OOC: This is a placeholder from Oak for the beginning of Eric's first thread, run by JohnA1nut, continued from GO.  :)

In time to come, we may well want to copy the GO thread's posts into this slot, but for now, interested parties can see what has happened at this link:

http://gamingoutpost.com/talk/...cs-going-everywhere/

Go ahead and post below, John and alternative version of Tadeusz Eric, and welcome to RPoL!  :)
















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This message was last edited by the GM at 05:18, Tue 15 Apr 2014.

Well Eric, it's your reply.

I'm in this weird world that is sorta like home, and sorta not.

I, and the hundred year old eight year old girl have set up camp in an abandoned house.  We've got water and food and shelter.

I'm going to do leg stretches (as pulling a leg muscle in this place would be Bad News.)  I'll also start pushups and short jogging.  Got to lose the belly and get in shape.

Whilst you and Samantha were cleaning up the house, Samantha came down with a bolt action 30-06 hunting rifle and 100 rounds of ammo. She gave it to you.

So you're just sitting in the house doing your thing. You and Samantha go hunting sometimes, you exercise. It's a few days before Magehammer shows up.

He checks out the house and approves of it.

(Doing Therapy)

I thank her, and smile delightedly.  Then I ask her where she found it, and go looking, with hope for cleaning gear.  The gun is  probably dirty, and if not, it will be after its used a few times.

I look at Magehammer a long time, not angry, just studying him.  After a bit, I nod, and welcome him to the camp.

If we get the gun set up, I go out and set up some marks at paced out distances to try to get better at shooting.

There is a cleaning kit, the rifle has a sling. It's a 5 shot 1906 Springfield bolt action 30-06. (On our world, some people would give their eye teeth for one of those.)

Samantha also tells you that the whole world is abandoned. Most things you find are still in fairly good shape. A few of her bows and swords she's used were found here. Take pretty much anything you want. Anything you find. It would have to be something extraordinarily rare to get any objections from herself or Mister Magehammer. If you see it, you can take it.

Along with Bubble City, there's 2 cities within range to explore. They don't want you taking anything out of Bubble City (Yet) but feel free to explore the others. Samantha has a moped. She got it on this world. She welcomes you to use it.

"It runs on urine." she tells you.



He offers you his hand to shake and says "Sorry 'bout that mate. Things just get a little bit weird sometimes. No hard feelings okay? The last thing you want is to make enemies with another verser. That guy Whisp could tell you some stories....."


At any time, you can sit down with Mister Magehammer and Samantha and they will tell you everything you know about versing. I mean, now that you're all settled in and everything.



OOC) What's your current skill?

You've only got 100 rounds, so unless you go to the city to get more ammo, Samantha and Magehammer both advise you not to practice, but to use the rifle for hunting instead.

Magehammer says "Living targets can be a whole lot more difficult. Much better practice."

Samantha says "That's why bows are better than guns. You can reuse arrows. Not bullets."

Samantha offers to teach you bows and Katanas.

Magehammer offers to teach you how to live off the land. Not hunting with a gun. Eventually, you're going to get to a point where you can walk into a forest naked and walk out a week later clothed, armed and well-fed.

Magehammer "In my humble opinion, living off the land is the single most important thing for a verser to know. Don't try to learn any magic or psionics yet. That just gets you into trouble. Wait for that."

(Doing Therapy)

I just shake my head in bemusement while frowning.  After a bit, I remember my hostess and smile.  I keep thinking I've gotten used to all the weirdness and then I get slapped again.  Oh well.

"Thank you, Samantha.  This will be most helpful."

-----------------

I think about what Magehammer said, and about the three meanings, and nod and before taking his hand, I speak....

"Next time...next time, I'm heading over that hill, and not coming back.  I sympathize, but that doesn't extend to becoming a target.  I'll just walk away."

If he's okay with that statement, then I shake his hand.

-------------------

O@0

I'll take up Samantha on her offer.

"I can see your point, sir.  Ok, you're the expert, what should I learn first?"

OOC) What three meanings?



And Samantha says "And I'll leave with him. I love you Mister Magehammer, but you do frighten me sometimes."

But Mister Magehammer agrees and it seems things are back to normal.


-------------------



Magehammer says "You're probably going to see Samantha and I doing magic and psionics. It never ceases to amaze me that n00b versers always want to learn the fancy supernatural powers before they learn how to feed themselves. Wait for a while before you try to learn that. But if you want to learn how to live off the land, you met the right guy."

And he leads you and Samantha out into the woods. What he's going to teach will include but not be limited to:

Friction fire starting
skinning animals
leatherworking
Survival wilderness
stone tools
archery
building bows/crossbows

Anything you want to add?

He doesn't want to make me an enemy, but neither do I want to make him one. And perhaps the surface apology.

"Can you show me how to find some flint, chip it to make a knife, and a fire starter, and start a fire with it and a bit of steel?"

Magehammer says "When I'm done with you, you'll be able to walk into the woods naked and walk out a week later clothed, armed and fed. In other words, yes."

"OK, well, lets start there.  I'm not even sure what flint looks like..."

OOC) We were talking about how to run supercharacters. Well, if that supercharacter is just as afraid of angering you as you are of angering him...... Magehammer is a leader, not a boss.

IC) So you follow Magehammer and Samantha out into the surrounding woods. He teaches you how to make snares, how to start fires, everything else he listed. And if you can think of anything else, just ask.

Samantha teaches you how to use your Katana and bow. You practice a lot.

Magehammer tells you that he'll teach you to shoot the rifle just as soon as you get more ammo. He tells you that there's a military base in the other city that you were not in. You and Samantha should go check it out. He's explored a lot of the military bases already and he's got enough. He was here for years before Samantha got here.

OOC) And since I'm absolutely certain you would have well over a 100% chance with an expert instructor (That's Samantha on the swords and bows) I'm just going to roll. Roll 44, 1@1 everything listed, and perhaps more.

(Doing Therapy)

OOC: Its a good twist.

Its taken me a couple months, and I feel a lot more comfortable, stronger, more energetic, but my clothes are wearing out.

I'll ask Samantha the next day if she wants to go to a look see at the military base...

OOC) Glad the sergeant major approves.



Magehammer tells you "One time I was taking a shower at the Aldorf Wastoria hotel. And I slipped on the soap and whacked my melon on the side of the tub. That was the end of my time in that world. And my gear, which a moment ago was safely in the next room 30 feet away was now buried inside a cave. So I'm naked in the middle of the woods. It took me a month to find the opening to that cave. But I was dressed in leather with a full stomach and armed with a crossbow when I did find it. These are skills you are going to need."

OOC) So you're skipping ahead? Not too clear there. How far do you want to skip? To what skill level? He tries to train n00bs to 1@10-2@1. Then I'll narrate how it goes.



Samantha agrees, but first let's settle the skipping.

(Doing Therapy)

Let me revise my previous post.   I'd rather not skip ahead.  I'd rather go through the learning process slowly.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:11, Fri 28 Mar 2014.

Well, what do you want to do first? Visit the military base with Samantha or learn to live off the land?

(Doing Therapy)

Learn to live off the land.

"So, Magehammer, how do you find flint?  And how can I tell the difference from some other rock?"

OOC) Please keep in mind that while Magehammer is an expert at wilderness survival, the referee is not. The referee knows enough to try to fake it.

IC) At your question, Magehammer laughs a little. "You're talking like flint is the only rock that can do what you want to do. This is The Multiverse. You'll find rocks and minerals that you could have never dreamed existed back home. It isn't a question of finding flint, per se. It's a question of finding a rock that does what flint does."

And he bends down and picks up a random rock off of the ground and draws his knife. He strikes the rock against the knife blade and sparks fly from it.

Then he looks at you and says "I have no idea what this rock is called on this world, but for our purposes, it's flint."

I grin.  Its a good point, I had not considered.  I take a good look at the proto-flint, and look about for another.  I suspect it takes me a bit, but after a while, I find something.  And then I keep on looking for more in various spots until I'm pretty sure I can find it whereever.

When you've gathered sufficient rocks, Magehammer sits you down and shows you how to chip them into arrowheads and spear points. Him and Samantha show you how to craft arrows and bows.

Then they point you to the woods and tell you to bring back dinner.

I head into the wood, looking for an animal track, or even, if I'm lucky an animal.  I wonder how populated these woods will be.  Just last week, I'd seen more than eight deer on the side of the road, almost in town.  But that means little here.

I take care to walk slowly, and swivel my head much.

OOC) You don't tell me the rolls, so I don't see why I should tell you the rolls.

So you go out into the woods alone with the bow and arrows you crafted. And you spot deer tracks easily enough. Following them, you come across a young buck in the woods. You manage to get into shooting range before he spots you.

And you draw back the bow and score a direct hit. The deer wobbles a bit and then falls over. It's not dead yet, but that's nothing a good rock won't fix.

Magehammer promised to teach you how to tan and work into leather the hide of whatever you brought back. He wants to make sure you know how to live off the land before you leave here. When he said that you would be able to walk into the woods naked and walk out a week later clothed, armed and fed, he meant he was expecting you to do just that. When he feels you're ready, he's expecting you to walk into the woods naked and live for a week.

OOC: Quite reasonable.  For most people, I'd reccomend you don't bother telling them the rolls.  You may find some who wish you to do so, and for that I'll just say, go along with it, unless it seems a bad idea.

"Can we chip a stone into a scraping knife to scrape the hide.  After that, I'd like to put the hide up on a stretching or drying rack like the Native Americans used."

Magehammer "Exactly!!!!"

So you do. Or perhaps he teaches you how. Either way, 1@1 drying hides.

And you learn how to cook raw meat on a campfire. They teach you a little bit about plants that can be eaten. How to identify them.

Magehammer "A good rule of thumb is if you see a rabbit or some such other critter eating it, you can probably eat it too. Then you have a nice salad when you eat the rabbit."

And then he offers to teach you how to dry and preserve the meat. Make jerky.

Samantha says "I do want to go check out that military base. I'd like to see what kinds of melee weapons this world gave to their troops."

Magehammer says "You do whatever you want. We're immortal, have unlimited resources and all the time in the world. Do what you want."

(Doing Therapy)

"Something to think long on..." I reply.

"Rabbit, and salad.  OK. That works."

I try the drying thing myself, and then have him correct my mistakes.

I also go out and try the rabbit and salad trick.  Hunt a rabbit, watch it for a bit, shoot it, and then make a campfire and a bark bowl for rabbit and grease dressing for salad.

I then hunt a few more rabbits to bring them back to make jerky from them.

Magehammer looks confused and says "What is there to think about? You're drying hides. You don't think about it. You just do it."




Magehammer also offers to teach you to stuff the animals intestines with the meat and make sausages.

"Nothing like a bratwurst to end a good day's work." He says.





Do you want him to teach you to make a bark bowl and make grease dressing, or do you know? Of Course he knows. He's an expert.

But either way, the dice say you've got it at 1@2 unless you can justify higher.





This and the sausage making he teaches at the same time.

(Doing Therapy)

"Never mind."

I'll try to do those things on my own, except for sausage making, which I'll do with him.

Magehammer and Samantha both inspect what you're doing. Correcting little mistakes you're making.

OOC) Are we to a point where you would want to skip ahead? Like I say, he's expecting you to eventually walk into the woods naked and live for a week. Krillis tried (and succeeded) to do it after his first battery of lessons.

Let's think.  I've learned how to hunt rabbit, and make a salad.  I've learned how to start a fire after finding the flint.

I need to work more on a bark bowl.

OOC: No, I'm glad to poke along.

So you make the bark bowl. You get really good at it. Samantha shows you how. She's better at it than Mister Magehammer is.

Samantha insists though that you both go to the military base. She really wants to see it and she's doesn't want to go alone. And she doesn't want to go with Mister Magehammer either.

(Doing Therapy)

I laugh.

"All right, Samantha. You win. We will set out tommorrow morning, okay?"

OOC) Do you have NetFlix? The factual information for this world came from the TV series "Life After People." I think you'd probably like the show. It's shows what would happen to the world after all the people disappeared. Major man-made catastrophes would be happening within hours.


IC) Next morning, Samantha wakes you up. She's in a jogging suit and she has another for you if you want to wear it. She went up into the bedroom and got it. (Synthetics would last longer.) She suggests that you just heel-toe it there.

"Maybe we can find you one of those mopeds...."

She wants to hold hands while you're walking if that's okay with you. She was 8 years old for centuries. She just likes holding hands when she's walking.

So you're walking for 2, 3, 4 miles. The pavement is cracked and broken. Covered in dirt. In spots it's got grass growing so good you can't even tell the road was there.

The city decaying. Windows are shattered all over the place. The first place you walk up to is a Shell gas station. Samantha goes in and gets a map of the city, and points.

"I think the military base is that way. Is there anything you want to see first though?"

(Doing Therapy)

OOC: I do have Netflix.

I shake my head, 'no'.  Jogging suits are really not my style.  I'd feel goofy in one.
Even if it was a practical choice.

I'll hold her hand.  I shake my head, and point toward the military base.

"Let's go."

OOC) Check out "Life After People." I think you will like it. Within hours, pipes would be bursting under the city without the constant regulation. Within days, breweries would explode. Fermenting beer in closed containers? Yeah. Every single nuclear power plant in the world would become Chernobyl. (Google "Chernobyl Elephant's Foot" for an interesting tidbit about the accident.) In fact, there was a whole episode about a city abandoned for 20 years following the Chernobyl accident. Pripyat, Ukraine. Good show, old man!!



Samantha says, "Well, unfortunately, if you want or need new clothes, most of the natural fibers are decayed beyond use. So you're kind of stuck with synthetics. Jogging suits, spandex, polyester, etc. This might be the least goofy thing you'll find."

Just letting you know is all.



She also grabbed a couple of flashlights and batteries from the gas station. Most places are dark inside. (This was so obvious that I completely forgot to mention it to Glantri.) So you're going to be looking around by flashlights. And there's animals all over the place. Do not be surprised if you run into a tiger or a mountain lion. Or anything else with sharp teeth and claws.

So you start walking. On the way you pass a moped shoppe. Do you want to check it out?

(Doing Therapy)

I sigh, and bow to her logic.  I get the darkest color jogging suit I can find.

At first I'm for skipping, but then I think 'hey, maybe they have advanced batteries still with power', and then I think 'If I can get one to run, I can hook it up to a a chain, and provide some power...

She's got one that's navy blue/black.



I don't know that Samantha was clear. The military base is on the other side of the city. You're going to walk through the whole city to get there. You're going to pass a whole lot of stores. Anything you might be looking for?

Are you expressing any of that to Samantha? I'm going to save time and assume you are. If not, that cancels this out.

"The engines run on urine. That's a good vehicle for a verser. You got a steady supply of that. Mister Magehammer wants to set up a more permanent residence around Bubble City. Electricity sounds like a good place to start."

She's all for it.

There's also a gun store across the street. If you want to get more guns-n-ammo. The military base though is where Samantha wants to go.

(Doing Therapy)

Clad in midnight blue, I walk into the store for mopeds with Samantha.  We look things over, brushing dust off them, trying to see if they can be turned on.  I look for keys, or a button, or if not that, then some sort of electric lock that  uses wifi.

I remember to thank Samantha for her information.  I'm a bit formal at times.

"Yes, I think Mister Magehammer has a good idea.  We might consider our house to be a summer home or a getaway.  But it seems those bubbles are the most intriguing mystery.  I only fear they are too deep waters for me to wade in."

And we eventually head out for the base, although I keep an eye out for things I might want to check out on a later trip.  (You don't need to list them now, just when I ask later, if I do.)

Okay, a detail I kept forgetting to mention is that since the electricity is off, it's dark inside most places. I didn't think I had to mention it, but it seems I do. The moped store has a large glass front window which is not busted out. So you've got a room the size of a gym lit by one window in the afternoon. So if you've got at least average night vision, you can see just fine.

The mopeds weigh about 50 pounds, but can carry hundreds of pounds. They run on urine. Dehydrated urine works better. That is, when you are dehydrated, or you let some of the water evaporate. The darker your urine, the more dehydrated you are. You want it clear or off white. Dark yellow urine means drink a glass of water pronto. But that's the best kind of urine to run these on, and it does require urine and not just plain water. And you can always pedal it. Good vehicle for a verser, Samantha says.

There's mopeds, bicycles, and a few lightweight motorcycles. The motorcycles would be too heavy for a starting verser to take to the next world, Samantha says.

"You can carry more gear the longer you're in The Verse. Mister Magehammer has a mobile home he takes from world to world. He calls it The Truck. But one of these will be good for you to start with. I'm taking the one I got, that's for sure."

But there's batteries. Most of them look good. And the mopeds will start if you whiz in the gas tank. Dehydrated urine works better, but any urine will work fine.

Samantha suggests taking a bunch of batteries and hooking the moped generators to them. Run the house on batteries.

OOC) Which reminds me. You never really gave me an equipment sheet. This world though, you can get any gear you want. I call it Supercharacter Candy Store.



Samantha looks at you with her bright blue eyes, in an almost pleading fashion. She says "We're just as stymied by it as you are. For as long as we've both been in The Verse, neither myself or Mister Magehammer have ever seen anything like this. Your opinion as a Sci Fi writer is just as valid as ours."

OOC) How to run supercharacters. You are, at least in this one area, probably superior to them. And at worst, you know just as much as they do. Levels the field a little.




So you're making a beeline for the military base? You will pass by a grocery store, a gun store, a jewelery store, and a bank. And anything else you would like is just a GE roll away. Samantha recommends stopping at both of the latter for gems and precious metals.

"Gold, silver, platinum, lead, iron, stainless steel, aluminum, copper, brass, bronze...." And she trails off there. "Those are some of the most common precious metals you'll find in The Verse. Bright, shiny rocks are usually valuable too. Money is really easy to come by as a verser. You do work in the low tech worlds for gold, sell the gold in the high tech worlds for money. Mister Magehammer would tell you to pick up a whole bunch of lightweight pistols and ammo. He says those have really high trade value in low-tech worlds. I couldn't do that, myself. But just letting you know."

We move forward when you confirm where you're going.

(Doing Therapy)

Thanks for the long post.

I bite my lip, and think about it.  I haven't carried much with me into the verse, just my sword, and my clothes, and my Kindle and charger cord along with some pictures and a wallet.

Samantha really wants to hit the military base, and I, well, I can probably stop on the way back and pick up some gold and silver and whatnot.  For me, I try to balance the needs and desires of others, and when I don't care too much, I tend to be flexible.  Besides...

"It will be easier to pick up the stuff on the way back, Samantha.  Let's take a moped, perhaps one each if you want, and we'll check out this military base of yours.  See what's up there.  Who knows it might be even better than this stuff....could have a tank with a full gas tank."

I wince a little bit when I realize I made a pun of sorts.

"Samantha, as to the Bubbles, I have strengths in that I have an exposure to a lot of ideas, and I'm a bit of an idea fountain, but....I've never been good at figuring out puzzles or mysteries.  My wife is the one who is great at deciphering riddles. Not me."

OOC) You like long posts? I'll keep that in mind.



Well, you sorta took your whole house with you, don't forget. I mean, if you want to go home and get anything, it'll be there, just 20 years weathered.



At this, she laughs and laughs and laughs. When she gets her composure back, she says "I can't wait to see Mister Magehammer's face when we drive back in a tank. I know he'll really like that."



Samantha laughs a little at that too. She says "On my home world, they were called 'tanks' because when they were first developed and employed, they were shipped in railway cars marked 'Storage Tanks'. So the pun is appropriate."



"Well, imagine this is a Sci Fi story you are writing. What would be causing it? That's as good an idea as any as far as we're concerned."

But anyway, Samantha excuses herself so she can go pee in a bottle. She advises you to take the time to whiz in a gas tank yourself. She says she'll let you know when she's about to come out, in case you're not finished.

But you've suddenly got an extremely full bladder.

Once that's done, Samantha shows how to pedal it and engage the engine.

And the military base is an imposing structure with a 10 foot high chain link barbed wire fence around it. Samantha just groans, whips out her black iron Katana sword and cuts the fence to ribbons like a lawnmower.

(Doing Therapy)

"SF story....some sort of test with the bubbles being an unwanted side effect of grabbing chunks of universe from other realities.  Eventually the test facility either destroyed itself, or its operators.

It could be that the bubbles are a package like bubble wrap for moving a chunk of universe from one reality to another, which I guess would likely be a little violent or a lot in energy release."

I follow Samantha thru the fence, admiring the clean cuts, and making sure not to get caught on them.

Inside, I suggest we head for either high ground or some place with a map.

"The military bases on my world were notorious for being very hard to find things in.  They'd used multiple different labelling schemes in the same area, I've heard."

I'd guess I have 1@2 at finding my way on a base as I did do food delivery to Redstone Arsenal.

Samantha looks confused and says "What do you mean? Parts of other universes? I don't understand."




Samantha is looking for the military melee weapons. What are you looking for? What do you want to find?

(Doing Therapy)

"I'm assuming that this planet is built of bits and pieces scavenged from different realities.  Grab a chunk of space-time along with the mass in it, and wrap it up in something to keep it from being disintegrated, and drag it here is my guess."

I'm looking for tanks.

Samantha looks curious and asks "What makes you say that? That's an interesting theory. I don't think Mister Magehammer or I ever thought of that."

So you go through the fence and you get to a heavy metal door that would require a battering ram to open. Again Samantha groans, whips out her Katana sword, and holding it left-handed, starts waving it around. The blade begins to glow first red, then white hot. She uses the hot blade to slice the hinges off the door like a lightsaber. The door falls outward off of its hinges. Inside, you're looking at a dark hallway with doors on either side. The only light coming in is from the door.

"Mister Magehammer said this was a Chaos magic weapon. He said some people get magic from them, but most people don't. So far, I've been able to heal, create light and create heat. Of course, I haven't really tried to do anything else. When I told him I liked swords, he promised to make me the best sword I could ask for. This can heal me when I'm injured, light my way and keep me warm on a cold night. What more could I ask for?"

But when she stops the magic, the blade returns to its normal black color. She touches it and it's back to room temperature.

But then she gestures to the open door and says "Lead the way."

OOC) I sent you a private message on both Tadeusz and Eric. I'd like some feedback from you about the game.

OOC: Not sure if I should mention my house and the great city near it.

"Some of the cities seem awful close to each other, but not with proper development between them.  But I could be wrong."

"All right." And I lead the way, with my katana undrawn, but my right hand on the hilt, ready to try for a quick draw.  I try to take short steps, and stay balanced on my feet ready to leap one way or the other.

So you're walking down the hallway. Samantha follows with her Katana drawn and brightly lit so you can see. So far, you're just passing administrative offices. Nothing worthy of note unless you want to look up government secrets.

And then you hear it. Click click click click. Toenails on the tile floor. A lot of something with sharp claws on their feet is coming your way. You can't see what it is just yet.

I look quickly right and left into the offices for anything I might quickly grab, like a chair to serve as a barricade, or something to toss at the approaching critter.

Then I take a balanced, feet spread stance, with my sword held up, and ready.

"Wait for it, and if you have to come up, come up on my left."

The hallway is wide enough for you both to stand shoulder to shoulder with room to spare. Samantha comes up on your left with her glowing Katana in her left hand. She's right handed, but she does know how to use it left-handed, so she's doing that to keep the swords as far apart from the other human as possible.

Down the hallway, a half-dozen wolves come into visual range. Samantha's glowing sword illuminates them very well. Then they attack. The lead wolf comes up towards you and jumps up at you. It quickly loses its head from your blade. Samantha's sword starts swinging around wildly. And since that's your only light source at the moment, it's kind of difficult for you to determine what happens next. The light is erratic and moving. But when it's over, all six of the wolves are laying dead. You're pretty sure you got two of them and Samantha got the other four.

She turns to you and says "Not bad, not bad. You need to work on your form a little, but you've got potential."

Then you proceed down the hallway.
This message was last edited by the player at 11:32, Sat 03 May 2014.

"Wait." I say, and sink to my knees.  First there was fear, even terror, then there was simply doing the job, watching, striking, and then now that the job is done, now comes the shaking and the tears, and the panting for breath.

My mind is fairly calm, but my body is shedding the adrenaline.  So I talk calmly to her even as I wipe my nose for the fourth time.

"They must be hungry to attack a man.  Wolves don't usually do that."

In reply to Eric (msg # 55):



Samantha sits down with you holding her glowing Katana. She says "Something you'll find is that these animals have lost their instinctive fear of humans. It didn't attack a man. It attacked an unknown animal. At least from its point of view."

Then she says "This sword is a Chaos weapon. I can remove some of your Chaos. It will make you feel calmer."

But she won't do it without your consent. Maybe you like feeling stressed out.

"By now, I am calm.  Its just my body isn't." I think about it, and shrug.  I'll be on the lookout for any feel of evil, but other than that I say.  "Lets see what you got.
"

She tells you to turn on a flashlight because she can only do one magical thing at a time. Once that's done, the sword stops glowing and she waves it over your head. You see a white aura flow from your body to her sword. Your hands stop shaking, your breathing slows, and you feel calmer than you have felt, probably since you were a child.

Samantha says "You really should ask Mister Magehammer to teach you how to blacksmith. He'll make you a magical hammer if you do that. He's bound by some tradition or other to make a hammer for anyone he teaches to blacksmith. He made me an Order hammer, as well as this sword. I just don't usually carry it."

"That made me feel like I got a good meal and a couple cokes.  Very relaxing." I pretend to fall asleep for a second.

"Interesting.  I heard Mister Magehammer say I should hold off on the magic."

"Onward and forward." I stand up and lead off.

Samantha giggles like a little girl.



"He does think n00bs should hold off on learning magic and psionics. And I agree with him. But that's a loophole. The tools he makes don't always become magical. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't. As far as he's concerned, he didn't teach you any magic. He just gave you a tool. The gods of Order and Chaos are the ones who decide to give you the magic."



So you come to a door marked "Vehicle Storage." Inside are jeeps, trucks and two light battle tanks.

I nod at her explanation.  I'm not really intending to have anything to do with Order and Chaos.  Useful concepts, but like the Yin and Yang, they are for realities lesser than the ultimate.

Still, I didn't feel anything untoward when she healed me.

Upon arriving in the room with the tanks, I punch the air.  "Yes." I hiss with a braod grin.  Then its time to go examine the better looking or the closer of the two tankes.

Samantha looks at them and gets a grin. She wonders out loud if they also run on urine.

So you climb up on top of the closer tank. The hatch isn't locked and you get inside. There's a manual inside that will tell you how to run it, but the manual is as thick as a telephone book.

The tank is a two seat. You've got about 20 shells for the main battle gun, and it's got machine guns and a flamethrower.

Samantha gets in behind you and kisses you on the cheek. She's clearly elated. She says "I can't wait to see Mister Magehammer's face!!!!!"

I go to the other tank, hoping its open, and has a manual as well.  If so, I return to Samantha with a mocking grin.

"Pick a section you want to read, I'll pick another. We're going to be here for a while."

Every so often, I get up, walk about, review what I've read in my mind.  I'm only trying to hit the most important highlights.

Samantha suggests going out into the sunlight to read the books. You have no trouble reading and understanding it. Hours go by reading and the sun starts to set. At some point, Samantha went inside and got some military rations for dinner.

The tanks don't run on urine, they run on regular gasoline. There's an ample supply of it inside the base. By now, you know enough to muddle your way through the tank's operation. Samantha is all for it.

Exercises, weapons practise, some prayer, chit chat, and sleep.  Next morning, after breakfast, take the tanks out for a spin.

Samantha joins you for exercises, weapons practice and chit chat. When she sees you praying, she asks what religion you are?

"Being a verser has really opened my eyes to the concept of eternity and infinity. And the power of The Creator God."

Talking to her some more, she apparently went to a Christian Sunday school. Or something like that. But being in The Verse has expanded her mind to God's true power.

Samantha also points out that there are army uniforms in the base, if those would make you feel less goofy.

Next morning, after sleeping in some army issue sleeping bags inside the base, you and Samantha each gas up a tank and get them started. Right before she hops in the tank, Samantha says:

"Race you to Bubble City!!!!"

(Doing Therapy)
This message was last edited by the player at 06:50, Tue 13 May 2014.

I sigh. This is NOT what I had in mind.  But I can't refuse, and so crossing my fingers (in my head) and breathing a prayer to God, I push the tank into forward, and turn it about to head toward Main Base.  That done, I speed it up...

OOC) Well, you're in luck because Samantha made her intuition check.

IC) Samantha says "Erik, if you're not comfortable racing, that's fine. I just thought it would be fun to see what they could do. But you're probably right. Let's take it slow for now."

So she proceeds slowly through the city.

Samantha comes on the radio in the tank. It's a standard CB type two way communicator. She asks if there's anything you want to stop and look at in the city. She reminds you that she recommended getting precious metals and whatnot.

I'm relieved.  But at the same time dissapointed.

I learn how to maneuver, and then push myself a little bit.  Drive up on top of a small car to see how it goes.

"Yeah, lets load up on metals, the mopeds, if we see a pharmacy on meds, then....we can race."

It feels like you hit the curb. Hitting the curb feels like nothing. The small car is smashed about as flat as it could get. The tank you're in weighs 35 tons. Yeah, that's a lightweight tank.

So you stop and get some gold and silver one ounce bars and jewelery from a jewelery store.

For what meds are you looking?

Samantha asks if you want to stop at the gun store.

Anything else you want to see before you race?

(Doing Therapy)

Anti-allergens including poison ivy treatments, pain meds, and basic first aid gear.

"Yeah, lets hit the gun store.  I need a pump shotgun and ammo."

On the way I run over some larger and larger vehicles testing out my capabilities.  I try to snap off a metal lamppost (not a wooden one).

You find all of this and more in a drugstore. It's expired of course, but Mister Magehammer can fix that. Once you verse, it won't age anymore.



Samantha reminds you to get ammo for the 30-06 you got at "Home" and to get some cheap pistols. Mister Magehammer says they have good trade value.



You don't snap the metal lamppost, you bend it over. When you stop, you have a downed lamppost, which is completely flat in parts where the tracks hit it momentarily. You weren't driving in a totally straight line, apparently.

Unless you insist, Samantha's changed her mind about racing. It was just one of those things that sounded good in a moment, but given time to think, you wish you hadn't said it. So unless you insist, she doesn't want to race the tanks.

"If you verse out driving that, you can take it to your next world."

(Doing Therapy)

I shrug and agree to Samantha's suggestions.  Then we head back.  I'm well pleased with our success so far.  This has been a productive day.

I think tommorrow I will get out the manual again and start looking at the tank engine.

So how much of what do you have? You can have as much as you want, but be reasonable.



Mister Magehammer knows how to work on engines. He can even machine new parts for them. He offers to help.

(Doing Therapy)
This message was last edited by the player at 05:52, Sun 18 May 2014.

Two first aid kits, ten packages of allegy meds, two packages of poison ivy meds.
2 pounds silver and 1 pound gold.
300 rounds ammo.

I'll take Mister Magehammer up on his offer.

Samantha would have told you that Mister Magehammer is a field medic. He can teach you first aid.



32 silver pieces. 16 gold pieces. Done. No precious stones or cheap pistols?



300 rounds 30-06, 300 rounds shotgun. How do you want your shotgun shells? For the moment, 200 BBS, 50 "00" buckshot, 50 slugs. Unless you say otherwise.



Cars, trucks, tanks. He can help you.

Offers to teach you to blacksmith.

What are you doing now? Living off the land? This is a training world. Unlimited time, unlimited resources and two superverser teachers. What do you want to learn?

(Doing Therapy)

I'll definitely want to learn first aid.

"Lets start with sprains and broken bones, then abrasions, then problems with breathing." I tell Mister Magehammer.

I'll pass on the stones and the pistols.  Not sure I want to be handing out cheap pistols anyways.

I'm livingoff the land, learning first aid, exercises and weapons practise, and tank engines.

What about blacksmithing? You doing that?

We skipping ahead? How far? He'll teach you to the 1@10-2@1 range. He figures that's "Good Enough."

Clear up what you're doing, and we'll do it.

Sound good?

(Doing Therapy)

Blacksmith, I'll consider, but later.  I'm not so enthused about it as he is.

I'd like to learn the beginnings of first aid....to 1@4 say.  Meanwhile continue with other practise.  Not really skipping forward.

This is what Magehammer does when he runs into n00b versers. He won't let you learn magic or psionics, but he will teach you practical skills out the ying yang.



So you sit down with Magehammer and Samantha. Samantha volunteers to be the dummy for artificial respiration practice. He shows you how to set broken bones, apply tourniquets and to control bleeding.

You're practicing your Katana sword with Samantha. She commends you on how well you're doing with that.

You also do a lot of living off the land practice. That's really the only way to get good food in this world.

So if you're not skipping, how far are we going with this?

I ask Magehammer to make me a practise doubleweight sword.
I ask him to teach me iajeutsu, or fast draw and single strike with the katana.  Later, I ask Samantha to incorporate throwing items at me into this practise.

Magehammer is thoroughly impressed by the tanks you brought back. He wants to take one for a spin.



"I got a better idea. How about I teach you how to make one? While I've been away, I've been working on something."

And he presents you with a handcrafted blacksmithing hammer. The head is shaped like a soup can, perfectly round. You get the feeling you could run a micrometer around it and it would be within a thousandths of an inch all the way around. It's made out of a strange metal that kind of looks like iron, but not quite. It's darker than normal iron. Black iron, you would guess. Engraved on the top of the hammerhead are the words "ORDO IN CHAOS IN ORDINEM."

He says "That's Latin. It means 'Order into Chaos into Order'. You are now the proud owner of an Order hammer. But you have to learn to blacksmith if you're going to accept it. It is a tradition passed down from my first blacksmithing master. The first thing a master blacksmith must do when taking on an apprentice is make for his apprentice a suitable hammer to begin. I expect you to carry on this tradition if you should ever take an apprentice of your own. Anyway, I figured I owed you a little something something after nearly blowing your head off."

He really regrets that. You can see it in his face.



Samantha is the one to see about learning to use swords. She's like Deadpool. She can stop bullets with hers. She and Magehammer demonstrate this. He shoots at her and she cuts the bullet in midair. But she will teach you how to do what you request, no sweat.

Magehammer does offer to teach you how to fight with the blacksmithing hammer. He's been teaching that to Samantha, and she's taught him swords.

OOC) IRL I've see a guy who could block paintballs with a Katana sword.

(Doing Therapy)
This message was last edited by the player at 14:30, Mon 02 June 2014.

I grin as Magehammer goes on a bit about the tanks.  I'm pleased by his happiness.  That bothers me a bit because I'm an independent cuss, but I'm also aware that liking the respect of those more talented than yourself is natural human.

I take the hammer.  It's beautiful.  After a moment, I agree to the training.

Seeing Samantha knock aside bullets leaves me with my mouth hanging open.

Are you expressing that to them? Remember, as far as they know, there are exactly three human beings on the entire planet, not counting those inside Bubble City. If you want to take off and do your own thing, you can share the planet.



Magehammer says "Here's the thing. I do not think n00b versers such as yourself should try to learn magic or psionics. It tends to get n00bs into trouble. But sometimes these hammers become magical. Order magic. It's up to the will of the gods of Order and Chaos which tools become magical and what they can do. The three most common magical skills I've seen these impart are healing, creating cold and creating darkness."

And he takes the hammer and bends down over a water puddle on the ground. He touches the hammer to the water and it freezes instantly. Then he waves the hammer around over his head, and the bright sunny day you were enjoying is suddenly a moonless night. Completely pitch black. And lastly, he takes the hammer and smashes his own left pinky finger with it. And then waves the hammer over his hand. You see a black aura flow from the hammer to his hand, healing the smashed digit almost instantly.

"The most Orderly person in the world could have an Order hammer and never have enough magic to heal a paper cut. But then there's Lauren Hastings. Except for the fact that she could not make the magical black iron, she had all of the powers of a true Order mage. She even showed me a few things I never thought of. It's all up to the will of the gods of Order and Chaos which tools become magical. Some do, most don't. But regardless, I didn't teach you any magic, I just gave you a tool. There is a catch though. To even have a hope of doing any kind of magic with it at all, first you have to learn to blacksmith."

He gives you back the hammer.

OOC) You now have a 2@10 example for healing, creating darkness and creating cold.




Samantha "Takes lots of practice to do that."

But they're willing to train you. So what all are you doing? Survival, blacksmithing, swords, what else? You gonna learn how to fight with the hammer?

No, I don't say anything.

I nod when he explains the gods of Order and Chaos.
"I've had a few things happen to me that were not normal shall we say.  Nothing to do with your gods however."

When he smashes and heals his finger, my stomach turns over.
"But nothing like that have I seen."

===========
That's enough for now on learning.  I spend my spare time, wandering around, looking at the bubbles, praying...

Magehammer "The Creator God? That god exists. There's a lot of gods out there in The Verse. The gods of Order and Chaos seem to just select people at random and endow them with magic. That's how it happened to me, anyway. I was just blacksmithing at the forge one day, and then I started making black iron. From there, I learned how to harness the forces of Order, and later the forces of Chaos. Eventually I learned to harness both of them to Do Anything. You've got a conduit to allow you to harness the forces of Order. Good luck on if the gods allow you to do anything with it."



Magehammer "Eh, that's nothing. One time, I was in this alternate London and I must have healed every patient in the hospital and every prostitute in the district. Get lots of favors from people that way."

===========


Magehammer "Every time I turn around, I see the girl who turns my world around, standing there." Then a long pause. And he continues. "I love Samantha so much."

Nothing much has happened with the bubble city. Anything in particular that you're praying about? Expecting anything to happen?

I' m not really wanting to tap the power of Order, although it does not sound so bad the way he puts it.

I pray for insight, for strength to be a better person, for help in dealing with loneliness.

OOC) Surprised. I figured you'd be all over that. Those book stories brought to life, as it were. What were they again? If I can find them on audiobook, I might get them. BTW, since this is my extrapolation of it, your knowledge is mostly good, but there's probably a few things in there that you might not count.

IC) Are you mentioning that to Magehammer? He'd have something to say.



Samantha asks if you're feeling lonely. She tells you that the existence of a verser is a lonely existence. You might as well get used to it.

(Doing Therapy)

I do mention it to him.

OOC: There are a lot of stories I enjoy reading, but would never want to live there.  Think about this...you might like to fight a Sentinel as Magehammer, but in Real Life you want to meet such a monstrous robot?

I nod in the affirmative to Samantha.

OOC) You ever seen The Onion Movie? It's a satire/spoof film. Really funny. One of the segments is a guy with an insanely powerful AD&D character who completely trounces all of the other players and ruins the play for them. Then Lord Gygax transports him to the real world of AD&D and he doesn't even last 30 seconds. (Seriously, it's less than 30 seconds of screen time) So I see your point.

Magehammer still wants to return to the world with the sentinels though. Now that the character is more powerful and the player is wiser. Just saying, ya know.

On a different note, you're right. You are a better referee than player. Do you want to quit playing this game? Or perhaps fast-forward until you've got some skills and then go on to the next world? Would another world suit you better? This world is supposed to be a training world. Your next world is the last world I had Krillis in. I want to run it. I think you might like it better.




"Order/Chaos powers are a gift from the gods of Order and Chaos. Only a select few are given these powers. If you are one of the lucky ones, you should take advantage of it."



Samantha "Loneliness is a demon and people will do anything to keep it at bay. Is there anything I can do for you to help?"

And before your eyes, she changes from an extremely old woman into a beautiful 18 year old girl. She starts aging backwards, until she's 18 years old. Beautiful, large firm rack, long brown hair. The kind of girl you wish you could have taken to the senior prom.

(Doing Therapy)

If you want to zap me out of this world that's okay.  I'm not really eager to get max level training anyway.  But I do enjoy this world.

Never seen  The Onion Movie, perhaps I can watch it on youtube tommorrow.

I shake my head, 'no' with a smile, and turn and walk away not trusting my voice.

Samantha follows you saying "I'm sorry Eric, I didn't mean it like that. I just thought you might prefer the company of a beautiful, young woman over an ugly old woman."

If you allow her, she takes your hand whilst you're walking. She's the beautiful 18 year old.

"I noticed your wedding ring. I know you're married. A lot of married versers feel an obligation to stay faithful to their wives after versing. I respect that. Just remember though that you did technically die. You fulfilled your wedding vows till death do you part. What more could your wife ask of you?"

She's just being practical.

(Doing Therapy)

I shake my head, and walk off alone.  A couple hours later, I pause to get a drink...

GE 23

So you walk off alone and you drink some water. And as you're bending down to drink it from the river you're standing next to, you hear a roar from behind you. There's a grizzly bear up on his hind legs. He stands about 7 or 8 feet tall. And he's just roaring at you.

(Doing Therapy)

Crud!!

I know there's some things I'm supposed to do in this case, but they completely flee my mind.  I go with the unexpected, and dive forward as far as I can into the river, and then keep pushing forward downstream and underwater for as long as I think I can (and still make it back to the surface for air).

As I swim, weighted down, it occurs to me that this might not have been the optimal strategy.

OOC: Kool!!

The bear just ambles over to where you were standing and drinks some water himself. He roars at you again, and for some reason, you detect a hint of benevolence in his roaring. Like he's trying to say "Thanks for moving. I was thirsty!!"

So the river is carrying you. It's nice and gentle at the moment. And it's a warm enough day. Perhaps swimming might be pleasant for a while.

(Dong Therapy)

I've gone river rafting before, and floated downstream out of the boat some...so yeah, that seems like a good idea.  Swim a bit, float a lot.

GE12

So the river remains calm and stable. You feel warm and relaxed. Occasionally you feel a large-ish fish bump into you, but it doesn't mean any harm and just swims away.

You were moving away from Samantha and Magehammer on foot. The river is floating you back in their direction. You feel yourself pass a scriff sense as you're floating downriver.

(Doing Therapy)

Unfortunately, its not been long enough to make my point.  Besides this is a good time to take the lessons I've been taught, and put them to the test.

I float on.

OOC) Just a little something something about this world. There are exactly three human inhabitants. I've often wondered how it would play with just the player and zero NPCs. Just you in an abandoned world full of goodies. Interested?

GE19

And as you're floating along. Perhaps an hour goes by. The current gets steeper and more intense. You get slammed into a rock or two. Doesn't hurt much, just a wake up. But you might be thinking it's time to get out.

You're probably a few miles from Samantha and Magehammer.

And I don't even have to verse out the NPCs to leave you here alone.

OOC: Its a good question.

Yeah, let's start looking for an easy place to get out, preferably some small beach I can crawl up on.

Well, there's places to get out. You're looking at a new city. One you've not seen before. Probably former population of 100,000. You're looking at the downtown skyline at the moment.

I clamber up on a yard wide beach, and lay there for about five minutes.  Then still wet, I get up, and climb the river bank. Up there, I take a good look at the terrain, and pick out a likely path to get to the city.

But before I go, I kneel to one knee,and pray.

"Dear God, guard me, and guide me.  Let me be happy in you."

I rise to my feet, shake like a dog, and head out.

And you feel peaceful and calm.



The river was a popular fishing spot. What's left of a rotted wooden picnic table is sitting there by the bank. There's a parking lot and a road leading up to the city. It's maybe a couple miles away. There are stalled, abandoned cars on the road.

One thing though. I cannot imagine that Samantha would just up and leave you without saying anything, so she teleports in right in front of you.

"Hi Eric, what are you doing?"

Just tell her you want to be alone and she will go back to Magehammer.

I thank Him.

OOC: Doing a good bit of this to smooth out the pangs in my soul, IRL.

That looks like a good path, even if melancholy.  And thenz Samantha appears.

"Erk!!"  I jump, and stumble in responnse.  After a few tens of seconds, I ask her to give me a month, and then We Will Go Back To How Things Were. (yeah, I can softly capitalize words w/o shouting.)

Samantha kind of laughs nervously and says "I'm sorry. I forgot you're not used to that. If you want to be by yourself, that's fine. The first verse can be a traumatic experience. Well, if you're going to be alone, let me give you something."

And she reaches into her pocket and produces a small metallic device about the size of a tube of Chapstick. And like a tube of Chapstick it's got a plastic cap on the top.

"If you get into trouble and need help, remove the cap and there's a button underneath. Push the button and Mister Magehammer will come to help you. He gave it to me in case I got into trouble, and now I'm giving it to you."

And if that's all, she bids you farewell and teleports away.

I take her gifts and head into the city looking for an airport.

GE22

So you're walking down the road. It's cracked and broken. Dirt all over the road in spots. Reaching the downtown area. You've got skyscrapers, abandoned cars on the road, the windows are largely busted out. There are shoppes of all shapes and sizes.

And you see a sign that says "Airport, 10 miles that way."

Keeping an eye out for wolves, I head thattaway to the airport.  I pick up the pace slightly.

You pass by a grocery store, a gun store and another store that sells the urine powered mopeds. Also a porn store, a movie theater, and a convenience store. Any stops?

OOC) What are you planning to do at the airport? Glantri was planning to hijack a 747 when I ran him through this world.

I'm less ambitious.  I plan to learn how to use a Cessna, and then fly about looking for a research center like Oak Ridge or Los Alamos.

GE8

You getting anything along the way? A urine moped or food or anything?

The weather is clear and sunny. Right in the Goldilocks zone. Not too hot, not too cold. You're not seeing any animals to speak of. Nothing threatening anyway. A few wild horses, no doubt descended from the police patrol horses. Maybe the occasional rodent.

The main drag that you're on is lined on both sides with stores and skyscrapers. A few cars are crashed into telephone poles and into each other. In some places the road is so covered with dirt that you cannot tell where the road ends and the wild begins.

I think I will run and walk as I need too, not getting anything.  Its time to push my physical development a bit more, get so I can run five miles easily.

OOC) Still riding on the GE of 8.

So you push it. You walk some, you run some. Averaging a speed of 3-4 miles per hour, you will cover that distance in about three hours. The downtown gradually fades into an apartment district. Low rent, high crime apartment homes smeared with graffiti. You might even be looking over your shoulder once in a while for muggers. But there are none. That gradually fades into a suburban district. Houses, neighborhoods. The houses are dilapidated for the most part, with roofs caving in and busted windows. Every so often you come across signs that say "Airport 8 miles that way" Then "Airport 5 miles that way" so you're getting closer. Breaching the suburban neighborhood, you come to an area that's mostly clear of human elements. Just a road going through untamed wilderness. Then, just as the sun is starting to set, you see it. The airport. It's a huge, international airport. Big jetliners sitting on the runways. There are also your smaller planes, the Cessna aircraft, biplanes, Lear jets and the like.

But if this isn't quite what you're looking for, there is also a sign that says "Edwards Military Air Force Base, 5 miles that way."

I'll look for food and a place to sleep, if nothing else peanuts and a chair on a jumbo jet.

GE20

Scaling the fence and crossing the runway, you do come to a jumbo jet with the stairs in place. It was either boarding or departing. The door is open, and has been for years, so the inside is weathered and in not great shape. Looking around, you find bags of peanuts, pretzels, and a few jars of olives and salad pickles. Also a few cans of soda. The peanuts and pretzels are a bit stale, the soda is flat, but you suffer no ill effects from eating any of it.

At the front end of the plane, you find some seats that aren't too badly weathered, and they're reasonably comfortable. They recline. You also find blankets. They're made of synthetic material.

You'll find more if you go through the carry on baggage, but for the moment, I'm assuming you sack out.

You wake up the next morning with the sun shining in your face through a window.

Yeah, I sack out after chowing down on peanuts, and eating most of a

In the morning, I set some traps, and then go in search of water.  Set up my distiller.

Then go look at the single engine planes.

Most of a what?


GE 15

Counting the traps as practice. There's a small pond perhaps a quarter mile away. The water looks drinkable, but you might want to boil it just to be on the safe side. And you do see a fish or two jumping in the water, and you hear frogs croaking. So there's food available there.



So you go around from where you are and you find a hangar that has a whole fleet of single and twin engine planes. Also worthy of note, you pass by a door in the airport marked "Pilot Training Center."

...jar of olives.

Set up a campfire, and use some of the soda cans to boil water in. Drag them out of the fire with a stick, and let them cool thoroughly before I touch them.  Burns are no fun.

That reminds me of the healing, and the healing reminds me of prayer, so I spend a few minutes praying for a good day, and just chatting.

Half of me wants to jump in the Cessna, and half wants to go to the PTC.  I do the responsible thing,and check out the PTC.

OOC) All of the survival skills that Magehammer taught you are in practice mode at the moment. No rolls. You will succeed unless otherwise stated. I might even go over it and reaffirm what's he's taught you, so we're clear.



When you stop praying, you look up at the sky in reverence. And you see an ominous black storm cloud get blown away and off into the distance before it can so much as put a drop of rain on you. You do see that it does start to storm, but it's probably storming on Magehammer and Samantha.



Going in, all of the electricity is off. So it's dark. The only light you have is coming in through windows. But there's a goodly amount of windows to see. (That detail was so obvious I kept forgetting to mention it to Glantri.) You pass by a door marked "Aviation Library" Going in, it's every book you could imagine about aviation. History, engine repair, operations, everything you ever you wanted to know about aviation is all in this library.

The actual Pilot's Training Center is your standard college classroom. There's textbooks and some partially written lessons on the blackboard. The thing you will probably find most useful though is a flight simulator. It's without power, but there's no indication it wouldn't work if you could figure out how to power it. The operations manual states that it can simulate any aircraft operation if given the program parameters. And there are stacks and stacks of CD ROMs each labeled with a different aircraft. Apparently, you power the thing, put in the Cessna CD, and it will teach you how to fly a Cessna. But first you have to figure out how to power it.

Hmmm, that is a good point about the storm landing on MH and S.

Power, power, power....where am I going to get power?  Ah, a vehicle.  I look for a car that is mobile and has jumper cables.

And I see if I could break a hole in a window to have the cables be long enough.  Otherwise, I guess more cables might do the job.

Intuition check 8

And just as quickly, you reject that idea, realizing that a car puts out 12 volts DC and the flight simulator requires 120 AC. The only thing you would accomplish, if anything, is shorting out the flight simulator. You're gonna need a generator.

Two Posts



As the storm begins to rage over that area, you see a lightning bolt shoot up from the ground and into the cloud. It originates from pretty much the exact spot as one of the scriff senses. And a hole opens up in the cloud. There's a rather large area in the middle of it where it's not raining.

OOC) I know that probably in no way conforms to true Order/Chaos magic, but don't forget that he's become more powerful than the author of those books could have ever dreamed.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:33, Sat 12 July 2014.

I stare, blinking.

ooc   true

OOC) Did you see both?

Well, that's it. A hole opens up in that storm cloud. A bolt of lightning strikes it from the ground and it opens up so there's an area about a quarter mile circle in the middle where it isn't raining.

OOC) Ever seen the movie Earthsea? You'd probably like it. Wizards in that movie could move clouds around so they never got rained on.

OOC: Yes.

After a bit, I begin to understand what I'm seeing.  At that point, I break out laughing.  Good old Magehammer!

I'm going to go take a look at the Cessna's, and see if I can get one started.

GE 9 (Only a 3 would have gotten one to start)

So you go into the hangar. There's perhaps 2 dozen single and twin engine prop planes in here. Getting in it, you have no trouble figuring out the starting sequence, but the plane will not start. And looking at the gauges, you realize why. The fuel tanks, oil, coolant, all of the fluid gauges are reading empty. Apparently it's evaporated. The planes run on concentrated urine, and there's cans of a synthetic substitute which are full. So you don't have to use your own. But you could. If you started with 10 gallons of urine and boiled it down to 5 gallons, you'd have airplane fuel. At the very least, this plane is going to need all of the fluids flushed and replaced, and might do with some maintenance to the engine. They've been sitting for a really long time. All the fluids evaporated. Same with all of the planes you check.

Lucky for you you've got a library full of books that will tell you how to do just that.

I grumble,kick stuff, walk about in a giant circle, and sigh...

Then I get out the books and take them outside, and begin to read.

GE 14

You've got 2 weeks worth of reading in the section on single engine plane maintenance. But on the positive side, you'll probably have a rough idea how to fly one without using the simulator, and you'll be able to completely take apart and rebuild the engine.

So you grab a handful of books and sit in the sun and read.

And your stomach is reminding you that it's as empty as these fuel tanks.

Well thats a good excuse to put off study...go check my traps. Start a campfire with eyeglasses, and cook some food.

Pray for getting over my laziness, and hit the books.

GE 12



You've got a nice fat rabbit for breakfast. Magehammer taught you how to start fires with friction. Eyeglasses wouldn't be necessary. But you've got it up and going.



Roll 14.

And with the rabbit securely in your belly, you've got a new found courage and will to study. It's like you're suddenly compelled to do the reading. It's almost a vendetta for you. At least for today.

And you spend the next several hours learning.

Its time to hunt for supper, and while supper cooks, I can start on my daily exercises.  To put myself to sleep tonight, I'll make up questions in my head on the material I've read, and try to answer those questions.  Either I'll learn, or I'll doze off, with a win or a win.

Here's the thing. You went swimming, so what gear did you have on you? I kind of figured you left all of your gear behind when you did that.

But the dice say that 3 of your snare traps have caught another rabbit, a raccoon and a lizard. The lizard meat is really sweet.

Fire's up, your belly is full, and you sleep. Where are you sleeping? Again on the plane? Or are you finally going to explore the airport?

Gear left behind, except for glasses.  I would have carried those.

I'll pass on eating raccoon.

I'll sleep again on the plane.

Next day, exercises, traps, cooking, eating, and pray for help to study, and study....

stone tools
Building bows/crossbows
Archery
Fire starting
Skinning animals
Campfire Cooking
Leatherworking and tanning
Shelter building
Soap making
Clay making
Snares
Edible plants
fishing
knitting
weaving
sewing
Survival: Forest
Preserving Food
tracking skill

These are the survival skills that Magehammer has taught you. You have them all at 1@3. I don't think we went over all of these in game, but Referee Ruling is you've got them. If I mentioned any not listed here, you've got those too.




The downtown city with the stores and shoppes is 10 miles away, but there's a suburban neighborhood a mile away which could provide gear if you need it. You've only got the clothes on your back and you went swimming in a river. Might be wanting to make some soap and find some clean clothes. Just stating what's obvious to you.



But are you skinning it and making a hat?



OOC) I'd just like to remind you that you've only been in one little corner of the airport. It's a huge, huge building. There's probably a lot of cool stuff in there.



So you do. Is this a routine you're planning to fall into?

(Doing Therapy)

Do this routine for a few days, go to suburban area for more stuff later.

Do I have my glassed? Because if not, ditch the rest. I have to go find them.

GE9

So you do this routine for a few days until you are so sick of being dirty that your body is demanding you get clean. So you go into town. It's maybe one and a half to two miles away. You go into a neighborhood and approach a house. The door is locked, but you get the garage open. Inside is a urine powered generator. It says "Output 120 AC" So you've got the means to power the flight simulator.

From the garage you manage to get into the house. Inside you find a week's worth of canned food and some clothes that don't quite fit, but they're wearable.

Looking for anything else?



Yeah, you got your glasses. Just nothing that would have prevented you from swimming downriver. (So no awkward heavy stuff.) If you're willing to say you asked him nicely, we can retcon that Mister Magehammer magically fixed your eyesight so you don't need glasses anymore. He won't give n00bs superhuman abilities like he gave Samantha, but things like fixing eyesight, asthma, things like that, he'll fix if the n00b asks nicely. Samantha wasn't a n00b when they met though. All I was saying with "Glasses aren't needed" was that he taught you how to start a fire by rubbing two sticks together.

Find water supply. Bathe. Beat clothes hard on nearby surface. Bathe more.  Get out, much refreshed. Remind self not to be such a slob. Take generator and clothes back to airport, if generator has wheels, otherwise look for pullable wagon and then do plan.

No, he did not ask Magehammer.

GE11



You find a rain barrel hooked up to the house gutters. It's a 55 gallon wooden barrel full of rainwater that's really nice and clean. Some sediment at the bottom, but you could get into the barrel and take a bath if it suited you. There's soap and shampoo in the house. And if you don't mind using a used toothbrush, there's that too.

 .

The generator does not have wheels, but you find a wheelbarrow to haul it in. So you grab that and the canned food (I would guess) and head back to the airport.

What is "Plan"?
This message was last edited by the player at 18:26, Sun 13 July 2014.

Sounds good.

Plan? Plan is...Next day, exercises, traps, cooking, eating, and pray for help to study, and study....

If you want to just skip the two weeks it is going to take you to read all of that, that's cool with me. You'll have a 2@5 example when you try to work on the plane engine. You asked Samantha and Magehammer to leave you alone for a month. So after the 2 weeks are over, you'll have 2 weeks left to fix the plane.

So do you want to just skip until the two weeks are done and you're ready to try?

Yes, let's do that.

OOC) MJ was saying the biggest problem with supercharacters is that you get into a situation where the referee is playing the game and just taking the player along for the ride. That happened with me and Glantri. I don't need any NPCs at all to do that with you.......

So two weeks pass. Inside the airplane hangar is a whole mess of different tools. A mechanics shoppe straight of Uncle Bob's fantasies. (If you knew Uncle Bob, you'd get the joke.)

So you've got a 2@5 example with your stats, and you're figuring this out good. Roll was successful. You flush and clean and refill the fuel tanks and the whole fuel system on a Cessna that obviously hasn't been used very much. I would say "Brand New" if not for the fact that it's been sitting in the hangar for years. Think the Corvette in Riding with Private Malone.

And the GE says it takes you a little less than one waking cycle to finish. Thirteen waking cycles to go before your month is over.

Are you ever going to explore the airport?

(Doing Therapy)

OOC: I don't see it quite that way.

Maybe I should check out the airport, I muse. Ok, lets do it as a reward for my hard work.  I head out....

Once I get back, I intend to start driving the Cessna around on the tarmac.

OOC) Yeah, I guess so. You're choosing to play it that way instead of it being caused by any action of mine.



So you head down into the airport. If you stray too far from the windows, you'll need a flashlight. But going down the hall from where you are, both sides of the hall are lined with vending machines. Candy machines, machines you can get clothes from, you can get tools out of some of them. One in particular would make a pizza whilst you stood and watched. Most airports have stores inside, it seems this one has vending machines. Name it and you can probably get it from one. And for the most part, their glass fronts look like the kind you could just put your fist through.

But you find one with flashlights and batteries in it.

And I'm going to stop there in case you want to get anything other than that from these vending machines before you proceed.



I said the fuel system was one of the things. First you're going to need to work on the radiator, and the oil system, and lube it up, and all kinds of other things. It's not ready yet. It's gonna take the full two weeks at least before you can even think about trying that.

(Doing Therapy)

I'm going to have to tell them, I need more time, I realize as I look over the additional work on the Cessna needed.

At least another month.

In the airport, I'll tuck my pants into my sock, tighten my shoe laces, make sure I have enough room, and a surface that is non-slide, and then I'll go for a high kick on the glass...

Need flashlight and batteries.

They won't mind, although Magehammer will offer to help you. But that's two weeks from now.



GE19

So you kick the machine and the glass shatters. The machine rocks backwards and comes back forwards. You have a horrifying moment where you think the machine is going to fall over on top of you, but it stabilizes. When you put your foot down, you quickly realize you're going to need to dig a piece of glass out of your shoe.

But you've got your flashlights and batteries.

And proceeding by flashlight, you head into the darkness of the airport main terminal. You pass by a lobby. There's all kinds of different luggage sitting around, waiting for owners that will never come. You get to the baggage claim area. There's a rotating conveyor belt with a lot more luggage on it. Among these is a clear plastic case containing a very expensive looking bow and arrow set.

OOC) That's why I was trying to lead you into the airport. There's clothes and gear aplenty in here.

I am reminded,harshly,of what I've heard....breaking your leg in the wilderness is very dangerous,if you're alone.  I need to watch my step.

I'll take two flashlights, and lots of batteries, and half mockingly thank the owners.Sm

Woohoo! Archery set....I'll grab that.  I'll practise with it later today.

Smack a couple more vending machines with care, ready to jump if they tip over, for food and drink. Stale peanuts only go so far.

Yeah, now you know why Samantha went out of her way to give you that device to call Mister Magehammer if you got into trouble. Ever seen the movie 127 Hours?



So you take that. The name on the bag tag says "Olivia King" and there's a picture of her. She's blonde, perhaps 45 and quite attractive. Or she was......


So you grab a couple of ham and cheese sandwiches. They smell fine, the meat looks good, so you chance it. And it tastes marvelous. These vending machines are more or less hermetically sealed. Or they were before you broke the glass. Everything you get from them is as fresh as the day it went in. Milk, meat, cheese, everything.

(Doing Therapy)

OOC: 127 Hours? No. Although I did get a chance to watch the Onion Movie.

And back to fixing up my plane, and adding arrow practise to my regimen.

I'm careful to exhaust as much as I can from one vending machine before I go on to another.

OOC) Do you remember hearing about a mountain climber that got his hand pinned under a boulder and had to cut off his own hand to free himself? That's 127 Hours. The main thing was that he didn't tell anyone where he was going on the trip, so no one would know that he got into trouble.

What did you think of The Onion Movie? Funny huh?


So what? Skip the rest of the week? You're currently working on the radiator system. It's going to need to be cleaned and flushed, and who knows what all. I might take you that long to do it.


GE12

It looks like, if you don't go hog wild, the machine you broke into will provide food for the next 6 or 7 days, three meals a day. Who knows how long it will stay preserved with the seal broken? So best to eat it like you are.

But you've got ham and cheese, roast beef, salami and chicken. There's 10 or so candy bars, bottles of juices and milk. I would assume you drink all of the milk on day one. You know that's not gonna last long.

(Doing Therapy)
This message was last edited by the player at 16:07, Tue 15 July 2014.

OOC: I'd heard of it.  The Onion thing was ok.  B-

I set up several suitcases as targets for my arrows.  I'm careful to pick them up.

Enjoying the food.  Any srtange candy bar names?

GE12

Opening the suitcases, in one you find clothes that will fit and in another you find a Swiss army knife. (Any other trinkets you might be looking for here?) You've got a compound bow and 20 arrows. It has adjustable draw weight, but was set almost at your level. Olivia King was apparently a fairly strong woman.



Define strange. You might find the Six Musketeers bar to be strange. Or maybe it's the Wilky May bar that's odd to you. I always thought Zagnut was a weird name....... The Hompaibuck is a lovely bouquet of white chocolate and nuts with caramel. Weird enough?

(Doing Therapy)
This message was last edited by the player at 18:17, Tue 15 July 2014.

Weird enough indeed.  I'll make a point of skipping the Hompa...white chocolate is not really my thing.

After a week...

OOC) Hompaibuck Homer Paint Bucket. I take my inspiration where I can get it.

So a week goes by and you've got the radiator cleaned and flushed. It's all working smoothly.

Your month alone has another week in it, and you've got at least 5 more weeks of work.

Two Posts

Are you planning to head back after the month is over? Because if you're not, there's really no reason for them to change the arrangement. Samantha might pop in for a minute to see how you're doing, but that's it.

No reason to stop a good thing. You know they're there if you need them.

(Doing Therapy)

I'm going to stay here.  I'll show Samantha what I've done so far. Then tell her I'll try to overfly them in a couple months.

So the next week you're working on the plane some more.

Samantha does show up. She accepts your explanation, asking if you would like Mister Magehammer to come and help you.

"Or me. Believe it or not, I know my way around car engines."

She's the beautiful 18 year old when she shows up to see you. Do you want her to stay and help you or go?

And she asks if you've still got the device to call them if you need help.

She also tells you that everything is fine with her and Mister Magehammer. They still haven't figured out Bubble City yet though.

I'm good...thank you, and yes, I have the device (or did I lose it in theriver?)  No, I'll see ya'll in a while.  This is good for me.

"Well, it was good to see you. Enjoy yourself. I'll stop back next month and check on you."

So Samantha kisses you on the cheek and teleports away.

How far do you want to skip?

A week.

GE23
So you've broken into 2 more vending machines for the past two weeks. This one you're breaking into now is the last one with food. At least in this little area. After this week is over, you're either back to living off the land or checking the airport for more vending machines.

GE8
After another week's work, you finally try to start the plane. And it starts. The engine coughs and sputters. It runs for a minute, and then dies. You can't get it restarted. But it bolsters your hopes. Just got some more work to do.

OOC) It's a slow process, but I'm learning. You expected I would get into Doctor Brightly's war with Dracula. I expected you, the Sci Fi writer, would be investigating Bubble City. Now if I could just apply the new-found knowledge to the rest of the games......

Its time to take a day off.

I hunt up some more vending machines if I can, and then take a long walk in a vast circle around the airport.  In the middle, I stop to pray for a half hour, which is hard for me.

The next day, its back to work.

GE21

Going into the airport, you find a lot of vending machines. Do you need new shoes? Clothes? Books to read? How about some children's toys to play with? But as far as food, most of those are mostly empty. Between all of them, you've got maybe two weeks worth.



Around the outside? You find planes that are sitting ready to be loaded, some that were in the middle of being loaded, some that were about to take off. You find doors leading in. "Maintenance" "Authorized Personnel Only" but one catches your eye. "Emergency Generator Room." Could there be a way to power the entire airport??????

Praying brings your peace and calm. Maybe it's not so bad after all.


So are you skipping?

(Doing Therapy)

I check out the books.

I'm heading toward that Emergency Gen. Rm. with whatever tools, fuel I can scrounge up.

In the fantasy section, you've got fantasy by R.J.J Tolkien, Horror by Stephanie King and Stephen Queen. You've got children's books by Dentist Seuss. And let's not forget the ever popular Sci Fi section, which includes such titles as The Star Wars Trek and The Star Trek Wars. So quite a selection.

The emergency generator room opens to a huge, formidable looking machine. The How to Use label says "Use concentrated urine fuel only" So the airplane fuel will work in it. It looks fairly straightforward. Just pour in a bottle of fuel and hit the ignition switch.

And since I see no reason for you not to do that, the generator coughs and sputters, and smokes pours forth, it's like waking a sleeping metal demon out of a decades-long slumber. But eventually, with a great deal of perseverance, it ignites.

And the airport lights up.

(Doing Therapy)

I'll take one of the Star Trek Wars, and see how it goes.

When the airport lights up, I stand there dazed for a second, and wait for it to power down.  when it doesn't 'thank you Lord' I whisper, and then I leave the shed, and look about, and quickly begin to spin and jump in a clumsy dance as I take in all the beautiful, beuatuiful electrice light.

"Wahhoooooo!""

It's a series of books about the Federation/Klingon/Romulan conflicts. A three sided war. The series should keep your off hours entertaining for a few weeks.



I should clarify. The airport is huge. You wouldn't doubt it if someone told you it could be seen from space. Lots and lots of lights. About 20 minutes into the dancing celebration, you hear something that sounds like a jet flying overhead.

And then Magehammer lands on his feet in front of you.

"I could see these lights from where me and Sambina were. You did all this by yourself? I'm impressed. Show me what else you're doing."

He's just checking up on you, making sure you're doing well. He's not planning on sticking around very long.

(Doing Therapy)

"Wuell, here' the generator. Simple enough after I stumbled on it.  Here's the plane I've nearly got ready...and here's some vending machines with well a few things left you might like."

I'm a bit embarrassed now that I ate all the good stuff and didn't share.

Are you saving your urine? It is fuel. I would allow that you've been saving it for a while. How many gallons would you have? You'd know better than anyone.....



"I could tap that plane with my hammer and it would would start up right now. But I'm sure that's not what you want. Would you like some help? I remember I once spent a summer helping my uncle restore a classic Corvette. Some of the best times I had." (True story) "I've become a decent mechanic over the verses."

He won't be upset if you refuse. He understands the desire to do it yourself. That would be obvious to you.



"This is good food you got here. Even I get sick of eating rabbits and squirrels."

So he's glad to have what he's got. Some sandwiches.

(Doing Therapy)

Two Posts

BTW, by "Decent Mechanic" Magehammer means 1@10. You're up to 1@5. So he's actually not much better than you are. He's what he calls a "Shade Tree Mechanic." In other words, he wouldn't be taking the project over if you did let him help. It would be two guys who didn't really know what they were doing.

(Doing Therapy)
This message was last edited by the player at 08:40, Sat 19 July 2014.

Six gallons.

I help him load up on sandwhiches.

"No, I think I got this.  But thanks man.  I do appreciate the offer."

I lead him back to where he landed,and wish him good journeys.

He takes one egg salad sandwich for Samantha. "She likes egg salad, and I don't want to take all of your food."


"Well, it was good seeing you." and shakes your hand and gives you a man hug. That's where you shake right hands and wrap your left arm around in an embrace. That's a man hug.



He pulls out his hammer and spins it back and forth between his hands. As you watch, two concentric air vortexes form around him, spinning opposite directions. Without warning, he takes off into the sky at over a hundred miles an hour. When he's about a quarter mile up, his trajectory arcs so that he's pointing back where he came from. He disappears from sight at about the same moment the ground shakes from a sonic boom. He didn't stop where he was staying with Samantha. He overshot that by a week and a half.

About 20 minutes later, you hear the sound of a jet engine coming from the other direction. Did he circumnavigate the globe? When he gets over the airport, he slows down to a fast running speed and throws a cloth bag down to you. Then he waves at you and accelerates leaving quckly. A parachute deploys from the bag and it floats gently down to the ground, where either you catch it or it lands safely.

Inside the bag is ten pounds of fresh fruit. Whatever kind you would want. You want some apples, bananas, pears, pineapples? Maybe a ten pound watermelon? Ten pounds of whatever kind of fresh fruit you would want.

(Doing Therapy)

Pears and bananas.

After seeing that display of magic, I'm tempted, but I'll hold off.

Instead, I go back to work on my plane.

That night, I take some time to pray for the other two on this world, for their happiness and peace with Him.
  I spend some time thanking Him for my blessings.

Five pounds of pears and five pounds of bananas it is then. There's a black iron ring holding the bag together. You will find that the fruit does not decay so long as it is in that bag. That fruit will be as ripe and delicious a month from now.


Samantha told you he made her a magical hammer when he taught her to blacksmith. Just a friendly reminder is all. You've said many times your memory isn't that great.



The ailerons are stuck. Even if it took off, you couldn't maneuver very well. Nothing a can of DW-04 and some elbow grease won't take care of. You find several cans of that in the maintenance shed.



I'm assuming you're still sleeping on the jumbo jet. You feel extremely at peace with yourself, and you are rewarded by being sent to sleep by the sound of a gentle rain on the roof of the plane. Most relaxing.

And you wake up with the sun shining in your eyes.

OOC) I sent you something on Facebook. Also, how am I doing with the supercharacters? I figure popping in every couple of weeks to check up on you is reasonable. What do you think?

(Doing Therapy)
This message was last edited by the player at 09:57, Sun 20 July 2014.

A week passes, and I enjoy my fruit for the first few days until its gone.

OOC: Doing fine.

Do you think you had the fruit long enough to realize that the bag would keep it fresh, or should I roll dice? Fruit ain't the only thing it will keep fresh. What did you do with the bag?

So you spend the week flushing and repairing the plane's hydraulic systems.

What now?

(Doing Therapy)

Two Posts

BTW, with the end of this week, you just ran out of vending machine food. Time to put that bow and arrow set to use.

(Doing Therapy)

Three Posts

GE9
Also the generator ran for about two hours on the gallon of fuel you gave it. Then it died.

(Doing Therapy)

1. Probably not. kept it.
2. Is it ready to move?
3. Less work, more hunting.
4. Bummer!!

Good.

GE21
You try to start the plane, and it just won't start. Maybe it needs a new battery?

GE28
So you take the bow out into the woods to hunt for something. You're not finding much of anything. But then you put your foot down into a gopher hole. You fall in, lodging your right leg up to the knee and you can't seem to pull it out. You're stuck.

What do you mean Bummer? You powered the whole airport for 2 hours on a gallon of pee!!!!
This message was last edited by the player at 13:46, Mon 21 July 2014.

Resisting the urge to panic, I breathe out a quick prayer for aid, and then feel my hands down on both sides of my ankle seeking obstructions.
Check for constrictd spaces.

GE17

You can only get one hand about halfway down the hole. About halfway down your calf. And you have to wiggle and squirm to do that. The hole is small. Your foot feels like it's pointed downward. Toes down, and your toes and your heel are lodged against the sides of the hole. It doesn't feel like it's cutting off circulation, but it hurts like the son of a motherless camel.



And you feel the device that Samantha gave you to call Magehammer in your pocket, poking your thigh uncomfortably.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:12, Mon 21 July 2014.

That feels like a hint from Above, and it would be rude and stupid to say 'no thanks' to a hint after asking for help.  I reach in, and call MH.

So you push The Button and you'd swear the exact moment the plunger makes contact, both Samantha and Magehammer are standing over you.

Magehammer "Sorry it took so long. We stopped for a snack on the way."

And you can tell he's being sarcastic.

Samantha is in a practical white skirt and blouse. She's not the Old Woman or the hot 18 year old. She looks early to mid 40s. About your age. She's still quite beautiful. Very much the MILF.

Samantha bends down in a motherly/nursing gesture. She asks "Are you okay Erik?"

And Magehammer laughs a little and says "What seems to be the problem? Got your foot caught in a gopher hole? I've done that before. Welcome to The Wilderness my friend."

He finds it funny, but he sympathizes.

OOC) Gonna let you reply before they get you out.

(Doing Therapy)
This message was last edited by the player at 12:08, Tue 22 July 2014.

"Yes, a little faster next time." I murmur in response after I get over the surprise.  I do have Samantha's example from last time to calm me.

"Generally speaking, I'm doing just fine, Samantha.  Specifically, I'm stuck. I feel a bit embarrassed to ask help for something so small...."  Then I think, well, the Almighty wanted me to, so maybe its more than I thought.  On that thought, I decide to stop telling them I'm embarrassed.  The Boss knows what He's doing.

I smile at Magehammer.

Samantha took the form of a woman about your age. Her hair is still mostly brown, but with hints of gray here and there. She's a bit wrinkled, but still quite beautiful.

Samantha says timidly "Mister Magehammer, um, you know that favor I was asking you about? Do you think now would be a good time for that?"

Magehammer bows with a flourish and says "Anything for you Sambina."

And he pulls out his hammer and waves it over you. The world tastes purple for a moment and you cease to exist. When you open your eyes, you are standing in the doorway of a fancy as all get out restaurant. Like a Ten Star on a scale of five stars. You feel clean, like you've just gotten out of the shower. You are wearing a black formal tuxedo. It's easily the single most comfortable article of clothing you've ever had on your body. It fits you perfectly everywhere. So comfortably you almost can't feel it at all. Looking down, you see your reflection in the black dress shoes you're wearing. Also the most comfortable shoes you've ever worn.

Samantha is standing in front of you. It would have taken a professional hours to do her hair and makeup. She's wearing a red formal evening gown which looks silky smooth. She really does look like an angel.

Magehammer is wearing a formal waiter's uniform. His hair and beard are neatly trimmed. He gestures to a table in the middle of restaurant and invites you to sit down. The table is covered by a soft tablecloth and has 2 candles burning on it, and more forks and spoons than you can count.

Samantha takes you by the hand and says "I've never been on a date before."

OOC) You just love putting me in weird situations. Now it's My Turn Buddy!!!!!!!

(Doing Therapy)

She is so not going to like this.

I can be very polite, and completely uninterested all at once.  Had a girl drag me out on the dance floor once, and well, she never did that again.

"I see." I frown.  "Let's eat then."
And I make my way to the table, stand calmly waiting with a kinda bored expression on my face as I wait to sit Samantha, and then dive into the menu with not a care at all for Samantha.  I put her from my mind, and console myself that at least I should get a real nice meal out of this.

Steak, peppercorn with blue cheese, medium.
Shrimp, spiced with pepper (me like pepper).
Baked potato with bacon and cheese and butter and sour cream.
Green beans with bacon. Well cooked.
Coke and a lot of it.
Yogurt parfait for desert.

Magehammer is of course playing the role of the waiter. He's very professional. He pulls out chairs and seats both of you. He takes your order and asks Samantha what she wants. She says "I'd like to try Chilean Sea bass and a lobster tail. And for dessert, a hot fudge brownie sundae. And champagne. I want to try champagne."

Magehammer "Most excellent choices."

And he places a covered silver platter in front of you. Lifting the lid, it's got everything except your dessert on it. He places another platter in front of Samantha. Everything except her dessert. Whilst you're eating, you notice that you don't get full. It's not that you're still hungry, you're just satisfied. You get the feeling you could continue eating this food all day and be satisfied and never be too full to continue eating. He wants you to enjoy it. Getting overstuffed would detract from that. And of course everything is perfect. It's the best steak, best shrimp, best everything you've ever had. And your glass of Coke never goes empty. You chug and chug and chug, and the liquid level never drops a centimeter.

Cautiously, Samantha says "Do you like this Erik? It's my first date. I was 8 years old when I became a verser. I've never had a boyfriend, never even been kissed. I know you were married and all of that but, I don't know. The opportunity was there and well....."

She seems a bit embarrassed by it. It seems like to her it was a great idea on paper, not so great when you get to actually doing it.

Then the dessert courses are presented. You're not too full to eat every bite.

OOC) And I'm gonna stop there. It's not over yet, but I don't want to go too far.
This message was last edited by the player at 08:43, Wed 23 July 2014.

"Why don't we try to find you someone, Samantha?" I have a sudden flash of thought, and decide to shift to gentle mode.  "You know magic, and well, I've been praying and seeing clearer answers to prayer than I'm used too.  I've had answers before, and I've had help before, but here it seems more obvious."

I ask MH for paper and pen.

With one hand, I'm eating desert, and with the other hand, I'm sketching up the prototypical semi ideal guy for Samantha.
1. Taller.
2. Immortal.
3. Powerful wizard (she needs someone she will respect).

"I wonder if MH can find you a guy, or summon one.  Or....maybe I can pray God to open a way here....after much fasting, which obviously does not start tonight."

Samantha smiles broadly and says "I appreciate that Erik. But don't trouble yourself with it. This is, for lack of a better word, a practice date. And I thought you might like a break from all the work you've been doing. Don't worry about me."

And then MH says "What is on the agenda for the remainder of the evening? Perhaps sir would like to take the lady dancing?" And you turn around and there's a ballroom complete with a full classical orchestra for music. "Or perhaps a film would be more to sir's liking?" And you turn around and you're looking at a drive in movie theater with a single 69 Mustang convertible parked there. "Anything is possible. What is sir's preference?"

It seems now you can take this "Date" in whatever direction you'd like to go. All you need to do is tell MH. Just don't end it yet or you'll break Samantha's heart.
This message was last edited by the player at 11:02, Thu 24 July 2014.

Two Posts



To this, Samantha, a little giggly from the champagne says "If I wanted a guy like that, I'd date Mister Magehammer." And then turns to him and says "No offense Mister Magehammer."

"None taken." He says.

(Doing Therapy)

Edited to add detail.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:57, Thu 24 July 2014.

I shake my head.

"That's almost certainly what you do really want, at least over the long term.  Its inherent in being a woman."  And then I frown even further, which I realize just makes t hings worse.  I'm being quietly arrogant which women find attractive.

I give MH a bonechilling stare, which I'm aware is not going to impress him, but he will hopefully get the message and stop playing about.

"Hangliding. Separate hangliders."

Then with frost covering me...

"We can cruise thru the sky as a group."  I can't make myself be more polite than that.  I can feel my shadow side oozing out of its cage, and my manner has gone from polite to ice.

Samantha Int check 30 failure.
MH int check 33 failure.

MH "Nah, hang gliding ain't nothing compared to The Real Thing. You kids have a good time. Don't worry, you can't get hurt."

Samantha "That sounds like fun."

And he waves his arm in a sweeping circular motion and vanishes. You're now sitting at the table, looking at a Grand Canyon-like cliff and two red hang gliders.

Samantha "Do you know how to do this Erik?"

(Doing Therapy)

Two Posts

Eric Int check 13 (Almost forgot the most important person!!!)

All of a sudden you realize that Samantha is NOT in love with you in any way shape or form. Her intention was just to show you a good time, under the guise of calling it a "Date". Semantics really. If not for the word "Date" would you have dinner and go hang gliding with Samantha? If the answer is "Yes" then forget about the "Date" part. More than anything, this is supposed to be two friends having a good time.

Hope that melts some of the ice.

(Doing Therapy)
This message was last edited by the player at 18:04, Thu 24 July 2014.

"No, but it can't be too hard." I say, and really I've seen it, and read about it, and I think its not that hard, and Oh boy....I get in the hang glider, and nearly screaming in terror go over the edge.

My realization cools my rising temper, but still ordinarily it would take a day or two to bring me back, but, sheer terror might cure me quicker.

The hang gliders have cloth pouches I guess that you're supposed to get into. As soon as you touch the glider, the tuxedo you're wearing changes into clothing more appropriate to the setting. A hang gliding suit. Samantha too. You get into the pouch and you run towards the edge of the cliff. And you fall.

Straight down. Falling. The ground is rushing up at you at 100 miles per hour. There's nothing you can do about it.

That is one sharp outcropping of rocks down there. That's gonna hurt when you hit it!!!!

Still falling. The outcropping of rocks is getting bigger and bigger. It's ten feet from your face.

And then the glider inexplicably pulls up. You feel a warm thermal updraft like the palm of God's hand lifting the glider. It pulls up and you level out. You're flying maybe 20 feet off the ground. You can almost hear Magehammer laughing at you. He told you you couldn't get hurt.

And then another thermal hits you, and you rise higher and higher. Looking over, you see Samantha flying parallel to you. She waves and hoots for joy.

You fly and circle. It really is exhilarating. For a moment, you almost forget that you are mad at Samantha.

And after a suitable amount of time, you land. It just lands for you. Your feet hit the ground and you have no trouble stopping it. A few minutes later, Samantha lands next to you. Shes screaming for joy. "THAT WAS AMAZING!!!!!! Let's go again!!!!"

And looking out, you're staring at another Grand Canyon style cliff. Looking up, you see the one you jumped off of vanish. It's like you're going down an infinite flight of stairs.

"You go on, I've had enough excitement for now."  And I walk away to reflect on what has happened, and what I've seen.  Its clear that MH is astoundingly powerful, even by my outlandish notions of such, and its clear he has some wisdom along with whim.

I could just stay here, and obviously spend the next hundred years learning from him of all the things he can teach me.  I'm a bit leary of that because I'm so totally in MH's power.  If he has a bad hair day, and decides to take it out on me, what exactly am I going to do to stop him?

The only thing I could do is beg God for mercy.

Granted, thats a bit unfair seeing as he's shown no such tendencies.

I continue deep in thought, and don't notice the hole in the ground.  Its not the fall that kills you...its the sudden stop.  There's a moment of shock and recognition, and then....

OOC: And on to the next world, please.  One with no supercharacters too.

Da Rulezzz say to suicide, you need a difficult willpower check, and you rolled a 7.

So you step off the cliff. Remember that sharp outcropping of rocks? You'd swear one split you right in the butt.

Thou art dead.

OOC) Can you start the thread? Eric in Paintball World. Gonna be tough to run it without supercharacters. I've gotten so used to using them.

Two Posts



Making a comparison here. I find it strange that you trust God, whom you've never seen, when you are just as much at His mercy; but not Magehammer, whom you've met, and who has done nothing but show you benevolence and tried to train you. You've probably blamed God for more bad things than you could blame Magehammer for. I find that strange.

Its not a bad point. Part of it is trust.

Part is God is supposed to be Good, the very definition of it.  And I know, no matter how nice a human, they're still massively messed up.

I can't start a thread.

Okay, define "Supercharacter". In the zombie world, you've got a crazy Amish farmer with 2@10 strength and expert ability with axes and sledgehammers as melee weapons. But he's a mortal human. Is he a "supercharacter"?

Or what about a female verser (Not Samantha) with professional bow and Katana sword skill, but with limited magic and psionics? Is she a supercharacter?

And what about a supervillain? Paintball world (normally) runs with a supervillain. What do you think of those?

And most importantly, are you mad at me for anything? I'm 99% sure you're not, but there's that pesky 1%.
This message was last edited by the player at 08:55, Fri 25 July 2014.

Two Posts

Also, feedback here. What did I do right? Wrong? What could I have done better? What needs to improve? I'm starting to think maybe, just maybe, referees really can't run supercharacters with "Normal" players. Either that, or it would require a certain kind of player. It seemed to work with Krillis, although he might or might not agree. He seemed like the right kind of player for it. Krillis actually tried to attack Magehammer for something he did.

If you had wanted to go back to working on your plane, you could have ended the "Date" instead of versing out. Really I did that more to retaliate for all the weird situations you've dropped me into. And you know there's been plenty. I thought you might see it differently from the other side.

No they are not.  They could be problematic.

Please no romance. Really.

I'm not angry. Things are what they are which is not always ideal, but OTOH, you're learning fast

Well, like I said, if you wanted to go back to working on your plane, we don't need to verse you out. We can just say that you fell off the canyon and woke up back at the airport or something. But if you're insistent on versing out you're going to need to give me an equipment sheet. As far as I'm concerned, you've got a urine moped, a Katana sword and some jewels. What else did you take from home and what else did you pick up there?