Reality's Plaything 5: The Infinity Annihilator

by Will Greenway

  rhinotaur — Rhinotaurs are uncommon (thank heavens!) creatures that live in various locations throughout the Ring Realms. They mostly have been spotted in Silissia, but have also been encountered in southern Corwin and in northern Coormeer. Rhinotaurs bare a rudimentary resemblance to centaurs, only they are far larger and covered with a hard gray exo-skeleton. When fully grown, the four footed aspect of the Rhinotaur can reach 3 paces high at the shoulder and can be as much as 2 paces across the chest. Specimens weighing more than 3000 stone have been brought down.

  The armored hide of the Rhinotaur is equal to twenty overlapping layers of leather and conventional weaponry is all but useless against this defense. The humanoid torso of this creature is proportional in length to the shoulder height of its four footed body and is covered with the same thick gray armor. The arms are thick and powerful and end in four-fingered hands that possess an opposable thumb. The humanoid head has broad flat features and thick square teeth for pulverizing whatever food isn’t already pulverized. A single thick horn protrudes from the creature’s forehead. These creatures possess no language, but do make rudimentary use of tools. They commonly use huge clubs to bludgeon prey they run down. Rhinotaurs are vicious bad tempered and extremely territorial. Once enraged, they attack until slain. Because of this behavior they are sometimes used as extraordinarily powerful guard-dogs.

  In combat, Rhinotaurs are a easily a match for an elder dragon because of the toughness of their armor. Rhinotaurs are stupid and thus can be easily controlled by a mage with the proper preparation and materials. This is, of course, the only way these creatures can be used in any guarding capacity. Rhinotaurs have been known to be used in the death spectacles arena combat. Legend has it that Rhinotaurs were created by grand lore-mage Theln of the Dream Merchants.

  See Also: Coormeer, Corwin, dragon, magic

  — S —

  savant — savant is the common and generic term for creatures who possess the spark of Alpha. See ka’amok.

  Roster of Savant Powers and Known Savants

  Garmtur’shak Nola—savant of reality

  Latis Nola—savant of time

  Chakta Nola—savant of space

  Ta’arthak Nola—savant of matter

  Da’jhamack Nola—savant of attractions

  Kel’varan Nola—savant of forces

  Ishtar Nola—savant of magic

  Kul’vita Nola—savant of life forces

  Sil’kar Nola—savant of light

  Nomtar Nola—savant of fire/cold

  Lokar Nola—savant of elementals

  Gellid Nola—savant of phasing

  Tong Nola—savant of minds

  Ein’Doc Nola—savant of traveling

  Brill’Kes Nola—savant of sound

  Mairn’Tete Nola—savant of gases

  Mairn’Kath Nola—savant of metals

  Mairn’Reth Nola—savant of organics

  See Also: ascendant, Kergatha, Vanidaar, Kergatha, Liandra {Wren} Idun-daughter, magic

  scalebark — Sturdy heavy-boled trees with thick scale-like bark and extremely dense wood. Quite similar to an oak actually.

  scanning — The act of utilizing a scanner.

  scoreday — A period of twenty days.

  searga — Combat and engineer grade rank in the Kriar military. It is the lowest military rank for tracks. However for the engineering grade Searga is equal in rank to a combat grade Thane or a first class petty officer. The combat grade Searga is equal to a seaman. See also Kriar Ranks.

  See Also: kriar, thane

  Sen’Gen — Armored agents of Frielos family known for their stealth and ferocity.

  shadowspar — A type of bow renowned for its power and quality. It is known to enhance the bow-wielding skill of the user. Janai T’Evagduran, the second princess of Malan and renowned elven markswoman has never been bested in archery competition or combat when using one of these bows.

  See Also: Malan

  Shadowstalker, Bronawyn — Deposed princess of Silissia and adventurer, sister of Nevarr Shadowstalker who is now the current Castellan of Drakmourn. Member of the Brethren guild of Ivaneth. Bronawyn married Caldorian Felspar in 1101 N.I.S.

  Bronawyn has two daughters by Caldorian: Cassopia and DonaRae.

  Bronawyn was cast out of Silissian because of a bloody coup staged by Gabriella Sarn Ariok over the Kingdom’s harboring of the followers of Kali. Bronawyn’s parents and immediate family aside from her brother Nevarr were all slain.

  Later when Nevarr returned to reclaim the Shadowstalker birthright from Gabriella through an arranged marriage, Bronawyn regained her royal titles and rights to the lands in Drakmourn.

  Through her contacts in the Felspar family Bronawyn happened to meet Gwensullan Techstar, the matriarch of the powerful 2nd generation Kriar house of Techstar. The Kriar lady technologist was looking to purchase lands on habitable worlds and it so happened that Bronawyn was willing to sell the (to her) worthless chunk of desert on the western border of Drakmourn, several hundred square leagues of barren rock and sand that were uninhabitable (for humans). Bronawyn sold the land to Gwensullan against the urgings of many in the Felspar clan (especially Cassandra—the reasons for Cassandra’s desire to block her adopted great-grandmother’s land deal are murky). Bronawyn received a payment of several million Kriar comtimes for the land parcel, a currency valid only on the Kriar homeworld. Bronawyn had known that the comtimes could purchase Kriar ‘magicks’ far beyond the meager means of anything that could be bought with gold. With Dame Techstar’s assistance, she ventured to the Kriar homeworld searching through catalogs to find something appropriate to purchase with her money. Many of the first things she chose the Kriar simply would not sell to a “primitive”. After a long negotiation period, and purchases of several trivial items, Bronawyn came upon the idea of purchasing a Kriar cybermed. The Silissian princess had seen the miraculous healing abilities of cybermeds because she had seen the one Clan Felspar consulted from time to time for healing critical injuries and ailments. When she made the request to purchase a cybermed, surprisingly the approval was granted for the sum of two million comtimes. The reasons the Kriar allowed the sale of Mercedes’ contract are unclear, but it is surmised that Mercedes herself through the network of cybers on homeworld arranged her own ‘vacation’.

  Mercedes lived as a member of the Felspar household and acted Bronawyn’s assistant and later the caregiver for Bronawyn’s two babies. It is believed that Bronawyn’s relationship to the clan was one of the other ulterior motives that Mercedes had when she arranged the approval for the contract. The Kriar, and the cyber hierarchy were intensely interested in the science of magic and this was a golden opportunity to study a whole household full of mages in their “natural environment”.

  Not long after Mercedes became a part of their family, Bronawyn came up with a money-making scheme utilizing the cyber’s incredible healing ability. She would locate rich families that had members with incurable ailments, and for a price restore them to health.

  While it was a good idea, the basically good-hearted and very “human” cyber would have nothing to do with this “selling life to the highest bidder” mercenary plot. Try as she might, Bronawyn could do nothing to persuade the cyber to cooperate. She was ready to give up the cyber as a wasted investment and try “to get her money back” when her far more diplomatic husband, Caldorian stepped in. He suggested a compromise, run a clinic that offered healing at whatever the patients could afford, if free, so-be-it, but whatever could be reasonably born by the patients and their family… They had to charge something as he later explained to Mercedes, in order to pay for the facilities and such to support the endeavor. With careful persuasion they were finally able to convince the cybermed to agree, and the Shadowstalker Miracle Clinic was born. Bronawyn was careful to limit the knowledge of this institution and help enough less fortunate people to satisfy Mercedes’ sense of equity, while raking in huge sums of cash from rich families desperate to cure the incurable. This en
terprise was as can be imagined, wildly successful. Mercedes was only one individual though and there was a limit to what she could do. Bronawyn then branched out into pharmaceuticals, the cyber’s knowledge of advanced medicines made her capable of devising vaccines and inoculations of incredible worth. Again, to satisfy Mercedes she had to temper the sales providing the product to the poor as well as the rich. The enterprise continued, with Bronawyn organizing better and more efficient ways to utilize Mercedes skills while still satisfying the temperamental cyber’s saintly sense of equity.

  As Bronawyn’s financial resources blossomed, she hatched another scheme. The Kriar wanted to purchase land in the idyllic core-worlds of the Ring Realms, however, Elsbeth Crowninshield was utilizing her vast resources as an elder elite, to block, intimidate sellers, and buy up land to prevent any Kriar homesteads from being created. Remembering her initial extremely profitable deal with house Techstar, Bronawyn saw another way to make money. She began buying land in the different locations where the Kriar were showing interest and secretly brokering it to agencies on Homeworld. This simple enterprise far outstripped the extraordinary profits that she had been bringing in with Mercedes. However, it was not long before Elsbeth learned that her embargo had been undermined and the Crimson Mage turned her wrath on the Princess. Only by fact of her being Loric’s daughter-in-law did Bronawyn escape severe punishment at the hands of the elder elite. It was while hiding behind Loric and Cassandra that Bronawyn decided that if she was going to make enemies like Elsbeth, that she needed serious protection. She put word out on homeworld that she would pay handsomely for Kriar bodyguard.

  Bronawyn was teased by the Felspar family that there was no way that some ancient Kriar warrior would “babysit” a human for any amount of pay.

  They were wrong. Not only did Bronawyn get an applicant, the one who answered the call was none other than retired Tarkath Eclipse Shargris, one of the most renowned warriors on homeworld. This development stunned the family elders. It was a conundrum as to whether they should allow Eclipse to be in or around the household. It wasn’t until Bronawyn threatened to move out that they finally agreed to allow it as long as Eclipse promised ‘good behavior’. This Eclipse did do but the ancient Kriar’s assurances did little to calm misgivings. Loric knew if this impossibly old creature decided to cause trouble there was virtually nothing he or anyone else in the citadel could do.

  Eclipse became the next Kriar member of Bronawyn’s household within a household. Loric’s unease proved unwarranted, the Tarkath turned out to be a model houseguest causing decidedly less trouble than the mistress he hired on to guard. In fact, he helped Cassandra out with several thorny problems which helped ease tensions. It was shortly thereafter Eclipse’s acceptance that family members discovered Desiray’s involvement with the rogue Kriar Quasar, who by coincidence was Eclipse’s mate. Which involvement came first remains in question, but it soon became clear that the Felspar clan had some ancient Kriar mercenaries now vacationing in their midst.

  It was shortly after these events that the elder elite Aleesha Cloudwalker, who had recently come back on the scene due to the efforts of Cassandra and Dorian, got wind of Bronawyn’s recent hijinx. For whatever reason, the elder elite took exception to the Silissian woman and decided to make an end of her. Only the intervention of Eclipse prevented Bronawyn from meeting an untimely “conversion” to the light.

  The rivalry between Aleesha and Bronawyn continues. The elder elite is waiting for Eclipse to get tired of protecting Bronawyn, and then she shall finally have her way…

  ***

  For those time conscious individuals, the aforementioned details concerning Eclipse come after the events in both Savant’s Blood and in Shaladen Chronicles: A Knot In Time. They have already taken place by the time of the events in Reality’s Plaything.

  ***

  See Also: Ariok, Gabriella Sarn, cyber-unit, cybermed, Crowninshield, Elsbeth, Felspar, Desiray Illkaren, Felspar, Loric, Ivaneth, Ishtarvariku, Dorian Degaba, kriar, Mercedes, magic, shaladen, Shargris, Eclipse

  Shadowstalker, [Xenos] (King) — Xenos was the hard and harsh ruler of the eastern Silissian kingdom of Drakmourn. Xenos was the eighth Shadowstalker heir in direct descendants. His death in 1085 N.I.S. ended a family rule that had lasted close to a millennia.

  Xenos was noted for the brutal strength of his assigns, especially in regards to his war machine, run by general Zhendar Skyedoom, one of the most powerful warmages known in Silissia, and perhaps all of Sharikaar. However, it was the kingdom’s association with the cult of Kali that brought about its downfall.

  The followers of Kali had centuries before been stamped out by the armies of Queen Drakka’Tah Sarn Ariok, better known as the Dragon Queen. When the Kali cult sought a new foothold in Silissia under the Stewardship of the Shadowstalker royal family, Xenos brought the baleful eye of the Ariok family on him. Gabriella Sarn Ariok issued warnings that if he continued to harbor the Kali thugs that the Kingdom would suffer. King Xenos, having heard rumor that Gabriella and her entire family had been subjegated by members of the Band of the Crescent Moon passed off her warnings as threats coming from a paper tiger.

  Xenos was wrong. Instead of being weaker or restrained, the Dragon queen was even more fearsome than before. Backed by her daughters and a small band of picked adventurers, Gabriella methodically destroyed the Kingdom in a violent purging that claimed the lives of all but two members of the royal family and most of its significant servants including general Zhentar Skyedoom who challenged Gabriella to a magic duel in an effort to end the attack. Despite the general’s renowned magick skills he was brushed aside by the great elder’s legendary power.

  Xenos was survived by his daughter Bronawyn, and his son Nevarr. In a bid to continue the Shadowstalker lineage, Nevarr agreed to marry Gabriella’s daughter Sabella and bind their families together and assure the followers of Kali never again allowed entrance into Silissia or any other part of Titaan.

  See Also: Ariok, Gabriella Sarn, dragon, magic, Shadowstalker, Bronawyn, Titaan

  shal’kar — Engineer grade rank in the Kriar military equal to a lieutenant commander. See also Kriar Ranks.

  See Also: kriar

  shaladen — A weapon made of the spirit metal Shael Dal. The most notable Shaladens are those wielded by the ki’succorund surrogates of the eternals. See eternals.

  The shaladens of the eternals are a physical manifestation of that particular eternal’s spirit that has been combined into alloy of ishtite, adamantine, and krill. The resulting material is for most practical purposes indestructible. See krill.

  All of the shaladens have a ‘vorpul’ quality edge. When a user is “bound” to any of the blades the following abilities are conferred to the wielder:

  ? Physical enhancement: All wielders are endowed with varying degrees of enhanced strength and resistance to physical injury. The smallest such enhancement (provided by the shaladen Cataract) confers strength sufficient to lift 30 stone overhead without straining. The body is toughened to the point that the user’s bare skin is as resistant to injury as if they were wearing chain mail. Most of the blades confer a limited form of “environment adaptation” that allows operation in hostile environments including airless space for a short periods of time.

  ? Unlimited telepathy: this ability allows mental communication across any normal-space distance, and in many cases across trans-dimensional distances as well. This communication can take place regardless of whether the target creature has any telepathic ability.

  ? Cross-culture idiomatic language translation: The shaladen confers the ability to synchronize with a particular creature to speak and understand in their mother tongue. The spoken language is as non-biased and idiomatically correct as is possible when translating the wielder’s thoughts to words in the target language.

  ? Point-to-point summoning: A wielder can “summon” another wielder via plane-shifting provided the other wielder is willing and not resisting the transfer. The “summ
onee” must be conscious and able to grant permission for the summoning to work. The “call” of the blades is very powerful and can occur across dimensional barriers and through all but a few kinds of magical and technological defenses.

  ? Temporal autonomy: After binding with an eternal shaladen, the wielder is thereafter completely immune to the effects of time. They do not age, and chronological shifts and attacks are ineffective. The shaladen acts as an anomaly compensator allowing the wielder to function in back-time without causing downstream event disruption. The shaladen’s most unique power is its ability to confer pan-temporal uniqueness. The wielder cannot meet his “alternate” parallel time-lines.

  ? Undetectability: As a function of its anomaly compensation, under normal circumstances the wielder of the shaladen is completely undetectable. The user’s presence is not registered by electronic or magical devices. There have been some agencies which developed items specifically for the detection and tracking of the Shael Dal, but in most of the cases the eternals soon confiscated the devices.

  See Also: eternals, ishtite, krill, telepathic, telepathy, temporal

  Shargris, Eclipse — Tarkath of the Kriar Shrike Legion Elite, twelve time decorated hero of the Jyril conflicts, and various war causes. Eclipse was a career military warrior with extreme patriotic dedication to his people. He and his close companion Quasar Diliaysus were two of the best warriors the Kriar corps ever saw. On many occasions these two resilient warriors were the last Kriar standing in several unfortunate encounters.

  See Also: kriar

  Sharikaar — The largest continental landmass on Titaan. The major continents of Titaan in order of size are Sharikaar, Fraestar, Canth, Pedon, and Silissia.

  See Also: Titaan

  Sheento, Daena — An orphaned teenage savant whom Bannor meets in order for her to bind with her beta half, the Aesir pantheon lord Hella. Daena is a Da’Jhamack Nola, a savant of attractions. Daena joins with Hella, and the two merge into what is thought to be a reincarnation of a first one. Daena’s natural abilities equal and in some cases surpass that of a pantheon lord. She has virtually limitless astral strength, and amazing powers of recovery. Daena’s biggest limitation is her age and inexperience. Having the powers of a goddess and knowing how to use them are different things. Though she is learning quickly, it will be some time before she ever realizes a significant portion of her full potential.