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 Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2007 12:11 am
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Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2007 12:13 am
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Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2007 12:15 am
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[Logbook Entry: Ki'retha]
 Name: Ki'retha Shai'mar (although most wouldn't know her last name...she's pretty private with information about herself )
Age: Appearance-wise, she's somewhere in her mid twenties--that said, she's she's actually well over thirty--she just ages slowly, courtesy of her elven heritage.
Appearance: Fairly tall (157 cm), and slender (135 lbs), with a naturally tanned skin tone. Her hair is a medium brown, with blonde highlights caused from spending so much time in the sun--she keeps it fairly short so it's not in the way while she's working on board the ship.
Her eyes are aquamarine, although a hint of violet seems to swirl iin their depths when she's in the midst of strong emotions.
Race: Elf (Woodland, which means that if she's out at sea for too long, she can start to feel out of sorts, and even, if away from land long enough, can get shaky and quite ill--it's not something she likes others to see, however...so she usually keeps a potted plant or two in her cabin, so as to extend the time she can be away from land.)
Occupation/Position: First mate on the ship _____(name to be decided 8D)___, and quite skilled at conning people out of their money...she also isn't above petty thievery.
Personality: Outwardly, she's can come across as very lighthearted, always quick to make a joke or retort with a witty riposte. However, she can also be rather foul-mouthed when annoyed or angry. That said, she's got a healthy sense of caution--something that's proved invaluable more than once. Frugal, she prefers to live simply, and horde her share of the crew's take--probably a side effect of too many times where a meal has had to be skipped due to lack of funds.
Handy with any one of the knives she keeps hidden on her person, Ki's not hesitant to use them, if the situation warrants it--however, she views the taking of a life as a serious matter, and so will refrain from doing so unless given no other reasonable option--that said, if pushed to that point, she's not one to beat herself up over having to take a life, either.
Likes: Freedom, having food on the table, the feel of the ocean's breeze on her face, 'strong' people--either mentally or physically, it's something she admires and respects.
Dislikes: Weak people, or those unwilling to strive for what they want, being hungry, being cooped up in a small space for extended periods of time--in fact, she could even be described as being somewhat claustrophobic, although this 'weakness', much like her inability to be offshore for TOO long without starting to feel out of sorts and antsy, is something that she does her best to keep to herself.
Skills and Abilities: Quick on her feet, and perhaps, thankfully, rather quick-witted (not brilliant, but quick enough to usually avoid the more serious repercussions of her smart mouth) Ki is quite skilled with the multitude of knives she keeps stored upon her person. She isn't, by any stretch of the imagination, the best fighter on the ship--but she's willing to fight dirty, if she feels the situation calls for it (life>death, kthx), and is better than your average drunk sailor, and so able to hold her own. In this same vein, she's okay in a bar-room brawl as well, although with her slight build, knocking someone out cold with a solid punch isn't quite her style--she's more the kick-him-in-the-groin and follow it with a fist to the nose type. Far less skilled with a pistol, or really any kind of firearm, and nearly hopeless with any sort of sword--she's not really seen the point to it, when she has her knives...and, in addition, most of the swords she's ever been offered have been way too heavy to even consider wielding with any sort of comfort.
She also has some magical abilities, although nothing extraordinary, and with the little use she has for them, they're quite rusty (and not something she'd think to use, in most situations). She has some minor control over the ground, and is able to shift dirt or sand in smallish quantities--she'd never be able to start an earthquake, for example, but she could very possibly, especially with loose sandy soil, the dirt beneath someone's feet, throwing them off balance.
Weaknesses and Faults: Ki's quick to mouth off--a practice she's picked up working around the crude men in the ship's crew...however,it's also a habit that can get her into trouble, as she's not one to control the impulse just because she's considerably outmatched. While hard to control, and so perhaps manipulate, she's also hard to get close to...and so while she doesn't dwell on it, doesn't really have any one to confide in--she's not comfortable sharing what she perceives as her weaknesses with others, and so can find it hard, also, to ask for advice or help.
Another weakness, so to speak (particularly in her line of work) is that Ki is not a particularly strong swimmer--she can stay afloat...for awhile, but she's not what one would describe as being very graceful, or particularly skilled at it, either. While in fairly good shape, largely due to the physical nature of her career of choice, Ki isn't particularly strong, and, when compared to the men she works alongside, she lacks their durability and endurance.
Magically speaking, she's got very little defense, since she's never really focused on developing what powers she does have, nor has she really had to go up against someone before who's more magically inclined than she--so she'd likely be pretty much a sitting duck to any sort of attack on that front, if it were to come up.
History (Brief): Ki'retha was born in a small town, hidden deep in the majestic, old forests that the elves tend to be so fond of. While not completely cut off from the rest of the world, exposure was limited, even in terms of commerce. Her father died before she even had a chance to really get to know him, and her mother passed before she'd even seen her tenth summer. Rather than going to live with her mother's parents, or some other relative as was custom (why, only she knows), she took to the streets, turning to a life of pickpocketing and petty crime, at which her nimble fingers were quite skilled. She also began to develop her fondness for knives, as her weapon of choice. It didn't take long for her to realize that this lifestyle was not condusive to the town, with its small size and lack of foreigners passing through.
So, with the next visiting merchant, she paid for passage to the next big town, and has never looked back. While she maintains a very definite affinity to the earth itself (as specified previously, she does, in fact, require some sort of contact with the earth/ground, as prolonged absence from it can make her quite ill), and can even feel how healthy a plant is through contact, she's always been more drawn to the sea, and the ocean--so it was only a matter of time before she fell into the role of a sailor, or rather, pirate.
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Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2007 12:27 am
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[Logbook Entry: Fel Essence]
Growing Amber : Amber is generally fossilized resin or tree sap from millions of years ago, sometimes having debris or little insects trapped in them. These precious gemstones are widely used as jewelry nowadays. But why does this piece of amber in this vial appear to be growing still? Without a tree to drip sap for it? Could it be that this amber came from the Yggdrasil tree that died so long ago? No one knows for sure. And the creepy thing is, even the little insect trapped inside seems to be alive! if you're lucky, sometimes you can catch it's little antennae twitching a little.
General Information: Amber
Amber is the common name for fossil resin that is appreciated for its inherent and interesting mixture of colours and it is widely used for the manufacture of ornamental objects. Although not mineralized, it is sometimes considered and used as a gemstone. Most of the world's amber is in the range of 30–90 million years old. Semi-fossilized resin or sub-fossil amber is called copal.
Amber is heterogeneous in composition, but consists of several resinous bodies more or less soluble in alcohol, ether and chloroform, associated with an insoluble bituminous substance. Amber is a macromolecule by free radical polymerization of several precursors in the labdane family, communic acid, cummunol and biformene.[1] Labdanes are tetrameric terpenes (C20H32) and trienes which means that the organic skeleton has three alkene groups available for polymerization. As amber matures over the years, more polymerization will take place as well as isomerization reactions, crosslinking and cyclization. The average composition of amber leads to the general formula C10H16O.
Heating amber will soften it and eventually it will burn, which is why the German word for amber is bernstein. Heated rather below 200°C, amber suffers decomposition, yielding an "oil of amber", and leaving a black residue which is known as "amber colophony", or "amber pitch"; when dissolved in oil of turpentine or in linseed oil this forms "amber varnish" or "amber lac". Rubbing amber can produce an electrostatic charge. This property is so well known that the word "electricity" has roots from the Greek word for amber, elektron.[2]
True amber yields on dry distillation succinic acid, the proportion varying from about 3% to 8%, and being greatest in the pale opaque or bony varieties. The aromatic and irritating fumes emitted by burning amber are mainly due to this acid. True Baltic amber is distinguished by its yield of succinic acid, for many of the other fossil resins which are often termed amber contain either none of it, or only a very small proportion; hence the name succinite proposed by Professor James Dwight Dana, and now commonly used in scientific writings as a specific term for the real Prussian amber. Succinite has a hardness between 2 and 3, which is rather greater than that of many other fossil resins. Its specific gravity varies from 1.05 to 1.10. An effective tool for Amber analysis is IR spectroscopy. It enables the distinction between Baltic and non-Baltic amber varieties because of a specific carbonyl absorption and it can also detect the relative age of an amber sample.
Often amber (particularly with insect inclusions) is counterfeited using a plastic resin similar in appearance. A simple test (performed on the back of the object) consists of touching the object with a heated pin and determining if the resultant odor is of wood resin. If not, the object is counterfeit, although a positive test may not be conclusive owing to a thin coat of real resin. Often counterfeits will have a too perfect pose and position of the trapped insect. This information was snagged from www.wikipedia.org--to read more of the article, click here.
[Logbook Entry: Soul; Radiata Lionfish]
[ 1], [ 2], [ 3], [ 4]
Scientific Name: Pterois radiata, also referred to as the Clearfin Lionfish, Radial Firefish, or Tailbar Lionfish.
Physical Description: Radiata lionfish have long, flowing, feather-like dorsal and pectoral fins. These fish have thick veritical bands running along their bodies and a horizontal band at the base of their tailfin. They are one of the larger members of the lionfish family, growing up to 10 inches in length.
Lionfish are members of the scorpionfish family Scorpaenidae, and have venomous dorsal, pelvic and a**l spines. Typically they have 12 to 13 dorsal spines, 2 pelvic spines and 3 a**l spines. Each spine contains two grooves containing venom producing tissue. The ornate pectoral fins, though similar in appearance the dorsal fins, are not equipped with these glands.
Though lionfish venom is dangerous, it is localized around the spines, making the fish rather safe to eat (c.f Fugu, where the toxin is present throughout the internal organs).
General personality/Behavior: The red lionfish is aggressive, even engaging potential threats with a spines forward approach. This species should be treated with care at all times. Worldwide, scorpionfishes rank second only to stingrays in total number of envenomations, with an estimated occurrence of approximately 40,000 - 50,000 cases annually.
Lionfish are voracious predators. The red lionfish is a solitary predator of small fishes, shrimps and crabs. Prey are stalked and cornered or made to feel so by the outstretched and expanded pectoral fins of the red lionfish in full ambush mode. Prey are ultimately obtained with a lightning-quick snap of the jaws and swallowed whole. Cannibalism has been observed for this species in the wild as well as for the closely related Pterois miles in captivity.
Given the tendency of the red lionfish to retreat to areas of hiding by day, this species is thought to be mostly nocturnal. However, red lionfish have been observed to feed during the day and studies of captive specimens imply that Pterois that have taken up refugia may simply be those individuals that have recently fed and are sated. That said, Radiata Lionfish are said to be nocturnal in the wild and like to hang out in caves and crevices.
Venom: The predominate effects of the lionfish venom are severe pain and swelling (edema) in the area around the wound. Other systematic responses such as nausea, dizziness, muscle weakness, shortness of breath, hypotension, and headache have been recorded either from the venom or as a reaction to level of pain.
Heat denatures proteins of the lionfish venom. A wound caused by a lionfish should be immersed in water of 43 to 45 degrees Celsius for 30 to 40 minutes or until pain diminishes.
Some good Sites with General Lionfish Information:
http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/Gallery/Descript/RedLionfish/RLionfish.html
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-11/fm/feature/index.php
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Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2007 12:29 am
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[Logbook Entry: Family n Critters]
Oberon:
Approximate size: About 25 inches from nose to tail-tip, and approximately 9 inches tall at the shoulder...he weighs somewhere around 5 and a half pounds (about 2.5kg)
Personaity: Vivacious and affectionate, particularly towards Ki, he can also be rather territorial, much to the she-pirate's dismay. Very clingy, he rarely is seen far from his owner, and shows little, if any response to her annoyance or consequent threats.
Favorite Roost:Ki's shoulder, or, if he can get away with it, being seated on her shoulder with his front paws and his own head resting on top of hers.
more TBA, I'm sure 8D
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Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2007 12:30 am
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Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2007 12:33 am
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Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2007 12:38 am
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Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2007 12:48 am
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Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2007 12:51 am
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Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2007 12:53 am
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Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2007 12:59 am
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