Category: Stories

These are long Roleplays or tales of events. It consits of:

Roleplay: The Hellas Armory

My recent return to Hellas crater to tell you of it’s rebuild has got me back into mind of Roleplaying there again. So I’m reviving my AMZ courier storyline.

Recap: Ava is a courier for AMZ (All Mars Zone) that ship pretty much anything anywhere. She was sent to Mars originally to deliver a particularly dangerous package to the Martian city of Helix. After some time spent with the refugees of Helix she was recalled to Earth by the company. She’s now been sent back to Mars to establish an office there and negotiate shipping contracts with whoever or whatever organisations or entities required them.

Thinking that the Armoury might be a good start for places that will need regular supplies, Ava pays the proprietor a visit.

After some time chatting over a drink, it becomes quite evident that the proprietor isn’t interested in the services AMZ has to offer and Ava politely leaves. It hasn’t been an entirely wasted visit however, Ava now has the name of a local pilot that might be useful for transporting goods across the planet.

RP Log:

[06:53:25] Ixela: hello missus , may i help you ?....problems with your weapon ?

[06:55:46] Ava smiles "nope, just came to check the place out and see what you might be short on. I courier weapons and my employer is wanting to expand here, potentially supply you"

[06:57:51] Ixela meditates for awhile and nods '' can he supply me for Astra-Llama sub-machineguns ? Minolta-Dragunov rifles ? Mauser&Gray pistols ?


[06:58:03] Ava : All Mars Zone shipping  is looking to take an interest here, with regular shipments to and from Earth. Main client would probably be the mining co, but doesn't mean there's not room for stuff you might need on those ships

[06:58:57] Ixela: shipments from Earth are late and expensive , my common customers can't afford it on their repairs


[07:01:28] Ava : Shipments are expensive because of infrequency, more there are, the cheaper they become. But what I'm talking about is adding your stuff onto shipments mostly paid for by the corpos, to make the most of each voyage.


[07:06:32] Ixela: hnmmmm* grumbles , then frowns and stares the woman , then smiles * thanks for your offer , missus , but i already have a provider in Gagaringrad....here i can get second hand pieces and supplies


[07:13:05] Ava shrugs "Ok, well I hope that works for you. My bosses want to try and set something up here, but hopefully we won't get in each others way.


[07:13:09] Ixela looks inside the workshop and makes a signal to the woman , '' weh! come and tell me about these shipments ''

[07:14:07] Ava follows the woman inside

[07:14:12] Ixela shows the table '' take a seat , please ''

[07:14:57] Ixela offers a coffee cup to the woman

[07:17:34] Ixela: now , tell me about these shipments...


[07:18:50] Ava : okay, it'll be easiest if I start at the beginning...

[07:19:01] Ixela: please...

[07:21:15] Ava : A while back before the city of Helix was evacuated, I was sent to escort a very dangerous shipment. Nasty enough that they sent me with an emergency shelter capsule. I never made the delivery before the city was evacuated, the recopient go between neer showed.
A few months later, I came across the courier, or rather my implant here *taps her eye augment* spotted her. She confirmed she was meant to have collected it, but didn't know the final recipient.

[07:22:56] Ixela nods , listening carefully

[07:23:08] Ava : So I've been stuck on Mars with a dangerous shipment and no client.

[07:23:56] Ixela nods meditating...'' a weapons and ammo shipment ? ''

[07:24:07] Ava : Til recently I was called back and they decided they want to start something here, a branch office or something, with the presence of a corp here, it's likely htey'll get plenty of business

[07:25:03] Ixela: on who are you meaning when say ''they'' ...the army ?

[07:25:56] Ava : They, as in AMZ shipping

[07:26:37] Ava steps out for a moment an comes back with a small box and puts it on the table

[07:27:01] Ava : this cursed thing is what I've been lugging around

[07:27:05] Ixela: these are private deliveries ?

[07:28:34] Ava : a mix, this one was evidently for some with far too much money in the city.

[07:29:17] Ava : and evidently intending to have a negative impact on the population, or some of them at least

[07:29:50] Ixela: hahahahaha...then don't look at me , i won't be prosecuted for buying stolen materials....

[07:31:30] Ava : Dont worry, this isn't for sale

[07:31:40] Ava : even I can't open it

[07:32:05] Ava : only the intended recipient can, with a palm scan

[07:32:38] Ixela: anyway , i dont want troubles , i have my providers ....maybe not the best quality stuff , but all legal...there are government officers here.....

[07:34:02] Ava : Oh I wasn't suggesting anything illegal, AMZ is a respectable business, dealing in private and commercial shipments, the contents aren't our concern.

[07:34:13] Ixela: i don't care on the crate size but in the contents , and if it has a former owner

[07:36:48] Ava : by which you mean, you want new? Or don't want new?

[07:36:52] Ixela: i have no room for such storage ...why do you ask me ?

[07:42:51] Ava : I'm just offering another shipment route that might have benefited you in some way. But if you're all covered, that's no problem. I'll be negotiating with Thor and EarthGov anyway, so no loss on my end.

[07:43:03] Ixela: as i said , my customers can't afford new supplies on their weapon's repair...i don't work with Thor mining....my customers are private persons...

[07:44:48] Ava : So I gathered, just thought another courier might be useful, you'd be paying cheaper personal rates for your items.

[07:45:45] Ixela: i know someone who makes private transportings

[07:50:36] Ava shrugs "well in that case I think we're done here. Thanks for the drink" puts down her cup and stands

[07:51:20] Ixela smiles '' as you wish...don't want to ask the person i mentioned ?''

[07:52:23] Ava : Perhaps it would be useful to know all the players in the market yes.

[07:52:54] Ixela: but first i must ask you something...are you human ?

[07:55:34] Ava : Yes. I would have thought that was obvious, but I guess all you can see is neck up and an implant it's a fair question.

[07:56:24] Ava : It's just an implant, rest of me is human

[07:56:38] Ixela: some cyborgs are undistinguishable from humans lately...and that person hates cyborgs , droids , sinths and nearly any non-human

[07:57:25] Ixela: i guess she has good reasons to act this way...

[07:57:28] Ixela: ok

[07:57:37] Ava nods "many do feel that way"

[07:58:06] Ixela: go to the port , entering on the pistes , in the right side , box 2...here she places her hoverboat

[07:58:41] Ixela: she's more daring than me

[08:00:05] Ava : Okay, thankyou, who shall I say sent me to her?

[08:00:51] Ixela: as you wish....guess she has no protocol....

[08:01:08] Ava nods

[08:01:21] Ixela: her name is Szondi

Outfit Credits:

A look back at My 2020 in SecondLife

While we may not all want to look back at 2020 in the Real World, doing so for my Second Life isn’t half as depressing.

Looking at my previous posts over the last year I was actually busier than I thought. I did quite a bit of RP in SL Gor during first few months of  the year tracking down old friends,

Pondering what adventures are to come with my return to Gor

before moving on to a Prison RP  which had me chasing escapees for a few weeks.

I caught up with one of the escapees in a bar

 

Then along came Fantasy Faire,where this year I was able to have early access the empty lands before the masses arrived.

Empty streets of Fantasy Faire

This was through my involvement with the NeoVictoria Project as opposed to the FF Bloggers (since I didn’t make the official list,maybe next year!)

This gave me a new perspective on the Faire that I wrote about. I also wrote two short stories  based around the Faire as part of their “Faire Folk” challenge, called Under the Pass and Casseopeia. How could anyone not be inspired by the Faire?

I next moved onto a different more futuristic RP, a cyberpunk location inspired by the city of Helix.

The city didn’t survive the RL lockdown,but it has led to a small but thriving group,making a life for themselves in a dusty Martian crater.

Bits of ruined machinery in the dusty crater

Halloween came around fast and all the spooky places sprung up for October and I had great fun blogging some of them.

Shortly before the *actual* date of Halloween arrived I was at a club called Ohana that I’d visited several times in the past and they mentioned Hosting vacancies,so I applied and was taken on after a trial set that went great.

Debut Set at Ohana Rock Club, 19th October

Finally in December I decided I’d try to go along to the SL Book Club readings. I’d seen the Twitter activity about it weekly (who could miss Draxtors enthusiasm?)but never actually got around to attending. I went along two and a half hours early,just intending to have a look and take a Landmark.

I realised I’d unwittingly taken myself hostage,the place was already half full and if I’d left,getting back in wasn’t guarunteed. Fortunately I’d already done my whip around of Christmas advent calendar clicking that day!

Already half-full hours early!

Which pretty much brings this year of Second Life adventures to a close.

However..

I’ve explored more places than I got around to blogging about, so I’ve lots of photos of places that deserve long posts of their own. Maybe I’ll write those next year if the locations are still there in the New Year.

For now I’ve simply made small galleries of some of the different places I didn’t feature on the blog, as well as some one-off snaps,in chronological order:

A storytelling evening at NeoVictoria (3rd January)

Furry Night at Kitty Kaboom (23rd January)

Bikini party at Kitty Kaboom,from PG angle. (13th February)

Hayo as a Tarn (18th May)

Tarns are large birds,ridden by some warriors in the fictional world of Gor.

Sci-Fi Con 2020 (21st May)

 

Ash Falls (15th July)

Murder City (21st July)

SecondLife 17th Birthday explorations via train (24th July)

Pandemonium (7th August)

Delerium (12 August)

 

Tea with Sheree (15th September)

Hayo preparing for Halloween (4th October)

 

Jeep Antics with Sheree and Hayo (11th October)

NeoVictoria 10th Anniversary Roleplays (22-24th November)

 

Boggying with Nyte after my set at Ohana (19th December)

Boogying with Nyte at Ohana

 

SecondLife Book Club (16+23rd December)

This post was featured on the SecondLife Community Blog on 28th December 2020.

Rise and Fall

A friend read through my Gor Story in one sitting, quite a feat I thought given it’s length. When they finished their response was:

“Nicely done. But what are you doing now?”

Well to answer that I’ll have to talk about what happened in-between,since (at the time of writing, April 2019) it has been roughly 9 months since my final rp in SL Gor.

After leaving Gor I went back to Ava’s roots in SL, Bloodlines. Please those that roll your eyes and groan about bloodlines, do read on there’s a moral to this story.
I had been in a Bloodlines family called The Rainbow Princesses (name changed to protect the innocent and guilty alike) for a few years,but not particularly active in it. My SL time had mostly been taken up with my Gor rp. I decided it was time to take a more active role. So I started hanging out at the family sim regions a bit and being more active in the group chat. I’d been away for quite a while so there were lots of new people I didn’t know that I gradually got to know.

I had often not attended the weekly clan parties because of a schedule clash, but that had also changed so I started attending regularly. However these events had begun to become less frequent due to staff shortage and lack of attendance. I felt I wanted to help, so I enquired about hosing at one of the parties, for which I was accepted.
That was a great night,though I was a little nervous, I was alongside a great DJ (who is still a dear friend today) and it was a lot of fun. I only actually ever got to host one other set the whole time I was there. Any offers to host or organise extra events, bring in another DJ were met with a prompt “no”, as if the club manager actually wanted the place to fail.
At some point I heard of a promotion of a member of the group to the rank of Knight,which surprised me.
I knew this person was a new arrival to the clan,actually recalling their arrival. I thought “aren’t these higher ranks for long-standing family members”? It seemed not. So I decided that was what I wanted to achieve. I figured if they could do it,so could I. However I’d have to do it on real merits rather than friends,since I’d already managed to offend a well-liked member of the royalty more than once.
So I set myself the goal to become Knight by Christmas,New Year at the latest.
As well as hosting at the club I began to run regular help with certain Bloodlines Achievements. These are tasks you do using the game’s hud and vary considerably in difficulty. These were well attended to begin with, though I ended up having to space them out to suit people better. I also jointly did an Achievement challenge with one of the other family members. This is where things started to get trickier.

Shortly after that event the other person got promoted, I did not. I was not amused. This may sound childish to some, but not to others including my Leige at the time. They said my reaction was understandable,considering how hard I’d been working in the family. I was told the Council had actually voted to promote me at the same time as well.
When I eventually had my interview for the promotion to Knight which came after a considerably longer time than any apart the King & Queen felt reasonable, I mentioned this. They did take the view of it being childish,also claiming that they didn’t like to promote many people at the same time. In this case that would have been Two. While rummaging for notes to help me write this account I found a Group Notice announcement of Three people at once and reference to preferring to promote in groups,contrary to what I was told. So clearly despite words to the contrary, it’s definitely a popularity contest.

I’m not good at popular. I speak my mind too much for many people’s liking.
So on 13th November 2018 after my interview I was made Knight Prospect. Knight privileges but on a trial basis This could be a month or more, dependent on the whim of the King as I understood it. Mine did run into the “more” timeframe. However since then I’ve had people say that they’d never heard of interviews being held, or extended trial periods within that family.

Apparently things had been stacked against me from the start. The saying about grass being greener on the other side,definitely applies here.

The role of Knight is indeed a priveledge, the trust of all security related permissions covering multiple SL regions is not something to be taken lightly.

However the role can be dressed up and made to sound more prestigious, but you are basically a glorified greeter/security guard for the family land.
I had always felt proud to be in this particular family, but things often look better from a distance. Getting glimpses of the inner workings of things aren’t always a pretty sight.
I spent some months as Knight Prospect gradually becoming more disillusioned as time passed.

In the end it was a simple unnecessary comment that was the last straw and prompted my departure. I’d just had enough of the little comments and attitude from single person.
It hurt me greatly,but it was time to move on. So in February 2019 I used the bloodlines hud to create my own little “family” for a while and then briefly spent some time at a former leige’s clan before I joined the family of another ex-member of the Rainbow Princesses. Where I’m pleased to say I’m happy again.
So to answer the original question of what I’m doing now:
Now I am much happier member of the Twist of Fate family. Who are considerably more active in many ways.
Moral of the story for me: don’t pursue a goal for a goals sake.

For those readers that reacted “ugh,bloodlines”, maybe you can see that families/clans are just like any other social group in SL or elsewhere. They’re a mixture of fun, friendship and also unfortunately drama. We just have to find somewhere with the right balance for each of us.

Updated March 2021:

Twist of Fate was a lot of fun. I helped a lot of people there gain some tricky Achievements (Bloodlines merit badges) which I enjoyed for a while, because I like to help people. Then sadly (in my opinion) in March 2020 we merged with a much larger family. There were good (RL & SL) reasons for the merger, which I understand and accept. But to me it felt more like being swallowed up than merged.

Update December 2021

Twist of Fate is back on its own, out of the large family and back as a small group once again, which is great.

So some fresh faces to get to know since some others emigrated with us. Which means I’m back to doing my bit by running achievements again when people need my help.