Patrick

The snow was slightly cripsy from the freezing temperatures during the night, and made crunching sounds as her skis glided over it, sinking in only very slightly. She had chosen a path descending a not too steep slope for the morning. The difficulty with this path was that it was among the fir trees and any mistake, however small it might be, could have sent her crashing into one of the trees. Her cold had lessened somewhat during the night, but she still had to stop nearly every five minutes in order to blow her nose, amassing a sizeable mass of used handkerchiefs in her pocket. At the bottom of the trail she once again took out her handkerchief, and just as she blew her nose caught an argument between Charles and Annelise, who had just gotten next to her. "Hi! Beautiful morning we have isn't it?" - she said. She hadn't had the chance to talk to many people at the lodge in the previous days, mostly because her throat had been too sore from the cold, but she hoped that she could rectify that. OOC: Panther, Tanny: I'll try catching you two on IRC. Also: no vote yet.

A baning means that either the baner has targeted the night's kill, or a wolf. Depending on the rules for the current game the baner targeting a wolf might mean that there is no kill, or if there are two wolves it might mean a 50% chance of stopping the kill. Targeting the wolves' target generally always means that there is no kill.

Here go a few tries at these. 1. sun setting over trees - blood of the deer taints the snow wolf silently feasts 2. birds happily sing their joy throughout the valley - spring is here at last

Uproar...unbelievably unsuccesfull, ugly Ukranian usurpers understand unlikely Ugandan unions!

This was definitely not a job for him. Zadown sighed, as the young girls giggled once again. He glanced around the classroom, wishing for the class to end soon, so that he could get out of here. He would definitely not try being a replacement teacher again. The girls giggled again as Zadown hung the large atlas next to the blackboard. "Canada, situated in North America." - Zadown announced pointing at the map, tracing the country's borders. "Is that where moose come from?" - a blond girl asked. The whole classroom erupted in laughter, and Zadown sunk down in his chair, finally giving up. Next words: anticonstitutionally grizzly radar vodka

Well I'm pretty late with writing this movie review since I saw the film about a month ago, but I don't remember seeing anyone talking about it here. So...I saw Munich some time ago. I was pretty interested by this film and not because it was Spielberg, neither because of the actors playing in it, but because I had heard that it was taking a quite intriguing approach to the whole story. I was not disappointed. Instead of focusing on the action, or justifications for the actions, the main focus of the film was on the character that Eric Bana portrayed (in my opinion) really well. Inner conflict, sometimes even outer conflict, the film had both and very well played/filmed. An interesting question was posed about the justification/use of these actions though, in the form of the film asking the question of what all of these assassinations served. Each time a Black September member got killed he would be replaced by several others. The film, very wisely leaves the question wide open though. All in all it is a film that I would recommend, although it is definitely not an easy to digest one.

It had taken Gabi six hours of hard climbing on the frozen ridge to reach the summit she had seen while flying in with the helicopter two days previously. She admired the view from this height, while packing away her climbing equipment into her backpack. She then fastened the ice picket onto the back of the bag, and finally untied her skis. Far below she could see several of the other instructors gathered together, but they weren't paying attention to Gabi, or they might not have spotted her silhouette shadowed against the ski behind her. The slope Gabi was going to descend was most probably a very hard one, but she knew from prior experience with similar slopes in the Alps that she could do it. That being said, she could not supress a soft tinge of fear as she stepped into her skis, the straps of her bag slightly cutting into her shoulders. She adjusted the pack, and examined the slope she planned to descend. She knew the dangers of skiing in unknown territory, and so it was only a full quarter of an hour later that she finally started her descent, having memorized several possible routes. The first tricky moment came when she had to jump a large rock, sailing almost ten meters vertically, but she managed to control the situation, getting up hastily from the powdery snow she had sunken into after landing. The rest, apart from the steady steepness of the slope, was relatively routine for Gabi, although at one point she badly scratched the bottom of her skis, by skiing over a patch of rock which had been hidden under a thin layer of snow. Finally reaching the bottom of the descent, where she could stop to rest, she inspected the damage done to her skis. It wasn't too bad, but she would need to take care about it upon returning to the lodge. Putting her ski back down, she took out a handkerchief from her front pocket and blew her nose. This cold had been troubling her for two days now, and it did not look like it was going to get better soon. Gabi made a few more runs on some less dangerous slopes before returning to the lodge. As she reached the common room she sneezed loudly, then needed to blow her nose again. "Stupid cold." - she muttered. She went up to her room and put her equipment away, before returning to the common room. She could feel the sweet scent of a hot chocolate, and decided that she was going to make herself one. "I heard you complaining about a cold, so I made you a cup of chocolate." - Dana's voice startled her, but she accepted the steaming liquid happily. "Thag you very buch." - she said, her nose once again needing to be blown.

Happy belated birthday HappyBuddha!

*raises a finger to prove that he still lives* I have a project to hand in tomorrow, so I won't be able to post before the end of the phase. (to tell the truth I also have quite a bit of reading to get caught up with also, which I'll do during the weekend). So, don't expect a vote from me this phase.

Happy (belated) birthday Zadown!

Gabi brushed a rogue strand of her hair out of her eyes. "Actually, I had been planning on asking you those same questions. I have just flown in Europe, so I've never been here before." She surveyed the building they were in. It wasn't too different from those they had back home in the Alps. And all of those snow-capped mountains did not look so different than the ones in her beloved Austria. Still she felt somewhat out of place. It must be all of the unfamiliar mountains around us, and not being able to see any place around, which I know. - she thought. "I come from Austria, so I don't know much about this place. Where are you from?" - she asked Shayna.

Arrival post was co-written with Sweetcherrie. Thanks!

It had already been a long journey, and was still not over. Waiting for her helicopter transport to depart, Gabi nearly fell asleep, but was jolted from her half-dream state by the pilot announcing to her that they were still waiting for a second passenger. Gabi wondered who it was going to be. She did not have to wonder for long. Tina had been packing her stuff methodically for a couple of days now, and repacking of course. Inside her head it was a storm of thought as she entered the heli-port, but outside she was as stable as ever, nothing could be read from her face. She tried to brace herself for the looks she would get from the other instructors, because those looks would come. With her sleek brown hair, her mousy-coloured eyes, and her tiny posture, Tina was about the plainest girl you could think of. It wasn’t exactly that she was ugly, although men had told her differently already in the past, but she just couldn’t care less about her appearances. If Tina wore clothes she chose them to go with the weather, and with how they felt on her, not with how they looked. Today she had arrived by taxi at the heli-port, and with a little suitcase in her hand (the other instructors normally wondered how on earth she kept all her stuff in that suitcase) she walked towards where the pilot was waiting. The pilot recognized Tina from the picture he had been given of her, and extended his hand to greet her. Gabi noticed the pilot shaking the new arrival's hand, and putting one and one together, realised that the woman, who had just arrived was a fellow instructor. She stood up and rushed over, giving Tina a quick hug. "Hi, I'm Gabi. You're also going to Vannacutt Point, right?" Gabi had a very slight accent while speaking, but as to where it might be from, Tina would be hard pressed to guess. Guessing where Gabi came from was about the last thing that was on Tina’s mind. She had frozen in the hug, and found herself having difficulties getting out of this. It took a few moments for her to realize that she had been asked a question, but was then too late answering since the pilot felt it was his job to reply for her. “Yeah, she’s also an instructor. Shall we get that luggage in here then?” After everything was settled in, and Gabi and Tina seated as comfortably as they could in the cramped interior of the helicopter, they were soon off. "So...where do you come from?" Gabi asked Tina. “Tina’s here every year, she doesn’t talk much.” Tina clenched her teeth as the pilot had once again answered before she could. She turned her face to the window, and hoped that the other girl would stop asking questions. Once the season would start she would get her own jobs to do, but until then it was always difficult. If she didn’t need the money so desperately she wouldn’t even have come, and if Dana didn’t insist on her coming each year, she wouldn’t even have bothered, and would’ve lived on ‘Kitty Chow’ a bit longer. Gabi, despite her good hearted nature, was starting to get annoyed by this pilot. "Why don't you let her reply?" she asked, speaking to the back of the pilot "I told you, she never speaks much." the pilot replied. Gabi shrugged her shoulders, more to the pilot than to Tina. She lowered her voice so that the pilot would not overhear that she was talking. "Why don't you talk much?" she asked. Tina wished that she would be left alone. She knew it were all good intentions, but she never knew exactly how to bring this to people, and the last time she had tried they had all laughed into her face. Therefore she shrugged, “I just don’t.” She too had whispered, and her voice sounded husk, rather beautiful actually, and in total disagreement with how she looked. "Come now." Gabi said in a kind voice, not giving up on Tina. "You have a really nice voice. I don't see why you don't like talking much." This was starting to get awkward. This girl apparently had her mind set on becoming men’s saviour, or at least hers, and Tina hoped that they would arrive soon. Looking out the window she saw that for once her wishes were heard, and she sighed with relief as the helicopter started to go down. A few more moments, and she would be able to retreat into herself again, safe and sound. Oh well...at least she had tried. Gabi wondered while the helicopter slowly touched down, why her travelling companion always stayed so quiet. What could have happened to her to make her so? Gabi had no idea, but resolved to try to at least cheer the other girl slightly up, when she got the chance after their arrival. After landing, Gabi picked up her backpack and her bag, rejecting the help from the pilot, and walked up the steps to the lodge. The first person Gabi spotted was Shayna, who was standing slightly to the side. “Hello. I’m Gabi. And you?”

So...much...pain Hibernating among these beans might have been a bad idea afterall...the lack of breathable air has finally started getting to me. I can barely breathe anymore, let alone move, and I'm simply fed up with the taste of these beans. Their smell is overwhelming, and even if I don't want to, I can still taste them, they're all around me, blocking out everything else. Sometimes my whole world is shaken, beans pressing against my body, the liquid between them washing over me. This is what had also happened five minutes ago. And to make matters even worse, now it is even starting to become uncomfortably warm in here. Every passing second it becomes warmer and warmer. I don't know how long I shall be able to survive. The heat is becoming searing, it shall soon be-WHAM I'm sent flying into the side of my little world, as beans, liquid and myself are violently moved. Suddenly the small world I had called mine is torn open with the horrible sound of metal tearing against metal. Then, I feel gravity's pull. The beans next to me start falling, and despite my best efforts, I fall with them. Finally I'm able to breathe, and cool air flies past as I fall. *SMACK* I think I broke a leg. It hurts, but the pain I can live with. I'm alive, and out of my prison! I scurry out of the way of the still falling beans, but suddenly a pink object descends upon me, and grabs me by one of my sensors. The object's smell is disgusting. I am moved fast through the air, over massive distances. The smell of beans gradually becomes less and less, and suddenly fresh air hits me, and the pink object hurls me away from it. I try extending my wings, but they are stuck from the bean juice. I fall among grass, nearly impaling myself on a sharp blade. I'm bruised and battered, one leg broken and a sensor badly mutilated, but I'm ALIVE!

Thanks for sharing these poems, Katz. First of all, I'm glad that you've come out ok of it all. As someone who also argues quite a bit with his mother (usually over really nothing) I can totally identify with the feelings in the poems; besides the fact of being in an accident of course, I've only had close shaves myself. I always find it hard to comment on things people write, for which the inspiration comes from very personal experiences, as I'm never really sure what to say. Given that this piece is also poetry, it makes it even harder, since I've never been good at commenting on poetry, I just read them, and occasionally write a basic piece. So all I can really do is say that these pieces struck a chord in me.

I imagined it, insects inside icebergs inexplicably irritating inebriated iguanas.

Tiny trains tragically travel towards tremendously tricky tunnels - "teehee"!

If I irreversably incinerate irises I'll impair innocent individuals.

I came to the realisation earlier today, while talking to a friend (who is one of the three people, not from my family, who knows that I write), that I usually write pretty sad, depressing stories. I was certainly in the mood for writing one of those tonight, but I decided that I'd try something different, namely writing a story, which aims to be happy, while being in one of those moods. Here is what it gave. "I'm so happy, Sheila, so happy to finally be with you." Central Park's tulip beds in Shakespeare's Garden were in full bloom, and their delicious scent mixed with the scent of crab-apple blossoms. It was a very peaceful, almost beautiful scene. Thomas only had eyes for Sheila though. It was just their second date, but it already seemed to him, that they were made for each other. It had taken Thomas three months to pluck up the courage of asking the shy, brunette girl out, but in the end it had been well worth it. Thomas, just like Sheila studied literature at New York University. Both of them were in their second year. As Thomas caressed Sheila's freckled face, he gently brushed a strand of her hair from her face. Sheila laughed, her crystal clear laughter competing with the songs of the many birds enjoying the warm rays of the spring sun. "I love you Sheila." Thomas said, for what must have been the hundredth time since that morning. Sheila did not mind, she felt the same way about him. She had known for a long time that Tom was a very shy person, and from his looks towards her had guessed his feelings. Lying in the grass, next to him, she was grateful that he had finally found the courage to ask her out. She had often wondered, since she was also shy, of what could happen if two shy people fell in love with each other. She had dreaded that neither of the two would find the courage to ask the other one out, and they would just torment themselves, blaming themselves for their shyness, and their inability to express their true feelings towards each other. It had been an immense relief, when last week Thomas had finally asked her out. ---Last week--- "Tom." Sheila said hesitantly, hoping that the quickening of her breath, and the slight flushing of her cheeks would go unnoticed. "I got your note. You wanted to talk to me?" Thomas stared at his shoes. He had vowed to do it today, vowed not to mess up, like he had done the previous times. It wasn't often that he could catch a moment alone with Sheila, and he knew that he had to profit with it. Why was it that the girls he liked always were with their own friends, in front of whom he would never dare to confess his feelings to them? He lifted his expression and locked his gaze into Sheila's brown eyes, those eyes he had fallen in love with. Most of Thomas' friends said that it was the body of a woman, which interested them most, but for Thomas the eyes, the expression behind them, and the actual personality of the person were much more important. They were in a quiet corridor between two classes, next to a classroom, which had just emptied. The sun, shining in through the large southwards-facing windows, illuminated Sheila's hair in an almost golden glow. "Sheila, I-" Thomas broke off. The whole speech he had though up for this occasion was already long forgotten, and he had never been good at improvising in situations including girls. He continued with a sudden determination, blurting out what he had wanted to say in a long speech in two short sentences. "Sheila, I love you. Would you like to come out on a date with me?" he asked, and immediately turned a bright shade of red, and unconsciously started shuffling around on his feet. Just as a young child would have done after he had been caught doing something naughty. "Tom… I don't know what to say…" she replied. Thomas did not dare look at her face. This was what he had feared. All those days of preparing himself for this moment, and then being rejected. "Where to?" she asked. Thomas did not believe what he was hearing. Was she not rejecting his offer? Could this be? "Well…there is this…charming little restaurant…" he stuttered, but was interrupted as Sheila threw her arms around his neck, and kissed him. It was a hesitant kiss at first, but as their mutual shyness quickly dissipated, it became more and more passionate. They did not notice people arriving for the next lecture; neither did they hear the surprised comments of their fellow students, at seeing the two of them together. Later in class, Professor Finston wondered at why his two favourite students were missing that day. "How about we go back to that restaurant tonight, Tom?" she asked him, returning the kiss as they lay in the grass in Central Park. "I'd like that."

It was really, really hard for me to decide, which continuation of the story I liked best, but after about an hour of thinking of it during a pretty boring class this afternoon, I came to the decision that I liked Wyvern's adaptation the best. So, Wyv, it looks like you're up to propose the next challenge.

Oh, I almost forgot. For information I myself did not know, I had used wikipedia as a source, and shall continue to do so, finding hard questions there.

Wyvern's answers to the actual questions were mostly written by Wyvern, I had to put them into past tense to have them fit in, and expanded in a few places on Wyvern's actions. If any character were badly misplayed, please let me know, so I can change their actions.

The break was but a short one, and Heather had been told to make it, because due to a branch leaning onto the wires from one of the trees, there was a danger of the wires snapping and possibly causing a fire. The wires were moved and the show could continue. "Sixth question. Wyvern and Jhenrau I wish you luck for these remaining questions!" "Who was the first science-fiction author to win both the Hugo and Nebula awards?" Jhenrau was faster on this one, having read works of Asimov, on the cover of which he had seen the words winner of Hugo and Nebula awards printed. "My guess is Isaac Asimov." he said, hoping that he was right. Wyvern wavered in front of his counter, then proceeded to bang his head several times on the buzzer, causing a sharp ring of static to pierce the sebsitive ears of the audience. "Gonna have to go with the Mighty Pen's own Aardvark for this one. The Hugo van der Goes Award™ wasss pretty much in the bag for him, and we all know he's bound to win the Nebula award with the dreadnaughts and the chalkboard that offed Titanus on his side." "There were two acceptable answers for this question, as in 1966 two authors, having previously won Hugo awards won the first Nebula award. They were Frank Herbert for Dune, and Daniel Keyes for Flowers for Algernon. Asimov only won in 1973, so seven years later." "Typed in a Linux command prompt, what does 'ls' do?" Heather had absolutely no idea what this question meant, and, it seemed, neither did Wyvern. *bzzzt!* "It acts as the verb 'to be' in the present tense for the Lynux." Wyvern sneered to the crowds, then leant in to his microphone. "Let'sss just hope the Antelopuxs have left the area." Jhenrau did seem to have some recollections however, and nearly got the right answer. "List settings?" "Nearly." Heather said, upon hearing the answer to the question in her earpiece. "It lists the contents of the active directory." "Eighth question. How many laws of robotics did Aasimov describe in his books?" Wyvern striked at the buzzer. "Jussst one." Wyvern's forked tongue rolled from his mouth as a grin made its way across his face. "The unintentional law of robotic writing. HAH!" Wyvern's smug sneer shifted to a grimace as a robot's arm was tossed at him from the audience. The metallic appendage ricocheted off of the floor and narrowly missed Heather and Jhenrau, bouncing past Wyvern and doing a flip in the air before landing in Dana's lap. From the audience, a voice screams: "Just because that Hollywood adaptation of "I Robot" sucked doesn't mean that Aasimov did!" "I'm not really sure." Jhenrau started. "I have read some of his books, but I don't recall the exact number of laws. I definitely recall three of them, but I'm not sure whether there had been a fourth." The concentration was visible on Jhenrau's face. "I need a final answer." Heather said after half a minute passed without Jhenrau speaking again. "I'll go with three then." the ex-captain said. "The answer is four, since after creating his original three laws of robotics, Asimov created a Zeroth law later." "And with that we finish this topic and now shall have a question from the world of music. If you don't manage to answer right now Wyvern, then unfortunately you shall have lost." A haunting guitar theme started playing and was sporadically accompanied by drums. A voice started singing, and a question appeared on the screen. Which of these bands sung the lyrics You won't find it here Look another way You won't find it here So die another day Dream Theater, Metallica, Iron Maiden, Jethro Tull, Haggard or Opeth? Wyvern turned and swatted the buzzer with his tail stinger. "I could definitely see an iron maiden singing that." Wyvern rapped his claws on his counter. "After all, people won't find what they're looking for once they notice it's iron, unless they're doing a Dominatrix dungeon inventory or something. Plusss, it ain't dying until until Almost Dragonic Inc. comes through searching for something too steel." "I'll have to go with a complete guess here, so let it be Jethro Tull." Jhenrau said, his hands gently pressing his buzzer. He hoped that Wyvern was wrong. "The answer was Dream Theater." Heather announced, and Wyvern's expression immediately turned several shades sadder than what it had been. His dreams had just been shattered, and the pile of geld he had imagined would remain only that. Imaginary. Jhenrau did not gloat, he knew that that would not be seen too well. "We still have another question. From history. Which country's capital was captured in 1526 by the Turks?" Heather asked. Despite having no more chance of winning, Wyvern was the first to reply to the question. He smashed the buzzer with his claw, finally cracking it in a final *bzzzzt* of sparks. "I remember it all too well." Wyvern's lower lip trembled. "In the country of Zool's Portrait, the Chicken Shack was ruthlessly invaded. The turkeys came from all angles, using the paintings frame as trenches, and the Shack eventually lost hope. The shack has since become known as the "chicken Shack," though the lost capital is still being searched for to this day." "Country?" Jhenrau asked, puzzled. He had no idea what countries existed around this time and decided to go with the one, which also existed in his time, hoping that it existed in this time he had arrived in. "China?" he said finally, with a lot of hesitation in his voice. "The correct answer is Hungary." Heather announced. "Final results for Jhenrau versus Wyvern have not changed since the first half, and I can only congratulate Jhenrau for winning two zero in a very close matchup. Next up is Dana versus Gwaihir. Step forward and choose your topics from the remaining ones!" As the lights showed the two contestants, and hid Heather she picked her microphone and softly requested the buzzer Wyvern had used to be replaced.

Jhenrau, smoothing a crease in his clothes was the first to pronounce his decision. "I shall take..." but he could not finish as Wyvern interrupted him. "Horoscopes!" the lizard shouted, pointing a scaly claw at the list of topics. Heather nodded, and motioned Jhenrau to continue. "As I was saying" Jhenrau pointedly stared at Wyvern for a second "I shall take Computers/Technology/Science Fiction. That's a topic I might know at least a bit about." Heather motioned for the two current players to step forward, one on each side of her. The lights dimmed, and only the faint shimmer of a projector projecting the chosen topics on the large screen could be seen. "Two more topics have been chosen to make a total of ten questions!" Heather announced, a pale blue light illuminating her matching colour robe. "There shall be one question each from History and Music!" Matching colour lights illuminated at first Wyvern and then Jhenrau. "Are both of you ready?" Heather asked. "Yes!" Wyvern said, already daydreaming, imagining the pile of geld he could win. Jhenrau simply nodded. Drums rolled, as music came from the speakers and after a few seconds the first question appeared on the screen. Heather read it aloud. "Which of the following is not a synonim of horoscope? Natus, birth chart, astrogram, cosmogram, nativity, vitasphere or radix?" Wyvern broke from his daydream and slammed his claw on the buzzer. "International scheming for 500!" Heather frowned and stared at the reptilian Elder in silence. She cleared her throat as the sound of crickets echoed from the quiet crowds. "Wyvern... I'm afraid you'll have to answer the question. You know, the one I just asked?" "Oh." Wyvern crumpled the Heather doodle on his counter and shoved it under his seat. His eyes turned towards a screen that Heather was frantically motioning towards with her head. "Hmmm... horoscopes, where have I heard of those things before...?" Heather raised a brow. "You, uhh, you chose it as your subje-" Wyvern slammed his claw down on the buzzer twice. "Gonna have to go with vitasssphere™ on this one, Heather. None o' those other one's are patented, so it's only natural that they be put into horror vision with those awful nativity birth charts." *shiver* During this time Jhenrau had plenty of time to think of his answer, and he announced it in a much softer voice. The technician decided to adjust the volume output from the microphone fixed to Jhenrau's shirt so that he could be more easily heard. "I'm not exactly sure, but I'd guess that the odd one out, the one, which is not a synonim of horoscope would be nativity." he ventured. "Now that we have both of the answers let us see what the real answer was!" The question faded from the screen, and was slowly replaced by a single word. ASTROGRAM As she received the instructions in the earpiece, Heather explained. "Astrogram was a project by NASA, not a synonim for horoscope. Unfortunately that means that both of you are wrong. Next quest-" "Butbutbut..." Wyvern stammered. "I was closer wasn't I? I mean I had three letters: a, s and t from the answer, while he only had two, a and t." he said pointing at Jhenrau. "Shouldn't I get the point?" Heather shook her head. "I'm sorry, but we can only accept fully correct answers for this question." Soft music played this time as the next question appeared on the screen before Wyvern had a chance to argue any further. "When describing relative angles between planets what angle does the Quincunx represent?" Heather read the question. She herself had no idea of the reply to this question, as had been the case with the first one. "Wait, you sure this isn't a typo? Not 'angel'...?" Wyvern asked, interrupting again before Jhenrau had a chance to speak. Heather glanced at her wristwatch and tapped her foot on the ground as she waited for a proper response. "Hmph." Wyvern hesitated, then laid his claw on the buzzer. "The right angle to kick your ass if you should tamper with its underwear collection, shiny tiara, or pet lich?" Jhenrau finally managed to push his buzzer and announce his answer. "My guess is the Quincunx represents ninety degrees, and I'm nearly sure of my answer." The answer appeared almost immediately on the screen. "One hundred and fifty?" Wyvern asked. "That's not right." "I'm afraid it is, Wyvern. Both of you were however wrong, as a right angle is the same as ninety degrees. Next question is" she waited the few seconds for the answer to fade and the question to appear. "In the Tropical Zodiac the astrological year begins with the Vernal Equinox. True or false?" This time Jhenrau managed to get in first and though Wyvern stared at him, he continued unabashed and announced his guess. "My guess is that the statement is true." he said "Although" he stroked his chin "It is a complete guess." "Hmmm, I see a pattern here." Wyvern raised a claw to his chin in contemplation. "Vernal Equinox, Quincuinox... lunar eclipse, the 666th, may or may not-" Wyvern broke into a grin and swat the buzzer. "None of the above!" Heather, Jhenrau, and the audience all stared at Wyvern in utter confusion. "What...?" Wyvern frowned and shifts in his seat, then snapped a claw. "Ooohh, right, sorry. What is 'None of the above.'" Still unsure of how to get out of the situation, Heather was relieved to hear Fred's voice in her ear. Just give the point to Jhenrau. He gave the right answer didn't he? Heather absently nodded, then did as she had been told. "Jhenrau has the right answer. This means that he has one point." In the bottom left corner of the screen the names of Wyvern and Jhenrau appeared and a golden bar, with the number one written inside it appeared above the once-famed captain's name. Wyvern seemed to be transfixed by the golden colour, could not take his eyes off it. It shined almost as geld would have, and in his wishes the reptilian elder envisioned a large pile of geld of the same colour. "When was the earliest known horoscope recorded?" Heather said, again snapping Wyvern out of his daydreaming. She continued as extra instructions arrived from Fred. Tell them that whoever is closer wins. Heather did so. Wyvern in an attempt to get the correct answer earlier than Jhenrau was again first, his scaly claw almost smashing the buzzer, so hastily his elbow descended to press it. A few birds flew up from the trees called by Dana, but settled back down a few seconds later upon seeing that the noise was not threatening them. One of them even settled on Wyvern's snout, but the almost dragon brushed the avian away. With an annoyed squawk the bird returned to the branch on which it had been perching beforehand. "I'm gonna have to say the Racouolettes' 'My Horoscope Says Lady Luck doesn't like me,' first recorded in Terra Age VII on a titanium steel gramaphone. Produced by yours truly." Wyvern leant back in his seat with a confident gleam on his face, then sat up and tapped a claw on his counter. "Though truth be told, while I was closer to the Racouolettes than Jhenreraurin or whatever his name is, I ssstill don't really get the point of the question." Before Heather had a chance to clarify, Jhenrau pressed his buzzer and made a wild guess. "Four hundred and forty four. That is if we've already passed that year." he said. Coming back from the future had the inconvenient of being completely unaware of what time it was. Heather nodded, acknowledging that 444 had indeed already passed. Even before Heather had a chance to acknowledge that Jhenrau had been closer (Fred had estimated that 444 AD was closer to 409 BC than Terra Age VII), the golden bar above Jhenrau's name doubled in size, and the number one was replaced by an equally shiny number two. "Fifth question!" Heather said, ignoring Wyvern's strange answers, as Fred's suggestions went. "Is from the next topic. In computing what does VPN abbreviate?" Heather being an art major had absolutely no clue as to what the answer to this question was, but luckily she did not need to know the answers in order to host the show. She dreaded what could happen if the earpiece mysteriously died, but knew that in this age of technology the chances of that were quite slim. "Oh!" Wyvern laughed and slammed on the buzzer immediately. "Well, thisss one's just easy! Very Pornographic Netscape." Jhenrau, coming from a much more technological age, took longer to think about the answer. "Virtual Pointer Node?" he ventured at last. "Unfortunately both of you were wrong. The answer is Virtual Private Network." Heather announced after the necessary wait and dramatic music. "So we have finished the first half of the quiz match between the two of you. And after the first five questions, Jhenrau is in the lead by two right answers to zero." Heather turned to face the camera. "Tune in shortly after the break for the rest of the quiz show!"

Gabi Völker Gabi is a twenty-seven year old woman, who hails from western Austria originally, but has lived in Canada for the last two years. She learnt skiing at the tender age of four, and has been going since, skiing mostly in the Austrian and Swiss Alps, occasionally in France and Italy, or Germany. Her dream is to go skiing in New Zealand before she becomes too old. She went to Canada, because she was getting bored of the Alps and wanted to try something new. Gabi can ski wherever she wants, possessing the necessary skills even for the steepest of slopes. She is a very kind person, who easily makes friends, and although she is not a smoking hot beauty, she has the looks, which allow her to easily get into a relationship. OOC: if anyone wants to be in a relationship with Gabi or wants to have any other roleplay oriented cooperation, then just poke me, and we'll see what we can work out.