RPG Series 3.5 Revised: Xakhotah - Sentinel of the Palace of Atzenteolt

Xahkhotah
Sentinel at the Palace of Atzanteotl
Emissary of the Frenzied Jungle
Demoness from Green Hell

“She is the fury of Demogorgon! She is his teeth! You have been warned!”

Notes: When disaster destroyed the merchant fleet and sent her family to their deep ocean deaths, a fair-skinned red-haired child clung to driftwood and found herself washed ashore in a mysterious tropical land of violence and bloodshed. The six-year orphan of a wealthy ocean-faring mercantile family was discovered quite by accident by the high priest of Atzanteotl on one of their ritual dinosaur hunts. Fascinated by the child’s red hair, Tamochachan, in a moment of religious conviction, accepted the orphan and believed she was delivered by his godly patron. Naming her Xahkhotah [literal translation: fire from the sea], he raised her in his inner circle of advisors and adjacent priests.

As the years passed, Xahkhotah shed her fears and nightmares until her learned to draw strength and anger from them. From a scared lost child, she blossomed into a fierce warrior, but as an anointed godchild. However, without a religious proclamation, she was under the protection of the priests of the temple of dying Atzanteotl. That day would soon come her time to train in the Pits of the Teeth drew near. As her physical attributes developed, the Raptors of Atzan trained Xahkhotah in their dinosaur ritual hunts and skills in the arts of war and jungle. Tomachachan, having lived a long life with no daughters or sons of his own, would soon pass the honor of rulership onto her. Tomachachan was to bequeath the title empress (as it was his divine right) in a ceremony that would transform her into a defiler of Ka. All she needed to do and succeed was to capture a dinosaur and slaughter it in the prescribed ritual. The merit in her courage would entitle her to the Obsidian Throne.

There is deception in the motivation behind the Obsidian Throne for Tamochachan alone knows the truth. He is an Ur-Priest. All his rituals, blessings, divine visions were stolen through theft and subterfuge. The true faith of Atzanteotl had dwindled to a few hundred devotees and any remaining rituals they practiced. The ritual he guarded exclusively was called the Tchaltilka. It is divine process of transforming humanoid warriors into saurian-bequeathed champions of war and fearless bloodshed. Tomochachan’s crowning achievement would lead to the rebirth of his civilization with fresh blood while he would influence its development behind the throne. He eventually he would cannibalize slumbering Atzanteotl on the astral plane and use the energies to ascend to godhood. However, his rival enemies, the Holy Empire of Xoxlt sickened his blasphemy and by his wholesome slaughter of dinosaurs and other saurians struck first with relentless effect.

Now branded now as a degenerative culture and desperate for their survival on the verge of extinction, Tomochachan’s plans were on the verge of collapse. The feathered serpent steeds of the Holy Xoxtl Empire began and purified the taint corrupting the lands of the Obsidian Throne with their very breath. Their holy exhalations were spreading and dissolving anything chaotic, corrupted, and evil. The first initial strikes did sufficient damage to remaining followers and the nobility of the Obsidian Throne. Desperate, Tomachachan used the last of his nation’s resources to call forth creatures from the Abyss in an effort to crush their enemies. The Ur-Priest unleashed more than he bargained for.

Sensing the waning energies of a lost deity more than answering a summons for help, an aspect of Demogorgon arrived through a planar gate and onto the lands of the Obsidian throne. The duel-headed Prince of Demons assessed the situation with the twin minds of detached logic mixed with brutal cunning. What he found impressed him. A region of the Prime Material Plane rich in savage life with a diverse array of species endless in its efforts to thrive and destroy. Secondly through Tomachachan, a means of converting humanoids into saurian-like hybrids. The Tchaltika was a perfect tool for infiltrating human and elven-based cultures he so richly despised. Using deception, he convinced gating more demons would be beneficial to Tomochachan’s long term plans. The high priest, looking for the quickest solution to his crisis was desperate for a deal and a resolution. The demons did descend and drove the army of Holy Xoxtl from the lands of the Obsidian Throne. Demogorgon’s small but effective force drove them back to their own boarders.

Tomachachan’s death was to seal the pact between the Demon Prince and himself. He did indeed perish in the onslaught between demons and rival holy warriors, but he had prepared well in advance. He arose as a lich in the service of Demogorgon. Tomochachan’s remaining priests and any of the surviving populace were enslaved and used as breeding stock to replenish the Empire of the Obsidian Throne. All save Xahkhotah. His daughter, her off-color hair, and the willful defiance towards the Prince of Demons caught the attention of Demogorgon’s four eyes. He saw something in her worth exploiting, a bloodline of chaos, a guardian, a sentinel, and a perhaps the mother prototype. Her knowledge of the Tchaltilka ritual would advantageously serve him, as would the knowledge of fauna of this region. Its dinosaurs and other savage beasts would enhance his armies in the Abyss and other worlds aboard. Within days, as confirmed by the Pact, Tomachachan submerged his only daughter and heir into the Blood Pools of Sundering Ka. This time, the ritual would include essence from the Abyss. She arose from the pool of Blood, feral, savage, and less than human, but something greater. Time and training on the Abyss would harden her into a murderous adversary. She became his thrall and ardent follower on this world.

Xahkhotah now guards the Blood Pools of Sundering Ka. She watches the lich-priest protect the red ichor with necromantic magics and abyssal energies. And he has converted much of the Lands of the Empire into a massive reservation and other breeding pens for the purpose of birthing the dinosaurs necessary for The Tchaltika’s unholy existance. The again vigorous empire of the Obsidian Throne rules from its temple compiled city-state atop a mountainous plateau. Tomachachan, now a lich and a steward to his adopted daughter initiates these profane processes in the name of Demogorgon to creates more Ka-Tainted creatures in the name of his master. With the backing of his divine patron, the Obsidian Throne is on the rise again as a powerful nation and undeservingly as an offshoot of humanity.

Xahkhotah is a trained warrior and guerilla fighter. She will use the terrain and hit-n-run tactics to their best effects against the enemies of Demogorgon. Then she will rely on her swordsmanship, her poison blood and touch attacks for close quarter combat. She’ll use her gaze weapon if she is cornered or as a last resort.

As of all Thralls of Demogorgon, Xahkhotah is two personalities conflicted in one body. One is aggressive, confrontational, and feral, like a lost child, wild yet intelligent, but grossly lacking human socialization. A relentless butcher revealing in the senseless bloodsheding of beasts, man, and women alike. She is the beast that consumes the heart in the ceremony of conflict. She drinks the proverbial blood of her enemies when the battle is finished. The second personality is calculating, strategic, protective, and seeks to dominate all those who defy the will of Demogorgon. She is a guardian of evil and will use any method, overt or covert to achieve her goals.

Ranger/Fighter/Thrall of Demogorgon
Levels: 03/04/09
Experience Points: 192,675
ECL: +4
Race/Sex: Augmented [Ka-Tainted Template] Human Female
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
Type: Medium Humanoid
Init: +04
Aura: Strong Chaos
Languages: Common- Aerth, Common- Azcan, Abyssal, Goblin, Elvish
Apparent Age: 24
Look: Strikingly beautiful human female with long flowing blood red hair and bright green eyes. Her skin is reptilian green and scaled like that of a dinosaur or some saurian beast from a lost world.

Abilities: Str 20 [+05], Dex 20 [+05], Con 19 [+04], Int 18 [+04], Wis 18 [+04], Cha 18 [+04]
Feats (17): Athletic, Blind-Fighting, Cleave, Combat Expertise, Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Endurance (Class Bonus), Improved Critical, Run, Thrall to Demogorgon, Megaraptor Leap, Predator’s Step, Toughness (Template Bonus), Two Weapon Fighting (Class Bonus), Track (Class Bonus), Weapon Focus (Claws), Willing Deformity
Armor/Shield Check Penalty: -04
Skills: Climb [+15], Concentration [+15], Craft: Weaponsmith [+12], Handle Animal [+14], Heal [+14], Hide [+16], Intimidate [+12], Jump [+16], Knowledge: Architecture [+14], Knowledge: Dungeoneering [+14], Knowledge: Geography [+15], Knowledge: Nature [+14], Knowledge: The Planes [+14], Listen [+16], Move Silently [+14], Profession [+12], Ride [+14], Search [+14], Sense Motive [+14], Speak Language [01], Spot [+16], Survival [+16], Swim [+15], Use Rope [+10]
Action Points: 14 [1d6]

AC: 25/19, flat-footed 21/20, touch 20/20
(armor=04, shield=00, dex=03, size=00, natural=03[02], bonus=05)
HP: 158 [3d10 + 4d8 + 9d8 + 64 + 03]

Fort: +17, Reflex: +12, Will: +12
Speed: 30 ft. (4 squares)
Special Moves: None
Base Attack: +21; Grapple: +26
Weapon Set: Martial Weapon Proficiencies
Magic Weapons: Long Sword +4 Consumptive Keen Edge weapon, Unholy Long Sword +4 Keen Edge weapon, Unholy Dagger +3 Shattermantle, Unholy Dagger +3 Brilliant Keen Edge
Melee: +21/+16/+11/+06/+01; Ranged: +21/+16/+11/+06/+01; Str Dmg Bonus: +05
Glamered Scale Mail, Moderate Fortification +04
Medallion of Thoughts
Glove of Storing [Contains a Ring of Feather Falling]
Rod of Rulership
Hand of Glory donned with a Ring of Elemental Command [Air]
Ring of Force Shield
Ring of Chameleon Power
Ioun Stone, Lavender and Green
Ioun Stone, Pearly White Spindle
Hideaway Long Bow of Distance +3
Quiver, 36 Anarchic Arrows of Seeking +2

Special Abilities
Ka-Tainted Creature Template (Deinonychus)
Attribute Bonuses/Penalties: +04 Str, -02 Int, +02 Con
Attack: Two Claw Attacks 1d4+4/1d4+4/+16 With the fiendish creature template, her claws are treated as magical weapons for the purpose of over coming damage reduction.
Blood of Ka (Su): The blood of a Ka-tainted creature is corrupted in the Tchaltilka ritual, becoming viscous and poisonous. Xakhotah’s blood acts as a contact poison (DC 22 = 10 + ½ HD + Con Modifier) that deals initial and secondary damage of 1d6 intelligence and 1d4 constitution. Xakhotah often coats her weapons with her own blood. Additionally, those deal damage to a Ka-tainted creature with non-reach handheld weapons or natural weapons that deal with slashing or piercing damage are exposed to her poisonous blood. Her blood loses potency and become harmless 24 hours after it leaves her body. She is immune to her to the effects of her own blood, but not from the blood of other Ka-tainted creatures.
Deinonychus: +02 racial bonus to Hide, Jump, Listen, Spot, and Survival Checks.
Low-light Vision (Ex): Xakhotah possesses a range of 60 ft.
Natural Armor Class Bonus: +02
Scent (Ex): Xakhotah gains the scent ability. This extraordinary ability lets a creature detect approaching enemies, sniff out hidden foes, and track by sense of smell. A creature with the scent ability can detect opponents by sense of smell, generally within 30 feet. If the opponent is upwind, the range is 60 feet. If it is downwind, the range is 15 feet. Strong scents, such as smoke or rotting garbage, can be detected at twice the ranges noted above. Overpowering scents, such as skunk musk or troglodyte stench, can be detected at three times these ranges. The creature detects another creature’s presence but not its specific location. Noting the direction of the scent is a move action. If it moves within 5 feet of the scent’s source, the creature can pinpoint that source. A creature with the Track feat and the scent ability can follow tracks by smell, making a Wisdom check to find or follow a track. The typical DC for a fresh trail is 10. The DC increases or decreases depending on how strong the quarry’s odor is, the number of creatures, and the age of the trail. For each hour that the trail is cold, the DC increases by 2. The ability otherwise follows the rules for the Track feat. Creatures tracking by scent ignore the effects of surface conditions and poor visibility. Creatures with the scent ability can identify familiar odors just as humans do familiar sights. Water, particularly running water, ruins a trail for air-breathing creatures. Water-breathing creatures that have the scent ability, however, can use it in the water easily. False, powerful odors can easily mask other scents. The presence of such an odor completely spoils the ability to properly detect or identify creatures, and the base Survival DC to track becomes 20 rather than 10.

Half-Fiend Template
Armor Class Bonus: +01
Attribute Bonuses/Penalties: +04 Str, +04 Dex, +02 Con, +04 Int, +02 Cha
Attack: Two Claw Attacks 1d4+5/1d4+5/+16 - With the fiendish creature template, her claws are treated as magical weapons for the purpose of over coming damage reduction.
Darkvision: 60 ft.
Damage Reduction: 10/magic
Immunity: Poison [except Ka-tainted poison]
Smite Good (Su): +16
Spell-Like Abilities: Darkness, Detect Magic, Detect Chaos/Evil/Good/Law, 3/Day – CL 16. Blasphemy, Demoncall , Contagion, Shout, Truesight, Unholy Blight - 1/Day – CL16.
Resistance to Acid, Cold, Electricity and Fire: 10
Spell Resistance: 26

Thrall of Demogorgon Prestige Class Abilities
Bonus Feats: 3
Death Touch (Su): As a thrall of Demogorgon, Xahkhotah can use an effect identical to that of slay living once per day. The fortitude save DC to avoid death is 23.
Duel Actions (Su): Twice per day, Xakhotah can take two full round actions in the same round.
Hypnosis (Su): Once per day, Xakhotah can produce an effect identical to hypnotism spell, except it functions as a gaze attack with a range of 30 ft. The Will save to resist this effect is 23.
Reaching Touch (Su): Three times per day, Xakhotah can cause her arms to stretch unnaturally like tentacles, providing her an extra feet of reach for 1 round.
Rotting Touch (Su): Three times per day, Xakhotah can deal 1d6 points of constitution damage as a touch attack.
Scaly Flesh (Ex): Natural Armor Class Bonus +03
Summon Minor and Major Demons (Sp): Xakhotah can summon a demon of 7 HD or less twice per day. This ability is the equivelent of a 7th level spell. This spell function as a summon monster spell cast by a 15th level caster. Xakhotah prefers to summon elemental demons or demonically infused elementals to do her bidding or an occasional succubus of incubus on those warm summer nights.
Touch of Fear (Su): Three times per day, Xakhotah can cause a creature he strikes with a touch attack to become frightened for 1d4 rounds. A successful Will save negates the fear, but the creature is shaken for one round. The Will save to resist this effect is 23.
Two Personas (Ex): Xakhotah has developed a multiple personality disorder that has the side effect of allowing her multiclass freely with no experience point penalties. In addition, whenever the character is subject to a mind-effecting attack that allows a saving throw, she makes two saving throws. Both must fail in order for the mind-affecting effect to affect her.

Resources

Player’s Handbook, Third Edition Revised.
Fiendish Codex I: Hordes of the Abyss
Dragon Magazine 315, “Hollow World: Sundering Ka,” Pg.22-26.
Dragon Magazine 357, “The Demonomicon of Iggwilv – Demogorgon: Prince of Demons,” Pg. 20-32.

Ye Olde Xoblob Shoppe - A Circle of Influence

Ring of Influence

This ring has the effect of providing a +4 insight bonus to Bluff and Diplomacy checks. The wearer can cast charm person at 11th level strength, or make a suggestion to any humanoid conversed with. The ring also enables the character to make use of mass charm enabling them to charm up to 22 hit dice of humanoids. Charm person and suggestion are applicable but once per day.

Caster Level: 15th
Prerequisites: Forge Ring, charm person, suggestion
Market Price: 20,000 gp
Converted From: ring of human influence.

D20 Series 3.5 Revised - L.A. Starr

L.A. Starr

Real Name: Lance Angstrum Starr
Nationality: American, Anglo-European
Alignment: Neutral Good [Public Good]
Legal Status: An American citizen with no criminal record
Group Affiliation: None
Base Power Level: [-11-] - Unlimited Power Level/Power Points

Str: [-16-][+03]
Int: [-17-][+03]
Wis: [-18-][+04]
Dex: [-16-][+03]
Con: [-13-][+02]
Cha: [-16-][+03]
Toughness: [+05]
Insight: [+05]
Will: [+05]
Reflex: [+05]
Fortitude: [+04]
Stability: [+06]
Point Total: [-48-]

Powers
Empathic Manipulation: Starr can automatically perceive and the emotional states of any living creature within his line of sight. Second, he can project beneficial emotions to a specific target within hearing range of his voice. His empathic abilities make him formidable as they are geared towards influence and manipulation, not rejection or torment. His unique power gives him an edge in psychological manipulation and in activities were good or welcomed social behavior influences a given outcome. Emotion Control 10 [Drawback: Specified towards Calm, Confidence, Hope, and Infatuation only, Extra: Alternate Save- Stability, Area-Perception, Feats: Mind Blank, Subtle, Flaws: Sense Dependent]

Inductive Telepathy: Starr knows when an individual is fabricating a falsehood, lying, or acting in a deceptive manner by merely making direct visual contact. In short, he can perceive bio-metric fluxes in a person cardiography and neurography, even through clothing. Super Sense 05 [Extra: Area-Perception, Feats: Alternate Power x2 - Aura Reading, Subtle, Flaws: Sense Dependent - Auditory, Visual]

Stunning Blast: Starr's only means of self-defense is a blast of empathic energy that he can direct at an individual and use it to stun his intended target's nervous system. Starr is a "psionic sponge" of sorts. He absorbs psychic trauma, pain, anger, socio-apathy, despair, fear, etc. and stores it until he can release it towards a specific living target. Starr can use this ability every other round. If he wishes to use it again immediately on the following round, he must successfully make a Stability and Fortitude save against DC 15. For every round after that, the DC increases by 03. He surmises this is a "recharge period." A brief period, but a necessity none the less. Stun 12 [Extra: Alternate Save-Stability, Feats: Sedation]
Power Packaging: All Powers Linked
Points: [-35-]

Skills
Bluff [+07], Climb [+06], Computers [+06], Diplomacy [+07], Disable Device [+06], Drive [+06], Gather Information [+07], Investigate [+07], Knowledge: Behavioral Sciences [+07], Knowledge: Civics [+07], Knowledge: Current Events [+07], Knowledge: Military Science [+07], Knowledge: Popular Culture [+07], Knowledge: Streetwise [+06], Navigation [+08], Notice [+08], Profession: Journalism [+08], Research [+07], Search [+06], Sense Motive [+09], Sleight of Hand [+07], Survival [+08], Swim [+10]
Points: [-25-][-100 Ranks-]

Feats
Animal Empathy, Beginner's Luck, Connected: Media Company, Contacts, Dodge Focus, Evasion [+02], Exotic Weapons Proficiency, Fascinate [+03], Improved Aim, Languages [Chinese, French, German, Russian, Spanish], Luck [+02], Move-By Action, Quick Draw, Personal Firearms Proficiency, Renown [+02], Second Chance, Simple Weapons Proficiency, Uncanny Dodge, Well-Informed
Points: [-28-]

Combat
- Damage: [+03]
- Defense: [+08]
- Grapple: [+05]
- Initiative: [+05]
- Melee Attack: [+05]
- Range Attack: [+05]
Point Total: [-40-]

Weapons and Equipment
None

Hero Points: [-13-]
Point Total: [-176-]

Notes: Lance Angstrum Starr is a mutant (Homo Sapien Superior), but he is blissfully ignorant of the fact. Socially, Lance was the lowest rung in his peer group and often the butt of tasteless jokes and bullying by his school peers. Often, the stress of going through the daily regiment at school was unbearable. His teachers were ambivelent to the situations and the eventual isolation drove him away from his studies, writing, and any hope of a descent future. He was often absent do to infrequent headaches.

His empathic powers manifested shortly after his fifteenth birthday as a series of disabilitating migraines. This genetic phenomenon left him bed-ridden and inundated with tranquilizers for two weeks in a city hospital. The concentrated environment of psychological illness and isolation catalyzed his empathic powers and positively impacted the psychological health of every indigent patient immediately. This impact was collateral in its manifestation, yet not under his direct control. Immediately to his surprise, he became quite popular with the elderly, the terminally ill patients, and those of the burn-victim special units. After two weeks of medical examinations and cranial scans via MRI, his migraines subsided quickly to the astonishment of his doctors. He eventually returned to school and soon became quite popular with friends and teachers. Almost eerily unmatched as he saw it.

His world suddenly turned upside right. He had no trouble, in fact, turning in assignments late with no grading penalty. He discovered he was popular with the girls and women (especially with the teachers) at school. He had no trouble getting dates nor was he the victim of jealousy or school fights. He immediately started athletics (bicycling, swimming and weight lifting) with a physical education teacher, a woman 15 years his senior, struck an instant and plutonic liking to him. Within three years, he was elected president of the speech club and was voted most popular student of his class and graduation year. And it was all done with nothing.

Lance had no problem in applying and enlisting in the military. Thanks to his physical education, he was a gifted swimmer and a paradigm of health. He has served in the United States Navy as a Navy Seal with extensive training in deep water operations and as an attaché' dealing with Navy/Civilian relations. He eventually landed a reporting job with the Naval Times newspaper. This would become his first true taste of journalism. He would continue for four years in the Navy and begin has academic studies at George Washington University before he was honorably discharged .

Back on the West Coast, he began studying and applying his course works in psychology, counciling, technical writing, and art, but shifted away from the two former areas of study. He eventually graduated with Bachelor degrees in Social Sciences and Communication studies from UCLA. Two years later, he would finish a master's degree in journalism. The Los Angeles Chronicle hired Starr as a reporter and celebrity columnist, especially with his unremarkable connections to the American and Canadian super-hero community. Since then, he's had a life of adventure and danger against all manner of menaces in the Pacific West, Japan, Korea, and China. His personal favorites include an incursion of Amazons (during the Amazon Attacks Campaign), the hidden Turtle-Ninja Clan of Japan, the unintentional discovery of a covert Atlantean cell, and an interview with the Banner-persona dominated Incredible Hulk. His favorite column piece was the in-dept exclusive interview series with Pepper Potts, field commander and the entire roster of the west-coast team called The Order. Eventually, earned their respect and trust after his journalistic skills and connections uncovered the location of their lost team member, Mulholland and her captor, Stane.

L.A. Starr, Character Concept
© Copyright Jeffrey Williams, 2007,2008.

Shiftig Gears - Sitting Beside Thy Own Self

Creepy "Shadow Person" Effect Conjured by Brain Shocks

Brian Handwerk
for National Geographic News
September 20, 2006

Schizophrenics sometimes feel the presence of an unknown person behind them who mimics their movements. Now scientists have produced the same disturbing effect in a nonschizophrenic person by applying electric stimulation to a specific area of her brain.

The discovery could help scientists unravel the brain processes behind delusions of paranoia, persecution, and alien control.

Doctors unintentionally produced the delusion while evaluating a 22-year-old epileptic woman for possible surgery.

Though the woman had no history of psychological problems, she repeatedly perceived a "shadow person" hovering behind her when doctors electrically stimulated an area of her brain called the left temporoparietal junction.

"Our data most importantly show that paranoia might be related to disturbed processing of one's own body, [which] in some instances may become misrecognized as the body of somebody else," said Olaf Blanke, a neuroscientist at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne.

The hallucinatory condition was temporary and ended when stimulations were stopped.

Too Close for Comfort

During her ordeal, the patient described sensing an unknown person standing just behind her, mimicking her body positions.

"He is behind me, almost at my body, but I do not feel it," she told doctors, who report their discovery in this week's issue of the journal Nature.

When asked to lean forward and grasp her knees, the patient reported that she felt as if the shadow person were embracing her—a sensation she described as disturbing.

When performing assigned activities, such as a language-testing card game, she said that the shadow tried to interfere.

"He wants to take the card," she told doctors. "He doesn't want me to read."

"In that condition she might have understood that [the shadow] was an illusion, but she didn't," said study co-author Stephanie Ortigue, a neuroscientist at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire.

Disturbed Sense of Self

Researchers suggest that the electrical stimuli may have disturbed the brain's concept of its own body.

The brain's temporoparietal junction has been linked to self-perception and the processes that distinguish oneself from others.

The region helps humans understand their spatial environment as well as their bodies' positions in that environment.

"It's an area that is known to be involved in the integration of different modalities like visual, auditory, tactile—all the modalities that make you realize where your body is in space and what you feel," Ortigue said.

Hyperactivity in the region has been found in schizophrenics who attribute their own actions to other people.

(See National Geographic magazine's "Beyond the Brain.")

Idil Cavus, a professor of psychiatry at Yale University School of Medicine, found the report interesting and promising, but she offered a caveat.

"This is only one subject," Cavus said.

"So the question is whether this is something that can be obtained in other patients or whether it was somehow particular to that patient because [of her epileptic condition]."

Cavus also notes that schizophrenia is a far more complicated condition than that exhibited by the study's female subject. The perception of shadow people is reminicent of, but not necessarily the same as, a host of delusions suffered by schizophrenics.

"They report seeing and hearing things that can be anywhere around [them]," Cavus explained.

"[Delusions] can be sounds or visions of people. Many times it's a sense of being watched, of being tracked, of being talked to.

"People can have very complex delusions about alien control or having things implanted in their brains, or about others watching them, controlling their thoughts, and telling them what to do," she continued.

Schizophrenia affects about one out of every hundred people worldwide.

The recent find could help scientists unravel the brain processes behind such debilitating mental illnesses.

"We understand so little about how the brain makes sense of itself," Cavus said.

"It's very interesting to pursue how those processes can be broken down."

Interesting. An explanation into the alter-egos of super-heroes with potential applications into energy and psionic entities made-manifest. Definitely worth looking into again to see if more research has been generated.

- JnW

“The Shadow Self”
Dark Energy Duplicate

Dimension Control: 2-D Form 15 [Drawbacks: Bio-Link, Mute, Noticeable, Extra: Affects Corporeal, Feat: Alternate Power [x5] – Insubstantial 03, Stun 15 - Flaw: Range 1 – Touch, Requires Grapple, No Effective Strength, Tiring, Disintegrate 10 - Flaws: Limited -Inorganic or Inert Matter Only, Elasticity 10, Feat: Alternate Power - Cling-Wrap, Flaws: No Point Advancement, Enhance Trait: Attack 08 - Extra: Grappling Attack, Flaws: No Point Advancement, Flight 05] Power Packaging: All Linked

The character can usher forth a quasi-energy double of pure dark energy to do his bidding. The duplicate has all attributes and saving throws equal to the character’s own attributes. The Shadow-self can see, hear and replay information to his host once he has rejoined him. What the shadow duplicate experiences, the host will experience as well.

Other flaws can be added to the additional Dimension Control power. The energy duplicate may emit radiation and thus the character may require a protective suit or chemically bandages to protect others from poisoning. Or the character may emit an ionic or electrical charge thus requiring a suit of protective insulation or may not come in contact with water or pockets of condensed moisture. In a third variation, the energy duplicate may be composed of thermal energy and may burn on contact, thus requiring a suit of asbestos or flame retardant material.

Initial Cost: 100
- Power Package: 50
New Cost: 2/R+2
Standard Cost: Blast - 2/R
- Based on the Unlimited Power Point Rule Variation

Variants: The Shadow self doesn’t necessarily mean the character is a mutant. It can be power packaged with any or more of the following:

- Alter Ego: The shadow self has his own persoanlity and agenda outside the hero’s sphere of influence.
- Astral Manifestation/Planar Voyager: A lost voyager stranded upon the astral plane. His symbiosis or sharing of a host body gives him measurable access in the physical world.
- Device: The shadow self taps into the unlimited potential of the human brain through a cosmic artifact, extraterrestrial technology, lost technology (Atlantis), or a modern invention (i.e. Power Harness, Power Belt, Power Helm, Power Ring, A Piece of Jewelry, etc.)
- Dimensional: The shadow self is actually from another dimension, possibly an exile or an advanced scout. Living inside a host body may be only one of the ways it can exist in other dimension without harm.
- Divine: The shadow self is an angelic creature, benign or vengeful, or another manifestation from a higher realm.
- Magic: Demonology, Elemental Ritual, Magic Talisman, Shadow Magic
- Profane: The Shadow self is a demonic creature or some manifestation from a lower realm.
- Psychic/Psionic Manifestation: The shadow self is the lighter or darker half of a psychic personality whose only anchor a physical body in the physical worlds. The shadow self could be based on another psionic ability or manifests in times of extreme personal fear or anger.
- Xeno-Planar Manifestation: A shadow self is from an unknown or little-known dimension.

Shadow-Self
© Jeffrey Williams 2008.

D20 Series 3.5 Revised - Moon Wraith

Moon Wraith

Real Name: Jacque Pennstin
Nationality: American
Alignment: Neutral Good [Vigilante]
Legal Status: An American Citizen with no criminal record, but wanted in the questioning in the several apprehensions of petty criminals.
Group Affiliation: None
Base Power Level: [-10-] – Unlimited Power Level/Power Points

Str: [-17-][+03]
Int: [-18-][+04]
Wis: [-18-][+04]
Dex: [-16-][+03]
Con: [-14-][+02]
Cha: [-17-][+03]
Point Total: [-40-]

Saving Throws
Toughness: [+08]
Insight: [+08]
Will: [+06]
Reflex: [+05]
Fortitude: [+05]
Stability: [+05]
Point Total: [-18-]

Combat
- Damage: [+05]
- Defense: [+10]
- Grapple: [+08]
- Initiative: [+05]
- Melee Attack: [+10]
- Range Attack: [+11]
Point Total: [-66-]

Skills
Acrobatics [+05], Bluff [+05], Climb [+06], Computers [+06], Demolitions [+05], Disable Devise [+05],
Disguise [+05], Gather Information [+06], Investigate [+05], Knowledge: Bureaucracy [+05], Knowledge: Current Events [+06], Knowledge: Politics [+05], Knowledge: Streetwise [+06], Navigate [+06], Notice [+06], Research [+05], Repair [+05], Search [+06], Sense Motive [+06], Stealth [+06], Swim [+05] [-09-][-36 Ranks-]

Feats
Attack Specialization (Firearms), Benefit (Alternate Identity), Connected, Defensive Roll 3, Dodge Focus 2, Eidetic Memory, Elusive Target, Equipment 3, Evasion 2, Improved Aim, Jack-of-All-Trades, Master Plan, Precise Shot, Quick Draw (draw), Redirect, Sneak Attack, Uncanny Dodge (visual), Ultimate Save (Will), Well-Informed [-19-]

Powers
Dark Energy Duplicate
Dimension Control: 2-D Form 15 [Drawbacks: Bio-Link, Mute, Noticeable, Extra: Affects Corporeal, Feat: Alternate Power [x5] – Insubstantial 03, Stun 15 - Flaw: Range 1 – Touch, Requires Grapple, No Effective Strength, Tiring, Disintegrate 10 - Flaws: Limited -Inorganic or Inert Matter Only, Elasticity 10, Feat: Alternate Power - Cling-Wrap, Flaws: No Point Advancement, Enhance Trait: Attack 08 - Extra: Grappling Attack, Flaws: No Point Advancement, Flight 05] Power Packaging: All Linked
Points: [-50-]

Weapons and Equipment
Police Riot Gear – Been-Bag Shotgun, Tear Gas Launcher, Net Gun, Throwing Blades, Pepper Spray, Variable Density Baton, Civilian Issued M-14 with variable ammunition, Compound Crossbow, various Firearms, Gas Mask

Heavy Uniform - Protection 03

Hero Points: [-13-]
Total: [-205-]

Notes: The third son of hippies and free-love parents, Jacque under his alter Ego Moon Wraith, alone or sometime partnered vigilante who primarily worked the north-western regions of the United States. He is especially active in the areas of San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, and Vancouver. His adversaries are generally low-level street thugs, gangsters, hired muscle (meta-powered), or technologically modified hit men or assassins that use exotic weaponry. The masterminds he deals with are along the lines of the adversaries Bat-Man, Captain America, or Spider-Man deal on a weekly basis (I.E. The Joker, Two-Face, Blockbuster, Clayface, Green Goblin, Shocker, Sand-Man, etc.)

His main contact is a federal customs inspector/DEA operative named Teresa Ha. An American born woman of Japanese ethnicity who works the “Pacific Pipeline” that dominates that corridor. She investigates and impedes criminal activity with the help of Moon-Wraith and Gypsy Arcana.

It isn’t beneath Teresa to use restricted technology in the apprehension of criminals and mercenaries. Often, she uses such impounded technology to aid them.

Moon Wraith, Chaarcter Concept
© Jeffrey Williams 2006, 2007.

Shifting Gears: The Chloro-Vault

'Doomsday' seed vault opens in Norway

Source

LONGYEARBYEN, Norway (CNN) -- A vast underground vault storing millions of seeds from around the world took delivery of its first shipment Tuesday.

Dubbed the "Doomsday Vault," the seed bank on a remote island near the Arctic Ocean is considered the ultimate safety net for the world's seed collections, protecting them from a wide range of threats including war, natural disasters, lack of funding or simply poor agricultural management.

Norwegian musicians performed Tuesday as part of an elaborate opening ceremony marking the opening of the vault, located 130 meters (427 feet) inside a frozen mountain. Wangari Maathai, a Kenyan environmental and political activist who won the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize, placed the first seeds inside the vault, followed by other dignitaries.

The inaugural shipment represent 268,000 distinct samples of seeds, with each sample containing a hundred-plus seeds and originating from a different farm or field around the world. In all, the shipment of seeds secured in the vault Tuesday weighed approximately 10 tons, filling 676 boxes.

The shipment amounts to a 100 million seeds in total, ranging from major African and Asian food staples like maize, rice, and wheat to European and South American varieties of eggplant, lettuce, barley, and potato, according to the Global Crop Diversity Trust, which is paying to collect and maintain the seeds. Watch as "Doomsday" seed vault opens »

Eventually the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, as it is officially known, will hold as many as 4.5 million distinct samples of seeds -- or some 2 billion seeds in total -- encompassing almost every variety of most important food crops in the world, the Global Crop Diversity Trust said.

The Norwegian government paid to build the vault in a mountainside near Longyearbyen, in the remote Svalbard islands between Norway and the North Pole. Building began last year.

The United Nations founded the trust in 2004 to support the long-term conservation of crop diversity, and countries and foundations provide the funding.

"The seed vault is the perfect place for keeping seeds safe for centuries," said Cary Fowler, executive director of the trust. "At these temperatures, seeds for important crops like wheat, barley and peas can last for up to 10,000 years."

The vault's location deep inside a mountain in the frozen north ensures the seeds can be stored safely no matter what happens outside.

"We believe the design of the facility will ensure that the seeds will stay well-preserved even if such forces as global warming raise temperatures outside the facility," said Magnus Bredeli Tveiten, project manager for the Norwegian government.

The vault sits at the end of a 120-meter (131-yard) tunnel blasted inside the mountain. Workers used a refrigeration system to bring the vault to -18 degrees Celsius (just below 0 degrees Fahrenheit), and a smaller refrigeration system plus the area's natural permafrost and the mountain's thick rock will keep the vault at at least -4 C (25 F).

The vault at Svalbard is similar to an existing seed bank in Sussex, England, about an hour outside London. The British vault, called the Millennium Seed Bank, is part of an scientific project that works with wild plants, as opposed to the seeds of crops.

Paul Smith, the leader of the Millennium Seed Bank project, said preserving the seeds of wild plants is just as important as preserving the seeds of vital crops.

"We must give ourselves every option in the future to use the whole array of plant diversity that is available to us," Smith told CNN.

The idea for the Arctic seed bank dates to the 1980s but only became a possibility after the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources came into force in 2004, the Norwegian government said. The treaty provided an international framework for conserving and accessing crop diversity.

Svalbard is designed to store duplicates of seeds from seed collections around the world.

The Norwegian government says it has paid 50 million Norwegian Kroner ($9.4 million) to build the seed vault.

RPG Series 3.5 Revised - Spell Ghost

Malkith Undree, the Spell-Ghost

“The Smiling Cat”
“The Magister” from 298 – 302 DR

Medium Undead (Augmented Humanoid) (Incorporeal)
Templates: Living Spell, Dread Ghost

Hit Dice: 10d12 [101 Hp]
Initiative: +05
Speed: 60 ft., Fly 60 ft – Perfect Maneauverability
Armor Class
Base: 22
-Flat-Footed: 21
Touch: 22
Base Attack/Grapple: +09
Attack: +09/+04 [melee] Slam 10d6+3
Full Attack: +09 Slam
Space/Reach: 5ft. / 5ft. touch 1d4+3, Slam 40 ft.

Special Attacks: Dread Ghost
Aligned Attacks (Su): All dread ghost attacks are considered magical and aligned for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction. The alignment matches one component of its own alignment at the time of its death. In addition, each of its attacks deals +1d6 points of extra damage to creatures of opposing alignment. This bonus damage applies to incorporeal touch attacks and to melee and ranged attacks made against ethereal opponents. If the dread ghost lacks the corrupting touch ability, its incorporeal touch attack still deals 1d6 points of damage to a creature of opposing alignment.

Chilling Aura (Su): When a dread ghost manifests, it emits a deadly chill in a 20-footradius around itself, on both Ethereal and Prime Material planes. Each creature within this area takes 3d6 of cold damage. A successful Fortitude save [DC 22] halves the damage. Although the dread ghost is not immune to cold damage, it is not affected by its own chilling aura or that of other dread ghosts.

Corrupting Gaze (Su): A ghost can blast living beings with a glance, at a range of up to 30 feet. Creatures that meet the ghost’s gaze must succeed on a Fortitude save or take 2d10 points of damage and 1d4 points of Charisma damage.

Corrupting Touch (Su): A ghost that hits a living target with its incorporeal touch attack deals 1d6 points of damage. Against ethereal opponents, it adds its Strength modifier to attack and damage rolls. Against non-ethereal opponents, it adds its Dexterity modifier to attack rolls only.

Death Wail (Su): Once every 1d4 rounds, the dread ghost can loose a terrible wail as a full-round action, targeting it against one creature within 100 ft of it. If the target creature can hear the death wail, it must succeed on a Fortitude save [DC 22] or die instantly. Any other creature within t 100 ft. must make a Fortitude save against the same DC or gain 01 negative level. A creature that succeeds on the save cannot be affected by that dread ghost’s death wail for another 24 hours. The death wail is a sonic death effect.

Draining Touch (Su): A ghost that hits a living target with its incorporeal touch attack drains 1d4 points from any one ability score it selects. On each such successful attack, the ghost heals 5 points of damage to itself. Against ethereal opponents, it adds its Strength modifier to attack rolls only. Against non-ethereal opponents, it adds its Dexterity modifier to attack rolls only.

Frightful Moan (Su): A ghost can emit a frightful moan as a standard action. All living creatures within a 30-foot spread must succeed on a Will save or become panicked for 2d4 rounds. This is a sonic necromantic mind-affecting fear effect. A creature that successfully saves against the moan cannot be affected by the same ghost’s moan for 24 hours.

Horrific Appearance (Su): Any living creature within 60 feet that views a ghost must succeed on a Fortitude save or immediately take 1d4 points of Strength damage, 1d4 points of Dexterity damage, and 1d4 points of Constitution damage. A creature that successfully saves against this effect cannot be affected by the same ghost’s horrific appearance for 24 hours.

Malevolence (Su): Once per round, an ethereal ghost can merge its body with a creature on the Material Plane. This ability is similar to a magic jar spell (caster level 10th or the ghost’s Hit Dice, whichever is higher), except that it does not require a receptacle. To use this ability, the ghost must be manifested and it must try move into the target’s space; moving into the target’s space to use the malevolence ability does not provoke attacks of opportunity. The target can resist the attack with a successful Will save (DC 15 + ghost’s Cha modifier). A creature that successfully saves is immune to that same ghost’s malevolence for 24 hours, and the ghost cannot enter the target’s space. If the save fails, the ghost vanishes into the target’s body.

Improved Manifestation (Su): Every ghost has this ability. A ghost dwells on the Ethereal Plane and, as an ethereal creature, it cannot affect or be affected by anything in the material world. When a ghost manifests, it partly enters the Material Plane and becomes visible but incorporeal on the Material Plane. A manifested ghost can be harmed only by other incorporeal creatures, magic weapons, or spells, with a 50% chance to ignore any damage from a corporeal source. A manifested ghost can pass through solid objects at will, and its own attacks pass through armor. A manifested ghost always moves silently. A manifested ghost can strike with its touch attack or with a ghost touch weapon (see Ghostly Equipment, below). A manifested ghost remains partially on the Ethereal Plane, where is it not incorporeal. A manifested ghost can be attacked by opponents on either the Material Plane or the Ethereal Plane. The ghost’s incorporeality helps protect it from foes on the Material Plane, but not from foes on the Ethereal Plane.

When a spellcasting ghost is not manifested and is on the Ethereal Plane, its spells cannot affect targets on the Material Plane, but they work normally against ethereal targets. When a spellcasting ghost manifests, its spells continue to affect ethereal targets and can affect targets on the Material Plane normally unless the spells rely on touch. A manifested ghost’s touch spells don’t work on non-ethereal targets.
A ghost has two home planes, the Material Plane and the Ethereal Plane. It is not considered extraplanar when on either of these planes.

A Dread Ghost can switch from being wholly ethereal to manifesting on the Prime Material Plane and vice versa as a move action.

Rebuke Undead (Su): The dread ghost can rebuke and command as a 14th cleric.

Shattering Presence (Su): Once per round as a free action, the dread ghost can shatter all nonmagical objects made of crystal, glass, ceramic, or porcelain (such as vials, bottles, flasks, jugs, windows, mirrors, etc.) within 30 ft. Any object weighing more than 5 pounds per character level [70 Lbs.] are not affected. A magic item made of any of the above materials must succeed on a Fortitude save [DC 22] or be destroyed. A crystalline creature with the area takes 10d6 points of damage. Every creature within 5 feet of a shattering object must succeed on a DC 20 Reflex save or take 1d6 points of slashing damage. A creature wearing or carrying an object when it shatters takes 2d6 points of slashing damage with no save. Shattering presence is not a sonic effect.

Telekinesis (Su): A ghost can use telekinesis as a standard action (caster level 12th or equal to the ghost’s HD, whichever is higher). When a ghost uses this power, it must wait 1d4 rounds before using it again.

Special Qualities: Ghost
Energy Immunity (Su): As a Dread Ghost, Malkith Undree is immune to fire.

Ethereal Armor (Su): The dread ghost gains a deflection bonus to Armor Class equal to its charisma modifier or +01, whichever is greater, even when not manifested and existing wholly on the Ethereal Plane.

Ghostly Equipment: When a ghost forms, all its equipment and carried items usually become ethereal along with it. In addition, the ghost retains 2d4 items that it particularly valued in life (provided they are not in another creature’s possession). The equipment works normally on the Ethereal Plane but passes harmlessly through material objects or creatures. A weapon of +1 or better magical enhancement, however, can harm material creatures when the ghost manifests, but any such attack has a 50% chance to fail unless the weapon is a ghost touch weapon (just as magic weapons can fail to harm the ghost).

The original material items remain behind, just as the ghost’s physical remains do. If another creature seizes the original, the ethereal copy fades away. This loss invariably angers the ghost, who stops at nothing to return the item to its original resting place.

Improved Invisibility (Su): The dread ghost can benefit from improved invisibility at will.

Improved Rejuvenation (Su): In most cases, it’s difficult to destroy a ghost through simple combat: The "destroyed" spirit will often restore itself in 1d4 hours. Even the most powerful spells are usually only temporary solutions. A ghost that would otherwise be destroyed returns to its old haunts with a successful level check (1d20 + ghost’s HD) against DC 16. As a rule, the only way to get rid of a ghost for sure is to determine the reason for its existence and set right whatever prevents it from resting in peace. The exact means varies with each spirit and may require a good deal of research.

Greater Turn Resistance (Ex): A ghost has +8 turn resistance.

Undead Qualities
- No Constitution score.
- Darkvision out to 60 feet.
- Immunity to all mind-affecting effects (charms, compulsions, phantasms, patterns, and morale effects).
- Immunity to poison, sleep effects, paralysis, stunning, disease, and death effects.
- Not subject to critical hits, nonlethal damage, ability drain, or energy drain. Immune to damage to its physical ability scores (Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution), as well as to fatigue and exhaustion effects.
- Cannot heal damage on its own if it has no Intelligence score, although it can be healed. Negative energy (such as an inflict spell) can heal undead creatures. The fast healing special quality works regardless of the creature's Intelligence score.
- Immunity to any effect that requires Fortitude saves (unless the effect also works on objects or is harmless).
- Uses its Charisma modifier for Concentration checks.
- Not at risk of death from massive damage, but when reduced to 0 hit points or less, it is immediately destroyed.
- Not affected by raise dead and reincarnate spells or abilities. Resurrection and true resurrection can affect undead creatures. These spells turn undead creatures back into the living creatures they were before becoming undead.
- Proficient with its natural weapons, all simple weapons, and any weapons mentioned in its entry.
- Proficient with whatever type of armor (light, medium, or heavy) it is described as wearing, as well as all lighter types. Undead not indicated as wearing armor is not proficient with armor. Undead are proficient with shields if they are proficient with any form of armor.
- Undead do not breathe, eat, or sleep.

Living Spell
Spell Effect (Su): Empowered Fireball [3/day] – Damage: 10d6 x 1.5, DC 25

Engulf (Su): Empowered Fireball [3/day] – Damage: 10d6 x 1.5, DC 25

Special Qualities: Living Spell
Damage Reduction 10/Magic

Spell Resistance 24

Saves: Fort +09, Ref +05, Will +10
Abilities: Str 15 [+02], Int 18 [+04], Wis 13 [+01], Dex 12 [+01], Con 00 [+0], Cha 20 [+05]
Skills: Concentration +10, Craft: Alchemy +14, Decipher Script +14, Diplomacy +12, Hide +10*, Knowledge: Arcana +14, Knowledge: Dungeoneering +14, Knowledge: Geography: +13, Knowledge: Local +12, Knowledge: Nature +12, Knowledge: The Planes +14, Listen +10*, Search +10*, Sense Motive +10*, Spellcraft +14, Spot +10*
Feats: Attack Focus , Fell Animate , Ghostly Grasp , Improved Initiative, Quicken Spell, Silent Spell, Spell Chain , Spell Penetration, Twin Spell , Virus Spell
Environment: Tethyr, the Starspire Mountains. Malkith Undree has an extensive dungeon located under the ruins of his old tower, but rarely ventures outside its halls unless a pressing matter needs his direct attention.
Organization: Solitary, may have 2-5 minor ghosts,
Challenge Rating: +08
Treasure: Bracers of Armor +04,
Alignment: Lawful Evil
Advancement: ---
Level Adjustment: Same as base creature +05

COMBAT
Round 01: Engulf and detonate as a fireball using his own ethereal state to inflict much physical damage as possible.

Round 02: Horrific Appearance, Frightful Moan, Corrupting Gaze any and all combatants to effectively blunt any abilities and disrupt morale.

Round 03: Physical combat against wizards, rogues, and clerics via Draining Touch, Corrupting Touch

Round 04: If possible, use Malevolence against sorcerers or the strongest fighter. Possess and use their abilities against the opposition. If not, use any available magical items to combat the opposition. Or use telekinesis against the strongest party members.

Round 05: use Malevolence against another party member, if not use spell effect for maximum damage.

Description: A soft spoken, always smiling Halruaan mage who earned his reputation as a patient but intrusive wizard who struck woe and fear into the hearts of junior mages. His reputation as the Magister did not garner his nickname, but rather his ability to gather information via covert observation. He developed a means to know everything because he spent much of his time magically scrying, was a shrewd judge of character, and devoted his idle time to anticipating outcomes and considering consequences

Upon earning the title as Magister, he used his magics to seize control of a caravan coster and moneylending businesses in Amn. His genius, beliefs, and spells enabled him to regulate a small network to where he could seize magics from dead and dying spell casters. It also enabled him to stigmatize his rivals by revealing or discrediting the value of their work, or set-up one-sided confrontations between rival mages that would protect his status as the Magister. Without leaving a fearsome trail of bodies as most mages do, Malkith within his time as a Magister earned a hateful and fearsome reputation.

Malkith became a master manipulator in his short time and earned a reputation amongst the clergy of Mystra. He eventually beheaded himself using a defective Netherese Blast Scepter. A fragmented except from the log of Rayviin of Battledale revealed much of his former master’s fate.

“…unconceivable as it may seem, but the explosion shattered his skull from his shoulders and his body was fused to the floor of his tower. The stones of his tower had melted and once cooled had fused into a undiscovered glass. The room had the look of a candlemaker’s shoppe. I fear I may never leave this place alive. My former employer has left so many wards and traps to punish the intrusive,

…and the treacherous.”

Notes: Malkith Undree in effect is a restless living spell spawned, trapped and partially rewoven into a tear in the Weave. Forever forsaken by Mystra and now existing as a ghost, the remnants of his soul may not rest and venture to his final destination. His arrogance and unscrupulous murder of wizards and sorcerers is rightly reward. His existance as a non-entity lasted nearly a 1000 years until the instability in the Weave via the Time of Troubles made the consolidation of his spiritual remnants and manifested it into his newest existance. This ensuing chaos in Mystra’s absence enabled him to push his consciousness onto the Prime Material Plane [Faerun] and reconstitute himself to a considerable degree. He gained abilities as a dread ghost but as his punishment, Mystra stripped from the ability to cast spells as a wizard. This included his spell mantle also. However, Malkith can use his magic jar ability to a frightening degree and “possesses’ monsters and individuals with innate spell casting abilities. [I.E. Dragons, Beholders, Drow Elves, Sorcerers, etc]

Resources:
Advanced Bestiary, Third Edition Revised Accessory
Libris Mortis, Third Edition Revised Accessory
The Magister, Second Edition Accessory
Monster Manual I, Third Edition Revised Accessory
Monster Manual III, Third Edition Revised Accessory
Players Guide to Faerun, Third Edition Revised Accessory
Ultimate Feats, Third Edition Accessory

© Jeffrey Williams 2008.

Shifting Gears: The Scimitar Cats

Ancient big cat fossils found in South America
Source: General Science/Archaeology & Fossils

The skull of a saber-toothed tiger. Venezuela has found the first fossils of an extinct scimitar cat -- of the saber-toothed cat genus -- in South America, during oil prospecting activities southeast of Caracas, paleontologists announced

Venezuela has found the first fossils of an extinct scimitar cat -- of the saber-toothed cat genus -- in South America, during oil prospecting activities southeast of Caracas, paleontologists announced.

"It's South America's most important discovery in 60 years," Venezuelan Institute of Scientific Investigation paleontologist Ascanio Rincon told AFP on Monday.

He said fossils of six scimitar cats, or Homotherium, were found along with those of panthers, wolves, camels, condors, ducks and horses, all from about 1.8 million years ago, by a Petroleos de Venezuela team looking for oil in Monagas state in 2006.

The most important find, he said, was the complete skull of a scimitar cat, an animal never before found in South America.

"For us it's a milestone and opens a window to the past."

The scimitar cat, a smaller version of the saber-toothed tiger with a hyena-like appearance and smaller, crenelated teeth, was believed to have only inhabited Africa, Eurasia and North America between five million and 10,000 years ago.

Rincon estimated the scimitar cat became extinct in South America about 500,000 years ago.

He said the finding proved the scimitar cat shared the same habitat with the saber-toothed tiger in South America. Saber-toothed tiger fossils have been found in both North and South America.

Rincon said the fossil find would expand his research into the lifestyle of the extinct big cats.

© 2008 AFP

Lost Civilizations - The Ruins of Hamoukar

Lost City Uncovered Under Syrian Desert
Tuesday, December 20, 2005

CHICAGO — An excavation project on the Syrian-Iraqi border has uncovered an ancient settlement wiped out by invaders 5,500 years ago.

Discovered in northeastern Syria, the ruined city of Hamoukar appears to have been a large city by 4,500 B.C., said archaeologists Clemens Reichel and Salam al-Quntar, who co-directed Syrian-American excavations on the site.

Reichel, a research associate at the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, and al-Quntar, of the Syrian Department of Antiquities, jointly announced their discoveries on Thursday.

They said Hamoukar was a flourishing urban center at a time when cities were thought to be relegated hundreds of miles to the south.

The site is in the upper edges of the Tigris and Euphrates Valleys, near the Iraq border. Reichel said it may have been settled as long as 8,000 years ago.

Oldest-Known Maya Mural Uncovered Scientists Make Titanic Discovery Archaeologist Spots Ancient Pyramid in Bosnia Wooden Roman Anchors Found in Dead Sea Greeks Find Two 8,000-Year-Old Settlements Longest of Dead Sea Scrolls to Tour North America Elite Women Made Beer in Pre-Incan Culture Archaeologists Go Digital Ancient Israelite Alphabet Found Israel Church a Major Discovery Scholars had long believed that urbanized societies started and were isolated in Uruk, in southern Mesopotamia. But excavations that started in 1999 at Hamoukar and at other sites in central Syria led to new ideas about the how urban culture spread in the region.

Ancient Mesopotamia was a region that includes parts of Iraq and Syria.

This year, the Syrian-American excavations discovered evidence of the battle that toppled and burned Hamoukar's walls and ended the city's independence. Researchers found that invaders likely hurled more than 1,200 sling-fired bullets at Hamoukar and more than 100 heavy, 4-inch clay balls.

"The whole area of our most recent excavation was a war zone," Reichel said.

The ruins have preserved not only local pottery and artifacts, but also vast amounts of Uruk pottery.

"The picture is compelling," Reichel said. "If the Uruk people weren't the ones firing the sling bullets, they certainly benefited from it. They took over this place right after its destruction."

Reichel said if Hamoukar's residents were taken by surprise it will give researchers plenty to study because their possessions likely were buried with them under the debris.

Link

Evidence of Ancient 'Last Stand' Found in Lost Syrian City
Wednesday, January 17, 2007

CHICAGO — It was the ancient version of a last stand: Twelve clay bullets lined up and ready to be shot from slings in a desperate attempt to stop fierce invaders who soon would reduce much of the city to rubble.

The discovery was made in the ruins of Hamoukar, an ancient settlement in northeastern Syria located just miles from the border with Iraq.

Thought to be one of the world's earliest cities and located in northern Mesopotamia between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, it is the site of joint excavations by the University of Chicago and the Syrian Department of Antiquities.

Excavations have been going on at the site since 1999, but in digs conducted this past fall, researchers uncovered new evidence of the city's end and more clues about how urban life there may have begun. The University of Chicago was to announce the findings Tuesday.

The site is so close to Iraq that Clemens Reichel, the American co-director of the expedition, has seen explosions on the other side of the border.

Oldest Stone Tools in North America Possibly Found in Minnesota Mummies of Lost Andean Tribe to Go on Display in Peru New Theory: Native Disease Wiped Out Mexican Indians Ancient Roman Road Unearthed in Netherlands Report: Japan's Royal Tombs to Be Opened to Researchers Lost City Uncovered Under Syrian Desert "It's somewhat surreal. We're not living in a vacuum there. We know exactly what's happening across the border," Reichel said. "But working in Syria is like working in the eye of the storm. It's very peaceful to work there. Practically no problems."

The site was anything but peaceful in approximately 3,500 B.C. The archaeologists have previously detailed how they believe Hamoukar's independence was ended by a battle that caused its buildings and walls to collapse and burn.

This past fall, the team found more traces of that battle. For example, there was a shallow pit containing a water basin normally used to soften clay sealings for reuse. The clay sealings were used on bags, jars and baskets to help ensure that the valuables or food inside had not been tampered with.

But along this basin, the researchers found neatly lined up along its edge 12 "sling bullets," oval-shaped weapons made of clay that were fired using slings. More than 1,000 of the bullets were found in debris of collapsed walls in 2005.

Reichel theorizes someone who usually worked with the clay sealings was trying to contribute to the war effort and fashioned bullets from the clay instead.

"You imagine the despair the people were in. They were using everything they could to throw back at the attacker," he said. "It looks like a desperate last attempt."

But the roof collapsed before the bullets could be used, and the researchers believe they were the first to see the scene since that fateful day.

"It's the content of 5,500 years ago no one has seen. There's an element of eeriness — almost a sacred element — when you do this," said Reichel, a research associate at the university's Oriental Institute.

As for the identity of the invaders, the researchers point to debris that indicates if members of the Uruk culture of southern Mesopotamia weren't the ones attacking, they certainly swooped in immediately afterward and took over the city. Either way, they were probably on a quest for the region's raw materials.

Elsewhere at the site, archaeologists believe they've found clues to why urban life began at Hamoukar.

A massive area, the size of a golf course, is scattered with thousands of pieces of obsidian, a type of rock used to produce tools and weapons.

It also contains debris that "tells us that they are not just using these tools here, they are making them here," Salam al-Kuntar, the Syrian co-director of the expedition, said in a statement.

Using pottery fragments for dating purposes, the researchers theorize the area could have been a place where obsidian tools were produced hundreds of years before the ferocious battle.

The discovery could also help explain how civilizations developed in different regions of the Fertile Crescent, Reichel said.

It is accepted that in the south, urban society developed in response to the need for organized labor to support the irrigation-based agriculture. The findings from Hamoukar — which was on a key trade route linking modern-day Turkey to southern Mesopotamia — suggest that civilization could have developed there to tap into the market for mass-produced goods (such as obsidian tools).

Guillermo Algaze, a professor of anthropology at the University of California at San Diego, has researched Mesopotamian archaeology and early civilizations. He follows the findings at Hamoukar, but did not participate in the dig.

He said the existence of Hamoukar and the nearby Syrian city of Tell Brak prove that early development of Mesopotamia occurred independently in the north and south, which is contrary to traditional scholastic belief.

Previously, civilization in the north of the region was thought to have developed under the influence of urban areas in the south.

Still, the outcome of the battle at Hamoukar in 3,500 B.C. helped change the trajectory of the region, with southern Mesopotamia becoming the dominant force, home to ancient kingdoms such as Babylonia.

LINK

Series 3.5 Revised - From the Sea of Kalymnos

Greek Fisherman Pulls Ancient Statue Out of Aegean
Tuesday, May 09, 2006

ATHENS, Greece — A Greek fisherman has handed over to authorities a large section of an ancient bronze statue brought up in his nets in the Aegean Sea, officials said on Monday.

The male torso was located last week near the eastern Aegean island of Kalymnos, the Culture Ministry said in an announcement.

The one-meter (3-foot) high find belonged to a statue of a horseback soldier, and would have been part of the cargo of an ancient ship that sank in the area. It was taken to Athens to be cleaned and dated.

Together with the torso, the fisherman brought up two small bronze pieces believed to belong to the statue, and a wine-jar from the ancient city of Knidos — in what is now Turkey — dating from the first century B.C, the ministry said.

The seas around Kalymnos are rich in ancient wrecks and have yielded several impressive finds in recent years, including a large female statue now exhibited at the National Archaeological Museum in Athens. The fisherman who netted it in 1995 earned a euro 440,000 (U.S. $558,000) reward from the Culture Ministry.

Other scattered pieces of bronze statues found in the area include a head, legs and arms, but it is unclear whether these could match the horseman's torso.

Series 3.5 Revised - The Pendant of Thessalonki

Hiker Finds 6,500-Year-Old Pendant in Greece
Thursday, February 16, 2006
Source

THESSALONIKI, Greece — A Greek hiker found a 6,500-year-old gold pendant in a field and handed it over to authorities, an archaeologist said Thursday.

The flat, roughly ring-shaped prehistoric pendant probably had religious significance and would have been worn on a necklace by a prominent member of society.

Only three such gold artifacts have been discovered during organized digs, archaeologist Georgia Karamitrou-Mendesidi, head of the Greek archaeological service in the northern region where the discovery was made, told The Associated Press.

"It belongs to the Neolithic period, about which we know very little regarding the use of metals, particularly gold," she said. "The fact that it is made of gold indicates that these people were highly advanced, producing significant works of art."

She said the pendant, measuring rough 1 1/2 by 1 1/2 inches, was picked up last year near the town of Ptolemaida, about 90 miles southwest of the northern city of Thessaloniki. Karamitrou-Mendesidi is to present the artifact at a three-day archaeological conference that opened Thursday in Thessaloniki.

The woman who found the pendant did not want a reward and wished to remain anonymous, Karamitrou-Mendesidi said.

Similar finds have been excavated in modern Turkey and the Balkans, particularly in Bulgaria.

Around 4500 B.C., when the pendant was made, Greece's early Neolithic farming settlements were consolidating into structured trading centers with a developed knowledge of metalworking.

In November, archaeologists announced the discovery of two prehistoric farming settlements dating back as early as 6000 B.C. in the Ptolemaida region.

The settlement digs uncovered burial sites, clay and stone figurines of humans and animals, pottery and stone tools.

Another 25 prehistoric settlements have been found in the area.

Shifting Gears: The Eyes of Night

Does Missing Gene Point To Nocturnal Existence For Early Mammals?
Source: Published: 15:20 EST, October 11, 2006

A gene that makes cells in the eye receptive to light is missing in humans, researchers have discovered. They say that whereas some animals like birds, fish and amphibians have two versions of this photoreceptor, mammals, including humans, only have one.

The findings – published in the Public Library of Science journal PLoS Biology – reveal how our experience of the light environment may be impoverished compared to other vertebrates and fits with the suggestion that early mammals were at one time wholly nocturnal creatures.

“The classical view of how the eye sees is through photoreceptive cells in the retina called rods and cones,” explained Dr Jim Bellingham, who led the research at The University of Manchester.

“But, recently, a third photoreceptor was discovered that is activated by a gene called melanopsin. This melanopsin photoreceptor is not linked to sight but uses light for non-visual processes, such as regulating our day-night rhythms and pupil constriction.”

Although the melanopsin gene is present in all vertebrates, the version in mammals was unusually different to that found in fish, amphibians and birds.

“At first, we put this genetic anomaly between mammals and other vertebrates down to evolutionary differences,” said Dr Bellingham, who is based in the Faculty of Life Sciences.

“But we have now learnt that other vertebrates have a second melanopsin gene – one that matches the one found earlier in mammals and humans. The first melanopsin gene found in the other classes of vertebrates does not exist in mammals.”

Shifting Gears: One Step Closer.., Minus the Photon Torpedo

U.S. Navy's new "big gun" makes sci-fi sci-fact
February 02, 2008

Link

Science fiction once again became science fact after the U.S. Navy on Thursday successfully test fired an incredibly powerful new big gun designed to replace conventional weaponry aboard ships.

The big gun uses electromagnetic energy instead of explosive chemical propellants to fire a projectile farther and faster. The railgun, as it is called, will ultimately fire a projectile more than 230 miles (370 kilometers) with a muzzle velocity seven times the speed of sound (Mach 7) and a velocity of Mach 5 at impact.

The test-firing, captured on video, took place Jan. 31 in Dahlgren, Va., and Navy officials called it the "world's most powerful electromagnetic railgun." The Navy's current MK 45 five-inch gun has a range of less than 23 miles (37 kilometers).

"I never ever want to see a Sailor or Marine in a fair fight. I always want them to have the advantage," said Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Gary Roughead. "We should never lose sight of always looking for the next big thing, always looking to make our capability better, more effective than what anyone else can put on the battlefield."

The railgun has been a featured weapon in many science fiction adventures, such as the new "Battlestar Galactic" series. It has also achieved newfound popularity among the 20-something-and-under generation for its devastating ability to instantaneously shoot a "slug" through walls and through multiple enemies in video games such as the "Quake" series of first person shooters.

The railgun's high-velocity projectile will destroy targets with sheer kinetic energy rather than with conventional explosives.

The railgun's lack of explosives means ships would be safer, said Elizabeth D'Andrea, Electromagnetic Railgun Program Manager.

The Navy's goal is to demonstrate a full-capability prototype by 2018.

Source: Xinhua

Shifting Gears: Bacterial Power Cells

Bacteria to run our cars, warm our homes
October 10th, 2006 in General Science / Biology

Source

The United States Department of Energy has devoted $1.6 million to sequencing the DNA of six photosynthetic bacteria that Washington University in St. Louis biologists will examine for their potential as one of the next great sources of biofuel that can run our cars and warm our houses.

That's a lot of power potential from microscopic cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) that capture sunlight and then do a variety of biochemical processes. One potential process, the clean production of ethanol, is a high priority for DOE.

Himadri Pakrasi, Ph.D., Washington University Endowed Professor of Biology in Arts & Sciences, and Professor of Energy in the School of Engineering and Applied Science, will head a team of biologists at Washington University and elsewhere in the analysis of the genomes of six related strains of Cyanothece bacteria. One additional Cyanothece strain, 54112, already has been sequenced by the Joint Genome Institute in Walnut Creek, Calif., DOE's sequencing facility, the largest DNA sequencing facility in the world , that also will sequence the additional six.

The amazing Cyanothece 54112 is a one-celled marine cyanobacteria, which is a bacterium with a well-defined circadian rhythm, or biological clock. In particular, Cyanothece has the uncanny ability to produce oxygen and assimilate carbon through photosynthesis during the day while fixing nitrogen through the night, all within the same cell. Incredibly, even though the organism has a circadian rhythm, its cells grow and divide in 10 to 14 hours.

Why sequence six? The strains, two isolated from rice paddies in Taiwan, one in a rice paddy in India, and three others from the deep ocean, are related, but each one comes from different environmental backgrounds and might metabolize differently. Thus, one or more strains might have biological gifts to offer that the others don't , or else combining traits of the different strains could provide the most efficient form of bioenergy.

A natural at fermentation

"The Department of Energy is very interested in the production of ethanol or hydrogen and other kinds of chemicals through biological processes," said Pakrasi, who also is director of the University's Bioenergy Initiative. "Cyanobacteria have a distinct advantage over biomass, such as corn or other grasses, in producing ethanol, because they use carbon dioxide as their primary cellular carbon source and emit no carbons and they naturally do fermentation. In biomass, yeast needs to be added for fermentation, which leads to the production of ethanol. Cyanobacteria can offer a simpler, cleaner approach to ethanol production." Pakrasi heads a group of nearly two dozen researchers who will do a lengthy, painstaking manual annotation of the gene sets of each organism to figure out what each gene of each strain does.

"The diversity in those sequences will give us the breadth of what these organisms do, and then we can pick and choose and make a designer microbe that will do what we want it to do," Pakrasi said. "We want to tap into the life history of these organisms to find the golden nuggets."

One possible way to produce ethanol using Cyanothece strains is a hybrid combination of the microbe and plant matter where the cyanobacteria coexist with plants and enable fermentation. The model exists in nature where cyanobacteria form associations with plants and convert nitrogen into a useful form so that plants can use the nitrogen product.

Extracting ethanol

At Washington University, Pakrasi and his collaborators have designed a photobioreactor to watch Cyanothece convert available sunlight into thick mats of green biomass, from which liquid ethanol can be extracted.

Pakrasi led the sequencing of Cyanothece 54112 as the focus of a Department of Energy "grand challenge project" that resulted in the sequencing and annotation of a cyanobacterium gene that could yield clues to how environmental conditions influence key carbon fixation processes at the gene-mRNA-protein levels in an organism.

Two of the most critical environmental and energy science challenges of the 21st century are being addressed in a systems biology program as part of a Grand Challenge project at the W.R. Wiley Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL), a national facility managed by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) for the Department of Energy. This program features an elaborate international collaboration involving six university laboratories and 10 national laboratory groups, Washington University being one of them.

Pakrasi is leading a grand challenge project in membrane biology that is using a systems approach to understand the network of genes and proteins that governs the structure and function of membranes and their components responsible for photosynthesis and nitrogen fixation in two species of unicellular cyanobacteria, specifically Cyanothece and Synechocystis.

The Cyanothece sequencing is the second Joint Genome Institute project involving Washington University. In 2004, the university was directly involved in sequencing the entire genome of the moss Physcomitrella patens at the Joint Genome Institute.

Source: By Tony Fitzpatrick, Washington University in St. Louis

Ancient Civilizations: The Necropolis at Illahun

Egypt unveils 4,000-year-old necropolis
The 53 tombs include brightly painted sarcophagi, dozens of ancient tombs

By Hadeel Al-Shalchi
Source: MSNBC

ILLAHUN, Egypt - Egyptian archaeologists on Sunday unveiled mummies, brightly painted sarcophagi and dozens of ancient tombs carved into a rocky hill in a desert oasis south of Cairo.

The 53 tombs — some as old as 4,000 years — were discovered recently on a sandy plateau overlooking farming fields in the village Illahun, located in the Fayoum oasis about 50 miles (80 kilometers) southwest of the Egyptian capital.

Archaeologists gave journalists a rare tour of the ancient burial site Sunday, which is next to the nearly four millennia old pyramid of Pharaoh Sesostris II.

"At the beginning of the excavation I said that we may rewrite the history of the site, and I was right," said Abdel-Rahman el-Ayedi, the deputy secretary of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities who oversaw the dig.

Three slim wooden sarcophagi believed to be holding female mummies were laid out in one of the tombs. The innermost coffins were painted to resemble the deceased using blue, yellow, rust and black dyes.

In another tomb, workers slowly removed the lid of one inscribed with hieroglyphic prayers to reveal a colorful mummy case that el-Ayedi said belonged to a woman named Isis Her Ib, the daughter of one of Illahun's mayors nearly 4,000 years ago.

Not much was known about who used the ancient necropolis. El-Ayedi said some of the tombs were just 2,800 years old, while others were from the Middle Kingdom, which dates back 2061-1786 B.C.

Some had a single burial shaft, while others had upper and lower chambers. A funerary chapel with an offering table, painted masks, pottery, statues and protection charms known as amulets were also found at the site, el-Ayedi said.

Archaeologists hope to study the mummies' bones to learn more about the nutrition, health and customs of the people who used to live in the area, el-Ayedi said.

"It will help us to follow the development of funeral architecture, beliefs and customs of ancient Egyptians," he said. "Not only through artistic motifs and text, but many tests are being done in the lab."