#so that function for me is just. a wasteland. a graveyard

[lightningbig]

its just me and the 300+ open ao3 tabs on my phone against the world

[radioactive-reactions]

How would the companions react to the courier fixing up an RV and wanting them and her to move out the Mojave after the battle (also if it's not too much, also Christine and Ulysses)

Great prompt! The image of the Courier with a car kind of makes me miss the Highwayman from Fallout 2...

Functioning vehicles were few and far between as far from the NCR heartland as the Mojave, but if anyone was going to find one, it was the Courier. Not content to simply rest on their laurels, they planned to leave the Mojave in search of greener pastures- or, more likely, slightly less desolate deserts. All that remained was getting their steadfast companions on board...

Raul gave the RV a once-over, checking for any outstanding mechanical problems before he committed to an answer. “Well, boss, I can say with reasonable confidence that we’re not going to die in a horrible microfusion explosion. Sure, let’s see if we can find a less depraved chunk of arid nothingness.”

Boone climbed in nearly as soon as the Courier asked, claiming one of the seats for himself. “I thought you’d never ask. The sooner I can get out of this... graveyard, the better.”

Veronica was hesitant- unlike most of the companions, she had ties to the Mojave that she was reluctant to give up on a whim. “...Can I get back to you on that? Not that I don’t think seeing the great beyond wouldn’t be nice and all, just... well, the Brotherhood tends to frown on deserters.”

Cass pretended to think about it, if only to give the impression that she wasn’t quite so eager to leave. “...Why the hell not? I’m up for a bit of trailblazing. Cassidy Caravans is ash in the wind; not like there’s anything waiting for me back west.”

Arcade chewed his lip, mentally weighing his options. “Huh. Well, uh- huh. Tell you what- if we can talk to Julie, get this little excursion approved as an expeditionary mission, sure. As fun as walking the wasteland is, my main goal’s still helping people, you know?”

Lily shook her head, otherwise unmoving. “GRANDMA’S TOO OLD FOR A VACATION. BUT YOU HAVE FUN, DEARIE! DON’T FORGET TO WRITE!”

Christine was just as receptive as Boone, albeit a touch more enthusiastic about the prospect. “Please. I’ve had enough of fighting for a lifetime. Two lifetimes, even, the way it feels.”

Ulysses chewed on the question for a good while, his expression as unreadable as ever as he surveyed the broken Divide. “Turn my back on this place a second time? Hm. No... No use staying among the ghosts. Divide keeps living, Courier, as long as the both of us carry its history, its marks. Say the word and I’ll go with you- carve out a new history somewhere, if we’re lucky.”

[theimpossibleg1rl]

Without Her | Mini Series | two.

Bucky Barnes x OFC Frankie Chambers

Warnings: mentions of violence, mentions of abuse, mentions of suicide, angst, heartbreak

A year.

One whole damn year without her. The nightmares had finally stopped and Bucky was sleeping a little better. The bed didn’t feel quite as lonely. But he still hadn’t had the heart to move out of the room they shared together.

He thought about her less and less. No one seemed to know where she went and he’d given up on asking months earlier. It didn’t matter so much anymore. She’d obviously moved on without him.

He felt like a ghost and like the tower was a graveyard. Like he wasn’t really there, he was just merely existing. He’d given up hope at least six months earlier, that hope that she’d show up one day. That she’d beg for his love. And she’d never leave him again.

But it never happened and he knew for certain now that it never would.

His love was gone.

He tried to function. He went on missions. He hung out with the team on occasion. He put on a mask, pretending that he was fine, telling everyone that would listen that he was over Frankie. That he was okay now.

But Bucky was sure he’d never be okay again.

****

He rolled over and buried his face in her pillow, his heart clenched at the thought that her scent had long faded. He wished he had something, any little thing of hers left to remind him. But she’d taken any trace.

He wandered around the tower, no particular destination in mind. He tried to keep her out of his thoughts, but it was proving difficult today for some reason. He just wanted to know if she was okay. Wherever she was.

Making his way into the kitchen, Steve was sitting at the table, sipping a cup of coffee as he scrolled through his phone. He looked up and gave Bucky a tired smile. “How you feeling?”

Bucky shrugged. He really didn’t want to open his mouth. He knew it would all come spilling out if he did. “I’m fine, Steve,” he lied, filling up a cup of his own, trying to hide the obvious pain on his face.

“You’re a terrible liar.”

Bucky rolled his eyes. He was so tired of just...everything. He wanted to tell everyone to just fuck off and mind their own. It was his life, right? That meant he could live it however he saw fit.

“You wanna talk about it, Buck?”

He shook his head. He’d said everything he needed to say about the situation. It had been a year. He should be better now. He should be healed, moving on. Maybe dating someone else. He was sure Frankie had.

“I need you to find me a mission, Steve,” he told him, no emotion in his voice. He was simply exhausted. “Something to keep my mind off all the bullshit. Something to keep me busy for a few weeks.”

Steve nodded. He understood. He’d dealt with those feelings, too. “I’ll see what I can find,” he agreed. “I’m sure Fury has something open.” Bucky hummed in agreement and downed the rest of his coffee.

He needed to get out of the tower. That was the only cure at this point. Go on a mission. Kill some bad guys. Throw himself into whatever he needed to do. Anything to get his mind off of her.

****

Two months.

It was freezing. Bucky was wrapped in a thick sweater. Blanket around his body, but it was still so damn cold. Why he agreed to take a mission in a frozen wasteland, he couldn’t quite explain it.

But it was a distraction from her. He barely had time to think of anything other than the mission. Getting in. Extracting the information. Kill some Hydra assholes. Burn the goddamn building to the ground.

He closed his eyes and tried to sleep. He just needed to sleep for a few hours so that he could be functioning the next day. He needed to think about the mission. His strategy. How he was going to get in and get out.

It wasn’t long before she invaded his thoughts. Weaved in and out of his dreams. Her long dark hair blowing in the wind, her bright green eyes. The smile, the one that made his heart hammer in his chest.

He didn’t want to wake. He wanted to stay like this for the rest of his life. Just seeing her. Hearing her infectious laugh. The way the corners of her eye ya would crinkle. Genuine joy flowing from her.

When was the last time he actually saw her that way?

****

He woke with a start. His phone buzzing loudly on the bedside table. Goddammit. Whoever it was was going to get an earful for pulling him from that dream. Reaching over, he grabbed it, his eyes trying to adjust in the darkness.

New text from Nick Fury:

Need to pull you out. Something happened. Get home.

The text made his blood freeze in his veins. What was so serious that Fury was pulling him from the mission? Whatever it was, it couldn’t be a good thing. This mission had been too important.

He rolled out of bed, threw his clothes back into the duffel bag and laced his boots. Getting to the jet, he fired it up, a million scenarios racing through his head of what could have possibly gone wrong. Fear sat in the pit of his stomach.

He just prayed that it wasn’t Frankie.

[written-beyond-the-grave]

Graveyard Mysteries

Lonely friendly demon meets lonely angsty black teenager. 

“I'll be on time she said”, she put on foot in front of the other bracing against the frigid breeze and pelting rain.

“On time my ass.”

This was the thirteenth time in a month where Natalie's mom forgot to pick her up from school. Granted, today was a half day, but it was a thunderstorm outside and she lived a couple miles home. Knowing well enough that the buses weren't reliable in this kind of weather she opted to walk.

It had been 45 minutes since she began her journey, and honestly she was over it. Her converses were soaked in hand with her socks, and her feet were numb. Though she usually basked in the cold weather, today was not her day. After “not turning in” her history paper on the African genocide, which Ms. Trenstop lost, and having her McGriddle stolen by a thieving classmate her mood was foul.

“Next time she promises to pick me up, I'll just Uber home,” Natalie grumbled in defeat, “because the audacity of that women to forget about picking me up is getting annoying. But what else is new?”

She continued down the sidewalk until she passed the cemetery and paused momentarily. It wasn't her usual route, but anything that'd get her home faster she'd do. And honestly what else could go wrong? Not like she had any plans with friends or anyone waiting for her at home, at least anyone that cared if she came home or not. With nothing to lose she took the old muddy path through the cemetery that would cut 30 minutes off her walking time to her house.

The squishing of her converse on the muddy path and the sound of rain were the only sounds that kept her company. The Van Truvsten cemetery was the oldest cemetery in Farendalle, first established by Nigel Augustin Van Truvsten who was also the founder of Farendalle of the mid 1800’s. The cemetery was dated to say the least, the place gave off iffy vibes of the feeling of being watched and the occasional chill. But despite that, the cemetery was beautiful. Being designed in the 1800’s the place was home to masterful works of statues and headstones that we're hand carved via hammer and chisel. The cemetery was extremely well taken care of, the grass was clipped to perfection and the vines on some of the tombs added to the aesthetic, but since it was early winter the evergreens were wilted and dead. It looked like a complete wasteland as opposed to a garden of Eden in late spring and throughout summer.

Her head was in the clouds as she walking, pondering what the concept of time travel, whether she should study for the environmental science test she knew would be on some shit, and what she'd have for dinner. Probably red bean rice and chicken. She got so lost in her thoughts that she slipped on an extra slippery spot on the path and fell down a steep hill, she let out a shrill squeak as she hot the bottom.

“You've got to be fu-,” she cut her sentence off short and took a deep breath. This day was getting from back to worse, and it didn't help that the rain got even harder and the lightning started with it's cousin thunder in tow. She didn't mind the lightning, but thunder and her didn't mix like water and leave outs, especially since Natalie had hypersensitive hearing. She was heated.

Her clothes were covered in mud, her phone was missing from her pocket and there was a high chance that she was lost. Not liking the feel of mud against her skin she got up, thinking about how her mother should've picked her up.

She had one job.

“The lady had one job to do and she can't even do it, oh but she can pick up her friends from the airport,” Natalie went on a tangent barely even giving herself a chance to take a breath. “And she has the never to complain about me never being responsible, bitch where?” She started searching for her phone already done with the situation. Google maps better come in clutch for helping her navigate through the cemetery.

“I swear she only keeps me around for her tax returns, lady wouldn't even take me to the doctors for a sprained wrist. ‘Walk it off’, tch I'd like her to walk off into hell and never come back, got me all types of fucked up.”

During Natalie's spiel about her mother, she noticed her phone wasn't too far away from her the whole time. It was tucked in a heap of mud. Trudging over she picked up the device and checked to see if it’d still function, luckily it did. She was about to turn around until her chocolate eyes caught something peculiar, under the mud was a stone. A tombstone to be precise. Using her already ruined sneakers she slid off the mud to read the scripture on it, turning the tombstone upright. Unfortunately it was written in Latin.

Nonetheless her mouth attempted to form the words.

“D-deus, qui animam benedicat venit super hoc sepulcrum, Vannulloth latet, quia caelum non potest salvum facere…” her words were choppy and the pronounciation way off. The words that came out her mouth drew a sinister shiver down her spine.

Was it just her or did the temperature just drop a couple degrees and the storm get even stronger? The lightning cracking against the sky became frequent and was causing her a headache, the overwhelming scent of grass wasn’t helping her case either. The earthy smell barely calmed her high strung nerves. Not wanting to stay at her current location any longer, Natalie reached for her cellular device and plucked it out the mound. She was going to need to put it in some rice later.

Looking around for the last time, she heaved up the hill and navigated the rest of the way home. Completely oblivious to the dark massive shadow that loomed behind her.

*******

Steam rolled out the bathroom door as Natalie stepped out freshly cleansed from the harsh dirt and cold rain, clad in black pyjamas. Her day had been long, but thankfully it was a Friday and the weekend was coming up. The fragrance of shea moisture that previously enveloped her bathroom was now permeating into her connected bedroom.

Expertly evading the clusters of boxes and random clothing haphazardly thrown on the floor, Natalie sat on her plush bed and let out a long sigh, today was something else. The only thing that made her day any better was the leftover Popeye’s in the fridge that, thankfully, her mother hadn’t touched yet. She was barely even through the door when she discarded her bad onto the floor and went straight to the kitchen. Though with a full stomach the days events kept replaying in her mind, something about the lonesome tombstone bothered her. Not to mention the rose quartz crystal in her bracelet was missing, no doubt back at the cemetery when she didn’t notice that it got lost.

“Meow.”

Her vacant staring at the ceiling was broken by her cats meow. Sitting up, the bed creaking against her movements, two green orbs stared at her judging from the open door.

“Yes, Salem.”

The inky cat did move from her spot, just unblinkingly stared back into the depths of Natalie’s soul and meowed again. This time louder.

Giving a quizzical look, “hungry?”

Salem got up and walked off giving Natalie her answer. Not being in the mood to get up, Natalie got up anyway to feed Salem. It was her responsibility after all, and Salem was her animal sidekick not matter how many judgy looks she gave her.

Feeding Salem didn’t take longe, Natalie was ready for a well deserved night of sleep. As she headed up the stairs the hairs on her arms began to stand up and her stomach began to drop. It felt suffocating, but why? Shaking the feeling off as a random attack of anxiety and nothing more she opened her bedroom door and put herself to bed, leaving the door slightly ajar for Salem.

*******

She didn’t know why she was up at 3:16 in the morning, the bright red lights of her clocked glowed in her stinging and drooping eyes, but one thing she knew was that she never opened the window last night, so where was the breeze coming from? More importantly, why was the same feeling of dread and scent of old earth in her room.

Cautiously looking over across from where she was laying, the window was indeed open. Natalie’s eyes wandered more trying to make valid excuses on why her window could be wide open, when she knew there was none.

All movement suddenly stopped when her eyes landed on her ceiling, there it was. A foggy, but very apparent outline of a person on all fours stood upside on her ceiling. Her back straightened and the contractions of her muscles refused to move. She couldn’t take her eyes off it.

‘What is that?’ Though she couldn’t voice it.

The figure who had not moved a muscle began to roam down the wall, towards Natalie. As it made its move down her wall and across the floor towards her, the shadows features bgan to morph, it began to solidify. Its head began to develop large horns that curved to the back of its head and gave into a more angular structure. The figures body began to bulk up, taking on an even more massive and muscular form with spikes riddled along its back and a sweeping tail that crept behind it. Even its hand to grow began to grow long rigid claws that were obsidian like the rest of its body.

At this point the spirit had already reached over the foot of Natalies bed, the scent of earth and the feeling of fear was overwhelming. The mass loomed over her, and slowly came close to her face, however, the room was silent, the sound of blood pumping in her ears was the only thing that kept her company. Gaining a grain of courage, she opened her mouth only for a whimper to come out, this proved to be the wrong move.

She was suddenly met with the face of the dark spirit, with frightened her even more to her very core. Unconsciously she reached for her selenite around her neck that was made for protection. A growl sounded from the figure and right before her two eyes materialized before her.

Two strikingly silver eyes surrounded by black sclera met dark brown ones onwards. Its eyes were rippled with light blue and green seemingly looking like a newly formed nebular that was dispersed. Unblinkly, they both kept eye contact none making the first move, it was like the figure was staring into her soul.

“... H-hi?” her voice squeaked a little towards the end.

It took one of its hands and between its claws layed her missing rose quartz and moved it towards her letting out a low growl.

Looking at what was in its possession, Natalie sat there contemplating if she should really risk taking it from what she could only categorized as a demon. It didn't look like the demon was going anytime soon by the way she felt its piercing gaze, so she slowly reached out with shaky hands to take the crystal back.

She let out a shaky ‘thank you’ as the claws released the cool crystal into her palm, slightly grazing against her skin but not enough to draw blood. The silence that followed in the room was pregnant, she got the crystal back. What else was there for the demon? Coming to her senses, how did a demon get here in the first place? She was always careful to place salt around the corners of her bedroom and on her windowsill. Drowning in her thoughts, one word haphazardly slipped out her lips.

“Vannulloth.”

This automatically snapped the demon’s attention back towards her, dipping its head in acknowledgement she didn’t expect.

“... Your name is Vannulloth?”

It proceeded to dip its head again.

“Ok, um,” getting slightly more comfortable, “you returned my crystal, and I thank you for that, but why are you still here?”

Something in that sentence emitted a deep growl and lowered the temperature of the room.

Clicking her tongue, “you don’t want to go, do you?”

A soft exhale was her only response.

“How about we talk until sunrise? You don’t have to go just yet and I’m not going to bed anytime soon,” she slowly surmised.

It took a minute, but the demon with its gaze still on Natalie huffed in agreement.

With a tiny smile and a couple of words, it all began. The beginning to dubois friendship between a human and an uncharacteristically friendly, yet forsaken demon entity.

“My name is Natalie.”

E. A. Effrosyni

[blogging-phelddagrif]

Legacy Deck Tech: Painter’s Masterpiece

[you can see every deck tech here]

Hello & welcome to this weekly deck tech! This week it’s time to talk about some Legacy & I thought I’d bring something very special to the table. I was looking at all the Masterpiece series, Expeditions & Invocations to see if you could actually make a deck with them; turns out you can! There’s this deck called Painter’s Servant in Legacy which is pretty fringe and most deck lists vary a lot depending on the user, but all of the key cards have been printed as those special series so it’s entirely possible to make a deck with them. Now, a regular version of this deck is probably around 2000$, mostly since you need some dual lands, but this Masterpiece deck is...a bit more expensive...

So yeah, BY NO MEANS do I recommend you guys to buy this deck, please don’t hold me responsible if you decide to spend 12k on a deck...Though I know there are some people out there collecting Masterpiece series cards, so by all means if you already have those cards lying around like some sort of rich aristocrat, please try out this deck since it’s really really fun. Let’s get right to it.

Name of the Deck

This card lends it’s name to the deck because it’s your main win condition. The goal of the deck is to play Painter’s Servant and hopefully win on the same turn. We’ll see how in a second, but basically this card turns EVERY card the colour of your choice, including lands, cards in libraries, graveyards, hands, stack, you name it! The colour you’ll choose won’t matter, I personally like naming Green, but that’s entirely up to you!

How to Win

And this is how the deck wins. It’s really simple, you play the Painter’s Servant, name a colour and with Grindstone you target your opponent once and they’ll mill their entire deck out since the cards will always share a colour! The only card that completely shuts down your deck is Emrakul...so if you end up playing against a Show & Tell deck you’ve probably already lost...Other than that the deck has some really good match-ups all around though!

Explosive Start

The deck is a combo deck, and because of that the plan is to go off as fast as you possibly can. For that you NEED mana rocks, so I’d recommend going with full playsets of Lotus Petal, Mox Opal & Chrome Mox. With enough of those cheap rocks you can potentially win on turn 1 (though it requires you a perfect hand and for your opponent to not have a Force of Will...) but it’s realistic to win on turn 3 fairly easily.

Protecting Your Combo

As any combo deck should, you need to have some ways of protecting your stuff. The go-to cards are Force of Will & Daze, you need to play both of them to really make sure you can do your stuff without any problems. Plus, having those cards really help you fend off other combo decks that would otherwise be a problem for you.

Say “No” to Counters

Another great way to protect your combo is to prevent your opponent from playing anything on your turn! Honestly I think Defense Grid is really underrated in Legacy, since it completely prevents your opponent from using Force of Will which is one of the most played card of the format, and it also forces them to play everything at sorcery speed, including Brainstorm, another one of the most played cards of the format. Just be careful, if you play this against another combo deck you just shot yourself in the foot...

Legacy All-Star

I’ve said this a lot over the past decade or so, Chalice of the Void is one of the best magic cards ever printed, and it’s even more true in Legacy. Most decks will play cards of CMC 1 & 2, with some rare 3 here & there; but playing a Chalice on 1 will turn off SO MANY DECKS. I’ve played a Pox deck for a while and you’d be surprised how many people have straight up conceded because of a Chalice on turn 1. Just be careful not to hinder yourself when playing this.

Modern All-Star

While this card shines more in Modern, Blood Moon still sees it’s fair share of play in Legacy and is really good in this deck. Your deck is mostly colourless and your only blue cards can be cast for free, so honestly Blood Moon doesn’t affect you. On the other hand this card is a massive pain in the ass for a lot of decks, including control & tempo, which are the majority of the meta. Oh, and the Lands deck also HATES this card.

Another Star?

Oh hey look another amazing card across all the formats! Ensnaring Bridge is just so good against so many decks. If you’re able to get this down with a Blood Moon & Defense Grid I honestly don’t know what your opponent can do to get out of this, at least before sideboard. This card can buy you so many turns.

Mana Base

Normally the deck would play a mix of fetches & duals with a playset of Ancient Tomb for some extra fast first turns and some good fixing, but since the deck is Masterpiece only duals are a no-go. I’d recommend playing some Scalding Tarns, Steam Vents, Wasteland & Cascade Bluffs; 18 lands should be enough sicne you have a lot of mana rocks at 0cmc. I’ve tested a bit and the curve is really smooth with these lands.

Situational Cards

You have some decent sideboard options but I HIGHLY recommend going with Engineered Explosives, Pithing Needle, Sphere of Resistance & Trinisphere. Those cards all offer some really nice utility against different decks, as well as some ways to keep some decks in check. You just need to learn what cards are in your opponent’s deck to know which card to bring in, but all those sideboard cards should cover most decks, except maybe Reanimator, but you already have Ensnaring Bridge which kind of shuts down Griselbrand so...

Wrap-Up

That’s it for this week! I hope you guys enjoyed this deck tech as much as I did. Again, BY NO MEANS am I recommending you buy this deck, for god’s sake it’s worth 12k! I’m just saying it’s possible to make a viable Legacy deck with only Masterpiece cards and that the deck is really fun! The deck functions as a prison-type deck, preventing your opponent from doing anything while you assemble your combo. You can either win on turn 2 or 3, or go the prison route, play it safe, and win on turn 10-12, it depends on your match-up. In any case, if I missed anything please let me know. I’ll see you guys next week for a Pauper deck tech!

[fortey]

The Pitch for Anomaly

So, to the best of my knowledge, when you want to write a comic book that you have created, you pitch the idea to an editor/publisher and see what they think.  This is the pitch I came up with for Anomaly.  Let me know what you think...

Ongoing series written and created by Ian Fortey with art by Bob Herron.

TAGLINE

“They are the fearful but determined. They are the brutal but unknown. They are the soulless but efficient.  You are Anomaly.”

HIGH CONCEPT

Only one girl has adapted to survive What Came After.  In a world where the very air will scorch your lungs and monsters in forms both pleasant and terrifying bide their time, can she hope to save what remains of mankind?

Mad Max meets Pacific Rim in the shadow of the Pitch Black universe

STORY

Long ago, long before anyone alive could remember, we lived Above.  Then, from somewhere beyond, came the Unkind.  The Unkind were not like us.  The Unkind thrived on human emotion – our fear and rage fueled their very existence.  Their essence was influenced by the psychic energy of the beings around them.  The Fear Unkind grew malicious and diabolical, The Hate Unkind grew powerful and cunning and the Anger Unkind fought with boundless rage.  

We were strong before. We produced the great Centurions, an army of massive robotic warriors to fight off the threat of the Unkind.  But even Centurion bodies have weaknesses, and Centurion minds were corruptible.  Many fell in battle. Others were plagued by the most insidious Unkind and turned against man.  In the end man and Unkind used every weapon at their disposal.  We all lost.

Below, in the ramshackle maze of felled and buried buildings, old tunnels and reinforced bunkers, a community of survivors, lead by mankind’s unfinished weapon, The Splendid, thrive.  The humans scavenge above for scraps and food but only in short bursts, wearing their re-breather masks designed by the limitless robot brain of The Splendid to protect them from the deadly Toxic.  But one girl is different.  The Splendid calls her Anomaly.

Anomaly has evolved. Her lungs have a nearly mechanical filtration ability, her alveoli a hardened and hearty husk and a her liver has grown stronger and more complex to prevent the Toxic from poisoning her. Anomaly can stay above, perhaps indefinitely.  While the likes of Old Harlo and Qualmy One-Eye try to guide her, they have only ever been able to stay Above for mere moments compared to Anomaly, and so she must discover a terrifying world alone.  

Above is a world so unlike Below.  A world of decimated cities, of the skeletons of Centurions, and of nightmarish danger. It is home to the great Sky King Cicero, a massive raven The Splendid calls a mutation. It is home to The Word, the last Centurion, long since driven mad. It is the home of MechMen, humans merged with machine, and Fleshshaper, a human/Unkind hybrid with god-like powers.

What a world for a young girl to grow up in.  What kind of choice do you have when you can be like everyone else, and stay below, and never really experience any life beyond the stagnation of just surviving, or when you can go where no one else can go, and see what no one else can see, but you must do it all on your own?  You can never share your experiences, you can never rely on someone else who knows more, or can lend a hand.  You can be like everyone else, or like no one else.  There is no in between.  That is what The Splendid means when he says Anomaly.

CHARACTERS

Anomaly.  Both insider and outsider, someone who is always alone.  A girl trying to be a hero for her people, but who knows she’s not really like everyone else and who doesn’t have the guidance that everyone else takes for granted.  

Old Harlo, a gruff but caring old man who struggles with his inability to be the strong man he once was, who is forced to acknowledge a headstrong young girl has abilities he never could and can’t guide her to use.

The Splendid, mankind’s greatest weapon, a truly living Centurion, a mechanical and biological being.  His body was never completed and his motivations are shrouded in secrecy.

Pitch is a MechMan, from a different group of survivors who have adapted by including technology into their bodies.

Cicero is the Waste’s greatest mutation.  Intelligent, but with an inhuman brain, Cicero was created to fight the Unkind. Now he works tirelessly towards his own ends.

The Word is the last of an advanced line of Centurions. Heavily damaged in battle, destructive energy oozing from the massive wound where its face once was.  It has been driven to madness.

The Unkind are a race of physical and metaphysical beings. Their nature is determined by the energy they absorb.  Negative Unkind fought Centurions. But there were also ones influenced by positive emotion.

The Centurions were our great army – artificial intelligence in enormous warrior bodies.

The world of Anomaly is built in the ruins of our own.  It is a story of an apocalypse and the terror of the unknown.  It is also the story of growing up, of trying to find your place, and of not just feeling like you’re different, knowing you’re different.

BREAKDOWN

Part 1: In the world above we meet Anomaly.  She scavenges amidst the remnants of Centurions and the world before.  Here she can be free.  She may be alone, but this is her playground.  She explores as she hunts, cautious of the dangers that lurk in the distance – the Word at his mountain and Cicero. We become familiar with the Waste, the Toxic and how Anomaly survives here.

Anomaly remembers learning of Cicero, of seeing him as a young child with Old Harlo, of him protecting her and explaining the beast.  She recalls the first time she found the Centurion graveyard and the dead Unkind within it.  She remembers being infected by the Unkind, and the Dark Fever overcoming her.

In the present, Anomaly is surprised by The Word and Cicero coming early.  As she turns to return home, she sees living Centurions, coming in her direction.  She flees, at first afraid but then realizing she is Anomaly and she will survive.

Part 2: Anomaly brings news of what she has seen.  The Earth begins to shake and part of Below collapses as the Centurions pass.  The Splendid declares that he is able to detect the Centurions but is unable to connect with them as he should be.

The Splendid’s limited surveillance capabilities indicate The Word has left his mountain.  The Word is dangerous because the power he wields could destroy Below. The Splendid decides Anomaly must investigate.

Anomaly is afraid to leave but knows there is no one else who can do what she can do. Old Harlo tries to comfort her. She speaks with The Splendid and goes Above. She will track The Word and try to learn what he is doing.  As she leaves, the sky burns blue with the Voice of The Word.

Part 3: Anomaly is further into the Wasteland than she has ever been.  She is heading to the Mountain, a place no one has ever gone.  She finds buildings as she travels, small structures that have clearly been built after the war, like hides for hunters.  Someone else is alive, someone not from Below.

Cicero arrives. Anomaly tries to run from him but there is no cover.  She considers fighting but realizes it is hopeless.  Instead of attacking, Cicero lands and regards her curiously.  He places a foot in her way, between her and the Mountain, and uses his beak to nudge her back towards where she came from. She explains she cannot return until she knows what The Word is up to and if he can be stopped.  He is a risk for her people.

Cicero leaves.  The Word is getting closer to her and her to it. As she continues her journey, she is observed in secret.  A being in camouflage wearing a mask follows her.

Part 4: Anomaly is attacked by Pitch, a MechMan.  They are both surprised that the other is able to breathe The Toxic.  A blast from The Word nearly hits them and they flee for cover together.  Pitch explains his people revere The Word.  To them it is almost Godlike.  He explains that the tech on which they rely to survive is supplied by The Word.  Since the end of the War, the Word has been creating machines at the Mountain.  His failed machines were scavenged by MechMen.

Pitch tells Anomaly that The Word fought bravely in the war but suffered a great loss.  His face was destroyed by Unkind and every day at the same time he weeps for his loss.  Anomaly realizes this is what she knows by her Clock as when the Word speaks. He is venting energy from his reactor that overheats due to his damage and threatens to destroy him. His programming has long since been lost and The Word is attempting to build a new army of Centurions.

When they are finally able to see The Word, Pitch realizes he has transformed himself.  No longer a Centurion, The Word has made himself a mechanized Unkind, a merging of machine and monster, a walking nightmare.

Part 5: Pitch is unable to explain why The Word has done what he is doing, and why other Centurions are awake.  The Word and The Centurions are both heading in the same direction, and neither Pitch nor Anomaly know of anything that way. They agree to travel together.

Anomaly fears The Word will head too close to Below.  He frequently blasts Earth and sky with destructive energy.  Pitch explains that his people have functioning Centurion parts in their home, and they use them as energy sources.  He suspects he knows where The Word’s power source is, but when they approach, his tech will not allow him to access it.  The Word is able to link to Pitch’s tech and control parts of his brain and his ability to breathe.  Anomaly leaves to take on The Word on her own.

The Word’s Unkind parts attempt to kill Anomaly but Cicero returns.  He dives for an attack and The Word Speaks.  The blast of energy hits Cicero full bore.  And it does nothing.  The bird attacks and Anomaly uses the distraction to follow Pitch’s instructions. She scales The Word and gains access to his brain.  Inside his energy core, where Pitch said she would find a CPU, she instead finds a human attached to the machine.

Part 6: The human brain of The Word is a withered, deformed husk of a person, scarred and oozing the black residue of Dark Fever.  It rants that Anomaly will never understand the world she lives in, and that the new world will be ruled by Order, the name The Word has given itself.

Order tries to fight Anomaly with Unkind tentacles. But Order is weak and frail and Cicero is keeping The Word off balance.  Anomaly tears Order from the mechanical links holding it in The Word’s brain.  The Word begins to shut down.  Order claims Anomaly is a dumb child alone in a world built to destroy her as it dies.

Outside, Pitch has vanished. Cicero pecks at The Word’s frame before leaving.  Anomaly returns Below.  The Splendid tells her she has exceeded expectations.  The others celebrate her win but she tells Old Harlo she still does not know why The Word was awake or where the other Centurions have gone. Old Harlo explains that the world is bigger than she could ever imagine and there will be many things she will never understand.

And Beyond…

 We’ll see that Cicero was bred to be an ultimate weapon – immune to Centurion energy and though not immune to Unkind, very resistant to them. He is also highly intelligent but he is not human and his brain does not function as a human brain does.  

We’ll see that The Word is not dead.  Order was merely one vessel, and Chaos will soon rise in its place.  Where Order was human with Unkind influence, Chaos will be Unkind with human influence, all wrapped in the long since fractured mind of a machine.

We’ll rediscover Pitch and his MechMen, beings who worship the Machine, who are inextricably linked to them and who have grown mistrustful of biologics.

We’ll learn more of the Splendid whose AI is advanced beyond anything before.  His protection and nurturing of the survivors is not due to emotional attachment but necessity. The Splendid requires humans only insofar as the Splendid requires tools to accomplish his own, secret goals.

We’ll learn of Old Harlo, who was the hero of the survivors before Anomaly came around, the strongest and bravest of all but who was limited by his weakness to the Toxic just like everyone else, and who tries to balance his love of a young girl he raised like a daughter with the acceptance of his own waning relevance.

We will discover The Unkind, a race of beings not so much from another time or another place but another way of being, who crossed into our world and were overwhelmed by humanity and its unrelenting ability to feel.

We’ll discover Fleshshaper, the offspring of man and Unkind, a being as close to God as has ever existed on Earth, the Mother of Cicero and a being able to create life.

We’ll learn more of Anomaly, a girl who suffered loss young, who was unwanted by a mother who thrived on simplicity, and who just wants to be like everyone else while being like no one else.  In any setting from a dull office cubicle to a far-reaching future of monsters and robots, everyone has felt outside even from the inside.  From the most popular athlete to the loneliest band kid, everyone has moments when they doubt their place and wonder just what it is friends and family expect from them, if they are truly valued or just needed for what they can provide.  That is where Anomaly will thrive and grow, as the story of someone rising to incredible challenges while never even being sure if they’re succeeding at being themselves.

[gibberingcultist]

The Dream-Eaters

We just received our last mythos pack of the Dream-Eaters cycle so we will be starting this campaign very soon. A dream come true if you will. We will be playing both the waking and the dream world scenarios as a interconnected 8-part campaign, switching back and forth between the two sets of characters. But first I must read The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath by H.P. Lovecraft (along with the other Randolph Carter short stories). To help set the mood. Find my thoughts on those at the bottom of this entry.

Designers: Matthew Newman, Daniel Schaefer Artists: Lots and lots! Cover image by Cristi Balanescu. Playtime: 60-120 minutes per scenario. BGG Weight: 3 / 5 (based on 2 votes. Ugh!) Mechanisms: Action Point Allowance System, Cooperative Play, Deck / Pool Building, Hand Management, Role Playing, Variable Player Powers

Prologue

It’s Friday the 13th! Uh oh. “Something odd was happening in Arkham, Massachusetts (That’s like every day in Arkham).” A writer by the name of Virgil Gray submitted a story to the Tales from Nevermore  (ode to Poe) magazine in regards to his experiences within the dream  world. Others start to write in, confirming they had similar  experiences. Experts believe it’s a result of some sort of shared mass  hysteria brought on by Virgil Gray’s writings; many of which are  convinced to undergo therapy at the local (insane) asylum. In the end,  nobody really knows why dreams happen or how they function let alone  shared dream experiences. My group of investigators all decide to  recreate Virgil’s dream experiments and check it out for themselves.  Luke and Calvin will enter the dreamworld and will be watched over by a  …rookie cop and a researcher. Sounds good!

Dream World (Alpha Team)

Luke Robinson: The Dreamer (Lead) Luke Robinson seems like he is a pretty powerful investigator. Catherine will be playing him. She got a taste for the Mystic class after playing Norman Withers in the Return to the Dunwich Horror campaign. Luke's Gate Box, which starts in play, will allow him to pretty much escape from any amount of monsters hounding him and will allow for Luke to traverse the board as he see fits. That is until Gate Box has been depleted of charges. She has incorporated many of her favorite attack spells as well as a few spells that seal unwanted chaos tokens. I only hope Calvin Wright is equally capable.

Calvin Wright: The Haunted We probably shouldn't have brought a man referred to as The Haunted into the dreamworld. In fact Calvin is the only investigator not from the Dream-Eaters expansion. Perhaps I should have brought Tony Morgan instead. But I felt like Calvin was more thematic and would seek out Luke in order to keep what ever dreams he may have, under control. Calvin is an interesting investigator, and frankly quite terrifying to play. He starts with zero stats and only acquires +1's to these nonexistent stats when he suffers physical or mental damage. So the more damage he receives, the more powerful he becomes. Due to this strange interaction between pain and strength, he is weak to begin with but slowly grows to be very strong near the end of the scenario. But also he could die at a moments notice. I incorporated the two spirit cards that allow for one last hurrah before being eliminated; Ghastly Revelation and "I'll see you in hell!". Along with a "I'm Outta Here!" card....just in case.

Awake World (Bravo Team)

Tommy Muldoon: The Rookie Cop (Lead) Tommy is one of my favorite playable characters from Mansions of Madness as he starts with Becky, his dependable rifle, equipped. I only wish Tommy started with Becky in hand from the start in Arkham Horror LCG as well. I was spoiled with Ashcan's Duke in the last campaign. Tommy will hopefully act as protector and monster mitigation for Mandy as she focuses on clue gathering.  Tommy will focus on upgrade cards for Becky (and for other weapons) and will stock up on as many asset cards that soak damage/horror for a potential future resupply of income or  ammo for Becky. A Backpack and a Prepared for the Worst will help pull Becky out of his deck faster, especially with Mandy's presence adding to the number of cards that can be searched.

Mandy Thompson: The Researcher The researcher will be our devoted clue gatherer for the waking world. Mandy is a new Seeker investigator for my girlfriend to try out. She chose the starting deck-size of 50(!) cards with Rogue as her secondary class. It's a pretty thick deck and is rather hard to shuffle. Mandy placed as many "resolve when searched" cards into her deck that will hopefully combo well with her special ability. Having 50 cards to search through will make them less likely to appear but the treacheries will be less likely to appear as well. Catherine is heart-broken that she won't be able to take Leo De Luca along with her though. Having her Seeker cards being split between Mandy Thompson AND Luke Robinson of the dream world, will be an added challenge for her when it comes to deck-building and determining which upgraded seeker cards are best for which investigator.

My Shitty Analyses of Randolph Carter’s Short Stories

The Statement of Randolph Carter was good. Although I question the validity of anything undead that would still retain the use of it’s vocal chords. Or knowledge of telephone operation. I would certainly consider Harley Warren a jokester; knowing full well, feeble Randolph Carter couldn’t possibly lift the slab back over the sarcophagi all by himself. B+

The Unnamable has Randolph Carter and a Joel Manton debating and sharing stories amidst a graveyard, their back to a tomb, when they get jumped by a Jello monster. Both characters wake up battered and bruised in a hospital uncertain of the events that befell them. I shall call the creature Bill Cosby. Easy! D+

The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath, the longest of all the short stories featuring Randolph Carter. A younger Randolph goes on a rather lengthy adventure within the Dream World, to which he seeks out an Elder God on the peak of Kadath. Makes me wonder how they are going to pack all of this in to four scenarios. Just know that Randolph traverses a near infinite universe, full of alien cities and vast wastelands filled with strange sentient creatures from all the waking worlds. As if the dreamworld is a place of convergence for all known locations and beings throughout all of time; past, present, and future. Cats seem to be the best guides and protectors of those in need within the dreamworld. I will keep this in mind whenever I see a cat in need of a saucer of milk or a good petting. No man may kill a cat! C

The Silver Key is a decent story. Randolph Carter speaks of growing up and being chained down to adulthood and having all mystery slowly drain out of his world. Until the rediscovery of a special key that unlocks Randolph Carter’s dreamworld. Aka his immense imagination. If Lovecraft used Randolph as a fill in for himself than this story has a lot of insight into how Lovecraft truly felt about the world around him. B+

Through the Gates of the Silver Key is … just too boring to finish. Zzzz