Alaeha

Fear Acting through your fear renders it powerless. Acting through your misery offers no such guarantee. Tequila or Absinthe?

I think that's me, but I think I was supposed to be receiving a role and some replacement cards?*Pokes Stick with a stick* If I'm just confused here, sorry about that.

I subscribe to the view that everything can be explained by science, eventually -- if we apply enough diligence to our studies and continue to refine our theories, tools, and methods. And if we don't kill ourselves off first. I'll admit that those are two very large "if" statements, though. I apologize in my delays on follow-up, life has been interesting lately, I'm planning a move and training for a potential promotion at work, so my time and energy are at a bit of a premium right now. For the sake of clarity, when I say "This is NOT about religion," I don't mean that religions haven't incorporated magical practices into their ways of doing things. In my opinion, every prayer uttered is a very basic form of magic -- imprinting your thoughts and desires on the cosmos with the intent of changing something. Asking a spirit to act on your behalf and see to it that the thing happens is also common practice. Religions are not alone in doing this, either. Theater is FULL of superstitions based on mystical concepts, ranging from its treatment of the Fey (Fae, Fairies, Faeries, Fair Ones, whatever you care to call them,) to all the legends surrounding the play Macbeth. It IS believed in every magical tradition I've come across that speaking the name of a creature or thinking about it at length can draw its attention to you. What I mean is that I believe that there is an underlying order to everything, and that what we see as magic is simply that which we haven't figured out yet. Before Psychology, we still knew that it was not helpful to keep reminding people of the bad things that had happened to them, under most circumstances. Before physics, we still knew that dropping rocks on people's feet would hurt them. As we figure out how to measure things, we become capable of understanding them more completely. If there is anything that cannot be understood, I believe it will only be that which cannot be quantified. *looks left* *looks right* *looks down* Ahem. How did that soapbox get there?

OOC: Oooh. Well played!

Alaeha flashes a quick, but brilliant smile at the sight of the pale woman, and she cocks her head to the side as though listening to some inaudible friend. A laugh escapes her lips as she reaches impossibly deep into her handbag and withdraws a small sketch. "Greetings, my nocturnal friend!" She approaches silently, not quite touching the ground with each stride, "I've known a few vampires in my time, and if you're shopping for a bargain, I happen to have just the thing for you." She extends the sketch depicting a forest clearing around a single enormous tree, from which lifeless humans hang like fruit. "This, my friend, is a Body Tree. I never understood the thing -- it grows fresh, young adult human bodies with no minds attached. It's an endless -- albeit inefficient -- form of sustenance for a creature such as yourself, with none of the annoyance of trying to find a willing donor or escape notice. I happen to have the exact location marked on one of my maps, and I'd be happy to share it with you, for the right price." Alaeha relaxes backward into a seated position, floating in the air next to the vampire. "Of course, I wouldn't mind sitting down for a meal with you either. I've acquired a certain fondness for blood over the years."

OOC: Anyone else kinda want a separate (non-"competing") thread for the rejected items and pitches that were funny but didn't end up being used? I've got more inspiration than turns or cards.

(Why not? I may as well share mine as well. My words are:CheeseBraceletBodyMusicSpaceTree) For some time, a dark haired woman had been sitting in the corner holding a bottle of scotch and a glass in what seemed idle contemplation. She looked up at the toga-clad youth and stood with a half-smile. "A party? I could point you toward three parties right now. Most of the Lambda Lambda Lambda boys seem to be headed up to the Lounge on High Street, but I heard they were having some trouble finding a DJ." She reached into her purse and pulled out a small, shiny disc. "It seems to me we can kill two birds with one stone here! This disc is full to the brim with high quality renderings of Space Music! I happen to know the boys out there love this stuff, and there's 40 hours of music in here. Take it up to the Lounge and your party is set to go all night! "Of course, I didn't get all of this Space Music for free... 15 geld, and it's yours!"

Sounds awesome to me. I would like to do mine with a specific character simply because I've been itching for an outlet to RP for a bit now, I certainly don't expect anyone else to. I'll look forward to it.

I really like this. As a GM, I adhere strictly to what I call the Rule of Awesome -- if it increases the Net Awesomeness of the gaming experience, I try to make it happen. I apply this rule when we're talking character concepts, when I lay out the House Rules, and any time somebody says "I want to do <some ridiculous stunt.> Can I do that?" It also plays in during Scene Selection -- does it make the gaming experience more Awesome in some way? Playing out a shopping scene CAN increase the net Awesomeness by increasing the sense of immersion -- especially if done at location that serves as a plot hub, as it allows you to make the shopkeeper into a recurring NPC. It can serve as a means of conveying valuable information about the local goings-on. If I don't think it serves to make the game more fun in any way, I skip it. Same thing with Random Encounters -- a lot of times, I'll dispense with them. Usually, I just bring them out once in a while at fairly random intervals to keep people from feeling as though the world is safe and devoid of threats. On the other hand, Random Encounters can serve as a very effective way of driving home the idea of being in hostile territory. If the players know that it's up the dice whether their characters are going to get a full night of uninterrupted sleep, it instantly instills a sense of stress and paranoia that can be very difficult to create by other means. Players may not enjoy it, but done to the correct extent it can increase the level of immersion and provide opportunities for more -- and greater -- triumphs. I suppose that's the way I feel about writing as well. "Does this chapter/scene/line/character serve a function? Does it have any drawbacks? Can I think of a way that is more effective or has fewer drawbacks?" On the whole, I like your list of criteria for whether a scene needs to be included. The really cool scenes tend to do more than one -- for example, advancing the plot while showcasing a character's awesomeness (outsmarting and thwarting the evil mastermind, for example,) or furthering a character's evolution while laying the seeds for future developments (which could mean anything from an uncharacteristic show of compassion to a training montage at a Fancy Pants Wizard's College, among other things.)

Depending on how quickly the pitches are to be demanded, I could probably play this. It sounds like fun. I'll tentatively sign up to play in character as Alaeha. I never really made time to do much with the character as she evolved in my mind.

Excellent question. I haven't done a lot of work with lunar energies personally, but they seem to be well and truly bound up in the dogmas of some of the nature based religious paths. In simple form, when the moon is waxing (transitioning from New to Full), it's a good time for magic that is designed to build, heal, grow, protect, or other similar acts that consist of gathering energy and MAKING something out of it. Conversely, when the moon is waning (transitioning from Full to New), it's a good time for magic that is designed to dissolve, destroy, harm, or hinder. This doesn't necessarily mean doing bad things, as dissolving a love spell or curse is probably a good thing to do. If all you take away from this message is those two paragraphs, you'll probably be fine. The rest is just elaboration on some details. Full and New Moons are particularly interesting to work with. It's been my experience that as the Moon enters the stage of being Full, it is at its most powerful for use in constructive magic, and similarly it is at its most powerful for destructive magic as it enters the stage of being New. However, when it continues the cycle and begins shifting in the other direction, it is very easy to turn that energy to great effect for its new purpose. In other words, a Full Moon that is just beginning to wane can still be a powerful source of energy when dispelling something. Similarly, a New Moon, as it begins to wax, can be a powerful source for beginning new projects and creating things. Some of my friends who work with lunar magic will do spells through small daily rituals that work through the entire lunar cycle, building up energy as it waxes and then pushing away the things that stand in their way as it wanes. Often this sort of thing takes the form of a few minutes of meditation with a candle that has been set aside for that spell during night or around moonrise. As to the particular phases (New, Crescent, Half, Gibbous, and Full) I actually haven't seen much. I'm aware that the last few days of waning as the moon approaches new are called the Dark Moon in some circles, and are seen as a good time for recuperation, self reflection, and seeking balance both within yourself and with the world at large.

Repose, respite, I awake from my dreams -- echoing emptiness, typical. Seems foreign, false when I look at my face: lazy, lackluster, just empty space. Ever, eternally, Nobody's here. Claiming, calling this hollow, blank sphere Terminus, terrible -- nothing to show. Imposter, imperfect – trust me, I know. Obvious, odious, easy to see Nobody, Nothing: I've told you, it's Me.

This is interesting, and well written. I'm not quite sure who it's addressed to, but I like that the list of addressees is a bit open. The one stumbling block I hit when I read this is the second line of the final stanza -- "as we journey on together" has two syllables more than the second line of any of the others, which breaks the pattern just as it's become cemented in the reader's mind. Otherwise, I quite enjoyed it. It's always good to see poetry that is both pleasant to read and clearly meaningful to the poet.

As the first article in this series, it seems best to start with an explanation of the subject matter. This is like the first day of class, when the syllabus is handed out and explained, and questions about the class are answered. Let me take just one moment to explain what this is NOT about. This is NOT about religion. It is NOT about sitting in church kneeling before God, nor about dancing naked under the moonlight. A great deal of occult lore can be gleaned from old religious texts and practices, but the magic itself is completely detached from any religious path. In simplest terms, magic encompasses that which is real, but which is not yet understood on a scientific level. Chemistry was magic – in the days before we had found ways to objectively measure the composition of an object. Psychology was a deeply mistrusted and sinister form of magic until it evolved into something more akin to its modern form. Even Physics was once the province of magic. Anything that happens, but can't be explained by our present understanding of the world, is magic. When we learn enough about it that we can explain and measure it, it will become another branch of science. Here's an example: Have you ever found yourself thinking about someone you haven't spoken to in a while, just as they send you a message or call you on the phone? Certainly, it's possible that it's just a coincidence... if it only happens once. What if you wake up out of a sound sleep with the intense feeling that someone specific wants to talk to you? Is it coincidence when you find that they had just sent you a new message only moments before you awoke? What about the third time that it happens? I have a friend who does this regularly. She hasn't had a “false read” yet. Let's take another example: Tarot. Tarot is a form of divination – the interpretation of a randomized set of symbols to derive information. Skeptics deride divination as being so “vague” that any given spread can be bent to match any situation, and maintain that the “art” of tarot reading is simply bending the meanings of the cards to describe one's psychological reading of the questioner. Sounds like a convincing, plausible argument, yes? I was skeptical about Tarot myself. So, I tried it. To eliminate any possibility that I was deluding myself into believing I was successful when I wasn't, I applied only those meanings which were listed in the thin paper booklet that came with my deck. It was spooky. My roommates saw me and started asking questions, so I reluctantly started doing some readings for them – inwardly preparing myself to be a bit embarrassed. Every card, without fail, could have its prescribed meaning read aloud to answer their questions even if I didn't know what the question was – and even when the answers involved people I didn't know or details I wasn't privy to. In fact, it was so uncannily accurate that one of my friends started asking for two or three readings every night for a while about silly things, until I had to ask him to stop because it was giving me headaches. This is magic. Studying and experimenting with things that we don't yet understand, in the hopes of mastering and understanding them. It's an unceasing cycle of asking questions and finding answers that lead to more questions. There are some subjects that I consider to be of crucial importance, and I'll be covering those over the next couple of articles. There are also a number of subjects about which I'd like to share my findings. Ultimately, though, this is all about you guys! What would you like to hear about? What catches your curiosity? What experiences of yours would you like to discuss?

I would say that writing is not necessarily art in the same sense that any other work one might do with pen and paper might not be considered art. One might be an experienced and deft hand at writing office memorandums, but that does not of necessity indicate that any of these is art. Of course, a particularly bored office worker might find some way to write these memos as prose, which I would classify as art. Film is art, it is not static. Music is art, it cannot even be seen. The Martial Arts are arts which can be impressive and inspiring to behold, and they cannot easily be dissected into either words or images. If this were a Venn Diagram, I would have drawn the circles of Art and Written Words intersecting, but neither would be wholly contained within the other. I consider it entirely fair -- I don't think of Road Signs as art either.