Counterpoint

Almost as if in response to the article Fyre posted, here's an interesting new find:

The world has gotten happier.

The Unmaking

The following is an in-character retelling of events which took place in City of Heroes in 2005. Those who were in the Dauntless Reverie then (or just the role-playing community) may recall these events. These events have also been documented by MAGI and are part of the vagabond's public record.


Vagabond Wizard: So. Should I try to find more trouble for us to get into? Or has that been enough for one evening?
Lunatrix: Like I said, you're in charge.
Vagabond Wizard: And I'm making an executive decision to consult you.
Lunatrix: I'm not anxious to find any more "trouble," myself, but whatever.
Vagabond Wizard: Then we can knock off for the night. 'Twould take effort to seek more anyway. *chuckles*
Lunatrix: Good. Freaks give me a headache, apparently.
Vagabond Wizard: Too much... ah... noise?
Lunatrix: Too much smashing.
Vagabond Wizard: Ah. Yes. That part leaves me aching as well. Not always in the head.
Lunatrix: Guess I'm lucky, then.
Vagabond Wizard: Will you be heading home, then?
Lunatrix: I don't think I'm in much of a party mood.
Vagabond Wizard: Do I strike you as a party animal?
Lunatrix: ...I think I missed part of that conversation.
Vagabond Wizard: No worries. If you'd rather head home, I won't keep you. Good night, Luna.
Lunatrix: Wait, what? Why, did you want to get coffee or something?
Vagabond Wizard: I was going to offer, aye. But if you'd rather head home, I understand. We can catch up tomorrow.
Lunatrix: I can't "rather" if I don't have options, can I?
Lunatrix: I can meet you back in the boardwalk in Talos, unless there's somewhere else.
Vagabond Wizard: The boardwalk is a bit crowded, and I don't feel like making room. I'm at the end of one of the piers.
Lunatrix: Okay. I'll meet you there.

Lunatrix: I'd have expected more people out here.
Vagabond Wizard: Barring the occasional party or other large gathering, I very rarely run into anyone out here.
Vagabond Wizard picks up an insulated paper cup beside him, sets it on the air, and blows, floating it over to Luna.
Lunatrix: Quiet, and no trees. Works for me.
Lunatrix takes the cup.
Lunatrix: Thanks....
Lunatrix mutters loud enough for Vagabond to hear, "Show-off."
Vagabond Wizard shrugs and sips from his own cup.
Lunatrix smiles slightly before taking a drink.
Lunatrix: You still owe me a story. But it's getting late. Even though you said you would, I'm starting to think you don't want to tell me.
Vagabond Wizard: My mind gets onto other things. I'm afraid I need reminding.
Vagabond Wizard: It's been a while since someone genuinely wanted to hear my stories.
Lunatrix: I'll admit to a slight curiousity.
Vagabond Wizard smiles a little and sips.
Vagabond Wizard: Just slight?
Lunatrix: It'd be more interest than I've shown in most things, wouldn't it? I don't want to overdo it.
Vagabond Wizard chuckles.
Vagabond Wizard: Have I warned you about the Thornite power crystals?
Lunatrix: The Ori-whatsit, or those colored ones....? Well, either way, not that I remember.
Vagabond Wizard: The blue ones that replenish energy and power... the green ones that speed up the healing process... It feels good to be near them, no? Makes you feel stronger. More sure of yourself. Better able to fight.
Lunatrix: I don't know about the more sure of myself part, but, yeah, they help. Except the red ones, of course.
Vagabond Wizard: Aye. Except the red ones. I believe, based on observations in the Hollows, that those are created by accident.
Lunatrix: Huh. I wouldnt' have guessed that.
Vagabond Wizard: Some time when you're in the Hollows, you may come across a group where one is instructing the others how to empower the crystal. If you then startle them, the crystal will change colors.
Lunatrix: I tried not to spend too much time in the Hollows... well, we didn't spend much time there. But I'll take your word for that.
Vagabond Wizard: In any case, the power the green and blue crystals grant... it can be addicting. Especially if one's own strength is flagging for... one reason or another.
Lunatrix raises an eyebrow.
Lunatrix: Like what kind of reason?
Vagabond Wizard: Ahh...
Vagabond Wizard sounds a little self-conscious.
Vagabond Wizard: Sometimes... after living a very long time... without certain... ties...
Vagabond Wizard sighs.
Vagabond Wizard: I have spent a lot of my life alone. And lost a great many friends. I get... lonely. Depressed. Weary of life.
Lunatrix nods after a minute.
Lunatrix: I think I get it.
Vagabond Wizard tries to smile, but mostly fails.
Vagabond Wizard: Self-doubt and the like are not conducive to spell-casting. Magic requires a certain... arrogance, to put it bluntly. One must believe in one's own power... or 'twill fail.
Lunatrix gives a quirked smile.
Lunatrix: I think a lot more makes sense once that's taken into consideration.
Lunatrix: The arrogance part, I mean. Of course.
Vagabond Wizard smiles a bit, very self-deprecating.
Vagabond Wizard: I'm glad to clear that up for you.
Lunatrix: Well, you did say it.
Lunatrix waves a hand.
Lunatrix: But go on.
Vagabond Wizard: Well, I do not recall the actual incident that started my... slump. I could make a guess, but my timing is confused, I think.
Vagabond Wizard: In any case, I found myself spending a lot of time in Oranbega. And I found my tactics centering more and more about the crystals. Standing within their aura, 'twas easier to fight. Easier to recall spells. I felt less pain.
Lunatrix nods to show she's paying attention and takes a sip of her drink.
Vagabond Wizard: After a while, I was finding excuses to go to Oranbega and to linger. I would dwell beside the crystals, even if I was not alone. Often, team-mates would have to call back for me to remind me to move.
Vagabond Wizard: I took to carrying pieces of charged crystal with me. Just a few at first. Then pocketsful. Using them to recharge my strength... sometimes even when my strength needed no recharging.
Vagabond Wizard: The blue held the strongest draw for me, replenishing my power and allowing me to cast more spells. Work more magic.
Vagabond Wizard: I became more and more withdrawn from my friends and allies. I spent more and more time harvesting and using crystals. The Thornites... well, that would be jumping ahead.
Lunatrix raises an eyebrow slightly but doesn't interrupt.
Vagabond Wizard: I started to become... deranged. Unhinged. My depression worsened as I realized how strong the forces of evil and unlawfulness are in Paragon. The fight started to seem pointless. A waste of time.
Vagabond Wizard: No matter how many I slaughtered, there were always more. Especially of the Thornites.
Vagabond Wizard: I, ah... did not know the secrets of the Thornites' longevity then. Looking back... well, one could say I was rather dense about most of the events leading up to the end.
Lunatrix nods a bit.
Vagabond Wizard: In any case, the power I was drawing off the crystals... it began to... overflow. The energies were actually leaking randomly out of me. Although I did not notice and kept drawing on the crystals for more and more.
Vagabond Wizard: Oddly, channeled by the energies, my depression began to feed my... ego. If fighting at the level of the ordinary hero was not helping... well, then I just needed more power than the ordinary hero has. Bigger spells. More damage.
Vagabond Wizard: Greater power, of course. And, as you can probably guess, more crystals.
Lunatrix nods.
Vagabond Wizard: Then it occured to me. The trouble with this plane is that all its gods are passive, imprisoned, or lost. The city didn't need a hero. The city needed an...
Vagabond Wizard coughs, and fidgets.
Vagabond Wizard: I thought Paragon needed a deity. And I thought... at the time, of course... that given enough power and enough crystals... I could...
Vagabond Wizard lifts his hands slowly heavenward.
Lunatrix: Become a god? I get it.
Vagabond Wizard: Lots of people develop god-complexes. Those with super-powers are more prone to it than others. Planeswalkers...
Vagabond Wizard: If you ask people to define what makes a god, those same terms can often be used to describe planeswalkers. It is difficult to find one who has not succumbed to the hubris and set themselves up.
Lunatrix smiles slightly.
Lunatrix: You're making excuses. It must have been bad.
Vagabond Wizard: 'Twas one of the lowest points of my life. And I did not realize it at the time. I am still ashamed.
Vagabond Wizard: Nothing can excuse it. I am merely offering explanations that I think I have discovered in retrospect.
Vagabond Wizard: ...which just come out sounding like excuses.
Lunatrix nods.
Lunatrix: They're excuses. Trust me. I recognize, if not the exact, the general.
Vagabond Wizard sighs.
Vagabond Wizard: In any case, I gathered my energies and my crystals. I found the mystical center of Paragon. I drew on the ley lines that run beneath the city.
Vagabond Wizard: You'll find out more once we go to work for Portal Corp, but the dimensional fabric of Paragon City is very weak and thin. I intended to use that weakness, stretch everything out farther... and then break it.
Vagabond Wizard: I was going to unmake Paragon City and start over. The whole "rebuild it in my image" or "reshape it as I see fit" thing you've probably heard before.
Lunatrix shakes her head slightly.
Lunatrix: Not that I know of. But go on.
Vagabond Wizard: Well, that's kind of where the story ends. My friends and allies both within the Dauntless and without located me, quite by accident. Some had felt what was happening. Others came because they'd heard.
Vagabond Wizard: I was swarmed by friends, talked down from my idiocy by people who cared, and slowly drained of my excess energies by those who knew how.
Lunatrix sets her cup aside and stretches.
Lunatrix: Sort of late for an intervention.
Vagabond Wizard: A few had tried before. But as I said, I had been distancing myself. Withdrawing. Most had no idea I was in any manner of trouble.
Lunatrix: I've known addicts. If they didn't notice, they weren't paying attention.
Vagabond Wizard: 'Tis easy to be distracted in this city.
Lunatrix shrugs and nods.
Lunatrix: Maybe. I have to admit, at least you don't think small.
Vagabond Wizard chuckles a little.
Vagabond Wizard: Well, see... here's the rub...
Vagabond Wizard: Weeks... or was it months? Later, I tried something nearly as hare-brained. I don't recall what because... well, we discovered something.
Vagabond Wizard: The Thornites had noticed my harvesting of the crystals and their energies. Far early on in my addiction... they... do they call it "lacing"?
Lunatrix nods.
Vagabond Wizard: Aye. They "laced" a crystal for me. With a daemon.
Vagabond Wizard: The daemon was absorbed into my system with the other energies. He made himself hidden within my mind, not controlling or planting thoughts, but picking and choosing things to nurture and bring to prominence.
Lunatrix: Sneaky.
Vagabond Wizard: Aye. He was driven out, but not before wreaking a little extra havoc using my body. I got a first-hand look at how the spirit thorns and library crystals work.
Lunatrix frowns slightly in confusion.
Lunatrix: What do you mean?
Vagabond Wizard: Well, after the whole "unmaking the world" thing failed, I guess the daemon thought he'd take a more active role. I obtained a few spirit thorns, he took over my body and...
Vagabond Wizard mimes stabbing himself in the heart.
Lunatrix winces a bit.
Vagabond Wizard: I was only out of my body... well they tell me 'twas an hour or so. See, my friends caught onto this little bit of mischief very quickly. Tracked the daemon down. Battled it, drove it out of my body, and stuck me back in.
Lunatrix nods thoughtfully.
Vagabond Wizard: That's pretty much the complete story as I know it. I may have glossed over a detail or two. But that's the majority of it.
Lunatrix nods again.
Lunatrix: I guess I wish I would have known before we spent so much time in Oranbega. But you seemed, you know, okay.
Vagabond Wizard nods.
Vagabond Wizard: I am. My addiction was as strong as it was because the daemon had made it so. And after the attempt to unmake the world is when MAGI revealed they could bind my magic for me.
Vagabond Wizard: They, uh... did so as punishment for my attempt. But they did hand me my sword which they had been keeping.
Vagabond Wizard: 'Twas easier to quit the crystals with no spells to cast.
Lunatrix: I guess I can see that.
Vagabond Wizard: Still, I try not to tempt myself. I steer clear of the crystals when I can. No sense taking chances.
Vagabond Wizard: Plus, the feeling the crystals give... well, now it inspires memories and revulsion instead of a power rush.
Lunatrix: Probably for the best.
Lunatrix: You must get tired of telling that story. But, like I said, you mentioned it. Just enough to make me curious.
Vagabond Wizard: Actually... you're the first person I've told that story to since...
Vagabond Wizard thinks for a moment.
Vagabond Wizard: No. You're the first person I've told that story to.
Lunatrix: Oh. Well... nevermind, then.
Vagabond Wizard: Curiosity satisfied now? Or over-satisfied, perhaps?
Lunatrix picks up her cup and tears at the edges a bit.
Lunatrix shrugs.
Lunatrix: You mentioned, I asked, you told. It's all good.
Vagabond Wizard watches Luna for a minute or two.
Vagabond Wizard: 'Tis not the part of my life people tend to be most curious about. And I am not proud of it.
Lunatrix shrugs a bit again.
Lunatrix: What part should I have asked about?
Vagabond Wizard: You asked about what you were interested in. And I am glad of that.
Vagabond Wizard: I admit... I am left wondering... what you will think of me now.
Lunatrix: I don't think I have any room to judge.
Vagabond Wizard shrugs a little.
Vagabond Wizard: There is room enough. Not many people can claim to have tried to destroy the world. Fewer still actually had near enough power to do so during the attempt.
Lunatrix: Okay, but... let's see... you were influenced. You actually had good, but twisted, intentions. And maybe if someone else did have the power to do it, they would have tried something similar.
Vagabond Wizard smiles in spite of himself.
Vagabond Wizard: Now you're making my excuses.
Lunatrix: I'm good at excuses. I'm just saying, I'm the last person whose opinion you should be concerned about.
Vagabond Wizard: You're the one I'm spending the most time with of late. Your opinion could therefore bear the most weight. Depending on what it is, of course.
Lunatrix: You should probably hang out with a better class of people. Like I said, though, I'm the last person to judge... and it seems to me that any harm that you might have unwittingly caused, you've more than made up for.
Vagabond Wizard: I like the "class" of people I hang out with. And thank you. I have tried.
Vagabond Wizard slips down from the crate.
Vagabond Wizard: I think I should be heading to my rest. If you come up with anything else you want to ask me, just hold onto it 'til tomorrow?
Lunatrix: I wasn't trying to interogate you... Like I said, you mentioned and hinted, so I was curious.
Vagabond Wizard smiles.
Lunatrix: But I'm sure anything else can wait until tomorrow.
Vagabond Wizard: I did not feel interrogated.
Vagabond Wizard: More like... well, in my experience, once I tell one story, it often leads into another, aye? So if you find yourself wondering something... just ask.
Lunatrix shrugs a little and nods.
Lunatrix: Okay. Go get your rest.

Oops

Not that it's that important, but I had the dates wrong. I'll be in game tonight. It's a week from tonight that I may not be. Not the first time I've gotten things written on my calendar wrong. :)

Family In Town

Various members of my family are going to be in town this weekend. I will likely be joining them for dinner and possibly activities on Sunday, but I don't know what time. I may also be meeting them for dinner Monday night as well. Don't count on me being available for TF Sunday this weekend.

Stops on an Endless Road

So you may ask: "Where has the vagabond been?" The simple yet complicated answer to these questions is what I like to call the "Vagabond Rule of Thumb": If I've read it, played it, or watched it, the vagabond has been there. This includes blogs, books, comics, movies, short stories, T.V. shows, video games, and websites. Even when I'm playing another character, in the back of my head, the vagabond is still nearby.

Now, the majority of the time, he is simply an observer. He comes across an interesting plane with interesting people or events on it. He stays in a neighboring plane ("peeking from the ether" he calls it) or hidden within the plane and just... watches. This means he has seen a great many great events he did not participate in. Kind of the planeswalker version of watching T.V.

On the other hand, if my interest is especially strong, if I get drawn into the story so much I feel a part of it, or if I actually role-play in the world, then the vagabond has been there in person, often as an active participant in events. Scattered around, I have 12 different character sheets for structured role-playing games, and I have "free-form" role-played the character in at least twice that many.

Now the most important thing to me, especially regarding the vagabond, is story, so if something is revealed to me where the story would be better served if the vagabond doesn't know it, I'll mentally pull him out. If steps are intentionally taken to be sure he doesn't hear about something, and I hear about it anyway, if it makes sense in the context of the story, he doesn't hear.

The Imperious Task Force

I love Cimerora. Love, love, love. It's visually awe-inspiring, and I wish parts of the ITF were accessible outside of the TF so I could just go hang out there. If and when my economic stimulus check arrives, it's immediately going to a more powerful video card just so I can turn my graphics settings up even higher.

Unfortunately, I was so wrapped up in the TF and in looking around that I completely forgot to take any screenshots. @#$%. At least I'm planning to do it again. I still want to take Vagabond Blade and Blood Crucible on it. Then make some tweaks to their armors. So there'll be other chances. And if I get the new video card first, then the screenies will be even prettier. :)

I hope everyone had a good time on the ITF, by the way. I know I sure did. And I read every word of what Imperious said, every clue that dropped, and every bit of NPC dialog. I was totally into the plot and eating up every word. Even though it wasn't RP heavy, I was in Vagz' head the entire time, and both of us were in awe.

Speaking of Vagz, I have been having a blast playing him again. He really is my favorite character to RP. He has lots of depth, lots of history, and it's always interesting to play him. He constantly surprises me, though, even after having played him since 1991-ish. Yeah, he's that "old".

What surprises me the most is how he gets along with other characters. Sometimes, I'll think "oh, he'll get along great with this character", and I'll be blown away by how wrong I am. Other times, it's the opposite. Case in point: Lunatrix.

To me, this duo had "DOOM" written all over it. With extra O's, even. Mechanically, I knew it'd be a great match-up, but I thought for sure the characters would take an instant dislike for each other and Fyre and I would spend half our time trying to come up with ways to keep the two together. And I have never been more happy to be wrong.

Don't get me wrong: the characters aren't best buds or anything, and they have big arguments and blow-ups. But it's interesting RP. They have interesting conversations, interesting fights, and it's the kind of RP I've been missing for a bit now.

And with Shields coming Soon(tm), I'm all excited about TankVagz being on the horizon... :)