I am a Leaf on the Wind

Something to think about...

2008-09-30T04:49:29Z

According to the US Census, there are approximately 68 million American households who own the property they live on. Let's assume, for the sake of argument, all of them have a mortgage they need to pay off.

$700,000,000,000 would give each and every one of these households over $10,000.

Watching history repeat itself

2008-04-24T23:31:22Z

I've seen a lot of comparisons to the 1968 primary season being made in the media recently. A hard-fought race for the Democratic ticket that goes unwon until the convention, all while caught in an unpopular war, with racial issues making an enormous impact on the entire process, and the youth making an impact on the process like never before.

Then in June, one of the candidates gets assassinated.

And at the convention the police commit a horrible crackdown against protesters, at the behest of the Democratic mayor, that give the party a black eye they won't shed until Watergate overshadows it.

All while the party man with all the connections wins the nomination because he has all the superdelegates in his pocket.

And then the Republicans win in a landslide.

How many comparisons does anyone really want to see here?

Arcon

2008-03-10T21:13:37Z

For those interested, as a Gygax tribute I'm running the infamous Tomb of Horrors deathtrap at Arcon this year.

Two non-continuous slots. 4-8 players. I'll bring 16 pregens. Hopefully, we'll need them all.

See ya this weekend.

jacob09481 @ 2008-02-05T17:09:00

2008-02-05T22:51:23Z

Among realistic possibilities, McCain / Huckabee would be the best ticket I can think of, and would probably be the only ticket that GOP could assemble that could beat Obama.

McCain's realism keeps Huck's wacky theocratic impulses in check, while at the same time gathering the necessary evangelical voters (hate em, but still preferable over socialists like Clinton getting into the White House). And honestly, Huckabee's support for the Fair Tax Act is almost enough for me to overlook the anti-abortion, anti-gay, anti-science crap he believes in. Seriously, I am this close to that being the single issue that decides it for me in November.

That said, I'd be satisfied with any of McCain, Huckabee, Paul, or Obama. Barack hasn't proven himself the socialist most Dems have become, and honestly a borderline case like his is better than a lockstep robot for either party (Clinton/Romney).

jacob09481 @ 2007-09-24T22:40:00

2007-09-25T02:40:26Z

I have a new life goal.

I will eat one of every quadraped on earth.

Because they are all made of meat.

That is all.

jacob09481 @ 2007-08-02T18:23:00

2007-08-02T22:24:48Z

A little surprised at how pronounced this one turned out.

jacob09481 @ 2007-07-16T23:42:00

2007-07-17T03:43:19Z

Hello, employee discount.

jacob09481 @ 2007-07-05T17:55:00

2007-07-05T21:57:36Z

I have a job interview on Wednesday. If all goes well, I should be looking at a 40% pay jump in two weeks.

jacob09481 @ 2007-01-07T18:36:00

2007-01-07T23:37:08Z

Your results:
You are Lex Luthor

Lex Luthor		83%
Dr. Doom		78%
Apocalypse		75%
The Joker		74%
Magneto		71%
Mr. Freeze		68%
Juggernaut		67%
Dark Phoenix		64%
Green Goblin		55%
Poison Ivy		53%
Venom		51%
Riddler		51%
Kingpin		49%
Two-Face		47%
Catwoman		39%
Mystique		31%

A brilliant businessman on a quest for world domination and the self-proclaimed greatest criminal mind of our time!

Click here to take the "Which Super Villain am I?" quiz...

I expected Magneto... guess I'm not quite egotistical enough, or perhaps egotistical in a different way.

jacob09481 @ 2006-11-19T22:06:00

2006-11-20T03:06:29Z

You scored as Storyteller. The Storyteller is in it for the plot: the sense of mystery and the fun of participating in a narrative that has the satisfying arc of a good book or movie. He enjoys interacting with well-defined NPCs, even preferring antagonists who have genuine motivations and personality to mere monsters. To the Storyteller, the greatest reward of the game is participating in a compelling story with interesting and unpredictable plot threads, in which his actions and those of his fellow characters determine the resolution.

With apologies to Robin Laws.

</td>

Storyteller

65%

Character Player

65%

Weekend Warrior

60%

Tactician

45%

Casual Gamer

30%

Power Gamer

Specialist

What RPG Player (Not Character) Type Are You?
created with QuizFarm.com

jacob09481 @ 2006-10-16T17:45:00

2006-10-16T22:03:06Z

HowManyOfMe.com

There are:
17
people with my name
in the U.S.A.

How many have your name?

When I google myself, I first show up on page 6, in an old Arcon events packet. Of my 16 living doppelgangers, two show up ahead of me. Top five!

- A high school freshman on the football team in Sandwich, IL.
- An elementary school student in Cleveland, OH.
- Me!
- A middle school Chai Kwon Do instructor in Smyrna, GA.
- An 3rd grader on the honor roll in Mobile, AL.

jacob09481 @ 2006-09-09T16:32:00

2006-09-09T20:33:47Z

My Personality


Neuroticism	56
Extraversion	61
Openness To Experience	92
Agreeableness	7
Conscientiousness	8

Test Yourself Compare Yourself View Full Report

Bebo, MySpace Layouts and hi5 by Pulseware Survey Software

You are neither a subdued loner nor a jovial chatterbox. You enjoy time with others but also time alone. Stressful and frustrating situations can often be upsetting to you, but you are sometimes able to get over these feelings and cope with these situations. Novelty, variety, and change spice up your life and make you a curious, imaginative, and creative person. People see you as tough, critical, and uncompromising and you have less concern with others' needs than with your own. You like to live for the moment and do what feels good now. Your work tends to be careless and disorganized.

Stressful and frustrating situations can often be upsetting to you, but you are sometimes able to get over these feelings and cope with these situations. You are generally calm, although some situations can make you feel anxious or tense. You rarely get angry and it takes a lot to make you angry. You tend to lack energy and have difficult initiating activities. You are not generally self conscious about yourself. You often resist any cravings or urges that you have, but sometimes you give in. You experience panic, confusion, and helplessness when under pressure or stress.

You are neither a subdued loner nor a jovial chatterbox. You enjoy time with others but also time alone. You generally make friends easily enough although you mostly don't go out of your way to demonstrate positive feelings toward others. You like crowds but sometimes feel overwhelmed by them. Sometimes you feel like you need some privacy and time for yourself. You are an active group participant but usually prefer to let someone else be the group leader. You lead a leisurely and relaxed life. You would prefer to sit back and smell the roses than indulge in high energy activities. You love bright lights and hustle and bustle. You are likely to take risks and seek thrills. You experience a range of positive feelings, including happiness, enthusiasm, optimism, and joy.

Novelty, variety, and change spice up your life and make you a curious, imaginative, and creative person. Often you find the real world is too plain and ordinary for your liking, and you use fantasy as a way of creating a richer, more interesting world for yourself. You love beauty, both in art and in nature. Sometimes you become easily involved and absorbed in artistic and natural events. You have good access to and awareness of your own feelings. You are eager to try new activities, travel to foreign lands, and experience different things. You find familiarity and routine boring, and will take a new route home just because it is different. As a person who is open-minded to new and unusual ideas, you love to play with and think about ideas. You also like to debate intellectual issues and often enjoy riddles, puzzles and brain teasers. You like the security of tradition, but sometimes have a desire to bend the rules and challenge conventional thinking.

People see you as tough, critical, and uncompromising and you have less concern with others' needs than with your own. You naturally assume that most people are fair, honest, and have good intentions. You believe that a certain amount of deception in social relationships is necessary. You are guarded in new relationships and less willing to openly reveal the whole truth about yourself. You find helping other people genuinely rewarding and are generally willing to assist those who are in need. You find that doing things for others is a form of self-fulfillment rather than self-sacrifice. You are not adverse to confrontation and will sometimes even intimidate others to get your own way. You feel superior to those around you and sometimes tend to be seen as arrogant by other people. You are not affected strongly by human suffering, priding yourself on making objective judgments based on reason. You are more concerned with truth and impartial justice than with mercy.

You like to live for the moment and do what feels good now. Your work tends to be careless and disorganized. You believe that you have the intelligence, common sense, drive, and self-control necessary for achieving success. In general you tend to be disorganized and scattered. You have a strong sense of duty and obligation, and feel a moral obligation to do the right thing. You are content to get by with a minimal amount of work, and might be seen by others as lazy. You find yourself procrastinating and show poor follow-through on tasks. Often you fail to complete tasks - even tasks that you want very much to complete. You often say or do the first thing that comes to mind without deliberating alternatives and the probable consequences of those alternatives.

I see Alpha, Antiquities, Ice Age, Mirage...

2006-09-07T04:42:53Z

Does anyone else get the impression from the preview cards (here, here, and here) that the Time Spiral expansion should just be renamed Magic: the Gathering, Greatest Hits: 1993-2000?

jacob09481 @ 2006-08-12T10:16:00

2006-08-12T14:16:00Z

She said yes.

:-)

The story of a girl

2006-08-11T21:40:48Z

So today marks 18 months together with Sarah. A damned long time for a relationship by anyone's estimation. In a few minutes I'm going to be getting into my car and driving up to her parents' house in Lockport to bring her here for the next few weeks until school starts up at the end of the month. In the weeks leading up to this day, I've been doing a lot of thinking. Where we are, how we got here, and where we’re going. Long distance relationships will make you do that I guess, especially with an analytical mindset like mine. I mean, I can’t even begin to describe how much I’ve missed her this summer, so the foremost thought process going through my mind has been this: How do I keep this from happening again?

Well, to make a long story short, I’ve decided I’m going to ask her to marry me tonight. To make that short story long again...

About five years ago, at my cousin's wedding, the best man, for his traditional toast to the newlyweds, said a statement that has remained in my mind for years. "You don't marry someone that you can live with, you marry someone you can't live without." At the time my cynical and disillusioned mind flatly rejected the rather corny cliché. After all, I'm my own individual, I don't need another person to complete who I am or validate my own existence. Besides, women were crazy, unpredictable, and impossible to please, as experience had taught me. My sense of self-worth and independence, along with that borderline misogynistic cynicism, rather brutalized the touching sentiment, burying it beaten and bloodied in the deepest reaches of my subconscious.

But the thought wasn't forgotten. It lingered in my mind as a testament to foolish and unrealistic romanticism, the sort that existed only in sappy chick flicks and dime-store romance novels. In the real world, relationships, as they were, swirled with selfishness, duplicity, unfaithfulness, emotional barriers, secrecy, lies, and baggage from previous failed relationships. People were more concerned about protecting themselves from being hurt than they were in making their relationship work and letting the chips fall as they will. All these artificial barriers did was prolong relationships that wouldn't work out, and sabotage the ones that would. But this was how life worked, so one had best deal with it. So I did. I didn’t like it, but that’s how the game was played.

In June of 2003, following yet another aborted relationship, I made a LiveJournal entry itemizing precisely what I sought in a prospective girlfriend. It was rather eye-opening in some respects. I realized as I was writing it that the dating game, hooking up, and frankly all the bullshit just wasn't doing it for me. Women still certainly enthralled me, biology wouldn’t have it any other way, but the hunt, as it were, lacked any appeal for me. And the most surprising revelation to me was that, contrary to everything the media and pop culture would like to tell us, I was looking for something long-term. A commitment, as it were. But this was rather problematic for me, since I had no idea how to approach a relationship from this angle, especially with my distaste for the mind games of modern dating. This initiated a rather long dry spell for me

So when I began dating Sarah, I expected things to go much the same way. I mean, her last relationship had ended atrociously and she was devastated, so surely she should be looking to protect herself from getting hurt again. So I entered the relationship looking for a week or two of fun, and then to let her down easy, just to show not every guy's a total jackass when relationships don't work out. And hell, our first "date" together reinforced that feeling; it was a party that neither of us felt really comfortable at, so neither of us were terribly open with anything. Suffice to say, I don't think anyone who was at the party expected we would last 18 days, let alone 18 months. Luckily the next day we spent hanging around playing Halo 2, a much more relaxed setting where we started to really get a feel for one another. And wouldn't you know it, we were both hooked.

Despite how well we clicked, there were still some mental hangups on my part. After all, she was a close friend's ex, which is touchy ground for any guy. Plus, the prospect of trying to maintain a long-distance relationship over the summer was hardly an appealing one. In fact, years ago I swore I would never get involved in one again. Yeah, I know, as much as I hated it when I had to deal with a girl's mental hangups, I went ahead and did it to her. I am such a hypocrite sometimes. It took a while for me to get over the latter one, and in fact up until that last weekend in Oswego before summer break, I was telling myself I'd end it as gently as I could right then to save us both a lot of trouble. But when the time finally came, the best way to say what happened was to recount a conversation that me and Justin had on the way back to the car to head home.

"So, I thought you were going to break up with her."

"Yeah, I thought so too."

"You fell for her, didn't you."

"Yeah, but I tried not to."

And the thing is, I really did try not to. I was terrified of having to go months on end without seeing the one I loved. So much so that I was nearly willing to artificially end it to stop that from happening; basically, a lot of temporary pain now to avoid a lingering emptiness later. And looking back on it now, I can't help but think about how ridiculously horrible a decision that would have been. I mean, yeah, the past two summers apart have been brutal, but is three months of emptiness really that bad when off-set by the rest of the year? That night was probably the first time that old phrase I heard at my cousin's so many years ago clicked back into my head. When I got home, I checked back on that old 2003 post again to check her off against my list.

Holy shit. I might end up marrying this girl.

So I resolved during the fall semester when she returned to drop all the bullshit, and be as open with her as I wanted her to be with me. And damn it, that was a fantastic semester. Every weekend we'd lie awake at night in her room talking about everything and anything. I wanted to know everything about her, from what she wants to see in our future to the way her mind works to her favorite ice cream (Perry's All-American, the kind with the crazy amounts of cherries in it). And the more I learned, the more I fell for her. That semester, I decided it had to happen; this was the woman I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. I decided that on our following anniversary (because I like stacking dates like that, makes remembering them easier, and it makes me seem more romantic and stuff when I’m really just lazy); I would finally pop the question.

But as life will sometimes go, there were issues. I lost my job in January, and my unemployment got muddled up, leaving me in rather dismal financial straits. So I had to put the plans on hold for a bit. At the beginning of the summer, right when I finally got a new job set up, Sarah had to head back to Niagara County for her internship while I worked off my unemployment debt. I was still horribly broke, so we’ve only managed a total of three visits so far, little islands of tranquility and perfection in a ridiculously unpleasant few months. But one thing this whole experience has drilled into my brain is that I can’t let this happen again.

“You don’t marry someone you can live with, you marry someone you can’t live without.”

Corny as it is, that’s exactly how I’m feeling right now.

I’m back on my feet, with a good job, manageable expenses, and everything’s really getting back in order. Add in the fact that I’ll be secreting her away to my fortress of solitude this weekend until school starts up in a few weeks, and you get me the most optimistic about life that I’ve been in a very long while. I’ve managed to scrimp together enough spare change, box tops, and empty soda bottles to afford a cheap engagement ring that I’ll hopefully be able to upgrade at some future anniversary (apparently a very common practice for 20-something crowd I've discovered; the things I learn while researching this stuff).

By the time the update button finishes putting this rambling tale of love on my journal, I'll already be out the door. I don't think I've ever been this excited, terrified, and absolutely certain of anything in my life like I am now.

Here goes nothing.

Welcome to Life, Inc.

2006-08-08T02:41:54Z

going down the wrong track...

2006-07-04T16:49:46Z

There are at least 3 college students on my friends list who cannot find temporary summer employment because of New York's minimum wage hike.

And 40 hours at minimum wage still isn't enough to support yourself if it's your only source of income.

Novitas!

2006-06-06T02:58:19Z

Excellent game! By far my favorite so far. September can't come fast enough, though I'm sure a fighter practice or two will sate some of my bloodthirst. Hopefully there'll be a few I can make it to. Anyway, here follows my (almost) complete PEL, minus a few minor plot suggestions omitted on the off chance something suggested actually goes into game.

Friday evening (NPC)

Role: Waspoid
Mission: Operation: Honey
Goal: Antagonize PCs, search for honey and buzzers, lay eggs in our fallen foes.
Quick Summary: We showed up, died, respawned, looked for Honey, and couldn't find any due to darkness and equipment difficulty.
Suggestions: Find some way to make those masks more usable. Give Waspoids a scent-based "detect honey" ability. Get larger pants, because gamers are fatties.

With our first spawning, we focused primarily on the first and third aspects of the mission, and attacked the first batch of PCs we could find, attempting to lay eggs in their unconsious bodies. This was unsuccessful, but I'll be damned if I could tell you who we fought. I could barely see a thing in that mask, so I just wailed at whatever was in front of me. We fell rather quickly, though I believe we got a few hits through. After they passed on, leaving our lootless bodies behind, we respawned, and decided to emphasize the search for honey aspect of our mission. So the next two PC groups that we encountered (after about an hour of alternately wandering the woods and waiting by the main fork in the path near town), we basically demanded honey, and when they said we didn't have any, made threatening noises and let them go by. Apparently, one of the two groups had a buzzer with them, and we all completely missed her due to darkness compounding the aforementioned mask problem. Unless the masks are improved significantly, as ridiculous as it sounds, giving them a "detect honey" ability may not be a bad idea. Maybe have it trigger on alchemical flowers too to give it some use outside of the few of us who carry Buzzer Honey.

Role: Vlenoan
Mission: Six More than a Gross
Goal: Show up as one of Luigi's enormous entourage, and threaten Eleos.
Quick Summary: I guess you could say "mission accomplished"
Suggestions: Come on... 150 of them? There's hammering PCs with plot, and then there's tac-nuking them.

Y'all know what happened here, so I'll just throw a comment or two in. I'm not a fan of how the whole Luigi marching on Eleos thing went down, not at all. I'm fine with PCs having to take responsibility for their actions and all, the bounty hunter plot was great. But don't strongarm them into a no-way-out situation like that unless it's a case of repeated antagonism with that particular NPC. And whoever threw the orange should get docked a level for doing something that moronic, childish, and potentially dangerous.

Saturday Morning (PC)

Mission: Retrieve the Earthkin's Bracelet
Quick Summary: We stomped some orcs, rooted out their encampment, and retrieved a magic trinket for some earthkin.
Suggestions: Encourage faster recursion of respawning NPCs. Come up with a standard signal to signify recursion.

During some morning relaxing at the inn (where I won a handful of coin gambling), a pair of earthkin showed up looking for assistance in retrieving a magical bracelet, which was stolen by orcs holed up in a nearby encampment. So the militia, plus Drace and Thalen from the Legion, headed over to deal with them. It was a decent-sized camp, lot of orcs, including a shaman, and they gave us a bit of a fight (thanks to the respawn). I have to give mad props to my brother (Justin) for his lightning-quick respawn. It helped that he was isolated (and Pinned) in the road when he fell, so we had our backs to him as we turned to deal with the rest of the encampment. His charge back into the fray caught us totally off-guard. Pretty much everyone else kind of started to just get up without saying anything, so we (understandably, in the heat of battle as it was) turned to hack at them as they did, which lead to a lot of conversations going, "We kinda need to respawn." Perhaps similar to orange being out of game, monsters going to respawn could hold up a different-colored strip. Maybe white or yellow. Also, encourage them to take advantage of the directional confusion like Justin did; come in from all sides and all angles, that's what would happen anyway if faced with a couple dozen screaming orcs. Anyway, we headed back to the inn and returned the bracelet and got our reward. They did offer to sell it for a ridiculously huge sum, to which we graciously declined. Talk to us in another four games or so, maybe then we'll have spare cash around that level. While at the inn, we also met an ogress selling fruit. Leslie was born for that role. One of the best NPC portrayals I saw this weekend.

Mission: Eleos Falls in a Pit and Dies
Quick Summary: We find Eleos dead and Nai mortally wounded, the result of a dastardly bounty-hunter attack
Suggestions: Bringing Nai back by the Buzzer Queen was a little Deus Ex Machina, but I'm pretty sure that wasn't intentional.

Shortly after we returned to the inn and grabbed some food, we heard the sounds of battle coming from the Justice League's cabin. We rushed over and found Nai, bleeding, poisoned, and unconscious with a major chest wound, and Eleos dead at the bottom of a pit. Omar rushed to give Nai first aid, while Malakai and I ran back to the legion barracks to get something to heal him with, and Gaius and Xavius headed out to find Ato, the only healer with Revive in game at the time. When Malakai and I came back with a Panacea scroll, however, a quintet of Buzzers had already brought Nai back from death's door.

Mission: Escort the Buzzer Queen
Quick Summary: We protect the Buzzer entourage as they go into the wilderness to survey a spot for a new hive.
Suggestions: Have this be a running plot. Allow PCs who wish to to travel to the new hive to barter for more honey, and occasionally defend it from Waspoid attacks.

The Buzzers, it seemed, had previously scouted the area, and found several locations where they might build a hive. The path was wrought with peril, however, so they required an escort. Nai, Thalen, Harko, and I agreed to go while the rest of the militia tended to Eleos and/or hunted for Ato. On the way in, we ran into Gaius and Xavius, who had found Ato and his band. Noting that it would be easy for the experienced Ato and company to make it back to town, our fellow militiamen joined us in our escort and we bring adieu and good luck to the skilled healer. Aside from that, the path there was rather uneventful. A few stops to survey potential building sites here and there, but otherwise a typical trek around the loop. Finally, we reached the field past the bog, which they claimed was perfect, but they now had to come back to town and then off to wherever they came from to get the others. So we headed back to complete the loop, and on the way, we run into four waspoids. It being daytime as it was, they had no trouble spotting our honey-flavored companions, so they attacked. I will reiterate here how godawful it is to fight in those masks, as we beat them far more easily than it should be to deal with a critter with 6 monstrous body. With the waspoids dispatched, we headed back to town, and received our reward from the grateful queen.

Saturday Afternoon (NPC)
Note: This was my favorite shift. Wonderful array of missions, and every interested PC was kept busy. We need more of this.

Role: Ogre
Mission: For the Horned King!
Goal: Raid town, test the defenses, and cause havoc
Quick Summary: We did exactly what we were supposed to do. And goddamn, this was the most fun NPC role I think I've ever played.
Suggestions: Do this more often. Seriously.

Big shield, big weapon, big horns, big warband (kinda). What's not to love?

Spawn #1: We charge straight from the field to the inn, where poor Kayden was sitting all alone. After the most comedic double-take I've ever seen in game, he bolted towards the Legion as one of the charging orcs smacked him in the arm. Hot in pursuit as we were, the Legion mustered up its forces to meet us at the woodline by their cabin. We used the trees to our advantage, and got more than a few solid hits in before getting taken down. This is what six monstrous body (well, two of it was armor) is supposed to fight like!

Spawn #2: We come in from the back end of town, by the SOL cabin. We tried to stay quiet-ish until we saw our prey, and wouldn't you know it worked. As a trio of PCs headed for the inn alone (including two noncombatants), we charged. They scattered, so we each pursued individual targets. I ended up chasing Malakai around the field and back to the Legion, where I caused some more havoc and laid down a few more 4-point blows before falling to the six-to-one odds. I love this crap. Do more of it. I command you.

Role: Mute Farmer
Mission: Tough Guys on a Bridge
Goal: Get the PCs to retrieve my poor mother's necklace
Quick Summary: Kayden, the newbies, and a few legionnaires get medieval with some village toughs
Suggestions: None, very well planned.

To the inn I went to seek help, and help I soon found. Kayden, along with his associates, Vos and Virgil, quickly figured out the gist of what I was pantomiming, and quickly offered to help. For some extra swords, they went to the Legion, where Marius, Kael, and a few others, joined in the fun while the majority stayed behind to deal with the orc raids on town (hehe). Fast forward to the covered bridge. Marius lead the parley, where the toughs flatly denied the charges of thievery and banditry. But I refused to stay quiet (so to speak [hah, double pun!]), and energetically pointed accusingly at the toughs. Marius grew tired of their verbal runaround, however, so he lead the gathered PCs in some self-righteous slaughter. After the battle though, they had trouble finding the chest, which made the PCs a little worried. Marius got rather intimidating with his, "If I have innocent blood on my hands now..." stuff, but eventually they found it. They returned my necklace, gave me four coin from the loot for my trouble, and sent me on my way.

Role: Nash, of House Elmor
Mission: Star-Crossed Lovers
Goal: Bring Cassandra back home, fight the Denbirs if the opportunity presents itself
Quick Summary: Squabble, posture, feint, threaten, fight, *jumped by NSGG*
Suggestions: None really. Though I would've liked to see what would've happened had we found the lovers.

Young Elmor and I entered town at the inn (funny how my NPCs tend to do that) told our tale to the locals there as we shared a drink. As we were finishing, we heard another group of folks arrive over towards the Legion. We went over to investigate, and lo and behold it was those fiends from house Denbir who had some wholly unwholesome things to say about our innocent kidnapped Cassandra. Marius broke up the fight, proclaiming this to be his town, and that if blood was spilled he'd have all of our heads. We parted ways, announced a small bounty should anyone turn Cassandra into us, and went looking for her in the woods. The next hour or so was spent between receiving false leads from the NSGG, stonewalling from the Legion, bickering and crossing swords with the Denbirs, and getting no help whatsoever from anyone else. Finally, after the GM informed us that the lovers were hiding in the Legion cabin, we went at by the SOL cabin to give them an opportunity to get out. Young Elmor lost a leg first, and I fell back to replenish my magic armor while holding Crosby off, but I couldn't hold them off forever, and fell with a torso wound when I got flanked by the two of them. As they returned to taunt the legless Young Elmor, the NSGG showed up, ostensibly to tell them the lovers were sneaking away, but really they just wanted to jump them when they were unprepared. Omar was particularly brutal, cutting down the crippled Young Elmor with repeated attacks to the back. Curiously, Nash was never killing blowed, so he slowly bled out as Adamo and the others dragged him to the graveyard by their cabin.

Saturday Evening (PC)

Mission: Continental Couriers
Quick Summary: A courier needs an escort through the dangerous night
Suggestions: Brian ran that NPC beautifully. He needs more roles like that.

A courier comes up to the cabin and asks if we can escort him through undead-infested terrain to deliver a package. He's a sneaky sort, and a skilled tracker, so he knew these were bigger than your typical undead, so he knew he needed some skilled backup. So, for 5 coin up front, and 5 promised upon delivery, the half milita / half legion amalgamation set forth to deliver this package to a man named Siralin. When we reached the rendezvous point, a pair of ogre zombies were waiting. We dispatched them with only minor difficulty, and the courier went forth to investigate. Alas, the fellow he was sent to see had been in a fight, and ran off bleeding into the night. Unwilling to let a package go undelivered, the courier set forth on the trail, with us right behind. The trail went through the tree tunnel, which was eerie as all hell at night, and we were just waiting for that ambush to get us. But then we heard howling to the right, through one of the gaps in the trees, where we saw a hunched form. A Kazvak, devouring the heart of who we can only assume is the Siralin, the intended recipient of the package. Despite the protests from the courier, we hustled to engage the creature before it could escape into the night. It circled a bit, keeping us at a distance with its spear, but we managed to take it down. Meanwhile from the courier's direction, we hear the sounds of battle and turn to see more ogre zombies shambling in our direction. We charge forth and slay the creatures, but it was too late, the courier was dead. In his hand, however, we find his package: a white queen.

Brian wins for his portrayal of the courier. His "tracking" was flavorful and precise, and the antagonists collaborated fantastically through the whole quest for a thoroughly enjoyable nighttime romp. Whoever was playing the bog lurker did great by being just visible enough for us to suspect something was in the area, but sneaky enough to get away without getting caught. Justin's Kazvak was fearsome enough to get the attention of all of us while the Zombies approached, and Mike and Alana did fantastic in delaying us enough to prevent the killing of the courier. Mad props to all of you.

Mission: Nighttime in PInedale: Undead = Yes.
Quick Summary: A bunch of undead comes shambling into town looking for brains.
Suggestions: Someone please make up their minds whether or not wraiths are monstrous.

During one of our patrols through town, we heard Kael and Gaius back at camp shouting at us to get over there. It seemed a throng of zombies approached the camp from the field, accompanied by a ghoul. So we rushed back, and seeing what we faced, I reached for that emergency scroll of enchant weapon. Fumbling a little with the light, I managed to read it off on Kael's spear while the shield wall dealt with the zombie fodder (suck 4 elven steel, bitch!). It gave us a little scare, but they fell quickly enough. Seeing some more forms up ahead in the field, we went to investigate and confront the possible controller of these lesser undead. Then it spoke, "Detect life." We shouted for Kael at the top of our lungs as we tried to hold the undead monstrosity off, but those two beaters are rough, especially in Dana's hands. I had my shield up to protect my torso, but he landed hit after successful hit on my arms and legs, costing me three limb wounds before I fell. Two arms and a leg. Not fun. Anyway, Kael managed to take it down, and Gaius helped me hobble back to town were Veria patched me up.

Mission: Skirmishers for Nox
Quick Summary: Brainwashed assailants hit-and-run with magic darts, I charm one and things get ugly.
Suggestions: I'm not sure if the GMs had any contingency in place for charm or truth serum.

Shortly after we return to the cabin, a lone spellcaster throws a magic strike in our direction and runs off into the darkness. A few minutes later, another two approach, this time one has magic swarm. They too escape after draining an antimagic shield from one of our shieldmen. The third time we manage to catch the perpetrator and drag her back to the cabin with a mortal wound, where we heal her then blunt her down until convergence. When convergence hits, I cast my charm, someone first aids her to wake her up, and I hit her with the tag bag.

Her name was Lena. She was bewildered, lost, confused, and had no memory of who sent her, why she was here, or even that she was a spellcaster. She had been brainwashed. All she knew was that she was sent to distract us from something, and that I was the only friend she ever knew. For most of the ten minutes I tried to get anything from her, but she was as confused about her past as we were. I suspected powerful compulsion magic, perhaps a ritualized version of Memory Loss, caused this, but any effect that would have ended that would have ended the charm as well, even if it were effective in restoring her personality. Seeing that we got all the information we really could from her, the Captain ordered me to get rid of her before the charm wore off. So I took her behind the cabin, and seeing the alternative was having her go crazy and try to kill us when the charm wore off in about a minute or two, I clobbered her in the gut with my hammer.

Her name was Lena. She was my friend. And I killed her in cold blood.

Mission: Nighttime in PInedale, part two
Quick Summary: We return to town to see our cabin surrounded by undead, and then get beat up by Omar.
Suggestions: Brian, NPC at night. Please. :-)

Since the only leads we had on the Nox Skirmishers were the direction they came from and the fact that Lena said they were distracting us from something, we went off in that direction, leaving a few folks at home with Veria to keep things safe there. Our patrol met with no success, so we went back home, only to find the cabin surrounded by undead, with a follower of Nox throwing poison vials at everything that moved, and Veria magic locked inside with everyone who had stayed behind. Not taking any risks, I used a second scroll of enchant weapon on Kael's spear, and we went to work, dispatching the undead with extreme prejudice. As the battle ended, the battle was joined by Omar! Affected by garlic paste and swinging his hammer everywhere, he took down Harko and bloodied up Gaius something fierce before he reigned in his berserk frenzy. Seeing as we came in from behind the undead, it's understandable to make the mixup, but still, yeesh. Anyway, it appeared that the Nox poisoner was the orchestrator of the whole mess, so with her down, things settled down, and we locked our doors and went to sleep.

Final Notes In all, it was an excellent game from my perspective, easily the most fun I've had, though I do have a few things I'm worried about. First of all, the two factions of GMs need to reign it in a little. To use Nike Nichols' phrase, this weekend's night shifts were little more than GM PvP sessions, with plots being less about storytelling, and more about revenge for past "injustices". The dissipation robbery to counter Nai's looting. The night of Kazvaks and undead against the Vlenoan seige after the majority of their group had gone to sleep. Rivalry's fine and all, but make sure you all keep the game your first priority.

Secondly (and I know I'm going to get flak for this posting it on my LJ), I'm a little concerned about too much GM attention going to solo missions. Specifically, Marius. His little side plot had everyone in camp wondering where the hell he went with no clue left behind. Last we heard, he was on his way to the bathroom. This is the reason why no one went to rescue him last game; we all suspected he was off doing his solo stuff. And he ended up getting himself hurt. Now this game, he goes off on his own again. And he gets rewarded with a(nother) lightweight magical latex weapon that's maximum size for a martial weapon and does a damage type no other weapon can deal. I like Justin and all, he's a good guy and I wish him the best, but this a poor use of GM time that rewards selfish and dangerous play.

jacob09481 @ 2006-05-26T17:40:00

2006-05-26T21:41:35Z

Best spam email subject line ever:

"Excuse me, but I need to recharge my flamethrower."

It was, unsurprisingly, for porn.

Karma

2006-05-25T22:36:36Z

Until today, it has been 2,571 days since I last donated blood.

But hey, I felt the need to work on my karma.

Today

2006-05-19T04:22:20Z

Today was probably the worst day of my life. Yes, this will all blow over in a month or so, but it will cost me a whole hell of a lot. My timeframe to recover from my financial woes just extended from early August to late September, though that's hardly set in stone. I feel horrid knowing that this could have been avoided completely had I paid attention, or just swallowed my pride for a few minutes to get a little help getting things paid for during the worst of it.

But goddamn, I have some top-rate friends to rely on. That's a good feeling to have when you really need it.

This one's for justin

2006-05-17T11:58:27Z

Flashback to late 80's Nickelodeon.

"Don't tell me what I can't do." --John Locke, Lost

2006-05-08T06:19:34Z

Three incidents this weekend prompted me to post something on this subject.

Humankind is defined as a species by their intellect. This intelligence allows us to learn, adapt, and grow proactively to master the environment around us. This adaptability, the unique trait that allows our minds to direct and shape our bodies to achieve whatever we wish, is the very essence of what sets us apart from animals. A dog can be conditioned to perform certain repeatable tricks, but only humans can learn. Human potential is limitless.

Therefore, whenever someone says that I can't do something, I take it as a direct affront to my value as a human being. Whenever someone tells me that they can't do something, that to me is a statement of irreconcilable self-debasement. Every time you tell yourself you can't do something, you're less of a human. Sure, some people will find certain tasks greatly more difficult than others, but so long as you're not trying to stretch to the pinnacle of human achievement, anyone can do anything, given enough time and effort. Difficult does not mean impossible.

I can cook, play golf, write code, fix a computer, play football, juggle, sew a tunic, drive stick, throw a curveball, perform CPR, weave chainmail, tutor in any subject, play almost any musical instrument, build a campfire, teach a class, write lyrics... I could go on and on. Each of these I've learned to do because I wanted to. I can do anything I wish to do, and the same goes for everyone else out there.

A few things that I will one day do:
-Get my golf handicap into the single digits.
-Own and learn to skillfully operate a sailboat.
-Visit another planet, or maybe just the moon.
-Run a marathon.
-Outsneak or outtrick thunderstave at Novitas.
-Finish a bachelor's degree.

Inventory Analyst, Jr. Grade

2006-05-04T05:52:01Z

I was handed a job offer this afternoon from Stickley. Once the drug screening goes through, and my references don't tell them I'm an axe murderer, I'll have me a job again. The pay's a bit of an upgrade from my last job, but not quite as good as CBORD probably would have given me, but I never heard back from them, so I guess I'll take what I get. But on the plus side, I'll actually have some decision-making capability in this job. And I'll still get some work-related travel, at a much more reasonable frequency (3-4 times a year, as opposed to every other week).

I'd say I'm pleased. I'll definitely be glad to stop freeloading as much as I have been and get back to feeling productive about myself. These past four months have rather sucked, so I'm glad to get that done with.

jacob09481 @ 2006-04-17T16:24:00

2006-04-17T20:26:31Z

I have a phone interview with CBORD tomorrow. I am optimistic. The commute would suck, but the pay increase more than compensates in my opinion.