On Oz

Ozticulus Hal is the Magician of The Seven. He sometimes comes across as being vain or cold, but really he is just very focused on the goal at hand.
I will begin by explaining his name, as it is one of the stranger ones that I have come up with. His name (Ozticulus Hal) was what came to mind when trying to add on to the name 'Oz Hal'. Originally, his name was simply Oz (a nod to Baum's 'The Wonderful Wizard of Oz', but as I expanded his personality I decided that a more complex name would match him better. His last name comes for Wizard Howl from Jones' 'Howl's Moving Castle'. Whenever I ever try to tell someone about it, they always mistake 'Howl' as 'Hal'; maybe I should work on my 'ow' pronunciation. When I tried to combine 'Oz' and 'Hal' I found it necessary to add on to the first name or give him a middle name to add syllables and rythm, And so 'Oz' became 'Ozticulus' (it was the first thing that came to mind)
Oz is the youngest of The Seven (14) and is half Human half Elegor (a vampiric race which will be explained later) He is overwhelmingly skilled in magic and at a young age managed to reverse and seal a curse that affects all Elegor (black markings on their skin that burn in sunlight), though his method only worked because he was half-blooded.
Because of his age he does his work (as a freelance magician) in a false body that he created. This body appears quite a bit older and with a different build and colouration. He spends most of his time in this body (he cannot remain in it indefinitely, however)

Tomorrow I'll further explain his many origins and all that stuff

The Looking Glass

Brother and I have started work on a Text-Based RPG under the working name 'The Looking Glass Project'. It's still in its very early planning stages, but we hope to feature several Races, Class, Weapons and a variety of Skills and Spells. I'm designing it, Brother is doing the coding.

A Continuation of Crow's Origins

Let's see, where was I? Right, the Alchemist. I looked back and it seems that I never named him, but that didn't stop me from fleshing out his story quite a bit. The idea was that he had received the Philosopher's Stone from his estranged father (once again, I was reading FMA at the time), and then later during some Alchemical accident had been fused with a fox. He thus had fox ears and I think a tail. I may have scrapped this idea though, as I remember a later version in which the accident had removed his Conscience. His conscience then followed him around as some sort of spirit, who advised him in his actions. This gave me a good excuse to do a Chaotic Neutral character as well as add a good deal of comedy from their interactions.
Anyway, the Alchemist at some point finds his way to the city where alchemy was banned and sneaks in. While there he befriends a girl (love interest) and his secret identity as an alchemist is revealed after fighting off an another alchemist who attempted to gain entry into the city (possibly involving a hostage situation?) To avoid punishment for his trespassing in the city, he offers to protect it from other treasure hunters.
The Philosopher's Stone is (in my stories) an item made (by God) from the four elements to govern them and it was then hidden in a town in the south. All of this carries on into Uruz' story. It's manifested as a 3'' diameter red pearl that reacts to alchemical commands. It can be made to pass through solid objects or change from its original state into other materials and shapes. It is very dense and can be made into very large forms. It amplifies Alchemical power and breaks down the 'divide' (something I'm fleshing out, It's the divide between what the mind tells the body to do and what it does. This affects precision in alchemy) but the Philosopher's Stone is wildly powerful and difficult to control. Crow was given by God (in chapter II) the ability to command it. His primary weapon now (other than his fists) is a replica of a famous Glaive that was used by a hero.

This is pretty fun. I think I'll discuss Crow's current incarnation and then maybe move on to the other Five.

The Origins of Crow

I remember quite distinctly when I first came up with the idea for Essilfye (Crow). It was some years ago while I was spending the summer with my grandparents in Laverne Tennessee. We were walking into the Church Auditorium when I looked at the wooden patter on one of the pews. The Pew was the second one from the middle divide on the right, and for some reason it gave me an idea. I suddenly remembered the scene from the beginning of FullMetal Alchemist where Edward pulls a spear from the ground using alchemy. That almost instantly became an idea of someone making a similar motion while vines and plants reached up out of the ground and twisted into a spear with a large red sphere at the base of the blade. This sphere (3'' in diameter) was my idea of the Philosopher's Stone. I noted this scene in my head.
Later that week, we were in the car going to my Uncle and Aunt in Crossville (I was to spend the night there and then my Father would come and pick me up) and I pulled out my laptop to play Jedi Academy. After starting a game, I quickly paused it and shut my laptop as I began to feel sick. Deciding to give my eyes a rest, I leaned on my right arm and shut my eyes. I do not remember my exact train of thought, but at some point it went back to that scene I had thought of in the Church. Expanding on this, I slowly came up with a story. The idea was that in the southern reaches of Lantia (by now I had given a name to my country and it more closely resembled what it is today) There was a town where (according to an old legend) the Philosopher's Stone was hidden. For years the town had been plagued with travelers coming by and causing trouble in their search for the precious item. The Philosopher's Stone, however, was not in the town. Years ago it had been found and kept a secret and eventually it found its way to our main character.
I do not remember him having a name, but He may have.

It's really late, I'll finish tomorrow

The Second Incarnation of Uruz Koru

Uruz' second incarnation came sometime later (though I don't know how far, probably no more than six months). This one more closely resembles Uruz' current form. I'm uncertain if he was named Uruz yet, he may have been named Uz (I have since given that name to Uruz' son). The story went something like this:
Uruz lived in the capitol of a small country. After meeting the Princess at a festival he falls in love and decides to become a Knight so he can marry her. To become a knight he was to master the five elements of combat: Melee, Range, Magic, Alchemy and I forgot the fifth... Though it might have been Pole-Arms. There was little more to the story than that, though I remember that Uruz' mother was dead and his estranged father lived in the mountains in the north that bordered an icy wasteland. His father was an excellent alchemist.
At this point in time I was reading FullMetal Alchemist and its influnces are quite obvious.
The idea of meeting the Princess at a festival originally carried over into the current Incarnation, and the requirement of being a Knight to marry her is still a story element. I removed festival meeting because it was Cliche and I wanted to illustrate that Uruz' love and devotion is more than silly infatuation. I made them childhood friends and this fit in nicely, as a story I had written beforehand put a connection between his mother and the King, this gave an easy way to get them close and give him a bit of a leg-up in the royal court.

Crow's origins coming soon

Linux Blues

After struggling with my computer to get the screen working, I was less than surprised to find that my internet no longer worked. I wasted all afternoon installing wicd instead of Network Manager and I finally got it working after learning that my internet function key was off. I'll tell another nice story tomorrow.

-grumble-