Monday, October 14, 2013

Poem - "Birth"

I found a poem I had written; scrawled on a torn piece of paper stuffed into one of my writing notebooks in the back.  I vaguely recall writing it, so I wish I could speak more on my mindset at the time of its creation.



"Birth"

Brave soul, Brave enough for this world
Of slanderous walls and roadways of greed.
You come, despite them, into this earth,
Clothed in a shell cracked in weakness.
You live among them,
You become them
As we all do, it seems.
The world we leave is worse than before.
Yet we return, more and more of us.
Crowding the wretched planet of sin;
The weight slowly crushing the hope from its center, their center,
Our center.
Our bravery is strong.  We will always come back.

We never are defeated.


Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Dungeons & Dragons Night: "The Thunderhaven Joust" (Part 1)


This time, instead of simply describing the adventure as it happened on the game table, I’ve decided to dramaticise it a bit, and write it more as a narrative.  I hope you all enjoy it.  This story is an interpretation of how the events of the game played out from the character’s perspectives.



            The Lygers, having proven victorious against the Fire Elemental Lord, returned to the fortress city of Thunderhaven.  Most of the shops were closed now, and the people of the city had migrated to the center court, where a jousting field had been erected.  The stands were full of cheering townspeople, awaiting the exciting joust that would determine their future ruler, for the winner of the jousting tournament would receive a great prize: the hand in marriage of Princess Camille, middle daughter of King Rast, ruler of Thunderhaven.



The party quickly made preparations for the upcoming event. Both Reinhardt Van Nystrom, and Kaluryn Parfore had previously registered for the tournament using forged documents.  To be eligible to participate in the festivities, the champions needed to prove they were of noble blood, and also register a horse, and squire.  Gjertrude volunteered to play at squire for Kaluryn, and Faye would be the squire for Reinhardt.

            After a brief ceremony where the combatants shared a glass of wine in front of the king, and with each other, the champions moved to their places to begin the first round of battles. Champion Gillroy sat atop his white steed, his silver armor shining brightly in the hot sun of the day.  Reinhardt sat atop his own horse, quivering a little with the anxiety of the moment.  Gillroy’s stance was disciplined and perfect.  His lance held out straight and unwavering.  This is going to be a hard match to win, thought Reinhardt, reaching up a moment to see Princess Camille’s kerchief nestled into the wrist joint on his armor, neatly tucked away behind his shield.  The princess had chosen Reinhardt to accept her favor before the match, and something about that act empowered him slightly.  He wanted to do his best to impress her.  Still, he knew this would not be an easy challenge.



    The horn rang out, and both combatants charged forward, their horses galloping swiftly.  Reinhardt did his best to hold both his lance and shield steady, which was difficult enough without the horse moving as well.  There was a loud thunk, and Reinhardt felt Gillroy’s lance strike his shield, the impact of which nearly ripped the protective item out of his hand, and caused him to almost lose his balance on his horse.  He steadied himself somehow, and made the round to face his opponent again.  There was another trumpet blast, and the two combatants charged forward once more.  This time, Reinhardt felt the lance strike his armor straight on.  A few chaotic moments later, Reinhardt found himself lying on his back in the dirt.  He had been unhorsed and lost the first phase of the joust.  If he had any chance of winning, he would need to beat Gillroy in martial combat.  Faye, acting as his squire, approached with his sword, and helped him out of the dust before taking his lance and horse back to the sidelines with her.


          Reinhardt readied himself, and the trumpet blast out for the third time.  Knowing he had the disadvantage, Reinhardt attempted to use the wooden pillars as cover to help protect his back from his foe.  Gillroy, however, simply walked forward, poised and ready to strike.  Reinhardt thought he saw an opportunity to land a blow, but as he swung, he overextended, exposing himself to attack.  Gillroy, having trained in combat his whole life quickly took the advantage, and landed multiple heavy blows to Reinhardt, ending the fight in a matter of moments.  Reinhardt was simply outmatched, and no amount of luck, favor from the princess, or skill was going to add up to a winning combination against this dangerous foe.  With Gillroy’s final blow, Reinhardt dropped his sword and yielded, knowing he had been defeated.  Now that Reinhardt had failed, the Lyger’s chances in the tournament rested on Kaluryn’s shoulders.

          The next match was between the stout and domineering Ogden Stonedealer and Kaluryn Parfore.  Kaluryn mounted his horse and rode out to face his enemy.  Ogden was a large man, wide around the belly, with a big busy beard sticking out the bottom of his helmet.  He also appeared to be very powerful.  Kaluryn knew this would be a tough foe to beat.  Using one of the two ‘spell-secret’ marbles given to him by Taymos’ friend Loquo, he quietly cast a haste spell on himself.  Instantly, he felt quicker and more alert.  This would help him react faster in combat, and possibly give him an edge.
          The joust match played out much like Reinhardt’s had, except for that Kaluryn had been fortunate enough to land a very lucky blow with his lance that somehow had snuck between Stonedealer’s lance and shield.  The burly man was knocked to the ground.  Success!  Kaluryn had managed to get lucky.  If he could somehow win the hand to hand combat phase, he’d be able to move on to the next round and possibly win back some of the money that the party pooled together for an entrance fee / dowry.  Kaluryn hopped off his steed and led the horse over to Gjertrude who was approaching with Kaluryn’s sword.  He handed the reins off to the druidess, and took his place on the martial combat field.  The trumpet sounded, and with a speed he wouldn’t have expected of it, Ogden Stonedealer charged forward, his flail swinging wildly.  Kaluryn ducked behind one of the wooden pillars.  If the burly adversary landed a direct blow, Kaluryn knew he would be done for.  Stonedealer approached rapidly, and took a large heavy swing for Kaluryn’s head.  The nimble wizard managed to duck just in the nick of time, and Stonedealer’s flail impacted with the wooden pillar, sending wooden splinters raining over him.  Fortunately, the attack left the burly man’s flail stuck in the wood, and Kaluryn took the opportunity to go on the offensive.  With a reflexive speed, Kaluryn slashed and stabbed at the brutal giant, skewering him several times, his blade sliding in between the plates of heavy armor that the bearded man wore.  In a matter of lucky moments, Kaluryn had brought the big foe to his knees, and forced him to yield.  Kaluryn would go on to the next round of the joust!

            The final match was almost no contest whatsoever.  Ryn Redclaw, the mysterious warrior in black and red armor had effortlessly dispatched of his opponent, Gleiss J’ho.  The last match went quickly too.  Hogan Hiro faced off against McHali Na’avi, losing in a close finish to the knight.

            With the first day’s matches completed, the King announced that a royal ball celebrating the jousting festival would be held that evening, and the party left to their rooms to prepare for the festivities.

          The ballroom was full of all the noble lords and ladies of Thunderhaven, as well as many of the more affluent citizens.  The King and Queen had a fair sized crowd around them, and musicians were playing music on a small stage that had been erected on one side of the room. Kaluryn, Reinhardt, Grimnash, and Faye all entered, impressed with the classy festivities, atmosphere, and merriment of the ball.
          Gjertrude and Constance followed behind too, but when she saw the large crowds, Constance decided to head back to the Inn to get some fresh night air.  Gjertrude followed after her, as she wanted to go back to the Inn as well, to check on some of her animals.
          Grimnash immediately moved for the refreshment table at the ball, burying himself behind a stein of ale and a large plate of food.  He shoveled the hors-d’ouvres into his mouth so quickly that much of the food and ale dribbled down his chin and made a mess of his beard. He finished off the meal with a triumphant belch, garnering rude stares from other party patrons.  Grimnash didn’t care, though, and disappeared in search of a place to take a nap and sleep off his meal.

            Reinhardt was enjoying a glass of wine, when suddenly he heard a voice from behind.  It was the princess.  She expressed to Reinhardt how truly disappointed she was about how his match had gone during the first day of the joust, and how she still desired and wished that he could be her champion and marry her.  The two of them left the party briefly to go on a short secret tour of the castle.  Princess Camille even showed Reinhardt her collection of books in the expansive library of the castle, where she would spend hours reading about the adventures of knights fighting dragons, and the heroes of ages past.  Reinhardt flirted back, hoping that perhaps this might sow the seeds for a future option, should they somehow need to convince the Princess to help them later.

            Meanwhile, Gjertrude and Constance had arrived back at the Inn, The Foggy HallwayConstance was quick to return to the room, but what she saw when she reached the hallway was alarming to her.

            The door was ajar?  Had anyone left it open before they had left?  No, thought Constance, and in a swift moment, she slinked up to the door and peered inside.  Whoever had invaded their room at the ‘Foggy Hallway’ had already left. The window was open as well, and the curtains flapped in the cool night breeze.  Hoping to catch a glimpse of whoever had escaped, Constance quickly dashed to the window and peered out of it.  The infiltrator had disappeared, but she  thought she caught a shadow moving into the alley down the street.  As she was about to climb out the window and use her spider climb ability to creep down the side of the Inn, Constance spotted a shiny chain hanging from a loose nail in the window frame.  Here a small amulet had gotten caught on the nail while whoever had been rifling through the party’s belongings was escaping.  In a moment, Constance snatched up the amulet and hunted down Gyertrude, who had been following behind her after the two of them had left the royal ball.

With little time to explain, Constance grabbed Gyertrude’s hand and led her along, explaining the situation as they ran. They moved into alley after alley in pursuit of their prey, Constance using her powerful sense of smell, and Gyertrude using her tracking experience to eventually arrive at a small stable in the North side of Thunderhaven, deep in the slum district of the city.  In the stable was a single mount: a black warhorse with deep red eyes that almost seemed to glow when the two women adventurers examined it.  Next to the stable was a small shanty, and Constance, without thinking, quickly moved to kick the door down.

“Wait!” hissed Gyertrude, attempting to stop her companion. “We don’t know what’s in there!”

“I got this!” was all Constance said before bursting through the door to confront her foe.  It was Ryn Redclaw, the joust participant who had been mysteriously absent from the royal ball.  For the first time now, Constance was able to see her foe.  Ryn was a sinister and powerful looking man, hidden beneath twisted black armor, and thick black wool strips that were wrapped around the larger plates of armor. His face was more than half obscured by the black cloth, as it stretched across his face and mouth, leaving only his eyes exposed.  Through the cloth, Constance could see the heavy scratch-scar that darted in a diagonal across his face. His skin was unusually dry and cracked as well.  Wherever he was from, it must be hot, thought Constance.

          Not wasting time, Constance summoned her deep vampiric intimidation skills, lowering her voice, and strengthening her piercing gaze.  “Stop there!” she shouted, not desiring Ryn to attempt to flee.  “What were you doing in our room at the Inn?” Her voice dripped with power as she interrogated the dark knight.

          Ryn hesitated for a moment, then denied the accusation.  Constance would have none of it, however, and swiftly brought a blade against Ryn to further empower her threatening talk.  Her other hand began to harden with the stone-charm bracelet on her wrist; becoming a stone weapon she could use if things got messy.  However, she would not need them.  Her intimidating glare was enough for Ryn to cave.  “How did you know I was there?”
          Constance held out the amulet.  “You dropped something, didn’t you?”  As she and Gjertrude had been tracking Ryn to his shanty, they managed to contact Taymos the Wizard back at the Lyger Farms, using the mystical portal hoops as a tool for communication.  She had explained the nature of the magic spell locked away in the charm: a polymorph spell that would allow the wearer to take the form of a minotaur. Immediately they knew that this was the man who had framed their friend Zax for murder.  Using her influence, Constance bullied Ryn into promising to come forward and absolve Zax from his crime in Thunderhaven.  With that she left, as quickly as she had entered the shanty, hoping that Ryn would be true to his word and fulfill his promise.  As she left, Gjertrude was waiting.  Constance explained the entire situation to her, and the two of them returned to their room at the Inn to rest up, and await the next day’s jousting events.
           
            The next morning came, and the party traveled to the jousting grounds together.  This would be a difficult match, as the drawn lots for that day’s match-ups had Kaluryn facing off against the dangerous Champion Gillroy who had bested Reinhardt in the previous match.  This would be another difficult match.

            After a second wine ceremony, Kaluryn put on his helmet and mounted his horse to ready himself for the jousting phase.
          





Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Dungeons & Dragons Night: "Thunderhaven and the Fire Cave"

Those who know me know that I enjoy the occasional night of Dungeons & Dragons pen-and-paper gaming. We have been playing through a campaign currently involving a team of adventurers (who have chosen 'The Fighting Lygers' as their moniker), who have been questing around a created region of a medievalist fantasy world centered around the three major cities of Windhill, Darrowbank, and Thunderhaven.  Though this wasn't the first adventure with this group, I decided it would be fun to record and share the adventures of the party during their quests and campaigns.

The Story So Far:
The party began their adventures in the city of Darrowbank.  Darrowbank was a small city caught in the midst of a long-standing war between the much larger city states of Windhill and Thunderhaven.  They had many adventures in Darrowbank, including saving a vinyard from marauding kobolds, clearing an old sentry tower of goblins, besting a crooked quarry-owner in a fist-fight, stopping a dangerous and close-minded 'Pacifism Cult', stopping a would-be lich in an enormous mausoleum, halting the opression of a local hill giant, participating in a gladiator tournament in Gladiatortonshirevilleburg, and saving the town of Primrose from a young green dragon.  Through the adventures, the party managed to acquire a number of powerful items, armor, and magic items, including a mystical chalice that, when combioned with two others like it, would create a mysterious, but extremely powerful potion.  They also were given a farm outside of Primrose as a reward for stopping the dragon.

"The Fighting Lygers" 

  • Kaluryn Parfore, Martial Wizard, Leader of the Lygers. (Represented on the white-board by Pewter Wizard Figurine)
  • Zax, Minotaur Barbarian (Represented by Large knight figurine with flail) 
  • Grimnash Honeyloaf, Dwarven Fighter. (Represented by small Street Fighter II "Blanka" figurine)
  • Reinhardt, shapeshifting Bard. (Represented by wooden "pawn" peg)
  • Gjertrude, Elven Druid.  (Represented by glass dragon figurine)
  • Faye, Human Rogue,  (Represented by orange ninja figurine)
  • Constance Burrows, Halfling Vampire / Rogue. (represented by purple duck figurine)


Party Members at Lyger Farms:

  • Lelumina, Elven Cleric
  • Taymos Busy, Human Wizard, Former member of Thunderhaven Mage-Police (Yellow Pewter Figurine)
  • Grygor, The Hill Giant of Darrowbank Hills. (Hulk Hogan Finger-Puppet)



 The Lygers arrived in the sprawling fortress city of Thunderhaven with the intentions of finding a blacksmith with a magic-powered forge capable of fashioning the dragon scales they acquired into armor for their druid, Gjertrude. The recent events in the campaign involved one of the party members, Zax the Minotaur Barbarian being arrested in the city of Thunderhaven under accusations that he murdered a beloved inn-keeper. After catching wind of the city's corruption, the party felt it best to free their companion. Under the pretense of visiting him, the group encountered a woman in the prison cell next to Zax who claimed she was once a member of the city's elite Mage-Police force, that used powerful magic to maintain order and regulate spell-casting within the walls of Thunderhaven. Eventually, ther party decided to trust this woman, a wizard named Taymos Busy. They pushed their way through the brick wall behind Taymos' cell, and fled into the sewers beneath the city, looking for a way out.


The Party made their escape from the city sewers, running into fierce slimy creatures in the murky depths of the fortress city. Among these creatures were Otyughs, and Bone-Claws, the latter of which emerged from a pile of corpses and trash that the party was investigating for treasures.


While Zax and Taymos made a quick escape to the party's farm, "Lyger Farms" outside of a town called Primrose on the road between Thunderhaven and Darrowbank, the rest of the party chose to accept a quest from the master-blacksmith. In return for fetching a fire-orb made from the trapped essence of a dangerous Fire Elemental, they would recieve free access to the forge for their own use.


The party entered the black obsidian fire cave, and were met with great pools of lava, and hundreds of tiny steam and flame vents lining the floor of the cave. The fire Elemental Lord was waiting for them, and began to use his influence to cause giant pillars of fire to erupt from the floor of the cave and barrel down on the adventurers (Represented as Bottle-caps on the white-board).


The Fire Elemental Lord was a dangerous foe, who caught several of the party members on fire during the battle. Fortunately, Constance emerged from her hiding place to quickly douse the fires with a carefully prepared pool of water hidden inside of her bag of holding.

At the end of the battle, the group proved victorious, and had managed to charge a small magic orb with the essence of the Fire Elemental.  They returned hastily to the city in order to return the orb, repower the magic forge, and make preperations for the Joust to be held in Thunderhaven in the coming days.  The prize of which is: The hand of Princesss Camille, daughter of the King of Thunderhaven!

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Favorite Video Games #3: "Grim Fandango"

My history began with this game the day it was released. My actual playing of it, however, did not.

Grim Fandango was a very highly anticipated adventure game from the core team of adventure game creators at Lucasarts, the video game devision of Lucasfilm Ltd. It was released the day before Halloween in 1998, and told a surreal but epic noir-styled storyline (in the vein of the Maltese Falcon), set in the world of the dead, heavily inspired by artwork created in association with the Dia de los muertos celebrations in Mexico. At the time that I purchased it, the game required 32MB of RAM to play. I only had 8. The game would frequently lock up, and be unplayable because my computer did not meet the minimum requirements to play it. A year or so later, after I had the opportunity to upgrade my computer, I was finally able to play the game that had tempted me for so very long
The main character of the game, Manuel Calavera (or 'Manny' for short) begins the game as a reaper, shepherding a poor dead soul to the land of the dead. As it turns out, he's little more than a travel agent, attempting to pay off debts he accrued in life by working for the Department of Death in the afterlife. From this downtrodden platform, he stumbles across an elaborate conspiracy that has been robbing the honest souls entering the afterlife of their just dues, as well as thieving Manny of the lucrative clients he deserves to help him pay off his community service debts.
The game stretches across 4 years, and introduces the protagonist Manny to a vast array of intriguing and amusing characters, including the loud and brash Glottis, a “travel spirit” whose existence relies on driving very, very fast. There’s also an old sea captain, a cranky TSA agent, a very unlucky French butler, a determined man attempting to cross the ocean floor on foot, and a Che Guevara-inspired revolutionary. Meeting and interacting with the intriguing characters is most of the fun of this epic game, as Manny Calavery attempts to solve the mystery of who is behind the nefarious scheme to steal honest souls’ tickets on the “Number 9”, a train that can ferry the souls of the dead to the land of eternal rest in 4 minutes instead of the 4 years the journey might take otherwise.
Most of the characters in the game are modeled after calacas skeletons which are common in Dia De Los Muertos celebrations. Other characters in the game are closer to typical 'Tim Schaefer' fare: bizzare anthropomorphic bee-men, orange monsters, and vampiric fire-beavers. There are many puzzles to solve, and sinister forces to stop. The charm and inventiveness of the world is what made the experience so endearing to me. The locations and story were just so unique and creative, that it made me want to learn more about Dia De Los Muertos, and about South American history and culture. The game was funny too. The dialog was sharp and witty, and a joy to experience.

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

My Favorite Games: #4 "The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim"

One of my favorite games of all time is “The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim”, commonly referred to simply as “Skyrim”. It is the fifth game in the long running Elder Scrolls series of games that deal with a huge fantasy world, full of elves, orcs, humans, lizardmen, cat-people, and more. Each game in the franchise has focused on a different region of the world, but Skyrim is one of the most exciting provinces to date; spanning the frigid northern part of the continent, and including environments ranging from frozen tundras, to snowy mountain peaks, to damp bogs, to forest paths.
The game’s story begins with an unnamed character being carted off to his or her execution for being “in the wrong place at the wrong time” and being associated with a wanted criminal who killed Skyrim’s last king. As you are about to be executed, a dragon suddenly attacks. No one in the world has seen a dragon for thousands of years. In the confusion you escape, and from that point on, you are free to explore this gigantic world.
The world is populated with numerous villages, cities, caves, fortresses, and ancient ruins. As you explore, you begin to uncover a prophecy that tells of the return of the dragons and the end of humanity. In the past when the dragons were subjugating or destroying the people of the world, a defender would be born known as the Dovahkiin, or “Dragonborn”; a warrior with the soul of a dragon, who is able to destroy the monsters permanently. The Dragonborn is sent on a quest to discover a way to defeat Alduin, the dragon-lord, and save the people of Skyrim from total destruction.
There are also many other things to do in the world besides following the main questline and saving the people. There are guilds you can do quests for and rise to leadership positions of. These include the Thieves Guild in the “mafia-run” city of Riften, The battle-hardened Companions of Whiterun, The Mage College of Winterhold, and the illusive Dark Brotherhood assassins guild. Along with all that, there are hundreds and hundreds of side quests you can complete in order to help people in various cities, or to acquire ancient and powerful weapons to help you in your mission to destroy the dragons.
Throughout the game, you’ll fight a variety of enemies that inhabit the wilds of the province of Skyrim. One of the most exciting enemies you’ll encounter are dragons: ancient beings resurrected by the evil dragon-lord, Alduin. Fighting these enemies is dynamic and incredibly exhilarating as they fly around, land on buildings and rocks, and breath fire or ice while trying to destroy you. When you finally bring one of the dragons down, it feels very rewarding. One of the most interesting aspects of the game for me, is simply exploring the fully-realized and enormous world of Skyrim. There are so many interesting places to discover, that sometimes my favorite thing to do is to just wander the landscape, and explore any forts, dungeons, or caves that I come across. Most of the time, they will be filled with bandits, trolls, or evil wizards. You can spend a ton of time just exploring these interesting and beautiful locations, without even contributing to the overarching quest to stop Alduin. You can also buy a house in any of the major cities, become Thane under the Jarl’s in each of their holds, and even find a wife and get married! To top it off, there’s also a major questline involving picking a side in the civil war going on in Skyrim, and leading that respective army to victory; thus unifying the province. There really is a massive number of things to do in this world.
In conclusion, this is a game I would recommend to anyone. It’s fun to play, and very rewarding to explore. The combat is satisfying and varied (You can use swords, shields, bow-and-arrows, magic spells, axes, or hammers). As Dragonborn, you also have the ability to “Thu’um” or Shout at your enemies, using the ancient dragon language to forcibly push enemies away, breathe fire or frost, and even slow down time! Very fun, indeed.

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

A Winner Is Me!




That's right, I finished National Novel Writing Month. My story The Balance Keepers passed the 50,000 word mark at 10:25 AM on November 30th, 2011.


Tuesday, November 15, 2011

NaNoWriMo Continues...

Hi everyone(and by 'everyone' I mean the 7 or 8 of you who read this),

I just wanted to take a moment to tell you that this year I've managed to stay on task with the National Novel Writing Month competition, a feat I've usually become overwhelmed with and given up in years' past. This year, thus far, I've proudly reached the milestone of 25,000 words, and am still continuing to write each and every day. The important thing to note is that I'm still on task towards the great goal of 50,000 words written in a 30-day period. This year really does look like the year that I'm actually going to finish.

Continue to wish me luck!