Possible Creative Expansion

How old is 'old'?

2009-10-07T05:25:21Z

This made me laugh real hard at the end so I thought I'd share. I'd never heard that one before!

[01:15:50] Derrek: 19 is olf
[01:15:53] Derrek: *old
[01:15:55] Derrek: OMGOMGOMG
[01:16:00] Derrek: I AM TURNING OLD IN A MONTH
[01:16:06] Chibale: IF 19 IS OLD THEN WHAT AM I
[01:16:17] Derrek: ANCIENT
[01:16:22] Chibale: :(
[01:16:30] Derrek: No but seriosu
[01:16:32] Derrek: I am turning old
[01:16:32] Chibale: I was hoping for 'classic' or 'antique'
[01:16:33] Chibale: >.>
[01:16:39] Derrek: lol
[01:16:42] Derrek: antique
[01:16:51] Chibale: Or maybe 'well aged like a fine wine'
[01:16:53] Chibale: OR SOMETHING
[01:17:11] Derrek: Sturdy and interesting
[01:17:14] Derrek: like a dinosaur bone
[01:17:18] Chibale: XD
[01:17:26] Derrek: ^^

Dude's got no LJ so I'm making this public so he can see it :P

Daggerfall!

2009-08-04T08:18:51Z

I've been looking for a copy of Daggerfall for years. Well, guess what?

http://www.elderscrolls.com/downloads/downloads_games.htm

It is now available to download for free from their own website. :D! It's old enough that it needs an emulator, but the site provides a link to one so you can download it, too. Arena is also up there (the first of the Elder Scrolls series, Daggerfall being second). I've been wanting to mess around with Daggerfall because of all the bugs, but I wonder if they actually ever fixed them in this release. Which would actually make it playable. >_>

Vampire sci-fi-ish dream

2009-08-01T00:40:59Z

I hope I can post this right despite LJ being all wonky :P

Anyway, this is a dream I had during a nap this morning. I got woken up really early by the fire alarm going off for all of three seconds... just long enough to be heard by anyone trying to sleep... and had trouble getting any real sleep afterwards. So I got up, and went back to bed an huorish later, and am kind of glad that I did, since this is one of those rare dreams that I wish I could have every night, where I remember the smallest details and it's really a lot like watching a movie.

I'm a vampiric gargoyle, or shifting vampire (the latter, most likely). I seem to be chased by both vampires and shifters, and near causing a war between the two due to my efforts to find someone, vampires thinking I'm unleashing some great evil and disobeying orders, or possibly trying to subvert the master and take over.... shifters thinking I'm spying on them and planning to kill a sleeping shifter to gain its power.

It turns out there's some sort of 'bonding' ability that some few vamps and shifters can achieve, and I'd achieved this with a rare species of shifter from another continant, one most here thought had been destroyed... but, in fact, he was only slumbering, and I had to find him and wake him before he -was- destroyed.

In doing so I angered most of both sides, to the point that they both had people coming after me. It was difficult to chase me since I could fly (not all vampires can, only those who can shift into flight forms can, and I could shift into a bat-hybrid much like a gargoyle, with feet that could be used as hands, and claws on my wings that could hold things - this is apparently very rare for vampires, who can only normally take on certain forms)

At one point, some witch vamps were after me, flying via broom, which I found odd at first - I believe they were from a special vamp sect that are sent after rogue vamps, and they were extremely difficult to shake off, being right on my tail until the end.

Eventually I found a device that would awaken the shifter I was after, and succeeded in doing so, but was unable to meet with him. Instead, I somehow sent him a message to meet at a certain location - the central meeting place of vamps, our master's meeting chamber - and I went there.

Once I arrived, I was almost imediately assaulted, but the master motioned them away as I approached him rather boldly, and explained to him that I'd felt a bonding with this shifter and had saved him. The shifter arrived then, almost materializing (I think some rarer forms of shifters can become more than the lycanthrope form and human form, but also mist forms that could travel quickly and avoid most dangers)

The master watched the shifter, realizing his uniqueness and rarity, and then watched him approach me. There was a strong sexual tension between us, him walking right up to me, wearing only pants, and me almost immediately rubbing my hands over him. He stood so close my face was against his neck, but I refrained from biting, no matter how much I wanted to.

The master watched for a moment, then told the others they could leave, once everyone understood what was going on. The bonding is not only very rare, but very important, though I'm not entirely sure how, so once they realized what had caused my behaviour, everyone backed off, vamps and shifters, including the special sect, though they kept a close eye on me.

The sun was going to be rising soon, and I told the shifter that I needed to go home before the sun rose, and we'd meet again. The master gave me permission to give him some information of a place to stay, other shifters that would give him shelter for the night.

I shifted and flew off. This was when I started to pay attention to the setting - it was post appocalyptic, but not entirely destroyed, just dismal with lots of buildings suffering damage. It was also not uncommon for mortals to see shifters, witches or vampires flying overhead, or running past, or what have you - as though the reality of humanity had been broken ages ago and we'd become common place for them - though we didn't really associate with them. We left them alone, except for those that wished to contact us, and in turn, they left us alone, for the most part. A peaceful coexistance without really understanding each other, like two entirely different cultures sharing an island and leaving each other in peace without much interest in learning about each other.

On my way 'home', I passed the shifter, who'd met up with two other shifters. He was lizard-like in appearance, without the tail - soft scales in place of skin with a reptilian head and eyes - and though he was truely unique, there were other reptilian shifters here, two of them who'd met up with him and agreed to give him shelter. I flew around overtop for a short time, and though they took no notice of me, I know they knew I was there, especially him. I resisted the urge to go down and wrap myself around him and flew on my way.

That side-trip unfortunately made me unable to get home before the sun started to rise, and I ducked into some half-abandoned mining facility, and decided to take up residence there for the night, heading up to some rafters in an attached factory where I'd planned to shift into an actual bat and hang to sleep. Then I woke up.

Some things I remember: I was about six feet tall with scruffy black hair that was a bit long but left in an unruly mess, and I wore a hat, black leather pants (not tight, and not shiny, a dull black leather), biker boots, and a jacket the same as the pants. The lizard really wanted me to bite him, but I restrained myself, since it would have lead to far too much to get done in the short time I had before the sun rose. I seem to recall that even the rising sun seemed to not really hurt, you could almost not tell it was rising, but the urgency to get home before it hit it's peek was very strong - perhaps the sun only hurt once it rose overhead, there was a rather heavy atmosphere of gases and dust blocking it at an angle.

The sky was orange most of the night, not black like I would have expected, as though the atmosphere were lit up on a regular basis. The lizard was also orange-coloured, dusky, with black patterns similar to cheetah markings on him. I believe both sides may have thought I was trying to summon, or bring back, some great evil that had caused all the devastation that was visible on the land, which was why they were so desperate to stop me - it would have finished destroying everything on the planet - but when they finally realized that wasn't my goal, most of them left me be. The witch sect of vamps still watched me, though I don't think for that reason - it had something to do with the bonding I had with the lizard, which I still don't know the full significance of - I don't think my dream self really understood it either, just that it was important somehow.

The master was only his title, used in the manner of calling your sensei 'master', though he was the eldest of the vampires - not the first, but only off by a few generations. His role was to maintain control of the vampires, peace between the various 'mythical' races, and ensure that humanity was able to rebuild without too much interference from us. His skin was greyed and ancient looking, eyes a bit sunken, and he never spoke - we 'heard' what he thought when he wanted us to understand him. He generally sat upon a stone throne in the center of his meeting chamber, I don't know if he ever actually walked, though I know he didn't sit there all the time - possibly ancient enough to know how to shift into various forms, or to fly with his mind, I'm not entirely sure.

I had two devices I kept with me, one was some sort of 'wand', and the other was a staff of some sort, and I held them in my feet when I was in gargoyle form, and hands when in humanoid form, using a fluid motion to switch them during shifting. They were fully functional in both forms, though aside from swatting at someone with the staff once, I don't recall doing much with them until I activated the device to awaken the shifter's slumber. I do know they were really important to me, and had some power. I also had some documents I kept with me on my flight back to my home, and found it odd that I insisted on holding onto them in a wing-claw, rather than tucking them into my clothes - it's possible the world worked in a manner that, while clothes could be 'tuned' to meld with you when you shifted, other items were not automatically tuned, and had to be carried in other ways.

I can remember bits and pieces of other things, but nothing really of note. It was really neat though.

Of strange occurances

2009-07-05T12:59:56Z

So, I had one of my really weird movie-like dreams last night. I only got about 5 hours sleep, kept waking up, and am exhausted, but I managed to get the dream typed out. It's got to be one of the stranger ones I've had, I think. It seems more fantasy at first, til later. It's sci-fi, on a world where old-age pirates live alongside cruise ships and futuristic missile ships. Anyway, here's the writeup, for those interested.

I'm a pirate captain, sailing with a full hull off to some distant undetermined location, but something happens and the ship's hull is breached. I know we're gonna sink so I try to tell my crew to prepare to swim free. Unfortunately, only two of my crew and I make it, having climbed into the crows nest til the ship hit bottom (with us submerged), then swimming off as it started to tip over under the water. The others weren't able to hold their breaths well enough.

We swam from small island to small island as we started to discover them, and some of these were so small the three of us could barely sit comfortable on them. Eventually we find a colony... the colony appears to consist of normal humans, and a pigmy race, about four feet tall, with out-of-proportion limbs and strange flatish black hair. We're sneaking around, and keep spotting them pulling the bodies of my crew out of the water and to some graveyard, until they spot us trying to steal food, the pigmys coming at us with spears, though a human female stops them and tries to speak to us in the pigmy tongue, til I speak back, then she speaks English to me.

She explains to me that she and her own crew on a cruise ship (guess old-world pirate ships exist in the modern world somehow >_>) crashed on the island and the pigmys saved her and some of her people, and they've lived there ever since, some having children. They wind up taking us in as she explains to them that we'd crashed much like her.

The colony seems rather primitive, until we wind up finding the main island of the colony, which has a multi-story modern building on it, one in fairly good shape. I find this odd, though it's explained that the building was there beforehand, and that they've been using it since they arrived, though the pigmy people had never used it before. It contains a hospital, offices, and some shared dorm style rooms. I don't know where the electricity is coming from. It's all very strange to me... so me and my two crew memebers start to investigate. The woman also has a pet cat that was on the cruise ship with her, and the cat is always wandering the halls of the building wherever we go... but no one really sees it but her and us.

Eventually, through our climbing about, we find a place that only the pigmy people and a few select humans can go, though the children often sneak into it through a series of tunnels, and they show us how to get in. We look around and find the place very suspicious, like an ancient tomb, containing various objects that the pigmy people collected from the cruise wrekage. We don't manage to get far, but I confront the woman later about it and about what's there, and she says she's been there, she's one of the few they let enter. But there are spots she can't get into, too. So she eventually agrees to help us 'sneak' into it.

I get the feeling she's also very suspicious of the whole thing, but been unable to convince anyone else that anything is going on. So when we show our concerns, she wants to help us get to the bottom of things.

She sets up a distraction, which consists of blowing up a secton of the building, that injures and kills some humans, but no pigmys (they were conveniently not present), and we sneak in through those tunnels. We look around, and this time, we find some sort of statue of the woman, and a pigmy... only... the statue pigmy is Mickey Mouse... and right away we see the resemblances that have been altered in the pigmy race. The height different is right, but the ears were turned into flat 'hair' that never quite looks like hair, the noses aren't quite as pointy, but do have little black spots on the ends, and they always seem to have black shoes and 'gloves' on.

Right away, we know something's wrong. The pigmy people aren't real, or if they are, they don't really look like that. We start to search the modern building, my two crew set to the task of talking to the humans to see if any of them see anything weird, while I go hunting through each and every room for any sign of oddities. The woman is busy keeping the pigmy people happy and distracted.

During this search, my two men are in the hospital area, while myself and the woman are in different sections of the building... at this point I get views from each part in turn, like in a movie. I can only assume that whoever these people are, they had never intended for most of the area to 'run' at the same time, as my crew start to see 'flickers' in reality... the people in the hospital occasionally flicker, as though holographic. One man, an aging black guy in tan islanders clothes, outright dissappears for a few moments with my crew seated beside him, and the crew just sits there going '...uh.' til he flickers back in.

Meanwhile, I'm off searching rooms, and finding strange equipement in them. I keep seeing that cat. And so do my crew. ...all the time. ...on different floors. (I don't know this part yet, but I do know that nobody else mentions the cat, or, if ask, they say they only see him when the woman's holding/petting/playing with him.)

I set up some stickers and start putting them on the walls, stickers of a cat, and people 'see' them, and then spot the cat if he's near them. The pigmys also see them, and start trying to 'capture' the cat, then when one succeeds, dragging it into a room, it's shortly released, only very sick... I assume poisoned, as it's walking around ill and such.

At first I feel bad for getting them to kill off the woman's cat, and I'm carrying this ailing cat down the stairs, and spot one of my crew coming up. I say the cat's acting really sick, and he says 'yeah, he was doing that down there, too'. I blink and think about that, then scurry down the stairs to spot the exact same cat on the other floor also wandering around ill... then the cat I'm holding gets away, only I don't remember it jumping out of my arms, it just wasn't there anymore.

It gets hectic at this point, as the pigmys are now hunting us down and the woman is nowhere to be seen. We start scrambling through the building until, my crew looking for a power source while I scour the place for the woman. I manage to find this big control room and stumble into it, finding pigmy people looking very serious and speaking English, and the woman.

I demand to know if there's more than four living beings on this island. The pigmy 'chief' looks at me, startled, and says something along the lines of 'scanners would indicate the same number of lifeforms, that's uncanny'. We find out that, when the woman's ship crashed, she was the only surviver, and they set up this place for her to live in, with the other humans created so she wouldn't feel too out of place. She wound up leading them, and when she insisted on searching and eventually found the large building, they decided to let the 'humans' (her and the holograms) make it their home, but kept the holograms convincing her not to go to certain areas. She was persistant and would keep trying to anyway, so the cat was used to lure her away from these areas whenever needed, hence always seeing him in the halls.

At this point, my crew, whom I saw again in another scene, discover a power source, and manage to damage it. Some sort of barrier had been set up to keep the outside world from finding the place. That's why we'd only found the colony after we'd crashed, not spotting it beforehand. And why we'd not seen the main building despite having sailed near enough to it a few times. This is also, I assume, the reason the humans never saw any ships pass by so close.

I also know, at this point, that there's an alien race that's previously attacked the planet to use us as experimental guinea pigs, and I know, somehow, that this is all related. I also suddenly realize that these aliens don't show up on our scanners as proper life forms, perhaps they're mechanical, perhaps they're a program, an AI. I'm not sure which, but I do know that the great powers of the world know how to detect them... and that any human life signs in the area are generally considered expendable.

It's at this point that I realize our mistake, as imediately following the destruction of part of the power source, we start to hear alarms. Earth is at war... with -us-. Missiles start coming in.

My two crew, myself, and the woman, are ushered away from the facility, by the pigmys, of all things. It seems that, this time around, they really were trying to do good, and hadn't meant for us to be 'trapped' or hurt. Perhaps this version of the aliens was 'corrupted' into kindness, or perhaps they all used to be like this, and others are now corrupt, thus attacking humans and causing deliberate harm in other parts of the world. We're not sure which is true, but we do know that they give us some basic supplies, including what money they'd found on the cruise ship, and even some treasures from our own sunken ship, and gets us onto a boat that we start to row away from the island, all the while missiles are coming in, but only on the land, wherever they can detect the alien signature. So once we're far enough from the island, we're safe.

I know we get away, back to civilization, and are left with so many questions, but about there is when I woke up.
It sure stuck in my head rather well, in great detail.

Update

2009-06-12T21:36:41Z

So, no surgery! Yet. It's what I expected, a cyst... just... worse than I've ever had before. So they've given me percoset for the pain and I just gotta wait it out, and go back for a follow-up to make sure it's totally gone sometime next week.

Mmm, drugs... :P

Pain

2009-06-12T13:53:02Z

So I'm getting ready to head to emerg. Hopefully, this agonizing pain is just a cyst that'll be easy to take care of with a bit of pain meds... but since it's been hurting like fuck since yesterday, I wanna find out for sure. Since the last time I hurt this bad was when my spleen exploded. >_> So, uh, if I'm gone for a few days, don't worry too much - I'll post as soon as I get back either way to let people know what's going on. Love you all and stuff.

You are GREAT.

2009-05-26T08:09:01Z

Validation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cbk980jV7Ao

[Profile] Tyrell Montague

2009-03-25T05:31:49Z

So, since some of the stuff I'm working on is proving rather difficult, I thought I'd try a profile, as Rajani has occasionally urged me to do some of them. They're certainly easier to work on than full-length stories. I'm in the midst of a couple of stories as well as working on chapter two of the Camanoe Commonwealth overview - this one focussing on explaining the ranks of nobility.

Tyrell is a minor character, part of Kel Deverell's background, but I thought it would be easier to flesh out some of the minor characters before working on the main ones, since they require a lot more work in explaining their backgrounds. As of yet, he doesn't appear in any stories, though should my interest in writing continue, I hope to have him make a few appearances in the Kel's Tales series. So, anyway, here you go, I hope it's at least something worth reading. Oh, and while most of the background stuff I do is generally from in in-character source, the profiles will not be, since a lot of what I put in them is more to flesh out the character for myself, and wouldn't be written down in any book in the setting itself.

Tyrell Montague
Gender: Male
Species: Cougar
Eyes: deep blue
Hair: dark brown
Titles: Eldest of the Montague family, brother to Duke Montague, fourth in line for the Montague Dukedom, Swordsmaster of Montague

Background:
   Tyrell Montague is an aging fellow, though he has a rather fullfilling history. Raised by his parents with his two younger siblings, it was firmly believed that he would run the house when his parents passed away, until an accident injured his left leg and left him unable to walk without the aid of a cane. He was known to go riding once a week as a leisurly activity, but one of those weeks, some damage had been caused out in the field in which he frequented. The culprit was never found, and it is unknown if it was intentional, but there were some unexplainable holes out in the field and the horse's leg got caught up in one, shattering it. As the horse fell, Tyrell was unable to roll free, and his own leg was crushed beneath the horse.
   Tyrell's parents spent weeks pursueing the incident, but finally, due to Tyrell's own insistance, they put it behind them, calling it an accident. Although the family was still intent on having Tyrell become the future Duke, he'd decided to give the title up to his middle brother when the time came.
   Not long after his brother had become the Duke of the Montague, Tyrell had joined the ranks of the diplomats. The diplomats are responsible for keeping the peace in the Commonwealth, manipulating the dukes to leave the common people out of their squabbles and ensure that the people in general go unhindered about their lives. They have the most political sway over the Commonwealth, though nobody really knows who their members are, aside from the members themselves. To be inducted into the ranks of the diplomats was either a great honor, or a horrible curse, depending on who one asked.
   Tyrell had already had extensive training with both sword and pen as part of his studies to become the Duke of the Montague dukedom. Upon joining the ranks, his training in both areas grew. To this day, he is still one of the most famed swordsman of the Commonwealth, though it is seldom that he need rely on steel rather than words to handle any situation. During his membership, he has spent many years training younger recruits, and taken great care in ensuring that his brother's own dukedome remained as stable as possible, which, considering his brother's disinterest in expanding his borders, prefering to better handle the dealings within his own holdings, has not proven difficult. Tyrell has a fondness for his brother, the Duke, that is uncommon for most any noble, and most of the diplomats Tyrell has dealt with hold Duke Montague in high regard.
   Over the years, he became the family friend of the Deverell house, a cheetah family and one of the high noble houses that was known for the musicical and dancing talents of the eldest son, Kel. Tyrell frequently visited the house for feasts, though it was a common jest that he only came to watch Kel's enciting moves as he'd put on aluring displays before his father's guests. As time went on, Tyrell befriended the young cheetah, until Kel took to the roads to pursue his career as dancer, musician, and story teller.
   Tragedy struck, however, when the head of House Deverell and his wife were both found dead at their home. Tyrell took it upon himself to seek out young Kel and inform him of the news, and then aid the boy in securing his titles and dealing with the estate. It was during this time that the two became lovers, and Tyrell introduced Kel to the diplomat ranks, training the young cheetah in both sword and pen, much as he himself had been.
   Years passed and Tyrell married for political reasons, though he and his wife rarely share a bed, both prefering the company of others. Tyrell still has visits with Kel Deverell, each one as exciting as the last, and though the two aren't as close as they once were, they are inseperable when they are together.
   Tyrell lives in his brother's dukedom, tending to local matters and aiding his brother in the entertainment of guests, which is a common dealing in the political structure of the Commonwealth. He no longer trains recruits into the diplomatic ranks, but he is still a widely respected memeber and often asked to give pointers in swordsmanship.

D&D Logs - Second and third sessions

2008-11-27T06:24:15Z

So I'm posting them both in one cause the first one was more of an annoyance and the game died fairly quickly and it wasn't even a whole scene :| and the second one was essentially just a fight, which lasted several hours since we're all new to combat and adjusting to it and such. IT WAS OUR FIRST COMBAT SCENE and none of the PCs got horribly mauled! :D The good thing about low level players is... low level mobs hit about as often as you do. Which is hardly at all.

Here's the first one, I warn you it's unpleasant :| but we didn't wanna just retcon it.

*****
<&NinjaWizard> Kelvin and Armon
<&NinjaWizard> You're out in this general woodsy area chasing after a bandit bounty.
<&NinjaWizard> The 'next town' which isn't a major city but lets call it uh Smithton or something idk has a bounty posted for a local gang of bandits. The bard is out for the money, the paladin wants to 'do the right thing' and stop these bandits from stealing from random passers by.

<&NinjaWizard> Armon and Kelin you're on the road travelling out of the major town looking for the lead-off to where the bandit camp is supposed to be.
<&NinjaWizard> You met at the sherrif's station when looking for a job, turns out you both looked at the bandit bounty and since the paladin doesn't care much about the money you decided to go with him since he's got muscle and you don't.
<&NinjaWizard> Recap: Dorrik, Aerik and DJ, after saving Eshanil from the wreckage of a beat up cart (or rather from laying in the middle of the road in danger of being run over), you're camped (presumabely at the side of the road and not ON it) for the night.

<&NinjaWizard> As for where it is it's 'somewhere around here' neither of you are good at directions but that's NOT IMPORTANT right now. >_>
<&NinjaWizard> (You are, however, pretty sure the bandit camp is far away from the road, so someone at the road camping out is probably not a bandit... probably)
<&NinjaWizard> You have never-tire horses, Eshanil's puppy and horse, the carriage full of eggs.
<&NinjaWizard> And are on your way to deliver the eggs to Eshanil's dad.

* @Dorrik_Bloodbellows is keeping watch for first shift during camp out.

<&NinjaWizard> Well, lets zoom past the night, since it's fairly quiet and nothing jumps out at you.

* @Dorrik_Bloodbellows yawns, stretches, wakes up, gets horses ready to leave.

<&NinjaWizard> The wizards need a full night's sleep to regain/change spells, so no long watches for them.
<&NinjaWizard> Who was on last watch?

* DJ is apparently already awake!

<&NinjaWizard> You two wake up too and set back on the road.
<&NinjaWizard> You're headed uh north, the others are headed south
<&NinjaWizard> Eshanil has a little camp fire going with rabbit roasting over it before you guys get into the carriage to take off.

<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> You're up already?
<DJ> Rabbits have no nutritional value.
<@Aerik> Ew, rabbit
<DJ> Seriously, you should find something better.

<&NinjaWizard> Eshanil seems to be meditating.

<DJ> ... :|
<DJ> He's gonna burn that rabbit.
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> ...wizards.

<&NinjaWizard> For DJ: You saw him get up and an owl helped him catch the rabbits.

* DJ checks to see if the rabbit is cooked

<&NinjaWizard> The rabbits appear to be just nearing finished cooking.

* DJ steals a rabbit to gnaw on despite them having no nutritional value

<@Aerik> You do realize how vile those things are, don't you?

<&NinjaWizard> Eshanil lifts his head from his meditation and smiles to DJ. There's four rabbits, they're fairly small, but well seasoned and smell tasty.

<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> I'll just help myself to one of these rabbits. *yoink*

* DJ pauses and glances up at Eshanil
<@Aerik> Blech.
<DJ> ...You can starve to death on rabbit meat, you know.
* @Aerik rummages through his sack for food

<&NinjaWizard> Eshanil shrugs, "It was the best I could manage in the area without a decent hunter."

<DJ> Even rats are better nutritionally.

<&NinjaWizard> Eshanil simply shrugs at DJ's comment and closes his eyes for a few moments longer, then snags up one of the rabbits for himself to nibble on. Cause it's tasty, even if not nutritional.
<&NinjaWizard> Dorrik, DJ, Aerik: Spot check.
<&NinjaWizard> None of you see anything.
<&NinjaWizard> Eating your rabbits enjoying your breakfast and breaking up camp. Listen check: everyone.

<&NinjaWizard> Armon clearly hears stuff going on up the road, Kelvin doesn't quite hear it. Dorrik, DJ and Aerik hear people approaching downroad.

* @Dorrik_Bloodbellows readies his axe.
* Armon silently alerts Kelvin
* Armon gets sort sword ready
* DJ leaves the rabbit and readies her knives

<&NinjaWizard> Eshanil sets his rabbit aside and stands, and from the top of the carriage something flies down the road.

* Kelvin arches a brow and silently lays his warhammer over the pommel of his saddle.

<&NinjaWizard> Kelvin and Armon: spot check

* @Aerik sits and eats.

<&NinjaWizard> Armon sees nothing, Kelvin sees an owl fly overhead and then retreat.

* Kelvin notes the owl flying overhead but pays it little mind really

<&NinjaWizard> Back at the camp that's still being broken up, an owl flies in and lands on Eshanil's outstretched hand. And makes squacky owl noises at him.
<&NinjaWizard> Well, your raven is perched on the harness of one of the horses. The puppy is rolling around in the grass. The horses are grazing.
<&NinjaWizard> Eshanil glances towards his three companions then down the road, "Two riders, one short, one man-height, apparently with a small carriage or cart. The big one looks 'dressed up'."

<@Aerik> Dressed up how?
<DJ> Royal finery?
<@Aerik> Bandits?

<&NinjaWizard> Eshanil smirks a bit, "Well, Sharban compared it to dressing to impress a mate, but somehow I'm not sure that quite matches the actual description. Fancy livery, I would presume."

<DJ> Doesn't sound like bandits.
<DJ> I doubt they'd wear fine livery on a raid.
<@Aerik> Sound unimportant
<@Aerik> we should ignore them.

<&NinjaWizard> "Considering there's only two of them, and no sign of others near the road, I would say they aren't bandits."

<@Aerik> We have our own business.
<DJ> What, bandits can't work in pairs?

<&NinjaWizard> "They can, but the ones in these parts tend to work in larger groups."
<&NinjaWizard> YOU SPOT EACH OTHER

<@Aerik> Let's just ride past.
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> I don't trust them.
<DJ> You don't trust anyone.

<&NinjaWizard> Dorrik, Aerik and DJ: You see a rather well dressed knight (it seems) on a large also well-dressed warhorse, complete full plate on the rider, some armor on the horse, travelling with a really short person riding a small cart with a mule. Or on the mule. As he sees fit.

<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> And I'm still alive, aren't I?
<@Aerik> I still say we just ignore them. They're of no concern to us.

<&NinjaWizard> Armon and Kelvin: You see three average-height people and a shorter guy who looks obviously dwarven (unless he's trying to hide this fact), the other three seem slender and possibly elven from this distance, a covered carriage with two big black horses in front and a small horse tied to the side, and something rolling around in the grass.

* DJ keeps an eye on them, though

<&NinjaWizard> One of the average-height people has some kind of bird on their hand and is watching you approach.
<&NinjaWizard> They also appear to be breaking camp.

<Armon> I shout "Be ye a friend or foe!" or w/e is acceptable in the world.
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> That depends entirely on who you consider friends and foes.
<Armon> "Doeth ye mean any harm to us?"
<@Aerik> He talks funny
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> Not if you plan to pass peacefully.
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> aside to aerik: He sure does.

<Armon> (in that case, what is current judged distance?)
<&NinjaWizard> 20-30 feet?

* Kelvin eyes the bird upon the one party's shoulder and slows his horse to a slow pace, edging only so far as to remain polite but without a need to raise his voice too terribly much. "Well met. I didn't expect to find a camp out here with danger so close to this area."
* DJ lets the wizard handle the conversation >__>
* Armon switches short sword for his shortbow
<Armon> shouting "Hath ye changed thy mind?"
* @Dorrik_Bloodbellows holds axe and spiked shield ready to attack "I said we'd leave you be if you planned to pass peacefully"
<Armon> "Oh, sorry. missunderstanding" I yell in reply.
* Armon puts bow away
* @Dorrik_Bloodbellows lowers axe, keeps shield raised.
<Armon> yell "Seen any bandits lately?"
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> You'll find a wreck of a cart up the road further, but we've seen no bandits.
<Armon> "What info have you of said cart?"

<&NinjaWizard> Eshanil arches a brow, then tilts his head towards Dorrik, "Actually, there are some not too far from our present location."

* Armon glances at the second elf
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> Well I don't have an owl telling me these things and have seen none myself.
<Armon> "Would you have a count? and what direction?"
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> And of the cart? That it's wrecked.
* Kelvin looks to Armon and gives a slight sigh and shake of his head, then turns back to the opposite party, 'A camp of some fifteen as I've heard it described. We were on the way to put an end to their unsavory ways'
<DJ> Well good luck with that!
<Armon> "Yes," I reply "But they might have been reduced ."

<&NinjaWizard> Eshanil shakes his head and looks to Kelvin and Armon, "Something about that. And they happen to have a certain item that I would like to retrieve from them." He turns back to Dorrik, glancing to DJ and then Aerik, "I'd planned to make you an offer to help me retrieve it before we continued, perhaps it would be easier with others."

<Armon> "I assume the wrecked cart is the bandits?" at the large group.

<&NinjaWizard> "Ah... no, that was my cart."

<@Aerik> I'm willing to make a short detour.
<Armon> "It seems we both have similer goals, how about it, Kelvin?"
* @Aerik aside to DJ and Dorrik "He's the son of a very powerful mage, may be best to keep him happy"
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> I'm not sure exposing our cargo to bandits would be a good idea, and I don't like the short one.

<&NinjaWizard> Eshanil chuckles, "We'd leave the carriage here, protected of course. Or a bit off the road if you prefer to have it not in imediate line of sight of anyone passing by."

<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> to Aerik: "And we're carrying eggs for that very powerful mage, I don't know about being late"
* Kelvin draws his horse up a little closer, 'Perhaps we were destined to meet along this path then, as a larger group would have a better chance at taking on such a foe.'
<@Aerik> Still whispering: a good point.

<&NinjaWizard> Armon: You heard everything.
* Armon keeps his mouth shout about what he hears, but whispers "I don't like this fool" to Kelvin
<&NinjaWizard> Eshanil sets about putting out the campfire, plucking the two untouched roasted rabbits from it beforehand and setting them aside.

<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> And which 'fool' would that be, shorty?
* Kelvin cocks his head a little towards Armon, 'Like him or not, I think our chances are improved with the added company.'
<@Aerik> I'm up for whatever route gets us paid quickest
<Armon> "I dont know," I ask one of the elves, "What IS that thing?" pointing at dorrik.
<@Aerik> I've changed my mind. He's not worth our time.
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> A very angry dwarf with a very large axe, Gnome.
<Armon> "We agree to join, You can take everything from the bandits of worth"
<Armon> "but we get the reward."

<&NinjaWizard> Eshanil snickers.

<Armon> "So, what do you say?"
* DJ 's player got lost and she is watching while petting a puppy >=|

<&NinjaWizard> Eshanil cleans up by the campfire and wraps up the spare rabbits, passing by Dorrik on his way to the carriage. "Take the deal."

<@Aerik> "I'm not sure it's worth it." *looks at the palladin* "You don't seem the sort to be travelling with this man"
<Armon> "Well then, good luck with those bandits all by yourselfs."
* Kelvin sets his hammer back into it's loop at the saddle's side and pats the side of his horse's neck, 'We only just met the previous day, it seemed a mutually beneficial arrangment at the time.'
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> I was going to say the same to you, as we have deliveries to make and you're the bounty hunters.
<DJ> Yeah really :|
<Armon> "So you are sure you don't need us?"
<DJ> Yeah, uh, pretty sure.
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> I'm pretty sure we can make our delivery without a mule and a gnome.
<DJ> Because see, we're not after any bandits, we're just passing through.
<Armon> "What do you say? elf. You want something from those bandits rather badly.""
<Armon> (the npc.)
<Armon> "And if we snuck up on them, I could send a monster at them before we all invaded."

<&NinjaWizard> Eshanil tilts his head, "I wouldn't say badly, I simply said I wished to retrieve an item from them. If my companions chose to accept the offer, that is, that you only get the bounty reward, then that is entirely up to them."

<DJ> I'm not going after bandits for nothing.
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> I'm not sure why we should do the work and get no reward.
<@Aerik> *aside to Eshanil* what type of item are we talking about?
<Armon> "Nothing? Think of all the belongings of the bandits! we simply want the reward; everything else will undoubtable help in your quest!"

<&NinjaWizard> Eshanil shrugs, "My spellbook. But remember, this is a group of bandits that's been working this area for a while now. They've hit up an untold number of travellers in these parts, including a few caravans."

<DJ> Time sensitive cargo, buddy. We can't afford to waste time for stuff bandits MIGHT have.
<Armon> "Your right,"

<&NinjaWizard> "It wouldn't take more than a few hours. The carriage will be guarded, and those eggs aren't about to hatch anytime soon, it's the wrong month."

<Armon> "But you can't even for things that they have that you KNOW will help you? Think about it. they HAVE to have something of avlues; they are abndits afterall. besides, isn't there a need for revenge?"

<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> They've attacked the elf there, but we simply found him after the fact; there's nothing for us to seek revenge for.

<&NinjaWizard> Eshanil squints at Armon, "They aren't the ones that attacked my cart. I'm the only one who has any real interest in this sidetrip. And I'm curious as to how a bunch of random loot will help a caravan making a delivery get the delivery done any more easily than simply going straight there."

* Kelvin clears his throat, 'I seek to end the threat these bandits pose to the good people of this region, the reward is incidental, though it would be nice to have a decent purse for travelling expenses.'
<DJ> ...Bandits have to possess valuables doesn't seem very sound logic to me.
* Armon starts wispering to Kelvin
<DJ> I mean, aren't they bandits BECAUSE they don't have any valuables...?
<Armon> "how about we aid them as guards; then maybe they will help us later?"
<@Aerik> Typically that is the case, yes, DJ
* @Aerik nods
* DJ is kind of musing to herself here
<@Aerik> (how far from the capitol are we?)

<&NinjaWizard> Eshanil nods sagely to DJ, "While they may have some decent amount of money or such, I doubt we'll be finding anything worth more than a few gold."
<&NinjaWizard> (Uh it was a half a week and you've travelled a day)

<@Aerik> Eshanil: it is unlikely the bandits will have any use for your spell book. Maybe we should finish our delivery, then possibly accompany you back here?
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> I'm sure he could get a spellbook in the city.
<Armon> "These people steal from travelers for 15 years; wouldn't they have something like... a spellbook...a few arrows, some magic doo-hickies."
<DJ> You'd think they'd sell it for the gold and then keep the gold somewhere safe.
<Armon> "a nice long sword, or other weapon" at Dorrik_Bloodbellows
<@Aerik> Allow me to be blunt.
<Armon> "or maybe a better axe..."
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> This axe was handed down from my grandfather's grandfather, I have no need for bandits' stolen weapons.
<@Aerik> You have done nothing but insult us and our intellegence, then attempt to persuade us to accompany you with promises of something you do not know exists.
<DJ> If the bandits are going to have such nice stuff, how about you get to take it and we get the reward?
<@Aerik> I do not wish to assist you in any manner.
* Armon waits for Kelvin's reply to question
* @Aerik turns to Kelvin
<@Aerik> I wish you luck, sir.
* @Aerik heads back into the carrage and closes the door
* Armon heads up and knocks on door shouting
<Armon> "How about we help you?"
* Kelvin nods his head to Armon, 'That might be for the best.'
<DJ> How about you take no for an answer, boy.
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> I'd just as soon cut you down as walk past you at this point, Gnome; I'd suggest you stay on the other side of your knight and move along.
<Armon> "How about we be full time nght guards for ya, at only 2 GP each a night. And we, and by we I mean I will try to be more polit?e"
<DJ> Uh.
<DJ> Yeah, I don't think you're worth 2 gold.

<&NinjaWizard> Eshanil stares blankly at Armon for a moment. "...first you want to get us to help you kill bandits so you get a reward out of it. Then, you decide to 'help us' by charging us to 'guard' us while we sleep?"

<Armon> "How bout free?"
<DJ> See now you just seem to have alterior motives and that makes me LESS inclined to trust you.
<Armon> " oh no no no! I admit we have other motivess; but that is that by the end of this, maybe you would just owe us a favor?"
*****

Kelvin will be returning, though, hopefulling this Friday, we'll see... speaking of which I should like figure out what's gonna happen then >_>

And the second one with major combat! Woo! This one was REALLY FUN :D

*****
<&NinjaWizard> So
<&NinjaWizard> When we last left our intrepid adventurers
<&NinjaWizard> They were chasing off an annoying gnome :|
<&NinjaWizard> For some reason the paladin accompanying him wouldn't let the dwarf kill him.
<&NinjaWizard> But whatever.
<&NinjaWizard> Probably something to do with the whole 'I am the Light' no wait that'd be more clerics
<&NinjaWizard> ANYWAY
<&NinjaWizard> YOU ARE PREPARING TO TRAVEL
<&NinjaWizard> Continueing your trip to the mage capital
<&NinjaWizard> With a carriage full of pegasi eggs (yes they lay eggs)
<&NinjaWizard> And an elf
<&NinjaWizard> Some of you had eaten rabbits
<&NinjaWizard> (+1 to all rolls til evening)

* @Dorrik_Bloodbellows keeps eyes peeled for bandits along the road.

<&NinjaWizard> So who's sitting up front and who's in the back with Eshanil and the puppy?

<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> (well I'm driving, so I'm in the back with the puppy)
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> (no wait)
<+DJ> [DJ is obviously with the puppy.]
<@Aerik> (is also in back with the puppy)

<&NinjaWizard> Oh and an owl that's sleeping in a little tuft of hay near the eggs because owls are nocturnal.

**** (Random visit from our dicebot owner!)
<root> Oh -- something wrong with c3?
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> (in that it's not replying, yes)
<&NinjaWizard> Yeah he broke
<root> Momentito
<c3> 1d69 = 46
<root> There we go. ircctl.pl stopped for some reason
<root> c3: d
<c3> d = 10
<&NinjaWizard> Thanks root!
<root> As always, I accept donations of the numbers of hot chicks.
<root> Oh -- I'm sorry -- that's not in character.
<root> Prithee, wouldst any of thee happen to know of a tavern in which one might find some hot mead wenches?
* &NinjaWizard points thataway ---->
<root> I've gotta run
<&NinjaWizard> BYE
<root> happy killing things, people.
<&NinjaWizard> ENJOY THE TAVERN
**** (/end random visit!)

<&NinjaWizard> SO
<&NinjaWizard> After the random stranger passes by...
<&NinjaWizard> You head along the road towards the next town.

<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> Which town is coming up next, Aerik? You seem to know the area well enough.
<@Aerik> knowledge geography

<&NinjaWizard> That owl looks a bit unusual.
<&NinjaWizard> ...uh Jeston
(It kinda changed names in the past week somehow I DON'T KNOW XD)

<@Aerik> The next town is Jeston
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> There isn't a band of thieves running this town, too, is there?

<&NinjaWizard> Pretty safe town, guarded well, they have a mercenary hire board (I'm getting to that) with regular jobs posted in the guard station, it's larger than the others you've come across and sort of a crossroad along the route between two major towns (Mage Capital and a major fishing port)

* @Aerik relates that info

<&NinjaWizard> You were half a day from the next town
<&NinjaWizard> And uh I guess you're not far from it now
<&NinjaWizard> (Like a few hours)
<&NinjaWizard> Eshanil looks contemplative during the trip, the puppy seems playful and pounces DJ's foot.
* +DJ plays with the puppy but like tooootally ignores the elf psh that kid whatever
<&NinjaWizard> SINCE THE DWARF IS THE ONLY ONE OUTSIDE listen and spot checks
<&NinjaWizard> You don't see a damned thing beyond those horses.
<&NinjaWizard> BUT YOU HEAR SOMETHING
<&NinjaWizard> (People in the cart do a listen check)
<&NinjaWizard> Well nobody can see WORTH A DAMN
<&NinjaWizard> Y'all keep shutting your eyes to hear better.
<&NinjaWizard> DJ hears the puppy.
<&NinjaWizard> The horses seem a bit agitated (for the dwarf) and there's scuffling sounds in the trees to either side of the road.
<&NinjaWizard> Not too far ahead.

<@Aerik> Um... guys
<@Aerik> You haer that?
<+DJ> Hear what?
<@Aerik> there's stuff outside... I think we found those bandits that palladin told us a bout
<+DJ> Does it HAVE to be bandits? Can't it just be wolves?
* @Dorrik_Bloodbellows readies his axe
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> I'll take no chances with these eggs.
<@Aerik> Well, it could be wolves.
<@Aerik> But I think the puppy'd react to wolves
<@Aerik> dogs and wolves don't get along

<&NinjaWizard> Eshanil prods his owl awake and sends it out of the carriage through the window. It flies off. The puppy seems blissfully unaware of much of anything.

* +DJ goes to look outside the carriage to see if she can see/hear whatever Aerik is talking about
<&NinjaWizard> Surprise round: flatfooted AC on the dwarf.

<&NinjaWizard> c3: d+3
<c3> d+3 = 18
<&NinjaWizard> Dorrik takes a javelin in the leg.

* @Dorrik_Bloodbellows swears loudly

<&NinjaWizard> c3: 1d6+1
<c3> 1d6+1 = 6

<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> We're under attack!
<@Aerik> From what direction?
* @Aerik goes to the window DJ's not at

<&NinjaWizard> DJ and Dorrik can do spot to see if they see WHERE it came from, DJ saw Dorrik get hit by a javelin.

<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> c3: d+1
<c3> d+1 = 3

<&NinjaWizard> Dorrik is seeing red too much to see anything.
<&NinjaWizard> (Oh yeah, you get a +1 bonus all day for eating a rabbit)

<+DJ> c3: d+2
<c3> d+2 = 13

<&NinjaWizard> You're not quite sure but think it was about that general part of trees to the left and ahead about 10 feet.
<&NinjaWizard> WHAT ARE YOU DOING

* +DJ climbs over and drags her bag of potions with her, sitting beside Dorrik.
<+DJ> You okay, man?
* @Aerik looks out the window and sees nothing.
<@Aerik> Where are they coming from?
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> I'd be better if I didn't have a damned javelin in my leg

<&NinjaWizard> Depends, what are you doing with the carriage?
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> (i am stopping i have a spike in my leg)

<&NinjaWizard> Roll init

<+DJ> Well pull it out already! Here!
* +DJ hands him a light wounds potion
<+DJ> I think it came from over that way
* +DJ points vaguely in the general aforementioned direction for Aerik
* @Dorrik_Bloodbellows downs potion and pulls javelin out
(*I missed seeing this but it didn't seem to matter >_>)

<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> c3: d+2
<&NinjaWizard> c3: d+3
<c3> d+2 = 14
<c3> d+3 = 6
<@Aerik> c3: +3
<c3> +3 = 3
<@Aerik> c3: d+3
<c3> d+3 = 21
<+DJ> c3: d+4
<c3> d+4 = 16

<&NinjaWizard> Hang on lemme roll bandit init
<&NinjaWizard> Alright, Aerik is first
<&NinjaWizard> You do not see any bandits and cast a spell

* @Aerik casts shield

<&NinjaWizard> Bandit goes next: javelin at Dorrik since he's the fiercest of the peeps up front

<&NinjaWizard> c3: d+3
<c3> d+3 = 8

<&NinjaWizard> It... flies over the carriage.

<&NinjaWizard> DJ
<&NinjaWizard> Sure, you can spot the general vicinity of a bandit as it throws since you're watching, but there's leaves so cover

* +DJ hops down from the cart and uh hides behind Eshanil's horse >_____> stepping out just long enough to throw a dagger in the direction the javelins are coming from

<+DJ> c3: d+7
<c3> d+7 = 14

<&NinjaWizard> Bandit declares cover and is totally missed.
<&NinjaWizard> IT STABS A TREE
<&NinjaWizard> THE TREE TAKES DAMAGE AND BLEE-okay no
<&NinjaWizard> ANYWAY

<&NinjaWizard> Bandit charges from the trees near DJ
<&NinjaWizard> He doesn't get close enough to enter melee but throws the javelin he had out at DJ

* +DJ is hiding behind Eshanil's horse.
<&NinjaWizard> (Cover from the horse you jerk)
<&NinjaWizard> (+4 to AC)

<&NinjaWizard> c3: d+3
<c3> d+3 = 11

<&NinjaWizard> It hits the ground in front of the horse.
<&NinjaWizard> He's clumsy.
<&NinjaWizard> The horse is agitated.
<&NinjaWizard> Next bandit throws a javelin at Dorrik cause he's mean looking :|
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> (/me makes grr face)

<&NinjaWizard> c3: d+3
<c3> d+3 = 6

<&NinjaWizard> And is so traumatized by the dwarf that the javelin falls short about five feet.

<&NinjaWizard> Your go >_>
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> (:P)
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> (okay uh, can i reach bandit3?)
<&NinjaWizard> You can get to the bandit near DJ but not melee in the same round since he's just out of range for move+attack

<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> (I'll just move to him, then, and wait for attack next turn)

<&NinjaWizard> Next bandit crashes out of the trees and swings his axe at Dorrik

<&NinjaWizard> c3: d+2
<c3> d+2 = 16

<&NinjaWizard> And the axe clangs off the dwarf's armor.
<&NinjaWizard> Bandit #5 is on the other side of the trees (and DJ and Dorrik now have cover) so charges out towards the carriage.
<&NinjaWizard> Bandit #6 does likewise.
<&NinjaWizard> Eshanil exits the carriage and casts his spell

<&NinjaWizard> Back to Aerik
<&NinjaWizard> ROUND 2: FIGHT

<@Aerik> I cast cause fear on the furthest one I can see
<@Aerik> that's not near anyone
<&NinjaWizard> So one of the two on the other side
<@Aerik> (yes)

<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> Keep those eggs safe, Aerik!
<@Aerik> Will do!

<&NinjaWizard> (Eshanil's on the other side of the carriage from DJ and Dorrik, Aerik is in the carriage, two bandits are near Eshanil and two are melee to DJ and Dorrik with two in the trees - keeping track of locations)

<&NinjaWizard> c3: d-1
<c3> d-1 = 17
<&NinjaWizard> O_o
<@Aerik> (it's 10+ spell level + relevent modifier, in this case int)
<@Aerik> (so.... 10+1+4 =15)
<&NinjaWizard> So he won the will save
<&NinjaWizard> A shaken character takes a -2 penalty on attack rolls, saving throws, skill checks, and ability checks.
<&NinjaWizard> (Bandit #6 is at -2)

<&NinjaWizard> Another bandit charges from the trees in front of the horses but cannot reach anyone in time to attack melee and doesn't bother with javelins.

<&NinjaWizard> DJ

<+DJ> [I'm in melee range of one right? sooo I guess I'll melee with my AWESOME PUNCHING DAGGERS]
<&NinjaWizard> You're in melee of two, one a foot closer than the other, cause Dorrik's like right near you with two beside him
<&NinjaWizard> (Suggestion)
<&NinjaWizard> (Move to the one attacking Dorrik and sneak attack)
<+DJ> [OKAY THEN I'LL DO THAT]
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> (\o/ sneak attack)

<&NinjaWizard> He is now flanked, you get extra damage.
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> (which bandit# is flanked?)
<&NinjaWizard> Er, #4

<+DJ> c3: d+8
<c3> d+8 = 13

<&NinjaWizard> Sadly, your punching dagger clangs against his armor.

<&NinjaWizard> Bandit #2 attacks Dorrik since DJ moved to the other side of the dwarf and HOLY CRAP SPIKED MEAN THING
<&NinjaWizard> (Dorrik is now flanked)
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> (by 2 and ?)
<&NinjaWizard> 4

<&NinjaWizard> Alright, #2 attacks Dorrik with his axe
<&NinjaWizard> ...hammer
<&NinjaWizard> wtf
<&NinjaWizard> I gave them hammers and I've been saying axe >_>
<&NinjaWizard> (IMPORTANT DIFFERENCE the damage type isn't the same :|)

<&NinjaWizard> c3: d+4
<c3> d+2 = 14

<&NinjaWizard> ...the hammer clangs off the dwarf's shoulder spikes, sparking.
<&NinjaWizard> Bandit #3 runs out of the trees and flails at the horses. Nothing happens.

<&NinjaWizard> Dorrik

<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> I'll attack #4

<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> c3: d+11
<c3> d+11 = 15

<&NinjaWizard> It clangs against his hammer.
<&NinjaWizard> #4 returns the attack, taking a swing at the dwarf.

<&NinjaWizard> c3: d+4
<c3> d+4 = 17

<&NinjaWizard> And the hammer bounces harmlessly off the overly armored dwarf.

<&NinjaWizard> #5 charges Eshanil who appears totally unarmed or armored.

<&NinjaWizard> c3: d+5
<c3> d+5 = 16

<&NinjaWizard> And somehow, and very much to that poor bandit's surprise, misses.
<&NinjaWizard> Just as that happens a great beast appears near Eshanil, large lionish with great big eagle wings and an eagle's head.
<&NinjaWizard> Only one who'd be able to see atm is Aerik.

* @Aerik whistles
<@Aerik> NICE SUMMON SPELL, MAN!
<&NinjaWizard> And it pounces on the guy that just attacked Eshanil

<&NinjaWizard> c3: d+13
<c3> d+11 = 23
<&NinjaWizard> And hits once!
<&NinjaWizard> c3: d+10
<c3> d+8 = 17
<&NinjaWizard> And twice!
<&NinjaWizard> c3: d+10
<c3> d+8 = 20
<&NinjaWizard> >_>

<&NinjaWizard> c3: 2d6+4
<c3> 2d6+4 = 15
<&NinjaWizard> c3: 1d4+2
<c3> 1d4+2 = 5
<&NinjaWizard> c3: 1d4+2
<c3> 1d4+2 = 3

<&NinjaWizard> DJ and Dorrik hear REALLY LOUD SCREAMING from the other side of the wagon
<&NinjaWizard> Doesn't sound like a voice y'all know
<&NinjaWizard> Then it goes quiet
<&NinjaWizard> As the griffon eviscerates that poor bandit like it were butter.

<+DJ> Hey, sounds like one down!
* @Dorrik_Bloodbellows looks at #4, "You'll soon be joining your friend there in the afterlife"

<&NinjaWizard> Eshanil casts acid arrow at the other bandit in that area.

<&NinjaWizard> c3: d+4
<c3> d+4 = 18

<&NinjaWizard> Which hits.

<&NinjaWizard> c3: 2d4
<c3> 2d4 = 7

<&NinjaWizard> DJ and Dorrik hear another pained scream from the other side of the wagon, and that bandit backs up a step as the acid splatters over him.
<&NinjaWizard> And it's that bandit's turn, and he's kind of uh... staring in disbelief and tries to flee back towards the trees.

<&NinjaWizard> Aerik

<&NinjaWizard> Location notes: Dead bandit under the griffon beside Eshanil, fleeing bandit nearby | other side of carriage: DJ and Dorrik flanking #4 while #2 and #4 flank Dorrik, #3 nearby but not in melee | Front: lone bandit trying to spook the horses

<@Aerik> (Can I reach the fleeign bandit)
<&NinjaWizard> He's just out of reach to touch, cast it on your raven and send him after him
* @Aerik does that with the chill touch
<&NinjaWizard> Raven swoops on the fleeing bandit.
<&NinjaWizard> Roll his attack.

<@Aerik> c3: d+4
<c3> d+4 = 5

<&NinjaWizard> Raven leaves the carriage then flies right back in, confused.
<&NinjaWizard> And flies into the wall on the other side of the carriage.
<&NinjaWizard> Landing in the hay.
<&NinjaWizard> :(

<@Aerik> ... sigh =|
<@Aerik> Silly raven

<&NinjaWizard> #1 attacks DJ :|

<&NinjaWizard> c3: d+5
<c3> d+5 = 11

<&NinjaWizard> And... stumbles.

<&NinjaWizard> DJ
<&NinjaWizard> #4 is still flanked, so you can chose to ignore #1
<+DJ> [Uhh I'll go for the still flanked one]

<+DJ> c3: d+8
<c3> d+8 = 18

<&NinjaWizard> HIT

<+DJ> c3: 1d4+2d6+4
<c3> 1d4+2d6+4 = 12

<&NinjaWizard> ...you stab the bandit in the gut, manage to twist the dagger upwards into his heart, and he keels over.
<&NinjaWizard> First blood for your side goes to DJ!
<+DJ> [HOORAY GO ME]
<&NinjaWizard> (For PC characters)

<&NinjaWizard> #2 is still there, and doesn't blink at his friend falling, but seeing as DJ just downed the guy in ONE HIT he takes a smash at the rogue with his hammer.

<&NinjaWizard> c3: d+2
<c3> d+2 = 6

<&NinjaWizard> ...and flails his hammer wildly, I guess seeing his friend go down was more traumatizing.
<&NinjaWizard> #3: Seeing as his attempt to spook the horses failed he runs at Eshanil's horse and flails wildly at it. The horse rears, breaking the rope and kicking wildly before backing away, now just behind Dorrik and DJ.

<&NinjaWizard> Dorrik
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> Can I flank 1 or 2 with DJ?
<&NinjaWizard> Yup
<&NinjaWizard> You'd want #2 since #1 would require moving around DJ
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> Works for me.
<&NinjaWizard> He gets his AoO though
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> Resolve the AoO and I'll get to my attack

<&NinjaWizard> c3: d+2
<c3> d+2 = 4

<&NinjaWizard> HE'S TOO TRAUMATIZED OVER HIS FRIEND'S FALL
<&NinjaWizard> They must have been close. :|

* @Dorrik_Bloodbellows laughs at #2, "Did you bother learning to use that weapon before running off into battle with it?"

<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> c3: d+11
<c3> d+11 = 13

<&NinjaWizard> You just missed, distracted by the corpse on the ground that you had to step around.
<&NinjaWizard> Or something.
<&NinjaWizard> Skip two dead bandits, Eshanil.
<&NinjaWizard> (And griffon)

<&NinjaWizard> Eshanil and the griffon totally ignore the fleeing bandit, the elf skipping to the carriage and up onto the seat at the front, the griffon diving into the air and landing on the carriage, which shakes but is pretty sturdy. The griffon lets out a LOUD squacking roar above and behind DJ and Dorrik, the three bandits there all going wide-eyed and gaping, while the horse behind Dorrik and DJ bolts.
<&NinjaWizard> ...the fleeing bandit keeps fleeing.

<&NinjaWizard> Aerik.

* @Aerik casts enfeeblement on the guy that Dorrik and DJ aren't flanking

<&NinjaWizard> Roll ranged touch

<@Aerik> c3: d+4
<c3> d+4 = 18

<&NinjaWizard> Hit

<@Aerik> c3: d6+1
<c3> d6+1 = 7

<&NinjaWizard> Geesh
<@Aerik> (OUCH)
<@Aerik> (-7 str)

<&NinjaWizard> But he's at -1 str mod
<&NinjaWizard> And it's his turn
<&NinjaWizard> He has no idea what just happened aside from suddenly feeling weaker but that griffon scared him so for all he knows it's an effect of the beats, and he flails his longsword at DJ who's closest.

<&NinjaWizard> c3: d+3
<c3> d+3 = 7

<&NinjaWizard> ...and misses miserably.

<&NinjaWizard> DJ
<&NinjaWizard> (LOUD SQUACK-ROAR BEHIND YOU YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT IT IS)
<&NinjaWizard> (But you have #2 flanked)
<+DJ> [OH IF HE'S FLANKED LET'S DO ANOTHER SNEAK ATTACK]

<+DJ> c3: d+8
<c3> d+8 = 23

<&NinjaWizard> ...
<&NinjaWizard> Hit

<+DJ> c3: 1d4+2d6+4
<c3> 1d4+2d6+4 = 13

<&NinjaWizard> Well, deciding that it worked so well on the last guy, you pull the same move on this one, jabbing into his gut and up behind the ribs. He goes down.

<&NinjaWizard> Bandit #3, spying not only the griffon but his fallen companion and then a second companion falling right before his eyes, just bolts.

<&NinjaWizard> Dorrik

<&NinjaWizard> #1 is in melee to DJ
<&NinjaWizard> #3 is running and thus you cannot reach him to melee
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> (i'll flank #1 with DJ, then)
<&NinjaWizard> You were not in an adjacent square to 1 so you can flank without an AoO
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> (i'm cool with that)

<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> c3: d+11
<c3> d+11 = 18

<&NinjaWizard> HEY YOU HIT
<&NinjaWizard> Your weapon's listed dmg+ is your str mod
<&NinjaWizard> So add the rabbit on top of it

<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> c3: 1d10+1
<c3> 1d10+1 = 5
<@Aerik> (that can't be right...)
<@Aerik> (+4 for str, right?)
<@Aerik> (so 9?)
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> (my weapon is just listed as 1d10)
<&NinjaWizard> ...
<&NinjaWizard> Damnit
<&NinjaWizard> I forgot to add the +4 before sending it :| I added it on my copy
<&NinjaWizard> So 9

<&NinjaWizard> The dwarf slices the bandit open across the back but he's still standing.
<&NinjaWizard> ...mostly.

<&NinjaWizard> Eshanil and the griffon
<&NinjaWizard> The griffon dives over DJ and Dorrik and pounces on the fleeing bandit >[
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> (which one? >_>)
<&NinjaWizard> (#3)

<&NinjaWizard> c3: d+13
<c3> d+11 = 15
<&NinjaWizard> c3: d+10
<c3> d+8 = 15
<&NinjaWizard> c3: d+10
<c3> d+8 = 17

<&NinjaWizard> c3: 1d6+2+1d6+2+2d6+4
<c3> 1d6+2+1d6+2+2d6+4 = 23

<&NinjaWizard> Eviscerated. >_>
<&NinjaWizard> (And he didn't even see it coming)

<&NinjaWizard> Eshanil just stands on the seat of the carriage watching.

<&NinjaWizard> c3: 2d4
<c3> 2d4 = 7

<&NinjaWizard> Aerik
<&NinjaWizard> There's only one in melee still, cut up
* @Aerik holds his action. Why waste more spells?

<&NinjaWizard> The bandit drops his shield and sword and kinda stands there gaping at the griffon as it mauls his friend.
<&NinjaWizard> (You may chose to exit combat)
<+DJ> [lmao]
<&NinjaWizard> (Barring that it's DJ's turn)
<+DJ> [um I'm gonna backstab him 8)]
<&NinjaWizard> (You don't even want one alive? >_>)
<&NinjaWizard> (He's uh the last one left with hp over 0)
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> (what's the point they're just bandits)
<+DJ> [hahaha low wis my friend, she wouldn't think of it]
<&NinjaWizard> (Backstab it is!)
<@Aerik> (sides, we could always track down the runner ._>)
<&NinjaWizard> (You could!)

<&NinjaWizard> So sneak attack in the guy's bloody back while he's standing there helplessly. O_O
<&NinjaWizard> Y'know what, don't even roll
<&NinjaWizard> You slaughter him.
<&NinjaWizard> >_>
<+DJ> [XDDD]
<+DJ> [That makes 3 kills for DJ!]
<&NinjaWizard> (He only had 2 hp left, dropped his shield and was at flatfooted)

* +DJ wipes her dagger off on some clean part of one of the bandits' outfits and grins at Dorrik
<+DJ> You can't do anything without the rogue, apparently.
* @Dorrik_Bloodbellows scowls.
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> Been too long since I've had a chance to use my axe.

<&NinjaWizard> The griffon screaches and looks around for a new target.

<+DJ> Excuses.
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> It's not like my combat skills and flanking didn't let you stab them all in the back or anything.

<&NinjaWizard> Eshanil jumps down from the carriage near DJ and Dorrik and the griffon walks over to him, beak and claws dripping with blood.

* +DJ just grins and stashes the dagger back in its sheath.
<+DJ> You know the best part about killing bandits?
* @Aerik opens the door and steps out
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> Taking all their gold afterward?
<@Aerik> Well, I guess you guys handled that nicely. I'm sorry I was fairly... useless for the most part.
<+DJ> You do know!
* +DJ begins looting some corpses yo!
<@Aerik> I didn't have many combat skills prepared for the day. I'll be more careful next time
<+DJ> Don't worry about it, Aerik.
<+DJ> We managed! Nobody got hurt.

<&NinjaWizard> Eshanil pets the griffon's head affectionately shortly before it fades from sight.

<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> Yeah, apparently the rogue could've done it all herself.
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> And my leg still has a hole in it.
<@Aerik> Oh, my appologies. If only the shield spell extended to my neighbors.
<+DJ> Nobody got hurt.
* @Dorrik_Bloodbellows limps back to the carriage and sits in the back to brood.

<&NinjaWizard> While DJ loots corpses, Eshanil speaks, "I suggest we not stick around, however. One fled and may return with friends."

<@Aerik> I... tried to stop him =(

<&NinjaWizard> (Anyone else bothering with corpses or does DJ get all the loot?)
<@Aerik> (what? and get my hands covered in blood? Ew, no)

<&NinjaWizard> First corpse had 6 silver on it as well as a REALLY NICE looking longsword and a potion of cure light wounds (plus the shield and scalemail but I doubt you're gonna bother with them)
<&NinjaWizard> (Okay since nobody else is looting)

<&NinjaWizard> 23 silver and 3 copper coins found in total.

<&NinjaWizard> Alright, if you're gonna loot it all: 3 mw longswords, 3 mw heavy wooden shields, 3 warhammers, 3 light wooden shields, 6 potions of cure light wounds, 3 oils of magic weapon, 3 potion of shield of faith +2
<&NinjaWizard> You may not have room for all of the shields.

<+DJ> [haha well, if all the shields are wooden then I don't take any, but I'll take all the mw longswords and the pots and basically everything but the shields and warhammers]
<&NinjaWizard> (You aren't entirely sure what the pots are besides the cure light wounds)
<&NinjaWizard> (But you have two wizards!)

<+DJ> Hey Aerik! Can you look at some of this stuff and see if you know what it does?
<@Aerik> I have no idea what thes potions are, DJ, sorry
<@Aerik> But ask me again tomorrow!
<+DJ> ...Sure thing!
* +DJ shoves all the pots in her bag and stashes the swords somewhere off in the corner of the wagon

* &NinjaWizard notes them on the sheet.
<&NinjaWizard> The owl flies overhead a few times before descending and landing on Eshanil's hand as he holds it out. It hoots a few times, and the elf smirks, "Well, he won't be returning with friends."

<@Aerik> Did he get eaten by a pony?

<&NinjaWizard> ...he gapes at Aerik.

<@Aerik> What?
<@Aerik> A pony ate my pegasus once

<&NinjaWizard> He just kind of stares at Aerik for a moment, then glances around, and frowns, and sends his owl off again. While watching it, "A pony is just a small horse, so unless it was some kind of mutated devil pony, I doubt it would eat a pegasus, which is larger than it."

<@Aerik> What? no no, ponies have sharp teeth and howl.
<@Aerik> I think you're confused
<+DJ> ...
* +DJ pats Aerik's shoulder.
<+DJ> It's okay, Aerik.
<+DJ> Let's just go.
<@Aerik> Yeah
<@Aerik> Let's

<&NinjaWizard> Eshanil gives Aerik a... look, then turns and waits.

* @Dorrik_Bloodbellows is still brooding in the back.

**** This is reconciling the potion I missed earlier >[
<+DJ> [idk what he's brooding for I gave him a potion for that LIGHT WOUND >=( ]
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> (also, i don't think that potion counted)
<+DJ> [WELL WHY NOT]
<&NinjaWizard> Use it
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> (because koj told us to roll init before it happened and made no comment about it)
<+DJ> [chibi disregarded my potion >=( ]
<&NinjaWizard> Well you went into combat and using it woulda prevented you from attacking but you can use it now.
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> (i said i used it before i rolled init!)
<&NinjaWizard> I missed that :(
<&NinjaWizard> Roll 1d8
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> c3: 1d8
<c3> 1d8 = 8
<&NinjaWizard> You're at max health.
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> (i rule at drinking)
<&NinjaWizard> (Well you -are- a dwarf)
<@Aerik> (it's got to be at least 1d8+1)
<@Aerik> (since the person who cast it had to be at least level 1 <_<)
<&NinjaWizard> (Whatever it still healed max)
<&NinjaWizard> (He only LOST 6)
<@Aerik> (true, but he- oh)
****

<&NinjaWizard> The owl flies back and hovers while hooting to Eshanil, who starts off after it. >_>

<+DJ> ... Hey wait! Where are you going?

<&NinjaWizard> Eshanil glances back, "After my horse."
<&NinjaWizard> ...the puppy bounces after him. Look, DJ, puppy!

<+DJ> ... No wait!
<+DJ> The puppy!
<+DJ> You can't go, we need to keep moving! Get back here!
<+DJ> We'll leave without you!
<+DJ> Don't think we won't, we'll do it!
<@Aerik> We will?
<+DJ> Sure we will.
<+DJ> He's only just the son of some hotshot.

<&NinjaWizard> He calls, "I'll just be a moment," and slips off into the trees.
<&NinjaWizard> ...puppy bounding after him! Arf!

<+DJ> AUGH NO GET BACK HERE!
* +DJ chases him!

*** WE CAN BE SILLY TOO
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> (AND SUDDENLY THE AXE MURDERER ENTERS THE SCENE)
<&NinjaWizard> (I am seriously giggling here XD)
<&NinjaWizard> (HE KILLS AERIK FIRST WHILE THE DWARF IS BROODING)
<@Aerik> (Do'h!)
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> (Dorrik, realizing it's quiet outside, peeks his head out the door and matches axes with the murderer)
***

<@Aerik> Um...
<@Aerik> I'll just... watch these eggs
<@Aerik> And the dwarf.
<@Aerik> And the horses.

<&NinjaWizard> So DJ follows the wizard who pauses in the trees, "If you're gonna follow, do it quietly or you'll scare him off, he's just over there and frightened." Then keeps going. And, low and behold, the horse isn't more than 40 feet away.
<&NinjaWizard> (DJ doing anything? Like say picking up the puppy to uh keep it from scaring the horse yeah that's it)
<+DJ> [yes she does do that!]

<&NinjaWizard> Eshanil takes a bit to coax the horse back to the carriage, since he doesn't have awesome handle animal skills, then gets it tied up again and I guess everyone boards and heads down the road?

<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> (works for me)
<+DJ> [Sure!]
<+DJ> [DJ holds onto the puppy.]
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> (Dorrik is still brooding in the back and making Aerik drive)

<&NinjaWizard> Eshanil hops up in the front. DJ takes the puppy into the back with the brooding dwarf, and Aerik does what?
<@Aerik> Well, I guess if I have to drive...
* @Aerik climbs through the window
<@Aerik> I do so hope we don't encounter a pony
<+DJ> ...Yeah.
<+DJ> Sure.

<&NinjaWizard> Eshanil says nothing but his owl curls up in his lap and snoozes.
<&NinjaWizard> SO
<&NinjaWizard> YOU SURVIVED YOUR FIRST COMBAT

People needed to sleep so we cut it short at the end. Usually I cut the silly chatter out and the rolls, but for the first combat, I wanted to leave the rolls in, so people could see them. Especially the IMPRESSIVE ONE-HIT-KILLING SNEAK-ATTACK ROGUE OMG. Aside from him, the Griffon was awesome, Eshanil hit once with a spell, Aerik's attempts... well, failed... and Dorrick hit once with his axe. THINGS WILL GET BETTER HONEST you just gotta gain some levels to get your BAB up and such.
*****

ANYWAY it was pretty fun last game and I hope the fun continues. As said, I try to leave out most of the rolls and idle banter to make it easier to skim over for some details, but I'm thinking for combat it'd be better to leave them in, if only cause of curiosity of readers/players wanting to recheck their rolls. Well, leave rolls in, that is. The idle banter I left a few parts in cause it was funny but mostly it just makes the logs longer and while amusing to us wouldn't be to anyone else - and the logs primary function is to give people an easy way to remind themselves of details and such.

So anyway yeah that's about it game this Friday we'll see how it goes.

(I apparently have a tendancy to leave extra blank lines at the end of posts when writing them and then forget to remove them when posting >_>)

Dream Post - Sci-fi War

2008-11-23T08:19:52Z

So last night I had another one my my totally awesome movie-like dreams, this one a sci-fi involving two different races that were almost identical but for minor details at war with each other, one (mine) defending against the other, which wanted to annihilate our entire species.

Here's the log of me talking about it in IRC (I've done too much writing today to deal with rewriting it, but it's written pretty well here)

So it's a future setting with like lots of tall buildings and big weird structures made of high density material that even our weapons don't seem to damage
The sort of thing you'd see in a sci-fi anime with a huge tower city
We're fighting in the end of a war and winning
I'm some kind of spec ops type and the bodyguard of our race's leader apparently
We have machines that produce throw-away combat units (kinda like summonables in video games) that while alive also only have one purpose, defend the base
Our race is sorta blue-skinned with tendrily things for hair but otherwise humanoid
And we're pinned down in one spot with the enemy fighters surounding us (the only difference in the races is they're green-skinned and we wear red with blue trim while they wear green with silver trim)
The outfits are really more befitting priests (kinda robish) than warriors
We manage to defeat the enemy fighters thanks to our production of combat units overwhelming them and the tides turn to our side
But then they get sabotaged :O
And we find out that they'd sent in massive reinforcements and there is no way we can win :(
So we flee indoors and start gathering our people
We have this device that sucks the life entity out of our people so that we can be 'reborn' in another location through cloning
And we've got someone running around with a few of these devices, our people know we're going to lose and stand willingly to be 'drained' so that they won't die
Because the other race wants to wipe us out entirely
We also have in our city the leader of the other race, the person who started the whole war, and by our laws, he has to be given the chance to come with us or die then and there
And the person who's going to drain him is giving him this choice while I watch (nobody else is in the room they're all prepared to flee)
The guy relents, but rather than draining him... the guy kills him... and only I know that he was killed while accepting our laws, but I know inside that there's no way he'd have stopped his ways and if we'd taken him with us it would never end
So we flee into a chamber, the small group of us elite soldiers, me being the only spec ops type left, and our leader, and get teleported into the future apparently
When we get there, it's peaceful, not a warrior among the people living there (and they're all human), and we -know- that the other race is going to come after us (if they'd stayed behind the place would be populated by them not humans)
So we run around with guns and such and start herding the humans into safety knowing that our enemy would just slaughter them as well as us, and somehow they know what's happening, like they saw it or had some profecy about it so they're fully willing to coopoerate
And even fight on our side, some of 'em gearing up with big blasters and such, but anyone with kids is forced to go into hiding because they need to raise those kids
We wind up in a small group (since we'd drained most of our people there's not much of us but the structure is build such as the halls are narrow and we stand a chance of winning if we use strategy and cunning as well as forcing them to file in through narrow halls)
Me standing next to the leader while he's giving speaches and such, and then barking orders, putting me in charge of strategy and covert ops
Apparently I have this ability to suck memory out of people, and in doing so not only learn what they've seen but also whatever abilities they had (training, knowledge, special skills)
This woman and her child appear and the woman's all 'I want to fight' and we're all 'no get in this little room feed your hungry child and stay here. you need to raise her. we've already raised our children.'
And then the enemy starts invading, and we all get sorted and I start giving silent orders to groups as I pass heading for my position, and our leader is to be guarded at all costs because he has the machine that contains all the life essences of our people
Their basic footsoldiers (cannon fodder) start filing in and everyone starts shooting while I'm giving orders and looking for any of their cov-op types trying to sneak in because they can't sneak past me and I can use that ability I have to learn what their strategy is and such
And then I wake up >_>

IT GOT RIGHT TO THE GOOD PART AND I WOKE UP I hate that :( But it was really cool!

As an aside, I have two D&D logs to go through and edit for posting, one of which was more of an annoyance but we didn't want to just retcon the entire scene, the other of which was AWESOME FUN with BANDITS AND GRIFFONS AND A ONE-HIT KO-ING ROGUE :D but I just spent the evening running the game and most of today and yesterday sorting several gigs of music, including an unsorted folder of a few gigs of individual songs from various artists, with having to look a bunch of 'em up. Ugh. I'll also be baking tomorrow, so I may or may not get the logs edited and posted tomorrow sometime. We'll see.

D&D first session

2008-11-09T06:54:36Z

So this game doesn't really have a 'name', but it's just basic d20 D&D. My first attempt and DMing, too! I think I did alright. Except that it was supposed to be a one-shot and uh well isn't. >_>

Anyway, here's the log of it for those interested in keeping track of story progress. (I removed all the OOC stuff and some unneeded or mistaken context but this is more for the story and memory than giggling at ooc comments.)

<&NinjaWizard> You live in a middle-of-nowhere town that is friendly to ALL races.
<&NinjaWizard> However, it's really small and has little if any business.
<&NinjaWizard> And since you're all CRAFTERS, that makes money tight.
<&NinjaWizard> Everything you have NOW was acquired over several years or passed down by family.
<&NinjaWizard> Or made yourself.
<&NinjaWizard> (The MW weapons were passed down except the rogue's who's was probably stolen >_>)
<&NinjaWizard> The three of you know each other, though not WELL, and have devised a plan to travel to a bigger city in the hopes of expanding your clientelle.
<&NinjaWizard> The three of you discussed leaving town to go somewhere bigger, though your personal goals may be whatever you wish.

<&NinjaWizard> THIS MORNING
<&NinjaWizard> You are meeting in the local tavern.
<&NinjaWizard> Aerik, DJ and Dorrik
<&NinjaWizard> YOU ARE IN A TAVERN

* +DJ is in a tavern!

<&NinjaWizard> Dorrik is sitting at the table in the corner waiting for the other two though y'all just got there around now.
<&NinjaWizard> The plan was to meet at the tavern and discuss readiness to skip town.

<+Aerik> Hello, good sir!
<+Aerik> I trust all is well?
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> If you like warm ale, aye.

<&NinjaWizard> Since it's a tavern there are a few people about either starting their daily drinking binge or getting breakfast since the inn across the street's cook sucks :|

<+Aerik> I take it we're finishing breakfast then taking off, then?

<&NinjaWizard> There's also a creepy old guy in the corner.

<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> Sounds like a good plan to me.

<&NinjaWizard> Who none of you recognize in this tiny little town.

* +DJ IS EYEING THE OLD GUY SUSPICIOUSLY?
<&NinjaWizard> He's fairly obviously watching the table the dwarf is sitting at.

* +DJ notices the old guy looking and elbows Dorrik in the ribs, covertly trying to point him out.
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> Aye, I've noticed him as well.

<&NinjaWizard> He has no food or drink on his table yet isn't being kicked out.

<+DJ> Wonder what's his deal.
<+Aerik> Shall we ask him?

<&NinjaWizard> But there's a stick leaning against the table beside him. About six feet long. With a fancy crystal orb in the top.

<+Aerik> Or should we continue as normal?
<+DJ> You can't just ASK him.
<+Aerik> Well, no, it'd be more... indirect.
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> I nominate Aerik to ask him, he looks like the wizarding type.
<+DJ> I agree, Aerik, go.

<&NinjaWizard> The dwarf sees the cracks in the floor, the elf sees the floor minus the cracks
<&NinjaWizard> The rogue sees that the crystal orb is not ATTATCHED to the staff.
<&NinjaWizard> And is slightly rotating.

* +DJ notices this and tugs on Aerik's sleeve.
<+DJ> Go.
<+Aerik> Alright, m'dear.
* +Aerik walks over to creepy old man
<&NinjaWizard> The man watches you approach but says nothing.
<&NinjaWizard> ...other people are looking at you funny.

<+Aerik> Hello. Haven't seen you around here before.

<&NinjaWizard> Especially when you start talking. >_>

* @Dorrik_Bloodbellows checks that he's not forgotten his pants.

<&NinjaWizard> The man smiles pleasantly and says, "I've not been seen around here before."

<+Aerik> Well, then what brings you here?
* +Aerik smiles and pulls up a chair.

<&NinjaWizard> "Oh, I've been around for a while now. I'm doing some research, you might say."

<+Aerik> "You've been around for awhile, but not here? I'm afraid I'm confused.

<&NinjaWizard> The man simply chuckles, though the bartender calls over 'You been drinking?'

<&NinjaWizard> Dwarf and Rogue do a spot check.

* +Aerik looks at the bartender and smiles
<+Aerik> Oh, no, I just have an invisible friend, didn't you know?

<&NinjaWizard> The man stands, and reaches for his staff, which so far as the rogue can tell he grabs before moving, the Dwarf and Elf however notice that it sort of JUMPS into his hand before he touches it. And that his chair doesn't move AT ALL. Before he approaches your table.

* @Dorrik_Bloodbellows grabs his axe quick as he can
* +Aerik gets up and follows him.
* +DJ has a hand on one of the knives in her belt.
* +Aerik just smiles and follows.

<&NinjaWizard> DJ feels suddenly calm and trusting. Dorrik feels nothing different, neither does Aerik.

* +DJ 's hand slides away from the knife and she folds her arms over the table, drumming her fingers against it.

<+Aerik> Why have you chosen to reveal yourselve to us and not the others?
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> And why were you watching our table?

<&NinjaWizard> ANYWAY the man situates himself at the table so that the dwarf is farthest from him, letting his staff go, and it leans to rest against the table on it's own.

* +DJ just listens to Aerik handle the conversation.
<&NinjaWizard> He folds his arms in front of him and eyes the three of you in turn before speaking, "Not many from this town seek to leave, I've noticed."

<+Aerik> Well... we do.
* +Aerik shrugs
<+DJ> How'd you know that?
<+Aerik> Not much business left around here

<&NinjaWizard> He chuckles, turning towards DJ, "I pay attention. And as I've been looking for someone to... make a delivery for me, I've been looking for those wishing to leave."

<+DJ> Make a delivery, huh?
<+Aerik> Oh, so it's business, is it?
* +DJ leans in toward him.
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> Why should we want to make a delivery for an invisible man?
<+DJ> Can you pay?
<+Aerik> What our female companion means is...
<+DJ> She means can you pay for our services?
<+Aerik> Will you make it worth our time? And how worth it?

<&NinjaWizard> The man throws his head back in a laugh, though nobody else notices, and he grins to the Dwarf, "I was wondering if either of you were observant enough to notice that." Then he goes silent for a moment, a slight smirk on his face, before replying to the other questions, "I assure you there is payment. Half up front, the rest upon delivery." And deftly drops a small pouch onto the table in front of him. It sounds like coins.

* +DJ glances around, hand hovering near the pouch for a second before snagging it and checking to see how much is in it.
<+Aerik> How much is half now?
* +Aerik smiles
<&NinjaWizard> (The bag has about 50g in it)
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> What I'd like to know is why a man as capable as yourself doesn't deliver it?
<+Aerik> Clearly he's a very important man
<+Aerik> Willing to pay us a sizable amount of cash
<&NinjaWizard> (The coins seem to be mixed in origin, though, but easily exchangable if needed)
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> If you, who can turn invisible, is afraid, why should we not expect you're sending us to our deaths?
<+Aerik> And we should take him up on it!

<&NinjaWizard> The man shrugs, "I have other matters to tend to and need this delivery made at the same time."

<+Aerik> As I said.
<+DJ> I think the most important question here is...
* +Aerik pokes DJ
<+Aerik> How much?
<+DJ> Hm?
<+Aerik> The bag.
* +DJ takes a glance around and leans in to whisper an estimate of the amount.
<+DJ> But the important question is actually why you feel the need to be unseen while making this deal.
* +Aerik dollar sign eyes

<&NinjaWizard> The man shrugs, "It's not this particular deal I feel the need to conceal myself during."

<+Aerik> A moment with my comrades while we discuss?

<&NinjaWizard> The man nods, and goes silent, though doesn't move from the table.

* @Dorrik_Bloodbellows raises an eyebrow at the man.
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> Alone, if you please.

<&NinjaWizard> He blinks at the dwarf, then chuckles, "I could hear you just as well from across the room, but if you prefer some semblence of privacy." He stands, staff jumping into his hand before he moves back to his table.

<+Aerik> Ooookay.
* +Aerik blinks.
<+Aerik> Well, anyway...
<+Aerik> I think we should take it. 100G is a lot of cash!
<+Aerik> and we were going to leave to get cash anyway. This could only be beneficial!
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> I still don't like him.
<+Aerik> Like or not like, cash is cash.
<+DJ> The money's great, but it's still a little shady.
<+DJ> Maybe we should ask him where and what before we accept.
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> My thoughts exactly.

<&NinjaWizard> Hey there's a piece of paper on your table.

<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> Gold is fine, but you can't spend it if you're dead.
* +Aerik picks it up
* +Aerik reads aloud

<&NinjaWizard> It lists the merchandise to be delivered, and the location of the delivery. The merchandise is allocated as a carriage containing .... eggs, and the destination is the mage capital.
<&NinjaWizard> 'Rare breed eggs'

<+Aerik> ...we're carrying dragon eggs, aren't we?
<+DJ> Oh yeah.
<+DJ> Most assuredly.
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> I doubt they're chicken, anyway.
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> I just hope they aren't cockatrice.
<+Aerik> that could be bad.
<+DJ> 100g to deliver a bunch of eggs to the mage capital...
<+DJ> As long as nothing hatches that should be fine, right?
<+Aerik> Yes.
<+Aerik> We should be fine.
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> Dragons can't... find stolen eggs or anything, can they?

<&NinjaWizard> The mage capital is also known to be wealthy and many travellers drop by to ply their trade, also wizards can ALWAYS get further learning there free of charge.

<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> The last thing I want is an angry mother dragon chasing me down the road.
<+Aerik> I think... we'll be fine.
<+Aerik> But that's just my vote.
<+DJ> I say it's worth it. Not a bad place to seek your fortune, either.
<+Aerik> Aye, lass.
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> Oh all right. But if one of you gets barbecued I'm saying I told you so.
* +Aerik beckons the man back

<&NinjaWizard> The man stands and returns to your table to retake his seat.

<+Aerik> I believe we'll take you up on your offer.

<&NinjaWizard> The man smiles, and claps his hands, "Excellent! The carriage is waiting near the guard station, that document should get you full authority to withdraw the merchandise and enough feed to make the trip."

* +Aerik takes it, smiles, and bids him farewell
<+Aerik> Well... shall we get going? *smile!*
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> The sooner we get away from him the better. I still don't like him.
<+DJ> Money's money!

<&NinjaWizard> He gets up and steps away from the table.

<+Aerik> Oh, I just thought of something.
<&NinjaWizard> He's gone.
<+Aerik> are we just delievering them to town or to a particular location?
<&NinjaWizard> Oh, the paper specifies a location.
<&NinjaWizard> And a person.

<+Aerik> Well, one last look at...
<+Aerik> whatever this town is called!
<+Aerik> Shall we go?

<&NinjaWizard> Knowledge (Arcana) check
<&NinjaWizard> YOU KNOW FOR A FACT that the name in question is THE ARCHMAGE of the mage city.
<&NinjaWizard> THE BIG HONCHO
<&NinjaWizard> THE MAN IN CHARGE OF WIZARDY IN THE WHOLE LAND

<+Aerik> Holy hell, we're delievering these to the man.
<+Aerik> THE MAN
<+DJ> ...What really?
<+Aerik> Well, the leader of the high circle of wizards, yes.
<+DJ> ...
<+DJ> Yeah.
<+DJ> These are definitely dragon eggs.
<+Aerik> Most certainly.
<+Aerik> Let's keep them cool and not warm.
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> And we are definitely getting barbecued.
<+DJ> We better hurry.

<&NinjaWizard> You have the location.

* +Aerik heads over to the guard house, flashes the credentials.

<&NinjaWizard> Guard station, which is a whole two minute walk (it's a freaking small town)
<&NinjaWizard> The guards sign off the merchandise easily enough and you get pointed to a rather fancyish covered carriage with two big black mares in the lead.

<+Aerik> ...Fancy.

<&NinjaWizard> Alright, you have a covered carriage that looks like it was meant for some diplomatic entourage with two big black horses in the front of it. Not intimidating, unless you find horses nearly twice your height intimidating.
<&NinjaWizard> (Well okay not quite that tall but BIG)

<+Aerik> Well...
<+Aerik> shall we go?
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> Lets.
<+Aerik> I call shotgun
<+DJ> What's a shotgun?
<+Aerik> It's the- oh nevermind
<+Aerik> I call the seat next to the driver
<+DJ> I can't drive a carriage.
<+Aerik> Neither can I
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> I'm a dwarf I don't do horses.
<+DJ> ... :|
* @Dorrik_Bloodbellows sighs
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> You two are hopeless.

<&NinjaWizard> They love you.

<+Aerik> Well, shall we go? *smile*
* +DJ climbs on and kicks Aerik out of the passenger seat.
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> Didn't I just say we should?
<+Aerik> ...Ow.

<&NinjaWizard> They are fairly docile, far more than you'd expect of such big drafters, but hey, they're a mage's horses.

* +Aerik climbs into the back.
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> I agree, Aerik you go tend to the eggs you're the wizardy one.
<+Aerik> If you wanted the seat, you could have just said so
<+DJ> But this was more fun.

<&NinjaWizard> The back contains a lot of hay and such and the eggs are all but buried in it. And it feels a bit warm. Somehow. Knowledge (Arcana) check
<&NinjaWizard> They are NOT dragon eggs.

<+Aerik> Hey guys...
<+Aerik> these ain't dragon eggs
<+DJ> ...
<+DJ> What are they?
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> ...what she said.

<&NinjaWizard> In fact, you're about 99% sure they're pegasi

<+Aerik> They're pegasi eggs!
<+DJ> ...Pegasi lay eggs?
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> They lay eggs?
<+Aerik> Well, yeah
<+Aerik> Everyone knows that
<+DJ> ... Not everyone!
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> Well, at least we won't be getting barbecued.
<+DJ> That's a plus.
<+Aerik> I guess not.
<+DJ> ...Pegasi lay eggs? Really?
<+Aerik> Makes this easier!
<+Aerik> Yup.
<+Aerik> Pegasi.
<+DJ> ...Huh.
<+Aerik> I remember my first pegasi...
<+Aerik> Such a darling.
<+DJ> ... No.
<+DJ> Leave before he starts reminiscing.
* @Dorrik_Bloodbellows starts the horses off.
<+Aerik> Shame he got eaten by a pony

<&NinjaWizard> You start off!
<&NinjaWizard> And head out of town.
<&NinjaWizard> I assume you have all your gear since LEAVING TOWN was the plan so.
<&NinjaWizard> Gear includes rations for one week.
<&NinjaWizard> It's about half a week with this carriage.

* +Aerik studies books while travelling
* @Dorrik_Bloodbellows keeps an eye out for Kobolds.
* +DJ sleeps. :|

<&NinjaWizard> It's very relaxing and soothing.
<&NinjaWizard> Especially in the back there with those eggs in their nice warm cozy beds of hay.

* +Aerik still reads cause he's immune to sleep

<&NinjaWizard> Nothing exceptional happens til you reach the first town along the way. That being... you reached the first town along the way.
<&NinjaWizard> Though it's nearing dark.
<&NinjaWizard> (I assume you ate and stuff as appropriate)

<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> Shall we stop here for the night?
<+Aerik> I'm fine with continuing if you guys are.
<+DJ> Ugh I'd like to sleep in a bed.
<+Aerik> Dorrik, if you need to sleep, I'll gladly try driving for awhile.

<&NinjaWizard> Knowledge (Geography) if you wanna know something about this city.
<&NinjaWizard> WELL it's a pretty boring place though there's a known band of thieves about the west side.

<+Aerik> Well, we could stay here, but there's thieves nearby, see.
<+Aerik> And they might take our cargo...
<+DJ> You just have to be a joykill, huh?
<+Aerik> Though I suppose DJ and I could guard the carriage.
<+DJ> If there's bandits we should just keep going, fine, whatever.
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> The horses are up to moving through, and I'd like to take as few chances with these eggs as possible.
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> We may not be barbecued by dragons but if we lose these eggs that arch wizard might still.
<+DJ> If he finds us.
<+Aerik> Would you like to sleep in the back here?
<+Aerik> Or are you fine?
<+DJ> I guess. Shove over.
* +DJ crawls into the back.
<+Aerik> well, I'll gladly take over for now it's been fairly relaxing back here.
* @Dorrik_Bloodbellows ushers horses onward while the elves fight about whether they sleep or not.
* +DJ sleeps in the back with the eggs!

<&NinjaWizard> It's REALLY comfy back there.

<+Aerik> Well, Dorrik, if you need to switch places, i'm willing.
* +Aerik sleeps as well

<&NinjaWizard> The guards stop you as you enter and ask for credentials for your carriage.

* @Dorrik_Bloodbellows hands them the paper.

<&NinjaWizard> They read it, hand it back, wave you through. Same happens at the other end, only they happen to mention something about bandits along the road ahead.

* @Dorrik_Bloodbellows keeps eyes peeled for bandits.

<&NinjaWizard> They 'strongly advise' that you wait till morning to travel but aren't stopping you from leaving.
<&NinjaWizard> Since the other two are sleeping it's entirely up to the dwarf to keep going!

* @Dorrik_Bloodbellows moves on
* @Dorrik_Bloodbellows trusts no one
* +DJ is uh already asleep.

<&NinjaWizard> You move on along the road, the town disappearing out of sight, then you see something on the road ahead of you.

* +Aerik sleeps with the hot half elf chick... on the otherside of the carriage

<&NinjaWizard> Doesn't look like it's anything moving.
<&NinjaWizard> And not person-height.
<&NinjaWizard> At least not human/elf/helf/etc height.
<&NinjaWizard> Shorter.

* @Dorrik_Bloodbellows continues on, keeping eyes peeled for ambushes waiting for people to pay too much attention to the thing in the road
* @Dorrik_Bloodbellows trusts nothing, either

<&NinjaWizard> You get nearer to the thing and it still doesn't move, and there doesn't -appear- to be anyone nearby. But it -is- in the middle of the road.

* @Dorrik_Bloodbellows mutters to self and wakes the elves.
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> I don't like the looks of this.
<+Aerik> HUH WHAT WHERE AM I?

<&NinjaWizard> Your raven caws.

* +DJ wakes up blearily rubbing her eyes.
<+DJ> What's going on?
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> There's something in the road
<+Aerik> ...Move it?
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> To do that I'd have to get down and I'm not leaving the eggs unguarded
<+Aerik> Ah, yes, of course.
<+Aerik> Not quite... unmeditated yet.
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> The guards mentioned something about bandits, too, whatever.
* @Dorrik_Bloodbellows hops down to investigate thing in road
* +DJ guards the eggs.
* +Aerik watches from front opening

<&NinjaWizard> You near the lump in the road and it appears to be cloth or at least the part you can see of it.
<&NinjaWizard> I mean there's more under it, but it's hard to tell, really.

<&NinjaWizard> EVERYONE BUT THE DWARF sees something in the bushes to the right, though it's not moving, looks like... wreckage?

<+Aerik> Hey, something broke over there!
* +Aerik points
<+DJ> Go check it out, Dorrik.
* @Dorrik_Bloodbellows turns to look where Aerik is pointing

<&NinjaWizard> Looks like a cart got forced off the road.
<&NinjaWizard> And beat up a lot.
<&NinjaWizard> By things with sharp edges.
<&NinjaWizard> No sign of the animal that was pulling it.
<&NinjaWizard> Though that lump groans.

<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> Looks like a cart that bandits got to oh shit the lump is alive
* @Dorrik_Bloodbellows frowns and goes to check on the lump
<+DJ> What is it?

<&NinjaWizard> It's an elf.
<&NinjaWizard> Pretty beat up and barely concious.

<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> It's an elf, looks like he's pretty beat up.
<+DJ> I have potions. ... Are they carrying any uh money.
* @Dorrik_Bloodbellows picks elf up and carries him back
* +DJ pauses in the middle of digging through her pack to ask that.
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> I doubt the bandits would've left any

<&NinjaWizard> There's some rustling in the bush near the cart.

<+DJ> Wait.
<+DJ> Hear that?
* +Aerik looks over there
<+Aerik> alert

<&NinjaWizard> Some soft whining sound emits.
<&NinjaWizard> Not humanoid.

* @Dorrik_Bloodbellows hands the elf to Aerik and goes to check out what sounds like a horse.
<+Aerik> OOF
<+DJ> Need some help there buddy?
<+Aerik> I'm not exactly know for my strength
<+Aerik> So yes... please
* @Dorrik_Bloodbellows waves his hand in the air "sorry, forgot you elves aren't as strong as you are tall"
* +DJ gets down to help him with it gosh =|!
<+Aerik> Thank you.

<&NinjaWizard> The elf doesn't do much, he's pretty hurt. :(
<&NinjaWizard> Seems stable though.
<&NinjaWizard> The bush whimpers and whines and sounds kinda like a puppy.

<+Aerik> Let's just... let him sleep.
<+Aerik> Maybe we should head back when Dorrik gets here?
* @Dorrik_Bloodbellows uses axe handle to move bush out of way to get a better look
<+DJ> Probably. We can't take him with us.

<&NinjaWizard> The puppy LEAPS OUT AT YOUR FA-no not really. It looks like a wolf-mixed breed and pretty young and just kinda cowers.

<&NinjaWizard> It also seems battered but not seriously.
<&NinjaWizard> And docile.

* @Dorrik_Bloodbellows tries to coax it out

<&NinjaWizard> IT whines at you :(

<+DJ> IS THAT A DOG?
* @Dorrik_Bloodbellows sighs and picks it up and carries it back to the carriage.
* +DJ dashes out to look!

<&NinjaWizard> It curls up in your arm and looks pitiful.

<+Aerik> Um i'll just... stay here, yeah
<+DJ> Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww
<+Aerik> Oh sure, she shoves me out of the carriage, but fawns ove the dog =|
* +Aerik sulks like only a wizard can.
* @Dorrik_Bloodbellows hands the dog off to DJ and goes back to investigate the wrecked cart

<&NinjaWizard> The dog whines as it's passed on and then curls back up and looks pitiful again.

* +DJ brings the puppy back into the carriage and sets it in her lap and pets it.

<&NinjaWizard> The wrecked cart seems to have been thoroughly pillaged. Beat up pretty bad, blade marks in it, and also some odd marks. (Uh survival check I guess)
<&NinjaWizard> Claw marks.
<&NinjaWizard> Big claw marks.
<&NinjaWizard> Not from say a dog.

<+Aerik> Oh dear, a pony tried to eat this dog

<&NinjaWizard> Maybe more a bear.
<&NinjaWizard> WHILE INVESTIGATING THE CART listen check
<&NinjaWizard> Hey you hear a horse.

* +Aerik bows AGAIN

<&NinjaWizard> RIGHT NEAR DORRIK
<&NinjaWizard> LIKE APPROACHING HIM

<+Aerik> Hey Dorrik, there's a horse approaching you!
* @Dorrik_Bloodbellows doesn't hear anything and keeps poking around the cart
* @Dorrik_Bloodbellows looks up at Aerik
<+DJ> Oh no not a horse.

<&NinjaWizard> The horse comes out of the bush/trees and sniffs around the cart.
<&NinjaWizard> It's got a busted harness on it.

<+DJ> We're doomed.
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> Handle animal check to get it to come back to the carriage

<&NinjaWizard> It's fairly small, more pony-sized, definately not related to your horses.
<&NinjaWizard> You have no trouble luring the horse to the carriage.
<&NinjaWizard> The elf groans.
<&NinjaWizard> And the puppy whines.
<&NinjaWizard> Beyond that it's pretty quiet.

<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> DJ, see what you can do about tying the horse to ours
<+DJ> Hmm? Okay.
* +DJ sets the puppy down carefully and goes to tie up the horse.
* +Aerik makes sure no one is looking.
* +Aerik pets the puppy

<&NinjaWizard> The puppy sneaks over to curl up against the elf. But lets the named elf pet it.

<&NinjaWizard> Takes a bit longer but you're guaranteed to get the horse tied up.
<&NinjaWizard> It ain't gonna help pull the carriage but it'll move with your horses.

<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> How far until the next town, Aerik?
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> And maybe someone with better eyes than mine should take a closer look at that wrecked cart; it has claw marks but I can't tell from what other than something big.
<+Aerik> Should we turn back to take care of the injured?
<+Aerik> Or press on?
<+Aerik> Bout half a day forward
<+Aerik> Couple hours back
<+DJ> Uhh can we keep this guy alive long enough to get him to the next town?

<&NinjaWizard> He's stable.

<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> He looked beat up but not dying.
<+DJ> Then let's press on I guess.
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> I think we should try and figure out what did this before we decide which way to go
<+Aerik> Alright
<+Aerik> Any suggestions as to how?
<+DJ> Sigh :|
<+Aerik> I'm not a seer, sadly
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> If the roads are full of wild animals ahead we may not make it to the next town
<+DJ> I'll have a look I guess.
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> As I said, someone with better eyes should look at the cart.

<&NinjaWizard> There's not much left of the cart, it's been stripped clean, though there's a few blood trails leading away from it, one of which leads to a clump of fur.
<&NinjaWizard> Looks like the elf wasn't the only one that got hurt.

* +DJ goes to inspect the clump of fur?

<&NinjaWizard> Scuffle marks lead one to believe that big critters were involved, with claws and bear-like feet. The clump of fur is rough and dark brown, and a bit bloody, like it'd been ripped off something. Whatever else got hurt doesn't seem to have been left behind.
<&NinjaWizard> There are no claw marks on the elf.

* +Aerik pets the doggy, oblivious to the outside world of the cart
<+DJ> Uh, guys? I think there's a...bear...around here.
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> If a bear did that to the carriage, I don't think a bear did that to our new elf friend.
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> He doesn't have any claw marks on him.
<+DJ> ...Maybe the bear doesn't like elves?
<+Aerik> So what should we do?

<&NinjaWizard> The horses are not at all agitated.

<+DJ> Let's uh leave him in the town we just left and keep going.
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> I think that's a good idea.
<+Aerik> Are we keeping the puppy?
<+Aerik> And the horse?
<+DJ> The horse is probably his.
<+DJ> ...We're keeping the puppy.

<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> What if the puppy was his, too?
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> It was in the wreck, after all.
<+DJ> No no you're not following me
<+DJ> We're keeping the puppy.
* @Dorrik_Bloodbellows shrugs.
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> You're the one that'll have to care for it.

<&NinjaWizard> (So hey Aerik there's an elf blinking at you)

* +Aerik blinks back

<+Aerik> Hello?
<+DJ> Hello?
* +DJ comes back to the carriage and peers inside.
<+Aerik> You okay?

<&NinjaWizard> The elf blinks again and tries to sit up then collapses. The puppy whines at him.

<+Aerik> Obviously not =|
<+Aerik> Well, yet's get you to town!

<&NinjaWizard> He mumbles.
<&NinjaWizard> In elven.
<&NinjaWizard> DJ doesn't quite make it all out something about bear cart travelling to mage capital.
<&NinjaWizard> Aerik hears 'I lost the bear... damned bandits mauled my cart, lost all my cargo. I need to get to the mage capital.'

<+Aerik> He, uh, lost a bear
<+Aerik> Cause he got attacked
<+Aerik> And needs to go to the mage capitol
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> I guess we're moving forward, then.
<+Aerik> Oh, and he got attacked by the bandits
<+Aerik> So we should be careful

<&NinjaWizard> He's eyeing the lot of you.

<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> I could use another pair of eyes up front with me, then.

<&NinjaWizard> ...though looks like he could pass out any moment.

<+Aerik> I'll help, then
* +Aerik gets out of the carriage and takes sotgun

<&NinjaWizard> The elf starts glancing around the carriage and eyes those eggs...

* @Dorrik_Bloodbellows starts the horses off and keeps his eyes peeled for bandits.

<&NinjaWizard> But he's such a pretty elf.
<&NinjaWizard> Look at those brilliant blue eyes... and the near-white hair with silvery streaks...
<&NinjaWizard> Just uh ignore the smears of dirt on his face.
<&NinjaWizard> And the fancy looking ring that the bandits didn't take when he goes to pet his puppy.
<&NinjaWizard> Hey you never actually SEARCHED him.

* +DJ eyes the ring.
<+DJ> So. Where'd you get that?

<&NinjaWizard> The elf pries his eyes off the eggs and looks at DJ, then at his ring, then tucks his hand against himself, "From the academy."
<&NinjaWizard> (He's switched to common)

<+DJ> The academy, huh? Everyone gets one?

<&NinjaWizard> He shakes his head. "It signified rank."

<&NinjaWizard> Knowledge (Arcana)
<&NinjaWizard> Aerik knows that at the academy in the mage capital, you recieve rings to signify your rank as a wizard, though he didn't catch a glimpse of this elf's ring.

<+DJ> Can I see it?
<&NinjaWizard> The elf eyes DJ suspiciously.

<+Aerik> Oooh, rings!
* +DJ looks innocent
* +Aerik leans throw the window
* +Aerik eyes it

<&NinjaWizard> He's got his hand tucked against him, and eyes Aerik now too. @_@ He's a bit wary after, y'know, being ATTACKED BY BANDITS.

<+Aerik> Oh, sorry. I'll leave you alone, then
<+Aerik> *pops back
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> Aren't you always wearing a ring, Aerik? Maybe he'd like to see yours.
<+Aerik> Oh, you mean this? It's just featherfall
<+Aerik> On a ring
<+Aerik> Nothing special

<&NinjaWizard> Though that perks the elf's curiosity...
<&NinjaWizard> He peers at Aerik.
<&NinjaWizard> He doesn't move though because he's still seriously injured :|

* +DJ doesn't offer him a potion, but continues petting his puppy.

<+DJ> Hey Aerik, maybe he'd want to see your ring.
<+Aerik> Huh? Oh sure
* +Aerik tosses ring in back
<&NinjaWizard> ...
<+Aerik> I want it back.
* +DJ catches it.
<+DJ> You're an idiot, I could sell this.
<+Aerik> Well, then why don't you?
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> I'll give you 1c for it, DJ.

<&NinjaWizard> The elf kinda jumps as the ring is tossed, knowing the value of it, and seems relieved when it gets caught, and tries to peer at it.

* +DJ holds it out for him to see, but makes sure to keep a tight hold on it.

<&NinjaWizard> The elf eyes it a moment then mutters a spell.

* +DJ 's eyes go wide and she pulls it back.

<&NinjaWizard> He cast identify.

<+Aerik> I already TOLD you what it does =|
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> I don't think he trusts you, Aerik.
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> I mean, it's not like we saved his life or anything, why should he?
<+Aerik> I toss a 3k GP ring at him and he doesn't trust me? Silly.

<&NinjaWizard> The elf looks a bit appologetic at DJ, then peers towards Aerik, "To be honest, I don't. I just got mauled by bandits who killed my bear and stole my cargo, and all my posessions, leaving me for dead. Would you trust anyone?"

<+Aerik> I'd trust the people who were taking you where you wanted to go
<+Aerik> And seeking help
<+Aerik> And, well, not doing anything at all suspicious.
<+Aerik> But that's just me and I'm kind of silly sometimes.
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> It's true, just yesterday he was talking to an invisible man.

<&NinjaWizard> "Who took you into their carriage full of... suspicious cargo... proceeded to talk about keeping your dog after getting rid of you, and never even asked your name?"

<+Aerik> pegasi eggs are suspicious now? I wasn't aware.
<+DJ> That was a joke!
<+DJ> Hahahaha I would never keep your dog, ahahahaha...!

<&NinjaWizard> The elf eyes the eggs once more as if he hadn't quite figured out what they were, "I would say that pegasi eggs are... not exactly common."

<+Aerik> Uncommon isn't suspicious.

<&NinjaWizard> "It is when a lowly apprentice is assigned the task of guarding them."

<+DJ> Yeah tell me about it, I didn't even know they laid eggs.
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> I'm sure you're aware we could let you walk to the capital.
<+Aerik> If you'd rather, we could leave you, your dog, and your horse on the side of the road.

<&NinjaWizard> The elf snorts, but goes quiet.

<+Aerik> cranky sort, isn't he?
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> Hah, he's not so tough.
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> Maybe for an -elf-
<+Aerik> Didn't say he was tough
<+Aerik> Just cranky

<&NinjaWizard> He ignores the lot of you talking about him like he wasn't there. :|
<&NinjaWizard> Though he's watching DJ, since she's in the back with him.

<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> So, what is your name then?
<+Aerik> Oh, DJ, could I have my ring back?

<&NinjaWizard> "Eshanil Deverell." (Knowledge Arcana)
<&NinjaWizard> (Hey isn't Deverell the archmage's last name...?)
<&NinjaWizard> (Pretty sure that's not his first name...)
<+Aerik> (You mean the guy we're delievering the eggs to?)
<&NinjaWizard> (Yes)
* +Aerik checks
<&NinjaWizard> (It is, indeed, the same last name)

<+Aerik> Um... guys...
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> What now?
<+DJ> huh?
<+Aerik> this is that guy's brother... or something.
<+Aerik> related.
<+Aerik> TO the archmage guy
<+Aerik> We're supposed to bring the eggs to =|
<+DJ> ... What really?
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> Small world, eh?
* +DJ looks at the dude.
<+DJ> Are you really?
<+Aerik> Unless he's lying about his name

<&NinjaWizard> He looks back.
<&NinjaWizard> He shows his ring. It signifies high rank though not master rank.

<+Aerik> He's high ranking, at least.
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> Psh, they must give ranks out like candy at this academy if he can't even handle bandits.

<&NinjaWizard> The elf puts his hand back against him and visibly bites his lip at the dwarf's comment.
<&NinjaWizard> He is in no way trying to hide anything. >_>
<&NinjaWizard> Though he's suspicious.

<+DJ> Maybe there were a lot of bandits and he was busy trying to protect the puppy.
<+Aerik> Likely
<+DJ> ...Or the bear.
<+DJ> There was a bear, right?

<&NinjaWizard> "Yes."

<+Aerik> Oh, yes, he did mention a bear.
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> He did a ruddy job at that, then, if the puppy is hurt and the bear dead.
<+DJ> ...Yeah that's true.
<+DJ> Maybe the bear did it.

<&NinjaWizard> The elf blinks, "Did what?"

<+DJ> I dunno, just throwing it out there.
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> Hah, can't even handle his own cargo, then? You don't see pegasi trashing our carriage.
<+DJ> That'd be really sad considering they're all eggs.

<&NinjaWizard> The elf gently raps one of the eggs, "They're a little small to be doing that."

<+Aerik> So how are you related to the archmage anyway?
* @Dorrik_Bloodbellows waves his hand in the air, brushing off the elf's comment.

<&NinjaWizard> Eshanil looks a bit indignant, "He's my father."

<+Aerik> And what was the importance of the bear?

<&NinjaWizard> He goes silent for a moment, looking a bit dejected, "The bear was... not a common bear. He and I were charged with protecting the cargo, which we were to deliver to my father."

<+Aerik> A druid?
<+DJ> He and I?

<&NinjaWizard> He glances towards Aerik but doesn't say anything.

* @Dorrik_Bloodbellows mutters something about elves and their magic.
<+Aerik> And what was the cargo?
<+DJ> Who's he?
<+DJ> No wait who's he?
<+Aerik> The bear
<+DJ> ...What.

<&NinjaWizard> The elf sighs dejectedly, "I called him 'the bear'. He was... a very close and dear friend of mine. A druid. He'd volunteered to help me on my trip."
<&NinjaWizard> The puppy seems to be sleeping.

<+Aerik> ANyway, what was the cargo?

<&NinjaWizard> And the 'new' horse seems to be growing tired, while your horses are fine.

<+DJ> If the bear wasn't the cargo...

<&NinjaWizard> "I'm... not at liberty to discuss the cargo. But I need to report to my father."

<+Aerik> So you'll allow us to take you to there?
<+Aerik> We were going to see him anyway

<&NinjaWizard> He gives Aerik a funny look.
<&NinjaWizard> He then glances towards DJ, "...is he always so... quaint?"

<+Aerik> Well we were
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> Show him the paper if he still doesn't trust us.
<+DJ> Quaint? I guess so.
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> Well either way we're going to have to stop here for the night.
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> Your horse has grown tired.
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> Unless, of course, there's reason not to stop here.
<+Aerik> Bandits?

<&NinjaWizard> The elf perks a bit and tries to move but collapses back.

<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> Yes, 'bandits'
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> The kind that can stop a druid and a high ranking wizard with little trouble, apparently
<+DJ> Them's some bandits.

<&NinjaWizard> The elf says "Heh."

<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> No objections, then?
<+DJ> I guess not.
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> Looks like we've found our camp, then.

<&NinjaWizard> "Whatever bandits there are around here would likely not have been a match. These were... a select group. Sent after a specific goal. They reached that goal and have likely fled to turn it in to their boss."

<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> I just hope -all- the cargo on its way to your father doesn't have its own group of bandits.
<+DJ> That guy felt the need to hide when giving us this job...
<+DJ> I got a bad feeling, guys :|
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> I've had a bad feeling about this since the tavern.
<+Aerik> Hey Eshanil
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> But nooo, no one listens to the dwarf.
<+Aerik> Do you know a wizard with this description...
<+DJ> Because you ALWAYS have a bad feeling.
<+DJ> You're the DWARF.
* +Aerik describes the wizard, including the staff and the invisibility trick

<&NinjaWizard> The elf looks blank until the description of the staff then he simply nods.

<+Aerik> Who is he?

<&NinjaWizard> He seems reluctant to say.

<+Aerik> He gave us these eggs, you see...
<+Aerik> And told us to take 'em to your dad.
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> I don't care who he is, I just care if we're going to be barbecued for taking his job.
<&NinjaWizard> "Magus Kensington." (Knowlege arcana)

<&NinjaWizard> (He's this planet's version of Merlin)
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> (as in a fairy tale?)
<+Aerik> (awesome!)
<&NinjaWizard> Most don't believe he's real, he's said to be centuries old yet human, but wizards believe he's real and tend to consider him a 'meddler'
<+Aerik> (Including the agein backwards thing?)
<+DJ> [meddler?]
<&NinjaWizard> He meddles in the afairs of the world to 'keep balance' or some junk
<&NinjaWizard> DJ has no idea.

<+DJ> who?

<&NinjaWizard> Dorrik knows the legends.

<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> You expect us to believe that?
<+Aerik> I do.
<+Aerik> Crazy powerful wizard that could make himself invisible to everyone but us? That's not normal
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> You would.

<&NinjaWizard> For Aerik: He's VERY real and VERY good at what he does, and when he sends someone on a task, he makes good on his word, payment is made, and if there is no percieved danger they're usually pretty safe.

* +Aerik relates that info more or less word for word
<+DJ> Who?
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> Well I'm percieving danger now, so what does that mean?
<+Aerik> DJ: let's just say he's insanely powerful and we should be glad he's on our side.
<+DJ> ...Okay.

<&NinjaWizard> Eshanil adds, "For the moment."

<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> If "on our side" means "throws us into this mess of trouble"

<&NinjaWizard> So you've got a badly injured elf who can barely move, a carriage full of pegasi eggs, a tired horse, two big black horses, and a sleeping puppy.
<&NinjaWizard> WHAT DO YOU DO?

<+Aerik> Well, if that's all for tonight...
<+Aerik> I suppose we may as well sleep
<+Aerik> Who shall be taking watch?
<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> I'll take the first shift.
<+DJ> [FINE SHE GIVES THE ELF A POTION]
<+DJ> [BUT SHE'S NOT HAPPY ABOUT IT]

<&NinjaWizard> Yay
<&NinjaWizard> Now he can take TWO whole hits before being unconcious again!
<&NinjaWizard> HE GOES TO SLEEP
<&NinjaWizard> So does the puppy.
<&NinjaWizard> On him.
<&NinjaWizard> (Well more like 'he passes out cold' but y'know)
<&NinjaWizard> Who's not sleeping?

<@Dorrik_Bloodbellows> (I am for first watch.)

So, hopefully they like the story enough and it'll continue next Friday. ^_^ I'll have more characters in the pool by then for others who decide to join in, though I'm hoping to keep it rather small for a while. So far the only character left in the pool is a gnome bard >_> Working on a human monk presently, and a few other are in the notes to be made.

(Here's hoping this headache goes away so I can actually make more characters :|)

Dream story - sci-fi

2008-11-08T06:49:30Z

So I had this dream a while ago, and kept meaning to turn it into more than just an IRC conversation, but every time I remember it I'm half asleep (like now), so I'm just gonna quote the conversation cause this way it'll GET POSTED and not sit there thinking nobody wants it.

*****
<&NinjaWizard> These people who were putting themselves into a deep slumber to avoid the harsh realities of a possible war or something
<Raiel> D=
<&NinjaWizard> They'd done this before, every so many years or so they go into slumber then come out to see what the world is like
<&NinjaWizard> When it's peaceful they live their lives outside
<&NinjaWizard> When it's not they go back into this freezer after an injection that lets them essentially continue living in this other realm where the harsh realities are gone and everything is peaceful
<&NinjaWizard> But they don't age at all
<&NinjaWizard> They also rarely have children but when they do the child must be at least a certain age before they can go into the thing
<&NinjaWizard> Or they wind up living several decades as small children o.o
<Raiel> whoa
<Raiel> that's pretty neat actually
<Raiel> as a story idea
<&NinjaWizard> So when the village went into the dream thing this one woman had to stay behind because she was pregnant
<&NinjaWizard> Time passes, she gives birth, and starts raising the child lovingly and in seclusion, hidden from those harsh realities and unable to bring him into the peaceful dream state
<&NinjaWizard> As the time nears that he's old enough for it... something happens
<Raiel> =o?
<&NinjaWizard> Invaders show up and think she's doing some sort of evil ritual on the 'child' (teenager)
<&NinjaWizard> She manages to get him injected, and put intot he dream state, but they prevent her from injecting herself
<&NinjaWizard> She does manage to get into the freezer, but unmedicated... it doesn't work right for her
<&NinjaWizard> And she ages
<Raiel> D=
<&NinjaWizard> So she watches her son not ages, and they're all watching her grow ill and age and not sure why
<&NinjaWizard> Because the son doesn't remember what happened and the woman won't tell anyone
<&NinjaWizard> She gets ill and passes out and the doctor guy investigates. Apparently they have a way of checking out the freezer from the dream realm and he checks it out and finds out she's aging
<&NinjaWizard> Then I woke up >_>
<Raiel> wow
<Raiel> you should write a story about that =O
<Raiel> It would make a neat sci-fi thing
<&NinjaWizard> Yeah it is pretty neat
*****
It WAS a pretty neat dream and kinda fun. I love having dreams like this. ^_^

Inspiration; quotes and poems.

2008-05-26T04:40:37Z

So this is what I do when I'm hiding away from most of civilization. I start searching. I'm not always sure what I'm looking for, but I usually manage to find something that helps, be it from inside of myself, online, or in nature.

Today, I spent a good portion of the day looking up various terms in the hopes of finding some sort of reinforcment to my resolve. I found it, along with many other good quotes. Some made me smile, others made me giggle, others made me stop and think about things. All in all, it's been a relatively peaceful and thoughtful day.

I wound up grouping up a bunch of what I found into a text file, and for those overly curious, or with some interest in inspirational quotes, I'm posting it here. I'll likely also view it myself in later days to remind myself of the things I discovered this day, to remember the smiles and thoughtfullness that occured.

Anyway, it's -really- long... :P

    Poem for Hope
    A Hong Kong Proverb

    As long as we have hope,
    we have direction,
    the energy to move,
    and the map to move by.
    We have a hundred alternatives,
    a thousand paths and infinity of dreams.
    Hopeful, we are halfway to where we want to go;
    Hopeless, we are lost forever.

*****
"Hope is the dream of a waking man." -Diogenes

"What seems to us as bitter trials are often blessings in disguise." -Oscar Wilde

"Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow." -Albert Einstein

"Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; but remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for." -Author Unknown

"While wishing and hoping makes you a dreamer, acting and doing makes you someone who can turn dreams into reality." -Nan S. Russell

"Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul
And sings the tune without the words
And never stops at all." -Emily Dickenson

"Hope is the most exciting thing in life and if you honestly believe that love is out there, it will come. And even if it doesn't come straight away there is still that chance all through your life that it will." -Josh Hartnett

"In all things it is better to hope than to despair." -Goethe

"If you lose hope, somehow you lose the vitality that keeps life moving, you lose that courage to be, that quality that helps you go on in spite of it all. And so today I still have a dream." -Martin Luther King, Jr

"If it were not for hopes, the heart would break." -Thomas Fuller

"Hope is the dream of a soul awake." -French Proverb

"Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all." -Dale Carnegie

"Hope is both the earliest and the most indispensable virtue inherent in the state of being alive.
If life is to be sustained hope must remain, even where confidence is wounded, trust impaired." -Erik H. Erikson

"There are no hopeless situations,
there are only men who have grown helpless about them." -Clare Boothe Luce

"Hope is a renewable option:
If you run out of it at the end of the day, you get to start over in the morning." -Barbara Kingsolver

"The Grand essentials of happiness are:
something to do, something to love, and something to hope for." -Allan K. Chalmers

"When you do nothing, you feel overwhelmed and powerless. But when you get involved, you feel the sense of hope and accomplishment that comes from knowing you are working to make things better." -Pauline R. Kezer

"Hope is a beautiful thing. It gives us peace and strength, and keeps us going when all seems lost. Accepting what you cannot change doesn't mean you have given up on hope. It just means you have to focus your hope on more humanly tangible and attainable goals." -Julie Donner Andersen

"The very least you can do in your life is to figure out what you hope for. And the most you can do is live inside that hope. Not admire it from a distance but live right in it, under its roof." -Barbara Kingsolver

"Never let go of hope - dream, take action, and get that transfer to live the life you wish." -Catherine Pulsifer

"Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come. You wait and watch and work: you don't give up." -Anne Lamott

"We live by admiration, hope and love." -William Wordsworth

"If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put foundations under them." -Henry David Thoreau

"Hope is not the conviction that something will turn out well but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out." -Vaclav Havel

"Hope is important because it can make the present moment less difficult to bear. If we believe that tomorrow will be better, we can bear a hardship today." -Thich Nhat Hanh

"Hope is faith holding out its hand in the dark." -George Iles

"Hope arouses, as nothing else can arouse, a passion for the possible." -William Sloan Coffin

"What appears to be the end of the road may simply be a bend in the road." -Robert H. Schuller
*****
Things Work Out
By Edgar A. Guest

Because it rains when we wish it wouldn't,
Because men do what they often shouldn't,
Because crops fail, and plans go wrong-
Some of us grumble all day long.
But somehow, in spite of the care and doubt,
It seems at last that things work out.

Because we lose where we hoped to gain,
Because we suffer a little pain,
Because we must work when we'd like to play-
Some of us whimper along life's way.
But somehow, as day always follows the night,
Most of our troubles work out all right.

Because we cannot forever smile,
Because we must trudge in the dust awhile,
Because we think that the way is long-
Some of us whimper that life's all wrong.
But somehow we live and our sky grows bright,
And everything seems to work out all right.

So bend to your trouble and meet your care,
For the clouds must break, and the sky grow fair.
Let the rain come down, as it must and will,
But keep on working and hoping still.
For in spite of the grumblers who stand about,
Somehow, it seems, all things work out.

*****
-Norman Vincent Peale-
"In every difficult situation is potential value. Believe this, then begin looking for it."

"Believe it is possible to solve your problem. Tremendous things happen to the believer. So believe the answer will come. It will."

"What is hope? Hope is wishing for a thing to come true; faith is believing that it will come true."

"Getting people to like you is merely the other side of liking them."

"If you put off everything till you're sure of it, you'll never get anything done."

"The "how" thinker gets problems solved effectively because he wastes no time with futile
"ifs" but goes right to work on the creative "how.""

"Live your life and forget your age."

"Any fact facing us is not as important as our attitude toward it, for that determines our success or failure."

"Change your thoughts and you change your world."

"Cut the "im" out of impossible, leading that dynamic word standing out free and clear - possible."

"People become really quite remarkable when they start thinking that they can do things. When they believe in themselves they have the first secret of success."

"If you want to get somewhere you have to know where you want to go and how to get there. Then never, never, never give up."

"Drop the idea that you are Atlas carrying the world on your shoulders. The world would go on even without you. Don't take yourself so seriously."

"Empty pockets never held anyone back. Only empty heads and empty hearts can do that."

"Do not be awe struck by other people and try to copy them. Nobody can be you as efficiently as you can."

"Always remember that problems contain values that have improvement potential."

"One way to become enthusiastic is to look for the plus sign. To make progress in any difficult situation, you have to start with what's right about it and build on that."

"Stand up to your obstacles and do something about them. You will find that they haven't half the strength you think they have."

"When you wholeheartedly adopt a "with all your heart" attitude and go out with the positive principle, you can do incredible things."

"Formulate and stamp indelibly on your mind a mental picture of yourself as succeeding. Hold this picture tenaciously. Never permit it to fade. Your mind will seek to develop the picture.....Do not build up obstacles in your imagination."

"Life's blows cannot break a person whose spirit is warmed at the fire of enthusiasm."

"Throw your heart over the fence and the rest will follow."

"Those who are fired with an enthusiastic idea and who allow it to take hold and dominate their thoughts find that new worlds open for them. As long as enthusiasm holds out, so will new opportunities."

"Anybody can do just about anything with himself that he really wants to and makes up his mind to do. We are all capable of greater things than we realize."

"Never talk defeat. Use words like hope, belief, faith, victory."

"All successful people have a goal. No one can get anywhere unless he knows where he wants to go and what he wants to be or do."

*****
'Hope is a belief in a positive outcome related to events and circumstances in one's life. Hope implies a certain amount of despair, wanting, wishing, suffering or perseverance — i.e., believing that a better or positive outcome is possible even when there is some evidence to the contrary.'

'Historically, the term "romance" did not necessarily imply love relationships, but rather was seen as an artistic expression of one's innermost desires; sometimes including love, sometimes not.'

'Optimism is an outlook on life such that one maintains a view of the world as a positive place. People would say that optimism is seeing the glass "half full" of water as opposed to half empty. It is the philosophical opposite of pessimism. Optimists generally believe that people and events are inherently good, so that most situations work out in the end for the best.'

'Faith is based upon the interpretation of the intangible (feelings, emotions, etc.) instead of the physically tangible.'

'Habits are automatic routines of behavior that are repeated regularly, without thinking. They are learned, not instinctive, human behaviors that occur automatically, without the explicit contemporaneous intention of the person.'
*****
Yahoo! Answers:
"Hope is a wish in your heart of good things to come.

Hope for me personally means that no matter what adversity I face and no matter how hard times get I know my sunshine will come.

It's an eternal burning flame that will never go out as long as someone believes."

"The belief that things will get better, whether the evidence indicates it will or not."

"Hope is the belief against anything and everthing that something is true or will come to pass."

"Hope is the inner strength to face the past and look forward into the future for better things."

"Hope is the ability to believe that something will happen very soon and the ability to hold on long enough for that to happen."
*****
Hope Abides
By Sri Chinmoy

Hope abides; therefore I abide.
Countless frustrations have not cowed me.
I am still alive, vibrant with life.
The black cloud will disappear,
The morning sun will appear once again
In all its supernal glory.
*****
"Men should be judged not by their tint of skin, the Gods they serve, the Vintage that they drink, nor by the way they fight, or love, or sin -- but by the quality of thought they think." -Author Unknown (couldn't find who'd wrote it and it's quoted in various places)
*****
Be who you are

Be Yourself ~ Truthfully
Accept Yourself ~ Gracefully
Value Yourself ~ Joyfully
Forgive Yourself ~ Completely
Treat Yourself ~ Generously
Balance Yourself ~ Harmoniously
Bless Yourself ~ Abundantly
Trust Yourself ~ Confidently
Love Yourself ~ Wholeheartedly
Empower Yourself ~ Prayerfully
Give Of Yourself ~ Enthusiastically
Express Yourself ~ Radiantly

Author Unknown
*****
SEVEN CHARACTERISTICS OF HOPE

   1. Hope "lights a candle" instead of "cursing the darkness."
   2. Hope opens doors where despair closes them.
   3. Hope looks for the good in people instead of harping on the worst in them.
   4. Hope discovers what can be done instead of grumbling about what cannot be done.
   5. Hope draws its power from a deep trust in God and the basic goodness of mankind.
   6. Hope regards problems, small or large, as opportunities.
   7. Hope cherishes no illusions, nor does it yield to cynicism.

~Author Unknown~
*****
HOPE

Hope is not the closing of your eyes
to the difficulty, the risk,
or the failure.

It is trust that-
If I fail now -
I shall not fail forever;

and if I am hurt,
I shall be healed .

It is trust that
Life is good.

love is powerful,
and the future is full of promise.

-Author Unknown-
*****
"Every man has his secret sorrows, which the world knows not; and oftentimes
we call a man cold when he is only sad." -Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

"This is the beginning of a new day. You have been given this day to use as you will. You can waste it or use it for good. What you do today is important because you are exchanging a day of your life for it. When tomorrow comes, this day will be gone forever; in its place is something that you have left behind...let it be something good." -Author Unknown

“And forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair.” -Kahlil Gibran

"Here is a test to find out whether your mission in life is complete.
If you're alive, it isn't." -Richard Bach

"There is no such thing in anyone's life
as an unimportant day." -Alexander Woollcott

"People travel to wonder at the height of the mountains, at the huge waves of the seas, at the long course of the rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motion of the stars, and yet they pass by themselves without wondering." -St. Augustine, 354 430

"When you were born, you cried and the world rejoiced.
Live your life so that when you die,
the world cries and you rejoice." -Cherokee Expression

"Be glad of life, because it gives you the chance to love and to work and to play and to look up at the stars." -Henry Van Dyke

"To live content with small means; to seek elegance rather than luxury; and refinement rather than fashion; to be worthy, not respectable; and wealthy, not rich; to study hard, think quietly, talk gently, act frankly; to listen to stars and birds, to babes and sages, with open heart; to bear all cheerfully, do all bravely, await occasion, hurry never; in a word, to let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious grow up through the common. This is to be my symphony." -William Ellery Channing

"Don't ask yourself what the world needs; ask yourself what makes you come alive. And then go and do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive." -Howard Thurman

"Life is an opportunity, benefit from it.
Life is beauty, admire it.
Life is bliss, taste it.
Life is a dream, realize it.
Life is a challenge, meet it.
Life is a duty, complete it.
Life is a game, play it.
Life is a promise, fulfill it.
Life is sorrow, overcome it.
Life is a song, sing it.
Life is a struggle, accept it.
Life is a tragedy, confront it.
Life is an adventure, dare it.
Life is luck, make it.
Life is too precious, do not destroy it.
Life is life, fight for it." -Mother Teresa

"Dream as if you'll live forever...
live as if you'll die today." -James Dean

"Only as high as I reach can I grow,
Only as far as I seek can I go,
Only as deep as I look can I see,
Only as much as I dream can I be." -Karen Ravn

"Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it now." -Goethe

"Some men see things as they are and ask why.
Others dream things that never were and ask why not." -George Bernard Shaw

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." -Mark Twain

"Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail." -Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go." -T. S. Eliot

“It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare, it is because we do not dare that they are difficult.” -Seneca

"Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goals." -Henry Ford

"The men who try to do something and fail are infinitely better than those who try to do nothing and succeed." -Lloyd Jones

"Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear." -Ambrose Redmoon

“The journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.” -Lao Tzu

"Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared." -Buddha

"It was a high counsel that I once heard given to a young person, 'Always do what you are afraid to do.'" -Ralph Waldo Emerson

"The only way of finding the limits of the possible is by going beyond them into the impossible." -Arthur C. Clarke

"You cannot plough a field by turning it over in your mind." -Author Unknown

"Nothing will ever be attempted if all possible objections must first be overcome." -Samuel Johnson

"Our greatest glory is not in never falling but in rising every time we fall." -Confucius

"Your imagination is your preview of life's coming attractions." -Albert Einstein

"Believe that you have it, and you have it." -Latin Proverb

"Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined." -Henry David Thoreau

"All men dream but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity; but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dream with open eyes to make it possible." -T.E. Lawrence

"The question for each man to settle is not what he would do if he had means, time, influence and educational advantages; the question is what he will do with the things he has. The moment a young man ceases to dream or to bemoan his lack of opportunities and resolutely looks his conditions in the face, and resolves to change them, he lays the corner-stone of a solid and honorable success." -Hamilton Wright Mabie

"The best way to make your dreams come true is to wake up." -Paul Valery

"Try not to become a man of success but a man of value." -Albert Einstein

"If you can imagine it, you can achieve it; if you can dream it, you can become it." -William Arthur Ward

"Every artist was first an amateur." -Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Men do less than they ought, unless they do all they can." -Thomas Carlyle

"When one door of happiness closes, another opens, but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one that has been opened for us." -Helen Keller

"There is only one person who could ever make you happy, and that person is you." -David Burns, Intimate Connections

"The happiness of life is made up of minute fractions—the little soon-forgotten charities of a kiss, a smile, a kind look, a heartfelt compliment in the disguise of a playful raillery, and the countless other infinitessimals of pleasurable thought and genial feeling." -Samuel Taylor Coleridge

"There is only one way to happiness, and that is to cease worrying things which are beyond the power of our will." -Epictetus

"A smile is a curve that sets everything straight." -Anonymous

"A smile is a light in the window of the soul indicating that the heart is at home." -Anonymous

"One joy scatters a hundred griefs." -Chinese Proverb

"Joy is the feeling of grinning inside." -Melba Colgrove

"Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy." -Thich Nhat Hanh

"The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed." -Carl Jung

"Never pretend to a love which you do not actually feel, for love is not ours to command." -Alan Watts

"People are unreasonable, illogical and self-centered.
Love them anyway.
If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives.
Do good anyway.
If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies.
Succeed anyway.
The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.
Do good anyway.
Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.
Be honest and frank anyway.
The biggest person with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest person with the smallest mind.
Think big anyway.
What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.
Build anyway.
People really need help but may attack if you help them.
Help people anyway.
Give the world the best you have and you might get kicked in the teeth.
Give the world the best you've got anyway." -Anonymous

"It is love that makes the impossible possible." -Indian Proverb

"Man is a creature of hope and invention, both of which belie the idea that things cannot be changed." -Tom Clancy

"A coward gets scared and quits. A hero gets scared, but still goes on." -Anonymous

"To go against the dominant thinking of your friends, of most of the people you see every day, is perhaps the most difficult act of heroism you can perform." -Theodore H. White

"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm." -Winston Churchill

"If you want a guarantee, buy a toaster." -Anonymous

"To succeed... you need to find something to hold on to, something to motivate you, something to inspire you." –Tony Dorsett

"Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new." -Albert Einstein

"Mistakes are a part of being human. Appreciate your mistakes for what they are: precious life lessons that can only be learned the hard way. Unless it's a fatal mistake, which, at least, others can learn from." - Al Franken

"Be not ashamed of mistakes and thus make them crimes." -Confucius

"We must not say every mistake is a foolish one." -Cicero

"Just because you make a mistake doesn’t mean you are a mistake." -Georgette Mosbacher

"The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing you will make one." -Elbert Hubbard

"There are no mistakes, save one: the failure to learn from a mistake." -Robert Fripp

"The toughest part of getting to the top of the ladder, is getting through the crowd at the bottom." -Anonymous

"Nothing could be worse than the fear that one had given up too soon, and left one unexpended effort that might have saved the world." -Jane Addams

"When anger rises, think of the consequences." -Confucius

"Holding on to anger, resentment and hurt only gives you tense muscles, a headache and a sore jaw from clenching your teeth. Forgiveness gives you back the laughter and the lightness in your life." -Joan Lunden

"The best remedy for anger is delay." -Brigham Young

"Anger is never without a reason, but seldom a good one." -Benjamin Franklin

"If you are patient in one moment of anger, you will escape a hundred days of sorrow." -Chinese Proverb

"Speak when you are angry - and you will make the best speech you'll ever regret." -Laurence J. Peter

"If what we are doing with our anger is not achieving the desired result, it would seem logical to try something different." -Harriet Lerner

"Anger helps strengthen out a problem like a fan helps straighten out a pile of papers." -Susan Mancotte

"Have patience with all things, but chiefly have patience with yourself. Do not lose courage in considering your own imperfections, but instantly set about remedying them - every day begin the task anew." -Saint Francis De Sales

A different sort of vampire

2008-04-04T07:23:14Z

So I had another one of 'those' dreams... the ones where I wind up with a totally new concept for a race or story setting. This one was strange in that I got very little actual story out of it but a -lot- of background stuff. I may wind up adding these guys into the siren setting... much like how the sirens aren't what the myths made them out to be, so are vampires. >_> (It's turning into a trend of legend races being real but nothing like how they were in their legends XD IT'S AN AWESOME IDEA REALLY I'd been pondering it off and on for a while so hey winding up having ways to do it thrown at me is pretty cool)

Council of Elders for a vampire-like race that hid amongst humans... we weren't undead, and didn't go through any 'change' to become the way we were, we just -were-. We were born this way. If bred with a human, the child would either be human, or one of us. But we all hid what we were because humans thought we were killers, when we just wanted to live.

In the council, I was Eldest, they called me Captain. I was several hundred years older than the others. I was the oldest surviving member of our kind, and because of this, I ran the council. I also recieved visions that would decide our fate, by showing me possibilities and giving me the chance to decide which fate we should accept, or strive for an entirely different fate. On the council were nine others. Three of those were old enough to be considered elders, the rest were younger than us but were the oldest available to be chosen for council. The elders of our race had been dying off.

As a true 'elder' you are blessed with the ability to get past all of the mystical wards that prevented anyone else from entering certain places. It was more of a 'I don't want to go there' than a wall or barrier. You just didn't think it was a place worth going... or wouldn't remember what it was... or think it was just some room. So the four of us, myself and the other three true elders, were the only ones left who could go to certain places, havens that our ancestors had warded from anyone under a certain age, which would prevent humans from ever finding them.

The council resided in a large house on a hill someplace, under which were various caverns that were warded off, as were the bedrooms of the true elders and certain sections of the house that were used to store items or for certain rituals. One of those caverns was a massive sprawl of rock with a substance on them that glowed, giving light... and a large underground pool that provided those who swam in it with a boost of energy, health and wellbeing. I swam there frequently, but the other true elders tended to only go there to search me out, or to explore, and never really swam.

Of the other elders, one was a seer and mystic. Our powers weren't magic or spells or such... we just willed them to work and they did. The seer was able to will any living tissue to do as she wished... such as willing lungs to refuse oxygen, or eyes to refuse to reflect light. She was also a mother-figure to me, even though I was centuries her senior, in that she took it upon herself to keep watch on the elder that wanted to replace me, and protect me when needed. It was her job to council me on my visions, protect me when I was unable to, and keep tabs on all things mystical, such as the librams of lore that our council kept concealed.

The elder that wanted to replace me... the brute. He thought I was weak, because I often had times where I would be uncertain, or take a long time to make descisions. But when you're several hundred years old, you learn to take your time on important matters. He was the youngest true elder, and as such still rash and impulsive, and didn't want to wait for anything. It was his job to question me, always, question my motives, my ideas, my judgement. It was a job he did with a vengence, because he truely didn't believe in me, but that just meant he suited the position. He was always for physical force, rather than thought and manipulation. He wanted to fight against those who were killing us, rather than try to work around them and find another way to survive... when in truth, even if we all stood up to fight at once, we'd never win... we were too badly outnumbered, and most of us just wanted to live our lives without fear.

The rest I can't really remember too well... I know there was another true elder, older than the brute and the seer... who was in charge of contacts, the eyes and ears of our group. He had all the knowledge of where our people were, who they were, what they were up to, and such... the information expert of the group. I don't remember much beyond that.

The younger elders weren't very detailed, but one had street smarts and contacts, one had people skills, and the rest had their uses that I don't recall.

In the dream, I wound up with some sort of infection that the seer could not explain, and collapsed towards the end of a council meeting. The seer was working hard to figure out what was causing it, but while I lay unconcious, the brute decided to take the chance to try and take me out. Apparently, the eldest's blood flows with power, and he saught to drink of my blood to gain that power and replace me as the most powerful, but when he tasted my blood, he realized that along with the power come the visions, and the visions overpowered him, and he fled once they'd settled. He still wished me gone, but was overwhelmed by the visions and unable to think at the time of simply killing me.

The other elders later discover the bite marks and know who had done it, but since it's against our laws to harm each other under any circumstances, they didn't act. They would tell me what happened and let me deal with it. Meanwhile they kept a much closer watch on me so any further attempts wouldn't be possible.

That's really about all I can remember.

Another dream story idea

2008-03-28T14:09:29Z

This outline comes from two seperate dreams that I had, the first occuring two days before the first of the siren dreams, the second ocurring in the midst of the siren dreams, and I managed to remember most of what happened in both. Most of this stuff occured in the first, the second mainly giving more detail to certain scenes that got little or no attention in the first. Warning: There's vague mention of sex in this, though it doesn't go into detail, so I'm not going to lock it. Other warning: It's very long.

The setting is a desert, vast sandy dunes, but there's this small altar that's visible on the surface, while the rest of the temple is under the surface level, in a large pit. (If you've ever seen the The Tomb of Raithwall from FFXII then it's a bit like that, only with less of an open area around the temple, and it looks designed to be under the surface level and to be covered on top to keep it hidden from view).

Anyway, the culture is an ancient one, Aztec in design, bronze skinned with black hair and wearing white kilts, sandals and the occasional vest... but we're in the midst of a battle against a large band of pirates (yes, the sea type pirates, with the arrr and the skull and crossbones). I'm really not sure why they're in the desert, though I get the idea that where we are isn't too far from the coast, so likely in an area where the land is dead despite being close to water. The pirates are there to plunder the temple, likely thinking it was abandoned, but they're after something specific that we simply cannot allow them to take.

So the battle is going on, and everyone from our culture is there to fight, even the artist types, like myself. I'm a musician, and I'm not really sure what to do there, but I'm not the only one who doesn't really know how to fight, and we're essentially trying to bury the temple with the pirates in it to keep them from making off with the items they were searching for.

At one point, our high priestess starts to chant during all the ruckus of the struggle, and a large slab of rock starts to cover the opening in the sand, to bury the temple and the pirates. We're all scrambling to get out of the way, but for some reason, one of my own people shoves me in just as the slab covers the opening, and I'm left in the dirt, coughing and trying to figure out what's going on around me.

A flash back to the surface as things are settling down, the people recovering their wits, the sand settling over everything, and someone asks the priestess, "What's going to happen to him?" She replies, "He'll likely be raped to death." She says this in a very deadpan voice, and it's uncertain wether she cares about the outcome or what happens to me, and then the scene settles on me again, in the dark, pawing my way through the debree and dust.

There were fifty pirates, and their captain, though I'm not sure how I know this. Before too long, they find me, and drag me out of the corner I'd managed to crawl into. I'm huddled and peering around through the dust, trying to see, and the pirate captain is watching me.

This next part happened in a second dream where I had more details of the scene come to me, while in the first it was more of a brief passing over the scene. The captain has them seat me beside him and then orders them to back off, and start trying to dig out of the temple. There are slabs of rock protruding from the walls, some sealed-off doorways leading to other areas, and a statue of some sort carved into one of the walls, a large statue of what I believe is our god, though I don't recall many details of its appearance. The captain watches me, though he's constantly aware of the glares and leers from his men as they also watch me, and he knows they won't leave me be for too long, so he offers me a canteen and says, "Drink."

I turned my head away as he tries to bring the mouth of the canteen to my lips, and he grabs my hair, pulling my head back and pouring the liquid down my throat when I open my mouth to yelp. I sputter a bit, but manage to swallow most of the harsh, strong alcohol that gets poured into me, and he lets up on my hair and lets me go, leaving me coughing on the remnants of the booze he'd just poured into me.

He waits a while, watching me, then when it becomes apparent that the alcohol's taking effect, he motions towards me and stands, walking off. His men are quick to close in, and though I don't actually see much of what happens here, I know they're having their way with him, and not exactly being gentle about it.

After a time, I get passed off to the captain, who pins me down to have his own way with me... only he's far nicer about it than his men were. In the midst of it, I'm able to get a good look about the place, and mumble something, which gets his attention. The effects of the alcohol are wearing off by this point, and I can think more clearly, and say, "I can get you out..."

He hadn't realized before this point that I spoke a language he understood, and that makes him take pause, though he doesn't pause for too long, because if his men thought he were finished with me they come to claim me again. So while he's... doing his business, with me pinned on my stomach, though knowing I got his attention, I look pointedly towards a part of the ceiling and say, "I know how to get you out." I speak a very heavily accented English, though, like one who'd only learned it recently and not spent a lot of time speaking it.

He says, "How?" to which I make motion towards his gun, still looking up at the ceiling, and I point, "If you shoot there... and there... the ceiling will collapse."

He snorts, and gets rough with me for a moment as he grunts out, "Burying everyone in here alive."

I wince, shuddering, and shake my head lightly, lowering my eyes to the floor and glancing around, "There are some spots that would be safe... there." He glances towards where my gaze settles, to a rather small alcove in the corner not far from us.

He grunts, and takes another brief pause before he continues, seeming to consider my words and the fact that he'd have to sacrifice most of his men, if not all, to get out of the place. He doesn't seem all too atatched to them, though, and after he... finishes... he stands upright, rather abruptly, gun pulled, and shoots at both locations of the ceiling that I'd pointed to.

His men pause to look at him, some of them snickering, but then a low rumbling starts, growing louder rapidly. The captain grabs me by the arm as I start to scramble away, and drags me into the nook that I'd pointed out to him, wrapping around me almost protectively as dirt and sand start to fill the air, the ceiling shuddering violently and then large clumps of rock tumbling down. A few screams and hollers make it out of the captain's men before they're buried beneath a large pile or rock and debree, and we wait huddled in the corner until silence falls.

Apparently, I was the sacrifice needed for the priestess' magic to work appropriately, and to keep the temple sealed off to outsiders, but I was supposed to die for the spell to work properly. And since I didn't... and the pirates did... the spell went awry, somehow, and rather than locking the place off for eternity, it locked us in a sort of stasis or some such. We don't notice this however, and we crawl out of the wreck of collapsed ceiling. It turns out the captain had managed to acquire the item he'd come to steal, an ancient scroll describing the origins of our god, that was supposed to grant great power to whomever used it in a certain ritual.

As we slip out from the mess, the area looks much like it should, only there are no bodies, alive or dead, of my people... and not any sign of the struggle that had occured not a day before. All is silent and peaceful but for the sand we'd unsettled in our escape from the temple. It appears to be dusk, and the captain starts wandering about the area, getting his bearings, slapping the item he'd stolen into my arms. I grab at it and hug it to my chest, as it is very valuable to my people.

We wander around there for a time, not speaking, and then he starts off in one direction. I stand there for a while, then make to follow, since I have no idea where my people are, and there are no signs of the village where it should be not too far from the site.

There's a 'time passes' break here and we find outselves entering an advanced city, the first sign that we're no longer in our time. The technology is more advanced than modern day, but also mingled with bits of magic, such as the street lights, which seem to be powered by spells rather than electricity, though there are hovering cars on the roads and some other strange things. I don't get much time to study the area, as the captain storms off through the streets, seemingly having no difficulty adjusting to the new surroundings, and intent on reforming his band of miscreants.

He starts to do just that, taking in criminals, which he dominates into following him with threats, intimidation, and even killing some of them, breaking into places to steal weapons and ammo, mugging people for clothes or money, all the while I wind up with him because he's the only one I know. I'm his little songbird, as a singer, and he often asks me to sing for him at night, when he's not using me for other entertainment. I don't really have anyplace to go, and he keeps me safe, not letting his new band lay hands on me, and even shooting any of them that tries, so I stick with him.

We wind up being tracked down by an odd band of mercenaries, the group consisting of a woman that greatly resembles an old high school friend of mine, a unicorn, and a little pixie boy that stands not more than a few inches, always in flight and with a glowy aura about him. I believe the woman was dwarven, though not the short stocky type, average height for a human woman, a bit on the pudgy side and muscular, no facial hair like most dwarven women in literature. She's got a gun and a large axe that she uses as needed, though it spends most of it's time on her back since guns are more widely used here.

We manage to avoid them through most of the chasing, though they track us down repeatedly, and eventually get me and the captain cornered with only a few of his men. In the fight that ensues, the men get a brutal beating, and the captain manages to flee by jumping off a ledge or such, along with a couple of his men, though the pixie takes up the chase, flinging spells at them. I wind up getting left behind in the confusion, still having that scroll in my posession, and at first the group thinks I'm nothing more than another miscreant, but my behaviour makes them take pause.

We're not far from the city we'd been wandering through, so I'm huddled in against some ruins, likely an old building that had been left to decay as time passed, and the woman watches me, gun in hand and aimed towards me. The unicorn snorts and stomps at the ground but doesn't approach, eyeing me warily, then the pixie returns and flutters about above me. I look up, startled, and scramble closer into the rocks, tucking my body in against them and looking afraid, and the pixie comments, "Looks like we may have inadvertently rescued him."

I watch them, wide-eyed, but the pixie somehow manages to befriend me, or at least coerce me out from my huddled position, and they take me off to the woman's apartment, where they offer me food and a bed. The scenes don't really settle for long at this point, but at one point the woman makes a comment about offering to keep me company, and I look confused. The pixie watches me, then snickers, and the woman appologizes, smiling, and heads off to her room. I get the feeling they just discovered that I'm gay, and blushingly slip into the guest room I'd been given.

This next part is also from the second dream, another scene that got more focus this time around. The pixie slips into my room as I'm preparing for bed, and watches me for a while, then suddenly he's not there anymore, and a very elf-like man is standing before me. I'm not really startled by this, but, considering all that's happened over the last few days, I'm likely so overwhelmed that not much would set me off. He's slender, taller than I though still short, pale, pointy eared, with long hair and violet eyes, and he smiles pleasantly at me before approaching. He's very gentle, far more than the pirate captain was, and we wind up spending the night together, and I sleep rather peacefully with his presence. He shows me that being another's lover doesn't have to be forced or rough, and that it can be just as enjoyable for me as for my partner. The next morning I get up to him standing by the window, watching outside, and he looks rather stern before he realizes I'm awake, then smiles towards me, all friendly, and we get breakfast.

This part was skimmed very briefly: I explain to them about the scroll, showing it to them, telling them it's what the pirate was after and that I need to keep it safe, that my people were supposed to protect it and not let it be used improperly, that it was a gift from our god that we were given the task to safeguard. They decide to help me, and we leave the apartment, heading for a destination... we don't know where we're going, but somehow we know how to get there, so we start travelling. The elf-pixie seems to keep to his pixie form and only change exclusively for me, and nobody else seems to know that he can even do it.

During our travels, though, we're hassled by the pirate captain and his new crew, as he still wants the power that the scroll can grant him. He always seems to mess up his attacks when I get in the way of them, though, like he doesn't want to hurt me, but doesn't want to drag me away from this group. Like he regrets what has happened to me and doesn't want to cause me further anguish in his posession, always looking saddened and uncertain when he sees me, and breaking off his assault. Likely because of this, his group diminishes, the men probably finding that he isn't as bad ass as they thought and looking elsewhere for the leader they want.

Eventually we find ourselves out in the wilderness, though there's a great sign before us, looks kind of like a bilboard, but it's supposed to be a present day altar, I believe... a place of worship. It's up in the hills, and I climb up to it, the others staying behind and keeping watch. The place feels very mystical, and as I approach, the sign reacts to my presence. I don't think the others see, but a great face of my god appears, and I show him the scroll, and wait for a reaction. He doesn't say anything, but I can feel that he is greatly angered, and that I've now been tasked to return the scroll to its rightful place, where he assures me it will become safeguarded.

So we take our leave of that place and wind up having to travel back to the desert. Again, this part is skimmed a lot, brief images of what happens, like me and the pixie growing closer and talking a lot during our travel, though as we can't get privacy, he stays in his pixie form through the trip. We travel over land, a great distance, which makes it apparent that the desert temple is on the same continent, just a long way from the city. Eventually we wind up in the desert, and I wind up showing them how to get to the temple, where it looks nothing like it did when me and the pirate captain escaped... the slabs are back in place, keeping the place hidden, with no visible way to get down, though the altar is still above the surface and I approach.

I wind up having to stand on the slabs to approach the altar, the others staying back and watching, and as I offer the scroll up to the altar, I hear my god say some words, something about "It only takes an appology." So I say, "I'm sorry." Just as I utter those words, the ground gives way, collapsing beneath my feet... though the pixie flutters in and grabs hold of me as I fall, his strength much greater than one would expect for his size... he can't fly me up, but he does manage to let me fall more slowly, and set me down within the temple. The woman and unicorn are still above, looking down, and ask if we're alright, to which he replies that we are. By this point, I'm mesmerized, and approach a hole set in the wall before me. The pixie tries to get my attention and fails, and flutters after me, concerned, flying in front of my face in an attempt to wake me from my trance, but still failing. I'm intent on the hole in the wall, where I set the scroll, and it fits perfectly into the hole... then the hole seals up.

This part is very uncertain... I'm not sure how, but we manage to get back to the surface, and the slabs reposition themselves to contain the temple once more, safeguarding it, the whole area seeming to fizzle away until there's nothing visible but sandy dunes. I feel that the scroll is now safe, though I feel strongly that I am still needed to ensure it stays safe, like something is going to happen and I'll be needed to retrieve it again, but I don't know when that will be. So the four of us take our leave of the place, and I wind up staying with the elf-pixie. I know the pirate captain is still out there, keeping tabs on me through the connections he's made in the underground, though nobody ever hassles me. He is likely the reason that the scroll will be found again, as he is very determined to retrieve it... and I get the feeling that, eventually, he'll use me to get it... but then I wake up.

Two short story ideas

2008-03-28T05:18:21Z

So here's a couple of really short, really undetailed story ideas. The first is the basic outline of a dream I had last night, which was kind of strange in some areas, but this is just a very brief idea of what the dream was about, for my own notes should the basic idea find itself working into a more detailed setting or idea. It also fits somewhat into my main setting, so might work out there on another part of the planet.

The second is based on City of Heroes/City of Villains, because I got back into playing that after my roommate offered to pay for it, and then bought me three months of game time. Wheee! I've got a level 8 magic blaster character there named Seb Gepardi, who I'm sure will go up in levels fairly quickly with how I tend to play. :P Anyway, the story outline uses him as the main character, and various aspects of the game to decide where it will turns.

So here are the ideas.

Idea 1: The dream
I'm the concubine of a prince or king who gets killed during a war. The complex we're in has three levels, the main level above ground where the warriors and king are, then two below levels, one where secondary forces are located, and a lower one where myself and various other important people, women and children living in the castle, are hiding. As the second level is breached, we're ushered into the back, where a hidden tunnel takes us out of the city, and we flee into the neighbouring city, where we split up and go into hiding. I am apparently also royalty, of a sorts, and go into hiding as a clothesier or tailor, where I later wind up as the tailor and dresser of a princess of the people who defeated our king, as they took control of the neighbouring towns as well. The princess' brother becomes rather fond of me and takes me in to clothe him, one day, where he winds up seducing me, though I wake up in the middle of the seduction.

Idea 2: CoH/CoV
Seb Gepardi - transformed into a being of magic with feline agility through contact with an ancient talisman that he discovered during an archeological dig with his college professor, uses his powers for good, saving people and trying to fend off the evil that threatens Paragon - though later, he becomes bitter and jaded, unable to understand why people continue to put themselves in positions to be victims, as though they're so accustomed to being rescued by the many heroes of Paragon that they've forgotten how to protect themselves, or prevent the situations they get into - over time, he comes to the desicion that why should he use his powers to continue to rescue people who put themselves in dangerous situations on a repeated basis? So he starts to stray from the side of good, leaning towards evil, using his powers for material gain and to enjoy himself. Though never truly evil, he wouldn't harm innocents for the sake of bettering himself, he's strayed so far from his original purpose that he becomes a villain.
In his 'normal' clothes he is much like an average goth type with blond hair and dark sunglasses, long black trench coat. He has barely noticable cheetah spots covering his body, a bit paler than his already pale skin tone, and tends to prefer fingerless gloves and long cargo pants or jeans. When he lets himself be known for what he truly is, rather than wanting to hide his spots, the spots become dark, a brownish gold, clearly visible against his pale skin, and wears a more revealing, outfit that shows off his torso, and a skin-tight to show the slender, swimmer figure beneath what it does cover.

So yeah. The second one I don't see myself actually writing a whole lot for, but you never know, since I do kinda like the idea, and it'd kinda be fun to have a CoX story out there for the fans to read. Maybe. :P

Sci-fi dream

2008-03-25T03:23:33Z

Okay, so... this actually occured over a few dreams, pieced together into what's here. Now, this is -very- rough, not written like a story, merely a very early stage storyline, and yes, I use 'me' and 'I' a lot because that was the character I portrayed in the dreams. The setting, theme and characters never changed between dreams, unless it was, say, moving from a ship to a station. It is, quite possibly, the most vivid and long-lasting dream sequence I've ever had. And just as a warning... there's one scene in it that is kind of, umm, unpleasant, which involve torture, using a method similar to needles (I know at least one of my readers has a fear of those). That scene is rough, but written in this -exactly- as it showed up in my dream. This should, I believe, give my readers a bit of an idea as to just how... detailed my dreams are... I'm not watching this happening, I'm feeling it happen. Albeit, in this, I didn't actually feel as much pain as this guy probably would have felt, and if anything, it was merely a dull headache-induced ache, but in other cases I -have- felt as much pain as the character I portrayed did.

So, yes, everything written in this is what occurred in a series of dreams. A lot of it, when I do turn it into a story and setting, will be altered, and some of it has already been altered as per the siren writeup I posted the other day. In the setting, they don't have a limited time they can swim, and there are no bad consequences to them swimming too long, or so on, but this happened in the dream and still in it's unaltered state.

So, yeah, I'm rambly, apparently. I need to think up a name for this setting... :P Also, you'll note some of the characters even have names... those were the names they had in the dreams, so the ones without names I did not hear their names mentioned or I would remember them.

Another warning.. it's kinda long. :P

I'm a communications specialist on a ship and me and a woman, science specialist, are embarking on a mission to an outpost, using the shuttle. I'm also a siren, a race based on the ancient legends of Earth, though the legends were recorded wrong. Sirens didn't lure ships into danger, they worked on ships to help watch for danger, being able to sense irregularities in the sea, thus detecting rocks and ridges beneath the surface, able to warn of them so that the ship can avoid them. I am pale, white skin and hair, one would say albino but my eyes are blue. My hair is long, down to my rear, tied in a ponytail most times. These days, sirens work on ships in space, doing the same thing they did in those times, going on missions to other planets and such where their abilities to sense things unseen can be put to use. They can detect emotions in most beings, detect the locations of certain substances under the surface of a planet (mainly water, though other liquid substances can also be detected, as well as some metals due to their chemical components), amongst other abilities.
Since sirens were so feared for so long, once they were discovered to be real, humans started to kill them off, until one group finally told the truth, opening up records of true legends of the ship's siren and how they were useful and kind. However, there were so few of them left to begin with, and they were nearly wiped out, so it is a very rare thing to see a ship's siren. I found up working on this ship due to being posted by a confederacy that negotiated contracts for ship captains. These could, of course, be bribed, or otherwise acquired, and the captain of this vessel has a reputation as something of a hero, so the confederacy pulled some strings to have me stationed on this ship.
This is Firefly-ish sci-fi, shuttle's a dinky little thing with tiny corridors and no elevators, just a shaft leading down to the engine. I check on Jenna (science specialist, she's a black chick) who's doing routine engine and system inspections to make sure the shuttle is travel-worthy. The crew consists of us, two medical specialists (one male, one female), the captain (male), an engines specialist and two combat specialists (one male, one female). All but myself can fly the vehicle and ship combat, and we all know basic sciences. I can fly the shuttles, and have learned enough to fix things that go wrong, but am not liscenced to fly. There's also a cook, who can fill in as combat specialist, pilot or engines specialist, but mostly he just sticks to the kitchen. The female combat specialist is new, just assigned in today. We get a quick rushed greeting, then see the captain and one of the female medical specialist off on another mission with the second shuttle.
Me and the science specialist get off on our mission, though during engine startup something goes wrong, and we can't shut them off. The engines are not calibrated properly, and the main controls are malfunctioning. I wind up having to unbuckle (the shuttles aren't very safe and require 'seatbelts' :P) from my seat and skip over to the engine controls a few feet from Jenna's seat. Various harness clamps are in place about the ship for such cases, and I clamp my buckle down then poke at the controls and manage to recalibrate the part of the engine that was malfunctioning just as we launch. The harnesses aren't perfect, and I get a knock on the head mid-launch, then once out and stable Jenna rushes over to see if I'm okay.
I'm dazed, but otherwise fine, and she helps me back to my seat, where I buckle in. Ops suggests we return to base, have the ship checked out, we insist things are working fine now and it's not far, we can call if we have trouble.
So we fly out, it's a couple hours away and we chatter along the way, take turns stretching our muscles, then the auto-pilot alerts us of something unusual. We use long-range video to see what's going on, and there's a vessel of an alien insectoidal race annihilating the outpost we were headed for. We manage to shut off all systems but very basic life support, and power up the bio-masks on our seats (they mask biosigns so the aliens will think the vessel is debree or such, shuttles don't have the power to run full-ship ones so they're on the seats and in certain locations of the shuttle that can be harnessed). The vessel continues firing on the outpost for a while, then turns towards us, and flies directly over out position, mere inches from our ship.
As it passes, we wait a while, then just as we breath a sigh of relief an alien sticks its head between us. It has lots of feelers about it's face, with oozing mandibles. The creatures are unable to see, and they've taken every opportunity possible to study vision in their victims.
The thing pauses, makes some chattering sounds, then looks right at me. Before either of us can breath, it grabs my wrist with a claw-like hand and clamps it down to the arm of the chair.
Jenna's about to move as I glance towards her, but I say, 'Don't,' and she pauses. I speak quickly, 'My bio-mask must have malfunctioned.... whatever you do, don't move or make a sound. Don't let it detect you. If you do, we're as good as dead. If I don't make it out of this, at least you can warn the others that they're here...' a gulp as the thing's feelers run across my face, then, 'And if I do, you can get us back to the ship before it's too late...'
The thing clamps my other hand down to the other arm of the chair, then clamps a large claw around my neck, cutting off my breathing, so I can't scream or speak further (possibly thinking I was trying to send a message). Then it does something, its feelers run over my eyes, and it jabs into one eye with a very fine needle-like mandible ('tooth'). I tense and jerk, but can't make any sound, and Jenna watches wide-eyed. It retracts that mandible, then feels around my face, and after a pause, during which I started to relax, it does the same to the other eye, causing further jerking and tensing. It's legs have my own pinned to the chair, so I can't kick, and after watching for a time, Jenna clentches her eyes shut, tears running down her face.
After a few more minutes, she hears some gurgling and opens her eyes again. The thing backs away from me, and I slump forward (still buckled, I don't fall out of the chair), trails of blood running down my neck and shoulders, and across my wrists. The thing chatters some more, makes like it's looking around (likely trying to detect further life signs), then scrambles towards the back of the shuttle. Jenna flicks a switch her hand was already by and a vid screen pops on, showing the critter as it sort of.. melts, and vanishes up through the roof of the shuttle. She switches on an exterier view to see the thing's tiny shuttle directly above us, then after a few moments, it flies off. She watches as it vanishes into space (they have some advanced technology that 'warps' a ship through space that appears to be a portal of some sort).
Jenna quickly sets the shuttle about and flies directly back to the ship, setting it on auto-pilot at top speed to cut down the return time (we were going leisurly so save on fuel, slower speeds eat up feul much more slowly and allow longer trips before needing to be refueled, so we return in half an hour). During the trip, she quickly checks for signs of breathing. I'm barely breathing, ragged breaths, and my throat is punctured in multiple locations, though nothing too serious. There are multiple puncture marks across my neck and shoulders, and on my wrists, minor wounds simply from the preasure of the creature's spike-lined carapace against my body.
The shuttle approaches the ship and they call to ask what's wrong, and she responds 'we have a medical emergency'. She leaves the mic on while securing me to my seat, head and shoulder braces, 'The (alien race) annihilated the outpost... it's gone, there's nothing left... and they... Tristan's bio-mask malfunctioned, and they did something to him.' The ship responds (engine specialist watching coms/radar - everyone takes turns) 'What did they do?' As she buckles in, 'I don't know, punctured his eyes and a few other places, we're coming in.' Ship: 'I'll have medical waiting.'
As the shuttle flies in to dock, the engine specialist calls over the intercom 'Medical emergency arriving in shuttle dock two, the (alien race) did something to Tristan. Everyone else get your butts to stations, they're in the area.'
The medical officer (male) rushes into the shuttle once it fully docks and Jenna's unbuckling, and crying and shaking. Medical does a quick assessment, then has Jenna help get me out of the seat and lay me down. He's checking all the puncture marks, and checks my eyes, and Jenna says, 'Can he still see?' He replies, 'It's highly unlikely.' That brings a sob from Jenna, then he asks her to help get me to medlab.
Later, on course for the station the captain's at: I start to wake up in medlab and open my eyes, but still clouded with sleep (and medications), I startle when I hear someone and can't see, trying to sit up quickly. This makes me dizzy, but I don't lay back down until I hear the male doctor say 'It's okay, you're in medlab.' The male combat specialist is there, too, and as I settle down, he says, 'Glad to see you awake.'
Me and him are apparently very close, and share a bunk. I look towards his voice, silent for a few moments, then say, 'I can't see.'
The doctor nods and says, 'They punctured the optic nerve, and caused extensive damage to the cornea, and surrounding areas... normally those would be reperable, but some sort of substance rendered the whole area inoperable.' I close my eyes and clentch my fists, then nod. Combat dude comes over and rests his hand on my shoulder, giving a soft squeeze, 'At least you're alright.'
I let out a soft sigh and reply, 'Yeah..'
Now docked at the station, me and him walk down a hall, he's leading me towards the station's mess, and we're chatting. Random people from the station are about. The new girl (combat specialist) is sitting with the engines dude and medical dude. She says, 'Guess they're gonna send him home..' The other two are shocked, and the engine dude says, 'What for?' Her: 'Well, he can't fly anymore, or even read consoles, what's he gonna do?' MedDude: Snickering, 'He doesn't need to fly. He's the ship's siren.' She looks at him funny, then looks back at me, awestruck, 'I though he just had some skin condition..' They both snicker at her. EngDude: 'Never seen one before?' She shakes her head, and he continues, 'He's a communications and linguistics specialist, amongst other things.' They go into a basic explanation of ship's siren and their most wellknown abilities, pans to me and CombatDude who are settling down with our meals (it's lunch time).
I look to him, 'You think they'll tell her I can hear everything?'
He shakes his head, 'Not yet. Probably save it for later.'
Pans back to the others, chick says, 'Jenna sat with him a lot... do they have a thing going?' The guys laugh and EngDude shakes his head, then says, 'Though she's got a thing for him.' Chick: 'She ain't his type, eh?' EngDude: 'Naw, she's got tits.' A raised brow in response, and MedDude snickers, 'He's gay.' She looks back to us, and EngDude adds, 'There's a pole on when the two of them'll shack up.' ComChick: 'How do you know they haven't already?' EngDude: 'Oh trust me, you can tell.' She gives him a confused look, and MedDude says, 'There are physical signs that a siren has gotten laid. Their hair changes colour.' She gives him a funny look, and he continues, 'Their hair doesn't consist of dead cells like ours does. It's still alive, kinda like seaweed. It gets a noticable green tint to it in response to certain chemical stimulations.' She goes 'Huh' and glances back.
It pans back to us, 'Nice to know my sex life is a topic of importance.'
ComDude laughs, and pats me on the wrist, 'In a place like this, the sex lives of your cowokers is one of the best topics.' I smirk at him.
We finish our meal, and he says, 'You wanna head to the gym? You could ride that bike you like so much.' I chuckle, 'Sure.' He goes to set our dishes back for the cook, who's very friendly and cheerful (which is commonplace for him). He returns and I stand, the two of us heading out. The cameras focus on the other group, beyond us, with us still visible but out of focus. The two guys are advising the chick to read up on sirens, and I snicker, the focus returning to us. 'I can't wait until she reads up about our sense of hearing.' My companion goes 'eh?' and I start to explain but we exit.
We get to the gym. There's a large pool there, and a camera view watches. As we pass the entrance to the pool, I pause and look off in that direction. He says something (muffled on the camera) and I look towards him and continue walking.
I ride the excersize bike casually while he lifts weights, we're talking about stuff, he makes a pass at me, I get a bit flustered and distract myself with a bottle of water I'm holding, taking a long drink. Some others show up and nod at us and he's leaning against the bench. EngDude comes in, 'Hey Trist, you gonna swim after?' I look over and nod, and he says, 'You mind if we let the new girl watch?' I shrug, tap a few buttons on the bike's control (keeps tabs of heartrate and such) and start pedalling again. Engdine says, 'Cool', and exits.
A bit later, EngDude, MedDude and ComChick are heading towards the observatory for the pool, where they usually have underwater obersavtion lessons (since some planets we go to have water). Chick, 'I don't see what's so great about a guy swimming.' EngDude, 'You ain't never seen a siren swim. It's like they make love to the water.' She snorts. A vidscreen to the side shows us entering the pool area, me wearing just a tight swimsuit. ComDude goes over to a control in the wall and taps at it, 'You got an hour.' I nod.
Chick, 'Why an hour?'
MedDude, 'Sirens need the water... without a way to regulate when they'll get out, they won't get out. And that causes.. problems.'
She raises a brow. MedDude continues, 'There've been cases where they've been dragged out after refusing to leave for days, only to go apeshit and kill the person dragging them out... cases where they were simply not allowed to swim resulted in illness. So they came to an agreement, with the help of the confederacy and the siren consul. They can swim an hour, then the temperature of the water is slowly raised. Sirens cannot tolerate the water over a certain temperature.. it starts to burn their skin, forcing them out.'
She frowns. MedDude gives her a serious look, 'It's not a pleasant thing to have to do any more than it is to have done. But it's far better than either alternative.'
Back to the vidscreen, I approach the edge of the pool, stretch out a bit, then dive in... they look out the window, and as I appear near it, the chick gasps. My eyes are now inky black pools, my hair wild and flowing freely, swirling about in the water, my hands and feet have 'webs' that were previously unseen, and I have slits along my neck, gills. I move through the water as though I were flying through the sky, swimming like a fish would swim, no kicking of feet just subtle up and down motions of the legs and hips, my arms at my sides except when making sharp turns or stopping, then my arms go out and I use my hands to help change directions or wade.
For a long while, the 'show' consists mainly of me swimming about, jumping out of the water and landing back in. Then EngDude taps at the glass, very lightly, and I stop myself dead in the water, hair swirling about, looking towards them, then swim over and put my hands up against the glass. I can't see them, but the view the chick gets makes her breathless for a moment, and she sees a faint green tint though she thinks it's the glass tinting my skin.
Through the videscreen, ComDude moves to the edge of the pool. He's got his boots off and his pant legs rolled up. EngDude motions, 'Look.'
ComDude settles down and dangles his feet in the water, then gives a kick. I look directly towards it. Chick, 'He can feel that?'
EngDude, 'He can hear it.' Chick looks on in awe as the guy gives a few little kicks, and I turn fully towards the sound, then start slowly towards it. MedDude, 'Sirens have an acute sense of hearing, allowing them to make out sounds beneath the water, and to hear things that most would not detect unless magnified.' Chick watches a bit longer, then blinks at looks at him. EngDude is grinning broadly, 'He heard everything.' Chick goes wide-eyed, then glowers, 'Why didn't you tell me?' and hits at him. EngDude laughs at him, MedDude says, 'You would have acted oddly. He dislikes it when people go around careful not to let him overhear. He wants us to act normal around him.' Chick looks to him, then back out the window as I approach ComDude's feet. He gives another little kick and I reach out to touch his foot, feeling it for a moment. Once I realize what it is, I turn and swim quickly away, then speed up as I appraoch once more, then, jumping out of the water, I angle my body so that when I resubmerge, a wave of water splashes over him.
The chick looks highly amused, EngDude laughing, MedDude snickering. ComDude tries to block the water, of course failing, and calls out, 'Punk!' as I stick my head out of the water. I grin at him, then dive down again and comence swimming about rather languidly.
After a time, they hear a sound like a hissing beep, and glance to the vidscreen. ComDude stands and heads over to the console in the wall, then turns to watch.
EngDude nudges the chick, 'If you watch, you can see the exact moment the water temperature changes.'
They watch intently, and after a few moments, I stop swimming and look up, alert. I allow myself to sink to the bottom of the pool. A moment later, they hear a sound much like killer whales make, low and distraught. Chick, 'Is that him?' The guys nod.
The sound continues in low, distraught tones for a few short moments, then ceases as I shove myself from the bottom of the pool, swimming up towards the ledge where I dove in, and half jump out of it.
ComDude is standing read with a large towel, and helps me to stand as I scramble out of the water, pained. I have a hand on his chest, the other on his arm as he slips the towel around me, and I look back at the water, longingly.
EngDude shuts the vidscreen off. The chick just stares at it for a few moments longer, then looks to the guys. Chick, 'How often does he swim?' MedDude, 'They need to swim at least once a month, though all stations are outfitted with pools now, and some of the larger ships are being outfitted with them, as well. He tends to daily when we're in port, once a week otherwise.' EngDude, 'Unless we're lucky enough to be planetside.' MedDude, 'If there's a facility for it. Wouldn't wanna lose him in a strange ocean.' EngDude smirks, 'I doubt he'd stay away too long.' MedDude shrugs, and they exit the room. Chick looks towards the window for a few moments, then exits.

The Sirens

2008-03-24T02:02:04Z

So I've been having a lot of dreams lately that focus on this one character I dreamed about a while ago... I'll write up and post the long version of the story outline based on that dream later one, but for now, I wanted to post this, as it's been sitting here for a while now and not getting any more work done on it.

The character was a siren, a race based on legends, and the writeup is written much like a scientific paper, by a specialist on the subject. So, it may not be of the best quality, but it does the job of explaining what they are and their abilities, based on the story.

Legends of old talk of creatures of the sea, part woman and part bird, called the sirens. These creatures used the call of their voice to lure ships to crash upon the shores of Anthemusa. Their voice lured people with the promise of knowledge, not of desire.

However, in many cultures, the word for mermaid bares uncanny resemblence to the word siren. Sirena (Spanish, Italian, Romanian), sirene (French), sereia (Portuguese). This is hardly a coincidence. The sirens are, in fact, a humanoid race much like our own, who live in the sea, and are very musically inclined.

The legends of the fabled sirens, the two to five women on the island of Anthemusa, who lured sailers to their doom; those women were, perhaps, some maids of the siren race simply singing to each other, or calling their men home. In truth, sirens worked with the sailers, aiding them to prevent the very deaths they are said to have caused. Sirens of either gender would work on the fishing vessels of small towns along the coast, helping them find schools of fish, avoid reefs and rocks too shallow for the ship's hull, and even to find lost items fallen to sink to the seabed. When a ship crashed, the sirens would aid the humans, preventing many deaths and later retrieving whatever goods or salvage survived the accident.

Sirens were not half woman, half bird. Nor were they half man, half fish. They were people. Two legs, two feet, two arms, two hands. On land, the only difference between humans and sirens was their palor, a rather pale skin tone making them fairly easy to discern, if one were to overlook the long tresses of white hair that both males and females sported. Their eyes varied from brilliant, bright blues to deep sea greens. Their figures were slender, wiry, suitable for many quick, short turns and almost streamline in their slenderness. The women had small breasts, the men were not muscular, in fact, it was often difficult to tell the difference between the genders.

The legends of the sirens on the island of Anthemusa were greatly exagerated. The sirens themselves have their own tales of the women in the stories. One goes as follows:

There were five lonely maids who's husbands had gone ashore to work with some humans. Months later, the husbands had still not returned. The women, growing afraid and desperate in their loneliness, swam up from their underwater home, settling on the island, and calling to their husbands. They called to each ship that passed, hoping their husbands would be on it. They were so lovelorn that they failed to notice the ridge of rocks just beneath the surface, about fifty feet out. They failed to notice until the first ship got too close to the shore, hull striking the rocks hard, cracks forming along the boards. And then the hull split, crew scattered overboard and those that remained scrambling to try to keep the boat upright.

When the maids saw what they'd caused, they fled, fearful that they would be caught and punished. All but one. That one stayed behind, and worked strenuously to save the sailors, swimming one after another back to the island, grabbing up wooden boards to give them to stay afloat until she could get to them. Once she'd finally saved the last of them, she collapsed on the edge of the island and died from shock and overexertion.

The sailors mourned her loss, building for her rocky cairn atop which they laid her body so that it rested just beneath the surface of the water. They stood by the cairn, feet in the water. There they stood vigil, waiting until her body was retrieved, as was the traidition of the human settlements where the sirens worked.

The next morning, mere hours after the ordeal had finally ended for the sailors, the other women came in search for their missing companion. Seeing her dead and the vigil of the sailors, the four cried. They cried for the anguish they'd caused the sailors, they cried for the fear of being caught, they cried for their lost husbands, but most of all, they cried for the sister they'd lost. The sister they'd lost because of their own naivety and fear.

Their cries brought others of their people up to the water's surface, where they, too, saw their lost sister, and cried. But these others cried for the vigil the sailors, near exhausted and some barely able to stand, maintained, as was tradition. The parents of the lost sister approached, walking up to the shore and bowing to the sailors. They then retrieved the body of their lost daughter, and with it, returned to the sea.

Only then did the sailors who could not stand collapse, and only then did those too exhausted to stay awake faint. The four girls were tasked with looking after the sailors while the others went to fetch help. Some few supplies were brought in to give the sailors fresh drink and light food, to keep them well. Any large vessel would have met the same fate, crashing upon the rocky ledges, unable to reach the shore to retrieve the men trapped on the island. So instead, the sirens brought smaller vessels, rowboats or whatever the humans had that they could pull through the safe corridors past the rocks. Each small boat had one man aboard, to help stear the boat back to the docks once the sailors were retrieved.

The sailors, now rested and fed, filed into the boats, and the sirens helped to pull the boats back out to the sea. They stayed with them all the way back to land, sometimes pulling, sometimes jumping in and out of the water like dolphins alongside the boats. Once the men were safely returned to their docks, the sirens retreated.

The legends vary greatly. In some, the husbands of the women return, but for the lost sister's husband, who mysteriously vanished, never to be seen again. In others, the husbands never return, or there is no mention of them. They vary in other ways as well. Some claim it was women who'd fallen in love with human men, calling for them to be with the maids. Others say it was a young mother who's child had gone off to play with some human children, and she alone saved all of them men, only to collapse, the sailors standing vigil over her until her child arrives, brushing soft fingers across her mother's cheek just as life faded from her eyes.

Many of the stories also say that this is when the sirens fled humanity. They say that the sirens went into hiding, ashamed of the actions of the woman or women on the island, ashamed of the deaths that had nearly been caused due to the behaviour of their own. Some few say that the humans chased the sirens off, or that a meeting was held between the elders of the sirens and the adults of the village, and it was a mutual descision on both their parts.

Some few sirens tell a different story, however. In this story, the island did not exist. In this story, there was no tragic accident that caused all of the sirens to stop working with the humans. In this story, the fisher towns and the sirens wanted to work together, thrived together, and only stopped when fear for the lives of the sirens caused the humans to urge them to retreat back under the sea. In this story, religious fanatics decreed anything that was no human and had strange powers was demonic. Any who associated with these beings needed to be cleansed, and the beings themselved burned to send them back to the depths of Hades.

They tell naught wether any sirens were put to death, and they tell naught of humans that were cleansed for their association with the sirens. It is quite likely that those stories were forgotten, or deliberately wiped out. The fear that it was even possible was enough to keep the sirens away for centuries.

Until human technology became so advanced that great vessels beneath the surface of the ocean infringed on the sirens' last bastion of safety, the deepest depths of the oceans, where the sirens had been forced to flee, slowly retreating deeper and deeper as humanity's exploration of the ocean progressed. These areas were hardly suitable to sustain the sirens, and when it became apparent that the human advancement was not going to cease, they left those deep crevices and chasms, returning to the shallower levels of the sea. For a time, they went unnoticed; humanity's eye was so firmly planted on the deepest depths that they failed to notice the strange being in the shallower parts that they'd already thoroughly explored.

In fact, they could have likely kept unseen, hiding in plain sight, for a long while, were it not for the cruise vessel that a small child had fallen from. When the child hit the water, sirens nearby feared for the small frame, splashing about and crying for his mother. One sirens simply could not stand to watch the child drown, and swam out to save him. When the humans on the boat first saw the shape beneath the surface of the water, they thought it a shark, and cried out, some drawing guns while another grabbed a life preserver. Then silence. The form vanished, as did the child.

Just moment later, the siren broke the surface of the water, calling out like a dolphin to the humans. The humans stared, wide-eyed, then the mother cried, scared for her child, scared of what this creature might do or want.

The siren knew that the child was not breathing. His lungs were full of water. He turned the child over, holding his chest on her hand, and slapped his back twice. The humans all went silent, in shock, but before they could accuse the siren of abusing the child, he coughed. The siren rubbed at the back of the small child, cooing and caressing, coaxing the child to cough and spit until his lungs were empty. Only then did she craddle the child and look up to the humans, waiting for them to send someone down to retrieve him.

It took them a few moments to regain their smarts enough for the captain to order a man down over the edge of the ship. As he neared the surface of the water, tentatively reaching an arm forward, the siren easily swam up to him and placed the child against his chest. She then swam back and watched as the others hauled the man and child back up to the ship.

This was the first contact with the siren race since the two races broke off ages before. Humans had come quite a ways since then, even delving far into the reaches of space, and had come in contact with only one other race, the alien Xtherti, an insectoidal race that the humans believed were solely interested in destroying all of humanity. But, as the sirens had lived on Earth for many decades without causing harm to humanity, the confederacy took it upon themselves to learn more of these strange beings, later forming an alliance with them that allowed the bonds of siren and ship to once more be a thing of respect and honor.

Physically, sirens are very much like humans. The walk erect, which is an oddity, and scientists believe that they were meant to live on land much as we were, and that they later evolved into a more aquatic race, perhaps an offshoot of the neanderthal species that became more closely tied to the sea than to land. Genetic samples prove that the two are closely related, enough to even interbreed, though siren-human relationships had never gone so far, and the laws of the confederacy forbid any form of manufactured crossbreeding of sentient species.

Aside from the slight differences in appearance while on land, they take on a seemingly different appearance in water. The long white tresses adopt a green tint, and flow through the air as though alive. Their eyes become pools of inky blackness, and webbing appears on their hands and feet, though this webbing, through observation, is always present, merely in a deflated state without the influences of the Earth's oceans.

They swim as though they were sea mammals, often being compaired to dolphins, and communicate through sounds similar to those of dolphins and killer whales, to the point that the human ear cannot detect a difference. Technology has provided us with machines that can detect faint differences in the patterns of sounds produced by the sirens, certain pitches and alterations undetected in the notes provided by the animals that have been tested to compare them to, but even then it is difficult to detect.

Due to their aquatic lifestyles, siren hearing has evolved to become so highly intensified that a siren could not bare to live in the vast cities of humanity, but they do still join up with the smaller coastal cities and work on the smaller of the fishing vessels, finding their refound positions in human society pleasant and rewarding. Their hearing has also been something of a hinderence in their advancement into space. While the occasional siren has been known to bond with a space faring vessel, and it has been proven to be a highly rewarding bonding for both the siren and the ship and its crew, many of the larger vessels have been entirely overlooked, especially the massive military frigates and warships. Sirens tend to prefer the smaller, quieter vessels, often trade ships or salvage vessels, and none have ever bonded with a vessel built purely for combat.

It has since been discovered that the ability to sense things unseen is so great that they can even detect solar flares before they occur, or tell a captain when to expect an asteroid shower before it appears on the sensors. As such, these bonds have been saught after by many a captain, though there is no way to force such a bond. Scientists have been unable to discern just what it is that causes a siren to bond with a vessel, sea or space, and the confederacy, in league with the newly formed siren consulate, has written a mandate allowing a siren that bonds with a vessel to become a permanent member of that vessel's crew. The captain and crew are fully briefed on what the siren is capable of, the siren's dietary and other needs, and one crew member is often designated a siren specialist, taking on the responsibility of ensureing that the siren is properly cared for, physically and mentally.

Perhaps the strangest, and most saught after, ability of the siren is their ability to 'speak' with the ship. Most who have not seen this ability are intent to disbelieve it, but ask any crew who's had a siren for a number of years and they will tell you that it is true. They can't tell you how it happens, only that it does. A ship's siren is able to find and defect on any part of the ship by mearly focussing on the vessel, even going so far as to specify the exact module or part that is defective, without ever being taught the terms used. In fact, the siren's are so far behind us developmentally, that no matter how much you try to teach them about space ships and how they work, they simply cannot grasp it. But stick a siren on a ship for a few years, and they know everything about that ship, from how to fly it, to pinpointing needed repairs, to fueling, to weapons and defences. They seldom take control of weapons unless it is absolutely necessary, but they know how they work. But these are specific to the ship they are bonded with, and a siren couldn't tell you anything about any other ship, even one similar to his or her own.

Thanks to their ability to so closely meld with the ship, no crew has ever not welcomed a siren. All space faring humans, from pilots to captains, are given a basic course on the abilities of the siren, and though many find it difficult to believe, those who wind up with one are quick to realize just how fortunate they are.

They are also something that must be guarded very carefully... for while those ships that have them value them as honored members of their crew, those who don't often disbelieve their value, or even their usefulness in space, especially those of the military pursuasion, who would ridicule or even attack a siren without the laws to follow that prevent it. As such, no siren wanders a station unattented, unless it is a confederacy ordained and consulate attended station.

Such stations contain large swimming domes, as it is required that a siren be able to retreat to a body of water similar to Earth's at least once a month, though preferably more frequently. Since the vessels they tend to prefer are much to small to maintain such facilities, all confederacy stations are constructed with one attatched. The dome is a large structure with a clear dome atop it. The domed covering is built out of a two metre thick clear metal unlike the metal used on most other parts of stations. This material was actually discovered during a battle with an alien race known as the Xthirates, an insectoidal space that is often battling over territory in the outter reaches of human inhabited space. The exact makeup of the material is unknown to all but the confederacy, though they make good use of the substance in their stations.

The large pools, measuring the length of several football fields, are rounded, and deep enough to immitate the shallower of Earth's ocean floors, with a sandy substance located at the bottoms to make them feel more natural. The waters are treated to make them as close to Earth's natural, untainted oceans as possible, which is far greater quality than Earth's current oceans, though procedures to return the oceans back to their healthier conditions have been undertaken. It seems that the makeup of Earth's waters are able to trigger the natural if slight changes in the sirens, whereas tap water, such as in the showering facilities, is not.

These facilities are closely guarded by the confederacy, often having security in the form of various cameras and sensors to prevent contaminants and unfriendly visitors to what should be a safe haven to the space-faring sirens. They do allow guests to swim with the sirens, but only if the sirens request that they be allowed in the pools. For others, there are observation areas, consisting of underwater and surface cameras that allow viewers to watch the sirens in their natural habitat. These areas have been used by scientists, specialists, and anyone with a curiosity at how the sirens act in the water. This may seem a bit unkind, treating the sirens as something to be displayed, but the sirens have no qualms over this and even encourage their own shipmates to watch, or even join them in the water should they wish.

Sirens live for many decades, and it is not unheard of for a siren to outlive the entire crew of a ship, often being inherited by the next crew and captain of the vessel. It is also common for a siren-bonded vessel to recieve entire rehauls and upgrades to maintain it as a space worthy vessel, and never is a ship put out of comission once it has a siren on board. The only way a bond between ship and siren can be broken, is with the siren's, or the ship's, death. A ship that 'dies' is often due to combat situations, or accidents where a ship is damaged beyond repair. In such cases where the siren survives the incident, he or she may, though it is very rare, bond with another ship. More commonly, they return back to Earth, either reintegrating with their sea-faring relatives or joining the consulate to help further the spread of knowledge on sirens and their usefulness.

Due to the rarity of sirens in space, it is still a highly uncommon thing for anyone to come in contact with one during their lifetime. The confederacy hopes to change this, but the siren race is severely depleted, due to the Earth's oceans being highly contaminated. Procedures are in effect to remedy this, and a slow increase in the population has been noted, though much of this increase is credited to those few who do go off into space every year, being removed from the contaminants that cause defects in offspring and illness in children and adults alike.

A vast underwater city on Earth has been constructed by the confederacy, utilizing the same substance used in the construction of the domes of their station. Great domes provide both humans and sirens a safe haven from the ocean's contaminations, and a few underwater swimming domes have even been constructed to give those sirens fearing the contaminants a safer area to swim. The city has been aptly dubbed Atlantis, though its true name is Seafare III, being the third such structure constructed, the first constructed with the intent of siren habitation. Seafare I and II were constructed with scientific study of the ocean's depths in mind, though some alterations have alowed sirens to take up residence in these, working as biologists and specialists in oceanography.

Another quirk of the siren is their odd, childlike manerisms. They seem to find great joy in most anything, especially new situations, and most notably music and other forms of art. Their wide-eyed view of the universe often causes others to treat them as mentally deficient, but any crew that adjusts to living with one can overcome these manerisms and even find them enjoyable and uplifting.

They seem incapable of certain quite human manerisms, such as lying or cheating, and simply do not see the point to causing harm to another living thing that is not causing you harm. They are strictly vegetarians, living off of a diet of various sea kelps, seaweeds, and finding that they enjoy many of the leaft vegetables found on land, as well as most fruits. Sirens see no reason to lie, cheat, steal, or cause harm, as it is not beneficial to the community to do such things, and sirens are so deeply tuned to the sense of community that they cannot fathom doing anything to harm it. This is often seen as being naive, but some say that it is actually a higher state of being, a state that humans should strive toward, where the community does only what is right and refuses to damage relationships or friendships for private gain.

They are also highly empathic, and can sense when being lied to, and feel strong emotions in others. They can, with concentration, read some basic thoughts, though it is very difficult, and often the emotions are enough to distract them from doing so. A siren who bonds closely with humans, such as the ship's siren and the ship's crew, can feel even the slightest of emotional changes, knowing when something is bothering someone or when something makes someone happy. It was believed for a long time that they were simply very highly attuned to minor manerisms, habits a human displayed that gave visual stimulation to detect the human's emotional state, until a blinded siren showed that he was still fully capable of such detection without the visual stimuli.

It seems that research on the sirens is never complete. Just when we think we have them all figured out, some new manerism or ability is discovered that requires further study. Thankfully, with sirens becoming more integrated with humanity, this is becoming easier to do, and more is always being learned of the strange beings. Ships honored with a siren keep detailed logs of the siren's abilities, manerisms and emotional bondings with the crew, while the confederacy also keeps tabs on those sirens that work in medical or research facilities. The eldest of sirens seem to display more human views of the world, these aging upwards of 150 to 200 years, and sirens seldom live beyond that in space, those reaching such maturity tending to retreat back beneath the seas or into the siren consulate. The true age of those forming the siren consulte is unknown, though it has been hinted that they have seen 'many centuries'. Since so few actually meet the highest ranking members of the siren community, and humans tend to not live past 150 years even stretching the limits of technology and science to do so, no human can say for certain that the current consulate members are the same as they were three hundred years prior, when the siren maiden saved the drowning child. Sirens are a race so mysterious and unknown to us, and the confederacy is highly secretive of much of their knowledge of them.

Abney Park

2008-02-26T01:54:18Z

So Abney Park has a new album coming out on March 1st. They're having a CD release party in Hollywood (losers, they should do it up heeere! >_>) on that date. I urge everyone to download and listen to Airship Pirate from their latest CD, Lost Horizons, and any of the other songs you wish to listen to. This song is kick ass. <3

http://www.abneypark.com/vault_locked/

I already The Death of Tragedy, From Dream or Angels, and Taxidermy. Now I get to buy this one! Whenever I have money. p_q Eventually! YAY NEW ABNEY PARK MUSIC!

Deck the halls with Brawls and folly!

2007-12-20T06:39:58Z

I had to post it, cause it popped up in my email inbox as a subject, and it made me giggle.

That is all.

Dream story idea - Fantasy setting with magic and exploration

2007-12-01T17:25:38Z

Okay, so, I had a reeeeally weird dream last night, but it was really neat, and might make a neat story idea or even comic (I keep saying that but I should really start working on any number of the comic projects I keep coming up with :P), either way it was pretty cool and inventive, and I wanted to see what people thought of it.

(This feels like a chapter 2 or 3, perhaps later)
In a land of caverns and crevices, a boy born of earth, a people who despise the water, becomes overwhelmingly attracked to swimming, and curious to know more of the water boy he meets one day. The earth boy is a gifted child, born with mystical powers, able to seek magical gifts by asking certain elementals if he may have them. Most of these powers are harmless, consisting mainly of gifts with music that allow the boy to enhance the ability, spirits and health of others so some small degree, though over time his powers will grow.

He plays with the water boy for a while, swimming about and such, then has to leave to follow his mentor and two companions, continueing their journey. Leaving his new friend behind, the group travels to a cavern with, surprisingly, two water boys. He makes new friends with them, as well, and their small town, not realizing right away that the boy is of earth, allow their friendship to grow, and the boy's companions and himself to stay with them. One of the two boys turns out not to be a water boy, but a child born of the jungle, an uncivilized, untrained child about the boy's age, a wildboy, and there are some issues in trying to explain to him the various 'okays' and 'not okays' of living in a small village. As it turns out, he's deliberately acting untrained due to the biases and ignorance of the people of the village, treating him like nothing better than a common pet and not allowing him into most of the buildings the water boy may enter, discriminating against him.

After a time, they hear stories of some strange beast in a cavern over killing their people... in a very gruesome way. They go to investigate (this cavern has no ceiling, but the sky isn't visible), and find, upon entering the next great cavern, a water cavern, in their boat, bodies... pinned to the walls about twenty feet up buy multiple spears and blades, blood pouring down from the wounds and staining the walls.

They gape and stare, and the boy proceeds to try to have the bodies taken down, requesting the aid of his elemental watchers to do so, but in the process they hear a noise, and, of course, go to investigate this sound. They discover the monster... great and giant in size, white furred with a brown face, horns atop its head, and it starts to shoot great spears at thim across a great distance, destroying their boat.

They swim away, but the boy becomes injured in the flight. No one notices right away, though, and they split up and manage to sneak around to where the monster is hidden, with the aid of a group of reindeer-like friends that they come across, friends of old that were passing through the cavern in the other direction, and a small band of dwarves who live in this cavern and want this beast gone. Upon catching the beast, they discover that it is no beast... but the jungle boy. He is also gifted, it turns out, but he twisted his powers and used illusions to change his appearance, and kill off these people that were treating him so poorly, trying to scare them into being nice to him. It failed, horribly, but once he'd started down that path, he refused to stop.

The earth boy, for reasons unknown (likely controlled by some mystical force for a brief time), attacks the jungle boy, who doesn't defend himself, and stabs him through the heart with a weapon he didn't have a moment before. The jungle boy dies, and the elementals gifting him die, but they do not fear this death, they wish for it to happen, to end the torment of being tied to one so corrupt and filled with hate.

The water village thanks his companions for their aid, but upon having the tale retold, look with great awe at the earth boy and treat him with great respect, as they did not realize he was a gifted. They explain that they treated the jungle boy so poorly because he was greatly disrespectful of their rules and ways, refusing to be trained to live in a village and keep himself groomed and keep his refuse in its rightful place. A great misunderstanding had occured, and both sides lost because of it. The voy to speak with any newcommers and learn about them, and not refuse them respect simply for seeming ill-raised and feral upon meeting them, but to accept them as friends and teach them their ways should they wish to stay.

The group moves on through the water cavern to another great cavern. The reindeer people have to leave, in another direction, using a great train track that their people travel to continue their trip of trade and wealth. They drop some important items and the boy tosses them to them, somehow managing to get all but one directly in the hand of the reindeer it belongs to, but that one he misses and retrieves. The dwarves, he discovers as the reindeer leave, have decided to venture with them, but must take another route to meet them in the next cavern, due to a dislike of water, so they head off to continue their journey.

Things of note: Several caverns contain a walled-off alcove, the wall consisting of some clear but slightly misty substance, in which elementals live, selecting a chosen from that cavern to train and aid. the cavern they started in contained one, the earth boy's alcove, where his elementals lived until he went on his journey, but each they ran across since then, until the water cavern with the beast in it, the elementals would choose to aid him as well if the cavern were otherwise empty, and rather than living in the alcove, become a part of him and are able to be projected from him for conversation and such. He hasn't quite mastered this, yet, though, and is only just learning that not only does he have multiple elementals, but that they do not live in his alcove, but within him. His companions do not realize this yet.

The elementals of the beast/jungle boy were a lightning type, hence aiding him in his throwing of great spears as one would throw bolts of lightning, causing greater damage. The injury the earth boy endured in this cavern mystically vanished before the others could notice it, though they do notice the limp he now walks with, and fear what this may mean. The boy is too overwhelmed to speak much to anyone, so doesn't explain what happened right away.

The caverns seem to have no ceilings, but there doesn't appear to be much of a sky, a simple blankness, as though an absence of something is noted but not what is in its place.

The mentor is aged, the other two companions are near adult age but not quite learned, still fairly young, the boy is about 12 or 14. The people are like races of elves, with features to match their element, earth being brown hair and eyes, water being a sea-green-tinted brown hair with blue eyes, jungle being wild green with green eyes. The earth boy in this story, however, has blue eyes, and is the only earth boy known with eyes that are not brown.

The earth boy's people live in another cavern a few days travel away, back where they'd come from. I'm not entirely sure why they left, but the boy had something to do with it, perhaps a conflict amongst the village as to his rightful place, and his mentor, wishing to protect him, took him on a journey to explore lands that should have been safe.

The conflicts they run across are unusual. Usually the people live in relative peace, keeping to themselves, each culture, earth, water and jungle, avoiding each other, and sticking to their born village. Strange things have been happening, and they are uncertain as to why, but conflicts have been rising, and the peoples have been wandering further and further from their homes. The villages are used to travellers, such as the elves and reindeer, and others, but not each other, and since they'd avoided each other for so long, seeing another is strange and unusual, but any dislike is clearly forgotten, or set aside, as a visiter appears in the village.

This allows some corrupt visiters to take advantage of the kindness offered, and, as such, distrust begins to brew, and the corruption is spread. The boy and his companions are on a mission to discover the origin of the conflict and stop it.

My ideas: Some great evils are corrupting the lands in an attempt to cause ruin and make the lands more easily conquered.

Story idea from IRC to NotePad - A sci-fi/modern story about living forever

2007-12-01T17:19:34Z

So here's a story idea that started through bits of conversation and then expanded into an actual idea. The conversation in IRC occured at like 3 am or something silly last night and I was kinda loopy so yeah... >_>

(This is the second try... first one got eaten. I'm trying to post using Semagic so I won't have to use IE to post. Heh.)

NinjaWizard> The kid promised the parent not to die before them.
NinjaWizard> And the parent started to die, but the kid, wanting to live forever, had the parent put into cryo.
NinjaWizard> So the bloodline's big secret weakness is that cryo parent somewhere hidden in a seeeekrit lab.
Bugle> =O
NinjaWizard> And the bloodline is totally corrupt and running the world with a big mallet of a fish.
NinjaWizard> Fish...
NinjaWizard> FIST.
NinjaWizard> >_>
Bugle> XD
Bugle> I LIKE THE MALLET OF A FISH!
NinjaWizard> And one younger member of the family despises what the family stands for and wants to stop it.
Bugle> SPark would like it too =D
Bugle> Oh man... =\
NinjaWizard> So he finds out what the secret is and plots a way to sneak into the seeekrit lab and kill the parent.
NinjaWizard> Thus ending the bloodline.
Bugle> =O
NinjaWizard> But since he's still young enough, he can continue his life.
NinjaWizard> BUT he knows he's going to die at the end of it just like everyone else.
NinjaWizard> THIS IS AN AWESOME STORY IDEA AND tHIS IS JUST THE CHaNNEL FOR IT
NinjaWizard> Ooooh comic, maybe.

So yeah, it was kinda silly and stuff, but I expanded upon the idea some and here's the full idea with details and such:

Basically, this kid somehow is able to survive for eternity, due to his promise to his parent. I suspect it was sworn in a certain way or such, though the details of this would need to be worked out later, some ceremony or sacred location, and each generation is made to swear the same oath to the generation before.

In doing so, that generation ensures it'll be unable to die until the previous one dies out. But, as in the log, the initial parent is in cryo, not dead but dying, yet unable to die due to being in cryo. So this leads to the entire bloodline being indestructable. They can get ill, they can get injured, they can suffer various things, but they recover from -everything-, because they swore to outlive their parents. However, they are hardier, do not need to take proper care of their bodies to maintain youth and vigor, and are stronger and faster than most. They learn to ignore certain types of pain since, well, for most the pain means 'something's wrong and it's going to hurt you and you might die', but for them it's more of a 'something hurts but you'll live.'

As the first kid was corrupt in wanting to live forever, and starts experimenting with how his ability to survive everything works, the limits and such (obviously being ground to a pulp, burned to ashes, and so on, wouldn't have a body left to recover, but these aren't things that occur easily, and when it does, it's an issolated incident that can be covered up or at least revenged). Over the generations, he continues his experiments with the next generation, and each generation believes they are a superior race meant to rule the planet due to their invincibility.

Over the decades, they manage to get a strangle-hold on the planet, running all of the biggest and most important corporations, using publicity to show off their inability to die even from a bullet to the heart, manipulating and, where needed, murdering to ensure that they get full control of the planet. This takes several generations, about five or six, but most of this is flashed through, as it jumps from the initial testing to the second generation being taught/trained and given a goal, to the current generation.

One person in the bloodline dislikes what's happening enough to want to stop it. Others have disliked it, but they would just be left to live for themselves, taken care of monetarily, and able to go wherever they choose, so long as they don't interfere. Those that tried, though no one knows of them, were put through choppers or such so their bodies were fully destroyed (rare but it happened a couple times, and at least one member of the family knows of this).

As the kid grows up, he takes his training to heart, realizing that refusing the training won't help him defeat them. He becomes the best in all his classes, including the combat/martial-arts ones, and once he's finished his training, he vanishes, slipping off to do further research towards his own goal. Sightings are rumored, but everyone leaves him alone, aside from keeping tabs on his location, assuming his goal is some great advancement for their family. Over time they begin to suspect, as he goes poking into things he shouldn't be poking into, and an older relative, the one who knows of previous attempts to overthrow the family, takes a chance in speaking with him, warning him of the troubles and those who've fallen before, giving him a lot of information that the elders keep to themselves, as he is one of the first 'children' and greatly troubled by how things are going, but is too old and tied in to do anything about it. He is then given a hint to the secret that can destroy the bloodline.

During an 'intervention', a faked break in of the lab the guy is working at, with feinged 'I didn't know you were here, sir!' to the elder, though the elder wound up shot multiple times and needs time to recover. The guy is left awed and confused as they rush the elder off for 'treatment'. The elder gives him a knowing look, saddened and yet pleased, and the guy knows he's going to be destroyed, but stays silent, as the elder had been complaining about 'just wanting to die'.

So he moves on, this part I don't have much detail for but there'll be gunfights, hand-to-hand stuff, and various hiding and snooping, breaking into places to find more information about this secret, until he manages to break into one of the higher-ups offices and finds a record of the lab the cryo chamber is in, reads up on it... then almost gets caught as they walk in on him reading this information. The offices overlooks a cliff, and he dives off, managing to remain uninjured enough to slip into the nearby rapids and be swept off, then dragging his broken body into a small cavern to wait for it to heal. Pained, starved, thirsty, he takes his time, suffers through the various agonies, slowly manages to recover, starts to regain his strength off of the surrounding flora and fauna, and it takes months for him to recover fully due to the sheer amount of injury sustained and his inability to regain his energy and fully prevent dehydration while healing.

Eventually, though, he recovers, starts retraining, and then sets off to find this lab. After much conflict and fighting, he manages to find the location, ninja his way in, serously injure enough of the guards and scientists so that they can't stop him, and destroys the chamber.

Over the next short while, each generation dies of old age, down to the most recent three. The first of the three, all ancient people, not realizing they are no longer unable to die, discover they're just as frail and lame as any other person their age who didn't take proper care of themselves (they didn't need to, they were supposed to live forever!), acquiring sudden injuries, heart attacks and so on until they all die off within a month. The second of the two are the seniors who aren't too old to survive, but as most of the rest of the blood line is gone, the people are able to rise up against them. The third generation are the 'now' generation, having just reached the prime of their lives, just started families, some of them with small children. They take to treating their partners as objects, since, well, they can die. In cases of families, upon realizing that they can die too, some of them take it upon themselves to simply live their lives and try to find someway to redo that oath, but fail, as all information on it was lost when the lab was destroyed. Others have their spouse and friends rise up against them and beat them down. Others are killed in their place of work, as they took on jobs they shouldn't have been able to die from but would have killed most anyone else (mining in unsafe areas, deep-see diving too deep to resurface safely when air ran out, etc).

The guy, one of the last generation, survives the destruction of the lab, and those who knew about it make him a great hero, and ask him to help them recover while they learn how to live again without being ruled by some corrupt force. He and a few others start working towards this goal, and it flashes to him with a wife and kids living in a small house with a dog and cat, and just enjoying life.

Nano - Chapter 3

2007-11-14T14:08:45Z

So here's chapter three of my nano story... still without a decent title, I'm afraid, but I'm not worrying about that since I have soooo much more writing to do on it anyway, so plenty of time to come up with something. :P I'm pondering using 'Hondgahiji' as the title, since those things come up throughout the story, but are absent for large parts of it. We'll see.

So, yes, further characters are introduced, more action stuff, oh, and RAPTORS. Mwahahahaha. Ahem. Yeah, anyway, enjoy. :P

Chapter 3:

Marcell stumbled down the decline, nearly tripping, though Chibale grabbed his arm to balance him as they ran. The camp lay ahead, with the researches between them and the camp, only a few guards out amongst them as there had been no reason to post more. Most of them were probably drinking up the supply of booze Balfour had insisted on bringing, and would be rather useless in a fight for their lives.

Derek stood up from a cluster of rocks he'd been inspecting as he saw the two approach, others catching the sight gaping at the mess of blood spatters on the aardwolf that ran with their companion. Derek, hand on his sword, held the other hand up to usher silence as he stepped forward towards Marcell and the tribal.

Marcell shook his head, waving his hand towards the camp as he shouted, "Get back to camp! Get everyone back!"

Derek just looked at him oddly, then glared towards the aardwolf and drew his sword. As the ocelot approached, he saw his error and stumbled to a halt before the panther, Chibale stumbling into him. He held his arms up and back right up into the tribal, "No, not him, not his people, monsters, big lizards with big teeth. He saved me, Derek! We need to get back!"

Derek eyed the aardwolf a moment more before eyeing Marcell, "What're you on about? I can see something happened, but... if there were such things out here, we'd have seen signs of them, you know that."

Chibale growled as he looked back where they'd come, his ears falling back and his fur standing on end. Marcell cringed, "Derek, one of them jumped at me and if he hadn't been there to cut through the thing's head, I'd have been a goner. We -need- to get everyone together or people are going to die!"

It seemed as though Derek were about to argue, but before he could, Chibale cried something out as he stepped back and bumped against Marcell, causing him to stumble forward. He glanced back to where the aardwolf was facing, and there stood another of those lizards, just at the top of the decline they'd run down shortly before.

One of the guards snorted, "What, that's it? That's your fierce beast? Seriously, Marcy, that thing's hardly worth... crying... over..." his words trailed off as another appeared beside the first, and then a third on the other side.

Before anyone could move, the things let out a loud, almost deafening screeching sound. As they listened, they heard the sound coming from various directions, not just the three they saw, currently.

Chibale hollered words that none could understand, but it was enough to get people moving, scrambling to their feet, most reaching for or pulling out weapons. Marcell grabbed Derek and pulled him as he started back to camp, shouting, "We're not fighters, if there's as many as it sounds like we're all gonna die! We need to get back to camp!"

Most of the troupe ignored him, standing their ground, weapons raised. Chibale growled and turned, only caring about the ocelot that he'd chosen as friend, trying to usher him away from his foolish companions. Derek stared in awe at the beasts, fascinated, though the jostling of his friend trying to force him to move brought him out of his daze and he blinked at Marcell.

The beasts charged. There were more than three, for as those three approached, others appeared behind them. Just then, two others ran in from off to the right, where a copse of trees had been undisturbed until they jumped out from it. All turned into chaos as the guards fumbled clumsily with their weapons and the researchers ran to meet the beasts, far more capable than Balfour's thugs. Even then they were no match for the beasts. One of them jumped over a cat's weapon and landed with its large toe-claws raking down the cat's body, digging deep into flesh and bone, that cat howling in pain as the thing's head lowered and started to rip him apart. The crunch of bone and rip of flesh was horrible, and still they came.

Chibale managed to wrench Marcell away from his panther friend, though Derek, torn from his daze, turned to run with the ocelot. The three ran, a few others following, while the rest tried to fight. The guards were of little help, the beasts bringing them down in mere seconds, while others managed to actually damage the lizards and turn tail.

As they ran, the sounds of ripping flesh and breaking bone fell back. Marcell realized they weren't being chased, and most of the group had managed to actually escape, though some of those were cut badly. A glance back told him why. The beasts were fighting each other over the fallen, a couple of them still writhing and trying to get away, one feline even scrambling across the ground and regaining his footing, but one of the beasts jumped onto his back and ripped apart the flesh at the back of his neck in a sickening spurt of blood that cause the feline to gargle before falling silent and still.

Marcell started in horror for just a moment, nearly stumbling, but Derek grabbed his arm and balanced him. They needed to get back to camp, and fast, prepare some sort of defense, anything at all to keep these beasts from ripping them all to shreds.

He ran, Chibale at one side, Derek at the other, the rest of the researchers not far behind. None of the guards made it out, apparently, though Marcell was hardly going to fret over that. They ran as fast as they could, taking them quickly the short distance to the camp, where people were already bearing arms and gaping in awe, as the work are they'd chosen was within sight of the main camp. As the injured stumbled in, their companions helped them into the center of camp, the few medics they'd brought seeing to them immediately.

Balfour suddenly stood before them, Marcell nearly stumbling into him before managing to stop. The tiger looked unimpressed. "You just left them there to die?!" he shouted, causing the smaller feline to cringe.

Derek stepped up before him, "Would you rather we -all- died? I'm sure you'd be thrilled to go back to the dukes and inform them that you lost all your best researchers to a bunch of lizards."

Balfour snarled at him, then drew his sword and pushed past them, mumbling about weaklings and simple pests. Nobody even tried to stop him, they were all in shock, those who had fled, while the others were all standing around not knowing what to do.

A few of them stared at Chibale, the tribal standing close behind Marcell and scanning what they'd made as a camp, and looking very displeased with the condition of the place, consisting mainly of scattered tents, no walls, and but a few carts and horses. The horses were of little use, panicking in their makeshift corral. The carts, on the other hand...

Chibale grabbed at Marcell and started pulling him towards the carts, the ocelot following along though not having any clue what his companion planned. Derek started shouting orders, getting people armed, then glanced over to the two as they neared the carts, the aardwolf dropping his spear for the moment and running up to push against the side of on of the carts. He caught on quickly, and shouted for people to help tip over the carts, and grab anything spear-like that they could.

With help, Marcell along with others, they managed to get the carts tipped onto their sides and positioned in a circle, ushering the injured into the enclosure first. Chibale then ran over to the corral, grabbing up his spear along the way, and made short work of the rather loose planks and wooden shafts held up with bits of string, loosing the horses to fend for themselves. He then grabbed up one of the shafts and snapped is so that it wound up with sharp end, holding it out towards the nearest of the felines from the camp. That cat took it, then others ran to grab sticks before ducking into the cart enclosure, Marcell and Derek the last to enter along with the aardwolf.

Gaps allowed them to peer out and watch for the critters, and Chibale clambered up to crouch on the edge of one of the carts. Marcell climbed up to peer over the edge while others kept watch at the gaps.

Those who were able saw the limp form of Balfour being torn apart by three of the lizards, the beasts fighting over his limbs and entrails. A couple of the guards grew ill, others cowering within the carts. Most of the cats did little more than pray, though the medics did what they could for the injured. None of them were injured too badly, but one had a big gash running along the entire length of his arm, that arm limp and useless.

One of the researchers stood at one of the gaps, watching the lizards swarm over the remains of what used to be their friends and coworkers before pulling away. "We weren't ready for anything like this..."

A guard grunted, and the researcher looked at him, "You lot are supposed to be the fighters, protect us, yet look at you, cowering in a corner."

The guard growled, but before things could escalate, Derek put an arm between the two, "Now is -not- the time for that. Once these things go away, we'll break camp and go home, that's all we can do."

Another of the researchers, a slender cheetah, pointed to Chibale, "But he cut loose the horses, how are we going to get home?"

That caused a stir as a few others started to grow furious with the aardwolf, and Derek shook his head, "Would they do us any more good stuck in a pen that they couldn't flee from or would break down when they got jumped? At least there's a chance we can find them, still alive, now, while if they'd still been penned up right now, those things would be through with them in mere moments. So just settle down and wait, if those things -don't- get full and leave, we're going to have enough on our hands fending them off without fighting each other. Got it?"

His speech quieted the group. They took turns looking out between the gaps or peeking over the edges, though Chibale stayed on guard, crouched on one of the carts. Time seemed to slow to a halt while they waited, crawling on a second at a time. With those beasts still in sight, it was easy to keep people from growing too anxious, simply point out at them as a reminder, but still the time went on, the sun starting to set. As that happened, the guards and a few of the researchers grew nervous.

"If it gets dark there's no way we're going to get out of here! We've got to run for it!" one ranted, another nodding in agreement.

Another disagreed, "Are you nuts? They'll see us and come after us, I don't want to get ripped to shreds!"

Derek growled under his breath as they started bickering amongst themselves, but Chibale spoke a few words, making everyone go silent. Marcell looked out over the cart, perched up near the aardwolf. "They're leaving.."

Others peeked out, as well, and one almost slipped out from the enclosure, but the aardwolf growled something and Derek pulled that one back. "We need to wait until they're all out of sight, and then we can move. We need a plan.." He looked over the mix of felines, and started giving jobs, "You, you and you, you'll grab whatever food you can find. You three look for anything that's left that can be used as a weapon, something long and pointed. Do we have any spears here? Short swords are far too useless against these things."

Marcell listened as his panther friend gave orders, the ocelot moving a hand to rest it on Chibale's thigh. The aardwolf spared the briefest of glances towards his friend before watching out for the lizards once more, watching them head off at a slow pace, hoping they'd fed enough or taken what was left as an offering of some sort to let those remaining leave.

Marcell wished deeply that he could make himself understood, tell his friend that he'd miss him, that he needed to leave, explain anything of his people to the aardwolf. He wished that he could tell Chibale thank you, if nothing else.

Before he could even try, the aardwolf grunted and jumped off of the cart outside of the enclosure, startling the ocelot, who moved to slip out through one of the gaps. Derek frowned, but then ordered the carts righted and sent people on their tasks as quickly as possible. A few ran off after the horses, which hadn't strayed all that far, to lure them back and get them hooked up to the carts. A few of the wheels had been damaged, but since they would be leaving most of their supplies, tents and the likes, behind, they had plenty of room in those remaining carts to hold people.

Derek placed a hand on Marcell's shoulder, "We need to go. You better say goodbye." Marcell nodded and moved off after the aardwolf.

Chibale stood watch while the felines moved about around him, gathering up what little mattered and getting it settled into the carts, getting the injured into place. Marcell approached and touched his shoulder, the aardwolf glancing sidelong at him and then away again, leaning against his spear.

Marcell sighed, "I know you don't understand a word I say, but I wanted to thank you for saving me, and helping my friends."

Chibale remained silent, though an ear swiveled towards the ocelot as he spoke. The cat's tail coiled around his ankle, his gaze glancing out towards the carnage left from the beasts, though with the sun setting it was difficult to make any of it out, for which he was grateful. Derek called for him, and he glanced back to see everyone ready to go, two of the carts already starting off.

Marcell waved and turned back to the aardwolf, "Thank you, friend. I wish I could stay, I really wanted to learn more about you."

Just then, Chibale turned towards him and took his wrist, saying something he couldn't understand. He motioned out with his spear, towards the carnage, then off in the other direction, away from both carnage and the long winding road his troupe needed to take the carts on to get through the jungle. He continued speaking, looking towards the jungle the cat's people planned to go through, trying to explain something, something the at dearly wished he could understand. The aardwolf's words seemed urgent, warning, and Marcell looked back towards the jungle, then to where the lizards had fled.

Chibale grew silent for a few moments, waiting, then let out a little whine as he couldn't get his point across and said, "Hondgahiji..." He pointed towards the lizards and repeated the word, then towards the jungle and repeated it again. Then he pointed away from either, in the direction he'd motioned with his spear earlier, and shook his head, remaining silent.

Marcell's brows furrowed, and he looked off in that direction before turning towards the panther, "Derek... I think he's trying to say those beasts will find us in the jungle, but that there's a safe way..."

Derek looked towards the ocelot and his tribal friend, who pointed again in the direction away from both jungle and carnage. He then looked to Marcell, "And how can you be sure? What if he just knows of a safe place to hide? We'll still be stuck out here."

Marcell frowned, "Well we'd at least be safe, and be able to let the injured recover, the horses rest, and gather up supplies to make a run for it."

Derek thought it over, then called for the carts to halt. Those that had started were stopped and everyone looked towards him, "We have two choices, apparently. Marcell's friend over there may know of a safe path, but it may only lead to a temporary haven... Marcell believes that he claims that the path we're aiming for isn't safe."

A chorus of debates in either direction ensued, and Marcell frowned at Derek's choice of words. He turned towards the debating felines, raising his voice above theirs, "Even if it's only a temporary haven, it'd give those hurt time to recover and we could build up our supplies and make actual, working spears."

Some of the researchers agreed, others were disinclined to stay in this place any longer, the guards just wanting to get out and now. Derek sighed, "We shouldn't go splitting up, but if they come after us and we're in one group, they'll tear us all apart and nobody will get back home to warn the dukes."

One of the guards spoke, "Well I'm sure as hell not staying anywhere around here, and anyone who's with me should get us going now. You and yours wanna stay behind, fine, but we keep the carts."

Derek scowled, "That's not your place to decide."

The guard stood, as did a few others, drawing swords, "Maybe not, but we're leaving, now, before those things come back, and we're not gonna pussy foot around while you decide who's going where. If yer wanna take yer chances with that dog, get out of the carts."

Most of the group went silent. They weren't fighters, and they were certainly not wanting to fight over a place in a cart. Only a small handful of researchers left the carts, Derek included, and then the guards used threats and the ends of their swords to get the cart handlers moving.

Chibale watched them silently, frowning as the carts moved off. He tried to explain to Marcell, but the ocelot just shook his head dejectedly, and motioned to the few that remained. "Can you help us?"

Chibale, still frowning, looked at him hard for a long moment, then took his wrist and pulled at him lightly as he started off, heading east, the direction he'd been pointing, the direction Marcell and his friends dearly hoped would be safe.

NaNo - Chapter 2

2007-11-13T09:30:45Z

These are short chapters compared to my The Pharaoh's Youth series... heh. So yeah. Here's chapter two in the story, I'm currently up and in the midst of chapter 4, I'll be working on getting more of it cranked out over the next few days. We'll see how it goes.

Anyway, the actiony stuff starts in this chapter. I'm not sure how good I am at actiony stuff... but uh... at least it's fun to write, eh? :)

Chapter 2:

Marcell sat in the tent he shared with Derek, making some notes of the events of the previous day. It was still early, and Derek slept soundly in his cot, the panther's faint snore bringing a smirk to the smaller feline's muzzle.

The camp was near silent, but for a few guards pattering about making sure no beasts or unexpected guests dropped in. They were clumsy and noisy, and Marcell had to wonder if they'd wind up being more of a hindrance to their group than really being useful. He shut the sounds out of his thoughts and returned to his notes, scribbling a vague description of the aardwolf he'd met and how their meeting had gone.

He was deep in his own thoughts, writing away, when a hand slapped him on the shoulder, startling him. His first instinct was to cover the book, shifting the papers on his makeshift desk so that the notes couldn't be read, not yet. He then glanced back at the tiger standing over him, grinning broadly down at him, not even paying attention to anything on the smaller feline's desk.

Marcell blinked up at him, then smirked. "What do you want, Balfour?"

The tiger laughed, slapping his shoulder again, "Oh, come now, little kitty. I've seen you eying me about camp, you don't think I don't know you want something from -me-?"

Marcell blinked again. Derek stirred in his cot, grunting and peering over at the two, then frowning as he started to sit up. "What's going on?" he asked, groggily.

Balfour frowned as he turned towards the panther, the dark cat barely visible with the little lighting available. "I didn't see you there. I thought you were sharing a tent with your brother?"

Derek shook his head, "No, I'm sharing a tent with my partner. And if you don't mind, we should be getting back to sleep so we can get our work done tomorrow."

Balfour snorted, shuffled his feet as he peered down at Marcell, then leaned in to whisper into his ear, "Don't think I won't come after you again, little ocekitty."

Marcell shuddered as the tiger rubbed his shoulder rather firmly, then turned and stumbled from the tent. He stayed silent for a long moment, nose wrinkled, the smell of booze heavy on the larger feline and still lingering once he'd left.

After a while, Derek came over and leaned against him, rubbing over his ears softly. "He drunk again?"

Marcell nodded. Derek sighed and shook his head, "Well, he's gone now. What're you up to, kitten?"

The ocelot smirked as he shuffled through the papers on the wooden crates he'd turned into a desk, getting them back sorted as he spoke, "I woke early, couldn't get back to sleep, so I thought I'd make some notes from yesterday." He tried not to notice the panther's nudity, though that was difficult, and after a few moments he glanced up at Derek and motioned towards his loins. "Could you...?"

Derek blinked at him, then grinned, "What, you don't wanna see it hanging out?" With a slight laugh, he turned, obliging the spotted cat by grabbing up a pair of slacks and pulling them on. "You don't think he'll come back, do you?" he asked.

Marcell frowned.

It took Derek a moment to realize the mix up, "Er, your new friend, I mean. The one with the spear."

The ocelot blinked, "Oh... I don't know. Probably not, he was just drawn by the noise, I suspect." Marcell turned back to his notes, trying to fix up the smudges caused when he had to cover the pages.

Derek chuckled, "Just be careful, huh? You probably shouldn't go wandering off on your own. He may be harmless, though I still don't trust him, but you don't know what else there might be out there... and you said, yourself, that even he was nervous about something."

Marcell thought about that for a while, nodding slowly as he dabbed at his pages, fixing up the errors and rewriting what was unfixable. He smirked, then, peering up at his friend, "Partner, hmm?"

Derek blinked, recalling what he'd told Balfour, and turned away from the ocelot while rubbing at the back of his neck. "Yeah, well, I thought he'd take that better than if I'd said I was here to keep you safe from him, you know?"

The smaller cat snickered, to which the panther grinned and leered at him lewdly, "Besides, you know I'd do you given the chance." That brought a rather deep blush to the spotted cat's muzzle, his ears falling back as he turned back to stare at his notes.

Derek laughed, "Oh, relax. I'm just teasing you. You know how I feel about you, and I know you're not interested, so you've nothing to worry about from me."

Marcell nodded and shrugged, though before he could say anything in response, the camp chime sounded, rousing people from their beds. "Ah... another day's work..."

The panther chuckled and set about getting dressed, Marcell quick to follow. It wouldn't do to miss breakfast, not with those thugs Balfour called guards eating up anything unclaimed.

*****

Marcell found himself wandering away from the others. It seemed to be becoming a habit, but if it got him a few hours peace from the drawl of the guards trying to be funny, he'd likely continue to do so. Derek was rather busy discussing some fossils they'd found, arguing that the site should be reserved for archeological digging while others were wanting to make this a prime site for construction. Marcell and Derek both knew the others would win out, they always did. The dukes didn't much care for scientific finds. Their prime concern was conquerable land and building up large mansions in the strangest places.

Shaking his head, the cat wandered his way towards some plants he wanted to examine further. Their properties could prove useful, if they were edible, and the tests he'd run on the leaf samples he'd taken the day before had proven quite positive. They had an aroma akin to some of the spices his people imported from much further away, and he hoped they'd prove just as useful, yet more easily acquired. They'd make a fine commodity.

It didn't take long to find the plants in question, small bushes with dark brown leaves speckled in green. He settled down next to them, bringing out a length of string to make measurements with, and a small pouch in which he tucked some more samples. He also dug up part of a root, which also wound up in the pouch, careful to separate it in a bit of cloth for further investigation.

As he worked, he lost himself in thought, pondering the encounter of the previous day while making his notes. It took him several minutes to realize he wasn't alone, and when he finally did, he jumped as he looked forward. Not five feet from him crouched the aardwolf from the day before, spear resting against his shoulder as he watched the ocelot silently.

The cat's start made him blink, and he tilted his head towards Marcell questioningly. The ocelot just stared for a long moment, in awe of this tribal's ability to sneak in so close without even rustling the leaves of the various bushes around him. After a few moments of gaping at each other, the aardwolf lowered his muzzle to peer towards Marcell's notebook, curiously.

Marcell blinked, "Oh, I'm just taking notes..." At the blank look from his new friend, the ocelot chuckled, "And you don't understand a word I say, do you?"

The other male remained still, blinking in confusion, his ears rather intent on the words even if he couldn't make them out. The cat smiled, "Ah, well, I guess there's no harm in talking to myself, is there?" The aardwolf smiled back, and spoke, though he didn't understand a word of it any more than the other understood him. Marcell grinned, "Well, maybe we'll make each other's words out over time."

The striped male stood and approached him, settling back down into a crouch beside him and tilting his head to peer at the notes and samples Marcell had in his lap. The ocelot smiled and shrugged, "I'm studying the plants here, to see what's edible and what isn't." He picked up one of the samples and held it out in the palm of his hand for the aardwolf, giving him a quizzical look.

His companion looked at him for a moment before taking the leaf out of his hand and sticking it in his mouth, chewing on it. Marcell started a moment, then realized his friend probably knew more about the local flora than he did, and wouldn't likely eat anything that wasn't safe. After a moment, the aardwolf plucked another leaf off the little bush and held it out for the cat, whom hesitated a bit before taking it and following his friend's example, sticking it in his mouth and chewing on it. It tasted much like cinnamon, at first, before a strong, nearly overpowering sting of heat hit his tongue, and he gasped and choked.

As he recovered, he found the aardwolf patting him on the back and laughing. Marcell stared at him, and he took another leaf and ate that, too, then grinned at the cat. That brought a snort from the cat, "Oh, lovely, a practical joker. You're probably used to the taste." The feline, meanwhile, was still trying to sooth his poor, abused tongue, rubbing it against the top of his mouth and trying not to choke further. "Bleah... I think I'll avoid that one, though it might be worthwhile to stick in Balfour's next meal..." he snickered.

Marcell coughed a moment, then tilted his head to look at his friend, pondering. "I wish we understood each other. It'd be useful if you could tell me what was safe and what wasn't."

The aardwolf simply smiled at him, making him chuckle. "Well at the very least, you could tell me your name." He thought about that a moment, then pointed to himself, "Marcell."

The other male tilted his head, not quite understanding. He tried again, pointing to himself, then patting his hand against his chest, "Marcell."

His brows furrowed before the aardwolf pointed to the cat, repeating, "Marcell?" The cat nodded, then pointed to the tribal.

Brows still furrowed as he tried to comprehend, the other male pointed to himself and then said, "Chibale."

Marcell motioned with the hand pointing to the aardwolf, "Chibale?" As the other male nodded, he smiled. "Well, Chibale... at least that's a start."

The tribal placed his hand on the cat's shoulder, gripping him firmly for a moment as he said, "Marcell." Then he released his hand and lowered his muzzle to peer at the cat's notes, curiously.

Marcell chuckled, "Ah... I'm not sure if your people even write things, though likely not as much as we do. Some of us write down everything..." Then a thought occurred to him, and he shuffled to a blank page. Another moment to think on it and he started to draw, trailing the tip of the pen across the page as he did a fairly rough sketch of his new friend, occasionally glancing up at Chibale before looking back to the paper. The aardwolf remained silent as he watched, blinking as he realized what the cat was drawing, then once it was done, the ocelot held it up and said, "Chibale," as he pointed to it, then to his companion.

Marcell wasn't much of an artist, though with the target right in front of him, he wasn't half bad. The aardwolf grinned, and then reached for the pen, pausing to look at the cat for permission. The pen was freely offered, as was the notebook, and Chibale started to doodle over the opposite page, glancing up at Marcell every now and then. The cat smiled, and refrained from peering too closely at the image until it was finished. Once it was, and Chibale offered the notebook back, Marcell stared at the image on it. If he hadn't known better, he'd have claimed it had been drawn by one of the great artists back home. Every marking was in the right place, everything was proportional, shading was perfect, it was as though Chibale had been drawing all his life. Marcell had no way to tell him how good he was, or to make it clear to him how much his talent would be treasured back in the cities.

He say in awe for a long while, starting over the drawing, then up at Chibale, who smiled at him and didn't seem the least bit proud of his talents. Were all of his people this talented? Marcell pondered this a while, then shook his head and set the book down so the ink could dry completely before he closed it, not wanting to mark up that image in the least.

He smiled to Chibale, whom smiled back, handing back the pen. That was set down with the notebook, and Marcell pondered. He didn't want to give the aardwolf a page torn out of his notebook, though he could possibly draw another one up later to gift him with, but he wanted to give him something now. Thinking on it, he caught his friend looking over the chains he wore about his neck. Marcell glanced down as the aardwolf reached out to pick the small pendants up and get a closer look. He wore two, both on silver chains. One was a simple shield shape engraved with the crest of his house, a cat's claw. The other was a small silver rose, elegantly crafted with a tiny hint of red along the edges of the petals. He couldn't very will give away his family crest, but the aardwolf seemed more interested in that rose one, tugging it up a bit to look it over before he let it drop to the cat's chest.

Without even a second thought, Marcell lifted the chain with the rose up over his neck and leaned up to put it over Chibale's head. The aardwolf froze, looking startled, though he didn't pull away as the chain was settled around his neck, the cat shifting it in the back so it wouldn't tangle too much in his hair.

Chibale stared at him a moment, then looked down and picked the little rose up in his fingers, treating it very delicately as he turned it over. Then he let it settle against his chest and smiled to Marcell, tilting his head to the side.

Marcell smiled back and shrugged, "It was a gift from my mother. You seemed to like it." Chibale's ears twitched at the words and the cat chuckled, "I wish I could be around here long enough to get to know you better. As it is, we'll likely only be here another few days... and then the construction crews will be sent out in a few months to start tearing up the land..." As he spoke, Marcell grew grim, concern on his muzzle as he looked up at his new friend. "Oh, Chibale... they'll likely just want to turn you and your friends into servants, if they don't just decide you're all beasts that need to be chased off."

The other male grew confused by the change in demeanor, his ears falling back slightly. After a few moments, Marcell regained himself and shook his head, smiling again and patting Chibale's hand. "Nothing to worry about, friend. Who knows, maybe we'll wind up staying longer... or I could come back with my own crew and come study your people. I'm sure I could convince one of the guilds to let me study you and not interfere, with the right incentive..." Thinking on that, Marcell vowed to ensure Chibale's people were protected from slavery, if it were at all within his power to do so. Though he wasn't entirely sure he had the funds to go up against the dukes should whichever one was funding this venture wish to have such exotic and friendly creatures turned into his personal slaves.

Marcell shrugged, then started to speak again as something caught Chibale's attention. The aardwolf stood, then after a brief moment, he growled deeply and gripped his spear at the ready. It took Marcell a moment to realize he was facing away from the research camp, and he quickly tucked his things into his pack before standing, the pack shouldered. "What is it?" he asked in a hushed tone as he stood behind the tribal.

Chibale seemed entirely too uncomfortable, though he stopped growling, glancing this way and that. He only muttered one word, "Hondgahiji," and then turned to Marcell, shoving him back. Though he was gentle about it, he seemed very desperate that the cat get out of here. Marcell stumbled a few steps before turning to start off towards the camp, the aardwolf actually staying with him as he walked, though facing the other direction. It was then that the ocelot heard the sounds, little scratchings and scrapings of what sounded like claws against rock.

Marcell paused, then, and Chibale bumped into him, though managed to keep his balance. The aardwolf started to shout as he turned, then broke that off, for before them stood a ten foot long lizard-like creature, standing on two strong legs, it's body horizontal to the ground with short legs in the front that bore sharp claws. The head of it was large, it's mouth hanging open as it let out a low rumbling sound, showing it's rows of dagger sharp teeth, it's tail swaying out behind it slowly, level with the head.

Chibale grabbed Marcell by the shoulder and threw him back just as the thing launched forward. Standing over the cat, the aardwolf ducked down, jumped to the side, and brought the point of that dangerous spear upwards as he ducked below the creature's head. The point struck home, piercing the underside of the thing's jaw, sinking upwards into its head with a sickening sound. The thing didn't even get to cry out in pain, it was so quick. And just as quickly, Chibale yanked the weapon downwards and tore it from the thing's head, the lower jaw almost coming off, blood and gore flying out from the injury.

Marcell stared in horror at the sight. Then he heard the scraping sounds again and scrambled to his feet, Chibale already trying to pull him up and usher him towards the camp as he repeated that word, "Hondgahiji!"

The cat didn't know what that meant, and wasn't about to stick around to find out. If those things traveled in packs, which was becoming apparent that they did, and his otherwise peaceful friend was afraid of them, better to flee to camp and rouse the guards as quickly as possible... before the things got there and caught them unawares...

Nano Story - Chapter 1

2007-11-12T10:50:55Z

I uh... still don't have a title for this story, but so far it's working title is 'Savannah Trials', but that only works for the half of what I have planned... ah well, we'll see what I can come up with.

Anyway, I forget what this site's character limit is... but we'll see if this posts in full or not, I guess. Chapter 1 starts off right after the introduction.

Chapter 1:

Marcell's tail flicked about as he examined the bush, taking notes on its properties and appearance. The cat was a researcher, one of the many that had been sent on this expedition to explore the lands past the jungles and report back their findings. The dukes were hoping to find land for expansion, most likely, but he didn't much care what they wanted. Being here meant he was able to do what he enjoyed, study strange and new things.

The noise of those around him all but seeped out of his thoughts as the ocelot lost himself in his explorations, occasionally picking a few leaves off some plant that didn't exist in the cities of the Commonwealth as a sample to look more at later. He'd make notes of where each sample was found, what the rest of the plant looked like, and then tag the plant itself with a small tack and number so that he could verify its identity later.

There weren't many like him in this troupe, those more interested in the living things than the land itself, but the dukes had seen fit to send a few experts on plant and animal life, if only to ensure that the real researchers didn't become poisoned or diseased by the unknown. It was his job to ensure that anything the others were going to be stumbling around in was safe, and if it wasn't, to point those ones out so that they could be destroyed in their working areas and avoided elsewhere.

Marcell had also done a lot of reading before the trip, and many of the excerpts he found for this area spoke of tribal peoples living here. His true interest of study was other civilizations, ones so vastly different from his own that they could be called alien. But finding such civilizations still alive was very difficult, and dealings with them were often very limited unless the dukes saw fit to allow the slave traders to go after them. Then it became even more difficult to learn about them, and Marcell hoped that it such peoples did exist out here, that he could try to learn from them before that happened, and possibly prevent it.

The books spoke of old trade routes that went through the jungle, back before the dukes went to war with each other. Traders would travel through to seek out the peoples beyond and offer them unusual things in exchange for what they knew were valuable items, but the primitive cultures considered useless trinkets or toys. Clumps of gold and gems the size of one's fist had been brought back on these trips, though over time the traders went less and less frequently, and then not at all, due to the warring making the borders too dangerous to travel.

Now, though, the warring was being dealt with in a more civilized manner, at least so some thought, though nobody really knew just the extent of the political battling. Marcell, in all his research, hoped that he could find these people and speak with them, and possibly reinstate the trade agreements. This would make them untouchable by the slavers, and give him far more time to study them and their ways.

As he moved further from the camp, around a crop of trees that he'd been drawn to, something shifted off in to the side and he tilted his head towards it. Glancing around, the cat only just realized how far from camp he'd gone, and for a moment he considered retreating back incase it were some predator he'd stumbled upon. Instead, he stood motionless but for his twisting tail, his gaze adjusting to what he saw not too far from his position.

He'd managed to go uphill a bit, and a rocky outcropping rested here, on which lay what he could only assume was one of those tribals he'd read about. The creature's appearance was roughly canid, with long, shaggy fur covering its body, and hair that added to the shaggy appearance. Dark, uneven stripes ran across its back, a few on its limbs, and dark fur covered from the knees and elbows to the ends of those limbs. Aside from that, the creature's fur was a sandy colour, almost blending in with the surrounding area.

It lay motionless, on its stomach, making the gender difficult to discern. It looked to be watching the research camp, its tail giving the occasional slight twitch against the back of its legs. It was rather apparent that the creature wore very little, if anything at all, hands resting up near its head as it peered down, watching the people of the camp go about their business.

Marcell stood watching a few moments longer, then took a tentative step forward. The movement caught the creature's attention fairly quickly, its tall ears swiveling towards him, though the rest of the creature's reaction was certainly unexpected by the cat.

The creature shoved himself back from the ledge, grabbing up the long spear that had been laying beside him, opposite the feline, so he hadn't seen it. With the movement, Marcell could make out that this creature was male, his chest flat, and the leather thong that he wore doing little to hide his maleness as he spun about. Though he didn't spin towards the sound, but away, and started to sprint off, which confused the cat greatly.

Hesitating only a moment, Marcell took another step forward, calling out, "Wait!"

That made the creature, an aardwolf by his appearance, not a true canid of any sort, halt his retreat, though he paused before glancing back over his shoulder towards the cat, his dark muzzle contrasting against the sandy fur around his face.

Marcell tilted his head curiously as he watched the other male, waiting for a reaction, not wanting to scare him off further. The aardwolf furrowed his brow and then looked around, seeming rather on edge, before crouching down and turning towards the ocelot. He kept the spear ready, giving the cat a good look of the thing as he waited. The wooden shaft was easily taller than either male, a good six feet in height, with a blade extending a foot beyond that. The metal was well crafted, beyond anything Marcell expected such a people to make. It ended in a point, one edge sharp and straight, while the other had a jagged row of sharp teeth, causing the cat to cringe as he thought of the carnage such a weapon could cause to someone. He had second thoughts about wanting to run across any of the locals, now, but it was already too late, since he was standing before one with naught but a short sword as his hip.

He pushed his concerns aside, not wanting to make any assumptions based simply on the style of weapon this creature carried. There could be any number of reason for requiring such a devastating blade, he told himself. He returned his full attention to the aardwolf, smiling calmly, trying to appear friendly, though as he shifted his posture, the other male shifted his weapon, gripping it more firmly.

Marcell frowned. He couldn't be sure this creature meant to simply cut him down, but he had to take that chance, his curiosity and great interest in wanting to make peace simply too much to let him back down. Very slowly, he shifted his shoulders to slide the pack off and, just as slowly, lowered it to the ground. His eyes remained on the aardwolf the entire time, the other male's eyes shifting about to catch every movement. As the cat stood upright once more, he caught the creature's gaze shifting to the sword at his hip. He only thought better of it for a moment before he carefully unbuckled the belt the sheath was strapped to and lowered that, too, to the ground, with his pack. The notebook he held also wound up on the pile, and then he took a step away from it, to the side, so as to not move closer to the aardwolf.

Marcell extended his hands, empty and palm up, smiling once more. The aardwolf glanced from him to the pile of his belongings, then back, though he visibly relaxed once the cat's blade was no longer on his person. His ears perked forward as he studied the feline rather intently, looking him over. Marcell stood for a long moment, letting the other male look him over, before slowly crouching down and then settling himself on the ground, crossing his legs and resting his hands on his knees, palms up, keeping them in sight.

The aardwolf seemed rather confused, giving him an odd look for his behaviour. He stayed in his position for a long moment, ears twitching and flicking about, his tail dusting the savannah behind him, all but silent. The two stayed like this for a time, simply watching each other, each studying the other, both males seeming unwilling to retreat. Marcell decided to leave it up to the other to make the next move, sitting calmly, smiling as he waited.

It must have been a good hour or more before the aardwolf started to approach, still crouched. He inched forward, slowly, that spear still held in his hand. Marcell couldn't help but glance at it, repeatedly, his concern returning as he thought of how the deadly blade could gut him in moments in his current position. He shifted nervously, realizing he'd left himself no way to defend himself. Perhaps this had been a mistake?

The tribal paused as Marcell grew nervous, eyes catching his. The cat glanced to the spear once more, this time the other male catching his gaze and looking to his weapon. He looked back to the ocelot, seeming to think about it for a long moment before he lowered the spear, turning it so the shaft stuck out behind him and the blade pointed outwards towards the ground, before he inched forward a bit more.

Still Marcell gave the weapon wary glances, his hands shifting on his knees as he pondered retreating. The aardwolf paused once more, brow furrowing, and looked around with a frown before he set the weapon onto the ground. Slowly, he released the weapon and drew his hand away, then looked back to the feline. Marcell sighed with relief as the aardwolf drew his arm away from the weapon, then looked back to him, smiling softly.

The tribal hesitated nervously before beginning his approach once more, slowly inching across the ground, one hand touching the ground to keep him steady in his crouched posture. He scooted forward inch by inch, pausing between each approach, gauging this stranger's intent. It took a while before he was within arms reach, though there he stopped, settling onto the balls of his feet and keeping his fingers on the ground before him for balance. His other arm rested against his knee, that hand motionless in the air before him.

Marcell tilted his head curiously. It became a watching game again, the two looking into the other's eyes, studying each other's faces. The aardwolf's gaze caught every slight shift of the cat's features, ears, whiskers and even the twitches of his fingers. Marcell could tell he was a hunter, despite the slender figure this male bore. They were likely matched in height and build, he guessed, about five foot five, slender and graceful. The cat couldn't help but wonder if this was a prime specimen of the aardwolf's people, if they were all of similar build or if this one were far skinnier than the others. Either seemed possible, though why a lone hunter of such a delicate race would be out here he couldn't understand, unless what he hunted wasn't some great beast that required strength to bring down. Then he recalled the weapon. Perhaps that was why they had such deadly blade on their weapons, because of their size preventing simple brute strength from bringing down their pray.

While he thought all of this through, the aardwolf had apparently grown bold, for the cat was wrenched from his thoughts as he caught movement before him, glancing towards the other male's hand as it approach. Marcell tensed for a moment, the tribal apparently catching this and pausing, his hand outstretched. The cat blinked up at him, tilting his head curiously. For a moment, the two remained like that, looking into each other's eyes, then the aardwolf, more slowly and hesitant this time, reached out to touch the cat's arm.

The touch was gentle, and Marcell realized his companion was simply curious of the unusual garments he wore. He chuckled softly, which caused the aardwolf to start to pull back, though the slight grin and cheery look on his face were enough to keep the other male close. His eyes wide with curiosity, a slight smile formed on his own face as his fingers returned to the fabric of the cat's shirt, softly stroking over it. Marcell wore a shirt of crushed silk, which was far stronger than one would at first expect, though very soft and almost velvety to the touch. As the aardwolf stroked over it, he relaxed visibly, then pulled lightly on the cloth, rubbing it between finger and thumb.

He seemed rather intent on the garment, sliding his fingers along it to press against the cat's arm. As his touch grew more firm, he paused to look at the feline's face, waiting for some sign. He was greeted with that same cheery grin, the cat's ears perked whiskers twitching slightly. Though the aardwolf remained nervous, ears swiveling about, listening to their surroundings, he seemed rather pleased at the closeness of the ocelot and the relaxed posture the cat was giving off. The tribal petted down Marcell's arm, feeling the soft fabric against his fingers and palm, a slight smile spreading across his lips.

Marcell waited a few moments, letting the aardwolf grow confident with his presence before he lifted a hand from his knee. The aardwolf caught the movement instantly, pulling his arm away and scooting backwards across the dirty. Startled, the cat turned his hand to show that it was empty, holding it outwards.

He chuckled softly as the other male's ears splayed, seeming embarrassed for his actions, though he didn't move closer. Marcell grew dejected, thinking his moment had been lost, that the tribal would retrieve his spear and flee, though after a few moments he realized that the aardwolf were simply waiting, watching his hand. Thinking a moment, he shifted and reached his hand forward, offering it palm up.

The aardwolf looked at it for a few moments before holding his own hand out similarly, glancing between the two, studying the differences in colouring. Where the tribal's skin was dark, near black, the cat's was a pale tan. Marcell turned his hand over, watching as the aardwolf did the same, the black fur a marked contrast beside the sandy brown of the feline's.

Marcell smiled as the other male settled down on his knees, head tilting as he turned his hand to touch the cat's, running his fingers over the soft, speckled fur for a few moments. Marcell's pelt was spotted along the arms and hands, and the aardwolf seemed rather curious about this, touching those little black spots tentatively. After a few moments, his fingers moved away as he raised his hand to the ocelot's face. Marcell did his best not to flinch, and the other male seemed to be more bold, as he stroked his fingers along the deep black stripes marring the cat's cheeks. The markings seemed rather unusual to him, which made Marcell wonder if there weren't any feline races amongst the tribes, for even his own less-common species couldn't be too different from the leopards or jaguars as to make his fur pattern such a strange curiosity.

Marcell rather enjoyed the gentle touches of the other male, though he stayed still and tried not to show this too much, not knowing how the tribal would take it. He even managed to keep from purring, though that took some effort. The aardwolf did notice the slight tensing of the feline in his efforts, however, and moved his fingers from Marcell's face, resting his hand on one clothed shoulder.

Marcell took the opportunity to reach up and brush his fingers through the thick fur of the aardwolf's shoulder before resting his hand there, the two staying like that for a time. He realized after a few moments that that must be some sign of friendship, for the other male smiled rather broadly at him before patting his shoulder rather firmly, jostling the cat a bit. Marcell chuckled, but before he could do anything further, rustling in the trees nearby caught his companion's attention.

The aardwolf was quick to react, so quick that Marcell was left wondering how he'd wound up back by his spear in time to pick it up and stand, feet planted firmly on the ground as he held the weapon defensively. Though it wasn't any threat that came out of the trees, but one of Marcell's companions, who stumbled at the sight before fumbling for the short sword at his hip.

Before Marcell could call him off, however, the aardwolf turned tail and fled off behind the rocks. Marcell got to his feet, brushing his legs off and frowning.

His companion gaped at him, "Are you mad? He could have gutted you, and you aren't even armed!"

A smirk formed across Marcell's muzzle as he turned to retrieve his things, belting the sword back into place and shouldering his pack. "Hardly."

"Hardly? Did you -see- the blade on that thing? My gods, man, we need to tell the others to be wary of those beasts." The other feline turned to head back towards the camp, but Marcell grabbed his shoulder before he got more than a few steps.

The other feline, slightly taller but not by much, his coat a deep, solid black, eyed him. "You've been out in the sun too long. Did you even see him raise his weapon to me?"

Marcell sighed, "He's afraid of something. I don't know what, but it isn't us. He's not a threat, I promise you that."

The dark feline studied his face for a long moment before letting out a long sigh, "Fine. But we still need to tell the others to keep an eye out for them. You don't know what they want, they could be after our tools or supplies."

Marcell narrowed his eyes, dark brown pools that peered at his friend for a moment. His face calmed as he pleaded, "Derek, please. He's only the one, and we've seen no signs of others around. Give him a chance. He might not even return, and then there's nothing to worry about at all. Why set those thugs off on some wild hunt, you know at least Balfour would jump at the chance to try and catch some 'tribal lowlife' to turn into his personal servant."

The panther searched Marcell's eyes for a few moments before he nodded. "You're right. I'll keep it to myself, but at the first sign of any threat, we -must- tell the others. Agreed?"

Marcell nodded, smiling to his friend. "Agreed."

*****

Chibale stayed hidden behind the rocks, silent and unmoving, listening to the strange language of the two felines. He didn't so much as breath until he heard them start to move away. Then, though, he slipped out from his hiding place and watched after them, their forms vanishing below the rise as they headed back to camp. He watched the spotted cat most, yearning to follow, but not knowing what his companions would think of one such as himself, not knowing if it were safe. He vowed to return here the next day in the hopes of finding his new friend again. Perhaps they could understand each other.

With a soft sigh, he turned his attention back to the hunt. It wouldn't do to return to the settlement empty handed.