City Of Gold
Mendel, Louisiana. November 13, 2014
11:30 PM
Blood stains splattered on the grey pavement. Cracked bricks and claw marks litter the alley, and there is a sizeable dent in the side of a green dumpster; it too is stained with blood. The night is warm, but there is a thin layer of frost clinging to one of the walls. Pools of oil float over the wet, asphalt ground, where some parts contain still-melting floes of ice. Near the end of the alley, kneeling beside a row of disemboweled trash cans, is John Frost. He is panting heavily, and hugging his torso. His clothes are badly torn, and a massive gash across the left side of his head is leaking dark, thick blood. So is a trio of gashes across the left side of his torso. His white tee shirt is now dyed a deep crimson. He feels at least two broken ribs, but fears his assailant isn’t yet finished with him. A primal, deep and wild panting emanates from the alley, like that of a voracious wolf, and with it brings on the beating of his heart to a race. He sees nothing, as if the ravager is completely concealed in the alley’s shroud.
Slowly he rises to his feet, still clutching the wounds on his side. He sees nothing; his sole sensory reception from his assailant is that incessant panting of a starving beast.. His grip tightens, and the bleeding on his side freezes. His clothes slowly cover with frost, spreading from his hands. His mind is a fluster of chaos, a chorus of screams. For every one thought or urge, there is another two, and each competes for control until there is one thought that dominates all of the others:
Run.
John staggers backwards, reverting to old childhood teachings, trying to move as slowly as possible and make no sudden moves. Isn’t that what stops animals from attacking? No sudden movements? This wasn’t any normal animal, though. John took off down the alley, hoping to escape into the light and get help. The panting intensifies into an animalistic snarl, and the sound of claws scratching across the pavement echoes along the frost-covered walls in pursuit of John, whose hands and feet are cold now as the fight-or-flight responses kick in. As his brain vividly alive when it floods with adrenaline, he becomes eerily aware of every sound; the scratching, the growls, the blaring of the car horns on the crowded street at the end of the alley. The scratching is approaching too quickly; he can’t escape. John is about ten feet from the end of the alley when finally he wheels around and screams, “WHO ARE YOU?!” A massive blast of frost explodes from his outstretched hands, and the entire alley is covered in two inches of frost. Icicles explode violently from the walls, creating a spiked corridor. The ice on the ground turns into a layer of jagged rock-like constructs. A circle of icicle palisades surround John, keeping anything from getting too close. His eyes are closed and his hands are covering his head, waiting for impact. The panting has stopped. He looks around cautiously to make sure he is alone. He hears nothing and sees nothing. Slowly his hands come to rest at his sides. He sighs a breath of relief; it’s all over now.
Suddenly, the panting returns. He gasps as claw marks appear in the two inches of frost that cling to the walls. Something is climbing the walls. The scratching of claws is replaced by the crunching of ice. Before he can react, a primordial roar rips through his ear drums, and the hunter’s titanic shadow, illuminated by the light of the moon, is upon him. The ice spears shatter explosively, and John screams. Pain tears through his body as his abdomen is sliced apart, and he is thrown onto his back as the shower of icicles fall. He is dead before he hits the ground.
Police are on the scene ten minutes later. John Frost is found dead, ten feet from rescue. His body is torn to ribbons so viciously that he can no longer be identified. The melted ice and the blood combine into an enormous puddle around his body. Every rib on his left side is shattered, and both of his lungs are punctured. His face is mutilated beyond recognition. The corpse is cold, and frost still clings to his blood-splattered jeans. From high above, the killer watches, admiring its handiwork. Step one of the plan is complete.
About Mendel
Mendel, Louisiana was founded in 1754 by the French Empire as a port on the Mississippi River. It was named after Louis Mendel, its founder, an incredibly rich man that built a massive castle of a house on the bank of the Mississippi. It became an increasingly rich city, and by the time that it was taken over by the Americans in the Louisiana Purchase, it was home to a host of rich traders. They built enormous mansion along Riverside Avenue, a long winding street that hugged the river’s western bank. The city became a hub for gamblers in the 20th century, and the Mendel Strip became the largest gambling venue in the southeast, seconded at the time only by New Orleans. The Mendel Palace, the largest of the casinos, was modeled after the Taj Mahal, and has three massive golden domes atop it. Other buildings along the strip adorned themselves with gold as well, and soon Mendel was well-known by many as the City of Gold. It was a place for the rich and over-privileged to take a vacation along the river in a hundred-year-old mansion. After a massive flood of the Mississippi River one year, the mansions on the east side of Mendel were destroyed, and a sort of wealth stratification began to divide the two. West Mendel became a place of large single-family houses and nicer brownstone-style row houses, while East Mendel became a hub of industrialism, containing smaller row houses and towering apartment buildings. The steel workers worked in East Mendel, and their managers worked in West Mendel.
To this day, not much has changed. West Mendel is a hub for business and pleasure, with both a large financial district and a section filled with casinos, fancy restaurants, and high-class strip clubs. The Mendel Palace is rather run-down at this point, and there is an enormous crack stretching down one of the domes. East Mendel is a poorer area of town, containing a power plant and a large industrial area. River Hill, a neighborhood in the south, is now a bad neighborhood filled with crime.
At some point in its history, Mendel became a city filled with meta humans. They came via the Black Fall Effect, the theory that superhumans are drawn to the location of other superhumans. Nowadays, the city of around 300,000 crawls with metas (though they’re still a big minority). After the Race Riots, an event that happened in 2006 where humans and metahumans fought against each other in a sort of race gang war, the metahumans of Mendel decided to band together and form their own system of government to protect themselves from their human oppressors.
If only it were that easy. In reality, two rival gangs formed, the Skulls and the Vanguard, each with their own values, strategies, and missions. The Skulls took over Mendel’s East Side, which is predominated by poor slums and factories, while the Vanguard took control of the West Side, the more downtown area of Mendel containing the financial district and the casinos. For many years, the two gangs have lived in relative peace, but now Skull blood has been spilled in a West Mendel alley, and someone is going to pay for it.
The Gangs (In bullet point form!)
The Skulls:
-Control East Mendel, the industrial and low-income area of Mendel.
-Are headed by Peter Osten, known as Skeleton, and the Big Five, the five strongest members of the Skulls (currently Skeleton, Diablo, Grease, Shadow Child, and Prodigy).
-Each Big Five member has an Enforcer, a lieutenant of sorts who makes sure that their orders are carried out (a combined bodyguard/personal assistant/muscle).
-Goal is to make humans fear metas. They violently persecute any normal human who dares interfere with metahumans, and are known to occasionally over-protect.
-Function through violent offensive shows of strength. They’re the type to simply charge into battle with not much of a plan and muscle their way through.
-Have a flare for fast cars and motorcycles.
-Wear black leather jackets with sugar skulls on the back (my artist is still working on the logos)
-More offensively centered gang, the more powerful you are and the more you kiss ass to the leaders, the higher up you’ll get.
-Make their money by stealing and robbing, generally.
The Vanguard:
-Control West Mendel, the richer and more financial part of the city.
-Are headed by Amber Kiyoshi, known as Whisper. She controls the gang’s activities completely. Whisper has no equals, unlike Skeleton, but she does have an inner circle of metas who have proved themselves to be more worthy than others
-In order to earn your place in the gang, you must be the strongest among equals.
-Goal is to keep to themselves and protect metahumans from persecution. They prefer less direct action as opposed to simply busting people’s heads open like the Skulls.
-If you read this, put “genome” in the “other” section of your sheet.
-Pride themselves on strategy and extensive planning. The Vanguard has a backup to the backup of the backup plan.
-Have a flare for pyrotechnics and explosions (Michael Bay approved)
-Wear bronze-colored leather jackets with a pair of gold crossed keys on the back (logo pending)
-Seem to have a sort of rivalry amongst prominent male members over Whisper.
-Make their money through protection payments from local businesses and non-metahumans in their area of control.
[hider=City Information]Mendel is a massive city, with a population of 315,423 (yes I pulled that number out of my ass) people. It is split into two halves by the Mississippi River; East Mendel and West Mendel. Each half has its own neighborhoods and such, making it quite a diverse environment (because I have no life and nothing better to do than write up locations in cities. Woo hoo [<3 ya Maxx! -Jazzy]).
East Mendel:
River Hill: The baddest neighborhood around Basically, River Hill is the ghetto. They definitely don’t deliver pizza after dark, and if your car breaks down, you’re just screwed. It consists of run-down rowhomes and backwater projects. This section of the city is fraught with crime, homelessness, tranny prostitution, and poverty. The Skulls have a lot of authority in this neighborhood.
Notable features:
-A police station in the center of the neighborhood.
-The Jolly Roger, the Skull’s main hangout. They have the best hot wings in Mendel.
-Club Dragon, a strip club that certain Skulls frequent. It is said to run a brothel on the side.
East Rail: River Hill’s slightly less-bad younger brother. Contains primarily apartment buildings, row-homes, and warehouses. It gets its name from the sets of train tracks that split it in half. East Rail is the most heavily-influenced Skull-controlled area. Ethnically, it is primarily Hispanic.
Notable features:
-The Tunnels, a set of run-down subway tunnels from back in the 90s when Mendel tried to build a subway and failed because the treasury ran out of funding for it. It is used both as a hideout for the Skulls and a hideaway for druggies and prostitutes.
-Edison Station, the city’s trash power plant.
-1900 Haber Street, the address of the Skulls’ headquarters. It is a large building made of black brick, standing away from the normal rows of interconnected storefronts and row homes. A skull is spraypainted on the front of it. It is attached to a large garage where the rides of Big Five members and Enforcers.
-The India Club, a strip club that the Skulls frequent.
Darwin Park: A slightly nicer neighborhood in East Mendel, built along the river. The houses are slightly nicer and the streets are cleaner. The Skulls have slightly less control in this area.
Notable features:
-Barton National Hospital, the only hospital in East Mendel. Has a good burn center, but everything else is decent at best.
-Crown Street Mall: A large mall. Contains your typical mall shit.
-Darwin Park, a waterfront park with boat docks and fishing piers.
-A ferryboat station
Chinatown: What great city is complete without a little bit of China? Chinatown is a small area of Mendel, between Darwin Park and East Rail. It has the best crime rate of any East Mendel neighborhood (relatively speaking) and is famous for its martial arts studios.
Notable Features:
-The Mendel Museum of Modern Art.
-Several martial arts dojos.
The Industrial District: Factories and industrial parks. Very low residential population. Harbors many homeless people.
Notable Features:
-Andrew Jackson Reservoir (just outside of the city limits)
-The Northrop Grumman Plant
West Mendel
Downtown Mendel: Your stereotypical downtown city place, with lots of tall buildings and tourist attractions. There are few houses in this area, as it is primarily a commercial area. The prominent buildings are all connected by glass-covered bridges.
Notable Features:
-The Mendel Museum of Art, a big postmodern-looking white building with lots of windows. There is a large statue garden outside of it.
-The National Aquarium in Mendel, a big aquarium/marine biology research center.
-Mendel Mall, the largest mall in Mendel, built into a skyscraper. Contains your usual mall stuff.
-The Archimedes building, the tallest building in Mendel (997 ft tall). Is roughly obelisk-shaped, and has a facade made of teal-tinted glass. The building contains a classy Italian restaurant called Marino’s, which is Whisper’s favorite restaurant and hangout, as well as Club 76, a classy bar on the 76th floor of the building that the Vanguard also frequent.
-Mendel University Hospital, the largest hospital in Mendel. It has the second-best shock trauma unit in the world (next to UMD in Baltimore). If you are dying, your best bet is to get to MUH ASAP. It is connected to Mendel University’s med school campus.
-The Hotel Mendel, a large, four-star hotel that I added here for more or less no reason!
-Mendel Convention Center, Mendel’s main place for rock concerts and shows. It also acts as an arena for Mendel’s indoor football team, the Mendel Barons.
Banker’s Hill: A small, rich neighborhood in the northern half of Mendel. The houses here are generally very large. It is the oldest still-standing neighborhood in Mendel.
Notable Features:
-Le Grand Palais, an old abandoned mansion in the south of Banker’s Hill, near Lincoln Point. It acts as a hideout/fortress for the Vanguard.
-Corvo Hall, an opera hall. The hall stages operas, plays, and Mendel’s symphony orchestra.
-The Jonathan Corvo University of Performing Arts, one of the best performing arts colleges in the country. It is very expensive, and has a great drama department.
The Gambling District: The largest of Mendel’s primarily commercial areas. It contains the casinos and nightlife, primarily, as well as many hotels and other leisurely buildings.
Notable features:
-Sinner’s Row, a massive Vegas-like strip of casinos, bars, and strip clubs in the middle of the gambling district. If you’re in West Mendel and you wanna have some adult fun, you go to Sinner’s Row.
-Mendel Racetrack, a horse-racing track just outside of the city limits (though I’m still including it as part of this neighborhood).
-Copeland’s, a famous Cajun restaurant just off the Strip. It is famous for its awesome fried chicken.
Lincoln Point: A nicer residential neighborhood northeast of downtown. It is primarily made of nicer apartment buildings and luxury condominiums. Most of the buildings are very tall here, and the style is very modern.
Notable Features:
-Whisper’s house (a condo)
-A ferryboat station
-Jazzy’s Cafe, a relatively small, but cozy jazz-themed cafe. Has live performances, stand up comedy acts, and so on. They make a mean mocha latte. Whisper stops by almost every day to grab a coffee on her way to work.
-Fishing piers
-Lincoln Park, a small grassy area/park in the center of Lincoln Point. There is a beautiful French-style fountain in the middle, a smaller replica of the one at Versailles. Popular place for edgy music concerts (According to Jazzy, Edgy refers to any band that is or is similar to Linkin Park).
Ft.Erwin: Another older neighborhood, situated between Downtown and the Gambling District. It has a very high demographic of young people due to its proximity to Mendel University. It is mostly composed of short apartment buildings and nicer townhouses. Crime is slightly higher around this area than it is in other residential areas of Mendel.
Notable Features:
-Mendel University, a large college campus in the middle of town. The university has the best genetics research program in the country, and does a ton of research into metahuman genetics and sociology.
-Fleer Tower, a large, rather awkwardly-placed circular office building on the border of Downtown and Ft. Erwin. Under the building is the Vanguard HQ, which is only accessible via the sewers and a set of stairs hidden in the back of a janitor closet near the front desk. The headquarters have never been successfully broken into.
-Nick’s Auto Repair Shop, “I couldn’t repair your brakes so I made your horn louder!”
Other Areas of Importance:
-Lonestar Adventure Park, an old-west-themed amusement park. It contains all your typical amusement park stuff, like roller coasters, a ferris wheel, a log ride, etc.
-The Sewers, which span mazelike under the entire city. Besides being dirty and full of shit, the sewers allow gang members to travel across the city without being detected. The pipes spanning between East and West Mendel are blocked off by enormous six-inch-thick wrought-iron bars. It is said that a terrifying monster lives in the western half of the sewers.
-Chateau Triste, an old decaying mansion on the edge of East Mendel. It is said to be haunted by the ghost of a young woman who was murdered by a stalker.
-Lost Love Isle, a small woody island in the middle of the Mississippi. It is said that back in the 19th century, the mayor’s wife, who felt neglected by her husband’s constant working, travelled to the isle and killed herself. Ever since, it is said to be a place where people with broken hearts go to kill themselves.
-Mendel National Zoo, a zoo just outside of Darwin Park. It has an excellent aviary, but is very run-down in some parts.
Power Classifications
There are several different powers a Meta-human can obtain, each are categorized.
Super System: Meta-humans under the Super System class are the most diverse. Abilities under this class are abilities that enhance certain aspects of the natural human physical body to superhuman levels. Powers that fall under this class is Super Strength, Flight, Super Speed, Invisibility, Regenerator, Hardening Skin, intangibility, etc
Anatomical/Biological: Meta-humans under the Anatomical class have the ability to manipulate their own bodily tissues or bodily functions, without dramatically altering the original structure or function. Abilities under this class allow Meta-humans to alter their various tissues, or functions which can be enhanced at will. Whether it be changing the color of their skin, or growing new muscles. This class stands out from the Super System class, as the latter allows enhanced natural abilities. Powers that fall under this class are: Skin Manipulation, Muscle Expansion, Space-shifting, etc.
Elemental: Elemental types are easily the common type of Meta-humans. These Meta-humans have control over certain elements. Most under this class are able to move their element and utilize it in defensive and offensive situations. Often these Meta-humans are able to create their element, and some can even transform themselves into their element. Powers that fall under this class are: Control over fire, earth, water, air, plastic, dust, light, etc.
Cerebral: These powers have to do with the mind. These are common as the Elemental and Super System class Meta-humans. Most that fall under this class are able to do something with their mind or others. Powers that fall under this class are: Telepathy, Emotion Manipulation, Telekinesis, Memory Manipulation,
Energy: Energy types have a power that is related to Energy (Kinetic, Thermal, Electrical, Solar). Sometimes these Meta-humans can fall under the Elemental Class. These Meta-humans aren't as diverse as Super System or Elemental Classes, being able to use energy in their powers. Powers that fall under this class are: Kinetic/Thermal/Electrical/Solar Energy related powers, and force fields, lasers, etc.
Chemical: Chemical Types have a power related to chemicals that the body produces or external chemicals. Sometimes these Meta-humans can fall under Elemental or Super-System. These Meta-human aren't diverse as the Super System or Elemental classes, being able to utilize chemicals. Powers that fall under this class are: Pheromone Manipulation/Generation, Hormone Manipulation, Acid Manipulation, etc
Cosmic: Cosmic type Meta-humans allow powers related to Space itself. These meta-humans have powers related to comets, meteors, asteroids, stars, planets, nebula, quasars, dark matter, the sun, and the moon. Some of these Meta-humans have powers that'd fall under Energy or Elemental. Powers that fall under this class are: Solar Manipulation, Lunar Manipulation, Control over Space Rocks, etc
Spatial: Spatial Meta-humans have powers that relate to Time and Space itself. These meta-humans can bend space and time to preform various feats, or altering the natural laws of space. These powers do not fall under the Cosmic-class. Powers that fall under this class are: Teleportation, Slashing Rifts in time and space, altering distance and space/dimensions, etc
Animal/Plant: Animal/Plant type Meta-humans have powers related to the animal/plant kingdom. Whether it be control over certain animal/plants, transforming into an animal/plant or adopting traits from one. Mystical/Ancient animals also fall under this class. Powers that fall under this class are: Wolf features, Control over birds, transforming into a dragon, etc
Extra-Sensory: This class includes abilities that allow gaining information through unnatural means. These Meta-humans can often fall under the Cerebral class too if their powers have to do with the mind. Powers that fall under this class are: Pre/Retro-Cognition, Astral Projection, Etc
Power: This class involves Meta-humans who have abilities related to themselves or the abilities of other Meta-humans. Meta-humans in this class vary. Often their powers can be be taking/copying the powers of others or ampfliying powers. Powers that fall under this class are: Power Replication, Manipulation, Bestowal, etc
Other: Powers that simply don't fall under the above categories.
Things to Know About Meta Humans
1. Meta-humans have been around since the 1800's.
2. The powers of Meta-humans start out weak, but gradually get stronger over time - In a sort of evolution kind of way. Usually, it takes a long time for significant progress. However, when the Meta-human is faced with adversity, the evolution accelerates. Thus, when put into stressful situations; the Meta-human gets much stronger.
3. There is an effect between meta-humans that causes them to be subconsciously attracted to each other. A meta-human will be drawn to another and even shy ones will want to go out and interact with people they've never met before just because they're meta-humans. There's another effect where if one person becomes a meta-human that their friends and family will be far more likely to become a meta-human themselves. This has been dubbed "The Black Fall Effect" by the higher ups, due to a previous incident.
4. There are such a thing as inherent powers. Powers that run in the family. They are fairly uncommon.
5. All Meta-humans suffer from physical overexertion if their powers are overused.
6. Powers have something to do with an unidentified energy that surges through people's being. There are multiple unique forms of this energy. However, the unique forms are specific to certain Meta-humans.
7. Meta-humans are simply born. No toxic waste or atomic derp spiders. There are means to give humans powers (Such as the Black Fall Effect).
8. Their powers don't have to be scientifically accurate, but they have to make sense.
9. Most powers manifest at ages 10+. However, it isn't uncommon for powers to develop earlier.
[b]10.[b/] Now this is extremely important. Sometimes after gross-overuse of powers a meta-human may go through a phenomenon known as "Ashing". It's a slow process which a meta-human's cells die at an alarmingly fast rate, and is fatal 96% of the time. The cells will drop off the person's being like ash until they are nothing more than a pile of ash flowing in the wind. Powers will fluctuate during this time until during the last stages of life when they lose their powers and die. However there are rare occasions when meta-humans survive the process - except with horrible consequences. The worst part is that most don't even know about the risk of ashing it unless told or seeing it for themselves.
Rules
1. GMs and Mods have ultimate authority. What we say goes.
2. No godmodding, powerplaying, meta-gaming (This is important), and so forth.
3. Be considerate and respectful of the others players as possible. The purpose of roleplaying is to have fun, lets keep it that way for everyone. That said, keep arguments off the OOC much as possible. If you have a problem, take it up with one of us, or in the PMs, or both.
4. Mature themes are allowed (Drinking/drugs, swearing, sex). But be sensible with it, don't overplay it. Also have common sense and fade to black when appropriate.
5. No killing without permission.
6. One paragraph a post, at least five lines. Simple? It should be.
7. If you lost interest in the RP, or have to leave, tell me. I'll write your characters off, or just forget about them. However, if you leave without telling anyone, your character will potentially be killed off and/or eaten.
8. The following powers are banned: time travel, death inducement, omnipotence, omniscience, omnipresence, large-scale reality warping, nuclear fission, and complete indestructibility/absolute defense.
9. No "experimented on and escaped a lab" back stories please. Stop whining. No one cares that your character was tortured and abused.
10. Everyone is allowed, even encouraged, to have multiple characters, which will maximize interaction. Everyone can have as many characters as they think they can handle.
11. No mary sues/OP characters that are perfect at everything and do everything right. I'm going to say this right off the bat: I want flawed characters. No Mr. Perfects that make the best decisions all the time, and Captain Awesomes who are just better than everyone else at everything. Mary Sues will not be tolerated.
12. If you have any questions, criticisms, observations or ideas, feel free to post them in the OOC.
13. In addition to putting the other word in the other section, put the word “transposon” somewhere in your sheet. And be creative about it.
14. The mookacide rule. Because we probably won’t have enough members to run two gangs, there will be many NPC characters, which I call mooks. In order to keep the gangs from, you know, running out of NPC members, I am instituting the Mookacide rule. Basically, it works like this; in one post, one character cannot kill more than two mooks, without special permission from me or a mod.
15. Have fun.
16. All sheets go to this link.
Character Sheet
Basic Information
Name:
Nickname/Alias/Etc:
Gender:
Age: (8-whatever’s realistic)
Height: (In whatever format you want, metric or 'Merican)
Weight: (See above, but how heavy instead of how tall)
Faction: (What faction is your character in? Skull, Vanguard, or Neutral?)
Appearance
Hair Color: (Put what color your character's hair is. If it's dyed put that)
Eye Color: (This should be simple)
Ethnicity: (What color is your character's skin basically?)
Physical Appearance: (What does your character look like? Go in detail here because the more the merrier)
Attire: (Optional if you want to describes outfits IC-side. What does your character wear normally and what is their "Style" if they have any?)
Personality
Outward & Innate Personality: (What does your character do when around other people? How is your character deep down?)
Hobbies/Interests: (What does your character do for fun?)
Skills/Talents: (Similar to hobbies, but refers to the level of skill a character has. For example, a character could like playing violin but isn't very good at it or vice versa.)
Prized Possession: (What object does your character value above all else?)
Quote(s): (Optional. Just put a line that your character would say here. Anything really.)
History/Bio: (Optional Give me a detailed description of your character's past. How they were brought up. Try to include mostly major events/details.)
Family: ([Ex: Parents, children, siblings] Include stepfamilies if it applies, and label as such.)
Relationships
Relationships: (Basically a section where you put your character's thoughts on the other ones they've encountered. You can also talk to other people and decide what your characters relations will be.)
[Character name] | [Impression (Good/Bad/Neutral]] | [Relationship (Friend, Rival, Crush, etc)] | [Character's thoughts [EX: I think Bob is quite the amiable fellow, has a great head on his shoulders, but is kinda daft]] |
Abilities
Power Class: (Super System, Elemental, Chemical, Cosmic, Cerebral, Energy, Animal/Plant, Extra-Sensory, Anatomical/Biological, Spatial, Power, or Other - Place assigned power rating here)
Power: (Describe the power that your character has in great detail, and describe everything your guy can do.)
Weaknesses/Limitations/Drawbacks: (What are the limits to your character's power?)
Other: (Put whatever you want here, basically anything that doesn't fit in the other forms)
Ok, so just a note here; this is my first rp on this site, and so I haven't quite gotten the hang of things. I will probably screw up somewhere. If I do, please point it out to me.
