Tigers Nest Monastry - Environment

aro Taktsang (spa phro stag tshang / spa gro stag tshang), is the popular name of Taktsang Palphug Monastery (also known as The Tiger's Nest), a prominent Himalayan Buddhistsacred site and temple complex, located in the cliffside of the upper Paro valley, Bhutan. A temple complex was first built in 1692, around the Taktsang Senge Samdup (stag tshang seng ge bsam grub) cave where Guru Padmasambhava is said to have meditated for three years, three months, three weeks, three days and three hours in the 8th century. Padmasambhava is credited with introducing Buddhism to Bhutan and is the tutelary deity of the country. Today, Paro Taktsang is the best known of the thirteen taktsang or "tiger lair" caves in which he meditated.

The Guru mTshan-brgyad Lhakhang, the temple devoted to Padmasambhava (also known as Gu-ru mTshan-brgyad Lhakhang, "The Temple of the Guru with Eight Names") is an elegant structure built around the cave in 1692 by Gyalse Tenzin Rabgye; and has become the cultural icon of Bhutan. A popular festival, known as the Tsechu, held in honour of Padmasambhava, is celebrated in the Paro valley sometime during March or April.

Nepal in Images

Nepal - Environment

Sandwiched between two Asian giants--China and India--Nepal traditionally has been characterized as "a yam caught between two rocks." Noted for its majestic Himalayas, which in Sanskrit means the abode of snow, Nepal is very mountainous and hilly. Its shape is roughly rectangular, about 650 kilometers long and about 200 kilometers wide, and comprises a total of 147,181 square kilometers of land. It is slightly larger than Bangladesh or the state of Arkansas. Nepal is a landlocked country, surrounded by India on three sides and by China's Xizang Autonomous Region (Tibet) to the north. It is separated from Bangladesh by an approximately fifteenkilometer -wide strip of India's state of West Bengal, and from Bhutan by the eighty-eight-kilometer-wide Sikkim, also an Indian state. Such a confined geographical position is hardly enviable. Nepal is almost totally dependent on India for transit facilities and access to the sea--that is, the Bay of Bengal--even for most of the goods coming from China.

For a small country, Nepal has great physical diversity, ranging from the Tarai Plain--the northern rim of the Gangetic Plain situated at about 300 meters above sea level in the south--to the almost 8,800-meter-high Mount Everest, locally known as Sagarmatha (its Nepali name), in the north. From the lowland Tarai belt, landforms rise in successive hill and mountain ranges, including the stupendous rampart of the towering Himalayas, ultimately reaching the Tibetan Plateau beyond the Inner Himalayas. This rise in elevation is punctuated by valleys situated between mountain ranges. Within this maze of mountains, hills, ridges, and low valleys, elevational (altitudinal) changes rersulted in ecological variations.
Nepal commonly is divided into three broad physiographic areas: the Mountain Region, the Hill Region, and the Tarai Region. All three parallel each other, from east to west, as continuous ecological belts, occasionally bisected by the country's river systems. These ecological regions were divided by the government into development sectors within the framework of regional development planning.
The rhythm of life in Nepal, as in most other parts of monsoonal Asia, is intricately yet intrinsically intertwined with its physical environment. As scholar Barry Bishop learned from his field research in the Karnali region in the northwest, the livelihood patterns of Nepal are inseparable from the environment.

http://countrystudies.us/nepal/21.htm

The Himalayas - Environment

The Himalayas stretches over a distance of about 2500 kms from west to east. It average width along the entire longitudinal extension ranges from 100 - 400 km. The vast area covered by the mountain range along with some fantastic altitude gradients result in the tremendous biodiversity of the Himalayan region. Vegetation and wildlife, both change according to the varying altitude and the resulting differences in climatic conditions.

Thousands of species of flora and fauna thrive in the region, each adapting to its climatic conditions, predators and other challenges unique to one's habitat. However, as in other regions, man's entry and exploitation into the region has meant that many species have become extinct or are threatened and on the verge of extinction. 

Flora

Himalayan vegetation varies according to both altitude and climatic conditions. They range from the tropical deciduous forests in the foothills, to temperate forests in the middle altitudes. Higher up, coniferous, sub-alpine, and alpine forests spring up. These finally give way to alpine grasslands and high altitude meadows. They are followed by scrublands which lead up to the permanent snowline.

However, the floral wealth of the Himalayas have also been affected by man. Over the centuries, man has always been dependent on his forests for a number of his needs. But earlier, these needs were few, the forests were able to replenish the resources, and the delicate natural balance was maintained. But over the years, the human population increased dramatically, and with it the number of industries that depended on forests. Extraordinary demands were made on the forests. Forests were cut down for firewood and to feed the growing number of forest-based industries. They were also cleared to accommodate the growing population. As a result, many species of trees that were very common even 50 years ago, are now rare or have completely disappeared from certain areas.

Tropical forests

There are mainly two types of tropical forests that are found in the Himalayas - the tropical rainforests, and the tropical deciduous forests. The tropical rainforests are dense, evergreen, gloomy and similar to the forests of the Amazon basin and other equatorial areas. They occur mainly in the eastern Himalayas which receives very heavy rainfall.

Tropical deciduous forests are found in regions of slightly lower rainfall. They are common in the lower slopes of the Himalayas. These forests shed their leaves in certain seasons. Also the forests tend to be less dense than the rainforests. Forests of teak and sal are common in areas of deciduous vegetation.

http://library.thinkquest.org/10131/ff.html

Facial Hair Inspiration

All of my main characters will have facial hair of some kind, and I would like to use it as a way of showing their character. By looking at winners of the world Beard and Mustache championship I hope to inspire my own design for my characters.

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

Described by the developers as a modern version of Gauntlet, The Return of the King is a hack and slash action game. The game is very similar to its predecessor. The levels are twice the size of the largest level from The Two Towers and less linear. A major change from The Two Towers is the interactive nature of the game environments. The player can operate machinery, for example bridges and catapults, to complete objectives, and use environment objects as weapons, such as spears and cauldrons, to kill enemies.

Each character has their own set of combos and attributes. After the end of each level the player can upgrade their characters' abilities and combos using experience points earned in the game. The number of experience points available to the player depends on the efficiency of their kills in the game. Interviews with the film's cast and similar DVD-style extras are unlocked as the player progresses through the game.

The game's combat was praised by most critics. Crispin Boyer of 1UP.com described the game as "a thrill ride... And not just 'cause Return of the King unleashes larger hordes of foes than last year's equally slick Two Towers prequel. Many of Return of the King's levels actually force you to multitask while you hack and slash." Tony Ellis of PC Gamer UK commended the combat: "Combat in RotK is superbly satisfying. Your blows connect with a solid, visceral thud you can almost feel." Ellis also noted the variation between levels.

The combat system in Lord of the Rings, Return of the King really appeals to me as an example of how  I would like the battle system to work in my own game. The battle system allows for multiple players to have unique battle styles, abilities and kill moves. Allowing each player to see how they are affecting the group dynamic, and therefore helps to create a team atmosphere and cooperation. 

Japanese Armor

In the 16th century Japanese body armour made a gradual transition, starting from kozane (many small scales laced tightly together), evolving to larger plates still laced together (lamellar armour), and finally to few large plates riveted together, or even solid breastplates.

Cheaper armours of tatami or kikko design continued in use throughout this period, sometimes even for high nobles. Mail was in common use as a component of other armour (armpit protection, for example), but not for body armour or full suits.

Throughout this period shino (splint) armour was the most common protection for vambraces and greaves. Cheap shino gave minimal protection. Regular shino filled the spaces between splints with mail. In extreme cases the splints might overlap, giving excellent protection equivalent to plate armour.

Lamellar armour was in common use even after plate breastplates came into favour in the later 16th century. Sode (pauldrons) and Kasazuri (tassets) were almost invariably of lamellar construction.

http://surbrook.devermore.net/herosource/ninja_hero/japanarmor.html