Bob,

DHBirr's response message keeps changing the date. It has the current month and date and has 37 as the year. For example, today it is 8/14/37 but
yesterday it was 8/13/37. His profile shows that the message was posted on 8/12/08. I don't know what you can do but it always shows up as the latest
posting in that Forum. It might fix itself once another posting is made but as another one has not been posted, and I don't have anything to post, I'm
not sure.

Keith

I was looking through http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/iau/lists/Nu ... 00001.html]a list of the first 5000 minor planets, and thought a few had names that were apropos for particular uses in Fenspace...

Anybody like these ideas? Anybody not like these ideas? Anybody have any more (remembering that most Main Belt bodies will be claimed by the people who live in the Main Belt)?

125 Liberatrix
A "homeland" for freed catgirl slaves who don't want to return to Earth or their factions.

342 Endymion
The Senshi's official token outpost in the Belt (but see also 2462)

388 Charybdis
Staging point for the last push in OGJ

476 Hedwig
Potterite communications station

519 Sylvania
A laboratory rock set aside for The Jason (rumors say you can already see "bonsai sakura" on the surface, if you look hard enough)

991 McDonalda
Home of the largest Ninjaburger franchise in Fenspace (established as a "preemptive strike")

1130 Skuld
Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Except a marker beacon claiming the entire asteroid as Sora Hasegawa's private property.

1186 Turnera
Sons of Turner home base

1247 Memoria
Monument to those who fell during OGJ, possibly growing into a system-wide memorial park

1405 Sibelius
Filker outpost

1625 The NORC
Resupply and logistics base for the Stingray; hosts a massive computer complex ("NORC" is short for "Naval Ordnance Research Calculator")

1931 Capek
Metropolis Project home base

2090 Mizuho
a Japanese-style high school
(If you have to ask why, you haven't seen the right anime yet)

2138 Swissair
Transportation hub

2244 Tesla
Spark colony (with a drydock for the Sol Bianca, maybe?)

2277 Moreau
a.k.a. Monster Asteroid

2309 Mr. Spock
Trekkie base

2462 Nehalennia
A "Dark Kingdom" Boskonian base, pretending to be a Senshi outpost

2579 Spartacus
Minor and unofficial Artemis base, mainly because OV-103 Discovery keeps visiting it

2700 Baikonur
A gift from Fenspace to the VVS after the sucessful conclusion of OGJ

3325 TARDIS
Whovian home (and sole) base; not very roomy

3869 Norton
Erisian base

4017 Disneya
Nothing yet, but claimed by Disney Corp...

4523 MIT
A satellite campus of the Vesta Institute of Technology

(Edit: Yes, I know it's a different Norton, a different Turner, a different Mr. Spock, a different Hedwig, and so on... although it is the same Disney.)
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

Gleefully stolen from this thread over on the Hero Games forums.

Quote: Michael Hopcraft posted -




The names of all 24,000 agents of the wartime OSS will be released to the public tomorrow, and one of the
most prominent of them is celebrity chef Julia Child.




The OSS was founded during World War II to give the United States a reliable intelligence presence. It was folded into the permanant CIA in 1945. The names
released tomorrow will be every field agent, intelligence analyst and clerk recruited by the OSS during the war.




Other prominent names include a Supreme Court justice, several prominent actors incluidng Sterling Hayden, two of Theodore Roosevelt's sons and historian
Arthur Sleschinger Jr.

Quote:

Quote:
Originally Posted by lemming





Yea, the knife kit was for her cooking...




Oh, and she never considered herself a chef.

"Now we CUT the Nazi ALONG the grain!"

Quote:

proditor posted :




And I now have this image of a young Julia Child, paired knives flashing, as she cuts her way through a dimly lit castle filled with nazis to stop them from
releasing their ultimate creation, the Ubersoldat, to wreck havoc on the allies.









Holy #$%^, someone get the Sci-Fi Channel on the line and tell Richard Grieco he's making a comeback!!

Quote: Hermit posted:




Castle Wolfenstien meets Agent Julia Child? I'm all for that

Quote: proditor posted:




I just keep seeing this mental picture of her landing in between like 5 Nazis and doing one of those flashy spins where she ends up on one knee, blades
raised out, and the guys all just drop.




The fact that I still have her in an apron makes it so mind-numbingly awesome that I can't see straight.

Quote: hermit posted:




Wait till she defeats the big ubernazi by drowning him in a tub of wine below the beams...


Ubernazi-"Goodenta ..*GLUB GLUB*"




Agent Julia- "Normally, I would say a little wine never hurts, but obviously in your case..."

Quote:

proditor posted:




*Grabs Hermit by the lapels and shakes him*




WE HAVE TO CALL GRIECO NOW!!! WE NEED TO OPTION THIS YESTERDAY!!!




*ponders*




Who do we get for Julia?

Quote: hermit posted:




The odd thing, it would still be better than 90% of the stuff the Sci Fi network does on its own.

Quote: proditor posted:




I have a first draft...Hermit, I used your line, I hope that's okay.




The establishing shot for our movie trailer is of a castle, tall, brooding and gothic, perched on a bavarian mountain. There is a flash of movement as
something dashes in front of the camera, but we don't get a clear view for even one second. We follow the motion as it almost glides up the hill,
vaulting over obstacles, climbing the sheer wall, and then leaping in through a high window.




We pull back to a small nazi patrol of 5 soldiers making their rounds. There is a frenetic burst of movement, flashes of silver and sound of cutting
predominates, horror is etched on each nazi face as the blood flows. We finally see that the silver is a very sharp, very elaborate, knife. In one final
flurry, a figure in the middle lands on one knee as the knives stop and all 5 nazis drop over dead.




Voiceover: Some serve in silence.




The camera pulls back and we begin to get our first glimpse of the figure. Comfortable shoes, a simple floral print dress, an apron.




Voiceover: Others turn up the heat.




Julia Child's head snaps up and we see fierce determination as she races off deeper in to the castle, slaughtering nazis like a samurai in a chambara
movie, arterial sprays going off like sprinklers in her wake.




Voiceover: But evil is never complacent.




Cut to a Nazi scientist turning to address his men. The scientist is played by Richard Grieco. "We are on the dawn of awesomeness for the Reich. When we
complete the Ubersoldat, NONE will dare stand in our way! Everything will be ours!'




From the doorway Julia speaks: "Tsk, tsk. Any chef can tell you, you don't always get to have your cake and eat it too..."




Montage of pure mayhem, knives, and violence follows.




We get the money shot, Julia drowning Grieco in a vat of wine.




"Normally I'd say a little wine never hurts, but in your case..."




FADE TO BLACK

Quote:

hermit posted:




COOL




I want 10% of all gross profits from related advertising, DVD sales, and internet downloads per pay, plus my name no later than five minutes into the
credits.




On second thought, maybe I'll use a pseudonym to play it safe

TALES OF THE LEGENDARY

PURRFECT TIMING

-//-----

In the dark cavern only the sound of soft, regular breathing revealed the presence of life. To one possessing night-sight, the faint glow peeking under the
sturdy and poorly-constructed door separating the chamber from the rest of the tunnels provided just enough light to make out a curled-up figure sleeping
peacefully on bare rock.

It was a girl... albeit a girl with unusual characteristics. Colloquially referred to as a catgirl, this one displayed the usual physical attributes: feline
ears poking through human-like hair; a restless tail; sharp fangs peeking from behind ordinary-seeming lips. She was dressed in little more than a layer of
dirt and straggly fur, and was skinny and malnourished; but a smile decorated her sleeping face and occasionally she would murmur something, a name perhaps,
without waking.

The sound of approaching feet caused her ears to twitch; by the time the footfalls stopped and the rattling of the door began, she was fully awake. She
crouched against the back wall of her prison cell, watching the door intently with a strange combination of predatory instincts and prey-like apprehension.

The door rattled again and swung open on crooked hinges, revealing a large, human-like figure. Human-like; but not human, not any longer. It was a troll,
born of science and drugs rather than magic and myth, but possessed of the same temperament and strength as the creatures of legend.

And the same sadistic sense of humor, thought the catgirl, but she kept it to herself. Her feline instincts screamed at her to attack; her human intelligence
warned her against such rash acts. As a result she remained silent and trembling, but survived.

As always, survival was all that mattered.

"Good kitty!" rumbled the troll approvingly. "Already awake. Time to work."

"My name is Sammy," she said defiantly, but without true heat. It was a game the troll enjoyed. It was one of the liberties she was permitted,
talking back to her owner, as long as she performed. Her fur involuntarily bristled, a natural instinct that was supposed to make her look bigger, more
threatening. Facing the troll, it was useless.

"Here, kitty, kitty," the troll said, stepping back and gesturing, a thin cord dangling from one massive paw. She didn't know his name, and
didn't care. It didn't matter. He was the third troll who'd had her since she was taken from the streets above, and was her current owner by
troll custom: he'd wanted her, so he beat up the troll who'd owned her before, just like that one had done to the one who'd captured her. At this
point she could barely tell any of them apart, save for the bracelet around the beefy wrist. Her bracelet, the only thing she'd ever owned that had always
been hers and a gift from a long-lost friend; now a symbol of ownership. The charms that she'd painstakingly gathered -- one for each of her family, that
collection of misfits struggling to survive in a city gone mad -- dangled and flashed reflected firelight into the room.

She rose to her feet and began to move towards the doorway -- can't keep the boss waiting, she thought ruefully -- and stopped as the green giant scowled,
exposing chipped and cracked tusks badly in need of dental attention.

"Kitties can't walk like two-legs," the troll said firmly. Sam paused for a moment, weighing her options. Then, as usual, she decided that
petty resistance wasn't worth the punishment. She dropped to all fours and docilely moved out into the tunnel. Cat-walking didn't bother her,
particularly -- she'd been a cat her whole life, and regularly ran on all fours when others weren't around to mock her for it -- but all the same, it
rankled to be told what to do by a stinking troll... and worse, to have to do it.

"Kitty do good today, kitty get GOOD food," the troll promised, clipping the grimy rope to her heavy leather collar -- another insult, but one that
she'd stopped fighting a long time ago. They just held her down and put it on again when she managed to tear it off, and they weren't gentle about it.

She grimaced. Doing good could mean too many things. She was a circus sideshow, a freak on a leash for the trolls, and whenever the urge for entertainment
struck them they'd haul out a captive or three for some form of sport. She didn't know what it would be today. With the trolls, it was usually
degrading, dangerous, or both.

Or it could merely be bone-breaking, spirit-crushing, hazardous menial labor. The trolls had some big project going on, she knew that much, but they'd
been careful to keep her deep in the warrens. She supposed she couldn't blame them. If she had room to run she could leave even the fastest of them in
the dust.

Her captor burst into horrible song, obviously cheerful about the day ahead. She flattened her ears back and tried not to listen. Thus it was that even she,
with her superior hearing, didn't notice the sound of an arrow being nocked and drawn, or its whistling flight through the air, until it was too late to
make a difference.

Not that she would have tried to stop it, had she known it was coming.

-//-----

Just Another Archer crept through the tunnels of the Troll headquarters. Her team was scattered; though they were regrouping on her position, she was alone
for the moment.

Well, not quite alone, she thought, as a small furry shadow detached itself from the darkness between two boulders and came her way. She knelt briefly to
allow Neko easy access to her shoulder.

"There's a Troll up ahead," Neko whispered. "Around the corner, about twenty yards. He's got a slave with him!"

Alice's eyes narrowed and she scowled. "He's alone?"

Neko nodded. "Yes. If we're quiet, we can--"

Just then, a terrible racket burst out, echoing down the cavern. Alice and Neko winced.

"What IS that?" Alice said, cringing away from the horrible noise.

"I think... I think he's singing," Neko replied dubiously. "Either that or he's trying to summon an ancient abomination from beyond
space and time." At her companion's incredulous look, Neko shrugged. "What? He's not likely to succeed, he's got the cadence all wrong
and he mispronounced the fourteenth syllable."

"I wonder about you sometimes," Alice said. She moved forward, edging around the corner and stopping in a patch of shadow. She could see the troll,
and just behind him, on hands and knees, his captive.

Alice nocked an arrow and raised her bow, taking aim carefully. Neko crouched low, shifting her weight to help balance the bow and steady her partner's
aim. Then Alice let fly.

-//-----

Thwip! The first arrow plunged into the troll's open mouth, silencing his ugly crooning and slamming him back into the wall. The second followed in quick
succession, slamming home into his flailing arm and pinning that to the rock. The third hid dead-center on his chest with a meaty thud.

Sam's eyes widened and she jerked back as the fourth arrow neatly severed the rope just beyond the end of her nose. She tumbled backwards in surprise and
lay stunned on her hands and feet, staring up at her former captor with wide eyes.

For his part, the troll seemed unamused. He roared and ripped his arm free of the wall, jerking the arrow out of his mouth with his free hand at the same
time. The arrow in his chest he ignored completely, bending over to rip a great hunk of rock out of the cavern floor and raising it over his head to hurl.

"Get down!" a voice cried, and Sam obeyed, throwing her arms over her head and rolling to burrow face-first into the dirt.

BOOM. A wash of heat rolled over her, the shockwave sending her sliding a few feet along the floor. The cavern shook, dirt and small rocks cascading down
from the ceiling, as an explosive arrow slammed into the troll. He was flung backwards by the detonation, landing sprawled on his back with a startled grunt,
and immediately began to clamber back to his feet. Sam stayed on her hands and feet and scurried to the side, diving behind a clump of boulders and peeking
out just in time to see an arrow blazing with bright yellow flame burst against the rising troll, scattering flaming debris in all directions. The troll beat
the flames out with angry fists and roared again, arching his back in defiant rage. Then he lumbered into a run, straight towards the newcomer. Sam peered
into the dust-filled darkness.

A hero! She was magnificent, standing tall and proud, nocking another arrow on her powerful bow and drawing it back with no sign of effort. Her face was
obscured by the bow; all Sam could see clearly was one cheek and eye; lips set in a scowl of determination, eye glinting with suppressed fury, almost fully
closed as she sighted down the length of her arrow.

The the archer opened her fingers, releasing the string, and again the cavern echoed to an explosion. This one the troll charged through without breaking
stride, drawing back one massive fist and releasing it in a powerful uppercut that sent the hero flying backwards, out of sight into the next tunnel in the
warren. Sam half-rose to her feet, then subsided as a flurry of arrows came whistling out of the darkness, several hitting the troll, the rest plunging into
the walls, floor, and ceiling.

Amazing! She'd seen the trolls hit each other like that, and had come to expect that it did them no lasting harm. But she'd also seen a captive, a
defiant young man, hit like that... and he had never gotten up again.

Her ears swiveled and she crouched lower, fangs exposed in a silent hiss. More trolls charged up the passageway, summoned by the sounds of combat. Jostling
and jeering at each other, each clamoring to be the first to engage the intruders, they boiled past her hiding spot without noticing her.

They reached the tunnel where the fight was taking place, and for a moment there was silence. Very clearly, Sam could hear a plaintive "Aw, -crap-,"
come around the corner. Then another explosive arrow flashed into the tightly packed trolls, sending them flying in all directions like bowling pins.

The trolls regrouped, charging into the tunnel like a living cork, and Sam -moved-. She darted out from behind her cover, sticking to the wall and staying as
low and as silent as her feline nature would let her. She paused for only a moment at the three-way junction, peering into the flaming, dust-filled murk that
the side tunnel had become, and saw a sight that would, she knew, remain with her for the rest of her life.

Beset on all sides, the archer stood defiant behind a low ridge in the tunnel. The trolls were charging en masse over the ridge, and each was met by an arrow
as they crested the rise. There was no fear in the archer's stance, only a fierce determination that practically screamed that if she was going down then
by god ALL of them were going down with her.

Sam thanked her silently with tears in her eyes, and turned to run. A glint in the dirt caught her eye; she bent lower and smiled. Her bracelet, torn free
from her former owner by some freak accident, lay there. She scooped it up and quickly fastened it back on her own wrist where it belonged.

Then she used every ounce of speed and stealth she possessed, trusting her nose to lead her towards the freshest air, and freedom.

I don't know who you are, she thought to herself as she prowled the warren. But I'll remember you for the rest of my life.

-//-----

Alice dropped to one knee, exhausted and panting. Neko rubbed against her cheek in comfort.

"Did she *wheeze* get out?" Alice managed to say. Around her lay a half-dozen trolls, with more scattered along the tunnel. She'd been forced
to fight a holding action until her team had arrived. It had been a close thing.

And it meant that, in the ruckus, she'd lost track of the slave she'd been trying to rescue.

"I believe so," Neko replied. "I saw her for a moment, just barely. She was sneaking away while we held the trolls' attention."

"Oh, good." Alice stayed there a moment, recovering her strength. Her teammates were further down the tunnel, clearing up the stragglers. Alice
rose and nocked a burning arrow on her bow and trotted down the corridor to find them.

"I hope she makes it out okay," she added. Neko nodded. Up ahead, another contingent of trolls poured out of a cross-tunnel.

With a defiant battlecry, Neko and Archer leaped into the fray.

-//-----

The doors to Atlas Park's City Hall building burst open and a red-and-black blur streaked out.

"I got it I got it I got it!" Sammy yelled in glee, tackling a taller, almost professorial figure and whirling her around. She let go -- the older
woman adjusted her glasses and raised an eyebrow in amusement -- and proudly displayed the nearly-indestructable card. A class-H (provisional) license winked
in the afternoon sun.

"Indeed you did," she noted mildly. "And even the name you wanted. Congratulations, Samantha. Or should I refer to you as Purrfect Scrapper
now?" She smiled down at the exuberant catgirl.

"Mrs. Wilde! You can keep calling me Sam, or Sammy, or, well, just about anything." She closed her eyes and hugged the card to her chest. "I
owe you guys everything."

"Not quite everything," the Headmistress of the Home for Wayward Catgirls replied.

"No... not quite," Sammy agreed, smiling. She tucked the card away and smoothed her sweater. "I have to find the Archer."

"Well. It's good to see one of you young ladies show some drive and ambition," the Headmistress noted. "Be sure and write once in a while
to tell us how things are going. And remember, Samantha... we're there if you need us."

"I will! And... thank you again."

"Our pleasure, dear. It's what the Home is there for, after all." The woman smiled. "Now, I must be off if I'm to catch the train on
time. So many of you leaving all at once... it must be something in the air."

She hugged Sammy again, briefly, then turned and strode briskly down the steps toward the waiting sedan. Sam watched her go with a fond smile. The Home had
been just what she needed, at the time... but it was time to move on.

She sat on the ledge overlooking the street, ignoring the commotion behind her as heroes came and went and danced and talked, and took out a small notebook,
opening it in her lap and flipping slowly through the pages.

A newspaper clipping. "JUST ANOTHER ARCHER RESCUES SLAVES", referring to that long-ago day when her hero had appeared out of nowhere. A folded
piece of paper, a printout from the library, showing when the Archer had changed her hero name from Just Another Archer to Purrfect Archer. Here was another
photo clipping, taken in this very plaza on the day Archer had joined The Legendary. And so on. The notebook held every scrap of information Sam had, and it
wasn't quite enough. She still didn't know who the girl was, or how to contact her.

But that was about to change. Yes, it was time. Time to take control of her own life for a change. Time to find the hero who'd saved her, who had made
it all possible. Who she wanted to be like more than anyone else in the world.

Grinning to herself, Purrfect Scrapper jumped lightly down from the plaza and set to work. Surely ONE of these gang members would have an idea where to find
the Purrfect Archer. All she had to do was shake it out of them.

--sofaspud
--"Listening to your kid is the audio equivalent of a Salvador Dali painting, Spud." --OpMegs

Do we have an approximate population in the Fenspace, say around 2012? With or without tourists/itenerants?
Ebony the Black Dragon
http://ebony14.livejournal.com

"Good night, and may the Good Lord take a Viking to you."

Just to let folks know... whether I can get the 404 thing to work or not (I haven't had the time at home or work to call NetCarrier tech support or look up
more capable ftp programs yet), I'm planning on taking the new website live come Saturday. If you've been meaning to poke around the beta version and
find something you can embarrass me with after release, this is your last chance.

http://www.eclipse.net/~rms/test
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

It's this weekend, and I'll be there. So I was wondering if anyone else was going to be.

(Hmmm, lot of cons lately...)

-Morgan. ... ... ... (Witches?)

I was wondering has any group member heard of any of the so called peace movements marching or demonstrating against what Russia is doing in Georgia?

Has there been any picketing of any Russian embassy anywhere in the world?

So, Zero notice to you guys here. But I'm going to be at GenCon Indy once again this year.

If anyone is in the area, or is attending as well, and feels like hooking up. Let me know.

I intend to have fun, and if they are giving away costume codes for Coh, I'll be certain to pick a few up.
-Terry
-----
"so listen up boy, or pornography starring your mother will be the second worst thing to happen to you today"
TF2: Spy

As some of you may know, Wikia has a wiki for fan fiction. A wiki that
frankly, could stand a lot of improvement. I wrote first drafts for Twisted
Path and (of course) Drunkard's Walk, but both could use a
lot of improvement. And I wouldn't even know WHERE to start on a page for Undocumented Features, Legion's Quest, or lots of other stuff. So I'd
like to rally the efforts of these forums to basically blitz the wiki and get some decent content written up. Would anybody be interested in joining the
effort?

(My initial request was posted in late June. Since then I've added an article for Team 8 and repeated the request on that fic's author's forums.)