Ash_Junior
Irredeemable Nerd
well, since all my other fics are on the back burner, I figured that I'd post my NANOWRIMO stuff as I wrote it. this was written at 12-2 PM today, with plenty of distractions going on (Ghostbusters II, Boy Meets World.....)
this will be a VERY rough draft....
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The wind blew harshly over the tundra, sending a windy chill through the quartet of travelers. The small depression that was caused by beginner stelportation prevented the view of the surrounding countryside, but it would likely be unpopulated, as had the last thirty worlds the team had been to. The worlds had varied wildly—from jungle to ice to desert to plains, no two worlds were ever the same, but they were still exceedingly fascinating for those inclined to acquire knowledge. For those in the service of the Neramorian armed forces, however, there were few worlds that were useful, and most of those required the few jungle worlds that existed for growing new weaponry.
After all, for an Empire spanning nearly an entire galaxy, it was important to have weapons to defend against enemies. But such a war had not been fought in many thousand millennia, the last of the Scovokians defeated long ago. So now it was mainly peaceful exploration, the Neramorian Armies merely a fraction of what they had been.
A group of four was the standard exploration group now, down from the hundreds that at one point had been the standard, back before the Scovokians had first appeared. Who knew now what worlds the Scovokians alone had explored, and what wonders and populations known only to their defeated race.
The four were of each of the houses of Neramore—A disciple of ‘ynden, the scouting, scientific, and weapon growing corps of Neramore; a disciple of ‘ron, the healing corps of the Neramorians; a disciple of ‘yax, a member of the offensive corps, and a disciple of ‘tlen, the defensive corps of the Neramorians. Separately, they trained to face many challenges, but together, there weren’t many small challenges that they couldn’t face. With all of the members of all of the houses gathered together, there was nearly nothing that they could not defeat.
While no Neramorians knew where their powers came from, they certainly knew what they did, not even the oldest of the ‘ynden Corps knew. But what they did know was that a single Neramorian could cross-train in two, three, or even all four houses. However, as the Neramorian trained in one House, he would become weaker in another.
Neramorians were given a name, usually three to six letters in length, and added on to that name were the name or names of the Houses in which they were trained. The leader of the group was named Serr, but he was a scientist, so he was referred to as Serr’ynden—in fact, everyone referred to him as Serr’ynden, no one referred to him as Serr, except his wife, Tzen’yax, his co-leader for this mission.
Serr’ynden was by far the oldest of the group, which was actually entirely his family. Aside from his wife, his son Per’ron, who did some minor cross-training into both the houses of ‘tlen and ‘ynden, but not much to speak of, there was Serr’ynden’s daughter, Xyl’tlen. Together the family had bonded closer than any other that were outside of their unique situation. Together the family had endured horrors that no mortal should ever have to see. Together they had witnessed things so beautiful that it defied description.
Serr’ynden glanced around, taking in the mild burn marks in the tundra that always marked a ‘tlen stelportation, the act of transporting oneself or a group of people across the stars to another, potentially inhabitable world. It looked like they had appeared in snow. Until he got up and took a wider look at this world he wouldn’t’ know if it covered the entire planet or this was simply an ice shelf at an end of the radiation belt of this solar system’s sun.
Serr’ynden closed his eyes and listened to the world around him. To non-Neramorians, this would seem odd, but it was normal after a Stelportation to become accustomed to the world in which they had come. Otherwise their powers, with the exception of Per’ron’s healing powers, would not be able to be used.
Serr’ynden’s power was over the very molecules of a substance known as water. He wasn’t sure which world the Neramorians had picked that and other interesting words up from, but he did remember that they had sealed all the portals leading back to it for quite some time now.
Serr’ynden concentrated, and he began to sense the moisture in the air around him. Some of it had evaporated in the blast that generally accompanied Xyl’tlen’s Stelportation, and some had been turned into its liquid form, but was slowly freezing into its solid form. “I don’t detect any seriously abnormal compounds in the nuclei of the moisture here,” Serr’ynden said quietly. “The moisture fits up to the Standard.”
Nobody knew why the Standard existed. The Standard was the measure by which all things WERE measured. That didn’t mean that anyone understood it. The Standard was merely a name that Neramorian scientists had called it after they had discovered some of its basic laws. These laws said that many different types of planets existed, and not many of them were habitable. The first law said that no two worlds were exactly the same. The second law said that it was very rare for any two planets to have any major similarities. The third law said that Neramorians were found only on their home world. The fourth, that humans inhabited all the rest of the worlds in the known galaxy.
The humans considered the Neramorians the first and only other species out there, but the Neramorians knew all too well that there were things beyond even their scientific grasp, and would likely be for all time.
They didn’t know how the universe was made, and where the matter came from. They didn’t know how the worlds, stars, solar systems, galaxies, and clusters came into being exactly perfect. They didn’t know how life began. They didn’t know what made up the consciousness of a person. They didn’t know where their powers came from. But that didn’t mean that they were completely hopeless.
Serr’ynden opened his eyes and glanced at his wife. “Anything special with the weather on this world, my beloved?” As a member of the disciplry of ‘yax, Tzen’yax was able to detect weather patterns, and bend them to her will on a small scale. Not very large, in fact. Only as far as she could see. Although if she were lifted up high enough, it would be much shorter, depending on how far away thigns were visible.
Tzen’yax shook her head. “No, my love,” she said quietly. “Excpt for some minor discrepancies, everything fits the ‘yax Standard.” She closed her eyes and concentrated harder. “The discrepancies are minor, but I cannot explain them.” She turned to her husband and the lids of her eyes slowly rose. “It is almost as if another ‘yax were here, but that cannot be. We are the first to arrive on this world.”
Serr’ynden nodded. “This we shall investigate in due time.” Serr’ynden glanced around, getting tired of looking at the small depression their arrival had made. This part of stelportation was always the worst—checking to make sure that they would survive on this world. He glanced at his daughter. “Xyl’ten, do the fires of this world burn as they should?”
Xyl’ten closed her eyes tightly, and the group was respectfully quiet. In worlds meeting the Standard, the fires of that world’s foundation were very far below the surface of the world, burning far hotter than anything on the surface could withstand. “The fires meet the safety requirements of the Standard, but there is something different about it.” She opened her eyes and her hazel eyes met the steely grey gaze of her father. “as if another ‘ten draws upon its flames for power.”
Serr’ynden nodded. “Indeed. Then we are fortunate to have such a habitable world.” He closed his eyes in thought for a moment, then turned to his son. “Per’ron,” he said quietly. “Do you sense it too? For me, it is as if others are harnessing the power of moisture for themselves—as if they were Neramorians.”
Per’ron shook his head. “No, father, I do not detect that, nor do I detect anything that is anomalous to the Standard. I’m sorry, father, but everything is normal as far as the covering of this planet is concerned.”
Serr’ynden nodded. “in that case, let’s get out of this pit and see what’s going on.”
Xyl’ten returned his nod. “This place has to be inhabited for it to have the kind of pull on the fires that I am detecting. And they have to be actively using their powers nearly constantly. I advise caution.”
Serr’ynden glanced at his daughter and grinned. “A student of ‘ten advising caution? Perish the thought.” His daughter grinned back good-naturedly.
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all I've got so far...
this will be a VERY rough draft....
++++++
The wind blew harshly over the tundra, sending a windy chill through the quartet of travelers. The small depression that was caused by beginner stelportation prevented the view of the surrounding countryside, but it would likely be unpopulated, as had the last thirty worlds the team had been to. The worlds had varied wildly—from jungle to ice to desert to plains, no two worlds were ever the same, but they were still exceedingly fascinating for those inclined to acquire knowledge. For those in the service of the Neramorian armed forces, however, there were few worlds that were useful, and most of those required the few jungle worlds that existed for growing new weaponry.
After all, for an Empire spanning nearly an entire galaxy, it was important to have weapons to defend against enemies. But such a war had not been fought in many thousand millennia, the last of the Scovokians defeated long ago. So now it was mainly peaceful exploration, the Neramorian Armies merely a fraction of what they had been.
A group of four was the standard exploration group now, down from the hundreds that at one point had been the standard, back before the Scovokians had first appeared. Who knew now what worlds the Scovokians alone had explored, and what wonders and populations known only to their defeated race.
The four were of each of the houses of Neramore—A disciple of ‘ynden, the scouting, scientific, and weapon growing corps of Neramore; a disciple of ‘ron, the healing corps of the Neramorians; a disciple of ‘yax, a member of the offensive corps, and a disciple of ‘tlen, the defensive corps of the Neramorians. Separately, they trained to face many challenges, but together, there weren’t many small challenges that they couldn’t face. With all of the members of all of the houses gathered together, there was nearly nothing that they could not defeat.
While no Neramorians knew where their powers came from, they certainly knew what they did, not even the oldest of the ‘ynden Corps knew. But what they did know was that a single Neramorian could cross-train in two, three, or even all four houses. However, as the Neramorian trained in one House, he would become weaker in another.
Neramorians were given a name, usually three to six letters in length, and added on to that name were the name or names of the Houses in which they were trained. The leader of the group was named Serr, but he was a scientist, so he was referred to as Serr’ynden—in fact, everyone referred to him as Serr’ynden, no one referred to him as Serr, except his wife, Tzen’yax, his co-leader for this mission.
Serr’ynden was by far the oldest of the group, which was actually entirely his family. Aside from his wife, his son Per’ron, who did some minor cross-training into both the houses of ‘tlen and ‘ynden, but not much to speak of, there was Serr’ynden’s daughter, Xyl’tlen. Together the family had bonded closer than any other that were outside of their unique situation. Together the family had endured horrors that no mortal should ever have to see. Together they had witnessed things so beautiful that it defied description.
Serr’ynden glanced around, taking in the mild burn marks in the tundra that always marked a ‘tlen stelportation, the act of transporting oneself or a group of people across the stars to another, potentially inhabitable world. It looked like they had appeared in snow. Until he got up and took a wider look at this world he wouldn’t’ know if it covered the entire planet or this was simply an ice shelf at an end of the radiation belt of this solar system’s sun.
Serr’ynden closed his eyes and listened to the world around him. To non-Neramorians, this would seem odd, but it was normal after a Stelportation to become accustomed to the world in which they had come. Otherwise their powers, with the exception of Per’ron’s healing powers, would not be able to be used.
Serr’ynden’s power was over the very molecules of a substance known as water. He wasn’t sure which world the Neramorians had picked that and other interesting words up from, but he did remember that they had sealed all the portals leading back to it for quite some time now.
Serr’ynden concentrated, and he began to sense the moisture in the air around him. Some of it had evaporated in the blast that generally accompanied Xyl’tlen’s Stelportation, and some had been turned into its liquid form, but was slowly freezing into its solid form. “I don’t detect any seriously abnormal compounds in the nuclei of the moisture here,” Serr’ynden said quietly. “The moisture fits up to the Standard.”
Nobody knew why the Standard existed. The Standard was the measure by which all things WERE measured. That didn’t mean that anyone understood it. The Standard was merely a name that Neramorian scientists had called it after they had discovered some of its basic laws. These laws said that many different types of planets existed, and not many of them were habitable. The first law said that no two worlds were exactly the same. The second law said that it was very rare for any two planets to have any major similarities. The third law said that Neramorians were found only on their home world. The fourth, that humans inhabited all the rest of the worlds in the known galaxy.
The humans considered the Neramorians the first and only other species out there, but the Neramorians knew all too well that there were things beyond even their scientific grasp, and would likely be for all time.
They didn’t know how the universe was made, and where the matter came from. They didn’t know how the worlds, stars, solar systems, galaxies, and clusters came into being exactly perfect. They didn’t know how life began. They didn’t know what made up the consciousness of a person. They didn’t know where their powers came from. But that didn’t mean that they were completely hopeless.
Serr’ynden opened his eyes and glanced at his wife. “Anything special with the weather on this world, my beloved?” As a member of the disciplry of ‘yax, Tzen’yax was able to detect weather patterns, and bend them to her will on a small scale. Not very large, in fact. Only as far as she could see. Although if she were lifted up high enough, it would be much shorter, depending on how far away thigns were visible.
Tzen’yax shook her head. “No, my love,” she said quietly. “Excpt for some minor discrepancies, everything fits the ‘yax Standard.” She closed her eyes and concentrated harder. “The discrepancies are minor, but I cannot explain them.” She turned to her husband and the lids of her eyes slowly rose. “It is almost as if another ‘yax were here, but that cannot be. We are the first to arrive on this world.”
Serr’ynden nodded. “This we shall investigate in due time.” Serr’ynden glanced around, getting tired of looking at the small depression their arrival had made. This part of stelportation was always the worst—checking to make sure that they would survive on this world. He glanced at his daughter. “Xyl’ten, do the fires of this world burn as they should?”
Xyl’ten closed her eyes tightly, and the group was respectfully quiet. In worlds meeting the Standard, the fires of that world’s foundation were very far below the surface of the world, burning far hotter than anything on the surface could withstand. “The fires meet the safety requirements of the Standard, but there is something different about it.” She opened her eyes and her hazel eyes met the steely grey gaze of her father. “as if another ‘ten draws upon its flames for power.”
Serr’ynden nodded. “Indeed. Then we are fortunate to have such a habitable world.” He closed his eyes in thought for a moment, then turned to his son. “Per’ron,” he said quietly. “Do you sense it too? For me, it is as if others are harnessing the power of moisture for themselves—as if they were Neramorians.”
Per’ron shook his head. “No, father, I do not detect that, nor do I detect anything that is anomalous to the Standard. I’m sorry, father, but everything is normal as far as the covering of this planet is concerned.”
Serr’ynden nodded. “in that case, let’s get out of this pit and see what’s going on.”
Xyl’ten returned his nod. “This place has to be inhabited for it to have the kind of pull on the fires that I am detecting. And they have to be actively using their powers nearly constantly. I advise caution.”
Serr’ynden glanced at his daughter and grinned. “A student of ‘ten advising caution? Perish the thought.” His daughter grinned back good-naturedly.
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all I've got so far...