Laghail's Wandering Inn

[Laghail]

17 minutes ago, Scaly Freak said:

 

Ouch. I hope it ends soon! (Glad everyone is well!)

Yeah, some OB/GYN stuff. People with vaginas are bad-asses. Full stop. 

[Scaly Freak]

15 minutes ago, Laghail said:

Yeah, some OB/GYN stuff. People with vaginas are bad-asses. Full stop. 

 

Ooof. My deepest sympathies to the owner of the vagina. That is not a good place to have medical issues! I'm glad they're doing better now. 

[iatetheyeti]

13 hours ago, Laghail said:

Update: had some family medical drama that ate up a lot of yesterday evening and most the day so far. All of the family is well, and I refuse to count the last two days as anything but coping successes.

 

I'm glad everyone is well, medical drama, particularly of that nature, is never a fun thing to deal with at all.

 

Also, are those your pups? They're adorable!

 

[Mr_Willes]

20 hours ago, Wild Wolf said:

 

LMAO....you sir....you are a master of gifs. I already knew this but every once in a while you'll pull one out of your ass that really makes me laugh. Well done 

 

Wolf

 

It's not about searching for new GIFs it's the subtle art of placing the right GIF at the right ocassion

 

[Mr_Willes]

20 hours ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

t's fun to learn stuff, and in the U.S. a second language can be a type of status symbol. It can also help with job searches. I know my ability to speak Spanish is a great asset as a hospital chaplain. It helped me go from part time to full time faster than some of my colleagues. 

 

Okay this satisfies my need for explanation. Thanks!

[Laghail]

On 10/23/2020 at 5:06 AM, iatetheyeti said:

 

I'm glad everyone is well, medical drama, particularly of that nature, is never a fun thing to deal with at all.

 

Also, are those your pups? They're adorable!

 

Yup, the 3 year old girl with silver hair is Elsie, and the 3 month old bitey floof butt is her younger half brother caspian. They make covid life so much better!

[Mr_Willes]

9 hours ago, Laghail said:

Yup, the 3 year old girl with silver hair is Elsie, and the 3 month old bitey floof butt is her younger half brother caspian. They make covid life so much better!

 

So much truth, but not only COVID life, my "little" fur covered buddy, is THE best friend in the world. There is some definite bromance going on between us.

[iatetheyeti]

9 hours ago, Laghail said:

Yup, the 3 year old girl with silver hair is Elsie, and the 3 month old bitey floof butt is her younger half brother caspian. They make covid life so much better!

 

Please give them hugs from me! I seriously miss having a dog so much, I can well imagine how much easier they make life during times like these.

 

[Laghail]

Streaking with Saliss

Sad Saliss is wearing pants, and my duolingo streak is back to 0. Onwards! 

 

Grimalkin's Cruel Tutelage

No huge breakthroughs, dropped a few workouts while at the ER, but got a light run in on those days for mental health reasons. Squat at 425 for a sorta covid PR; I hit 435 back in late august, but tweaked my back finishing the rep. We'll call this a recovery PR because Gramalkin needs gainz.

Also, the image above seems to have Grimalkin skipping a lot of leg days. Buddy, you're the [Muscle Magus] of Pallas, get on them squats.

 

Octavia's Workbench

Stav and Tein - This is done and christ jesus it sounded so good. I drilled a 4mm hole near the top of a 5 foot long driftwood stick, then strung lacquered nut shells, sea glass, wooden beads, and 9 bells and tied them into the top of the stav. You play the instrument by holding the bottom of the loop to the stav and thumping it on the ground with one hand, while you pick out your rhythms with the tein in your other hand. I grabbed a poorly lit picture of the finished piece, but christ the sound was perfect. 

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CGqQzp1DXNx/?igshid=8fyytpygfhot
 

Garden of Sanctuary

Beautiful time mound sitting last week with a few hippy friends on Tuesday, then monthly covid-safe drum circle on Friday evening was just what the doctor ordered after all the medical drama. My hippy nurse friend who is the drum circle keeper, she did such a beautiful job setting up an opportunity for folks to celebrate the friends and family who've passed, gathering us around a bonfire with mandatory masks and distancing. We wrote letters to our departed family and then wrapped the letters around aromatics before sending the prayers in the smoke. Also the Cajon I've been playing with is pretty sweet for outdoor drum circles. I put plastic sheeting on the ground to keep mud off it, then just sat on the fucker for the entire evening. I have a small taiko drum that I'm repairing before the zoom drum circles start, and it'll be fun to see how the little guy sounds indoors.

 

Olesm's Chess Journal

For the Dresden RPG, the players drew up high level concepts and worked their way through FATE aspects 1-7 (okay, we combined 6 and 7), so they got all the fluff done for character creation, but fate makes the fluff/crunch distinction fuzzy and I'm here for it. Of the 8 players, 3 know dresden really well, 1 is system savy and can read wiki's, and 4 have no clue. Also, I'm aiming for faction heavy plots with moderate amounts of combat. This will be interesting *evil grin*

Spoiler

High Concept (Aspect 1):

Ian – Skeptical Jekyll and Magical Hyde

Liam – Magic hungry muggle

Chris – Adopted wolfman

Preston – Burgeoning psychic with hall-monitor morality

Caleb – Aspiring Sorcerer chip on his shoulder

Stephan – Pillaging Megachurches for Fame and Prophet

Bonni – Lone wolf and cub(s)

Jason – Vampiric Sex Therapist

Power Level: Waist Deep

Template:

Ian - Minor talent / Pure Mortal / Item of power

Liam - Pure Mortal

Chris - Beast changeling

Preston- Scion

Caleb - Sorcerer

Stephan – Lycanthrope / Emissary of Power

Bonni – Emissary of Power

Jason - White court

Trouble (Aspect 2):

Ian – You’re trapped in here with me (split personality struggle)

Liam – magic is the green light at the end of the pier (until it’s not, fuck you F. Scott)

Chris – Specism/half-breed bigotry, Himbo with a heart of gold

Preston – Compulsive corrector and socially triggered

Caleb – Starting from scratch and pissed about it (legal and warden trouble)

Stephan – Subtly happens to other people

Bonni – Raising supernatural teenagers while keeping your dragon boss happy (HR isn’t a thing)

Jason – Jon Snow syndrome and a short leash

 

Where did you come from (Aspect 3):

Ian – Dawkins atheist ex-vangelical / ancient Mesopotamia

Liam – Prep-school prodigy with tiger-parents in Shorewood

Chris – Foster kid, grew up with humans

Preston – West Allis childhood, listened to The Cure

Caleb – Silicon valley wunderkid, invented Tinder after dropping out of college

Stephan – Russian orphanage kid, priests wrecked the town (also Chernobyl)

Bonni – Cult of the dragon, it’s a family thing

Jason – WASPy New England boarding school byblow, minor trustfund, outcast among heir (resentful entitlement)

What Shaped you (Aspect 4):

Ian – Brought an artifact home over the weekend, and then woke up in jail; security footage shows things got weird, Inanna style

Liam – Graduated college magna cum laude, then a vampire vs wizard battle broke his understanding of the “normal world”

Chris – Nature emerged with puberty, bringing physical powers with his anger and he only has the foggiest idea that he’s not human

Preston – Elementary school psychic awakening 

Caleb – Server room rage and the fallout from damaged people and equipment. Warden gave him a strict talking to, but no real handle on the situation

Stephan – Chernobyl happened. Probably because of the Christians, but maybe because his supernatural strength manifested while he was rage punching the wall of the nuclear reactor’s cooling stack

Bonni – Baby I was born this way – Also the dragon made you adopt the furballs. FML

Jason – Born and raised among white court society, adjusting to mortal life in boarding school was the real threshold moment. Grappling with being a white court byblow began at childhood birthdays and Christmas, and the trend only got worse

What was your first adventure (Aspect 5):

Ian – Inanna made me do it – I broke into a museum because she kept hijacking my body. And she sucks as a cat burglar. “Plow my vulva!” isn’t part of playing it cool.

Preston – Edited your adoptive parents’ memories to GTFO. It was hard. #SadBoi

Caleb – After the powers blossomed, he road the rails with a bindle chasing tutelage and drugs. Mostly Tutelage. Realized his power is much more than the hedge witches who were teaching him. Good times did not ensue.

Chris – Navigating the queer culture in riverwest.

Stephan – Bare knuckle boxing with a troll in Ukraine, and he lost. He woke up three days later, under a bridge in the dirty ‘stallis.

Bonni – Stealing art at the dragons request, while still making it to the kids’ soccer game.

Jason – Mid-highschool age, he hung with the tough kids at prep school, snuck into an upper class’s party, and realized his powers not only set him apart, but also made him stronger than the mortals

Whose Paths have you crossed (Aspect 6):

Ian – Inanna tried to steal from Bonni’s dragon, and bonni got the goddess-ridden archeologist out the side door, without noticing that dat bitch stole his mcguffin. Is also seeing Jason because, Inanna.

Bonni – “It belongs in a museum” – NOT! Bonni was tasked to recover the artifact from the art museum and accidentally manifested dragon breath, setting a Pollock on fire. Inexplicably, an archeologist covered for Bonni and the two are now frenemies. Also purposely lives in a building with other were’s, including Chris.

Jason - Ian’s character is getting therapy for his gender dysphoria/Sumerian goddess problem. Preston’s parents made him see a therapist, thinking their son was asexual and they wanted that fixed. Cause, girls.

Chris – A bartender in riverwest, he supplies the liquid therapy as the other PC’s leave jason’s office.

Preston – Going to counseling with Jason, works coding jobs in the gig economy, lives on uber eats, caleb crashes on his couch

Caleb – corresponds with liam on 4chan/mage about paranormal education in Milwaukee. Crashes on Preston’s couch. Weirdly has lots of furry neighbors in his riverwest building.

Liam -

Stephen – Uber eats driver, and chris’ character kept ordering inhuman amounts of food. One day

 

[Laghail]

Can we talk about Numbtongue and how often he's twink-ified?? Bards can be thicc y'all.

 

[Mike Wazowski]

I'm very unfamiliar with the source material - but as a counterpoint, don't most bards have an average (i.e. 10) to slightly above average (e.g. no higher than 13) strength score in typical builds? It feels weird to think that someone who's objectively just a bit better than normal at tasks requiring physical strength would be jacked, ya know?

 

Just to be the contrarian jack*ss we all know I am.

[Scaly Freak]

3 minutes ago, Mike Wazowski said:

It feels weird to think that someone who's objectively just a bit better than normal at tasks requiring physical strength would be jacked, ya know?

 

The average D&D attribute score is 8, yes. However, the average non-adventurer in the D&D setting has attribute scores far below that. Adventurers are not "normal". They are the ones who, in our world, would be professional athletes, special forces soldiers, Nobel price winners, and so on. Average for an adventurer means you're good enough to play in the NBA or in the New York Philharmonic. A very high attribute score means you're Giannis Antetokoumpo or Yo-Yo Ma.

 

Sorry. Reflex reaction.  

[Mike Wazowski]

1 minute ago, Scaly Freak said:

The average D&D attribute score is 8, yes. However, the average non-adventurer in the D&D setting has attribute scores far below that. Adventurers are not "normal". They are the ones who, in our world, would be professional athletes, special forces soldiers, Nobel price winners, and so on. Average for an adventurer means you're good enough to play in the NBA or in the New York Philharmonic. A very high attribute score means you're Giannis Antetokoumpo or Yo-Yo Ma.

 

Sorry. Reflex reaction.  

I'm pretty sure average was 10, at least in the 3rd edition sourcebook (last one I owned) and NPC's were generally with straight average scores (if they were unimportant ones, e.g. your average commoner was 1st level, had straight 10's, and was in a class that made them appreciably worse than even a mediocre 1st-level adventurer). With 8, maybe 6 being the floor for the range of humanoid traits in the typical population (obviously, rolling terribly unluckily for character generation could get you lower, but I'm talking general, especially thinking of standard array or point buy ability score generation). Adventurers typically have attribute scores far above 10 (standard array being 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8 for example) so yes, of course they're well above average in many (most) respects. But the few scores where they've got not-particularly-impressive attributes doesn't seem like it would define their physical characteristics to any appreciable extent (in my imagining). Not telling other people how to run their RPG's because the goal is to have fun, but I typically imagine fighters who are a bit duller than average (if they had an 8 in Int), wizards who are a bit more waifish than average (if Str=8), and so on (again, because that's how I've typically made sense of D&D, Pathfinder, and related games' ability systems). Part of it also might be that I'm too much of an Anders Ericsson thinker when it comes to human development (deep cut for a very particular type of nerd) and as a result don't like to conceptualize characters as way, way above average at everything under the sun.

[Scaly Freak]

4 minutes ago, Mike Wazowski said:

I'm pretty sure average was 10, at least in the 3rd edition sourcebook (last one I owned) and NPC's were generally with straight average scores (if they were unimportant ones, e.g. your average commoner was 1st level, had straight 10's, and was in a class that made them appreciably worse than even a mediocre 1st-level adventurer).

 

I think the last time I looked at NPC stats was when I was trying to determine the physical form of a character's familiar... and humanoid wasn't an option, so I'll take your word for it.

 

Sure, Fighters are probably not as intelligent as the Wizard in the group, but I've always been of the opinion that stupid people typically don't excel at physical pursuits that require skill. The most successful professional athletes are also very intelligent, and this includes the best martial artists. The way I see it, which is a very subjective interpretation that could be completely wrong, is that an attribute too high to have a negative modifier, is above average. How else are we going to survive to higher levels?  

[Laghail]

13 minutes ago, Mike Wazowski said:

I'm pretty sure average was 10, at least in the 3rd edition sourcebook (last one I owned) and NPC's were generally with straight average scores (if they were unimportant ones, e.g. your average commoner was 1st level, had straight 10's, and was in a class that made them appreciably worse than even a mediocre 1st-level adventurer). With 8, maybe 6 being the floor for the range of humanoid traits in the typical population (obviously, rolling terribly unluckily for character generation could get you lower, but I'm talking general, especially thinking of standard array or point buy ability score generation). Adventurers typically have attribute scores far above 10 (standard array being 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8 for example) so yes, of course they're well above average in many (most) respects. But the few scores where they've got not-particularly-impressive attributes doesn't seem like it would define their physical characteristics to any appreciable extent (in my imagining). Not telling other people how to run their RPG's because the goal is to have fun, but I typically imagine fighters who are a bit duller than average (if they had an 8 in Int), wizards who are a bit more waifish than average (if Str=8), and so on (again, because that's how I've typically made sense of D&D, Pathfinder, and related games' ability systems). Part of it also might be that I'm too much of an Anders Ericsson thinker when it comes to human development (deep cut for a very particular type of nerd) and as a result don't like to conceptualize characters as way, way above average at everything under the sun.

No, you win the point on DnD, completely. In the source material at hand, the goblins ascend to hobgoblin status and bulk mad gainz, just before they seven samurai a glorious charge against a horde. One of them gets the bard class, and his fan art suddenly changes from a girthy green giant, to a hobbit with weird ears. Such is life!

Enjoy Numbtongue (twunk edition) with Pyrite and Reis:

 

[Laghail]

also, this happened today 

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CG29kATjVyd/?igshid=1mjgeboxu9va9

[Scaly Freak]

37 minutes ago, Laghail said:

In the source material at hand, the goblins ascend to hobgoblin status and bulk mad gainz, just before they seven samurai a glorious charge against a horde. One of them gets the bard class, and his fan art suddenly changes from a girthy green giant, to a hobbit with weird ears.

 

That's just weird. 

 

And now I suddenly very much want to play a half-orc metal bard with a STR of 17. I need to find a way to make this happen.

[Mr_Willes]

Can tell you a Goblin Monk can be quite fun too... (no it's not Yoda)

 

[Laghail]

Streaking with Saliss

Medical emergency continues! Spent ten hours driving yesterday to take a family member to the Mayo ob/gyn. If I bottom out on this goal as of end of week, I'll edit it from this months challenge.

 

Grimalkin's Cruel Tutelage

 

Light pull day on Tuesday and travel day yesterday. Should be doing heavy bench again this evening, goal is 5 reps at 315.

 

 

Octavia's Workbench

 

Finished the sodalite, charoite, and howlite mala yesterday; just in time for miss laghail to steal it. Miss Laghail has impeccable taste and I've been trying for the last three years to make a piece that i'd enjoy and she'd actually wear. Her theft yesterday is actually an honor, even while that means I need to make a replacement mala - I'm thinking amethyst, obsidian, and  hematite. It's for a buddhist friend who's also in the kink scene, so Imma try and make it come off more parts sleek than crunchy.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CG7n5Jaj_L4/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

 

Garden of Sanctuary

So I take miss laghail to mayo like, every other month, and it's wonderful to sink into some extended sitting practice while she's in her appointments. The Center for the Spirit is pictured below and it's my Mayo clinic home base while Miss Laghail is in surgery or talking with the docs. The pic is a canned picture from the site, and it doesn't show the meditation labyrinth, or the piles of prayer rugs for my muslim neighbors. 

 

 

Olesm's Chess Journal

Dnd tomorrow actually, I'm rocking a ghostwise circle of the moon druid, and at level 6, he's past the crazy power phase of the build's levels 1-4, and I'm finally past level 5 where most wildshape level 1 forms are suddenly irrelevant. Time to cause trouble as a telepathic polar bear!

[Laghail]

also, work from home life 

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CG7-g8cAg3f/?igshid=16faqt3da0dc3

[Laghail]

Also, miss Laghail says she’s getting a guestbook for her vagina; every visit to the ER or doctor or clinic has a medical professional bringing a bevy of medical students to learn from her unique case and deliver a classroom experience while she’s in the stirrups. 

people with vaginas are bad-ass.

[Scaly Freak]

My employer uses SharePoint online for company wide communications, because that's the easiest way to do it when you're a large global company. They have create a social feed (works like Facebook, more or less) they have named WFH with Pets! where everyone they encourage us to post pictures of our pet office mate. There is a sub-channel dedicated to collectively trying to figure out how to reduce the separation anxiety and possible trauma that will be inflicted on these pour creatures as the workforce starts leaving our home offices to go back to the corporate ones full time. I have genuine concerns for my Happy Sidekick.

 

1 minute ago, Laghail said:

Also, miss Laghail says she’s getting a guestbook for her vagina; every visit to the ER or doctor or clinic has a medical professional bringing a bevy of medical students to learn from her unique case and deliver a classroom experience while she’s in the stirrups. 

 

With her full knowledge and consent, I hope! If not, formal complaints need to be made with every possible authority and oversight committee.

[Laghail]

3 minutes ago, Scaly Freak said:

My employer uses SharePoint online for company wide communications, because that's the easiest way to do it when you're a large global company. They have create a social feed (works like Facebook, more or less) they have named WFH with Pets! where everyone they encourage us to post pictures of our pet office mate. There is a sub-channel dedicated to collectively trying to figure out how to reduce the separation anxiety and possible trauma that will be inflicted on these pour creatures as the workforce starts leaving our home offices to go back to the corporate ones full time. I have genuine concerns for my Happy Sidekick.

 

 

With her full knowledge and consent, I hope! If not, formal complaints need to be made with every possible authority and oversight committee.

Do we work for the same company? Mine has the same thread!

 

with her full consent. She fires doctors fast, and has assembled a world class team of women. When she trusts the ladies take care of her, she’s very on board with letting students learn from her unique case. 

[Scaly Freak]

27 minutes ago, Laghail said:

Do we work for the same company? Mine has the same thread!

 

That is entirely possible. Like The Borg, my company is everywhere and assimilates greedily. Alternatively, every tech company in the world has realized that pictures of cute and happy animals are an easy way to increase morale in an unexpectedly drawn-out WFH situation  

 

And that is good news about the full consent. I will put the sharp weapons away, for now.

[KB Girl]

1 hour ago, Laghail said:

Also, miss Laghail says she’s getting a guestbook for her vagina; every visit to the ER or doctor or clinic has a medical professional bringing a bevy of medical students to learn from her unique case and deliver a classroom experience while she’s in the stirrups. 

assuming proper consent was obtained, that's really cool of her to do