The War of Shadows OOC

[MarcoSkoll]

Yeah, that makes sense. Reading that, I was going to ask why not Fabio - it would seem that the Malleus Inquisitor might be the right choice - but I suppose his pessimism doesn't exactly inspire confidence.

Also, I don't know whether it's intentional, but I've just noticed that Jeremiah now seems to have two different last names.

~~~~~

Anyway, I got bored earlier, so I hit the sketchpad. After my hand had stopped aching, I decided that drawing on it was a better idea, and had a go at working out Maya's appearance. Here's where I got to. Obviously, she doesn't walk around with the fiery 15 foot wings the whole time.

I did think about whether such a psychic talent would be viable - not sure there's exactly a precedent (I know there is a mention of a magical version in the 6th edition Empire Army book, but this isn't Fantasy), but in the end, shaping psychic fire in such a way should be possible.

Actually flying might be a bit trickier however.

[Swarbie]

Yes, a man who broods over his forgotten past while continuously smoking, injecting himself with stimulants or making sarcastic remarks does not make for the most inspiring or trust-worthy person. And, of course, no-one really knows what happened to influence his mind all those years ago.

But Fabio being Fabio, he doesn't really care at the moment, so he's gonna go shoot some daemons.

@Marco: I'm sorry, but my computer's filters won't let me see the picture. However, I think I can visualize what you are talking about, and it seems rather an impressive idea. You're right, though, actually flying would be difficult.

[MarcoSkoll]

I may be able to solve that problem. If deviantART is a problem for anyone, I've just uploaded it in both Photobucket and Imageshack versions.

[Swarbie]

I can see it now, and it is very cool. I like her hair.

[MarcoSkoll]

Yeah, I decided I was just going to go for it with her. Glowing eyes, Echoing voice, Wind blowing her hair about - all common side effects of her powers.

Whether they are unintentional side effects or something she deliberately does to amplify her "shock and awe" factor is up for debate however.
She's very much a show(wo)man when it comes to her powers, and often overdoes it simply to try and stun those around her into submission. Of course, that can sometimes make things worse...

[Koval]

WHOAMG CLOUD STRIFE HAIR.

Maya is now a lot less cool >_>

[MarcoSkoll]

The all-over-the-place-spikiness is because I'm rubbish at drawing hair (particularly when it's being blown about), not because I actually want her to look like a porcupine.

The word "amateur" definitely features in the description of any of my artistic talents.

[Swarbie]

Trust me, she looks a lot better than anything I could draw. If I try to draw a human, it ends up looking like a mutant. Not even a good-looking, well-drawn mutant.

[MarcoSkoll]

I get that a lot. Just about any time I admit a non-mastery of art, someone else will assure me that their mastery is even less complete.
But in the end, perfection isn't all that important. Sure, I'd like to be better, but I'll improve with time, and in the end, I enjoy my art anyway, and I can get a concept down well enough to share it with other people - and that's enough for now.

That said, that I'm even there is highly improbable in its own right. I quit art as a school subject first chance I got.
And, if I'm permitted some ramble, the fact that such a thing happened is just stupid. I like the subject (now, at least) - the fact I hated it so much at the time as to quit gives you an idea of how badly it was being taught.
In the end, I've learnt more from some fairly basic art textbooks and a joke bet than from years of school classes. It's not been all that hard to learn... they just never taught me. They just told me to paint X, draw Y or sculpt Z. Sure, practice is incredibly important, but gorram it, I needed to be taught how to learn drawing first. (Very meta. Needing to learn how to learn.)

Ugh. If they followed that practice in any other aspect of the school, it'd be laughable: "Kids, go into the chemistry lab. Mix up Compound A - I'm not going to teach you how to do it, I'm just going to expect you to do it anyway."

Anyway, to put that bugbear aside, this particular piece remains something of a work in progress, so I've made a few small tweaks - it's possible you may be seeing a full colour version at some point in the future.

[Necris]

Alas two similar character names for two different things

and typically I get them mixed up...at least it's only the once here not like the other....3 chapters of edits to sort through oh joy

[MarcoSkoll]

Anyway, another section from me. Lyra starts a conversation with Ottakar - although, as the post suggests, she's being very careful about it.

Koval, it's up to you if you want to continue that conversation or just leave it to me, but here's a few points...

She's obviously looking to find out how trustworthy he may be. The fact that he's not native to the sector may be good or bad - it seems improbable that someone would get involved in a plot 30000 ly away (potentially making him reasonably trustworthy), but then, it's improbable he's there at all.

Of course, she's not necessarily entirely convinced that he really IS from that far away.

Another question is likely to be:
"What exactly has that sergeant been ordered to do with the beacon?"

Other statements may include:
"Good. I'm glad someone else is actually taking that transmitter seriously."
"Someone needs to calm Gideon down... I'd offer the job to you, but I think we may still need him conscious."

[Koval]

Hopefully I've handled Lyra at least inadequately (which is better than handling the Idiot Ball, I guess)

[Swarbie]

So, I've put a little post-hook in for anyone who wants it. Feel free to make up what may be happening out there, but first in, first served and all that. My suggestions are: something big, lots of little ones, something dangerous but alone, or something entirely unexpected (from my point of view. I don't have the widest stretching imagination.).

So, yeah. Go nuts, or tone it down, your choice.

[Necris]

daemon prince!

[Zephon]

Well, good job there are some reinforcements on the way to Crowe. Bad for them, of course, because now they're all going to die.