Down To Basics (New)

[Maharg67]

01-04(0009)

DOWN TO BASICS: I AM JACK! AM I JACK?

OYLEIN RUINS

 

The other tunnel was harder to find, was smaller, was more difficult to use but led to a wonderful and amazing find. A much larger glowcavern was there and it was the site of ancient ruins though not those of the Ayleid Mer. The Oyleins had been Mer who had split away from the Mehrunes Dagon worshiping Ayleids. The Oyleins had been followers of the Great Divines that were both like and unlike the Nine Divines as worshiped in the Cyrodilin Empire. There were thirteen Great Divines. The Oylein ruins were in very good shape for 'ruins' and were much like Ayleid ruins in some ways but were colored golden and silver.

 

The place had a feel of being abandoned for an extremely long time. I found no loot. There were some pale glowing Oylein-crystals but they were firmly melded into their wall holders, carved elaborately as Oylein man or woman faces both elegant and majestic. Yet there were also great wall areas of line-drawings of Oylein peoples and life in its many aspects along with great vertical lines of Oylein hieroglyphics.

 

To my complete surprise I found I could read the Oylein picture writing but did not have enough background knowledge to understand what it was all about. There was a small maze of hallway tunnels leading in from the glowcavern, dotted with line-drawings, statues, Oylein-crystals glowing softly and even some round metal mirrors melded into some walls.

 

What was it that led me to finding the clues, I was not sure, but then I was following a trail of them along a series of hallways to a dead end that look different from other hallway endings. This was one great big square metallic mirror quite different from the other mirrors that I had found. There was something odd about its reflection, something disturbing, then I realized it was not reversed as it would have been in a normal mirror.

 

This was a powerful quasimagical device, a so called truth-mirror.

 

-=Be careful, be very careful. This truth-mirror is only semiactive but with such powerful devices that still means it can be very tricky, even dangerous.

 

In my typical gear I had brought my backpack and also a good selection of my items, hiding the other stuff back in the home glowcavern. So I slipped on the exotic power-glove, flexed my fingers in it and then touched the strange mirror. I figured it would give me at least some protection and in this I was correct. With a burst of sparkling energy I was flung backwards but I was not hurt.

 

The non reversed image of the truth-mirror had changed and now I was looking into a big rock chamber that was also partly artificial with some cut rock block walls and a flat top pyramid like temple alter. Great stone statues stood either side of an alter. They were Oylein in nature, were of one of the Grand Divines.

 

There were goblins there, in hardened leather body-armor and with a mixture of steel and bronze bladed or headed weapons. All had round bronze helmets of bowls, some with one or two horns attached. They were crouched in a loose group around two small fires and were drinking from leather bottles or eating dried meat that well could have been goblin flesh for many goblins were cannibals. There were eight of these goblin warriors bearing the crude, garish symbols of the UgoTozogu Tribe of the Great Shanzk Horde.

 

Then I saw the crude metal reinforced cage, and its occupant of a filthy furry wozzle infant looking miserable and hungry, I knew I had to save it. So it was that I first saw WozuGoo the wozzle, that being his childhood name. He had yet to earn an adult name, of course.

[Maharg67]

01-05(0010)

DOWN TO BASICS: I AM JACK! AM I JACK?

RESCUING WOZUGOO

 

With a rush I went through that truth-mirror, through the other truth-mirror, and swept towards the goblins. Hoping against hope I would frighten them into running or surrendering, there was no surprise when instead they attacked me.

 

My first flame elemental enhanced 9mm bullet exploded into a goblin and set him alight. He screamed and died, falling backwards as he did so. Even as he did so my second bullet, this time ice elemental enhanced, froze a goblin dead in his tracks. Again and again I fired, being glad that my gun was fully loaded. Every time I fired a bullet I used a different elemental enhancement and the goblins were electrocuted, frozen or burned.

 

None of the goblins survived because they went berserker on me. I crouched quickly to avoid a thrown spear, moving with agility and speed that surprised me, and shot down the spear thrower. The elemental extras and blasting of my gun was not stopping the attackers but I could see wonder in their eyes.

 

It seemed more luck than anything that I was not hurt for those goblins were tough experienced warriors. After the last fell, I carefully took out the wozzle infant. He only bit me once, it was more a token effort than anything he being so exhausted and depressed, then I was giving him some water. After a pause he drank it. I left him seated, chewing on a foodbar, as I carefully looted the dead goblins, and their encampment, of anything useful.

 

This time I bothered less about hiding tracks figuring that time was more important. The less time I took, the better. So I picked up WozuGoo, a sack of looted items, and went back through the two truth-mirrors.

 

Back in the Home Cavern, I let the little furry guy sleep for a while and then did my best to wash him while he sleepily ate some fruit I had gathered. He slept some more even as I got all the stuff I had looted and spread it out over the ground to examine it carefully. It was of some usefulness but more so it was a source of information.

 

I had gone through the truth-mirrors to end up in a hidden compressed transdimensional pocket realm of a known known as a mirror-realm. It was called Salvazadar and it was one of my own created gaming mods, a whole new land with some new quests, factions, treasures, monsters, flora, fauna and other factors. At least out there in 'reality' it was a game mod. In here, in this 'cartoonish reality' it was an extension of reality. Now I was back in Northern Cyrodiil of Tamriel.

 

Yet I figured I would need to return to Salvazadar to make sure the WozuGoo got back to his people, to his family or clan or what ever he belonged to. My knowledge of Salvazadar was good but wozfolk could belong to a wide variety of factions in that realm that was a general copy of Cyrodiil but surrounded by mountain-walls that met the sky; that meant Salvazadar was very large, as was Cyrodiil itself. WozuGoo had no identifications on him, as far as I had seen, and I had found nothing with the goblins that had held him captive.

 

I needed to go through my resources again to try to find anything that might assist me in this and in other ways.

[Maharg67]

NOTES TO BE ADDED EDITED

 

Aspects of this story is roughly based on various games, on possible future versions of these same games.

-Elder Scrolls Games

Edited March 12, 2012 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

01-06(0011)

DOWN TO BASICS: I AM JACK! AM I JACK?

WITH WOZUGOO

 

When I got out my survival compass, on a whim, and held it carefully and gained the strong impression that the device now had quasimagical qualities that would allow me to assist the wozzle infant.

 

-=My sensors are picking up some odd data from the small wozzle's body.

 

I responded back for the first time, or was it?

 

=-Not just wozzle in nature? Something living inside him but peacefully in positive co-existence with him. It helped him survive and the infant helps it survive?

 

-=Yes, we consider you to be correct! We have made contact with it, on its level. It loves WozuGoo and wants to protect him. It has a disturbing story to tell. It was wozfolk who forced the wozzle infant to flee into the wilderness once they found the co-parasitic entity in it, that saved it from a terrible illness.

 

=-Does not seem like wozfolk as I know them.

 

-=Was not! There was something wrong with the wozfolk. They also became sick and infested with parasitic entities but these enslaved their hosts, dominating their minds. They did not like that the co-parasitic entity inside WozuGoo chose peaceful co-existence rather than one way domination of the host.

 

He did not remember such creatures being inside his game mod of Salvazadar Salvation. Perhaps somebody had modded his mod or was there another explanation? Then again how were such realities effected as they were transformed from being inside a game to a game like realms like the ones I had experienced so far?

 

When I wore the quasimagical metallic glove and held the coffee thermos, it would regenerate full of coffee, the process taking about a minute. Yet it also could be cleansed and then fill with hot or cold water, chicken broth, hot chocolate drink, iced coffee, mixed fruit vegetable juice, lightly milk hot tea or some other such substances.

 

After WozuGoo slept he sat slowly drinking a thermos lidcup of hot chocolate drink, left to cool a short while, and he was most pleased with the taste of it. After that he had a lidcup of beef and vegetable soup. Then I consumed a lidcup of the same kind of soup.

 

WozuGoo went back to sleep using the sleeping-bag. He would slumber quite a good deal over the coming days because he had to recover from a good deal of harsh experience and such as hunger.

 

I was never very far from him as I went through the various items that I had with me and wondered again how useful they would be. So I took one of the 'fancy game dice' and threw the six sided object lightly. It came up showing a softly flashing image on top.

 

Two slimly muscular humanoids appeared, each wearing metallic body-armor, a knife, a longknife, a shortsword, a longsword and a bow in a scabbard-quiver over his or her back. One was a woman and the other a man though not really human. They were human like but with red-brown fur and skin, large eyes and large ears. I knew that these were summonable entities of a kind known as beastlings.

 

I gave the beastlings some supplies that they put into various pouches, including a big back-pouch, and then sent them out on their first patrol. They moved quickly and quietly through the big cavern chamber as they begun their first shift.

Edited March 12, 2012 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

01-07(0012)

DOWN TO BASICS: I AM JACK! AM I JACK?

GOING OVER RESOURCES

 

The two beastlings adopted WozuGoo quickly, easily, and would sometimes take turns to care for him, and the home base, while I went out with the other. The beastling woman was Shaina of 13of99 and the man was Tarishaina of 14of99. They worked efficiently, quietly, and were of the same kind of very real seeming cartoon nature as the rest of that world was.

 

I showed them both the semiautomatic pistol, trained them how to use it, and was somehow not surprised when they quickly, efficiently learned to use it very well. They did not seem to like to use it, preferring their own weapons, some of which were less obvious and more exotic than others were. It seemed that they could generate moderately powerful quasimagical force fields, could teleport short distances, could hurl pulses of energy of different kinds and do some other such tricks.

 

When I showed them the exotic silvery pistol, they were much more impressed. They knew of multiple-pistols and assured me such were very powerful and were, oddly enough, more than weapons but could be used to heal. Indeed such had many tricks but were tricky to master though easy to use at a basic level. I started to take the multiple-pistol with me where ever I went and to practice with it.

 

Green energy sprayed over glowmoss caused it to grow thicker and richer across the walls so that now we began to cultivate some of it, careful not to damage the glowmoss in general. We also gathered up big scuttling mossroaches and, after cleaning and cooking them, ate them. Somehow I found this far easier, was far less squeamish, than I previously assumed I would be. Glowmoss made interesting small lamps. WozuGoo loved his small lamp.

 

My old faithful dog, now a big puppy, appeared one day. She wagged her Alsatian tail madly and gave me a big licking, sometimes barking with excitement. Somehow I knew it was her and when she was very friendly with WozuGoo, he quickly fell in love with her. Back on the Earth she had been one of my faithful companions but close to death, old and no longer able to share many of my adventures though I often kept her company. This time around I started to train Blackbie to assist me out in the semiwilderness but while she was young, again, never took her far from the home base. When the lovely canine appeared, so did a collar, a large sack of dog biscuits, some medicines and some other useful items for her.

 

Next to arrive was a cube shaped metallic cubecanister, three metres high, wide and thick, being full of new condition items like those from home but also from the Cyrodilin Empire and, to our surprise, some items from both the homelands of WozuGoo and the beastlings. The container was fairly light and very strong so it soon became part of the home base. The items were carefully taken out and sorted. WozuGoo got some wooden emblems, toys and such like of his people. The beastlings got some special gear for their own use including more arrows, some leather artisan gear and some special hunting knives.

 

As for me, the stuff was mostly supplies such as canned, powdered, dried and other conserved foods. I found some tubes of condensed milk with coffee and was pleased. Then there were some lightly glossy news magazines, a 9mm submachinegun, more ammo, two survival kits, a survival toolkit, books, an Ebook-reader, sunblock lotion and yet others.

 

The Cyrodilin stuff was some books, bottles of herbs, some clothes fitted for me and the others, boots, some hand weapons, some practice weapons, scrolls in scroll-tubes, a magical wand of some kind, some golden imperial coins and some other stuff.

 

All of it was to prove of usefulness.

Edited March 26, 2012 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

NOTES TO BE ADDED

 

THIRTEEN ATHLETIC GEEK TEENAGERS

-Jack in Tamriel!?

Edited March 14, 2012 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

00-06(0013)

DOWN TO BASICS: GREATER STORY

WELCOME TO PERTH, WESTERN AUSTRALIA?

 

The Australian city had become largely abandoned as people had fled the influences of transforming reality. The four American newcomers parked their hybrid-electric sedan in a bay close to the pink edifice of a dome building that had formerly been just another office block. Bright pink marble statues of seminaked nymphs, shaped like young slim women, dotted gardens of dark deep green bushes and small trees.

 

Dean grimaced in distaste as he climbed out of the vehicle. “Damn, that is so freakishly ugly! What sort of mind would come up with something like that?”

 

Scully sighed as she stood close to him. “There are far stranger things now to be found in this metropolis, far stranger. The only people here now are those who are needed be they military, security, scientific, salvagers or other specialists. Most of the other people got away before they could be 'altered' but some were not so fortunate.”

 

The unnaturally tall man loped past on double jointed legs, wearing a set of work fatigues made just for his body. Yet he did not look too troubled. He was followed by a woman, also in work fatigues, who seemed to be half dog, half human, a dog-human. Once they had been humans, just 'normal' humans.

 

Mulder checked his handcomputer and shook his head in wonder. “GPS is more than useless in the transforming zones like this one. Arkship Four has launched. Arkship Five is being prepared, being loaded up with flora and fauna in status, as quickly as possible. Shadowlings have attacked an area in Central Africa, the Australian city of Alice Springs and at least five other locations around the world. A super giant squid, a kraken, attacked a pirate fishing ship in the Pacific and sank it; only a small number of those on board, survived.”

 

Fox frowned softly, pausing before he spoke again. “It has been confirmed that the shadowlings are entities found in one of the computer games favored by the missing students. The game is called SHADOWS OF TORMENT. It is considered to be a 'science fantasy horror' based loosely on a large imaginary island placed in the Indian Ocean. There is now such a dark cloud enwrapped island, larger than Madagascar, right where the game said it should be. Attempts to discover more about it have so far been of very limited success; the most sophisticated of satellites are unable to penetrate the strange shadow clouds over the island.”

 

They were supposed to meet with an Australian Defense Force Officer who would take to them where the land expedition was being prepared. Yet they would not be surprised if the officer did not appear for the city was in a state of barely controlled chaos. They hurried along the footpath that went into the garden of the pink dome building. Soldiers, police, and others in a wide range of uniforms, were busy moving in and out of the huge structure that had become a hitech central headquarters simply because it had many resources to offer. It was often called the PinkHouse or the 'BoobDome' by those daring official wrath.

 

A flight of SuperHornets, multirole jet-fighters, passed high overhead on their way in a great hurry to somewhere. There was growing talk of some bizarre creatures invading Australia through something called OblivionGates. They were called 'daedra' and were supposedly some kind of 'demons' from the 'Realms of Oblivion' that were also known as Oblivionaedra. They had strange 'magical' devices of quasimedieval appearance or were strange creatures with 'magical powers' or both. Australian Army soldiers, US Marines and volunteers were fighting the invaders and it seemed that the invasion was being driven back by modern human technologies.

Edited March 12, 2012 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

00-07(0014)

DOWN TO BASICS: GREATER STORY

LEAVING PERTH, WESTERN AUSTRALIA!

 

The expedition, added to with the addition of five Australian Special Air Service Soldiers, set out for the place of the crater where the impact had taken place. There was a large complex there now, a very troubled one at first but the reality altering appeared to have actually ended there. Still, there was a heavy censorship of any information coming out of the place and one, even at a fairly high level of security clearance, did not often know what was going on, not really.

 

At first they went in a pair of electric-hybrid minibuses.

 

They drove out through the city, going south in areas of oriental buildings interspersed with original Perth structures. There were more animal-humans, many having arisen from abandoned animals but now working for the government, along with other odd variants of humans. Strange vehicles could be seen at times and once, a row of vending-machine robots trying to sell drinks, snacks and other items; they were actually doing good business with the exotic local peoples. So good, that is, that the owner-manager of a local store was shouting and cursing at them.

 

They halted at an a large government encampment and swapped over from the minibuses to a pair of hybrid-electric LandRover four wheel drive vehicles, one of which had six wheels and an elongated chassis so as to carry more gear. The large encampment was in turmoil as it had become a major operational and command centre for the war against the daedric invaders, the 'living demons' from Oblivionaedra, the Realms of Oblivion. Some enemy had been captured and enemy corpses were being examined carefully in a large, partly prefab and inflatable, complex. Whispers were many, only a very few being reliable, but one that persisted was one supersoldiers that were slaughtering the enemy. The supersoldiers struck with amazing speed, stealth and deadly impact only to vanish off again before the savage, alien enemies could do anything about it. Most people were glad that these supersoldiers were on the side of humanity.

 

It was here they met Fringe Operatives Peter, Olivia, Walter and Astrid. Two other agents, Charlie and Lincoln, were out in the field. With them were five Australian Security Intelligence Organization Operatives, ASIO, being Chad, Kelly, Bane, Paula and Petra. Fringe was overstretched trying to deal with the crisis but so was everybody else. They met close to the parked four wheel drive machines, even as two of the SAS Soldiers made sure everything was as it should be; there was some cursing as it was discovered that some important items were missing but it was half hearted as if the soldiers knew that such things were to be expected, especially under such conditions.

 

Even as they met, some Australian supersonic jumpjets passed overhead, a new kind of machine that had appeared in huge numbers in a huge underground chamber along with other useful equipment and supplies, most of it not being of a military nature. It was as if some force, entity, presence etc. was assisting humanity. Many said that this confirmed the existence of God but not all were so sure; the same old debates went on but now with added elements to them.

Edited March 17, 2012 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

00-08(0015)

DOWN TO BASICS: GREATER STORY

SOME TOWN IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA

 

The expedition moved onwards and grew in size as vehicles joined it full of volunteer soldiers and workers. The vehicles were confiscated four wheel drive vehicles, taken from city folk who never drove away from urban environments, and trucks. There were many exotic mutated humans amongst the volunteers, the animal-humans proving to be tough workers and-or soldiers. Standard humanity was fast being made to appreciate the special skills of transformed humans and animals that helped them fight the dreaded living demonic invaders.

 

They halted briefly at a town that was now also part refugee camp and military staging post. Infantry and sappers, along with volunteers, were fortifying the town and were building new infrastructure for the refugees and other needs. They were facing a lack of resources, including time.

 

They glimpsed their first winged, flying humans with light weight angular bodies and strong muscles. They could fly well enough but not with the grace or speed that such as eagles could attain. Bird-humans worked as scouts, as couriers, as spotters and were proving to be invaluable.

 

Close to a McDonalds family restaurant, now converted into an emergency cafeteria, a tired officer approached them and handed them a top security briefing, including new instructions. SAS Soldiers, with US Marines, had captured a small Oblivion Gate. A remote-robot had been sent through and before it was destroyed had relayed back audio-visual data on the Deadlands, the bizarre and terrible Realm of Oblivion as controlled by Mehrunes Dagon. The strangest thing was the high quality 'cartoon' nature of that other realm. 'Photo-cartoon quality' was what animation experts called it.

 

"All based on a computer game and somehow linked with the vanished nine teenagers, they being all fanatical computer game players." Mulder shook his head in wonder. "Now we are being invaded by monsters from one of these 'games' but they are becoming more 'real' as they come to this world, perhaps this universe." He looked up from his Ipad, the screen of which showed part of the briefing, took a sip of lukewarm coffee and spoke again. "What could get more disturbing than this?"

 

The British SAS Officer, the one who had met them, frowned hard. "The daedra have taken some prisoners, have captured some livestock, but of more concern is they have stolen samples of our technologies including vehicles, guns, computers and even a small cabincruiser. They have also stolen books, disks and other information. These lesser daedra are generally stupid and it seems the dremora, the more human like daedra, are in charge of stealing items. It is also sure that they want to study our technologies and replicate them somehow. We doubt that they will find it easy to do but the idea of these living demons being armed with automatic weapons, and driving armoured vehicles, is not a good one."

 

Then he grinned. "Not all the news is bad. We are beating them back, have closed down most of the Oblivion Gates, and have new allies, humans who have gained magical powers, or so it seems. They call them intrinsic elemental magic abilities, they and the boffins, but they really do not know how it works. I am to come with you because the government, or what remains of any organized authority in this world of ours, has decided that I have skills and experience of value."

 

So it was decided, with nobody making any objections.

Edited April 7, 2012 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

01-08(0016)

DOWN TO BASICS: I AM JACK! AM I JACK?

THE FIRST COMERS FROM CYRODIIL

 

The beastlings 'sensed' the approach of the BladeScouts first, the Cyrodilin humans moving with great stealth, agility and speed up the mountain side towards the outer cavern entrance. Five of these lightly armoured, heavily armed, fighters entered the outer, semi-open cavern from which I had seen the dragon fly to Cloud Ruler Temple. One turned out to be a battlemage, a mage fighter specialist. The beastlings withdrew into the main cavern and helped me set up a peaceful meeting place with food, drink and other items of possible use for our visitors.

 

Wary, but willing to talk, the five tough looking soldiers, two of which were women, came and sat. I sat across from them, with WozuGoo sitting on my lap. It was difficult to know where to start. So I spoke in the common Cyrodilin tongue, which I somehow knew fluently. "I am a stranger to this realm but I know much of it, of its peoples, of its flora and fauna, of its ways. The Cyrodilin Empire is strong. The Emperor reigns over a fairly prosperous economy. There are stirrings of trouble. Some factions wish for the return of the Tamriellan Empire while other factions want to see greater democracy and the rise of something they call the Cyrodilin Imperial Commonwealth. There are growing troubles between human settlers and wildfolk at the edges of the Wild Protectorates. There are increasing reports of strange, dangerous creatures attacking isolated parts of the Empire, creatures that may be lesser daedra. There are also whispers of a conspiracy of necromancers, and their followers and allies, who would break the Mages Guild in revenge for necromancy being evicted from the Mages Guild. As always there are the Grand Guilds, the Thieves Guild, the Dark Brotherhood and the Divine Orders, along with other factions, at play in the Empire. Except that I would focus on something called the Mythic Dawn, a cult of followers of the Grand Daedra Mehrunes Dagon."

 

The battlemage frowned softly. "You seem to know much. Emperor Uriel Septim VII is a great leader but he is aging, is now speaking of retirement to his beloved Cloud Ruler Temple. He has two sons, and a daughter, but neither son is much respected as a possible ruler and there has not been an Empress for a very long time. There are also other reasons that many are wary of the daughter gaining the throne as Empress."

 

I focused on my game background knowledge. "The older son is Avona, a womanizer, a gambler, is more interested in his own pleasures and exotic hobbies than he is in the Empire. The younger son is Taron, a militarist, a believer in the romantic, fanciful versions of the legends of old glories and wishes nothing less to launch a series of aggressive military campaigns to conquer the whole of Tamriel, to create a new Tamriellan Empire. The daughter, Willow, is drawn to the wildfolk, wishes to crush any human efforts to infringe on the Wild Protectorates, wishes to introduce more democracy into the Empire and has even spoken in agreement with the idea of a Cyrodilin Imperial Commonwealth."

 

The battlemage looked impressed and then spoke. "We will look into this Mythic Dawn. If you know so much, then indeed it is worth checking out. It will take time to get a message back to Cloud Ruler Temple."

 

I frowned softly, taking a guess based on a powerful hunch. "What of the dragon that you rode on to land fairly close to this place."

 

The battlemage smiled. "Yes, why not? We must not stay here too long. The dragon is eager to depart for her home."

 

I nodded. "Yes but I have valuable knowledge to give both you and the dragon. Please call for the dragon to come here. I know you have the means to do so in case of an emergency. At least I would have such means if I was in your position."

 

The woman frowned softly, took out an elaborate looking silverwood pipe and blew softly on it. The sound was not audible to human hearing and yet I did hear it as did the wozzle infant. Soon the dragon came and a meeting occurred that would have surprises for us all, even for me.

Edited March 30, 2012 by Maharg67