Star Wars is a cinematic game where heroes can dodge blaster bolts and fight through hordes of minions. The rules for damage and healing reflects this – not only is it possible to avoid blaster fire; you could actually survive multiple hits from a weapon that can kill and armored trooper with a single blast. It’s not realistic, but it’s heroic.

VITALITY

Vitality is an abstract measure of how tough you are to kill. The common people you meet on the street won’t have very many vitality and are easily killed by blaster or lightsabers, whereas heroes have that little extra something that keep them from getting killed or incapacitated.
Damage: How much damage you’ve taken from various sources. You track this on your character sheet. Damage remains until healed. Base vitality minus damage equals current vitality.

Bloodied: When you’ve taken damage equal to or greater than half your vitality you are bloodied; you’re a bit bruised and battered, but basically still OK. Some feats, talents, and action are only applicable if you’re bloodied (such as using healing surges).

0 vitality: Characters reduced to 0 vitality (you can’t have negative vitality!) moves -5 steps on the condition track and fall unconscious. If the hit that reduced you to 0 vitality equals or exceeds your damage threshold you are instead dying (minions are killed instead). Spending a Force point will prevent you from dying in this manner; you’re just knocked out and down to 0 vitality.

Dying: Heroic characters that are ‘killed’ expire after 1d6 rounds. If the GM deems it appropriate a dying character could come around for long enough to utter some dying words. Successful first aid (Medicine DC 25, bonus if using advanced medical gear) can prevent a dying character from dying; he remains at 0 vitality and his condition is unchanged, but he doesn’t die.

Death: Dead characters normally remain dead; unless resuscitated or brought back using the Force for example.

SURGES

Every character (be it a PC or NPC, minion or heroic) has a number of surges per day (based on your classes and your CON bonus). Each surge normally heals damage equal ¼ of your total vitality. You can only use surges if you are A) resting or B) bloodied. After a good night’s sleep you regain spent surges (it’s also a good time to expend unspent surges if you have taken damage). Less than full night of comfortable uninterrupted rest will give you less surges back.

Second wind: If you’re in a fight and bloodied you can use a surge by taking the Second wind swift action. You can normally (unless you’ve a feat or talent that allows for more) use Second wind only once per fight! Spending a Force point will also allow you to use an additional Second wind. Non-heroic characters do not usually have a Second wind unless they have a feat/talent that allows it.

Resting: Whenever you’re out of combat you can spend healing surges more freely; as long as you have time to rest the GM will allow you to use 1 or more surges (10 minutes of relative peace and quiet should be a minimum for one surge). Even minions can heal in this way (the Minion class as 2+Con bonus surges/day).

CONDITION TRACK

Hits that cause a lot of damage, plus some other sources (such as Force lighting and blasters set on stun) can slow you down or even knock you out even if you have vitality left. You use (literally) the condition track to keep track of your condition; it goes from no penalty at all down to unconscious/incapacitated (0-1-2-5-10Incapacitated). Use tick marks to keep track; add once each time you move down and erase one each time you move up

Damage threshold (DT): If a single attack does a lot of damage you could be in trouble even if you have vitality left. Each hit that does damage equal to or greater than you DT drops you one level on the condition track. Your DT is based on Fortitude Defense + modifiers (such as the Improved Damage Threshold feat).

Recover: You can spend three Recover swift actions to move up one step on the condition track; these three swift actions can be spread out over several rounds or take all in the same round. Spending a Force point while recovering allows you to do Recover as a single swift action.

Being incapacitated: If you drop to the bottom of the condition track you’re incapacitated; you fall unconscious and drop prone. After 1 minute (10 rounds) made a DC 10 Constitution check. If you succeed you move +1 step on the track and regain vitality equal to your surge value (but expend no surges). If you fail you remain unconscious for 1 hour, after which you repeat the test (failure by 5 or more means you die instead). You must continue retrying each hour until you succeed, but each time you fail one condition level becomes persistent.  You can use a Force point to avoid becoming incapacitated, except if you were also reduced to 0 vitality by the same attack.

Persistent conditions: Some injuries are too severe to just go away like this; they are called persistent conditions. Mark persistent conditions on the track using a cross instead of a tick mark. It you already have non-persistent conditions; add the persistent condition on top of the track and make an equal number of non-persistent ticks further down.

STUN/ION DAMAGE

Setting a blaster on stun/using another stun weapon (ion weapons for vehicles/ships/droid) can incapacitate without killing. After rolling damage halve the result. There may be an additional effect: If the target is reduced to 0 vitality it moves -5 on the condition track it knocked unconscious, but without any chance of dying. Even if the target isn’t reduced to 0 vitality there is a -2 move on the track if rolled (before halving) damage equals or exceeds DT.

Damage and healing example: E’tan encounters some droids. There is a brief, but violent struggle before the droids are dispatched. During the process E’tan takes a few hits, including one that exceeds his damage threshold. As a result he drops -1 step on the condition track and has a -1 penalty to his actions and defenses. With 55 damage vs. 72 vitality he is also bloodied. He decides to play it safe; on his next turn he uses his sole Second Wind (swift action) for this scene. His surge value is 18 so he recovers 18 vitality, leaving him with 37 damage. Still bloodied (half of 72 is 36). He opts to use a Force point for another second wind. That’s another damage removed, leaving him with only 19 damage. That’s two swift actions this far this round. He uses another Force point to Recover as a Swift single action, concluding his actions for this turn. On the next turn one of the droids gets in a lucky shot with a blaster set on stun. It rolls 3d6 for 18 damage, halved to 9. Not nearly enough reduce E’tan to 0 vitality. But 18 (rolled damage) is greater than E’tans DT, so he moves 2 steps down the track. Good thing he recovered; he would have been a -5 rather than -2 had he not! E’tan dispatches the last few droids. He’s used 2 Force points and two surges, leaving him with 6 FP and 7 surges. After a brief rest he uses another surge, putting him at only 10 damage (19+9-18) and with 6 surges to go. He has no persistent conditions so he erases all marks on his track. E’tan is ready for his next fight.

Allandra is the fourth consort encountered by Shaedan. You first met her while taking a bath in the hot springs of Torain in the Five Peaks. Retuning from a long and spiritually taxing journey to the Hidden temple, you thought to relax and recover a bit before going back to Daulton. But the Dragon had other plans for you, so you ended up finding an elf maiden bathing naked in the springs, her Dragonmark plain for you to see. She immediately gave herself into service to the Dragon – as if she had been waiting for this moment all her life.

Allandra is eternally young and ageless, like all her kin. She is tall and lithe, with impossibly smooth white skin and dark brown hair and green eyes. Her beauty is almost unearthly, combining feminine allure with the unfading freshness of adolescence and the innocence of youth. It is the eyes that betray her, for within their green depths can be sensed experience and resolve far beyond that possessed by the girl she superficially resembles on the outside. She usually dressed in Sidhe clothing that reveal little, but hint at everything.

Allandra is calm and composed most of the time, but can be very passionate if provoked or enticed. Few people, the Emperor included, can stand up to her when her feelings get the better of her and an enraged Allandra can be a truly terrifying experience. It is during these spells of passion that her beauty truly shines and no male goes unaffected while in the presence of an Allandra in full bloom. Most of the time, however, she seem distant and aloof, barely registering the lesser creatures populating the world around her. Her beauty then becomes something less tangible and largely devoid of sensuality.

Alien and enigmatic like all Sidhe, more distant from Shaedan than any of the others, Allandra still has a very important place in the group, since she is the only one except Shaedan who can feel the bond with the other women. While Shaedan can sense each of his consorts, and they him, only Allandra can sense the other women (but they cannot sense her in return). This, and her considerable wisdom and diplomatic skills, has made her something of a leader among the other consorts. Little of importance is decided without Allandra having a say in the matter, which is a good thing for the Emperor, as he would otherwise have been swarmed with suggestions and demands from each of his eight consorts!

Allandra’s position within the Administratum (meaning ‘bureaucracy’ in Anuirean) is as First Advisor to the Emperor. She holds no special powers of office, but given the fact that Shaedan listens more to her counsel that anyone else’s means her influence is widespread (and by default the influence of the consorts as a group).

Allandra seems as committed to a cause as a sidhe can become, yet her insistence that the Dragon is a cosmic force, likened to shadow and life, tasked with ensuring the turning of the world, can be a bit tiresome. Countless times Shaedan has tried to explain to her that she’s talking about gods, and that the Dragon may well be ‘a cosmic force’ but that is the same as being a god. Yet Allandra just smiles and shakes her head at the ignorance of humans.

Early during their relationship Allandra gave Shaedan a golden ring cunningly crafted to resemble a dragon biting its own tail. The ring had passed from generation to generation within her family, since the day one of her ancestors had been taken it from a dead human warrior during the days of the human-elf wars. With your discovery of the second ring in the ruins of Kalah, the City of the Dragon, and you trip back through time that allowed you to speak with Anduiras-the-Dragon, you are starting to think the sidhe may have been right all along.

Draco surely is a god, no doubt about that, but apparently there have been many dragons in other times and places, and he is but the last incarnation of a cosmic force greater than any deity. Much like good and evil are concepts far larger than any god, for the deities are only reflections of the greater whole, the Dragon is the ultimate representation of the Laws of the Multiverse. It is the force that brings order out of chaos, renewal after death, and death after life.

Capabilities: Allandra is a skilled Bard when Shaedan meets her, with a strong emphasis on social skills (but she is far better at persuasion than subterfuge) and spells of illusion and enchantment, and a certain knack for healing. She continues to gain levels and power in this class as time passes, eventually reaching very high levels. When in her drakeform she is the match for many lesser warriors, but she is not the most martially inclined of the Consorts. In addition she retains the basic affinities of her race, including a penchant for the wild and uncanny perceptiveness.

Yamela was the last (the eight) of the Dragonmarked to be found by Shaedan, and the first one you had Marcus locate rather than encounter by ‘chance’. You first met her in Sendoure, when you travelled there to seek out the last of the Dragontouched (as revealed by Marcus’ scryings). Having the last one be a priestess of Laerme was a surprise, even though the other consorts had certainly been unique in their won right, this was almost too much.

Yamela is probably the most physically attractive of all the Consorts (although it is hard to tell with only other beauties to compare her to; and it all depends on the eye of the beholder anyone). She is all curves and softness, bright smile, beckoning eyes, moist lips, swaying hips, smooth belly, round breasts, and sweet smells. Add to this natural beauty all the tricks that women use to enhance their allure and the divine enhancements bestowed upon a high servant of the goddess of beauty and lover, and what you get is something irresistible. The good Yamela is oftentimes scantily dressed (to Anuirean eyes at least), but on her it looks just natural and not promiscuous as with say Kieyra. As a side note; not only men, but many women are affected by her presence.

Her personality is just as attractive as her appearance.  Once again her allure is a combination of her natural characteristics and so many years in the trade that they have become second-nature to her. The combination is without compare and you cannot spend time with Yamela and not like her. When she desires she can entertain any man (or woman) in any imaginable way, from small talk to the full seduction routine and everything in between, and in return get him or her to do anything in return.

Despite Yamela being a priestess of the insidious Corruptor goddess Laerme, she is the woman Shaedan has connected most closely with. Kieyra may be his favoured companion for travel and bed sport, but it is to Yamela he goes when he needs comfort and compassion. It may be that it is all some wicked plot to weaken Shaedan’s resolved, and if so it may well have succeeded. It might not be ‘love’, but it is as close as Shaedan is likely to get.

Yamela has good relations with most of the other consorts, including both Allandra and Arthane (which is no mean feat), but she is closest to her companion Ingrid. They have between them something more than the other consorts do, but it doesn’t appear to have any influence on her influence with Shaedan.

Since the awakening of the Kiervon deathless, Yamela has spent much time up in the mountains acting as an ambassador. It appears she is much more suited to the task than Maccabeus, and also frees the old Keeper up for more arcane duties.

Capabilities: Yamela was a priestess of Laerme before meeting Shaedan and has continued to pursue that path ever since. She most definitely isn’t a warrior (though she could probably defend herself to good effect), but very few people would want to fight with her anyway. Her social skills are second to none, but run along different paths than do those of say Allandra and Arthene.

Serrissa is the second of the consorts found by Shaedan. You first met her in the Temple of Haelyn in the small town of Casiere in Fairfield, Roesone. She accompanied you as you made your way towards Aerele, and you two spent many hours debating the virtues of Haelyn as opposed to those of Draco. The only thing you seemed to agree about was that you didn’t agree about anything else. It was quite some time before the mark was revealed to you, and during those days you had no idea that there would be many marked women, and did not actively look for them.

Serrissa is an extremely attractive woman, or at least should would be is she had not looked so dammed stern all the time. Her long honey-blonde hair is tightly bound and often covered under a helmet. Her strong cheekbones, full mouth and finely chiselled nose would be stunning if some effort was made, but now her face is only forbidding. She has a beautiful feminine figure despite being incredibly fit, but who can tell when she is always wearing armour? Of course, Shaedan occasionally gets to see the woman beneath, so he has learned to appreciate that her beauty is more than just skin deep.

Her manners and way of speaking are equally stern; she always blunt and to the point. She does not intend to offend or antagonize, but she believes that the truth must always be spoken and that everything should be direct and to the point. Despite signs to the contrary she has a well-developed sense of humour, which is centred on her not inconsiderable self-insight.

Serrissa’s origins remain a mystery to all. That she has some celestial heritage is not in doubt, but tracing her lineage has proven impossible. Born to common peasant parents, with several quite human siblings, there is no indication whatsoever as to where her divine blood comes from. Indeed, when she was very young her village priest discovered her to be unusually pure of soul and devout to the gods, but never suspected she was more than human. Even after being inducted as a paladin her true nature remained undetected.

Serrissa is utterly dedicated to the Pillars of Haelyn and will likely only follow the will of the Dragon as long as his goals coincide with those of the Allfather. So far this doesn’t seem to be any problem, and you are confident that she would not hurt the Dragonholds in any way, even if she is sometimes somewhat reluctant in her service.

Lady Serrissa doesn’t really have any friends among the other consorts, and usually seeks her companions outside the palace. She is very popular among the templars, who for some reason doesn’t end up debating the finer points of religion with her. She is the one of the Consorts Shaedan usually prefers to send if there is any troubleshooting or arm-twisting that needs to be done.

Capabilities: Serrissa is a holy warrior without peer, unflinchingly upholding the Pillars of Haelyn. The holy powers granted to her makes her a terror for all Shadowspawn, traitors or criminals. She is quite clever and insightful as well, gifted with considerable powers of reason and intuition, which may come as a surprise to many. Her social skills are not quite her best feature – but this is more a result of choice than inability.

Melissandre was the first of the Dragonmarked consorts Shaedan encountered, but it took some time for her mark to be revealed. You first met her on the road heading north from Casiere in Fairfield, Roesone. She was accompanying a caravan of wandering halflings that has come under attack by what appeared to be brigands. Shaedan’s intervention saved both the halflings and Melissandre, for even though she and the Halflings had fought bravely, they were badly outnumbered and outmatched (especially as the “brigands” were really the armsmen of a local lord who were out to avenge a slight to heir masters “honour”).

Melissandre has the classic Vos look, tall and proud, with pale skin, raven hair and eyes almost as dark. Melissandre is slender to the point of almost being thin, all muscle and sinew, with not an ounce of fat to her name. Yet she is not without feminine grace; she might not be curvaceous, but there is something definitely enticing about her. She almost always dresses in dark colours with heavy embroidery, but never wears any jewellery. Her clothes are of modest cut, but are invariably of light fabrics and a cut to allow her maximum freedom of movement (incidentally often revealing hidden curves or flashes of smooth white skin).

Melissandra rarely speaks in public, unless she has some very good point to make, preferring instead to watch and to plan. It should not be taken as shyness, but rather as a sign that she does not share her thought with just anybody. What is probably more disconcerting is her apparent lack of any sense of humour; or so it would seem to those who have not taken her to bed, because in that particular setting she is both playful and humorous.

Originally hailing from far-away Vosgaard, Melissandre never knew her parents, for her father died fighting gnolls from the Fell, and her mother was killed when raiders pillaged the village she was born in. The only survivor of the raid, little Melissandre should have perished in the cooling ruins of her home, but somehow she endured. When a Vos priest of Belinik passed through the village and found the girl, he was so impressed that he brought the little girl with him, and traded her to a Krieshan monastery nearby.

Melissandre served faithfully in the temple of Kriesha for many years. Strong and lithe both, she impressed even more with her mental faculties and her unyielding constitution. She eventually came to the attention of the White Sisters, a band of warrior-priests serving the Winter Witch. Never a large society, the Sisters roamed Vosgaard (and beyond) doing the work of their goddess, keeping no company but that of wild beasts. Here Melissandre learned to fight without arms or armor, to endure heat and cold, pain and deprivation, and to call upon the power of the savage beast that roams the wild lands of the north.

One day she found the Mark of the Dragon upon her breast. She did not know its full meaning, except that it was the mark of an Anuirean god, but she realized that she would be killed by her fellow Sisters if the mark was discovered. And so she fled from Vosgaard and into Brecht lands. Several times her life was in peril as her former Sisters sought to track her down and slay her, but each time she managed to slip away. Melissandre eventually ended up in Anuire having determined hat she must learn the true meaning behind her mark. Knowing that the Order was not very friendly with followers of Kriesha, or Vos in general, she wisely chose to keep a low profile – until fate put her into Shaedan’s path.

Melissandre is a hard and humourless woman, who has not fully been able to throw of her Vos heritage or her fifteen years of temple training. Shaedan isn’t sure she has even abandoned Kriesha, although he refrains from pressing the matter. She is utterly dedicated to her master, however, and would give up her own life without regret if circumstances demanded it. She may not understand why she was marked, but she has accepted that she was, and now serves her new master as diligently as she did her old mistress.

Melissandre’s primary task these days are ensuring the safety of the Empress Iliane, a task that she executes with all her usual focus and determination. Indeed, it is a task that she enjoys, for it allows her to speak with the Empress on a regular basis. Melissandre finds these talks intensely stimulation, for the Empress is something very special – a woman filled with boundless mercy and compassion, so unlike Melissandre.

Capabilities: Melissandre is tough, strong and fast by nature and with her drakeform powers she has become a formidable warrior indeed. She has also not forgotten her training at the hands of the Sisters, and continue to commune with nature. She is, however, far removed from the icy wastes of the Vos lands, and so she has learned other uses for her powers unknown the other druids of Kriesha. She is also an accomplished courtier and diplomat, skills aquired over the years.

Kieyra was one of the first consorts encountered by Shaedan, the third one in number. You first met her in the city of Aerele, the capital of the Duchy of Diemed, naked (with the Mark visible) and bound upon a great pyre. It seemed that she had some secret taint that the locals had taken offence to. Apparently she had fled from Ilien some years before, trying to escape that same fate, but her blood finally caught up with her. Demanding her execution stopped, you brought the matter up with the Lord Inquisitor Kermin. What right did the Inquisition have to interfere with the Dragonmarked? Eventually what could have been an opportunity for bad blood between the Order and the Inquisition turned into something good, as Kermin and Shaedan reached an understanding. That understanding would later come close to friendship, and when Kermin became the head of the Inquisition, he became a vital instrument in the fight against the Shadow.

Kieyra has a body to die for; slender and curvaceous in exactly the right places, full breasts and rounded hips yet slender of leg and waist, hard and soft at the same time, with an alluring combination of pale skin and dark hair and eyes. She dresses to enhance her attributes, always wearing garments that are too tight or too revealing for propriety. Moreover she has an attitude to go with her looks, constantly flirtatious and seductive, yet so very cold and unattainable. It is sad that no man can watch her go past without casting a glance at her.

Kieyra usually affects an aura of distance and is quick to lash out verbally against those that come too close for comfort. She is on fairly good terms with the other Consorts, but the only person with whom she is intimate is Shaedan. Beneath the surface Kieyra has an ironic and biting sense of humour and secret pride and trust in Shaedan and the Consorts.

Details about Kieyra’s ancestry are not known; not to her, Saedan or anyone else. What is known is that she carries fiendish blood in her veins, most likely demonic. In reality Kieyra is descended from male incubi that passed as one of the Sworn Lovers – two mages that operated in Osoerde several centuries ago. Kieyra’s father is an unknown and her mother was a woman of the streets in Ilien (she died when Kieyra was young).

Kieyra wasn’t very pleased to be Dragonmarked – she railed and accused, and then railed some more. She was pleased to be alive and free, but not exactly thankful either. Indeed, she tested Shaedan’s patience to the limit and beyond many times. Yet in time she came to embrace the changes and her new life, finding a new purpose in the study of the arcane arts and unravelling the weaknesses of the Shadow. Kieyra spends most of her time at court, either in the presence of Shaedan (who seems to spend at least half his nights with her) or busy with her studies.

Kieyra is possibly the consort you are most intimate and connected to. For some strange reason you are irresistibly attracted to her dark and mysterious ways, her haughty bearing, harsh words, and sometimes near-treasonous behaviours. You’ve tried to deny the attraction, but there must be some reason why you spend so much time with her in your chambers and why it is usually she that accompanies you on your travels.

Capabilities: Kieyra was accomplished as a rogue when Shaedan rescued her from the clutches of the Inquisition and continued to gain somewhat in skill within that area as the years went by. She has, however, focused her attention on the arcane and delved deeply into the mysteries of Knowing and Seeming (Divination and Illusion), going as far as experimenting with Shadow Mebhaighl. While not really a warrior, the mix of rogue skills, magic and draconic prowess makes Kieyra extremely lethal in certain situations.

Ingrid is the sixth Dragonmarked consort discovered. You first met her in the Dragon’s Fang, when she came before your throne to demand to be taken into your service. Amused and annoyed at the same time, Shaedan prepared to teach this brash young woman a lesson by bodily removing her from his holdfast. But his hand was stayed when Ingrid with little modesty barred her breast and showed her Dragonmark. Accustomed now to these strange Dragonmarked women, Shaedan relented and took her into service.

Ingrid is tall, almost equal in height to Shaedan, being well in excess of six feet tall. She is lithe and slender, but that is largely an illusion created by her great height. In reality she is broad of shoulder, and her entire body is hard muscle – not the bulky muscle of her male kin, but longer and more slender, but no less powerful for that. Her femininity only shines forth under two sets of circumstances – when she walks around in all her naked glory, or when she is dressed to court and in the company of her lover.

Ingrid is not shy or silent or modest; she grew up in the halls of an Rjruik tribe, and spent most of her adolescence in the company of male warriors. She speaks her mind always, regardless of who she is with, and is never afraid to offer critique. Indeed, many find her overly noisome and outspoken, but do they dare try and ask her to be silent? She accords respect only to proven warriors or women of obvious grace (which tends to include Shaedan and all the Consorts save Kieyra).

Ingrid is a warrior woman, the daughter of an Rjurik tribal chieftain from the wild lands of Hugunmark. The Rjurik had long acknowledged the Dragon, but only as an aspect of Erik, and in this they persisted even after the Dragon’s ascension. Things did not change much until Shaedan’s adventures in the service of the Highland King of Rjuvik, after which young Rjurik warriors took to calling upon the Dragon in battle and the priests of Erik declared that this was pleasing to their god.

Ingrid is a warrior born and bred, and only through her skill at arms does she desire to prove her worth to Shaedan and the Dragon. Not for her the comforts of the palace or the politics and planning. By sword or spear, axe or bow, Ingrid is there to smite the enemies of the Dragon. Ingrid is also the appointed ambassador to the lizard folk, and spends a lot of time in the Ondurnee swamp.

Her only other concern is her companionship with Yamela. They are very dedicated to one another, and take great pains to spend what time they have together. Allandra is pretty certain that they have a special bond between them, that they can sense each other like they do Shaedan, and has told Shaedan this. Shaedan on the other hand is fairly certain that they are lovers of sorts, for bond or no bond they seem very committed.

Capabilities: Ingrid Odinsdottir is a warrior at heart, forged in the martial tradition of the Rjurik tribes. Devilishly strong, tough and fast she is a match for even the most skilled of the legion’s martially inclined drakes. Before her relationship with Yamela her feminine and social aspects were largely neglected, but one cannot spend time with a priestess of Laerme and not be affected.

Berra is the fifth of the consorts. You first met her in the Barony of Draco, when you were out hunting wild game, and saw Berra being chased by a pack of Shadowtainted trolls. A furious fight ensued, during which you were in serious jeopardy, but faith in the Dragon carried the day once again. Berra had been wounded during the fighting, and her leather bodice was torn open to reveal the Dragonmark. Upon returning to Riverbend Shaedan asked Lord Estevan if he could release Berra from his service, which he did with little reluctance, for he could see destiny written upon the couple. When Berra was presented with the choice of serving the Dragon by following Shaedan, she readily accepted.

Berra Riordean is half Anuirean and half sidhe, something which is readily apparent to anyone who knows what to look for – she looks just a little too perfect to be real for one, and there is something in the set of her eyes, or maybe in her eyes, that give her ancestry away. Or maybe it is her enchanting voice or the way she almost glides across the floor. Berra is stunningly beautiful, combining the best of both human and sidhe, and has learned to act and dress in accordance when at court. She is, however, still most at home worn leathers and carrying a bow in her hand. And the funny thing is that she looks just as stunning whatever she wears; hers is a natural beauty that needs no enchantments of tricks of allure.

Berra is a silent person, and she rarely speaks when in the company of many people, nor does she try to attract attention in any way. She is not shy or meek, however, preferring to let her actions speak instead of words. It is just that she is not really in her right environment at court; it is out in the wild her skills are of most value, and it is there she shines.

Berra’s origins are not well known, and she rarely speaks about them, save to her two true friends; Allandra and Arthene (and they would never betray her trust). In truth, she is the offspring of an elf woman and a valiant Knight-Templar of the Silver named Riordean. The Knight was mortally wounded fighting in the North many years ago. Berra’s mother found him, but his wounds were beyond her skills to heal. And so she gave him what comfort she could during his last hours, and Berra was the result. When Berra grew old enough, she left her side kin and travelled to the Barny of Draco, where she offered her allegiance to the Lord there. In doing this she felt she was honouring her dead father and by taking up his mantle of service to the Order, she was carrying on his legacy.

Berra is perhaps the least demanding of Shaedan’s consorts; she seems content that she now serves another of the Dragon’s champions. Where she served Estevan and the Barony of Draco, she now serves Shaedan and the Empire. While Berra has always been a faithful and willing servant of the Dragon, she is secretly glad to have been discovered by Shaedan, for although Estevan was also a great man, he did not give her the same feeling of contentment that Shaedan does.

Berra is not at all comfortable with the way the Order separates children from their parents. It tastes too much of her own childhood and the father she never knew. She sincerely believes that the Order would be stronger if another approach could be found. Other than that she supports the Emperor in all things.

She spends much time outdoors doing what she knows best, and in the process she helps the Dragonhold stay safe. Berra assumes the role of ambassador to the fey realm peoples of the Gieannwode, so she is bound to spend much time away from the palace, something which suits her just fine. She is also more than willing to spend time exploring and interacting with the various cultures and races encountered by the Order.

When at Court she is usually in the company of either Allandra or Arthene (but not the three of them together, since Allandra and Arthene do not mix well). An odd choice to some, it is quite natural to Berra, who feels she hearkens to both sides of her ancestry and gets contentment from that.

Capabilities: Berra is a skilled and cunning warrior and a true master at archery and woodcraft. She can hit a gold coin at 400 yards, send her shafts through the finest dwarf-forged armour, and place five arrows in the air before the first one strike its target. She knows the Holds better than anyone else, and has a lot of skill in rooting out Shadowspawn of all kinds. Her social skills and courtly graces leave something to be desired, but exposure to the Allandra/Arthene combination has rubbed of on her to a certain extent.

Arthene is the seventh consort discovered and brought before Shaedan. You actually first met her in the Dragon’s Fang, but her existence was uncovered some time before that. It was Marcus who first saw her Dragonmark when he passed through Tenouire during one of his many exploratory journeys to Aduria. Marcus detected her mark with his Second Sight, and as soon as the situation warranted it he brought her with him to the Fang.

Arthene exemplifies the archetypical Anuirean noble beauty with all the classic traits of one of pure Andu blood; pale skin, hair of beaten gold and fire, and eyes the colour of stormclouds. She is tall and graceful, strong without being muscular, slender without being thin, sensual without being promiscuous. Arthene dresses in accordance to her station, and never above, but since the Empress prefers to dress modestly, Arthene is easily the most well dressed woman in the Holds. Her clothing and jewellery always enhance her already not inconsiderable physical beauty, but it is her bearing and unavailability that really add spice to the mix. In short, she is the woman every sane man dreams about, but never can have.

Arthene behaves as the situation warrants, persuading, tricking seducing or threatening as required, but she is always the noble. She never loses her composition or fails to live up to her image, nor does she open up (even to the other Consorts). Only in the throes of passion does she finally let go and throw restraint to the winds; something reserved for the Servant alone.

Of all the Dragontouched, Arthene is the one who is the most bitter. Once she was a beloved daughter of one of Tenouire’s wealthiest and greatest noble houses. When her mark appeared she tried to hide it, at first using makeup and concealing clothing, and when that failed she even tried petty magic charms. Eventually her secret was discovered and she was brought before Lord Corwin, her father. He called her traitor and heretic, for the folk of Tenouire has no love for the Dragon and continues to worship the Old Gods as they have since before the battle of Deismaar. She was dispossessed and divested of her divine birthright, then cast into prison awaiting her execution at the hands of the Tenouirean priesthood. Had not Marcus passed through Kratas that day, she would have been drowned and burned; death by water and flame is the customary punishment for high treason and heresy in Tenouire. But the Dragon had other plans, and Marcus interceded and secured her freedom.

Arthene has lost a lot, but nothing compares to the loss of her divine blood. Only those who have once been scions and then lost their divinity can really say they know what loss and longing are. It is said that man’s longing for his young wife or the loss felt by a mother at the death of a child, is as noting when compared to divestiture. Indeed, many ex-scions go mad or waste away and die not long afterwards, but this fate has not befallen Arthene yet

Her bitterness and resentment at commoner status sometimes makes her difficult to get along with. For some reason she also seems to have something of a personal vendetta with Grand Keeper Marcus. Shaedan is fairly sure she is angry with the Dragon for marking her in the first place, and at Marcus for being too late to save her bloodline and then for rescuing her when it was too late. That she is haughty, manipulative and arrogant has not endeared her to the other women either.

It took quite some time before Arthene finally accepted her new position as one of the Consorts, and even that reluctantly. Once in Dracropolis she simply buried herself in administrative work and quit thinking, existing only to serve. After she was named Chancellor the situation improved somewhat, for the work agrees with her and allows her to prove her worth even as a commoner. Yet sometimes the dark moods come upon her, and then her newfound position only reminds her of what she has lost, and how great she could have been had she been a scion still.

Arthene manages the day-to-day affairs of the nascent Empire of the Dragon, and acts as regent in the absence of the Servant. This easily makes her the most powerful woman in the Dragonhold, and only Allandra can really hold her own against Arthene when there are disputes among the consorts. But since the other seven consorts usually agree about important matters, it is very hard for Arthene to do things without their consent (it has been tried, and it always ends up with quarrelling and unrest, so it is to be avoided). Shaedan could probably not have managed without her, even if he had tried, for the workings of the Empire have become ever more complex, and only one truly gifted in the arts of management and administration could succeed in making it work.

Becoming Head of House and having her blood restored does not really change her outlook or her behaviour; she is already too set in her ways. But any lingering resentment towards the Dragon and the Servant disappears.

Capabilities: Arthene was noble through and through before meeting the dragon, and continues along this path. She is a masterful leader, diplomat, manipulator and administrator, gaining in skill as the years passes by; even Allandra cannot match her in her chosen field. As a warrior she can of course hold her own, but is not really a fighter-type. But that rarely matters, because there is always more than enough men that would willingly die to protect her.

The Shadow is returning to Aebrynis at last and this time Evil will not be denied. A great darkness will blanket the world, heralding the beginning of an age of hopeless suffering.  There is naught that can be done to prevent this, for this final doom has been foreseen by all the great prophets of ages past. And so the Champions of Light must ready their defenses for the Last War against the Shadow  - and hope, against all hope, that they can somehow emerge victorious! Yet as all would-be heroes know - in the deep dark corners of their minds - they will eventually fail, no matter what victories they bring about. And when they do fail, as they must, then all that is pure and good will be forever lost and the world plunged into eternal darkness...but still they toil and struggle, sacrificing everything and more, if only to buy one more day in the sun for a world of ungrateful strangers. Such is the courage of true heroes that they dare defy even the inevitable - their names and deeds will be remembered in song and legend, until the last shred of light has been extinguished and all things come to an end...

Not sure if a general gaming blog was such a great idea...I do not feel like writing much...and given that I've moved most of the RPG stuff to separate blogs...I don't expect to be doing a lot of posting here. Not in the near future anyway.

Transhuman Space: 2300AD is hard sci-fi setting placed in a rough, but not entirely grim, readily recognizable near future where Man has reached out to the stars using faster-than-light starships and established colonies on distant worlds. Man's road to the stars, however, has not been an easy one; strife is plentiful, between Earth's nations and peoples, between states and corporations, between the rich and the poor, between the young and the old. Although technology does not offer easy fixes for everything it does hold three promises – increased prosperity for all, access to the endless reaches of space, and the ability to remake mankind. All this even as humanity faces an indomitable alien species bent on its utter destruction! Can mankind put aside it differences long enough to weather this threat or is this the last war that will ever be fought? And even if man endures – one wonders what other dangers and wonders await in the vastness of space...

Leaving Omar behind the Light of Reason heads towards Rigelia, which is the closest civilized Republic system from Omar. Still damaged, but now more or less functional, the ship still has a defective primary hyperdrive and the subspace communicator array is also offline. Reaching Rigelia is key if word of the Separatist plans and Sith involvement is to be sent back to the Jedi Order and the Republic Senate.

While underway Padawan Janna Deshler has several Force visions of Oona Dio. The Master is alive, but in captivity. With the Force as her guide Janna is able to point out the world of Consovor as the place where the Master is held. Consovor is a surveyed world, but no records exist of it ever having been settled. Not of any official settlements anyway.

As the Light lands on Consovor E’tan embarks on a little adventure of his own – taking the Oracle with him he departs with one of the utility speeders. He finds the perfect spot to settle down and hide – unfortunately the Separatists have also found this the perfect spot for their hidden base. The speeder is shot to pieces with the Oracle still aboard and E’tan is captured and taken down into the mountain…

Leaving a skeleton force to defend the Light (with orders to flee if things go badly) the remaining Jedi and Clone Troopers follow Janna’s lead and infiltrate the Separatist base. E Leet encounters the Oracle. She got of the speeder before it blew up. She conveniently points out a hidden entrance. E Leet leads a team into the mountain base and manages to free both Master Dio and E’tan – and the missing Force-Sensitive children. Together they make good their escape – only to find that Darth Tempos has counterattacked and driven away the rest of the Republican forces!

Fearing the worst Master Dio and her team race back to the Light. Fortunately the ship is safe – either the Sith does not know its location or she doesn’t have the resources to mount an attack. Taking stock of the situation it becomes clear that things are grim – another all-out attack on the base is out of the question. With only a platoon of Troopers there is no way such an attack can succeed. And more importantly – word must be brought back to the Republic, and the children and the Orcale must be taken to Coruscant.

Dio can sense that her Padawan is alive and in pain; realizing full well that it is likely a trap she nevertheless decides to try and save her. Acting on sage advice from E’tan Master Dio dispatches the ship to go to Rigelian – while she and her two apprentices, E’tan and E Leet, remain behind. Perhaps sending the ship away will even distract Darth Tempos from their true intent…or maybe not.

Heading back towards the Separatist base they find signs of battle. Several dead clones – and the dead body of Navik Nix. From now on E’tan will carry his lightsaber (his own now being in the possession of Darth Tempos). They also find Tito Jax, badly injured but alive. After resting the night and receiving such Force healing as can be mustered they small group continues the next day.

After ascending the mountain Tito reveals himself to draw the defenders out. The rest of the Jedi quickly deal with the gun turrets and the droids sent up to face them. Then they quickly take the turbolift down to the main hall and stage a surprise assault on disorganized droid forces. Now they must find Darth Tempos and free Janna!

The Jedi now (more or less involuntary) pursue a different path – the wounded Jax guards the exit, E’tan goes looking for the droid control center, E Leet searches for Janna, while Oona heads towards a disturbance in the force – Darth Tempos. With the Sith out of the equation Oona figures her apprentices will be capable of both dealing with droids and freeing Janna.

E Leet’s rescue goes rather poorly; he isn’t able to locate Janna. E’tan has no luck either, getting entangled in a mass of droids, including one very big and nasty spider droid. But he is determined if nothing else, eventually forcing his way into the control center. Unfortunately disabling the droids isn’t quite that easy and E’tan is forced to go look for another solution to the problem. He descends by turbolift down to the magma lake that provides the base with power, then proceeds to sabotage the shielding protecting the power generating equipment.

Oona finally manages to confront Darth Tempos; in cavern with a view to the lave lake far below. She is given a choice – see her apprentice fall to a fiery death, or give herself up. Oona need not make up her mind; her other apprentices – E leet, E’tan and Jax – snatch Janna away. Next is an epic clash of sabers. The apprentices are way out of their league, but working with their master they finally overwhelm Tempos – SHE is the one that eventually fall into the fiery lake below.

Getting out quickly now has top priority. E’tan’s sabotage has overloaded the base generators and it’s about ready to blow. They get out in the nick of time – the Light of Reason is waiting for them and they blast away just as the hidden base goes up in flames behind them. With their cargo of force-sensitive children and an Oracle they continue towards Rigelia.

After escaping the Separatist forces at Arcuuna the Light of Reason heads along a little-explored hyperspace route to the fringe world of Omar. Since the navicomputer is inoperable it is up to Master Oona Dio’s Force sense to guide the ship safely to its destination. The damaged databanks aboard hold very little information, but E’tan is able to recall a few details – that it is an out-of-the-way place that’s not aligned with either the Republic or the Separatists, and that the locals follow a religion that forbids droids and other advanced technology. Still the place does have a spaceport, however meager, so the Light must land and seek assistance.

They are greeted by High Hierophant Aldermaan and the Church Elders. They are not wanted here – Omar is a neutral world. But Master Dio turns out to be quite persuasive. The Light will be allowed to stay for emergency repairs. They will have supplies brought and medical aid will be given to the wounded. But they must stay aboard the ship and not attempt to leave or interact with anyone. Meanwhile another ship, a largish transport named the Sixth Star, lands and starts disembarking its cargo – refugees from the war who have come to Omar to start new lives. The Durois crew seems to be well known to the locals and not subject to the same restrictions as the Light of Reason.

Meanwhile E’tan has snuck away from the ship. Catching a cab, driven by one Dirk Strider, he heads to the city – Orlist, the capital of Omar. The place turns out to be a sad affair, a very affluent and well-kept city center, great estates in the old sea-cliffs and surrounding hills, and massive slums as far as the eye can see. He arranges for accommodations and takes trip to see the Temple Hill, the seat of religious power. Seeing the great robed statues that line the way to the Great Cathedral he gets this nagging feeling that he should know who they are (they are the likenesses of the Jedi Founding Fathers).

That very night Master Dio has a Force vision alerting her to a great evil. She decides to send her apprentices undercover into the city. All save Jax who will remain with her aboard the Light. E’tan and E Leet go with Dirk Strider to see a local religious leader, while Janna and Navik decides to look into the priesthood, the church and the history of Omar’s founding.

Dirk takes the two Jedi to see Josh'ah Dest, a local Durosi religious leader. He fills in a lot of gaps – telling them that all is not well on Omar. That the current regime is quite oppressive and not very pious. That Omar was settled by war-weary refugees led by equally war-weary Jedi, leading to the world’s peculiar pacifist religion. While they are speaking to him Omarite Templars move in to arrest Josh’ah – his vocal opposition to the regime will no longer be tolerated, and definitely no talking to outsiders. The Jedi flee while Josh’ah is arrested. But his captivity is short-lived as E’tan and E Leet join with Dirk to liberate him before he can reach Temple Hill.

Returning to the hotel they find a handful of Durosi mercenaries waiting for them in the main hall. Wasting no time the Jedi draw sabers and go on the offensive. Soon the villains all lie dead. This prompts the Jedi to go looking for Hedja Mooh and his cronies. They find his Seacliff apartment and break in there. Another fight ensures, in which the Jedi capture Mooh’s lieutenant Rara Nimpo. Unfortunately she doesn’t know when to quit and is killed before she can reveal anything. A starfighter attack on the apartment puts an end to that line of investigation.

Meanwhile Janna and Navik have snuck onto Temple Hill and recorded a most revealing meeting between Hedja Mooh and High Hierophant Aldermaan. The High Hierophant is demanding that something be done with the Oracle. Her visions are turning increasingly hostile to Aldermaan’s rule and he wants her replaced with someone more docile. Only he cannot act openly against her, or he would lose all legitimacy. So Mooh must go there and seize her. Janna sends word to Master Dio, who takes an airspeeder and heads downtown to pick up her Jedi. Then they set course of the mountain monastery of the Oracle.

The airspeeder is intercepted halfway by two Durosi starfighters dispatched from the Sixth Star. After some near-death acrobatics by E’tan he manages to seize control of one fighter and shoot the other one down. The rest of the trip is rather less eventful, until they spot the Sixth Star parked on the platform outside the Monastery. Shrouded by the Force they lands safely and quickly take out the guards Mooh has left outside. Quickly they make their way inside and start looking for the Oracle.

Inside the situation is chaotic. Encouraged by the words of the Oracle the monks have put up a spirited resistance against Hedja Mooh’s crew. And the monastery itself is a warren of old passages and hallways. The Jedi and their troopers make their way to the Oracle and secure her. Then the situation changes for the worse – contact is lost with the Clone sentries outside, and Oona can feel the Dark Side approaching. Ordering her apprentices to carry the oracle to safety Master Dio confronts the Sith. E’tan, headstrong as ever, does not listen and joins the fight. But he is not yet a Padawan, much less a true Jedi, and his feeble skills are no match of the Sith. Finally E’tan heeds his master, hobbling after the others, injured, but alive.

While Master Dio keeps the Sith occupied E Leet and E’tan escort the Oracle out of the temple. And about time – in the skies above Separatist Vulture droids are getting ready for a bombing run. E Leet jumps into the cockpit of the captured Durosi starfighter and takes off to confront the enemy while the injured E’tan leads the Oracle and the remaining clones board the air speeder. E Leet buys enough time for the airspeeder to get away, but he cannot prevent the Separatists from blowing up both the temple and the Sixth Star – presumably with both the Sith and Master Dio still inside! Later turns out the Sith defeated Master Dio, then spirited her away by way of another exit before the bombs fell.

Due to Separatist air supremacy the Jedi are forced to dump their vehicles and hide. They hide in the bush while the Separatist land their droid legions and seize control over Orlist. Making their way down-river they finally manage to contact the Light of Reason. It has not been destroyed at all. It fled the spaceport as soon as the Separatist ship appeared, and then hid beneath the surface of the ocean.

A period of healing and waiting follows, but eventually the Separatist warships move on. But they have badly miscalculated the fighting spirit of the Omarites. Learning that the Oracle is safe and that Aldermaan is a villain they rise in rebellion and defeat both the droid garrison and the Templar forces. Josh'ah Dest becomes the new High Hierophant and Dirk Strider leader of the Omarite Militia. The Omarites ask that the oracle accompany the Jedi to Coruscant, where she can be tested and taught – and petition for Omar to join the Republic.

Arcuuna is a massive brownish gas-giant in the Mid-Rim region, located along a remote finger of a sub-branch of the Corellian Run. Although uninhabited as such, the planet is orbited by a massive space station called Arcuuna Station. The station operates a fleet of large automated scoops that dive through the gas giant's atmosphere, extracting and compressing the atmosphere, before delivering it to the station for Tri-Helium (used in many commercial power generators) processing. The system is otherwise uninhabited; consisting of only some icy asteroids and comets, as well as an extensive array of inhospitable moons and moonlets around Arcuuna.

Arcuuna Station is run by Arakyd Industries, which is supposedly aligned with the Techno Union, and thus technically part of the Separatist Alliance. Chief Executive Dermov, the leader of the Arcuuna facility, had divergent ideological views, and sent a petition to the Republic asking for help to defend the station in return for supplying the Republic with Tri-Helium. Republic Intelligence promptly sent a team to investigate, but they failed to report back (they were murdered by the assassin droid IEEI-901, a Separatist covert agent). In an act of desperation the chief Executive sent a new and more urgent call for aid, this time using an open channel.

A Jedi Knight called Aslar To'ung picked up the call and set course for the station, intending to pose as a freelance prospector in search of work. With the help of his Cerean Padawan, E Leet, he soon found clues pointing towards IEEI-901 (masquerading as a worker droid), but as they prepared to confront the droid Aslar was killed by a sudden explosion. Then the station came under attack by Techno Union warships carrying not only battle droids, but a group of Trandoshan mercs in Separatist employ. Their leader, Colonel Boroosh (an old Trandoshan bounty-hunter turned Separatist), had been sent by General Grievous to claim the station for the Separatist cause. Not only is the Tri-Helium production valuable, but the station once had a much greater resident population manning massive foundries; if these could be re-activated, it would be a great boon to the Separatist plans for this area of space. There was some surprisingly heavy fighting during the assault; it turned out that Executive Dermov had re-activated some old foundries and re-equipped his droids as a makeshift droid army to oppose the Separatist droids! The station also boasted some old, but potent, space-weaponry, enough to blow up one frigate right away and force the other five to back off.

The Jedi Council also got the distress call, and being unaware of Aslar’s intentions, decided to send a Jedi Master to investigate and negotiate with Chief Executive Dermov (enter the Light of Reason and Jedi Master Oona Dio). Expecting some trouble, they sent with her some promising young Jedi warriors, carried aboard a fairly powerful warship backed by a full company of veteran clone troopers. Unfortunately the Jedi ship was ambushed by a Union warship as it approached the station in hyperspace. After a fierce space battle that included droid boarders getting onto the Light, the Jedi were able to disengage and make it to the station.

Spotting a light freighter sitting in a docking bay Master Dio led a team of Jedi and Clones over. Another battle soon ensued – droid forces were aboard the station and had orders to keep the bay clean of enemies. Padawan E Leet and his band of workers and droids raced came to the rescue, falling upon the droids from the rear. Victory was swift and complete. After assessing the situation the Jedi made their way to the Command Sphere – retreat is not an option, the Separatists cannot be allowed to gain control over the station. That would allow them to expand their influence from the Elrood sector and into the Erberus sector, which would again allow them to threaten the Corellian Run (key to the Republic war effort in this region of the galaxy).

Finding the command sphere devastated they hook up with Chief Executive Dermov – in the form of a protocol droid. More machine than man anyway Dermov downloaded his consciousness into a droid body before the destruction of the command sphere. This explains why the station is still making it hard for the Separatist force to reach their objectives. Given the overwhelming number of Separatists there is only one solution – the stations must be destroyed. Dermov knows how – destroy the primary and backup power regulators on the power core, then jam open the power feeds to their maximum setting. That will cause a massive energy buildup in the core that will eventually cascade out of control and take with it the entire station.

Master Oona Dio leads Navik, Jax and the majority of the troopers to deal with the main objective. Meanwhile Janna takes E’tan, E Leet and a couple of clones to the detention area where the Separatists are holding the surviving station crew. After an interesting train ride and a fight with some Trandoshans (who turn out to have swords capable of withstanding lightsaber strikes) the rescue team is captured by the droids. Fortunately they are freed by a militia counterstrike – workers and modified labor droids that refuse to give up. Soon the prisoners have been freed and are herded aboard a train. Destination: the docking bay. Oona and her team have, despite an ambush set by IEEI-901, managed to complete her assignment and the station is set to blow. Unfortunately she was not able to catch the assassin droid and it escapes.

Dermov the droid comes to the rescue again; he’s tracking old IEEI-901 on the station’s internal scanners – the villain is headed for the command sphere. Dermov is certain that he’ll be able to access the station’s main communications array and use it to alert the Separatist warships outside. E’tan and E Leet divert to stop IEEI-901 (and deliver some Republic justice to it). Oona and her team cannot be reached due to interference from the now-unstable core, so the two apprentices must do this on their own. The final showdown takes place in the wrecked command sphere. After surviving a sniper attack and an ambush IEEI-901 makes a critical mistake – he engages the Jedi with Aslar’s stolen lightsaber. Despite his speed, strength and combat training he is no match for the Force.

Well back on the Light of Reason – all the Jedi make it, most of the clones and a fair number of workers and labor droids – there is a complication. With the fall of the command sphere Dermov’s control over the station’s defenses were much reduced, and by now the separatist fleet is surrounding the station. The Light makes a desperate dash for freedom, pursued by no less than three frigates it plunges towards then massive gas giant below. Guided by the Force the little corvette just grazes the top clouds, then slingshots out on the other side. The Separatists are not so fortunate – at least one frigate is sucked down towards the planet’s core even as Arcuuna station blows up, taking with it several more warships and all the Separatist forces aboard. The Light of Reason limps into hyperspace on backups, guided by nothing more than Master Dio’s faith in the Force…