Profile for Ephesos
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Displayed name | Ephesos |
| Member number | 4153 |
| Title | Law Bringer |
| Postcount | 4130 |
| Homepage | http://www.freewebs.com/ephesos |
| Registered | Friday, March 26 2004 08:00 |
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| Ah...It's good to be back. in General | |
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Law Bringer
Member # 4153
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written Monday, August 1 2005 17:08
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I can't say I know you, but welcome back just the same... -------------------- Gamble with Gaea, and she eats your dice. I hate undead. I really, really, really, really hate undead. With a passion. Posts: 4130 | Registered: Friday, March 26 2004 08:00 |
| The Mountain of Shadows RP in General | |
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Law Bringer
Member # 4153
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written Monday, August 1 2005 17:04
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OoC: Always wanted to try one of these... I hope the ol' writing skills are up to par with all of you. Note about my character's spellcraft: Remember Nature Lore and Priest Spells from Avernum? Combine them, and you get my character's spells. IC: Brother Sequoia took a hesitant look at his glass before lifting it to his lips again. He wasn't completely sure that he should believe his eyes (particularly after that skeleton), but he could've sworn an empty suit of armor had just walked out of the tavern. Worse, Brother Sequoia had just been drinking water. He had been wandering the countryside for about a year, before drifting into the little town whose tavern he now sat in, terribly confused. He belonged to an order of Druids from the island of Krell, and had been assigned to spread the message of his Order. Nothing overly-preachy, just a simple doctrine of peacefully coexisting with nature. Few had received it well, and he still had the scar from that lunatic back in Gale. Still, he persisted, though more cautiously than before. His few possessions included a worn, dark-green traveling cloak, a dusty brown robe, and a very well-worn staff of oak. The staff was carved with many runes sacred to his Order, which aided Brother Sequoia in his spellcraft. He also wore a bronze necklace, which had some sort of enchantment put on it. Brother Sequoia had never been very sure what it did, but it hadn't killed him yet, so he had kept it. Upon entering the tavern, he could've sworn that he saw another member of his Order at a dimly-lit table. However, the green-robed man wore an iron mask, something which Brother Sequoia had never seen on a druid. He was starting to wonder about the bar's patrons and their sanity... "What lunatics..." Brother Sequoia muttered under his breath. Picking his staff up off the table, he gathered his cloak about him and left the tavern. Brother Sequoia had heard about the rumors of treasure in the Mountain of Shadows, but hadn't really given it much thought until now. Nobody back at the Order could possibly fault him for giving it a try... after all, nobody here seemed inclined to listen to the Order's teachings. Deciding to fill his waterskin before finding somewhere to sleep, Brother Sequoia strolled over to the village's well. Lowering the bucket he found at the top, he heard it clang loudly against something metal at the bottom... OoC: Anybody name the town yet? -------------------- Gamble with Gaea, and she eats your dice. I hate undead. I really, really, really, really hate undead. With a passion. Posts: 4130 | Registered: Friday, March 26 2004 08:00 |
| What scenarios hve you done? in Blades of Avernum | |
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Law Bringer
Member # 4153
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written Monday, August 1 2005 09:41
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Played them all with various parties (my starting one had hit something like level 50 after finishing the four included ones a second time). Well, actually, I haven't played my own scenario beyond testing (which isn't really playing it, just trying to break it), but I've done all of the others. The only ones that ever gave me a headache playing were A Perfect Forest (the Perfect Spirit was annoying), Roses of Reckoning (preachiness got on my nerves), Undead Valley (just for the sheer confusing nature of the beast), and A Large Rebellion (running back and forth and back and forth and back...). -------------------- Gamble with Gaea, and she eats your dice. I hate undead. I really, really, really, really hate undead. With a passion. Posts: 4130 | Registered: Friday, March 26 2004 08:00 |
| Mad Ambition - The fight in the fort! in Blades of Avernum | |
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Law Bringer
Member # 4153
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written Sunday, July 31 2005 17:59
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Yes, an interesting idea, but poorly executed. I almost thought the potions were TM's way of mocking my inability to kill Chica, as if saying "go kill yourself". Or, just useless treasure. The only reason I had an idea of what to do was that I'd seen a help topic here. -------------------- Gamble with Gaea, and she eats your dice. I hate undead. I really, really, really, really hate undead. With a passion. Posts: 4130 | Registered: Friday, March 26 2004 08:00 |
| The more the merrier, eh? in General | |
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Law Bringer
Member # 4153
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written Sunday, July 31 2005 17:52
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The Numa Numa song, just because nobody who speaks English sounds right singing it. -------------------- Gamble with Gaea, and she eats your dice. I hate undead. I really, really, really, really hate undead. With a passion. Posts: 4130 | Registered: Friday, March 26 2004 08:00 |
| Long-distance relationships? in General | |
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Law Bringer
Member # 4153
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written Sunday, July 31 2005 12:06
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Interesting topic... one that's been leaping around my mind for a while now. My girlfriend and I are headed for different colleges at the end of the summer (about 2 and a half hours apart), and while it's not a very long distance, neither of us is likely to have a car. We're unsure if it could work, and it's really unpleasant even talking about it. Actually, we've only got about 2-3 weeks left before we both leave... I don't even like thinking about it, really. Personally, if you start a relationship as a long-distance one, I think it can work (you just need the aforementioned commitment). But you can't turn an existing one into a long-distance one without major difficulties (which I can vouch for). It's just a matter of how you're accustomed to seeing your partner, and how drastically that changes (if it ever does). And about the Christian thing, not to bash or anything, but everyone is susceptible to the same pressures, regardless of what you believe in. You're not more committed because of your beliefs, though they can help reinforce that. You're committed because it's part of your personality, and your beliefs just happen to fall into place with however you feel about it. -------------------- Gamble with Gaea, and she eats your dice. I hate undead. I really, really, really, really hate undead. With a passion. Posts: 4130 | Registered: Friday, March 26 2004 08:00 |
| Web "anonymity" vs. real life identity in General | |
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Law Bringer
Member # 4153
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written Friday, July 29 2005 19:32
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I agree that leaving out your real name from the boards gives you more freedom of expression. I only know one person on the boards in real life, and I doubt that anybody else knows me. Personally, I'd prefer to keep it that way, because I'm not sure I could cope with everyone here in real life (no offense, but we're all a bit weird here). -------------------- Gamble with Gaea, and she eats your dice. I hate undead. I really, really, really, really hate undead. With a passion. Posts: 4130 | Registered: Friday, March 26 2004 08:00 |
| Hintbooks... in The Avernum Trilogy | |
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Law Bringer
Member # 4153
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written Thursday, July 28 2005 19:02
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Very simple questions: have you ever completed a game without the hintbook, have you ever overused it, and have you ever regretted using it? Myself, I've played A2 & 3 with gratuitous use of the hintbook, and I'm just now getting through A2 again without the book (anyway, I think I lost it). Poll Information This poll contains 3 question(s). 20 user(s) have voted. You may not view the results of this poll without voting. function launch_voter () { launch_window("http://www.ironycentral.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=poll;d=vote;pollid=uBEJGTsabalj"); return true; } // end launch_voter function launch_viewer () { launch_window("http://www.ironycentral.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=poll;d=view;pollid=uBEJGTsabalj"); return true; } // end launch_viewer function launch_window (url) { preview = window.open( url, "preview", "width=550,height=300,toolbar=no,location=no,directories=no,status,menubar=no,scrollbars,resizable,copyhistory=no" ); window.preview.focus(); return preview; } // end launch_window   -------------------- Gamble with Gaea, and she eats your dice. I hate undead. I really, really, really, really hate undead. With a passion. Posts: 4130 | Registered: Friday, March 26 2004 08:00 |
| Crossbow in ASR in Blades of Avernum | |
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Law Bringer
Member # 4153
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written Thursday, July 28 2005 18:49
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Could just be that it got removed after testing. I think I left a sour item or two in my scenario (but nowhere in reach of a determined PC) in an earlier version. After all, I think there are items other scenarios that can only be accessed by the editor. -------------------- Gamble with Gaea, and she eats your dice. I hate undead. I really, really, really, really hate undead. With a passion. Posts: 4130 | Registered: Friday, March 26 2004 08:00 |
| Recommended Reading in General | |
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Law Bringer
Member # 4153
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written Thursday, July 28 2005 18:43
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Hm... been a while since I was in this topic, but I've got more recommendations. Obvious: Harry Potter series (6th book is fairly good in my opinion, speaking of series which just keep going) Not-so-obvious: Kim Stanley Robinson's Red Mars, Green Mars, and Blue Mars. Very good (but very long) sci-fi series with enough half-solid science to keep it entertaining. -------------------- Gamble with Gaea, and she eats your dice. I hate undead. I really, really, really, really hate undead. With a passion. Posts: 4130 | Registered: Friday, March 26 2004 08:00 |
| Do you trust people? in General | |
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Law Bringer
Member # 4153
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written Thursday, July 28 2005 18:28
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I tend to trust people until they prove themselves unworthy of it. Of course, I won't trust a complete stranger with my most prized possession or anything like that, but I generally trust people to not do anything too stupid or destructive, and to help out if called upon. (Interesting aside: I acknowledge that there are many psychological factors which may keep people from helping others, i.e.: diffusion of responsibility, but I think people are usually predisposed towards kindness) I may have too much faith in humanity, but oh well. And with regards to everyone around here, I'll tend to trust older members more (TM excluded, regretfully). Still, I'll trust most people as long as they don't do something blindingly stupid (like the more obvious idiots who've been canned). Actually, there is one group of people I can't really bring myself to trust: people who overuse chatspeak. -------------------- Gamble with Gaea, and she eats your dice. I hate undead. I really, really, really, really hate undead. With a passion. Posts: 4130 | Registered: Friday, March 26 2004 08:00 |
| Druids of Krell question: New Post! in Blades of Avernum | |
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Law Bringer
Member # 4153
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written Monday, July 25 2005 18:37
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This is odd... v. 2.0 was on the tables last time I checked. I already e-mailed spidweb about it, so we should find out what's up soon (or am I being overly optimistic?). EDIT: Sorry this took a while for me to find, but I've been backpacking since the 15th, and just got back today. EDIT 2: Okay, Version 2.0 is back up. Just re-download and replace the files. [ Wednesday, July 27, 2005 15:36: Message edited by: Ephesos ] -------------------- Gamble with Gaea, and she eats your dice. I hate undead. I really, really, really, really hate undead. With a passion. Posts: 4130 | Registered: Friday, March 26 2004 08:00 |
| Druids of Krell - a premature encounter? in Blades of Avernum | |
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Law Bringer
Member # 4153
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written Monday, July 25 2005 18:28
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I could've sworn it all worked out in the latest version. Try downloading that and trying again. EDIT: Okay, there was a mishap with which version was on the tables. The correct version should be there now, so go ahead and replace the files. [ Wednesday, July 27, 2005 15:37: Message edited by: Ephesos ] -------------------- Gamble with Gaea, and she eats your dice. I hate undead. I really, really, really, really hate undead. With a passion. Posts: 4130 | Registered: Friday, March 26 2004 08:00 |
| Human nature in General | |
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Law Bringer
Member # 4153
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written Thursday, July 14 2005 15:54
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I see you have misunderstood me... I didn't mean that mass communication and transportation bring us closer to Civil War #2, I just meant that they can really make it harder for democracy to do the job it's supposed to. The ad campaigns and general mudslinging just make it harder for the average person to be reasonably informed (without a bias) than it already is (as Alorael mentioned). Yep, we've got problems. We need to solve them. 'Tis painfully apparent, particularly when we can't get over 30% of the voters to turn out. -------------------- Gamble with Gaea, and she eats your dice. I hate undead. I really, really, really, really hate undead. With a passion. Posts: 4130 | Registered: Friday, March 26 2004 08:00 |
| All I ask is one small favor... in Blades of Avernum | |
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Law Bringer
Member # 4153
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written Thursday, July 14 2005 12:53
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Yeah... I need to check the Lyceum help boards much more often. -------------------- Gamble with Gaea, and she eats your dice. I hate undead. I really, really, really, really hate undead. With a passion. Posts: 4130 | Registered: Friday, March 26 2004 08:00 |
| Human nature in General | |
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Law Bringer
Member # 4153
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written Thursday, July 14 2005 12:45
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Ah... direct democracy. If only it could work when 300 million people need to be counted (recount, anyone?). It might actually work if we did the "split up the states" plan noted by Salmon. Of course, the resulting chaos would be horrible (Wyoming and Rhode Island wouldn't last a week). Our real problem is that we need to improve our system, but we need to push the reforms through our rapidly deteriorating system before we can fix it. Because the system is crumbling (or just stagnating), it's going to be harder to make improvements. And as much as we want to make improvements, few people get around to DOING SOMETHING (as Drew pointed out). It's much easier to just sit and complain about what's going on. Example: what happened to the youth vote that was supposed to turn around the '04 election? This brings up a very important point: Politics builds momentum. To stop a bad idea, you need to hit it early. Because it's so much easier to go with what you know than to actually try and change things, people will just take the easy way out. This is why the Vietnam War dragged out so long (why admit mistakes when you could just continue on like normal?). Naturally, the improvements in communication and transportation have put an even bigger strain on the union as we know it. It put a strain on every culture that it touched. Because communication has improved so much, the people in power can press their advantage as much as possible. Had the Founding Fathers seen this coming, our Grand Experiment would've turned out a lot differently. In summary, yes we want things to change, but too many people will just sit there and complain on their blog instead of getting out and voting on the issues that need changing. -------------------- Gamble with Gaea, and she eats your dice. I hate undead. I really, really, really, really hate undead. With a passion. Posts: 4130 | Registered: Friday, March 26 2004 08:00 |
| Human nature in General | |
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Law Bringer
Member # 4153
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written Wednesday, July 13 2005 14:52
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I repeat my earlier comment... (through clenched teeth) welcome back TM. Anyway, Milu made a good point... capitalism has that inherent flaw, because there's just no way to control human greed without an elite troop of burglars and pickpockets constantly patrolling the bigger estates of the world. What kind of greed-controlling mechanism could we create? Anything we tried to send through the legislative process would be instantly undermined by the elite we were trying to restrain. -------------------- Gamble with Gaea, and she eats your dice. I hate undead. I really, really, really, really hate undead. With a passion. Posts: 4130 | Registered: Friday, March 26 2004 08:00 |
| Have you ever... in Blades of Avernum | |
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Law Bringer
Member # 4153
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written Wednesday, July 13 2005 14:39
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1. Naturally. Particularly when it's something nasty and disease-ish. 2. Yep. I should use potions far more than I do. 3. No, I tend to identify things via char. editor if I can't find a town that will identify them. 4. Countless times. 5. Yep. 6. I thought you couldn't sell them... 7. Fireblast for 2 SP sounds pretty good to me... and it keeps me from using the character editor as much. 8. No. 9. No. -------------------- Gamble with Gaea, and she eats your dice. I hate undead. I really, really, really, really hate undead. With a passion. Posts: 4130 | Registered: Friday, March 26 2004 08:00 |
| Human nature in General | |
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Law Bringer
Member # 4153
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written Wednesday, July 13 2005 10:45
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Exactly... it's natural selection with none of the benefits. Thus, even if there is theoretically a perfect human being (see below), then we'll never get there. I know that saying it's all about natural selection is a bit shallow (and I know that it isn't all about that), but it still seems ethically questionable that people choose to circumvent it via cosmetic surgery. Naturally, it's perfectly fair for burn victims and people with similar circumstances (after all, that's just trying to return to normal). And the idea of a perfect human being is so incredibly improbable that it's not really worth consideration (but consider it I will). If one ever showed up somehow, their genes would get mixed in to the gene pool and never be seen again. On a side note, imagine how boring the perfect human would be... not exactly someone I'd want to hang out with anyway. They'd basically be inhuman, because our imperfections/quirks/oddities are what makes us human. -------------------- Gamble with Gaea, and she eats your dice. I hate undead. I really, really, really, really hate undead. With a passion. Posts: 4130 | Registered: Friday, March 26 2004 08:00 |
| Red Herrings in The Avernum Trilogy | |
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Law Bringer
Member # 4153
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written Wednesday, July 13 2005 10:36
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So, you can theoretically finish the game while "accidentally" going off to kill the dragons, with virtually no limitations. Interesting. I should try that. -------------------- Gamble with Gaea, and she eats your dice. I hate undead. I really, really, really, really hate undead. With a passion. Posts: 4130 | Registered: Friday, March 26 2004 08:00 |
| Human nature in General | |
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Law Bringer
Member # 4153
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written Wednesday, July 13 2005 08:43
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quote:Actually, it does. Cosmetic surgery is meant to make people more attractive, thus more likely to find a mate (the detached biological perspective can be downright creepy sometimes). However, the body improvements from surgery are acquired traits, and cannot be inherited. So, it's cheating Darwin, because it leads people to choose the "surgically enhanced" folk over others, without offering any actual biological benefits. Unlucky to become successful... that's a good way of putting it, Jeros. Still, I think saying it's some people's destiny to fail is a bit harsh... more that they thought they could improve their lives and followed through on it, like many people would. It's just that they took it farther than most, and just made a mistake somewhere. Thus, those who fail should blame luck, not destiny (assuming they didn't just do something unbearably stupid to bring about their failure). -------------------- Gamble with Gaea, and she eats your dice. I hate undead. I really, really, really, really hate undead. With a passion. Posts: 4130 | Registered: Friday, March 26 2004 08:00 |
| How is bow damage calculated. in The Avernum Trilogy | |
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Law Bringer
Member # 4153
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written Wednesday, July 13 2005 08:35
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Hm... in that case, is there any practical reason that someone would use a regular bow instead of a crossbow? My current A2 party has refused to make the switch. -------------------- Gamble with Gaea, and she eats your dice. I hate undead. I really, really, really, really hate undead. With a passion. Posts: 4130 | Registered: Friday, March 26 2004 08:00 |
| Red Herrings in The Avernum Trilogy | |
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Law Bringer
Member # 4153
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written Wednesday, July 13 2005 08:30
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Hm... that would make things more difficult. Again, I was cursed with the temptation of the hintbook when I first played A3, so I never even had a doubt. I expect that if you kill the dragons, you just don't get that Beastslayer sword. I can't remember any other significant plot impacts they had. -------------------- Gamble with Gaea, and she eats your dice. I hate undead. I really, really, really, really hate undead. With a passion. Posts: 4130 | Registered: Friday, March 26 2004 08:00 |
| If You Had A Billion Dollars... in General | |
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Law Bringer
Member # 4153
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written Wednesday, July 13 2005 08:27
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I was waiting for somebody to post that... too good of a joke to waste. :P -------------------- Gamble with Gaea, and she eats your dice. I hate undead. I really, really, really, really hate undead. With a passion. Posts: 4130 | Registered: Friday, March 26 2004 08:00 |
| Undead Topics Need Loving Too (aka "Give Me Your First-Born") in General | |
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Law Bringer
Member # 4153
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written Wednesday, July 13 2005 08:23
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Hm... I have no idea what the name is supposed to signify, but a headache joke is frantically trying to write itself into this post, so I should leave. -------------------- Gamble with Gaea, and she eats your dice. I hate undead. I really, really, really, really hate undead. With a passion. Posts: 4130 | Registered: Friday, March 26 2004 08:00 |