Patrick

Thanks Aka and Appy! That clarifies quite a bit!

I'm never sure how to do this...is there even an accepted correct way of doing it? Do you put punctuation at the end of the spoken sentence and then continue with lowercase? Uppercase? No punctuation at the end? Punctuation at the end only if question or exclamation? Do you use a hyphen between the spoken words and the follow up? A few examples: "It's raining." - he said. "It's raining" he said. "It's raining" - he said - "raining hard." "Is it raining?" she asked. etc... Any suggestions?

Patham flew through the corridors of the Mighty Pen Keep, unaware of all the ruckus going on there where he was heading. He passed a frantic Daryl as he made his way to Gryphon's room, but did not pay much attention. The possibility did not enter his mind that Daryl had been running exactly from the place he had been heading to. Unfortunately for Patham he had not previously heard of CheerMynx's reknown and therefore did not consider himself in danger after he had released the small package he had been carrying with his claws. A small note alongside the package explained its purpose. As something of a bird myself, I am aware of how annoying it can be when after sleeping, or flying in high winds feathers get all ruffled...Happy Birthday Gryphon! Were the package opened, the item inside would be revealed to be a Special Feather Unruffling Kit. Patham turned his owl-eyes towards CheerMynx and inspected her. She strangely resembled Mynx, but there was something different. Two minutes later, as blindingly white as Gryphon had been a few minutes earlier, Patham had learnt the lesson to be wary of Mynx's alter-ego.

I'm once again in the front line despite my injured right leg. My companions are counting on me, and I can't let them down. Every time I put the slightest of weight on the foot, it hurts like hell, but I still go on. On into what is quite possibly certain death. My eyes can't penetrate the darkness in front of us. A chill runs down my spine. I'm almost certain that those pesky bugs are there in front of us, watching us. I can almost feel the weight of their multiple faceted eyes surveying us, waiting for the opportunity to pounce. I see a dark blur ahead of me, and out of reflex, release a burst from my rifle at it. The ensuing screech acts as a signal to the bugs, who start coming from left, right and front. I fire continuously from my rifle, advancing towards the mass of insects. My left hand fingers the atomic hand grenade fixed to my belt. That momentary loss of concentration is enough for a bug to slam an appendage through my shoulder. Impaled, I am dragged towards a monstrous mouth. I don't have much time left. I turn to face my companions, who are already far away. The last time they hear my voice is a warning. "Fire in the hole!" - I shout, as I activate the grenade. A second later, the bug swallows me whole, oblivious to death ticking away in its stomach.

Prologue In the year 15791, 491st year of the Sensun dynasty The Sun was slowly rising on the city of Kardios. The much awaited first Sun of spring. The season had officially started more than four months ago, but the weather had not agreed with the official definitions. Kardion was the planet in the Empire of Eleven Suns, which took the longest time orbiting its giant, red Sun, Artemis, so named for the ancient god of hunting, who occasionally also represented sudden death. The last remainders of the once thick snow blanket, which had covered Kardios were rapidly melting. The singing of the returning migratory birds, announced more than anything, that the long, hard winter had ended. The trees were finally growing their first green limbs of the year. Romantic couples walked the streets of the old city, their arms interlaced, enjoying the change in the weather. Gardeners lovingly tended to all that had found sudden growth in their gardens, giving special care to the typical Kardion plants, the bright red, three-flowered ulipses. Known for its extreme beauty, and the very precise conditions needed for it to flower with all three of its flowers at the same time, the ulipses were among the most highly sought flowers. Being able to have a ulips bloom thrice-fold, as the expression went, was the dream of every gardener; each year only a handful managed to fulfil this dream. In his small home, in the outskirts of Kardios, Paul Noble was looking forward to a wonderful day of spending time in his garden, with the plants he loved and cared for. He never made it to the back of his garden, as at the front, in the prime spot he had found three, small red flowers starting to open. He was nearly sure that never had a ulips bloomed thrice-fold so early, after the end of winter. Unfortunately for him, and everyone else in the city he did not have any more time to think about it, as the catastrophe, which was going to forever change the Empire struck only a few moments later. It was a rare coincidence that in such a developed age the meteorite had only been spotted four minutes before it impacted the planet. It was only 500 meters in diameter, but at that speed it was still enough to instantaneously wipe out everything within a radius of 200 kilometres from where it struck. The rest of the planet was thrown into an artificial winter, much the same to the one, which some had once blamed with wiping the dinosaurs out on ancient Earth. The massive amounts of radiation, emanating from the impact crater hampered at first, and then completely stopped all attempts at a rescue. Note: ulips should be read as if it were written as youlips.

Johann of House Wererathe Johann is a young man in his early twenties, who despite his young age, is already a quite adept shadowmaster. In his human form he has shoulder-length blond hair, and blue eyes, which make him quite a favourite of the ladies. In his demon form he resembles a mere shadow, mostly moving around unseen, rarely fully materializing. OOC: consider my previous character scrapped.

I should never have left Austria. That was the last thought that flashed through Gabi's mind after the meat tenderiser had smashed her skull. Gabi had never believed in ghosts, and thus it was quite a surprise to her to survey her own dead body from the ceiling when she opened her eyes. She lifted a hand in front of her eyes, and still saw her own mutilated features through the outline of her hand. It was an interesting new experience for Gabi, and momentarily she forgot that she had just been murdered as she tried out all of the fun things ghosts could do, flying around the room, passing through walls. Then reality hit her. She was dead and the only existence she would ever have from now on would be one of watching everything happening around her, yet not being able to interact with the world around her. Gabi wondered about what had happened to the others who had been killed at the lodge. Would she find them drifting around as ghosts, or were they not granted such a pitiful resemblance of existence? Gabi drifted along the inside of the cabin, passing through each of the rooms, pausing only twice. First in her own room, to say goodbye to the few possessions, which had accompanied her, and second in the room of her killer. She leant in close to the face, and whispered words of vengeance in those ears. Her words would never be heard however, as only those in the spirit world could hear them. Once she was done, she drifted through the roof, and then along one of the mountain ridges, curious as to whether she would find any other ghosts.

The sounds of the skirmish not far away were unmistakable. Ming stepped over a dry branch as she quickly sped towards the sounds of disturbance. Once she got there however she saw only Robby in the middle of a clearing, clutching a minor wound. Ming glanced questioningly at him, then suddenly ducked down, a mysterious fear sweeping over her. Strangely there was nothing to be seen, or heard, only Robby looking as confused as Ming was. Could it be that she was fearing for him? What had wounded him in this clearing? Ming couldn't help feeling hopeless. She was used to enemies she could see and hear, those which were invisible, she did not know how to fight. She could not realistically have a chance against someone, or some creature, who could strike from anywhere, without warning. She frantically turned left and right, her hands tense on her bowstring. At the slightest suspicious sound she was ready to release an arrow. She caught movement in her peripheral vision, and almost immediately released an arrow towards it. The arrow slammed into the bark of a tree on the other side of the clearing. Had there been anything moving there, or had she just imagined it all? Ming drew another arrow, still extremely tense. She knew that she would have to calm down, but how could she do that if there was an unknown creature prowling around, hungry for their blood?

Sorry for taking so long since I promised that I would post...

Drifting...slowly...in and out...of consciousness. Jacob did not know which one he preferred, soft unconsciousness, or the pain consciousness brought. When he was at his senses he felt being moved rhytmically up and down, as though he were on a ship crossing the seas during a storm. When unconscious, he was the ship, and the storm was the turmoil going on inside him. In a certain way, reality was stranger than fiction, for the ship did seem to move rather un-ship-like, and it stank of sweat and blood. The blood was Jacob's own dried blood, and the sweat came from the horse he was being carried on. It was strange that it was his sense of smell, which was coming back first. Jacob tried opening his eyes, but all he could see was a massive blur in front of him, and this image was accompanied by a painful headache and a fall back into unconsciousness. The blurred shape slowly started taking form, and Jacob recognized the outline of a head above him. He opened his mouth to speak, but only basic sounds came out. "Wha...to..." He tried again. "What ha...tom" The third time he managed to utter his question in an understandable form. "What...happen me?"

What a life... A lot of his emotions are channeled through me. His sentiments of love when he writes letters to his girlfriend. His feelings of uncertainty when he writes essays and exams. All through these times I am with him. I listen to his troubles. I've always been a good listener. I never talk back to him, but I have always been told that the important thing is for someone to be able to talk about his problems. I do all this, and much more for him, and what do I get in exchange? I am thrown in with lesser writing accessories and even an eraser. It hurts my feelings to have to spend most of my time with these lesser beings, whom are used by him less frequently. I deserve much more than this. Another treatment he gives me, which I don't deserve is being chewn all the time. Imagine my disgust the first time he took me into his mouth, and sunk his teeth into the soft plastic around my back end. That was four months ago. My back end has now been mutilated beyond recognition, the plastic twisted and torn. I don't know how long I can take this treatment. And the worst is that I don't have that many options to retaliate against him. If I start leaking ink, he'll just wipe it away, or wash his hands as though nothing had happened. And if I decide to run out of ink, he'll just slam another recharge down my throat. I've tried everything I could, but nothing makes him notice my complaints against the horrific ways he treats me. All I can hope for is ending it all. My end shall probably be in a rubbish bin, once he finds someone better to torture, a new target for his torments. Until then, I shall have to suffer. OOC: dare received from cenobyte, and passing the dare on to Gwaihir.

"Where is my glass of honey??" roared Bill the Pirate's voice over the deck. The sail boat the pirates had captured two days earlier was anchored in a hidden cove. Bill made his way to the back of the boat, where finally he spotted his glass of honey, in the shaky hands of the proprietor of the vessel. "Mwahaha, honey!!" - Bill said, before starting to drink it down in big gulps. Edit, because I forgot to post the new words... beach Linux jingle straight

The late afternoon sun basks the cotton fields in a golden glow. My mind wanders back to the days when I still believed in pixies, when I was still a child. The days of my innocence, when I used to help my father in these fields. Oh, the blisters I had on my hand when I was eight years old! I'm shocked out of my daydreaming by the daily freight train passing behind me. The driver, as every day, waves to me, and I wave back. Then, heavily leaning on my gnarled staff, as is the privilege of an old man of my age, I turn back to the cotton fields and tell the workers that their shift is over. rabbit asterisk french fries coffeine addict

I have three exams coming up on Thursday, so I unfortunately do not have the time to make any roleplayed post. So, it'll just have to be a plain and simple: Happy Birthday Wyvern!

I saw Innocent Voices ( http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0387914/ ) this weekend during a festival of iberic/latin american films. To be honest, I had never heard of the film before seeing it, but it was a very good film. The story is about the Salvadorean civil war viewed from the eyes of an 11 year old boy. The young actor playing the boy is superb, and so is the film itself. It tells a heart-wrenching story, and tells it very well. The main song of the film is very haunting as well, and fits the film perfectly.

Awww ....can I continue posting as a ghost?

The whole day, as she skied in the beautiful setting of the mountains, her mind wandered about, mulling over Brad's last words. Whether there was any truth in them, she could not know, but those words, hastily spoken, fed suspicions of Gregor, and by the time Gabi reached the lodge, she had built up a lot of theories about him. Come to think of it...Gregor had been strangely silent these last few days. Could it be that he was hiding behind his silence, hiding his true self? OOC: Vote for Gregor/JDRollins

Bright flashes of light erupt from the muzzle of my rifle as I continually press the trigger. Not all of the bullets manage to penetrate the hard carapaces of the attacking bugs, but enough get through to stop the disgusting looking bug from tearing me to pieces. Its body falls twitching to the ground a bare foot away from my boot. I don't budge as I reach for a new magazine and reload. A shotgun shot from a companion stops another bug from getting close to me, sending bits and pieces of its brain and head flying at my uniform. I smirk in disgust at the defilement of my uniform and open fire at a bug sneakily crawling across the ceiling. Tricky bastard had thought that he could trick me, eh? I smile as it shudders and drops to the ground. I advance around its corpse, alert for any signs of movement from the supposedly dead critters. I'm nearly scared out of my wits as one of them swings a claw-ended appendage at me, tearing through my trousers and almost taking my right leg with it. I fire almost half of the magazine at its head, making sure to kill it, then inspect the damage it has done. It's not as bad as I had at first feared, although a tendon has probably been damaged and the leg can't take much weight. I limp back, behind the first line, and motion the company medic to put a basic bandage on the wound to stop the bleeding.

I'm a ninja, I'm a ninja, I'm a ninja. I repeat the sentence dozens of times in my head, trying to overcome my fear. Beads of sweat run down my face as I crouch on the roof of the candystore, awaiting the perfect moment I had been taught to seek. I do not comprehend why I am so afraid. I mean, there have been rumours and legends about this particular shop being haunted by ghosts circulating for hundreds of years, but a brave ninja like me does not heed those rumours. I shift the shuriken from my left hand to my right, then suddenly freeze as I hear a noise from behind me. A new wave of sweat breaks out all over me, as I turn around, sincerely expecting to see a ghost creeping from one of the cracks in the roof. But it is only a mouse. Cursing my own foolishness and fear I turn back, and see that the perfect moment has already passed. Next words: powergamer quizzical fish and chips stupor

Note: Gwaihir did not actually send me the correct answer to the first question of the quiz, about how many plant species there were, she had only sent Gwaihir asking the question back. The difference in awarding that point to Gwaihir did not change the final result as the score would just have been 5-4 instead of 6-4.

The music changed, and the lights turned a pleasant shade of blue, as Heather announced the topic change. "Without any further ado, let us proceed to the topic chosen by Dana: dreams!" Heather's dress looked magnificient in this lighting. "Sixth question: What does R.E.M. abbreviate?" Ah, now this was Dana's territory. “Rapid Eye Movement.” she answered without hesitation. Gwaihir followed with a reply of his own. "'Real English Malcontents' They're a very exclusive club of English roses and only the most purebred snob is allowed in." "Dana gets it right, bringing the score to five-three!" Heather said, and continued with the same breath. "Let's go right on to the next question, which is a pretty easy one. How do you call the scientific discipline of dream research?" "What do I call it? Boring." Gwaihir replied, loooking quite bored in fact. Dana smiled. She was getting easy points. "Oneirology", she correctly replied. "With that correct answer from Dana the score is now five-four and Gwaihir's early lead has melted to but one point. Will Dana catch him in her own area of specialty?" "The eighth question is once again about R.E.M., but in connection with animals this time. Which is the animal with the longest average periods of REM sleep?" Now that was quite an interesting question. Heather had heard a bit about what R.E.M. sleep really was, but she hadn't known that animals could also have it. "Too much I suspect! But what animal could be said to possess a club of roses? A bee perhaps. But who's ever heard of a sleeping bee? They can't sleep more than an hour or two a day." Gwaihir replied. Heather guessed that his answer was bees. Dana had only studied dreamstates with humans and humanoids, it had never interested her too much what animals dreamt, but if she thought of the watchfulness of Zena, it could well be that… “Cats?” Heather had to look at her answer sheet twice to see whether she really had the right answer. "The correct answer is the armadillo." Now wasn't that a pretty obscure fact? she thought. "Last question from this category: What does a cat mostly dream about?" "More sleeping?" Dana prompted. "Mice and mayhem?" was Gwaihir's guess. "While your answer is close Gwaihir, I can not accept it. Cats seem to mostly dream about chasing their prey and playing with it." "Before the last question, Gwaihir still retains his lead of five points compared to Dana's four. Dana you only have one more question in which you can catch Gwaihir! And that last question is from medieval times: In which century was the term Middle Age first coined by the italian humanist, Flavio Biondo?" Dana thought back to the history classes she’d had when she was younger, and wondered whether the period from 250 to 550 before the great storm, or the 100 years that the sun stayed away were meant. She had heard something about the ‘middle ages’ also being called the ‘dark ages’, so she went with the last one. But then who the hell was Flavio Biondo? Hmmm…the sun had left around 1680 and had come back around 1770, so it would probably have been afterwards. “1820?” "Dana guesses the 19th century! What is your answer Gwaihir?" "I have no idea. Sixteenth?" he said, making a wild guess. "The term "Middle Age" ("medium ævum") was first coined by Flavio Biondo, an Italian humanist, in the early 15th Century" Heather announced. "Congratulations Gwaihir, you have won six-four in a quiz, which was exciting right until the end!" A greenish spotlight focused on Gwaihir, showing the elf happily smiling at his victory. Heather was already preparing for the next contestants, busily reading the notes on the card in front of her, while she was not in the center of attention. After a few seconds though the beam of light shone on her. "Ladies and gentleman, the time has come for the last of the first round mathcups, which shall see Eda face off against the Madame! Ladies please join me on the stage, and choose a topic you wish to have your questions from."

OOC: Co-written with Lord Panther and Tanuchan. Thanks you two, this was really fun! Annelise nodded at Gabi, her face still keeping the glare she was directing to Charles. Of all things... "Good morning, Gabi. Yes, the morning is nice. I see that you have caught a nasty cold, though..." Anne realized she was not being very friendly in spite of her words, and forced herself to relax a bit. "Maybe you should rest, and not be out." Her voice lost the edge, revealing real concern in spite of the tension. Gabi nodded, repressing a cough which wanted to break out. "Well, my best guess is that I was not prepared well enough. In Europe it is usually not this cold. Is this usual here?" Gabi noticed a certain tenseness in Anne, but put it down to her annoyance with Charles. From what Gabi had heard during the past few days the relationship between the two of them was strained to say the least. "Well," interrupted Charles, "it can get quite cold here. We are at quite an elevation, combine that with the arctic winds that can blow down here, like they are now, you'll get some very nasty temperatures and wind chills. You'd be best to make sure you wear warm clothes so you don't get a chill, and end up with pneumonia" Anne didn't show any annoyance at being interrupted by Charles, and just continued as if nothing had happened - slipping a comment as soon as he stopped, which granted her a cold look. She almost smirked at Charles, but didn't add anything else when he finished what he was saying. Gabi continued eagerly, not noticing the stares between Charles and Annelise. "There have been a few-" the cough she had supressed just earlier broke out, and she coughed three-four times before continuing. "a few trails I've been wanting to check out, but I was thinking that it would be too dangerous to go there alone. Would either of the two of you be interested in coming with me?" Annelise just waited Charles to answer. Whatever she thought of him, that was Patrol work. "I'm sure we could come along. I've been meaning to check out some more of the difficult trails to be sure if there are any areas I need to close down for more snow, find hidden obstacles to mark, that kind of thing." Charles glance between Annelise and Gabi. "Lets head out! No sense wasting time here standing around. I'll meet you two at the top of the lift." Charles quickly checked his skis and pushes himself over to the chairlift before either Annelise or Gabi could say anything more. Before either of them could possibly join him on the chair, he was off, leaving the two of them to catch the next chair. Gabi caught up with Annelise and sat next to her on the skilift. Finally she was going to be able to have a talk with someone here at Vannacut Point. However, before she could start, she needed to once again blow her nose. She did so, adding the handkerchief to the pocket where she kept the used ones, which was starting to get full. She then turned to face Annelise. She thought of several possible beginnings to this conversation, but each and every one of them seemed awkward, starting from the rumours about Annelise's accident a couple of years ago, which Gabi had heard whispers of in the common room last night, or asking Annelise how her internship with Charles was going. Gabi was not sure she wanted to start a conversation with Annelise about a subject, which the other girl might find hard to talk about, and talking of her internship was also obviously quite a bad idea, since things did not seem to be working flawlessly between Charles and his intern. Annelise, who had been observing Gabi surreptitiously, took pity on the embarrassed silence, and smiled. "So, Gabi, what do you think of Vannacutt Point? There are people who say that it doesn't compare to the Alps, other say exaclty the opposite. I myself think that there are few places like this one." Gabi thought for some time on the reply. "Well, I have skied pretty extensively in the Alps, mostly in Austria and to tell the truth, skiing the same slopes since the age of six, got boring after a while. Now, I'm not sure that with barely three days experience I can compare these mountains to the ones at home, but the slopes do have the refreshing feeling of being new, and unexplored to me." "Well, you seem to be an experienced skier, so you will likely get to know this mountain rather quickly. Just be careful, the mountain doesn't always show all the dangers it possesses." Annelise advises Gabi. Finally, Gabi reluctantly decided to ask Annelise about her internship. "How's it going with Charles? Is he very hard on you?" she asked in a low voice, so that it did not carry to the chair in front of them, where Charles sat alone. Anne had been expecting the question - everybody noticed that her relation with Charles wasn't even close to the normal between people who would work close together. She looked levelly at Gabi, knowing that she probably just wanted to be friendly. "I do have trouble with Charles, Gabi. Call it personality clash. But he is a professional, and so am I. Whether he notices it or not, he is teaching, and I am learning... " Annelise chuckled, completing, "... though it would really surprise him to know that I am actually learning something new and I'm willing to admit it to anyone." Gabi looked surprised at the answer - she had expected something pretty more... incisive. Anne understood her look. "Oh, he makes no effort to hide that he doesn't want me around, which normally would be just fine with me. However, someone put us together, and it won't but just me who will look that guy out to get some satisfactions from him." Annelise's voice was amused, knowing very well that Charles would most likely skin the bureaucrat responsible for that - if he could catch him before herself. Arriving at the top of the chair, both Gabi and Annelise slid off the chair and over to Charles, who was adjusting his boots while looking up one of the higher peaks at something. "Hmm... very interesting. Looks like someone skied that slope yesterday. Whoever it was must be crazy, that slope is always quite unstable, especially in the early parts of the season, and very prone to avalanches. Definately NOT a safe place to ski. So, Gabi, where is it you wanted to head?" For a moment Gabi thought of retorting with a remark that the slope had felt quite stable to her, but deep inside she knew that it would be an argument she could not win. Reluctantly she had to accept that Charles was probably right. Besides he had been here for several years, and he almost definitely knew more about the mountain than Gabi did. She adjusted her trousers next to her boots, so that no snow would go in them in case they had to ski in some deep snow. Straightening up, she pointed at a slope further to the right, starting about a hundred meters away. The slope was dotted with rocks, but was not too steep. "From here that slope looks very tempting to people who do not have enough experience. It might be a good idea to check it out. I can't see any tracks going down it yet, so the three of us could be the first to test it." Gabi did not mention that during her descent the day before she had noticed that the slope she was just talking about encountered a rapid change in slope around three quarters of the way through and became extremely steep. She wondered whether Charles would know that from prior experience. [/color]"Ahh, that's a nice run. Can be quite challenging if you're not ready for it however, and be sure to watch out for those rocks, there just isn't enough snow yet to cover them completely, they're a real nasty thing to foul your ski on." Remarked Charles, while already making his way over to the run in question. Carving his way down the run, Charles makes mental notes for himself as to where he will have to put hazard markers so that the public doesn't go an kill themselves. Gabi and Annelise follow not too far behind, but taking their own paths around the rocks. Suddenly, before their eyes, Charles drops out of view, on what can only be a blind drop in the run, a sudden change in the slope. Both Annelise and Gabi stop immediately, wondering if Charles was caught off-guard, and checking each other's faces for a sign that they should continue down and check on him. They finally nod to one another and head slowly over the edge of the slope change, only to see Charles standing near the bottom of the slope, facing up at them with what appeared to be a big smirk on his face. "Didn't worry you two, did I? Like I said, you have to be ready for this run, but it is quite fun." Charles chuckled as he headed down the rest of the run, back towards the chairlift. Gabi smiled secretly to herself. Charles seemed to know quite a bit about the slopes here. She pushed herself forward with her ski poles, and upon reaching the steeper part did not slow, instead allowed her speed to seperate her from the slope. She landed lower, sinking almost to her knees in the powdery snow, before she emerged in a shower of snowflakes. Using her speed, she caught up to Charles, passing slightly in front of him before stopping and turning back to see how Annelise was doing. As Gabi watched Annelise descend the last part of the slope with more caution than she had just shown, her mind started wondering about the events of the last few days. She had not yet spoken her opinion of these matters, but the situation was starting to get worse, and had it not been for a possibly lucky intervention the night before, one more of them would have been dead by now. She hoped that Annelise was not a killer, and was pretty sure that Charles was not one. He might act the way he does, but his job is to save lives, and Gabi could hardly imagine him being a killer. In her mind she went over all the others, but each of them seemed to be quite a pleasant person. At the end of her list she got to Stefan, whom she had not spoken a single word with yet. Could it have been him? OOC: Vote for Stefan Fiori/Elwen.

I've already told you over MSN or IRC (can't remember which) a few days ago, but I'll also post it here. What I'd be interested in seeing is a roleplay where the focus isn't really on the action happening but on the flavour around the action. Descriptions of scenes, objects and feelings.

"Ladies and gentleman." Heather's voice sounded clear, as the single spotlight shone on her, creating a large shadow on the bark of the tree behind her. "Please excuse us for this slight delay, as we sort out some technical problems. In the meantime, let us take a short interlude, while our next two contestants, Dana and Gwaihir tell us a bit more about themselves." Dana stepped forward, her tall frame closely matching Heather's own height, her dark-brown hair providing an interesting contrast to Heather's lighter coloured strands. For most of the men in the audience it was a visual treat to see these two beautiful women next to each other, although they would never admit that to their wives or boyfriends. Heather handed Dana the microphone, surprising her much less this time than an hour earlier. Still Dana blinked, when she heard her own voice magnified several times resonating among these beautiful trees she had called. "What can I say?" Dana started, her velvet voice sounding surprisingly pleasant through the amplification. "I have pretty much already told you about myself during my introduction, but if you really want to know some more, well...without going much into my history, which I'm sure we don't have time to tell, I have been through quite a lot of things: I have lived with a nomad tribe, received training from them. Since I arrived here I haven't had the chance to make many friends yet, but I hope to be able to do so." Fred reported to Heather that the repairs were nearly finished, and understanding what Fred wanted her to do, Heather called Gwaihir next to her, letting him also talk a bit about himself. "I am also somewhat unfamiliar with some of the customs here." Gwaihir said, thinking back to the handshaking incident with Fred not so long ago. Gwaihir glanced at Heather, wondering whether what he had said was enough. He guessed from her gaze that it was not and added: "I also really like plants, and that is why I shall choose them as my subject." Heather held the microphone for Dana, so that she could now also announce her subject. "I shall be taking dreams." Unannounced, the lights dimmed as the screen and the computer behind it proceeded to randomly determine the two other subjects Dana and Gwaihir would receive one-one question of. The two topics shining in golden letters from the screen were famous elves and medieval times. "And without any further ado, let the second quiz begin!" Heather announced, her robe swirling as she turned to face the two contestants. "First question is from the topic of plants: As of 2004, how many species of plants have been identified? Let me remind you that whoever is closer to the actual answer gets the point here." Neither of the two contestants pushed their buzzer, unfamiliar with the function that it served, since no one had told them that they needed to do so. Dana wondered how she was supposed to know this, and which plane he was talking about. She loved nature, but this question was rather funny to ask to someone not coming from this plane. Oh well, she would simply guess it, and see whether she would be close or not. "About 30?" Gwaihir was pretty sure that this was a tricky question, and replied with a question of his own. "By whom? The plants know each other completely." Heather was caught off guard by the question, but managed to get a rather coherent reply. "By us...humans." "Oh." Gwaihir brushed his hair sending flecks of dust flying through the glare of the light shining on him. He counted on his fingers, for the species of plants he knew, and then replied. "I guess there are at least more than the thirty Dana has said." "As of 2004, 287,655 species of plants have been catalogued by humans." Heather announced. "Thus, the point goes to Gwaihir." "Second question: Photosynthesis consists mainly of carbon-dioxyde being converted into oxygen in a plant's cells. True or false?" "The plants say that t hey breathe in a mix of stuffs and the poof out the useless stuff so that we can breathe it." Gwaihir explained. "Does that mean true or false?" Heather asked. "Well, the question sounds sort of like what I said, so I guess true." Dana knew that plants used sunlight to feed themselves, and also that they made oxygen, but if this was the main part of photosynthesis….probably not. "False." The answer appearing on the screen was true, and Heather explained. "The most important part of photosynthesis consists of carbon dioxyde and water being converted into a carbohydrate and oxygen." She breathed a barely audible sigh after pronouncing all of those strange chemical expressions. "Gwaihir leads by two points to zero." "The next question is about seaweed. What colour can seaweed be?" Again it was Gwaihir who replied first. Both buzzers laid untouched, but it did not bother Heather, and from the silence in her earphone it did not bother Fred either. "I have seen many: red yellow green. There may be more but it is hard because I coudl not ask the seaweed. You see, I have never learned their language. It seems to be all bubbles and I am unable to bubble. The fishes know the language of seaweed but I do not speak fish." Funny question that was, Dana thought, probably about any colour depending on where you would find it. “Green, red, yellow, black (when it’s rotting).” That would have to do, she could go into things like light-green and pinkish, but these were probably the main colours. "From your answers I can accept green and red. Other possible colours were brown and blue, although the latter is quite rare. That means that both of you get two extra points, bringing the score to four-two." "With that we arrive at the last question of the category. How do you call the fossilized resin produced by some plants?" Heather was struck by a spell of irony. It was really interesting that she had no idea of the replies to the questions, but that she was the one who always gave the correct answers thanks to the answer sheets he was holding. Dana blinked in reply to the question and made a hesitant guess: "Stone?" "I call it a mummy." Gwaihir said without hesitation. "And the correct answer is: amber, which is also used as a precious stone in jewels." "Now we shall have a single question from the category of famous elves. This question comes from a book by a very well known author: Who was Beren's beloved?" Gwaihir, being an elf himself easily remembered the answer to this question. "Luthien. My grandmother says Luthien's in our family tree, but we suspect she's just name-dropping." Dana also replied without wasting any time. The bard songs clearly came to her mind; that poor Beren had loved Esmeralda for ages, at least in her world. "Esmeralda." "The point once again goes to Gwaihir, meaning that at half time we have Gwaihir leading five points to two." No break was scheduled in the middle of this quiz, enough time had already been wasted with the repairs. OOC: the only break is between the two halves of this post. Other half to follow in the coming days.

My name is Jack. I received the best training the army could give me. And now here I am, putting the training to use. The rifle is still warm in my hands from the first bug. Chad, his face a carbon copy of mine tells me and the marine standing next to me to advance. Seeing the logic in what he says I do so, applying exactly the right amount of pressure on the trigger of my rifle so as to be able to fire it as fast as possible. I advance slowly, watching carefully where I place each foot, careful to not make any unnecessary sounds. *CRACK!* I step on what seems to be a human jawbone, and with a loud snap it breaks in two under my boot. I freeze, listening for any reaction from the passageway in front. I hear scuttling noises from ahead and with my right index still on the trigger of my rifle, I motion with my left hand to my comrades indicating trouble up ahead.