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Post by Gelquie on Sept 30, 2010 18:13:57 GMT -5
Gelquie's Diary
Dear diary,
Today was a busy day, but mainly just for me. Went down to the library to look up one little thing about rainbows, which seemed really silly for me to not be able to explain it. But the library... It really has a tendency to suck me in. And plus, there's that whole thing about becoming engrossed in work and studying.
Started off with rainbows, as I expected. Then I looked at some stuff concerning water. I wonder how much better I could get at convincing people with water illusions, though my last attempt seemed to work pretty well. After water, I started researching environmental stuff. You know, with the whole "light reflecting off of water" thing. Gives me an idea for another illusion, though it's a bit trickier than my usual illusions. I really want to try it, though.
Then I had memories about a certain incident, and went to look up stuff on ninjas. Ninjas are pretty crafty (well, minus that one, for a bit), so my illusions have to be equally crafty in order to defend myself from them. I'm not quite done researching them, though; decided to check some books out and take them to my room. They look to be some really good books. I love a good library.
On my way back, the manor began to act up again. I don't know all the details on what the problem was, but it kept sending us down random hallways while making said halls grow red and adding creepy sounds. It kinda creeped me out as well, at first; I'm still getting used to the idea that the Manor is sentient. But maybe it'd been exposed to too many bad horror stories.
Anyway, red light I could get used to. For the sounds though, when I went back to my room, I tried to drown it out with the sound of a waterfall. The Manor seemed to take this personally, and it blacked out my room. I couldn't get any reading done for a good hour while I tried to sort things out. What a waste.
Anyway, dinner was good. Seemed to be some sort of seafood this time. I've never had it before, but it was really good. I should find out what kind of herbs they added to it.
But first, my reading. I'm going to get back to it.
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Post by zarikrahia on Oct 1, 2010 0:03:12 GMT -5
Day 4:
Got some repairs done on Nau Ilhvren Ayine today. I've got used to Illhvrenans, so it's quite refreshing being back in Spacefleet where most of my colleagues are absolutely lovely. Those cranky old fogeys at the Undercircle ought to take a lesson or five from them. Also, apparently while I was gone a hacker got into my spacefleet email account and used it to send one email about some security tests. I'd quite like to know how they got my password, which is 125 characters long. 80 if you only count letters of the alphabet. Oh well. I've got seventeen passwords on my email account now.
Also, I wonder what I'm supposed to call Fraze now he's commander. I need to ask him about the budget for the Genetics department because it seems very large.
Day 5:
Got some work done on that technology today. This time Amnei remembered not to push any buttons, which was good. Turns out some of the stuff can be used without being reverse-engineered through the use of an energy generator, although if it runs out it's useless. And some of it is totally useless because Spacefleet already has something similar, but that's only to be expected I guess. The Magitek is in Amnei's department now, which is good because prior to that it was all heaped up on one of my lab tables. Sigh.
Also, there is a civilian running around the labs looking for radioactive waste because he thinks splashing some of it on himself will give him powers. Dangerously Genre Savvy, indeed. While I send in the paperwork for issuing everyone in Research with a wristcompi to prevent things like this from slipping under the radar, I will get the security clearance on the labs upped so civilians can't get in.
Day 6:
There are some serious problems associated with being a teenage (technically) female scientist. For one, if one more person mistakes me for a civilian they will wake up tied to an operating table. I'm wearing a spacefleet-issue labcoat, which only gets issued to staff, for one, and I have a nametag. How much more idiotic can these Mooks get?
In other news, I got a new wristcomputer. This one has a visor I can put on to read documents and email with. Better than having them read out when they arrive, right when I'm in the middle of something. Either way it looks very sciencey. Day 4:
Other-Zari may have rubbed off on me. I accidentally knocked a stack of books on myself today. It wasn't a large one, so no harm done, but if I end up at clutzy as she is I may have a problem on my hands. Actually...nevermind. I was just as bad at her age, so I think it's just a coincidence.
Day 5:
GODS BLAST IT IT'S IMPOSSIBLE TO DEAL WITH THIS.
I can't believe the Palace Librarian thought "Danvaro" was the land on the other side of Xenam. That's Danphau- The Land of Desert. Danvaro, The Land of Green, is in fact Dunburrow. The pronunciation is nearly the same, which is confusing, I admit, and he is getting on in years and his head isn't in the best shape, but that was quite a simple mistake.
If I don't finish translating this passage soon, by the time I get out of here it will be sunset. I was hoping to get some sun at some point. Other-Zari makes jokes about me being solar powered, which are some of the few sciencey jokes she makes that I can understand.
Day 6:
I take back what I said about the Librarian. He was sharp enough to pick up on my boredom this time and tell me I didn't have to come every day, for the whole day. So I got some more practice in with the Naginata (for the record, I'm still horrible) and with my sword. Also got to catch up with some more of the knights and acquaint myself with some of the newbies. Everyone's looking well. To bed with me, got a long day tomorrow. |
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Post by Terra on Oct 1, 2010 19:03:01 GMT -5
Terra's diary:
Grrrarrgh. I cannot do ANYTHING with this fire. All I can do with fire is put it out. It's like anti-firepower. (Also, I can't believe I just wrote out "grrrarrgh". What is wrong with me?) But the only magical ability that I currently have is the ability to put out fire, so I would have thought that other fire magic would come easily to me, as well.
Come to think of it, maybe whatever I was doing isn't specific to fire magic at all. Maybe I'm doing something else entirely. That's something I don't really understand about magic - how can you do something without understanding what you're doing?
Well. Time to read up more on magical theory.
The next day:
I want to go into the basement, but nobody will let me. Even the Manor itself seems to be against the idea. The only time I saw a door to the basement, it moved away along the wall as I walked toward it, and I couldn't catch up with it before it disappeared into another room entirely.
I know that it's probably forbidden for a reason, but I've heard there are portals to other worlds that open up down there. That sounds awesome. A large part of the reason I came here was to see things like that!
...Not that the other things I see here aren't awesome.... Maybe I should count my blessings and leave it alone.
Ha. Since when do I leave things alone?
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Post by Amneiger on Oct 1, 2010 23:16:32 GMT -5
Entry #537
A non-researcher got into the lab sector today. He wanted something to do with radioactive waste materials. Eventually a few security droids came along, picked him up, and carried him out. He asked if the droids were radioactively powered. I had to tell him that no, they plugged into wall sockets and spend eight hours a day recharging from the central power grid. He seemed disappointed by that; maybe he was hoping that if he was bitten by a radioactive robot, he'd get robot powers.
On to the things Zari brought. None of them were guns this time. This is a good thing. In any case, each of the objects is in its own containment box in case one of them turns out to be a dormant combat droid that activates under some obscure set of circumstances that will make it unfold itself and spray everything that moves with laser fire. That's never actually happened, but today seemed a good day to be paranoid.
A quick overview didn't give anything that lies too far outside the fields I'm familar with, so for the moment I've kept all of them. I've given each of them a number in no particular order, to be replaced with more descriptive names as soon as I figure out more things about them.
I will be placing object 1 into the testing bay in a few minutes.
Entry #538
Object was smooth box with some kind of grille on the front of it. There were scruff marks and dirt streaks all over it, so it seems it's seen a lot of use. There was a large button and some kind of dial on the top of it. Internal scans show that behind the grille is an energy emitter designed to project ultraviolet light. Zari picked up at a flea market and was told that this was supposed to be some kind of TV. Unfortunately, whenever it's activated it only projects a solid screen of ultraviolet onto whatever surface it's pointed at. (I wasn't directly observing the projected image, but was watching it remotely in case there's a setting where the ultraviolet gets turned up to some kind of energy ray that bounces off the projection surface and kills anyone standing behind it.) Turning the dial subtly changes the wavelength of the ultraviolet waves, but otherwise did nothing.
After a number of tests involving things such as using different power voltages, putting transparent objects (such as frames from old projector reels) in front of the grille, and turning it upside down and gently shaking it, I eventually found that any ultraviolet light pattern that is shone directly onto the dial is reproduced at approximately 2x size out of the main grille. Turning the dial affected color tone and saturation. That would make this some kind of projector, which might have once been part of an actual TV set for a species that sees in ultraviolet. Unfortunately, we already have commercial projector systems that can do all this and more.
Now that I'm reasonably certain that this isn't broken and that I know what it was for, I'll be putting it into storage while I go to the next ones.
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Post by Celestial on Oct 2, 2010 10:32:25 GMT -5
Mage Manor Archives- Entry by Celestial
Had to go rescue another apprentice from the demons in the basement. I don't know how much I've stressed this, never ever accept any offers from the demons that came from the portals in the basement. I don't care if they were offering to bring your little sister back from the dead or if they were willing to give you a lifetime supply of free chocolate if you let them out, it's still not a good idea. They're demons, for crying out loud! They'll find loopholes and get out and terrorise the Manor. The apprentice was summarily dealt with, you don't want to know how. Let's just say the golems are getting a helping hand in the kitchen peeling vegetables.
Speaking of the golems, they've reduced the food portions so we're not stuffing ourselves and the leftovers storage is getting smaller. It's a great relief. Didn't even have to get the golem specialist in, all I had to do was ask them. They can write on their own clay tablets apparently. How I love Articificially Intelligent beings which can learn!
Spacefleet asked us for an alliance. Needless to say, many of the Mages weren't exactly happy about it, even after I explained all the benefits of it. Finally settled on a truce alliance, with a little trading thrown in. Now I have to contact Spacefleet and discuss those terms with them. It's nice to have powerful guilds allied with you.
And on the subject of alliances, unconfirmed reports are coming in of a bumper crop in Dunbarrow thanks to us. If it's true, our larders will be stocked for the winter, yes siree. Nothing like fresh food instead of magical substitutes. I'm really glad that the alliances seem to be paying off. No reports from Clerin that I should know of about goings on in the court so all seems well for now.
Somebody came to us today with a really weird pendant. It's golden with an amethyst in the centre with spiral- can I call them horns?- coming out of the sides so it looks a bit like a ram. Guy says that it's cursed and has already brought his family to act like chickens, even going so far as to try and serve themselves as a Sunday roast. We put it away in the magical artifacts rooms and for now are working on a spell to protect us from it's supposed effects before beginning experimentation. Last time we launched straight into something without a protective spell, several of our mages went blind temporarily from a snake ring. Valuable lessons in common sense indeed.
Good smells coming in from the kitchen. Seems like we'll be having roast duck with orange sauce and vegetables cooked in the duck's fat. The head golem also reports calamari with sweet and sour sauce for starters and a very special dessert. Wonder what it will be. Overlord, sneaking a peek into the kitchen says it's something to do with chocolate. Can't wait.
Had a bit of an issue with the forbidden books today. One of them, Toothy Beasts of the Underdeep, gnawed through its chains and tried to escape. The Librarian got it back but he told me that they need replacement chains, especially the immaterial ones used to contain the shapeshifters. I told him I'd work on it. He didn't seem very convinceded but didn't say anything else on the matter. He's right though. They keep breaking out.
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Post by zarikrahia on Oct 2, 2010 16:53:28 GMT -5
Day 7:
Just got a report from Amnei RE: that technology. Turns out the first thing he tested was that projector thing I couldn't get to work. It was an ultraviolet projector, which explains alot. First, why that guy at the fleamarket was so eager to get rid of it:
It was in ultraviolet and therefore useless, and also since Illaki can see in ultraviolet no Illhvrenan would go anywhere near it even if they could get it to function- let's just say that Illakue and the Illaki are the reason that I don't go to any formal occasions if I can help it. I usually end up in the coldest river this side of the Beta Cluster in a shopping trolley covered in cling-wrap to make it watertight rowing away as fast as I can because I said "Let's not stand on ceremony." which is a huge insult, because the Illaki have to have everything extremely ceremonial, and their relationship with Illhvren is not very good already.
Took the afternoon off and spent five hours with my nose in a book. Day 7:
Managed to finish translating four chapters of one of the Xenami books. Didn't mention that I was around for one of the events detailed. Being thousands of years old has it's perks I guess.
I've improved slightly with the naginata. Didn't set the handle on fire this time. Zaha is an exacting teacher, which I guess is to be expected with her own upbringing, and she's nearly tireless so when I collapsed of exhaustion she was still dancing around prodding me with the hilt of my own sword. |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 2, 2010 21:03:58 GMT -5
(Note: The first entries I wrote here immediately lead up to the Alliances RP. This presumably takes place before that. Confused yet?)
Entry ?
Didn't do much today. Went to get some food, got threatened by that fire mage I once attacked. Told him to get lost with an empty potion bottle. Apparently he's in the infirmary now for glass cuts. Got yelled at some more.
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Entry ?-2
Went to the library. Read a bit through a book which is a guide to shapeshifting... a very complete guide it turned out. Need to see if I can shapeshift my eyes out of existence.
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Entry ?-3
Some of the mages are scared of me. I'm not sure what to think about that. Not sure what to think about my not being sure, either.
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Entry ?-4
Spent most of today outside. Think I might try spending a few days in the forest. Would be nice to get away from the others for a while. |
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Post by Draco on Oct 17, 2010 5:08:46 GMT -5
Life with Gil Maxwell has been great. I don't have to worry about being constantly killed It's not as dangerous as it was with the Ninjas, but almost. There is usually at least one or two explosions in the workshop when Gil is around...
I usually spend my day cleaning up the place, mostly his messes. If Gil is around, I help him out as he teaches me the way of their machinery.
I've been tinkering around with some of the tech. they have around this city. It's really interesting. I've been altering ninja gear with their gear.
Recently rats have been appearing. Not normal rats, no way. These rats are... Like the people of Brassport. Only, rats! It's getting weird. I'll report on it at a later date when I have more info.
On a side note, my lunch has been disappearing lately... Was it the rats?
8:00am
Opened shop. Nothing to do. Sigh...
9:00am
Sigh... Still nothing to do. Toshiro is cleaning up the work shop... And Gil's still out of town. He should be back soon... Sigh...
10:00am
I wonder where Lady Sarn is... I mean, I never met her in person.... But... Sigh...
11:00am
It's almost lunch. Toshiro brought another sandwich. I feel bad that I have to take it to feed my friend. Sigh...
12:00am
It's time for my lunch break! Time to get going. I all ready got the sandwich.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 16, 2010 3:00:14 GMT -5
And now for someone completely different. (Takes place between GW3 and Quest for the Snark.)
I'm still not used to all the rocking about that the White Weewoo does. Just when I think I've finally got a handle on it, I end up falling down again. Worst part: this ship hasn't moved since it arrived here in Le Singe. I'm kinda not looking forward to when we actually do set sail and go on the open sea.
Still, life as a new crewmember actually isn't too bad. Okay, so pirate morality isn't exactly clear-cut. I've heard stories of what privateers can get up to, and that's just the legal stuff approved stuff. But I haven't really done anything much so far and none of it is worse than what happened over the past two years. Ugh now I'm getting sick just thinking about it.
ANYWAY the crew itself is kinda nice. Well, they haven't tried to keelhaul me yet. I might even live to see my next birthday. That's assuming they don't hang me for
I've been trying to think about how not to be useless. Maybe I should take up cooking again. I mean, I can make a sandwich... that counts for something, right? |
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Post by Terra on Dec 29, 2010 17:03:54 GMT -5
I am not entirely sure why I decided to come to Mage Manor, given that I have next to zero magical ability at all. I've been trying and trying to make it work, but it...just doesn't. It's kind of ridiculous.
I suppose it was the library that drew me in. The lure of books was too strong. I thought that I could teach myself magic if I had books to study it from, but lately, it seems that I've been reading about everything except magic.
All I want is to be a scholar. And maybe to get into some trouble now and then. I love the environment here - everything's so alive and mysterious and interesting. The people have interesting stories, and it's fun to talk to them. But still - the purpose of this place is to learn about magic, which, clearly, is not where my interests or my talents lie.
I'm beginning to wonder whether I belong here. |
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