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 Posted: Wed Nov 29, 2006 3:20 am
 Quote: It is said that after God made the world, he filled it with people. He sent off an angel with two sacks, one full of wisdom and one full of foolishness. The second sack was of course much heavier. So after a time it started to drag. Soon it got caught on a mountaintop and so all the foolishness spilled out and fell into Chelm. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_humour#ChelmWhether it was one angel with two sacks, two angels with one sack each, or even a celestial humvee firing souls with a mounted cannon, one thing is for certain; a high concentration of either wisdom or foolishness ended up in Chelm, though which exactly ended up there is up to debate. It is only through reading the tales of Chelmites through the ages that one can get a picture of just WHAT Chelm was full of... but was it wisdom, or was it foolishness?
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Posted: Wed Nov 29, 2006 3:21 am
 Quote: Chelm is a real city located in Eastern Poland, but in Jewish folklore it is a mythological village of fools, a type of story sometimes called “noodleheads” in folktale classification. The people of Chelm fail at everything they set out to do. Sometimes they use logical reasoning, but somehow arrive at the wrong answer. At other times, they take a simple problem and try to solve it using a complicated solution that turns out all wrong. The humor of many of these tales lies in the fact that while the actions of the characters appear to be logical, they are really harmless nonsense. Chelm tales are characterized by the absence of evil: nothing really bad seems to happen in Chelm and there are no evil people, only foolish ones. Source: http://www.eve-tal.com/JewishFolktales.htmlFor every time, there is a Chelm story. There are traditional Chelm stories from unnamed times, where to get from place to place, one walked or led their horses. There are Chelm stories where there are railways. And there are Chelm stories where the inhabitants are now bumbling programmers. Chelm tales have been collected through the years (it's said that that some date back to the 1500s), and are still penned today. You may even remember Tevye the Milkman (often a figure in Chelm Tales) from "Fiddler on the Roof"! Not bad for the site of a ripped sack of souls!
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Posted: Wed Nov 29, 2006 3:22 am
 Quote: New piles of straw were brought in now from every part of the village and tossed upon the flames. The flames leapt from rooftop to rooftop, burning all of the unfortunate fiddlers and chickens up there. Fire crept towards the village square and now threatened to burn the shul and the sacred scrolls. The villagers saw the damage and broke into collective lamentation, as if it were the nineth day of Av. "There is still one last chance to save the town from destruction," said the Rebbe. "All is not yet lost if we just fight this catastrophe with all of our beings and all of our souls and all of our strength. SO all of you together now, with every fiber of your being. And you too this time, Tevye. I beseech every one of you: "MORE STRAW!!!"Source: http://www.jewishmag.com/33MAG/rebehud/rebehud.htmUnfortunately, all the straw in the world couldn't save Chelm this time. It should go without saying that a perpetually fed fire such as the one that devoured Chelm wouldn't stop until it had eaten everything in sight. Though everyone survived, something in Chelm died that day. The village would be rebuilt-- villages do tend to be rebuilt in case of catastrophe -- but, try as they might, there was no way to fill what they'd lost. No more were the men, women, and children convinced they could move a mountain so that the village could expand. No more were the hopes of a fortune of feathers filling the sky. No longer were the trees called rain, or the rain called trees. The spirit of Chelm was lost. Years passed. Decades. Ages. Which brings us to the present day. The spirit of Chelm is nowhere to be seen. Seemingly foolish answers to simple problems are forced to leave the imaginations of children in school, and they grow up to be logical, gray adults. What about the spirit of Chelm? What about that happiness in foolishness? Don't people deserve the opportunity to learn what it's like to be a Wise Man of Chelm? She is reborn -- Chelm personified. This time, she is no longer an isolated, confined accident site. This time, she is a personable, fully mobile accident site. A vacuum of today's "rational thought", she brings her special brand of moon logic (or rather, Chelm logic) onto everything she touches, infecting it with the spirit of Chelm like an insidious virus. And if such a thing is evil; to believe that one can actually capture the moon itself in a well, then really, who wants to be good?
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Posted: Wed Nov 29, 2006 3:22 am
 Quote: "From now on we will call our trees 'rain,' and we will call our rain 'trees.' So look around you now, people. You see? We have plenty of rain!" Everyone looked up and, sure enough, they were surrounded by it. "What do you see everywhere around you?" Chaim asked them. "Rain!" the people of Chelm shouted. "We are surrounded by rain!" Source: http://www.uexpress.com/tellmeastory/index.html?uc_full_date=20030727 Sofi Name Meaning: From YIDDISH TSOPHE: Scout, Watcher, Guard ; GREEK: Wise General Height: Short, likely be around 5'0 ~ 5'3 when fully grown. Build: Healthy. Not skinny, not fat, and definitely not athletic. But a little "extra" in the hips and stomach when she matures. Hair Color: Brown? (Open to change!) Eye Color: Brown? (Open to change!) Noticeable Features: Freckles? (Open to change!) Style of dress: Extremely modest. Sofi feels most comfortable when her torso is covered, her skirts (and pants) below the knee and not too tight, and her sleeves past the shoulder. She will nearly always be wearing a scarf (or scarves) over her hair. While there may be rules of modesty in effect for Sofi, there's no rule against wearing bright, happy headscarves! Diet: Kosher Personality: Naïve, cheerful, and optimistic to a fault, there's no problem too difficult, no situation too out of control for Sofi to take a whack at it. Tough math problem? Sofi's got an answer. Relationship troubles? Sofi's got a solution. Fire in the disco? Sofi knows what to do! Notice that not once was it mentioned that she would have the CORRECT answer, CORRECT solution, or know the CORRECT thing to do. In fact, more often than not, it will be spectacularly incorrect and perhaps a little ridiculous, to boot. But that will never deter her from giving it the old college try again and again and again. To put it bluntly, Sofi is a fool. A persistent, well-meaning, unrelentingly friendly fool. Powers: The ability to slip free the bounds of conventional logic once in a while. For example, to be able to throw herself at the ground... and miss. Just because she believes it can be done. Or walk up walls and on ceilings when wearing Totes slipper socks because she saw it in 2001: A Space Odyssey.
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Posted: Wed Nov 29, 2006 3:23 am
 Quote: "That's brilliant!" cried Moshe. Then he thought about it. "But when he goes back to the New Baby form, will the computer know that Yussel and Shandel are the parents?" "Of course not. But he can always push the query button again." Moshe wasn't too sure. "What if he doesn't like being part of an infinite loop?" "Loop, schmoop. He's studying to be a rabbi, isn't he? He needs to learn about the infinite." "I have a better idea," interjected Moshe. "We can simply make all the new babies belong to Yussel and Shandel." Source: http://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/6174/programmers-chelm.htm  Name: Boyan AKA: Grandpa, Bobobo Race: Porcelain Height: 5'3 Weight: 110 lbs Likes: Music, sparkly objects, dirt, magic Hobbies: Playing his ocarina Described by a song: The Beatles - When I'm 64 The Porcelain are a race hailing from the land of Dragonlamp, where they used to be kept, bred, and treated as pets (not unlike puppies). After all, that was what they were to the humans of that world, who towered over the tiny Porcelain and were deaf to their empathic projections. They were rescued from this existence by a swordsman named Tsukiba, who brought them into Gaia to be adopted into the familes of the people here, who WERE able to sense Porcelain projection and who WOULD treat them like people, not animals. A strange event caused a massive change in the Porcelain; all were reverted to children in the summer of 2004, and suddenly, their statures were longer tiny. They became able to vocalize (though language is still difficult for them and empathic projections are much simpler). As a child, Boyan had a very difficult time expressing his thoughts clearly, and was labeled as "slow" by others. Indeed, he seemed to be rather dim-witted, never being able to connect people to negative actions and even falling in love with a bar of soap. Later, it was shown that his slowness hid deep wisdom. He then gained the Celestial Chaos, an entity that gives him limited oracular ability. He married shortly afterwards and fathered two children, Tsuyoshi (whom Boyan has not seen in years) and Melody, who still lives with Boyan. Due to unforeseen circumstances, Boyan has since grown into a human-sized (albeit still short, though that part is due to his own genes rather than his species) being, with a bit of a mystical air to him. "Grandpa Boyan" is incredibly wise (though he may not seem it when sticking his head into holes for no reason at all), and prefers the simplicity of tinkering with shiny stones and raising his "grandchildren," the Jumi that live in his home.  Name: Melody AKA: Auntie, Mello Race: Porcelain Height: 5'5 Weight: 120 lbs Likes: Music, dirt, cooking, taking care of people Hobbies: Electric guitar, singing, dancing Described by a song: Mini Moni - Strawberry Pie Sweet and naive, Melody always seemed to be in her father Boyan's shadow. She wasn't as slow as her father was in his youth, but had exceptional moments that betrayed her, ahem, lineage. She quickly grew into a gentle girl, in love with frilly dresses, pretty jewelry, stuffed toys, and hard rock music. It was then that she followed in her father's footsteps and took up an instrument. However, while Boyan preferred the gentle and soothing ocarina, Melody gravitated toward the electric guitar. Although Melody is now grown, she still retains her childish spirit and connects better with the children in their household better than her father does, as she tends to be "One of the girls." There is a spark of wisdom in her now, which she only tends to be aware of when comforting other family members.
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Posted: Wed Nov 29, 2006 3:24 am
 Quote: The Rabbi's assistant was known for his forthrightness. One day a man died in the market place and the Rabbi asked him to go to the poor man's wife and break the news to her. "But," cautioned the Rabbi, "Do it gently." The assistant knocked on the door. "Does the widow Rachel live here?" "My name is Rachel but I'm not a widow." "You want to bet?" he asked. Source: ]http://www.wzo.org.il/en/resources/view.asp?id=119 Neilan is a world, linked to Gaia via a wormhole housed under guard on the Neilani Embassy, an undisclosed location on the main continent. The inhabitants of Neilan -- the Neilani -- are very much like their Gaian cousins. They live in the same environment (though their atmosphere is slightly thinner), have the same basic nutritional needs, and the same genetic diversity (Not counting for catpeople, half-demons, many Gaian species which Neilan does NOT have). However, their vast advancements over Gaia have also extended to their biological systems, as well. Nearly all Neilani possess some degree of empathy. Those who do not are considered throwbacks, and are looked upon as "challenged." The strength of one's mind is the most important asset they have, and often the main criteria on which they are judged. On Neilan, Sofi would have been considered severely challenged; with no natural empathy of her own and only the ability to understand what is directly projected into her mind. In public education and anywhere she set foot, she would have been regarded as a slow child, no matter what her age. She would have been babied, talked down to, and coddled her whole life by well-meaning Neilani who simply took pity on her. Her childish optimism would've been encouraged ("That's nice, dear."), and she would therefore be even MORE childlike in her views and twisted Chelm logic. But despite all that, she would have a lingering, nagging feeling ever-present in the back of her mind. The lone pessimistic view she would be capable of. The feeling that nobody really understands her, except...  Name: Vilden Keth AKA: Uncle Vilden, Vil, "GODDAMMIT, KETH!" Race: Neilani Height: 5'8 Weight: 171 lbs Likes: Pranks, good jokes, working out, They Might Be Giants Hobbies: Running, annoying his superiors, cracking wise Described by a song: Weird Al - Dare to Be Stupid Vilden Keth, brother to June Keth (Whom you may recognize as Junyi), is everything expected of his family lineage. Incredibly powerful in mind, in top physical shape, and a member of the Agents, the elite sub-sect of the Neilani military. (Incidentally, he is currently tasked with training his niece, Luna, who has recently been recruited) You'd think someone like that would be confident in his superiority, uptight, and one hell of a stickler for protocol. Not Vilden. Vilden is rarely seen without a smile on his face and a wisecrack at the tip of his tongue. Children love him because he's the "fun uncle", even to those he's not related to, and adults tolerate him because he Knows His s**t. His relationship with Sofi would be incredibly close, seeing as how he would be the only one who would understand her and not simply pity her for being challenged. He would look out for her like a big brother (despite his parental status) and allow himself to be swept up in her Chelm Logic like a playmate. After all, Sofi would remind him of someone else he knows -- his sister, June.
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Posted: Wed Nov 29, 2006 3:26 am
 Quote: They searched everywhere, and they asked every woman and child. "Have you seen the feathers? We own a fortune in feathers, but they should be here." The women and children shook their heads. "We've seen no feathers." "We've lost everything!" the men sobbed. "We're ruined!" But the wise man raised his hand. "People, you are speaking nonsense again." They quickly huddled around the wise man. "What do you mean?" "You must have patience and you must have faith. One day the sky will be thick with our feathers, and at long last our town will be filled with the treasure we so richly deserve." Source: http://www.uexpress.com/tellmeastory/index.html?uc_full_date=20060312  A chibi work in progress! :O  THE GREAT SOFI HAS SPOKEN! It is a fever of the Saturday night variety! NEXT!  FUN WITH BLENDING STUMPS.
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Posted: Wed Nov 29, 2006 3:27 am
 Quote: Then the people of Chelm began to yawn, and though they had not found the Sabbath, the rabbi announced that they must sleep. All of the villagers returned to their homes. The very next morning, when people awoke, they saw that the sky was blue, and the morning wind blew fresh and clear. Flowers were beginning to bloom. The air smelled sweet. The rabbi called the people together. "Reuven was right," he announced. "Our Sabbath is back, for we know that nothing else brings such sweetness." Source: http://www.uexpress.com/tellmeastory/index.html?uc_full_date=20050403 BIG thank-yous to Asahi Kumoru for encouraging me and nudging me toward Fa'e questing in the first place. Demn youuuuuuuu! And let's not forget putting up with EVERY SINGLE STEP OF MY STUPIDITY? YEAH. Also thanks to Prolixity, Britain, Lucifer Force and Chibi Sheepcat for listening to me whine, b***h, and moan about how HAAAAAAAAAAARD questing is. ;D And huge thanks to kalindara, for if it weren't for her, I wouldn't have gotten the hang of this "questing" thing. 3nodding
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Posted: Wed Nov 29, 2006 3:28 am
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Posted: Wed Nov 29, 2006 9:53 am
I like what you have so far! The snippets from the Chelm stories make me lol. xd ........oh, and your concept is good too. KEEP IT UP. :B
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Posted: Wed Nov 29, 2006 7:30 pm
This is a really amusing story! I like what you have going so far. Sofi seems like she would be really fun to play, be around/interact with! Keep it up. ^^
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Posted: Wed Nov 29, 2006 9:00 pm
*lmao* The power to slip free of logic sounds awesome! Very random, but very suited to the myth, I love it.
I'm so glad you decided to try again - this concept is much original and interesting. Sofi would be amazingly fun to have around. We need more people who are willing to have their fa'e be foolish - we only have Arkie so far.
Have you thought about what she might become if she headed down the path to become an Ancient?
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Posted: Wed Nov 29, 2006 9:16 pm
That one I admit was a little difficult to me; the personification of a village of fools is kinda tough to think of, y'know? I would assume her moon logic would grow more powerful and she'd maybe be able to help others do the same-- slip the confines of logic, I mean. I think she'd be more like a catalyst suited to helping OTHERS into the Chelm spirit.
Down the human path, I don't see her being able to do something so, well, semi-epic.
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Posted: Wed Nov 29, 2006 9:35 pm
Aaaaand... I think I'm in awe here. To make a completely new concept, something so radically different and it turn out so well (and in such a short time)? That's just amazing. I love the concept, I love the set out of this thread with the small examples of the myths and stories. It's fun to read and I think she'd be fun to have around. And to be honest, it seems like you're having more fun with this one, too - there's a lot more personality coming across from this quest thread. And with the addition of the anti-logic ability, we have magic and Ancient path as well, so no problems fitting into the guidelines ^_^
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Posted: Wed Nov 29, 2006 9:43 pm
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