Guide to your local admins and moderators.

[Myself]

I like that one, I must be honest.

[Myself]

Well, at least we are now in contact with Justin. That's a positive.

[Celadon's Penultimate]

 Indeed.

Oh, hey, what about War Hammer Dominator?

[Smackgiver]

They're getting better, IMHO.

I still like Woo Hoo Dawg the best, tho.

[Whd]

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The author has deleted this message.

[Celadon's Penultimate]

 Ooh! I gots another one!

Wonder Hacker Deluxe.

[Myself]

Huzzah for creativity!

[Smackgiver]

Hey, Wulf.  I'm curious about your moniker, "The Penultimate".  If it's not too personal a question to ask, would you mind telling me how/why you chose it?

[Celadon's Penultimate]

Oh, no, it's not too personal at all. In fact, I really enjoy telling the story (just, occasionally, some changes are made, so to any members who've been on longer than Smack, and gotten a couple different details of the story, you know why...)

You see, Celadon is an alien planet, filled with all sorts of different races and species from mythology, legend, folklore and modern fantasy. Nearly any sort of race, creature, species, breed make or model of thing you can imagine, lives on Celadon, lives in one of Celadon's surrounding territories, has been spotted by Celadonian explorers/dignitaries/traders/trappers, has relatives on or from Celadon, etc. Vampires, Werewolves, Mermaids, Gorgons, Fairies, Time Lords, etc.

And while the various sentient races have gods and spirits to whom they offer allegiance, which correspond to gods and spirits known on Earth, there are also beings whose dominions are exclusive to Celadon. And their domains correspond directly to the elements of nature (even lending their names to the various lands). These beings are referred to simply as The Elementals.

Gandrei is the Air Archon (ruler of Air, Breath and Sound)

Habador is the Earth Elder (ruler of Earth, Metal and Sand)

Vulcan is the Fire Fantast (ruler of Heat, Fire and Lava--normal rock is Habador's domain, molten rock is Vulcan's)

Arboralia is the Plant Paragon (ruler of Plants, Wood, and [Plant] Growth)

Sciops is the Storm Sage (ruler of Lightning/Thunder, Electricity and Magnetism)

The Drym is the Quantum Keeper (ruler of Void [Space], Time and Gravity)

(There's a couple others I'm considering adding, but they're not confirmed yet, so this may require yet more retconning later. Anyhow...)

While the above arrangement may seem like a decent set-up to govern Celadon (seven deliberating minds, so that no decision gets stuck with a tie vote), it has one major snag. The Drym (arguably the wisest of the Seven) is a being intimately connected with the space-time continuum, and thus refuses to have any part in any decisions which may negatively impact it, except under the most extreme circumstances (he even refused to lend his name to any land on Celadon). This means that, for all other circumstances, there would have to be another being inducted into their midst, who had the power, wisdom and resolve to help enact laws and enforce them.

To find out who would be inducted into the role, the Elementals would each have their pick of one candidate, from anywhere in the universe to which Celadon was connected. The candidates, once selected, are each transported to different parts of Celadon. From their starting points, companions are sent their way to unwittingly lead them through each of the other lands, with the journey ending at Lethe Island. There they would find The Hub (a great hollow mountain containing portals to anywhere in the known universe, including the Realm of the Elementals). The journey there would be just a preliminary test: the true challenge would begin within the Elementals' Realm.

There, each contestant would be granted vast superhuman abilities (though, of course, not as much as any one Elemental). Then, each Elemental would issue a challenge, which they were to solve through clever use of their abilities (anything other than killing or torture was fair game). A contestant would be eliminated each round, based on not just their success or failure, but also style points, etc, until it comes down to the last two. Then the contestant with the lowest score gets to choose how the final test will be approached; a test of wits (ie the final Elemental's challenge) or a battle of brawn (ie a fight).

Whoever wins, regardless, is inducted into the Council of Elementals. They are then awarded a title to reflect the aspect of nature they most reflect. The first chose The Leader, the second The Guardian, the third The Protector, the fourth The Sentry, the fifth The Inquisitor, the sixth The Accuser, and the seventh (myself) The Penultimate.

It is only known to the Elementals as to why the Penultimate subconsciously chose his name.

Fortunately, in author mode, it's safe to reveal--the eighth and final ambassador to the Council of Elementals will be called The Doom, and will help set events in order, to initiate what appears to be the destruction of Celadon, called the Mundaning. All magic in Celadon will seem to be destroyed, and Celadon's citizens will be thrust through space and time to worlds devoid of magic, where their identities will be thrust back into the shadows, and their identities obscured for thousands of years, until they become the stuff of myth and legends. Though, the change is only one of temporary convenience. When the Drym has found a new sector of outer space, safe (in all spatial and temporal parameters) from the danger that came to the previous world, the creatures' descendants will arise, and be retrieved to return to their native home, restored literally from their ancestors' memories.

And they have no intention of letting the Penultimate know of his role in the destiny of Celadon, just yet. As per the orders of the Drym, the word's meaning has even been erased from the Penultimate's memory, and any time he appears to be about to come across the meaning for himself, distractions conveniently stumble across his path. Yet, the Elementals claim that he will know his name's meaning, all in good time. For now, though, the Penultimate will simply have to carry out his duty to the races and species of Celadon.

[Smackgiver]

Interesting.  I had my own theory of why you chose that name and, well let's just say I was WAAAAY off.  

Celadon sound like a nice place for a vaycay for someone with my sensibilities.

[Marvelous Miscreant]

I wonder if that Backstory thread is still floating around somewhere. I'd like to reread everyone's now.

[Celadon's Penultimate]

It is here.

[Celadon's Penultimate]

 Yeah, as it turns out, Celadon is adjoined to a lot of the lands that appear in mythology, legend, folklore and fiction--Mount Olympus, Asgard and the rest of the Eight Realms (with the Ninth, Midgard being Earth, of course), Shangri-La, Utopia, Wonderland, Neverland, Narnia, the worlds described within Dungeons and Dragons, the Avatar World (both of Avatar: The Last Airbender/Legend of Korra, and Pandora the home of the Na'vi), the Harry Potter World, the Cartoon World, Cyberspace, etc, etc. Not all on the same planet, but still, adjoined through various dimensions. And they don't own them or anything like that--they're often just adjoined through alliance or sharing of neutral territory, or delegations sending dignitaries back and forth.

I mean, think about it; there's a reason all of those 'whimsical' concepts came into being within mortal Earthling society...and 'normal' humans seem to think it's just because Earthlings are just SO ingenious and creative...

Hehe, how bout no.

Either way, sure, it's most welcoming to humans, provided they don't mind picking up a bit of the local customs: sight-seeing, the various curio shops, numerous different tribal cuisines, nature walks, hunting, magic, evil-mad-scientist-plan-foiling, royalty coronations, prince-assassination prevention, damsel-in-distress-saving, dragon-slaying, knight training, thief training, ninja training, samurai training, priest/priestess training, traveling to different lands/worlds/dimensions, traveling through time, etc, etc.

You know, the typical tourist stuff. And, of course, they'll be bugging you, all along the way, to buy their souvenirs (fresh from the dignitary they robbed that morning!) or some such mumbo jumbo.

smh, don'tcha just hate tourist traps?

Oh! And what, may I ask, was your original hypothesis as to why I took on the moniker of Penultimate?

[Smackgiver]

Well, I thought your name was derived from a theological viewpoint.  Take, for a moment, my perspective into account when I first happened upon your pseudonym.  

My first exposure to the term "penultimate" occured when I was studying Latin as a layman, not in any official/academic sense. Penultimate was used as a guideline for pronunciation, specifically meaning "the next to the last" or the "one before the final/ultimate (emphatic syllable)".  

Then, I factored your devotion to our God (Yahweh/Jehovah/the God of Abraham/Isaac/Jacob) and arrived at the deduction that you, as I would, place yourself second, even in our most fantastical of realms, before the throne of the Almighty, giving deference to Him as the one true God.  

Was I close?

[Celadon's Penultimate]

Well, I must say, your skills of deduction certainly leave nothing to be desired, in that case. That's actually precisely why I chose it, in author-mode.

Though, naturally, there's no need to bring overt faith and theology into what I hope to be a kids' story (unless all parties involved share the same faith, which likely wouldn't be the case, in a secular/multi-faith society). And so, an alternate story was devised to be more palatable for others who might inquire. Not to deny my faith, but to allow it in a way that nobody could falsely construe as pompous, bigoted, judgmental or 'indoctrinating'.

Still, though, whenever somebody asks "Well, if you're the Penultimate, then who's the Ultimate?" it still sort of makes me chuckle. The Ultimate knows quite well who He is, and so do I. Other lowercase-G 'gods' exist within the universe of my mythos, but there are also Christians and Muslims and Jews and the like within that realm, and (though it's reiterated in subtle and sometimes vague ways) the Penultimate still identifies as Protestant Christian.

[Myself]

Well done!

You, Smackgiver, have worked out in a few weeks which has puzzled me for years. In addition, it seems so obvious now.

[Smackgiver]

Very impressive.  Nicely thought out, Wulf.  Sorta reminds me of a modern day C. S. Lewis Chronicles of Narnia kinda thing.  

Thanks for sharing that with us, bud.

[Celadon's Penultimate]

 In the deed. I'm more than happy to share.

[WonderDrow]

Nice.
My original assumption, that it was a reference to Pendragon, was wrong.  (I didn't know the word 'penult' yet)

But in that interpretation Penultimate would mean 'Chief of the Ultimate'.
And I was wondering why you would see anyone above your deity.

[Celadon's Penultimate]

Thank goodness we've cleared up the confusion, then, lol...