Crafting system update!

It's been six months since we kicked off the new OtherSpace reboot. Time for an update on where I'm at with the new crafting system.

As of tonight, you can +consider everything listed under +craft/list weapons. By the weekend, it's my intention to have +craft/list armor, craft/list clothing, and +craft/list gadgets good to go. We'll also have NPC shopkeepers to sell basic tier schematics for credits and deedgivers to offer the same in exchange for crafted goods.

Improved and Fine/Advanced tier schematics will not be available from NPCs. Only players will be able to make these schematics. As a result, only players will be able to make the higher-end items.

Crafting minutes will come initially from the NPC deedgivers, but it has been suggested that we implement a sort of daily +earn command that gives some out to players and I'm cool with that plan.

How it'll work:

* Items are divvied up into three tiers: Basic, Improved, Fine/Advanced.
* More advanced items have a higher craftlevel prereq, so you'll need to make multiple low-tier items to skill up.
* Items have specific crafting skills that they skill up now. So, rather than a generic craftlevel letting you craft ANY category, you can improve your Gunsmithing craftlevel. This should allow more specialization. (Thanks, Loki!)
* Another tweak by Loki: Crafter tags. All items that are crafted will include an identifier for the character who made them.

Please understand a few things:

* This is just the foundation for the new crafting system. It's not everything we're going to have. More will come.
* We'll do everything we can to help match players from Chia and both OS games with the items and schematics they used to have.
* It's not all happening overnight. I expect to get a lot done this week, but my free time is liable to diminish sooner rather than later.

I'm looking forward to rolling the stuff out. Stay tuned!

OtherSpace is closing...

...on an important date!

On June 28, the game celebrates its 11th anniversary. To celebrate, we've kicked off our Summer Celebration. All players are eligible to receive a Summer Celebrant badge and anyone who contributes at least $5 via PayPal to jointhesaga@gmail.com during the month of June is eligible for a Summer Celebration Contributor badge.

Other activities:

* This weekend, we hold our first RP expertise "belt" tests. Participants will be trying for their Green Belts.
* I'm also hoping to have my new Llivori character, Ribas Salek, active aboard Comorro.
* Work will continue on crafting and the grid of Hekayt Prime.
* We'll start holding our introductory sessions and bring-a-friend-days.
* We'll hold another OtherSpace Roleplaying Awards ceremony.
* And more to come!

Get into the action at jointhesaga.com 1790!

New badge collecting badges

We've added four new badges. These badges are basically badges for collecting other badges. We'll probably offer more of these down the road. The current selection, found in +listbadges 12, is:

Badge #: 111 Elite Storyteller Value: 100
Description: Earned the following badges: Town Crier, Stephen King, Mark Twain, David Mamet, Shakespeare, Homerian Epic

Badge #: 112 Elite Recruiter Value: 100
Description: Earned the following badges: A Little Help From My Friends, OtherBuddy, Friend of the Saga, OtherVerse Reviewer, Tony Robbins, To Whom It May Concern, Saga Fansite

Badge #: 113 Elite OtherSpace MVP Value: 100
Description: Earned the following badges: Star, Superstar, Top Roleplayer, Glengarry, Headline News, OtherMentor, Soapbox, Team Player

Badge #: 114 Elite Saga Savior Value: 100
Description: Earned the following badges: Caffeine Fiend, Saga Supporter, Saga Patron, Saga Benefactor, Super Shopper, Red-Eye Flyer, Red-Eye Travel Agent, and any fundraiser-specific badges.

Think you qualify for any of these? Post an +str. Thanks!

New JTS Site

The social networking site at Ning.com is a good "check us out" sort of site for new people who might discover us. However, the general consensus I've gotten from feedback re: using it as our MAIN site has been as follows:

It's too laggy, too chaotic, too dark, too spammy, too spread out.

And I've tended to agree. A year or so ago, Marson first suggested that I give Drupal a look for our own content-management system. In the past few weeks, I finally did, and I liked what I saw. So, rather than invest more effort in developing the Ning.com site as our main hub, I've shifted the effort back to Jointhesaga.com and a new Drupal-based content center.

At the new site:

* We've got built-in forums
* We've got voting links
* We've got links to connect to our games via web browser
* Registered users can add content

The latest site announcements and IC news articles will appear on the main page. I'm also rebuilding our local roleplaying log archive and the Encyclopedia Intergalactica, including a comprehensive roster of characters.

Yes, it's another major change. Yes, it's understandably frustrating. But the new site will give us the flexibility of a Wiki, the interaction of the forums, and the freedom of self-ownership that Wikia and Ning.com don't offer.

Visit http://www.jointhesaga.com and it should automatically redirect to the Drupal-driven site.

OtherSpace: Worlds as characters

Recent discussion led to some interesting plans that are now afoot at OtherSpace in the coming months. Specifically, we're going to introduce worlds, created by players, as characters in their own right.

Players will create characters using the name of their world. They'll take the world through a special creation system - gee, maybe we'll call it Genesis or something cute like that. During creation, they'll choose what kind of planet they are and they'll get some initial points to spend on planetary attributes, which will control resources, inhabitability, etc.

The player behind the world must submit a "biography" for the planet. Once the planet is approved by the staff, the world object gets some quota to spend on building a few starter rooms. Additional rooms, colonization kits, etc., will have to be earned through RPP rewards - people who apply for planets are going to be expected to run their worlds like theaters, putting on shows and earning points as they go.

Worlds are also going to have access to special action cards, similar to those used by normal players. Worlds can play those cards on their own behalf (if it's some kind of boon) or against other worlds (if it's a calamity).

Anyone, even someone fresh to OtherSpace, will be able to apply for a basic uninhabited planet once this system comes online. However, it will cost 10,000 RPP to app for a civilized planet.

Stay tuned!

OS: New worlds to conquer...

This summer, OtherSpace players will be able to claim their own worlds and build their own alien races and civilizations.

Starting with worlds: A basic uninhabited planet, ripe for colonization, will cost 7500 RPP and will require a threshold of at least 200 JTS Faction Points. (We've yet to determine an IC credit cost, but we'll have one.) An already civilized world will cost 10000 RPP and will require a threshold of at least 400 JTS Faction Points. Again, IC cost is yet to be determined.

All in all, they'll be damned expensive. On June 1, though, we're giving two uncolonized, uninhabited planets away for free.

Well, mostly free. You'll still need 200 JTS Faction Points, but those are EASY. The real kicker is that you have to recruit at least three new players (and get them through the approved bio process) by June 1. Three is the minimum - so, the two OS players who bring in the most new blood between now and June 1 (and that's at least three each) will get to build their own new worlds to add to the OtherSpace grid.

The worlds will be introduced to the winners through special RP events. After June 1, we shift to the RPP cost structure for new worlds.

OtherSpace: A Rift for Our Times

The Kamir time-space rifts have spread to 21st Century Earth, making it possible for people from the modern day to wind up aboard the living starship known as Comorro.

Until June 1, we're offering 10 slots for human characters who could come from anywhere on planet Earth. No need to be familiar with the OtherSpace theme. In fact, the less you know, the better your character might react to the strange new realm.

Join us at jointhesaga.com 1790!

Visit our social networking site at http://otherversers.ning.com

And keep up with the Stolen Warrior online novel at http://stolenwarrior.blogspot.com

OtherSpace: New online novel!

The first chapter of the new OtherSpace novel project has been posted in our new social networking site at http://otherversers.ning.com/profiles/blogs/otherspace-stolen-warrior

A new chapter will be posted each week until the novel is finished.

Enjoy!

New log posted!

In the community site!

New JTS community site!

We're setting up a new centralized community site for the games of Jointhesaga.com. Features of the new site include:

* Event calendar
* Player pages and blogs
* Web-based chatroom
* Forums
* Game information for OtherSpace and Necromundus

Basically, we're taking all the best features of having a Wiki, forums, and the JTS blog and putting them all in one place while giving more control of the content over to the players.

So, rather than having a character journal in a forum some folks might not know about, journals will get displayed on the front of the community page. Rather than having forums that are lost in the shuffle of information, active threads show up on the front of the community page. And, rather than having all our information for the game stored in various places (blog, Wiki, etc.), we'll offer it via tabs on the front of the community page.

In short: We want to make it easier to find each other AND the important stuff we and our newbies need to know.

If you want to join up and get started, feel free!

The site can be found at http://otherversers.ning.com

NOTE: It's still a work in progress, but starting activity NOW would be a good thing.

Thanks!

JTS: Now Twitterfied

We've succumbed to the trend and joined Twitter, so follow us! http://twitter.com/Jointhesaga

Three Words No. 2: Time to vote!

Vote for the submissions shown at http://www.jointhesaga.com/ovforums/index.php?topic=683.0

Winner gets a $15 Amazon.com gift certificate!

Spacers Come Home!

Since 1998, OtherSpace has seen a lot of talented roleplayers come and go.

We've got a special offer for players who might consider returning to our evolving online epic adventure.

If you've ever had an approved character on OtherSpace and that character never had a resolved ending (killed, sent to prison, dropped in a nunnery), you may reclaim that character.

Just visit jointhesaga.com 1790, create a character, go through the setup process, and submit a brief 250-word biography explaining (generally) what that character has been up to during their absence.

Get fully re-approved based on the bio and you'll receive a bonus of 2,000 points to spend on your character's stats and skills.

Three Words: Enter now!

Time is running out for the March installment of our Three Words writing competition! The deadline is Monday. Winner gets a $15 Amazon.com gift certificate and the privilege of picking the three words needed in the April competition.

Check out the current entries!

Genetic engineer helping Outversers fit in?

COMORRO STATION - Feren Tudom, an Aukami genetic engineering specialist who has worked for decades in the city of Multvaros, is relocating his business to Comorro Station.

"It is my sincerest hope that I can use my well-honed skills to improve the quality of life of the refugees who have found themselves stranded in this universe, which must be so terribly strange to them," Tudom said.

Exactly what kind of help is the scientist offering? It's too early to be specific, he says.

"I have a plan, certainly, but first there are theories to explore, experiments to conduct, and results to digest," he said.

Tudom expects to open his new office in the refugee enclave within the next week.

Warcry says hi!

Thanks to Warcry for the shout-out they gave to the games of Jointhesaga.com!

The dev interview runs until Monday, so if you've got any questions, head to the Fallen Earth forums and post in the thread. I'll answer as I can!

The latest visitor numbers

How do you like numbers? I think they're great! So, let's see some!

In the past month, our blog at http://jointhesaga.blogspot.com got more than 1,000 visits, averaging about 3.53 minutes per visit.

Visitors are predominantly from the following countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, Ireland, and Italy. About 40 percent have been new visitors. More than half use Firefox. More than 90 percent use Windows. One of our visitors actually connected using a Wii.

Common search phrases that led people to us: Join the saga, OtherSpace, John Christian Falkenberg, danger of stress, and event cards.

Our top referring sites: Blogger, Google, Plattitudes (my personal blog), MUDdy Hobo (my blog on MUDing), furry.wikia.com, mudgamers.com, and Facebook.

Coming soon: Transparent Classes!

From the desk of Anubis:

So for the past two weeks or so, staffers have been working on something that’s been dubbed Transparent Classes. We’re done with the planning stage of this, so it’s time to reveal our plans to you guys. Now, there’s good news and bad news with the implementation of this project. Let’s start with the bad news.

THE BAD NEWS: You’re all going to have to respec again. Yes, I know, it’s a pain, but I hope you’ll agree with me that this is going to be worth it, and the good news explains why.

THE GOOD NEWS: Personally, the best part about transparent classes is that you can take any skill that you want. Want to be a warrior who can throw fireballs at people? Now you can. Want to be a healer who’s really good at sneaking around? Now you can. There’s a catch though, all the skills are going to be pretty expensive at their base value. There’s more good news though, so don’t get discouraged. You get a 50 percent off deal for the skills of your chosen class. There’s even more, too. Introducing subclasses, each class has 5 different subclasses, and you get even more discounts, skills within your subclass are 1/6 the original price. With this we’ve had to come up with a total of 66 new skills, not all of which have abilities or immediate use, but with Fishy’s new combat system, putting in new abilities should be relatively easy to do, so these skills are going to come in handy if not just for RP. 2 of the new skills are replacing old skills, however, so it’s not /all/ brand new. And one final piece of good news, the skill limit? That’s pretty much out the window too, all that remains is that you can only have one legendary. Here’s the list of subclasses and skills, new skills are highlighted. Try to be thinking about what subclass you want to be (+String when you decide would be nice), so that when I manage to code this up we can set you up immediately. And if you have any suggestions for skills, +str it as well, we reserve the right to say no, but we’ll happily take a look at any suggestions!

Warrior:
Paladin: Heroic Measures, Two-Handed Sword, Shield, Retribution, Faith
Ranger: Endurance, Tracking, Bow, Protect, Dual Wield (Bow will replace two handed ballistics)
Berserker: Rage, Two-Handed Axe, Bloodlust, Havoc, Furry
Barbarian: Two-Handed Weapons, Warcry, , Cleave, Pillage, Brawn
Juggernaut: Two-Handed Axe, Defend, Bulldoze, Might, Maul

Rogue:
Thief: Pickpocket, Lockpick, Swindling, Legerdemain, Traps (Swindling to replace Cutpurse)
Bard: Poisons, Instruments, Serenade, Storytelling, Capriccio
Assassin: Stealth, Spiderclimb, Backstab, Sniping, Assassinate
Ninja: Stealth, Ninja Kick, Dagger, Acrobatics, Throwing
Poltergeist: Polearms, Mischief, Ventriloquism, Illuision, Invisibility

Healer:
Cleric: Minor Healing, Mace, Nullify, Cure, Envigor
Monk: Herbalism, Grappling, Chi, Meditation, Neutralize
Priest: Salvation, Major Healing, Prayer, Sanctify, Runes
Alchemist: Alchemy, Mining, Transmutation, Metallurgy, Salve
Vampire: Drain Life, Absorb, Defense Drain, Attack Drain, Hypnosis

Magic User:
Technomancer: Technomancy, Animation, Infusion, Creation, Electrical Magic
Wizard: Fire Magic, Water Magic, Air Magic, Wands, Battle Magic
Banshee: Wail, Warp, Shriek, Warp, Magic Drain, Wraith
Druid: Earth Magic, Anti-Magic, Staves, Enhance Flora, Summon Animal
Diviner: Teleportation, Divination, Danger Sense, Oracle, Shape Shift

Playing God contest winner: Silvereye!

The staff considered several awesome submissions in this contest. Our final vote for the winner:

Silvereye!

He'll receive a $15 Amazon.com gift certificate for his effort.

We're not going to reveal the planet's concept here, however. You'll have to wait until you see it on the grid!

Thanks to everyone who participated!

Refugee reprieve announced

COMORRO STATION - Just a little while longer.

The Yaralu known as Comorro Station has reduced power to several non-essential systems and cut off air filtration in some parts of the Forgotten Quarter to extend for perhaps as long as two weeks the deadline for getting half the current refugee population onto a planet while she hunts for special tissue-cleansing insects.

It is unknown how many casualties may result among the denizens of the Forgotten Quarter as a result of this action.

Event Cards - Clarification

It has come to my attention that some players are under the impression that the new event cards are required for *anyone* to do *anything*. For example, you might need the Hostage card to take someone hostage or the Kidnap card to kidnap someone, etc. Effectively, this would neutralize player initiative in the game world. That is *not* the intent, purpose, or function of event cards.

Event cards are intended only as a means of individual players to issue a challenge to a specific admin referee, providing fodder for a storyline that is generated in cooperative fashion. Let's say Player X can't be around for big storyline events but still wants to have their character get into adventures on their time schedule - event cards could help with that.

Sorry for any confusion! If you have any questions, feel free to ask via +str, @mail, or on channels if I'm around and conscious.

OS: Farewell to Joker!

Joker won't be staffing on OtherSpace anymore. College keeps him plenty busy these days. He carried the game through some tough times, for which I'm very grateful. We may still see Fulton showing up on occasion. Until then, we wish him well!

Medlidikke vow to keep hunting

COMORRO STATION - Vard Bokren, leader of the Medlidikke pirates who have been hunting for the ship known as the Zero Gravi, today announced that he and his followers had not yet abandoned hope for the lost vessel.

In a transmission received by Comorro Station, Bokren said: "The Aukami have developed a nasty habit of losing ships lately. That's the *real* tragedy. Such an advanced civilization, yet they are lucky if they can find their own shoes to lace them. It is good that they have called off their search for the Zero Gravi. Better that they are not between the Medlidikke and our quarry when the time comes."

Search for outverser ship abandoned

MULTVAROS, AUKAM - The search and rescue operation to locate a ship flying under a false pennant, believed to be that of the Zero Gravi, was abandoned earlier today. The search first started when the ship went missing en route from Multvaros on Aukam to Comorro. Unfortunately no sign of the ship or any wreckage has been located.

"It's truly tragic when a ship is lost," said a spokesperson for the Aukami Space Search and Rescue group. "However, this is one of the dangers that we must be mindful of. Which one of the many dangers of space befell this ship, we do not know. All we can do is extend our condolences and best wishes to the friends and family of those lost in this accident."

Comorro: Refugee reduction necessary within two weeks

COMORRO STATION - The Yaralu known as Comorro Station has completed an atmospheric analysis and determined that at least half the current refugee population must be relocated within two weeks or she will start dying.

Pollutants created by the increased population can be cleansed by creatures called fanala beetles, but they are rare.

Comorro will spend the next few days scouring Hiverspace for a habitable world that some of the refugees can call home for a while. Those who remain aboard Comorro will be called upon to assist in the hunt for the scrubbing beetles.

Thul leader welcomes refugees

COMORRO STATION - An elite among the few surviving Thul says that his world would welcome any outverser refugees to help avert a resource depletion crisis aboard Comorro Station.

"Isssh leassshhht we can do," Shog the Ancient said. "I am ssshhhertain much could be learned. We have no ssshhhortage of land here."

The muddy, bleak landscape of Thullok - adopted homeworld of the dwindling species that allied itself with the Il'Ri'Kamm Hive Mind during the Hiver-B'hiri conflict - might not be terribly appealing to most people, though. Also discouraging: Rumors that the Thul might be responsible for kidnapping space travelers for genetic experimentation.

"We deny thesssshhhe outrageousssshhh liesssshhh and sssshhlanderoussssshhh assshhhaultsssshhh," Shog said.

Luck Card Trade-in Time!

Do you have Luck Cards? We're phasing them out! They're no longer useful. However, you CAN trade them in, 1=1, for our new Lucky Break cards. Just post an +str and it'll get handled.

OtherSpace Open House Recruiting Bonus!

New players who create characters during the open house weekend will receive a special bonus of 1000 Roleplaying Points to flesh out their characters.

Current players who bring in new players who create characters during the open house weekend will receive a special bonus of 500 Roleplaying Points.

+Listbadges update

Colchek strikes again! +listbadges now displays badges one page at a time, including details about what they mean.

NOW AVAILABLE: Action Cards!

The JTS Player Rewards Service Center now has an Action Card shop with a vendor who offers the following:

Action Card Deck: (10 RPP) Container that holds as many as 10 action cards. You must pick no more than three to use in any particular scene.
Gun Fu: (25-100 RPP) +1 to +3 bonus (Tier 1 is highest) to pistol skills when using a gun in each hand.
Whoa: (250-1000 RPP) +1 to +3 bonus to ANY Reaction-based skill.
Yippy-ky-ay!: (250-1000 RPP) +1 to +3 bonus to ANY Dexterity-based skill.
Juke and Weave: (25-100 RPP) +1 to +3 bonus to piloting and driving.
Miracle Worker: (50-200 RPP) +1 to +3 bonus to ANY Engineering skill.
Healing Hands: (50-200 RPP) +1 to +3 bonus to ANY Medical skill.
The Blue Wire!: (25-100 RPP) +1 to +3 bonus to Demolitions.
Safecracker: (25-100 RPP) +1 to +3 bonus to Lockpicking.
Bookworm: (250-1000 RPP) +1 to +3 bonus to ANY Intelligence-based skill.
Don't Know Jack: (25-100 RPP) +1 to +3 bonus to Intimidation.
Lucky Break: (500-1000 RPP) Good, Great, or Superb - roll at -2 in a near-death situation. Must get at least Poor to survive. May be countered by Killing Blow. (Replaces Luck Cards.)
Killing Blow: (1500-3000 RPP) Good, Great, or Superb - roll at -2 and get higher than the near-dead player's Lucky Break to ensure they die. Additional cost of 1000 RPP toward the player's next character. Killing Blow can't be dealt without having 1000 RPP available for transfer.

We'll be adding more very soon.

Hiverspace RP Award Nominees!

Some categories got no proper nominations, so we won't be giving badges out for them this go-round. Also, we have an automatic winner in the Favorite Politician category: Silvereye! For the rest, send a list with your choice of 1 winner from each category to wes@jointhesaga.com:

Favorite Normalspace Refugee
Majors
Kestrel
Silvereye

Favorite Fastheldian Refugee
Naoi
Norran
Thayndor Zahir

Favorite Hekayti
Fridrik
Jorg
Cawl

Favorite Lotorian
Zuan
Lisostapa

Favorite Starship Commander
Finch
Cathal
Jest

Favorite Starship Crew
Zero Gravitas
Tharsis

Favorite Pilot
Zuan
Tharsis

Favorite Doctor
Marina
Alexandra

Favorite Scientist/Engineer
Lildrina
Finch
Kit

Favorite Soldier
Norran
Varal
Lucius

Favorite Politician
Silvereye (Unanimous winner)

Favorite Tradesman
Rathenhope
Frn'Zxk'Fkg

Favorite Hero
Aadzrian
Tharsis
Finch

Favorite Villain
Lucius
Sam Gideon
Vard

Favorite Pose - no nominations

Favorite Quote - no nominations

Favorite News Article

jan09-11: Glitch causes diplomatic gaffe - Comorro
jan09-5: Dribgib On the Loose - Comorro
jan09-6: Refugee to be auctioned as servant - Comorro

Favorite Wiki Page - no nominations

Favorite Character Journal/Story
Set the World on Fire (Tamila's Journal)
File #44522780 Letters to Rillitan (Tiana's Journal)
Dreams of Another Life (Starchaser's Musings)

Favorite Event (Player or Staff)
Salvage in Rigor Strand (Zero Gravitas)
The Glowing Plague (Comorro Station)
Plant Epidemic (Comorro Station)

Favorite Overall Roleplayer
Snowstreak
Kestrel
Finch

Winners get 1,000 RPP per category won! Deadline to vote is Saturday at 3 p.m. Eastern. Winners will be announced Saturday night during the open house.

New badges available!

New badges are available on OtherSpace:

JTS Blog Follower: Become a follower of this blog!
Plattitudes Blog Follower: Become a follower of my official blog, linked from this page.
MUDdy Hobo Follower: Become a follower of the MUDdy Hobo blog at http://muddyhobo.blogspot.com
JTS Blog Author: Become an author on this blog.
OS Newbie Helper: Get approved by the staff as an official newbie helper.
March Madness 2009 Fundraiser: Contribute any amount during our March Madness fundraiser.
Mildly Mad Contributor 2009: Give at least $25 during the fundraiser.
Loony Contributor 2009: Give at least $50 during the fundraiser.
Rabid Contributor 2009: Give at least $100 during the fundraiser.

March Madness Fundraiser!

It's that time again! We're raising money toward our marketing and server costs! If you can afford to contribute, use the PayPal button on this page!

Contributors get badges commemorating their generosity!

New MUSH tutorial/Provisional Approval!

As we gear up for this weekend's OtherSpace open house, I'm pleased to announce our new in-game MUSH tutorial and provisional character approval.

Basically, you just need to run the gauntlet of character creation and then enter the main grid aboard Comorro Station. You can observe RP and interact. When you're ready to become a full-fledged non-newbie, you can submit a character biography.

Hope you can stop by!

jointhesaga.com 1790

Ambassador offers shelter

COMORRO STATION - Okaskatitch, the B'hiri ambassador currently visiting aboard Comorro Station, wants to help alleviate the Yaralu's respiratory problems.

"Our vessel, the Harrower, is within hailing range," the ambassador said. "The ship is large, with minimal crew and ample room for several thousand refugees."

Comorro has indicated that she will consider the offer and make a decision within a few days.

Atmosphere filtering tissues faltering

COMORRO STATION - The Yaralu known as Comorro Station appears to be suffering some difficulty breathing with all the atmospheric pollutants provided by the recent influx of more than 50,000 refugees.

Tests of the station's filtration tissue throughout the vessel show that carbon dioxide and other elements exhaled or produced by the refugees may be causing irreparable harm.

It is possible to cleanse and revitalize the tissue, but it can only be done through the introduction of a rare species of creature known as a fanala beetle.

Three Words No. 1: Winning Entry

Here's the winning entry from our first Three Words contest in February 2009:

Refugee
by Dave Sands


Years ago I had left my home, aboard a ship named Sanctuary. It was the biggest ship ever built, the peak of jump technology. I was young, but I remember my mother, trying to hide her tears from me. Her eyes were puffy and red. It’s an image that has stuck with me. I didn’t understand then why my father had to stay behind. I guess I still don’t, but that was a long time ago.

I wonder if mom is okay. I wonder if she’s lost in time and space, or if she’s just dead. When it was all going to hell, I tried to find her. But it all happened so fast. Here I was, a refugee once again, crammed into the cargo hold of some ship with a name I couldn’t pronounce. One of the crew had asked me if I needed anything, a blanket or a pillow, and I couldn’t help but laugh. We were the last humans alive in all of time, if I understood things right, and this guy is playing flight attendant.

And just like that, we were back on Comorro Station. I didn’t get to see it the first time, just on the news. Some people seem to be tied up in everything that is going on in the universe. Every explosion, every murder, there are a few people who always seem to be around in the right place at the right time. Not me. I try to avoid that stuff. My mother ingrained that into me. Stay out of trouble, keep your head down. If you don’t look for trouble, trouble won’t look for you. So I distanced myself from the refugees. Work was easy enough to come by as a mechanic.

It’s hard to say exactly when it started, but I’m pretty sure it was shortly after arriving. I first noticed it when eating. It was subtle. I had taken a few bites, but when I looked back, my meal was whole again. Then later, when I was working on a ship, it seemed I’d blacked out a bit. The repairs were finished, but I didn’t remember finishing them. Still, I didn’t think much of these things and the memories came back eventually. I thought maybe the fumes from the fuel.

I had a dream soon after. Not a dream, but I thought it was. Comorro was dead, her flesh decaying. The smell was horrific. We were stuck, starving. All the ships that could help us had been destroyed or had left and weren’t coming back. I didn’t know what happened at first, but slowly the memories came back. There had been an attack, rogue Hekayti. It happened fast, but I was only beginning to remember. And then it was morning in my room, Comorro was fine. The memories slowly faded, as dreams often did.

The blackouts had continued, and were getting worse. I would lose whole parts of the day. I went to bed on Thursday, and woke up the previous Tuesday. Déjà vu became common place. Maybe you’ve figured it out already. I hadn’t yet, but to hear about it is very different than living it. You are objective, looking at this from the outside. At the time, I was sure I was suffering from a serious head injury or something similar.

So I went to see a doctor. His scanner showed nothing. Post traumatic stress disorder, he told me. I had lost my home, my mother. It was natural that my mind was cracking under the stress. But that wasn’t it. What did I care if my home had been destroyed? I’d been moving from place to place since I was ten. And sure, I was sad for my mother, but I hadn’t seen her in a while. Truth was, the move to Comorro felt fairly commonplace to me.

But that’s when it really started to fall apart for me. It was no longer days I was skipping. It was years, backwards and forwards. I was a child on Earth. I was setting off on my own at sixteen. The past was easy to figure out. The future was harder. How many years had passed? I had a lot more stuff in my room; I looked older in the mirror. The memories would come back if I stayed there, but then fade when I left. Still, like a dream, if I thought long enough it would come back to me.

I kept returning to that future of death and decay. Hungry, resigned. Some began to feed on the dead. But it didn’t matter because we were all going to die. Once, I had gone farther than I had been before. There were only a handful of us left. I too had succumbed to my hunger, feasted on the corpses of those who had passed. But everything was eaten or rotten. It was hard to think, I was fading in and out of consciousness. I felt my life slipping away from me. And then I was back in the present. Past, present, future. Those words meant so little to me now. You could ask how long this had been going on, but how could I answer?

I was working with a Hekayti in one of the airlocks, he didn’t talk much. He kept glancing over at me when he thought I wouldn’t notice. I was leaving Sanctuary with my mother, not understanding how hundreds of years had passed. Now I understood though, I understood how nonlinear time really was. I was listening to an argument in the docking hub. I was fixing a ship on Sivad. I was losing at poker. I was dying, starving.

There was panic and fire all around me. A bomb had just gone off in the docking hub. Ships were destroyed, and people were dead. Explosions rattled the whole station. I saw the Hekayti through the smoke, slipping into a shuttle. I knew him, had worked with him a few times. And I knew he had done this, but I knew I had figured it out too late. And we were all going to die.

I was working with a Hekayti on one of the airlocks, he didn’t talk much. He kept glancing over at me when he thought I wouldn’t notice. And my life, my memories, all came flooding back. All of them, from birth to death, were laid out before me. I knew him, and I knew what he would do. So I write this, wrote this, am writing this, so you will know, so someone will know. I’ve never killed before. But I have died. And so have you all. And I can’t keep you from dying, but I can keep you from the death I saw.

I can lock the airlock, so he can’t override it, but only from the inside. We’ll both die. I think this is what I was supposed to do all along. This is why I became a refugee in time. I know there were a few races out there that liked to play at God. Maybe one of them did this to me so I could change the future.

I had left my home, aboard a ship named Sanctuary. It was the biggest ship ever built, the peak of jump technology. I was young, but I remember my mother, trying to hide her tears from me. Her eyes were puffy and red. I was in the airlock, I am in the airlock …

New badge system online!

Colchek has finished work on the new badge system. If you want to see the 74 badges currently available, type +listbadges. I'll be importing badges from character Wiki pages over the next couple of days. You can type +sheet/badges to see your collection of badges and their JTS Faction Point value. You can type +sheet/badges [character] to see the badges earned by other players.

+Kudos to Col!

Whose MUSH is it anyway?

We've been chugging along on OtherSpace for more than a decade with lots of staff-driven storylines. Feedback in recent months has pointed to a desire for players to see fewer universe-shattering events and more smaller plots.

I, on the other hand, have always been a fan of PLAYERS taking the lead on making things happen. However, they don't always have a good starting point in mind and fall back on letting staffers drive the story.

But now we've got Event Cards. I think these are going to be awesome. Players buy them with RP Points and then "deal" the cards to their staffer of choice. The staffer then builds an adventure on-the-fly using the cards as a source of inspiration. It creates a creative compromise, with both sides playing roles in an improvisational interaction. First, the player throws a challenge at the staffer, using as many as three cards. Then, the staffer throws the challenge right back to the player in the form of an exciting adventure.

With this system, players hold the power to determine the *kinds* of activities we run on the game. They can pick and choose staffers to handle their events. And staffers should get a lot of amusement out of juggling multiple cards and turning them into memorable adventures.

They should keep the storytelling fresh and inventive, with more even ground between what players expect and what staffers deliver.

Event cards ought to serve to really set us apart!

OS: Player Reward Services Center opens!

The Player Reward Services Center is now open adjacent to the OOC area on OtherSpace. Wander through the exit marked PRS to find out more.

OS: Event Card RPP Costs

As promised, here's how many RP Points you can expect to spend on Event Cards. (NOTE: You'll need 50 JTS Faction Points to get access to the vendor who sells these cards):

Nick of Time: 300 RPP
Disaster Movie: 300 RPP
Monster of the Week: 200 RPP
Cloak and Dagger: 500 RPP
Mistaken Identity: 400 RPP
Switcheroo: 1000 RPP
OtherFlash: 800 RPP
Kamir Artifact: 1000 RPP
Murder Mystery: 200 RPP
Mad Bomber: 300 RPP
Hostage: 400 RPP
Kidnapped: 600 RPP
Trade Run: 100 RPP
Chef's Choice: 100 RPP
Diplomatic Visit: 300 RPP
Salvage Run: 100 RPP
Alternate Reality: 1000 RPP
Safari: 200 RPP
Stranded: 500 RPP
Contagion: 600 RPP
Bounty Hunt: 100 RPP
Exploration: 1000 RPP
Hitman: 600 RPP
FTL and Furious: 100 RPP
Invention: 400 RPP

Necromundus: A farewell to Ramuh

It's time for another departure, this one from Necromundus, as Ramuh moves on to other things. Citing a lack of time to commit, Ramuh stepped down during tonight's staff meeting. Best of luck, Ramuh!

OtherSpace Open House: March 7-8, 2009

Saturday, March 07 2009

1:00PM OS Open House Begins!
1:30PM Panel: Effective character descriptions
2:30PM Panel: Ten Years and Still Going
3:30PM Exhibition: Improv Bar Scene
4:30PM Exhibition: Combat Scene
5:30PM Panel: Making memorable heroes and villains
7:00PM OS Roleplaying Awards Ceremony

Sunday, March 08 2009

2:30PM Panel: Characters that work
3:00PM Playing God contest entry deadline
3:30PM Panel: Working with a Wiki
4:30PM Panel: Player Rewards and Incentives
5:30PM Panel: Promotional Concepts
6:30PM Panel: Character Journals - Beyond the MUSH
11:00PM OS Open House Ends!

OS: JTS Faction Points - 2/28

The current scoreboard for JTS Faction Points has been posted in the forums at http://www.jointhesaga.com/ovforums/index.php?topic=671.0

Farewell: Ifrit and Dice

I just wanted to take a moment to let folks know that Ifrit and Dice have elected to step down as staffers from OtherSpace. They've got a lot on their plate getting Elan Vital (a new MUSH) up and running.

We wish them all the luck in the world. It's not easy starting up a new MUSH, especially an original theme, and particularly during an age when we're competing with graphical MMORPGs. However, they're talented folks and I'm sure they'll flourish.

They put a lot of hard work into OtherSpace during the past couple of years. It's much appreciated.

Event Cards!

Something new is cooking on the JTS stove, inspired by recent complaints that People Were Feeling Cooped Up.

Event Cards! A more ambitious older brother to the upcoming Action Card, these are cards that will require at least 50 JTS Faction Points to access and various RPP amounts to purchase. What do they do? Well, first, these cards provide instant fodder for quick missions. You buy a Salvage Run card, post an +str for yourself and your crew, and a staffer runs the event ASAP. If you have at least 75 JTS points, you can take it up a notch by throwing a 2-card combo at the staffer. And, finally, if you've got at least 100 JTS points, you can challenge the staffer to put on a 3-card combo.

I've got a list of potential event card themes that includes Monster of the Week, Disaster Movie, Mistaken Identity, Safari, Stranded, Exploration, Trade Run, and I'm Bored (basically, a chef's choice card where you let the staffer pick one event theme). Before I finalize the list and costs, I wanted the players to throw me some ideas for event archetypes. Post your own suggestion lists via +str. Thanks!

OtherSpace Contest: Playing God

As we look ahead to eventual expansion of the grid on OtherSpace, I got to thinking of new planets for players to colonize. Now, I've got a tool that will allow me to create random planets based on specific types of terrains. However, that doesn't make for the most interesting worlds to discover and call home.

So, I thought, maybe *players* would want to have a hand in determining the new worlds that are out there to be found.

Thus, a contest. You propose an idea for a planet via +str - a bio for the world of at least 250 words. It should NOT be a civilized planet. Staffers will pick a handful of these for consideration. If we pick your world, you get a $15 Amazon.com gift certificate. Deadline: March 8!

Mini-Rant: "Are We There Yet?

It has come to my attention that some folks feel a bit bound up on Comorro Station and that they'd be happier if they could just get off-station every once in a while for an adventure. Apparently, there are some folks who don't bother logging in because they think it's pointless. Where can they go? What can they do? There's just this ONE grid! OHMYGODTHEWALLS, THEY'RECLOSINGIN!

If you're one of these people, I say: Take a breath and relax.

Although the main grid is limited to Comorro Station and the ships docked there, it isn't like we want you to stay on the station all the time. Some player groups already get this: Zero Gravitas went on a scavenging run to Rigor Strand and came back with two story arc hooks (but never OOCly left the Comorro docking hub), Jest's crew has been out and about, Tharsis has done some roaming.

You might be thinking: "OMG, FAVORITEZ!" And you'd be precisely wrong. The players in charge of the crews on these vessels posted +strs asking for off-station adventures and we provided them. It's about that simple.

I can't guarantee that you can ask *tonight* for a big adventure, but you can post the +str, get an answer, and probably have something going within a week.

Having stuff to do, in this bold new environment of OtherSpace, is largely in your hands. We're here to facilitate, but it has been expressed time and again that players prefer their own inspired activities rather than a constant flurry of staff-driven events. OS will continue to have admin-crafted storylines, but day-to-day - that's up to you, the players.

Bored? Restless? Do something about it!

Missing Aukami ship sighted on Comorro

COMORRO STATION - The missing Aukami diplomatic vessel Alkuzart was seen today aboard Comorro Station, under the command of Vard Bokren, leader of the Medlidikke pirates.

The ambassador who had been aboard the ship was reportedly killed by pirates. During a refueling stop on Comorro, Bokren indicated that he was returning the ship to the rightful owners on Aukam.

The kill-on-sight order for all Medlidikke on Aukam makes that claim rather dubious.

Shadowtrapper killed on station

COMORRO STATION - A shadowtrapper was discovered and killed aboard Comorro Station today. The creature, which moves through shadows and feeds on psionic sentients, was in the process of attacking another refugee when it was destroyed.

It is believed that the creature may have caused the death of a Vollistan Light Singer last week.

It is unknown whether more shadowtrappers remain aboard Comorro. Most weaponry is useless against the creatures, but electric current is lethal to them.

Diplomatic ship missing and presumed lost

MULTVAROS, AUKAM - A diplomatic transport carrying Ambassador Andros Kazd, bound for Comorro Station to meet with B'hiri emissary Okaskatitch, has been reported missing by officials in the Cepelem, Aukam's ruling body.

The ship, identified as the Alkuzart, had been due to arrive at Comorro Station last night. Attempts to hail the Alkuzart thus far have been unsuccessful.

OtherSpace: Mardi Gras Week!

It's Mardi Gras time! Starting today, Feb. 20, and lasting until Feb. 28, we'll give 500 bonus RP points to all new approved characters that join us on OtherSpace at jointhesaga.com 1790 and give the following code in their application questionnaire: beadtoss2009.

For current or returning characters, post an +str titled "Throw Me Beads" during the celebration period and you'll get a bonus of 250 RP points.

Refugee hydroponics garden suffers setback

COMORRO STATION - After demonstrating encouraging results, the hydroponics garden set up by the refugees that have taken up residence on the station has taken a turn for the worse. In recent days many of the plants have begun to wilt and die, slowly being covered in patches of white growths. However, only the plants native to Hiverspace have been affected, which has baffled many of the farmers. Efforts are underway to combat this potential catastrophe as it threatens to reduce the food supplies of the refugee encampment's inhabitants.

Vollistan refugee found dead

COMORRO STATION - A Vollistan Light Singer who arrived with refugees from Hancock Station was found dead this evening in his makeshift quarters in the recently built homestead zone of the Comorrite Hub.

The Light Singer, identified as Volanlazol, was relatively young by Vollistan standards and, according to a recent physical examination, was suffering from no readily apparent maladies.

The cause of death remains under investigation by station security, but foul play is not indicated at this time.

Medlidikke offers reward for ship and crew

BROAD SWEEP TRANSMISSION INTERCEPT - The holovid displays the image of a dark-green skinned Hekayti with a bald scalp, polished black horns and teal splotches. He has pale gray eyes beneath a scrunched brow. None of him is visible below the smashed-looking nose. A voice, apparently his, begins to speak:

"It is a rare thing for the Medlidikke to seek help from the inferior creatures that share our galaxy. We are a self-sufficient people. We would like nothing better than to dance upon the ashes of your precious empires and civilizations. However, we seek a specific starship and would rather not waste our time on the hunt. So, I am offering 100,000 Hekayti credits to whoever can deliver the ship that destroyed our comrade in Rigor Strand. The ship...and the crew. Yes. I want them too. They have much to tell us, I think."

The transmission ends.

Crafting - An Update

We've been holding off on doing anything with crafting (and, by extension, Action Cards) while we waited for Ifrit to get some free time to come up with an alternative to System 4.0. Due to his current schedule, that alternative's not coming anytime soon. So, sorry for the delay, but we will soon be moving to get a few new toys into the system for you to play with using System 4.0!

New Player Appreciation Gizmos

We want to ramp up our player appreciation on OtherSpace and Necromundus. So, here's what I've got coming down the pipe in the way of special staff commands that will reward you with JTS Faction Points or Roleplaying Points (RPP):

Moose Antlers!

When I check in and check out on the game, I'll run this command, which distributes 1 JTS Faction Point to everybody online at the time.

Moose Stampede!

When we receive a donation of at least $5 toward server and marketing costs, we'll wait until the period between 4 p.m. and midnight Eastern. Sometime during that period, we'll distribute 8 RPP per donation to all players that are online and in RP mode.

Extra! Extra!

Every time we post a news article, we'll distribute 3 RPP to all players that are online and in RP mode.

Bravo!

Every time a player hosts/coordinates an RP event, we'll distribute 10 RPP to all players who are online and in RP mode.

Newbie!

Every time a new character enters the grid, all players online and in RP mode get 6 RPP.

Next!

When a staffer completes an +str, we'll distribute 1 JTS Faction Point to all players online at the time.

Busy Librarian!

When we get word of a new log in the OtherVerse Wiki, all players online and in RP mode get 4 RPP.

Pack the Seats!

Occasionally, when we've got 40+ characters online, we'll reward all players online with 3 JTS Faction Points.

Review!

When we learn a review has been posted on the web, we'll reward all players online with 10 JTS Faction Points.

Fan Appreciation!

When we learn about a player-created website inspired by OtherSpace or Necromundus, we'll reward all online with 25 JTS Faction Points.

I hope to have all these commands implemented and working by the end of this week.

Marvel starship shows off at Rigor Strand

COMORRO STATION - A Lotorian scavenger returned last night from Rigor Strand with footage of a craft that managed to outmaneuver a Medlidikke stalker craft in the asteroid field, using only navigational shields.

"It wazzz mozzzt amazzzzing thing I ever seen, yezzzz," Oloboz Skitirn told CNB. "Ship, it juzzzt bounzzze off rockzzz and make rockzzz bounce other wayzzz. Medlidikke want to shootzzz, yezzz, but can't!"

A close-up of the hull of the astounding starship showed the name "Zero Gravi."

"I don't know what name meanzzz, but I wantzzz!" Skitirn said. "I wantzzz very much, yezzz!"

Comorro thwarts Medlidikke attack

COMORRO STATION - Shortly after the arrival of Ambassador Okaskatitch, Medlidikke pirates attacked Comorro Station this afternoon. The Yaralu responded with evasive maneuvers, followed by the deployment of defensive web-tanglers that ensnared the pirates and neutralized their vessels.

Comorro then proceeded to consume the ships to satisfy dietary requirements.

No injuries were reported within Comorro. The ambassador's visit continues.

Meeting Okaskatitch: 2/15/2009

Docking Hub - Comorro Station

Comorro Station isn't exactly a station. It doesn't remain in any one place for a significant span of time. It is, in all accuracy, a massive starship - incapable of atmospheric flight - that has been roaming the stars on a voyage that some say has lasted for more than 90-million years.

The vessel is a Yaralu, a sentient spacefaring vessel. Her true full name cannot be spoken in a single day, but is shortened for convenience to Comorro. Several epochs ago, after her final era of fertility ended, she converted the gray-green ribbed chamber of her womb into a docking hub for smaller Yaralu and non-organic vessels. She made it known to the denizens of Hiverspace that she would serve as a neutral outpost for traders and diplomats.

Use of energy and projectile weapons is prohibited aboard Comorro. Violators will be absorbed into the vessel's nutrient replenishment matrix. She is capable of monitoring almost all chambers within the station for illegal weapons, but some areas - such as the Forgotten Quarter - are lost to her neural pathways and sensory organs.

A makeshift ramp has been built about thirty feet from Zero Gravitas' airlock from a crate and a light armor plate, with no apparent purpose.

Several Lotorian techs scamper into the hub, clearing cables, workbenches, and toolboxes from an open docking berth.

"Unfortunatly, here I am." Jerry responds, dropping off the crate with a solid thunk of his entirely metaphysical weight on the deck. "Is that disappointment I hear, Kestrel? Here I thought we were friends. Apparently, absence does not make the heart fonder."

Grayback catches sight of the Lotorian techs working to clear the docking birth, and raises a bushy eyeridge. "Must be expecting company." he mutters, moving a bit closer to observe.

Sara holds her bag tighter when the Lotorians start in, and she blinks at them curiously, still keeping out of the way.

"N-n-no," Kes says, shaking her head. That paper's clutched even more tightly in her fist. Finally, with a somewhat strangled cry, she darts forward, losing her cigarette in the process, and latching onto Jerry like a frightened kitten. Or at least, that seems to be what she intends to do, anyway.

Once the Lotorians finish clearing the berth, they scurry back toward the levimodule. The doors hiss shut just before red orbs flash above the docking hub's shielded opening onto the stars. Beyond the maw of the bay, an angular vessel with a gunmetal gray hull striped red and blue makes a final approach.

Jerry is certainly put off by the sudden movement, as he is glomped upon, one hand resting on the woman's head and fussing with the hair. "It's good to see you too, love." He looks over her shoulder at the approaching vessel, but does not make mention of it. "Still too skinny for your own good, but I didn't think getting tossed through space would teach you the value of a good meal. How is everyone else? They're still alive?"

Grayback looks up from the cleared berth to the approaching vessel beyond, stepping back from the berth a bit as the ship prepares to enter the bay.

Sara watches as the Lotorians finish up, and then her head tilts to get a view of the ship coming in. She doesn't offer any words yet though, just a look of curiosity.

Kestrel actually sniffles and scrubs at her eyes with the back of one hand, though she manages a short laugh somewhere in there. "I eat like a 'Kari-cursed cow, what're ya talkin' 'bout." She doesn't notice the ship. Probably cause she's, you know, got her face half-buried in Jerry's chest and all. "'Ey're 'live," she says after a moment, the agreement somewhat muffled.

The newly arrived vessel slides into the docking hub and maneuvers to settle into the recently cleared berth. The red orbs shift to a soothing green. Retrojets hiss and locking clamps thud as the vessel completes the landing.

"That's good." Jerry responds, "I need to touch base with them soon. I can only hope everyone's reaction as sweet and authentic as yours... though, I think I'd prefer it if Sheppard didn't hug me. Is something wrong though? I never known you to be the emotional.. well, yes I have." A dull chuckle, "C'mon, we got an important guest, and a crowd gatherin' around it. Would you like to check that out?"

Grayback watches and waits as the ship finishes landing, his eyes riveted to the hatch.

Sara too stands, watching and waiting in awe as the ship docs. Her bag is forgotten for now as she takes a few steps forward.

Sara stands near the tradeport along with Grayback. Near the Zero Gravitas is Kes and Jerry and just docking is a gunmetal grey ship with red and blue striping.

"Shep gives good hugs though," Kes mumbles, then looks up at Jerry and grins. "Yeah, prob'ly oughta let go'a ya now, 'ey?" She does, and looks over toward the gathering crowd, starting that way. Of course, she stoops to pick up her lost cigarette, still smoldering on the floor of the docking bay.

The hatch of the emissary vessel opens and a smooth metal ramp extends to thump against the organic surface of the docking bay.

Silvereye steps into the docking hub from the tradeport, adjusting the fit of his jacket. His attention quickly goes to the newly arrived ship, and, on an assumption, he tentatively heads towards it.

"I wasn't complaining." Jerry notes, following in her wake. "It's like they have never seen a ship before. Though, perhaps this one is special. Has their been an announcement for a VIP to arrive? Oh, maybe a blue-skinned erotic beauty from some obscure world, filled with mysticism. Did you know, most barbarian cultures favored less clothing then excess. Unless they were born in a climate where such behavior will get you killed. I certainly hope that whoever is coming out of this exciting little vessel is from a subtropical world. I could use a flash of off-hue breast to ease the transition. The Heykati? They just do not do it for me, I am afraid."

From the emissary vessel emerges a six-legged arachnoid creature, glossy black chitinous shell shot through with streaks of silver, with glittering black compound eyes. Slowly, it descends the ramp, sharp tips of its legs making tap-tap-tap sounds as they go.

Okaskatitch: About nine feet in length and five feet high, this arachnoid creature is glossy black with streaks of silver on its thorax. It has six angular, sharp-tipped segmented legs that it uses for locomotion. The creature views the world around it through glittering black orbs - compound eyes that look like clusters of obsidian grapes. It has sharp-edged mandibles jutting from its rounded head, below the eye clusters.

Grayback widens his eyes a bit as Okaskatitch disembarks from the newly arrived vessel. "So... he has arrived." he mutters, his tail twitching a bit as he watches the alien ambassador.

Silvereye moves towards Grayback once he spots the other Demarian. "I don't think I've ever seen a B'hiri before." He remarks upon arriving. "Lotorians and Heyakti, yes...So that's Okaskatitch."

The airlock hatch on the Silver Streak cycles, allowing a few of the residents of the refugee vessel to disembark, spreading out this direction and that on their various personal errands. Among them comes Quicksilver, ears rotating to examine the goings on. Once free of the little knot of refugees, the silver Demarian sets a course for the crowd watching the B'hiri ambassador arrive.

Sara just watches in awe, her steps taking her toward the two Demarians, "Neither have I.." she says in awe, "...I wonder what language they speak, what technology they have.."

Kestrel blinks and looks down at herself. "...You callin' me a barbarian?" she asks hesitantly, looking sidewise to Jerry. "...Huh. Guess mebbie I am." She purses her lips then, thoughtful. "Mmmm. Somethin' 'bout some 'mbassader 'r other... oh, whoa." She fairly gapes at the B'hiri. Good thing she hadn't put the cigarette back in her mouth yet, or she'd only have lost it again. "'Kari's sword, what's -'at-?"

"No idea, but not what I would like. It's a bloody giant spider. Impressive, to be sure, but it still does not explain why it is he has such a gathering. Must be a VIP." Jerry says, watching the creature stalk down from it's ramp. He looks back to Kestrel, to answer her question. "You are a little barbaric, but it's charming instead of obnoxious, I assure you."

The B'hiri gets to the bottom of the ramp and tick-tap-ticks in a slow semicircle to regard those who have gathered for its arrival. "I am Okaskatitch, emissary of the B'hiri. These appear to be auspicious times aboard Comorro. Many new faces. Strange, as well." The glittering compound eyes settle on Grayback. "Yet some are not so new. Just...weathered?"

Grayback raises an eyeridge, proceeding on a hunch. "Since the last time we once saw each other... quite weathered." he says.

Artemis' airlock hisses and opens up, and out steps Madeline. She yawns and stretches some and looks around. Her eyes are drawn quickly to the giant spider; she makes a face, then makes a retreat to the tradeport.

Silvereye lets Grayback take the point on this one, remaining slighty behind him as he speaks with the emissary. He can't help but smile a bit.

Quicksilver turns his head to see what or who the B'Hiri is looking at as he nears the cluster of onlookers, pausing mid-step as ears and whiskers flatten....held a beat, before they come back forward and he mutters in a rumbling baritone growl, "So few saved....he *would* be one of them." He proceeds nearer to the cluster, crossing arms over his armored chest.

Sara leans in toward Grayback, "You know..him...her...it?" she asks curiously.

"...I ain't -never- seen a spider 'at big, even on teekay," Kes breathes, watching the B'hiri warily as it skitters past. Now she finally does take a drag off her cigarette -- gross. She looks toward Grayback, her expression thoughtful.

Okaskatitch moves closer to Grayback, reflecting the Demarian's visage myriad times in its compound eyes. "I last saw you nearly two months ago. Most intriguing."

"Well, Dorothy, we are no longer 'on' Tomin Kora. Or even in the same time period, or galaxy. So, sure, giant spiders interested in chatting up Demarians... not so hard to swallow. I wonder if that is what they hunt. That would be a poor start for an emissary, but from what I understand, Comorro generally dislikes us anyway so perhaps he'll get a little medal for thinning the flock."

Grayback looks back to Sara, nodding. "Oh yes... we've met." he says, before looking back to Okaskatitch. "Yes.. from your perspective, it has indeed only been a short time. For me... it has been over 10 years since our time aboard the Harrower, and the defeat of the Hivers." he says, brushing his muzzle a bit. "A bit more gray since then." he says with a bit of a grin.

Sara smiles and offers a nod to Grayback, blinking when he explains the time difference, "Is that...because time moves different here from where we came from?" she asks curiously.

"It would be a very long story, to relate how we got from there back to here." Silvereye adds to Grayback's account. "But it's always welcome to find familiar links."

Thayndor Zahir steps down from the Raider's ramp, adjusting his coat and shooting his cuffs.

Quicksilver perks his ears towards the exchange between B'Hiri and Demarian, tail lashing a moment behind him before he gives a sharp snort as if dismissing a distasteful scent from his nostrils. That done, he strides closer amongst the crowd, moving towards the opposite side of Silvereye from where Grayback stands, planting himself there. "Very long indeed. We rarely travel less than 300 years a story," he observes with a slight curl of amusement on his muzzle, tail waving lazily.

The B'hiri shifts its attention to Silvereye. Tap-tick-tick-tap. "Ah, you must be the new Minister of Outverser Affairs. I am pleased to make your acquaintance."

Kestrel looks up at Jerry and wrinkles her nose. "I -know-," she says, a touch irritably. "Butcha gotta admit we had some pretty 'Kari-cursed big spiders." She blinks blankly. "I don' git how 'ey know each others." A hand is rubbed through her hair, her expression puzzled as she looks back to the Ambassador.

Grayback lets Silvereye take over at this point, looking back to Quicksilver, his expression neutral, but he looks at him for several long moments before looking back to Okaskatitch.

"We did have some big ass spiders," Jerry says with a smile. "Hmm, perhaps that is a question best left for them to answer. In the land we live in, assumptions are... dangerous."

Silvereye inclines his head slightly towards Okaskatitch as the emissary addresses him. "I am Silvereye Paintedheart." He offers his name. "It is an honor to meet you and one of your people."

Sara just stands by, falling silent for now.

Quicksilver draws himself up to his full height, tail making lazy figure eights behind him as he watches Grayback as Grayback watches him. Whiskers twitch, before he suggests in a low rumble. "New world, new start, Grayback? The universe seems amusingly incapable of killing either of us. It would seem a shame to expend time assisting its attempts, don't you think?"

"The honor is mine," Okaskatitch replies. "If I can be of any assistance, you have but to ask." The B'hiri then rotates - tap-tap-tick - to regard others gathered in the chamber. "We are many of us strangers at this meeting. It is my hope, however, that --" The comment breaks off as the B'hiri skitters and twirls, trying to maintain composure as the Yaralu shudders under the impact of some kind of blast. Comorro banks hard to port.

Over a loudspeaker, the station's avatar broadcasts: "Secure all stations. Medlidikke."

Grayback looks back to Quicksilver. "Indeed... such is my feeling as well. Perhaps..." he says before he is cut off by the blast. "What in the name of Altheor!? What are Medlidikke!?" he shouts as the station starts to take evasive action.

Jerry slides hard right, uninspectedly jarred. Though, somewhat subconciously, he reaches out to steady Kestrel. Much like a mother will throw her arm over her child's chest when they come to a hard stop. "What the bloody hell!"

Amanda comes rushing in from th tradeport with her somewhat trademark lateness, trying to find a spot to see and here whle remaining unobtrusive just as the station rocks and she falls flat on her face

"'Kari curse it all, 'at's 'em guys we ran from," Kes calls up to Jerry. The Later shifts her weight seemingly without thought, her balance not suffering at all as the ship shifts, though she does latch onto the Sivadian's arm with one hand. She looks over to Grayback then. "Pirates!" she calls helpfully.

Silvereye staggers, holding his arms out to catch himself in case he falls. "That's a damned good question..." He growls to Grayback. "Who would attack Comorro?" He attention then goes to Quicksilver, though a quick glance is spared towards Kestrel in appreciation at her clarification. "Lock it all down...If they try to board through the docking hub we need to be ready."

"Hekayti pirates," the B'hiri offers by way of clarification. "The worst kind I know of. No parlay. No negotiations. I fear they may have followed my ship to locate Comorro."

There are reasons Quicksilver's Demarian designed armor has claw-holes in the boots. This is one of them, as the shock to the station brings gleaming talons to emerge through the Demarian's boots, screeching slightly on the metal as they try to keep him stable. He rotates an ear towards Kestrel's clarification as well, tail flickering sharply before he grunts, "Right...." Eyes shift to Grayback, then Silvereye, "Who needs weapons? I've got more than a few on the Streak....shall we arm up to repel boarders?"

"Great... just great... and I thought this was going to be a good day." Grayback growls, his ears folding back and his tail going into a fast twitch as the adrenaline kicks in. Looking back to Quicksilver, he nods. "If Comorro would make an exception in this case, then I say we had best be prepared. She can't fault us for acting to preserve her... or ourselves."

"There will be no boarders," the avatar of Comorro states flatly over the loudspeaker, as the station banks to starboard. Through the maw of the docking bay, several swarming Medlidikke vessels are visible, closing within attack range of the Yaralu again. "Keep your weapons stowed."

Sara tries to brace herself with the sudden shifting of the station and with a little squeel she tries to grab onto the first thing within reach, most likely Grayback.

Jerry looks to Kestrel, hesitating for just a second. "Get your gun, I'm going to see if I can warn the refugee camp about what has happened..." Comorro's calm assurance draws a frown, looking out into space to see what exactly the sentient spaceship has planned.

Kestrel grins and nods at Jerry. "If'n C'morra'll let us fight for 'er, m'all for it," she practically growls, albeit gleefully. "Ain't hadda good scrap inna... aww." She frowns and looks back toward Zero Gravitas.

Silvereye looks up as Comorro speaks. "We have our orders." He states flatly. "And we adhere to them unless something goes drastically wrong. All the same all ships need to be grounded, we shouldn't lose anyone to panic." As the ship banks he staggers again in order to keep his balance.

Grayback struggles a bit to maintain his balance as Sara grabs on. "That answers that." he says, looking out towards the ships beyond the maw of the docking bay. "AGreed.. no one should launch. Otherwise they're just going to be cannon fodder."

K-CHUNG! K-CHUNG! K-CHUNG! Three blasts of something powerful, emanating from the hull of the Yaralu, precede the appearance of something wiggly and web-like - a massive net of tangly material - that encompasses the Medlidikke vessels. As soon as the material makes contact with the pirate hulls, blue energy pulsates along the strands of net. The pirate vessels are all rendered inert. Comorro angles around to close on the neutralized targets. "Time to feed," the Yaralu broadcasts."

Sara's eyes go toward the docking bay doors, "What...what the hell is that?" she asks. And with the netting and the blasts she just watches in awe, hands still holding tightly to Grayback, "Feed?" she asks as the station starts to come around.

Quicksilver rotates an ear up to the loudspeaker, exchanging a glance with his fellow Demarians as he bobs his snout, "So it would seem....I suppose the Yaralu has weathered more than a few such attacks before." He staggers, tail swinging to right his balance as the blasts emanate from the Yaralu's hull, eyes rotating about the bay to look for any injured. His gaze lands on Amanda, and he flicks his tail to tap Silvereye's arm, pointing that way, "Come on, let's see if we can help her up..."

Grayback echoes Sara's sentiment. "Feed? That's... a rather efficient method of disposing of one's enemies I suspect.." he says, before raising an eyeridge and looking towards Okaskatitch. "Or good friends passed on..." he mutters softly.

Amanda picks herself up off the floor as she tries to get a sense of what's going on about her "Forgive my paranoia, but I've unfortunately spent my life dealing with...mother of god"this time she maintains her balance

Silvereye wrinkles his nose at the disabled ship. "Not sure I want to watch the feeding process..." The Demarian is all too willing to go with Quicksilver to see if Amanda is ok.

"...Oh sweet, she's gonna -eat- 'em," Kes says, looking out the docking bay. "SERVES YA RIGHT!" she calls, shaking a fist in the direction of the now-inert pirate ships. "'Kari-cursed sons'a bitches! Now yer a snack fer a space station! Ha!"

"It would appear the immediate crisis has passed," Okaskatitch observes. "As I was saying, it is my hope that we will not remain strangers long. We have much to learn from each other, I suspect."

Jerry seems far less pleased at the thought of watching Comorro consume the Medlikkike, frowning thoughtfully. Kestrel's enthuiasm draws a slap on the woman's shoulder. "I would take this opportunity to see what exactly she means by feed on. I... don't think I want to watch."

Quicksilver extends a paw to offer Amanda something to hold onto, bracing himself with a paw against a crate as he observes, "I don't think you'll find many Demarians remaining with no measure of paranoia, miss. Need a paw?"

"If you wish, I can broadcast a holographic representation of the feeding process to the docking hub," Comorro volunteers.

Grayback nods to Okaskatitch. "Of that I have no doubt whatsoever." he says with a nod, before looking up to Comorro's announcement. "I have to admit a morbid curiousity..." he says, before looking back to the B'hiri once again.

Maybe to do his rounds, or maybe to just sit outside on guard duty, Chief Castus exits the Tharsis in his duty gear, with an apparently big wad of dip under his lower lip.

Sara blinks at the offer made by the station, "Um...that might actually be interesting..." she agrees with the Demarian beside her, whom she finally lets go of.

"The feeding process is essentially similar to the disposal of trash in a chemical bin," Okaskatitch offers helpfully. "A secondary bay opens. The vessels are pulled in. Armatures within the bay tear the vessels into more manageable chunks. Organic matter is absorbed through a chemical process. So, the skin of the bulkheads around you will eventually contain remnants of the Medlidikke pirates themselves. The synthetic materials are shunted off to the Forgotten Quarter."

Kestrel nods emphatically. "I wanna seeeeeee," she calls, all too enthusiastically. She looks back at Jerry then, a belated response to the swat. "What? She -eats- 'em. Ya can't tell me 'at ain't six kinds'a neat." She gapes at the B'hiri's explanation, then whistles low between her teeth. "Daaaaaaamn. Now I -really- wanna see."

"Ugh, now I really do not." Jerry responds, stalking off to the refugee enclave.

Thayndor Zahir swallows hard at the blasts, and the brief conflict, but remains on his feet with a minimum of apparent difficulty. After long moments spent contemplating Okaskatitch -- pallor, as he does so, creeps across his face and then recedes -- Thayndor stiffly approaches the group around the B'hiri ambassador.

"Quite an efficient means of disposing of enemies indeed." Grayback says with a nod, turning back to Okaskatitch. "Perhaps this time around, we'll have more time to get to know you and your species better."

Amanda takes Quicksilver's offered paw "I was just wondering whether the um...meal could have been taking orders from someone else with designs on interrupting the Ambassador's visit today

"I hope so," the B'hiri replies to Grayback. "Soon, you will have to meet my offspring. They live because of the efforts of you and your friends to save our world from the Il'Ri'Kamm xenocide."

"Impossible to guess about Hiverspace politics." Silvereye comments to Amanda as he heads back. "We don't know anything about it."

Lucius appears to want to avoid the large crowd around the ambassador. For one reason or another, he doesn't approach it and lifts his PDA from a pouch on his vest to check something. A large, brown wad of spittle is ejected from his mouth.

"Il'Ri'Kamm?" Sara asks, tilting her head to one side as she looks up at the ambassador B'hiri.

"I don' think 'em Medlidikke take orders from anyones, point'a fact," Kes offers helpfully to Amanda, shaking her head. "'Ey jest tear stuff up cause 'ey like tearin' it up, least 'at's what I been told. We hadda run from 'em when we first came 'ere, see? Lucky fer us Zero Gee's a damn fast ship." Her gaze again slides over toward the B'hiri and the Demarians.

Quicksilver holds Amanda's hand gently till the station stabilizes, rotating one ear towards the explanations from the B'hiri, before releasing her hand and offering his arm in proper fashion to escort, "Come, you should see the B'hiri ambassador. It isn't very often one gets the opportunity. They were almost exterminated by malevolent non-corporeal entities....we have much in common."

"In truth.. uh.. Ambassador, we've met them, but at this point in time, you wouldn't remember it." Grayback says. "We were only glad to help. Their plans for you and for the rest of us needed to be stopped."
Thayndor Zahir nods to Kestrel as he approaches the group, content to keep his mouth shut and watch the diplomacy unfold. "They won't mind," he asks Kestrel quietly out of the corner of his mouth, "if I watch, will they?"

After slipping the PDA away back into the easily accessable pouch, Lucius moves on down towards the Iuppiter, buzzing the intercom as he stops by the ramp.

"Tell me, Grayback, if this is true: The boy we saved," the B'hiri inquires, "the one *I* freed from the clutches of the Hivers - is it true that he caused the catastrophe that led to your arrival in this time and place?"

Kestrel shrugs at Thayndor. "Hope not, cause I was gonna stand 'ere an' watch, too. 'En 'gain, if'n 'ey -did- mind, I might jest hide an' listen anyhows." She stifles a giggle at that revelation. "M'sneaky 'at way." She shakes her head. "Still ain't sure how 'ese people all know each other... Ain't much fer time travel an' such, y'know."

Silvereye falls in next to Grayback but lets the two catch up. He follows the converstion, turning to Grayback for his answer.

Grayback nods. "Unfortunately, it is true Ambassador. However he and the Kamir are currently working to repair the damage that was done. I am not privy to many details beyond that."

Quicksilver clears his throat slightly, offering, "Perhaps I might offer a single paragraph summary?" He lets the question linger a moment.
Tap-tick-tick-tap. The B'hiri rotates to regard Quicksilver.

Sara just watches silently between all the people speaking.

Amanda shrugs to Silvereye as she takes quicksilver's arm "old habits die hard and I'm sure we'll rectify the not knowing anything in short or" she blinks at Qs's offer, a bemused smile as she gives him her attention
Naoi enters from the tradeport hatch, her lone eye swivelling as she studies the docking hub. No fire, no screaming citizens, no chaos. She seems... surprised. "Draconic indeed, that did not take long at all... though, I suppose once you have existed as long as this landboat has, you must learn a few things." She blinks over her shoulder at Madeline, then shrugs. "Effeciency."

Madeline follows in behind Naoi and looks around, too. "Indubitably," she agrees with a nod. "Shall we head back?"

"It should be stressed, however, that we do not expect any such 'repairs' to be completed in our lifetimes or our children's lifetimes, if it's possible at all." Silvereye appends to Grayback's account
Quicksilver lashes his tail a moment, whiskers flatenning and then fanning, "A few years after the events where you first met Grayback, our universe was invaded by an alien race, and a station loaded with us named Sanctuary, including most of the Demarians you may encounter here, were forced to flee as refugees, and our station was thrown to this universe. That is still a little ways in the future at this current time and place. We managed to return to our own universe, but found ourselves roughly 300 years into our future. A few years after that the catastrophe you mentioned occured, tearing the universe open and once again a station-load of refugees, this time Hancock, were thrown through space and time, to a spot between your first encounter with us and the invasion that Sanctuary fled from. The catastrophe opened damage in additional universes as well, so you will find here refugees from Sanctuary, from 300 years in her future, and from a thousand years beyond that, as well as a group from a place called Fastheld, whose time we cannot yet connect with our own to my knowledge." A pause, and he adds, "It's worth mentioning, as I am sure the news of the catastrophe pains you, that his name appears in our history several times as a hero. And it is my impression this last catastrophe was not intentional."

Thayndor Zahir chuckles drily at Kestrel. "Silvereye explained to me that he met this ... B'hiri, is it? ... many years ago. And hoped he might meet the same one again." He indicates the insectoid with a nod of his head. "It appears his hope may have come true."

Thayndor Zahir clears his throat quietly at the mention of Fastheld, glancing at Quicksilver.

Grayback nods to Quicksilvers account. "During that time, the Hivers returned once again. In fact, you... sacrificed yourself to bring us the new of the return while we were still on Sanctuary, preparing us for what awaited us when we returned." he says, adjusting his tie a bit. "We honored you as best we could and.. uh.. you were rather tasty." he says, raising an eyeridge at himself.

"...How?" Kes asks, rubbing a hand through her hair puzzledly. "I don' see how. 'Ey're talkin' 'bout a huge ol' loop in time an' I don'... 'Kari curse it, s'givin' me a damn headache jest thinkin' 'bout it." She looks up at Thayndor then. "I thought you all bein' here was cause'a some gateway eye thinger 'r somethin'."

"Most curious," Okaskatitch replies to Quicksilver. "Thank you for the summary." Then, at Grayback's epilogue, the B'hiri goes stock still, black-cluster eyes locked. "Some things are best not known."
Grayback nods. "If you only knew the half of it..." he says, leaving the rest to imagination.

"But we do defeat them. Again," Quicksilver puts in.

Silvereye has to agree with the B'hiri on this one, nodding slowly. "Though we are likely to have a different future now, given all that has happened."

"I suppose so.." Naoi begans, trailing off as she picks out the name of her homeland, eyebrows rising even further at the suggestion of Grayback eating Okaskatitch. Or perhaps it is actully the spider itself that gives her such a scare, her lone eye wide as she stares at the emissary.

"My thoughts exactly," Maddie says with a smirk upon seeing Naoi's expression. She hooks an arm around one of Naoi's and ties to lead her out.

"The minister is correct," Okaskatitch replies. "Much has changed due to your shift in space and time."

Grayback nods. "We indeed face an unknown future. I suspect our presence here will alter the flow of history as we know it." Grayback says.

Thayndor Zahir watches the conversation's back-and-forth the same way an orangutan would watch a tennis match: Intently, but obviously with little to no comprehension.

Amanda purses her lips thoughtfully"I wish I understood the implications of it all better. If the events that caused us to be do not occur, dowe simply fade from existence mind and body

"Psh. Dunno 'bout you, but I don' intend ta fade from 'zistence," Kes grumbles, then snorts. "Not 'at easy." She shakes her head. "Don' even think yer smartest scientists know how havin' all'a us 'ere's gonna screw up hist'ry. Hells, might be not even th'Saints 'emselves know."

Naoi is dragged back a step or two, then yanks her arm free. "They're talking about Fastheld!" She starts to push forward, jostling rudely if a gentle bump is not enough.

Newt steps out of the Fox, looks around... and stops taking a moment to stare at the B'hiri. "Wow! Cool..."

"Are they?" Maddie asks, letting go of Naoi with a shrug. "Well, stay if you want, but I'm going back."

"I admit to a certain morbid curiosity as to whether I shall eventually meet myself in passing. I've always wondered what it was like being twins," Quicksilver offers, lifting an eye ridge as his tail lashes lightly behind him.

"Though, there is one aspect of the old future I would like to discuss." Silvereye replies to the B'hiri. "Though I don't know how successful it will be."

The B'hiri regards Newt and then approaches the smaller figure. Tap-tick-tick-tick-tap-tap. Glittering black compound eyes reflect lots and lots of little Newts. "I am listening, Minister." The rounded head tilts slightly, mandibles clicking together. "Interesting child."
Grayback looks curiously to Silvereye, and waits to see what he intends to discuss.


"When Sanctuary leaves most of my people will be eradicated by Kretonians." Silvereye begins for Okaskatitch. "Some will be saved, we believe, by B'hiri, who take them to a world in Hiverspace called Pansheera. That is the only name we know the world by, and we are desperately seeking one."

Naoi is soon completly immersed in the crowd, ending near Thayndor and Kestrel. Reponsibility and duty is lost in hope, it would appear, turning to the familiar face of the Zahir. "Are they talking about Fastheld?"

Madeline shrugs and heads back.

Newt straightens as the B'hiri approaches. His eyes darting somewhat from compound eye to compond eye he manages to stammer out a "Hi."

Quicksilver glances to Grayback, questioning in quiet tone so as not to disrupt the main conversation, "Was Jest with you in the Harrower events?" Whiskers flatten, then fan again as his gaze turns to Silvereye, ears rotating in opposite directions to survey the crowd before refocusing upon Silvereye.

"Hi," the B'hiri click-clacks at Newt. Then, it rotates on spindly legs to face Silvereye. "I am unfamiliar with the name. However, I am curious: Why do these Kretonians want to eradicate your people?"

"Mm," Thayndor says, shaking his head to Naoi. "They were, briefly. Now it's ..." he waves his hands, fingers splayed, in an indescribably chaotic, slow-moving circle. "Hard to follow."

Kestrel does perk up at the mention of Pansheera. She laughs, in fact. "Pansheera! 'Kari's sword. Pansheera was with th'-enemy- in my time. Ha. Fought with th'Kari-cursed Nall, 'ey did." Sne shakes her head. "Nexus C'ncordance, psh. Scalebacked sons'a..." She trails off into a grumble.

Grayback looks back to Quicksilver, and nods. "She was.. on the Courser." he says, before looking to Okaskatitch. "The reason is that Kip was kidnapped from Val Shohob. During our attempt to rescue him, my ship's Otherspace drive malfunctioned and took us to the space of the warlike Kretonians. They attempted to learn the secret of the drive from us, but we escaped. As we were to find out later, the malfunction resulted in a destabiliation of both Kreton's sun, and Val Shohob's sun. Both... exploded." he says, a few painful memories surfacing. "The Kretonians eventually stole the plans to an Otherspace drive, and with it, invaded the known worlds. Sanctuary was built to escape it, and it came here, 2 years from now."

Naoi grinds her teeth together at Thayndor's answer, but there is little else she can do, turning and watching the interactions focused around the B'hiri.

Quicksilver bobs his snout to Grayback's answer. "She's here. The Artemis. Thinner. I worry." Shifting attention to the discussion of the others, he listens with interest as Grayback speaks of the reason for the conflict, before putting in, "A rebellion led by the Nall eventually wiped the Kretonians out, during Sanctuary's absence."

Silvereye nods slowly to the other Demarians. "They explain it well." He turns back to Okaskatitch. "I didn't expect that you would, it's a Demarian name. But I felt obligated to ask."

"The Harrower is capable of transdimensional travel," Okaskatitch states, tap-tick-tap-tapping his way toward the Demarians. "Perhaps we could eliminate the need for Sanctuary by preventing that kidnapping. We could stop your vessel from destroying those stars. Perhaps by focusing our efforts on preventing that catalyzing event, we might restore your universe to some semblance of order."

Grayback raises an eyeridge. "I'd forgotten about that aspect of the ship.." he says, his voice full of awe. "We could erase the entire war.. the years of devastation..." he says, lost in thought for a few moments.

"They're talking now about ... going back in time?" Thayndor asks. He blinks. "I thought mucking about in time and space was the reason we entered this mess in the first place," he adds, a bit louder, with the befuddled mistrust of a helpless Luddite.

"...Eh," Kes says, pretty obviously losing interest at a rapid rate. She looks up at Thayndor. "Dunno 'bout you, but m'gettin' sorta bored 'ere. An' yeah, it were. 'Kari-cursed Kamirs messin' with time an' space got us 'ere, an' ain't more muckin' gonna fix 'er, ya ask me." The Later shoves her hand in her pockets and slouches a bit, glancing back toward Zero Gravitas, as if trying to decide whether or not to go that way.

"Material absorption complete," Comorro announces over the loudspeaker.

Amanda hms "Not sure it would be wise to try to intentionally alter history. We likely have more than enough unintended consequences as it is and likely to compound them each time we try and alter something

"Long is the road of good intentions, and treacherous is it's shadowed forks." Naoi says, but it is more for Thayndor's benefit then some general appeal to the 'community'. "I had thought..." Her shoulders droop, "Of course they would not waste breath about Fastheld. What is a kingdom to such a place and idealism?"

Tamila makes her way out of the Zero Gravitas with a rucksack thrown over one shoulder. She spots the large group, but being anti-social as she is, she heads towards the tradeport hatch instead of joining. But she does raise a brow at Comorro's announcement.

"The number of possible outcomes is more than a little mind-boggling," Quicksilver muses, whiskers flattening and tail thrashing a little more as he considers the possibility. Ears flatten, then perk, as he muses, "Would it cause further trouble for the ones attempting to repair the rifts, if we altered past events?"

Silvereye frowns lightly as he considers Okaskatitch's plan. His tail sways lightly behind him. He looks over his shoulder at Naoi's words, and nods slowly. "A possibility, but we can't know for sure. We can't chart out all that would happen, nor do we know if we can even reach that universe anymore."

"I am willing to explore the possibilities," the B'hiri replies. Tap-tick-tick-tap-tap-tick. It rotates and approaches the ramp of the emissary vessel. "Think on it." He climbs the ramp and disappears into the gray-hulled vessel. The ramp slides up and the hatch thuds shut. The vessel remains in its berth, however.

Newt grins, making his way over to the ship "That was nifty."

Kestrel glances back at Naoi. "Dunno. I think it'd be more 'mportant if'n we knew where it was at all," she points out with a shrug. "Reckon you all wanna git home same as th'rest'a us." The Later rolls her eyes and puts a hand to her forehead. "Oh, fer th'love'a Kanter, LEAVE TH'KARI-CURSED PAST ALONE wouldja?" she calls toward the other group then, waving a hand vaguely and stomping off toward Zero Gravitas. "Like we ain't already in 'nough'a a mess as it is!"

"We have no way of knowing the circumstances of the Kamir's bringing us here." Grayback says. "However, I feel the possibility can't be ignored. One black mark on history erased may lead to an era of peace and prosperity we could not imagine. On the other hand, I do concede that it is an.. incredible task to comprehend it."

"And then there's the effect of the Sanctuarians on the three invasions that followed, when we returned to our universe," Quicksilver puts in after Grayback, more thinking aloud than anything else. "We have to add that into our consideration. The expertise and connections we brought forward had an effect on events in that century out of proportion to our numbers."

Tamila and her rucksack keep going towards the tradeport hatch. She ducks through the door as it opens, not paying attention to the crowds or the ambassidor.

Silvereye shrugs at quicksilver. "We don't even know if linearity even exists anymore, or whether universes have just been atomized. It's too risky."

Zoological center plans expansion

KJERNKOR, HEKAYT PRIME - The zoological facility on the outskirts of Triumvirate Park in Kjernkor will add a new 200-acre wildlife expansion, with an eye toward opening this summer.

According to zoo officials, the expansion will showcase some of the more dangerous wild animals known to roam Hekayt Prime, including:

* Varmetann: A monstrous 10-legged fire-breathing reptile with a long sinuous neck and pebbled red and black skin.

* Surpust: A dark-furred mammal that exhales corrosive acid to slow its prey.

* Blodfot: A sharp-clawed mammal that's recognized as the fastest-moving land creature on the surface of Hekayt Prime.

Officials say that adequate security precautions are being taken to ensure that the animals will not interact directly with zoo patrons.

Epidemic strikes Muscipulan homeworld

MUSCIPULA - In recent days an outbreak of an unknown disease has struck the Muscipulan homeworld, resulting in hundreds of sickened citizens reporting to hospitals in the capital city. Doctors are currently baffled by the rapid onset, and thus far have reported that patients are not responding to standard treatments. Government officials have launched an investigation into potential sources of the disease, and travel to or from Muscipula is presently restricted.

Those afflicted with the disease are dubbing it the 'Wilting Blight', due to sufferers quickly losing strength and much of their ability to move. Other symptoms include the appearance of white splotches on their bodies, which in the advanced stages results in damage to the tissue. There are indications that the disease also interferes with their natural ability to photosynthesize food, resulting in many having to be tube fed. No reports of fatalities have yet been reported, and doctors do not know as of yet if any damage can be reversed. For now, they watch and wait while scientists rush to analyze the disease, hopeful that a cure can be discovered.

Hall of Fame Entry: Jest'liana

Jest'liana Warren is another character that's been around since pretty much the beginning of OtherSpace. She was among the people taken hostage by the Hivers for their war against the B'hiri. She helped save the life of Kip Caspar, who would grow up, years later, to nearly rip reality itself apart. Now she's among the refugees dwelling on Comorro Station after fleeing the catastrophe in normalspace.

How's that for having an impact on the game world?

The player has, from my experiences in the past, always been about the story - no matter the consequences for her character. And she's not just about the story that plays out in front of other players. One of my favorite memories of Jest dates back to 1998 aboard the Harrower. I didn't mean to spy, honest! I had a puppet object in an archive chamber so I could run emits for players. She happened to be in there, on her own, and actually performed a sort of ballet in pose form. It wasn't about showing off or getting attention, it was about immersing herself in the character.

It's an honor and a privilege to count her among OtherSpace's top veteran players.

Comorro Room Discount

Effective immediately, a 1-room home or shop on Comorro Station costs 100 RP Points (rather than 250). This discount will continue after we open more RP grid locations so that people have an incentive to keep Comorro as a central focus for the game.

Nemoni base attacked

NEMONUS - Nemoni government officials have reported that the brewing conflict between the Nemoni Federation and the Elyssian Alliance escalated today when an Elyssian task force launched a sneak attack on a Nemoni Star Force base on Hacari IV. Casualties have been reported to be in the hundreds making this the bloodiest confrontation yet between the two micro races. Equipment losses have been estimated to be extensive, with several cruisers and battleships docked at the base destroyed or severely damaged.

"As of this moment, the Nemoni Federation and the Elyssian Alliance are in a state of war." Nemoni President Malcone Meston was quoted as saying at a hastily called press conference. "This cowardly attack on our sovereign territory will not go unanswered." The President answered questions regarding the spark that ignited the current conflict, and cited recent attempts by the Elyssians to annex Nemoni territory. "Our people have established legal claims to our territory, and we will not give it up easily. We will not be bullied, we will not be intimidated, and we will not be driven from our homes."

The Nemoni Star Force is reported to be on full alert and Nemoni patrols have tripled since the attack. If this will remain an isolated incident or indicates the start of more aggressive action by the Elyssians remains to be seen.

B'hiri ambassador plans visit

COMORRO STATION - Ambassador Okaskatich, representative of the B'hiri in the wake of the recently ended war against the Il'Ri'Kamm Hive Mind, is planning to arrive on Comorro Station in one week.

It will be the first time a B'hiri has set foot aboard Comorro since before the onset of the war and the Yaralu's refusal to intervene for either side.

The ambassador is expected to remain for several weeks and has expressed particular interest in meeting with refugees that arrived aboard Hancock Station.

Glitch causes diplomatic gaffe

COMORRO STATION - A human refugee from Hancock Station inadvertently declared war on the Pyracani today while seeking directions to the nearest bathroom.

Tylden Merson asked a Pyracani diplomat: "Excuse me, but could you direct me to the restroom? It's urgent." Merson had tried a Lotorian pot-luck dish known as "Twisty Innards," which wasn't agreeing with his digestive system.

However, a glitch in Comorro's translation system output the words: "Your stench offends. I will end your kind."

Merson was treated for cuts and bruises after Hekayti security personnel pulled the Pyracani off the human. Comorro recalibrated the translation matrix, with apologies.