Knight

*Smiles* Thank you, Lady Celes. I shall endeavour to do so...

Alright folks... There is no easy way to say this, but to say it. People are not born good- they are not born evil, either. They are a product of their rearing. Good and evil are qualitative things, and are subjective to individual viewpoints. The individual is a product of the nurture he has received, which is a product of the nature around him. Man kind is still growing and evolving from the hunter-gatherer society that preceeded what we have at this point, and it's taken us what? Tens of thousands of years of progression? And to be honest, people are still out killing each other over petty differences. Why? Why does man overcome his natural aversion to killing other men? (This is actually a scientific fact- provded in several studies.) It is because of his environment, which directly affects his upbringing. One must understand that, before one can understand why man acts the way he does. Now, there are exceptions to every rule- not everybody who was raised to be kind, just, and fair will turn out that way. There are multiple causes for this- and it's not something one can pin down regularly. So, we establish these things- and we realize that man, despite it all, despite his upbringing has the capacity for both good, and evil. You may wonder why I use good and evil throughout this statement- it is all qualitative. It is easier to understand these two items, which we as a collective seem to understand, and realize what they are about, than it is to understand the reasons than it is to understand the items in question. Why people force two opposite sets of views down one another, or whatnot- the polarity difference. If you look at it in more concrete terms - the ideas themselves being the good vs. evil, if you will (while not actually being so) - it becomes a bit easier to see. It's just the sad state of life that people will try to convert others to their views. Is it wrong? Most likely not. Is it fair? That depends. It all depends on how a person views things. And what it all boils down to is that people are still different- we aren't a collective, and we won't be. And we will be radically different from each other, while we may have a similiar systems of beliefs. I don't know if this makes sense, but this is what I've been trying to get at in my roundabout way, in this post. Sorry if I've confused anyone...

Finnius: I hate to nit-pick... but I still have friends in Afghanistan. To shed light on another matter- as I have held off this long on posting here, because frankly, I have no wish to alienate myself from my friends, even if I disgaree with their perspectives- as Boaz said, as a conservative, I personally try to shy away from these threads. Why? Because frankly, I don't want to get skewered for my beliefs. Beliefs are what make a person- and as such, I am who I am. Those that know me- would you change me? Would you make me a different person? In all truth, arguing and fighting, and bickering over something like this is only going to either hurt people in the end, or turn others bitter. I've never been one to like either. And in truth... I have pretty liberal views. But then, that's because I'm a Libertarian, not a leftist. A more conservative Libertarian, albeit, but a Libertarian nonetheless. I'm all for saying no to government spending on anything but law enforcement, intelligence gathering, the military, and judiciary. But then, that would upset a lot of people, would it not? But again, I am who I am. Would you change that? I don't try to change you, so please, don't try to change me. Thank you, good day, and I hope you guys feel better, because it's not as bad as you think.

In the thick of the night, a gloved hand raised to make contact with the well-worn door before it. The man posessing the hand smiled somewhat, as he read the weather-worn picture that sat at eye-level on the door. The rather over-friendly looking dog, accompanied by the two mugs of overflowing beer on either side of it gave the Drunken Dog away rather quickly. An old Tavern that had stood in these parts for entirely too long, the Drunken Dog was a favorite haunt of adventurers, prostitutes, thieves, and of course, drunkards, amongst all sorts of interesting folk. The man pushed the door open- it creaked on its rusty hinges, and stepped in. His cloak swished around his feet, and made a damp rustling noise as he stepped in out of the rain. The Barkeep looked up, and nodded to the man. It was obvious that they were familiar with one another. Quickly pulling his hood back, the unnamed gentleman stepped up to the bar, aside two rather smashed old men, who were too busy snoozing to notice the newcomer- whereas the rest of the occupants in the tavern had. "So Jack... what'll it be?" Jack, the man who had stepped up to the bar smiled. His perfect, white teeth flashed in the firelight that flooded the room. "The usual, Bill. The usual." "One Bruteweiser, coming up." The Barkeep turned around, and grabbed a mug, found the keg he was looking for, and filled it up for Jack. Taking the frothy beer, Jack walked across the creaky wooden floor, eyes of some of the patrons following him, the rest passively ignoring him. He slipped into a booth, and began to drink his beer, when suddenly, there came a crashing from the bar. Jack looked up to see the strangest sight he'd ever seen. It appeared to be a semi-crazed, hairy, half-human half-....something. And it had just smashed a mug across the head of one of the drunks. Bill's eyes flashed around the room, looking from help, somewhere, anywhere. The creature grunted- Jack stood quietly- this brute of a thing was fixing to try and tear apart his favorite establishment... The Half-Human, Quarter-Orc, Quarter-Ogre, as it were, was looking around the room, obviously looking for someone. Every once in a while, it would look down at a scrap of parchment it had grasped in its hand. His eyes settled in Jack's direction, and he squinted- trying to tell something. He raised his hand, and looked at the parchment- the image that was drawn on it looked much like Jack- it even had his rather shaggy, unkempt brown hair, and the scar that ran at an odd angle from his eye. "You dere. Cummere." Jack's eyebrow raised- trying to figure out what this creature wanted, his hand going to his waist, gripping the blade that he had there. It was true that he had done some things to offend some people who might want him killed, but that was a very long time ago. "Erm.. How may I help you?" The creature just motioned him forward. Jack, stepped tentatively closer... Keeping his hand on the blade, as the creature keeped gazing at him menacingly with glassy eyes. As he got closer, he could smell its terrible stench, and he grimaced ever so slightly. The creature's ragged, steamy breath reeked of decay. "I say. Cummere. Now." Jack, seeing no other alternative, looked to Bill. Bill was mouthing the word 'RUN' to him. Jack, figuring that this brute was intending to pound him senseless cautiously moved for the door. Inching his way towards the exit, he managed to reach the door, before the creature realized what he was doing. "DON'T GO! CUMMERE DAMNYA!" Jack turned, and thrusted the door open- stepping outside, the Half-human, quarter-orc, quarter-ogre following quickly. Jack darted down the street, and broke off about two hundred meters down, into an ally. His heart thudded, as he tried to lose the creature through the sharp turns, and narrow passages that made up the little neighborhood that he had ducked into- the creature was hot on his heals. It shouted for him to stop, but Jack would not do so. That is, of course, until he came to a dead in. Blocked on two sides by houses, and a third by a steep fence, Jack had nowhere to go. It was obvious the little dagger he had would do nothing more than irritate the creature, so he stopped, still breathing hard, and looked at him, pleadingly. Jack did not wish to die tonight. "YE SHOULDNT HAVE DUN THAT. YE SHOULDNT HAVE!" The half-thingy looked at him angrily. It raised its massive fist, and looked as if it were ready to slam the meaty hand into Jack's face. Instead, it reached around, and pulled something out of the big pack it was carrying. Withdrawing a bag full of gold coins, it handed it over to Jack. "MARSTER SAID YE WON DESE IN DE LODDERY. SAID GIVE YOU DESE. ALMOST TOO MUCH TROUBLE, BUT MARSTER BE GOOD DA ME, SO I DO AS MARSTER SAY." And Jack collapsed in a heap, from the sheer comedy of the situation, combined with the weight of ten thousand gold coins.

Yup, that does it. Now how in the bloody hells do I get rid of this?

*posts, worried now*

"Stick my old friend... What have you done this time?" With that, Knight looked up, and got a glance at the dragon summoned with the power released off his ship's frontal fusion reactor. Oy that was a lot of damage... He watched the onlookers fleeing in terror, and he simply chuckled at Elladan and Elrohir. No doubt that they were behind it- he wondered what their father would say about it all, afterwards. He would have to track old Peredhil down later. At any rate, he would do his best to help Stick- because Stick had helped in an old situation, a rather long time ago.... Years and years ago- by Knight's perspective- not sure how long by the current world's. Oh the joys of hopping through the multiverse... "Well Stick, since you are a friend.. and you are in need of assistance, let me see what it is that I may do for you.. I have already returned Wyvern's favor- I just stuck him with the bill to relocate my ship, after he attempted to get me to help pay for this. I'm a bit short of geld- my universe runs on Federation credits, not golden coins."

Knight shrugged- he had to give it up, afterall. After all this time- and from that flying angel fellow... And they were comfortable too... "Well, these are the undergarments of the Crown Prince of Taenaria.. one Prince Malan Caesis.... supposedly, in addition to the hole for tail feathers, they're supposed to generate a field of psionic protection.. Haven't had the chance to test that theory myself.." Now looking to the semi-destroyed ship, he shrugged. His crew was doing it's best to assses the damages, and repair what could be repaired. This wasn't how he'd intended to arrive, after all... They were supposed to make a short jump through the fabric of the multiverse, back to this universe, from whence Knight originally came, and pay a visit to some old friends. Knight still hadn't figured out how in the name of the nine hells Wyvern managed to get him the message, but he was thankful nonetheless. It meant that he had a chance to return, at least for a visit. Now that his destroyer was wrecked, he would be here for considerably longer... "Ok Troll. As far as moving that, you can put this on Wyvern's tab... he won't mind.. Seriously.. Wyvern and I go waaaaaaaaay back.. in fact, we're joint partners in the Bruteweiser corporation... Any which way.. If you can get ahold of a group that can possibly move that thing, pay them straight out of Wyvern's tab... and have them tow this thing about a kilometer south of here.. Thanks there, pal..." And with that, Knight went to retrieve his gifts from the ship...

Knight, having seen his ship explode, blinked. Well, there went 3billion credits for naught... But then.. he had his powers back.. He could feel the mana flowing through him once more- Shouldn't be too difficult to fix- he had once created Volcanoes in the lairs of those who had merely miffed him.... At any rate, Knight had ad least managed to get his gifts off in time. He had to create a way to return himself back to the proper universe for the occassion- in the other place, space travel was then norm, and space combat was even more the norm, as his now destroyed ship could attest... Waaaait a minute. That ship was designed to take Doomsday Fusion bolts and laugh. Just WHAT the hell had destroyed it? "Who's the numbskull that blasted my ship with a volatile spell?" Valdar looked back sheepishly- "Oy.. Just Valdar. No biggy then. Carry on." Yes. Knight would definitely have to finagle that spell out of him one of these days. One of these days... Knight continued into the party and in doing so, ran smack into Wyvern. The not-a-dragon flashed his toothy grin, and looked at Knight. "My old friend... so glad you could come...." Knight looked at Wyvern. Wyvern beamed at Knight. Knight finally said, "What is it that you have planned this time, my old associate?" Wyvern merely chuckled...

"ALL HANDS ON DECK! BRACE FOR IMPACT!" A tall man, in gleaming black plate mail, of a metal unknown to this world, is standing aboard the deck of a spacecraft. A very heavy spacecraft, about to impact upon a planet. And he had no idea where he was. "First Officer, status report!" "Sssssir- We no longer have controlllll... desssscent issss sssurviiiivable, and damage whill be minimhum, but it ahppears we will crash... hhhhhere." The Lizard-like first officer looked at the taller man, and was obviously upset about this prospect, despite the assurances he'd provided. Of course, crashing 500,000 tons of Tacnull sheathing, and other various alloys into a planet would make a man upset. But not a man who had fought his way through many hundreds of years of battles as an Archmage- a man who had not seen the planet he was seeing now- a man who was about to crash in on some old friends, albeit unknowingly... The ship continued it's descent, and the partygoers began to see a bright fireball getting bigger in the sky. Some were beginning to take it as an ill omen- afterall, what could be worse than a fireball in the sky on the 666th Vernal Equinox Lunar Eclipse? Aboard the ship, the crewmembers were frantically strapping themselves into their crash positions, only the captain was standing on his feet. The man exhuded an eerie confidence- he knew that this was destiny, of a sort. He almost recognized this place- In fact, he did. It was a conservatory of days gone by- the recognition that flashed in his face was evident by the expressions of his crewmen- they were astounded by the calm reserve, to the sudden gleeful expression on his face.. And then it happened. The ship ploughed straight into the dirt, merely hundreds of feet from the conservatory- and skidded to a stop at the door way of the building. Right in front of the panicky line. And out strode the Archmage formerly known as Knight. And the Trolls never missed a beat. "OY! GIMME YER UNDERWEAR!" And Knight simply looked at him. And the Troll looked back. And Knight handed him a pair of boxers, and walked into the party. The familiar faces astounded him, Wyvern, Zool, Aegon, Yui, Quincunx, TBPO, Peredhil and the boys, Racouol, Gwaihir, and a host of others were all assembled. It was good to be home.

Thank you all, for your kind words. I appreciate them...

*cocks his head to the side and looks on in utter confusion* ....Riiiight....

Never a problem, my friendly knight. I too was born too late. I missed my calling as a Viking warrior poet...

On a march down a long winding road, I strode on, wandering from my abode, Moving forth to a well-known place, To find her well-known face. Mile after mile I pressed on, And soon was the morning gone, And after that, the midday passed by, And very soon, the sunlight began to die. But this long walk was quite worth it, For I would see her in a short bit, I'd gaze into her eyes, and be amazed, And stand there, shaken and dazed. Because in those eyes is a beautiful soul, Quite pure, sweet, and ever so whole, And in those eyes is what I need, All of that for which I'd bleed. I'd die for her, I know this to be, But I'd rather live for her, so again I may see, Her beautiful eyes, and that pretty face, And to once again, know her wonderful grace.

Once I took a stroll in a world full of hate, I saw many unsettling things on that long walk, Things that spoke ill of our fate, And as I rose to leave, for it grew late, Death invited me for a talk. And there I stood, talking to Death about a good many things. Of the pain and suffering of men, we discussed long, Hardships and woe, and the pain each brings, of old dreams shattered, as old hurt stings, and a smile grew in old Death's face, and he enjoyed the wrong. For he, the one who brings all life to an end, enjoys the misery tht he sows, A he musters all the hate he can send, to the land of life, and the life it shall rend, making Death most eager of foes.

On a search, that grim day, I had sought, lost my way, Did not know, what would be, Could not find, could not see. I would wait, on and on, It grew late; all was gone. I had found, what was lost, Could not see, what it cost. Did not care, how it felt. Lost it all, save for guilt. Could not see, what I'd sought. Ev'ry thing, I'd forgot. I'd move on, lost in dark, far too hurt, to embark, from this place, this dark hole, far away, from my soul.

And the darkness fell, once again, It fell again, amongst the men, destruction and sorrow it now sends, those things which only time mends. To fight the darkness one must be true, Those who are true are often few, Yet they fight on for what is good, More often than most ever could. They fight on with all their might, With all their might, they fight into the night. Beating sorrow, and ending pain, They act as darkness's bane. Yet those who endeavour against the black, Face the black on a long and lonely track. Still though, they pass on and on, And their legacy shall still live after they are gone.

The Nature of All Things A tall pine tree withers away, Locked in death throes on a quiet day, It's armor of needles is all but gone, This thing of Nature, her unwitting pawn. She who harvests all good things, Destroys old life, as new life she brings. Such a wond'rous sight had by all, Even as summer rolls into fall. Yet fall changes, and winter comes soon, And nothing remains of Nature's boon. As it stands, all things must end; All life withers, and the tall tree shall bend. Though the end is nigh, and all is lost, Life springs again, with little cost. For life goes on, and on some more, Until once again, nature closes the door.

Daybreak I was walking through the woods on a quiet day, While looking about, I'd strayed off my way, I found that I'd come across some new sight, And walked on, stopped only by the night. And as night fell, I did stop for a rest, upon the top of some new hill, at its crest, With a knowing smile, I gazed out into the night, Silently thinking of the return of the light. And as light came, I stayed where I was, Entranced by its return, as it often does, to return whence I came would forsake all I'd found, And take me from all the new chances abound. Yet I could not stay there, for it was time to move on, Lest I find that I who had been would then be gone. Still then I went on, and sought a new way, And once again, went from Night to day.

Figured I'd bounce this back up, for all to marvel in it's horror...

I find that I would look upon her gaze, would fling myself into a wound'rous maze, find myself lost in a most splendid thing, of which poets write, and bards may still sing. All of this is great; quite good, you might know, Makes me forget even the most dire foe, For a short time, I have found my heaven, yet always must I leave, my heart leaden. Still though, I know that soon I shall be back, And then bask in warmth, as I have what I lack. With finality that I shall not embrace, I'll smile again, and look upon her face.

To Seek is to Find One who sees things that nobody else does, Often sees these things quite simply because, Noone else is willing, for thoughts unseen, Yet the one who does, must seem very keen. These things, as all seem most always unfound, Yet, if one seeks these things, chances abound. Searching for answers to some many things, Wondering if found, what ev'ry one brings. As it stands, I shall endeavor to find, Those quiet things lurking inside of my mind. Still though, I wonder, what it is I seek, and when I find it, shall I still be weak?

There are things in the choices that we make, Our will may be firm, yet we can't forsake, The good of some others that we may find, Some hearts ring pure, sweet and quite kind. I seek and search, wondering what is true, Trying to find myself, and see what is new. I find that she still holds my heart captive, Yet that is fine, 'tis where it ought to live. things that I seek, and the things that I wonder, Finding these odd things may tear me asunder, Yet still I search, and strongly hope to see, The one thing that I should want for me.

Why me? Why must it be me? Why can't they see? I search my mind, Yet I can't find, Why must it be me? Why do they desire to know? Why must I show? I ponder why, If they should lie, Why do they desire to know? Why is it that they seek? Why should I feel weak? I do not know, If I feel so low, Why is it that they seek? Why must it be me? Why can't they see? I search my mind, Yet I can't find, Why must it be me?

Things to Seek There's certain things that I should want, Always searching, in my hunt, For these ever-wondrous things, I will keep looking, and see what heart brings. O love is one of these I know, With it pleasure deep will show. And of courage I shall speak, And keenness of mind I shall seek. Of these qualities one and all, Love shall be my only fall.