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It would be a parasite, not a disease.

If we accept the theory that everything could be different then we must also accept that everything could be the same, with the difference only occuring several millenia later when one atom pops out of existance for no explicable reason. The changes are not inherantly massive and easy to see...It could be that the difference between this universe and universe B is that I used universe Z as my example. Hundreds of billions of years leading up to that moment, and hundreds of billions of years leading away from that moment, all of them identical.(potentially, it could be that by using univere B I begin world war 3 and spontanously live in Japan and consider that normal...Or gain the accumulated memories of all people who have ever lived...or have infinate volts running through my body and survive unaffected...the point being that anything could happen and thus what could happen is nothing different) We can assume the change is time itself...There could be a universe that is exactly 1 second behind this universe, and one universe exactly 1 second ahead of this universe, but everything is exactly the same, save for that. We can then further assume that the difference between Universe C and Universe D is that a person from Universe D travels to Universe C and changes something in the past, which isn't actually the past because Universe C was always behind Universe D, and so they are changing the present, not the past. We can then further further assume that free will doesn't actually exist, and in actual fact everything that is going to happen is predestined to happen, but we don't know what is going to happen because we don't know which universe we exist on, and if we did know then it still wouldn't make any difference because we were always destined to know that, and thus our destiny would still be predetermined. And even if we were to discover the future and set about changing it then we wouldn't be changing it we would either be wrong in our assumptions about the future, or we are right about the future and yet we changed it anyway, in which case we would simultanously be right and wrong because it turned out that that universe was not meant to make sense at all. The entire concept is set up, it exists...there is nothing more to be said on the matter. You can fawn over other universes if you like. But you are just using scientific justification to use your imagination...

Ok, in summery since the internet ate my last post. 3% photosythesis efficency Sunlight produces 1.96 calories per square centimeter per minute, on average 720 minutes with sunlight on average Humans need 2,000 Kcalories per day Ergo 0.03*1.96*720=42.336 calories per square centimeter, per day. Ergo needs 4724.1 square centimeters to break even. Total area exposed (Remembering depth doesn't count, since 1.96 calories is the total amount of energy imparted by the sun per meter) of a human is between 0.75 and 1 square meter. Thus Zombie needs about 7 hours of lying down buck naked and with unobstructed sunlight to survive. So they could work...but it puts them rather at odds with long term survival though, since: A series of storms effectively kills them. Winter weakens them persistantly, probably killing more than a few. They have to either sleep during the night and lie awake during the day, with 5 hours of hunting, or risk getting killed while they sleep during the day. It requires a great deal of energy to set them up, since Chloroplasts need to be grown. Armour weakens them. Fur weakens them(And coldness) Fire weakens them Losing a limb weakens them They would be a creature that would be on the cusp of viability...the first to die in a catastrophy.

This is why I hate the theory of infinite universes. Why? It only means that everything could always have been worse. It also means that there are infinite universes in which we are currently getting laid. In an infinate number of universes you presented that better... Everything could be better, everything could be worse, everything could be the same, everything could be different. The area where it loses interest is when you consider that: TV shows also exist as real life in alternative universes. In others Falador Tavern is considered the holy scripture. In others still we are caught in an ever repeating cycle of the worst moment of our lives. Then you realise that you can imagine all of those things and infinate universe turns into a 'Meh'.

My Character: [hide] [/hide] (Backstory) The Island of Taldor is one of the largest islands in the Westen Oceans, notable for its distance from other islands, featuring three Nations: The Republic of New Taldor The Kingdom of Rhodes The Kingdom of Hampshire After the flood the surviours flocked to over a dozen towns...a fractured Island at war with itself at all times. The war raged for near one hundred years, though conquest and diplomacy nine nations remained, of these the Kingdom of Biscay and the Kingdom of Calabar were the largest, and as the next twenty years dragged on alliances shifted so that a Great War was fought between the two nations...both of them were destroyed, and from the ashes the seven remaining nations found themselves on the brink of anhilation, and thus a pact was struck at Fairly Bridge. The Republic of New Taldor would be born of all those who signed, and given a place on the council. Five nations chose to join, the other two, Rhodes and Hampshire, refused, but also refused to carry on fighting, and so a second deal was struck. It was agreed that New Taldor would not make war for as long as Rhodes and Hampshire could pay tribute. In the early years, four hundred years ago, both nations strugged under the tribute system...Many starved, and the remained turned on each other...But the two Kings took control, marshalled the hatred against New Taldor, and began laying down keels for ships...not to trade, but to steal. Offically there was no connection, and to begin with New Taldor didn't take notice of the rumours. Three years later the raids came. As both Kingdoms prospered, New Taldor suffered, until it commissioned the Cosairs, a radical fighting escort groups. The battles were the stuff of legends, with all the resources of the Island devoted to fighting. But the Republic took the lead after the first few years, and gradually the pirates recieved their deminishing returns, and the wise Council of New Taldor chose to reduce the tribute lest another war was started. Thus an unease peace broke out, punctuated by pirate battles and bandits...a peace which endured for neigh four hundred years, until, recently, one group of bandit-pirates stopped taking cargo, but instead took people, ransoming them back, sometimes a body part at a time. This had, of course, existed before, but these people were organised. The New Taldorian army tried to rescue them, but more often than not the prisoners were found dead, and the bandits fled. It was time for a change in tactics.... [Character back story] Born into the town of New Taldor, Loran spent much of his younger days in the great rivers that surrounded the town, smuggling goods across under the guise of merrily playing. Of course it was not long before the authorities and other smugglers caught on to what his parents were doing and so Loran slowly developed to be increasingly stealthy...a difficult thing to do in the water, so despite his early start in the water he took to land as he approached teenagehood. With both of his parents dead through the various skirmishes over the years Loran became increasingly isolationist, seeking to distance himself from others whenever possible, and blending into the background when that wasn't possible, a useful trait for a thief, but, as he grew older he became more reflective, unhappy with being a mere thief. As soon as he was old enough he joined the Merchant Navy, but the job was melancholy, the only faint excitment came from the occassional sighting of pirate ships...though they never got close enough, the Cosairs made sure of that. Thus he put in for transfer, and was eventually granted it. His life as a Cosair was not without merit, but the adrenaline rush he remembered as a child and thief was never the same...surrounded by so many highly trained fighters, against so many half starved pirates...he was hardly in danger. It was then, at the end of this long road, he finally, accidently, found himself back on land, inside Recovery Unit New Talador. The explaination was that New Taldor trained many good fighters, but it had been found that they were poorly suited to anything that required stealth or subtly. His time in RUNT, unaffectionately named by the saliors who saw only the weakest, least capable fighters assigned there, was tremendous. The job required small teams, one or two people, to inflitrate and clear enemy strongholds, often doing more damage than a whole army could. The attacks, however, gave the pirates and others a new line of attack. Soon New Taldor was a battleground behind closed doors. Ships sank without warning, supplies were stolen, and crime went up. Loran fought for many years, struggling to keep New Taldor afloat, but for every thirty newcomers RUNT killed, one of their own number would die...and this was a battle of attrition they could not win. Eventually the Governor of New Taldor saw the writing on the wall and ordered the evacuation of the town. For the army, and the people in the streets, it made no sense...There was no army baying at the gates, no famine threatening to destroy them immediately...Yet their Governor called for them to abandon their homes and disperse. Many refused, and in the ensuing disarray many hundreds were killed...some by general fighting, others by assassins...But for RUNT, many of the Sailors and most of the council, they were only reports, for they had fled on the Grand Fleet, dispersing to the four corners of the Ocean. Loran himself, a skillful Assassin, was paid handsomely for his services and sent on his way three years ago [Cue Party Coming together events] Before finally arriving at the Grand Arcarna Festival, informed by an old wizard friend from New Taldor of the significance of this abnormally arranged festival

(Virus is used as a collective term for a cocktail) What....if you had the plague add a microbe/enzyme/other organism, that lived in the stomach, which refined metal, and deposited it in the stomach. Stomach acid and metal (Iron, for instance) is converted to hydrogen. Hydrogen swells, causing an explosion, resulting in infected meat being scattered to the four winds...very good for a short term zombie epidemic. Would also make sense if the people who were making the virus ever had it escape...the virus has a built in kill switch, and, while increasing the rate of spread in a limited area, would, if contained properly, reduce the risk overall. Could even be reconned into an explaination as to why zombies need blood...Johnny scientist programs the bacteria to respond to a message, turning them on...The virus is gened to automatically produce the new bacteria in all its hosts. (Or they were just always on to prevent any long term exposure) The body reacts to that in some way...maybe Iron Deficency, for instance. The virus turns the Pica (A condition caused by Iron Deficency, which 'forced' the victim to consume random objects) into an obsession to consume blood...maybe as a result of the loss of higher reasoning. Iron Deficency also explains all the other commonly associated factors, pallor, fatigue, hairloss... Also, another idea: to create some sort of Solider Zombie-Cleanup Zombie. Virus is created to strip Iron from consumption and use said Iron to reinforce bones, thin layers of armour, ect, ect. The virus also contains some sort of anti-iron system, to prevent the body reacting to the Iron. Their heam is replaced with Coboglobin to prevent death. It is combined with your normal zombie virus to create Soliders that never die...They are then killed somehow...say asphixation(Or they are killed by the anti-iron virus, Amber Blood Cells(Coboglobin analogous to Red Blood Cells) are inserted, and then brought back)...and becoming armoured Zombies who spread the anti-iron system when they bite you, resulting in your body rejecting Iron, causing perma-death. Also works as a 'We need to kill zombies and surviours' solution...You send in a band of them, they clear the area of zombies by being stronger, and kill any surviours, rather than creating new zombies...though would create ready test subjects for future Solider Zombies. Course, in an actual zombie invasion I would probably do.... Check Falador, see if Mather survived his curtainrail assault on the postman. Check the wider web for information on the level of surviours. For instance, number of people logged into steam and the flux over the last 24 hours, since it more or less goes in a wave and people have it set to automatically log in when they turn their computer on, and would automatically log off if they turned their computers off. Thus, only a straight line(or the site being down) would mean no activity. This would probably influence me a little in my decision making. No internet would probably mean very little to me. Though I would certainly remember to take my phone with me to check for wireless signals. No power would prompt me to check on my phone, before switching that off to conserve power. Get as much reserve water as physically possible before the reservoirs clog up and the distribution systems fail. Wouldn't worry too much about food to begin with...Any other surviours will probably fight over supermarkets and what not, paving the way for re-civilisation. In preperation for zombies hurling themselves through windows and such, I would take off all the door handles, and just keep one square bar so I could open doors as neccessary. Then I would close doors lost to the zombies...Since zombies can't open doors. Would also put bottled water and a few days of supplies in each room. If I was forced into a single room...I would probably use a hammer to break downstairs. Throw the mattress down after making sure there were no zombies immediately present. Close the door to the stairs that I fled through a few days earlier. Leave the house through the zombie shaped hole in the window. Thus trapping all the zombies that had been chasing me about the house for a few days. Then I would wander off down the road. (assuming Zombies were not everywhere, in which case I know there is no one else alive nearby and would take the car, and drive directly to the supermarket, probably using the backroads incase people had abandoned their cars blocking the main roads) I would assume I was not alone as a surviour, thus would head to the shops down on the high street(about 5 minutes)...see if there was any sign of life. If there was then I would join Society 2.0 and see how things went from there. If there wasn't I would collect supplies from the shop (if it wasn't zombie infested), and head on to the supermarket. The trip to the supermarket takes about an hour by foot, and is not the safest trip if there are zombies on the loose...So I would probably acquire a weapon at this point (Since I am not stupidly defending my house as though it would protect me in the long term). Preferably a large stick. Get out of the town, and onto the bypass, which should be relatively safe, given that it is fairly wide. Head to the supermarket, see if there is anyone there. If there was then join society. If there wasn't then I would see if I could jury rig a few trollies to the car/steal a car and jury rig a few trollies to it. Fill the trollies with supplies and petrol, then venture off to another supermarket. If there wasn't an it was crawling with zombies, then I would go on to somewhere else. Probably the most realistic plan in, terms of the event of Zombie attack...as opposed to getting a gun, shooting three zombies before being overwhelmed. Though the entire idea of zombie invasion is fairly silly. Since you are either doomed, or the invasion is doomed. I suggest you look at back at the second law of thermodynamics. Supposing that you could acquire limitless energy is rather flawed to begin with. But lets explain it anyway. Lets look at the chain there: Sunlight->Plants->Animals We then look fungi Sunlight->Plants->Dead Matter->Fungi->Humans Sunlight->Plants->Animals->Dead Matter->ect. Neither system survives without sunlight. Thus, if you had a fungus that supplied a human that supplied the fungus with power then you would reach equilibrium fairly quickly. Especially when you consider that the system is still outputting energy, through persperation, for instance, or skin matter which drops from the body rather than getting captured by the parasite. Then walking, energy is transfered from the body to the ground. Pushing, energy is transfered from the body to the object. The body is just bringing the muscles to tension, it isn't consuming them. Lactic acid is only a byproduct, in the same way that smoke is only a byproduct of burning coal, the heat, the energy used to bind the carbon 'into' the coal is lost. You can't turn lactic acid(and the assorted other byproducts) back into ATP without the application of additional energy...It would be an endothermic reaction. As such, if you had a parasite that reassembled dead matter it would need to draw on matter/energy from elsewhere, since the Fungi grows by consuming other creatures, which have gained their energy from the sun. You are proposing two exothermic reactions that feed each other.

Meant to post at about 2 minutes after Ross, but internet died.

Internet problems in Britian...Hurricanes in America... The elements are conspiring against you Ico. I call dibs on witing Icodysses. Anyone willing to invent a panthon? =P

Ready as ever, if the internet holds...

We get the History channel and Discovery. History has even more of an obsession with the second world war, and Discovery runs 'How do they do it' marathons. National Geographic does air crash investigation...Seeing planes explode and examining how modern technology failing horribly...Its like Hegemony without the arguments.

National Geographic (Channel) is really starting to annoy me with their adverts. Hitler's plan to suicide bomb America that would have ended the war. a) He opposed it b) Britain had been bombed for 5 years, hadn't surrendered. c) By 1945 Russia was going to steamroll over Germany irregardless. They have 5 adverts and every 15 minutes you get 4 of them...so annoying.

I had one poster thoughout my entire education: (In England...or Kent...Posters live in Youth Centers. In school it is student work that plasters the walls)

There's this one inspirational quote that gets thrown around a lot, something like "The person that never made a mistake never tried anything new". Famous last words...

Its pretty clear Retech won't be playing. Even if he was able to generate the character that everyone was happy with, within a few hours the game will have exploded for one reason or another.

Yeah. Happens a lot. I get consumed by them. End of the day though, they pass...rear thier head five monts later...And so on. Its pretty terrible. Life goes on though.

Yeah. Happens a lot. I get consumed by them. End of the day though, they pass...rear thier head five monts later...And so on. Its pretty terrible. Life goes on though.

What is odd, I found, about the Vow of Poverty is that it is less of a feat, more of a seperate class. I think it could potentially be balanced if you only got the bonuses if you took the levels in Vow of Poverty, if you took levels in normal classes then you just got normal levels in that class. Since the main problem with it is you take 2 feats(I believe it has a prequisite) and then get a free ride for the rest of the game (in exchange for only owning 2 items...Which isn't really that much of a problem for most classes(Armour, you get +4 to AC when you start, equal to light armour, and increases to a max of 9 at level 18. Weapons you get free Magic Weapons at level 4 and above, and most weapons cost less than 100 gp, you don't need food or water...or air at higher levels. True you can't carry money or anything, but do you need any? What services would you need to buy?)) Would probably be up to the player and mod to hammer out a proper agreement though. 1st Addendum: Add 1 Non-Vow (Monk/Rogue/Other) class level worth of abilities every 3 levels of Vow, starting at the 3rd level. You gain everything you would normally gain, except the extra level and Hit Die. (Termed "Class Level Worth of Ability") Level 3 is still Level 3. 2nd Addendum: Vows that are, knowingly* broken enrage the chosen Diety and the GM may either be (a) Altered, or (b)permenantly switched out, or © forgive the player. (a) The use of Vow Abilities may turned off and on at will, by the GM. Individual Vow Abilites, and their inverses*, irregardless of level, may be added or removed once per hour, by the GM. * [hide] Up to -10 AC Up to -10 HP lost per round/hour to 1 HP. Any person who is indifferent or lower may gain Magical Enhancements to their weapons and/or armour. Gain Exausted or Helpless or blinded, or any other conditional modifer, up to 5. When opponants make ranged attacks treat they gain up to +5 to hit you, and ignore concelment. Up to -5 on all saving rolls Ability scores may be reduced to 1 You are under Zone of Truth Spell You may be hit by any spell. Spell effects may be tailored and cannot reduce your HP below 1, nor ability levels below 1, or have death effects. Teleportation spells may also not be used. You may gain weakness to energy types up to -10. You may become a waterbreather. You may be slowed to 5ft per turn. You may lose the use of any feat, but all class abilities, including class abilities that give access to feats, must be left intact. You may lose up to 500 xp per day. Inverses may not directly kill you, though can kill you through other events. For instance being turned into a waterbreather in the middle of a desert, or gaining helpless mid flight. GMs are reminded to remain true to the chosen Diety's style, though powers are entirely disgressionary. [/hide] (b) All Vow class levels are transformed half into GM chosen level, half into player chosen levels, with the player choosing the odd numbered levels. All Class Levels worth of abilities are lost. Players may choose to reinvest levels in Vow, but must choose a different Diety to follow. Transformation ends the Vow entirely. *Players must be warned if they are knowingly breaking their vow. If they ignore the warning and break the vow the GM is free remove/alter the levels at will. It does not have to be instantous, but should fit the player's Diety's style. Players may seek atonement at the GM's disgression, based on the Diety. 3rd Addendum: If you already have one level of Poverty Vow, every 3 levels of Non-Vow, starting at level 3 Non-Vow, you gain 1 class level worth of abilities in Vow. As above: You gain everything you would normally gain, except the extra level and Hit Die. Level 3 is still Level 3. 4th Addendum: Alignment: Any lawful Hit Die: d8 Starting Wealth: 150 gp Skill Ranks per Level: 0 + Int modifier. Class Skills: None Base Attack Bonus of +1 per level, including level 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18. 5th Addendum: Money not spent by the start(1 Coin (Copper/Silver/Gold/Platinum/Other) may be retained IF only a simple weapon is obtained. Coin's Value may not exceed 100 gp) or acquired through the course of the game cannot be given to just anyone, PC or NPC, it must be donated to your Diety's Recognised Charity, or Recognised Church. Player controlled Diety Recognised Churches/Charities may use the money at will, at the GM's disgression. Willingly participating in, conspiring to cause or having knowledge pertaining to and not attempting to stop, any theft from charity is counted as breaking your vow, at the GM's disgression. Forgiving, accepting or tolerating someone for stealing from your Diety's Charity/Church is counted as suspending the vow (Temporary loss of all Vow class levels and Vow/Non-Vow class levels worth abilities. Non-Vow Class levels are not affected.). The Vow may be restored when the person returns the money, or is brought to justice is a manner satisfying to your deity(At the disgression of the GM). Or the Diety forgives the player. 6th Addendum: Clothes that confer no bonuses may be carried without breaking the vow. This includes circumstance bonuses. GM ordained "Quest Items" may also be carried without penalty. 7th Addendum: If an item is, unknowningly or unwillingly*, in your possession for more than an hour, it must be donated to charity/church, or destroyed if dangerous, when it is discovered. This must be completed in d6+1 days of discovery or the Vow is suspended (Temporary loss of all Vow class levels and Vow/Non-Vow class levels worth abilities. Non-Vow Class levels are not affected.) *An unappraised item worth more than 100 gp. An item that was placed there by someone without your knowledge. An item you have swallowed accidently. An arrow that cannot be removed within an hour. Subject to the GMs disgression. 9th Addendum: For the purposes of clarity. There are four types of Diety responce, ranked in serverity: Transformation: Levels are transformed into equal levels in other classes. Choice of said classes is split between the GM and Player, with the Player choosing odd levels. Alter: Abilities may be turned on and off at will, and negative abilities (Inverses) may be given at a rate of once per hour. The nature of the Inverse is disgressionarily decided by the GM, based on the Diety Chosen. Temporarily Remove Gift: All Vow related abilities and levels are temporarily removed. No Inverses are used. Forgive: The breaking of the Vow is justifed in the Diety's mind and no action is taken.

The Crucible - 1167 to 1180 John and Luke von Alaric. John von Alaric [hide] By mid 1167 the Kingdom of Germans crossed the world, from the Baltic to the Adriatic, from Wales to the Holyland - Iberia and Scandinavia... The First World War had be so named as no part of the map had been spared the war, but as John took up the reigns he made an observation: 'In the future all wars of Germany shall be world wars, for Germany is the world.' These stark words set the tone for the next thirty years. To John the Holyland and the upstart Duke of Jerusalem, Edwin von Alaric, were more trouble than they were worth, while the young Luke was a distraction - to be protected yes - but the child was tiresome and soon was in the care of a regency council, administrating the Grand Duchy of Holstien. While King John sat bored at in Venezia, the current Imperial City, James of Mar, a long serving solider, risen to notice in the Early First World War, now stormed the Hungarian army at Nitra; a bold battle, against far superior numbers, some fifteen and a half men at arms arrayed against just ten thousand Germans. But the battle was won, and the ensuing chace across Hungary left the armies of Hungary powerless to halt the march of Marshal James of Mar! The war would last another two years, ending with the symbolic surrender of Pressburg, the Hungarian Royal Seat, during which time Jon was stuck dealing with the religious fallout of abandoning the Holyland, eventually convincing him that the church was as self serving as the nobles and thus introduced a dozen new laws to make the Church pay. A stance that was recieved none to favourably in Sieradzko-Leczyckie, the Papal Seat...Not that John took a great deal of interest, the Papacy had been increasingly viewed as a Polish Kingdom, with the Vatican all but abandoned, though still in Papal hands. Pope Borzylaw makes a series of noises, but nothing comes of it and the Papacy looks increasingly weaker as John launches an invasion of Egypt and refuses the Papal Banner for the Crusade that had been called to retake Alexandria, offically citing that the war was to show that none could threat Germany's Vassels and get away with it. However, the successive wars - it being just three months since the Hungarian defeat signalled the end of the First World War - had left the coffers empty. Thus King John did his Imperial Duty and married the Jenne, Steward of Apulia as they took on provisions there. The Egyptian army, such as it was, was routed inside a year and soon the annexure began At home Ludwig von Steuzling died and, with no heir, the Grand Duchy of Bavaria passed to Benhard von Saarbrucken, an objectionable fellow that demanded near two thousand gold marks or he would revolt and join the Kingdom of Hungary! The money was duely paid by Steward Alyce and Steward Alyce was duely exiled when John was informed of events. A month later, in December, the count of Wurttemburg and Maan made a similar request and soon found his demense reduced to Maan...His name? Johann von Saarbrucken. Indeed and objectionable family by all accounts. But, with the political drama in Central Europe plays out the military drama in Egypt reaches a terrifying climax as John is taken ill! The condition rapidly deteriorates and John is near death by Febuary 1171, when, Aminaeos arrives. The muslim physican is a last ditch effort to cling onto life, and by some miracle, it works. Aminaeos is offered the title Court Physican and joins the royal entourage. The successes in the sub-Holy Land soon draws the attention to the English King Boremond, his eyes set on the isle of Malta, and soon has dragged Germany into a war with the Zirids. A war John has no intention of fighting, since there is no benefit to Germany, and so rather than renew the offensive he appoints Thomas von Kiel as Duke of Cario and travels to Montpellier to attend the Feast of St Jude, as the chief claiment on the French Throne. But several accidents involving pots of boiling oil and his guards convince him to leave early. This, unfortunately plays straight into the hands of the highwaymen...what they don't count on is the lightening reflexs of John von Alaric and he single handedly fights off several of them, sustaining only a sever wound to his right leg, which quickly becomes swollen and leaves him unable to walk. By early January 1172 the muslim nations have declared Jihad to retake Alexandria...A Jihad that throws most of its weight against Jerusalem, while Germany attacks the Island of Sicily and Crete. England spends the war bogged down in Spain and achieves little, and so, for the most part, it is a time of rest and renewal for John. December 18th marks the end of that though. Thomas von Kiel declares independence and declares himself a Protestant, and the King's leg swells to almost triple its normal size in two days, slipping into a coma three days later before finally dying five days after that. The end, when it comes, is not in glorious battle, but ebbing away over the course of eight days. [/hide] Luke von Alaric 1174-1180 [hide] With the Kingdom facing no war, no political divide...or other challange to its supremacy, the transition to Luke's Kingship is met with little resistance and the first two years of his reign are spent in the White Forest (Masovia, Poland), hunting. The 'Happy Time' was, though, an elaborate cover for secret negotiations with the Pope Borzyslaw von Lovenstien...among other things...to allow for a second marriage. While scripture was clear on the subject Borzyslaw eventually relented rather than face an increasingly hostile Germany...A War with the Papal States might very well tear the Kingdom apart, but it could be sure that if Germany willed it the Papacy could be so weakened as to affect the downfall of Catholism...as Paganism had fallen beneath the Germanic Tribes...And then the Muslims would come... The situation resolved, though, attention was turned to the Kingdom of France, where the daughter of the last remaining daughter of Acfred Carpet, King of France, had birthed a son. What was more the old Queen had died of old age, and the nubile replacement was with child! The German court spang into action, marching into the French Palace at Montpellier, slaughtering the guards and destroying villages on the way, and killing the Grandson and Wife of Acfred in broadest daylight. French retribution was easily batted asside, but gave Luke perfect opportunity to occupy Montpellier and place the French King under house arrest. The French Crown was German in all but name. With France dealt with the German army, which had been alerted during the occupation, turned south to Apulia and Capua. Marshal James of Mar led the charge again, and again the day of German. There was trouble brewing closer to home though. The German Vassels had long been at odds with the King and his Polygomy, though there was little to be done about it when the Pope refused to oppose it, and had even sanctioned it...But rumours were spreading thick and fast that the King's appetites went far beyond the allure of women, and now Spy Master Ziemowit, a 'Confirmed Bacholer' was making secret trips to Karol's bed chambers. The King appointed Ziemowit to look into the allegations which only confirmed what everyone secretly knew, and brought the Reichstag to the brink of civil war! But...there was no strong successor. Ludwig, in Bavaria had grown increasingly hostile to all sides. Nandor of Pisa was ineligible, which would only promote civil war, along with being less than willing to revolt, even in light of the revelations. The final option was Alsace, which lacked the manpower, money and sheer political ability to effectively lead a civil war against Luke. Into the crucible had been cast four rulers, and now, as the impurities surfaced only the most impure was found not to be wanting. While the Reighstag fought itself, Luke ordered the assassination of Etitenne de Cornouaille, Duke of Britanny...and Father of Charles de Cornouaille, Duke of the German Duchy of Apulia. At a single stroke the English presence in France was reduced by a half. And still the Reichstag was incapable of action, prompting the Chuch to take matters into its own hands...a mtter that Luke responded to with trade mark savageness. The Church was sent reeling and Borzyslaw, facing a complete loss of face, demands Luke meet him in the White Forest for an immediate resolution of anomolies most perverse. In his place a hundred knights meet and slaughter the Papal entourage and Borzyslaw is warned that if war with the Papacy is innevitable then it is innevitable. As the Pope weighs up war with Germany, against being relegated to a political non-entity, Luke turns his attentions to Iberia, taking first Arragon then Navarra. Into this come fresh rumours and soon a lesser vassel cannot stand it any longer and declares war. Luke responds characteristically. This Bishop of Mantua, Gillemicheal de Labourd, has his feet and hands cut off and his eyes gouged out, though miracously surviving to be stripped of his titles and sent into exile. The Iberian War continues at apace with Valladolid falling, and a battle with the Muslims of North Spain being forced to allow safe passage across their territory. Here the war with Leon and the Kingdom of Navarra is declared, and soon their Palaces captured and they are forced to flee to Sevilla and Limosine, respectively. But it is also here that the impurities finally release their toxins and the crucible hisses violently. King Luke overextends and attacks the Shiekdom of Mertola. Between may the 9th 1180 and June the 4th 1180 the situation deteritorates exponetially. Heinrich von Altenbaumberg sounds the start of the revolt in Lombardia, the army of Leon rallies at Porto, turning back the German army in Northern Iberia, in Southern Iberia the death of Marshal James in Merlota, in Pisa the death of Nandor Csak and the rise of his son Istvan Csak-the Intolerable. This all coincided with the final dregs of the treasury being emptied, forcing the calling of the Estates General, and event not done in half a century. The second part tommorow. (Played out, written up, images catalogued and placed...only the typing up remains and I am exausted) [/hide]

Wild stab in the dark, but I would say that him saying '3rd party rules will be subject to approval' meant that '3rd party rule books are not subject to approval, please consult me on specific rules'

Its a gaming system, like Dungeons and Dragons. Information: http://www.d20pfsrd.com/ Anyway, sign me up Scotty.

...Yes Ignoring the warning for Tip It is something I do most of the time. Ignoring the warning for trogen.horse in an archive supposedly containing a text file isn't something I do very often. Similarly when I am dealing with server software I ignore the warning that there might be a trojen in there. Safe searching...Where the user knows what they are doing. Safe searching the internet is similar. Yes, use piratebay if you want, download files that say they contain the latest X-Men film and are 56 kilobytes in size...No. (For the purposes of rules observation I do not support the use of illegally obtained files, it is merely an example.)

I see... I am guessing you don't actively download viruses and other such. Safe Searching just means that...the user doesn't target files, ignore the warnings and bypass the security measures. It doesn't matter how good your software is if you add the virus to the allow listing.

Mmmmm. The reason you were probably having problems is AVG fighting Mcafee, and visa versa. One of the issues I have had with Spybot in the past is that it deletes slightly corrupted system files...files that still work but have an A instead of a B, for instance. Does a good job 90% of the time though...just when it screws up it has a tendancy to screw up big. MSE will interfer with Hamachi (I had it and Hamachi would fail to connect to the engine.), so if you get that problem turn off real time protection and just run scans every few days. Also flagged Tip It as a source of viruses...every time I loaded a page. Probably your safest bet at this point, though, is to run a destructive system restore. (Reinstall factory settings windows, and wipe all the files on the PC) To do this you should probably download the installer for MSE, Spybot and Malwarebytes before you start. Then back up your files on a memory stick (or dropbox if you don't have a memory stick). Then restart the computer with the Windows disk in the drive(if you have one), if you don't then restart and press/hold F8, then select repair computer, then choose destructive restore. If you have neither of those options....Then I would suggest you find a windows disk =P I suggest that because its quite possible that whoever was controlling your PC(if they were) would have installed other software, set allow lists and a bunch of other stuff that means it would be near impossible for even the best virus protection software to get rid of it. That, and safe searching...probably the most important part of internet searching...

Cause posting two days after the last post isn't socially awkward... I think it is fairly obvious that Ico will be running the sessions at the schedualed times, or will post if he is running it at different times...Asking serves no purpose.

Kinda like saying: 'When you are playing a James Bond game, if you can keep your health at 007 you can't die.' True, but true for entirely different reasons than the implied ones. Scandinavia was only ever really united during the 15th century...and most of that time they spent in civil war, so saying that 'When we stood together none could beat us' isn't really saying a lot... Would also like to point out that Sweden was the only Scandinavian country not to lose in WW2 Denmark falling rather early on, which wasn't protected by any of the Scandinavian countries. Finland losing to the Soviets in the winter war, then allying with the Germans to fight the Soviets. And Norway sold out to Britain, then sold out to the Germans when they started winning. So calling Sweden cowards for not getting involved is pretty rich... Anywho: In my game Austria doesn't exist, Aragon doesn't exist, Castille exists, but occupies 4 provinces in central Spain, and thats it, Italy doesn't exist, France doesn't exist. And I started as Lubeck! So I have no idea what you lot are complaining about =P