Bacterionomicon Digital PDF

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th he t ew of ar s e rio rs and creatur

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Credits Concept Cover art and Book Layout Art coordinator Kickstarter reward tier art coordination

Arun Mathews M.D.

Editing

Arun Mathews

Raul Gonzalez

Brandon Patton

Xiaolong Dai

Eric Chen

Brandon Patton

Gwen Hoffnagle Hunter Slaton

Illustrations

Art Corgi

Mainon Schwartz

Atanas Stoykov

Zeeba Mathews

Changyu chen Gong Kun

Consultant

David Malki

Grant Alward Jimmy Yeung

Volunteer copyediting

Juan Diego Dianderas

Eric Chen Mainon Schwartz

Lance Red Liu Qiuhong

Special Thanks

MakeThatThing

Mei Hanlong

Quintek Group

Raul Gonzalez

Stephen Shek of QP Group

Storn Cook Xia Xue Zhu Wei

Lore Development

Arun Mathews Brandon Patton Eric Beal Jef Akst Zeeba Mathews

Writing

Brandon Patton Jef Akst

ISBN: 978-1-56581-231-4 All characters, character names, and the distinctive likenesses thereof are property of Nerdcore Medical. This material is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America. Any reproduction or unauthorized use of the material or artwork contained herein is prohibited without the express written permission of Nercore Medical. Any similarity to actual people, organizations, places, or events included herein is purely coincidental. Printed in China. ©2014 Nerdcore Medical.

www.nerdcoremedical.com

The enemy of art is the absence of limitations. -- Orson Welles

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he Bacterionomicon was originally written to be a simple compendium of creatures and heroes from the game that

we developed in 2009, the Healing Blade. it grew into so much more. Initially envisioned as a simple companion book to further enrich gameplay, the book took on a design and purpose all its own. Indeed, while creating the book, we realized that we were stepping beyond the bounds of gameplay, into the rarefied realm of world-building. But before we can talk of this, it is perhaps fitting to talk of the idea that brought all of this to pass - the genrebending experiment known as the Healing Blade.

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Origin Story: Cognitive Rehearsal

One morning after an evening of involved video-gaming some years back, I was completing rounds in the medical intensive care unit with a nurse and a student. The question came up: ‘How does one choose the appropriate antibiotic for an infection when the infection has not been proven by way of cultures or Gram stain?’ Gram staining is where certain types of bacteria take up a chemical stain (Gram positive) while others do not (Gram negative). The cultures and Gram stain become ‘confirmatory tests’ which then leave us with the decision — which antibiotic does one choose? As I pondered this question, I started noticing parallels between the battle to contain infection and my fictional video game battle from the night before. Engaging with the dark forces of infection reminded me of switching weapons in a video game to defeat a specific type of foe. We are able to make very reasonable assessments in regard to which antibiotics (weapons) to use against the forces we suspect are attacking an individual’s body. If there ever was an aha! moment regarding the ‘Healing Blade’ concept, that was it. After two days of playing around with the idea, it occurred to me that using a battle metaphor to simulate engagements between antibiotics and microbes would allow people to rehearse real world decision-making prior to stepping into a hospital and treating patients. While there are general rules which can be applied to making sound initial antibiotic choices, there are also several subtle nuances when it comes to antibiotic selection. One example is the differences between healthcare-related pneumonia and community-acquired pneumonia. Community-acquired pneumonia tends to imply certain standard bacteria, while healthcare-related pneumonia can indicate more resistant bacteria such as MRSA, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and atypical organisms. In addition, concerns about antibiotic resistance come into play. This is the kind of information we hoped our game would allow players to learn and rehearse prior to entering a hospital. It was one of the founding precepts of Healing Blade. As we developed a very basic concept document, we also settled on the concepts we wanted students to learn while playing the game:

1) A respect and appreciation for antibiotics in general. These agents have truly revolutionized the field of medicine – a notion that is sometimes taken for granted. While impressive, they can also have deleterious side effects. 2)  An introduction to the concept of antibiotics stewardship, which is methodology for responsibly using antibiotics in the hospital. When unnecessarily potent antibiotics are used to treat a mild infection, the stage is set for antibiotic resistance. We wanted to teach this through our gameplay. When, in the game, the antibiotic card player inappropriately uses very powerful antibiotics, it essentially gives away that individual’s hand, allowing the bacteria card player to make strategic decisions and/or implement a resistance magic card. 3) Features of the bacteria and the diseases themselves. For instance, Clostridium difficile is represented as a hulking monstrosity releasing spores from its back. The imagery of the spores alludes to the bacteria’s primary mode of transmission, and the size suggests its virulence and potential for harm. We also tried to create parallels between fantasy lore and microbiology lore. An example of this is our handling of the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus. In fantasy literature, dragon mythology is as intricate as it is complex and expansive. We created a similar mythos with Staphylococcus aureus. Basic Staphylococcus aureus as depicted in our game is a very simple, small dragon whose skin is a yellowish hue. This is compatible with the commensal bacterium that occurs in our skin and is largely harmless. When resistance plasmids drive the virulence of Staphylococcus aureus, infected pathologies can occur. This brought to mind more powerful dragons, from the frightening methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus to the terrifying multi-headed Golden Dragon that is vancomycin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.  4) We hoped that by playing multiple rounds of our game, students would begin to recognize patterns of attack that were successful, in addition to appreciating the nuances of using certain antibiotics against certain types of bacteria. We hoped this rehearsal would better inform some of the clinical decisions that the students would make later in their medical careers. With these four guiding principles in place, we set to the task of hiring a team of artists and building the world that would be the backdrop for our game – the world of Soma.

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Realism vs. The Abstract

In the months after the release of the original version of the game, we were often asked, “Why are the bacterial creatures fantastical?” Such questions inevitably came from members of the scientific community who had grown to know and love these organisms as the various different iterations of singlecelled organisms that they are. To us, slightly different spherical organisms with slightly different distinguishing features, including those resulting from Gram staining, while interesting to a certain subset of the population, did not capture the interest of our key demographic. Incidentally, creating a blank slate from which we could build any creature and implement various features of bacterial morphology, disease pathophysiology, and clinical features proved freeing and, at the same time, somewhat daunting. Regardless, this was the direction in which we opted to proceed, and ultimately we were happy with the results. This approach also made the artists’ task of conveying our ideas somewhat simple, as they weren’t challenged with trying to draw multiple iterations of single-celled organisms.

A Methodology for Art Creation

Fundamentals in place, and an overarching directive to focus on things that were ‘cool’ over things that were realistic, heralded the next step of our journey which involved working with an art director and a small team of artists based in China. Serendipity came into play here, as the perfect fit for our art director, Xiaolong Dai, happened to be a roommate of one of the original developers, Dr. Francis Kong. Mr. Dai was completing a degree in design in San Francisco, and had multiple contacts with artists in China. He proved to be very detailoriented, and he was extremely diligent in obtaining detailed descriptions of both the antibiotic agents (referred to as Apothecary Healers) and the various species of bacteria (referred to as Lords of Pestilence).

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We then developed a short list of the various bacteria and antibiotics that would be included in the game based on a number of sources. We referenced therapeutic and microbiology tomes that we had come across in our medical education. We also built our list based on our clinical experience during rounds with medical and nursing students and internal medicine residents. My wife and I had both worked as chief residents in our internal medicine residency programs, and had some experience with the process of creating needs assessments in clinical education. Inclusion criteria for the antibiotics included agents that we encountered and used on a day-to-day basis. There were antibiotics that had certain special side effects and/or considerations for use that we wanted to include. We also wanted to create an even balance of broad-spectrum versus narrow-spectrum antibiotics for certain strategic elements of play that echoed the administration of said antibiotics in the real world. For the bacteria, we made sure to include sufficient Gram-positive, Gramnegative, anaerobic, aerobic, and multi-drug-resistant bacteria to effectively mirror the more common infections that would be found in both university and community-based acute medical settings. We added a number of rarer infections that are included in any standard microbiology or therapeutics text to reflect an adequate breadth of scope for board review purposes. When the list was close to being finalized, we began the arduous yet exhilarating task of breaking down each bacterium into a composite that included cues to its virulence, suggestions about what the fantasy equivalent of it might be, its weaknesses, and its strengths. The following is an example of the development process for the antibiotic Ampicillin:

Basic description: A versatile front-line warrior whose name comes from the Latin root meaning “artist’s brush.” Despite her delicate beauty, she is one of the few fighters who can take down the malevolent VRE.

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We would then take the limited description and use it to help build the imagery for the artists to work on. The artists would create a rendering sketch and send it back to us for review and touch-ups. This would allow us enough time to continue to build the basic concept of the character. Once we were happy with the sketch, we would release the art for final development. The following is the final image that we developed for ampicillin.

The Bacterionomicon: An Exercise in World-Building

After the cards were developed, it occurred to us that we could further extend our metaphors for microbiology and therapeutics into a larger ecosystem that also took into account the surrounding environment. Since the human body was the backdrop in which all of these battles would occur, why not create additional allusions to physiological processes within our world? Inspired by the various fantasy worlds that we had grown up with, including Middle Earth and Narnia, we set about to increase the scope of our game substantially. Hence the concept and backdrop for our game was born – Soma – with its primary themes being interconnectedness and balance, or homeostasis. Given this new direction, we hired a science writer to help us flesh out each character. Below is the extended backstory of the character Ampicillin:

The penicillin tribes have a long and proud ancestry that dates back to the dawn of Soma. It was this family that struck an accord with the creatures of Pestilence, allowing for balance between the realms of creature and healer. But with the rise of the dark entity named Vallejio, this delicate arrangement was broken. Ampicillin played an important role in these early engagements and fights in conjunction with other healers that carry the ‘beta-lactam’ banner. Her main form of attack involves her broadsword that, with the aid of its special amino ring, slices through the armor of certain types of pestilence.

This is an example of a finalized card.

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There was a time that Ampicillin, with her predictable attack patterns, was relegated to front-line or initial scouting missions. However, during the famed ‘Incident of Kaz’Jiek’ where a small band of reconnaissance healers were ambushed by Vallejio and the horrific multi-headed Vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus, it become apparent that Ampicillin had a clear role to play in the War for Soma. Of the thirteen or so healers in her party, she was the only Apothecary healer left standing that day, able to survive VRSA’s attacks and even deal damage, before escaping to inform the leadership of this dread new foe.

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In the following description of the antibiotic Azithromycin, note how the various environments of Soma are starting to be developed as metaphors for human body systems and physiologic processes:

W

e sincerely hope that you enjoy the exercise in conceptual blending and learning through

metaphor that is the Bacterionomicon. Indeed, what a magical time we live in, where we can envision such a concept, coordinate with artists and designers to breathe life into it, and then ask the good people of the interwebs to place their faith in it and pledge their hard-earned coin to bring it to reality. We can safely say that this idea was at the same time nurtured, marketed and enhanced by the incredible community that was Kickstarter, and to these lovers of art and science, we are extremely grateful. We’re constantly looking to improve upon the work and would greatly

Azithromycin, son of the great Erythromycin, is one of the most commonly called-upon Apothecaries. Like his mother, he inhibits the ability of the Pestilence armies to generate the basic structures of life, killing them from the inside out. Because of their similar attack styles, the two are effective against a similar range of Lords, though Azithromycin has a slightly better track record against those of the Gram Negative Legion, particularly Haemophilus influenzae. Furthermore, unlike his mother, Azithromycin is not susceptible to the acidic waters just above the Southern Dam, and can thus enter the aqueduct unprotected, simplifying his journey to the site of battle. Azithromycin is capable of launching an effective counterattack against a wide range of Lord species, including those that invade the aqueduct entrance at the back of Buccal Bay, the Occulos, and the Respiro Forest. He usually enters through Buccal Bay and is often transported to the site of infection by the Nodal Sentry. He is even sometimes sent in preemptively, when the Nodal Sentry is compromised in some way and the risk of a Pestilence attack is high. Like most Apothecaries, however, Azithromycin’s protection comes at a cost. His presence can disrupt the flow of the aqueduct, causing it to discharge too quickly or even reverse directions. Furthermore, he has been known to put the Twin Heart Cities at risk, particularly if they are already impaired.

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appreciate any feedback, thoughts and suggestions. In the fantastical text descriptions and artwork for each character you will notice many little references to real world facts. We hope that you receive just as much of a thrill discovering and deciphering our various Easter eggs, as we had laying them, the egg laying purple bunnies of awesome that we are!!

Evermore,

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AM

Contents

Contents

Apothecaries

Lords of Pestilence 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14-15 16-17 18-19 20-21 22-23 24-25 26-27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35

Acinetobacter baumannii Bacillus anthracis Bacillus cereus Bacteroides fragilis Bartonella henselae Bordetella pertussis Borrelia burgdorferi Campylobacter jejuni Clostridium difficile Clostridium perfringens Clostridium tetani Corynebacterium diphtheriae Coxiella burnetii CRE Enterococcus faecalis Escherichia coli Francisella tularensis Fusobacterium necrophorum Haemophilus influenzae Helicobacter pylori Klebsiella pneumoniae Legionella pneumophila Listeria monocytogenes

MRSA mutans streptococci Mycobacterium leprae Mycoplasma pneumoniae Neisseria gonorrhoeae Neisseria meningitidis Nocardia asteroides Pasteurella multocida Proteus mirabilis Pseudomonas aeruginosa Rickettsia rickettsii Salmonella typhi Shigella Staphylococcus aureus Staphylococcus epidermidis Staphylococcus saprophyticus Streptococcus pneumoniae Streptococcus pyogenes Treponema pallidum Vibrio cholerae VRE VRSA Yersinia pestis

36-37 38-39 40-41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48-49 50-51 52 53 54-55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62-63 64-65 66-67

74-75 76-77 78 79 80-81 82-83 84-85 86-87 88 89 90 91-92 93 94-95 96-97 98-99 100

Amoxicillin/Clavulanate Ampicillin Ampicillin/Sulbactam Azithromycin Aztreonam Cefazolin Cefepime Ceftazidime Ceftriaxone Chloramphenicol Ciprofloxacin Clindamycin Doxycycline Ertapenem Erythromycin Gentamicin Imipenem/Cilastatin

Levofloxacin Linezolid Metronidazole Oxacillin Penicillin Piperacillin/Tazobactam Streptomycin Tetracycline Ticarcillin/Clavulanate Tigecycline Tobramycin Trimethoprim/Sulfa Vancomycin

101 102-103 104-105 106-107 108-109 110-111 112-113 114-115 116 117 118-119 120-121 122-123

Healing Blade Interactions Real World Interactions KickStarter Backers

124-125 126-127 128-133

6Landmarks6 Auditoria - Ears Occulos - Eyes Sententia - Brain Respiro Forest - Lungs Caverns of Bladdara - Bladder Waste Processing City - Liver Marshes of alimentum - Intestines Hemofactory Outpost - Spleen Nodal Sentry - Lymph Node Twin Heart City - Heart Southern dam - Stomach Lymph Lakes - Lymph Nodes Boundary wall - Skin Northern forest - Nasopharynx Pharyngeal Path - Throat

Bacteria Type

Cocci

Lancet

Grape Cluster

Rod

Bull’s Eye

Diplococci

Fusiform

Filament

Coccobacillary

Chained Sphere

Spiral

gram (-)

gram (+)

Attack

Defense

A. baumannii Aliases: Motionless One, Iraqibacter, M-DRAB

Sicken forest, contaminate waterway, flay skin, copy weapon

Nemesis: Imipenem

Gelatinous pelt, adaptive defenses, copy armor, remain motionless, endure harsh conditions

Affinities: Infirmaries, Battlefields

Bacillus anthracis Alias: Anthrax Nemesis: Fluoroquinolones Affinity: Cattle The very first Lord of Pestilence identified as a source of mysterious suffering. The name “anthracis” comes from the Greek word for coal, due to the blackened flesh of its victims.

Scholars who study these monsters have noticed that, under the microscope, they have no flagellum.

A. baumannii is very slow, oozing through the landscape like a gruesome sludge, waiting patiently before pouncing on its victims. It has been trolling the hills of Soma for a century, and is one of the most virulent threats to the warring world. It can afford to be slow because its flexible form makes it extremely difficult to defeat—and it adapts well to changes in environment, allowing it to withstand Soma’s seasonal fluctuations in rain and humidity. As battles wage on, A. baumannii becomes ever more powerful, feasting on scarred land and fallen soldiers, and garnering the weaponry of fallen comrades to power its wrath and evade enemies. It has acquired nearly 40 different tools of warfare from other Lords such as Pseudomonas, Salmonella, and Escherichia, and is presumably always collecting more. It is fueled by war, and if it is not eliminated quickly, it will become too widespread to kill.

Burn, bite, venom, suffocate, toxic spores Protein carapace, remain dormant This horrific basilisk is a dreaded foe. With the advantages of its amphibious lifestyle and a shielding protein carapace, B. anthracis is a formidable threat to Soma. At one time, it was totally vulnerable to the valiant Beta-Lactam Apothecaries, although nowadays there are increasing reports of resistance—and, as is typical of many Lords of the Stained Legion, by the time help has arrived, it is often too late. Infestation results in a blackening of the earth and the release of deadly spores, which can remain dormant, like time bombs, for an age.

A. baumannii is notorious for adapting to Soman defenses and learning to resist Apothecary warriors that once could defeat it. These days there are only a few Apothecary warriors that can stand against A. baumannii; most cannot penetrate its gelatinous pelt. Fortunately, some younger healers have developed creative approaches to sidestep the monster’s defenses and bring it down. With any luck, their collective efforts will put an end to this fearsome predator’s devastating attacks.

B. anthracis is armed with a lethal trio of attacks: fire, vicious fangs, and a venomous bite, all of which enhance one another when used in concert. Without its fire, B. anthracis cannot get close enough to its prey to deliver its lethal strike. But once a field is reduced to ashes, it can attack the exposed and unprotected area, feasting on its victims until it has been sated. With a single bite, B. anthracis can inflict tremendous swelling, which suffocates the surrounding flora and fauna—and, if it is able to inject its poisonous sap, widespread death can occur within days.

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While Soma’s chemical-laden underground springs provide the soil, shrubbery, and subterranean life with a protective bath against venom, B. anthracis’s presence becomes harder to endure the longer the battle rages. Furthermore, Soma’s rainy season can dilute the water’s potency, negating its ability to defend against this awesome beast. Lords of Pestilence | Unstained Legion Cocci | Coccobacillary | Rod

Lords of Pestilence | Stained Legion Rod

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Bacillus cereus Aliases: Cereus, Rice Demon Nemesis: Vancomycin Affinities: Warm swamps, rice fields Usually not lethal. Many are peaceful.

Spread a sickness called “Fried Rice Syndrome,” manipulate fluids, toxic spores, claw, bite

B. cereus are hardy reproducers, laying spores that can survive temperatures of up to 100 degrees Celsius—the point at which water boils—in the hot swamps that surround the banks of the Marshes of Alimentum through Soma’s Southern Dam region. Once the marshy water’s temperature drops below 50 degrees, the spores begin to germinate, emerging as fully grown, bison-sized creatures, sporting waxy scales, talons and fangs that compete both in size and degree of destruction inflicted, and a head larger than a mammoth’s.

These creatures claw their way down the banks of the Marshes of Alimentum, sending searing pain into the Waxy skin and scales, heat-resistant habitat through the very earth itself. As they reach the Marshes of Alimentum, just south of the Southern Dam and thus safe from the branch of the Nodal Sentry that patrols this region, they release poisons that disrupt the harmonious flow through the marshes, sending unusual volumes of water both up and down their channels. These toxins, resembling large empty barrels, float to the edge of the marshes and burrow into the banks, creating pathways directly into the surrounding soil. Some B. cereus produce a particularly powerful toxin that affects communication to and from Sententia and is capable of surviving extreme heat and both high and low levels of acidity, allowing it to survive the changing conditions of the marshes. These brutal creatures also can make their way to Soma’s Boundary Wall, where they can survive for long periods of time, causing sores and other irritation.

Bacteroides fragilis These fetid bottom-feeders are important to Soma’s natural ecosystem, although they can become malevolent. It is suspected that they act as sleeper agents, aiding other emissaries of Pestilence. Widespread in Soma, where they are among the most common residents below the Southern Dam and near Fecal Inlet, they can live peacefully along the Marshes of Alimentum, where they feed on the nutrients and other resources that flow from Buccal Bay. But they abandon their peaceful lifestyle when battle damage to the banks of the marshes allows them to travel to nearby towns and cities, which they normally cannot visit. Once in these unfamiliar places, B. fragilis unleash a suite of deadly poisons.

Lords of Pestilence | Stained Legion Rod

Nemesis: Metronidazole Affinity: Cats Most are peaceful. Opportunistic attackers in times of strife.

Bite, flay skin, poison, plant bombs, paralyze, copy weapon, Lacta Mace Adaptive defenses, copy armor, does not require oxygen

Among their weapons is a toxic bomb—an enclosed capsule loaded with an acidic venom that paralyzes Soma’s Nodal Sentry, preventing it from reaching the site of battle. If the appropriate Apothecaries are not deployed in time, such attacks can be fatal. Furthermore, B. fragilis do not only fight alongside other Lords of Pestilence, they also share their secrets. Thanks to close living quarters with other marsh-dwelling Lords such as E. coli, B. fragilis can take up weapons and armor that prove most successful against Soma’s inhabitants and defenders.

The presence of B. cereus, a relatively uncommon tormenter of Soma, is difficult to distinguish from other marsh-dwelling Lords of Pestilence, such as Clostridium perfringens and Staphylococcus aureus, but can be just as vicious. Yet many B. cereus also have a more benign side, and inhabit the marshes as peaceful contributors to the community, helping to limit invasions by more consistently violent Lords, such as Salmonella and Campylobacter.

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Alias: Break-Apart Scavenger

Lords of Pestilence | Unstained Legion Rod

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Bartonella henselae Aliases: Fever-Claw Puma, Paranoia Cat, formerly known as Rochalimaea henselae Nemeses: Doxycycline, Macrolide family Affinity: Cats Usually not lethal.

Bite, venom, manipulate fluids, infecting claws can cause fever, temporary blindness, tumors Heat-resistant, thick hide

This massive feline creature, which resembles an otherworldly lion, is fond of clawing attacks, going directly for the victim’s eyes and viscera—and even its bite can induce feverish delirium. The creatures, which often attack when Soma is already weakened from battling another Agent of Pestilence, scratch their way through the Boundary Wall and then roam across the land, launching themselves at their prey, sinking in their claws and clamping down their teeth. Their grasp contorts their victims’ insides, while the giant cats inject venomous proteins to finish the kill. B. henselae regularly exchange the recipes for their toxic injections, strengthening the killing power of the whole group. Furthermore, they are robust against Soma’s varying weather conditions, equipped as they are with a fortified fur coat that protects them from changing temperature and acidity.

Once they enter the land, getting rid of them is no easy task. If the proper Apothecaries are not unleashed quickly enough, B. henselae can spread throughout the land, from the Nodal Sentry headquarters in the Skeletal Mountains and Lymph Lake system to the Marshes of Alimentum and filtration centers, eventually finding Sententia, where they disrupt Soma’s ability to coordinate its operations. Even more threatening is B. henselae’s ability to redirect Soma’s waterways in service of their own survival.

Bordetella pertussis These elemental creatures float on the breeze until they can anchor themselves to the canopy of Respiro Forest, where they unleash a sophisticated chemical assault. They attach poisonous globules to the tree branches, which set a cascade of events into motion: the poison paralyzes the branches, which become dusty and polluted, choking the entire forest. The sudden lack of air awakens the forest’s roots to trigger powerful earthquakes that shake the trees free of their debris— which, in turn, launches B. pertussis airborne yet again, to invade new regions of the woodland. As the earthquakes subside, travelers can hear the eerie sound of the creatures’ whooping cries echoing in the wind.

Aliases: Pertussis, Haemophilus pertussis Nemeses: Macrolide family Affinity: Children Distinctive whooping sound.

Sicken forest, poison, suffocate, create earthquakes, paralyze, cause dizziness, confuse Anchoring tethers

B. pertussis has additional chemical weapons as well, poisons that confuse Soma’s Nodal Sentry, disturbing the defenders’ sense of balance, garbling their signals, and disabling their ability to absorb the enemy’s blows. Worst of all, this invader tends to target children— and, with such sophisticated chemical attacks, they are extremely difficult to repel once they have invaded. Soma’s strategy to deal with them has evolved to one of constant vigilance and preemptive security, which, when followed diligently, can successfully prevent the attacks from ever beginning.

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Lords of Pestilence | Unstained Legion Rod

Lords of Pestilence | Unstained Legion Coccobacillary

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Campylobacter jejuni

Borrelia burgdorferi Alias: Lyme Monster B. burgdorferi have two forms. They begin as giant lime-green arachnids with powerful harpoon-like mouths that can pierce holes in Soma’s Boundary Wall. They then cast aside their giant exoskeletons to sneak into Soma through these holes. Once inside, free of their arachnid shells, the creatures resemble very long and narrow squid, with a mass of tentacles trailing behind them. These powerful appendages propel the soft-bodied Lords through the stream and river system, including the thickest swamps, reaching into the far corners of Soma.

Nemesis: Doxycycline Affinities: Giant ticks, rodents Has two forms, a lime-green arachnid and a long, narrow squid. Leaves red bull’s-eye-shaped mark after penetrating Boundary Wall.

This cunning witch’s name means “twisted,” in acknowledgment of her serpentine form—and her twisted reputation. She resides in the feces of wild fauna and in putrid, oxygen-deprived swamps, preparing poisonous treats and hatching schemes to torture the innocent. She invades Soma through Buccal Bay, contaminating that water as she goes. Her noxious presence actually prevents living things from growing. When she encounters Soman inhabitants, she charms them and offers seemingly delicious treats, which release debilitating poisons once eaten. She also poisons carelessly guarded food, especially the flesh of poultry, to spread sickness without being discovered. Her poisons, although usually not lethal, cause pain and misery for seven days or more. She can manipulate the waters of the Marshes of Alimentum, causing violent upheavals and damage to the Southern Dam and the banks of the marshes, as defensive sentry rush to the scene and overreact. Fortunately, C. jejuni’s visits are usually short-lived, and she can be easily defeated in combat by a number of Apothecary warriors.

Aliases: Jejuni the Twisted, Guillain-Barré Nemeses: Macrolide family Affinities: Chickens, cattle, kangaroos Usually not lethal.

Charming gaze, poison water/food, blow up dam, manipulate fluids, stealth, paralyze hands/feet

Weaponized back-plates, bite, sabotage, paralyze, confuse, burn, exhaust, heat wave, cause minor earthquakes, swell Avoid detection

Unlike the more aggressive Lords, once inside Soma they usually keep a low profile, staying hidden, changing their appearance to disguise themselves, and biding their time. As they wait, they gain power. Their initial attacks of sabotage are subtly orchestrated to look like everyday accidents. Soman inhabitants begin to suffer minor discomforts—but not enough to raise alarm. The land begins to swell. Gradually they become more bold, and the longer they survive in Soma the harder they are to eradicate. On their backs, they grow a unique set of weaponized plates, which they use to terrorize all who cross their paths. These plates can be interchanged and rearranged to torture Somans in different regions, in different ways. From the Skeletal Mountains to Sententia and even Twin Heart City, Somans suffer terribly once B. burgdorferi make their presence known. Because of this behavior, prevention of invasion is the most effective defense. Sententia and the Occulos regularly coordinate perimeter searches. When found along the Boundary Wall, or caught in the act of tunneling through, B. burgdorferi are quite vulnerable and easy to destroy. Even when the scouts arrive late to the scene, the discarded arachnid carapace and a distinctive red bull’s-eye on the wall betrays the presence of B. burgdorferi, and Doxycycline can usually hunt them down.

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Lords of Pestilence | Unstained Legion Spiral | Bulls Eye

Lords of Pestilence | Unstained Legion Spiral

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Clostridium difficile

Aliases: Seediff, Toxic Megacolon Nemesis: Metronidazole Affinities: Infirmaries, battlefields Toxic megacolon, toxic spores, manipulate fluid Indestructibility, survive without oxygen C. difficile are fierce monsters whose hordes are growing both in number and in hostility. Once mostly restricted to the land’s infirmaries, preying on the weak, C. difficile have in recent years begun to attack a wider range of Soma’s habitats and citizens. They tend to appear just as other battles have ended, finding opportunity in the wake of destruction. In areas of heavy combat, particularly those involving reckless, overzealous Apothecaries that leave Soma stripped bare even of its beneficial residents, C. difficile seize the opportunity and flourish, filling that vacancy, delighting in the lack of competition and seeking total domination. These creatures take their namesake to heart, as they are very difficult to kill. They grow nearly indestructible toxic spores from their backs as one of their means of reproduction. As they overpopulate and disperse more and more toxic spores, they strain the structural integrity of the banks of the marshes, especially near Fecal Inlet, threatening to burst through the lining and send toxic sludge into the Soman fields and forests, killing all life. Furthermore, C. difficile often strike the same area more than once, and seem to have favorite regions they return to repeatedly. And, due to their spores, which can remain viable for long periods of dormancy, they also are very adept at spreading. Newer breeds of the creature are producing even more spores, covered with even more sticky hairs, which they use to hitch rides to vulnerable regions of Soma.

Lords of Pestilence | Stained Legion Rod

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Clostridium perfringens Alias: Spore Dragon, Gangrene Nemesis: Penicillin Affinity: Battlefields Normally peaceful inhabitant of Soma, but can turn violent.

Toxic gas, manipulate fluids Armored wings, survive without oxygen, resist heat A weaker cousin of the frightening C. difficile, Clostridium perfringens are common residents of the marshes, where they often keep to themselves. But they aren’t always so peaceful. They can display a nastier side when provoked, disrupting the ecosystem of the marshes, causing unrest among their inhabitants, and even escalating their attacks to kill. The smell of decaying flesh arrives even before death itself, as C. perfringens release a gaseous toxin that slowly rots the earth, like a sea star turning its stomach inside out to digest its prey before actually consuming it. They are ever-present during times of war, feasting on the open wounds along the Boundary Wall left by brutal combat. If those who deploy the Apothecaries even suspect the presence of C. perfringens, they rush into battle; the risk of delay is too great. C. perfringens are clever beasts, more than compensating for their sedentary state with a coiled tail anchoring them in place. They have broad, armored wings that are often enclosed around themselves in a defensive stance. They thrive in close, claustrophobic environments, which they often create themselves by releasing gases such as carbon dioxide. Noxious C. perfringens most often enter Soma through Buccal Bay, digging the hooked talons at the tips of each of their wings into the backs of unsuspecting fish and other animals swimming from the dam down into the marshes. Their spores can survive periods of extreme heat in the waterway, germinating to cause upheaval along the waterway banks and the Southern Dam.

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Lords of Pestilence | Stained Legion Rod

Clostridium tetani Aliases: Rust Golem, Tetanus, Lockjaw, Puppet Master Nemeses: Vaccine, Metronidazole Affinities: Dirt, manure, nails, salvage yards, dirty needles Puncture, claw, tear, scratch, cause earthquakes, paralyze, cleave, trap, puppet mastery. Indestructibility, dig deep underground.

C. tetani are animated golems made of rust that can puncture through the Boundary Wall with their massive, poison-tipped claws. They easily continue on through Soma, unstoppable, even clawing their way deep inside the Skeletal Mountains or through the streets of Sententia. Their poison, one of the most potent in existence, causes the very land to tremble and quake. The tetani have a distinctive stiff smile that never changes expression, making them seem particularly pleased by the suffering they cause. They are fond of dirt, manure, nails, salvage yards, and dirty needles, but they avoid fresh air. Three notorious individuals named Risus Sardonicus, Trismus, and Opisthotonus lead the C. tetani, usually appearing one after the other in multiple waves of attacks. Metal weapons crumble in their presence, and the air becomes hard to breathe. They can paralyze victims that come too near, or even worse, they can control them like puppets, forcing them into painful spasms, and bending them backwards into unnatural positions. They are powerful and extremely deadly. Only Metronidazole has had any success fighting them, and only in small skirmishes. All of Soma would be constantly at threat from these Lords if not for the discovery, many years ago, that they are appeased by worship. Now that lifelike but harmless statues of these rust golems are posted like scarecrows throughout the land, and erected anew every ten years, the tetani do not invade. Oddly it is this massive artistic effort, rather than the valor of Apothecary Healers, that keep the tetani at bay.

Thanks to Kickstarter backer Dr. Jeevan Gowda, M.D., for choosing and funding this entry!

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Lords of Pestilence | Stained Legion Rod

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Corynebacterium Diphtheriae Alias: Strangler Ghoul, Klebs-Löffler bacillus, Children of the Coryne Nemeses: Vaccine, Balto the sled-dog Affinity: Children Especially vulnerable to iron weapons.

Strangle, suffocate, burn, manipulate temperature, grey slime Leather hide In ancient times, the leathery-skinned, tattooed, bull-necked ghouls known as C. diphtheriae once roamed the land strangling children and leaving behind their greyish drool. More recently, it was discovered that the ghouls themselves are victims. Mind-devouring replicants called bacteriophages attach themselves to the heads of C. diphtheriae and use a needle-like appendage to inject material into their brains. It is only then that C. diphtheriae turn violent and begin their infanticidal rampage, driven mad by the needle in their brains, and manipulated like puppets by these evil parasites. Once mounted by a phage, C. diphtheriae usually will roam the Pharyngeal Path in search of child victims. They either strangle these poor children, or cough up a viscous grey slime into the children’s mouths, suffocating them. They have also been known to punch holes in the Boundary Wall to welcome other Strep and Staph Lords into Soma, or even lay waste to the Heart Cities. There are four different clans of C. diphtheriae: the mitis, intermedius, gravis, and belfanti, although the belfanti are not driven to violent rage like the others. They are distinguished by different tattoos, and different feeding habits. They can be defeated by most Apothecary Healers, but their presence declined long before the Healers arrived. According to a legend called the “Great Race of Mercy,” a sled-dog named Balto arrived with a group of gnomes from the frigid north and frightened away the ghouls. Nowadays, to celebrate the occasion, villagers erect leather effigies of C. diphtheriae every ten years, during the harvest. These “scarecrows” are sometimes called “Children of the Coryne.” It is said that the ritual maintains Balto’s magical protection, and that C. diphtheriae are only ever seen in places where this tradition has been lost.

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Lords of Pestilence | Stained Legion Rod

Thanks to Kickstarter backer Rahul Yaratha for choosing and funding this entry!

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Coxiella burnetii Alias: Querying Sphinx Nemesis: Doxycycline Affinities: Ticks, cattle, goats, sheep Q fever Resist heat, resist light C. burnetii is a sphinx that asks its victims a question, and kills them if they answer incorrectly, by giving them Q fever, which burns their minds, shakes their bodies, and eventually suffocates them. They are evil creatures, who revel in torturing all manner of Soman inhabitants, and are some of the most invasive of all the Pestilence agents. If only a few manage to enter through the Respiro Forest, they can multiply and spread throughout the land. They are highly resistant to most natural defenses, including heat, the sun’s rays, and standard cleansers that are used to purge the land of lingering invaders after other battles have drawn to a close. When C. burnetii enter Soma, they trigger pain and discomfort in Sententia, irritation in the Respiro Forest, and other relatively mild annoyances. If untreated, their armies grow and linger for months. There are only a handful of Apothecaries that can defeat the Lords, some only through a combined effort. Until recently, it had been impossible to capture C. burnetii alive, so all that was known about the horrid creatures was what the Apothecaries could report from the field. Recently developed techniques for raising them in captivity in a highly sterile environment will hopefully lead to better knowledge of their weaknesses.

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Lords of Pestilence | Unstained Legion Coccobacillary

CRE Aliases: Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae, nightmare bacteria, superbug, CRKp, KPC, NDM Nemeses: None Affinities: Infirmaries Suffocate, groin strike, burn, contaminate, manipulate fluids, psionics, Metallo-Enhanced Mace, Carbapenem Mace Adaptive defenses, telepathy, teleport enemy, force shield, immune to stainless steel CRE is the name of an elite cabal of mutant Lords who usually recruit Klebsiella or E. coli to join their ranks. Only recently discovered, they’ve caused widespread concern because they are nigh invincible. When the cleverest members of the Enterobacteriaceae family are recruited, they undergo a transformation, assuming a new hideous form with tentacles and glowing eyes, and become part of a hive mind with an encyclopedic knowledge of history and tactics. Their telepathic communication gives them perfect military intelligence and the ability to adapt instantly in battle. Only Tigecycline has had any success against them, but Tigecycline’s powers are weakest in the waterways of the Twin Cities, which the CRE use to their advantage. The CRE possess a psionic ability to teleport their opponents out of their way, which makes them impossible to strike with melee weapons, and leaves their opponents disoriented and off-balance. They are also protected by invisible force fields that protect them from ranged attacks and make them immune to stainless steel. On offense, they wield Metallo-Enhanced weapons, upgrades to the feared Lacta Mace of their brethren that can shatter magic rings and Apothecary weapons. Their only known weakness at this time is copper, from which they recoil. Some CRE attack the channel to the Southern exit, some attack the Southern Dam and set the walls below the dam ablaze, some attack the Heart City waterways, and some attack Respiro Forest, leaving a distinctive bloody jelly behind. But one pattern has emerged: they attack areas that have already seen battle. In fact, they seem to only turn against Soma in response to the presence of Apothecary Healers, almost as if they were personally offended. Because of this, Somans have become wary of summoning Apothecary Healers for lesser conflicts, afraid that the CRE may follow in pursuit. Being that the Apothecary Healers have little power against them, Soma’s best hope is to avoid angering them, or to eradicate the places they like to inhabit. They lurk in dirty places, like Infirmary tool sheds or in pools that medics use to clean themselves after battle. Vigilance, surveillance, and adherence to extreme cleanliness are required to prevent the CRE from turning small battles into devastating ones.

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Lords of Pestilence | Unstained Legion Rod

Thanks to Kickstarter backer Jason Springs, for choosing and funding this entry!

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Enterococcus faecalis Alias: Colonic Demon Nemesis: Ampicillin Affinities: Plants, mammals, birds, flies, infirmaries, feces Formerly believed to be a Streptococcus Lord. Usually peaceful. Can teach adaptive defenses to others of the Stained Legion.

Burning biofilm (spread by touch), contaminate, shock Adaptive defenses, survive without oxygen, endure harsh conditions, impervious to weapons/chemicals These fiery marsh demons are as mercurial as they are powerful, behaving like disinterested immortals who occasionally meddle in human affairs, perhaps out of sheer boredom. They are extremely hardy, able to live almost anywhere—even without air—and they eat nearly anything. E. faecalis seem to prefer filthy and perverse amusements, reveling in dirt and feces (their namesake), riding giant flies, and contaminating Apothecary weapons. They have a deep knowledge of battle tactics and weaponry, and gladly share their secrets with other Lords. This emboldens Soma’s enemies by providing them with new means to elude Apothecary counterattacks. Yet many E. faecalis remain peaceful residents of Soma, devoted to study and causing no real harm other than the secrets they divulge. Some even have been known to be upstanding members of the community. But when their moods turn dark and brooding, their demonic viciousness reveals itself, and their ferocity and adaptability make them terrifying foes. On the warpath, they learn quickly how to evade Apothecary forces. They are also impervious to many chemical weapons, and certain sword metals have no effect, as if they were undead. Angry E. faecalis have been known to roam through settlements near the Marshes of Alimentum and the Caverns of Bladdara, setting them ablaze. They can even engulf Heart City stone, by leaving behind a sticky, burning bio-film wherever they touch. Some terrified Soman villagers have taken to making welcoming gestures and sending invitations to them in the hopes of keeping them happy—anything to avoid triggering their wrath.

Lords of Pestilence | Stained Legion Cocci | Coccobacillary | Chained Sphere

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Escherichia coli Aliases: Ekolai, Marsh Demon Nemeses: Cephalosporins Affinities: Feces, flies Many are peaceful.

Burn, contaminate, groin strike, copy weapon, manipulate fluids

Many E. coli are common inhabitants of the lower Marshes of Alimentum where they can live harmoniously among other Lords and citizens of Soma. They confine themselves to the banks of the marshes, where they even contribute to the overall health of Soma, producing key nutrients and helping to prevent invasions by less peaceful wanderers. Some worlds even invite these creatures into their waterways to help maintain the equilibrium of the fragile ecosystem.

But not all E. coli are alike. In fact, the group is so diverse that only 20 percent of their heredity is shared across all creatures. And a handful of E. coli, usually from outside Adaptive defenses of Soma, are not content to assimilate quietly in the lower marshes. Those that have acquired weaponry from other Lords take pleasure in wielding these tools of destruction against Soma’s inhabitants, especially travelers, and spreading destruction along the channel to the Southern Exit, or even Respiro Forest. These nasty relatives usually enter through Buccal Bay, by way of unclean water channels, and make their way down the marshes, causing disturbances along the way. They can cause sudden floods beyond the Southern Dam, causing a rush of water through the marshes into the Fecal Inlet, leaving the land and its inhabitants unable to slake their thirst. Such floods can threaten Soma’s survival if the gentle flow through the marshes is not quickly restored.

Francisella tularensis Francisella tularensis are nasty Lords Alias: Rabbit Demon who have terrorized Soma for nearly a century. Known as rabbit demons, they Nemeses: Gentamicin, Streptomycin can tear apart the Boundary Wall to Affinities: Rabbits, squirrels, deer, chickens, break through and wreak havoc on the ticks, mosquitoes, flies towns and cities within. The damage they cause depends on which of the four F. tularensis armies are attacking— Tularemia and where they strike first. They most commonly enter Soma through the Escape artist (possibly potion-based), Boundary Wall, but have also been shredding of their corpses causes known to descend on the Respiro Forest dispersal and resurrection or occasionally through Buccal Bay and the Occulos. Unlike some Lords, F. tularensis does not need Soma or another land in order to survive, and can lurk in the waters surrounding the island country, striking without warning. They are quick to move from one land to another, and are often stirred up when their burrows are disturbed during land maintenance, making their threat widespread and unpredictable. They are skilled at avoiding the defensive maneuvers of Soma’s Nodal Sentry, and can even use the defenders’ own camp to multiply. Once sequestered by the Sentry, the rabbit demons break out of their holding cells, thriving on the camp’s resources while creating countless new, young demons that burst from the site and spread throughout the land. The details of F. tularensis’s escape tricks are not well understood, but some reports tell of powerful potions that are uncapped when they escape. Soma’s best bet is to deploy one of the few Apothecaries that can defeat the evil Lords before their numbers become too great to overcome. The rabbit demons cause a type of blood fever called Tularemia, which causes abrasions along the Boundary Wall, wildfires, swelling of the Occulos, and potentially death of the land itself.

Once the violent E. coli are ejected from the Fecal Inlet, the beasts can reinvade just east, along the Boundary Wall, where outflow from the Golden Streams occurs. These reinvasions can then backtrack through the streams to the Caverns of Bladdara, causing further unrest.

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Lords of Pestilence | Unstained Legion Rod

Lords of Pestilence | Unstained Legion Coccobacillary

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Fusobacterium necrophorum Alias: Lemierre’s Monster Nemesis: Metronidazole Affinity: Horses

Silence, choke, ice blockade Touch causes thrush, survive without oxygen

First discovered in the caves of Lemierre, this monstrosity invades through Buccal Bay and its primary tributary into Soma, spreading through the rivers and streams, and poisoning and killing off the land. Some suspect that Fusobacterium necrophorum can live unnoticed among the friendly Lords of Buccal Bay, but it is hard to say with certainty, as they are rarely seen unless they are wreaking havoc on Soma. It’s more likely that as other Pestilence agents enter the area, F. necrophorum seize the opportunity to invade undetected among the chaos. But whether they are new trespassers or aggravated inhabitants is immaterial; once they emerge from their cavern homes, they are unwelcome guests of both the Bay and the entrance to the Southern Dam, where they slash large wounds along the water’s edge.

Haemophilus influenzae Haemophilus influenzae are some of Soma’s most ancient demons, first chronicled more than 100 years ago. Despite a century of experience fighting these foes and detailing their heredity, their attacks are still poorly understood. They continue to pose a significant threat to Soma, wreaking havoc on the land’s rivers, Respiro Forest, the Skeletal Mountains, and even Sententia.

Aliases: Fluish Haemophile, Pfeiffer bacillus Nemeses: Third-generation Cephalosporins, Streptococcus pneumoniae Affinity: Battlefields Burn, contaminate, suffocate, swell, skeletal torture, choke, flay skin, cause deafness, blind Rune-magic, protective capsules

H. influenzae are a wide and varied group, but the most troublesome organize themselves into six different Runic Battalions, each associated with a different Rune of Power. Runic magic creates slimy, protective capsules that protect the battalions from Soman counterattacks. Somans have worked around this powerful defense by developing preventive measures, although so far they only deter one of the battalions. And even the H. influenzae that don’t belong to battalions are capable of causing harm just by summoning Soma’s Nodal Sentry, whose defensive tactics alone often lead to friendly fire. Many H. influenzae agents are known to live quietly in Soma before springing their attacks. They lie in wait until other battles occur, weakening Soma’s defenses, and then quickly dispatch themselves to the besieged towns and cities. There, they can inflict widespread damage, choking Soma’s atmosphere by attacking the Respiro Forest, causing pain and suffering in the Skeletal Mountains, or disabling the Occulos, thus inhibiting Soma’s ability to detect incoming vessels. They also have a deep hatred of their fellow agents Streptococcus pneumoniae. The two have been known to fight over territory, a behavior that Apothecary strategists can sometimes exploit to their advantage.

They silence and choke their victims, preventing screams that might alert others to the danger. They are also dangerous to riders on horseback. If trampled by horses, their touch causes thrush that leaves the horses lame, unable to carry on in battle. They can create frozen icebergs in the rivers and streams of Soma to use for travel, or to freeze and clog the waterways that sustain Respiro Forest. Such brutal invasions are relatively rare, however, and the Apothecary Army isn’t always quick to react. F. necrophorum are often forgotten about; their name is not always found in key historical tomes that inform the Apothecary strategists in designing their counterattacks. But if they do invade and are not quickly controlled, they can creep towards the Nodal Sentry’s barracks and infiltrate the transportation system used by the land’s army, or find their way to the natural waterways.

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Lords of Pestilence | Unstained Legion Fusiform

Lords of Pestilence | Unstained Legion Coccobacillary

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Helicobacter pylori Aliases: Helical Python, Campylobacter pyloridis Nemesis: Clarithromycin Many are peaceful.

Tentacles, toxins, gash wall/lining, transform Nodal Sentry into berserk mutants, manipulate fluids, destroy appetite Burrowing, anti-chemical scales

Helicobacter pylori primarily target the central regions of Soma’s Southern Dam, using their tentacle-like` appendages to burrow into the dam’s protective lining, avoiding its defensive secretions. They furthermore take advantage of the waste produced by Soma’s inhabitants to generate the energy they need to survive, and have adapted to the relatively low oxygen levels of the semi-aquatic environment. As the dam renews its magical lining—a continual process that occurs to ensure the purity of Soma’s main water line—H. pylori burrow farther into the wall. They protect themselves from purifying chemicals with specialized scales that break down these chemicals and render them harmless to H. pylori, but damaging to Soma. Although many strains of H. pylori live peacefully and keep to themselves, others cause severe damage to the dam’s walls. Moreover, the influx of laborers required to repair the damage, and the slew of supplies they must bring to the site, can have the paradoxical effect of rendering the region vulnerable to more serious injuries, communication breakdowns, and utter chaos. On occasion, debris from the repair site gets washed into the waterways, creating problems downstream. In addition to the damaging by-products they produce, H. pylori also are armed with toxins of their own that alert Soma’s Nodal Sentry to their presence. The ensuing battles often cause even more harm. When especially desperate, H. pylori can transform the Nodal Sentry into berserk mutants, turning them against Soma’s most protected regions. But H. pylori is not entirely to blame. They are weak-minded, suggestible creatures. Their violence is mostly ordered by other Lords, who turn the peaceful creatures into ruthless enemies of Soma through persuasion and threats.

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Lords of Pestilence | Unstained Legion Spiral

Klebsiella pneumoniae From the northern seas to the eastern deserts, K. pneumoniae can be found throughout Soma, as well as being common to the uninhabited regions. They often live peacefully among the local inhabitants— but should a region’s defenses be weakened for any reason, often from too-frequent banquets and bacchanals, they seize the opportunity to devour resources, causing extensive damage to nearby forests, filtration systems, dwellings, and more.

Alias: Klebsiella Nemeses: Ceftriaxone, Cefepime, Ceftazidime Affinity: Infirmaries Many are peaceful.

Choke, suffocate, groin strike K. pneumoniae invasions can leave the land barren and black, save for the bloody remains of casualties Breathe nitrogen, fiber shields, that ooze from the war-torn forest after the savage adaptive defenses, copy armor warriors take their leave. Unlike most Lords, K. pneumoniae have the unusual ability to utilize atmospheric nitrogen, allowing them to generate valuable resources from a normally useless gas and to survive in the absence of oxygen. Their sugary shields, comprised of both common LPS fibers and similar K fibers, protect them from being killed and eaten by Soma’s natural defenders. They also have begun to evolve resistance to many of the Apothecaries’ attacks, copying defensive techniques from their fellow Lords. Ciprofloxacin, for example, once a formidable nemesis of K. pneumoniae, is now often ineffective. Alternative strategies are needed to supplement the Apothecaries’ efforts, and are still sometimes not sufficient.

Lords of Pestilence | Unstained Legion Rod

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Listeria monocytogenes

Legionella pneumophila Aliases: Legionnaire, Pontiac, Firelung Crab

Alias: Listeriosis

Nemeses: Levofloxacin, Azithromycin

Nemeses: Ampicillin, Penicillin

Affinities: aquatic environments, infirmaries

Affinities: Infants, pregnant women, the elderly, fruit, soft cheeses

First discovered in 1976 after killing Legionnaires attending a gathering.

Rend flesh, heat wave, manipulate fluids, psychic shock, dizzying blast, confuse, cause seizures

Suffocate, heat wave, manipulate fluids, destroy appetite, create fatigue, rend flesh

There are 13 different L. monocytogenes armies Endure harsh conditions that pose a threat to Soma. They can survive a wide range of climates, permitting their affiliation with a wide range of creatures traveling through Buccal Bay and the Marshes of Alimentum, including Arctic species that hail from temperatures near zero degrees Celsius. They can also can withstand hot temperatures and drought, conditions commonly experienced once inside Soma.

Survive traps Legionella pneumophila are potentially murderous Lords who are quick to take advantage of Soma’s lush resources. They live and multiply within the protection of giant jellyfish-like creatures that reside in the water surrounding Soma, and search for similar habitats upon entry to the land. They allow themselves to be taken up by the bog traps set by the Nodal Sentry, where they flourish, basking in the protection of the hollow pockets found near the bogs’ centers. They trigger the decomposition of local inhabitants to supply the nutrients they need for survival, and funnel those nutrients into their temporary swampy homes. They hunker down as they grow their armies, sending out more than 200 scouts and soldiers to foil efforts of the surrounding community and destroy the mother colony.

However, warmer temperatures do affect their ability to move. As a result, they depend on the inhabitants of Soma for transport, hijacking their highways and conveyances. They escape the marshes by burrowing into surrounding banks, using the stalagmite-like horns that protrude from their backs to gain purchase and pull themselves out. They make their way to the land’s river and stream system, stopping at local communities along the way to scavenge resources and steal helpless infants.

L. pneumophila typically enter Soma aerially through the Respiro Forest. They descend like balloon spiders, then quickly scamper towards the closest bog. Their presence can be relatively benign, causing few, if any, disturbances beyond the very immediate environment. But there are plenty of more brutal strains of L. pneumophila, that bring terror to all corners of Soma. Severe temperature swings sweep the land, and the Respiro Forest reacts violently. General lethargy overcomes Soma’s pace of life, often with fewer fish coming in through Buccal Bay to fuel the island’s activities. Armies of L. pneumophila also can affect the function of Sententia and disrupt the regular pace of Twin Heart City.

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Listeria monocytogenes are the most dangerous of the Lords that enter through Buccal Bay on the backs of its aquatic inhabitants, and are most likely to invade when the island is under attack by other villains, and the Nodal Sentry is in disarray. If L. monocytogenes successfully pass beyond Soma’s boundary, there is a good chance that the island world will not survive.

Lords of Pestilence | Unstained Legion Rod

As they spread, the consequences of their presence are vast, affecting the critical functions of the Respiro Forest, the Occulos, and even Sententia. These Lords also benefit from an unusual level of communication and cooperation among their own armies, which they use to coordinate full-blown attacks that threaten to end Soma once and for all.

Lords of Pestilence | Stained Legion Rod

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Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) are some of the most feared Lords that haunt Soma. They evolved from their close cousins, Staphylococcus aureus, to evade the attacks of an entire legion of Apothecary warriors. And if those Apothecaries that can defeat the dreaded creatures do not act swiftly, MRSA have the power to end Soma entirely. MRSA tend to invade through the Respiro Forest, breaches in the Boundary Wall, or occasionally the Southern Dam. They can live in hiding for periods of time, without damaging the habitat or Soma’s fauna, but they will attack at the first sign of weakness in the Nodal Sentry. Within one to two days, MRSA can spread throughout the land, raising the temperature, slashing the Boundary Wall, and leaving behind reddish time bombs. If the bombs are not defused, they grow larger and anchor themselves deeper into the wall, eventually exploding and threatening the integrity of Soma’s first and most critical line of defense. Despite their often-violent presence, MRSA are sometimes difficult for the Apothecary Army to accurately identify, complicating the strategies put in place against the threat. To be sure which foe they are dealing with, the Apothecaries must capture some of the creatures and study them under controlled conditions. Unfortunately, given the fast progression of the MRSA assault, there is not always time to take such careful measures, and the Apothecaries must often choose to launch their defensive front before they are certain what they are dealing with. Aliases: Mersa, Spawn of Missa, Methicillin (Meticillin)-resistant S. aureus, Oxacillin-resistant S. aureus (ORSA) Nemeses: Linezolid, Vancomycin Affinity: Infirmaries Flay skin, toxins, heat wave, time bombs Adaptive defenses, avoid detection Lords of Pestilence | Stained Legion Grape Cluster

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Mutans Streptococci Aliases: Sugar Zombies Nemesis: None Affinities: Sugar Despoiling touch, wrench-like grip, melt stone Endure harsh conditions, regenerative repair, adhere The mutans streptococci are undead creatures that haunt the shores of Buccal Bay, despoiling and dissolving everything they touch. A miasma of sickness floats about them, and their very presence causes changes to local environmental conditions, spreading decay and rot, and creating an alluring environment for other vile creatures. They despise civilization, and attempt to destroy any structures they come across, even if it takes years to accomplish. They can scale walls, adhering to the smoothest surfaces with their gooey flesh. And their evil presence corrupts the will of others around them, turning usually harmless beasts to their cause. For an undead Lord, they are surprisingly social, and tend to gather into massive hordes. In these gatherings the miasma around them congeals into a sticky, hideous substance, that serves to protect them as they moan together in some kind of ancient rite. When damaged, they can regenerate by transforming the decaying flesh of nearby carcasses and absorbing the pieces into their own bodies in a ritual that is truly terrifying to behold. Of special horror to children is their attraction to sugar, and many children suffer frightful and painful visits from mutans streptococci after being too careless with their sugary treats. These terrifying encounters are the most common Pestilence attacks on children of Soma. They have been known to pluck the sugar-coated teeth right out of their screaming victims’ mouths. Each mutans streptococcus carries these teeth on a gruesome necklace as proof of their crimes. These Lords rarely kill, although if allowed to form massive hordes they can mount lethal attacks on the Heart Cities, damming the very rivers and streams and causing widespread starvation and death. Mostly, they spread decay and destruction, cause festering sinkholes, and pave the way for other opportunistic Lords. The Apothecary Healers have not had much success against them in open battle. It is known that their dissolving powers are less effective against fluoride-reinforced walls, and ineffective against gold or titanium, but they are never completely destroyed, and are a constant presence along the shores of Buccal Bay, always returning in large numbers after every defeat. It requires constant maintenance to try to rebuild faster than they can destroy. By clearing away the rot they leave, and constantly pushing them back into the sea, however, it is possible to prevent them from gathering into their sickening hordes and turning other beasts to evil.

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Lords of Pestilence | Stained Legion Chained Sphere

Thanks to Kickstarter backer Kunio Chan, DMD, MAGD, for contributing information and funding for this entry!

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Mycobacterium leprae Aliases: Leprosy, Hansen’s disease Nemesis: Dapsone with Clofazimine and Rifampicin (not featured in this tome) Affinities: Armadillos, mouse feet

Capture, disfigure, fast-acting acid, paralyzing touch Shape changing, waxy scales, acid coating, avoid detection

Slow moving. Does not breed in captivity.

M. leprae have been tormenting the people of Soma as long as anyone can remember. They were one of the first Lords of Pestilence ever discovered, and are greatly feared because of the agonizingly drawn out suffering their victims must endure in captivity. How M. leprae invade Soma is unclear. It is believed they either melt sections of the Boundary Wall, or arrive by air, since they are usually found along the Boundary Wall, or near the northern edges of Respiro Forest. They are masters of disguise, and can change shape at will. They are also very slow, thus they must sneak up on victims unnoticed. They possess a somewhat unreliable paralyzing touch that only affects very few potential victims, so M. leprae must sneak in the shadows and touch hundreds of victims until it finds one who is susceptible. The horrifying conclusion of this behavior is that many have been touched by M. leprae and don’t even know it! Once M. leprae find a victim, they assume an armadillo-like form and drag the poor soul back to a hidden prison. There, hundreds of living captives are tortured and disfigured repeatedly, often for decades, until the day comes when a visiting Lord, a guest of M. leprae, finally picks one to slaughter for its own needs. During this long captivity many prisoners lose limbs, either due to the sharp toothed vermin that nibble on them in their sleep, or in desperate attempts to claw through the dirt and escape with numb fingers. No matter how you look at it, it is a nightmarish scenario. The fast-acting acid of M. leprae leaves distinctive markings on the Boundary Wall, and causes the very stone to swell and buckle. This damage can weaken Soman defenses and allow other attackers to invade. Somans are so terrified of M. leprae that whole areas become shunned by other Somans once there is visible evidence of M. leprae’s presence. Fortunately, most Somans are naturally immune to M. leprae’s touch, and only an unfortunate few actually fall prey and are carried away. Hope that you are not one of them, for most Apothecary Healers are unable to help. Thanks to Kickstarter backer David Tomczyk for choosing and funding this entry!

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Lords of Pestilence | Unstained Legion Rod

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Mycoplasma pneumoniae

Neisseria gonorrhoeae

Alias: Mycoplasma Nemeses: Macrolide family, Doxycycline

Aliases: Gonorrhea, Gonococcus, the Clap

Affinity: Crowded environments

Nemesis: Ceftriaxone

Attract, charm, grappling hook, groin strike, blindness curse, stunt infant, slash and burn, contaminate, sterility curse

Affinities: Promiscuous adults, infants

Adaptive defenses

Suffocation

Once vulnerable, they can now resist the Penicillin, Tetracycline, and Fluoroquinolone families.

Invisibility, small size, unrecognizable skin, immunity to Beta-Lactam weapons

These destructive temptresses use their powers of sexual attraction to lure and charm their prey, while stealing valuable secrets that aid in their evasion of the Apothecaries. They travel through Soma by repeatedly launching grappling hooks at unsuspecting holdfasts to propel themselves across the landscape, slashing and burning the earth and contaminating the soil as they go. Known also for having a sweet tooth, they feast on Soma’s cocoa orchards while roaming the forests and countryside in search of new victims.

M. pneumoniae are Soma’s silent hunters. These miniscule phantoms lurk undetected in the world’s forests, ever haunting Soma’s peaceful communities. Their elusory presence once even led the Soman strategists to mistake them for another class of foes altogether—the dreaded viruses—a suspicion supported by the irreparable damage they can cause to some of Soma’s most vital settlements. Their ghostlike nature affords them the ability to slip undetected through the city walls that often block other Lords.

They despise Soman life and seek its extinction. They are particularly cruel to Soma’s newborn infants, using curses to stunt and blind them. Furthermore, their sterility curses can prevent future generations of Somans from ever being born, jeopardizing the survival of Soma itself. Truly, the dire threat of these witches requires a concerted effort by all Somans to prevent their numbers from spreading.

M. pneumoniae tend to invade the Respiro Forest from the northern shores, and can establish themselves there, or enter the Vasculature Rivers and travel throughout the land. Once they replicate themselves into large enough armies, they can inhibit the forest’s ability to filter the air, causing serious damage to Sententia and Twin Heart City. They even kill the flora and fauna of the regions they infect. But M. pneumoniae’s greatest defense is their peculiar skin, which makes them hard to locate or even recognize. Their skin’s unique composition also makes them immune to the Beta-Lactam weapons of Penicillins and Cephalosporins. Although there are a handful of Apothecaries that can conquer the beasts, M. pneumoniae do not relent without a fight. To achieve their diaphanous guise, they have given up the ability to sustain themselves without a host, thus their battles to remain in Soma are a fight for their own survival.

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Lords of Pestilence | Unstained Legion Diplococci

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Neisseria meningitidis

Nocardia asteroides

Aliases: Neisseria Men, Meningococcus

Aliases: Nocardiosis, Nocardian Mimic

Nemeses: Ceftriaxone, Penicillin

Nemesis: Trimethoprim-Sulfamethoxazole

Affinities: Spit

Affinity: Soil One of the Great Imitators.

Psychic blast, confuse, poison, bombs, spread lethargy

Mimic other Lords’ attack styles

Mimic, cling

Web-like cords, mimic, misdirect

N. meningitidis are cerebral sorcerers who target the residents of Sententia and their lines of communication that coordinate all of Soma’s activities. They enter through Buccal Bay—but rather than continuing down to the dam and into the marshes, N. meningitidis veer down the Pharyngeal Path, which shortcuts to the southernmost portion of the northern forest. They can also enter the northern forest directly, just north along the Boundary Wall from the bay.

Nocardia asteroides are wicked foes that can wreak havoc on nearly every inch of Soma’s habitat. They can live harmoniously around the rim of Buccal Bay, but when they begin to meander inland, particularly to areas already under attack by other Lords, the consequences can be devastating. They are notorious for disguising their attacks by mimicking the effects of other Lords, confusing the Apothecary Army and buying time as the wrong suspects are hunted. They also possess a rare ability to leave behind a thick web of cords, and these cords play a large factor in their successes, obstructing the activation of Soma’s valiant defenders.

Occasionally known to be peaceful residents of this region, N. meningitidis are more often deleterious. They creep into the surrounding communities, deploying an array of weapons that serve to stun and damage the locals. One poison they release kills inhabitants of the waterways, cutting off the land from vital nutrients. They also release powerful bombs that block the Nodal Sentry’s counterattacks, buying time for its armies to multiply. N. meningitidis can cause lethargy throughout the land, unstable temperatures, and pain and dysfunction among Sententia’s citizens. Such effects can resemble attacks by Haemophilus influenzae and Streptococcus pneumoniae, but the Apothecary Army must be wary; if not quickly recognized for the threat that it is—and responded to appropriately—a successful N. meningitidis invasion could spell the end for Soma. Due to this danger, the Apothecaries sometimes act preemptively to prepare for encounters with N. meningitidis. If word reaches Sententia that a nearby island has experienced an invasion, the Apothecaries will send in a hero to guard Soma. The Apothecary strategists have also devised a less violent mimic of N. meningitidis, that they can send in for simulation battles with the Nodal Sentry, in order to prepare the valiant defenders for a real attack.

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They commonly attack Respiro Forest, summoning minor earthquakes and sudden windstorms in the region, and can choke the land’s supply of the Vasculature Rivers’ life-giving magic. From there, N. asteroides often make their way to Twin Heart City, burning the city limits as defenders gather to guard their inhabitants from the impending menace. The opportunistic Lords can also travel to Sententia, where they ravage the citizen residents, and threaten the country’s harmonic alliance. They have also been known to damage the Occulos, and they can create gashes in the Boundary Wall that expose the world to other fearsome intruders. Protecting Soma from such a formidable enemy is no easy task. N. asteroides can thrive in a wide range of climates, and once they take hold throughout the land, they are often a lasting presence. Though many Apothecaries are often called to fight this menace, it can take up to a year of constant defensive efforts to finally defeat the persistent N. asteroides.

Lords of Pestilence | Stained Legion Rod

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Pasteurella multocida Aliases: Fangbeast of the Pasture, Avian Cholera Nemeses: Cefepime, Ceftazidime, Amoxicillin/Clavulanate, Penicillin Affinities: Birds, chickens, swine, cattle, buffalo Has a rodent-like smell.

Animal capture, poisonous bite, claw/scratch, toxins, sabotage Protective force field, rune magic

P. multocida are fearsome were-creatures that typically make their home among the birds and beasts outside of Soma—but when the impulse strikes, they have many means to invade. With their powerful claws, they can tear their way through the Boundary Wall, and have even been known to use winged beasts to infiltrate the Respiro Forest, leaping from bird to bird as they murder each one. They can also swim into Soma through Buccal Bay or Fecal Inlet. Like their distant cousins Haemophilus influenzae, they organize into six Runic Battalions, each identifying with different Runes of Power. At least two of these battalions have developed a protective force field, although fortunately it is not very strong.

In combat, they use their claws to cling fast to victims, who they then bite with their poisonous fangs. Left unchecked, they can infiltrate Sententia, Twin Heart City, and the Skeletal Mountains, leaving a trail of suffering in their wake. And while they murder with abandon, for sustenance they actually devour iron and salt, not flesh. Soman trackers find them by following their distinct, rodent-like smell. Fortunately, they are no match for most Apothecary warriors once their presence has been discovered. Although they possess considerable skill at sabotaging the defensive constructs of the Nodal Sentry, elite Apothecary forces learned long ago how to defeat this angry beast.

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Lords of Pestilence | Unstained Legion Coccobacillary

Proteus mirabilis Proteus mirabilis are unusual in their swift, swarming attacks. They travel synchronously through the Marshes of Alimentum, and occasionally across the land, like a tight-knit flock of birds or a school of fish. The effect is like the amoeboid movement of crowds in a large city, and the devastation they leave in their path quickly takes its toll on Soma.

Alias: Protean Worshipper Nemeses: Ampicillin, Amox/Clav, Ceftriaxone, Fluoroquinolones, TMP-SMX Has a fishy odor. Many are peaceful.

P. mirabilis can actually can live harmoniously within the Swarm, alchemy, crystals, manipulate Marshes of Alimentum. But when they reach damaged fluids, Lacta Mace areas of Soma’s Boundary Wall, or occasionally Respiro Forest, they can cause significant damage. The most Adaptive defenses common site of P. mirabilis battles, however, is in the Caverns of Bladdara. The Proteus mirabilis access the caverns when they are ejected from the Fecal Inlet and reinvade just nearby close to the boundary wall. Just like the vicious E. coli troops, they backtrack through channels and the southern exit and enter the Caverns. Once there the P. mirabilis change the water chemistry of the Caverns. Indeed, alkaline water is a strong indicator that P. mirabilis is somewhere nearby. If the Lords are not banished quickly, they begin to track farther upstream and sculpt crystals that aggregate into massive staghorn effigies, that can cause severe damage to these channels, or even block the waterway altogether. These Lords can also move up from the caverns and the channels to Soma’s water filtration plant, where they can cause severe upset to the entire Soman system, generating currents that reverse the water’s flow through the marshes and purging the Southern Dam’s contents through Buccal Bay. Fortunately, many Apothecaries are successful at containing P. mirabilis. Once the Lords are identified, the appropriate warrior can be sent into battle, and—barring the presence of other Lords of Pestilence—should be able to eliminate the offenders within seven days’ time.

Lords of Pestilence | Stained Legion Rod

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Pseudomonas aeruginosa Aliases: Pseudo-Fire Nightmare, Hotta Brash Nemeses: Piperacillin, Ticarcillin, Cefepime, Imipenem Affinities: Infirmaries, scorched earth, battlefields Has an iridescent glow and a sweet odor.

Toxins, groin strike, flay skin, suffocate, Lacta Mace Armor, secrete pigments, eat fuel, endure harsh conditions The fearsome Pseudomonas aeruginosa are a widespread menace to Soma. Able to feast on a wide variety of organic substances, they can be found in nearly all of Soma’s habitats, both terrestrial and aquatic. They can tolerate low-oxygen environments such as bogs and aquatic trenches, as well as locations that would be toxic to Apothecaries and Lords alike, such as black bubbling crude. Not only can P. aeruginosa endure harsh conditions, they can even adapt to entirely novel habitats—and their wide reach makes them a persistent threat to the land and its inhabitants, particularly the sick or injured. They are the epitome of opportunistic; they almost never attack the strong, but any sign of weakness is like a lighthouse to them — a beacon that guides the sordid Lords to their next location. They have been known to ruthlessly colonize Respiro Forest, Fecal Inlet, or any part of Soma’s filtration system. After establishing themselves within an area, they begin starving the communities and destroying defensive walls and protective boundaries, leaving their victims ever weaker and more vulnerable. Their devastating attacks can be fatal. P. aeruginosa are readily identifiable by their iridescent glow and a distinct sweet odor. Their fiery body armor is key to their resistance against the Apothecaries. In addition to providing physical protection, the armor helps them use blunt force to penetrate Soma’s communities, scattering local defenders to provide a clear path.

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Lords of Pestilence | Stained Legion Rod

Rickettsia rickettsii Aliases: Spotted Rock Demon, Black Measle, Dermacentroxenus rickettsi Nemesis: Doxycycline Affinities: Ticks, mice, rabbits, dogs, children (not infants) Leaves behind small pink spots that darken over time. Reproduces slowly. Named after Howard Ricketts, a scholar who studied these Lords and even willingly battled them himself.

Heat wave, stab, bite, manipulate fluids, tunnel through rock Resistant to explosions These rock demons tend to invade Soma during the warmer months of the year. They most commonly ride in atop gruesome eight-legged mounts, that scurry en masse across the land in such a way that sends a chill to any who witness it. Occasionally, R. rickettsii can also tunnel through the Boundary Wall, or enter through Buccal Bay, washing in with dirty waves, or hitchhiking on unclean fish headed for the Marshes of Alimentum. Regardless of their point of entry, R. rickettsia eventually make their way to Soma’s rivers and streams, where they latch onto the banks using the sharp, rock-like protrusions on their backs. They tunnel their way ashore, causing disarray among the ordered grasses and woody vegetation that maintain the integrity of the stream and river beds, leaving Soma’s vital water-exchange system compromised. Once ashore, the demons take time to gather and multiply their forces before spreading slowly across the land, leaving behind telltale signs. The initial invasion can cause a rise in temperature and turbulence in the marshes, sometimes including a flow reversal to eject the contents of the Southern Dam, and slow the intake through Buccal Bay. Within a day or two, Soma’s Boundary Wall begins to show classic signs of a R. rickettsia infestation, with small pink wounds appearing first at the outermost extremities. Over time, these gashes darken, and work their way across the entire wall. Finally, if the Apothecary Army does not quickly identify the invasion and respond, more severe outcomes can ensue, including disrupted flow to the lower half of the Marshes of Alimentum, severe pain throughout the land, and general unrest in Respiro Forest, Sententia, and other life-supporting Soman cities. Without Apothecary intervention, R. rickettsia can even lead to the land’s demise.

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Lords of Pestilence | Unstained Legion Coccobacillary

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Salmonella typhi

Shigella Like their hereditary cousins E. coli, Shigella Lords are loathsome killers that slowly suck the life out of Soma’s gentle creatures, disrupting the normal biological processes that keep the land and its inhabitants healthy and hydrated. Their attacks are particularly dangerous to Soma’s young, and can be lethal without Apothecary intervention.

Aliases: Typhoid Mary, Salmonella enterica, serovar Typhi Nemeses: Ceftriaxone, Fluoroquinolones Affinities: chickens, swine, cattle One of more than 2,000 close relatives, all considered subspecies of Salmonella enterica.

Alias: None Nemesis: Fluoroquinolones Affinities: Infants A close relative of E. coli.

There are seven different battalions in the Shigella legion, Shigellosis, manipulate fluids, each capable of profound devastation. That said, as few dehydrate, hijack as 100 individuals are capable of invading Soma’s weaker regions and wreaking havoc on the land. They linger Adaptive defenses, escape restraints around the peaceful populations until they are noticed by the local residents and taken to a holding facility. There, they release biological compounds that rupture their restraints, freeing them into the heart of the community, where they quickly disrupt its healthy balance. They tear apart the earth’s crust, allowing subterranean fluids to ooze forth, flooding the land and mutilating the terrain.

Poisons, invasin spray, Lacta Mace Adaptive defenses, double-layer force field, acid resistance Salmonella typhi are wicked creatures that torment Soma as much by spreading fear as by the physical devastation they can inflict. Though their beginnings remain mysterious, S. typhi’s arrival in Soma was quickly recognized as a crushing blow to the Defenders’ and the Apothecaries’ valiant efforts to keep peace in the land.

Because few Shigella species are capable of traveling on their own, they take advantage of Soma’s mobile creatures by hitchhiking and hijacking. They drug their locomotors, and force the innocent animals to carry them to new and uncharted territories, where they can begin the nightmare of infection all over again.

S. typhi invade primarily through Buccal Bay, sometimes also sending armies aerially to Respiro Forest. They first target the Marshes of Alimentum, where they grow their armies in preparation for a widespread assault. After a fortnight and a half, they burst through the banks of the marshes, spilling into the surrounding territories and festering in the Waste-Processing City and Hemofactory Outpost, as well as throughout Soma’s rivers. Their strikes cause intense wildfires, disturbances in the Southern Dam, and extreme pressure in Sententia, which disrupts the city’s processing power. S. typhi have many battle tricks. They spray a chemical called invasin, which makes dumbfounded Soman inhabitants invite them into their homes. They surround themselves with a distinctive double-layer force field, and carry with them a poison that paralyzes the Defenders preventing Apothecary bombing campaigns—removing one of the Apothecary’s most relied-upon tactics. Furthermore, S. typhi’s weapons also include endotoxin, a poison typically wielded by Lords of the Unstained Legion, and a black steel sword that helps them battle their way through Soma. Fortunately, many Apothecaries are swift and effective at eliminating this menace, particularly if their invasions are noticed quickly. Successfully banishing the wily Lords should allow a full recovery for Soma’s affected regions. However, like so many of the Pestilence Armies, S. typhi need the land for their survival, and thus are not likely to go down without a fight.

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Lords of Pestilence | Stained Legion Rod

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Staphylococcus aureus S. aureus are a growing threat to Soma, mostly due to their ability to adapt and evade the Apothecaries’ strategies. They are the ancestors, for example, of the terrifyingly elusive MRSA and VRSA, two of the most powerful Lords. And S. aureus themselves are no easy enemy. While they can sometimes live peacefully along Soma’s Boundary Wall, in the Northern Forest, and occasionally on the beach of Buccal Bay, they can be just as threatening as their more evolved cousins. They are known to turn violent on the Boundary Wall, for example, puncturing the rocks as they charge up and down the walls. Even more sinister is when they move inland, infiltrating the Respiro Forest, Sententia, Twin Heart City, and the Skeletal Mountains, causing widespread damage throughout the land. If the Apothecary front fails to restrain these invaders, island-wide disease can ensue, leaving the land dark and decayed, devoid of life.

Alias: Golden Missa

S. aureus live and travel in familial herds, with offspring staying near their parents to form small cluster armies. Their golden hue, while beautiful, is actually key to their foreboding presence within Soma. The yellow pigment of their armored skin serves to absorb the toxins of the Defenders’ arrowheads, soaking up the poisonous sap before it can penetrate into the monsters’ bodies. S. aureus also have several toxins of their own, which they expel during battle to bring Soma’s inhabitants to their knees.

Nemeses: Oxacillin, Cefazolin The name aureus means golden in Latin. Some are peaceful.

Shigellosis, manipulate fluids, dehydrate, hijack Adaptive defenses, escape restraints

Lords of Pestilence | Stained Legion Grape Cluster

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Staphylococcus saprophyticus

Staphylococcus epidermidis Alias: Yuti of the Honey Moon

Aliases: Skin Traitor, Staphylococcus albus

Nemeses: Cefazolin, Levoflaxacin, Oxacillin, TMP-SMX, Amox/Clav

Nemeses: Cefazolin, Oxacillin, Vancomycin

Affinities: dead animals, cattle, sheep, swine, women

Affinities: Smooth surfaces, infirmaries

Inhibits the presence of other Lords of Pestilence.

When clustered together as a colony, has a white glow. Normally peaceful.

Flay skin, heat wave, lethargy, biofilm, slime, sabotage Adaptive defenses Staphylococcus epidermidis normally live in peace outside of Soma’s Boundary Wall. But when the Nodal Sentry is compromised due to the relentless attacks of other Pestilence armies, S. epidermidis can show its vicious side, flaying the skin of its victims and leaving behind a noxious slime. When the Boundary Wall is being repaired they can cluster tightly together and then attract other Lords to join the effort, collectively forming an impenetrable barricade of Pestilence agents. In this formation, Apothecaries cannot reach the deepest individuals in the living wall, allowing the evil armies to rest and replenish their resources. They can also enter Soma up the channel to the Southern Exit, stowing away undetected on vessels involved in channel maintenance, and contaminating the channel by spreading a poisonous biofilm that is so difficult to remove that maintenance crews often have to undo their own work and start over from scratch.

Lords of Pestilence | Stained Legion Grape Cluster

Acid resistance, scales, consume waste This sultry Pestilence creature has a predilection for torturing young female victims. These devious creatures take up residence in the lower channels near the Caverns of Bladdara, latching onto its walls with serpentine tentacles, disrupting its flow and causing severe pain with their razors to inhabitants in the water and near the shore. Special scales on their lower bodies allow them to thrive in the varying acidic conditions of the lower channels. They can survive in high concentrations of waste near the southern exits, and even consume them for sustenance when necessary. They particularly enjoy feasting on rotting carcasses. Traveling in close-knit groups, they find their way to the Caverns of Bladdara via multiple routes, but are notorious for swimming up from the exits and burning the shores as they go. They also travel to Soma’s filtration center, which only serves to further aggravate the ebb and flow. Their efforts of sabotage often involve hurling stones that either dam the waterways or cause a buildup of sediment that can leach into the river systems, upsetting the ecological balance. S. saprophyticus are selfish, however, and desire Soma only for themselves—their presence actually inhibits other Agents of Pestilence, a trait that the Apothecary Healers have not failed to notice and seek to use to their advantage.

Their attacks can outlast even the best efforts of Apothecary Warriors, and the effects can be devastating. They aggravate the suburban residents of Twin Heart City, causing changes in temperature and general lethargy throughout the land. The rivers and streams of Soma begin to dry up, failing to carry the necessary nutrients to the island’s inhabitants.

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Tentacles, groin strike, hurl stones, burn, razors, sabotage

Lords of Pestilence | Stained Legion Grape Cluster

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Streptococcus pneumoniae Aliases: Strep pneumoniae, Respiro Demon, pneumococcus Nemeses: Penicillin, Haemophilus influenzae

Suffocate, slash, piercing scream, burn, contaminate, psychic squeeze, psychic bubble, Lacta Mace Adaptive defenses

Many are peaceful. PRSP, a more dangerous relative, can resist Penicillin.

Despite its name, these Respiro Demons can attack more than just the Respiro Forest. They can wreak havoc on a wide range of systems in Soma, including the land surrounding Buccal Bay, the Auditoria, and even Sententia. They are similar to other cocco-demons in their weakness to certain Apothecary potions made of bile or optochin—a trait which is one of the few things that more than 90 different battalions of S. pneumoniae have in common. Each battalion differs in the intensity and frequency of its attacks, as well as its vulnerability to various Apothecary defenses. Thus, each attack on Soma must be carefully studied before planning a counterattack. S. pneumoniae are an ancient Soman menace, having plagued the country for more than a century. Like many Lords of Pestilence, they strike as soon as the opportunity presents itself. Fortunately, they are relatively easy to capture— and information from captured S. pneumoniae prisoners has been valuable to the Apothecary efforts over the years, revealing methods of intelligence-sharing among other Pestilence agents. But that doesn’t make them any less threatening.

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Streptococcus pyogenes Choke, ray of blistering, ray of dizziness, heat wave, flay skin, devour flesh, drive Nodal Sentry mad, toxins, shock

Aliases: Strep, Flesh-Eating Demon, Scarlet Fever Demon Nemeses: Penicillin, Cephalosporins These demons can infest Soma’s entire perimeter, and are commonly found in Buccal Bay and along the Pharyngeal Path, where they stain the whole area scarlet red. They are surrounded by a protective chain that shields them from the counterattacks of the Nodal Sentry, preventing their capture and demise, and they carry a large arsenal of weapons that can inflict moderate to severe damage in the areas they occupy. The gravest S. pyogenes attacks take such a toll on the Boundary Wall that parts of it begin to crumble, disintegrating into the sea surrounding the island. This insult to Soma’s first line of protection against other Pestilence invaders renders the world vulnerable to unpredictable attacks, for which the Nodal Sentry is not prepared.

Protective chain Some battalions of S. pyogenes also carry a suite of poisons that can spread the Lords’ wrath beyond Soma’s boundary. And these Pestilence agents can even inflict harm after they depart, by using their Rune of Power to leave behind an evil presence that turns Soman protectors against Soma. The Nodal Sentry, seemingly driven mad by the terror of the S. pyogenes invasion, begins to attack the filtration system, the Skeletal Mountains, and even Twin Heart City, threatening to finish the job started by the invasion. Fortunately, S. pyogenes are no match for the heralded Apothecary warrior Penicillin, if their invasions are caught early enough.

An interesting antagonistic relationship exists between S. pneumoniae and fellow Pestilence agent Haemophilus influenzae. While either group can reside in the Respiro Forest on their own, these two cannot peacefully coexist, and Soma’s Nodal Sentry seems to recognize some compelling interactions between the two. Though the details remain murky, it is clear that there is no love lost between these two agents, and Soma’s natural defenses are often able to take advantage of their quarrels to extinguish the invaders before they can inflict widespread damage. Lords of Pestilence | Stained Legion Lancet Diplococci

Lords of Pestilence | Stained Legion Chained Sphere

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Treponema pallidum Aliases: Syphilis, Yaws, Pinta, Bejel Nemeses: Penicillin, Azithromycin Affinies: Snakes, promiscuous adults One of the Great Imitators. Its powers are not well understood.

Rend flesh, deform, swell, blind, cause madness

Treponema pallidum are crafty temptresses who penetrate Soma’s Boundary Wall by charming their way onto boats heading for the Southern Coast, adjacent to Fecal Inlet. Once inside Soma, these sultry creatures swim upstream, undulating like water snakes, from the harbor close to the Caverns of Bladdara, searching for imperfections along the shore through which they can infiltrate Soma’s natural waterways and travel to the far corners of the world.

No one knows exactly how T. pallidum manages to wreak such devastation, but the results are Evade detection far from subtle. The wily temptresses can harm Soma’s filtration systems and the camps of the valiant Sentry, even making their way to the Skeletal Mountains. If T. pallidum are not eliminated quickly by the Apothecaries, damage begins to appear along the length of the Boundary Wall, with notable deterioration around Buccal Bay and the Southern Coast. Their presence also can cause harmful rises in temperature and a dearth of nutrients that enter through Buccal Bay to supply the land. Eventually, T. pallidum will even permeate Twin Heart City and Sententia, where they can disrupt the rhythm of Soman life and affect drastic alterations in Soma’s typically warm and inviting collective persona. While a handful of Apothecaries can successfully eradicate T. pallidum, the Lords cannot be captured, and thus much remains unknown about how they inflict such destruction, making it nearly impossible for Soma to prepare for such attacks.

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Vibrio cholerae Vibrio cholerae are poisonous Lords that excrete a potentially lethal toxin into Soma’s alimental channels, causing massive and frequent surges down the waterway. There are several types of V. cholerae that can induce such turbulence to Soma, and they enter Buccal Bay freely, in the water or on the ships of Soma’s fishermen. After they gain entry, they settle into the lower Marshes of Alimentum, where they burrow into the banks. There, they build their armies and, with the help of an autonomous shuttle, spread the recipe for their illness-inducing toxin.

Aliases: Cholera, Blue Death Nemesis: Doxycycline Affinity: Shellfish Manipulate fluids, toxins, dehydrate Burrowing, filamentous appendage

Finally, when they sense that enough troops are ready to produce a sufficient amount of toxin to launch an effective strike, they release their poison, causing the banks of the marshes to swell and sending floods of water out Fecal Inlet and occasionally back up through Buccal Bay. The sudden outflow can leave the land dry and weak, and the people dying of thirst. After they have unleashed their poisonous assault, V. cholerae re-enter the marshes and move on with the current to their next victim. As the world continues to warm, these heat-loving Pestilence creatures attack more often and with greater power. They are evolving, becoming even more vicious, causing severe damage across the island and threatening to destroy it altogether. To counter this threat, the Apothecary Army must act swiftly when V. cholerae strike, replenishing the island’s waterways and expediting the delivery of key nutrients to villages throughout the land.

Lords of Pestilence | Unstained Legion Rod

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VRE (Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococcus) Alias: Viyari Nemesis: Linezolid Affinities: Infirmaries, chickens Formerly believed to be a Streptococcus Lord. Usually peaceful. Can teach adaptive defenses to others of the Stained Legion.

Mimic other Lords’ attack styles Web-like cords, mimic, misdirect

These demons are closely related to E. faecalis, but are even more devious. Like their close relative, they can thrive in even the most uninhabitable places, but they are usually too self-absorbed to bother attacking Soma, preferring instead to spread their knowledge of battle tactics to other Lords, and let their disciples mount attacks in their stead. But those VRE with a hunger for violence are among They the most feared Lords are the most that exist. elite, most unstoppable of the Enterococcus demons, able to evade the attacks of almost every Apothecary warrior. If left unchecked, they can set the settlements along the Marshes of Alimentum ablaze, and can even bring an end to Soma entirely by spreading contamination and fire. The few mercenaries that can defeat VRE demand such high fees that even escaping destruction leads to economic ruin for Soma. As such, terrified Somans burn offerings to the Enterococcus demons with the hope of placating them and staying in their good graces.

Lords of Pestilence | Stained Legion Cocci | Coccobacillary | Chained Sphere

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Vancomycin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (VRSA) Alias: The Dreaded Versa Nemesis: Linezolid Affinity: Infirmaries Extremely rare.

Share weapons, fire-breathing Adaptive defenses, share/copy armor, thick skin This fearsome creature represents the pinnacle of Pestilence evolution. Only a handful of Apothecary warriors have the ability to destroy it—but perhaps most frightening of all is its ability to train other Agents of Pestilence how to adapt and survive under duress. Vancomycin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (VRSA), the youngest group of S. aureus dragons, has learned to evade Vancomycin, the Apothecary warrior of last resort, which leaves few options left for Soma. The first VRSA army assembled in 2002, when a MRSA liege and a band of E. faecalis crossed paths in a nearby land. By way of an autonomous messenger, some of the E. faecalis army slipped their Vancomycin antidote to their MRSA allies, and a new breed of S. aureus was born, one that could resist the attacks of both Methicillin and Vancomycin, two of the most effective Apothecaries defending Soma. Fortunately, VRSA attacks are extremely rare, and there have been only 10 known VRSA sightings ever recorded. There have also been sightings of VISA (Vancomycin-intermediate Staphylococcus aureus), another MRSA offshoot that has attained the Vancomycin antidote, but uses it less effectively. VISA is also a threat, albeit also rare. These dragons have such thick skin that Vancomycin’s weapons cannot penetrate it. VISA and VRSA not only threaten to inflict direct damage to Soma, they also serve to confuse the Apothecary Army, which requires a thorough understanding of Pestilence agents’ vulnerabilities to launch an effective counterattack. When both MRSA and VRSA infections are present, Apothecary strategizing can become nearly impossible. Thus, while VRSA and VISA attacks on Soma are still infrequent, they have the potential to become the first Lords of Pestilence to finally outwit the Apothecary Army once and for all. As more and more VRSA armies are assembled, the scales of battle might well begin to tip away from the good and the healthful.

Lords of Pestilence | Stained Legion Grape Cluster

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Yersinia pestis Aliases: Plague Beast, Black Death, Justinian’s Monster Nemesis: Streptomycin Affinities: Rats, fleas Telltale signs include bloody saliva and black marks.

Wave of heat/frost, swell, torture, psychic burn, trigger quakes, suffocate, cause madness/lethargy, groin strike, sticky excretion, potions Yersinia pestis are one of the most ancient scourges to haunt Soma, and have been responsible for the deaths of countless other worlds in the deep past, even before the Apothecary Healers began offering protection to Soma and other lands. In fact, these Pestilence agents were only discovered centuries after some of their most horrific killing sprees and, over the last few decades, the breadth of their wrath has slowly been revealed. When Soman scouts visited a string of barrier islands that had fallen victim to a mysterious villain some 600 years ago, for example, they found the remains of some Y. pestis beasts preserved in the rocks surrounding the islands’ entry bays, leaving little doubt as to the cause of the tragedy. Y. pestis can be so devastating that some lands have gone so far as to purposefully release the Pestilence agents on enemy territories as a form of warfare. Yet these beasts still lurk around Soma’s perimeter, feasting on giant marine rodents and breaking through the Boundary Wall whenever the vermin come ashore to nest on the beaches. They synthesize a sticky excretion that allows them to scale the wall and enter Soma’s border towns. They also produce a potion that eliminates blockages from Soma’s waterways, in order to speed up the rate at which they infiltrate the rest of the land, where they are skilled at evading raids by Soma’s Nodal Sentry and can cause widespread damage. Thankfully, however, now that Y. pestis have been definitively identified, the appropriate Apothecary counterattack can usually protect Soma from extensive damage.

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Lords of Pestilence | Unstained Legion Coccobacillary

Apothecary Families

Aminoglycoside

Cephalosporin

Glycylcycline

Macrolide

Carbapenem

Lincosamide

Oxazolidinone

Tetracycline

Carboxypenicillin

Aminopenicillin

Chloramphenicol

penicillin

Nitroimidazole

Glycopeptide

Ureidopenicillin

Monobactam

Fluoroquinolones

Sulfonamides

Amoxicillin/Clavulanate Nom de Guerre: Amox Clav Age: Mature Clan: (Amox) Penam Family: (Amox) Aminopenicillin (Clav) Clavam Association: (Amox) Beta-Lactam (Clav) Anti-Lacta Mace Fighting Style: Deadly force Specialty: P. multocida, P. mirabilis, Staph saprophyticus

Anti-Lacta Mace shield Amoxicillin is a valiant Beta-Lactam warrior who has slain the Lords of Pestilence that haunt Soma for more than 40 years, and has become a hero often called into battle. He is effective against a range of Pestilence invaders in various regions of Soma, including the Boundary Wall, the Northern and Respiro Forests, the Auditoria, and the channel to the Southern Coast. Unfortunately, like the rest of his Beta-Lactam comrades, he cannot withstand the Lords who wield the Lacta Mace. To protect himself, Amoxicillin allied himself with legendary armorer Clavulanate, in order to design a living shield that could effectively block the Lacta Mace. Armed and ready, Amoxicillin returned to battle stronger than ever. At present, he is known to enter Soma through Buccal Bay, typically with an influx of fish and other nutrient-rich aquatic animals, and disperses quickly and efficiently to the center of the attacks. In fact, he is considered to be one of the most effective of the Penam clan due to his swift penetration. Unfortunately, Amoxicillin is not the gentlest Apothecary. He has been known to disrupt the flow of the Marshes of Alimentum, sending water back out through Buccal Bay or rushing south through Fecal Inlet. He can also irritate the communities along the Boundary Wall. Such irritation is often indistinguishable from a more threatening allergic reaction, in which an Apothecary triggers the overreaction of the Nodal Sentry, which begin attacking the very land they serve to protect.

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Apothecary Healers | Aminopenicillin/ Clavam

Ampicillin Nom de Guerre: Amp Age: Elderly Clan: Penam Family: Aminopenicillin Association: Beta-Lactam Fighting Style: Deadly force Allies: Sulbactam, Gentamicin, TMP-SMX

Specialties: E. faecalis, L. monocytogenes, P. mirabilis

Cause stupor Ampicillin is one of the chief seductresses of the Apothecary Army. She uses the oldest trick in the book—striking her enemies with disarming beauty before cutting them off at their knees. Ampicillin was only the second Apothecary to learn how to effectively eliminate Stained Legion armies, and the first of the Penam clan to develop broad-spectrum effectiveness. Mother of the great Amoxicillin, many say she is still even fiercer than her son. She has also proven herself more agile than clan elder Penicillin, with her aerodynamic armor that allows her to efficiently penetrate to the heart of battle. Like the rest of her family, she kills Pestilence agents by blocking their ability to grow and regenerate their armor, and is effective against infections in the channel to the Southern Coast. She also is deployed to dispatch the likes of Haemophilus influenzae, Salmonella, and Listeria, although her charms have grown old on many Lords, who have learned to resist her seduction. Pseudomonas and Klebsiella are often able to survive Ampicillin’s attacks, thus she is often paired with other Apothecaries in hopes that a combination of strikes will be sufficient to take down the offending Lords. On rare occasions, Ampicillin’s alluring wiles can confuse the Nodal Sentry, causing severe and damaging attacks on Soma’s own residents. Usually, though, she is a peaceful combatant, and is as critical to the Apothecary Army as any warrior ever was. Apothecary Healers | Aminopenicillin

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Ampicillin/Sulbactam

Azithromycin

Nom de Guerre: Amp Sulbactam

Nom de Guerre: Azithro

Age: Mature

Age: Young

Clan: Penam

Clan: Saccharopolyspora erythraea

Family: Aminopenicillin

Family: Macrolide

Association: Beta-Lactam, Anti-Lacta Mace

Association: None

Fighting Style: Deadly force

Fighting Style: Containment Specialties: L. pneumoniae, Mycoplasma pneumoniae, T. pallidum

Cause stupor Sulbactam plate armor

Block, crushing grip Ampicillin’s twin brother, Ampicillin/Sulbactam, is much more protected than his sister, equipped as he is with the finest Sulbactam plates which were designed specifically to withstand blows from the feared Lacta Mace that many Pestilence agents carry. Ampicillin/ Sulbactam is thus often sent in to fight Lords who have shown resilience in battle against his sister or other Beta-Lactams.

Azithromycin, son of the great Erythromycin, is one of the most commonly summoned Apothecaries. Like his mother, he captures Pestilence agents and prevents them from building the structures they need to spread and thrive— then watches them die slowly. Because of their similar fighting styles, both mother and son are effective against a similar range of Lords, although Azithromycin has a slightly better track record against those of the Unstained Legion, particularly Haemophilus influenzae. Furthermore, unlike his mother, Azithromycin is not susceptible to the acidic waters found north of the Southern Dam, and thus can enter the Marshes of Alimentum unescorted, simplifying his journey to the field of battle.

Ampicillin/Sulbactam enters Soma either through the countryside, or by diving directly into the island’s river system. He can cause some disruption in the Marshes of Alimentum, but is typically a gentle fighter. More important, he is such an effective warrior against such a diverse group of Pestilence agents that he is often sent into battle when the culprit has not yet been identified. He fights Lords along the Boundary Wall, in the Respiro Forest, throughout the marshes, and elsewhere throughout the land. He can take down ferocious beasts such as Staphylococcus aureus—and he is undisturbed by the risks. In a rare display of weakness, however, Ampicillin/Sulbactam is not effective against Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Azithromycin is capable of launching an effective counterattack against a wide range of Lords, including those who invade the aqueduct entrance at the rear of Buccal Bay, the Occulos, and the Respiro Forest. He usually enters through Buccal Bay and is often transported to the site of infection by the Nodal Sentry. He is even sometimes sent in preemptively, when the Nodal Sentry is compromised in some way and the risk of a Pestilence attack is high.

Ampicillin/Sulbactam and his sister share a fraternal bond, and their similar strategies keep them close, even when they are far apart, fighting infestations on opposite ends of Soma. Their family pride pushes them forward, carrying them through even the toughest battles. Together, the Ampicillin twins are invaluable members of the Apothecary Army.

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Apothecary Healers | Aminopenicillin

Like most Apothecaries, Azithromycin’s protection comes at a cost. His presence can disrupt the flow of the marshes, causing them to discharge too quickly into the Fecal Inlet or even reverse directions. Furthermore, he has been known to put Twin Heart City at risk, particularly if it has already been compromised.

Apothecary Healers | Macrolide

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Aztreonam Nom de Guerre: Aztreonam Age: Mature Family: Monobactam Association: Beta-Lactam Fighting Style: Deadly force Allies: Other Beta-Lactams, Tobramycin Specialty: Unstained Legion only

Block, crushing grip Like others in the Beta-Lactam association, Aztreonam can slay a wide range of Lords. She often is sent into battle when the use of other Beta-Lactams would risk more harm to the land than their protective efforts can justify. She is only effective against the Unstained Legion. Thanks to the unique structure of her BetaLactam weaponry, Aztreonam can also fight alongside other Beta-Lactam warriors without incurring extra risk. Unlike many Apothecaries, Aztreonam is not able to enter Soma via Buccal Bay, but instead must penetrate Soma aerially, through the Respiro Forest, or aquatically, appearing on the banks of Soma’s rivers and following their tributaries to the site of the battle. Alternatively, she can spring from below, traveling through the world in the vast stretches of countryside, then moving to the nearest waterway for travel. Once she reaches the Lords’ infestation, her quick strike is powerful and effective. By inhibiting the Lords’ ability to build their protective armor, Aztreonam renders Soma’s nemeses vulnerable to attack.

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Apothecary Healers | Monobactam

Cefazolin Nom de Guerre: First-Gen Ceph Age: Elderly Clan: None Family: Cephalosporins Association: Beta-Lactam Fighting Style: Deadly force Specialties: Staph aureus, Staph epidermidis, Staph saprophyticus, Strep pyogenes, E. coli, P. mirabilis

Concoct potion, prevent regeneration, destroy armor The first-generation Cephalosporins are among the original warriors who traveled from the wastelands, and provided the stock for future generations. Cefazolin is the mighty patriarch of the Cephalosporin family. He was once a great warrior, defeating the Staph and Strep hordes with ease, but many of those beasts have since evolved superior defenses, while Cefazolin has weakened with age. This legendary warrior is not retired yet, however, for he is still a formidable weapon against S. pyogenes, E. coli, and agents that turn violent on Soma’s Boundary Wall. He defeats his enemies by concocting a special potion that prevents them from repairing damage or generating new body armor. This eventually causes Soma’s attackers to literally lose their form, collapsing to the ground as their insides spill out over the earth. Mercifully, Cefazolin is one of Soma’s most peaceful defenders, and rarely causes any collateral damage to the land or its inhabitants. Like some of his fellow Apothecaries, he usually is dispatched into Soma through the river system or from underground somewhere in the remote countryside, rather than the more common entry point at Buccal Bay. He then follows the world’s tributaries to battle, alongside Soma’s Nodal Sentry.

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Apothecary Healers | Cephalosporin

Cefepime Nom de Guerre: Fourth-Gen Ceph Age: Young Clan: None Family: Cephalosporin Association: Beta-Lactam Fighting Style: Deadly force Specialties: K. pneumoniae, P. multocida, Strep pyogenes, Strep pneumoniae, E. coli

Destroy armor Cefepime is a massive warrior with a widely effective strategy. Like many of his fellow Apothecaries, Cefepime targets the creation and renewal of Pestilence agents’ armor, preventing the reinforcing cross-linking that provides them with protection against the Nodal Sentry. Cefepime’s Beta-Lactam axe swiftly and powerfully slices through Pestilence armies of both the Stained and Unstained Legions. And importantly, unlike many Beta-Lactam Apothecaries—including his own family, he is not susceptible to the agents’ counterattacks. His powerful build also allows him to fully penetrate the defenses of Unstained Lords, many of whom have been able to resist the attacks of Cefepime’s forebears. Due to his significantly increased fighting ability, Cefepime can eliminate several notable threats, including Pseudomonas aeruginosa and unusually strong Streptococcus pneumoniae. He has been called one of Soma’s “last defenses against several serious human infections.” But like all members of the Apothecary Army, unleashing Cefepime against Soma’s worst enemies is not without risks. Though his presence does not increase mortality, he disrupts the flow of the Marshes of Alimentum, irritates the region of the land where he first enters Soma, and causes minor disturbances wherever he roams. More notably, he is associated with serious deficiencies in Soma’s rivers and streams, which can result in leakage that can drain the waterways, threatening to starve the island’s communities of their life-giving flow. As a result, Cefepime is usually only called into battle when Soma is under siege by severe infections of the Respiro Forest or by Pestilence armies that are resistant to most other Apothecary warriors.

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Apothecary Healers | Cephalosporin

Ceftazidime Nom de Guerre: Ceftazidime, Third-Gen Ceph Age: Mature Clan: None Family: Cephalosporin Association: Beta-Lactam Fighting Style: Deadly force Specialties: K. pneumoniae, P. multocida, H. influenzae, Strep pyogenes, E. coli Increases likelihood of VRE invasions.

Prevent regeneration, destroy armor Anti-Lacta Mace spiked armor Ceftazidime is a massive warrior in the Cephalosporin branch of the Apothecary Army. He is thirdgeneration, but is distinct from his cousins in his efficient destruction of Pseudomonas armies. He has a single piece of armor that he wears on his left shoulder, like a pad with conical spikes pointed towards the sky. This can protect him from the deadly swing of the Lacta Mace wielded by many agents of the Unstained Legion. He is, however, less effective against Lords of the Stained Legion than his generational brethren. As a result, Apothecary strategists usually only send Ceftazidime to fight a foe that is his particular specialty. Like all Cephalosporins, Ceftazidime defeats Pestilence armies by preventing their ability to grow and repair their armor. Specifically, he inhibits the armor’s linkage, causing it to fall apart and rendering the Lord susceptible to attacks by Apothecaries and Nodal Sentry warriors alike. Ceftazidime enters Soma either through the waterways or from the countryside, from where he then makes his way to the streams and rivers. Thence, he travels efficiently to the site of infection, and joins the fray. He is commonly sent in to battle throughout Soma, including along the Boundary Wall, in the Skeletal Mountains and the Respiro Forest, and along the channel to the Southern Coast.

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Apothecary Healers | Cephalosporin

Ceftriaxone Nom de Guerre: Ceftriaxone, Third-Gen Ceph Age: Mature Clan: None Family: Cephalosporin Association: Beta-Lactam Fighting Style: Deadly force Specialties: K. pneumoniae, N. gonorrhoeae, N. meningitidis, P. mirabilis, S. typhi, S. pyogenes, E. coli

“Thiotriazinedione” blade, destroy armor, prevent regeneration

Ceftriaxone is one of the third generation of Cephalosporins, a generation of warriors that have nearly perfected their skills against the Unstained Legion, yet have grown weaker against the Stained. Still, these are very strong warriors who carry very large swords. Originally residents of Soma’s fungal forests, the family has spread around the earth, courageously taking on the Lords who threaten Soma’s survival. Ceftriaxone is capable of defeating a great many Pestilence creatures, and she can resist attacks that devastate other Beta-Lactam comrades. Having replaced the traditional acetyl sword with her new “Thiotriazinedione” blade, her attacks are even more effective. Since Neisseria gonorrhoeae have developed new defenses, she is one of the only Apothecaries left who can reliably take them down.

She targets the enemy’s ability to reconstruct its armor following injury, and produce armor for future generations. Mercifully, her assaults are well tolerated by the land and its peaceful inhabitants, causing only rare and mild unrest. Very infrequently, the water that nourishes Soma has been observed to drain from the hills after Ceftriaxone has been unleashed on the Lords, leaving the land pallid and emaciated. But it has never been proven that it is Ceftriaxone’s attacks themselves that cause this severe condition, and thus the fear of such a loss has never stopped the Apothecaries from sending Ceftriaxone to the front lines.

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Apothecary Healers | Cephalosporin

Chloramphenicol This old warrior is not as powerful as newer recruits, yet he still has some fighting spirit left in him. While younger, stronger Apothecaries may be sent into battle first, Chloramphenicol is still called to fight when their efforts fail—and, as one of the earliest defenders of Soma, his experience is invaluable. His excellent penetration of the walls of Sententia (far superior to the Cephalosporins) still makes him a preferred choice for Staph attacks on Soma’s communications headquarters.

Nom de Guerre: Chloramphenicol, Chlornitromycin

But he is dangerous. It is rumored that he once had a connection to the Agents of Pestilence, and he is notably insensitive towards Soma’s inhabitants. The old curmudgeon’s recklessness can impair the barracks of the Skeletal Mountains that produce Soma’s Nodal Sentry and feed the waterways, leaving Soma more vulnerable to other Pestilence Lords. Thus, while he may effectively eliminate one attacker, he simultaneously emboldens others.

Allies: Doxycycline, Cephalosporins, Clindamycin, Penicillin

Due to safety concerns, he is no longer allowed to enter through Buccal Bay, and he is not usually called to service by island nations that can afford better options. But since he is both cheap and easy to summon, he is frequently called to defend poorer realms. In addition, the Lords of Pestilence’s increasing resistance to newer defenders has renewed interest in his abilities.

Apothecary Healers | Chloramphenicol

Age: Ancient Clan: Streptomyces venezuelae Family: Chloramphenicol Association: None Fighting Style: Containment

Semi-retired. Ancestors lived among Streptomyces venezuelae. Original mission was to fight S. typhi, but the now almost universal resistance of S. typhi has limited his power.

Block, crushing grip

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Ciprofloxacin

Nom de Guerre: Cipro Age: Mature Clan: None Family: Fluoroquinolone Association: None Fighting Style: Deadly force Allies: Doxycycline, Cephalosporins, Clindamycin, Penicillin Specialties: B. anthracis, K. pneumoniae, P. mirabilis, Shigella, S. typhi

Spiral thrust Cipro’s fierce attack is unmistakable. She destroys the ability of the Lords of Pestilence to multiply, inhibiting the enzymes that enable them to breed and spawn more evil into the world of Soma. Unfortunately, she is not always able to restrict her vengeance exclusively to the Lords, and her devastating blows can, at times, hurt the earth as well. Her indiscriminate violence can hinder Soma’s ability to recover, and do more harm than good if she is allowed to linger too long. Worse, the Lords can learn to evade her wrath if she is unleashed too often. But she is a valiant warrior, having nearly perfected the spiral thrust technique, and she is capable of keeping the Lords at bay if her powers are used strategically. She shares many qualities with her father, the late Nalidixic, who also struck his victims at the level of their heredity, impeding their ability to replicate. While this can be a dangerous mode of attack, it has the advantage of being broadly effective against a great many Lords. Indeed, Cipro is able to fell numerous Lords of both the Stained and Unstained legions. She can also team up with fellow Apothecaries to widen the pool of enemies against which she is effective. If Cipro is deployed sparingly, against the right victims in the right circumstances, she can be an invaluable competitor in the war that haunts Soma.

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Apothecary Healers | Fluoroquinolone

Clindamycin

Doxycycline Doxy has nearly perfected the art of ring-weapon fighting. She is a slight warrior, but she packs a punch, can effectively counter attacks by a wide range of Pestilence agents, and is even deployed ahead of time when the threat of invasion is high. It is important that she not be deployed within Soma for too long, however, as her presence can cause vulnerabilities in the Boundary Wall.

Nom de Guerre: Clindamycin Age: Elderly Family: Lincosamide Fighting Style: Containment Allies: Vancomycin, Cipro

She enters Soma through Buccal Bay, where again her mere presence can aggravate the surrounding land and creatures. Upon entry, she travels through the Southern Dam into the Marshes of Alimentum, sometimes disrupting their flow and causing unrest along the banks, while using Soma’s waterways to navigate to the site of battle.

Increases likelihood of C. difficile invasions.

Block, crushing grip

The fire-throwing Clindamycin is an intimidating Apothecary with the power to devastate a number of Pestilence armies, particularly those that thrive in close environments. His help comes at a cost, however: he clears the way for the inherently resistant Clostridium difficile that flourish in the aftermath of Clindamycin battles, disrupting the flow of the Marshes of Alimentum and threatening to parch the island. Clindamycin is also is known to be somewhat careless with his fiery weapons, which, unleashed in the wrong environment, can cause direct damage around Soma, including occasionally setting fire to Twin Heart City.

Nom de Guerre: Doxy Age: Elderly Family: Tetracycline Fighting Style: Containment Specialties: B. burgdorferi, B. henselae, C. burnetii, Mycoplasma, R. rickettsii, V. cholerae Has a distaste for Soman food, milk, certain minerals, and sunlight.

Ring weapons, block, crushing grip

Like the rest of the Tetracycline family, once Doxy has reached the battlefield, she attacks the offenders with her ring weapons, which she is extremely skilled at using. She immediately begins to cut off the Lords’ abilities to assemble their basic building blocks of life, and watches them fall, one by one. She is an independent warrior who prefers to fight on her own—but for Soma’s most serious invasions, she will work in tandem with other Apothecaries to rid the land of evil forces. She should be deployed when Buccal Bay fisheries are at low tide, as fish can interfere with her ability to exit the marshes and reach the battleground.

Despite these risks, however, Clindamycin is a powerful member of the Apothecary Army, and is often called to repel invasions of the Respiro Forest, the Skeletal Mountains, the rock perimeter of Buccal Bay, and the Boundary Wall. He can step in when Penicillin is not tolerated by the local communities, and has been known to defeat the mighty MRSA (although many MRSA armies are developing effective counterattacks to Clindamycin’s strike). Clindamycin usually enters the land through Buccal Bay, though he can head directly to the embattled areas of the Boundary Wall or dive directly into the world’s rivers and streams. He attacks the Lords by inhibiting their ability to brew their poisons. In cases of the widespread panic of toxic shock, Clindamycin is often teamed up with Vancomycin, who targets the Pestilence agents’ external armor—a lethal combination attack for most Lord armies. Clindamycin can also affect the integrity of Pestilence armor, rendering the agents susceptible to the Nodal Sentry.

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Apothecary Healers | Lincosamide

Apothecary Healers | Tetracycline

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Ertapenem Nom de Guerre: Ertapenem Age: Very Young Clan: None Family: Carbapenem Association: Beta-Lactam Fighting Style: Deadly force, last resort Weakness: Carbapenem Mace, Metallo-Enhanced weapons.

Spells, prevent skin growth, resistant to most varieties of Lacta Mace Like her older relative Imipenem, Ertapenem belongs to the Carbapenem family and uses her powerful sorcery to destroy Pestilence agents by weakening their skin until the villains’ insides eventually spill out in a gory mess. Unlike Imipenem, who fights with a partner for protection, she fights alone, untroubled by the powerful Lacta Mace that some Lords wield, although like others in the Carbapenem family, Metallo-Enhanced weapons and the Carbapenem Mace are her achilles heel. Fortunately such weapons are still very rare. With her pyrrolidine ring for conjuring spells, she is able to defeat an impressively wide variety of both Stained and Unstained villains, almost as many as Imipenem can, with the exception of A. baumannii and P. aeruginosa, who are unaffected by her magic. She can endure battle even longer than Imipenem, however, and is a better fighter against Strep pyogenes. Like Imipenem, she travels by Soma’s waterways to answer the call to fight, and even though she is gentle to her surroundings, her presence has been known to awaken the feared C. difficile, or upset the balance in the Marshes of Alimentum, thus she is usually called in only as a last line of defense when others have failed.

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Apothecary Healers| Carbapenem

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Erythromycin Nom de Guerre: Erythro Age: Elderly Clan: Saccharopolyspora erythraea Family: Macrolide Association: None Fighting Style: Containment Specialties: B. henselae, B. pertussis, C. jejuni Will not fight alongside Clindamycin.

Block, crushing grip Spawned by the Lords themselves, Erythromycin was one of the first Pestilence agents ever to cross over to the side of the Apothecaries, and she quickly proved to be a valuable asset. She is particularly effective against the more obscure Lords, and can serve as a capable backup when Penicillin cannot be called to battle. But Erythromycin has a dominant personality, and is not gentle or tactful. Her presence can be polarizing, causing agitation when she interferes with communication among Soma’s inhabitants. She can at times inflict significant damage and trigger panic, stirring up fear and irrationality. Meanwhile, other residents fall under her spell, devoted and fanatical, with some even dying of heartbreak when she departs. She can also obstruct the efforts of fellow Apothecaries, inhibiting Soma’s support forces and forcing some warriors to retreat in search of more resources before the battle is ended, as well as causing others to linger longer than is wise. There are additional weaknesses. The acidic waters around the Southern Dam neutralize her powers. She takes care, too, to avoid her cousin, Clindamycin, with whom she has such clash of personalities that both impede the other’s ability to fight. Yet despite her shortcomings, Erythromycin can devastate a good many Lords, as her troops rapidly disperse throughout the land and restrain the Lords’ abilities to generate the basic structures they need to survive. Her distinctive reddish armor and aura is a welcome sight when the battle is fierce.

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Apothecary Healers| Macrolide

Nom de Guerre: Gent

Gentamicin

Age: Elderly Clan: None Family: Aminoglycoside Association: None Fighting Style: Deadly force Allies: Beta-Lactams, Carbapenems Specialties: S. aureus, S. epidermidis Can not be harmed by Lacta Mace

Intelligence sabotage, block, crushing grip Heat resistance Gentamicin is a grizzled veteran of the Apothecary Army. Like many of his fellow Apothecaries, he strikes down Pestilence armies by inhibiting the beasts’ abilities to produce the very building blocks of life. He can also interfere with enemy communication, resulting in garbled battle plans and blueprints. He is impervious to extreme heat, and is effective against a wide range of Lords, mostly those of the Unstained Legion. However, Gentamicin is not the gentlest of Soma’s defenders, and his presence can have devastating effects on the land. Just as he inhibits the ability of Pestilence agents to generate critical compounds of life, Gentamicin can also have the same effect on the workers of Soma’s main filtration centers. Killing these vital contributors to Soma’s overall well-being in turn leads to the failure of the filtration systems and the release of toxins throughout the land. Furthermore, Gentamicin’s “drunken master” technique is known to disturb the harmony of a key communication post, Auditoria, cutting off contact between Soma and surrounding islands—not to mention Apothecary strategists. Gentamicin’s carelessness can bring disequilibrium to the nearby Vestibular Labyrinths, where the buoyancy of the floating island is regulated. Damage to this region can result in Soma’s overall instability, throwing the island and all of its inhabitants off balance. Balance can be restored after Gentamicin departs, but some damage, including that to Auditoria, is permanent. As a result, Apothecary strategists have often been reluctant to send Gentamicin into battle, though some worry that the alternative—more broadspectrum Apothecaries—has led to the rising resistance problems now faced by Soma.

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Apothecary Healers | Aminoglycoside

Levofloxacin

Imipenem/Cilastatin Nom de Guerre: Imipenem Age: Mature Clan: None Family: Carbapenem Association: Beta-Lactam Fighting Style: Deadly force, last resort Allies: TMP-SMX, Aminoglycosides Specialties: A. baumannii, P. aeruginosa, K. pneumoniae Weakness: Defenseless against a Carbapenem Mace.

Spells, prevent skin growth Imipenem and Cilastatin are a commanding, elite duo. The powerful sorcerer Imipenem destroys a variety of Pestilence agents, while his guardian, Cilastatin, protects him as he works his magic. Imipenem thwarts the Lords’ abilities to multiply by preventing them from growing skin. Without his guardian Cilastatin, however, Soma’s filtration system would quickly arrest Imipenem’s powers and inhibit his spells. But together, the pair can defend Soma against attacks in Respiro Forest, the Boundary Wall, the Caverns of Bladdara, and other vulnerable cities. When called to action, the duo appear in Soma’s main waterways, or in the countryside where they follow the streams and rivers to the battlefield. Imipenem is related to the great Penam clan, but where

Nom de Guerre: Levo Age: Young Clan: None Family: Fluoroquinolone Association: None Fighting Style: Deadly force Allies: Doxy, Cephalosporins Specialties: B. anthracis, L. pneumophila, P. mirabilis, Staph saprophyticus, Shigella, S. typhi

Quick penetration

the Penicillins cause harm to the land, this duo proceeds with greater care. Yet on rare occasions, Imipenem’s magic results in destructive earthquakes, or disturbs the normal flow of the Marshes of Alimentum, harming inhabitants and Respiro Forest. Because of this rare but deadly risk, the duo are typically called in only as a lastditch effort, when other measures have failed.

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Apothecary Healers | Carbapenem

Apothecary Healers | Fluoroquinolone

Levofloxacin is a crafty Apothecary, with the power to slay Pestilence armies infesting the Respiro Forest, the Marshes of Alimentum, and the areas surrounding the Caverns of Bladdara. He can also be deployed alongside other Apothecaries to defeat the most serious infestations. Levofloxacin is known for his ability to quickly reach the site of battle. He can enter Soma through either the river system or Buccal Bay and, from either place, locate the enemy far faster than most of his brethren. Generally a gentle warrior, on rare occasions he loses his temper, inadvertently destroying paths through the Skeletal Mountains or slicing power lines in the valleys, disrupting activity throughout the region. Though chances of such destruction are low, the consequences are severe, making this hero a subject of much controversy and discussion. This sly warrior attacks a critical part of the Pestilence chain of command, preventing the reproduction and growth of their armies. While it is a swift and effective assault, strategists fear they have taken advantage of his skill too frequently for too long—and the rise of Pestilence agents who can repel Levofloxacin in battle is the result.

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Linezolid Nom de Guerre: Linezolid Age: Very young Clan: None Family: Oxazolidinone Association: None Fighting Style: Containment, occasional deadly force, last resort Allies: Aztreonam, third-generation Cephalosporins, Clarithromycin Specialty: VRE, MRSA, VRSA Only effective against Stained Legion.

Psionic stun, preemptive strike, crushing grip Linezolid is an arrogant and wealthy combat specialist with unparalleled psionic powers—and unparalleled retainer fees. Unrelated to other Apothecary warriors, she comes from alien origins and is new to the Apothecary ranks. Furthermore, in her relentless, obsessive approach to defeating enemies, she takes few precautions, caring not if she harms the innocent along the way. She is one of the most dangerous Apothecary warriors. Her psionic attack can erase the thoughts of invading Lords, leaving them stunned and simple-minded, unable to manufacture any of their dastardly tools, spells, weapons, or poisons. Although many Apothecary warriors use tactics to inhibit or impede, Linezolid is the lone warrior who can stop the Lords at an early stage in their plans, before they even begin. But her powers only work well against the Stained Legion, who are marked by their purple stain, a distinctive aura that surrounds their being and leaves a trace that Linezolid is able to sense. When Linezolid joins the battle, especially if she lingers too long or ends up engaged with the Unstained Legion, there can be dire consequences for innocent bystanders, who can become blinded or shell-shocked. And something about her unusual powers can cause the underground streams of the Skeletal Mountains to stop running, stressing and fracturing the very structure of Soma’s core, threatening its existence. It is easy to see why Linezolid is not called to battle except in times of extreme desperation. But when faced with rampaging VRE or MRSA, she is one of the only heroes who can save Soma.

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Apothecary Healers | Oxazolidinone

Metronidazole Nom de Guerre: Metro Age: Elderly Clan: None Family: Nitroimidazole Association: None Fighting Style: Deadly force Allies: Aztreonam, third-generation Cephalosporins, Clarithromycin Specialty: B. fragilis, C. difficile Dislikes alcohol.

Toxic injection, potioncraft, low-oxygen tolerance Though Metronidazole is best known for her swift action against the increasingly common attacks of C. difficile, she is also widely effective against other menaces, particularly those that live without oxygen. She can be called into action for attacks on the Boundary Wall, the Skeletal Mountains, Respiro Forest, the Marshes of Alimentum, and other regions. She kills her opponents from the inside out, generating a potent substance that susceptible Pestilence agents absorb into their bodies. There, the potion is converted into toxins that deactivate more than 100 different enzymes necessary for the organisms’ survival. The toxins also affect the Lords’ DNA, disrupting their genomic stability. Her counterattacks do take their toll, however. She can disrupt the flow of the marshes, irritate the Occulos, generally disrupt Soma’s balance and structure, and cause great unrest among the populace. Her visits are also suspected to cause more serious ailments after she has departed, with disgusting growing blobs that sicken the land having been found in her wake. She has even been known to affect Sententia, destroying key control centers in the city, and causing cascading system failures that can threaten the whole of Soma. These dangerous afflictions mostly occur when Metronidazole remains for too long within Soma, or during nationwide celebrations that include consumption of alcoholic tinctures.

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Apothecary Healers | Nitroimidazole

Oxacillin Nom de Guerre: Oxacillin Age: Young Clan: Penam Family: Penicillin Association: Beta-Lactam Fighting Style: Deadly force Specialties: S. aureus, S. epidermidis Can not be harmed by Lacta Mace

Gore Before the Apothecary Healers arrived in Soma, Staph aureus dragons were a deadly and widespread menace. That started to change when Penicillin ordered his pet bull, Meticillin (also known as Methicillin), to stand guard over Soma. This led to retaliation from S. aureus’ stronger cousins MRSA, who laughed at Meticillin’s attempts to scare them off - in fact, when MRSA were first encountered, they were named Meticillin-resistant S. aureus for this reason. Oxacillin, direct descendant of Meticillin, has been carrying on the job of scaring away S. aureus since Meticillin died. One strike from Oxacillin’s massive horns weakens the armor of Staphylococcus agents, exposing the Lords’ fragile insides and causing them to literally fall apart. Most importantly, Oxacillin’s thick hide protects it from the Lacta-Mace, a weapon specifically honed to take down most other Beta-Lactam Apothecaries, thus it is Oxacillin that is called in to fight against S. aureus instead of others in the Penam clan, because of this advantage. But like Meticillin, Oxacillin is no match for MRSA.

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Apothecary Healers | Penicillin

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Penicillin

Nom de Guerre: Pen Age: Ancient Clan: Penam Family: Penicillin Association: Beta-Lactam Fighting Style: Deadly force Allies: Cipro Specialties: C. perfringens, N. meningitidis, P. multocida, S. pyogenes, S. pneumoniae, T. pallidum Note: Served in World War II.

Destroy armor Penicillin is the founding father of the Apothecary Army. Before he began to battle the Lords of Pestilence, Soma’s only line of defense was the Nodal Sentry, which often failed against the likes of Staphylococcus and Streptococcus creatures. Penicillin, a Beta-Lactam warrior, became the first Apothecary to join the battle against Pestilence invasions, and continues to be a valuable soldier to this day, in addition to spawning many of the younger Apothecaries. Needless to say, the Apothecary Army would not be what it is today without Penicillin, and Soma would not be the thriving ecosystem it has become. Penicillin was born on a fungal-dominated island, where he sprang to life amid a terrible drought. He was recruited to help defend Soma by one of the original Apothecary scouts, Alexander Fleming, who immediately recognized his fighting potential. Like all BetaLactam Apothecaries, Penicillin kills susceptible Pestilence agents by destabilizing their armor, preventing the proper plate linkages that normally protect the Lords from destruction. Without intact armor, the Pestilence armies literally fall apart. Penicillin is particularly effective at penetrating to the deeper layers of Pestilence armor, rendering the creatures weak and vulnerable. Like many other Apothecaries, Penicillin’s battles can take a toll on the land, often disrupting the flow through the Marshes of Alimentum and occasionally affecting the critical activity within Sententia. But such ailments are often a small price to pay for the elimination of the Lords that threaten Soma, and Penicillin remains a respected leader of the Apothecary Army.

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Apothecary Healers | Penicillin

Piperacillin/Tazobactam Nom de Guerre: Pip Tazo Age: Young Clan: Penam Family: Ureidopenicillin Association: Beta-Lactam, Anti-Lacta Mace, Anti-Pseudomonal Fighting Style: Deadly force

Specialty: P. aeruginosa

Anti-Lacta Mace armor Piperacillin and Tazobactam are a powerful duo, effective against all but the most resistant Pestilence armies, such as MRSA and VRE. While Piperacillin on her own is an effective killer of a wide range of Pestilence species, she is susceptible to some of their poisons, and cannot normally withstand the dreaded blow of the Lacta Mace. Tazobactam neutralizes those poisons, and his thick armor easily deflects Lacta Mace strikes, allowing Piperacillin safe passage to push forward and defeat even those Lords normally resistant to Beta-Lactam Apothecaries. These fighters join the battle by penetrating the Boundary Wall and making their way directly to Soma’s river system. There they stay until their task is accomplished, making sure that no Lords escape alive and begin to accumulate secrets needed to defeat the Apothecary duo. A few battalions of Pestilence armies have learned to resist the pair, however—most notably C. difficile. These Lords can survive Pip and Tazo’s attacks, causing severe unrest in the Marshes of Alimentum and threatening dehydration throughout the land. Furthermore, the duo have been known to inflict their own harm around Soma. When they blast through the Boundary Wall in search of waterways, they can cause pain and unrest in the surrounding towns. And, once fully engaged in battle, they can disrupt the flow of the Marshes of Alimentum or even cause miscommunication and confusion among the workers of Sententia. Thus, these soldiers are often reserved only for invasions serious enough to warrant the risk.

Apothecary Healers | Ureidopenicillin

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Streptomycin

Nom de Guerre: Streptomycin Age: Ancient Clan: Secondaries of Streptomyces griseus Family: Aminoglycoside Association: Anti-Tuberculosis Agents Fighting Style: Deadly force Allies: Vancomycin, Penicillin, Tetracyclines Specialties: Y. pestis, fireblight

Intelligence sabotage, block, bind Streptomycin is the revered matriarch of the Apothecary Healers, one of the first ancients to begin fighting back against the Lords of Pestilence, back when Penicillin and the ancestors of Sulfamethoxazole were the only other defenders of Soma. Although she grew up among the Lords, and the blood of the Stained Legion still runs in her veins, she was the first to follow her conscience and defect from the Pestilence ranks, changing sides and setting an example that others followed. Streptomycin was brought into existence by Streptomyces griseus, a soil-dwelling Lord of Pestilence with godlike powers of creation. Unlike other Lords hellbent on destruction, S. griseus was a creator and a bringer of gifts. She combined the elements around her to create 32 different individuals, known as the Secondaries, and scattered them across the world to defend the meek. The legend of Streptomycin begins with a young man named Schatz, who witnessed her fighting against M. tuberculosis one day and invited her to come to Soma where M. tuberculosis were running rampant and causing millions of deaths. Schatz’s boss was a clever and unscrupulous Wax Man who locked Schatz in a basement and paraded Streptomycin for all the world to see, coining the name “Apothecary Healers” and gaining fame and fortune in the process. Streptomycin, however, was above these petty politics, and quickly got to work defending Soma, striking down Pestilence armies by inhibiting their ability to produce the very building blocks of life, and sabotaging their communication lines. She was the first to defeat M. tuberculosis and was constantly fighting on the front lines in days of old, but since then many of her old foes have found ways to resist her in battle. Today Streptomycin is an aging Healer and only used in battle for rare invasions by Y. pestis, or F. tularensis. She also still fights against A.R.E. alongside Vancomycin. Since she has a reputation for sometimes damaging Auditoria and the Vestibular Labyrinths in her zeal, she is usually not the first to receive the call for help, reserved instead for emergencies when other Aminoglycosides or Anti-Tuberculosis fighters are failing. She spends most of her time these days on farms and orchards, defending the cattle, horses, and sheep from Pestilence attacks, protecting crops, and preventing fireblight on apple and pear trees.

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Apothecary Healers | Aminoglycoside

113

Tetracycline

Nom de Guerre: Tetracycline Age: Ancient Clan: None Family: Tetracycline Association: None Fighting Style: Containment Ring weapons, block, crushing grip Tetracycline is one of the Apothecary Army’s great heroines, having saved Soma on many occasions from Vibrio cholerae, during an age when that particular Agent of Pestilence was one of the biggest threats. With her four circular, toxinsheathed blades, she slices through Soma’s enemies and prevents them from producing the essential building blocks of life. When she first joined the army, she could wipe out nearly all threatening Pestilence armies. But over time, many Pestilence agents have learned to shield themselves from Tetracycline’s attacks: when they cinch and reinforce their armor, her blades skip harmlessly off their backs. She is still effective against many agents of both the Stained and Unstained Legions, however, and is most often called into action to oppose threats like Chlamydia, Mycoplasma, and Rickettsia, and is occasionally enlisted to do battle with other Lords, including the dreaded Bacillus anthracis. Notably, her strategy is a safe one for Soma, the inhabitants of which are naturally resistant to her poison. Because she is so gentle, she is a common patroller of the island’s Boundary Wall, fighting off pesky Pestilence agents that never make it beyond the wall, but cause unrest and infect nonetheless. Tetracycline also performs scouting missions for Apothecary strategists, due to her ability to quickly make her way to the Skeletal Mountains and return intelligence on their ongoing expansion, which can yield insight regarding disease threats on Soma.

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Apothecary Healers | Tetracycline

Ticarcillin/Clavulanate Nom de Guerre: Tic Clav

Tigecycline

Anti-Lacta Mace armor

Age: Mature

Nom de Guerre: Tigecycline

Clan: Penam

Age: Very young

Ticarcillin is a descendent of the heralded Penicillin, and is almost always found in battle alongside the great Beta-Lactam protector, Family: Carboxypenicillin Clavulanate. Ticarcillin prevents the proper linking Association: Beta-Lactam, Anti-Lacta Mace, of the Lords’ armor, causing them literally to fall Anti-Pseudomonal apart as they attempt to reproduce. Clavulanate, meanwhile, protects Ticarcillin from the Lacta Fighting Style: Deadly force Mace and from toxins released by many Lords. Together, the duo is effective against a wide range of Pestilence armies, primarily those of the Unstained Legion who invade the Respiro Forest, including the dreaded Pseudomonas. They are often compared to their cousins, Piperacillin and Tazobactam, and Apothecary strategists are often torn as to which pair to dispatch into battle in Soma’s time of need, as they have similar battle records against the enemy.

Clan: None Family: Glycylcycline Association: None Fighting Style: Containment Block, crushing grip

Ticarcillin and Clavulanate enter Soma directly into the streams and rivers or through the countryside, as they are unsuccessful at reaching the site of battle via Buccal Bay. Nevertheless, they are known to disrupt the flow through the Marshes of Alimentum, just like many of their Apothecary brethren. They can also cause pain and disruption to Sententia and may cause unrest in the communities surrounding the place where they entered into Soma.

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Apothecary Healers | Carboxypenicillin

Tigecycline is a younger Apothecary warrior, giving her the advantage of unfamiliarity, as many menaces are surprised to meet her in battle. Like many of her fellow Apothecaries, she strikes by inhibiting the ability of Soma’s enemies to produce key proteins and metabolites that drive their attacks. Depending on the enemy at hand, her attacks can be as effective as some of the great Apothecary legends, and she is one of the few warriors who can take down the dreaded VRE. She also is effective against a wide range of other Lords, including several who have evolved to evade the attacks of her predecessors. Strangely, however, she has not proven herself against the Pseudomonas Lords. She works her way up the waterways of Soma to the site of battle, usually along the Boundary Wall or near the Marshes of Alimentum. Though relatively gentle compared to some warriors, her presence has been known to accelerate the current into Fecal Inlet, reverse the flow of Buccal Bay, and even disrupt the pace of life in Twin Heart City.

Apothecary Healers | Glycylcycline

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Tobramycin

Nom de Guerre: Toby Age: Mature Clan: None Family: Aminoglycoside Association: None Fighting Style: Deadly force Allies: Carbapenems, Cephalosporins Specialties: B. henselae, B. pertussis, C. jejuni Has a deafening battle cry.

Intelligence sabotage, block, crushing grip Tobramycin is a ruthless warrior, despite his affectionate nickname “Toby.” His spy maneuvers sabotage the Lords’ most vital communications, the translation of their secret codes. When he garbles their messages, the Pestilence armies cannot organize, follow orders, or even maintain their basic functions—and they eventually die. Like others of the Aminoglycoside family, Toby’s sugar-based armor cannot withstand the acidic conditions of many of the land’s waterways, thus he travels to afflicted areas by air or using special vessels. Once inside, he has an unrivaled talent for infiltrating groups of collaborators and getting behind enemy lines to save the most threatened inhabitants. He can strike quickly and efficiently, minimizing further damage that would be inflicted by the Lords. And he is particularly lethal against the dreaded Pseudomonas, a fearsome foe who feasts on the weak and injured. Toby is an undeniable force of the Apothecary Army—but his unchecked power can often have dire consequences for Soma itself. If full-on battle rages in one area for too long, the explosions he causes and his piercing battle cries can deafen locals and leave them dizzy and disoriented. His battles can even cause dysfunction of the land’s vital filtration system. As a result, Toby must be unleashed with caution, and monitored carefully as he works his devastating magic.

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Apothecary Healers | Aminoglycoside

Trimethoprim/ sulfamethoxazole Nom de Guerre: Co-trimoxazole, TMP-SMX Age: Elderly Clan: None Family: Sulfonamide Association: None Fighting Style: Containment Allies: Imipenem Specialty: N. Asteroides, P. mirabilis, Staph saprophyticus Can leave behind sharp crystals.

Starve The crystalline synthetic warriors Trimethoprim and Sulfamethoxazole have a sordid history. Trimethoprim is a mighty sorceress who has learned how to stop the Lords’ ability to produce a nutrient so essential to their existence that she can starve them and kill them from the inside out. She is one of the few who can defeat Nocardia asteroides, and has fought well against Klebsiella pneumoniae for many years. Almost half a century ago, Apothecary strategists allied her with Sulfamethoxazole, a massive warrior who charges ahead of Trimethoprim. He targets the Lords’ supply chain of another critical element they need for survival, reducing the burden on Trimethoprim. The two warriors fought together for more than a decade, before Apothecary strategists decided that the partnership was no more effective than Trimethoprim on her own. Furthermore, Sulfamethoxazole is not the gentlest protector of Soma. He irritates the outflow from the filtration system and the Caverns of Bladdara, and generally affects the flow of the island’s rivers and streams. He is also a prankster, tricking the Nodal Sentry into fighting battles against imaginary opponents, and poisoning the food served in the galleys of the Nodal Sentry barracks. As a result, the Apothecary strategists dissolved the relationship nearly 20 years ago, allowing Trimethoprim to battle alone once again. But now, as the Lords of Pestilence evolve to evade numerous styles of Apothecary attacks, strategists are reconsidering the pairing. Together, the two warriors have the ability to take down the dreaded MRSA legions, and for that reason alone they are quickly becoming known yet again as one of the greatest Apothecary duos.

Apothecary Healers | Sulfonamides

121

Vancomycin Nom de Guerre: Vanc, Vanco Age: Elderly Clan: None Family: Glycopeptide Association: None Fighting Style: Deadly force, last resort Specialty: S. epidermidis, MRSA, Penicillin-resistant S. pneumoniae, C. difficile He is only effective against the Stained Legion.

Starve Vancomycin is a critical force in the Apothecary Army. He was discovered by a recruiter more than 50 years ago in the jungles of Soma. His name appropriately stems from the word “vanquish,” due to his impressive talent for defeating enemies of the Stained Legion, including MRSA and C. difficile. Vancomycin can penetrate deep into the wilderness and fight in areas that others cannot reach. His clever attacks disable the production of a key component of Pestilence armor, a tactic particularly vital against Lords who have learned to avoid the blows of older Warriors like Penicillin. It is Vancomycin’s unique qualities that motivated Apothecary leaders to usher him into service just five years after his training began— record time for a new fighter. He justified his fearsome reputation in his early days of battle, successfully defeating even the most resilient Lords—but at that time he had not yet learned to focus his wrath on his foes alone, leaving Soma’s earth damaged from his imprecise assaults. But over time, he has been stripped down to his pure, Pestilence-fighting essence, and now rarely leaves his mark on the land itself. Recently, however, some Lords have finally been able to sidestep his attacks, instilling fear in those who seek peace in Soma. If Vancomycin cannot defeat these dreaded foes, who can?

Apothecary Healers | Glycopeptide

123

Healing Blade Interactions

124

125

Real-world Interactions

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The preceding interactions table comes from the physical card game version of Healing Blade. The data for that table was simplified to improve gameplay. In real life, the interactions are much more complex. This table comes closer to capturing the real-life interactions between antibiotics and bacteria in current clinical practice, as of 2014. Needless to say, this table is a reference for entertainment only. It does not replace professional medical judgment for treatment of any condition.

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A-C

Carcosa, Carl Lemura, Carl Strayer, Carl Wedel, Carlos Colom Montes, Carlos Ocana Salceda, Carlton W. Anderson, Carnivalhound, Carrie Seidman, Carson Hill, Casey Corbit, Casey Long, castorquinn, Cat Chen, Catherine De Bourgh, Catherine Leja, Cathy Chan, cathy pease, Cato Vandrare, Catrina Pipkin, Celestia Mayasleca, ceppi mirco, Chad Andrew Bale, Chad Ross, Charlene Harrison, Charles (ctgamer), Charles Morris, Charles needle, Charles Ryan, Charles Surber, Charli Batley, Charlie Powlson, Chase Buchanan, Chase Campbell, Chayadol Lomtong, Chef Kurtess, Chelsea Sanders, Chengkai Yang, Cheri Kannarr, Chernobyl Child, Cheryl Boudreaux, Cheryl Reifsnyder, Cheyne Blair, Chloe Barber-Hancock, Chloe Currier, Chris (cetra02), Chris Allingham, Chris Ammerman, Chris brescia, Chris Cottrill, Chris Deutscher, Chris Elder, Chris Erven, Chris Helsabeck, Chris Henderson, Chris Humphrey, Chris J (christopherccm), Chris Kåring, Chris McEligot, Chris McGorrery, Chris Mihal, Chris Pelling, Chris Perkins, Chris Rees, Chris Salter, Chris Shields, chris stevenson, Chris Stiglets, Chris Thesing, Chris Trinh, Chris Woo, Chris Yee, Chrissy Morrison, Christiaan Funkhouser, Christian Döring, Christian LeBrun, Christian Stegmann, Christie Cotter, christina cheng, Christina Jenkins, Christina Roullard, Christina Strauch, Christina Wu, Christine Georger Mooney, Christoffer Danielsen Dyra, Christoph Flury, Christopher, Christopher A Cates, Christopher Bolster, Christopher Burnett, Christopher Carreras, Christopher Dakis, Christopher Faux O’Connor, Christopher Flaten, Christopher Gray, Christopher Hammel, Christopher J. Diaz, Christopher Koth, Christopher Litchfield, Christopher Morgan, Christopher Moyeno, Christopher Nickell, Christopher O’Brien, Christopher Randal Medley, Christopher Trapp, chtitelarve, Chua Chee Han, Chuck Fletcher, Cindy Huang, Cindy Moore, Cintia Carmona, Clark Jen, Claudia Ng, Claudia Santosa, Cliff Winnig, Clifford Chen, Clifford Cheng, Clinton Sands, Cobi Fredric, Cody Christopher Hatcher, Colby Driedger, Cole Busse, Colene Reed, Colin Campbell, Colin Faucett, Colin McHugh, Colin Rogers, Collin Bakkie, Comicbookwhore, Conrad Brookman, Constantinos Vrakas, Cord Patrick, Corey Austin, corwinwoody, Cory Falvo, Courtland LaVallee, Cpt_Threepwood, Craig Galloway, Craig Morrison, Craig White, Croix Snapp, Crystal Chiang, Crystal Harris Sanchez, Crystal Skeer, Curt Sherman, Curtis Shephard, Curtis Turner, Cynthia Beauregard, Dallon Gras, Damo Miller-stawyskyj, Damon (bratcher.damon), Dan Famini, Dan Milliken, Dan Pritchett, Dan Pusceddu, Dan Uslan, Dan Williams, Dana Dybdal-Hargreaves, Dana Kossluk, Dane Olsen, Danelle Capobianco, Dani Dudley, Dani Kice, Daniel Belanger, Daniel Brady, Daniel Brandon, Daniel Charleston, Daniel Collins, Daniel Dante Yeh, Daniel Dillard, Daniel Ferguson, Daniel Gallop, Daniel Gossman, Daniel Grubaugh, Daniel Iyama-Kurtycz,

Daniel Kincaid, Daniel M. Perez, Daniel Noesgaard, Daniel OMalley, Daniel Patterson, Daniel Pitts, Daniel Rivera, Daniel Rothbart, Daniel Schisch, Daniel Shields, Daniel Thomas Moore, Daniel Zwell, Danielle Burkhart, Danielle Marciniak, Danny Nguyen, dantre davis, Darcy Cooney, Darlene Hrtford, Darmon, Darron Patenaude, Darryll Smith Walker, Darwin Bromley, Daryl Gubler, Dashekita Brooks, Dave Borne, Dave DeWitt, Davelynn Rooker, david (davemon8), David Archibald, David Arthur, David B. Talton Jr., David Ballard, David Bayless, David Belcastro, David Benjamin, David Bernstein, David Blankenship, David Boucher, David Chau, David Cope, David Cuccia, David Cullinan, David Deacon, David Drew, David Fitzpatrick, David Funk, David Gaipa, David Graham, David Greenberg, David Hibbs, David Higuero Calviao, David Hoffman, David Howe, David Hyre, David Joyce, David Karlson-Weimann, David Kauffman, David Larson, David Marion, David May-Miller, David Mucha, David Nichols, David Perales, “David Perzel, II”, David Plater, David Rubenach, David Serre, David Shaw, David Sonderling, David Spindler, David Stoddard, David Terhune, David Tomczyk, David Van, David Veazey, David Weintraub, David Wright, David Wu, Daviller Benjamin, Davy Zou, Dawn Babbles, Deamiter, Deborah Hann, Debuiselle Celine, Dennis Boesgaard Petersen, Dennis Ko, Derek Buitenhuis, Derek Knutsen, Derek Lynch, Derek Williams, Descendingform, Desmond Woolston, DestinyBlue, Deviyani Rao, Dez Shearer, Deze man, Diana Sisson, Diane Perry, Dilichen Pierre, Dinomight, Dinusha Thanippuli, Dirty Johnny, Dom Solomon, Dominic Arguello, Dominic Bowers-Mason, Dominic Wordsworth, Don Albrecht, Don Whiteside, Donald Watts, Donika KRASTEVA, Donn A. Ritter, Donna Hoang, Donovan May, Donut Wambo, Doran Steele, Doug DePrekel, Doug Winkey, Douglas Lee Haxton, Douglas Miller, Dr. Russell Hoyle, Draginfaerie, Drew Hill, Drew Stone, dromish, drow, Drs. Lucy Brown & Helen Fisher, Duarte Pinheiro, Dubedout Astrid, Duo Zhang, Dustin Derkach, Dustin Findlay, Duy Dang, Dyanna Li, Dylan Jacob Lane, Eammon Grosek, Ed Kowalczewski, Ed Ritsch, Edison Wang, Edouard Lombard, edouard negre, “Eduardo Medina, SoSR”, Eduardo Salinas, Edward (rivalyn), Edward Langan, Edward Michaud, Eeshwar Rajagopalan, Ehryk, Eli Kennedy, Eli Pope, Elia DaRos, Eliana Feasley, Elias Bouchi, Elias Wan , Elizabeth A Ziegler, Elizabeth Crissey, Elizabeth Holcomb, Elizabeth Hudson, Elizabeth Hurst, Elizabeth Shim, Elizabeth Smith, Elizabeth Walker, Ellen Glenn, Ellery Turner, Ellie Hothersall, Ellie M, Elliot Smith, Elliot Williams, elonweis, Emanuel Moura, Emilio Gonzalez, Emily Fortner, Emily McCabe, Emily Omizo Whittenberg, Emma Barnes, EnthusiasticStudent, Ephraim John Butin, Eric A Jackson, Eric Bard, Eric Chen, Eric DaCosta, Eric F. Alegado, Eric Gaudet, Eric Jackson, Eric Lange, Eric Latham, Eric Lau, Eric Lofgren, Eric Nau, Eric Polesky, Eric Reed, Eric Robbins, Eric the baker,

C-E

129

Eric Thornber, Eric Tzeng, Eric Velazquez, Eric Vincent Raehn, Eric-Christian Koch, Erica Absetz, Erica Schmitt, Erick Samuel Santos, Erick Torres, Erik Ambring, Erik Cooper, Erik Extrell, Erik Kroeker, Erik Langenborg, Erik Saltwell, Erik Talvola, Erika Slish, Erin Bell, Erin Cintas, Ernest Aguayo, Ernest Chong, Ernesto Ayala Jr, Erwin Caalaman, Eseell, Eugene Koh, Eugene Leung, Eunice Torres, Eva Gómez Garcia, Eva Rothwangl, Evan Claudeanos, Evan Fisher, Evan Orthober, Evan Turnquist, Evelyn Wolke, Fabian Stroh, Fabrice Armisen, Fahad Iqbal, falchieyan, Falk Vollnhals, Fallstreak Studio, Fannie Santerre, Farhad Ghamsari, Felicitas I, Felix de Waal, Felix Dirner, fenris, Fernando Briano, Fernando Dalla Costa, Fion Lau, Fiona Lee, Flavio Lamas, Florian ZORES, FlorianL, Fodland, Fol, Forest Pavel, Francis Flammang, Francisco Javier Garcia, Francisco pinto, Frank Blazkiewicz, frank lee, Frank Lloyd, Frank Stanley, Fred Balen, Fred Leggett, Frederic Mohr, Fri Hyland, Fris13, G_Q (guess_question), Gabriel Velarde, gabriela ehringer, Gabrielle Harbowy, Galina (gignato), Galliant Games, GameAid, Gareth Hoskins, Gareth McVicker, Garrett Hyde, Garry Winkler, Gary Gaines, Gary Graybill, Gary Kleman, Gary Wolfe, Gastroman, Gautam Savla, Gavin Burton, Geek Chic, Genesol, Genevieve Poulin, Geoffrey MacPherson, Geoffrey Tew, George Garza, George Gaspar, George H Walker, George Neamtu, George Xu, Gerd Prehna, Gerhard Schmid, Gerry Tolbert, Gerulas, Gian Marco, Gilad Barzilay, Ginny Higerd, Glenn Low, Goebel Pierre, Gordon Duke, Gorkyporka, GOUMONT Marcellin, Gourav Shah, Grace Bell, Graeme MacDonald, Graham Billiau, Graig (Giddy) Straus, Grammaw, Grant Chen, Grant DeFrancisco, Grant Ho, Grant Leung, Grant Swire, Greg Anderson, Greg Deans, Greg Palechek, Greg Poulos, Gregor Biberacher, Gregorio Pradas Quero, Gregory Brown, Gregory Willmann, Gregory Zhang, Griffin, Grotaron, Guido Paliot, Guilherme Albergaria Brizida Bachtold, Gustav Pettersson, Hamish Weir, Hanna Baptist, Hannah Rose, Hans de Wolf, happykoala, Harald Englert, Harry Lehigh, Haseeb Shah, Hasko Heinecke, Hayden Shafer, Haydn Johnson, Hazel Chudley, Heather Blandford, Heather Fairfield, Heather Hatsuye Asquith, Heather O’Hearn, Helen Morgenstern, Helen Pronger, Hendrik Payer, Henny Admoni, Henry (hjguth), Henry Lopez, Henry Truong, Henry Wong, Herbert Eder, Hermes Higashino, Hickname, Hilel Zagorin, Holly Prebble, Hon Weng Chong, Howard Green, Hua Su, Hung Pham, Hunter Harris, Hunter S, Iain Chantler, Ian Bissonnette, Ian Herbert, Ian Mark Johnson, Ian McDougall, Ian McFarlin, Ian Saint Lawrence, IcecreamJones, Illyan, Ilya Nizovtcev, Ira Fay, Irene Toll-Schacter, Isa Maron, Isaac Justice, Ivan Begley, Ivan Chan, Ivan Pareja, Ivan Slicevic, J F Traver, J. W. Bennett, J.C. Brown, J.C. Thrush, Jabread, Jack Magat, Jack Osborne, Jackson Walsh, Jacob Brownlee, Jacob D. Adamo, Jacob Marcek, Jacob Randolph, Jacob Riddle, Jacob Shaw, Jacob Trewe,

130

E-J

Jacqland, Jacqueline Liu, Jade Soser, jair bowne, James Adams, James B Lynch, James Bruland, James Dagro, James Fort, James Holdridge, James Honeycutt, James Humble, James Kilbride, James Mills, James Moon, James Mullins, James Neilson, James Norman, James Roberts, James Slade, James Small, James Sun, James Tsatsaronis, James Walker, Jameson Carbary, Jameston Konopka, Jamie Davies, Jamie Felberg, Jamie McConnell, JamisonThing, Jan Å , Jana Grcevich, Jana Worrall, Jane Slade, Janet Oblinger, Jann Sy, Jared Heifetz, Jared Tee, Jarrod Flinn, Jason Andrew Mullikin, Jason Broadley, jason brower, Jason Butler, Jason Caird, Jason Deadmond, Jason Devine, Jason Flanders, Jason Goldberg, Jason Hunt, Jason LaRue, Jason P. Sihrer, Jason Sperber, Jason Springs, Javier Villagroy Gomez, Jay Richards, Jayde Cross, Jaymes Sattler, JD Eveland, Jean-Jacques TUDESQ, Jean-Patrick Maillard, Jean-Pierre Raumer, Jean-PierreLebeuf, Jeannette Schmid, Jeb Korzilius, Jeevan Gowda, Jeff Constable, Jeff Greig, Jeff Harvey, Jeff Hewett, Jeff Kagel, Jeff Kinner, Jeff Szusz, Jeff Tjaden, Jeff Wade, Jeff Zahnen, Jeffery Hines, jeffrey daniels, Jeffrey Jones, Jeffrey Kane, Jeffrey M. Treiber, Jeffrey Merola, Jeffrey Suchard, Jelkath, Jen Wood, Jenise Fahrni, Jenna moss-Davis, Jennie Huynh, Jennifer Bennett, Jennifer Brabec, Jennifer Brown, Jennifer Jurling, Jennifer McLean, Jennifer Patterson West, Jenny Kuhn, Jenny Rusher, Jeppe Carlsen, Jeremey Pinckney, Jeremiah Jordan, Jeremiah Tootle, Jeremy and Jessica, Jeremy Commandeur, Jeremy Evers, Jeremy Hodson, Jeremy Kimball, Jeremy Spray, Jerjes Hattab, Jerry Huang, Jerry McKinley, Jerzy Fraczek, Jess Ting, Jesse Ferguson, Jesse Norton, Jesse Ozog, Jesse R Davis, Jesse Richardson, Jesse Simonsson, Jessica Baca, Jessica Brownell, Jessica Gimblet, Jessica Lewis, Jessica Richardson, Jessica Sasser, Jessie Crawford, Jesus Aguirre, Jillian Graham, Jim Getz (Dr.Q), Jim Groffen, Jim McAllstr, Jim Phillips, Jim Tomczyk, Jimmy Tran, Jirathti Chaodee, JJGOW, Joachim Mårtensson, Joan Morell, Joanne Burrows, Jodi Swaim, Joe Coupal, Joe Forte, Joe Lin, Joe Louie, Joe Parrino, Joe Rosa, Joel Mason, Joel Steenstra, Joey Civin, Joey Rodgers, Jofre Buddemeier, Johan Kristian Milde, Johan Wiskerke, Johany Herrera, John A. Judd, John Beattie, John Cmar, John Copeland, John Costello, John Falcon, John Isaksson, John Jamison, John Klein, John Mulder, John Olson, John P Close, John Schrom, John Seibert, Johnalbert DeAntoni Duverge, Johnathon Conklin, Joled Koh, Jon Menzel, Jonathan Brock, Jonathan Cabildo, Jonathan Chan, Jonathan Conant, Jonathan Cruz, Jonathan Cunningham, Jonathan Foulkes, Jonathan GERARDIN, Jonathan Grey, Jonathan Grimm, Jonathan H. Liu, Jonathan Hunt, Jonathan Jordan, Jonathan Joyce, Jonathan Lau, Jonathan Massey, Jonathan Shaver, Jonathan Turpie, Jonathan Wallace, Jonathan Woo, Jonathon Coles, Jonny Tannebaum, Jordan Blanch, Jordan McMillan, Jorge Güell Cruz, Jorweeck, Jose Angel, Jose Fitchett, Jose Reinoso, Josef (josjo994), Josef Khoury, Joseph Amato, Joseph Cederberg, Joseph Cinderella, MD,

Joseph Fong, Joseph Goethals, Joseph Harmon, Joseph Pechacek, Joseph Prows, Joseph Prozinski, Joseph Schelebo, Joseph Wilson, Josh Hash, Josh Ingram, Josh Kroger, Joshayc, Joshua Bone, Joshua Coyle, Joshua Crothers, Joshua Crowe, Joshua Demaree, Joshua Hair, Joshua Kaspar, Joshua King, Joshua LaFaber, Joshua Maher, Joshua Megerman, Joshua Plautz, Joshua Reader, Joshua Stoltz, Joshua Wilson, JR Geronimo, Juan (monochromeprism), Juan Teran, Juggernaut Games, Juli Chauran, Julia Fleming, Julia Taylor, Julian (bhaal_demordred), Julian Rivas Escobar, Julie Autumn, Julie Dang, Julie Gerth, Juraj Lenco, Justin Champion, Justin de Jesus, Justin Fiala, Justin Geiger, Justin S (eakin3), Justin Tan, Justin Taylor, Justin V Smith, Justin Wachholder, Juston777, K T (paladin888), K Yumul, K. Parker, Kacey Smith, Kaedryl - Obsidian’s Mad Doctor, Karen Hetherington, Karen Irene Tibbetts, Karen Marble, Karim Lidouh, Karima Thompson, Karl Bastiman, Karl Fenner, Karl Jahn, Karle Honomichl, Karolyn Burns, Karra Libunao, Karsten Brand, Kasey Kagawa, Kate Heffer, Kate McCaul, Kate Palmer, Katharina Gerlach, Katharina Waitt, Katherine B. Pomerleau, Katherine Lindberg, Kathleen McGaw, Kathryn V. Fields, Kathy Green, Katie Dawson, Katie Tousignant, Katrina Nieborg, Kay Brunais, Kayla Fouch, kdvs_metalman, Keavin Hill, Keith O’Hare, Keith Pitts, Kelley Jabr, Kelly Israel, Kelly Mayo, Kelly McGowan, Ken Boucher, Ken Coghill, Ken Finlayson, Ken Yapkowitz, Kenneth M Burling Jr, Kenneth MacLean, kenneth wu, Kerrie L Hughes, Kevin Ascott, Kevin Chang, Kevin Huang, Kevin Makice, Kevin McAninch, Kevin Nguyen, Kevin Riese, Kevin Wicks, kicklix, KickStone, Kile McCurdy, Kim Dyer, Kim Hempel, Kimberley Laycraft, Kiona Bole, Kiran Nandakumar, Klecker Knives, Klemen Sever, Knight of Words, Koichi Yamanaka, Kolivan (jvskjonsby), Kris Uthaisilpa, Krista Hoxie, Kristine Chan, Kristofer Carlbom, Kristopher Maday, Kronno, Kunio Chan, Kurt Futral, Kurt Nolte, Kurt Schiller, Kurt Sun, Ky Grage, Kyle Frazier, L.E. Parent, Lacey Micheals, Lachlan Jay Carsburg, Lachlan Sewell, Lackey, LAFARGUE Lise, Lamson Nguyen, Langh Kap Tuang, Lara Sanchez, Larissa Reynolds, Lars Westergren, Lasse Rosenkilde Olsen, Latoya Lovell, Lau Sivertsen, Laura A Hemly, Laura Clements, Laura MARY, Laura Ulrich, Lauren ‘Convectuoso’ Fitzgerald, Lauren Korecky, Lauren Tetreault, Laurent Zahra, Lavinia Fantini, Lawrence Fitzgerald, Lawson Wetli, lea dalton, Leah Elson, Leah Hohman, Lee-Roy King, Leeann Shepherd, Lelania Rodda, Leo Turem, Leon Benjamin Archer, Leon Higley, leonardo menegola, Les Howard, Leslie Hoffman, Leslie Laburda, Leslie Larkins, Lester Flores, Lewis Reining, Lids_426, Lily Steenblik Hwang, Limboman, Lindsey Pride, Lindsey Saxton, Ling Yew Ang, Ling-Yi Kung, Lisa Costello, Lisa Goldsmith, Lisa Kruse, Lisa Lopez, Lisa Magruder, Lisa Spears, LittleCaroline, Liz Early, Liz Kelner, Liz Spain, Lizzy Traylor, LM Studios, Logan Salmona,

Loic Petit, Long Nguyen, Long Nguyen, lordgreggreg, lordzod, Lori Klepper, Louise Daileigh, Louise Duvall, Louise Williams, Love af Ekenstam, Lucian Levine, Luis Hildebrandt, Luis Torrales, Luka Dimec, Luke Aaron, Luke Crane, Luke Edwards, Luke Elias, Luke Keehan, Luke Legge, Luke Murray, Lyle Beaird, Lyle Pratt, M Cason, M K Watson, Maarten Daalder, Madeline Vara, Maegan (grounded.valkyrie), Maggie Bierman, Magnus Mercury, Mahdi Alsahaf, Mainon Schwartz, Maison Morgan, Mak Kolybabi, Malcolm Collins, Malcolm Farm, Maledrakh, Malgor, Malte Grantén, Mandy Wultsch, Manfred Fuchs, Manfred Mueller, Manuel Garand, Marc Bevan, Marc Margelli, Marc Neinfeldt, Marc New, Marc Silpa, Marcel Lehmann, Marco Camerra, Marco E. De Los Santos, Marco Jeschonnek, Marco Mueller, Marcus Law, Margaret Anderson, Margaret Beckom, Margaret Cheung, Margaret St. John, Margaret T Eighan, Marianne Witham, Marianya, Marie DESESQUELLES, MarieChristine Bernier, Marilyn Parsons, Mario Fleischhacker, Mario Pellerin, Marit Freya Pollei, Mark (mkari02), Mark Anderson, Mark Barnett, Mark Carpenter, Mark Chen, Mark Duncan, Mark Ferguson, Mark Kradzinski, Mark Marsalese, Mark Scherschel II, mark sidaway, Mark Smothers, Mark Thompson, Markus Stelzer, Marky Flash, Marsha Eagles, Marshall Jansen, Marshall Perry, Martha & Bill Bonwitt, Martin Bost, Martin Kristiansson, Martin Lilja, Martin Tegelj, Mary Beaver, Mason Chen, Mason Shorey, Mathew Mount, Matt (mathaos42), Matt and Nykki Boersma, Matt Badr, Matt Brandon, Matt Cherwin, Matt Enberg, Matt Fishburn, Matt Hargett, Matt McEnany, Matt Menefee, Matt Morison, Matt Penna, matt snider, Matt Warhover, Matthew Alan Eves, Matthew Berard, Matthew C. McArthur, Matthew Coverdale, Matthew Edwards, Matthew Hanss, Matthew Harmon, Matthew Hudson, Matthew Keller, Matthew Lim, Matthew M Patlan, Matthew M Tiemann, Matthew Petersen, Matthew Pihodnya, Matthew Pullen, Matthew Ray, Matthew Recenello, Matthew Sanderson, Matthew Simpson, Matthew Watters, Matti Laine, Matti McLean, Maura Kearns, Mauro Ghibaudo, Max Phillips, max stack, Maxence Lagalle, Maxime PERRIER, Maxine Crawshaw, MC Brown, Meah Berry, Meilyr Gwynn, Melissa Barlett, Melissa Behrens, Melissa Chin (xdatenshi), Melissa Nicole Hall, Melissa Pennock, Mia Iversen, Mic Le, Micah Chartier, Michael A. Capps, Michael Allen, Michael Arquisola, Michael Burnett, Michael Chlosta, Michael Cook, Michael Dake, Michael Facciolo, Michael Fralish, Michael Gonzales, Michael Hamilton, Michael Hatton, Michael Ignatowski, Michael J Tresca, Michael J. Fary, Michael Knoebel, Michael Krzak, Michael Lane, Michael Lee, michael linn, Michael Lopez, Michael Madrid, Michael Maroon, Michael McCray, Michael Ostrokol, Michael Patrick, Michael Pettigrew, Michael Powell, Michael Ramirez, Michael Schilter, Michael Smudde, Michael Swadling, Michael Swenson, Michael Takahashi,

J-M

131

Michael Tree, Michael Vermilye, Michael Wan, Michael Wang, michelle bourne, Michelle Chen, Michelle Connor, Michelle Gaines, Michelle Runde, Michelle Yancey, Michiel Kitslaar, Micki Davenport, Miguel Angel Gonzalez, Miguel Galan de Juana, Miguel Olsen Rodrigues, Miguel Rodriguez, Mika Koykka, Mikael (vader_freak), Mikayo Langhofer, Mike Allen, Mike Cantor, Mike Emrick, Mike Hinds, Mike Ifko, Mike Isbitski, Mike McCandless, Mike Nilun, Mike Shepard, Mike Talon, mikeschinkel, Mikey Massoud, Milos Miljkovic, Miquel navas, Mircea, Mircea Munteanu, Mitchell Pennell, Mobius04, Mokari, Monique Law, Montira Suksomboon, Moran Friedman, Morgan Hamill, Morgan Thomas, Morgen Veres, Morten Rabjerg Ulrich, MrBadNews, Myles C. Allen, Myriam Laurenceau, Name, Narelle Leech, Natalie, Natalie Benedykt, Natalie Nguyen, Natalie Rog, Natalie Tyler, Nathan Allen, Nathan E. Cope, Nathan Epps, Nathan Rapheld, Nathan Roberts, Nathan Seabolt, Nathan Staffa, Nathan Temple, Nathanael Grinnell, Nathaniel Engelsen, Nathaniel Hazelton, Nawori (rowanconnell), Neal Reyolds, Neal Tanner, Necarch, necrof, Neel Gandhi, Neil Hawthorne, Neil Hook, Neill Robson, Nelson Pray, Nendreel, Neonchameleon, neongrey, Nevion Stronge, Ng Wai Chuan, Niccolo Grando, Nichol Chontofalsky, Nicholas Cadigan, Nicholas Chalifoux, Nicholas Charles Bianchi, Nicholas Feeley, Nicholas Guichon, Nicholas Hendley, Nicholas Kamuda, Nicholas Ledesma, Nicholas March, Nicholas McIlvride, Nicholas Pudim, Nicholas Quinn, Nicholas Shannon, Nicholas Terwoord, Nicholas Wallen, Nick Corbell, Nick Giesbrecht, Nick Gotch, Nick Newell, Nick Toda, Nicki S (maloonster), Nicolas Torres, Nicole Chorney, Nicole Lynch DeCruz, Nicole Rivera, Nigel Fernandez, Nikk Colton, Niko DrakeMcLaughlin, Nils Gedsig Kirkelund Madsen, Ningyu Shi, Nisarg Patel, Noah Kohles, Noah Tucker, Noel De Leon, Northspot, Nyckolle Grace Lucuab, Octavio Arango, OldnPeculier, Oliver Bradley, Oliver Dickerson, Olivier Carabin, Ollie Tricot, Olna Jenn Smith, Open Road, Orcus, Oren Ofer, Orson Cream, Oscar Andres Zaragoza Garcia, oscar cedano, Osceric, Owen Cawley, Pablo Gonzalez, Pablo Perez Gomez, Pamela Crawford, Panagiota Kritikou, Papa_Neslo, Paraish Misra, Parhelia Games, Pasha Arajums, Pat Pham, Patrick Ewing, Patrick Gingrich, Patrick Murphy, Patrick O’Dell, Patrick W Russell, Patrik Byhmer, Paul Amy, Paul Koerber, Paul Osmon, Paul Suvansupa, Pauline Blateau, Penni Walker, perenoel, permalost, Pete Newell, Peter Chiykowski, Peter Christensen, Peter Cottrell, Peter Jones, peter kah, Peter Nguyen, Peter Wildani, Peter Wu, Peter Ye, pfworks, Philip Cahiwat, Philip Freeman, Philip Guilford, Philip Hwang, Philipp Spiegel, Philippe Niederkorn, Phillip Jenkins, Phoebe Copeland, Phoebe S, Pierce E Pfitzner, Pieter Slabbert, Pip Bernadotte, Pirate King Cricket, PKA, portablezombie, Preston Ward, Prettiest Princess Games, Prince Gomolvilas, prisoner1441, r1024768,

132

Rachel Fizeseri, Rachel Hahn, Rachel Jacobs, Rachel Ponce, Raelyn Nie, Rahul Yaratha, RaiKay, Ramsey, Randy Graham, Rantinan, Raphael S. Neto, Raul Estela, Ravel Hawksley, Ravi Nadimpalli, Ravinder Singh Sachdev, Ray Bliss, Ray Chou, Ray Torrence, Raymond Lui, rdurbin, Realm Master K, Rebecca Slingwine, Rebecca Wu, Regan Avery, Regan Lee, Remi Le Guern, Renae Donohue, Rene Hernandez, Rene Poyyayil, Renee Barnett, Renee M., reptiles (axolotyls), Rhel, Ricardo Arredondo, Riccardo Fabris, Richard Adams, Richard Anastasi, Richard Arnold, Richard Cassidy, Richard Conway, Richard Fleming, Richard Flores, Richard Gant, Richard Hawkins, Richard Le Guen, Richard Novak, Richard Pleyer, Richard Rodriguez, Rigel Anderson, Rob Ashland, Rob Coke, Rob Doss, Rob Lines, Rob Tayloe, Rob Townsend, Robert Ash, Robert Burg, Robert C Gravell, Robert Callahan, Robert Clark, Robert Hunsicker, Robert James Nichols, robert Johnson, Robert L Gingras, Robert Martin, Robert McMahan, Robert Parry, Robert Paul Inglefinger, Robert Phillips, Robert Ross, Robert Rush, Robert Scott Small, Robert Seater, Robert Snyder, Robert Tomaino, Robert Werner Schroeder, Robert-Sean Harley, Roberto Rivera, Robertus (memoria), Robin Allen, Robin Keoni Bareng, robotafterall, Rodrigo Reston,Roge Nelson, Roger Vanaman, Rohail Majid, Ron Wilson, Ronald Te, Ronan O. Lefol, Rory Kiefer, Rosemary Song, Ross Qualls, Ross Scott-Miller, Rowena Foss, Roy Hessels, Roy Lycke, Royal Connell, rpgerjake, Ruben Boyajian, Russell Ventimeglia, Ruth Imhoff, Ryan Benmalek, Ryan Brolley, Ryan Bruns, Ryan Day, Ryan Geonzon, Ryan Germann, Ryan Kunkler, Ryan Labang, Ryan Oliver, Ryan Quint, Ryan sirk, Ryan W. Roberts, Ryan Williams, sachin gadani, Sahar Jahanian, Saiyaru, Sally ‘Qwill’ Janin, sam acosta, Sam Cook, Sam shwayri, Sam Stevens, Sam Welch, Sam Welter, Sam winstanley, Sam Wong, Samantha Isselbacher, Samantha Kamp, Samantha L. Smith, Samantha Maillet, Samantha Zweier, Sammer M. Elwasila, Samuel CoudryLemay, Samuel Dukes, Samuel King, Samuel Miravet Verde, Samuel Puddleduck, Sandy Eisen, Sanjiv Nair, Sara Castlebury, Sara Galloway, Sarah Dieterle, Sarah Duchaj, Sarah J Schmidt, Sarah Krieger, Sarah Perryship, Sarah Robinson, Saskia, Saul Hymes, Saumil Chudgar, sauronnus, Savinien, schiko, Schopenhauerian, Scott Aldrich, Scott Kehl, scott lloyd, Scott Myers, Scott Nairn, Scott Sheets, Seamas Dore, Sean Brulet, Sean Byrnes, Sean chen, Sean Devanney, sean dougan, Sean Mythen, Sean Wolfe, Sebastian Aigner, Sebastian Volkmann, Seez - Tormented Snarkmaster of the OOoE, Seiji Kato, Semaphore, Serina Patterson, Sessifet, Seth Baker, Seth Brindis, seth bross, Seth Crofton, Seth Kutik, Seth Nulman, Seth Rishe, sgllama, Shaan Braun, Shabir Satya, Shafik Yaghmour, Shakeeb Hakim, Shannon Berry, Shannon Emmon, Shannon Johnson, Shannon Marek, Sharif Abed, Sharon Burdick, Shaun Booth, Shawn Duan, Shawn Gore, Shawn Muder, Shawn Polka, Shawn Rayon,

M-S

Shawn Tocidlowski, Shawn Weaver, Shay Canfield, shay knorr, Shei (shaez66), Sherard Maine, Shirley Reeves, Shirley Smith, Shiva Noir, Sigrid Ellis, Silence in the Library Publishing, Silevran, Simon Adams, Simon Doherty, Simon Lomas, Simon Miller, Simon Parker, Simon Wals, Simone Savogin, Siyar, skarsol, Sleet, Soirgriffe, Sonya Haskell, Sophie Fruit, Spencer Taufer, Spherius, Stacey Audrey Mannuel, Stacey Becker, Stacey Schmidt, Stan (turingwins), Stefan M. Feltmann, Stefan Milerski, Stefan Ohler, Stella Wu, Sten Sondre Johnson, Steph Kelley, Stephanie gutierrez, Stephanie Taylor, Stephanie Wagner Stephen B Keith, Stephen Johnson, Stephen Khoo, Stephen Kong, Stephen Mordue, Stephen Russell, Stephen Sasso, Steve (Smoth) Smith, Steve Bornstein, Steve Bush, Steve D. Erickson, Steve Doty, Steve Kunec, Steve Strahm, Steven Adams, Steven Blackburn, Steven Gresham, Steven Lynch, Steven Matthew Bercot, Steven Morse, Steven Prager, Steven Vaughn, Steven Vest, Steven Wijaya, Steven Zeck, Stig Andersen, Sudhakar Nuti, Sue Wilson, sunbunman, Susan Davis, Susan Livingston, Suzanne Samson, Svein Borge Hofseth, Sven Breitkopf, Sydney Lau, Sylvester Pious V, Sylvia L Armitstead, T. H. Moran, Tabitha Grace Smith, Tad Bumcrot, Talae, Tamara Kraft, Tamir Buchshtav, Tammy Hepler, Tammy Wu, Tamsyn Kennedy, Tania Joyce, Tanya N. Kutasz, Tarrant McKenzie, Taryn Taschereau, Taylor LaBresh, Taylor Poole, Taylor S Nichols, Teena, Terence Tan, Terra, Terry Goosey, Terry Spurling, Teurastaja, Thalles de Mello, Thang Nguyen, The Action Mill, Theo Gravity, theo kruger, Theresa Phan, Thes Hunter, TheTygre, Thijs Miedema, Thom Herbst, Thomas Brekke, Thomas Franz, Thomas Genese, Thomas Moulia, Thomas Perry, Thomas Provoost, Thomas S Darragh, Thomas Shiels, thompgc, Thorne & Erin Lawler, Tiago Grohmann Pereira, Tien Yao Chang, Tiffany Bradford-Oldham, Tiffany Ferentini, Tiffany Fox, Tiffany Ngan, Tim Heath, Tim Logan, Tim Schmick,

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