OOC: The City of Ember (NEW MEMBERS NEEDED!)

Star, please disregard my PM. Your help will no longer be necessary.

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I don't like the sound of that <,< >,> I'm going to get it very fast and painfully...

OH...thanks...*glare*...*sigh* Remember, I want you two to settle it, I don't want to be "Miss Bossy" however, I will be in two more days....so settle it now.

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It would be EVER so much easier if you simply made a descision on it and stopped trying to be helpful...

Hey Star! You need evil characters you say?

Following is the text of my post (#1013) in the Consi thread... (Moderator this is my own post so please do not erase this as I am trying to make a point in this OOC.) I have added emphasis for expediency's sake.

"Sathria seemed to be appeased with this explanation, but it might have made her a bit more wary of what she said outside her stateroom. Sir Lawrence offered his arm to her, "Now, allow me to show you how this vessel operates and since you have been so attentive to me in our conversation I shall allow you to take the helm for a few moments, we've reached our cruising height and it's time we were on our way." He escorted Sathria back to the large wheel at the front of the poopdeck (quarterdeck) and relieved the crewman at the helm. Sir Lawrence intructed Sathria to place her hands on the wheel, "Imagine it as a large time piece and place your left hand at 12 o'clock." "Good!" he exclaimed. "Now place your right hand at 3 o'clock and hold her steady. You will feel some resistance momentarily so steady yourself."

Once Sathria was set, Sir Lawrence went to a short, squat obelisk, about 2 feet square and 5 feet high, which was situated directly behind the helm, about 3 feet away. "Prepare to set sail!" hollered Sir Lawrence. All at once a crewmember began blowing on a strangely shaped whistle and the ship became alive with activity. Crewmembers next to the members of the party warned them to steady themselves, even to take hold of something.

Asha, who had experienced this before, came up behind Manfred and Bat. "You'll want to get down off that, Bat, else you'll have a long fall to confess your sins before meeting your Maker." The first mate began yelling orders and people were running all over the place tying things down and performing other tasks.

The obelisk at which Sir Lawrence stood was made of a richly colored and ornately carved wood none of them had ever seen before. The pyramid-shaped top of the obelisk opened to reveal a large diamond shaped crystal which glowed with a light pinkish colored light. "Get ready." warned Sir Lawrence, then he closed his eyes and put his hand on the crystal. The Cloud Runner, which had been stationary in mid-air to this point, suddenly lurched forward and everyone aboard had to catch their footing or else fall to the deck. Those close to the rail might have gone over had they not been warned."

Next is a significant part of post #1016. The post from which Mega quoted only a small part. Again, emphasis added.

Sir Lawrence focused on the flight of the Cloud Runner, which was moving rather slowly, for a race-built sky galleon. He motioned to the first mate to explain things to Sathria. The slender man smartly saluted Sir Lawrence and walked over to Sathria, "It is exhilerating to be at the helm, is it not?" (His accent sounds French) "I am Enri, and it is my pleasure to assist you in guiding the Cloud Runner." Enri grinned mischievously, "However, that is a bit of a misnomer because it is actually Sir Lawrence who is guiding her. You see, he plots the course, the speed, everything by the power of his mana gifts and his mind in unison with the crystal." At Sathria's skeptical look Enri continued, "I know, you felt the wheel lurch and you feel it move as you steer, do you not?" At her nod, Enri smiled, "This is because you, too, are steering." If Sathria was confused she did not show it. Enri went on with his explanation, "Sir Lawrence moves the ship in the general direction it must follow to the point he has plotted in his mind. The helmsman, you, must guide the ship in it's more delicate maneuvers." Enri thought for a moment and went on, "Think of it as a row boat in a river. The river determines the general path of that rowboat, but the oarsman within the boat determines the path of the boat in that river. He steers away from rocks and other obstructions." Sathria appeared to be grasping the concept so Enri went on, "Sir Lawrence is plotting the course of the proverbial river in the sky while you guide Cloud Runner through that narrow path. It is a very important job for this 'sky river' is almost a mile wide and any number of obtacles could prove a hinderance, or a danger, to her if they are not avoided. Sir Lawrence must remain in a state of concentration throughout the journey so the helmsman must remain alert at all times. You must watch out for mountains and dangerous weather. Only in a state of emergency should Sir Lawrence be disturbed." Sathria appeared to be concerned at that remark and Enri hurried to reassure her. "Do not fear that Cloud Runner will fall out of the sky, once the crystal has been activated the ship will remain aloft. Concentration is required to keep her on the correct course. We will not stray from the path Sir Lawrence has set so feel free to steer Cloud Runner port and starboard as you wish. It will be good for you to get a feel for her. Please, if you have any questions ask them of me as you wish."

Why have I posted these posts here? Those who are not privy to the PM's involving this will be updated, but this is probably already too long so I'll continue in the next post.

Re: Previous Post

For those just tuning in, Mega and I have been in a conflict over a certain incident aboard a skyship. At issue is not whether his character should be allowed to have a skyship. What is at issue is whether or not he took possession of said skyship in a reasonable fashion. His char, Maldirk and two others, stowed aboard a skyship in Lumloria and took control over it above Ember. Maldirk assisted someone in killing the captain of one of these ships as it was in midflight so he could take it over and have his own flying ship, or so Ember could have one. I don't know what his plans were. I protested this, saying that killing the captain would disrupt the flight of the ship causing it to crash as soon as the captain had died. I even suggested to Mega a way in which his char could obtain possession of a skyship, but he would have none of that. These facts can be backed up by the PM's I sent.

Now, I had been trying to keep this disagreement private by having the conversation in PM's to Mega, Star and Dave. I included Star because she is the GM of the Ember and Consi threads. I included Dave because Star had left he and I in charge while she was gone to AZ and the incident in question took place while she was away and we were acting as co-GM's. I didn't want to burden the rest of you dear readers with our squabble so I was PM'ing them about it. Mega took the initiative to bring an OOC issue into the actual thread, a public forum. This was not the first time this had happened and, needless to say, I was displeased greatly by this, but rather than burden the readers of the story further with this issue I posted there that I'd make my rebuttal in this, the OOC thread. Now everyone should be caught up. I hope I have not left anything out because I won't be editing this and it's already quite late for me and I have a LOT more to post.

Based on what I myself posted above (In the previous post where you will find some pertinent posts from the Consi thread)I can see how he would think he could make his characters act that way. However, I hope he will see my point too in that the person at the crystal controls "the course, the speed, everything by the power of his mana gifts and his mind in unison with the crystal" (I refer you, dear reader, to post 1016 from the original Consi thread which I have quoted in the OOC post above for a more detailed explanation of how the ship works.)

Now, I'll admit another error. In the Ember thread I posted that the ship would fall out of the sky:

"On the quarterdeck, the captain who had his hand on a large crystal and who needed total concentration to fly the ship, was trying desperately to keep Endeavor on course. He heard the loud popping, saw the many large men appear and concentrated harder. Pain coursed through his head, down his neck and into his shoulders and back. The captain made a herculean effort to concentrate as the carnage around him increased. He saw the archers being slaughtered, his sailors dying under the ravaging assault, but still he held his concentration through the wracking pain. Then, suddenly the ship shook with such force that the captain was rocked off his feet. The captain could no longer maintain his concentration so the ship, now without it's source of propulsion, suddenly plummeted from the sky to fall the long drop to the ground, crashing and splintering violently."

This quote is from post 913 on page 92 of the original Ember thread (it's a pretty good piece of narrative if I do say so myself and I encourage all to read it in full). Okay, now I made another mistake, but Dave and I already worked this one out. Dave, you are a gentleman and a scholar and I appreciate your patience. I know you will understand that I was thinking about the Consi thread where I had said Sir Lawrence requires total concentration when I made the post about KH getting hurt so badly. I'm sorry for all the hassle we went through over this.

At this point I'm really regretting that I had brought the skyships into the story. They are a really neat part of the Lone Wolf series, which is Joe Dever's wonderful world of good vs. evil. I thought it would be cool to have them in the thread and never intended that they should be hogged by the good guys. I was secretly hoping the bad guys would come up with a way to get one so I was actually excited when Mega made his move. However, we come to that pesky crystal thing again.

to be continued in next post

double post, sorry

The pesky crystal issue:

Alright, I have to admit that the skyship can be aloft without the deep concentration of the captain/first mate. However, I did make it plain that the course, speed, everything was controlled by the captain or first mate at the crystal. Steering from the wheel/helm will do little in the way of changing the course as the helmsman can only make very minor course corrections in a corridor which is controled by the one at the crystal. So,how to solve this conflict? Who is right? Mega? WoF(Woffy)? (props to you Mega, you called me that to irritate me? It cracked me up.) Sorry folks, private joke there. Where was I? Who is right? Who is wrong? Answer: We both are. Mega is right that the skyship can stay aloft without the captain's total concentration. (Again, I'm sorry about that Dave. I'm going to do something that I hope will make this up to you, read on.) However, I am right that he would not have been able to land it in Ember as the person at the crystal controls the main course. So, what to do...

Playing the "Get Out of Jail Free Card"

Due to the debacle with the skyship falling out of the sky incident in the original Ember thread Star gave me a "Get Out of Jail Free Card" (which if I think about it... nevermind I don't want to think about it. I need that card to do what I want to do and everyone should be okay with what I'm about to do. Hopefully. With some consideration and generosity of spirit, I'm sure all involved will be pleased with what I'm going to do... Anyway, lemme do it.)

Using the "Get Out of Jail Free Card"

I am going to create the specifications for the skyships. There won't be any pictures or anything, I don't have a scanner. Just use your imagination to picture a galleon flying through the sky instead of sailing the seas. I ask your indulgence to let me post a rather skeletal outline of the skyship's specs for now as it is way past my bedtime. I will post it in this forum when done with this.

Now, Mega needs an answer. He needs to know what can be done and Star needs a resolution of this. Using the specs, which are in my head, but not in the thread yet I propose the following to you, Mega:

Choose one of the following scenarios. It is your choice, it is what I see would happen based on the original posts I made in the threads, and not necessarily confined only to those I've quoted in this saga of OCC posts. Also, I am including quotes from one other post (#899 on page 90 in the original Ember thread), "The Galileo rose far above the woods between Ember and Lumloria, it was a mile in the air before moving forward. Then Galileo moved toward the city of Ember, flying high and far out of the range of any spells or war machines, she went over the city on a reconaisence mission." and "Galileo made one circle of the city, taking perhaps twenty minutes to scry the city from her mile high vantage point, before returning to her mooring behind the Lumlorian lines."

Okay, having said all that this is how I see things going down. Mega you can choose:

1) The skyship is flying a recon mission over Ember. Maldirk warps wood, Sasha kills the captain. Without its main controller at the crystal the ship now lurches to a halt in mid-air. Since there is really no helm control without anyone at the crystal the ship is stuck, a mile high, in mid-air. Now, Mega can post that a high-powered mage sees this strange sight as he's skylarking along the battlements and teleports himself over to investigate. I hope no one's using the rail gun at this point or all on the ship could die. When the high-power mage arrives Maldirk can do whatever he will. You will need the first mate to control the crystal so the ship can be landed, but I'm sure KH's clone hasn't killed him yet. And I'm confident that Maldirk has ways of making him cooperate.

2) Maldirk and his Asha and Kalt Hammer clones can bribe a first mate or a captain while still in Lumloria. They can promise him some grandiose title and lots of money or something, perhaps stock in the Evil Emporium of Ember. Anyway, this is the easiest option, but the least entertaining. You'll have full control of the ship from the get go, just don't let the crew see Maldirk & Co. until you get to Ember.

I hope you find these options acceptable. They are the only things that I see reasonable based on the conditions of the current situation in the thread and based on my own past posts. I'm really sorry to all involved in and/or reading these threads that this situation degenerated so badly. I've really enjoyed playing in the Ember and Consi threads, they are my favorites on CF and not just because I was a main player in them. They have the potential to be truly great stories if all involved are willing to put in the time to write narrative posts. Which brings me to my next statement...

Into the sunset....

I have been neglecting my prayer time, my Bible study time and my God in favor of keeping up with the Ember and Consi threads. They are wonderful threads and have become epic, which is great. Unfortunately, epic threads require a great deal of time, time that I don't have to spare. I have felt the Holy Spirit urging me to lay aside these threads for some time, but in my fleshly desire to continue a story I loved I ignored that unction. The strife of recent days has crystallized (pardon the pun) my thinking and made me realize that when I am not in the center of God's will things begin to fall apart. When in the center of God's will everything comes together. So, in order to devote the time I need to my Scriptural studies and to have more time to pray I am leaving the Consi and the Ember threads. I will not be leaving CF altogether. Please PM me and keep in touch. There are two other threads in which I am involved, but they are less demanding and will allow me to continue the escapism I love so much without the stressful demands on my time.

I will post the last actions for Asha, Leighla and Slice in the Ember thread on Friday. I'm barely awake now and I have to get up at 5:00am.

The Great Flying Ships of Sal Kaledin

Owing to their astonishingly creative intelligence and astounding engineering prowess the mana wielders of Sal Kaledin have invented a wonderfully exhilerating mode of travel, the skyship. (this is based on the skyships of Dessi in Joe Dever's Lone Wolf Series)

There will be subsequent edits to this as the skyships are posted in full detail later on. I reserve the right to edit for purposes of clarification and improvement of the skyships. I will NOT abuse the editing privelage for personal reasons. The skyship will be based on Joe Dever's creation and on my own past posts in the Consi, Lumloria and Ember threads. Now for some initial specifications...

1) Skyships can be of any class/size ship from sloop to race-built galleon. Nothing smaller, nothing larger. (More on these types of vessels later.)

2) Skyships are powered by a strange pink crystal, ranging in size from about the size of a grape-fruit to a watermelon.

3) A captain or first mate must be focused on the crystal to activate the hover ability of the ship. This does not require total concentration, merely focusing one's thoughts to make the ship defy gravity. The only movement allowed will be vertically upwards. In order to maneuver the ship the crystal symbiot (captain or first mate) must be in full concentration at all times throughout the journey, no matter how short. All aspects of flight from altitude, attitude, speed and course (and everything in between) will be controlled by the person at the crystal. This will create a relative sky course through which the ship will fly. The course is roughly a mile wide and small corrections can be made at the helm within the course set by the crystal symbiot. The helmsman can steer to starboard or port within the main course set by the crystal symbiot. Anyone familiar with the manning of the helm of a normal, sea-going vessel can take the wheel. Anyone can be taught to steer the ship with the helm in a relatively short period of time.

4) NOT just anyone can man the crystal, or be the crystal symbiot. To man the crystal requires courage of conviction, mental agility and strong discipline. It also takes years of training. The mana wielders of Sal Kaledin seek out the best men and women to captain their skyships. Only candidates who pass a rigorous testing schedule and complete a rigorous training regimen will be allowed to become officers aboard a skyship. Eventually, when anyone becomes the first mate of a ship a grueling ritual is performed to "introduce" that person to the crystal. This ritual gains that person a symbiotic relationship to the crystal which enables him/her to fly the ship.

(More later, I've got to go to bed.)

(Moderator this is my own post so please do not erase this as I am trying to make a point in this OOC.)

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That shouldn't be a problem at all.

I even suggested to Mega a way in which his char could obtain possession of a skyship, but he would have none of that.

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Having my own skyship in the way you suggested I didn't like, for two reasons:
1) First, and least important, I didn't care so much about having a skyship as Lumloria not having one.
2) It was just as illogical to somehow smuggle a skyship into Lumloria for Sal Kaledien with the hope that no one would notice and then escape on it as my post was, and it wouldn't involve completely chucking two large posts.

Mega took the initiative to bring an OOC issue into the actual thread, a public forum.

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I think that was you and Dave. With the comment on how the skyship shouldn't be there at all except in a million peices. It was wrong of me to follow up.

Dave, you are a gentleman and a scholar and I appreciate your patience.

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Add 'masochistic chuavanist' to that, and you're just about right

Playing the "Get Out of Jail Free Card"

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I'm too sick of the whole thing to care anymore...

Choose one of the following scenarios.

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What scenarios?

I have been neglecting my prayer time, my Bible study time and my God in favor of keeping up with the Ember and Consi threads. They are wonderful threads and have become epic, which is great. Unfortunately, epic threads require a great deal of time, time that I don't have to spare. I have felt the Holy Spirit urging me to lay aside these threads for some time, but in my fleshly desire to continue a story I loved I ignored that unction. The strife of recent days has crystallized (pardon the pun) my thinking and made me realize that when I am not in the center of God's will things begin to fall apart. When in the center of God's will everything comes together. So, in order to devote the time I need to my Scriptural studies and to have more time to pray I am leaving the Consi and the Ember threads. I will not be leaving CF altogether. Please PM me and keep in touch. There are two other threads in which I am involved, but they are less demanding and will allow me to continue the escapism I love so much without the stressful demands on my time.

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God doesn't have to be such a jerk about it.

Anyway, you'll be back. They ALWAYS come back to the Consi... mehehehe! (ie, Star, myself, and next you )

No, not me. God's bigger than the Consi. Sorry bout' that post thing. I hit the wrong button or something and ended up w/ a double post. It's fixed now.

Megachihuahua said:

Having my own skyship in the way you suggested I didn't like, for two reasons:
1) First, and least important, I didn't care so much about having a skyship as Lumloria not having one.
2) It was just as illogical to somehow smuggle a skyship into Lumloria for Sal Kaledien with the hope that no one would notice and then escape on it as my post was, and it wouldn't involve completely chucking two large posts.

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I can see your point, but this could have been fixed by bribing a guy in Lumloria, but that's my number two scenario. I like the first one I suggested, but it's your choice. Either one will deprive Lumloria of another ship. You won't be getting Cloud Runner though, she's in Akhonne.

BTW, all the skyships come from Sal Kaledin. Their folks invented them and build them. Some have been given as gifts, but only a few. Only one has been given to King Roltal, the Majestic. Cloud Runner was a gift to Sir Lawrence for a great service to Sal Kaledin which will remain confidential.

God's bigger than the Consi.

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Like, total paradox! XD

1, its chauvanist. Its named after some frenchy who actually LIKED fighting(go figure).

2, If you could see my hand, I would SO be giving you the finger.

1, its chauvanist.

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Typo.

Its named after some frenchy who actually LIKED fighting(go figure).

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That's not the definition I was using.

2, If you could see my hand, I would SO be giving you the finger.

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Hush, Dave, it's nothing to be embarrassed about... *scoots a little closer to him a creepy way* ...do you feel, different, from all the other little boys? Really, Dave, you can trust me...

Chauvinist... pretty much a zealot, right?

Get away from me you afro wearing hippy! I'm not like that!

Chauvinist... pretty much a zealot, right?

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I popped this part in because I knew it would offend you... you believe in the superiority of men over women. As in, 'chauvinist pig'.

Which, in today's world, is an offense punishable by stoning. But not the good kind of stoning.

Get away from me you afro wearing hippy! I'm not like that!

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Don't close your mind, Dave... whatsamatter? Are you a homophobe, Dave?

Not the good kind of stoning.... HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! That was good. You know, a girl at my old youth group asked why they used to punish people by giving them drugs in ancient Israel.... hahahaha...

But seriously, now you're just being a moron. (and I watched a Salad Fingers movie................ *shudder* WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?! THAT'S FREAKING SIIIIIICK!!!! "I like it when the red whater comes out..." GAAAAH!!!!

and I watched a Salad Fingers movie................ *shudder* WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?! THAT'S FREAKING SIIIIIICK!!!! "I like it when the red whater comes out..." GAAAAH!!!!

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You just can't appreciate quality cinema, can you?

Mega>David Firth>>>>>>Paladin Dave