Herold felt around the oppressive darkness. He was lying down, and he could barely move his arms. He felt the resistance of a cloth wall all around him. The walls felt of lush velvet with circular nubs at regular intervals throughout. With a kick of his feet he felt the give a cloth on the far side. He was in a small cushioned box. How long has he been here? Were the sides pressing in ever so slowly. How long has he been here for that matter? The air tasted think and warm, and was getting heavier with each breath. He tried not to breathe in less the air get any worse. Herold wanted out, and he wanted out now. He flailed around the cushioned box, pressing, feeling. He tried to find  some section, some hope, some give that could lead to escape and the freedoms outside the confined infernal box he found himself in. The air was growing heavier, and he would pass out in a few more gulps. Had this happened before?

“Master? Awaken Master you are having a nightmare Master!”

That voice is familiar. In the distance a candlelight drew closer. Closer! Herold sat up. He could sit up and move! he was in a bed. The world started to resolve into focus around him. More lights all around started to flare into life, and the concerned look of a manservant in the wooden doorway a few feet away looking at him. The servant drew closer, and used the candle to light the lamp by the bed. The manservant was simply dressed in a black suit, and looked young, freshly washed, and a deep look of concern on his face. What was his name?

“Isadore, yes… I think I am alright now. I had the dream of when they buried me again. Thank you for waking me.”

Isadore nodded and pulled out a cup and cold bottle from a nearby cabinet. “It is Noon Master, the sunlight is at the highest in the sky. You still have half a day till nightfall. I am sorry your dreams have troubled you so as to disturb your daylight slumber.” Isadore unscrewed the cap on the bottle and poured a dark red viscus liquid into a cup. “A drink master to calm your nerves, and revitalize the mind,” he said proffering the cup.

Herold took the cup, and drank it slowly, letting the sticky cold liquid flow down his gullet. It restored energy and life to him. His mind and body surged with new life. It all became sharper, clearer, and his senses enveloped the room and the area beyond. With each swallow it became more plain. The room seamed brighter somehow. The dark areas around held no mystery to him. The small candles were as bright flares. They hurt when looked at directly Isadore had put away the bottle, and waited patiently for Herold to finish drinking.

Herold handed over the empty cup. “Thank you Isadore, your quick attendance when I have a claustrophobic attack is always welcome. I think I will try to get a little more rest till moonrise. Do keep the higher candles on. I think some light may actually help me rest. The dark always appears to be less small that way.”

“Of course Master,” said Isadore as he snuffed out the  lower candles, and collected his candlestick. “I hope your rest is uninterrupted for the rest of the day.” With that Isadore walked through the doorway, and down the hall his single point of light dwindling into the Darkness. Herold sat back and closed his eyes aware of the flickering of the candles above. The room was large, and there was space to move. In time he would arise to the sunset, and wonders a new night had to lay before him.

Author’s Note: This is a short story I came up with when the discussion of a claustrophobic vampire came up in conversation.

Now comes the time where I get to place the game in line with the other main games in the series. If I had to rank them in the past I think it was something like: 5,8,4,7,6,3,2,1. Now that I have the main story of 9 done it comes to place it. I am very tempted to place it at the top, failing that between 5, and 8. I am not quite sure which yet, but still musing on it. One of the criteria I always thought was a hallmark of a good story is one that can elicit an emotional response. For some reason whenever the goddess Celestria spoke in the game I felt particularly moved. The game itself has an overall theme dealing with death, and spirits seeking to finish some final task before they cross over. Only other Dragon Quest game to move me like that was 5 for the multi generational epic story.

Every Dragon Quest game has some music to it that is memorable, and empathise the feel of the game. For me this is usually the overworld theme. I even have Dragon Quest V’s overworld music as my alarm sound on my phone. In Dragon Quest IV it was the hero’s music when he traveled alone, it changes when you have the full party collected. For IX the defining song, and I think a lot of fans will agree with me on this, is the observatory theme. It combines into one song a sense of pride, duty, dedication, and somber decorum that the game exemplifies.  Give a listen to the symphonic version of it. Imagine a place looking over mortals with a steadfast dedication, tempered as if with somber reluctance.

One thing I was dismayed to find out was that once you beat the game you cannot return to the observatory. It phases away because all the celestrians are called back home by their goddess. So even though I can get to the realm of the Almighty, where the goddess Celestria now resides, I cannot go to the observatory and listen to this fantastic piece of music. A sub goal for post game is to see if I can find some spot of the game I can have the music be played. The game has only one save slot, and I can’t restart and gain access unless I delete my game, and thus all my work. Needless to say the symphonic suite collection will be hunted down and purchased.

She started to make her way out of town when she felt it. The presence of something in the dark with a hunting malevolence. She looked around in a panic, her heart beating faster. She then saw a flash of darkness move into a window in a building above her. “Darklings!” she thought, “Someone up there must have some old tech running, and attracted their attention.” Rene tensed herself waiting for a scream, a crash, anything that would signal the start of an attack. It came. A tinkle of glass above, followed by a body that landed on the ground with a dull thud. The tinkle of glass followed in silence as others looked. Someone screamed, and then panic erupted. People fled from the building in an expanding circle like the shockwave of an explosion. Rene had no choice but to be carried away in the tide.

Everyone has seen it before. Some idiot used old tech and summoned the Darklings. They would congregate around the running technology like insects drawn to the flame. They would attack anyone they found in the area, and suck the life from the technology until it functioned no more. Rene had seen a few such attacks in other villages. The Darklings would infest the area until the technology was consumed. It usually took a few days. Then once the village could be inhabited again the person responsible would be punished. Depending on the village or town, and the number of dead/damage. It would lead to imprisonment, banishment, or in some cases execution. In some places even having old tech was a punishable offense. People tended to attack any traveler or townspeople who had such things. For exactly this reason.

The throng of people flowed away out of town. Rene heard some of them mutter about a Professor Winstral. The bits she caught were that one of the professor’s experiments must have attracted the Darklings again. “Again?” Rene thought, “They let a madman like that continue to mess with old tech and endanger the city? The only way that could be true was that the professor was wealthy and well connected.” When Rene got far enough away she noticed the general lack of concern. The people were going to some outlying structures. It looked like this was, if not a common occurrence, one that was not totally unexpected. People gathered around a building as a few of them went in. Shortly some come out and distributed supplies to the gathered crowd.

Rene observed the goings on with a sense of puzzlement. Had they expected the Darklings to attack? Did it happen often enough to warrant shelters outside of town? People were gathering in a clearing, and someone was taking what appeared to be a head count. Rene held back watching people get a little care packet, and check in with the locals. She did not have time for this. She needed to get back she had lost too much time already. Should she risk going back to Travis? Was his ship still there? She had little choice. No coach would go near this town for multiple days with a Darkling attack. Rene sighed and turned around heading back to town, and risking the dangers that lay within.

The whole finished product.

The whole project only took us a few hours of work. It did not feel like it took that long. We cut a 10′ pipe segment to the right lengths, and soldered all the bits together. My cousin had a different kind of copper pipe solder than is typically used. This kind is a 50/50 silver mix He thought it would help with electrical conductivity between the copper pipe segments. While we waited for it to cool down we went and bought some clamps, bolts and screws to attach a so 239 connector and wire to the assembly. With a nice dinner delay we returned to work on the antenna.

close up of the So 239 connector and connecting clamp.

With each clamp we flattened one of them and drilled a new hole to match the rounded section. This clamp idea is from a youtube video showing some people make the same kind of antenna. The outer segment of the coax connector is connected to the antenna via the clamp to the short element, and the center pin is connected to the long element via the opposite clamp and a bit of wire. By bending a little bit of extra wire and soldering we have a connection.

All that is left is to get a meter to tune the antenna to the correct frequency, and an adapter cable to go from it to my little handset. Eventually this will be mounted on the roof of the house, possibly the old antenna pole for over the air TV can be utilized. It may take a little bit to figure that all out, but for now I can just prop the thing up, and connect my handset in. Well I will once the cables, and the test meter come in. Hopefully by the end of the week. It can get a little expensive with all the parts/equipment needed. It is fun though, and I hope to get a lot better reception with this thing once I am able to use it. I will post more info when I get those bits done.

Julian on his back using Ember as a blanket.

I got my two casts last night. They are, as of this writing, seven weeks old. They like bouncing around and jumping at each other. Julian is the black one, all black, or as some people on the net would say is a basement cat. Ember is a tortoise, or calico without any white on her. Kind of fitting since her name is after a glowing fire ember. Already I can get a sense of their personalities, and I look forward to when I can let them roam around the house without restrictions. At present I have to keep them in a large cage when I am nor supervising them so they don’t get into anything too dangerous. That problem will be fixed in the next few weeks.

Ember using me as a staging ground to attack Julian.

They like to run around like crazy maniacs. Running all around the part of the basement that I let them use. They appear to have little to no fear of me, and have used me as a staging point for their exploits. Julian likes to lick my fingers and sometimes nibble on them. At one point Ember decided my socked foot was tasty and assaulted it with ferocity biting and bounding on it before her true threat Julian tackled her from the side. Ember will run away and hide on me or between my legs (left) and then wait for the right opportunity to pounce.

Sadly they both have Fleas at the moment, and I have to wait till they are at least 2 lbs before we can do any treatment. Once that is done though I think I will let them roam the full basement. Foof chair, desk, larger area, and of course a lot of fun to be had. Once I am sure they understand the vital concept of go under the desk to access kitty litter room, I will let them have full range of the house. That however is probably a few months away from now. I got plans for how the eventual setup will be. Final food dish placement etc. In fact I plan to have a cat bed on my desk near the computer for them whenever I am playing a game or something.  So expect occasional Cat pics/posts. I am sure these two will be a source of tales for years to come.

One of the more recent examples in media I can think of is the Supernatural series. In this series when angels actually do show up they can be described in one simple all-encompassing word. Angels are dicks. They view humanity with, if not contempt, than as a pest best trodden on if it gets in your way. We then attribute fallacy to angels which makes them more relatable, more human.  This then detracts from the nature of the divine. If angels can be fallible, are they truly angels? Would they merely be other beings just like use, but just more knowledgeable, or technologically advanced. The same can be applied to demons as well. The only true distinction between the two is what their ultimate intention towards humanity is. Are they here to protect us, or destroy us?

In Dragon Quest IX you take on the role of one of these angels. The nature of the help the angels provide in the game  is self-serving. They need to collect benevolence, IE the manifestation of thanks, from mortals they help. They then offer it to the world tree which will bear fruit and allow them to return to the kingdom of the Almighty. One of the initial thoughts I had were, “Well that is kind of mean. So basically you guys are all lets help these mortals till we can go home, and then nuts to whatever happens to them.” Once the tree bears fruit the observatory comes under attack and all the fruit falls to the mortal realm. You as the main hero lose most of your angel powers and become, essentially, mortal with a few advantages, like the ability to see  ghosts. I thought this was an interesting parallel to my D6 game.

In my game I have my own twist to this classic setup. I have two sides one side wants to restore the original time line, and thus wipe out humanity as we know it. The other side wants to give humanity a chance and keep the time line as it currently is. Arguably Nicodemus’s side, the side that wants to restore the time line, is the correct one. As it puts back the way things are supposed to be. Julian’s side, the side that wants to not restore the time line, is wrong to essentially betray his entire race in favor of how we have developed thus far. From our point of view the roles are reversed. Julian is a savior because he wants to protect us. Nicodemus is evil for wanting to restore his time line, and wipe humanity as we know it from existence. They have fought back and forth in both material, and spirit form for most of human history. Their battles while still in physical form gave rise to a lot of the religions we have today. How else would people interpret flying vehicles, things with great power, and some people able to seemingly raise the dead, and heal the impossible? Now in spirit form they fight much like how we would perceive angels and daemons doing so.

What I find funny in relation to Dragon Quest IX is what happened to Julian in my game. As I said in Dragon Quest IX the main character becomes essentially a mortal. Being able to see, and interact with them easily. He retains very little of his celestial powers. Julian in the game got resurrected by the other side making him mortal. He became very limited in a lot of ways losing the powers he had while a spirit. In game context this was done to take him out as an opposing force. A la Dogma, having god sedated in a hospital unable to do anything, Julian was likewise sedated in a remote location. Now that he is rescued by the players he is a lot like the hero in DQ IX, weakened in comparison to what he was, but still formidable. The end result is angels and daemons will continue to make a never-ending interesting narrative for us to explore.

PANEL 1: A beach with golden sand and a green hazed ocean with the sun high in the sky. Julian stands alone looking out across the water.

JOHN – Off Scene: Master we have selected a party to head out. Have your meditations brought forth some enlightenment?

PANEL 2: Beach with water in the background Julian facing John

JULIAN: They are all gone John. There are none left to provide guidance from the Great Beyond. I feared this may be the case, and I spent some considerable time looking. We are truly the only ones left.

JOHN: That may be so Master, but there is still hope. Maybe we can train the locals in our ways to start new guidance in the Great Beyond? If they learn of the true nature perhaps they can assist us in the future?

PANEL 3: Julian pats John’s Shoulder .

JULIAN: I appreciate that John. Your idea has merit, and we can try a variety of methods.

PANEL 4: Both John and Julian are seen walking over a sand dune.

JULIAN: Now tell me, who has volunteered?

PANEL 5: Julian and John approach a camp of around fifty individuals. Ten of which appear to be preparing to leave.

JULIAN: I thank you friends for the task you are about to undertake. We will need you to recover all you can from the cache. I hope you all have a safe journey. We will meet in a few months time at the mouth of the river Izan.

PANEL 6: Julian is seen looking sad as he watches the members journey off into the grasslands.

JOHN: Master?

JULIAN: I fear I will not see any of them again for a long time John, and there are already so few of us. Nevertheless We must press on.

PANEL 7: Julian faces the rest of the camp.

JULIAN: The rest of you we will make way south to retrieve the artifacts from the cache there, and then head north to the Izan river where we will wait and setup our first encampment.

PANEL 8: The remaining people are seen heading off to the mountains with the remains of a campsite left behind.

I honestly have mixed feelings. I don’t feel like I am doing it all justice, but I don’t know where to go with it. So it has all rushed to a head here. I just hope I can do the last battle the send off it deserves. To that end I will try and force myself to script out the whole adventure much like I did with the last D&D adventure I ran. Outline, scenes, challenges, maybe maps, etc. Something I should do for each session but have been too lazy to do so. I do have two weeks and a trip to the beach to sort it all out. The setup is a simple one though. Save the world. Nicodemus is extracting the time gate and bringing it to Earth. The players must destroy that time gate.

Once everything is resolved I don’t know where we will go from there. It is possible that there may not even be a recognizable world if Nicodemus wins. If he is stopped they will try and get at another time gate, but that would mean waiting thousands of years for humanity to expand to it. Effectively ending the conflict between him and Julian for a long time. The CoT would have to rebuild from the aftermath. Not to mention the problems of a social and political change. Once it is done I will see where/if we want to go with it.

“Miss Rene I would like to introduce you to Basil Ryall. Basil is an associate of mine from New Harrisburg who is escorting some cargo of mine there. I was delayed in meeting him by our train incident. Thankfully he convinced the captain to await my arrival.”

Basil stood to greet Rene. He was a tall man slightly shorter than Travis. His thin brown hair was combed over his temple. Dressed in slacks, a polo shirt, and with a pipe in his mouth he struck Rene as the kind of man accustomed to comfortable living. Removing his pipe he extended a hand. “Pleasure is all mine, Miss Rene,” he said in a gruff cracky voice. “Please join us. Can I order you anything to drink?”

Rene sat down at a seat in an arm-chair by the two men. She though the chair smelled a bit like smoke and dust. It was however quite comfortable and pleasant to sit in. Leaning back she said, “I’ll take a glass of water, thank you.” She looked down at the game of chess that the two were playing. It looked to be mid game. Not many pieces were captured by wither side. Travis appeared to have the superior position; while Basil had more pieces. They had already exchanged queens, and Travis’s knight threatened to break through Basil’s defenses. “Do you both play chess a lot?”

“All the time my dear,” said Travis making a move, “In fact we normally play by correspondence. On the occasions we meet in person we make it a point to enjoy playing a few games.”

As they played the barman brought Rene her drink. She sipped at it as she watched the two play back and forth. They played slowly taking a few minutes to consider their options before making a move. Basil smoked his pipe, and acted like he was chewing the end when he was preparing to make a move. Travis looked at the board with clasped hands concealing his mouth and chin. Rene found them both hard to read, and utterly focused on the game at hand. Suddenly the slow methodical movements exploded into a flurry of moves. As if the troops were unleashed into battle after careful positioning. When it was finished Travis sat back in his chair with a satisfied air. Basil looked at the board nodding, and chewing the edge of his pipe.

“Well done old boy! Well done indeed,” came the voice of Basil admitting defeat. “I thought I had you figured out with that gambit, but the reversal was executed  with some elegance I must say.”

Travis merely smiled and nodded in agreement, “We do digress though. Miss Rene, please forgive our impertinence. We get to play so few games together that we tend to get lost in the moment. My apologies. We still have many hours to go before we reach port. Prey tell, how can we help pass the time?”

Rene was taken slightly aback by Travis display of apparent concern. “I was not board at all Travis. In fact I found your game fascinating to watch. I thought it looked like two armies carefully positioning themselves, with a few minor casualties, before the big charge. If you want to we can play a game of cards. That should accommodate the three of us.”

“Splendid idea!” Travis explained as he put the chess set away. “I did not figure you to be a card player Miss Rene.”

Basil dealt out the cards to the three of them. They played for quite some time while idly chatting. Basil and Travis turned out to be partners in a shipping business dealing with antiquities. They have been doing so for over ten years. They specialized in finding old scientific equipment for scientists in the cities. The kind of scientific equipment used before the technological age. The equipment was highly sought after as it would not attract Darklings and other unsavory things. Rene did not tell much about herself. Only revealing that she did odd jobs as she traveled around. They were in the middle of their sixth game when a crew member came by to inform them that they would make port soon.

“Well Miss Rene it has been a pleasure to get to know you in a more casual settings,” Travis said as he played a card. “Are you sure you would not stay on to the city?”

“No,” said Rene shaking her head, “I should get off here and head my own way.” She look at Travis then said with some difficulty, “T… Thank you again for what you did in the alley.” She turned to Basil and said, “Nice to meet you as well.” She stood and left the two men at the table leaving the cabin to see the ship land at port.

Outside the wind was steady, but not unpleasant, as it blew downriver. The moored ships rocked in the shifting waters occasionally beating against the docs. Sailors and dock workers busied themselves loading and unloading cargo. The bustle of a small port town surrounded Rene, and she felt a little lost in it. She went about looking for some kind of transit section, otherwise she would have to petition one of the barges to take her as a passenger. As she asked around about passage she became aware of someone shadowing her. However she could not tell who it was in the throng of people.

Rene decided to lose them by darting down a side alley. As she rushed through jumping over abandoned boxes and crates she realized the other end was blocked off. Making her way back  the alley entrance was filled with three figures. Three large burly figures. One of the figures had small beady eyes and a bright red nose. Another had a long pony tail, and a head scarf. The last one, obviously the leader of the little gang, hefted a large wooden club as he smiled at Rene through yellowed teeth.

“My lads, looky what we has here. This poor girl gone and lost herself. Com’in to our bar, and not pay’in us no respect. How do you like that boys?” Yellow teeth’s companions nodded their agreement and chuckled. “Now missy you wanna play nicely with me and the boys or do we gotta rough you up a bit? Marley here he likes to rough them up some before he plays. You just keep quiet and nice and I’ll make sure Marly don’t hurt you… much.”

Rene said nothing and just made a knife appear in her right hand. Here eyes narrowed, and the hairs on the back of her neck rose. She tensed herself waiting for one of them to make the wrong move.

“Look Harry she has a little cutter how cute,”laughed one of the thugs.

Harry, yellow teeth, grinned bigger, “That how ya wanna do it girlie? Time to play Marley!”

Marley, the man with the beady eyes rushed at her cackling. Rene just stood still waiting for him to get into range. Just as he was about to be on top of her she ducked and rolled underneath him stabbing upwards as she did so. The knife cut swiftly through Marley’s underside and he howled in pan clutching at his crotch as he doubled over. Rene came out of the roll standing again and stepped back groin stomping Marley again causing him to cry out again and then go silent. “I told you I would make you a eunuch,” she said coldly with an air of satisfaction. “You boys want to join poor Marley there?” She accented this by stomping on him again with her other foot.

The other two stood in shock a moment and their faces turned to anger. Harry, yellow teeth, raised his club high as he advanced slowly on Rene snarling as he did so. “You will pay missy for what you did ta Marley. Dearly you will!” Harry swung the club at Rene missing her head by inches. She ducked and weaved trying to avoid his powerful swings. His arms were long, and did not afford her much of an opportunity to strike with her blade. She retreated to the end of the alley as the two thugs continued to advance on her. Then she heard a loud crack as Harry crumpled to her feet. His parter turned around to face the new attacker, and Rene suddenly saw long thin blade perturbing from his back. As the blade receded he too collapsed to the ground.

Rene looked up at the newcomer. He had a top hat, lapel coat, and as he stood up from wiping the blood from his sword cane she recognized him as Sir Travis Satnhron. He regarded her a moment as he placed the sword back in his cane then said, “Some sailors simply have no manners Miss Rene. Also two against one hardly seamed fair given the circumstances.” He looked down at the bleeding body of Marley, “I do admit you know how to use your knives quite exquisitely. Shall we be off before the local constable decides to investigate?” Not waiting for a response he turned and strode out of the alley. Rene quickly chassed after him.

“What are you doing here?” Rene asked as she caught up with him. Travis raised a gloved hand extended an index finger to indicate a moment of silence. He then entered a dock house, and Rene followed him. This particular dock house was adorned with trinkets, books, supplies, and all accented with a light layer of dust. Travis walked over to the clerk and carried on a short conversation. The exchange of items were made and he walked back to her and offered her a piece of paper.Rene took, and looked at, a boarding pass in her hand.

“I was taking care of some personal business. I happened to see you leaving a local bar, and observed you being followed by thee unruly looking gentlemen. When you finally noticed them and ducked into a dead-end I felt it was only proper to come to your rescue. Furthermore since you are here, presumably to get barge transport, it would be uncivilized if I did not escort you at least some of the way since I too am also heading in the same direction.”

“And how do you know where I am going?”

“I noticed it on your declared destination at the train office. Since you have obviously decided to forgo train transit, downriver by barge is the next best alternative.”

“Look,” Rene said biting back rage, “I appreciate what you did for me in the alley. I really do. I however I have little reason to trust, let alone let ‘escort’ me, a strange man who appears to be following me. Especially one so presumptuous as to know my destination, and buy me transport. You talked to the train investigator and told him where I was staying. I do not like people knowing where I am, and I like stalkers even less.” Rene tone turned cold at the last statement almost daring Travis to do something.

Travis looked at Rene with an almost hurt expression on his face. “I… I understand your distrust Miss Rene. I do wish to point out that those fellows from the alley’s buddies will come looking for them soon, and will want revenge. It would be best to leave sooner rather than later. I invite  you to travel with me at least one hop, and you are welcome to disembark there to travel where you may. I advise if nothing more than your own safety to travel with me a short while longer.”

Rene looked closely at Travis trying to detect any hint of deception or malice. All she saw was genuine concern in his face. Debating her options she decided to go with him at least for one stop. The quietly nodded her agreement, and the pair of them left the dock house. Travis lead her along the docks to a medium-sized boat with a combination of passengers, and cargo. Travis presented his ticket to the waiting crewman, and boarded. Rene did the same. She watched Travis enter a cabin while she elected to stand outside. She peered over the railing watching the clear water swiftly flow around the boat.

She could see her reflection in the water. Her dark shoulder length hair distorted in the ripples of the water. She could hear the crew preparing to cast off behind her. Soon another reflection joined her. The black top hat looking like that of a deranged circus clown in the water. Rene turned to face Travis. He had a small plate with a sandwich on it and offered it to her. “I am not sure when you last ate but you look hungry. Chicken on rye with a touch of mustard?” She thanked him and took the plate pausing to lift up the bread and check under it she bit into the sandwich. Rene had not realized how hungry she was as she wolfed the whole thing down in a few large bites. She shook the plate over the water and watched the crumbs disappear as trout ate them.

There was a slight lurch as the boat cast off from port. Rene steadied herself momentarily on the railing. Travis regarded here a moment as he took the plate. “I shall take in a parlor game in the main cabin. I invite you to join me, but if you wish to remain here and enjoy the view I completely understand Miss Rene.” With that Travis did a slight bow and walked off to the cabin. Rene watched him go thinking to herself. Who was this strange man? How had he found her? Why was he so helpful to her? He almost reminded her of her grandfather in a way. He was definitely more than he let on. Of that Rene was certain. Sighing reluctantly she walked across the deck, and into the cabin.