Myth-O-Logic

Thinking About Ninja

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I’ve been thinking about ninja. Kind of. And as with most of my creative thinking these days, I did a little art along the way. My render above depicts a fairly typical Japanese shinobi, or ninja. It’s adapted from Lubthbel’s lovely Way of the Shinobi model available from DAZ. It was conceived and rendered in DAZ Studio with postwork in Photoshop.

(The ninja bit stops here. The rest of this post is obscure rpg stuff. Strictly for completists and Ontolosnans).

What was I really thinking about? Ontolosnan ninja-equivalents. Empty Sky Dharmists. There are four or five key ‘adventuring’ groups which will be of key interest and concern to player parties. There are of course the Dakinis, solitary tantrikas who serve the Aji. There are the Mirror and Lens cults, who primarily serve the purpose of the rajina courts. There is the Ministry of Sunlight and the Graceful Iron Forge, who police the creation and worship of kut. And there are the Empty Sky Dharmists, servants of the kut temples.

The central passages of the Bhagavad Gita describe Krishna’s teachings to Arjuna on perfect action and perfect duty – dharma yoga. My (evolving) conception of the Empty Sky Dharmists are an elite ‘whatever it takes’ force who usually work in secret, agents of the Theagyns and the kut temples, They espouse an ethos of perfect duty and perfect obedience, no questions asked. They’re starting out a little bit like ninja. I wonder if you’ll recognise them at the end? Stay tuned.

Posted in DAZ, Ontolosna, Photoshop, rpg

Xenomorph: Margaret Baron (NPC)

Jun 16

Posted by nysalor

Margaret Baron is Executive Director of Strategic Projects on Shackleton, and directs station security. Her quarters are on Toorak level. She is guardian to Cai Gentle.

Ah, Mr Gould, sit down here. I usually make up my mind about a man in ten seconds, and I very rarely change it. And I like you Mr. Gould. We can do business together. The trouble, though, is that your spine does not always reach your brain. Sometimes it seems I am a tigress surrounded by hamsters.

This situation represents a unique opportunity. We must be bold. Are you afraid, Mr Gould? Frightened? Frit? Can’t take it? Utter rubbish. You do not achieve anything without trouble, ever. This lady’s not for turning.

Be aware of what is expendable and what is not. Do whatever the mission requires. Mr Gould, you have my authority and protection. Remember who cares for you. Do you think I am heartless, cruel? Let me share with you a brutal but powerful truth, Mr Gould. The company has evolved to perfection. it comprises a small number of sadists and a large number of masochists. And I, Mr Gould, am no masochist.

What about you?

And Mr Gould, one final thing. If you want to cut your own throat, don’t come to me for a bandage.

Posted in AlienZ, DAZ, Photoshop, rpg, Xenomorph

Xenomorph: Character Sheets & Briefings

Jun 4

Posted by nysalor

Listen up Drop Bears. They’re here. Xenomorph character sheets are now available online for registered teams. Let’s hope this thing goes smooth and by the numbers. We need DCS and tactical database assimulation by teams. Ordinance loading, weapons strip, and shuttle prep details will have until 1800 Friday. Let’s move it people!

OK, enough of the gratuitous Aliens allusions. This is not a bug hunt. 🙂

All players should read the Shackleton Background Briefing.

Shackleton Background Briefing (low rez – 943 K)

Shackleton Background Briefing (high rez – 6.2 Meg)

To select characters, have a look at the Mission Personnel Briefing. From this you can, as a team, allocate characters to play.

Mission Personnel Briefing (low rez – 823 K)

Mission Personnel Briefing (high rez – 10.6 Meg)

Once your team has allocated characters for each player, you can download individual character sheets, below. Registered teams only, please.

Warning: Individual character sheets are spoiler rich. Please read only the character sheet you will play.

Each character sheet PDF is print quality and approximately 3 Meg in size.

Iriaka Conrad
Chul-Moo Crowe
Cai Gentle
Wayne Gould
Uki Pynne

Printed character sheets will be provided at Phenomenon. We are making electronic copies available early to encourage character and background familiarity, costume (if that’s your thing), and to maximise actual playing time.

Enjoy.

Posted in AlienZ, rpg, Xenomorph

Xenomorph: Mission Call

Security Log Station – Be Nice to M.O.T.H.E.R.

In the dark hours after general curfew, station security control is bathed in shadow.
Quiet all decks. Shackleton’s tiny steel-enclosed world of some fourteen hundred fragile souls lies sleeping. A few rest peacefully, others not. All dream. Perhaps even MOTHER dreams.
With a soft repeated beeping, the watch officer’s screen wakens to life.
Down-scrolling letters reflect in the glass of a space helmet.
MOTHER calls, cryptic and insistent. Something is amiss.
MOTHER has something that needs doing.
On Shackleton a woman is sleeping. On Shackleton a woman awakes.
In the darkness, someone is weeping.