At the beginning of the season, geomancers and engineers from across the world came together to try and stop the disintegration of the Confederacy, following the destruction of part of the fragment stack. The centrepiece of their efforts was the Conduit designed by Takhai, made to distribute geomantic energy evenly between the fragments of the Confederacy and bolster the Stack. After much hard work all across the Confederacy, the project was completed. As it is turned on, everything seems to have gone to plan; the fragment's oscillations dampen down, and they settle into a stable orbit. For those in control, however, it was clear something had gone wrong; a great excess of geomantic energy was building up, threatening to send the entire Confederacy flying apart. Quickly failsafes were activated, dumping the excess in a random fragment and sacrificing it for the good of the Confederacy.
Unfortunately, that fragment was the GPR. One moment it was stationary, the next it was rocketing away from the Stack, grazing some fragments and smashing through others. As it flew, it seemed that shining silver cables strung between it and other fragments snapped into place and took the strain, and soon it was dragging behind it half a dozen other fragments. Slowly these dragged on it, eventually bringing it to a halt halfway between the Confederacy and the City.
There were many casualties from this catastrophe, most notably Catequil of the Tirthankar, who was on a metaphysical research expedition when the fragment he was on was hit straight on by the GPR. Though the GPR suffered great structural damage, loss of life was mostly averted by the prompt humanitarian aid provided by the Miners of Quartz under Intaglio Deep, who travelled from the City to set up hospitals and tend to the wounded.
The GPC representative known as Maxim was apprehended too late after being fingered for the brutal murder and mutilation of the enigmatic Atticus. Maxim was found dead by a joint GPR and Union strike force. Cause of death is still unknown, but the combined colonial investigation had little trouble determining the cause of Maxim's deranged actions…
It is believed that Maxim was strongly under the influence of an entity known as the 'Mistmind', and had been fighting this control for some time via mist potions and meditation. A hastily scrawled last will gave an unreserved apology to Ella May Dixie for killing her Wife and Cousin, and gifted her some of his estate.
What this Mistmind wants with the Eyes of the late Atticus is a mystery. The Department is laying on full honors for their greatest officer, and the GPR have offered official apology for their man's action.
The Corvidae faction of the Confederacy has signed a treaty with the GPC declaring that they formally accept the government of the GPR. This new treaty is one more step to the recovery of the confederacy from the recent war. The Corvidae is putting heavy pressure on the clans under their umbrella to also join the GPC, and it's likly those who don't join will face having the corvidae withdraw support.
In related news the Earthborne have been thrown into disarray with the dissapearance of King Lemur. He dissapeared after a trip to the GPR to discuss a solution to the conflict. The Earthborne are outraged, but as of yet have not got together a formal respose in the confusion.
A large event rocked the broken world this season. The Dominus Mundi has been seen active again, apparently started by Valk Tillerman, a chain reaction has started that will heal the world. A mist ritual started on a fragment, where pillars of iron rocketed to connect the storms and the mist, creating a ctructure capable of making the life energy that keeps the fragments afloat. From this fragment iron from all over the broken world has flocked creating a huge network of a lattice, which fragment have been coming to and resting on. The lattic continues to grow, using the Iron which can be found in the fragments that join the network. It is currently a single fragment the size of the Union, and continues to grow with no sign of stopping.
The checkpoint challenge at each colony may have the thrill of danger, but for the real speed freaks its the marathon test that proves where its at! For those just tuning in, each racer has to make an inter colony flight after collect all their checkpoint flags from the previous colony. Every second counts in test of endurance and engineering, with the distance between colonies an order of magnitude up from the longest colony checkpoint challenge.
Hot favorite for this area is naturally Ritz Herald. The crowds were literally blown away by her performance, but Blacknails is equally scorching in his own custom modden herald rocket loaned for the race. Less refine a pilot, he makes up for it with his aggressive racing style. We've previously seen the Herald rocket blasting through the sound barrier, but never before have we seen the likes of Blacknails make use of the resulting storm turbulance so aggressively. While incomparably fast, the Rockets required long maintenance and refuelling stops after each phase, eating into their edge.
Chtoth's Racing Fragments have undergone significant improvement, now sporting a fasionable streak of red rock down the sides. His unique 'Blue Overlighting' racing style, where he seeks out the blue stretches of storm that somehow boost his horsepower, has shown that speed racing is truly a thinking man's game. Most importantly for Chtoth, Souped up Silverstone should only need two recharges; once at the city, once before the final confederate challenge… though the 'living' rock is known to occasionally got distracted by shiney objects.
Even with these improvements, the Heral Rockets still have the speed edge. However the three favorites are legues ahead of the next nearest competition; Slasher McGee's skyship.
Meanwhile, Spacepuny, Valk and the Hareppi are all neck and neck for last place. The 'meatships' of ponyfish and the Hareppi relay have a reasonable turn of speed, but need to stop so often to rest it looked hopeless. Valk's Iron Titan is relentless, but seems incapable of grasping that this is a race. Disaster struck for Valk when Clintina and Tolocalimeli simultaneously realized they'd be best off taking their breaks on the head of the titan, Valk was powerless against this 'Pidgeoning'.
Roderick Alonso is in the process of introducing a new mode of transport. This transport is a carrige that runs on parallel rail that run between stations. A “locomotive” is a powered cart, driven by a newly invented “engine” pulling passanger an goods carts behind it. The system has already been implemented between the City of Lights and the City, as well as areas of the GPR. With the creation of the new mega fragment, the process seems even more feasable, as the rail don't need to transverse the gaps between fragments.
Mowtown Hatten? Nah, thats nothing. Just the labor pains of the real project. Where Battle Jazz was destructive and chaotic, we're now putting a pure structure to that chaos. Ella May is going to change the world! Creative Jazz! Its rippling tunes inspiring the mind to every sort of good idea that comes from a crazy mind. Believe in the Jazz. Trust the ways of Ella May. We can all be saved by cutting ourselves free!
Visit the New Temple of Jazz. The Bastion of Jazz will be visiting you. Seek Beware the Jazzy Roger.
“THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD! Discover the SHOCKING TRUTH of the past of the BROKEN WORLD!! The SCORCHING SECRETS they do not want you to know!!! Dragons! Jazz! Dancing robots! Lightning! APOCALYPSESES!!!!”
Apparently the Circus still knows how to put on a fantastic show, this season a production call the “History of the World” was put on. By all accounts it was a fantastic show with fireworks, clouds of dramatic swirling coloured smoke in between set pieces, and a final number featuring the last Apocalypse, portrayed with purple lightning from the Sparks Coil and a massive wave of fireworks and explosions as well as musical numbers galore.
The Spirit of Red Roses, who represented love and motherhood and sitting around doing nothing, has been defeated by Madam Imogene and a merry band of hangers-on. Apparently the Spirit wished to see Caul of the Knights of the Rose dead, and our brave heroes risked life and limb to save him from, uh, a great heap of briars. Her Orison is currently in the hands of Madam Imogene, who is said to be able to use it for great and terrible purposes.
There was a brief period of panic within the Fallen this season. Reports came from the Orrery that a batallion of Harkon Stormwarden clones had been created around the Orrery. It is believed this was the work of Orrelius Garr. It is suggested that the Union had this individual under heavy survailance, and rushed messages between union command and the Fallen council allowed for the deployment of General Kopeck's troop to deal with the problem. While there may still be more than one Harkon left, the precieved threat has been contained, and the cloning process has been destroyed.
“Ahoy there Greg. Pint of the usual is it?”
“Thanks Frank, much obliged. Things picking up after that business with the dragon?
“Well they was, up until last night.”
“Oh, what happened?”
“Took me by surprise it did. Bunch of Harreppi girls turned up in funny robes. I was going to kick 'em out, but they weren't being all crazy like normal, and they were buying drinks like it was going out of fashion, for a bunch of me regulars as well as 'emselves. I thought solstice had come early until one of 'em grabbed Tim and started kissing 'im right there in the middle of the bar. I don't know who threw the first punch, but things kicked off pretty quickly after that, tables broken, faces smashed, fittings immolated by bolts of lightnin', you know how it is. Funny thing was Steve and a few of 'is friends were protectin' the Harreppi girls, and they left with em' at the end of the night. Haven't seen 'im for his lunchtime pint today, if ye get me meaning”
“Ah well, he always was a weird one. You just have all the luck don't you?”
Word spreads from the centre of the New World, the newly formed Framgent mass, that there is a Temple dedicated to Creation, to Peace, to Stability. That the way to it is fraught with obstacles is certain. That those who seek it will not find their path unbarred is known. That it was always to be thus in a world that is as Broken as this one, is recognised.
And so some speak of a place that is built to withstand the toughest conditions, guarded by the most ferocious of nature's creatures. It is hidden by illusions from those who seek it with ill intent, and guides those who seek it honestly with a brilliant light that can pierce any darkness.
For those who seek to make the world a better place, any with a vision that will turn chaos into order, be it a building, a philosophy, a story or a song; they will find the Halls of Alliance calling to them, summoning them to declare their intent to heal the Broken World and be blessed for their pains.
For those that heed the call, it is said that there are guardians who hear the merits of each project of each work to heal the world and who judge them. For all those works of Men and Xeno that are judged worthy it is found that they will never work at cross purposes, fight for the same resources, clash with the same audience. They will build together and support each other towards the dream of World Harmony.
There is only one message that rings out clear from any who has genuninely been a Pilgrim, given direct to them by the guardians, and it is this:
“There is yet work to be done. Heal this world.”
Chtoth was the clear favorite for the checkpoint sections, while Ritz Herald should have taken first place in all four marathon legs. Blacknails edged out both racers on occasion, but generally hogged second place across the board.
A disaster spoiled Ritz' marathon record in the third leg when engine trouble left her marooned mid colony and barely arriving before Valk's slowmobile. In this same leg came a surprise victory from Clintina, who seemed to cover the space faster than Ritz' best time. The addled attitude of the cowgirl that followed suggests her method. Valk was inevitably last, with the Hareppi leaping from the titan's head to just beat him over the line each time, and there was a surprise second place from McGee with a similar misty speedboost that stole third place from Chtoth.
So with a lot of 1st and 3rd places from Chtoth and Ritz, consistent 2nd places from Blacknails, and the chaotic influences of the other racers, its down to the times. The Marathon times are being collated with the four colony checkpoint challenges at the temple as you read this.
The overall winner is still unknown, but results are promised before the end of next Temple Session.