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Death by Dragon

OutoftheWoods.jpg

I finally uploaded the large version of “Out of the Woods”, Mr. Lorey’s latest Don Maitz commissioned painting featuring his sons Chris and Alex. Click on the pic to see the larger version because size does matter.
On the work front today I’m driving into LA to meet with Michael Goldstein to hear his concept for a possible movie. Michael was the producer on Last Vamp and although SciFi didn’t end up going for it, my understanding is that it will be picked up in turn-around. I’ll get the details at this meeting.
I spoke with Chris Carlisle this morning…in depth. Originally he contacted me about taking some of my ideas and turning them into graphic novels then turning those into movies and merchandise. I sent him two of my and Patrick’s collaborations…Narcosis and Mass Destruction. He loved Mass D but since he’s taken over a month to get back to me I had to inform him that we’d since made arrangements to go out and pitch it wide. He also liked Narcosis I think. Wanted to talk to his partner about it. That’s fine, but at this point I’ve sort of lost interest.
F.J. called concerning Magnus. Basically the story has moved so far away from the original Magnus that it’s no longer recognizable. So, the name Magnus is out and we’re moving into original waters.
Tomorrow I meet with Tom Jane and Steve Niles concerning an idea I pitched them. We’re going to create a graphic novel then hopefully spin that into a movie through their new deal at Lions Gate.
A year, maybe two years ago, Dean and I were talking one-hour TV. We crawled into our separate caves, came up with a string of ideas and compared notes the next day. Dean came up with a great one. He’s pitched it recently and has some real interest. If he sets it up he’s going to hire me to sweep and clean toilets on the set.
Speaking of the dummy…
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TV has been good to him. He recently shot his 100th episode of “My Wife and Kids” and has taken the director’s chair on several occasions.
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This season’s big opener had him directing Michael Jordon.
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This took place during Jordon’s annual basketball camp and they only had an hour with Jordon.
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Dean got all the shots in less than an hour.
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Some things in life are perfect. This picture gives me meaning. It completes me.
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The three of us are still Warcrafting. EverQuest 2 is now a thing of the past. It just doesn’t compare. That’s me napping while Mel and Dean fish and cook by the fire. If you think I’m kidding, that’s exactly what’s going on in the game.
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I gave up the Dwarven Priest instead for the Night Elf Shepherd and I’m loving it. In EQ2 my druid could turn into a Lion at level 20.
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In Warcraft my druid can turn into a Bear at level 10.
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A seal at level 16…this was me discovering the Vile Reef and it’s sunken ships.
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And then at level 20 I get to shift into a black Lion.
Warcraft is better three to one in my book.
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In MMORGs crafting is a big part of the games. Mel is hooked on fishing and cooking as well as mining and armorcrafting. You can fish items that you can then sell for gold. You can also catch fish and cook them up. If a player eats this cooked food then it’s a little like Speedy eating cheese. Some foods make you stronger, smarter, more agile. Food’s a good thing.
But once you get your skill high enough then you must travel to find the proper trainer to teach you how to be even better. This was going to be a trek. We had to get from the Northern most tip of one continent to the Southern most tip of another continent. Not an easy journey…especially not knowing the way.
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So I figured I’d try to find my way there so I could lead Mel and Dean later.
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I flew into Ironforge where the Dwarves make wonderful armor and weapons.
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Then caught a connecting Griffin further South.
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I flew through what could only be described as the pits of Mordor.
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And finally reached a point where I would have to huff it on foot. The problem is, you can’t take a Griffin to a place you’ve never been. You must get there on foot first, meet the Griffin Master and then you can fly back later. But getting there on foot might be a nightmare at my level.
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For the most part I ran through new territory screaming like a little girl, but on occasion I would have no choice but fight and it was at this point that I killed my first Hydra. I skinned the body and I’m now wearing its leather on my feet. You think I’m kidding but I’m not.
As I’m checking my map I see a river running South. At this point I can barely go anywhere without running into a bear or a spider twice my size so I was thinking a river might be safe. Of course I hadn’t anticipated piranha and Gators but that comes later.
At first the river swim was fine. Peaceful actually. There were some Thorny Backed Turtles that could have kicked my Elvish butt had they so chose but they were peaceful. Then I heard this WOOF WOOF WOOF sound. Scared the crap out of me (thanks the the 7.1 surround sound). It sounded like wings. I stopped and looked across the river at the opposite bank and saw my first dragon.
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I had goosebumps. And this was nothing more than a baby dragon compared to the stories I’d heard. I was still too far away for him to take much interest in me so I took some shots then continued my swim.
Then suddenly the sound of WINGS was right on top of me. I spun around to see…
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This was intense. He didn’t attack.
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He just…hovered. I was scared to move. This was unheard of in a game like this. If a creature is Kill-on-Site then they don’t hover…they attack. They don’t stare at you trying to decided what to eat first…the come at you the moment you are within range. I sat there treading water for probably 30 seconds (it felt much longer). Then he swooped in! Right on top of me…sat there for a moment then —
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I was dead.
One bite.
This is a view of me returning to my corpse as a spirit. You can come back to life but I had to wait until he finished feeding on me. Took him about ten minutes before he flew away. I came back to life and continued my journey.
It was then that I ran into assorted piranha, gators and mist gorillas. All of which killed me over and over. I didn’t take pics because I was simply too busy running.
Eventually the river dumped into the ocean and in the ocean I had more room to maneuver and thus stay away from the baddies.
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This journey was in search of an outpost called Booty Bay. I knew it was somewhere on the southern tip of the continent but didn’t know where exactly. During my swim I came across the carcass of some poor schmuck dino who found his end by a pack of Raptors. I stayed in the water.
During my swim someone by the name of Mor’Ack kept yelling that he was waiting. Come and get him. No clue who that was.
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I came near what I thought might be Booty Bay but it was instead an Orc Outpost. In the game you can choose to be good (Humans, Dwarves, Gnomes, Night Elves) or you can be bad (Orcs, Undead, Tauren, Troll). This was an Orc camp and my knocking on the door would mean certain death. Good races travel by Griffin. Evil races travel by blimp. I stayed in the water.
Still this Mor’Ack fella kept yelling. Taunting. He wanted a fight but I had no clue where he was.
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Then I found him. I would have come up to his ankle, maybe. He kept shouting. I stayed in to water.
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And finally…after what turned out to be a nearly three hour journey…I found Booty Bay.
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A charming little outpost run by a group of always smiling, always happy, Jamaica-mon goblins.
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And the trip came to an end when I found Wigcik who sold books on expert fishing. My journey had come to an end.
Having made the trip I spoke with the Griffin Master and got my but and my book out of Booty Bay.
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I flew back to Mel and together we returned…now that I new the path. We bypassed the river with its piranha and gators and of course its dragon. We left Mor’Ack shouting on his island and we spent the afternoon in Booty Bay partying with drunken goblins.
The End.

3 replies on “Death by Dragon”

What server do you guys play on? Im on elune if you play elune you should hit me up. Name is Kranuk(NE Druid), Stithro(Dwarf Paladin), or Viscero(NE Warrior)

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