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[wcshoe]

Devoted...

Obsessed...

Addicted...



When it comes down to it, is there really a difference? 

[Brother Seneca Shakran]

Not particularly.  However, that is what makes it such a delight, and a mentally expanding experience.     When it comes down to it, which would you rather do?  Would you take eons to solve the jigsaw puzzle, with infinite awkwardly shaped pieces?  Or would you rather retool the jigsaw puzzle, to make it relate to your personal piece?

[CassieMcCullin]

Not particularly.  However, that is what makes it such a delight, and a mentally expanding experience.     When it comes down to it, which would you rather do?  Would you take eons to solve the jigsaw puzzle, with infinite awkwardly shaped pieces?  Or would you rather retool the jigsaw puzzle, to make it relate to your personal piece?

Retool. Hence, Octagon ;-)

[Yuri_Prime]

*agrees with Cassie*

*breaks out the belt sander*

[Valeria Kane]

a little something from Val

There was a time when women were the focus of all existence. There was a time when women were revered as teacher, as caregivers, as the creators of life itself.  The members of house Lilith remember these times, and they know that everything man has done to make us forget what we were - and are - will never bring us too heel.  The Lilim are those who have thrown off the shackles of a male-dominated society, they are subject to none but themselves and each of them is a natural force unto themselves.  Forged and strengthened in the adversity that comes with being considered a lesser being, the members of Lilith are stronger than any man could hope to be.

[DaveD]

The Godots will tell you that everyone is a Godot, because the Pleasure Principle is universal. In truth, everyone is a Tocsin. Without the Will to Power, nothing is attainable. Getting out of bed in the morning is an act of will. Getting out of bed in the morning and conquering the world is merely a stronger act of will. It is all a matter of degree.

If everyone is a Tocsin, what use is a Nexal House devoted to this one aspect of the universal? For the same reason that Godots exist. Everyone may possess a trait, but few people are defined by one. There are those who party and there are those for whom all of life is a party. There are those who accumulate power as a means to an end and there are those who wake up in the morning dreaming of conquest and manipulation. There are those who see all of life as a web of relationships and dream of themselves at the center, pulling the strings.

Ah, but what is power? To be Student Council President or Galactic Overlord? To have nations hang on your every spoken word, though you have no title or army? That is for every member of the House to decide. If it didn't occur to you to ask, Tocsin may not be the House for you.

[NuMike]

[Avie edit: *sigh* ProPHET, not ProFIT. Karmic payback is a different creature than monetary pay out]

But it doesn't have to be 

(Note: The above views are the sarcastic expressions of a very OOC NuMike, and in no way should be taken to imply, construe, or otherwise refer to a bias or belief held by Alexander of Delphi. End Disclaimer.)

[Dr. Steed]

OK. I've paged through the debate, and decided to go with my original thought - to post what I would put the Rulebook as the House Descriptions if I was given free hand to write the final copy myself - with the addition of this line explaining what I'm doing. I like the basic descriptions from the Rulebook, as observable below, but I've made a few adjustments.

Delphi (Dr. John Steed - current):
aka "The Enlightened": The house of oracles and scientists, gypsies and thinkers, Delphi is involved in all aspects of esoteric and intellectual analysis of the Multiverse. Other Avatars look toward The Enlightened to lead the way in both rational problem-solving and supernatural clairvoyance. The members of House Delphi generally provide many valuable services to the Nexus, from predictions to record-keeping to teaching new talents... but not always without a cost.

Fleming (Dr. John Steed - way back in 1.x):
aka "Moores": This house is made up of spies, secret agents, cryptologists, and subversives who spend much of their time trying to make the Nexus their personal playground. Masters of disguise and covert information-gathering, Moores will very often be found infiltrating areas of the Nexus where they do not belong, appropriating vital secrets before anyone even knows they've been there, and using what they obtain to manipulate the day-to-day affairs of Avatar life. When an Avatar needs intelligence on - or clandestine action against - someone or something in the Nexus, a Moore is always the obvious choice. For a fee, and IF you can find one.

Octagon (Lt. Eriska Steed):
aka "Hackers": This house is well known throughout the Nexus for their intense love of technology and computers above all other forms. Hackers live for their machine experimentation (and, in many cases, vice-versa); they are responsible for many of the technological advancements made in the Nexus or imported from other universes. In fact, they have become the undisputed masters of technology-based Items, in much the same way Avalon handles magical Items. When hearing "that can't possibly work that way", The Hackers universally reply "oh, really?"

[Dr. Steed]

I'm actually going to retract my description of Octagon somewhat - insofar as the obsession/dependance on computers.

I've just read (for the fifth time - I can't put it down!) "Ribofunk" by Paul Di Fillipo. PDF has done to cellular biology and genetic morphology what William Gibson did to artificial intelligence and cybernetics. PDF's collection of short-stories - "Ribofunk" (a pun on 'cyberpunk' - 'ribo' from the ribosomes of molecular biology and 'funk' from the music' is a clear parallel to 'cyberpunk' of similar derivation) - show a Gibsonian (to coin a word) vision of a future where genetic engineering, as opposed to bio-electronic engineering, results in a self-sustaining mythos.

Personally, I hope this smegger wrote more books. He's *good*.

So, to amend my description of Octagon (not in word, but in spirit) - give an Octagon a computer, and he will render the Nexus; given an Octagon a gene-splicer, and he will create Nexal life in his image.

As Yuri has conclusively proven, the realm of genetic engineering is not restricted from the Octagon. Give them a system, and they WILL bend it to their will. And I think that that's the best available description of Octagon:

"Not content with the limits of any system - in fact, incensed by the existance of limits - an Octagon will boldly challenge the outermost boundaries of any form of technological application. For good or for ill, the result will be beyond anything that has been even dreamed by other Avatars."

[Yuri_Prime]

Adam.... *clap clap* That's awesome!

I'm touched to have remodeled the definition. Have a gold star and a cookie dude. That's awesome...

[Frigemall]

When it comes down to it, which would you rather do?  Would you take eons to solve the jigsaw puzzle, with infinite awkwardly shaped pieces?  Or would you rather retool the jigsaw puzzle, to make it relate to your personal piece?

Neither. I would simply blow it up and make a new puzzle.

[Saint_Moko]

Not particularly.  However, that is what makes it such a delight, and a mentally expanding experience.     When it comes down to it, which would you rather do?  Would you take eons to solve the jigsaw puzzle, with infinite awkwardly shaped pieces?  Or would you rather retool the jigsaw puzzle, to make it relate to your personal piece?

It is not our place to solve this puzzle, or to even wonder about it at all, for it is in the hands of the Allmighty.  Unless of course, you think that you're more importan than G-d, in which case, I know a few Malakim who would like to talk to you.

Besides, Godot has free beer.

F*** puzzles, go out and get laid instead.

[Dr. Steed]

Adam.... *clap clap* That's awesome!

I'm touched to have remodeled the definition. Have a gold star and a cookie dude. That's awesome...

Glad you liked it, bud. As I was reading Ribofunk (which I suggest anybody who likes cyberpunk/Gibson should do - it's a *seriously* worthy read), I kept thinking "Yuri would *so* be down with that...". And that made me re-think how I looked at Octagon. ;-)

Take what the Rulebook says is an Octagon - a computer hacker. Add Yuri - a temporal physicist/mentalist/genetic engineer. Yuri obviously should be an Octagon, but he's not a "computer hacker". Thus, I've come up with this revised 'proposal' for the House Description:


OCTAGON
aka "Hackers": Populated by everything from academic mathematicians to 'mad scientists', heroes and villians alike, this House is well known throughout the Nexus for their their common-ground: technology. They all posess an intense love of all things technological - mainly computers, but not necessarily - above all other forms. Hackers live for their technological experimentation (and, in many cases, vice-versa); they are responsible for many of the advancements made in Nexal science and technology, even 'importing' from other universes to see their projects through. In fact, they have become the undisputed masters of technology-based Items, in much the same way Avalon handles magical Items. Not content with the limits of any system - in fact, incensed by the existance of limits - an Octagon will boldly challenge the outermost boundaries of any form of technological application. For good or for ill, the result will be beyond anything that has been even dreamed by other Avatars.


Insofar as a general description of Houses, and my concept of "make a description blurb that'd fit in the Rulebook", I'd like to see "Some examples of $HOUSE include:" text. Something like: "Nicolai Tesla and Thomas Edison are great examples of Octagon." Subject to name-usage restrictions, of course.