Well, I am once again officially enslaved, like the endless streams of others, in the unending existence of working for a living. Took me long enough. Not that I'm happy with the location of the company and, frankly, if the salary's going to take a big hit from the commute money, I'd rather stay unemployed.
Anyway, spending my free time playing Still Life, The White Chamber (available for free download at Studio Trophis) or a heavilly-modded Baldur's Gate II again. Quite fun.
I am suddenly reminded of the old days, back when I was still playing Magic: The Gathering. I do not claim to be very good at it but I had my moments. As I recall, my last 3 decks were a Goblin Deck, a Discarder Deck (which vanished inside my house) and...a Life-Gainer deck. The Discarder was definitely the most potent of the lot, though a lot of powerful cards were not in the deck mainly because I didn't have the money (or the patience) to find them. My Life-Gainer was so-so and rarely field tested, plus it lost the power of Serra Avatar, the main damage-dealer because someone stole it from me. My Goblin deck was the worst, weakest and also, oddly, my favorite to play. Fast, didn't need a lot of mana and could mass-produce creatures like no other, save a properly built token deck. And before that, I had a green weenie deck that utilized both creature power and the little-recognized Lure-Nature's Revolt-Elven Warhounds combo. So, why so suddenly remember this game? My brother is playing it like an addict. The main difference between me when I was playing and him playing now is that the players he's facing are significantly dumber and he has the money to get the cards he wants/needs.
The Asylum Director
- VIIIofSwords
- "The only thing I was fit for was to be a writer, and this rested solely on my suspicion that I would never be fit for real work, and that writing didn't require any." - Russel Baker
Tuesday, September 20, 2005
Tuesday, September 13, 2005
Err...screw it.
Maybe life doesn't like me. Or maybe I'm just not the type for actual work. Don't know. All I know is I'm not feeling like I'm going to be drawn into the endless, drab system working and toiling for the Matron Mothers who lash my back with their biting flails in the name of the Spider Queen, Lloth. Yes, I do feel that corporate society and the Philippine job environment is similar to the way D&D's Drow society works.
Anyway, I was feeling generous today so I thought I'd pass on this little fantasy-style idea...maybe someone with more experience and inclination to write fantasy than I do can make it work or something...
Genre:
Fantasy
Point of View:
3rd person
Concept:
The tides of war have fallen upon the lands of Aelia and Bhaalim! The War Minister Gabriel Cross, in place of the ailing King Reinhardt, has began a massive build-up of Aelian forces along the borders with the territory of Bhaalim. Rumors are rampant that war is brewing. In the tension and fear, old hatreds and rivalries resurface as both sides mount up for war.
And caught in between are Lenneth, a Bhaalite rogue with psionic talents resulting from a dark taint in her soul, and Nicolette Aderre, an Aelian noblewoman and officer with a dark family lineage. Their fates intertwine with their homelands and in their hands laid the fate of all.
Major Characters:
Lenneth
Age: 19
Eyes: amethyst
Hair: black
Race: human (from all indications)
Bio: Lenneth had always lived a life of battle. An orphan, she was raised by a group of Bhaalite gang of thieves and spies that trained her in espionage, the art of fighting only with one's body as weapon and armor and also aided her in controlling her potent psionic talents. She quickly gained skill in both fields, learning how to master the many intricacies and dangers of a thief's life side by side with the focus and discipline needed to maintain the potency and effective power of her psionic arts. She'd endeared herself to the band and she came to accept them as the closest thing she had to family. However, throughout her life she had been haunted by a darker side, an urge to kill and destroy anyone or anything that even so much as looked at her in a strange manner. The thieves had been able to handle her sudden fits of berserk rage before but when she turned 17, she became too much to handle and fatally wounded all of her comrades. Most survived and forgave her but she would not have it. She left them and secluded herself as far as she could from those that might be hurt by her sudden rages. Lenneth was also haunted by the visions and dreams of a beautiful woman of great power that she somehow is certain was, or is, her mother but cannot understand how she knows or who the woman is.
Note: Lenneth is not completely human but is the vessel for part of the powerful, ancient demon lord Valefor and Xahadun's plans are but a means to awaken the demon within her. Her body is that of a teenager and she has only been human for 19 years, the centuries prior spent in the form of a sword sealed away by Freya until such time that the goddess felt appropriate to let Lenneth become human.
Xahadun
Age: 784
Eyes: red, no visible pupils
Hair: inapplicable
Race: demon
Bio: Xahadun was once the loyal general and retainer of Valefor, the great dark lord that nearly succeeded in conquering the realms. When Valefor was defeated by the then-sorceress Freya, Xahadun fled but was captured, his powers sealed and his armies decimated by the gods. He knew that Freya, being mortal at the time, didn't have the power to completely destroy Valefor and spent close to a decade searching for the vessel in which the majority of that power had been contained. He knew that the power within the vessel was great and that he need only awaken the bloodlust and the darkness within in order to stir the spirit of his fallen general to a resurrection, of sorts. Thus, he orchestrated a great war between the Bhaalim and the Aelians, exploited their old rivalries and time-forgotten hatreds, knowing it would force the vessel into the fray. It was his last act of loyalty to his fallen lord, a move he felt assured the return of the dreaded Valefor.
Note: Xahadun takes control of many people in both the Bhaalim and Aelian forces and government, most notably the Aelian War Minister, Gabriel Cross and the Bhaalim High Council member, Gerhardt.
Nicolette Aderre
Age: 23
Eyes: blue
Hair: brown
Race: human, secretly half-demon
Bio: The daughter of the demon Xahadun, in the guise of humble merchant Lukas Aderre, and his wife Elise. She knew of her father's nature but not of his plans. A skilled swordswoman since youth, she earned nobility and lands for her family when she led her small force of troops against the marauding undead hordes of the sorceress, her sister Celeste. She was responsible for defeating the sorceress, owing to the mysterious immunity to sorcery that Nicolette had. She developed no abilities expected from half-demons and none of their physical traits, save for her claw-like nails that she carefully concealed with gloves. Over time, she discovered that she was immune to 2 of the 3 forms of magic, sorcery and psionics. It was her immunity that prompted her enemies to arrange for her to be assigned far from the possible frontlines in order to prevent her from once again defeating her sister Celeste, who'd survived their battle and regained her powers and more through the intervention of their father, Xahadun.
Note: Nicolette's immunity to psionics and sorcery is not commonly known. Also, she has an aversion to the third form of magic, artifice, such that she cannot hold any weapon or wear any item crafted by an artificer. Her mere touch seemed to serve as a minor enchantment to any armor and weapons she holds however and is of the nature that only she can activate them.
Freya
Age: unknown
Eyes: green
Hair: blonde
Race: god
Bio: Once a powerful sorceress psionicist in Bhaalim, the woman known only as Freya had single-handedly defeated the demon lord Valefor when he marched upon the mortal world. Her power was such that she became elevated to the status of goddess almost immediately after defeating Valefor, who himself was once the mighty god of war and death. Though a god, she is among the weakest of them. Freya still carries a human soul and thus can become more powerful over time, something that only she has realized among her fellow gods. Inside her, she also carries part of the taint of Valefor for safe-keeping, knowing that only the union of the vessel with the taint that she possesses can resurrect Valefor.
Note: It has been close to 3 centuries since Freya ascended to divinity and she has enough power to contain all of Valefor's taint without being corrupted by it. She has switched places such that the small portion she had is in Lenneth, the vessel, and the majority of it in her. No one but Freya is aware of this act. Another fact that only Freya knows is that Lenneth is not only a vessel but also her daughter, thus making Lenneth immortal and a half-god.
Celeste Aderre
Age: 29
Eyes: blue
Hair: silver/white
Race: human, secretly half-demon
Bio: Unlike her younger sister Nicolette, Celeste embraced the dark origins she emerged from and found both power and madness delving into the forbidden arts of necromancy. Drawing from an unnatural proficiency in sorcery and bending the forces of death to her will, Celeste nearly destroyed the Aelian army in the Battle of Whitmoor Pass, had it not been for the leadership of her sister. Owing more to her poor planning and her lack of ability to anticipate the moves that her sister would use than anything else, Celeste was cornered in her stronghold, the Twilight Tower, and faced death. It was only the intervention of Xahadun that allowed Celeste to live and to cultivate her power even more in secret, confined within the Twilight Tower until such time that her father had need of her power and her assistance.
Note: Celeste has been allowed to leave the Twilight Tower but has opted to stay back in the relative safety of her personal domain to observe events. She has not hesitated to send aid to her father when he asks of it but will not place herself in any danger. She has mastered the sorcery that had locked her away and can easily close them such that Xahadun may not reach her when she feels the action is needed. Unlike her father, she is not interested in reviving Valefor and is far more interested in attaining the status of godhood or at least power to rival the gods.
Valefor
Age: unknown, undeterminable
Eyes: white, no visible pupils
Hair: inapplicable
Race: demon
Bio: Once the noble, respected but temperamental god of war and death, Valefor led a campaign into the depths of Pandemonium itself to prevent the demons from ascending and attacking the mortal realm and Heaven. He succeeded and stayed on to lead the occupation forces in subduing the demons. However, the longer he remained, the more he and his forces were corrupted by the evil and the darkness of Pandemonium such that, after 3,000 years, he himself had fallen and had become the most powerful demon in existence. All of his forces had fallen as well, save for Dominic, his chief lieutenant, who had managed to return to Heaven to warn the gods. He began a campaign against all creation in a rampant wave of destruction that began with attacking the mortal realm. Kingdom after kingdom fell to him until he encountered the allied forces of Bhaalim and Aelia. It was the psionicist-sorceress, the only one to have ever been born, Freya that faced him and single-handedly destroyed the former god in combat. As he fell, his army began to run in cowardice back to Pandemonium, threatened by the rallied forces of the gods, led by the newly anointed god of judgment and law, Dominic. Though dead, his power was still potent and Freya set about to containing the power in her sword, Endbringer, with a small portion to herself to prevent Valefor's resurrection.
Note: The sword Endbringer still exists and is hidden away in a dungeon-cavern in the mountains of southern Bhaalim. The last remnants of Valefor's mind dwell in the blade, in wait for a body to hold the blade so that he may transfer to it. Freya is unaware of this and though Valefor has tried, he has learned that he may not take control of a goddess in his state. Destruction and vengeance are the remnant Valefor's only thoughts. The only being that knows of the continued, though utterly destitute and deprived of any of the power he once held, existence is Dominic.
Anyway, I was feeling generous today so I thought I'd pass on this little fantasy-style idea...maybe someone with more experience and inclination to write fantasy than I do can make it work or something...
Genre:
Fantasy
Point of View:
3rd person
Concept:
The tides of war have fallen upon the lands of Aelia and Bhaalim! The War Minister Gabriel Cross, in place of the ailing King Reinhardt, has began a massive build-up of Aelian forces along the borders with the territory of Bhaalim. Rumors are rampant that war is brewing. In the tension and fear, old hatreds and rivalries resurface as both sides mount up for war.
And caught in between are Lenneth, a Bhaalite rogue with psionic talents resulting from a dark taint in her soul, and Nicolette Aderre, an Aelian noblewoman and officer with a dark family lineage. Their fates intertwine with their homelands and in their hands laid the fate of all.
Major Characters:
Lenneth
Age: 19
Eyes: amethyst
Hair: black
Race: human (from all indications)
Bio: Lenneth had always lived a life of battle. An orphan, she was raised by a group of Bhaalite gang of thieves and spies that trained her in espionage, the art of fighting only with one's body as weapon and armor and also aided her in controlling her potent psionic talents. She quickly gained skill in both fields, learning how to master the many intricacies and dangers of a thief's life side by side with the focus and discipline needed to maintain the potency and effective power of her psionic arts. She'd endeared herself to the band and she came to accept them as the closest thing she had to family. However, throughout her life she had been haunted by a darker side, an urge to kill and destroy anyone or anything that even so much as looked at her in a strange manner. The thieves had been able to handle her sudden fits of berserk rage before but when she turned 17, she became too much to handle and fatally wounded all of her comrades. Most survived and forgave her but she would not have it. She left them and secluded herself as far as she could from those that might be hurt by her sudden rages. Lenneth was also haunted by the visions and dreams of a beautiful woman of great power that she somehow is certain was, or is, her mother but cannot understand how she knows or who the woman is.
Note: Lenneth is not completely human but is the vessel for part of the powerful, ancient demon lord Valefor and Xahadun's plans are but a means to awaken the demon within her. Her body is that of a teenager and she has only been human for 19 years, the centuries prior spent in the form of a sword sealed away by Freya until such time that the goddess felt appropriate to let Lenneth become human.
Xahadun
Age: 784
Eyes: red, no visible pupils
Hair: inapplicable
Race: demon
Bio: Xahadun was once the loyal general and retainer of Valefor, the great dark lord that nearly succeeded in conquering the realms. When Valefor was defeated by the then-sorceress Freya, Xahadun fled but was captured, his powers sealed and his armies decimated by the gods. He knew that Freya, being mortal at the time, didn't have the power to completely destroy Valefor and spent close to a decade searching for the vessel in which the majority of that power had been contained. He knew that the power within the vessel was great and that he need only awaken the bloodlust and the darkness within in order to stir the spirit of his fallen general to a resurrection, of sorts. Thus, he orchestrated a great war between the Bhaalim and the Aelians, exploited their old rivalries and time-forgotten hatreds, knowing it would force the vessel into the fray. It was his last act of loyalty to his fallen lord, a move he felt assured the return of the dreaded Valefor.
Note: Xahadun takes control of many people in both the Bhaalim and Aelian forces and government, most notably the Aelian War Minister, Gabriel Cross and the Bhaalim High Council member, Gerhardt.
Nicolette Aderre
Age: 23
Eyes: blue
Hair: brown
Race: human, secretly half-demon
Bio: The daughter of the demon Xahadun, in the guise of humble merchant Lukas Aderre, and his wife Elise. She knew of her father's nature but not of his plans. A skilled swordswoman since youth, she earned nobility and lands for her family when she led her small force of troops against the marauding undead hordes of the sorceress, her sister Celeste. She was responsible for defeating the sorceress, owing to the mysterious immunity to sorcery that Nicolette had. She developed no abilities expected from half-demons and none of their physical traits, save for her claw-like nails that she carefully concealed with gloves. Over time, she discovered that she was immune to 2 of the 3 forms of magic, sorcery and psionics. It was her immunity that prompted her enemies to arrange for her to be assigned far from the possible frontlines in order to prevent her from once again defeating her sister Celeste, who'd survived their battle and regained her powers and more through the intervention of their father, Xahadun.
Note: Nicolette's immunity to psionics and sorcery is not commonly known. Also, she has an aversion to the third form of magic, artifice, such that she cannot hold any weapon or wear any item crafted by an artificer. Her mere touch seemed to serve as a minor enchantment to any armor and weapons she holds however and is of the nature that only she can activate them.
Freya
Age: unknown
Eyes: green
Hair: blonde
Race: god
Bio: Once a powerful sorceress psionicist in Bhaalim, the woman known only as Freya had single-handedly defeated the demon lord Valefor when he marched upon the mortal world. Her power was such that she became elevated to the status of goddess almost immediately after defeating Valefor, who himself was once the mighty god of war and death. Though a god, she is among the weakest of them. Freya still carries a human soul and thus can become more powerful over time, something that only she has realized among her fellow gods. Inside her, she also carries part of the taint of Valefor for safe-keeping, knowing that only the union of the vessel with the taint that she possesses can resurrect Valefor.
Note: It has been close to 3 centuries since Freya ascended to divinity and she has enough power to contain all of Valefor's taint without being corrupted by it. She has switched places such that the small portion she had is in Lenneth, the vessel, and the majority of it in her. No one but Freya is aware of this act. Another fact that only Freya knows is that Lenneth is not only a vessel but also her daughter, thus making Lenneth immortal and a half-god.
Celeste Aderre
Age: 29
Eyes: blue
Hair: silver/white
Race: human, secretly half-demon
Bio: Unlike her younger sister Nicolette, Celeste embraced the dark origins she emerged from and found both power and madness delving into the forbidden arts of necromancy. Drawing from an unnatural proficiency in sorcery and bending the forces of death to her will, Celeste nearly destroyed the Aelian army in the Battle of Whitmoor Pass, had it not been for the leadership of her sister. Owing more to her poor planning and her lack of ability to anticipate the moves that her sister would use than anything else, Celeste was cornered in her stronghold, the Twilight Tower, and faced death. It was only the intervention of Xahadun that allowed Celeste to live and to cultivate her power even more in secret, confined within the Twilight Tower until such time that her father had need of her power and her assistance.
Note: Celeste has been allowed to leave the Twilight Tower but has opted to stay back in the relative safety of her personal domain to observe events. She has not hesitated to send aid to her father when he asks of it but will not place herself in any danger. She has mastered the sorcery that had locked her away and can easily close them such that Xahadun may not reach her when she feels the action is needed. Unlike her father, she is not interested in reviving Valefor and is far more interested in attaining the status of godhood or at least power to rival the gods.
Valefor
Age: unknown, undeterminable
Eyes: white, no visible pupils
Hair: inapplicable
Race: demon
Bio: Once the noble, respected but temperamental god of war and death, Valefor led a campaign into the depths of Pandemonium itself to prevent the demons from ascending and attacking the mortal realm and Heaven. He succeeded and stayed on to lead the occupation forces in subduing the demons. However, the longer he remained, the more he and his forces were corrupted by the evil and the darkness of Pandemonium such that, after 3,000 years, he himself had fallen and had become the most powerful demon in existence. All of his forces had fallen as well, save for Dominic, his chief lieutenant, who had managed to return to Heaven to warn the gods. He began a campaign against all creation in a rampant wave of destruction that began with attacking the mortal realm. Kingdom after kingdom fell to him until he encountered the allied forces of Bhaalim and Aelia. It was the psionicist-sorceress, the only one to have ever been born, Freya that faced him and single-handedly destroyed the former god in combat. As he fell, his army began to run in cowardice back to Pandemonium, threatened by the rallied forces of the gods, led by the newly anointed god of judgment and law, Dominic. Though dead, his power was still potent and Freya set about to containing the power in her sword, Endbringer, with a small portion to herself to prevent Valefor's resurrection.
Note: The sword Endbringer still exists and is hidden away in a dungeon-cavern in the mountains of southern Bhaalim. The last remnants of Valefor's mind dwell in the blade, in wait for a body to hold the blade so that he may transfer to it. Freya is unaware of this and though Valefor has tried, he has learned that he may not take control of a goddess in his state. Destruction and vengeance are the remnant Valefor's only thoughts. The only being that knows of the continued, though utterly destitute and deprived of any of the power he once held, existence is Dominic.
Monday, September 05, 2005
Gripe#4 Job Hunting
It’s that time of year again, kiddies. (feel free to insert maniacal cackling here)
[start gripe here]
After spending many weeks job hunting, my prospects now are in deeper crap than ever. I am now one of millions in an endless, endless cycle of job hunting. It goes a little something like this: pass your resume, wait for call, come in for initial interview, wait for test, wait for final. The final step varies from job offer to (more common) the classic line “We’ll call you by X date. If we don’t, you didn’t pass”. It’s funny.
They can at least have the decency to reject you on the spot! None of this silly pandering and planting of false hopes in an applicant’s head. Like thieves in the night, you don’t expect failure and rejection when they tell you that. The way they say it implies that we’ll consider you and in the end, we’ll hire you. Not that you’re not getting in this company, no way, no how. See you in X number of months, kid. Try again next time.
And of course, there are those that outright reject you because of your lack of experience. I take issue with that as well. To quote Michael J. Fox from the movie The Secret Of My Success: how am I supposed to get experience when none of you will damn well hire me? His words, though fictional, are true. We’re not going to get experience if we’re not being hired so that we can get it. Companies seem to fail to realize that if a company trains an employee, unless the management or HR is that bad, they’re likely to stick it out. After all, the certainty of work can often outweigh the risk of a better offer.
People Support seems like a nice enough company and the account I applied for is something in my field, so that’s a plus. The pay is decent, the area is near where a friend of mine lives so I can stay with him and the work is simple, really. Travel reservations. You listen to some idiot in the US make a booking, make his requests and do it for him. Easy as pie. (trivia: Pie is English, not American as most people think) I’d really, really like to get in this company but, as the result of a stupid mistake I’ve learned never to repeat again, I’m in a bit of a bind there. My former employer’s contract has them worried and, as far as I can tell, as much as they want to hire me, I am not getting in there.
Ambergris Solutions is a little stranger. I passed everything and am now pooled in the event that they have openings for…whatever. However, the nature of the questions I got thrown in the interview doesn’t sit well with me. The constant references to my applications in the airline industry seemed contrived. The fact that they asked me whether or not I’ll stay with the company if an airline ever called me up for an initial interview really said to me that they’re afraid of it. I get the impression that they’re thinking that they have no faith in their company’s ability to keep employees around. Come to think of it, so does the fact that they’re pooling. I find that highly suggestive of a high rate of resignations within a specific amount of time, like 1 year or 6 months. And there has to be a reason for that. Frankly, I’m not inclined to actually have to be employed to find out.
If you really think about it, finding work in this god-forsaken country is next to impossible. Most employees don’t bother leaving, believing it is wiser for them to stick it out in a certain company. Frankly, I don’t blame them. That way of thinking is starting to make sense to me. And with millions of applicants out there and so few opportunities and such poor support for the arts and the poor pay for skilled tradesmen like plumbers and electricians, many people are screwed. Add to that the illogical need for experience when they know well enough that most people can’t get experience, and you’ve got yourself a bit of a quagmire. Milton’s words ‘To rule in Hell is better to serve in Heaven’ takes on a whole new meaning from this light. Me? I’m sticking to the few applications I have left that haven’t called because I just applied yesterday or 2 days ago. In the mean time, I’m writing and reading up on things, as well as catching up to the books I’ve been meaning to read. In particular, War of the Worlds and 1984 I’ve been dying to finish.
[end gripe here]
Fiction Updates:
Charity: scrapped. I was never really that comfortable writing vampire fiction. Must be all the Anne Rice books I’ve read, along with my addiction to Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, not to mention reading Bram Stoker’s Dracula and Le Fanu’s Carmilla. A pity, really. If nothing else, the city of Charity had jeepneys even though it’s an American city, mainly because I had jeepneys as the main and only mode of public transportation.
The Da Benjie Code: on the site somewhere. Don’t know when and I don’t know how I’m going to expand on it. It’s just there as it is for now.
Darkenholme: fantasy was never my thing to write. I love fantasy as a game, like Baldur’s Gate II: Shadows of Amn or Planescape: Torment or even the occasional session of D&D or L5R (if you prefer a more Oriental approach to fantasy). However, I don’t have the discipline in me to create worlds as lush and as filled with wonder and life as most fantasy novels do. At least, not without compromising plot and characters in favor of the details of such a world. The resulting mess was one where I had a character so detailed in the nature of their organization, their lack of ethics and morality and their observance of the mission but completely lacking in humanity, in actual personality. She rarely even spoke! It wasn’t pretty.
Requiem: the project that was about half-demons and their full-blooded relatives falls apart for the 5th time since I first thought of it. What killed it this time? A lack of conflict when there should have been plenty. Oh well. I still have the notes for it, that’s a plus.
Project: Ghost: hosted currently on FPC, I honestly want to continue it but I can’t get a feel for it anymore. I dropped it long enough for me to actually…lose touch with the mood I tried so hard to get right. Still, I do plan on trying again. Starting with a complete re-write of the whole damn thing.
Anyway, working on something else now. Similar to Project: Ghost on some level but this time, I am steering clear of a lot of things.
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