Open the Vaults

On Role-Playing. . .

I have been role-playing off and on for the past twelve years of my life. That's roughly 45% of the time I've been in existence here on earth. I've had many different personae, but I wish to just recount and reminisce about a few of my personal favorites.

Part I

Talisen Armatugé: This gentleman had three incarnations. His first was as a purely textual being in the word of American Online Role-Playing/Fantasy chatrooms. We rolled virtual dice and had a gay old time. I remember posting a grand escape of his as a way to withdraw from the "guild" that he was currently in. With that, he and I vanished from the AOL community in general both character and Mun for a while.

Talisen's next version was as a silver-haired sorcerer in my first Dungeons and Dragons campaign run by a friend of mine in High School. He eventually went into Dragon Disciple but sadly the campaign was short lived.

The third and final form happened after this. We were all kind of bored playing a low-level campain, so our DM (same from above) had us roll level 20 characters. It was all great fun, Talisen became a level 20 Lawful Evil Half-Fiend sorcerer. It was great fun, except for the moronic, metal-loving dwarven druid (don't get me started). The campaign however, turned into a game of SimCity, but we concluded that all of our characters became gods.

Quilliant Armatugé: One of the most prolific of my characters I've ever played. He has had many different versions and existed on many different planes and games.

Quilliant first came about as an idea between me and a fellow camp attendee at the "Midsummer Theatre Camp" in Bloomington, IN in 2001. She was a hobby artist and was making a little comic strip about her socially shy wizard. She lamented that she didn't have a foil for her wizard to really get out and adventure and I suggested that perhaps she should have Izzy (not the real name) get an out-going companion. Thus Quilliant was born.

Quilliant that year became a new RP character for me when I went back to the AOL community, which had changed somewhat. It was all well and good, but I hardly remember any of it. Very general, mundane RP.

Then along came Neverwinter Nights. Truthfully, I never beat the actual campaign in that game, I just joined for the online aspect. There I found a server called "Dragon Coast" (not to be confused with Forgotten Realms' Dragon Coat, which I later found out). The community was amazing. And they embraced me as one of their own right from the get-go. Quilliant in this world was characteristic, intriguing, funny, bardic, and just fun. He also had blue hair, bestowed from some magical curse or hex.

Quilliant was my only character on there for close to a year. In that time he "died" four times. Each time (except for the last) coming back when I was ready to rejoin after a short break. The last time was fun as he had been turned into an evil undead minion for a demon. He ended up being destroyed by the epic level paladin Fenia (a drow at that). Anyway, I wrote that his good soul soared into the heavens, free from the earth at last; his evil soul was thrown into the void. So I ended my time there at the Dragon Coast. I still miss them terribly, but they have come and gone and I believe are now on the NWNII system with a different world.

The next incarnation hardly used Quilliant's name at all. Instead he went by "The Skald" a superhero that appeared under the atlas statue to help defend Paragon City. This was of course my main hero in "City of Heroes". I made so many friend's through that game, as I have said before, and they are all wonderful. Then "City of Villains" came out, a perfect time to incorporate a storyline from The Dragon Coast, "The Enchanter" appeared this was of course Quilliant's bad soul come back to terrorize the world once more.

It was all very fun, then about a year ago I thought I was leaving CoH/V for good, so I deleted Skald and Enchanter, thus freeing up their names for someone else to take. I came back, of course (as is my habit), but the names were no longer free. Oh well, all good things must come to an end.

Quilliant's last incarnation came as a bard who used two whips as weapons. He was alot of fun to play and the DM was pretty creative as well. However, when Quilliant burst into a magical fire and consummed the evil dragon army (its always dragons) and himself, I officially retired the name. The only place that I use it now is on my AIM name and my G-mail, though I am considering changing both.


I think that is enough for now, I have a few more but they're a bit shorter than all of this. Anyway, I hope you three enjoy reading.

Fertile Ground

So today we planted our herbs. Currently they are in cute, little clay pots that are sunning themselves on my window sill. I have them alphabetically arranged just in case the paper tab I have marking them disappears. They are as follows: Basil, Cilantro, Lavender, Mint, and I picked up some Rosemary yesterday. Though the potting soil that I acquired this morning seems a little substandard, I'm sure they'll do alright. The window that they are in faces south and gets plenty of late morning through middle of the afternoon light.

I've completed a full week of going to the gym regularly (baring Saturday, a day for rest/recovery). I feel very good about it, but I don't plan on weighing myself for another week or so. On a lighter note (pun intended), I can fit into some of my old pants. I'm apparently a size smaller even though the measuring tape seems to lie to my face.

While I was out and about yesterday, I went to Barnes and Noble and picked up "The Zombie Survival Guide" by Max Brooks, it's very entertaining. While I was at the checkout line I saw a Quamut display. For those of you unfamiliar with Quamut, they are a supplier of fold out guides for various things (French, Math, Yoga, etc). The particular one that caught my eye, however was for Etiquette and Manners. I'll be the first to tell you, I will always try to be polite and friendly, but the guide also offers proper place settings, business ettiquette, and some good "reminder" guidelines. My favorite section is "Etiquette vs. Manners." Manners will always trump Etiquette, if you must know. Better to be polite and improper than snobby and stiff.

Also, right underneath it, I found a guide to Stretching (for beginners such as myself). Finding a resource for proper stretching was my initial goal of going to Barnes and Nobles. After I had exhausted the DVD and fitness sections which had a myriad of Power Yoga, Tai Chi, and Biggest Loser: Boot Camp programs, I shrugged and felt I'd probably have to go some place else to find just a DVD of people stretching in the proper way without risk of injury. Yoga is all well and good when you have a decent amount of flexibility already; but when you start from Square Zero, it can be difficult. I want be a tad more limber (not to mention leaner) than I am now before I attempt Yoga. Hell, I get a burn from sitting down with my legs out in front of my and placing my palm on my knee, that is how inflexible I am. No pain no gain right?

Also, a month ago a friend sent me this. It gave me a great deal of motivation and things to think about.

Mana Cylix

So today was the first day of this new year of my "Full Workout". This entails me doing cardio and weight training. I actually had a great deal of fun. I got on the elliptical for a little over thirty minutes, did my upper body strength training for another 30, and then got back on the elliptical for 30 more minutes. I felt really good.

Also I have a workout sheet, that I'll be gradually filling out this month. At the bottom of each day (column) I'll have the gym attendant initial to say "Yes, he's been here.". It's just a small way to validate that I am making a change. I hope this works out. I have 100lbs I need to cut down by. I know I can do it!

Weight: 325.5 Goal: 225lbs

I gained some from last month, but only a pound. I didn't exercise much at all, so I was surprised that I only gained a tiny bit. Must not put things off.

Stomach: 53.5" Goal: ABS!
Waist: 47.5" Goal: 36"
Hips: 53.5 Goal: 36-38" (firm and sexy)

Edit: Woohoo! Two Pages!