Flipz

Speaking of which, I'll get the next sequence to you as soon as possible, so you have plenty of time to tweak it so it doesn't interrupt anything.

As Zeph said, the latter, though I purposely sent it through him so that he could tweak it to fit with the Quest. I just got lucky that a Chaos Beast was the next planned battle. It was tons of fun getting to include De'kra! My photography is getting better oer time, too; these last photos turned out a bit too dark (though it works for this sequence), but my next set looks a LOT better.

"Let us not presume, Haldor. The Lady is hardly the only malevolent Chaos user in this world, and beasts of Chaos are not always tamed. Do not forget, my friends, that Chaos Beasts are released into this world, not simply summoned. It may very well be that this creature ripped itself into our reality by its own will, of its own accord. Chaos is, after all, random."

Thanks! I have another one photographed now, I just have to wait for a good opportunity to put it in. Though with Wren (possibly) here, it'll be doubly awesome since now I get to use my faorite Pirates of the Caribbean quote!

Just remember which forum Doc moderates regulates.

OOC: FYI, the "Yeah, me neither." line was supposed to be delivered by Caroline, I must have messed up the pic link. Also, I shouldn't have a Nostrum, unless that priest dropped one as compensation. "All right, folks, I'm going to try one attack, then I'm on healing duty for the rest of the battle. Let's see how you like Lightning, pal!" Arthur takes a step back and casts a Lightning spell at the rudimentary Chaos Beast.

Holy hell, Sandy, where'd you get all of those 1x2 brick-bricks?!?!

OOC: Waiting for Zeph's approval of my stuff, then I'm ready to move forward. I really should have gotten this one done earlier, I have the second one all photographed and ready.

Particulars like Historica? I can relate to the accent thing, I went through it with Knyghton. At first, I wanted to give him a thick Scottish accent, but then I realized he'd sound like a dwarf and he obiously wasn't. So I toned it down, but then he came off similar to Skrall. Ultimately, I just picked a couple of key "substitutions" and stuck with them, and it ended up creating a pretty cohesive "accent".

Duly noted. Yes, Arthur's father was a planewalker. That was my second-earliest established feature about Arthur's family, mostly due to the fact that I had recently discovered Planescape Survial Guide and was thoroughly enthralled. (The first established thing was that there are mines in the area, that Arthur's grandfather used to work in; this was due to a scrapped backstory idea that Arthur's homeland was some sort of parody of Minecraft. The mines hae stayed, but the Minecraft idea is long gone.) Actually, while we're on the subject, what things have you changed about your character's past or personality since you first joined? My initial idea for Arthur was that he was an ex-bard, in the dorky but lovable way (this was before Singerson and the Minstrel Expert class went and made that archetype badass); i.e. he used to be Elan, then took a level in badass. (Ironically, despite my removing this particular trait from Arthur's personality, he still sings and is still well-educated in dramatic archetypes; you might say that the bard-like nature was the formative stages of his intellectuality. Also ironically, despite moving away from being a parody of an OotS character, Arthur has since taken on some strong overtones of Vaarsivus, with the biggest differences being that Arthur is definitely male and that Arthur is not Elvish; strangely, Homer Singerson, a very bard-like character, is both.) Also, as I mentioned, Arthur's homeland once came complete with Minecraft-esque mines and quarries and the like; though this has been (majorly!) altered, there are still gemstone mines in his homeland, and Arthur did work as a miner before he discovered his magical ability and was exiled.

Got an "Internet cannot display this webpage" from about 8:20 PM Pacific time until right about now. Was able to browse other websites just fine, but I didn't run any specific tests.

Yeah, it's a little hard to make Arthur look serious. On the other hand, the wrinkles are a nice touch, they add a lot of depth to his expression. It was also a pain to get good lighting on this, Arthur's hat kept putting his face in shadows, and that wouldn't look good; thus, I was forced to set my color-changing light to yellow and shine it directly at Arthur from below, to fill in the shadows. It worked out quite well, actually, if I do say so myself! Just waiting for Zeph's approal of my post, he may or may not just post it himself depending on what would best suit the needs of the Quest.

...no. (Protip: read the title! ) Although I really am wasting an opportunity to show off Arthur's jerk side, but if I do that he won't be sympathetic enough for the backstory segments (and for what'll happen when he returns to the Hall!). EDIT: Here's the photo in question (one of about 20, I think, maybe a little more). These are all uploaded now, I just have to do the text. Arthur's Burden by Poochythegenius, on Flickr

OK, I'm in the middle of tweaking levels, but for now here's a few images of my studio set-up (with one set stil built GASP!): Photo Studio (green light) by Poochythegenius, on Flickr Photo Studio (white light) by Poochythegenius, on Flickr Photo Studio (orange light) by Poochythegenius, on Flickr Impatient Clever readers may wish to keep a close eye on my Flickr photostream as well...

Oh god. Hahahahahahahahahaha! Guys, can we stall for a few more hours? I literally JUST took the pics for Arthur's backstory, and this is the PERFECT spot to tell (some of) it. Would you all terribly mind the delay? EDIT: That awkward moment when you realize you hae the wrong shield for Cronk...it's OK, I think I can just show only the back of the shield in the walking pic...

But yeah, I can't wait for that. ...unless the last Wren Quest comes up during that time, Wren is kind of majorly important for Arthur. Speaking of which, I just got Haldor's head in the mail (...not like that ), so...time to take pictures to PM to Zeph!

Just so eeryone knows, my "V" key is broken, and won't respond to input. I hae a USB keyboard hooked up to my laptop, but it's a bit of a pain to use, so right now I'm only using it for the "V" key. If all the v's star disappearing out of all my sentences, you now know why. Also, is the plural of Ether "Ethers" or "Ether"?

I'm probably one of the few people here who's actually lookin forward to playing as a Prophet then. I've got Arthur's path through several more classes planned out now, and Prophet will be EPIC. To explain, Arthur's early development has gone through a series of events related to "plot twist one"; his two Advanced Class choices represent/will represent his development in that sub-plot. His Expert Class development, on the other hand, will start to tie in a new plotline, involving certain things that HAVE been introduced, but haven't been developed much as of yet. Arthur's final switch to Prophet will be the culmination of both plotlines, while simultaneously subverting the hell out of what a Prophet is supposed to be.

I really want to thank Zepher for his amazing, well-crafted story here. Has anyone else in the party noticed elements of your own characters' past reflected in the story of the lost party members? (I'm particularly aware of this, of course, because Zeph and I have talked a lot about Arthur's backstory, and I'm thrilled that this Quest is providing the perfect backdrop against which to reveal some of it.) We are diving into our own pasts as we delve into the Party's, and I for one can't wait to see how the rest of you play off it.

"If he still has her body, then undoubtedly he will require it in order to bring her back, as part of whatever foul ritual he must perform. If he does not, however, it is best if we have a designated container in mind; the gray wizard has knowledge of the Lady's past, McColt knows more of the area itself than we do, Cronk's shield and angel are too valuable to us, you are a vital, hard-hitting healer, Tensi is a near-invincible tank, and Alexis' summons will yet prove useful to you all. As for me? I am a mere broken soul, wounded by the treachery of chaos and yet lured--no, doomed--to wander after its siren call. My role is yet to be played in this cosmic struggle, and so I am certain that I will be fine. Moreover, there are certain...similarities...between myself and the lady barbarian Sasha. A mingling of pasts...if this creature speaks the truth, and she still lives, her soul will be in terrible, terrible pain. My soul knows this pain. My soul has lived it. Perhaps by sharing our burdens our pain can be eased." Arthur pauses a moment, lost in thought. At last he turns back to the undead monstrosity before the party. "Come now, Priest. We have given you what you asked. Return Sasha to us, that we may continue to chase after Wren and Caroline." OOC: Zeph, the little profile pics in this post seem to be switched around for Roderick and Sasha, you might want to fix those for the sake of easy reference.

For me, space is less of an issue than time. Classes just began, and I've barely had time to think, let alone play with LEGO. It doesn't help that it takes a good four-hour chunk of time to build and photograph even a small project, and currently I'm just not getting that sort of time in a continuous stretch. For those of you who've already been through college, how did you deal with the time issue?

Relevant quote (guess who said it!): "All's quiet on the eastern side of the island...well, if you overlook the flying Legondos and the Legobobs in the park, and, well, well, of course Mrs. Post's parrot is stuck in the car again, and ol' pup dog is at it again chasing Joaquin the dog, and, well, well, Nubby won't stop talking about the mysteries of life and...actually, well, it's not very quiet at all." EDIT: Dang it, Pie, ruining my point just as I'm posting it!

"I got a pair of potions and a Tonic. Unless your so-called "god" does not know how to count, that should be 20. Now, I know how these things work--you need a container for her soul, do you not? If that is the case, I offer myself for that purpose--after all, in regards to her fate, she and I are not dissimilar. Hardly different at all, in fact..."

"Damn! That was a wast of Nostrum... " "When this ordeal is over, perhaps I could hold on to it? For now, though, it's better in your hands." Arthur winks once more, and is once more surprised with himself. More roughuishness, I suppose... Arthur turns back to the Priest. "If you are truly of Ennoc, then tell me, why do you still live? How can your master justify calling forth the undead if he truly serves the Righteous Light?" A moment later, the sorcerer realized the futility of his question--and those of the others. "But that is irrelevant. More importantly...what happened next to that Party...you know the one. The one led by followers of Zoot. The one whose Knight struck a deal with you...Sir Roderick."

Taking my computer to the shop--may be without one for several days. Will advise later if possible. --Flipz