Friday, November 18, 2005
[RP] The Adventure Continues
CHARACTER
Name: Arkh Seryn
Age: 25
Race: Half Elf
Class: Cleric of Naele
Profession: Chef
Domain: Sun, Moon
=====================================================
Act 4: Sounds of Thunder
It has been 5 days since the events in Bacrind. I spent my days in the library reading and recouperating while Erien had some of the surviving adventurers go on a search for an Element or some sort. She says that since we can't control the Formstaff, the next best thing is to find and enlist the help of the Elements themselves.
I received a call later, to meet in the meeting hall. Apparently, the adventurers have returned. When I arrived, I see the other members gathering as well. Roem Timus the Tinker, Merri Weather, George, Kaede, Asuna Akamatsu the Geisha and Sigmend Freid the Hexblade were all sitting around the table. The Half-Orc Paladin of Lenellia whom I found out is called Kai Sunreaver as well as the eastern rogue is nowhere to be seen.
Erien arrived as I take my seat but Roem is still tinkering with his crossbow. Suddenly a shuriken flew from the shadows and landed in front of Roem, mildly gaining his attention to the start of the meeting, surprisingly. Well, at least the eastern rogue is here. Kai must be in his room somewhere, writing religious text and runes on the walls with his blood or something.
It was then that I noticed a small midget or a child hovering around Kaede. That was when I was first introduced to the Element of Air. It's a little hard for me to imagine a midget like that is an Element. He also mentioned something about being the wisest of all the 6 main elements and that Kaede is a wielder of his power.
The Element of Air, whom we know as Artemis mentioned that the Element of Lightning is possibly in the Thunder Plains while the Element of Water is most likely in the hands of the Drow as it's location is in the Underdark. He is unsure of the other Elements' whereabouts when we press him further. The Underdark, the lair of the Drows and other monstrous creatures really put us off since we don't feel that we are strong enough to tackle the dangers there as of yet. Which leaves us with one other option...
The Thunder Plains, so called due to the fact that storm clouds constantly brew in this area. Lightning strikes are extremely common every few seconds in this area. We would be pretty lucky to get away without being electrocuted.
Erien knows the place a little and teleports us to the town of Larynx, just outside the Thunder Plains. When we arrived, I saw an old man on the ground, with a tankard of ale lying next to him and a fallen chair beside him. He had his mouth open and pointing at us. It must have been quite a sight for him to see people suddenly materialized from thin air.
I tried to calm the stuttering old man when a dark figure appeared behind him, grapples him and puts a knife near his neck. I walked forward to get the eastern rogue to release the old man but he threw a shuriken at my feet instead. He knocked the hysteric old man unconcious and walked to the nearby inn. There are many strange people in this world...
I placed the old man under a nearby tree as comfortably as I can and joined the rest in the inn.
This town isn't very big. In fact, I wouldn't consider 2 houses and an inn a town at all. It's more like a half-way point for travellers to rest. But how many travellers, I wonder, would want to enter the Thunder Plains? We talked to the lady bar tender and found out that a certain Clarence Qearly lives in a tower in the Thunder Plains with his wife.
It was as good a place to start as any considering Clarence was one of the Elemental wielders. We bought some Rubian Boots from the bar tender when she said that it will protect us from the random lightning strikes and journeyed to the tower. Our trek was long yet fortunately uneventful. We did catch sight of some strange dancing balls of electricity along the way though. We later found out that they are lightning bugs. Pretty docile but you wouldn't want to touch one unless you are greeted with its shocking personality.
We walked up the stairs to the tower. The doors open easily. We are greeted with a square room and 3 other doors on each wall. In the center of the room is a small pillar with something written on it.
" One, two, and three,
Three doors to welcome thee,
Seek in the truth and you'll find me,
Seek in me and you'll find the key."
goes the rhyme.
The next few hours has each of us walking through the doors but each time, we enter a square room with no visible exit and a sign on the floor that says "Step Here". When we step on the sign, we are returned to the starting room.
Finally, Artemis decided to give it a shot. He says "I am Artemis, I seek for Clarence!" in front of a door and another door appears and he walked through it. All of us, except for Asuna, Sigmend and the eastern rogue, said our name and that we seek for Clarence and walked through the door that appeared.
I find myself in a hallway and a sign in the wall in front of me. All that is written on it is, "Ah, you are very smart! Welcome to the lab of Clarence". At the end of the hallway, is a large staircase that goes winding up to the top of the tower. Roem sends his hawk companion up to scout the place but it didn't come back. So, we started our own climb.
After walking up 30 floors, we found a button next to the railing. Kaede pused it and suddenly, a large platform that covers the whole floor crystalizes in front of us. Kaede and Artemis stepped on it and he disappeared, along with the platform. I pressed the button and stepped on the platform as well. I felt myself being teleported and when I open my eyes, I was with Kaede in a room with several doors somewhere in the tower.
As we are trying the doors, the Merri, Roem, Kai and George arrived. Roem apparently managed to find his hawk. After trying several doors, we found a room with a large mirror and the body of a human female on a bed. We shook her and felt her pulse but she didn't move. She didn't appear dead to me but her life signs are very shallow. It's almost as if the same thing had happen to her as well as the other wielders.
While we were checking on the woman, Kaede inspected the mirror. As he touched it, he disappeard(again). I followed after him and found that we were teleported into a lab. There are many potions and viles in the cupboards but they are protected by some kind of barrier, as Roem found out. He DID, however, find a journal of Clarence's.
The journal tells us many things regarding Clarence. The most interesting ones are:
- The door puzzle, which was actually supposed to be filled with monsters but Emily (we suspect the woman in the room) scolded him for having such monsters in their home.
- The first floor has a teleport button too... after Clarence got scolded by Emily for having a teleport button on the 30th floor only.
- He likes teleportations.
Saturday, September 03, 2005
How Sinful Am I?
Got this from Ronnie's blog.
Hmm... that's interesting.
I don't think a tomb suits me though. :p
Your Deadly Sins |
Greed: 20% |
Sloth: 20% |
Wrath: 20% |
Envy: 0% |
Gluttony: 0% |
Lust: 0% |
Pride: 0% |
Chance You'll Go to Hell: 9% |
You will die love and feared by many. And you'll be buried in a tomb. |
Hmm... that's interesting.
I don't think a tomb suits me though. :p
Tuesday, August 30, 2005
What Kind Of Person Am I?
Yeah, yeah I took the quiz that's on Wiffen's(Mewwie) site.
==============================================
Daydreamer...
Who exactly ARE you? (AnImE PiCs)
brought to you by Quizilla
==============================================
- You Are The Key Character
"It's what I was meant to do."
You are the true enigma. No one knows much about you, you do not understand much of yourself, and your life seems to carry no purpose. Yet regardless of everything around you - everyone knows that you are here for some reason, even if no one yet knows what that is. Things seem to simply fall into place for you. Almost as though some force is working either through you, for you, or around you. No matter your troubles, you have been sent here to unlock something. This is your destiny.
Which Classic Story Role Do You Play?
brought to you by Quizilla
==============================================
I don't know, I tried first and I got a d6, second, I got a d10 and then, I got a d20 several times. So, now I'm just sticking to the old d6.
You are a good old-fashioned six-sided cube, otherwise known as a d6. Others know you to be plain, predictable, conservative, average, ordinary, and downright boring. You prefer to describe yourself as dependable, honest, practical and trustworthy. People usually know what to expect from you, since you rarely hold any surprises. You hate to make decisions, and if forced to decide, you'll always fall back on how it was done in the past. You always order the same thing at your favorite restaurant, and your jokes, while funny, are never too offensive. It seems that you are well liked, but maybe that's simply because there's nothing to hate.
==============================================
Take The quiz yourself
Funny thing is I got Chad in another totally unrelated quiz about Bleach as well. :|
Well, at least that's correct. <_<
==============================================
Daydreamer...
Who exactly ARE you? (AnImE PiCs)
brought to you by Quizilla
==============================================
- You Are The Key Character
"It's what I was meant to do."
You are the true enigma. No one knows much about you, you do not understand much of yourself, and your life seems to carry no purpose. Yet regardless of everything around you - everyone knows that you are here for some reason, even if no one yet knows what that is. Things seem to simply fall into place for you. Almost as though some force is working either through you, for you, or around you. No matter your troubles, you have been sent here to unlock something. This is your destiny.
Which Classic Story Role Do You Play?
brought to you by Quizilla
==============================================
I don't know, I tried first and I got a d6, second, I got a d10 and then, I got a d20 several times. So, now I'm just sticking to the old d6.
You are a good old-fashioned six-sided cube, otherwise known as a d6. Others know you to be plain, predictable, conservative, average, ordinary, and downright boring. You prefer to describe yourself as dependable, honest, practical and trustworthy. People usually know what to expect from you, since you rarely hold any surprises. You hate to make decisions, and if forced to decide, you'll always fall back on how it was done in the past. You always order the same thing at your favorite restaurant, and your jokes, while funny, are never too offensive. It seems that you are well liked, but maybe that's simply because there's nothing to hate.
==============================================
Take The quiz yourself
Funny thing is I got Chad in another totally unrelated quiz about Bleach as well. :|
Well, at least that's correct. <_<
[RP] Shattered Peace
I've decided to put logs on my RP sessions from my character's perspective. We have a new campaign now and a new GM. So far, my character have through 4 sessions but there were 5 (I didn't come on the 4th session, so sue me). So, here's the first 3 sessions of my character's log.
CHARACTER
Name: Arkh Seryn
Class: Cleric of Strength and Knowledge
Race: Half Elf
=====================================================
Act 1: The Festival of Balance
It has been a long journey but I've finally reached Bacrind. After hearing of the joyous Festival of Balance for the past 5 years, I've decided to leave my home village and visit the grand capital of Bacrind(pronounced Bacrine) and participate in this festival.
Upon my arrival, I make my way through to the Tavern District to find some lodging. The streets are filled with all manner of people from all around the Dekkaran lands for the week-long festival. As I walk past the statue of a noble man in a fountain in the district, two taverns caught my eye. One large tavern whose sign reads "Tansheron's Tavern" and a seedy little one to another side with "Legolust Inn" written on it's sign.
I chose the former.
Inside, I rented a room with the tavern keeper, which was free. It's amazing how many rooms they have in the tavern considering the number of people present on the first day of the festival and they are giving some rooms for free. Business must be very good.
I asked the tavern keeper if they provide any special services and he gave me a weird look asking if I am really a cleric and that I would find special services at the Legolust Inn. I didn't quite understand that and explained that I was in town for the special service given by the priests. After which he directed me to the Temple District. I made a mental note to go there after getting some supplies.
Two bards are singing in one corner. And after awhile, people flung ale at them, though I wasn't paying them much attention. My attention was at two unsual characters who happen to just walk into the tavern. A strange looking easterner and a large quiet half-orc covered in leaves.
It is most unusual to see them that I decided to buy them some drinks. Soon, my newfound eastern Iaiblade friend named Kaede Ritsuka was drunk (after drinking a sip of the ale) while the quiet half-orc looked on (he wasn't very talkative so, I didn't catch his name). I've had the tavern keeper book a room for him and helped get him to his room to sleep off the ale.
Outside, I hear some noises of people shouting. Something about someone smelling like he just came out of the sewer and taking a shower in the fountain.
=====================================================
Act 2: The Meeting
Soon, I met a Fire Druid named George Sarlin and a Battle Sorceroress named Merriweather and we chatted awhile and listen to the tale the bards were singing regarding the heroes for which the Festival of Balance was held in their honor. Most surprisingly, King Cyle Sivell, the ruler of Bacrind was one of the heroes mentioned. And that the Formstaff, the item that keeps the elements in balance, whose wielder is not seen for many many years.
Kaede soon joined us after waking up from a strange dream telling us that some sort of disaster is coming.
Which is when we met him.
He was a strange person. A half elf clad in silver robes and a quarterstaff hung on his back. He looks to be a cleric but an owl sits on his left shoulder and a hawk on his right. Two large dire wolves, one black and another white, tags along beside him. The white dire wolf, whom we discovered is named Ellis, seems overly protective of him when we got too close to him.
We told him of our intention of visiting the Merchant District and he offered to tag along. He gave us each a ring called the Sanctuary of Sages (SOS) Ring. He says that we will be transported to a safe place if we use the ring but only in dire situations should we activate it (by saying SOS).
We soon reached the district only to hear a voice shout "Thief! Thief! Thief!". I saw a little man jumping up and down next to his wares, which happens to look like ordinary purses, pointing in one direction. Seeing that people are ignoring him, we decided not to get involved either.
Surprisingly, it seems, that many of the shopkeepers know of our mysterious friend, whom we know as Sigel Whitewind. They provided us with many magical items. All free of charge! I wasn't looking for much so, I just bought a magical Heavy Mace. I started to wonder who our mysterious friend really is.
Kaede then told him of his dream in the tavern and that a voice told him "Chaos ensues... Be brave and prepared". Sigel seemed alarmed and after our shopping, he invited us to join him in the library in the City Hall, saying that he is looking for something. We followed him.
I was surprised at first considering that Sigel brought his animal companions into the library with him. I soon forgot about it once I entered the library. Inside, I found many interesting tomes of knowledges. And we spend our time reading some of the books.
=====================================================
Act 3: Chaos
After half an hour, we realized that Sigel and his animal companions are missing. We looked everywhere and even asked the receptionist but she could not remember Sigel at all. Strange. We questioned the people in the City Hall, where the library was located, but none seems to know of Sigel at all, much less seen him. We decided to leave the building to see if he left the area.
Suddenly, the earth shakes and we fought to maintain our balance. After awhile it stopped.
We reached the Town Center when all of a sudden, a large black orb appeared in front of us. In the distance, I see another orb appearing around the fountain. From each orb appeared 20 armed goblins who began attacking everyone in sight.
People are panicking all around us. We began aiding the town guards, killing as many as we can. One of the guards, a half-orc Paladin of Freedom gave a battlecry and launched himself into battle. Each time we are getting the upper hand, more orbs appear releasing more goblins. And from the distance, I can hear that the same phenomena is happening throughout the city. Blasts of magical energy from arcane and divine spells and the clangs of metal on metal rings throughout the once festive city.
Energy starts churning around in the fountain and it suddenly took form of a humanoid being. Next to it, a being of fire appeared. Elementals! They are apparently aiding the goblins!
As we are being overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of the goblins and elementals, we heard a loud growl and a few goblins dropped down, dead at the feet of a large black wolf. Around us, divine bolts of energy fell. Each strike kills several goblins. Looking at the direction of the source of the divine energy that I felt, I saw Sigel standing on top of the clock tower. Immediately, I sensed a powerful divine spell being cast and suddenly, I felt stronger and well protected. I saw that my companions too are under the influence of the spell as well. Together, we fought to drive the invaders back.
As we've had received reinforcements, so did the enemy, so it would seem. Another black orb appeared and from it steps a dark Paladin of Slaughter and a drow. Ellis transformed before my eyes into a half-elf drow and engeged the enemy drow both battling with dual scimitars. Sigel joined us and battled the Paladin.
In the midst of battle, my companions and I discovered that Sigel is actually the Formstaff wielder Chevenor Xevious and the Paladin of Slaughter apparently serves Tharizdun, the demon whom the heroes prevented from being summoned into our realm 5 years ago! The quarterstaff he wields is actually the Formstaff!
Kaede got the idea to use the SOS ring to summon some help. He appeared awhile later with a bespectacled blond girl named Erien, an old Elf and a dwarf. Just in time to see four elementals of Fire, Water, Air and Earth fuze into a huge elemental. In turn, Sigel/Chevenor's hawk and owl companions magically fuse into a large Air elemental and attacked the enemy's combined elemental.
The Paladin of Slaughter summoned 7 skeletons which appear from the town sewers. I managed to turn 2 while Erien handled the rest. Then, my companions and I aid our failing Air elemental ally against the fused elemental. From the corner of my eye, I see the old elf and dwarf battling the Paladin of Slaughter along with Sigel/Chevenor. Chorellius Legolust the Rogue, appeared from the Merchant District and, he too, joined the fray with his old comrades.
Meanwhile, we managed to destroy the fused elemental with our combined might to see that the Paladin of Slaughter has transformed into a demon and deflecting the attacks of all the heroes with his dual longswords. He suddenly flew into the air and threw them onto the ground. The energy released would have destroyed us were it not for the protection that Sigel/Chevenor cast earlier.
Sigel/Chevenor commanded Erien to teleport us to a safe place and he, and the Formstaff, began to glow. He spout angelic wings, one pure white and another pure black and charged at the demonic Paladin in the air. The last thing I saw as Erien started teleporting us was the bright flash as the two powerful beings collide.
I opened my eyes to see that we are all in a large room. In the adjacent rooms, I can hear shouts of surprises and I suspect that the other city residents are also transported here. Erien became desperate when she realised that the King, Chevenor and the other heroes didn't teleport with us. As she tries to search for them, she was suddenly knocked back, unconcious.
The old elf cast a spell and a crystal ball appeared in mid-air. In it, we saw that Chevenor was still battling the Paladin. A bright light flashed and when we looked again, what one would expect to be the lively city of Bacrind, is now a crater filled with rubble.
As a young elf carried Aeiren to a chair, the old elf introduced himself as Lucian Nightbreeze and that we are in the Sanctuary of Sages, which is located in the Astral Plane. It is a protected place and none may enter unless permitted by one of the Guardians of the Sanctuary. We were told to rest until they can find out what happened to Bacrind.
After the debriefing, I left the group and found a room prepared for me. I lay my head down on the bed to rest and take in all that has happened. It is a lot to think about in one day when all I wanted to do initially was spend the week enjoying the festival. And I feel that the worse is not over yet. I sense that there will be more for my new companions and I to do before all this is truly over.
CHARACTER
Name: Arkh Seryn
Class: Cleric of Strength and Knowledge
Race: Half Elf
=====================================================
Act 1: The Festival of Balance
It has been a long journey but I've finally reached Bacrind. After hearing of the joyous Festival of Balance for the past 5 years, I've decided to leave my home village and visit the grand capital of Bacrind(pronounced Bacrine) and participate in this festival.
Upon my arrival, I make my way through to the Tavern District to find some lodging. The streets are filled with all manner of people from all around the Dekkaran lands for the week-long festival. As I walk past the statue of a noble man in a fountain in the district, two taverns caught my eye. One large tavern whose sign reads "Tansheron's Tavern" and a seedy little one to another side with "Legolust Inn" written on it's sign.
I chose the former.
Inside, I rented a room with the tavern keeper, which was free. It's amazing how many rooms they have in the tavern considering the number of people present on the first day of the festival and they are giving some rooms for free. Business must be very good.
I asked the tavern keeper if they provide any special services and he gave me a weird look asking if I am really a cleric and that I would find special services at the Legolust Inn. I didn't quite understand that and explained that I was in town for the special service given by the priests. After which he directed me to the Temple District. I made a mental note to go there after getting some supplies.
Two bards are singing in one corner. And after awhile, people flung ale at them, though I wasn't paying them much attention. My attention was at two unsual characters who happen to just walk into the tavern. A strange looking easterner and a large quiet half-orc covered in leaves.
It is most unusual to see them that I decided to buy them some drinks. Soon, my newfound eastern Iaiblade friend named Kaede Ritsuka was drunk (after drinking a sip of the ale) while the quiet half-orc looked on (he wasn't very talkative so, I didn't catch his name). I've had the tavern keeper book a room for him and helped get him to his room to sleep off the ale.
Outside, I hear some noises of people shouting. Something about someone smelling like he just came out of the sewer and taking a shower in the fountain.
=====================================================
Act 2: The Meeting
Soon, I met a Fire Druid named George Sarlin and a Battle Sorceroress named Merriweather and we chatted awhile and listen to the tale the bards were singing regarding the heroes for which the Festival of Balance was held in their honor. Most surprisingly, King Cyle Sivell, the ruler of Bacrind was one of the heroes mentioned. And that the Formstaff, the item that keeps the elements in balance, whose wielder is not seen for many many years.
Kaede soon joined us after waking up from a strange dream telling us that some sort of disaster is coming.
Which is when we met him.
He was a strange person. A half elf clad in silver robes and a quarterstaff hung on his back. He looks to be a cleric but an owl sits on his left shoulder and a hawk on his right. Two large dire wolves, one black and another white, tags along beside him. The white dire wolf, whom we discovered is named Ellis, seems overly protective of him when we got too close to him.
We told him of our intention of visiting the Merchant District and he offered to tag along. He gave us each a ring called the Sanctuary of Sages (SOS) Ring. He says that we will be transported to a safe place if we use the ring but only in dire situations should we activate it (by saying SOS).
We soon reached the district only to hear a voice shout "Thief! Thief! Thief!". I saw a little man jumping up and down next to his wares, which happens to look like ordinary purses, pointing in one direction. Seeing that people are ignoring him, we decided not to get involved either.
Surprisingly, it seems, that many of the shopkeepers know of our mysterious friend, whom we know as Sigel Whitewind. They provided us with many magical items. All free of charge! I wasn't looking for much so, I just bought a magical Heavy Mace. I started to wonder who our mysterious friend really is.
Kaede then told him of his dream in the tavern and that a voice told him "Chaos ensues... Be brave and prepared". Sigel seemed alarmed and after our shopping, he invited us to join him in the library in the City Hall, saying that he is looking for something. We followed him.
I was surprised at first considering that Sigel brought his animal companions into the library with him. I soon forgot about it once I entered the library. Inside, I found many interesting tomes of knowledges. And we spend our time reading some of the books.
=====================================================
Act 3: Chaos
After half an hour, we realized that Sigel and his animal companions are missing. We looked everywhere and even asked the receptionist but she could not remember Sigel at all. Strange. We questioned the people in the City Hall, where the library was located, but none seems to know of Sigel at all, much less seen him. We decided to leave the building to see if he left the area.
Suddenly, the earth shakes and we fought to maintain our balance. After awhile it stopped.
We reached the Town Center when all of a sudden, a large black orb appeared in front of us. In the distance, I see another orb appearing around the fountain. From each orb appeared 20 armed goblins who began attacking everyone in sight.
People are panicking all around us. We began aiding the town guards, killing as many as we can. One of the guards, a half-orc Paladin of Freedom gave a battlecry and launched himself into battle. Each time we are getting the upper hand, more orbs appear releasing more goblins. And from the distance, I can hear that the same phenomena is happening throughout the city. Blasts of magical energy from arcane and divine spells and the clangs of metal on metal rings throughout the once festive city.
Energy starts churning around in the fountain and it suddenly took form of a humanoid being. Next to it, a being of fire appeared. Elementals! They are apparently aiding the goblins!
As we are being overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of the goblins and elementals, we heard a loud growl and a few goblins dropped down, dead at the feet of a large black wolf. Around us, divine bolts of energy fell. Each strike kills several goblins. Looking at the direction of the source of the divine energy that I felt, I saw Sigel standing on top of the clock tower. Immediately, I sensed a powerful divine spell being cast and suddenly, I felt stronger and well protected. I saw that my companions too are under the influence of the spell as well. Together, we fought to drive the invaders back.
As we've had received reinforcements, so did the enemy, so it would seem. Another black orb appeared and from it steps a dark Paladin of Slaughter and a drow. Ellis transformed before my eyes into a half-elf drow and engeged the enemy drow both battling with dual scimitars. Sigel joined us and battled the Paladin.
In the midst of battle, my companions and I discovered that Sigel is actually the Formstaff wielder Chevenor Xevious and the Paladin of Slaughter apparently serves Tharizdun, the demon whom the heroes prevented from being summoned into our realm 5 years ago! The quarterstaff he wields is actually the Formstaff!
Kaede got the idea to use the SOS ring to summon some help. He appeared awhile later with a bespectacled blond girl named Erien, an old Elf and a dwarf. Just in time to see four elementals of Fire, Water, Air and Earth fuze into a huge elemental. In turn, Sigel/Chevenor's hawk and owl companions magically fuse into a large Air elemental and attacked the enemy's combined elemental.
The Paladin of Slaughter summoned 7 skeletons which appear from the town sewers. I managed to turn 2 while Erien handled the rest. Then, my companions and I aid our failing Air elemental ally against the fused elemental. From the corner of my eye, I see the old elf and dwarf battling the Paladin of Slaughter along with Sigel/Chevenor. Chorellius Legolust the Rogue, appeared from the Merchant District and, he too, joined the fray with his old comrades.
Meanwhile, we managed to destroy the fused elemental with our combined might to see that the Paladin of Slaughter has transformed into a demon and deflecting the attacks of all the heroes with his dual longswords. He suddenly flew into the air and threw them onto the ground. The energy released would have destroyed us were it not for the protection that Sigel/Chevenor cast earlier.
Sigel/Chevenor commanded Erien to teleport us to a safe place and he, and the Formstaff, began to glow. He spout angelic wings, one pure white and another pure black and charged at the demonic Paladin in the air. The last thing I saw as Erien started teleporting us was the bright flash as the two powerful beings collide.
I opened my eyes to see that we are all in a large room. In the adjacent rooms, I can hear shouts of surprises and I suspect that the other city residents are also transported here. Erien became desperate when she realised that the King, Chevenor and the other heroes didn't teleport with us. As she tries to search for them, she was suddenly knocked back, unconcious.
The old elf cast a spell and a crystal ball appeared in mid-air. In it, we saw that Chevenor was still battling the Paladin. A bright light flashed and when we looked again, what one would expect to be the lively city of Bacrind, is now a crater filled with rubble.
As a young elf carried Aeiren to a chair, the old elf introduced himself as Lucian Nightbreeze and that we are in the Sanctuary of Sages, which is located in the Astral Plane. It is a protected place and none may enter unless permitted by one of the Guardians of the Sanctuary. We were told to rest until they can find out what happened to Bacrind.
After the debriefing, I left the group and found a room prepared for me. I lay my head down on the bed to rest and take in all that has happened. It is a lot to think about in one day when all I wanted to do initially was spend the week enjoying the festival. And I feel that the worse is not over yet. I sense that there will be more for my new companions and I to do before all this is truly over.
Wednesday, May 18, 2005
Mobile Games
For the past 4 months, I've been working in a consulting company that wants to jump into mobile gaming (don't ask why). After 4 months I decided to resign, for resons of my own. I have managed to get a job in another company that will be making games. If all goes well, I will start in June.
While I was in the previous company, however, I was exposed to something I haven't tried before and it got me intereseted. Making mobile games. Though, that doesn't mean that I will forget about my interest in online games.
All in one
It's amazing what they are stuffing in mobile phones these days. Is it a gaming platform? A telecommunication device? Calendar? My personal assistant? In other words, in this day and time, the mobile phone is always with you. Any downtime you have that you would like to kill other than reading, you could just whip out the phone and play a game.
Differences
This is one of the few things that sets mobile games apart from other games. They have short gaming sessions. You don't want to be playing a game while waiting for the bus and when the bus arrives, and the conductor asks if you're getting on, you go Hold on, just one more mission" or "Give me a minute to get to the save point". The worse case scenario would be you getting on the bus and not come down. :|
There are several APIs and programming languages for the mobile phone like Symbian(C) and J2ME(Java) and recently, Flash, I heard. The company used J2ME so that's what I as exposed to.I initially thought that I'd have to dig up my Java book to study it but surprisingly it's easy to pick up. It's like Java lite version.
Headaches
Unfortunately, making games for mobile phones can give you lots of headaches. Mobile phones are not really "standardized". Manufacturers like Sony Ericsson, Nokia and Motorola can make the phones any way they want. This gives a lot of variety for the consumers to choose from but it gives a lot of headaches to developers. Different screen sizes, keypads (some that support multiple keypresses and others that do not), heap size(memory) and processing power.
Basically, if you want to make your game available on a variety of phones, be repared to make a variety of versions of your game for each phone.
Besides phones' hardware, the software used are also different. As of now, there are 2 versions of J2ME APIs, namely MIDP 1.0 and MIDP 2.0. MIDP 2.0 is like MIDP 1.0 but geard for multimedia and connectivity. In other words, All (or most) of the things you need to make a game for the mobile phone is available. BUT it's availabe on new phones. Older phones are still using MIDP 1.0, which is why most developers nowadays are still making them using MIDP 1.0 (since MIDP2.0 phones can still play them anyway).
All in all
I must say that making mobile games are still interesting. They have short development time (about 1 month or 2) and use a programming language with a small learning curve. In my opinion, it's a good distraction and helps you practice your game dev skills. Hey, even John Carmack is interested in it.
While I was in the previous company, however, I was exposed to something I haven't tried before and it got me intereseted. Making mobile games. Though, that doesn't mean that I will forget about my interest in online games.
All in one
It's amazing what they are stuffing in mobile phones these days. Is it a gaming platform? A telecommunication device? Calendar? My personal assistant? In other words, in this day and time, the mobile phone is always with you. Any downtime you have that you would like to kill other than reading, you could just whip out the phone and play a game.
Differences
This is one of the few things that sets mobile games apart from other games. They have short gaming sessions. You don't want to be playing a game while waiting for the bus and when the bus arrives, and the conductor asks if you're getting on, you go Hold on, just one more mission" or "Give me a minute to get to the save point". The worse case scenario would be you getting on the bus and not come down. :|
There are several APIs and programming languages for the mobile phone like Symbian(C) and J2ME(Java) and recently, Flash, I heard. The company used J2ME so that's what I as exposed to.I initially thought that I'd have to dig up my Java book to study it but surprisingly it's easy to pick up. It's like Java lite version.
Headaches
Unfortunately, making games for mobile phones can give you lots of headaches. Mobile phones are not really "standardized". Manufacturers like Sony Ericsson, Nokia and Motorola can make the phones any way they want. This gives a lot of variety for the consumers to choose from but it gives a lot of headaches to developers. Different screen sizes, keypads (some that support multiple keypresses and others that do not), heap size(memory) and processing power.
Basically, if you want to make your game available on a variety of phones, be repared to make a variety of versions of your game for each phone.
Besides phones' hardware, the software used are also different. As of now, there are 2 versions of J2ME APIs, namely MIDP 1.0 and MIDP 2.0. MIDP 2.0 is like MIDP 1.0 but geard for multimedia and connectivity. In other words, All (or most) of the things you need to make a game for the mobile phone is available. BUT it's availabe on new phones. Older phones are still using MIDP 1.0, which is why most developers nowadays are still making them using MIDP 1.0 (since MIDP2.0 phones can still play them anyway).
All in all
I must say that making mobile games are still interesting. They have short development time (about 1 month or 2) and use a programming language with a small learning curve. In my opinion, it's a good distraction and helps you practice your game dev skills. Hey, even John Carmack is interested in it.
Sunday, April 24, 2005
Konoha's Trip to Genting
There is a MMORPG which I used to play about a couple of years ago called Ragnarok Online(RO). Sure, it's boring with the typical level grinding, not much content and bot plague (cheaters!). But the game will always hold a special place with me if only because it's my first MMORPG experience. And it was really an eye openner. All this time I've been playing normal offline RPGs and my experience with Ragnarok Online is a new one.
For one thing, you're NOT the protagonist in this game. You're one of many. You can meet with many people around the region and even though he/she's a complete stranger, you wouldn't mind grouping up with him/her for a round of levelling. Or sometimes help someone to solve an in-game problem of his (stats, weapons, mob spawn etc)
And that's when you start making friends online.
Sometimes, they decide to form an organization to group up and have fun. In this case, it's called a guild. My guild in RO is called konoha_devilz. We are in affiliation with some of the other konoha guilds and we called ourselves the "Konoha Alliance". All of the affiliated guilds have the word "konoha" as a prefix and the symbol of the Konoha Village from the anime, Naruto, as our guild symbol.
Konoha means leaves/folliage in Japanese
Have I seen you somewhere before?
I don't know about other guilds but we are quite close. Sometimes we set up a gathering to meet up with the real McCoy, and not our online representative. This time, we went to Genting. This time, the gathering is special because unlike the others, our guildmates from Sabah and Brunei are coming down.
To cut a story short, we checked in and went around on the first day. Froze my legs off at night as there wasn't enough blankets. And went to the theme park on the 2nd day. Nothing much seems to have changed in the theme park since my last visit 7-8 years ago.
Here's some of the pictures we took on that trip.
Waiting for the bus. Gee, I wonder if these guys are from konoha... (2nd guy from left - hint, hint)
In the hallway outside our rooms
The line to the Haunted House
Breakfast on the 2nd day (never eat here again, food's not nice and expensive!).
And no, we didn't go gambling.
For one thing, you're NOT the protagonist in this game. You're one of many. You can meet with many people around the region and even though he/she's a complete stranger, you wouldn't mind grouping up with him/her for a round of levelling. Or sometimes help someone to solve an in-game problem of his (stats, weapons, mob spawn etc)
And that's when you start making friends online.
Sometimes, they decide to form an organization to group up and have fun. In this case, it's called a guild. My guild in RO is called konoha_devilz. We are in affiliation with some of the other konoha guilds and we called ourselves the "Konoha Alliance". All of the affiliated guilds have the word "konoha" as a prefix and the symbol of the Konoha Village from the anime, Naruto, as our guild symbol.
Konoha means leaves/folliage in Japanese
Have I seen you somewhere before?
I don't know about other guilds but we are quite close. Sometimes we set up a gathering to meet up with the real McCoy, and not our online representative. This time, we went to Genting. This time, the gathering is special because unlike the others, our guildmates from Sabah and Brunei are coming down.
To cut a story short, we checked in and went around on the first day. Froze my legs off at night as there wasn't enough blankets. And went to the theme park on the 2nd day. Nothing much seems to have changed in the theme park since my last visit 7-8 years ago.
Here's some of the pictures we took on that trip.
Waiting for the bus. Gee, I wonder if these guys are from konoha... (2nd guy from left - hint, hint)
In the hallway outside our rooms
The line to the Haunted House
Breakfast on the 2nd day (never eat here again, food's not nice and expensive!).
And no, we didn't go gambling.
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