The Pulp (2011-12-18)

The skies are the color of dark steel, and equally cold and cutting. Scavengers emerge from their hovels only rarely, bundled in whatever rags they’ve managed to find.   Many walk on wobbly legs, hoping in vain that this is the day they’ll find food – but even the wild yellow slime molds have shriveled into crusty orange patches. One can only barter or buy, and the price is often dear.   Some scavs run from one circle of firelight to the next.  Turning slowly by the fire, holding their hands above the flames, barely able to feel whatever weapon they clench in their shaking hands.  Even the Mutants don heavier gear and stand a little closer to their cooking fires, where unsettling-looking roasts sizzle above the flames.  The Ghouls seem not to mind the cold, though their reanimated husks seem a little more stiff and sluggish.  Few Manimals are even seen — some may be hibernating, but a wise scavenger keeps an eye on the horizon for any matted, desperate beasts.  Starvation breeds savagery.

And yet so many of us are drawn to Fort Stygian.  There, there is a light that conquers the grey and the black.  There, there is a warmth that reaches bone-deep. But it is not the searing lava of the crater.   On the south side of its slopes, the Giftmas “TREE” stands tall — a huge and bulbous boiler, the wings of strange and ancient craft attached to its tall central pipe in a vaguely branch-like way.  Its origins are still obscure — we only know that the crafty Ghoulish enforcer called GutterBlood was the first to set it up amid the detritus of The Heap.  But the light and warmth do not come from the fire roaring in its metal belly.  They come from what’s laid out around it.  Even in these, the meanest of the mean times, Wastelanders leave gifts beneath the TREE, available to all wanderers.  Perhaps a shirt they’ve found or stitched.  Perhaps an item they’ve cobbled together from the otherwise-useless junk of the Wastes.  Perhaps a drawing , or a story, charcoal-scrawled on scraps of paper.  Whatever they leave, it is something of their own creation.  We circle the tree, taking what’s been left while leaving things of our own. Thoughts turn to those other scavs with whom we cross paths, and sometimes cross blades.  And so, for these few days each year, the light and warmth soften the coldest hearts, and even the gift of an enemy is accepted with happiness and grace.  (Unless you’re just a complete tool, that is.)

 EVENTS:

Fight Night/ War Zone, the Barrelhead Bazaar, and Apo’s DJ sets are all on holiday hiatus until January 7, and Giu will not be DJing or hosting Movie Night on the 25th.  Happy Giftmas, everyone!
EVENTS HIGHLIGHTS:

Movie Night Haiku:

11/14— Hot Tub Time Machine   (2010)

Buds at ski resort
Sent back to ’86 by
Hot tub time machine.

12/5 — Tiger on the Beat   (1988)

Hong Kong buddy flick
Misogyny and chainsaws
What more could you want?

12/12 — MacGruber   (2010)

Mulleted doofus
Must save D.C. from a nuke,
Learn to love again.

The players of the Pathfinder: Curse of the Crimson Throne tabletop RPG are still struggling through Castle Scarwall.  A chained demon holds other fiendish monsters in its sway – an undead warrior, an umbral dragon, a possessed and jeweled skull, an infernal skeleton.  Until all those entities are killed, the demon will have horrible power, the legendary sword Serithial will remain bound, and the usurper queen of Korvosa will reign unconquerable.  If the song of legend is understood, they may have just dispatched the final of the four fiends – a flaming skeleton with hordes of shadowy minions that sap the strength from one’s body.  As the Druid found all too well — without damaging her body in the least, it sapped the whole of her strength and left her dead. Unless she is revived within moments, the shadow will take hold and turn her against the party.  And if she is unable to return, and if the party is able to defeat her before they face the same fate, they may have to seek a new and more capable adventurer.   But with each passing day, the foul powers within the castle regain their strength…

DJ Aposiopesis Fullstop’s annual Giftmas Craptacular took place on Saturday at The Pipe Bomb in Malady Bog.  The usual assortment of mashups, absurd metal covers, punk, and general nonsense were given a holiday spin — also featuring festive chiptunes and a sanity-sapping assortment of Lovecraft-themed carols.

As already mentioned, it is Giftmas time again!  The Giftmas TREE is up in Fort Stygian, and all Wastelanders — residents and regulars alike — are welcome to leave some gifts and take what others have left!  You can also decorate its… er… boughs? with decorations, if you like!  See this Forum thread for more information.  The TREE will be out until January 5th, at which time it will be dragged away again.

ESTATE NEWS:

Here are the updates from the most recent Community Meetings:

Estate

• The Cape of Ruin still has land available!  Check the Land Store for the current availability there and elsewhere in the Estate.  However, current residents are not eligible to move their plots there for about another month.
• Applications are still welcome for the Wastelands Public Works Department — a group of Wastelanders who are helping to create a pool of post-apocalyptic assets for the community.   Or, if you’re less buildy and more chatty, apply to be  a Resident Volunteer!
• Aki Shichiroji’s mesh-based Manimal avatar, the Tusk, is still being refined, but should be available soon!

Game

• It is confirmed that, under V2 of the game (ETA still unknown,) current scrap and weapons will become obsolete – and that the new and stronger encryption system will mean that “updates” to scrap and weapons will not be possible.  However, warning will be given well in advance before any of this is implemented.
• Neo is planning to have a system where scrap and weapons can be traded to an NPC for new “valuable objects” that could be used in the new system to barter with other NPCs.
• V2 will also feature some gesture-based combat functions:  “Everyone better clear out F5-F8 for WL use.”
• The llCastRay function has been implemented in SL — but it is so watered-down that, until and unless it is changed, it will be useless for any sort of combat scripting.  Please Vote on and Watch this JIRA to make your voice heard, in hopes that this problem will be resolved.

Roleplay

• After the holidays, the Barrelhead Bazaar will return to its regular schedule of the first Saturday and middle Wednesday of each month.  Check the Calendar!
• The monthly reminder: If you’re roleplaying, wear a Ruin’t group tag.  Vice versa, if you’re wearing a Ruin’t group tag, you should be roleplaying – or at least using ((double parentheses)) or IMs to speak OOCly.  If you’re not roleplaying, wear any other tag (by activating any other group,) or wear no tag.    It’s a simple system, and it makes communication and interactions a lot easier on everyone involved.

RP NAME-DROPS:   The usual talk and trade of the Barrelhead Bazaar were interrupted during its last session, when a young and wounded female stumbled towards the firepit and collapsed.  Strange words were spoken about some mysterious figure called the Courier, and someone needing to be saved in seven moons’ time.  Although the girl was a stranger to the group, some of us were no stranger to her – she sought out the Digger, Sandusky, as well as the Mutant Witch, Ccindy, to whom she entrusted an odd silver key.  What is it for?  Who is the Courier? The Digger knew of the Courier only in passing by way of a note found in the Bazaar some moons ago…a note written by one of the Brutes.  Maybe they know more about the Courier?  When seven moons pass, who shall be threatened and who should be saved?