Solivagus

Untitled, but anyone on IRC is free to say "Told ya so" in loud voices I told her when in a foreign land, Couldn't even hold her hand, Tried to speak it in her tongue, But when I tried it all went wrong. And so, instead, I used my own, And said words harder than any punch thrown, It took all I had to tell her how I felt, I thought my face would surely melt. Across her face, a look of shock, She saw I was serious, began to take stock. She said she had to think a while, And we both took a look at the obvious stile. And then that night, she showed me yes, My heart soared high, my soul felt blessed, Though I know I won't see her for a long old time, I know she'll never leave my mind.

Your Love The world just had no colour, The sky seemed one blue stain, The clouds were dark & grey, People never laughed, Always so much pain. Tree's were never green in summer, Flowers never came into bloom, Birds they never sang their songs, The sun did'nt shine at all, Never bright was the moon. The sea never ebbed & flowed, Or came rushing to the shore, Somehow not so blue, The colour never changed, Seemed somehow less pure. Now that you are in my life, The world's a nicer place, The sun now shines, The moon is now bright, Seems your love has made things right.

Porcelain mug and china saucer, Britans drink it, least they ought'a, Made with herbs both varied and wide, Originally crossed the oceans tide. Topic: Love

Nope. Er...just to be fair, I shall point out that "marble" was merely the last one I had last seen, they can be made of many things. ~In a way it can be a mausoleum though Don`t get confused by it. May be used by cats (msg from Krista)~

This one is again about short rhymes, only this time the topic of the poem must be guessed. I'll set out the first poem, then anyone can step in and guess what it is. Whoever guesses correctly writes the next poem, and the guessing begins again. The rules are more or less the same as in the other game. 1. They do not need to rhyme. 3. They may consist of only 4 lines, no more, no less. 4.The topic may be anything, an action, an object, ANYTHING. 5.You must all bow before me and admit I am god before posting a reply 6. You may ignore rule 4 at your own discretion Authors Note: I'm not sure if these games I'm setting have been done before or not, I haven't searched. My apologies if they have, I'm not stealing the idea, honest.) This marble seat on which I sit, Through which many items pass, Is used only for a short bit, And ignored while not upon it.

Gusting across this windy field, Against this force all things must yield, It's awesome power so easy to see, As it whips and whirls around me. Next topic: Earth (the element, not planet.)

Just an idea I came up with whilst one night talking on IRC. There's so many rhymes that can, and indeed are, made, that just seem way too short to be posted as poems. This is the place for them. So hre's how it works. The first person (i.e me) starts off by writing a short 4 liner about a topic. he then names another topic, which the next person who comes along must write about, before then naming a topic themselves, and so on until we run out of topics. All games need rules I suppose, so here they are. 1. They do not need to rhyme. 2.They do not have to mention the topic directly. 3. They may consist of only 4 lines, no more, no less. 4.The topic may be anything, an action, an object, ANYTHING. 5.You must all bow before me and admit I am god before posting a reply 6. You may ignore rule 4 at your own discretion 7. Broccoli is only a valid topic ONCE ***looks pointedly at Zool*** Right then, ready? First topic then, for me to write I mean, is packing bags. My eyelids now begin to sag, And I have yet to pack my bag, And due to vodka cheaply bought, My luggage counts no longer nought. The topic for the next person: Reading.

Post away! Richard will accept anyone on his journey, after all, he knows NO ONE. Besides, who knows what lurks amongst these islands...

Affects of various forms of attack/scans Magic Richard has no defence against magic per se, no magic resistance of any sort. However, some magical damage spells might be ignorable due to his bo-modifications. A spell that levitates someone will pick him up with ease, a spell that causes a magical dagger to appear and attack him would be reduced in effectivness by Ballistic Protection. The same applies to magical weapons. Psychic attacks Mind probes, mind links, and other such forms of scanning or mental communication hit the problem that there are, in fact, two minds inhabiting Richards body, his own and that of the nanites. Whether the psychi is able to determine which they have picked up is dependent on luck. If they pick up the minds of the nanites they will find them extremely simple and focused. Thier psykers skill determines whether they can differetiate between the two or whether they assume that Richard is blocking his mind with some form of mind shield. Any attempts to control the actions of the nanites via psychich links will fail automatically. Attacks, such as mind stabs, mental blows, and other such things that attack and actually damage the mind again hit the same problem of random determination between whether Richards mind is affected or the nanites. If the nanites are hit with such an attack they will die, but his body will automatically reproduce replacements at the cost of a small amount of bio-electrical energy. While the psyker will be aware that the attack has succeeded, he will still see Richard moving and acting as if unaffected. If the mental attack strikes Richards mind then he has no defence, and what would normally happens, happens. The only difference here is if his mind is currently shut down whilst interfacing with technology. In this case he is disconnected from the technology and is disorientated for about 5 minutes as his concious mind returns. Electrical Attacks Electrical attacks-magical, psychic or otherwise, deplete Richards bio-electriccal levels. The severerity of te level drained depends on how strong the attack is. Obviously, the stronger the attack, the more energy is lost. This is in addition to any physical damage the attack may cause. NB: If his bio-levels are at zero they cannot go below this, he merely suffers electrical damage as normal. Some bio-modifications may cause the attacks to be lessened or stopped. This is at the "current" authors discretion.

As dawn rose above the Keep of the Mighty Pen, sunlight streaming in a variety of beautiful colours as they hit the walls and rose over them, the birds began thier morning chourus. Thier song was soft and gentle, spreading across the breeze and embracing the morning as they had done so many times before. It was also cut short. From the top of his tower, Solivagus regarded the megaphone he had reluctantly purchased fro Wyvern earlier. He had made sure to get a version that rendered his voice loud, yet not so loud as to seem ostentatious. Raising it to his lips, he began to speak. "TO ALL MEMBER OF THE PEN KEEP! I AM ABOUT TO EMBARK ON MY QUILL QUEST. ANYONE WHO WISHES TO JOIN BE CAN DO SO AT THE FOLLOWING ADDRESS: http://www.patrickdurham.net/themightypen/index.php?showtopic=14584 . His voice rolled across the Keep like a bulldozer over a barn. It rocked the foundations of some buildings and, in the distance, some of the birds that had began thier joyful song dropped dead from the trees of fright. Solivagus shook his headruefully. He was gonna kill that lizard...

Love? Love? Some say Love can heal. But what happens When you're unable to feel? Unable to see What's better for you? Unable to be Blind or brand new? So I'm simply, Numb. So I'm simply, Done. Without feeling Or Heart Without love or healing I let myself fall apart I'll persue my dream. Perhaps I'm supposed to die Maybe It's supposed to be like this And maybe this is my sign To spread my broken wings And fly To heal these broken things Or...slowly die Decisions I make The lives I spare And the ones I take The other times I don't dare To interfere Try to balance out Try to hold nothing dear Begging to cry aloud Wanting anything to be clear Finding nothing Finding an empty abyss Wishing for something That's long gone amiss Wishing to heal Wishing to feel Love?

I hate. I hate the world and all its rules, I hate my life, surrounded by fools, I hate what I am, a hopless wreck, I hate what I face, a well-stacked deck. I hate this job in which I'm stuck, I hate my felings that run amok, I hate the ground on which I rest, I hate myself for not being the best. I hate the fact words aren't enough, I hate that I can't write this stuff, I hate that I can't seem to think, I hate that I can't seem to think. I hate that life is full of downward bends, I hate that I lose all my friends, I hate that all I love seems to die, But most of all, I hate I can't cry.

Writers block is like a dam, once it bursts lines just keep coming... Dark Dreams. My mind is troubled by dark dreams, Nothing here is as it sems, People offer help in teams, Yet I can see just what that means. They don't care if I live or die, Irrelevant, one such as I, When they leave I hear them sigh, Relief at ending another try. They think to look inside my heart, These fools they don't know where to start, My mind is slowly torn apart, Yet none of my knowledge will I impart. And so my dreams go on and on, Immortalised in word and song, These people try to solve what makes me wrong, None can see my pain makes me strong.

Angels and Demons. Angels float above the world, Yet only Demon voices now are heard, Evil, now, is how men flower, Where is the good? It has no power. Guns and violence spread thier breath, The streets we walk now reek of death, Angels float above the world, Yet only Demon voices now are heard. Men of crime walk tall and proud, Small-time dealers yell sales out loud, Angels float above the world, Yet only Demon voices now are heard. Books are burned and knowledge lost, Teachers slain, on fires tossed, Angels float above the world, Yet only Demon voices now are heard. Angels float above the world, Yet only Demon voices now are heard, Preachers find that God is gone, The Devil in man was just too strong.

Originally I was going to post this in with my collection of "Dark" works, but I decided it should have a place of its own. Everything I had is gone, What was right has now gone wrong, There's nothing left for me to say, Now that you have passed away. The once bright days have now turned dark, This well liked room now just seems stark, I lie here still upon my bed, And ponder the thought that now you're dead. Never again to hear your voice, No more times to take your choice, Nor to learn what I think is wrong, You're missed so much now that you're gone. Wish I could say I wont change back, Yet even now my heart turns black, But however bad that things now get, I promise you, I wont forget.

I begin to wish I hadn't done these random searches. Normally I'd write a poem to say how I feel about how you're gone, but somehow no matter what I come up with is enough. Gods but I miss you

Found this topic when randomly searching. Made me realise...I haven't really changed. Insanity Do you know? Can you feel? My pain is for real. I can't explain it, it just doesn't fit. I feel trapped inside, with no way out, nowhere to hide. No one to hear me if I shout. Something locked me up, threw away the key. Why me? My heart feels hollow, like I have no soul. Why me? How much worse can it be? I feel left behind, lost in my mind. In a pit of despair, does anyone care? I feel alone in here, with everything to fear. In a world by myself, can anything help? I need to find a way out of this, nothing will I miss. The door I need to find, the way out of my mind. All thoughts left behind. I feel like I want to cry, I don't know why, a teardrop just fell from my eye. I feel apart from everything, insanity is what my mind will bring. I want the key, I want to break free. Why me? It's coming to insanity. I feel my rage, I feel locked in a cage. In my mind, I am crying. The way I need to find, my heart is dying. My senses are numb, there's nowhere to run. Now I'm lost inside, I found no place to hide. My tears start flowing like cold rain, I've reached the point where I'm insane.

Richard frowned at the message he had just recieved from his Masters via Infolink. "Improve your status within this group. Make them need you." Clear, brief and to the point, as always. And as always they left it to him to find a way. He flicked through the records made on his Infolink. He seemed to remember...ah, yes! When he had entered the Keep a strange reptile had approached him with a copy of the rules of the Keep, while also trying to sell him a strange metal object that seemed a cross between a hair dryer and egg whisk. It was supposed to keep hair both dry and curly. Richard had declined, politely. Included within the rules were instructions on how to improve his rank. It hadn't interested him before, but now...Quickly Richard prepared the RRU. *** High, high in the air the Remote Reconnissance Unit swept across the landscape surrounding the Pen Keep, obidient to the commands sent by Richard. It noted topological information, interesting mineral samples, strategic vantage points and places for ambush, yet no sign of what he was searching for, an item or artifact that might benifit the people of this strange Keep. He had a feeling that anything of value would gain him acceptance in the eyes of the lizard-creature, and if all the inhabitants were like that... Unfortunatly the RRU had been unable to find any source of power that such an artifact might produce as yet. Streching the aircraft to the outtermost limits of its range, he began to make the final sweep, frustration etched upon his face. The plane left the rolling plains behind and made a pass over a sandy beach before continuing across a broad strip of ocean. As Richard prepared to give up the search and think up another plan he spotted something strange in the corner of the image that was being broadcast to him. It appeared to be a series of islands, relitivly small but still large enough to have registered on the aircrafts scans. The readouts reported traces of some form of element not shown anywhere else within the area he had searched. The elements seemed to be....before the information could be transmitted there was a bright flash of light from the island. It seemed to hit the aircraft, blinding the camera. The readouts that had been being transmitted up until now suddenly ceased. Thoughts ran through Richards mind, a mixture of anticipation, eagerness to start his journey, and curiosity as to just what he would face. The more he thought about it, the more troubled he became. This was a new dimension to the one he was used to, filled with strange creatures and beings with powers he couldn't begin to understand. though there was no question of whether or not he would go, it was possible that he would need help. He wouldn't be able to tell them the true reason for his mission, obviously, the secrecy of his Masters was paramount, but perhaps some from the Keep could be persauded to join him? Pondering the problem, Richard left his rooms and made his way to the courtyard. *** A poster later appeared upon the walls aroound the Keep. The poster declared that Richard Caelestis was soon to embark on a voyage to a series of remote islands where he believed an object or objects of rare power might be found. Any volunteers would be welome, and should feel fre to drop by his rooms. He would be leaving in one week. [edited by Gwai (at Solivagus's request) to change the title description now that this is an offical Quill Quest.]

Personality Richard's outlook on life is militaristic in nature. Due to the IFF he sees anyone´with a weapon as a potential enemy, though he is always polite if treated politely. He prefers to perform missions and accomplish objectives stealthily, though he is no stranger to combat, nor does he deny that it is sometimes needed. He has a deep distrust of things such as magic and other such abilities that cannot be explained by science, but this is more because he has no experience of it than any actual predujuice. While untrusting of such things, he is eager to find out about such things. That is, after all, what his masters created him for and why they sent him out into the different dimensions. He does not discuss his masters or his mission, when people ask why he came to the Keep or similar questions he simply claims he is looking for adventure and excitement. Occasionally what he does is strange or out of character. Such things are caused by instructions sent by his masters via the Infolink. The Infolink also causes him to look as if he is recieving instructions from silent voices that only he can hear.

Abilities Richard Caelestis's abilities come from nano-augmentation rather than from actual in-born or god given abilities. Some few of these abilities run without need for energy, others require the expenditure of a substance called Bio Electrical Energy. This can be restored only by sleep. Infolink One-way micro-tranciever arrayallows agents in the field to recieve messges from Control, and to store and later retrieve relevant maps, conversations, and notes. This has no energy cost. Identify Friend or Foe (IFF) Automatic friend or foe recognition uses advanced heuristic algorithms to asssociate visible objects with known threat catergories. This has no energy cost and is always on. Aggressive Defence System (ADS) Aerosol nanoparticles are released upon the detection of objects fitting the elctromagnetic threat profile of missiles and grenades;these nanoparticles will premeturly detonate such objects prior to reaching the agent. This technology must be activated, making it inneffective against surprise attacks. The missiles or grenades explode outside the blast radius of the agent, but it should be noted that they do still explode, possibly damaging other targets. The ADS does not simply cause the grenade or missile to cease to exist. This ability also drains energy while in effect. Advanced Targetting System Image-scaling and recognition provided by opti-plexing the optic nerve with doped polyacetylene "quantum wires" not only increases the agents accuracy, but also grants him telescopic vision and the ability to asses information about people and objects he sees. Such information is along the lines of a persons health and information about the composition of objects he may be examining (i.e whether glass is bullet proof). It does not give information along the lines of the persons abilities or whether they are lieing. This ablility is turned on and off at will, and drains energy when in use. Enviromental Resistance. Induced keratin production strengthens all epithelial tissues and reduces the agent's vulnerability to radiation and other toxins. This ability is effective against all known forms of radiation and toxins, though some unknown forms may bypass it. It also, to a small degree, protects from things such as fire, electrical blasts and so forth. This side of the ability must still be activated, but it forms less protection than against drugs and poisons whilst draining bio-energy considerably faster. The abilty, just as with the ADS, must be activated before it takes effect. Someone poisoning the agent would be successful if the ability was not activated. However, if the agent were aware that he was poisoned or drugged he could activate the abilty and slow the progress of drug or poison. The speed at which bio-energy is depleted is dependent upon the effectivness of the drug or toxin. Regeneration Programmable polymerase automatically directs construction of proteins in injured cells, restoring an agent to full health over time. The more significant the damage, the more bio-electrical energy is drained. Healing a broken bone, for example, takes significantly less time than regrowing a dismembered arm. This process must also be activated, which means that any injury that instantly kills the agent will not be able to be regenerated. Microfibre Muscle Muscle strength is amplified with ionic polymeric gel myofibrils that allow the agent to push and lift extraordinarily heavy objects. This is an activated ability, and drains bio-electric energy while activated. Also, it should be noted there are limits. The agent will be able to lift or move a large boulder or car, but he will not be able topple buildings with his bare hands. Ballistic Protection Monomolecular plates reinforce the skin's epithelial membrane, reducing the damage an agent recieves from projectiles and bladed weapons. This protection must be activated, so does not protect from surprise attacks, and it also drains bio-electrical energy. While the amount of damage is reduced, this does not mean it is not stopped completely. An wielded by an ogre, which would normally dismember an agent, might instead cause a deep wound, while a knife thrust from an ordinary human would be reduced to a scratch. Neural Interface Nanites within the agents body transfer themselves via skin contact into a control panel or computer terminal. They then shut off the concious area of the agents brain and reproduce the computer interface within a prevously unused area of the brain. The amount of bio-electrical energy required is dependent upon how complicated the system is and what level the agent tries to access. It takes less energy to turn off the lights than to shut down a security system, just as it takes less to access a low-level account than to access the personal computer of a government agency. Once the agent has accessed the system he may stay there indefinatly with no further expenditure of bio-electrical energy. It must be noted that while the agent is within the system he has no knowledge of what is physically going on around him, no is he able to respond in any manner. Cloak Subdermal pigmentation cells allow the agent to blend with thier surrounding enviroment, rendering them almost completely invisible to observation by organic creatures. Machines such as security camares can still see the agent. The nessercery muscle movements for complete silence when walking or running are determined continuously with reactive kinematic equations produced by embedded nanocomputers. These render the agent silent when moving over any surface. The agent is completely invisible when stationary, but there is a slight blurring that ocurs when he is moving as the pigmentation changes to account for the altered background. This ability must be activated and consumes bio-electrical energy whilst in use. It should also be said that while it is effective even when standing infront of someone, the killing of someone would be noticeable! The cloak does not render speech, breathing, or other such noises inaudible.

Equipment. Richard has a modern day mini-crossbow with tranquiliser darts attached to his belt, a sniper rifle strapped across his back and a throwing knife up either sleeve. Balancing out his crossbow is a combat knife with a black hilt. The hilt has a symbol engraved upon it, that of a pyramid containing an eliptical eye. None of these weapons are magical. Within his coat he has a selection of flash, gas, EMP, and explosive grendes, as well as a set of lockpicks.

History Richard Caelestis was not born as normal children are. Instead he was created in a top secret lab far beneath the earth, a blending of high tech cloning technology and advanced biological enhancement. This technology, while not so highly advanced that it could make him physiologically more than human, did allow his body to accept infusions of nanites. While still mostly in an experimental stage, certain groups of nanites had proven advantageous to humans, granting them such things as dark vision, instant friend or foe recognition, and a form of one-way communication that was audible only by the person with the appropriatly named "Infolink". The problm with such nanite infusions was that the subjects invariably died due to violent chemical imbalance. Thus it was decided to create Richard Caelestis, a clone who would be human in every way save for an alteration of his body chemistry that would allow compatability with nanite infusions. The experiment was successful in every way save for that of his appearance and the sound of his voice, but these were considered worthwhile sacrifices. The name of his creators, was the Illuminati. During his growth Richard was introduced both to the workings of his nano-technogical enhancements and to the usual schooling of any child. In his later years he was also given training in such skills as lockpicking, electronics, weapons, and demolitions. The Infolink allowed him to retain all knowledge that he was given, but time was needed to allow him to actually understand it. It is one thing to know that you point a gun at someone and fire, it is another to actually be able to hit your target. As his training and growth progressed his body was given various infusions of nanites, enhancing his abilities to a limited extent. At the age of 25 his training was declared complete, and he was then through a portal the Illuminatus had been working on during his training, an advanced piece of alien technology that seemed to allow travel across different dimensions. Through this portal he was sent, possibly to bring back new technologies, but mainly to increase knowledge of the universe. Thus, Richard Caelestis arrived outside the Pen Keep.

Physical Description Richard Caelestis is a human male of about average build and stands about six foot ten. He has close cropped white hair and blue-grey eyes. His clothes are always black. He dresses in a floor length trench coat, combat trousers and a formal shirt, always buttoned to the top. He also wears dark sunglasses, even at night and leather gloves no matter the weather. Anyone with sharp eyesight will notice two things. The first is the network of blue veins that run acros his face and any exposed area of his skin. The veins appear to throb and to contain small organisms travelling through them. The second thing is that of his eyes, which seem to have some form of symbol ingrained upon thier surface. The symbol is that of a pyramid containing a styalised eye

Physical Description History Equipment Abilities Personality Affects of various forms of attack/scans

He lay silently on the table as the docto in his spotless white coat drew close, a needle in hand. "You understnd, of course, th nessecity of a sedative?" The doctors voice was bland and unremarkable, save, perhaps, for a slight german accent. Irritation flickered through the figure upon the slab. Of course he understood! Hadn't he been to countless lectures about the modern medical advances? Had he not endured an endless succession of seminars regarding the nanotechnological break through of recent years? He knew full well that without the sedative to render him unconcious installation of the modifications would kill him. Nevertheless, he kept his irritation in check and simply nodded. It wasn't the doctors fault really, everything was simply procedure to them. Reaching for the mans pale-skinned wrist, the doctor plunged the needle into his arm. Immediatly the man felt the drugs affects. His head with it's short cropped black hair lolled to one side, his limbs went weak, and his blue-grey eyes slid shut. As the doctor began the various Infusions and Nano-Augmentations required, Richard Caelestis slept, and dreamt. Richard had been one of the fortunate few to be chosen to attend the Athenae Academy. Begun, and funded by, the Central Government rather than by local authorities as other schools were, the Athenea Academy supplied the world with tommorows leaders by garunteeing the randomly chosen students a place within the Central Government. What he had not known at the time as that it was also where the Hetairia drew thier recruits. Early on he had shown an aptitude and eagerness to lean different areas of study to the other students. While the other students focused on polotics and world affairs, Richard excelled at electronics and computer operations. While they chose to pursue diplomacy and public speaking, he spent his time in the gym and on the shooting range. These differences set him aside from the other recruits, but he didn't care. He was happy enough on his own. When he reached twenty five, the age at which the students graduated from the academy and were given thier assigned positions within the Central Government, Richard was´approached by a plain looking man who had a proposition for him. The man suggested, in a voice as plain and unforgettable as his appearence, that Richard should find his place amongst the Hetairia. Often heard of upon the streets as rumour and gossip yet always stringently denied by the Central Government, the Hetairia was supposedly an arm of the law answerable only to the Supreme Chancellor, head of the Central Government. Eager to join a group that seemed ideally suited to his abilities and skills, Richard accepted.