Seonid

So I've been working on some worldbuilding ideas recently, only to find that they really don't fit into Edassa. So I have decided to spin them off into a new setting of their own (still in the same universe, just not the same planet). I'm rather excited by the possibilities here. The planet is named Karcheron. It has several sizeable landmasses, but is dominated by a large supercontinent in the southern hemisphere. This supercontinent is, in turn dominated by a massive desert in the center of the continent, which extends to the eastern edge - defined by a range of mountains the size of the Himalayas. Civilization exists along the edge of this desert, in the valleys of the mountains and near the foothills, where access to rock and aquifers is possible. In the center of the desert, the dunes can reach several hundred meters deep, and any underground water is inaccessible. Kingdoms around the desert maintain fleets of "dune ships," wooden vessels that run on skids and are propelled by sail if necessary. I'm looking forward to exploring this "naval" combat. More details to come, but a sample of other features (to be explored in their own due time) will include sentient non-humanoids, massive sea monsters, large, carnivorous winged reptiles, and albino warrior tribes...

Fun/terrifying fact - Paladin is my author avatar. In a twisted horrible sense that could only be appropriate for a setting like this, of course but... (OK, well technically he was designed as a horrible, twisted, Calamity-cursed version of a character that is my author insert in the fantasy series I'm working on, but it's almost the same thing, right?)

Team Paladin may or may not be going to Salem. The nature of these threads is such that even the best laid plans crumble well before even first contact with the enemy, yielding instead to the inevitable assault of glitter, ponies, and ships. That is to say - plans? What are these plans you speak of? I must try them. Would somebody explain to me exactly how this thing called a plan functions?

So...after the tussle with Frequency and Deathwish, does anybody want to have their characters meet Team Paladin? Or Arvin Weeks and Ari?

Aaaaand Team Paladin is finally back! And I destroyed Madras. As an afterthought, you know. I figure that if we're going to destroy Oregon I actually ought to get started a little bit on the actual destroying part. Does this make me the first person to have a totally destroyed Oregonian city on-screen?

Madras, Oregon Morning broke over a scene of devastation. The sun, already hidden behind an overcast sky, was darkened further by the rising clouds of soot. The fire that had started in the abandoned apartment complex had quickly spread to engulf the entire block. The conflagration was intense enough that even the most dedicated fire department would have flinched. Lacking even a volunteer department, lacking even the will to form an ad hoc fire brigade, the citizens cowered far from the inferno. Luckily, the block had been nearly deserted, and there was no great loss of life. On a roof overlooking the burnt and burning block, a silent figure waited, nearly invisible against the soot-stained walls, a dark figure waited. Watching. But it had been enough. For many of Madras' inhabitants, it was the last straw. Having suffered the rule of two despotic Epics in the past three years, having been forced to live in increasingly degraded conditions, denied even basic dignity, and now threatened by assassinations and war, a major fire was the catalyst for an exodus. But the watcher cared for none of these things. It began with a trickle, then slowly swelled into a flood. Beneath the threatening clouds, the citizens of Madras slowly began to abandon their homes, carrying such meager supplies and such few treasured possessions as they had left, their city was slowly deserted. By noon, the town stood silent. What few people had elected to stay behind huddled frightened inside their walls. Fires still smoldered in the burnt-out shells of many buildings, and the rising wind was beginning to carry dancing embers in its path. The smell of rain hung heavy in the air. Still, the watcher remained, whittling at a short piece of wood in her hand. In one place, however, there remained nothing but ashes. The once-fine upscale apartment building that had been the start of the fire had been completely consumed, all the way down to the foundation. The charred walls of neighboring buildings gave it a semblance of enclosure, but little trace of the original structure remained. No fires smoldered here, the fuel had all been spent in a wild orgy of consumption, leaving a fine coating of ash over the concrete shell of the basement and foundation. As the day wore on, one of the patches of ash began to move. Suddenly, a figure rose, in tattered and worn clothing, screaming towards the sky. The watcher turned, her lips beginning to curl upwards in a smile, or perhaps a grimace, laying aside the whittled piece of wood. * * * * * * The Paladin screamed in rage and triumph as he rose from the pile of ash that covered him. For a moment, his anger seemed poised to consume him. Then, as it had before, the rush of power and fury subsided, leaving behind only Thomas Johnson, Cult-hunter. His soot-stained clothing was tattered, and embers glowed where it had nearly caught fire. Looking around himself in confusion, he stumbled a few steps, his hands seeking his arms, his face. He remembered...something. Water, confusion, grit. Terror and fury in a passionate elixir. A flash of light heralded the arrival of Ariel. The Guardian. She turned around, seeking him out, then walked over, smiling. "You alright?" Her smile touched her eyes, barely and only briefly. Ariel wasn't one to let her thoughts show. Thomas breathed roughly. His voice was ragged and scratched, as if he had breathed in some of the embers while he slept. "As well as I can be, all things considered." Ariel looked at him sympathetically, but still giving little indication of her thoughts. "Come on then. It's time to get out of here. Ash found a car that will get us where we are going." "And where is that?" She looked at him cryptically. "The Dalles," she responded in a firm and level voice. "Then let us be gone." She took his hand, and a rush of light consumed him. * * * * * * The watcher looked on with interest. A woman had appeared out of nowhere, dressed in armor. She seemed to talk to the man for a moment, then took his hand. And then they were gone, in a flash of light. The woman in armor - a teleporter, obviously - must have taken them away. The watcher frowned, waiting for a long moment, thinking. Then, the wind picked up, scattering sparks everywhere. A blazing ember rose on its caress before landing on the roof next to the watcher, startling her out of her reverie. Smiling, she picked the ember up, blowing it to life again and setting it back down, almost reverently in the pile of wood shavings from her wistful project. They caught greedily to life, as if the ember remembered longingly that last, violent night and yearned to recover it. As the flames began to spread the watcher pulled the whittled flute from her pocket and began to play, dancing a few gay steps across the rooftop. Then, with a knowing smile, she stepped back into the shadow and was gone. Behind her, the greedy flames sprung up once more, fanned by the increasing wind. When the rain finally broke, Madras was just a burned memory.

So...I had a question about Hemalurgy and I thought I'd take it to the experts. Using only canon information, does any bit of metal piercing the body open the door to Ruin's influence, or is Ruin's direct influence restricted to those bearing Hemalurgic spikes?

Holy Calamity's Cupcakes!!! That was a lot of writing! The list of new Epics sound amazing. The only problem I can see is that there's already been an Epic named "Bubbles" (sadly deceased, at the hands of Team Paladin)... But then again, the name's hardly original, and two or more Epics could easily have chosen it.

Well, part of it was that Wilson was convinced that I had a kill role, and that you had my role (Warrior's Lenses) instead. She can be pretty convincing.

Hmm...meeting Frequency is just what Paladin needs. To bring out the absolute worst in him, that is. An Epic, fanatically devoted to the worship of another (dead) Epic? Definitely going to set the cult bells screaming in Paladin's mind. Not that that's a bad thing, mind.

At least Paladin will be in his notEvil!Paladin mode. I'm not sure I can call him good!Paladin with a straight face...

So, I think that I might finally have time to start bringing Team Paladin and Weeks/Ari back. Now that the pandas are out of the picture, there's less opportunity for cool dragon-flaming stuff, but if somebody has an attacking minor Epic or two that they want to meet the business end of a fifty-foot armored, fire-breathing flying lizard, I can certainly oblige. And Arvin Weeks certainly would love being of help. Any thoughts on what Team Paladin might do in The Dalles?

Cute!!! Mine is that the storyline for the Collaborative AoK scenario I'm working on is starting to come together. It looked like we were going to have some conflict, with two or three strong writers with different ideas on where the story should go, but things are falling together now. Also, I'm finally getting inspiration back for my Wheel of Time mod for the same game. I finished the first half my General Relativity take-home exam, and am on the verge of finishing the Schwarzschild solution to the Einstein equation! And then I can start writing my next piece for my Edassa RP! So yes, I'm a little excited.

So the Internet went out in my apartment building over the weekend. I came back and there were 13 pages to read. This is the point when I just give up. Hope there wasn't anything too important in there. I'll start from this point.

It's not as bad as it sounds. Most of the work for both the Physics Research and the capstone project has been outsourced to this coming summer (these being ongoing things and all). Which is good because it leaves time for working. And free time, whatever that is.

Second Semester of Quantum Mechanics, Introductory General Relativity, Physics Research, working on a Religious Studies Capstone project. And a Racquetball class for fun.

Just put my Epics into the doc.

Newan has a good point. It seems inconsistent to me to lynch Mail for his attempted bullying while letting Phattemer get away with practically the same play-style scot-free.

Good news, I have Spring Break, therefore I have marginally more time to write. Bad news? I have a take-home test for my General Relativity class to suck all of it up. But I think we're waiting on me, so I'll try to get another viewpoint written up for the compilation post.

Hm...I'm not going to vote at the present time. But some RP never goes amiss. Samhain woke from the cold ground. The arena was chaos around him - he was unsure how he had managed to sleep for so long. His sleep debt must have finally caught up with him. Panicking, he jumped to his feet. At least he'd have enough sleep to face the long, grueling days ahead.

I probably shouldn't, as I have hardly any time. But whatever. I'm in. Samhain, an Ardent from Roshar, is in.

This gets all of the upvotes!!!! That's amazing, Unodus!

Sorry I've been gone for a while, had a Quantum Mechanics test I was prepping for. I'm back again, and I'll have some more worldbuilding information up within the next few days.

Excellent. All of those are well within the capabilities of a normal shaman, and none are overpowered. I like them a lot, BreathTaker! And I agree that we need more postage, but I am at a loss about how to get it...

Hmmm....I took that test too. It thinks that I'm rather like Twilight Sparkle, with a healthy dose of Fluttershy. Rather accurate, actually, if I do say so myself.