DeathKnight

[color=crimson]I'll be signing up as Spade 1. [b]Name[/b]: Arkadiy "Ensis" Kyran. [b]Age[/b]: 26. [b]Gender[/b]: Male. [b]Appearance[/b]: Arkadiy stands at an above-average height of 6'3". He appears to be very lithe looking with a slight, but well-toned, muscular look to himself. His eyes are the most peculiar shade of crimson- glittering relentlessly in the light, the perfect shade of blood-red, really. His hair is raven-black and straight, falling just below his eyes, barely touching his shoulders. He has no scars, no visible signs of ever taking a hit in any of the numerous fights he must have been in- no tell all signs of being who he is. Rather laid-back, observant. An intellectual with something in his eyes, a flair, a flame, a flicker of the eccentric- madness, mayhap. Almost malevolent.. [b]Weapons[/b]: A single serrated-edge saber. [b]History[/b]: Kalenbore. I was raised in Kalenbore in a hodge-podge crime organization lead by a guy who called himself Jacques. I can't recall much before that- something dramatic, I assume. With blood, tears, death- you know the typical drill. Something that scarred my subconscious, warped me. Maybe I should be glad I can't recall it- but however it happened, I was in Kalenbore at a very young age with no place to call home. Inquisitive, creative, intelligent- I had alot of potential, I knew. But, I was immature- I lacked any street smarts at all and, as you can tell, I was somewhat stricken by amnesia from the assumed events of chaos that befell me and landed me in that city. So, no matter my potential, I was lost. Very lost- and I was in a sea of people and places, one that I brazenly thought I could tackle with gusto. I knew I was smart, I had confidence in my skills. Way too much confidence. This, mixed with the necessity to survive drove me to steal for food- thieving from thieves. Of course, I got caught- by a potently powerful man, no less. Now that I think back on it, I probably should have been begging for my life- but, being young and brash, I was flamboyantly feisty. I tried to free myself with a flurry of less than glorious kicks, punches and jabs with dubious results. That man was Jacques. He was a strong man, a powerful man- mentally, physically. He was on the ball, a prime manipulator, a king amongst thieves, bandits and ruffians. He only laughed at me, which derailed my pseudo-bravery easier than any act of violence he could have done. He asked my name, I answered as flippantly as possible. He took me in for who knows what reasons- my potential, my pitiful nature, his own needs. All I cared about was I had shelter, food- a place to rest my head for awhile. I didn't really realize I had been recruited- heck, I didn't really know I was being trained by everyone in my temporary home- slowly at first, but soon I accepted their "profession". It peaked my curiosity and never-ending need for adventure. They were a pretty good organization of criminals if I say so myself- not the best, but amongst the higher echelons of power in the city. We dabbled in various things and I learned the tricks of the trade mostly through trials by fire- stressful, to be sure. As I developed into a young man in all of this I realized I wasn't particularly interested in being a normal criminal by any stretch of the word- it seemed bland to me. I had ideas, I had ambition- a yearning to be elsewhere. I began to scheme, to plan. To watch, to learn- learn how to be a leader, how it works. Through this scheming and observation, I found Jacques to be rather good natured for a thief- benevolent, really. I found it to be rather inefficient to be like that for some reason- maybe not at all times, but aggressive, ruthless policies appealed to me. I knew it was a danger to be benevolent like that when you are in a position of power amongst thieves- and that proved all too true for Jacques, unfortunately. Amongst his organization there was some measure of dissent from his good nature, especially amongst the more devious, bloodthirsty members. Ones who wanted to go all the way, wanted that little bit of blood with their extortion- or maybe they wanted to do that plan where alot of 'innocent' people get hurt but it has a big haul. Madmen, maybe- greedy, prolly. Either way, Jacques had a problem on his hands. It was a dark and rainy night as the dissenters finished their plans, their plans to seize power through a very bloody coup. I might have been increasingly hellbent on leaving the organization, but I was still fiercely loyal to my surrogate father and as soon as the split happened, I played bodyguard- I was with Jacques through it all. There was a great battle between the loyalists and the dissenters- the organization basically killed most of itself off throughout the city. In the end, it was Jacques and I against five of the dissenters- that was all that was left of my family, all that was left of my brothers and sisters.. It was.. We were in a large office, two floors- a staircase lead upwards into a library area, bookshelves lined with knowledge, contacts and archives of past "dealings". This was all the dissenters needed- the head of Jacques and they were here to get it. The battle was pitched, Jacques proving his might early on by striking down 2 of the dissenters in short order, staining the opulent carpets with crimson. I was in the midst of my own duel- being less skilled than Jacques, I was not nearly as successful in quickly slaying as he. I held my own with ease however and finally seemed to be getting the upper hand, executing quick parries and waiting for my moment to counter attack. There it was- and with a quick slash to his lower abdomen with my standard-issue short sword, my enemy groped at his stomach blindly. He yelled in pain as his entrails spilled out with a simple sort of beauty onto the floor, causing me to grin a bit- it felt fulfilling, the rush was exquisite. Jacques had withdrawn up the stairs, two of the dissenters focusing their attack on the leader. His swordplay was perfect, it was artistic- it was so wondrous looking that it took a few seconds to 'click' that I should be helping him. With ease he dispatched with the next to last dissenter as I approached, stunning our last enemy with his skill and raw might. This lone enemy was the second in command, Kamal- a brute of a man, lacking on common sense and intelligence but making up for it in sheer physical prowess. But he was foolish, and in his moment of being dumbstruck Jacques dispatched him with a quick strike and let out a heavy sigh. It was over- only the two of us were left. He approached me to talk to me but Kamal, using every bit of willpower and fortitude he had left, kneeled up, lunging at Jacques. Jacques' eyes opened up wide as the dagger slid soundly into his back, ending his life- it was a moment that will never leave me, the look in his eyes, the brooding feeling that washed over me for a year straight. Kamal, knowing he had secured victory even if he died, rolled over laughing maniacally- I ran over to Jacques but it was too late. He slid in to the back sleep of death, leaving me with this idiot, this one last vestige of what had been my childhood- this laughing brute, who was slowly bleeding to death. The fool. I killed him. I slaughtered him, I spread him over half the room with my rage. And, here I was.. left with.. No one. The title of leader and no one to lead. I had connections, I knew people, I had my plans- but the organization had been completely destroyed. I decided to become nomadic and start anew.. thanks to my surrogate family, I had learned much about the workings of the street life. I would recruit people into a new organization, one that would allow me to fully use my wits. But I would not make the same mistake Jacques made- there would be no sense of good with me, that had caused his own downfall. People had split off, dissented, rebelled. I was determined to not let that happen to me. So, however it occurred, over a few years of time I had collected, through various events they could tell you about themselves, an ensemble of men and women who were quite skilled in whatever they did, some almost worryingly so- but no, I felt I had their loyalty. We did many things together, the Spades and I- and amongst our travels we came across a treasure trove of an opportunity- reliable, detailed information about the Symerals! These beings.. I immediately had an idea. If it succeeded we would be set for life! But, even within my loyal group, there was a small split because of this golden opportunity. The idiots. I left them behind. We will achieve our goal, I am confident in my group. Any who get in my way will be dealt with ruthlessly, aggressively- as efficient as possible. Jacques ending will not be my own. That much you can be sure of.[/color]

[quote name='ChibiHorsewoman][color=darkviolet']Okay, quick off the topic question. Can everyone else please leave my husband out of their posts?[/color][/quote] [color=crimson]Er, nothing personal but you sort of brought that upon yourself.. --- I'd vote for Badnarik. He's the Libertarian party's candidate. How did I come to this decision? Well, I looked at all of the candidates positions on a myriad of issues[as many as they had talked about] and found this man's opinions to be quite similar to my own. Simple as that. He will, of course, not be elected. Heh. Uh, on an offnote I find the sudden relevance of past military service to be the stupidest thing I've ever heard. I don't really care if someone served in Vietnam or the number of medals they got. Your military record shouldn't be THAT big of an issue- yes, I can see how it would be relevant if you were in a command position, but this is simply being blown way out of proportion.[/color]

[QUOTE=Baron Samedi][size=1]Deathknight: You're making me blush, lol. Humanity isn't some kind of benelovent species which is out there to improve and aid everyone/everything else. Some people are trying to help, but the majority cruise along not caring, whilst select others blatantly ignore the signs. [/size][/QUOTE] [color=crimson][font=tahoma]No, I never said he was suddenly the holy crusader of justice suddenly- I was implying that it wasn't as dark as that. If you read it as a pro-human speech, I didn't mean it as such. But, there are now, since we've come to realize it, efforts going on to curb the damage we do to the environment. I quote myself- "Is it enough? I don't really know, this subject isn't my forte." and "But, of course, there is also the more negative path- which is, unfortunately, another possibility." Which it is- can we hope for otherwise? Yes. But, once again I quote myself- "Truth is stranger than fiction." =P I was seeking your "middle road". There were several people in this thread whose words were painting a picture of, as you said, extremes. That is what I was focusing on- not everyone in this thread is doing that, just a few. They are easy to spot. ^_~[/color][/font]

[color=crimson][font=tahoma]The pain was severe, but the Doctors removed the rogue piece of shrapnel with crude efficiency- painful, but effective. Ensis felt himself fading away- he was too weak to summon forth any form of white magic and his pouch of medical supplies lost, somewhere in this maze of debris and hastily built camp grounds. It was dark- but somewhere, someone was telling him to hold onto his strength. They explained that he was needed- even if for a mere few months longer- to live, to exist, to be. He agreed wholeheartedly- this was not the place he wanted to die. Not in this condition, not here, not now. "[i]I can't leave her.[/i]" But how could he save himself? Trying to think, he found his brain was still rather devoid of coherence, especially with the weak feeling across his body and his soul. It was foggy- hazy. But, this was too important to give up on- so thought he did. "[i]There must be a way.. no herbs, not enough strength for straight up conjuring. My staff! If it escaped destruction.. if not, then..[/i]" One item could aid his recovery immensely- if he could conjure his staff to his hands. With it, channeling magic was a much less taxing task on your body and your soul- both things that seemed to be wounded. It was his only hope to a speedy recovery- maybe even a recovery at all. With grim determination he began focusing his mind inwards, and calling forth his magical item- he immediately felt a response from somewhere nearby. "[i]Thank the Gods, it is intact![/i]" The staff twinged gently, hearing the call of it's master- and just as quickly, it had disappeared from view. It appeared on his stomach, bewildering the doctor's for a few moments until he gripped it firmly in his hands, feeling the familiar flow of natural energy around him. It had been so hard to feel in the last few minutes.. was he really that close to losing himself in the blackness of death? The room grew still for a moment as the silent trinkle of magic focused on the staff, collecting in and around it- a clearly visible wisp of white trailed out from the staff and into his wound, dissipating into all the gory corners of the deep injury. It took a few moments- but it was able to slowly rejuvenate itself, getting itself back together. It initially was quite painful to feel, as this wasn't the best healing spell to use for patient comfort- "[i]Might as well stay with the theme of crude, easy treatments..[/i]" He felt the pain fade- the wound was healed- he could not, however, make up in any way for the loss of blood he had already experienced. Only a couple of days would cure that- but at least he was somewhat mobile and very much so alive. He thanked the doctors for their help and slowly sat up, rubbing his forehead- he had made it. They had made it. From luck or otherwise, the would-be heroes had escaped total destruction at the hand of this curse. Maybe they had a chance at actually beating this thing. Smiling and emboldened with sudden optimism, he stood and got off the bed, using his staff to help him along in his weakened state. Stepping outside, the natural flow of the place strengthened him- even the spirits seemed relieved to see the young shaman. They lent him their aid as much as any good spirit could- and he appreciated their help- he needed it. However, there were not too many spirits around- barely any, infact.. He looked at the ship and the camp, looking over the situation- "Damn.. Kan's ship is critically damaged. That ship meant alot to him. I hope he didn't lose too many of his men." He looked towards Elda and Kan and started approaching them at a steady pace. The area was pretty devoid- both of plant life and natural energy. This.. curse, whatever it was. It was very potent to be affecting the very spirit of the land around the city and the spirits. It was worrisome to think about the power this Prince must have had, or might still have. His optimism weakened a bit, but he still held faith that there would be others, others like them- good Samaritans or heroes, whatever you want to call them. Together the talented residents of Laeth E'Thae must be more than a match for this. A bright light shone from the gate, interrupting his train of thought. It shot across the sky with surprising speed- the resulting fireball exploding rather largely, thankfully landing just off into the distance and away from the camp. "[i]There is only one person I know of who uses a weapon that can fire off something like that..[/i]" Kaze was no where around- not odd, but considering what he just witnessed.. "[i]What is going on around here?[/i]" He stopped, staring at the city gate- peering at it. Was Kaze in trouble? He quickly approached Kan and Elda, surprising both of them from behind..[/color][/font]

[color=crimson][font=tahoma]They are not a great band, really. If you think otherwise, hey- that's great. Alot of people think that.. and alot of people don't think that. To me they are typical band of today's pseudo-rock genre. You know, the Papa Roachish, KoRnish sound. Repetitive, angsty- and followed by diehard, rabid people that will assault you if you say that you don't like their band. But, you can't hate them- they are musicians and they do put forth effort to be as such. Just not my sound/style, you know. I prefer Black Sabbath, Deftones, Poison the Well, Soundgarden. Stuff like that.[/color][/font]

[color=crimson][font=tahoma]Hey, that's not too shabby. You have a nice flow to it and the emotion comes through pretty good. The only problem I see is one word error- through instead of threw. Aside from that minor problem there is nothing I can see wrong with it, really.[/color][/font]

[color=crimson][font=tahoma]I'm a pretty regular reader of the Yahoo! Oddly Enough section. I recommend people cruise there once and awhile. They have glimpses into human stupidity and otherwise alot of the time that makes you grin. Heh. Just on a more historical note, it's kind amusing that some of them are reading up on Hitler. Oh well. I wonder what the late fee would have been for that one from '77 if they had been forced to pay.[/color][/font]

[color=crimson]Which message will get them more viewers/readers/whatever? One of drama+chaos or one of tranquility+peace? Good news is refreshing, but more chaotic events are hard to miss. The whole can't take your eyes off a car wreck thing. I don't think anything really sinister is afoot in the general media, they are trying to capitalize on what will get people to watch- things outside the ordinary, things that will peak the common person's curiosity. Now, the Bush Administration's policy of being the town crier is something else entirely- I'm not too sure what to think of it. I'm sure they have relatively good intentions, but they are rather loud, aren't they? Ah well. At least the more enlightened know how things are really going.[/color]

[color=crimson][font=tahoma]One thing some of you people need to realize is that we didn't start jumping through our technology tree with the aim to decimate this planet in every way possible. As soon as our technology progressed to the point where the 'horrible destruction' of our mother planet was seriously evident on a large scale [that coupled with our ability to understand these things plus their ramifications becoming clearer], we started thinking, like the thinkers we are, and trying to find some way to slow it down- Help the planet out, the ol' team spirit- yeah? These sentences- the way you word them, you seem to be displaying humanity as some sort of sinister villain, seeking to blatantly destroy as often and as much as possible. Maybe you don't mean to, but it is really quite annoying. To me, it seemed inadvertent- we were still ignorant to the world as a whole not that long ago, in my opinion. Now that we can make a difference, we are doing our best to do so. Is it enough? I don't really know, this subject isn't my forte. I am, however, at least a little bit intelligent- my pseudo-genius [^_~] leads me to think that some of the people in this thread need to step back for a moment and think about how they are displaying their opinions. They make you seem ignorant- I hope you aren't, of course. But all I can act on is what you say and how your words show you as a person. If the world "ends" it won't be by any God, I hope. If it is by any God, I will find it rather amusing that the first modern, worldwide display of his existence will be to snuff portions of our population out based on his own opinion of how we should be. But, off the religious subject, man has power, yes- but does he have the utter stupidity to, sometime in the future, create either a chain of events, technology or weapon that will somehow destroy the actual, physical world? I hope not. Truth is stranger than fiction, though. The aspect of ending large chunks of life is possible. There are several ways that could happen, but I also am in the hope that the power of men will be used in combination with the intelligence of men. If something destroys life or the planet in large percentages or as a whole I have faith, perhaps blind faith, that it would be something that is out of men's hands. Not created by or accidentally done by men. We are still.. maturing, I suppose. That's my opinion. We have a chance to, hopefully, exist as long as we can exist until something grand and outside our power destroys this planet. But, of course, there is also the more negative path- which is, unfortunately, another possibility. I would like to think that someday men will spread into space, since this planet indeed has some form of lifespan in at least two aspects- resource wise and literally. Here's to the hope of a long future for our [horrible, demonic] race [of ravagers].[/color][/font]

[color=crimson][font=tahoma]I don't really remember all of my relatives. I must have at least a dozen, if not more. Hmm. I think you are aware of the main ones, some of the lesser known are my twin sister Amber and my little sister Britty. *taps chin* Of course, there are my darling daughters and my one son. [Mei, Lady Asph., Japan unt AJ if I remember correctly, might have more descendents]. Aside from that, well. Uh. I'll leave that to the respective relatives..[/color][/font]

[color=crimson][font=tahoma]I agree with Siren's idea, actually. I think it is more personal- what you believe, how you live. It all affects your eventual ending- it's almost logical, I suppose. It's is a waste of time to drone over it consistently, but I'm sure none of you do that. Personally I'm rather hoping and believing that there is some form of reincarnation. I would rather hate to only have this one trip to do everything I would wish to do. But, who knows. I'm still an agnostic- so, that flows into the other religious opinions. No way to know for sure- if you are faithful in it, that's fine. Your choice. I hope you get what you wish, as I am hoping I get what I wish. Let's hope silly-heads don't decimate this topic with a mix of ego and opinion.[/color][/font]

[color=crimson]I listen to rock, metal, classical and trance. Mainly the rock/metal part. Right now I'm pretty heavy into Poison the Well, Deftones, Soundgarden, At The Drive In and Opeth. I download stuff off of WIN MX and buy a pretty hefty load of CDs from FYE. Mix of both. I use MX to get singles/hear a new band mainly. I'm not really into downloading whole albums, lol.[/color]

[color=crimson]First of all your description of them makes whomever they are come off as naive. Any person who deems themselves too wise to listen to people based on their age, or someone else's age in comparison to their own, has immediately compromised whatever wisdom they have attained or think they have attained. You should try setting them straight, if you are so bold. If not, just realize that isn't the best path to take in your "journey" to being a wise old person. As for your family, I suppose you could keep waiting it out. How many options do you have though? If they are that unreasonable about listening to you and that obstinately opposed to changing their attitude to one that doesn't set you off so much, then what can you do? Family is as imperfect and, sometimes, dumb as any other human organization. It's the human element that makes it that way. Sometimes the human element makes it better, sometimes worse. Not your fault or anyone elses, really. Either way, I don't advise you to just run off. That doesn't cure any of your problems. That just leaves the possibility that they will crop up again sometime in the future, which is not the best of situations to land in. Anywho, the best to you and your relatives. I hope my advice was applicable to your situation. You were kind of vague- haha. Oh well, did my best. [/color]

[color=crimson][font=tahoma][b]Name[/b]: Arkadi Vasiliy Tarasov. 'Ark' to his friends. [b]Age[/b]: 28. [b]Sex[/b]: Male. [b]Appearance[/b]: The first thing you would notice about Ark is his height- he must reach about 6'8" in tallness, and is easily recognizable in a crowd just from this. He has a very light beard- more than likely due to either apathy or laziness, either is very much so possible. This matches well with his long, shaggy, black hair- it is just long enough to block out his green eyes and continues his unkept look. His skin color is white, as he is of Slavic descent. He is very.. healthy looking. Not necessarily a super-muscle man, but stalwart- he looks hearty and able bodied- ready to take on a challenge. He works out regularly to keep in shape/stay physically able and can probably outdo a good percentage of people around Ottawa in tests of physical stamina and strength. Being nearsighted, he is forced to wear thin-rimmed glasses constantly- it makes him look more educated, albeit a bit dorky. Aside from that, his usual attire is just a simple pair of loose jeans and a white t-shirt with a pair of black hiking boots for escapades out into the wild unknown. [b]Background[/b]: Arkadi's great-grandparents fled the start of the Russian Civil War from a port in the Ukraine, traveling trough the Mediterranean Sea into France. Across the channel to Great Britain they went, catching the first ship into the land of opportunities they could- right into the great U.S. of A. There, they settled down and started their new life- one away from the trials and tribulations of an ever-chaotic Europe. Fast-forward a few generations to August of 1976 and welcome Arkadi Vasiliy Tarasov into the world. As a child Arkadi was very intelligent, enjoying a good book more often than not. He devolped a keen liking to the field of architecture- taking great interest in the wondrous buildings that man had created over the years. Greath cathedrals, large skyscrapers- it all was so majestic and.. romantic, maybe. He enjoyed himself immensely, balancing more intellectual things like reading with his friends. His personality developed into a positive, outgoing one- and he progressed easily through the school system. Finally he was paid off with a degree in Architecture and he shared the success with whomever was left of his childhood friends- all was well with the young Ark, but there was still much to do. He had to squeeze his way into a firm, starting off a [thusfar] successful career that, eventually, allowed him a variety of personal freedoms. He was able to start his own architecture firm, and he moved it out into Ottawa- a seemingly pleasant city to live and work in. His firm helped design many of the homes, buildings and otherwise that residents in Ottawa live or work in, connecting him to many of the people in town. He buit an extensive network of acquaintances and friends just from this. Now he is satisfied and he plans to just keep on trucking- with a secret hope to find a significant other somewhere in the morass of individuals he knows. [b]Equipment[/b]: A small sketchbook he uses for business purposes and, sometimes, just random sketching of things he takes an interest in- be it architecture or otherwise. Of course, this would be useful without a mechanical pencil with a handy extra case of lead. [b]Miscellaneous[/b]: He is a very optimistic, easy going fellow who believes in charging headlong into anything life throws at you- his scars are for showing off, not lamenting. Also he has an unhealthy obsession with heavy metal and a fascination with various occult things- very superstitious, this one.[/color][/font]

[color=crimson][font=tahoma]i am in2 gramur & speling 2 it iz annoyign whn ppl dont spel thingz right >.< itz like "duhhhh!!!!11 wtf r u doin?!" & i feel smartur bcuz of my gramur & speling! mebbe like a techer or sumthin!!! o ya, i corect der gramur & speling when it iz wrong all da time i think dey like dat, hehe ^^'' *hums* Yes, quite. Hm... *eyes Baron* I enjoy "rubbish music". You know, the incredibly violent/heavy kind of rubbish-I don't think I listen to any other kinds of rubbish, but that stands to opinion, doesn't it? Aside from my rubbish I listen to [hard] rock, classical and trance- particularly the rock part. Soundgarden, Poison the Well, Opeth, Mastodon, Deftones and At The Drive In are the bands I frequently listen to. I like learning about history. Mainly post-Napoleonic history. This has caused a unhealthy obsession with guns, tanks and planes- particularly Russian tanks, American planes and WW2 Germany guns. Mmm. *strokes G43" I dabble into philosophy and physics- they seem to go hand in hand sometimes. I am no scholar on the subjects, but they intrigue me and I would adore the opportunity to delve into them further- I especially want to fully understand the quantum immortality theory. I love studying religions scientifically- especially modern, mainstream ones. I'm an agnostic and biased towards being anti-insertyourreligionhere, at least for now [it's immature, I'm trying to just retain an unbiased viewpoint of religion but personal things from my past make me have a slight hatred for religion]. Of course I watch anime- too much, maybe. I do the typical gaming too- mainly RPGs, TRPGs and strategy games. I do some twitch games sometimes, but I prefer to have a little bit of intellect with my pixels. Most of my money is sent into games, heh. Finally, I like to read. Anything, everything- sci fi, romance novels, non-fiction. Right now I'm reading "Nueromancer" by William Gibson. Good book. That's about it. Heh.[/color][/font]

[color=crimson][font=tahoma]Here in San Antonio, TX you don't have to search around too long to find a place with a 1.71/g rate or maybe a bit lower if you are patient. That isn't too bad compared to some of the prices in this thread. Ugh, some of these prices from around where you guys live seem pretty bad. Gas is, as you can imagine, usually pretty cheap here.[/color][/font]

[color=crimson]Kenneth had returned to his room after Charlie's questioning and gotten himself a glass of Dr. Pepper. He sipped it contentedly, fiddling with his flashlight as he did. "Oh yeah, this thing was out of juice, wasn't it?" Kenneth said as he set the glass down and got up, walking over the various piles of junk in the "living" room. He scrounged around a bit before finding a few specially created batteries off in a dresser. He popped the old ones out, carefully putting the new ones in- he flicked it on and off a few times. A bright beam of light flashed on and off. He slid it into his pocket and cracked his neck from side to side, feeling a bit fatigued. But no- there was still much to be done! He grinned and slid his goggles on, looking down at his baby- it was time to give it it's first test. He flicked the light off and nodded to himself- this was going to be great. He leaned down slowly towards the switch, getting closer and closer to it.. The suspense was killing him. But a somewhat distracting bright light flashed from outside, inundating his room in an unearthly glow of white and blue. Thankfully for Kenneth, his hi-tech goggles switched immediately to "sunglasses mode", keeping him from being blinded by the strange light. He craned his neck slowly towards the window, as the light disappeared as quickly as it came. "... Yeah, ok." He said, straightening himself up and slowly approaching the window. "What do we have out here, hmm?" He said, grabbing his Dr. Pepper as he went. "Whoa......." ANGELS WERE SINGING! And there were rainbows! Beautiful light poured out from the heavens in a fantastic display. He took a large drink from his Dr. Pepper, watching the light show from outside. It was a great sight to see, really beautiful- the rainbows were a great touch. The angel singing could have been a bit better, but hey- who's to complain? The show in the sky faded, much to Kenneth's disappointment, and a odd looking man hysterically ran towards the apartment- "Put him down!" the man[?] yelled. Confused, Kenneth leaned out of the window and peered down into the yard- Daisy stood there, holding up.. something. Daisy immediately dropped whatever she had been holding and... bit the guy?! Kenneth spit out his drink as the man let out a loud shriek. "Shit, I have to do somethi-".. he began to say. [b]KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK[/b]. "Err.." He jogged to the door and opened it. He stared quietly at an oddly colored emu standing there with am equally queer look in it's eye- it tilted it's head a few times, looking Kenneth over. "The blood hell are you?" Kenneth sipped his Dr. Pepper, having an air of confidence after dealing with the genetically mutated squirrels. This was no problem- what could an odd emu do? "Es gibt eine Frau, die mich jagt! Können Sie helfen?!"The emu said, breathing heavily. ".. Beg your pardon?" Kenneth said, noticing the small, barely noticeable antenna- "[i]Alien emus? And that weird guy outside? This is kinda sweet. Unless..[/i]" his train of thought trailed off to all the alien invasion movies he had seen. "[i].. argh, this better not be some sort of weird mass abduction.[/i]" The Emu shook it's head and thought for a moment. It muttered to itself a bit, before glancing at Kenneth's goggles. It pointed at them, "Ich mag Ihre Schutzbrillen," it commented. while nodding to itself. "Um, yeah. I speak English. Not German." Kenneth replied, while leaning back into his room from the German-speaking, alien emu. "Could you try speaking that language?" "Es gibt keine Zeit! Ich bitte um Ihre Hilfe, Schutzbrillemann!" It said, glancing in fear down the hallway. Kenneth leaned out and glanced down the hallway, seeing nothing at all. The Emu looked horrified and was practically in tears, "Fluch. Ich wu?te, da? ich zur Hochschule gegangen sein sollte. Dieser Job ist schrecklich." "Yeah, well. I dunno what to tell you, but I have a question for you, emu dude. You aren't abducting or invading us, are you??" "Wer erklärte Ihnen unserer Pläne? Ich muß Sie mit meinen leistungsfähigen Fähigkeiten kämpfen!" The emu leapt back and got in a martial arts pose, ready and willing to beat Kenneth in.The human arched his eyebrow and suddenly heard the sound of footsteps getting closer- coming up the stairs, at a very hurried pace. The Emu panicked, simply turning and running away as fast as he could down the hallway, away from the stairs. "Viel Zerstörung kommt!!!!" It yelled, warning the human of what was to come. "Yeah, too damn bad I don't speak German." Kenneth shook his head and went back to staring down towards the stairway, getting a bit nervous himself- who or what had the emu in such a panic? Was it some sort of large monster? Some demon? Mayhap more of his kind? He prepared to retreat into his room but.. he sighed as Protiva bounded over the top, hot on the trail of the alien emu. Sigh. "Have you seen an emu?! It was so cute!" She called out, "It lost me down at the second floor, but I'm positive it came up here!" "Yeah, uh." Kenneth said, shaking his head. "He's stuck down at the end of the hallway. So you are the fearsome creature it was afraid of, I should have known." Protiva grinned and honed in on the Emu. It finally resorted to kicking down a nearby door. It ran inside and glanced around in the dark, trying to find some way out- when out of nowhere it got tackle hugged. Kenneth grinned to himself as he listened to the mixed sound of a panicked Emu and a happy Protiva echo down the hallway. He sipped the last of his Dr. Pepper and waltzed back into his apartment, grabbing a bottle of Dr. Pepper- it was time to go help that guy[?] that Daisy had latched onto. He walked outside, glancing back to his brain child and sighing- "Soon, I will test you out. I promise." He headed downstairs, taking sips from his soda as he went.[/color]

[color=crimson][font=tahoma]I came here in Oct '01. Not as long as some, but still- I'm an oldbie. Some of the more interesting people I've ever met or had to say goodbye to were on these boards. Odd, really. My best/biggest memories initially start with the Padded Room Party. It was a psychotic spam-fest [emphasis on psychotic AND spam-fest]. It was good, not-so-clean fun and I made some of my first friends there. Hmm. The Silence and the Motion. The forgotten 'conspiracy' [haha]. It was this long-winded, above average RPG that several notable people participated in- Raiha, RicoTranzrig and Des, just to name a few. It was deleted for seemingly no reason at all [to my knowledge], and I think no one ever found out who deleted it. It was an amusing event, really. Just one of those weird things that happens. Big Brother 2 is a great memory. I became great friend with a couple of people from it and it was a fun romp. Plus, I won! How much better can something get? Well, it was actually [sort of] humorous for one. Pretty good, that. All of OB's events are pretty major when they happen- this one just involved me, so. ;) Laura's chat room that lasted way too long. How long did it last? Like a week or something? It kept going and going and going.. The aforementioned Kuja incident. I'm not too into kuja-bashing since he is always pretty nice to me on AIM, but that really was one of the more ridiculous moments that only this message board could create. What makes this place so interesting? The people. The wide range of people really. All bringing in their own style and opinions. From people like wristcutter and TN to people like Queen Asuka. Varied personalities- makes it more volatile, more interesting. More prone to create moments to remember. Eh, that was pretty long winded. Oh well.[/color][/font]

[color=crimson]Disorganized and demoralized, the squirrels looked frightfully to their leader- who was in a fevered stage of thought and planning. He raised his little squirrel hand and directed them to do their best to split in every direction possible. The dogs, cats and various armed humans and spiritual entities did their best to halt them, but the more agile, wilily squirrels were able to initiate some form of guerilla war- splitting the formerly well organized humans, dogs and spiritual entities into varying areas of the room to duke it out. Kenneth and a few animal counterparts were fighting a small contingent of squirrels on the stairs. He sliced two of them in two with the axe, but the others leaped out of the way of his attacks with ease. They started mocking him and the animals with the utmost of personal enjoyment. The dogs and cats seemed a bit distracted by the chaos going on all around them and seemed to be yearning for some sort of direction from Candy. Kenneth glanced back to see if he could get her, but she was busy with a few squirrels of her own. The squirrels were annoyed by his sudden lack of interest in them- who does he think he is?! They leaned down, getting ready to leap up there and 'wake' him back up with a new wound in his face. Before they could, a loud, roaring gunshot went off and the staircase the squirrels had been on was all but gone. Startled, Kenneth whipped back around. There was George standing and wielding a large, old gun. "Yes, this is quite amusing. No one should go without a good squirrel hunt for too long." George said, nodding proudly at his handiwork and starting the process of reloading the gun. "Don't you agree?" "Yeah.. I think this will be my last squirrel hunt for awhile, if you don't mind." Kenneth said, looking from George to Protiva. Protiva had a very intent look on her face- and had a very menacing sword to back it up. Her eyes traced the basement, her flashlight's shine following her eye movement. "Mr. Fuzzy *will* be avenged. Come on, Kenneth! Follow me!" She said with a mix of hyperactivity, vengeance and.. glee? She leaped through the air and right into the first conflict she saw. Kenneth sighed, resting the axe on his shoulder and followed. The squirrel fuhrer rubbed his forehead in desperation- they were still being slaughtered. What could a squirrel fuhrer do? He muttered something in squirrel, as a lone cat strode up quietly behind him, stealthily, cautiously. The fuhrer slammed his squirrel fist into his squirrel palm as he ranted to himself, making various outrageous points and opinions. Mr. Smokey the female cat struck the distracted fuhrer before he even realized he wasn't alone. Mr. Smokey purred to herself contentedly with her new prize.[/color]

[color=crimson]"You know that was rather resourceful, Candy." Kenneth said, nodding to her. She must have not heard him in the excitement of the slinky, as it trailed slowly down the 'stairs' the two had crafted. Sighing, Kenneth looked at his neighbors- and he sighed again. At least they had not been devoured to death by weird, intelligent squirrels. He started to pace, but was interrupted by a light crumpling sound that came from underneath his shoe. He leaned down and picked up a small, crudely drawn map of the apartment from a side and then a horizontal view. Several areas on the apartment were marked, including the kitchen and the stairwell. But, the most noticeable note was a large X right next to the first floors stairs with a arrow leading to some garbled language. Only if Kenneth could read squirrel- he would have known the words said "the big kahuna", marking the jackpot- the circuit breaker room. "What a weird little thing to draw. Which one of you drew this?" None of them had drawn it. Kenneth shrugged and pointed at the X on the paper- "Well, it shows there being some sort of basement next to the first floor stairs. Hey, let's check it out- since our broom closet theory failed, this *has* to be it. Otherwise, we're out of any sort of clue. What do you think? I mean, the squirrels and the-" "Would it fix the lights?" Daisy asked, tilting her head quizzically. Kenneth stared at her for a second, and sighed. ".. Yes, yes it would." "Then, like, let's go!" Candy exclaimed, with Daisy nodding cheerfully in agreement behind her. Even the slinky seemed to be excited. It was infectious to the point that Kenneth grinned and shook his head- "Fine," he said "- let's go." So, whomever/whatever wanted to join the little escapade to find the hidden room went slowly down the stairs, the memories of the squirrel attack causing them to go at a pretty cautious, slow pace. Kenneth shook his head, not liking following the lead from a random map written in some weird language. It was like they could be falling into some sort of weird, strategic squirrel trap. Deep in the depths of the basement, the squirrel fuhrer set with what was left of his army, prepared for a last ditch stand in the heavily-booby trapped basement..[/color]

[color=crimson]A few slinks on the slinky moved as a soft vibration went through the walls of the house, thunder rolling ominously outside. Kenneth's eyes traced up to the ceiling, darting about a bit- he was getting irritated at the noises, the lack of light- even the sound of the dark clouds pelting the window down the hall with rain. He glanced down to Daisy and suddenly remembered- Charlie! All this with.. Emelio, wasn't it? He had forgotten! His eyes opened wide for a second- how could he have done that? He snapped his fingers as he leaned down to her, noting her odd attire for the first time, but saying nothing. No time for that now.. "Hey, did you see Charlie at all? That was kinda my whole reason for being downstairs." He asked. "Nope. Only thing I saw was those cute, adorable and HORRIBLE little animals." She said, shaking her head. "Umm? Small.. little animals? Alright, that's interesting but.. only Charlie knows where the circuit breakers are in this place. Ugh. Is there a basement? I've never seen one..." He rambled on to himself, thinking out loud, before finally slumping onto the floor. "I guess we wait it out, huh?" "I guess so!" Daisy said with generous amount of cheerfulness. Kenneth shook his head- she was somewhat odd, but seemed to mean well. She poked the slinky a bit with her finger, pausing for a moment to see the reaction. Kenneth sighed and slumped down the wall, staring aimlessly. Suddenly, there was a loud [b]thump[/b] from upstairs. It was accompanied by a rather loud scream of fear and pain. Kenneth's eyes darted up to where it had come from with some shock in his eyes. "Ugh, that didn't sound good. You and I should go check it out. Maybe we can find the circuit breakers up there in that [b]broom closet[/b] that is up there- well, I think it's a closet." Kenneth tapped his chin a bit and shrugged, "Oh well. Either way, this will work out. Come on, Emelio should be alright, yeah?" Kenneth didn't mention his extreme irritation and nervousness about being back to it just being himself in this weird place in total darkness. He waited for an answer but was interrupted by a close by call- someone was calling out Daisy's name. "Eh?" Kenneth looked around, "Am I hearing things?"[/color]

[color=crimson][b]CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG.[/b] ... Kenneth wiped some sweat off his still-black brow and stepped back, looking over the small device. In a few minutes he had located the problem and corrected it- through several very odd, loud noises. It was perfect timing- he was curious as to what the noise was, and he needed a break. Maybe head down to the kitchen to make a light snack- he had worked on that thing through a couple of lunches, dinners and breakfasts. He dusted himself off a bit to be 'presentable' and reached up to turn his small ceiling fan light off. As he pulled the chain, *all* the lights in his apartment went off at once. Startled, Kenneth pulled the chain a few more times and got no response. Sighing, he stumbled his way into 'finding' his door- face first. Scrounging around nearby, he found his high-tech flashlight under a small pile of trash. He flicked it on a few times to test it and opened the door, shining it every which way. Placing the beam in his path, he whistled as he went down the third floor hallway, heading for the stairs. As he walked, he passed by a few odd looking doorways into rooms, including one that seemed to have the tatters of grass scattered up to it's doorway.. but by the various noises coming from inside he guessed they were dealing with the power problem in their own ways. Not wanting to disturb them, he sighed and decided to just head downstairs- maybe Charlie could tell him what was up. "Ugh, I was about to switch that puppy on too. The most important thing I've done in my free time sidelined by whatever this is.." He turned and his beam fell down the eerie looking stairway. Kenneth suddenly realized how quiet it was and was getting a bit freaked out. Quickly he jogged down the stairs, only stealing a glance down the second floor hallway- he paused and looked down it, seeing various corpses of squirrels. There was a long pause , a few blinks and several thoughts that came at once. "What the hell is this? How did these vermin get in here? Ugh, what fool.. nevermind, power. Power is the priority here." He jogged down the stairs and saw a young lady.. eh, a young man.. a person laying, not moving an inch. He approached and shook the person several times. "Hey! Hey you, are you alright? Ugh, were we attacked by squirrels?! Damn those rodents, they are attacking my apart-.. What the hell am I saying?!?!!" Kenneth got up and ran towards the kitchen to get an ice cold glass of water to bring the "guy" through back to consiousness. As he approached it, his flashlight blinked a few times on and off before shutting off completely- cursing, he struggled to find his way into the kitchen, feeling the soft breeze of air coming from one direction- "Did someone really leave a window open? Oh sheesh. If I could.." He groped around, trying to find the glassware. His hand landed on a hot pan- a still very, very hot pan. He whipped his hand back and let out a loud, booming string of curses- forgetting for a few minutes about the "guy" in the hallway..[/color]

[color=crimson]"I only have one more tenant to collect from. That is the best bit of news I've had all day." Charlie thought to himself as he approached the next and last door. This tenant was a seemingly reasonable fellow- a self described inventor and scientist, but every couple of weeks there seemed to be a mishap with one of his "inventions". Charlie hoped that maybe he would have a bit of luck, and that this collection would be uneventful in comparison to the other tenants he had interacted with that day. He raised his hand to knock when a high-pitched, mechanical whine started up from just inside the door. There was momentary cursing as the whining persisted, but silence soon fell. Charlie was about to shrug it off when the silence was shattered by a small "boom" that shook the door violently, nearly knocking it clear off it's hinges. Worried, he knocked loudly- "Mr. Howell? You alright?" he asked, waiting for a sign of life. The door whipped open and a plume of foul-smelling smoke poured out of the room and permeated into the hallway. Kenneth came out with a blackened face, clothes and goggles, coughing a bit. "Who the hell is it?" he asked, "Damn these dirty goggles and that bloody stupid machine." Kenneth brought a gloved finger up to his goggles and tried to wipe away the dirt- as it didn't work he sighed, noting the dust, dirt and oil coated on his gloves too. "No wonder. Hold on a second, whoever the hell you are." He removed his goggles, revealing the only clean place left on him, and let them drop around his neck. "Ah, Charlie! I'd ask you to come in but uh," he glanced back, "Welp. You know. That uh, yeah. Making scientific progress you know, hahaha-ck!" He coughed as he inhaled mouthfuls of the smoke, "what-.. are you doing.. here?" "I'm- agh." Charlie coughed a bit and managed to clear his throat enough to say one word- "rent." "Already, huh? Well hell, if I can see in this room of mine, it's yours. Uno momento, por favor!" Kenneth slinked backwards into the heavy smoke, disappearing from view. He whistled a bit as he tried to wave away the smoke, trying to locate the the funds. Overturning various large textbooks, electronic/metallic debris and just general hunks of trash, he found a small envelope labelled "RENT". He checked the contents inside- all was clear. He rushed back to the front door to the uncomfortable-looking Charlie and placed the envelope on top of the collection bucket. "You look like you are having trouble with that bucket, Charlie- haha, you got 400 quarters in there or something? Ah, well. That should be enough for the month, yeah." Charlie nodded, and was about to say his goodbyes when the high pitched whine started up again. Kenneth's eyes widened significantly as he glanced behind him, the whine getting ever louder. "I thought the thing blew up! Damn." He said, rubbing his pitch black chin with his gloved hand. "What is that?!" Charlie asked, shifting to the side to peer into the room, but seeing only smoke. "Just the sound of progress, I assure you! That sound is completely normal. Well, I'll be seeing you later so.." Kenneth was interrupted as the sound of the whine transferred into a loud clanking noise- it could be best described as a "something is screwed up" noise. The inventor fidgeted a bit, and glanced back towards Charlie. "Hey, listen- if we're done here I think I should go turn that machine *off* before it. It. You know, uh. Wastes more.. power." His eyes glanced to the side briefly, as the clanking noise worsened. "Sure, you.. go take care of that." "Thankyoubye!" Kenneth said, flying back into his room. He didn't even bother to shut the door, racing to shut the machine off before it.. wasted more power. With a sigh of relief the clanking sound slowly faded off into silence, leaving him in his now-wasteland of a room. "What a damn mess.. and infront of the landlord too. What went wrong, hmn.." Charlie was long gone by this time, happily leaving the smoke and "power wasting" machinations of Kenneth behind him.[/color]

[color=crimson][font=tahoma]I don't find it to be entirely absurd, based on the stereotypes Christianity has today of being rather intolerant. That might not be too fair since, well- there are good Christians right here on this board. Hell, in this thread even- Dan and Tori are good examples. [ You know, I find it ironic most of the arrogance is coming from non-Christians in this thread when we are sometimes discussing the dysfunctions of Christians.] I can understand your plight in a way. Not to tell another mundane, sad life story but I think you should at least know why I say that. I used to be a Jehovah's Witness. They are pretty hardline Christians, maybe even to the point of being considered extremists- nothing against extremists, *cough*. Recently I have slipped into ignosticism [A form of agnostic, that might not make me the most "enlightened" person here, but uh- that's a matter of opinion.] To JW's such faltering would make me an apostate [tada] and would open me to being kicked out of the religion, which would put a heavy strain on my parents since communication with disfellowshipped people is pretty forbidden. So, instead of being shunned by friends it would be my adopted family. Already things have kinda dulled conversation wise- like they avoid talking to me about intellectual things. I also get the vibe they think this is some sort of "phase", too. Maybe it is- oh well, you get the idea. So I can feel for you. Maybe it is something that shouldn't be tolerated, but it seems to occur alot with more hm. More 'occult'ish religions frequently. But, still.. absurd? Could be. But you should expect it, unfortunately. I'm off to more placid topics.[/color][/font]

[color=crimson][b]Name[/b]: Kenneth Andrew Howell. [b]Gender[/b]: Very much so male. [b]Age[/b]: 21. [b]Description[/b]: He is a tall [6'5] Anglo-Mexican-Indian-black person that has a predominately "white" look to him from his dominant Anglo blood- but hints from his Mexican heritage linger in his hair and other features. He has black, shaggy, wild hair that covers his eyes and barely touches his neck. He usually has a light beard- continuing his generally "lazy" look. He wears an assortment of tshirts and jeans and always has a pair of scientific looking goggles around his neck. [b]Biography[/b]: Born in 1988 in the Methodist Hospital of San Antonio, Kenneth grew up in a very disastrous atmosphere at first. He was abused as a child by his step father, often in defense of his sister, but due to this circumstances he was eventually 'saved' by the state's Child Protection Agency and taken to his grandparents house- his sister being taken somewhere else. Growing up in his grandparents house was a bit better- they argued verbally alot, going to opposing rooms and leaving him alone. He often read books, or played computer games- showing a strong desire to learn and often an unquenched appetite when he did get his hands on information. Over the years he acquired a strange charismatic personality, with some morbid dark undertones- as I said, strange. Graduating from high school with top marks, he entered collage and aced several scientific courses, catching the eye of several high level government sources. Contacting him, he learned of their intentions to use him to develop some.. high grade weaponry for use in the army and other areas where the government needed some "ideas from new blood". Agreeing, he signed a contract with his eyes focused mainly on being provided equipment and a monetary payment- needless to say, it was a large sum of dolares. But, he missed the part where he signed the government the power to "choose a low key, out of place location" to "distract attention away from Mr. Howell's.. work" from "the media and foreign agencies". Given an address, a key and a house warming gift of government denero, Kenneth was dismayed when he arrived at the apartment complex. Entering his room, he found it to be unassuming on the outside- but loaded with 'goodies' on the inside. Getting to work, he found that he was left with tons of free time and money from the 'easy'-to-do projects the government gave him.. thusly the odd creations and experiments began in Mr. Howell's unassuming room. [b]Reason For Moving In[/b]: Didn't have a choice in the matter. [b]Idiosyncracies[/b]: He has a strange aura of charisma that is somewhere near insanity. The main quirk is how he displays this insanity, with his wide range of emotions, into his works- from crazy, killing machines to benign new lifeforms. A very odd room, his.[/color]