Assuming the same situation I'll try and wrap two limbs around his neck and lift him up, curious to see the correct manner in defending against such an attack.
Mike's Game
(152 posts) (3 voices)-
You reach out with both limbs; he blocks one and ducks the other, but it sets him off balance. He recovers and comes in for a kick comparable to last time.
--M. J. Young
Thu Feb 11 2010 11:51 pm # -
The kick to your limbs registers as damage, but with the caveat that it shows some damage deflected. Six limbs bracing you makes you very stable. The kick deflects and the human stumbles back a step.
--M. J. Young
Sun Feb 14 2010 11:51 pm # -
You lunge, and your somewhat greater size crosses the gap in a single bound, knocking down the human and winning you the round. It returns to the menu.
--M. J. Young
Mon Feb 15 2010 11:31 pm # -
Glantri
MemberI'll disconnect from the computer and then try to activate the light panel. I'll try this twice if it fails at first, barring any success I'll get ready to go to bed.
The next day I'll try and activate the telepathic lifter, it's not one of the easier tools Paul mentioned but it sounds least likely to verse me out.
Wed Feb 17 2010 11:48 pm # -
You attempt to contact the light panel, but are so far from getting anything that you realize a very different sort of contact seems to be required. You try again, and still don't manage anything.
With the lifter, what are you attempting to lift?
--M. J. Young
Fri Feb 19 2010 12:42 am # -
Glantri
MemberI'll attempt to lift a rock outside. The size isn't really important in my mind, just that it's something that isn't valuable so if I mess up while manipulating it that there's no big loss. While lifting it though I'd like to see how much control I have of the rock and how easily it responds.
Once done with the lifter I'd like to try to activate the telepathic forcefield and use it to form a forcefield about half a foot off the ground running parallel to the ground that's a 3 foot square. I'll try this until it either succeeds or something eventful happens otherwise. If it succeeds I'll see if I can step up onto the forcefield and stand there.
Fri Feb 19 2010 8:37 pm # -
Oops--it may seem a little thing, but there are no rocks in NagaWorld. Outside the door of the museum is grass, and the plastic steel structures built by previous residents.
Find another target.
--M. J. Young
Sat Feb 20 2010 11:48 pm # -
You are able to lift the keys by pointing the rod at them. Lateral motion is then achieved by shifting the angle of the rod (that is, as you move the rod the keys move to stay in line with it); somewhere in your mind you find the ability to make the distance shorter or longer, at roughly the rate initially that you could walk. You can double or halve the speed each minute.
After five minutes, the control suddenly fails, and the keys fall to the ground, seemingly having no momentum from your movement of them.
What they call the forcefield rod appears also to require a target object. Are you using the keys again?
--M. J. Young
Sun Feb 21 2010 10:50 pm # -
On this first attempt you fail to figure out how to make this rod work; it does not seem to work quite the same as the other.
--M. J. Young
Tue Feb 23 2010 10:26 pm # -
You come back from a break with a snack. (I assume that in a learning attempt you do everything you can think to do, so you need a change of circumstance such as a rest to try again. Using such a skill, particularly a device skill, once you know how can be tried in succession, because you know how to do it and it's just a matter of how many tries until something happens.) You return to the task, and work at it for a while more, but with no luck. You take another break and come back a bit later, and still nothing.
Paul invites you for a bite to eat, so you take a break for that; returning, you still can't seem to connect with this rod.
One last try today, you fail once again.
--M. J. Young
Wed Feb 24 2010 11:18 pm # -
Glantri
MemberOk, I'll try again the next day then. If I have occasion to be around Paul again I'd like to ask about whether the item labeled the Psionic Drill is actually a ranged weapon or more along a literal interpretation of a drill. Other than that I'll repeat the same routine as today.
Thu Feb 25 2010 8:11 pm # -
Paul laughs at the question.
"Maybe call it one of the Architect's mistakes. I think he's the one who dubbed it a 'drill', or maybe it was one of the elders. He observed that it put out a thin piercing beam with a relatively short range, that would cut through plastic steel or just about anything else we had given a bit of effort, so he decided it was a tool. He later concluded that the kraal never used tools, had no understanding of tools as such, and that all of these devices were intended as weapons. That apparently is the kraal equivalent of a sword, but you should be careful with it because it is rather longer than a sword blade and works as something of a short range ranged weapon."
You spend about six hours trying to make that forcefield generator work, without any success, although you started with a sense that you almost had it on the first try.
--M. J. Young
Mon Mar 1 2010 1:45 am # -
Glantri
MemberDuring the next tank cleaning I'd like to get some plastic steel and fashion them into 5 roughly fist like balls (fist like is describing the volume, not the shape). The shape is of no real importance to me, I'm making them to use the psionic devices on. While I may not have any use for my keys, I'd rather not lose anything I don't have to, and as I start using the other devices I'll need destructible targets.
The next day I'll try the forcefield generator again, this time on one of the plastic steel balls I'll have placed on the ground. I'll try this for half the day and if there is no success I'll try my hand at the psionic drill, also targeting the plastic steel ball.
Mon Mar 1 2010 2:12 pm # -
You make your lumps of plastic steel easily enough, and they're hard by the time you need them.
Today you manage to get the forcefield rod working on the first try. It encases the targeted lump in a force wall, but otherwise allows you to move it as the telekinetic rod does. You manage to maintain control for about five minutes.
--M. J. Young
Tue Mar 2 2010 1:39 am # -
Glantri
MemberSo just so I understand it right, this one did everything the telekinetic rod did but also surrounded it by a forcefield?
Was the forcefield visible by the way or could I just sense it was there, and if it was visible what color did it have?For the remainder of the day I'll work on getting the psionic drill working, still targetting the plastic steel lumps.
Tue Mar 2 2010 4:47 am # -
That is correct.
The forcefield is visible as a sort of slight glow in the air, perhaps something like a bubble. It has no color, per se, but can be seen.
The psionic drill turns out to be very like the forcefield in terms of how it is operated; it generates a thin force coming in a line from the pointed end. Your first effort got you a flash of energy that drilled a dent in your plastic steel target.
--M. J. Young
Wed Mar 3 2010 1:59 am # -
Glantri
MemberI'd like to feel the dent in the plastic steel to see if it's warm/hot and also feel whether it's a smooth and mostly circular indent or more hyperbolic in nature.
Either way, after inspecting the plastic steel lump I'd like to try and activate the light panel. I'll stick with this for the rest of the day or until I get it working. I'm pretty much approaching this in the safest method as possible, wary of any of the items which seem more designed as weapons for fear of a failed attempt with them.
Whenever I have occasion to have dinner with Paul or if I see him and he doesn't appear overly busy I'd like to ask the following questions.
*So I understand the psionic blaster and psionic rifle are weapons, but what is the difference between the two? I don't want to start trying to activate them and wildly misunderstand and cause damage to my surroundings.
*Also, will the missile deflector only deflect material missiles or only psionic missiles or both? and do I have to be targetting a missile for me to activate it or does it form a shield around me that deflects missiles?
*I'm assuming the disintegrater disintegrates items, but does it approach it in the manner the psionic drill seems to or does it take larger chunks at one time? Or am I entirely misunderstanding it's purpose?
*Is the statuette actually a psionic item by the way or simply a monument?
*Finally, what does the combat helmet do? Am I supposed to wear it to use it?
*Thank you for the information.
Those are my main talking points, in the relative order I'd like to address them in case he gets busy at some point and I only get time to ask some of them at first.
Wed Mar 3 2010 5:22 am # -
The cut is smooth, but at least by the time you get to it it's not different from the warm air around it. It has the look of being drilled by a beam or laser.
It seems to be your day for psionic devices--the light panel lights on the first try. It is eerily similar to the plastic covers they put over fluorescent lights in suspended ceilings, but that it glows evenly with little effort.
The difference between the psionic blaster and the psionic rifle is mostly one of range. The smaller blaster is harder to aim as accurately, but it's lighter and easier to carry or store. Both fire something like a blast or ball of kinetic force, hitting something like a jackhammer or cannonball, although it takes practice to get that level of force from them.
The missile deflector doesn't really protect you at all. If you walk the perimeter of Umak Tek, you'll see that they're driven into the ground roughly every ten feet, and they seem to tap into some consciousness or unconsciousness. If an object flies above them within a certain altitude--maybe thirty feet or so--a force wall is created that blocks it. It works against wedge birds, at least.
If the object targeted by the disintegrator isn't too large or too dense, it will destroy it entirely. Paul's understanding is that the molecular bonds themselves are undone, causing the material to reduce to simpler non-solid forms such as gasses and free atomic particles. Pete Adams says that the really remarkable thing is that there isn't a nuclear explosion.
To ask whether the statuette is simply a memorial or a psionic device is to misunderstand the kraal who made them. It is indeed simply a memorial, and if you contact it telepathically it will tell you the significant heroic events in the life of the kraal whom it memorializes. This is a minor one, with only maybe an hour of heroic tales. In the hall of heroes in the center of the glass city there are said to be some in which the information can last several days.
Paul is not sure exactly how the kraal used the helmets, as their heads were considerably larger than human, but the helmets do appear to work when placed on human heads. It does a lot of things, but probably not many that are useful to you other than that the helmet will link as a targeting aid for the weapons. The thing is rather dangerous, because if it decides the wearer is not a member of the kraal army it self-destructs explosively. It has a map function, enhanced telepathic links between helmets, psionic defenses--he asks Annie if she remembers any functions of the helmet, and she adds that it has healing functions and a direct link to the Nash Far Kraal, which as far as she knows only the Architect ever used and he said it was pretty dangerous to use it. It's also supposed to have psionic attack modes, but no one has ever figured out how to access these.
--M. J. Young
Thu Mar 4 2010 6:24 am # -
Glantri
MemberLets see if my luck for today continues, I'll try the disintigrator, targetting the previously targetted lump of plastic steel. I'll also make a routine of making as many of these plastic steel lumps as I can whenever the tanks are cleaned. Since I'm starting to get into testing the more destructive psionic items my plans are going to call for a larger number of destructible objects. My goal number is to have a stockpile of 20 of these, replacing them as I break them through experimentation.
I'd also like to ask Paul what the Nash Far Krall is as well as how dangerous the glass city is. I'm considering venturing up there to grab some copies of these psionic devices for my travels. Furthermore is it possible to learned how to perform the actions these devices do without the device themself and if so is it learnable from the devices?
Thu Mar 4 2010 6:45 pm # -
You try to operate the disintegrator a couple times without success, but there is something familiar about it, like this is something you've used before, but different.
I should mention that the volume of "dregs" from the vats after distillation is significant. You could easily make thirty or forty lumps the size you describe from one good batch. You're welcome to use as much as you want; Paul and Annie are always looking for ways to dispose of it.
Paul says that his knowledge of the Nash Far Kraal is all second hand, but it seems to be some kind of intelligent creature that must exist somewhere in the universe. Its relationship to the kraal is unclear, and no one knows where it is.
As to the glass city, well, that's a more difficult question. The spiders are there, and when they are awake during the day they attack and destroy anyone or indeed any thing that is not part of the city itself. This is a serious threat--there's about one every block, they raise some kind of alarm so that others converge on an intrusion, and to date the only person who survived an attack did so by putting his foot to the floor in his Camaro and heading out of the city as fast as he could while it tore at his front end. On the other hand, when they are sleeping nothing seems to awaken them, and the Architect made a lot of people bold enough to explore, because he said with a twenty-five mile diameter city with a perfectly square gridwork of except for the court in the center, anyone can pick any direction and be out in less than ten hours, and the spiders are asleep all night. So as long as you manage to avoid the spiders, you're probably safe. On the other hand, there might be hazards as yet undiscovered, because the city is big enough and dangerous enough that it has not been fully explored.
Paul notes that people have learned telekinesis and telepathy, at least, but he's not certain whether they learned them from the devices. Probably anything the devices can do can be done without them, but on the other hand the devices probably make it easier to do them. The current theory is that the glass city and everything in it was built entirely by the psionic abilities of the kraal, so they obviously had great psionic powers; but they still chose to create devices which would enable these specific psionic powers, so it must be that it's easier to do them with the devices than without.
--M. J. Young
Thu Mar 4 2010 10:29 pm # -
Glantri
MemberWow, I didn't realize quite how much of the plastic steel was created daily. I'll still keep my supply at 20 though, can't see needed any more than that, it's probably already excessive.
So from what I understand since I already have the skill to operate the disintegrator I can attempt it successively until I succeed?
If this is the case I'll attempt to get it working until I either botch or succeed, still targeting the plastic steel lump.
After getting this to succeed I'll try to use the psionic blaster on another lump. (I'm assuming a successful disintigrator use will destroy the lump.) I'll try this for the rest of the day or until I succeed, whichever comes first.
Fri Mar 5 2010 3:43 am # -
You do get the disintegrator to function on the next try, but as formidable as it sounds on paper in your hands it only took the skin off the outside, as it were. Your ball is rounder and smoother and a very small amount smaller.
I'm going to need a score for your hand/eye to continue. Thoughts?
--M. J. Young
Fri Mar 5 2010 9:24 pm # -
Glantri
MemberI'm not 100% sure how to rate hand/eye so I'll include as much information as I can, erring on the side of excess information as opposed to too little information.
Overall, I feel I have a significantly above average natural hand/eye coordination. I perform a bunch of minor actions with my hands and feet in day to day life in acts such as opening the door and slipping my foot into the crack in unison with pulling the door and seeing how well my timing is. I don't do this in any way because I think it helps me, or is more efficient, but it merely amuses me. There are a number of actions I do like this, that if you want I can list, that I perform regularly throughout the day more as an amusement and test of myself than for a particular reason. Despite constant use of this I practically never hurt myself (in this case if my timing were off, I'd stub my toe on the door). I have no idea how common this behavior is as I don't pay attention to other peoples small habits, as I hope they don't pay attention to mine.
I bowl regularly which I would consider hand eye coordination and can hold my own in state level tournaments for upper end amatuers or lower end professionals. My average was around 200 (203 if I remember the number correctly) when I first versed out. The reason I would consider this hand/eye is higher end bowling requires consistant awareness of where ones hand is and at what speed it is traveling, while still paying attention to footing and approach speed.
I can juggle 3 juggling balls with some concentration and 4 if I'm having a good day and not distracted by anything (I would need quiet and no visual distractions, so only really applicable in practice not real conditions)
I'm also very good at beirut/beer pong (sorry, I'm a college student so this is the type of hand/eye activity thats very common and the best example I can think of). I've won more than 75% of my games this year and can make many shots other people generally don't consider (I've made cups people were actively drinking, so that they were moving from resting to their mouth, at least 5 times this school year. Also, my college uses 9 oz cups as opposed to the generally standard 16 oz solo cups. The reasoning behind it is it reduces the amount of space a game takes up leading to more games being available at one time. Only reason I mention that is because it's a smaller openning on the top of the cup, demonstrating more skill when making a cup)
While swing dancing I pick up on aerials quickly because I can position my hands and lift/push/catch with the correct force with ease while concentrating on continuing the dance.
Sorry this is probably an excessive list, but I'm confident I fully understand what does and doesn't apply to hand/eye and I know I don't understand the numbering system well enough yet to assign a number to what I think I am. For example I can't think of what the amatuer/professional/expert levels of hand/eye would be represented by.
Sat Mar 6 2010 2:05 am # -
Part of your confusion is because the "amateur/professional/expert" classification applies to skills, not to attributes. For attributes, 1@ is "ordinary" and 2@ is "extraordinary". 3@ is superhuman (unattainable by modern methods), with 2@10 being probably the single best person alive, or not more common than the best person in the New York City metropolitan area. I'm surprised, though, that your hand/eye didn't come up at character generation as potentially outstanding--1 in 50, 98th %ile, top two percent, is the rating for 2@1, and you sound like you might be in that niche. If we put a hundred random people in a room, are you one of the two best? If we put a thousand random people in a room, how many are as good as you? More than twenty? Less than ten?
I should give you a 2@1 Bowling skill, also, but at the moment I'm focused on the other. I should also mention (it didn't seem significant before this moment) that one of the previous residents of Umak Tek did build a bowling lane with balls and pins out of plastic steel. There's also a pool table near it.
--M. J. Young
Mon Mar 8 2010 12:13 am # -
Part of your confusion is because the "amateur/professional/expert" classification applies to skills, not to attributes. For attributes, 1@ is "ordinary" and 2@ is "extraordinary". 3@ is superhuman (unattainable by modern methods), with 2@10 being probably the single best person alive, or not more common than the best person in the New York City metropolitan area. I'm surprised, though, that your hand/eye didn't come up at character generation as potentially outstanding--1 in 50, 98th %ile, top two percent, is the rating for 2@1, and you sound like you might be in that niche. If we put a hundred random people in a room, are you one of the two best? If we put a thousand random people in a room, how many are as good as you? More than twenty? Less than ten?
I should give you a 2@1 Bowling skill, also, but at the moment I'm focused on the other. I should also mention (it didn't seem significant before this moment) that one of the previous residents of Umak Tek did build a bowling lane with balls and pins out of plastic steel. There's also a pool table near it.
--M. J. Young
Mon Mar 8 2010 12:14 am # -
Glantri
MemberAt Ubercon when I got there (I think I may have been a few minutes late and the table was packed to begin with) I had missed the description of hand/eye vs agility vs flexibility. Because of this it was decided to address it when/if it came up.
Now as to rating myself as 1 out of x number, the only competitive tasks I'd listed were bowling and beer pong, so they seem easiest to rate myself on. When I went to a state level tournament for bowling (this was a few years back however, as college has made it harder for me to continue bowling on a weekly basis, which is needed to enter many tournaments.) I placed 4th for singles in the states if my memory serves me correctly (I know it was top 10, and relatively certain it was 4th). There were 3 weekends, so 6 days of tournament shifts, and 12 lanes of 4 people to a side, 2 sides to a lane. Each day also had morning and afternoon session. So roughly 6*2*2*12*4*2 if I'm keeping this straight in my head (I did try and look up the exact number but I couldn't remember the exact name of where it was/which year).
So that comes out to 4 out of 2304, or .173611 %
As to beer pong I'm not as sure on the number, seeing as I'm often not at my highest state of awareness at parties, but my logic is as follows. Where I part holds roughly 300 people, almost all of whom come to play. I'm regarded as one of the two best players on pretty much any given night. The people who are there over the various weeks varies however, with about 100 being regulars, and the other 200 being random people. If I had to approximate the number of people who I've played against is probably around 500 (I go out almost every night, and drink more than I should most nights, and often games are matched 3v3, so the numbers add up fast). so I'd say I'm safely at first, second or third best out of those, so we'll go with 2/500 so .4%
In recap, as that's a lot of unneeded reading, in bowling I'd say top .173611% and top .4% in beer pong. I have no scale to judge the other things I listed against however, so hope this is enough.
Mon Mar 8 2010 9:00 pm # -
You manage to get a pulse of energy out of the device, but it dents the ground a couple inches to one side of the ball.
--M. J. Young
Wed Mar 10 2010 12:54 am # -
Glantri
MemberCool, glad I got it working at least. I'll take the lump outside and place it on the clay ground so I'm not denting the nice floor again, I'll have to fix that later as it is.
I'll continue practicing until I manage to hit the lump, at which time I'll try and do the same thing with the rifle.
During tank cleaning I'd like to try and shape 3 rectangular pieces. I'm aiming for two that are roughly 4'x6'x6" and one that is 4'x8'x6". I can always modify them with the psionic drill if I screw up, but hoping I don't. (The exact dimensions aren't what I'm aiming for as I don't have a tape measure, but I'll be trying to get the two identical ones as close to each other as possible and the other is an arbitrary length really. I'm hoping to device a shooting range to practice with these a bit more.)
Wed Mar 10 2010 1:01 pm # -
You fire it again, denting the ground. Then you try again, and feel a surge of energy, and the device suddenly goes gray, something like a burned out light bulb. It no longer responds in any way to your mental efforts.
Incidentally, there is a shooting range in the complex. It's on the far side of the houses, over by the gymnastics/exercise area where the tightrope is set up. The targets are made of plastic steel and are designed on rockers to fall down if hit.
--M. J. Young
Thu Mar 11 2010 1:29 am # -
Glantri
MemberI'll take the blaster to Paul and explain what happened, apologizing profusely for breaking one of the museums pieces and promising to replace it when I make my trip to the glass city. I'll also ask if it's fixable in any way that he knows about.
Concerning my trip, which I'm going to begin planning so that when I go the least number of things can go wrong as possible, I'll ask whether the spiders are active at night or during the day. I'd hate for a miscommunication to result in me walking into a city of fully armed spiders. Does he have an estimate on how long it takes to get there? I'm trying to figure out how much time I have to get in and out of the city, get the gear, and get out. Will it be a one night trip from leaving to returning, or multiple days and if so does he know of safe places to stay during sunlight hours.
I'll also take unload my backpack, organizing everything in the house (the architects house where I've been sleeping) so that it's close together.
After which I'll go bowling. I'd like to bowl 2 games, just to clear my mind. The blaster probably has me a little flustered, I really dislike breaking things and I should clear my mind before trying the rifle, and bowling always pushes everything out of my mind as I concentrate on all of the variables of bowling (it's one of the things I do when I need to calm down).
After the two games I'll go back to the psionic museum get the rifle and take it to the shooting range. I'll try and hit a target from 10 feet away. How big are these targets by the way? in relation to the plastic steel lumps how big are these targets?
Thu Mar 11 2010 1:25 pm # -
Paul is surprised; he says that he's never heard of that happening before, so he's never heard of anyone trying to fix it. He also comments that he only knows a couple of people who ever dabbled with trying to make psionic devices, and they both blew themselves up trying, so he'd prefer it if you did any such tinkering away from the center of the town.
The spiders are active when the sun shines.
How long it takes to get anywhere depends on how fast you travel. It's sixty miles from Umak Tek to the edge of the Glass City, which is itself twenty-five miles in diameter and a perfect circle, from all reports. Michael's Foxhole is ten miles from here, and the only shelter anyone has mentioned. On the way, the coral bushes are the only serious danger. Creeper Vines are predatory, but unless one somehow gets around your neck it's not a problem. Orange and Yellow Nagas are predatory, but they don't prey on anything as large as people, mostly eating Purple Nagas, although it's probable that the Orange ones also eat creeper vines. Giant Clams are lumbering herbivores, and very skittish--they'll close up for hours if startled--but it would take a real unlikely accident for a person to get swept inside the shell.
The bowling alley has a few imperfections; it was made by an amateur using primitive tools, mostly from plastic steel with a bit of kiln-hardened pottery here and there (mostly for weight). But it is functional, if you're not too serious about your game.
The targets at the shooting range are something like stop signs of various sizes set at varying distances. None are smaller than a foot across, and some are thrice that. Your first shot hits a target comfortably, knocking it back and causing it to rock forward. (Your plastic steel lumps were fist-sized; these present much larger targets.)
--M. J. Young
Thu Mar 11 2010 9:06 pm # -
Glantri
MemberI have a few followup questions for Paul from the answers I got.
How fast do the creeper vines move?
How common are the coral bushes and how exactly are they dangerous? Is it likely to die from one or is running from one an option? Do they tend to pursue people running away?
Has anyone ever managed to tame and ride one of these animals? I'm going over the numbers in my head and I can't see making it from here to the glass city and back in one night.
Speaking of which, is the foxhole directly on the way to the glass city of does it form a triangle?That's it for the questions for Paul.
How heavy is the plastic steel? Not asking Paul this, just based on my working with it. Is it close to the density of steel?
Also is there a track field in Umak Tek? I'm going to have to start practicing to make sure I can push myself a little on the upcoming journey.
For the time being however, I'll go back to the psionic museum and try and activate the memorial for a warrior, hoping the information might pertain the the glass city.
Also, I remember Michael saying that versers can sense one another, should I be sensing Eli? I've been trying to act under the assumption that my character doesn't know Eli is coming, but it just occurred to me that my character might know. All of what I posted in this post doesn't change though, but it might change what I do next post whether I know or not.
Fri Mar 12 2010 4:45 am # -
How fast do the creeper vines move?
"Well, it's not like we've ever had creeper vine races; they don't seem to respond to efforts to control or direct them, and mostly they move at a slow walking speed. They catch nagas mostly by lying in wait, I think. They only bother people if you're stationary and don't notice them. Also, they tend to be lone hunters, so you don't have to worry about them working together, except by accident."
How common are the coral bushes and how exactly are they dangerous? Is it likely to die from one or is running from one an option? Do they tend to pursue people running away?
"There are lots of coral bushes, and in a typical day on the orange plains or even in the hills you'll encounter several, whether you stay in one place or keep moving. We use to get them all the time here, before the Architect figured out first that they couldn't cross a three-inch high strip, and second that the walls would block their shots.
"Their danger is in their laser-like light beams. Michael called it a laser; the Architect, who ripped a few of them apart to figure out what's inside, says it's really just highly focused light--they're the source of those lenses and the shiny bowls, which are actually parabolic mirrors.
"The beam will burn through your clothes on the first shot, and if it hits skin it will leave second degree burns. The creatures are hard to hit with ranged weapons, because they have a lot of open space and not a lot of vital organs, so you wind up chipping off unimportant appendages. They move in lightning-fast short bursts, and appear to triangulate their targets; but they seem to hunt by vibrations, so they can follow you if your run or even try to walk away. Within about thirty yards, they can sense your heartbeat through the ground, or that's the theory. Like the spiders, though, they're completely dormant by night, and they need the sunlight to attack."
Has anyone ever managed to tame and ride one of these animals?
He laughs.
"Which one? The coral bush is only about three feet in any dimension, and made mostly of empty. The creeper vine isn't more than a two or three foot length of thick rope. Nagas are the size of softballs. The clams? Well, they're big enough, but they move by opening their tops, extending their tongue, pulling themselves forward along the ground, ripping up some of the grass, taking it inside the shell and collecting it, and then repeating the process--rather a slow and bumpy way to travel, and if you're sitting on top, they won't open."
Speaking of which, is the foxhole directly on the way to the glass city of does it form a triangle?
Michael's Foxhole, Umak Tek, and the center spire of the Glass City are all directly on the path followed by the sun and the moon.
How heavy is the plastic steel?...Is it close to the density of steel?
It is nowhere near as heavy as steel for the same volume, but it seems to be as solid as rock despite being much lighter.
Also is there a track field in Umak Tek?
There is an acrobatics field, comprised of poles and obstacles including a low tightrope over bales of grass. There isn't a track, but there's still ample open space within the compound and you're not really sharing it with anyone.
try and activate the memorial for a warrior, hoping the information might pertain the the glass city.
Your first attempt to contact this object yields nothing.
Also, I remember Michael saying that versers can sense one another, should I be sensing Eli? I've been trying to act under the assumption that my character doesn't know Eli is coming, but it just occurred to me that my character might know. All of what I posted in this post doesn't change though, but it might change what I do next post whether I know or not.
Well, yes, versers can sense each other, but: it happens when you are relaxed, and you've been pretty busy lately; and you can't distinguish one sense from another, so the presence of Annie and Paul in the compound means you are almost always feeling a couple of such vectors, so you would have to think about it while you were relaxed to realize that there was another.
As to whether you would feel his presence were you to relax and think about it, that's not something I have to decide yet. My intent is indeed to bring him into your world with you and let you work together for a bit, and so in his timeline he is at the Michael's Foxhole that is a mere ten miles from your location, and he detects people that direction; but since I don't know what he's going to do, I'm not going to say that you do detect him, because as long as neither of you necessarily knows the other is present you don't have to be on the same calendar. That means you can burn up ten days to his two or two days to his ten, and as long as it doesn't result in you having been there while he was there I can mesh the calendars in the post in which you discover each other. Once you "sense" him, though, I've got to lock your calendars together, which might hamper play for one or the other of you.
--M. J. Young
Sat Mar 13 2010 3:27 am # -
Glantri
MemberOk, well unless I manage to think of some sort of transport I'll have to start getting in better shape and learn to run long distances better. As such I'd like to do the following routine for 2 months, and see what my progress report with running is at that point.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1-2 Try to activate memorial2-3 Eat
3-4 Contemplate different approaches to trip to Glass city
4-4.5 Physical training- stretcing
4.5-6.5 Physical training- laps - running
6.5-7 Physical training- laps - walking
7-8 Eat
8-10 Bowl
10-13 Make Clothing - 3 Sleeveless shirts, 3 loose shorts, 3 boxers, Hooded cloak
13-14.5 Physical training - stretching
14.5-16.5 Physical training - laps - running - with loaded pack
16.5-17 Physical training - laps - walking - with loaded pack
17-18 Eat
18-19 Try to activate memorial
19-20 stretch/try to relax muscles
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I'll continue trying to activate the memorial at the beginning and end of every day until I manage to get it working. I only intend to listen to it, can't imagine a reaction that would be required to it. I'm just hoping it gives helpful information for the upcoming trip I'm planning.The contemplating the different approaches for 3-4 is really I just can't think of something to fill in there, and it's what most of my days are going to consist of, I like to over prepare.
For running/walking I'll have my path be around the outsider perimeter of Umak Tek. My goal is to be able to run at my top speed for the entire two hours (not something I expect to be able to do, but it's the goal I'm striving towards, not necessarily moving faster but just being able to maintain my max speed longer.)
The walking afterward is just to cool down.
Bowling is mainly to relax, and I'll skip that on days when I'm physically too tired from the previous physical training.
Paul had mentioned earlier that there was material to make clothing out of, I'd like to make 3 sleeveless shirts, 3 loose shorts, 3 pairs of boxers, and a hooded cloak. I'm not looking to make these all at one time, but to make comfortable pieces of clothing, when they get made over the time period isn't terribly important to me.
The second physical training session is the same as the first except with my backpack loaded, to simulate the possible return back with psionic devices.
During the 18-19 block after I manage to get the memorial working I'll dedicate that time to doing wash when need be, otherwise just an empty hour.
The 19-20 hour is to stretch and relax my muscles so that I sleep better, sleeping tense leaves me grouchy for the next day.
Sat Mar 13 2010 5:41 am # -
I have lots of questions.
My first question is, how are you measuring a month?I'd like to do the following routine for 2 months....
There is the possibility of measuring it by the phases of the moon; but you've been here long enough to know that the moon in this world doesn't have phases--it rises at sunset and sets at sunrise, and is always full.
You could mean anything from twenty-eight to thirty-one days, using NagaWorld days as your reference.
However, it is certainly worth noting that a NagaWorld day is forty hours--nearly twice what an Earth day is. You could be counting anything from fourteen to sixteen NagaWorld days as the equivalent of a month.
Similarly, thirty earth days is seven hundred twenty hours, which is eighteen NagaWorld days; thus you could be thinking anything from seventeen to nineteen and a half NagaWorld days as the equivalent of a month.
Yeah, alien worlds do make such statements at the least interesting.
Make Clothing - 3 Sleeveless shirts, 3 loose shorts, 3 boxers, Hooded cloak
There is material for making clothing here. The questions are, do you have any skills at this, and how much of the "making" are you going to do?
I'll work backwards.
Cloth is made on a loom, five feet wide and capable of making bolts of considerable length, if you've the patience. This is made from thread or twine or yarn, the yard or cord twisted from the thread. The thread is spun on a spinning wheel from fibers. The fibers are obtained by soaking and smashing the plentiful grass or the rarer creeper vines.
Fiber from the creeper vine tends to be coarse and absorbent. Cloth is similar to burlap; paper (there is also a paper making system) is akin to grocery bags; rope is twine-like or like hemp rope when wound heavier. Grass fiber is smooth and synthetic in feel. Cloth from it is like nylon, tending to shed water; "paper" is more like plastic sheeting, like a camper's ground cloth; rope is like nylon rope, tending to stretch and being very smooth in the hands.
There is a push-type lawnmower apparently made from the plastic steel for "harvesting" grass. In the areas surrounding Umak Tek there is in addition to the orange grass a much redder orange grass, which grows that color from being fertilized with the sewage from the truck. Materials made from that grass are more resilient and have more of those "synthetic" qualities. The people in the compound use the designation "improved" for plastic steel, cloth, or "paper" made from the reddish grass.
So, what's your intention for these clothes of yours, and what skills do you already have in the field of making cloth and clothing?
1-2 Try to activate memorial....
18-19 Try to activate memorial
Your effort that morning goes wrong, and you wind up contacting the psionic computer instead. Anything you'd like to do while you're in there?
That evening you manage to contact the Kraal memorial. You get a great deal of information about this kraal's brave deeds in battle on three other worlds, but nothing about NagaWorld. One of those worlds is described as having powerful creatures made of metal used as riding beasts that were able to throw metal and fire great distances. The second indicates that most of the population were powerless but that there were a few who had great power, and that somehow the powers of the kraal were stifled so that the few powerful beings among the locals were able to throw fire and ice and to warp time and space, while the kraal were considerably more limited and won the day mostly by prowess in hand-to-hand combat and overwhelming numbers. The third indicates that the kraal fought with very powerful psionic abilities against an inferior foe.
In no case did the kraal use so much as a spear; the only weapons used were psionic.
--M. J. Young
Sun Mar 14 2010 9:23 pm # -
Glantri
MemberI'll go with 60 Nagaworld days. So 2400 hours.
For the clothes, I'll make all of it from the reddish grass so that it's the "improved" cloth.
As to the extent to what I do with making the clothes, I'll do every part of the creation, from mowing the reddish grass down to the final production of the clothing. I have no preexisting skills in clothing creation, but with 60 days to learn/make the clothing I'll hopefully be able to pick it up and make a suitably comfortable/fitting set of clothing.For the psionic computer I may as well make use of the mishap and check out number 3, ordering information for additional computers.
Not sure whether the information from the memorial will be useful currently, but perhaps it'll prove useful in the future.
I'll continue with the routine I laid out, but with the two hours a day that are now opened up since I've learned what I can from the memorial I'll dedicate them to the production of my clothing, in case it proves more difficult than I anticipate.
Sun Mar 14 2010 10:23 pm # -
Your first day of effort you gather a significant amount of the reddish grass, smash it and wash it and repeat the process, and then manage to operate the spinning wheel to create thread. You create several large spools of the stuff in your efforts.
You can of course weave with thread, which gives you a very fine tight-mesh thin cloth; or you can twist the thread into something heavier, a yard, and weave with that. It uses more thread to make the yarn, but the cloth is thicker and you spend much less time weaving.
The third level of the computer goes into a sales pitch, assuring you that your chosen computer will be provided and delivered by kraal supply in and from the glass city. It then begins describing various types of computers. Yours appears to be a home entertainment version; there are military versions, versions for aiding in construction/engineering, educational versions for the young, and several others; they appear to be color-coded.
--M. J. Young
Wed Mar 17 2010 1:05 am #
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