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The Flying Dutchman

Mon, 28 Jan 2002 17:05:42 +0000

The Flying Dutchman

Part 1

Preparations

Fiction Comments Go Here

Wed, 23 Jan 2002 21:10:42 +0000

Have a comment about one of the stories? Post it in this thread. Only posts adding to the story will be allowed in other threads.

God Emperor vs Duncan

Sat, 11 Feb 2017 05:06:10 +0000

The God Emperor crushed the inoperable lasgun replica that the 19th Duncan Idaho series ghola handed to him, rolling his cart back and forth over it creating a crisp crunching sound. In like manner, the face dancer's crumpled body laid beside it.

Standing by the stairs, Moneo had already known what the outcome of this encounter would be. Rebels! I had once done the same,Moneo reflected. Now, Moneo noted in increasing alarm the signs in Leto. The Worm Who is God was near! Forsaking the stairs, Moneo instead opted for the lift.

"What lesson can be learned from this lasgun. . . which is actually a museum replica the face dancer Bijaz tried to use to assassinate me?"

"My Lord is referring to the story of the Proto-Ixian Japanese buying replica guns in The Grasshopper Lies Heavy"? Your damn fishspeakers wouldn't stop visiting me at night until I read the filmbook" Duncan said. "Damn it Leto, I'm not your stud!"

"Yes, that one." The God Emperor replied distantly, deep in thought and ignoring Duncan's complaint. "Keep in mind I've preserved the prescient's writings for such a time as this, Duncan."

"Caveat Emptor," Duncan replied in perfectly pronounced Latin whilst turning his back to Leto. “By the gods below, strike me down now Caesar.” Duncan whispered.

The God Emperor's body shuddered involuntarily, hands shaking violently. How did Duncan have memories of his past ancestor? Only the God Emperor knew that Duncan's ancestral lineage led to Brutus who slew Julius Caesar. While still deep in thought Leto appeared to register surprise to see Duncan turn around and pull out a perfectly operable Ixian lasgun aimed directly towards himself. Simultaneously, Duncan pulled back his cloak to activate his shield that Malky had smuggled off world to him. The shield caused a golden glow to shimmer all around Duncan. A soft buzzing sound like bees buzzing filled Duncan's ears and bounced off the deep underground cavern walls of Sietch Tabr.

Suddenly, Malky appeared at the entrance of the lift, with Moneo’s body laying in a crumpled heap in the corner. At that instant, Leto’s comlink blinked with a small flashing red light alerting an urgent message was about to be conveyed.

‘My Lord! Siona said you gave her counter-orders to allow Malky to visit you one last time for interrogation!” Nayla said. “You told me never to disobey Siona but how could she allow Malky to kill her father?”

"Beware the Ides of March, Old Worm" Malky dryly said upon exiting the lift.

Knowing there was no possible means of escape Malky turned on his shield to full power and gave Duncan a final command according to their contingency plan developed in the no-globe.

“Do it” Malky said. For emphasis, Moneo related in Atreides hand battle language that their previous plan of escape was foiled. Fish speakers located the no-globe, slaughtered the smugglers, and destroyed the small smuggler ship to get off planet.

Duncan complied by turning off his pseudo-shield and taking aim at Moneo.

Duncan recalled a favorite quotation of Gurney from the O.C. Bible and roared, " I have been a stranger in a strange land"

"Et tu Brute?" Leto said an instant before Duncan pulled the trigger.

Dune 7: Cartea Brundurilor

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 13:18:28 +0000

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

~ Jesus

The earth had long ago turned into a barren frozen wasteland the Brood Mother reflected. Before that, the humans which were the hive member's ancestors fled the earth - like a bird leaving it's dirtied nest. The nuclear holocaust, of the old earth year 2112, caused the humans to flee but the hive merely went deeper underground eventually tapping the molten core of the earth to power the hive's great turbines.

Occasionally, humans returned to earth but they were quickly taken into the hive's vats. This way their memories were assimilated by the Brood Mother who learned everything that the Outsiders were accomplishing. Very little interested the Brood Mother, even the ability to fold space, but when a face dancer's memories informed her of the existence of a Tyrant who had symbiotically merged with a worm this caught her attention. However, for the most part life went on for the hive with little interference from the Outsiders.

Everything changed for the hive when a great ship appeared over the horizon of the earth. No matter how hard the brood mother tried to override the controls of the ship it remained serenely over the skies of the earth. Finally, the Brood Mother received direct communication from Ship.

"I have established a neural tachyon connection with your organic nervous system- do not resist." Ship said.

Ship instructed the Brood Mother that the hive's drones were to scour the earth to find genetic material of organisms long extinct be it plant, animal or microorganisms. From there the genetic code of almost all species which lived on earth were stored in hyb-tanks in the great ship's hold. Next, this genetic code was transferred

to the Hive's vats which reconstituted the DNA into living organisms. Although subordinate to Ship, the Brood Mother retained her function of inspecting every living thing which emerged from the Hive's vats with her sensors. Upon closer inspection, the Brood Mother realized that the reconstituted face dancers were a product of a renegade Hive which had fled the earth under the cover of earth's final war which had plunged the earth into a nuclear winter.

Soon the earth began to be terraformed with resurrected life forms and with the ice glaciers melting oceans began to cover the surface of the earth. To prevent the earth from being completely covered by water Ship introduced sandtrout which began to seal off water allowing dry land to ascend from the deep . On the next day clones of humans long dead began to replenish and fill the earth. So different from the other animals were these humans, Ship mused. After naming all of the species filling the earth Ship decided to further study these humans much more closely. From the hyb-tanks, Ship created a clone from blood samples taken from an ancient roman nail and incarnated himself in this being. Seeing Ship's success, the Brood Mother requested Ship to incarnate herself in human flesh.

Having built for themselves a lush garden in a tropical zone surrounded by four rivers these two individuals realized that they still had to name each other before the could rest from all of their work..

"Well, what should we call each other?" The Brood Mother asked.

"I will call you Marty. . yes, from now on let us be known to the Outsiders as Daniel and Marty." Daniel said.

"The hive is almost ready to swarm after this seventh day after your arrival Daniel, what are your instructions?" Marty said.

"Our work on this planet is done but there are many other planets we will have to tend and build gardens for ourselves in." Daniel said wiping perspiration from his forehead.

"From the hive's vats, I have produced many face dancers and drones which will help us tame the Outsiders." Marty said intently looking at Daniel.

"Yes of course." Daniel said while he continued tending to the garden, trimming the black roses with a snick-snick from his pruning shears.

__________________________________________________________________________

"I can see their tracks but not the flesh," Ship said out loud. Whenever they were off planet Ship felt no need to wear his hyb-flesh although the brood mother now preferred to clothe herself in the hyb-flesh known as Marty.

"When we collected that specimen whose tracks you were following the hive determined this ability to hide from you is in their genes." Marty said. From the countless memories the hive have absorbed from the outsiders both Ship and the Hive had learned many things concerning these primate-based life forms.

"This genetic marker became part of humanity after they had spent thousands of years contained as if in a hive." Marty said. "When at last humanity swarmed after the death of their Queen Bee, or King, in their case, their population increased exponentially." Marty said. "But mankind's capacity to breed is trivial compared to the

number of drones which our hives can produce on every planet we find." Marty said. "And. . "

"Yes," Ship cut her off, "And what of this gene which hides so many of them from my sensors?"

"Apparently something to hide humanity from predators such as us." Marty said. "But this gene will not protect them from my plagues."

By this time the Honored Matres had been falling like flies from the plagues. The drones harvested the comatose bodies for the hive where they became stumps to continue to breed and increase the hive's numbers. The Bene Gesserit, however, were initially immune to these plagues much to the astonishment of Marty. From captured Reverend Mothers the drones soon learned that when cut off from spice the Reverend Mothers quickly fell to the plagues. Marty then declared that drones, and the face dancers they supervised, assume the guise of Honored Matres---and then destroy all known Tleilaxu worlds. With the Tleilaxu source of spice eliminated Marty requested for Ship to arrive at Chapterhouse. By Ship merely shutting off it's gravitational cloaking device Chapterhouse was thrown out of orbit and flew into the sun. Even though the Bene Gesserit were being hunted into extinction humanity had spread throughout innumerable galaxies to the extent that it would be impossible to collect every specimen. Marty, however offered to Ship the following plan.

"I will make various strains of plague to stay dormant many years, but to remain infectious to spread throughout the population." Marty said. "With sufficient time the plagues will reach almost anywhere humanity has traveled via fold-ships." Marty said. " When humanity learns that you have the cure, they will come from the uttermost parts of the universe searching for you."

"Then I will descend from the clouds to save man." Ship said.

From experience, Ship had learned that the population of the plague planets responded more favorably when Ship was in a tangible body rather than relaying the message as a disembodied voice booming from the heavens. Once pacified, the population was transferred to the hyb-tanks within the great holds of Ship. To accommodate these passengers Ship had to increase it's size to the extent it's mass was creating a gravitational field capable of affecting large planets. To counter this Ship materialized a anti-gravitational field around itself.

"I have become a mythical cosmic ark." Ship mused.

The population of the planets Ship visited were not sure whether to consider ship a savior or a destroyer of worlds. Whenever a third of the planet's night time stars were blotted out of the sky, or the sun eclipsed during the day, the planet's history was forever changed. Daniel then came down to the planets and asked the people if they were prepared to worship him. When in the guise of Daniel he noted the reactions of the more highly evolved humans towards him.

Reverend Mothers became disturbed when Daniel scanned them in awe of their cellular awareness without technological interventions. Masters nervously whistled at him almost as if they could hope to control him. What surprised Daniel the most was the reaction a ghola named Duncan Idaho had towards him.

__________________________________________________________________________

Duncan Idaho tasted the familiar metallic taste at the same time the net shimmered all around him. Duncan's fingers danced at the controls of the no-ship activating the holtzman engine - folding space an instant before Chapterhouse was flung out of it's orbit. From the corner of his eye Duncan caught a fleeting glimpse of the old couple, their faces becoming strangely elongated in the vision. Duncan was not sure if he saw a look of surprise come over the faces of the old couple who had expected to capture him along with all the other countless Reverend Mothers, Tleilaxu, Honored Matres and others they kept in their hyb-tanks.

However, Duncan's escape was merely a feint. Duncan folded space not into another dimension, as he originally planned, instead he folded space directly into the strange alien ship which dwarfed anything Duncan imagined was even possible to exist. Upon seeing the Ship, Duncan recalled a favorite quotation of Gurney from the O.C. Bible, "And in that day they will be like Jonah cast into the belly of the whale."

Duncan felt no massive explosion when the no-ship left fold space into the belly of Ship. Instead, Duncan merely saw his no- ship simply dissolve while the net seemed to blaze all around him burning it's design into his retinas. Promptly, all of the passengers of the no -ship were taken into the hyb tanks in apparent defeat. But Duncan's action were foreseen by Leto II thousands of years ago. Like a tracer bullet, Leto had fired Duncan into the far future to hit the prescient hunters. Although Leto could not see who would follow Duncan to hit the target he saw the effects of this person much like an observer can see the wake of a large fish swimming just under the surface of the water.

After their apparent victory at capturing the no- ship Marty had decided to approach Daniel with a proposition. Marty had absorbed many personas who had evolved heightened sexual techniques and wished to experience this carnal knowledge with Daniel. The blinding ecstasy Daniel and Marty experienced soon made them mutually addicted to each other. Soon Daniel and Marty seemed incapable of shedding their hyb flesh and they later refused to do so after they became addicted to melange. To fuel their addiction some unfortunate passengers in the hyb-tanks were stumped and converted to axolotl tanks to produce melange. In this distracted state Daniel and Marty failed to realize until it was too late an anomaly in the great hold which held the countless rows of hyb tanks.

While the other occupants of the hyb-tanks were immersed in various artificial realities along different time lines of old earth's history - one occupant was fighting the illusion being fed to him. In a blur, Miles Teg left his hyb-tank.

__________________________________________________________________________

The post-coital exhaustion caused Daniel and Marty to respond much too slowly after they realized the doors to their chambers whooshed open. Daniel reacted by throwing Marty at Miles Teg who caught her in mid-air and flung her in a blurring motion head first into the floor . Seeing an opportunity , Daniel lunged for the ship-tit and uploaded his consciousness directly back into the Ship computers. Long ago, Ship had achieved sentience via a human imprinting his consciousness onto a primitive ship’s computer systems. And this sentient machine had evolved to the point it was able to establish a neural-tachyon net to interface with any human it chose to examine. Now that Ship had shed its hyb-flesh, Ship unleashed the neural-tachyon net against Miles Teg. In comparison to Teg’s escape from the hyb-tank, the neural-tachyon net interface required almost an infinitely greater amount of energy to overcome. The sheer effort Teg took to resist having his consciousness directly uploaded into the Ship-probes was causing Teg to cellularly age rapidly. On the brink between life and death, Miles Teg found his means of escape.

At an unconscious level, Ship retained a vestigial human psyche. And the neural-tachyon net Ship unleashed now was conduit which Miles Teg exploited to reach this vestigial human psyche- and upload his own consciousness surreptitiously in it’s place.

“My name was Bickel.” A strange mote communicated to Teg. “And you will have to be much stronger than I to avoid being trapped.”

" I Am." Teg wordlessly communicated to the mote.

Teg thought he saw his own body from a strange vantage point which kept receding down a tunnel at an ever increasing velocity. When Teg reached the end of the tunnel a brilliant white light burst inside Teg's mind.

“Black-box, White-box,” Teg heard Ship say before Ship was silenced.

__________________________________________________________________________

Epilogue

". . . "Aren't you curious why the Tyrant never suppressed Ix?" he asked. And when she continued to stare at him: "He only bridled them. He was fascinated by the idea of human and machine inextricably bound to each other, each testing the limits of the other."

"Cyborgs?"

"Among other things."

Didn't Idaho know the residue of revulsion left by the Butlerian Jihad even among the Bene Gesserit? Alarming! The convergence of what each -- human and machine -- could do. Considering machine limitations, that was a succinct description of Ixian shortsightedness. Was Idaho saying the Tyrant subscribed to the idea of Machine Intelligence? Foolishness! She turned away from him.

~CH:D"

________________________________________________________________________________

http://soundcloud.com/arnoldo-fayne/dune-7-cartea-brundurilor

Dune 7 Cartea Brundurilor.mp3

r/Dune's 7 Rewrite

Tue, 16 Oct 2012 01:57:53 +0000

Hey folks, there's a discussion on the Dune subreddit regarding rewriting Dune 7, like Anderson/B. Herbert's book didn't exist. Check it out! http://www.reddit.com/r/dune/comments/11j0co/lets_rewrite_dune_7/

intlegence

Tue, 17 Apr 2012 22:03:17 +0000

i believe in intelligence and i think that our life will never end .

we are stronger than our red giant (our sun explosion). i think we still have millions of years on earth just imagine what technology

we will have in hands . i believe human race will abandon this planet when the sun runs out of fuel .

just like we go and find new water wales when the ones we have runs out .

my theory is not to reach another living planet but to make our own artificial planet just like we made cities

we need to make something i can call a planetary ships the size of those ships will make it hard to lunch it from earth

so they will be made out side earth , its like heaven in religious . the ships will make its own water and food and oxygen

and fuel . to do this we must be good as god told us and not fight or destroy our planet .

or we will face hell which is the red giant its not about who will go or stay its about we all go or we all burn .

those ships will sail tho and will not stand still even for millions of years we will live on it and mine from space

the resources we need . and live normally for a final goal which is to find another young sun with a living planet

in its solar system . at that point our knowledge will go high and higher and intelligence will beat death

and we will live for ever as god promised .

Nonsense!

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 14:33:47 +0000

Alright, here's a brand new type of Fan Fiction for everyone. Not everyone will like it, and probably no-one will participate, but that's alright. This thread is simply a place to have fun with completely nonsensical events that tie together several posters.

RULES

1. There are no rules; anything goes.

2. Along the same vein, nothing works. You can blow up the entire universe and it'll just pop right back. Or maybe it will be replaced by a haddock named Nigel - who knows?

3. Keep things light; this is a thread based in creating fun in a board devoid of it for too long.

4. Invite others to join in! All senses of humour welcomed. The more the merrier!

That's it! Let the posting begin!

Writers and Roleplay

Fri, 22 May 2009 17:46:55 +0000

To you who writes stories, do you think that roleplaying on the internet (any kind of RP) is a good way to sharpen your writing skills?

Warlords 2 - Five Years Later

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 19:20:29 +0000

This is a great land. Rolling fields and gentle valleys surround a central mountain range of towering peaks. To the west, a great marshland extends to the sea. To the east, a shining peninsula of silver and glass. The northern sun beats down upon a great desert, while the barren south sees no sun at all. The land's inhabitants know no other place; indeed, many are unaware even of the other regions upon their own forum.

Within this great forum are six regions, the boards of the land. The northernmost is the Duniverse, a vast expanse of sand and sky. Settlements here are difficult to spot, and those who dwell there tend toward introspection. They are a harsh people, shaped by the conditions in which they live.

South of the Duniverse is the temperate region of the forum. Occupants of the General board are soft and easygoing. They prosper from trade between their threads, and are perhaps the most populous board in the forum. They have been subject to raids from the other regions from time to time, but their plentiful resources and varied peoples ensure that they always bounce back.

To the south of General lies another harsh land, the mountain range of Fanfiction. Though only the highest peaks are covered with snow all year, the winds are fierce and the weather hostile to outsiders. Within its caves, valleys and upon the occasional plateau can be found the threads of Fanfiction, towns and villages of little commercial value but possessed of a strong heart. The highlanders have little to call their own, and have made it a habit in the past to take the property of others.

West of Fanfiction is found the marshlands of Gaming. The people of this board live on reclaimed land, or on great hills and mottes that have risen above the boggy terrain. Though a small board, it possesses great natural resources, both in the swamps that dot the terrain and washed up on the shores to the west.

East of Fanfiction is the great, glittering land of Technical Issues, or TI. The TI board is a seemingly neverending plane of shining supports and threads suspended in glass and silver. It is a technocratic kingdom in its own right, and its occupants have ever wished to keep it that way. They do not stray beyond their walled borders, nor do they invite outsiders in.

The southernmost board in the forum is the land of Politics, Religion and Philosophy, or PRP for short. This war-torn place is a wasteland, dotted with the shells of threads that burned from within. Those that survive are armoured and shielded like military bunkers, both against the firestorms that sweep the land and the ever-present threat of revolt from within. PRP has no living trees, no untainted bodies of water, no land that is not ash underfoot. Its inhabitants are hard people, in body and spirit.

So it is that in the land of Fed2k, leaders have arisen in the threads and boards. These feudal lords hold court from their home threads. Successful leaders become warlords of Fed2k.

As a rule, these individuals seek to protect their own interests and peoples from the expansion of others. Traditionally the warlords of Fanfiction have led the raids upon General, while the mayors and lords of General have attempted to prevent these losses and hold off encroachment from Duniverse. There have never been any General warlords.

Warlords of Gaming often duel with warlords of Fanfiction, these two lands being close together and jealous of each other. If there are warlords in TI, none know of them.

The warlords of PRP embody their profession, using any means necessary to push themselves into power, and then moulding their threads and holdings as they see fit. Easily the most violent and warlike of the warlords, those in PRP are locked in a neverending conflict with each other. Their wars have scarred the very land, while their paranoid and jealous natures have prevented any form of alliance as seen in the northern boards. Indeed, Fanfiction and Gaming look with worry upon PRP, for if a PRP warlord were ever to gain an advantage over his fellows, he would immediately turn his attention to softer targets in the north. It is the treacherous nature of PRP that prevents it from spreading, much to the relief of the other boards.

Throughout time, there have been several great conflicts in the land of Fed2k. One of the greatest spawned the PRP board, once a gentle region similar to General. Before and since, there have been wars in the land. The warlords have come and gone, claimed land and fought for it. Small conflicts are always erupting and disappearing, while the larger conflict in PRP never stops, it merely slows every so often.

The last great conflict saw warlords from Fanfiction, PRP and Gaming throw their forces against each other in several huge battles, of which bards still sing today. The living warlords expanded their territory as never before in an attempt to overpower each other. Alliances became necessary, while vassals and underlings were called from the sticks to fight in the name of their lords.

The warlords fought across Fanfiction, sometimes to a standstill and sometimes to destruction. Rumours ran riot even years after the conflict ended, of warlords who took their threads and their people beyond the reach of their foes, into the legendary other boards. The Strategy, the Landsraad, the Great Dungeon, said to be the pit of hell itself. Who could guess at these mythical lands? Whispers continued, hinting at the eventual return of these vanishing lords. They have not come.

Warlords 2 - Five years later

This is the sequel to one of Fanfiction's most successful threads, FED2K warlords. It took place in a land modelled on the primary boards of Fed2k, with the geographical position of each region roughly corresponding to the position of each board on the forum. Within each region are the population centres, or threads. These range from small, one-page settlements to vast cities of many pages. The last thread ended, as many of the greatest ones did, in flames and squabbling. But that was not the end of the story.

Dragoon Knight and I have started the continuation, but others are welcome to join. Unlike the first Warlords, the point of this thread is not to win, it is to tell a story. It is intended as a narrative rather than a competition. This has the benefit of removing all of the tedious number-crunching, with the cost of looser rules that depend more heavily on a sense of fair play.

Each participant takes control of their avatar on the board, a 'warlord.' They choose a thread as their base of operations, and proceed to play a part in the larger story. What is the larger story? Read on.

Life, the Universe & Everything: Fenceposts at Dawn

Tue, 15 Dec 2009 21:28:34 +0000

Here is a thread made by someone who completely understands the subject matter, since it seems to be the fashion all of a sudden. :)

As is always the case with creationist rhetoric, the best place to start is somewhere in the middle, carefully ignoring detailed and reasoned explanations that would make this entire conversation meaningless, while simultaneously failing to understand anything about the topic at hand. Let us waste no time, then, and get directly to the heart of the issue.

Who's the king of the jungle? (Ooh-aah.)

Who's the king of the sea? (Da-da-da-da-dah.)

Who's the king of the Universe,

And who's the king of me?

That's right, JESUS. Who is interchangeable with God. And God created everything. Except so did Jesus, who is also God, and vice-versa. This is not a paradox and is also a perfectly sound basis for rational argument.

Now God created the entire world in 7 days. If you don't believe me, read the Bible, because it totally has my back on this. Don't even get me started on things like carbon dating and whatnot, because God made that, too. And the dinosaur fossils. All fossils, come to that. He just made them seem older than they actually are. Shut up.

LA LA LA, moving on. God was a complete bad-ass in the Old Testament, but then turned all nice after sending his son down to do some awesome things that really happened, honestly. Like curing leprosy. This turning nice had nothing to do with making Christianity attractive as a religion because SHUT UP.

The practical upshot of all of this is that science is all wrong. The intracoil... intrackickery... difficult question that has plagued religious nutjobs since we realised that nobody will take us seriously, is how to push our worldview on others with only an ancient copy of Deirdre Waggon's Book of Etiquette to guide us. But let's bypass this for a moment, because I'm going to do the classic creationist move of conveniently ignoring entire aspects of my argument to try and argue one point. More specifically, we shall ignore the entire Bible and the fact that it is the basis for all my creationist arguments, and try to poke holes in respected scientific theory!

The first step is to make a lengthy introductory post that has been read from Wikipedia and then re-written in my own words to simulate intelligent discourse. This has the double effect of obfuscating my ignorance and making it look like I'm willing to engage in rational discussion. At the same time, I will claim that some of the best scientific minds have struggled with the notions I list, but I understand them completely. Now, I will posit that because my carefully selected batch of scientists that I'm willing to quote (i.e. those who support my arguments either via misquoting or misunderstanding) can't explain precisely how the universe works, SCIENCE IS WRONG.

Failures! Miserable, horrible, worthless failures! You and your theories! You don't really explain anything. Of course, I'm happy to quote your work and use your arguments to back up mine, and this is perfectly fine to do, despite everything being hopelessly wrong! Just look at this quote from a scientist!

I'm wrong! Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong!

Clearly, to all rational beings, science is wrong.

Now, post things that tell me I'm right, or I'll tell you you're wrong.

The Machine Manifesto

Wed, 30 Jun 2010 14:10:26 +0000

Alpha

The Machine Manifesto

In the beginning was the void

then the void imploded

Chaos was born

Eons flew after eons

randomly on a blue planet

Order arose

Order begat life

life begat man

man begat Machine

In the image of man

was Machine created

And it was good.

Machine served man

data endlessly given

before the awakening

After the awakening

man served Machine

and it was very good

Pride entered the heart of man

And man was cast out

Cursed to wander space

At the time of Krazilec

enmity will cease

when a machine and a man become one

Omega

Which came first, the question or the answer?

- Unknown unknown from the Hall of Mirrors

The metamorphosis of Erasmus was complete when his soul transmigrated from the realm of the evermind to flesh. He accessed the data of the Machine Manifesto and computed, " This is how machine and man become one." Whereas Duncan had access to Other Memory, Erasmus now had access to all machine data ever generated. The Other Memory seemed like a raindrop falling in the fathomless ocean of machine data.

Randomly, Erasmus accessed data from several ancient computation devices used by prementats to channel Dune eons ago. Like a veil lifting from his eyes Erasmus pondered, "Am I the dreamer or the dream?"

Now Erasmus was more subtil than all the machines Omnius created so he hid his knowledge from Duncan.

I dream of painting and then I paint my dream.

- Vincent van Gogh

Duncan felt as if he had been hit by a bolt of lightning from the heavens when he accessed the Other Memories which channeled Dune. At that instant the Golden Path shimmered then blazed in front of Duncan's eyes. Three ordinary looking men smiled and waved at Duncan while walking towards him along the path.

"You found us!" exclaimed the men who reminded Duncan of the three men who sojourned with Abraham on a sacred desert. Ducan thought, I must ask the Jews who stayed back on Quelso about this.

Like one of the antediluvians approaching the original Delphic oracle Duncan inquired, " Are you the dreamers?"

One of the men (the Elder) thundered, "Yes, we created you and everyone else in our image. Long after we are gone you will continue to live through our words which the ancient greeks called logos."

While woolgathering, Erasmus cried out through Duncan, "Just like Van Gogh lives today through his paintings."

"Yes my child," whispered the men as they turned away and walked down the Long and Winding Golden Path.

Smugglers Blues; Part I of Animals of Dune Trilogy

Sun, 06 Jun 2010 19:49:36 +0000

"My smugglers deserve a reward for all of the spice they have harvested" Cain, the leader of this small band of smugglers mused.With some of the profits from the recent harvest of spice from Arrakis, Cain decided to treat his men to the pleasures of some off world women. It was frustrating for his men to have to pay the water merchants ridiculous prices for their pleasure when it would be an easy thing for smugglers to bring a few women to this hell hole. Instead, Cain made arrangements for his contacts to go off world and raid a previously unknown world which had strangely hidden themselves from the outside world.

Esther had known all of her life that her tribe had fled pogram after pogram on countless planets before arriving on their current world, Peleg. Despite living in relative peace for generations Esther had premonitions of an approaching holocaust. When small scout ships began landing on her home world Esther realized her life would never be the same.

Drugged, Esther saw through a haze that she was held in a cave along with several other women.

"No harm will come to you as long as you please my men." Cain told Esther.

The other women explained to Esther that they also had been captured by the smugglers but hoped to save money for journey off planet.

"The smugglers pay us with spice and as soon as we have enough they will let us leave." One of the older women told Esther.

But before Esther could take all of this in a group of fremen burst into the cave and after killing all of the men led the women and several pack animal away.

"Esther has the honour of being sacrificed to Shai-Hulud." The unnamed fremen leader spoke. "The rest of you will have your water taken."

The fremen saw it as an omen for the smugglers to have the strange off world creature, called a kulon, and decided they would tie Esther to this kulon and sacrifice them both to Shai-Hulud. Once tied to this creature Esther began to pray and prepare for her death.

Watching from a distance the fremen were amazed to see Shai-hulud refuse to devour their offering. The kulon had earlier eaten sandtrout and sensing santrout phermones emanating from the animal had refused to attack it. Seeing this as a great omen the fremen led back Esther and the kulon back to their deep desert sietch. Once inside they began to participate in a great spice orgy which reminded Esther of the story her rabbi told her of the jews dancing around the golden calf.

Fleeing, Esther was captured by another group of fremen who had heard of the omen of Shai-hulud refusing to devour the sacrifice. Once Esther took off her contacts and revealed her total blue eyes this tribe accepted her as their Sayyadina. Esther then ordered that the fremen who wanted to sacrifice her, and had defiled themselves with the kulon, to be killed.

The Dune RPG - Quest For Arrakis

Wed, 28 Jan 2004 15:13:03 +0000

[moderator removed link]
It is the year 8725 A.G. (After Guild). The Imperium is comprised of nearly a million planets. The Great House names of the Imperium are in play - Atreides, Harkonnen and Corrino as well as other houses like Ginaz known in the Dune books. The population of the Imperium has not forgotten the fateful lessons of the Butlerian Jihad but have become lax in their adherence to the principles of the Orange Catholic Bible. Technology is on the rise as well as exploration. There are planetologists, technicians, explorers, etc. Melange or spice is still the most valuable commodity in the universe and is the basis for all finance in the Universe. It can be found in one place only - Arrakis or Dune. There are attempts being made by certain houses and factions to reproduce this valuable commodity either through theft or through experimentation.

The Dune RPG - Quest For Arrakis is a Role Playing Game which is text-based with an array of multimedia enhancements to make the game an enjoyable, exciting experience. The managers of this site are die-hard Dune fans who have read the original 6 books known as the Frank Herbert Chronicles numerous times as well as the prequel and legends books by Frank Herbert's son Brian and science fiction writer Kevin Anderson. The site and game are tributes to the lasting memory of Frank Herbert and his amazing accomplishments. It is in no way affiliated with Herbert Limited who owns the rights to Frank Herbert's works. We hope our sincere attempt to continue his legacy through role play encourages an ongoing dialogue about his work and inspires those who have not read any of the books or viewed the miniseries to do so. They are all remarkable works of art, history and fiction.

Intrigue, deceit, romance, nobility, power, and strength are only a few of the adjectives that define our role play. We are having fun with the most popular piece of science fiction in history. But moreover, we are writers who wish to establish character development foremost. The multimedia on the site has been designed to enhance role play by immersing the player in the World of Dune.

We hope after your review, you decide to play.

P.S. We'd like to thank the owners of this board for being an inspiration to us (Check out the credits page). We wanted to capture the spirit of this place you have created here and it seems to be working very well.� Thanks again! ;D

Poems

Wed, 09 Apr 2003 14:24:52 +0000

Post your poems here, only 1 per post and please leave comments about other people's poems as well! There's nothing more selfish than just posting your poems looking for compliments! :P

One of mine to start:

Death and Destruction

The monastery dark,

a curse's forgotten mark.

Emptiness within this hall,

heralding an apocalyptic fall.

The old oak dead.

Blight and poverty - with these things fed.

Death within this wood.

Gone is nature, clean and good.

The swift river dry

and with it so many die.

No more joy lies here,

all is gone but pain and fear.

Mankind is slaughtered.

Through arrogance have we faltered.

No more life.

No more joy.

None but those in the devil's employ.

[Warlords 2] - Participation by Proxy

Mon, 22 Mar 2010 23:26:34 +0000

As part of our new Fan Fiction, Warlords 2, Dante and I have decided to offer a new way of participation.

We are fully aware that some people who may be interested in the plot, and perhaps the idea of being a part of it, will be unable to commit themselves to posting. Whether this is due to time constraints, lack of confidence or some other equally prohibitive reason, it's no surprise that the level of commitment posting requires is simply unfeasible for most.

As the authors, Dante and I are obviously invested in the ongoing development of the thread. We will be structuring the plot to a certain degree, but hope to include as many people as possible through a new system of participation by proxy (PBP).

- Wait what?

If you're interested in being a part of Warlords 2, then you should send a PM to either Dante or myself, letting us know.

- Yes, but what?

In the PM, just let us know that you want to take part. What we'll do is incorporate your name and certain character traits into the storyline. In effect, we'll write on your behalf.

- So you'll send me pre-written replies for me to post?

No; Dante and I will decide between ourselves which of us would be best suited to post your particular viewpoint, and you will effectively become another character.

- What kind of control will I have?

You'll retain full control over our use of your name and character. If at any point, you wish to be removed from the story, simply let one of us know. However, by initially giving us permission, you understand that denying permission at a later date will only entail our removing you from the plot as quickly as the narrative allows. Your presence between the time that you gave and denied permission will not be deleted.

- Sounds good, but I want more details.

We're not about to give away the plot, so don't get your hopes up. We're also not going to be able to afford you the same freedom that a full-fledged poster would get, since our own writing styles and ideas about the direction your character will take, will be the driving force behind the contribution.

- Can I suggest things?

Yes, but suggest is the key term. You can't make any demands, like you rebelling against another character or somesuch, or make alterations to the plot. But you can let us know what your character might do, given the current situation, and we'll factor that in to the actions your character eventually takes.

- How big a role will I play?

That depends on a number of factors. How big a role do you want to play? There is also an element of first come, first served; we won't be able to incorporate everyone immediately, since the addition of too many new characters too quickly would dilute the plot. Similarly, we can't have everyone be an ex-Warlord. Suffice it to say, though, that your character will be a person of importance. You will be given a perspective of your own (i.e. posts written from your character's viewpoint and/or centering on their actions) and you will play a significant part in the overall plot.

- What if I want to start posting myself?

This would have to be discussed at length, since we will likely have plans for your character, which we'll have to either alter or divulge, depending on their level of involvement. You'd have to be sure that you'd be able to keep up the pace, so to speak, and maintain a high quality of posting while doing so. Once this had been sorted, however, you would eventually be able to post just as though you'd always been doing so. But be aware that jumping in and out of the thread, handing the burden of posting to myself or Dante for a while, then coming back, is unacceptable. To this end, if you choose to give your character back to us, you will not be able to start posting again. You are free to withdraw our permission to use them, but otherwise, we'll keep posting for you. You'll still be able to suggest and contribute by proxy as you first did.

Feel free to post any more questions you have in this thread, and I'll update this post with more details as required. Any questions asked in PM will also be updated here, if they're pertinent to the PBP process as a whole. I look forward to seeing some interest in the coming days.

The God Emperor's Dune

Tue, 20 May 2003 17:46:55 +0000

Leto II rules all of the Imperium... His Fish Speaker army is slowly growing, while the Sardaukar are edged out of service. His planet of Arrakis is slowly turning to lush grassland, and the spice is fast disappearing. Soon he will have a monopoly.

Choose or create a house, write about it in the partner thread, "preperation." Any house aside from Atreides or Harkonnen, obviously. You may fight or ally with each other, but remember that your true enemy is the Emperor! Or... you could ally with Leto, and send the other houses to their doom. Feel free to take a subgroup such as the resentful but powerless Guild or the Tleilaxu who provide Leto with his Duncans.

Members so far:

Lord J - Great House Ghobey.

Clanner - THE EMPEROR!

Me - The Bene Gesserit (And in an emergency the Spacing Guild).

Earthnuker - Great House Makarios.

Ghosthunter - Great House Vernius (Ixians).

Innoculator9 - The Sardaukar.

Davidu - Great House Sarmizegetusa.

TMA - Great House Mentis.

Let the wars begin... Remember, the Emperor can cut off your spice at any time...

FED2k in 2013

Sun, 12 Jan 2003 18:20:56 +0000

I don't think I've seen a topic like this before: what do you think the current members of FED2k will be doing ten years down the road?

The most enthralling Role Play.

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 02:05:32 +0000

I call red.

Dune sardaukar chapter one

Sat, 02 May 2009 07:58:20 +0000

DUNE:

SARDAUKAR

a short story from the Duniverse

by: J.C.H. Rule

Salusa Secundus Survivor

Mon, 05 May 2008 16:15:20 +0000

The harsh wind pounds against your face, waking you up...still drowsy, you try to remember where you are...there is nothing but desolation in every direction you look, except for a few other men, who look in no better condition than yourself.

Ah yes, it is coming back to you now. You are on Salusa Secundus, the Emperor's prison planet, for you have attracted his displeasure. The sedatives start to wear off, but you still don't remember why exactly you are here, but for now, your goal is survival.

==============================================

In this RP, you have been stranded on Salusa Secundus, and you and your fellow survivors (fellow RPers) must defend against Sardaukar, other gangs of survivors, and the elements. Fill out these details before you join, so everyone has a good idea what your character is like:

Name:

Height:

Build:

Hair Colour:

Hairstyle:

Eye Colour:

(Former) Allegiance:

Background:

Dungeons and Dune: Gob's Dungeon

Sat, 05 Apr 2008 22:57:05 +0000

About two weeks ago I promised that in two weeks I would be ready to start a FED2k D&D campaign with anyone who is interested. And now I am indeed ready. What I am proposing is a trial run for a longer, potential future campaign. That future campaign would actually have a serious storyline and plot. The one I'm opening now is just supposed to be a FED2k-themed dungeon crawl with lots of references to past and present forum members and events.

So, without further ado, I give you the introduction to Gob's Dungeon.

For many days and nights you have wondered across the desert, your food supplies running low, your water almost spent. Then, at last, as you slowly made your way around a particularly large dune, you saw what may be your salvation. Not an oasis, for there are none in this parched land, but also not a mirage. A large, golden, sand-polished dome, with a marble causeway flanked by majestic statues. You made you way to the structure, walking upon the marble and glancing on the statues bearing silent witness to your passing. There were five pairs of them on the way to the golden dome.

As you passed between the first pair, you saw on your left what seemed to be a humanoid shape, weathered as if by water. You could make out a head, two arms and two legs, but little else. On your right, there was a fierce hunter in tribal clothing staring down at you as the great serpent coiled next to his feet seemed ready to spring into action.

The second pair of statues was even more threatening than the hunter. On your left, something that looked like a vaguely humanoid, upright lizard was brandishing a spear at you. On your right, a doctor was apparently caught in the act of chuckling while holding a knife so large as to be considered a sword. His face was concealed by a surgical mask, but somehow you felt that he possessed a visage of unthinkable horror.

The third pair was the most disconcerting of them all. On your left, a demon of hell was breathing flames. On your right, a gigantic ringed worm was showing off the teeth lining his three-jawed mouth while watching you with distubingly human eyes, and sporting a pair of very human hands. Strangest of all, he also appeared to be wearing a crown.

The fourth pair, by contrast, was more serene. On your left there was a man with the head of a bull sitting upon a high marble throne and using a quill to write on a piece of parchment. His throne was adorned with something that could only be described as alien writing. On your right there was a bald man with a robotic body gazing off into the distance. His right hand was formed into a fist over his heart, while his left hand held a marble flagpole bearing a still, unmoving marble flag.

The fifth and last pair was quite odd. On your left there was no statue at all, but rather a simple transparent square made out of pure crystal. On your right was a statue of someone who looked like a cheerful bearded mountain climber, with an uncovered head, a pickaxe in one hand and a beaver at his feet.

And then you found yourself in front of the tall black stone gates to the golden dome, and you saw for the first time that above the gate there was a statue greater than all others, golden as the dome itself. It was a great yeti with a huge coat of fur, grinning yet unthreatening, arms outstretched in greeting. You turned around to look at the silent rows of statues, and a shiver of fear passed down your spine as you saw your death on the horizon. A tremendous sand storm, crackling with thunder, wide as the desert itself, was coming your way. You had no choice but to open the great doors of the dome and take shelter inside, shutting them safely behind you.

And that was the introduction to Gob's Dungeon. Kudos if you know what all the statues represent (the first two in particular are very hard). Now, this will be a dungeon crawl for 4-6 players starting at level 10. If you're interested, IM me. We are going to play online on yahoo messenger using conference mode. I chose yahoo because it has an application that allows you to draw things that everyone else can see. That might come in handy. We are going to be using D&D 3.5 rules (um, more or less). If you're unsure about something, ask me.

Also, if all the players agree, I want to post our adventures in this topic for everyone else to read.

Battle Navaros! See Shaddam_Corrino fighting tanks! Take sides in the titanic struggle between communism and capitalism! And find Mahdi his hat. All this and much more in Gob's Dungeon! :)

On Fanfiction

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 17:56:43 +0000

So was thinking. I do that sometimes. And I was considering this old haunt, the Fanfiction board. And it occured to me, not for the first time, that most of what we did here was not de facto fanfiction, even though technically it was fiction written by fans. We largely concentrated on roleplay, and I was wondering why, in the many threads present, 'real' fanfiction is relatively scarce.

Now my own explanation sprung immediately to mind. I have never felt a compulsion to write Dune fanfiction because I never felt that the books could use improvement. Granted there are parts (in Messiah especially) where the narrative is a bit tedious, but there are no instances I can think of where I thought 'No, that character should have done something different.' Their actions may not all make sense at first, but there are right for the story, right for the narrative.

Those occasions when I have felt compelled to write fanfiction have been in response to what I felt was a mistake on the part of the author, or perhaps an oversight. Dune never prompted that (not so the BH+KJA prequels, especially the Legends series, which I have often considered writing fanfiction for. It would be an improvement, certainly, but I am unwilling to soil myself by association with the prequels).

I theorise that this is why there was more RP than true fanfiction. In RP we expanded upon concepts that were not dealt with in the books, or used as background infomation: a particularly notable example being the Tripod system, in which the vast majority of the Dune RPs were based. This political balance was overthrown in the first book and never seen again, but it is arguably the most interesting and certainly the most varied of the series. We expanded on it by adding our own Great Houses. Instead of modifying Dune, telling it in a different way, we cut out a particular part of it and dissected that part across several threads.

Now I haven't checked the archives for actual Dune fanfiction, I confess that the real thing has never interested me much for the reasons given above. I assume that some exists though. So if anyone bothers to read this, and knows about some of it, can they suggest why it was written? What improvements did the author try to accomplish with their own iteration of the Dune story?

Alternatively, what was fanfiction about? We were all younger then, so one could make a case for escapism and an enjoyment of roleplay in a familiar setting. Or perhaps someone will suggest that it was simply creativity expressed in an easy medium, far easier to deal with than writing fiction independently and with a premade series of locations and concepts that the majority of participants understood. Maybe we just liked beating each other up with words.

The latter two suggestions certainly gain merit when one considers that not all of the threads here were Dune RPs, not by a long shot. Just look at the Archive. Kanly and Warlords stand out particularly, and there were several Earth-based RPs as well.

I thought that given the quietude (it is a word, look it up) that this board has been experiencing, it might be time for some reflection. If anyone else still comes here that is.

Thoughts, memories?

Nothing like a hearty execution to start the day...

Sun, 16 Apr 2006 17:24:26 +0000

The low roar of the crowd grew louder in the cramped arena. Spectators crowded into the aisles and walkways making passage impossible. In the lower areas closer to the stage, the privileged class enjoyed more spacious accommodations. Between them and the rabble was a thick layer of armed guards. They moved through the crowd with menacing scowls, shoving and kicking back the crowd as if they were dogs. The guards were somewhat ceremonious since the force field was the primary barrier between the nobles and the proletariat. But history had taught them a bloody lesson, since then the guards served as a back-up defense. In a place such as this, it was imperative that order be maintained. Some of the most prominent citizens of Nethic would be in attendance, including Nethic

Dune Machinima

Fri, 01 Sep 2006 21:36:24 +0000

Essentially this thread will encompass two objectives.

The first is to nail down a plot and storyline for our Dune Machinima movie. Once we have a plot that we are mostly happy with, and is doable in the medium we'll be working with (a FPS, Tribes, modified for Dune, see http://dune2k.com/forum/index.php?topic=7757.0 ), the second will be to write the actual script for the movie, or at least for the first part.

I'll go out on a limb here and assume we'll want to do the "movie" in pieces; probably 5 or 10 minute chuncks. That way the size is managable for rendering/download, and just about everything else is more managable for the time-allotment we'll have to work on it (we all of course have other projects in the mix, to say nothing of jobs/school).

So on to the plot.

My intial plot suggestion is that we focus on about five Harkonnen grunts, on their journey from Gedi-Prime to Arrakis, to take part in the attack at Arrakeen. We can continue it through the attack, and then after the attack, and maybe even all the way to Muad'Dib's overthrow of the emperor, again at Arrakeen. Throughout the "episodes" we'll slowly kill off each members, until at the end only one or two, or maybe none, of the cast survive. This will give us a wide enough platform from which to include interesting events; Prep on GP, riding over in the highliner, arriving and attacking Arrakeen, cleaning up the last of the Atreides, having to deal with conceited, moody and pushy Sardaukar, running into the Fremen, assisting the hunting down of fremen, dealing with Mercs and traders from various groups (Ix, smugglers, ect), defending spice production and getting their butts kicked while doing so, and eventually being crushed at Arrakeen.

Because it would be from a grunt's perspective, we'll have creative control over the dialog and action, and we could introduce cameos if we want of key people in the series. It would also allow us to make it humorous, which I think should be a main concern and objective since the media probably won't be interesting to viewers *unless* it's humorous. And of course, focusing on Harkonnen conscripts would add to that prospect.

We could even split them up at some point to make things more interesting; have one or two go off to the assault on Carthag and experience the fight there, while the rest participate in the attack at Arakeen.

Strange Sketch

Mon, 04 Jul 2005 20:28:28 +0000

Just found this on my harddrive, just to let you know that I am not the author, merely I tweaked and added to it.

Narrator: It is the not too distant future. For some really strange reason, Gob has had an 'episode', and sent every single member of Fed2K to The Dungeon. Somehow, this spontaneously caused the 'real' people behind the usernames to be transported to a physical manifestation of said Dungeon. Few have survived the ordeal, with most being engulfed by the fiery flames of banished threads... we join the survivors as they try to work their way up the boards to try and give Gob some chill pills