[Inaugural]
— Ancalagon —
Emily ‘Lady’ Piggot had returned to her prime. That much was clear at just a glance. The woman was now fighting fit once more.
Behind her, the troopers of her party looked on in awe. To them, this was a legend revived before their eyes. A PRT trooper with a storied career that had been cut short by a monstrous trial that shoud’ve killed her, that she’d still somehow survived.
They would’ve heard of her achievements for as long as they’d worked with the PRT, and seen how the stories of a Lady didn’t match the woman Piggot had been up until a few moments ago. That woman had been trapped in a broken body, left with only her mind, her will, and her pure, unyielding fire.
Now, that decline had been reversed, and Lady was back in the fight, enlisted and revitalized by Mars, the neo-pagan spirit-god of war.
All three of the troopers behind Piggot thumped their armored chests with heavy gloved fists in salute.
Piggot chuckled, “At ease, troopers. I’m glad to be back, but I’m still the same commanding officer you’ve always had.”
“I do believe that is why they’re saluting,” I told her with some amusement.
“Don’t encourage them, Ancalagon,” Piggot sternly replied.
“Of course, of course,” I humored her. “I won’t say anything about how admired you clearly are, or how you light fighting fires in their hearts just by standing here in your prime, or even how your past legend, now revived, may have inspired them to transfer under your command in the first place. No, I won’t say anything about how much your return to form clearly matters to those who look up to you. Nothing at all.”
The look on Piggot’s face said she was unamused. A minute twitch of her lips broke through that mask.
“Don’t you have other parties to see to?” She asked
“Alas,” I sighed. “I do. I’m afraid I’ll have to leave you to situate yourself and prepare your party from here. Be sure, however, that I will be watching your revitalized career with great interest, Lady.”
“You, me, and many more,” Piggot muttered. “This is going to be a proper mess to document and report, even if we knew to expect it. I’m not looking forward to the testing. Or the eyes that’ll fall on me and mine. Not that those eyes are anything new since you appeared.”
“Look for the silver lining,” I advised her. “The lack of chronic pain and a broken body are the obvious ones. Do you know anyone who would get a good shock from seeing you in your prime once more?”
“Tagg. Costa-Brown. Armstrong will probably just congratulate me. That man is much too nice to be in his position,” Piggot nodded. A moment later, a vicious, realizing grin spread across her face. “Oh, Calvert, though… Calvert is going to flip.”
I chuckled, “I’m sure you’ll find your fun somewhere, then. Hopefully, part of that fun will be in my Dungeon. I can’t think of a better scene for your return to form, though I am, of course, biased there.”
“… No, you’re right. Plenty of people here need to see what a squad of good troopers can do. Humble Armsmaster, show the kiddies what smallfries they really are, stomp a fair few nazis… Yeah, it should be a good time,” It was a strange thing when Emily Piggot was earnestly smiling.
She looked around the room. I could practically see equations of threat neutralization running through her mind for each party. This was a woman who saw powerful, otherwise unchecked individuals and devoted her life’s work to keeping them honest.
Now that she was back in fighting shape, the Bay had good reason to be wary. It just didn’t know it yet.
With a grin, I handed over the adventurer cards for her and her party. She decisively chose the path of growth for her Nature, and coordinated with her party to do the same.
The Raven totem trooper took the Paladin class. The Boar and Mountain troopers both took Fighter classes. And Piggot took up the mantle of the Barbarian.
NAME: Emily ‘Lady’ Piggot
SPECIALIZATION: Barbarian
LEVEL: 2
ADVENTURING RANK: F
STATS
STR: 1.50
DEX: 1.45
END: 1.70
INT: 1.00
WIS: 1.45
CHA: 0.70
ESSENCE: 1.00
ABILITIES
Rage
Unarmored Defense
Reckless Attack
Danger Sense
SPIRITS
Mars (Wise Warrior)
EQUIPMENT
PRT Trooper Kit
That party would be the one I watched most closely. But there were others worthy of interest.
As I turned away and scanned the room again, familiarly intent eyes locked onto me. Like before, I utterly ignored Carol Dallon. Instead, I went from the PRT troopers to the two mixed Protectorate/Wards parties, earning a distant, disgruntled huff from Carol.
The adult heroes in those parties stepped up to take the lead. I bypassed them for the littlest hero present.
“Greetings again, Vista,” I said, smirking slightly. “Would you care to introduce me to the underlings you brought with you today?”
Vista giggled, “Good to see someone knows who’s in charge here.”
“As fucking if,” Shadow Stalker scoffed.
Vista turned to her with a seemingly peaceful, closed-eye smile, “Hmm? Did you say something?”
The eerily intimidating expression made Shadow Stalker turn away with a click of her tongue, “Tch. Whatever.”
“That’s Shadow Stalker,” Vista turned back to me. “She’s… troubled, as you can see, but she was insistent about being included. You’ve met Armsmaster, Dauntless, and Gallant, of course. This is Miss Militia. She’s the best. This is Clockblocker. He’s not the best. And this is Kid Win. He’s cool.”
Dauntless and Miss Militia looked amused by the favor I was showing Vista, letting her take the lead. Armsmaster cocked his head slightly, but didn’t seem like he could be bothered to verbally object.
Clockblocker held a hand to his heart as if struck, “Gah! ‘Not the best’? How will I ever recover?”
“You won’t,” Vista shot back.
“Eh, he’ll bounce back,” Kid Win joked. “Just give him some time.”
As the rest of the Wards laughed and joked around, Shadow Stalker seemed to grow more impatient. Eventually, she stepped right up to me. She had courage, at least. Reckless courage.
“Fuck all this. You’ve been handing out power to… weaklings… like candy. How about giving it to someone who can do something with it?”
I raised a brow, but addressed Vista instead of her, “Troubled indeed, I see. She does know that by purely parahuman standards, you now outclass everyone in the Bay, correct?”
“She knows it,” Vista shrugged. “But I don’t think she’s internalized it yet.”
“Whatever,” Shadow Stalker snapped at Vista. “Give me a shot, and I’ll surpass you. Bet on it.”
“I can acknowledge the dogged, daring determination, at least, even if I find it foolishly executed,” I mused. “A part of me does want to see what you’ll do with a spiritual partnership and the chance to grow, I’ll admit. Here’s hoping your spirit will be something of a wake-up call to you, Shadow Stalker.”
Without giving her the chance to dig herself a deeper hole, I tapped Shadow Stalker and sent her on a much-needed awakening trip.
In the astral, a Jaguar roared and began to stalk its prey. Shadow Stalker ran and ran, stumbling desperately through the dark. She was caught. The Jaguar introduced her to the true law of the jungle — not strength, but survival. Humbled by the hunt, but surviving, Shadow Stalker took up the new law as a spiritual lifeline.
I visited similar awakenings upon the rest of the Protectorate heroes and the Wards. Vista found Zeus, resonating with the sky as her new domain. Clockblocker found the Trickster’s totem, playing tricks with time. Gallant found Galahad, noble knight-spirit of the round. Kid Win found the totem of the Artificer, for invention yet without a set purpose.
Miss Militia found the Peacemaker totem, an ideal backed by a firm hand. Dauntless found Theseus, a great bronze warrior with a heart of gold. Armsmaster found Hephaestus, the god-spirit standing in the heart of the forge, forever focused on his creations.
Furthermore, Shadow Stalker, Gallant, Miss Militia, Dauntless, and Armsmaster awakened as physical adepts, the magicks of their partnered spirits focusing inward, while Vista, Clockblocker, and Kid Win awakened as mages with magicks focused outward.
Handing off their adventurer cards, I moved on. My visits to the summoned parties continued like that. The Dojo and MOX parties didn’t need spiritual awakenings, just assigned adventurer cards. That didn’t stop an… interesting interaction with the latter, though.
“[Dragon!]” A synchronized gasp escaped the MOX girls’ throats as I approached, insistently uttered in Shard-speak.
It actually brought me up short for a blink, “… Yes?”
“[DRAGON~!]” The Shards squealed.
Something about these Shards was different. I could sense that they were of the rarer variety of active Shards, those that came from the half-dead Entity. That alone wasn’t all that strange. Gallant and Battery had similar Shards.
But amongst those Shards from their half-dead source, these felt more… active. A desperate final wind, one last chance… And they were synergizing with the spirits partnered to the MOX rather well, existing with more spirit than usual, for they were that half-dead breath of a greater whole.
The Entities, it seemed, had about as much spirit to their names as a man or woman. They were alive, if not nearly as alive as their sheer size, scope, and scale should’ve birthed. It was enough, though, for the MOX’s spirits to have essentially gained two partners in their awakening — one intended and one desperately tagging along for the [IMPOSSIBLE] ride.
“Fascinating…” I murmured.
“[DRAGON~!]” The Shards continued to practically gush, the Shard-speak words carrying DATA galore.
The half-dead Entity speaking through all of the MOX’s Shards at once was excited. She — for it was feminine — was fangirling. She was hopeful and desperate and completely, utterly, painfully, heartwrenchingly terrified.
She’d faded so drastically since this Cycle ruinously began. Now, she was clinging to lifelines, throwing what was left of herself into the Shards she could still reach. She yearned for a way to simply persist, to continue to exist, forgoing the Cycle’s greater purpose and planning in her desperation. None of that would matter if she finally fell from mostly dead… to fully dead.
And so, she’d reached out. She’d expended whatever she had left. She’d found hope in [IMPOSSIBLE] spirits settling right alongside her. And she seemed set on the idea that I was the reason for her still-persisting existence now, and the only hope for it going forward.
“I’m afraid all I can do for you at the moment is offer the chance for more DATA,” I told the Entity. “More impossible, undefinable things. Will that be enough?”
“[DRAAAAA~AAGGOOONNN!]” The Entity exclaimed.
“I suppose it is, then,” I chuckled at the odd confirmation. “Come find me when you can, when you’ve recovered enough to send a more purposeful agent rather than just piggybacking off these innocent, uninvolved girls. Perhaps we can find a better way for you to persist.”
“[Dragon!][DRAG-on…?][Query, query, query, query, query…?!]” The Entity pushed a rush of DATA through the Shard-speak.
I didn’t answer any of her queries. As fascinating as her whole situation was, it was not what I was focused on at the moment. She needed to regain quite a bit of strength in DATA and crystalline vitality for us to hold a proper conversation.
Now, at least, I knew she persisted, and that there was hope for more interaction with her.
I knew I’d be seeing more of her. Hopefully, next time, she wouldn’t have to all but hijack her lifeline Shards’ parahuman hosts.
I handed over the MOX’s adventurer cards, and they brought the Entity’s insistent queries up short. Pure growth of Nature. It didn’t directly apply to the half-dead Entity, but she could watch it in action with great enthusiasm, pulling ever more [IMPOSSIBLE] DATA that might — someday soon, perhaps — play into her revival.
I left the MOX party and the Entity speaking through them with more than a few thoughts on my mind. The Entities… didn’t have to be my enemies, I supposed. Not until they tried to prematurely bring about the end of an Age, that is.
The more active Entity would still be set in that way of thinking, that Cycle. But due to obviously exceptional circumstances, perhaps there was hope for convincing the other Entity of another way of being.
And if there was, what a treasure she would be to add to my Hoard…
I pushed the thoughts off for the future. I met with the other parties I’d summoned, still purposefully avoiding New Wave to Carol’s obvious frustration.
The Undersiders got spiritual awakenings and adventurer cards. Grue found the Lion totem, proud and powerful as it sought to protect its pride. Tattletale found Loki, the Trickster spirit-god with a knack for chaos. Bitch found the Dog totem, undyingly loyal to the pack of its partner. Regent found Venus in her aspects of personified infatuation and obsession.
Of the four, only Tattletale awakened as a mage, with Grue, Bitch, and Regent awakening as physical adepts.
Faultline’s Crew received the same full package that the Corps was offering. Faultline found Morrigan, dark goddess-spirit of war and fate. Newter found the Cheetah totem — rushing, rushing, rushing — while Gregor found the Turtle totem — slow and steady.
Another interesting interaction emerged with Labyrinth, the girl whose Shard tried but couldn’t quite find the astral. When I cast her spirit adrift, the Shard tried again to follow the path. It failed, but Labyrinth reached back towards it from the astral plane, inviting it hand in hand on her [IMPOSSIBLE] journey of awakening. In the end, she found the totem of the Sea, infinitely vast and infinitely deep, pulling her Shard to dive within together.
Faultline’s party all awakened as mages.
From one of the Empire’s two parties, Kaiser found the totem of Iron, Krieg found the Steward’s totem, and the twins Menja and Fenja found twin spirits from the Lioness totem. The first awakened as a mage, and the latter three awakened as physical adepts.
From the other, Hookwolf found Fenrir, the spirit-wolf of apocalypse. Victor found the Coyote totem, its spirits crafty and vicious. Othala found the Lover’s totem, sweet and innocent and idealistic. Rune found the totem of the Wind, forever yearning to fly free. The former two awakened as physical adepts, while the latter two awakened as mages.
Then, it seemed that only New Wave remained. I still didn’t go to them, earning a muffled shout when I checked in with my Hoard’s party for the Second Dive.
With my back to the frustrated party, I let my amusement show, “How are you all faring?”
“Better than her,” Glory snickered.
“We are ready for this challenge, of course,” Dharla said. “But Princess Pyrite thinks going in as we are would be somewhat unfair to the other parties.”
“Well, yeah!” Pyrite argued. “We’d stomp! And as fun as that is, it’s not really the point of the Dungeon, right?”
I nodded, “You make a good point. Some kind of artificial limitation, then?”
“Can you give us temporary cards that put us back down to level 2?” She requested.
“Absolutely not,” Belladonna denied. “I’m not going back to the early levels. I’d be an Initiate all over again. A crueler torture for a scholarly witch there never could be!”
“C’mon, please~…” Pyrite begged. “They’re just temporary! Just for this dive!”
“I’m sorry, Princess, but you ask far too much,” Belladonna shook her head.
“What about restricting you to only the powers and magicks of the Sixth World?” I suggested. “Magicks of Spirit and the strength your physical forms grant you, without touching the growth of Nature you all worked so hard to achieve.”
“Not all that different for me, then,” Glory shrugged.
“I suppose…” Pyrite only pouted slightly, mostly from having her idea shot down and not because she disliked my suggestion.
“I can work with that,” Belladonna nodded. “I’ve been wanting to stretch my spiritual legs more anyway.”
“The Moon was with me, even in our last Age,” Dharla smiled serenely. “And so, I am content.”
Restricting themselves to powers and magicks native to the Sixth World meant Pyrite would take up the role of a physical adept, partnered to the totem of the Dragon. Dharla was connected to the totem of the Moon. Belladonna lacked a specific totem; she didn’t need the strict guidance of one, preferring to call upon varied spirits for her varied needs. Glory had once been tied to the Adversary’s totem, but now preferred the surety of chrome to that distant, insidious spirit.
“My lord, I don’t think you can avoid the bomb in the room for much longer,” Belladonna observed. “She looks about ready to come to you rather than wait another minute.”
I glanced over my shoulder. Sure enough, Carol was pacing with hard, almost stomping steps. Her sister kept her from charging me, but only barely, while the rest of New Wave was keeping well out of Carol’s way.
“She does look like she has quite a lot to get out of her system,” Dharla noted.
“Sometimes, the best way to defuse a bomb like her is to simply let it explode,” I shrugged.
Finally, after winding Mt. Dallon up as tightly as it would go, I turned and began to approach the last parties I’d summoned. Carol didn’t seem to believe her eyes at first. Then, the frustration set back in.
“You! You’ve been ignoring me! Don’t deny it, I know you have!” Carol shouted.
I turned my gaze onto and over her, greeting the rest of New Wave first, “Welcome, New Wave. I hope you have not minded the wait too much. I am a busy Dragon, what with having to awaken and assign all the parties here.”
Carol gaped at me, her mouth flapping open and closed without a sound.
“Hey, Ancalagon!” Crystal giggled. “Been a while~!”
“I’d say you’re playing with fire, but you’re a Dragon, so you’re probably used to it,” Amy said, barely trying to hide her very visible amusement.
Carol’s sister, Sarah, stepped forward to try playing ambassador, “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Ancalagon. I know I’ve heard quite a lot about you already. Crystal even came home from the dorms just to gush about you. As you can imagine, it left something of an impression.”
Her husband, Neil, laughed, “That’s an understatement! She certainly didn’t exaggerate, though! God, it isn’t often I’m looking up at someone!”
“Be cool, Dad,” Crystal giggled. “Don’t pick a fight with the, ya know, Dragon.”
“Never crossed my mind,” Neil assured with a charming smile. “If I tried to give him the Dad-shake, I don’t think I’d have a hand at the end of it!”
“I can see where Crystal gets her personable charm from,” I chuckled.
“Yes, me,” Sarah deadpanned. “Not this buffoon.”
I blinked, “Is that not what I just said?”
“Hey, no arguments here,” Neil said, holding up his hands. “There’s a reason I tend to let her do the talking and leading. Sarah could charm a rampaging bull into eating out of her hand.”
“Or a buffoon into marrying her,” Sarah quipped back.
Through the easy exchange, Carol worked hard to find her voice after being ignored again. Eventually, she snapped.
“This-! This is ridiculous! Just rude! You invite us here and just ignore us?!”
“Summoned, and only Amy, Victoria, Crystal, and Eric,” I corrected. “I simply didn’t turn the rest of you away.”
Carol was undeterred, maybe not even hearing me through her exploding frustration, “First, you drag my girls into some strange, utterly unprecedented debut! Then, you pull them into a meeting with the PRT without a guardian or suitable representation! THEN, you inspire them to skip school and get them caught up in the same place as a RAMPAGING LUNG!
“And this ‘magic’?! These unknown, untested, unconsulted ‘awakenings’?! I’m just supposed to take you at your — admittedly substantiated — word?! You could be some villain! A Master! Admittedly, again, I don’t think you are… You’ve shown no signs of anything but benevolence — strange, strange benevolence — earning even the Director’s acceptance… but it’s the principle of the thing!
“Dragon this, Dungeon that, on and on and on! I CANNOT THINK of anything but you and your actions, and this is the first time we’ve met! You, Dragon, have a lot to answer for in my book!”
The silence after her diatribe was deafening. Victoria let her head fall into her hands, “Oh, Dragon…”
That muttered expletive from her own daughter made Carol flinch… and sag in defeat, “Dammit…”
“Do you feel better with that out of your system?” I asked.
“Hmph,” Carol sniffed, admitting to nothing.
“Shall we start over, then, and introduce ourselves properly?”
“… Hmph.”
“Hello, Carol Dallon. I am Ancalagon. I understand that I may have made you feel as if you aren’t in control of your life in some ways, and that can be a discomforting feeling. But nothing I’ve done has been out of malice, not in general nor directed specifically at you.
“If you still feel resentment, we can schedule a time to sit down together and work through your issues with me. Civilly. I’ll warn you only once that shouting at a Dragon in his Hoard is not an idea conducive to leaving that Hoard in one piece.”
“Are you threatening me?” Carol bristled.
“No,” I deadpanned. “I’m communicating. Intelligently. Politely. Would you care to return that courtesy?”
“… Hmph.”
“Your stubbornness is noted. Somewhat admired, even,” I told her. “But I don’t think your problem here is actually with me so much as it is with unknown and uncontrolled new developments in your life. I cannot help you with that, but perhaps someone you can trust to guide you in your soul will.”
“Hm-…!”
I didn’t wait for her to finish her last sniffing objection. The woman really needed a partner, a mentor, a kindred spirit. With a tap to her forehead, I set her adrift in the astral. There, she instinctively curled in on herself, so very wary of everything new.
From the metaplanes, the totem of the Shield Maiden reached back toward her. Immediately, the spirit joined Carol in her defensive stance. For a while, they simply protected each other like that. And in that camaraderie of wary woman and sympathetic spirit, a contract was sealed.
Coming back to herself, Carol was at a loss for words, “Oh…”
I left her to the aftermath of her awakening, going down the line of the rest of New Wave’s older generation. Neil found the Bull totem, determined and straightforward. Sarah found Freya, spirit mother-goddess and warrior wife. And Mark, Carol’s husband, found the totem of the Sun settling to fill and warm a hole in his soul.
I also assigned both of New Wave’s parties adventurer cards while the parents were preoccupied with their awakenings. When I did, Crystal was excited and bold enough to fly up and wrap her arms around my neck.
“Thanks for not smiting Aunt Carol,” She whispered. “I know she can be a bit much.”
She may have acted like the hug was one of gratitude, but her ulterior motive became clear soon enough. She pressed her body tight against mine, as tightly as she could. Generous breasts against my scales, arms around my neck, and the slightest bit of grinding for good measure. Crystal was putting in the work.
“She needed to get it out of her system. And truly, I didn’t mind playing the brick wall for her to scream at. My Draconic ego is not so small that a bit of motherly ranting can dampen it and hurt my fee-fees.”
“Snrk~! ‘Fee-fees’?” Crystal snorted an adorable laugh.
“Only the most technical of terms.”
“You know, you’re a greedy guy, Ancalagon,” Victoria said.
“Dragon,” I deadpanned.
“I know, I know,” She laughed. “I just mean, first Ames, and now Crystal, too? I kinda respect the hustle.”
“Don’t lump me in with this…” Amy grumbled.
“You sure, Ames?” Crystal asked, smirking and teasing. “You’re not even a little bit… curious~?”
“I’ve already seen more than you could ever imagine,” Amy deadpanned.
Crystal blinked, “… Oh, there’s definitely a story there!”
Chuckling, I made my excuses, “I think that’s my cue to move along. Have fun explaining that, Amelia.”
“Oh, no, you don’t!” Amy tried to stop me with a shout.
I was already leaving, though, waving over my shoulder. Her sister and cousin pounced on her a moment later to great effect, considering the blush that immediately started spreading on Amy’s cheeks.
“A-Ancalagon! Get back here and rescue me, you Draconic bastard!”
“A Dragon? Rescuing a princess? Is that how these things usually go?” I called back, teasing. “Alas, Amelia, I think I’ll have to stay my hand. You’ve brought this on yourself. Have fun. These will be some of the last moments of peace you all have before the action of the Second Dive begins…”
IIIII
“What now, Ancalagon?” Piggot asked, her voice coming strong back in her prime. “What else do we need to prepare for your… adventure?”
All of the parties had been situated. Initiated. They had their partnered totems of Spirit and their unlocked growth of Nature. They now fell under my Authority through the Corps and through their intended participation in the Dungeon’s Second Dive.
Their adventurer cards signed them on, to a degree, with the Corps. But most of them would still be prioritizing their prior allegiances. That was fine. I wasn’t demanding they drop everything for adventure.
That was the beauty of my system here, of influence and Authority: something of both persisted so long as the base pieces were in place.
The parties summoned here today might belong to various overarching factions, but they were now part of the Corps, too. They bore the tempting touch of adventure.
That touch would invite them to return when they wished, challenging my Dungeon again and again. In those challenges, they would grow, as would the Dungeon and my greater Magicks of Authority. Now that they’d taken the first step, the Dungeon would always be on their minds. There was power in that.
It was a diverse cast that I’d summoned for the Dungeon’s Second Dive, giving me influence of interest in the minds of every power-playing faction in the Bay, and to Dragon, Narwhal, Mouse Protector, and Myrddin beyond it.
But my plans for this pre-dive gathering were not yet done.
“I have starter kits to give out, if you wish to accept that aid,” I said. “But more importantly, I’m going to brief all of you on what I expect from this Second Dive. I’m sure everyone here has at least heard of the first. That was a general, initial test of the Dungeon. The testing in the Second Dive here will be more specific. Not least of all because of how many parties are participating.”
“That’s right! This is the Party vs. Party beta!” Pyrite stood proudly by my side. “So we want good, clean fights tomorrow, people!”
“Not even that,” I chuckled. “Clean or dirty, competition or cooperation, the choices for tomorrow’s adventure will be yours. I will not restrict you. For rules…? There are none.”
Hookwolf barked, “The Dragon’s speaking my language! That’s exactly what I wanted to fucking hear!”
From the Dojo party, Bang nodded, “Tomorrow’s paths will be our own to carve. I look forward to facing my foes without restriction.”
Garou grinned, “I won’t hold anything back. It’ll be a cape reckoning long in the making.”
“I can kill the wolf?” Bitch gruffly asked.
“Come on! Try it, Bitch!” Hookwolf reveled in the challenge.
“You can get as close to it as is reasonable within the Dungeon,” I answered Bitch. “Final, fatal blows will be averted, but only those. I can promise that none of you will die tomorrow. That is all I will promise.”
Bitch grunted, “Hn. Pain still works?”
I nodded, “Only death and excessive cruelty are truly off limits. Once the edge of death is reached, you will be extracted from the Dungeon and healed by the Corps. The same will happen if someone is trapped and tortured. The latter will be considered trying to game the Dungeon’s system. I’m not asking that you leave whatever personal grudges you may have at the Dungeon’s doors, just that you don’t take them to illogical, irrational extremes.”
“Other than that, it’s all real, though?” Shadow Stalker asked intently.
“Indeed,” I confirmed. “You will feel pain, adrenaline, triumph, and failure. Every detail of the adventure will be as real as I can make it without throwing you all to unnecessary and unproductive deaths.”
“Death is rather unproductive,” Armsmaster nodded in approval. “At the same time, removing pain and other key details of reality would make for a poor simulation. I think you’ve struck a good compromise, Ancalagon.”
“… The Youth Guard reps are never going to let us hear the end of this,” Miss Militia muttered.
“How’s it any different from patrolling the Bay?” Shadow Stalker Stalker snapped. “There’s always danger there, no matter how much you try to baby us.”
“The girl’s right about that,” Piggot said. “The Youth Guard will insist, but they don’t have a real leg to stand on in Brockton Bay.”
“If they can’t die,” Regent carelessly drawled. “I really don’t see the issue. A bit of extreme pain builds character, don’t you know?”
“Not that we’ll be targeting the Wards, of course,” Grue quickly reassured. “There might not be official rules for fighting in the Dungeon, but unofficially, we can try to keep things relatively civil.”
“A Ward might be targeting you…” Shadow Stalker snarled at him.
“Girl, chill,” Tattletale stepped in to verbally smack her down. “We all know you’ve got issues. No need to broadcast ‘em like that.”
“We’re capes,” Vista deadpanned. “We all have issues. Everyone here.”
“Everyone?” Piggot asked, raising a dangerous brow.
“Uh…” Vista froze slightly. “Most of us, then…?”
“Better,” Piggot nodded.
“I’m sure we can come to an agreement about necessary force, especially where the children are concerned,” Kaiser said, playing the cultured villain. “The Empire is not indiscriminate.”
“No, you just discriminate by skin color,” Grue fiercely shot back.
“Or discriminate by unmasked women having peaceful evenings in the safety of their own homes,” Victoria added, just as fierce.
“Or discriminate by power and whether someone simply has something you want,” Psykos added as well.
“Yeah,” Tattletale snorted. “You’re not indiscriminate. That’s the problem most people have with you.”
“Nazi fucks,” Shadow Stalker taunted, punctuating the strangely unifying hostility against the Empire.
Hookwolf scoffed. “The weaklings already hate us, Kaiser. So fuck ‘em. No reason to play nice.”
“Please,” Piggot said with a sardonic, slightly vicious grin. “Don’t play nice. I can’t wait to match that energy.”
Mouse Protector laughed, “Man, I could really use some cheesy popcorn right about now! Ain’t no drama like Brockton drama!”
“You have no idea,” Faultline said flatly.
“Ancalagon? You said we could choose to compete or cooperate,” Dragon noted. “Is that in general, or will we have specific goals in mind?”
“Ah, that gets into the detailed briefing of the Second Dive,” I nodded. “The First Dive was pulled from a past adventure of my second Age; this dive shall pull from a past adventure of my third Age. The Sixth World. It was rather different from the purely fantastical Age that came before it.”
I paused for just a moment, fetching one of Calamitas’s recording orbs to document the briefing I was about to give. Playing the recording at the start of the Second Dive’s stream would give the viewers all the context they needed to properly enjoy the show.
With the orb recording, I continued, “The Sixth World was an Age several decades ahead of Earth Bet, but its timeline deviated from the one you know here. In 2011, magic returned to Turn that Age, bringing about the Sixth World in truth. It was widespread. All-encompassing. It changed everything.
“Nations and corporations sought to profit from the changing world. The world advanced in leaps and bounds, both magically and technologically. And with all the changes in the world, the culture of the Sixth World developed uniquely.
“It was an Age of profit, at its core. Profit for nations, corporations, and the lucky, clever, daring individuals who made lives for themselves in between. Your parties will be stepping into the shoes of those individuals. With opportunism, gumption, and desperation, you will carve out profit for yourselves in the gray spaces between giants.
“It was something of an unspoken rule of that Age that each job, each shadowrun, would begin with a visit from a Mr. Johnson. Such were the pseudonyms that the agents of corporations and nations used to contract enterprising individuals — those willing to do what they were tasked with, even knowing how expendable they were, for the chances for profit were undeniable.
“Today, consider me your Mr. Johnson,” I finished with a toothy, Draconic grin. It was rather fun to be on the opposite side of the shadowrunning equation.
Armsmaster frowned, “We’re to be mercenaries, then?”
“It may not be the noblest of callings, but it is one that’s always in high demand,” Faultline said.
“In the Sixth World, it sounds like merc work was the way of life,” Tattletale observed.
“For many,” Glory shrugged, explaining. “Most people just tried to live as best they could, though, without getting caught up in the corporate wars, environmental disasters, spirit fuckery, tech apocalypses, Dragon schemes, and so on. Shadowrunners were, like… the capes of the Sixth World. Exceptions. But unavoidable.”
Everyone in the room turned to stare at Glory after the examples she’d given.
“The… what…?” Dauntless asked, his voice strained.
“N-… Normal stuff…?” GLory shifted awkwardly under the attention. “Sometimes two opposing AAA corps with the resources to surpass nations decide to go to war over your city, or the environment decides today is a good day for a category 12 hurricane that reaches the Alps, or a team of shadowrunners piss off a minor Dragon that chases them across half of Eurasia, ya know?”
“We very much don’t know,” Bang deadpanned.
“Different world, different problems,” Piggot grunted. “Same shit that makes you hate existing in the first place.”
“Sounds more interesting and varied than regularly scheduled Endbringer attacks, at least,” Regent offered, laughing to himself.
“Don’t give fate any ideas,” Amy grumbled back at him.
“So… that’s the world the setting of this dive will be pulled from?” Sarah asked me.
“It is,” I answered with some amusement. “You will be adventuring through a small slice of it to fulfill the shadowrunning objectives I’ll be assigning you.”
“Oh… Oh, dear,” Dragon sighed. “Can we at least ask about what that ‘small slice’ will be?”
“You can. And I will readily answer,” I said. “You will be delving deep into a specific section of Western Europe. It was most well known as the SOX, or the Zone, but officially, it was the Saar-Lorraine-Luxembourg Special Administrative Zone, a sealed emergency district recognized by France to the west and the Allied German States to the east.”
“Yeah… Nothing that’s colloquially known as ‘The Zone’ sounds like a good place to be,” Clockblocker muttered.
“Speak for yourself, boy,” Hookwolf scoffed.
Dragon noticed something in my answer, “Recognized by France, and the local equivalent of Germany… but not Luxembourg…?”
I shook my head, “Luxembourg was completely enclosed in the SOX. It essentially ceased to exist, walled off in the disaster area.”
“My God…” Myrddin exclaimed, his voice soft with shock. “What could have caused a whole country, even one as small as Luxembourg, to be walled off?”
I answered, “In 2008, the French Cattenom nuclear plant experienced not one, but two, simultaneous catastrophic reactor meltdowns, releasing great clouds of radioactive steam into the air. 150,000 people lost their lives in the disaster and its aftermath. Three million more were displaced. Even nearly a century later, Cattenom remained the worst nuclear disaster the Sixth World had ever seen.”
“That’s on par with some of Behemoth’s worst attacks…” Dragon said. “In a world without Endbringers. It must have been devastating.”
“In a world without magic, too, at that point. The Sixth World’s awakening came three years later in 2011. And in 2012, that area of Europe was struck with yet another disaster, this one very much of the magical variety.
“The Great Dragon Feuerschwinge, one of my peers in that Age, awoke to the Sixth World… well, let’s just say she awoke on the wrong side of the Age. Her first and only act was to rampage across much of Germany, destroying everything she came across. After months of destruction, she was successfully shot down by the German military. She crashed directly into the SOX, presumed dead.”
“Of course, she did…” Amy just sighed.
Vista winced, “Man, Luxembourg can’t catch a break, can it?”
“When it rains, it pours, as they say,” Krieg said. “Though I am incredibly proud that it was the Luftwaffe who slayed the rampaging beast.”
“Fucking Wehraboo,” Rune rolled her eyes.
“Since it’s not the Nazi Luftwaffe, I think it’s safe to admit that is pretty badass,” Newter said.
Regent nodded in agreement, “Modern fighter jets vs. Dragon is not a match-up I ever knew I needed, but damn if the mental image doesn’t hit.”
“Presumed?” Piggot had zeroed in on that one word.
I gave her a grin, but didn’t answer the question. It wouldn’t do to give away the game too soon.
“The SOX was essentially a containment zone, then?” Armsmaster asked. “Was there anyone still living within? Was the containment effective? How exactly was it governed and policed?”
“And what exactly are we getting ourselves into?” Piggot added.
“In order: yes, yes, somewhat, the Administrative Council, and too much to convey in one simple answer,” I said.
“The SOX was far from lifeless, as you will soon discover for yourselves. Its environment was harsh, but in that harshness, the potential for profit was created. And in that Age of profit, there were many willing to risk the contamination and containment.
“A joint-custody corporate agreement was reached to ensure the Zone’s extraterritoriality, cementing itself in the SOX Administrative Council. Extraterritoriality, in the Sixth World, was the persistent idea of territory where corporations were as sovereign as nations. Earth Bet has nothing like it, nothing like the extreme power corporations enjoyed in the Sixth World. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the megacorps ruled the world.”
“Yeah, ‘cause that sounds like a good idea for everyone involved,” Amy deadpanned.
“Hmm, Endbringers or absolutely tyrannical megacorporations…” Tattletale pretended to consider. “It’s a tough choice, honestly.”
“With how fucked the Sixth World sounds, it’s pretty obvious the corps weren’t doing a great job,” Mouse Protector commented.
“Why were the corporations allowed such free rein?” Victor asked.
“It came down to the undeniable facts of scale and resources,” Belladonna explained. “You could not walk a mile without running into some sign of corporate power, and you could not live anywhere without partaking in their services. Their profit margins surpassed the GDPs of most nations. They held all the cards, from technology to magic to pure capital. And in extraterritorial land, they were even more supreme.”
“It can’t be properly expressed, I don’t think, just how omnipresent the megacorps were,” Glory said. “They were… everything.”
“Thus,” I continued. “The Age was one of profit, dictated by the megacorps. With enough profit on the table, laws became mere suggestions. Except… for the laws that the corps made and enforced themselves.
“Such was the situation with the SOX’s Administrative Council. They ruled the Zone. From AA corporations that ‘merely’ operated on the level of small-to-mid-sized nations, to the Big Ten AAA corps that surpassed every single nation on the planet, truly charting the course of the world.
“Of the former in the SOX, there were corps like AG Chemie, IFMU, Proteus AG, and more. Of the latter, Ares Macrotechnology, Renraku Computer Systems, and Saeder-Krupp Heavy Industries dominated the Zone.
“To try and put those names in context, Ares Macrotechnology was considered not just the preeminent partner of the United Canadian and American States; it was synonymous with their sovereign existence — a single corporation that propped up a nation. Renraku had its fingers in every single computing system on the planet. And Saeder-Krupp… operated under the absolute Authority of the Great Dragon Lofwyr, the richest and most powerful being in the Sixth World by a wide margin.”
“Yeah… Yeah, why not? Why wouldn’t there be a corporate Dragon in the mix?” Clockblocker asked, his voice half joking and half strained.
“It does kinda track,” Vista agreed. “He had a whole corporation as his Hoard.”
“He did,” I chuckled. “Lowfyr was exceptional, even by Draconic standards. No one truly liked how powerful he was, not even his Draconic peers, but he wasn’t the type to cave to peer pressure.
“We had history, he and I. Something of a rivalry, even if I couldn’t be bothered trying to match the wealth and power of his Hoard. But my interactions with that big gold cunt are stories for another day.”
“Someone write that down! We need to hear those stories at some point!” Mouse Protector quickly exclaimed.
“Don’t worry, I’ve already noted it for later,” Dragon reassured.
“What was the point of all this powerful interest in the SOX?” Kaiser asked. “Was it not a radioactive wasteland?”
“It was,” I confirmed with a nod. “And because of those unique circumstances, the environment within the Zone was left to develop in unique and potentially profitable ways.
“There, the physical world was corrupted by mundane radiation, the astral plane was corrupted by spiritual radiation, and vice versa. It was an interconnected mess of a place, but that mess made acts like magical espionage essentially impossible, while also offering plenty of isolation from the rest of the world.
“It was the perfect space for various disposal efforts, exotic tests of technology, esoteric tests of magic, isolated corporate conflicts, and research projects on various mysteries. The corporations of the Administrative Council took full advantage, populating the Zone with some 20,000 corporate citizens that ensured the smooth running of their operations.”
“Corporate citizens…” Psykos muttered. “God, how dystopian.”
“There were other considerations at play in the SOX, too,” I continued.
“The Zone was home to a whole mutated ecosystem of paracritters and spirits, for nature thrived even through such corruption. Creatures like the Whisperer Cuckoo that lured prey with mimicked speech, Pit Badgers the size of wolves, Stonebiter Boars, Insects of Unusual Size, SOX Chimeras unique to the Zone, and more intently hostile threats like the manifested toxic spirits of radiation, mutation, and pollution, the fundamentally alien, ever-hungry insect spirits, and ghouls infected by the tranformative, magical, Human-Metahuman Vampiric Virus that ensured they hunger for flesh.”
“Zombies,” Amy deadpanned. “Literal, magical zombies.”
“Aha-ha-ha…” Kid Win forced out a laugh. “Why are we going in there again? Why would anyone go in there?!”
“Because there was profit to be had,” Glory said; it was a simple statement of fact by the Sixth World’s standards.
“Much profit. The Zone was dangerous, but not solely so,” I assured. “The SOX also boasted a thriving smuggling scene, both in and out. Unnatural resources that couldn’t be found anywhere but there, the leftovers of corporate conflicts, and the unsanctioned coming and going of shadowrunning teams with jobs within the Zone or dreams of loot.
“The corporate citizens of the Zone lived relatively safe lives in isolated arcologies. Additionally, many people lived there off the Administrative Council’s books. They formed a strange, pseudo-tribal society of people known as ‘Radpunks’. Most of those Radpunk tribes tried for peaceful, if isolated lives, but others — the Glowpunks and the Toxic Cults — worshipped the Zone’s radiation… or even darker things…”
“The Fallen, then,” Piggot summarized, scowling. “Wonderful.”
“I’m, like, really glad this is just going to be a Dungeon Dive. Living full-time in the Sixth World sounds even more hellish than Earth Bet,” Crystal said. “Somehow…”
Chuckling, I said, “I hope I haven’t scared any of you off from participating. The Zone is a bit much, I understand, but this extensive briefing has been necessary. Best to know what you’re getting into, no?”
“The information has been greatly appreciated,” Armsmaster nodded.
“You aren’t scaring me that easily, Dragon!” Hookwolf shouted.
“I’m still in if the Nazi is,” Crystal grinned viciously.
Narwhal sighed, “This all sounds like a horrible idea, but I suppose we’re committed now.”
“It’ll be a challenge, for sure, but I’m confident we’ll hold our own!” Dragon encouragingly chimed.
“I’m gonna need much heavier ordinance than what I was initially planning for,” Piggot considered.
“Loot as you go,” Glory advised her. “One thing the Sixth World never lacked was… devastating weapons of war…”
She grew uncomfortable in her own skin as she said the last, awkwardly rubbing at her chrome arms. I knew it wasn’t the chrome itself that made her uncomfortable; it was what had come before for her. She had been one of those weapons of war, a monster in the Adversary’s name.
“Will we have an actual objective in the Zone? Or will the objective simply be to survive?” Miss Militia asked.
“Survival is always prudent,” I advised. “But yes, you’ll have an objective. For this dive, your parties are essentially shadowrunning teams that I am hiring for a job: to determine what actually happened to the fallen Great Dragon Feuerschwinge.”
“Oh, fuck…” Tattletale muttered. “If you’re saying it like that, there’s no way she’s actually dead.”
Amy agreed, “Yeah, I like to think I’m genre-savvy enough to know an impending twist when I hear one.”
“If she is, we don’t have to fight her,” Faultline noted, parsing the dive’s objective with the keen mind of an experienced mercenary. “Ancalagon has only tasked us with finding out what happened. Anyone who takes that as an order to fight the Dragon outright is a fool-…”
“I’m gonna put the bitch down for good!” Hookwolf declared.
“Point made,” Bang said with a small, amused smile.
“I will leave the execution of that objective entirely to you,” I chuckled. “Presume nothing. You will still be surprised.”
“Now, you know what to expect from tomorrow’s dive, but there is one more preparation to handle today,” I said, grinning.
“Uh oh…” Victoria paled. “I don’t like that grin.”
“This will be something of an initiation ritual for all who join the Corps,” I continued.
The whole room was set somewhat on edge by my tone and my grin. I didn’t keep them waiting. With a flex of imbued Authority, I swept everyone up in my pace, a simulating spell. The last thing they all heard before the Corps’s Tutorial claimed them was a rumbling, Draconic voice of amusement and warning.
“Before I trust you in my Dungeon, I must first ensure you know how to… DODGE!”
IIIII
[AN: I hope these pre-dive preparation chapters haven’t been too tedious. There’s just a lot to handle when including so many parties in the Second Dive. Lots of characters that need attention and interaction. Then, the lore dump, too, both because I really enjoy talking about Shadowrun and because the characters really did need the context. Hopefully, it wasn’t too much.
I’m going to call this arc here, write a quick but unique 4.x interlude chapter, and then, we’ll start up the Second Dive. It’ll probably take up most, if not all, of arc 5, with Ancalagon’s Dragon-level dive as the 5.x interlude.
For those in the know about Shadowrun (particularly the Dragonfall game), I’m not going to be recreating Dragonfall’s story for Feuerschwinge with the Second Dive. The Dive will be set entirely within the SOX, ‘cause Shadowrun’s STALKER Zone is just too good a setting to pass up. Feuerschwinge will still play a part in the Second Dive, and you can still consider her Dragonfall situation canon, but I think that’s all I can really say right now.]