Lady_Cobra

Dutch/Extrisity - you are a genius!

I just disabled the firewall, and now I can log on!

Now I just need to explain the disabling to my dad! I wonder if there is any special feature that has to be permitted - i.e. is it the whole firewall that has to be disabled or can some compromise be made??

Sorry for (ab)using you for technical suppert!

Ah...I am so technically incompetent - I don't know how to do that - I will see if my dad can help - thanks for the suggestion

Thanks for your concern, and no injuries, just a lot of smoke and unpleasant "sizzling" noises.

I just ordered a new PC online - hopefully this one in better shape to handle I7.

Stupid thing is, I actually have downloaded COH and COV on this PC, but each time I try to log-on, it says that the log-in server is unavailable - has done so ever since I loaded the games onto this PC - I will check with support, hopefully I can use this one as a spare until my own is fixed.

Sorry all, but my PC just literally caught fire and died (I hope it's not due to I7 overload). I have never seen anything like it!

I am typing this from my parents' PC with no COH.

I am ordering a new PC straight away, but unfortunately this means that I will be out of the game for some days.

Good luck to you all and hope to be back soon

I believe the level cap was set at 16 for today, but when I checked the Sg-list yesterday, there were some 15s and 14s and some still at 9 and 10, so the range seems to stand around 10-15

Angel has full confidence in your base-designing and maintenance skills

I agree that Force Commander would be a good choice as new IC-leader - Angel certainly wouldn't be suited IC for the same reasons as Amber, but just as Dante, I would of course be most willing to assist OOC/IC with any practical tasks delegated by Force.

Oh no - Angel is devastated to see Mr. Saint go and Lady Europe had actually taken a fancy to the galant Battleflag after their duo slave-rescuing mission.

I really hope to see you back soon and take the opportunity to thank you for setting up the Militia IC mission venue.

To the remaining Militia members, I fifth (if that's a word) the suggestions made, and think that following a story arc could be great for IC immersion purposes.

Also, I think we should certainly welcome any others that might be interested in joining.

I look forward to seeing you tonight

Shadow Whisper will be there tonight - do we meet at the base or at the Island?

Masked Angel, Scrapper remains on board

It looks like Angel got off easy with only two "deaths", both attributable to one or more purple Igneous creatures.

I am very sorry to see two of us leaving, the Militia will not be the same without Tatters, and Shalefist's character I never even got the chance to meet properly .

That said, I am also in the choir of people looking forward to the Thursday night sessions as an absolute gaming highlight, and feel that we have some well-established characters, roles and relations already.

As regards the teaming, it's probably difficult to deal with all eventualities up-front. Perhaps, however, the lesson from yesterday could be that there will probably always be late arrivals, and if we have one or two full teams at the outset, we may have to prepare for a plan B, or perhaps even start out with three smaller teams, if we are pretty certain that more people will turn up.

The "interest" from non-Rp'ers in our meet-ups seems similar to what has been mentioned as a problem in connection with the GG-meetings. I would generally try as Derek/Vlostok to take it IC, but some things (like people flirting with Angel) are more easily dealt with IC than others (such as Power-spamming and completely pointless spamming of remarks).

Finally, we probably all get a lot of tells asking for team invites. I normally respond by saying that we are doing an IC/RP thing and directing them to the Militia thread to find out more if they're interested. Most people seem to accept that, and some express an interest to join, which would be great.

RL has been a bit hard on my gaming time in the past weeks. I will try to do some catching up with Angel and my COV IC toon Shadow Whisper over the weekend - I hope to meet some of you IC too (and to think I also still have all the new COV 40+ content waiting to be done )

oops - forgot my global, which is @Mystery Girl X

BTW, I was contacted yesterday during the COV IC by someone who may be interested in joining up for the Militia, so maybe we will get to greet another new member tonight

See you soon

I'm as follows:

Lotus_X, Masked Angel, Meriam Keser

Looking very much forward to tonight's session

Oh...I think UltraNova's time is the right one, I just don't think Angel can make it before 1900 BST

Hmm...not quite sure - good thing we have our standard issue Militia SG-communication devices to locate each other through If I remember correctly, Angel is currently camping in a rather hostile part of the Hollows - perhaps not too far from Derek's apartment ...

Angel will try to make it for a brief session between 19 and 20 BST.

I strongly third that - IC teaming is so great!

As regards "Mr." Vlostok's project, I hope to be taking part as a kind of sub-plot via Meriam's friend Natalya, who is just returning to Paragon after a forced leave of absence. Meriam and "Mr." Vlostok have already briefly discussed this - that is actually another added positive dimension - meeting up with alts and different SGs IC

Letter from Meriam Keser to her best friend Natalya Markova,

Dear Talya,

I can't describe how happy I was to receive your letter! I almost can't believe that you're actually coming back - and so soon!!

I can't wait to see you on Saturday - let's go shopping in IP to celebrate shall we? Icon have a nice new collection out that you will no doubt love to see!

I was sorry to hear that your return does not mean that your dad's evil scheming has been put to a rest. However, you will be happy to know that I have spoken to someone who may be able to help. His name is Mr. Vlostok and he is a former Militia member. He is really helpful and nice, and I think he may be able to pull a few strings as regards your dad. He said that it would be okay for us to give him a call when you come back.

Militia-wise our patrol last night was a turn to the better. I think I managed to leave a slightly better impression of my abilities in combat than after my disastrous performance last week. I never came near the hospital, and we faced some very powerful and scary trolls, who had taken some poor, innocent people prisoners and used them as slaves. They were so grateful when we liberated them. Later, we rescued some hostages, and some of them even knew our names! It seems the Militia is getting famous! When we came inside, we realised the place had been rigged with bombs, and I think our leader - Mr. Force Commander - was rather surprised and impressed that I was able to defuse a bomb all by myself. He is a very skilled leader, knows alot about wine, and was really looking out for me when we were up against those trolls, and he has this amazing teleportation ability which comes in very handy in the worst parts of the Hollows!

So, after last week's downturn, my spirits are back up again, and I now feel more like a valuable member of the team. Again, Ex and I were split up and hardly spoke two words to each other, and when we regrouped, he rushed off. I'm not sure whether it might have been Mr. Saint warning him to keep his distance. He and Mr. Moyle were both on the other team, and I didn't get to speak with either. Blitz wasn't around, and there were rumours that he had been redrawn from the team. There was a new guy on the team - nice, but extremely hyper, hungry and impatient - and I finally spoke to Mr. Portent, who seems to possess a rather impressive sense of logical deduction. You will have to get up pretty early if you want to match his wits! Diamondskin has now officially allowed us all to call him "Rooster", and has learnt to sling some rather impressive insults around to provoke the trolls. Mr. Tatters got blood on his sneakers again after a particularly nasty ambush, and I very briefly got to meet Mr. Hawkshaw and benefit from his amazing protective bubbles. Derek and I seem to be a very good match for beating up Trolls in the Hollows. I missed Sabrina, who wasn't there. Mr. Windan, the Ley/Elf had been taken ill by some magic curse - I sure hope that Sabrina had nothing to do with that,; after all she was pretty angry with him the last time.

Poor Amber - I feel so sorry for her. She was made leader of a team, and then when we went to Perez, we all ran off in different directions, and I'm afraid she blames herself for the chaos that followed, although it was everything but her fault. Also, she kept scratching herself - I think I'll bring her some of the bathing oil you sent me from Russia next time, it might help.

Can't wait to finally see you again - counting the seconds as they tick away (slowly, slowly, slowly)

Love,

Meriam

Hmmm...Dragonfly is magic origin, isn't she?

Despite her less than convincing navigational performance during last week's session, Masked Angel actually quite likes the Hollows and would certainly be up for a Militia Patrol there

Dear Jessica Chang,

I don't know who you are or if you will ever see this.

Lately, your name has come to haunt me, and yesterday I took the first steps to discover why - embarking on a journey that I hope will lead me to find out who you are, and why your destiny seems somehow linked to mine. Your role in my life is a mystery, and my thoughts are clouded by your invasion. I hope that keeping this journal will help me to better trace my steps and hopefully gain more clarity.

I am called Shadow Whisper, but my name will be of no meaning to you. I have, however, a strong compulsion to find you although my leads are faint at best. I have only a medallion engraved with your name and the knowledge that somewhere in Paragon, a woman with a kind and gentle voice was once searching for you. Not much to go on, I realise. Still, however, I feel I must find you, and with you - hopefully - mental peace.

To find you I need money and help. Last night I met up with people who can hopefully provide me with both.

As allies go, in most ways they leave a lot to be asked for - all of them either mad, violent, selfish, ruthless or evil, some of them possibly representatives of all such dishonourable traits. Certainly not a bunch to be trusted, and I will do wisely to show them that I am not a person to be messed with for anyone wishing to remain alive.

Despite their obvious character flaws, they are, however, a most ambitious and capable bunch, and even someone as deadly as I will need allies to survive in a place like this before I can get back to Paragon and continue my search for you.

Touchdown is a huge man of amazing strength and endurance and with a taste for violence. I had him labelled as a fellow fighter at first, but he claims to be a football player. He places great confidence in his physical strength. Though I have certainly disposed of larger men than him in my time, I will prefer to stay on good terms with him, and to fight alongside rather than against him.

Another guy with a strange name ((sorry...can't remember the exact name!!)) displayed amazing skill and knowledge about computers and could control robots. His skills may become of great use to me once we get to Paragon - he may be able to derive more information about you, so I will be wise to stay on good terms with him too.

Greenbuck is a man of great ambition and delusional grandeur. He already has half the Rogue Isles mentally named after him. One so greedy and ambitious is prone to greatness and power I guess, and I must keep in his good books to hopefully benefit from it.

Wax Lyrical I had already met when we escaped from prison. She appears somewhat mentally unbalanced and strongly biased against adults and teenagers. Strangely, she speaks fondly of childhood as if it was something nice. Perhaps I would understand her better, if I had ever had a doll myself.

Then there was Nitetsu - strange, alarming Nitetsu. She masters the dark arts just like I do - possibly better even than me. I sensed danger emanating from her, but when I confronted her, trying to warn her about my own deadliness she seemed to take my supposedly cleverly veiled threat quite literally. A very strange one indeed, claiming to be a former hero, and prone to see innocence and good meaning in every cutthroat we came across. Coming from Paragon, she may be of use in my quest to find you, if she survives for that long, that is. I will contemplate whether for that purpose it might be useful for me to watch her back.

Jessica chang, I don't know whether I should like you, hate you, or just envy you for the kind and loving voice you seem to have in your life. When I find you - and find you I must - we will just have to see.

Dear Sabrina,

I was delighted to receive your note - I had a great time together with you too and already look forward to our next combined Troll-bashing and shopping spree.

You shouldn't worry too much about my dad. Basically, he doesn't like any of my friends and would most likely prefer for me to spend my youth hidden behind a bhurka and locked up in my room without any contact to the surrounding world. Perhaps next time, I can lend you one of my more conservative dresses though, he has a really old-fashioned view on things like that - well he has that on most things really.

My mum really liked you - she senses the skill of a great warrior inside you and said to me afterwards how much comfort she feels to know that someone like you will be watching my back. My kid bro was furious when he heard you had been around while he was out - the poor thing honestly expects you to fall for him on the spot once he gets to meet you! I sense a broken heart may be forthcoming.

Don't worry about your secret. As promised, it is safe with me, and I certainly do not hold any blame against you for what you have told me. If anything, it has only caused my admiration for you to grow.

Oh, did you get a letter from Mr. Windan? I suspect you did, because the one I got had a lot about you in it (made me blush too). Knowing you as I think I might do now, I suspect you will react to it with anger, but please consider that it appears well-meant and based on cultural norms that we may not fully understand, before you decide to show him your own Ritual of slow and agonising death. In hindsight, it does render our Ritual of Friendship (Shopping in IP) kind of pale in comparison.

Hope to see you soon,

Love

Meriam

Letter from Meriam Keser to her best friend Natalya Markova

Dear Natalya,

I'm sorry I haven't been in touch for a while, but in between joining the Militia, exams, football, skating practice, and the endless training sessions with Mum, there just hasn't been much time for anything else.

Although I really love being a part of the Militia, last night was not a good one for me.

I suppose it is largely my own fault. As you have so often told me, I am perhaps too open at times, and too eager to form bonds, and I now see that you are right in your warning that this only exposes me to getting hurt.

Yesterday, as the teams were divided, I started by being split from Ex - the boy I told you about, remember? When we rejoined with the others, he rushed off, and we hardly said two words to each other the whole evening. He did smile and say goodbye to me though.

Blitz was on my team, but he hardly seemed to notice me - quite understandably perhaps, given the way my first and foremost contribution to the team seemed to be getting myself lost and hospitalised all the time, and given Sabrina's new costume. She's the one called Dragonfly, remember?

Sabrina made me cry yesterday. I know - I sound like a baby and I'm really ashamed of it, but at least I was on my way from the hospital, and there was nobody around to watch. I was really worried about her. She seemed - changed somehow. She had this new, very skimpy costume on and had all the guys popping their eyes out, and at the same time, she seemed very touchy about the guys respecting her as a warrior and was constantly launching herself into danger as if to prove her bravery and skill, which none of us doubted in the first place. I tried to show her my concern, and that was when she told me that I was wrong in assuming that she was my friend. That really hurt. We did make up later, and I think I'll be seeing her this weekend; I really want to - I don't understand this strange feeling I have around her. I was glad she hugged me when we said goodbye.

I think the lesson to be learnt from all the mistakes I made yesterday is to try to feel more secure about myself, and to act more like a professional, and without all these personal relations and motivations clouding my perception.

On the plus-side, mr. Tatters was on my team, and although he doesn't say much that seems to make any sense, he is really funny, and I still feel we share a special bond, both coming from the Row. At least he had managed to get the vomit off his new sneakers - i think he is very proud of those. He is the kind of guy you feel very comfortable having next to you in a fight, and I actualy quite like his humming. I also got to know Diamondskin a little better. He is a natural leader and fearless in his actions to benefit the team. He probably still thinks of me as something of a useless kid though, not that I would blame him after last night.

Also, there were a bunch of new guys on the team. There was this guy called Derek, a real tough one, who apparently grew up in the Hollows and has learnt to fight to survive just like us from the Row. Then there was Force Commander, also a very skilled and disciplined leader, who very kindly helped me when I got lost in the Hollows for the 17th time, just as I was feeling terribly frustrated with myself and embarassed. Then, there was a new guy called Portent - very quiet - I hope I get to know him better (or perhaps not, given my conclusion to better stop getting too personally involved with the team).

Would you believe that there was also a real Elf on the team - a guy called Leygran. He seemed very protective of Dragonfly and me, much to the annoyance of Sabrina, who doesn't seem to take kindly to any kind of male attention based on the notion of protection of the "weaker" sex.

Then, there was a mysterious guy called Triston Moyle - I didn't speak with him much, but I think he is really old, although he certainly doesn't look it. I also said hello to a new, huge guy partly made of stone and called Manolith, but he, mr. Saint, Brother Tchall and Hawkshaw were not on my team, so I don't have any more to tell you about them. My new friend (well, we'll just have to see if that is a mistake on my part too) Amber couldn't come.

Oh, forgive me Talya, what a fine friend I am being here, blabbering on about myself and my stupid problems and not bothering to ask how you are feeling. I really hope that your mum is okay, and that you will manage to put also this latest scheme from your father to a stop. Do you have any idea when he will let you come back to Paragon?

I miss you terribly and hope to see you soon and trust that you have been busy keeping up with your training.

Love Meriam

Very nice with the flexible approach - missioning last night was great fun as always, and now Meriam doesn't have to feel too bad about having secretly practised a new crane kick to the point where she is almost (if not fully) ready to try it out in combat

So nice to have friends