Irryn Dreams II (OOC)

[Somber]

Like a comet, only far more annoying, I return.  Hopefully, with new job and new computer, I might be able to hang around a bit more.  I'm still interested in running a game set in Irryn.  Here are two old postings about the world.  One or two more and I'll put out a character template and then, if people are actually still interested, we can begin.

So, let me introduce you to some one who can tell you a bit about the world: Professor Ganes.

And on to a stage that appeared from no where shuffled an aged weasel.  His face markings were all ready fading with age.  His clothes were a tattered collection of old academic robes that needed another patching.  He coughed and wiped his rheumy eyes, and then pointed out as he asked off to the side, "Are you sure they can see me?"

I hope so.  Go ahead and tell them about Irryn, Professor.

"Harrumphed.  It's a complicated subject.  Where to begin?  Where'd I leave my notes?"  The ferret searched his robes and pulled out a torn and water soiled book.  The pages crackled as he opened them.  "The city of Irryn is located on the Anthesian plain sixty four miles from the coast.  It enjoys a mild climate, and serves as a major agricultural hub.  It's finest export is is Irrynwheel cheese, considered to be a fine dinner delicacy-"

Professor... are you sure that book is... er... accurate?

"Accurate!  Well of course it isn't.  It was written before the Etherial war.  Sure, before then Irryn wasn't much besides a cheese making city... but when the etherials invaded and brought magic... well things sure changed quick.  All the old capitals were burned away as the etherials slaughtered countless millions.  There are nations that once were mighty and had been reduced to references in old books like this one."  The ferret tucked the book back into his robes and sat down on the stage.  "See folks... before the war we were... well... a quieter world.  We didn't have much in the way of machinery and technology.  Not like today.  I remember stories where once the most complicated machine was a watermill or a windmill.  And sure, we had our struggles and wars and plagues... but nothing like we have today."

"See, before the war, magic wasn't real.  It was something referenced in folk tales and used in fantasy stories.  What we didn't know was that magic was real.  Our world had been flush with it and it was used all over the place.  But eventually it seemed that so many people were using it that, like a well, the magic just dried up.  So folks stopped using it and went over to more reliable methods of getting things done.  What we forgot was that the magic didn't go away.  The well filled back up.  In fact, it filled up so much that it was almost fit to burst.  That's what brought the etherials."

"When the etherials showed up they were all peaceful like.  They just wanted something we weren't even using.  But when the rulers found out about magic, well, they wanted the power for themselves.  And then the etherials turned nasty.  And at first it was a slaughter.  See, you shoot an etherial with an arrow, it's not real to them.  Like kids pointing fingers and saying bang bang.  So all our soldiers with muskets and cannons couldn't do a thing to them.  And the few magic users we did have (oh yeah, there were still a couple scurrying around... like welldiggers who were desperate to tap that source but who'd forgotten their shovels or how to dig) were no match for beings that breathed pure magic."

"Till one day a young cheesemaking apprentice found a way to make magic into something else.  Ether.  She was a descendant of one of those old magic users and found a way to crystallize magic into a material form.  Ether."  The professor reached into another pocket and withdrew a small handful of luminous blue and purple crystals.  "With ether, you didn't need half the centuries of study that magic required.  Heck... you didn't need study at all.  Put Ether in a machine and it would produce power.  No need for waterwheels or windmills.  Put it in a magnetic field and it would produce electricity.  And best of all... put a little in a bullet or alloy it in some iron and you'd have a weapon that was deadly to the etherials."  The ferret chuckled darkly and put the crystals away.  "Best of all though... etherials couldn't eat ether.  So their powers and magic just dried up whenever ether was about."

"Needless to say... we beat back the etherials.  Not defeated.  They're not gone yet.  Don't you believe folks that tell you otherwise.  But we beat them back.  Course, back then the sensible thing would have been to make peace... but people are nothing if not fools.  No sooner did we beat the etherials then folks started fighting each other.  And they used ether to make bigger and stronger and more destructive weapons than before.  Worse, people learned that ether had some dangerous side effects.  Twisting, it's called now.  Some folks turned into beast folk, like me.  Others grew leaves.  Others wings.  More than a couple went stark raving bonkers.  Course the leaders of nations didn't care about that.  More bombs.  More bullets.  More war machines."

"Now, you remember that young cheese apprentice?  Her name was Thasama.  And while I hear she was a lousy cheesemaker, she was an exceptionally smart woman.  Unfortunately, most folks were interested in what she could produce, not in what she had to say.  So when wars were tearing her homeland apart, she basically marched right into the old Parliament and over threw the whole lot of them.  And she had the power to do it, and they were smart enough to see it.  Irryn, that little cheese city, became the center for the world's most advanced ether research.  Folks said that Thasama was feeling some of the Twisting from using so much of the stuff and it made her bonkers.  But I think it has more to do with General Ungare.  See, he was in charge of Thasama's army... and he was also her lover.  I believe that he influenced her to take her genius and try to with the ether war."

"So the fields were all torn away so that they could get at the iron and stone under the city to build all their machines.  They raised ether refineries bigger than any before, and built huge factories to churn out war machines.  Eventually Irryn became the new capitol and they built bigger and higher and tunneled deeper than any city imaginable.  The factories were more than a mile tall, holding rooms for all the workers, and atop that pillar a massive plate was built for all the wealthy and influential people to live on.  And people came from all the war torn lands to work in the factories and mines, not having a clue that once they worked there they'd be indebted into virtual slavery."

"Of course eventually Thasama died.  Her daughter, Thera, became Empress of Irryn.  Ungare is still in charge of the army, even if he's pushing a century old.  And Irryn is the axle of the world... a smelly rotten and corrupt axle that seems hell bent on sucking every last drop of magic out of the universe they can."

Can you tell us a little about the world and it's people?

"Well... first are the humans.  Oh yeah there's plenty of them still around.  Probably half the people in the world are as human as you could want.  Then you have the Folk.  Folk is the polite term for people who are half human and half something else.  Like me... I'm politely called 'Beast Folk' or even 'Ferret Folk'.  I'd like to think I'm the same as any human up here," he tapped the side of his head.  "But I'd be lying a bit.  Most folk have instincts and urges that humans just don't feel any more.  And there's all sorts of folk... Plant Folk, Fire Folk, Stone Folk, Steel Folk.  Most of us are still... well... normal.  Eat.  Sleep.  Have sex.  Work.  Whatnot.  Then you get the Twisted.  Twisted folk are people with really severe deformities.  Wings.  Claws.  Odd growths.  Second heads.  Folk that seem to have two or three different animals in them.  Folk that need to drink blood or eat raw flesh or worse things..."  he shuttered.  "The strangest of all are the Fae folk.  You've heard stories of elves... dwarfs... trolls... all that?  Well some humans end up twisting to look just like them... or even being born that way.  Fae folk tend to have it rough if they're not pretty.  They end up in the mines and the factories."

So in your opinion, professor, how would you sum up the world of Irryn?

"A rough and gritty place where people are looking for a bit of happiness or comfort or stability... needing a few brave souls to snap it out of this nightmare.  Now, give me my coin, my booze, and let me get back to forgetting about it."  The ferret grumbled as he shuffled off of the stage.

So.  That's the world.  I'm going to wait and hopefully hear some calls for interest and maybe adding more material before submitting a character template.  I'm hoping to do this right.

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From off the stage comes a muffled shouting and yelling, and finally a woman screamed as she was pushed on to the stage.  "I'm not ready!  I'm not qualified!  I get stage fright!  I..."  The young human woman slowly turned and adjusted the spectacles on her freckled nose.  "Um... hello.  I... er... have..."  She wailed and covered her face, "I told her that I wasn't up for doing this!"

You'll do fine, Cherrie.  Ladies and Gentlemen, may I introduce Cherrie Mayner, Irrynian mage second class.

The woman slowly lowered her hands and took a nervous swallow.  "All right.  Um.  I was asked to explain how magic works in Irryn.  And ether too, right?" she looked off to the side of the stage for confirmation and then straightened her glasses.

"Well, magic is... as best as we can theorize, an energy similar to electro magnetics with particle characteristics that-"  A hand appeared out of no where and smacked the back of her head.  "Ow!  What was that for?"

Layman's terms Cherrie.  Layman's terms.

"All right.  Well, magic in Layman's term is it's an invisible force that we can't percieve or interact with on our own, but with tools can manipulate.  While the source of magic is unknown, its existance is no longer in question.  Raw natural magic is all around us every moment of our lives, but rarely manifests on its own... rarely, not never."

"A person who uses actual magic is generally called a wizard, mage, or artistian.  The difference is now one comes to be able to manipulate magical forces.  A wizard is some one who spends years studying magical lore and history.  They study the more esoteric and occult origins of magic.  Mages, like myself, are more interested in the use of magic itself through training force of will.   I might not be able to recite lore from sixteen different arcane sources, but my magic tends to be more potent than theirs because it's all my magic.  Artistians aren't actual magic users per ce.  Rather they make devices and tools that use Ether to make their effects."

She clapped her hands together.  "Now, magic requires one thing above all...  and that's focus and belief.  Most people will never have enough of both.  It's not enough to know magic exists.  You know cars exist, right?  But do you believe you can will one into existance?  Probably not."  She blushed a little and rubbed the back of her head, "Actually, I don't believe I can either... so I can't.  Embaressing, huh?"

Why don't you show them some magic?

She bit her lip and fidgeted.  "Oh, do I have to?  I mean I'm not very good and... oh..."  She looked up at that floating hand.  "All right."   She closed her eyes and began to breathe slow and deep.  "Being a mage, I don't really use the tools a wizard or artificer have to have to make their magic work.  Actually, I write all my own spells... and they really only work for me.  Wisards can share spells.  Artistians can swap toys... but mages are on our own."  She closed her hand and began to recite a little poem to herself, saying it over and over again.  Then she opened her hand and there sat a tiny glowing flower make of pink light.

Suddenly her clothes disappeared, leaving her in her underwear.  "Yeep!"  She gasped and the flower exploded in a poof of light!  "Give me back my clothes!"  She wailed.

Sorry.  Just showing them what happens when a mage loses her focus.

"You could have showed them another way!"  She cried and then relaxed a little as her clothes reappeared.  "that's better."

If you say so.  You have a very lovely bod-

"Moving right along!" she said very quickly.  "There are other factors that can affect magic.  One are places called 'dust bowls' or 'shallows'... places where the natural magical energy is diminished.  Irryn has many of these, particularly around the ether refineries.  Otherplaces are called 'swamps' or 'deeps'.  These are places where, for whatever reason, magic is abundant.  If I were to have cast that spell in a shallow, nothing would have happened.  If I cast it in a deep, then the flower would have remained real, even with my focus broken."

"Now, the second subject of magic is ether.  Most laypeople like to call ether condensed magic, but in reality ether is far more complex than that.  In the most general terms, ether can be used to create energy.  In special engines, it makes mechanical power.  In other engines, it makes electricity.  In other engines it makes heat.  For mages like myself, ether can also be used to support or enhanse magic.  But something to remember is that ether is a fuel.  After a while it's power disappates and the ether disappears."

"So far only Thasama was ever able to create ether through will alone.  Ether is produced by an incredibly complex magical and chemical process in Irrynian and other refineries.  The process is very unstable until complete, and thus refineries are some of the most heavily protected building in Irryn.  Ether comes in a variety of forms.  The most common is clear, which is used to power low energy systems.  A watch might have a tiny silver of clear ether inside.  Next is red.  This produces heat energy.  Orange produces mechanical energy.  Yellow produces electricity.  Green produces magnetic energy.  Blue, one of the most expensive and restricted, is used for biological applications.  Purple ether, however, is the rarest form and is used for applications that affect memory and thought.  Silver ether and gold ether exist as well, but their use and possession is exclusive to the state."  She bit her lip and looked to the side of the stage again.  "Am I going to get in trouble for telling them this?"

No hun.  Why don't you tell them about becoming a magic user?

"Oh, it's incredibly difficult.  I knew since I was little that I wanted to do magic.  It's funny, but school did everything they could to teach us to not be interested in magic.  There were so many kids who wanted to do magic to get something easy, or who weren't sure, and for them magic was impossible.  Because their want was in the ends using magic as a means.  Magic isn't a means... at least while you're learning.  You study magic because you love it... and later on as an adult you put that love to practical ends."

So some one wanting to take over the world probably shouldn't use magic?

She snorted dismissively, "Probably not.  Oh sure there are folks that pull it off, but their magic is usually pretty pathetic.  And you don't dabble in magic.  Ever.  The authorities don't like it.  Other magic users hate it.  So some one who tries to play with magic without care... well... they'll be taken care of."

So you can't have fun with it?

"I didn't say that.  You just can't be reckless with it.  There are some people that are just dangerous... they have the focus and the belief, but not the discipline.  I might use magic to do a prank... but only after I've thought it through."  She pushed her drooping glasses back in place.  "Now, once I was out of school I attended the Irrynian university.  That's one way lots of magic users learn, but I could have either become an apprentice or else gone to teach myself more alone.  Some wealthy students even hire private magic users to teach them the fine points.  All to take the test."

Sounds ominous.

"Well... more difficult than anything.  The state testers give us a number of challenges to make sure we use our powers responsibly.  If you succeed then you become a third class magic user.  After three years you can take an even harder test and become a second class magic user.  Then a magic user first class.  If you want to get higher than that, you have to become a soldier for the state.  They call themselves sorcerers, and have three classes as well.  At the top of the top are the arcanists.  They run everything magical in Irryn, from law enforcement to testing to teaching.  Right now there are only five out of hundreds and hundreds of magic users.

What do they do to magic users that flaunt the rules?

She shuttered, hugging herself.  "Mostly they just warn them the first time.  And fine them the second.  But if they persist, then sorcerers second class carry these violet rods.  They press it to your head and alter your brain.  If you're lucky, they'll just remove your ability to focus.  Worse, they can remove your belief, so that you think your whole life is a lie.  But worse than that, they can remove your entire memory.  And if that doesn't stop you, there's always execution."

Well, thank you Cherie.  That was very insightful.  I hope it helps people interested in magic.

[Somber]

With copious muttering and grumbling a man walked slowly up on to the stage.  His body was stooped, and his cotton shirt and coveralls were stained with heavy patches of rust.   At first glance he might have been mistaken for a human.  At first glance.  Then some one might have noticed that his gray beard that hung to his navel wasn't hair... ir was steel wire.  As was his hair.  And his teeth, which were pitted and spotted with rust.  "Right.  You want me to tell em about technology in Irryn, right?"

That's the long and short of it, Mr Spocket.

"It's Sproks!  Sproks ya damned dirty disembodied bastage!  Show yer dirty face and I'll give ya sprockets!"  He shouted up at the ceiling, shaking his fists in the air.

Just get to the talking, Mr. Sproks, and I'll hold up my end of the deal.

"Sprokets... damn joke aint even original,"  He said as he stroked his beard like he were rubbing a brillo pad.  "Well, technology's the big thing now days.  Technology and etherium.  Bloody hell, back before the war the most complex thing you'd run across was a steam boiler... and I'll tell you what that was fancy!  Fancy fancy fancy!   Heard talk there was even a feller who was going to put em on wheels and roll it around like a horseless wagon.

"Well the wars changed all that.  See, fore the war it took a lot ta make gadgets like that work.  Wood er coal in a boiler.... have ta chop it down or dig it up...  or makin the magnets and stuff.  Now days everythin runs off of aetherium."  He searched the pockets of his coveralls, pulled out a metal tube, and shook out a thumb sized red crystal.  "This here is aetherium.  Don't ask me how they make it.  State secret, hush hush and all that.  But aetherium's got power in it.  Don't know bout all that magic non-sense, but if you take aetherium and put it in a special box called an etherium converter... well, it does stuff."

He looked around and a golden box about four inches square appeared.  He glared up at the ceiling before walking over and picking it up, opening the side, and popping in the crystal.  "Now, we close it up... push and button... and..." From a little spout came a six inch crimson flame.  "Woah!  There we go."  He set the box down and stepped back.  "Nice little flame, ain't it?  Don't look like much, but a crystal that size might make flame for ten, twelve years.  And it's hot too.  The big foundries and the like use that fire ta make steel and other weapons."

"Now," he carefully lifted the box, turned off the flame, and shook out the crystal.  "Might notice this crystal is red.   Different kinds of crystals gots different kinds of effects.  Red makes heat... fire if ya expose it ta air.  They use red crystals in big huge boilers to work machinery cause red crystals is common as dirt.  You go a step up ta orange..."  He jumped as the crystal magically turned to a solid citrine color, "Damn it, stop poofing things!"  He muttered as he put it back in the box.  It instantly began to spin.  "Orange makes motion.  Now if yer wondering why some one wouldn't just stick an orange crystal instead of makin a boiler, it helps if ya realize that orange crystals are ten times more expensive than reds.  Economics boy, gotta remember economics."

What about the other colors?

"I'm gettin to it!  Yellow makes magnetic fields and electricity for even rarer devices and the like."  The cube began to spark with an electrical field, and he cried out as he dropped it.  "Ya stupid disembodied voice!  Ya coulda killed me!  Green... well greens used for affecting living things."   The box proceeded to glow a bright green and he reached down to pick it up.  The scorches on his hand quickly healed.  "Greens are also used in the great growin plantations ta make sure we don't all starve.  Precious it is."  He set the box down, walking away from it as he glared upwards.  "Blue..." he whirled and watched as it began to float and bob in the air.  "Affects... gravity, ya idiot!  What, ya think they make ya fly?  Indigo..." he paused and looked disgusted, "Is a color between blue and purple."  The box vanished with a pop, appearing in his hand.  "And it does stuff like teleportin.  Worth more than me weight in gold."

Isn't there one more kind?

"Ya know there is.  I just ain't keen on it at all!   Purple... well it does things with people minds.  I don't understand it and DON'T MAKE IT PURPLE YA DAMNED VOICE!"

Wasn't planning on it.

He let out a long low breath, stroking his metallic beard.  "Right.  So after hearin about all the different kinds of aetherium out there, ya can thing about all the different ways it's used.  Like if ya want ta make a gun, ya put in a red crystal, a bullet, a little water, and use the steam ta shoot out the shot!   Or use an orange if ya want ta be fancy, and just make the bullets go out.  Usually Aetherium's used ta affect other gadgets by providin power, but it's not unheard of ta hear of a gun that shoots a ray o pure fire or lightnin bolts.  Dunno an idiot who'd want it... ever try ta aim lightnin?  But they exist."

What else are they used in?

"Well Yeller makes electricity and there's all kinds of gadgets and gizmos that run off the power they provide.  Gotta understand, aetherium's kinda precious... even dirt common red.  So people don't use it if they can get away with using electricity for lighting and the like.  But one place you see a lot of it is in vehicles.  Like big ol steam wagons."   To his left appeared what looked like a cross between a train and a flat bed truck.  "Or them zippy bikes."  And on his right appeared a motorcycle, each of it's wheels having a fist sized orange crystal in the axle.  "Or airships."   And overhead appeared a cross between a zepplin, a helicopter, and a catamaran.  Something that could never fly if there wasn't blue aetherium holding it aloft. "All of em use aetherium ta work!"

So everyone uses guns for weapons?

"Don't ya be an idiot.  Some folk do, aye.  And I'm not going ta pick a fight with some one hauling around a steam cannon!  Thing might just blow up and kill us all!   But more than not people fight with steel.  Swords.  Axes.  The like.  For one, folks carrying firearms and motionarms get attention from the imperials.  Two, aetherium's expensive, and if yer steam cannon runs outta red ya better know how ta swing the heavy end.  But third, it's cause most swords and the like can be alloyed with aetherium.  Makes em magical, and able ta affect things like etherials.  A sword with red aetherium won't light on fire, but it'll always be hot ta the touch and ya can cook off it.  An axe with yellow'll zap watever it hits."

Thank you.  I hope that that will help people get an understanding about how technology works in Irryn.   That was very informative, Mr. Spocket.

"It's sproks!  Sproks!  Sproks!  Get yerself a face so I can slug it!

So far does any one have any questions?

[techmaster-glitch]

Mr. Sproks is awsome

[Stygian]

As I've mentioned previously, I am all for this. And welcome back, Somber. We all hope you'll stay with us.

[Somber]

I have a VERY bad habit, as Alice can attest, that every now and then I get overwhelmed and just shut down.  Medication helps a little bit and sadly writing on forums is one of the things to go first.  So I'm trying to just get into the habit of posting something regularly.

The woman looked like she'd been through the wringer a few times in her long leather coat and duster hat, fine scars decorating her cheeks as her ruby eyes looked around carefully.  "So let me get this straight.  A disembodied voice wants me to explain some of the risks people find in Irryn.  Is that correct?"  Her think lips glanced to the side as if hearing something, her fists clicking softly as she clenched them.  "And I get what out of this?"

You know what, Kife.  Now just go over the biggies.

"Right.  Biggies.  Top five of fifty thousand.  Fine."  She sighed as she sat on the edge of the stage.  "Fine.  The most common problem you'll come across in the scabs are gangs.  There's about a million different kinds, ranging from a half dozen to up to a hundred in the case of the really nasty groups.  Gangs all have two priorities... protect their turf and take whatever they can.  Most of the time it's not too much trouble.  If you have sense, or some spine, or are a threat the gangs will back down.  But there are a few that are strong enough, or crazy enough, or have enough ego to pick fights they shouldn't.  Once gangs get too strong, the Empire, the Guilds, or the Syndicate will pick them off or absorb them.  Gangs that still endure can become pretty infamous.  The Hellerskellers.   The Ravens.  The furies..."

Didn't you date a girl in the Furies?

"Didn't work out.  They're fanatics... castrating every male that comes in their turf."  She snorted and shook her head.  "Number four would probably be the Syndicate.   Depending on who you talk to, the Syndicate is either an Imperial front for organized crime, a freedom fighters group, or scum who would exploit their own mother.  The important this is that the Empire isn't stomping it out, and the guilds aren't buying it out, so they're a power.  Like gangs, the Syndicate has it's priorities... illegal operations ranging from slavery to prositution to drugs... keeping their secrets and their bases intact... staying ahead of the wardens.  Stuff like that.  You can work with the Syndicate, but it'll cost you a finger, at least."  She held up her left hand, showing the three digits.

And if you cross them?

"The Syndicate doesn't forget, but it does sometimes forgive... for a heavy price.  And they fight dirty.  You won't be their first target if you cross them.  Loved ones.  Friends.  Even aquaintences.  And they'll make sure everyone knows you're marked.  Expect to find out who your friends are in that case, because everyone will avoid you like the plague."

They sound pretty unpleasant.  Here's hoping that no one runs afoul of them.

"Well they're not the worst.  Number three is a pretty broad category... monsters."  She rubbed her nose and tipped her hat back a bit.  "Don't believe that Imperial crap.  Not all non-humans are monsters.  Folk can be dangerous, but they're still sane.  Monsters have two priorities, to eat and kill, or to kill and eat.  Some, like steelscales, are really just very powerful and very hungry animals... but then you get things like Goblins and Ogres... enough brain to be nasty and not a lick of sanity.  There's plenty of Twisted who also fall into the category."

What's the difference between a monster and a folk?

She looked sour as she leaned back.  "Folk are humans that got twisted by exposure to aether, usually in the womb.  Goblins are humans that the etherials picked and transformed into something to kill off humans right and left.  The good news is that they can be killed like any other critter.  Magic.  Bullet.  Bomb.  Fist.  Whatever works.  Just remember, just because you blow off an arm or leg, they're rarely going to stop till their dead.  Still, hunting monsters can be good money... till ya get eaten.

So what's number two then.

She looked up and smirked.  "Duh.  It's the Empire."

The Empire's number two?

"Yeah.  Lots of folks think it's top of the list.  But they're number two.  Because when the Empire wants to go against you they got plenty to throw at you.  The lowest rank are the wardens... law enforcement mostly.  While they might not have the biggest guns or hardest armor, they always... always... have reinforcements.   Worse than them are the Eyes, Ears, and Hands of the empire.  Eyes and ears are spies... and they always are trying to make themselves your best friend so they they can get all the info they can.   Hands are killers.  Plain and simple and deadly as you can imagine.  Hands have equipment you can rarely imagine, and they always work in pairs.  After that you have the legions... thousands and thousand of soldiers and war machines that are cutting edge aetherium technology.   And above that you have the Arcanists and their collection of mages."

Sounds... intimidating.

"Be intimidated... but don't be scared stupid.  The Empire's got almost more firepower than anyone, but they're huge and they have a millions of things to pay attention to.  Something big and dangerous is going to be hit hard.  Something small and subtle can usually slip away or take them out.  Too many people get paranoid or they get complacent.  Caution in the middle is safest, always."  She took out a cigarette and lit it, inhaling a long drag before she let it slip out through her mouth.  "They're also not a monolith.  One imperial commander might spite another due to rivalries and vendettas.  And even if they're both working towards the same goal, they might cut each other's throats trying to take you out if your good... and very very lucky."

So, if the Imperials are number two...

Kife was quiet for a long time, staring at the smoke rising from her smoke.  "Etherials.  Etherials are the scariest and most terrifying thing imaginable.  Goblins and monsters at least have organs and bodies and blood.  But an etherial is like..." she grabbed at the smoke.  "And worse... they have you killed... or suck your mind out your ears... take your soul... or something else you can't imagine.  They're not human.  They're not even humanish.  They came to this world starving to death for magic and the instant we tried to keep them from it proceeded to tear our world apart."  She snuffed out the cigarette on the stage.  "Etherials aren't all the same either.  One etherial will look like a dragon who will want to eat the wealth of everything it can get it's hands on.  Another etherial will look like an angel and seem to crave worship.  Another one will look like a strangely shaped thunderhead in the sky before it sends its tornado fingers down to rip the ground apart."  Then she grinned and added softly, "Or a disembodied voice asking me to do it a favor."

Er...

Kife sighed and shook her head as she pulled her hat back over her face.  "Well.  I won't pry.  I don't have the aetherium to fight you.  That's the only thing that can really hurt an etherial.  That and really powerful magic.  Weapons alloyed with aetherium might be able to do it too, but it will take one hell of a lot of enchantments.  And a whole lot of bodies."  She stood and walked away from the stage.  "You know my price, voice.  I'll be expecting it..."