Power to Change Destiny

Helios Acts. You must intervene. Prepare in darkness.

Helios will see even through my reflection.
To the Sept of Space Dust six days past the New Moon.
I have made a Way for you.
Prepare, Kin and Cub and All who will hear, or All May End.

~Luna, OverSea’s Balm

In the southeast corner of Houston, Texas, lies the Armand Bayou Nature Center. Located between the Johnson Space Center and the Bayport Industrial District, this flare of deliberate Wyld in the city is a reminder that even in an urban and technical sprawl there can be nature.

It was here that a sympathetic path would be created into the UnSea’s Soul, allowing those who answered OverSea’s Balm’s call to do what they can to save the world.

The sky was cloudy, overcast to the point of being almost dark as heavy clouds from impending tropical weather did their best to mute the sun. The distant rumble of thunder sounded like a grumbling voice to one's ears, almost words that you could understand but not quite. The wind tugged at our clothes.

As we began to gather, we spotted members of the Sept of Space Dust, doing patrols and keeping an eye on just who comes into the space. The area was rich in local spirits, and they all seemed intent on us and our goals.

Next Iteration, the Glasswalker Tribal Councilor was standing in the communal area of the Sept, waiting as we filtered in, to begin our quest. As per usual, there were introductions, reuniting of brothers and sisters, displays of wealth, as well as the antagonistic remarks when you mix earthblood and sea together.

However, the most important words came from Next Iteration:
"So I take it then you all got Luna's message..." she said with a bit of sarcasm surrounded in a cloak of seriousness but loud enough to be heard by all.

"To say that we are pressed for time would be an understatement. To the best of my knowledge, which is substantial, that notice from Luna arrived in nearly every major gathering location of Gaian's. I suspect the number we have coming here will be in the dozens.

Frankly I would love to sit here and rationalize a plan which covers the infinite number of minutiae involved in an operation this size but frankly, Time is the one resource we will be lackin the most in.

Shortly I will be taking the first wave of arrivals into the Umbra, we have a single core objective, and simply put I won't abide by us being tardy.

We leave in less than 10 minutes.

I will allow some time for questions briefly once we cross, but make them short and sweet. To answer the first few...

One, Yes we have to go now, so no we can't wait. Two, The Umbra and likely through a Realm I know well. If I am right I will give you advice and guidance when we arrive Three, No, Luna is sending us and I think she assumes we'll figure it out as we go, but I have a hunch on what's expected of us.

I do hope everyone is... well as prepared as they can be?"

Questions to clarify were just as vague as OverSea’s Balm’s message. The group would have to figure it out as they went.

Then there was that hush again that some of us recognized, as everything went still for a moment. The rumble of thunder is the only natural sound. And then a point of pale light spread into a swirling circle, and wider and wider, until the moonbridge opened between us and the waters of the bayou.

On the other side is a shimmering mirage of color, difficult to make out but not unpleasant. A Moon Bridge would normally span across a space as a natural bridge would, but in this case it seems to be only a sliver of a step between the material world and wherever we were meant to go.

Quickly, all entered, then the Moon Bridge slid shut with a noiseless sense of pressure.

As we all looked to see what laid before us, Next Iteration sitting on a rock spoke up.

"Welcome to the CyberRealm."

𝒜𝓉𝓉𝑒𝓃𝒹𝒶𝓃𝒸𝑒 𝑅𝑜𝓈𝓉𝑒𝓇
𝒪𝓁𝒹 𝑀𝒶𝓃 𝑀𝒶𝓃𝓎 𝒮𝓀𝒾𝓃𝓈, 𝐸𝓁𝒹𝑒𝓇, 𝑅𝒶𝑔𝒶𝒷𝒶𝓈𝒽, 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒩𝓊𝓌𝒾𝓈𝒽𝒶
𝒞𝒶𝓇𝓉𝑒 𝐵𝓁𝒶𝓃𝒸𝒽𝑒, 𝐸𝓁𝒹𝑒𝓇, 𝑅𝒶𝑔𝒶𝒷𝒶𝓈𝒽, 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒞𝑜𝓇𝒶𝓍

𝒦𝓊𝓃’𝓈 𝐹𝓊𝓇𝓎, 𝐼𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒞𝑜𝓁𝒹 𝒮𝑒𝒶, 𝐵𝓇𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉𝓌𝒶𝓉𝑒𝓇, 𝒦𝓊𝓃𝓈𝓅𝒶𝓌𝓃 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝐿𝑒𝓍𝒸𝒽𝒶 𝒯𝓇𝒾𝒷𝑒
𝒟𝒶𝒹 𝒥𝑜𝓀𝑒𝓈, 𝒜𝓉𝒽𝓇𝑜, 𝑅𝒶𝑔𝒶𝒷𝒶𝓈𝒽, 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒩𝓊𝓌𝒾𝓈𝒽𝒶
𝐿𝒶𝓈𝓉 𝐿𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉 𝑜𝒻 𝒟𝒶𝓌𝓃, 𝒜𝓉𝒽𝓇𝑜, 𝑀𝒾𝒹𝓃𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉, 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒜𝒿𝒶𝒷𝒶
𝐿𝑒𝓃𝓃𝑜𝓍 𝒮𝓉𝓊𝒶𝓇𝓉, 𝒜𝓉𝒽𝓇𝑜, 𝒢𝒶𝓁𝓁𝒾𝒶𝓇𝒹, 𝒢𝒶𝓇𝑜𝓊 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝐹𝒾𝒶𝓃𝓃𝒶 𝒯𝓇𝒾𝒷𝑒
𝒟𝑜 𝒴𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝒲𝑜𝓇𝓈𝓉, 𝒜𝓉𝒽𝓇𝑜, 𝒜𝒽𝓇𝑜𝓊𝓃, 𝒢𝒶𝓇𝑜𝓊 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒮𝒽𝒶𝒹𝑜𝓌 𝐿𝑜𝓇𝒹 𝒯𝓇𝒾𝒷𝑒
𝒯𝓇𝓊𝓉𝒽’𝓈 𝐵𝓊𝓇𝒹𝑒𝓃, 𝒜𝓉𝒽𝓇𝑜, 𝒢𝒶𝓁𝓁𝒾𝒶𝓇𝒹, 𝒢𝒶𝓇𝑜𝓊 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒮𝒾𝓁𝓋𝑒𝓇 𝐹𝒶𝓃𝑔 𝒯𝓇𝒾𝒷𝑒
𝒩𝑒𝓍𝓉 𝐼𝓉𝑒𝓇𝒶𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃, 𝒜𝓉𝒽𝓇𝑜, 𝒯𝒽𝑒𝓊𝓇𝑔𝑒, 𝒢𝒶𝓇𝑜𝓊 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒢𝓁𝒶𝓈𝓈 𝒲𝒶𝓁𝓀𝑒𝓇 𝒯𝓇𝒾𝒷𝑒
𝒪𝓊𝓉 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝒮𝓂𝑜𝓀𝑒𝓈, 𝒜𝓉𝒽𝓇𝑜, 𝒫𝒽𝒾𝓁𝑜𝒹𝑜𝓍, 𝒢𝒶𝓇𝑜𝓊 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝑅𝑒𝒹 𝒯𝒶𝓁𝑜𝓃 𝒯𝓇𝒾𝒷𝑒

𝑅𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑒𝓈𝓉𝑜𝓃𝑒 𝐸𝓎𝑒𝓈, 𝒜𝒹𝓇𝑒𝓃, 𝒟𝒶𝓎𝓁𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒟𝓊𝓈𝓀, 𝐵𝒶𝓈𝓉𝑒𝓉 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒞𝑒𝒾𝓁𝒾𝒶𝓃 𝒯𝓇𝒾𝒷𝑒
𝐼𝓉’𝓈 𝒶 𝒮𝑒𝒸𝓇𝑒𝓉, 𝒯𝒾𝓁𝒶𝓊, 𝒟𝓊𝓈𝓀 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒟𝒶𝓎𝓁𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉, 𝐵𝒶𝓈𝓉𝑒𝓉 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒞𝑒𝒾𝓁𝒾𝒸𝒶𝓃 𝒯𝓇𝒾𝒷𝑒
𝒩𝑜𝓈𝓉𝒶𝓁𝑔𝒾𝒶'𝓈 𝒢𝓊𝒾𝒹𝑒, 𝒜𝒹𝓇𝑒𝓃, 𝒯𝒽𝑒𝓊𝓇𝑔𝑒, 𝒢𝒶𝓇𝑜𝓊 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝐵𝓁𝒶𝒸𝓀 𝐹𝓊𝓇𝓎 𝒯𝓇𝒾𝒷𝑒
𝒦𝓎𝓁𝑒, 𝒜𝒹𝓇𝑒𝓃, 𝒯𝒽𝑒𝓊𝓇𝑔𝑒, 𝒢𝒶𝓇𝑜𝓊 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝐵𝓁𝒶𝒸𝓀 𝐹𝓊𝓇𝓎 𝒯𝓇𝒾𝒷𝑒
𝒥𝑒𝓇𝑒𝓂𝓎 𝐵𝓁𝒶𝒸𝓀𝓅𝒶𝓌, 𝒜𝒹𝓇𝑒𝓃, 𝒯𝒽𝑒𝓊𝓇𝑔𝑒, 𝒢𝒶𝓇𝑜𝓊 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒲𝑒𝓃𝒹𝒾𝑔𝑜 𝒯𝓇𝒾𝒷𝑒
𝐿𝓊𝓁𝓁𝒶𝒷𝓎 𝐿𝑜𝓇𝑒𝓈, 𝒜𝒹𝓇𝑒𝓃, 𝒢𝒶𝓁𝓁𝒾𝒶𝓇𝒹, 𝒢𝒶𝓇𝑜𝓊 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝐹𝒾𝒶𝓃𝓃𝒶 𝒯𝓇𝒾𝒷𝑒
𝒞𝑜𝓂𝓅𝒾𝓁𝑒𝓈 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒫𝓊𝓇𝑔𝑒𝓈, 𝒜𝒹𝓇𝑒𝓃, 𝑅𝒶𝑔𝒶𝒷𝒶𝓈𝒽, 𝒢𝒶𝓇𝑜𝓊 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒢𝓁𝒶𝓈𝓈 𝒲𝒶𝓁𝓀𝑒𝓇 𝒯𝓇𝒾𝒷𝑒

𝐼𝓋𝑜𝓇𝓎 𝒞𝒶𝓇𝓋𝑒𝒹 𝒟𝑒𝒶𝓉𝒽, 𝐼𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒮𝒽𝒶𝓁𝓁𝑜𝓌𝓈, 𝒟𝒾𝓂𝓌𝒶𝓉𝑒𝓇, 𝒦𝓊𝓃𝓈𝓅𝒶𝓌𝓃 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒦𝒶𝓇𝓀𝒽𝒶 𝒯𝓇𝒾𝒷𝑒
𝒫𝒾𝓃𝑒 𝒲𝒶𝓁𝓀𝑒𝓇, 𝐹𝑜𝓈𝓉𝑒𝓇𝓃, 𝒫𝒽𝒾𝓁𝑜𝒹𝑜𝓍, 𝒢𝒶𝓇𝑜𝓊 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒮𝓉𝒶𝓇𝑔𝒶𝓏𝑒𝓇 𝒯𝓇𝒾𝒷𝑒
𝒮𝓉𝑒𝓅𝓈 𝒯𝑜𝓌𝒶𝓇𝒹𝓈 𝑅𝑒𝒹𝑒𝓂𝓅𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃, 𝐹𝑜𝓈𝓉𝑒𝓇𝓃, 𝒯𝒽𝑒𝓊𝓇𝑔𝑒, 𝒢𝒶𝓇𝑜𝓊 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒯𝑒𝓁𝑜𝓈
𝒮𝓂𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝒫𝒽𝒶𝓇𝓂𝒶, 𝐹𝑜𝓈𝓉𝑒𝓇𝓃, 𝑅𝒶𝑔𝒶𝒷𝒶𝓈𝒽, 𝒢𝒶𝓇𝑜𝓊 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝐵𝑜𝓃𝑒 𝒢𝓃𝒶𝓌𝑒𝓇 𝒯𝓇𝒾𝒷𝑒
𝐿𝒶𝓃𝓉𝑒𝓇𝓃’𝓈 𝒢𝓁𝑜𝓌, 𝐹𝑜𝓈𝓉𝑒𝓇𝓃, 𝑅𝒶𝑔𝒶𝒷𝒶𝓈𝒽, 𝒢𝒶𝓇𝑜𝓊 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒯𝑒𝓁𝑜𝓈
𝒜𝓃𝑒𝑔𝑜-𝐻𝒶𝒹𝒶, 𝐹𝑜𝓈𝓉𝑒𝓇𝓃, 𝒫𝒽𝒾𝓁𝑜𝒹𝑜𝓍, 𝒢𝒶𝓇𝑜𝓊 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝐵𝑜𝓃𝑒 𝒢𝓃𝒶𝓌𝑒𝓇 𝒯𝓇𝒾𝒷𝑒
𝐹𝒾𝓇𝓈𝓉 𝑜𝒻 𝑀𝒶𝓃𝓎, 𝐹𝑜𝓈𝓉𝑒𝓇𝓃, 𝒜𝒽𝓇𝑜𝓊𝓃, 𝒢𝒶𝓇𝑜𝓊 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒯𝑒𝓁𝑜𝓈
𝒮𝓉𝑜𝓇𝓂𝓈 𝒾𝓃 𝒮𝒾𝓁𝑒𝓃𝒸𝑒, 𝐹𝑜𝓈𝓉𝑒𝓇𝓃, 𝒫𝒽𝒾𝓁𝑜𝒹𝑜𝓍, 𝒢𝒶𝓇𝑜𝓊 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝐵𝓁𝒶𝒸𝓀 𝐹𝓊𝓇𝓎 𝒯𝓇𝒾𝒷𝑒
𝒞𝓇𝓊𝓈𝒽𝑒𝓈 𝐼𝓃𝒿𝓊𝓈𝓉𝒾𝒸𝑒, 𝐹𝑜𝓈𝓉𝑒𝓇𝓃, 𝒫𝒽𝒾𝓁𝑜𝒹𝑜𝓍, 𝒢𝒶𝓇𝑜𝓊 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒢𝑒𝓉 𝑜𝒻 𝐹𝑒𝓃𝓇𝒾𝓈 𝒯𝓇𝒾𝒷𝑒

𝒟𝒶𝓇𝓀𝓇𝓊𝓃𝓃𝑒𝓇, 𝒞𝓁𝒾𝒶𝓉𝒽, 𝑅𝒶𝑔𝒶𝒷𝒶𝓈𝒽, 𝒢𝒶𝓇𝑜𝓊 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝐹𝒾𝒶𝓃𝓃𝒶 𝒯𝓇𝒾𝒷𝑒
𝑅𝓊𝒹𝒹𝓎𝓀𝒾𝓃𝓈, 𝒞𝓊𝒷, 𝒟𝒶𝓌𝓃 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒩𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉, 𝐵𝒶𝓈𝓉𝑒𝓉 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒞𝑒𝒾𝓁𝒾𝒶𝓃 𝒯𝓇𝒾𝒷𝑒
𝐵𝑒𝓀𝒶𝒽 𝒯. 𝒞𝑜𝓁𝒷𝑒𝓇𝓉, 𝒦𝒾𝓃𝒻𝑜𝓁𝓀

Webs of steel, glass, and circuitry stretched out before them in structures that made up the landscape of the realm. They aren’t natural landscapes but seem to be a copy of it, drawn by an AI art generator. There was no sense of Wyld there, but neither was it still. Swirling light and clean lines gave the sense of constant motion. Perhaps it’s where they were standing, or just the way perspective worked there, but that motion was a forward one. It urged them all onward, down the smooth road on which they stood.

In the near distance through sloping platinum mountains and glittering glass trees they saw the spires of what must be an immense city. They gleamed in the umbral light, shimmering like a mirage one moment and a neon dream the next.

As they took the road, the city that was distant came into view.

Spider City is everything a city could be, and everything it actually is. Apparently designed by madmen and visionaries, the structures rose up at impossible angles and with breathtaking artistry. It shimmered even as they got closer, with light and reflection and ever moving transportation. The flying cars we were promised are there, along with airships and flights of mechanical birds and small insect-like transports. It was impressive, and beautiful in a kind of surreal technological marvel way. At the top, at least.

As with most cities, once you got down below the glitter, you got the grime. The lower area of Spider City existed in a darker miasma of fading, just out of date technology and misplaced dreams. There were layers to this place, and the lower ones are where technology stalls out. What doesn’t go up must come down, after all. There was a kind of haze that started there, and one could almost make out an even deeper area between shifts of the incandescent light from above.

The city went on forever… in a quite literal sense. They were at the thin edges of it, but for as far as they could see to the horizon the city existed, faded into a blur of twinkling stars.

𝕴𝖙’𝖘 𝕯𝖆𝖓𝖌𝖊𝖗𝖔𝖚𝖘, 𝕷𝖊𝖙’𝖘 𝕾𝖕𝖑𝖎𝖙 𝖀𝖕!

• A Not So Distant Whistle
• The Tale of a Still Body
• What's a Substitute for Bread and Beans
• Seeing Double

From discerning plans to horrors witnessed, as they all returned from their endeavors. They caught up to Next Iteration just as she had walked beyond the limits of the segment of Spider City and had begun to ascend up a literal mountain of data, towards an enormous building above which looked like a grand stellar observatory. While the walk was not exceptionally difficult, it was a long one, with winding steps to avoid stepping on corrupted data and making people fall.

The sound of exquisite flute music is the gentle prelude to the story that unfolds. One feels as if they have joined the story at a distinct next chapter. When the packs of noble werefolk, hearty adventurers and distinct ragamuffins climb up the mountain of tech and cyber gear to an immense observatory, the music steps up in melody and tempo as it sounds as if many are climbing up a hill or a mountain. A delicately chaotic melody fills the listener’s ear. For long seconds this goes on as the flute music overtakes whatever is going on. Drawing the attention of the listener to understanding what beauty is in the stars, in the universe. Helios and the planets, the stars beyond. A million worlds filled with Incarna and power.

Within the observatory were a small group of entities who designated themselves as Hubble, Keppler and Webb among others who were distinctly Weaver Spirits. The melody playing gives one the impression of the vastness and yet hope of deep space. The wonder and terror that can be felt all in the same breath when one sits and ponders the extreme sense of . . . insignificance. Questions volleyed back and forth between the curators of the observatory and those who had undertaken this life-or-death mission; not that they understood that when they set out hours earlier to explore. More notes are played that bring on a wave of sheer terror.

The fear is replaced with hope as ideas are shared and that’s echoed in the song being crafted. Big personalities matched with even larger Incarna debated and concluded. A soft lullaby of hope begins, one that is called Hubble’s Sacrifice. It begins sad and poignant and melds into promise and resolute sacrifice over the course of its entirety. The group all agreed and a long series of intricate playing as one feels as if they are snapped away and placed in the middle of vast --- hot, nothing. A sense of waiting to know if the other team won or lost. . . Minutes tick slowly as the song rolls by and trills of notes to represent calls being made home, families reunited. Helios would live and the melodic story concludes along with the distinct understanding that Destiny was changed.

𝐹𝒾𝓃.

𝒪𝒪𝒞 𝒞𝑜𝓃𝓉𝓇𝒾𝒷𝓊𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃𝓈:
Erin S. - ANST, realm descriptions and Storytelling
Krista W. - player of Aisling “Lullaby Lores” O’Sullivan
Aaron H. - player of Jasion Garland “Truth's Burden”
Lex R. - player of Ivory Carved Death

And

To all the players who took part in the event, sharing their stories of their quests and contributing to a fantastic story and game that could be shared.