Dead

Everything was a blur as he fell, watching the patterns his blood made as it splashed on the floor, the laughter of his tormentor fading into an unintelligible roar. It was frightening, but the long nights at home had taught him how to survive.

Just play dead.

Draw!

This is an RPG I'm working on - all the general stuff is here, it just needs some refining. I'm hoping to do some playtesting soon, and if any of you try it, let me know what your thoughts are!

Possible missed updates

So, Stan Lee is running a contest for writers and artists, and I'm pretty damn excited about it - find it here. In any case, because I'm using pretty much all my brainpower on that, there may not be any content for the next week or so. If I need a break from The Seekers I'll post something up, just follow me on Twitter @Micorku, and you'll know when I post stuff.

Religion in Iroas

So, this will explain what a Pilgrim is from the RPG - I've changed it since then to say Pilgrim or Keeper, which is another term you will learn here.

The Nobility of Alitheia

If you look closely at the early version of the RPG I put up Wednesday, you may find some words you don't recognize yet. Today I'm introducing you to the Skafos and Sofos of Alitheia, while sometime next week I intend to do a little discussion on Iroan religions.

I'm also interested in doing another Worldbuilding series, but this time I want their to be input at every level. So, to start us off, we need to figure out what kind of setting we'll be building - sci-fi, high fantasy or low fantasy. In addition, I'd like to hear how cynical you want the setting to be - would you like Lord of the Rings, which is extremely idealistic even in the worst of times, or 1984, where everything is terrible forever? Or perhaps somewhere in between? Let me know!

Iroas RPG

So, this is why I stopped writing stuff about Iroas for a while; I'm designing a tabletop RPG for the setting. This is a pre-alpha version of it, which is missing a few things to make it playable - mostly the armor and weapons, but I'm trying to work on that. In any case, if you have any comments at all, please let me know - I'm kind of spazzing out about this, and would love some feedback.

New Olympus

I'm doing something a bit deeper this time - working strictly within the rules of a game. While Tyranix and Aquas were based in the MTG Multiverse, they didn't adhere to those rules very strictly. However, this past weekend I created a setting for the Technoir RPG, a fantastic new cyberpunk/noir RPG. The pdf is already available on DriveThruRPG, and the print version will be out sometime around September.


For those unaware (most of you), Transmissions (as settings are called in Technoir) have a fairly strict formula - they have to contain Connections (people that the players can call on for favors or information), Events (Things that happen before or during the story), Factions (large groups that have most of the power in the setting), Locations (places that are important to the setting), Objects (items that can play an important role in the story) and Threats (smaller groups that are likely to go up against the players directly). There have to be six of each of these because of the unique GM system, which essentially randomizes the story every time you play. You also have to give the Connections, Objects and Threats stats. I won't be showing the Events, Objects or the stats for the Connections and Threats here because this is what I would give the players, and that information would either be spoilers or unnecessary to them.

WWE Smackdown 8/5/2011

This week: the build up to Summerslam is in full gear, with them promoting the Christian vs Orton and Sheamus vs Mark Henry matches heavily. For those who know me, they may be wondering why I'm not reviewing Torchwood: Miracle Day. Simple answer: I'm enjoying it too much to review it, though I may review it after it's done.

We start out tonight with that little promo of Sheamus vs. Mark Henry, and continue into a match between Sheamus and the Great Khali. Not a big fan of Khali, really – he doesn't have any personality to speak of because he is unintelligible, so his character is essentially just “big guy.” I think Sheamus is reasonably interesting, though. He's a big guy with the gimmick of a Celtic warrior, and I'm always down for that. He's a bit of a berserker and he is supposed to be really good with weapons. And his skin is practically translucent, it's so pale. This match is mediocre, with all the good spots coming from Sheamus.

Next up is A.J. vs. Natalya, and my first impression is that A.J.'s music is awful. Not a great match, though A.J. is pretty damn hot. Natalya uses a pretty terrible Sharpshooter to win. And then comes the obligatory post-match beating as Natalya becomes a heel. I guess the new feud for the Divas is perky vs. nasty? I don't know? I guess the new default diva heel is just being angry at the popular girls.

Hey look, a promo featuring Randy Orton! And it's not a bad one, with him saying that Christian is “helping him work out his anger issues.” It's a good angle for him, because anger is pretty much the only emotion he can show. Well, maybe simple creepiness. After that as they set up the Justin Gabriel promo, I wanted to slap Booker T because his South African accent was AWFUL.

Next up we have what initially looks like it will be a squash match between Daniel Bryan and Tyson Kidd, because Kidd doesn't even get an entrance – he just starts in the ring. Not a bad match, I liked Kidd's submission with Daniel Bryan wrapped around the ringpost. As a sidenote, I find it funny that every time Michael Cole calls Daniel Bryan a nerd it just makes me more of a fan of Bryan. Then again, that's the reason Cole is a heel. The match gets a lot better after the commercial, with some good back and forth counter chains. Bryan ends up winning by submission.

The State of the Showski Address! Zack Ryder is gloriously lame. Ezekiel Jackson interrupts him and the quality of the promo goes down significantly as he complains about last week's handicap match against Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase. Speak of the devil, and they shall appear! The quality of the promo goes up once again once Rhodes starts talking. Jackson is just not a good speaker, so every time he speaks the promo gets worse. When Rhodes responds the quality goes up. Eventually Teddy Long comes out and it says that Zack Ryder and Jackson are wrestling. The match starts immediately and is quality – they both play to their strengths, with Jackson just showing off his strength as Ryder essentially just bounces around him for the most part. Jackson wins using his trademark submission, which I enjoy because it forces the victim to slap his head to tap out. What follows the match is a slightly creepy promo where a (new?) diva uses sex appeal on Teddy Long, and he continually looks way too old for her.

Mark Henry vs. Vladimir Koslov. From the very beginning this is clearly just showing off how strong Mark Henry is. It lasts a few minutes long, though Koslov gets a few good moves in. Mark Henry is pretty intimidating, but I'll be happy when this angle is over. I did like that Sheamus came down to protect Koslov from the post match beating (I need a word for that).

Sheamus has a good promo after this, explaining why he wants to stop Mark Henry. He has some good lines involving a gold horseshoe. This is followed by a six man tag team match which is David Otunga, Michael McGillicutty and JTG vs Trent Barreta and the Uso's. It looks like the Uso's are getting into a feud with Otunga and McGillicutty. This actually seems like it was set up to show off Barreta, who has a good top rope maneuver. Once again Otunga and McGillicutty win, and once again I have to say that I'm looking forward to when they lose the titles.

I'm glad that Johnny Curtis is done with his lame puns, though I have enjoyed most of them. Christian gets a reasonable promo, and R-Truth's new story seems to be unifying the heels as conspiracy theorists, though the best line is Christian's last one “Who the hell is Little Jimmy?”

And now for the main event: Randy Orton and John Morrison vs R-Truth and Christian. This has the potential to be a good match, as all four of them are quality wrestlers, and there is some kayfabe bad blood going on within this grouping, though at first they avoid the obvious pairings in the ring. A good match, as R-Truth and Morrison work well together, as do Orton and Christian. That and the fact that all of them are good performers. We get a little bit of a preview of Orton vs Christian, and it is fantastic. They work incredibly well together, with a good sequence of moves and counter moves. Christian pins Orton for the win, ending a good episode with a satisfying ending.

Batsos

This was created entirely for the Iroas RPG - as part of character creation, you have to decide what your character's current career is, and I needed something for the Eirini that wasn't a diplomat. Thus, the Batsos were created! Speaking of the RPG, the first draft is just about done, and I'm just about ready for playtesting.

Hunters

I’m actually not working on this project anymore, this is all Tak’s now; go bother him about not updating enough! Well, I’m still working as an editor for it, but I’m not writing it anymore. However, I still want to share the little bit that I had already written for it, which is about the real draw to the story: monster hunters!

WWE Raw 8/1/2011

Tonight, we watch Triple H deal with the WWE Championship situation, and there are a lot of very solid matches. Read on!

We start with that excellent promo they've been showing for the past week hyping the CM Punk and John Cena feud, which is just a great idea over all. We follow that by having CM Punk come out to the ring for one of his great promos – he's probably the best performer in the WWE today. He might be the best at the promos since Chris Jericho, who had my favorite promos of all time. In any case, a great promo about how he changed the company and the fact that it's now back to routine with Cena as champion. And then Triple H comes out! He's always been good at promos, and it seems he's starting to push himself as a heel which is where he shines, when he's not part of DX. During this promo, I loved CM Punk's references to various wrestlers that aren't in the WWE anymore – this was definitely somewhat of a shoot, as the WWE doesn't generally let them talk about those who have left the company, especially those who, like Mick Foley, work for a competitor. Overall, that was a fantastic promo, but that's to be expected when CM Punk is involved.

Up next we have a Battle Royal of most of the divas in the WWE right now. It's extremely chaotic at the start, and these huge matches are usually terrible and almost impossible to follow. It gets a little once it gets down to 6 combatants left, with the Bella twins and Beth Phoenix being the only ones whose names I know. Oh, and... Eve? I think that's her name, and she has a nice elimination where she just dodges out of the way of a baseball slide. Beth Phoenix wins through an extremely amusing double elimination on the Bella twins. Not a bad match, though it had a rocky start. Oh, and Beth Phoenix is now a heel, as evidenced by her attack on Kelly Kelly after the match. I hope that Beth wins the Diva Championship, as she seems like she's much better technically than Kelly is.

A decent promo between R-Truth and The Miz. Both of them are good heels, though the Miz is much better at promos. Of course, the fact that R-Truth called Triple H “Mr. Hs” is pretty fantastic. A reasonably good promo, though it's nothing special. Truth's gimmick is starting to get old, while I don't think Miz's ever will – it's basically the same as Mr. Perfect's, and that stood the test of time. Josh Matthews interviews Cena once they come back from the commercial break, though it's not a particularly interesting one. All he says is he's interested in what Triple H's decision will be, which is... kind of obvious, and really didn't need to be said.

In better news, we've got a tag team match next! Rey Mysterio and John Morrison vs The Miz and R-Truth. I always love high flier matches, and this is no exception – while Rey isn't quite as agile as he used to be, he is still a solid wrestler with great technical skills, while John Morrison seems to be inhumanly agile, and he's got one of the coolest finishers I've ever seen. Unfortunately, he has been on a break since I started watching again. Overall, this is a good match – R-Truth and the Miz work very well with high fliers, and it shows here. There aren't any huge spots in this match, mostly just a lot of very solid wrestling with some good counters by the Miz on both Morrison and Mysterio's counters. And look, more proof that beating an opponent after already winning is a heel tactic!

Another unimportant promo with Triple H about the situation with the WWE Championship, and I forgot what it was about before the commercial break was over. The next bit is a promo featuring Dolph Ziggler and Vickie Guerrero – while I appreciate Vickie's skill at being a heel, it makes me kind of sad. The promo gets better once Alex Riley joins in, and it almost becomes a contest about who can wear a suit better; if that's the case, I think A-Ry won. This could be a quality feud, especially when Riley points out Ziggler and the Miz's similarities – might be a good contrast between Ziggler's privileged attitude and the work ethic that Riley displays.

Hey look, Michael McGillicutty and David Otunga got new theme music! Makes sense, now that the New Nexus doesn't exist anymore. They're facing Zack Ryder and Santino – I don't know much about Santino, though he seems amusing, and my feelings on Ryder were made clear in my review of the latest Smackdown. What follows is another solid match – Ryder and Santino job convincingly, but I hope that McGillicutty and Otunga lose the tag team championship soon – they're kind of boring.

Kind of tired of these promos, though Punk's is by far the best of the bunch. He has a good sense of humor that works really well in his promos.

Following this, is it just me or does Ricardo Rodriquez, Alberto Del Rio's ring announcer, give off a massive pedo vibe to anyone else? So, for this match we have Alberto Del Rio facing Evan Bourne. Bourne is one of my favorite wrestlers, though a big part of that is the fact that he uses the Shooting Star Press, renamed the Air Bourne. He also displays some good high flying moves in this match, though I think the best spot in this match was the enziguiri to Bourne on the top rope from Del Rio. I can't decide if I like Del Rio or not, but it will be nice once he eventually gets beaten, which means he's an effective heel. His story seems to be that he's making a lot of enemies with his brutality, as Kofi runs to the ring to help Bourne in the post-match armbar that Del Rio puts on Bourne.

And we get the climactic promo, with Triple H coming out followed by John Laurinatis, who calls for Cena to be stripped of his title, which I am fully in support of! Cena comes out and there's some good back and forth banter between him and Laurinatis. Triple H decides not to, Punk comes out and joins the promo. It ends up with the most obvious outcome – Punk vs Cena at Summerslam for the WWE Championship. It devolves into an extended pissing match between Cena and Punk, which goes on for a little too long.

Ödland

Only a quick post today. Also, it should be noted that I'm going with Janelle's suggestion of Ziemia for our world name for Hybrid - it will be added to the tags of all previous Hybrid posts now!

Marvel Anime: Iron Man and Wolverine

So, I missed the first few minutes of Iron Man, but... I don't think that could change my opinion. Anyway, these were created by Madhouse, which made me reasonably excited because they did Trigun, my favorite anime. Read on to see how they are.

 

Iron Man

Well, that was a disaster. There's very little about this to like this show, but let's break it down piece by piece, starting with the most obvious part, the art. Simply put, it's terrible. They go with the dubious choice of pairing CG with traditional animation, with the Iron Man suits being CG. Normally this wouldn't be too bad, but they look incredibly flat, and their animation seems to be missing frames. Of course, the traditional animation isn't any better. All the characters are weirdly angular, with the worst victim being Tony Stark. His nose looks like a lethal weapon, and instead of looking like a playboy, he looks like a date rapist.

This is not helped by his terrible voice, provided by Adrian "Nathan Petrelli" Pasdar. While his visual design suggests rapist, it's Pasdar's truly awful performance that seals the deal. The quality of the rest of the voice work is consistent with this, and the script really lets them be as bad as they can be with some of the worst dialogue I've ever heard. Iron Man gets attacked by a monster, who politely pauses while trying to kill him to tell him what his name is and what organization he works with!

Everything about this show is terrible, avoid it at all costs.

Wolverine

Most of what I said before applies here as well, but I wanted to call attention to Wolverine's awful design in here. It's like they looked at his design, realized they liked his claws, and then simply added them to a character they had already made that doesn't look anything like him! He appears to be roughly 7 feet tall, slender and with no body hair. In other words, the exact opposite of his design in the comics.

Of course, I should point out that the voice work is much better here, though the script could use some work. Somehow he plans out a battle against people who can turn invisible well enough to know that one of them would take his friend hostage and they would fall off a building, and Logan would have to slow the fall with his claws... and then catch the can of beer he had thrown into the air at the beginning of the fight. This definitely isn't the same character as the comics.

As a side note, hearing the word bub come out of this character's mouth was HILARIOUS.

Final verdict: Not quite as terrible as Iron Man, but insulting to anyone who enjoys Wolverine.

WWE Smackdown 7/29/2011

I'm trying something new for my TV reviews – I'm typing them during each commercial break, so you're getting what is, essentially, a stream of conciousness review. Each paragraph is single segment of the show, from commercial break to commercial break. Might be fun! We'll find out.

Not sure how I feel about the first segment. I'm not a big fan of Triple H as the COO – he seems like he's trying to be a face, but good bosses just aren't very interesting. I also don't like the fact that he brought R-Truth and John Morrison to Smackdown. It generally seems to work better when the Raw and Smackdown stories stay separate. There's also the fact that R-Truth's gimmick gets a little tiring when you only see it once a week; showing up again doesn't do him any favors. I will take any chance to see more Christian, though – I think he's incredibly entertaining, even in his current, whiny incarnation.

I really enjoy Zak Ryder – he is fantastically stupid in the most fun way. The first part of the Christian/Morrison match is alright, nothing special either way. Some sloppy spots, but nothing out of the ordinary when you're dealing with a high flier.

Whatever that flipping grab move was, it was fantastic. Besides that and the missed Starship Pain, not the most amazing match. John Morrison sold his neck injury very well, and I was amazed that they let Christian pull of the Killswitch without it being countered at all – I don't think I've ever seen that happen.

I feel like Wade Barrett is trying to become a new Million Dollar Man with all of his talk about greed and making a lot of money. While I like Wade, this isn't the most interesting way for him to go – he feels kind of lost without the Nexus or Corre to boss around. He does have a great accent, though. Daniel Bryan is fun, mostly because he has the best theme music in the WWE. Zak Ryder continues being hilarious – he makes Teddy Long way more interesting.

This bit about Justin Gabriel would probably be way more interesting if he was an interesting wrestler, so... who cares? And man, Josh Matthews clearly can't take Booker T seriously, and I can't blame him for laughing. And then comes a six-Diva tag match. Why are the only Diva matches either have way too many participants OR are Kelly Kelly and one of the Bellas. Honestly, I don't know who all of these Divas are, but the one in pink had some nice throws against the fake redhead. Also, these matches always seem to end the same way – Face tries to get a pin, heels interrupt and all the non-active Divas leave the ring to brawl, and then a pin happens. Usually a face wins, but this time the heel wins. Still, not a terrible match. Not great, not terrible, but ultimately forgettable.

Mark Henry looks kind of gross with all that water dripping off him, and I don't get what sort of effect it's supposed to give. I do like the idea that Zak Ryder is feeding this little scrawny guy to Mark Henry – it's legitimately amusing. Booker T's announcing style remains really bizarre; “Get the A-1 sauce”? Really? Whoever this kid is, Bobby or whatever his name is, he's good at selling pain. Which is good, because that was all he could do in this match. I have to admit that I was hoping he would amaze us by putting up some sort of fight, but nope, nothing. Shaemus's theme really is terrible – it's not distinctive until about 10 seconds in, which means it doesn't do its job properly. I liked his little “Irish” story, and I like how the confrontation ended – Mark Henry threw a temper tantrum!

Next we get a Tag Team Championship match between the Usos and the remaining members of the New Nexus. The Usos are a fantastic tag team – the Maori war chant that they enter with is great, and they work really well together. Unlike Otunga and McGillicutty (I have no clue if I spelled that right!) the Usos actually do the cool combination moves that make tag matches fun to watch. Unfortunately, the New Nexus keeps the championship through some admittedly clever heel stuff. We also get another little segment with Zak Ryder. The fact that Teddy Long said “broski” made it worth it.

Check out the ref's face when Cena uses the Attitude Adjustment on Rey Mysterio during the Raw Rebound – absolutely hilarious. R-Truth's promo is pretty good, with some nice imagery about PEELING RANDY ORTON'S SKIN OFF. I also love his catchphrase: You gonna get got! I don't even know what it means, but it's fun to say!

Next, a handicap match! Not a big fan of Ezekial Jackson, as he isn't an amazing technician – he's basically just huge. Cody Rhodes, on the other hand, is fantastic. He has a good gimmick inspired by Dr. Doom and he has the fantastic paper bag thing. Ted DiBiase is less interesting, basically being a watered down version of his father, the Million Dollar Man. Regardless, this is the only time that the handicap matches seem fair because Jackson is about as big as Rhodes and DiBiase combined. Rhodes wins with his remarkably cool finisher. After the match we get a promo from Jinder Mahal that is entirely in Indian and whatever the Great Kali speaks. I'm sorry to the people who actually speak Indian, but that did nothing for me.

And now we get to the main event, between two wrestlers I'm getting tired of. I find it ironic that Randy Orton's theme song would almost fit R-Truth better, though. Orton's gimmick is kind of boring, essentially being a sociopath, which is fine for a heel, but he's supposed to be a face. Despite my disdain for their gimmicks, this is a good match. Both of them are in fantastic shape and this match shows that off. There aren't any amazing spots, just two really solid performances. Right before the commercial break, Christians comes out. We'll see how that affects it.

Starts out with whatever the hell R-Truth's 360 move which looked really crazy. I have no idea what it was supposed to do, but it looks cool. R-Truth takes control of the match after that move, but eventually Orton Hulks out and starts dominating. Of course, while I call it Hulking out after what Hogan used to do, it's more interesting with Orton because he just starts dominating instead of ignoring all the hits. I feel like getting hit with an open water bottle wouldn't hurt all that much, but it sure looks good. Orton calmly taking a drink from the busted bottle is pretty good, though I'm always disappointed when a match ends with a DQ, and this one just strengthens my belief that Orton should be a heel. The post match beating is a heel tactic, not face!

Hunted - Intro

The old gods have been forgotten. None worship them, and their images are desecrated and used as advertisements.

The old gods are angry. How dare their worshippers forget them? It is through their power that the world continues to exist!

The old gods will be remembered. Mankind will fear their power once more.

Silva Nigra

Hybrids! I need a name for this world; should I just call it Earth? Or should I find an older word for Earth, which is what I've been doing for some of the names (today's is the Roman name for the Black Forest)

Enkavman Cults

And we're back to Iroas! Maybe just for today, maybe next time also? It's a mystery!

Bit of shopkeeping: I'm changing my schedule... again. I realize this may disappoint the 2 or 3 people who read this blog daily, but I'm changing to three times a week; Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I'm working on an RPG and, more importantly, I'm trying to become employed (I don't get paid to do this. Surprise!)

Schools of Magic: M12; Green

The color of growth, tranquility and kaiju! GO GO GODZILLA!

Schools of Magic: M12; Red

Red magic! RAGE, FIRE, AND CHAOS! WAAAAAAAAGH!

Schools of Magic: M12; Black

And now, the color of selfishness and power at all costs, Black!

Schools of Magic: M12; Blue

Hey, we're still doing this! I know this isn't as popular, but we'll be getting back to stuff that I've created next week. In the meantime, hit the jump!

Schools of Magic: M12; White

I'm back! I know this isn't my most popular series (I can tell from the amount of hits I get) but this week I'm going to look at the spells of Magic 2012, the new core set! I will be skipping anything that I talked about in my M11 or Commander posts unless I've changed it. Hit the jump, and we'll look at White.

Ledyanoi

Happy 100th post! I'm not really able to do anything special today, but early next week I'm going to try to have a bigger post as a celebration. In the meantime, BEARS!

The Ice Wastes

Iceland already has a lot of problems with its volcano; what effect would the Purge have on it?

New Roma

The names of cities and countries will be a bit all over the place when compared to their real world names; the general rule of thumb is whichever name I think is coolest is the one I'll choose! Simple, eh?

Dawn's Folly

Another new blank spot on the map filled in! There may be something sinister going on here...

The City of Hope

Hm, I suppose this city could be considered on theme for today; they do reject the tyranny of those that came before them. That's similar to the Revolutionary War, right?

New London

Confession time! The geography of the Hybrid world is based on Earth, so I'm going to change the name of the city where the purge started to London, because that's where it is! Anyway, this will be your first glimpse of the massive changes that occurred due to the Purge, as this is a map of the primary area I'll be dealing with: Europe.

Reclusive Scholars of the Night

Well, this isn't what I intended to put up today. Unfortunately, the computer with all my work is still acting up, so I wrote up a quick little bit of info on a Hybrid that hasn't been revealed yet. Hopefully the computer will be working again tomorrow so I can post what I originally wanted to.

Schools of Magic: Commander; Legends

And here we are, at the last post for Commander! I don't know about you, but I'll be happy to move on from this - as much as I love it, seven posts is a bit much to spend on one thing. And in a few weeks we'll be looking at Magic 2012! That shouldn't take as long because most of the cards will be reprints from M11.

The most important part of any Commander deck, these legends lead your forces into battle. As they are individuals with distinct personalities, a simple look at what schools they belong to won't be sufficient. I will say what schools they use, but I'll go into slightly greater depth than I normally would to look at these cards. There is an article on Daily MTG that talks about the personality and history of the new legends briefly; go here to read it. Go here for a list of all the multicolor legends in Commander.

Schools of Magic: Commander; Gold

In case you don't know much about Magic: the Gathering (and if so, why are you reading this entry?) cards that require multiple colors to cast are known as Gold cards. Each Commander deck is based around the wedge combinations a color and its two enemies; a color's enemies are the ones that aren't adjacent to it on the color wheel. Besides the Lorwyn and Shadowmoor articles, I've done the Magic Theory series in order around the circle, making it fairly easy to see which colors are enemies.

Of course, that isn't entirely relevant right now. Today I get to look at a bunch of Gold spells to examine what happens when you combine different colors. By their very nature, almost all of these spells will belong to multiple schools, but some of the schools can exist in more colors than I initially said. Therefore, first I'll be looking at the schools and seeing if any can belong to multiple schools. Also, I'm not looking at any of the legendary creatures - they deserve their own post, which will happen tomorrow.

Schools of Magic: Commander; Green

As I said before, Green was my favorite color when I started playing Magic: the Gathering. My interests have mostly shifted to Red, but I still have a soft spot for Green's big creatures.

I'm not sure if I'm going to look at every multicolor spell or just the legends. You'll find out Monday!

Schools of Magic: Commander; Red

Finally we're at my favorite color! I haven't looked through the cards yet, but I suspect that we'll find a higher percentage of Chaos magic here than we did in Magic 2011.

Schools of Magic: Commander; Black

Let's talk about Black magic!

As a note, my schedule for the rest of commander is:

Thursday 6/23: Red
Friday 6/24: Green
Monday 6/27: Multicolor. I may have to split this into two days, depending on how many there are.
Tuesday 6/28 or Wednesday 6/29: Overview/Commanders.

Schools of Magic: Commander; Blue

You all know the deal by now. Today we'll be looking at the blue spells in Commander. A note: There are a lot of multicolor spells in these decks, and we'll deal with those next week - this is just for the monoblue cards.

Schools of Magic: Commander; White

It's been a while since I've talked about the schools of magic, but last Friday Commander was finally released, and I thought I would look through the cards in this set! If you want to look at all the cards you can find that here, though I won't be doing any of the cards that I've already looked at.

Beautiful Scars of the Past

I feel like the Prismskin need their own post, as their past reveals some of the horrible excesses of the Creators.

Airborne Masters of Light and Shadow

Hey look, I edited the title of yesterday's post! Nothing else changed, so don't worry about it - I just like this type of title more.

Masters of Life and Death

The mightiest warriors and greatest healers, the Lightningkin and Mossmen are the backbone of the remnants of civilization.

Hybrid

The world has been shattered. The Creators warred amongst themselves and shattered the world. Only their creations survive, struggling to live in a deadly world.

Nonhuman Races in fantasy

Intelligent nonhumans have long been common among fantasy settings, but I have to be honest - I don’t like them in most circumstances. Why? Well, you’ll have to hit the jump to find out.

Commander: Zedruu and Riku

And here it is, the last day of previews! If any other Commanders that intrigue me pop up, I’ll do a quick write-up - Ghave, Guru of Spores is looking very interesting, and I can’t wait for him to be revealed!

Starting next week, I’m going to be shifting to one post a day at 6PM. While I have loved doing the two post a day thing, I have started getting worn out thinking up something new every single day, and I want to start refining some of the stuff I’ve written. Therefore, I’m going to be creating an RPG centered around Iroas, with the help of a few friends. Occasionally I will share my progress if I come up with anything neat on the flavor side, but don’t expect anything. I’m also going to try to write for my other blog, Micorkview, on a more regular basis.

Nazarian Information Gathering

The Nazarians are the most secretive group in Iroas, and while almost everybody realizes that they aren’t simply librarians, few know the darkest secrets they hide.

The Savra

The lykos have been renamed the savra! Most of the other information already written still applies. If there are any contradictions, assume that the most recent post is correct - this is a good policy in general, but please point out any mistakes I’ve made, and I’ll see if I can correct them.

Commander: Kaalia and Nin

Another day, another complete lack of legends on Daily MTG. But never fear, it’s MTGCommander.net to the rescue, with another trip to the visual spoiler for the second card!

Commander: Damia and Skullbriar

Once again, we only have one preview on Daily MTG, though it is a legend this time. Unfortunately, I can’t find any other sites previewing legends today, so we’ll going back to the visual spoiler. So, prepare to get some wild speculation about Damia, Sage of Stone and Skullbriar, the Walking Grave.

The Thirian Tribes

Soon after Thirio ascended, his followers splintered into a number of groups led by his closest allies and friends. These tribes spread throughout the lands on the very edge of civilization, following the example of their totem animals to survive. Today they are a loose alliance of nomadic tribes, fighting amongst themselves frequently but banding together when faced with an outside threat.

The Thirians are the only ones who ever come into contact with the lykoi. There are occasional temporary truces, but it always ends in violence.

Commander: Animar, Basandra and Ruhan

First off, I'd like to apologize for missing this morning's post. My brain just sort of shut off last night after I had written yesterday's post on The Mimeoplasm and Tariel. I'll see if I can post something extra this week to make up for it. On to Commander stuff!

Well, this is awkward. Only one preview card today, and it’s not even a legend! So, instead I’ll look at some of the other revealed legends. In fact, today let’s look at the first two legends on their visual spoiler: Animar, Soul of Elements and Basandra, Battle Seraph.

Commander: Tariel and the Mimeoplasm

It’s the Commander preview week on Daily MTG! That means that almost every day will be previewing two new legendary creatures, and every day will have at least one. Therefore, I’ll be doing my best to craft a world around each of them. Don’t expect a full write-up, certainly not on the scale of Iroas, Aquas or Tyranix, but I’ll do as much as my immediate inspiration will give me.

Ravdos

I thought up a few more ideas for magic items, so that’s what you get today! I’m sure you were anticipating something on the lykos, but I’m still figuring out what they’re like, so you’ll have to wait! As a side note, the magical items now have the placeholder name of “ravdos,” the Greek word for wand. Hit the jump to see three common ravdoi and three rare ravdoi!

WWE All Stars

When I was younger I loved wrestling. They all just seemed larger than life, and I was invested in all the storylines and characters in the WWF. Of course, when the WCW came along I jumped ship, mostly because it was what my best friend watched; he knew Billy Kidman. There, I learned to love lucha libre style wrestling, though Sting was by far my favorite wrestler. Of course, I still watched WWF from time to time - mostly for Mick Foley and Undertaker. I was never a huge fan of Stone Cold or The Rock. And then, around the time that WCW was bought by WWF, I lost interest. Then along came WWE All Stars; a game that combines an excellent roster with an exaggerated art style. What isn’t to like about that?


WWE All Stars came out earlier this year on every console that has even a little life in it (PS2? Seriously?) As far as I can tell, wrestling fans loved it, while everyone else completely ignored it. This is kind of sad, because it’s not a wrestling game: it’s a 3D fighting game. The gameplay and visuals are intended to replicate what you thought wrestling looked like as a kid, and at that they succeed quite well.

The controls are easy to pick up and will be familiar to anyone who has played a wrestling game in the past. There are buttons for light and strong strikes and grapples, while the right bumper acts as both a block and counter button; the left bumper is supposedly for countering grapples, but I never used it. Left trigger is for getting in and out of the ring, climbing the turnbuckle and pinning your opponenets, while the right trigger is for running. Pretty simple stuff, really. It’s when you start combining all the buttons that it gets fun, as there is a simple combo system in place, including limited air juggling, while the fact that almost every move can be countered makes everything feel very dynamic.

There are three meters to keep track of - health, special and finisher. As your health goes down, you’re more likely to be stunned by powerful moves, it is easier to pin you and the opponent has an easier time escaping the cage in cage matches. The special meter fills as you successfully attack the opponent and is split into three sections; one full section is used to fuel one of your special moves, which are triggered by pressing either B+Y or A+Y. Every wrestler has two or more special moves, depending on where you are in relation to your opponent. These are all the actual signature moves of the wrestles cranked up to eleven; The Undertaker jumps five feet up holding his opponent for the choke slam, Ultimate Warrior throws the opponent roughly ten feet, and so on. The special meter also drains as you run, so you can’t just run everywhere. The finisher meter, also filled when you hit your opponent, allows you to perform (surprise!) your wrestler’s finisher when it is full. All of these do a ton of damage and, if you hit an opponent with no health, instantly win you the game. They are, once again, simply the wrestler’s finishing moves cranked up to eleven, with some good slow motion effects thrown in. For the record, my favorite finisher is Macho Man’s flying elbow drop or Rey Mysterio’s 619, neither of which needed to be exaggerated all that much.

Game modes are pretty standard - there are the 1v1, Triple Threat, Fatal Four Way, Handicap and Tag Team matches all of which can be done under Extreme Rules, and all but 1v1 can have elimination rules. 1v1 also has the option of cage matches, and all Tag Team matches are using Tornado Tag rules; no tagging necessary, all wrestlers are always in the ring. These are all fun, though the weapons hardly come into play during the Extreme Rules, and I wish there was some more variation. It would be nice to have a ladder or table match, and I would love for there to be options for a Royal Rumble. Still, it is adequate.

The primary single player mode is the Path of Champions. There are three of these; Superstar, Tag and Legend, and each have entertaining cut scenes where the final boss taunts you - Randy Orton, Degeneration X or The Undertaker. The cut scenes, which are modeled after the promos wrestlers do, have good voice work and fit the characters involved very well. The Undertaker’s in particular has the always amusing Paul Bearer, while Degeneration X display some awareness of the fact that they are in a videogame. Randy Orton is a bit boring, but I think that’s just how he is.

However, the best single player mode is definitely Fantasy Warfare, which pairs up the superstars and legends and has you play out the match. In addition to being how you unlock wrestlers (Kane is locked at the beginning? Blasphemy) they edited together live footage as an intro to each match. Most of the pairings are fairly easy to grasp - Andre the Giant vs. Big Show, Mr. Perfect vs. The Miz and Sgt. Slaughter vs. Jack Swagger are pretty obvious if you know the characters - while some of the pairings are surprisingly well done. In particular, Stone Cold vs. CM Punk as a battle of lifestyles is inspired, and the video is fantastically edited to make it seem like they were actually having a feud. There are a few disappointing ones - Eddie Guerrero vs. Rey Mysterio makes sense, but they’ve wrestled so often it’s pointless, and Jake “the Snake” Roberts would be better matched against someone who is just as untrustworthy instead of Randy Orton, who would be the perfect match for Goldberg if he was in the game. I liked the Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker match the least, because all they did was recycle the feud that led to Shawn’s last match at Wrestlemania, and it just felt lazy all around. Overall, this is definitely a good mode, and the matches are surprisingly fun.

I can’t really say much about online - I played one match, and the person I was facing disconnected when I was about to win. It seemed a bit laggy, though it’s hard to tell if that’s because my internet is terrible. My biggest problem with it is that they don’t use the common sense fix of the person who disconnects getting a loss, which leads to leaderboards that don’t mean anything.

I saved my favorite part of wrestling game for last: character creation! Sadly, this is one of the areas where this game lags behind. The clothing options are alright, and you can manipulate the body shape in plenty of ways, but you can’t customize your moveset. Instead, you simply choose a pre-existing wrestler’s moves, and then add a finisher (most of which have to be unlocked by playing a lot of matches with that wrestler). You can also choose an Entrance, but the generic themes are mostly disappointing and you have to unlock every single other theme by playing as the wrestler in question. It just gets tedious after a while. This seems to be a huge step back, as the wrestling games I was playing on the N64 had a more comprehensive character creation system.

Overall, this is a very good game. The announcer’s suck, as they always do, and the character creation is extremely limited (which didn’t stop me from making six wrestlers…) but the gameplay and overall presentation is top notch. If you’re a wrestling fan, this is a must-buy. Anyone else should at least rent it, as it might surprise you.

8/10: Small flaws, but well worth your time and money.

The Psaria

An ancient and proud people, the psaria claim to be the first intelligent beings in the world, and they have the power to back it up.

The Champions of The Order

As seen in Alive, there is more to the hierarchy of The Order than has been revealed so far. Today we'll briefly look at some of the insights revealed in that story.

The Walker

It is said that mankind was not always the dominant race on Iroas. There were other races - the aquatic psaria and the savage lykos, among others. Humans were oppressed, and there didn’t seem to be any hope for freedom. Then the Walker appeared.

Aquas Art: Vampires

Wow, all this art is making writing this way easier! Tom drew the vampires of Aquas, and they're different than I had planned (again, this is a good thing!) Hit the jump!

Alive (Short Story)

Presenting: Jalen Cor, novice chronicler from Caliastor. He is a promising young blue mage, on track to become one of the Eyes of The Order.

A quick note: this is set on Tyranix, which is what planeswalkers call the world. However, those who live on the plane know it as Ordren, though they rarely use that word as talking about The Order is generally sufficient. The other plane featured is Acharu, which is the plane that won that Plane Creation Contest.

Aquas Art: The Balena

Hey look, our second bit of art! This one comes from my lovely lady, who also has a blog, though I don't have a link to it right now - she hasn't shared it with me yet for some reason. This is more of a rough draft than yesterday's Akula art, but there a bunch of things to think about in it.

Aquas Art: The Akula

Our first piece of art for Aquas has arrived! This piece comes from 7_ate_9 on the Wizards Community forums, and it totally changed the way I thought of the Akula. Hit the jump to see why!

Escape

Today I thought I'd share a rough draft of a script I had written. Unfortunately, I can't figure how to format this post to show it here, so I uploaded them to a free file hosting site - tried to do MediaFire, but it didn't work for some reason. I really hope these work!

Part 1
Part 2

Happy Memorial Day!

Memorial Day means no new posts! I'll be back tomorrow, and I got the first bit of artwork for Aquas! I have to ask him if I can post it first, so hopefully I'll have something new to show you tomorrow!

The Eirini Guild

Iroas is a mostly peaceful world, with the three major nations operating under an informal truce. This is mostly because the threat posed by the Maelstrom, Akyros and the Psaria force them to put aside their differences to survive. However, where there is free will, there is bound to be conflict, and this is where the Eirini come in.

Enchanted Items on Iroas

The abilities granted by the soul gems are varied, but there are certain themes. It is rare for the gems to directly effect anybody but the wielder, though there are certain intricate designs that can do so. What follows is a list of some of the more common enchanted items, and the thoughts behind their design.

Alitheia the Scholar

In ancient times, the only type of soul gem was jade, and none knew how to harness their power. They were objects of worship, only used in religious ceremonies that venerated The Walker, a mythical figure that was believed to have created life on Iroas. It took a sick young girl to unravel their secrets, and she became known as the first Paragon.

Akyros, the Voidtouched

Iroas is a world of extremes. Those who live there are capable of great acts of compassion and heroism, but there is a shadow for every light.

Enkavma

Not all who followed Aspida wanted order, and not all who followed Thirio desired freedom. Some wanted to burn the world to the ground.

Iroan Magic

Words do not have any special power on Iroas, and it is generally thought to be impossible to conjure fire with a thought. However, there is still magic.

Thirio, the Beast

Another bit on Iroas, this time about Thirio, the warlord who stopped Aspida. Nothing new on Aquas or Tyranix/Ordren/Auftrag today, I'm still trying to figure out what to call T/O/A and I've hit a wall on Aquas. Feedback on both would be appreciated.

Aspida, the Soldier

Another little bit of  info on Iroas! First, I'm considering renaming Tyranix as Ordren. It's another made up word that almost looks like a real world, but order doesn't have the same negative connotations as tyrant. In any case, hit the jump to hear about Aspida, the Soldier.

Worldbuilding - Aquas: Summary

Today I’m rounding up all the information from last week and organizing it! There are a few changes in some places - I’ll bold the new information to make it easier to find. Hit the jump!

The Maelstrom

This is intended to exist in the same world as the Nazarian alliance, and this week I may flesh out that world a little. For the moment, I'll refer to the world as Iroas, after the Greek word for hero. The Nazarian posts will be updated with the new tags. In the meantime, enjoy this bit that totally isn't ripping off Serenity in any way.

Worldbuilding - Aquas: Green

Green is the color of life and growth, and on Aquas it comes from coral reefs. Hit the jump to read more!

A Few Quick Notes on Tyranix

This isn't going to be a long entry, just a few notes. I'm working on something a bit meatier, and I hope to have it up on Monday. In the meantime, I could use some input. It has been pointed out to me that Tyranix isn't really a great name for the plane - it's halfway between a real word and a nonsense word. Therefore, I'm thinking of changing the name to a real word. So far, I think my options are: Impero (Latin: To Order), Jussio (Latin: Order), Ordinatio (Latin: Government, Order, Regulation) or Auftrag (German: Order). Input would be appreciated!

Besides that, it was also pointed out that I hadn't actually said anything about the humans that live on Tyranix (or whatever it ends up being called). Therefore, hit the jump for the inside info on humans in The Order!

Dead Reckoning, Chapter 1

Ah, Sookie Stackhouse. The books that the tv series True Blood is based on, it can best be described as Twilight but good. Sookie is a strong character with interesting abilities, and her hometown, Bon Temps, Louisiana, is filled with interesting, fully fleshed out characters.

Dead Reckoning, the newest book in the series, was released on May 3. I will be spoiling things that happen in each chapter, so read at your own peril! Also, please don't spoil me if you've already read it – that would be incredibly rude, and I wouldn't like it. So, if you're still with me, hit the jump!

I find it interesting that this book starts out with cleaning out the attic. The previous book dealt was about coming to terms with the past, and learning how to move on. I hadn't realized this when I first read it, but on reflection every character who plays a major role has to deal with something from their past and come to terms with it; Bill has to forgive himself for inadvertently causing his “sister” Judith's transformation into a vampire, while Eric and Pam have to deal with Eric's sire Appius and “brother” Alexei. The primary antagonist, and the source of most of the mystery, was a fairy named Colman who blamed Sookie for Claudine's death – he was her husband, and she was Sookie's fairy godmother. Man, that feels ridiculous to type out. And, on top of all that, they all had to deal with Dermot, Sookie's Great-Uncle, who was driven made by a spell. In the end, Appius, Alexei and Colman end up dead, Bill has reconciled with Judith, who was never mad at him in the first place, and Claude and Sookie break the spell on Dermot.

Bringing it all back to the book I'm supposed to be talking about, the fact that Sookie is cleaning out her attic of all the useless old things that have been collected struck me as a continuation of those themes. She seems to understand that she doesn't need to cling to the past at this point, and is finally fully coming to terms with her grandmother's death. I also like the dialogue from Claude and Dermot, as it contrasts their personalities nicely. Claude is still the douche we all know and love, while Dermot is... well, he's kind of like a lost puppy.

For most of the time at the bar, nothing much happens, though we get some tidbits about what has been going on around town. Churches are still occasionally picketing Merlotte's, which is a shame, because Sam is one of my favorite characters. In the first book he was clearly set up to be Bill's romantic rival, but he didn't obsess over Sookie once it became obvious that they would never have a relationship. I'm always happy to see him in a scene, as he has a way of grounding everything, which is a strange thing for a shapeshifter to do.

All of this is just meant to lull the reader into a false sense of security. After all, nothing that big could happen in the first chapter, right? I had forgotten how quickly things tend to go wrong in these books, and I think that's a testament to Charlaine Harris's writing skills, because I was completely thrown off when a molotov cocktail was thrown through the front window and explodes on a table.

Harris does a really good job at making the reader feel the panic that sets in around fire, and the next few pages pass in a blur as Sam and Sookie put out the fire and the authorities arrive. Eric then shows up, and he is... well, he's kind of being overbearing, which isn't usually how he treats Sookie. Thankfully, and in another moment that reinforces why this series is so much better than Twilight, Sookie realizes that he's being a jerk and (subtly) tells him to stop, and he listens. After the police interrogate her, Eric brings her home, and has called Pam to meet them there with a hairdresser. I love the description that is given for the stylist. Sookie is very clearly a country girl, and she can't understand weird haircuts at all, and the stylist has an amazingly strange haircut.

Not a whole lot else happens, though Eric continues to act slightly oddly. I'm not complaining, by the way – a little bit of a breather is necessary after the hectic events of the chapter, but there isn't much to talk about. The most interesting thing is the last line, which is the earliest time we've ever had confirmation that the antagonist is supernatural. These books have been good about showing that the existence of the supernatural doesn't mean that mankind is any less dangerous. Several times the antagonist has been completely mundane, and it's refreshing to see a series that deals with vampires and shapeshifters allow the villains to be completely mundane.

Worldbuilding - Aquas: Red

Once again, nothing to change from previous entries and no art to add (Come on, people, I know some artsy people read this!) so hit the jump!

The History of Tyranix

What follows is a complete history of The Order. You will note that nothing before the First King arrived is detailed, as The Order has destroyed all records of that time. The years are counted from what is considered to be the beginning of the Age of Order (A.O.) Before that is considered the Age of Chaos (A.C.) which is counted backwards. Facts that are unknown in-universe will be in parentheses.

Worldbuilding - Aquas: Black

No additions for today, so we'll dive right into the black cultures, which use the mana found in brine pools.

The Geography of Tyranix

Once a lush and vibrant world, Tyranix is now a dead world, with the few surviving people living in the cities of The Order.

Worldbuilding - Aquas: Blue

We have our first modifications to the plane today! Shamsiel from the Wizards Community sent me a message with some good points and good ideas, which I'll be incorporating into Aquas now!

The Dead and Dying Races of Tyranix

There have been many victims of The Order's Great Crusade, and many of them have not survived to tell their tales. From the ambitious Vampires to the passionate Flamekin, The Order does not tolerate any dissidence and will go to any lengths to protect itself.

Worldbuilding - Aquas: White

White is the color of order, protection and light. It believes in the greater good, and is perhaps best exemplified by a Star Trek quote: “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one.” But what form does it take on an underwater world?

Thor

THOR! GOD OF THUNDER! One of the few Marvel characters who can battle the Hulk and have any chance of winning, he is one of the true powerhouses of the Marvel universe. Of course, he comes with a lot of baggage - namely, Asgard and its entire mythology. The inclusion of deities can be difficult to reconcile with other stories, and the relatively realistic feel of the Marvel Cinematic Universe isn't an easy fit with high fantasy. So, does Thor fit in with the greater MCU and, more importantly, is it a good movie? As always, expect full spoilers ahead.

 I wasn't a big Thor fan growing up, as I mostly read Spider-Man and Batman, with some other DC comics mixed in. It wasn't until 2007 that I started reading, with the J. Michael Straczynski reboot. I quickly became a fan, which probably isn't surprising considering that it combines my love of superheroes with my love of mythology. It also helped that it was one of the most consistently good comics that year.


Going into the movie, I was simultaneously excited because of how good the MCU has been so far, but worried because of how little the concept seems to fit with the rest of the MCU. They solved this by focusing on pseudo-science that makes it work... mostly. There are some odd moments that don't quite fit in, but overall it works.


There's a quick bit in the beginning that shows Earth and the scientists that we get to know later, and we get our first glimpse of the Bifrost. Then we get some backstory, along with our first look at the fantastic special effects at work here - Asgard looks gorgeous! Thor's crowning, which shows off his arrogance nicely, gets interrupted by the Jotun and we get to see the Destroyer, which looks BADASS, for the first time. Sidenote: I feel bad for anyone who didn't know how to spell Jotun before seeing this, because it's pronounced Yodin. I enjoy the dialogue in this and the following scene, with Loki coming off as the smarmy, manipulative jackass that he is. He clearly manipulates Thor into attacking Jotunheim, but I'm not sure how malicious he is at this point - I don't think he starts to change to full on villainy until the battle in Jotunheim, which is fantastic. I love how Loki fights like you would expect a trickster to. He uses trickery and deceit to kill opponents who are much more dangerous.


And then, finally, Thor gets banished! Some good dialogue and one of the best taser moments in film follow, along with some plot advancement, and... Honestly, I'm not in love with the scenes set on Earth, and I was always excited to get back to Asgard. The Warriors Three are great, though Sif doesn't feel like she does a whole lot and feels kind of extraneous. Loki really steals the show at this point in the movie, and Tom Hiddleston portrays him perfectly, as you can really feel his pain as he struggles to come to terms with his Jotun heritage.


The action scene where Thor tries to get to Mjolnir is good enough, but its nothing special. Clint Barton's cameo here seems completely pointless, and he could have been replaced with any random soldier without anything being lost. I chuckled a little when I realized who it was, but overall... meh. Chris Hemsworth does a good job in the next scene, showing how depressed Thor is successfully without being annoying. When Loki appears, it reminded me of the scene from Ultimates 2, and it is just as eerie here as it was there. Also, can I take a moment to say how great Clark Gregg is as Agent Coulson again? I'd rather have him representing S.H.I.E.L.D. rather than Samuel L. Jackson.


Idris Elba has some good moments as Heimdall, and then we get to see the Warriors Three + Sif go to Midgard (lolvikings) and the Warriors once again are the best. The fight takes a lot less time than I thought it would, and the Destroyer comes out looking kind of like a chump. The ad campaign made it seem like it would be the big fight, but they couldn't have shown any clips from the real final battle without spoiling it.


During this final sequence, starting when Thor stops the Destroyer, there are still some surprises in store. First and foremost, Loki isn't a traitor, but really is just desperate for his father's approval. One of the things I love is that Loki chose Odin as his true father, despite the fact that Laufey was his biological father. Most of the time when the villain is an orphan, he becomes evil by choosing his biological parent - it's nice to see a different take on it. The final battle is... honestly, it's a bit clumsy at first, but I like that Loki uses the illusions that he used earlier in the film again, and I loved it when he created a whole crowd, as that's one of my favorite super powers. Of course, Thor's response was great, just blasting all of them, and putting Mjolnir on Loki was clever.


Overall, I'd say this was a very good movie. There were a few weird moments, and I wish they had spent even more time in Asgard, Jotunheim or the six other realms we didn't get a chance to see - I can't wait for the next one, because it will hopefully show it off. There are a few plot hooks that stick out to me, obviously Hawkeye is meant as a preview of the Avengers. I liked the quick references to the Hulk and Iron Man, and I think that's more the way they should link the movies.


In case you hadn't noticed, I quite liked this one. Not as much as The Incredible Hulk, but I'm a Hulk fanboy, so that's to be expected. If you liked the other MCU movies, you'll like this, but I think it has a broader appeal than that, as all the actors do a fantastic job.


As a final note, the scene after the credits is the most significant stinger in any of the movies, setting up the central conflict of the Avengers. I mean, they have a COSMIC CUBE! I freaked out when Sam Jackson opened that case, and freaked out even more when Loki showed up. VERY excited for the Avengers.

Worldbuilding - Aquas

Welcome to our first cooperative worldbuilding! I'll be asking for feedback every step of the way, so please contribute. And I want any artists out there to draw some concept art for me – I'll post everything that I get at the beginning of each post. Ready to start? Then hit the jump!

Saints and Sinners of Tyranix

Strong in spirit and muscle, the Rhox are the hammer of The Order. Intelligent and practical, Vedalken have long been the driving force behind The Order's magic. However, all things change in time.

Shadowmoor - Goblins and Dwarves

Goblins were already varied on Lorwyn, with the boggarts having remarkably varied body types. This variety has only increased on Shadowmoor, with the boggarts being joined by hobgoblins, spriggans and redcaps.

Shadowmoor - Elves and Hags

On Lorwyn, the elves considered themselves the most beautiful and therefore the best beings on the plane. After the Great Aurora, they are now alone in an ugly plane, struggling to survive and defending any beauty that remains.

Shadowmoor - Cinders and Noggles

The Flamekin have lost their fire. Like the other races, they don't remember that Shadowmoor was once the peaceful world of Lorwyn, but they know that they once had fire, and they take out their bitterness on their loss on the world around them.

Shadowmoor - Faeries and Ouphes

For reasons unknown to most, the Great Aurora seems to have left the Faeries unchanged. Few would guess that it was Oona, the Queen of the Fae, that caused the Aurora and manipulates the world to stay in power.

Shadowmoor - Merrow and Selkie

Cunning and friendly, the merrow were traders and explorers on Lorwyn. In Shadowmoor, their cunning is twisted to darker causes, and they have become pirates and raiders. Hit the jump to read more!

Shadowmoor - Kithkin and Scarecrows

The Great Aurora has come, and Lorwyn is no more. In its place is Shadowmoor, an eternal night replacing Lorwyn's eternal day. All the races you came to know and love remain, but they have changed in ways both subtle and drastic.

On Lorwyn, the Kithkin were a peaceful people, protective of their community but kind to strangers. This would get someone killed on Shadowmoor. Here, the Kithkin are paranoid and xenophobic, shunning all who are not like them. Hit the jump for a peek past their fiercely guarded walls.

Footsoldiers of the Rebellion

The Order has trampled the rights of many beings on Tyranix, and the time has come for them to rise up and strike back at their oppressors.

Hit the jump to read about the beings that fight on the front lines for the rebellion.

The Schools of Magic - Elementals in Lorwyn

There is one other major source of magical power that does not fall neatly into any of the categories already discussed - the elementals. They are the dreams of an entire world given form. Read on to discover their strange power.

The Schools of Magic - Treefolk in Lorwyn

Ancient and wise, the treefolk of Lorwyn are generally compassionate to the younger races. The only race that the elves do not view as eyeblights, their wisdom is sought out by all. Hit the jump to discover their knowledge.

The Schools of Magic - Giants in Lorwyn

The largest and strongest beings on Lorwyn, giants are mostly unconcerned with the smaller races. However, their fierce territoriality and single-minded nature mean that they will sometimes take offense from small things. If this happens to you, good luck, for an angry giant is a sight to behold, though you will not be around long enough to appreciate it. However, if you continue reading you might just learn enough to escape with your life.

The Schools of Magic - Goblins in Lorwyn

Obsessed with experiencing everything possible, the goblins as Lorwyn, known as boggarts, are more a walking force for chaos than anything else. Their natural curiosity combined with their communal nature means they do not recognize personal property, and believe that any sensation they can share is a good thing, meaning they are a constant nuisance to the other races of Lorwyn. Read on to learn about this strange race.

The Schools of Magic - Elves in Lorwyn

Arrogant and xenophobic, the elves of Lorwyn take many of the common elven traits to the extreme. Confident in their own beauty, they believe everything that is not as beautiful, which is to say everything else, has no right to live, and therefore only survives through what they view as their benevolence. Of course, there are some things that are simply too hideous to be allowed to live. These beings, deemed eyeblights, are hunted down and killed. Naturally, all of this leads to some friction with the other races. Hit the jump to see how the elves interact with the rest of the world.

The Schools of Magic - Flamekin in Lorwyn

Capable of incredible passion, the flamekin are instigators of change on Lorwyn. They have flexible stone bodies covered in flames that burn cool unless the flamekin wishes otherwise. They love freedom, and most wander the world instead of living in any established communities. Hit the jump to see the innate magic of the flamekin.

The Schools of Magic - The Fae in Lorwyn

A constant nuisance, few intelligent beings on Lorwyn pay much attention to the Faeries. Playing seemingly harmless pranks and taking the dreams of the other intelligent beings, none suspected their sinister purpose. Hit the jump to find out how this enigmatic race works.

The Schools of Magic - Merfolk in Lorwyn

The merfolk of Lorwyn, known as Merrow, are the masters of trade and travel on the plane. Combining their skill with water magic and their vast knowledge, they can be anywhere on the plane within hours. This mobility has made them a force to be reckoned with. Hit the jump to hear more about the merrow.

The Schools of Magic - Kithkin in Lorwyn

As we've seen, the schools of magic can vary depending on the plane in question. Nowhere is this more true than Lorwyn, where the schools are focused on the various races inhabiting the plane instead of the colors of Magic. This week I will be talking about the schools of Magic that the inhabitants of Lorwyn use. I will not be discussing each card for two reasons. First off, there is no particularly easy way to separate the cards based on race. Second, I really don't want to. While I'm glad that I did it, by the end of the week it had become a chore and incredibly aggravating. Also, I imagine it was as boring to read as it was to write something that became so repetitive.

The Kithkin of Lorwyn are a hard working race, able to work together flawlessly through the use of the Thoughtweft, an emotional bond that links all Kithkin together. It is through this bond that they have managed to hold their own against the bigger and stronger races that inhabit the plane. Hit the jump to learn more about the Kithkin!

The Schools of Magic - Green, Part 2: New Phyrexia

Phyrexians practice a more aggressive form of Green magic than is standard, believing that only in conflict can a creature prove its worth. It is because of this that they focus entirely on predators and the idea of survival of the fittest.

Go here and click on the Green And Multicolored link to follow along, then hit the jump as I discuss how Phyrexia has twisted my second favorite color.

The Schools of Magic - Green, Part 1

The deepest depths of the forest contain the secrets to an ancient and powerful magic. This is the energy of growth, and it is a primal power. It is the energy of the beasts and plants, and it contains the secrets of mana.

This was originally my favorite color, and though I now I prefer Red, I still love me some Green spells. Go here to follow along, then hit the jump for an in depth look at the spells available to a Green mage!

The Schools of Magic - Red, Part 2: New Phyrexia

Red is the color most at odds with the core philosophy of Phyrexia. While Red celebrates freedom and self-expression, Phyrexia enforces unity and conformity at all costs. It was perhaps inevitable that Red mana would resist Phyrexia's influence, resulting in the least amount of change from Red's core philosophy.

Click here to follow along, and hit the jump for a trip to the Furnace Layer of Phyrexia.

The Schools of Magic - Red, Part 1

Flowing from the mountains, the power of passion, fire and chaos are the domain of Red magic. Slaves to their desires, Red mages are the most passionate and unpredictable of all.

Go here to follow along, then hit the jump to check out my favorite color!

The Schools of Magic - Black, Part 2: New Phyrexia

Historically, Black has been the only color that Phyrexian magic used. While New Phyrexia has magic of all colors, Black remains the central color, and its effects can be found among all colors.

Go here to follow along, and click the "Black and Red" link at the top to jump to the cards I'll be discussing. Then hit the jump, and learn some pointless things!

The Schools of Magic - Black, Part 1

Normally, I would write an introduction on the color I'll be discussing here. The problem is that someone has already written a better one than I could! Last friday, April 22nd, Gamma-Mage posted this on the Magic: the Gathering Flavor and Storylines forum. This post is what inspired me to write this series of blog posts, and I thank Gamma for that!

Follow along on Gatherer as I examine Black magic in Magic 2011! Hit the jump!

The Schools of Magic - Blue, Part 2: New Phyrexia

Before we start today, I'd like to take a moment to talk about the reason that I'm able to do this blog series. Usually, the two weeks before the prerelease of a small set are devoted to previews. This usually means two to four cards are revealed each day, with the full set revealed the day of the prerelease. New Phyrexia's prerelease is May seventh. That means that yesterday should have been the first day of previews, but the full set was revealed. While Wizards won't ever admit why they did it, it is almost certainly because a week before, scans of the full set were leaked, and everyone could find it if they wanted it.

Honestly, I'm not sure where I stand when it comes to this. I'm a bit of a spoiler hound, and I'll admit that I looked over the spoilers. However, I think this may have hurt my overall experience, as I didn't have the time to digest each card on its own. I'm hoping doing this will help, as I really need to look at each card in detail for this. So, without further ado, go here for the spoiler, and hit the jump to listen to me babble about inane details!

The Schools of Magic - Blue, Part 1

Blue is the color of intellect and logic, drawing its power from the relentless power of the sea. Through the ages, Blue mages have been known as the greatest scholars in their worlds, driven to understand everything in existence. They are not satisfied with simply knowing everything. All that knowledge must be put to use to control the world around them.

Once again, it is time for me to examine Magic cards in far greater detail than was intended. Full disclosure, I don't like playing Blue, though I identify as a partially blue person. (the other part is Red) I will be using Magic 2011 once again, and you can follow along here. Hit the jump for a look inside a Blue mage's spell book.

The Schools of Magic - White part 2: New Phyrexia

With the release of the full spoiler of New Phyrexia (find it here) I thought it would be interesting to contrast this highly irregular plane with the default setting shown in Magic 2011. Once again, I will be focusing on White for this post. Interested? Then hit the jump!

The Schools of Magic - White

So, there's been a thread on the Wizards Community lately about the various schools of Magic within the colors. It started with one person writing an in-character discussion on the schools that make use of Black mana, and it kind of spiraled from there.

For those interested, the thread is here. After the jump I'll be detailing my thoughts on it, and I'll be going through all the cards in Magic 2011 to fit them into the various schools. To follow along, see here, which is the entire list of M11 cards in the order that I'll be discussing them. In this post I'll be focusing on the White cards, but expect future blog posts to focus on the other colors.

Game of Thrones: Winter is Coming

Before I start this, I'll say what I know about this series.

-It's epic fantasy

-It has political machinations (Come on, Game of Thrones! Could it be more obvious?)

-Almost everyone is scum.

And that's pretty much it! I believe a bunch of my friends love it, but I can't be sure. So... without further ado, episode 1 of Game of Thrones: Winter is Coming.

Don't worry if you missed the episode title, because they repeat it FIVE MILLION TIMES. It got kind of irritating. But really, that's a minor thing, and the title drop has always been a pet peeve of mine, so let's ignore that and get to what I really thought.

It opened with... a scout or something, as he found a whole bunch of completely butchered bodies, along with a little girl impaled on a tree. Not creepy at all, especially when it is shown that the body parts are laid out in some kind of pattern. It looks kind of like the symbol of Phyrexia from MTG, but I think I'm seeing that symbol everywhere, so I actually have no idea what it is.

He goes back and reports it to his asshole commander, who insists on going to see it himself and... well, he's not very Genre Savvy, is he? The bodies are all gone, which is super creepy. And then... ZOMBIE LITTLE GIRL! And some sort of demon guy? His eyes seemed to be glowing. I'm not entirely sure what's going on, but this got me interested, at the very least.

We get introduced to the characters, and none of them made much of an impact initially - in fact, I have to refer to wikipedia to get their names. I do like Sean Bean's character, Eddard "Ned" Stark (what kind of name is Eddard, and how is Ned a nickname from that?) His comment after the execution was something that I find admirable, and reveals a lot about his character: "The man who passes the sentence should swing the sword." It shows his devotion to duty, which is a trait I generally like in a character.

The show is clearly adept at establishing personalities quickly, even if it isn't so good at making me remember their names. Arya is adorable, and is clearly a tomboy. Bran is... well, he's 10, and a boy. His habit of climbing everything reminds me of myself at that age. Jon Snow is the bastard who has nobility and honor that his half-brothers lack. I have less of a grasp on Robb, who is the oldest son, and Catelyn, Eddard's wife, but it is only the first episode. And Sansa is... well, she seems like kind of a bitch.

The king's introduction scene is almost painfully obvious how it's going to end up from the moment it starts, though he and Eddard do have a relationship that I like - the Vitriolic Best Buds thing. His wife, on the other hand... well, at this point she's essentially a non-entity, though that changes later. Their son looks like the shallow pretty boy (he almost looks like Draco Malfoy, actually) and the other guy... was that Jaime? I'm confused now, I have no idea who anyone is. Oh, and there's a character who's called the Imp, and I have no idea how to feel about him right now. He's definitely an asshole and a lecher, but he is viewed as less than a man, so we'll see. I may feel more charitable to him at the moment because of the other main characters we meet shortly.

His name is Viserys, and he creeps me out! The pale skin with platinum blonde hair looks eerie to begin with, but his opening scene is detestable. He strips his sister (!) to admire her body (!!) and fondles her (!!!!!!). His sister, Daenerys, looks almost as creeped out as I feel, and I kind of feel bad for her. And then we find out he's marrying her off to a savage (I'll get to that) for political gain, which is... Well, I really hope he dies in a horrible way. He's the type of scumbag who will do anything for his own gain.

The man she's being married to is Khal Drogo, a warlord of the Dothraki. They are viewed as savages by everyone else, which is something that really bothers me. Whenever an entire people is written off as savages and implied to be subhuman, it sets off warning bells, and this episode doesn't do a whole lot to lessen the feeling of unease I have. The wedding seems to go out of its way to prove that the Dothraki are savages. One of the things that doesn't make any sense to me is the statement that a wedding is considered dull unless there are at least three deaths. WHAT. That seems counter-productive.

So, finally, plot happens. I guess the King's old Hand (his right-hand man, I guess) was murdered, and so Eddard is going to take the position. So there's drama there. More importantly, while Bran is climbing a tower, he comes across two people having sex! It appears that it's Cersei, the queen, and her twin brother Jaime. WTF. That's gross enough as it stands, but then Jaime pushes Bran off the tower! WHAT! And then the episode ends, with Bran falling off the tower.

Final thoughts: I have no idea what to think about this show. I'll watch the next episode, and I'll try to get up my thoughts on it sooner next time. I'm definitely going to give this show a chance, but I don't yet know if I'll like it.

NOTES:

• I want a dire wolf puppy!
• Was the sheath Eddard used for that great sword a bear?
• It was pretty obvious that the White Walkers are just what they call zombies.
• The wolf helmet that one of the guys with the King was wearing looked dumb.
• "It's not hunting if you pay for it." ZING

Welcome!

Welcome to MicorkView! I intend to use this blog mostly to talk about thinks I like - later today I'll be watching the first episode of Game of Thrones and posting about that, and I also plan to post about books I'm reading and games I'm playing, so keep an eye out!

Kithkin, the Peacekeepers of Tyranix

 Sorry it's been so long since I last posted! The contest ended - I didn't win, though the plane that did deserved it! I'm going to post a few more things about Tyranix, then I'll put it up for entry into the Expanded Multiverse.

This time, we see what the Kithkin of Tyranix are like.

Nazar the Wise

Just a quick little thing I wrote up a little while ago. Considering building a world for the Nazarians to join, and this is part of that... sorta.

Tyranix

Time to collect everything I've written about Tyranix! I'll be cleaning up and slightly modifying some things, so it may be worth it to read again. I'm also taking out some of the game terms as I go to make it read a bit more smoothly.

Plane Creation Contest Bonus Challenges - Champions of Chaos and Scions of New Life

A quick note before I start writing. Due to the lack of entries, the contest is being cut short by two weeks. However, the person running it did post the final two challenges as bonus optional challenges. The first is a repeat of an earlier challenge, telling us to color shift a creature type. The second is a version of another previous challenge, this one to take a seldom used class and incorporate it into the setting (the previous challenge had to do with races - the entry with the Archons and Devils) Having these two challenges occur at the same time actually helps me significantly - I intend to color shift one of the seldom used classes. Read on!

Plane Creation Contest 6 - Heralds of Change

For this challenge, we were tasked with creating a new creature type. This caused me a lot of problems - we've had the prompt for two weeks, and I only decided what I was going to write last night.

Plane Creation Contest 5 - The History of Tyranix

Tyranix was not always the bastion of law and order it is today. The Order teaches that long ago, Tyranix was mired in civil war and anarchy. There was no peace to be found in the world, and it appeared to be doomed to die by fire and war. Then the First King came.

The Nazarian Alliance

The Nazarian Alliance is not a nation. It does not own any territory and has no standing army, and it would have it no other way. On the surface it is guild of scholars, dedicated to uncovering the mysteries of the world. However, for those who can pay their high prices, they can become much more.

In truth, Nazarians follow the example of their founder, Nazar the Wise, and hide their illicit activities beneath a facade of scholarly pursuits. They operate as thieves, spies and, when neccesary, assassins. In every major city there is a Nazarian public library, catering to the enlightenment of the masses while secretively supplying what the nobles need to continue their brutal backroom war.


This isn't a part of Tyranix, just something I thought up today.

Plane Creation Contest - Prompt 4

iAnd we're back! This time, the challenge is to take a rarely used creature type (from a list they provided) and explain how it fits into your plane. Hit the jump to see what I did!

Plane Creation Contest - Prompt 3

And now we'll be caught up!

For this prompt, we were told to create a civilization that relies on on one of the following spell types: Artifact, Enchantment, Instant or Sorcery. Instead of creating a new civilization, I decided to incorporate one of those into The Order, as there isn't really room for more than one civilization on Tyranix... Or so it would seem on the surface...

Plane Creation Contest - Prompt 2

And we're back, with the second prompt! This time, the prompts were to either colorshift a race or colorshift a class.

I decided to... Well, you'll see on the other side of the break.

Plane Creation Contest - Prompt 1

This is a contest which has been posted on the Wizards of the Coast MTG forums. The rules can be found here, but in essence, they're posting several prompts each week, and anyone participating has to respond to at least one prompt to be entered in that week. At the end of 8 weeks, they'll be picking a winner. Participants must enter at least 5 weeks to be eligible. Now, I've missed the first two weeks, so they technically won't count, but I'll be writing them up anyway as a writing exercise.

Hit the jump for the words!

Welcome!

Welcome to my World Bits! I'll be using this blog to share brainstorming on various worlds I'm creating. Later today I will be posting my first bit, an entry into a contest for designing a Plane in Magic: The Gathering. So, stick around, and maybe you'll get to see the weird way my mind works.