Stormwind

Alexander has a voice that carries gravitas and authority, as well as age. There are few individuals who fit this, but for Stormwind it can only be Sir Christopher Lee. BefliMlEzZ8

Alexander placed the last book back onto the shelf and sighed, lifting his fingers to the bridge of his nose and giving it a squeeze as he tried to think. As he understood it, receiving these types of revelations often came from reliving something or experiencing some other form of out-of-body experience, but by God it was damn ineffective when it came to trying to remember it later. He made a note to try and look into better filtering the subconscious mind later. "Size..." he muttered "...was the same as any of these other books." he motioned to the bookshelf in front of him. The books were of varying sizes, though no bigger or smaller then perhaps a sheet of parchment paper. Turning away, he began muttering to him "Embossing. Embossing. Yes. Yes. Embossing. I do remember..." his voice trailed off as he stepped away from the bookshelf and moved across the room, opening the door to his office. The office was the kind of place where the line between genius and madness could be appreciated. Everywhere, pieces of the past sat in an attempt to help shape the future in the mind of a man bent on maximizing their potential and cracking their mysteries. Books and parchments lay scattered across multiple bookshelves lined around the office in varying importance. The most important ones being near Alexanders desk. It was not uncommon for him to have Rhianna (or Ceilia if she was about), spend a day moving tomes out of the bookshelves because he had found more pressing ones or had moved onto another project. More scrolls and parchment littered the ground, mostly covered in notes and alterations of some form or another. On other shelves and tables, magitek and allagan tech sat in various states of re- or dis- assembly. Captain Dogberry had been extremely useful in helping to procuring as much tech from the Garleans in this regard, and Alexander often mused about how fortunate their partnership had turned out to be, despite their obvious differences. Other pieces of tech sat in bags or baskets close to another door at the end of the room, sitting at the entrance to his laboratory for review at a later time. Other bags sat intermixed with the tech holding standard and corrupted crystals, as well as pieces of materia. Another table, covered everything from tech to materia, to scrolls sat in front of a large writing board, upon which contained a complex mix of geometric equations and arcane formulae the covered the board. Multiple alterations had been made, and at least two spots on the board had been rendered unusable, from what looked like having a hole blasted into it. A little up from the center sat Alexander's desk. Ornate, heavy, and wood, it sat piled with books and scrolls that flowed over and spilled onto the ground around it. If the tidy, organized desk in the bedroom was the one from which he paid the world, then this desk would be the one from which he'd change it. As he exited the bedroom, he cast his hand in front of him, paper and books blowing out of his way as he headed towards his desk. The lights in the room had yet to go out, though they rarely ever did considering his constant work schedule. The look in his eyes becoming more determined and frantic as he raced to locate the tome before the vision left his mind. "It was certainly embossed, very fine, but not ornate. Color was dark leather, a brown if I can remember correctly. As for binding material; Hells if I know." he said quickly, as he reached his desk. He grabbed the books from their stacks, immediately checking them to see if they were the correct one before discarding them. The less important ones joined their brethren on the floor while the older or more important ones were dropped back on the desk.

Alexander was in the midst of looking through his own notebooks when the sound of Rhianna pounding on his desk stirred him from his thoughts. "Book! Book! What is this book?!? Will you PLEASE explain why I've been roused from a measly two hours' slumber by a sadistic insomniac madman frantically rummaging through our room?" she yelled. Alexander placed the book back on the shelf, turning towards Rhianna with an blank expression on his face. Her outburst had been expected, if she had only listened to his advice to go back to sleep. "One..." he began "...insults don't become you my dear, we've been over this. While do have trouble sleeping, it is not for lack of trying, simply my nature. Furthermore, I do not enjoy inflicting pain on anyone, least of all yourself. I told you to go back to bed. Lastly...I suppose "mad" might be an apt definition of me for someone who is ignorant or unlearned, but you are neither." "Two..." he continued "...this book I am referring to is one in my collection. During the nightmare I saw it during the climax, when I lost my eye. The nightmare was trying to guide me in the right direction and I feel it has something to do with a major breakthrough in the project. I only caught a glimpse of the book and have hard time remembering what it looks like, what with reliving the pain all over again. So, here I am. If I sleep, I may lose what little picture I have in my mind and it may be lost for good." He turned back to the bookshelf, pulling out another book and glancing over it "Now, are you going to help, go back to bed, or sit there staring angrily at me until the back of my head explodes in flames?"

Alexander opened a drawer, checking for any books inside as Rhianna pulled herself from the bed and approached the desk. He closed the drawer, sighing in mild annoyance that the book couldn't be anywhere close by, and by the fact that Rhianna was now out of bed. "Go back to bed." he muttered, not really in the mood to deal with her while he was trying to locate the tome. "One does not simply "leave a note" when you receive a revelation like this. There is something important in that book, I just need to find. As for sleep, I slept three hours, that will be more then enough until I finish this." he said, opening another drawer and moving about some of papers within it. "Furthermore, I do not make mistakes, and if I do you catch them. So they are no longer mistakes. What's more, I review everything I do multiple times. Besides, I won't be doing any kind of work until I find this book and understand why I need to find it." He closed the desk drawer and shook his head. "No, did not expect it would be here." he turned to his personal bookshelf now, running his finger over old and worn tomes, some of which with copies in the single digits to his knowledge. He would carefully pull them out, looking at the cover to see if any of them struck him as similar. Some of the newer looking tomes on the shelf were journals of his which held equations, designs, and the strangling ends of multiple projects all in some state of completion or "temporary hold", as Alexander worked on other projects.

Alexander looked down at Rhianna, still mostly asleep, as she tried to comfort him in her almost automatic response now. In the entire time since the incident, she had done her best to help bring him through the ordeal with most of his psyche intact, and to her credit, had otherwise succeeded. That said, Alexander both welcomed and rejected her constant presence. She was a calming presence, the only single fixture in his life since their exile, other then Heavy Arms, and the only reason he had been able to get any sleep at all after the incident. Even so, he had more or less recovered some time ago and yet she still insisted that he stop to rest and sleep after only a scant few days of work. He still had to make up for the time he spent recovering. Pulling his blanket away from him, he spun in bed and placed his feet on the floor. He couldn't get images out of his mind from the nightmare and he knew the recognized the book, the question was "where was it?". Alexander had a great many tomes in his ever expending collection, more and more having been brought in by outside parties he had paid to locate or otherwise procure them. "I'm fine." he finally muttered, his breathing having steadied and most of the sweat having disappeared thanks to the cool breeze. He ran his hand through his greying hair and then brought his hands together, resting them on his mouth and his elbows on his knees. "Where is that book?" he thought to himself. The other question of course is what book was it. Though he figured once he found it, the second question wouldn't really matter as much. He pushed himself from the bed, walking over and grabbing the fine robe he had hanging nearby and walking over to his bedroom desk. No books were kept here normally, it was reserved for secret correspondences, monetary transactions, and personal effects but he figured it was worth a look real quick.

Alexander stared into the darkness as it moved towards him,enveloping the cave around him before collapsing in on the exit that had been his plan of escape. There was nowhere to run now, and as he stared into the black void encroaching on him, he began to understand. This had been what he wanted, what years of research had led him to. He had come this far, and now all it wanted was a sacrifice from him. He looked down at his hands and lifted his palm upwards, as a searing flame shot from his hand. It was a hot and intense flame, thin and long as it extended from his hand as if like a blade. He understood what he had to do; he understood now what it wanted. He took a few deep breaths, steeled himself for what was about to come, and shoved the flame into his left eye. The searing pain shot through him as the eye quickly burned to a crisp, the socket bleeding only long enough before the fire would cauterize the wounds shut. The pain was unbearable, as he screamed into the empty void around him as his feet gave out from under him. It was there, between the white hot pain and torment that he saw it, the vision. It was a book, one that he had in his collection, followed by a vision of something else. Something massive, something he knew he wanted. His brain exploded with pain and agony only long enough for him to see it before his eyes shot open. It was dark still, but not like the constricting darkness from before. This was a familiar darkness, one that came with his residence and bed, at night. He sat up, breaking out of Rhianna’s slumbering embrace. He looked around as he breathed heavily, the cold sweat from another fitful nightmare dripping down his body and providing a greater chill to the already cool Ul'dahn night air coming in through the window. Glancing out the window, he could see the flickers of light from the lit street lamps in the night. He could even make out a few voices, likely drunks, still moving through the streets. He took a few deep breaths, wiping the sweat off his face and from his eyes, carefully navigating around the socket of his left eye so as to not stick his finger into it again by accident. A grim reminder of the incident that started the nightmares in the first place, and yet entirely worth the cost for what he gained in return. Nightmares, the lack of depth perception, the continuing therapy, physically and mentally, at Rhianna’s hands, the sleepless nights, all of it worth it for the insights it had brought, all worth it for the power.

Such a great time. Glad Rhi and I were able to show up.

This is what I miss when I have to go to bed. I feel sad.

Well, looks like Stormwind has plans for Sunday evening.

Wanted to take a moment and thank everyone involved for hosting such a great event. It was such fun to see everyone who came out all dressed to the nines and looking formal.

I. Basic Info Characters: Alexander Stormwind, Heavy Arms, Raniall Lightstone Primary character: Alexander Stormwind Linkshells: N/a Primary RP linkshell: N/a II. RP Style Amount of RP (light, medium, heavy): Light to Medium. I don't have as much time as I used to dedicate to roleplaying and I spend much of my time playing with my wife as well. While I enjoy roleplaying and have been doing it for many years (10+ in MMO's and longer in tabletop games), it's getting hard to balance work, real life, spending time with my wife, and active roleplaying. That said, I do enjoy roleplaying a lot and am generally open to it. Open World RP (How to initiate a RP with me): If you see me walking or sitting at a table, chances are I'm in-character. As I said, I'm often split between other responsibilites so if you aren't sure, please feel free to send me a /tell asking about my IC/OOC status. Views on RP combat and injuries: I don't have an issue with discussing outcomes before hand or making up as we go along, just so long as everyone involved is a good sport about it. We all can't always win, or there would be no real conflict. Injuries are negotiable and often add depth to a character so long as, again, everyone is on the same page about what it happening and why. Character death requires the expressed consent of the person who is/would be dying. We often put a lot of stock into these characters and death should have some level of meaning and come at great sacrifice. Views on IC romance: IC romance is something I tend to stay away from unless I know the other party very well and am comfortable with them and their roleplay style. Flirting is all well and good (though good luck getting even a glance from Stormwind), but any further then that will take a great deal of time. Views on non-romantic RP (family ties, etc): Both Alexander and Heavy have family floating around but for personal reasons the likelihood of either showing up are slim. This is another area where I would have to be comfortable with the other person I am roleplaying with before enacting such a thing. Views on lore: The lore is the history of the world we live in. That said, we live in a world of magic and cat-girls so just about anything is possible. Vampires, werewolves, and that sort of thing will require some good explaining. Being an Ascian even more, but there are a lot of ideas that aren't entirely outside the realm of possibility so long as they can be properly explained. Views on chat functions (/say, /linkshell, etc): In this game, I equate linkshells to essentially walk-talkies of a nature. That said, I don't have any strong feelings on them one way or another. III. Other Info Country: USA Timezone: EST ((Wiki page for at least Alexander will be forthcoming, eventually))

Those Leviathan pics look incredible. I am so stoked for that fight.

I'm never quite good at these so I'll try to keep it relatively short. Name is Alexander Stormwind from Balmung. Some may have seen my alt Heavy Arms from time to time. I've been playing since launch but figured I would set something up here finally. I'm a former FFXI player from Lakshmi, main character of the same name. I've been roleplaying in MMO's since about 2003, as well as doing tabletop since before then and continue through to today. I'm a very wary individual when it comes to RP, having been burned by RP communities more then once in the past, part of my reluctance for getting involved here. That said, I know there are many good people in the community so I'm optimistic. So that's about it. Hope to see folks around, and looking forward to some great times.