Scorpiox

I'm not entirely sure what's indecent about someone owning the movie rights to two characters.

Well, that's one way of doing it I suppose. It's more of a Docken-esque explanation that what I was expecting, but hey, it's your roleplay choice.

"At home, the men used to play a game called 'Jester' in between drinking and ogling the ladies, ever heard of that?" At seeing Dyric's blank face, Haldor decides it best to explain. "Guess not. It's a fairly simple game, anyhow. We each take five cards from this deck randomly and keep 'em a secret. Each turn we choose one of each other's cards to swap, not knowing what we're gonna get. Afterwards, we draw another card from the pile. Goal is to get yourself some pairs of cards. The bloke with the most pairs when all cards are used up, wins. The trick is, there's also a Jester in this pack, a fool, if you like. Ain't no pair for that, so you want to get rid of it. You understand?"

I don't think that Sandy will create Swils' dragon for him, as he hasn't done such a thing for Paladin angels (except from Cronk's) and Evoker summons. And anyway, a situation in which a completely random baby dragon turning up in the training room at the instant Thormanil becomes dragoon and befriends him instantly would be... disappointing.

Haldor claps his friend heartily on his back. "Ah, good on you, lad. Glad to have to you back." The nord reaches into a pocket and produces a bundle of string-wrapped playing cards. Although well-worn and sporting suspiciously ale-like stains, the cards are legible and at the very least all there. "So, Dyric, what d'you want to play?"

Agreed. I'm very interested to see how Swils will roleplay Thormanil discovering his dragon for the first time.

I'm not really sure how a normally-sized human being could be expected to wield those, so I'll have to just make up something, I guess.

Just as a random question: does the creator of the Dualis Sceptres (whomever that may be) have an idea of what the weapons look like, or should I use my imagination? I'm referring to LEGO pieces, by the way.

Haldor poised himself to laugh, but quickly stopped himself when he realised that Dyric was serious. The nord spoke slowly and deliberately. "Oh, gods, you've been spending far too much time with the boy Regulus, haven't you? Let me make this clear, you've got to shake yourself out of that attitude, it won't get you nowhere. Tell me, Dyric, what is the point in living if all do you do is grind yourself into a darker hole of misery, depression and stuff like that? There ain't none, you might as well sit at home all day trying to be sad. Sure, what we do isn't the kind of thing you want to bring to family, or your women, into - but in that case... don't. No-one is gonna force you to involve people you care about, least of all, them. Here in Heroica, we're not a gang nor high-profile folks, I doubt anyone would think to go after our loved ones before at least trying a shot at us in person - something they won't get another of. And for starters, who says you are gonna die on a quest any time soon? The battle in the temple was a dark time, make no mistake about that, and yes, I did fancy my chances that we were heading down a one-way street. But... we won, didn't we? And if you allow Wren to continue affecting your life after we kicked her @rse halfway to hell, that's a sweet kind of revenge you're giving her, you know. Sometimes you've just got to lighten up and live a little. Forget that "I don't want to inflict that life" megablocks and take a long, slow drink. Go find your girl, calm down a bit, have some fun. Maybe play cards with me. Whatever takes your fancy." He winks casually.

Remember that Saruman only dies after the Valar expelled him from the order and remove his powers, having Gandalf replace him as 'the White'. Gandalf's episode also proves that the Istari are basically as immortal as the major gods want them to be. I'm not really sure what you mean by the last comment. If Gandalf, a weaker wizard can beat an immensely physically powerful monster in close fighting, surely this is evidence that Istari are more than capable melee fighters. The Balrog is a far greater danger to Maia than a Jedi/Sith would be, therefore I doubt this battle would last very long at all. The fight would probably pan out like this: Dooku: Count Dracula cannot harm me, he is barely even able to rise during the day! Suddenly and very oddly, the bright daylight turns into black midnight, all in the space of a few moments. Dracula: You forget, Dooku, that this is a Hammer House of Horror Dracula film, in which the days can be as long as the director deems appropriate!

"Yeah, you're right I suppose; but I never never really thought about her like that. She's old... but not really ancient or magnificent like the ones from the stories." Haldor laughs. "Ah, the 'yet'. Sounds like you've got more on your mind for her than you're letting on."

To be honest I don't believe that Dooku would stand a chance, as it is unclear whether Saruman prior to having his powers broken could actually die. In the LotR universe Maia such as the Wizards posses incredible power and skill, as demonstrated by Gandalf only really 'dying' after falling through the world's floor whilst destroying a fiery archdemon - a foe that would almost certainly wipe away the Count before he could even activate his lightsaber. In both the LotR films and novels, Saruman is only able to be killed after he is expelled from his order for joining the dark side, before which I believe that he would be invulnerable. If only a less powerful wizard like Gandalf the Grey is able to vanquish a centuries-old monster and afterwards resurrect himself to replace Saruman as head of the Istari, the mind positively boggles at what the leader of the group could inflict upon Dooku in a battle. To think, he is able to win comfortably against another minor god - and for these reasons I reckon that old Tyranus, barely more than a excellently skilled monk with a laser sword and force powers, would be crushed into the flagstones by a wizard with a face exactly like his. To summarise: Dooku's force abilities could be negated or at least outmatched by Saruman's magic. Dooku's agility would have no effect in a level playing field. Dooku's swordfighting skills would be the greatest threat, although it is likely that Saruman also has great close combat skills that we never get to see, if his less powerful comrade, Gandalf, is anything to base things off.

"I've just returned home from a brief trip out of the city, some far off island called Nova Tertia. We were tasked with clearing out a bunch of nasty animals and capturing others. After the amount of peril I've been up against lately... well, sometimes a spate of hitting things can do you good. One of my party went a bit raving mad - shouting, threatening, the like - but I can't complain, that kind of thing seems normal these days." "So this quest of yours... must have been quite some hotel with a real dragon staying there. Imagine that. What was it like? In the north we love our dragons, never actually seen one myself, course..." Haldor coughs awkwardly. "Uh... and a lass too! By met, d'you mean that you met her? Or, you know, met her."

Hearing his name called, Haldor raises his head to look at the man standing nearby sleepily. "Yeah?" The nord shakes his head clear of drowsiness. "Ah, Dyric, it's you. We haven't met in... far too long at least. How have you been keeping, my old friend." He waves the assassin towards a nearby chair, chuckling to himself. "Please, sit down. Damn sure I'm glad to see you again. Now tell me, what adventures have you got yourself on since we last met?"

That depends on if he is, I know nothing about the man. I'm only referring to the fact that Spider-Man and most others are American superheroes and were originally written as such.

I don't think that we need to debate the little details in this way. Arguing that Spider-Man might as well be something or the other is irrelevant to my point. The truth is: deliberately changing a character's origin, personality or other factors plainly for the desire of attention and controversy isn't the done thing. For example: Peter Parker doesn't have to be played by a white American - but if a change of race occurs it should be for the reason of a director deciding that a non-white actor is more appropriate for the role at the time, not simply because they want to shake things up. Just think of the Rooney Rule in basketball and realise what I mean.

I think that you are misunderstanding. No-one is speaking homophobically here.Changing a characters core personality simply for the sake of causing uproar isn't original, it's just plain stupid. Andrew Garfield is extremely naive and perhaps arrogant in thinking that he could get away with flat out ruining (that's right, Spider-Man is created on his love for Mary-Jane, who IS a woman) because he thinks it might be an interesting idea. Spider-Man isn't gay, that is basically the foundation of his comic origins. Yes, there ought to be more gay popular characters, but that should involve making new ones rather than having a go with one of Marvel's famous faces. If a director wakes up one day and thinks "I've got myself an idea! Why don't I take one of the world's most recognisable superheroes and mess around with them? Should irritate the entire fanbase and make myself look foolish if I'm lucky." - they are barely worth my time in watching a film of theirs. It would be the same and cause the same annoyance if Spider-Man were made into a cruel sadist for a similar reason.

Oh no, I used to be rather an avid Bionicle fan and can understand most of the references, the truth is that I believe references should only be made when they fit, not only for the hell of them. In all honesty I am not getting any similarities between the Toa Nuva characters and the Dyric/Arthur/De'kra group in the slightest. Perhaps something about this could be written in the Theatre? Don't repeat yourself too much. Just because saying "I'm with you, brother" was an effective way to convey support back in Quest #53, that doesn't mean that we want to read it in every post. It's not good writing and just ends up as a cliché. Yes, it is possible to have too much of a thing in character writing.

Argh! If Arthur and Dyric call each other brother one more time, I shall have to have Haldor decapitate both of them. Can't you two think of other ways to convey close friendship between characters, without using the same term over and over again?

Haldor nods in thanks to Romulus as he takes his new hood and moves away to sit down again. He was in the mood for conversation, something to pass time, but he would let others approach him if they wanted to talk.

Haldor strolls up to Lycan. "Hey, mate. I'm interested in one of your items there, how about you toss me that hood for 50 gold?"

"Not really, save your story for another time." He leans back in his chair, whistling.

Saruman, because Minor God.

"Whatever you say. Just keep it down." Haldor winked.

Haldor yawned lazily. "Dwarf, ambassador, whoever you are. Leave the patrons alone and stop being so irritating, it's pissing me off."