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Wilderrun

1.

Meditation and the Art of Hoverbike Maintenance

Lore

“The real hoverbike you’re working on is the hoverbike called, ‘you.’ Perhaps not by everyone, unless they have forgotten your name, which is Erold, and are stuck calling you by a pronoun until they can figure out what it is. It is inevitable that they thought they did know your name and failed to take the opportunity to ask you what it was upon meeting you, then realized they did not. So they only call you ‘you,’ rather than ‘Erold,’ which is your name, as I mentioned. Not YOU-you,
the reader-you, but the hypothetical person working on the hoverbike. A person who is also a hoverbike you are working on a different way. Which is what that means. Make sense?”
– Page 12

“When you look back at where you’ve been, and look forward to where you’re going, and look to the left to see where you might have gone, and looked to the right to see where you can’t really go, what are you really seeing? Life. Or maybe time. Or maybe both time and life. Think about that while working
on your hoverbike, is what I’m saying.”
– Page 17

“Every time someone tells you what they think is the truth, that means a thousand others have a thousand different ideas that are wrong. Working on a hoverbike is a truth that is unique. You either maintain your hoverbike or you do not. You either maintain the hoverbike that is you, or you become an untruth. So work on that bike already.”
– page 41

“If someone wants to convince you of something you do not believe, and they will
not stop, then they do not believe it themselves. They need you to support that belief. You do not need to convince anyone when a hoverbike needs maintenance. That is a belief that is easy to maintain, for it is either true, or it is not.”
– page 65

“The appearance of triangularity is the essence of qualitativeness. Don’t think about it too hard and keep working on the bike, I’ve got many pages to fill. Are you actually still reading this?”
– Page 88

Guide

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Wilderrun

1.

The Pumera Gambit

Lore

Is this recording? Ah, yes. Well, then. This is Vera Torn, then, isn’t it? I’ve got my autorecording device all set here in my disguise’s headpiece, so I do, and I’ve found a pride of pumera that will be perfect for studying.

So this disguise, right? It’ll help me mix in with this pride, but it won’t be doing all the work, don’t you know. A lot of this right here is natural
talent. I didn’t attend M’Lady’s School of the Holocinematic Theatrical Arts for nothing, no I didn’t. It’s all about inhabiting the pumera, becoming the beast within, y’know? And I do believe I’ve just about got it down.

The claws are a bit tricky. Spring-loaded and all that. But I know a Chua, took care of it for me.

This job should pay a nice bit of coin,
if I’m not mistaken. That same Chua – with DRED, the fuzzy little fellows what make all the fancy killing gadgets people seem to enjoy so much – he told me I’d get half up front, and half when I returned. The only trick? The disguise has to be good enough to convince these Torine ladies that I’m actually a pumera. But that’s why that Chua hired Vera Torn,
isn’t-

[RECORDING DATA CORRUPTED]

– far, so good. The pumera have accepted me, even if I had to saturate myself in pumera pheromones my Chua friends insisted were called “pumeramones.” Not so sure about the Torine sisters, though. The pumera treat those women almost like they’re pumera themselves. I’ve had to think on my feet –
my paws, I mean – to keep up the ruse. Hope I haven’t overdone it.

Wait! One of them’s coming over to me. If what I’ve seen is any indication, she’s about to choose me from the pride. All right, Vera, time to stop talking and start purring.

Hope this works. I won’t get a second-

[REMAINING DATA LOST]

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Wilderrun

1.

A Citizen’s Petition

Lore

SOLVE THE MYSTERY OF TRESAYNE!

FACT: Tresayne Toria, Swordmaiden of the Cassian Commonwealth and widely acknowledged as the finest warrior of any species, was in peak physical condition when she accepted the Eldan’s offer to journey to Nexus, where she would become the mother of the Luminai.

FACT: Many recent discoveries
point to many concentrated regions of primal life on the planet Nexus, concentrations high enough to cause aging and most chronic illnesses to completely stop in creatures that see prolonged exposure.

FACT: According to Dominus himself in his famous books, Tresayne was alive when he departed the planet.

FACT: The possibility that
Tresayne Toria is still on Nexus is reinforced by the existence of the Torine Sisterhood, who insist their “Blademother” is alive and well and fighting the Strain. Who are we to deny their belief? Shouldn’t they know?

FACT: There are those within the Dominion, people who hold a great deal of power, who don’t want us to know the TRUTH. That
the holy mother of our first and greatest emperor has been waiting for us on Nexus the whole time.

FACT: Only by finding and making peace with holy Tresayne and her sisters can the Dominion be made whole once more.

Emperor Myrcalus has claimed the name “Dominus Reborn.” Will he live up to that name? Will he direct the Dominion to
join forces with the mother of all Luminai and wipe the traitorous Exiles and unworthy interlopers who infest this world. This planet Nexus, legacy of the Eldan? Not if we, the citizens of the Dominion, do not act.

Make your voice heard! SIGN THE PETITION TODAY!

NAME:____________________

SPECIES:____________________

DOMINION CITIZENS ONLY!

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1.

Memories of Cassus

Lore

[This tome, handwritten in a strange dialect of ancient Cassian that your datachron has little trouble translating, appears to have been written by Tresayne Toria herself.]

Day 117

What I wouldn’t give for a decent Cassian hyperbrew. Not a light, foamy summer drink for children and the physically weak, and not this weird mixture the Progenitors – that’s what they call themselves – have been feeding me. They say it’s to help in the “primal extraction
process.” But there’s something more than that – than them – here. Something with power. Life. When this being is near, I feel… stronger. Sounds are more clear. My vision is sharper, my legs can carry me faster than a tree-cat. But for all that, it doesn’t let you relax.

I think back on Cassus often, for it is my home. But I am not certain I miss it. The others did. They would not listen, and insisted on trying to take the ship back to Cassus. A very long
journey, as we all know, but they insisted on trying. It was foolish, and I advised against it. Not all of them left, my sisters remained, and a few trusted males.

And now they are dead. We were warned this was a one-way journey. What did they expect?

When I was a girl on Cassus, I remember my father warned me to stay inside the big house one night, during the food riots that struck the capitol city after several years of drought.
He went outside with a lightweight rifle I’d only ever seen him carry on the grounds of our northern estates during a hunt. I kept watch that night from inside the safety of our big house with my old dog Shanda.

When the rioters came too close, my father would fire a warning shot. Usually they’d move on without trouble, but once in a while he had to threaten them before they’d go. I’d watch it all from inside the house, and never once did he look back
inside. My father’s attention was on the job at hand, not the home he wanted to take refuge within.

Ever since I took the trials, I knew I would honor his memory by training to be the best swordmaiden on Cassus. It looks like the Eldan noticed.

If this works, if the Progenitors are able to achieve their goal, it will mean the end of food riots. Of war on Cassus. Of conflict within the Commonwealth and without. The only thing we must, as a
people, sacrifice is me. And I welcome that job.

And when the time comes for my son to depart for Cassus, and I must remain, I will not look back. I will remain here, watching over Vitara the way my father once watched over our home. And when the time comes for me to die, I will know this: I did not falter. I did not turn from my duty. I did what I did for my home.

For Cassus.

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1.

How I Did It by Victor Lazarin (Introduction)

Lore

– An Introduction by the Author –

The title of this book is a misnomer, one that my publisher believes in more fiercely than ever I did, and therefore I have decided to allow it. But it is not accurate. I, Victor Lazarin, can no more tell you precisely how I did it any more than I could do it again, I suspect. In alchemy, as in any other science, one relies
as much on happy accident as one counts on planning and careful experimentation. But what this tome will provide is an accounting of my journey from simple alchemist to the most hated – and, in some places, revered – Mordesh alive.

Well… somewhat alive.

Why did I set out to transform my people? Was it simple arrogance, as some have said?
Was I mad to try and grant eternal life to the world I loved? Was there ever a chance the Everlife Elixir could have worked? Perhaps the answer is “yes” to all of these questions. You must read this text and decide, for I can only pass on what I feel I know, and learned, and still feel after all these years. And of course, everything I remember. And
what I remember… is everything.

From an early age, I was fascinated with death. I have no doubt this began when I lost my mother to the Algor Plague – the moment I first learned what death was, at a tender age – but it was not the ending of life that intrigued me, of course. It was the end of death that I sought to achieve. And so I began to study alchemy
in all its forms.

[The introduction continues at great length, covering Lazarin’s creation of a new alchemical formula to purify foodstuffs at the age of twelve, his ascension to lead the Alchemists Union at age eighteen, and his intentions regarding the Everlife Elixir. But the real details are saved for later in the book. Perhaps you will find additional pieces of this book elsewhere.]

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1.

Royal Domain Decree

Lore

Let it be known throughout the many worlds, stations, and fleets of the vast and powerful Dominion:

– ALL ARTIFACTS discovered on the planet Nexus are the property of Emperor Myrcalus, may he rule for ten thousand years.

– ALL FAUNA found on the planet Nexus is the property of Emperor Myrcalus, who is called Dominus Reborn.

– ALL FLORA growing
on the planet Nexus are the property of Emperor Myrcalus, chosen of the gods.

And let it be known:

ALL DOMINION CITIZENS are requested and required to report any theft of the Emperor’s property and do everything within their power to stop such theft from occurring.

And let it be known:

ALL WHO BREAK THIS LAW will be punished to the full
extent of Dominion law commensurate with this crime, including DEATH.

And let it be known:

ALL SO-CALLED EXILES ON NEXUS are by definition in violation of this decree, and will be eradicated.

– Lord Syladex, Minister of Law