I'll let Ixion take the number 7.

M3

I'onriyi will be taking number 9 methinks. I think Syn may have dropped out. I'll have one more conversation with him about it, but I'm pretty sure that is the case :/

Which one of the three companions did the rune mage charge at? Aemoten, I presume? With how he and Etakar have been moving, the companions should be with roughly a hundred and twenty degree angles between them, and my characters are/were keeping at least half a dozen meters of distance, so it may make some difference in this case with what I would post.
(Oeh... And you'd probably need to post as Olan, too.)

- I myself have been a somewhat fleeting presence lately, though it probably has not been all too noticeable. Have had some business to do, and atop of that there was the yearly summer solstice and national holiday combination in between (was good time, though it rained sporadically on the night of fires; we dragged out all the old planks and some logs from the shed and, with the aid of half a bottle of some no longer identifiable concoction of various flammable liquids*, made a four-meter-tall fire anyway ... I hope at least the midsummerday was nice?).

*Nothing toxic that should not be burned, mind. Just a mix of various fluids manufactured specifically to be burnt or lighted fires with and some stale plant oil poured together into one bottle after it was discovered that I have a notable number of almost-empty bottles.

Haven't been sleeping too well recently, either, though in my case it has more to do with the holidays, other people, work and at least in one case, plain *forgetting* to go to sleep. It doesn't help that my natural day-night cycle is between twenty six and twenty eight hours long and the time I sleep constantly keeps shifting if I leave it to its own devices. ...Apparently it is normal for humans to have internal clocks which function on more than 24-hour days. The brain is also supposed to constantly adjust it according to the Sun ... which at my latitude would mean approximately one and a half hours of sleep at this time of year, and about eighteen during the darkest time of the winter; atop of that I switched to sleeping in the downstairs guest room when the 35-degree weather first hit, and unlike my usual bedroom/cabinet with its big wide east-facing windows, the downstairs has no windows whatsoever.
I actually had intended to have Aemoten do something more than speak a few words, but as it was decided that I was far too tired to be writing anything at all midway through and just concluded the post where I was at, promptly falling asleep right after.

On a more ligthearted note, I will probably be more free now own, starting from today (till I end up doing who-knows-what again).
Yeah... So many things I would want to do. It isn't that I do not enjoy - and want to enjoy - the "simple things in life", too, it is more so that I either do not get the chance to do so *properly* all that often, or have to do so at the cost of something else, or... Eh. I think you will get the point. Also, half of the time I don't even know what I am trying to accomplish in the longer run or whether there is some specific aim to what I do, I simply ... do things.
(What is ultimately detrimental research? Many things end up having unexpected uses in the end...)

And hey, my hands occasionally make a kind of snapping sound, too... Or, well, my right wrist does make a very audible sound when I flick it up in a specific way (has always done, unrelated to any injury my right hand has sustained), the rest not really unless I am actually intentionally cracking them. Haven't really had anyone randomly comment on it, except for once by a person who later became a friend of mine, and he just happily went "Me too!", and demonstrated the fact. (Then again, the motion is fairly specific, so it doesn't really occur all that frequently unless my hands got tired I was trying to get that out.) - It actually is harmless in my case; my father and his father are kind of similar. ...That would be rather unfortunate if my hands got disabled given the ungodly amount of rapid precise work I do with my hands; the most recent time my right hand was injured was quite enough of a nuisance. Your description sounds rather nasty compared to those of most people who have said they have problems with their hands...
(I quite like the option to take calls over the 'net as opposed to writing messages, simply because I get my hands free, and to an extent also because it is easier to pick up the tone.)

As for the numbers... 8 for Aemoten, 12 for Etakar.
"Will have significance later on," eh? There are very few to no things which could be determined in this way without it inevitably coming to conflict with personal will, natural progression and/or apparent or hidden parts of character concept(s) - which is why I am generally opposed to anything chance-based (excluding cases where an unresolvable dispute comes into play or I have signed up for that specifically). There is no such thing as chance, there are only coincidences.
(Er... Let's leave various quantum theories out here.)

Hmm... And now I wonder whether death-rebirth cycle in Reniam could actually be supported as far as the world goes.

@Merc: Congrats!

I'll take 3. Sorry for delay.

Okay, presuming that Syn really did drop out (I thought you and he were still doing that humongous collaborate post of yours, yoshua? The reason I didn't try to engage your characters all this time was because you told me you were doing something with them, after all...) and Draven isn't going to need a number, I rolled the dice... and a really interesting selection came out. I will tell you as much as it was not a number that had not been picked; a character was successfully selected (had an unpicked number come up, no character would have been selected).
I wouldn't use random selection like this if any factors within the character's control could potentially influence the outcome, by the way; the fact alone that I left this decision entirely up to chance is because the occurrence I'm anticipating will happen in some IC days is a random one beyond the control of the characters. Of course, on the off chance that the character picked through the dice roll should somehow manage to make itself unqualified for the random event by the time it should occur, nothing will happen... I'm not going to force something to happen despite that it logically could not have just because a pair of dice told me it should. The dice just picked the character; the event is still all me.

The ex-sergeant went for Aemoten, yeah, sorry... as you might have been able to tell by the post itself it was rather forced, so I didn't put nearly as much effort into explaining things as I should have. And although I didn't post as Olan, I did include a passage on the events on the other side of the barracks, describing events there immediately after the descent from the roof and the actions of some other characters over there. I don't know how much more I should add as Olan... he would help Thaler down as agreed, but not immediately do much more than that; not with Thaler being as quiet as she is at the moment, at least.
And speaking of being quiet, are you all right, Nessa? You seem a bit... I don't know. My intuition just tells me that something's wrong.

By detrimental research I was mostly referring to targeted weapons research; I know that the fruits of numerous other branches of science could easy be and have been perverted to be used in harmful ways such as in weapons, and while this is unfortunate I still don't call that detrimental research because the original purpose of it was beneficial. Things that can't possibly be used for good, however - such as most instances of bio-weapon technology - but are clearly made for the sole purpose of war, those are the ones I call detrimental. Eh, and obviously research to find a way to use beneficial technology in a harmful way is also detrimental. The exact amount of resources that should be used for that kind of things is none, if you ask me.

I was not only meaning the choices of the characters, but also that of the characters' creators. Such as it cannot really be stated that a played character will be sensed to have some ability or quality they were thus far unaware of when the player oneself has already determined that the character has some attributes which conflict or even null out the possibility of something like that being present or occurring.
As far as I am aware, there is currently nothing which would make a character, say, ineligible for "randomly" contracting the Withering, for instance ... would be a rather cruel thing to do, grant such a narrow window of time, though. (I typically prefer to be the one who subjects my characters to such things myself.)

Suspected it was Aemoten he went for, but figured it was better to ask over; thanks.
Not really sure what you should post as Olan... It has mostly to do with I myself finding very limited input harder to reply to, I suppose. (I, in return, often tend to drone on for too long, especially when tired. In actual writings I actually go over and compress things if I do that...)
...And yes, Nessa as been less frequent recently, I have noticed it too. I have sort of been assuming it is some combination of personal happenings and her character not being all that involved at the moment.

The instances I was mostly thinking of when I noted that many end up having unexpected uses were the opposite cases - things which were originally developed as weapons or parts of them ending up being repurposed as something else entirely. Never mind that weapons are in most instances simply tools and can be used in different ways... The same anti-air system that can take out a completely innocent plane might in other cases destroy a hostile missile And so forth. Active (self-)defense should remain possible at all times, be it one individual or many people. It should be noted, though, that I also have a rather strict definition for what qualifies as active defense, past which the actions taken regress to unjustified aggression.
(...I can't really see a defensive bioweapon. I know you can recode viruses to repair cellular DNA instead of them replicating themselves and destroying cells, though.)

Shienvien said And now I wonder whether death-rebirth cycle in Reniam could actually be supported as far as the world goes.

---

@Nessa/Hymusia/cthulu: How have you been holding up?

Jack, I hate to be a pain in your side, but I don't see anything in your IC post for ??? that is in response to Ixion's attack as my post was on the page before.

M3

Oh... I completely missed that post, actually. Sorry Merc; I'll have to rewrite that post with Ixion's movements taken into consideration when I have time.
Guh... finally had the time and energy to write a proper post, and I make a mistake like that. Damn.

Right all now that its all out of the way I'd like to say I'm sorry for my absence/delay here. I hadn't gone away but have a lot on my plate at the moment and one thing in particular commanded my full attention. I've been learning to drive recently and for the last week preparing for my test. Which was today and I passed first time! Now I will be around a lot more and more active here since that stress is out of my hair.

@Shien my wrists flipping hurt but finally got a date for the op WOO! And honestly feel darn fantastic with today's result with my test. :D

Dark Jack said
Oh... I completely missed that post, actually. Sorry Merc; I'll have to rewrite that post with Ixion's movements taken into consideration when I have time.Guh... finally had the time and energy to write a proper post, and I make a mistake like that. Damn.

No need to apologize. Just thought I point that out :)

Also, congrats in passing your driving test, m'dear! Did better than I did (I passed it the second time round for both theory and practical).

M3

@Merc Thanks. I've passed both bits first time so very chuffed. Especially since my dad assumed I wouldn't be able to.

Dark Jack said
Okay, presuming that Syn really did drop out (I thought you and he were still doing that humongous collaborate post of yours, yoshua? The reason I didn't try to engage your characters all this time was because you told me you were doing something with them, after all...) and Draven isn't going to need a number, I rolled the dice... and a really interesting selection came out. I will tell you as much as it was not a number that had not been picked; a character was successfully selected (had an unpicked number come up, no character would have been selected).I wouldn't use random selection like this if any factors within the character's control could potentially influence the outcome, by the way; the fact alone that I left this decision entirely up to chance is because the occurrence I'm anticipating will happen in some IC days is a random one beyond the control of the characters. Of course, on the off chance that the character picked through the dice roll should somehow manage to make itself unqualified for the random event by the time it should occur, nothing will happen... I'm not going to force something to happen despite that it logically could not have just because a pair of dice told me it should. The dice just picked the character; the event is still all me.The ex-sergeant went for Aemoten, yeah, sorry... as you might have been able to tell by the post itself it was rather forced, so I didn't put nearly as much effort into explaining things as I should have. And although I didn't post as Olan, I did include a passage on the events on the other side of the barracks, describing events there immediately after the descent from the roof and the actions of some other characters over there. I don't know how much more I should add as Olan... he would help Thaler down as agreed, but not immediately do much more than that; not with Thaler being as quiet as she is at the moment, at least.And speaking of being quiet, are you all right, Nessa? You seem a bit... I don't know. My intuition just tells me that something's wrong.By detrimental research I was mostly referring to weapons research; I know that the fruits of numerous other branches of science could easy be and have been perverted to be used in harmful ways such as in weapons, and while this is unfortunate I still don't call that detrimental research because the original purpose of it was beneficial. Things that can't possibly be used for good, however - such as most instances of bio-weapon technology - but are clearly made for the sole purpose of war, are the ones I call detrimental. Eh, and obviously research to find a way to use beneficial technology in a harmful way is also detrimental. The exact amount of resources that should be used for that kind of things is none, if you ask me.

He doesn't seem to have the time and I've been reminding him incessantly (over months) to respond to the collab again and he hasn't. So at the very least I think I'll try and whip up a post for I'on where he notifies his friend that he is back in town and then he heads for his shop. Anything that happens after he starts heading away from his friend's place is ffiiiiine with me.

@Nessa: Congrats indeed! I am admittedly not too familiar with the UK driving exams, but over here it is quite source of headache, especially for the people unfortunate enough to be living in the capital (no one knows how the capital's streets work) - who can, will take the driving test someone else. Passing the driving exam there with the first try seems to be the rare exception rather than the rule.
(My not-so-new-anymore car is weird, which means I got to took *more* than just the B-cat. exams, several years after I first made my license...)

Oh, and good luck with the op, too!

(Note to self: do not mention your hands are fine. I managed to accidentally ram my left shoulder into a corner two days ago and hit a nerve, which meant that *everything* down from the shoulder was in a rather strong pain for the next day and a half. Didn't stop me from doing something or anything - my pain tolerance is quite legendary, for the matter -, but I guess I can sympathize?

...Not long before that, I had also discovered something very sharp in my food *after* I had started trying to eat it. Tyah.)

@Shien Thank you :)

@All Sorry for the short post, not much to write at the moment. :)

I managed to injure my left hand pretty severely yesterday, too... Hit it on something sharp. Hurts pretty badly and makes it so that my index finger won't move as much as it's supposed to, although that's probably just the swelling. Still, sorry to hear that misfortune has struck you as well, Shien.
And congratiolations to you, Nessa, on both passing your driving exam ( or test? What's it called in English?) and on obtaining good news in regard to your wrists. Good to know that it is at least not everyone that has fallen victim to bad luck.

I reposted the revised ???-post in the IC, Merc and Rhaevnn; I reused several parts of the old one, but added a whole lot more.

@Jack: I don't actually know whether you drink coffee or I'd have offered you a metaphorical cup of coffee? (Seems to be working well with writing specifically for me when I am not really tired but just somehow ... floating?) Else I have half a shelfful of different teas.

(Eh, and let's try not to hurt ourselves anymore, shall we? By now everything below my right shoulder is back to usual again, save for a small bruise on the shoulder itself. My range of motion was luckily not hindered, it was just quite painful for a while, which I tend to perceive as annoying more than anything.)

Edit: "Now I wonder whether death-rebirth cycle in Reniam could actually be supported as far as the world goes."
(...?)

@Nessa: Post size is supposed to fluctuate a bit depending how much you're replying to / have to add, no?
(Poor Thaler's still depressed and thinks others think everything is her fault... Let's hope this fight won't be long so at least some misunderstandings can be corrected ... hopefully. They simply don't seem to catch a break, do they?)

Hey Jack,
Just to let you know, I won't be around for a week. My family and I are doing our annual camping trip for the summer and I will have extremely sporadic internet. I'll post up when I get back (which I can't wait for :D)

Sad way to go for Blue. Her life sounded anything but enviable, in spite of her almost outrageous expertise in practically everything she was described doing, and then she was killed in a fight with people she had no business with in the first place. RIP

By the way, I figured I'd leave the next post on Jill's side up to Ink, given that Jack and I had the last two, to clear that up in case anyone was waiting.

Sorry for the delay. I will try to have something up either sometime tofsy or tomorrow.

That is certainly a bad way to go for Blue. Ixion is, somehow, deciding to take an honour approach and confront the unknown person on her behalf.

M3