Scion Hero

My friend just left from a one-on-one session of Scion Hero where he played Shon Larson, a government agent who was fired due to unconventional ways of getting things done. The following is a log of what happened during the session, I hope to write a more coherent fiction piece based on it but here is the gist for now. Enjoy!

When Shon Larson was having a drink in his favourite pub, he got word from the bartender that a certain fellow was looking for someone of his talent to do some work. Since the bartender's contacts included mythological connections, Shon's curiosity took the better of him and so he was waiting the next day to meet with the man.

His wait wasn't long as he noted a silence creeping over the pub when two men in suits entered followed by a man with a strange radiant presence. Nearly immediately he went over to Shon and they had a talk. The man's name was Alexander Sonne, a drug lord here in New York and an Alfar trying to gain more power by using addicts as his worshippers. He told Shon of a problem he had with a new drug coming to the market. People called it Red Rage and it seemed highly addictive. Shon agreed to help the Alfar in return for money, which he received $10,000 up front.

After the discussion he rode his motorcycle to Queens. An hour of searching later he found someone who looked like a drug dealer so he went up to him and through discussion and some subterfuge, coerced the guy that he was indeed a confused addict looking for a way to lose some cash. While the exchange took place, he slipped a tracking device onto the guy. Having gotten the drug, he gave it to his friend for analysis and called it a day.

He received the call from his friend the next morning. Apparently, the pills contained erythrocytes, leukocytes, thrombocytes and eptifibatide. The last of which he instantly knew was an anti-thrombocytes drug. What's more, the DNA didn't match any animal nor human DNA sample. The discussion had to end so Shon went to follow the dealer around.

Before nightfall Shon gathered enough information to know that the dealer is getting his supplies from an old warehouse at the docks. Now that he sneaked inside, it was obvious it wasn't empty. It was full of crates filled with Red Rage pills. As he went further inside, trying to remain unnoticeable, he saw various people putting the crates here and there as they were being told by one very big individual. Said person started sniffing the air like a bloodhound, Shon's instinct told him he would need a distraction fast or else he'll be detected. He noticed one worker having a smoke, it gave him an idea. When he was throwing away the match, Shon made it so that the fire would burn for a longer time. The flaming match landed on the head of another worker, who went berserk and started fighting the other. Their fight caused some of the crates to fall and the floor was quickly filled with pills which made others fall down. Madness ensues as Shon entered an office space. Inside he found some documents about a small shipment of eptifibatide from the New York University Medical Center and a few bank details which showed bribes being given. He planted a fire here too before leaving but was met by an overly large man on fire. With flames and people running away it was hard to get one's head over the situation. Shon didn't even notice as the man blew a column of fire at him from his mouth. A column which refused to harm the Scion. Knowing he won't win, he tried to make his escape by slipping underneath the giant but he was grabbed by the leg and lifted up. He managed to take out his pistol and shot the bastard who released him in a surge of pain. A minute later, Shon was nowhere to be seen.

The night was still young so Shon went ahead to meet the doctor who was listed in the papers he found. It wasn't hard to go unnoticed in the crowd of patients and doctors, soon he found the office of the doctor and entered. She tried to fool him when he asked about the drug but having a gun works great for intimidation. She told him she was taking blood from people with the gigantism condition. They came willingly and it seemed like easy money so she took it. The next batch would be given the next day at midnight. Pleased with the information, Shon hit the woman unconscious and staged a fire coming from her computer. He made his leave with the rest of the evacuating people.

After hearing the news about his latest exploits, he waited for midnight. He was already at the Center, patiently waiting for the people to come to the designated spot. Since the doctor died yesterday, they had to take the blood out by stealth and Shon followed but not before planting a bug on their car. They led him downstairs to the research area where they took a mobile refrigerator, filled it with the blood and went back to the car. After that they met an overly large man in a park whom they gave the box. Shon decided to follow the man to the underground where the fellow jumped on the tracks, went further into the tunnel and disappeared after going through a wall. Naturally, Shon followed and found himself in a room made out of wax, human skulls and skin with the giant about to fill empty pills with the blood. He wasn't happy with the unexpected visitor so he stood up and got shot in the knees by Shon's quick hand. He fell to the ground, tried to grab the Scion but failed as he jumped out of reach. The giant then tried to throw the box at him but likewise failed. He lied there without anything to do but be mad while Shon had some questions he wanted answered.

I'm not overly pleased with how it went. I originally wanted to have a scene where Shon would see what the effects of the drug on people are but he seemed uninterested in investigating that so I went with his wishes.
I also need to thank MrGone who made an awesome Scion Sheet that I had the pleasure to use.

Reviews I guess...

I should write about something, just to get this blog kicking...

In short, the last two weeks were all about going out to see some old faces, talking about the publishing of my poetry book and fighting battles at home. Cleaning took place so although my room is far from organised, it's definitely less messy and I found some old writings that I thought were lost. I got my sister The Movies which I hope will help her make digital films that she could put on YouTube. For now she only uploaded a short flick of Luna.

I've seen three films thus far this month so since we're on the topic of films, let's talk about them.

Katyń
A Polish film by Andrzej Wajda. I don't expect anyone of you to be familiar with it since it probably hasn't yet been released outside the country. It tells the story of Katyń where Polish officers were shot in the back of their heads in the nearby forest. During the German occupation it was said the Russians did it while after the war propaganda, Russians said it was the Germans. It focuses on one officer in particular, his family and the family's acquaintances. I found it very moving and it really showed what it means to take pride in one's nation over a forced regime.

Stardust
This movie is pure awesome! It's funny, wonderful, magical and a lot of other things for which there are no words. Romance, bravado, fantasy, humour... Did I tell you how awesome it is?

Tales of Earthsea
Everyone knows I like animation. I loved Princess Mononoke and although I didn't like Spirited Away, I hoped that this film would be as good as Earthsea. Unfortunately I was quite bored watching it. The setting is great, the animation is lovely, the plot is nice but it's just so boring to watch. I just kept hoping that the next scene will show something cool and breathtaking and that's how I felt when it ended. It's not a bad film, but it's more of a picture than a film, it's nice to look at but not watch.

Black Sheep
This is one of those films that has an excellent trailer but the film itself pales in comparison. The plot is nothing new, an immoral experiment gone wrong by accident and now everyone is doomed! What seemed to be a very good point of the film would be the inclusion of monstrous sheep. That would have given the film a nice mixture of horror and comedy which I love. Unfortunately, the actors don't have enough character in them and the lack of any background music just hurts this film in enormous ways. The special effects aren't over the top so it would be good to build up the mood with some creepy or violent music depending on the given scene, but there is none. What I would expect to be a semi-serious parody of survival horrors ended up being a meh film...

Other than that I was reading the 52 series of DC Comics and watching some One Piece on my own while the evening was spent watching CSI:NY and House with mum.

Christmas cards have been sent to the lucky few because my wallet objected to the idea of sending wishes to everyone. I also noticed I lack a few addresses. I suspect my taking notes off my laptop before giving it in for repairs was too quick...

The Animal Archetype Test

Your Score: The Cat

You scored 62% domestic, 12% gregarious, 28% trickster, and 67% intellect!

Domestic, Solitary, Serious, Intelectual: you are the Cat!

Cat represents a balance of strength in both physical and spiritual, psychic and sensual powers, merging these two worlds into one. Curious, intelligent, and physically adept, cat people tend to live in a world all their own.


This test categorized you based on four different axes of personality, which were then associated with a different animal. The four axes, as well as all possible results are explained below.



Wild/Domestic: This first axis categorizes you based on how much you are drawn to the outdoors, versus how much you are drawn to civilized situations. Domesticity has many shapes and forms, and varies from the joy of dolphins leaping next to a ship to the steadfast loyalty of a family dog.



Gregarious/Solitary: This axis measures how solitary you are. If you scored high, it means that you enjoy the company of other people, while a low score indicates that you prefer a more solitary lifestyle.



Trickster/Serious: This axis measures how well you line up with conventional trickster archetypes. People who fall into this archetype have a sense of humor and an excitable, highly chaotic streak. Scoring low doesn't mean that you don't have a sense of humor; it just means that you probably don't think dynamite is very funny.



Intellectual/Emotional: This last axis determines whether you are more emotional -- acting based on feelings and instinct, or rational and intelectual -- acting more on thought than on your gut feelings.

Wild	Gregarious	Trickster	Intellectual	The Hyena
Wild	Gregarious	Trickster	Emotional	The Otter
Wild	Gregarious	Serious	Intellectual	The Antelope
Wild	Gregarious	Serious	Emotional	The Wolf
Wild	Solitary	Trickster	Intellectual	The Weasel
Wild	Solitary	Trickster	Emotional	The Coyote
Wild	Solitary	Serious	Intellectual	The Raven
Wild	Solitary	Serious	Emotional	The Frog
Domestic	Gregarious	Trickster	Intellectual	The Fox
Domestic	Gregarious	Trickster	Emotional	The Dolphin
Domestic	Gregarious	Serious	Intellectual	The Horse
Domestic	Gregarious	Serious	Emotional	The Dog
Domestic	Solitary	Trickster	Intellectual	The Rat
Domestic	Solitary	Trickster	Emotional	The Ferret
Domestic	Solitary	Serious	Intellectual	The Cat
Domestic	Solitary	Serious	Emotional	The Squirrel

Link: The Animal Archetype Test written by crumpetsfortea on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test

Travel SMASH!!!

I hate travel... there's always something going wrong when I move between countries!

Last week I had to give my laptop for repairs due to a screen issue which needs to be dealt with before I have to write essays. Otherwise I would have trouble passing the semester. Since I was a bit bored I decided to clean my room a bit. Naturally, this caused me to accidentally throw away the notes about my plane. Next thing to do then was to go somewhere with a working internet connection and check if British Airways has some option for me to regain the lost information. Their website didn't help, so my last line of hope was in calling them. Which ended very fast as my phone run out of credit and I had no money to top up! Some of the people I know tried to help me out the next day but British Airways had their line too busy. I would have had to wait more than 15 minutes to talk to someone. On Saturday, before I head over to Heathrow with my dad, we call them again at 6am. Success! The information was given and I was happy to know what plane, time and terminal I had to arrive at.

You'd think that was it for the problems!

Upon arrival in Warsaw I was supposed to wait a few hours for a bus to Białystok. Naturally, after an hour of waiting my mum calls me to tell me the bus was cancelled. Luckily there are still intercity buses working outside the airport so I get into a taxi and head to the bus stop. More than an hour of standing in the cold, the bus just did not come. My last hope in a train, last one leaves in an hour! I get into a tram without a ticket because the ticket shops were all closed by now. Forty minutes later I arrive at the station, locate the ticket boot and get into line. I made it in time! I enter the train and find a secluded place at the back to sit in, then I try to remain awake for 2 hours, remaining vigilant so that nobody steals my stuff!

Finally I managed to arrive at my place of destination.

I hate travel...

DragonMeet 2007

As some of you may already know, Saturday saw DragonMeet held in London. Much like the previous year, I went there to meet a lot of other people. This time around, our group was larger by two more. Mainly Mithras and AfroHead, a player from Saint Christopher's Orphanage for Lost Children. Including me, Insane Prophet, Deoq and Revamp there were six of us in total.

Luckily, this year I turned up on time. Having learned my lesson, I checked when the trains arrive at Victoria before going to the train station. In this way I turned up on time (after covering 3 miles in 40 minutes with my feet!) although I had some confusion as Revamp called me when I was about to get off and wasn't sure what he was saying. It's funny that way, I always seem to have trouble talking over the phone... Anyway! It appeared he called to tell me he would be late, which none of us was surprised to learn. Then after some texting, I found the rest of the group! For a moment, I thought AfroHead was Revamp. This is proof showing how bad my mind can be at times!

Next on the schedule was the trip to Kensington. Unfortunately, the queue in the Underground was too big for us to stand there. But hope was given in the form of Deoq's leadership skills which brought us to an appropriate bus stop. In the bus I learned that Mithras didn't expect my voice to be that deep... thus we arrived at DragonMeet 2007! (Where Revamp was already waiting for us, and he looked good, I can tell you that!)

It was excellent. I found a neat software called Campaign Cartographer 3, it would do wonders for my online games, especially for United We Stand which needs maps on a regular basis. I've wanted to pick up Winter Masques so I had something to add to Lost in Miami (especially considering the players asked) but it was sold out before I got the chance. Thus I ended up buying Changing Breeds and Oadenol's Codex. Excellent books I must say, Changing Breeds makes me want to have a one-on-one as a shifter. As for the latter, it's Exalted so it not only helps fleshing out the world in my other game but I just like Exalted very much. I've also bought Game Night by Jonny Nexus, although I promised myself not to buy any more books before I read those that I have already. But!!!! The contract has a clause which makes an exception for signed literary works! Lastly, there was this big Star Wars figure that I bought for Insane Prophet because I am still grateful for him giving me Vampire The Requiem for Christmas last year...

We played Warhammer this year. Although there was some interest for Scion in the group, the places were up after we got back from our eating break at the church bench! The game was quite good, very investigative but it confused me a lot. Unfortunately, I was the Sergeant so it was quite bothersome. It was all my fault, I'm just unused to making notes whilst gaming but at least I didn't keep falling asleep like Revamp! Really, it was a pleasurable game and I was far more active and less shy than the previous year. I'm doing progress!

Such fine sessions only make me regret the fact I don't have a job. If I had some disposable income, I'm sure I could budget myself in a way that would allow for planned bi-weekly trips to London for gaming with the Londoners. I could even storytell some Scion or Exalted for them if they so wished. I even have an idea, since there were empty tables at DragonMeet, I think it might be in the realms of possibility to storytell a game for the rest during next year's convention. Though I might gather an even larger crowd by then so Insane Prophet and I might have to split them into two groups or just have a few go check out some other games.

The day ended with most of us being forced to take free dice! With shouted proclamations of freedom and which of our pockets were not full we jumped on them like wild beasts! I ended up bringing 140 dice with me... and I bought my first dice bag earlier!

Once again, another convention well spent!