About Me - Background History

Here is a little about me...about me

I was raised in Candor. I have no idea where I was born, but apparently I was washed overboard, and the scallywags took all my money and items (I'm sure I was carrying a Bugatti, and a house with me on that ship...or at least that's what I told the insurance company). When I awoke, I was met by Sorfina, who rehabilitated me. She taught me to walk, and how to dress myself again. It must have been one hell of a storm or robbery. I have no memory prior to this.

As I grew up I remember playing hide-and-seek around the Island, and how Valon taught me how to train a little in the arts. We did a bit of boxing and martial arts for a few years, and when I finally received my degree, I decided that it wasn't the life for me. You see, I met some people who had taught me about who made this big and wonderful world, and answered for me why suffering existed, and what was the reason for being here, and I realised that I had found the truth. This means I had to change my life, as to please the one who made all of this, I had to live by his laws, as I do in any other land to live in it. Therefore, I gave up drinking in excess at places like the Hurnscald Inn, and smoking pipes with Elijah and Samuel in the Tulimshar Mountains, and stopped practicing brawling with Luca, and became a peacemaker. I still battle to keep that former way of life at bay, but I've been doing well with it for a while.

I'd played around the island, and then made my way to the lands of Tulimshar and Hurnscald. I remember well, helping Auldsbel with his experiments, and out of it, I became a fully qualified analytical scientist. I studied the periodic table, and decided to make my own spreadsheet version of it, which I probably still have a copy of, which was a database, based on the Chemistry Dictionary, and a set of encyclopedias. I did the same after meeting Arkim, and learning of his interest in pulling things apart to see how they work, I made a short-lived Biology version of the encyclopedia too.

Arkim was interesting, and his brother Mirak was another character who I grew up around. We never spoke that much, but he was so into administration that I decided I'd follow his course, and I developed many administrative skills. These skills helped me while working in the Mining industry, as I had a hands-on job in the Hurnscald mines on maintenance. Through having this experience, as well as the administrative skills, I soon became a Quality Systems Manager, and have been able to develop policies and procedures for mining projects. I was able to hone my skills into developing an international quality system for our business, and apply it. In the meantime, other areas had come to mind, such as the IT side of things, so I studied a little on this, as well as basic financial management. Soon, I was prepared for a whole new life, other than stuck in a mine, a laboratory or even the office.

When in Tulimshar, I met Bard, and he taught me a few songs and poems, and I decided to try my hand at them. Eventually, I came third in a national poetry competition, which inspired me to write songs, as Bard had taught me the Lute very well, and I had performed in cover bands for a few years. I posted my music on a musician website, and eventually, I came first in two genres nationally, and second in another. For the songwriting competitions, I received a semifinalist in the international songwriting category a few years back, and had some lesser acknowledgments, but still, I wasn't interested in the music, as I didn't want to be a performer, but just a songwriter. The problem was, as Bard had found out, was that people don't appreciate songwriters unless they perform the song professionally themselves, or have a selfish theme in their lyrics. So as I lacked in mixing and recording skills, and as an Island myself, I withdrew from the game, and pulled my music away from the public ears.

Modern Times

I currently work in manufacturing, and I can't say I enjoy it thoroughly, but it is a means to an end. There are many workshops around the game, such as the one underneath the Hurnscald Inn, and up in the Northern Mine. I tinker around there making stuff, and repairing stuff for others, but I also study different things on the side, such as computer science and religion, as well as the Bible. I believe that learning is the key to living, although knowledge alone is nothing. I mean, to be rich and die with a lot of assets, or to be head-smart, and to die with all that knowledge gone to waste...it means nothing. I am grateful to know there is more to life than that, and I aim to reach my goal of everlasting life in the near future.

In the meantime, I am harnessing my time to make this wiki work as best as it can be. I originally started working on this wiki back in 2009 or 2010, probably the latter, and stopped for a while. A lot of extra work has gone into it over time, but due to game changes I have noticed that there is a sense of abandonment to the wiki now to some extent. I don't mind that, for as I rested earlier, others can rest now, and together, we can make this wiki become a foundation of the game, a backbone if you like, for helping people learn the game inside out, and to discover new things. Therefore, in this game, I intend to get the wiki back into a useable form, where links work and items/monsters/quests can easily be found to help people work their way through the game.

After this, I would like to see the translations started, and successfully applied, as I believe these pages will be able to be found in the search engines in the other languages, which will in turn make the game grow exponentially. Based on this, please see the note below.

What Can You Do To Help Me?

As my fellow gamers, I would like to know who is interested in translating into other languages, and what their circumstances are, as regards time, which language, and what experience they have. If it works well, we can work on getting other translations up and running, regardless of the language. At the bare minimum, I would like to produce a page and have someone go over it with me to correct any errors in my wording, and at the best, I would like to meet people who are interested in doing the translation from the English page, so that people of their tongue can join in the game, and clearly understand how it works, including game rules, and how to achieve their in-game goals. If you are able to fulfill this role, contact me in-game or on the forums under this username. There is also a link here for wiki translators:

https://www.themanaworld.org/index.php/Translators

Even if this page is a little out of date (I don't think it is), it is a good idea to follow the instructions on here, so that you may be contacted and information can be discussed by others who may need your services. That would be greatly appreciated by me at the very least, and for those who speak a primary language other than English, I'm sure they would also greatly appreciate your services.

Well, that's about it. Oh, my name? DeadManWalking? Here's a line from a song, and some information.

There's a pale horse comin'
I'm gonna ride it
I'll ride it in the morning
My fate decided
I'm a dead man walkin'
Just a dead man walkin'.

((C)Bruce Springsteen)

Did you know: 1 in 9 inmates on death row in the USA are released and exhonorated. This includes those who have already been executed. It's a shame they can't be given their time back to them, nor their families, and in the case of those who have died, their lives. Only God can do that, and he will. 1 in 9...something to think about...