Katzaniel

* Wails. * Why is (nearly) everyone ignoring the fact that the question clearly states "Who would win in a fight?"? We should have a second thread for the whole "Which would you rather be?" thing.

Horace dashes in with utensils in each hand and brown sugar all over an apron. Ketchup clings to her hair and her foot is wedged in a cheese shredder. "Making Lemon Chicken Breasts for my date tonight," she murmurs apologetically, then grins and shouts, "Twenty-four!" before hopping out of the room.

Instructions The item: Do I have 10?

Instructions The item: Do I have 10?

Instructions The item: Do I have 10?

Vote closed. 6 to 5 for Choice #1. Whew, that was nearly a tie... The authors were: 1 - Tanuchan 2 - Zariah 3 - Wyvern 4 - Wrenwind 5 - Orlan Thank you, all! That means that when I start the auctions in a moment, we will be fighting for the item that Tanuchan described, and that she will get the geld for which it sells.

Reddens as she realizes she's messed up again. Apparently I didn't set an end-time. I'll set it ~ 2 days from the first post, and ~ 1 day from this one. By then I imagine we'll be ready to start the three auctions. Cheerio!

You guys are all missing an important question. Is this fight on land or sea?

To make a long story short, I screwed up in the first vote. Please vote again between these two choices (or vote for the first time, as the case may be). Choice #1 The Silvered Sapphire Tear was given its name due to the spidery silver frame that supports the tear-shaped sapphire. The silver lattice is in itself an unvaluable piece of art, as its tiny strands are woven into a delicate lacework that gives just the right setting for the pure jewel that rests at its center. An equally delicate chain emerges from the silver lattice, so that the jewel can be worn around the neck. The blue jewel sparkles in the presence of any kind of light, even the weakest of them, seeming to drink it and send it back magnified. The bluish light it thus reflects is, however, of a strangely soft quality, and penetrates even the darkest places. The darker it is, the brighter it seems, and the bigger the halo of light around it. The detailed story of the jewel is lost in legends, but it is known that it was the result of the love between two half-sisters. The oldest, fairest of their family, skilled in metal magic. The youngest, darker of skin and hair, skilled in elemental magic. Their fathers had been of different races, both of them skilled mages. Their mother was an elf, with the wisdom of the ages in her eyes and the love of nature in her smile. The sisters loved each other dearly, and no one would be seen far from the other from the day the youngest was born. Many thought they were twins, in spite of their different heritage. Theirs was a warrior clan, and inevitably war came. As the day neared when they would join their assigned warriors as their mage-priestesses, the sisters worked to create two jewels that would keep their hearts near. The Silvered Sapphire Tear was woven with water magic and its framing silver lattice created with metal magic. The Amethyst Snowflake was woven with metal magic and its myriad of tiny amethysts immersed in earth magic. The fate of the Amethyst Snowflake is unknown, but the Silvered Sapphire Tear survived and was treasured by the children and the children of the children of the sisters. The soft blue glow of the reflected light soothes the heart and gives the spirit a strength and perseverance like that of water working against stone. And the silver latticework shines with a light of its own that mingles with the jewel's in the presence of the Spirits of Darkness, revealing their presence to the wearer's mind and strengthening heart and mind to face them. Choice #5 The Moon sits ever lonely in the night sky. Her moods are shown for all to see. She grows from a bright and lovely shining beacon to a barely perceptible outline, hidden in the darkness. She moves across the sky, chasing her lover the Sun for all eternity. There are times when the two lovers cross paths, and the Sun shines his light only unto his love, the Moon. This is a joyous occasion for the Moon and she takes it to heart, for it is all that gets her through the worst times, when she is furthest from her love. The “separation” period last only a short while, but in this timeless moment they two lovers cannot see each other. The Moon, at a loss for her love, cries down upon the land below her, her tears becoming silver sapphires. If one catches one of these tears, and breaks it in two the two halves will always know where the other is. Thus this Silvered Sapphire Tear is a treasure sought after by all lovers throughout the land.

Alright, voting closed at 6:2:2:2:2. What I'm going to do is hold another vote. If I hold it with all five and get drastically different results, I just don't know what I'd do, so I'm going to save myself that worry and hold one with Choice #1 (who got the most votes) and Choice #5 (which I missed earlier). Yes, this poll has been up for a lot longer than it was supposed to be, but there weren't very many (1, maybe 2) votes in that time, and it was never officially extended (I've been busy), plus a lot of people probably did not ever realize their was a mistake (since the thing turns bright green whenever there's been a vote added). Anyway, another vote with just 1 and 5.

I realize now that this won't prove anything either. ICQ warns me before I click uninstall that I should write down my ICQ number in case I want to reinstall it at some point. Which means it'll very likely keep my contacts too, somewhere in their database. (I can't blame them, unnecessarily deleting data is wasteful!) I don't know that they won't all do that. So, since I have installed as many of the messengers as I could get my hands on in order to conduct my QQ interviews, I regret to say that I can't help much on this occassion. But it's looking more and more like, if you do have to uninstall it, you will retain your contacts. I recommend at the least that you take a screenshot of the contact list so that you'll know who you need to put back on, in case the worst should happen. (That's the Print Scrn button, usually near the top-right, above the insert/home/etc. buttons. Then open up Paintbrush and hit Ctrl-V. Then save it.)

Ahem. A bright-faced Katzaniel walks up to face the crowd. Fiddling with her tooth necklace awkwardly, she makes a slight cough into the microphone, and when everyone turns to look, her cheeks flare even redder. I... um... there were five submissions. No wonder I got confused. But the fifth one, for some reason or another, did not get put in the same place as the other four (OOC translation, I've got a Guild mailbox that I'd been putting the submissions into, or so I thought) and thus I missed it. I really have no idea how to make up for this grievous error. The vote is scheduled to end in only a few hours. I will post the submission so that at least it gets creditted, and at least people can vote for it if they want, but it is in no way fair to the author that their submission was, entirely through my own fault, misplaced. I'm going to talk with the other guildleaders about this and see if one of us can't think of a way to right this wrong. Meanwhile, I apologize profusely to the one whom I cannot yet name, and belatedly add their work for your consideration: (If anyone would like to change their vote to this one, PM me and I will see that the change is considered.) The Real Choice #5: The Moon sits ever lonely in the night sky. Her moods are shown for all to see. She grows from a bright and lovely shining beacon to a barely perceptible outline, hidden in the darkness. She moves across the sky, chasing her lover the Sun for all eternity. There are times when the two lovers cross paths, and the Sun shines his light only unto his love, the Moon. This is a joyous occasion for the Moon and she takes it to heart, for it is all that gets her through the worst times, when she is furthest from her love. The “separation” period last only a short while, but in this timeless moment they two lovers cannot see each other. The Moon, at a loss for her love, cries down upon the land below her, her tears becoming silver sapphires. If one catches one of these tears, and breaks it in two the two halves will always know where the other is. Thus this Silvered Sapphire Tear is a treasure sought after by all lovers throughout the land. Still obviously embarrassed, a condition rare to the arrogant tigertaur, Katzaniel leaves the stage.

Okay, this thing is crazy. It automatically knows my contacts from all four messenger services, so it must be looking at the files of each individual program. Right? Sal, do you have all the other programs installed, or do you even need them? Anyway, I've added Ven to two of them and am about to uninstall Trillian. Odd, removing the program from the add/remove list does not delete any of the files. Deleting files now. Reinstalling. Okay, all my contacts are still there, as is Ven. (Except under ICQ, but I'm talking to him now and apparently he was never added correctly in the first place.) However, mine might work differently because I already have all those other programs. It might just look at the lists from those programs - obviously it does to some extent, since I didn't have to type any of them in - as opposed to having its own list, which it might do if the programs are not installed. However, it might also just look at the online servers that Ven tells me at least 3 of the 4 programs use. Conclusion: Looks positive, but inconclusive. Unless someone who lacks one of these 4 programs volunteers to try the same thing, later tonight I will uninstall ICQ (I have only one contact in that, I can add her again afterward) and redo the whole test. Sorry Sal, but don't feel like doing it all again just at the moment!

If you can find a file that appears to be your contact list, copy it. Then hopefully after the reinstall you can overwrite the empty file with the old one. This is risky business, though. And I know what you're feeling with regard to this... I once lost labels to 1000 pictures because the new version of my Kodak Camera Software didn't work and I tried to revert to the old one. There was no way to save my labels... I ended up creating my own program to view my pictures so that I would never have to lose that valuable data again. (Or at least if I did it would be my own fault). Tell ya what, though... if you can wait until later today, I will install this thing on my own computer for you, add a contact or two, uninstall and reinstall, and see what happens. Do you have a link handy for the download site? If not, I'll search it out on Yahoo. Also, what's your contact name so I can have someone to add? (PM me if you wish).

Choice #5 Actually, there is no Choice 5. You were hallucinating if you thought there was. Go be a good reader and vote for one of the first four, now. Don't be tempted to be funny and waste your vote on this nonexistant Choice 5, because sure as anything you won't be the only one. This message was brought to you by the letter C and the number 5. And that's what Sleep Deprivation will do to you, boys and girls! Good night.

Choice #4 Though lost for centuries this special gift has now again found the light of day. Wandering through the mountains on a quest for Knowlege and peace Arken stumbles arcoss a large cave. To his surprize and wonder he smells a fellow imortal and wanders into the lair only to find it empty and cold. In the very center of the cave stands an ornate silver table. Arken nosed forward a little and saw a beautiful carves siver box sitting on top of the table. The box had a poem writen in dragon script: Leann'dra Here find the last tear of my heart Left behind for my love to hold Dragon kind will not be sold So off we must to find a new start look deep inside this tear so blue Find inspiration for your mind Know I remember you were so kind This will aide you in what ever you do Thank you for Love Drako Silverwing Arken read these words and cried for he missed dragon kind greatly. He carefully lifted the box opened it. Inside was the darkes most flawless saphire he had ever seen. the outer layer and almost translucent silver. It was mounted in a silver work that hugs its tear shape lovingly at the top is fasioned a loop so it can be worn on a chain. Arken closed the box and tucked it in his pack and carried it back down the mountain to the one place he knew it would be safe and of great use ...The Mighty Pen. Though the one the jewel was indented for is long gone the artifact still holds great power. Those who wear this will find peace of mind to write and create and the warmth of a dragon's pure love.

Choice #3 The Silvered Sapphire Tear was formed by the luxurious maiden Erinata, and remains a testament of her love for the acclaimed fighter Justin Silverblade. The artifact was created one cold winter morning when Lady Erinata was walking through a garden with three of her servants and caught the famed Silverblade out of the corner of her eye. As Justin hastily made his way through the park, running from an aggravated barkeeper, the maiden could not help but to shed a tear at his astounding beauty. She quickly gathered this tear in her hand, and passed it to her servants as she cried: “Alas! Mariana, Luetta, I have just seen the love of my life. He has come and gone, and for all my beauty and elegance I have been ignored. I think that I shall promptly die from grief, but first I must request that you seal this single tear in a layer of marvelous sapphire. I’d also like it signed by the dashing man himself. And now, I shall depart… don’t just stand there, give me a bed of flowers to faint on or something!” The servants quickly did as Erinata requested, though they couldn’t find any flowers so they just settled for some readily available shrubs. And so Erinata passed away, and so the Silvered Sapphire Tear was formed… It has been said that this small jewel enables its possessor to gain a most profound and intimate respect for Justin Silverblade, and it is of course essential to any true Silverblade fan’s collection. The Sapphire Tear has yet to be signed by Justin himself, as Erinata’s servants had a bit of difficulty seeking him out, but doing so will propel one’s love for Silverblade to staggering new heights…

Choice #2 Several thousand years ago, there lived a white Mage whom others called Peroquin. He was quiet, and powerful; feared by all who carried hate in their hearts. For 300 years, Peroquin traveled to the cities and towns, teaching the Craft of Magic and Sorcery. On his 300th celebration of Birth, the Spirit of Death paid him a visit. Death, neither a good nor evil Spirit, arrived to challenge the Mage for his life. Peroquin was prepared to follow this task, for he knew the consequences of cheating Death. The Spirit of Death gave him instructions to Merosa Cave, a hidden cave at the farthest edge of the continent. Here, he was to retrieve a powerful and celestial gem known then as the Sapphire Tear. Peroquin overcame many trials and battled with the most powerful creatures of the forests. When he arrived at the Merosa Cave, he defeated a colossal Dragon, and stepped forth into the unknown. He had come further than any mortal, and remained unscathed. In the Cave, there were thousands of gems and glittering stones, but his eyes found the Sapphire at once and he foolishly reached out without precaution. The Cave quaked, and Peroquin turned into silver dust. You can see some of him in the jewel, for it is silvered. Its powers were never discovered by Peroquin himself, but by a small boy who came across the cave in curious exploration. Tales had been passed down about the Silvered Sapphire Jewel, but it was considered a legend, until the boy brought it to the Village Mage. It has been carried several hundred years hence, and now resides at The Mighty Pen. Set in a silver drop, it is on a thick silver chain. When worn, a dim light glows the center and emits waves to the possessor. These waves grant three powers: One from Earth, One Water, and One Air. The possessor chooses these powers, with limitation that they must not be used for pure evil. Pennites are forewarned to take heed of this warning, or terrible destruction will befall on whoever misuses it.

Choice #1 The Silvered Sapphire Tear was given its name due to the spidery silver frame that supports the tear-shaped sapphire. The silver lattice is in itself an unvaluable piece of art, as its tiny strands are woven into a delicate lacework that gives just the right setting for the pure jewel that rests at its center. An equally delicate chain emerges from the silver lattice, so that the jewel can be worn around the neck. The blue jewel sparkles in the presence of any kind of light, even the weakest of them, seeming to drink it and send it back magnified. The bluish light it thus reflects is, however, of a strangely soft quality, and penetrates even the darkest places. The darker it is, the brighter it seems, and the bigger the halo of light around it. The detailed story of the jewel is lost in legends, but it is known that it was the result of the love between two half-sisters. The oldest, fairest of their family, skilled in metal magic. The youngest, darker of skin and hair, skilled in elemental magic. Their fathers had been of different races, both of them skilled mages. Their mother was an elf, with the wisdom of the ages in her eyes and the love of nature in her smile. The sisters loved each other dearly, and no one would be seen far from the other from the day the youngest was born. Many thought they were twins, in spite of their different heritage. Theirs was a warrior clan, and inevitably war came. As the day neared when they would join their assigned warriors as their mage-priestesses, the sisters worked to create two jewels that would keep their hearts near. The Silvered Sapphire Tear was woven with water magic and its framing silver lattice created with metal magic. The Amethyst Snowflake was woven with metal magic and its myriad of tiny amethysts immersed in earth magic. The fate of the Amethyst Snowflake is unknown, but the Silvered Sapphire Tear survived and was treasured by the children and the children of the children of the sisters. The soft blue glow of the reflected light soothes the heart and gives the spirit a strength and perseverance like that of water working against stone. And the silver latticework shines with a light of its own that mingles with the jewel's in the presence of the Spirits of Darkness, revealing their presence to the wearer's mind and strengthening heart and mind to face them.

Read the submissions, make your choice! Your criteria can be whatever you wish it to be, but the description with the most votes will become the description for the item. This item will later be auctioned off, and everyone will have a chance to have one of their characters own it. Note: Please do not say anything to indicate ownership of the works below. Credit will be posted after the votes are done. (Or after the auction? Can't remember for sure. Credit will be posted.)

I'm not sure what the other two guilds are doing, but my bedtime is coming up rapidly, so submissions are CLOSED for the SWG at least. Presumably the others will be closed when they post their polls, as I am doing shortly.

Nice. One minor quibble you may or may not be interested in hearing at this point: This time when I delete all the games, I get a wise man error on the last one. It still deletes the game for me, and I couldn't find anything that it failed to do (well, it lets me try to edit it, but pressing OK throws a wise man error, so that's okay), yet it gave me an error. Like I said, pretty minor for this stage of the game. Other than that, looks GREAT! I forgot to mention earlier how much I liked the fact that the exit button turns red on mouseover. Nice touch. Glad to hear the menu fix wasn't too hard, and you were able to use your original neat code and still keep an intuitive interface. For curiosity's sake, is Minty Fresh Man (or whatever his name was) someone on these boards? Oh, and I just wanted to say that thanks to your earlier post, I have finally discovered how to quote someone without clicking "quote" on their post, I had actually thought it must not be possible.

Opens her mouth and closes it again as Peredhil appears and answers her question. Raises a finger in preparation to go searching through the rooms and lowers it again as Alaeha appears and gently pushes the links forward. Oh, well then, I guess the only thing left is to write it. I have a big report due on the 14th, so I might not get this done, depending on whether or not I end up procrastinating on my report today to write this Wanders off, pondering. "Guido... hmmm...."

That's just so awesome. Excellent repetition. I agree with Peredhil, it's amusing to read but then you feel sort of guilty for having fun when this poor fellow is outside in that white stuff I only have to view from my window. The style also seems to support the theme. I actually didn't notice the lack of punctuation and capitalization on the first read, and that's saying a lot. Most poems that do that, it really bothers me, but with this it just fit somehow. (Having said that, I don't remember what I thought about the last one... perhaps I'm just losing my sensitivity to it...) I particularily liked "and I stand on the starry sky". It draws an unexpected but (for me) noticable tie to the first situation, a half-repetition that stands on its own as a really neat line, too.

That one point that you didn't know what I was talking about (the screenshot one) was because that was before I found out that Tools changes when you change tabs. So no need to worry 'bout that one. As for the whole invisible/disabled things, I was hoping that it might be a matter of only one or two lines to change that. If it's not, I suspect that removing Tools from the main menu might do the trick, since the user would notice it appearing and suspect from there that it would change. At the very least, they would be able to explore a non-empty menu and would therefore have reason to check it out again after changing tabs.