We are back to my FemShep and are due to arrive on Toril soon. What surprises are in store from here? Only one way to find out.
Disclaimer; I do not own ME, DnD, or anything related to these wonderful universes. Updates are to come later but for now just getting the actual story out of the way for the moment.
Chapter 2; The Toril Incursion, Part 2
March 3rd, 2178 CE
SSV Hastings, Viper Nebula
Recent supply drop to research base, returning to mass relay.
Estimated Travel Time; 3 hours in, 3 hours out…
Despite the captain's recommendation shortly after the Skyllian Blitz had been won, 'Commander' Alexandria Jones Shepard would have to wait two years before she'd be awarded her promotion, although the medal for her bravery and perseverance in the face of such an overwhelming force had been given to her later that same week after she had had time to recover from the battle.
All in all, out of the thousands of raiders and pirates that had landed on or had been shot down over Elysium, only close to five hundred actually got out alive. Alliance military brass had plans to retaliate against the remaining forces in their home sectors of space, but for the newly promoted Lt. Commander and a temporary posting on the SSV Hastings, it was more than enough to make her ecstatic parents even prouder of their daughter.
She was just another Shepard in a long line of Alliance Navy officers, having been moved from one posting to the next with her folks until she became old enough to serve as well. It hadn't been an easy life, but Alexandria was happy to do her part for Earth and the whole of humanity. Were there still problems back home? Of course, but for the most part things were pretty good back in the Local Cluster besides the occasional rebel group that thought to raise a little Hell from time to time.
All that aside, Shepard was still getting used to being called Commander and the power it brought with her new rank as of officially three days ago was still a bit overwhelming at times. Even so, she was nothing if not adaptable, and was already getting used to the whole packaged deal.
The subtle creek of the bulkheads as the ship accelerated was the only warning that Shepard needed since they'd been traveling steadily for the past several hours. The alarms that sounded a moment later weren't needed for her to realize something was terribly wrong, as she rushed to the CIC, seeing for herself on the ship's onboard navigation systems that they were being followed, and the vessels in pursuit didn't look friendly. Blue Suns mercenary fighter ships and one Frigate class like their own ship, were in hot pursuit, although what they were doing all the way in the Viper Nebula was a mystery to the crew.
Getting out of the way since she was more for ground assaults than space combat, she waited for an order that would most likely not come until after the battle was over. Thankfully they were near a rather large planet on the very edge of the Viper Nebula, which in turn was deep within batarian space. The SSV Hastings had been assigned to run supplies to a base that was being constructed on an asteroid, and while she currently didn't have the clearance to know anything about it other than it was to be a research base, Shepard had a feeling it'd be important later...
Bringing the ship about, she held on as the pilot put the Hastings through her paces, the GARDIAN laser defense screen already opening fire on the fighter ships and the frigate itself while narrowly avoiding getting hammered by the Blue Suns' own attack. Javelin torpedoes shot out of the missile ports on the Hastings a moment later, slamming into the enemy frigate with enough force to completely wipe out their kinetic shields, but not before they managed a sharp almost impossible turn of their own and managed to do enough damage to warrant a landing when the fight was over after the Alliance ship had passed by.
The SSV Hastings rocked and shuddered from the blasts that found the engines and part of the underbelly. Luckily the hull hadn't been breached or the engines too badly damaged, but to avoid trouble with the local Batarians, the captain ordered the pilot to get them as far from the colony the aliens had set up as they could, going for the last planet in the system which was unmapped and untouched by either race. Probably because there were plenty of other planets they could exploit later on, that and the Batarians didn't consider the Viper Nebula home anyway, only having a small presence in this sector of space, but enough of one to be an issue if they were caught out here.
A quick scan of the surface revealed that despite its obvious distance from the sun, the unmapped planet was very Earth like in its atmospheric readings, which was quite strange since it should have been a frozen ice block if nothing else. Further scans revealed however that there was a strange energy signature surrounding the world that had the crew puzzled since they had nothing like it on record.
Certain spots on the world beneath them seemed to be concentrating the energy as readings spiked and dropped at random, but nothing more could be learned from their current position as the captain made ready to land their ship, having no choice if they wanted to remain hidden long enough to get their repairs done and back through the relay before the batarians picked up on their arrival. What they didn't realize then was that they had been picking up on the Spellplague, or rather where it still lingered on certain parts of Toril despite it being nearly 30 years since it had truly ended. The residual effects were still felt where few would dare to travel since the azure flames still held sway in the Plaguewrought Lands
Regardless of the reason, Shepard was asked to lead a small group and ascertain what was around. It was simply an exploration mission, nothing more, yet what the Alliance would find out there would change everything they thought they knew about the universe already. While not on the scale of the initial Prothean ruins, it would still have a huge impact on future events. Two other human male soldiers accompanied her as the Frigate settled in a forest of immense size several days away from the nearest cities that they had been able to detect from orbit.
There had been no detectable power or communication networks of any kind, yet there were definite signs of life on the surface, large cities and numerous small settlements. While nowhere near the size of what she was used to, the reports still indicated a presence of civilization, and thus they'd have to tread lightly.
It was several days before the rendezvous between Giselle and Trask and her current assignment to rescue one of the Grand Dukes' of Baldur's Gate children from the Hands of Glory. They would run into trouble along the way. The two heavily armored grunts that followed Shepard as they made their slow way to the city, having landed deep within the Woods of Sharp Teeth, a well known area for the kobolds, orcs, goblins, and trolls that called it home. Advanced technology behind them or not, three against a small army of humanoid creatures the likes they had yet to see before would prove a challenge to anyone that knew not what they were up against, such was the case by Day 3 as the small group made camp for the night, the smell of pine and oak easily distinguished by then.
Already one of the two that followed her had had an unfortunate run in with poison ivy and was even then rubbing his butt against the log he had sat down upon. Armor or not, that was going to itch like crazy, but the incident had brought a much needed smile to Shepard at least. Something about the forest had put her on guard, so she'd been tense at best, although she wasn't the only one since her two men were also a bit twitchy. So far nothing had come up for their caution though, but she wasn't about to take a chance as her blue eyes swept the camp's perimeter, sensing something amiss more so than her soldiers. She hadn't survived the Skyllian Blitz for nothing, after all.
The sun had just set and Shepard stood from the fire they had prepared for the night, drawing her Terminator Assault Rifle from her back. Her two men noticed their Commander's unease and did the same, drawing a shotgun and a sniper rifle respectively. "Do you hear anything Thompson, Edison?" Sheppard asked, still scanning the area with her weapon already set at eye level as she aimed down the scope she had added since that battle two years ago.
The reason for her alertness was obvious to anyone with half a brain. She had known they were likely to run into Earth like worlds, but nothing that resembled Earth so closely, as if someone had taken it into their heads to clone an entire planet. While the notion was impossible even for the mighty asari, the evidence was hard to ignore since she had seen white tailed deer, rabbits, foxes, a common grass snake, and that was just counting the animal life. There were strange and unusual flowers and herbs sure but the vast majority she could easily identify, with a little help with her omni-tool's scanner, said that a lot of the species of plant were very similar if not exact copies of those found back home.
It was just very strange, even a little unsettling despite it also brought some small comfort as well to be surrounded by such familiar sights and smells of a place like this. She had visited Earth a couple of times during her youth with her folks to see grandparents that lived on the edge of a national forest, the Roosevelt National Forest to be exact, and they had taken her hiking every time. She had loved those trips; mostly because her grandparents were quite warm and friendly people, always ready with a good story to go with a nice little family get together around their campfires they made back in those days by simply rubbing two sticks together rather than relying on any of the fancy gear most people used even now.
Coming back to the present though, she saw Thompson, the bigger of the two who was in a heavy Onyx variant armor system, the N7 logo emblazoned across his upper right chest and a red and white stripe down his right arm clear as day, shake his head before opening his mouth. "No Commander, nothing." Thompson replied, his head was currently unprotected save for a sophisticated targeting visor he wore over the right side of his face.
"Nada Commander. This is just an oversized forest, probably a bear wandering around, nothing to worry about." Edison replied, obviously thinking she was being overly paranoid or at least too cautious. Besides, this was an underdeveloped world from what their surface scans had indicated, they were practically invincible in their gear. Feeling a bit too cocky in his matching medium weight Onyx armor, Edison grinned behind his helmet as he hefted his shotgun over his left shoulder as he turned to their CO. Shepard herself however was dressed in white Medium weight Explorer Armor, which seemed fitting given what they had been assigned to do while the Hastings was being repaired.
"That's what I was afraid of Thompson, and Edison, don't disregard intelligence for bravado. There is something out there; otherwise there'd be SOME noise out here." Before there had been the sounds of insects chirping, birds singing, and the occasional rustle of a passing animal, probably deer or elk, but now there was nothing, as if someone had hit the mute switch on the world. Something must have spooked them, and spooked them bad for everything to go silent as it had.
When the wind blew against them, coming from the east, they soon had their answer as a horrible stench hit them like a brick wall. It smelled oddly enough worse than rotting flesh left out in the sun all day, and that was saying something since few people that got a whiff of it ever forgot it. Shepard had, and even through her helmet's air filters the smell seeped through, but that wasn't the thing that caught her whole attention as the very distinct sound of tree branches snapping underfoot could be heard as several hulking shadowy figures started to close in on all sides of their camp. Slender and tall, able to stand at 11 feet if they weren't hunched over, their awkward gait made them appear unable to run easily as the fetid green rubbery skinned trolls dragged their long arms behind them which ended in long three fingered clawed hands, every centimeter of their horrid appearances covered in filth and refuse which accounted for the smell.
Edison's bravado faded almost instantly as he looked frantically from one monster to the next, Thompson also looked a bit green behind his visor as both leveled their weapons at the approaching creatures. Shepard was the only calm one as she narrowed her blue eyes into dangerous slits before she lead the assault, spraying several Polonium enhanced rounds into the rubbery hides of the green skinned forest trolls before her, the bullets being stamped with a toxic substance that would restrict the trolls ability to regen, although she didn't know it at the time she was using quite an effective combo against them. Her two men under her command weren't going to be so fortunate however as Thompson was the first to fall, his slow firing sniper rifle while powerful, overheated too quickly for him to stop the press of trolls into their camp and he couldn't reach his sidearm in time before a long arm swiped across his face, catching his carotid artery in his neck.
His kinetic barriers should have protected him, but because the attack was just slow enough, the sensors in his armor hadn't kicked into gear, and thus the shields hadn't been activated to stop the claws. The force of the blow spun him to the right as he fell, gagging on his own blood before he expired, face down in the dirt. Edison couldn't believe it, he had served with Thompson for years, they had trained together, had enlisted together, and now he was gone.
"YOU BASTARDS!" Edison screamed before he finally started to actually fight, having been frozen in fear by the strange creatures around them. His shotgun sang its particular tune, shredding troll flesh in all directions, yet his ammo was not able to put them down for long since it was neither fire or acidic in nature, but was more in line for taking down synthetics and shields rather than truly living enemies such as these. The trolls he destroyed soon stood again, giant holes in their bodies sealing up right before his stunned eyes while pieces that had been blown off started to grow into new and monstrous trolls. "Why won't you fuckers DIE?!" Even Shepard was a bit stunned by how ineffective Edison's attack had been but she didn't let it stop her as she continued to hold the line, more green poison tipped MA blasts shredding the creatures apart wherever she pointed her Terminator Assault Rifle.
"We need to get the hell out of here! Fall back now!" Shepard commanded, and Edison growled but followed since they were sorely outnumbered and couldn't hope to win against the enemies before them, unaware he had a hitchhiker attached to his backside. By the time he'd notice, it'd be too late to save his life, but for now the two Alliance Marines ran in the same general direction they had been going so far. It hurt to leave Thompson's body behind, having just caught a glimpse of the trolls starting to feast on his still warm flesh, but they had had no choice even with their advanced weapons and armor to give them the edge in the fight.
Their enemies had proven far tougher and resilient than anything either had heard of, save for perhaps a Geth Colossus, but at least the Geth hadn't figured out a way to repair themselves on the field. Stopping after running and still finding a reason to fire their guns into the following horde of trolls a day later, both Alexandria and Luis had to stop and catch their breath, finally getting a much needed reprieve as they neared the edge of the forest.
They were still at least three days away from the city, but with how far they'd come in such a short time with their every step being dogged until now it was to be expected they'd take a bit longer on foot as the two fell to the ground in an exhausted heap. Only then did Luis notice that his back hurt like Hell, having been tagged by a troll on their last stretch of their mad dash to escape the Woods of Sharp Teeth.
A quick application of medi-gel; a combination of an anesthetic, disinfectant, and sealant to the three ragged tears that she could see underneath his torn Onyx Armor fixed the damage done to the man himself as Shepard's omni-tool flashed a yellow as she applied the futuristic first-aid substance, doing a thorough job of it so he didn't pass out from blood loss later. The painkillers in the mix however, aided the unknown entity that had burrowed its way into his stomach and had begun to grow.
The troll that had managed to get a good swipe at Edison who at the time had been too hyped up on adrenaline to notice, had broken off one of its fingers in the process, and it now resided in the human's body, growing in size the longer it was left to its business. The next day saw him complaining of a belly ache before sharp knife like pain lanced through his body a couple hours after sunrise, both Commander Shepard and Edison having gotten up at the crack of dawn to start on the road once more while Shepard filled in the Hastings's crew about what had happened.
"Do not attempt to enter the woods. I repeat, do not attempt to enter the woods. We were attacked yesterday and we lost Private Thompson Smith to a group of creatures that would not die no matter how badly they were hurt. They regenerated rapidly from anything we threw at them, and the pieces that were cut off from our assault just spawned more of their number. I'm not a hundred percent sure sir but I think that the polonium rounds I was using might have had some effect. The ones I shot seemed to stay down if enough damage was done to them, and they didn't seem able to heal themselves either, but there was too much going on for me to be sure on that." Shepard said, looking over at Edison to see how he was doing as she heard the captain grumble in the back of his throat, obviously not liking the sound of the creatures they had ran into.
"No, they stayed down alright ma'am. The one that killed Thompson got a full clip of your rifle and it didn't get back up. I remember that for sure." Edison replied, rubbing his stomach which was aching as if he had eaten something foul but that didn't make sense given how far they had ran which had left little time to eat. He attributed it to the shit they had just survived, knowing that if he remembered how they had eaten his best friend he'd probably throw up.
"Alright, continue on your mission and watch yourselves. We can't afford to lose anymore of our men, especially if these creatures decide to attack us next for intruding on their territory. We'll have regular patrols scheduled to sweep the perimeter of our ship's landing zone so we aren't caught off guard as you were. Godspeed Commander." The captain said, leaving Shepard to tend to their mission, planning to have the crew load up on every polonium ammo mod they had so they didn't suffer a similar fate as Private Thompson Smith had. Unfortunately they weren't going to get off the line so easily.
She was about to cut off her comm link with the ship when Edison released an agonized scream before falling on the ground in a heap, rolling about as he clutched at his stomach. Shepard tried to get him to hold still but was unsuccessful as he pushed her away before arching his back and it was then that a sickening crunch was heard as a three fingered clawed hand erupted through the armor and the man underneath.
"Oh my god." Were the only words that Alexandria could muster as Edison went still, dead with a stunned expression etched on his face as the last thing he saw was the hand of a troll splitting him open before it tried to climb out of him, fully formed and ready to feast until Shepard shredded it under a prolonged burst of assault rifle fire.
"He's….dead…Hastings. Private First Class….Luis Edison is dead." There was silence on the other end for several long seconds until the captain found his voice since he and those close at hand had heard everything. The general consensus understandably by then was that the sooner they got off the planet, the better.
"Keep going Shepard, we'll hone in on your locator beacon if we have to as soon as we can get this bird off the ground." She could only mutter an affirmative before switching off her comm link before she turned to Edison's mutilated corpse, not about to leave his gear behind since she had no idea what the locals would do with it. It took every bit of her considerable will that she had to get the job done, unable to help retching a few times given the state of the man before her, but eventually she had managed to peel his armor off, pack it away, and sling it and his weapon onto her back where it magnetized to her own gear, making it easier to carry.
Thompson….she'd have to hope the trolls totally destroyed his gear in their mad frenzy to devour him. There was no way she was going back to those woods to find out, not without a full platoon behind her anyway. The rest of the trip was uneventful at least, and it was on the afternoon of Day 7 that she finally saw Baldur's Gate for the first time, confirming what had been found during their initial scans of the planet upon arrival.
It looked reminiscent of an old medieval town, fortified by a stone guard wall which encompassed the entire perimeter of the massive trade city. Stone and wooden houses and buildings, none of them bigger than four floors at the most, were easy to see as she was allowed through the front gates despite her appearance which practically screamed alien visitor. It was good to be in any form of civilization though, regardless of the fact she was very much out of place here given the simple metal armor and weapons the guards carried, ranging from platemail and broadswords as long as she was tall, to chainmail, and simple straight swords and shields, halberds, and other medieval styled weapons of old.
Alexandria's crystal blue eyes couldn't hide the amazement they had become filled with however as she got her first look at the actual people that came and went in all different directions. Sharply pointed eared and exceedingly beautiful slender humanoids, gruff appearing bearded and short, stocky beings, child like yet one only had to look in their eyes to see that the midget like beings she could see were not children in the least, and good ol fashion humans ran about their errands.
While it did her heart a world of good to see she was among friendly people, at least in appearance, it still unsettled her as well to see humans here of all places. As far as she knew, Earth was the only world where humanity had lived until they had achieved faster than light travel thanks to the Prothean Ruins on Mars. That aside, she saw that she was receiving quite a few glances if not outright stares given her bloodied and battered appearance, none of it her own but it was clear she'd ran into some trouble. The fact that she was wearing highly advanced armor probably wasn't lost on them either.
A guard approached her, bearing the emblem of the city and offered Alexandria a salute with his sword arm, his right hand crossing over to his left shoulder. "Greetings, and welcome to Baldur's Gate. My name is Jon Solis, Captain of the City Guard. You look like you've seen some action in the past couple of days at least."
Alexandria nodded and held out her right hand to the thirty something blonde headed young man before her, outfitted in sturdy articulated platemail, a heavy looking bastard sword strapped to his back. The only reason she knew that was because she had set her omni-tool to its silent scan mode, meaning that any items, armor and the like that had an Extranet reference on them would be sent to her visor for her to read at her leisure, and no one was the wiser since there was no lights or anything visible wise that gave away what she was doing.
She almost told him she was Alliance Navy but bit it back, figuring that he wouldn't have a clue what she was talking about as Jon reached out and grasped her hand firmly in his own. "My name is Alexandria Jones Shepard, freelance mercenary for hire. I lost my companions in a forest east and a bit south from here. I was lucky to make it here at all."
Jon sighed and offered his sincere condolences for her loss for which Alexandria was grateful for. "Given your rough trip here might I recommend getting some rest at one of our local inns? The Purple Wyrm is close enough and it's got a good reputation for housing adventurers of all kinds. If you're lacking for coin," he noticed the look that passed over the woman's face behind her rather unusual configured helmet and guessed she had nothing to her name either, "then I might have a job or two you could do for me. There's been a recent kidnapping by a powerful group of assassins called the Hands of Glory. Their ransom demands are ridiculous perhaps but since they have one of the Grand Dukes' daughters in their base in the warehouse district, I've been asked to send a small group to attempt a rescue. I've heard that a Harper Agent has hired on an adventurer of their own, and I've also heard she's the daughter of the legendary rogue and ranger by the name of Drizzt Do'Urden, the woman herself being Giselle Do'Urden. Joining up with her might be a good idea but where she might be found I do not know at present. I can pay you half in advance now and the rest later, and maybe you can join up with this Giselle later after you've had a chance to rest and recover."
Normally Jon wouldn't have asked a complete stranger to perform such a task, but this was no ordinary matter. He was a good judge of character and despite Alexandria's appearance, masked further by the blood and dirt she had accumulated on her trip here, he felt she was worthy of a chance to prove herself. Besides, he was more open minded than most of the guards he commanded, willing to look past the color of a person's skin or a person's race for that matter in most cases, and he was receiving no warning bells from his mind about this woman before him. She was obviously tough if she had survived the Woods of Sharp Teeth, being that was the only forest in the direction she had given within easy walking distance that she could have come from.
Alexandria agreed, and gratefully accepted the leather bag full of gold coins from Jon, getting directions to where she was supposed to go before she walked off to the Purple Wyrm Inn. The Purple Wyrm Inn was a warm and friendly place from what she could see, made of stone and wood like most of the city had been so far. From what she could see the rooms were on a second floor with the common area, kitchen, and the bar down on the first floor if she had to guess.
Wooden tables were scattered about, arranged so that servers and guests could walk easily between them without bumping into other people every time they got up or sat down. The bar and front desk was facing the door, with the stairs heading up to the left side of the bar. A fireplace had a warm fire glowing from a nearby corner, a couple of the stocky bearded folk sitting by it, talking about a place called Mithral Hall if her ears didn't deceive her, as well as a place called Mirabar? Something about trade between the two getting more costly and there might be talk of quitting the whole affair sooner rather than later if things didn't improve.
It mattered little in the end to her since it wasn't her affair as she walked over to the front desk and bar, needing to tend to her own needs first and foremost before doing anything else that day. It didn't take her long to get herself a room, a meal, a bath drawn up, and a good seven hours of much needed sleep on the comfortable single bed that was a far sight better than the bunks Alliance ships were normally outfitted with. Polishing up her gear after she stirred long after the sun had descended over the horizon; Alexandria locked the door behind her before descending down the stairs once more and exiting the inn, but not before noticing that most of the other patrons had settled in for the night. That was no surprise though since they were just like her in the end, even if most of them were strange in their appearance, at least to her despite having seen some pretty strange aliens in her life already.
Alexandria didn't get far outside however as she was approached by a man in a heavy brown cloak that had the hood pulled low over his face, concealing his appearance from any that happened to be walking by, which was few and far between at this late hour. "Excuse me ma'am, Miss Shepard I believe your name is, yes?" Alexandria turned towards the fellow who was a head shorter than her, but the cloak concealed much of who or what he might be to her blue eyes, let alone what he looked like. "I am sorry to bother you at this late hour but the guard captain met with you earlier today and I was advised that you knew of what had recently come to pass. You seek an entrance to the Hands of Glory base, yes?"
"You have my attention. What can you tell me that might help bring the girl home safely?" Alexandria asked cautiously, unsure if she could trust this man before her since he kept his distance just enough that if he needed to run, he couldn't be grabbed if the need arose without having to give chase. He knew what he was about she'd give him that, but she was a military trained soldier, she would most likely surprise him if the need arose.
"You have proved my information correct, good good. I am glad to hear it, but enough of that. You must think me shady or up to no good since I do not reveal who I am or what I look like to you, but I have my reasons I can assure you, all of them good. A Harper has many enemies so a certain level of caution is required, especially in these dark days."
Alexandria nodded but still crossed her arms under her chest, unsure what she thought about him yet. "Your mistrust is good; it will keep you alive for a long time to come most likely. But rest assured my intentions are in the best interest of the Realms themselves. Our mission, one of them at least, is to protect the people and the Realms themselves, when the Realms cannot protect themselves. I can only show you the way since beyond those that have the girl hostage, we know little and our spy we had in their ranks was found out a few days ago. He was left strung up on the front of the town hall that same morning, gutted and his throat slit as a message, a warning. I came to you for a reason however. Your exploits in surviving the Woods of Sharp Teeth are already well known, what little there was to go on from what I have heard for myself, otherwise I would not be here."
He had a persuasive way about him, but the reminder of losing two of her men, however he worded his comment, was not something she wanted to hear so soon. She had been too exhausted to have trouble sleeping or anything of the like when she had all but collapsed into the bed she had paid for, but it was still a sore spot in her psyche, a fact the Harper saw as the pain of her loss flickered across her face briefly. He was about to offer an apology but she waved him off before he could open his mouth. "It's fine. I did survive the Woods as you said, but not without losing two of my men to the creatures that lived there. They were friends and they will be missed, but now isn't the time to dwell on what happened. Lead the way, then we'll see what happens from there."
The Harper simply nodded behind his hood and did as he was told, no more words needing to be said. The half Drow he had recruited earlier on had passed on word of where the base was after she had gotten the information from her own contact, having found him at their predetermined meeting point before she had headed that way herself. Now it was just a matter of who got there first. When the odds were uncertain, it was always best to send more than one person in to handle the problem, thus was the reason why the Harper had hired on two warriors of various strengths if his eyes hadn't deceived him about the two women he had met tonight. The first was well known, but this newcomer, he was curious to see what she could do but he wasn't going in there with them. He'd have to hear about it later, but it mattered little to him as long as the job was done and the girl that had been kidnapped was returned to her family…
The first time I did this chapter I didn't explain how she had found her way down to the Hands of Glory base. It was a loophole that was inexcusable but now it's taken care of.
Hopefully the added content will also help to fill in more about past exploits, experience, and whatever else that was left lacking before now. Anyway, hope you enjoyed!
Also, if I missed any terms, locations, or the like that you feel needs to be explained by way of definition as a lot of them have been so far, feel free to send me a PM or put a comment about it in the review section. Until then, adios!
Alliance Navy; The Alliance Navy is the branch of the Systems Alliance military responsible for naval operations. The Alliance Marines, the ground operations branch of the Alliance military, are a specialized branch of the Navy.
The Alliance Navy is one of the greater naval forces in Citadel space, rivaling that of the turians. Its military prowess has drawn the attention of the Citadel Council. While the Council is concerned about the possible outcome of another war between humans and turians, they are also keen to harness the Alliance Navy's peacekeeping potential, especially in unstable regions like the Skyllian Verge and the Attican Traverse. The Navy also makes humans an attractive prospect as the newest Council species.
GARDIAN; A starship's General ARea Defense Integration Anti-spacecraft Network (GARDIAN) consists of anti-missile and anti-fighter laser turrets on the exterior hull. Because these are under computer control, the gunnery control officer needs to do little beyond turn the system on and designate targets as hostile.
Mithral Hall; Mithral Hall was a dwarven stronghold beneath Fourthpeak Mountain in the Spine of the World. It was one of the best known dwarven strongholds in Faerûn.
Originally a mithral mine belonging to Clan Battlehammer, this underground town became a safe haven for various dwarf families and even some persons of other races. Mithral Hall had a long history of tragedy and triumph, and was the making and breaking of countless individuals.
Mirabar; Mirabar is a mining city of great wealth located on the Sword Coast. As of 1368 DR it is the richest city north of Waterdeep. In 1370 DR, the city is occupied by 1600 shield dwarves who live underground near to their workshops, which produce metal goods for export in the region and beyond. The humans above cooperate with the dwarves to handle the mining, move the ore to market and defend the city against magical threats. Mirabar is ruled by a hereditary marchion, Elastul Raurym, but the true power is in an elected assembly called the Council of Sparkling Stones, a dwarven and human group that meets once a year to determine their production quota and whether or not to threaten current clients with reduced output. It is led by the dwarven cleric of Dumathoin, Agrathan Hardhammer. Mirabar also has an elected sceptrana, Shoudra Stargleam in 1370 DR.
Plaguewrought Lands; The Plaguewrought Land (also called the Plaguewrought Lands)is the name given to a large area south of Chondalwood that continues, as of 1479 DR, to be wracked by the effects of the Spellplague. Inside this plagueland the ground heaves like waves on the ocean and pieces of land levitate randomly to form earthmotes. The vegetation that grows here is strange and twisted and may sprout, mature and then die in a matter of minutes. Most people who travel into this region are killed very quickly by the wild magic.
The border has been more or less stable for nearly a hundred years. Pilgrims, encouraged by the Order of Blue Flame, often travel to the Plaguewrought Land in the hopes of acquiring a spellscar.