Note: This post will be updated regularly since it is based on forum page number.
So you want to join the Nexus RP, but so many pages worth of Story Topic in present tense is a tough read. Or you're already fighting in the Arenas of the Tournament, but you want a refresher on what everyone else is up to. Worry no more, Spheremorphs! This Synopsis Topic, as it were, will endevor to summarize what has happened on each page of the Story Topic, and put it in past tense for easy reading. Though I'll note right now, I'm more comfortable writing in present tense, so some sentences may be stilted and awkward.
Without further ado, here's what happened on....
Page 1
Important NPCs on this page: Doc, Chieftain of the machineback village
The first few posts on this page are vital to understanding Nexus - Silus basically lays out everything about the world, magic system, monsters, rules, and application process. The application format is right here, as well.
Once the story started, Eerongal heard some thugs extorting money from someone in an alley of the Crook of the Plains, and ducked behind cover to eavesdrop. A cat blew his cover, sort of, and one of the thugs (Bruise) investigated. Eero instantly shifted to Tactician and ambushed Bruise, knocking him out and using him as a human shield. He pushed forward with Bruise in tow, then shoved Bruise away to knock down one of the other thugs, throwing his gun to the ground. With the fight looking seriously dangerous, a thug named Doc started to run away.
Meanwhile, Jay'el woke up in a machineback village within the Machine Desert. He was woken by a member of the Chieftain's Circle, someone important, for dire reasons - the village was under attack by a Threat-sized plane. Once outside, able to observe conditions and gather information, Jay'el shifted to Engineer and moved to attack the plane. He was stopped by the village's kinetic barrier, which then fell as the plane made a kamikaze dive. Jay'el tried to Hack and Cryo Blast the plane, but before it hit the ground it transformed into a tiger - the Hack was ineffective, and the Blast only weakened one leg of the tigerplane transformer. With the beast now in the middle of the village, Jay'el has his work cut out for him.
Page 2
Important NPCs on this page: Doc, Chieftain, Crook merchant
Jay'el threw ability after ability at the tigerplane transformer, but it refused to fall. He did manage to disable it slightly, making one leg limp and another lose its armor, but those were not what finally brought it down. Using his Combat Drone to draw the beast's attention away from townspeople, Jay'el shot at the tigerplane while his AI Hacking ability cooled down. The transformer was nearly upon him when his omni-tool beeped an affirmative, and he fired his Hack at the last possible moment before the beast crushed him. It transformed into a plane in mid-leap, but skidded into the ground from all the damage it had sustained, demolishing part of the village in the process. The chieftain of the village blamed Jay'el for the damage and tells him to leave, and Jay'el accepted it even if he felt it would have been worse had he not been there. He shifted back to Baseline, and offered to care for the injured before taking his leave. There were, however, no injuries thanks to Jay'el's efforts as well as those of the town's defenders, so the chieftain directed Jay to take care of the tigerplane's body.
Eerongal's fight with the thugs continued as one of the thugs went for the fallen gun. Eero made a running knee-drop onto the forearm of the man reaching for gun, causing a hairline fracture. Doc, who ran earlier, now turned back, fumbling with a one-time-use item known as a fireburst ball. Eerongal tackled Doc and took away the fireburst ball, but as he stood up he heard the tell-tale click of the gun's hammer. A man who Eero had slammed into a wall, breaking his ribs, now held the gun aimed at Eerongal, but Eero held the fireburst ball, leaving them in a standoff. Eerongal used the time to monologue in a very, very intimidating fashion, frightening the thugs enough that they finally left, though Doc was still too stunned to go. The man the thugs had been extorting was still huddled behind rotting boxes.
Ambrosius entered the scene in Bladesinger Form, bargaining with a merchant in the Crook of the Plains over the price of a shock stick - a piece of equipment that acts like a tazer. The merchant offered Ambro a gold fiver coin, enough for a week's worth of food, assuming one were on a starvation diet. Ambrosius reacted by threatening the merchant, mentally deciding to settle for three gold fivers or better. The man laughed off the threat and upped his offer to a gold and a silver, but Ambrosius really dislikes people who try to cheat him. He slashed the merchant's throat with his Silence knife, blade and all, and offered an ultimatum. "Listen, give me 3 gold fivers and I won't eat you." Ambro was shocked to see the merchant fall to the ground, dead, but then remembered he cut the man's throat. Ambrosius looted the dead man's body, finding only a silver fiver and a bronze fiver, and retrieved his shock stick. He then faintly heard the end of Eerongal's monologue to the thugs, and switched to Geass to investigate.
Page 3
Noteable NPCS on this page: Doc, Chieftain Hapori, Destron,
Eerongal switched into Champion to talk to Doc, and was joined by Ambrosius. Eerongal was suspicious of Ambro at first, but Ambro willing interrogated Doc using Geass while Eerongal healed the other man. Doc revealed that the thugs work for Destron, one of the Sphemorph rulers of the Crook, that Destron has three other Spheremorphs working for him, and that the thugs were to be bait for Eerongal and Ambrosius. Eero and Ambro were then knocked out by a Smoketwist and taken… somewhere, presumably Destron's headquarters in the Crook. Doc is notably absent, but two Spheremorphs, the one from the alley and a White Mage, ministered to Ambro as Eerongal woke up. They had been tied to chairs and had all their equipment removed, leaving them just two more men. Eerongal recognized the Spheremorph from the alley as a former Spheremorph applicant in the Lake City military, an underdog that was a common soldier - Destron. Eerongal attempted to nettle Destron, but instead drew out a brief speech on the nature of the Crook of the Plains. Destron then revealed his true reason for kidnapping the two Spheremorphs: he wants them to enter the tournament, find out who is hosting it, and what purpose it has. In any possible way. Destron clearly feared the quantity of Spheremorphs that would gather for the tournament.
Jay'el snapped at the chieftain before going to loot the tigerplane's Hacked body, where he found a component. The chieftain appeared at his elbow, looking over his shoulder and telling him the component may be made into a piece for a Mophing Grid. The chieftain also seemed to threaten Jay'el by saying, "There's a reason I don't like Spheremorphs in my town." Jay reacted to the perceived threat by shifting into Gunner and responding verbally. The chieftain revealed a scar shaped like a Spheremount, and that he once was a Spheremorph. He then offered to repair the tigerplane so Jay'el could use it to get to the Crook of the Plains and attach the component to his Grid, admonishing Jay'el to shift back into Engineer. Jay shifted, grabbed his things, and scanned the tigerplane looking for a safe place to sit. He also asked for the chieftain's name - Hapori. Hapori gave some brief advice on being a Spheremorph that basically summarizes as be careful, and Jay'el monologued for a while about his goals before leaving via Hacked tigerplane. He quickly arrived at the entrance of the Crook of the Plains, where a bespectacled man rushed out saying he had done a bad thing.
Page 4
Notable NPCs on this page: Jonathan (Doc), Destron
Jay'el talked with the man in specticles, Jonathan, as he related a scene familiar to Jay'el's player (Cuaiir) - the kidnapping of Eerongal and Ambrosius. Jonathan freaked out as he told his story, and Jay'el had to calm him multiple times to get all the information possible out of him. Jay'el shifted from Engineer to Shaman to look for Eerongal and Ambrosius at Jonathan's request, but before he could cast a Finding spell Jonathan spotted the other two walking down the street.
Ambro checked for his shock stick, tied up in his knotted clothing, but found nothing. Eerongal agreed to do as Destron asked, but for different, more altruistic reasons than Destron outlined. Ambrosius also agreed, but more out of the promise of rare items than for altruistic reasoning. The two were let go, their equipment returned, and they introduced themselves to each other as they left Destron's headquarters.
Jay'el introduced himself to Eerongal and, tangentially, Ambrosius, then explained Jonathan's situation. Eerongal forgives Jonathan of luring them into Destron's clutches, though Ambro is still suspicious of both Jay and Jonathan. Jonathan didn't say a word the entire time, but dashed past Eerongal and ripped a note from the wall. He read it and fell dead. Ambro reacted with his usual aplomb, saying "That was entirely unsuspected. Who wants to read the paper?"
Huzzah! This is the page where the three original PCs came together for the first time, and the chain of events that carries them to the tournament started.
Page 5
Notable NPCs on this page: Spheresmith
Eerongal rushed to Jonathan's side to use his Champion's Lay-on-Hands ability, but nothing could be done. Eerongal then moved to read the note, whose text can be found here. The note outlined what the Spheremorphs were to do in order to join the tournament, and they spent a while discussing what to do next. Ambrosius, of course, searched Jonathan's corpse and found five silver fivers, a pocketwatch, and a handkerchief, all of which he handed over to Eerongal, as Ambro had nowhere to store the items. Introductions were also made all around, putting everyone on the same footing. Jay'el shifted back to baseline from Shaman, which relaxed Ambrosius' natural distrust of him. The three discussed getting to the location early in order to prepare it, but since none of them knew where it was that became a non-option. Jay'el eventually wandered away to seek out a local and ask them about the meeting location. Jay wandered into a Spheresmithy and was immediately distracted, trying to get the component he found on the tigerplane made into something.
Page 6
Notable NPCs on this page: Spheresmith, boat owner, traveling merchant
In the Spheresmithy, Jay'el and the Spheresmith chatted for a while about Fusers and other component types. Most of the information can be found here, in the Data Topic. Jay'el component was a Gated Fuser, which once equipped would allow him to shift from one Form to another and combine everything about them. The Spheresmith also implied that he knew Hapori, the chieftain, during their conversation. Jay'el asked about making components like Fusers, but the Spheresmith implied that most items like those were not made but found, particularly in places that require other items to get to - a catch-22. Jay'el pondered more one making items from scratch, and finally asked the Spheresmith to set the Fuser up in his Cradle of Chemistry.
Ambrosius went off to look for a boat, and found a man with one scrambling to untie it. Ambro threatened him with Atium Misting and the shock stick, and the man broke out weeping. His father-in-law was the merchant Ambrosius killed earlier, and now this poor man's life was falling apart. Ambro killed him for his whining and dumps the body in an alley, looting it and taking the boat.
Eerongal, after being left on his own, approached a traveling merchant in search of supplies and information.
Page 7
Notable NPCs on this page: a bum, traveling merchant, Tohu
Ambrosius found two copper fivers on the dead man's body and used them to bribe a bum to find Eerongal. He looked at the body again and decided to drop it in the river, where Eero wouldn't see. He spent a good chunk of this page waiting on Eerongal and Jay'el.
Eerongal found out the location of the meeting place from the traveling merchant, along with some information on Destron. Destron was apparently in some sort of conflict with another Spheremorph known as the Owl, and both Destron and the Owl were rumored to have Special Forms. The bum the Ambrosius bribed approached Eerongal at roughly the same time as Jay'el showed back up, and the two Spheremorphs briefly conferred before Jay'el left once again. Eerongal followed the bum to Ambrosius' boat, and the two proceeded to load it with supplies.
Jay'el and Tohu, the Spheresmith, discussed attaching the Fuser, but Jay'el initially decided against it for time reasons. After conferring with Eerongal, he went back to the Spheresmithy and had Tohu attach the Fuser, taking notes all the while.
The loading of the boat and the Fuser attachment took the rest of the day, and the three silently took the boat to the meeting location - a large stone cross on the coast, just downstream. A figure stood next to the cross, shadowed by the sunset.
Page 8
Notable NPCs on this page: an armored man
A challenger appears! Just kidding, but it is River's first appearance. He thought about his past and how he had been investigating the tournament, while reading a note similar to the one Eero, Jay, and Ambro found earlier. He reached up to touch the lapis lazuli at the center of the cross, and the group of three shifted into Form behind cover. Eerongal, in his Tactician Form, let out a rallying cry once everyone was shifted. Hearing the cry, River rolled behind the cross and shifted into Waterbender while the trio stepped off the boat. Ambro improv'd a line that put Eerongal as the leader of the group, and Jay'el acted as Eerongal's bodyguard in his new Amalgam Form, noting the light from behind the cross. River stepped out from behind the cross, flaring bronze, and noticed the pulses coming off all three Spheremorphs. For lack of other options, River tried diplomacy, and Eerongal responded in kind. River introduced himself as 'Adolin,' stepping closer to the groups and the shore - water, his Form's weapon. Jay'el recognized 'Adolin' as a character from the children's storybook, The Good King's Handbook, and a master duelist. He warned his companion's about such, and prepared a Precise Throw in his Primal Gunner Form. River ramped up the charm in response, but Ambrosius hit him with Geass. After River's Geass was fulfilled, he threatened the group - it seemed likely to break out into a fight.
A man in armor came crashing out of the sky, landing between the trio and River. He scolds Ambrosius and Jay'el, Ambro for using Geass and Jay for preparing an ability. The armored man then walked up the hill towards the cross. Ambro was shocked back to baseline, unable to act for the moment. Eerongal, in his Tactician Form, was able to quickly assess the situation and regain his wits, and he motioned for Ambrosius and Jay'el to follow the armored man Jay'el did so without a word, wary of 'Adolin' behind the trio. River didn't notice any bronze pulses from the armored man, and mockingly bows to the trio before following them up the hill.
Page 9
Notable NPCs on this page: the armored man
Notable new locations: the Waterfall Cavern
Ambro took a moment to shift to Atium Misting and apologize to 'Adolin' before following Jay'el and Eerongal to the cross.
At the cross, the armored man gave a quick speech. In sum, it told the group that they would be entering the tournament area and that no one would be able to leave once they entered. Jay'el took issue with being told what to do, and proceeded to question the armored man. As Jay'el questioned, River noted a lack of bronze-pulses from everyone - the armored man was burning copper somehow. The man told Jay'el that he had been assigned to escort them to the tournament, and that they were lucky it was so - others would have let them fight. He then touched to lapis lazuli in the cross, opening a door in the base that led down a spiral stone staircase. Jay'el and Ambrosius turned to Eerongal, keeping up their earlier ruse, and left their decision on where to go up to him. Ambro asked 'Adolin' his origins, to which River lied, and Ambro let on that he was just trying to confirm that 'Adolin' wouldn't immediately try to kill him.
Eerongal (the player) couldn't post for a while, so Silus stepped in and moved the campaign forward, sending Eerongal's trio down the spiral stairs. River followed, wary of being deposited elsewhere. The four Spheremorphs follow the armored man down, through ornate doors and into the Waterfall Cavern. More than forty Spheremorphs stood, chatting, throughout the Cavern. Jay'el noted one in a Warrior's mantle from the Machine Desert, and Ambrosius looked for those from the Frozen Foothills but found none. Ambro asked Jay what he thought would happen, but Jay'el was unsure. Jay, Ambro, and River all thought about fighting each other, debating. Jay'el came to the conclusion that he would lose to any of them, and Ambro and River both came to a sort of self-confident conclusion, that they would never lose. Eerongal tried to recruit 'Adolin' into the party as part of a mutually beneficial pact, though he did put Ambrosius to watch the newcomer. The group then dispersed to gather information.
Page 10
Notable NPCs on this page: the armored man, robed woman, Burly, Veronica, Gregory, Kara, Adam
Notable new locations: three Machine Desert machineback villages (Coral Spider, Amber Aphid, Sanguine Boar)
Ambrosius agreed to watch 'Adolin' for the moment, and River groaned inwardly with Eerongal's recruitment speech. 'Adolin' attempted to get introductions from the trio as Ambrosius started burning atium to watch him. River noted the bronze pulses of atium coming from Ambrosius, but made no sudden moves. Jay'el made a terse intorduction of himself to 'Adolin,' then left the group to join another, the one with the Warrior's mantle. River noted Jay'el's lack of political savvy, but stood waiting for further introductions. A hand grabbed Ambrosius' shoulder, numbing (with the Road of Numb) his ability to use atium, and Ambro turned to look at who had grabbed him, saying he was just following orders (though, technically it was a request). A woman in robes said to Ambro, "I've spent twenty years of my life discerning truth from lies. And that was a lie." Ambro asked her name, but she responded enigmatically and walked off with the armored man. River called Ambrosius out, as 'magic user,' on an introduction, and Ambro responded to 'Adolin' in kind - with his brother's name of Varius. Ambro also protested that he didn't use magic earlier - only a Form that allows more efficient communication. At this point, Eerongal shifts back to baseline and goes to mingle (thus avoiding further posting). Ambrosius gives up the ruse from earlier - no longer need Jay'el and Ambro pretend to be subserviant to Eerongal. River asked 'Varius' why he travels with Eerongal, if they are not in a master-servant relation. Ambro related part of his backstory, found here.
Jay'el, meanwhile, had joined another group, this one holding a lady Shaman, her mantle marking her as from the Coral Spider, a large machineback village in the Machine Desert. Jay'el introduces himself, and remarks that his mantle came from Amber Aphid, though he was recently in Sanguine Boar fighting a tigerplane. The lady Shaman introduces herself as Burly, and the rest of her group introduce themselves - Gregory, a leather-armored man; Veronica, a slightly plump woman in bellbottoms and a tank; absent-minded Kara and quiet Adam, twins with green eyes
Eerongal spotted a man in the crowd who seemed to be watching him. The man had a Morphing grid with a vivid eye pattern on it, and he grinned at Eero before fading into the crowd.
Page 11
Notable NPCs on this page: Peter, Defender of House Skell; Flip, Trip, and Skip of the Frozen Foothills; the armored man; Burly, Gregory, and Victoria; Kara and Adam; the benefactor
Notable new locations: the dining hall; the sleeping chambers
This is a beast of a page, just as a heads up.
River listened intently to 'Varius's story, but dismissed it as folklore. He opened a possible alliance with 'Varius' then left to go mingle. 'Varius' didn’t tail River as Eerongal requested, but moved to mingle in his own way. River heard a familiar voice, rising above all the rest, and was soon ambushed by a Defender of Riverheart, Peter of Skell. Peter was a hedonist, needing either booze or women at all times, but preferably both simultaneously. River apparently dated his sister briefly. Peter chattered at River for a while, announcing River's true name for all to hear, and River played nice briefly. Their conversation was cut off by an announcement.
Ambrosius noted 'Adolin's disbelief, spun around three times, and walked off, looking for someone interesting to talk to. He bumped into a Spheremorph, heard a man call 'Adolin' by a different name, River, and was yelled at by the Spheremorph he bumped into. Ambrosius was called a demonskin by the Spheremorph, and his companions, Flip and Trip, joined in an assault on Ambrosius, pulling back his sleeve to expose the red scaly skin underneath. All three of the Morphs were clearly from the Frozen Foothills - an area that wants Ambrosius' entire family dead. Before things could grow dangerous, the armored man pulled the three Spheremorphs away from Ambro, threatening them. The three were mildly cowed, and the one who originally threatened Ambrosius went to shake his hand. The handshake turned into a hard pull, and Skip (name pulled from later) once again threatened Ambrosius. Ambro was overall unphased by the event, but began singing in a strange language while walking through the crowd. His song was interrupted by an announcement.
Jay'el continued his conversation with Burly's group and the twins with introductions and how he came to be part of the tournament. He didn't hear Peter talking about River, but did see Ambrosius getting manhandled by the group from Frozen Foothills. He talked about being a Spheremorph scholar and studying the tech, and invited the group to respond. Before they could answer, an announcement began.
Eerongal began to stalk his onlooker, but the announcement stopped him in his tracks.
Oh, by the way, here's a link to the announcement that I've referenced so much. It was a big deal at the time. A man, most likely the benefactor, popped out of the wall on a balcony, made his quick announcement, and then retreated, balcony dissolving behind him. He seemed to have a great measure of control over the environment. The area was revealed to be a dungeon, and that the Announcer (made up title, don't use) could control whether monsters would appear.
Eerongal didn't recover quite quickly enough, and when he once again looked for his onlooker, could not find him. Eero almost thought he imagined the onlooker, but somehow knew that was not the case. Eerongal then left for the living quarters, finding an empty room.
Jay'el recovered quickly and asked Burly's group and the twins if they would like to continue their conversation over drinks. The twins decline, leaving along with a majority of the Spheremorphs, but Burly, Victoria, and Gregory all join him in the dining center. The group revealed that they joined the tournament as a type of Mageprice (see Shaman Form entry). Their conversation continued for a bit, mostly as a vehicle for Jay'el's backstory, and eventually they all decided to go to bed. Jay'el entered a room with Eerongal's name on the door, and as he entered a spark appeared on the door, searing his name in beneath Eero's. Jay'el went to sleep.
Ambrosius didn't continue his song after the announcement, instead choosing to eavesdrop on the Spheremorphs as they left. He didn't find anything interesting, and joined Eerongal and Jay'el in the living quarters. He was annoyed by the searing of the names, but chose to deal with it.
River shifted into Sympathist to feel the bronze pulses coming off the Announcer - but not quite. The bronze pulses came from a silhouette above and to one side of the Announcer, and oddity that River noted and filed away. He made the decision to try and climb the social circles to join the armored man, robed woman, and now the Announcer. River picked up his conversation with Peter, trying to pump the Defender for information, but Skell knew nothing but that their hosts were enigmatic. Peter then left, wishing River well and humming an old Riverheart drinking song. River briefly and silently lamented his lack of information, and eavesdropped on the Spheremorphs as they left, noting with bronze what each could do. River tailed multiple groups to the living quarters, eventually finding the room with Eero, Jay'el, and Ambrosius. He briefly debated going elsewhere, but decided against it for lack of information.
Page 12
Notable NPCs on this page: Tori, Kerr, Thomas McGee, Piscun, Jezebel, Peter
Notable new locations: the Living Quarters
Silus gave a brief description of the Living Quarters at the top of this page, and for reference I made an image, found here.
Jay'el woke, took a shower, and headed into the Spheresmithy. He called out and an apprentice, Kerr, came out to see what he wanted. Jay'el told the apprentice about his Gated Fuser, Spheresmith Tohu, and how he wanted to upgrade it, and the apprentice took him into the smithy to meet with Tori, a Spheresmith. After a brief discussion of the Spheresmithy's defenses, Jay'el left his Cradle of Chemistry Grid with Tori to examine and went to check his position in the tournament - 22. He noted the position of his companions, briefly chatted with Ambrosius, and went to investigate his opponent, Thomas McGee. Thom was not in his room, and Jay'el was unable to find anything important out about him. Jay then went to the Dining Hall to get a drink and have a bit to eat, and ended up eavesdropping on River, who was chatting with the now-unarmored man and robed woman. Jay received a quick wink from the robed woman, and nodded in response. He continued eavesdropping until an announcement came through the walls - go to the Waterfall Cavern, and be informed of tournament procedure. Jay followed those directions, and took up his Shaman stance, confident but without arrogance.
Ambro checked the bracket first thing upon waking, and chatted briefly with Jay'el. He was positioned as number 23, facing 24, Veronica Amazon. He got something to eat but did not eavesdrop, and when the announcement to go to the Waterfall Cavern came on he hung out at the back of the crowd, observing.
River woke, showered, and checked the bracket - position 1, facing Peter Skell of Riverheart. He, too, went to get food and was distracted from his thoughts about Peter by the sight of the now-unarmored man and robed woman. River approached their table nonchalantly, though no one else was within ten feet of the table, and asked if the seat next to the man was taken. The two laughed briefly, and the man paid the woman a rupee. The two related the bet they had going, and how River was only the third person to sit with them in the month they had been there. The man introduced himself as Piscun, and the woman as Jezebel. River made a little small talk, though being the butt of a joke in front of such powerful people forced him to swallow his pride, and eventually asked them how they became involved. Piscun told him it was complicated, but they had been involved from the beginning. Jezebel winked over River's shoulder, but River did not turn to look at the target of said wink. River thought himself well hidden, and said so, but Piscun and Jezebel said that though his trail was thin, it was still able to be followed through the benefactor's connections. Piscun wondered why River was so curious, since the opportunity for success was so clear and no one was trying to kill him. River related his worries about his enemies, and silently wonders about his desires for power. Jezebel smiled and said, "If you want to find out what rewards will come to you, you'll just have to stick around." Then an announcement came through the walls, sending everyone to the Waterfall Cavern, and separating River from Piscun and Jezebel.
Eerongal checked the bracket and found his number to be 4, his opponent, number 3, someone named Darla. When the announcement came through the walls, he went to the Waterfall Cavern.
Page 13
