Short #1

Ok, time for something new. I’m going to try to start writing a “flash fiction” piece (somewhere between 250-500 words) once a week for you guys to read. There’s no guarantees that I’ll get one out every week, but I figure it’s an opportunity for me to write some fantasy fiction which I enjoy, and give you a little something different when you come here. These won’t be heavily edited or revised, so they aren’t going to be masterpieces by any stretch. Some will focus more on setting, while others might focus on character development or description, etc.. So that’s all the intro I’m going to give this, let me know if you like it. If you do, then I might put some more effort into these to make them a bit more “polished.”

Short #1

Pearls of sweat formed and fell from Lorian’s brow as he crouched, hidden behind an elder bush. His throbbing joints grew restless as he contemplated his next action. A pair of trolls had come upon his camp as he readied himself for sleep. Due only to their heavy footfalls and unintelligible grunts was he able to find cover and secure his short sword before being spotted. After lumbering into his camp, they spared no time before rummaging through Lorian’s possessions.
“Find him,” shouted the larger of the two, still sifting through the goods. The second began making his way out of the camp directly towards Lorian. He raised his blade, poised to strike. As the troll passed the bush, Lorian slashed with immense strength, slicing his left ankle clean through. A howl burst from the clambering giant as it toppled helplessly to the ground. Lifting the blade high overhead, he struck the troll’s throat before a counterattack was possible. Gurgles escaped the troll’s mouth before his head fell limp on the clay beneath it. Turning to face his remaining enemy, he managed to evade a sweeping blow from the troll’s club by inches. His roar of disappointment shook Lorian to the core. Sprinting back into the camp he scooped up his pack, desperately searching for something to defend himself with while maintaining his speed. His initial advantage gone, he knew the second would not fall so easily. As he removed a vial and dropped his pack, his body elevated. The troll had attained a mighty grip around his neck, showering it with saliva as a twisted laugh erupted from his lips. Facing the other way, Lorian was unable to see his captor as he thrust the vial back against the sinewy skin. The laughter ceased as he loosed his grip. As Lorian fell hard upon the ground, he shifted to see flames envelop the troll’s massive frame in quick order. Several seconds of aimless shuffling passed before it collapsed. After lying there for several minutes to catch his breath, he rose and made his way back to camp. Escaping with nothing more than a bruised throat, Lorian couldn’t help but count himself lucky as he lay once again on his cot.

~Kanthalos

The Meme’s roll on…

It appears that i’ve been sucked into the swirling vortex that is the meme by Tipa (thank you, btw.) My best tips have already been covered, hopefully mine is alright, though.

-Start Copy-

It’s very simple. When this is passed on to you, copy the whole thing, skim the list and put a * star beside those that you like. (Check out especially the * starred ones.)

Add the next number (1. 2. 3. 4. 5., etc.) and write your own blogging tip for other bloggers. Try to make your tip general.

After that, tag 10 other people. Link love some friends!

Just think- if 10 people start this, the 10 people pass it onto another 10 people, you have 100 links already!

1. Look, read, and learn. ***
-http://www.neonscent.com

2. Be EXCELLENT to each other. *
-http://www.bushmackel.com

3. Don’t let money change ya! *
-http://www.therandomforest.info

4. Always reply to your comments. ****
-http://chattiekat.com

5. Link liberally — it keeps you and your friends afloat in the Sea of Technorati. *
-http://chipsquips.com

6. Don’t give up – persistance is fertile. ***
-http://www.velcro-city.co.uk

7. Give link credit where credit is due. ****
-http://www.sfsignal.com

8. Pictures say a thousand words and can usually add to any post.**
-http://scifichick.com

9. Keep writing, no matter what, and the quality will follow. ***
-http://www.critical-hits.com/

10. Stay out of your comfort zone. Take risks, don’t be afraid to look dumb.*
-http://ambernight.org

11. Keep to a schedule. People return to blogs when they know they will find something new.*
-http://westkarana.com

12. Don’t be afraid to talk about your personal life once in a while.
-http://mmoreinsight.wordpress.com

-End Copy-

Hmmm, this should be fun. I choose Fred, DamianoV, Wilhelm, Cameron, Adele, Darren, Boon, Rick, Aaron, and Pixiestyx. Whether it’s from me or someone else, none of you could have avoided the meme train, so I’m just cutting to the quick. Chances are most of these blogs are in your favorites, but I enjoy reading every one of them, and want to give them some credit, so there you go

~Kanthalos

SOE Customer Support = FTL

Ok, so I was five minutes from Best Buy last Friday afternoon while out doing some stuff and I just about went over there to pick up a copy of Echoes of Faydwer, but decided that since I was done shopping I’d just head home and use the digital download. I had made a second account to use the trial and make sure that I could get the game looking pretty which I could. I decided that since I wasn’t going to use the character I had played before because he was on the wrong server that I would just get the expansion for the trial account and save $15 on the first month, but after buying it, I realized that for the DD you had to have a copy of the original game. How stupid is that? I already was up to date on patches and such with the trial and I had a copy of the game for my other account, not to mention if you go to the store to buy it, it comes with the original and all three expansions anyway. So I get on chat support and they tell me they can switch them and it will take two days. I realize this means four because they are closed on the weekends. So Wednesday afternoon rolls around with no change in sight, so I hop on chat support again. “This issue will be resolved in 2 hours” I’m told. You guessed it, they lied. So five hours AFTER that two hours I get on again and they tell me that it’s been bumped up and should be resolved quickly. Three hours after they open the next day (yesterday) I get on once more and say,

“Look, I’ve been waiting six days to play this when I could have just gone to the store and bought it, either fix this quickly or please give me a rufund.”

“I can assure you it’s in my supervisor’s ticket box and will be fixed very shortly,” he replies.

“So this will be fixed today?”

“Correct.”

Let me tell you what folks, they had six hours after this chat before they closed and it’s still not fixed. If they haven’t done anything about it before 3 p.m. Pacific Time today, they aren’t going to want to listen to my fifth enquiry, I can assure you. And it won’t be with chat support, it’s going to be over the phone. All that said, I will still play this game because it’s a quality product, I just wish I had taken the extra five minutes to get a hard copy and been playing a week ago.

~Kanthalos