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Another thing saved for my own purposes. Cut/paste summary of a discussion of Gaian demographics.
Panda-hōshi says (2:26 PM):
Panda-hōshi says:
considering that a city like New York is a large city and has 8 million people, a -relatively- large city should have like...at least five million
ten thousand sounds like something I would do if I didnt know better, after watching Lord of the Rings and hearing people talk about "ten thousand strong" and then showing a sea or Uruk-hai
and thinking "yeah, that amount"
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (2:26 PM):
10,000 people, all of whom work for the military.
Panda-hōshi says (2:26 PM):
just because they couldn't get millions of people for Minas Tirith in the movie didnt mean it was that small. ><
Blackheart Machine says:
That's probably exactly it.
I can understand if there's 10,000 military personnel
an army of 10,000 strong
especially considering what these soldiers can do
but 10,000 people total?
and yet still calling it a relatively large city?
Panda-hōshi says (2:27 PM):
New York is a HUGE city and has 8 million people or so in it
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (2:27 PM):
Well, if you consider that Gaia as a whole has a 'population' of about 4 million user accounts.
Panda-hōshi says (2:27 PM):
a relatively large city would have a lot more people
like 4 million
yeah, but that's OOC
Panda-hōshi says (2:28 PM):
4 million members on Gaia.
But that doesnt count all of the NPCs
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (2:28 PM):
Which means 4 million 'people' on Gaia, doesn't it?
Panda-hōshi says (2:28 PM):
By who's judgement? ._.
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (2:28 PM):
I'm just saying.
Panda-hōshi says (2:28 PM):
that'd make Gaia pretty damn small.
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (2:29 PM):
You can't necessarily equate the maps they give us for Barton and Durem to NYC.
Panda-hōshi says (2:29 PM):
But thats because the maps they design arent meant to be taken seriously.
I mean, look at Barton
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (2:29 PM):
They were when the site began.
Panda-hōshi says (2:29 PM):
it looks like the mushroom kingdom
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (2:29 PM):
Have you played zOMG? That's apparently how Gaia looks.
Panda-hōshi says (2:30 PM):
x_x
I just figure if Lament is a large city then it should be large. They never specified a specific population for Gaia story-wise because all of that manga stuff is for fun anyway
Because, honestly
if you accept that Durem is really only as big as...like....a few blocks
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (2:31 PM):
Well, all the manga and stuff that they put out is assuming that every NPC in the background is a user.
Panda-hōshi says (2:31 PM):
you'd have to accept that the Lord of the Vampires is some emo kid named Louie.
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (2:31 PM):
And I've totally RPed working for G-Corp at one point.
Panda-hōshi says (2:31 PM):
Yes...although, according to Gaia site canon, Latent and every other place doesnt exist.
well there's nothing wrong with that
Panda-hōshi says (2:32 PM):
I just think that Durem as an actual RP locale would look bigger than a picture simply used to be...well...an RP thing
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (2:32 PM):
Well, Levi has its own canon but we adapt in most of what 'official' Gaia stuff there is.
Panda-hōshi says (2:32 PM):
Yeah, but I think there's a difference between what the city is intended to be sized as, and the reduced size made for small maps and video games
its like Stormwind in World of Warcraft, or Dalaran
Panda-hōshi says (2:33 PM):
its supposed to be a lot bigger, but they dont have that much data to hold a huge real-scale city size
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (2:34 PM):
Obviously the cities are larger and more detailed than the pictures but when you think about it, if the entire country/continent/world/whatever you want to interpret it as is as thinly populated as 5-6 major cities and a dozen or so smaller ones with a few villages and towns spattered here and there, that's not really on the level of America (400 million people) and not the whole world (7 billion)
Either the population is far more sparse, or the Gaian continent/country iteslf isn't all that large.
Panda-hōshi says (2:35 PM):
That is true *panda chinrub*
though that'd make it a relatively small city.
Panda-hōshi says (2:36 PM):
by real world standards
more like a keep.
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (2:36 PM):
Combine that with the mix of futuristic/fantasy/medieval settings and you've got a disproportionate number of nonhuman civilizations coexisting with human settlements (usually killing them for no reason) and a completely ******** caste system with illiterate mudfarmers at the bottom and mega-corp CEOs at the top.
Panda-hōshi says (2:36 PM):
Like Minas Tirith
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (2:36 PM):
Lament may be called a 'major city' by Ryugi but in reality it's basically Midgar from FF7.
Panda-hōshi says (2:36 PM):
Its a shame I never played that game. ._.
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (2:36 PM):
A walled-in fortress city with a main area and a slums area, and one big military-run tower in the middle
Panda-hōshi says (2:37 PM):
Though, I figure if Ryugi was making it like Gaia wasnt on Earth
and being its own planet or something
then the land would be a little bigger than a state.
But
if it really IS the size of a state
Panda-hōshi says (2:38 PM):
then it's easy to just call the whole land of Gaia a seperate continent
though, to that regard you could put in a few more millions of people
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (2:38 PM):
I think JB treats it as a planet. I treat it as a continent or a world/plane/planet depending on which character I'm referencing it with.
Panda-hōshi says (2:38 PM):
A million people in Lament would sortof make sense.
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (2:38 PM):
People aren't 'human', they're 'gaian'. There's a difference.
Since Gaians are technically all action-movie stars.
Panda-hōshi says (2:39 PM):
x_x
But that's like saying that the entire population is ONLY people with player characters
which is incorrect ._.
there's the mooks and NPCs
and...well...civvies
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (2:39 PM):
That's true. But you can't really call humans from Gaia humans for all other purposes.
Panda-hōshi says (2:40 PM):
For all other purposes, no. thats because this is a fantasy setting. Humans can do fantastic things in said settings, whether its in an earth-style land or in a made up land in Gaia.
I mean, goddamnit, look at Japan in fiction.
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (2:40 PM):
'Gaian' is the neo-American term for the 'melting pot' culture they'd have made there. Where seeing a group of vampires walking down the street at midnight is a normal thing. Werewolves eating take-out chinese. People with glowing halos around their heads.
Panda-hōshi says (2:41 PM):
Tokyo gets destroyed on a daily basis.
That doesnt make them not human, though
It makes them "Gaian", like calling someone "European"
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (2:41 PM):
Even a 'normal human' in that society isn't going to be weirded out or freaked out by magic or monsters any more than they would be by a gang of teenagers or a soldier.
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (2:42 PM):
Therefore gaian human =/= human.
Look at JB. He's a regular human guy, but he runs a company that makes magic machines.
Panda-hōshi says (2:42 PM):
I kinda have to agree to disagree there. I think that's skewing the definition of human with the obvious fallacy of most Gaians being non-literate semi-RPers living out Mary Sues in a place where it really ISNT strange to see vampires everywhere
Panda-hōshi says (2:43 PM):
becuase they ARENT thinking about it on a serious literary level like we are
I, on the other hand
simply look at it like the typical "future earth" thing
like a postmodern fantasy
where you live in a world where it isnt strange to see monsters...if your used to seeing them
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (2:43 PM):
I don't really see where we're agreeing to disagree. It seems like you just agreed with me.
Panda-hōshi says (2:44 PM):
I dont agree that gaian humans arent human.
Gaian humans just arent real world humans.
Which is the entire point of fantasy.
It's like humans in warcraft.
If they see a Draenei they dont flip out
unless they think one of them is Archimonde.
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (2:45 PM):
I'm not saying that gaian humans aren't human, but I feel that the term 'human' should be reserved for someone who comes from a setting more like earth and less like gaia. Who is not already influenced by this magical culture and should not be expected to have grown up with a catgirl nurse in his elementary school.
Panda-hōshi says (2:46 PM):
I guess...though that then differentiates between timelines
and where your character comes from
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (2:47 PM):
My 'human, no powers' character that I played for 7 years on the site came from a place where someone would get run out of town if they weren't human because in a quasi-future setting with no magic and no aliens and no fantasy mix anyone who isn't human is a mutant and a crime against nature.
Panda-hōshi says (2:47 PM):
I coped with it by placing Tenkai's Earth in the future, where the existence of demons and stuff is known only to few, and yet still relatively known, like how humans in fantasy know about orcs and undead.
Panda-hōshi says (2:48 PM):
anyone who isnt a human is a mutant?
isnt that Warhammer 40k?
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (2:50 PM):
In public opinion it'd be relatively the same. Except in 40k there are alien races out there in addition to the warp which causes people to become mutants. Whereas in a futuristic setting like Blade Runner you have humans and androids. And in that setting while it was commonplace for them to be there the ones that broke away from their programming were hunted down and terminated because they were
dangerous.
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (2:52 PM):
It's not right to say that any future setting where there are either humans or not-humans is the same as 40k, where anything that isn't human is the subject of a purge without warning or provocation. But in the same vein as witch-hunts in the early 1800s the public opinion of something that isn't human would likely have them either looked down on, hated, or feared.
Panda-hōshi says (2:53 PM):
Yes. But you do realize the only reason people dont do that is because so many gaians play vampires, and to act that way towards people for that ends up getting viewed as flaming or harassment.
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (2:53 PM):
And in that setting, since there's no magic and no warp and no aliens to be known about any nonhuman mutant would have been either the result of radiation or disease, in which case you want them as far away from you as possible, or some bastardization made by a mega-corp to try and breed a better soldier or something like that. In which case they're an international crime.
Panda-hōshi says (2:53 PM):
Thats where the whole "common everyday vampire" thing came from
whereas in true RP, a vampire would just be able to hide their vampiric-ness in front of humans in public.
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (2:54 PM):
I don't care, really.
Panda-hōshi says (2:54 PM):
Does it really matter?
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (2:54 PM):
A 'gaia RP' is not a 'true RP' if that's how you want to define it because it's not a self-contained story in a self-contained setting where the characters respect the rules of the narrator's vision.
Panda-hōshi says (2:55 PM):
That is true. Though I think thats how they intended it originally, until people made open RP
as such, I guess in order to have fun with it, you just need to be open to things. Thats why there isnt much point into strict definitions of humanity.
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (2:55 PM):
In 'mainstream' gaia RP, like HoH and Levi are set in, we take what the world is and run with it. If the people in Commerce are 50% vampire characters then we assume that there's a significant vampire population living in Barton/Durem as a part of the normal populace and not as some underground hidden-city.
Panda-hōshi says (2:56 PM):
As far as the actual gaia canon goes, that'd still be correct.
So you can't argue with that.
I just simply look at it in the "faction and race" idea of things.
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (2:56 PM):
So as I see it, even NPCs included, pure humans in Gaia woud only make up about 30% of the population. If you include 'magical humans' and such you'd get to about half.
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (2:57 PM):
And everyone else is either a half-something or a demon or vampire or cat-man or whatever else.
Panda-hōshi says (2:57 PM):
Well, now, THAT I disagree with
I think NPCs included, humans are more plentiful.
When you include NPCs
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (2:57 PM):
And because that's just how the city demographic is, it wouldn't be uncommon to see a kid with glowing eyes and a prehensile tail selling lemonade on the curb.
Panda-hōshi says (2:57 PM):
because that depends on how many NPCs you include
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (2:57 PM):
That's assuming all NPCs are human.
Which is where you'd be wrong.
Panda-hōshi says (2:57 PM):
not -all-, no
Panda-hōshi says (2:58 PM):
But you'd then have to take into account the number of people who RP
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (2:58 PM):
If you take player characters as a representative demographic sample of the overall population, there'd still be much more nonhuman NPCs than there would be humans.
Panda-hōshi says (2:58 PM):
I dont consider player characters to be civilians and NPCs.
are we using the same definition for NPC? I dont mean Moira and Gambino
and the Gaia NPCs
Panda-hōshi says (2:59 PM):
and important people
I mean random red-shirt civilian number 82, and everyone else
Building fillers
burninated peasants
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (2:59 PM):
I don't see why all the peasants have to be human villagers.
Panda-hōshi says (2:59 PM):
They dont all HAVE to
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (2:59 PM):
When 1 in 5 players RP a human character.
Panda-hōshi says (3:00 PM):
But they could. It just depends on what people intend for the RP
but those ar eplayers
this is where we disagree
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (3:00 PM):
You'd imagine that 1 in 5 NPCs then would be human.
Panda-hōshi says (3:00 PM):
I dont find RPers to be civilians
That's like saying that
if they were to make a Vampire: The Masquerade RPG
and it was placed in a setting where there are more humans than vampires
but all the players have to play vampires
and yet
even if you have a million vampires
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (3:00 PM):
It's like saying that there are more black people in Atlanta than in Seattle, and because of that I'd be more likely to have a black waitress at Applebees if I went to one in Atlanta than if I went to one in Seattle.
Panda-hōshi says (3:01 PM):
you have billions of humans
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (3:01 PM):
If there are more vampies in Gaia than in Earth, it's more likely that I'll see a vampire PC in Gaia than in Earth.
Panda-hōshi says (3:01 PM):
and then looking at the player population and saying that the world is inhabited by more vampires
It feels too much like a trope when you put it that way, though
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (3:02 PM):
Demographic sampling. If you assume an equal distribution of people among the population of a race become 'adventurers' and 'heroic types' then you have to also assume that the population values for that race are proportional to the distribution of that race among all PCs.
Panda-hōshi says (3:02 PM):
"Everyone's a vampire, lololol", and such.
But you're sampling from an OOC demographic
Among levi
how many RPers are there?
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (3:02 PM):
Members in the guild? We've got 2-300.
Panda-hōshi says (3:02 PM):
if you put 300 against a population of millions
its not that big of a ratio
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (3:03 PM):
Where are you getting millions?
Panda-hōshi says (3:03 PM):
In the whole of Gaia
if it really is a continent or a seperate land
it should at least have that many people.
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (3:03 PM):
Okay, so...
Panda-hōshi says (3:03 PM):
civilians, I mean
people who -watch- HoH, but dont really exist.
Panda-hōshi says (3:04 PM):
They're pictures in the backgrounds we dont see because it's all text.
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (3:04 PM):
What I'm saying, using what you brought up...
If Gaia has 2-3 million people.
And Levi has 2-300 RPers.
And 20-30 of those are human (not like Vahn and Silver who are 'human with inherant powers').
Then you'd expect 200-300,000 people on Gaia would be human.
As a demographic sampling.
Panda-hōshi says (3:05 PM):
but you're doing a demographic sampling of -player- characters
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (3:05 PM):
And what's wrong with that?
Panda-hōshi says (3:05 PM):
It misses the point of demographic sampling. You're going by the population of RPers, not the population of people by designed setting.
think of the 300 player characters as "hero" characters
Panda-hōshi says (3:06 PM):
part of the population, but not a sample of said population
it's like saying that the Alliance is more populous than the Horde because on one server the Alliance has more people.
whereas in canon-wise the populations are probably a lot different
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (3:06 PM):
Again, what's wrong with that?
If 1 in 100 people have what it takes to become a "hero" then for every 100 you would get 1. If you have 20 human heroes you have 2000 humans. If you have 50 demi-human heroes you have 5000 demi-humans.
Unless you're telling me that the 'chance of becoming a hero' is supposed to be different across races.
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (3:07 PM):
In which case you're denying the RPG concept of 'any race, any class'.
Panda-hōshi says (3:07 PM):
I dont think thats what I was getting at
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (3:07 PM):
But that's what you were arguing against.
Panda-hōshi says (3:07 PM):
I'm saying it's wrong to use player characters as a sample because no one wants to make a player character that's just Bill the Uninteresting Salaryman
Panda-hōshi says (3:08 PM):
No x.x I'm arguing that just because a bunch of emo kids in Chatterbox love vampires doesnt mean that the RP population of Gaia is mostly vampiric.
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (3:08 PM):
But who'se to say that Bill isn't Bill Inek'tyarius, 400 year old elven accountant?
Panda-hōshi says (3:08 PM):
I just did! @_@
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (3:08 PM):
No you didn't. You said that Bill is an uninteresting salaryman.
You didn't state that he had to be human.
Panda-hōshi says (3:09 PM):
alright. -now- I'm saying he is.
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (3:09 PM):
In which case we're back to the argument that ALL NPCS MUST BE HUMAN.
Panda-hōshi says (3:09 PM):
._.
That isnt what I'm saying either
not that all NPCs must be human
but that -usually-
in certain city settings
the "commoner" types are usually human unless its some sort of elven kingdom
or a vampiric coven city
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (3:10 PM):
But at that point you're arguing 'alliance town' vs' horde town'. Horde towns have more orcs, Alliance towns have more humans.
Panda-hōshi says (3:10 PM):
Which is my point exactly.
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (3:10 PM):
Lament would have mostly humans, because Lament shoots people for not being powerless.
Panda-hōshi says (3:10 PM):
Exactly
though this kindof strays from my previous argument
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (3:10 PM):
Latent is a hub of douchebaggery and the central HoH nexus. It'd likely have less humans than non-humans.
Panda-hōshi says (3:11 PM):
which is simply that I thought 10,000 people was too small a number for a city.
?
I dont get it?
Why would Latent have less humans?
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (3:13 PM):
Because the fact that Levi Stadium is full of non-human gladiators, and HoH draws in people from all over which would mean it draws in everyone and not just humans. Assuming, again, that humans only make up half the overall population of Gaia you'd think that if ten thousand people rushed into the city during HoH then 5000 would be human and 5000 would be nonhuman.
Whereas in Lament
they have 10,000 humans as their population.
Panda-hōshi says (3:14 PM):
Ah, I see now
You thought I said 10,000 humans
no no no
I mean Lament has a population of 10,000 -people-
-period-
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (3:14 PM):
And I said that according to the way that Ryugi plays it, the significant majority of them woudl be human.
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (3:15 PM):
Since the city is crackdown on power users, they're shot on sight.
Panda-hōshi says (3:15 PM):
And there goes another area we disagree upon
I dont believe power user = not human
I always found that as a way of saying "lololol power user"
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (3:15 PM):
Which is why I'm even allowing 50% humans in what I consider the population demographic.
Panda-hōshi says (3:16 PM):
But about the whole LEvi thing
the COMPETITORS
are non-human
though they mostly look -like- humans
and that's competitors
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (3:16 PM):
Because if you just meant completely unpowered humans (and even more so, included future technology under magic because technology is just 'magic with batteries'), then humans would make up 10% of the population at best. Because nobody plays unpowered human PCs.
Panda-hōshi says (3:16 PM):
I'm talking about the people who watch the damn thing, who DONT have the power to compete
which would be, in majority, human
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (3:17 PM):
I don't know about YOU but the majority of my NPCs are non-human.
Like I said, kid with a prehensile tail selling lemonade.
Panda-hōshi says (3:17 PM):
x_x I think we're confusing eachother because we're both looking at it differently
you're going from a demographic view of what people play rather than the setting itself.
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (3:17 PM):
I know how you're looking at it. And I'm still saying that you're treating it as if 90% of the NPC population is humans.
Panda-hōshi says (3:18 PM):
and confusing important/used NPCs with...well...fodder nPCs
I'm talking about random people who have no purpose other than being a background.
I wouldnt say 90 percent.
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (3:18 PM):
Unless you want to specifically tell me that more PCs are non-human because a higher percentage of the non-human population 'becomes a hero' then your argument will continue to be invalid.
"Any race, any class" argument.
Panda-hōshi says (3:19 PM):
i didnt mean hero -that- way >>
not like "I'm Ryugi" hero
I mean hero as in Warcraft III hero
as in "I'm played by a person"
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (3:19 PM):
I mean if it's a PC, then it's supposed to be 'a cut above'. It's supposed to be a player character. It's supposed to have certain qualities that set it apart from everyone else.
Isn't that what you mean?
Panda-hōshi says (3:20 PM):
Not really. ._. thatd be assuming everyone has to make a character that has super powers.
some people find other ways.
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (3:20 PM):
In which case you need to tell me "more elves become heroes than humans" and deny the any race, any class.
Panda-hōshi says (3:20 PM):
No, no, thats not what I mean
Panda-hōshi says (3:21 PM):
But I think if the majority of people OOCly choose to become non-humans should not determine the composition of the canon's civilian population
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (3:21 PM):
If you're just saying "because it's played by a person, it's not an NPC" then there's no argument you can make against the demographics. Because Bill the accountant could just as easily be a dwarf counting his money as he could be a human working for his wages.
Panda-hōshi says (3:21 PM):
but that would be changing my example x_x
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (3:21 PM):
Except that's the difference between self-contained settings where the narrator can decide, and open settings like mainstream gaia in which what we have to go on is determined by everyone participating.
Panda-hōshi says (3:21 PM):
That wasnt the purpose of the example
Panda-hōshi says (3:22 PM):
I was saying that you cant expect people to play characters who are just normal humans going about daily life.
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (3:22 PM):
It's not changing your example at all.
Panda-hōshi says (3:22 PM):
Otherwise you'd have to tell a majority of the RP population to play human characters
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (3:22 PM):
You said "Bill the uninterseting accountant". I'm saying that he could just as easily be a dwarf as he could be a human. There were no qualifiers in what you said other than that he's uninteresting.
You're thinking of it backwards.
Panda-hōshi says (3:22 PM):
I forgot to mention he was supposed to be human >>
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (3:23 PM):
I'ts not "otherwise you'd have to tell a majority of the RP population to play human characters" but instead it's "because a majority of the RP population plays non-human characters".
Panda-hōshi says (3:23 PM):
I am? ._. werent you the one telling me that the demographic is determined by all the people participating in the tournament?
I see
no, you're right on that
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (3:23 PM):
I said nothing at all about the people aprticipating in the tournament.
I was referring to the spectators the entire time.
Panda-hōshi says (3:24 PM):
I dont mean spectators who are player-characters
I mean random people in the seats.
The reason why that's so up for grabs is because no one ever defines it.
Panda-hōshi says (3:25 PM):
and the only time people do define it, they say "50 percent of them are vampires" so that they can put in subtext and go HURRHURR at the majority of emo kids playing vampires
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (3:25 PM):
It would be wrong to just consider 'fighting prowess' when determining a demographic, because by definition more or less a 'more powerful race' will have more people playing fighters. But there are a lot of people who still play characters despite them not being fighters. And I've never considered Levi to be an accurate representation of the entire gaian demographic. For that you need to go to
Bartor or Commerce forums.
Panda-hōshi says (3:25 PM):
I'm not talking about the guild itself
I'm talking about the setting the guild's story is in
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (3:25 PM):
You're reading far too much into my statements. Take my words at face value.
Panda-hōshi says (3:26 PM):
I dont really know what you're trying to say though @.@
Maybe its not you....its others who have kindof made that sort of joke
which kindof breaks the 4th wall
almost like a side-glance saying "who's this crazy guy playing the vampire? dont they know that's lame?"
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (3:27 PM):
The spectators are the people watching on TV. They are not the people posting in the Hawk. Half of them would be non-humans because at least half of the PCs I know of are non-humans (referring to a random sampling you could take by pulling people otu of the Barton forum) and therefor at least half of the population demographic of Gaia is non-humans.
Panda-hōshi says (3:28 PM):
But the problem I'm seeing with that there is that you're going by player characters and not civilians
in which case
if it were to be correct
you'd have to have it so that the percentage of RPer and race would have to mirror the setting of the overall RP setting
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (3:28 PM):
And unless you change the way that this argument works and tell me "what players choose to be does not matter in determining a population demographic for NPCs" then I don't see how you can continue telling me that there are so many humans out there.
Panda-hōshi says (3:29 PM):
but that goes into a multiple other arguments
like
"Is Gaia Earth?"
or
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (3:29 PM):
Gaia is not earth.
Panda-hōshi says (3:29 PM):
"what is the story-wise population of Gaia?"
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (3:29 PM):
If we consider it entirely an independant entity in terms of population, races, history, borders, whatever.
Panda-hōshi says (3:30 PM):
Which doesnt work.
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (3:30 PM):
And if you assume that the 'mainstream roleplay setting' is not the same as any self-contained RP setting in which a narrator decides their own distribution of races.
Panda-hōshi says (3:30 PM):
That's saying that Japan or Europe never existed, which doesnt just break a lot of other characters, but Gaia itself.
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (3:30 PM):
Really? I don't see many characters that say they're from japan or europle.
europe*
Panda-hōshi says (3:31 PM):
their weapons and armor are, though.,
Languages and terms too
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (3:31 PM):
I see a lot of japanese influenced characters that are from make-believe kingdoms. I see a cultural influence, which may have come from somewhere not Japan but similar, without the same geography or history involved as it would on Earth.
Panda-hōshi says (3:31 PM):
It goes back to the whole thought of whether or not Gaia is just another part of Earth, or a seperate planet.
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (3:31 PM):
In D&D 'english' is referred to as 'common'. Because there is no England.
Panda-hōshi says (3:32 PM):
then what about characters like Tenkai? Does that mean he just doesnt exist?
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (3:32 PM):
That depends on how you want to carry it.
Panda-hōshi says (3:32 PM):
Well I dont know any other way to carry it other than Gaia being an entirely seperate land, like another continent, in a future-set Earth.
Especially since Gaia means Earth
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (3:33 PM):
However, if you treat Gaia as Earth, and say that Tenkai came there from Japan, you're also forcing yourself to recognize in backstory that the Japan that Tenkai came from must recognize the existence of a continent full of demons and vampires and neko-people.
Panda-hōshi says (3:33 PM):
and?
Is there something wrong with that too?
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (3:33 PM):
There is not.
Panda-hōshi says (3:33 PM):
They do that in anime all the time.
Especially in future settings.
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (3:34 PM):
But if that's the case you can't really say that Tenkai came from Earth's Japan, because it is a fictional tweaking of what Japan is.
Panda-hōshi says (3:34 PM):
Vampiric existence is -well- known in Trinity Blood, even if their basis of vampirism is...wrong
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (3:34 PM):
In which case it brings us back to Gaia not being Earth.
Panda-hōshi says (3:34 PM):
But that's the purpose of fantasy
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (3:34 PM):
Perhaps there is a Japan in Gaia.
But it's not the -same- Japan.
Panda-hōshi says (3:34 PM):
But then is Gaia the planet?
or the continent?
Panda-hōshi says (3:35 PM):
Now I think you're getting into something that makes more sense.
where
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (3:35 PM):
If that's the way you want to think of it, it would be.
Gaia is the fictional world in which all of our characters collaboratively exist. With the people who do space RP, you could even consider it a universe and not just a world.
Panda-hōshi says (3:35 PM):
rather than being a seperate continent on an existing earth
or a seperate planet with onl those lands
it's an alternate Earth
Though, to that regard
Panda-hōshi says (3:36 PM):
it'd be called "Gaia/Earth"
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (3:36 PM):
Which is why we referr to the setting we use for Levi as the 'Leviathan Universe' as it includes other 'worlds' such as Maxi's Aria and JB's Moam.
Panda-hōshi says (3:36 PM):
and the terms thus being interchangeable
but are they other planets, or planes?
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (3:36 PM):
Moam is a plent.
planet.
Aria is a plane.
And there are others but those are the two examples I used.
Panda-hōshi says (3:36 PM):
Now, another way to look at it would be like how you have Azeroth and Draenor with a "Gaia - Earth" relationship,
BUT
that'd be kindof retarded
because then EVERYONE would be doing space travel
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (3:37 PM):
There are even some characters out there that came to Gaia FROM Earth.
Panda-hōshi says (3:37 PM):
it'd take out the mystery
you mean Ebag?
No, wait
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (3:37 PM):
In a 'crossed dimensions' type thing.
Panda-hōshi says (3:37 PM):
he came from ANOTHER "earth"
yeah, but thats where it all becomes confusing, and you get to the point where you just say "does it really matter?"
and in the end it doesnt matter a lot
Panda-hōshi says (3:38 PM):
but I go back to my original argument, which has nothing to do with WHAT a population is
but realistically,h ow many -people-
and I just dont feel 10,000 people makes a "large city"
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (3:39 PM):
No, not really.
Panda-hōshi says (3:39 PM):
whether it be human
or non human
or vampire
._. you agree?
Why did we have this argument then???
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (3:39 PM):
I would.
Panda-hōshi says (3:39 PM):
@_@
you pulled me from my first argument into an entirely new one D:
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (3:39 PM):
But that's also assuming that in the setting this city exists in 10,000 is not many. In LOTR 10,000 would be an entire city.
Panda-hōshi says (3:40 PM):
But is that really the setting?
Thats what I'm saying, though. Is this supposed to be like Minas Tirith sized?
and not the size of Manhattan?
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (3:40 PM):
And the argument was never about whether or not 10,000 people made up a city, but about the proportion of humans to non-humans in that setting. It was a completely different argument. Which started by discussing the setting.
Panda-hōshi says (3:40 PM):
it feels like its much larger based on how big the city is made to look
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (3:40 PM):
I don't think that Lament is supposed to be the size of manhattan.
Because people still walk around on foot through it.
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (3:41 PM):
To cross New York City it would take you like 2 days of walking.
Panda-hōshi says (3:41 PM):
though, to be fair
that's either just how its intended
or a lapse on detail
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (3:41 PM):
But if a wall were built around NYC it would be absolutely retarded.
Panda-hōshi says (3:41 PM):
for all we know Ryugi intended there to be public transportation
Panda-hōshi says (3:42 PM):
I think it depends on what kind of fantasy city archetype you're going for
though something does feel off
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (3:42 PM):
Walled cities are a thing of the past because fo how ridiculous it would be to build a wall around the outside of any large city. They aren't needed to keep invaders out anymore, and even back in the day there would be much of the city outside the walls.
Whereas for Lament the entire city is inside the walls.
Panda-hōshi says (3:42 PM):
apparently the common folk of Lament wear medieval clothing
but they have soldiers who dress like FMA guards
and high tech weaponry
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (3:42 PM):
For public transportation we actually do have a trans-city train running between all the threads.
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (3:43 PM):
In Levi that is.
Panda-hōshi says (3:43 PM):
Which is where Tenkai is heading now.
because the train goes from Latent, to Durem, and then to Lament
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (3:43 PM):
I recall in 06 Maxi and I had a fight on top of it.
Panda-hōshi says (3:43 PM):
And now to the third point
in Lament
every guard is a skilled soldier, a mage, and uses magic bullets.
Tenkai may not be there to cause trouble, but
goddamn
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (3:44 PM):
Oh, I hope you don't mind but I think I'll paste this demographic thing in my journal for reference. Y'know, so I don't have to have this argument with anyone else ever again.
Panda-hōshi says (3:44 PM):
bullets that petrify people?
I don't mind as long as you dont point out my name in it. >>
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (3:44 PM):
Ah-ha. Magic bullets. It's just retarded.
Panda-hōshi says (3:44 PM):
I dont want to be one of those...err...god, whats the name
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (3:44 PM):
People who get pasted?
Panda-hōshi says (3:44 PM):
when you have a good boy and a bad boy
"Good boy gives an apple to the teacher"
"Bad boy arrives to school late"
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (3:45 PM):
I don't want to edit all your freakin' MSN comments. XP
Panda-hōshi says (3:45 PM):
dont worry, its fine
I just dont want to be made out to be dunce-panda, though it was really just an argument about how we feel about things
Panda-hōshi says (3:46 PM):
the only reason why I feel the majority of civilian type NPCs should be humans/elves/dwarves and not vampires and werewolves is because of...ugh...whats the term
inverse ninja rule?
No, wait, not that
you can have setting where there are more vampires than humans and it still works
Panda-hōshi says (3:47 PM):
I guess its because humans fit the "civvy" role a lot better
vampires and werewolves just dont end up having "normal" lives
it gives too much of a Joss Whedon feel
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (3:47 PM):
I'll still hold to the argument of 'kid with a tail selling lemonade' or 'bill the dwarven accountant counting his money'.
Panda-hōshi says (3:47 PM):
I should make it clear
Panda-hōshi says (3:48 PM):
that I didnt mind dwarves or elves
for some reason they fit.
it just feels out of character for vampires and werewolves to be salarymen and just known for being werewolves and vampires
they tend to have more exciting lives
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (3:48 PM):
In 'normal' society that would be true. But gaia is not earth, it's not 'our world' with these things thrown in as some secret society, but it's a world in which they walk down the street being all furry and s**t. So I don't see how you can argue that you couldn't have a werewolf working at a coffee shop.
Panda-hōshi says (3:48 PM):
I cant picture Lazenca as a salaryman
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (3:48 PM):
Except Lazenca is a salaryman. He totally works for Blazestar.
Panda-hōshi says (3:49 PM):
I see no suit and balding haircut.
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (3:49 PM):
Dress code. Casual Fridays.
Panda-hōshi says (3:49 PM):
"And he is not on FIRE like a peasant!"
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (3:49 PM):
Wait until Ryugi gets there. TROGDOOOOOOOOR!
Panda-hōshi says (3:50 PM):
Now, someone playing Strong Bad would be fun, but if it wasnt Matt Chapman then it wouldnt work
at all
I did, however
feel like taking Raptus Regauliter and turning them into TEEN GIRL SQUAD
one day I shall.
Panda-hōshi says (3:51 PM):
but yeah, I shouldnt say that dwarves and elves and kids with tails are weird
the reason why vampires going around acting like their lives are normal makes no sense is because it betrays their character unless they're in a city setting where vampires are practically running everything, like this one RP I was in
Panda-hōshi says (3:52 PM):
which made it work since it was a city run by vampires of the Masquerade
even though there were a lot of other weird things there...
but that was because it was free RP
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (3:53 PM):
Jayne: Except literature and movies of today have shifted the general view of vampires so that they can appear to be every day citizens just doing every day s**t... and sometimes, they sparkle in the sunlight like pansies.
Panda-hōshi says (3:53 PM):
I feel it ends up weakening the whole idea that vampires should be these characters damned by their bloodlust rather than being an endearing trait
x_x
Not the sparkling!
Though, somehow
as much as Joss Whedon sortof gets to me, I do enjoy Angel.
I think its because I like David Boreanz...but I prefer him as Boothe in Bones.
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (3:53 PM):
Also, even if you still adhere to the 'predatory traits' that would go with vampirism, in an evolved culture where vampires are an everyday thing you'd think that the Red Cross would serve a dual purpose.
Panda-hōshi says (3:54 PM):
Good point.
Besides
it isnt like I cant object to that with my character ._.
Tenkai slays vampires, but only because they're vampires that...well...kill people
he wouldnt slay a vampire just for being a vampire.
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (3:54 PM):
People donate food to food drives all the time, you'd think there'd be people donating to blood drives and things that would provide a vampire a food source that does not require them to prey upon other people.
Jayne also just mentioned to me that in several fictional settings they have a 'synthetic alternative' to blood available.
Panda-hōshi says (3:55 PM):
They always do that.
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (3:55 PM):
::nod:: It's adaptation of a character to a setting.
Panda-hōshi says (3:55 PM):
thats how Angel got by
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (3:55 PM):
Rather than making your character strictly adhere to the principles you founded him on hand having him be an ornery c**t like Morgan Flare.
Panda-hōshi says (3:55 PM):
but it does end up making the "villain" vampires into a thing of the past
Morgan who?
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (3:56 PM):
It's Arc's genocidist character. Think 40k: all nonhumans must be purged.
Panda-hōshi says (3:56 PM):
Oh yeah
he told me about that guy
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (3:56 PM):
Or like the templars in Dragon Age.
Panda-hōshi says (3:56 PM):
I told him it sounded like 40k
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (3:56 PM):
"You're all threats to us. All of you."
Panda-hōshi says (3:56 PM):
I thought templars only thought the maleficar were threats
Panda-hōshi says (3:57 PM):
but yeah, it does make me feel like Tenkai would want to kill Morgan.
TMJ - A darker variant thereof. says (3:57 PM):
And that's really the line you draw. In a setting where this stuff is 'normal' and not some occult existence that thrives upon the death and pain of other people, in order to be a character which persecutes all non-humans you'd either have to be a racist or a terrorist or an a*****e.
 themightyjello · Sun Feb 14, 2010 @ 01:35am · 0 Comments |
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Just preserving this for the sake of preserving it. Capitalism wins.
themightyjello "Money" is a concept that is thrown around far too much on Gaia. Consider: If 90% of all characters on Gaia are independently wealthy to the point where they would be able to live comfortably and then some for the duration of their lives without having to worry about finding a source of income, then that would become the established 'normal' amount of money to have. The poverty line would skyrocket to somewhere around what we see in small business owners (lawl, taverns) or company executives (lawl, O/M). Inflation would run rampant, because since everyone has bottomless pockets the 'value' of money is nearly gone and the price that a person would be expected to pay for a good or service (considering both that only 10% of the population is in the workforce and that those who are fabulously wealthy have all this money to throw around so that they would obviously not be opposed to paying more for something they can't get otherwise [lol, supply and demand]) would shoot straight up by a couple orders of magnitude. When this happens, Gaian currency won't be worth the paper it's printed on... which is probably why they just give away gold to any schmoe walking down the street. At this point, the population will be separated into two parts: The working and the unemployed. Those who fancied themselves to be independently wealthy before do not have an income, do not provide others with a good or service, and may or may not have any marketable skills with which to earn a living. Their 'limitless' funds will quickly dry out due to the vastly increased cost of living, and the money will flow straight into the pockets of the people who are working for a living. The people who work, who own companies, who run establishments, who perform services, etc. or otherwise produce will be the people who have the money, and the ones who relied on their 'deep wallets' will be homeless, penniless, and jobless. Thusly: The Gaian concept of 'wealthy' can be broken down into two real groups. Those who have enough money to live on because they spend it wisely, and those who have an impressive income because they provide goods or services that others require. In the first category, we would stick someone like Flare who just 'has money'. In the second, we would stick someone like Mr. Brown who runs a well-operated company that provides something not many businesses in Gaia do. The status quo is preserved. Capitalism wins.
themightyjello · Wed May 07, 2008 @ 01:08am · 0 Comments |
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An entry sans Meatgrinder |
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Unfortunately, my friends of the yellowed pages, Captain Ignatious Meatgrinder is no more. He fell at the hands of the salted peanuts, and rose again on the third day in fulfillment of the prophecy.
I AM BECOME ZOMBIE LORD MEATGRINDER, DEVOURER OF APPENDAGES!
Let the feast of a thousand deckhands begin! Bring me my salt shaker! Bring my my foon! I'll not let this damndable life at sea sway me from my course! Dry bread and pickled vegetables are all we have to eat? I think not, my tasty crewmates. Zombie Lord Meatgrinder shall boldly forge ahead and create a new source of food for this undead cre-
...what's that? We've pulled in to port? Oh, delicious. I want a banana cream pie!
~ Zombie Lord Meatgrinder
So I was bored tonight. Thusly, in a true example of what rambling can produce, this:
themightyjello Lawlz, as stated on the previous page James kept jogging. Superpost notwithstanding.
twenty minutes later became this:
themightyjello Now we could get into the nitty-gritty details of how everything was happening. By all rights it wouldn't be a stretch to expect someone who's completely bored and has nothing better to do to sit in front of a computer and type all the pointlessly irrelevant details about how a character was running. It could have been anything, really. The simple fact that Sunstrike's janitorial imps hadn't swept the hallways spotless yet and there was a faint crunch of sand and soft pretzel salt under James' sneakers as he ran around the halls. The way that the equally spaced lights reflecting off of the glossed floor in the middle of the night made an intermittent dashed line pattern like is found in the center of a road. The way that when he looked down at his shoes he could see that the one on the left was tied with more slack in the laces than the one on the right. It could have even been a long explanation about the feeling of sweat running down the back of his neck, followed by an uninvited flashback about the last time he'd had that feeling when it wasn't from exercise. Possibly including some backstory revelations and possibly romantic undertones that are expressed through the significant portions of a man's life playing through his head when he's mindlessly jogging on a self-decided course. Including any of these meaningless details does little more than turn a quiet, symbolism-less scene into something full of introspection and self-exploration. It throws in metaphors simply for the sake of metaphoring. Smilies just so the author can crack a smile about how he'd drawn a parallel between something meaningful and something meaningless. It would be adding words for the sake of adding words... which is, at times, just painful to read. But no, none of these things would receive the sullied honor of an exposition within this chapter of James' life... hardly even a chapter at all, as it was just another night on just another day in which he came to this place and exercised a few hours, hardly even worthy of note. There would be no need to go on and on about more interesting things in the hopes of distracting attention away from the fact that James is doing nothing epic, heroic, badass, or even noteworthy at this moment. Unlike all the times he's on camera when something important happens, this was just a nameless scene in his life which the average viewer would find little interest in... ...little interest, of course, unless they were some crazed stalker fangirl who couldn't get enough of him. The kind that puts pictures and posters on her walls and says goodnight to them every evening before bed. Of course, dreams of him would always follow in that little stalker head of hers, and would usually involve things like his heroic self saving her and then the two of them flying off on an airship to live happily in funkytown. Oh yes, we all know how the mind of a stalker fangirl works... logic has no place in it at all. It is merely blind emotion that drives her ambitions. Stalkers aside, no amount of simple jogging could ever make an interesting scene. If something dramatic were to happen suddenly, like a bomb planted by a terrorist going off, then it might become interesting. Perhaps even a raid by criminals or some type of private army that intends to take over the stadium for some poorly planned-out reason. In that situation it would be up to James to somehow put a stop to their nefarious schemes and save the day heroically. However, that would not happen tonight. As stated previously, James was simply here jogging. If something like that did happen, you might even go so far as to say that he wouldn't even stop to do something about it. He is that kind of person after all. Not really the hero that charges into battle against all odds simply because chivalry demands it. He is much more cunning, and much less honorable than the knight in shining armor that come straight out of a fairy tale. No doubt if terrorists attacked the stadium he would pack his things up and leave promptly, opting to simply not be a part of the situation than to put himself in danger just to keep them from squatting in the place for a few hours while the security teams rooted them out. In the end, nothing interesting would happen on this jog through the stadium halls. Notwithstanding if someone were to approach him for some reason. There is always the possibility for that, because one narrator does not control everything. There is always the possibility for unexpected input from other sources that can sway the situation away from what it had already been. However, the intercession of another on this tranquil yet not-that-serene scene was something that is yet to be seen. So James kept jogging. Superpost notwithstanding.
And the sad thing is that I honestly feel I should have kept going. I wouldn't have stopped but my DVD burning finished and I needed to write the label on it, so I just ended it.
themightyjello · Fri Aug 10, 2007 @ 08:34am · 0 Comments |
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She's come! Come to claim our souls! I never should have cut that crewman down from the mast, he was all that was keeping mighty Queen Dopplepoppolis and her army of dopplegangers at bay! Alas, we are lost! I can already hear them coming for me, singing their unending chant of utter doom!
Mummy! Save me mummy!
-
Arr.
So I've been reading through a lot of supplemental rulebooks for Dungeons & Dragons v3.5 lately. I mean, I've read through most of them already from time to time, but in the last few days I've gone through probably a thousand pages of rules back and forth just trying to dig things up.
See, I've got a little side project going with Steve, and it's going pretty well. We're almost done, just need to finish one last part before it gets put together all official and pretty-like. *Evil finger steepling.*
However, one of the last books I paged through today was the Book of Vile Darkness, which contains lots of things to use to build and plot villains with, including classes, prestige classes, villainous feats, villainous spells, villainous items, and so on. And it just reminded me how much I love my RP villains.
So, for no real reason whatsoever... I'm going to quote Gavin.
Why? Because a man that kills people and wears their faces is the kind of villain I want in my stories.
themightyjello "Is everyone accounted for?"
Captain Endin spoke loudly and clearly amongst the debris of the scattered golems that had risen up for mere seconds before the attacking force had retreated. He stood atop the body of one of the fallen monstrocities, speaking to the assembled troops before him. Most of them appeared unharmed... this was true, as they had not seen combat today, but had instead been the subject of an underhanded maneuver that left them in a worsening situation.
Four men lay dead at the back of the group; having been retrieved from the tower by melting the ice that had formed around them. They were frozen stiff, dead without the shadow of a doubt... though it wasn't just those that had been affected. Even the men who looked unharmed and had made it through to safety had felt the chill; some were still shivering from the cold, some had frostbite on their extremities and from their armor. One man would need to have his right leg amputated from where he had fallen, because the cold had been that overwhelming.
In the back of the group, one man stood beside the bodies of the dead, leaning on a rifle like it was a crutch; his face and neck bloodied. He had been the unlikely survivor... one of the men that had fallen behind in the east tower that had been presumed dead. From the looks of him, he hadn't made it through unscathed by a long shot, however.
"I'm proud... of each and every one of you. You have all showed courage today. You have all showed committment. What happened to our fallen brothers is unfortunate, but know that they gave their lives in defense of their city... Our city. These men are heroes, and we will honor them that way."
Captain Endin stepped down from his pedastal, and after a dedicated salute by the assembled troops, they broke formation and began the trek back into the inner city. Endin had other immediate plans, however; he would help to carry the fallen home."Captain, sir." The battered troop saluted as the Captain approached. Already he had been wrapped in bandages in several places, covering bleeding gashes that had apparently been caused by skin that had torn off when it touched his frigid armor.
"It was an honor to serve with you today...""The honor was to serve with you men," the Captain replied."Ah- Captain!" the troop stated, attempting to draw the man's attention again."Private... Chester, was it?""Sir, just Chess.""What do you need, Chess? The medical tent? It's-""Oh, no, nothing like that, sir," Chess replied; trying to wave it off with a smile that showed he was not only bleeding on the outside, but he had blood in his mouth, as well. "I just... well. I'm trying to write a letter to my girl, and, well... it's pretty embarassing. I just can't find the right words. I was hoping you could take a look at it for me since..."Endin was a bit taken aback by the request, and it showed.
"...since...?""Well, since you're so popular with the ladies. I've got to know! How do you do it!""Oh... ha... ha..." Endin laughed as a diversion. He really hadn't heard anything about this before, or at least he didn't know that it was common knowledge. He'd trained his troops too damn well, it seemed, one of them must have been spying on him.
"Right, then- ah..." the Captain rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "How about you come by my quarters later tonight, and I'll see if I can't help with your letter. No promises, though, I'm not a miracle worker.""Oh, thank you, sir. I'm really worried about this, we've been a little rocky lately and- oh, I'll tell it later. Thank you, Captain!"The troop and Captain both saluted, and went their separate ways.
themightyjello ~ Later ~ Endin sat at his desk; a single candle flickering to light the darkened room. His uniform was unbuttoned and the jacket was draped over the back of his chair, but even at this hour he seemed a poised and dignified officer.
A knock came to the door.
"It's open, Chess.""Sorry to intrude," the troop said politely with a pleasant smile as he stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. He was dressed much more casually than he had been in uniform, though the bandages were still wrapped about his body.
"I'm sorry for wasting your time like this, but... well..." the man muttered under his breath and fought with his own bandages as he spoke."I understand, trust me," the Captain responded as he pulled the chair away from his desk and offered the troop a seat."Oh, thank you. I'm still a little," he cringed as he settled into the seat; holding up a stack of folded paper over his shoulder as he did, "pained from today. It took us by surprise, I'm lucky to have lived."
"Though... I suppose it might be a good idea to leave that out of my letter to Jan, heh."That got a laugh out of the Captain, as he took the letter from the troop and turned his back to the candle so that he could use the light.
"Well, let's see what you've got here, the-"
As Endin folded open the first page of the letter, a viper leapt from the pages as if it had been coiled to strike from the very beginning. The lettering flashed for an instant as the Sepia Sigil hidden in the opening lines of the text faded, and the serpent sank its fangs into the Captain's neck.
'Wait... no... this is...'
Endin staggared back a step, but before his foot could touch the stone beneath him, his entire form was enveloped in a raidant amber casing."...a trap."
The troop sat quietly at the desk with his hands folded; the flickering light of the candle casting a shadow across the room that seemed almost inhuman. He smiled, broadly, pleased with how things were progressing.
"Captain, my Captain... you are going to be very useful to me..."Quote: Sepia Snake Sigil Conjuration (Creation) [Force] Level: Brd 3, Sor/Wiz 3 Components: V, S, M Casting Time: 10 minutes Range: Touch Target: One touched book or written work Duration: Permanent or until discharged; until released or 1d4 days + one day/level; see text Saving Throw: Reflex negates Spell Resistance: No When you cast sepia snake sigil, a small symbol appears in the text of one written work such as a book, scroll, or map. The text containing the symbol must be at least twenty-five words long. When anyone reads the text containing the symbol, the sepia snake springs into being and strikes the reader, provided there is line of effect between the symbol and the reader. Simply seeing the enspelled text is not sufficient to trigger the spell; the subject must deliberately read it. The target is entitled to a save to evade the snake’s strike. If it succeeds, the sepia snake dissipates in a flash of brown light accompanied by a puff of dun-colored smoke and a loud noise. If the target fails its save, it is engulfed in a shimmering amber field of force and immobilized until released, either at your command or when 1d4 days + one day per caster level have elapsed. While trapped in the amber field of force, the subject does not age, breathe, grow hungry, sleep, or regain spells. It is preserved in a state of suspended animation, unaware of its surroundings. It can be damaged by outside forces (and perhaps even killed), since the field provides no protection against physical injury. However, a dying subject does not lose hit points or become stable until the spell ends. The hidden sigil cannot be detected by normal observation, and detect magic reveals only that the entire text is magical. A dispel magic can remove the sigil. An erase spell destroys the entire page of text. Sepia snake sigil can be cast in combination with other spells that hide or garble text, such as secret page. Material Component 500 gp worth of powdered amber, a scale from any snake, and a pinch of mushroom spores. Quote: Geas/Quest Enchantment (Compulsion) [Language-Dependent, Mind-Affecting] Level: Brd 6, Clr 6, Sor/Wiz 6 Casting Time: 10 minutes Target: One living creature Saving Throw: None This spell functions similarly to lesser geas, except that it affects a creature of any HD and allows no saving throw. Instead of taking penalties to ability scores (as with lesser geas), the subject takes 3d6 points of damage each day it does not attempt to follow the geas/quest. Additionally, each day it must make a Fortitude saving throw or become sickened. These effects end 24 hours after the creature attempts to resume the geas/quest. A remove curse spell ends a geas/quest spell only if its caster level is at least two higher than your caster level. Break enchantment does not end a geas/quest, but limited wish, miracle, and wish do. Bards, sorcerers, and wizards usually refer to this spell as geas, while clerics call the same spell quest. Geas, Lesser Enchantment (Compulsion) [Language-Dependent, Mind-Affecting] Level: Brd 3, Sor/Wiz 4 Components: V Casting Time: 1 round Range: Close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels) Target: One living creature with 7 HD or less Duration: One day/level or until discharged (D) Saving Throw: Will negates Spell Resistance: Yes A lesser geas places a magical command on a creature to carry out some service or to refrain from some action or course of activity, as desired by you. The creature must have 7 or fewer Hit Dice and be able to understand you. While a geas cannot compel a creature to kill itself or perform acts that would result in certain death, it can cause almost any other course of activity. The geased creature must follow the given instructions until the geas is completed, no matter how long it takes. If the instructions involve some open-ended task that the recipient cannot complete through his own actions the spell remains in effect for a maximum of one day per caster level. A clever recipient can subvert some instructions: If the subject is prevented from obeying the lesser geas for 24 hours, it takes a -2 penalty to each of its ability scores. Each day, another -2 penalty accumulates, up to a total of -8. No ability score can be reduced to less than 1 by this effect. The ability score penalties are removed 24 hours after the subject resumes obeying the lesser geas. A lesser geas (and all ability score penalties) can be ended by break enchantment, limited wish, remove curse, miracle, or wish. Dispel magic does not affect a lesser geas.
themightyjello · Mon Mar 26, 2007 @ 06:27am · 0 Comments |
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Captain's Log - Year 2, Month 6, Day 6 - Doppleganger |
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Captain's Log,
Today the helmsman told me that he saw a ghostly apparition floating off the starboard bow of the ship. It seemed to him to be an ill omen, but I choose to remain more optimistic about the situation. Rather than falling prey to the superstitious beliefs of ghosts and dopplegangers, I'm going to believe that the light the helmsman saw floating in the night sky and the voice he heard crying for help were good omens, and shall stay our course without fear.
Now where is Smitty? I sent him up two nights past to fetch me eggs from the seagull nest on the starboard mast...
~ Captain Ignatious Meatgrinder
- = -
I am a killer, and the person that wrote this, at least the person that you believe wrote it, was my first victim.
It was the perfect crime. There were no witnesses, there are no suspects, no evidence was left, and there is no one to investigate. One day he was here and the next day he was dead and buried, with no one to know and no one to care. I took his name and nothing else, leaving his life and everything about him at the bottom of that hole along with everything that defined him.
This life that you've seen, this person that you think you know, all of it is just an elaborate lie. All of it. A lie that is told so well that no one suspects anything, because there is no one to suspect, and if there is no witness than there is no crime. Even I, the one who committed that murder, knew nothing about it. It was just a vanishing act.
But this person that you all think I am isn't real anymore, the real Joshua Weber died a decade ago thousands of miles from here. I killed him, I took his name, and I built my own life around it.
I don't look anything like him.
I don't act anything like him.
I don't feel anything like him.
And I don't remember him.
There is only one thing that we have in common, and that is the belief that the self is everything.
The belief that in this world or any other there is nothing that can be accomplished unless one is capable of accomplishing it. To achieve one must be powerful, competent, and willing to do what is necessary. We shared the belief that the only thing that can ever be perfect in the world is yourself.
So over time I killed him. Poisoned him slowly for weeks and watched him rot away from within until there was nothing alive left in him. I waited until the time was right, until everything was gone. His friends were gone, his family wasn't watching, and no one around him knew who he was at all. It was the perfect time to take control of his life and make it my own, and we both agreed that it was for the best.
I am not Joshua Weber.
I may use that name, but the person it belongs to has long since left. Cut out like a cancer that was ruining the perfection. I removed him. I removed everything about his life and made a new one of my own design. A perfect life. A perfect me. There is no room for imperfection, and bit by bit this life that I built began to shape itself into just what I wanted it to be: the perfect me.
Nothing perfect stays forever. Imperfections would come, and imperfections would go. I would remove them with my own hand. I would cut them out, sometimes taking everything they had touched with them just to make sure that the imperfection couldn't spread.
I will have the perfect life as the perfect me. I will have everything that I desire in the world, the only question is WHEN. And HOW. Not IF.
Some people say that compassion rules, and that you need other people. This does not apply. Perfection is one view. One will. The eye of the beholder, but only one beholder. One eye. To rule the world with an iron fist. To create perfection through force. Giving and merciless at the same time.
This is absolute control. Over oneself. Over the world.
Yesterday I was asked a question... "what happened". It was a question that wasn't answered, not because I chose not to, but because I could not answer it. Everything in the past, and everything that isn't perfect, it was all buried deep underground so that it would never see the light of day again. Even the memory of it had gone.
There are things in life that we choose not to remember. Sometimes painful things. Sometimes just things that make us doubt who we are. I remember that they pulled me out of school a few days per week for several months to attend therapy years ago. What I don't remember is why.
Today I answered that question... I dug up that hole, and found what had been buried. What I saw horrified me. It chilled me to the bone. It terrified and disgusted me at the same time... and I would cut it all away again in an instant if I were given that choice.
Because that dead person I left behind had started digging himself out, filled with all the cancerous filth that had been thrown into that hole.
How long until I kill him again? How much distance will I need to put between the two of us again to make sure he doesn't come back this time?
I'll get the knife. It's time to begin cutting away again. For the perfect me.
I don't want these memories.
I woke up today to find myself in the other place,
with a trail of my footprints from where I ran away.
It seems everything I've heard just might be true,
and you know me (well you think you do).
Sometimes, I have everything - Yet I wish I felt something
Do you know how far this has gone?
Just how damaged have I become?
When I think I can overcome...
It runs even deeper.
In in a dream I'm a different me. With a perfect you. We fit perfectly.
And for once in my life I feel complete - And I still want to ruin it.
Afraid to look.
As clear as day.
This plan has long been underway.
I hear them call.
I cannot stay.
The voice inviting me away.
Do you know how far this has gone?
Just how damaged have I become?
When I think I can overcome...
It runs even deeper.
Everything that matters is gone.
All the hands of hope have withdrawn.
Could you try to help me hang on?
It runs...
I'm straight.
I wont crack.
On my way.
And I cant turn back.
I'm okay.
I'm on track.
On my way.
And I cant turn back.
I stayed.
On this track.
Gone too far.
And I can't come back.
I stayed.
On this track.
Lost my way.
Can't come back.
Song of the Day: Even Deeper
themightyjello · Tue Mar 06, 2007 @ 09:02pm · 0 Comments |
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Because this deserves saving.
The Goddamn Vahn Lately the area where I work has become increasingly violent, or whatever. Guy at a gastation two blocks away was robbed at gunpoint with a shotgun. Week later, at the BurgerKing a block away, an armed gunman came in and confronted the manager, who had a gun as well. They both shot each other Wild West style. The robber died, and the manager is still in the hospital. Today, armed dude comes in trying to hold us up. My shift manager throws a pot of coffee into his face and I go sliding across the counter, tackling into him, while a regulare customer helps from behind. Gun didn't come go off and I really felt like I was gonna s**t my pants or something. But I saw what my shift manager was going to do, and I already told myself I ain't dying for no retarded reasons. The adrelaline rush was pretty cool but we were all pretty shaky afterwards.
Posterity, bitches.
themightyjello · Sat Nov 25, 2006 @ 06:11am · 2 Comments |
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Josh's Log - Not in the mood for a Meatgrinder currently. |
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Doomy doomy doomy...
I'm doing well (A-B) in 4 classes... and failing one. How does that work out? Seriously? I suppose I should waste more time on the one... damnit. :grumble:
Soon, two months... and then holiday seasons begin. There are two reasons I look forwards to this. The first, and most yay, is that I get visited by a very special someone... and it's not Santa. The second, and also very yay, is that I get to do more RP than I've done in probably a year. Which is happy for me, since I've been so out of it. ><"
themightyjello · Thu Oct 26, 2006 @ 06:03am · 1 Comments |
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Pirate Captain's Log - Year 2 / Day 10 |
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Pirate Captain's Log, 2006 -
We've been sailing in circles for the past two days. I can't imagine why the crew is doing this, all I've done is told them to turn us around. But every time I come on deck, we're facing the same featureless expanse of ocean that we were last time. I tell them "bring us around" and the next time I check we're staring at empty ocean. I tell them "head back the other way" and we'll still end up facing that empty ocean.
I'm at my wits end! If this keeps up I'll cut off the rudder. That will show those hooligans who's boss around here!
Deviously plotting,
~ Pirate Captain Ignatious Meatgrinder
-- - --
I took a midterm online tonight. It went well. I'm halfway done with this correspondence course now.
themightyjello · Wed Oct 11, 2006 @ 05:35am · 0 Comments |
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Captain's Log - Year 2 / Day 8 |
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Our voyage has been a lengthy one, indeed, and there is no sign of our goal yet. Though I will not give up until that white whale's head is mounted on my wall! Filthy overweight harlot, making off in the night with my autographed copy of The Amazing X-Men vol. 1!
She seduced me! In all my grissled sea-faring comicbooknerd glory!
I'll not rest, my dog will not eat, the crew will not stop facing perilous after perilous horror of the sea that I haphazardly fling them into with reckless abandon, until that white whale is found and I harpoon her sunless behind!
YARR!
It's logs like these that make me want to abandon my life as a law-abiding man and be born again as a scurvey sea dog. Captain Meatrginder, scourge of the seas! With a chiuaua on my shoulder and seven pegged toes, the seas shall tremble at the mention of my name and the... um... the notion of my frequently replaced crew.
In need of some fresh bodies good men,
Pirate Captain Ignatious Meatgrinder
------ ------ ------
Life is busy. Though I'm making progress. Got a membership at the recreation center on campus and a locker, and I've been going after classes daily. Feeling good about it. Not sure if I mentioned this in the last one. :laugh:
I've had a correspondence course on my records for a while now, since January, actually. It's a 10 month course that I've neglected doing... However, putting in 14 hours a day for the last two weekends, I'm ready to take the midterm. In four days I've managed to finish half of a semester worth of work and get perfect scores on the assigments. I think that's worthy of celebration.
As for my RPing... life moves on very slowly. I'm finally getting to move into a new arc with some things, from the much-wanted and awaited activity with James, Stryphe, and soon to be Joseph, to the conversation that I've apparently been having with Walter for the last two years...
...damn. Two years.
Though that character is finally going to come out of the hole he was shoved into. December. In HoH.
It will rock your socks off.
Wishing I had a router again,
Captain Josh.
themightyjello · Mon Oct 09, 2006 @ 07:20am · 0 Comments |
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