Monday, August 8. 2005Tommy Xiang
Tommy started. "I'm sorry," he said. "What did you say?"
"Are you sure you're OK, Dr. Xiang? You're acting kind of weird today." "Yeah, I'm OK. Just a little bit worried about some things that are going on at home." "Oh. Yeah, I know how that goes. Sometimes, no matter how hard we try, we just can't manage to keep the different pieces of our life from overlapping. I guess that's part of being human, isn't it? Wouldn't it be nice if we could just have a place to escape? Someplace we could go that was unaffected by everyday life?" "That would be nice." Tommy sighed. You have no idea how nice it would be, he thought. I used to have that. But now it's all unraveling. It's coming apart, and all I can do is stand and watch it come apart. "You did it again." "Sorry, did what?" "Disappeared. It's like you're going off into some distant world. You're just not yourself today." Tommy rubbed his temples. "I promise you, I won't disappear again." I won't disappear for a few hours, anyway, he thought. "I'll stay here with you. I'm sorry that I let things affect me so much." "Hey, don't worry about it. We all have days like that." Continue reading "Tommy Xiang" Monday, August 8. 2005Keb Jones
He showed up on one of the few days when Howell decided to go to class. I was sitting in our room, working on a paper for my anthropology class when I heard a soft tapping on the door. I opened it to see the detective from the federal police standing there. Without waiting for me to invite him in, he pushed into the room, looking over his shoulder as he did so.
"It's become more serious." "What do you mean?" "We used to be able to detect it whenever your roommate entered one of his virtual environments. Now, it seems, he's found a way to disguise it so that it looks like normal network traffic. We're sure that he still uses the environments--things like that are very addictive, and he has no reason to stop, but over the past few weeks, we've only been able to detect him using them on very rare occasions." "So what?" "We need to know when he's going into the environments. We're going to hide a camera, and put a keystroke logger on his system. That way, we can keep track of his comings and goings, and hopefully, we can find out how he's hiding his tracks from us." "If you were going to do this, why didn't you just come in when I wasn't here? Why did you come and tell me about it?" Continue reading "Keb Jones" Monday, August 8. 2005Macon Craig
I was almost tempted to go check her campsite without him. I knew the forest environment so well that I was sure I could get there and be back by the time Night_Watcher finished choosing a body. Once I got into the environment, though, all temptations to go anywhere without him disappeared. Every noise, the rustle of leaves in the wind, the sound of moving animals, even the far-off roar of the waterfall seemed hostile. I stood there, waiting for him, trying not to jump at every unexpected noise.
He appeared as an indistinct shimmer that gradually solidified into his customary body. He gave me a weak half grin, and we walked into the trees, glad of each other's companionship, but unwilling to create discomfort by mentioning it. It didn't take us long to reach the clearing. I stood at the edge of the clearing and breathed a sigh of relief. A faint scattering of ashes testified that my story, while improbable, was true. Night_Watcher stared down at them, unspeaking. Sinking down on his haunches, he sifted the ashes between his fingers, allowing them to drift on the wind. He looked over his shoulder at me. Several times, it looked like he was going to speak, but he never managed to say anything. Finally, he turned his gaze back to the ashes. I jumped when he stood up quickly and began circling the ashes with rapid, jerky steps. Without looking up, he began to speak. "You're sure that you didn't build this fire? I mean, could you have built it while you were sleepwalking or something?" "I guess it's possible. I doubt it, but it's possible." Continue reading "Macon Craig" Monday, August 8. 2005
First in a Long Line of New Tools Posted by Ancient of Days
in D&D at
02:49
Comments (3) Trackbacks (0) First in a Long Line of New Tools
I'm working on a set of tools to help our games go more smoothly. The first thing I've prepared to release is a private installation of 3EProfiler.
I've pre-created the following users: Pete Curtis Anne Katie Brandon Eewee Leave the password field empty. Once you're logged in, feel free to setup the account however you like. Friday, August 5. 2005So Umm....
Weren't we promised an update to the Comic for this week?
Friday, August 5. 2005Never A More Beautiful Creature
Well it's a bit slow today, so I figured I'd post this. This is mainly for Radar and Mad Giggler, but you all can enjoy it as well.
Friday, August 5. 2005Nalathisor: A Vision
We rode extra hard to shave some time off of the trip to GladeKeep. However that didn't prevent some of us from falling asleep during the trip. After we arrived, and began to settle in the town, Llan told us of a vision he was sent by Heironeous during his sleep.
In his vision Llan could se the entire town of GladeKeep, and the forest that surrounds it. On the outskirts of the forest he was able to see an extremely large number of orcs gathering in preparation for an attack on the city. Behind the orcs up on a hill he could see a hill giant, who was leading the preparations and the orcs. The hill giant was engulfed by the shadow of a six-armed figure. Llan knew that the shadow of the six-armed figure was that of Hextor, and we all felt the foreboding that told us our time in GladeKeep was not going to be uneventful. Thursday, August 4. 2005The Bane of Joey
J- Ungh! (bounce, bounce, bounce)
P-Smack! (bounce, bounce, bounce) J-(squeak, squeak) ungh. Slap. (bounce, bounce, bounce) J-Bap. (bounce, bounce) J-Swaap! (bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce) P-POP! (bounce, bounce) J-Crack! (bounce, bounce, bounce) J-Bap! (bounce, bounce, bounce) J-wwhhff! J- (bounce) J-bop. (bounce, bounce) P-Bap. (bounce, bounce, bounce) J-hhmmp. (squeak, squeak, squeak) P- (sneak, sneak, sneak) J-bip. (bounce, bounce, bounce) P-grnugh. Smack! (bounce, bounce, bounce) J-Ungh! (Squeak, Squeak, SSQQUUEEEEEEAAKKK!!!!!!!!!) P- (bounce, bounce) J-GGRRRGHAAAAAAAAAGGGHHHH, I HATE YOU PETE!!!!!! P-hee, hee. Thursday, August 4. 2005Nalathisor: Awaken to Battle
I don't know how long I was asleep, but sooner or later I was awaken by Doran screaming for everyone to return to camp, as we were being attacked by orcs.
On the way back to camp, I noticed an orc desperately trying to communicate. He was trying not to be overheard, but he mentioned that we were surrounded by orcs trying to kill us. He wanted to help us out, because much like the monk he was a follower of St. Cuthbert. Normal orcs aren't smart enought to recognize the symbols of St. Cuthbert and form a plan around it. Apprehensive, yet intrigued I decided to go over to him and hear what he had to say. As I headed over to him, he was cleaved in two by Doran. In a voice loud enough for Thelonius to hear, asked Doran why he did that, and told him that he was a follower of St. Cuthbert. Thelonius seemed outraged at hearing this. It didn't help when Doran replied that he could speak orc and understood what the orc was saying. It appeared that Doran had a deep hatred for all orcs, and didn't care whether they were innocent or not. Despite my urging that we should not all go off and attack from the same direction, Doran rushed off to join Llan, Jack, and two lieutenants by the name of Marcos and Donovan who had come into camp, to face the oncoming orcs head on. Thelonius, who was still raging over the death of his St. Cuthbert brethren and I decided we should come at the group from a flanking position. As we moved towards what we thought was the rear of the battle we could hear what souned like reinforcements, as well as what we assumed was the main battle. We continued to travel to the middle point of the two sounds. As the battle became visible I could see the main group being surrounded. I could also see some orcs who were standing back as ranged fighters, but no reinforcements were in sight. As the battle raged on Thelonius and I were able to finish off those support orcs and headed in to the main group. The battle was furious as I used up all of my spells for the day, but finally after much fighting we watched as Thelonius put his fist clean through the skull of the final orc. Though we were victorious we weren't without losses. Donovan was the long surviving member of the Borderkeep. Thelonius would not get his confrontation with Doran, as some of the orcs he so despised were able to finish him off in the battle. I wondered though, would Thelonious consider this redemption for the callous murder of his brethren. We gathered our wounded and fallen, as well as searched the orc bodies for clues and goods. Thelonius gave the orc of St. Cuthbert a proper burial, and was able retrieve a medallion of St. Cuthbert from the body. Once this was all done, Donovan decided he was going to head to GladeKeep tonight. He bought the wagon from Thomas to hold the bodies of his fallen comrades. We decided to accompany him, and instead put the bodies of the fallen on horses so that the wounded could ride in the wagon. Together the group began the journey to Gladekeep. It was a somber journey. Thursday, August 4. 2005Nalathisor: The Borderkeep
During our trip, Thomas' (The old guy) wife died. He continued along with us until we could reach GladeKeep. About two days into our trip, we came upon a camp. It was getting late, and we were all tired so we figured this would be a good place to rest.
Upon entering the camp we were approached by Doran, the sheriff of the Borderkeep, approached us. He told us to be careful, as a band of orcs, about 20 strong, had been attacking travellers recently. He said they seemed to be more intelligent, and more organized than usual orcs. We told him of our recent encounter. Upon inspecting one of Jackle's gold coins we got from looting the orcs, Doran was able to confirm it's the same group. Doran asked if, sense we were staying tonight, could we help patrol. We agreed, but only after Jackle subtely reminded Doran, he still had his coin. Jackle, Thelonius and I went out on patrol, while Llan, and Azrael stayed back at camp to aid with the wounded. I headed out to the patrol the southeast area. And then it all went black. Wednesday, August 3. 2005Howell Clarke
Night_Watcher[23:37]: Do you think you'll ever go back?
Fair_Weather_Friend[23:38]: I don't know. I've tried going back in. I'm always scared now. It's not fun, or relaxing, like it used to be. Night_Watcher[23:38]: Yeah, I know what you mean. Even though I know it's safe, I'm really jumpy whenever I go in. It's been a couple of weeks since I've been in. Fair_Weather_Friend[23:46]: I just thought of something. I was going to ask you about it, but I kind of forgot about it with all of the mess that night. He doesn't even have to specify which night. He just says "that night," and both of us know which night he's talking about . I don't think any of us will ever forget that night. After I uploaded that level, I went into the forest level to sleep. I woke up because I heard a girl singing. I saw her. She touched me. Night_Watcher[23:47]: She touched you? I think you were dreaming :) Fair_Weather_Friend[23:47]: No, I'm serious. She was there. She built a fire. I'll bet the ashes are still there. Night_Watcher[23:48]: Where did she touch you? Fair_Weather_Friend[23:53]: She beat the crap out of me, OK? It wasn't anything pretty. Continue reading "Howell Clarke" Wednesday, August 3. 2005Macon Craig
The call ended. I slid my phone back into my pocket. I was hungry. Famished in fact. I walked downstairs into the kitchen. As I savored my Moose Tracks ice cream, I heard Brain_Stem's voice, "Well, I'll probably starve to death before anybody breaks into my apartment and finds me . . . " I finished the ice cream, and sat down to see what was on TV. I flipped from channel to channel, searching for something worth watching, but as I did, I kept hearing Brain_Stem saying "I'll see you in there." No, he wouldn't. Night_Watcher meant nothing to me. He wasn't my friend. He was just . . . I stood up. I knew nothing about rescuing anyone.
It took me longer than usual to choose a body. Which body would be most suitable for a rescue? Did I need strength, speed, lots of cool gadgets? What was I even rescuing him from? Finally, I chose one of the newest bodies. It was modeled on Indiana Jones. Well, maybe more like what Indiana Jones would be like if Harrison Ford were on steroids. I stepped out into the environment. "I AM GOOD," I said, looking around in astonishment at my own work. I saw someone, a huge, heavily muscled hulk of a man, standing nearby. He looked up as I approached. "You made it." "I didn't want to." "That's ok. I didn't either." "So, where is he?" "I don't know yet." We began walking around the environment, taking care to never let the other out of our sight. "I'm glad you're here," he said. "Yeah. I mean no. I mean, I'm glad you're here too. I'm not real glad that I'm here, though." We crept silently down the subway tunnel. I'm not sure why we were being so quiet. "What do you think it will look like?" "I don't know. I think a train's coming." I looked behind us. I didn't see anything coming, but I did feel the ground vibrating beneath my boots. Continue reading "Macon Craig" Wednesday, August 3. 2005Tommy Xiang
Tommy knew that Fair_Weather_Friend didn't want to talk to him. He knew that he didn't like him. But he also had a pretty good idea what Night_Watcher was going through. He had seen patients writhe in pain when a few nerves began firing randomly. Half the nerves in Night_Watcher's body were probably firing right now. At least, that's what his brain would think.
"Well?" "I'm running the check right now. Ok. It's finished. Everything looks good." "Ok copy the new file over the top of the old one." "It says, 'Access Denied: the file is currently in use or read-only'." "Oh no. No." He felt panic climbing within him, clawing at his stomach, twisting and churning inside of him. "Can't I just go unplug him? He doesn't live too far from me." "No, we haven't finished the system that allows for an externally initiated offload. If you just unplug him, it will destroy his short-term memory. And who knows what else it will do." "Why are we doing this?" Tommy could tell that Fair_Weather_Friend was frightened. He was frightened himself. But they were frightened for different reasons. Continue reading "Tommy Xiang" Wednesday, August 3. 2005Murderball
Murderball is a movie I've been wanting to see for a few weeks now. As usual the Bill Simmons, The Sports Guy, says why, better than I can.
Wednesday, August 3. 2005Nalathisor: Conversations with an Orc
The five of us left NewKeep, and headed towards the Northwest of the lands. After about half a day's journey we came across a man sitting on the side of the road next to a wagon. No sooner had the old man finished telling us that he was attacked by orcs who had taken his wife, than Jackle fired an arrow off into the trees. Apparently he had seen a foot dangling from the trees. His proficiency with the bow helped him land a fatal blow as after he fired his arrow, and orc dropped dead to the ground.
However, in true Jackle fashion, he didn't bother to see the exact layout of the situation, as 3 more orcs jumped out. Poor Thelonius was surrounded with an orc on either side of him. In front of the monk was what seemed like the leader of the orcs. He was holding a dagger to the throat of a woman, we could only assume was the man's wife. Soon all our weapons were drawn. The orc began muttering something, and being versed in the language of the Orcs was able to translate. He told us to put our weapons down or the woman dies. I attempted to strike up a conversation but he kept insisting on us putting our weapons down. I attempted to get my compatriots to lower their weapons, as the current situation was not good for the woman being held hostage. Jackle was resistant to put his bow down, but in the common tongue I told him not to worry, that he was the fastest draw among any of us. Apparently I was too loud, as the orc than muttered, in common, "I speak common". I really should stick to using Elven or Draconic between Jackle and I. I continued a conversation with the orc leader trying to keep him distracted. Thelonius and I seemed to be on the same page though, as while I was conversing with the leader, the monk quickly was able to sneak up and disarm the leader, freeing the old lady. Jackle immediately fired his bow, and watched as his arrow found it's final resting place, embedded deep through the throat of the main orc. The other orcs were finished in short order, although the monk did suffer some wounds. It appears that he was early in his training, as he tends to throw his punches rather wildly. Sometimes doing nothing more than cooling his enemy off with a slight breeze. We took care of the old man, Thomas, and his wife. That night during camp, some of the remarks Llan and Jackle made, caused me to think they know more now than they did before. I decided to get Llan alone and find out what he knew. During our conversation Llan, told me about the steps he took to track down his father. How he sent a letter to him, so they could meet in NewKeep and he could confront him. I offically welcomed him to the family. Truthfully he's always felt like family to me, ever since he was young. Llan truly seemed interested in getting to know his father. I figured I'd not ruin his happiness now with the sad news of his mother. Jackle on the other hand, wasn't taking this whole father thing serious. But then again what would I expect. After all he wasn't there while he grew up. He just sired the boy and left. We camped for the night, before continuing the 10 day journey to GladeKeep. |
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