TerroirNoir2

Arc 21 from our first author on "TerroirNoir's Cable Channel of AE" Reviews is @Ankylosaur's All That Glimmers 3.3: Gods in the Planes. So after my brief sojourn in the past of Cimerora (grr @Darmian) Engineeria gets a call from Marchand, formerly Provost of Praetoria. Things down Brickstown way are not rosy. Well, not exactly Brickstown way but that's where his New Praetorians base is. So anyhoo, I stop in to see him and it turns out that Pendragon and Desdemona are missing. Not good. Marchand fills me in. The Mu (remember them?) under the command of Mu'Drakhan, are intending to summon Hequat. And that sends a shiver down the spine. Our two pals set off to stop him and are now MIA. With the aid of Hellewise, Jaena and Nadia, Marchand has a plan. And oh sweet baby back ribs what a plan. Mission 1: An Aspect of Death. Anyway, I'm currently laden down with tiny voodoo-style dolls (do not ask!) that will link me to the TUNNEL system. I just have to...recruit...some people along the way. I say people. The first is Adamastor. Yeah. Which is why I'm currently in what appears to be a ...brain cavity? Yep. Brain cavity. So I place a doll on a focus point and Adamastor is summoned into this place somehow. Now to free him from his captors. With the aid of a twinkly ball thing that leads me to him, I find the big lug looking a bit forlorn. So I take out his captor beings(?) and off he shuffles. Job done. And then I'm magicked out of this weird place and back to Gerald T. Marchand. (Ok, I am not sure this goes in my autobiography. Who the hell would believe it?) Marchand tells me that Nadia has shooed Adamastor off to Primeva in Nerva, and with any luck Mu'Drakhan will take him into the fold, like some sort of Trojan Banished Pantheon ThingTM. Next up? Oh let's see! [Mission 1 = A classic @Ankylosaur starter mission. Clear goals, in and out, job done. Good stuff. The plot continues.] Mission 2: An Aspect of Life. So more magical madness! Merulina is involved somehow in all this. Sheesh. I faced her before and she wasn't keen on getting involved in earthly things, so what changed? In the meantime I have to find another Trojan God. Not Zeus or Diana! But...I'm woolgathering here. On with the show! Time to recruit...yeah, recruit...not one but TWO Finn MacCools! Because I didn't have enough trouble with just the one before. (I think your arcs are getting stranger and stranger @Ankylosaur! I don't mean in a bad way! Then again I have played through Croatoa and Night Ward so...) There's a little recap between Marchand and Nadia and Jaena, with Engineeria listening in and making notes. Mainly involving an ancient war between the Mu and the Coralax. Oookay so far. And this feeds into Finn MacCool how? Oh you're being mystical at me. Or not? I'm a practical person so I get ready and head off to find Mr MacCool(s). I enter a snowy landscape...snowy in more ways than one! Snow Beasts! And already they've taken a dislike to this warm person! I burn him down to slush and move on. OH! SWEET! A doggo! Who's a good boy then? MORE doggos! Awesome! And they've led me to a mystical stone too! (Aw! This is lovely!) Then in a surprise I meet a Mountain Lion! And she just joins the pack and helps out! Yay! She's an Earth Spirit Guide appearing in that form it seems. We enter a cave and I'm confronted by a crystal being who does not like me being there! Fortunately Rad Blast seems to shatter it and we continue exploring. Finn (or Finns) should be in here somewhere. We find the first of the Finns, a Life spirit, and free him from his captivity. With an "Unnnh" he runs off and leaves me and the pack staring after him. The ungrateful lump! Oh well. Let's find the other one. And there's the Earth Spirit version of Finn. Once we free him he...also runs off. "Unnh unnh and away!" Kinda. What's he gonna do now? Combine into some sort of Voltron-Finn? Or whatever the Malta Hercules things do? Back to see Marchand I suppose. Which is good because my feet are wet from trudging through the snow here. Nadia has forwarded the Finns to Primeva. Probably by some sort of USPS Priority Mail thing. Oddness all around! [Mission 2 = Another collect the Aspect mission and I have to say this one was a delight. Having the dogs and the mountain lion as allies was a beautiful touch and so different from anything I've seen elsewhere in the AE. Bravo!] Mission 3: An Aspect of Torment. And now I'm going to HELL. The demon Skulkerin needs to be recruited to our cause. Oh, I do not like the sound of this. But it seems to voodoo/hoodoo/that you do doll will work on him too. Him? Her? Them? Does it matter? I don't suppose it's actually Hell, just some extra dimensional realm of fire and hot stuff. The again if I was more Nordic or Celtic would it be cold? I dunno. Either way here I am looking around me and wishing I was somewhere warm. NOT HELLISHLY HOT. Warm. I have surely mentioned Aruba before. Although to be honest right now I'd be happy to visit Siren's Call for a picnic. So after seeing off some Shadow Demons and following a friendly ghost (not Caspar and more of a Tormented Soul) to a focus altar, I finally find Skulkerin. Once freed he will join the others as one of the Manchurian Candidates for us in smoking out the Mu. Smoking? This place is affecting me. Everything is starting to revolve around fire! Upon returning to Marchand and the others, Nadia informs us that Skulkerin is the final part of the puzzle. Now it's time to fight Gods with Gods! Whoo! [Mission 3 = Same again as 1 and 2, simple but very well executed. On to the fight!] Mission 4: Fight Gods with Gods. So while I've been off Godbothering, Marchand has recruited the Carnival of Light and the Midnight Squad to help on on this. They're going to help clear out the Mu's base in the ruins of Primeva. Oh good. Like those two sets of folks are completely reliable. Still, who else we got? So my job is simple. SIMPLE! Sigh. What could possibly go wrong? Well, for starters the Mu are playing for keeps here. OW OW OW. I'm forced to use Judgement on them. I don't normally resort to Incarnate powers but sometimes you just have to get them the hell away from you with as much inflicted damage as possible. After dealing with these Mu I find a book. The Book of Death. Ominous. It describes Adamastor as an aspect of the God of Death. The Banished Pantheon need to get out in the sun more. And with all the poking around through books (I found a few more interesting ones relating to the gods I already "rescued") I've been noticed by the Chief Librarian! What happened to "SHHH! Quiet in the library."? It's more "These books are sacred!" and blast me with some sort of hellfire! Yeah, well I'm not returning your book, friend! And your multimedia section leaves a lot to be desired! With Khull left to bemoan the lack of respect in libraries in this modern age I leave and make a discovery. Excellent! One of the people I've been looking for. Hello, Pendragon! Soon have you free of those villains! And on we go and there's Desdemona, held in some sort of energy cage! Pendragon and Engineeria rescue her and the three of us fight our way through the corridors until eventually we find Skulkerin. Time to free him and cause some havoc! Those other beings I recruited should be around here somewhere too. Along the way we run into Merulina! She's happy to help us against Hequat. The more the merrier I say! Until the inevitable betrayal! What? You think I actually TRUST Skulkerin or Adamastor? I mean Adamastor? Not so sure about Finn, he's a bit mercurial at the best of times. Could go either way. Speaking of which, there's our boy now! Let's get him off the leash and see what happens! (Marchand, you have to be careful in future! I know the plan is working so far but it's STILL a bit crazy.) Mercurial? I should have said downright treacherous! Finn (or one of him at least) decides we're his enemies...although I did kinda "kidnap" him so there's that...and goes on the offensive after we deal with his jailers. Finn gets taken down and Adamastor tries to consume our souls! Desdemona and her demons give him a sound thrashing (I think that's the right phrase) and he runs off to...wherever he usually goes. But the momentum is relentless and Ksenia Stray arrives! She's hopped up on ideology and intent of defeating us but here she's smart and realizes she's outgunned and retreats to the spirit realm. And then...Mu'Drakhan makes his entrance! Not grandly. He seems surprised that we're here! Which is all for the best because at this point I'm kneeling and Resting! However he IS about to summon Hequat and we can't let him do that, so we all pile on and hope we're in time! He's tough though. But tough or not he takes a knee! Unfortunately for us Hequat makes her appearance anyway! This entire mission has been one epic fight/run from room to corridor to room. Merulina is still with us and she seems (to me at least) particularly angry with Hequat! Throwing down on her like there's no tomorrow and laying all on the line. Pendragon and Desdemona back me up and we force Hequat back to her origin point and then she's gone. Just like that. We've won. I have two inspirations left. Those odd red/yellow ones that I can never remember what they do. I'm rambling. Time to stumble back to Marchand and report in. See you on the flip, Merulina! Marchand and the others are pleased to say the least. Phrases like "The stuff of legend" are thrown around. Well, I dunno about that. Right now I'd settle for a really hot bath with some of those fizzy bath bomb things in it. And a really fluffy robe and a glass of wine after. [Mission 4 = Relentless mission. It's go go go from the get go. Great fun. Sweeping fights up and down the corridors of Primeva. Awesome.] Mission 5: Epilogue: Glimmering Changes. Marchand and friends tell me that Mu'Drakhan has reappeared, standing at Recluse's side but no doubt seething as being an underling. His pride will be his downfall. For now we are successful and the people of Nerva are breathing clearer, even if many don't even know why. But plenty do. Time to have a look around and see what's the word on the street or on the grapevine. Well not EVERYONE is happy to see me! Of course I'm used to that by now! When I finally do take that job with Whipsmart (that still a thing, @cranebump?) I may write up my memoirs and have stern words to say about these sorts of folks. Seems even Countess Crey wants me disciplined. Arrested. The gall of the woman! So much for Crey news! Let's poke around some more. Well, things go from bad to ...the same level of bad? The Banished, not the Banished Pantheon, have set themselves up in Light Astoria and are STILL worshipping fallen gods. I mean do these people NEVER learn? Isn't that a popular definition of madness? Doing the same thing over and over because, you know, THIS TIME IT'LL WORK! Sigh. And it seems from reports that the Stray, Ksenia herself, is standing in the shadows beside Mu'Drakhan. Ok, this feels very much like a lull in the fighting, a sort of temporal no-man's land. But for now we've beaten them. Marchand thanks me. The others do too. Although maybe I'll see them again. [Mission 5 = A nice epilog to the arc. Not often you get a wrap up that appreciates what you've done as opposed to a curt nod from your contact. Well done!] Verdict. A slow build up and then a sudden boom of sound in this arc, followed by a lovely coda. Well played @Ankylosaur. Took me a while to get here but I did! Next up from @Ankylosaur is All That Glints 1: Let Go of My Ego. (Now there's a title to conjure with!) And next up on the schedule in TerroirNoir's Cable Channel of AE Reviews is @cranebump's Solace: Part 2.

Thank you!

And the error thing seems to be resolved.

I'll get more up when this error thing is resolved.

I have an account. Two actually if you see my name there! Because the first one used up ALL my attachment space. This one isn't full though. Thanks for the link but I shouldn't have to use it I feel.

Did that work? I don't think I can do that since the majority of my posts are AE reviews with screenshots of the action. I'd leave most of them just empty!

I'm not sure where to put this actually. I almost went automatically to Bug Reports, but that's for the game. Anyway Hmm, I've been getting "Sorry, an unknown server error occurred when uploading this file. (Error code: - 200)" when attempting to upload a screenshot. Anyone have any ideas? And no I've not used up my attachment allowance, although I am at 80% already.

Hmm, I've been getting "Sorry, an unknown server error occurred when uploading this file. (Error code: - 200)" when attempting to upload a screenshot. Otherwise I'd be on to the next arc. Anyone have any ideas.

Ok, interesting! I've seen Rome (the TV show) and that's grim. And to be honest much as I love Cimerora, we don't interact much with the people.

Arc 20 from our third author on "TerroirNoir's Cable Channel of AE" Reviews is @Darmian's I Sing of Arms and the Man. Taking a brief break to research things in the Midnighter Club I answered a call to visit Cimerora and meet with Imperious. Imposing Imperious. Imperial Imperious. Impactful Imperious. Talking to him is...wait, no. I didn't talk to him, I got talked AT. A lot. And it was kinda Shakespeare in the Park. So anyway, bad things are happening. I THINK. He's prepared for war and wishes to see the usurper driven from his lands. Ok, got that. Even this little super has heard of Romulus. But now he's telling me my help was foretold. ACK. I shy away from predestination malarkey. Wait. I THINK he's asking me to retrieve his stolen property. His gladiators. Who are slaves. His property. Stolen by the forces of Romulus. His "property." This is a tricky one. I know we're engaged in helping this guy overthrow Romulus but does anyone do background checks on our allies? Oh it's a different time! That's fine then! Right. But I'm not happy about this AT ALL. And I'll be having words with the Midnighters or whoever is in charge there. Dream Doctor maybe? Or Montague Whatsiface. Because if I can't retrieve them I'm not to let them live. Sheesh. Mission 1: Munera. So I head in to a series of caverns where the Traitors were last seen dragging the gladiators with them. Imperious's slave(!) Tullio is waiting for me. He's a bit pompous but leads me through the caverns. Along the way we find barrels and amphorae containing supplies and marked with the sign of the Ludus (I checked this, gladiator school!), so we're on the right track. Then we find some bones with scraps of cloth. Scraps of cloth that are also from the gladiator school. Ok, some nasty people ahead. There's someone else hunting these gladiators too, a Publius Cato, whoever he was originally he's now one of Romulus's stooges. I take down several of the traitors along the way before finally finding Publius Cato. SITUATIONAL AWARENESS ENGINEERIA! Sigh, I walked right into that one. They were just around the corner to the left and did I check? Nope. But we...I deal with them. Tullio is strolling around like he's on a Sunday School picnic! Now for Publius Cato! BOOM! Tagged ya! And oddly this Cato gets taken down fast. That bothers me. Anyway, no sign of gladiators but we found a stone carved by someone named Crixus in what Tullio says is some sort of Ludus battle sign. So the gladiators are SOMEWHERE. (Still free of Imperious then!) Time to go back and talk to him. Imperious knows of someone who can read these signs and sends Tullio off to get him and not to take no for an answer. And now I am to rest. [Mission 1 = Ok, definitely not the hardest mission @Darmian has thrown at us but also possibly one of the trickiest morally. Ok, it's not Phipps but then what is? Let's see what comes next.] Mission 2: Until Turf is Cast Upon the Bones. So Imperious introduces me to Gallus, a rather old man who once was a gladiator but won his freedom and was given a wooden sword. Right right. Uh huh. WOODEN sword. Hmm. Go on. Gallus can read the battle sign. There's a series of caves along the coast and Crixus has gathered his brethren there. Or as Imperious calls them, "property". Sigh. Really gonna have to have words with the Midnighters. Even Recluse frowns on actual slavery. Yeah yeah, I saw the History Channel. Not chattel, it's tooootally different. Yeah. Still treating people as things and that's wrong in my book. (Oh, I should write a book! "Engineeria: A Life of Confusion") Anyway, it's all going soooo well already that Imperious is planning to buy MORE slaves/gladiators. Jeez Louise. You weren't talking about this when we stormed the castle against Romulus. Oh no, that was all "Liberation! Freedom! Down with the evildoer!" This lesser of two evils thing is tricky to navigate. So Gallus says Crixus will have left a marker allowing others of the brethren to locate him. Find that and you find Crixus. Plus Gallus doesn't seem to like Imperious much even though he's quiet about it. I see you, old man. I see you. Well that was easy. Sometimes you get lucky. Again with the situational awareness! So much for lucky! Having dealt with this guy I look closer at the stone. Deciphered it reads "Meet me in the back". Simple and to the point. Then again who writes long messages on stone? Then I run straight into Scipio. And he has my number. Luckily for him I think, going by what he just said! And I have seen some charred bones along the tunnel floors. I'm attracting these gladiator dudes like flies! Don't know what that says about me! OH! I'm gonna get my head caved in with that ax! And yes, I have an arrow lodged in my back armor plate. HOWEVER...you guys don't get much radiation in this century so it's highly unlikely you have any protection against it. So, alley-oop! And there we go. Heya, Crixus. In the back I see. And you are really not fighting fair here! Pulling the heart strings! But if I step back you'll cut me down! ACK. And he's got company! More brethren are on the way. I'm having trouble holding these sword-wielding madmen off so I stick on Repulsion and hope for the best. Seems to work. And I've captured Crixus! He asks only that his brothers are freed from Romulus's evil. That seems and entirely reasonable request to me. So back to Imperious. Imperious agrees! He wouldn't wish that on his worst enemy never mind a slave. I'm not pointing out that Romulus IS his worst enemy though. Don't confuse the locals as it may offend. Time to get some rest and then off to rescue the last of the Ludus. [Mission 2 = Nice little plot explainer here. Fast moving too. And those gladiators are damn dangerous! Fortunately I was not running this at 4/8!] Mission 3: Ave Imperator, morituri te salutant. So Crixus has told us that Agrippa Cato is the culprit behind kidnapping the gladiators. Imperious is still calling it theft though (grrr). Imperious tells Crixus to accompany me so that he might gain greater glory than he ever would in the Arena. I mean Crixus is coming but I don't think that's HIS reason. So off we go. Crixus is eager and we arrive at the temple and pretty soon we are rescuing Crixus's gladiators. So far so good. Although Romulus and his minions, in this instance the aforementioned Agrippa Cato and his goons, are heavily in cahoots with the 5th Column and their otherworldly allies, Which all told is not great for the kidnapped gladiators. I'm not saying stolen! They're not property, Imperious! Bah! But we make our way through the temple, rescuing as we go, and outside where we find that there's a CYCLOPS working for the enemy! These things are dangerous! But Crixus is battle hardened and with a combination of his sword work and my rad blasts (not to mention siphoning speed, speed boosting Crixus and stealing health from the Cyclops to keep both of us up) we finish him off before facing Agrippa Cato himself. He seems annoyed by having to ally himself with...vampires. He's easier to take out than the Cyclops though. Now we just have to meet Imperious and....GAWD! GAWD DAMMNIT! Why couldn't you just be a noble ruler? Just and fair to all? Jeez Louise! I mean really. And then he ignores me and tackles Crixus himself! Crixus has identified me as an enemy too so I can't even help him! But I refuse to help Imperious. I'm leaving. Imperious, in an imperious way, seems oblivious to how I see things and just rants at me. Right. I need a very sharp word with Montague Thingy in the Midnighter Club and I'm not taking "historical differences" as a legitimate answer. [Mission 3 = Tight little mission that finishes up the arc. Good stuff with no extraneous material.] Verdict: @Darmian has surprised me here with a shorter arc (but I think if this was stretched to five parts it would have padding) that really pushes at some of our notions of what it means to be heroic in different times as opposed to the present. You could rush through this and just hack and slash but when you don't and have a think about it, it's different. Like I said earlier, it's not Westin Phipps but it definitely could be his Cimeroran ancestor! Next up from @Darmian is Three Sisters. And next up on the schedule in TerroirNoir's Cable Channel of AE Reviews is @Ankylosaur's All That Glimmers 3.3: Gods in the Planes.

My timetable is STILL awful, but I'm trying! I promised to finish this and I'm aiming to do exactly that!

Because you make a difference. Everyone who steps up in some way and makes the world for the rest of us fun, and frankly BETTER, is important.

I'd happily slot @Darmian's Praetorian AEs straight into the existing game.

Thanks for the inclusion but I just play 🙂 You and all the others provide my fun!!

Agreed. I'm going to enlarge that list and include @cranebump, @Ankylosaur, @Darmian, @Zhym, @ZamuelNow, @twozerofoxtrot, @Jiro Ito, and those are just the tip of the iceberg!