[Longshot23]

>>>>> [Pics sent to you, Wolfgar. If anyone wants to check out the actual location for themselves, it's at 47.349059, -121.963062 - it's underground, about 260 metres, after 120 metres take the first left fork, then after 108 metres take the first right fork. The fossil(?) is above the main passage in a small cavern, the further end is caved in.

I went back there.  Risky, I know, but I really wanted to be sure I wouldn't be sending anyone into a trap. The objective of our 'run is gone, the Johnson must've gotten it removed. But it may be only a matter of time before the space is occupied by something else.]<<<<<

-- Longshot (13:27:20/03-18-75)

[Longshot23]

>>>>>[Jeez, please tell me I didn't 'send" anyone into a meat grinder!]<<<<<

-- Longshot (18:36:59/03-25-75)

[Wolfboy]

>>>>>[No not a meatgrinder. Near enough to the Mycenean labyrinth though. Looks like it is a proper fossil, got a contact running tests to confirm it though. What it would be doing in a termite mound is whats bothering me.]<<<<<  Wolfgar ( 084532)

[Mirikon]

>>>>>[We know that insect spirits typically don't get along with those from other hives, unless there's some overarching organization like the Universal Brotherhood in place. There have been reports of different hives attacking eachother, for instance. If we accept that there were previous ages of magic, and that this fossil is from one of those ages, then the options come down to one of those two things. Either an ancient UB, or an ancient war between hives.]<<<<<

--Iceblade (11:59:22/03-25-75)

[Longshot23]

>>>>> [Well, that's a relief. Didn't like the idea of having 'runners chasing my hoop.
Was there a background count? Seems like there should have been, but our mage doesn't have the experience (yet) to pick up on that.

And that's not the only weird stuff I've come across under the Seattle 'plex.] <<<<<

-- Longshot (09:14:24/03-26-75)

[Mirikon]

>>>>>[The Universal Brotherhood wasn't as big in Seattle as it was in Chicago, but they still had their fingers in a lot of pies in the Metroplex. It wouldn't surprise me in the least if there were still flesh forms hiding in the sprawl, or a few insect shamans who escaped before the Feds and the Knights could round them up. I know one runner team who cacked some former UB members who were trying to summon a Queen using some artifact to increase their power (and using a bunch of orphans as hosts), back when the Artifact Craze was in full swing.

Oh, and if you want something new to keep you up at nights, a contact of mine was on 'business' in an Ares node, and pulled out a research proposal, suggesting that they experiment on having their 'tame' bugs invest cyberzombies. From what I could tell, the project didn't get past the proposal stage, but the fact that people were even thinking such things should be enough to make you want a nice, stiff drink.]<<<<<

--Iceblade (18:26:22/03-26-75)

[Chrona]

>>>>>[My sister was reading over my shoulder (I forget it shows up in words and not just braille) and is now having nightmares about Ares filling her with bugs..]<<<<<
--Chrona (22:32:22/03-26-75)

[All4BigGuns]

>>>>>[Bug inhabited cyber-zombies? Great...thanks for the nightmares, Ice...]<<<<<
--Predator (19:24:37/03-26-2075)

[Mirikon]

>>>>>[Ares has been walking down a dark road for a while. The problem with the way the megacorps (and Ares in particular) think is that spirits are not simply a new kind of gun you can point at your enemies and have them be ripped to shreds. These are sentient creatures with a will of their own. Some of them have quite the sense of malice, as well. You cannot force spirits to obey your commands in the long term by power alone. They can play the long game as well as dragons and elves. And they are not particularly forgiving to those that enslave them.

Spirits must always be treated with respect. If it is the spirit you summoned or bound, or even an ally conjured to aid you, if you treat the spirit with respect, as a partner, then the rewards can be great. Just as your rep on the street affects how those in the shadows deal with you, so does your rep with spirit kind affect future relations. If you should chance upon a free spirit, having a reputation for respecting spirits means there is a chance that you can do business. Have a reputation for mistreating spirits, and that free spirit may decide to have an adversarial relationship with you, and all that entails.

Of course, the same can be said of the hostile spirits. The shadows, the blood spirits and the bugs. None of them can be controlled in the long term. To try simply invites disaster upon yourself when they find a way to rebel, or the worse fate when they manage to corrupt who you are. The only thing you can do is destroy them without mercy or pity, but with respect for their power. I have drawn my sword against spirits before, but even when their summoner treated them as slaves, and sent them against me, I treated them with respect, even as I cut them down.

This respect has forced me to take the more difficult road at times, as you may expect, but it serves me well more often than not. For instance, when I took that little trip to Denver with Murphy, and the nice MCT goons decided to take their shot, it was being on good terms with the local spirits that helped convince the ZDF that it was self defense and got the whole thing dropped so quickly.]<<<<<

--Iceblade (16:50:22/03-27-75)

[Chrona]

>>>>>[It's been a few years since i summoned anything from an Earth or Fire Plane. Since that time I summoned an Earth Spirit in front of a pursuing Yak car and had a Fire blow itself up during an Ether leak at a drug facility
Anyone know if they're even mad at me in the first place? I didn't bother to check..]<<<<<

-- Chrona (03:20:22/03-27-75)

[Mirikon]

>>>>>[Well, if you don't make a habit of using spirits in that way, then it shouldn't be anything to worry about. Really, as long as you treat the spirits you summon as comrades rather than slaves, you should be fine. It can be as simple as the tone you take when you use their services. For instance, there is a difference between ordering a spirit to attack, and asking it to fight by your side. This attitude is especially important when binding spirits. Ask things of them, instead of ordering them, and you'll find yourself in a much better position should that spirit ever go free. This goes double for allies. You should treat an ally spirit as your closest friend and companion. If you don't, they may start looking to find ways to undermine your orders, or doing things you didn't ask them to do at the worst possible time. They are bound by the words of your orders, not the intentions, after all.]<<<<<

--Iceblade (01:11:33/03-28-75)

[Chrona]

>>>>>[Ice, are you capable of saying anything without sounding like a teacher?.]<<<<<

--Chrona (05:51:33/03-28-75)

[Mirikon]

>>>>>[Heh. Well, the Swordmage tradition I follow is rather shamanistic in its views on spirits. I suspect you'd probably get similar reactions from a shaman or houngan. I wasn't trying to sound like a teacher, but rather to pass on the wisdom given to me by my Master and the spirits, in the manner it was passed down to me.]<<<<<

--Iceblade (02:08:22/03-28-75)

[Chrona]

>>>>>[So like a teacher then..]<<<<<

-- Chrona (06:13:22/03-28-75)

[All4BigGuns]

>>>>>[I'm not a magician myself, but the way you described it is different than how my cousin talks about those things. Then again, she's hermetic.]<<<<<

--Predator (01:18:14/03-28-2075)