Friday, August 6, 2010

Shooting (at) Blanks

Hey all,

We will be taking a break from Chapter 2 after this National Day Week, as our resident sorcerer Astra will be going on an RL holiday to Europe for a month or so.

Meanwhile, somewhere deep in Ca-en, the party are hot on the heels of the evil dryad Yeminsha, and kinda realized that she might have something to do with the missing item in the arcane casing that they found in the stone pile after defeating Melchiot, Guardian of the Oasis Temple, who was there to collect the precious mineral -EquestK with help from his limited elemental forces.

Backpacks filled with EquestK and fresh after swiftly beating up on the hapless Guardian, the four now head back to Segai the Dreamcaster who awaits the supply to fuel his creations, vanquish Yeminsha, and also, to help the party in their cause to save Maya and the region against the crazed Mandingo.

I wish them the best of luck in the next session; and since we are on the topic of luck and randomness, I now divert your precious attention to this really advanced piece of computer technology. ---->

Nope. Nothing wrong with your browser. And you can quit rubbing your eyes. The keys are blank.


Yes. A keyboard with umm, blank keys. Why haven't anyone thought of it before? How many times have you been on a keyboard and secretly wished that the keys were blank?

Yeap, right. None.

Aptly called the Das Keyboard Ultimate. The people from Daft Das Enterprises must have been smoking crack if they thought they could pull this off. And it cost the same as their other exact model but with key markings -- the Das Keyboard Professional

So, professionals in the workplace use keyboards with markings, and umm so non-professionals with all the time in the world use the Ultimate to do their  LoLs, Teh Suxxorzs and Wah-Laus?

We actually have to pay for a deliberate factory manufacturing defect?

Sign me up, and I think that it is absolutely fair.

Why?

Just like in Geylang, Desker Road, and other seedy places around the world, you usually have to pay for sex.

Same. 

You pay for the sexiness you get with this Mistress of Keyboards. She is not as dependable as the conventional wife-y one as she requires you to have the skills to pay the bills upfront. But if you do meet the prerequisites, the Mistress will purr and make you a really happy geek man.

Cost of sex(iness)? 

S$250~ after shipping at Amazon.com.

I am saving up for it and you should too. 

Now, stop looking at your keyboard when you are typing, as it will soon be a thing of the past, at least when you are in my room that is.

Hehe, c'yall on the flip side. 





Monday, August 2, 2010

"I Wanna Be an Aspiring Caen Traveller" Series-- History of the Greater Desert of Harsh's or "What's the deal with all the sand in my eyes?"

South-Eastern Caen is arguably the most picturesque of the major regions in Fracas. The Opan Plains is a wide expanse of green undulating grass, with a smattering of trees and exotic plants to complete the storybook setting.
Common birds and docile wildlife populate the plains, while merchant carts and wagons travel along Pelor's Way, eager for coins in the constant trade between Sccor, Coraltea and Maya. The weather is generally good, with occasional light rain delivering refreshment to all. One of Caen's longest rivers - River Sendimendes separates the Plains from a totally different landscape.



The Greater Desert of Harsh's is located west of the River Sedimendes, and is a great expanse of arid sand, home to barbaric hordes, Klinik communities, ancient reptiles like the Brontozoads, Raptorzoads, and the Velozoads. 
A huge multi-headed Ptera-Hydra is known to reside in the region, along one of the western dunes. Travellers are advised to avoid the western part of the Desert for that sole reason.


This arid landscape is known for its very harsh and windy desert nights, where the temperature drops to near freezing point and sandstorms are frequent. Day is in fact the best time to travel in the Desert, despite the heat and dryness making breathing a labored chore.

Historians have stated that life on Caen originated from the Greater Desert, with the startling discovery of dino-fossils dating back a few hundred years. As time went by, primitive humans and orcs arrived on Caen, and formed organized tribes hunting the Zoads for food. Their thick hides and body oil were not spared, and was used in the making of shelters, and the latter as fuel for the warming of bodies when the nights were cold.


Those tribes soon settled down in the northern area of the desert, taking advantage of the warmer climate and the proximity of the River Harsh. Many chose to reside at an unnamed piece of flatland beside the river, while the others travelled further north in search of other suitable spots to start a settlement.


After several years, Gragg, one of the inhabitants at the unnamed flatland, discovered by chance during one of his frequent grub-gathering trips that the flooded plains across the river contained deposits of valuable minerals and stones. He dredged up several platinum ingots and speckles of the incredibly rare forgemetal, used to make the best warrior armor in Caen at that time.


Needless to say, Gragg's life changed and he was soon the most influential half-orc around town. Many paid him handsomely to get information regarding the exact location of the dredgings. News of this discovery spread like wildfire and many started migrating to Graggeg (the entire town was now named partially after him), in search of riches.

Upriver, Harshamupula- a sizable fortress-town, was not affected much, as they were resource-rich in timber and farm produce. The farmers there worshipped Corellon Stonehands- God of Creation, and have his fertile volcanic soil to thank for their abundant harvests. But the same could not be said for the town of Zhyx, along one of the subsidaries of the River Harsh. Many left the town to make the long trip towards Graggeg. That made Zhyx the Warlord -- ruler of the Zhyx stronghold, quite mad; as he was green with jealousy over how matters have panned out. He tried to persuade Gragg into subsidising his town maintenance costs, as there was not enough taxpayers around anymore.

Gragg stubbornly refused, and smugly told Zhyx that life was all about seizing chances and taking the path to the greenest pasture. Livid, Zhyx poisoned the riverflow towards Graggeg, killing many in the process. Gragg, through his reliable contacts, found out that Zhyx was the mastermind behind all of this. The next morning, Gragg announced war on the town of Zhyx. A few thousand-strong army was mobilized and victory was imminent.

After several bloody months of fighting, the Graggeg troops finally managed to make it past the Zhyxian defenses and into the town proper. But they were swiftly rebuffed by a vastly inferior force of hastily assembled townsfolk and common craftsmen. It was then clear that some of the invading forces from Graggeg still had family ties in Zhyx and could not fight properly, leaving barely enough to even retreat safely from the town in the end.

Gragg had failed to conquer Zhyx but inflicted enough pain to warn Zhyx not to mess around with him again. The town of Graggeg grew in importance and size, until it became a large desert port-city. There were several more clashes over the years, but it all ended when Sccor built Castle Greyskill near Caen's Molar. The paranoid desert natives finally had an outsider threat to band against, and relations between the desert natives and Sccor soured to the point where both sides keep making veiled threats to incite all-out war, with numerous skirmishes occurring which involved reducing Sccor's presence in the Greater Desert. It is a situation that holds true even up to this day.

The natives of the Greater Desert mostly wield large two handed weapons like the great axe and the two-handed club. Their battle tactics are crude, and direct at best, the aggressors preferring to outnumber the opponent, swiftly flanking them, and then massacre those trapped in between. Thus with an emphasis on swiftness, the natives uses light armor like leather and hide almost exclusively. Chain mail had and still plays a significant role in their warfare, especially so for the elites. Forgemetal is used to line the chain mail coats of the most able of the desertmen warlords and generals, allowing them to safely enter battle and lead the charge unscathed.

As time passed, the desert natives started to value heavier and sturdier armor, due to the rapid innovation of the Sccorians on the battlefield. The force at which those new Sccorian weapons impact the filmsy light armor of the natives was much greater than in the olden times, some blows shattering the armor completely. The natives began looking for an alternative armor source and found the best solution - open trade with anyone, merchants and pirates alike.
Sccor condemned the move and stated openly that anyone found dealing with the savages would be banned from the city and treated as traitors.

Up to this day, a handful of vessels still travel to the desert towns and cities by way of the River Harsh, bringing supplies of iron and ca-steel (a slightly lighter, more malleable and anti-rust metal) from the Western Caen region. Feylink - a rare ultra-light linkage material found only on particular islands east of Caen, is sometimes brought by enterprising pirates. Brisk trade is made; the visitors leave happy with supplies of platinum and precious stones, while the local armorsmiths are able to make sturdier armor (plate equivalent) for war against the Sccorians.