DEEP FLUX
Randy Blackwell
Greenville, SC
Deep Flux
by Randy Blackwell
Cover Art by Aaron Holley
Map of Soterion by Steven Mitchell
Copyright ©2013 Randy Blackwell
All rights reserved. This book is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of
America. This book may not be copied or reprinted for commercial gain or profit. ISBN 978-0-9894559-3-0 For Worldwide Distribution Printed in the U.S.A.
Lamplight Media http://bridgeworlds.com Greenville, SC
864-990-1153
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Bridgeworlds series:
Booksby Randy Blackwell
Book 1:Rise oftheMagi Book 2:Deepflux
Booksby GeorgeClark
Book 1:KeepSolstice
Roleplaying Games: Soterionby Randy Blackwell andGeorgeClark
Musterionby RandyBlackwell
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The Seven Kingdoms of Soterion
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Intro
The suns rose with one already in the sky and the other peeking over the western horizon. Their heat began drying the dew on the field. The ground was already soaking up the blood of fallen Drakoni. Omar Metzger sighed grimly. It was shaping up to be a fine day for a victory. He looked up at the sunny sky with its wispy clouds. A stiff breeze blew past, filling his ears with the sound of its passing. In that moment Omar could almost imagine it was a normal, peaceful day, if it weren't for the tang of blood and sweat that assaulted his nose. Not that there had been many completely peaceful days since he arrived here. The land of Soterion had seemed always on the brink of war. The battle he floated above was just a breaking of the tension he had felt since day one.
Omar had counted the years since day one. It had been exactly one hundred and seventy-five. He glanced at his warped reflection in the polished metal control panel in front of him. Firm skin, bright eyes, dark brown hair with trimmed mustache and beard; he hadn't aged a day. One of the many strange quirks of having passed through Musterion; the laws of time didn't seem to really exist for those who had passed into the amazing tunnel/portal world. At least, not like it did on Earth. Time was relative between worlds and dimensions. One might spend a thousand years here without aging and only a day might pass on Earth… or the opposite could happen.
Omar often wondered how it would be for himself if he returned to Earth. The thought of finding an entrance to Musterion and returning to Earth through the tunnel world occurred to him frequently. He had strange dreams about it regularly. He never remembered much of these dreams but he always felt a gnawing fear deep inside when he woke from them. But it was easy to get distracted from all of that living on Soterion and leading the Magi.
Anyone would appreciate that Soterion was a place of wonder, and its mysterious nature was not lost on Omar. Being a scientist, he spent hours studying the uniqueness around him.
Back on Earth he had been a world renowned scientist; a genius with more PhD's behind his name than he cared to count. He had been an incredible inventor, making everything from creative ways to harness solar energy to the most deadly weapons known to man. Those military contracts had paid the bills, after all, and even funded his research in finding a way to travel here; an alternate dimension! He had come with determination to find a way to revive his comatose sister. But despite 175 years of Omar being in the spotlight, Omar never found her and she never came to Omar. What he found instead of her was a whole new world and a new life to go with it.
He glanced down at the battle from his perch in the air. The Magi, his Magi, were an integral part of the side that was winning. A swell of pride rose up in him as he thought about the order he ruled; the order he created.
There was at least one member of eleven different sentient species in its ranks. Omar watched each as they fought with their different styles of fighting.
The Katken, walking talking cats, fought with agility and cunning as one might think cats would. Over the years they had proven that they were very hard to kill. Omar watched as Drakoni landed killing blows and would leave them for dead, only to have the same Katken sneak up behind them for a surprise attack.
The Nepsah used their finger tall height, winged flight, faerie trickery, and their natural state of invisibility to contribute to the battle by sneaking behind enemy lines causing trouble for their foe. Other Nepsah flew above the battle blowing darts with excellent precision to fell enemies with poisonous darts.
The bearded Remmys who normally wore mushroom cap hats wore animal skins to camouflage themselves as unimportant rodents. Omar had marveled over the years at how well they added to the Magi with their uncanny ability to find people, places, and things.
The Am Mayim made formidable fighters in water but not on land. Though there were no invisible foes amongst the ranks of the Drakoni for the human-looking Am Maiym to spot, it was good to have them there to be sure.
The Gabad, flew high above the battle so that their purple skin would not be so easy to spot. They had also proven to be a valuable source of talent to the Magi being the only Malakadam on Soterion to have wings. They made up a large portion of the Alexandros (battle Magi) and they fought on the ground and in the air with impressive dexterity.
There were only two Magi who were Miyka. Miyka were physically strong Malakadam who had a bright glow all about their body. The two of them were making excellent leaders on the battle field.
Omar swelled with pride as he watched a group of his own race, the Akana, making battle plans that no doubt would be genius. The Akana were the race that had deciphered the German language within days for the council of 13 in Musterion. They were gray skin Malakadam who were more intelligent than any human could have been on earth.
The three Yaarma (tribal Malakadam) Magi, who had taught the Magi everything they knew about Soterion horticulture, had found a way to harness their ability to speak to animals on the battle field. Swarms of squirrels were directed to attack the enemy, packs of wolves joined the battle, and bears took the enemy from behind their ranks.
Many Daqad had joined the Magi despite King Alagaar’s threat to banish any Daqad Magi from Marasimlah. They now fought in the various sects of the Magi against the horde.
King Erestar and Queen Hope were still the only Raphad to join the Magi but the Raphad race was greatly contributing to the battle in other ways. Omar had tried to accommodate their giant size with Erestar towering twenty-five feet tall.
The Adam Magi had their own elite group within the Magi who were proving now to be a deadly force on the battle field. The Adam were the most skilled Magi hailing from a Jewish human culture that had traveled to Soterion ages ago.
All of these races were an imposing collective. There were three other sentient groups, hostile races, which had not joined the Magi. Haspen, formerly Nepsah now disowned and physically changed for their wicked deeds. The process included ripping off their wings along with a physical transformation in their appearance. It was a condition of the Nepsah Queen that no Haspen be allowed to join unless they first redeemed themselves. The power allowing them to re-grow their wings was still a mystery to Omar.
Kalat, a deadly race with impossible strength and fierce agility, were similar to the Haspen only in that they used to be another species, Miyka, who had fallen into depravity. Omar wasn't sure what it was about this dimension that allowed a species to be physically transformed based solely on their desire to be hateful and malicious, but it was an observable fact that he couldn't deny. Whatever part of his scientific brain that said it was impossible had been quickly quieted with the irrefutable proof.
The only other species not in the ranks of the Magi was th
e Drakoni who they now battled. The Drakoni, who had caused the fall and near extinction of the Raphad race, were a horrible foe. They had begun to crop up all over Soterion raiding small villages and massacring the inhabitants, only striking in weak locations. They were a menace to all the races of Soterion. They ranged greatly in shape, size, and ability but Omar knew something that not many on Soterion knew. They were all servants of a creature who called himself the Great Red Dragon, a creature Tyree had warned him about.
Yes, the Order of the Magi was the best accomplishment of Omar's entire life. A pang of sadness hit him as he thought about the man that he couldn't have done it without; Myles Callaghan: illusionist extraordinaire and master of sleight-of-hand. He had come here from Earth the same day Omar had, literally crashing into him as he fell through a portal into the deadly Maze of Musterion. The endless tangle of tunnels surrounded the central community.
Musterion itself was its own anomaly, residing outside the time frame of Soterion and Earth, Omar suspected that it was the center of a dimensional galaxy. A concept he had come up with… it seemed that the Musterlings who had become Magi believed that there were an infinite amount of places to travel to from the portals on Musterion. The story of how the Magi made it out seemed to have unfolded a lifetime ago. When Omar and Myles had passed from the outer maze to the core of Musterion, it had changed his physiology into that of an Akana. His gray skin, pointed ears, and thin-skin wings were a shock at first, but he had grown to prefer them over his human appearance. As mysterious as his change had been, the reason why Myles had kept his human appearance was just as strange to him.
Now, Omar didn't believe in fate or destiny, but he knew he wouldn't have survived his first 24 hours in Musterion if it hadn't been for Myles. The magician and gambler had a knack for seeing the hidden and understanding the mysterious. With his passing of that knowledge to the Order, their science had become practically magic to all the species of this world. It was the main draw for applicants who wanted to join the Magi: to learn how to do all those impossible things. It still astounded him how, in such an impossible place, science could look like magic.
Myles though an obvious scoundrel and cheat, had a way of working into your heart. He was simple, enjoyed life, and had a great sense of humor and a love for adventure. But Myles had gone missing many years ago. Myles had finished his task having visited various Kingdoms in Soterion but after visiting Suchikos he had vanished. Kasey, the earthen assassin turned follower of “the Shepherd”, had seemed like she knew something but refused to talk about it. Omar had long since given him up for dead, but he would never forget his friend or his part in bringing the Magi to where they were today; winning a long overdue war against the Drakoni.
He gazed at the beautiful handiwork of the Magi, the blimp that he was now hovering several hundred feet over Soterion in. He still could not believe that the Magi had managed to replicate an earthen blimp for him, but as Soterion was not Earth, this was no earthen looking blimp. It served the same purpose and had many similarities, but the Magi were not limited in thought by earthly experience.
Blimps need a turbo-propeller engines to move forward. The Musterlings had created an engine, but it was made of a special metal found only on Soterion. Fifty years ago, in the mountains of Loefel Meren, it had been found by a team of miner Magi who called it Deanatee. It looked like copper but was lighter and more durable.
There were many gears on the steam engine. Those from Musterion and Soterion had taken more to steam power than electric and Omar allowed this amongst the Magi. Why make them follow the same path Earth did? It was almost an experiment to Omar. Give them science and see where they go with it. Some Magi liked electric and cybernetic science but most preferred steam power and clockwork-like gears. This brought about a split amongst the Magi. Omar watched closely as this happened but deemed it a healthy split.
There were two types of Magi and the most outwardly noticeable difference was in fashion. The Neonates wore almost Victorian era clothing usually using the colors of brown, white, and copper. The Neonates would incorporate leather straps, piping, gears, goggles, and steam into their outfits. The other group was the scholars. The scholars wore simple robes looking more like a traditional monk. Omar tended to dress as one or the other showing neither favor. Today he was dressed as a Neonate with a brown leather top hat that had copper piping and a few gears, a monocle that glowed green, and an outfit that had gears in different places. The gears, though they looked to be only for decorative purposes all functioned as part of a deployment system lined into Omar's clothing that allowed him to select tubes filled with liquids and powders that he would use in the sleight of hand/science skill that he would call slight of science.
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Dreams within Dreams within Dreams
The battle raged on as Omar overlooked a victory for the people of Soterion from hundreds of feet in the air. “Column after column of soldiers, from every nation’s army, advanced relentlessly on the enemy’s position. Though it would have been nice to have had the help of Myles Callaghan, a master of strategy, it looked like King Alagaar was quite adept at strategy himself and Omar was now looking down at the fruit of the Kings’ mastery. Though it seemed that Myles had made an enemy of King Alagaar for the Magi, the King had not been hesitant to use them and their abilities to win this battle.
The smell of scorched earth wafted up on the breeze. The sounds of crowds letting out battle cries all at once echoed in the night air. “For Caelsis and the Queen,” called thousands of voices of small faeries. “In the name of Adoni,” called the armies of Suchikos as they felled Drakoni warriors and beasts. And the Raphad hummed a tune that rumbled the earth and rose up clear even to Omar’s position hundreds of feet above the battle field. Though through all of the other noises of battle Omar could not make out the tune, he knew it from fighting alongside the Raphad. It was a sad solemn tune as if they hated to kill even these evil putrid Drakoni and only did so out of necessity. For such a large formidable race they were the ones that liked violence the least. They had proven to be far less barbaric than Omar had suspected with a majestic and regal air of ominous beauty to them.
The Drakoni kept coming by the thousands but archers in formations led by the Malakadam of Loefel Meren let loose volley after volley of arrows. They flew true between the Nepsah (visible only through Omar's monocle) and Gabad in formations above all of the other races below. The Drakoni ranks jumped down a dip in the field only to be nailed back by the archers.
King Alagaar launched his second column, the horsemen led by the Raphad. Raphad riders on their horses, named Rapha-Parash, dwarfed the tundra horses ridden by the other riders. These horses were over twenty feet tall. Their hides were off white with gray metallic speckles. Long strands of silver hair weaved through their manes, underbellies, and lower legs. The intimidating force of Raphad, in their standard high-polished armor and saddled in Rapha-Parash, rode forward with the sound of platinum hooves against grass thundering through the field of Ether.
The third column was made up of Adam, Gabad, Daqad, Am Mayim, and Yaarma (the 'regular' sized races). With brutal deliberation, the third column began to advance. It was much larger than both the two columns that had already come forward. Each of the two columns were about the size of the Drakoni Army.
A team of subsurface Drakoni dug a trench for their army but it was quickly made useless, as it was uncovered and filled with bodies. The Soterion column had managed to maneuver such that they threatened the flanks of the Drakoni line. The Drakoni fell back and began to try to make a formation using shields and pikes but a few of the Magi (who were dispersed throughout the armies equally) gathered and quickly scattered it by throwing toxic gas projectiles into their midst.
As these Drakoni were taken down another two columns of their army surfaced from tunnels beneath the earth. Though the Drakoni did this time and again throughout the battle, it seemed that they were sending fewer soldiers each time. Still Omar was perplexe
d as to why they had not decimated the forces of the Drakoni. They just kept coming.
Omar looked at the battlefield in awe, primarily at the lack of casualties on the side of the Kingdoms. A gust of wind blew hard allowing Omar to survey the beautiful site.
The Magi had made a huge difference in the battle using science to confound the enemy. These Drakoni were formidable foes but not when faced with Magi sleight-of-science. Omar had dispersed his controlled cache of Earth and Soterion Weapons amongst the Magi. With decades of training, the Alexandros – the warrior caste of the Magi – had become masters of weaponry.
Omar had a specialized rocket launcher attached to his shoulder. It was armed with rockets that could level a small village. This was his fail safe. Omar had made it so that he could flip a switch on his copper arm bracer and the gears throughout his outfit would set in motion to activate the steam powered weapon. So far it looked as though it would not be needed today.
He used the advanced telescope in his monocle to see the armies of Soterion crushing the remnant of the Drakoni army. One person stood out amongst the chaos. Though he was in the midst of a crowd of Drakoni he moved quickly and Drakoni fell like dominos around him. There was a fluidity and grace to his fighting style that was almost like a dance. It felt familiar to Omar. He fought with a staff against swords and axes dropping his enemies with blunt force blows and then the man did something unmistakable to Omar. While hitting a Drakoni Overlord in the face with his staff it first glowed and then the end of the staff exploded into fire sending the Overlord reeling back clutching his neck where he had been struck. Omar knew that staff: he had made it himself. No, it can’t be… It is, it’s Myles! Omar had always been amazed and even intimidated at Myles’ uncanny ability to fight. After years of thinking that Myles had died, there he was on the field of battle.
What he saw next sent his mind spinning. He’s teleporting! Myles was teleporting through the ranks of the Drakoni finishing them off once and for all. Omar counted in just a few minutes he had made waste of 52 Drakoni. Omar smiled at the thought of Myles. He always had some card up his sleeve that surprised Omar. He watched Myles take down enemy after enemy utilizing the teleportation skill showing his mastery of the ability to use it in battle.
Bridgeworlds: Deep Flux Page 1
