Shifting Gears: More Smart Dust

Dust and Mirrors Bring Smart World Closer
18:54 Tuesday 9th April 2002
Rupert Goodwins

New research shows how to make self-contained communicating computers the size of grains of salt

Every cranny of the environment could be filled with intelligence if experiments at the University of California at Berkeley fulfil their potential. Researchers working in a wide range of disciplines have created a series of tiny modules, complete with sensors and communications, with the aim of demonstrating 'smart dust' -- self-sustaining network nodes measuring millimetres or less per side.

The new technologies will find uses in environmental monitoring, health, security, distributed processing and tracking -- and doubtless create some uses of their own, including spotting when food is no longer fresh or has been in dangerous conditions. The team also predicts some more unusual devices, such as putting one mote under each fingernail and reporting back on movements -- making invisible keyboards, gesture control and 3D input devices.

Smart dust also has unique problems, many connected with power. While pure radio-frequency ID (RFID) tags just have to send back a unique identifier when interrogated and can use the energy in the interrogating signal, smart dust needs to power sensors, computation, storage and communication. Each of these tasks needs custom designs aimed at reducing power consumption to the bare minimum necessary. Batteries must be very tiny indeed, and while they can be recharged by solar cells or dynamos working from vibrations the power budget can easily be down to nanowatts.

Communications is especially tricky. Radio systems are flexible and reliable, but take relatively high power: most of the signal from any transmission is wasted in space. One of the key innovations the Berkeley scientists are testing is optical links by lasers and mirrors: a mote is illuminated from afar by a laser, and signals back by moving a mirror fabricated as part of a micro electrical mechanical system (MEMS) -- the new nanotechnology of building moving systems on chips.

By building reflectors into a corner-cube retroreflector (CCR) -- three mirrored surfaces at 90 degrees to each other, with the property of sending light back in the direction it came from -- the dust can signal at a great distance with practically no power, of the order of 10,000 times less than by radio. The same laser beam can also carry programs and data into the mote, providing two-way communications. In tests, the researchers have signalled more than 21 kilometres using a standard hand-held laser pointer and electronic sensors: the team says that in principle, it may even be possible to signal to satellites in 300km orbits.

Ultra low power sensing systems are also being developed. Analogue to digital converters -- essential for temperature, pressure, sound and light measurements -- are typically quite power hungry, but a new design works at under 2 microwatts and should be able of nearly halving that. It can also just sample to the level of accuracy required, avoiding the need to do a full 8-bit sample when only a couple of bits of data are required. The team says that with a battery just a cubic millimetre big, the circuit could take ten samples a second for a hundred years. Along similar lines, the team is developing custom processors that have instruction sets designed to encode sensor readings with maximum power efficiency, and to handle communications protocols similarly optimised.

Many prototypes have been demonstrated, most called 'macro-motes' and built out of bigger, commercially available components to prove various concepts. These have included measuring temperature, humidity, barometric pressure, light intensity, tilt and vibration, and magnetic fields all in a cubic inch package, including two-way radio, the microprocessor controller, and the battery. One such prototype was used with the laser pointer signalling system to relay weather information across San Francisco Bay.

The team has acknowledged that smart computers the size of grains of sand monitoring everything around them and sending out signals create some privacy and secrecy issues, but dismiss these as less important than the benefits. Although they've yet to show a fully working mote using the full range of technologies working together, progress is rapid and working examples are expected in a year or so.

Shifting Gears: Sensor Systems, Communication and Inflitration

Tech's Future - Smart Dust and Ratbots
09:21 Thursday 16th January 2003
Dawn Kawamoto, CNET News.com

Research firm IDC gives us a glimpse of emerging technologies that may one day lead to great changes in the industry

Smart Dust, Lily Pads and Ratbots.

These technologies are far from being household names. And they're not exactly tripping off the tongues of most IT market researchers, either. But they could one day be as significant as the microprocessor or the mouse, according to a report issued on Wednesday by research firm IDC.

"We looked at technologies that were beyond the radar screen of normal market research," said John Gantz, IDC chief research officer. "These are technologies not technically covered by IDC on a usual basis."

Gantz and David Emberley, an IDC senior research analyst, identified nine technologies that have backing from universities and major national laboratories and offer the potential to change lives.

The researchers identified smart dust, lily pads, ratbots, nanotubes, nanomachines, quantum computing, plastic transistors, the Semantic Web and grid computing as technologies to watch, although they noted some of these were more likely to materialise in our lifetime than others.

Ratbots are being used to test the possibility of transmitting information between a living thing and a computer via implants. A ratbot setup consists of an electronic "backpack", worn by a rat, and sensors implanted in the rat's brain. Signals are sent to the backpack and then instructions are sent to the rat's brain via the sensors, Gantz said.

The ratbot is just one of several developments in this area, Gantz said. For example, Kevin Warwick, a University of Reading professor, implanted a chip in his arm that transmitted information to a computer. When Warwick clenched his hand, a robot would follow suit via a computer connection.

Such technology could be used for prosthetics and memory aids, Gantz said. It could also be used in communications and for monitoring. Gantz adding that we're likely to see minor medical advances using this technology in our lifetime.

Smart dust, meanwhile, refers to tiny sensors, about the size of an eraser head, used for logistics, monitoring and preventative maintenance. These intelligent, active sensors are already in limited use, with one Australian company deploying the technology to detect hot spots on train wheels and identify aging wheel bearings.

Ultrastrong, light-emitting nanotubes will also likely be put to use in the foreseeable future, gaining use for computer circuits and flat panel displays. But other technologies looked at by IDC may take time to catch on. The concept of linking wireless networks like lily pads may not float, Gantz said. In part because of market considerations.

Linking wireless networks poses a threat to carriers that transmit information and data long distances over their networks, Gantz said. And the entrenched players with their expensive networks will seek ways to stop this lily pad linking, he added.

Comics Corner: Hercules and the God Squad

From Comic Book Resources, 03-21-2008

Throughout GREEK WEEK, CBR News has taken a special look at the Marvel Comics series "Incredible Hercules." With the help of creators Fred Van Lente, Greg Pak, Rafa Sandoval and editor Nate Cosby, we've explored Herc's past, present and future, and we conclude now with one last chat with series writers Van Lente and Pak, who talk to CBR News about "Sacred Invasion," the series' newest storyline that takes what fellow professionals are calling a genius approach to the forthcoming "Secret Invasion" of Earth by pitting Hercules and his God Squad against the Skrulls' own malevolent dieties.

The Skrulls' invasion puts in peril both the planet's mortal population and the gods they worship. "If the Skrulls succeed in conquering humanity, Earth's gods will become slaves to the Skrull gods, as has happened in every world the Skrulls have ever conquered," Fred Van Lente told CBR News. "Skrull culture, due to its shapeshifting nature, absorbs other cultures, rendering them subservient to it. Earth's gods form a force to wage a 'preemptive war' on their Skrull counterparts in a desperate attempt to keep that from happening."

The God Squad is formed in May's "Incredible Hercules" #117 and the cover of the issue displays the line-up of the team. Dominating the left hand side of the cover is Hercules, who much to his chagrin plays a very important role in the God Squad. "Hercules is the very reluctant leader of this bunch," Van Lente remarked. "He's never led anything before, and is more than a little freaked-out by it. Will his inexperience lead the team to victory or destruction? We'll find out."
Flying above her teammates is Alpha Flight member Snowbird, who is the daughter of

Nelvanna, the Inuit goddess of the Northern Lights. Snowbird's divine parentage bestowed upon her a number of superhuman abilities, chief among them was the ability to transform into any animal native to Northern Canada. "With her flight and shapeshifting, she's the recon specialist, the scout of the group," Van Lente said.

Standing below Snowbird and to the right of Herc is Ajak of the powerful and ancient race known as The Eternals. "Before you shout 'Hey, he's not a god!' I'd advise you to reread Kirby's 'Eternals' Vol. 1 #2," Van Lente said. "Ajak, a/k/a 'He Who Talks With Celestials,' is the brain of the bunch, since he spent pretty much the entire Dark and Middle Ages ensconced in the citadel of the Space Gods, learning their ways. Let us not forget that the Celestials gave the Skrulls their shapeshifting powers, just as they made Deviants and Eternals here on Earth --The dominant Skrull race is in fact the Deviant strain of the dominant species of its homeworld; that strain then wiped out the normal and Eternal strains."

To the right of Ajak is Amatsu-Mikaboshi, who some see as the Japanese god of evil, but he really is a being that represents the polar opposite of the core values in the Shinto religion. "Amatsu-Mikaboshi was responsible for the destruction of Olympus in the 'Ares' mini-series --and the slayer of Zeus, Herc's father. As you can imagine, Herc is thrilled about serving with this guy," Van Lente remarked. "Amatsu-Mikaboshi can shapeshift into anything, not just albino animals, and so is a useful adversary against the Skrulls."

Hovering above Amatsu-Mikaboshi on the far right of the cover is the fearsome Demogorge, the God-Eater. Demogorge is the monstrous alter ego of Atum, son of the Elder Goddess Gaea and the Demiurge, the physical embodiment of Earth's life force.

"Demogorge the God-Eater is the best at what he does, and what he does is eat gods," Van Lente said. "I mean, c'mon, if you're going to go up against an army of hostile deities, wouldn't you want a guy with 'God-Eater' in his name to be on your side?"

With Hercules and Amatsu-Mikaboshi on the same team, it's clear the dynamic between God Squad members isn't going to be completely friendly. "The Gods of the North, South, East and West, as well as the Elder Gods, got to choose a representative. While these various pantheons recognize a common threat in the Skrulls, that doesn't mean they trust *each other*; if they send too large a force to oppose the Skrull gods, that might leave their realms open to attack by one of the earthly pantheons," Van Lente explained. "There's a lot of millennia-old mistrust at work here. Imagine the suspicions the USSR and the USA had for each other during WW2, even though they were allies, then multiply that by--well, infinity. That's the situation here, and a lot of that suspicion is carried over into the dynamics of the God Squad itself."

The God Squad will have to pull together quickly if they're going to succeed because they're not going to have home field advantage in their battle with Skrull Gods. "The God Squad is invading Skrull territory, to face not just the Skrull deities themselves, but countless thousands of their vassal alien god slaves," Van Lente stated. "So the element of surprise is paramount."

Herc's friend, teen genius Amadeus Cho, is a mere mortal, so he's technically not part of the God Squad but does have his own part to play in combating the Skrull Gods. "As our story begins, Cho has a very specific mission laid upon him by a very serious goddess with monumentally terrifying consequences should he fail," Pak explained.

To help us properly understand the nature of the threat the God Squad is up against Van Lente provided us with a copy of the "Notes on Skrull Religion" memo, which he, Pak, "Secret Invasion" writer Brian Bendis and the advisors in charge of the Marvel Handbooks created.

*Notes on Skrull Religion*

IN GENERAL, Skrull religion is based on community versus the individual, directly based on a shape shifting society. When you can shift your shape, you don't rely on your individuality, but the community and your place it in, and how you can support the hive becomes more important.

This principle is expressed in Skrull mythology through two complimentary but diametrically opposite gods, husband and wife, brother and sister, Kly'bn and Sl'gur't.

Kly'bn (Translation: "Eternal Skrull")

*This Skrull deity cannot shapeshift, and is rather the idealized personification of essential 'Skrullness' --the Skrull inside every Skrull, regardless of what form he or she takes.

Though mostly created out of whole cloth for 'Incredible Hercules', the name comes from a song/orchestral piece the Skrullos Imperial Marching Band wanted to play at Karolina and Xavin's wedding in 'Runaways'. The song, we're suggesting, is an invocation to the Eternal Skrull for a happy (and eternal!) union.

*Sl'gur't (Translation: 'The Infinite Names')*

This is the Skrull god of transformations -- both, literally, as shape-shifting, and in societal upheavals, such as war – frequently referred to by non-Skrulls as the 'Skrull War God,' which is not entirely accurate.

Sl'gur't, befitting his/her/its nature, has no fixed form, and keeps shifting shape in every panel we see it in, just surrounded always by a thin white corona. When Skrull artists have to depict him/her/it in a fixed form (as a painting, statue, or idol), it's usually as a multi-limbed, headless Skrull; see: Sl'gur't

Since this is the god(dess) of shapeshifting, Sl'gur't's gender is basically irrelevant here, but she is most frequently thought of as female and Kly'bn's sister and wife. The two live together in a double-headed pyramid floating in the center of space surrounded by the ruins of defeated pantheons of alien gods the Skrulls have conquered over the eons.

We didn't make this god up, he/she/it first appeared in 'Fantastic Four Annual #24,' and is also referenced in the 'Annihilation: Super-Skrull' series. There, S.S. says she was spawned on the planet Zaragz'na, the ancient Skrull capital destroyed by the Annihilation Wave.

In "Sacred Invasion," the God Squad's big strategy is to attack Kly'bn, Sl'gur't and their alien vassal gods head on with a surprise offensive. But the Skrull gods will attack the God Squad using more subtle but dangerously affective tactics. "The Skrull gods, like their worshippers, have one excellent strategy and, in 'Secret Invasion,' so far it seems to have worked pretty well for them," Van Lente said. "Why not deploy it in 'Sacred Invasion,' too?"

Pak added, "Hold on, you mean--they may already be among us? Aaaaagh!"

Shifting Gears: The Chloro-Vault

'Doomsday' seed vault opens in Norway

Source

LONGYEARBYEN, Norway (CNN) -- A vast underground vault storing millions of seeds from around the world took delivery of its first shipment Tuesday.

Dubbed the "Doomsday Vault," the seed bank on a remote island near the Arctic Ocean is considered the ultimate safety net for the world's seed collections, protecting them from a wide range of threats including war, natural disasters, lack of funding or simply poor agricultural management.

Norwegian musicians performed Tuesday as part of an elaborate opening ceremony marking the opening of the vault, located 130 meters (427 feet) inside a frozen mountain. Wangari Maathai, a Kenyan environmental and political activist who won the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize, placed the first seeds inside the vault, followed by other dignitaries.

The inaugural shipment represent 268,000 distinct samples of seeds, with each sample containing a hundred-plus seeds and originating from a different farm or field around the world. In all, the shipment of seeds secured in the vault Tuesday weighed approximately 10 tons, filling 676 boxes.

The shipment amounts to a 100 million seeds in total, ranging from major African and Asian food staples like maize, rice, and wheat to European and South American varieties of eggplant, lettuce, barley, and potato, according to the Global Crop Diversity Trust, which is paying to collect and maintain the seeds. Watch as "Doomsday" seed vault opens »

Eventually the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, as it is officially known, will hold as many as 4.5 million distinct samples of seeds -- or some 2 billion seeds in total -- encompassing almost every variety of most important food crops in the world, the Global Crop Diversity Trust said.

The Norwegian government paid to build the vault in a mountainside near Longyearbyen, in the remote Svalbard islands between Norway and the North Pole. Building began last year.

The United Nations founded the trust in 2004 to support the long-term conservation of crop diversity, and countries and foundations provide the funding.

"The seed vault is the perfect place for keeping seeds safe for centuries," said Cary Fowler, executive director of the trust. "At these temperatures, seeds for important crops like wheat, barley and peas can last for up to 10,000 years."

The vault's location deep inside a mountain in the frozen north ensures the seeds can be stored safely no matter what happens outside.

"We believe the design of the facility will ensure that the seeds will stay well-preserved even if such forces as global warming raise temperatures outside the facility," said Magnus Bredeli Tveiten, project manager for the Norwegian government.

The vault sits at the end of a 120-meter (131-yard) tunnel blasted inside the mountain. Workers used a refrigeration system to bring the vault to -18 degrees Celsius (just below 0 degrees Fahrenheit), and a smaller refrigeration system plus the area's natural permafrost and the mountain's thick rock will keep the vault at at least -4 C (25 F).

The vault at Svalbard is similar to an existing seed bank in Sussex, England, about an hour outside London. The British vault, called the Millennium Seed Bank, is part of an scientific project that works with wild plants, as opposed to the seeds of crops.

Paul Smith, the leader of the Millennium Seed Bank project, said preserving the seeds of wild plants is just as important as preserving the seeds of vital crops.

"We must give ourselves every option in the future to use the whole array of plant diversity that is available to us," Smith told CNN.

The idea for the Arctic seed bank dates to the 1980s but only became a possibility after the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources came into force in 2004, the Norwegian government said. The treaty provided an international framework for conserving and accessing crop diversity.

Svalbard is designed to store duplicates of seeds from seed collections around the world.

The Norwegian government says it has paid 50 million Norwegian Kroner ($9.4 million) to build the seed vault.

Shifting Gears: Metallic Glass

Solving the Mysteries of Metallic Glass

by David Chandler PhysOrg.com

-- Researchers at MIT and the National University of Singapore have made significant progress in understanding a class of materials that has resisted analysis for decades. Their findings could lead to the rapid discovery of a variety of useful new kinds of glass made of metallic alloys with potentially significant mechanical, chemical and magnetic applications.

The first examples of metallic alloys that could be made into glass were discovered back in the late 1950s and led to a flurry of research activity, but, despite intense study, so far nobody had solved the riddle of why some specific alloys could form glasses and others could not, or how to identify the promising candidates, said Carl. V. Thompson, the Stavros Salapatas Professor of Materials Science & Engineering and director of the Materials Processing Center at MIT. A report on the new work, which describes a way to systematically find the promising mixes from among dozens of candidates, was published last week in Science.

Glasses are solids whose structure is essentially that of a liquid, with atoms arranged randomly instead of in the ordered patterns of a crystal. Generally, they are produced by quickly cooling a material from a molten state, a process called quenching.

“It is very difficult to make glasses from metals compared to any other class of materials, such as semiconductors, ceramics and polymers,” Thompson said. Decades of effort by scientists around the world have focused on “understanding and on exploiting the remarkable properties of these materials, and on understanding why some alloy compositions can be made into glasses and others cannot,” he said.

They still haven’t solved that “why,” Thompson said. But this new work does “provide a very specific and quantitative new insight into the characteristics of liquid alloys that can most readily be quenched into the glassy state,” he said, and thus provides a much more rapid way of discovering new alloys that have the right properties.

The research was the result of a collaboration between Thompson and MIT post-doc Johannes A. Kalb with Professor Yi Li and graduate student Qiang Guo at the National University of Singapore, working together across thousands of miles of separation through the Singapore-MIT Alliance. Essentially, the work consisted of producing an array of different alloys with slightly varying proportions of two metals, each deposited on a separate microscopic finger of metal. Then, they analyzed the changes in density of each different mixture when the glass crystallized, and found that there were a few specific proportions that had significantly higher density than the others — and those particular alloys were the ones that could readily form glasses. Of three of these special proportions they found, two were already known glass-forming alloys, but the third was a new discovery.

The new work could even lead to a solution to the longstanding puzzle of why only certain alloys make glasses, he said. “I expect these new results, and the technique we developed to obtain them, will play a key, and hopefully decisive, role in solving the mystery of metallic glass formation.”

Such materials could have a variety of applications because of their unusual physical and magnetic properties, Thompson said. They are “soft” magnetically, meaning that it’s very easy to change the magnetic orientation of the material. This is a highly desirable characteristic for the cores of transformers, for example, which must switch their magnetic orientation dozens of times per second. Transformers made from metallic glasses could potentially greatly reduce the amount of electricity wasted as excess heat in conventional transformers, reducing the need for new generating plants.

In addition, these glasses are unusually hard mechanically and have a high degree of springiness (known technically as a high “elastic modulus”). This springiness could make them a useful material for some sports equipment such as golf clubs or tennis rackets, Thompson said. Although metallic glasses are relatively expensive, he said, for some people interested in the best-performing sports equipment, or in virtually unbreakable housings for cellphones, for example, “no expense is too high.”

The new research is a major accomplishment for the Singapore-MIT Alliance, Thompson said, and would not have been possible without the high-quality communications and collaboration tools it provides. Despite their physical separation, “Prof. Li and I have been working together now for almost ten years,” he said. “We routinely meet via video conferencing and have both been deeply involved in the co-supervision of the remarkable PhD student, Qiang Guo, who carried out this research.”

Thompson said he sees such collaborations as a significant example of a growing trend. “I think this and other accomplishments within the SMA program demonstrate that the future of research lies in technology-mediated collaborations among people with common interests and complementary capabilities, regardless of where the different parts of the team are located,” he said.

Provided by MIT

RPG Series 3.5 Revised - A Chamber of Vampires

Dig unearths female 'vampire' in Venice
In 16th century, 'shroud-eaters' were thought to rise up and drink blood
By Ariel David
Source: MSNBC

ROME - An archaeological dig near Venice has unearthed the 16th-century remains of a woman with a brick stuck between her jaws — evidence, experts say, that she was believed to be a vampire.

The unusual burial is thought to be the result of an ancient vampire-slaying ritual. It suggests the legend of the mythical bloodsucking creatures was tied to medieval ignorance of how diseases spread and what happens to bodies after death, experts said.

The well-preserved skeleton was found in 2006 on the Lazzaretto Nuovo island, north of the lagoon city, amid other corpses buried in a mass grave during an epidemic of plague that hit Venice in 1576.

"Vampires don't exist, but studies show people at the time believed they did," said Matteo Borrini, a forensic archaeologist and anthropologist at Florence University who studied the case over the last two years. "For the first time we have found evidence of an exorcism against a vampire."

Medieval texts show the belief in vampires was fueled by the disturbing appearance of decomposing bodies, Borrini told The Associated Press by telephone.

During epidemics, mass graves were often reopened to bury fresh corpses and diggers would chance upon older bodies that were bloated, with blood seeping out of their mouth and with an inexplicable hole in the shroud used to cover their face.

"These characteristics are all tied to the decomposition of bodies," Borrini said. "But they saw a fat, dead person, full of blood and with a hole in the shroud, so they would say: 'This guy is alive, he's drinking blood and eating his shroud.'"

Modern forensic science shows the bloating is caused by a buildup of gases, while fluid seeping from the mouth is pushed up by decomposing organs, Borrini said. The shroud would have been consumed by bacteria found in the mouth area, he said.

At the time however, what passed for scientific texts taught that "shroud-eaters" were vampires who fed on the cloth and cast a spell that would spread the plague in order to increase their ranks.

To kill the undead creatures, the stake-in-the-heart method popularized by later literature was not enough: A stone or brick had to be forced into the vampire's mouth so that it would starve to death, Borrini said.

That's what is believed to have happened to the woman found on the Lazzaretto island, which was used as a quarantine zone by Venice. Aged around 60, she died of the plague during the epidemic that also claimed the life of the painter Titian.

Much later, someone jammed the brick into her mouth when the grave was reopened. Borrini said that marks and breaks left by blunt instruments on several among more than 100 skeletons found by the archaeologists show that the grave was reused in a later epidemic.

Such a reconstruction of events is plausible, as is the link to the superstitions about "shroud-eaters," said Piero Mannucci, the vice president of the Italian Society of Anthropology and Ethnology.

"Maybe a priest or a gravedigger put the brick in her mouth, which is what was normally done in such cases," Mannucci said.

The anthropologist, who did not take part in Borrini's research, said that at a time when bacteria were unknown, such superstitions were a way for the terrified population to explain the waves of plague epidemics that killed millions during the Middle Ages. Jews were also often accused of spreading the disease.

Borrini said the discovery shows that vampires in popular culture were originally quite different from the elegant, aristocratic blood-drinker depicted in Bram Stoker's 1897 novel "Dracula" and in countless Hollywood revisitations.

"The real vampire of tradition was different," he said. "It was just a decomposing body."

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.

Kadara Pastelioni

Kadara grew into adolescence on the streets of Belos-Paux impoverished and neglected. Underfed and malnourished, she knew her station in life and that it would not serve her with any distinction at all. Her father was mid-level officer who died in a foreign land campaigning against the wizard-priests of the Stones of the Twelve Circles. Her mother, a prostitute of the imperial courts, was poisoned and died from a raving madness most likely attributed to rabies. Kadara yet with all the misfotune aside, had her own talents. Born with a honey-sweet tongue, and a singular magical gift, she turned her intelligence and agility towards arson, thievery and pickpocketing in a roman-esque metropolis ruled by a bureaucratic military. After several near-disastrous encounters with the law, she worked her way into the ranks and eventually into the inner circles of the city's black markets working its con games, extortion scams, and acts involving sleight-of-hand. She eventually found her niche in fencing and was highly recommended by crime lords with the city and its foreign agents as well. Her success eventually came to a halt with the excavation of a forgotten tomb. Her and her fellow thieves discovered the wealth-laden lair of a vanquished, but not slain vampire lord. With his accidental resurrection, her world was to plunge into a bottomless darkness, and changed what she was and who she is forever.

Alignment: Lawful Evil
Race/Sex: Human Female
Class: Beguiler/Rogue
Levels: 13 Total: Beguiler - 10th Level, Rogue - 3rd Level
Spells per Day: 0/6, 1st/7, 2nd/7, 3rd/7, 4th/6, 5th/3
Bonus Spells: Kadara has selected Shadow Cache – 3rd Level, Phantasmal Killer – 4th Level, Shadowfade - 5th Level
Str: [-19-][+00], Int: [-19-][+00], Wis: [-17-][+03], Dex: [-20-][+05], Con: [-Na-][+00], Cha: [-21-][+05]
Skills: All Untrained - Bluff +13, Perception: Listen +13, Perception: Search +11, Sense Motive +11, Perception: Spot +13, Stealth: Hide +13, and Stealth: Move Silently +13
Feats (16): Alertness [Bonus], Combat Casting, Combat Reflexes [Bonus], Devil’s Tongue [Fang and Fury, a Guidebook to Vampires], Dodge [Bonus], Hypnotic Voice [Fang and Fury, a Guidebook to Vampires], Improved Initiative [Bonus], Leadership [General Bonus], Lifesense [General Bonus: Libris Mortis], Lightning Reflexes [Bonus], Mobility [General Bonus], Quicken Spell, Shadow Servant [Fang and Fury: a Guidebook to Vampies], Silent Spell [Class Bonus], Spell Focus: Enchantment, Spell Penetration, Still Spell [Class Bonus]
Special Abilities – Beguiler
Armored Mage (Ex) – Kadara’s limited focus and specialized training, as a beguiler, allows her to avoid any chance of arcane spell failure as long as she restricts herself to light armor. The training does not extend to any other forms of armor, nor does this ability apply to spells gained from other spell casting classes.
Trapfinding – Kadara can use the Perception: Search skill to locate traps when the task has a difficulty class higher than 20, or higher if it is well hidden. Finding a magic tap trap has a DC 25 + the level of the spell used to create it. Kadara can use the Disable Device skill to disarm magic traps. A magic trap typically has a DC of 25 + the level of the spell used to create it. Kadara, when she succeeds in defeating a trap by it DC of 10 or more can study a trap, figure out how it works and bypass it (with her cohorts) without disarming it. Kadara currently has no need of this particular ability.
Cloaked Casting (Ex) – Kadara’s spells become More effective when cast against an unwary foe. She gains a +01 competent bonus to the spell’s save DC when she casts a spell that targets any foe who would be denied a dexterity bonus to AC (whether the target has a Dexterity bonus or not). She also gains a +02 bonus on rolls made to overcome the spell resistance of any affected target.
Surprised Casting (Ex) – When Kadara use her Bluff skill successfully to feint in combat, her target is denied its dexterity bonus to its AC for the next melee attack she makes against it or the next spell she casts. She must remain in melee with the target, and the attack must be made or the spell cast on or before your next turn. The target is not considered flat-footed and therefore can make attacks of opportunity against you if you do not cast defensively. Karada also has the ability to feint in combat as a move action instead of a standard action, but lacks the Improved Action feat.
Advanced Learning (Ex) – Kadara has selected Shadow Cache – 3rd Level, Phantasmal Killer – 4th Level, Shadowfade - 5th Level
Bonus Feats: Silent Spell and Still Spell meta-magic feats
Special Abilities - Rogue
Sneak Attack +2d6
Trapfinding – Kadara can use Perception: Search skill to locate traps when the task has a Difficulty Class higher than 20. Finding a nonmagical trap has a DC of at least 10, or higher if it is well hidden. Finding a magical trap has a DC of 25 + the level of the spell used to create it. Rogues can use the Disable Device skill to disarm magical traps. A magic trap generally has a DC of 25 + the level of the spell used to create it. Kadara currently has no need of this particular ability.
Evasion – Kadara can avoid even magical and unusual attacks with great agility. If she makes a successful Reflex save throw against an attack that normally deals half-damage on a successful save, she instead takes no damage. Evasion can only be used if the ranger is wearing light or no armor. A helpless ranger does not gain the benefit of evasion.
Rogue Talent: Fast Stealth – Kadara can move at full speed using her Stealth: Move Silently skill without penalty.
Trap Sense +01 – Kadara has an intuitive sense that alerts her to danger form traps, giving her a +01 bonus on Reflex saves made to avoid traps and a +01 dodge bonus to her AC against attacks made by traps
Special Abilities - Vampire
- Type: Undead
- Hit Dice: All current and future Hit Dice change to d12.
- Armor Class: The base creature’s natural armor bonus improves by +6.
- Saving Throws: DC 21 - Saves have a DC of 10 + 1/2 vampire’s HD + vampire’s Cha modifier unless noted otherwise.
Enhanced Abilities (Su): Kadara's attributes increase from the base creature as follows: Str +6 [from 13], Dex +4 [from 16], Int +2 [from 17], Wis +2 [From 15], Cha +4 [from 17]. As an undead creature, a vampire has no Constitution score, any potential fortitude save that override the governing rules instead substitute the vampire’s Charisma score in place of its Constitution.
Skills Bonuses (Su): As a vampires, Kadara now has a +8 racial bonus on Bluff, Perception: Listen, Perception: Search, Sense Motive, and Perception: Spot, Stealth: Hide, Stealth: Move Silently checks. Otherwise, they are the same as the base creature.
Special Attacks - Vampire
Blood Drain (Ex): As a vampire, Kadara can suck blood from a living victim with its fangs by making a successful grapple check. If it pins the foe, it drains blood, dealing 1d4 points of Constitution drain each round the pin is maintained. On each such successful attack, the vampire gains 5 temporary hit points.
Children of the Night (Su): As a vampire, Kadara commands the lesser creatures of the world and once per day can call forth 1d6+1 rat swarms, 1d4+1 bat swarms, or a pack of 3d6 wolves as a standard action. (If the base creature is not terrestrial, this power might summon other creatures of similar power.) These creatures arrive in 2d6 rounds and serve the vampire for up to 1 hour.
Dominate (Su): As a vampire, Kadara can crush an opponent’s will just by looking onto his or her eyes. This is similar to a gaze attack, except that the vampire must use a standard action, and those merely looking at it are not affected. Anyone the vampire targets must succeed on a Will save or fall instantly under the vampire’s influence as though by a dominate person spell (caster level 12th). The ability has a range of 30 feet.
Create Spawn (Su): A humanoid or monstrous humanoid slain by a vampire’s energy drain rises as a vampire spawn (see the Vampire Spawn entry) 1d4 days after burial. If the vampire instead drains the victim’s Constitution to 0 or lower, the victim returns as a spawn if it had 4 or less HD and as a vampire if it had 5 or more HD. In either case, the new vampire or spawn is under the command of the vampire that created it and remains enslaved until its master’s destruction. At any given time a vampire may have enslaved spawn totaling no more than twice its own Hit Dice; any spawn it creates that would exceed this limit are created as free-willed vampires or vampire spawn. A vampire that is enslaved may create and enslave spawn of its own, so a master vampire can control a number of lesser vampires in this fashion. A vampire may voluntarily free an enslaved spawn in order to enslave a new spawn, but once freed, a vampire or vampire spawn cannot be enslaved again. Kadara dispises creating new vampires and enslaving them as they can not be dominated by her Beguiler's magic.
Energy Drain (Su): Living creatures hit by a vampire’s slam attack (or any other natural weapon the vampire might possess) gain two negative levels. For each negative level bestowed, the vampire gains 5 temporary hit points. A vampire can use its energy drain ability once per round. Kadara often uses this ability with her vampire's Alternate Form and the Surprised Casting ability from her Beguiler's class abilities to a lethal degree. She often bites her opponent in her dire wolf or dire bat forms.
Special Qualities: As a vampire, Kadara retains all the special qualities of the base creature and gains those described below.
Alternate Form (Su): Kadara can assume the shape of a bat, dire bat, wolf, or dire wolf as a standard action. While in its alternate form, the vampire loses its natural slam attack and dominate ability, but it gains the natural weapons and extraordinary special attacks of its new form. It can remain in that form until it assumes another or until the next sunrise. (If the base creature is not terrestrial, this power might allow other forms.)
Bonus Feats (Su): As a vampire, Kadara's senses and reflexes improve to a supernatural degree. She gains Alertness, Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Improved Initiative, and Lightning Reflexes, assuming the base creature meets the prerequisites and doesn’t already have these feats.
Damage Reduction (Su): As a vampire, Kadara has damage reduction, 10/silver and magic. A vampire’s natural weapons are treated as magic weapons for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.
Fast Healing (Ex): As a vampire, kadara heals 5 points of damage each round so long as it has at least 1 hit point. If reduced to 0 hit points in combat, it automatically assumes gaseous form and attempts to escape. It must reach its coffin home within 2 hours or be utterly destroyed. (It can travel up to nine miles in 2 hours.) Any additional damage dealt to a vampire forced into gaseous form has no effect. Once at rest in its coffin, a vampire is helpless. It regains 1 hit point after 1 hour, then is no longer helpless and resumes healing at the rate of 5 hit points per round.
Gaseous Form (Su): As a standard action, Kadara can assume gaseous form at will as the spell (caster level 5th), but it can remain gaseous indefinitely and has a fly speed of 20 feet with perfect maneuverability.
Resistances (Ex): As a vampire, Kadara has resistance to cold 10 and electricity 10.
Spider Climb (Ex): As a vampire, Kadara can climb sheer surfaces as though with a spider climb spell.
Turn Resistance (Ex): As a vampire, Kadara gains +4 bonus to all attempts at turn resistance.
Apprentices: Yes, none worthy of training as a beguiler, but Kadara as the resources and the manpower of an entire thieves’ guild at her disposal. Chances are, she can have two or three agents do her bidding, regardless of the activity at any time. Her entourage would include corrupt bureaucrats, street thieves, professional assassins, merchants, watchmen, tavern-keepers, and mariners, all domestic and foreign from the dock wards.
Weapons and Equipment
Spearblock Leather Armor +01, Impervious Vestment (Magic Item Compendium), Fiendhelm (Magic Item Compendium), Keen Edge Rapier +03 Profane Burst (Libris Mortis), Dagger of Venom, Gloves of the Balanced Hands, Amulet of Proof against Detection and Location, The Sapphire’s Voice, Wand - Hold Person - 25 Charges, Wand - Ray of Enfeeblement - 34 Charges, Mirror of Mental Prowess, Ossuary of Ba-Zheth (Fang and Fury: a Guide to Vampires), Rod of Cancellation, 3 Scrolls: 4 arcane spells each, 1st – 6th levels, no more than two similar spell levels on each scroll

Notes: Kadara is a worshipper of Hecate and sees her transformation into vampirism as a blessing from the Queen of Ebon Magics. Kadara operates out of a guarded warehouse in Belos-Paux’s merchant district near the rich senatorial quarter. The warehouse connects to the city vast sewer system and later into the dungeons beneath it. Her guild affiliates and various mercenaries control the entire south passages of the dungeons. Kadara is always encountered eloquently dressed in clothing and cloaks of black and gray with her choice weapons and magical equipment concealed from sight.

Source Material - Role Playing Publications

Open Gaming Lincense, V 1.0a, Copyright 2000, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.
System Reference Document, Copyright 2000, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.
Pathfinder, Beta Playtest Edition, Copyright 2008, Paizo Publishing
Player's Handook, Third Edition Revised, Copyright 2003, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.
Player's Handbook II, Dungeons and Dragons Third Edition Revised, 2006, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.
Eternal Rome - Role-playing in the Age of Gods and Emperors, Copyright 2005, Green Ronin Publishing LLC.
Fang and Fury - A Guidebook to Vampires, Copyright 2003, Green Ronin Publishing LLC.

Pictures and Art are the sole respective property of there owners. No challenge to ownership, trademark, or copyright is intended. Kadara Pastelioni, Belos-Paux, other character concepts, and fictious creative concepts are the sole property of Jeffrey N. Williams, Copyright 2009.

True20 - Of Worlds Unknown - Research Material 05

Character Concepts - Gaijin: Tools of the Trade - Tomahawk

TransportationThe Dodge Tomahawk Concept Motorcycle
Source: Dodge Tomahawk Motorcycle

Almost 400 MPH! That's the estimated top speed of the Dodge Tomahawk motorcycle concept. The alien machine appeared early this year at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit and caused quite a stir.

Dodge built the machine after two employees began to toy with the idea of building a Dodge motorcycle to show up the Chevy powered Boss Hoss. Amazingly enough, management liked the idea and plans were laid for construction!

There's serious discussion at Dodge about putting the Tomahawk into production but at $250,000 each you can bet it will be limited. Even if you can handle the price, can you handle 1,500 pounds cranking out 500 horsepower, between your legs? If you can, the 505 cu. in. (8300 cc) aluminum Viper V-10 engine will take you to 60 MPH in 2.5 seconds and nothing on the street will ever catch you.

Few concept vehicles make it into production. The evolution of those that do usually results in the release of a production machine with a lot less flash than the original idea. In many cases it's a matter of having to wait for the available technology to catch up with the design. Today, micro technology and composite materials development is advancing at a staggering pace so ideas like the Tomahawk are more possible than ever. That's exciting and when you consider how innovative Dodge has become with their vehicle designs!

Your 500-HP V-10 Motorcycle Is Here
Source: Motorcycle Cruiser

Now that everyone on the block has a Valkyrie Rune on order, this $250,000 V-10 is just what the breakaway rider needs.

Though it has four wheels, Dodge's Tomahawk apparently does lean into corners.It's the new 8.3-liter, 500-horsepower V-10 from that "other" American motorcycle maker, Dodge. Well, maybe calling a Daimler-Chrysler's Dodge division a "motorcycle maker" is pushing it, since there aren't any plans yet to put the Dodge Tomahawk into production. However, the idea hasn't been ruled out, assuming there are enough people interested in coughing up $250,000 or so for one of a limited number of the 8277cc (505 cubic-inch), 1500-pound crotch rockets.

Unveiled at the Detroit Auto Show on January 6, the machine is a concept vehicle, built both to grab the spotlight and to inspire both the public and Dodge's design team. "This is a bold-faced slap against mediocrity," enthused Trevor Creed, Chrysler's Senior VP of Design. "Tomahawk is a scintillating example of what creative minds can do when given the opportunity to run free. It is a pure mechanical sculpture and a joyous celebration of the artistry and emotion of design. Tomahawk moves design concept introductions and the concept car game to a whole new level. It's just that extreme and passionate; a glimpse into the soul and commitment of true enthusiasts."

Each wheel in the pairs is suspended independently of its partner."A motorcycle is the most beautiful way to showcase an engine," said Wolfgang Bernhard, Chrysler's COO. And certainly this project is all about the engine. The aluminum Viper V-10 engine cranks out a claimed 500 ponies at 5600 rpm and 525 pounds feet of torque at 4200 rpm. It drives the dual spun-alloy rear wheels through a two-speed transmission and dual chains. Yes, there are two each 20-inch wheels front and rear, placed closely together, so it stretches the motorcycle concept a bit. Bernhard said the additional wheels were needed to handle all the power. Nonetheless, it still leans into corners.

The engine is the centerpiece and a stressed member of the monocoque-framed chassis, which features center-hub steering, a single-shock swingarm rear suspension and a 76-inch wheelbase. In its best automobile speak, Dodge describes the front suspension thus: "Outboard, single-sided parallel upper and lower control arms made from polished billet aluminum and mounted via ball joint to aluminum steering uprights and hubs with five degrees caster. Single, fully adjustable centrally located coil-over damper (2.25-inch coil with adjustable spring perch); pullrod and rocker-actuated mono linkage." There is a lockable parking stand.

Twist the throttle on 500 horsepower and you will probably want to rename Dodge's concept vehicle the Traumahawk.The seat height is listed at 29 inches, and fuel capacity is 3.25 gallons, which probably won't last 10 minutes at the machine's estimated 400-mph top speed. (We will believe that when we see it.) The estimated 0 to 60-mph time is 2.5 seconds, assuming you can find the necessary traction from the dual P150/50R-20 rear tires. "The Dodge brand philosophy always challenges us to grab life by the horns," said Creed. "In the case of Tomahawk, grabbing and holding onto anything for dear life is a necessity."

Any decision about actually producing this monster (in limited numbers) will be made in a few months, after the company has seen reaction on the show circuit. We think they should, not just because everyone needs a quarter-million-dollar motorcycle (or is it a motorcycle-like machine?), but it will give you something invigorating to get around with on the days when your Viper just doesn't seem like enough fun. Plus, if you didn't get a Valkyrie Rune or a CVO Road King because every biker on the block could afford one, this will give you exclusivity, something you won't see on every street corner.

SPECIFICATIONS

We think its great that Dodge's design people have something fun to drive.DIMENSIONS: Overall Length: 102 in. Overall Width: 27.7 in. Overall Height: 36.9 in. Wheelbase: 76 in. Seat Height: 29 in. Curb Weight: 1,500 lbs Track, Front: 8.75 in. Track, Rear: 10 in. Weight Dist.: 51% rear Ground Clearance: 3 in. Fuel Tank Capacity: 3.25 gal.

ENGINE: Type: liquid-cooled 90-degree V-10 Displacement: 8277 cc (505 c.i.) Bore x stroke: 102.4 x 100.6mm Valve arrangement: 2 pushrod-actuated overhead valves per cylinder, roller-type hydraulic lifters Fuel Injection: Sequential, multi-port electronic with individual runners Compression: 9.6:1 Power: 500 bhp@5600 rpm Torque: 525 lb.-ft. (712 Nom) @ 4200 rpm Max rpm: 6000

Dodge Tomahawk - Base Statistics

Strength: 25, Speed: 10, Defense: 25, Toughness: 20, Size: Medium, Powers: Enhanced Trait:Defemse 15, Super Speed 10 [Drawback: Duration - Limited to fuel consumption, Must refill after extended burst of speed, Flaw: Check Required - Ride Skill, Flaw: No Alternate Powers unless paid for as a Devise Power. Costs must be calcualted]

Features: Electronic Counter Measures/E-M Pulse generator - Small prtable generator positioned on the Tomahawk. Capable of generating a low grade e-m pulse that scrambles electrical equipment like wireless network towers and cellphones. DC 18, Range: 100 ft with a contnuous effect for 5 rounds before a 4 round recharge cycle.

Cost: [-78-]

Source Material - Role Playing Publications

System Reference Document, Copyright 2000, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.
Modern System Reference Document, Copyright 2002-2004, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.
Mutants and Masterminds, Second Edition, Copyright 2002, Green Ronin Publishing LLC
Mastermind's Manual: Mutants and Masterminds, Second Edition, Copyright 2006, Green Ronin Publishing LLC
Ultimate Power: Mutants and Masterminds Second Edition, Copyright 2006, Green Ronin Publishing LLC

Pictures, photographs, and art are the sole respective property of there owners. No challenge to ownership, trademark, or copyright is intended.