[Nightmare's Scrapbook] Pleasant Dreams

[Nightmare]

Hello! Welcome!
Come with me and we shall look at stories, delve into thoughts of horror and philosophy, and listen to strange music.

I love collaboration, so if you would like to work or discuss things with me, feel free to post here or shoot me a PM. Modded threads, plots of all sorts, brainstorming poetry or songs, setting up businesses or playing with magic are all on the table. But, I understand if you are shy or would rather just comment on the stuff I post so I will default to my own stuff.

Some suggested things to talk about:

• Suggest good novels/movies, horror or otherwise.
• Got some crazy, unusual, music? Let me give it a listen and I'll let you listen to some of mine!
• Are you a fellow poet? Shoot some verses at me and I might shoot some back!
• I love to play the "what if" game Miz style, even if its silly and nonsensical, any thought is fair game. What if a dragon suddenly appeared over the skies of Syliras?
• If you have any interesting dreams, drop it in a post and we can discuss it. I love looking at dreams and trying to figure out the internal symbolism behind them.

What to expect:

• Warm ups and short stories
• Poetry
• Music
• Rambling
• Scholarly discussions
• Horror movies, stories and tropes

Index of writing warm-ups:

• Cognition
• Potions, Glyphing, Glass and Artifacts
• Project Heretic

[Radiant]

I claim First Post! and first music post!

[Nightmare]

Lately I've been peeking into the Dreamscape while listening this:

It makes me want to write terrible terrible dreams for all the PCs playing there. >:)

Also! Keep on the look out for some modded threads or prompts from me in the Bulletin Board for both Syliras and Mithryn. I will definitely have some up in time for summer, however if I get some time between now and then I might get them up earlier!

[Nightmare]

So this was just a warmup for writing, something I have been thinking about in awhile. Please do not think this as canon in any way. It isn't. Just me doing some OOC writing because it was fun.

Without further ado:

The follow essay is published in a collection of essays bound and titled, “The Others” which is a look into the scientific craft of bring life to objects. Of them most were lost, but due to the benevolent act of the original author of the essay we are able to reproduce this essay for the benefit of the apprentices.


Cognition and intelligence of crafted sentiences

By Zarik Masheen

By all accounts the crafting of golems should never be taken lightly. Yet it is within this craft that we find ourselves dependent. Manual laborers take up the work that skilled minds might otherwise be forced into, warrior golems provide dispensable fighters for the war and our supervisors, such as One whom most will be familiar with, help keep our mages and scientists safe from risky experiments and even themselves. However there is an inherent danger of bringing a potentially dangerous construct to life. Much of this has to do with the intelligence itself. Many an apprentice unwisely gave a construct an concept without thinking of the ramifications that a budding intelligence might take with such a concept. Thus a codification of intelligence is required, complexity and design must be mapped out. Through careful study it has been discovered that four true levels of cognition and intelligence exist, five if one counts a lack of autonomation. The five levels are Non-cognition, Primary, Secondary, Tertiary and Quaternary Cognition with Quaternary Cognition being the most complex.

Non-Cognition is perhaps the easiest to grasp and implement. It involves responses to stimuli or impulse in highly predictable ways. Examples include locks that only open for someone who looks like it’s master. Or so called “Oracle” boxes that respond with a predetermined phrase given a question. Any apprentice and novice can create an intelligence with non-cognition and indeed, most apprentices should only be given latitude to create these simple constructs. Rarely do they get out of hand due to their inherent simplicity. These devices can not learn beyond the circle and rarely are they required to do so.

Cognition as a definition is the mental process of acquiring knowledge and understanding over time. Such is the requirement for even the most basic sort of cognition. A Primary Cognitive Construct is one that can learn and understand things over time. This can be Concepts or simply facts and details. The most basic of a Primary construct is what some might term a Seeker or a Watcher. These constructs have the directives to watch, records and report. Occasionally it is to the master’s benefit to instil directives to seek disturbances which of course require directives to seek patterns. Both are Primary Cognitive concepts and may elevate a Non-Cognition construct to Primary. Due to the nature of this cognition level any commands or rules given to the construct are treated as secondary directives. That is, they will attempt to adhere to the rules until such rules clash with the directives given before their awakening or until their destruction. Please note that complex Primary constructs do exist and that the most complex might even be able to have intelligent conversations. Animals are to be considered to be typical to Primary Cognition. These constructs have no true identity nor do the understand the concept of life or death.

While the first steps of creating a golem is to create an identity. However the Cognition of Primary constructs do not have the ability to truly differentiate one’s self from other constructs, nor are they able to differentiate non-constructs from constructs. Without giving a personal description of one’s master as a directive, a construct would be unable to differentiate between one person to another. It is the ability to learn and adapt a creature, person or construct’s identity that defines a Secondary Cognitive Construct. These golems can create mental identities to those that they come in contact. This is preferable to for those who require a degree of security as Secondary constructs can use their past experiences to determine if a man is who they say they are even if their appearance has changed or they use ambiguous “keys”. Likewise they can determine if falsehood is in play even if a man looks like their master. With their increased ability to understand truly the concept of identity, other and separateness as a cognitive feature, a side effect is that they are able to attribute names to themselves. This goes beyond simple master designation and can be adopted or self assumed. This sort of construct begins to reach human levels of consciousness and cognitive ability but falls short under a few key features: it has no true understanding of the concept of life and death and it is unable to improve one’s self. Indeed, a Secondary Construct would not be able to tell the difference between a living body and a dead one and often assumes that all bodies are living, especially with the intrinsic undead. Because of this most Secondary Constructs are given directives to find help should a living creature or body be unable to respond to requests; such bodies might be wounded or unconscious. Secondary constructs make excellent attack drones.

It is perhaps the understanding of life and death that separates man from animal. Likewise, it is the understanding of this concept that separates a Secondary construct from a Tertiary Construct. Tertiary Cognition also allows for the concept of self improvement. Two very human concepts that greatly increase complexity. Even a non-cognitive construct might have directives for preservation, but it is a different situation entirely for a construct to be able to tell if something is truly living based on past experiences. There has been confusion in the past over drones used to retrieve wounded from battlefields that understand life over death, functioning bodies over non-functioning. A Tertiary Cognitive Construct is able to value life of itself, its master, its kind as a whole or even the life of all. Some Tertiary Constructs learn of the concept of worship and seek out the favor of Kihala despite the thorn in her side their existence represents. They might grow envious of man’s soul and go on longstanding quests to acquire one for themselves.

The other important characteristic of a Tertiary Construct is the cognitive feature of self improvement. Either physically, mentally, through complexity or philosophy, most constructs find themselves only able to learn and adapt on a level akin to instinct. Self improvement is willful and self directed change towards a goal that is either defined by the master or the golem itself. This can mean the learning of skills, magic and or the alteration of one’s physical body to suit an end. However the no construct is able to elevate itself beyond their Construct Cognition Level without the direct assistance of a mage. Research has been unable to identify the true reason that self directed cognition elevation is impossible. The most dangerous aspect of a Tertiary Cognitive Construct is the ability of a complex enough or self directed enough golem to deviate from their directives through logic and philosophy. Just as any man might begin as an idealistic youth who favors peace over the sword and over time become a cynical warrior, so too can a Tertiary Cognitive construct take a directive and have experiences turn the directive into surprising interpretations. Most humans are characterized as Tertiary Cognition and any intelligence above human is considered Quaternary Cognition.

Quaternary Cognition is perhaps the most difficult to understand due to the nature of the intelligence involved as well as human’s own cognition. It is characterized as the ability to follow paradoxic forms of thought and understanding as well as nonlinear and multiple thoughts at once. It is highly important for supervisors to be able to use the latter due to their expanded size and duties. Quaternary Cognitive Constructs are the pinnacle of complexity and are highly difficult to achieve. Quaternary Cognition is alien to a degree that only those with the same Cognition Level can understand. It is the reason why that Gods, Relic Monsters, Greater Beings and Supervisors are beyond the ability for mere humans to understand. However it is theorized the one might magically enhance the mind, permanently or temporarily to raise one’s Level above Tertiary. Such research is heavily debated as potential the greatest achievement in the past century.

[Nightmare]

State of Affairs
And the curveballs life throws

Today I had a very interesting conversation with my mother. To my family, I am not openly gay. My mother is a very conservative christian and my father dislikes gay people, despite having an older brother who is gay. I felt it would be less strife to simply let things carry on as they were. And so it was, life remained unchanged as I dated and came to love my boyfriend. All under my parent's nose. Did I mention that my family has allowed me to live with them as I study in school?

And so life was fine, at least until my mother found out that I was gay. I do not think she is a bad person despite the things she said to me today. She really does care, in her own warped perceptions. But words were said today that were hurtful and I sat there, silent as she went on and on as she is want to do. Things such as my love being a perversion, and unnatural, that I was not gay, she did not see it. She did not want me swayed by others to be gay... so she was trying to sway me to not be. My mother has always been at a loss as to why I quit going to church with her and my sister. She is often talking about how armageddon is nearly here, that choosing not to serve god is the same as choosing to serve satan and that there is no grey area, that she does not want me to die in the oncoming destruction. However, perhaps something clicked when she found thing in my room that made it obvious that I was gay. She found out about it about a week ago, and it has been drama ever since. Today it came to a peak.

Whatever her beliefs, she only does what she does because she cares. She is a true believer and thinks that her actions are what is necessary to save others.

The kicker was that my mother wanted me to open up to her. That despite the things she said about the unnaturalness of a man loving a man or a woman loving a woman, I should be talking to her because "I won't judge you", as she said. I wasn't comfortable speaking about it, or about anything so she went on while I remained silent. As she continued she alternated from wanting me to talk to her, to telling me that she wanted me out of the house. She did not want me thrusting my.. lifestyle in her face. I might very well have to leave, quit school and give up on my career until I can support myself well enough to put myself through school. So much is uncertain about this.

Then she dropped a bomb.

My mother has been an emotional wreck not because I was gay. She might very well be able to cope with that despite her beliefs. She was a mess because last thursday she went in for a routine check up and they found a lump in her breast. The doctors were contradictory, one was optimistic and said that there was nothing to worry about though a biopsy is necessary. Another claimed that if they did not get it out in time that she would only have 6 months.

The night before, when I went out to spend a little time with my boyfriend, my mom was home. Alone. And sobbing herself to sleep. My sister, who doesn't know, was going to watch movies with her, but in the middle of making popcorn my sister said she was going to go and play volleyball. She didn't, she went to go have ice cream with my mom's friends.

I am the only one that knows in my family about my mom's condition. She is freaking out, and now so am I. These past couple weeks have already been troublesome. Everytime I sit down to write a post, nothing comes. My thoughts and my worries invade every time. My mother is the one person I want most to not trouble with my sexual desires. Now not only does she have to worry about me, she has to face her own mortality. And despite my efforts, she must feel very very alone right now.

I am not sure where else I want to go with this post. Should I plead for help? Should I just rant and vent and leave it at that? Should I reassure everyone that everything is going to be okay?

To my thread partners, both from my character and my mod account. I have not forgotten you. To Syliras I will be grading, posting, answering questions as best I can. But... Life is getting in the way at the moment. I do not know where it is going to lead me at the moment. I will, however, not abandon Mizahar and the friends I have made on here. Just please, bear with me while I wrangle life.

[Marcus Drago]

Hmmm. I hope it is okay if I post here. But Nightmare I have advice on what you can do. First I know it is very harsh when someone who raised you from the ground up to say that she does not agree with your choices. It is a tough thing and some people actually never forgive their parents for saying such things to them. They believe that they could do better on their own and they leave their family for good because they are known as the "Shame."

I also want to ask you do you care for your mother? Because if you do then stay with her and be there for her. As you said before your mother is lonely. What she needs now is a hug every time you see her, a kiss on the cheek, an I love you, and a reassurance that her child will always be there for her. Yeah truthfully it is going to be hard living in the house as the "Shame", but she needs you.

If you must then vent your frustration to someone, complain to your boyfriend, leave the house every once in a while just to escape the craziness, but don't forget that she loves you. And also don't forget that your her son, your a part of her. what she does she does because she loves and only wants a better life for you. If she is going this far just to stop you from being gay and save you from hell then it means she loves the hell out of you, no pun intended. So show YOUR love to her, and be there for her.

[Caelum]

Hey, darlin’. I’m not here to give advice. I probably give shitty advice. I’m just here to let you know that I’m thinking about you and to remind you I think you’re pretty awesome. You listen to me ramble and you don’t judge and you have never been anything less than kind to me. That’s kind of a huge deal. So, any time you want, come ramble at me or just hang and we’ll write or share stupid cat pictures or have a grading party like the geeks we are.

[Nightmare]

Reflections

A year spent in the castle

Here is to a year of storytelling in Syliras. Lets ramble a bit.

I don't have a lot to say; there really isn't much to say. I have enjoyed my experience assisting the people of the city, and all that it entails. So what does it mean to be an Storyteller for the city of Syliras?

For the most part its like being an ST for any other domain, it is just that Syliras is busy. Very busy. The main purpose for an ST is to tell stories. Go figure, right? But a lot of potential candidates seem too focused on the development side of things. There is development, involved, yes. But our job is to weave stories for our players. This becomes a problem for a storyteller like myself, Perplexity or Gossamer or any other storyteller with a busy domain. An active domain is considered to be a domain that has at least 12 players registered on average. Syliras averages about 60+, Riverfall and Zeltiva average about 40+. The daily and weekly post count generated by those three domains are also very high.

Now, back to the problem. A storyteller ideally would like to spend personal attention on every player in their domain. Answering questions, running quests, granting permission. It gets hard to give personalized attention when so many people are in your city. I would love to, but it is a numbers game. So, while I can do my job, I won't be able to give all the attention that my players deserve. And they deserve it, no matter how new or experienced they are.

It really bothers me and there isn't much I personally can do about it.

That is before I even get to the obstacles that pop up outside of Mizahar. After Radiant left, life hit me with a bunch of unexpected problems. One of which I wrote about in my last post. Which was a messy affair. I was very distraught and I wrote that under emotional duress. When things settled down, I focused on Storytelling exclusively. And difficult times kept popping up since. I put my character on hold for 3 seasons, and that wasn't fair to my thread partners and the friends I've made on Mizahar... but that was the place I was at. Things are much better now. Its a juggle to handle Storytelling, one's character and one's personal life. Mostly, because Syliras is so busy. Syliras demands a lot of time, and thankfully Plume has been assisting with that. She has helped so much by simply running modded threads and grading.

I'm not the best Storyteller out there, I am not the most talented writer, or the most organized. I am still trying to get a handle on the workload. But it is a work in progress. It always has been. I'd like to think what I've done so far with Syliras hasn't been bad. Just not what I had always hoped. Despite basicly everything I have said so far, I have really enjoyed lending a hand and helping out.

So here is to Syliras, here is to another year of crafting stories. May it be better than the year before. May the experiences we gained pave the way for something greater.

I think I will try to scrapbook more.

.

[Archailist]

Pssh, what you've done with Syliras is much better than 'okay'.

I can't believe that it's been an entire year, though. Feels like a lot more.. or a lot less.. I can't actually tell. What a year though, damn. If what you've got planned so far, I shudder to think of what you might have brought with a little more time. (That's a good shudder by the way).

Anyway, here's to another year of fun times! Let it be as prosperous, if not more so, as the last.

[Ball]

Holy crap a whole year? Wow I can't believe it! Awesomesauce@