Carja

Crismus

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Dec 282011
 

From the journal of Ardebast Raconteur :

The avian generally do not have a reputation for wisdom. There are exceptions of course, the most notable being Crismus the Owl. It is the common consensus that he is the wisest being in all of Pelaria. In addition to his great wisdom, he has also at times demonstrated a limited soothsaying ability. For these reasons, furs, scales and avian are willing to flock from all over Pelaria to his roost in northern Verdant to seek his counsel. Crismus’ knowledge of the future is far from absolute. Things normally come to him as feelings rather than visions. He is understandably reticent to provide any details unless he is certain of them. This will often make it hard to get a straight answer from him. I have heard him on more than one occasion say that while he may know your destination, it does not mean he knows which path you’ll take to get there.

In addition to providing advice to those who visit him, Crismus also serves as a member of the admissions council for the Academy. In fact, it was a much younger Crismus who signed my acceptance letter way back when. I have always therefore felt a special connection with the wise owl. I frequented him often in those school days, sometimes for advice, but more often just to discuss with him. Even now, I like to stop by just to talk and he always seems happy to see me. I think he appreciates having someone visit him who isn’t seeking his help.

Crismus does not readily speak of his past, though I’ve managed to glean bits and pieces from our conversations together over the years, such as the facts that he was born in Verdant and that has no surviving relatives. Also, although I am not positive, I believe he was a world traveller in his early days, much as I am now. He knows too much of the world to have been cooped up in Verdant his whole life. As for how long he travelled, or what convinced him to settle back down in Verdant, I have no idea however. It is my hope that someday he may open up to me. It would be fascinating to chronicle his life before he dies.

Carja’s Notes:

Considering his timely introduction in the Funnies, you might think that I created and named Crismus specifically for use at Christmastime. You would be wrong however. As I was brainstorming ideas for Age of Animus, I decided to use one of those classic tropes for stories involving anthropomorphic animals, namely that I would have a wise old owl that everybody comes to for advice. The name I gave him was Crismus (pronounced Criz-mus). I quickly realized that it was a possible homonym for Christmas, and I even debated whether I should change the name or not (obviously I chose not to).

Crismus first appears in Nektara’s introductory story, written in August 2011, pretty much as I originally envisioned him, a cryptic, old wise bird.

Then we skip ahead a few months to late November, when I’m wondering if I’m going to do anything for Christmas in the Funnies. I felt that there was no logical context for the characters to be celebrating Christmas and I didn’t want to go the Star Wars Christmas Special route and have them celebrate “Life Day” or something like that. It’s then that I decided to embrace the sound-alike nature of Crismus’ name and just have the animals get together to celebrate his birthday.

‘Twas the Day After Christmas

 Carja's Corner  No Responses »
Dec 262011
 

It’s Monday and that means it’s blog time. But what to write about? I could write about how it’s Boxing Day, but I’ve never been much of a pugilist! HA! Seriously though, I don’t think I’ll be braving the stores today. Boxing Day is just cuh-ray-zee! There’s nothing I need to save 10% off that bad! If my local comic book store were just a touch more local, I’d stop in there…not because I need anything, but just because it’s a nifty place to check out.

So no shopping today. Tomorrow is the day my friends and I have set aside this holiday season to get together and exchange our Christmas gifts and play board games and stuff. That should be fun! I’m looking forward to more swag…uh! I mean seeing my friends! Yes! That’s what I’m looking forward to! Seeing my friends!

I scheduled vacation days to be off until January 4th. I could have saved a vacation day and gone back in on the 3rd, but that’s a Tuesday and we all know how I feel about Tuesdays! This is the longest stretch of days off I schedule for myself in the year. During the summer I usually take Fridays and/or Mondays off so as to make for a whole lot of long weekends rather than a straight 2-3 week vacation.

I had a wonderful time at my sister’s place yesterday. Exchanged Christmas gifts with the family, had a nice little Christmas lunch and then we just hung out until Christmas supper, complete with turkey with stuffing and ham and more savory foodstuffs. It would have been even awesomer if I hadn’t gotten a headache that just grew and grew throughout the day until it hurt every time I leaned over. I broke my no-aspirin rule and downed two of whatever brand my sister buys before we left and fell asleep on the couch when I got home. I woke up ever so briefly around midnight and was just aware enough to note that my headache was gone and then I zonked out again until this morning!

I bought Kayla (my niece for those keeping track at home) Karaoke Revolution: Glee Vol. 3 for the Wii for Christmas. I may have to track down the previous two volumes and the third for myself. I have all the previous Karaoke Revolutions (except the second American Idol edition I think) on Playstation, but they don’t seem to make the Glee versions on that so I’ll have to get them on the Wii.

Well that’s it for this week’s blog. I’ll be back with more musings and notes next week. Enjoy the Funnies and a new story starting this week!

The Adventures of Red Rich – Part 5 (Conclusion for now)

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Dec 232011
 

Green Rich was baffled. The two guards had posed little trouble to his significant sword skills, but now he was caught in a labyrinthine series of corridors. Perhaps he should have asked one of the wolves for directions? But they were dead now and corpses reveal few answers…the tight-lipped know-it-alls.

He had just passed the same potted plant for the third time when a voice called out to him, “Are you lost?” He spun around to see a cat standing there.

She was attractive, so far as cats go. By her attire, he judged her to be a thief. On her shoulder was a small tinker with a mousey-face. She had her dagger in hand and did not look impressed. This called for charm.

“Be gone, devil woman! Green Rich needs not the help of criminals!”

The cat raised an eyebrow, “Really? Then what exactly is Green Rich doing in a den of thieves?” Her voice dripped with sarcasm, but of course, the coon was oblivious.

“He seeks justice, of course! It has come to his ears that the constable is being held captive within these wallowing walls!”

The cat sighed and sheathed her dagger. Feeling pity for the obvious half-wit, she decided it best to try to reason with him. “Are you crazy? The deadliest cutthroats in all the kingdom hang their hats here! If the constable isn’t dead already, he soon will be!” She waved her hands at him, “Be gone, lest you join him in the grave!”

The coon stood his ground, “Green Rich run in the face of danger? Never! A child is out there right now, crying for his da’. Would you have me return to him and have nothing but shallow words to console him? No, it is my sworn duty as a hero to return his da’ to him safe and sound!” He spoke with conviction, and entirely too loudly considering the situation.

The cat frowned and hissed at him, “Will you quiet down? You’ll get us both killed!”

“Oh, I think ‘e’s done ‘at already lass…”

The cat whipped around at the sound of the voice behind her. Standing there was an enormous black bear. The cat hung her head and sighed, “Darnit…” This wasn’t going to end well.

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