TerroirNoir's "Cable Channel of AE!" Reviews. Part 2.

[Zhym]

Woo hoo!  Welcome back, @TerroirNoir2!

 

Also, @cranebump: Nixon, Agnew, and Haldeman?  ISWYDT...

Edited July 29 by Zhym

[TerroirNoir2]

1 hour ago, Zhym said:

Woo hoo!  Welcome back, @TerroirNoir2!

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

[cranebump]

2 hours ago, TerroirNoir2 said:

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

Welcome back! And as far as finishing stuff, not to worry from my part—I have nothing in production. (Though I evidently have the usual errors).:-)

[TerroirNoir2]

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 ENGINERIA!

 

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!  "Engineria: 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.

 

Edited Wednesday at 10:22 PM by TerroirNoir2

[Darmian]

16 minutes ago, TerroirNoir2 said:

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? 

I was attempting to write a Cimeroran arc as though the Cimerorans were real Romans, inasmuch as we know how their society worked. And no, it wasn't nice.

[TerroirNoir2]

7 hours ago, Darmian said:

I was attempting to write a Cimeroran arc as though the Cimerorans were real Romans, inasmuch as we know how their society worked. And no, it wasn't nice.

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.

[TerroirNoir2]

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.

[Darmian]

15 minutes ago, TerroirNoir2 said:

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.

I just tried adding a pic to this.  Not just you.

[TerroirNoir2]

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

[TerroirNoir2]

On 8/2/2025 at 3:47 PM, TerroirNoir2 said:

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

And the error thing seems to be resolved.

[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) Engineria 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 Thing^TM. 

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 Engineria 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.  Then 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 Engineria 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.

Edited yesterday at 05:18 PM by TerroirNoir2

[Zhym]

On 7/30/2025 at 3:14 PM, TerroirNoir2 said:

Wait.

I THINK he's asking me . . .

I kid you not, when I first read that I thought it was going to end in, ". . . on a date."  Which would have been a very different adventure (but probably involving less slavery).

 

On 8/4/2025 at 3:28 PM, TerroirNoir2 said:

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.

Look, if you got summoned every hour just to get beaten up, you'd be a little glum too.

[Darmian]

If there's one thing @Ankylosaur does better than anyone (and they do a LOT of things!) it is the use of allies to lead you to different places/things/other allies.  It seems so simple yet it can be so hard to do in practice.

[TerroirNoir2]

Arc 21 from our second author on "TerroirNoir's Cable Channel of AE" Reviews is @cranebump's Solace: Part 2.

 

(And this one starts off with an excerpt from a poem by T.S. Eliot, The Hollow Men. Nice.  Also, curiously ominous!) 

 

Mission 1: Dried Voices Whispering. So Jake Montoya, formerly the Red Tiger, is chatting to Engineria.  Because you know, I get to meet my heroes now and then.  It happens. It's not always Laronda saying "Nice Costume!" to me when I rescue her from muggers.  I'd come looking for Everett Daniels but he's taking a back seat to things at the moment it appears. 

So this Solace Injunction thing is bigger than just getting Longbow out of Faultline.  (Remember BEFORE they fixed up the dam?  So many ways to fall down a hole).  So Darkwater is "up to something".  I know.  I was there.  But what? And the Toska-Schander Corp? What they be at?

 

Well, we will see.  In the meantime Kestral and me are going to take a look see at somewhere we shouldn't be lookseeing, if you see what I mean.

 

Into the sewer I go.  (At least the Praetorian Underground is dry!  Mostly.)

 

And there's my boy Kestrel.

Facing off against...well they ain't friendly looking.

 

 

Xaos' machinery still humming away.  Mandelbrot creatures everywhere. And I find some tech boxes.

They've got some Skyraider Jumpbot bits, hazmat suits and on the lid there's a label, "Mandelbrot Signature Identification."  Ok then,  Clear as mud.

 

 

A bit further in Engineria and Kestrel find a Skyraider corpse, killed by the Mandelbrot creatures it seems.  The sewer is not a safe place today.  Ok ok, it's NEVER a safe place in Paragon City but normally I have to go to the Abandoned part of it for it to get really wild.  Hmm.  You'd think Freedom Corps would have a deal with the City Council to "deal" with the sewer stuff.  Instead there's probably a Sewer Response Department, like the Fire Department, totally average guys and gals, who have to go down here and get murdered for $15 an hour.  I reckon this is a job Hero Corps should be looking for a contract for.  Might be too small potatoes for them.  

 

(Which reminds me.  Surely there are other orgs like Hero Corps?  Just not as big or as famous.)

 

OH!  Kestrel and Engineria run into some more of those scientist types!

 

 

Oh well that's not bad at all.  Surely the Clockwork King will only want good things from this "power".  Surely.  I have a bridge in Independence Port to sell you then.  See me after class.

 

 

Alas for Clocky here, its master will have to build a new one.  We even stomped on the Gears after he fell apart.  On we go Kestral.

We find another crate with Skyraider material in it. An abandoned power cell.  They don't normally leave those behind. I think they're for the Skiffs or the Porter devices.

 

(Typo on cell in the clue, @cranebump)

 

A box of scraps and tools.  And clearly marked is "Microcel Removal Procedures."  Ok, I need a scientist.  And Kestral ain't much help here.  This all has to go back to Montoya.

 

 

And down at the back of the zone there's a whole series of these things on the wall.  And every one of them has been pried open and there's a space where something has been removed.  Again, scientist time.  I don't know what's missing but somewhere there's a blueprint for these things I'm sure, and we'll see what we will see.

Or not see since it's missing.

I know what I mean.

 

 

Montoya does some L33t level 'splaining when we get back.

The Skyraiders were...raiding.  Although not Skying.  Whatever.  I'm caked in sewer water up to my knees, leave me be.

Whatever their equipment was it had enough power for the dormant Mandelbrot thingies to siphon and reactivate, generating odd creatures and "devouring" some of the Skyraiders.

And Montoya is gonna get Carlos, his nephew, the Bengal Tiger, to analyze stuff.  If only to keep him out of trouble. Well, better him than me.

We'll find out what's going on, for sure.

 

[Mission 1= A continuation and a start.  @cranebump builds the mystery and lays down clues like a madman throwing the bits of jigsaw across the map and here I am on my knees looking for a bit of sky(raider) or a corner piece.  Solid!  Looking forward to the next mission.]

 

Mission 2: Sunlight on a Broken Column.  Oh I'm tired.  There's only so many showers and baths you can take before your skin starts to prune.  And I'm never getting invited to the Paragon Met Ball at this rate.  Sorry. Jake is filling me in.  All these devices I found?  Yeah, they're for amplifying and volumizing water.  Like one of those shampoos I see on TV.  Trouble is, when Longbow started removing them after Xaos was originally taken down they found that the Mandelbrot energies were "creating" things.  No way to stop them so cold storage for a couple of years was mandated. 

Except there's echoes from the last one examined.  Which means someone is being a bad person and experimenting on it.

As for the Toska-Schander?  Well that's where I'm off to next.  So Longbow has worked with TSC and me and Jim Bartlett are going to have a poke around.

 

To be honest I've been wary of Longbow since that whole thing with the Meteors when we faced off against Ms. Liberty.  Which is probably why I never get called when she's organizing a Task Force.  So I'm not 100 per cent surprised that the Red and Whites might have worked with TSC.

 

JEEZ LOUISE!  I literally just walked up to you!  Didn't fire at you, nothing!  And you give me FLAMETHROWERS!

 

 

I spend a moment activating Repulsion.  GUYS!  I'm not a threat!  I have still not laid a finger on you!

Repulsion is a doozy though!  Happy landings!

 

 

I'm forced to render them unconscious and then I move further in and link up with Jim.  He seems to be handling himself well too.

 

 

Ok, what do you have for me?  OOOH!  Well that's interesting.

 

 

Chill Pill?  Well the Red and Whites are recruiting more laid back individuals these days apparently.  Let's go and have a talk with them.  Who knows what level of stoner logic we're going to find.

 

 

Oh, they're also a gambler and likes horses.  Where?  Saratoga?  Belmont Park?  (Or is Narragansett Park still open in Paragon?)

They're laid back to the point of being unaware too!

 

 

Chill Pill is not impressed by us despite handing him his ass.  He doesn't want to be here.  No, he hasn't got a keycard for any secret stuff.  Maybe Agent X-Treme, the head honcho does.  Who can tell?

Clear as mud. C'mon, Jim.  Let's go hunting.

We run into a few more folks with similar responses [Not spoilering them, there's some funny ones!] and have to deal with some patrol type aggro.

 

 

Eventually we get a keycard, but not from an Agent X-Treme, and have a looksee at some data.

 

 

So far these Longbow are not the furious and dedicated maniacs I ran into back with the Meteors.  And I'm thankful for that! 

But it doesn't last and we finally meet Agent X.  Not X-Treme.  He seems capable and patient.  Which is fair I suppose from a veteran of the Praetorian War.

 

 

So we do a little trade and then Engineria and Jim "escape".  Job done.

Back to Montoya to catch up on things and debrief.

 

Montoya seems interested that a senior member like Agent X is "not on board with Longbow's latest lies".  Ok, I know why I have my issues with them, but...anyway.  Not the time or place.  Let's move forward.  There's intel to examine.  And crab cakes apparently. 

 

[Mission 2 = classic infiltration mission with some comedic elements.  Loved it. Plenty of gentle sarcasm from @cranebump in this one!]

 

Mission 3: Between the Idea and the Reality.  Hoo boy have the team got intel for me!  Toska-Schander have their fingers in lots of pies.  Two of them in particular in the local area. MCI Industries is the first.  TSC bought them, or at least their old premises, about a year ago and have been working on the place ever since as far as anyone knows. MCI are the moneymen behind the Solace Injunction buy outs.  So there's that. They're pretty much invested in getting Longbow off their spot at all costs. And Krimulo is wrapped up in that like a cat with a ball of yarn.

The other one is Barrier Tech.  You know, the ones who make a good chunk of the generators you see in bases these days.  (I remember looking at one of those!  I couldn't afford it!) So thanks to that a lot of their business is "classified".  

 

Time to pay them a visit and my team is in before me.  Ok, just once can I go in first?  Wait, what am I saying?  That's insane.  I could get killed!

 

 

In short order I meet with Kestrel and Viridesence.  

 

 

While I'm examining a wall panel Virdesence tells me that the CLOCKWORK KING is here!  Oh good.  I did a task force a while back for Synapse and met him then, and oh that was fun.  You can insert several layers of sarcasm into that last sentence.  Along with "why wasn't Mr. Speedy himself just zooming in and dealing with it at a speed where no one could even see him act?  Whatever.  Back to the present!  What's in here anyway?

 

Ah.  Microcels filled with Mandelbrot energy.  Oh great.  That means we're gonna meet more generated creatures.  What happened to good old cloning?  At least then you had pods and so on rather than enemies generated out of mid air. 

 

And then we find a terminal with weirdly corrupted data.  Ok, I say weirdly.  I'm not a programmer so I don't know how weirdly, or even if it is in code rather than actually corrupted.  But if it was entirely ciphered why would I be able to read part of it?  It says "Donner Project"  Nope.  Nada. Not a clue.  Montoya can poke at this later.

 

Oh good.  Safety protocols are off.  Generators are heading toward overload.  Sigh sigh sigh.  Oh, and comms are down.

It's been curiously quiet so far.  I don't like it.  Ok, I like it less when I'm being hit by things but this is ...odd.

Oh.

Well, maybe there's a reason for the quiet.

 

 

Of course as we move forward and pass several Test Generators, the quiet doesn't last.  If I didn't know about the Mandelbrots then being attacked by random punks would be strange.  (Honestly, I have no idea what passes for accepted normality in this city anymore)

 

 

The attacks are coming more frequently now and with more ferocity.

 

 

Kestrel takes a bad hit and has to port out.  Greene and I continue on but his power pack is hit and then he too ports away.  Can't blame them.

Although their timing is not the best. 

 

This fight is tough solo!  

 

 

But I disassemble him!  This Clockwork King body is trashed.  And mine is not far behind.  Armor is overheating and I'm reddlining my HP here.  Any inspirations left?

 

Ah!  Such a time for an ambush! Well s*&t.

 

 

Hang on Kestral and Viridesence.  Joining you for a minute.

I make a quick call before going back and pick up Buddy. Kestrel and Greene are still recovering.

And fortunately I did!

 

 

We clean up and then after freeing up the comms, examine some master access panel.  As we leave the rest of the Ravens arrive to clear up after us. Good luck with that!

 

Montoya is sucking air through his teeth like a flaky mechanic trying to get you to pay $500 for a new whatever when all you need is an oil change. (Although I'm looking at an EV these days.  I mean I can FLY, but you know, I don't do it to buy groceries.)

 

So the Barrier Tech folks might have been low grade sketchy but they didn't deserve to die.  Someone overloaded their power and let the Mandelbrot kill them.  Probably to cover tracks.  So something is missing from that place.

 

[Mission 3 = A lot of fun with this one.  Slow build and then a rapid ramp up.  Being attacked by numerous Posses was amusing!  Although one pack of them just stood around ignoring me, possibly comparing tattoos.  In solidarity I ignored them back.  Clockwork King?  Really?  Hooboy.  Anyway, on we go!]

 

Mission 4: Violent Souls.  So the Ravens' gave the Red & Whites an "anonymous" tip, which led to Barrier Tech being shut down and cordoned off. So that's dealt with at least for now.  Next on the agenda is Pack, Diversant & Hayes, a law firm.  Seems Pack is a money gal usually, corporate stuff, but still clean as far as Everett Daniels can tell.  The other two though?  Nothing on them.  Though Diversant has been seen with Krimulo before so...where there's smoke there's a pope?

Either way we're paying them a visit.  

As usual "we" = me. Well, Bengal will be VERY stealthily sneaking around ahead of me.

 

In I go.

And straight off the bat we have trouble. Someone has set off a viral worm thing that is eating the data records of the firm!  Gotta find the source and shut it down before there's nothing left.

 

 

I jink and dodge my way around security as best as I can with stealth/infiltration.  Have to crack a few heads here and there as I go and then I find Leola Pack herself.  She's got guards around here yet she seems unsettled by them.

 

 

Looks like she has good reason to be unsettled!

 

 

OOOF!  Rad Blast right to the chest!  That has gotta hurt!  (Remembering that I fought "Lord Richter" a while back, yes, yes it does hurt!)

 

 

Leola Pack comments that she's had enough, it was supposed to be a business deal.  Then she hands me her briefcase and informs me that she was never here and I didn't see her.  Ookay then.  Hmm, the briefcase has everything needed to take down Anwar Diversant.  Seems he's the go to guy for this gone to thing.

Still no sign of young Bengal though.

 

Further along in the office I find a thingy.  You know, a whatchamacallit. 

One of these.

Let's hope it stops the data wipe.

 

No sign of Diversant but I run into Amanda Hayes.  She's not a happy bunny. More like that Rabbit in Monty Python and The Holy Grail.

 

 

Well, no thanks.  I've gone this far with the Ravens so I'm taking it all the way thankyewverymuch.  A few Rads soften her up and she's soon screaming about emergency beacons and whatnot. All units to disengage and scatter?  That does not sound like lawyer-speak to this gal!  This Hayes seems like a ringer to me.

 

 

With Hayes dealt with I examine the desk here and find that Diversant has TP'd out.  No way to track them either as it has been shut down by Sturmwolke.  

Ok, gathering whatever I can of the remaining data I leave and head back for the debrief. Diversant is gone.  And so is young Bengal.  Hopefully he's kept under cover and hasn't been captured.

 

Montoya is a bit sweary.  I reckon the phrases "youth of today", "back in my day" and other, louder, less savory things are part of that package of invective that I tuned out of part way through until he stopped being angry and started examining the evidence.

The briefcase will be sifted.  When that's done he'll be in touch because we have to find Diversant and his errant nephew.

 

[Mission 4 = Oh!  Cliffhanger!  Good stuff.  Seemingly passive as we walk through the law offices but then catching them in mid whatever just ramped things.  Looking forward to the finale!]

 

Verdict. @cranebump just builds these slow burning things that suddenly flame up and grab you.  Excellent stuff.

 

Next up from @cranebump is Solace: Part 3.

And next up on the schedule in TerroirNoir's Cable Channel of AE Reviews is @Darmian's Three Sisters.

Edited 8 hours ago by TerroirNoir2

[Darmian]

This is a great image actually.

 

[cranebump]

Just thinking that @TerroirNoir2's assertion, I know what I mean, encapsulates my entire life mantra.:-)

 

(I love reading these writeups. TN is always dropping in these humorous pearls, one after another.)

[Ankylosaur]

On 8/4/2025 at 11:28 AM, TerroirNoir2 said:

Took me a while to get here but I did! 

 

 

And me awhile to realize it!

Great read-through with good laughs along the way. Loved to see the grand conclusion through Engineria's eyes. All those missions defeating Pantheon gods on the way to this paid off as you could compel them to a very small degree. That map for the summoning was a handy find - lots of spots for captives - like that Adamastor pic - and helps set the stage for a dramatic finale, and glad it felt like an epic fight!

That epilogue is "newish." I felt kind of like I needed to use the Vault of the Mu map in M5 for obvious reasons, but it just fell flat after the epic battle of mission 4. And then, it occurred to me I could do what I did in Glitters, an epilogue mission, which works for a 9 arc series. Sort of a "where are they now" mission that let's you get an in-world "feel" of the changes introduced, by you, through the story. 

 

I also originally had the gods you "rescued" in 1-3 escorted to the door - but escorts are never fun. This is also the arc where I started using the term "spirit guides" for these non combat escorts that guide you to an objective. M2 is big and multi-roomed, and M3 has a million forks, so the guides are there point you the right way in what amount to very simple missions to avoid the frustration of hunting for a single objective.

 

And i still wish I found a better character than Finn McCool for the Celtic earth and life aspects of a god there, especially after @Darmian's feedback, but never did. The name is funny though - so that is part of the reason it stayed 

As to the rest...

 

Spoiler

I always thought Arachnos should get shaken up more than it does. Vying for power and overthrowing leaders in the ranks feels like it's whole backstory, but Recluse's lieutenants are ever unchanging. Clearly, the devs felt that too with their plans for Scirocco, and this was my, different take on that. Mu Drukan won out over Vorkhan because there is a level 50ish mob for him. (You defeated Vorkhan way back in 1.3)

 
While Glitters focused on Praetorian tech, and usurped Aeon with Midas, in this, Scirocco and Ice Mistral are usurped by Mu'Drakan and Ksenia, The Stray. That's not the end of the shake ups there, but the end you will see in "All That..."

One big problem with both is they are mad-long, so not many have experienced them; the other is that I am not sure people like their worlds to change through MA. 🙂

I learned lessons there and All That Glints and All That Glows are much shorter at "only" 3 arcs each and focus more on the changes/power struggles among factions in the Council after the collapse of Striga. 

Can't wait to read Engineria's next adventure!
 

Edited yesterday at 06:30 PM by Ankylosaur

[TerroirNoir2]

I've adjusted my profile pic to be Engineria.  This is generated from an in game image of her.  I like it!

[Darmian]

Just now, TerroirNoir2 said:

I've adjusted my profile pic to be Engineria.  This is generated from an in game image of her.  I like it!

Very swish!

[TerroirNoir2]

@cranebump, based on my new avatar image I've made a few tweaks to Engineria's look.  Since you used her in "Potter's Field" I thought I'd give the adjustments to you.

 

Spoiler

Face 13

Executioner.  Color for this is 4 from the left on the bottom and then 6 up.  😄

 

Hair

Resistance 2. Color for this is 4 from the left on the bottom and then 7 up.

 

Detail 1

Earpiece. Top right white for both.

 

Detail 2

Cybertech 1.  Again, top right white for both.

 

[TerroirNoir2]

Arc 21 from our third author on "TerroirNoir's Cable Channel of AE" Reviews is @Darmian's Three Sisters.

Well, how could I refuse someone with such a distinguished sounding name?  And there is mention of a large fee.  I do need to get this armor refitted after going toe to toe with a version of the Clockwork King after all.  Let's go see what this is all about.

How bad could it be?

 

Mission 1: Dies Irae. So I rock up at this Kings Tower Consolidated place.  And wouldn't you know it, it's just across the street from the Pawn Shop.  You know, the one where you can easily get stabbed when you're still a noob hero just nosing her way around Kings Row and suddenly find out that the Skulls are tougher than you think.

BUT

BUT...this place has a DOORMAN!  I mean in THIS neighborhood?  What?

So I'm directed to the elevator and it takes me straight up to the top and opens onto ...a restaurant?  Well, not in use.  Chairs stacked and sheets covering stuff.

Then Mr. John Spreadbury III meets me.  He's all old school charm and smells of Bay Rum. He looks like Anson Mount would play him in a TV show.  But with a mustache.

So the spiel is nice.  He's heard of me, my reputation and so on and his employers want to use my services.  

Then it comes.  He asks if I've heard of Cimerora.  Oh I have, I have.  (Grr slavery grr!) And if I take this job then that's where I'll be going.

 

So I agree and it looks like I'm off to see the wiz...Cimerora.  Except this is back in time but after Romulus has had his butt handed to him.  Ok, place should be a bit more peaceful then I suppose.

Then he tells me that death is not for me, not yet.  Which is why his employers, the Fureys, picked me.  Like they know?  I don't know that!  How do THEY know that?

Job is "simple".  Make sure a voyage takes place.  And avoid fellow contractors.  They may not like me being on the same job or something.

Sheesh, time travel is hard.  I mean the tenses!  Anyhoo, I'm transported back!

 

[More ASAP]

Edited 2 hours ago by TerroirNoir2