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August 23 Chapter 3: SecretsEifah opened his eyes and quickly shut them against the morning sunlight. The large, diamon-shaped window situated beside his cot allowed the intense sunlight Alya sunlight to wake him up early. Aldwyn always awoke early so he forbade Eifah to hang anything over the window. Aldwyn felt that Every moment of the day was to be spent awake, sleeping during time you could be doing something was a waste.
Stretching, he swung his legs over the side of the cot. Eifah rubbed the sleep out of his eyes after he had gotten dressed and glanced back out the window. Outside he saw a blue sky dotted with clouds, occassionally obscured by the boughs of oak trees. Not like the ones in the park.. these ones were beautiful. Unwithered, undying, they must have been around fifty feet tall... he couldn't quite place his finger on it, something just seemed strange about them. Even the leaves seemed to glow unnaturally in the sunlight. The arrangement of the trees and how they grew seemed unnatural, it was too... perfect. There was nothing unpleasant about it. The trees immediately surrounding the tower weren't nearly as old as the others below the hill, where the tower was located. Their predecessors had been cut down by Aldwyn years ago and used in the construction of his dwelling. If they had still remained, Eifah was sure that the sunlight wouldn't have been able to find a way through their thick trunks.
He heard the ceiling start creaking, a sign that Aldwyn had just awoken as well. Eifah's cot was on the 8th floor, while while Aldwyn's bed was on the ninth. He suspected this was so Aldwyn could keep guard on the door to the tenth floor, despite the twelve locks already securing it against intrusion. Sighing, Eifah got up and descended each floor of the tower until he was at the base level, where the workshop was. Crossing the cold stone floor in his bare feet, Eifah knelt down and struggled with the iron handle of the cellar door. After several minutes of heaving at it, wooden hatch popped open, almost sending Eifah onto his back. It was times like these that he disliked his masters prowess with mathematics and precision. The circular door was nearly the perfect size for the opening in the floor, what Aldwyn referred to as air-tight. Lanterns that glowed and intense blue without benefit of electricity or flame lit the stairway down into towards cellar, which was a long way down. The farther he delved, the colder it became. This was a daily ritual in the morning, when Eifah would venture down and retrieve the required items for all three meals that day. By the time he finally reached the small chamber, he could see his breath frosting in the lanterns' blue light.
August 21 Chapter 2: ArtA year passed, and still there was nothing. After the sixth month Aldwyn gave up on trying to jog my memory, and Eifah never had another dream in which any remnants of my former life were recovered. That dream from the first night he can ever remember sleeping was the only proof to himself that he had existed before that day. Aldwyn had done his best to fill in the blanks, telling Eifah about their short history and what he had apparently told Aldwyn in that time. Eifah detected no deception from Aldwyn... and ever since he had awoken the old man had shown in nothing but kindness and patience in re-acquainting Eifah with his old life, "You came to me a year ago as an orphan who had heard of the secluded artist in the forest, seeking to become my apprentice. It's been a lonely existence even in the beautiful place, so I took you in. You told me that you had lived on a farm not far from Nalien, the town on the edge of the forest... somehow the house had caught fire... but anyways, you were unwilling to speak of such things, and eventually you came out of your stupor as I introduced you to the world of an artisan. I found that creating a fellow artist was more rewarding than creating art itself."
"I've lived here all my life, " Eifah remembered Aldwyn telling him one day while he was assisting the old man with a painting, "I built this tower with my own hands. I carted the stone from a quarry north of here, and I harvested the lumber from this forest. Unless you treat your creations like art, then they'll be nothing more objects designed to serve a purpose... I do not simply live here; this is my home."
That day Eifah's job was to mix paints, keep different size brushes on stand-by in case they were required. Other days he prepared clay, sharpened tools and knives, cleaned up the workshop in the base level of the tower, swept, cooked, as well as dozens of other small jobs. It took several months but Eifah adapted to the role of Aldwyn's apprentice and ward.
Eifah had been astonished when he first saw Aldwyn's workshop. There were shelves lined with books, some with gleaming, hard leather covers, while others were falling apart and eaten by mould. The room itself was filled with a many strange things... clay blocks and sculptures, an easel surrounded by different paints and ingredients for mixing, paintings, a large map, a forge, a kiln, and hundreds of miscellaneous tools. It took him several minutes take in all of it's aspects, but it was overwhelming to see the instruments of almost every art imaginable crammed into one place.
Sometimes they went into the town on the western outskirts of the forest to sell and trade with the local farmers and whoever else took interest in Aldwyn's art. The old artist claimed he only did it for money and didn't care, but Eifah noticed how pleased he looked when people praised his work. One day they had both arrived back at the workshop after one such occassion. His master hadn't been aware that he was being observed, but Eifah saw him lingering around a trial piece of a painting that had just been sold. He had a sad look in his eye, as if he had parted with a child. He never made duplicates of his work. In the beginning Eifah had thought Aldwyn's isolated existence and obsession with art were unhealthy, but as time passed he began to understand just how beautiful it was to translate thought and emotion into artwork. It's like physically moulding something into the shape of your thoughts, weaving yourself into it. During each stage of it's creation, the art feels like it is a part of you; but when it's complete, that intimate connection is severed. You can never make anything exactly like it again, and it's as unique as you are.
When he sold the painting, Aldwyn was handing over something which had his soul etched into it.
Another day soon after Eifah's awakening, he had gone to the upper levels of the tower with Aldwyn to store new 'creations', as his master dubbed his works. There were 9 levels to the tower, and each one was filled with Aldwyn's work. Piles of objects and crates, each one imaginative and magnificent in it's own way. From the looks of it, Aldwyn had been here his whole life, devoting each day to making something new. A tenth level existed, but Eifah had found the door locked; in fact, about 12 different locks ran down the door. Half of them were some sort of contraptions requiring some sort of numeral combination to be unlocked, while the other 6 required keys. The door itself was solid wood strapped with iron.
"Aldwyn... whats on the tenth floor?" he had asked one day over a breakfast of soup and bread.
Aldwyn cast him a strange look that almost caused Eifah to shrivel back. He had only received that look once before, and whenever he received it' it was because he had accidently come upon a topic which Aldwyn had unforgiving memories of.
"Nothing which neither you or I shall lay eyes on until it turns to dust. You are never to try going onto that floor or inquire about entering. I've reserved that space for very valuable personal effects from another time.. which I am unready to dispose of..." Eifah nodded and that was the end of it. Eifah had learned much of himself from his master, but there was much that Aldwyn kept secret about his own life. He never told Eifah exactly where he had come from, only the details of his life so far lived in his tower. Later while Eifah was in study, he concluded that he would find out what it was that his master was determined to keep hidden from him and others. Eifah was painting the scene from his first dream; the dark, broken city, side-by-side with the jet black ocean, and both overshadowed by the lightless sky. Texturing the darkness of the city and getting the right shade of black for each part was difficult, but Eifah was satisfied and heartened by his progress. Whenever he made an irrepairable mistake, he left it as it was. The painting was only half completed since most if his days were spent doing chores for Aldwyn or assisting him in his own works, so he viewed it as a long term project. The image itself never dulled or left his mind, even a year later... August 14 Chapter 1: ReminisceHe dreamt of many things that night. He stood on a hill, covered in thick, dark green grass, illuminated by the pure white light of the moon. Fireflies danced in the air and many stars lit up the sky. It was a truly beautiful sight to behold. He breathed in the cool, salty air, and looked to his left over an ocean. The jet black water stretched out from a beach somewhere far below hilltop, it's horizon illuminated in the distance bt the large, brightly shining moon which sat not too far above it. Before him in the distance he could see a city. It sprawled over the hills, tiny and large houses, grain mills, massive towers, and innumarable other structures he did not know how to describe. What stood out first and foremost however was a large palace, it's remparts and towers clearly visible, stretching far into the sky. The city itself was lit up by hundreds of small dots of red and blue light. It was awe-inspiring. He felt something wet below his eye. Reaching up a gloved hand he wiped it away and examined the moisture on the leather. When he looked up he saw no rain clouds.
Where had it come from?
The scene changed. Now he stood on a high cliff, overlooking a city. It was nothing like the one he had seen before however. It was massive, crawling over a dark landscape, encircled by great stone walls, mostly crumbled and in great disrepair; but dark sentires, undistinguishable from that distance, watched.. . The air was cold, and in the distance great smoke stacks billowed ash and smoke into the sky. To his right he saw hundreds of massive platforms dotting the ocean, which blew great clouds of steam into the air. When he looked up, there were no stars, just darkness; he couldn't tell if it was because of the smoke and steam, or if there were none to be beheld. A great, obsidian palace sat in the middle of the necropolistic monstrosity, it's towers stretching so high, they pierced the skyward darkness like monolithic spears. The entire sight was chilling, there was no sound at all... just an eerie, deathly silence. The acrid breeze from the ocean changed direction, picking up force and whistling in his ears, carrying a chill combination of notes that almost echoed through the air as words...
"Welcome home..."
The city sped towards him, the dark buildings and great clouds of smoke blurring and stretching as he was pulled inside. As soon as the uncomfortable experience began, it ended. The world returned to it's normal proportions, and he found himself stading on a think, stone bride, suspended between to of the monolithic towers. Shining Obsidian stone glinted whatever little right there was to be had, reflecting a dull shadow of the world in which it dwelled. He could smell flames as he lay flat on his back, dazed with blood obscuring the vision in his right eye. Above him stood an imposing figure, dressed in black armor, vertically holding a cruel, jagged blade inches away from his chest. The black armor was slick with blood, and the figures breathes were deep and ragged, misting infront of his dark, shrouded face.
He felt wounds of his own, deep cuts and gashes marring his body, thankfully he was too weak to see them.
"Goodbye... Eifah." The sword slid down into his chest, piercing his heart and he felt agony like which he had never experienced. Someone not in his field of vision screamed..
He cried out as he awoke again, breathing quickly from the remnants of panic that his illusory death had induced. Reflexively he felt his chest, and there were no fatal stab wounds to be found. He sighed and fell back down onto his pillow. The light from the diamon shaped window was dim, but he estimated it was sometime before down that he had just awoke. The pain in his body had lessened, and he managed to push himself up and see outside for the first time since he had woken up in this mysterious place; and what he saw awed him. Wherever he was must have been situated on a large hill, for he had a view over a great forest. Thick boughs of green leaves and massive thick trunks in every direction. When he looked up, he could see that the stars were still shining brightly despite the ever lightening twilight. As in his dream, he saw the moon far in the distance, sitting overtop of what he thought was an ocean; the only reason he could barely see it now was the considerable elevation of wherever it was he occupied. He never really appreciated how incredible it truly was until the sun began climbing past the horizon. At first the rays of sunlight only touched the tips of the trees, but over a small time the light of dawn illuminated everything. The very leaves on the boughs seemed lumiscent, glowing in response to the sunlight. It was like nothing he had ever seen... not that he could recall anything to compare it to, except for the marvelous and horrific cities he had seen in his dreams.
He was torn away from his reverie and fixation on the new world he had just been introduced to as he heard footsteps creeking on the wooden stairs behind his cot. With effort he managed to sit up, but only caused himself to grunt in pain when he tried to twist around.
"Don't exert yourself. You look much better than yesterday but you still hurt yourself pretty badly." said Aldwyn as he came into view, hlding another tray and setting it down on the bed.
The proceedings were much like the day before, only this time, thankfully, he fed himself inbetween questions which were designed to guage the abation of his temporary memory loss. He ate his bowl of soup and an apple, giving an endless string of no's and I don't knows to the questions put to him. By the end he put the tray onto a box near the bed.
Aldwyn wiped his mouth from the food he had been eating meanwhile.
"How are you feeling today?" he asked, gathering up both trays and getting up from the small wooden chair that still sat beside the cot.
"I'm feeling better, at least now I can move somewhat and can feed myself, and my body no longer hurts everywhere as if I rolled off a cliff" he replied, recalling the unpleasant memoru of the day before when he had been spoon-fed by an old man he had only just met, with no memory.
"Well thats good, " said Aldwyn, smiling, "I'll you'll be back to your duties and chores within the week then I hope. I'm getting old and carrying you up all those flights of stairs was trying! I'll be back upstairs in a while to help jog your memory after I've returned these to the kitchen.." and with that he turned around and slowly made his way to the stair case.
"Wait! Is my name Eifah?" he asked quickly, since Aldwyn had neglected to ask that question.
As soon as the name left his lips he saw the old man stiffen and stop moving, and he ramained there for a minute or so.
"Yes.. it is. Your memory is coming back to you?" he said slowly, turning and looking him straight in the eyes.
"No... someone called me it in a dream... and thats all I remember..."
Aldwyn nodded, the steely gaze dropping and his body visibly relaxing, then he gave what looked like a relieved smile and continued back down the staircase. August 13 The Perfect MMORPGHeyy, if you're not interested in games, then you'll probably get bored after the first sentence or two. Unless you're a gamer or are into MMORPG's (massively multiplayer online role-playing games) then I would recommend clicking the x in the top right corner of your screen or going immediately to myspace.
I was thinking about role-playing games today, and I realized how pointless and arduous all modern online role-playing games really are.
When you play a game, you want to enjoy it. When I play a single-player rpg, I enjoy it, because the storyline is mostly in sync with the gradual advancement of my character's level and equipment.
However, when you take this experience to online where many people play together, it becomes butchered and twisted. I'm saddened that online role-playing games aim to design their game specifically to addict the player rather than give them a truly enjoyable gaming experience which will keep them coming back.
In the modern online rpg, you level up, kill stuff, and buy items. At first it seems fun, but it gradually becomes harder and harder. As well you want to be a higher level because you see a bunch of other players with wicked armor and weapons pwning everything. This causes you to play more and try harder, gradually being enslaved by a system that makes you want to play just so you can be the best.
To do this you must invest countless hours into playing the online rpg, but what do you have to show for it?
Anyone can do this, there is absolutely no skill involved. Just the minor satisfaction of having a cool looking character that is better than everyone else's. This is not fun. This is stupid and vain.
This is why I am never playing free online games. I would rather pay a fee, because I know that' the money is going towards the maintenance of the game and the advancement of the story. However even the pay-ones use the system described above to suck in players.
Now, what would the perfect online rpg be like? (in my opinion[which if ur not interested in then.. go away or something])
1. Characters:
a) You can make your character look/sound however you want, within reasonable bounds.
b) There would be no class system. Pick up up a sword or a bow, wear a breast plate or a dress, whatever the fuck you want to use.
2. Anti-Levels/Pro-Skill
There would be no level system. Yes, that is right, no levels in an rpg.
When you first make your character, you will be given a large amount of initial points to allocate to many specific character attributes, and that will be it for your character's existence. The only thing that will increase over time is your Fatigue.
Rather than in like most modern online games, where you're level 58937583, click on stuff and your wicked character goes and pwns it while you laugh and clap, you will actually be required to become skilled in the control of your character.
Example: You have character who is currently in a fight with another character. Lets say you have block, strafe right/left, roll, dodge right/left/back, jump, attack, etc, available to you through use of the mouse, the arrow keys/letter keys and combinations of keys. THis is not complicated. If kids can master dance dance revolution, flash flash revolution, and guitar hero, then this would be a breeze with practise, and would feel much more rewarding than watching your character take turns slashing/getting slashed, and winning or losing because he's a higher/lower level. Inbetween battle's your character will regain health faster
Note: I am well aware of the complications of multiple enemy combat. This would be based on a targeting system, allowing the player to cycle between targets in whichever fashion he chooses(or automatic cycling according to the most immediate threats. The fact is, if you're up against 8 enemies, you won't have high levels to save you from being killed. Someone will stab you in the back and you will die. Party combat will be a large part of the game. I have not completely refined the system in my head but theoretically a skilled player could come out on top.
The enemies will have non-displayed levels which determine their combat AI, depending on what they are and which point of the game they are in. As you progress through the game, you will become faster and more skilled at controlling your character in fights.
3. Money and Equipment
In this game, your character will be able to wear whatever he or she wants. As well you can change it's color. MOST of the game will be based around advancing through the story, not mindlessely killing things repeatedly for 3 hours so you can go up levels like in other games.
As well s/he will be able to change specific colors of their equipment.
The armor/attire will have no beneficial effects.
Some weapons will do more/less damage than others or have faster/slower attacking speeds, depending on the allocation of your characters attribute points and the type of weapon. Certain specials items will be available through completion of very difficult quests, but they will still only serve cosmetic purposes and have no super bonus effects. Weapons might however, I still haven't figured that part out.
4. Skills/Magic
In modern online rpg's, you buy a skill or get it, add points to it and put it to a hot key.
In the my pefect rpg, using skills would be quite hard. To use special skills/magic you will be required to execute fast combinations of keys during combat.
Outside of battle certain skills would be simple to use.
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