I was lucky. I managed to catch myself in the swift-moving waterfall several blocks below my platform.
The spirit of the water - welcomed me. I can't explain it any better than that - it sensed me, and I sensed it. I felt its movements, and it showed me how to move with it, even climbing against the current.
So, slowly, I climbed back up onto my platform, through the waterfall itself, soaked thoroughly, but alive.
The water spirit was disappointed, I think, that I had left it.
For my part, however, I knew that what I had just done was completely impossible without magic - in my world.
But, as I said before, gravity seems to be entirely arbitrary here. With nothing more than the screaming terror of the void below me - well.
All I knew then was that I did not want to fall into that gaping abyss. I knew, without knowing how, that it was death.
I sometimes wish for that early innocence.
The things I know now ....
Sunday, September 20, 2015
Thursday, September 17, 2015
Golden Rose: Environmental Hazards and Perks System
Perk System!
Perks are advantages your character has over other characters. How's it work? You pick four, leave a response to this thread and write them into your MRP/TRP. Note that non-combat perks (except Pacifist Prodigy) do not "stack" on a single roll. Also note that a roll of 1 will invalidate any roll-based bonuses and you will suffer the full consequence.
Non-Combat Perks
Agile: Adds +3 to all rolls based on fast movement and balance.
Charismatic: Adds +3 to all rolls based on speech.
Charmer: Adds +3 to all rolls based on seduction.
Deft Hands; Adds +3 to all rolls based on lockpicking and engineering.
Nimble Fingers: Adds +3 to all rolls based on pickpocketing and other feats of sleight of hand.
One With the Shadow: Adds +3 to all rolls based on stealth.
Uncanny Strength: Adds +3 to all rolls based on using body strength.
Master of Cantrips Adds +3 to all rolls based on using magic out of combat.
Keen Senses: Adds +3 to all rolls based on vision and/or hearing.
Virtuoso: Adds +3 to all rolls based on playing or identifying music.
Pacifist Prodigy: Adds a stacking +2 to any roll, but you take -6 to any combat roll.
Combat Perks:
Precise: You gain a +4 on all combat rolls, but deal 0.5 less points of damage. (Minimum damage is always 0.5)
Berserker's Rage: For every 1 health you are missing, you deal 0.5 extra damage on a successful attack.
Ranged Specialist: Add +1 to all rolls, and add +3 to all failed rolls when attacked by a melee combatant.
Stalwart: Add +3 to any failed roll when blocking.
Evasive: Add +3 to any failed roll when dodging.
Sneak Attack: Add an additional 1-3 damage to a successful attack made from stealth.
Heightened Senses: You will not receive additional damage from a sneak attack.
Unstable Power: Permanently take -2 on all rolls, but deal 1 extra damage on any successful attack.
Heavily Armored: Take 0.5 less damage from any attack. (Minimum damage is always 0.5)
Lightly Armored: Add +2 to any failed roll.
Exploit Weakness: Deal 0.5 extra damage to unarmored or lightly armored opponents on a successful attack roll.
Blunt Force Trauma: Deal 1 extra damage to heavily armored opponents on a successful attack roll. (This is applied after the orginal reduction)
Brutality: Add an effective +1 to any sucessful roll when determining the effect of your success.
Rending Strikes: Your attacks cause your target to bleed for 0.5 damage every two rounds until they are healed or die.
Companion: You are allowed the use of a combat pet or companion. They deal half damage to enemies and have half health. Companions do not gain any perks or benefit from yours. (Minimum damage is always 0.5)
Cheat Death: Any attack that would bring your health to 0 would instead bring it to 0.5 (This effect can only occur once per event)
Clever: You never suffer penalties to your rolls from enemies' abilities.
Ability Perks:
When using an ability perk first roll d20 to see if you will be taking damage in addition to using your ability. You will not attack while using an ability, however.
Bless: Give an ally +5 on their next 2 rolls. (Can only be used once per event. Using more than one bless on the same person will extend the duration, but won't increase the modifier.)
Inspire: Grants all allies +2 on their next roll. (Can only be used once per event.)
Focus: Pass your turn to gain +6 on your next roll. (Can only be used once per combat encounter.)
Waves of Life: Heal all allies for 1. (Can only be used once per event.)
Ultimate Defense: For the next three rounds add +8 to any failed roll. (Can only be used once per event.)
Overwhelm: Pass your turn and deal 3 damage to an enemy as your next action. (Can only be used once per event.)
Grand Aegis: Grant all allies a protective shield that absorbs the next 0.5 damage dealt to them. Can last up to 3 rounds until it expires. (Can only be used once per event)
Find Weakness: Cause an enemy to take 1 extra point of damage from all sources. (Can only be used once per event)
Take Flight: Add +6 to any failed roll or +10 to any failed roll when being attacked by a melee combatant for 3 rounds. (Can only be used once per event. Only applicable when able to fly.)
Recharge: Refresh the cooldown of an ability. (Can only be used once per event.)
Selfless Defender: Use your successful roll to save any ally from a failed roll. (Can only be used twice per combat encounter. You will take damage based on your success relative to their failure if any.)
Note that all ability perks can be used by anyone and that you can redescribe them in combat as you want. I ask only that you keep the original name of the perk for OOC purposes.
Perks are advantages your character has over other characters. How's it work? You pick four, leave a response to this thread and write them into your MRP/TRP. Note that non-combat perks (except Pacifist Prodigy) do not "stack" on a single roll. Also note that a roll of 1 will invalidate any roll-based bonuses and you will suffer the full consequence.
Non-Combat Perks
Agile: Adds +3 to all rolls based on fast movement and balance.
Charismatic: Adds +3 to all rolls based on speech.
Charmer: Adds +3 to all rolls based on seduction.
Deft Hands; Adds +3 to all rolls based on lockpicking and engineering.
Nimble Fingers: Adds +3 to all rolls based on pickpocketing and other feats of sleight of hand.
One With the Shadow: Adds +3 to all rolls based on stealth.
Uncanny Strength: Adds +3 to all rolls based on using body strength.
Master of Cantrips Adds +3 to all rolls based on using magic out of combat.
Keen Senses: Adds +3 to all rolls based on vision and/or hearing.
Virtuoso: Adds +3 to all rolls based on playing or identifying music.
Pacifist Prodigy: Adds a stacking +2 to any roll, but you take -6 to any combat roll.
Combat Perks:
Precise: You gain a +4 on all combat rolls, but deal 0.5 less points of damage. (Minimum damage is always 0.5)
Berserker's Rage: For every 1 health you are missing, you deal 0.5 extra damage on a successful attack.
Ranged Specialist: Add +1 to all rolls, and add +3 to all failed rolls when attacked by a melee combatant.
Stalwart: Add +3 to any failed roll when blocking.
Evasive: Add +3 to any failed roll when dodging.
Sneak Attack: Add an additional 1-3 damage to a successful attack made from stealth.
Heightened Senses: You will not receive additional damage from a sneak attack.
Unstable Power: Permanently take -2 on all rolls, but deal 1 extra damage on any successful attack.
Heavily Armored: Take 0.5 less damage from any attack. (Minimum damage is always 0.5)
Lightly Armored: Add +2 to any failed roll.
Exploit Weakness: Deal 0.5 extra damage to unarmored or lightly armored opponents on a successful attack roll.
Blunt Force Trauma: Deal 1 extra damage to heavily armored opponents on a successful attack roll. (This is applied after the orginal reduction)
Brutality: Add an effective +1 to any sucessful roll when determining the effect of your success.
Rending Strikes: Your attacks cause your target to bleed for 0.5 damage every two rounds until they are healed or die.
Companion: You are allowed the use of a combat pet or companion. They deal half damage to enemies and have half health. Companions do not gain any perks or benefit from yours. (Minimum damage is always 0.5)
Cheat Death: Any attack that would bring your health to 0 would instead bring it to 0.5 (This effect can only occur once per event)
Clever: You never suffer penalties to your rolls from enemies' abilities.
Ability Perks:
When using an ability perk first roll d20 to see if you will be taking damage in addition to using your ability. You will not attack while using an ability, however.
Bless: Give an ally +5 on their next 2 rolls. (Can only be used once per event. Using more than one bless on the same person will extend the duration, but won't increase the modifier.)
Inspire: Grants all allies +2 on their next roll. (Can only be used once per event.)
Focus: Pass your turn to gain +6 on your next roll. (Can only be used once per combat encounter.)
Waves of Life: Heal all allies for 1. (Can only be used once per event.)
Ultimate Defense: For the next three rounds add +8 to any failed roll. (Can only be used once per event.)
Overwhelm: Pass your turn and deal 3 damage to an enemy as your next action. (Can only be used once per event.)
Grand Aegis: Grant all allies a protective shield that absorbs the next 0.5 damage dealt to them. Can last up to 3 rounds until it expires. (Can only be used once per event)
Find Weakness: Cause an enemy to take 1 extra point of damage from all sources. (Can only be used once per event)
Take Flight: Add +6 to any failed roll or +10 to any failed roll when being attacked by a melee combatant for 3 rounds. (Can only be used once per event. Only applicable when able to fly.)
Recharge: Refresh the cooldown of an ability. (Can only be used once per event.)
Selfless Defender: Use your successful roll to save any ally from a failed roll. (Can only be used twice per combat encounter. You will take damage based on your success relative to their failure if any.)
Note that all ability perks can be used by anyone and that you can redescribe them in combat as you want. I ask only that you keep the original name of the perk for OOC purposes.
Sunday, September 13, 2015
Tranquil Air - 3
I couldn't stay here, of course.
My thoughts turned to that first rock I'd discovered, and I decided to search for more.
It seemed like almost every time I searched through the dirt, I found another pebble, and before long I had enough rocks to make a block of stone as large as the dirt it had come from. Disconcertingly, the dirt cube was in no way diminished.
A plan came to mind, then. I held the stones together, and they fused into a block,just as I suspected they might. I ever-so-carefully held the block against the side of my dirt 'island' for a moment, two. I released my hold - and the stone stuck there.
Now I knew what I could do.
If I was stuck here, I could at least make it more comfortable for myself - I could expand the island by quite a bit in this fashion.
I looked once more off the side of my domain. There were thick roots jutting out of the bottom, and I was certain I could do something with those if I could only reach them.
Steeling myself, I reached for the magic that would make me lighter than air, out of reflex, and I jumped.
Only the magic wasn't there.
My thoughts turned to that first rock I'd discovered, and I decided to search for more.
It seemed like almost every time I searched through the dirt, I found another pebble, and before long I had enough rocks to make a block of stone as large as the dirt it had come from. Disconcertingly, the dirt cube was in no way diminished.
A plan came to mind, then. I held the stones together, and they fused into a block,just as I suspected they might. I ever-so-carefully held the block against the side of my dirt 'island' for a moment, two. I released my hold - and the stone stuck there.
Now I knew what I could do.
If I was stuck here, I could at least make it more comfortable for myself - I could expand the island by quite a bit in this fashion.
I looked once more off the side of my domain. There were thick roots jutting out of the bottom, and I was certain I could do something with those if I could only reach them.
Steeling myself, I reached for the magic that would make me lighter than air, out of reflex, and I jumped.
Only the magic wasn't there.
Sunday, September 6, 2015
Tranquil Air - 2
I despaired.
For a while, I didn't know what to do.
I sat on the edge of my little self-imposed limbo, my feet dangling off into the void, and contemplated how very peaceful things were. No one could reach me here.
I'm confident, to this day, that it was my own power that brought me to this place. Of course I had made enemies. But no one, in the entirety of my world, had the power to do - this.
Except me.
Gravity is an arbitrary force here. I was pinned to the ground, my normal means of flight lost to me. However - the ground itself was a few yards of dirt floating in a void.
Idly, I combed my fingers through the grass. To my surprise, I found a rock. I dug a bit deeper, ripping away the foliage, and an entire cube of dirt pulled loose from the ground.
A cube, not a pile.
That was my first discovery. Whatever this world was, it was not the same as my own.
It seemed that this world was - compressed, somehow. Things were condensed down to their basic essences, such that I held a chunk of dirt, now no larger than my hand. I focused, and the dirt became even smaller, enough that it could fit in a pocket, with room for more. Setting the dirt down, I focused again, and it grew back to its original size - but no larger.
I broke the dirt once more - and this time, a large creature appeared in its place. Startled, I shoved the thing away, and it fell off into the void.
So, now my island was one "block" smaller.
Thus ended my first day. I watched the sun set beyond some distant horizon, and without really meaning to, I slept.
For the first time in years, I fell into true sleep, instead of some meditative trance. Perhaps I should have worried more about falling off into the void, but I was tired, and the sound of running water soothed me.
When I woke, I realized that such a sound could only mean one thing: I had water.
I looked down to confirm this. Flowing out of the side of my island was a seemingly inexhaustible waterfall. I dug into the island, always wary that another -creature - would appear, and found the source.
Like everything else in this world, it felt somewhat - blocky. But although it was refreshing to drink from, I couldn't scoop more than a double handful out at a time, and at the core of this source block, I could sense some kind of raw life. I'd need something that could capture the essence of this 'creature' to really have any effect here.
Part of me wanted - for science alone - to put a block of dirt into the water, to see if the dirt could obliterate that core when it returned to full size.
The rational side of me reasoned that I'd need this water to survive, and so I didn't try that.
Instead, I drank my fill, and turned my attention to what I could do here.
For a while, I didn't know what to do.
I sat on the edge of my little self-imposed limbo, my feet dangling off into the void, and contemplated how very peaceful things were. No one could reach me here.
I'm confident, to this day, that it was my own power that brought me to this place. Of course I had made enemies. But no one, in the entirety of my world, had the power to do - this.
Except me.
Gravity is an arbitrary force here. I was pinned to the ground, my normal means of flight lost to me. However - the ground itself was a few yards of dirt floating in a void.
Idly, I combed my fingers through the grass. To my surprise, I found a rock. I dug a bit deeper, ripping away the foliage, and an entire cube of dirt pulled loose from the ground.
A cube, not a pile.
That was my first discovery. Whatever this world was, it was not the same as my own.
It seemed that this world was - compressed, somehow. Things were condensed down to their basic essences, such that I held a chunk of dirt, now no larger than my hand. I focused, and the dirt became even smaller, enough that it could fit in a pocket, with room for more. Setting the dirt down, I focused again, and it grew back to its original size - but no larger.
I broke the dirt once more - and this time, a large creature appeared in its place. Startled, I shoved the thing away, and it fell off into the void.
So, now my island was one "block" smaller.
Thus ended my first day. I watched the sun set beyond some distant horizon, and without really meaning to, I slept.
For the first time in years, I fell into true sleep, instead of some meditative trance. Perhaps I should have worried more about falling off into the void, but I was tired, and the sound of running water soothed me.
When I woke, I realized that such a sound could only mean one thing: I had water.
I looked down to confirm this. Flowing out of the side of my island was a seemingly inexhaustible waterfall. I dug into the island, always wary that another -creature - would appear, and found the source.
Like everything else in this world, it felt somewhat - blocky. But although it was refreshing to drink from, I couldn't scoop more than a double handful out at a time, and at the core of this source block, I could sense some kind of raw life. I'd need something that could capture the essence of this 'creature' to really have any effect here.
Part of me wanted - for science alone - to put a block of dirt into the water, to see if the dirt could obliterate that core when it returned to full size.
The rational side of me reasoned that I'd need this water to survive, and so I didn't try that.
Instead, I drank my fill, and turned my attention to what I could do here.
Monday, August 31, 2015
Tranquil Air - 1
I wished for peace ...
... and I got it.
What had I done?
--
Hello.
My name - you know, I can't remember anymore. It's been so long.
As I sit down to write this, I am reminded how much has changed.
And so I begin, naturally, at the beginning.
Once upon a time, I was the most powerful archmage my world had ever known. My power was without equal among mortals, perhaps even peerless among the gods. I didn't believe in deities. If they existed, they did nothing to influence our world, or such was my reasoning.
Perhaps it is my hubris that brought me so very low.
Regardless, my power was in high demand. I ended wars almost before they began, having no true loyalties outside myself. Any who could meet my price would earn my services for as long as they could pay. I used their enemies as fodder to hone my skills, demanding from myself nothing less than perfection.
The earth trembled, and the waters parted before me. Anything I could conceive of became reality.
Such power comes at a price, of course.
I wore myself thin. I had made no few enemies among men, though I rarely concerned myself with others. No, it was my pursuit of power that drove me. There was always another secret, always some new research, another technique. I began to sleep not at all, and I barely ate. What little I did consume was bland and tasteless. In my endless pursuit of perfection, ironically, I lost myself.
There is - or was - a saying. Be careful what you wish for.
On one fateful autumn day, I wished for peace. With all my heart - I wanted nothing more than a single moment of tranquility amidst all the chaos.
I remember I had been surrounded by sycophants, people who were supposed to serve me. They all had their own goals, their own desires, and none of them truly cared for me, except as a means to an end. Their chatter threatened to drive me mad.
"Silence!" I demanded.
The world went silent. Everyone stopped - all movement ceased. The world went gray - then black.
I found myself lying in the grass, staring up at a blue sky. I watched the clouds roll by, and I thought to myself how peaceful it was. Where had - everything - gone?
Standing up, I caught the first glimpse of my new reality.
I stood on the only land for as far as the eye could see. The patch of grass I stood on was perfectly square, and the edge dropped off into the void. Below was only darkness.
In a way, that was my first glimpse of the enemy.
I skittered back from the edge, curling in on myself.
What had I done?
... and I got it.
What had I done?
--
Hello.
My name - you know, I can't remember anymore. It's been so long.
As I sit down to write this, I am reminded how much has changed.
And so I begin, naturally, at the beginning.
Once upon a time, I was the most powerful archmage my world had ever known. My power was without equal among mortals, perhaps even peerless among the gods. I didn't believe in deities. If they existed, they did nothing to influence our world, or such was my reasoning.
Perhaps it is my hubris that brought me so very low.
Regardless, my power was in high demand. I ended wars almost before they began, having no true loyalties outside myself. Any who could meet my price would earn my services for as long as they could pay. I used their enemies as fodder to hone my skills, demanding from myself nothing less than perfection.
The earth trembled, and the waters parted before me. Anything I could conceive of became reality.
Such power comes at a price, of course.
I wore myself thin. I had made no few enemies among men, though I rarely concerned myself with others. No, it was my pursuit of power that drove me. There was always another secret, always some new research, another technique. I began to sleep not at all, and I barely ate. What little I did consume was bland and tasteless. In my endless pursuit of perfection, ironically, I lost myself.
There is - or was - a saying. Be careful what you wish for.
On one fateful autumn day, I wished for peace. With all my heart - I wanted nothing more than a single moment of tranquility amidst all the chaos.
I remember I had been surrounded by sycophants, people who were supposed to serve me. They all had their own goals, their own desires, and none of them truly cared for me, except as a means to an end. Their chatter threatened to drive me mad.
"Silence!" I demanded.
The world went silent. Everyone stopped - all movement ceased. The world went gray - then black.
I found myself lying in the grass, staring up at a blue sky. I watched the clouds roll by, and I thought to myself how peaceful it was. Where had - everything - gone?
Standing up, I caught the first glimpse of my new reality.
I stood on the only land for as far as the eye could see. The patch of grass I stood on was perfectly square, and the edge dropped off into the void. Below was only darkness.
In a way, that was my first glimpse of the enemy.
I skittered back from the edge, curling in on myself.
What had I done?
Tuesday, July 28, 2015
Reset: Achaena
Achaena looked up from her work, mixing a healing potion, and staring into the mirror that sat behind her workstation.
The woman who stared back was not her own face.
She'd seen the specter around the manor a few times now - a high elf, if she was any judge.
The others didn't see the woman. She only appeared to Akkie.
"Why me?"
She asked it quietly - she didn't need her training master to hear. He'd think she'd snapped, and she knew she hadn't. She would know if she'd gone insane.
The specter reached out, her pale fingertips touching the glass. Her other hand came to her lips, pressing a single finger to them, and silencing her.
What do you want?
She didn't know if the spirit could hear her thoughts, but the ghost didn't want her to speak aloud, that much was obvious.
And ... who are you?
The mirror's surface blurred for a moment, and she once again saw herself. The spirit was there, too, however - her arms wrapped around Akkie's shoulders gently.
"They're coming."
Akkie could read the woman's lips, though no sound issued forth.
Who? Who's coming?
The spirit gestured, pointing toward the window.
It was late, the sky was dark. Akkie hadn't been able to sleep, these last few nights.
She moved, silently, to the window, looking out. The spirit's reflection pointed, and Akkie looked down. There. Movement in the courtyard. Armored men? At this hour?
Those were guards. Stormwind Guards.
Her blood froze in her veins. No, that couldn't be right. The masters were always so careful.
She heard the distant thump of a fist, pounding on the door.
No. No.
She turned toward the door, opening her mouth to scream the warning - and the spirit slid into her body, freezing her voice in her throat.
"No," the spirit whispered gently, in her own voice. "No."
Her body turned toward the window, opening it quietly. She slipped outside, onto the roof, tumbled soundlessly to the ground - and ran. No one saw her move through the streets, up the trellis, and onto a different rooftop. Her body used its training, moving without her consent.
The screaming began when the manor caught fire.
She turned briefly, her eyes fixed on her home, the only place she'd ever known.
"Run," the spirit urged, and her body obeyed, taking her outside the city walls by way of another rooftop, a tall tree, and a controlled dive. She was going to feel that one in the morning - but nothing was broken; she'd rolled just so, at exactly the right moment.
Her feet took her to a clearing in Elwynn, a small, empty space with a tiny pond in the center.
Finally, finally, the spirit let go of her.
"Why?!" She cried it softly into the wind, fists balled up with rage. "They need me!"
The spirit sat across from her, now, resting on a tree stump. "You would have died." She said it softly, her voice sad. "I couldn't bear it," she admits. "My only daughter ...."
"My mother abandoned me!" She said, denying it. "I was left at the orphanage before I could even talk!" That - was what the masters had told her, anyway.
The masters wouldn't lie to her, would they?
"Not by choice," the spirit whispered. "They lied."
The dead had no reason to tell falsehoods. She looked the spirit over, really inspected her. Her long, flowing hair was lighter than Akkie's, though Akkie couldn't say if that was because she was dead, and that had sucked the color from her, or if there was some other reason.
A line of dark blood slit her throat from ear to ear, the blood running down her front. "You were murdered," she said softly.
"In my own home," she said softly. "While my dear, beautiful daughter lay only a foot away in her cradle." No. No, the masters ...
"Your masters lied to you." the spirit repeated. "And now they are dead." A grim smile that didn't meet her eyes. "It brings me no joy," she admitted. "But it puts my soul at ease, to know that I managed this one thing. My daughter is safe - and my murderers have met justice."
The spirit began to fade from view.
"Mother - no - " Achaena reached for the ghost, her fingers brushing through the air where her mother had been, and as the ghost disappeared entirely, she knew then that she was alone. Tears tracked their way down her cheeks, unbidden.
What was she supposed to do now?
The woman who stared back was not her own face.
She'd seen the specter around the manor a few times now - a high elf, if she was any judge.
The others didn't see the woman. She only appeared to Akkie.
"Why me?"
She asked it quietly - she didn't need her training master to hear. He'd think she'd snapped, and she knew she hadn't. She would know if she'd gone insane.
The specter reached out, her pale fingertips touching the glass. Her other hand came to her lips, pressing a single finger to them, and silencing her.
What do you want?
She didn't know if the spirit could hear her thoughts, but the ghost didn't want her to speak aloud, that much was obvious.
And ... who are you?
The mirror's surface blurred for a moment, and she once again saw herself. The spirit was there, too, however - her arms wrapped around Akkie's shoulders gently.
"They're coming."
Akkie could read the woman's lips, though no sound issued forth.
Who? Who's coming?
The spirit gestured, pointing toward the window.
It was late, the sky was dark. Akkie hadn't been able to sleep, these last few nights.
She moved, silently, to the window, looking out. The spirit's reflection pointed, and Akkie looked down. There. Movement in the courtyard. Armored men? At this hour?
Those were guards. Stormwind Guards.
Her blood froze in her veins. No, that couldn't be right. The masters were always so careful.
She heard the distant thump of a fist, pounding on the door.
No. No.
She turned toward the door, opening her mouth to scream the warning - and the spirit slid into her body, freezing her voice in her throat.
"No," the spirit whispered gently, in her own voice. "No."
Her body turned toward the window, opening it quietly. She slipped outside, onto the roof, tumbled soundlessly to the ground - and ran. No one saw her move through the streets, up the trellis, and onto a different rooftop. Her body used its training, moving without her consent.
The screaming began when the manor caught fire.
She turned briefly, her eyes fixed on her home, the only place she'd ever known.
"Run," the spirit urged, and her body obeyed, taking her outside the city walls by way of another rooftop, a tall tree, and a controlled dive. She was going to feel that one in the morning - but nothing was broken; she'd rolled just so, at exactly the right moment.
Her feet took her to a clearing in Elwynn, a small, empty space with a tiny pond in the center.
Finally, finally, the spirit let go of her.
"Why?!" She cried it softly into the wind, fists balled up with rage. "They need me!"
The spirit sat across from her, now, resting on a tree stump. "You would have died." She said it softly, her voice sad. "I couldn't bear it," she admits. "My only daughter ...."
"My mother abandoned me!" She said, denying it. "I was left at the orphanage before I could even talk!" That - was what the masters had told her, anyway.
The masters wouldn't lie to her, would they?
"Not by choice," the spirit whispered. "They lied."
The dead had no reason to tell falsehoods. She looked the spirit over, really inspected her. Her long, flowing hair was lighter than Akkie's, though Akkie couldn't say if that was because she was dead, and that had sucked the color from her, or if there was some other reason.
A line of dark blood slit her throat from ear to ear, the blood running down her front. "You were murdered," she said softly.
"In my own home," she said softly. "While my dear, beautiful daughter lay only a foot away in her cradle." No. No, the masters ...
"Your masters lied to you." the spirit repeated. "And now they are dead." A grim smile that didn't meet her eyes. "It brings me no joy," she admitted. "But it puts my soul at ease, to know that I managed this one thing. My daughter is safe - and my murderers have met justice."
The spirit began to fade from view.
"Mother - no - " Achaena reached for the ghost, her fingers brushing through the air where her mother had been, and as the ghost disappeared entirely, she knew then that she was alone. Tears tracked their way down her cheeks, unbidden.
What was she supposed to do now?
The Person Shaped Nothing
Dream fragment:
In this world people are being attacked by an inky blackness that draws all their color out of them, leaving them as the person-shaped nothing, and stealing their emotions as well.
Often they turn to art, music, and the like, to express the emptiness that's taken them.
Those works of art can be used to draw the blackness to another person, which creates another person-shaped nothing and grants the creator their colors, and feelings.
In this world people are being attacked by an inky blackness that draws all their color out of them, leaving them as the person-shaped nothing, and stealing their emotions as well.
Often they turn to art, music, and the like, to express the emptiness that's taken them.
Those works of art can be used to draw the blackness to another person, which creates another person-shaped nothing and grants the creator their colors, and feelings.
Thursday, July 23, 2015
Up Up Down Up Down Down Down.
We haven't had a real talk lately, you and I.
We never speak anymore. You go off in your little world of dreams and fantasies, and I live in my bleak shadows.
It's like we're two different people.
But we're not.
There's me, when I'm on top of the world. When nothing can bring me down, and I can stay up for days, running on fumes because the high is just so high.
And then there's me, when I'm under it, crushed by its weight. When nothing can drag me up, and it takes all my energy just to get out of bed.
Today is one of the latter days.
The doctors say to 'diet and exercise' - nevermind that they don't give a good idea of what to at or which movements will help the most. I suppose anything would do, wouldn't it?
It's supposed to make you feel better.
I stayed up too late last night, and couldn't stay asleep this morning. I'm feeling queasy and sick.
I like telling stories, but I don't have thoughts of my own. I ... extrapolate, on other thoughts.
My head is all over the place, a billion pieces that all say 'suck.'
So when I got up this morning, it was still morning, and so I thought to myself, "Let's accomplish something!" ... only no forward progress was made on any goals, and I quickly got frustrated, depressed, and self-loathing.
Depression, they call the one. Bipolar, they amend, when they hear about the other.
Mom thinks it's an autoimmune thing. Hashimoto's disease or disorder or some such thing - it starts, just as the doctors told me so long ago, "Like your thyroid caught a cold."
Only it never quite seems to have gotten better.
Of course, that kind of thing just doesn't. If it's how she thinks it is, then I'm stuck, because not only is it a lifelong sentence, but the doctors don't understand this kind of shit well enough to even diagnose it half the time, much less actually treat it.
- Crashing from the high.
We never speak anymore. You go off in your little world of dreams and fantasies, and I live in my bleak shadows.
It's like we're two different people.
But we're not.
There's me, when I'm on top of the world. When nothing can bring me down, and I can stay up for days, running on fumes because the high is just so high.
And then there's me, when I'm under it, crushed by its weight. When nothing can drag me up, and it takes all my energy just to get out of bed.
Today is one of the latter days.
The doctors say to 'diet and exercise' - nevermind that they don't give a good idea of what to at or which movements will help the most. I suppose anything would do, wouldn't it?
It's supposed to make you feel better.
I stayed up too late last night, and couldn't stay asleep this morning. I'm feeling queasy and sick.
I like telling stories, but I don't have thoughts of my own. I ... extrapolate, on other thoughts.
My head is all over the place, a billion pieces that all say 'suck.'
So when I got up this morning, it was still morning, and so I thought to myself, "Let's accomplish something!" ... only no forward progress was made on any goals, and I quickly got frustrated, depressed, and self-loathing.
Depression, they call the one. Bipolar, they amend, when they hear about the other.
Mom thinks it's an autoimmune thing. Hashimoto's disease or disorder or some such thing - it starts, just as the doctors told me so long ago, "Like your thyroid caught a cold."
Only it never quite seems to have gotten better.
Of course, that kind of thing just doesn't. If it's how she thinks it is, then I'm stuck, because not only is it a lifelong sentence, but the doctors don't understand this kind of shit well enough to even diagnose it half the time, much less actually treat it.
- Crashing from the high.
Thursday, July 2, 2015
Fixing Isla Paradiso for Gameplay
Pretty simple, actually. There are a lot of issues with the Isla Paradiso map for The Sims 3: Island Paradise. EA did not take the time they needed to fix many of the issues that render it unplayable, and so this map brings even the best computers to their knees.
This step-by-step guide should make this world playable for you.
First off, houseboats.
For some reason, the houseboats in the game tend to not be routing-friendly. What I do is I delete all the houseboats and throw down a routing-friendly lot in its place. This is a very basic lot, designed for the Sims 3 Apocalypse Challenge that I play frequently. It has a lot of store content and requires most of the EPs, however, so any houseboat that you've tested for routing failures should work in its place.
Alternatively just delete all the houseboats.
That means you're going to need to relocate all the families you just evicted. If you have a routing-friendly houseboat, you can put them back down where they were - otherwise, just find a land-based house for them to live in.
It's very important that you don't just delete the families, as that can cause more lag. There are plenty of land-based homes to choose from if you don't want to make your own houseboat or use mine.
There are three land-based homes that are a problem as well - namely the Medina family, Los Amigos family, and the Ichtaca family. The Ichtaca family can be resolved by simply knocking out the archways in front of their front door, allowing the front door to be properly set.
The Medina and Los Amigos homes just need to be bulldozed and - again - the family themselves should be relocated.
Many guides suggest that you deal with the Scott family specially, since they are the source of a lot of lag on the Isla Paradiso map. However, they are evicted as part of the first step, and relocated afterwards - that's all you really need to do with the Scotts.
I personally just delete Hobart's Hideaway, because I don't tend to do much with resorts. If you intend to play with that feature, check this link to solve the routing issues caused there. Literal bugs causing bugs!
You will want to split up the School/Stadium combo lot as well. Place down a stadium in one lot, a school in another, and bulldoze the existing one. The reason for this is not lag-related - however, if you do not perform this step, any athlete in the Professional Sports career will experience difficulty advancing as they are likely to lose every single game they play on the combo lot.
This is a problem with all neighborhoods that have combo school/stadium lots - for example, Moonlight Falls.
If you want to experience all possible careers - and have all the required EPs - you will want to place down a lot that has the Plumbob Pictures Backlot item on it, as well as a separate lot that has the Gypsy Wagon on it. This step unlocks the Film career paths and the Fortune Teller career paths, respectively.
Since Isla Paradiso has very limited space to work with, you probably will not want to use the pre-generated Late Night lot for the Film Career, but instead create a custom lot with the Film rabbithole placed on it.
For extra safety, you can install the NRAAS mod, Overwatch, found here. This mod seeks to automatically clean up issues which cause lag over time.
It is recommended - but not necessarily required - that you turn your graphics settings up to the highest level they will go. This supposedly fixes lag on its own - however, if you do not have a high end computer, it can cause issues instead!
Finally - and this is important! - save the fixed file as a separate save from whatever family you intend to play. That way, you don't have to repeat all of this effort the next time you want to play with Island Paradise. Whenever you start a new family on this map, save the new family separate from your fixed Island Paradise map, and you will always have a safe save to work from.
Now go, enjoy your playable Isla Paradiso!
This step-by-step guide should make this world playable for you.
First off, houseboats.
For some reason, the houseboats in the game tend to not be routing-friendly. What I do is I delete all the houseboats and throw down a routing-friendly lot in its place. This is a very basic lot, designed for the Sims 3 Apocalypse Challenge that I play frequently. It has a lot of store content and requires most of the EPs, however, so any houseboat that you've tested for routing failures should work in its place.
Alternatively just delete all the houseboats.
That means you're going to need to relocate all the families you just evicted. If you have a routing-friendly houseboat, you can put them back down where they were - otherwise, just find a land-based house for them to live in.
It's very important that you don't just delete the families, as that can cause more lag. There are plenty of land-based homes to choose from if you don't want to make your own houseboat or use mine.
There are three land-based homes that are a problem as well - namely the Medina family, Los Amigos family, and the Ichtaca family. The Ichtaca family can be resolved by simply knocking out the archways in front of their front door, allowing the front door to be properly set.
The Medina and Los Amigos homes just need to be bulldozed and - again - the family themselves should be relocated.
Many guides suggest that you deal with the Scott family specially, since they are the source of a lot of lag on the Isla Paradiso map. However, they are evicted as part of the first step, and relocated afterwards - that's all you really need to do with the Scotts.
I personally just delete Hobart's Hideaway, because I don't tend to do much with resorts. If you intend to play with that feature, check this link to solve the routing issues caused there. Literal bugs causing bugs!
You will want to split up the School/Stadium combo lot as well. Place down a stadium in one lot, a school in another, and bulldoze the existing one. The reason for this is not lag-related - however, if you do not perform this step, any athlete in the Professional Sports career will experience difficulty advancing as they are likely to lose every single game they play on the combo lot.
This is a problem with all neighborhoods that have combo school/stadium lots - for example, Moonlight Falls.
If you want to experience all possible careers - and have all the required EPs - you will want to place down a lot that has the Plumbob Pictures Backlot item on it, as well as a separate lot that has the Gypsy Wagon on it. This step unlocks the Film career paths and the Fortune Teller career paths, respectively.
Since Isla Paradiso has very limited space to work with, you probably will not want to use the pre-generated Late Night lot for the Film Career, but instead create a custom lot with the Film rabbithole placed on it.
For extra safety, you can install the NRAAS mod, Overwatch, found here. This mod seeks to automatically clean up issues which cause lag over time.
It is recommended - but not necessarily required - that you turn your graphics settings up to the highest level they will go. This supposedly fixes lag on its own - however, if you do not have a high end computer, it can cause issues instead!
Finally - and this is important! - save the fixed file as a separate save from whatever family you intend to play. That way, you don't have to repeat all of this effort the next time you want to play with Island Paradise. Whenever you start a new family on this map, save the new family separate from your fixed Island Paradise map, and you will always have a safe save to work from.
Now go, enjoy your playable Isla Paradiso!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)