Seeding a dragon takes more than just thaumaturgy. The ability to manipulate the chronological matter of the beasts is important, yes, but also understanding what makes their seeds bear fruit.

  Culture: this is the water of their nourishment. Zeitgeist: what makes them grow. Moments in time that cannot be recaptured. That will be ingrained within them, always and forever theirs to hold.

  It is hard to identify such moments, such trends among people. But our populations are vast. And with the proper encouragement, these scenes can be engineered. Picture a child learning something new. Zeitgeist. Knowledge gaining is nothing unusual, but all children learn differently, and all people come to different epiphanies. The question then becomes if enough can produce a chained pattern of uniqueness, and that again leads back to cultural health.

  So let us greet our candidates.

  I see Highflame. With their desperate need for strength. But in their search to become dominant, that all turned to mirrors. Lessers replicas of their great master, straying from their own paths. I see Ori-Thaum, repressing the individual, poisoned by conformity. I see Ashthrone, with their legacy of sorrow and death. Trauma is their burden. No release. Sanctus, broken forevermore; not unlike us, but where we are severed, they are fractured between points of time.

  Omnitech deserves only pity. People bound to a sleeping giant. But the giant is broken. The giant is hurt. The giant bears only a single nightmare, and what a nightmare it is. Stormtree seeks salvation in destruction, and theirs is a brutal nature. And we, poor daughters of everlasting despair, are worst of all. Bound to the cycle. Bound to repeat our fates. Bound to repeat our pains. Mothers from daughters and never sons to be.

  So. Where is Zeitgeist among peoples so broken?

  Where is salvation finally found?

  It is the clash, child. The clash between the clades. The merging of our peoples. The splashing of culture on culture, the mutation of something new.

  Dragons are nourished in war. In calamity. In change.

  And so, there is but a simple thing to do: to make farms of little wars, little clashes, little changes.

  From this will countless futures spring, and endless dragons rise.’

  -Aunt Thirteen, First Daughter and Biothaumaturge of the Hundred-Eighter Syndicate

  22-9

  The Painted Ripples

  “So, we’re stealin’ tricks from Thousandhand now, huh?” Draus eyed the Progressive Constructs Avo created, and her mind pealed with faint suspicion. The bulk of her attention was locked on Abrel Greatling, the history between them old and ugly. “Looks just like ‘er. Armor’s right. Her posture’s good. How’d you do the Meta for both of them? Don’t remember flat having a halo.”

  “Didn’t,” Avo replied, studying his constructs as they faced each other.

  It took almost no Rend to restore his lost sheath. Comparatively, generating a two-hour conversation between two entities weighing far less than a ton incurred almost ten percent. Kae was right: chronology was an entropy glutton, but the benefits it provided couldn’t be denied.

  Though Abrel towered over Aladon, the man held strong for his city, battling to keep his fear in check. With both templates in his mind, Avo already knew how the argument between the two would go, but seeing it happen in real time beyond the confines of his consciousness was still a sublime delight.

  The cross-over from the mental to the physical by way of chrono-thaumaturgical was a worthy achievement. Something Kae should be proud of. Something that would benefit them greatly in the future.

  As the Agnos approached, Abrel began to speak, gesturing beyond the translucent crimson windows, talking about using the “less appealing members of the enclave to their fullest potential” as she did in Avo’s mind.

  With each casual allusion to mass slaughter, Aladon flinched. Each word Abrel spoke kindled the loathing in his heart. The heat of his temper passed through the Nether, the emanation crossing through time without issue–even though the construct was currently bereft a splinter.

  All the words they could speak, all the actions they could commit, all the things they could do were pre-emptively ingrained. A collection of choices and responses simulated between Avo’s templates. With how much Rend spent composing their patterns, the dialogue between them would last just under two hours–for that was how much time it took for Abrel to finally lose her patience and simply murder Aladon.

  Of course, a lot of other things could happen over the duration. An action from a third party. An unanticipated occurrence that Avo didn’t prepare for when pre-sequencing his constructs.

  This was going to be an interesting experiment.

  “You can shoot her if you want,” Avo said, speaking to Draus. The Regular cast a sideways glance at him, an uncertain frown wrapping over her face.

  Inside his mind, Abrel’s template chimed. [Avo, if you’re planning on using me as a training dummy, I swear to Jaus–] Hm. That was a good idea. [Avo!]

  “What’s the trick here?” Draus asked. Avo felt one of her fingers twitching. She wanted to shoot Abrel. Hells, she wanted to shoot everything and everyone, but her trigger happiness was always tempered with a tactical intellect. Consideration. Sighting. Deciding. Then firing.

  The obvious bait was incurring her paranoia.

  “Want to see how she reacts,” Avo explained. He fed memories into the Regular’s mind, revealing all his desired test parameters. “Trying to understand if the limitations are what I think they are. Find out weaknesses. Resolve them.”

  Draus humped. “Well, then. Let’s see it.”

  And so, while Aladon stepped forward to snarl at the Instrument, Draus expanded her right arm’s Modular Projectile Unit. The limb unfurled as her hand folded downward while her forearm opened in coiling petals. Along the firing rails built into her arm flowed a magnetic teardrop bobbing briefly before the projector folds on her arm pulsed.

  A spark flashed from the launcher. A crack sounded within the tower. Kae covered her eyes as the mag-flung teardrop zipped. Aladon’s face grew white with confusion while Abrel just rolled her eyes. The shot struck her, but the Instrument caught it on the edge of her arm, parrying via her enhanced reflexes and advanced combat skin.

  “Really?” she said, scoffing at Avo and Draus. “That’s your plan? Boring me with this forced conversation before trying to shoot me from the side.”

  “Just had to see if you were made right,” Avo said, grinning in satisfaction. He looked to Draus who nodded with appreciation.

  “Yeah,” the Regular said. “Alright. I see that. This can be mighty useful for us. Hells. We might not need to fight each other all the time for practice either. Might even be able to make me somethin’ worth a damn.”

  Avo gave Tavers a look and the squire held up her hands and stepped back. “Gods, no. Keep me out of this blood-soaked mess.”

  “Would be honored to Ensoul you when I can,” Avo said, speaking honestly. He hadn’t forgotten her great deed. Couldn’t even if he wanted to. “Zein sends her regards. Very impressed with you.”

  The squire sighed. “I’ll watch my back.”

  “Meant it as a compliment. Think she might go out of her way to keep you alive if she ever gets a chance.” Avo paused and considered his words. “Took some of her memories. Part of my current inspiration for these canons. You are like a… real person to her now.”

  The flat expression on Tavers’ face told him that she wasn’t impressed.

  Another two shots sounded from beside Avo. As Abrel deflected those, he studied his Woundmother’s Rend, waiting for it to climb or shift in any way.

  “My essence is already invested, master,” the Heaven of Blood said. “The future cannot draw from the present a second time.”

  For now. Another thing to consider if they were to make improvements. Which led into another thing.

  “Kae will be upgrading your Heavens soon,” Avo said, speaking to his cadre. “Need to consider a few things before that. Go over some issues.”

  “Yeah, like how you’re hoggin’ all the thaums?” Draus asked, her expression wry.

  “Need Canons of Chronology,” Avo replied. His urge for growth was ravenous, and more than once had he been selfish. He could deny that each ascent up the steps of apotheosis pleased him, but his pleasure stood pale before the shadow of dread. “Veylis. Without Zein. There is still her.”

  And with the High Seraph’s name invoked the desire to tease emptied out from Draus as well. “Yeah. Fuck.” The response was most uncharacteristic of Draus, but Veylis Avandaer was a figure few could ignore. Moreso for Draus, considering her alignment across much of her life.

  Avo recalled the moment he extracted the Heart of Noloth. The golems he had to abandon. The sudden and impossible presence consuming existence. Every instinct in his being screamed for him to flee. He felt as if an aratnid beholding a coming avalanche, with escape the only option at his disposal.

  Zein had been insurmountable enough as a foe. He had no desire to taste what flavor of domination Veylis could inflict before his Frame could rival hers.

  Or if he could make a companion of Naeko. Something that Zein feared, that made Kassamon and Kare’s templates within him shudder, that granted them a true weapon to use against the Guilds. Zein’s memories gave him more than a little insight into the man. All he needed was a chance to make contact without risking himself. An opportunity for dialogue that didn’t end with his capture.

  With his Progressive Architecture cannon, he could do just that. And more.

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  The primary concern right now, however, was keeping a low profile.

  With the Domain of Chronology internalized, it seemed every action he committed sang his position across the paths. He needed to test Veylis’ reach. To see how close he could operate, and the gaps in her focus.

  But though he might be loud, the rest of his cadre could still tread softly, and thus did he consider their growing role in all this, of how their development could be made further by their burgeoning Heavens.

  A shiver of movement passed through Avo’s Sanguinity. He sensed a hornet slipping free of Draus’ Meldskin. Several of Sunshine’s drones buzzed by, also noticing the unknown insectoid, and it was only then that Avo recalled the Bomb-Queen implant he grafted to the Regular days back. Oh, this was going to be good.

  He suppressed his anticipation as the bug crept across the ground, guided by scents secreted from the Regular’s skin.

  Abrel didn’t notice. Another limitation. The construct was already made. Short of him taking control of her right now, her awareness was siloed within her body–disconnected from his Sanguinity or cognition.

  She wasn’t going to see this coming.

  “Want to talk with everyone,” Avo said, gesturing for attention. Taking in the faces of his cadre, he took some time to gather his words, using his templates to arrange his thoughts. “Things a bit different now. The future is… uncertain.”

  Chambers snorted. “No shit.”

  Avo grunted his agreement. “Not sure if Voidwatch is still backing us. Ninth Column is scattered. Zein’s imprisoned. No longer distracting Veylis; echoes gone. Naeko is back in play. And we are still here. The board is changing again. So are the rules. But we can be ahead this time. We can build ourselves opportunities. Continue to grow our cult. Our subversion. George Washington gone. But the work we did from it still remains.”

  “Right,’ Chambers said. “Don’t know the shit we did with the borders. Hells, they probably don’t know about Essus.” He promptly frowned then. “Hey, Avo, speaking of which, we might wanna go check on his ass or something. Like, Dice’s mind got twisted all the fuck when you popped the Hungers’ zit.”

  “Yes. Next thing to do. Need to head to the sanctuaries anyway. Spread splinters more. Chart more enclaves.”

  His words caused Dice to pause momentarily, the servos of her right arm firing evenly, causing her kitten to rear its back in panic.

  “More live under Fallwalker yoke. And need to expand our area of influence anyway.” But with a cast, he produced a DeepNav of New Vultun again and waved a claw across the entire city. “Peripheral solution to a major problem: Veylis. She can feel me when I use my Heaven. Think she can sense me in the paths. Haven’t tried going Zero-Burn. Didn’t get the chance last time. But have to be careful with her. Powerful. Too powerful. More Naeko than Zein.”

  Chambers whistled.

  “You’ll need to be moving constantly if you go back to New Vultun,” Denton said. A few heads turned to her as she elaborated. “It’s how Zein operated. She described the future as something between a growing tree and a pond. She was someone who could jump to the tip of any branch. that could jump across any path. Veylis, however, would always encompass the entire tree if left unchecked. Leser miracles took longer for her to notice, and countless events happening concurrently strains her responses as well.”

  “What number is ‘countless,’” Kae asked.

  Denton took a moment. “A few hundred thousand would be my guess. But Zein’s echoes were of a higher potency than your–”

  Abrel suddenly cried out and then slapped her right ear. “Ow! Fuck! What the hell–”

  Her head burst into parted flaps. Dropping brain matter slipped free of her hollowed skull, splatting before Aladon.

  The Pearlguard stood there, frozen and horrified. “M-master’s light.”

  Inside Avo’s mind, Abrel sighed. [My life is godsdammed bullshit. Avo. If you have any respect for–]

  +Yes. Got it. Won’t let her kill you like that again. Good for the test.+

  The Instrument’s template simply sneered. [Well. I’m happy to be considered worthy of service.]

  “So,” Draus said, making her assessment, “these puppets got plenty of use to them. But they’re pretty much like their own entities for a time. With a certain amount of miracles packed in and a list of actions they can do. That about sum it?”

  “About,” Avo replied. “Didn’t consider your Bomb Queen. Abrel didn’t have access to my mind during. No response to the explosion.”

  He looked to Denton and the Glaive shook her head. “Zein could always manipulate her echoes further. Send them more actions.”

  “An upgrade for the future, then,” Kae said.

  “Later,” Avo said. “Need to build up the rest of the cadre first. Get to Sphere Six as soon as we all can.”

  “Please,” Aladon said, breaking from his shock to stare at the cadre around the operations table. “We were ignorant. We were slaves. Please do not.”

  Avo dismissed him with a wave of his hand. The chrono-haemokinetic puppet unraveled into strings of blood, and the tower drank deep.

  “We’re not taking from the people in the city,” Avo said, his declaration settling that matter for good. “Or any enclave. Only the ones that give us cause. Have other uses for the rest. Other desires they can fulfill.” Through it all, he kept a strand of focus on Dice and found the girl focused on petting her kitten. “They have been… denied a chance at deciding their own lives. Like so many others. Want to see who they might be if given a chance.”

  Dice shifted uncomfortable, her mind awash with chaos. She thought of her aunt. She thought of the dogs she had to kill. The mother she never had. The father that never was.

  She thought of how many others there were like her.

  “Then where are we getting our deaths?” Chambers asked.

  “Going to expand our areas of influence across the board,” Avo said. “Spent long hunting and butchering the small because of the opportunities they provide. Syndicates are easy thaums. Gutters and Warrens served as decent enough hunting grounds. But cost-benefits are changing. We need more Heavens. More cyclers. More Thaums. More ghosts. Always. Quickly. Answer then is simple. I hunt big game. Other Godclads.”

  “You mean we hunt them,” Draus said, giving him an inquisitive stare.

  “When you can. But your worth is greater than all. All of you.” Avo took a chance then, and activated his Auto-Seance, spawning splinters anew across the various lobbies, Metaminds, and loci he compromised. He slid into the minds of technicians and enforcers, studied the Nether traffic flowing between an Oversec from within its system, and peeked out from the perspective of the Stormtree and Highflame Godclads he recently claimed.

  He counted the seconds, waiting to feel the swell of thaumic mass, of Veylis’ inexorable pressure. Heartbeats passed. Nothing came. Nothing struck him down.

  A hissing laugh escaped from Avo. One door closes. Another door opens. And so it goes. Before, he needed Chambers to play his personal Necrojack. To give him openings to exploit. Minds to burn. Tweak that which he would break.

  Now, he was a vessel of loudness while his cadre could potentially move unnoticed away from Veylis’ attention.

  The game has come full circle. Again, he finds himself the pariah. An intruder to House Avandaer and their delicate construct of time. But where Veylis could feel his miracles, sense his Soul, his mind was a silent traveler, and so they would circle each other, two leviathans spreading to encompass their own domains.

  “Something I can do that Zein can’t,” Avo said, looking at Denton. “Nether is mine. Minds are mine. She can’t feel me. Didn’t do anything even as I spread.” The spy looked more uneasy than pleased at his statement. Avo grunted. “Worried about me? Afraid of me? Like Zein was.”

  A beat passed. Denton nodded. “Yes. You’re not an unknown variable. You have a consistent enough character, but this is too much control. It’s too much.”

  “Too much. And no countermeasures to stop me.”

  “And we have no countermeasures in place to stop you.” The Glaive frowned. “Operative Zein was our counterbalance against Veylis. Her daughter was her constraint. Ori-Thaum has means of warmind suppression. But there has never been an entity capable of using warminds as phantasmics like you. No one is prepared for what you might be able to do in the Nether. So, yes. I am worried. I am worried that no one can tell you no. That you are effectively beyond consequence now.”

  “No weight,” Avo said, sharing a knowing look with Draus.

  “She might be right,” the Regular replied.

  Avo chuffed. “Should have a third fight. Me against the rest of you.”

  Draus smirked. “Bad odds, consang.”

  The urge to tear into them started to rise, but Avo quenched the beast with a thought. Later. Later. For now, business. “Need to reconsolidate ourselves. Establish new safehouses in the city. Test our limits. And prepare for the trial.”

  “We’re still doing that?” Chambers and Kae said concurrently. Even Denton looked dubious.

  “It was originally something of Zein’s design. Now it’s mine.” Avo gestured toward where Abrel and Aladon were just standing. “Is a reason why I wanted this canon. Useful distractions. Originally was planning to create a proxy from Draus’ mind. Find someone expendable. Send him in her stead. This might be easier. More reliable.”

  “Riskier too,” Denton replied. “We don’t know the Heaven of Truth’s capabilities. It could expose everything.”

  Avo paused. That much was true. It had surprised him once already. But he had Zein’s memories now, and he knew more of the Gatekeeper than most others present.

  “No,” Avo said. “No. Less risk than the alternatives. Won’t risk Draus. Won’t risk any of you at the trial. Too exposed. Too vulnerable. Guilds liable to start another war there. Need to stay away ourselves. Have puppets do risk work. We have other places to go.” He cast a thought into the table, and the phantoms closed on Ori-Thaum’s territories atop the Tiers, with markers pinging in three separate districts in the Purgs beneath the Elysiums.

  Kae’s breath hitched, she turned and faced Avo. “Is that–”

  “Waited enough. And where to test Veylis’ awareness more than the territory of her greatest foes.” Avo chuckled.

  “You sure you can get us in without problem?” Draus said, looking dubiously at the map.

  “Get you in? No. Hardly. I’m going to make our targets walk out.” Avo studied the Agnos’ face, delighting in the changes to her expression as he finished his statement. “They took your mind. Made you murder the one you love. Burned you after. I’m going to do the same to them. I’m going to reach into their minds. Through their covers. I’m going to take them away from D’Rongo. Going to deny their will–”

  A shiver in the Nether interrupted Avo’s words. A quiver pulsed through Denton’s accretion as her face shifted. She turned and ghosts began to dive in and out of her Metamind’s halo. “It’s Cas. He just cast me; the cover’s compromised. He needs a way out.”

  “Hell of a fucking time for this shit to happen,” Chambers muttered.

  Avo chuffed. Just as well. This too was an opportunity, though less ideal than one on his terms.

  “Draus,” Avo said, “passages. Get us to the bivouac just outside the city. Kae. Upgrades.”

  “Yes,” the Agnos said.

  “Good. Denton. Link. Going to send a splinter through. See how bad the situation is.”

  GHOST-LINK ACCEPTED

  The Glaive didn’t hesitate. A chain of ghosts spread out to him, and he connected with a thought. Flowing through the haze of data using his Sprites, he followed her ansible’s broadcast across a narrow crevice of space, across thousands of kilometers as he ejected splinter after splinter from his mind.

  Cas’ consciousness greeted him as a haze of pain and confusion, and hijacking his perception, Avo found himself peering out a flickering cog-feed, staring past the broken windshield of a downed aerovec.

  Quick extraction op turned loyalty quest is coming up... Get near-daily advanced chapters on and join the .

  Ontologics

  In effect after 19-12

  Ghosts - [26,562,372]

  Liminal Frame (V) - 23,871 THAUM/c

  User: Avo

  Heaven/Hell: [Woundmother] - 10,002 THAUM/c

  Heaven

  ->Domain: (Blood)

  ->Canon: Haemokinesis (IV) - All blood in user’s area of influence can be controlled; speed and force experience exponential increases with each ton of force controlled

  ->Hubris: Central pillar of the Heaven must remain 80 tons; each ton of non-central mass controlled increases thaumic and Rend-based demands (5%)

  ->Canon: Linger - User can eject constructs shaped from their blood; each construct generated accrues Rend based on design and size

  ->Hubris: Central pillar of the Heaven must remain 80 tons; each ton of non-central mass controlled increases thaumic and Rend-based demands (5%; x2 backlash)

  ->Canon: Sanguinity’s Reign (IV) - A building haemokinetic storm continuously expands from the user, spreading their area of influence (without limitations) as far as the storm can metaphysically expand; generates more Rend the larger the area it takes up

  ->Hubris: Attempting to move and alter more than 80 tons of matter without constituting a central construct will result in thaumic backlash (20%)

  ->Canon: Exsanguinating Helix - Allows the user to instill an exsanguinating effect in a piece of matter, causing it to drain all the blood its mass can contain when in contact with a non-user designated entity; the larger the object instilled, the higher the Rend

  ->Hubris: If the object is destroyed, thaumic backlash will be inflicted (15%)

  ->Domain: (Matter)

  ->Canon: Alchemization (V) - The user can subsume and channel and combine the properties of 108 fragments of physical matter through their blood; the limit of fragments channeled can be increased at the cost of thaumic and Rend-based demands.

  ->Hubris: Any attempts to subsume gaseous or liquid matter will incur backlash. (12%)

  ->Canon: Remembrance of Matter (V) - The user can memorize the traits of all physical matter they subsume at a hundredth of the thaumic cost; the matter they memorized can be assembled and blended before a construct is formed

  ->Hubris: If matter being subsumed has their state changed mid-subsumption, thaumic backlash will be triggered (9%)

  ->Canon: Stormwreathed - The user can temporarily convert their mass into electricity

  ->Hubris: If the user is submerged by water in this state, thaumic backlash will be triggered (15%)

  ->Canon: Haemification - The user can turn all influenceable matter into blood

  ->Hubris: Any attempts to subsume gaseous or liquid matter will incur backlash (12%; x2 backlash)

  ->Domain: (Fire)

  ->Canon: Matterbomb - The user can detonate pieces of matter based on mass and inherent energy

  ->Hubris: If the matter being detonated is destroyed before ignition, moderate (EST. 35%) severe backlash will be inflicted

  ->Domain: (Luminosity)

  ->Canon: The Light Unseen - The user can blend their matter with the light of their surroundings should they stop perceiving the world visually

  ->Hubris: If the user has their perception active while this canon is in use, (EST. 51%) severe backlash will be inflicted

  ->Domain: (Protection)

  ->Canon: Fortress of Luminosity - The user emanates a luminous shroud that renders all physical matter bathed by its shine invulnerable; generates heavy Rend (1.2%) every second canon is active

  ->Hubris: There must be a persistent source of light for the user to imitate in the environment or from the user themselves or thaumic backlash will be triggered. (5%)

  ->Domain: (Biology)

  ->Canon: My Blood The Harvester, My Flesh the Symphony (III) - Allows the user to grow, blend, or extract biological organisms and structures from their blood.

  ->Hubris: Another source of biomass must be present and in the area of influence or thaumic backlash will be inflicted. (6%) ->Canon: Remembrance of Flesh (V) - Allows user to memorize traits from biological organisms at a tenth of the thaumic cost; the biomass they memorized can be spliced before they are grown.

  ->Hubris: Another source of biomass must be present and in the area of influence or thaumic backlash will be inflicted (6%; x2 backlash)

  ->Domain: (Lightning)

  ->Canon: Boltstride (III) - Allows the user to transmute and move all blood-based structures as bolts of lightning; distance limited to the reach of user’s Sanguinity

  ->Hubris: Attempting to move over 120 tons of matter as a single bolt will trigger (EST. 87%) extreme thaumic backlash

  Hell - [Fifth Circle]

  ->Domain: (Matter/Entropy/Luminosity)

  ->Canon: Breath of the Withered (V) - Allows the user to expel their total Rend as an entropic storm across their area of influence; the storm will disintegrate matter through withering bolts of lightning (This canon is absolute)

  ->Daemon: Striking the same place twice will result in the manifestation of an Anathema of Ruin, causing the user to lose control of the Heaven

  ->Canon: Barrage of the Withered (V) - Allows the user to expel their total Rend as an entropic projectile the size, shape, and speed of the Woundmother at its maximum potential; this projectile can be guided by the user and is loosed faster with higher Rend (This canon is absolute)

  ->Daemon: Should the projectile not dissolve sufficient matter, the projectile will birth as an Anathema of Ruin

  ->Canon: Shadowbreaker (III) - Allows the user to influence all shadows in their vicinity with a touch of luminosity that will continue to expand and dissolve anything physical covered by the shadows

  ->Daemon: Should an insufficient amount of physical matter in darkness be consumed in (8 seconds), an Anathema of Ruin will be manifested.

  Heaven/Hell: [Fardrifter] - 5,660 THAUM/c

  Heaven

  ->Domain: (Air)

  ->Canon: Horizon Strider (III) - The user takes on the properties of a hurricane and can influence winds for 250 kilometers

  ->Hubris: If an external force counters the motion of the user’s centrifugal force, severe (EST. 59%) thaumic backlash will be triggered

  ->Domain: (Space)

  ->Canon: Yondergales (IV) - The user’s demiplane now encompasses ten kilometers, with each ton of mass multiplying the base speed of their winds (252 kilometers per hour)

  ->Hubris: If an object over 5,000 degrees celsius is drawn into the plane, extreme (EST. 83%) thaumic backlash will be triggered.

  ->Canon: The Nine Streams of Freedom - The user can materialize from any nine points in space their winds encompass (250 kilometers)

  ->Hubris: if they emerge in a confined space and are unable to fully materialize, thaumic backlash will be triggered. (10%)

  ->Canon: Shadowrun (II) - The user can surge within shadows as if they are wind tunnels (x10 current speed); shadows must be connected to pass from one to another.

  ->Hubris: If a light shines and clears away the user’s shadow, heavy (EST. 39%) thaumic backlash will be triggered

  ->Domain: (Shadow)

  ->Canon: Midnight Hand - The user can blow, move, and shift shadows together as if they are waves in a storm.

  ->Hubris: If the user is between shadows when the wind stops blowing and the bridge breaks, moderate (22%) thaumic backlash will be triggered.

  ->Domain: (Labyrinth)

  ->Canon: Path of the Nine Storms (III) - User manifests a maze-like dungeon in the walls of their winds, allowing them to create and weave winding paths from tunnels of air; the maze is a fixed spatial anchor (may not be affected by spatial changes) that can be triggered at any time.

  ->Hubris: If the inner walls of the dungeon are forcibly breached and someone enters the eye of the storm (where resides the Yondergales), heavy (EST. 39%) thaumic backlash will be generated.

  Hell - [Fourth Circle]

  ->Domain: (Air/Entropy/Labyrinth)

  ->Canon: Halt of the Passing (IV) - The user can enchain all actors and objects moving through their area of physical influence (250 Kilometers) with stasis

  ->Daemon: An anathema of correspondence will be birthed if the total velocity drained exceeds the total Rend accrued

  ->Canon: Waybreaker (II) - The user distorts all directionality about them (10 kilometers), causing space to coil and distend, randomizing vectors of movement for all actors and objects caught in their wake.

  ->Daemon: Rend must be balanced in nine minutes or an Anathema of Correspondence will manifest.

  Heaven/Hell: [Techplaguer] - 200 Thaum/c

  Heaven

  ->Domain: (Signals)

  ->Canon: Skin of Virtuality - Layers user in mirror-reality raw data and information, allowing them to move and exist as radio signals might and shift inorganic objects in their vicinity as blocks of temporarily stored data (reloads back to their original position in reality after miracle ends)

  ->Hubris: The user cannot pass through lead without incurring heavy (EST. 41%) thaumic backlash.

  ->Domain: (Space)

  ->Canon: Techjumper - User inserts themselves into a signal or system capable of transmitting signals, moving as a packet of data and materializing at the endpoint of the transmission.

  ->Hubris: If the transfer is disrupted halfway, moderate (22%) thaumic backlash will be triggered.

  ->Domain: (Biology)

  ->Canon: TechSick.exe (II) - User mimics the properties and symptoms in a virus and transfers that over to a signal-receiving system, affecting the machine as if it were a person

  ->Hubris: If the transfer is disrupted halfway, moderate (22%) thaumic backlash will be triggered. (x2)

  Hell - [Third Circle]

  ->Domain: (Signal/Entropy)

  ->Canon: Datarot - The user decays and distorts signals and data within their ability to influence

  ->Daemon: If a signal the user is decaying is disrupted and they are unable to find another within (5 seconds) to continue expelling their Rend, an Anathema of Epistemology will be generated

  HEART OF NOLOTH]: 0%

  DOMAINS DETECTED (SHADOW/FORCE/SPACE)

  Implants

  Mime-Fog: Allows Avo to produce a spore-expelled field of active camouflage

  Celerostylus: A symbiotic reflex booster laced into Avo's spine; accelerates him a bit over sixty-five miles an hour in his baseline body

  Echoheads: A chimeric bioform adapted into an implant. Can provide echolocation for eight hundred feet. Designed from a hyper-durable silicon-chitin structure that also allows each of the eight heads to piece forward from the inside like a mantis shrimp punches.

  Bone Demon: A body-sheathe--complete overhaul of Avo's physical form. made from a nest of super-tensile, hyper-synaptic nanofibrous mycelia on the interior. Beyond the threads, thick plates of cordyceramite line the outside like jagged skeletal continents emerging from a sea of webs. Bound to his biology, Avo is able to harden and shift his structural integrity, as well as shape the growth of the fungal-ceramic matter that would encase his outer skin.

  Meldskin: A smart-fluid adaptive combat skin capable of altering its composition to suit almost any environment and slowly return to full integrity. Possess holographic disguises, advanced visual sensors, omnidirectional thrusters, and a highly advanced reactor. Can also interface with other pieces of advanced voidtech.

  Metamind

  Ghosts: [17,313,887]

  SPRITES: {4.2TB/s…}

  [QUICKSAND SYNC TRAUMA] COG-CAP: 55 SEQUENCES (VARIABLE)

  ->STRUCTURE: “A LIMPID POOL FILLED WITH BODIES DRIFTING BENEATH THE WAVES; WHATEVER TRAUMA STRIKES THE SURFACE WILL IN CAUSE IT TO IGNITE AND SIMULATE A RESEQUENCING OF SAID TRAUMA”

  ->FUNCTION: GUARDS THE MIND USING A LAYER OF TRAUMATIC MEMORIES: CAPABLE OF ADAPTING TO TRAUMAS AFTER SUSTAINING AGAINST THE FIRST IMPACT

  [THOUGHTWAVE DISRUPTOR] COG-CAP: [ERROR] SEQUENCES

  ->STRUCTURE: [NULL]

  ->FUNCTION: TAPS INTO THE ENTIRETY OF THE USER’S COGNITIVE CAPACITY AND EXPELS UNSTABLE MEM-DATA OUTWARD, DISRUPTING AN AREA OF (CONTINGENT OF GHOST CAPACITY) SPACE

  [INCOG] COG-CAP: [x] SEQUENCES (VARIABLE; MUST MATCH ALL OTHER INTERNAL MEMORIES BEYOND THE WARDS)

  ->STRUCTURE: “AN OPALESCENT SUN RAINS DOWN OVER THE LANDSCAPE; LIGHT SPILLS FROM IT MORE LIKE MERCURY DOLLOPS THAN RAYS, BASKING EVERYTHING IN A REFLECTIVE SHEEN WHILE DRINKING UP MEM-DATA INTO ITS CORE”

  ->FUNCTION: ALLOWS THE USER TO CAMOUFLAGE THEMSELVES FROM NOTICE VIA THE OBFUSCATION OF THEIR MEMORIES AND THOUGHTSTUFF. NO ACCRETION WILL LEAK DURING THIS PERIOD AND ALL OUTWARD REACTING PHANTASMICS WILL BE PLACED INTO A DORMANT STATE UNTIL DELIBERATE ACTIVATION.

  [WHISPER] COG-CAP: 19 SEQUENCES (BASELINE)

  ->STRUCTURE: FIVE/SIX LEGGED DOG CHASES A FLYING LETTER WHILE A DRONE STRIKES A VILLA.

  ->FUNCTION: ALLOWS THE EXTENSION OF CONSCIOUS AWARENESS BY 60 FEET AND THE DELIVERANCE OF COG-DATA WITHIN SAID FIELD OF AWARENESS; CAN BE EXTENDED BY MULTIPLES SHOULD MORE SEQUENCES BE USED

  [PHYS-SIM] COG-CAP: 18 SEQUENCES (FIXED)

  ->STRUCTURE: A MISSILE LOCKED TO AN AEROVEC, EVER INCHING CLOSER, DODGING INCOMING POINT DEFENSE FIRE”

  ->FUNCTION: CALCULATES THE ACCELERATION VECTORS AND IMPACT LANES OF UP TO TWELVE DYNAMIC OBJECTS

  [OSARAI MEMGUARD] COG-CAP: 20 SEQUENCES (BASELINE) [REPLACED BY QUICKSAND IN AVO'S METAMIND]

  ->STRUCTURE: “A HURRICANE TWISTING AND HURTLING SCREAMING FIGURES AND BROKEN STRUCTURES”

  ->FUNCTION: GUARDS THE MIND USING A LAYER OF TRAUMATIC MEMORIES: CAPABLE OF WITHSTANDING AND REFORMING AGAINST HEAVY-MASS PHANTASMAL INTRUSIONS; VULNERABLE TO NARROW-BUILD INVADERS.

  [AUTO-SEANCE] COG-CAP: 2 SEQUENCES (BASELINE)

  ->STRUCTURE: “A STAR BLEEDS INTO A SPIRAL OF SPLICED MEMORY SNIPPETS [ERROR: MEMORY ARTIFACTS TOO BRIEF FOR REVIEW...]"

  ->FUNCTION: ALLOWS OMNI-SYNCHRONIC COMMUNICATIONS BETWEEN TWO OR MORE MINDS ACROSS ALL AREAS ENCOMPASSED BY THE PRESENCE OF THE NETHER

  [MORALITY INJECTOR] COG-CAP: 20 SEQUENCES (BASELINE)

  ->STRUCTURE: “A RESPLENDENT CAGE WITH A CINEMA PROJECTION OF PAST HAPPENINGS PLAYING ACROSS THE SKY"

  ->FUNCTION: ALLOWS THE USER TO NULLIFY SPECIFICALLY ENCODED IMPULSES WITH COUNTER-EMOTIONAL DOSES OF MEMORY.

  GHOSTJACK (ALLOWS FOR THE MODIFICATION AND EDITING OF MEMORIES AND SEQUENCES; SHAPES TRAUMA AND COMMANDS GHOSTS)

  [SKIMMER PERCEPTION EMANATOR]

  TRAUMA PATTERNS:

  [ASELERI'S FOLLY] - HIGH PAIN INFLICTION; PHYSICAL TORTURE BASED

  [LUCILLE’S REGRET] - HIGH EMOTIONAL TORMENT; REGRET AND ANGUISH ALIGNED

  [LUCILLE’S AGONY] - HIGH PAIN INFLICTION; PHYSICAL TORTURE BASED; BODY DYSMORPHIC AFFLICTED

  [SECONDHAND FATALITY] - EXTREME PAIN INFLICTION; EGO-KILLING TRAUMA FOR HUMANS

  [BENEFACTOR’S DREAD] - HIGH EMOTIONAL TORMENT; FEAR OF COMING DEATH

  [ARATNID’S KISS] - HIGH PHYSICAL TORMENT; CASTRATION AND PRIMAL FEAR-BASED

  THE BURNING DREAMER

  MIND-TEMPLATES

  [AVO]

  The Talons

  Abrel Greatling

  The Shadows

  Benhata Veloso

  Glitch

  Lip

  Corner

  Osjack Thenndenn

  (Ashthrone/Sanctus assault force)

  Dice

  Chambers

  Paladin Kare

  Paladin Kassamon

  Enclavers

  I hope you enjoyed today's installment of Godclads!

  Anyway, I hope you're having fun, and remember: reviews, follows, favorites, and comments make the word-gods happy.