Party at Mambi's realm, all are invited!

[Universe]

"....okay, let's think here...."

"How about the last five direct threats to the Wheel, chronologically?"

"I heard 'weapons' and 'weaknesses' now that I think about what he said more... try to recall those."

"As well as rough forms. And whether any relied on moon-sized space stations. That's kinda critical."

"I swiped one of Dad's spare communicators. I'll send whatever you come up with to the High Imperator and then we can think about it some more."

“ok there was a guy who was a dragon that liked destroying stuff and I don’t mean Nydos destroying stuff is kind of his job let’s see he was red and gold I don’t know his name”

 

[Baron Tredegar]

Wow, Nataraja really has no idea who or what I am, does he? Aeternus thought.

Being essentially a "hologram with mass", as Solaris had explained some time ago to Aurora, the vacuum of space really didn't mean all that much to a celestial dragon like Aeternus. He officially had no need for air - though not having access to it was annoying - and the fact that he was mostly astral meant that low or nonexistent pressures were more of a nuisance than anything.

He speculated, however, that Ahrakas did not enjoy the same advantages. Remembering what he could of Ahrakas' cruiser's layout, he opened a small portal back to the cruiser and shoved Ahrakas through it. Once the REAL High Imperator was safe and secure, Aeternus closed the portal and considered his options. He briefly thought of ripping out the ship's data drive, but given Nataraja's cluelessness he realized it would mean nothing in the end.

He instead sent out a telepathic message, hoping Universe or the other celestial dragon gods would catch it.

"If any of you dragon gods can hear me... we encountered one of Lucifer's remnants. The artificial moon in Formosa is a space station, and a front for an attempt to destroy the Eternal Wheel. Think back to the threat we faced to the Wheel twenty-something realities ago, the weapons they used, their weakness that we exploited to seal them away. Send the information to High Imperator Ahrakas' data devices, I will discuss relaying it to the other Lords with him. One of you, mindlink with the Architects and transmit them all the knowledge of any past threats to the Wheel you can recall. They may be able to put the pieces together and identify Anathema, the enemy they've recently spoken of."

His solo moment done, Aeternus opened another portal and jumped back to Ahrakas' cruiser. Hopefully his quick thinking had spared the High Imperator from too much injury.

--------------------

Meanwhile, somewhere in the halls of the party space....

"Did any of you feel a disturbance?"

"As if a million prophets cried out in terror at once, knowing the futures they predicted were suddenly silenced?"

"We foresaw the threat not making any advances. We did not foresee that our allies would attempt a first strike."

"Why can't we get FIVE SECONDS to just enjoy being kids?"

"....I still foresee that the eye and its servants won't try any retaliation. They lost the element of surprise, they need time to regain it. The five events will still happen as predicted before we have to worry, and it may even take longer for them to make a move. I really wish Dad was done with his brain scan...."

The sudden loss of oxygen had rendered Ahrakas unconscious. However soon after he was taken back to his ship he began breathing, and within a few minutes he was awake. The last thing I remember was Nataraja exposing us to a vacuum. I guess its safe to assume he is dead.
Now that nothing is stopping us let us move onto that space station.

 

[Firuthi Dragovic]

The sudden loss of oxygen had rendered Ahrakas unconscious. However soon after he was taken back to his ship he began breathing, and within a few minutes he was awake. The last thing I remember was Nataraja exposing us to a vacuum. I guess its safe to assume he is dead.
Now that nothing is stopping us let us move onto that space station.

"Phew. Looks like I acted fast enough. You didn't really miss anything on the ship."

Aeternus snorted.

"Why is it so hard for beings to realize that celestial dragons do not run on the same physiology as everyone else?"

Aeternus glanced around.

"I, uh... sent a telepathic message to the other dragon gods, to see if they know any prior threats to the Wheel like this. And is there a good viewport on this ship? I may want a view of the outside in case the space station begins shooting at us. I should be able to direct barriers to block if that happens."

 

[Baron Tredegar]

"Phew. Looks like I acted fast enough. You didn't really miss anything on the ship."

Aeternus snorted.

"Why is it so hard for beings to realize that celestial dragons do not run on the same physiology as everyone else?"

Aeternus glanced around.

"I, uh... sent a telepathic message to the other dragon gods, to see if they know any prior threats to the Wheel like this. And is there a good viewport on this ship? I may want a view of the outside in case the space station begins shooting at us. I should be able to direct barriers to block if that happens."

Ahrakas walked over to where he had the viewscreen on when he was communicating with Nataraja. He waved his hand and the screen became a window. They were getting close enough to the space station to begin making out features of it. Except for one hangar there were no lights on anywhere in the massive structure that you could see. There were scores of hangars you could see, with hundreds, no thousands of ships just like Natarajas resting in them. The one hangar with its lights on had one less ship in it than all the others, possibly from Nataraja using it. Mostly the space station appeared abandoned.

 

[Firuthi Dragovic]

Ahrakas walked over to where he had the viewscreen on when he was communicating with Nataraja. He waved his hand and the screen became a window. They were getting close enough to the space station to begin making out features of it. Except for one hangar there were no lights on anywhere in the massive structure that you could see. There were scores of hangars you could see, with hundreds, no thousands of ships just like Natarajas resting in them. The one hangar with its lights on had one less ship in it than all the others, possibly from Nataraja using it. Mostly the space station appeared abandoned.

"Huh... the lights are mostly off... why do I get the feeling that's just part of this thing's cover?"

Aeternus gazed at the station.

"I almost want to blow it up from here.... but of the celestial dragon gods, my blasts are probably the weakest. Even if I shot through a portal to get it up close, I probably can't hit something that big with enough force to destroy it in one shot. And only denting the thing's probably going to bring it online. And I don't think Flauros or whoever really built this would be so stupid as to leave one tiny external hole into the power plant...."

Aeternus pondered for a moment.

"So what's our plan of attack? You're definitely going to want to wear a spacesuit or power armor, either way..."

-------------------------------

“ok there was a guy who was a dragon that liked destroying stuff and I don’t mean Nydos destroying stuff is kind of his job let’s see he was red and gold I don’t know his name”

"Keep going. You're going to want to tell us as much as you can."

"Ask us questions too. We can help you try to direct your thoughts more easily."

Cooper typed a message on a communicator for Ahrakas.

Spoiler: From unknown user, serial code WRLDSRP-131482560

Ahrakas, it's the Dagda speaking. We caught Aeternus' message and so did Solaris, and we're trying to brainstorm what the threat could be, but you have no idea how hard it is to sift through a trillions-century-old brain. The only one I've gotten out of him so far is a red and gold dragon that had a thing for destruction. No name or indication of space stations being involved, so it's not helpful yet. We're going to continue to try.

"No more details than red and gold dragon? No indication of their armies or how they were beaten?"

 

[Baron Tredegar]

"Huh... the lights are mostly off... why do I get the feeling that's just part of this thing's cover?"

Aeternus gazed at the station.

"I almost want to blow it up from here.... but of the celestial dragon gods, my blasts are probably the weakest. Even if I shot through a portal to get it up close, I probably can't hit something that big with enough force to destroy it in one shot. And only denting the thing's probably going to bring it online. And I don't think Flauros or whoever really built this would be so stupid as to leave one tiny external hole into the power plant...."

Aeternus pondered for a moment.

"So what's our plan of attack? You're definitely going to want to wear a spacesuit or power armor, either way..."

-------------------------------

"Keep going. You're going to want to tell us as much as you can."

"Ask us questions too. We can help you try to direct your thoughts more easily."

Cooper typed a message on a communicator for Ahrakas.

Spoiler: From unknown user, serial code WRLDSRP-131482560

Ahrakas, it's the Dagda speaking. We caught Aeternus' message and so did Solaris, and we're trying to brainstorm what the threat could be, but you have no idea how hard it is to sift through a trillions-century-old brain. The only one I've gotten out of him so far is a red and gold dragon that had a thing for destruction. No name or indication of space stations being involved, so it's not helpful yet. We're going to continue to try.

"No more details than red and gold dragon? No indication of their armies or how they were beaten?"

Lets go in cautiously, and try to find the command center of that thing. Pilot take us in. The ship docked in the empty spot left by Natarajas ship. The boarding ramp went down revealing a lifeless hangar. Ahrakas put his helmet on and grabbed a disrupter rifle from the cruisers storage. Lets see what they are trying to hide.

 

[Firuthi Dragovic]

Lets go in cautiously, and try to find the command center of that thing. Pilot take us in. The ship docked in the empty spot left by Natarajas ship. The boarding ramp went down revealing a lifeless hangar. Ahrakas put his helmet on and grabbed a disrupter rifle from the cruisers storage. Lets see what they are trying to hide.

Given his "hologram with mass" status, Aeternus took a cue from one of Universe's previous nervous habits (and frankly something any celestial dragon could do given a little practice) and altered his form.

Instead of his regal robes, he now looked like he was trying to be some kind of fully-armored futuristic soldier. Two things undermined the image slightly: one, his armor still bore his characteristic sapphire-and-alexandrite coloration, and two, his choice of sidearm was the Noisy Cricket... definitely way too small to be a standard sidearm for power armor troops.

"Remember, I go on your lead. Just remember that if you get knocked out I'm warping you back to the cruiser."

 

[Universe]

Given his "hologram with mass" status, Aeternus took a cue from one of Universe's previous nervous habits (and frankly something any celestial dragon could do given a little practice) and altered his form.

Instead of his regal robes, he now looked like he was trying to be some kind of fully-armored futuristic soldier. Two things undermined the image slightly: one, his armor still bore his characteristic sapphire-and-alexandrite coloration, and two, his choice of sidearm was the Noisy Cricket... definitely way too small to be a standard sidearm for power armor troops.

"Remember, I go on your lead. Just remember that if you get knocked out I'm warping you back to the cruiser."

“That’s all I can remember” *something had happened that had traumatized Solaris so bad that he had repressed the memory*

 

[Baron Tredegar]

Given his "hologram with mass" status, Aeternus took a cue from one of Universe's previous nervous habits (and frankly something any celestial dragon could do given a little practice) and altered his form.

Instead of his regal robes, he now looked like he was trying to be some kind of fully-armored futuristic soldier. Two things undermined the image slightly: one, his armor still bore his characteristic sapphire-and-alexandrite coloration, and two, his choice of sidearm was the Noisy Cricket... definitely way too small to be a standard sidearm for power armor troops.

"Remember, I go on your lead. Just remember that if you get knocked out I'm warping you back to the cruiser."

Cautiously Ahrakas made his way through the hangar bay until he reached the control tower at the back. He kicked the door down and was a little perturbed that there were no guards. He made his way over to the main computer and began tapping at it. Lets see here, the main command center. There it is! He inserted his datapad into the computer and began downloading info. Looks like I got the location of Flauros' residence. Odd that he would reside here rather than on Formosa. Wait, what are Film Studios doing on here?

 

[Firuthi Dragovic]

On the moon-sized space station in the Formosa region....

Cautiously Ahrakas made his way through the hangar bay until he reached the control tower at the back. He kicked the door down and was a little perturbed that there were no guards. He made his way over to the main computer and began tapping at it. Lets see here, the main command center. There it is! He inserted his datapad into the computer and began downloading info. Looks like I got the location of Flauros' residence. Odd that he would reside here rather than on Formosa. Wait, what are Film Studios doing on here?

"Remember what Nataraja said? All the images that people see of Formosa were recorded here. The bigger question is... why Flauros needs to fake the appearance of his own sector. Didn't one of your people say someone besides Flauros was ruling it? Someone who wasn't a Temporal Lord? I have doubts that Flauros was bullied into all of his habits... which means he LET someone run the place while he went off being a psychopath, and used the films to hide his own actions."

Aeternus glanced around the command center.

"Try to get images of someone who isn't one of the people of this sector."

--------------------

At the party space.....

“That’s all I can remember” *something had happened that had traumatized Solaris so bad that he had repressed the memory*

"We tried, at least. Let's see what Aeternus digs up."

"This is probably going to take time to figure out, Solaris. We couldn't have expected all the answers easy."

"Aeternus had the right idea, at least."

"Let's discuss something else for now."

"I wonder how Universe is doing...."

------------------
Meanwhile, on the Universe-7....

*The Universe 7 exited from the wormhole outside the known universe*

“Did you hear that?”

"I felt a strange noise in the air. The only words I could pick out were 'twenty-something realities ago'... just where are we? Let's... just finish what we came out here to do. Please?"

"I must admit, even with my mind opened, I'm still a little scared of what we're going to encounter out here. Did you have a lock on what it is we're trying to find, or are we just joyriding?"

 

[Universe]

On the moon-sized space station in the Formosa region....

"Remember what Nataraja said? All the images that people see of Formosa were recorded here. The bigger question is... why Flauros needs to fake the appearance of his own sector. Didn't one of your people say someone besides Flauros was ruling it? Someone who wasn't a Temporal Lord? I have doubts that Flauros was bullied into all of his habits... which means he LET someone run the place while he went off being a psychopath, and used the films to hide his own actions."

Aeternus glanced around the command center.

"Try to get images of someone who isn't one of the people of this sector."

--------------------

At the party space.....

"We tried, at least. Let's see what Aeternus digs up."

"This is probably going to take time to figure out, Solaris. We couldn't have expected all the answers easy."

"Aeternus had the right idea, at least."

"Let's discuss something else for now."

"I wonder how Universe is doing...."

------------------
Meanwhile, on the Universe-7....



"I must admit, even with my mind opened, I'm still a little scared of what we're going to encounter out here. Did you have a lock on what it is we're trying to find, or are we just joyriding?"

“I don’t know”

 

[Firuthi Dragovic]

“I don’t know”

"Seriously? No idea about the source of whoever or whatever's draining the energy from your friend?"

Oliver looked sternly at Universe.

"Hasn't something like this happened before? How did they do it last time?"

 

[Universe]

"Seriously? No idea about the source of whoever or whatever's draining the energy from your friend?"

Oliver looked sternly at Universe.

"Hasn't something like this happened before? How did they do it last time?"

“Look at that” *I said pointing at a giant sleeping dragon*

 

[Baron Tredegar]

On the moon-sized space station in the Formosa region....

"Remember what Nataraja said? All the images that people see of Formosa were recorded here. The bigger question is... why Flauros needs to fake the appearance of his own sector. Didn't one of your people say someone besides Flauros was ruling it? Someone who wasn't a Temporal Lord? I have doubts that Flauros was bullied into all of his habits... which means he LET someone run the place while he went off being a psychopath, and used the films to hide his own actions."

Aeternus glanced around the command center.

"Try to get images of someone who isn't one of the people of this sector."

--------------------

At the party space.....

"We tried, at least. Let's see what Aeternus digs up."

"This is probably going to take time to figure out, Solaris. We couldn't have expected all the answers easy."

"Aeternus had the right idea, at least."

"Let's discuss something else for now."

"I wonder how Universe is doing...."

------------------
Meanwhile, on the Universe-7....



"I must admit, even with my mind opened, I'm still a little scared of what we're going to encounter out here. Did you have a lock on what it is we're trying to find, or are we just joyriding?"

Lets head towards the command center, I think we will find our answers there. If not then we will go to Flauros's residence here. He extracted his datapad from the computer and began leading you through the space station. He cut on his helmet light to illuminate the dark hallways. Through some of the doorways you could see mockups of Formosan homes and landscapes. The film studios most likely. Suddenly Ahrakas stopped in his tracks. By the Architects, what happened here? He pointed and in what appeared to be a dining room were hundreds of bodies of what appeared to be the stations crewmembers. You could tell their deaths were recent.

 

[Universe]

“I have no idea who that is”

 

[Firuthi Dragovic]

On the Universe-7...

“Look at that” *I said pointing at a giant sleeping dragon*

“I have no idea who that is”

"I know the Wasat Prisma and the Proxima Celestials can survive outer space... but there are more?"

Oliver gazed in wonder. This sleeping dragon was a type he'd never seen before.

"Do you feel any strange energy coming off of it? This may be what we came out here to find."

----------------------------

On the space station in the Formosa sector...

Lets head towards the command center, I think we will find our answers there. If not then we will go to Flauros's residence here. He extracted his datapad from the computer and began leading you through the space station. He cut on his helmet light to illuminate the dark hallways. Through some of the doorways you could see mockups of Formosan homes and landscapes. The film studios most likely. Suddenly Ahrakas stopped in his tracks. By the Architects, what happened here? He pointed and in what appeared to be a dining room were hundreds of bodies of what appeared to be the stations crewmembers. You could tell their deaths were recent.

"I have two guesses. Killswitch, and mass sacrifice. They were all recent, which tells me their deaths were tied at least to Flauros' demise a little bit."

Aeternus inspected the bodies. What appeared to be the most likely cause of death?

 

[Firuthi Dragovic]

((I wanted to post this with the above, but on second thought, I'm separating it into two posts - one for the responses and one for the new thing - for readability's sake.))

At the party space.....

The communicator that Cooper had been typing on started beeping. Cooper hit a button, and the screen lit up, revealing the face of one of the Wasat Prisma dragons.

Dragon: "Um... hello? Have I reached-"

"Hey, you're one of the Wasat Prisma guys!"

Dragon: "Th-the Joyous Heart?! Do you have the other Dragon Gods with you?"

"They're right here. As is Solaris."

Dragon: "Ah, I see them. The Shining Light, the Astute Mind, the Intrigued Might, the Brilliant Soul... and you too, Solaris, one of the Over-Dragons."

"First off, we have names. I, the Shining Light, am Pavlin or Aten."

"I'm the Astute Mind and I'd really prefer it if you called me Oriana or Khione."

"Leave the name 'Intrigued Might' to your scripture - I prefer the names Fabiana and Fujin."

"I'd rather you call me Kurt or Loki than the Brilliant Soul."

"As for me, the Joyous Heart? Try Cooper or Dagda. Also, I thought you only believe in ONE overdragon and that that was treated as heresy.... why are you saying 'one of'?"

Dragon: "Well.... we reviewed our scripture again... and it turns out there's a whole race of overdragons."

"Go on..."

Dragon: "Or at least, there was, before a war wiped a lot of them-"

"Don't bring up that war in front of Solaris. Just don't. Besides, the culprit of that war is dead, and a good number of the dragons still live."

Dragon: "Oh? This is news."

"The race is coming back. Slowly but surely."

Dragon: "....aaanyways, the reason I bring it up it because rumor's going around that Prince Oliver is learning elements directly from the overdragons."

"And?"

Dragon: "And the bodies of the servitor races aren't meant to hold that much power, even with large shares of our blessing helping them."

"What are you implying here?"

Dragon: "This is why the overdragon thing is treated as heresy. That much power will tear his body apart."

".....what?"

Dragon: "If he is adamant about learning the overdragons' elements, there are a few ways he can attain a strong enough body... but they all require one of your rituals. The Ritual of Eggs. Remember it?"

"I have no idea what you're even-"

Dragon: "Vi lasaua ternesj, ekess ifpesp wer kornari, vur mirt wer cekiwic batobot lorit wer sepa..." <A summoned stone, to calm the heart, and pull the threads that trap the soul...>

The otters all suddenly found themselves chanting in Draconic. Solaris may actually pick up on the nature of the ritual - basically containing the target in an egg-like construct and then infusing that construct with energy to alter their body. After a while, both the Wasat Prisma dragon and the otters stopped. The otters were clutching their heads while they tried to process this memory.

Dragon: "So... before I explain this ritual.... Solaris, if you had to pick a path for the crown prince of our servitors.... should he be turned into an ascended halfblood and keep his royal title, fully become one of us Wasat Prisma and ascend to elemental mastery... or is he destined to become one of you mighty overdragons? And... what do you call your race?"

 

[Universe]

((I wanted to post this with the above, but on second thought, I'm separating it into two posts - one for the responses and one for the new thing - for readability's sake.))

At the party space.....

The communicator that Cooper had been typing on started beeping. Cooper hit a button, and the screen lit up, revealing the face of one of the Wasat Prisma dragons.

Dragon: "Um... hello? Have I reached-"

"Hey, you're one of the Wasat Prisma guys!"

Dragon: "Th-the Joyous Heart?! Do you have the other Dragon Gods with you?"

"They're right here. As is Solaris."

Dragon: "Ah, I see them. The Shining Light, the Astute Mind, the Intrigued Might, the Brilliant Soul... and you too, Solaris, one of the Over-Dragons."

"First off, we have names. I, the Shining Light, am Pavlin or Aten."

"I'm the Astute Mind and I'd really prefer it if you called me Oriana or Khione."

"Leave the name 'Intrigued Might' to your scripture - I prefer the names Fabiana and Fujin."

"I'd rather you call me Kurt or Loki than the Brilliant Soul."

"As for me, the Joyous Heart? Try Cooper or Dagda. Also, I thought you only believe in ONE overdragon and that that was treated as heresy.... why are you saying 'one of'?"

Dragon: "Well.... we reviewed our scripture again... and it turns out there's a whole race of overdragons."

"Go on..."

Dragon: "Or at least, there was, before a war wiped a lot of them-"

"Don't bring up that war in front of Solaris. Just don't. Besides, the culprit of that war is dead, and a good number of the dragons still live."

Dragon: "Oh? This is news."

"The race is coming back. Slowly but surely."

Dragon: "....aaanyways, the reason I bring it up it because rumor's going around that Prince Oliver is learning elements directly from the overdragons."

"And?"

Dragon: "And the bodies of the servitor races aren't meant to hold that much power, even with large shares of our blessing helping them."

"What are you implying here?"

Dragon: "This is why the overdragon thing is treated as heresy. That much power will tear his body apart."

".....what?"

Dragon: "If he is adamant about learning the overdragons' elements, there are a few ways he can attain a strong enough body... but they all require one of your rituals. The Ritual of Eggs. Remember it?"

"I have no idea what you're even-"

Dragon: "Vi lasaua ternesj, ekess ifpesp wer kornari, vur mirt wer cekiwic batobot lorit wer sepa..." <A summoned stone, to calm the heart, and pull the threads that trap the soul...>

The otters all suddenly found themselves chanting in Draconic. Solaris may actually pick up on the nature of the ritual - basically containing the target in an egg-like construct and then infusing that construct with energy to alter their body. After a while, both the Wasat Prisma dragon and the otters stopped. The otters were clutching their heads while they tried to process this memory.

Dragon: "So... before I explain this ritual.... Solaris, if you had to pick a path for the crown prince of our servitors.... should he be turned into an ascended halfblood and keep his royal title, fully become one of us Wasat Prisma and ascend to elemental mastery... or is he destined to become one of you mighty overdragons? And... what do you call your race?"

“celestial dragons”

 

[Universe]

*Solaris was sparring with Nydos to keep his fighting skills sharp*

 

[Baron Tredegar]

On the Universe-7...


"I know the Wasat Prisma and the Proxima Celestials can survive outer space... but there are more?"

Oliver gazed in wonder. This sleeping dragon was a type he'd never seen before.

"Do you feel any strange energy coming off of it? This may be what we came out here to find."

----------------------------

On the space station in the Formosa sector...

"I have two guesses. Killswitch, and mass sacrifice. They were all recent, which tells me their deaths were tied at least to Flauros' demise a little bit."

Aeternus inspected the bodies. What appeared to be the most likely cause of death?

The bodies had no physical marks on them but you could detect massive psychic damage in them with your powers. Ahrakas spoke, Let us continue heading towards the command center, I feel it may be unwise to linger here.

 

[Universe]

((I wanted to post this with the above, but on second thought, I'm separating it into two posts - one for the responses and one for the new thing - for readability's sake.))

At the party space.....

The communicator that Cooper had been typing on started beeping. Cooper hit a button, and the screen lit up, revealing the face of one of the Wasat Prisma dragons.

Dragon: "Um... hello? Have I reached-"

"Hey, you're one of the Wasat Prisma guys!"

Dragon: "Th-the Joyous Heart?! Do you have the other Dragon Gods with you?"

"They're right here. As is Solaris."

Dragon: "Ah, I see them. The Shining Light, the Astute Mind, the Intrigued Might, the Brilliant Soul... and you too, Solaris, one of the Over-Dragons."

"First off, we have names. I, the Shining Light, am Pavlin or Aten."

"I'm the Astute Mind and I'd really prefer it if you called me Oriana or Khione."

"Leave the name 'Intrigued Might' to your scripture - I prefer the names Fabiana and Fujin."

"I'd rather you call me Kurt or Loki than the Brilliant Soul."

"As for me, the Joyous Heart? Try Cooper or Dagda. Also, I thought you only believe in ONE overdragon and that that was treated as heresy.... why are you saying 'one of'?"

Dragon: "Well.... we reviewed our scripture again... and it turns out there's a whole race of overdragons."

"Go on..."

Dragon: "Or at least, there was, before a war wiped a lot of them-"

"Don't bring up that war in front of Solaris. Just don't. Besides, the culprit of that war is dead, and a good number of the dragons still live."

Dragon: "Oh? This is news."

"The race is coming back. Slowly but surely."

Dragon: "....aaanyways, the reason I bring it up it because rumor's going around that Prince Oliver is learning elements directly from the overdragons."

"And?"

Dragon: "And the bodies of the servitor races aren't meant to hold that much power, even with large shares of our blessing helping them."

"What are you implying here?"

Dragon: "This is why the overdragon thing is treated as heresy. That much power will tear his body apart."

".....what?"

Dragon: "If he is adamant about learning the overdragons' elements, there are a few ways he can attain a strong enough body... but they all require one of your rituals. The Ritual of Eggs. Remember it?"

"I have no idea what you're even-"

Dragon: "Vi lasaua ternesj, ekess ifpesp wer kornari, vur mirt wer cekiwic batobot lorit wer sepa..." <A summoned stone, to calm the heart, and pull the threads that trap the soul...>

The otters all suddenly found themselves chanting in Draconic. Solaris may actually pick up on the nature of the ritual - basically containing the target in an egg-like construct and then infusing that construct with energy to alter their body. After a while, both the Wasat Prisma dragon and the otters stopped. The otters were clutching their heads while they tried to process this memory.

Dragon: "So... before I explain this ritual.... Solaris, if you had to pick a path for the crown prince of our servitors.... should he be turned into an ascended halfblood and keep his royal title, fully become one of us Wasat Prisma and ascend to elemental mastery... or is he destined to become one of you mighty overdragons? And... what do you call your race?"

“my head hurts”

 

[Firuthi Dragovic]

“celestial dragons”

*Solaris was sparring with Nydos to keep his fighting skills sharp*

“my head hurts”

"Welcome to every interaction with the Wasat Prisma. Their religion is.... old, shall we say."

"I believe it is over 100 realities old, and from an all-dragon reality. We're long overdue to help them update their scripture."

"Though we will deal with that part ourselves."

"I believe their egg ritual is something they learned directly from you, Solaris."

"We're getting off track. Ask Solaris the question again."

Dragon: "The prince of our servitor race, Oliver... we have to use a containment ritual and alter his body in some fashion if he is to survive learning elements directly from the celestial dragons. I asked about what body you think is fitting for him."

"Tell Solaris the options."

Dragon: "If we simply use the Wasat Prisma's magic after containing him, he'll turn into a proper halfblood. Half kobold, half Wasat Prisma. He will still be limited in how many elements he can master, but he'll be able to handle elements of any strength. And he'll still be the kobolds' crown prince."

"Go on."

Dragon: "Alternatively, you can have the Dragon Gods - or, as I believe you and the others called them, the Architects - alter his body. He won't be a kobold anymore in that case - he'll become one of us Wasat Prisma in full, and there will be no limit to his elemental mastery."

"....you had a third option...."

Dragon: "It's unlikely, but Solaris... you have the option of personally intervening in the ritual. He will no longer have a connection to the Wasat Prisma at that point, though, and he may lose his memories of us. That's because you'd directly be turning him into a celestial dragon."

"So.... what do you think, Solaris?"

 

[Firuthi Dragovic]

The bodies had no physical marks on them but you could detect massive psychic damage in them with your powers. Ahrakas spoke, Let us continue heading towards the command center, I feel it may be unwise to linger here.

"Yes, we should keep going."

As Ahrakas and Aeternus proceeded onward, Aeternus tried to get a message into Ahrakas' head.

"Whoever did that has powerful psionics on their side. They all had their brains turned to mush. I'm tempted to camp out in your brain in case they try anything on you, but it will distract me from direct attack."

 

[Baron Tredegar]

"Yes, we should keep going."

As Ahrakas and Aeternus proceeded onward, Aeternus tried to get a message into Ahrakas' head.

"Whoever did that has powerful psionics on their side. They all had their brains turned to mush. I'm tempted to camp out in your brain in case they try anything on you, but it will distract me from direct attack."

I have trained to resist psychic attacks, however I think I wouldnt be able to resist whatever did this for too long. Lets just make sure to keep an eye out on each other.
You both made your way through the space station for some time, occasionally encountering other bodies littered throughout the station. Eventually you came to the stations command center, after hacking the doors open you were surprised to find the lights on.
I dont like this at all.
As soon as Ahrakas said that, you both felt it. A mental presence more powerful than any either of you had ever encountered. It quickly destroyed both of your mental defenses and started scanning your minds and memories. From the corner of your eye you could see the air in the back of the room shimmer.

 

[Firuthi Dragovic]

I have trained to resist psychic attacks, however I think I wouldnt be able to resist whatever did this for too long. Lets just make sure to keep an eye out on each other.
You both made your way through the space station for some time, occasionally encountering other bodies littered throughout the station. Eventually you came to the stations command center, after hacking the doors open you were surprised to find the lights on.
I dont like this at all.
As soon as Ahrakas said that, you both felt it. A mental presence more powerful than any either of you had ever encountered. It quickly destroyed both of your mental defenses and started scanning your minds and memories. From the corner of your eye you could see the air in the back of the room shimmer.

"!!!"

You'd think the dragon god of gates and barriers would have defenses against every single possible type of mental attack. Technically, he did. Problem was, he couldn't maintain all of them at once and still have energy to do anything. He had to predict what he would encounter. And having lived for countless realities... meant countless threats to defend against.

It most likely wasn't so much having never encountered the threat period... as it was the threat being so old he straight-up couldn't find it in his memory even if he tried. The defense had to be buried deep... somewhere...

Aeternus kept trying mental defense after mental defense, hoping against hope he could find the one buried deep within his psyche that could repel this attack.

The fact he had that many defenses to throw at the presence, plus literally billions of centuries of memories to sift through and the fact there was no inner darkness to clutch on to, would probably signal to the presence just what Aeternus was in the first place.