shamara

Some of us spend too much time on EL because it is fun and relaxing. Might be better for us to go read a book or something. Those who feel depletable resources will frustrate them and make EL less fun and relaxing should go to the library.

Yes you may use me. I am shamara in game and also in forums. I am female and not pregnant in real life.

I started playing in September of 2005 so just short of 3 years. Remember the fuss and feathers when cooldown was introduced, but big crash was before my time....not something I really mind having missed.

I can run in isometric view but when I turn it off it looks like this: http://img90.imageshack.us/my.php?image=skytooclosezd6.jpg It doesn't seem to matter whether I have sky, clouds, etc. checked or unchecked.

Yeehaw!!! With distance and reflection distance both set to 40 I can see sky. Thanks Roja! And you guys have a safe and good trip.

Wow......what a pretty wedding. I love the clothing colors for the wedding party! Sorry I couldn't be there but congratulations anyway you two!!

It will be very interesting to see how the new gods fit into game play patterns....some nice suggestions for more effects from gods......seems like gods would have as much impact as stars (astrology) on lives of players. And yes to having gods who show up in game

I use Linux Mepis because it works well with my Nvidia graphics and was easy for my newb level Linux ability.

I have no perks.....reset at OA 90 to get rid of the ones I took as a Newb and don't plan to get any sort of perk again.

lmao

Shamara's Story She was gathering herbs for her grandmother when she heard the boys coming down the hill. Quickly she picked up her basket and looked around for a place to hide. She recognized the loudest voice as Bork, the pig farmers son, and had no desire to meet him and his pals alone in the woods. Glancing across the small creek she saw a tree with branches low to the ground. Hopping across the water she ran to the tree and climbed quickly up to where the foliage was thick enough to conceal her and just in time as four boys came into the clearing. They were all near her own age, boys she recognized from the village school, and sure enough the biggest loudest one was Bork. "There's nobody here," said the smallest boy. "I saw her come down here" Bork replied. "You guys spread out and look around. I bet she's hiding somewhere." Shamara edged a little closer to the trunk of the tree and tried to breath very quietly. Bork's father had already approached her grandmother about making a marriage between her and his son. Grandmother had put him off but according to the customs of their land, if a young man could capture the girl he wanted and give her a child, she would be his no matter what her elders said. Bork was the meanest boy in school, always teasing and tormenting the smaller boys. The thought of having to spend her whole life as his wife and servant made her feel like throwing up. The boy called Grot, Bork's best friend and as big a bully as Bork, came and stood under her tree. She shuddered a bit and the slight movement made her lose her balance on the branch. She grabbed for the trunk to steady herself and as she did forgot about the basket of herbs she had set on the branch. Horrified she watched as it slipped off the branch and fell straight onto Grot's head. "She's up here!" he yelled "in the tree!" Shamara looked down into the mocking faces of the four boys. "You might as well come down little wife," Bork told her, "we've got you now. Just come on down and see what you're missing. We can have some fun." Bork put his foot on the first branch and started to climb. Maybe she could outrun them. Better to climb down on her own and try than to be pulled down. If she could get across the creek before they caught her she might have a chance. Shamara scrambled down the tree, dodged Borks reaching hands and began running. But the boys were faster and worse, Bork had circled the clearing and was cutting off her path to the trail. They were sure to catch her if she tried to push her way through the underbrush. Bork caught her arm and she could smell his sour breath. She watched his eyes go wide and closed hers. She was caught. She would be a pig farmers wife forever and nothing she could do to save herself. "AAAAAAH!" screamed the smallest boy. "Oh my god....run!" yelled Grot. Shamara felt Bork loosen his grip on her arm and then suddenly all four boys took off running. She slowly opened her eyes not sure what to expect. There was a chuffling sound behind her and she turned to see a big brown bear sniffing at her basket. It stared back at her but made no move toward her. She slowly backed away up the trail and as soon as the bear was out of sight began running for home. The women back at the farm shook their heads and clucked their tongues when Shamara told them what had happened with the boys in the woods. "It is time" they told her grandmother. "The girl is not safe here any longer now that she is a young woman." So it was that the following day Shamara sat on the high seat of a trader's wagon saying farewell to the only world she knew. "You will be fine. There are different customs there and women are treated as equals and not as property," Grandmother told her. "We have taught you all we know of healing and you know the uses of herbs, but there is more. My friend's son Morganwg has been there for some time now. Find him and he will show you the way to those who can teach you magic. There is much for you discover in Draia." They traveled through woods and stony places and across the edge of a desert, camping beside small streams each night. The traders were polite and Shamara kept mostly to herself thinking about her future. She barely remembered Morganwg from the time or two they had met as children. It was evening of the sixth day when the caravan stopped to let her off. The trader handed her down her carry pack and bade her godspeed. "If you go to the campfire," he said "there will be people there who can help you find what you need." Shamara walked past a vegetable garden where all sorts of people were busily harvesting pumpkins and tomatoes. A girl dressed in leather pants and shirt passed her carrying a brace of rabbits and entered the tavern. She found the fire with a group of people sitting around it talking. To shy to speak, she sat a little apart listening to the conversation. "So my pack is full," a young elf was saying. "Is there somewhere I can store my extra things?" "Yes," answered a blond woman who was wearing a white cape. "Raven manages the storage at Grahm's village. You can take the boat to Lakeside and walk from there. But you are young and it isn't safe there at night when the gargoyle walks in the land. Better you wait till daybreak." "But I have all these vegetables," the young elf protested. "I don't want to just sit here with them all night." "You can't put food in the storage anyway," the blond woman told him. "There is no way yet of keeping them from spoiling there. Best just take them to the tavern and sell them if you have more than you need for eating." "How can we become strong enough to be safe from the gargoyles?" asked a dwarf in a yellow shirt. "Kill rabbits," answered a tall man wearing shiny armor, "and rats and deer. You will gain strength and when you become stronger they will ignore you. Gargoyles, like many of the creatures here, are bullies and only attack the weak." Shamara thought of Bork and wondered if the gargoyles were as ugly as he was. She didn't really like killing animals but if it would protect her from bullies she would have to. She wandered away from the fire in search of a rabbit. There were bags lying around everywhere on the ground. She saw others picking them up so she looked inside of one. Nothing but a bone in it, so she left it and looked in the next one which had a rabbit fur and a piece of meat which she picked up and put in her pack. Near a rowboat she found several more bags that held bread and coins. An elf girl was picking them up and offered to share with Shamara. "Go ahead," the elf girl told her. "take some. They are gifts from the gods for us." Shamara spent the night gathering vegetables and selling them. She killed some rabbits. They were pretty hard to catch and harder still to kill but as she practised she noticed that it began to get easier. Just before dawn she spied a deer and decided to try and kill it. It was easier to catch than the rabbits but one of its horns caught her under her right arm and she fell. Then it's feet were trampling her and suddenly everything went black. When she opened her eyes she was in a place of heat and flames. Bones lay on the ground and the air smelled of sulfur. Her pack, which had been full with furs and meat and some bread and coins, contained only a single tomato. Looking around she saw a wounded warrior in chain mail striding past and she jumped up and began to follow him. He wound through the rivers of molten rock eventually reaching a stairway flanked by torchlights and went up it and through a door at the top. Following him, Shamara opened the door and found herself back beside the campfire, very hungry and feeling a bit bruised. She ate the tomato, and as she was trying to decide what to do next, felt a tickling sensation and suddenly her bruises disappeared. She touched her cheek where the tip of the deer's horn had made a deep gouge and the wound was gone. She looked around and saw a tall woman with blue hair holding a wand and smiling at her. "What happened?" Shamara asked the woman. "You were hurt so I healed you with magic" the woman replied. "Thank you so much," Shamara said. Here was the beginning of the knowledge she had come to discover. "How can I learn to do that?" "You will need sigils to heal with magic," the blue haired lady told her, "and health essences. You can buy all the things you need in the shops on Whitestone where the boat takes you. But you must learn to heal yourself before you can heal others." All her money was gone....lost when the deer had killed her. Shamara knew she would need more food too. The tomato had barely taken the edge off her hunger. She headed for the garden. After filling her pack several times and selling the produce, she noticed that the water next to the fence had turned a soft gold color. The lamp in front of the tavern dimmed and went out. Day had come and the gargoyles would be safely dormant now. She started down the road toward the docks. She would find the storage place kept by the woman named Raven and leave her coins safely there while she explored this new land. Now that day had come she could see how beautiful it was. She wanted to see more and to find the ways of magical healing. In the next few days Shamara learned where to find lilacs and more vegetable gardens. When she tired of picking vegetables she gathered lilacs to sell to the lady in the flower shop. She busied herself harvesting and selling and becoming more skilled at hunting. There were bears and foxes about but they never bothered her and she knew better than to try and kill anything that large after her experience with the deer. Some of the rabbits in Whitestone were white and had the prettiest softest furs she had ever seen. At night she returned to the first island and concentrated on earning more coins. Sigils and health essences were expensive she had discovered, but undaunted, she set about the business of becoming ready to use magic. She had seen nothing of Morganwg and the few people she was brave enough to ask about him didn't know him at all. It was late one evening. Shamara had discovered a book sitting beside the fire and was reading the story written there when she felt a touch on her shoulder. Looking up she saw a young man with a pleasant face and dark hair. He was wearing leather clothes and he smiled. "You must be Shamara," he said. "I am sorry I could not get here sooner. I was delayed in trading." She could see in his face the traces of the boy she remembered slightly, but this was a young man, no boy. She felt her heart do a little flip flop when she looked into his kind eyes. "Morganwg," she said and smiled up at him. "You have grown." "As have you, milady," he replied sitting down beside her. They talked until the lamps dimmed and daylight began turning the sky pink. Morganwg was a trader in these lands, had traveled widely and knew the best routes to go safely from one place to another. "There are some parts of this world where brigands and thieves lurk to rob unwary travelers," he told her. "It is not only the goblins and gargoyles that are a danger." Sometime during their conversation, Morganwg took her hand and held it in his and she did not object. It felt so nice to have a friend. Morganwg had to leave her at the dock while he went to complete a trade in the Valley of the Dwarves, but they arranged to meet by Raven when the sun was noon high. Shamara arrived a little early and sat under a tree watching the people come and go by storage. One of the bears wandered past, then stopped and looked at Shamara. She looked back and seemed to see an intelligence in its eyes. The bear walked over to her and sat down, laying its head in her lap. Amazed she could only stroke its fur softly and wonder and that was when Morganwg came up to her. "You have a friend," he said. "I don't think I have ever seen a bear do that before." The bear blinked at the sound of Morganwg's voice and shook itself. It stood up and ambled off into the woods. "My grandmother says bear is my totem animal," Shamara told him. "A bear saved me once...." and she told him about the incident with Bork and his friends. "No," he told her when she was done. "You do not belong on a pig farm, nor in the arms of a brute like Bork." He slid closer to her and put his arm around her shoulders. "I am very glad the women sent you here." She was picking up bags again on the first island. Mostly she found only bones and sometimes meat and furs. But now and then the gods gift bags yielded coins or armor or essences and one time a sword. She had discovered a bag containing a goodly number of coins and some furs and essences and was about to pick it up when a dark haired elf came rushing up to her. "Bagjumper!" he said sneering. Shamara stepped away from the bag and looked at the elf, startled. "What do you mean?" she asked wondering why he looked so angry. "The gods give gifts to all.....you can have these things if you want them so much..." The elf snatched the bag. "They are my things!" he exclaimed. "I lost them when a deer killed me. People like you make me sick stealing death bags like this." And the elf gave her a last angry look and strode off. Shamara was horrified. She had never intended to steal. She remembered her chagrin when all her hard work had disappeared after she was killed by a deer. No one had told her about death bags and she had not known it was possible to go back and reclaim items dropped when someone died. Her first impulse was to go to storage, get the sword and armor she had found, get rid of them somehow. She was not a thief and the idea that the things she had believed were gifts from gods were stolen from people who died made her want to run away and hide somewhere. Hanging her head she wandered to the dock and went to Whitestone. She was too upset to read or harvest, too upset to think. She was a thief, a common thief and it made all her hard work seem for naught when she considered that accusation. It was in that state of mind that she came to sit beside a pool with an island in the middle. She had heard that a god lived on that island and was considering how to find the god and ask how to make amends when Morganwg found her. He saw the tears still lingering on her cheeks and asked what was wrong. "The deathbags," she told him haltingly. "I have been taking them, thinking they were gifts and I was so wrong." She could not keep back the tears. "I am going to talk to the god out there and find out how to make it right." "Not all the gods are good," Morganwg told her. He sat down and put his arm around her shoulders and took her hand and held it. "The god on that island is a god of greed. You will not find the answers you want from him. You didn't know and there is no way to find those whose bags you took to return the things so long afterwards. And now that you realize it is stealing you will not take bags again. I am sorry. I didn't even think to warn you about deathbags." They sat by the pool and talked for a long time until Shamara felt calmer. She resolved in her heart never again to take anything that was not clearly and freely given to her. During the next months Shamara grew stronger. Before long the deer were no longer able to hurt her and she saved enough coins to buy the sigils she needed not only to heal herself but to heal others. She worked and bought the books she needed to learn how to make her own health essences and magic essences. When she had completed the lessons required to harvest emeralds, Morganwg said he would show her the mine but she needed a magic cape to protect her from the orcs and skeletons that guarded the catacombs. He was going on a trading trip for a few days and when he returned would try to locate a cape for her so that she could safely go to the emerald mine. The green cape she needed was not sold in any of the shops but could only be found by killing some monsters that were much too strong for her. Still Shamara decided to try and find a cape on her own so she could surprise Morganwg when he returned. When she inquired about capes in the market, the men there laughed at her. The traders used special words for things, words she did not know, and they mocked her and pretended not to understand her questions. She wondered if perhaps these men were the brigands and thieves Morganwg had warned her about. They reminded her of Bork and his gang with their bad manners and rude comments. She did manage to glean from them the information that the green cape, if anyone had one to sell, would cost her about 6000 coins. Books and sigils and essences had depleted her money so she set off to harvest yet more lilacs. She was beginning to be tired of the scent of them after gathering so many, even though they were sweet smelling. She had managed to accumulate about half the needed coins for her cape when a very tall and rather severe looking person came and stopped beside her. He had white hair and beard and a fierce looking face, not quite human and not elf or dwarf. She stared at him wondering what he wanted. The big fellow chuckled at her look "I am orchan" he said and he handed her a package. "Go ahead. Open it," he encouraged her. "Your grandmother has sent you a gift, which I am pleased to deliver." Carefully, Shamara untied the string and removed the paper to find inside a note from her grandmother and a bright green cape! "Oh!" she exclaimed, "But how did she know? It is just what I need!" The big orchan just smiled. "Enjoy" he told her and disappeared. Her grandmother's note explained that a dwarf staying at the womens hostel told them about the magic cape and how it could allow one to travel safely in Draia. So the women had sent money to purchase and deliver what they knew she would need. They hoped she was doing well in her studies and would try to send her other items from time to time as they learned of her needs. Oh and that pig farmers son, Bork, had finally found a girl to marry. She came from one of the villages to the north where the women are warriors. Rumor had it that she made him do all the housework and cooking while she hunted and fished all day. The neighbors said they could hear her in the evenings screaming at him for forgetting some household chore. Shamara had to giggle a bit at the thought of Bork being pushed around by a woman. With her cape, Shamara gained the freedom to travel in new parts of the land. So long as she stayed away from the places where thieves lurked, she was safe from any monster. She began to be recognized as a healer and sometimes when monsters invaded the land she went and healed the warriors wounded defending their home. And always she watched for Morganwg, who had found a strong place in her heart. But Morganwg traveled further and further in his trading. Sometimes she did not see him for weeks at a time now. And when he came he grumbled about the changes in the land. It was becoming increasingly difficult he said for a trader to make a living here. One night she stood by the window in one of the taverns waiting for hours and looking at two places set at a table. They were supposed to have dinner together. Morganwg never came that night and not for several nights after. When she finally saw him again he was distant and distracted and he did not hold her hand. "I have to go away for a while" Morganwg told her. "I will be passing by your grandmother's hostel if you want to send anything to her." Shamara sent a letter with Morganwg and some fire essences and silver rings she had made. And she found that the land seemed empty without the chance of a meeting with her friend. In her travels she often passed places they had been together and tears would come to her eyes knowing he was no longer near. Morganwg had wakened a part of her she had not known was even there and his absence dimmed the beauty of the land for her. So when she heard of a new land being discovered she decided it was time to have a look at someplace not so full of memories. The new land called Irilion was even more vast and beautiful than the places she had seen so far in Draia. Few people had discovered the secret way there and she often wandered for hours without seeing anyone at all. There were new flowers to see and lands with snow and strange creatures. She found new places to mine the minerals and ores she needed to make her healing and other magic things. As time went on she returned less and less often to Whitestone and the lands around it, going only when she needed to shop for things not obtainable in the new lands. Each time she returned to Iriliion she felt a deep peace of being home again. And there were no memories of Morganwg in the new land to haunt her, so she began to feel cheerful and started to make new friends. She was becoming stronger all the time. She could carry more weight, kill stronger creatures and best of all she had grown in magic enough to be able to teleport, which saved her hours of walking. She learned to call foxes and wolves to keep her company and hunt for her while she harvested and always she practised the art of healing whenever she saw a person who was injured. One day Shamara received an urgent message from a warrior she knew slightly, one she had healed many times. He said she must come to meet with him. Puzzled she agreed to go to Mynadar. When she arrived there was a small group of people awaiting her, all of them smiling. They were tough grizzled warriors, men and women who had stood the test of many battles, who were not afraid of the places where thieves lurked. They stood around her and looked to the warrior who had invited Shamara to come. He cleared his throat "You have healed us many times, Shamara," he said and all the group around her smiled and nodded. "So we have decided to give you a gift in appreciation," and the warrior presented her with a crooked staff embedded with a jewel. "It is a mage staff," he told her "a fitting gift for one who so freely shares her magic with others." Overwhelmed, Shamara could only smile and say thank you. Her heart felt full at the recognition and honor she was being shown. The warriors took her to one of the thieves lands where she felt safe with their strong protection all around her. She watched them practise their battle moves and joke with one another until it was time for her to return to Irilion again. It was several months later that she was doing errands on Whitestone and caught a flash of dark hair and red shirt and her heart leaped. Morganwg!! He looked tired and a bit travel worn but dear and familiar. "Come to storage with me," he said when he saw her. They sat facing each other and he took her hand and looked into her eyes. "I must give you some things" he said and he began pulling items from his pack and piling them around her. There were rubies and emeralds and swords and ores and flowers. As the pile grew larger her heart began to sink and she started to cry. "You are going to leave me," she sobbed. "Morganwg....you can't go..." and she held tight to his hand. "All these, these things.....I don't want them.... I would rather have you." Morganwg gently withdrew his hand from hers and continued adding things to the pile....armor and rings and essences, his fortune at her feet. "I cannot stay," he told her gently. "For long now my trading here has gone badly. I only came back to give these things to you. I know you will use them well. You have grown in strength quickly and you have friends and honor here. It has been a pleasure to help you on your way, but it is time for me to move on." Morganwg finished piling treasure at her feet and closed his storage. He stood and tipped his hat to her, kissed her hand and vanished, leaving her with tears dropping onto his pile of treasure. Irilion was a consolation for her once again.....a place of no painful memories. Shamara threw all her energy into her studies and weapons training. Younger students asked her for advice and friends invited her to attend their weddings. But Shamara was alone and it suited her to be alone. She was not blind to the advances and smiles of some of the young men, but she pretended to be and they found other ladies to sit with at storage. With all notions of romance put aside she found it was easy to be friendly and even affectionate to those she trained and studied with. Sometimes she spent hours in deep conversations with one friend or another and sometimes they shared their hearts concerns with her. She did not even notice that she was spending more time with any one than with others. She did not notice until one day she was walking along and she heard her heart singing a little song with his name in it. "Pardu," her heart said "Pardu." He was a man she had talked with about many things, a man with a way of making her smile, a good friend, just a friend, nothing more. But her heart kept singing its song and doing a little dance when she saw him. They visited beautiful secret shrines and waterfalls and talked of everything under the sun. They sat on the dock together and watched the sunset and talked some more. Shamara told her heart to hush, told her heart he was a very nice man but only a friend. When she saw him sitting at storage with another lady, she told her heart again about how he was only a friend. And they still sometimes talked and watched the sunset and sometimes she would see him sitting with his lady friend in the mine and smile and visit with them both. Shamara told her heart how happy she was that her friend had found romance and her heart hummed quietly to itself. And every time she saw Pardu with his lady friend, Shamara's heart pinched her. It is very hard to ignore a heart that keeps pinching you, so Shamara began to avoid seeing Pardu when he was with his lady. That stopped the pinching and she was learning to ignore the humming. She visited with other friends, studied hard and grew stronger. Sometimes she could not avoid running into her friend and his lady and she would see him sometimes watching her hurry away. And she began to wonder why it was, when they had shared so many conversations and sunsets that he had never wanted to hold her hand. Because they still shared sunsets sometimes and it always felt so comfortable just being together. Shamara wondered about that for a long long time until one day she happened to run into Pardu at the mine when no one else was around. Her heart gave her such a hard pinch that she just blurted out "How come you never wanted to hold hands with Shamara?" That was when everything changed. Turned out he did want to hold her hand after all, but had been fooled by her careful distancing. "I didn't think you would be interested," he told her. The things they said to each other then were sweet and private and Pardu held her hand. After several years of studying and learning, Shamara began to feel a little restless. She was too timid to continue with her warrior training. There were thieves and brigands in more and more of the land and even her green cape was no protection from the likes of them. Many of her friends had completed their studies and moved on to wider worlds. One day she started to enter the magic school and the door was barred. She contacted the dean of students and asked why. "Oh it was something an elf said," the dean replied. "You know we have tightened the rules because of all the thieves that are around now." The dean went on to explain that an elf had brought allegations of thieving against Shamara from that time, so long ago, before she had learned about death bags. "We must enforce the rules, Shamara, and cannot make exceptions. No bagjumpers may enter the magic school." Shamara walked away from the school in a daze. No more magic studies? How could that be? It seemed so unfair to hold against her something that had happened so long ago. She tried to lose herself in harvesting and mining. She talked for hours with Pardu about what she might do. Nothing interested her very much and she stopped going to the taverns and storages where conversations were lighthearted. Sooner or later someone always began to talk about magic and it hurt too much to be on the outside. More and more of her closest friends were departing....some banished because of the new enforcement of rules, some just ready to explore beyond the boundaries of Draia. Shamara began to wonder whether it was time for her to broaden her horizons. One day she strapped on her pack, filled it from storage with things she thought she might need on her journey. She knew what road some of her friends had taken. Perhaps they had found a land without so many thieves, where rules were kinder and a mistake could be forgiven. She told Pardu of her plan and he kissed her and said he would probably be coming to join her soon as he finished up a bit of business. Shamara walked down the familiar roads. She passed through Whitestone at night and the gargoyle snorted as she went by but left her alone...no more need for her green cape with him for a long time now. She was no longer weak. Draia had taught her much and opened a whole world of wonderful things she never imagined. It was hard to be leaving, even knowing she would probably return one day. As she neared the docks two bears came up and paced beside her and she touched her wand and vanished.

Jamin I am so sorry. My heart is breaking for you.....like you I believe we will meet those we love on the other side...how could it be perfect there otherwise? But it is such a far place from here and a long road till we get there. You have wonderful memories with Rachel and a beautiful little girl and I know right now none of that is probably enough. You also have many friends in the gaming world who are sending you as much good energy as they can and will be happy to see you again if you ever feel like joining us. Thank you so much for taking time to let us know about Katryel.

Hehehe. You don't live in Boring do you? Nah that is more east than middle.

Portland, Oregon is a very pretty city and you can see beautiful Mt Hood from almost anywhere. It rains quite a bit there but rarely gets below 0 farenheit. The Columbia Gorge,east of city, is one of the least know natural wonders in the USA, I think, with towering basalt cliffs and cascading waterfalls. Eugene, further south in the Willamette Valley, is another Oregon city you might consider. I no longer live in Oregon but grew up there and still consider it one of the finest states in the union.

Very nice essay Erma......and so pertinent to the postings we often see on forums.

I wait and wait for a Peace Day so I can safely harvest hydro ore. Once your overall gets up into the 100's in EL a new pick point only comes around every few months and there are some things requiring nexus I would like to be able to do a little sooner than in 3 or 4 years. But I could just carry a rostie and go other times or I can sell things and buy the hydro ore. Or maybe for simplicity I could just find somebody willing to trade some hydro ore for a rostogol stone. You see all this talk about Peace Day is making me think. I happen to believe that making people think is a good thing, so feel this thread is of value. Yes it is a bit misleading to describe Peace Day as one in which we may cause no harm. Probably the description should be changed and that bit left out now that there are mines. EL will always be my internet MMORPG home. Twas the first I ever played and I have met some wonderful people here. You notice I said "my" home. That is the misconception that is causing problems here. We all get to feeling it is in some way "our" game........but it is not. It is Radu's game and brilliantly designed or none of us would be here. So if he has decided that there will be no safety for quiet harvesters and mixers we are just going to have to put up with it........or go play another game or do something in real life. In the world of EL, Radu is indeed teh god (though I am sure I do not completely agree with his notion of the nature of god, since he models a kind of cranky and evil deity). In that context having backdoor ways to kill people on what is supposed to be a "peace" day is perfectly consistent, as is a man eating leopard lurking in dark places. It is indeed a challenge to remain a player of peace and honor in such an environment. So far the beauties of EL outweigh it's uglier parts for me, and that includes the attitudes of people. If someone thinks they can build a better world than Radu has, one where honor and kindness are higher values than rape and pillage and rewarded accordingly.....then please let me know where I can download that game when you have it completed. EL has been designed more according to the way real life is and in real life people get blown up, robbed and disappointed. If you think peace days or treaties work in the real world, I am sure there are some grieving Palestinian and Israeli families who would disagree with you. Hmmm I didn't mean to write so much here. I love to see discussion of ideas and Jez's post sure stirred up people's brains. To me that is one of the great things about the EL community.....that regardless of flames or idiotic remarks.....people talk about ideas. People from all over the world discussing ideas together......just regular people who live ordinary lives. Some of you are the ages of my grandchildren (and Radu you are only a few years older than the eldest of them ). When I was your age something like this was no more than a dream. You and your exchange of ideas are more powerful than you imagine. I think talking together you will find a way to solve the very big problems our planet and our human community is facing. So thank you to Radu and Roja and all others who make places to share ideas. Maybe someday ideas will develop that allow there to be more real peace days ........... everywhere.

Go ahead and name her Optimus Prime then give her a nickname like O.P. or Primie or Oppie.

It is very sad, but also true, that there are many children who suffer abuse at the hands of older siblings and sometimes even parents. Now and then we hear a news story about some young person who has committed suicide over psychological abuse suffered at the hands (on the keyboard) of other people. When people think this sort of thing is funny it shows a cruelty and lack of compassion that is appalling. The older kids are psychologically torturing the young boy. Were they doing the same thing on a physical level they would be jailed for it. It isn't funny. Period.

Real Name : Kathryn Age : 61 Country : USA Race : Why do we need to race? What's the hurry? Hair : brown with silver streaks Eyes : 4.....plastic ones with purple frame are removable Height : 5'5 1/2" Weight : less than it was and more than i like Body Type : svelte ABOUT ME: Star Sign : Sagittarius/Scorpio cusp Interests : music, gardening, birdwatching, computer stuff, reading Profession : former 911 dispatcher and bookkeeper...now homemaker/retired Cigarettes : yes Alcohol : very rarely Drugs : god knows what they are putting in our food nowdays....don't understand a lot of the listed ingredients Makes Me Happy : kindness Makes Me Sad : cruelty Bad Habits : nose picking Personality : when i must MY FAVOURITES: Food : sometimes .... when i remember Music : eclectic....probably like some songs in any category TV Show : Medium, Heroes Author : Charles De Lint, Anne McCaffrey, Sherman Alexie, Barbara Kingsolver, Tony Hillerman, C. S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien ......many others Movie : Everafter, Back to the Future, Breakfast At Tiffany's, Coal Miner's Daughter, etc. Animal : human Holiday : seaside

WOW!!! Congratulations Blodoks!

No!!! Not Desdemona! A bit of brightness gone now just out of sight. My prayers for healing of all the hearts that are sad missiing her.......in real life and in EL. How wonderful for her family to see that so many here cared for her.

Hahaha. That would sure surprise the residents of Washington. You might be one of the only native Romanian speakers here. Seriously, Ent, I have no problem with English as the official language, but have witnessed a couple instances where ppl coming from other places thought their children ought to forget their first language and feel that is just wrong. And btw been paying attention when I see info or interviews with Ron Paul (saw him on Jay Leno and on the Colbert report) and he does have some really good ideas.

Well yes....but I was thinking more of qualifications for presidential candidates. Since president is a federal position I am not sure how 50 different states could each decide what the qualifications should be..... Just for the record, I think that the more languages a person can speak the better and I do not understand why people get so determined that English should be the only language in use. In many parts of the world most people have a working knowledge of several languages. Of course those living in a nation where English is the dominant language need to learn it, but why does that mean (to some) that they need to give up the language they first learned? A person who can speak more than one language is richer in thinking than a person who speaks just one language.

??? Doubtless many things should be decided/managed at state level...but job of president is federal position......

Came out: Joseph Biden, Mike Gravel, Dennis Kucinich. Of those, the only one I know enough about to vote for would be Kucinich. They didn't ask one question I would like to see....which is: Do any of candidates have a working use of any language besides English? I would not vote, of course on that alone, but it has always been a puzzle to me why we do not consider any sort of language requirement for the nation's top diplomat.