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Posted by Arothas, 8th March 2010, 19:15
I removed a few entries recently, just to let you know. Most important of these was probably my entry on Creative Writing, which I removed because it was quite unpolished.
Please forgive me for this inconvenience. *Bows*
Posted by Arothas, 20th February 2010, 21:39
So yeah, as the title indicates, I've started playing WCIII again. So sue me.
I played a couple of different maps today, of various types, but the highlight of the evening was Cruiser Command(!), which was totally awesome.
For the uninitiated Cruiser Command has two teams, each commanding one cruiser. Normally each team plays with a Captain, and two each of Pilots and Engineers, although in this match we only played with one of each on both teams (we got bored of waiting).
The Captain is, of course, the Captain. He commands the ship, pilots it, and makes sure everyone does their job. On my team, I was the Captain, and I was awesome. Piloting the Cruiser is fairly simple - there is a button for speeding up, one for slowing down, and you control the direction with the mouse, right-clicking in the direction you want to go. If any missiles are loaded or if the Yamato is armed, you can also fire them while you pilot. All weapons go straight ahead and it takes the Yamato some time to charge... Admittedly, some missiles have guidance systems, but only half of them are any good at that. In the upper right you can see the status of the ship - Hull and Shield percentage, Power Output and amount of missiles loaded. Also, if the Hull is damaged you can see which section is damaged.
The Pilots can be argued to be the most important, but most subtle, part of the game. They can pilot two different types of Vessels - Fighters and Miners. The Fighter is rather self-explanatory - load it with a Laser Cell, fly out, and start shooting the enemy as soon as you see them. The Miner is a little different, but equally self-explanatory. Fly out and start using that mining ability on asteroids, gaining valuable Ores to offload with mining drones, sending it back to the Cruiser so the Engineers can refine it (although in this game, I also helped out refining from time to time). More on that later. The Mining Vessel can also be upgraded with a type of scanner which, in a limited range, pings their radar with some type of signal; each signal is color-coded and represents one of four types of asteroids in the game.
The Engineers can also be argued to be the most important part of the game; they build all the missiles and upgrade all the equipment, and usually refines the Ore and actually loads the missiles into their bays (more on that later). When a Mining Drone (from a Mining Vessel) offloads Ore, the Engineers rush to pick it up and put the ore in some sort of refinery; they then get the refined, finished product and places it on some type of transporter pad on the other side of the room. Then they transport the refined ore into the cargo-hold, and then the true fun of being an Engineer starts. You see, as I've already said, they build equipment and upgrades the Cruiser and the Vessels with the refined ore. They also repair the ship. They have an additional function, too - Power Management. You can balance power output between Engines, Weapons, Shields, and Power Generation (aka lowering power output to a system). In this game, Power Generation was usually at about 20GW, while Weapons were at 25GW and Shields and Engines each 10% of their starting value.
The goal of the game is, of course, to shoot down the other Cruiser, whether with the Laser Cannons (which is what Power Output to weapons actually power - missiles don't need any power to fire), Missiles, the Yamato Cannon (which can be charged for some resources by the Engineers, and is also the most powerful weapon in the game - it has absolutely zero guidance and takes time to fire, though), or RAMMING, which also damages you. There are a variety of missiles which must be physically be loaded into one of the missile bays (each bay can only hold one missile, and there are six bays in all), from the Pirana (sic) which has incredible guidance systems but which sucks anyways, to the Hellfire missiles which cause large amounts of fire to burst out on the enemy ship (this reduces hull damage periodically, and can also harm crew on the opposing Cruiser).
This game went rather slowly - both teams had a newb/noob Engineer. Unlike what the other team apparently did, I guided my teams engineer through the game, and he performed adequately (although admittedly multiple times I went ahead and did his duties myself) after I thoroughly and painstakingly showed him the path. Our Pilot, also, did not appear familiar with this version of the map, and I had to tell him how to get onboard his Vessel, although with that out of the way he mined like a real pro.
This went on in a rather boring fashion, with me multitasking in Ore Refining, Missile Loading, and doing the occasional sensor sweep with the radar (this shows you where on the minimap your enemies and allies all are). This continued on until I noticed the enemy Cruiser approaching our Miner... Which basically made me go berserk and fly at that place at full glorious speed. And there was awesome. I fired the Yamato straight into the enemies' face from off camera, before ramming into his ship at 150 meters per second. And then both of our shields went out and we both had to put out loads of fires.
Then I did it again. Ruining both our shields, but missing with the recharged Yamato.
And then I did it again. And then the Pilot announced he had to leave soon.
So I did it again. With additional missiles, laser cannons and fighter craft this time around.
And again. This time, I shot the enemy with the Yamato twice. And Hellfired like a laming n00b. And rammed. And then shot lasers. And then another Yamato, and then- BOOM! Boom boom booOM BoOM! And then they died. We won. Probably because the enemy crew all burned to death by hellfire, considering the twelve shots I emptied into them while our Engineer really got his butt kicked into gear.
All in all, it was an awesome game, although the awesome is hard to depict in word. Trust me; actually ramming straight into the enemy, taking full Refuge In Audacity and firing a Big Fracking Gun into their collective faces is a whole lot more awesome than it sounds.
This is Itellon of Battle.net (aka Arothas) signing off.
Posted by Arothas, 12th January 2010, 06:05
So I found this Nifty Little Thing which sounds like fun, and thus I decided to take all the questions and answer them for the Arothasian stories. Settle down folks, this might take a while...
Does nothing happen in the first fifty pages?
Well, I don't have an exact count as the book isn't written yet, but I'm fairly sure Arothas meets Razonara in that timeframe.
Is your main character a young farmhand with mysterious parentage?
Arothas is a noble with a clearly-defined heritage stretching back 2700 years... Which in of itself would never happen in the real world, but then the real world doesn't have über-leet super Sorcerers, now, does it?
Is your main character the heir to the throne but doesn't know it?
Arothas is the heir to a throne, and knows it quite well. Of course, the Isalamar Empire collapsed 2400 years ago.
Is your story about a young character who comes of age, gains great power, and defeats the supreme badguy?
No. Arothas comes of age, ages, ages, stabs some people, gains great power, and decides to conquer/unify the world with blood and fire. Oh, wait, there's a character later who pretty much fits this role, but she... Well. Doesn't... 'quite'... Succeed. It's difficult to describe without spoiling everything.
Is your story about a quest for a magical artifact that will save the world?
No.
How about one that will destroy it?
No.
Does your story revolve around an ancient prophecy about "The One" who will save the world and everybody and all the forces of good?
NO!
Does your novel contain a character whose sole purpose is to show up at random plot points and dispense information?
Razonara fulfills this role from time to time, but his role is very much greater than that, especially later on.
Does your novel contain a character that is really a god in disguise?
Razonara is perfectly mortal... But more powerful than some gods. So... Maybe?
Is the evil supreme badguy secretly the father of your main character?
No. Wait! Arothas has a lot of kids, and some of these could later be called protagonists... So... Yes?
Is the king of your world a kindly king duped by an evil magician?
All rulers are Machiavellian; they trick the magicians, mostly.
Does "a forgetful wizard" describe any of the characters in your novel?
Razonara is not forgetful (oh no he sure is NOT, appearances aside), so no.
How about "a powerful but slow and kind-hearted warrior"?
Naah. Eneren comes close but no cigar.
How about "a wise, mystical sage who refuses to give away plot details for his own personal, mysterious reasons"?
No. Razonara is wise and mystical, sure, but when he doesn't give away plot, he usually doesn't know you're interested or need the information.
Do the female characters in your novel spend a lot of time worrying about how they look, especially when the male main character is around?
There are people like this in Real Life, but it's not a 'general' trait of women in the WoA. There are two who fit this description, though.
Do any of your female characters exist solely to be captured and rescued?
No. Arothas wouldn't care so there's no reason for it to happen because the female would just be killed or something.
Do any of your female characters exist solely to embody feminist ideals?
No.
Would "a clumsy cooking wench more comfortable with a frying pan than a sword" aptly describe any of your female characters?
No. A clumsy wench is a scalded wench.
Would "a fearless warrioress more comfortable with a sword than a frying pan" aptly describe any of your female characters?
Well... There's one woman who pretty much becomes just that, but... Well, I won't give spoilers.
Is any character in your novel best described as "a dour dwarf"?
There are dour humans. Thus, realistically, there are dour dwarves. Thus, yes, of course. The WoA is realistic.
How about "a half-elf torn between his human and elven heritage"?
... There are no elves, so no.
Did you make the elves and the dwarves great friends, just to be different?
There are no elves!
Does everybody under four feet tall exist solely for comic relief?
No.
Do you think that the only two uses for ships are fishing and piracy?
NO! There's transports and traders and ferries and stuff.
Do you not know when the hay baler was invented?
Erm... What's a hay baler? Sorry, but my knowledge of english fails me... *A wikipedia visit later* Well, I've no idea.
Did you draw a map for your novel which includes places named things like "The Blasted Lands" or "The Forest of Fear" or "The Desert of Desolation" or absolutely anything "of Doom"?
Arothas' tower in later stories has been called 'of Doom!' in a joking fashion, otherwise, no.
Does your novel contain a prologue that is impossible to understand until you've read the entire book, if even then?
No.
Is this the first book in a planned trilogy?
I'd have to cover at least... 20 years per book, so no.
How about a quintet or a decalogue?
Same argument as above...
Is your novel thicker than a New York City phone book?
I've never been to the U.S.
Did absolutely nothing happen in the previous book you wrote, yet you figure you're still many sequels away from finishing your "story"?
Not written yet, so I can't tell you.
Are you writing prequels to your as-yet-unfinished series of books?
No.
Is your name Robert Jordan and you lied like a dog to get this far?
**** YOU!
Is your novel based on the adventures of your role-playing group?
No.
Does your novel contain characters transported from the real world to a fantasy realm?
No... That's the realm of Narnia and fanfiction. The former is for kids, and the later is subject to that law of 90% is crap.
Do any of your main characters have apostrophes or dashes in their names?
Arothas used to be Árothas, but no, not any more.
Do any of your main characters have names longer than three syllables?
Many characters are still unnamed, but Arothas Itellon, Ilster Iteronora and Eneren Enora pretty much all have three syllables.
Do you see nothing wrong with having two characters from the same small isolated village being named "Tim Umber" and "Belthusalanthalus al'Grinsok"?
... No, that's wrong. That's just wrong. And stupid. Unless the parent is insane, in which case it could be okay.
Does your novel contain orcs, elves, dwarves, or halflings?
It has dwarves. As to the other things, no, but it has goblins. Both of these, however, are very much different from their archetypes in typical Fantasy literature.
How about "orken" or "dwerrows"?
No. And if I had such ripoffs it would be better disguised than that.
Do you have a race prefixed by "half-"?
No. I've studied biology, and even Dwarves and Humans couldn't reproduce together in this story.
At any point in your novel, do the main characters take a shortcut through ancient dwarven mines?
To do that the dwarven mines would have to be stretched through a whole mountain, and there's only one Dwarven mine of that size in existence, and the resident Dwarves are quite xenophobic... And most of the main characters are human. So no.
Do you write your battle scenes by playing them out in your favorite RPG?
No.
Have you done up game statistics for all of your main characters in your favorite RPG?
Razonara is too powerful to fit into D&D rules and Arothas is too versatile. No. (Well, I do play as Arothas most of the time, but it's basically a mere reflection of what he is in the stories; it's difficult to roleplay someone smarter than yourself, but not too difficult to write them (Conan Arthur Doyle of Sherlock Holmes fame is the ultimate example).)
Are you writing a work-for-hire for Wizards of the Coast?
No.
Do inns in your book exist solely so your main characters can have brawls?
Arothas never brawls. He stabs people to death. Or burn them. People don't brawl with him, either. Ilster just keeps out of trouble and flirt with wenches. Eneren sits in a corner and drinks his beer and might talk with some local.
Do you think you know how feudalism worked but really don't?
I've studied it in history, so no, I know how it really works... Not that feudalism is the only system of government in place, so some other government type might've been done wrong.
Do your characters spend an inordinate amount of time journeying from place to place?
Well, Arothas doesn't have a horse for the first couple of books so it takes some time for him to travel.
Could one of your main characters tell the other characters something that would really help them in their quest but refuses to do so just so it won't break the plot?
No. Razonara knows a lot of things, but he doesn't know you want to know them, so he has totally different reasons.
Do any of the magic users in your novel cast spells easily identifiable as "fireball" or "lightning bolt"?
Well, yes, some of the Mages do that, but Arothas favors 'force' (telekinesis and wall of force and such) spells and Palpatine-ish lightning. Razonara, however, does both of these when he fights. Although he usually uses hellfire rather than fire when throwing balls. But Razonara casts a lot of spells, so whatever.
Do you ever use the term "mana" in your novel?
Magical Energy gets a bit boring to type after a while, so yes, for expediency and to avoid people mixing Magical and Mundane energy together (they're entirely different things and do not work in the same fashion at all), I do that.
Do you ever use the term "plate mail" in your novel?
... Of course? What kind of question is that? It's set in a roughly 1450-ish setting with less gunpowder (the Mages wouldn't be happy with gunpowder, otherwise I would have it in; cannons still exist, though they're rare). Edit: I get it now; I happened to notice an article on Wikipedia, and it appears that 'Plate Mail' is not a real term, basically invented by Gygax or someone who worked with him: the proper term is Plate Armor.
Heaven help you, do you ever use the term "hit points" in your novel?
... No...
Do you not realize how much gold actually weighs?
It's heavier than lead. Much heavier. So it's damn heavy. Which is why silvers and coppers is used all the time, and gold only in a rare few circumstances, even by the extraordinarily rich.
Do you think horses can gallop all day long without rest?
No. That would just be stupid. Or undead-and-powered-by-spirits-ish, but that doesn't count.
Does anybody in your novel fight for two hours straight in full plate armor, then ride a horse for four hours, then delicately make love to a willing barmaid all in the same day?
No. The first two are sometimes done in some order, but Full Plate is not a very common armor, cost issues aside, because, while more mobile than typically depicted, there are other armors more mobile. Minotaurs are fast, too, on a related note.
Does your main character have a magic axe, hammer, spear, or other weapon that returns to him when he throws it?
Well, Arothas can do telekinesis and he later forges a very, very powerful Sword which he sometimes throw around Yoda-style.
Does anybody in your novel ever stab anybody with a scimitar?
Well, I can imagine untrained idiots doing that (and there are a lot of those in the crapsack World of Arothas), so maybe.
Does anybody in your novel stab anybody straight through plate armor?
Pikes. Read up on them. Also, magical swords.
Do you think swords weigh ten pounds or more?
No. They don't. Except for Arothas' Darkblade. But then, Arothas is basically a human giant, so anything he makes for himself (weapons and robes - yes, he can tailor,) isn't quite ordinary.
Does your hero fall in love with an unattainable woman, whom he later attains?
No. That goes against the point of unattainable. Besides, the only woman in the stories I would consider unattainable is his daughter. *squick*
Does a large portion of the humor in your novel consist of puns?
No. Well... Maybe. There's not much fun to be had in the WoA, but Ilster throws out a couple of punches every now and then.
Is your hero able to withstand multiple blows from the fantasy equivalent of a ten pound sledge but is still threatened by a small woman with a dagger?
No. He snaps the woman in half. Which really pisses Razonara off... Arothas no baka... On a completely unrelated note; Rasputin.
Do you really think it frequently takes more than one arrow in the chest to kill a man?
No. Arothas is once hit by several arrows (and crossbow bolts) and survives, but then, he's by that time an Archmage armored in the equivalent of a Adamantine-Mithril alloy and the scene is still rather Boromir-ish.
Do you not realize it takes hours to make a good stew, making it a poor choice for an "on the road" meal?
Erm, dunno, I suppose it depends on the kind of stew. My mother used to make good stew in less than an hour. Still, Arothas generally eats soup and drinks water, instead. Ilster thinks he's a good cook, but is a total failure. Eneren just packs some easily warmed food with him.
Do you have nomadic barbarians living on the tundra and consuming barrels and barrels of mead?
How would they even get their hands on that? I mean, unless they traded cattle for mead or something. Also, Vikings don't live on a tundra, just so you know.
Do you think that "mead" is just a fancy name for "beer"?
Mead is something with fermented honey and spices. It's totally different.
Does your story involve a number of different races, each of which has exactly one country, one ruler, and one religion?
... Who does that kind of stupid stuff, other than for expediency in games? No. Dragons all share the same language, though.
Is the best organized and most numerous group of people in your world the thieves' guild?
No. Duh.
Does your main villain punish insignificant mistakes with death?
Arothas doesn't do that. So no. His brother can do that when sufficiently enraged, but it's rare, and Theorlen's not a main villain... If he could ever be called anything but an Anti-hero at all.
Is your story about a crack team of warriors that take along a bard who is useless in a fight, though he plays a mean lute?
No.
Is "common" the official language of your world?
No. Language functions rather realistically in this world. Vanari (a trade language) and Draconic (which is actually Latin because I'm lazy) are the most common languages, where the former is understood on the mainland of three continents by learned people. Still, there are two other giant continents around where that language is rarely spoken.
Is the countryside in your novel littered with tombs and gravesites filled with ancient magical loot that nobody thought to steal centuries before?
No. There are a few places like that, but they're realistically rare.
Is your book basically a rip-off of The Lord of the Rings?
... No.
Read that question again and answer truthfully.
The Lord of the Rings is a very idealistic story. This one is cynical and more stabby. No.
Posted by Arothas, 24th December 2009, 14:42
Well, first off, Merry Christmas to all of you! I got a present ahead of time, and it counts as a birthday present, too, because it's so damn expensive.
A new Supercomputer, which is about twice as good as my previous one, which was already better than most computers out today.
Unfortunately, this means that my LP (see previous post) of Oblivion, and many other things as well, shall have to be postponed as I start reinstalling all my important stuff, so I won't be posting much at all these coming weeks, as I keep remembering stuff I have to go get and install.
Posted by Arothas, 16th December 2009, 06:21
People are always complaining about the cold, even in warm nations such as the U.K., or the U.S., or places like those. Well, here's a shocker for you; outside, just a couple of three feet in front of me, the degrees are holding at about -30 Celsius, or -22 Fahrenheit. This really sucks because my beard gets frosted whenever I stay outside for more than a minute or two... Oh, yeah, and I suppose it's kinda cold, too.
Now, as I said, people are always complaining about temperatures just below freezing, for some reason. Well, here in northern Sweden, within the Polar Circle, we get this stuff like every damn winter, and it's not unusual at all. The worst thing is that the last winter we had was really mild, with only a couple of nights dipping below -25 Celsius...
Anyways, I've got a cold now, of course, because my room has some really bad heating problems, and the temperature in here is about 10 Celsius, or 50 Fahrenheit... It's warmer in the rest of the house, actually. Brr. Oh, and I think the cat's got one too. The sneezist.
Edit: As an addendum, I won't be getting to school for a while, if at all. The car froze up and it's too late to catch the bus, and it's several miles to school. No way even I am insane enough to go all that way in this cold... (I admit I did walk that distance in this cold (back and forth!) yesterday, to the shop, but that's why I have a bad cold)
Second Edit: I got to school all right (and am typing this up now when I'm supposed to write a paper on Ludwig van Beethoven), but one and half an hour after I was supposed to. I also missed everything remotely interesting about this day, but otherwise things are quite calm and good.
Posted by Arothas, 7th November 2009, 23:04
Well, I got my hands on Dragon Age: Origins, and the most surprising part is that it fills up and almost exceeds the hype in many ways... I believe that this game will directly influence my scores at school and online time over here!
If you like RPGs, or Fantasy, go get a copy. Otherwise, consider yourself permanently dehumanized and denerdized. Or degeekized. Or whatever.
I launched straight into the game, and I am currently in Redcliffe (the Castle) with my furthest progressed character, a Mage I call 'Jeran', although I have started a game with a Dalish Rogue, too, as well as another Mage that I play differently than Jeran. I've not cheated too much in the game, unusually enough, but I toughened both the second Mage and the Dalish dude (after hearing him called al-Dal or whatever his name just slipped out of my mind) up just a little bit to make the game a tad bit more fun. Not enough to ruin the experience, mind.
So, yeah, if you haven't got it, go get it!
-Arothas out.
Posted by Arothas, 16th October 2009, 17:03
Well, today "has" been an interesting day, in a way. It all started up at morning... I got up, and was insanely tired. But I went to school, went through one lesson, and afterwards rested leisurely on a bench. Next thing I remember is waking up four, maybe five, hours later. Dang. Well, I got out of that snare rather lightly, mainly because I am the best and most non-evil (or so they think  ) student they have, so when mistakes like that happen, I generally get off more lightly than others.
So, I get home, and my newly-born little sister, whom I have neglected to tell anyone here of, is screaming and such and I have to get her to calm down, so I start whistling, because while that won't make her sleep, it will make her calm down. Especially when I whistle Imperial March, for some reason. 
Well, after that, I watch a couple episodes of Battlestar Galactica, and then I get bored and send my sister off to various shock sites... And force feed her that Tubgirl image (warning: DO NOT SEARCH FOR THAT WORD, JUST DON'T!). She screamed shortly afterwards.
So, overall, it's been a very nice day. I got my sister to scream in terror, and that's always a plus. Tubgirl. *Shudder* My poor sister...
Posted by Arothas, 1st September 2009, 21:21
Many of you have undoubtedly heard of Warcraft III. Some of you may have also played it.
Well, I do so regularly (under the name Itellon, because I lost the password for the Arothas name, and I couldn't be bothered to request it back) online, on the Battle.net. In any case, whenever I enter a game, the side I'm on almost always wins.
Anyways, recently, I owned some people so hard (on a Star Wars map; the Footman Frenzy version for those of you in the know) recently, I got bored. So I started sending my units against them so they could get killed, and my enemies gold and experience for their heroes.
Anyways, my Hero Unit was Darth Revan (OF COURSE!!!) and, well, I just trained them up so hard they could beat me in their sleep.
Y'see, it just so happened that all my allies had left the game. I could've still owned them then. But then this Tusken player got Rancors. That's right, an army of mother fuggin RANCORS. Anyways, I was pretty much screwed at that point. First time I lost when using the Revan hero. Anyways, I put up a good fight, killed at least 100 Rancors and 50 Mandalorian Assassins (their best unit) with Revans Ultimate Ability, and killed every player's hero at least thrice, before dying.
Despite the fact that I lost, and that I was stupid(, stupid, stupid...) in feeding them (which I did because one guy thought I was hacking), it was probably my best game of Warcraft I've had thus far. Simply because it was a challenge. Seriously, folks, the moral in this story is... Uh... No rewards, uh, no enjoyment without challenge? Yeah, that was it.
Now, it's getting late over here, and I gotta go to bed. See yah!
-Arothas, aka REVANFAN, aka Itellon.
Posted by Arothas, 24th August 2009, 13:05
Right. This is me, Arothas, and I hope most of you guvs can remember me. So yeah, I'm back, good as ever (just not right now; right now I'm a bit ill, sadly.)
Well, what's new with me? Well, I got a new keyboard, although my fingers tend to slip on it, cursed thing (luckily, with Firefox, I've got a spell checker so errors will not be frequent anyways) and it is annoying at times.
Still, I will enjoy Role-playing with you guys and gals once again.
Let me eat cake, and rule once mooore! Meh.
Posted by Arothas, 13th April 2009, 21:31
Recently, I've started to become... A mite bit more self-critical. I examine my ideas in painstaking detail, and then do my best to reticify that flaw. Is a sentence too cheesy? Find some way to replace it with something else. A character too shallow? Sure, just think about him or her, and it'll come around.
And yet, the flaw I most often discover among my writings is a very unusual one for a writer.
It's not lack of creativity. It's not overpowered characters. It's most absolutely not disobedience to the laws of Physics.
It's Logic. Yes, yes, logic is good for setting up how the World of Arothas works, how it has been shaped through the millennia, and so on, and so on.
Yet, all but a few, touching storylines of revenge... Seem to rely upon the rationality and logic of the character in question. Sure, this is one of the reasons why Arothas is so unusual a character, so intruiging an Anti-hero... Yet, the bandits act intelligently, there are few stupid non-rulers/villagefolk, not one irrational Dragon... The list goes on. And even if there is emotion, it's often too artificial, without a real good reason for it.
Where other stories are irredeemably stupidly illogical, I take it too far in the other direction. Only two major characters are irrational in the stories, one of whom is late-story Theorlen, one of whom is an thus far unnamed madman I fondly call 'the Maniac'. And these don't count. Because their irrationality stems from the same source - a wish to avenge their slain family members.
I now seek to cure this flaw... While keeping the core of Arothas' persona intact. Thus far it has been a slow process, giving characters motivation beyond 'this is the smartest thing to do', a purpose.
Perhaps I can never truly cure myself of this fault. Hopefully I can, but maybe not...
Posted by Arothas, 12th April 2009, 20:02
Yeah, the title pretty much says it all... After a lengthy absence, I'm back, and I will most likely resume posting on this blog, although maybe not quite so regularily. Oh, and yeah, I recently got my hands on the DVD for the whole Season 1 of Stargate SG-1. I also watched it all in two sittings. My heads 'asplode!
Stay tuned, just in case!
Posted by Arothas, 1st January 2009, 21:53
After boredly reading through the Dungeons & Dragons For Dummies, I've suddenly come to think on Arothas' alignment. I merely read through the chapter on Roleplaying for the mere sake of it, and came upon the alignment section...
It was then that I thought that the core of Arothas isn't Lawful Evil.
In fact, while I've always thought of Arothas as combining LE, NE, LN, N, CN, and NG (yes, really!), I've always listed it as LE. Why? Because Arothas is selfish in many ways, but places his honor before himself (and using extreme measures, like torture, dismemberment, murder, and other things along the way), and because he would rather keep up Order, than work against it (although he'd sometimes use unlawful means to do so). But looking at the 'For Dummies' interpretion on Neutral...
Well, in short, it says that in regard to the Good/Evil axis, Neutral is that one might be a selfish person, or someone who tries to do good, but uses good/evil means (respectively) to do so. It doesn't actually say that thing about a selfish person who does good, but it says that one might be a good person using evil means, so, as Neutral doesn't have an opposite, I'll interpret it as the... Opposite being the same. In regards to the Law/Chaos axis, it says you have a healthy respect for the law, but might break it if it particularily inconveniences you.
Both of these match Arothas' ways to the letter. He prefers Order over Chaos, yes, but will use rather... Chaotic means to uphold it. And he appreciates the value of creating Chaos with the enemy. Such as randomly throwing his tankard at a tavern drunk across the room when he notices a couple of dead meat hostiles heading for him.
So, from now on, I will list his alignment as Neutral. This also carries with it in-game bonuses. For example, while I might occasionally kill those who hinder me too much (without unnecessarily torturing them - killing them cleanly), or execute a coward, or an incompetent, a Paladin may not use Detect Evil on me. My only sorrow is the loss of Infernal Pact feats (one needs to be Evil, although, then again, the Immortality extra Feat is always my main reason for taking Infernal Pact, and I can always opt to become a God instead, right?). Oh, and yeah, it also means that I may later have Clerics of all alignments! I don't know about Paladins (I never read up on those), but... Maybe. Otherwise, I'll just substitute with more Duskblades. They're cooler and better, besides.
Meh, see yah all sometime. Stay tuned!
Posted by Arothas, 21st December 2008, 22:53
If you ever get interested in the World of Arothas, and one of the entries concerning it gives unsatisfyingly low amounts of information, or contradicts previous evidence, and you want to know more... Merely ask, either by PM or comment. Say, for example, you want to know a little more about the Great Rift (it's even bigger than the World at large thinks), just PM me or comment here... Or in the previous entry, or whatever...
Posted by Arothas, 17th December 2008, 20:30
Yeah, I've taken quite a few IQ tests this year. I took two today. They gave very different scores...
Different, as in 105 to 158. Compared to all other IQ tests I've ever taken, it gives me a likely IQ of about 125-8. (24-08-09: I recently took a test which gave my IQ as 60. When I was trying my best. Laugh at this if you will, pfah!)
... Although I will never stop hoping that the 158 one is correct.
Also notable is that the 105 test... Tested alot of knowledge, rather than intelligence. So, I'll say 126-9.
Meh.
Posted by Arothas, 2nd December 2008, 13:31
Look at the title for three seconds. Then go below the line.
__________
Or, more exactly, MY THUUUUUMB! Yes, I've injured my right thumb, and can't use it for a while... resulting in me using my left hand for just about everything. It ain't serious, but dammit, it Hurts. It's kinda... Embarrasing how it happened, really. Let's just say that I went flying, somehow fly/jump-kicked my thumb into the wall, and then fell on it on a Rock.
...
I, not very long ago, bragged about my luck in defeating a Balor in one hit, while being at level 6. Gah, this shows me!
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on Taking The Fantasy Novelists Exam