Aonar

I was thirteen years old when the first Epics appeared. Since that time, I've lived an eternity. Or multiple, depending on how you wish to count it. You see, I was one of the first. For the longest time, I didn't realize it. You must understand, I am not the most powerful of Epics. I never had a Rending; I've never directly harmed anyone, actually. That is soon to change. This all began on a fateful day in July, five years ago. I was on my own; my parents had had the misfortune of being in town when Accord was in a mood. He did not keep as strict a watch over Peace in those days, and there were many who slipped through the cracks. I was one such as those. For a while, the best I could do was scavenge food from the weekly markets. It wasn't much, but I didn’t starve. The threat of death was constant. Without Accord's blessing, any Epic, hell, any angry shopkeeper could kill you without repercussion. Living like that, no one survived, not really. The best you could do was hope you died tomorrow, or next week, or next month; just so long as it wasn't today. It always caught up to you, though. Death, that is. In many ways, it was and is the most constant reality to life, since Calamity’s rise. It didn’t take long for Death to catch me. Looking back, perhaps I wasn’t running very quickly. I was doing my usual rounds when a fellow scavenger tried to knife me, kill me for what little half-rotten fruit I’d been able to find. He looked thin enough I probably would’ve shared with him, if he’d asked. Things slowed, as they often do when adrenaline comes in to play. I could see the knife coming, see that I wouldn’t have time to react, but I was calmer than I had any right to be. I do not think I would’ve minded dying, had that been my time. Something peculiar happened, however. The world kept slowing, and then just… stopped. That was the beginning of my first eternity. I was surprised, confused, at first. Even a little scared. As time went on, I began to understand. An eternity is a very long time to think, after all. I was an Epic, one of those impossible persons that defied physics, and who now ruled this world. And I could stop time. I spent untold stretches of time experimenting, learning the limits of this power in my isolation. I could move, easily, but interacting with the waking world seems impossible. Everything was insubstantial, just out of reach. Its greatest use, however, seemed to be mere observation. I could think, and plan, observe and deduce in peace, with no constraints upon time; although I have no way of measuring it, I believe it took me no more than a few days’ worth of time to determine how to escape my current situation without injury. Figuring out how to restart time was more difficult. I must have spent literal ages commanding things to move, to continue. Eventually, out of sheer frustration, I attempted to kick the scavenger that had so ungraciously inconvenienced me. Time started again, as easy as breathing. My foot sent the knife spinning from his hands, and within moments I had dislocated his elbow and thrown him to the ground, making use of what I had so meticulously planned. I swiftly proceeded to ensure that he would never again have the opportunity to inflict harm, for whatever reason. Seeing his body broken on the ground, I felt no pity. Having time rendered meaningless robs a great many other things of their significance, I have found. Not long after that, I took on Accord’s seal, gaining peace and protection in exchange for my services. Accord frequently found my… insights, useful. Things continued, for a time. But eventually, things changed, as they always do. This time, the change was an accident. There was an Epic I had worked closely with under Accord’s command; she went by the name of Areadbhar. She was, in many ways, the closest thing I had to a friend. On rare occasion we would be sent to deal with threats to Peace, things too strange or too powerful to be dealt with normally. I provided the solutions, she provided the raw power to make them work. But, as it always seems to be, we eventually found something we couldn’t beat. We thought, perhaps, that we might be able to find a solution if Ari could watch the Epic herself, view him in stopped time and find a hole in his constantly shifting defences. I had never before attempted to use my power on others; to be truthful, I did not expect it to work. It did. She was a High Epic, a resurrector. Nothing could kill her. Nothing did. Ari has been comatose ever since that day. Ever since I showed her a glimpse of eternity. She still lives, in a specially made room within Accord’s personal infirmary; she’ll drink if a straw is put to her lips, she’ll move if something is causing her discomfort, but whatever spark it is that animated her is gone. She recognizes no one, responds to nothing but the basic stimuli required to preserve her life. I have spent much time thinking about this, and I believe I have come to understand what happened. When I use my power on myself, I only ever give myself a set amount of additional time. It can be massive, but must always be finite. When I grant others the same gift, there is no such restriction. They feel a true eternity, never ending, never ceasing. It breaks them. When their consciousness should return, instead there is only an empty shell. At some point during that long second of eternity, they have given up. I wonder sometimes, if I too have given up. In many ways, I’ve already lived for aeons in just the few short years since discovering my powers. Little matters to me as it once did. I can remember perfectly how life used to feel, so full of joy, sorrow, anger, fear; now all is the same. But no. I know I have not. For there is still something that I want. I have seen the pain my kind brings. I’ve felt it. Accord shattered my old life; I’ve managed to make my new one meaningless. We do not deserve these powers we have been given. They warp and twist and corrupt until we destroy all which we touch. I have since left Peace, for peace is the last thing I want now. I have a new mission. A war. If you are one of those whom Death cannot catch, be wary. Eternity comes.

Random news: There's a WHOOC thing I'm thinking of posting. It's a little weird (albeit not in a humorous way) and it's not an amazing piece of writing, by any means. It's not from any of my current characters, and the character it involves might well never make it in to canon. It's also written all in first person, because I think that type of narration works better for what I was trying to do. The idea just kind of popped in to my head earlier today, (probably partially inspired by Heaven Sent) and I felt like writing it. Would people be interested in seeing it?

So hi, people who may or may not remember me. I posted once here, what, over a month ago? I figured I might as well update things some. I finally managed to tell my mother about how I've been losing my faith, and, well, it went better than I'd feared, but a lot worse than I'd hoped. I was hoping I might feel less stress, that things might be a little bit better, but now I'm just sad, and angry with myself, and just kind of.... numb. It feels kind of weird to ask, but could I have a hug? (Or a pug, or whatever?)

Ditto. (I also barely contribute to this section of the boards, so probably no one even knows who I am. )

....Yeah, yeah it was. .... ....I don't even have words right now. Give me a minute to A: figure out how I feel about the episode, and B: pick my jaw up off the floor and remember how to talk.

Truth. My favourite birthday so far has been spent holed up in a hotel room in Costa Rica reading WoR. Just find some books, some food, and claim the couch for 24 hours.

Action for this turn: Action 1: Providing 11 Wealth to House Olimac in return for two shipments of alcohol. (Anyone think it's feasible to get your skaa too drunk to rebel? )

If I were an Epic... Hmm. There's actually an Epic that would fit me not bad that I made a while ago for the Reckoners RPG, but never actually found a place for. Name: Fragarach Primary Power: Minor Compulsion. Fragarach can really only do two things with this power; render someone immobile, and compel them to answer questions, and do so truthfully. This power requires Fragarach to be touching his target, or make eye contact with them. Secondary Power: Minor Wind Manipulation. Pretty standard, here. Not strong enough for flight, but he's strong enough to push people around, break things, etc.. Passive Power: Soullink. Any wound Fragarach receives is redoubled upon his attacker. He will still be injured, but his attacker will always receive an injury of equal or greater severity in return. Vice: Apathy. Fragarach cares little for anything. Life, death, good, evil, it's all the same. While not the most violent of Epics, he is one of the most consistently unpredictable, sometimes cruel, sadistic, other times strangely kind; regardless, the reason for his actions is always the same. He was bored. Weakness: Hrm. There are a lot that could fit here. Let's go with this one, though. In terms of appearance, he would wear civilian clothing, but would carry a claymore around 24/7, for reasons.

If I were a prime number, I'd probably be 11. Or three. Either works. (Yes, I know it's a lame joke.) Anyways, in other news: I've just realized that over the last eight months, I've basically taught myself like 90% of the stuff I'll be learning in physics class next semester. Why, you ask? To figure out how to write logically consistent superpowers for the Reckoner's RPG.

I'm going to be boring again today, sorry. No RP, and my action is just trying for an Heir. (Male, Alden, female, Lucca.)

I've got a few friends IRL who play this, and have played the odd game myself. I personally enjoy SE here a little more, but ToS is easier to find time to play. I'm not on often, but I go by AonarFaileas there as well, or Blackbinder, in game. (Reference to my NaNo project.)

Still no time for RP, sorry. Who: Lady Bronwyn Izenry What: Funding research into stronger glasses. When: This is my second action for this turn. Where: Urteau/Luthadel. Why: Guess.

Joe: 1. Fairly small, (25% or less?) but I'm playing with the idea of making it stack with each consecutive use. Not sure on how exactly you'd want to set the numbers to make it balanced. (Like a lot of the other roles, it's kind of a double-edged sword, but it is very powerful, especially if it ended up in the hands of the Eliminators.) 2. The Clayr is informed of all possible results* for the Night, 12 hours early, based on the actions put in. They can also (and I just realized that I forgot to put this in) choose one person to PM each night; this person may change their actions once after the usual deadline. 3. If the roleblocked makes a roleblock, it will go through, but any other votes or actions they make will not. 4. It just can't be used consecutively, is all. *By all possible, I mean all possible results based on all possible combinations of the actions used, including all changes and retractions. (Only kills, protections, and relevant roleblocks register.) If the game were run with this mechanic, I'd be sure to state fairly clearly somewhere that I won't count actions put in simply to confuse the Clayr. (More for the GM's sanity than anything else. )

So, I've got a couple games I've been working on for a while, both unfinished, but I figure I might as well post them here, to get some commentary. There's a fairly high chance I'll never run either of them, so if somebody else wants to fix them up and run them, that's fine by me. LG: The Dead and the Free: (Based off Garth Nix's Old Kingdom series) General Ideas: LG: Blood and Powder: (Based off Brian McClellan's Powder Mage Trilogy) General Ideas: Anyways, thoughts? Like I say, I probably won't have time to run these myself (at least not anytime soon) so if anybody else is interested they can take them, but regardless, I'd like to see what people think of them.

Sorry. Lots of homework for me of late, so there's no time to RP. I will get an action posted this turn though. Who: Lady Bronwyn Izenry, as Head of House Izenry What: Accepting Lady Wilson's proposed contract regarding her services as Steward of Marriage. When: This is my first action. Where: ? Luthadel, perhaps? I doubt this really matters, for this action. Why: To save on actions in the future, and ease some of the stress involved in arranging a profitable marriage.

Maill: You mean like this? The BB code for that is just [hr]

Another INTJ, here. (Albeit with only a very slight preference for J over P.) So to answer your question, Mashadar, no, apparently not.

Thanks. I'll definitely look in to that. I've kind of tried to avoid pinning down exactly what my beliefs are, and where they diverge from what I was taught, just because I thought it might be easier to deal with things I disagreed with if they were a little fuzzy. I think I'll give it a try, though. My current approach definitely doesn't seem to be working. It's really just nice though to get some of that off my chest (on an internet forum where maybe all of two people know my real name, but hey, it's a step in the right direction) and not be immediately dismissed as being idiotic. (I know just from being on these forums that you're all great people who would do something like that, but my irrational anxieties are irrational for a reason. )

Not exactly a rant, but does anyone know how to let my mother (who is devoutly Christian, somewhat overbearing, and has relatively recently spent several years struggling with clinical depression*) know that I've been losing faith, and no longer have a real interest in attending church? It's not that I have anything against the church, or religion in general, but for the last year I've found that I have increasingly less conviction and belief in what I hear and say. (I'm not going to get in to that though, because that's not what this is about.) I really don't want to hurt her, or my relationship with her (which is why I've avoided saying anything for this long) but keeping up appearances is starting to take it's toll. I'm constantly stressed out whenever she, or anyone from church is around. I'm tired of lying to friends and family, people that I love an respect. Even at school, where I might not interact with anyone from church, I've been having noticing problems. I can't focus; even things that are generally enjoyable (music, sports, etc.) I have trouble getting the will to do. I know though, that the moment I broach the subject, there's going to be a blow-up, or worse. I really have no idea what to do; I don't want to hurt anyone, but I also need something to change. I get that this is kind of silly, and you all probably have way better things to be thinking about, but could anybody help a little bit? Please? *For a little context, consider the fact that my father has never expressed any interest in religion, both my older siblings also fell away from the church in their mid-teens, and that her last major depressive episode coincided roughly with when my brother decided to stop going.

I could maybe write something? Volleyball season's started up, and I actually have schoolwork to do now, so I'm a little busy, but I could do something. However, I don't think I would really have much to write, quite yet. Az is still at least 30 seconds to a minute out, and the League's Plan A... Well, that's a surprise, but it's still waiting on something from Brightdeath/Bioterror. (I could explain in the Tower PM, if you like?)

The problem here is kind of a conceptual misunderstanding. You want him to absorb matter, or distinct particles, but not energy, but you also don't want him to start punching holes through the earth's crust every time he jumps. The things is, those two things (matter and energy) aren't wholly distinct. Gravitons are gravity; (assuming we can prove they exist; gravity and quantum physics don't play nice ) they are the force-carrying quanta which adds velocity relative to nearby to mass and the square of distance. So when you say "gravitational energy" (which isn't really a thing, but I'll get to that) it's really fundamentally no different from the gravitons that make it up. However, doing this won't do what you want it to, anyways. Gravitational energy doesn't really exist; it's better described as potential energy. Gravity is a force, which adds kinetic energy in proportion to various factors. So by absorbing gravitational potential energy (or gravitons) it would instead make Jumpdrive act as if he had spontaneously been moved to a zero g environment. Meaning either that he would float indefinitely, or he would just go splat like normal, depending on how exactly the danger sense works. I'm pretty sure this isn't what you want. With Option 2/3, the only thing that would really give you what you wanted would be to either instantaneously remove all kinetic energy from Jumpdrive's body at the moment of impact (which sounds like something you're trying to avoid) or have him stop feeling gravitational pull only once his velocity is almost high enough to injure him upon contact with a solid surface. (Which, really, isn't any better, for the reasons I've already explained, but it's at least workable.) Problem is, with a power like this, you'll never really get a nice solution without a ton of handwaving, and/or laying out how the power would work in special circumstances. (For example, what happens if he gets sunburnt? What happens if he's in some random villian's volcano-lair and we decide to buck convention by remembering that convection is a thing?) Sorry this wasn't really much help. (Maybe someone with a better understanding of physics than me can help more/and or correct me if I've gotten something wrong?) After reading Jumpdrive's powerset though, it looks like a much simpler means of fixing the problem would be to just alter how Jumpdrive's powers work. As things stand, he currently has not one, but two PIs, one for animate matter, and one for inanimate matter. It might be better to just meld the two together, and give him the Firewall; let it remove kinetic energy from objects that would hurt him, and attempt to convert them into data. The second one would just be less efficient when the object in question is living, and more so if the person in question is an Epic. This wouldn't solve everything (things like heat still present an issue, unless you want the power to work at a molecular level, but that would cause more problems than it's worth) but it would allow him to survive falls and such without causing any problems, as it would remove his kinetic energy (due to frames of reference, the Earth wouldn't have any meaningful kinetic energy in this case), and then fail in attempting to convert him into data, as he's a High Epic.