the enmity between elf and orc is still not entirely extinguished.  Though members of the Badaxe Clan are trained to always put the job first and foremost, the strong sense of honor that is imparted to them have resulted in a few incidents over the years in which the work they were brought on to perform was deemed far too distasteful for even them, and they turned against those who hired them, echoing what happened when the great Mantok Badaxe himself led the clan against the High Emperor on Andyllion.

 

LORE24 ENTRY #28 – 1st Annual Aphelion Station Grand Ball

Category – Event

A year after the massively successful creation of Aphelion Station on the far side of the Demon Barrier, the alliance of corporations that funded and created the ever-expanding station, led by Veylani Transport, held a massive gala event to celebrate the occasion, showing that they were not worried in the least about the rumors of poor planning, dangerous working conditions, and sabotage that swirled about the entire operation.  Veylani Transport’s head, Releana Veylani, was widely known to be attending the event herself to further bolster confidence in the operation that she had so vehemently pursued.

The Grand Ball itself was open by invitation only, and these were extended mostly to representatives of corporations, governments, and other powerful groups, with a healthy mix of celebrities and entertainers.  Perhaps in honor of the wild frontier that had been opened, the event was a costume party with an animal theme, and as one might expect of the rich and powerful, there was plenty of alcohol-fueled debauchery to be found, with many of the attendees showing up in racy, fetish-heavy costume designs with plenty of leather and latex to be seen amidst this highly BDSM-themed event, which supposedly had the blessing of Yurisaya herself.

The event did not go off without unplanned excitement, though.  The famous orc artist, known only as Rhoghor, and known for his appropriately kinky masterpiece paintings, had been brought in to reveal his most recent collection that he had created, known as the “Visages of the Starway Maiden”.  According to him, he had been inspired the moment Lila Darius had penetrated the Demon Barrier and laid open the Demon Sector, and had spent the previous year working on his masterpieces.  When the paintings were revealed, they showed a beautiful blond human woman, either nude or scantly clad, in various states of restraint, but always with her back visible, for upon her back was a brilliant tattoo of a copper-scaled dragon, its eyes seemingly glowing with an unnatural intensity as they followed the viewer, the dragon’s body seeming to move of its own accord.  The reaction of the crowd was immediately positive, though for whatever reason, the representative from DSM, one Saida Entoris of the Arcane Research and Development group, caused a stir following the reveal as she and her bodyguard attempted to detain Rhoghor, though further chaos seemed to erupt at this very moment, leading to a wild finish for the event.

Still, by all accounts, the ball was mostly a success, and those involved are looking forward to the next one, already making plans for something that will be even more memorable. 

 

LORE24 ENTRY #27 – Robotics

Category – Technology

Robotics have advanced in some amazing ways since space travel became commonplace, though still seems lacking in other ways.  The most common types of robotics are those dedicated to mass-production, laboring away in factories on massive assembly lines to build starships and other vehicles.  Other robots have, in the many prosperous regions, taken over the less desirable manual labors, such as farming or janitorial services.  Robotics are more commonly seen in the form of cybernetic replacements for limbs, or in the form of powered suits or exoskeletons designed to handle heavier cargo.

True robots have seen a rather limited advancement due to the unreliability and lack of advancement of artificial intelligence that would govern their behavior.  Beyond basic functions with a limited scope, such as farming and assembly, advanced AI has proven unreliable at best when governing the behaviors of these machines, and a liability and danger to living beings at its worst.  The general consensus is that artificial intelligence should be limited in scope and reach, and with limited decision-making ability.  There have been multiple instances throughout history where more advanced AI has led to loss of life and destruction of property when the AI outright fails or goes completely rogue and has to be destroyed.

Autonomous robots do exist in some limited roles.  Some corporations make use of robotic sentries for security purposes, though these act as little more than armored, mobile gun turrets with target-identifying abilities, as well as small, highly maneuverable drones meant to patrol or search a wide area.  Some groups see modern robotics as bringing back the ancient golems, creating loyal, if mostly unintelligent, servants and guardians, though even those were often only tasked with simple orders, limiting their purpose.  The size of modern robotics is likewise limited, with the largest examples being slow-moving and often limited to factory spaces; physics still applies to larger robots, after all, and the secrets of creating truly massive golems that could actually move about without necessarily destroying the streets they walked upon has been lost to time.

 

LORE24 ENTRY #26 – Scrying Magic

Category – Spell/Magic

In the age of high technology and space travel, magic has certainly waned, but among the various types of magic, perhaps it is scrying that has maintained its presence the most, even though it is perhaps the least flashy of disciplines.  Even though most spying revolves around corporate and governmental intrigues with the use of technology and guile, most mega corporations, with DSM as the most prevalent, have some degree of magical scrying at their disposal; wise corporations always invest in some form of warding in their most sensitive areas, and perhaps even on their most important people, to prevent this long-distance espionage.

Little has changed regarding the practice of scrying.  It still requires a medium with which to view distance places, typically through some kind of water-filled bowl or a mirror, both enchanted and attuned to the scrying magics.  It is then a matter of the skill of the arcanist making the attempt to scry, with factors such as distance, knowledge of the target, quality of scrying medium, and consideration of magical protections against scrying determining the amount of success in the attempt.  An experienced scrying specialist will be able to locate and view a chosen target across vast distances, across multiple star systems even, with perfect clarity and without the target being aware they are being remotely viewed.  

The dangers of scrying are not necessarily as high as other magical disciplines, but are unique in their own way.  A certain amount of subtlety is required, because the very act of scrying creates a magical link between the scryer and the target.  Thus, if a scryer presses too hard, or tries for too long, there is a growing chance that the target will become almost instinctually aware that they are being watched, and those trained in resisting scrying will learn to further hone these instincts.  Further, magical protections against scrying typically just hide the target or area from viewing, but some more advanced warding spells will be able to cause harm to the remote viewer, creating a violent feedback that can potentially kill them.  Scrying specialists, while performing their viewings, are also vulnerable, unable to easily defend themselves while they are engaged in the act, meaning they will have to have created prior arrangement for their own defense.  There have been instances in which two or more corporate scrying specialists have engaged in long-distance hunting operations against one another, trying to find weaknesses in each others’ defenses that would reveal one’s location before the other, and allow them to send out a strike force to deal with them.