Weekends - improbable due to church / family activities
Power Posting - available upon request / proper scheduling
Delays usually mean that I'm either tirelessly working, emotionally drained, or have just forgotten about your thread (it happens). Please send a kind Private Message my way. Do not TTT any thread. It is a tad annoying.
Please be aware that I have several quirks and tendencies that will probably never go away so long as I live. The better you know me, the less you'll misunderstand me.
1. I am definitely not a very straightforward person. I love making plots on whim and will adjust anything I moderate to the current decisions your character makes.
2. I like to see myself as a rather well versed Jaedaxian moderator. I coordinated well with the first GMs of Jaedaxia and was present for most of its In-Character history.
3. Most people seem to think that I'm Arcanically inclined. I will gladly moderate Arcana threads and have done several Level 4 and Level 5 training threads.
4. I am a firm believer that Aelyria should be enjoyable and I reward as much as I can. I do, however, hold fast to the basic guidelines of Risk vs. Reward. As I frequently tell PCs, "With much glory comes many painful wounds and things."
5. I do not tolerate any form of cheating. Any mistreatment of other players or mods will result in an Infraction, or points against your account.
6. I understand that combat is very risky and misunderstandings between PC and Mod can translate to literally life, maiming, and/or death. So if you feel that I have misinterpreted your post, tell me!
7. While I am wizened in the ways of the Force (not), I am still human and I do not know every single Lore, Skill, and Historical fact by heart. I am always open to your corrections.
8. Inspire me! Mods are writers, too, and we use the energy of your posts to respond. If you make a crappy reply, expect a crappy delay.
9. I make a serious effort to keep up with my PC(s) as well. So if you see me as my character, please do not harass me to post on my mod account.
10. If you do anything stupid, I will destroy your soul. Okay?
Dislikes: Inner-monologues and one-dimensional, goal-less PCs.
Momentum: if you put the effort into our thread, make it engaging, and interesting for me as your moderator, I almost guarantee that it will get responded to immediately. Writing together uses energy. If you provide extra momentum, I'll provide extra moderation.
Final Notes: If I haven't posted in a couple of days, then poke me. I'm easily pressured into doing things. And I like the pressure.
Now if we're in a thread with multiple PCs, I try to post once per week regardless of who has posted. This keeps the thread running and puts some good pressure in those who are procrastinating. If you have RL issues, etc, worry not. You can usually jump in whenever you return and we'll catch you up one way or another!
.
__________________
Thank you for voting Jaedaxia for Best City 2009!
Last edited by Crimson; April 5, 2010 at 10:49 PM.
Reason: Updates!
- Midterms in one week.
- allergies kicking in.
- feel free to PM me in regards to
1. adventure ideas.
2. peer moderation approvals / stamps
3. self moderation approvals.
4. Nexus Prime stuffs.
Secrets :
Timestamp: The First Cycle of Immanis (2nd Month) of Winter. Era I of the Celestine Mandate, Era XV Post Fractum.
JAEDAXIA -- Though mostly unknown to mainlanders, a herd of Zaratan -- gigantic sea turtles -- have often lived peacefully along the edges of the Trident Isle, migrating occasionally between different isles in Telath. These peaceful behemoths are perhaps thousands of eras old and are large enough to be mistaken for islands. Upon closer inspection, however, these massive creatures are indeed living, breathing, swimming turtles that spend their lives on the surface, floating effortlessly while passively feeding on underwater plants, schools of fish and shrimp. Fishermen are always delighted to find these water giants as they are considered good omens.
For countless generations these majestic creatures have dwelled peacefully with the people of the mainland and surrounding islands -- until this brightening.
An small tremor shook the city of Jaedaxia and the seas seemed to ripple, causing boats to bobble uncomfortably over the suddenly shifting ocean. Fortunately, no one was hurt and no structural damage was reported. News came in quickly that a team of fishermen claimed to see a 'mountain crash into the Jaedaxian Penninsula' moments before the mysterious tremor. The Protectorat was keen to investigate. When they arrived, they found a Zaratan, wounded, laying on the shores just north of the city gates. A candlemark later, the giant sea turtle was dead despite healers' attempts.
Experts agreed that the beached Zaratan was a youngling as no fully grown giant could have crashed into the mainland without causing major damage to the surrounding areas. But the good news ended there. After an initial inspection of the dead Zaratan, officials concluded that the wounds were now caused by natural predators nor a freak accident. Firstly, Zaratans had no natural predators. They were, by far, the largest water surface creatures on Telath. Second, the multiple wounds indicated deep, slashing motions -- akin to harpoons used in the whaling industry, except much larger.
"This is a horrific, cowardly attack", a spokesperson for the team of experts, Madamoiselle Corsonne de Jaeson, said in an interview with the Libertas Sentinel Newspaper, "anyone who hunts such peaceful creatures should be ashamed. There is nothing to gain by killing any one of these sea turtles, nothing at all. They act as buffers against the fiercest storms, shelter sailors lost at sea. They are guardians of the Trident Isle, and of Jaedaxia."
But rumors started to flutter after the incident. Rumors about treasure and a legend. One local, an notable man by the name of Craig Listoire, a veteran whaling captain disagrees with the experts on several counts.
"Ze Zaratan, oui, zey are magical creatures, born from ze deepest depths of ze ocean, only to rise and live an almost eternal life basking on the waves, under ze Suns. But", he pointed out after the poetic prelude, "zere is much to gain in killing one. If you can kill one. Or two! Legends says zhat Zaratan are peaceful giants, oui, but are more shrewed than zey are slow. How do you think zhey live so long? By laying there in ze sea? How do zhey hunt? How do zhey eat? Ze secret is inside them. They are like floating, island-sized oysters! Filled with pearls and unimaginable treasures! But ze greatest treasure is the Zaratan's heart! Oui! It holds the power to give one wish, any wish, to ze mortal zhat captures it!"
At this point, Jaedaxia has passed several measures to protect the remaining herd near the Trident Isle. Jaedaxia's local population reportedly heard a mournful yet melodious song rising from the ocean that brightening the young Zaratan died. Fishermen and whalers returned to port at a loss -- the sea seemed empty the entire brightening! When the Libertas Sentinel Newspaper staff asked the Protectorat and the experts if the young Zaratan anatomy held any signs of treasure, we were given no comment.
OOC: A New Quest is Upon Us! Remember to Timestamp your threads
Protectorat PCs: Please report to duty at Headquarters.
Local PCs: You may post a thread with the [Quest] sticker indicating your response and goals in regards to the news.
A city is more than just the buildings and the streets and the numbers that comprise it. A city is more than just a point on a map, or its physical setting in the world. A city is its inhabitants, the people who live in that artificial environment. The people are the cause for the structures and the buildings, for the language heard filtering up from the streets and marketplaces scattered throughout the city, for the customs and culture practiced in the city, for the numbers and demographics and economy of the city. A city does not exist because of natural resources nearby, or because it was constructed by an emperor. A city exists because of the people that dwell in it. The city is the people that live, work, and die within its buildings and on its streets. A city is the synthesis of its people and its physical existence, the result of all the abstract things that the people create, like language and culture, and the concrete things that the people create, the structures and monuments and cityscapes.
With that in mind, Jaedaxia was both changed and unchanged.
The physical setting, the buildings, the streets, the geography were all unchanged. They stood as they had for centuries, some more centuries than others. A few were only decades or eras old, while others were rumoured to have been there before the city was founded, such as Château Mavloix. Nothing had changed about these buildings in the past era, the past tumultuous era in which the Kingdom of Jaedaxia collapsed, the city surrendered, and the Second Imperial Legion commenced its occupation. The spires, towers, and castles still pierced the firmament, dominating the skyline, breaking out from the seas of uniform blocks of apartment complexes and rows upon rows of houses, all of it stone. Tree-lined, cobbled thoroughfares were laid straight through the wending, twisting, narrow avenues that formed circles and odd angles with other streets and alleys. Druidism kept the trees that lined these beautiful causeways and pulchritudinous roads verdant, their leafy green tops breaking the monotony of the relentless Everwinter’s ivory snow. There was the vast, spacious green forest in the midst of la Quartier du Sud as well. Breaking the lush canopy was the grandiloquent gilded dome of the Cathedral of Carmelya. Other grandiose structures as well brought vibrancy and majesty to the city, such as the three theatres in Theatre Square, the three castles, Mavloix, Valerian, and Imperiale throughout the southern quarter, the many green parks, the abandoned Richelieu de Mer palace, and the brobdingnagian campus and buildings of the Socrates de Ambergois University.
Jaedaxia was a city of green, gold, grey, and white. Its tree-lined boulevards and druidic-ensorcelled forests brought emerald to the city, and the gilt of the Cathedral’s dome and crowning the spires of towers, churches, and castles brought gold to the city. The stones that comprised the houses, shops, and manors were all of grey and black, the quarried flesh of Telath crafted into structures utilized by the people. Most ubiquitous in Jaedaxia, though, was white. Still captured in the arcane Everwinter, snow blanketed the city permanently, cloaking it in pristine ivory and alabaster, disguising the blemishes of war, coating the scarlet blood stains that ran from the guillotine and dripped off of blades every brightening. With the snow, winter’s cold was likewise maintained, biting the skin of the Jaedaxians all era long.
A more dreadful, depressing thing plagued the Jaedaxian people than the Everwinter, though. The first anniversary of the Kingdom of Jaedaxia’s cessation was approaching, and the people were only more miserable for it. They remained beset by poverty, starvation, and disease. The Feeble Pox cure had not yet been delivered to Jaedaxia, and thus it still broke out sporadically, devastating families and hammering already broken hearts with the suffering deaths of loved ones.
Trade had not yet resumed in earnest, either. After an era with both of the freeport’s harbours blockaded by the Trillian and Imperial Navies, the many ships that had once stopped over in Jaedaxia while going from the north coast to the east or vice versa, and the companies that had utilized the city as a trade depot, had all gone to Tirisfal and Archadoon. They were now reluctant to return to their harbours. Only a few had, and it was scant enough to revitalize the failing Jaedaxian economy.
Half of the potential workforce of the city remained unemployed. This was a great improvement from the two-thirds that had been without jobs at the peak of the depression, immediately following the surrender of the kingdom and the beginning of the occupation. Nevertheless, it still left the city reeling in poverty. The blockade had effectively destroyed the export industries, such as the vodka and wine, ambergris and perfume, goat meat, and peat industries, and with them a quarter of the city’s jobs. They were slow to recover. The economy was severely depressed. Wages were terribly deflated, with most people still with jobs earning five times less than they had during the city’s peak in prosperity, during which it had enjoyed salaries far above the Aelyrian average. Now it had possibly the cheapest labour in the Empire. Local goods and products were priced accordingly, yet imports remained exorbitant. Their prices retained what they had been purchased at from the rest of the Empire, and most was far beyond the means of the Jaedaxians – and this included food, even the most basic of staples such as bread.
Thus the rampant starvation that beset the people. Each brightening a few more died due to malnutrition. About half of all the city’s food came from the Church of the Faith. Carmelyn was rich in food, and Diana and the Church of the Faith wealthy in gold, and in an effort to contend with the spread of Borthanism and out of religious compassion, it sent frequent deliveries of food to feed the people of the city, and as well a handful of healers to bring basic healthcare to the people who could not afford it – which was most. These deliveries were frequently late and not always adequate, but they came nonetheless, and the people relied on them. The rest of the food was purchased by the slim margin of people that were able to afford it, and from the northern peninsula, where rice and potatoes were grown, and the Trident Isle, were grain and some vegetables were also grown at prices that matched the deflated Jaedaxia economy.
The city was palpable with an atmosphere of grim depression, of shared melancholy and grief, of mourning over the dead and the loss of their sovereignty, and of resentment toward the occupying Imperial Legion and the Aelyrian Empire as a whole.
Yet the Jaedaxian people were a persevering race. They survived the harsh bitter cold that ravaged the northlands much of the era naturally, and now the Everwinter. They had prospered in the barbaric northlands, they had lived through the reign of MGanzi Hal and the siege of Port Defiance, and they had endured through the five centuries of civil, urban strife that had followed and caused the city’s quarantine. Now they would survive the occupation, the poverty, and the plague.
There was an invisible movement in the city, a movement amongst the minds and the hearts of the people. It was a defiant pride in their culture and customs, epitomized by their unique language. A cultural resurgence was blossoming in the city, despite the poverty, the grief, and the misery, a rejection of Aelyrian and Imperial culture, resisting the ominous Empire in whatever means still at their disposal. They perceived that their sovereignty could still be theirs through their culture, if nothing else. Although the peasants were indebted and many penniless and unemployed, the bourgeoisie bankrupt and clinging to their status, and the aristocracy (with only a few exceptions, such as the house of the Count de Bourbauge) was likewise reeling from exhausted coffers, the arts and culture still flourished in the city. The people were willing to sacrifice for the survival of Jaedaxian culture.
Actors put on free, public plays, while the theatres slashed regular seat prices. Minstrels and bards frequented more pubs and cafés to play for meals and drinks, while others merely loitered in the chilly streets and played for whatever coins were to be spared, which were few, yet they did not complain even if they received none. Poets were become pervasive, ever seen roaming the parks or sitting admiring streets and cityscapes. The poets and the authors still wrote prolifically, and the scribes and the publishers printed and copied their works in abundance for mere pittances. Playwrights worked by candlelight in taverns and pubs, for candles were beyond their means, but they continued to write regardless. The bookshops and libraries of the cities overflowed with new works, with poems, essays, and fictions. Oral storytellers wove tales of Jaedaxian folklore, such as the Lirana de Fol and the legendary early histories of the peninsula from before the founding of Jaedaxia to children and interested audiences in pubs. Painters and sculptors still found inspiration in their environs and in their dreams, and they still poured that inspiration onto their canvases, or into the clay, or stone, or ivory, or ice they worked with, and their pieces were displayed for all to see in Château Mavloix. The museum and art gallery, most prestigious and most expansive in all the empire, had dropped its admittance charge, permitting anyone in for free.
The Jaedaxian people cared more for the prospering of their culture than for their own pockets. Greed and corruption ran rife through the population, and in poverty the want for money was never greater. Nevertheless, they gave, without thought or reluctance, whatever it was necessary to help their culture survive through these disparaging times.
Credits to former GM Wynd. Modifications by GM Crimson.
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Thank you for voting Jaedaxia for Best City 2009!
Last edited by Crimson; December 12, 2009 at 02:30 PM.
Reason: storing old write-ups
Update:
- midterms on thurs and friday.
- please be patient But I probably will post normal speed
- currently plotting Winter quest with Heartbreaker. Stay tuned for something large and amazingly magical in the water!
- Looking for AGMs for Jaedaxia: if you have been playing for at least 3 months consecutively and wish to moderate, please PM either me or Heartbreaker for more information. Plus: knows simple french
- Those who participated in the Vampire Quest, thank you for the fun times! The end is near! Will you live to see the Suns Rise?
Update:
- got back from Sacramento around midnight last night
- spent time with the fam today.
- tired and stressing about test TOMORROW and THURSDAY
+ papers due:
* music term paper
* anthro critical response paper
- presentation for socio due on 22nd.
- powerpoint read with notes!
- post for PCs.
- post for Vamp Quest
- post for training
" All that I'm after is a life full of laughter...As long as I'm laughin' with you...I'm thinkin' that all that still matters is love ever after...After the life we've been through...'Cause I know there's no life after you "
Going for lunch Be back in 1-2 hours for more Power Posting!
Secrets :
After each answer, the Scions either grumbled as if deep in thought, or nodded at the Elf Lord's response. Heronythys remained silent, however, but fixed his bronze eyes at the Master Elementalist before the Council as if reading Erenthril's thoughts and searching for deeper meaning behind his words. The pair of Icrean Dragon-Snakes spoke first.
"The choicssssse to sssssave many for the pricssssse of one is a tragic one to make-sssss", they hissed, "but to sssssacrificssssse onesssssself for both the many and the one you love isssss the greatest act of devotion-ssss."
Suddenly, both massive creatures launched themselves into the sky and their Material shells erupted into a monstrous storm. The air picked up speed with ungodly haste, almost throwing the Elf Lord off his platform of Hard Air. For a moment, Erenthril was sure -- mostly because of his Dual Vision -- that the greatest blizzard the Hinterlands would ever experience was about to unfold. Then the sky overhead, still crackling and booming with lightning and thunder suddenly swirled and glowed a deep, mesmerizing blue. And from that light, Erenthril saw, no felt, the creation of something power.
It looked a spell from Eren's unique view of the Material Plane and its interaction with Arcana. But then, as the weaves continued to criss-cross and produce a myriad of unbelievable patterns, Eren realized that something was indeed coming, as if being born by the sacrifice of the Water Elemental Scions' departure.
It was a blue diamond, as large as a man's head but a hundred times more beautiful. It emerged from the sky, falling as softly as snowfall on a winter morn. The piece landed after a few moments at a point between Heronythys and Erenthril.
Suddenly, the twin Sons of Fire spoke.
"To wage war is the burden of all nations, of all races, mortal or immortal", they barked, "but to ally oneself to what is honorable, to what is good, to what is righteous is a rare and true act of service to all."
Then, like their Water-Ice counterparts, the two fiery Scions of Flames threw themselves upwards from the marble pillar they once stood on and produced an ear-shattering explosion, producing so much light that Erenthril felt as if he was thrown toward both Suns of Telath simultaneously. And by the time the Elf Lord recovered from the shock, a brilliant and equally large ruby was descending from the heavens, only to join the blue diamond.
"To take by force is to steal ...", the Ladies of Air continued in their meadow-soft voice, "and the opposite of taking is generousity. May you give yourself as freely as we have freely given unto you ..."
With that, the Scions' immense ethereal forms produced a gentle breeze, lowering themselves gently to the grass where Erenthril, Helen, and the Golden One stood. Smiling, they each reached out with their slender arms as hoping to touch Eren. Instead, a stream of golden thread forged from countless streams of perfectly syncronized lightning, flowed from their graceful forms. With a nod, their material shells was cast back to their Plane but not without leaving behind what appeared to be a golden pearl. It was a perfect sphere and while its exterior sparkled and sizzled like lightning, Eren saw that inside the head-sized sphere was an endlessly shifting mass of clouds.
Finally, it was the Titan of Earth's turn to speak.
"Where there is balance", the Titan began, "there can be harmony. Strive for this always and you will never stray from the path of the Elements."
Friday:
- cleared up DMV stuffs. Took almost three hours YAY FOR INEFFICIENT PLACES!
- Biblestudy / activity night at the park in Anaheim
- got home a little too late
Saturday:
- researched for anthro paper
- got inspired and stuffs
- went with dad grocery shopping, run errands
Sunday:
- church; led worship service
- meeting for EPIC (for June events)
- fun with the fam
Monday:
- first year anniversary with girlfriend YAY!
- went to beach; lots of fun.
- begin writing anthro paper
- went to meet lawyers with dad (immigration stuffs)
Tuesday:
- writing anthro paper
- occasionally sneaking into Aelyria for random posts
- sorry for delays!
Know you're super busy in RL, IC, and modding. Just wanted to say thanks for your deidcation and your great modding. You give everyone the same quality and speedy replies to help keep our games going on top of everything you have to do for yourself ... and I think we all appreciate it.
__________________
Thanks to Iseult Fleursdotter for the banner
The vision that you glorify in your mind, the ideal that you enthrone in your heart - this you will build your life by, and this you will become.
Saturday
- drive mom to church; rest, hang out, chill
- MAYBE write my music paper
- MAYBE write my socio paper, too.
- guitaring, jammin with the fam, karoke-ing; etc.
Sunday
- church.
- prepare for drive back to LA.
Monday (june 2)
- drive to Anaheim to pick up check
- pay for parking ticket
- write more papers
Tuesday
- music paper due
- study for finals (music, socio, anthro)
Wed
- finish socio paper
- study, ready, study
Thursday
- music paper #4 due
- read read read, study read read read
![[GM Station] The Crimson Express ~](http://cdn.aelyria.com/forums/iconimages/carmelyn-realmcraft/gm-station-crimson-express_ltr.gif)
[GM Station] The Crimson Express ~
Linear Mode
