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 Posted: Sun Dec 04, 2005 1:43 am
((Why do I get the feeling Miss Traverse might be irritated that I didn't draw Stick and the Geode for display? sweatdrop ))Journal Entry: Autumn 75 Holy crap! Rune said they grow fast, but I never believed it would be like this. Steve, if you read this some day, one night it just seemed like you shot up a foot. It was really something. Part of it wasn't me noticing you growing, but I still think you must have got six inches, all in one night. Made me run to the bathroom, wash my face, pinch my arm, and run back out to make sure I wasn't hallucinating. But it was true. You were mobile as well. Guess I got that baby cage just in time. I was shocked to see how fast you could move on those legs. If I didn't have that cage, well, I shudder to think about what chaos could happen if I turned my back for just a moment. But the biggest one... it was one hour, after you awoke. I put you in your cage, so I could do some work down in the shop. Wasn't thinking much about it, but I was whistling to myself, getting siked for work. Had a nice project today, a bird cage, should have been fun. Then I heard it, plain as day "Dad, I'm hungry." Only three words. Man I've seen some things in my day, but that shocked me like nothing else. I'm glad we were alone, if anyone saw how white my face went, I would have never lived it down. You talked. I got you some food from the fridge, fed you, and just sat there, watching you eat in the cage, waiting to hear you say something else. When you finished, there was no shutting you up. You talk about your stick, the thunder egg, we even read the Gaia Times together, hell, you were even asking me about some articles. Before I knew it, the day had passed, we had been talking, reading, sitting around, having a good time all day long. Rune's right, I will miss you, when you get old and go away. Gods, I have so much to teach you. Reading, writing, morales, social skills, history, math... I guess you'll learn some of that at school though. Where ever you end up going. But I'd love to teach you all that stuff myself. I'll ask Rune about some schools, peek around, never know what might come up. You know, you're a pretty cool kid Steve. Just hope you know it.
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Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2006 4:52 pm
Journal Entry: Winter 49
Too much.
Steve is enrolled in a military academy already. Apparently if I decline, the child will be taken from me, and enrolled regardless. Suffice to say I'm less than happy this news just snuck up on me with no warning.
Wars. Other realms. Guilds. Military Academies.
Looking over at you Steve, I find it hard to imagine you dealing with it. I'm sure you'd be strong enough to survive it. You seem a tough, determined kid. Just... what will you lose in order to survive.
At least I managed to assure I can watch over the child as much as possible at the academy.
Today, a long day. I need to make sure that not only is he tough enough to survive his schooling, but that he is also morally strong enough to survive it.
Poor kid. Had no idea how hard I was going to work him. He woke up, and there was his presents for the day. New boots, a small knapsack. He went wild for them, kicking off his old shoes, sliding on the boots, running and jumping around.
That didnt' last long.
It was a long hike from Durem to the Barton Mountains. And the kid, he was feeling it. He just better be thankful I made him wear three pairs of thick socks, otherwise, well, his feet would be a bloody mass of blisters and sores.
When we got to the wooded hills, he was tired out. And who can blame him, it was about 8 miles, maybe a little more. He's just a kid. A small kid at that.
I can see a few marks though on his legs. He grew some muscle, the moment he heals he could be getting pretty strong. At least for a little kid.
As night fell, we put up camp in the trees. A nice little meal. A good roaring fire. Soon, he was sleeping off his fatigue.
Time for me to rest up as well. By the time this trip is over, the boy is going to know more pain than he has ever felt.
((Power Quest, to be continued tomorrow.))
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Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2006 3:28 am
Journal Entry: Winter 58 Steve had a hard sleep. The boy didn't wake for anything. Not when the deer trampled through our camp, not for the wolf cries at night. Not even when I started to cook breakfast, which was something of a failure. Lots of sizzle, no steak as they say. When Steve finally got up even he made a face at it. Just reminds me why I order take out just about every meal. I haven't had to cook for myself since I was a kid, after all. Then during breakfast, was when we had the first scare. Well, I was scared for a moment. Steve was not. A bear came into camp, a cub from teh looks of it, probably not even more than a couple of months old. I was keeping my eyes peeled for the mother bear, but there was no sign of her. Not a single other set of bear tracks within a quarter mile. Quite odd. Don't normally get bears up in those hills either. Steve bonded with him though, feeding him from my failed breakfast, by the time I got back, the bear was almost completely tamed. Must say I was a little worried when I found out Steve played with it, rather than following my orders and staying away from it. Kid has some head on him. Someday I'll need to beat some common sense into him. After the eventfull morning, the rest of the day was pretty slow. I started teaching Steve the bare basics of combat, knowing himself, and knowing his weapon. Mostly just teaching him how to hold it, how to draw it and how to maintain a real blade. I don't think he cared much for the borning maintence lessons, but otherwise he was an apt pupil. After that, we had some practical grappling lessons. Kid sure is slippry and flexible, picked up the skill quickly I must say, though his small size was more responible for that any anything else. It's hard to get a proper lock or pin on something so small. After a good day of working out, the boy was sore, tired, and getting pinned left and right by the bear. Damn bear almost seemd to be a better student than Steve. Sure he loved grappling, but he was counting too much on instinct and small size, not enough on skills and practice. Another long day has ended, we're camping out here tonight. Early tomorrow I cook some breakfast, and we head back into civilization. I doubt anything else exciting will happen. At least, not until this "Festival" that the center is telling me about. Sleep well Steve. And remember, this is the first in your long road on the way to becoming a ninja. I will work you mercilessly, so when the time comes, you'll be ready. Forgive me if I'm too hard on you, know I do this for your own good. ((End Quest. Yar. Images of the Items: Joe, the Bear: Ha, in the front page profile picture! Hiking Boots:  Hiking Pack:  Yes I was lazy and pulled them off of google. That and my scanner died on me. Boo. And sadly rather than getting a new one, we're replacing the old... Boo!))
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Posted: Thu Feb 23, 2006 1:01 am
Steve's Quest - Completed
Congratulations! Steve has definitely matured from his experiences in the mountains, and in addition to finding a familiar all his own, he's discovered a rather interesting new talent.
Steve has the power to condense energy directly from Sin'oka lines, and then manipulate those energies.
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Posted: Fri Feb 24, 2006 1:14 am
Journal Entry: Winter 65 This, was a bad idea. A very, very bad idea. Very bad. I must be one of the worst parents, ever. That bear, followed us home. It wouldn't leave. It just sat outside the door, whining, sleeping, not moving an inch until one of us left. Then it would follow us again wherever we went. Well, not we, per se, but Steve definately. Finally, the poor thing was starving, had to let it inside, and feed it. Now I can't get it out. Steve's been having fun with it, feeding it, wrestling with it, and generally demolishing my home. I've been losing sleep lately because of it. The bear, who Steve seems to name something new each and every day, has a horrible habit of poking at me, right after I finally get to sleep. Work's been suffering because of it too. More than once I've had to stop what I was doing, and run upstairs because I heard something break, or something slam. So far Steve's gotten away with nothing more than scrapes and bruises. If Rune saw them though, she might freak out. They definately look worse than they are. Nerves are shot now. Everytime I hear a crash, I'm going racing up there to help him. I keep seeing him get hurt, and wonder what's going to kill him first, those other dimensional enemies, or that damned bear. I tried kicking it out, but Steve wouldn't let me, he clings to it, and I'll be damned if I can peel him off. It's like trying to grab a greased pig in the mud. Maybe I taught him too well. But I can't keep going on like this. Thus, I have a plan. If it works, maybe that kid will be protected enough I won't have to worry about him breaking his neck anymore. I can't watch him all the time, I need to earn a living as well, after all.
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Posted: Mon Feb 27, 2006 1:17 pm
Rather than a regular journal entry, it seems the journal was used as convience for notes on these pages.
As follows, here are the notes.
Anduril, 4 parts
Iron, 1 part
Crew Dust, 2 parts
Powered Peridot, 2 Parts
1 Emerald, square cut.
....
....
....
....
Circle test has shown strong magic of an undetermined kind.
The Mirror shows the Albatross.
Seems to be an Enchantment.
Resistant to Diviniation.
Field is unknown. Can't be identified.
(There is a huge ink stain here, blotting out something)
Tentative ID: Abjuration.
Confirmed.
Necromantic?
White Necromancy.
Confirmed.
No Curse detected.
Confirmed.
Here it seems the notes end.
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Posted: Wed Mar 01, 2006 1:05 pm
Journal Entry: Winter 70 Back to a journal entry, the writing here seems hurried, with a few more penmenship mistakes than the magesmith usually makes.It faild. Horriblg. How the hell did I manage to miss the true nature so badly? I bet this is RuShe can't know about this. Judging from the writing change, and the slight difference in ink color, the magesmith must have taken a break and come back later, more composed.This is not related to Rune, or her strange temporal children. It can't be. Though I must admit I am perplexed about how or why such magic was made. There must be a reason, though it seems strange to have found such powerful and important magic where I did. I'm ill suited to this task. My commander always said "You made this mess, you clean it up!" and damned if I will turn away now. I'm already too deep in it. I guess I should start from the beginning, right? I'll mage lock this later to prevent Rune, or those academy goons from getting in anyways. I guess it all really started with the talk I had with her. When she sprung out the fact that my kid was going to be hunted down, and had to go to some military school. Suffice to say I was less than happy about it. Just hearing about it. I know I'm not parent of the year, or anything. Far cry from that. But I was getting attached to the little kid. I didn't want him to repeat my mistakes. That's what a parent is supposed to do, right? I thought I could protect him, maybe even keep him from the academy. Then came that trice damned bear. As much as I have tried to keep him relatively safe, and even started training him in a few self defense techniques, it seems impossible to keep the war out of him. The kid is enthralled with combat. If we're not eating, sleeping, or working, he's fighting or wrestling, either with me, or the bear, or trying to get into new places, climbing up on shelves, trying to sneak into the shop, trying to sneak outside. Caught him more than a few times trying to make a rope out of the sheets like he was in some crappy movie. Problem is I don't know if I catch him every time... and thus... No, that's not what this is about. Then there was the Festival. He had a good enough time, or so it seems. But security was horrible at it, as both him and I came under attack. That's where I found that damned scroll. In the end, I managed to fight them off, and Steve got out without too much damage. So I suppose it all worked out. But it was a bit closer than I cared for. I came back from the festival, knowing I couldn't always protect him. And no matter how hard I train him, it would be a while before he could protect himself. Answer was easy, armor, or some type of protection. It's what I do, after all, so it shouldn't be surprising that it was my answer. I gathered the materials, laid out my plan, but before I fired up the forge, I reached down, and there, found it again. The scroll I found. I could tell it was magic, that was plain as day. I took the opportunity, with my tools out, to identify its magic. It was quite the hard process, most normal divination techniques were not effective on the scroll. Very powerful, and it seems whoever originally made it didn't want someone IDing it. I might not be the best sage, but I am nothing if not persistant, and given my profession, have at my disposal a lot of tools most magi would not have. In the end, I threw everything I had at it, finally getting what appeared to be correct readings. At the end of the process, it seemed to be a powerful protective charm, aligned with White Necromancy, healing magic for the layman. I was quite surprised at the luck of that, of course. Which then led to me checking it corner to corner for curses. I found nothing. Now I wonder why I got such a different effect. A curse I missed, or was the confusion magic so strong I just failed my identification? Off track. I made the item, actually it was just enchanting a dagger sheathe I had prepared for the shop already. Good quality, and had the added bonus of not being an obvious sorce of protection. Rings, bracers, armor, amulets, enemies are used to those. A sheathe, and a fairly plain looking one, no one suspects. When I got to the point where I was to add the enchantment, things were gong smoothly. The item had excepted the priming very well, it was thirsty, wanting the magic. I had my runes made, my circle ready, the scroll prepped. I placed my hand upon it, my open wound against the paper, to give it the very best attachment. That's when it happened.
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Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2006 3:22 am
Journal Entry: Autumn 78 Kid's been getting a bit long in the ears, if you know what I mean. Guess it has to do with all that rapid growth. He doesn't seem to mind too much yet, but he's been getting his hair in his eyes. Gods above and below, I'll never forget that. Coming in, running at me, crying, because his hair almost poked his eye out. I'm not even sure how that happens. But I'll be damned if it didn't. So we're off today, go take a spin in the local barber's chair. Good man, bit of an old fashioned guy if I must say so. Does the whole thing, hair, shaves, medicine, and more. Really gets into that old barber vibe. Kinda creepy really. His hand twitches somewhat randomly when he's talking with people. While I've never heard a complaint, I don't ever let him shave me. It was only a short trip down the streets of Durem, little more than a few blocks. Kinda hard to tell, in their neighborhood most the streets are nice and curved, rather than uniform grids. The kid was bouncing the whole way, circling me, chattering, asking where we were going, and blowing his hair out of his eyes. Still somehow with all that I didnt' manage to get a break in to tell him what was happening. Makes me yearn for the days when he was young, and quiet. When we got there, well, the kid certainly looked disappointed. Can't blame him I guess. Normally when we're out it's off to Rune's, or some other fun little outing. A little shop, where he's supposed to sit for an hour must have seemed like hell. We we got there the chatter was going on, some of the regulars were there, watching the game on the TV, cursing as old number 16 struck out one more time. Guy's really been sucking all year, I wonder what they're paying him all those millions for. While we were waiting, I tried to explain the game to the kid, getting some of the guys there to help. He didn't seem to take to it, too well. Kept wondering how come he didn't just clobber the guys, instead of the ball. Really makes me wonder if the kid has a chance at being normal. maybe I'll sign him up for a league come springtime. See how he likes it. When old 'Cool Hand' Luke finally called the kid up, he was quaking in his boots. Guess all the yelling over the game got him excited. Or maybe it was seeing that razorblade being held in old Luke's twitching hand. Hell, that scared even me. I'm actually surprised he didnt' get nicked up, the whole time in the chair, he was flinching, especially when Luke got those scissors close to his ears. Again, I hardly blame the kid. But Luke was an old hand at it, especially with kids. He kept chatting with the boy, telling him jokes, most of them quite bad, but I guess when you dont' know better... Sigh, like all those knock knock jokes. I have a feeling I'll be hearing them for a few days. Kid really loved them, laughing it up and playing along til finally he forgot to flinch. Finally, all was good, his hair was cut, he was spun out of the chair with a whee, and Luke handed the kid a baseball for good behavior. I dont' know why he had a baseball there, but he did. Hell, looking under his desk, he had a whole box of them. Heard Luke used to be quite the player, back in the day. Steve dove right onto it. Then one of the guys waiting was yelling at the TV over a bad play. He threw a magazine at it. Steve wanted to be one of the guys. He threw his ball at it, right at the screen. Now I'm gotta buy Luke a new TV. But at least his hair is out of his eyes.
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Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2007 1:10 pm
Journal Entry: Spring 18
Kid had his first bit of social training today. I have to admit, I have been tough on him with his schooling. Training his mind and body, but had negelected to let him just go and have fun wwith other children.
It seems not to have hurt him though.
I took him to a park, where some spring Zombification Festival was going on. I believe the locals called it "Easter". Quite the odd holiday. Seemed to be related solely to feasting, and finding eggs. More than one kid there expressed a dislike of the local holidays "Because they're all about food". Makes me wonder. I should perhaps show him some of Our holidays.
I let the kid roam. He seemed to have had a good time. He came back telling me wild stories about Giant Potatos, Chocolate people, fat pig kids, and Ninja Treasures. I have to admit, he did seem very happy to have broken the daily grind. Perhaps I should make sure to include such a weekend in the schooling schedule?
Either way, at the end of the day, he came back with a strange "Ninja Treasure" as he called it. Some type of painted egg. I hardly understood it, but we put it up on display anyway. He seems very proud to have found it.
Since he came back, he has been pestering me to go take him to this Potato again. I am thinking that, perhaps...
No... he's too young. I hope. But he does seem to have a little school boy crush on her. Guess it's a natural part of growing up.
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