Era of Half-Lives

[Axinian]

You make your way though the swamp, traveling on roads unseen except by your clan. What is a fallen tree to others is a signpost to you. In what others perceive as reeds you see a major thoroughfare. You have traveled these invisible paths before. You are happy that you may never have to tread upon them again.

It is midday, but the swamp is reluctant to tell you that. The sky is overcast, as it always is, blocking out the sun like a mother shielding a child's eyes from some vulgarity transpiring in front of them. Trees are all bent, making the canopy look like a cage. At first the bars seemed like a protective barrier, keeping you and your clan safe from the undead monstrosities on the other side. Now they are trapping you inside next to a beast with iron fangs.

You hurry past the ruins of a stepped pyramid, and briefly ponder if its architects thought of the swamp the same way. You banish the thought, as it will soon be of no consequence.

You are to meet three others. Three individuals from three other clans, some enemies, some friends. Rumor tells of a haven not like a cage, but like a warm house. You and your new found "friends" are to travel north, across the plains where the Empire of Rot is weakest and into the relative safety of the Forest of Stars. Beyond its trees lies the Fabled Land, a place where you can finally be free. You are to chart a course into myth, and return to bring the others along the path.

You emerge into a small clearing just as your compatriots do. The swamp has taught you all to be quite punctual. Being late or early can mean death. You gather in the center to prepare for the journey into the mythic north.

[monkman]

Bogresh hears something, it sounded like someone moving throught the swamp. He picks up his mace and says:Who's there? Show youre self or be destroyed.

[OMG PONIES]

Peacekeeper

From the muck and mire, a gigantic metal man covered in spikes emerges. He carries a guisarme, and he has various pneumatic tubes and plates arranged in such a menacing way that it leaves no question--this creature was designed for one purpose: destruction.

However, it stomps towards Bogresh until it is uncomfortably close to him, bends down so that the two are eye to eye, and blinks with a soft whirr as tiny motors close and open its eyelids.

Hello, the machine crackles in a monotone voice as it extends its hand towards Bogresh, are you evil?

[Etcetera]

A dark patch detached itself from the shadows and strode purposefully towards the centre.

It looked round at the motley collection of humanoids. In better times, he would have simply killed them all and be done with it, but the occupation of the swamp by the hordes of idiotic, despoiling "refugees" meant it was a bad idea to overtly remove the scum. Far better for them to become lost in the swamps.

"Greetings, I am Achaicus. You would be?"

[monkman]

No to your question, warforged and are you two beares of the talisman? At the same moment he take out his talisman, showing it to the others.

[OMG PONIES]

Peacekeeper

Very well, the hulking creation entones. It raises a gargantuan fist to its chest, gingerly opens a panel, and retrieves another talisman. The memory of Peacekeeper locating this item has been corrupted or deleted, it states, as plain as day. Replacing the talisman and closing the panel, Peacekeeper turns to Achaicus and extends his hand. Hello. Are you evil?

[monkman]

Peacekeeper,if that is you name, not many will tell you if they are evil.You will need diffrent ways to find them.Also the only evil peope in this world are those dam liches.Those are the evil people you want to destroy

[OMG PONIES]

Peacekeeper

The warforged turns back to Bogresh. It's eyebrows raise and bend, creating as close to a quizzical look as a machine can manage. The only evil ones are liches? The file size allocated to the definition of that term still has much space remaining. Therefore, other items are needed to return the file to its original size. Peacekeeper's logic circuits lead him to conclude that, while liches may be evil, the exclusive term "ONLY" is false.

[Fable Wright]

Liches are evil, yes. They seek to destroy all other life forms. They cannot be permitted to live, if they seek to destroy other life. However, if they destroy only what they need to survive, then they are not evil. In this regard, most of the machines are evil. They seek to destroy all other life, yet they do not need to in order to survive. This symbol, he says, pulling out the talisman that they all had. Represents what 'good' is. It is the search for a better life. New life sprouting out of dead life. Just merely destroying all life upsets the balance, causing dead life to increase, and living life to decrease. Those who hunt for fun are those who need to be destroyed. Those people and things are impure.

[OMG PONIES]

Peacekeeper

Peacekeeper turns towards the new arrival, and greets him in the same fashion as he greeted the others. Hello. Are you evil? Also, a clarification is needed. The machines do not seek to destroy all life, only that which is impure. The elimination of evil is not evil itself.

[Fable Wright]

No, I am not evil. But, if the machines only seek to destroy that which is evil, what if they're not destroying evil? What if they are destroying good? Are they still not evil?

[monkman]

The machines arent evil. The people who programme the macines are evil and those machine can do nothing but be evil.

[Fable Wright]

But what if no one programmed them with these instincts? What if they were just created, like other living beings, and then chose to become evil? Would their creators be evil then? Nevertheless, it's irrelevant at the moment. We should probably head towards the new land soon. Whether or not the machines are evil, they're threatening our survival. We need to move on.

[monkman]

You're right we should move out as quickly as possible. and he grabs his back pack

[Axinian]

Moving to the north edge of the swamp is the easy part. Your combined knowledge of the land will make it easier for you to travel.

There are a few different paths you can take, depending on how fast you want to move. You can travel through the lands of the northeastern tribe, the Qu'Athi, or perhaps through the lands of the northwestern tribe, the Rakmasa. Either way will probably take the longest because of distance, but you should encounter few obstacles from the tribesmen. The closest Qu-Athi village is known as Q'antar. Q'antar has made itself famous as an adventuring town, as many people stop there for rest and supplies before meeting their inevitable doom in the Bog. The closest Rakmasa village is called Minera. Minera is a village where many scholars gather to unearth the secrets below the muck.

You can also travel through the land between the two tribes. One possible route is through the Bog of Forgotten Runes. This is by far the most direct path, but also quite dangerous, as little of the bog has been explored and charted. A slightly longer, but still relatively short route is through the Pyramids of the Laughing Snake, where ferocious beasts and newly awakened warforged dwell. This path will take longer than the bog, but is still quicker than traveling through tribal lands. It is, however, the most dangerous.

Will you travel through these known paths? Or blaze your own? There is untraveled land between the Pyramids and the Bog.

If people need a map I can whip one up.

[monkman]

I think that we should go to any path with the tribes but peacekeeper must not be seen, they would destory him

[Fable Wright]

I say that we should take the path of the bog. There, we might find some hidden knowledge of the Warforged, or the Liches, or something else. We should not stray too far into the swamp, but start by traveling along it's peripheries, near enough to other towns to run for help. This might allow us to spot some secret or other in the swamp, while remaining near the safety of a town. Not to mention, bogs could totally encumber mechanical life, allowing access through the bog. We could get peacekeeper through it by covering him with a waterproof cloth. This would create an insulating layer of air between peacekeeper and the swamp, preventing him from gunking up. Other machines wouldn't be able to mass-produce enough cloth to cover all of them most likely, thus preventing us from running into a legion of their troops.

[monkman]

I agree with your reasoning, It seems like a good plan

[OMG PONIES]

Peacekeeper frowns at Bogresh's words. If any creature attempted to destroy Peacekeeper, survival circuits would register that individual as evil. That individual would not destroy Peacekeeper; Peacekeeper would destroy that individual. But still, the bog seems the most efficient route.

[Etcetera]

"Then by all means, let us follow the bog. Anyone else have any outlooks on life that they wish to share with us, or shall we get going?"

[Axinian]

Assuming you all get going at this point:

It takes about the rest of the day to reach the edge of the bog. It's still somewhat light out, but the interior of the blog already looks like it has been plunged into blackest midnight.

If you guys choose to enter the bog now, I'll need Survival checks from each of you. Or you can wait, and I'll get survival checks from you when you do enter.

[Etcetera]

Survival check.
[roll0]

Achaicus stood on the edge of the bog, waiting for the others to follow him. He wasn't by any means a woodsman or ranger, but he knew his way around these lands a damn sight better, than, for example, a crude amalgamation of cogs and metal plating.

[Fable Wright]

At home in the bog, surrounded by nature, Bogresh felt at home. Checking the surrounding area for natural traps, like lightning sand, flame spurts, and Rodents of Unusual Size, he sets off into the bog.
Survival: [roll0]+13

[OMG PONIES]

Peacekeeper takes one monstrous step forward and splashes into the bog, unconcerned by whatever dangers lay beneath.

[roll0] Survival