Balladeer

Aaahhh! There's a bug on my screen! *attempts to squash* Hmm... are insects equal to mammals according to PETA? Have they petitioned to ban repellent yet for denying mosquito's one of their most natural food sources?

I made a lot of resolutions this year hoping that I could stick to a couple of them. So far I've accomplished one, working on my broken finger enough to be able to play viola again with it. I suppose I can extend that resolution now to finding somewhere to play it. We have a Chamber Orchestra I could try out for. Then I'm on schedule for getting my degree. I think I've settled on a BS in IT/Software Engineering with an additional concentration in Website Development. Apparently with the 37 credits I turned out 12 years ago, I can finish it all in 2.5 years. I'm also keeping up with reading through my One Year Bible. Tougher than it sounds some nights... Ones I have failed at include: getting up before the kids, start answering the phone before the machine gets it, and being intentional is on the fence. I'd say I'm more intentional but only barely. I wrote down some more somewhere but I can't remember them which probably means I haven't been keeping up with them.

Originally Posted By: Lilith my sister believes that black people are cursed by God and that by praying hard enough they can and should become white i really don't have much reason to hold out hope on that front but i also don't have much reason to care what she thinks about me except in so far as she harasses me about it Anyone ever tell her that Jesus probably wasn't white? Or is that blasphemous?

I watched a movie and hit the hay by 11pm. My dog was nice enough to need to be let out shortly after midnight and woke me up for the special event.

Quote: I am still in. I still have Drypeak, Illya, and the Forsaken Lands. Now go enjoy my latest IC post. -Emperor Tullegolar

In ET's stead: President Fand has received disheartening news from the Forsaken Province. Governor Vess was not one to show weakness, ever. She was a canister user, after all. So when the President received word from Governor Tavian that Vess had been grievously incapacitated in some shaping experiment, Fand decided that he had best travel there himself to secure the United Provinces’ holdings there. When he arrived, he discovered things were far, far more terrifying than he could have possibly imagined. Governor Vess was not injured, at least, not physically. She did not come out to greet him when he arrived, though, and when he entered her inner labs at the old Southforge Citadel, she hardly even noticed he was in the room. She poured over parchments full of calculations, went over tables covered in fluid-filled bottles. She seemed to be working on something massive, but she dodged question after question about it thrown at her by Fand. “I know we never really got along, Vess, but I am concerned. I received word that all was not well here, and you are acting strangely. Is everything alright?” Vess was hunched over, her hood covered her face more than it usually did. Her head twitched as she answered her President, “All is fine. Working hard. Working to save Provinces. Project will change the world. Project will-“ At that moment she spasmed hard, her back arching in a most bizarre manner. “Grahh!” Fand reached forward to catch Vess as she began to fall. She swatted at his helping hands, flailing around madly. As she fidgeted, her hood fell from her head, revealing her face. Her expression was twisted, her skin glowed brightly, and there were a great number of cracks around the edge of her face. Large clumps of her hair had fallen out as well, leaving her a hideous shadow of her former self. The President was now quite concerned, “What have you done to yourself, Vess? What madness is going on here?” “No no no! You do not understand! My grand project. It was almost finished. Will be finished! A few more… glitches to work out. Will save us all! We will conquer all!” “What project, Vess? As your President, I demand to know what you have been doing out here all this time. Look, I’ve made sure you were appropriated all the resources you requested from Drypeak because I thought you were building up the defenses of the Provinces, but I saw no such defenses on my way up here. What have you been spending all the government’s money on? Canisters? Vess, canisters are not going to save us!” “No! Old fool! Obsolete! Canisters are obsolete. I have something greater. The greatest! There is no more powerful! Almost. Almost finished.” Her eyes shifted around nervously. Clearly, many of her own mages didn’t know what she was up to. She pointed at Fand with a newly gnarled finger, “I will show you. But only you! You can see the great work. You will help me to change the world with it.” Fand nodded to his guards, indicating that they he would go see her project alone. He was led into the far back chambers, which were protected by many huge varieties of creations. Fand shook his head, so many such creations should be defending the people, not some mad hidden experiment. When they finally reached their destination, Fand gasped, placing a hands over his mouth as his eyes widened. Swirling perpetually in the center of the room, emanating a gentle pinkish light, was a pool of powerfully charged essence. Though he had never seen anything like it before, he knew instantly what it was. The President took a few moments to digest all this, and finally spoke, “Is that what I think it is?” Vess merely grinned widely, here eyes never leaving the precious pool the center of the room. “How? Why? I don’t-“ “Was a geneforge here once before. Drakon recipe is common knowledge. Needed only the parts and making minor alterations. For serviles. All for serviles.” “Where did you get the parts?” “Facility perfect for the manufacture of parts. All new parts. Shiny new parts.” They really were shiny. The whole device was actually quite beautiful. Fand looked back to Vess and frowned, “You used it? Didn’t you?” “Who else is more worthy? I made. I get to use first. Still not perfect. Needs more work.” “I can see that.” The President watched Vess more nervously now. Such a device could have very unpredictable effects on someone, especially if it was not made properly, which this one clearly wasn’t. “You just modified the drakon recipe? Is that enough? Is that safe?” He wished he’d asked those last two questions in the opposite order. “Replace drakon parts with servile parts. Serviles small, must compensate for many biological differences. Probably made it too weak. Needs more power. I do not feel powerful enough at all. Needs more power.” Fand took a few steps away from Vess. She was actually quite powerful, he could feel it radiating off of her, like it was going to burst out at any second. And it just might. “Why, Vess? Why couldn’t you have just spent the money on training lifecrafters and soldiers? Why… this?” Geneforges were somewhat of a taboo these days. Sure, they had been a deciding factor in wars past, but they had long since been judged by civilization to be a weapon too terrible to use even in desperate warfare. The President was not pleased with Vess. He was even less pleased with himself for going over in his head how having an army of ur-serviles would benefit his side in the war. “I am not a fool, Fand. Your allies are being smashed on west front. Eyebeasts to the north are powerful and unpredictable. Serviles need a new card to play. I give you this card. You are ungrateful and stupid if you do not see its value.” Vess’s head jerked violently to the side and she balled her hands up into fists. The President frowned. She was right. Even this crazy, twisted creature could see that they were in trouble. She must have believed it, too, to be willing to put herself at risk as a test subject. He thought long and hard before speaking again, “How long will it take to finish the… it?” He couldn’t even bring himself to say the word. “Not long. Very, very long. Needs more lifecrafters. Have more lifecrafters. Will let them in on secret project. They will be using it soon, after all. Needs more crystals. You send crystals. Yes. I will test again soon. Test again myself.” “You can use it again?” “No! Would die. Yes. Bad idea. Can still use canisters. They will fix me. Yes. Will test geneforge on others.” Fand considered questioning Vess’s ability to continue governing the Forsaken Province, but reconsidered. He would just tell Governor Tavian on the way back to the Capital to keep a close eye on the Forsaken lands, picking up Vess’s slack while he himself would make sure she had everything she needed from the Valley to continue her work. Damn the world for forcing him down this path. The President prayed that history would forgive him for the decisions that he had made today.

Mmm... Stats are yummy. ET's probably busy illustrating.

Pfft. Old news. I knew she'd say yes. The real question is: How'd she like the speech? *congratulatory huggles for you and Maud*

Not unexpected at all, they always return. It is inevitable. Although few returns are heralded with such fanfare. Warm welcome back to you. And to answer your question, I broke my finger on Friday and go under the knife in three hours to have it plated and screwed in place. Blades related, your website has been relocated here with the closing of Geocities. Don't know if I have all the links working yet, but the important stuff is there.

Quote: Alright, it's at 7:00 PM Eastern Time. That should clear up confusion. -T

Quote: Sorry if this message gets to you guys late, communicating through a proxy can make things more inconvenient for all involved. The date for the first session of the game shall be Friday, December 11th. "SpidwebRP" shall be the chatroom. It will begin at 7:00 PM server time. It will probably go for many hours. Spectators are welcome. Sorry to those who can't make it, hope to see the rest of you there! It will be epic. Tales will be told for generations to come. Not for the faint of heart or imagination. -T

Aww... Even Lindy doesn't understand? That ruins the whole illusion that something might be happening.

Yeah, I'm with Nalyd. It didn't hurt all that much. Dislocating my kneecap was much worse. When I hit it, I heard it snap and thought it was my knuckle popping and that I had sprained it till it started swelling up at an odd angle. It feels fine unless I try to move it. They prescribed some codine but I haven't needed anything. I'm just hoping I'll get all motor function back when it heals. Hard to play viola without it.

Don't act so coy, Salmon. I already told you it was me the morning after.

Hmm... maybe I'll go to a potential employer and see where they'd recommend getting a degree from. In other news: I BROKE MY RING FINGER! Now typing is extra slow. hopefully that link will work. I changed the album permissions to everyone so it should.

I would make sure it's accredited but is there a question of who accredits a school? The Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS) for the Art Institute of Philadelphia and the Higher Learning Commission for the University of Phoenix. These two schools are at the top of the advertisement list anyway.

This question is more for the opinions of the adult generation here. If you were an employer looking for someone to fill the job of Web Designer or the like and your applicant got their Technology degree from an online University, would it hold as much weight as someone with the same degree from an on campus University? I qualify for the pell grant but traveling to college for my interests just isn't feasible. Wondering if I should go ahead and jump into furthering my education or just let the opportunity pass.

We had 9 in The Refuge Lounge last night. We were blessed with the presence of Iffy for quite a while. Chatting there is now about as staple as visiting SW for me.

Quote: The game will be in AIM. More people have AIM. People that have IRC should have no trouble typing in "AIM" in Google, following the first link that comes up, and spending a few minutes downloading it and creating an account. Not sure the same can be said for current AIM who would have to switch to IRC. The game will be in AIM. If you really want to play, you can download it. I assure you it will be worth the time it takes you to do so. -Tullegolar

Quote: First Session will probably be next week, as that seems to be better for me as well as other people. No day is good for everyone (not unexpected), but it looks like next Tuesday the 8th, Wednesday the 9th and Friday the 11th have the most people available. So far I like Wednesday the 9th, but that's not set in stone. I'll pick one by this weekend for sure, maybe by Friday or even sooner. Yes, spectators are welcome. And yes, I will log the session. When has Emperor Tullegolar ever missed a chance to please the people? -T

I expect some type of logging to be going on. I know if I'm present, I'll be saving it.

Haven't actually stepped on a scale in, oh, three months. So we'll say I did gain that three pounds I predicted. I'm going to lose it this week in all the running around I'll be doing.

Originally Posted By: Dantius (Divination? Really?) I thought I explained it well enough. You divine what's wrong with the target's body and relay it so that the actual healer can do a better job. Originally Posted By: Ephesos And necromancy... no. What if the Necromancy Drain Life spell could only heal the caster? In my opinion, healing should be easy but that's just my playing style, I guess.

Originally Posted By: Littlest Traveler —Alorael, who doesn't spend half his day. That's because it's all day.

Seeing how at the last fight, the party was getting to need a group heal every round to stay conscious, if you're going to get rid of healing as a 'school' of magic, I'd suggest letting it be in any other school as long as it's part of the players list of x spells that they are able to use for the session. Dependent on the creativity of the players and the spells they come up with, every magic wielder could have the potential to be able to heal in some form or another. For example: Click to reveal.. (Qualifier: I have very little concept on how formulas are supposed to work, especially with levels, without being overpowered.) Alchemy: Healing Tonic. If successfully made, the tonic restores 1d(level of circle) +2 points of health(or other DM approved formula) to the PC when used. (As long as there's time to make them, reagents to make them with, and bottles to put them in, this could have the party ready to heal themselves during a fight.) Necromancy: Transfer Life. If successfully cast, the spell transfers 1d(level of circle) points of health from a nearby enemy to a chosen target. Transmutation: Close Wounds. If successfully cast, the spell mutates the blood coming out of the targets wounds into skin, effectively giving 1d(level of circle) +1 HP to the target. Illusion: No Pain. If successfully cast, the target's body doesn't feel it's wounds and remains conscious even if at 0 HP as long as they still have stamina, though they will lose 1d2 stamina each 'round' that they are at 0 HP and lose an additional stamina with each successful enemy attack on them. Divination: Check Up. If successfully cast, the next time a healing spell that restores health is cast on the target, or the next time first aid is used on the target, they get a bonus of 1d(level of circle) +1 points of health for the diviner knowing exactly what needs healing. Abjuration: Tough Hide. If successfully cast, the target takes only half the damage they normally would on each enemy attack. Spell can be cast on only one PC at a time. (Overpowered? Maybe change it to 2/3 dammage? Not exactly a healing spell but it can make those last few HP last a little longer.) Evocation: Convert Stamina. If successfully cast, the target is restored 1d(level of circle) +1 points of health at the cost of 1d3 of their stamina. Enchantment: Adrenaline Rush. If successfully cast, the target remains conscious when at 0 stamina as long as they still have HP though they take a deduction of -1(-2?) to each subsequent roll until stamina is restored. Effect lasts 1d(level of circle) rounds. I don't know. I'm just throwing stuff out there now.