How can the Noah help?

This is another installment in the saga of the alien race known as the Noah.  I know where I want this story to go, just not real sure how I want to get there.

The evidence of the Noah's existence and nature had all been located and brought to the representatives of the countries in which the items were found. Through much discussion and debate, a neutral location was chosen for the items to be brought together and examined. A place where further debates can be made without any one country having a home turf advantage. Each representative would have two security personnel and a scientific adviser with them. The small number in each party was determined to balance the size from each nation and not overtax the limited resources readily available at the chosen location. The lack of native population, military presence, or cultural influence meant that Antarctica would be an ideal meeting place for both international and interstellar guests despite the harsh environment.

Shelters were set up for each group to participate in their respective activities. The scientists shared notes on the items that had been found, their theories regarding the materials the items were made of, and possible methods for translating the strange script engraved on them. The various governmental representatives met in small committees that attempted to establish proper protocols and priorities for future meetings. Very little was said about the signal that had brought them all together. Off duty security personnel simply lounged around and discussed various travels they had been on and former comrades that had been lost to one foe or another, sometimes speaking with the fatal individual themselves. Mere weeks had passed since the Noah's signal had first been detected and received. Most of the world's population assumed that bringing all of these differing people together so fast meant they could quickly come up with a solution to the problem of the Drag'kun that would benefit everyone. Two things nobody realized was how long it would really take the politics to get anything accomplished and that the two year deadline mentioned by the Noah was an overestimation.

While all the talking, discussing, and theorizing was happening, the Noah continued approaching the Earth. They finally settled in an orbit slightly larger than that of the moon. They monitored military, civilian, and commercial communications frequencies with much intensity. Partly out of their natural curiosity for the residents of this planet, and partly out of a hope for a reply to their initial broadcast. All of their attention was focused on the blue planet below and, with the help of its residents, protecting as much of the population as possible.

The Drag'kun scout probe continued on its path, approaching the fourth planet of the system and keeping it between them and the Noah battleship as they begin their arc away from the sun. The captain of the craft closely watches the occupied planet and the other ship to ensure they aren't detected as he begins to transmit a directed signal to the fleet. His estimation was that a medium sized attack force would be sufficient. The only real opposition would come from the Noah battleship. The planet itself couldn't raise more than a few simple nuclear missiles that were best suited for harming the planet itself. No real threat to a force in orbit.

Technological rewards would be at a minimum, but natural resources would more than make up for the lack of usable parts to replace damaged ship components. The significant amount of slave labor the prominent intelligent species offered would keep the captains of all the attacking ships more than satisfied. If nothing else, all the animal species of the planet could be used to replenish food stores through the majority of the fleet.

All of this was transmitted from the scout pod to the Drag'kun in charge of the large fleet. The signal was sent in a series of small, quick bursts to minimize the chances of detection and interception by anyone else. This procedure was followed despite the small chance that anyone else in the system even knew they were there.

By the time the scout ship rejoined them, the attackers would be done with their efforts and splitting whatever spoils they obtained amongst themselves. He knew there would be some rewards for him and his crew, but the best choices would be kept by the attacking captains for their own enjoyment.

Unbeknownst to the captain, a small robotic probe on the red planet below the Drag'kun craft and its orbiting relay satellite operated on a frequency complimentary to the one the scout captain used. The satellite picked up the transmission and automatically relayed it to monitoring station. Only a single person noticed the odd signal embedded in the usual feed from the scientific instruments of the robot. It suddenly struck her that she was looking at another signal from an alien species. With all the top scientists in Antarctica, could she get anyone's attention? Would they understand what this other signal meant? Did she understand what it meant?

Once again, to be continued.....

On a side note, my calendar is in the shop so I should have the next post up on Wednesday as promised, not Thursday.

Game Time

Between spending time with my sons, working full time, various writing projects, and all the other things life throws around, I still manage to find some time to myself to enjoy a little time playing video games.  One game I enjoy playing is Final Fantasy XIV.  Adventurers travel all the lands of Eorzea fighting in dungeons and battling foes to protect the citizens from evil forces.

Like other games in the Final Fantasy franchise, this version includes the popular Chocobo.  Usually the large bird is a utility used as a mount.  Very rarely is much of the story told from the Chcobo's point of view.  I thought it was time for this to change.

I see these as being tales told to other chocobos in the stables at the end of each day's travels.

I am so excited. My day has finally come. I have been given a partner to travel and explore this wide world in which we live. I see all the different types of peoples that visit the fields near our home. Tall muscular fighters that nearly have to duck to enter the stables. Short folks that can hide from sight in tall bushes and barely reach my knees. They all travel about protecting others, fighting monsters, and collecting materials for their various crafts. Now I can travel with someone and do all of this along with them. Wait. I hear the whistle made for my new partner. KWEH! Off to start my adventures.

I spent most of the day running through the woods with my new partner. He is a small person that uses mystical energies rather than steel weapons. I could have not asked for a more perfect rider. As we moved between the trees I could see some people fighting smaller monsters. Beasts too weak for my partner to be bothered with. Some people were fighting these monsters to keep them away from the nearby city. We rode to a village filled with people even smaller than my rider. They were so short, their feet didn't touch the ground. They just floated around with their wings fluttering. We crossed through the village and approached another forest filled with larger beasts and walking trees. I will admit I am a little glad my partner dismounted and sent me away before fighting anything there.

My partner got some clothing for me. He calls it “barding.” What I have now is simple and decorated in the colors and symbols of the nation he has been helping lately. He has promised me more barding in different styles and patterns. I can't wait.

Cold. Today was a journey in an area that was very cold. Mountains soared into the sky. Stone towers rivaled them in height. Beasts here come in both large and small sizes. Fortunately, I am much faster than the large lizards that roam the area. Some of them tried to come after us, but I was able to keep us safe until we entered the brick city that had been established a long time ago. Some of the walls of the city looked damaged, but it was still safer than the castle nearby that had been taken over by beasts and dragons.

Today's adventure was both exciting and intense. I was given a treat of gysahl greens. With a gift like this, I expected to carry my partner from one end of the world to the other. However, this time he didn't hop into the saddle for a ride. Instead I fought alongside him to beat many, many evil monsters. It was very scary at first, but I couldn't leave my partner alone when he had so much faith in my skills. KWEH! I learned a new kick to use the next time I'm asked to fight. Despite my fears at first, I can't wait to beat more monsters and learn more combat skills. Maybe I will even learn some tricks to help my partner by more than just fighting.

These last few days has been extremely busy. We traveled from area to area, region to region, and nation to nation. We fought evil troops that came with magitek defensive units, a behemoth, numerous goblins and evil sylphs, and more fish men than I care to count. We traveled to the ocean, visited a region full of giant crystals, and cruised across a giant desert. While I truly enjoy my time with my partner, I wouldn't mind if he got a new mount so I could get a little rest. Maybe one of those flying things with one eye could carry him around for a bit.

Now, where did I leave my controller.  Ramuh has offered up a challenge I can't refuse.

Ring Masters

There are a hundred excuses I could come up with for this post being a day later than normal.  The simple honest truth is that I fell asleep.  A long working weekend followed by a busy start to the week left no time to recover any missing slumber.  A quiet Wednesday morning in a comfortable led to a sudden urge to catch up on all the sleep I had been deprived of.

Delays aside, today's post isn't something that didn't come from my mind, yet I still had a significant hand in creating.  It is a story idea from the notebook of my oldest son.  He is a fan of both Marvel and DC comic universes.  Influences from tales like the Green Lantern and Infinity Gauntlet can be seen in his writings, with details that are entirely his own.

The words below are entirely his.  The only changes I made were some basic copy editing for spelling and simple grammar.  Otherwise, the story is directly out of his notebook for future comics.

Okay.  We didn't ask for these powers, but here is the story.  The date was March 19, 2019.  My friends and I chose to walk home through the forest.  That's when I came across six rings.  I thought two for each of us so I shared them with Hank and Tim.  As we put them on weird things happened to us.  I felt like I was on fire in an earthquake.  When it was over I had power over fire and earth.  Hank had power over water and wind.  Tim had power over light and dark.  We chose to call ourselves "The Ring Masters."  We were on our last year of high school and would be going our separate ways.  However, when there is trouble, you can count on The Ring Masters to be there!

Other stories in his notebook hint at the possibility of multiple related titles with chances of crossovers and other interactions.

I am proud that he has decided to express himself in the same way I do and with tales of his own creation.  Sharing our skills with the next generation gives our children a safe outlet for their thoughts while keeping important creative skills alive in a dynamic and changing society.  Now, if only I could get him to clean his room.

Notes on Demons

I've never been one to use outlines for my books or stories.  Instead, I have a file of notes about the characters, story, plot details, and world where the story takes place.  Some of these notes are broad generalizations that frame the environment.  Some are simple comments about the direction the story is going or what kind of turn I want it to take.  Others still may be preferences or feelings the characters have that aren't obviously stated but come out through their actions and interactions with others.

Sometimes a story doesn't develop past the notes stage.  This may be due to an excess of clutter in my headspace, a lack of time to develop it properly, or just not enough story there to expand on.  One such story is one that I've had notes on for decades.  While there is a major plot conflict to base the story on, I just don't seem to be able to come up with enough to fill out the world it takes place in.  Maybe some day the rest of the tale will come to me in a dream.  In the meantime, here are the notes as I have them so far.  Derf is just a placeholder name I use until the character is fleshed out more and a proper name comes to light.

• Long life span of hunters, but not immortal. Just don't age normally.
• Communicate with "Hunter Council" via meditation and a special crystal
• Council catalogs Demons based on activity. Ranks them based on strength and shares information with Hunters.
• Smaller, weaker Demons not named, simple to catch.  Stronger Demons are given names and require more elaborate rituals to satisfy and catch.
• Each hunter chosen by "Hunter's Spirit." When one Hunter dies, the spirit moves on never know who will be next.
• Spirits don't clearly speak to Hunter, but can enhance vision to detect Demonic energies and give a Spidey-sense to hidden Deomnic presence.
• Number of Spirits is fixed, Number of Demons is variable, has gotten down to zero in past but increasing recently.
• Father/son team of Demon Hunters considered best in the realm, very rare for family members to be selected as hunters.
• Main plot point! Main character (Derf) must hunt demon that has taken his father
• Papa Derf disappeared while transporting crystal to "jail."
• Evidence of demons that had been caught by father-son team reappears.
• Demons are caught in and transported via crystals to one-way portal to "Dungeon Dimension"
• Demon possessing Derf's father is known as "The Corrupter" spoke to Papa Derf via the crystal
• Derf lives life alone except when hunting with Papa, chosen before starting a family.
• Papa Derf father of 3-5 kids, chosen after family started and years before Derf.

Leave a comment if you think the story should be developed further or left at this stage.  Suggestions for filling in any of the blanks would be welcome.

Non-Sequitur

I regularly peruse the Sunday comics for quick laughs and a bit of nostalgia from my younger days of fighting family members to see who got to them first.  Just over a week ago Wiley Miller published an offer to his readers to write their own story.  The sheer variety of characters displayed and variety of terrains gave me the idea of a meeting of people that can travel between parallel universes in the multiverse.

The time for the meeting of the Multiverse Traveler's League had arrived at last. This is a chance for individuals, groups, and civilizations that have managed to acquire the ability to cross between parallel universes to gather together. Some travelers use technology, others take advantage of focused mental discipline and mental energies to break the barriers between worlds. A handful even managed to accidentally trip between worlds without any effort at all. Regardless of the method used for traveling between all the facets of the multiverse, everyone that can reach the meeting location is invited to attend.

The gathering took place every 25 years on a different planet in a different universe. This time around it was to be hosted on a terraformed moon of Saturn in a universe designated as 7775-349x10.012/Acorn. The gaseous planet with its rings and multiple moons rising over the horizon gave attendees of the meeting a spectacular view, regardless of the range of their visual spectrum.

Terraforming of the moon had been completed just for this trans-universal event. Environments had been developed for the comfort of attendees from multiple planets and evolutionary chains. Humid jungles rose up next to giant seas. Methane pools bubbled near barren deserts. The frozen peaks of giant mountains soared into the skies, piercing clouds of freezing nitrogen. Plains of ice and frozen grasses lay under a layer of crystalline snow. Everything that could make any kind of being comfortable was put in place.

Areas and routes had been laid out for a multitude of transportation methods and devices. Boats cut through the surf to reach platforms for their captains to disembark. Tracks had been laid for those wishing to arrive via train. No method of travel was too elaborate or too simple for those that crossed from one universe to another. The security forces even had their own custom floating blimps that moved easily in the medium gravity and minimal atmospheric winds.

While bipedal beings that walked upright were the most common members of the MTL, they were not the only evolved beings that had appeared by far. Long sea serpents swam through oceans that teemed with other life, then moved to worlds with seas covered in a planet-wide sheet of ice. Birds with wings as thin as tissue paper glided on breezes over planets as numerous as their feathers. Giant intelligent bears soaked up the sun that beat down on their fur from as many suns as they could find.

There was no lack of events and occurrences at the meeting. Explorers take advantage of audiences to expand on new discoveries made and unusual variations on recognized planets that were stumbled upon. Panels are formed for to aid new adventurers in increasing the efficiency of their method for getting from one universe to the next, whether it be via technological device or thought power. Representatives of different groups and organizations gathered together to discuss various rules and regulations and develop laws to govern the members of the MTL. This last group was generally the least productive and still most entertaining to watch.

All of these different beings from various worlds and universes arrived via numerous methods to this customized moon. Their ultimate goal being a golden pyramid transmitting a powerful light into the sky under and inside which they would all socialize and speak of their shared abilities to cross the unbreakable barriers that separate one universe from another.

If the link above didn't work, here is the comic itself to inspire a story of your own.  

What can the Noah do?

Stories with holiday themes abound this time of year.  Children being shown the true meaning of Christmas, adults renewing their belief in humanity and Santa, the cold weather bringing wintry characters to life.  Sometimes it's nice to get away from all of these types of tales and read something that doesn't relate to gifts, snow, or families singing carols.  With that in mind I present a continuation of the tale I wrote about twice before, the alien race known as the Noah.

I have made one adjustment since my last post set in this universe.  I changed the name of the aggressive reptilian race from Drag'korn to Drag'kun.  It keeps the similarity to "dragon" that I wanted without being as clumsy.

The first signals from the Noah weren't received by fields of SETI dishes, military tracking stations, or scientific radio telescopes.  A boy trying to expand the frequencies his satellite television receiver picked up in an attempt to get free adult channels was suddenly bombarded with multiple video images and several audio feeds simultaneously.  History would never know of this, the onslaught to his senses triggered an epileptic seizure.  He wouldn't remember any of what he saw or heard, even after others began noticing the signal and word of it quickly spread across social media and news media stations.

Pundits and self-titled experts argued and debated about the import of the signal.  Governments rushed to dispatch personnel to investigate the sites the Noah mentioned as proof of their statements.  This was accomplished at a pace only slightly faster than some civilians realized they might become rich if they were the first to posses whatever items made up this proof.  More debates and arguments arose as the proof was located and the reality of the Noah was verified.

Churches were filled beyond their capacity as devout parishioners and rare visitors rushed to seek answers from their pastors and other religious leaders.  Many streets were empty as other people sat in clusters around their televisions, enraptured by screens displaying split views of the Noah's message and statements from government officials.  Different countries each declared their people were more worthy and their voices should be heard over the citizens of other nations.  Very few people were taking note of the deadline mentioned in the Noah's message as discussions were held regarding what should be done and who was responsible for doing it.

Approaching the Earth, the Noah observed the multiple signals bouncing across and around the planet as the humans conversed.  Centuries of observation and study had taught the Noah much patience.  They exercised this patience as they waited for a response from the planet.  As it was obvious the words vastly outnumbered any actions, no response was immediately expected.

Unseen by either the ship or the planet, a small pod with practically no emissions drifted into the system on a calculated ballistic trajectory.  It was an advanced scout sent by the Drag'kun.  Travelling at a speed near that of light, the scout pod would be able to pick up the signals between Earth and the Noah before being detected.  The commander of the pod's crew would quickly interpret these signals and relay them with his notes to the approaching fleet still some distance outside the Oort cloud of the solar system.  The fleet would use this data to determine how best to continue their approach.  There was no doubt an attack would happen, it was only the number and types of ships to use that was to be determined.  Too many ships and the spoils of war would be spread too thin between the attackers.  Too few ships and the captains of the fleet would become bored before reaching another target rich system and begin to fight amongst themselves.

While I do have a lot of hope for the future of humanity, I do believe that current society would do heaps of talking during a global discovery like this before any action would actually take place.  Of course, the infinite possibilities of the universe means that Earthlings may not have sole possession of this particular trait.

Post-Creation Coma

Another November has come to a close.  The National Novel Writing Month has finished for another year.  Thirty days where every free second is filled with writing, composing, and creating.  A month of reviewing outlines, defining characters, setting scenes, and creating just the right mood.  Mornings shift into afternoons, which then change into evenings and nights without notice.  Nights pass without sleep as ideas form and are molded and shaped before being put into place.  The deadline passing by means the steady writing can be put on hold, but the process is far from finished.  With the arrival of December 1st, a brief breath can be taken before the hard work truly begins.

The small number of days and large number of words in the challenge force an author to write at a pace that doesn't allow more than basic editing on the fly.  Many critical questions must be left for later consideration.  Does this scene work?  Should the affections between these characters be more overt or subdued?  Would it be more effective if the readers loved this person more before I kill them off?  What words or phrases can I use to increase the emotional impact of this passage?  All of these factors can take weeks or months of reading, tweaking, and rereading to get a novel to come out just right.

The holiday season is a great time to get out and remind myself what the outside world looks like.  It will be relaxing to participate in activities that don't require too much mental strain.  I can gaze at lights and admire decorations while refilling my creative juices.  It will certainly ease my exhausted mind to sing along with joyous songs heard so many times the lyrics are practically ingrained in my DNA.  Now, where did I leave that remote control?