Stratus' Research Lab

Ever since the day Stratus first saw lightning arc out of the blight lands and strike copper, he has been curious about lighting's apparent affection for metal! So he has decided to open a lab in his and Midnight's future lair. He began preparations, collecting all the materials for the Right of Passage was the first step, starting to learn lair shaping would be the next. But that wouldn't stop him from experimenting with lightning or primal. No, he still wanted to learn more. More than his teachers would teach him. More than either they knew or were willing to share.

He'd already learned about the positive healing aspects of primal creation energy and its crippling aspects in its use of Drain Bolt and Drain Strike. It wasn't the manipulated forms of Primal he was interested in though, it was the raw forms. The stuff Drulkar was made out of, like fire or the lightning that cracked cross the sky. Shinnara would bring him tidbits of material from here and there for various tasks, some of it he brought in for his work. One of the items he'd been working on in the open was a small piece of obsidian with a copper lattice weave. He noticed that when a strand of copper was attached to it and run to the ground it would draw a lot of lightning, especially if mounted somewhere high up.

Once he had a functional lab, he resolved he would attempt to capture the lightning in essence orbs, just to see what would happen. His studies as a hatchling had also been very limited. He could not get up high enough to actually interact with the source of the lightning. He couldn't put his equipment where he really needed it. So he couldn't wait for his rites to be complete, both to be with MidnightTempest and to really start on his work.

Stratus' Storm Aparatus!

## Circa 2 - 3 weeks ago ##

Having no lab, Stratus had to do his best to work on his research outside the lair. Khemerius had taught him about memory crystals, storing knowledge and primal in crystals for a release at a later date. This wasn't your usual crystal shaping. Stratus would use pre-made crystals from Khemarius' stock because he knew they were of high quality and kept doing tasks for the old wyrm to earn them.

Stratus had a vision of himself and Midnight rising above Storm's peak during a great storm. So with the aid of some ancients who took him there safely, he'd go down to the beaches and start placing crystals and attuning them to each other. He would end up ringing the entire island in them. He also laid copper wire up the slope of the mountain from them and down into the sea. Lightning would strike the top, run down through the crystals, and out into the ocean. This would power the crystals and heat the ocean some. The peak was a massive generator of lightning and primal forces and heat in the oceans around the isle. Stratus imbued the crystal array with the tempest spell that would be set to cycle and feed on its own generated power.

By the time ascension night came, the peak was a raging storm with an eye wall that encompassed the ascension area. Since that night, the crystals were removed and the peak has returned to its normal self.

Obsession

The lair had been shaped using advanced lair magics.. Stratus had even learned to warp space using the prime and crystals just as with a dimensional pocket and had added 2 complete floors to a grand hall that normally would not be there. Those upper floors he sealed with wards and turned into his laboratory. The wards were not designed to harm.. but literally made it appear like there were walls where there were none to any outsider. It rapidly filled with copies of content from the Dalimond library and any open sources of knowledge to which he could get access. He spent all of his waking hours when Midnight slept harvesting as much information about Istaria's existence as he could find.

The lab was huge.. encompassing most of the two warp distortion floors. In it he had a shrine to Telak on one side of the room.. a shrine to Drulkar on the other. The muse often takes Stratus in many forms and lately he had another. It had begun on his rights of passage when he discovered more about himself and his species than ever in his life. Of notable interest to him was the mind shard and how primal interacted with it.

He had realized that all inputs into the mind shard from reality were forcibly linear and he questioned.. was this normal? Was there another way to perceive reality? What if how we saw time was all wrong, and it was more like their statues? Slowly setting into place as choices were made and events occurred? The inevitable points, from decisions already made would make the framework for the future, which slowly filled in like a sketch being colored.

Associated in his thoughts were the portals of Istaria.. that allowed instantaneous projection of an individual across infinite distance, seemingly defying all normal laws of time and normal travel. Which made him begin thinking, if one placed the exit and entrance of a portal facing each other in extreme proximity.. would it be able to cross from one into the other so quickly that time actually ran backwards?

Based on these premises, he began to build in his private floors two such portals based on gnomish tech from Raachival. Eventually he would need to consult with the gnomes for help. The other item he acquired was another mind shard.. much similar to the one created in the rights of passage, the orb that served as the vessel for the mind. He knew it would be dangerous to transfer into it. But, he would begin to research ways of extending his will into it in order to merely perceive from its point of view, not to totally possess it. He might need to speak to a blood mage about that concept. He'd have to bring only the trusted into his sanctum of Istarian progress.

Obsession 2

Stratus had used the processes he learned in his Rite of Passage to create another crystal orb.. or "mind shard" as he had come to call them. He had expanded the lab, adding a room dedicated to the Pantheon of Istaria, not only Drulkar and Telak. He figured with what he was messing with he might need all their help, guidance, and protection.. even Nyrevin.. even Alyessa.. both of whom he had scolded in his own musings.

In a corner of the main facility he had begun setting up a vast experimental array of crystals. This was a completely new project. He called it the primal beam relay system. Knowing the crystals he had found in the world could each hold an access point to every plane, adding strength to its wielder based on their type, he had begun configuring an array of crystals whose faces could direct power from those specific planes into complex patterns. The array could be used to store information.. or to focus various forms of energy onto a target. More and more, he found himself in Khutit form, practicing the art of fine manipulation with his much hand-like claws in that form. In the end, he did not know what his final use for it would be, it was chasing knowledge for the sake of doing so.. purely theoretical.

Recent events had increased the urgency of the projects. A small hatch named Efinat had appeared, knowing him and his family; claiming to be from the future and a time in which a manipulation of the gift had been discovered that would permit a current intelligence to be reborn, not in consecutive time, but in the past. This was potentially an offshoot of his own work.

Efinat claimed to be the intelligence officer of one of his clutch. He said he had willingly died to protect that child now, but the death occurred in a future time. This, so that he might reincarnate in the present to provide protection from, of all things, assassins from his native time period. Efinat would not go into detail as to why assassins were after Stratus' children, saying that to say too much would cause more change to the future than his mere presence had already done. After all, he was not here to change the past, but to protect it from being altered.

Stratus had obtained the services of a couple of gnome helpers whom he would fly over to Aeden, carrying them from the mainland. They had their own quarters off to the side in the lab so they could come and go with the least disturbance to the clutch or Midnight. Efinat was not pleased with their presence. The little black and blue hatch seemed to know a lot about the comings and goings on Aeden. Stratus half wondered if the strange hatch he had adoped ever slept.

Tank and Gild were very handy in their work. Very knowledgeable of portals and procured for that very reason. They began to help him construct the two facing portals and the third entry/exit portal that would allow an individual to enter the time portal system or TPS as he would refer to it. The arrangements were so as not to make anyone aware as to the knowledge of the powers with which he tampered.

He had then found a Bloodmage whose services he might procure regarding the mind shard. Her name was Gradh, and there was something about her he knew, and might be able to provide for her, in exchange for her services.

Midnight and Nebulas had advised Stratus to take Efinat in. They believed his story. Nebulas was emphatic with that belief, and for reasons he did not know. Nebulas was a hatchling they had adopted not long ago. For all he knew, she might be from the future as well. Her mannerisms and talk of things he did not know of were frequent and perplexing.

Gild came up to Stratus and stated, "You know.. you should think about using that crystal contraption of yours as a targeting system for the gates. They're going to need something to measure where you're going and since you have a reference point to each plane in that set, it might be able to chart a path.. kind of like a planar cartographer of sorts."

"Planar Cartographer? What an interesting name. You might be onto something. But so far it just vents power from those crystals. How would we use it to establish locations?" Stratus inquired.

Gild replied, "Well, those crystals might be able to help you calibrate to the nearest anchor points to those planes in the prime.. but you'd be better asking one of the mages about that one. Maybe Ulaven would know more."

Stratus blinked a couple times as his mind processed the information, he stood at a half-head above eye level with the gnome in his Khutit shape. It wasn't an entirely bad idea. He glanced up as he heard some rumblings across at the work bench opposed his station in the lab.

Tank, off in another corner of the lab, threw a hammer across the room in frustration as he realized he was going to have to re-cast a steel peg that was being used to mount one of the tiny cogs in the portal's aiming systems. Stratus narrowly ducked being nailed by the flying tool. "Hey, watch it over there. There's delicate equipment in this room!"

With the strange occurrences and one ill-tempered craft gnome, Stratus had a lot on his mind. Not to mention, one of his eggs had been communicating with Efinat in code. This further indicated that perhaps his work would be successful, and maybe the aoreban-to-be in question had completed his work or perfected it.

Stratus had also received a message of his own. But it had knocked him out and the force of the power received had burnt out his actual eyeballs. It was sent on a primal frequency that was unique to him, his personal and uniquely identifying primal signature. He knew it had to be from himself in another time, but the only witnesses to the event,Michelenthesis and Galinore, were either too shocked to recall the full message or were sleeping. He had to have a crab kill and eat him on the beaches of Morning Light to be reborn to recover his eyes before Midnight was aware he had lost them. The last thing an expectant A'mea needed was concerns about the permanent blindness of her mate.

Temporal and Dimensional Causality

Several portal hops away from Istaria.. on a distant world, on a distant plane, in a distant time, upon a variant of Urf. A native Istarian had found their way into power over a vast Dragon Empire on the North American Coast. An example of one of the many reasons Stratus' hatchling would be hunted unfolded.

### Disciplining Humanity, a window into destiny. ###

Ivan, Drago, and the Ark were shuffled in before the Emperor and Bismarck as they watched the other events unfolding in the middle east hours later. Bismarck had been allowed to retire to quarters while awaiting their arrival. After all were organized before the dragon the media were welcomed in.

"Hello World. I am Maelstrom, Emperor of the Dragon Empire. With me today are Ivan Salazaar and Drago of Salazarstan and ambassador Bismarck of Prussia.. and most importantly....'" with a careful slash of his claws, Maelstrom opened the box was opened revealing the Ark of the Covenant within. "..the seat of your god." He gave a pregnant pause before continuing, "Humanity has a problem. an obsession over possessing places and things that in the natural order, belong to all. This particular object is a symptom.. a tribute to an entity whom, if real, you would be unworthy to even consider worshiping, let alone to be in it its presence. Your wars and squabbles disgust me. And so.. I shall show you the solution to your problems."

He called forward from the shadows of the room a pair of men carrying molds from the imperial mint of Dragonisia. He looked into the camera. "His will be done.. and yours defied.. if you truly believe in him, I am executor of his will. You are not worthy of this artifact any longer." He lifted the Ark carefully in claw and then breathed his flame onto it while holding the ark over the molds.. the wood, would burn off on live tv and the gold would pour into the liquid molds.. forming orange hot molds of molten metal coins. After the ark was fully render to ash and the gold molds filled. He looked into the camera. "Find your peace regarding your places and items of culture, or we shall find it for you by incinerating anything you fight over." The broadcast cut.. and no doubt there was about to be outrage all over the world (Urf in this case).

He then looked to Bismarck, Ivan, and Drago. "Now.. regarding this dispute over control of Salazarstan. I will be here to mediate and arbitrate.. you need to talk this out." He glanced to Ivan, "I knew you from the prior world (another variant of Urf that was dieing). You served Lady Pacifica. I expect to hear from you justification for your past actions. Be honest about your words for I eat liars. What was your intentions in the region known as the Middle East?"

## Window closed ##

For Need of Good, Trustworthy, Bipedal Help

With a history like Stratus' trusting a biped was difficult. When it came to his research even more so, all the same.. he needed someone to help him in this world in the realm of the bipeds. Someone who would not ask questions. Someone who would be loyal no matter what. Almost like, an extension of himself.

And then he remembered what Shinnara had taught him about Gradh.

It was possible for a Dragon's essence to be used to give rise to a whole, complete other person bound to them, a biped that would voluntarily serve them out of connection. To that end.. he began to research blood magic in Dalimond and in the darkest parts of any library he might find to learn more about how it is the primal essence of a Dragon might give rise to such life.

He gathered resources, a vat about the size of the creature he intended to create, shedding of a creature he intended to create, a lot of blood and bile and bodily fluids from slain enemies, fat, bone.. all tossed into the vat. It would stink had he not opened an air vent in the top of aeden to air it out. To any other dragon nearby it might have smelled like someone was preparing a feast of meat atop a lava mound.

He collected the knowledge into the inaccessible parts of his lair, to all but he. Midnight would know what he devised, but if she had any dissent on the matter, she did not make her thoughts known. Perhaps it was his intent that consoled her. The servant would feed the brood, keep them strong, protect them. It would be grateful it had been given life at all, let alone concerned for having no free will. He had even given what they were a quaint name, "Dragon Spawn".

Over time the knowledge and components would come together and as the day of its creation approach, Stratus thought on a name. In honor of his friend Galinore, he would name his Dragon Spawn Sslik servant, Sstaco Ssmaker. It would not be long now before this being would grace Istaria with its present.. as a father caring for any of his creations, Stratus took great care in making his creation beautiful and strong. He would give it a destiny of becoming a Storm Disciple, in service of course, to a storm dragon.

A son's unusual request.

For some time, Efinat, one of Stratus' adopted sons had been communicating with one of his yet to be born eggs because the egg had been tapping. Stratus, ever vigilant, had been copying down the taps and eventually broke the code and was able to then speak to his unborn child with talents in-explainable outside the context of Stratus' own experiments. "I can understand you my son. What is it you need that you have been tapping so furtively about?" It tapped to him a series of requests, strange ones.. but he nodded and began the work requested.

Some time later...

Stratus lands on his favorite feeding spot and quietly watches the storm he started in the distant west grow and begin its approach. He was feeling quite hungry today after a night of hard work crafting granite scales... and so the storm was a bit stronger than his usual creations.

He reached in his satchel and brought out a silvery egg.. one that was familiar to all in his family, it was the egg of the tapping hatch. He whispered to it, "Are you sure about this?" It tapped out a series of affirmations.. "You are one strange egg." Stratus would say, "You take more risks than I do." It tapped furiously again, "Yes, I know.. no reward without risk. Yes, I brought the yellow ore from the deep mines you asked me to collect and run through the cauldron materials separator. What is this stuff anyway?"

The tapping continued, "Urium?.. it gives off.. atomies? What are you gibbering about now?" The tapping continued, "Yes, I know this is likely above my head.. " The weary fathersighed, "I never thought I'd run into an unborn that'd be smarter than I.. but I suppose I should have seen that coming given the powers I have been tampering with."

The tapping continued, "You want me to cover your shell in this yellow cake material and tie it to a copper rod for the storms' approach? What are you trying to do hatch?"

He listened to the taps again and raised an eyeridge, "You're not a brick, why are you trying to imbue yourself with anything?!"

It tapped again and he shook his head, "Your mother is going to strangle me you know?"

Stratus quietly sat down the egg and covered it in a mount of yellowish grainy material from his pack. He wrapped some copper coils around its shell covering the wires in the yellowish powder material. He tied it to a lightning rod as the storm approached. He put a small cloth over the pile of powder to keep it from blowing away from the egg.

The old storm dragon then backed up a ways away from the egg as he had been instructed by it. The storm began to pick up as lightning cracked the sky and wind howled...

Stratus and the lightning rod both glowed as the charged air began to establish a current between the sky and them.. Stratus watched the egg with rapt attention. Lightning struck them both, and as father fed, his self-aware fetus began to mutate within its shell, a controlled evolution before its birth brought about only by a future that had become inevitable and which allowed it to alter its past. A self-fulfilling loop had been created. Istaria was about to have birth the first dragon that used a new form of power, that of radiation as the uranium yellow cake around the egg was pressed together by the compression of thunder from the super heated copper coils resulting in low level fission. Within the egg, the fetus used the incoming radiation to carve into its own scales a pattern of runes that would allow it to channel many forms of power and primal energy sources after it was born and which would taint its breath weapons for the remainder of its life.

Worried for the egg , Stratus moved over and asked it, "Are you still okay in there?"

It tapped out another message to its father, "I will let Efinat know." Stratus responded. "You're hatching early? I will let your mother know. Why did we do all this.?" It tapped again and stopped. Stratus.. just looked stunned.. saying nothing in response. The secret of the intent would remain between father and son.

A mathematical explanation of the time portal.

Stratus wrote in chalk on his lair wall, trying to figure out how to precisely tune temporal jumps with his temporal portal. He conjectured that in order to go back a specific fixed times the portals would have to be configured to represent a jump over a fixed distance, even though that distance isn't actually what needs to be traveled. In example.. the distance from Brustigo to Kion is roughly 15 minutes by foot, shorter by air. A portal leap between the two still takes time, but no more than 5 seconds as you pass through one gate and out the other. But the portals can be fractionally slower for greater differences, smaller than what most people would even care to notice.. 10 seconds kion to tazoon.. 15 seconds cross continent. And some places took mysteriously longer time to travel to than others (load screens yay) and that may mean there's some form of interference impeding the energetic projections of the portal.

Stratus assumed two portals configured to cover the same distance as between Kion and Brustigo given that it is a known measure, so 5 seconds to and from. The TTT could theoretically be set to any known portal configuration that graced Istaria or its known dimensions. Perhaps even larger if a distance were arbitrarily substituted that is larger than known physical distances. For now, he'd make his first leap simple, within known constraints.

5 = Time To Travel (TTT) Kion/Brustigo preset path, emulated physical constraints.

He had measured the width of the event horizons of the portals as about a foot deep, about half the thickness of the portals themselves.

Portal width (PW) = 2 feet.
Event horizon (EH)= 1 foot

He would want to try to go back in time exactly half the time intended to be traveled. To do this he would have to establish an event horizon overlap which would result in negative distance/time traveled.

Event horizon overlap = -.5 feet into the facing horizons from both sides. Absolute distance of depth of gap, .5 feet.

Ratio of Horizon Overlap size to Normal Horizon depth (EHOR): 1/2

Configured TTT*-EHOR= He ran the math.. -2.5s. He should drop back in time 2.5 seconds when he exited. The third entry portal would fire him through the first portal, which would send him into the negative distance path.. between the two facing portals. So portal 3 was aimed at portal 1, He would exit portal 1 and immediately enter portal 2 traveling a negative distance and thus a negative time due to the horizon overlap. Portal 2 would send him back to portal one. If configured for one leap in the loop, he'd only go back 2.5 seconds, but if the loop increments were raised he could theoretically go back in increments of 2.5 seconds, something he would have to test at a later time. For now, he sat a crystal on the counter and tuned one he carried to it so he may see through it when he arrived.

He made sure not to look at it again thereafter to prevent a causality violation. He tuned the portal for one test leap as Tank and Gild watched on. He aimed portal 2's exit for the second loop at Brustigo.. So he would enter three, exiting at 1, which would throw him into 2 over negative distance and two would throw him back to one, which on the second loop would throw him out at Brustigo. Why brustigo? So he wouldn't meet himself or collide with himself in transit.

He looked to Gild, Tank, and pointed to the math on the wall.

"You are mad Stratus." Gild spat on the ground. "I see what you're trying to do, but it makes me very nervous doing it. We're trifling with powers that the gods tend to reserve to themselves. I am not sure Telak would approve."

Stratus sighed, "I hope they all do.. but if not, how am I to know when they say nothing to me?" He went to Nyrevin's statue in a side room and knelt, "You know I think your quarrels petty, but I acknowledge and respect your power all the same. My apologies, as one who is insolent in his thoughts towards your will. Fortunately, my apologies are sincere. Alyssa never gave you the respect you deserved. With this effort I put my life in your hands, for if this goes wrong it is likely even my gift would not protect me. Consider that the ultimate expression of trust in death itself."

He quietly walked out and to the next the chamber having said his prayer in private, and never knowing if it would have been heard unless Nyrevin would say so later. He stopped by Telak's shrine, "I know the gnomes worry I defy your will, but how would I even have thought of this if you hadn't intended it, no?"

He stopped before Drulkar's shrine... a column of flame before a dragon's statue, the most elaborate of them all, "Well, Sire of Dragons, you have blessed me with a large clutch. Help me make sure they keep their father, yes?"

He then went back into the main lab, having said his prayers in private for though he only saw the gods as powerful mortals, he still recognized their dominion. His definition of what was a "god" was a very difficult standard for any entity to meet. He stood before entry portal 3.. and looked to Gild, giving a nod. Gild gave him the thumbs up to indicate that the settings had been set and that the test was ready.

Stratus took a deep breath.. and stepped into portal three. There was a flash as he exited and entered the 1/2 set from 3 and then suddenly found himself standing in Brustigo. He carefully checked the paired crystal to see himself standing in the lab having exited the prayer chamber with Gild and Tank in the process of configuring the portals for the jump just seconds earlier. He waited 2.5 seconds and saw himself enter the portal and finally, caught up with himself as his temporal doppelganger annihilated on exiting the portal and contacting him with a loud pop.

"We leave visual echoes.. in transit.." He scratched his jaw. "Very interesting." The test had been a complete success and left much to be learned.