#keeper of the lost cities map

[radishearts]

Based on a long time joke from unlocked map, I present Floridian Fitz, Aussie Keefe and Canadian Dex!

They’re a boy band, I think,

[purplesoup-lad-le]

My lil Kesler Dizznee portrait from the Keeper Sexyman Competition of 2024

[ct-9902]

happy a few days after release day day have some tim tams

[glimmergut]

Get to Know My Characters | The Eberron Timeline

From left to right . . . (its long, take a peak under the cut)

Gregor Graves | Fallen Aasimar, Cleric of the Keeper

I affectionately call him my "Tamagotchi Son" or "Borrowed Son". The first nickname comes from the fact that through the majority of his campaign he was in a demiplane housed in his own holy symbol necklace after dying in the third session. He could be communed with once a day for a limited time, but could hear the world outside of it. The second nickname because he was another player's character.

Key Points:

He hails from Cyre in the Eberron setting, as such he has been a refugee for years after the Mourning - a cataclysmic event of debated origin that wiped the nation from the map but led to the end of a century long war.

On the Cyre note, while they used to wear every color they could slap on their body at once after the Mourning most Cyran survivors wear black. His more decorated robes is due to his worship of The Keeper.

Another quirk of Cyrans is their use of gloves, it is considered immodest to be seen without them and a high level of trust and respect to be on the receiving end of a bare handed Cyran.

He is a twin, his sister is an antagonist at multiple points of the story. She never wears the same face.

He and Akashi were "cleric penpals" during her training years, their first time meeting in person is the foundation of the original party (The Mistakes) within this setting.

He canonically died in the third session, along with a large chunk of the party in a combat they should not have started with an Archmage. He is resurrected late campaign by Ashi/Akashi.

Ashi Mendyrian / Akashi Graves | Eladrin, Mage

She is my everything.

Key Points:

She hails from the Feywilds but was raised in Aerenal in the Eberron setting, a elven island nation built on and around the use of necromancy magic.

She was raised within the holy city of Shae Mordai within the temples there after she was accidentally switched in through a magic surge. She was aware of her origins but saw it not as a burden but painted it in the "chosen" light and it motivated her to prove that she was more than deserving of the magic of the Undying Court.

She was not accepted by the Undying Court, the pantheon of Aerenal, and was not granted Cleric based magic. So in a "fake it till you make it" mind set, she set to work teaching herself Wizard based magic in secret.

She has a legal half brother - she was not the only "whoopsies!" her parents faced. (He's a half elf)

Completely smitten with Gregor before they even met, though he was the first to say "I love you" (during his time in the necklace demiplane no less (she was too stunned to return the sentiment before her time elapsed for the day))

"Mage" is a general term I use to describe her as her narrative has her dipping into every spell list in technical terms for D&D. In play, she was a wizard first and a warlock multi class. Mage is also a good label as her pursuit of necromantic magic in order to resurrect Gregor leads her into becoming a goddess

The Protector, Goddess of Souls

Akashi's goddess form (Current reference is just a sketch as I iron out the design)

Her role within the gods is less so over death but in escorting souls. Kind of a reaper based role. Cyre is restored but with the years that had past since the Mourning, there was an abondance of souls that were misplaced or lost with no bodies to return to. That is the bulk of her work.

Aust Graves | Eladrin/Aasimar, Enchantment Wizard and Paladin of Devotion

She is both the "Golden Child" and the "Necromancy Nepo-Baby"

Daughter to the Dr. Akashi (Professor and Dean of Necromancy at Arcanix University) and Gregor Graves (Head of the up and coming Syndicate of Souls, a religious group dedicated to a new god?), knighted heroes of the Five Nations. But all she wants to do is become an adventurer.

Key Points:

Raised in Aundair's floating city that is home to Arcanix University of Magic, but unbeknownst to her she was born on another plane of existence as a fail safe from her parents for her safety. (Lore: dying on another plane other than your own will give you 1 respawn) She feels a deep love for her dad's home nation, but it had once again fallen - this time to a dictator rather than a magical wipe out - by the time she was born.

Originally pursued necromancy in her studies, after all it is the family tradition. Switched to an enchantment path after a wizard tournament escalation led to her charming the enchantment dean, summoning the dictator of Cyre into the stadium, and killing him in broad daylight. (It was dramatic, she didn't go into it thinking she would take over the enchantment dean but a spur of the moment decision with unexpected success opened up a world of possibilities)

Design note! She does have aasimar wings but visually they resemble dragonfly wings to give a nod to her mother's fey heritage. They aren't always on display, just like her halo isn't.

She does become an adventurer and gets wrapped up in one of those run of the mill save the world type party. Unfortunately for her, her aunt happens to be part of the problem. She ends her campaign having to fight her aunt in combat. While the fight is won, the status of her aunt is unknown. This combat also leads to Aust taking the throne in Cyre.

Her Oath of Devotion was formed when she gifted Rine a promise ring :')

Rine | Halfling Rogue

Spitfire of a dinosaur riding girl with the Dragonmark of Healing.

Fun fact about Rine - she was an NPC randomly generated at the table during one of the downtime sessions when Aust decided to try her luck in the dating world. The success of the date was decided by dice roll and both the DM and I rolled natural 20s on their date. The rest is history.

Key Points:

She was born and raised in the Talenta Plains to a nomadic group of halflings. She is first and foremost a family woman, learning her trade and applying the natural magical gift of healing to support them.

She was roped into the "saving the world" quest because she was actively on a date with Aust when the party needed to make a quick get away. Lucky for them, she is quite skilled at loosing a tail with her driving skills.

The largest point of contention between her and Aust is their stances on monarchies. Even upon marriage, Rine does not take a title within the court. Obviously Aust supports the idea as she finds herself on the throne at the end of her campaign, even still she shifts the leadership to a council rather than solely her own burden to shoulder. This is something they can agree on, as even Rine admits you cannot simply shift from a monarchy over night.

Nina | Aasimar Mage, long dead

Nina was a member of the Cyrian Knights when she was alive. An elite magical force during Cyre's golden age before the 100 year war and its conclusion in the Day of Mourning. She now finds herself haunting the estate in Kalazart since Crye was restored. It is her time around spirit sensitive Caeles that is slowly bringing her back to a more lively figure. Too bad Caeles is dutybound to report her to the Protector as one of her select few warlocks, Nina being a lost soul and everything. Or Caeles is supposed to report her and had every intention to until they accidentally developed feelings for each other.

Caeles Cassian, Lord of Kalazart | Dwarf/Elf, Warlock

Just a normal girl, with a normal life - except she's got a secret. She can see spirits and has since she was little. Oh yeah and she's next in line for the lordship of Kalazart, a city of luxury supported by their necromantic crafts.

Key Points:

Being educated is important for a young noble, Caeles studies of choice happen to land her at Strixhaven. And once it was time to select a school path she was the first student to pursue both halves of Witherbloom and both halves of Lorehold. Talk about over worked.

Oldest of five children, and takes this very seriously. Though you wouldn't know it from her tendency to party. But as she would tell you, her city of Kalazart would not be successful if it's citizen did not understand their own limits. Drugs, alcohol, sex - any source of pleasure can be found within the city in excess. A host should not be sloppy, especially not the city's leader. (She is never unaware, and is often putting on a show rather than truly intoxicated)

She is the anonyms gossip column writer of the school and writes about anyone and everyone including her own party. She isn't shy about writing about the more negative aspect of herself either to avoid suspicion.

Her campaign never concluded but I hope to work on her more on my own!

Blue | Warforged Wizard

Part of the Placeholders' party during Aust's absence, but no less loved in my eyes. She is a bubbly caretaker, illegally built after the war by an orc man who just wanted to be a father. So she is much fancier than many of her warforged peers, as he loving crafted her.

Known for the "she's confused but she's got the spirit" type attitude.

[whatsthatmagiccard]

Ongoing list of the cards under the MB2 playtest cards, as per the official card image gallery. Just text. There's so many. Somebody go put these into the Scryfall Tagger like they did last time.

Interestingly, not all cards that directly reference another make the backing card visible as part of the joke (see Intangible Vibes).

If there wasn't a direct reference, usually, they just used the most recent card they had that fit the frame. Unique cards are bolded.

A Girl and Her Dogs + Abbot of the Sacred Meeple + Defender of the Queue + Jeskai Baller + Knight of Lost Causes + Noble Ox + Plain Walker + Sliver of Hope + Tax Taker -> Phyrexian Pegasus (MOM)

Arcanum Things + Avacyn's Collar, the Symbol of Her Church -> Kor Halberd (MOM)

Brigid, Who's Seen Some Stuff -> Brigid, Hero of Kinsbaile (LRW)

Champion of the Hareish -> Champion of the Parish (DDQ)

Essence of Ajani + Friarball -> Surge of Salvation (MOM)

Intangible Vibes -> Intangible Virtue (ONC)

Muraganda Eldrazi -> Eldrazi Displacer (OGW)

New Master of Arms -> Master of Arms (WTH)

Alberix, the Trade Planet + Duelist's Convocation International + Heart of a Duelist + Map to Lorthos's Temple + Two by Four -> Temporal Cleansing (MOM)

Blurry Visionary + Catch of the Day + No-Regrets Egret + Panglacial Shinobi + Search Elemental -> Preening Champion (MOM)

Can't Quite Recall -> Ancestral Vision (TSR)

Night of the Flying Merfolk -> Kiora Bests the Sea God (THB)

Subgoyf -> Sharding Sphinx (MOC)

There / They're / Their -> Said / Done (MH2)

(Wisedrafter's Will is inconclusive; digital print)

(Your Wish is My Command is inconclusive)

(Call from the Grave is inconclusive, though likely Call to the Grave (SCG))

Cleaver Blow + Common Black Removal + Halving Season + TL;DR + You Compleat Me -> Vanquish the Weak (MOM)

Creepy Crawler + Lifening Elemental + Magus of the Chains + Pinchy McStingbutt -> Nezumi Informant (MOM)

Lich's Duel Mastery -> Lich's Mastery (DOM)

Liliana's Other Contract / Liliana's Undead Minion -> Grasping Shadows (LCI)

Odric, Lunar Marquis + Toofer, Keeper of the Full Grip -> Syr Konrad, the Grim (likely MOC)

The Many Deeds of Belzenlok -> Rite of Belzenlok (DOM)

Yawgmoth's Day Planner -> Witch's Cauldron (CMM)

All-Star Kicker + Boulder Jockey -> Trailblazing Historian (MOM)

Bolshak Dragon -> Shivan Dragon (M20)

Boltfire -> Firebolt (MH1)

(Dwarven Confluencer is inconclusive)

(Flanking Licid is inconclusive, but likely Convulsing Licid (STH) or Enraging Licid (TMP))

Gobland -> The Autonomous Furnace (ONE)

Immerstum Battlefield + Planeswalkerificate + Snap Judgement + Toddler's Rage -> Volcanic Spite (MOM)

Pyromancy 101 -> Start From Scratch (STX)

Vuzzle Spaceship -> Shrapnel Slinger (ONE)

Wormhole Warp -> Chaos Warp (likely MOC)

(Zone of Flame is inconclusive)

(Built Bear is inconclusive)

Dairy Cow, Flavor Nightmare, Phyrexian Seedling, Spuzzem Strategist, Starting Town NPC -> War Historian (MOM)

Glade of the Pump Spells -> The Hunter Maze (ONE)

Keeper of the Crown / Coronation of the Wilds -> Lovestruck Beast / Heart's Desire (ELD, showcase)

Meandered Towershell -> Meandering Towershell (KTK)

Naturalize 2 -> Naturalize (M19)

Penumbra Umbra -> Penumbra Spider (MM3)

Plant a Sapling / Fully-Grown Treefolk -> Herbology Instructor (MOM)

Questing Cosplayer -> Questing Beast (ELD)

Teferi, Druid of Argoth -> Surrak and Goreclaw (MOM)

The Colossal Dreadmaw -> Colossal Dreadmaw (XLN)

Werewhat -> Tireless Hauler / Dire-Strain Brawler (MID)

Wrenn and One -> Wrenn and Realmbreaker (MOM)

Anax and Cymede & Kynaios and Tiro + Convention Maro + Chea, Friend to Maybe Too Many + Hish of the Snake Cult + Wowzer, the Aspirational -> Niv-Mizzet, Supreme (MAT)

Chatzuk, Mighty Guitarist -> Melira, the Living Cure (ONE)

Don't Worry About It -> Growth Spiral (DMC)

Fludge, Gunk Guardian -> Yargle and Multani (MOM)

Glimpse, the Unthinkable -> Hidetsugu and Kairi (MOM)

Jund 'Em Out -> Rebuild the City (MAT)

Lutri, Pauper Otter -> Lutri, the Spellchaser (IKO)

Mothers Yamazaki -> Djeru and Hazoret (MOM)

Narod, the Beige Flower -> Doran, the Seige Tower (LRW)

Pokey, the Scallywagg + Terry Pin, Turboturtle -> Baral and Kari Zev (MOM)

Rin and Seri, Inseperabler -> Rin and Seri, Inseperable (M20)

Stone Drake -> Halo Forager (MOM)

Wrath of Finkel -> Shadowmage Infiltrator (inconclusive)

Indicate -> Vindicate (EMA)

Kozilek, Compleated -> Kozilek, Butcher of Truth (ROE)

Marchesa's Surprise Party + Rule with an Even Hand -> Sovereign's Realm (CN2)

Omnipresent Impostor -> Farfinder (IKO)

Who's That Praetor? -> All Is Dust (UMA)

Luxior, Ignited -> Luxior, Giada's Gift (SNC)

Microscope -> Urn of Godfire (MOM)

(Mox Poison is inconclusive)

(Orb of Origin is inconclusive)

Runed Terror -> Skittering Surveyor (MOM)

Fetching Garden -> Blossoming Sands (MOM)

Lazotep Archway -> Scoured Barrens (MOM)

Madlands -> Bloodfell Caves (MOM)

Maestros' Totally Safe Hideout + Omenpath to Naya + Processing Plant + Temur Elevator + Under-Construction Skyscraper -> Jeskai Monastery (MOC)

Slumbering Waterways -> Thornwood Falls (MOM)

The Heron Moon -> Geier Reach Sanitarium (CMM)

Value Town / Take a Trip To... -> Swiftwater Cliffs (MOM)

[tenebraevesper]

Sonic Cyber Revolution, Entry 53: The Scream Of Perfect Chaos

''Oh yeah! Try to look cool, make mistakes, and stand back up! To the unknown horizon that I gaze upon with you! Go act tough, jump on, and become like the wind! We'll make the sun shining on tomorrow our landmark! Fly on to the free, glorious world!''

– Mikakunin Hikousen (Unidentified Airship) by Digimon Adventure: (2020)

xXxXxXx

''What is that?'' Big was surprised to see a blue diamond-like gem lying on the ground, having found it after following Froggy through Sentoraru. He picked it up, looking around curiously as he saw people walking and passing by him, some picking up the pace as the Irregular Hunters were directing them towards a safer area. Big remained standing, wondering if someone lost this gem and wanting to return it back, but instead, he was approached by a Hunter.

''Please, sir, you will have to leave this area. We're closing it off as a safety precaution,'' the Hunter said.

''Okay…'' Big didn't see any reason against following the crowd to safety, figuring that he could hold onto the blue gem until he found the owner.

xXx

Team Chaotix was still on their way from Eas to Sentoraru when they ran into another Badnik – E-105 Zeta. The battle raged on, with Vector, Espio and Charmy taking down the Egg Keepers, all while avoiding Zeta's attacks and playing hot potato with the purple Chaos Emerald, which was currently held by Charmy, who blew a raspberry at the Badniks.

''Watch out!'' Espio shouted, throwing several shuriken at the Egg Keeper that threatened Charmy.

''I'll be just fine! Don't worry Espio!'' Charmy replied, clearly having fun as he zoomed down and knocking another Egg Keeper, then throwing the Chaos Emerald at Vector. ''Catch!''

Vector was about to catch it, but then a claw suddenly extended, catching the Chaos Emerald and holding it up. The Chaotix detectives were baffled to see Eggman now holding the purple Chaos Emerald, hovering above them in his EggMobile.

''Eggman, give us that Chaos Emerald back!'' Vector growled, feeling frustrated that they lost it so easily.

''As if,'' Eggman scoffed, deciding not to waste his time on the detectives and flew away on his EggMobile. ''Have fun defeating my Badniks!''

Vector got into a grappling match with Zeta, managing to break off the canon arm, then grabbed him by the other arm and swung him around before tossing him into a group of Egg Keepers. There was a small explosion, with Zeta and the Egg Keepers catching fire and breaking down, now destroyed. Vector immediately reached for the AR Visor, calling Lucas.

''Vector?''

''Unfortunately, I have some bad news. We lost both the Chaos Emeralds from Souto and Eas to Eggman,'' Vector said, him, Espio and Charmy feeling guilt over their failure.

''Don't beat yourself over it,'' Lucas replied, narrowing his eyes. ''We'll have to change plans, as Starline had already managed to acquire two Chaos Emeralds, and from what Makoto and Silver told me, he and Eggman now have access to two more Chaos Emeralds. I'm certain that we can still defeat him, even if he reaches his Chaos 6 Form, but we cannot let him, under any circumstance, reach his Perfect Chaos Form, else the whole of Neos City will be in grave danger.''

''Which Chaos Emeralds are left?'' Espio asked.

''Team Rose and Team Dark still have theirs, going by the signal on the map. The one from Sentoraru seems to have been also found, as it is moving towards Souto, but we don't know who has it,'' Lucas explained. ''Sonic and I will try to get it. Could you guys try to track down Chaos' location? We fought him earlier, but he disappeared.''

''You can count on us. We will make up for our earlier failure,'' Espio replied, with the holographic screen closing.

''You have heard him, boys! Find Chaos and prevent him from becoming Perfect,'' Vector said, with Espio and Charmy nodding. ''If we manage to actually find Chaos, we'll most likely find Starline and Eggman.''

''Then, we can get the Chaos Emeralds back!'' Charmy chimed in, excitedly.

''Right! Let's go!'' Vector said, with the three running off.

xXx

Unfortunately for the Chaotix Detectives, Eggman had managed to find Chaos 2 first, having used the control chip Starline implanted inside the water deity to remotely call for him. He had found a good spot at the border between Sentoraru and Eas, observing as Chaos 2 emerged from the sewer in a burst of water.

''I already know what will happen next, given how this isn't the first time we've been in this situation, and I hope for Starline's sake that this will work better than last time,'' Eggman said, tossing the cyan and the purple Chaos Emerald towards Chaos 2, who had absorbed them, growing much stronger.

As Chaos 4, Chaos was more fish-like, having a shark-like body with a dorsal fin on both his back and a horn on his forehead, and the flaps on the sides on his head have grown longer. He also had two sharp pelvis fins and a pair arms like Chaos 2's, except his hands looked more like fins and lacked thumbs. Inside his hands and wrists he had gray bones, each with a Chaos Emerald embedded in them. He also had bones running from his tail fin to his belly where he had a pelvis-like bone holding two Chaos Emeralds.

''Go, use the Chaos Emeralds and destroy Team Neos!'' Eggman ordered, only to pause for a moment when Chaos 4 did nothing. ''Hey, I was talking to you!''

Chaos 4 did not respond, instead turning himself into a pool of liquid and disappearing down the street as swiftly as possible. Eggman furrowed a brow, wondering why Chaos 4 was so hesitant about following his order initially.

''I have a bad feeling about this,'' he muttered.

xXx

''This situation has gone wrong, but I know that I can fix it,'' Starline muttered, feeling a sense of panic creeping up his spine. ''All I need is to find Chaos, round up the remaining E-100 Series robots and the Egg Keepers, and launch a counterattack. That should be easy enough.''

He was flying towards Kita on the EggMobile, as Gamma appeared to be the closest robot to his own position. He didn't know where Chaos was, but had decided that it would be smarter to acquire another Chaos Emerald. He also felt irritated that he didn't predict that Chaos would have a weakness to electricity, but at the same time, no one in Team Neos or Team Neos' allies were capable of generating electricity, from what he knew.

Unfortunately for Starline, destiny decided to throw a wrench in his plans, as Tails appeared out of nowhere, flying up to him, grabbing the controls and generating the EMP wave that caused the EggMobile to crash on the ground. Fortunately for both, Tails and Starline had managed to get out of the EggMobile before it crashed, Starline using the Fly Type Power Core, and were now standing across each other.

''What have you done?! Are you crazy?!'' Starline screamed at Tails, who was joined by Warren.

''No, but we have figured out how the Chaos Emeralds are being transported, and the only people who'd be the recipients would be you and Eggman,'' Tails replied. Starline was glaring daggers at him, the situation unraveling before him at sonic speed. Despite that, he still believed that he could do something to fix the situation. Before Tails and Warren could even react, Starline activated the Speed Type Power Core and quickly ran off.

Tails and Warren were left standing, realizing that he was going towards Kita, both exchanging questioning looks, with Tails asking, ''What do we do?''

''We'll go find Chaos. I'm sure that Minami and Amy will be able to handle Dr. Starline,'' Warren said, with Tails nodding in agreement.

xXx

Amy stepped in front of E-102 Gamma and the Egg Keepers, placing herself between the Badniks and an injured Cream, who was still being held by Minami while keeping a tight grip on the grey Chaos Emerald. Amy brandished the Piko Piko Hammer, glaring daggers at Gamma.

''I won't let you hurt Cream again!''

''Pink Hedgehog, resistance is futile. Give me the Rabbit,'' Gamma responded.

''No way! I promised to protect Cream and I won't back off!'' Amy growled, ready to fight this battle all on her own.

''Why?'' Gamma questioned her, the sudden question confusing Amy.

''What do you mean?'' she asked, still being on guard, but now curious.

''Rephrasing question. Why do you feel the need to protect someone so weak?'' Gamma inquired.

''Weakness or strength is irrelevant in this kind of situation. Cream is my friend, and that's all I need to know,'' Amy responded in a resolute tone. ''Of course, you wouldn't understand that.''

Gamma paused for a moment. ''Data unavailable.''

''Huh?'' Amy blinked, staring at Gamma for a moment.

''Does not compute. The Rabbit is useless to you. Does not compute,'' Gamma responded again.

''That's a rude thing to say! Cream is not useless, and you should apologize for hurting her!'' Amy demanded.

''Apologize…?'' Gamma replied slowly. ''Does not compute.''

Amy tilted her head, wondering whether Gamma was actually capable of self-reflection. Eggman surely wouldn't program his Badniks to act this way, right? Admittedly, there is also Omega, but he's a special case…

''Mr. Robot…'' Both Amy and Gamma looked over at Cream, who managed to get up with Minami and Cheese's help and took a few weak steps towards them. ''I know that you are following the evil Dr. Eggman's orders, but please, don't hurt Miss Amy.''

''Cream…'' Amy muttered, her heart aching because Cream was pleading with the robot despite having been injured by him. Gamma just stared at Cream, his intentions being unreadable as he locked eyes with the little rabbit, completely silent. Amy suddenly stepped up, realizing that Gamma had been contemplating after hearing Cream's plea. ''You are capable of experiencing emotions, right?''

''Does not compute. Dr. Eggman did not program me with emotions,'' Gamma responded.

''But, you do feel something,'' Amy pointed out. Gamma was silent for a moment.

''I do not know how to articulate,'' he said.

''That's fine. I know people who also have trouble explaining how they feel,'' Amy said, giving Gamma a warm smile. ''Do you still want to fight us?''

''I should be following my orders,'' Gamma stated.

''But, you don't have to,'' Amy insisted. ''Omega has also rebelled against Eggman.''

''E-123 Omega has been registered as a traitor in the data base,'' Gamma responded. ''He needs to be destroyed on sight.''

Suddenly, several missiles appeared out of nowhere, with Gamma having just enough time to dodge it, but the Egg Keepers that were with him weren't as lucky, getting blasted into pieces.

''As you said – it is on sight,'' Omega stated, holding up both of his cannon arms at Gamma. In response, Gamma held up his own cannon arm, only for Amy to suddenly run in-between the two.

''Omega, wait! You two don't have to fight!'' she said, looking at the two.

''I vowed to eliminate all of my predecessors,'' Omega told her.

''Omega is a traitor. He needs to be destroyed,'' Gamma added.

''But, you don't have to destroy each other,'' Amy pointed out. ''Omega, you said that you want to destroy all of Eggman's Badniks, didn't you?''

''Affirmative,'' Omega replied.

''Gamma, you said that destroying Omega was an order issued by Eggman, right?'' Amy then turned to the other robot.

''Correct,'' Gamma replied.

''Would it be possible for you to not follow Eggman's order?'' Amy asked, leaving Gamma stunned. She turned to Omega. ''If Gamma abandons the Eggman Empire, then you two could work together. Would you be okay with that?''

Omega was silent, having not thought about this solution. He was solely focused on destroying all of Eggman's Badniks, but if Gamma betrayed Eggman, that would mean that he was no longer a Badnik. In other words, Omega would have no reason pursuing him, unless Gamma gave him a different reason to destroy him.

''I only hunt Eggman robots,'' Omega stated, only to suddenly point his arm cannons at Gamma again, his action startling Amy and Cream. ''But, I won't hesitate to destroy Gamma if he offended any of you.''

''That's not necessary,'' Amy said, waving her hands in a defensive manner and glancing at Gamma for a response. The robot just stared back at them in silence, contemplating the situation. He wasn't sure why he was feeling like this, why he was so hesitant to just eliminate all of them and grab the Chaos Emerald. He gazed back at Amy and Cream, and that strange sensation resurfaced again. It was as if a mere look from both of them could stop him in his tracks, but he still had trouble understanding what exactly it was.

''Stop giving me that look,'' Gamma suddenly said, turning around, leaving Amy and Cream confused. To everyone's surprise, Cream ran up to him, giving him a confused look.

''What's wrong, Mr. Gamma? Are you okay?'' she asked him, with Gamma taking note of her warm and gentle cinnamon-brown eyes. He then turned to the side, avoiding eye-contact with her, which confused Cream further. She turned to the rest of her friends. ''Did I do something wrong?''

Minami suddenly giggled, snapping her fingers as she came to a realization. ''Hey, Gamma, is it possible that the word you're searching for is 'cute'?'' Everyone stared at her in surprise, with Minami continuing, ''That has to be it! You consider Amy and Cream too cute to attack them anymore.''

This conclusion left everyone in an awkward silence, even sweatdropping at her comment, while Minami just kept smiling as if she had figured out the secrets of the world. Amy sighed.

''Minami, I don't think that's the real answer… Even if I am flattered about being called cute,'' she said, then placed the Piko Piko Hammer over her shoulder and glanced at Gamma. ''Anyways, have we reached an agreement? You could use this opportunity to find a purpose outside the Eggman Empire.''

Gamma simply nodded, wondering if Minami had really guessed why he felt like this. Regardless, he could accept the idea of actually having a life outside the Eggman Empire, as he was curious about what kind of life Omega was living after he had left. Gamma then saw Cream looking at him, and she gave him the most heartwarming smile possible, the kind that could melt a heart made of ice.

''Thank you so much, Mr. Gamma,'' Cream said. Gamma suddenly felt as if his inner systems were short-circuiting, and had to wonder if that had anything to do with him thinking that Cream was cute. He certainly felt that he should protect her, recalling Amy's words from earlier.

''I apologize…'' he said, with Cream just giving him a bright smile.

''I'm fine,'' she replied.

''Well, I guess this issue is now resolved.'' Minami smiled at this scene and turned her head towards Rough and Tumble, who just stood a bit further way, watching what was going on. ''So, do you two still want to fight? Especially now that we have two very destructive robots on our side?''

Rough and Tumble exchanged glances, now being stared at by the whole group. The two glared daggers at the group, but also understood that they were woefully outpowered and outnumbered. Not only that, but Cream was still holding the Chaos Emerald.

''You have won this time,'' Rough grumbled.

''But, we will get our revenge next time!'' Tumble shouted, with the two turning on their heel and running off.

Minami stretched her arms, releasing the Chaos Surge and looking at the rest of the group. ''So, we got the grey Chaos Emerald and Gamma's now helping us. What should we do next?''

''I think we were supposed to give the Chaos Emerald to Mr. Sonic,'' Cream said, with Cheese chiming in.

''I still have my mission of eliminating other Eggman robots,'' Omega said, clearly fired up for another battle.

''I have bad news for you, brother,'' Gamma suddenly spoke, drawing everyone's attention. ''We are the only E-100 Series robots remaining. I have lost the signals of ZERO, Beta, Delta, Epsilon, Zeta, Eta and Theta.''

Omega suddenly lowered his arm cannons, and despite having no expression, he was clearly disappointed by the news. ''There are no more? That's unfortunate. Disappointment has risen by 100%.''

''Don't worry, Omega,'' Amy said, patting him on the arm. ''I'm sure Eggman will be sending out more forces to fight against us. After all, he needs the Chaos Emerald that we have.''

''You are correct. Will you join me in the bloodshed, brother?'' Omega turned to Gamma, who nodded in agreement.

''We need to go to Sentoraru now. If we come across some kind of obstacle, you two can clear it for us,'' Minami reminded them, with Omega and Gamma accepting that. The group rushed back, but unknown to them, a different figure was observing them from behind of one of the buildings, growling in frustration.

''So, Gamma has become a turncoat. I should've reminded Dr. Eggman to actually make sure his programming isn't faulty,'' Starline muttered under his breath in irritation. ''Unfortunately, this mistake might cost us a Chaos Emerald…'' He hummed, pressing the Fly Core and flying up the building, following the group as they were going towards Sentoraru. ''Although, I might be able to fix this situation.''

Starline took note of the fact that Cream was the one carrying the Chaos Emerald, flying after the rest of the group and being open for an attack. He carefully calculated his options, leaping from building to building to keep up with them. He knew that in a direct battle, he would be defeated faster than he could say 'Chaos Emerald', so he needed to be careful. He couldn't even use his special technique, the Tricore Blast, to defeat them, as that would completely deplete the Power Core energy he had gathered and he would have to recharge.

''But, perhaps I don't have to…'' Starline placed a hand under his beak, his eyes darting towards the spurs on his heels. ''Of course, that's the solution! Hah, I'm a genius!''

Cream didn't even know what had hit her. All she felt was a sharp sensation in her back and the world turned black, with someone screaming her name. The one who screamed for Cream was Amy, having turned around only to see her fall on the ground after being hit by Starline, who had leapt out of nowhere, having managed to grab the grey Chaos Emerald. Amy attempted to attack him, only to get her arm scratched by Starline's toxic spur, causing her to fall on the ground as she fainted.

''Amy, Cream!'' Minami was stunned, her and Cheese checking up on both, while Omega and Gamma immediately focusing on Starline, firing a barrage of bullets and missiles at the platypus. Unfortunately for them, Starline had tapped the Speed Core, using his super speed to get away from them.

''Tha-That was close,'' Starline muttered, feeling his heart beating like crazy. After all, he had looked death into the face and survived. He kept running, taking turns at streets to make sure he wasn't followed. Eventually, he skidded to a halt, taking a deep breath and tapped on the Tricore, activating a holographic screen.

''Dr. Eggman, I have acquired another Chaos Emerald,'' Starline said proudly, displaying the grey gem to the Doctor.

''I see. Send it over,'' Eggman replied in a curt tone.

''Uh… Unfortunately, I have lost my EggMobile…'' Starline admitted nervously, with Eggman raising an eyebrow. ''But, don't worry, Sir, I'll be right over. I just need Chaos' coordinates.''

Eggman grumbled as he sent Starline the relevant information, with the platypus pulling up a map of Neos City. To his surprise, Chaos was on his way to Souto, nearing Cosmo River that was flowing through Sentoraru and towards Souto. Figuring that there had to be a reason for this movement, he quickly followed the water deity.

xXx

''I see,'' Loki muttered, after Lucas and Sonic explained him what was going on in further detail. They were also going towards Souto, trying to track down the remaining Chaos Emerald. ''Clearly, you're in over your heads.''

''We're doing our best, but this situation has turned into a Battle Royale for the Chaos Emeralds,'' Lucas replied.

''At least it looks like our friends have dealt with most of the Badniks,'' Sonic said, sounding quite optimistic. ''I'm sure we'll be able to turn this around.''

''I hope you will. Unfortunately, I will have to leave you now. I need to inform the other Hunters about a possible another battle, as well as Neos City getting flooded by Chaos. I wish you luck,'' Loki told them, quickly rushing off. Lucas and Sonic exchanged glances and then hurried up towards the Chaos Emerald signal. They had taken a break, with Sonic managing to recover. Now, he was ready for the next move. They had gotten the news from Team Chaotix and, later on, Team Rose, that they lost their Chaos Emeralds to Eggman and Starline respectively, meaning that they would also be after the remaining Chaos Emerald. Lucas also sent a message to Team Dark to meet up with them at Cosmo River, predicting it to be the next setting of their encounter with Chaos, considering how it was the closest body of water.

''Even though we have defeated Eggman's forces, Chaos is well on his way to his Chaos 6 form,'' Lucas said, his eyes narrowing as he stepped on the accelerator of his hoverboard and sped up.

''What will we do if he does reach his Perfect Chaos form?'' Sonic asked, speeding up to match Lucas.

''Honestly, I don't know. We could regroup with the rest of the team and fight Perfect Chaos that way, and we also have the Master Emerald as another option,'' Lucas replied, a troubled look appearing on his expression. ''But, if that doesn't work, we will need the Chaos Emeralds and, well…''

He glanced at Sonic, who smirked. ''I already have an idea what you're talking about.''

''I'm not sure if that would even work though. Unlike your counterpart, this would be your first time using the Chaos Emeralds in such way,'' Lucas replied, still concerned. ''What if something goes wrong?''

''Aw, com'n, have a little faith in me.'' Sonic winked. ''Even if it's something that only happened in the games, it doesn't mean that I'm not capable of pulling the same feat.''

''You're right. Now, let's hope we're not too late,'' Lucas said, with both speeding up.

xXx

''Watch out!''

Big and Froggy were at Cosmo River, having followed the Hunters' instructions to get away from whatever conflict was happening in Sentoraru. That didn't mean that they weren't at least a little bit worried about their friends, but they were confident that they knew what they were doing. Big then turned his attention to the blue gem in his hand, wondering what he should do with it. He had figured that it was probably important, as it gave of a strange aura, but he figured that, if someone came searching for it, he'll just give it back. He had no need for a blue gem, since they it make good fishing and since he was already at Cosmo River, he figured that he could just cast the line.

''Huh?'' Big blinked in surprise when he felt something tugging at his fishing rod almost immediately, and pulled back, struggling to get out whatever was holding onto the line. His mouth dropped in surprise when this thing turned out to be now fish-like Chaos 4. ''That's a big one!''

Chaos 4 stared down at Big, only to slam his body onto the water surface, creating a huge wave that forced the purple cat and his frog companion to flee. Both climbed up to the nearby road, taking note of the water levels in the river rising and Chaos 4 staring at them, giving the two a calculating look. Before either of them could do anything, something shiny and grey flew across the sky, with Chaos 4 absorbing it.

''Give me the Chaos Emerald!''

Big and Froggy were surprised to see a platypus standing behind them, having been the one to throw the other gem towards Chaos 4. Starline held out his hand, demanding the blue Chaos Emerald that Big was holding, but the cat in question sensed that the platypus was up to no good.

''No,'' Big responded in a firm tone. Suddenly, Chaos 4 sent a wave of energy towards Big, forcing the latter to dive to dodge the attack, losing grip of the Chaos Emerald in the process. Chaos 4 launched an extendable arm towards it, with Froggy quickly jumping over the Chaos Emerald to protect it, only to for him and the Chaos Emerald to be grabbed and absorbed into the water deity.

''No, Froggy!'' Big cried out, but Chaos 4 already started to change, much to Starline's glee.

No longer humanoid, Chaos 6 instead vaguely resembled a bloated scorpion/frog-like creature. Over three times Big's height, he had a massive body with two extensions/antennas on his sides, two pairs of digit-less legs, and a similar pair of large hind legs bending backwards. He had a large mouth with razor sharp teeth and two large eyes aligned vertically on his face with three smaller eyes aligned horizontally on each side. He also had a zigzagged tail with a blunt tip. Running through his hind legs were gray bones, connected in the rear by a pelvis-like bone, with a Chaos Emerald embedded in each of them. In his belly lied his bone-covered core, encircled by four standing bones, each with a Chaos Emerald on top.

Big felt devastated, desperately trying to find any sign of Froggy within Chaos 6, only seeing a vague figure floating inside the water deity. Suddenly, Chaos 6 sent out water tendrils from all of his body, attempting to ensnare Big, but a streak of blue broke through the tendrils, revealing itself to be a Chaos Surge-empowered Sonic.

''Thank you, Sonic,'' Big told the hedgehog, who just nodded in response. Big then pointed at Chaos 6. ''Froggy is somewhere inside. If we attack, we'll hurt him.''

''Yeah, but if we don't attack Chaos, he'll go on a rampage,'' Sonic pointed out.

''Ha, you can't defeat Chaos like this! He is being empowered by all but one Chaos Emerald! Even Chaos Surge won't work!'' Starline gloated.

''Oh, shut up!'' Starline was startled by Lucas, who was glaring daggers at him. ''You have no idea what you're doing! Regardless of all, we still have a chance!'' Starline scoffed, with Lucas turning to Sonic and Big. ''Sonic, you and I will keep Chaos distracted! Big, you'll have to fish Froggy out of his body!''

''Got it!'' Sonic pumped his fist, with him and Lucas rushing ahead, avoiding the tendrils that Chaos 6 sent after them. Big tightened his grip around the fishing rod, narrowing his eyes as he focused on Chaos 6's body and the vague figure inside it and run up to the water deity as close as possible. He saw Sonic running across the river bank, avoiding the tendrils and not daring to get into the water as he knew that, if he got hit, Chaos 6 wouldn't hesitate to drown him. As for Lucas, he was essentially surfing on the surface of the river via his hoverboard, avoiding the water tendrils that shot out from below and dodging a huge wave that the water deity sent after him.

Big waited, his gaze locking with the green figure inside Chaos 6, and finally cast the line, the hook flying across and passing straight into the water deity's body. To Big's relief, Froggy was able to move enough to grab onto the line and Big tugged it with all his might, allowing his best friend to escape and reeling him in. Relieved, Big hugged Froggy. ''Are you okay?''

Froggy just croaked in response, clearly fine, if a little shaken, but neither could take a moment to breathe, as Chaos 6 roared furiously, slamming into the water and creating a wave that crashed over the river bank. The only reason Big and Froggy weren't swept away was because Sonic and Lucas grabbed both of them and pulled them away. A water tendril suddenly came flying, trying to grab Sonic and Lucas, only to be met by a flash of red.

''Lily?!''

Both were shocked to see Lily literally punching the water tendril, being empowered by Chaos Surge that made her whole body crackle with red energy, and blocked it from harming her friends. She didn't even respond to the two, raising her head instead.

''Knuckles, now!''

The red echidna came gliding with the Master Emerald in his hands, hoping to use it to deactivate the Chaos Emeralds that Chaos 6 had absorbed, only to get flung back by another barrage of tendrils. He managed to catch himself, landing on the river bank, with the pink orb of light flashing next to him and revealing herself as a peach-orange-furred anthropomorphic echidna girl with a peach muzzle, a small black nose, cobalt-blue eyes with two medium-length eyelashes on each one, dreadlock-like spines around the sides and back of her head and a medium-sized, tri-crooked tail. She wore a white tank top which revealed her midriff and a traditional tribal skirt with beige, green, and red diamond patterns. She wore a gold armlet on her right arm, a gold necklace and a tiara-like headband atop her forehead, both of which were decorated with triangles and a light blue gemstone in the center. Her white gloves were adorned with thick, cobalt-blue bracelets around her wrists, and she also wore white-strapped sandals. Her dreadlocks and left arm were also wrapped with similar white bandages.

''Chaos, please, don't do this!'' Tikal pleaded, but Chaos 6 roared, slamming his tendrils into both Knuckles and Tikal, who were both forced to dodge the attack.

''He won't listen to you! We need the prayer!'' Knuckles told Tikal, holding up the Master Emerald. Tikal was devastated that her old friend was too far gone, her expression then changing to a firm gaze as she put her hands together in a prayer.

''The servers are the 7 Chaos. Chaos is power... Power enriched by the heart. The controller is the one that unifies the Chaos,'' Tikal prayed, with the Master Emerald that was held by Knuckles started to glow. To their relief, it appeared that it was working, as the Chaos Emeralds too were glowing response, only to be followed by a horrifying scream that caused Tikal to slam her hands over her ears. She could sense Chaos' pain and agony, understanding that he was suffering that he was suffering due to the energy within him slowly being torn out. ''No, please…''

She hated seeing her friend being in so much anguish, not even registering when a wave of energy came suddenly crashing down on her and Knuckles until she heard him shouting for her. Her eyes widened in shock and time slowed down as she stared death in the face, being frozen on the spot. The last thing she saw was a dark figure suddenly appearing before her and Knuckles, crimson eyes staring at both of them.

''Chaos Control!''

There as a flash of light, and the next thing Tikal knew was that she found herself on her knees, further away from the river bank, surrounded by other people. She looked up, her and Knuckles realizing that the one who saved them was Shadow, still in the possession of the green Chaos Emerald.

''Even if the Master Emerald can control the other Chaos Emeralds, Chaos himself is resisting its power,'' Shadow pointed out.

''Then, we should get closer to him!'' Knuckles insisted.

''I don't think so, Knuckles,'' Rouge approached him. ''Look at Chaos – he has completely lost it!''

The group turned towards the water deity, who rose from the river, slamming his tendrils into the building on the other side and picking up pieces of debris, flinging it towards the group.

''Watch out!'' Touka shouted, only for a blast of energy to destroy the debris into tiny pieces. The blast in question came from a Chaos Surge-empowered Metal Sonic.

Despite the fact that he had almost been crushed by the debris if it weren't for Sonic's metallic counterpart, Starline continued to gloat, ''You're no match for Chaos, even though he's not perfected, yet!''

''You know what, I don't think I even want to see him go Perfect!'' Ferra suddenly said, glaring daggers at Starline, who just registered her presence.

''You and Metal Sonic were supposed to grab the last Chaos Emerald! Why don't you have it?'' he asked in a furious tone.

''We were in the middle of it when Shadow used Chaos Control to bring us here,'' Ferra replied, both her and Starline gazing at Shadow, who shot a glare at both of them, his hand crackling with energy in a challenging manner. If they wanted to fight him over the Chaos Emerald, they were welcome.

Suddenly, more debris came flying, forcing the group to scatter. Shadow warped closer to Chaos 6, realizing that he was probably the only one able to get close enough to fight the water deity. He dodged another energy blast, snapping his fingers.

''Chaos Spear!''

The energy spear connected, blowing up Chaos' side, but unfortunately for Shadow, the water deity quickly recovered. Shadow attempted to launch an another attack, only to realize that he couldn't move. He didn't even notice that he stepped into a puddle of water, which suddenly turned into a tendril that wrapped around his body.

''Shadow!''

Shadow heard someone screaming for him, the tendril suddenly lifting him up and slamming him into the asphalt, almost knocking him out cold. Chaos 6 lifted the ebony hedgehog up and flung him at the road, the green Chaos Emerald falling out of his hand and rolling away. Shadow was still conscious, feeling his whole body aching as he tried to get up, only to see another water tendril coming from the corner of his eye.

''Shadow, watch out!''

''Sonic, don't!''

Shadow's eyes widened in horror when the tendril grabbed Sonic, the azure hedgehog being enveloped in water and unable to move as Chaos pulled him back above Cosmo River and holding him up for everyone to see. Sonic's eyes were wide and he desperately tried to get out of the water tendril, one hand over his mouth to not gasp for the non-existent air. His movements were erratic and he suddenly coughed, with bubbles escaping his mouth. He attempted to cover his mouth again, but the spark on his eyes was fading as he felt his lungs burning. His limbs were numb and his eyes slowly closed, bubbles escaping again as his mouth slightly opened.

Sonic was drowning.

''Sonic!''

There was a sudden flash of light, with an orange streak slamming into the water tendril, followed by another flash of light, this time on top of a nearby building. Sonic's glazed eyes slowly opened and he started coughing and sputtering the water he had swallowed, finally opening his eyes and realizing that he was carried bridal-style by Shadow, who gave him an uncharacteristically soft gaze.

''Heh, my hero,'' Sonic quipped weakly, smiling as he wrapped his arms tightly around Shadow's shoulders and pulling him into a tight squeeze as a way to thank him for saving his life. Shadow smiled back gently, then sighed and shook his head, his expression changing to a scoff, albeit keeping it on the softer side.

''Even if you're close to death, you won't stop with your quips,'' Shadow commented, with Sonic just grinning back at him. Shadow narrowed his eyes, his voice laced with anger born of worry. ''Idiot.''

''Yeah, but I am your idiot, Shads,'' Sonic replied back, giving him a playful smile. Shadow avoided his gaze, feeling flustered as he tried to calm down his racing heart. He could still recall the sensation of shock and devastation as Sonic almost sacrificed his own life for his, followed by the overwhelming fear of loss and a wave of determination as he rushed to save Sonic regardless of the danger.

He put Sonic down, the azure hedgehog stumbling a bit as his legs felt weak and holding onto Shadow until he regained some strength, with Shadow giving him a firm look. ''Don't do that again.''

''I'm sorry, Shads, but I can't promise you that. If I ever see you in danger, I will do everything in my power to save you, and I'm sure that you'll do the same for me,'' Sonic said, with Shadow staring at him for a moment, then exhaling.

''You're right,'' he muttered, his expression darkening. ''I lost the Chaos Emerald.''

''Shads…'' Sonic gave him a worried look, but Shadow shook his head.

''You… You're…'' Shadow turned his gaze away towards what was happening below them, unable to finish the sentence. Despite not hearing the rest of the sentence, Sonic smiled warmly, still understanding the message. You're more important than the Chaos Emerald.

As for the Chaos Emerald, the green gem had been grabbed by Starline, who took advantage of the chaos, holding it up for everyone to see. ''At last! Now, it's time to unleash Chaos full potential!''

''Starline, stop!''

To everyone's shock, Dr. Eggman came flying in the EggMobile, glaring at Starline, who just dropped his beak in surprise. He then smiled nervously. ''D-Doctor, what do you mean 'stop'? This is what we both wanted!''

''Yeah, but you forgot one thing!'' Eggman turned towards Chaos 6, who was flailing with his tendrils. ''Chaos, I order you to stop!''

Chaos 6 suddenly stopped for a moment, lifting his head as he observed Eggman, only to launch another attack at the group, with Lucas, Touka, Lily, Ferra, Knuckles, Tikal, Rouge, Metal Sonic, Big and Froggy being forced to scatter again. Eggman then turned back to Starline, who just waved him off in a dismissive manner.

''Chaos has been ordered to destroy Team Neos and he is simply doing as told,'' Starline replied, holding up the Chaos Emerald. ''One more, and we can complete our goal! This is it, Doctor!''

''You idiot! We are losing control of Chaos!'' Eggman shouted at him, causing Starline to wince in surprise. However, he managed to quickly collect himself.

''Doctor, I have made sure that the control device withstands any kind of damage. Don't worry, I will make sure that he remains under our control,'' Starline responded, throwing the green Chaos Emerald at Chaos 6, who absorbed him.

Starline's smile widened, a crazed look appearing on his expression as he watched Chaos grow and change once more, blissfully unaware of the looks of horror on everyone's expressions, including Eggman's. However, his expression changed soon to that of shock when he realized that he may have been in over his head with this move.

The water deity was growing into a gargantuan monster composed entirely of pure, water-like energy. His main body resembled a thick snake whose head, back and sides are covered in dark blue reptilian skin with scales. On the other hand, his underbelly was made of clear liquid energy, and he had pointy liquid spikes protruding from his back. He also possessed a large mouth with green razor-sharp teeth and a green tongue that extends far beyond his eyes, which were green as well and had slit-like pupils. He also had flaps of blue skin with scales hanging from just behind his eyes, green horns along his nose area and behind his eyes, and a fin-based bulge on top of his head that had his organic brain floating inside it. Also, running from the base of his body to his back spikes and brain were massive green-glowing arteries. The base of his snake-like body ended in a flood of liquid with several liquid-composed tentacles extending from him.

Perfect Chaos let out a mighty and devastating roar, followed by a tidal wave that swept over Neos City.

Links:

#Previous Chapter

#Current Chapter

#Next Chapter

#Sonic Cyber Revolution (Masterlist)

[theresattrpgforthat]

I'm looking for an RPG where you make a setting collaboratively as a group, ideally with a roleplaying element. I know of Dawn of Worlds, A Quiet Year and Microscope but I'm trying to cast a wider net?

Can you help me out?

THEME: Worldbuilding & Roleplaying

Hello friend! I’m first going to direct you to two other posts I’ve made in the past, one about Town Builders, and one about Map-Making! Not all of them focus as much on roleplay, but I love a number of those games dearly. That being said, there are plenty more world building games out there that I’d love to talk about, and these three certainly allow for a lot of roleplay!

Ech0, by Role Over Play Dead.

Peace. Kids playing in mech wreckage. A ghost. 

One last journey across an ancient battleground to find a pilot's final resting place.

Ech0 is a game about three children and the ghost of a dead mech pilot, travelling through ruins of old battles, looking for the place where the pilot died. The group of you will craft a world shaped by the wreckage of wars past, with mech bodies embedded into a landscape, transformed into memorials, and (possibly) repurposed into something else. You’ll use these landmarks to illustrate a map and craft a history: do the children know what the war was about? Or has it been lost to history? 

I think this is an excellent game for the beginning of a campaign, mech or otherwise. If it’s a mech campaign, it might be set in the far future, after the war that you’ve already fought, or it might be the introduction of a planet that’s enjoyed a few decades of peace before getting launched into yet another conflict. Perhaps the mechs embedded in the soil will be unearthed to fight again and those children you created for Ech0 grow into ambitious and desperate pilots. It’s up to you!

Orichalcum, by Justin Quirit.

To find our way home, we must sift through the ruins and our memories of the Empire. But in our remembering, we must not forget what we have created for ourselves.

Orichalcum is a tabletop roleplaying map game for 1-5 players. Players will lay out a map of the Empire that oppressed their ancestors and drowned in a deluge of its own making. By remembering what was left behind, they will draw a connection from the past to the present. Their people, the Exiles, have evolved past the Empire's ways, and these differences will become features on each player's map of their island home. Orichalcum is a game about drowning empires and imagining utopias.

In this game, players will use printed “tiles” to help determine the kinds of peoples they represent, and the ways they differ from the Empire that has fallen. Each player will draw five tiles and place three; after each player places three tiles, your characters will go home. 

This is a beautiful game to describe a world after a ravenous Empire has finally met its end. I can see this acting as an epilogue after a campaign has watched the world end, or as an introduction to a world post-apocalypse, as different groups rise from the ruins. The pillars give the group inspiration and focus, and by the end of the game, you’ll have a number of different islands, each with unique cultures and peoples, to draw from for rich character backstories.

Lighthouse Keepers, by Chloe Sobel.

The sea was once a city. The sea is still a city: trenches stretch into the deep, dark and teeming with life, mirroring city-nights above.

In the world above the sea, there is a lighthouse. The lighthouse has always been there.

Lighthouse Keepers is a map-drawing game for 1-4 people about a lighthouse and the things that lurk outside it in the deep. You play a collective of lighthouse keepers living in an offshore lighthouse, a tower that stretches from its lantern high above the waves all the way down to the bottom of the sea in the hadal zone.

The game design is based on Avery Alder’s The Quiet Year and Carter Richmond’s Anomaly. Its themes are inspired primarily by Julia Armfield’s Our Wives Under The Sea and, by happy coincidence, it bears several thematic similarities to Robert Eggers' The Lighthouse.

This game has two versions; one with art and one without, in case players feel uncomfortable with some of the sea creatures depicted. This is a horror game - there is something in the water; nobody knows what it is, but everybody fears it. If you want to create a world where a lurking horror grows ever closer, this is absolutely the game for you.

Other games I’ve recommended in the past

Voyage, by Brendan McLeod.

Oldhome: Trip to Turtle City, by Takuma Okada.

[poorsapadvocate]

Solarpunk fans continue to eat well at the Wholesome Direct.

Full list of games with links under the cut. I tried to single out games that appear to focus on nature, technology, and community. However, I only have as much info as these trailers, and sometimes I get them wrong (like Venba--fantastic game, absolutely not solarpunk.) There’s rarely a game that I don’t care about at the Wholesome Direct, so check it out for yourself. The limited edition merch this year is going towards the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund, so go buy some maybe!

Sally: Sally is a life-sim game about community and belonging. Embark on a grand journey aboard a magic flying ship. Navigate daily life as a kid with a diverse crew unique to every game. Craft, cook, farm, build and explore the skies as you become who you want to be amongst your found family.

Caravan SandWitch: Embark on a journey across vast landscapes in Caravan SandWitch, a captivating narrative-driven exploration adventure.

Space Sprouts: Embark on a journey filled with cozy cosmic chaos and dive deeper into the mysteries of your solar punk spaceship with each replay. Get entangled in the ship's unique physics and make this place your new home.

Crab God: Crab God is an atmospheric underwater strategy game. Guide your Crabling colony through wild ocean depths, and defend the egg of the next Crab God. Restore and protect diverse coral reefs, making a difference in the real world as you progress in-game. Make waves, praise the claw!

Spilled: Clean up ocean waste in this relaxing & satisfying cozy game! Recycle, earn coins, upgrade your boat, repeat! Explore and clean up new areas with more waste and new challenges!

Tukoni Forest Keepers: Tukoni: Play as the forest spirit Tukoni as you meet unique characters, solve captivating puzzles, brew fragrant tea and explore a magical world filled with kindness.

Ete: Été is a relaxing painting game set in Montréal. Color the city to explore, create artworks on canvas, collect stamps in your album, decorate your studio, fulfill commissions from your neighbors, and unleash your inner artist!

Into the Emberlands: Venture out into the Emberlands and uncover an ever-changing world filled with surprising encounters and mystical creatures! Save villagers who got lost in the Miasma, collect resources and rebuild your village to create a safe haven for your people.

Fantastic Haven: Restore the equilibrium of magic by saving endangered fantasy creatures. Build your shelter to welcome and protect them, explore unique regions, rally neighboring populations to your cause and rehabilitate creatures in their natural environment.

Bonus:

Garden of the Sea: A chilled-out life sim where you play, craft, and explore across magical islands. Build a house, grow a garden, nurture animals, adventure across the surrounding ocean, and make yourself at home!

FruitBus: A journey of flavors and friendships awaits you in your cozy, customisable food truck! Forage for fresh ingredients to create your own menu, then feed tummies and souls with home-cooked meals. Change the world, one apple at a time. (this ad made me tear up)

Broken Lens: Broken Lens is a cozy game where you will discover the story of a little robot with a sight problem. Explore manifold cute environments at your own pace and investigate to understand what happened to them. Will you be able to uncover all the secrets?

Map Map: Embark on a cozy treasure hunt as cartographer of an adventure crew. Use your sense of direction to make maps, help your companions and explore idyllic islands.

Discounty: Manage your own supermarket! Organize and restock shelves, check customers out, make local trade deals, and befriend a quirky cast of characters. Salvage a failing shop in the once-thriving town and grow it into a thriving business empire. But be warned: not everyone in town wants you to succeed. (seems to be more on the dystopia side, but still focuses on relationships with community and the environment.)

Kamaeru: Foster a sanctuary for frogs and restore the biodiversity of the wetlands in Kamaeru, a cozy farming sim where you raise frogs by playing mini-games and decorating your habitat. Hop right to it!

Sopa: Miho steps into the pantry to fetch a potato for his grandma and falls into a magical world full of wonders. Meet quirky characters, venture through the depths of South America, and learn the importance of the things we pass along in this unforgettable emotional narrative adventure.

The Palace on the Hill: A heartfelt story of ambition, struggle, and friendship told from the perspective of a young boy in fictional 90s rural India. Explore ancient palace ruins, set up your garden, cook Indian food, run errands for quirky characters, and learn about your history by making art.

Moonstone Island: Moonstone Island is a creature-collecting life-sim set in an open world with 100 islands to explore. Make friends, brew potions, collect Spirits, and test your strength in card-based encounters to complete your Alchemy training!

Bonus Bonus: Okay look it wasn’t on the Wholesome Direct this year and it probably won’t be very solarpunk…but Davy Wreden is releasing a tea-shop sim game and it’s either going to be the best or the worst game of my life so I need someone else to know about it

[lal-ffxiv]

Prompt #12: Quarry

The young lady approached the Keepers of the Moon with a proposal of work in dispatching some vilekin, and it would be easy enough to just take the money in a confidence trick. However, she made claims of hidden treasures in the abandon city of Gelmorra.

"... I do not mean be babbling on about history of Twelveswood to you, but it is quite interesting. Don't you believe?"

"It will believe it if have any proof on where to find these treasures."

"Well, of course. I came across this map in my grandfather's library. He is so old. He might as well be one of the first that came out from the underground, and see here this is marked as sacred place, so I believe any relics would be stored there. I plan to make a collection of the relics as I am sure I am not the only one to be fascinated by the citystate's origins. Unfortunately, my father not one of those people. He refuses to lend his men for my expedition. As a business man, he can only understand the words of money. I tell him he is inviting the wrath of The Elementals upon himself by logging. Although, without his sacrilegious lumber mill then I would not have this opportunity. It is with my allowance from him that I fund this venture, which is just enough for two guards. Are you interested?"

Epokhan's head spun by time the long-winded maiden had stopped talking. He was afraid of giving her an answer as it would allow her to start talking again.

Luc was quick on her feet and tongue. While tedious in her speech, the young lady was trusting and optimistic, so a perfect pigeon. Since Luc loved birds, she made the choice on the deal. "This sounds like a very meaningful venture, and we would please to undertake it, but sounds much to dangerous for you come along. My partner and I have to insist on half payment now, and the rest once we have returned with your relics."

"And due to danger, we will need to double the price." Epokhan added.

The girl took her head violently like a child throwing a tantrum. "No, no, no! First, I am not paying you to stand prettily while I search. I need to be able discern the relics of value. I want none of gaudy relics of any precious metals or jewels. Second, I need to see the place were my people toiled for my kind's survival under the harsh rule of The Elementals. I must go to the underground city myself. I will pay the higher price, but I can not be denied this wish."

She had more than just earnesty. She had a fire in her eye that Luc would not argue with. Instead Luc looked to her partner. If the treasure were true then they could make more profit with her along, if they weren't the couple could still rob her and leave her in underbelly of the earth on their merry way.

"Alright. We'll take the venture."

"Excellent! I am so excited! Truly I did not believe I would find a pair so brave as yourselves. Father also warned me about ... that is end of that. I will meet you both at Camp Emerald Moss on the morrow then." The young lady beamed, and sadly walked away with her full coin purse as Epokan's and Luc's stomach growled.

Epohkan, a well-learned hunter, would blame the hunger on addling his mind. No other reason would he walked into such an obvious trap.

As soon as the trio entered the underground, they were overrun. Not by seedkin or vilekin, but by duskwight bandits.

Luc held the line while he cut his way from the net. He would have thought their client lost in the confrontation as he became Luc's sole concern aside from her own life. From his hovering position though he could see maiden go from green to grey, and raided the bandit's stores appearing as bandit herself. Epokhan fell from the net, and lost sight of her. For now.

He is a trained tracker too after all. Side by side the two of them made a quick show of incapacitating the bandits to chase their quarry.

The arrow scraped the tip of her nose. It would have gone straight through her head, if the arrow had been aimed for it. She took the hint and walked backwards to face her attackers.

"What have I done to deserve this greeting?" Asked the duskwight from the keepers.

"Drop the act. We know its you." Epokhan said as Luc let another arrow fly towards the elezen.

"Oh caught on to me and my tricks did ya." A wave of the hand and in front of them was young lady over the bandit.

"Leading us to our death was the whole plan was it?"

"I haven't killed anyone, nor do I plan to. Only I thought a mob of bandits would distract you longer while I got farther away from here is all."

"Like how we were meant to distract the bandits while you stole from them."

"It it really stealing when you take from a rob-"Luc fired an ice core tipped arrow with the idea of freezing her mouth shut for good. It would be well worth the tipped arrow as to never hear the elezen's voice again.

Instead the sprite core reacted to the active glamour prism. Then, a Seeker of the Sun stood before them.

Ri'anni Tia felt naked without a glamour over her, even worse than that. She was being perceived wrongly in this very moment. After a lifetime of that, she wasn't going to take another second of it.

Arianni dropped the item she sought to activate another glamour. Then, faced her attackers anew. "That was more embarrassing than being caught in my smallclothes, so let forget about it."

The Keepers of the Moon were stunned though. Luc had lowered her bow, and Epokhan stood mouth wide.

"Why disguse yourself was a woman?" Epokhan asked

"You sound like my mother." Arianni groaned. "Because I like to, why else?"

"How does it work? Can you show us?" Luc asked.

The skill every criminal should hone is being able to find the object a person wants and promising it to them.

"Oh is dressing in eachother's clothes not fooling the amount of people you want?" Arianni found the thing that might save her life from the Keeper with the bow and arrow.

"I learned from some imps, but I can only teach you if you have the talent." She offered and waited.

The Keepers shared a look between themselves. Arianni was quite jealous of the intimacy the two shared. To know eachother's thoughts without words, that was something she could never have with another.

"We'll considered forgiving you if you teach us the way to be disguised." Epokhan started

"As if you weren't planning on leaving me there for dead either." Arianni interrupted. Luc lifted the bow again. Arianni sewed her mouth shut quick.

"But your debt is separate, and for that we will go along with to where you'll be fencing that." Luc pointed at the trinket Arianni had dropped in her desperation. Split three way the reward for retrieving the noble's personal property was going to be small, but living another day is worth more.

"Then, you will stay right by us until we've learned." Luc finished.

"Fine, but then we never speak another word to each other after."

Arianni crossed her hands to shake each one theirs, so the three shook hands on the deal.

[barbex]

Happy Friday! I wish you would write something where the characters are lost and need to find their way back somewhere safe – maybe for Hawke/Merrill?

I got you! Thank you for the prompt, for tonight's @dadrunkwriting, it did indeed inspire me for Merrill x Hawke. I hope you like it.

--

"I think we're lost." Hawke drops her pack into the sand and sits down next to it. Her feet hurt, her shirt sticks to her back and some insect has bitten her neck. It's not far to the water's edge, so she kind of knows where they are in the general sense, but not really in relation to the way back to Kirkwall. 

Merrill bends over a bush with prickly leaves and white flowers. "Oh, are you sure?" she says absentmindedly. She breaks off a branch from the bush and stores it in the bag at her hip. 

"Well, I look at my map and I can't find any landmarks and it all looks the same..." Hawke digs her heels into the ground in frustration. "Shouldn't you know where we are and where we should go? Isn't that a keeper thing?" She immediately regrets her outburst when she sees the shadow falling over Merrill's face. 

Merrill straightens her shoulders and looks towards the horizon. "You're right, lethallan, that is a keeper thing."

"I'm sorry. That's not —"

"There's a storm coming," Merrill interrupts. "We need to find shelter."

"I think I saw a cave back there," Hawke says sheepishly. 

"Yes, where Melava's lilies grew." Merrill grabs her staff like a walking stick and turns back towards the cliffs. 

Hawke has no idea what flowers Merrill is talking about. She hasn't ever paid attention to the names of flowers, and the names Merrill knows differ from what her mother's books postulated. Merrill walks with confidence, leading Hawke on a path she can't remember having seen before.

"Right here," Merrill says, pointing at blue flowers, which look elegant somehow. The wind picks up, blowing her hair into her face. For a moment, she loses sight of Merrill.

"Here." Merrill grabs her arm and pulls her into a thicket.

Hawke trips over something, stumbling into Merrill's arms. The wind doesn't reach them anymore, just in time as the rain starts to hammer down outside of the cave Merrill pulled her into. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine, I trip all the time," Merrill says.

"That's not what I meant."

Merrill lets her hand slide down Hawke's arm and takes her hand. "I know."

Pressing her hand, Hawke stares out into the approaching darkness outside of their shelter. "I shouldn't have said that."

"But you were right." Merrill pulls her deeper into the cave, balancing a fireball in her hand. "This is a keeper thing. But I cannot read your maps. I read the flowers, the grass, the mushrooms."

"Of course. I'm such an idiot."

"You're not an idiot, vhenan." Merrill places the fireball in a groove between stones and sits down to pull their mats from their packs. "You are just such a city shem!"

Hawke presses her hand to her chest. "Ouch! I guess I deserved that."

"I know which way we have to go to get back to Kirkwall, but it's too late now." Merrill pats the place next to her. "Come here."

Hawke sits down and wraps her arm around Merrill's shoulders. "Can you tell me a story?"

Merrill grins at her. "Yes, that is also a keeper thing. But maybe we should eat something first."

"I knew you're the smarter one of us," Hawke says and pulls a pack of sandwiches from her bag. As they eat, the rain falls like a curtain just a few steps away from their hiding place. The fireball paints the cave in warm light. Hawke looks at Merrill, how the light makes her vallaslin glow. "I really know that you're smart."

"I know, vhenan," Merrill says, pressing a kiss to her cheek. "Now stop being silly and eat your food or I won't tell you a story."

Hawke hurries to bite into her sandwich, watching Merrill. Despite everything, it looks like Merrill brought her to just the right place tonight. Must be a keeper thing.

[cloudwhisper23]

Most bugs wouldn’t be strong enough to traverse the infectious caverns of Hallownest. That was what the old bug had said to him when he’d prepared for his travels down. The red-cloaked bug with the needle implied much the same. Although, there was one bug, aside from himself, that seemed very capable. Quirrel reflected on that, staring out at the City of Tears.

Quirrel shifted slightly. His experiences down here had been quite the tale so far. He regretted not bringing his own journal. Sometimes, his friend would stop to refer back to notes or a map, quickly writing something down. Quirrel kept his words to himself, of course. It wouldn’t do to take things from his new wandering friend. Especially with the way the little wanderer kept getting more battered-looking.

He’d encountered a shop keeper after arriving here, one who shared his interest in history and forgotten times. Lemm, the bug had said by way of introduction.

Quirrel showed Lemm the trinkets that the little wanderer had given him as gifts. A Hallownest Seal and an interesting piece of writing Quirrel had dubbed the Wanderer’s Journal. Lemm had been quite excited to see them, asking if Quirrel was selling.

“Ah, these were gifts from a close friend. I can’t bear to part with them,” Quirrel had said.

“Those relics are quite valuable. Perhaps they are more so to you, with the attachment you hold.” Lemm reluctantly bid Quirrel farewell, his eyes lingering as Quirrel put the relics back in his bag.

Quirrel knew his journey would take him deeper into Hallownest. He could still feel the original pull calling him here. But surely he could wait to see his friend again? Once more, just to reassure himself.

Quirrel tapped his foot impatiently. He’d last spoken to the little wanderer in the Mantis Village. Surely his friend hadn’t ignored his advice and gone to fight the Mantis Lords before coming to the city. The little wanderer wasn’t that foolish, were they?

Quirrel squirmed slightly on the bench. His friend was capable. If they believed they could fight the Mantis Lords right then, Quirrel had no place to stop them. Still, the prospect was starting to make Quirrel itch. Maybe he should’ve shown the little wanderer the way to the City of Tears. They could’ve just gotten sidetracked, or perhaps it was a case of getting lost, but Quirrel was beginning to fear the worst.

Just as he prepared to rise from the bench and return to Fog Canyon, a familiar footfall caught his attention. The soft, surefooted steps of the little wanderer. Quirrel’s shoulder’s sagged with relief, and he focused his gaze back outside the window. From the corner of his eye, he saw the sorry state of his friend’s cloak. Torn and battered, it looked more like thorns had attacked his friend than any Mantis. There were even new indents in the little wanderer’s mask.

“An unpleasant journey, friend?” Quirrel asked, turning to the wanderer.

His friend only looked up at him, not making a sound. Their nail didn’t seem any worse for wear, miraculously. The little wanderer looked at Quirrel, expectantly. Quirrel felt a faint smile growing on his face. Right, of course. He always shared stories about his adventures with his friend. Settling in, Quirrel started his tale.

He didn’t fail to notice when the wanderer’s head drooped to the side, nearly knocking them from the bench. A steady hand was enough to push them back upright as Quirrel continued to speak. When the tale was over, Quirrel leaned back to properly rest. His friend rarely stayed with him this long. Perhaps the journey was more unpleasant than they’d planned.

The little wanderer’s mask pressed into Quirrel’s side as they both rested for the journey ahead.

[andiv3r]

favorite book?

if you cant think of one, a list of books you like?

(you can only choose good omens if it is part of a list)

GODDAMN IT fine i'll do a list then >:(

GOOD OMENS !!!!!!!!!!! Number 1 favorite.

Wings of Fire series (i really liked those)

Warriors / Survivors / Seekers <3 the Erin Hunter books my beloved

Keeper of the Lost Cities series, the recent books were kinda meh imo but who cares

Percy Jackson <3 <3 <3 never read past the first series because the books past there were banned in my school library for queer reasons (it was a Catholic school) but I intend to read them all at some point.

The Last Dogs series

The Map to Everywhere series

... this has made me scour my bookshelf for books I liked and I realized I never finished reading Eragon, I really liked it though.

Artemis Fowl (been a while since I read those books but they were very good)

[dustedmagazine]

Dusted Mid-Year 2023, Part Three (The Lists)

Natural Information Society

Swapping records is fun, but when it comes down to it, we like what we like.  What’s that?  Glad you asked.  Read on for our writers’ mid-year favorites.    

Jennifer Kelly

Meg Baird — Furling (Drag City)

Robert Forster — The Candle and the Flame (Tapete) 

The Drin — Today My Friend You Drunk the Venom (Feel It)

En Attendant Ana — Principia (Trouble in Mind)

Stella Kola—S-T (Self-Release)

Mudhoney — Plastic Eternity (Sub Pop)

Sleaford Mods — UK Grim (Domino)

The Tubs — Dead Meat (Trouble in Mind)

Nighttime — Keeper Is the Heart (BaDaBing)

Purling Hiss — Drag on Girard (Drag City)

Lonnie Holley — Oh Me Oh My (Jagjaguwar)

The Toads—In the Wilderness (Upset the Rhythm)

Dan Melchior—Welcome to Redacted City (Midnight Cruiser)

James and the Giants—S-T (Kill Rock Stars)

Ben Chasny and Rick Tomlinson—Waves (VOIX)

Bill Meyer

Natural Information Society — Since Time Is Gravity (Eremite)

Elkhorn — On the Whole Universe in All Directions (Centripetal Force)

Meg Baird — Furling (Drag City)

Robert Forster — The Candle and the Flame (Tapete) 

The Necks — Travel (Northern Spy)

Milford Graves — Children of the Forest (Black Editions)

Peter Brötzman  Heather Leigh — Naked Nudes (Trost)

Yo La Tengo — This Stupid World (Matador)

Magic Tuber Band — Tarantism (Feeding Tube)

Drew Gardner — Flowers in Space (Feeding Tube)

Jozef Van Wissem and Jim Jarmusch — American Landscapes (Incunambulum)

Dave Rempis/Elisabeth Harnik/Tim Daisy — Earscratcher (Aerophonic)

Alasdair Roberts — Grief in the Kitchen and Mirth in the Hall (Drag City)

Jonathan Shaw

BIG BRAVE — nature morte (Thrill Jockey)

Wound Man — Human Outline (Iron Lung) 

Gel — Only Constant (Convulse)

Home Front — Games of Power (La Vida Es Un Mus)

Sleaford Mods — UK Grim (Domino)

Spirit Possession — Of the Sign… (Profound Lore)

Bryon Hayes

Yo La Tengo — This Stupid World (Matador)

Big Blood — First Aid Kit (Feeding Tube / BaDaBing)

Meg Baird — Furling (Drag City)

Califone — Villagers (Jealous Butcher)

M. Sage — Paradise Crick (RVNG Intl.)

The Reds, Pinks & Purples — The Town That Cursed Your Name (Slumberland)

John Atkinson — Energy Fields (AKP Recordings)

Joseph Allred — What Strange Flowers Grow in the Shade (Feeding Tube)

The Far Sound — The Far Sound (Centripetal Force)

Ulaan Khol — Milk Thistle (Desastre)

Powers / Pulice / Rolin — Prism (Cached Media)

Lia Kohl — The Ceiling Reposes (American Dreams)

Tim Clarke

Jana Horn — The Window Is The Dream (No Quarter)

Arrowounds — In The Octopus Pond (Lost Tribe Sound)

Meg Baird — Furling (Drag City)

Pile — All Fiction (Exploding In Sound)

Tim Hecker — No Highs (Kranky)

Califone — Villagers (Jealous Butcher)

King Krule — Space Heavy (XL/Matador)

This Is The Kit — Careful Of Your Keepers (Rough Trade)

Cory Hanson — Western Cum (Drag City)

Andy Shauf — Norm (Anti-)

Patrick Masterson

Pile —  All Fiction (Exploding in Sound)

Yves Tumor — Praise a Lord Who Chews But Which Does Not Consume; (Or Simply, Hot Between Worlds) (Warp)

Wednesday — Rat Saw God (Dead Oceans)

Jayda G — Guy (Ninja Tune)

Ryuichi Sakamoto — 12 (Milan)

Malla — Fresko (Solina)

Skech185 — He Left Nothing for the Swim Back (Backwoodz Studioz)

Emahoy Tsege Mariam Gebru — Jerusalem (Mississippi)

Meg Baird — Furling (Drag City)

Andrea — Due in Color (Ilian Tape)

Memphis LK — Too Much Fun EP (Remote Control)

BigXthaPlug — Amar (United Masters)

Andrew Forell

Algiers — Shook (Matador)

King Vision Ultra — Shook World (Hosted by Algiers)

Asher Gamedze — Turbulence & Pulse (International Anthem)

99LETTERS — Makafushigi (Disciples)

The Drin— Today My Friend You Drunk the Venom (Drunken Sailor)

Comet Gain — The Misfit Jukebox (Tapete)

billy woods & Kenny Segal — Maps (Backwoodz Studioz)

Kevin Richard Martin — Above the Clouds (self-released)

SQÜRL — Silver Haze (Sacred Bones)

The Murder Capital — Gigi’s Recovery (Human Season)

Parasite Jazz — Paradise Jazz (Disques de la Spirale)

Christian Carey

The Reds, Pinks, and Purples — The Town that Cursed Your Name (Slumberland)

Aaron Cassidy —  A Way of Making Ghosts (Kairos)

Arrowounds —  In the Octopus Pond (Settled Scores)

V/A – Red Hot and Ra: Nuclear War LP (Red Hot)

Oval —  Romantiq (Thrill Jockey)

Meg Baird —  Furling (Drag City)

Black Duck —  S/T (Thrill Jockey)

Mother, Sister, Daughter —  Musica Secreta (Lucky Music)

Natural Information Society – Since Time is Gravity (Eremite)

Alasdair Roberts —  Grief in the Kitchen and Mirth in the Hall (Drag City)

Fever Ray —  Radical Romantics (Mute)

James Romig —  Spaces (Sawyer Editions)

Brad Mehldau —  Your Mother Should Know (Nonesuch)

Nina Berman and Steve Beck —  Milton Babbitt: Works for Treble Voice and Piano (New Focus)

Marc Ducret —  Palm Sweat (Out of Your Head)

Jennifer Grim —  Through Broken Time (New Focus)

Erkki — Sven Tüür: Canticum Canticorum Caritatis (Alpha Classics)

James Ilgenfritz —  #entrainments (Frequent Seams)

Brandon Lopez —  vilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevile (TAO Forms)

Lonnie Holley —  Oh Me Oh My (Jagjaguwar)

John Liberatore —  Catch Somewhere (New Focus Recordings)

Sebastian Rochford, Kit Downes —  A Short Diary (ECM Records)

Frederic Rzewski —  Late Piano Works (Naxos)

Rebecca Saunders —  Skin (NMC)

Guided by Voices —  La La Land (self— released)

Susan Narucki and Donald Berman —  This Island (Avie)

Chamber Music From Hell —  Chris Opperman (Purple Cow)

Elkhorn —  On the Whole Universe in All Directions (Centripetal Force)

Purling Hiss —  Drag on Girard (Drag City)

Caterina Barbieri —  Myuthafoo (light-years)

Yo La Tengo — This Stupid World (Matador)

Ian Mathers

Fifteen, in alphabetical order:

Aarktica — Paeans (Projekt)

Acid King — Beyond Vision (Blues Funeral)

ALL HANDS_MAKE LIGHT — “Darling the Dawn” (Constellation)

Avalon Emerson — & the Charm (Another Dove)

Brìghde Chaimbeul — Carry Them With Us (Tak:til)

The Drin — Today My Friend You Drunk the Venom (Feel It)

Ladytron — Time’s Arrow (Cooking Vinyl)

loscil // Lawrence English — Colours of Air (Kranky)

Meg Baird — Furling (Drag City)

Mute Duo — Migrant Flocks (American Dreams)

The National — First Two Pages of Frankenstein (4AD)

Tacoma Park — Tacoma Park (Self Released)

Tørrfall — Tørrfall (De Pene Inngang)

Yo La Tengo — This Stupid World (Matador)

Yves Tumor — Praise a Lord Who Chews but Which Does Not Consume; (Or Simply, Hot Between Worlds) (Warp)

Derek Taylor

New releases

Kirk Knuffke & Joe McPhee Quartet + 1 — Keep the Dream Up (Fundacja Sluchaj)

Natural Information Society — Time is Gravity (Eremite/Aguirre)

Aruán Ortiz — Serranias — Sketchbook for Piano Trio (Intakt)

Mark Dresser — Tines of Change (Pyroclastic)

Andrew Cyrille — Music Delivery/Percussion (Intakt)

Steve Millhouse — The Undwinding (Steeplechase) 

Archival Releases

The Jazz Doctors — Intensive Care/Prescriptions Filled: The Billy Bang Quartet Sessions 1983/1984 (Cadillac)

Milford Graves w/ Arthur Doyle & Hugh Glover — Children of the Forest (Black Editions)

Abdul Wadud — By Myself (Bisharra/Gotta Groove)

Sirone — Artistry (Of the Cosmos/Moved By Sound)

Marion Brown — Mary Ann: Live in Bremen 1969 (Moosicus)

Steve Swell’s Fire Into Music — For Jemeel: Fire From the Road (2005-2006) (RogueArt)

Margaret Welsh

Wheatie Mattiasich — Old Glow (Open Mouth)

Rozi Plain — Prize (Memphis Industries)

Glass Triangle — Blue and Sun-lights  (Relative Pitch)

Andy Shauf — Norm (Anti)

Yo La Tengo — This Stupid World (Matador)

Horse Jumper of Love —Heartbreak Rules (Run for Cover)

Bill Orcutt  — Jump On It (Palilalia)

Lana Del Rey — Did You Know That There’s A Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd (Interscope)

[jorjmush]

breaking news: idiot with a fish hits 255 and kills god heres the part where i do a personal review all parts of the arcane river story

dont take these seriously

the adversary as a character 0/10: words dont describe how bad he is "...Oh!" "...Ah!" shut up youre an insult to every maplestory class

lost temple keeper + vanishing journey: 7/10

i did this in 2017 but most of the content is fetch quests and an introduction to completely new things you have no attachment to maybe i should give it a little more credit as the kao twist being revealed for the first time was kinda cool and the talk amongst the fandom

reverse city: 7/10 apparently i did this in 2021? i guess that makes sense because this didnt exist in 2017 why is earth real and called friends world still not invested in the story by this point but i liked t-boy

chu chu island: 6/10 this is when i came back so i actually think this story is quite fun and i liked the characters involved but in the grand scheme of things, its not good

feels like filler, wasnt truly important until yum yum was added YEARS LATER, feels like a waste of 5 levels when i still feel like you should fight the black mage at 250 instead of 255

yum yum island: 9/10 cooooooooool cooooooooooooooooooool has the same fun and and loveable whimsy of chu chu but this time it sets up something sinister and adds to the plot

the afrien fusion, the kaling reveal, chefs kiss

lachelein + crack of subconscious: 8/10 honestly i wasnt very invested in this lucid just makes this interesting

plus im a shade so i get extra dialogue

also this town name sucks gms hates non-english words

arcana: 7/10

rock spirits and i love the spirit of harmony was this just setup for tana

morass: 10/10

alright we getting into PLOT jean deserved better, tana deserved better, arkarium deserved what he got, shey deserved better, kritias deserved better

the flying fish TALKS and the moment where he takes the form of jean and shows himself to tana is so AMAZING i love this TRAGIC STORY

the maps are awful though especially if youre low on arcane force which i was

esfera: 8/10

why dont i actually remember much of what happened here i guess the information of tana has been so stuck in my head it doesnt feel like it was presented as new information to me anymore lots of nice exclusive dialogue here though and we get to meet ollie sellas: 11/10 i will cry right here right now this is such a good story with good atmosphere and pacing i CARE for both ollie and shubert greatly

moonbridge: 8/10

this is when the pacing and structure becomes spotty because it was part of the event i chose not to participate in which means i didnt get the full experience theres just so much dread in this questline so many losses from not being ready to fight the black mage the pacing towards the second half is bad though the cutoff is so strange because it feels like you have another 30 minutes to go when really you have 5 labyrinth of suffering: 8/10

hillas beats the shit out of your morale for an hour the dread continues and continues it shall tons of exclusive dialogue, always a favorite limina: 5/10 i feel like im supposed to feel more i feel like im supposed to do more all of the bosses are very weak which is very unsatisfying, orchid is tsundere and says the adversary hasnt lost anything which ranges from maybe true to absurdly false depending on who you are the claudine vs cygnus scene is legitimately pointless, nothing can describe in words how pointless it truly is the flying fish DIES and then suddenly you have to fight the black mage the black mage whos phases last 4 seconds in story mode i only ever got hit once

the adversary dying did make me actually sad though because everyone else thinks youre truly dead the flying fish comes back (yay) and then its revealed NO ONE DIES? and most of the soldiers get UNSNAPPED? the story finishes with orchid being tsundere again and your idiot of a character sitting on the flying fish leaving the scene

i feel like im in a cartoon

kaos memory: 8/10 a tragedy of a character destined to die kao deserved better shade aftermath: 10/10 thank god he gained a reason to live conclusion: why did i even type this out im just ready to move on to the grandis story

[bookwyrminspiration]

38, 40, 48 ? for the book ask thing !

38. have you ever met an author in real life?

I "met" Jennifer A. Nielson when she visited my elementary school in like 4th grade or something, but as for actually going to events intentionally and meeting authors? Unfortunately nope--where I live isn't really on the map for author trips or events except the occasional local one. And they're authors I don't know, so I haven't gone

40. do you own any “rare” or “collector” books?

I do! I have The Martyr Presidents by William M. Thayer, published in 1882, which my grandfather passed onto me and used to belong to his mother, I believe. Used copies can go for upward of 750 USD online. It's a little beat up and I always try to be careful with it, but it's in pretty good condition. As for collectors editions of things, I own a collector's edition of Twilight, but it's not too special--my dad's got some fun collector/special editions of things though!

48. what book would you give someone if they wanted a glimpse into your psyche?

I answered this earlier and said The Twilight Saga, but I think also reading Keeper of the Lost Cities could tell you a lot about me for better or for worse. OH perhaps Kitchen by banana yoshimoto as well!

[onestepbackwards]

Well, I hope you know that now that I've talked about it, I'm writing bits of it. I am this close to just making an OC and doing a full blown story with it. I hope you're happy (I am! But also dreading the writing process...)

Here's a tidbit of the Slumbering Gods AU!

***

You were putting off actually going into the tunnels. You could go to the other stations first, but the higher-ups made it clear they wanted the underground documented as well. As most of the maps had been lost, and while you were no master cartographer you certainly could make a basic, legible map. You weren’t too worried about wild Pokemon, as you and yours have dealt with them often enough, and have also undergone rudimentary Pokemon Training and even participated in mock battles (that you rarely won, but that’s what happens when you face off against experts whose entire careers bank on battling ability). 

It was just. Well. Being in a dark, confined space, with no guarantee of finding an exit… the possibility of getting lost down there, perhaps trapped in a cave-in, or a Pokemon causing the tunnel to collapse, or getting ambushed by a Pokemon while you’re alone… not to mention all the spooky, supernatural, superstitious dangers that could possibly lurk down there in the deep, dark, tunnels that span across the entire city and possibly the entire region.

You were scared.

But, of course, you could only put it off for so long And your superiors might begin to notice if you didn’t at least make an attempt, and soon. It sucked, but you suppose this is what happens when you talk out of turn. Though, you heard that the knight you scolded had been forced to take remedial history lessons with a focus on the influence of past customs and systems had on their modern day lives. The Tangela of gossip was a sweet thing, sometimes.

Finally, you got a backpack ready, alerted your superiors and fellows of your next venture, and made sure to get an extra good offerings for the station. A collection of the best berries you could this season, a box of those little cake collections, some chocolate, some tea and coffee in disposable take-away mugs, and of course more energy drinks. You thought about getting alcohol, but you remember the ‘no drinking’ signs half-faded on the walls, as well as on some pamphlets and books you had managed to salvage (the book-keepers had been ecstatic at your finds, certainly), and decided against it. If this was a ‘no alcohol zone’ then you would respect that. 

Shade was a cool comfort at your side, watching your back even before you entered the tunnel. Houdini was whizzing about and cackling, excited for this new adventure. You were too, you just- had to get going. Once you’re in the tunnel, and had some time to adjust, you’d be fine. You know you will. You’ve done this before in actual caves. Far less stable. Far more winding and easier to get lost in. But they also had maps, and -usually- markers. This did not.

(There have also not been rampant rumours of people disappearing in the tunnels, and the few who make it back out are change, haunted looks sunk in emancipated faces, moaning and screaming and crying, stuttered warnings of demons and monsters, figures of bright lights and clinging shadows and horrifying ramblings of the mad and dying. They always died, not long after being found.)

You dropped down onto the tracks, having tested to make sure it wasn’t live. Just in case. Better safe than electrocuted to death. Your ears pricked when your landing echoed through the open space, and you swore you heard something in the gaping maw of the tunnel entrance. Like a shifting in the walls, a dusty, whispering skittering or scuttling.

Pokemon, probably. You don’t know whether to feel comforted by that or not.

You breathe, deep and slow, steeling yourself for the journey ahead-

“HAUN!” 

You scream.

You could have cleared the platform with how high you jumped at Houdini appeared in front of you, a weak Astonish adding flare to his scare. He laughs, rolling through the air as tears of mirth fall from his eyes.

“Houdini!” You screech, you don’t deny it, “You little shit! That wasn’t funny!” You are more incensed by the instinctive tears that pricked your eyes, and you know you will laugh at this later, but right now you are scared and nervous and your bastard of a Pokemon saw an opportunity to scare ten years off your life.

Shade is disapproving, clearly scolding her fellow Ghost Type along with threatening, if by the way she flies after him as he runs away from her retribution is anything to go by.

“Alright guys, enough playing around, let’s get- hey!” You yell as Houdini snatches the torch at your waist while he passes you by, using you as a shield against an angry Shade, and uses the torch to make scary faces at them both. This only pisses Shade off more, and she actually throws ice at him. He dodges and makes for the tunnel, Shade in hot pursuit, and unthinkingly you follow after.

“Guys! Wait! Houdini, Shade, both of you need to settle down!” You yell after them, following the flailing light that your pilfering poltergeist had nicked. You give a small prayer to the station, “Please. Please, please, please, don’t let me get lost and die here. Don’t let me get lost and die. I don’t wanna die because of something stupid like this.” 

Somehow, you lose sight of the light. You lose the sound of your Pokemon. You reach for your spare, and pull out a notebook, and as you carefully make your way through the tunnel, marking your way as best you could, you call for your Pokemon. Hoping they answered, and feared what would happen if something else answered.

It’s okay. You know which direction your going. You have a compass. You marked out the locations of other known stations within the city. You roughly calculated how long it would take to reach one by walking (you tried. You’re lowballing it at six-hours, but it could be a full day of walking and you would rather not camp here-) and you have enough provisions to last at least three days. Four if you ration. Six if you really ration. And that’s assuming you don’t find something to eat down here.

Or get eaten.

Okay! Bad thought. Let’s try good thoughts. Shall we? 

…

Wow this is harder than you thought.

Okay. Okay. Good thoughts. Positive. You haven’t run into any wild Pokemon, or cave ins, and the tunnels look structurally sound. Which is impressive, considering it’s been- what? Nearly three centuries? More than two, you know. The rest you’re unsure of. The records are iffy, so clear dates are hard to come by. Which every scribe is universally miffed by.

Your ears prick at the sound of scuttling. It’s distant. You freeze all the same. Strain your ears for the source. Tilt and turn your head back and forth. Slow. Careful. Steady and quiet your breathing. Distant. Getting quieter. Farther. Gone. 

You sigh. And decide that calling out is too risky. You continue on, deeper and deeper, on and on. You turn off your torch, when you feel rumbling, when you hear skittering, when you feel a breeze that shouldn’t be there. When you want to be, you can be near-invisible. Unnoticed. Unseen. Ignored and unimportant. Not worth the time. 

You still feel watched. You almost wish it was Houdini, planning another scare or a prank.

You feel the wall curve, and follow. You turn your light on, see that the track tilts to the left and down. You follow.

Left and down.

Left and down.

Left and down.

Left and down.

You blink. Left and down. You blink again. Can trains bend this way? They had couplings, you know, connections that allowed them some flexibility so they could turn. But to turn, and turn, and turn? Why does that seem wrong?

Left and down.

Well, it’s not like you have seen a proper train before. Most of them were buried and abandoned on these very tracks. Or destroyed during the various conflicts during the Time Of Strife, the Chaos Period. The line straightens, and you sigh. Continuing. You glance down as the sound of crunching changes in tone, dry and brittle compared to the gravel and pebbles of the tunnels.

You see white. You look back up.

Left and down.

The tracks themselves are in surprisingly good condition. You would think that the tracks, rails, would have suffered from oxidation. Rust should be coating them, but they look fine. A little dirty, maybe, but perfectly functional to your non-trained eyes. The wood would rot, though, surely? You lean down and press against the wood, it held firm and did not yield. Strong. Good quality? Maybe the dry, cool air helped preserve everything? You know that is important for preserving things.

You looked up, ignoring the white, and checked the walls. Bleak grey with lightless light fixtures. Concrete. That’s good. You were worried it would be stone and rock and dirt. Far less stable than reassuring concrete.

You look down, avoiding the white. The rails are thin lines crossed with stone. Concrete. Something.

Left and down.

You blink. You may have gone the wrong way. But it hasn’t been too long. You can go back up, maybe take a different tunnel. You think there is a divergence somewhere. You turn around, back the way you came.

Down and left.

You continue, hand grazing the wall. Feel it change from concrete, to something smooth and cold like glass. Tile. Then something rougher. Stone. Then softer. Dirt. Then harder. Concrete. You don’t look. You know. The walls are changing. The rails are changing. You do not look.

Down and left.

Ah. You are lost. Your feet hurt. Your legs are beginning to ache. You know that isn’t right, since you’ve lived an active life, and books are no light cargo. You haven’t been walking that long. Have you?

You stop. You stare at the tunnel ahead.

Down and left.

Turn around. Look back around the other way.

Down and left.

This is really well done! Bravo! (´▽`ʃ♡ƪ)

I really hope you continue this, whether its a reader insert, or oc, the concept is incredibly interesting! You can also really feel the anxiety here! You did really well! I dunno, the concept alone of Ingo and Emmet being Forgotten Gods is so good, i think I've talked about this idea a while back in some friend's dms. It was such a fun topic! The world building though you have here is amazing! It's genuinely a good read! The idea of such a bleak future, and finding such caring gods who want to help you,,, its sweet. Even if you get terribly lost in their domain first jfkjdfjsfj I do hope you continue this at some point!