*All of my work was created using a variety of programs, such as Autodesk 3ds Max, Autodesk Maya, , Adobe Photoshop/Illustrator/After Effects, UVLayout, CrazyBump, as well as hand drawn and then completed using Photoshop.







Peace is a lie, there is only passion
Through passion, I gain strength
Through strength, I gain power
Through power, I gain victory
Through victory, my chains are broken
The Force shall free me

-The Sith Code



Monday, November 28, 2011

Game Assets I've created for Brigand Studios

I've been working with an independent studio now for about 6 months helping them create their flagship game for the PC.  I'm very excited to be a part of this project because it's finally allowing me to utilize everything I learned in college.  I've also learned several new techniques for getting assets into a game engine since I began working with this talented group.


First up is a series of tents I created for the courtyard portion of the level.  I modeled the original in 3dsMax before transferring the high-poly mesh into ZBrush for high-res sculpting.  Once that was done, both the low-poly 3dMax model and the high-poly ZBrush sculpt were imported into xNormal for texture baking.  Then it was just some opacity/painted layers via Photoshop and we're ready for these to go in game!

(Above) A simple opacity map can work wonders!
Next up, a wrecked wagon that will also be going in the courtyard.  This was was a little trickier to pull of because of the many pieces that went into it.  The torn canvas was even tougher because part of the mesh overlapped the wood, so the texture from the canvas was being projected onto the wood.  Again, some creative touches in Photoshop/3dMax and the problem was solved.  This one's ready for UDK!

Here's a low poly render of the wagon.  The canvas on the back was overlapping the wood so I had to argue with that before figuring out the solution.
And here's the game ready model!
Here's a table I created as one of my first assets for this project.  It took me a while to figure out the method they used for getting the models in game, but once I figured it out... It was on!  I was especially proud once I finished this one, because I knew what I was doing from here on out!


Alternate lighting to show off the detail.

And now, onto the catacombs portion of our level!  After some running around above ground, the players find themselves in the spooky confines of the castle prison!  By the time I was finished with the courtyard assets, we were running very near our deadline for finishing.  Luckily, I managed to get these finished just in the nick of time!

Here's a pair of benches I created.  These were originally planned for the catacombs but, since they came out so well, we decided to throw a few in the courtyard!

Here's a group of lanterns that will be going in the catacombs.  I made a few variations... Full candle, half candle, no candle, and no wall bracket so several can be scattered on the ground in various places.  We also needed them for creepy underground lighting.

What set of medieval catacombs wouldn't be complete without the hay pile bed complete with ratty blanket?  Actually, this one just kind of came to me.  I seriously doubt 14th century dungeons has fancy jail cells like in Goodfellas!

One of the final assets I created just before we wrapped the art portion of the project.  I figured a set of crates would look good in a dimly lit corner.  Why?  Well, when the player approaches, they'll notice one of the lids is slightly open.  Why are the crates filled with bones?  Well, that's between me and the crates!

Shortly after art was wrapped up, an emergency email was sent out by our Project Lead.  Turns out, we forgot to model something for the players to heal with!  Oops...  So I made this simple wooden medkit and sent it in.  Turns out, someone else in the group made one also!  So now we have medkits that will heal different amounts... Cool things can come from a potential emergency!

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Sculpting a velociraptor in ZBrush

Here's my first ever attempt at sculpting something in ZBrush.  I didn't model it, but I started to using a tutorial I found on digitaltutors.com.  After the first few lessons I realized my raptor was going to look "nothing" like this one, so I just kept the finished one waiting for the chance to sculpt it (That the only reason I was trying to model it, really).


Here's a close-up of the face... I followed the tutorial until the end where he stopped with the head.  Now it's references and my own imagination from here on out... As evidenced by the scars on his face.


While playing with some of the other brushes, I decided to make this side of his face, as well as parts of his body, with old burn scars.  I'm still working on the burnt look, but I'm happy with it so far.


I'll be posting updates as I go!

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

The Haunted Manor of Davian Tamrikos

Here's my latest adventure in the world of Maya... I decided to make a haunted cabin in the middle of a forest.  As I was working on this I came up with more and more ideas on the fly... One of which will involve a full-fledged animation consisting of this scene and another in a kind of dream/knightmare sequence.  I'm currently working on the second part of this project... I will post images as I get more work done...

Friday, April 1, 2011

Star Wars: Mask of the Ancients

I began using Maya 2011 not long ago and here's my first completed animation project. My friends and I play D&D a lot and we decided that we wanted to play something that's "not" D&D. I suggested the Star Wars system and, since I'm the uber Star Wars nerd in our group, the task of running the game will fall to me. Now... "anything" Star Wars needs an opening crawl... so here's mine!

*Modeled/Textured/Rendered using 3dsMax and Maya (MentalRay). Textures created using Adobe Photoshop. Hologram footage and sound effects composited using Adobe After Effects.*

Enjoy!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1KLs-MNVDw

P.S.  I apologize for not having the video viewable here.  I'm having a great deal of trouble uploading the video to my blog and I plan to correct this issue as soon as I figure out what's wrong...  All apologies for the inconvenince.

Again, enjoy!!!

Monday, March 7, 2011

Holocron Animation

Here's some of the images from my most recent project.  Now that I've got a grasp of Maya, I'm looking forward to creating some awesome projects!!
The Holocron of Darth Nemesis
Above: My completed Holocron w/textures
Here's a couple of pictures that show the hallway leading up to the vault and another shot inside the vault.  The video screens are images of pivotal moments in the Star Wars universe...  Outside of the movies, of course...
Here's a couple stills of my completed composite footage that I shot on a small green screen stage.

Friday, November 19, 2010

House DarkStar (Cont.)

Chapter 2 -Chasing Shadows-

            Traveling through the Underdark as silent as Death itself, Shine was used to the solitude.  In fact, he preferred it.  But there’s something about this group he now travels with that he just cannot figure out.  One of them has been missing in the Underdark for nearly a week, and they’ve been staying in a cave not far from where they were ambushed and scattered ever since.  Now the dwarf wants to give it another three days, hoping the missing one will turn up?!
            Shine shook his head as he thought about it, this is the Underdark.  It’s practically impossible to survive here alone for more than a day, let alone a week.  He figured Terkum and Nemesis must have some kind of connection that keeps the dwarf hoping his missing friend is still alive.
            Relying on others for survival is a weakness, Shine thought.  Having been raised in drow society (and being half-duergar, no less), he’d seen even the slightest trace of compassion answered with a slow, merciless death.  That was his sole reason for abandoning his vile kin and the self-serving ways of all who dwell there months earlier during the raid on the Kingdom of Ironarm.
            Shaking such useless thoughts from his head, Shine turned his attention back to navigating the pitch black tunnels as he made his way towards the area where they were ambushed.  His vision shifted into the infrared spectrum inherent to both his races, and he easily moved along, listening for the slightest sound.
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            Following Shine almost proved a challenge for Nameless, growing up in dwarven tunnels as opposed to the forests his people call home.  Keeping his piwafwi pulled tight about his shoulders, Nameless followed Shine’s path back the way they’d originally come.
            After an hour or so, he began to recognize certain tunnels and passages he himself had taken after the ambush, even the one where he literally ran into Terkum as he carried an unconscious Sunder over his shoulders.  The closer he and Shine came to the place where their party was separated; Nameless grew more and more anxious, not only because Nemesis might be nearby, but also because it might give him the chance to take down a few dark-elves in the process.
            Soon after, Nameless knew that the cavern where they were ambushed was just ahead.  As he neared, a pair of crimson eyes stared at him from the shadows.  Noticing his hidden companion, Nameless pressed himself against the opposite wall, pointed at his eyes, then around the corner.  Knowing that you’re almost never alone in the Underdark, Shine just shrugged.
            Rolling his eyes, Nameless took a chance and looked around the corner.  The tunnel extended for another ten feet or so before opening into a wide, circular chamber roughly thirty meters across, with a ledge close to ten meters above the ground that encircled the chamber all the way around with an exit on either side.  With another look back at Shine, who still hadn’t moved, Nameless crept closer to the tunnel exit.
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            Following her directions, Nemesis went where Arachnia told him.  Surprisingly, he saw not a single guard.  Eventually, she pulled him aside to a dark corner and signed: We’re almost there.  I’m going to cast a spell that will make you invisible so you won’t be seen.  Just know that while others can’t see you, I can.  You will follow directly behind me, do you understand?
            His hesitance was clear as he replied: Yes.
            Arachnia placed two fingers on his chest and mouthed the words to a spell which rendered Nemesis invisible.  She immediately looked him in the eyes reminding him that she could, indeed, still see him.  Facing back in the direction they were going, Arachnia motioned for Nemesis to stand behind her.  When he did, she reached back and placed his right hand on her hip while looking back and signing, with another smile: So I know you’re there.
            In another minute or so, they entered a room which Nemesis guessed had to be a guardroom leading to the holding cells he was just in.  Only two doors were visible, the one they’d just come from and the one across from them.  Against the wall on one side was a desk made from a giant mushroom native to the Underdark.  Behind it, flanked by two armored guards wielding vicious looking spears, a scarred drow wearing leather armor looked up as they entered.  He quickly averted his eyes as Arachnia looked at him and said, “Something wrong captain?”
            “N-no, mistress.” He blurted.  Arachnia had long ago placed an enchantment on the jailer and his men that would cause them to forget ever having seen her with nothing more than a thought.  She exited the room through the opposite door with Nemesis in tow.
            After a dozen or so more yards, she quickly turned right and walked farther before stopping at a dead end.  As she moved her house emblem before the wall, Nemesis stared in awe as the stone parted like a curtain, revealing a small room within.  The room itself was empty, except for the stone arch set against the far wall.  It almost looked to him like a doorway, except there was no door, just a flat, stone wall.
            She motioned for him to move inside and waved a hand at the opening, which closed.  Pointing towards the stone arch, she looked at Nemesis and, reverting to the drow language said, “We are going to use this portal to move faster.  You will be going through first.”  Standing in front of the arch, Arachnia waved her house insignia that caused the wall inside the arch to part, again, like a curtain.  Taking two steps back, she gestured towards the arch and said, “Go.”
            Nemesis glanced back and forth between Arachnia and the active portal several times before moving towards it.  He stood in front, staring, for a few heartbeats before closing his eyes and stepping through. 
            An overwhelming sense of vertigo assaulted Nemesis after going through the portal, and was over as quickly as it began.  Blinking his eyes, he saw he was standing in what appeared to be someone’s room.  Without pause, Nemesis dropped his pack, drew his sword, and spun around just as Arachnia came lunging through - her own sword in hand.
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            Nemesis easily parried the straight thrust meant for his heart, knocking her blade out to his left and following up with a backhanded slash aiming for her throat.  Arachnia ducked, causing the blade to pass just inches above her head as she swung her sword in an uppercut from right-to-left, barley missing as Nemesis hopped back and rushed forward again with a diagonal slash that she easily dodged.
            Both came across with a left-to-right cut, their blades connecting less than an inch from each others’ necks.  With surprising strength, Arachnia shoved forward, pushing Nemesis back faster than he could plant his feet.  His bruised body couldn’t stand up to the impact as the air was driven from his lungs when he hit the wall.  Nearly losing the grip on his sword, Nemesis tried to push back, but Arachnia used the move and, with a flick of her wrist, sent his sword sliding across the ground and pushed him back against the wall.
            Nemesis was surprised that his legs would still support him, until he realized the only reason he was still standing was because Arachnia was holding him up.  After disarming him, in one motion she had sheathed her own sword and pinned Nemesis against the wall with one arm on his chest and the other holding a small dagger against his stomach.  She was pressed against him so close that he could not only feel her heartbeat, but also the rise and fall of her chest as she breathed.  Not very heavily either, Nemesis noticed.  He made a mental note to never underestimate her again.
            He raised his head to look her in the eyes, refusing to give her the satisfaction of making him beg for his life.  Her face was less than an inch from his.  Her blood-red eyes never blinked as she stared at him.  Her breath was hot against his skin.  And that same smile, the one she’d been wearing since his supposed “rescue” seemed even more frightening and, at the same time, even more beautiful.
            Moving her mouth so close that her lips brushed against his, she said, “And here I was, wondering how long it would take you to fight back.  You almost disappointed me.”  Sheathing her dagger, she let Nemesis go and turned around.  Without the added support, he nearly toppled over but held himself up against a nearby table.  Crossing the room, Arachnia settled herself on a chair and held that same smile as she watched Nemesis regain his breath and balance.
            He just stared at her for several minutes while he recovered.  When his breathing returned to normal, Nemesis glanced around the room before looking back to Arachnia.  It was an octagonal chamber with no doors.  Off to one side was a bed covered in expensive fabrics and several pillows.  A large dresser sat next to the bed with a full length mirror next to it.  A spider-shaped, eight legged table was on the other side.  The rest of the room was barely furnished save a small desk with a chair on each side, and a few tapestries on the walls depicting images of the Spider Queen.
            “I’m guessing… you’ve kept alive this long… for a reason, and I’m not going to pretend… I know what that reason is.  I assume you’ll tell me sometime, but I’m not counting on it.”  Nemesis straightened and looked over to his vampiric sword still lying on the floor.
            Arachnia settled herself in more comfortably and motioned towards the sword, “Go ahead.  Organize your things, but don’t expect to be leaving anytime soon.  In your condition, you’ll be lucky to make it out of here, much less survive in the tunnels.” 
            Nemesis wore a confused expression as he retrieved his sword and put it on the table next to the magical pack she’d given him.  He then removed his cloak, boots, and sword belt, placing them on the table as well.  Taking the other chair, Nemesis sat at the table, his blade in easy reach.  Arachnia then rose and walked to the dresser beside the bed.  Opening a drawer, she took out a small vial and offered it to Nemesis.  “What’s this?” he asked.
            “That will take care of your wounds and eliminate the poison in your veins from my mother’s whip.”  Pointing to the bed, she continued, “I also suggest you get some sleep.  I’ll return in twenty-four hours to check on you.”
            Before he could protest, Arachnia raised her hand and asked, “Do you want my mother to notice you’ve escaped?  Or would you rather have me go clean up the mess downstairs?”
            Nodding, Nemesis stood up and took the potion.  After drinking it, the worst of his injures healed, and his strength started to return.  She wasn’t lying.  He looked over at her as she walked away and simply said, “Thank you.”
            Waving her house insignia in front of the wall, it parted like a curtain just like before.  She turned, smiling as she looked him up and down and said, nodding towards the bed with a wink, “Get some rest.  You’re going to need it.”
            She left through the opening which silently closed behind her, leaving Nemesis standing alone staring at the, once again, blank, stone wall.  Not willing to take any chances, Nemesis took a few minutes to equip all of his gear before lying down on the bed, his sword across his chest.
            He was fast asleep in less than a minute.
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House DarkStar

House DarkStar...  The drow fortress where the following story takes place.
By: Dominick Tuchscherer
Chapter 1 -Trusting Spiders-

             Nemesis let out a groan as he opened his eyes, or attempted to, because one was still swollen shut, then let out another groan as he remembered that he was still in the same cell he’d occupied for the last few days.  Or has it been weeks? Nemesis wondered to himself as he looked at the shackles binding his wrists to the wall.
            All of it had happened so fast - the pursuit and eventual ambush by the drow, his battle with the yochlol, and the cave-in that dropped him into the waiting arms of the dark-elves who had apparently laid claim to the region.
            While examining the wounds on his wrists caused by the shackles, as well as the multiple snake bites inflicted by the viper-headed whip of the priestess of Lolth who came to torture him regularly, he looked up as he heard two clicks out in the hallway followed by the sound of bodies slumping to the floor.  A moment later, the locks released, and the door opened.
            A single, drow female entered the room.  Nemesis quickly averted his eyes because he thought his tormentor had returned to flog some more answers out of him.  But instead he heard a soft, melodic voice whisper in the drow tongue, “So he is alive.  How very interesting.”
            She seductively walked up to Nemesis, even though he didn’t see it because he refused to even glance up at her for fear of being beaten to near death only to be healed and beaten again.  Releasing the shackles with a wave of her hand, she regarded the snake bites covering his chest, arms, and legs.  Shaking her head she noted, “My mother has no imagination.”
            Hearing that, Nemesis dared sneak a glance with his one good eye as the dark-elf, who was by far the most beautiful elf that he’d ever seen, be it drow, or one of his own surface kin, stood and walked to the door.  She paused at the entrance, and waving a hand while muttering arcane syllables under her breath, dispelled the invisibility on a travel pack that lay just inside the door. 
            Turning to Nemesis, who was by now in a crouched position, expecting betrayal any second, she tossed the pack in his direction.  It landed without a sound.  After hitting the ground, the top flap of the pack slid open, revealing an all-too familiar sight for Nemesis: the jawbone-hilt of his vampiric sword. 
It was all of his gear!
            With a quick glance back down the hall, the female turned a mischievous smile on Nemesis and playfully asked, “Well?  Are you going to join me?”
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            Not quite sure what to make of the situation, and not about to pass up an opportunity when he found it, Nemesis donned as much of his gear as he quietly could.  All he had time for were his boots, his magical bracers, his cloak, and his sword belt.  The armor would have to wait.  Leaving the rest in the magical pack, he left the cell and stepped into the hall noticing that the walls, ceiling, and floor were at least twenty paces wide in all directions and were made of smooth, polished stone.  The walls were covered in what Nemesis figured to be a massive spider web design, until closer inspection showed it to be no mural or carving, but an actual, massive, web that went along the walls and ceiling for as far as he could see.  Not wanting to see the spider that could’ve spun that web, Nemesis scanned the hallway for the dark-elf who had freed him. 
            Nothing.
            His half-elven heritage allowed him limited darkvision, but after about ten or so yards, pitch-black.  Nemesis glanced back to his cell and didn’t like the thought of leaving an open cell door with two dead orc guards slumped on either side of it.  Instead, deciding it would be worse to stand here and be recaptured, or worse, Nemesis wrapped his hand around the familiar handle of his jawbone-hilted sword and felt a little better.
            He turned around to start moving and froze when he saw the beautiful drow who rescued him wearing the same, mischievous, yet predatory smile as before.
            Her movement was so fast Nemesis never knew what happened, until the tip of her sword had pierced the underside of his chin, pinning his mouth shut.
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            The cave they were using as a campsite had been quiet for a while.  After being separated during the drow ambush, Terkum quickly managed to find his missing companions, all but one.
            Nameless grumbled, “Shouldn’t we keep looking?  He could still be out there.”  The red-haired, elf barbarian didn’t want to give up on his friend anymore than the rest, but it had been nearly a week.
            “I’m not wantin’ to give up either,” replied Terkum, his red, with hints of gray, beard wagged as he shook his head: “But we may have to accept the worst.  We can’t just be stayin’ in this cave forever waitin’ fer him or some stinkin’ drow patrol to drop in.”
            With a heavy sigh he added, “We’ll give it three more days.  After that we have to get movin’.”  Terkum looked around, and his eyes settled on Shine, the tattooed half-drow, half-duergar, being the Underdark expert of their group.  “Shine, take the elf and do some scoutin’.  We ain’t far from where them damned drow ambushed us, figure that’d be as good a place as any to start.  And stay out o’ sight!  We don’t need any attention.”  Terkum’s gaze slowly drifted back to Nameless, who nodded his agreement.
            “I can make much quicker progress alone,” Shine argued. “Besides, you said to avoid attention, and from what I’ve seen of that one,” nodding towards Nameless, “he seems to crave it.”
            Nameless narrowed his eyes at Shine, then broke into a wide grin and said, “Normally, yes.  But I crave less sitting in this cave waiting for someone or something to come say hello while my friend could be in trouble out there.  And I’m also not convinced it wasn’t you who led us into that trap.”
            With something that could’ve almost passed for a smile Shine replied, “Know this, faerie-child, if I had arranged it, you’d all be dead.”  The two glared at each other for a moment before Shine broke the tension: “Fine… but the first time you put us at risk, I will make sure no one ever finds your body.”  Both knew that he meant it.
            With an exaggerated bow, Nameless motioned to the cave entrance and said, “Lead on, Survivor.”
            Ignoring the exchange, Terkum glanced up as the two eyed each other, preparing to leave and said to both of them, “If ye find me boy and he’s…” Terkum paused, not wanting to finish the sentence, “Make sure ye bring him back.  He deserves a better restin’ place than on the floor of some Underdark hole.”  Shine only nodded and left the cave without the slightest whisper of sound; Nameless stood there looking at his dwarven mentor for a moment longer before leaving.
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            Terkum looked to his other companions.  Sir Ponch, a Knight of the Rose, was asleep against the far wall.  His sentient greatsword, Porthos, sat on the floor next to him within easy reach.  Luckily, his enchanted plate mail made not a sound, even if he was at a full sprint, or rolling in his sleep in a cave.  Porthos also granted him limited darkvision to see in such lightless places.
            Sitting near Terkum with his back to the wall, John Sunder, a former pirate, kept looking around as if waiting for something to emerge from the shadows around him.  During the ambush, Sunder had lost the ring that helped him to see in the dark.  Terkum could hear the occasional mumble from Sunder scolding himself, “Should’ve found a ship in Tillek and left this rock.”
            Justauf, the half-drow Herbalist, knelt in the cave entrance, which was barley high or wide enough for Terkum to slip through.  After looking in both directions a few more times, he re-entered and gave Terkum the all-clear sign.
            Taking a seat next to his friend, Justauf pulled a small pouch and his hand-carved pipe from a pocket in his robes and began to fill the bowl: “Care to join me?  We don’t need to worry about anything being drawn to the scent; my pipe won’t even give off smoke if I don’t want it to.  Besides, you need some sleep.  I’ll take the watch for a few hours and wake Ponch if I need him.”
            Terkum took the offered pipe with a nod and cleared its contents in a single, deep, hit.  He tapped the ash loose, exhaled, and no smoke came out.  He nodded at another unique property of Justauf’s pipe: “Might as well take it as I can get it, not likely to rest peacefully fer quite a while once we’re on the move.”  Terkum handed back Justauf his pipe, and settled in for, hopefully, some sleep.
            After Justauf reloaded the bowl for himself, he gave his friend and king a comforting hand on the shoulder, “If anyone can find Nemesis, it’s Shine.”
            When he stood up to go begin his watch, he glanced over his shoulder as Terkum propped his helmet into a more comfortable position over his head, set his mithril shield and battleaxe on each side of him, and muttered something that Justauf hoped he wasn’t meant to hear: “We’re in trouble.”
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            Silently cursing himself for having let his guard slip so badly, Nemesis only hoped the end would be fast.  Trying to stare defiantly into her eyes proved difficult.  The days (at least he hoped it was only days) of constant torture and lashings with those viper-headed whips had clearly made him fear a drow priestess.  But he tried his hardest.
            Finally getting a better look at her, he was amazed at how beautiful she was.  Her silvery-white hair was tied above the shoulders into two separate bands, creating a pair of ponytails that hung down just past her knees.  But where her hair went into the bands in one piece, it came out in four smaller tails, and for some strange reason, they looked alive somehow. 
            Her armor was a short, black leather skirt that hugged her curvaceous form all the way up to her neck, with a hardened, leather vest around it that covered her from her breasts to the waist where it went down into a “V” shape that covered part of her legs; a mithril engraved spider symbol covered her midsection.  Bracers bearing a spider web design sat just below her shoulders, while long, black leather sleeves covered her arms down to the wrist, and black leather boots, lined in mithril, came up to her thighs.  Her black skin was flawless and matched her armor in color so well, it seemed to be nothing more than an extension of her own body.      
            And those eyes! 
            Blood-red orbs that almost seemed to glow stared at him.  She was still wearing a smile that Nemesis had no doubt was the last thing many had seen just before she drove the tip of her vicious sword into…
            Her sword!
            “That’s twice!”  Nemesis scolded himself silently, and didn’t realize he let his disappointment show on his bruised and battered face - but she did.
            Not moving the point of the sword away from his neck or breaking the smile that, for some reason, reminded him of a predator who wanted her prey to realize they were hers before devouring them, the drow raised her left hand and asked him in the silent hand code of the dark-elves: Can you understand this?
            He would have nodded if he didn’t think the movement would have pushed her blade the rest of the way through, so he slowly raised his own hand and quickly replied: Yes.
            Good.  Now listen closely and you might live to make it out of here.  You are going to come with me.  She motioned towards the passage ahead with her sword, much to Nemesis’ relief, and continued: Stay one pace in front and one to the left, so I can give you directions.  Go only where I say, and do only what I say, try anything, and I will kill you.  Now move.
            It was then that Nemesis realized his other hand was still gripping his sword so tightly that when he let go, a rush of blood went into his fingers and made them go numb for a second before feeling returned.  Shaking the sensation away, he looked at his would-be rescuer and could only think of one thing out the dozens that, even though it might mean his death, he dared to ask: Who are you?
            Again, she gave him that smile that seemed to promise ultimate pleasure and at the same time, ultimate agony.  He didn’t know if he should be excited or terrified when she signed: I… am Arachnia DarkStar, and I have plans for you, Nemesis.
            As she pointed her sword down the hallway, Nemesis stood where she asked and felt her fingers on his lower back like a spider at rest, before the fatal bite.  After a short walk, they came to a four-way crossing.  She used her fingers to tap out a short message against his bare skin: Left.
            He felt her sword against his ribs, and turned left.
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