Pandora

I still find Petey's behaviour odd; he actually initially responded to Ernie saying he found his behaviour "presumptive" and "possibly downright evil". It was only after Pennie pointed out that it was a joke (and I find it hard to believe Petey didn't see that) that he began to insist it was the poor taste of the joke he took exception to. The ungenerous amongst us could even entertain the idea that Petey was gently casting suspicion on Ernie and swiftly backtracked when someone actually pointed it out. Following that, Petey's reaction was noted by a good number of furries to be 'odd', 'off', 'suspicious' etc. Gordon and Pennie seemed to latch onto the incongruity of Petey's reaction at around the same time, so I don't see one as defending the other. Those saying that Pennie has elaborately set this up so that she's in some sort of prime position tomorrow are frankly giving Pennie too much credit (sorry Pennie). The most vehement suggester is Seamus, who seems to be doggedly (sorry for the bad pun) defending Petey, which is also unusual so early in this ordeal. Similarly plenty of others seem keen to draw us away from this discussion. Casey has indeed been wishy washy, and has indeed acted oddly. Petey contacting Casey and Baxter privately also seems incredibly odd. There was no threat, so why panic? And why them? I know Petey has attempted to explain, but that explanation doesn't sit well. I agree that I doubt Casey is scum if Petey is too. I doubt Pennie and Gordon are scum even more, but if Petey rolls up town then they both warrant looking at extremely closely tomorrow. Despite his earlier paranoia, actually, as a direct result of his earlier paranoia, Petey now finds himself at the centre of this whole debacle, and in my eyes is the best candidate for a lynch. We get good info no matter what Petey flips, which can't be said for the other candidates. I Vote: Petey Panda (darkdragon).

"Oh Slim, I'm not mean at all, I'm just going to help kill you. Let's dance. " Nyx once more summons Darkness energy and aims it at Slim from the back row.

Actually, as I quoted, you were a bit "well it could be, or it might not be". You weren't the only person to not jump on the 'bandwagon', the 'bandwagon' was only a small number of people - if it was even a bandwagon at all. A few people aside from Gordon, Pennie and Casey merely said they'd noted Petey's defensiveness, that's all, and many people didn't even give an opinion. As you say, you may not be the best person to answer this question (although I appreciate the fact that you really have tried, nonetheless), and really I'm just musing out loud.

"Hi Slim! " Nyx waves cheerily, with a glint in her eye. "Of course I can, Larry, I'm made to fight, remember? " Nyx takes up her customary place in the back row, and switches to her Book, using it to summon Darkness magic on her new friend Slim [Metasimian (Halberd)].

It does strike me as unusual that Petey would be so concerned about his predicament that he would wish to seek support from someone who had appeared to the rest of us (well, me, at least, and Mindy apparently) to have been 'pushing' a little, too. And I also find it odd that Petey would believe you to be a solace of comfort in his time of need after your rather neutral reaction to the turn of events: You just say 'reaction', and that it may or may not be consistent. Hardly valiant support, really, so why did Petey see you, out of everyone, as an ally? I don't see anyone pushing for anyone else's lynch right now (and I didn't perceive Petey's circumstances as "an encroaching lynch"), I see discussion which (as has been already observed) may be useful in the future, and an awful lot of defensiveness from a lot of quarters. *strokes goatee*

"Ow, who put that wall there? Rufle, I have to eat my words, you are indeed a proficient healer, apologies." Nyx bows gracefully and respectfully to the Cleric. "Larry, I like your battle plan, except I just cannot pass up the opportunity to wallop Atramor so I'm gonna go with that." Nyx takes out her Healing Staff and begins to twirl it once more, as she approaches Atramor with a gleeful grin, ready to beat him about the head with it. "Now, don't move Atramor, and this won't hurt a bit. Probably. "

Oh noes, we lost two people we barely knew. Gabby Goat was such a... goat - I hope we weren't related, and Benji Bulldog was just such a... very quiet bulldog that we didn't even realise he was here until he'd gone. It would seem to indicate, though, that the mad monkey monk was trying to warn us about two threats to our precious furry lives; Gabby was killed in an apparent ritual, but Benji was also killed in a similar ritual that also specified burning! *Takes a deep draught from his large, red beer jug* What have you got against eating mushrooms, anyway? I was going to ask Brigit if she had any leftover mushroom and peanut butter sandwiches, which reminds me, Brigit, that blouse of yours is just divine.

"Is every battle going to be like this? These guys probably think they're fighting fools! I'd forgotten about my new robe, it feels just like a second skin. I will now attack Metasimian (Halberd) with my Darkness spell, still from the back row. In fact I will attack anyone you like in the same manner, as long as I get to attack someone."

"Apparently I've met some of you before. Didn't you learn from the beating I gave you last time? Run away now, while you're still able to use your legs, Metasimians." Nyx charges up a Darkness spell at Metasimian (Crossbow) from the back row, but turns her head to speak to Atramor. "There is the outside chance that the Halberd wielder may kill me, Atramor, and you and Boomers will be busy attacking; Rufindel's frankly a bit rubbish at healing, and Ellaria... well... she's untested in my eyes. So I'm sticking with the lesser of the two Encouraged baddies."

Number – 1761 Name – Speedboat Theme – Town Subtheme - Paradisa Year – 1995 Minifigs – 1 Pieces – 21 Price – Bought for €6.50 EURO (£5.11 GBP, $8.02 USD) on BrickLink, although available for much less. Back in the olden days, there weren't polybags, but themes still produced dinky little impulse sets, just like this one. This is part of the much beloved Paradisa theme, which was all about fun and frolics by the seaside; a paradise resort for hedonists. The seaside theme was prevalent in a number of the sets, and it's no surprise it has spilled over here to this little box. As part of the Reviewers Academy 4th Anniversary, I'll be taking a look at this little set that encapsulates Paradisa in a nutshell. Links: Brickset, Bricklink, Peeron. The Box The box is really dinky; its dimensions are 7x7x4.7cm, but despite being more diminutive than others of its kind, it still has all the detailing one might expect from a Paradisa set. There is an action shot of the model itself, which also shows off the minifigure that's included. The LEGO, SYSTEM and Paradisa logos are prominently displayed, however the set number is almost shy. As with other Paradisa sets, the background to the model is a dreamy sunset by the seaside, depicted in pastel hues. *deep sigh* Just like any other Paradisa set box, there are alternative builds depicted on the back. In such a tiny model as this, you really could forgive TLG for eschewing some alternative builds, just this once, but no! There are actually three alternative builds shown, and I suspect that if the box had been bigger, there probably would have been more. As we move round to look at the box from other angles, we begin to see the bright Paradisa pink appearing. The top of the box has an old shop sticker still attached in relatively good condition, and I believe the writing to be Dutch. According to my best Dutch source, the 'Spaar bij Shell' apparently refers to a points collection scheme, presumably redeemable for discounts at stores, and the blue portion translates into something like: “Stick the yellow sticker to the savings card and claim 20 guilders discount at Speelboom, Wigwam and Vroom & Dreesmann”. Having old stickers present doesn't detract from the box for me at all, in fact I really like having them. It makes me think back to how the set might have been sold and induces a warm feeling of nostalgia. Yet more Paradisa pink on the back of the box, and a short declaration that everything was made and distributed by TLG back then. Not that I personally mind where my LEGO comes from. And let's not focus on the boring (but necessary) safety information on the left of the box, but rather drink in the pink, and note the very small '1761' at the top right - almost unnoticeable. The right side of the box, though, has a repeat of the charming action picture of our girl on her speedboat against the sumptuous pastel backdrop of Paradisa. The Box Contents Inside the box there’s a little polybag with nearly all the parts in it. It’s one of those old fashioned polybags with the circular perforations, allowing the LEGO to ‘breathe’, although goodness knows why. There’s also three 1x6 Paradisa pink plates, and of course, an instruction booklet. I don’t understand why the plates aren’t included in the polybag; it’s not as if there isn’t room, but they aren’t. The instruction booklet has a picture of one of the alternative models as its main picture, not a picture of the build on the front of the box (main build), which is strange. The Instructions The instructions fold out into a double sided page, and the requirements for building on the first page are really rather simple. It merely shows you how to assemble the minifig, and how to build the entire base of the boat in the first three steps. This does not appear to be challenging or time consuming. You need not fear trying to build the model on carpet, nor fear mixing all the parts together, just pick up a couple of pieces and build. The reverse side of the instructions has a whopping four further steps to finish the boat. Admittedly there are a couple of insets showing you how to put a couple of the pieces together, like the hinge pieces, and how to construct the outboard motor, but it’s clear this isn’t a complicated build. The soothing pastel tones of the background are typically Paradisa, and complement the colours of the parts; speaking of which… The Parts There really aren’t many parts at all. The parts we do have are limited to white, old light grey, Paradisa pink and a little black thrown in for detail. The parts themselves are mostly inverted slopes for building the body of the boat, but while there are a few useful bits and pieces, even more so if you’re a fan of the older colours, there’s nothing particularly rare here. The Minifig The minifig included in this set is pretty much Paradisa girl #1. Her face (which some hate, but I quite like) has been in no fewer than 84 sets, which is a not insignificant number. Her torso has been in far fewer (8 sets) but it’s still not exactly rare, although it is a pretty pink blouse with printed blue flowers and printing to show it is tied at the bottom. The white legs are so generic they barely warrant mention, and similarly with the black pony tail hair. The life jacket is also rather unremarkable, appearing as it has in 100 sets. There’s no printing on the back of the torso, which is the only place you might expect some, thus rendering the rear view of our girl decidedly… unexciting. The life jacket fits well, and she doesn’t look odd wearing it. Now she’s ready to take to the open water, so we’d better get her boat ready. The Build(s) It’s pretty clear from when we were looking at the instructions that this is a rather simple build, producing a rather simple boat. It does, however, have everything a boat needs, namely a rounded underside, a prow with a steering wheel and a stern with an outboard motor. What more do you need? From the back it’s a little more obvious that the outboard motor is constructed from the 1x2 light grey brick with the black hinge bar attached. The model itself is sleek and looks speedy, and the styling is typically Paradisa – white with pink accents. There are no seats, but who’d be sitting down as they roar through the water? As our girl walks towards the boat, you can see that the outboard motor is attached to the hinge piece, making it a realistic movable part. It folds into the speedboat in a similar manner to a real life outboard motor (from the little I know of outboard motors ), and the one stud connection to the white jumper plate on top of the hinge allows the ‘motor’ (1x2 grey brick) to swivel and thus act as a rudder. If you remember back to the reverse of the box, true to Paradisa style there are a few alternative builds shown there, two of which I have created here for your delectation. Or not, as the case may be. The first such construction is of a sort of jetski, and it is believable as such. The white jumper plate shouldn’t be on the hinge piece; I just forgot to remove it, but I’m sure you get the gist of the model. Actually, considering how few pieces are used, and that they are exclusively from this tiny little set, it’s quite a sweet little model. It’s clear what it’s meant to be and it’s kinda cute. The second alternative build is a little more left-field. It appears to be some sort of water-slidey thing, although why it has a handle is anyone’s guess. Again it’s sweet, but not something I’d keep built. The view from the back offers no further clues as to what this might be, but it does give you a further idea of how it is constructed. Overall, it’s a bit odd, really. Conclusion Design: 7/10 It looks like a speedboat, albeit a very simple and straightforward one, and that's pretty much the point. It's not very complicated, or detailed, but it's a small set. I like the hinged outboard motor, even if it is only a minor moving part, but it is a nice detail. The alternative builds are cute at best and slightly weird at worst. I appreciate that they're there and have oft commented that I wish they would return. Parts: 6/10 This is a small set, so there aren't many parts to begin with, but those that are here aren't hugely exciting, really. There's a small selection of old grey and Paradisa pink, and interestingly the extra parts for this set are a 1x1 plate and a 1x6 plate, both in Paradisa pink. It's not exactly a parts pack, even if you were hoarding old colours. Minifigs: 6/10 Our Paradisa girl is unfortunately quite prevalent. She's far from original, and verging on ubiquitous. So many people dislike the old Paradisa face, that I can't see that being a draw for this set. I actually like her face, but I have a few, and although I also really like the printed pink blouse with the pretty blue flowers, I have a few of those too. Build: 7/10 It's not by any means a challenging build. It takes only a minute or so to build the boat, and there isn't really anything exciting or unexpected. You probably don't even need to look at the instructions to build the boat. Or even study the picture on the front of the box really, as there aren't too many ways to put these pieces together, no matter what the alternative builds imply. Having the alternative builds is always a pleasure, and as is often the way, the most fun comes from piecing together those crazy ideas, but even here the alternatives are slightly lacklustre. Maybe I'm expecting too much from a small set. Playability: 6/10 Uhm, it's swooshable! And it would fit extremely well into an existing Paradisa scene, but really there's not much to do aside from that. Girly can move the motor around, I guess. And maybe take her life jacket on and off again. And... she can be swooshed on the jetski... Price: 5/10 I paid faaaar too much for this little set. Far, far too much. But really that's something I can only now appraise in retrospect. The original price listing is lost in the mists of time (at least as far as I can determine), but I hope it was really cheap, or possibly free (in the same way that we have polybags given away these days sometimes). I am very shocked that the most expensive prices on BrickLink are in the region of £11 to £12 (around $20 USD). Overall 62% This is a cute little model and it really would fit perfectly into a Paradisa sea scene as an additional feature, and I like it very much for that. That said, it's a very small set, with very few parts, and I'm slightly sour from paying so much for it. There's not much to do with it once it's built unless you already have a Paradisa scene built, and while it's a pleasant enough model, it's not really a display piece. Even when parting it out, there's not much to be gleaned, unless, as I've said, you're trying to collect old colours. Not even the sweet minifig adds much spice to the set, and will likely look much like all the other girlies in a Paradisa scene. It's nice, it's fun, it's nostalgic, but it's unfortunately not very exciting. Thank goodness some of the other Paradisa sets (and their alternative builds) are. Thank you for reading, comments are always very welcome. High-Res pictures can be found on my flickr account.

Nyx stifles a snigger at the thought of the large ogre 'sneaking' round the back of the warehouse, but just stays quiet while Boomingham reverts back to his pompous self. As the doors splinter, she recognises the Metasimian gang, having already dispatched some of their number in her previous service to the Town Watch. "Devastatingly beautiful and deadly in equal measure? Why yes, I am. Stand still please." Nyx concentrates her thoughts on summoning Darkness magic on Metasimian (Scimitar and Shield) through her book from the back row. "Larry, if you think you could manage it, now would be an excellent time to generate a Shield."

Congratulations Dazmundo! and Sandy! Silly me, I drew two names out of the pick-a-brick cup by accident this week, so you are both this week's raffle winners! Send me a PM with your details and a polybag (and a little extra ) will be winging its way to you. Eventually. Mr Meleca, you were last week's winner, but I have yet to hear from you. Jackjonespaw, your prize will be on its way to you soon, I just haven't had chance to get to the post office yet.

Number – 30026 Name – Panda Theme – CREATOR Year – 2011 Minifigs – 0 Pieces – 62 Price – Received as a gift. Available sealed for around £2.75 GBP ($4.42 USD; €3.50 EURO) on BrickLink. CREATOR polybags are a great way of picking up a wide variety of models. They don't come with the '3 in 1' build that regular CREATOR sets are renowned for, but they are usually interesting models to build and occasionally they are smaller versions of bigger sets (30023 Lighthouse and 40049 Sopwith Camel spring to mind). This set was a kind gift, for hopefully obvious reasons, and I've been waiting for the right opportunity to review it, so what better than the Reviewer's Academy 4th Anniversary?! Links: Brickset, Peeron, BrickLink. The Bag So as mentioned, this is a poly bag set, and the polybag itself is of pretty standard size. It's very easy for a polybag to get crumpled, so I've done my best to smooth it out with the bricks inside. The background is typical for CREATOR sets; a light blue with a strip of LEGO yellow at the bottom. If you look carefully at the light blue background, you can just make out some fronds of bamboo, which add a little interest to an otherwise plain background. The panda itself is seen sitting up on its haunches, munching on some bamboo, and generally looking adorable (as pandas do ). There's a ton of text on the back of the polybag, including all of the manufacturing information and requisite safety warnings, and how to contact customer services. It is through the transparent vertical strip at the back that we begin to catch our first glimpse of the contents, and that's far more interesting than any safety blurb. The Instructions The instruction booklet is folded up into a small surface area, but on opening just one fold there's another adorable picture of the panda model munching on its bamboo. Actually, it's exactly the same picture as before, with similar bamboo fronds over the blue background, but it really does look cute, and the instructions would look odd without an introductory picture of the model you're building. When you unfold the instructions out fully, they aren't that big, but they are very clear and easy to read, with numbered steps. There's no parts callout, because it's a pretty small set, so there aren't a huge number of pieces to hunt for, and similarly there's no issue with differentiating colours, but we'll understand more about those points when we look at the parts. The instructions are double sided, and the build itself is split into two parts; the body and the head of the panda. Adding the head is like adding the finishing touches to the model, so it's nice that it's the last thing built. There's room on these instructions for TLG to advertise some of the larger CREATOR sets, but I think you'll be too busy looking at the panda to notice. The Parts I really don't think it's all that surprising that a set for building a panda be composed of mostly black and white parts, hence the lack of difficulty with colour differentiation. There aren't a huge number of parts, but you really don't expect that from a polybag set. The interesting things are the slopes, curved bricks, modified plates and technic bricks. Which is pretty much all of the contents here. For a small set, there's a good number of very useful parts, in a wide variety, albeit not in a rainbow of colours. The Build The actual panda model, when built, really does look like a panda, and there are some charming details included, such as the cute little posable ears, and the adorable little nose. You can see the legs of the model are attached using the technic pins and bricks, which allow the model to be articulated. If you showed this model to someone who knew nothing about LEGO and asked them what it was, they would undoubtedly say 'panda', and then they'd probably say 'aaaawwww'. Here you can get a better view of how the ears are constricted, very simply, from 1x1 modified black plates with clips, and the use of the curved white bricks to form the panda's posterior make the model that much sleeker. The proportions are right, too. This would dwarf a minifig, but as a stand alone model it looks just right. There are no features to speak of on the face of the panda, yet somehow it manages to look quite cute and happy. It's possible that using the 2x2 dome top for the snout gives the illusion of a smile, or maybe it's because the panda seems to be munching on its bamboo. The addition of the bamboo helps add a spark of life to the model, gives it a basis in reality and something with which it can interact. Even if the panda isn't actually eating the bamboo, it can still help give the model character, and the ability to move the head and the legs into various positions can give you an awful lot of fun playing around with poses and positions. It may be obvious that that is exactly what I did with my panda: play around with it, and here it looks happy, playful and content. The bases of the paws (made by the 1x2 black slopes) are also posable, as it is a single stud connection. It's not particularly visible in these pictures, but you can certainly see it in the pictures from the front of the polybag and instructions. Ahem, yes, you too could transform your panda into a performing bear, and really this picture is here to once more illustrate the model's articulation, and perhaps give you a better side view of his head. It looks a little larger from the side than it does head on, but it's still proportionate to its body. Having built the model, a few sparse pieces are left over. Nothing to write home about, just a technic pin, a 1x1 tile and 1x1 cheese slope (always useful) and a 1x1 round plate. Conclusion Design: 9/10 The design of this model is just great. It looks like a panda, and a cute panda at that. The proportions are right, it doesn't look odd at all, and having ways to make the panda posable designed in is just great. There are so many articulation points, and these allow you to add character to the model yourself, plus including the singular piece of bamboo with the model just adds a little spark to the whole ensemble. Parts: 8/10 I really think the the parts mix here is very good, especially for a set of this size, but then it is a CREATOR set, so it's all about the building and how to achieve a realistic(ish) looking model on a small scale. I really don't think anyone in their right mind would be surprised that the vast majority of parts in a set for a model of a panda are black and white, but they are quite useful black and white parts, not just basic bricks. Build: 8/10 The build is short, but very sweet. The panda doesn't take long at all to build, but it is lots of fun with some interesting techniques and use of parts in unusual ways. To make a panda model of this small size that is both quite realistic and articulated is impressive to me, and the techniques used to achieve this are fun. Splitting the build into two sections (the body and the head) makes sense, and the final act of adding the head to the body and thus completing the model is immensely satisfying. Playability: 8/10 Once built, the fact that there's a near infinite number of poses for your panda (and that it really is quite adorable) means that you can have lots of fun playing around with its positioning. It would be a cute model to have on the shelf that you could pick up and play around with, so I think this model scores quite highly for playability, even if it isn't particularly swooshable. Price: 9/10 If you can pick this up on BrickLink for the price listed above, then it's a bargain. It may not be a set that you might specifically go looking for, but given that it makes a cute model and contains some useful parts, I really do think that it's great value at the £2.75 GBP mark. For someone like me who likes pandas in all their LEGO incarnations, then this is actually extremely cheap, however, as I stated at the start, this was a gift, and that in itself means a lot. Overall 96% I think this set is wonderful. The designer here has jam-packed tons of detail, character and realism into a small model, using a variety of interesting parts in interesting ways within a limited colour scheme. The end result is a gorgeous little model that's cute to look at and fun to play with. And all this for a really rather inexpensive price. I think I may have to start hoarding these... Thank you for reading, comments are always very welcome. High-Res pictures can be found on my flickr account.

There's no blood on the tables. They are perfectly clean and sanitary. *sighs* Silly pussy. *shakes head* Yes, indeed, I serve live animals. *remembers who he's talking to* Yes, indeed, I serve alcoholic beverages to live animals.

That's it, give me your car keys, you've clearly had too much to drink already. Next thing we know you'll be dancing on the bloody tables..

OoC - I did indeed go shopping, sorry, but it's all updated here! Nyx finds herself running once more. Always bloody late, she chides herself as her heels clatter on the cobblestones, but as she runs up she realises she's not the last. She wonders what's happened to Boomingham and just hopes he's still drinking in a bar somewhere; Rufindel had probably fallen asleep again and Skrall... well he clearly wasn't here. It wasn't like the ogre would be good at hiding, after all. She stops running and walks the last few yards up calmly to Atramor, the guard, and a woman she vaguely recognised. "Atters and his chicken, fancy seeing you here mate. I would say long-time-no-see, but it seems we're inseparable these days." she grins at Atramor "like my new robe? I only spent all of my damn money on it." and she does a jokey twirl to show off the fabric. Nyx turns to the weakly smiling woman. "Hi, I'm Nyx and I generally like setting fire to stuff and punching people and shoes, and lipgloss and getting veeeeery drunk. And probably a few other things I might have forgotten. Hey, I vaguely remember you! I called out to you when you had a new outfit! I'd seen you around the Hall, and then you got some new threads and.. you didn't answer me. Oh well, looks like you've got some more new clothes now, they look nice. Nice to meet you, anyway. "

On her way to the designated meeting point for ther next quest, Nyx drops by the Marketplace. She stops by Anwyl's and sell her Wooden Shield (SP2) for 10 gold ([2x10 = 20]/ 2 =10) bringing her total up to 300 gold. Spotting a new shop, she strikes up conversation with the fabulous and flamboyant Fabien. "Ooooh, you've got some lovely stuff here! And shoes, you have shoes! Hmm, I have an attractive pink lizard skin handbag, made from a real pink lizard from far off Carthago, so it's super-rare. I have its certificate of authenticity right here, but I don't have time to haggle right now as I have to be somewhere. Could you maybe have a look at it and maybe we could strike a deal when I return? Anyway, your Robe of the Archmagi looks like it would suit me down to a T, so here, have all of my gold (300) for it. I think it will look just divine!" Nyx giggles as she tries the robe on, noting that it was more or less the same robe she was already wearing, but in better condition and more richly embroidered. That done, she waves at Fabien with promises to return and runs off to join her questmates.

Nyx looks at Boomingham as he speaks, and had it been anyone else calling her a child, she would have punched them squarely in the face, but there was something in his eyes; that and Nerwen's calming touch. The flames died down, and without them some clarity returns. He didn't know. He did not know that Barty had spoken to her privately, without Boomingham's knowledge, and she remembers asking him to look after Boomingham and Barty wishing her well. Arguing about it now would serve no benefit, and the man looks tired. "I can't ask any more" she replies, almost meekly. "We have a long journey ahead of us, and I should do some shopping. I'll see you at the meeting place." Nyx turns to Nerwen and smiles "Thank you, for... calming me. I have to go, but I see you're about to embark on a new quest yourself. I wish you the best of luck with it, and may your heart soar with your songs, as if on the wings of those beautiful Rito." Nyx drains her drink and begins to make her way out of the Hall to the Marketplace, stopping by Arthur to apologise for not yet answering his questions and promising they would talk more when they were both back in the Hall, and waving to Cronk as he wished them well and returning the good wishes for his own quest against Wren. All she could think about was the conversation with Boomingham; her temper had done more damage, but at least she now had an opportunity to repair that damage on this trip.

Mind your manners, you overgrown handbag. Certainly, as long as you don't start telling me all about your sexlife again

What does a happy and adorable animal have to do to get a drink around here? Why, visit my bar of course! You're all usually too drunk to remember, but I'm Gibson Goat, barman, and I serve the finest cask ales, local wines and some fruit-based drinks for the ladies. No pets allowed.

Nyx's broad grin and happy demeanour change as soon as Boomingham utters these words. "You tried to kill him?? Are you absolutely insane??? What the hell were you playing at you senile old fool?? I hope to damnation that for your sake you haven't killed him... I cannot believe... you, you.. IDIOT!!" Nyx breathes deeply, as if trying to calm herself, or prevent herself from doing something. "You have to get him back. I don't care what it takes. You have to get him back." Nyx's barely-contained fury unintentionally makes her reaction to Atramor harsher than she would have liked, but there's nothing she can do to stop it; she's fighting too hard with herself. "Indeed Atramor, you might remember I was Party Leader last time we helped the Town Watch. Are you trying to say something?"

Nyx carries on chatting to Nerwen and Will, when behind her she hears a very loud, and very familiar, voice. "Larry!!!!" She cannot keep the excitement out of her voice, and she whirls around to see him settling onto a barstool next to her, with a devilish grin on his face. "You! You old goat you!" she chides, but this time whilst wearing a matching grin "How the devil are you, you drunken old sot?!" and before he can answer, she flings her arms around him, hugging him as tightly as she did the last time they said goodbye. "I've missed you." she whispers, hugging him tighter still. She releases her grip in order to look him up and down. "You're looking well. How's Barty? Flown off in disgust at more of your antics? I swear you behave so badly sometimes just to get a rise out of him, poor little guy." Nyx laughs as she finishes, and giggles more as an unknown Mage spills Boomingham's drink and quickly (and wisely in her opinion) replaces it with another. He introduces himself, as the bar gets busier and busier with more and more heroes returning from Dastan. "Nice to meet you Arthur, I… have a sense of you; it's probably a remnant of Vipera communicating our thoughts in that last battle, like you said, and yeah I was one of the first, but I really wasn't great at all back then. I think word got out about Heroica, and soon there were all kinds of heroes beating a path to its door, so the six of us that were here before really weren't here all that long. I remember Atramor there being the first to turn up afterwards, and I really thought Heroica might be in trouble if everyone turned up with a farmyard animal, but no-one turned up with a goat, so it's all ok. Says a lot for advertising, really." As she mentions Atramor, she sees him trying a Flaming Gumball, and spitting the drink back into the glass with the most disgusted expression on his face. She grins as she talks about him to Arthur, and once she finishes calls out to Atramor. "You know, they do taste a whole lot better if you set them on fire. " Nyx is about to excitedly tell Boomingham all about her adventures in Dastan, but as she opens her mouth, an out of breath guardsman begins to call out the names for the Strivvian Job. So she was indeed to continue to work with the Town Watch, and not only that, Boomingham was to come too, and as Party Leader to boot. Hardly surprising that Rufindel would return, and Atramor as well - she'd barely had a moment without him it seemed. Skrall she remembered from Dastan, he was a level headed dude, and he'd managed that last battle well, in her opinion. Ellaria.. hmm, she'd heard her name in catches of conversation, but didn't remember ever meeting her. "Haha! Looks like we'll be fighting side by side again, Larry. I was worried I wouldn't have time to tell you about Dastan and hear all about your adventures, but if I remember correctly Strivvi's a loooong boat-ride away, so we'll have aaaaages to catch up on the way. I'm so glad you're coming along too."

Yes of course, as long as the emphasis is on the vehicle rather than the base/setting.

Nyx looks round as Nerwen approaches, and a broad smile fills her face; her unease is forgotten, for now at least, in the company of friends. "Nerwen!" Nyx throws an arm around the gentle elf's shoulders and squeezes her, being careful not to squeeze too hard. "It's great to see you got back ok, and thanks for the message from Denarii." She clinks her glass with Nerwen's in toast, and frowns at the lack of fire. She clicks her fingers over each glass, causing purple-red flame to leap from each, and her frown changes back once more to a broad smile. "She and her people were some of the most interesting people I've ever met. I wonder if they'd let me train with them someday, I mean, they really like fighting and collecting shiney things, and I've already proven myself to them, and... I guess it'd be too much to learn how to fly wouldn't it? Seeing as how I don't have wings and stuff? But they were beautiful, and so graceful, and so vicious." Nyx's eyes glaze slightly as she stares into the distance a little. OoC: JimB, I am now thinking it would be awesome if you developed an Expert Class based on the Rito. Nyx turns back to William. "Do you mean Constance? Well, yeah it was a shame that she died, and she was innocent, but... people die. She was rude and annoying, not that that means people should automatically die, but I'm much more upset about U'Stus and what happened to him, even if that wasn't directly at mine or my allies hands. I really liked that guy, he was so sweet, and... well the events in his house weren't fun at all."

I really have to offer huge congratulations to Brickdoctor, JimB and Zepher for producing an absolutely stellar trilogy of quests in Dastan. It is clear that the three of you have all worked exceptionally hard at this (and well together), with immense preparation and subsequent dedication purely for the enjoyment of us playes, and for that I thank you a lot. I can only applaud your creative vision in the genesis of Dastan and its characters. You created a complex world, with interesting geography, history and a variety of populations and races, and managed to flesh them all out, give them character and make them extremely realistic. I am so very happy to have been part of these quests, so thank you very much to Zepher for picking me. For the time that Nyx was with the Rito, JimB was my temporary QM. It was a fish-out-of-water experience for both Nyx and myself, and you QMed it so well and took care of me, so thank you for that. Zepher... I am filled with admiration. You ran a wonderful quest, and I was so happy to be part of it, and part of the full epic story. You were fully immersed with us, and part of the quest itself. The characters you create, both NPCs and Boomingham, are filled with life and spark and make it so easy for us players to interact and bounce roleplaying off. The dynamics you develop and allow to happen (Nyx and XX, Tarn and Ella) help make your quests even more interesting and you have a nice mix of discussion, investigation, decision, puzzle and fighting. You criticised yourself for 'railroading' us, but I don't think that criticism is warranted. I felt free to do what I wanted, and sure sometimes we suddenly wound up somewhere, but that's no big deal when three large quests are being synchronised into one mega-quest. I think the fact that you were willing to create side-quests for those of us who did something unexpected speaks of your willingness to ameliorate the concerns of 'railroading'. And one of mine too, even if Nyx had just suffered the beating of her life. And thank you for doing so without my initial reaction! I didn't know that, and the first KO for Nyx now seems much more worthwhile. I don't think you should feel bad for Nyx at all; she had an interesting time and met some interesting people. Now she just has to work out how she feels about them and about what happened to her. I was impressed (and somewhat touched) that you put little details from the players' pasts into the conversations with Wren. The comments about the orphanage and later Flaming Gumballs threw me for a loop a bit (in a nice way). I really would love to have the chance for Nyx and XX to interact together again - can I reserve a slot??? It's a shame that two of the people she feels the closest connection to are destined never to meet, because they're actually Boomingham and XX. A real shame, but I hope you take that as a compliment that I really do think you are one of the best character players in the game, and now also an exceptional QM. Definitely! Nerwen is one of Nyx's favourite new people, even though their personalities are completely different. It was completely unexpected, but a lovely surprise. Thank you, Chromeknight, for helping me feel part of the team while separated from my original questmates. I should also say here that I had a blast interacting with Galen again (another person Nyx is particularly fond of), and of course Atramor (Nyx grudgingly quite likes him), but it was also fun meeting Skrall too. I think we all could have used Vipera for better interaction in the last fight, but with so many people it would have perhaps been hugely distracting in such a complicated battle. And that brings me to a congratulations to the QMs yet again for that final battle. It really was something to behold, and it was also clear how much time was required to run each round, so to keep the battle moving as you did (and work seamlessly between the three of you) was extremely impressive.