A WIP

The start of an idea, feel free to pick it to pieces. Final format not set in stone, stay tuned for further updates. Basically a poet/minstrel type person followed Mahray on a campaign (on occasion straying too close to the front line for comfort) and has decided to immortalise Mahray in poetry.

Mahray looked out over the open plains,
Searching for meaning, he couldn't comprehend,
Looking around at his army's gains,
He watched the blood flow down, past the river's bend.

Wearied by slaughter he put down his mace.
How many men killed, how many were lost?
He could see the same look on every face,
Victory was theirs, was it worth the cost?

Friends, collegues, all gone to die,
For an unknown cause, theirs not to know
Theirs but to do, they had to try
And beat the relentless foe.

Legions on foot, many more on horse,
Facing their fears, the edge of a knife.
The battle had raged, there was no recourse,
But to fight, for glory, for life.

They fought for themselves, they fought for him,
Their own great Lord, the one up on high.
Risking their all, losing life and limb,
They fought 'till the end was nigh.

Then he was there, handsome and tall,
Facing his foe, he did not bend.
For him these men had given their all,
For him they would fight to the end.

Some random stanzas, not sure where these will fit yet (if they go in at all).

Night had fallen, yet the sound remained,
Sounds of joy, sounds of pain,
The jubulant shouts, the screams of the maimed,
Mingling, all mixed with the rain.

The vows he had made, to spill no blood,
Never to use the sharpened edge,
Now lives would end to the sound of a thud,
*Here's where I ran out of inspiration*

Stories Needed

Ok, we now have the basic crew and passengers of the Deadlock.

What we now need is stories about what you were like before you joined up with Commander Stone. This could be a single episode that stands out in your life, a bit about your childhood and upbringing, when you first fell in love, that first spell you tried that went horribly wrong... Anything and everything that has helped you become who you are.

They don't have to be particularly long, however if you want you can write a lot. Send them to me at yarham@gmail.com.

I have studied editing at university, so unless you have an objection to me doing so, I will be cleaning them up a little bit. Any major changes I will check with the author first.

Go out and get writing!

Access to Deadlock

If any of the crew or passengers of the Deadlock want access, just drop me an email at yarham@gmail.com.

Commander Stone - Captain of the Deadlock

There are many mysteries surrounding Stone, some are even a mystery to the man himself. He was discovered nearly 40 years ago as a baby, by nurses working in a hospital on one of the central planets. Two nurses heard crying coming from a crate that had once contained appleton sandstone, and upon opening the crate found a baby. The nurses took him inside and nicknamed him Stone. The name stuck and it's the name he's used for 40 years.

The baby was perfectly healthy, and apart from a tattoo on his arm of some strange symbol thought by some to be a magical rune, he was unmarked. Although never learning the ways of magic himself, he knew there was a power there and how important those with the ability could be. He grew up a quiet and troubled child, never really feeling that he belonged anywhere. At the age of around 15, he lied about his age and joined the navy, where he belong his long and slow climb throughthe ranks.

Never actively seeking promotion, it seemed to seek him. He was disciplined on several occasions for disobeying orders, culminating one time in striking his commanding officer. It was later found that this officer was breaking several interstellar treaties on the treatment of civilians. Stone was given a commendation for his role in taking over the ship and rescuing the civilians that the commander had stranded.

It was shortly after this that he was granted the rank of Commander and given command of the battleship Ramillies. Deployed to the main shipping route on the border between the central "civilised" zone and the outer systems, its role was one of border patrol and coast guard.18 months after starting the assignment, the Ramillies was ordered to detain a ship that was possibly transporting illegal weapons . He tried several times to talk the ship into stopping and to stand by to be boarded, but the vessel ignored him. Contacting HQ, he was informed that the ship contained rebel solders and must be stopped before crossing the border. He was given permission, and indeed orders, to fire on the ship.

Stone fired several warning shots before ordering the engines to be targeted. A single shot left the Ramillies and struck the engine core of the supposed rebel ship. A feedback in the engine core caused several hull breaches, and the ship lost life support. Stone quickly ordered a boarding crew to rescue survivors; the chief who lead the boarding party reported back, obviously shaken, and requested Stone to board the enemy vessel. The sight that met Stone would change the course of his life. The so-called rebel ship wasn't transporting weapons, or soldiers, it in fact had 20 families; men, women and children who were fleeing from the lawlessness of the outer planets, looking for a new life in the central systems. All were dead. He had been lied to by the only people he had ever trusted.

Stone resigned his commission shortly after and left the service. He travelled from planet to planet seeking out jobs here and there. He saw the corrupt minds behind the so called "civilised" planets and he knew what he needed to do. All he needed now was a good ship and a crew.

Character Development

For those of you who want to develop your existing character, or create a new one, heres a few tips.

Firstly, think of the core of who you are. If you had to use one or two words to describe yourself, what would they be? This could be a job occupation (Mercenary), or a description (Latin Heart-throb).

Ok, so you have a basic idea of who you are. Start fleshing this out a bit. Appearance can come in here, think of any distinguishing features you might have. Think about favourite hobbies/weapons/people, things that make your character a person rather than 'Red Shirt 1'.

A bit of history is always useful. It doesn't matter if you don't tell anyone or not, sometimes the mysterious past thing can be quite useful, but it does help to understand your motivations if you now where you're coming from. Where you abused as a child? (Hopefully not!) Did you grow up in the city, or the bush? A space station perhaps? Where you a single child, or part of a large family? Things like this, even when not explicitely stated, can add a great deal of depth.

Remember, your character will develop over time (unless they get killed off). Not many people spill their life stories the moment they meet someone new, it often takes weeks, months, or years to fully understand someone (unless they're a woman, in which case you can never understand them).

The World of Deadlock

I've been thinking over the past day or two about the world of Deadlock. There are a few constraints that we need to work into our universe; firstly we have medieval technology and magic users. We also have the crew and passengers of the Deadlock inhabiting a spaceship, so modern technology is available.

This is what I've come up with so far, let me know what you think. This is your world, your universe, your characters. If you think my ideas are crap, let me know. On the flip side of the coin, if you like them, let me know as well (I need some praise occasionally).

The World of Deadlock

Magic

Firstly, magic exists. Whether expressed as 'classical' magic powers, or the advanced use of psychic ability, magic (for lack of a better term) permeates throughout the universe. In some places it is stronger than others, and some people have theorised that it waxes and wanes as the centuries pass. Some cultures fear their magic users, others venerate them. They are know in various places as witches, mages, psychics, or just people who seem to have all the luck.

Technology

Technology is also in an advanced state of development in the Deadlock universe. Spaceships provide transportation for people and cargo between and inside solar systems. The advance of technology has also led to advanced weapons being developed, which soon after their development left a number of areas barren wastelands, where it seems life itself no longer wishes to remain.

Culture

The rapid development of technology and the effects of weapons and pollution in some environments led to a revolution of sorts. People saw the negative effects of technology, and began to yearn for a return to the days of generations past, where advanced technology did not exist. In addition, in some cases contact was lost with outlying colonies, whether by misfortune or deliberate act by one or more parties. In many cases, when the supply of components unable to be manufactured locally dried up, cultures began to lose their most advanced machinery.

Due to these factors, many levels of technological and magical development exist in the Deadlock universe. In some cultures, technology is at the pinnacle of its development, in others the mages hold power. Contact between cultures and worlds is often controlled, sometimes the existence of other cultures is not know to the general population. Other planets are hubs of commerce, and host many species; where mages and engineers can interact and develop joint ventures.

The future

The question now becomes 'What next?'. We need to fill out our characters, find more out about the past of the elusive Commander Stone, discover what the Dreadlock looks like. Is she a merchant vessel, an unarmoured transport, an ex-military ship? Do we have a home base, or just wander around the universe at large seeking adventure?

Mahray the Mercenary

Mahray is a mercenary, born and bred. Mahray comes from what many would consider a backward culture, and has little trust for the higher forms of technology, and also distrusts magic and psychic abilities, although to a lesser extent. He is happiest in close combat, and while Mahray can shoot a gun, he prefers the more personal nature of blunt weapons.

While not being completely happy in spaceships, mercenaries need to travel to make money, so Mahray is resigned to spending his life in transit, and often has trouble forming friendships. Due to the nature of the mercenary trade, collegues may have to fight each other in the next war or skirmish, and in a sense this is the reason for Mahray's choice of lifestyle, since he was never particularly sociable as a boy.

Mahray has travelled extensively in his time as a mercenary, and has visited many places, and fought in many different conflicts. He is taller than many, and in the words of his old tribe "built like a brick dunny", which translates into a rather stocky person. To many strangers Mahray appears soft, an appearance which he uses to great effect. In truth, while he has lost a bit of his edge over the last few years, Mahray is still a proficient warrior. For reasons of his own, he is currently providing companionship and protection for Vidia.

Enrico

In his own words, Enrico is "Suave, sexy, and sophisticated". It must be admitted that many ladies throughout a number of worlds would agree with this description. Unfortunately, the description attached to the countless arrest warrants varies with this assessment somewhat.

It must be admitted that Enrico can be quite charming when he wants to, which is mostly when members of the fairer sex are nearby. He cuts a wide swathe through the ladies, with his charming latin looks and accent. However, no man is perfect, and Enrico has a number of flaws, many mornings are started with a hangover from an excessive night.

Eva the Psychic

Eva is a smaller woman, standing about five feet seven in bare feet. Her dark hair frames a delicate face, with a small nose delicately balanced below her beautiful brown eyes. While short in height, this buxom brunette is not short in power, being a psychic of no mean ability, her powers helping the crew in many sticky situations.

While being a powerful psychic, Eva is also a compassionate and kind woman, and in many ways is the beating heart that keeps the ship together through many trials. Eva prides herself on her understanding of the human psyche, and is developing skills in reading aliens, especially with the help of her close friend the Pet.

A new member of the crew

We have a new member to the crew, 'the Pet'.

With a name too difficult to pronounce by humans, 'the Pet' is a sapient werecat from Saturn. The Saturnian werecats are of high intelligence, and are quite able to converse with humans in many languages, however only two humans have so far managed to learn their language, and they were both completely insane.

Saturnian werecats are lithe creatures, and look upon humans with their puny single joints as inferier (in a similar fashion to old Earth cats). It is a rare honour for any spaceship or colony to be granted the pleasure of having a Saturnian werecat, and the Pet is well loved and very well looked after.

A Book!

Following discussions in the RenderGods chat room (http://www.rendergods.com/), we have decided to collaborate and write a book.

The book will most likely consist of a number of short stories following the lives of the crew and passengers on a spaceship, possibly called "Bob".

So far we have a short list of characters as follows:
Vidia - Sexy mage
?? - A buxom mage
Commander Stone - The captain of the ship
Mahray - Vidia's faithful guardian

Feel free to come along and chat with us, I'd appreciate short character descriptions/biographies if you can.

Thanks

Mahray