The Book of Eshmun

First Entry

An excerpt from the holy book of Eshmun

After realizing the mistake they made I was released from the salt mines. I was immediately summoned by high sultan of Serenity who begged for my forgiveness. During this meeting the sultan asked if I could help him with a problem he had. He needed a small highly skilled discreet task force to do some recon on a lost caravan. 

I picked Neena for her stealth, Baz for his strength, Felix for his tracking, Sig for his tech and Teela for her mind. I met a rogue named Ichabod while buying supplies, who exchanged information about the sultan’s daughter being on the caravan so he could join our group.

With my blessing we traveled south from Serenity. It wasn’t long before I noticed something was bothering Baz and Teela. They soon explained to the group that for a few days once a month Teela changed into an uncontrollable ragebear. Sig approached the problem as if it was a sickness that needed to be analyzed and cured. I saw it for what is was, this form was an essential part of her. It wasn’t a sickness it was a blessing. What she needed was to better understand and control it. Unfortunately we didn’t have the time to debate it. No time to learn more and help with control. Her next change was due in a few hours.

Second Entry
From the holy book of Eshmun.

So there we were, sitting around waiting for Teela to change. Something Sig said earlier in the day was bugging me. When he activated the lift in Serenity he said something like machines should serve us, not us serving them. While I do agree that using manual labor to lift something that an easily repaired machine could do is silly, when it comes to nanospirits, they are not just simple microscopic robots to be commanded around.

Eon priests are such control freaks. But Sig didn’t seem like your average Eon priest so I tried to explain my views on the nanospirits.

“I know nanospirits are these microscopic robotic machines, but if they were just single function man made robots they would run their lifecycle and die. These things are very alive. They self replicate, self program, and are found in just about everything on this planet. It wouldn’t surprise me if they are responsible for maintaining the human race. They help us survive in this ever changing world.

I would venture to say that without nanospirits, life would not exist, and we wouldn’t have as much knowledge of the numenera. They continually speak to us, changing us for the better. All you hear now is the buzz of them, but if you quiet your mind you will hear them speak to you.

Nanospirits create an energy field around all living things. It surrounds us, penetrates us, and bind our would together.

Our life helps create nanospirt life, helps them grow. We are Luminous beings who can become gods, not just this crude flesh and blood. Sig, you can hear the spirits all round us, the eneen, the shrubs, the cypers, everywhere.”

Sig looked up and said, “Sorry, I was doing a pre-scan of Teela’s mind, wanted to get a before and after look. Where you talking to me?”

Maybe he was just like your average Eon priest.

Third Entry

From the holy book of Eshmun

Things were going from bad to worse. Teela had no control over her new form, and it was very pissed and very hungry. Neena had thrown in something new that should help but I didn’t have time to wait and see. Curiosity was about to kill the Sig. I decided to use my smiting ability to try to knock out Teela before she killed him.

I have never tried to use my smiting ability this way before, and never tried it on a friend but I had to try something. I tried slipping into her mind slowly, instead of the usual slam I use on my foes. I was hoping to find the beasts mind, and then hit it until it passed out. Instead there was a party going on in its head.

The beast, Sig, Teela and myself were all jumbled in there together. I had to stop my attack to figure out where to safely direct a knockout blow. Unfortunately my appearance in her mind caught Sigs attention. He directed his scan at me which opened a feedback loop that allowed the beasts thoughts to slip into my mind. The beast was angry, really really angry. Not only was it super pissed off it also was frightened, hungry, in pain and worried for Baz. All that emotion flooded into my skull and it me like a ton of bricks. I fell to my knees holding my aching head as I quickly shut the connection down.