Akiwara Kaede

Friend's D&D character.

Card of the Day - Fear Hunter

Fear Hunter
3G
Creature - Cautor Archer
T: Fear Hunter deals 4 damage to attacking creature it can't block.
2/2


I think I shall skip explaining about Cautors for now, but rather focus on the mechanics of this card for now.

Anyway, I don't think 'something it can't block' would be that hard to understand. The card name already gives a hint on what it can shoot - Creatures with fear, doh! Also in this category are flying creatures, unblockable creatures, etc. If you enchant a Pacifism on it, more power to you.

The big significance of this cardit that it was my submission to Wizards of the Coast's first 'You Make the Card' contest, where the chosen ability would be printed out in a set. Forgotten Ancient won. Blah.

Character profile - Kyuro the monk

Name: Kyuro
Age: 22
Race: Human
Class: Monk
Alignment: Lawful Good

Biography:

Kyuro was born the landlord's son of a small village. On the day before his eighth birthday, the village was ravaged by a horde of mountain bandits, killing both his parents and two sisters. Kyuro, then hiding in a cupboard, was eventually discovered by one of the bandits. Just when the bandit raised his arm to strike the child with his sword, an unseen palm struck the bandit right in the chest, killing the bandit on the spot.

It turned out that the palm belonged to an old monk who happened to pass by the village. After saving the child in the cupboard, the old monk offered him to join him in his travels back to the monastery of St. Cuthbert, the god of retribution. Burning with vengeance, Kyuro agreed.

Kyuro was an exceptional student, though often reckless and unforgiving. When Kyuro was 13, after a particular incident that left another student almost dead, Kyuro's master interfered. Kyuro was heavily chastised by the master. As punishment, Kyuro's hands were bound together by cloth, a symbol that he shall not fight over the smallest thing.

Kyuro still keeps his hands bound until this day as a sign of respect to his master. He believes in 'repentance' - that a person, no matter how evil, can turn back to the right path when properly instructed. He tries not to resort to violence no matter the circumstances, only to stun his opponent long enough for him to get away at the most. However, his hatred towards bandits still rages deep in his heart, therefore he would not hesitate to kill anyone who kills. In his words, "What goes around, comes around."

Appearance:

Kyuro is a few hairs short of five feet, not very tall of an adventurer of his age. His skin is tanned to a healthy brown, and he has black hair.

He wears light traveller clothing - a sleeveless shirt covered by a cloth vest, worn long pants and sandals. His arms are wrapped with cloth and are bound at the wrists, leaving him with just about enough freedom for daily activities.

Card of the Day - Doubled Might

Doubled Might
1G
Enchant Creature
Enchanted creature gets +1/+1 for each +1/+1 counter on it.

This card would be so sick with Ravager. Anyway, this was a card in the third set I created. As far as I remember, there weren't many cards with +1/+1 counters on it. I thought the idea was cool and threw it into the set.

It wasn't until very recently that I couldn't just throw in 306/165 cards together and call it a set. Each set almost always follow a certain formula, namely:

- The 'staple' spells. Each set should always have variants of a certain effect. Example, white: life gain. Red: Artifact destruction.
- The weenies. The average cost of all the spells in a set should be around 2.3 to 2.5. Since there are spells that cost up to 10 mana or more, it means that most spells are around the 2-3 mana range. Sometimes, 'staple' sells come in these forms.
- Crap. Pale Moon? Mudhole? Liar's Pendulum? Azami? As crappy as they might be, someone will make a deck out of them. I still love my Coalition Victory deck.
- Weird stuff. Basically cards that make people go whoa when they first see them. I consider Doubled Might to be in this category. Mirrodin was full of these.

Card of the Day - Eloneth

Eloneth, Insane Prodigy
WB
Legendary Creature - Elf Mystik Wizard
1WB: Change Eloneth, Insane Prodigy's power or toughness to target creature's power or toughness. (This effect doesn't end at end of turn.)
0/2

Uh... Mys-what? That's not a typo, just another class type in PLL. I don't know how I came up with the Mystiks, probably made a typo on 'mystic' and thought it was cool or something. Lenny's a kid when he comes into play, but he grows big pretty fast. If you have some spare mana, he'd be at least a 2/2 when he comes in.

And yeah, he's insane. Escaped from the lunatic asylum I'll talk more on him later. Meanwhile, here's a closeup:


Not sure if it looks like it, but his mouth is sewn up. That's part of the 'oath of silence' the mystiks have to swear on when they enter the cult. More on it later.

Card of the Day - Contentment

Contentment
1W
Enchantment
Discard a land card from your hand: You gain 3 life.

One of the first few cards in Realms, I just loved the simplicity and flavor of this card. You're content with what (lands) you have. So you 'give them away' for something else. Mmmmmm.

Anime Week '05

Warm feet dirty bedsheets

ZZZZZ


Was trying to draw a big mattress for the guy to sleep on, but.... did it turn out good? Guess I still suck at folds.

Card of the Day - Æther Stalker

Æther Stalker
1UB
Creature - Subterran Warrior
Fear
1U: Remove Æther Stalker from the game until Night.
2/1
"Eyes are not for listening."

I can't remember what does the flavor text mean, but I'm sure it came from the age-old saying of teachers: "Do you use your mouth to write?" in front of a noisy class.

Subterrans are another race in PLL. More on that later.

PLL - More on Subterrans:

The subterrans areanother race I created for PLL. It's not hard to guess where do these people live in. And if you don't get it by now... OK, they're underground people, OK?

Anatomy:

Size-wise, subterrans aren't much different from humans. The first thing a person would notice about a subterran is his ears. Subterrran ears are about twice as big as normal humans in order to capture sound more efficiently. Another feature unique to them is their exceptionally huge arms and hands.

Subterran eyes are adapted to the darkness. Subterrans gain infrared vision after puberty. When they walk on normal ground, they have to wear 'day vision goggles' so that their eyes don't get damaged.

Subterran mages are trained in shadow manipulation and telekinesis.

Society:

Subterrans live in the cavern network of Wyridian, right under the Hizuran Mountains. It's hard to estimate how many subterrans are there in total becasue of the caverns' extensive reach. Hence, there isn't a central authority to bind the subterrans together. However, most subterrans live in communities in the larger caverns. There isn't a big job distinction between males and females because of their similar physique and strength, though merchants are mostly male (since they have to be away from their home) and miners are female.

Fashion:

Subterrans have very little hair, so it's not uncommon to see them wrapping their heads with cloths or bandannas. They wear very little, usually covering only the vital spots, since underground life is full of dirt and grime. Their attire is made of rough cloth so that they won't get worn out easily.

Subterrans prefer dlaws and daggers as their weapons.

Diplomacy:

The surrounding nations are in neutral terms with Wyridian. Though very few nations admit that they have trade ties with them, the underground market (pun not intended) of precious minerals and hitmen is what makes the subterrans a significant force in the world.


ZOMG I drew a girl!!!

Card of the Day - Fumble

Fumble
2U
Instant
Counter target spell unless its controller played a land this turn.

There has been a whole lot of variants on the original Counterspell that there's not much space to move around. Here's something I came up for Realms, a land-themed set. I liked the flavor of Realms a lot, it's set in a 'spirit world'. It's different from Kamigawa that there aren't any human(oid)s, and the conflict isn't that significant.

PLL - Rugul

In case if you're looking at the scribbles in my previous pictures and wondering what's that, it's Rugul, an alphabet/language I created for PLL. I've got the alphabet out and has been 'evolving' it for the past few years.

Creating alphabets are fun, if you know how to do it. Not just in the "Ha ha I'm writing bad things about you and you don't know it" kind of fun, but it's just fun to have a piece of culture in your works.

Here's another sample of cursive Rugul:



And I'm not telling you what it means.

Card of the Day - Sunwind Glider

Sunwind Glider
3WW
Creature - Glider Soldier
Flying
At Day, creatures you control get +1/+1 and have stand. (Attacking doesn't cause them to tap.)
3/3
"The heavy task of protecting Hizuran is laid on my wings, and I will fail not in doing so.

The mechanic of Day/Night worked like this: At the start of the game, Day/Night will be determined randomly. Then after each player takes his turn, it'll become the other time of the day. So Sunwind Glider will give +1/+1 and 'stand' (I've been using 'stand' all the while and I can't stand the official term 'vigilance'). a 3/3 for 3WW is quite a mediocre deal, but a Serra Angel carrying a Glorious Anthem half of the time is another matter.

Here's a concept sketch of a Sunwind Glider, the second highest rank a Glider soldier could have. More on Gliders later.

More on Gliders

Anatomy:

Gliders are one of the first humanoid races I created for Project Lesser Legends (PLL). They are shorter than humans (about 5 feet at their tallest), and have short lifespans (about 40 years). They live on the peaks of the Hizuran mountains, into the clouds where only the hardiest plants survive. As such, they get sustenance by absorbing energy from the sun itself. They also have hollow bones like birds, so that they could fly.

A glider is born with metal wings, and they could be enhanced with a magical metal called mylweim. The bigger and more ornate the wings, the higher the rank. The glider society is highly structural. Other than wings, a glider's rank is determined by his headgear and clothes.

Society

A glider child starts off at the lowest rank of the society. After his/her coming-of-age ritual at nine years old, he/she steps into the productive society. A glider boy would be used as messengers, flying from a peak to another to deliver important information and news; while a girl would move into the commercial or religiouis sector as apprentices or priests.

Fashion

Cloth is scarce in Hizuran, so most of their accessories are made of stone and metal (like shoes, for one. YOu can't really see it in the picture, but they're made of metal). A glider probably has three or four sets of clothing throughout his whole life, since they don't grow too much or sweat at all.

For males, their attire is basically as shown in the picture. The short-sleeve shirt provide adequate protection against the elements, and their pants vary in length depending on rank. The messengers wear shorts, while the soldiers long pants. For females (maybe I'll draw them some other time), a sleeveless robe and an undergarment is their standard attire. For the priests and mages, their rank is determined by the length of their robe sleeves.

Different sorts of headgear, from simple metal circlets for messengers to gold crowns for generals are worn as a status symbol.

Diplomacy

The gliders are allies with the elven empires Feldaril and Anogria, both to the south of the Hizuran Mountains, and are constantly at war with the werewolves in Orizoa.

Ninja 2

Second ninja requested by Key. Remember to get it from here OK Key?

Intermission

Taking a break. Before I post my other pics, I shall introduce some artists I admire.

Being a big fan of Magic: the Gathering, it's not surprising that I know some of my favorite artists through there. Today, I'll talk about John Avon.

John Avon is famous for his fabulous landscapes. I can't really find a term for it, I guess you could call it 'realistic fantasy'. Check out some landscapes he illustrated, like Tranquil Garden, Cloudcrest Lake or Winding Canyons. It's hard to believe that they're drawn out of paints and airbrush.

His talents aren't just in landscapes. Look at Life Burst. It just looks like a photo. Or the abstractness and sheer beauty of Aura Flux. It's not hard to see why his art is appreciated by Magic fans all over the world.

My favorite Avon piece would be a piece of lowly Plains:
>
In case you don't know, Plains is one of the five 'basic land' cards in the game, your primary resource. Everyone uses them to build their decks. And to paint such a breathtaking picture for such a mundane card, it's a respectful job indeed.

Card of the Day - Customized Weapon

Customized Weapon
1R
Enchant Creature - Weapon
(Enchant Weapons only on creatures you control.)
Enchanted creature has first strike. If enchanted creature is legendary, it gets +2/+0.
Salvage 2R (2R: Return this card from your graveyard into play enchanting a creature you control. Play this ability any time you could play a sorcery.)

This is a card that's similar to Tenza, Godo's Maul. You might say that I copied the Equipment idea, except that mine came out three years before Tenza.

A late night back in October 2001 I was studying my Geography notes for my O-level preliminary exams while watching some crappy Taiwanese variety show. Then it all came. What if I had a set based on the time of the day? What if enchant creatures were physical objects that the creatures could actually hold?What if I had a set based around legendary creatures... like Legends? Hence, Project Lesser Legends was born.

Three years later, Weapons were printed in the form of Equipment. The day/night mechanic in the form of flip Legends. And a setful of legendary creatures in the form of Champions of Kamigawa. As for my set, it's still under development. I planned for it to be a 500-card set, which is kinda big when ideas run dry. I'm still some 50 cards away from reaching the end.

I'll talk about Day/Night tomorrow. I think it's one of the best mechanics I've came up with.

Ninja!

For Key



People please comment!

Card of the Day - Stigmata

I'm still working on my Data Structures assignment, so I don't have time to finish today's pic yet. Anyway, here's the CotD for today, the one that started it all:

Stigmata
WB
Enchant Creature
At the beginning of your upkeep, put a +1/-1 or -1/+1 counter on enchanted creature.


I started playing Magic: the Gathering since 2000, halfway between Mercadian Masques and Nemesis. This card was created about a year after that, when I'm more familiar with the rules and stuff.

The original version only allowed you to enchant it on an opponent's creature, and it gave +2/-2 or the other way round. A few revisions made it the simple card it is now.

Works in progress

Whew! Today was a tiring day! The arcade session took a big toll on my fingers, all that walking afterwards made me pretty much dead. Don't think I'm able to finish up a picture today, anyway, here are some half-done pics which will be finished in these two days:



Chibi ninja requested by Key for his project. The pose is pretty tough.



After my slight success with grassy backgrounds, I decided to move on to mountain peaks... aren't as easy as expected. There aren't enough tones to make it look realistic. I think I'm going to have a hard time here.

Card of the day - Megido Dragon

I'll start a 'Card of the Day' thing. These are the more interesting Magic: the Gathering cards that I've designed. With about 10 sets created so far, guess I won't be running out of resources for quite a while ;) Anyway,

Megido Dragon
RR
Creature - Dragon
Flying
Megido Dragon can't be the target of spells or abilities.
When Megido Dragon comes into play, it deals 19 damage to you.
9/9

I always loved cards like these. Powerful fatties that throw you into a shithole and you have to figure your own way out. (Eg. Leveler) So I designed this for Fortress, a medieval-fantasy setting expansion still in progress.

Fortress is a set based on life totals. Red spells and creatures get more powerful if you are at a low life total. So Megido Dragon is a double-edged sword - it's big, it's hard to get rid of, it helps in powering up your spells; but it puts you at a very dangerous position. If your opponent attacks with two creatures, most likely you're dead. If your opponent is playing red, time for you to scoop.

Maybe some of you have guess how did the name came about. I got the name from a devastating attack by Omega Weapon in Final Fantasy 8. His Megido Flame deals 9998 damage to all your party members. So you'll be dead unless you have 9999HP. Hence.

Dancing fingers

Trying out something different for this time. I didn't really refer to my hands since I can't place my hands at that angel, so had to sorta imagine how they'd be like that.

First time drawing a keyboard. Can't draw straight lines using my graphics tablet.

STFU

Marcus stared into his mirror.

"I think I should get a haircut," he said.

"He thinks that he should get a haircut, he says!" His reflection in the mirror chimed.

"Huh?" Marcus turned around to see who was talking to him.

"Huh, he says!" His reflection made his jump.

"Wow, cool. My reflection could talk!" Marcus was delighted.

"It's cool that I can talk, he says!" His reflection sounded sarcastic.

So Marcus and his reflection talked for a while, each time the reflection replied in 'he says' voice.

"I'm sick of this."

"He's sick of this, he says!"

"Shut up."

"Shut up, he says!"

"Go away."

"Go away!"

So Marcus left and his reflection was no more.

Taking my stylus for a stroll

For Chinese New Year and Valentine's Day:




I always liked writing calligraphy, but I suck at it on real paper. Thanks to technology, we get the ultimate key combination of Ctrl+Z.

My favorite character is still this:



It took me about 20 tries to get the curves correct. I wonder if I could print these on bookmarks and sell them. Anyone want them?

With the winds

In the middle of the great Mithylian plains, a lone figure walked.

The clouds were clearing, he had been walking since mid-morning, after his simple breakfast of hard bread under a great raintree. Five hours later, there wasn't a tree in sight. The Great Mithylian Plains were great indeed. He figured that it might take him the rest of the zanh to reach the next settlement, according to his map. At least he would have a soft bed to spend the night on.

A rock, his keen elven eyes set on it. Something to lean on. Not as good as the buttress roots of a tree, but not as awkward as sitting in the middle of nowhere nonetheless. The wilderness is the wanderer's home.

The rock was a flat one, like a stool growing out of the earth. The elven wanderer put his backpack beside the rock. He laid three fingers on the top surface of the rock. Judging that it's cool enough, he turned around and sat on it. He took out his bottle from the backpack, splashed some water on his face, and rubbed away the grime on his face with his fingers.

The winds picked up. The wanderer stretched out his arms. The wind blow through his dark green hair. Under his arms and into his shirt. A small breeze swirled in his boots. He stretched backwards and deliberately tumbled onto the soft grass. Five hours worth of sweat dried off from his clothes. He figured that he'd save the hassle of changing into a clean set for another day.

On the grass he laid for a while. The winds were still blowing strong. He closed his eyes and dreamed off. The village he was heading to might have nice food and warm beds, but a windy clear day was a moment worth spending an eternity in.