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wynken vanaril

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Everything posted by wynken vanaril

  1. The inhabitants of this realm seem to know me by the name of Wynken, though I recall naught of them. The torn pages of this journal are illegible. The writing is my own but I have no memory of it, and this sword chills me to the core though I dare not part from it. Such a twisted and ugly weapon would be considered unusable by most but I feel as if it is an extension of myself, and I wield it with power and precision. So angering that I struggle to know who or where I was one year ago but recount vividly the distant past that has made me who I am today. Those harsh realities, lessons well learned in my youth. I suppose I can thank my father for that in the least. He got his in the end, although those early years spent at his manor were not without benefit, that mansion that doubled as guildhall for The Hand of Azrael. They were a band of mercenaries, hired killers really, few in number but most efficient. Daggers were forced into my hands as soon they could adequately wield them. I was no more than six years of age when I received my first lesson in armed combat, and the small scar on my right hand still bears resemblance to the teeth marks from the rat in that musty celler. One of many trials I would endure with little gained other than personal development and a growing need to earn the respect that my father carelessly withheld. I would not have survived my adolescence without the training I received under the weapon masters and thieves there, as I was expelled from the hall upon my thirteenth year. Told by my own father to not return until I could do so undetected, I took to the dank and impoverished streets of the city under threat of death at the hands of my father's cohorts. Employing the skills I had acquired, I carved out an existence in the city's vicious underbelly, taking what I needed to survive from those unable or unwilling to keep it from me. Though existence became easier with the passage of time and I began to settle in to the routine of my life on the streets, the deep seated hatred I harbored for my father was never far from my mind. I watched as even wretched and destitute children played games and tarried in the streets, enjoying their existence in the bliss of careless freedom. As I looked on them with jealousy and rage, I couldn't help but feel comfort in that my existence was real, and that their happiness would fade leaving nothing to show for it. By the age of sixteen I had grown in confidence as well as ability and began to indulge in the finer things. Rumor of my talents spread through the city's network of underground and less than legitimate proprietors, and I began filling their contracts. However, with success came a level of fame that is unbecoming of beings who make their existence by remaining unseen, and numerous times the undiscovered or unsuccessful attempted to claim for themselves what was mine by putting a dagger into my back. It was also not uncommon for those few who had established themselves as hired thieves, assassins, or informants to compete over contracts or bounty, and on one such occasion, I found myself defending against a member of The Hand of Azrael. We came together on even footing, and through the engagement he did not recognize me, though I did him. I reveled in his astonishment, eyes widened, as I whispered my name into his ear while the last of his blood ran from his throat. I had thought many times before of the moment that I would finally reenter my father's house, but that incident bolstered my resolve and signified in my mind that I was now ready...
  2. How tenable reality and how fragile the mind that, in a moment, all perceived truth could be admonished; that one could find themselves in a dream world, plagued by reveries and memories of events that had never transpired, or simply awake without any recollections at all, but now my past is once again made clear to me and I am myself. All that remains of my former self are the tattered scraps of some rambled writing and this tarnished sword.
  3. [quote name='lightsage' post='19416' date='Nov 3 2008, 10:09 AM']another topic eh? Let's say religion is relative for it's a relative truth...[/quote] You lost me at relative. Care to elaborate?
  4. ^ I take no offense, however in my defense, I typically reference only Christianity because it's what I believe to be truth. Also, my knowledge of other religions is nowhere near as expansive as my knowledge of Christian doctrine, and it is wise to speak only on topics that you know, hence my apparent bias. I have nothing against other religions, which is why I didn't opt for a "Christianity Thread". I just tend to debate and theorize within my area of expertise, as we all do or should. Another reason that Christianity gets the most mention is that the Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam hold the world majority at about 50%, while [b]maybe[/b] 8% of the world population follows Buddhism. If anyone else would like to strike up a topic for conversation, I'll be glad to carry the other end. It's easy to single me out as an ethnocentrist when I'm the only one posting
  5. [quote name='TheNinjunny' post='18802' date='Oct 22 2008, 09:45 PM']I can't say I've used the Mock feature much, but I'm surprised to hear there is some in there *makes a mental note to check that...* While It might be Nice to have some new Chat features, it will be pretty unlikely that they will be done anytime soon. Besides using the *s (or whatever works for you) to denote an action works well enough for any role play that might come up. and wynken, there is a system in place for these commands already, you have to unlock the code from the MD Shop though...[/quote] I just uncovered that option yesterday, though I can't afford to purchase it as of yet. I use free credits. <.< >.> Don't judge me.
  6. Are you talking physically or conceptually? Probably more brain matter and more neurons. However, I believe that the mind is immensely powerful. Frostbite and hypothermia are caused by the mind ceasing blood flow through various portions of the body in order to preserve the heart and brain. Psychosomatic responses (such as hypochondria or Munchausen syndrome) are sometimes powerful enough to actually manifest physical trauma to the body. Basically, if your mind believes that you are sick...you will be. There are people who can withstand extreme heat or cold merely through willpower exercises. Temperatures that would typically be fatal to humans are endured because of mental focus.
  7. [quote name='sanguinious' post='18772' date='Oct 22 2008, 11:26 AM']well ,I heard(from someone I cant remember) the universe was all linked together by a sort off ,mesh of energy we cant see, and ghosts and spirits are just this energy that has somehow grown so dense in a particular area that we can see it or it disturbs the physical realm[/quote] Sounds like metaphysics to me. I think Carl Jung delved into weird stuff like that, as did Drunvalo Melchizedek. It's actually quite interesting if you research it. It has a great deal to do with sacred geometry, and something referred to as Christ Consciousness. From what I recall, they believe that not only is everything interconnected but that everything and everyone has an individual job that satisfies the whole. Just like cells that make up organs and organs that make up systems and systems that make up our bodies, our individual bodies also play an important part in a larger whole. It also has something to do with man's next evolutionary leap from 44+2 to 46+2 chromosomes...which is where the band Tool came up with the name for their song, Forty-six & 2. In any event, there is supposedly an energy grid that exists above the Earth that will be "connected" or some jazz upon man's ascent to the Christ Consciousness stage. Each of our previous evolutionary stages supposedly also had varying degrees of consciousness beginning with Neanderthals at 42+2 and modern man who possess 44+2. Here's a quote from Melchizedek on the topic: "There are three totally different kinds of humans on the Earth, meaning that they perceive the One reality in three different ways, interpreted differently. The first kind of human has a chromosome composition of 42+2. They comprise a unity consciousness that does not see anything outside themselves as being separate from themselves. To them, there is only one energy - one life, one beingness that moves everywhere. Anything happening anywhere is within them, as well. They are like cells in the body. They are all connected to a single consciousness that moves through all of them. These are the aboriginals in Australia. There might be a few African tribes left like this. Then, there is our level, comprising 44+2 chromosomes. We are a disharmonic level of consciousness that is used as a steppingstone from the 42+2 level to the next level, 46+2...These two additional chromosomes change everything." Researching Carl Jung a bit may give you some insight into various aspects of my character's role as well...one of my titles is gleaned from his terminology.
  8. It could be set up like a MUD, having a character that signifies an emote action. Something like :bow would look like "Wynken bows to everyone in the room" And :bow Tiberius would display "Wynken bows to Tiberius".
  9. Part 2: There are many passages in the Bible that deal with slavery. It doesn’t outright condone it, but it doesn’t condemn it either. My argument is that Israel actually had very progressive and revolutionary laws and rights reserved for slavery, which was very entrenched in the social system and remained so throughout the Middle Ages. Slavery then was much like the peon of the feudal caste system. It was a legitimate occupation and a way to repay a debt. People would often sell themselves to slavery. All slaves in Israel had not only human rights, but spiritual rights as well. Although Hebrew slaves had even greater protection aliens still ate the same food as their master, they were protected from abuse and oppression, they could own their own property, many times the master would give his daughter to marry a slave. Slaves, once circumcised, were allowed to enter in to worship with God. They would rest on the Sabbath (Jewish holy days), they could file grievances with their masters, and if they ran away they were to be given sanctuary and not returned to their master...etc. The Bible also restricted forcing someone in to slavery or kidnapping them. Furthermore, the slavery in the Old Testament was not the oppressive slavery that the modern world has come to know. Here are some Biblical resources for my points above: [quote]Esther 7 4 For I and my people have been sold for destruction and slaughter and annihilation. If we had merely been sold as male and female slaves, I would have kept quiet, because no such distress would justify disturbing the king."[/quote] Here an Israelite woman, Esther, tells a king that she would not be pleading with him on behalf of her people if they were merely sold into slavery. From this verse alone, we can gather that slavery was vastly different in that time period. [quote]Exodus 12 43 The LORD said to Moses and Aaron, "These are the regulations for the Passover... 44 Any slave you have bought may eat of it after you have circumcised him, 45 but a temporary resident and a hired worker may not eat of it.[/quote] [quote]Exodus 23 12 "Six days do your work, but on the seventh day do not work, so that your ox and your donkey may rest and the slave born in your household, and the alien as well, may be refreshed.[/quote] [quote]Exodus 21 26 "If a man hits a manservant or maidservant in the eye and destroys it, he must let the servant go free to compensate for the eye. 27 And if he knocks out the tooth of a manservant or maidservant, he must let the servant go free to compensate for the tooth.[/quote] [quote]Job 31 13 "If I have denied justice to my menservants and maidservants when they had a grievance against me, 14 what will I do when God confronts me?[/quote] [quote]Deuteronomy 23 15 If a slave has taken refuge with you, do not hand him over to his master. 16 Let him live among you wherever he likes and in whatever town he chooses. Do not oppress him.[/quote] [quote]Deuteronomy28 68 The LORD will send you back in ships to Egypt on a journey I said you should never make again. There you will offer yourselves for sale to your enemies as male and female slaves, but no one will buy you.[/quote]
  10. Since it's a little slow going around here, I figured I'd post something that I blogged on another forum. I would commonly use blogs as a resource for myself so I didn't have to continuously repeat common arguments. Enjoy... __________________ This blog is more of a resource for myself. As many of you know, I spend a great deal of time in the Religion Thread where I am frequently asked to repeat past arguments on common points of interest. [size=4][b]Preface:[/b][/size] Some of these points will likely presuppose some of the arguments I've already made in my blog about God Paradoxes. The most notable of which I will repeat here in simple terms because it is often misunderstood and will be the focal point of some of my arguments. I am, of course, talking about free will. Let's first look at what we know as fact, accepting of course that the Abrahamic God exists and that He is the creator of the universe as the Bible claims. God created matter, space, and time. This is a simple statement, but with heavy implications. If God in fact did create matter, space, and time then it logically and necessarily follows that He could not be contained or bound within them. From this we can conclude that God is not affected by time. From His "outside" vantage point, wherever that may be, He is free to view all of the time in the universe simultaneously. From beginning to end and all of the places in between, our time is always the present to God. Having established this, we can come to realize that not only does God's omniscience not hinder free will, but His ability to so view our universe from an outside perspective likely grants Him that omniscience. He knows what our future actions and choices will be, not because He has preordained them, but because He has already seen them happen as a result of our own free will. Basically, God looks at our future as His present. Even though you haven't decided what to eat for breakfast tomorrow, God knows what you will choose to eat because He watched you make the choice in the future. This is a bit abstract, but I really don't know how to simplify it any more. Now that we've hopefully established that free will does exist and may actually necessitate omniscience, let's move on to the real reason for this blog. [size=4][b]Regarding the Old Testament:[/b][/size] How does the Old Testament fit into modern day Christianity: I am frequently asked to reconcile God's actions in the Old Testament with the New Covenant established by Jesus in the New Testament and even with modern society. Many people, atheists and Christians alike, lack understanding of the Old Testament law, and believe the God of the OT to be full of vengeance and wrath. This is viewed as standing in stark contrast to Jesus, and becomes a contradiction in light of God's perfect and unchanging nature. This is before you consider that the Old Testament seemingly justifies murder and slavery, but we’ll get to that in a bit. The first thing that I would like to establish is that the Old Testament is merely a history of Israel, God's chosen and holy people who would eventually give birth to the Messiah. It is impossible to place Old Testament law or commands in a modern context because they apply directly and specifically to the Israelites in that time period. To help make this point, allow me to quote from first the Old and then the New Testament. [size=4][b]Old:[/b][/size] [quote]Jeremiah 31 32 It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them," declares the LORD. 33 "This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time," declares the LORD.[/quote] [quote]Exodus 19 3 Then Moses went up to God, and the LORD called to him from the mountain and said, "This is what you are to say to the house of Jacob and what you are to tell the people of Israel: 4 'You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself. 5 Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, 6 you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.' These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites."[/quote] [size=4][b]New:[/b][/size] [quote]Matthew 26 26 While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, "Take and eat; this is my body." 27 Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you. 28 This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.[/quote] [quote]Galations 3 15 Brothers, let me take an example from everyday life. Just as no one can set aside or add to a human covenant that has been duly established, so it is in this case. 16 The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. The Scripture does not say "and to seeds," meaning many people, but "and to your seed," meaning one person, who is Christ. 17 What I mean is this: The law, introduced 430 years later, does not set aside the covenant previously established by God and thus do away with the promise. 18 For if the inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends on a promise; but God in his grace gave it to Abraham through a promise. 19 What, then, was the purpose of the law? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come.[/quote] This is not to say that God changed His mind. Reading everything in context, you will find that God's plan, to which the author of Galations was alluding, is consistent throughout the entire Bible. To illustrate this, let's again take a look at some Old Testament scripture, this time foretelling or giving us a glimpse at the theme of the Bible and God's master plan. [quote]Genesis 18 17 Then the LORD said, "Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? 18 Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him. 19 For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right and just, so that the LORD will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him."[/quote] In the above verse, God tells Abraham that his descendants will become the nation of Israel, and that all of the nations on Earth will be blessed through him. We know now that the blessing or Messiah that God was speaking of is Jesus. [quote]Isaiah 51 4 "Listen to me, my people; hear me, my nation: The law will go out from me; my justice will become a light to the nations. 5 My righteousness draws near speedily, my salvation is on the way…[/quote] The prophet, Isaiah, reminds Israel of God’s plan for their holy nation. [quote]Matthew 28 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."[/quote] Thousands of years later, Jesus reveals that He is the Messiah that God and the prophets had been preparing Israel for, and that the blessing for all of the nations on Earth is salvation through Jesus Christ. So far we’ve established that God delivered the Old Testament law to the Israelites in order to make them a holy nation who would be worthy to be the lineage of the Messiah. Since Jesus died on the cross for us, we no longer offer blood sacrifice for the atonement of sin or follow any of the other OT rituals, and many of the OT laws were repeated to all of the nations of Earth in the New Testament (such as the Ten Commandments). However, why should the Israelites get away with killing Canaanite men, women, and children or with keeping slaves? [size=4][b]Was the Old Testament God a Hypocrite?[/b][/size] This is the next thing I am repeated asked to justify. Let’s look at the issue of murder first. Many people consider God’s actions against Sodom and Gomorrah or the nations of Canaan to be murderous. The first thing I always remind them is that the law is “thou shall not murder”. The word murder implies that the victim is innocent, and the people whom God brought to justice through the hands of the Israelites were far from holy. [quote]The book of Jasher is an ancient book mentioned in the Bible. It gives details about the evil in Sodom. For example, strangers and travelers who came into the city would be robbed, stripped, and held captive within the city. They would wander the streets slowly starving to death to the great amusement of the citizenry. Another account relates that visitors to Sodom were offered a bed according to the Middle Eastern laws of hospitality, but it was a bed of torture. People too short were stretched. People too long had their legs cut off. If a traveler had no money, he would be offered bricks of gold and silver with his name on them! Only nobody would sell him bread and water, even for all that gold and silver. So the traveler slowly died of starvation. These stories just give us a hint of how bad things had gotten in Sodom. It was probably worse than our imaginations can conceive. The Canaanites knew about the destruction of Sodom. They knew that God would judge evil. They also knew about Melchizedek and Abraham. They had access to truth. They weren’t ignorant or innocent. Egypt and other nations, despite their great sin, were not completely destroyed, so the sin of the Canaanites must have been much more serious. God restricted Israel from attacking Edom, Moab and Ammon, so they must not have deserved such a severe judgment. Archeology gives some hints about what the Canaanites did. On one of the High Places, archeologists found several stone pillars and great numbers of jars containing the remains of newborn babies. When a new house was built, a child would be sacrificed and its body built into the wall to bring good luck to the rest of the family. The firstborn were often sacrificed to Molech, a giant hollow bronze image in which a fire was built. Parents would place their children in its red hot hands and the babies would roll down into the fire. The sacrifice was invalid if the mother showed grief. She was supposed to dance and sing. The Israelites later copied this practice in a valley near Jerusalem called Gehenna. Hundreds of jars containing infant bones have been found there. There was a great deal of sexual sin among the Canaanites. They believed that cultic prostitution was important to encourage their gods, Baal and Ashtoreth to mate so that the land would be fertile and rain would come. VD was probably rampant. Many young people forced into prostitution were abused to the point of death. Even the surrounding pagan nations were appalled by Canaanite religious practices. Yet God did not hurry to judge the Canaanites. In Genesis 15, God tells Abraham: In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.” God gave the Canaanites 400 years while Israel was in Egypt. After Israel passed through the Red Sea, He waited 40 more years while Israel wandered in the wilderness. The people knew Israel was coming, and that God had given the land to them, according to the Canaanite Rahab in Joshua 2:9: “I know that the LORD has given this land to you and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you." Jericho had six additional days to repent while Israel did laps around it. The day judgment finally came to Jericho, Israel marched around the city seven times. God judges swiftly when He finally acts, but He patiently warns and waits for repentance.[/quote] Source - [url="http://www.susancanthony.com/Resources/Dennis/canaan.html"]http://www.susancanthony.com/Resources/Dennis/canaan.html[/url] From that abstract, you can imagine the kind of activities that were commonplace in the Old Testament nations that God judged. This is typically the time in the argument when people will ask about God’s omniscience and benevolence. Why would God kill children along with adults in His judgment? If you skipped my introduction about free will, you’d best read it more thoroughly. Being omniscient and outside of time, God is free to judge perfectly and benevolently for infractions that we haven’t even committed yet. The nations that were destroyed were so indoctrinated with evil, that had God not stepped in, the children that were destroyed would have gone on to live the same destructive and malicious lifestyle as their parents. God’s timelessness allows Him to see the future acts that they would have committed of their own free will and maintain both perfection and justice. Continued...
  11. [quote name='sanguinious' post='18635' date='Oct 19 2008, 06:24 AM']i am strongly against the idea of god but ghosts may possible, but not in the way we think them as[/quote] Care to back either claim up?
  12. Wynken found himself standing once again in the Indexed Room. Feeling that he had completed his physical journey, his mind now also arrived at the realization that he didn't know why he had come. Nevertheless Wynken felt that he was there for a reason and so until that reason became clear, Wynken decided to again peruse the great collection of writings. He thought to begin where he had left off and move to the location of the enchanted book from his previous visit, but as he moved, someone entered the hall from the back room. Wynken quickly identified the man as an archivist, and one that he had seen before though he couldn't recall his name. Although the man wore a courteous smile, a guilty feeling of fear crept through him as Wynken thought of the torn book that rested on the archive shelves. Given in to his conscience, he nervously shifted the sword and tried to position himself so as to inconspicuously shield it from view, but in so doing, lost hold of his memoirs which spilled onto the floor and echoed throughout the vast room. The two locked eyes as Wynken blew a long and exasperated sigh before kneeling to recover the contents of his loosely bound treatise. Logan Marquis was quick to help, and the two shared a brief introduction. Wynken blushed and silently cursed himself for being so foolish as he noticed that Logan had taken an interest in one of his writings. "This is very insightful", Logan said with a gleam in his eye. He studied the page a moment longer before handing it back. "I hope you don't mind my being so forward, but we have a pressing need for writers of your caliber. If you would be interested, perhaps I could arrange a meeting with yourself and Renavoid, the Master Archivist." Wynken again sighed but this time with relief. Though he enjoyed writing, it hadn't occurred to him that he should seek to join the ranks of the Archivists, and he couldn't begin to fully consider what such a position may do to spur his quest for truth. A familiar twinge of warmth ran the course of his spine and Wynken considered that the blade was engineering yet another one of its blessings. He grinned and toyed with the sword's hilt as he followed Logan up the stairs and into the audience of Renavoid.
  13. As Wynken finished his writings and stood from his place on the stair, something caught his attention. The light which poured in to the Totem's entrance had moved! It now stretched its way deeper in to the anteroom that comprised the first story and had begun to creep up the back wall. When shadows and beams of light are as stationary as they were in the recent past, they become permanent fixtures, almost landmarks, as if part of nature or the architecture of buildings. Wynken would have been no more surprised had the door or the staircase moved to an opposite place within the Totem. Still alone in the building, Wynken furrowed his brow and peered up the stairs with a forlorn look of longing. He realized the implications of the light which had slowly moved as he tended to his memoirs, and knew as well that Miss Lightmoon and Tarquinas would have an intriguing story to tell about it. Understanding that the duo were likely to be busy elsewhere, Wynken stepped into that light that now brilliantly reflected off the lake. As the wind blew across the water's surface, ripples appeared as luminescent serpents which writhed in the warmth of the sun's energy. Wynken also felt that warmth and again thought of the soothing sensation imparted to him by the sword at his waist. He felt a twinge and the feeling of Utopian perfection washed over him, and he couldn't disagree that things seemed to be falling into place. Wynken had taken in the beauty of the lake long enough, and began making his way through the woods north of the Totem. He possessed enough navigational sense to realize that the archives couldn't be far in that general direction. Wynken was glad as the woods gave way to a slightly overgrown path that stretched to the north and east, and even more so as the familiar iron fence began to parallel him as he traveled.
  14. I enjoy bringing this up because it puts closed minded atheists off balance, but anyone who would argue in favor of modern physics must concede that the supernatural exists. By definition, supernatural pertains to anything beyond nature, and nature defines only what is within our universe. By virtue of the Big Bang theory, the universe had a beginning, which means that we must conclude that something existed and very likely still exists beyond our universe. It's basically the cosmological argument...but certainly proves the existence of the "supernatural". Also, another point that's interesting to mention but has nothing to do with the paranormal is that statistically it's impossible that our planet is the only one with life. Our solar system has 1 out of 9 planets (8 now poor pluto) with life, and astronomers have witnessed what they believe to be hundreds of planets throughout the clearly visible solar systems that surround our own. If the 11% within our solar system holds true, then even if only 100 more planets exist at least 11 of them have life on them.
  15. [quote name='Frosty' post='18439' date='Oct 14 2008, 03:36 PM']Ok if you want to have a debate, start another topic. Otherwise I will be forced to lock this one[/quote] I don't want to debate here...I wanted another forum created in the university so that we could have a proper place to debate.
  16. [quote name='stormrunner' post='18398' date='Oct 14 2008, 09:42 AM']philosophy=peace=good religion=wars=bad[/quote] This isn't a debate thread so I won't get into that here...but don't get me started on religion and wars. The two have nothing to do with each other other than religion being used to justify war, and being [b]twisted[/b] to motivate people to action. Also, not all philosophies are peaceful.
  17. My last request...I promise. Maybe we should also have a seperate forum for a "School of Religion"? Unless everyone believes that philosophy and religion are close enough that they can share a space in the School of thought.
  18. Just wanted to discuss the recent discovery of a large mass that exists seemingly outside of our own universe which is exerting a strong gravitational pull on...well...everything. The original articles concerning this can be found here: [url="http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/09/25/universe-dark-flow.html"]http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/09/25/u...-dark-flow.html[/url] [url="http://blogs.discovery.com/news_earth/2008/09/universe-tugged.html"]http://blogs.discovery.com/news_earth/2008...rse-tugged.html[/url] So my question is, what does everyone believe is beyond our universe?
  19. Perhaps the polls that are in the original "School of Thought" thread should be moved here? My apologies if this is already being worked out, and this thread can be deleted when the other forum is cleaned up. Thank you.
  20. [quote name='Silver Renard' post='18036' date='Oct 7 2008, 08:50 PM']My character is rather random, is a trickster and a shapeshifter, and all and all, a pain to judge by points since you never know what he'll do. (once threw a portable hole under yami and tied flyingchipmunk's shoelaces together...... and i'm not even sure that he had shoes :lol: ) how would you judge a character like that fairly since everyone else would have to stay in character, but unless my character is giving out info on how to play the game, he's never out of character?[/quote] By D&D standards, your char would be considered "chaotic neutral". It's a pain to judge by a GM, but it can be done. Although you do things seemingly at random, surely your character has a somewhat static personality and some semblance of values...or perhaps you would be judged on how well you can set aside those things (personality and values) in order to maintain your random tricks. As difficult as chaotic neutral is to judge, it's even more difficult to role play.
  21. [quote name='Tremir' post='17521' date='Sep 30 2008, 12:08 PM']I really don't like the auction idea, but I also don't like the first come first serve system. the first favors people with deep pockets, and the second favors people in certain time zones. I have a different idea. Keep the current avatars system the way it is, but allow people to "order" their own avatar, for an extra credit or 2. For example, if I want a special avatar, I ask one of the avatar makers to do it, which costs me 1 (or more) credits The avatar maker draws it and uploads it, and links it to my character. I get a message telling me that the avatar is ready, and I'll have 24 hours to buy it from the shop, for the normal 1 credit. During those 24 hours, nobody can buy it. After that time, the avatar becomes available to everyone.[/quote] I like this idea. I would certainly spend an extra credit or 2 for a custom avatar of my "design".
  22. Finding the Totem empty, Wynken adjusted the sword on his hip and took a seat on the quiet stair case, and, using his lap as a table, he transcribed what he recalled of his dream into his memoirs. Considering the recent events, he couldn't accept such a vivid and meaningful vision as coincidence. He paused his writing to run his fingers down the flat of his sword, and to let his mind wander through his previous adventure. "The conscious mind is a powerful thing indeed", he thought as he traced the intricate inlays that embellish the sword's blade. "Perhaps it wishes to allow my transcendence of the laws it has established for this existence and allow me to uncover its mysteries." As he finished exploring that line of reasoning, he was filled with a comforting warmth. Looking again into his own eyes reflected in the silver blade, Wynken considered that the sword was attempting to give him reassurance. Wynken then let the sword's end come to rest gently on the stair and returned once more to his scribing. As he smiled to himself at the thought of finally attaining the truth, Wynken was too distracted to notice as more tarnish crept up the blade.
  23. wynken vanaril

    Random

    Maybe there should be options for D and DD as well? Wait, what? <.< >.> *leaves quietly*
  24. Let me again express my confusion in that chaos and peace or not mutually exclusive. They are not in dichotomy.
  25. Heh Metal Bunny's post just reminded me of something I was researching a while back called Langford's Basilisk. Supposedly there are people who believe that certain images developed using what's called the Berryman Logical Image Technique (BLIT) can crash the human brain, much like a computer crash. The images are supposed to be coded or drawn with something named by Kurt Godel (look him up if you get time, his claim to fame was proving that math is flawed) as Godelian Spoilers or Godelian Shock Inputs. If you're brave, you can google a few of the terms I mentioned there and find an image called The Parrot. My mind has never crashed as a result of viewing it, but I do get a wicked headache. I don't know if that's just a psychosomatic response or if there really is something in the image causing it though.
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