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Dataset card Data Studio Files
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Gwen Song awoke to the melody of _Grande Valse_ blaring with the strength of an air siren. Reflexively, she groped for her smartphone, making the familiar sliding gesture to unlock. Instead, her vague fingers encountered the strange sensation of physical buttons. A moment of frantic fumbling ensured, then a sound bega...
The whole thing feels like a cult, Gwen cynically assessed the assemblage of students and staff. All around her, the cohort separated into rows standing before ten crystal spheres. The 'Awakening Crystals' reminded her of E-meters she saw once on Castlereagh St. These students, who had already had their affinity aff...
“So, what do I do?” Gwen's trembling lips begged for an answer. By now, her eyes were moist with the distress of her devastating evaluation. The pitiful look she projected gave the instructor such a pang of guilt that he felt his iron mien falter. After all, the girl's future was nothing if not bleak. But the cryst...
When she was eleven, Gwen's parents separated. Custody, alimony, property splits, embittered family taking sides and caustic dialogue all took their toll. It had been a terrible time for the teenage Gwen, who through it all, tried to take care of her brother Percy. In the end, she powered through and believed hersel...
Turbulent thoughts tormented Gwen through the night. Why was she here? What happened to the teenage Gwen of this world? In fact, now that she thought about it, what about her thirty-year-old body? Would her secretary, Becky, find her boss in a state of decomposition? Would the Sun Herald report on her mysterious dem...
There's blood on her sheets. That is, Gwen's scraped knee had bled over her sheets. Pulling the gauzy cotton painfully from her skin, she stripped the linen from her bed. The last thing Gwen wanted to hear was her father's new bimbo having a crack at her bloody sheets. Gwen took a moment to compose her thoughts. ...
The week came and went, then it was time for Gwen to go. With her father's latest lover still lounging in the living room, Gwen felt no obligation for an amicable departure as the last of her boxes were packed. Her only regret was leaving Percy. Her brother seemed precociously aware that in a few years, the distan...
The terrible news of Gwen's 'true' talent spread like the thirteenth-century quasi-magical bubonic plague. She quickly left the main building before a mob could pick up enough momentum to start throwing textbooks. When Gwen finally got to the dorm apartments, Yue and Elvia were already giddy with the good news. "Se...
Spring ended with November; then summer came on with its stifling heat. Fair-skinned and petite, Elvia wilted like a rare white flower. Gwen likewise melted in a most un-ladylike manner, legs akimbo, a spaghetti-string singlet loosely hung over one shoulder, its sheer cotton stuck to her stomach like wet rice paper...
_Putt! Putt! Putt!_ The training dummy split in twain with a resounding 'crack!' as several stone-tipped Magic Missiles cracked its wooden surface, sending up a cloud of fragments. The area around the dummy next shimmered; a mana Shield made opaque by dust, rock, and assorted sediments materialised. Thunk! Thunk! ...
Gwen awoke, presided over by a resplendent angel in a trainee's scrubs. The Celestial looked just like Elvia; only she was attaching an I.V drip onto Gwen's wrist. “Healing Word." A familiar tingle of Positive energy infused Gwen's chest, stitching her bruised flesh. Slowly, her throbbing injury dissolved until all...
Woodland survival took place within an especially constructed Illusion inside the Blackwattle's athletics field, supplemented by Conjured flora. The process was apparently both costly and complicated, and an average school like Blackwattle could only afford enough resources to keep the Enchantment lit for a month ...
A brave new world was opening in front of Yue's eyes. This was Spellcraft?! REAL Spellcraft? She couldn't help but wonder what two-bit charlatan magic she'd been learning this whole time. Alesia’s Fireball was too abnormal, her control too refined. Watching her shaping blasts and comparing it to the Yue's proud Fir...
They said that Mages ruled the world. They lied. They say that Man was the ruler of the Earth. They were wrong. They said that Man’s cities were safe behind their Barrier Shields. They would be gravely mistaken. Humanity had learnt magic from the forgotten places, but they have forgotten their place in the worl...
When the girls had finally returned to the dorm, they were greeted at the door by Rawson. “I heard the good news." “Thanks, Mister Rawson.” “Thanks, Rory.” “Thank you, Sir.” Rawson snorted at Yue’s abbreviated intimacy. “That being said - Gwen, the Principal wants to see you. Can you head over now? It's ...
“I’ll burn their Manor down.” Yue was a bar away from busting a gasket. “It’s fine… it's fine…” Gwen patted her hand. “I’ll be in and out in half a day, just showing my face.” “Are you sure it’s going to be alright…” Elvia hugged her pillow with a face full of worries. “I’ve been to a few of these things before, bu...
The red Alfa must have moved a dozen meters in the last ten minutes. So that’s why it was a long ride ahead. Gwen realised when they finally passed the Harbour Bridge. The Mage-world might be full of magic, but traffic jams were a cardinal rule of any universe. “We should have changed,” Alesia sulked, full of an...
Gwen and her companions were up at the first light, awoken by the Message which began to play on their devices. “Good morning students. Your first objective: proceed to Zeta as indicated on your map and return with the marker. Scores are rewarded for the number of encounters, the speed of progress and the number of ...
Edgar's real name wasn't Edgar of course; it was an alias that he liked. When Edgar was a boy, his father had forbidden him to watch any of the plebeian Vid-shows, but Edgar was far too slippery for his idiotic NoM housekeepers and his multiple nannies. When he finally did manage to catch a Vid-cast in the break roo...
“Lady De Botton! You are finally here!” Boone’s eyes were aglow with admiration. Alesia stepped off her blazing red Ducati with shaking legs. She had thought that the ride from the Shield Fort 47 toward the camp would be one of those iconic drives with long winding roads and graceful curves. Instead, after half an h...
The serene fragrance of the Earl Grey in Gwen's hands unravel the knot possessing both her body and mind. Instructor Alesia was here now, and all would be well. Beside her, Yue toasted a sandwich, while Elvia absently dangled her legs over the edge of a tall stool. The door to the bunker opened with a groan. Gwen sa...
The immediate vicinity of where Gwen’s lightning had struck combusted into flames, the dry bark of the surrounding Blue Gums combusted, bathing the locale in a hazy glow. The coral cinder juxtaposed beautifully with the blue arcs that continued to ionise and flood over the cowled form of the Mage, swallowed by a casc...
The cold invasion of Edgar's hand thrusting into her Astral Body was like being penetrated by a rusty sword; its serrated edge mangling her flesh as it inched deeper. A helpless spectator, Gwen watched the usurpation of her mind and body. For a moment in time, she wanted nothing more than to end it all, to summon a...
A salmon pink tongue, forked and quick as a whistle, darted from the serpent's lip-sheath as it hissed. “It's not with you, Alesia?” Gwen intoned carefully. “It's not with me. No,” her instructor affirmed warily, drifting a few feet away from the snake, keeping a safe distance in case it decided to no longer be so ...
A marigold disk signalled summer sunrise, diffusing a perpetual splendour across the curvature of the eastern coast. To Gwen’s right was The Coastal Trail, where the emerald bush gave way to jagged ochre rocks awash with foam, assailed by milky white shoals of water that frothed like milk against ochre cliffs. The S...
Alesia returned to find the girls sharing a meal of military rations for supper, feeling the unspeakable texture of mystery meat caressing their revolted taste buds. Even in a world of Spellcraft, rations remained optically unrecognisable nutritional sludge. “You want in on the Officer’s mess?” Alesia laughed whe...
“I think you overdid it a bit Alesia; I sound like a Mermen God-King or something.” “You said to make an impressive first-impression!” “Now you're just being manipulative.” “Well, it’s too late now, she's very impressed by the looks of it, look at her, I think her knees are buckling.” “Sufina seems to like her. S...
While Gwen awaited her verdict, the Magister and his Apprentice were having a silent exchange of their own. “Master, you had better dismiss Heighten Emotion, we're all getting too worked up. Your heart...” “I am fine… I am fine… Where did you find this girl? One of the Great Houses?” “At Blackwattle… near the Fish...
When the Gwen was just sixteen, her father remarried. His fiancèe was a younger caucasian woman only five-years older than Gwen. Before their engagement, Gwen had met her a dozen times, each time keeping out of her way. A week before the wedding, her future step-mother decided to have an unexpected heart to heart. “...
A blue-silver Sigil flared, guiding the Void matter into the girl's Astral Form. As motes of the tenebrous energy circulated, carving out new mana conduits, the crystalline body of her Astral reflection grew larger, taller and more refined. Now elucidated by her Master, Alesia studied her sister-in-craft's illusory ...
Alesia battered away excess motes of silvery Conjuration. The two of them were back in the Teleportation Chamber, their bodies safely deposited via magical translocation. The brightly lit vista outside indicated that it was just past noon. Noon? Gwen baulked. They had left in the morning! Had it taken only half...
Gunther plated their dinner. Soup: French Onion, cut with crisped Gruyere, croutons. Entree: Bone-in Wildland Lamb lollypops in coarse mint conserve. Salad: Mixed Heirloom Cherry Tomatoes in sweetened apple vinaigrette. Main: Whole Roasted Wind Pheasant, red wine reduction in own jus. Dessert: Creme Brûlée ...
Gwen left the apartment in borrowed clothes; a modest pink minidress wore over a lacy white camisole. The events of last night weighed heavily on her mind, especially her left ring finger, where now a silvery band acted as guardian and ankle-monitor. Now bathed under a cloudless sky, Gwen allowed herself to soak in ...
Gwen made it back to the dorm just in time for dinner. She ventured into the cafeteria, eyes scanning for Yue and Elvia, but couldn't find them anywhere. Had they not returned yet? She thought to herself, disappointed at her friends' absence. Tellingly, the rest of the student cohort were likewise absent, likely as a...
Like many estates from the Outback, The Manor was a single sprawling level fabricated from a composite network of sandstone, glass, timber and transmuted cement. From afar, the Estate had an artistic air, a contemporary facade; viewed from the front, it melded into the landscape. At the back, a good forty meters of d...
“Well?” Surya’s face flushed with anticipation. “Out with it!” “I am... untrained,” Gwen said slowly. "But... you can see a Conjuration Sigil in your Cognisance meditation?" Gwen nodded. Surya's skeletal frame began to shake like a seismic fault on the verge of eruption. The man was understandably excited that hi...
"I have set up a schedule for you." Master Kilroy's tired voice echoed through the Message spell beside Gwen's ear. "Alesia will bring it to you later today." Gwen had not expected to hear from her Master so soon and therefore was utterly surprised when a Message bloomed beside her ear at 6 AM, pulling her from t...
Gwen snuck out from the dorm bright and early Sunday morning, snug in a tapered Tee, jeans and soft white sneaker, leaving behind her sleeping companions. She had asked for permission to let Elvia and Yue in on her secret but was turned down by her mentors on the grounds of loose-lips sink ships. They had told her th...
Gwen felt no fear nor hesitation as she completed the Conjuration sigil, inducing the lightning-charged mana to materialise a snow-white marten; its body sleek and elegant, its fur fluffy with static. "Eee! Ee!" It trilled like a songbird, then ran around her ankles before leaping onto her shoulder, where it perched...
When Gwen moved into her first apartment, the loneliness of coming home to an empty abode blindsided her. Previously, she had always shared dorms and rooms with girlfriends, and for short stints, poorly chosen boyfriends. So she adopted two cats from the RSPCA. Ariel and Caliban, just like from The Tempest, making ...
“Read through it carefully,” Mark advised. “How you wish to execute the mission is also the purpose of our exercise.” Gwen read through the document with a pace which surprised Mark, then read through it again as insurance. As she had noted prior, the Quest involved escorting a young woman from Blackheath to Surr...
The click-a-clack of her Mary-Janes may as well be rolling thunder as Gwen Riverdanced down the concrete pavement. For about ten-meters, Gwen considered moving the rest of the way barefoot, though the sight of shattered glass killed that prospect outright. On the next platform, restless passengers began to gather ar...
The half-dozen Flashbang shards erupted with enough sound and fury to flake wallpaper from the walls. Nestled safely within the shelter of her Void shield, Gwen counted to three, then dispelled her half-sphere dome. As expected, Void Shield drained little vitality when pitted against sound and lumens, resulting i...
_'Ban, 'Ban, Ca-Caliban_ _Has a new master. Her name is Gwen!'_ Caliban had yet to develop a fully formed sentence, so it wasn't entirely sure why it was singing that particular song. It had learned it from Master's memory when it was named. There was a rhythmic quality to it that Caliban enjoyed, though the word...
Farez Hamid recognised the intruder. Farez had been just a Militiamen then, an up and coming Illusionist with an affinity for Air with a freshly pressed commendation for his mastery of misdirection. He distinctly recalled it was during Second Seige of the Brisbane Line that he first heard the name of Gunther von Sh...
For the fifth time, Agnes had to intervene, preventing Henry and Mark from saying something that neither of them could take back. At first, Surya had aided her, but after Mark accusing his granddaughter of being a Void-tainted Calamity, the old Enchanter became firmly entrenched with team Kilroy. Had there always be...
Mark reached into the deep-set draw of his mahogany table and produced something wrapped in a dark aubergine cloth. He placed it carefully upon the table, smoothing its edges. With great care, he began to unfold the fabric, revealing a dark crystal globe which contained a swirling, grey mist. Gunther was the first t...
Henry patted down the pocket of the gate guard in a friendly manner. Feeling the shape of the crystal he had inserted there, the soldier saluted smartly and resumed his patrol, certainly not seeing a high-ranking Mage entering a restricted area. The descent into the cellar led to a sloping set of stone stairs carved...
Mark’s voice trembled as he spoke, fully aware of the incarceration that awaited him, carefully enunciating every precious syllable. “You see, while Henry was away trying to save his precious 'Lillybird', I too was beside myself with grief. To me, there was nothing more important to me than my sister. We were orphan...
**Schools of Magic** **Evocation** is a school that manipulate energy. It was also the most commonly awakened school of Spellcraft. These mages become the mainstay of the citizen-soldiers, wielding spells of fire, earth, water, and more exotic elements such as lightning or radiance. As Evokers grow, they become more...
“We can talk in the grot,” Henry intoned kindly before giving Gwen’s hands a reassuring, fatherly pat. “There is much to discuss.” The remaining members of the conference glanced at the empty desk, grimly reminding the party that they were now missing Mark and Gunther. Unexpectedly, Henry turned to Debora. Gwen's c...
“You are certain?” Henry asked again. “If my suspicions are correct, then there is no turning back from this, Gwen. There will be no shield of ignorance left to protect you from the full force of temptation. Caliban's supernatural hunger would hardly compare to what allure this knowledge could hold.” 'I won't turn f...
"Gwen!" "Debbie!" The two girls reciprocated cheeks. Surya observed the exchange, his face full of benevolence, his heart finally returned to its usual cadence. In light of Henry's ruthless sentencing of Mark, leaving his cucu perempuan with his old friend had been no different to sending merino into a Hob's den. ...
Gwen tried on yet another pair of knee-high boots, finding the leather too cumbersome to maintain balance. Outside of questing, her school runners should suffice. But that had been a bush trail, and this was the jagged landscape of the Outback, where leagues of knife-sharp stones crossed with burning sand, bisected ...
"Betsy, I'll avenge you, I promise." Tako swore to the heavens as he scrambled up Deadman's Rock. The landmark was a substantial chunk of wind-blasted obsidian over ten meters tall. Usually, the rock offered a fantastic view, though the climb itself was precarious. That was precisely the reason Tako had scrambled...
When a group of adventurers worked together, the etiquette of fair loot must be observed. It was the unspoken law of Mages, for no Mage could survive without companions, and there was no deadlier destroyer of parties than a leader who hoped to claim all loot. Usually, a party has five members. They receive a tho...
Gwen wasn't sure herself if she wanted to entertain the smitten young man or not. Yet, at the same time, what was the harm? Surely she could get shouted dinner, and it would be no big deal. She hadn't felt like an ordinary woman since she arrived in this world. Wasn't this the most mundane thing that could ever happe...
Tako, AKA Takahashi, stewed in a pool of his sweat. First of all, he had not expected such a thick flock of stickybeaks to be present at his date with Gwen. A dozen folks he could anticipate, his mates, for example; but now the whole bloody town had shown up. Secondly, his mate Jacko who was also his waiter, sudden...
"Debs, are you sure you can't make it?" Gwen watched her friend's face contort with agony. She had petitioned Debora about the possibility of attending the Xmas dinner at Elvia's, but Debbie's response had been negative. Though Gwen had not expected it, Debora's parents were devout followers of the Nazarene. For th...
While schemes both dangerous and devious brewed below; Gwen was busy marvelling at the fluffy decor of Elvia's pastel bedroom. The furnishing was like a catalogue's: a four-post bed, satin sheets, antique white walls, and shelves full of plush toys. Elvia sat on the edge, swinging her legs to and fro, an adorable...
Thankfully, Elvia’s had an ensuite in which Gwen could change out of her bedraggled clothes. She liked the ocean as much as any girl growing up within thirty minutes of Cronulla, but the distinct stink of the fish-scented sea was difficult to dismiss. Elvia had asked Gwen to leave her dirty laundry, but Gwen stowed ...
After copious volumes of Christmas pudding with a massive dollop of ice cream, the girls had watched the Dancing Lights slowly drift outward, dying in darkness. Now, they retreated into Elvia's bedroom, each pilfering cushions from the other rooms. Gwen was giddy with excitement. A sleepover was something she had...
"An empowered Fireball specifically," Yue gushed. "The very first Metamagic that Alesia taught me. It's Evocation mixed with Transmutation." Yue wanted to begin her recount in medias res. The girls, however, demanded context as they couldn't make head nor tail of Yue's pyrotechnic, Michael Bay epic. "Alright, alrig...
Gurglugg was the Chief of his domain, lord of all he surveyed. Though some have called Gurglugg a warmonger, he had been a wise enough Chief to enjoy the popularity of the clannish families that served under him. Indeed, no fish had starved to death since he took the reigns of power. For years, the number of young Mu...
"You and Debora toured the Outback?!" Elvia's eyes marvelled at the word. To the city folk, the Outback Frontier was a world of horses and Aurochs and Roos. That, and Drop Bears— Monstrosities hidden among the branches, waiting for the wayward feller wandering below, only to descend upon them with their rock-hard...
Gwen massaged her thawing buttocks. Surya had demonstrated a curious flaw of the scale's resistance, which was that its Enchantment worked best against spontaneous bursts of energy but fared poorly against gradual changes in temperature. Horrified, Gwen quickly removed herself from the chair, making a rip-roaring n...
Thanks to Gwen's crocodile tears, the rest of the morning passed without incident. Elvia and Yue picked out their horses and quickly took up riding thanks to Tommy. Rhodes came through and shouted the girls a luncheon of Roo steak and heirloom vegetables. Tommy was asked to join at Gwen's behest, but the jackaroo ...
"Oi! You mob! Hang off!" Just as Gwen considered the merits of restraining Yue as to avoid a diplomatic incident, she was interrupted by a croak that silenced the murmuring crowd. The group opened a path. From between the crowd, an indigenous woman with the bearing of a fertility goddess emerged. She was twice the ...
Wanka moved like mercury slipping through air. Debora's hands met in the middle, causing her sand dome to expand. Gwen did her best to track the spider, but before she could utter a second warning, it landed on top of the semi-dome barrier— its salt-encrusted body bypassing Yue's Flaming Wall with only a fistful of...
Tommy was waiting for the girls to return at the edge of the salt lake. The smile on his face froze as details emerged with the girls' bedraggled state. "How was it?" worriedly, Tommy asked. His Missus Mages had left as cool as cucumbers and returned beaten to within an inch of their lives. "Did you find Wanka?" ...
_Almudj!_ _The rainbow snake_ _see it take wing_ _the wind_ _and water fills the rivers and gullies_ _and billabongs;_ _Almudj!_ _see it brings forth_ _all life_ _the valleys_ _and water fills the dry earth_ _Almudj!_ _see it brings forth_ _all life sleeping_ _Almudj!_ _Ki...
The journey at night proved as troublesome as the girls had anticipated, having to fight off Dingos, Wargs, and even a Giant Wombat on the prowl. Though the girls were in no danger, Debora tearing a scamp limb from limb and Yue reducing fauna to chunks of smouldering meat proved too much for the horses. In the e...
The girls bid one another goodbye the next day. Despite their reunion at Blackwattle within the week, tears were shed, and hugs dispensed. Gwen blamed it on the adolescent hormones. The girls were at an age where every emotion seemed magnified, every separation, no matter how brief, seemed touched by tragedy. ...
Surya coughed and cleared his throat. "Friends, thank you for coming tonight. I hope that you have all enjoyed yourselves. I know that in recent years, I have been somewhat reclusive, an old hermit hiding in my workshop, so before we begin. Let me apologise for my irresponsible absence." Scattered applause answere...
"Master!" Gwen bowed toward her Master as he took a breather on the second-floor living room. "I am glad for your presence, but why are you here? I imagine a Mage of your station would be far too busy." "When everyone thinks you're busy, you're surprisingly free." Henry laughed. "Come closer, Gwen, let's take a ...
The combined effort of conjuring Caliban and the thrilling triumph of last night ensured that Gwen slept like the dead until midday, awakening only when her hunger caused her stomach to contract. There was a brief moment of disorientation when she opened her eyes and found herself yet again in an unfamiliar bedro...
The day had begun to wane when Gwen and Whetu finally made it back to the dorm. To Gwen's surprise, the young man didn't yet receive his Storage Ring, so Gwen had Alesia transfer over Whetu's luggage into her's. "Whoa, big spender. A medium Ring!" Alesia whistled. "Nice work, Tiger!" "It was a gift from Opa and ...
The blurring of days took on a life of its own. During the weekday, the girls worked their craft until their brains throbbed. On the weekend, when the party went their separate ways, Gwen visited the Tower. She was a regular now, a welcome distraction for the guards, who would snatch a few minutes of polite conversa...
"Alesia, we don't have a participation slot, we're qualifying for one," Gwen explained carefully. "The big man even told us so, you are our instructor, and we can't apply without your written consent and appeal." "I thought Gunther was taking care of that?" Alesia asked innocently. "He usually does." "Alright, wait...
Good Morning, neophytes ~ I am your instructor, the one and only Magus Alesia de Botton! _[blows kiss]_ Today, we are going to go over the basic aspects of Magic and Spellcraft. First, the schools of Magic courtesy of D20 Open gaming and the Open Gaming License:: **Evocation** is a school that manipulate ene...
"Wap! Wap! Wap!" A kookaburra slammed a lizard into the gum-bark, snapping its spine and tenderising its flesh before swallowing. A breeze followed, casting dappled shadows that swayed rhythmically to the thrill of cicadas. The occasional bird of paradise hopped from wattle to wattle, stripping the brushes of thei...
“So that’s how it is.” Gwen finished explaining the situation to her gathered compatriots at the cafeteria while Alesia stood sheepishly beside her, nursing a cup of hot Milo. “So,” Yue rapped her fingers on the table. “You telling me that we get to skip all the boring stuff? That sounds alright to me.” “I am af...
Julia was supremely confident she could defeat a Lightning Mage no matter how skilled or talented they were. There were just too much of a difference in their elemental compatibilities. First of all, a Lightning Mage had little to no protection against her Magma attacks, for Magma were the perfect combination of all...
"Fireball!" Yue opened up with a barrage of suppressive fire, opting for full coverage spells to mitigate the troublesome terrain of stunted walls and make-pretend buildings. "Sand Armour!" Debora cycled her supplementary skills, attempting to reach the critical mass of self-buffs required for melee-mode. "Resist...
Opposite Blackwattle, Rosebay likewise held its strategic meeting, overseen by the Headmistress, Mildred Stone. "Helena and Nancy, full disruption on Gwen Song, as much as you're capable of against their Abjurer." "Got it!" "Will do!" "Bea, full priority on Julia until she buffs up, if Julia buffs up and transf...
Diviners are a strange breed of Mages. Diviners are the dowsing rods of the Spellcraft world, sensing danger by splitting the threads of probability. Yet, who could say that the stream of potential would remain unperturbed if a stone displaced the water? Fate was a fatal trio, or so the Greeks foretold— a cabal of i...
Like most classic Edwardian designs, the cathedral's soaring frontage began with twin columns of stained glass split across two towers. Its adjacent buildings came later, built along rectangular walkways with an elegantly arched gallery that ran the length of the back quadrangle. Together, the system of buildings for...
Morye Song was supposed to have the day off. Now, he lined up against the wall with his fellow engineers, prisoners awaiting their firing squad. It all began when his current girlfriend Yurin, one of two women he was seeing, suddenly demanded that he should meet her parents. The request meant that it was time to...
The Saurian Conflict of '80 was the war that orphaned Alesia de Botton. As a result, she had no recollections of her provincial parents, the family farm, or of her life pre-Awakening. When she was a girl-child, she wondered if there were other surviving members of her bloodline. A few enquiries at the Tower's Divin...
"Team 7 and Team 9, set up a defensive line at Darling Point! Team 12 and 18, join up with the Militia at Point Piper. Team 4, rest up while Team 11 takes up Flight and defence buffs." Gunther barked out orders to the remaining Tower Mages even the rising tsunami bore down upon the city. The Evacuation Siren had...
A miniature sun dawned upon Rosebay, lighting up half the firmament with a second star. A kilometre away, within the confines of the Cathedral, Gwen and her company felt the sudden elevation of the ambient temperature. There was a screech that sounded like it came from a half-shrieking parrot, half-maddened boar ...
The battle within Sydney's urbanscape had now transformed from a defensive wall to a grand melee. Though the defenders had left tens of thousands of Mermen carcasses in the water before they reached the hastily Transmuted walls, the emergence of a dozen Dragon Turtles quickly changed the tide of the battle. Though a...
Alesia's Delayed Blast Fireball enveloped the mid-Tower Teleportation Chamber a split second after her group materialised upon the platform. The damage was near-instantaneous; the sealed chamber simply lit up; there was a flash of quicksilver mana, then the world burned. When Ferris and her party next appeared on...
"Elizabeth Sobel!" Walken's trembling voice echoed across the half-empty chamber. His usually narrow eyes bulged at their sockets. How was it even possible for her to be here? Walken felt the surety of his plan falling apart with each new revelation. No Mage can teleport into to the Tower without using an attuneme...
"Fine." Gwen spat vehemently. "I'll hear you out, but first— answer my questions." Faceless nodded with a mannerism Gwen was used to seeing in Debora's face. In contrast to her now alien appearance, the effect was extremely unsettling. "Where's Debora? The real Debora, I mean." Faceless pointed to her chest. "...
Gwen had yet to be on the receiving end of a Void consumption. She had tried to imagine herself in the place of its victims after Caliban had its day. As horrid as the creature's methods were, the process was at least expeditious. A quick look into the abyss of its maw and its victims were out of sight, out of mind....
"Irene, one more time!" Gunther barked at the Master Diviner. Ferris focused her mana and conjured another Simulacrum, the strain causing her already pale face to wince with mana fatigue. The illusory Gunther flew directly beneath Sobel, creating refractory conjurations which allowed Gunther to strike at the Void Ma...
Gwen deeply regretted not preemptively learning Flight. The last time she flew, Alesia had held her hand, pulling her through the sky like a human balloon. Now she was flying again; only she wasn't in control of the elements that held her aloft. As much as Almudj aided her with the manipulation of flight, she sti...
Consciousness dawned. Gwen swivelled with haste to wakefulness that she gave herself mild whiplash. She met the surprised expression of the nightshift nurse, one hand still hovering over her shoulder. "S-sorry," Gwen mumbled, lifting her head off the bed. Her eyes blinked, still puffed from the exhaustive emotio...
Gunther's temporary HQ found its home in the Melbourne Tower, where the residing Master, Guldric Uther, had been kind enough to lend the Sydney Mages a portion of his Tower as a Forward Operating Base. Upon her arrival, a plague of reporters was already beating down the door to the sanctum, swamping the Paladin. ...