Monday Blahs
Oct. 2nd, 2006 09:39 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rhienellethI feel hungover. Probably because we never had time to breath this weekend, what with all the stuff we fit in.
Friday night we had our friends Den and Jess over for dinner, with their one month old baby, Ilea, who is the cutest baby ever! Seriously. Her Dad is a mix of African-American/Korean/Caucasian, and has the world's best afro when he grows it out (which he does periodically), while her Mom is blond, blue eyed and basically the quintessential 'California girl' with really fine, straight hair. Ilea has her Dad's dark curls, but with her Mom's fine-ness - which we don't know if that's just the baby hair, or if it will stay - and blue eyes that may or may not stay, and this beautiful kind of caramel skin tone that's in between both parent's coloring. I have this image of her in my head as a two-year-old with these curly pigtails, blue eyes that just seem to glow framed by her little caramel face, and a pink dress. I have no idea if my mental image is what she's really going to look like, but either way she's going to make an adorable toddler. I hope the blue eyes stay, even though it is likely they won't. And, poor kid, everyone else in her life is going to loooooove her hair, but she will hate it and say things like "But it's always curly, I can't ever do anything with it!" As a teenager, anyway.
Ok, enough baby gushing. :) Anyway, Jess gave Mark a massage and worked on my shoulders/neck some. We're pretty sure my almost-migraine last week was caused in part by not getting our regular sessions in, what with her giving birth and all. Den watched our copy of Predator and regaled baby Ilea with pearls of wisdom about Arnold's biceps back in the day, and how amazing it is that two of the burly men in that movie both ended up being governors years later. (And also how Carl Weathers is, apparently, The Man.)
Saturday was roleplay day, and OMG, it was so wonderful, it almost brings a tear to my eye. Why can't our games always run so smoothly and fun? Oh, that's right, because our old gaming group is scattered to the four winds, and this was the first time in two years that we've been able to manage something. We played from 10:00am, to almost midnight, with two hour long breaks for food, and the making of tea and honey for Mark's abused voice. On one of the breaks, Doug - a friend who is really into photography, and has his own darkroom and stuff - showed me how to do some cool stuff with my camera to take better jewelry pics. I am very excited to try it out. I also finished Mark's Mom's B-day gift, a rosary made with lapis lazuli beads. I think it's the best of the three I've made so far, and I can hardly wait to give it to her at the end of the month.
RPG highlights, that will be meaningless to, oh, everyone but me, most likely:
Some bare bones background: This is our 'Warriors' game, in which we play epic heroes bound to service good through weilding the most powerful - and evil - artifacts in existence, demon bound Runeblades (ala Elric of Melnibone). You have to work your way up to being offered a Runeblade, and then it's never what you expect it to be, having one. I should mention that we stop aging when we take up the sword, and only start again when we retire from the Warriors. Right now there are four Warriors active, the Captain (who leads our group, and is a sarcastic ex-slave, a thief named Jack, who just happens to have a moral compass that makes him the perfect Captain), the Watcher (who protects the Captain and is charged with keeping the rest of us in line if we should go bad - this is Mark's character, Jeriah), the Keeper of Souls (our conscience, Circe, a rakehell who puts up a good front, but is really the softest one of the group and is always trying to protect the innocents who end up being collateral damage, as we face down demons and Archmages and Gods and the like) and the Scout (me, an Elven ranger from Cerilia named Delilah, who has the ability to shapechange into various woodland creatures. I'm the youngest and newest Warrior.)
First, historical highlights:
Back many game sessions ago, the original Captain of the Warriors gave up his Runeblade and walked away from the group just as an army 300k strong was coming down upon them (and the town they were called forth to protect). Jack, then bearing the title the Survivor, in desperation knelt down and said the fateful words "I pray for leadership."
Mark, as DM, smiled and said "That's what you pray for?"
Jack, "Yes, that's what I -wait. No, no, no. That's not what I meant! I can't be Captain! I'm a thief. I'm-"
DM: "You prayed for leadership. [The Warriors' patron diety] appears and says 'Jack, you are now the Captain of the Warriors of Destiny, from henceforth to bear that title and all the gifts which accompany it.'"
No amount of arguing could get him out of it, and Jack has been the Captain ever since. Mike (his player) is still a little bitter about it, but it remains one of the quintessential moments in the history of this particular game. He also makes an amazingly good Captain, far better than Shar, the previous Captain. But then, his player hasn't been the same since he got married.
So, on to the highlights from this weekend:
Our group traverses realms to go wherever we're needed, hence legends of our deeds often precede us. Delilah's been traveling with the Warriors for some time, but at 250 years of age, she only looks about 20-21 to human eyes. While on a scouting flight, she passes over two armies about to engage in a titanic battle, but one - the one allied with the people we've come to this world to protect - is outnumbered five to one, and doesn't stand a chance without our help. So I land on the battelfield and ask to speak to whoever is in charge. Now, the Warriors have the ability to teleport instantly to each other's sides whenever one of us is in mortal danger. But only in that instance. So until the armies engage, the others are leagues away listening to my telepathic communications of the situation (another innate gift to the group). I'm directed to a young commander who has spent years in their version of a battle school, but has yet to actually physically participate in a battle. With my veteran experience, I can see how the other army is going to overrun and flank them, and I tell this young commander he needs to move his cavalry to prepare for this.
NPC: (pompously) "Our cavalry is the strongest in all of Oerth; we will ride down the middle and cut down these nomads like scythe to wheat."
Delilah: "No, they'll overrun your line and flank you. Look, how many campaigns have you actually fought?"
NPC: (looks Delilah up and down) "How many have you fought?"
Delilah: (wearily) "More than I care to count. Do you know who I am?" *taps hilt of Runeblade*
NPC: (dubious) "I have heard that the Warriors of Destiny are in Oerth, and aid our allies, but that is many leagues from here. Besides, you can't really be one of them; you're far too young."
(Meanwhile, enemy army is marching closer.)
Delilah: (rolls intimidation skill, fails DC) "Look, I don't have time for this. My Runeblade proves who I am. Trust me, if you want to win this battle, you need to move your cavalry!" *Runeblade chitters in its sheath, and the NPC looks at it nervously, but is unswayed*
NPC: "If you really are a Warrior, we would be glad to have you fight beside us, but the cavalry stays where it is." *He turns and shouts orders*
Delilah, impatient with it all, draws her Runeblade from the sheath. As she'd hoped, the demon scream does prove who she is, unfortunately, fully a third of the army's forces fail their saving throw and run from the field in terror.
Delilah (telepathically to the Warriors) "Fuck. How do you keep your allies from being overpowered by the demonsong?!"
Jack (telepathic response): "*sigh* Newbies. You can't draw the blade like that unless I'm there to dilute the effects on the friendlies.That's why we all carry back-up weapons. The Runeblade isn't always your best choice."
Delilah: "Now you tell me."
Jack: "Well, we thought you knew that. You've been around long enough."
Delilah (mutters): "This is why I'm the Scout and not a General..."
***
An epic-level sorceress who has always been after her very own Runeblade, but whom Delilah has never had the good fortune of meeting, has just called Bitternight (Delilah's Runeblade) to her own hand.
Delilah (telepathically to others) "WTF?! She just took my Runeblade!"
*The sorceress attacks Delilah with Bitternight. The others teleport, as I am now in mortal danger*
Jack: "You! I thought you were dead!"
Malevolence the Sorceress: "How good to see you again, Jack." *launches spell of titanic proportions at us, then teleports out*
Jeriah to Delilah: "Call Bitternight! The Runeblade is bound to you and may answer."
Delilah: *calls desperately for Bitternight* I roll a 16% on percentile dice, and Bitternight appears in my hand with a piece of Malevolence's robes hanging from the blade. "Oh, thank God."
Jack: (about the Runeblades in general) "Typical. Most powerful damn artifact in the Realms, and it's fucking meaningless."
Delilah: "You guys need to start filling me in on some history here, or I'm going on strike for future scouting missions."
***
We have yet another encounter with Malevolence, who this time attacks Circe when he is on his own. She successfully calls and takes Sorrow's Teeth, his Runeblade, and escapes by attacking both him and his great-granddaughter, an innocent bystander he has just discovered as a relation. Circe chooses to protect her, thereby allowing Malevolence to leave just as we teleport in.
Circe: (to all of us) "Bitch took my Runeblade."
***
Doug, new to this particular game, is playing a 3rd level Hill Dwarf from Krynn, Ike, who wields a glave and is famous for his family's farm and the stout they produce. He's been sent to us as a possible candidate for the Warriors, if he survives long enough and proves himself.
Jack: (to Ike) "So, how magical is that glave of yours?"
Ike: (proudly) "'Tis a family heirloom of great dwarven make!" (In other words, not magic at all.)
Jack: (shakes his head) "You're going to get killed with that. Jeriah, you still carting around that tighmaevril tachi you made back in Cerilia?" *This is a +15 1d30 damage weapon Jeriah forged for another candidate, who didn't live long enough to weild it*
Ike: "Tachi? What manner of weapon be this? A sword? No, lad, I prefer my glave."
Jack: "You'll take the sword if you want to live through this."
Ike: "I think-"
Jack: "I'm ordering you to take the sword, Ike, or stay here."
Ike: "Well, I suppose...just for this one battle, though."
*after the fight, Ike is still alive, but barely, and clutches the sword like a lifeline now that he's seen the kind of odds he's up against*
Jack, to Delilah: "I think we need to start carting around a wagon filled with artifacts and armor for our candidates. They show up with these '+4' swords and elven chainmail, and they end up dead. We give 'em a +15 tachi, and they live." *he claps her on the shoulder* "Take care of that, will you?"
There are more, but it would take far too much background exposition to truly 'get' them. Suffice it to say, we did kill Malevolence, but not before she killed Circe's daughter (who was pushing ninety and ready to die anyway, but that's not the point), hid Sorrow's Teeth (Circe failed every roll to try and call the blade back to his hand), and sent us all through a portal to the planes. So, our first priority is to recover Circe's Runeblade. If we can ever get back together in the next two years.
Then, yesterday Mark's parents woke us up far too early to load up the dogs and troop over ot the coast for the day, which was beautiful and fun, but we came back exhausted last night. As a result of both fun but exhausting days, I am v. tired at work today, and as I said, feeling slightly hungover. But it was worth it. :)
Friday night we had our friends Den and Jess over for dinner, with their one month old baby, Ilea, who is the cutest baby ever! Seriously. Her Dad is a mix of African-American/Korean/Caucasian, and has the world's best afro when he grows it out (which he does periodically), while her Mom is blond, blue eyed and basically the quintessential 'California girl' with really fine, straight hair. Ilea has her Dad's dark curls, but with her Mom's fine-ness - which we don't know if that's just the baby hair, or if it will stay - and blue eyes that may or may not stay, and this beautiful kind of caramel skin tone that's in between both parent's coloring. I have this image of her in my head as a two-year-old with these curly pigtails, blue eyes that just seem to glow framed by her little caramel face, and a pink dress. I have no idea if my mental image is what she's really going to look like, but either way she's going to make an adorable toddler. I hope the blue eyes stay, even though it is likely they won't. And, poor kid, everyone else in her life is going to loooooove her hair, but she will hate it and say things like "But it's always curly, I can't ever do anything with it!" As a teenager, anyway.
Ok, enough baby gushing. :) Anyway, Jess gave Mark a massage and worked on my shoulders/neck some. We're pretty sure my almost-migraine last week was caused in part by not getting our regular sessions in, what with her giving birth and all. Den watched our copy of Predator and regaled baby Ilea with pearls of wisdom about Arnold's biceps back in the day, and how amazing it is that two of the burly men in that movie both ended up being governors years later. (And also how Carl Weathers is, apparently, The Man.)
Saturday was roleplay day, and OMG, it was so wonderful, it almost brings a tear to my eye. Why can't our games always run so smoothly and fun? Oh, that's right, because our old gaming group is scattered to the four winds, and this was the first time in two years that we've been able to manage something. We played from 10:00am, to almost midnight, with two hour long breaks for food, and the making of tea and honey for Mark's abused voice. On one of the breaks, Doug - a friend who is really into photography, and has his own darkroom and stuff - showed me how to do some cool stuff with my camera to take better jewelry pics. I am very excited to try it out. I also finished Mark's Mom's B-day gift, a rosary made with lapis lazuli beads. I think it's the best of the three I've made so far, and I can hardly wait to give it to her at the end of the month.
RPG highlights, that will be meaningless to, oh, everyone but me, most likely:
Some bare bones background: This is our 'Warriors' game, in which we play epic heroes bound to service good through weilding the most powerful - and evil - artifacts in existence, demon bound Runeblades (ala Elric of Melnibone). You have to work your way up to being offered a Runeblade, and then it's never what you expect it to be, having one. I should mention that we stop aging when we take up the sword, and only start again when we retire from the Warriors. Right now there are four Warriors active, the Captain (who leads our group, and is a sarcastic ex-slave, a thief named Jack, who just happens to have a moral compass that makes him the perfect Captain), the Watcher (who protects the Captain and is charged with keeping the rest of us in line if we should go bad - this is Mark's character, Jeriah), the Keeper of Souls (our conscience, Circe, a rakehell who puts up a good front, but is really the softest one of the group and is always trying to protect the innocents who end up being collateral damage, as we face down demons and Archmages and Gods and the like) and the Scout (me, an Elven ranger from Cerilia named Delilah, who has the ability to shapechange into various woodland creatures. I'm the youngest and newest Warrior.)
First, historical highlights:
Back many game sessions ago, the original Captain of the Warriors gave up his Runeblade and walked away from the group just as an army 300k strong was coming down upon them (and the town they were called forth to protect). Jack, then bearing the title the Survivor, in desperation knelt down and said the fateful words "I pray for leadership."
Mark, as DM, smiled and said "That's what you pray for?"
Jack, "Yes, that's what I -wait. No, no, no. That's not what I meant! I can't be Captain! I'm a thief. I'm-"
DM: "You prayed for leadership. [The Warriors' patron diety] appears and says 'Jack, you are now the Captain of the Warriors of Destiny, from henceforth to bear that title and all the gifts which accompany it.'"
No amount of arguing could get him out of it, and Jack has been the Captain ever since. Mike (his player) is still a little bitter about it, but it remains one of the quintessential moments in the history of this particular game. He also makes an amazingly good Captain, far better than Shar, the previous Captain. But then, his player hasn't been the same since he got married.
So, on to the highlights from this weekend:
Our group traverses realms to go wherever we're needed, hence legends of our deeds often precede us. Delilah's been traveling with the Warriors for some time, but at 250 years of age, she only looks about 20-21 to human eyes. While on a scouting flight, she passes over two armies about to engage in a titanic battle, but one - the one allied with the people we've come to this world to protect - is outnumbered five to one, and doesn't stand a chance without our help. So I land on the battelfield and ask to speak to whoever is in charge. Now, the Warriors have the ability to teleport instantly to each other's sides whenever one of us is in mortal danger. But only in that instance. So until the armies engage, the others are leagues away listening to my telepathic communications of the situation (another innate gift to the group). I'm directed to a young commander who has spent years in their version of a battle school, but has yet to actually physically participate in a battle. With my veteran experience, I can see how the other army is going to overrun and flank them, and I tell this young commander he needs to move his cavalry to prepare for this.
NPC: (pompously) "Our cavalry is the strongest in all of Oerth; we will ride down the middle and cut down these nomads like scythe to wheat."
Delilah: "No, they'll overrun your line and flank you. Look, how many campaigns have you actually fought?"
NPC: (looks Delilah up and down) "How many have you fought?"
Delilah: (wearily) "More than I care to count. Do you know who I am?" *taps hilt of Runeblade*
NPC: (dubious) "I have heard that the Warriors of Destiny are in Oerth, and aid our allies, but that is many leagues from here. Besides, you can't really be one of them; you're far too young."
(Meanwhile, enemy army is marching closer.)
Delilah: (rolls intimidation skill, fails DC) "Look, I don't have time for this. My Runeblade proves who I am. Trust me, if you want to win this battle, you need to move your cavalry!" *Runeblade chitters in its sheath, and the NPC looks at it nervously, but is unswayed*
NPC: "If you really are a Warrior, we would be glad to have you fight beside us, but the cavalry stays where it is." *He turns and shouts orders*
Delilah, impatient with it all, draws her Runeblade from the sheath. As she'd hoped, the demon scream does prove who she is, unfortunately, fully a third of the army's forces fail their saving throw and run from the field in terror.
Delilah (telepathically to the Warriors) "Fuck. How do you keep your allies from being overpowered by the demonsong?!"
Jack (telepathic response): "*sigh* Newbies. You can't draw the blade like that unless I'm there to dilute the effects on the friendlies.That's why we all carry back-up weapons. The Runeblade isn't always your best choice."
Delilah: "Now you tell me."
Jack: "Well, we thought you knew that. You've been around long enough."
Delilah (mutters): "This is why I'm the Scout and not a General..."
***
An epic-level sorceress who has always been after her very own Runeblade, but whom Delilah has never had the good fortune of meeting, has just called Bitternight (Delilah's Runeblade) to her own hand.
Delilah (telepathically to others) "WTF?! She just took my Runeblade!"
*The sorceress attacks Delilah with Bitternight. The others teleport, as I am now in mortal danger*
Jack: "You! I thought you were dead!"
Malevolence the Sorceress: "How good to see you again, Jack." *launches spell of titanic proportions at us, then teleports out*
Jeriah to Delilah: "Call Bitternight! The Runeblade is bound to you and may answer."
Delilah: *calls desperately for Bitternight* I roll a 16% on percentile dice, and Bitternight appears in my hand with a piece of Malevolence's robes hanging from the blade. "Oh, thank God."
Jack: (about the Runeblades in general) "Typical. Most powerful damn artifact in the Realms, and it's fucking meaningless."
Delilah: "You guys need to start filling me in on some history here, or I'm going on strike for future scouting missions."
***
We have yet another encounter with Malevolence, who this time attacks Circe when he is on his own. She successfully calls and takes Sorrow's Teeth, his Runeblade, and escapes by attacking both him and his great-granddaughter, an innocent bystander he has just discovered as a relation. Circe chooses to protect her, thereby allowing Malevolence to leave just as we teleport in.
Circe: (to all of us) "Bitch took my Runeblade."
***
Doug, new to this particular game, is playing a 3rd level Hill Dwarf from Krynn, Ike, who wields a glave and is famous for his family's farm and the stout they produce. He's been sent to us as a possible candidate for the Warriors, if he survives long enough and proves himself.
Jack: (to Ike) "So, how magical is that glave of yours?"
Ike: (proudly) "'Tis a family heirloom of great dwarven make!" (In other words, not magic at all.)
Jack: (shakes his head) "You're going to get killed with that. Jeriah, you still carting around that tighmaevril tachi you made back in Cerilia?" *This is a +15 1d30 damage weapon Jeriah forged for another candidate, who didn't live long enough to weild it*
Ike: "Tachi? What manner of weapon be this? A sword? No, lad, I prefer my glave."
Jack: "You'll take the sword if you want to live through this."
Ike: "I think-"
Jack: "I'm ordering you to take the sword, Ike, or stay here."
Ike: "Well, I suppose...just for this one battle, though."
*after the fight, Ike is still alive, but barely, and clutches the sword like a lifeline now that he's seen the kind of odds he's up against*
Jack, to Delilah: "I think we need to start carting around a wagon filled with artifacts and armor for our candidates. They show up with these '+4' swords and elven chainmail, and they end up dead. We give 'em a +15 tachi, and they live." *he claps her on the shoulder* "Take care of that, will you?"
There are more, but it would take far too much background exposition to truly 'get' them. Suffice it to say, we did kill Malevolence, but not before she killed Circe's daughter (who was pushing ninety and ready to die anyway, but that's not the point), hid Sorrow's Teeth (Circe failed every roll to try and call the blade back to his hand), and sent us all through a portal to the planes. So, our first priority is to recover Circe's Runeblade. If we can ever get back together in the next two years.
Then, yesterday Mark's parents woke us up far too early to load up the dogs and troop over ot the coast for the day, which was beautiful and fun, but we came back exhausted last night. As a result of both fun but exhausting days, I am v. tired at work today, and as I said, feeling slightly hungover. But it was worth it. :)
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Date: 2006-10-02 07:07 pm (UTC)I envy you the gaming. I'm feeling the Monday, but that's because we saw Bombay Dreams, and it sucked. I'll probably post about it later...
I so wish I had some good people to RP with. *whine*