Piper

We're not that exciting... or at least I'm sure not anyway ;p

(Hopefully this gets through okay, I'm visiting down in England with a crap connection)

Now that I've got my password back...

Yep, we're still around. There are a few of us who are on for at least a few hours every day, but we aren't sitting in Olympus, no. We're usually off doing something or hunting. That said, most of those left don't seem to like forums much, so we keep in contact in other ways.

Many of us have odd schedules or ones that are flipped from the norm due to jobs and such. Like I live in Scotland now, so personally my gametime hours have changed since I'm five hours head. (10 PM Eastern is 3 AM here, so that's a bit late for me.) Stuff like that is why you probably wouldn't catch anyone on a walkthrough.

Hope you've been well, and Merry Ecksmas/Happy Mayan Apocalypse

Copypasta'd from here: http://catskills-rp-portal.proboards.com/i...&thread=956

Dove's invited us to attend if any of you would like to. She's a very nice lady who's trying to do what she can for the community, so I'd encourage you to go if possible. :3

Event: The Community Center Grand Opening

Date: Sunday, December 27, 2009

Time: In-door Market 3:00-5:00 pm EST, Skills Auction 5:00-6:00 pm EST

Location: Community Center (follow the URL below for directions)

Invitation for Merchants:

In that the Community Center exists for community use, what better way to spend a grand opening then to hold an in-door market where members of the community can buy, sell, trade, and meet one another. We welcome any merchant seeking to sell their wares. The Center provides two floors of open space where merchants can set up a booth, layout wares, and even erect temporary forges and other crafting necessities (locked down for your convenience and safety). Contact me via pigeon (ICQ # 1480367) for a time to customize your booth.

Invitation to Customers:

What vendors gain in convenience, they sorely lack in personality. After all, vendors do not haggle, they do not take custom orders, trade, or converse. If you have never experienced a public market, I encourage you to come to the grand opening, to make contacts with the people you buy from, to build a rapport with the craftsmen themselves. Besides the guest merchants present for the market, the Center’s own permanent shops will be open and their shop owners available for business.

Skills Auction:

After the market, the Center will be hosting a skills auction. At the auction, volunteers will auction off their skills to the highest bidder (proceeds will be used to fund future community events). Need a miner for ingots, stone, or gems? Require the services of smith to turn those raw materials into something special? Desire an imbuer to enchant the perfect magic item, or an adventurer to protect you for an hour or two of dungeoneering? Come to the skills auction and see who is up for bid.

Whatever your reason for coming, we hope to see you at the Community Center Grand Opening. Please follow the URL below to learn more about the Community Center.

Sincerely,

Dove the Healer and the Community Center Staff

http://community-center.homestead.com/index.html

Hahaha, what the hell?

At least there wasn't a llama with a purple scarf this time...

Tonight (or last night now, technically) Mesanna and Kasaven very kindly set up for us a banner in front of the castle! It matches the imperial banners that are on the rest of our buildings.

From left to right, we have: Knight Julia Parvon, Amelia Leigh, Azrael, Senator Eban, Emeritus Greg, Knight Kaylor, Knight Scarst, Empress Piper, Praetorian Laurana, and Mesanna. Kasaven is being sneaky and hiding under the tree.

Also, Julia's half apron was rather flattering on Mesanna:

Thanks to Katherine for proposing this awesome idea to the event staff, and thank you very much, Mesanna, Kasaven, and Cernunnos, for jumping on it and taking time out of your evening to do this for us. It's very much appreciated. You're all great, and it's nice to have staff around who are as involved as you guys. This is a wonderful addition to the city, and we're glad to have it.

IN A WORLD WHERE PREHISTORIC BEASTS ROAM THE OPEN PLAINS

AN ELITE ORGANIZATION FORMS TO KEEP SOCIETY FREE FROM THE GRASP OF THEIR POINTY, POINTY TALONS

...............sort of.

Coming soon to a theater near you!

http://s615.photobucket.com/player.swf?fil...p;os=1&ap=1

(It wasn't choppy while I was playing but it recorded that way, aaaaaaa)

...So maybe we got a little bored after Vallend and his posse left. Or maybe we've seen Jurassic Park a few too many times. But such speculation has no place here. Know only that should you ever need a pack of ornery raptors wrangled, we're your guys.

And now she's 120 imbuing as of yesterday. :O

Evidently, Borg would like the birthdays of all you PGoH folks, so this is the mighty thread of birthdays. Post them hereabouts! I'll keep a running list in this first post as you guys add them.

January

7

- Greg

11

- Scarst

February

5

- Kodoz

March

20

- Kei Wa

April

1

- Katherine

15

- Callista

October

27

- Thom

November

16

- Piper

Among the patrons of Galehaven last night were a few pirates. For reasons unbeknown to us, they didn't even attempt to relieve us of our alcohol. Perhaps it was because they made enough revenue from their black market to be complacent for the evening, but they were actually rather civil! We even decided to have an impromptu darts competition with the conditions for winning set by Emissary Rotep.

The participants were Piper, Aneirin, and Pike. Sharkeye Pike, that is. (Not the pretty one. That's his brother Hawkeye.) While Kaylor, Trinsac, and James looked on, the three lined up as they were told in a marvelous display of colorful tricorne hats. Pike was up first, but he wasn't without trepidation as he approached the dartboard... completely sober. His sobriety meant the odds were against him, as he apparently has better aim while drunk! He missed the board entirely the first time, and it was clear that the pirate needed a drink as he sat down to collect himself.

It was Rotep who came to the rescue with a bottle of ale. Now with a new wind under his sails, a slightly-inebriated Pike took his final two shots with great success.

Next up was Cupcake's would-be suitor, Aneirin. His round was not all that impressive (except for his techniques, which involved throwing over the shoulder and in all kinds of entertaining poses). Pike still had the lead so far, though. Aneirin's last dart clearly hit for a five, but the salty archer insisted that it was a ten. Rotep remained unconvinced, and this further agitated the pirate, who argued that his total score should be a twenty.

There was only one way to solve this dispute before it got ugly -- according to Rotep, at least -- and this was through fire mathematics. There aren't many practitioners of this fringe discipline, but fortunately, one such mathematician was present last night. Piper, however, was oblivious to the conversation as she readied herself for her own try at the darts by pulling her hat down over her eyes so that she couldn't see the target.

Blinded under the hat, she stumbled around and asked if that was fire she heard crackling. James replied that the results of his combustible calculations indicated that Aneirin's score was actually nineteen and three quarters, and none could really argue with solid math. Piper then took her turn, which didn't end so well, for whatever reason. Some would say it probably had something to do with the fact that she couldn't see what she was throwing at, but that's an amateur assumption. This meant Sharkeye Pike had won the game, taking a small purse of gold coins as his prize. The group sat down as they prepared for a second round of darts, and Pike ordered himself another drink for good measure. Something was funny about that particular bottle of wine, though, since it kind of exploded in a fiery blast onto him and Piper when he went to drink it!

After everyone recovered from the shock of the exploding wine, they decided to begin the next game. Pike was up again! This time, perhaps inspired by James' fire math, he decided to get all fancy schmancy with his technique. Chugging his drink in one mighty gulp, he proclaimed loudly, "Lemme do dis! I will now throw thru fire!" And, sure enough, he cast the field and did just that.

He still did very well, and James knew this could only mean one thing...

Even amid the cries of witchery, the self-proclaimed drunkard again outperformed both of the other contestants. Piper tried a second time to play while blindfolded by her hat, but Aneirin really has no excuse for losing. He's just that lousy at darts, I suppose.

Apparently content now that he'd taken everyone's money in the winnings, Pike decided it was time to turn in for the night, but not before offering a suggestion on the volatile state of the tavern's refreshments...

It wasn't long before the rest of the gang took their leave as well. Even though the notorious Sharkeye Pike had managed to lighten the pockets of the other contestants, everyone still had a good time, and no one even got stabbed! Just remember to keep an eye out for landlubber bartenders serving exploding wine.

First of all, our own tavern will be open Saturday, following the Black Market (details below). This will be the first night in the newly-rebuilt Galehaven, so please come by if you can!

The pirates have their Black Market at 8 PM EST. This is always a fun event. Copied from their page:

The Black Market (Every first Saturday of the Month, 8pm EST)

The United Pirates of Catskills announce the next Black Market event for September 5th, 8 pm EST! During this monthly recurring event, you can sell, buy or trade your wares! The facts:

• Merchants can claim a personal market stand where they can advertise and sell their products. The merchants should enter the list of their products into the book locked down on their market stand (at least one day prior to the event, so people can come by and check on the items).
  
  
• The prices should be LOWER than the regular Luna vendor prices! Bargaining is encouraged!
  
  
• Are you looking for a certain item? You can post your request on the bulletin board out front of the Black Market. Merchants can check the board beforehand and have the appropriate items ready for sale. The board will be wiped after the Black Market is over.
  
  

If you want to sell contraband, you can simply come to the Black Market building prior to the event and enter your name and your item list into one of the (empty) books on the market stands. By doing that you have claimed the market stand and may use it exclusively during the event. The Black Market building is located next to our Jolly Roger Inn.

Edit: Originally, we were going to open following the EM event, but that's been rescheduled to tomorrow. That said, we'll be open at the usual time: 9 PM.

While I'm at it, from the Catskills EM front page:

5 Sep - Into The Shadows – Time/Date Change

by Kasaven

Due to unforseen cirumstance, the event time for the Into The Shadows event has been changed.

Meet at the counselor’s hall, in Britain, on Sunday, September 6th, at 9 p.m. EST.

Sorry for the inconvenience.

Aneirin could do that but the god of suicide isn't on the list haha.

I prefer the idea of the joust over the pvp event. The joust is more accesible and it is something we're known for doing. I was planning on restarting the monthly jousts after the celebration. If we did do a pvp event instead then i'd suggest gm only armor and weapons. It just makes it more challenging and more skill based.

Piper's net tossing idea could work too. Better than being killed in 5 seconds by a bunch of stinking pirates with potions haha

James firebombing the place would be a little past mischievous I think...

As far as the riddle event I suggested... i've been thinking on doing that for a while now and have a couple of ways to do it to minimize cheating and griefers from ruining it for everyone.

The taming event would probably be our best bet. I'm not sure who else would have problems with an animal fighting event but I know Thom would never be ok with it IC.

...Maybe Aneirin IS the god of suicidal tendencies and reckless behavior.

I'm totally fine with a joust as opposed to pvp for Mars. Like we've both said, it can include a wider audience for participation. That's the same reason I was suggesting the nets, honestly. There seems to be potential for more people to get involved.

There are some good ideas here! It would be awesome if we could get Borg to drop by for one of the events so he could see, but I don't know how plausible that is. I thought we'd discussed it with him last time he was on to hang with us, but I can't remember now. I'm just wondering, do you think we can fit all this into a week? Haha. Seriously, bards' nights in and of themselves can take ages. We'll really need to get serious on implementing time constraints, or we could be there for hours on end, and people start to get pretty bored after that long. Plus, if some people tell excessively long ones, other people who wanted to participate may not be able to if they don't have the time to stay all night. So yeah, that's one suggestion.

• Zeus -- Nthing the opening/closing ceremonies jazz.
  
• Mars -- A joust would be more accessible, although pvp may be more fitting. As always, with these events, I support providing GM armor for participants. I feel like that way, it really comes down to raw skill more than to what gimped-out armor you have. Yes, on my fighting character, I lose skillpoints in fencing from my hat and all kinds of stuff when I take off my magic gear, but it makes it more fun. Those are just my thoughts on it if we do a pvp thing, though I'm personally indifferent on whether we do that or a joust. Whatever the majority would prefer.
  
• Ceres -- We could combine the egg hunt and feast. Do the egg hunt first, then have a feast afterward. Everyone will be tired and hungry after chasing all those crazed bunnies anyway! Although I have some ideas on this that I don't want to mention in public. There's a reason for this! I'll mention it to you guys on ICQ or whatever.
  
• Poseidon -- A naval battle could work, as could an event with throwing out special nets to increasing levels of difficulty. That's always fun.
  
• Vulcan -- A bazaar would be great, and the marketplace is the perfect location. Or we could do a street bazaar in Trinsic like we used to.
  
• Apollo -- Bard's night. Yarp. I think Thom and I sorted it out, for the most part.
  
• Vesta -- Interested in hearing ideas on the deco contest. If that doesn't work for whatever reason, we could switch some things around. For example, we could give Vesta the bazaar event, and we could do a different one for Vulcan. One possibility would be protecting blacksmiths as they go into a dungeon to mine, and the first smith to have a certain amount of a predetermined type of ore within a set period of time would win.
  
• Artemis -- Archery contest, duh. Also interested in Scarst's ideas on how to run it. He's been wanting to do this for a looong time.
  
• Mercury -- Something fun since he's my favorite. If memory serves, he does have connotations with gambling for us, though there may be a more creative option. I'll think on it, and we can ask James for advice. Or just make everyone think something else is going to happen and have James come in and firebomb the place in the middle! That's mischievous, right...?
  
• Hades -- A Humility Hunt into one of the creepier dungeons. We'll have to see how many attend and figure out where to go from there, so it's neither too easy nor annoyingly difficult.
  
• Venus -- The doctor challenge sounds neat, but I guess I need it explained more in-depth because I don't know if I'm getting the context right, the more I think about it. I'll ask when I next see you on, Katherine.
  
• Minerva -- I like Thom's idea, except we'd have to have actual people handing out riddle books at the locations or someone would just be a jerk and take the book with the next riddle in it to keep everyone else from playing. This might get too complicated to do, depending on how many people we have available to help with that sort of thing. We could just do a scavenger hunt with riddles type of thing.
  
• Hera -- I was thinking a zoo donation event before seeing others had the same idea. This is a good thing to do for the shard as a whole. Even non-tamers could go and help protect or heal their tamer friends while they get the animals if they were so inclined. There are a number of characters in the guild that IC I don't think would stand for animal fights anyway.
  

Keep the ideas/criticisms coming, guys.

Edit: Damnit Scarst, I just now saw that last post of yours... haha. Piper wranglin'. It's the sport of kings.

Thanks for keeping us updated on your escapades! One thing, though. On your images, you need to begin with img and end with /img, with a slash in front of the closing tag so that the image imbeds instead of turning into text. There's also an Insert Image button when you go to make a post. It's the second button to the right of the emoticon button with the smiley face. Just letting you know so Kodoz doesn't keep having to go in and edit them for you, haha.

So it should be like:

[img=http://www.url.com/image.jpg]

Just testing my sig. The transparency should work on all browsers since I made it a GIF instead of PNG. The one in my actual signature is the GIF. Here is the PNG:

Color quality is better due to not being all compressed/pixelated like GIF does, but I'm not sure how (older versions of) Internet Explorer and other browsers are handing PNGs nowadays. Used to be not very compatible. The edges should be transparent. I'm curious, is it showing up properly for you? I'd rather use the PNG if it's compatible with the more popular browsers since it's a more versatile file type for this kind of thing. If it's working, I'll have to test various things; PNGs' transparency options are awesome.

Sooo please let me know if the one above loads correctly for you or not, and tell me what browser you're using. :> Thanks~

Alsoooooooo, since we're doing this on Wednesday this week, praps we could run it before Que's opens? I try to go there on one of my chars every week I'm able, and I know Scarst does as well.

Just a thought.

I'm a bit late (or early, depending on your point of view) in replying, but anyhow...

If you do any peerless on a weekend and I happen to be about, give me a ring. I'd love to help out.

No scalawags permitted!

No really, we'll let you know if we do. We'd love to have you.

Hey Kat. This is really funny. The first time I viewed your test sig, it showed you thinking about mixing and the next you were running for water. The second time, i still had the first one of you thinking about mixing, and then you were in a ball of fire. Is that how they were supposed to rotate or should it be moving as in a short picture slide?

Since I made the images, I'll comment on this... haha. The first panel is the same in all of the "strips;" it's the second panel that changes. So they all have the mixing potions, but they all have a different "result." That's how they're supposed to rotate; the image refreshes to a different one every time you load the page. :3

[OOC: Kaylor can't access the forums for whatever weird reason, so she asked me to post this for her. It's from the perspective of Ancyous.]

Kay and I spoke last eve. The hour was late, well into morning. He was despondent and for the first time I was totally at a loss to be able to find a means by which to console him. Branded a criminal, he believes himself now very much alone. Friendships he'd thought to have forged seem fragile, dependent upon events and emotions many of which he has neither recollection nor association.

He is bound to a marriage that offers him little, his heart secretly shared with a lycan he cannot hold as a result. He misses Va'lis. They were so close, but because of his revocation of the coven, the vampire has turned away from him. Eban offers his friendship, yet explodes his emotions upon him as though he were the core of their source.

His pain is great. I fear soon to lose him to it.

This is really not the appropriate place for such a discussion. Things like this need to be taken up in private with only the people involved, via PM's, ICQ, or whatever other medium -- but in public on these forums is not fitting.

I don't want this to turn into a place of bickering, and thus the thread is being locked.

I could only come up with one at the moment, soooo have a bit of ska:

1. Streetlight Manifesto - Somewhere in the Between

(I just copy/pasted this from over at the RP Portal because I can do that...! I'll update/edit it as needed.)

• Name: Piper Swift.
• Race: Human.
• Age: Mid-20s.
• Height: Close to 6'2" when wearing her usual boots.
• Build: Lean musculature with strong arms. The lasting impression would be that she's rather lanky.
• Eye color: Muted yellow-green.
• Hair: Naturally honey-colored. She typically keeps it out of the way in a short ponytail, but always lets down the long bangs on the right side to mask the scar on her cheek. Always messy and touseled.
• Complexion: Fair and clear (aside from scars).
• Identifying features: The lower third of her left ear is cut off and healed over. The most visible of her scars is the one running down her right cheek; the others are usually covered by clothing. There is another across her throat, but it doesn't appear to be from too serious a wound. There are several scars on her arms, and a small one on the left side of her abdomen. A fairly long scar swipes across her midsection.
• Et cetera: She is a completely "normal" human with no unusual powers, though she has knowledge of a variety of subjects. Her accent is indistinct. She often flashes a lopsided grin, but is rarely seen smiling. Always carries multiple weapons and is nearly always found with a pipe and a flask on her person.
• Alignment: Chaotic neutral.

(Sorry about the late notice, but it's the best we could do!)

This weekend's event will be something different than usual; we'll be doing PvM this week. We'll be meeting in Chaos, Ilshenar and making our way to Honesty, working together to fight whatever is in our way.

Since it's a different type of event, we're allowing some changes to be made to the rules. Mages will be permitted to wear GM-crafted armor with LRC (still no other mods), and mounts will be permitted.

* Our main rule: Wear only items crafted with normal crafting tools. No Artifacts, no runic-crafted items, no magic mods (other than LRC), no jewelry, no talismans etc.

* As these items can easily be replaced, you don't even need to insure them.

* Due to fairness and balancing, powerful pets are not allowed (for example, no Greater Dragons, no Rune Beetles, or 5 animals with pack instinct). If you want to bring pets, please get a permit from the event organizers first.

* Looting other players is not allowed.

Please head over to the Chaos moongate around 1:45 PM EST tomorrow, Sunday, March 29, so we can get ready to head out. Hope to see you then!

At nine o'clock Eastern time (9:00 PM EST) on Saturday, March 28, Traveling Bard's Night will be hosted by Kate Hawkings once again at the New Port Theater. The event is sponsored by PGoH. The rules of bard's night are simple:

* Leave your conflicts at the door and bring your stories with you.

* No harsh obscenities are to be used in your stories.

* There will be a time limit (usually five minutes, but subject to change due to the number of storytellers).

* All stories must adhere to the theme: "Swords and Sorcery."

The top three will win cash prizes and will be given an invitation to the champions event at a later date.

The prize will be divided as follows: 500,000 gold crowns for first place; 325,000 gold crowns for second; and 175,000 gold crowns for third. Judging will take place by three crowd members chosen at random, who will decide on the winners.

New Port Theater's coordinates are 13. 42'S 2. 19'W in Malas, and gates will be run from New Haven starting at approximately 8:30 to give people time to come sign up. See you there!

A call for support has been posted around public areas throughout the land...

http://catskills-rp-portal.proboards.com/i...y&thread=79

Copies of the message can be found nailed in very visible locations throughout Olympus, along with the following note appended to it:

Guardians,

This is a call to officers, soldiers, and citizens alike.

It seems Silverwood's cause mirrors our own, and the collective voice of the people will ring louder if we rally together alongside those of like mind. Your presence is requested at the march on Castle Blackthorn next Monday night at eight thirty by the Eastern skies. Be in uniform, as always.

I would like to meet with all of you as a group before then. The issue will be addressed at the scheduled Saturday meeting; however, as some are unable to attend, an earlier meeting would be preferable. I will send for you when it seems most of you are available, and if you have any questions or comments, do not hesitate to approach me individually.

Strength and Honor,

*signed* -- Piper Gryphon, Empress

*stamped with her heraldic seal*

*bump* Today at 2 PM EST!