Day 3, 1073

I had this idea to write my thoughts as I work on this impossibly large problem ahead of me.  I have no idea if it will pan out, but here it goes.  It's been three days since Fringe Team Zero departed (that's what I call them, it's not their official designation.  I don't think they'd accept anything official from someone like me anyways).  They're depending on me and Natalya to do the impossible: enact a plan to steal the Codex of Eden and get them out of Paragon Soul in about 30 years.  Hell, I don't know where to begin.

I think today it finally hit me that I can't go home again.  I'm forever stuck in this timeframe, affected by the future that seeks to manipulate people like these barbarian tribes, me, everything.  Guess that this shitty feeling is what it's like to be on the receiving end of manipulation.

Truth be told, our plan is unbelievably shaky at best.  Natalya's promise to unite the tribes is far more difficult than she outwardly admits.  The other Khals won't accept her as one of them.  Her own tribe is going through its own strife trying to "elect" a new Khal, and most of them refuse to accept her challenge to become Khal.  On top of all this, we just got word that a large army of the dragonkin are coming, larger than any others they have seen before.  Between the enemy army and our own problems, our plan is looking like it's going to fall apart before it even forms.

Day 6

They're almost here.  Natalya told me to come with her.  She's taking everyone in the Mactep Tribe that supports her claim (most of the women soldiers primarily) as Khal, and she's going to meet the Children of Daimakaicho on her own terms.  If any of us make it out of this alive, I'm definitely learning conventional sorcery.  Elemental magic will not serve me where I'm going, and with whom I'm following.

.....if any of us survive.

Day 15

I know, not a good start to keeping a journal, I've already missed over a week.  Thing is, today I just found out something very important about the Codex.  It has the perception to see when something or someone is coming from the future.  Found this one out when assassins dropped in on me and Natalya.  The Codex warned me, and holy shit there they were, just as it said.

I'm pretty sure that the Codex can perceive time fundamentally different than any humanoid.  I'd go so far as to theorize that it can see the past, present, and all possible futures.  What I'm unclear on is whether it can see into alternate pasts and presents.  I'll have to find some way to test if it can.

Day 15 Addenum

Oh right.  Still fighting.  I'll talk about the battle with the Dragonkin when it's over.  They brought 50 thousand.  We brought 800 initially.

Day 23

Well, they did it.  Obviously I'm still alive, and holy shit I've never seen so much blood before in my life.

So, as far as I can see, Natalya's plan was to shame the clans into joining her.  She intentionally brought almost all women with her to fight the fifty thousand, and sent word to other tribes' leaders that her women had more balls than they did, and if they wanted to prove her wrong to meet her in battle against the dragonkin.

I think saying that a woman has more balls than a Khal is either incredibly stupid and liable to get you killed, or a great way to piss him off into action.  Although the tribes are rather open about sexuality and generally don't think too much about sex jokes and insults, it's a lot different when it comes to leaders.  Mostly because all the leaders are men.  And Natalya is treating them without the deferential respect a Khal deserves.  And so bluntly calling them out like she did was a huge embarassment.  They had no choice but to respond.

The biggest problem was her own tribe, the Mactep.  They were still fighting over who was to become the new Khal when Natalya disappeared with a sizable force of their women.  She told me last night that she left a message for the three most likely to become Khal that she was going to fight, and they were bickering like women (I think I'm starting to see a pattern here), and to meet her when they got the sand out of their vaginas.  Yeah.  Literally said that to no one, but three men vying to become leader of the Mactep.  So this morning while doing cleanup, one of them attacked her, intending to kill her.  It was a surprisingly short fight.  Natalya, being about fifty years old, is still a more competent warrior than her much younger opponent, and forced him to eat the dirt beneath her feet, then forced his loyalty out of him and the support of his men and women.  Looks like today she's consolidating her power around her new base, and is probably going to do the same to the rest of her rivals.

I think I might enjoy working with Natalya after all.  She's a hell of a lot stronger than anyone gives her credit, and she likes me (I hope).

Day 30

Natalya just made history as the first Khal of any tribe, and became the Khal of several tribes all in the same day.  After the massive route that she executed of the dragonkin's first wave, she used that momentum to seal leadership of several smaller tribes, and of one of the larger tribes, I think they were called Tepeste.  Not bad for the first month's work.

So far, I haven't made much progress with the Codex.  It is enigmatic, its answers childlike and cryptic.  Also, it's more interested in me than it is helping me find a way to fix the timeframes.  This is where I sigh exasperatedly.  I mean, it's a nice Codex and all, but every time I try to get answers on how to fix things, it deflects and asks about me instead.  And I think its feelings get hurt whenever I yell at it.  If it has feeling to hurt.

June 4, 1073

Yeah, I finally realized I should be using some goddamn dates.  This would be day 72  71  73  76.  Anyways, sticking with dates from now on.

Natalya's been busy uniting her people.  She says she has many of the smaller tribes, but aside from one other large tribe, she hasn't made much headway with the other Khals of the other big ones.  They still think they can go at it alone.

Meanwhile, I've been making some progress with more conventional magic, leaving behind my Elemental abilities.  I'll admit, I don't much miss the Railgun, especially since it uses every drop of magic I have at that moment and leaves me unconscious afterwards.  The Codex has actually been helping me along, which is a surprise to me.  Well, helping is a strong word.  Giving me hints and posing questions for me to answer which leads me to how to work normal magic and make up for time lost on the wrong path.

As far as dealing with what's supposed to happen in about thirty years, I have an idea, but until I get more information about this timeframe's Paragon Soul, I won't know what I'm dealing with for a long time.  Of course, none of this will matter unless I can figure out how to start to untangle this whole goddamn mess.

June 12, 1073

Well, Fringe came for us.  Cocksuckers actually tried to Amber us.  Emphasis on "tried", everyone near me was safe, the Codex seems to be a bit too powerful for the Amber to contain.  Unfortunately, they still ambered about three hundred tribesmen and women.  If Fringe keeps this up, it won't matter if the Codex is protected, we'll never keep an army if everyone's just going to be trapped in the Amber.  I'll have to see if the Reversal Protocols I know will deal with this, or if this is a different generation of Amber.  Either way, I have to counter this and soon.

June 15th, 1073

So the Codex knows a lot more than I think anyone suspects.  When I began working on the Amber problem, it pitched in.  It helped me figure out the chemical composition of this particular amber and we're making significant headway on a reversal method for the future.  It appears this design of amber will resolidify after a few seconds of being returned to its gaseous state.  So for now, I just stood nearby a section as we reverted it with the Codex, and let the Codex's presence degrade the amber.

I get the distinct impression the Codex doesn't want the amber to be a distraction for us.  It was rather noticeable when it started being very helpful.  I'm willing to bet it won't last, though.  Once we're done with this, it'll probably be back to cryptic responses and questions in response to questions.

October 2nd, 1073

We haven't yet secured the allegiance of the rest of the tribes, but we've passed the day all of them were supposed to have been exterminated, and we're still going strong.  But Natalya's worried.  She thinks that the dragonkin are going to be throwing a lot more at us, and easily within the next year.

On a different front, I've been working on the pattern of changes that have taken place through the Codex of Eden.  It's a real pain in the ass because I have no point of reference to compare them to except for the effect of Fringe Event One, which is a massive cataclysm.  What makes it worse is that thus far, I can find no way to actually return to the moment of that event because we have a paradox at work: the Effect destroyed its own Cause.  Furthermore, finding the ones who changed history has been nigh impossible.  Despite all observations, we were never able to locate them because of the lack of comparison to the original timeframe.

I hate time travel.  Swear to the gods, if we pull this off, I'm destroying that fucking Codex myself.

December 19th, 1073

"GET YOUR ASS TO DETORID, ALL DEFENSES IN STAIN ARE NOW FOREFIT, GET YOUR ASS TO DETORID."

I never thought a few words could change the entire course of history, but we did it.  Natalya wasn't getting anywhere with the other Khals, and the enemy was massing at Detorid.  Words can't describe just how many dragonkin were there.  It wasn't mere tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands.  It was only a matter of time before they were going to attack.  With those numbers, they could easily sweep the whole continent.  Natalya decided that if this army was going to annihilate her and the rest of the Horde, then we would at least engage them on our terms.

She took every last man, woman and child under her, and we all marched towards Malapis.  We were going to attack them at Detorid itself.  Fuck the defenses, fuck the numbers.  She had a plan.  Part of the plan was offering the Khals something they never considered before: Feythabolis itself.  Join her, and they would be rulers of lands far beyond the Stain Desert.  She painted the picture that she intended to rebuild the old Empire, and beat the dragonkin at the same time.  All they had to do was seize some glory in Detorid.

Of course, none of this would have been possible not for my knowledge of the Amber.  Natalya wanted the secrets, I refused.  She threatened to kill me, I reminded her that no one else has made progress with the Codex like I have.  She left, pretty pissed, or so it seemed.  When she came back, she instead asked if I could build an Amber device.  I refused.  She countered that she was attacking regardless of whether I built it or not.

Point, Natalya.

The substance I used is second-generation Amber.  Potent stuff, Spreads fast and wide.  The reversal protocols are rather straightforward, if you know what you're dealing with.  Otherwise if you break it down with pick-axes, the victims caught inside remain dead.  I didn't have all the necessary items to build the standard canister.  I had to use a larger containment system because I had to use lead instead of neutronium.  The trigger mechanism is a manual release valve.  Whomever carried it was going to be trapped inside.

The effect was spectacular and frightening.  One day before the bulk of Natalya's forces arrived, her best runner planted the device near the castle and detonated it.  It spread fast, even the Dragonkin couldn't run or fly away fast enough.  Almost the entire city, caught in that infernal substance.  I discovered that dragonkin can scream that day.  Flee in terror.  I don't blame them.

What remained was severely disoriented.  About a hundred thousand, but we could tell they were still trying to figure out who was in charge when we attacked.  Oh, individually they put up a fight, but Natalya and her generals coordinated things far better and easily outflanked them.  In six hours, we saw them do something I never thought possible: they began to lay down their weapons and surrender.  Too bad for them, Natalya and her people don't believe in taking prisoners.  So it went from a hopeless cause to fish in a barrel to a simple butchering.

Today the rest of the tribes began arriving, and Natalya showed them the first prize: a massive city in Amber, along with a million or two dragonkin.  With this horrible power, Natalya is likely to convince them to join her and take the fight to the rest of the continent.  I don't know how many more there are, but this has to have been a huge part of their overall force on Feythabolis.

I'm feeling sick.  Throwing up.

Threw up.  Still sick, ending this entry.

I'm not cetain of the date aside from the fact that is now the next year.  1074 by the civilized savages' calendar.  I found this journal among Luna's belongings.  While I'm uncertain if it is the right thing to put in an entry of my own, after reading this, I feel compelled to recount the last several moons regarding Luna.

After she provided the instrument of our victory, Luna stopped working on her problem, and has been hurting herself.  At first, I thought she just needed escape for a short while from what she is up against.  However, she has been refusing to continue her quest, and the geas she is under has been harming her.  At first, I wasn't sure what to make of it.  But now I think I understand: she wants to hurt herself.  She feels somehow guilty over using that infernal yellow stuff on her enemies.  This is her way of seeking punishment for killing so many.

I cannot allow this behavior to continue.  I have spoken with several Shamans, and they will remove the geas so she stops using it to hurt herself.  Further, I am having her watched constantly to ensure she doesn't try to do anything else that may be more stupid than what she's already doing.  So Luna, when you do read this, you're an idiot, and I need you to stop being an idiot.  We all do.

Natalya

It was February 2nd, Natalya.

March 12, 1074

Reminding myself that they were the enemy really didn't help.  Simply put, I've never been responsible for so much death.  Worse yet, those at the very edges who didn't make it out had looks of terror on their faces, frozen, never turning back to normal.  I don't know if I'll ever stop having nightmares over it, but there's millions more of these assholes that are determined to kill us or make us slaves.  Or worse.  Point is, I'll deal.  I have no other choice.

June 6, 1074

I had inspiration last night looking over my notes on various timeframes.  What I discovered: all of them are worthless.

Worthless in that all of them are based on one event: Fringe Event One.  The disrupted summoning of Daimakaicho at Detorid.  In this, I can refocus my research to look at everything before that event and try to find some things that will lead to a solution.  It also simplifies this project because there's almost no Fringe team interventions before that time because Fringe Event One is a critical focal point.  Significant changes before that event can impact Event One, and not for the better.  As such, Fringe had a long-standing rule to not intervene in events before that date so as not to inadvertently re-cause the Cataclysm.

(July 19, 1074  -Luna)

I have been asked to write my thoughts on this matter by Luna since she has found that I am literate and would not leave me alone about it.  She wants to keep my thoughts on page so she can better keep track of what we are doing to change destiny from what she is familiar with.

I have brought more of the tribes into the fold of the Horde.  As Khal, I have crushed the last remaining dragonkin in eastern Feythabolis, and have brought refugees and former slaves from the dragonkin into the Horde as well.  Farmers, blacksmiths, tradesmen of all kinds, and many others.  My best women have devised a system of tribute from these civilized barbarians to have them contribute to the war without forcing them to take up arms.  We must be able to continue this war far beyond what we have ever done before.  The planning itself is staggering.  But we have no intention of remaining holed up in Stain any longer.  The Horde has been awakened, and we are out to murder anything with wings.

Natalya

July 28, 1074

I suppose this should come as no surprise, but a great many people from all over Feythabolis have been flocking to join this Horde.  Natalya's leadership has had to bend a lot of traditions to allow non-tribal members to join them in battle, train them, outfit them, and so on.  It's been a very difficult transition accepting outsiders into their ranks, but it's quite clear that the Horde united with all the tribes do not have the numbers themselves to continue waging war constantly with the dragonkin.

On another topic, I'm stumped again.  There's just no way to get back to Fringe Event Zero.  It's quite literally like trying to divide by zero, it can't be done.  The temporal mechanics show that the equations are balanced without the original timeframe.  Even accounting for the original team that came from that timeframe, I still can't make sense of any of it.  The Codex has been silent on whether I'm right or not in this matter, so I have to assume that I'm still missing critical pieces of information that can change everything.  So I have to continue digging.

December 29, 1074

The end of my second year with the Tribes.  We now own a third of Feythabolis.  Hard to believe, but it's true.  This timeframe is going to be rather interesting, to say the least.  Natalya's worried, though.  She thinks she's already overextended, so I have to remind her that the two million or so enemy soldiers trapped in Detorid is a huge portion of their overall armies on both continents.  It could be upwards of a fourth, but it's probably closer to a fifth at most.  The logistics alone that the enemy has to go through to make up for this is going to strain them on this continent for years.  Our only problem with this is that we have no navy to speak of.  So we  have to remain vigilant and maintain watch of the coastlines.

I'm worried about something else in particular.  The enemy now knows very well of the Amber, and have motivation to find a way to reverse it safely.  While we remain in control of what's left of Detorid, we absolutely have to keep it so they don't have the chance to free their allies.

(From here on, entries are going to be highlights of various years rather than several a year)

(February 14, 1077)

I have sent people across the ocean to Paragon Soul.  Their task is to establish a relationship with the people who are organizing there.  It is interesting that the dragonkin have not first gone there, or have tried to exterminate them in the last few years.  I believe they are stretched thinner than anyone else ever suspected.  We always assumed they had overwhelming numbers and that's how they beat the nations of Deklein.  But I am suspecting something else allowed them the early victories.

Luna told me that an 'Event Zero' involved people from the future going back and giving the dragonkin knowledge of the future.  But it seems that their information becomes more and more inaccurate as time goes on.  Now that they are presented with my Horde on Feythabolis, and Paragon Soul emerging.  It is as if they are unsure what to do.  Their movements are slow, hesitant, and not well-coordinated.  They do not like thinking on their feet.  We will take advantage of the situation and take more of this land.

On a personal note, I have decided on succession.  My first choice to succeed me as Khal will be my First Divan, Jocelyn.  She will become the first Verossai.  I will not have her burdened with a man's title.  The Horde will follow her, she has a sizable following, and helped broker several of the Tribes' joining me.

Natalya

April 31, 1079

Fringe Event One.  It is the only direct connection to Event Zero.  Ederick once told me about the first night things went wrong, that he saw the post-apocalyptic landscape.  Their investigation led them to the Codex of Eden the very first time, and they found it in an area that seemed to be unaffected by the changes in time.  I think that small pocket exists as the last remaining fracture of the original, pre-Event Zero, timeframe.  If we can return to that fracture, I wonder if we can't expand the protected zone and use it to return to before Event Zero and prevent it.

Somehow, I need to see the fracture for myself.  Unfortunately, the Codex of Eden in this timeframe is missing, and will not be discovered until 1096.  Twenty-seven years to go.

(Natalya's update)

We hold nearly half of Feythabolis.  The dragonkin have dug in deep and made it impossible to push further, so we have set our own lines.  They still own the skies, but thanks to our own marauders, we continue to contest the oceans, making it impossible for them to reinforce in large numbers.  They hold no hatcheries on this continent, so they are forced to preserve their existing population.  However, they have freed up a large number of their own by butchering innocents in their occupied territories, requiring almost no guards there any longer.  So we hold at a stalemate.  For now.

With the coming of age of many new warriors every year, we are in good position.  Also, our contacts on Paragon Soul have informed us that they are also progressing as Luna has said they would.  It is uncanny, had I not known better, I would call her a Prophet.  They have sent an envoy to us, wanting to form an alliance, but I have already gotten worrysome impressions; they seem to think they still have claim over their destroyed empires.  I have sent this potential problem to the Divan to see if there's anything we can do to force them to give up this claim.  The Horde has shed its fair share of blood to take this continent, and we have protected the ones who have remained.  The general sentiment is that the ones who fled should remain gone.  They gave up on this continent.

Natalya

September 6, 1084. 

We were attacked by a dragon yesterday.  No warning, and it sure as hell doesn't fit the timeframe of the first dragon sighting.  There's too many targets for it to go after, and we don't have the means to take it down.  The Amber is too slow to ever catch it, and our Spelljammer ships aren't flightworthy.  Paragon Soul should have its first generation Galleon-converted-Spelljammers, but whether they come to our aid is questionable.  Natalya says that relations with them have been bad.

There is another possibility.  The dragonkin may be manipulating things from the future much the same way Fringe did.  If they won, then it stands to reason they could have taken the Codex of Eden and figured out how it works.  If that is the case, then it would explain why this dragon was unleashed now and now four years from now when my history says it was first seen.  It might also explain a few other details.

(Natalya's update)

Dear future assholes messing with history,

If you think I'll be deterred by a fucking dragon, just you watch.

Natalya