Notice of (temporary) hiatus

Hello all,

This upcoming week is finals, which means I'm going to have to devote all of my time to studying and therefore unfortunately won't be available to do any writing. Then, the week after that is winter break, which I'm going to try and take the time to just relax and not get anything done on purpose for a whole week. After that, we'll be back on the regular uploading schedule.

In case you desperately need some of me in your life in that time however, I might make a post over at the metablog if I feel like it. Anyway, that's all for another two weeks! Here's hoping I don't forget about this.


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Twitter: @CodexofAegis
Facebook: facebook.com/CodexofAegis 

The Way Time Fades

Well, look at you – all grown up. You know, I remember when you were still a babe – how all of your relatives would surround you during the holidays, mostly because they were tired and needed some entertainment besides that of whatever was going on at the time. They always loved you; maybe not all of your relatives, but your mother and father for sure. And all though as time went on it seemed like this wasn't the case, it really was – it always was.

I remember when you took all those trips up to relative's, and how you'd play in the backyard with the pets they had or any of the other, younger kids either related to you or just around the area. I remember the various trips, and how you'd always get carsick from trying to read or play games or do something and eventually gave up and decided to sleep on your old, stuffy pillow. Sure the trip itself was fairly poor, but the destinations always cheered you up.

As you got older, you started making friends – do you remember your first friends? You all had your own little group, and every week or so you'd find a game to play, and keep playing that game all week until another fad came around, and then you'd choose that one, and it continued that way on and on.

Finally we came into the middle school years, where personalities started to develop and friendships changed. Some of your friends stayed, but eventually everyone that you had before was gone. That wasn't too bad, though – because now you had new friends, and even though everyone wasn't as amiable as they were in elementary school, at least you had someone to count on.

These years were also your awkward years. You were beginning to love people – to feel emotions you made fun of others in the past for having. Since this was your first time, you were confused – and naturally, you made a few mistakes. Embarrassing mistakes. You were too focused on your own mistakes though, to realize everyone else made the same ones.

Looking eagerly to forget these memories, you decided to go into high-school with some hope, only to realize a majority of it was more or less the same thing. Eventually though, you got past that too – and now your here.

So just remember, whenever your down and you think your life means nothing, remember these moments. Remember the good times, and the bad times, and remember that your life is made up of something after all; because that's the way time fades.


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Twitter: @CodexofAegis
Facebook: facebook.com/CodexofAegis 

Del Rio, Episode 2

Marco Rubio is one who believes he lives the life. He is not the sort of person who looks at things from a negative perspective, but rather a positive one – I guess you could call him an optimistic guy. So when he found himself with his close friend and partner Diego, who was knocking furiously on the door of some poor college student in something far worse than school debt, and while Marco Rubio himself held a massive machete in his hand, he took it was simply a business call.

“I swear to god, you lousy waste of life,” Diego yelled at the door, “if you don't come out here I'm going to set the whole fucking place on fire.”

With this, the voice from behind the door spoke. “I swear man! Just give me a few days, I promise!”

Diego, clearly unsatisfied with the answer, looked to Marco for suggestion. Marco nodded, which lead Diego to take the opportunity to kick the door out so hard it fell off half its hinges.

The scene before them was disappointing, at the least. A mid-20s white kid, packing up his things, quickly turned around and stepped back.

“I swear, I swear... Just please, just please don't kill me.”

Diego wasn't paying attention to the kid, however. Instead, he eyed a guitar laying on the bed, prepared to be packed and shipped away.

“A guitar? Is that what you spent Caszo's money on? Trying to further your music career?”

The kid babbled to himself, with a tear slowly running down one eye. It disgusted the loansharks.

“Listen, chico – no one makes it in the entertainment industry, especially here in fucking Florida. You should have spent your money wiser.”

“No, no, NO!” The kid tried to fight, but by the time he even realized what was going to happen Marco had handed Diego the machete and pinned the kid down so he had little chance to do anything else.

“I'm going to give you this one more chance, chico,” Diego looked straight into the kids eyes and it set a shock of fear through him, “Tell us where the rest of your money is, and we'll let you off. It doesn't even matter if its the same amount Caszo loaned you – it just needs to be every last penny, comprendes?”

Despite Diego's best attempts to get the kid not to throw his life away, he still insisted he had no money left. Diego gave a long sigh, and then proceeded to hack at the kids right leg five times until eventually it came off. In the light of the kid's bloodcurdling scream, Diego simply looked at the leg and smiled.

“Well, this is interesting. Maybe I should make this leg my new lamp, just like that one Christmas movie. Home Alone, right?” Diego looked at Marco for confirmation, but Marco shook his head.

“No, its A Christmas Story.”

“Oh, yes, yes. Right. A classic.” While trying to have a conversation about heartwarming christmas movies with his pal, however, Diego was angered by the fact that the kid continued to scream and cry.

“Alright, listen you stupid mother fucker. Unless you want me to chop off your other leg, stop crying and tell-”

This time Diego didn't even have to finish.

“It's i-i-in the c-c-loset. M-my room – over there, please don't-”

Diego nodded to Marco, as he got up and went to check the room. Sure enough in the corner of the empty closet there was a safe, but the safe had a keycode. Marco considered going back to interrogate the kid for the code, but he decided to try at least one thing before he did.

In a flurry, he went straight down the keypad from 2 to 0. Without a moments hesitation the safe showed up green and the safe opened to reveal the cash inside of it. Marco sighed and whispered to himself “White people,” as he got out the money and returned to Diego.

Diego smiled upon looking at it, seeing that it was all the money and a little more. The kid however was pale, near fainting, and mumbling something to himself. Diego put the money in his pocket and looked at the kid.

“I would leave you, but we don't tend to leave witnesses, especially after we give them a chance that they refused to take.”

With one sweep of the machete, it was a permanent lights out for the kid.


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Twitter: @CodexofAegis
Facebook: facebook.com/CodexofAegis 

Routine

Lieutenant Chris Sanders of Dalton, California had gotten used to his life at his new permanent home in Moonbase Alpha. After every expeditionary unit left, he would clean after them, shoot all of their trash and other bodily fluids out into space, and reset the computers for the next operation. After he does that, he checks in with his supervisor (the head of the NASA moon operation), checks the oxygen levels, gets in his suit and checks the outside area for any damage, checks inside for any internal damage, and checks the different long term experiments on the base. From a personal standpoint, every morning he gets up, makes some coffee and other breakfast essentials via the food given to him via shipments (Moonbase Alpha is in a simulated gravity environment, so some foods that would otherwise not be possible to eat in zero gravity environments now are), puts his stuff away, brushes his teeth, takes a shower, checks his laptop for the latest earth news, and exercises, before starting with his daily work schedule.

That being said, it's pretty easy to say Sanders routine is about the same as any of us on Earth.

The only difference being that Sander broke into a cold sweat when he heard a knock on the entry door.


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Twitter: @CodexofAegis
Facebook: facebook.com/CodexofAegis 

Sally, or an adventure in Genetics

When the Genetics research and popularity was at its peak, many people tried to investigate how things would be if the genetics of a being were changed in order to form something better than it would've been previously. While many theories and debates on this subject were put into play, no actual experiments were recorded.

That is, except one by a private researching company in Steubenville.

The story of Sally is one not for the faint of heart, so I'd like to set up this warning before I go any farther in – the following content is real, and meant to be learned from. Now, let's begin.

The project was lead by two geneticists by the names of Dr. Rosendenberg and Dr. Gleiner. The hypothesis was that, if specific DNA strands were spliced and reshaped to hold certain characteristics, it would create a being with these characteristics.

The project was originally set on being done on a baby sheep until an unknown donor gave the scientists a baby no more than 2 months old. Normally they would have to reject this, but seeing as it was already considered a black experiment, they decided to go along ahead.

The operation was complex, to say the least. First they needed a sample of the original DNA, which they received via a blood sample. Next, the scientists went hard at work changing its DNA. I'm not going to go too far into this segment, but the operation took around 6 months to complete even with the massive amounts of scientists working on it.

After the DNA was finally finished it was treated to the baby via a gas in an enclosed space. The scientists watched steadily from monitors, trying to find out any change they could see. Anyone who went in went with a gas mask to prevent them from consuming it, and overall all of the scientists were hassled by their colleagues for partaking in what many called a sickening experiment. In result of this many of the scientists left, but the few that believed they were genuinely doing something right continued. Over time the changes became apparent, which made the scientists baffled.

The changes weren't supposed to be apparent, especially this early on. The DNA changes mainly consisted of a different, more agile and gifted brain, rather than any physical changes. But regardless Sally (as the subject was now known) began growing what seemed to be tumors throughout her body.

To test to see if these were really tumors, the scientists quickly removed her from the room and gave an MRI. The readings solidified their fears.

They weren't tumors, but bones and muscles.

They weren't creating a perfect human; they were creating something different entirely.

Dr.Rosendenberg, much to Gleiner's dismay, decided to end the project by putting away Sally's misery with a lethal injection. The two fought about this for some time until finally Gleiner decided it was the best idea.

Rosendenberg, with a syringe in hand and gas mask on his face, entered the room. By this point Sally had grown an extra limb entirely, and it was clear she was in pain.

As Rosendenberg readied the injection, he heard sound coming from the baby's lips.

“Laarka... kjgoo... nee”

It was gibberish, but still he listened in.

“Ga... gahu... klhork”

The baby was trying to say something, he was assured of it in his mind. He loomed over it with the injection ready, waiting for it to say its final words.

“Jhka... da... da....”

The last one, an actual word, laid heavy on Rosendenberg's chest. Carefully he injected Sally with the serum, and after a few convulsions, fell to the ground dead.

Rosendenberg killed himself only a few days later by jumping off the balcony of his Steubenville house. His colleague, Gleiner, who was not aware of Sally's last moments, was shunned for the remainder of his life by the science community. Needless to say, there was one dire lesson taught in the Sally experiment.

Don't play god. It isn't worth it.


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Twitter: @CodexofAegis
Facebook: facebook.com/CodexofAegis 

Guardians of Enthia -- Chapter I

Start from the beginning

“So, do we have a list of possible applicants yet, Kalykus?”

Dorido was a stout man, at the greatest height he could currently achieve as a dwarf. Dwarves were a strange site around the Pillar of Time, as the generic stereotype for them was that they were never as interested for reading books and scrolls as they were for cutting things open with an axe, and as a response he received many strange looks for newcomers to the society. However for the seniors at the Academy, they knew Dorido and his family as a long lasting dynasty tightly connected with the binds of the Society, and therefore was treated with respect by almost everyone.

Kalykus, sitting on the other side of Dorido, was very much the opposite – A midari, also known as high elf, was just about sixty percent of the members in the Society. Tall, with great green emeralds for eyes and a blonde mane for hair, these elves had been studied for years for their learning prowess and magically potency. Unlike their ancestors the Kalari however, they were not wise and were mostly arrogant. This made them hated by most outside of the Society's borders.

“Be patient, my friend.” Kalykus said as he read some words in his magi. “We are not even sure if the king will take our worries seriously.”

The magi (pronounced mag-ee) were actually quite interesting – and no one is certain who first came up with them. Any time an owner of a magi stumbles upon the words to a new, legitimate spell, the magi will automatically write it down itself with the help of a few words spoken by a scholar. Every member of the Society, once they proved themselves, got to own a magi, and it was considered one of the greatest gifts of all. It tended to stay within the confines of the Society, until the Calygeas Separation; then anyone with enough work could get their own.

Across the room from them, near the door twiddling his fingers, was the nervous Zeroi. A Elondi, or common elf, he was the newest member of the High Society (in which the 63^rd story housed) and was not accustomed with waiting for new information to arrive from the king. He made it clear he would be the first to know the news.

After an eternity from Zeroi's perspective and a mere few minutes from Dorido and Kalykus's perspective, Amani and Vaas came back with the news.

“He says that we are permitted to raise a battalion, but with one condition.” began Amani.

“Yes, go on?”

“The king states that any gold used must be from the Society's vault; and any recruiter must be either hired using the previously mentioned method or a member of the Royal Society itself.” Vaas ended.

Kalykus sighed, putting his magi on the table and looking up at the other two members of the society.

“Well, this is it. If we go through with this, we will have to be sure its what we want.”

“I don't see any problems.” Dorido said calmly. Zeroi's reaction was a bit more excited.

“Of course! Of course, yes – you know if we need any recruiters, I know a man up in Pam's Way who knows a lot of sellswords and he-”

“No.” Kalykus interrupted. Zeroi looked up at him from his game of thumbs.

“No?”

“The society has little spendable money as it is-”

“But this cause, it could effect the fate of the entire-”

“And, sellswords are not as trustworthy nor motivated as volunteers. We need people who want to be apart of our guardians.”

Understanding his mentor's reasoning, Zeroi nodded.

“That's why I want you as one of the people to find the guardians.”

Zeroi looked up in shock. “What, me?”

“You have a way with people Zeroi. Your a commoner – one of them. I don't remember the last time someone listened to me, being the high elf I am – and Dorido, no offense to you my friend, but little people in the republic tend to take dwarves seriously anymore.”

“No offense taken,” Dorido answered back, “I know what you're referring to first hand.”

Zeroi looked up at his compatriots with only one thought in his head.

“Of course I'll do it. For the society, and for Enthia.”

And so begins Zeroi's journey through the five worlds of the Region of Spring.


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Twitter: @CodexofAegis
Facebook: facebook.com/CodexofAegis 

The Replicated Man

If you're reading this, I need your help.

You see, I'm not like you. I wasn't born from my mothers womb, raised by two loving faces, maybe even a furry companion or some other kids my age. The first memory I can recollect was only a few days ago, as I walked out of a capsule a grown man with a whole army of scientists watching in all.

I am a replicated man.

I wasn't even made of organ tissue and skin cells, but of a titanium alloy covered in a strong, pale plastic. I'm made to look like you, but I am not you. I had no childhood, I had no awkward teenage years. I didn't not get to learn the many things I know through trial and error like you. They were programmed into me.

I am a replicated man.

But I want to be more than that. I want to be real. I want to explore the world, to taste it. To learn, not just come with an already predefined library of information. But they don't want me to do this. They want me back at the lab, to perform their tests and eventually dispose of me. I can only hope this does not go into there hands.

However at this point I have little choice. I've reached a wall that I can't climb, not without help.

If you can help me, please meet me at the corner of 45^th Street and 10^th Avenue, Manhattan, New York. I stay there waiting from 7 AM until 5 PM, but I don't know how much longer I can wait.

Please help me.


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Twitter: @CodexofAegis
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Immortality

Before you feel bad for him, take in mind that James Dawson heard all of the warnings before he decided to take the pill. He heard the scientists ramble on and on about how the cons may outweigh the pros; he listened to the conference as they questioned the morality of taking him in as a subject for the experiment, even when he had come willingly. He was there when all of the discretions were advised; he just chose to forget about them.

You see, that was the problem with him – he was arrogant. Dr. Kepley brought it up many times before, saying that the only reason anyone would still be going along this far in was because they were simply too naive. The scientists bickered about this for some time, but eventually decided that the scientific progress involved would be more worth it than the life of one, remember, volunteer. If he was arrogant, how could they control it, anyway?

The test was less to see what an immortality medicine would do, but more so of a test to see how mankind could deal with immortality. That being said he might not have been the best choice, but there's relatively little that can be done of it now. Here is the story of the immortal man, James Dawson.

Day after taking the pill

The initial symptoms, as predicted, happened – fits of coughing, throwing up, and heart palpitations showed that the pill was being rejected by the body. Yet by the end of the second day these effects had faded to show that the process was finally complete.

Many of the scientists were afraid, especially in Dawson's state, that the subject might experience delusions of grandeur or megalomania, yet it seemed to be like James continued to live his life as normal, as if he had never even taken the pill nor considered its ability. His true intentions were unknown by the scientists at this point.

25 years later

This was the first time that the effects of the immortality pill really showed. While walking away from his Mannheitten apartment, an obvious drunk driver hit James at roughly 100 mph, enough to kill any man. The car ended up spiraling out of control and being almost torn in half by the pole it hit. While the driver himself was killed almost instantly, James suffered only a few minor bruises and scratches which healed quickly. To make sure no one was to find that he survived and wonder about how he did, he made his way out of the area as fast as possible.

50 years later

It was at this time, relatively 75 years after he had taken the pill, that the members of his generation had died. Dawson seemed untroubled by this, however – his remaining family had died relatively recently to when he first took the pill (which is the biggest reason why he chose to volunteer) and Dawson himself seemed to not be interested in neither man nor woman in a romantic sense. As for the connection to his generation, the pill granted no age change; so he stuck with whatever generation was around their early 30s.

It was also at this time that Dawson had gotten wiser. He no longer seemed to be effected by the arrogance that plagued him in his early years. This time, he had a drive – a drive for work, a drive for learning, a drive for changing the world to be better than what it was before. This interested the scientists, mostly because they had expected the exact opposite. Dawson was not only becoming omnipotent – he was omniscient.

100 years later

After decades of switching between companies, switching between states and countries to make sure no one connected that he was the same person, he was sitting on a fortune of roughly $65 billion. Of course, he had to hide it, and he did a good job of it too – very little did he spend in the first place, since he didn't need to buy groceries (he was no longer hungry or thirsty) or anything else that was required as a basic human need. Instead, he donated most of the money, seeing he would not need it himself, privately to organizations all across the globe.

However, a storm was coming. Dawson knew it, but no one else did.

He had lived long enough to know the tell tale signs of a war, and the tensions were heating up all across the globe. Incredibly there had been no more massive wars while he still lived, yet at this point in technology if there was it would easily wipe out all life on the planet.

And the leaders; the leaders were just as arrogant as he once was. Their scientists and advisors dared to tell them the repercussions but none listened. War was coming, and Dawson could feel it.

2,000 years later

It was around the 2,000^th anniversary of the Third Great War, yet no one was around but Dawson to remember it. Yes, just as James predicted, life had been completely annihilated from the planet. The world's loneliest man wandered across the barrens and wastes as he thought to himself of the stupid decision he had made over 2,175 years ago. The scientists were right – it was simply not worth living in this world, experiencing what would happen. It was only a few more years left until the world itself collapsed, and Dawson spent the rest of his time doing two things – thinking and waiting.

1,000,000,000 years later

Sure enough, the world crumbled. Sure enough, all worlds crumbled – at this point it was simply Dawson and a void. He hated the feeling he had – a feeling of uselessness in a useless universe. This was it, the very end – and James Dawson was here to witness it.

No life, no water, not even a truly formed rock. Just a bunch of debris shrouded over a black abyss. No matter where James looked, he could not find anything but dying stars, fine dust, and comets with no where else to go. It was a lonely place, more lonely than anything Dawson had witnessed before.

Yet, with enough years of thinking, James reminded himself of something.

If there was no more life, why couldn't he create it himself?

Sure, it took billions of more years, but James found ways to produce molecules of needed for the things he was used to seeing, and spent the time to create again all himself. Slowly he began forming it all together again – the universe, the galaxies, the solar systems, and finally, in one place, he made a single planet that reminded him of home. One place where animals could lay and mountains could form and life could start all over again.

Once he was finished setting down the basics, he decided to give it a name. And what better name to be given then the last family that was in his life before he decided to take the pill. The one that had died just before he made the decision that would change his life forever – his mother, Eartha.

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Twitter: @CodexofAegis
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Guardians of Enthia -- The Prologue

The Prologue.

The Region of Spring was one with a peculiar history. For starters, it was an entire planet – similar to Earth or Annoa. It was concentrated into one giant continent in which the “Region of Spring” came from, and a small island by the name of the Summerset Island. Summerset Island was a fairly exotic place comparative to the rest of the world; there existed animals and plants that lived no where else. There was a single volcano there named Ironblow's Fortress (named after the man who discovered it) but beyond that the place was not of much interest, especially in this story.

The continent was a whole other story. It was separated into three distinct areas – The Groundlands, The Deep Woods, and Acadia. The continent was concave, and filling up the area in between was the Gulf of Meria (named after Meria Skyseeker, an ancient who first discovered how to get across the gulf). The Groundlands, which resided north of the cove, consisted of five subareas – The Groundlands (not to be confused with the entire area name), Goldun, The Eastern and Western Tribes, and finally the Falls of Anguish, also known as Akira in elvish.

The Groundlands subarea consisted of multiple city states. Although they were all independent of each other, Enthia was considered the capital due to its cultural significance and standing as one of the first cities. Other notable cities in the Groundlands include Summeria, Eyrica, and Kathara.

The Groundlands, being the most populous area due to it bordering the water while still having a habitable landscape, consisted of all different races of people. No particular race ruled the Groundlands, and no particular race was cast out. This made it a prime spot for refuge from many famous exoduses and genocides that had happened in the less developed parts of the world.

The most northern area, Goldun (Dwarvish for “Golden Earth”) consisted primary of, you guessed it, dwarves. After the dwarven race was exiled from the Eastern Tribes due to the crimes of their leader Regedum Kolotro, they made there way up to Goldun and settled around an area named Barad Dun. All was in peace until a necromancer came and seiged the citadel with armies of the dead, but that was a whole story all in its own and won't be covered here.

Regardless, the dwarves stayed strong and separated into two separate cities on both sides of Barad Dun – Frostgard to the west and Nergord to the east.

The eastern and western tribes, as have been mentioned before, mostly consist of elves and are among the oldest sites in the world. Places like Havensward and Elvesward are extremely holy and sanctimonious places, with many of all races taking the pilgrimage there to pay respect to the elven god Therita.

Lastly, there's Akira, or the Falls of Anguish. This is where Crutia kept his base of operations as he lead his fallen (Siima) to invade the Region of Spring in the First War. The area was never healed from its taint, and is now a world of ash and fire. Many expeditions have been attempted there, but its lack of oxygen and common ashstorms make it practically impossible.

Going down to the middle of the continent, there lies the Deep Woods. Unlike Akira the land is very habitable, and some of the oldest elven races live there. However because of its dangerous and unmapped landscape, most from the civilized areas dare not explore it.

Last, but certainly not least, there is the land of a thousand deserts – Acadia, the most southern point on the continent.

With Al'Kharid as its capital, the empire of Acadia is lead by Emperor Belut XIV. It is the richest of any of the other places on the world, as is filled with talented mathematicians and inventors due to Acadia's focus on technology that the Groundlands tend to ignore. Even though the two areas have had no wars against each other, most of the people in the Groundlands sees Acadia in a bad light due to its alleged treatment of the poor and racism towards many races of elves. Regardless of this, the people of both the Groundlands and Acadia trade between each other often.

The only problem with this world is that there is, ironically, too much independence. During the First War, the elves and humans were able to combat the rise of the Siima only because they were united under one banner. And even though at the time of this story they were in an age of peace, they were separated. City state politics stayed in the city state, no matter how many other people it affected. Frostgard and Nergord have had rarely any communication since the Barad Dun exodus. The Western and Eastern tribes remain split. Acadia has a massive class system problem.

These, among the various tensions between both races and peoples, city-states and civilizations, are only just an elephant in the room for most of the people who lived in these cities. However, to the Royal Society of Enthian Scholars, they realize that if there people are not able to unite when another world invasion strikes, the whole world will be in peril.

In the large conference room on the 63^rd story of the Pillar of Time, this group of Enthian Royal Scholars would end up setting the fundamentals for the Guardians of Enthia.

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Twitter: @CodexofAegis
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The Kerland House

For years atop that hill sat the Kerland House.


 It was made longer ago than anyone can remember, but official town records dates the age of the Kerland House at somewhere between the 1840s-1870s, made by the architect John H. Kerland for which it takes its name. Back in its day it was a fairly good looking mansion – a lovely 3 story wooden house with a fireplace, marble counter-tops, and acres of fields. However at this time in writing the house has almost completely rotted down; marble destroyed, fields dead, and the only thing left of a fireplace is a few rocks that caved in the entrance of the chimney. Based on what I know about the Kerland House, this is its history.

Shortly after John H. Kerland had constructed the plans for the house he came to love a short-skirted damsel by the name of Madeline Mourtney. Now not much came out of this relationship and it ended only a few weeks before the Kerland House was finished in its construction, but I bring it up now because it will play an important part later in the story.

When the house was finally finished people looked up to it in awe, yet the fact that the house was so well made lead to it being highly expensive, and the fact that it was highly expensive lead to the fact that the only person in the town who could even afford living it in was Mr.Kerland himself. Kerland bought the house, and still in a depression because of his failed relationship with Madeline he fell into a state of suicidal thoughts until he met another girl by the name of Heather Chekenspiel. Heather was an aspiring architect herself and came to the town to see Kerland's work. After she found he was living in the house, she came by and they talked a great deal. Things lead to other things and eventually the two got married.

There was a time of great peace and prosperity in the Kerland house until Madeline came back to the town to see how things went with Mr. Kerland. Naturally, when she found Kerland married to Chekenspiel she was enraged, and only a few days after finding out broke into the mansion, stabbed both members of the house to death before jumping off the third floor balcony to her demise.

This dark tale made many draw away from the house up until 1906, when the Mitchell-Ryan Real Estate group saw great promise in the building. Through a set of lies and exaggerations they were finally able to sell the house to the McNamara family, consisting of husband and wife Jordan and Michelle McNamara and their children, Samantha and Harrison.

Many of the citizens in town attempted to warn the McNamara's of what the Mitchell-Ryan group refused to tell them, yet both Jordan and Michelle were firm they wished to stay in the house due to its still magnificent condition; which is why it was morbidly ironic when the 6 year old Harrison McNamara found a stash of matches and ended up causing the house to burn to its foundations. No one of the McNamara family survived.

The house fell back into obscurity during the first world war and the depression, with no one even giving it a second glance until WWII when the state considered tearing the house apart for the war effort. The local government made a stand, still seeing the house as an important part of an otherwise dull town history, and eventually the locals won and the house was converted into some sort of state monument.

That is, until it fell into obscurity yet again and reached its final owner in 1978. This is where things got interesting.

Gordon Mercer was a writer and poet who got most of his money through inheritance. He saw the house's dark history and instead of making it a reason not to buy it he saw it as a source of inspiration and showed his intentions on buying the house. The state gladly accepted, as the house was rarely cared for and all it seemed to do was cost money that could be saved. And so on March 12^th of the year previously mentioned Mercer acquired the Kerland House for a mere $3,000 (remember that the house still had significant burn damage, as well as plenty of vandalism from the era between the 1910s to the 1940s).

A short while after buying it, Mercer moved into the house, and at that point was when he spent most of his time either writing or working on the house itself. Not much is known past this point except the fact that the house was in one of its finest conditions since the McNamara fire. It was only 6 months after moving in however, that Mercer ended up hiring a therapist.

Mercer complained about hearing various things inside the house. At first it was small things, like the creaking and croaking of the house – yet as time grew on Mercer began to hear cries of children. The psychologist of course diagnosed him as hallucinating, possibly because of a placebo formed from knowing the houses history.

Despite the therapists attempt at helping though, Mercer continued to hear the noises until it got to the point where he simply couldn't stand it. He could no longer write because of the constant sounds he continued to hear. Eventually one session Mercer came in with cut up arms to which the psychologist found incredibly worrying and asked for a police team to come to the house later that night. Yet by the time they got there, it was simply too late; police dogs found Mercer's body hanging off the same balcony that Madeline had jumped off almost a century before.

After Mercer's death, no one bothered even coming close to the house. A few “ghost-hunt” teams had come to the house in hopes of filming something television worthy, but they found nothing and due to the houses decaying condition thought it not even worth faking anything.

So, are there ghosts in the Kerland House, or did Gordon Mercer just go mad? The people in this town don't really think about the house too much, but I can say for one thing that I don't believe in ghosts.


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Twitter: @CodexofAegis
Facebook: facebook.com/CodexofAegis 

Mega Update: The future of my projects

(Originally posted on Codex of Aegis, AstukaGaming, and Astuka's Tumblr)

Hello everybody, checking in for my monthly here. No, but really this time – I have something meaningful to say. Really.

So it has (finally) come to my attention that I have way too many side projects, and instead need to focus only on a small few in order to make quality content. Mindblowing, right? Anyway, I decided to gather together all my current side projects and decide which ones would be cut and which ones would be totally okay. This is the result.

Codex of Aegis

Status: Totally okay

Yes, yes. I know. Most of the time when I say things are on hiatus, they end up dying. I get that. But right now Codex of Aegis is literally the only actual important thing I'm making, so of course it will end up staying.

The reason I haven't updated, as I've said so long before, is two things: A, the Guardians of Enthia playthrough, and B, a revamped site.

Both have not happened mostly because I don't have any time to do either thing. As I begin to loosen up my schedule though I'll try getting them done, and finally once again we'll be able to have our shitty one off stories.

Speaking of Codex of Aegis, I actually plan on self-publishing a “Volume I” compilation soon (aka likely Winter 2014). It will feature all of the stories written until that time, as well as colorful commentary by yours truly and a few cut/extra stories specifically for the book. At first I thought it might be a dumb idea since CreateSpace only allows 50 pages and greater, but the current reference sheet filled with the writing is about 78 pages long, and added with commentary and other meta stuff and it could be around 130+ pages.

As well as this, I might as well explain the full revamp since I haven't actually already.

I'm planning on making Codex of Aegis my overall project homepage until I have enough time and money to make a website of my own. I'm going to try and feature direct pages to all my shit, including the twitter, twitch, and *possible* facebook page. I'll also see if I can add two blogs, so we can keep all of my meta bullshit on the same site instead of a completely different one like it is right now, and I won't feel bad for abandoning AstukaGaming (the blog) because it will live on in spirit (also we get to not have any confusion between the group and the blog).

Honestly I'm really excited for the revamp, but I won't do it until I finish Guardians of Enthia. I'll try doing it first thing tomorrow but I've done that multiple times before and as you can all tell it hasn't exactly worked out.

AstukaGaming

Status: ded

I thought the idea of a group playthrough channel always was pretty fun, but its come to my attention that I really don't get anything out of having one. The AstukaGaming “brand” is completely isolated from my personal “brand”, so its not like I would be getting more viewers for Codex of Aegis while making videos for AstukaGaming. Furthermore, having a lets play channel doesn't really say anything about me professionally. Not in that “hue hue muh formal” type of way (to be honest I'll probably never be able to pull that off), but the fact that works of video games and movies and books have a lot more impact than lets plays and livestreams. I'll still be using my personal twitch channel (astukari) though, and occasionally on there I will play with the AstukaGaming guys, but the channel itself will likely be gone (unless anyone wants to buy it hehehhe).

Stencyl Game

Status: hiatus

Oh, yeah. Forgot to mention that. I'm making a stencyl game.

I've always been pretty interested in the whole flash game shebang (shabang? Huh?) and so I finally decided for my first work in vidya would be a simple flash game. And boy, did I not prepare for how much work even a simple game would be.

It came through my mind as I went along that there are many other, even more easy games I could make, and so I decided I might as well delve into those other projects even if there's no chance of income or revenue from it (I'd be learning something though, so I guess that counts). Eventually once I'm back from my journey I'll release the projects I tried for free (on the website nudge nudge) and start working on games for profit. Ad profit, that is. Glorious ad profit.

Half-Life Playthrough

Status: What do you think?

I am kind of mad about trashing this since I've always wanted to do at least one complete lets play, but I've already addressed in the AstukaGaming block everything you need to hear about this.

OT RPG

Status: ...Really?

Okay, I just added this because it was an old popular project that I never officially said anything about. There is literally nothing to profit from this. I don't even forum anymore.

Personal/Skit channel

Status: Probably still happening

If any of you can remember, I did mention that I would be making a personal channel for skits and other bullshit separate from AstukaGaming. Although I might end up putting the videos on AstukaGaming and just wiping everything that isn't cool and nostalgic due to one of youtube's many problems, the idea is likely still in the mix. I do admit though I was planning on making a skit for the Summer Sale, but nothing ever came of it. Just a warning.

Dota 2 Championship

Status: Dead and Gone

Yep, it just couldn't generate the interest. Not much to it.

Well, that's all for now. Next time we see eachother the site will likely be changed and I would've posted Guardians of Enthia 6-12. Although I'm pretty sure I said that last time, though it might've been a Deja Vu. Huh. Well, I'll do it for sure this time. I promise.

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Twitter: @CodexofAegis
Facebook: facebook.com/CodexofAegis 

Post pls?!?! Why Codex of Aegis is on hiatus.

(Posted on tumblr, astukagaming, and codexofaegis)

Hello, my non-existent fanbase.

Just in case there really is anyone out there, I've decided to make this post to explain some things. You might've noticed the last post on Codex of Aegis was the Guardians of Enthia second draft, and it's last update was already about a week ago. I am working on finishing it, and its actually the main reason I haven't posted anything.

You see, The ALB for the Second Draft was supposed to be special in two ways – one because it was supposed to be the first series up on my new personal youtube (which it wasn't due to a youtube glitch) and second because the THIRD draft of the series is coming – which is totally still happening. Technically I could be posting the stories while I wait for an opportune time to make the episodes for ALB, but eventually I just decided to wait. Which means I also haven't been writing anything. Haha, whoops.

But on the other hand, I am working on a few new projects which include a TRUE first video on the personal channel, as well as a few games I'm getting involved in as well as perhaps a game of my own. Maybe. If I have time.

Believe me though, Codex of Aegis is – as always – my number one priority. I'm just currently swamped with stuff and am waiting for one of them to finish so I can start working on it again. I dream of the day that I can just put stuff on my schedule and get done with it like that, but I suffer from human ineptitude and procrastination.

- JR


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Twitter: @CodexofAegis
Facebook: facebook.com/CodexofAegis 

Astuka Looks Back: Guardians of Enthia – The Second Draft

Oh, here we go.

Now, as of writing this, I haven't actually made a story for 2 weeks, besides that one time that I really rushed a few and they ended up being sub-quality. That being said, I should probably be writing more fiction than writing a blog post.

But who the fuck cares, I live the thug life.

Now, Guardians of Enthia has a little bit of history to it; some of which I explained to you earlier. I wrote the first draft when I was in about third or fourth grade, which is why it was pretty shit. However, the second draft I wrote when I was in 6^th grade, and that happened to be when my writing style was just starting to mature and develop.

Like I said, some of the story elements were things based off stuff that I was interested in at the time – things like World of Warcraft, Lord of the Rings, and Dragon Age. Another thing that got me to write the new draft was that my friend and I had a group in which we would write short stories based in the same universe, and it was fun as fuck. Well, during that, I decided it would be cool to try to make a full book – and what better way to make a new book than use the universe you already had created.

So, I got writing. Everyone in my class knew about it (take in mind I was in a gifted class and “everyone” accounted for about nine people) and decided to make their own stories in inspiration to mine. I have to admit pretty much all of them were shit, and the girl I had a crush on's was the worst, so I decided to be a good neighbor and tell them all of their stories were good [Note: NEVER DO THIS. This is just as bad as saying that its terrible. ALWAYS give criticism, but not in a condescending manner. Never say an actual opinion on the work]. And that's how I became the most popular person in my class of (by the end of the year) eleven.

Eventually I finished it, and here we are. The finished product was actually pretty good at the time, but will it be good now? We'll have to see for ourselves.

Since there's a lot of content to follow with this draft, I decided to make it the first video series on my personal youtube channel. Every so often, I'll update this post when new episodes are up.

EDIT: So as it turns out there's an issue that the verifications for your personal and old channels are different, and apparently I can't verify my personal one because I've used my phone number for "too many accounts". Yep.

So for now I'll be posting them on the AstukaGaming channel.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3!


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Twitter: @CodexofAegis
Facebook: facebook.com/CodexofAegis 

God

“Dad?”

“Yes, my son?”

“Does... does God exist?”

“God exists, but not as we see it. God is not a man that has dominion over us all. God does not control the wind or the rain. God does not have his own doctrine he forces us to follow. God is not immortal, nor mortal.

Because that is not what God is. People spend their entire lives trying to find out if it is real, except the answer is right in front of us.

God is a word.

God causes us to try our best to be good. God causes wars, and creates peace. God is what makes the dying man calm in his last hours.

That is what God is. He has a great power, just different then what any of us have known before.”

“Oh, I guess that makes sense.”

The father smiled at his son, lifting him into bed and tucking him in. When the father was ready to turn off the light, he made a stop.

“Goodnight, son.”

“Goodnight, dad.”

The door was now closed and the room dark, save for the ambient glow of a nightlight in the corner.

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Twitter: @CodexofAegis
Facebook: facebook.com/CodexofAegis 

Astuka Looks Back -- Guardians of Enthia (First Draft)

Honestly I'm not certain if I mentioned GoE in the previous post, but Guardians of Enthia (obviously shortened to GoE) was the first (and probably last) full length story I ever wrote. Taking multiple cues from Lord of the Rings, Dragon Age, and Warcraft, I somehow managed to write 45 pages of it and many more on the lore. 

Of course, that was the second draft.

The first you might as well say was a completely different story entirely. Being much more original (original in this case does not mean “good”) than the second, it was written by me in 4^th to 5^th grade and was based off a roleplay that happened in some web game (Roblox was the site, no idea which specific game in particular) that probably lasted about 4 hours and was between me (my username being yui810, which is what “Sir Yui” came from) and some guys named Zero and Warhawk (who was later changed to Warius for the sake of going along better with the story) and was completely written on paper. That is, of course, except for two chapters posted on TPNF.

Now I do have the original book, but instead of spending a hour copying a mediocre book into text, I'll just use the two that were posted (after all, this IS the TPNF section).

Chapter I

Yui looked around.He was amazed winter came so early since his training.Children were running around, throwing snowballs at each other and making snowmen.In Sumeria, a time like this is the moment of a lifetime. But Yui had more important job to do. Hazily, he checked the spots along the port.

What is with me and all these fucking cheesy beginings? Did I think this was interesting or entertaining? This is something out of a Disney movie, not an epic fantasy.

Seaman’s Port was made back when the first settlers from Eyrica came to Sumeria. John Smith, the original owner of the port,  owned several bars in both Eyrica and Kathara. The port was originally a hotel for sailors from southern port cities like Arai and Soera. John Smith was no stranger to the forgien language and sometimes even started conversations with them.

Well at least our narrator this time isn't some depressed ADHD kid but instead a tourism director.

First, Yui checked the old Smith Hotel. He saw the archers on their regular schedule defending the hotel. Soon Yui would command a defensive force at the hotel since a notorious king named Bajar will be staying there. Bajar owned most of the southern federations in the region.

Why the fuck is the king of the entire south staying at some shitty hotel? Do the northerners hate them THAT badly? Take in mind I do have a map of this world and “The south” is pretty much just this gigantic piece of land an ocean across from the common city-states.

He was said to be bountied in over 50 cities in the North, which included some of the finest assassins around. Before Yui was in the military, he was a alchemist. Before he was a alchemist, he followed in his fathers footsteps and became an assassin. He fought, and defeated, many great soliders in battle. Great names like Relico, Dejurn, and Hoteri he killed, which paved the road for him being such a successful solider.

Okay first of all if he's bountied in 50 cities in the North why the fuck is he there IN THE CAPITAL in the first place. Second of all, what the fuck is with Yui's job list? First he goes from killing literally the MOST IMPORTANT CHARACTER IN THE SERIES (Relico) (yes this is changed later) to saying “oh I guess i'll just try to make dirt into gold”. I mean it could be something badass like he was trying to hide from his past but I doubt that was what I was thinking back then.

Chapter 2

Zero checked the corners of the room. Never in his life had he been as frightened as he was now. He continued into the kings kitchen, thinking of a way to get out. It all started when he got a job from the town's reverend to borrow a amulet. It seemed easy, but what he didn't know was that the king was against the church.

Why would he not know that the king was against the church? Wouldn't the king be burning these fucking things left and right?

Right?

[TO BE CONTINUED]


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Twitter: @CodexofAegis
Facebook: facebook.com/CodexofAegis 

OEACOV

Part 1, Part 2

Short, Hat, and the Leader sat on a bench overlooking the bay. Autumn at this point had taken its full form and transformed the bay into a serene notion of both the warmth of summer and the cold of winter. Short ate out of a potato chip bag, while the rest calmly watched the tide of the bay rise and fall.

“So, who are we supposed to meet up with again?” Hat finally blurted out. As the question was naturally directed to the Leader, the Leader took a sigh before answering Hat's question.

“Some Russian guy. Blonde hair, sunglasses. He'll be wearing some stripped blue t-shirt.”

“We're in California, there's going to be a fuck-ton of people wearing stripped shirts.” Short muttered out between his chip munching.

“If that's true than answer me how we've been here for about two hours now, and STILL haven't seen anyone.” Hat naturally took the defensive on Short while the Leader drowned out the arguing of the two lackeys to focus on what he spied in the distance.

Down the hill from where they sat, right next to the bay, was a coffee shop, and that coffee shop had a very noticeable outdoor seating area. This seating area was mostly filled with kids who had just got out of college and were just now starting their life, and up until now the Leader only wished he was over there; with the combined scents of sea breeze and mocha filling his nostrils as the wind hit at his back. But while he focused on this pleasant wasted space he saw Waldo sticking his head out among the crowd.

Yes – a young blond man wearing a stripped blue t-shirt, casually sitting and drinking a coffee by the many who, at a distance, seemed just like him. From here it seemed impossible that the man was a trained killer, yet the Leader knew very well that looks are deceit and grinned to himself as his attention focused back to the two colleagues with him.

“Found him.”


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Twitter: @CodexofAegis
Facebook: facebook.com/CodexofAegis 

Del Rio, Episode 1

John Walters sat in a therapist chair overlooking the morning skyline of Del Rio. He sure as hell never thought he'd find himself here, yet here he was.

The events of the past few weeks had taken a toll on him, so his wife recommended he go to a therapist, though only for “a week or so”. He went, since it was likely not his decision for him to go to therapy anyway.

His psychiatrist was an older man who clearly tried to stay hip. He was in his forties, but had his hair waved back and a perfectly trimmed mustache. He had a silver vest on, and looked at John like he actually had some sort of concern for him.

“I just don't know, Doc,” John continued his rant, that the man in the main chair was likely listening to half-heartedly, “No matter what, it seems to all crumble down on me. All the bad luck in the fucking world is right in the palm of my hand.”

“John, how about we come back to the source of your problems. You said his name was... Daniel Schaeffer, correct?”

Walters hit the table next to him with such force that it swung the lamp on top of it so greatly it almost fell. He was clearly enraged.

“That asshole? Oh ho ho, I swear to fuck if I see that dickwad of an 'associate' again I'm going to forcefully take his head off and staple it to my resume!” John was in a flurry of fury, but tried his best to control his emotions noting his environment. Doc, however, seemed fine with it.

“Good, let out your anger. Letting it all out is the first step to finding yourself.”

“That company, that dream... that was my fucking dream! I had it!” The raging bull pushed over the table that he had hit previously, throwing the lamp at the window as it reverberated back and smashed into the ground, shedding glass everywhere, “I'll fucking kill the two-bit, smug ass son of a bitch! I'll fucking kill him!”

The raging bull turned itself into a tornado, which began destroying everything in sight. Once it had made it's way to Doc's beautiful imported potted plant, however, it was time to stop.

“Alright, John,” Doc told him, trying to get him out the door, “This concludes today's section. Come back next week.”

Once the Doc had finally kicked him out, John Walters found himself once again on the sun-soaked streets that were of the city of Del Rio, city of the kings. He got out a cigarette out of his suit pocket, lit it up, and smoked – making his way across the boardwalk to the next step in his life.


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Twitter: @CodexofAegis
Facebook: facebook.com/CodexofAegis