More Things I Did

Yep. This will probably be a recurring feature. Alright, so in the bast few weeks four more pictures seem to have appeared on my server space at school.

First, I think we should start simple. See, apparently, Aries, the company that makes this curriculum does not believe you should, oh, protect yourself from electric shock. That… That is just special.

Damn those skin cells, tampering with our data! Oh well. Evan still sucks.

I’ve been playing Guild Wars a while now, and the game’s really picked up. Nevertheless, this explains about the first six hours of post-searing Prophesies campaign.

Yes, well. First off, the Ring of Fire Islands is just Ascalon with fire instead of tar. Second, the story is really really schizophrenic and by the time you see Rurik again for the first time since he dies in the Shiverpeaks, you don’t remember who he is. So it’s really easy to kill him and strip his elite skill off of his corpse.

Last Week Sucked

The following is something I wrote in reference to this comment. It was an assignment for English, and was supposed to contain as many parallel sentences as possible, hence it looking really crappy in terms of readability. So, pretty much it’s just like everything else on the site.

On Making Stupid Promises

Every week on Monday, on Tuesday, and on Thursday I try to post an article on my website, and almost every week I fail horribly. This week I so much as promised to post at least three times, and due to all of the other writing I have to do I can damned near guarantee that it won’t happen.

To keep up with this promise, I would have to squeeze out an article today, to posted this afternoon, and tomorrow, to be posted the following day. Why I would make such a stupid promise is beyond me, and why I would care so much about it is even further out of my grasp.

You live, you learn, well, you don’t learn, and I can already tell you now that I’ll make the same promise next week. Even last night I told myself I would get alllll my homework done (*snickers*) and yet here I sit in first period scratching this essay out in my downtime, and there I will sit in second period, doing my homework for third.

As a result of this, I am always working at inopportune times, and as a result of this, my material is always late, and as a result of this, my publishers are going to hate me. Perfect.

Emarion Names

In Emaria, the tradition is to name a child with whatever sounds good to the parents. That said, there are conventional meanings for certain vowels if placed at the beginning of a name. An “A” denotes affection, and is common for the first letter of Emarion names (Anselm, Arkturus, Azreal), especially single children, as they are their parents’ only progeny. An “E” denotes some kind of greatness (Eathanu) or destiny, and is more common to children of military families. An “I” is rarely used, but mostly feminine and used to show a scholarly nature, and is often the first letter of a long name (Inuama, Itimusia).

“O,” while not limited to such, is traditionally the first name of kings and other royalty. It shows power of the mind and body, and partly as a sign of respect the lower classes do not so frequently use the letter for their children. Interestingly, to Aerai culture, which in most cases neatly mirrors Emarion, “O” is a masculine letter used for disgrace, “with the king being the only exception,” as they put it. (Examples: Ocato, Odessa, Osiris)

“U” is used very infrequently for the first letter of a name just because it’s a strong sound on its own and doesn’t fit well at the start of a word. Regardless, it represents a beautiful simplicity in a person, not necessarily of the mind, but of the nature. A farmer who wishes his offspring to have an uneventful life might name his child with a “U” name. (Examples: Uncoste, Ulycai)

Most names don’t start with a vowel, but the first syllable of any word contains at least one, and in most cases the first vowel in any name is considered as above, though if it is not the first letter as well, it’s frequently considered to be less emphasized. Silvikk is a monk and a scholar, but that is not all she is, and it’s not particularly her passion.

Also of note in Emarion culture is that, when a couple marries, they choose how the names are distributed. For example, some women take the man’s last name, but keep their old last name as their new first name. Some couples exchange last names. The most traditional practise, however, is also the most familiar: one person takes the last name of the other.

Emarion Craftsmanship

Emarions are considered some of the best artisans in regards to some crafts. The typical styles vary widely, but beauty as seen by Emarions usually entails a mix of harsh angles and rounded edges used in complex but predictable patterns. Emarion artists like to paint or sculpt architecture more than anything else, with later artists creating impossible or exotic structures, often inspired by the complicated Materian engineering exhibited on their planet and their colony on Azureus.

The materials Emarions use are traditionally extracted by the artists themselves (trees planted for the wood, flowers grown for the colours taken from petals, ores mined for the metals they smelt into), though sometimes the artist is unable or the times call for a more efficient division of labour. Blacksmiths, especially in times of war, tend to buy metal to craft their weapons and armour.

The epitome of Emarion craftsmanship is the Kaska, a weapon used by particularly skilled Emarion warriors and customized to whoever uses it. It consists of a rod that is a certain balanced length and weight, dependent on the wielder, that allows for the elaborate flourishes and acrobatics involved in using the weapon. Because they are custom-made for the person who uses them, Kaska are frequently decorated heavily with beautiful etchings or dyes, and adorn the graves of their owners if they do perish.

Azureus is home to many distinct cultures, and while Emaria is not necessarily the most varied (humans are, of course), they are arguably the most prolific.

Emarion Pets

The concept of ownership over an animal is fairly limited in Emaria (though it is not illegal by any means and several human factions as well as many alien species practise it. That said, many people do seek the companionship of animals, on an optional basis.

The most common animal for Emarions to befriend is the Rilli (which I covered in their article). These friendships are different from others in that Rilli are fairly intelligent on their own, and only loyal out of conscious choice. Also common for companionship are canines much like dogs, which are of animal intelligence but familiar with loyalty and unconditional love for another, which they like many other animals can develop.

In that specific relationship, an Emarion will provide food and shelter for the dog, and often leave the door to the house open while he’s home, giving his new friend the option of leaving at any time. Partly because the alternative is fending for itself in the city or wilderness and partly because it may particularly like its person, the dog will generally come and go as it pleases, but almost always return.

In Aeria and a few parts of Emaria there is also the practise of leaving windows open and having essentially aviaries in one’s home, feeding and housing birds on the long-term. Often this involves having an enclosed bird cage that is open on one side allowing free access in and out the window without having the entire house open as well. Then birdkeepers can just close the window after all of the birds have left for the moment and close the window, clean the cage, and reopen it when they’re done.

Other examples of friendships between humans and animals exist, of course, but in very nearly every case, there is no concept of ownership of either party on the other (excepting maybe cats, the bastards).

Things I Did in Computer Repair Class Instead of Actual Work

Things I Did in Computer Repair Class Instead of Actual Work:
I sit next to Evan. He sucks. Also, I wanted a nice computer background, so, y’know.

I am ABSOLUTELY correct. Not shown: What happens when you get it wrong, which is literally half the size of an average post on this site lecturing you on exactly how many ways you fucked up.

Evan was listening to Octopus’s Garden and I was done with the lesson, so why not, eh? And yes, I realize that much more resembles a jellyfish, just go with me here.

Paint, done in Paint, done in Paint, done in Paint. Looking at it now, I didn’t even try with the tools on the second one. Oh, and just in case this isn’t enough? Save it to disk and open it in Paint, man.

So, we have approximately thirty-two computers in one room linked to a network. We also have a teacher who runs the entire school and is always needed to fix something. What does this translate to? Me consistently forgetting to stick Starcraft on a Flash drive and being forced to draw it in Paint while that bastard Evan gets his worthless Terran ass kicked to hell.

Oh, and he lost. Dear god did he lose.

So that’s what I did in Paint during Computer Repairs instead of actually working. This could easily become a new section before the year is through.

Nine Plains

The universe is made up of what is essentially numerous separate volumes encompassing a large four dimensional hypervolume you can’t even conceive of. These are the different plains of existence. The known plains are all made up of sub-regions that also require travel in four dimensions to go to.

	Law	Neutral	Chaos
Good	White Haven	Avina	Cha’artica
Neutral	Sirius	The Elements	Pandemonium
Evil	Hell	Grloth	The Pit

When a god does travel to another plain, they lose most of their immortal powers during their stay, though they can leave at will still. Mortals, on the other hand, don’t lose anything from travelling to different plains in most cases, though some places are safer than others.

White Haven: White Haven is a place of utmost peace and serenity, though it is easily the hardest of all of the plains to reach, with its only known gates being buried deep on planets way out in the Reaches. In other plains there are not even any known gates leading there. White Haven is home to many compassionate beings, and anyone entering the plain is treated well. However, most people are eventually made to leave, because only the most inherently good of souls are allowed to live freely on White Haven.

Avina: Avina is a meeting place for the greatest of heroes. People gather there, in the one city that exists in the mountains of that plain, and speak of how to eradicate evil, without regards to law or chaos. Many people who want to achieve true righteous balance make a pilgrimage to Avina some time in their lives. It is not terribly hard to reach, luckily, with a portal even on Azureus existing.

Cha’artica: Cha’artica is a haven for those with good intentions in mind who do not wish to be constrained by law. The entire plain has only one truly evil being residing at all times, and the warriors of the population are in a constant struggle with that being. The plain has a few sub-regions in it which offer similar situations, with the solitary evil getting more prevalent the deeper you go. Magic in Cha’artica is unpredictable, and most essentians avoid using their powers to be safe, though empaths have less to worry about. Cha’artica has at least two entrances in the planets of the Graduill system at least.

Sirius: Sirius is the galaxy within the plain that Emaria rests in. There is little else to say except that it is the only plain without any sub-regions in it and is one of the most diverse as well.

The Elements: The elements are the five regions that embody the five forces of nature: fire, water, air, earth, and essentia. They are difficult for a mortal to survive on, but they are the prime location to summon creatures from for battle or whatever purpose. Unlike the other plains, there are no warp gateways to the elemental plains, but they can be accessed through magic easily due to their central location.

Pandemonium: Pandemonium is a plain of confusion, with little to no consistency within itself. It is a haven to the insane, ever changing and to the demented, never boring. Pandemonium has two regions, the bottom of which is downright dangerous to the mortal. The top has four seasons on its one planet: Mania, Delirium, Dementia, and Hysteria. The four come in a seemingly random order and cause untold damage to the psyches of anyone in the plain. Regardless of the emotional danger, a good empath can survive in the plain unscathed.

Hell: Hell is the largest plain of existence, with there being nine separate regions, all based on one of the seven sins, and not being altogether unpleasant. The last two correspond to those who have died within Hell itself, and those who were in life indescribably evil. Hell is the usual location for those who die on Sirius, and the dead then continue their lives in Hell, living within the region of their most prevalent sin. Some dead, the insane, instead go to Pandemonium, and those who are exceptionally virtuous but don’t ascend find themselves in White Haven. The dead can move from plain to plain, though it is not easy, and most choose not to.

Grloth: Grloth is a place of unpleasantness, a place where a gloomy shadow covers everything, and there is no enjoyment. It is easy to get to and hard to leave. That said, the amount of irremissible evil is negligible, and the place is more of a purgatory than a hell. Common effects from travelling within Grloth include apathy and depression. Creatures native to Grloth are often strong, but slow-moving or slow-witted.

The Pit: The pit is the ultimate plain of evil. It’s composed of three regions, representing various depths of madness and anguish. The pits themselves consist of one large pit in the ground, with a clear exit in sight, moonlight beaming down in one shaft, but clearly no way to reach the exit. The walls of the pits seem closer the more desperate to escape the being is. The region is inhabited by creatures of malice that can’t decide between killing outsiders or letting them suffer in the pits for eternity. The region below, the catacombs, is a labyrinth of twisting corridors and torture rooms, as well as crypts where they feed the souls of the dead to beasts of indescribable evil. Below even that is a region encased in flame that burns the flesh and soul of all who dwell within.

These plains all have their place in the web, and there are more outside of the nine, but they are beyond the understanding of mortal humans or even any of the Sirisian gods.