#Kidane Jones

[lankira]

you, lanki

tell me about your ocs

I HAVE SO MANY. And they're from D&D and other RPGs, so here goes... (Note: some of the other characters that come up are played by some of my mutuals, who I'll let self-identify only if they want to. So, expect to see reference to numbered mutuals. Also, ongoing games are marked with a + at the beginning of the paragraph.)

From Star Wars (the Fantasy Flight RPG), we have T'lara Kest, a stronk purple twi'lek who fled Ryloth to avoid being sold. She took various jobs, from working security at clubs and bars to full-on mercenary work until she wound up with the crew she adventured with (she may have also done some, uh, "adult modeling" to help make ends meet before meeting the crew). During their adventures, she lost her legs to cybernetically enhanced nexu, joined the Rebellion, saved her special agent boyfriend from a zombie-infested Imperial ship he'd infiltrated, and survived a lightsaber to the gut. She also had a hella crush on one of our party members (Kidan, played by Mutual 1), but the leg loss led her to actually get together with her will-they-won't-they guy of something like 5 years. ALSO, she discovered at one point that she has a connection to the Force thanks to accidentally opening a Sith Holocron with fuckin' Darth Nihilus' consciousness in it.

+From Call of Cthulhu, we have Lori Jones, former TV personality turned occultist (and also straight-up cultist). She started off as somewhere between Jean Gray, John Constantine, and a daytime TV host. She then (accidentally) married Hastur, joined an occult investigative group, helped thwart some of Nyarlathotep's plans (some of which included her best friend of many years and the best friend's family), killed someone with a mind control spell, got sent back in time from 1991 to 1921 with the rest of the party, converted from Catholic to Jewish in order to marry another party member (Aldous, played by Mutual 2), and is currently heading up part of Hastur's cult in London while going through more investigative stuff and helping the party figure out how to get back to the 1990s. Oh, and she's plotting an assassination of a member of MI5.

From Pathfinder, I have two major OCs, with a third who is considering the leap to D&D.

Morana is a human Inquisitor of Pharasma whose teacher/father figure was possessed by the BBEG. She was going through A Lot, including adopting a 16 year old werewolf girl who became her squire. You know, I actually forget a lot of the plot of that game, but absolutely loved playing Morana because her personality was fun and Mutual 1 and I had a shitton of AUs to talk about her in. Because there's something to be said about a Pharasmin having a Thing for a dhampir. (I have reused Morana and her squire as NPCs because I love them so much.)

Jacinth Haf aka Jace is a half-elf and former sex worker who was raised in a brothel, then became a cleric of Sarenrae. Because it's a popular module that I don't want to spoil for anyone, I'll just say that, plot wise, she ran through Rise of the Runelords with a rather interesting party, including another of Mutual 2's characters. Jace is a firm believer that everyone is created equal and that equity is needed in order to give everyone the chance to succeed. While the party made some choices she didn't agree with, personal choice and free will are important to her, so she didn't physically fight them on any issues even when they released a pair of demons into the world rather than sending them back to the circle of Hell they belonged in.

Slaine Caellach is an elf ranger who, together with their black panther Straif, was on the run from their homeland to avoid being sentenced to death. Why would they be sentenced to death? They killed a human noble who'd trespassed into their territory and killed some animals Slaine was protecting. Then they escaped prison, avoiding being turned over to the human authorities who planned to kill them. Slaine also made the mistake of making deals with an eldritch being and wound up with something like Hermaeus Mora as a passenger in their brainpan. Until a TPK happened.

Aaaaaand now for the list of D&D OCs...

+Most recently played is Mara Lantos, who's a member of Team Ponderance (obligatory plug for our official artist, @thedovahcat, who did some great art of Mara and the rest of Team Ponderance and is an absolute delight to work with!). The Ponderance crew is currently working on thwarting what appear to be world domination plans being enacted by someone who should be long dead. Before adventuring, Mara was a member of a traveling performance group, The Wandering Oddities, who took her in when her family home was destroyed, killing her parents and (she believed) her elder brother. Within the Oddities, Mara was adopted by Pa, a Drow male follower of Eilistraee, and Da, a male wood elf, both of whom are skilled tumblers. With her birth family (heavily based on the Belmonts...), she had trained to be a monster hunter from a young age. So, she's the first fully multi-classed character on this list as a Bard/Fighter. The rest of Team Ponderance includes characters from Mutuals 1, 2, and 3! (Added note: 10/10 highly recommend Bard College of Lore paired with almost any Fighter subclass. Especially Battle Master or Echo Knight.)

While she was only played briefly, Razira Fein is one of my favorite characters to date. She is a female drow who came to the surface after losing her girlfriend, who'd been trying to leave the Underdark to join a conclave dedicated to Eilistraee. After joining the conclave and feeling her training with them was near-complete, Razira traveled as an entertainer. She still used some of her prior (read: drow raider) skills to take security jobs guarding merchant wagons and the like until she (and the rest of the party) were informed that they were destined to save the world. The thing that was most enjoyable about Razira was that she was a character who was entering the last phase of her arc as the game was starting. There wasn't much character growth she would have seen, but there was a lot of character growth in the party that she could have aided in. Hers, she felt, was a story of redemption and finding peace, and she believed others could do the same. She felt guilt when Nym, a male half-drow party member played by Mutual 3, left after she refused to let him start a fight with the Evil Army (not their real name) in a town square. She blamed herself, but also had felt that her action was the best choice rather than letting him get killed. Also, she was a Fighter (Echo Knight) with the Entertainer background, which made for a lot of fun for RP.

OK, OK, I'm gonna lump two D&D characters together here back-to-back because they're all followers of the Raven Queen. As a note, my DMs and I have tended to play the Raven Queen as a hybrid of her 4e and 5e versions.

Oswin Blair was a Paladin of the Raven Queen who formed an entire knightly order, the Order of the Raven's Crest at the end of her adventuring life. She had at one time led a group of soldiers to their doom, all of whom were raised as undead, their names emblazoned into her skin until she laid them each to rest. When she died, two names remained. She'd had to make a choice at the end of the adventure: let the BBEG go, or fight him nearly alone, which would have killed her and the child she had just discovered she was pregnant with. Her husband, Dane, was a healer and leader among a Druid Circle, so he split his time between her home and his enclave. In her time adventuring, Oswin and friends got up to some crazy shenanigans, though her biggest mistake was making a deal with a fae that inadvertently led to a few hundred years' worth of dead followers of the Raven Queen being resurrected. Oops.

+Mithvari Dresia is the character on this list with the most titles and the most to learn. A shadar-kai of only about 150 years, she was raised in a clerical school run by her father, Zunas, who is the younger of two sons the Raven Queen had before she ascended. He was harsh with her and still holds her to exacting standards she's unsure she will ever meet. She's only been on the Prime Material Plane for the last three years, with most of that time spent either being coddled by a temple that knew of her origins OR wandering as much as possible and discovering, essentially, a love of sex, drugs, and Rock & Roll (or Bardcore, I guess?). While she was being coddled by that temple, though, she did meet a paladin of Pelor , Randall, who she had a brief relationship with. Here we are two and a half years later, and Mithvari and Randall have been reunited by circumstance. She refuses to commit to a serious relationship unless he asks for one because she's spent so much of her life being told what she wants, she doesn't know what she actually wants. And also because she wouldn't mind the excuse to sleep around some more. She's basically one of those overly sheltered kids with really strict parents who lets a little too loose their freshman year of college.

#call of cthulhu #dnd #star wars #pathfinder #my ocs stuff #T'lara Kest #Lori Jones #Morana Rajani #Jacinth Haf #Slaine Caellach #Mara Lantos #Razira Fein #Oswin Blair #Mithvari Dresia #this isn't even all of them

[numberonepostcrown]

[neptunecreek]

EFF Urges Court to Roll Back Ruling Allowing Remote-Control Spying

Recent Decision Would Allow Foreign Governments to Wiretap Americans on U.S. Soil

Washington, D.C. – The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) urged an appeals court today to review a dangerous decision by a three-judge panel that would allow foreign governments to spy on Americans on U.S. soil—just as long as they use technology instead of human agents.

In Kidane v. Ethiopia, an American living in Maryland had his family computer infiltrated by the Ethiopian government. Agents sent an infected email that made its way to Mr. Kidane, and the attached Microsoft Word document carried a malicious computer program called FinSpy that’s sold only to governments. The spyware took control of the machine, making copies of every keystroke and Skype call, and sending it back to Ethiopia as part of its crackdown on critics.

But last month, a panel of judges on U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled that Mr. Kidane could not seek justice for this surveillance in an American court because the spying was carried out without a human agent of the Ethiopian government setting foot in the U.S. In essence, this would mean governments around the world have immunity for spying, attacking, and even murdering Americans on American soil, as long as the activity is performed with software, robots, drones, or other digital tools.

“We already know about technology that will let attackers drive your car off the road, turn off your pacemaker, or watch every communication from your computer or your phone. As our lives become even more digital, the risks will only grow,” said EFF Senior Staff Attorney Nate Cardozo. “The law must make it clear to governments around the world that any illegal attack in the United States will be answered in court in the United States.”

In a petition filed today, EFF and our co-counsel Scott Gilmore plus attorneys at the law firms of Jones Day and Robins Kaplan ask the appeals court to rehear this case en banc, arguing that last month’s panel decision puts the U.S. in the absurd situation where the American government must follow strict requirements for wiretapping and surveillance, but foreign governments don’t have the same legal obligations.

“American citizens deserve to feel safe and secure in their own homes using their own computers,” said EFF Executive Director Cindy Cohn. “The appeals court should vacate this decision, and ensure that the use of robots or remote controlled tools doesn’t prevent people who have been harmed by foreign government attacks from seeking justice.”

For the full petition for rehearing: http://ift.tt/2ocY9Ii

For more on this case: http://ift.tt/1jCtlsP

Contact: 

Nate

Cardozo

Senior Staff Attorney

[email protected]

Cindy

Cohn

Executive Director

[email protected]

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[neptunecreek]

Can Foreign Governments Launch Malware Attacks on Americans Without Consequences?

Can foreign governments spy on Americans in America with impunity? That was the question in front of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit Thursday, when EFF, human rights lawyer Scott Gilmore, and the law firms of Jones Day and Robins Kaplan went to court in Kidane v. Ethiopia.

Jones Day partner Richard Martinez argued before a three-judge panel that an American should be allowed to continue his suit against the Ethiopian government for infecting his computer with custom spyware and monitoring his communications for weeks on end. The judges questioned both sides for just over a half hour. Despite the numerous issues on appeal, the argument focused on whether U.S. courts have jurisdiction to hear a case brought by an American citizen for wiretapping and invasion of his privacy that occurred in his living room in suburban Maryland. The question is relevant because, under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, foreign governments are only liable for torts they commit within the United States.

Mr. Martinez argued that the location where the harm was inflicted upon Mr. Kidane was in Maryland, where his computer and he were the entire time he was spied upon. The question of whether U.S. courts can provide a remedy to an American who was wiretapped shouldn't turn on where the eavesdropper was sitting, but rather where the actual wiretapping occurred, which in this case was Silver Spring, MD.

Ethiopia's lawyer argued next, taking the position that it should be able to do anything to Americans in America, even set off a car bomb, as long as Ethiopia didn’t have a human agent in the United States. One judge asked what would happen if Ethiopia mailed a letter bomb into the United States to assassinate an opponent, or hacked an American's self-driving car, causing it to crash. Ethiopia didn't hesitate: their counsel said that they could not be sued for any of those.

This case began in early 2013, when, with the help of EFF and the University of Toronto's Citizen Lab, Mr. Kidane found Ethiopian government spyware on his personal computer in Maryland. Our investigation concluded that the spyware which recorded Mr. Kidane's Skype calls was part of a systemic campaign by the Ethiopian government to spy on perceived opponents. We filed this lawsuit in February 2014.

In Kidane v. Ethiopia, our client uses the pseudonym of Mr. Kidane in order to protect the safety and well-being of his family both in the United States and in Ethiopia. Mr. Kidane is a supporter of members of the Ethiopian democracy movement and a critic of the government. He came to the U.S. over 20 years ago, obtaining asylum and eventually citizenship. He currently lives with his family in Maryland.

We expect the D.C. Circuit to rule on this appeal in the next few months.

Related Cases: 

Kidane v. Ethiopia

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[neptunecreek]

Hearing Thursday: American Fights to Continue Case Against Ethiopian Spyware

Foreign Governments Must Be Held Accountable for Wiretapping Americans in the U.S.

Washington, D.C. – On Thursday, February 2, at 9:30 am, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and the law firms of Jones Day and Robins Kaplan will urge an appeals court to let an American continue his suit against the Ethiopian government for infecting his computer with custom spyware and monitoring his communications for weeks on end.

With the help of EFF and the Citizen Lab, the plaintiff in this case found Ethiopian government spyware on his personal computer in Maryland several years ago. Our investigation concluded that it was part of a systemic campaign by the Ethiopian government to spy on perceived opponents.

The plaintiff uses the pseudonym of Mr. Kidane in order to protect the safety and wellbeing of his family both in the United States and in Ethiopia. Kidane is a critic of the Ethiopian government, and came to the U.S. over 20 years ago, obtaining asylum and eventually citizenship. He currently lives with his family in Maryland.

Kidane first brought suit against Ethiopia in 2014, but the federal court held that no foreign government could be held accountable for wiretapping an American citizen in his own home, so Kidane appealed to the U.S Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Jones Day partner Richard Martinez will argue Thursday that foreign governments should not be allowed to spy on Americans in America with impunity.  

WHAT: Kidane v. Ethiopia

WHEN: Thursday, February 2 9:30 am

WHERE: E. Barrett Prettyman U.S. Courthouse 333 Constitution Ave., NW Washington, D.C.  20001 D.C. Circuit Courtroom 31

For more on Kidane v. Ethiopia: http://ift.tt/1jCtlsP

Contact: 

Nate

Cardozo

Senior Staff Attorney

[email protected]

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