TLDunn213

This strange race appeared around the same time as the Scorpanocks, but it is less clear who made them, or why. The best guess is that they were intended as scout/sniper support for the Gith rebellion. But the ZarAk make no claim of being the creators. Which leaves the Aqualith as the most likely, but so far this is unconfirmed. It is quite hard to study this race as no live members, as yet, have volunteered. And dead ones are of little use as their internal organs begin breaking down into goo almost imeadeatly after death. While most believe this to be a way by which the Aqualith protect the secrets of their BioMancy; I suspect that it may be a regeneration and/or reproductive mechanism. With one, or more, Displacons rising from the remains. But no one has been able to prove this as any anti-magic warding strong enough to keep them from using their displacement ability prevents the resurrection process and seems to be fatal to any live specimens trapped in this manner after just a few hours. And so far there are no good theories as to why. But enough complaining and on to the information we do have... Starting at the feet we have two clawed toes well suited to grasping stonewalls and the like. Then comes the long foot and backwards knee set up common to the back legs of cats and dogs; but these have several retractable curved spines useful for scaling walls backwards. Which they have been observed to do. From the backwards knee/ankle the legs continue upwards into a "normal" lower leg knee upper leg arrangement as might be found in regular humaniods. The notable diferances being the fin like structures on the upper thighs and of course the exoskeleton which covers the entire creature. The pelvis is quite narrow with the ball and socket of the hip being clearly visible. Barely enough room for waste elimination here giving some creidability to the reserection reproduction theory. The torso is basically humanoid in shape, with six tentacles sprouting from the back and a gill frill structure rising from just above the shoulder blades to about half the hight of the head when deployed and laying almost flat when not in use. The arms, like the legs are long, thin, and boney looking, as are the hands. Which end in long, sharp nail/claws. The tentacles are tiped with a nail/claw structure much like a broad head arrow or spear point. Useful for both combat and climbing. Although the suckers on the tentacles underside are more geared to that purpose. And finialy we come to the head. Flat and elongated with a lower jaw that seperates in the middle like a pair of mandabels. The creature has four optic membrane type eyes, much like those of a Morlock. Then there is the gem like structure in the middle of the broad forehead whose purpose is totally unknown at this point. Best guess is that it is related to their displacement ability which is like that of a Slider Beast as far as can be determined.

Or maybe, if the maps they need are here, and I can find them quickly... "How long were you traveling the Styx to get here ?" I ask, hoping Yeriko will catch on to what I'm up to. Sleeping isn't something one can do well on the Styx, and Targon is the one who'll have been most effected, But the big lug would never admit to needing more rest than the others. "Two or three days; I think." Hawk said with a yawn. "Hard to keep track out there." "If you've got somewhere we can bed down for a bit, before we start looking ?" Kain added with a hopeful note in his voice. "There are rooms along this hallway. Used to be servant's quarters. But I've never been much for servants." I said opening a door next to the cupboard. "Make yourselves comfortable, I'll take a quick look at the family history to see who's journals are most likely to be useful, and then catch a nap myself."

Other notes on ChoKa. They have no bones, as such; the boney parts of the head and torso being made of cartilage. The arms and legs are tentacles which branch near their ends to become fingers and toes. These tentacles have a row of suckers along the underside flanked by spiny pads a combination which allows a ChoKa to grip and climb almost anything. By wrapping their arms and legs around a foe they can delivere crushing damage as well as slashing damage from their spiny pads. Which when combined with their bio-shock ability makes them quite formidable in combat. In game terms the spiny pads deal out 1d3 points per slap. The bio-shock is 1d8 electric/stun per hit die/level of the creature. Which can be delivered all at once or doled out in 1d8 burst up to their total hit dice per day. The constrict attack can deal 2d6+2 points of crushing damage each round once the ChoKa has fully grappled a foe. These stats are for a basic ChoKa, That is one that's in the 3 to 4 foot range With 6 to 8 hit dice (D8) ChoKa culture depends on environment. Wild ChoKa living underground tend to form tribal bands. Hunting, foraging, and raiding as circumstances dictate and allow. They are reported to be cannibalistic, raiding the Spawning Pools of other tribes as well as the Pools of Illith/Thulian outpost. These cannibal raids are likely for knowledge rather than food given the genetic memory common to all Thulian kin. It could also be for genetic material in its own right, given that a tribe could have been started by a single ChoKa. Tame ChoKa, that is those who were bonded to someone at a young age, tend to take on the values of whoever they are bonded to. Often remaining a faithful servant or companion for life and often remaining with their bond mate's family and friends should they be the surviving member of the pair.

As noted elsewhere, the ChoKa are an offshoot of the Varna. Specifically they are what happens to Varna tadpoles that are not implanted. The change to a humanoid shape begins at 6 months to 1 year after hatching. And the ChoKa can leave the Spawning pool once it is about a foot long. At this stage the ChoKa must keep its skin moist and can return to the pool even still having the ability to breathe under water through its skin. At this stage the ChoKa's psi abilities are limited to a basic blind sight out to twice its height, and communication of basic needs and emotions. Such as hunger or fear. A person with psi abilities can mind link to ChoKa this young and share sensory input if so desired. Once a ChoKa has reached a size of 3 to 4 feet they gain a body adjustment ability which allows them to give up water breathing in exchange for no longer needing to stay damp. This change takes from 1 to 3 days and is reversible. ChoKa of this size also gain the ability to talk via telapathy and generate a bio-current strong enough to stun an average sized person. The growth rate for ChoKa varies greatly depending on available food and the will of the ChoKa itself. A ChoKa can reach the 3 to 4 foot size range in as little as 3 years and then stay there for 10 to 20. Growth can range from as little as an inch a year to as much as a foot in six months. There seems to be no upper limit on size or age with these creatures although the largest reported specimen to date was just over 8 feet with an age of around 200 years. Unlike other Thulian kin ChoKa seem to undergo no morphosis beyond the tadpole to humanoid one. It was also long believed that they had no means of reproduction, this is however not the case. ChoKa can reproduce by way of their starfish like regenerative abilities. A ChoKa wishing to reproduce will cut off a finger or hand, chop it into tadpole sized bits, and drop them into a spawning pool, along with a goodly bit of their blood. About a pint added to a chopped up hand, which yealds around 4 dozen spawn. The chopped up bits turning into tadpoles in 2 or 3 days; with the hand regrowing in about the same amount of time. It is as yet unknown what percentage of Varna/Thulian larvae are produced by this process or what steps might be taken to adjust that balance.

While I have spoken of the Varna elsewhere I want to take the time to cover them in more detail here and briefly touch on the ChoKa; which I will deal with more fully later. Choka are what Varna tadpoles turn into if not implanted. The Varna, as noted elsewhere, are created from modified Thulian larvae to serve as spies and assassins. That is only partly true now that the Varna are trying to become a free people in their own right. An effort which is likely futile, as will be seen as we look at the different types of Varna a the success rate of the Morphoses process. The success rate for Varna morphosis is basically the same as for Thuliens that are becoming Illith. Which is to say about 25% become Varna. 25% die.(no splits here). Kulls are basically just a failure with the victim gaining knowledge from the Varna. It is unclear if a Kull of this type would be able to leave their former body and/or become a Gree later on as there are no confirmed reports of anyone actually escaping in this state. Shulls are still Shulls. Although it is believed that there are potions that effectively allow a Shull to finish the morphosis process later. So technically a close to 50% success rate because of Shulls of this type being able to finish later. type two Varna are basically type ones after they reach a certain size. The growth process can be slowed by taking certain potions but this tends to have the inconvenient side effect of binding the Varna to its Husk. Type two Varna(hereafter called Gree) can undergo a morphosis process and become a fully adult Thulien (also referred to as an Elder.) Such Adults seem to be no different than ones that took a different life path. although there are some reports that Gree Elders produce eggs that hatch into about equal numbers of regular and Varna tadpoles. It is unclear if the morphosis from Gree to Elder is something that simply happens at some point or if some potion is needed to trigger the process. In interest point to consider in light of rumors that the Varna are seeking to become a separate species. Given that Varna who have reached the Gree stage can create more Varna by way of a morphosis causing injection they could have an independent life cycle. Assuming the Morphosis from Gree to Elder is a triggered rather than a spontaneous event. And even if spontaneous there could be potions that could be used to block it. It is worth noting that Gree are also able to lay eggs which will become Thulien tadpoles. It is unclear if these tadpoles are Varna or regular Thulien tadpoles or a mix. As Choka, Cephalarack, and, Illith are not particularly desirable to the Varna they have no particular reason to lay eggs.

Footnotes. Both Garm and Tanis have Spell training. With him it's just the basics every non-com is required to take. Tanis, on the other paw, given her background and love of learning... She'll likely go for research mage training when she's old enough. And odds are she's got a few nonstandard spells in her tome already.

As promised. Assuming you ever find time to read it. Garm is a wolf type Wylding. Which is almost a given, what with him being in the Gray Guard and all. Not that they don't have a few non-wolf members, but still. Anyway he's a gruff grizzled veteran who looks about 30 and is closer to 50. Which isn't all that amazing for a Wylding. He's seen his share of combat and taken a turn at training new recruits. Something you have to do to move up the ranks. And now that he's at a comfortable pay grade he's quite willing to take the less exciting jobs. Which you can't really give to cubs anyway. They get bored and stop paying enough attention and end up getting volunteered for the unpleasant messy bits like bleeding and dying, Which totally gets in the way of enjoying the fun bits, like drinking and gambling. Tanis is a cat type Wylding as you would expect from someone in Bast's Elite. She's in her late 20s and looks it. The whole slow aging thing is only now starting to take effect with her. She started training as an assassin but found herself fascinated by the brewing of poisons and their antidotes to the point of taking extra healer training. All assassins take some, for obvious reasons. She took enough to qualifie for full healer training but discovered that while she loved the lore and could learn it quickly, her real love was just learning. So on to scout and spy training. It's rumored that she's pulling bodyguard work as part of a project to find ways to train new recruits in dealing with boreing duites. Garm's aproch of sneaking up on lax guard trainees and shaving the fur off their necks while explaining the importance of staying alert, While effective. Isn't the sort of thing that can be built into regular training.

You are one of us In this fact I fully trust You see us even tho we Shroud And pick us out from the crowd You see us when we are not there And tho we're strange, You do not care You talk with those less seen than air And you can also disappear One of us you must surely be Else you'd not so clearly see The things they say cannot be Next line: Will you come with us and be set free ?

OK as some people aren't up to speed. I'll explain what a Dracon is for those who don't know or are confused by the different types. For our purposes there are three types of Dracon. Blood, Bound, and Ronin. With the Ronin having two sub types; those who started out Ronin and those who became Ronin. A Blood Dracon of course had a dragon for a parent (or ancestor) and so can access some of the abilities of a bound Dracon even without a patron. But most will take service under their Dragon parent if possible. In the case of a Dragon ancestor further back than grandparent some event is typically needed to awaken the Dragon blood. But not always, converging bloodlines can spawn a Blood Dracon with no Dragon in the family tree for generations. Typical Awakening Events include the Dracon Rituals; of course; exposure to strong magic, especially magic relating to Dragons and/or their Elemental type. But any traumatic event, if strong enough, can potentially, awaken latent Dragon blood. The Bound Dracon is of course the most common type. Simply put this is a person who swears service to a Dragon in exchange for being Ritually adopted by that Dragon. And so a bond is formed somewhat like the bond between a witch/wizard and their familiar except that the Dracon is slowly becoming a dragon of the same type as their Patron. Ronin Dracons are either Bonded Dracons who have lost their Patron or at least the link to them. Or they gained Dragon Essence and thus Dragon powers by way of rituals designed to extract Dragon Essence from anything that might have it. Shed scales, Bones, Spilled blood, other Dracons, Dung... Ronin Dracons must either find a patron or gain Dragon Essence in other ways if they wish to continue advancing tword full Dragonhood. In some cases this can include taking a for hire role with a Dragon or stronger Dracon. Short term, no Bond; for an agreed upon amount of Dragon Essence. Some of course chose the Ronin path because they only want some Dragon powers and not the full transformation. It is mostly from Ronin Dracons who went all the way that the Mongrel Dragon breeds of today arose. (With a few being due to converging bloodlines) And it is because of this that Dragon powers, colors, and alignments don't always match with ancient dragon lore.

It was pointed out to me by some elves that there were Druids in the form of Elven Tree Priest well before the time of the Wylding Zombie wars. And that Treefolk were also major players on the side of life during the war. Facts that I'll deal with in more detail later, as this section is more focused on the origins of the Wyldings.

The first thing to consider here is Dragons and where they come from. Seeing as Dracons arise from Dragons even as later Dragons arose from the first Dracons. So, the first or Elder Dragons came during the Fay Migrations. The first of which was around the start of the Saurian Thulian war. As to why they chose to leave the deep realms of Fairie, there are several factors. Boredom and curiosity being the ones more readily admitted to by the more powerful Fay. With fear of the rising threat of Yuuxath being an equally strong, if far less admitted, reason . Now to look at these factors in a bit more detail. Boredom is such an ongoing thing with the Fay it can be taken as a given. But the related curiosity is worth noting as it derived from the Gith. Namely the Gith slaves who found ways to escape into the borderlands of Fairee. Now some Fay had found their way into the realms of the shard Scape even before this. Which is part of how the escaping Gith found their way into the Fay Realms in the first place. And Fay being Fay crossbreeding occurred giving rise to Elves, Orks, and indirectly Goblins, but we will look at that another time. And I think I will save exploring the connections between Yuuxath, the Outer Void and the Deep Realms of the Fay until later as well.

The Wabe... Zatar shimmers into reality. "I'd forgotten how bad the time distortions are around Honah Lee the rest of the year. Autumn Mist really is the only way in and out that doesn't take reshaping reality. And Puff is off Goddess knows where, doing the Gods know what. Left him a note so he'll know who's been rooting around in his library. As if he'd be able to tell the difference, except it's maybe a bit more organized. Total book horder, so good odds that rare tome you're looking for is in there Somewhere. Actually finding it...That could take Awhile." "So what was you looking for Boss ?" Gus ask as Zatar pulled a thick, dusty tome out of his cloak. "The answer to our egg riddle, I think." Places the book on a stand and opens to a bookmarked page. "Take a look at this. '...The reason no one has ever hatched a Jabberwock egg is that Jabberwocks are the adult form of the Frumious Bandersnach.' That's why we were getting a match for both when we tried to ID that egg's DNA. That and the fact that the data base only had common Bandersnach DNA. Seems whoever compiled the data didn't know there are two types of Bandersnach, Common and Frumious. Which is why no one made the connection until Victor Rasputin stumbled on to it in the 1800s, and given his reputation... Well, no big surprise that word didn't get around."

Unlike my other works this is a true story. Well, mostly true anyway. I likely embellished a few bits here and there. Anyway, this is from a few years ago. Back when my now ex-wife GK and I were just becoming a thing. Now her 1st husband had walked out on her shortly before this. And by being a (insert exploitive) had caused the car she had been driving to get repoed. And that's where I come in. I had the day off and so was free to give her a lift to the used car place after she got off. Now it's worth noting that I'd been reading one of the Annetta Blake books by Laural K Hamilton (sorry if I flubbed the spelling) In which the focus was on werewolves. You'll see why this matters in just a bit. Other bit to note was my get up. Mocsian boots, camo pants, black T-shirt with a pentagram on it, and terminator type shades over my regular specks . So, its afternoon and the sun is reflecting off of something on the wall behind the salesman's desk. Which is why I left the shades on. Anyway, he and GK are talking and he's typing stuff in on his computer. Then he ask who I am. Now I just got done paying off my car and ain't going to be part of this deal. So I say, total deadpan, "You don't need to know who I am." He looks a bit non-pulsed but let's it go. Now GK's youngest had asma back then. So we needed the car of a non-smoker. And to be sure we got it... I sniffed the seats. No way to do something like that and not look a bit odd. Now remember what I had on and what I'd been reading; and I think you'll see why I didn't even try not looking weird. I went with it and played it to the hilt, and on up to the pommel It went a bit like this: First car: *sniff sniff* " totally a smoker's car. It down in the foam rubber. You'd need to soak this in fabreese overnight at least." Salesman dude is a bit weirded out. But not too bad, after all anyone could have smelled that. Second car:" not a smoker's car; but it's been smoked in. Someone taking a smoke during a test drive I'd say. The smell is just in the cloth not down in the foam; and not any stronger than the fried chicken someone had in here the other day." Salesman is close to bolting, and Gk tells him her youngest is asmatic. The look on his face was on par with someone being tossed a rope in quicksand. Third car: "non smoker. No one has ever smoked in this car. Someone had burgers and frys in here about a week ago. But mostly hasn't been eaten in or anything." GK: how much ? Salesman gave an amount that was too high. GK said it was too much. Salesman said he'd see what he could do. We got the price we wanted or at least close enough, with a per month that worked. Not quite the end. About a week later the salesman called GK to see if she; that is the car was OK. We had him on speaker so we all heard the slip. Checked a calander after the call, and yep It had been a full moon the weekend before. Amazing what some people will believe ain't it ?

Where the Wind Blows There I'll make my Way When the Wind Blows I'll be on my Way When the Wind Blows Be it Night or Day Wherever the Wind Blows There I'll make my Way And where the Wind stops That is where I'll stay Until the Wind Blows Then I'll be on my Way When the Wind Blows Be it Night or Day When the Wind Blows...

Now as any student of history knows the Yuun-Xi managed to Prevert the spells used to grant the Wyldings their powers. Giving rise to both the Cursed disease Lycanthropy and the Ritual of Yuuxath. The later, for those fortunate enough to not know of it, is how other races are transformed into Yuun-Xi. Interestingly enough, it is this Ritual that the Dragons later adapted for the creation of their Dracons. But more about them another time. What is far less well known, are the spells the Druids developed which gave rise to the Redemption Ritual and the Rights of the Deathless Ones. Sadly this knowledge is fading nowadays. True, the need for it had largely passed, But there are other uses to which such spells could be put. Good uses. The dark uses are all to obvious. After all these were evil spells turned to better ends to start with. So turning them to evil... Well, that is why they are such closely guarded secrets now isn't it.

Darkness Come Oh Darkness, My dear friend I have need of thee again Enfold Me in your Sable Shroud and hide me from the hostile crowd As I above the rooftops fly Seeking one who's soon to die From your folds my Bolt shall fly And in your Embrace they then shall lie Untouched as Ages march on by Until we hear our Master's Call To gather in The Shadow Hall Then on Wings of Night we'll haste away To play our part in The Final Fray And when that Battle is Fought and Won Then Our Journey Shall Be Done. Rest Now I lay me down to rest With a Dagger on my chest Beneath this Stone I shall lie As I watch Time go marching by Beneath the Ground I shall wait Until they open wide The Final Gate Then into Hell I shall go There to face The Final Foe And When that Battle is Fought and Won Then My Journey Shall Be Done.

It was during this time that Druids arose. Before this there had been Shamans, who worked with assorted nature Spirits and a few arcane spells they might learn along the way. And Priest devoted to a single god or goddess or rarely to a pantheon. Priests got their magic spells from their gods. Now some Shamans did turn Priest in the course of seeking stronger Spirits to form Pacts with. Some were good Shamans looking for the best Spirit Pact to be had. Others were evil and just looking for more power. But with the rise of the Necromancers there came a need on both sides. The Shamans needed the help of a Great Spirit to help them against these things that were not of Nature. And due to the rapid spread of Necromancy Gia needed Warrior Priest who already knew how to fight and how to cast spells. Thus the Druids, Rangers, and Gray Guards came to be. The first Gray Guards were so named because they chose to be bonded to wolf spirits. And while many other animal spirits soon joined the cause, the Cats being most notable among them, The term Gray Guard mostly stuck. Gray Hunter being common with the cats. In part due to their habits of hunting Necromancers alone. While the Guard mostly focused on protecting towns and people from the undead hordes.

Now that we've talked a bit about zombies(and yes the Necromancers did weponize the drain effect to make more deadly undead later) But now on to the Wyldings and the Shamans who made them. A Wylding is a person(normally human, but other races can play too) who has had an animal Spirit melded with their own so that they can become that animal and later as the melding becomes more complete a hybrid form combining both. The improved vitality of Wyldings grants them both fast healing and improved resistance to undead drain and fear effects. As silver and the full moon are part of the Ritual for becoming a Wylding both have effects on Wyldings. The full moon calls strongly to their inner animal making it more asendent at such times. Silver is both boon and bane to a Wylding. In Wylding hands a silver weapon is a magic weapon just as their claws and fangs are when transformed. The bane part is in the fact that silver weapons used against them overcome their supernatural resistance to damage and slow their healing to "normal" rates for such wounds. Not that magical healing can't be used normally, only their iniate healing is slowed, and only for the wounds caused by the silver weapons. Magical weapons may also have this effect, depending on the nature of the magic involved.

The Necromancers started with simple undead, zombies and skeletons. The spells for them were simplified forms of the spells used by arcane wizards to animate objects and the spells priest used for golems. The notable difference being that by using a formerly living body the Necromancer could skip the step of imprinting their mind onto the object and simply re-energize the imprint left from when the creature was alive. Thus greatly simplifying the process. The other difference is more subtle and less well known. And that is where these things get their power. Animated objects draw their power from the ambient magic around them and the kinetic energy of nearby movement. Light spells are a bit dimmer, an arrow doesn't fly quite as far ect. Golems are powered by a bit of life force from the priest, their god, or a sacrifice in the case of evil priests. Undead draw their power from the ambient life force around them. A single zombie might make your lawn wilt a bit. But an army of them...

Also known as the Shaman Necromancer War. Was started by Yuuxath while he was impersonating Charon. Not too long after Charon took over for Cronos as collector of the dead. It took Yuuxath some time to build up his cult of Necromancers and start displacing Charon. But he started being noticed by Gia around the end of the Gith Rebellion. Which was also near the end of the Saurian Thulian War and the Rise of the Yuun-Xi and the beginning of the first XerEk XarAk Swarm Wars. Not that the Saurian Thulian War ever ended in any formal sence. No one ever surrendered. Both sides just lost the ability to mount any major attacks. More to follow.

Across the river, under the boughs grows a circle of mushrooms A faire ring Can you hear the music Will you join the Dance and with the Fair Folk wildly prance. Will They stay and let you play Or in an instant fade away ? Will you dance till break of day And like a Mist then fade away... Next line: Will you join the dance

Yuun-Xi blood, depending on how it's processed, can be mutagen, poison, sleep agent, or mind altering halusinagen. To name some of its more common uses. Which shouldn't be too surprising when you consider all the compounds the Med-dusa can create inside their own bodies; not to mention the natural mutagens the Saurians can generate. Some Yuun-Xi have one(or, rarely, more) of the gaze bases powers of the opt-dusa. Most common among these are the Hold and Charm abilities, but any of the gaze abilitys are possible. There are even reports of other, spell like abilities beyond those normally found among the Opt-dusa. As to the Nag-dusa, they seem to be the source of the more snake like looking Yuun-Xi, who tend to also have the stronger, but more subtle Psi-powers, such as, remote viewing, pre and retro cognition, and most telepathic abilities.

The Yuun-Xi are a corrupted offshoot race that arose from mating between the Saurian/Lizard folk and the assorted Dusa sub-races; most notably the Optdusa, Medusa, and the Nagdusa. (More on these beings elsewhere.) While it is unclear just when and how the Yuun-Xi fell under the sway of Yuuxath; it is accepted as fact that some element in Yuun-Xi blood makes anyone exposed to it extremely susceptible to Yuuxath's influence. Seeing things that aren't there, hearing voices, a feeling of being watched, ect. All Yuun-Xi have some mental disorder, and most tend tword an evil alignment. They also tend to have some innate powers gained from their Dusa/Saurian heritage. (Which I will cover in more detail later.)

Yuuxath, is an insane "god" who is the force behind the Forever War, and several other events in Shard Scape history that don't seem to make a lot of scence; the Shamen Necromancer war, for example. Yuuxath got his start at the far end of history. He knew that the other "gods" were coming to cast him into the Outer Darkness, and he was ready for them. He arranged things so that his passage to Outer Darkness happened at the same time as the launch of the Great Ship "The Maelstrom's Bore". And so even as he was being flung into the Outer Darkness, he was sowing Mind Seeds into the hive mind of the ZerEk Swarm as it plunged into the Paradox Maelstrom in pursuit of the Morlock's Great Ship. Thus sowing the seeds for his own rise to Power and Madness. Far back in the dim and distant past a young Yuuxath found a dying ZerEk, infected with a MindSeed from the far future. The Seed leaped from the dying ZerEk into the mind it had been intended for all along. And so the circle of madness begins by becoming complete. Now the Forever War is an ongoing effort by Yuuxath to drive Cronus insane, or at lest distract him to the point that he can't really do much to stop Yuuxath. So inspite of what people my think the real point of the Forever War is to create as many contradictory time lines as possible, while also spawning as many paradoxes, paradox objects, and paradox people as possible while weaving them into history so that removing them will make even more paradoxes than leaving them in the now tangled fabric of history. The Necromancer Shaman War was Yuuxath's attempt to both keep Charon from taking over as "god" of death for Cronus and to distract Gaia with swarms of undead things that had no place in Nature; Nature versus Unnature to the greater detriment of Nature. More on the Necro/Shamen War, and the rise of the Wyldlings and Shadow people elsewhere.

Zatar shimmers into reality. "Gus, have the Tolves got the Wabe set up yet ?" "End of the week; Give or take a few finishing touches" "Good. That'll give me time to set the temporal distortion spells on the Nerf pens. You don't happen to know anyone with Nerf herding experience, who wouldn't mind being time distorted, do you ?" "Not off hand, Boss, but I'll put the word out that you're looking. Why is we needing a Nerf herder, we only got a dozen Nerfs ?" "We're going to be having more, a lot more. Bandersnacths and Jabberwocks are hungry beast." "You finally got a line on that DNA you was looking for ?" "Not exactly... Can't even find a clean enough sample for a positive match on this egg. 75% chance it's a Jabberwock; according to the best sample on that front. But, get this, the best Bandersnatch sample gives a 75% match as well." "So, how do you figure out what we really got ?" "Easy. We hatch the egg." "But, with out something to match against..." "wonderland castle claims to have a stuffed Jabberwock, and a stuffed Bandersnatch. No good for DNA, But good enough for a visual identification."