I am writing this under a state of considerable distress.
Apart from martial arts films (wuxia) Chinese films often don't grab me because of their lack of emotional involvement. This one doesn't lack style that other modern Chinese films lack. They tend to avoid using music which stops me from getting wrapped up in them but this one has a whole score including a great piece of Latino music which is very lilting and they use several times. I feel a bit like Mr. Chow writing this. He spends a lot of his time writing or talking about his writing. The most lengthy part of the plot is his romantic involvement with characters including one played by Zhang Ziyi who as always plays a handful. I didn't recognise her at first, he looks very different with her hair not tied back.
The story takes place largely during a series of Christmas eves during the sixties in Hong Kong. Li Gong (from Hero) works as a journalist and writer (which gives me a kick writing this review because it's like being a hack journalist with a typewriter.) The rest of the story is about his foreign escapades and time on a futuristic android inhabited train taking him from 2046 which no one has ever left. It's not truly surreal or bizzare but is surrealistic, it's different but not disturbingly abberant.
It doesn't try to grab me too much but if you like films that give you a lot to think about in terms of characters' motives and a plot with a lot of mystery you'll probably like this. The feel of the film gets to me more than an emotion it inspires but it's no less interesting because of it. This is kind of a sci fi mixed with history. Being set in east Asia it's more like a film about the 1930's than the sixties but I love that kind of posh glamour combined with a writer living in a tiny room with noisy neighbours. Added to the colourful scenes of he train leading away from 2046 it's got style and glamour that other Chinese directors should be paying attention to. It isn't just wuxia that has exaggerated style but it isn't done in an overpowering way. He uses colour and effects very gracefully, combined with the wonderful soundtrack it's a film you can enjoy even if all the intellectual stuff goes over your head so much you feel like you're autistic not to be able to understand why the characters are feeling the emotions they are.
This is a great example of the style and depth Asian cinema can have and I only wish I was properly taught how to understand and write about it as well as the director Wong Kar-wai wrote and made it. If you're interested in more of his work and want to know more about the film's storyline watch Days of Being Wild and In The Mood For Love. I haven't seen those yet so can't say how good they are.
Thursday, 31 March 2011
Message For M
Draw a character with a breast on her face and faces on her breasts. Each face speaks directly from it's lung. The character can vomit through it's breast and eats by expanding it's nipple and wrapping it around things like the invertebrates in King Kong.
Wednesday, 30 March 2011
Jade
What if Jade is made directly from a transformed Elemental? The dragon-blooded's affinity with that element makes it easier to craft than other Exalted. Making an artefact from one of the magical materials should be a genuinely supernatural process not simply a physical or alchemical one. Orichalcum is naturally molten as it is always found in lava.
Beastman Transformation
30th March Beastman Transformation doesnt have to transform into a war form. Beastman doesn't mean a crude combination of a human and animal. Becoming a beastman means transforming into a humanoid version of an animal that can speak with humans. They can learn beastman forms for other animals with additional Knacks. Beastman transformation means becoming a much more elegant combination of animal and human that is mostly animal. Like Chihiro in Little Norse Prince. Their beastman form is their natural spirit shape. They can express themselves through facial expression as well as speech, walk on two legs or move like animals and have unusual dexterity with their paws. When in their natural forms they do not use their moonsilver tattoos so these are less visible.
Their alteration of Attributes while in animal form, possibly to the detriment of values makes them more dependent on Abilities. Should they have Ability based Charms?
Their alteration of Attributes while in animal form, possibly to the detriment of values makes them more dependent on Abilities. Should they have Ability based Charms?
Little Norse Prince
I quite like this anime despite the fact it was made in 1968. It's quite cutesy and some of the characters especially Chihiro are really sweet. The children are drawn rather like pepperpot figures and make the film a lot more immature. The song and dance scenes also make me squirm. Some of the animation is faulty and even incomplete like two of the action scenes which are only storyboarded and let the film down. It would be nice if someone rereleased it with these scenes properly animated but there's nothing like the original.
It's age doesn't mean it has a boring or uncomplicated storyline although once scene reminded me of a communist propaganda film. It can be a bit simplistic at times but in a way that's fitting because it's set in a small village in medaeval like times. The age does show in the soundtrack, it sounds quite old but I still like this film anyway. Some of the animation in water scenes is done in a traditional Japanese style reminding me of block prints of waves.
It's age doesn't mean it has a boring or uncomplicated storyline although once scene reminded me of a communist propaganda film. It can be a bit simplistic at times but in a way that's fitting because it's set in a small village in medaeval like times. The age does show in the soundtrack, it sounds quite old but I still like this film anyway. Some of the animation in water scenes is done in a traditional Japanese style reminding me of block prints of waves.
Monday, 28 March 2011
Ravening Mouth of the Abyssals
Horrible stories abound in the Threshold of deathknights drinking the blood of their enemies, marching forward unstoppably as if they could heal wounds through their own appetite for slaughter.
Cost: 8m, 1 wp
If they inflict a number of levels of lethal damage in one action (including the use of extra action Charms) equal to their Ability level they regain one lethal health level or two levels of bashing damage.
They can only use Ravening Mouth of (Ability) for one Ability at a time.
Cost: 8m, 1 wp
If they inflict a number of levels of lethal damage in one action (including the use of extra action Charms) equal to their Ability level they regain one lethal health level or two levels of bashing damage.
They can only use Ravening Mouth of (Ability) for one Ability at a time.
Time
If you want proof that this country is mad look no further than how we use daylight saving time. The emphasis is on saving, as in making it last longer.
The point of using DST is that people spend more of their time awake during daylight. The sensible thing to do would be to use it when daylight is short. Since the working day is skewed towards the afternoon and daylight saving time means the sun rises and sets later it would be logical to use it at the darkest time of the year. And yet that's exactly when the Great British people stop using it. During five months of the year you have to endure purgatory when everyone are making things more dismal than then have to be.
Did you know people spend most of their lives thinking noon is at 1 P.M. We spend most of our lives using daylight saving time rather than real time and it doesn't even make sense. I used to wonder why the light lasted so long in the summer. The reason is for most of their lives people use false time.
The point of using DST is that people spend more of their time awake during daylight. The sensible thing to do would be to use it when daylight is short. Since the working day is skewed towards the afternoon and daylight saving time means the sun rises and sets later it would be logical to use it at the darkest time of the year. And yet that's exactly when the Great British people stop using it. During five months of the year you have to endure purgatory when everyone are making things more dismal than then have to be.
Did you know people spend most of their lives thinking noon is at 1 P.M. We spend most of our lives using daylight saving time rather than real time and it doesn't even make sense. I used to wonder why the light lasted so long in the summer. The reason is for most of their lives people use false time.
Wednesday, 23 March 2011
Going Forth by Night
Labyrinth Circle Spell
The spell can be performed on someone who has died recently. If so they must start casting the spell within the same scene. If the dead became a ghost they have three days until their soul splits and enters the afterlife. The spell binds a person's soul to their body by preventing it from escaping. Each person has four Divine Virtues that make up their Essence. On death their Essence leaves the body through four gateways associated with the Virtues. If these gateways can be sealed the spirit can be kept inside the body that once lived.
Once the ritual has begun the Necromancer must concentrate on performing the spell continuously or it will fail. If preserving the body of a ghost the ritual starts at sunrise when they return to their body and ends at sunset. If someone has dies after sunset the ritual goes on until sunset the next day. If they die before sunset they have until nightfall to complete the ritual.
To perform this rite they must remove each of the organs associated with the Divine gateways: the brain (Conviction), the heart (Compassion), the liver (Valour) and the sex organs (Temperence.) These organs are placed in four sealed earthenware jars. The body is then covered in dessicants, the stomach and intestines are emptied and filled with herbs. Then the body is wrapped in layer after layer of oiled bandages containing amulets of onyx. If the ritual is completed by sunset the Necromancer and all who assisted in the rite mount a vigil until the last light has disappeared from the sky. When night falls the body comes back to life.
The newly ressurected mummy is now one of the undead although they maintain their own free will and intelligence. They are not automatically controlled by powers that exert control over the undead as their spirits are not in the Underworld and did not pass through Lethe.
Their continued state depends on two things however. Firstly their level of animation depends on how well preserved their body is. Normally this is not a problem as the preservatives, oils and amulets prevent the body from decaying. However damage from injury affects them normally and damaged body parts canot be regrown or healed. Any part ocf them that is severed can be reattached under proper ritual conditions but requires further spells to be restored to an animated state under control of the mummy.
Secondly the Virtues contained in their organs are affected by the organs being removed and their gateways being sealed shut. The mummy suffers a -1 internal penalty on all Virtue rolls and loses one channel for each Virtue which has been closed and the jar containing the organ is shut. As long as the jars remain sealed the power of the Virtues within them is contained. If a jar is broken or otherwise opened then the organ's power is released and they regain full function of that Virtue. However when all of a mummy's jars have been opened the power of it's Essence escapes and it dies.
The spell can be performed on someone who has died recently. If so they must start casting the spell within the same scene. If the dead became a ghost they have three days until their soul splits and enters the afterlife. The spell binds a person's soul to their body by preventing it from escaping. Each person has four Divine Virtues that make up their Essence. On death their Essence leaves the body through four gateways associated with the Virtues. If these gateways can be sealed the spirit can be kept inside the body that once lived.
Once the ritual has begun the Necromancer must concentrate on performing the spell continuously or it will fail. If preserving the body of a ghost the ritual starts at sunrise when they return to their body and ends at sunset. If someone has dies after sunset the ritual goes on until sunset the next day. If they die before sunset they have until nightfall to complete the ritual.
To perform this rite they must remove each of the organs associated with the Divine gateways: the brain (Conviction), the heart (Compassion), the liver (Valour) and the sex organs (Temperence.) These organs are placed in four sealed earthenware jars. The body is then covered in dessicants, the stomach and intestines are emptied and filled with herbs. Then the body is wrapped in layer after layer of oiled bandages containing amulets of onyx. If the ritual is completed by sunset the Necromancer and all who assisted in the rite mount a vigil until the last light has disappeared from the sky. When night falls the body comes back to life.
The newly ressurected mummy is now one of the undead although they maintain their own free will and intelligence. They are not automatically controlled by powers that exert control over the undead as their spirits are not in the Underworld and did not pass through Lethe.
Their continued state depends on two things however. Firstly their level of animation depends on how well preserved their body is. Normally this is not a problem as the preservatives, oils and amulets prevent the body from decaying. However damage from injury affects them normally and damaged body parts canot be regrown or healed. Any part ocf them that is severed can be reattached under proper ritual conditions but requires further spells to be restored to an animated state under control of the mummy.
Secondly the Virtues contained in their organs are affected by the organs being removed and their gateways being sealed shut. The mummy suffers a -1 internal penalty on all Virtue rolls and loses one channel for each Virtue which has been closed and the jar containing the organ is shut. As long as the jars remain sealed the power of the Virtues within them is contained. If a jar is broken or otherwise opened then the organ's power is released and they regain full function of that Virtue. However when all of a mummy's jars have been opened the power of it's Essence escapes and it dies.
Twisted Sister
M My Minion, I hope you're reading this on a big screen. It's much better that way.
The lithe, pale form of her upper arm flowed seamlessly to her bulkless shoulder. Her skin was so pure and uniform that even her sister's sharp senses could find no fault or blemish. She was so pale and yet not bleached and featureless white, but the colour of her skin darkened the straps that wrapped around her body, and the links running down her inhumanly long, elegant and graceful limbs, eccentuating their perfect proportions. These are what aroused her sister's lust the most. They presented the illusion of being bound, a feeling that was pleasurable to onlooker and wearer alike. But such an illusion was dangerously disarming. Four males had tried to share the bed of her sister but the only fluid they had spilled onto the sheets was their blood. She had tempted the last one, she was sure. Cecelyne had seen her luring the noble, too impetuous for his own good, drunk with wine and the promise of a night's ecstasy back to her room where she had several knives waiting. Cecelyne watched inconspicuously through a special peephole she had made to watch her sister undress and sleep as she played with him, torturing him to death inch by agonising inch, her lusty naked body just out of reach.
The first time Cecelyne found it unbearable to watch yet unbearable to look away from as he tried to rape her. But he had asked for more than he bargained for. With a surprise move Hellebron had managed to turn the overconfident male onto his back and mount him. Thinking that she might have decided to submit to his advances or just confused by the sudden positioning, he's let his guard down as Hellebron grasped his chest between her legs in an iron grip and sank her fingers into his throat. Cecelyne always watched her when she had visitors after that.
The second time she brought a casual lover up with her and actually seemed willing, but again he tried to use violence to force her to submit. It was as if she didn't understand the rules of druchii courtship. This time it was bloodier. She'd disabled him with a crippling strike then dug her long fingernails into his eyes. Again she strangled him to death.
The third one- they seemed attracted to her like fish drawn to a lure under her loincloth- had the worst passing of all three. Again they sat down on the bed and he began teasing her and caressing her and then tried to rip off her clothes. At the first sign of violence she abandoned any sexual interest and then began savagely beating him to death. The unchanging mask of hate on her sister's face had been unlike anything she'd ever seen. He must have died some time before she ceased beating his face into an unrecognisable pulp.
It always amazed her how calm she seemed afterwards. For all her violence and the malice that blazed in her eyes afterwards she was as calm and serene as a maid waking on a peaceful morning. That said she behaved more violently in the days after killing a would-be suitor. Her temper flared at the slightest irritation, and loud, acrimonious arguments raged over the dinner table over the alleged, attempted rape of a noble maid. Her father tried to explain that all males behaved that way; but there was still a difference between that and actually trying to force her as Hellebron never failed to vociferously point out, only ceasing her tirade when her father sharply slapped a glove across her face. The money he'd had to pay in recompense for these shady, alleged crimes upon her person was costing her family and her father years of profits.
The forth time she killed she prepared in advance. Knives had been hidden around the room and servants subtly deflected from coming near her chamber. This time she had gone out hunting and brought back a youth who looked like he'd come from some sleazy bordello. Only Hellebron would ever dare do such a thing Cecelyne mused with a hint of wistfulness and heartfelt envy.
After slipping off a gauzy silk gown that covered her very revealing underwear and coquettishly describing the use of her toys- which had incidently been paid for by her parents Cecelyne noted- she convinced the naked male to allow her to tie him to the bed. With an artistry that truly surprised Cecelyne she'd begun carving off his skin, starting with his feet and hands and working her way inwards. She didn't simply cut him into a bloody ruin, he turned him into a sculpture of flesh, a sculpture that should have died long before it actually expired. Her and Hellebron were the only ones to see the work of art. No one found the body afterwards.
That night Cecelyne dreamed of the scene, dreamed of the screaming. But most of all- that fleeting moment she wished she could hold onto for longer but was all the more valuable for it's briefness, the moment that made her feel heat in her heart and all through her body, was her sister's absolute silence as she cut him up. That thought aroused her. The thought of making her sister break that silence. I'll hold you in my bed as firmly as you hold your torture victims, and I'll make you moan and scream in ways you never thought you could. You won't be able to stay quiet for a moment. I'll have you my dear sister, as surely as you've protected yourself from everyone else I'll have you.
She woke the next morning, white sheets clinging to her naked body, soaked with sweat and something she'd never smelled before.
The lithe, pale form of her upper arm flowed seamlessly to her bulkless shoulder. Her skin was so pure and uniform that even her sister's sharp senses could find no fault or blemish. She was so pale and yet not bleached and featureless white, but the colour of her skin darkened the straps that wrapped around her body, and the links running down her inhumanly long, elegant and graceful limbs, eccentuating their perfect proportions. These are what aroused her sister's lust the most. They presented the illusion of being bound, a feeling that was pleasurable to onlooker and wearer alike. But such an illusion was dangerously disarming. Four males had tried to share the bed of her sister but the only fluid they had spilled onto the sheets was their blood. She had tempted the last one, she was sure. Cecelyne had seen her luring the noble, too impetuous for his own good, drunk with wine and the promise of a night's ecstasy back to her room where she had several knives waiting. Cecelyne watched inconspicuously through a special peephole she had made to watch her sister undress and sleep as she played with him, torturing him to death inch by agonising inch, her lusty naked body just out of reach.
The first time Cecelyne found it unbearable to watch yet unbearable to look away from as he tried to rape her. But he had asked for more than he bargained for. With a surprise move Hellebron had managed to turn the overconfident male onto his back and mount him. Thinking that she might have decided to submit to his advances or just confused by the sudden positioning, he's let his guard down as Hellebron grasped his chest between her legs in an iron grip and sank her fingers into his throat. Cecelyne always watched her when she had visitors after that.
The second time she brought a casual lover up with her and actually seemed willing, but again he tried to use violence to force her to submit. It was as if she didn't understand the rules of druchii courtship. This time it was bloodier. She'd disabled him with a crippling strike then dug her long fingernails into his eyes. Again she strangled him to death.
The third one- they seemed attracted to her like fish drawn to a lure under her loincloth- had the worst passing of all three. Again they sat down on the bed and he began teasing her and caressing her and then tried to rip off her clothes. At the first sign of violence she abandoned any sexual interest and then began savagely beating him to death. The unchanging mask of hate on her sister's face had been unlike anything she'd ever seen. He must have died some time before she ceased beating his face into an unrecognisable pulp.
It always amazed her how calm she seemed afterwards. For all her violence and the malice that blazed in her eyes afterwards she was as calm and serene as a maid waking on a peaceful morning. That said she behaved more violently in the days after killing a would-be suitor. Her temper flared at the slightest irritation, and loud, acrimonious arguments raged over the dinner table over the alleged, attempted rape of a noble maid. Her father tried to explain that all males behaved that way; but there was still a difference between that and actually trying to force her as Hellebron never failed to vociferously point out, only ceasing her tirade when her father sharply slapped a glove across her face. The money he'd had to pay in recompense for these shady, alleged crimes upon her person was costing her family and her father years of profits.
The forth time she killed she prepared in advance. Knives had been hidden around the room and servants subtly deflected from coming near her chamber. This time she had gone out hunting and brought back a youth who looked like he'd come from some sleazy bordello. Only Hellebron would ever dare do such a thing Cecelyne mused with a hint of wistfulness and heartfelt envy.
After slipping off a gauzy silk gown that covered her very revealing underwear and coquettishly describing the use of her toys- which had incidently been paid for by her parents Cecelyne noted- she convinced the naked male to allow her to tie him to the bed. With an artistry that truly surprised Cecelyne she'd begun carving off his skin, starting with his feet and hands and working her way inwards. She didn't simply cut him into a bloody ruin, he turned him into a sculpture of flesh, a sculpture that should have died long before it actually expired. Her and Hellebron were the only ones to see the work of art. No one found the body afterwards.
That night Cecelyne dreamed of the scene, dreamed of the screaming. But most of all- that fleeting moment she wished she could hold onto for longer but was all the more valuable for it's briefness, the moment that made her feel heat in her heart and all through her body, was her sister's absolute silence as she cut him up. That thought aroused her. The thought of making her sister break that silence. I'll hold you in my bed as firmly as you hold your torture victims, and I'll make you moan and scream in ways you never thought you could. You won't be able to stay quiet for a moment. I'll have you my dear sister, as surely as you've protected yourself from everyone else I'll have you.
She woke the next morning, white sheets clinging to her naked body, soaked with sweat and something she'd never smelled before.
Tuesday, 15 March 2011
Undead
Necromancy offers ways to raise both the lesser and the greater undead but there are times when Abyssals and other nefarious agents of death need access to more immediate or more unusual followers.
The still living blood of the unfortunates used in it''s construction is then fed to the beast filling it with a relentless thirst for blood.
These spells are also helpful in making soulsteel as they can torture their victims for much longer so they are ready to be transubstantiated into that ethereal material or just for recreational purposes.
Zombie Motivation Consume the flesh of the living
They'll keep eating corpses they've killed until all the flesh is consumed. They usually don't bother killing the before eating. Although their intellect is limited, driven by one of their most basic desires they are extremely strong in pursuing what they want and frighteningly resilient as their minds and partially reanimated bodies no longer sense pain. 'They are created en masse by a spell with limited effect, it's doesn't do a very good job of reanimation or the process of reanimation is not perfect or as developed as used for skeletons or other undead creations. But despite their poor (read negligible) intelligence and undisciplined hunger they are quite effective on the battlefield and in war, particularly as terror troops.'
Zombies are often raised then a Necromancer immediate servants although they are often retained for as long as they can sustain themselves afterwards. They are the lowest form of undead reanimation with necromantic power and possessed by only the most basic instincts and absolutely no intelligence. 'This may be a result of an early necromantic formula that worked on a more physical level literally restoring incomplete and imperfect life to the dead rather than more advanced spiritual magic that was created later for use on skeletons. Perhaps the presence of the roughly complete victim's corpse prevents use of different Necromantic principles, or the limited age after death and something to do with the proximity of the body's spirit limit the intelligence it can possess. Much older bodies can be imbued with a element of the deceased's soul, and the greater the age or the strength the dead had in life the more complete the link.'
Skeletons are far too decomposed to reanimate in such a way. Instead the Necromancer locates a trinket associated with the victim's soul and binds a fraction of it to the newly risen deceased. As a result skeletons can function as servants, perform basic tasks and hold weapons and wield them in battle. Skeletons of warriors are used to staff undead legions following instructions hammered out by their greater undead leaders.
The horrid magic that reanimates these things allows for the most unnatural creatures. The twisted genius of the Mortificers shape amalgamations that work in ways that were never intended, or even conceivable to onlookers.
The still living blood of the unfortunates used in it''s construction is then fed to the beast filling it with a relentless thirst for blood.
These spells are also helpful in making soulsteel as they can torture their victims for much longer so they are ready to be transubstantiated into that ethereal material or just for recreational purposes.
Zombie Motivation Consume the flesh of the living
They'll keep eating corpses they've killed until all the flesh is consumed. They usually don't bother killing the before eating. Although their intellect is limited, driven by one of their most basic desires they are extremely strong in pursuing what they want and frighteningly resilient as their minds and partially reanimated bodies no longer sense pain. 'They are created en masse by a spell with limited effect, it's doesn't do a very good job of reanimation or the process of reanimation is not perfect or as developed as used for skeletons or other undead creations. But despite their poor (read negligible) intelligence and undisciplined hunger they are quite effective on the battlefield and in war, particularly as terror troops.'
Zombies are often raised then a Necromancer immediate servants although they are often retained for as long as they can sustain themselves afterwards. They are the lowest form of undead reanimation with necromantic power and possessed by only the most basic instincts and absolutely no intelligence. 'This may be a result of an early necromantic formula that worked on a more physical level literally restoring incomplete and imperfect life to the dead rather than more advanced spiritual magic that was created later for use on skeletons. Perhaps the presence of the roughly complete victim's corpse prevents use of different Necromantic principles, or the limited age after death and something to do with the proximity of the body's spirit limit the intelligence it can possess. Much older bodies can be imbued with a element of the deceased's soul, and the greater the age or the strength the dead had in life the more complete the link.'
Skeletons are far too decomposed to reanimate in such a way. Instead the Necromancer locates a trinket associated with the victim's soul and binds a fraction of it to the newly risen deceased. As a result skeletons can function as servants, perform basic tasks and hold weapons and wield them in battle. Skeletons of warriors are used to staff undead legions following instructions hammered out by their greater undead leaders.
The horrid magic that reanimates these things allows for the most unnatural creatures. The twisted genius of the Mortificers shape amalgamations that work in ways that were never intended, or even conceivable to onlookers.
Monday, 14 March 2011
Perfidious Courtesan Style
Perfidious Courtesan Style uses martial arts in social combat to control and opponent- and then destroy them.
Use Virtue orientated attacks.
The mistress sensuously caresses her target leaving streaks of blood and peeled skin as the victims can't bring themselves to stop her.
Any contact that would normally create pleasure causes agony as skin peels and flesh tears in contact with her body.
Use Virtue orientated attacks.
The mistress sensuously caresses her target leaving streaks of blood and peeled skin as the victims can't bring themselves to stop her.
Any contact that would normally create pleasure causes agony as skin peels and flesh tears in contact with her body.
Crocodile Stomach
As crocodiles never starve during a disaster, the character can safely feed on any carcass, no matter how rotten. Although it might not be as nutritious as fresh meat they can gorge themselves on any kill available without risk of disease or inability to eat from wretching.
Here's a short part of a story I've thought out part of.
She leaned forward and clasped he upper lip between her lips. After a fulsome kiss she pulled her head down clasped it to her chest.
"I'm sorry I tried to rape you."
"I'm not sorry I tried to kill you. I enjoyed it" she said, kissing the top of her sister's head again. "I would have let you die if that male hadn't come in."
"Am I weak?"
"No. I'm stronger. As I should be."
"Maybe one day I'll be stronger."
She didn't say the implicit 'I hope not' as they both knew what that meant.
After a moment savouring the last of the oddly fearful expression on the male's upturned face she finally pushed the contorted corpse off the bed.
Free from the prying eyes of the deceased stranger, still staring at her, frozen in the moment he died, the Elf maiden returned he attention to her familial bedfellow.
The younger girl whimpered slightly under her touch.
"Don't do that" warned her older sister in a soft tone.
She replaced her whimper with a gentle groan.
"That's better." She grasped the white haired girl, wrapping her lags around her's and stroking her back with a lazy gentle motion.
"I'll never let anyone else hurt you."
I just wrote this while I was naked in bed. I wanted to do something that reconciled a love theme with the inherent malice of the Dark Elves. A story like this would never work in 40,000, the setting and the background of the character wouldn't allow for it, it's far too stern for any major characters to have any love interest without totally breaking background. But in a Fantasy setting it could work if it was properly handled because romance and fantasy have a long history and Fantasy is far more romantic than the dark, far-future of 40,000. Romance and sci-fi seems too corny.
The problem is writing a story from the perspective of the Dark Elves with them as the main protagonists is difficult if you want you characters to have emotional range and depth. Without positive emotions they're at risk of being one dimentional, but you have to temper that with the fact that these beings are fundamentally evil which is the reason people read this story. The writers of Malus Darkblade seem to have done a good job from what I've read, albeit within the confines of a pure adventure plot. Alith Anar (also hailing from Nagarythe) has love interests in his story. To counter the insidious viciousness that's overtaken the Dark Elves this takes place quite early in their history and is inspired by the characters of Hellebron and her sister in The Shadowking (although it's nothing like this, you'll never hear about Dark Elf sisters getting down to it in something that's Black Library approved, that's why this is fan fiction and I'm not seeking any sponsors.)
More personally this is my first trial of writing genuine fiction, with a proper narrative, dialogue and characters. I mostly just wrote descriptive prose, and while this is very enjoyable I felt like I wasn't a writer of the same type or the same calibre as the ones I read. I've also thought out a few other parts of the story, which crucially hinges on dialogue not all poetic description so at last I can become a proper writer.
There I've just spent more space writing about myself and storytelling and my actual story. I'm nothing if not introspective, but that will change soon when I start being more expansive in my writing.
She leaned forward and clasped he upper lip between her lips. After a fulsome kiss she pulled her head down clasped it to her chest.
"I'm sorry I tried to rape you."
"I'm not sorry I tried to kill you. I enjoyed it" she said, kissing the top of her sister's head again. "I would have let you die if that male hadn't come in."
"Am I weak?"
"No. I'm stronger. As I should be."
"Maybe one day I'll be stronger."
She didn't say the implicit 'I hope not' as they both knew what that meant.
After a moment savouring the last of the oddly fearful expression on the male's upturned face she finally pushed the contorted corpse off the bed.
Free from the prying eyes of the deceased stranger, still staring at her, frozen in the moment he died, the Elf maiden returned he attention to her familial bedfellow.
The younger girl whimpered slightly under her touch.
"Don't do that" warned her older sister in a soft tone.
She replaced her whimper with a gentle groan.
"That's better." She grasped the white haired girl, wrapping her lags around her's and stroking her back with a lazy gentle motion.
"I'll never let anyone else hurt you."
I just wrote this while I was naked in bed. I wanted to do something that reconciled a love theme with the inherent malice of the Dark Elves. A story like this would never work in 40,000, the setting and the background of the character wouldn't allow for it, it's far too stern for any major characters to have any love interest without totally breaking background. But in a Fantasy setting it could work if it was properly handled because romance and fantasy have a long history and Fantasy is far more romantic than the dark, far-future of 40,000. Romance and sci-fi seems too corny.
The problem is writing a story from the perspective of the Dark Elves with them as the main protagonists is difficult if you want you characters to have emotional range and depth. Without positive emotions they're at risk of being one dimentional, but you have to temper that with the fact that these beings are fundamentally evil which is the reason people read this story. The writers of Malus Darkblade seem to have done a good job from what I've read, albeit within the confines of a pure adventure plot. Alith Anar (also hailing from Nagarythe) has love interests in his story. To counter the insidious viciousness that's overtaken the Dark Elves this takes place quite early in their history and is inspired by the characters of Hellebron and her sister in The Shadowking (although it's nothing like this, you'll never hear about Dark Elf sisters getting down to it in something that's Black Library approved, that's why this is fan fiction and I'm not seeking any sponsors.)
More personally this is my first trial of writing genuine fiction, with a proper narrative, dialogue and characters. I mostly just wrote descriptive prose, and while this is very enjoyable I felt like I wasn't a writer of the same type or the same calibre as the ones I read. I've also thought out a few other parts of the story, which crucially hinges on dialogue not all poetic description so at last I can become a proper writer.
There I've just spent more space writing about myself and storytelling and my actual story. I'm nothing if not introspective, but that will change soon when I start being more expansive in my writing.
Snake Style
Most or all of the entries here are about an alternative version of Snake Style created by one of my characters. Enjoyment.
Undated A snake's venom kills it's target after it has struck, leaving the snake to wait until it's dead. The martial artist can employ the same principle with an unarmed martial arts attack. The master of snake style covers his fist with infectious Essence. When successfully struck roll against the target's Stamina + Resistance. If successful the Essence has infected the target and they suffer the effects of the blow again every time the player reflexively spends five motes on an action up to Essence actions. Roll the attack's raw damage pool as if they had just been struck again with the same number of successes.
This is a good high level Charm but is conceptually a bit too much like Terrestrial martial arts, a problem which afflicts my whole reinvention of the style and should be more abstract in the celestial style. Like working on the precept that the snake doesn't have to be in contact with it's victim for it's venom to have an effect. Merely touching a target can prove fatal. Very dangerous considering the snake's ability to ambush.
Undated A snake's venom kills it's target after it has struck, leaving the snake to wait until it's dead. The martial artist can employ the same principle with an unarmed martial arts attack. The master of snake style covers his fist with infectious Essence. When successfully struck roll against the target's Stamina + Resistance. If successful the Essence has infected the target and they suffer the effects of the blow again every time the player reflexively spends five motes on an action up to Essence actions. Roll the attack's raw damage pool as if they had just been struck again with the same number of successes.
This is a good high level Charm but is conceptually a bit too much like Terrestrial martial arts, a problem which afflicts my whole reinvention of the style and should be more abstract in the celestial style. Like working on the precept that the snake doesn't have to be in contact with it's victim for it's venom to have an effect. Merely touching a target can prove fatal. Very dangerous considering the snake's ability to ambush.
With the collapse of the world controlling First Age technology caused by the disappearence of the Solar Exalted and the continuing wars of the Shogunate worship of gods and elementals has made a huge resurgence as the elemental energy has no longer been dominated by the Solars' geomantic engineering leaving the elementals redundant. Now they are in control again and have power, not just over their elements but over people. People who were originally made to empower the Primordials by worshipping them and now free to worship the elementals and gods on who their survival depends.
Entering one of the five elements is a bit like entering a sanctum. It is the elemental's natural domain and is never easy to enter. Whether it's standing on a wind-swept snowy peak, crawling through a tunnel under a mountain or sailing across a river no one travels and elemental's domain if hey are angered. A boat only floats if the water elementals allow it to. Setting out on the water or entering into it is a religious transition they are entering a different world controlled by unseen beings. Since the collapse of the First Age people have become very spiritual and very primitive. Instead of the wonders of the Celestial Exalted they have been required to call on spirits for mystical aid; not all of them call on gods or elementals...
Entering one of the five elements is a bit like entering a sanctum. It is the elemental's natural domain and is never easy to enter. Whether it's standing on a wind-swept snowy peak, crawling through a tunnel under a mountain or sailing across a river no one travels and elemental's domain if hey are angered. A boat only floats if the water elementals allow it to. Setting out on the water or entering into it is a religious transition they are entering a different world controlled by unseen beings. Since the collapse of the First Age people have become very spiritual and very primitive. Instead of the wonders of the Celestial Exalted they have been required to call on spirits for mystical aid; not all of them call on gods or elementals...
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