High desert relief dispensary albuquerque nm
[HIRING] 25 Jobs in NM Hiring Now!
2023.06.01 18:50 PritchettRobert506 [HIRING] 25 Jobs in NM Hiring Now!
2023.06.01 15:43 thrownawaz092 I don't THINK I'm an assassin? (Chapter 2)
"What was that!?" Kellista demanded as soon as the creature fully disappeared. "You said you would summon your salamander!" The effort to dismiss the familiar had knocked Culleo back on his arse and again all he could do was wheeze. "You did issue a command, right? One that it ignored?" Lithia, the younger Lyc prompted. "Yeah, he did. And whatever it was, it wasn't taking orders." Kellista confirmed. "Alright, but before we get ahead of ourselves, is that match over?" Lirren asked, looking over to Kalivine. The Dovkin took a moment before nodding. "I already saw everything I needed, and I'm sure we would all rather focus on this more pressing matter. Get the medbot." Lirren went to do as instructed, and Turri cheerily bounced over, somehow not at all tired from all the exertion from moments ago. "You saw what you needed? That means you have an answer then? How'd they do?" He looked over to the two kobolds who were the entire purpose of the battle. "Their tenacity impressed me. This fight was clearly stacked against them, they knew better than to meet us head on, so they went for a bold strategy." Turri shot Kellista a thumbs up. "I also like how aware they were. Even when locked in combat, you" he nodded to Kellista "were still aware of your surroundings, and managed to help your teammate while minimizing the risk it posed to yourself." Kalivine gave a sigh of relief as the medbot started its work. "And it's rare to see someone cast anything while that exhausted, let alone a summoning." Turri walked over to Culleo. "Hey, ya hear that? Big ole Kal says you're cool!" He said as he pulled the lizard to his feet. Culleo could only huff in response. "Aww he's all tuckered out!" Oh Break you! Culleo tried to curse. "Ho, Huff you" Culleo actually said. "I love you too. So!" Turri said, dropping Culleo with a thump as he turned his attention back to Kalivine. "That mean they're in?" "Not necessarily. As much as they can push, the fact that they needed to push so hard is a major concern. My familiar shouldn't have caused so much trouble, I myself am hardly warmed up, and that summoning, which was at the center of their plan failed so poorly it might have made things even worse for them. I don't like that one bit. Then there's also the matter of how you-" "Oi, Kal! Sorry to interrupt but we got a little somethin' you should see!" Lithia called out.
Turri and Kalivine looked over to where she was standing, and noticed the bag at her feet. "That's... Yeah it is, isn't it?" The bag wasn't too interesting. Sure it was an awkward size, and the lettering wasn't in a language any of them knew, but besides that it looked like an average old bag. Of course, it was the fact that it was there that made it interesting. "Guys, what do we do?" Kellista asked. "Can't you just send it back?" Lirren said, looking to Culleo. The medbot had made its rounds by this point, so he could finally start speaking properly. "But- but I already did! I ended the spell and sent the familiar back! Now that I've done that I'm no longer tethered, so can't summon or dismiss them anymore." They all exchanged nervous glances. That thing had ignored summoning orders, stared ALL of them down, and had tried to cast something before being dismissed, not to mention how it went from stock still to lightning fast reflexes in the blink of an eye. And now its bag was here.
"Well? Let's open it up!" Lithia reached for the bag and everyone else was too stunned to stop her. Unzipping it, she upturned the bad, dumping its contents onto the ground. "So, what do we have here? Some clothes by the looks of it." Lirren was first to speak up. "Lithia! What are you doing!?" "Uhh, checking out our sweet new swag. Obviously!" Turri answered for her. "Come on. Ooooh, what's this?" Turri, being the birdbrain that he is, was immediately distracted by the shiny piece of metal that had tumbled out of the jumble of clothes. He picked it up and started examining it closely, eyes expanding rapidly. "What are you...? Ah ha!" Pushing a knob that turned out to be a button, a solid 'Ka-chink!' made everyone flinch as a simple yet elegant blade popped out. Turri's eyes expanded even wider and a grin made it to his beak. "Oh this one's totally mine!" Culleo considered saying something, not liking how something he summoned was now being robbed. "Hey what're these?" Oh great, now Kellista was in on it too. She found a small pouch of brown spheres. Taking a sniff, she must have liked what she smelt because she popped the thing in her mouth. "Hey! This stuff tastes good! I think I found some candy!" She said, rolling the brown sphere around her mouth. Everyone turned at that, and Kellista realized the folly of showing off her prize as everyone went for a piece.
In the turmoil of grasping hands, squawking and muttering, and a couple pinched fingers, Lithia was the first in and out. She was terrifyingly nimble despite her size, and she brought up her prize to take a sniff of her own before her eyes widened. "Nobody eat these!" She suddenly howled at the group. Everyone stopped in shock as Lithia lunged towards Kellista, who was more than a little shocked when the Lyc twice her size picked her up like a toddler. "Spit it out! Spit it out now!" She said, shaking the kobold. Kellista opened her mouth and let the brown ball of goodness drop onto the dirt, ruining it. "Hey! Let her go!" Culleo drew his rapier and pointed it to the one threatening his friend. Lithia hardly even noticed the second kobold, but still did as asked. "What was that about?" Turri asked. "Those aren't candy. At least I don't think so. They're laced with caffeine!" With that grand statement the others quickly dropped theirs, Lirren caught a whiff from his own and yep! Caffeine. It was subtle, hidden under a network of sugar, but it was there. His joined the other on the ground.
Kellista had never been so glad to be shaken like that. She was about to swallow the thing! Two seconds later and she would have ingested poison, and she didn't like her chances at that point. "Th-thank you for saving me." She said, still a little shaken from being a little shaken. "Don't mention it!" Lithia replied with a grin. "But now I want to know why our guy had a bag of poisonous sweets on him. Any ideas?" The group exchanged glances, and Kellista piped up again. "I think he was an assassin!" All eyes turned on her and she almost felt the weight of their collective gaze. "Well think about it! What have we found? A disguise, poison you'd willingly eat, a concealed knife," Turri was still fiddling with it, and there were now several bits of metal sticking out at odd angles. "Which we now see comes with a lockpicking set! Honestly Turri put that down before you release a toxic cloud or something!" Kalivine, who had been nodding along interjected "and some kind of access card" while holding up another find. "Exactly!" Kellista cut back in. "And where is this all stored? In a nondescript bag that could just be left somewhere! Come on guys, you saw how it moved! It hardly made a sound and was getting ready to fight, regardless of its summoners instructions! Like it actually thought it could take us all!" Kellista was panting by the end of her little presentation. "I think she's right. It was also powerful enough to bend a summoning to its will like that. I'm just glad you were able to send it back. I don't even wanna know what it was planning." Lirren said. Turri sighed and dropped the knife, and they all came to the same conclusion. After a few quick seconds everything was back in the bag and nobody wanted to touch it anymore.
"So what do we do now?" Culleo broke the silence, "should we tell someone?" Kalivine nodded. "Definitely report this. I think Mr. Folksen is in today. He'll know what to do." Withsomeone to pin the responsibility on a plan of action, the group headed to the main campus building.
.....
After he finished inspecting the ground and distinctly not crying in the fetal position over lost chocolates, Micheal slowly picked himself up, dusted off his clothes, and began to walk home. What sucked was that even without his bag, he was still weighed down because of the detachable weights he had wrapped around his wrists and ankles, and now that he had let himself cool down, his limbs also felt like lead. He gave a mental sigh as he trudged along. The journey was slow and painful, but at least uneventful. As his house came into view, Mikey noticed that he still felt the imprint of his bags strap on his hand and shoulder. Kinda weird, because 'the incident' as he started referring to it as happened nearly 20 minutes ago now, and the imprint he could see was still in his hand. Focusing on it, he could still feel the fibers that made up the strap! He stopped and leaned over, looking closely at his palm. There's nothing to see, but he definitely feels his bag, not the imprint, but the actual strap like it was in his hand. "Wha...?" Closing his fingers and yes, there was something. It wasn't physical though, but almost like a breeze in his hand. He gave it a gentle tug and- "wait No! Not AGAIN!" started seeing spots in his vision.
Michael materialized back in the field with his eyes shut tight. "Come on! Are you kidding!? Why!?" He didn't care that he was making a scene in the middle of a pack of monsters, that eye thing simply couldn't be the only mode of transportation between worlds. His vision cleared however, and he saw that the field was now empty, which meant no dragon to eat him, and no kobold to send him back. But wait! His bag was here! Relief flooded through Mike as he found all his stuff was still there! Even the chocolate! "Oh, there is a god!" He said, popping one in his mouth. He stopped as he saw something, a half-eaten chocolate on the ground, clearly spat out. 'So, it's not that they didn't rob me, but team dragon is just too good for my stuff?' he thought with just a little indignation. Bad mood back firmly in place, Mike took a look at his surroundings. Now that there were no distractions, like a dragon in his face ('no, I willnot let that go any time soon!'), he could see the 'field' was the unkept land kind more than the soccer field kind, and this field was surrounded on three sides by buildings that were old enough that they might be ruins, and weren't styled like anything he had seen on earth. Knowing werewolves roamed the area, it was starting to feel like a monster town. Behind him however, stood a thick stone wall with a spiked fence on top of it. Although he had no chance to climb the wall, it did nothing to hide the grand, Cathedral looking structure behind it. The structure seemed to be carved out of marble, and was clearly maintained in stark contrast to the rest of the area. Looking up, Michael took back 'cathedral' and went with 'super palace' because this place was utterly massive. Sure, the base of the building was on par with Notre Dame but at higher levels instead of tapering out like most buildings do, it became larger and infinitely more extravagant. Seeing how he had literally been summoned here, Mike was clued in on the existence of magic, but the blatant disrespect for the laws of physics above his head confirmed that wizards were probably a thing. As the main body of the building went higher and higher, it seemed to thin out and seperate into a tangle of towers, courtyards, balconies and a whole lot of castle parts he didn't have words for, all forming a beautiful balance between chaotic and symmetrical. There were bridges that went to sections that didn't have anything under them, straight up floating islands, stairs that were rows of floating steps, and landings that looked like they disagreed on what way was down, all loosely forming a cage around a main structure that he could hardly see thanks to all the clutter around it. There was nothing on earth, even in games or movies that compared to the ridiculous levels of architecture going on in front of him. Seeing such beauty and grandeur so remarkably displayed in front of him, Michael was filled with deep emotion.
That emotion was pants-wetting fear. What the heck!? Was he trespassing on a literal god's doorstep!? Or, judging by the surroundings, was this some sort of local superpower that basically owned the very air he was breathing!? No, probably not, they hadn't aimed anything at him or yelled through a microphone that he needed to vacate immediately or be forcibly removed, but still! Michael stood there for several minutes, staring with a blend of terror, curiosity and fascination. He wasn't even sure how long it had been when he saw a new monster, one he did not have a name for, casually strolling towards the castle. Upon seeing the creature, it struck him that he was standing in broad daylight in the middle of a field in downtown monsterville. Luckily whatever it was hadn't noticed him yet, and he intended to keep it that way. He ran into the most deserted looking part of the ruins, hoping to keep eyes off him.
.....
"So after he dismissed it, we noticed the bag hadn't gone back, so we took a look and it was clear the creature was a rogue of some kind." The six of them were gathered in an office several floors high in the school, and were busy relaying the events that had transpired concerning the summoning to one of the few teachers that were still available to speak with.
"How can you be sure? What was in the bag?" Professor Folksen, an older Kaikku and notable scholar asked.
"Well, the bag itself was unremarkable, but there was a concealed dagger and a caffeine based poison along with a simple disguise. And the dagger also had a set of lockpicks built into it too. When we realized what we were looking at, we decided to put everything back and come to you." Kellista continued, describing the scene quickly to the professor.
"You made the right call. With any luck your friend will pull their bag back, find their items intact and decide seeking retribution would be a waste of time."
"Sorry sir, pull their bag back?" Culleo asked.
"Indeed Mr. Zirrkus, this isn't the first time a familiar returned home without everything. The tether that allows them to find their way back to their own dimension remains until every piece returns with it. only then does the figurative door close and prevent them from coming back unprompted. Your friend has probably already taken their things back and has forgotten about this whole thing." Mr. Folksen said reassuringly.
"But wait, if there's still a tether to this world, couldn't it come back instead!?" Culleo asked with panic rising in his voice.
"No no, that won't be an issue. When a familiar is partially returned like in this case, the mana of its homeworld acts as an anchor, any attempt to pull itself back through without the summoners assistance would just pull everything to its origin. Even if it did have a way to come back, you've given it no reason to seek you out."
"But this thing managed to circumvent my summon, couldn't it find other workarounds if it could do that?" Culleo was struggling to keep his voice in the same octave.
The old scholar shook his head. "That would require a monumental misunderstanding of magic. There may be some things we've forgotten about mana since the jolt, but this comparison would be on the same level as worrying that gravity might fail because someone was able to hack your comm. It has no reason to return and even if it did, there would literally be all the mana in a world holding it back. You can relax dear Culleo, it's not going to seek out vengeance against you."
Culleo tried to calm down, he did his best to consider his mentors words and see the clearly laid out logic, but his nerves just wouldn't go down. He had a mantle of dread over his heart that just wouldn't abate. Ragged wisps of the tether seemed to remain, so faint they just might be his imagination, but something inside him was screaming that this wasn't over.
Seeing the apprehension on his pupil's face, Folksen tried another approach. "Come now, you said this duel took place on the eastern field, yes? Well let's go check it out." The old bird had clear signs of aging, wrinkles, loss of feathers and colour, but it did nothing to slow him down as he briskly made his way to a nearby window. "Now where, ahh! I can see scorchmarks. That's where you fought, yes?" He called as the young, spry and physically fit students caught up. Kalivine confirmed. "Yes, right over there. The creature was summoned by those two gouges" he said, pointing to some damage in the turf. "And what do you see?" Folksen asked. "...the bag is gone." Lirren answered. "Exactly. And what do you know? No assassins at our throats. The tether has been severed, we don't need to worry about them coming back. Now I want you kids to get home early tonight and have a good night's sleep. The school year officially starts tomorrow and you don't need to let this keep you up all night."
Culleo nodded numbly. Seeing the empty field had only made the icy grip on his heart squeeze tighter, but everything was exactly as professor Folksen had said it should be, and he couldn't find any reason to doubt it. "Alright teach, that sounds like a good idea, I'm headed out before this lot gets me into any more trouble." Turri said before giving Culleo a clap on the shoulder "Cully! You two need a ride? Don't worry about it, it's no biggie!" He didn't even wait for a response as he grabbed Kellista's hand and began leading the two kobolds out to a landing pad and a few minutes later had the two on his back as he flew through the night. Even two on his back, kobolds were sufficiently smaller than kaikkus that Turri was able to glide most of the way.
"This whole thing really is eating at you, huh?" Turri asked, and it took Culleo a moment to realize he was being addressed. It was starting to get into the evening, but people were milling about, so Turri had taken them higher than strictly necessary to give the kobolds some privacy. "...I'm not really sure why, but yeah. Everything that Professor Folksen said made sense, and this kind of thing doesn't normally bother me, but I just can't shake this feeling..." Culleo trailed off as he considered the problem. "I bet you're just stressed from not getting an answer!" Kellista interjected, "We've been working forward to getting a spot with the Divvani faction for months now and we didn't even get an answer! It's just nerves, man!" Culleo had honestly forgotten about that, but Kellista was right. They just threw everything they had in an all or nothing battle that would probably have an effect on the rest of their lives, and didn't even know if they had won. As Culleo looked forward as best he could into the headwind, he really hoped his friend was right.
_________________________________________________________ Authors notes
Alright, I know I already broke my 'once a week' promise by posting this, but don't expect a habit of it! I'm just a little ahead in my writing and I'm sticking with that standard.
The first shall be previous and the next shall be in a week or so.
submitted by thrownawaz092 to HFY [link] [comments]
Turri and Kalivine looked over to where she was standing, and noticed the bag at her feet. "That's... Yeah it is, isn't it?" The bag wasn't too interesting. Sure it was an awkward size, and the lettering wasn't in a language any of them knew, but besides that it looked like an average old bag. Of course, it was the fact that it was there that made it interesting. "Guys, what do we do?" Kellista asked. "Can't you just send it back?" Lirren said, looking to Culleo. The medbot had made its rounds by this point, so he could finally start speaking properly. "But- but I already did! I ended the spell and sent the familiar back! Now that I've done that I'm no longer tethered, so can't summon or dismiss them anymore." They all exchanged nervous glances. That thing had ignored summoning orders, stared ALL of them down, and had tried to cast something before being dismissed, not to mention how it went from stock still to lightning fast reflexes in the blink of an eye. And now its bag was here.
"Well? Let's open it up!" Lithia reached for the bag and everyone else was too stunned to stop her. Unzipping it, she upturned the bad, dumping its contents onto the ground. "So, what do we have here? Some clothes by the looks of it." Lirren was first to speak up. "Lithia! What are you doing!?" "Uhh, checking out our sweet new swag. Obviously!" Turri answered for her. "Come on. Ooooh, what's this?" Turri, being the birdbrain that he is, was immediately distracted by the shiny piece of metal that had tumbled out of the jumble of clothes. He picked it up and started examining it closely, eyes expanding rapidly. "What are you...? Ah ha!" Pushing a knob that turned out to be a button, a solid 'Ka-chink!' made everyone flinch as a simple yet elegant blade popped out. Turri's eyes expanded even wider and a grin made it to his beak. "Oh this one's totally mine!" Culleo considered saying something, not liking how something he summoned was now being robbed. "Hey what're these?" Oh great, now Kellista was in on it too. She found a small pouch of brown spheres. Taking a sniff, she must have liked what she smelt because she popped the thing in her mouth. "Hey! This stuff tastes good! I think I found some candy!" She said, rolling the brown sphere around her mouth. Everyone turned at that, and Kellista realized the folly of showing off her prize as everyone went for a piece.
In the turmoil of grasping hands, squawking and muttering, and a couple pinched fingers, Lithia was the first in and out. She was terrifyingly nimble despite her size, and she brought up her prize to take a sniff of her own before her eyes widened. "Nobody eat these!" She suddenly howled at the group. Everyone stopped in shock as Lithia lunged towards Kellista, who was more than a little shocked when the Lyc twice her size picked her up like a toddler. "Spit it out! Spit it out now!" She said, shaking the kobold. Kellista opened her mouth and let the brown ball of goodness drop onto the dirt, ruining it. "Hey! Let her go!" Culleo drew his rapier and pointed it to the one threatening his friend. Lithia hardly even noticed the second kobold, but still did as asked. "What was that about?" Turri asked. "Those aren't candy. At least I don't think so. They're laced with caffeine!" With that grand statement the others quickly dropped theirs, Lirren caught a whiff from his own and yep! Caffeine. It was subtle, hidden under a network of sugar, but it was there. His joined the other on the ground.
Kellista had never been so glad to be shaken like that. She was about to swallow the thing! Two seconds later and she would have ingested poison, and she didn't like her chances at that point. "Th-thank you for saving me." She said, still a little shaken from being a little shaken. "Don't mention it!" Lithia replied with a grin. "But now I want to know why our guy had a bag of poisonous sweets on him. Any ideas?" The group exchanged glances, and Kellista piped up again. "I think he was an assassin!" All eyes turned on her and she almost felt the weight of their collective gaze. "Well think about it! What have we found? A disguise, poison you'd willingly eat, a concealed knife," Turri was still fiddling with it, and there were now several bits of metal sticking out at odd angles. "Which we now see comes with a lockpicking set! Honestly Turri put that down before you release a toxic cloud or something!" Kalivine, who had been nodding along interjected "and some kind of access card" while holding up another find. "Exactly!" Kellista cut back in. "And where is this all stored? In a nondescript bag that could just be left somewhere! Come on guys, you saw how it moved! It hardly made a sound and was getting ready to fight, regardless of its summoners instructions! Like it actually thought it could take us all!" Kellista was panting by the end of her little presentation. "I think she's right. It was also powerful enough to bend a summoning to its will like that. I'm just glad you were able to send it back. I don't even wanna know what it was planning." Lirren said. Turri sighed and dropped the knife, and they all came to the same conclusion. After a few quick seconds everything was back in the bag and nobody wanted to touch it anymore.
"So what do we do now?" Culleo broke the silence, "should we tell someone?" Kalivine nodded. "Definitely report this. I think Mr. Folksen is in today. He'll know what to do." With
.....
After he finished inspecting the ground and distinctly not crying in the fetal position over lost chocolates, Micheal slowly picked himself up, dusted off his clothes, and began to walk home. What sucked was that even without his bag, he was still weighed down because of the detachable weights he had wrapped around his wrists and ankles, and now that he had let himself cool down, his limbs also felt like lead. He gave a mental sigh as he trudged along. The journey was slow and painful, but at least uneventful. As his house came into view, Mikey noticed that he still felt the imprint of his bags strap on his hand and shoulder. Kinda weird, because 'the incident' as he started referring to it as happened nearly 20 minutes ago now, and the imprint he could see was still in his hand. Focusing on it, he could still feel the fibers that made up the strap! He stopped and leaned over, looking closely at his palm. There's nothing to see, but he definitely feels his bag, not the imprint, but the actual strap like it was in his hand. "Wha...?" Closing his fingers and yes, there was something. It wasn't physical though, but almost like a breeze in his hand. He gave it a gentle tug and- "wait No! Not AGAIN!" started seeing spots in his vision.
Michael materialized back in the field with his eyes shut tight. "Come on! Are you kidding!? Why!?" He didn't care that he was making a scene in the middle of a pack of monsters, that eye thing simply couldn't be the only mode of transportation between worlds. His vision cleared however, and he saw that the field was now empty, which meant no dragon to eat him, and no kobold to send him back. But wait! His bag was here! Relief flooded through Mike as he found all his stuff was still there! Even the chocolate! "Oh, there is a god!" He said, popping one in his mouth. He stopped as he saw something, a half-eaten chocolate on the ground, clearly spat out. 'So, it's not that they didn't rob me, but team dragon is just too good for my stuff?' he thought with just a little indignation. Bad mood back firmly in place, Mike took a look at his surroundings. Now that there were no distractions, like a dragon in his face ('no, I willnot let that go any time soon!'), he could see the 'field' was the unkept land kind more than the soccer field kind, and this field was surrounded on three sides by buildings that were old enough that they might be ruins, and weren't styled like anything he had seen on earth. Knowing werewolves roamed the area, it was starting to feel like a monster town. Behind him however, stood a thick stone wall with a spiked fence on top of it. Although he had no chance to climb the wall, it did nothing to hide the grand, Cathedral looking structure behind it. The structure seemed to be carved out of marble, and was clearly maintained in stark contrast to the rest of the area. Looking up, Michael took back 'cathedral' and went with 'super palace' because this place was utterly massive. Sure, the base of the building was on par with Notre Dame but at higher levels instead of tapering out like most buildings do, it became larger and infinitely more extravagant. Seeing how he had literally been summoned here, Mike was clued in on the existence of magic, but the blatant disrespect for the laws of physics above his head confirmed that wizards were probably a thing. As the main body of the building went higher and higher, it seemed to thin out and seperate into a tangle of towers, courtyards, balconies and a whole lot of castle parts he didn't have words for, all forming a beautiful balance between chaotic and symmetrical. There were bridges that went to sections that didn't have anything under them, straight up floating islands, stairs that were rows of floating steps, and landings that looked like they disagreed on what way was down, all loosely forming a cage around a main structure that he could hardly see thanks to all the clutter around it. There was nothing on earth, even in games or movies that compared to the ridiculous levels of architecture going on in front of him. Seeing such beauty and grandeur so remarkably displayed in front of him, Michael was filled with deep emotion.
That emotion was pants-wetting fear. What the heck!? Was he trespassing on a literal god's doorstep!? Or, judging by the surroundings, was this some sort of local superpower that basically owned the very air he was breathing!? No, probably not, they hadn't aimed anything at him or yelled through a microphone that he needed to vacate immediately or be forcibly removed, but still! Michael stood there for several minutes, staring with a blend of terror, curiosity and fascination. He wasn't even sure how long it had been when he saw a new monster, one he did not have a name for, casually strolling towards the castle. Upon seeing the creature, it struck him that he was standing in broad daylight in the middle of a field in downtown monsterville. Luckily whatever it was hadn't noticed him yet, and he intended to keep it that way. He ran into the most deserted looking part of the ruins, hoping to keep eyes off him.
.....
"So after he dismissed it, we noticed the bag hadn't gone back, so we took a look and it was clear the creature was a rogue of some kind." The six of them were gathered in an office several floors high in the school, and were busy relaying the events that had transpired concerning the summoning to one of the few teachers that were still available to speak with.
"How can you be sure? What was in the bag?" Professor Folksen, an older Kaikku and notable scholar asked.
"Well, the bag itself was unremarkable, but there was a concealed dagger and a caffeine based poison along with a simple disguise. And the dagger also had a set of lockpicks built into it too. When we realized what we were looking at, we decided to put everything back and come to you." Kellista continued, describing the scene quickly to the professor.
"You made the right call. With any luck your friend will pull their bag back, find their items intact and decide seeking retribution would be a waste of time."
"Sorry sir, pull their bag back?" Culleo asked.
"Indeed Mr. Zirrkus, this isn't the first time a familiar returned home without everything. The tether that allows them to find their way back to their own dimension remains until every piece returns with it. only then does the figurative door close and prevent them from coming back unprompted. Your friend has probably already taken their things back and has forgotten about this whole thing." Mr. Folksen said reassuringly.
"But wait, if there's still a tether to this world, couldn't it come back instead!?" Culleo asked with panic rising in his voice.
"No no, that won't be an issue. When a familiar is partially returned like in this case, the mana of its homeworld acts as an anchor, any attempt to pull itself back through without the summoners assistance would just pull everything to its origin. Even if it did have a way to come back, you've given it no reason to seek you out."
"But this thing managed to circumvent my summon, couldn't it find other workarounds if it could do that?" Culleo was struggling to keep his voice in the same octave.
The old scholar shook his head. "That would require a monumental misunderstanding of magic. There may be some things we've forgotten about mana since the jolt, but this comparison would be on the same level as worrying that gravity might fail because someone was able to hack your comm. It has no reason to return and even if it did, there would literally be all the mana in a world holding it back. You can relax dear Culleo, it's not going to seek out vengeance against you."
Culleo tried to calm down, he did his best to consider his mentors words and see the clearly laid out logic, but his nerves just wouldn't go down. He had a mantle of dread over his heart that just wouldn't abate. Ragged wisps of the tether seemed to remain, so faint they just might be his imagination, but something inside him was screaming that this wasn't over.
Seeing the apprehension on his pupil's face, Folksen tried another approach. "Come now, you said this duel took place on the eastern field, yes? Well let's go check it out." The old bird had clear signs of aging, wrinkles, loss of feathers and colour, but it did nothing to slow him down as he briskly made his way to a nearby window. "Now where, ahh! I can see scorchmarks. That's where you fought, yes?" He called as the young, spry and physically fit students caught up. Kalivine confirmed. "Yes, right over there. The creature was summoned by those two gouges" he said, pointing to some damage in the turf. "And what do you see?" Folksen asked. "...the bag is gone." Lirren answered. "Exactly. And what do you know? No assassins at our throats. The tether has been severed, we don't need to worry about them coming back. Now I want you kids to get home early tonight and have a good night's sleep. The school year officially starts tomorrow and you don't need to let this keep you up all night."
Culleo nodded numbly. Seeing the empty field had only made the icy grip on his heart squeeze tighter, but everything was exactly as professor Folksen had said it should be, and he couldn't find any reason to doubt it. "Alright teach, that sounds like a good idea, I'm headed out before this lot gets me into any more trouble." Turri said before giving Culleo a clap on the shoulder "Cully! You two need a ride? Don't worry about it, it's no biggie!" He didn't even wait for a response as he grabbed Kellista's hand and began leading the two kobolds out to a landing pad and a few minutes later had the two on his back as he flew through the night. Even two on his back, kobolds were sufficiently smaller than kaikkus that Turri was able to glide most of the way.
"This whole thing really is eating at you, huh?" Turri asked, and it took Culleo a moment to realize he was being addressed. It was starting to get into the evening, but people were milling about, so Turri had taken them higher than strictly necessary to give the kobolds some privacy. "...I'm not really sure why, but yeah. Everything that Professor Folksen said made sense, and this kind of thing doesn't normally bother me, but I just can't shake this feeling..." Culleo trailed off as he considered the problem. "I bet you're just stressed from not getting an answer!" Kellista interjected, "We've been working forward to getting a spot with the Divvani faction for months now and we didn't even get an answer! It's just nerves, man!" Culleo had honestly forgotten about that, but Kellista was right. They just threw everything they had in an all or nothing battle that would probably have an effect on the rest of their lives, and didn't even know if they had won. As Culleo looked forward as best he could into the headwind, he really hoped his friend was right.
_________________________________________________________ Authors notes
Alright, I know I already broke my 'once a week' promise by posting this, but don't expect a habit of it! I'm just a little ahead in my writing and I'm sticking with that standard.
The first shall be previous and the next shall be in a week or so.
2023.06.01 07:15 depressive_realisms Looking for the best route from SLC to Albuquerque
Hey everyone… my first post here. 😗 In September I plan on taking a road trip to Albuquerque, NM from Salt Lake City, UT and I’m wondering if any of you have any tips on which route is best for a solo traveler. I’m looking to see some of the mountains and the desert… anything helps, thanks!
submitted by depressive_realisms to roadtrip [link] [comments]
2023.06.01 03:49 TheoRyswell Orc Harem - 8
It was late in the morning when Adam woke from his dreamless sleep. Warm sunlight poured through the cracks between the window blinds, casting bars of shadow along his naked body.
Sleeping naked was a habit he had picked up from Jen. She had insisted upon it, to his great bemusement. Because why would a man wear clothes to keep warm in bed when a woman could do the job much better? Being a young man, Adam couldn’t find fault in that particular orcish custom.
But some orcish customs… Adam had learned how disruptive they could be.
Adam threw his legs over the side of the bed so that he sat upright. He stared off into space, frowning.
Disqualified.
Somewhere in his mind, in a hazy construct of the great hall back home, that word hung over his portrait on a gilded plaque. Right next to the words Disappointment and Failure.
Adam shook his head, groaning. Was it frustration? Disgust? Adam couldn’t tell. He knew the thought was absurd. His family wouldn’t disown him for losing a tourney much less getting disqualified from one - especially since getting kicked out wasn’t even his fault.
The Castermans were a proud, ancient house, this was true. But they didn’t put so much value on trophies and medals and honors the way other Stakari houses did. They would never consider tossing their youngest aside… But that didn’t stop Adam from feeling fear and doubt.
Every young man who ever lived feared being a disappointment to his family. And as the fourth son of his father’s line, Adam had the unenviable position of being measured against his older brothers. Royce, Dane, and Garen, loving and supportive as they were, weren’t simply his older brothers. They were titans, looming tall and casting their shadows over their baby brother.
His brothers had all been exceptional at the paths they chose. Military man, beast wrangler, and a bonafide wizard. All impressive and noble occupations. Of course Adam was happy for them. But his brothers had set some incredibly high standards. All through his youth, the youngest Casterman feared he would never measure up.
But then, in his teens, Adam discovered his passion for history. Stories of kings, warriors, tyrants, and heroes. Of great bloody battles and fallen cities. Of ferocious beasts and mighty slayers. Adam drank it all in like a man finding an oasis after wandering lost through the desert sands. Especially so for the history of his home, the Kingdom of Stakaria, as well as his family and his own noble blood.
The Castermans had earned their greatness, Adam proudly reminded himself. Jorr Casterman won his knighthood defending the Lord of the Bluewater several centuries back. During a skirmish against a wild raiding party, the lord had been unhorsed and at the mercy of a monstrous ogre. He would have died on that battlefield had Jorr not slain the towering beast.
Adam had no towering beast to slay. The days where men could make their names with sword and shield were long past. So the youngest Casterman chose to sharpen his mind. His battles would be fought and won with pen and ink. Not at all the kind of man a she-orc would fall for, one might have thought.
The young noble pondered on that for a moment as he stood up and stretched. He groaned, his body still quite sore from the tourney matches he had managed to win. Then he went to the dresser at the foot of his bed and dug out a pair of boxers.
As he tugged them on, his mind drifted to Jen… and her sister, Sayla.
His girlfriend’s sister had interfered during one of his matches and got him disqualified from the tourney. Attacked him with real daggers, too. It was a wonder she hadn’t been arrested - though the security staff might have simply thought she was part of some viral stunt.
The whole situation was absurd. So absurd that Adam was more bewildered than upset - though he wasn’t without anger. He had worked hard to get into the lists. And to have it all taken away because of his girlfriend’s secret plan…
Adam tightened his jaw as Jen and Sayla’s “clan chief” business came to the forefront of his mind. He still needed to talk to them about that. He might as well, right? There was nothing that was going to un-disqualify him as far as he could tell. So why not learn more about the absurdity that screwed with his life?
He inhaled deeply through his nose, then frowned. The scent of sweat stung his nostrils. He would need to shower soon. But first, he would check his phone. He hadn’t answered anything from anybody after he left Jen and Sayla at the diner last night. No doubt his voicemail and email had some build up that needed some looking over.
Adam found his cellphone right where he left it, sitting on his desk. Sure enough, he found a long list of missed calls and unread messages. All of them from Jen.
The corner of his mouth twitched some at the sight. It wasn’t quite a smile, but there was a wryness about it.
In a way, the attention felt nice. It showed that Jen cared. Adam already knew that, of course. Jen was the kind of girl who was very open - and physical - with her affections. But the dozens of messages of apology proved that Jen at least felt appropriately guilty over the whole mess. The disqualification and the secret plan to make him her clan’s chieftain.
Chieftain Adam Casterman, leader of the G’Kalis Clan. Reader of books, slayer of essays, husband to she-orcs. Adam grinned at the sheer absurdity of it.
On the one hand, becoming a clan chief would have been a rather unique way of making a name for himself. And Adam had read up on orcish clan customs. He couldn’t deny that taking multiple wives had a certain appeal.
But Adam was nothing if not a realist.
Surely being a chieftain came with a whole mountain of responsibility. Even if Adam agreed to Jen’s proposition, where would he find the time to fulfill all of the duties that came with his new role? By the Allfather, he was a college student barely out of his teen years. He already had responsibilities here on campus. And what would he even tell his parents? That his girlfriend asked him to essentially marry her and her sisters and he said yes on a whim?
Adam rubbed his temple. It was way too early for such heavy thoughts. He put down his phone and switched over to his laptop to check his email.
His inbox was mostly as expected. Some newsletter stuff, spam that hadn’t been filtered out… And one message from Trevelyan Institute Administration.
That last one gave Adam a moment of pause. He stared at it, the email sitting unread on his computer screen. Dread slowly crept into him, slithering up his back, under his skin, making his hair stand on end.
It was a disciplinary response to the nonsense at the tourney. Adam knew it. Was he being put on probation? Was he expelled?
His mouth had gone dry. Surely, his face had gone ghostly white as well.
Adam collected himself, gathering his wits and nerves.
He ran the cursor over the email and clicked on it.
- - -
“Stop calling him.”
“Quiet.” Jenakka snapped, glaring at her clan-sister. The green she-orc turned her eyes back to her phone, staring at the message of apology she had just finished writing. She’d already written several others, but there was always something that Jenakka felt like she forgot to say. So she ended up writing another.
The G’Kalis clan scholar had been pacing around her dorm room ever since she woke up. She’d hardly gotten any sleep last night. Sayla, of course, had slept like a rock.
She’s as thick as one too…
The gray-skinned champion sat on Jenakka’s bed, her back pressed against the wall with her long legs stretched out. Sayla watched her sister walk back and forth across her dorm room, boredom clear in her red eyes.
Boredom and not an ounce of guilt. Typical.
Jenakka huffed through her nose and hit send.
“You’ve already left several messages. You’re making yourself look desperate.” Sayla droned in a flat voice. There was another look about her now, Jenakka noted. Distaste. The clan champion continued, muttering. “More than you already have…”
Jenakka whirled around on her heels, fuming. She pointed accusingly at her clan-sister, a scowl twisting across her face.
“You’re the last person who should be giving advice!” Jenakka was near-shrieking. The other students who lived on her floor might have heard her, but Jenakka did not care. Her relationship with Adam might have been irreparably damaged because of the brainless fool sitting on her bed. The clan scholar collected herself just a bit, breathing in. “After that debacle at the arena it was a miracle you weren’t detained. The clan can’t afford to have its champion behind bars, as you well know.”
Sayla was on her feet then, but Jenakka feared her little. Tall and strong her older clan-sister was, but Jenakka knew Sayla took her clan oaths as seriously as Mystic Akari. She would never hurt anyone of the clan. Still, Jenakka glared as the taller she-orc stepped up to her.
“Don’t lecture me, sister. Don’t you dare.” Sayla growled, her red eyes hard and cold. “I took action. You’re the one who spent a year playing Lord and Lady with her darling human. And such a wonderful choice, too.”
Jenakka’s anger flared hotter, now blazing in her heart.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You promised the clan you’d find us a chieftain.” Sayla raised her voice, her words hard with anger. “Instead, you spent all this time on some pretty boy lordling. Beyond ideal? Don’t make me laugh!”
Sayla turned away then, scoffing. Jenakka glowered, her hands tightening into fists.
“He beat you didn’t he?”
“He did not beat me.” Sayla snarled as she whirled back around. Her red eyes were now sharp like her daggers. Her lips tightened into what was almost a pout. “Our fight was interrupted.”
There was a knock at the door then. Both orc women turned their eyes towards it. Sayla merely looked annoyed at the disturbance, but Jenakka deflated some, her shoulders falling slack. It was probably one of the other dorm residents coming to check because of the shouting.
The knocking came again. Jenakka sighed and went to answer it, collecting herself just enough to put on a fake smile.
No problem here, ma’am. Just two orc sisters having a shouting match over the future of their clan!
She opened the door… and found her dear Adam standing in the hall!
“Hi.” He said, wearing a small smile.
Jenakka felt a rush of emotions then. Relief that Adam bothered to come see her. Happiness at seeing her love in the flesh. Embarrassment because she didn’t know what to say. All those text messages were nothing compared to seeing him again face-to-face.
Leaping forward, she wrapped her arms around him in perhaps the tightest hug she had ever given. With her face buried into his neck, she took in his scent. He smelled of paper and wood and steel. And a hint of soap as well. He showered recently, she noted. As she pulled back, she also noticed his clothing. He had dressed nicely. A brown coat over a white shirt and fitted jeans. Adam always made some effort to look presentable. But the fact that he bothered at all today was a good sign. Jenakka’s heart fluttered.
“I’m glad you came.” She said warmly, pulling the fresh-faced human into her dorm room. She closed the door shut behind them. Then she reached out and took Adam’s hands with hers. She stared into his eyes, hoping he would see the sincerity of her words. “And again, I’m so, so sorry about the tourney.”
Jenakka then shot an expecting look towards Sayla, who was standing by her desk with her arms crossed.
The clan champion gave Jenakka’s boyfriend a once-over. Then she wrinkled her nose.
“I’m not.” Sayla answered bluntly. She gave Adam a curt nod. “You still need to prove your worth as a fighter, pup.”
“He’s only two years younger than you.” Jenakka simmered. To her irritation, her clan-sister merely shrugged.
“Still younger than me. Still a pup.”
Jenakka frowned, fighting the fire inside her that Sayla was unapologetically stoking. She wasn’t going to break into another argument in front of Adam. He had dealt with enough problems because of her.
She turned her eyes back onto her boyfriend, giving him a regretful look.
“Sorry about her, too.” She told him.
“It’s no problem.” Adam said. A moment of silence passed, with Adam’s eyes roaming around Jenakka’s dorm room. Jenakka wanted to try and imagine what he was thinking, but the prospect made her anxious. So she simply waited. Finally, he spoke again. “So… I’m here.”
Jenakka stepped closer, hesitant but hopeful. She allowed herself a tiny smile.
“Does… does that mean you have an answer for us?”
Adam nodded.
“I spent a long time thinking last night.” Her boyfriend started. Jenakka tried to parse the tone of his voice, but the words came from his lips level and even. “Thinking about you. About us. I’d be lying if I said these last few months weren’t some of the best of my life.”
Another moment of silence. Jenakka drank in the lines of Adam’s face, watching him clench and unclench his jaw. She bit her lip, waiting.
“Growing up, I was always afraid that I’d never be as strong or as handsome or as skilled as my older brothers.” Adam spoke again, his brow furrowing as a sliver of discomfort weaved into his words. “I always questioned my worth as a man. Until I met you.”
Jenakka’s heart ached for him. She moved even closer, close enough that she could enjoy his scent again. On instinct, she darted forward and kissed him softly. The taste of his lips was quite welcome after the doubt and worry that plagued her last night. And surely Adam found the affection pleasing. He did not push her away.
The clan scholar pulled back after a time, sighing.
“I never cared if you were a fourth son. I wouldn’t have cared if you were the fortieth. I love you, Adam.” Jenakka spoke those words with her entire heart and spirit. She could only pray that her human would truly listen.
“But you still kept the truth from me.” He answered in a cool tone.
Jenakka winced. She averted her eyes from his for a moment. Was it shame? Regret? Embarrassment? Or all of them at once?
“I was waiting for the right time to tell you. But no moment ever felt right.” It was the truth. But Jenakka feared - no, she knew it wasn’t enough. She hadn’t told Adam about her intentions for him. For her clan. The fault for the resulting mess belonged to her and her alone.
Jenakka knew Adam was the understanding type. But was he the forgiving type? She could only hope.
“Do you have an answer or did you come here to waste more of our time?” Sayla’s sharp voice cleaved through their intimate moment.
Jenakka whipped her head around to shoot her sister a withering glare. A venomous retort bubbled up in her throat, ready to spew. But then Adam broke into a flat chuckle.
"Wow.” He said to Sayla, deep laughs rumbling in his chest. “You are a real piece of work.”
Sayla only gave a rude gesture in response. Jenakka felt a flash of anger, but it was tempered by the fact that Adam almost certainly had no idea what it meant.
“She’s always been like that.” Jenakka murmured into her boyfriend’s neck.
Adam chuckled again. Jenakka took it as a good sign. Next, he pulled away some so that he could look her in the eyes.
“I can… understand how your situation might have been awkward. I don’t like it, but I get it. If you told me about the clan stuff from the start, I might have just blown you off as a loony.” Adam pressed his lips into a line, appearing to consider his next words. “Being your clan’s chieftain… I take it that this is a big responsibility…”
Jenakka’s heart soared. He wasn’t refusing her outright. And that was enough for her. She jumped on the opening, seizing the opportunity as her clan-mother taught her.
“You wouldn’t need to carry that whole weight by yourself.” She insisted, clutching his hands tightly in hers. Her thumbs brushed over his knuckles, gentle and loving. “G’Kalis is a small clan, but you’d still have five of us to help you understand and perform your duties.”
Adam quirked his lips, weighing her answer in his head. He gave a short nod.
“That’s… good to hear, I suppose. And the extra free time will probably help, too.”
Jenakka blinked. She held her breath.
“What do you mean?” She asked cautiously. She needed to hear him say it.
Adam gave her a faint grin. He breathed in deeply through his nose.
“I got an email this morning.” Her tall, strapping human started, his grin widening some. “From the university administration. After that whole deal with Miss Daggers last night, I was afraid I was going to face some disciplinary action.”
“They didn’t blame you for that, did they?” Jenakka winced as the chaos from the arena flashed in her head.
“No. Turns out the email wasn’t about that tourney stuff at all. I’ve been exempt.” Adam gave her an incredulous look. “From all of my classes until spring. Special clan privileges, apparently. Clan members get excused from course work if they have spiritual rites that require their attention.”
Jenakka reeled back, bewildered. Why would Adam have special clan privileges…
Oh.
Realization struck her like a mace to the back of her head. The clan scholar turned and gave Sayla an accusing look. But the eldest daughter of G’Kalis appeared as baffled as any of them.
“Don’t look at me.” Sayla said, shrugging. “I only came here to initiate my chieftain trial.”
Jenakka narrowed her eyes, looking from Sayla to Adam. She only had to think for a moment before an answer presented itself to her. The only answer that made any sense, at least.
“Matriarch Hera.” Jenakka whispered. She looked into Adam’s eyes, hoping he was following along. He nodded back to her and she took it as a good sign. “Our clan-mother. She must have registered you as our chieftain already. Either her or Akari.”
“How?” Adam didn’t seem shocked or offended, only confused. Jenakka couldn’t blame him. These last several hours or so had completely turned his life into some absurdist comedy.
“I might have sent my clan your personal information.” Jenakka winced as she said it. A sour look crossed Adam’s face. She gave her boyfriend an apologetic look. “I just thought they wanted to know more about you! I’ll fix it. We’ll fix it! Sayla and I, we’ll head back to our clan and we’ll clear all this up! I promise!”
“We’re all going.” Adam told her. Jenakka was taken aback for a moment. She felt the urge to ask him to elaborate on what that meant. But the look in his blue eyes told her everything. And deep in her heart, Jenakka G’Kalis felt jubilation. Her boyfriend… her chieftain turned his eyes to Sayla, his words hammering out like black iron.
“If I’m going to be your clan’s chieftain, then it’s time I met the rest of you.”
- - -
First Previous
- - -
You can read the next two chapters on my Patreon.
submitted by TheoRyswell to HFY [link] [comments]
Sleeping naked was a habit he had picked up from Jen. She had insisted upon it, to his great bemusement. Because why would a man wear clothes to keep warm in bed when a woman could do the job much better? Being a young man, Adam couldn’t find fault in that particular orcish custom.
But some orcish customs… Adam had learned how disruptive they could be.
Adam threw his legs over the side of the bed so that he sat upright. He stared off into space, frowning.
Disqualified.
Somewhere in his mind, in a hazy construct of the great hall back home, that word hung over his portrait on a gilded plaque. Right next to the words Disappointment and Failure.
Adam shook his head, groaning. Was it frustration? Disgust? Adam couldn’t tell. He knew the thought was absurd. His family wouldn’t disown him for losing a tourney much less getting disqualified from one - especially since getting kicked out wasn’t even his fault.
The Castermans were a proud, ancient house, this was true. But they didn’t put so much value on trophies and medals and honors the way other Stakari houses did. They would never consider tossing their youngest aside… But that didn’t stop Adam from feeling fear and doubt.
Every young man who ever lived feared being a disappointment to his family. And as the fourth son of his father’s line, Adam had the unenviable position of being measured against his older brothers. Royce, Dane, and Garen, loving and supportive as they were, weren’t simply his older brothers. They were titans, looming tall and casting their shadows over their baby brother.
His brothers had all been exceptional at the paths they chose. Military man, beast wrangler, and a bonafide wizard. All impressive and noble occupations. Of course Adam was happy for them. But his brothers had set some incredibly high standards. All through his youth, the youngest Casterman feared he would never measure up.
But then, in his teens, Adam discovered his passion for history. Stories of kings, warriors, tyrants, and heroes. Of great bloody battles and fallen cities. Of ferocious beasts and mighty slayers. Adam drank it all in like a man finding an oasis after wandering lost through the desert sands. Especially so for the history of his home, the Kingdom of Stakaria, as well as his family and his own noble blood.
The Castermans had earned their greatness, Adam proudly reminded himself. Jorr Casterman won his knighthood defending the Lord of the Bluewater several centuries back. During a skirmish against a wild raiding party, the lord had been unhorsed and at the mercy of a monstrous ogre. He would have died on that battlefield had Jorr not slain the towering beast.
Adam had no towering beast to slay. The days where men could make their names with sword and shield were long past. So the youngest Casterman chose to sharpen his mind. His battles would be fought and won with pen and ink. Not at all the kind of man a she-orc would fall for, one might have thought.
The young noble pondered on that for a moment as he stood up and stretched. He groaned, his body still quite sore from the tourney matches he had managed to win. Then he went to the dresser at the foot of his bed and dug out a pair of boxers.
As he tugged them on, his mind drifted to Jen… and her sister, Sayla.
His girlfriend’s sister had interfered during one of his matches and got him disqualified from the tourney. Attacked him with real daggers, too. It was a wonder she hadn’t been arrested - though the security staff might have simply thought she was part of some viral stunt.
The whole situation was absurd. So absurd that Adam was more bewildered than upset - though he wasn’t without anger. He had worked hard to get into the lists. And to have it all taken away because of his girlfriend’s secret plan…
Adam tightened his jaw as Jen and Sayla’s “clan chief” business came to the forefront of his mind. He still needed to talk to them about that. He might as well, right? There was nothing that was going to un-disqualify him as far as he could tell. So why not learn more about the absurdity that screwed with his life?
He inhaled deeply through his nose, then frowned. The scent of sweat stung his nostrils. He would need to shower soon. But first, he would check his phone. He hadn’t answered anything from anybody after he left Jen and Sayla at the diner last night. No doubt his voicemail and email had some build up that needed some looking over.
Adam found his cellphone right where he left it, sitting on his desk. Sure enough, he found a long list of missed calls and unread messages. All of them from Jen.
The corner of his mouth twitched some at the sight. It wasn’t quite a smile, but there was a wryness about it.
In a way, the attention felt nice. It showed that Jen cared. Adam already knew that, of course. Jen was the kind of girl who was very open - and physical - with her affections. But the dozens of messages of apology proved that Jen at least felt appropriately guilty over the whole mess. The disqualification and the secret plan to make him her clan’s chieftain.
Chieftain Adam Casterman, leader of the G’Kalis Clan. Reader of books, slayer of essays, husband to she-orcs. Adam grinned at the sheer absurdity of it.
On the one hand, becoming a clan chief would have been a rather unique way of making a name for himself. And Adam had read up on orcish clan customs. He couldn’t deny that taking multiple wives had a certain appeal.
But Adam was nothing if not a realist.
Surely being a chieftain came with a whole mountain of responsibility. Even if Adam agreed to Jen’s proposition, where would he find the time to fulfill all of the duties that came with his new role? By the Allfather, he was a college student barely out of his teen years. He already had responsibilities here on campus. And what would he even tell his parents? That his girlfriend asked him to essentially marry her and her sisters and he said yes on a whim?
Adam rubbed his temple. It was way too early for such heavy thoughts. He put down his phone and switched over to his laptop to check his email.
His inbox was mostly as expected. Some newsletter stuff, spam that hadn’t been filtered out… And one message from Trevelyan Institute Administration.
That last one gave Adam a moment of pause. He stared at it, the email sitting unread on his computer screen. Dread slowly crept into him, slithering up his back, under his skin, making his hair stand on end.
It was a disciplinary response to the nonsense at the tourney. Adam knew it. Was he being put on probation? Was he expelled?
His mouth had gone dry. Surely, his face had gone ghostly white as well.
Adam collected himself, gathering his wits and nerves.
He ran the cursor over the email and clicked on it.
- - -
“Stop calling him.”
“Quiet.” Jenakka snapped, glaring at her clan-sister. The green she-orc turned her eyes back to her phone, staring at the message of apology she had just finished writing. She’d already written several others, but there was always something that Jenakka felt like she forgot to say. So she ended up writing another.
The G’Kalis clan scholar had been pacing around her dorm room ever since she woke up. She’d hardly gotten any sleep last night. Sayla, of course, had slept like a rock.
She’s as thick as one too…
The gray-skinned champion sat on Jenakka’s bed, her back pressed against the wall with her long legs stretched out. Sayla watched her sister walk back and forth across her dorm room, boredom clear in her red eyes.
Boredom and not an ounce of guilt. Typical.
Jenakka huffed through her nose and hit send.
“You’ve already left several messages. You’re making yourself look desperate.” Sayla droned in a flat voice. There was another look about her now, Jenakka noted. Distaste. The clan champion continued, muttering. “More than you already have…”
Jenakka whirled around on her heels, fuming. She pointed accusingly at her clan-sister, a scowl twisting across her face.
“You’re the last person who should be giving advice!” Jenakka was near-shrieking. The other students who lived on her floor might have heard her, but Jenakka did not care. Her relationship with Adam might have been irreparably damaged because of the brainless fool sitting on her bed. The clan scholar collected herself just a bit, breathing in. “After that debacle at the arena it was a miracle you weren’t detained. The clan can’t afford to have its champion behind bars, as you well know.”
Sayla was on her feet then, but Jenakka feared her little. Tall and strong her older clan-sister was, but Jenakka knew Sayla took her clan oaths as seriously as Mystic Akari. She would never hurt anyone of the clan. Still, Jenakka glared as the taller she-orc stepped up to her.
“Don’t lecture me, sister. Don’t you dare.” Sayla growled, her red eyes hard and cold. “I took action. You’re the one who spent a year playing Lord and Lady with her darling human. And such a wonderful choice, too.”
Jenakka’s anger flared hotter, now blazing in her heart.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You promised the clan you’d find us a chieftain.” Sayla raised her voice, her words hard with anger. “Instead, you spent all this time on some pretty boy lordling. Beyond ideal? Don’t make me laugh!”
Sayla turned away then, scoffing. Jenakka glowered, her hands tightening into fists.
“He beat you didn’t he?”
“He did not beat me.” Sayla snarled as she whirled back around. Her red eyes were now sharp like her daggers. Her lips tightened into what was almost a pout. “Our fight was interrupted.”
There was a knock at the door then. Both orc women turned their eyes towards it. Sayla merely looked annoyed at the disturbance, but Jenakka deflated some, her shoulders falling slack. It was probably one of the other dorm residents coming to check because of the shouting.
The knocking came again. Jenakka sighed and went to answer it, collecting herself just enough to put on a fake smile.
No problem here, ma’am. Just two orc sisters having a shouting match over the future of their clan!
She opened the door… and found her dear Adam standing in the hall!
“Hi.” He said, wearing a small smile.
Jenakka felt a rush of emotions then. Relief that Adam bothered to come see her. Happiness at seeing her love in the flesh. Embarrassment because she didn’t know what to say. All those text messages were nothing compared to seeing him again face-to-face.
Leaping forward, she wrapped her arms around him in perhaps the tightest hug she had ever given. With her face buried into his neck, she took in his scent. He smelled of paper and wood and steel. And a hint of soap as well. He showered recently, she noted. As she pulled back, she also noticed his clothing. He had dressed nicely. A brown coat over a white shirt and fitted jeans. Adam always made some effort to look presentable. But the fact that he bothered at all today was a good sign. Jenakka’s heart fluttered.
“I’m glad you came.” She said warmly, pulling the fresh-faced human into her dorm room. She closed the door shut behind them. Then she reached out and took Adam’s hands with hers. She stared into his eyes, hoping he would see the sincerity of her words. “And again, I’m so, so sorry about the tourney.”
Jenakka then shot an expecting look towards Sayla, who was standing by her desk with her arms crossed.
The clan champion gave Jenakka’s boyfriend a once-over. Then she wrinkled her nose.
“I’m not.” Sayla answered bluntly. She gave Adam a curt nod. “You still need to prove your worth as a fighter, pup.”
“He’s only two years younger than you.” Jenakka simmered. To her irritation, her clan-sister merely shrugged.
“Still younger than me. Still a pup.”
Jenakka frowned, fighting the fire inside her that Sayla was unapologetically stoking. She wasn’t going to break into another argument in front of Adam. He had dealt with enough problems because of her.
She turned her eyes back onto her boyfriend, giving him a regretful look.
“Sorry about her, too.” She told him.
“It’s no problem.” Adam said. A moment of silence passed, with Adam’s eyes roaming around Jenakka’s dorm room. Jenakka wanted to try and imagine what he was thinking, but the prospect made her anxious. So she simply waited. Finally, he spoke again. “So… I’m here.”
Jenakka stepped closer, hesitant but hopeful. She allowed herself a tiny smile.
“Does… does that mean you have an answer for us?”
Adam nodded.
“I spent a long time thinking last night.” Her boyfriend started. Jenakka tried to parse the tone of his voice, but the words came from his lips level and even. “Thinking about you. About us. I’d be lying if I said these last few months weren’t some of the best of my life.”
Another moment of silence. Jenakka drank in the lines of Adam’s face, watching him clench and unclench his jaw. She bit her lip, waiting.
“Growing up, I was always afraid that I’d never be as strong or as handsome or as skilled as my older brothers.” Adam spoke again, his brow furrowing as a sliver of discomfort weaved into his words. “I always questioned my worth as a man. Until I met you.”
Jenakka’s heart ached for him. She moved even closer, close enough that she could enjoy his scent again. On instinct, she darted forward and kissed him softly. The taste of his lips was quite welcome after the doubt and worry that plagued her last night. And surely Adam found the affection pleasing. He did not push her away.
The clan scholar pulled back after a time, sighing.
“I never cared if you were a fourth son. I wouldn’t have cared if you were the fortieth. I love you, Adam.” Jenakka spoke those words with her entire heart and spirit. She could only pray that her human would truly listen.
“But you still kept the truth from me.” He answered in a cool tone.
Jenakka winced. She averted her eyes from his for a moment. Was it shame? Regret? Embarrassment? Or all of them at once?
“I was waiting for the right time to tell you. But no moment ever felt right.” It was the truth. But Jenakka feared - no, she knew it wasn’t enough. She hadn’t told Adam about her intentions for him. For her clan. The fault for the resulting mess belonged to her and her alone.
Jenakka knew Adam was the understanding type. But was he the forgiving type? She could only hope.
“Do you have an answer or did you come here to waste more of our time?” Sayla’s sharp voice cleaved through their intimate moment.
Jenakka whipped her head around to shoot her sister a withering glare. A venomous retort bubbled up in her throat, ready to spew. But then Adam broke into a flat chuckle.
"Wow.” He said to Sayla, deep laughs rumbling in his chest. “You are a real piece of work.”
Sayla only gave a rude gesture in response. Jenakka felt a flash of anger, but it was tempered by the fact that Adam almost certainly had no idea what it meant.
“She’s always been like that.” Jenakka murmured into her boyfriend’s neck.
Adam chuckled again. Jenakka took it as a good sign. Next, he pulled away some so that he could look her in the eyes.
“I can… understand how your situation might have been awkward. I don’t like it, but I get it. If you told me about the clan stuff from the start, I might have just blown you off as a loony.” Adam pressed his lips into a line, appearing to consider his next words. “Being your clan’s chieftain… I take it that this is a big responsibility…”
Jenakka’s heart soared. He wasn’t refusing her outright. And that was enough for her. She jumped on the opening, seizing the opportunity as her clan-mother taught her.
“You wouldn’t need to carry that whole weight by yourself.” She insisted, clutching his hands tightly in hers. Her thumbs brushed over his knuckles, gentle and loving. “G’Kalis is a small clan, but you’d still have five of us to help you understand and perform your duties.”
Adam quirked his lips, weighing her answer in his head. He gave a short nod.
“That’s… good to hear, I suppose. And the extra free time will probably help, too.”
Jenakka blinked. She held her breath.
“What do you mean?” She asked cautiously. She needed to hear him say it.
Adam gave her a faint grin. He breathed in deeply through his nose.
“I got an email this morning.” Her tall, strapping human started, his grin widening some. “From the university administration. After that whole deal with Miss Daggers last night, I was afraid I was going to face some disciplinary action.”
“They didn’t blame you for that, did they?” Jenakka winced as the chaos from the arena flashed in her head.
“No. Turns out the email wasn’t about that tourney stuff at all. I’ve been exempt.” Adam gave her an incredulous look. “From all of my classes until spring. Special clan privileges, apparently. Clan members get excused from course work if they have spiritual rites that require their attention.”
Jenakka reeled back, bewildered. Why would Adam have special clan privileges…
Oh.
Realization struck her like a mace to the back of her head. The clan scholar turned and gave Sayla an accusing look. But the eldest daughter of G’Kalis appeared as baffled as any of them.
“Don’t look at me.” Sayla said, shrugging. “I only came here to initiate my chieftain trial.”
Jenakka narrowed her eyes, looking from Sayla to Adam. She only had to think for a moment before an answer presented itself to her. The only answer that made any sense, at least.
“Matriarch Hera.” Jenakka whispered. She looked into Adam’s eyes, hoping he was following along. He nodded back to her and she took it as a good sign. “Our clan-mother. She must have registered you as our chieftain already. Either her or Akari.”
“How?” Adam didn’t seem shocked or offended, only confused. Jenakka couldn’t blame him. These last several hours or so had completely turned his life into some absurdist comedy.
“I might have sent my clan your personal information.” Jenakka winced as she said it. A sour look crossed Adam’s face. She gave her boyfriend an apologetic look. “I just thought they wanted to know more about you! I’ll fix it. We’ll fix it! Sayla and I, we’ll head back to our clan and we’ll clear all this up! I promise!”
“We’re all going.” Adam told her. Jenakka was taken aback for a moment. She felt the urge to ask him to elaborate on what that meant. But the look in his blue eyes told her everything. And deep in her heart, Jenakka G’Kalis felt jubilation. Her boyfriend… her chieftain turned his eyes to Sayla, his words hammering out like black iron.
“If I’m going to be your clan’s chieftain, then it’s time I met the rest of you.”
- - -
First Previous
- - -
You can read the next two chapters on my Patreon.
2023.05.31 06:14 Grocery-Super Using a heat siphon pump to move new hot water into a storage tank - How to make endless hot water without electricity
 | We will explore an innovative method of generating hot water using a thermal siphoning process. Whether you find yourself in a grid-down situation or simply want to tap into an alternative heat source, this do-it-yourself project can provide you with a steady supply of hot water without relying on electricity or expensive equipment. Join us as we delve into the construction and operation of this efficient hot water heater. submitted by Grocery-Super to Water_Liberty [link] [comments] Endless hot water without electricity! To embark on this project, you will need a few materials, including stovepipe, copper tubing, a coil (which can be made with ice or sand), and a water heater that can be salvaged or acquired inexpensively. The construction process begins by creating a coil using the copper tubing, which will serve as the primary heat exchanger for the thermal siphoning system. Secure the coil inside a stovepipe by drilling two holes on one side and adapting it down to a four-inch diameter. Connect the cold water source to the bottom of the coil, allowing the water to rise through the coil as it heats up. Finally, place the stovepipe with the coil near a heat source, such as a fire. Video How to make endless hot water without electricity: Using a heat siphon pump to move new hot water into a storage tank Once the thermal siphoning system is set up and a fire is ignited inside the stove, the water inside the coil begins to rise, utilizing the thermal siphoning process. The hot water generated in the coil is then dumped into the top of the water heater, effectively heating its contents. It is important to monitor the temperature of the coil, which can reach up to 540 degrees Fahrenheit (282 degrees Celsius). Adjusting the airflow by adding or removing stack components can optimize heat exchange. As the water thermo siphons, it will gurgle and steam, indicating the generation of hot water without the need for electricity or a pump. To enhance the system's output, you can consider modifications such as using copper tubing with ice to achieve a more optimal shape for heat transfer. Increasing the diameter of the copper tubing from three-eighths to half an inch can also enhance the efficiency of the system, resulting in a greater amount of hot water produced. However, it is crucial to exercise caution when dealing with the high temperatures and pressure generated by the system. Ensure that the water heater has appropriate safety features, such as a pressure relief valve (Popoff), to prevent accidents. Take care when handling the hot water and steam to avoid burns or injuries. Related: Create Safe Drinking Water Harnessing heat through a thermal siphoning process provides a practical and inexpensive solution for generating hot water. By repurposing simple materials and utilizing the natural flow of heated water, you can have a reliable on-demand hot water system, even in challenging situations where electricity may not be available. Whether you are looking to conserve energy, prepare for emergencies, or explore sustainable alternatives, this DIY hot water heater offers an accessible and effective solution. Embrace the power of heat and water, and unlock the potential for a self-sufficient lifestyle. Scientists Have Created a Device That Sucks Water Out of Thin Air, Even in the Desert: |
2023.05.31 05:56 SpacemaniaXu TIFU by not paying attention
Tonight I write this in bed while laugh-crying at my predicament and waiting for my meds to kick in. I hope I can complete this before the stronger stuff kicks in, so please forgive me ify spelling or grammar degrades as this goes on.
Now let me paint a background for you. I'm a Pharmacy Technician in my late 30s who has a decade of experience. I have spent the last half of that time trapped in my job without a meaningful vacation with my wife mostly due to the big C as a primary reason for the drought. In that time, I have puttered away poring pills and building medication packs for the community. My job is making sure every pill for every patient is dosed correctly and taken at the right time. After all, the difference between medicine and poison is: dosage.
This goes for myself as well, I would put my own compliance package as a medium difficulty due to the wide variety I take. Migraines, Chronic Kidney Disease, and Mental Health are just a few conditions to name so a missed or double dose has the potential to cause quite a problem with compounding interest if it isn't corrected immediately. Having made this mistake to myself in my youth, I have very uncomfortable memories to remind me why compliance packaging done by our dispensary is built and scrutinized so thoroughly.
With the seriousness of my job in one hand, and the seriousness of my conditions in the other hand, surely I would take my own compliance packaging the most serious of all. Right?
...Right?
Well, it would seem that even a Pharmacy Tech has that annoying flaw that all professionals seems to have. A high standard for quality control for everyone... But themselves... Because Today, I was an extra special case of fucked up!
When I built my second pack for the trip, I made a mistake. I didn't put in my propranolol in at all. This is a cornerstone treatment to PREVENT MIGRAINES. Considering it's the only teal colored tablet in my packt, let alone blue or green in shading, a rational person would think that such a striking omission would be noticed.
Again, I am my own special case of dumbass. I do as many others do, just blindly take pills without much thought. So clearly because I'm writing this, I found out the hard way on the first day. Right?
...Right...?
Again, Technician Dumbass over here didn't pay attention. I decided to attribute my migraine from traveling up and down rough roads and roaming in and out of storms in top of eating foods I'm not used to, all classic migraine triggers that can break through my prevention routine. It's a sad fact but very few gets 100% prevention efficacy so this theroy is very plausible. So by day two or three I would be suspicious of an unresolved migraine or SEE THE MISSING PILL. RIght?
RIGHT???
NOPE! Pharm McDumbass me missed it, AGAIN. How could this happen? My heart should be doing the headless chicken dance from withdrawal by now. Well, yes it absolutely did! In what possible reality could I not notice such a profound symptom?
Because to fight the migrane, I take ever increasing amounts of caffeine! So my McBrain determined that to be why it was weird. Again, perfectly reasonable assumption! Surely however with both my head and heart getting progressively worse to the point where I am having anxiety, heart palpitations, a resting heart rate of 90-110, a throbbing arterial pulse from neck to temple, and now hallucinations I would by now at least seek professional medical help. RIGHT??
RIGHT?????
NOPE! Of course not! This is isn't only a TIFU story, it's a TWIFU story! This Week I Fucked Up! I didn't see anyone because as I said, I'm traveling! I'm in bumfuck nowhere and the nearest ER is a six hour drive away! Yet with my heart wanting to exit my chest and bitch-slap me back to reality, one would assume that I'd at least make sure I didn't miss any doses, to look in my box and notice a very easy to see error. Right?
Ri- OF COURSE NOT!
I had an asthma attack on day four so I took a hit off my rescue inhaler on top of 400mg if caffeine in 4 hours. So yeah, my lizard brain saw my heart flipping around like a fish in desert sand as perfectly reasonable!
By day FIVE I FINALLY DECIDED TO LOOK AT MY PILLS!
DAY
FIVE
I looked at my pills in hand, then at the remaining slots, then back at my hand,and back at the slots. Nope! No Propranolol!
Samuel L Jackson, eat your heart out because the F-Bomb parade I issued in that moment of pain-indiced hysteria was absolutely legendary. It was there, in that moment, did I realize that 5 days of my vacation was crippled by my failure to be a professional to myself, and pay attention.
TLDR: I managed to count to potato with my pills for almost a week and make a third of my vacation a pain-indiced hallucination to forget.
submitted by SpacemaniaXu to tifu [link] [comments]
Now let me paint a background for you. I'm a Pharmacy Technician in my late 30s who has a decade of experience. I have spent the last half of that time trapped in my job without a meaningful vacation with my wife mostly due to the big C as a primary reason for the drought. In that time, I have puttered away poring pills and building medication packs for the community. My job is making sure every pill for every patient is dosed correctly and taken at the right time. After all, the difference between medicine and poison is: dosage.
This goes for myself as well, I would put my own compliance package as a medium difficulty due to the wide variety I take. Migraines, Chronic Kidney Disease, and Mental Health are just a few conditions to name so a missed or double dose has the potential to cause quite a problem with compounding interest if it isn't corrected immediately. Having made this mistake to myself in my youth, I have very uncomfortable memories to remind me why compliance packaging done by our dispensary is built and scrutinized so thoroughly.
With the seriousness of my job in one hand, and the seriousness of my conditions in the other hand, surely I would take my own compliance packaging the most serious of all. Right?
...Right?
Well, it would seem that even a Pharmacy Tech has that annoying flaw that all professionals seems to have. A high standard for quality control for everyone... But themselves... Because Today, I was an extra special case of fucked up!
When I built my second pack for the trip, I made a mistake. I didn't put in my propranolol in at all. This is a cornerstone treatment to PREVENT MIGRAINES. Considering it's the only teal colored tablet in my packt, let alone blue or green in shading, a rational person would think that such a striking omission would be noticed.
Again, I am my own special case of dumbass. I do as many others do, just blindly take pills without much thought. So clearly because I'm writing this, I found out the hard way on the first day. Right?
...Right...?
Again, Technician Dumbass over here didn't pay attention. I decided to attribute my migraine from traveling up and down rough roads and roaming in and out of storms in top of eating foods I'm not used to, all classic migraine triggers that can break through my prevention routine. It's a sad fact but very few gets 100% prevention efficacy so this theroy is very plausible. So by day two or three I would be suspicious of an unresolved migraine or SEE THE MISSING PILL. RIght?
RIGHT???
NOPE! Pharm McDumbass me missed it, AGAIN. How could this happen? My heart should be doing the headless chicken dance from withdrawal by now. Well, yes it absolutely did! In what possible reality could I not notice such a profound symptom?
Because to fight the migrane, I take ever increasing amounts of caffeine! So my McBrain determined that to be why it was weird. Again, perfectly reasonable assumption! Surely however with both my head and heart getting progressively worse to the point where I am having anxiety, heart palpitations, a resting heart rate of 90-110, a throbbing arterial pulse from neck to temple, and now hallucinations I would by now at least seek professional medical help. RIGHT??
RIGHT?????
NOPE! Of course not! This is isn't only a TIFU story, it's a TWIFU story! This Week I Fucked Up! I didn't see anyone because as I said, I'm traveling! I'm in bumfuck nowhere and the nearest ER is a six hour drive away! Yet with my heart wanting to exit my chest and bitch-slap me back to reality, one would assume that I'd at least make sure I didn't miss any doses, to look in my box and notice a very easy to see error. Right?
Ri- OF COURSE NOT!
I had an asthma attack on day four so I took a hit off my rescue inhaler on top of 400mg if caffeine in 4 hours. So yeah, my lizard brain saw my heart flipping around like a fish in desert sand as perfectly reasonable!
By day FIVE I FINALLY DECIDED TO LOOK AT MY PILLS!
DAY
FIVE
I looked at my pills in hand, then at the remaining slots, then back at my hand,and back at the slots. Nope! No Propranolol!
Samuel L Jackson, eat your heart out because the F-Bomb parade I issued in that moment of pain-indiced hysteria was absolutely legendary. It was there, in that moment, did I realize that 5 days of my vacation was crippled by my failure to be a professional to myself, and pay attention.
TLDR: I managed to count to potato with my pills for almost a week and make a third of my vacation a pain-indiced hallucination to forget.
2023.05.31 04:43 Arcing_Silver Mids
 | Probably the best Midsommar-themed tour poster ever submitted by Arcing_Silver to A24 [link] [comments] |
2023.05.30 20:37 BjornAfMunso Betterment Camp - Part 4
So, here's the fourth chapter. Sorry for releasing it a bit late, I've had some pretty tough finals. The next chapter might be delayed as well but after that I should be able to get back to my normal schedule of once a week or possibly better. And thanks for the support on my last chapter, your upvotes and comments mean the world to me!
Big thanks to u/Rand0mness4 for proofreading my chapter and to u/SpacePaladin15 for creating NoP and its amazing literary universe.
CW: Descriptions of desecrated bodies (just your ordinary sapient cattle farm)
[first] [previous] [next (hopefully out in about a week)]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Memory transcription subject: Oscar Williams, UN Marine
Date [standard human time]: December 3, 2136
With the hum of the cars’ engines tapering off, everything turned quiet, far too quiet. The only sound bar my own breathing was the wind making its way through cracks in the building’s metal shell. Gunfire should’ve been raining down on us by now. The building in front of was at least the size of a football field and going by the faint, but disgusting, smell of the poor victims, the place was packed. There was no way only the about two dozen scalies we eliminated worked here.
Where was the fight? Were all of them hiding inside? We couldn’t have gotten all of them before, right? Well, there’s only one way to find out where the fuckers were hiding.
Richards lined us up next to the large pair of doors separating us from the farm and a soldier from another squad grabbed a handheld battering ram. I doubted the door would hold after just a few hits with a rock but speed was of the essence. The faster we cleared out the arxur infestation, the more people would survive. I wasn’t about to let anyone else die in that hell. My grip around my rifle tightened and time almost seemed to slow down when the first hit was winded up.
We were quietly signaled to step back from the door and with just one hit with the battering ram the lock was separated from the rest of the door. The force from the hit slammed the door open and we promptly stormed in through the opening. But no gunfire met us. The inside was just as deserted as the outside had been. We had entered what seemed to be some kind of warehouse, large crates strewn throughout the floor and deep freezers lining the walls. At that moment I desperately wished I was a mouth breather. The stench, that had previously been contained by the sheet metal walls, was now flooding into my nostrils. Manure, unwashed bodies, and rotten meat. I tried my best to focus on anything but the freezers but every single wall was covered with them. Wherever my eyes darted, more proof of the murders appeared. A dried splotch of blood, some tufts of fur, a bloody machete.
They took pride in it. Pride in this… They’re going to pay.
We crept through the wide open space, making our way from cover to cover. The dirt floor muffled any sound our footsteps would’ve made and we were only exposed for brief moments. If any arxur caught us, we wouldn’t be caught like a deer in headlights. After one of our many rushes between covers, I ended up next to one of the many freezers.
Oh god. My poor nostrils.
The smell had grown even stronger and when I glanced at the freezer I quickly realized why. It seemed to have lost power, going by the fact that it wasn't cold, and that the lid was ajar. The remains of a person, a person who had friends and family, were rotting away inside. My knuckles were turning white from how hard I gripped my rifle and my teeth felt like they were going to crack due to my jaw clenching so hard. I was going to repay them in kind. Those motherfuckers, wherever they were.
When I stood up, en route to the next cover, my eyes caught a glimpse of the inside of the freezer. Pieces of mangled body parts filled the bottom of the box and a swarm of insects swarmed around something in the middle and-
Retch
Parts of yesterday’s meal filled my mouth when I realized what was hiding under the swarm. A severed venlil head with empty eye sockets stared back at me. Blood had dripped down from the sockets, painting long streaks of orange in the white fur. The head’s mouth was locked in an expression of terror and pain and the neck looked like it had been ripped off from the venlil’s body. Part of the spine hung limp beneath the neck and, knowing arxur, I doubted the venlil had been dead during the ripping.
As soon as I found out where they were- Where the hell were the arxur?
Realization suddenly flashed through my mind. Of course those cowards had fled. Fled their just punishment that I had sworn to deliver. My grip around my rifle tightened when I thought about the fuckers running this farm. They’d almost certainly escape justice, and there was in all likelihood nothing I could do about it. If only I could convince Olivia to hunt them down like they deserved.
My train of thought was brought to an abrupt end when we reached the other side of the warehouse. The door on this wall was far smaller, clearly just used by personnel. And it didn’t even have a lock. Maybe they decided to take cover behind this smaller choke point. I immediately squashed the idea in my mind as soon as I thought of it. They weren’t disciplined enough to not rush us with nothing but their natural weaponry.
My theory was quickly being proven true when we rushed into the next room. There wasn’t a single arxur in sight, but the sheer amount of victims more than made up for their absence. We had emerged on some kind of raised walkways, overlooking cramped pits filled with aliens sleeping in the most abhorrent conditions. The air reeked of unwashed bodies, feces, and many other disgusting smells I didn’t even recognize. The victims in the pits looked even worse for wear than the rest of this dilapidated building. Several of the harchen in the closest pit were covered in deep gashes and some even missed entire body parts.
Torture, there was no other explanation. Those fucking crocs.
As I looked around at the other pens, it was quickly made evident that the treatment of the harchen was more of a rule than an exception. Over in another pit, several krakotl had been completely plucked, and what I assumed to be words had been branded onto their backs. Despite my deep hatred for most of their governments, I couldn’t find it in myself to be mad at anyone here. They’d more than likely been captured long before they even knew earth was still inhabitable and even if they weren’t, they still didn’t deserve this torture.
This was so much worse than I thought. Of course it would be horrible but this, how-
Nausea quickly filled my thoughts and before I could even bend over, today's lunch spilled out of my mouth, and I wasn’t alone. At least a third of my fellow soldiers had the same reaction as me.
Good to know I’m not the only empathetic person here. Maybe they’ll agree that the arxur deserve to be treated like their prey after this. Oh, what I would do if I caught any of them.
“HELP!”
The krakotl’s hoarse scream sent a shiver down my spine. It sounded like they hadn’t used their voice for years. I hastily pulled up my bandana and checked that my visor blocked my entire face. I didn’t dare think about what would happen if they realized we were predators.
“P- P- Please help us…”
The screaming had quickly woken up the rest of the aliens who were looking at us with a mix of bewilderment, fear and hope. My eyes darted around the pens while my mind prayed that they wouldn’t land on anyone that recognized our ‘arboreal’ eyes. After what felt like the longest five seconds of my life, I finally allowed myself to breathe a sigh of relief. If no one had fainted yet, they probably didn’t know we were human.
“We’ve come to rescue you, you’re going to get out of here. Just stay calm.”
Richards immediately took command of the situation, preventing widespread panic from the aliens.
“T- T- Thank you… Is the f- f- federation winning?”
The brave krakotl who asked us for help clearly thought we were from the federation and I silently thanked god everyone else seemed to believe the same thing. If they didn’t there would be pandemonium. Those poor souls must’ve seen arxur bloodshed every single day. I could barely imagine how terrified they would be if our identity was revealed. In their eyes we would be nothing but another species of predators and this was the worst possible place to try convincing them we weren’t.
“We’re just going to make sure there are no arxur left in the building, then we’re getting you out of there. We’ll be back before you know it.”
Avoiding the question. I really hoped Richards didn’t tip off the aliens about us there. At least she didn’t deny that we were from the feds. As long as we got out of there as quickly as possible, everything would be fine.
“I- I- saw them leaving. They were a- a- angry, and before they l- l- left they- they…”
The krakotl lifted their wing and shakily pointed towards a dark corner of the room as their voice faltered. Some kind of poles with clumps in the middle filled the corner but any more detail was masked under the veil of darkness. Carefully avoiding looking at the flickering lamps filling the building with light, I turned on my night vision goggles and as soon as my brain registered what it was seeing, I wished that I had been born blind. The poles were wooden stakes and the clumps were the mutilated corpses of a dozen aliens. Deep gashes stretched across their abdomen and their intestines were pouring out of the holes. Not even their heads were spared. They were nigh unrecognizable from blunt force trauma and one of the victims still had the hammer buried in their face. Disgust and rage flared up within me, almost stronger than I’d ever felt before. I wanted to vomit and chop arxur into small pieces at the same time.
Why do they fucking exist? Why the fuck do I have to fucking see this. How can someone… do something like this? And why did we let them escape? Wait, the faster I clear this building, the faster we can hunt them down.
“You’re safe now, we’re getting you off this planet. Squad, we’re make sure there are no arxur left on the premises.”
Sergeant Richards’ command immediately pushed me to act. While about half our our force moved to clear out the rest of the building, my squad rushed for the back door at the other end of the cattle pens. We quickly made our way outside into a large yard, the dirt ground stretching several dozen meters from the building before slowly morphing into a field. In the distance, several large piles of timber were piled high next to a large, deforested area. The only feasible place for the arxur to hide on this side of the compound was the shack that stood at the edge of the yard. In contrast to the concentration camp, this building actually looked relatively structurally sound. Thick concrete walls, a door made of something other than sheet metal, and a roof with only a few visible holes. That was incredibly impressive for an arxur.
Just gotta check this shack, then we can start chasing the fuckers.
Following Richards’ directions, we quickly began making our way towards the building. Reminding myself there was no time to spare, I sprinted ahead of the others and squeezed through the slightly ajar door. A loud slam emanated from behind me as the door shut behind me and I emerged into something that almost looked like living quarters. Several bedrolls were laid out on the ground, piles of equipment were scattered across the floor, and a large scaly repti-
SHIT SHIT SHIT!
They hadn’t left. Those fuckers just laid in ambush, waiting for me to let my guard down. Its hideous body sat on one of the bedrolls, radiating bloodlust. I could feel its eyes bore deep into my soul, sending an involuntary shudder down my spine. Every single part of it was tailor made to kill, and nothing else. It could easily rip off my limbs with its massive claws, and then chop them into tiny pieces with its razor sharp teeth if I was careless.
Can’t be careless then. That fucker isn’t going to walk out of here alive. If I’m going down, it’s going down with me.
I instinctively threw myself to the ground, raising my rifle to take out my target. My rifle was aimed directly at the unarmed creature’s head, through the chain-link fence sectioning off the arxur from me. Just before I pulled the trigger, my brain connected the contradictory information, stopping me from firing from sheer bewilderment.
Why the fuck did that thing not have a weapon? And why were they in some kind of improvised prison?
“Hey! Oscar, the door’s locked. What’s your status?”
David’s voice and a loud banging on the door I just passed through snapped me back to reality. I was locked away from my squad in a room full of arxur. The same species that fucking impailed a dozen people out there. And here they were, right in front of me, behind a chain-link fence. Red flashed before my eyes as I realized what was happening.
They were trying to fool us. And those morons thought I wouldn't notice. They put up that barbed wire, trying to exploit our empathy. We’d try to imprison them, and then they’d strike. And they would have succeeded, had I not been alone.
I slowly stood back up, and shuffled backwards until I stood flush against some kind of railing. The multiple arxur that were hiding behind the chain-link looked at me with unreadable expressions but I could noticeably see their eyes widen as I raised my rifle.
Finally realizing the jig is up? They were going to pay for for the people they fucking impailed, for the venlil whose head they fucking ripped of, and for the fucking cradle.
All I had to do was tell the white lie that they attacked me and open fire. Then my squad wouldn’t be murdered and justice would finally be served. The arxur remained quiet as mice as I prepared to enact justice, probably in shock from their stupid ploy being seen through. I was eternally thankful that they were so stupid. The anger that had filled my entire system slowly melted away, being replaced by satisfaction at their imminent demise. Right as I was about to press down on the trigger one of the arxur began speaking but as I looked for the culprit I saw that all their mouths were shut. The voice was high pitched, almost childlike, and it echoed from… below.
What the- Wait, why's there a hole behind the railing?
“Hi, what are you? You look really cool!”
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Is Oscar being a bit delusional? Should he analyze the situation a bit more objectively? Possibly, but where's the fun in having completely sane characters.
Anyways, the two protagonists are about to meet. Will said meeting remain entirely civil or will Oscar "accidentally" drop a grenade into the pit? We'll find out next time.
submitted by BjornAfMunso to NatureofPredators [link] [comments]
Big thanks to u/Rand0mness4 for proofreading my chapter and to u/SpacePaladin15 for creating NoP and its amazing literary universe.
CW: Descriptions of desecrated bodies (just your ordinary sapient cattle farm)
[first] [previous] [next (hopefully out in about a week)]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Memory transcription subject: Oscar Williams, UN Marine
Date [standard human time]: December 3, 2136
With the hum of the cars’ engines tapering off, everything turned quiet, far too quiet. The only sound bar my own breathing was the wind making its way through cracks in the building’s metal shell. Gunfire should’ve been raining down on us by now. The building in front of was at least the size of a football field and going by the faint, but disgusting, smell of the poor victims, the place was packed. There was no way only the about two dozen scalies we eliminated worked here.
Where was the fight? Were all of them hiding inside? We couldn’t have gotten all of them before, right? Well, there’s only one way to find out where the fuckers were hiding.
Richards lined us up next to the large pair of doors separating us from the farm and a soldier from another squad grabbed a handheld battering ram. I doubted the door would hold after just a few hits with a rock but speed was of the essence. The faster we cleared out the arxur infestation, the more people would survive. I wasn’t about to let anyone else die in that hell. My grip around my rifle tightened and time almost seemed to slow down when the first hit was winded up.
We were quietly signaled to step back from the door and with just one hit with the battering ram the lock was separated from the rest of the door. The force from the hit slammed the door open and we promptly stormed in through the opening. But no gunfire met us. The inside was just as deserted as the outside had been. We had entered what seemed to be some kind of warehouse, large crates strewn throughout the floor and deep freezers lining the walls. At that moment I desperately wished I was a mouth breather. The stench, that had previously been contained by the sheet metal walls, was now flooding into my nostrils. Manure, unwashed bodies, and rotten meat. I tried my best to focus on anything but the freezers but every single wall was covered with them. Wherever my eyes darted, more proof of the murders appeared. A dried splotch of blood, some tufts of fur, a bloody machete.
They took pride in it. Pride in this… They’re going to pay.
We crept through the wide open space, making our way from cover to cover. The dirt floor muffled any sound our footsteps would’ve made and we were only exposed for brief moments. If any arxur caught us, we wouldn’t be caught like a deer in headlights. After one of our many rushes between covers, I ended up next to one of the many freezers.
Oh god. My poor nostrils.
The smell had grown even stronger and when I glanced at the freezer I quickly realized why. It seemed to have lost power, going by the fact that it wasn't cold, and that the lid was ajar. The remains of a person, a person who had friends and family, were rotting away inside. My knuckles were turning white from how hard I gripped my rifle and my teeth felt like they were going to crack due to my jaw clenching so hard. I was going to repay them in kind. Those motherfuckers, wherever they were.
When I stood up, en route to the next cover, my eyes caught a glimpse of the inside of the freezer. Pieces of mangled body parts filled the bottom of the box and a swarm of insects swarmed around something in the middle and-
Retch
Parts of yesterday’s meal filled my mouth when I realized what was hiding under the swarm. A severed venlil head with empty eye sockets stared back at me. Blood had dripped down from the sockets, painting long streaks of orange in the white fur. The head’s mouth was locked in an expression of terror and pain and the neck looked like it had been ripped off from the venlil’s body. Part of the spine hung limp beneath the neck and, knowing arxur, I doubted the venlil had been dead during the ripping.
As soon as I found out where they were- Where the hell were the arxur?
Realization suddenly flashed through my mind. Of course those cowards had fled. Fled their just punishment that I had sworn to deliver. My grip around my rifle tightened when I thought about the fuckers running this farm. They’d almost certainly escape justice, and there was in all likelihood nothing I could do about it. If only I could convince Olivia to hunt them down like they deserved.
My train of thought was brought to an abrupt end when we reached the other side of the warehouse. The door on this wall was far smaller, clearly just used by personnel. And it didn’t even have a lock. Maybe they decided to take cover behind this smaller choke point. I immediately squashed the idea in my mind as soon as I thought of it. They weren’t disciplined enough to not rush us with nothing but their natural weaponry.
My theory was quickly being proven true when we rushed into the next room. There wasn’t a single arxur in sight, but the sheer amount of victims more than made up for their absence. We had emerged on some kind of raised walkways, overlooking cramped pits filled with aliens sleeping in the most abhorrent conditions. The air reeked of unwashed bodies, feces, and many other disgusting smells I didn’t even recognize. The victims in the pits looked even worse for wear than the rest of this dilapidated building. Several of the harchen in the closest pit were covered in deep gashes and some even missed entire body parts.
Torture, there was no other explanation. Those fucking crocs.
As I looked around at the other pens, it was quickly made evident that the treatment of the harchen was more of a rule than an exception. Over in another pit, several krakotl had been completely plucked, and what I assumed to be words had been branded onto their backs. Despite my deep hatred for most of their governments, I couldn’t find it in myself to be mad at anyone here. They’d more than likely been captured long before they even knew earth was still inhabitable and even if they weren’t, they still didn’t deserve this torture.
This was so much worse than I thought. Of course it would be horrible but this, how-
Nausea quickly filled my thoughts and before I could even bend over, today's lunch spilled out of my mouth, and I wasn’t alone. At least a third of my fellow soldiers had the same reaction as me.
Good to know I’m not the only empathetic person here. Maybe they’ll agree that the arxur deserve to be treated like their prey after this. Oh, what I would do if I caught any of them.
“HELP!”
The krakotl’s hoarse scream sent a shiver down my spine. It sounded like they hadn’t used their voice for years. I hastily pulled up my bandana and checked that my visor blocked my entire face. I didn’t dare think about what would happen if they realized we were predators.
“P- P- Please help us…”
The screaming had quickly woken up the rest of the aliens who were looking at us with a mix of bewilderment, fear and hope. My eyes darted around the pens while my mind prayed that they wouldn’t land on anyone that recognized our ‘arboreal’ eyes. After what felt like the longest five seconds of my life, I finally allowed myself to breathe a sigh of relief. If no one had fainted yet, they probably didn’t know we were human.
“We’ve come to rescue you, you’re going to get out of here. Just stay calm.”
Richards immediately took command of the situation, preventing widespread panic from the aliens.
“T- T- Thank you… Is the f- f- federation winning?”
The brave krakotl who asked us for help clearly thought we were from the federation and I silently thanked god everyone else seemed to believe the same thing. If they didn’t there would be pandemonium. Those poor souls must’ve seen arxur bloodshed every single day. I could barely imagine how terrified they would be if our identity was revealed. In their eyes we would be nothing but another species of predators and this was the worst possible place to try convincing them we weren’t.
“We’re just going to make sure there are no arxur left in the building, then we’re getting you out of there. We’ll be back before you know it.”
Avoiding the question. I really hoped Richards didn’t tip off the aliens about us there. At least she didn’t deny that we were from the feds. As long as we got out of there as quickly as possible, everything would be fine.
“I- I- saw them leaving. They were a- a- angry, and before they l- l- left they- they…”
The krakotl lifted their wing and shakily pointed towards a dark corner of the room as their voice faltered. Some kind of poles with clumps in the middle filled the corner but any more detail was masked under the veil of darkness. Carefully avoiding looking at the flickering lamps filling the building with light, I turned on my night vision goggles and as soon as my brain registered what it was seeing, I wished that I had been born blind. The poles were wooden stakes and the clumps were the mutilated corpses of a dozen aliens. Deep gashes stretched across their abdomen and their intestines were pouring out of the holes. Not even their heads were spared. They were nigh unrecognizable from blunt force trauma and one of the victims still had the hammer buried in their face. Disgust and rage flared up within me, almost stronger than I’d ever felt before. I wanted to vomit and chop arxur into small pieces at the same time.
Why do they fucking exist? Why the fuck do I have to fucking see this. How can someone… do something like this? And why did we let them escape? Wait, the faster I clear this building, the faster we can hunt them down.
“You’re safe now, we’re getting you off this planet. Squad, we’re make sure there are no arxur left on the premises.”
Sergeant Richards’ command immediately pushed me to act. While about half our our force moved to clear out the rest of the building, my squad rushed for the back door at the other end of the cattle pens. We quickly made our way outside into a large yard, the dirt ground stretching several dozen meters from the building before slowly morphing into a field. In the distance, several large piles of timber were piled high next to a large, deforested area. The only feasible place for the arxur to hide on this side of the compound was the shack that stood at the edge of the yard. In contrast to the concentration camp, this building actually looked relatively structurally sound. Thick concrete walls, a door made of something other than sheet metal, and a roof with only a few visible holes. That was incredibly impressive for an arxur.
Just gotta check this shack, then we can start chasing the fuckers.
Following Richards’ directions, we quickly began making our way towards the building. Reminding myself there was no time to spare, I sprinted ahead of the others and squeezed through the slightly ajar door. A loud slam emanated from behind me as the door shut behind me and I emerged into something that almost looked like living quarters. Several bedrolls were laid out on the ground, piles of equipment were scattered across the floor, and a large scaly repti-
SHIT SHIT SHIT!
They hadn’t left. Those fuckers just laid in ambush, waiting for me to let my guard down. Its hideous body sat on one of the bedrolls, radiating bloodlust. I could feel its eyes bore deep into my soul, sending an involuntary shudder down my spine. Every single part of it was tailor made to kill, and nothing else. It could easily rip off my limbs with its massive claws, and then chop them into tiny pieces with its razor sharp teeth if I was careless.
Can’t be careless then. That fucker isn’t going to walk out of here alive. If I’m going down, it’s going down with me.
I instinctively threw myself to the ground, raising my rifle to take out my target. My rifle was aimed directly at the unarmed creature’s head, through the chain-link fence sectioning off the arxur from me. Just before I pulled the trigger, my brain connected the contradictory information, stopping me from firing from sheer bewilderment.
Why the fuck did that thing not have a weapon? And why were they in some kind of improvised prison?
“Hey! Oscar, the door’s locked. What’s your status?”
David’s voice and a loud banging on the door I just passed through snapped me back to reality. I was locked away from my squad in a room full of arxur. The same species that fucking impailed a dozen people out there. And here they were, right in front of me, behind a chain-link fence. Red flashed before my eyes as I realized what was happening.
They were trying to fool us. And those morons thought I wouldn't notice. They put up that barbed wire, trying to exploit our empathy. We’d try to imprison them, and then they’d strike. And they would have succeeded, had I not been alone.
I slowly stood back up, and shuffled backwards until I stood flush against some kind of railing. The multiple arxur that were hiding behind the chain-link looked at me with unreadable expressions but I could noticeably see their eyes widen as I raised my rifle.
Finally realizing the jig is up? They were going to pay for for the people they fucking impailed, for the venlil whose head they fucking ripped of, and for the fucking cradle.
All I had to do was tell the white lie that they attacked me and open fire. Then my squad wouldn’t be murdered and justice would finally be served. The arxur remained quiet as mice as I prepared to enact justice, probably in shock from their stupid ploy being seen through. I was eternally thankful that they were so stupid. The anger that had filled my entire system slowly melted away, being replaced by satisfaction at their imminent demise. Right as I was about to press down on the trigger one of the arxur began speaking but as I looked for the culprit I saw that all their mouths were shut. The voice was high pitched, almost childlike, and it echoed from… below.
What the- Wait, why's there a hole behind the railing?
“Hi, what are you? You look really cool!”
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Is Oscar being a bit delusional? Should he analyze the situation a bit more objectively? Possibly, but where's the fun in having completely sane characters.
Anyways, the two protagonists are about to meet. Will said meeting remain entirely civil or will Oscar "accidentally" drop a grenade into the pit? We'll find out next time.
2023.05.30 20:13 Verrgasm [HR] Dreamland
Every night, against his will, Kenneth would relive every awful moment of it. Pulled back into his hellish youth through a dream. The same dream he found himself in once again. He was in a place now so familiar that he could actively acknowledge his unconscious state, but he could never wake up from it. Not until Steve had his fill. Not until he was satiated in his place from beyond the grave, firmly in charge of this horrific dominion within his victim's damaged psyche. It was an evil dreamland, somehow designed to re-inflict every harrowing humiliation and brutal torture experienced in the waking world. The disgusting past, revived.
Kenneth shivered as the cold wind battered against his scantily-clad body. The same as always, he was wearing his pajamas. Now far too small and disintegrating on his adult-sized frame, they tore and fell away as he walked, leaving him little more than torn rags for comfort against the elements. The harsh earth stung under his bare feet. Uniformly black, contrasting the sickening reddish sky which hugged cragged mountain tops on horizons far out of reach. A small light emanated in the distance. Following his usual robotic routine, Kenneth stumbled towards it like a moth to the flame.
The wind ceased almost instantly as he grew nearer and its howling was replaced by an intimidating silent totality. There was no sound left whatsoever besides the first whisper. Loud and clear, as if right in his ear. Right on que. There was nothing he could do.
"To come or go after and take or bring back.
All the children, wrapped up in black.
Venture forth or turn around.
A soul once entered is already bound."
It was his voice. It made Kenneth want to wretch, to empty his nonexistent stomach, but such reliefs weren't present. Not permitted. Stripped from Kenneth like so many other things before, injustices of which he'd now face all over again. His horror was an internal one. The ability to react, dulled and blunted, as if tranced. His foreknowledge of the impending trauma rained a great heavy dread upon the sullen atmosphere of the nightmarish place. A literal rain. Slimy like oil. The air hung heavy, further slowing his movements. Kenneth struggled on regardless, shuffling towards the second glow amidst the growing fog. The second taunting installment retelling his miserable history.
The light blinked out, plunging the landscape into darkness once again. The sky's pale crimson glow only slightly revealed his surroundings, occasionally lit up with bolts of unseen violet lighting. Not that there was anything for Kenneth to see. Nothing to do but obey. Steve's voice throbbed in the void around him. A cruel mockery, cawed in a distorted imitation of the man who'd destroyed his life before it even had a chance to truly begin. The monster who snuffed his innocence out forever.
"All alone the lady waits,
Devoid of a father, whom they now both hate.
House is empty, home is cold.
A shallow dream, eagerly sold."
Visions of his mother tore at Kenneth and he did everything he could to resist, to stamp them down and lock them away. But the more he struggled, the harder it was to keep them at bay.
"A sweet relief, a sweet reprieve. A lovely replacement,
named Steve.
Steve is kind, Steve is nice.
Kenny's mother, in a vice."
Another clockwork recurrence chilled Kenneth as he felt the eyes. Turning to meet them, the wind returned; crashing against him and sending him tumbling to the coarse desert floor. The ashen texture coated everything, acrid and burning in his nostrils. Piercing debris like shattered glass clung and then fell back to their place among the filth as Kenneth strained to get back up. To his relief, Steve wasn't moving yet. Just… standing there. Right on the edge of his visibility. Waving…
He didn't act like the Steve that Kenneth had known in the waking world. The rhymes, that was nothing like him. But the way he… it, would deliver them… that was just Steve all over. That smug cadence, made manifest in a demon now all too real. It cocked its head as it brought its hand back down to its side before extending it outwards. A long bony finger beckoned to Kenneth.
"No…" he whimpered. Desperate to escape the inevitable. "Just… go away…"
"He takes you away to a different place.
Leaves an awful mess all over your face.
'Tell a soul, my little whore,
Then you will suffer.
Your mother, and more."
"Do you remember, Kenny?" It began to advance. An onyx phantom, silhouetted and drawing nearer. "Do you remember the toolshed?" A creature, becoming clearer.
A shrill cackling laughter filled the night air, which immediately became much darker. Thicker. Like being underwater. The monster broke from a shamble into a sprint and fight or flight sent Kenneth running too. The shock that had held him in place cleared fast with the adrenaline, spurring him to flee. To escape that terrible place, once and for all. He could hear its heavy, lumbering footfalls advancing close behind. A sharp pain shredded through him from his bloody soles to his pounding chest, close to bursting, when a cave presented itself in the distance. Small, but safe. A false safety.
A tiny candle flickered dimly in its narrow entryway and as it finally became within reach Kenneth thrust himself inside and awaited his imminent punishment with clenched fists, but his monstrous pursuer was gone. For now. Picking up the fragile light source and shielding it with his cupped hand, Kenneth began to go deeper. The passageway was thin, but there was nowhere to go except forward. There was a strange feeling emerging from inside, one long awaited.
"Of inky black and rotten sack, a filthy mongrel answers back.
Tell him quietly, watch him whimper. Tell him loudly, hear him holler.
The mother tries to help her son. Steve is angry, he says he'll maul her."
A flash of righteous anger bubbled in Kenneth as he felt the presence behind him. Once again eager to give chase.
"And I did maul 'er. Didn't I, boy?" Kenneth heard it scrape its claws on the cold stone wall. Screeching like nails on an old, long abandoned chalkboard. "It's your fault what happened to her."
Another hideous cackle, only this time stifled, Kenneth's response overcoming it in the constricting chasm.
"Fuck off, Steve! You fucking piece of shit!" He'd always wanted to say that, it spewed out all frothy and furious like he imagined it would. A thirst for retribution fuelled him, flowed all through and inspired a long dead hope within. A puncture in its invulnerability. "I'm not afraid of you anymore!"
Kenneth believed it. He knew it, and so did the monster.
"Through muffled screams and burning holes,
Steve continues, ignoring 'no's'.
Searing flesh, the work is done.
'Uncle Steve', has had his fun."
The cave walls began to rumble, and through some invisible quaking force they splintered and cracked, flooding the dim tunnel in a sea of sparse debris. Two round searchlight-like eyes beamed at Kenneth through the dusty mist as it extinguished his little candle. Silence once again, punctuated only by shallow breath before being interrupted by a deep penetrating growl. The eyes closed, and in the darkness of the tunnel the two's chase ensued. The passage grew slimmer and skinnier with each step and eventually the slick thuds of pounding steps on wet stone were reduced to grunts and pained moans as Kenneth squeezed and crawled and shimmied through dank shafts and up and down stairs and across chambers full of black crystal formations. Impossibly black. Blacker than the remotest void of space. Darker than a sea of dead stars. The sight captivated Kenneth, tempting him to stop and fall into it forever. To give into it. But as he was right on the precipice of the endless cosmic lagoon, about to start tumbling, he heard it stirring behind. Snorting and laughing. Clicking and mumbling incomprehensibly. Scratching and scraping its thick filthy claws in an effort to regain control. To prove its ownership. Kenneth was done. He wasn't scared anymore, he repeated it in his head like a mantra. Giving everything to believe it.
"Amber leaves and dirty knees,
A wife held down, who hardly sees.
Always stoic, mummy's soldier.
No escape from your enclosure..."
Kenneth ducked back and slid into a large crack in the wall as the monster entered into the small crystal chamber, the exit now blocked with its menacing presence. Kenneth held his breath, clamping his hands down tightly over his trembling bottom lip.
"Trapped again, little Kenny,
No escape without a penny.
Tell aloud, try to run.
Watch her suffer.
It's never done."
Thick slopping drool seeped from its distended maw as it lurched past Kenny's hiding spot in the wall. Mere feet away from taking him, bringing him back. Pulling him under. It cooed for him. Humming a sweet song, one he barely remembered. It made him want to give in, for the last time. But he didn't, refusing to scream. Refusing to give it what it wanted.
After a while the creature began to double back, creeping towards the exit from whence it came. As its sweet serenade slowly disappeared, Kenneth climbed out and made a break for it, trudging through the darkness using his hands as eyes. No more song, no more Steve. Kenneth crawled through the mud, desperate to leave. The cold cave air was becoming hot, and as Kenneth traveled ever deeper the walls began to rot. Flesh came away with each frantic grasp, choking poor Kenneth and making him gasp. The musky dead passageway was emitting a horrid miasma. It burned and it stung, rekindling his asthma. But push onward he did, embracing his chance. Ready to face down the monster for one last dance.
"A comforting weapon,
The cold steel gun.
In your tiny palm it weighs a ton.
Grip it tighter, hide it good.
Kill Uncle Steve like a hero would."
Kenneth was in control, a rhyme of his own. Ready to kill. Not maim, but dethrone. Just as in childhood, he felt the gun's weight. Now all the more lighter, and though the darkness remained, it was as if it grew brighter, empowered by the knowledge that he now was a fighter. So he clambered on through the decaying dark tunnel. The tunnel, it seemed, leveled out like a funnel. In through the mouth and down the thin trail. Then into a slide where he slid like a snail. The final hill of a terrible ride, when Kenneth popped out he was no longer inside.
"Childish lies, naievity.
No heroes at all in your nativity.
A growing hope, finally time?
Not so fast, you'll always be mine."
Kenneth got up and looked all around. High above the sea, and yet feeling as if drowned. A precarious mountain top, just him and Steve. A long way down, He could tumble with ease. Kenneth raised the gun, a shake in his knees. About to end the fiend that haunted his dreams.
"Think you're ready?
Think you're strong?
Uncle Steve knows that you won't last for long!"
"Maybe not… but at least you'll be gone…"
Spark and tinder, the monster did splinter. Cast down below, into the cold winter. Kenneth rejoiced, the gun by his side. The ultimate tool that helped leave him behind. Finally free, he yelled and he screamed. Feeling released in the ultimate reprieve. But as his cries carried all through the scorched mountain tops, blood began pouring. The sky weeped like a fountain.
"A trembling hand,
Another chance.
Little Kenny,
is 'free' at last.
Lost his mother, got no friends.
Always alone, no matter the ends.
So know this, my tiny child.
I am undying, forever beguiled.
And you, sad pup, are forever defiled…
I'll always be there. I have the means.
There's no escape, while I lurk in your dreams."
The celebration ended with the stark revelation. The gun met his temple to defy the cantation. Steve's mocking screech, the final desecration. And with a loud bang, he was back in his bedroom…
"Fuck!" Kenneth sprang up and fell to the floor. His shallow breathing leveled out as the pill bottle's lid joined him. He'd been there before. "Not again…"
He choked down six, triple the dose… Now back in this life, that he hated the most.
submitted by Verrgasm to shortstories [link] [comments]
Kenneth shivered as the cold wind battered against his scantily-clad body. The same as always, he was wearing his pajamas. Now far too small and disintegrating on his adult-sized frame, they tore and fell away as he walked, leaving him little more than torn rags for comfort against the elements. The harsh earth stung under his bare feet. Uniformly black, contrasting the sickening reddish sky which hugged cragged mountain tops on horizons far out of reach. A small light emanated in the distance. Following his usual robotic routine, Kenneth stumbled towards it like a moth to the flame.
The wind ceased almost instantly as he grew nearer and its howling was replaced by an intimidating silent totality. There was no sound left whatsoever besides the first whisper. Loud and clear, as if right in his ear. Right on que. There was nothing he could do.
"To come or go after and take or bring back.
All the children, wrapped up in black.
Venture forth or turn around.
A soul once entered is already bound."
It was his voice. It made Kenneth want to wretch, to empty his nonexistent stomach, but such reliefs weren't present. Not permitted. Stripped from Kenneth like so many other things before, injustices of which he'd now face all over again. His horror was an internal one. The ability to react, dulled and blunted, as if tranced. His foreknowledge of the impending trauma rained a great heavy dread upon the sullen atmosphere of the nightmarish place. A literal rain. Slimy like oil. The air hung heavy, further slowing his movements. Kenneth struggled on regardless, shuffling towards the second glow amidst the growing fog. The second taunting installment retelling his miserable history.
The light blinked out, plunging the landscape into darkness once again. The sky's pale crimson glow only slightly revealed his surroundings, occasionally lit up with bolts of unseen violet lighting. Not that there was anything for Kenneth to see. Nothing to do but obey. Steve's voice throbbed in the void around him. A cruel mockery, cawed in a distorted imitation of the man who'd destroyed his life before it even had a chance to truly begin. The monster who snuffed his innocence out forever.
"All alone the lady waits,
Devoid of a father, whom they now both hate.
House is empty, home is cold.
A shallow dream, eagerly sold."
Visions of his mother tore at Kenneth and he did everything he could to resist, to stamp them down and lock them away. But the more he struggled, the harder it was to keep them at bay.
"A sweet relief, a sweet reprieve. A lovely replacement,
named Steve.
Steve is kind, Steve is nice.
Kenny's mother, in a vice."
Another clockwork recurrence chilled Kenneth as he felt the eyes. Turning to meet them, the wind returned; crashing against him and sending him tumbling to the coarse desert floor. The ashen texture coated everything, acrid and burning in his nostrils. Piercing debris like shattered glass clung and then fell back to their place among the filth as Kenneth strained to get back up. To his relief, Steve wasn't moving yet. Just… standing there. Right on the edge of his visibility. Waving…
He didn't act like the Steve that Kenneth had known in the waking world. The rhymes, that was nothing like him. But the way he… it, would deliver them… that was just Steve all over. That smug cadence, made manifest in a demon now all too real. It cocked its head as it brought its hand back down to its side before extending it outwards. A long bony finger beckoned to Kenneth.
"No…" he whimpered. Desperate to escape the inevitable. "Just… go away…"
"He takes you away to a different place.
Leaves an awful mess all over your face.
'Tell a soul, my little whore,
Then you will suffer.
Your mother, and more."
"Do you remember, Kenny?" It began to advance. An onyx phantom, silhouetted and drawing nearer. "Do you remember the toolshed?" A creature, becoming clearer.
A shrill cackling laughter filled the night air, which immediately became much darker. Thicker. Like being underwater. The monster broke from a shamble into a sprint and fight or flight sent Kenneth running too. The shock that had held him in place cleared fast with the adrenaline, spurring him to flee. To escape that terrible place, once and for all. He could hear its heavy, lumbering footfalls advancing close behind. A sharp pain shredded through him from his bloody soles to his pounding chest, close to bursting, when a cave presented itself in the distance. Small, but safe. A false safety.
A tiny candle flickered dimly in its narrow entryway and as it finally became within reach Kenneth thrust himself inside and awaited his imminent punishment with clenched fists, but his monstrous pursuer was gone. For now. Picking up the fragile light source and shielding it with his cupped hand, Kenneth began to go deeper. The passageway was thin, but there was nowhere to go except forward. There was a strange feeling emerging from inside, one long awaited.
"Of inky black and rotten sack, a filthy mongrel answers back.
Tell him quietly, watch him whimper. Tell him loudly, hear him holler.
The mother tries to help her son. Steve is angry, he says he'll maul her."
A flash of righteous anger bubbled in Kenneth as he felt the presence behind him. Once again eager to give chase.
"And I did maul 'er. Didn't I, boy?" Kenneth heard it scrape its claws on the cold stone wall. Screeching like nails on an old, long abandoned chalkboard. "It's your fault what happened to her."
Another hideous cackle, only this time stifled, Kenneth's response overcoming it in the constricting chasm.
"Fuck off, Steve! You fucking piece of shit!" He'd always wanted to say that, it spewed out all frothy and furious like he imagined it would. A thirst for retribution fuelled him, flowed all through and inspired a long dead hope within. A puncture in its invulnerability. "I'm not afraid of you anymore!"
Kenneth believed it. He knew it, and so did the monster.
"Through muffled screams and burning holes,
Steve continues, ignoring 'no's'.
Searing flesh, the work is done.
'Uncle Steve', has had his fun."
The cave walls began to rumble, and through some invisible quaking force they splintered and cracked, flooding the dim tunnel in a sea of sparse debris. Two round searchlight-like eyes beamed at Kenneth through the dusty mist as it extinguished his little candle. Silence once again, punctuated only by shallow breath before being interrupted by a deep penetrating growl. The eyes closed, and in the darkness of the tunnel the two's chase ensued. The passage grew slimmer and skinnier with each step and eventually the slick thuds of pounding steps on wet stone were reduced to grunts and pained moans as Kenneth squeezed and crawled and shimmied through dank shafts and up and down stairs and across chambers full of black crystal formations. Impossibly black. Blacker than the remotest void of space. Darker than a sea of dead stars. The sight captivated Kenneth, tempting him to stop and fall into it forever. To give into it. But as he was right on the precipice of the endless cosmic lagoon, about to start tumbling, he heard it stirring behind. Snorting and laughing. Clicking and mumbling incomprehensibly. Scratching and scraping its thick filthy claws in an effort to regain control. To prove its ownership. Kenneth was done. He wasn't scared anymore, he repeated it in his head like a mantra. Giving everything to believe it.
"Amber leaves and dirty knees,
A wife held down, who hardly sees.
Always stoic, mummy's soldier.
No escape from your enclosure..."
Kenneth ducked back and slid into a large crack in the wall as the monster entered into the small crystal chamber, the exit now blocked with its menacing presence. Kenneth held his breath, clamping his hands down tightly over his trembling bottom lip.
"Trapped again, little Kenny,
No escape without a penny.
Tell aloud, try to run.
Watch her suffer.
It's never done."
Thick slopping drool seeped from its distended maw as it lurched past Kenny's hiding spot in the wall. Mere feet away from taking him, bringing him back. Pulling him under. It cooed for him. Humming a sweet song, one he barely remembered. It made him want to give in, for the last time. But he didn't, refusing to scream. Refusing to give it what it wanted.
After a while the creature began to double back, creeping towards the exit from whence it came. As its sweet serenade slowly disappeared, Kenneth climbed out and made a break for it, trudging through the darkness using his hands as eyes. No more song, no more Steve. Kenneth crawled through the mud, desperate to leave. The cold cave air was becoming hot, and as Kenneth traveled ever deeper the walls began to rot. Flesh came away with each frantic grasp, choking poor Kenneth and making him gasp. The musky dead passageway was emitting a horrid miasma. It burned and it stung, rekindling his asthma. But push onward he did, embracing his chance. Ready to face down the monster for one last dance.
"A comforting weapon,
The cold steel gun.
In your tiny palm it weighs a ton.
Grip it tighter, hide it good.
Kill Uncle Steve like a hero would."
Kenneth was in control, a rhyme of his own. Ready to kill. Not maim, but dethrone. Just as in childhood, he felt the gun's weight. Now all the more lighter, and though the darkness remained, it was as if it grew brighter, empowered by the knowledge that he now was a fighter. So he clambered on through the decaying dark tunnel. The tunnel, it seemed, leveled out like a funnel. In through the mouth and down the thin trail. Then into a slide where he slid like a snail. The final hill of a terrible ride, when Kenneth popped out he was no longer inside.
"Childish lies, naievity.
No heroes at all in your nativity.
A growing hope, finally time?
Not so fast, you'll always be mine."
Kenneth got up and looked all around. High above the sea, and yet feeling as if drowned. A precarious mountain top, just him and Steve. A long way down, He could tumble with ease. Kenneth raised the gun, a shake in his knees. About to end the fiend that haunted his dreams.
"Think you're ready?
Think you're strong?
Uncle Steve knows that you won't last for long!"
"Maybe not… but at least you'll be gone…"
Spark and tinder, the monster did splinter. Cast down below, into the cold winter. Kenneth rejoiced, the gun by his side. The ultimate tool that helped leave him behind. Finally free, he yelled and he screamed. Feeling released in the ultimate reprieve. But as his cries carried all through the scorched mountain tops, blood began pouring. The sky weeped like a fountain.
"A trembling hand,
Another chance.
Little Kenny,
is 'free' at last.
Lost his mother, got no friends.
Always alone, no matter the ends.
So know this, my tiny child.
I am undying, forever beguiled.
And you, sad pup, are forever defiled…
I'll always be there. I have the means.
There's no escape, while I lurk in your dreams."
The celebration ended with the stark revelation. The gun met his temple to defy the cantation. Steve's mocking screech, the final desecration. And with a loud bang, he was back in his bedroom…
"Fuck!" Kenneth sprang up and fell to the floor. His shallow breathing leveled out as the pill bottle's lid joined him. He'd been there before. "Not again…"
He choked down six, triple the dose… Now back in this life, that he hated the most.
2023.05.30 19:48 IlyaYanchuck Danylo's Ukraine Secret Path and AAR
 | So these are the results of my game I had with the new Ukraine, particularly the secret path. submitted by IlyaYanchuck to Kaiserreich [link] [comments] Ukraine The full tree Reichspakt. Austria remained neutral. First we were attacked by Russia in late 1939. We held out, while Germany and Entente were fighting the Internationale, then started a long large-scale offensive into Russia finishing the war in mid-1943. Added Peru-Bolivia to faction since Brazil gave them some of their claims in Chile, and to avoid P-B declaring a war via focuses. Uruguay is independent, Paraguay is P-B's puppet, the rest are Brazillian puppets (they were in the 3I). South-East Asia was lost to Japan, I peaced out after Japan landed in Africa and took Kenya (initially I slept through this). How to play this path To get this secret path you need to pick the right options during the negotiations between the VDR and Hetman's government to prevent civil war from breakling out, either because of protests and ensuing massacre, or SHD intervention. (What is below is mostly copied from my comments on my previous post) Pick the following options during the negotiations: - Let the political prisoners go free; - After the deaths during protest in Odesa, threaten to end the negotiation, but agree to continue, after Andriy Livytskyi recognises their fault; - Send Doroshenko and Danylo as negotiators; - Allow socialists into national elections, but later place the two caveats; - Say that Vynnychenko is just a writer; - Say that parliamentary reform is too radical. Petliura will offer a "less parliamentary" proposal. Agree; - Negotiations will be put on pause, Hetman will leave to the south of the country to meet with the army, but will be heavily wounded in a train crash on the way back and die soon after. Danylo will be elected and this focus tree will be opened. One that I'm not sure about, is whether or not you arresting Petliura impacts the negotiation. I didn't arrest him, but haven't tried arresting. You probably won't arrest him anyway if you want to go this path. EDIT: Don't arrest Petlira. Another one is the Relief Bill. I passed it, and it's probably a requirement to do so, since otherwise Ukraine is far more likely to go authoritarian. I don't know (but I doubt) if what you pick during the events around the bill, or which focuses you pick around Black Monday matters, but just in case I'll leave you this screenshot: What I took for Black Monday. Probably irrelevant, but just in case. EDIT: Pass the bill, URDP must have supported it. Thanks to one of Discord members for it! Initially I wanted to play with the UPR, but managed to actually finish the negotiations peacefully, opened this path and I decided to play it instead. About the path (Below is mostly copied) Upper tree, is basically a prelude to the main tree, instead of the civil war in other pathes. You are focused on combating conservative oppostion and passing as many reforms as you can within a year deadline. Based on how many, and which focuses of that tree you manage to unlock, you may unlock additional focuses in the lower tree. Danylo can chose any army tree. It does seem, that you will have to start the land reform and Industrialisation later, than other paths (because of parliamentarisation taking place, and time). Initial Elections will be won by URDP (Soclibs) no matter what. Later you can also add USDRP to coalition with "Legacy of TUP" focus. After you win the war with Russia, new elections will be held (even though they were scheduled to be a year later in my case), where either URDP wins and rules alone, forms coalition with UDKhP, or USDRP wins, in coalition with URDP. Following elections (the ones which's date is located near ideology tab) won't trigger any events for this path. Outside of that, you will also gain Petliura, Udovychenko, and possibly Tiutiunnyk (who is a brilliant strategist), if you take "support the USDRP" as generals, after the first election. You will remain part of the Reichspakt and become independent after Russia is defeated. I set Poland to go with Centrolew, and they received Krakow, while I got the rest of Galicia, though it happened without any impact from me. I read that there is a mechanic behind Poland getting Galicia, and that UPR would be involved in it too/has their own, but I've not played either Poland or UPR yet, so I can't confirm here. I used Toolpack to some extent when the game was more or less finished. That included giving myself Zakarpattia postwar, but otherwise was mostly limited to fixing messy borders after the other wars and signing peace in case of stalemates. I'm not sure if you can get Zakarpattia peacefully with this path. I also used console command to alter party popularities after second elections. The path also lacks a small postwar tree, present in other paths. There also seems to be a small bug, the focus "Uniting Symbol", in the lower tree is supposed to give Danylo another modifier, but it didn't do that for me, and he only has his "Symbolic Hetman" modifier. Only one modifier Second modifier Another bug, probably for Ukraine overall, is that I stole the plans of russian invasion from my russian puppet. I thought about high intel triggering the evenmt at first, but by that time the war was over for 3-4 years, so it probably wasn't it. The event in question Overall, I really liked the path though. It presents a new way forward, which avoids the civil war, it's believable, it still gives you a lot of bonuses, but compromises it with later access to the Land Reform and Industrialisation and slower initial political power gain (you will be spending it on combating the opposition). I really wouldn't mind the addition of postwar focuses though, or participation in resolving what to do with Galicia. And the whole update is great, from Ukraine as the updated country, to the new main theme and other new songs, to new starting screens. Thank you devs! As P.S, I will leave some screenshots regarding the state of the rest of the world. Entente cooperated with Reichpakt, but lost Canada to Browder's US. South Africa went Afrikaner. I made peace between them and Cairo after the Mahdist revolt, and gave France Lybia, which they occupied, but couldn't move further for quite some time by then. Socialist Remnants. They joined the 3I but too late to impact Europe (CoF capitulated shorlty after). Used to be under Browder but he was couped eventually. I peaced them out with both Entente and Reichspakt due to reaching stalemate. Made them faction a bit later too. Cairo Pact. Outside of unsuccessfully decolonising Maghreb, they managed to beat Iran, who took Azerbaijan as a reslt of Desert War. Might add Afghanistan to them, since they were fighting Iran all that time. China eventually fell into 4-way war between Qing, Fengtian, LKMT and Federalists, Qing fell first, FNG and Federalists beat LKMT, eventually Japan attacked FNG, but could only get two states. Federalists declared Unification. Japan eventually attacked Entente and after they started loosing I made China attack Japan, and later gave them the countries they occupied as puppets. Hope it was interesting, thank you for attention! |
2023.05.30 16:45 Grocery-Super How to get purified water at home
 | 3 Simple Ways to Purify WaterClean drinking water is a fundamental necessity for maintaining good health and well-being. Unfortunately, not all water sources can be trusted to be safe for consumption. It is crucial to know how to purify questionable water sources to ensure that it is free from harmful bacteria, parasites, and other contaminants. In this essay, we will discuss three simple methods that can be used to purify water effectively.Simple Ways to Purify Water 1/ The first and most basic method is boiling water. Boiling water is a tried-and-true technique that has been used for centuries to make water safe to drink. To purify water through boiling, start by pouring the water into a pot and placing it on a heat source, such as an open fire or stove. Bring the water to a rolling boil and let it continue boiling for at least 10 minutes. This process effectively kills any bacteria or parasites that may be present in the water. Once the boiling is complete, remove the pot from the heat source and allow it to sit, settle, and cool before drinking. Boiling water is a simple yet effective way to ensure its safety. 2/ The second method involves using a water purifier. Water purifiers are devices specifically designed to remove impurities and contaminants from water. These purifiers are commonly used in conjunction with tap water in the kitchen. To purify water using a water purifier, switch the device from the unfiltered to the filtered option. Then, pour the water into the pump or designated compartment of the purifier. It is important to check that the purifier is set to the filtered side and not the unfiltered one. The water will pass through the purifier, which contains various filters or membranes that trap and remove contaminants, providing you with clean and safe drinking water. Water purifiers are convenient and reliable tools for purifying water at home. Learn more: Water Purifier For Home 3/ Lastly, purchasing a water purifier with an inbuilt purifying system is another simple way to ensure the cleanliness of your water. These purifiers act as a dispensary, supplying you with purified water on demand. They often come with advanced purification technologies such as activated carbon filters, reverse osmosis, or ultraviolet (UV) sterilization. These systems effectively remove impurities, chemicals, and microorganisms, providing you with clean and safe drinking water at any time. Investing in a water purifier with a built-in purifying system is a convenient and efficient way to have access to purified water in your home. In addition to the methods mentioned above, it is worth noting that maintaining good overall health requires more than just clean water. A detox drink recipe can also contribute to a healthy digestive system. While the specific ingredients for a detox drink are not mentioned here, there are numerous recipes available that combine various fruits, vegetables, and herbs known for their detoxifying properties. These drinks can help flush out toxins from your body and support your overall well-being. However, it is important to note that a detox drink should not replace the need for clean and purified water. HOT! make safe, clean and cool drinking water out of thin air…even in the desert: https://energy-liberation-army.blogspot.com/p/create-safe-drinking-water.html Ensuring the purity of water is essential for maintaining good health. Boiling water, using a water purifier, and purchasing a water purifier with a built-in purifying system are three simple and effective ways to purify water. These methods can help remove harmful bacteria, parasites, and contaminants, making the water safe for consumption. Remember to follow the proper procedures and guidelines for each method to achieve the best results. By purifying water, we can safeguard our health and well-being, and promote a healthier lifestyle for ourselves and our communities. Scientists Have Created a Device That Sucks Water Out of Thin Air, Even in the Desert: How to Get Purified Water at Home - Unique Russian Method: Using Flora CleanerWater is a vital resource for all living organisms, playing a crucial role in maintaining our health and well-being. The quality of the water we consume has a direct impact on our overall health, making it imperative to find effective methods for purifying water. In this essay, we will introduce a unique Russian method for water purification using a product called Flora Cleaner, which provides a simple and affordable solution for obtaining purified water.Using chemical and physical methods to clean tap water and pond water -- by video Using chemical and physical methods to clean tap water and pond water Water is not only essential for quenching our thirst but also plays a vital role in various bodily functions. It is present in every cell of our bodies, regulating body temperature, aiding digestion, and transporting nutrients. However, the water we encounter may contain impurities that can be harmful to our health. Therefore, it is necessary to take measures to purify it before consumption. Flora Cleaner is a revolutionary product that offers an easy and convenient way to purify water at home. It requires only five drops of the cleaner per liter of water for normal use, and up to ten drops per liter for heavily contaminated water. The cleaner works by forming hydrogen bonds with impurities present in the water, causing them to clump together and form visible flakes. These flakes can then be easily removed, leaving behind clean and purified water. While methods such as distillation and reverse osmosis are commonly used for water purification, they are not ideal for producing high-quality drinking water. These methods remove not only harmful contaminants but also essential minerals from the water. Natural spring water, for instance, contains a variety of beneficial minerals such as sodium, potassium, magnesium, calcium, chloride, sulfate, carbonate, and bicarbonate that are necessary for healthy body function. Flora Cleaner, on the other hand, preserves these vital minerals while effectively purifying the water. When using Flora Cleaner, there are a few tips to keep in mind for optimal results. If you are using a container with a tap or spigot, such as a barrel or jug, it is best to let the purified water settle before pouring. This allows any remaining sediment to settle at the bottom, ensuring that you pour off only the clear and purified water. For bottles without taps or spigots, such as plastic bottles or glass jars with lids, gently pour off the top layer of purified water while leaving the sediment undisturbed at the bottom. Learn more:How to purify my tap water at home Furthermore, Flora Cleaner is particularly suitable for preparing water to dilute Bioflow Levitov, a natural health supplement that benefits from the presence of minerals and other natural properties in purified water. By using Flora Cleaner to purify your water, you can ensure that the water used in conjunction with Bioflow Levitov retains its natural mineral content and enhances the effectiveness of the supplement. How to Get Purified Water at Home: Build Your Own Filter Using Materials Available in NatureSometimes we find ourselves in situations where a water filter is not readily available. However, with a little resourcefulness and some naturally available materials, you can create a makeshift water filter to purify water in an emergency or outdoor setting. In this essay, we will guide you through the process of building your own filter using materials found in nature.To create your own water filter, you will need a few simple materials:
Begin by cutting the lower end of the plastic bottle and inverting it. If you don't have a plastic bottle, cut up some tree bark and roll it into a cone or funnel shape. Secure the shape by tying it with a rope or using a thin branch. This will serve as the main body of your filter. Now, layer the bottle or bark with the following materials in the following order: pebbles, cloth, sand, cloth, charcoal, cloth, sand, pebbles. The pebbles will act as the first filtration layer, removing larger particles from the water. The cloth layers will help filter out finer sediment and debris. The sand layer aids in further filtration, and the charcoal acts as a key component in purifying the water. Charcoal, or activated carbon, has an incredible surface area and can effectively absorb harmful chemicals, such as volatile organic compounds and chlorine, as well as remove foul tastes and odors from water. However, it's important to note that charcoal does not kill bacteria and viruses. To ensure the water is safe for drinking, you will need to boil it after filtering. Before passing the water through your self-built filter, it's recommended to pre-filter the water using a piece of cloth to remove any larger particles. Once pre-filtered, pour the water into the filter and allow it to pass through the various layers. The charcoal will absorb many impurities, making the water safer to consume. It's important to practice building and using such filters during camping trips or outdoor excursions to familiarize yourself with the process. This way, you can ensure you have the necessary skills to create a filter in emergency situations. Scientists Have Created a Device That Sucks Water Out of Thin Air, Even in the Desert: In conclusionwith a bit of ingenuity and resourcefulness, you can create your own water filter using materials available in nature. By following the simple steps outlined above, you can construct a filter using a plastic bottle or tree bark, sand, pebbles, charcoal, and pieces of cloth. While the charcoal helps remove harmful chemicals, it's essential to remember that it does not eliminate bacteria and viruses. Therefore, boiling the filtered water is necessary to ensure its safety. Building your own filter is a valuable skill to have for outdoor adventures or emergency situations when a commercial filter is not accessible. By utilizing the natural resources around you, you can obtain purified water and ensure your well-being.Scientists Have Created a Device That Sucks Water Out of Thin Air, Even in the Desert: |
2023.05.30 00:53 Proletlariet Potemkin
Respect Potemkin
"Strength in numbers, huh... But you underestimate the conviction of a Zeppian soldier. With courage in my legs, justice in my fists, and a spirit greater than the tallest mountain... You will now face Potemkin, First Class Guard of the Zepp Republic! I accept your challenge!"
After what seemed to be a near-extinction event in 1999 when an unknown entity attempted to manifest in the real world through technology, the world grew suddenly and violently technophobic. The United Nations imposed a global ban on technology, and with the introduction of magic into the world, it became the new norm for society. The only nation to oppose this mandate to remove all "Black Technology" from society was India, which left the United Nations and used the remaining technology in the world to develop a massive, country-sized airship to leave the terrestrial planet and live in the clouds above the Indian Ocean. This is the Independent Airborne State of Zepp.
Potemkin grew up in Zepp, and due to his extraordinary physical prowess, he was employed as one of Zepp's slave soldiers. Marked with a barcode, fitted with an explosive slave collar to discourage desertion, and used against enemies like a wild bull, Potemkin fought Zepp's foes and even joined the Second Holy Order Selection Tournament at Zepp's bidding so that he could win and wish for suitable territory for Zepp to expand back onto solid ground into. Secretly, though, Potemkin planned to also wish for freedom for his enslaved comrades.
Instead, however, Potemkin was lured into Testament's trap to resurrect Justice, the commander Gear and cause of the Crusades. After winning (this fight isn't canon, Sol beat Justice, but shhh), Potemkin is confronted by his sergeant, a man named Gabriel, who reveals to him that Potemkin can be the figurehead of Gabriel's revolution against the corrupt Zepp empire. With Potemkin's help, Gabriel topples the empire and forms the Neo Zepp Empire, a democratic nation of free men that strives to preserve old technology and pursue peaceful relations with the rest of the world. Potemkin stays on to serve as President Gabriel's elite guard, eager to see this new, noble Zepp thrive and prosper.
- Potemkin Buster - Potemkin's most devastating move, taught to him by Gabriel. Potemkin Buster is famous in the games for being an incredibly high-damage grab and the defining trait of Potemkin's grappler playstyle.
- Heat Knuckle - Potemkin grabs an enemy out of the air and shoots them point-blank with cannons from his gauntlet, before letting them go in a fiery explosion.
- Hammer Fall - Potemkin charges forward suddenly, with a powerful strike at the end.
- Mega Fist - Potemkin does a forward (or backward) leaping attack, punching down from overhead.
- Slide Head - Potemkin falls to the ground, knocking down enemies nearby with his immense weight.
- FDB - Potemkin uses his huge gauntlets to flick a projectile back at his opponent as an exploding fireball.
- Garuda Impact - Potemkin shoots his opponent with a low attack from his gauntlet cannon.
- ICPM - Potemkin flies across the stage headfirst, like a human missile.
- Trishula - Potemkin fires into the ground with his gauntlets, creating a pillar of flame around him.
- Unbreakable Spirit - Potemkin flexes, ignoring damage from incoming sources. This move has a number of follow-up attacks.
- Nitro Hook - Potemkin grabs his opponent and punches them across the room.
- Graviton Stamp - Potemkin charges forward and strikes his opponent. This move was functionally replaced by Hammer Fall in later games.
- Heavenly Potemkin Buster - Potemkin leaps into the air and grabs his foe, rocketing them upward until he brings them hurtling back down to earth in a devastating back breaker.
- Giganter Kai - Potemkin generates a wall of energy that travels forward and destroys incoming projectiles. In earlier games, Potemkin can follow up this move by attacking with a pair of flaming fists.
- Gigantic Piston - Potemkin rears back and unleashes a devastating punch.
- Judge Gauntlet - Potemkin knocks his opponent back with a powerful punch.
- Infernal Tour - Potemkin slams his opponent into the ground from a great height, and then punches them through the planet so that they pop up on the other side.
- Magnum Opera - Potemkin flexes off his slave collar, kisses his fist, and lands a huge punch on his enemy.
- Nuclear Hammer - Potemkin swings with both hands, consuming his enemy in an explosion of blood and fire.
Please note that due to the difficulty of tracking down quality translated sources for some of the older games and media, many of these clips will be presented in the form of fan-translated scripts. Other sources (like the light novels) may be missing entirely, as they have never been translated and I can't read Japanese.
Strength
- [Instant Kill] Punches his opponent through the planet
- Stops a strike from a building-sized Gear and hurls it down a city street
- Staggers Slayer with Hammerfall
- Punches through a wall
- His battle power is comparable to an entire army division
- Takes hits from Slayer
- Jumps off of the Zepp airship and no-sells the landing
- Dropped out of a Zepp ship in a crate and no-sells the landing
- Survives being in his ship when Complete I-No destroys it
- Trades blows with Chipp Zanuff
- Takes a hit from a Phalanx 9 unit
- Jumps extremely high into the air to damage a foe with the landing, and is unaffected himself
- [Non-Canon] Survives being inside an exploding building
- [Non-Canon] Takes hits from a clone of Justice
- [Non-Canon] Trades blows with A.B.A
- [Non-Canon] Off-screen, survived an attack by "hundreds of Robo-Kys"
- Dodges an attack from Ky Kiske
- Stops an attack from a huge Gear mid-swing
- Dodges an attack from a Phalanx 9 unit
- Potemkin's specialized ship could hold back the flying White House airship temporarily
- In most games Potemkin weighs almost a ton
- He weighs so much that throwing himself on the ground or falling from a moderate height creates a sizeable crater in the ground
- The Post-War Administration Bureau compares him to a storm that can destroy mountains
- Slayer RT
- Chipp Zanuff RT
- Ky Kiske blocks a bullet at extremely close range
- A Phalanx 9 unit fights evenly with Baiken
- Baiken RT
"I do not adapt my strategy to your attacks, and I will not give you time to adapt to mine. Do not waste your time with tricks."
2023.05.29 12:05 tuffgrrrrl Dog has severe breathing and coughing issues.
I tried to highlight the main points in case you do not want to read all this.
My cockepoodle mix dog is about 14 and has severe breathing issues. He is in remarkably good health otherwise, high energy, eats well, plays normally. He is 17 pounds. Starting about 3-4 years ago we bought a property in the desert, and he loves to dig. We only spend part time there. At first, we had no A/C or even real accommodations on our developing campsite, so we allowed him to stay part of the day outside (I regret this forever). He would dig massive holes and this dry dust was very different than at home. It would get caked on his nose.
I am not always at the property with him as I have to go off traveling to work. He stays with my husband who doesn't keep him out of the dust enough. After 4 or 5 stints of this we began noticing a very slight intermittent cough. One-time two years ago the cough became severe. We took him to 2 different vets and did work up and X-rays. The first doc in a box vet was dismissive and said trachea collapse, no x-ray merely squeezing his throat. She gave us some tablets for the cough and said that he would have to live with it until he couldn't anymore, the end.
A few months later after tears I went to another place. The second vet was better. He noticed a slight heart murmur and did an X-ray which showed some lung inflammation as well. He could not diagnose trachea collapse from an X-ray but mentioned that it was possibly not the primary cause of his issues. Further way more expense tests needed at specialist to confirm or rule out. We declined those. He was given an antibiotic and cough tabs and improved tremendously. A year after that this happened again after another stint in the desert. This time the good vet was busy, and we got another vet. She focused only on the heart murmur (stage 2?). We tried to tell her about the dust and his history, but she was sure that he needed heart mediation and a fluid tab. She noticed slight lung inflammation. She told us to try the CHF/heart meds for 8 weeks (he does not have CHF) and that if he did not improve, we could explore lung/trachea issues upon return. She really did not believe that it could be anything else.
The heart medicine did absolutely nothing except made him pee incessantly and extremely thirsty. Over the next 6-8 months, his cough went down to once every 3-4 hours and my dog was his normal self except for this once in a while cough now. We never went back after taking those meds. The longer he was not in the desert or was kept totally inside the house when we were in the desert he just calmed down somewhat. Fast forward to now. I again had to drop him off with my husband in the desert for a month. I don't know what my husband allowed because I wasn't there. I suspect that he stopped being strict with him because the dog cries and scratches all day to go outside and we only have a tiny house so it's very tiring to tell him no.
When I go to pick him up, he is horrible. I cannot stand it. Wheezing while at rest (whistle sounds), labored breathing while at rest, severe totally nonstop coughing, choking, gagging constantly. I rushed him again to the same vet and the good vet was in high demand, so we had to see another younger vet. This vet heard heart murmur and wanted to do X-ray and wanted to put back on heart meds. Total was 500.00 and I refused because we have already been down this road. This is not a heart issue despite his heart murmur. I wanted steroid or cough meds or inhaler or something, or antibiotics (which worked a miracle the first time with the old doc). He reluctantly gave him a steroid for 2 weeks tapering off slowly. At first few days the steroid worked a miracle. I felt relief but as he tapered off his situation became even worse. Now my husband is talking about putting him down. We get not one second from his gagging and coughing. It is breaking me. I am going to go to the vet one more time about this. He is finishing his last steroid pill today. BTW my dog occasionally gets a brief relief from this coughing while deeply sleeping. He loves to pant heavily and make a lot of huffing noise for fun (always has) and this seems to make the cough flare up worse. He still wheezes and breaths kind of labored when in a deep sleep but at least he is not coughing as he does every minute while awake. Seems slightly better on the steroid days. Any suggestions? Is this......
submitted by tuffgrrrrl to AskVet [link] [comments]
My cockepoodle mix dog is about 14 and has severe breathing issues. He is in remarkably good health otherwise, high energy, eats well, plays normally. He is 17 pounds. Starting about 3-4 years ago we bought a property in the desert, and he loves to dig. We only spend part time there. At first, we had no A/C or even real accommodations on our developing campsite, so we allowed him to stay part of the day outside (I regret this forever). He would dig massive holes and this dry dust was very different than at home. It would get caked on his nose.
I am not always at the property with him as I have to go off traveling to work. He stays with my husband who doesn't keep him out of the dust enough. After 4 or 5 stints of this we began noticing a very slight intermittent cough. One-time two years ago the cough became severe. We took him to 2 different vets and did work up and X-rays. The first doc in a box vet was dismissive and said trachea collapse, no x-ray merely squeezing his throat. She gave us some tablets for the cough and said that he would have to live with it until he couldn't anymore, the end.
A few months later after tears I went to another place. The second vet was better. He noticed a slight heart murmur and did an X-ray which showed some lung inflammation as well. He could not diagnose trachea collapse from an X-ray but mentioned that it was possibly not the primary cause of his issues. Further way more expense tests needed at specialist to confirm or rule out. We declined those. He was given an antibiotic and cough tabs and improved tremendously. A year after that this happened again after another stint in the desert. This time the good vet was busy, and we got another vet. She focused only on the heart murmur (stage 2?). We tried to tell her about the dust and his history, but she was sure that he needed heart mediation and a fluid tab. She noticed slight lung inflammation. She told us to try the CHF/heart meds for 8 weeks (he does not have CHF) and that if he did not improve, we could explore lung/trachea issues upon return. She really did not believe that it could be anything else.
The heart medicine did absolutely nothing except made him pee incessantly and extremely thirsty. Over the next 6-8 months, his cough went down to once every 3-4 hours and my dog was his normal self except for this once in a while cough now. We never went back after taking those meds. The longer he was not in the desert or was kept totally inside the house when we were in the desert he just calmed down somewhat. Fast forward to now. I again had to drop him off with my husband in the desert for a month. I don't know what my husband allowed because I wasn't there. I suspect that he stopped being strict with him because the dog cries and scratches all day to go outside and we only have a tiny house so it's very tiring to tell him no.
When I go to pick him up, he is horrible. I cannot stand it. Wheezing while at rest (whistle sounds), labored breathing while at rest, severe totally nonstop coughing, choking, gagging constantly. I rushed him again to the same vet and the good vet was in high demand, so we had to see another younger vet. This vet heard heart murmur and wanted to do X-ray and wanted to put back on heart meds. Total was 500.00 and I refused because we have already been down this road. This is not a heart issue despite his heart murmur. I wanted steroid or cough meds or inhaler or something, or antibiotics (which worked a miracle the first time with the old doc). He reluctantly gave him a steroid for 2 weeks tapering off slowly. At first few days the steroid worked a miracle. I felt relief but as he tapered off his situation became even worse. Now my husband is talking about putting him down. We get not one second from his gagging and coughing. It is breaking me. I am going to go to the vet one more time about this. He is finishing his last steroid pill today. BTW my dog occasionally gets a brief relief from this coughing while deeply sleeping. He loves to pant heavily and make a lot of huffing noise for fun (always has) and this seems to make the cough flare up worse. He still wheezes and breaths kind of labored when in a deep sleep but at least he is not coughing as he does every minute while awake. Seems slightly better on the steroid days. Any suggestions? Is this......
- bronchitis caused by dust? (He has shown lung inflammation in the past)
- trachea collapse?
- heart murmur? (I doubt as primary cause. heart meds had zero affect)
- Combination or something else entirely?
2023.05.29 10:19 QuittingKteam Quitting Kratom wiki + other sidebar info.
(From the sidebar of QuittingKratom. Posting for those who are new, or may need a "refresher" or for those who are on the Reddit mobile app and have difficulty finding the sidebar information. If you encounter someone brand new here, feel free to link this to them. So many of us are "lost" when we're new and have no idea where to start. This wiki is a good place to start, along with the support from the wonderful members of this subreddit. If you're looking for more links to helpful information from the sidebar, scroll to the bottom of this post. I've added them there, after the Wiki information, for convenience.)
So you've decided you want to quit Kratom.
submitted by QuittingKteam to quittingkratom [link] [comments]
So you've decided you want to quit Kratom.
Withdrawal Symptoms
You may experience a number of withdrawal symptoms, both physical and psychological. Keep in mind that all humans are affected differently and experiences with symptoms will differ among us.Physical Withdrawal Symptoms
The most common physical withdrawal symptoms experienced are outlined below.Restless Leg Syndrome
Also known as RLS, this is the most common symptom of withdrawal. It can be described as an irresistible urge to move one's body to stop uncomfortable or odd sensations. It most commonly affects the legs, but can also affect the arms, torso, and head. Moving the affected body part modulates the sensations, providing temporary relief. On average, this symptom will be almost entirely gone by day 7.Insomnia
As you would expect with RLS, insomnia is another commonly experienced withdrawal symptom. Lack of sleep usually occurs due to RLS, but it can continue even without RLS present.Uncontrollable Body Temperature
This withdrawal symptom can be common, yet not as common as the two above. This symptom causes the body to experience drastic changes in temperature within a short period of time. This probably sounds much worse than it really is, but during the day it is fine. At night it involves being cold, putting the covers over you, then being really warm and throwing all the covers off.Other symptoms
In addition to the above, you may experience a runny nose, teary eyes, sneezing, diarrhea, and an aching body. These are generally not a major problem. For diarrhea, loperamide can help (see below). For aches and pains, OTC pain relievers such as Advil can be useful.Psychological Withdrawal Symptoms
Commonly referred to as PAWS (Post Acute Withdrawal Symptoms). Usually the psychological withdrawals tend to kick in after the physical withdrawals have passed. Described below are the most common psychological withdrawals that are experienced.Lethargy
The lack of energy and enthusiasm is the most common psychological withdrawal experienced. This symptom can be minor for some, but it is quite commonly major. Although ironic, a good remedy for this lethargic feeling is exercise. It may be hard to get exercising initially due to the lethargy, but many people experience a huge improvement in their mood afterwards.Cravings
Cravings are quite commonly experienced by addicts withdrawing from Kratom. Major cravings can cause addicts to relapse if the impulse is acted upon. Usually cravings don't last too long, and they seem to come in waves. Psychologically, cravings can play with your mind. You may find yourself thinking things like "I'll just take it this once, I've already made the decision to quit so I won't do it again".Depression
Depression can play a big part in relapse when it comes to recovery from Kratom addiction. Although some users have existing mood disorders or depression, the PAWS during Kratom withdrawal hugely amplify these feelings/mindsets. Expect to experience some mild to moderate depressed feelings during PAWS and prepare your mind to acknowledge that these feelings are caused by the Kratom withdrawal. You WILL feel better. Once again exercise is a HUGE help to mitigate the depression experienced during withdrawal. It has been proven that regular exercise is as effective than the most common anti-depressants.Taper vs. Cold Turkey
While one method may work for some, it may not work for another. We are all different and unique in many ways, including the way our body reacts to (lack of) substances.Tapering
Tapering has been tried many times by different people. Some found tapering helpful, others did not. The main advantages of tapering are:- Little to no physical withdrawals symptoms.
- Not as big of a shock on the body.
- Doesn't affect your day-to-day life as drastically as cold turkey (if you can't take time off work or don't have a weekend free).
- Requires a lot of self control and discipline.
- Easy to make an impulse decision to take more than your schedule planned.
- Although it may not impact your day-to-day life as drastically as cold turkey, the impact will be longer and more drawn out.
Cold Turkey
The cold turkey method seems to be the more preferable method as well as the most successful. The main advantages are:- Getting it over and done with, no drawn out symptoms.
- Improvement is felt much sooner since the withdrawals are not drawn out.
- Day-to-day life is not affected for as long as it would be tapering.
- Physical withdrawal symptoms that are taxing on the body.
- The withdrawals are much worse over a short period of time compared to tapering.
Managing Your Withdrawals
There are a few tried and tested methods to dealing with various withdrawals symptoms. They are described below.Exercise
The most effective way to make yourself feel better. It has been proven that regular exercise is as effective than the most common anti-depressants. The effects are very profound, and can remain present for hours. Exercise releases a flood of endorphins, directly stimulating your opioid receptors the same way Kratom does, reducing both physical and psychological withdrawal symptoms. Regular exercise will hasten the recovery process by bringing your body's endorphin system back online. It can be difficult to get started, but if you force yourself, you should find that it gets easier after only a few minutes as your heart starts pumping and the endorphins start flowing. Heavy weightlifting is one of the most efficient methods, in terms of benefits vs. time spent, but prolonged cardiovascular activity (jogging, bicycling, etc.) is also effective. Intense yoga is another option.Orgasm
When you stop taking Kratom, your sex drive may return with a vengeance. Take advantage of it :). Orgasm, like exercise, causes a release of endorphins.Meditation
It can be difficult when you are uncomfortable and your mind is racing, but a few minutes of meditation can significantly improve the way you feel. Close your eyes, and let your thoughts flow without trying to control or resist them. Take slow deep breaths, focusing on each inhale and exhale. Try not to think about anything else, but if a thought arises, let it be. Visualize each inhalation as bringing healing energy into your body, and each exhalation as removing negativity. Continue until you feel better, or longer, and repeat the process anytime you feel overwhelmed. Check out /meditation for great tips on meditation.Supplements
Loperamide
Warning, kratom and loperamide.. We don't know if loperamide (in the recommended dosage for diarrhea (https://www.drugs.com/dosage/loperamide.html)) combined with kratom has health risks (in particular heart issues at higher doses), or people could start to abuse it. It had been reported that even the recommended loperamide doses can cause a rebound of withdrawal symptoms after you stop using it . Therfore we don't recommend to use loperamide. Other warnings: At recommended doses, the half-life of loperamide is approximately 10 hours. However, with higher doses, even as little as 16 mg, longer half-lives have been observed (upwards of 41 hours). News videos: "it's actually potentially even worse than using heroin...", "Kratom and Loperamide is a dangerous combination".Supplements
There are a number of drugs and supplements that can improve mood, motivation, and sleep quality. Most of those listed are naturally derived, and many can be easily obtained at such locations as GNC, Vitamin Shoppe, pharmacies, and "natural" grocery stores, as well as online at sites like AllStarHealth, Bodybuilding.com, and Amazon.- Black seed oil. some qk members reported that they used 3 x 2 teaspoons daily at the beginning.
- L-theanine: Found in green tea, this substance has a calming effect and improves cognition. Useful both during the day and to help with sleep.
- Ashwagandha: The "Indian ginseng," Ashwagandha is an adaptogen that improves overall well-being. Like L-theanine, can be used both day and night. "In anxiety and depression, ashwagandha has been demonstrated to be as effective as some tranquilizers and antidepressant drugs. Specifically, oral administration of ashwagandha for five days suggested anxiety-relieving effects similar to those achieved by the anti-anxiety drug lorazepam (Ativan®), and antidepressant effects similar to those of the prescription antidepressant drug imipramine (Tofranil®)": look here.
- Rhodiola rosea: Another adaptogen, this one has mild stimulating qualities (but without the jitters of caffeine). Best taken during the day. (Warning: Rhodiola has MAOI activity and could potentially interact with other meds/supplements. Be careful, do your research, and start with small amounts.)
- DLPA: A combination of the natural "L" form and the synthetic "D" form of the amino acid phenylalanine, DLPA has been shown to fight depression and reduce pain by boosting dopamine levels and preventing the breakdown of enkephalins (similar to endorphins).
- L-tyrosine: boosts dopamine.
- L-phenylalanine: Try L-tyrosine first. If the results are not satisfactory try L-phenylalanine.
- Valerian root: Sleep aid. Smells terrible but can be rather effective. Common in "sleepy" teas.
- 5-HTP: Precursor to serotonin. Improves mood and sleep. People who are taking antidepressant medications should not take 5-HTP, because in that case common side effects are : *Agitation or restlessness *Confusion *Rapid heart rate and high blood pressure *Dilated pupils *Loss of muscle coordination or twitching muscles *Heavy sweating *Diarrhea *Headache *Shivering *goosebumbs"
- Tryptophan: (propably superior to 5-HTP).
- SAM-e: Is a quick acting antidepressant.
- Chamomile and passion flower: These two herbs, widely available as teas, can help with anxiety and insomnia. At least one ex-Kratom addict has reported that, in does of 2-4 teabags, they can be very effective. WARNING: Passion flower is a MAO inhibitor, don't use it together with kratom.
- Melatonin: The body's sleep hormone, used for regulating the sleep/wake cycle. Tells the body that it's time to sleep. Taking too much (more than a milligram or two) can screw up the body's circadian rhythm and have the opposite of the intended effect. Good in combination with valerian root and 5-HTP. Some feel very groggy after taking melatonin.
- Kava: An herb that reduces anxiety, but can be hit-or-miss when it comes to sleep.
- Chocolate: Contains phenethylamine, which reduces anxiety and improves mood and cognition. Buy a generous amount of dark chocolate with a high cacao concentration, and eat as much of it as you want. The more, the better. Alternatively, phenethylamine is available as a supplement.
- Magnesium: Helps with sleep. Many people believe that Calcium needs to be taking with Magnesium for absorption, but this is not true. Calcium and Magnesium actually compete for the same transport system into the blood so it is better to take them at different times during the day. The only time this competition is eliminated is in the case where calcium and magnesium are bound to a single amino acid and are called calcium and magnesium amino acid chelates, as opposed to calcium carbonate/citrate or magnesium oxide/citrate. Minerals in the amino acid chelate form have double the absorption rate of calcium carbonate and magnesium oxide because they do not have to be altered in order to enter the bloodstream. Source.
- Cannabis: Given its legal status, not everybody is able or willing to obtain it, but cannabis can potentially aid with a wide spectrum of withdrawal symptoms. Indica-dominant strains are recommended for insomnia and anxiety, while Sativas are better suited for improving mood, motivation, and appetite. (However, it should be noted that Sativas can worsen anxiety in some cases.) Medical dispensaries, if you have access, are the best option due to the wide variety of strains available. If you have had problems with other drugs or drug substitution in the past, it is advised not to use Cannabis after quitting Kratom as it may lead to another substitution.
Prescription drugs
In addition, there are various prescription drugs that can be of assistance. The ones listed below are prescription-only. These are not necessarily recommended; do your research before considering them. Be especially careful if you are taking any psychiatric prescriptions, such as SSRIs, MAOIs, or Wellbutrin. The following information is not a substitute for medical advice. Always consult your doctor. [We do not recommend to use this medications together with Kratom].- Gabapentin: Gabapentin is an epilepsy and nerve pain drug, which is also prescribed for the restless leg syndrome. The drug acts as a sedative. It also helps with sleep and gives you energy. Don't abuse it, gabapentin causes a withdrawal syndrome if you use it for too long (use it maximal 5-6 days). Drug experts say the effects of using gabapentin for long periods of time or in very high quantities, particularly among sensitive populations like pregnant women, are not well-known. Attention:"treatment with gabapentin is associated with a substantial increase in the risk of opioid-related death".
- Clonidine: Due to its lack of abuse potential, doctors will generally not hesitate to prescribe it for a patient undergoing withdrawals. Clonidine can "stop" an opioid withdrawal relatively effectively, which is (simplified) due to the following mode of action: Adrenaline docks onto two receptors when released: α1 and α2. Clonidine docks onto α2-adrenergic receptors and “blocks” them. Also lowering blood pressure, works against the "adrenaline rush". Clonidine has an idiosyncrasy, i.e. the first dose of the active ingredient triggers an effect opposite to the actual effect !. Clonidine doses must be slowly increased, starting at a low dose. It should also be noted that clonidine must not be discontinued immediately; the dose has to be slowly reduced, because otherwise there can be a blood pressure crisis - with an already destabilized blood pressure (due to withdrawal), extreme caution is required here and we strongly recommend that treatment with clonidine is only carried out under medical supervision. Existing depression can be exacerbated or a new depression can be triggered by using clonidine. Existing depression can be exacerbated or a new depression can be triggered by using clonidine.
- Modafinil/adrafinil (Provigil, Nuvigil): [Warning: Do not use Modafinil together with Kratom (it may cause seizures)] A unique, non-euphoric stimulant, used to treat narcolepsy, shift-work disorders, and by Air Force pilots as a replacement for amphetamine. This drug, at levels of 100-200mg per day, can relieve the malaise and lack of motivation associated with withdrawal. Should not be taken within 12 hours of bedtime. While Modafinil is under Schedule IV in the US, Adrafinil, which metabolizes to Modafinil in the liver, is unscheduled and can be easily purchased.
- Selegiline (L-deprenyl): A MAO-B inhibitor used to treat Parkinson's, this drug increases levels of dopamine in the brain and has been shown to increase lifespan in rats. Unlike traditional MAOIs, selegiline does not require dietary restrictions, and is generally considered quite safe at levels of 5-10mg. Do not take near bedtime. Unscheduled in the US. .
Stem and Vein Kratom
Although total alkaloid levels are lower than in leaf, there is supposedly relatively more mitragynine present in S&V. The levels of mitraphylline, rhynchophylline (related to mitragynine) and corynantheidine are higher. In kratom communities on the internet it is sometimes reported that S&V can reduce tolerance to kratom, but this seems not to be the case. Anecdotal reports claim that S&V can be useful for mitigating withdrawal symptoms, and accelerating the brain's recovery from kratom addiction. There is a great guide on using stem and vein kratom to taper off here.Relapse
Relapse is a normal part of recovery. It has happened to every single one of us. Try not to beat yourself up about it or feel like you are worthless and useless. That doesn't help a thing. It is just a small bump in your road to recovery. All you can do is get back up, dust yourself off and get back to quitting as soon as you are ready. You will know when you are ready.More important information from the sidebar
- Quitting Kratom: What to Expect
- A list of possible Kratom withdrawal Symptoms
- Guide to Quitting Kratom Cold Turkey
- Tapering Guide
- Odds and ends of withdrawal symptoms
- PAWS (Post Acute Withdrawal Syndrome)
- So-called "Kratom Alternatives"
- Naltrexone: Important Information & Personal Experience
- Mega-Dosing Liposomal Vitamin C protocol for Withdrawal
- Wim Hof Method: An Awesome Set of Exercises
- Read Sub Rules and the "READ THIS FIRST if you're new..." Guide before posting
- How to add your Quit Date next to your username
2023.05.29 08:51 ScantlyChad [BATTLE] The Ottoman-Safavid War of 1517-1518
Early Spring, 1518
Persia
Deep in the Persian interior of Shah Ismail's empire, the Safavid army camp was returning to life with the dawn of a new campaigning season. Military operations had come to an expected halt with the coming of the 1517 winter, with levies marching back to their homes, nomadic warrior clans migrating to fairer fields, and military leadership (normally) taking the time to rest and revitalize. However, the numerous setbacks of the prior year's campaign had not been kind to the health of Ismail, or to that of his realm.When the Shah emerged from his winter quarters to head up the army for the next round of war, it immediately sparked alarm among his followers that Ismail looked worse now than he did just a few months ago. The winter's isolation had compounded his descent from the prophecy of a legendary poet-warrior to that of a humbled, bedraggled sot. He now carried himself with less care and confidence. His messy hair and beard remained untrimmed. Even now when he donned his armor, which was tailored to fit the once-great warrior, it now appeared to be made for a much different man much larger than him.
It was this Ismail that would emerge from the tent in the Spring of 1518. It was this Ismail that would sit and squint to the horizon, watching for contingents of his nomadic and levied army to march back to his main camp. It was this Ismail that would scowl as his sergeants noted the desertions among his ranks that had occurred over the winter, resulting in a smaller army that had been anticipated. And it was this Ismail that had delayed marching out with such a small army, until the awful realization came upon him and that he could delay no more, that this decimated army would be the one which he would lead.
This army would also be less coherent and effective than the previous armies fielded by the Shah. Though he dreaded to address such glaring issues, the truth of the matter was that the defeats of last year had broken down the prestige and power of the militant Safavid cause, and thus, with it, the strict adherence of the nomadic Qizilbash warriors. Long-standing clan rivalries which had previously been frozen in place by their shared cause of fighting for the Mahdi were now once again returning as Ismail's reputation melted away. The Qilizbash of this year might be just as likely to engage in savagery against their own realm as they would to their enemies.
And finally, there came to that issue of military intelligence. Ismail's plans the year prior had been dictated by the belief that he had been fed working military intelligence from his spies within the Ottoman Empire. The failures of his army in their failed Spring offensive would reveal that such intelligence had been faulty, and purposefully so. Though this source of information would continue to feed him military intelligence of where and when the Ottoman Imperial Army had planned to strike, Ismail had come to the decision that he would be better off ignoring such intelligence this year. There's an old saying in Tabriz- and although such a saying is also known in Tehran, it is probably also well known amongst those in Tabriz as well- and this saying is as follows: fool me once, shame on - shame on you. Fool me - you can't get fooled again.
And with his own health and that of his army on such a positive footing, Ismail set off on campaign, looking to drive the invaders from his realm. While a small contingent under Abdal Beg Talish went south, the majority of the army would be marching north from which to counter any enemy offensives out of Tabriz, in addition to another smaller contingent under Durmish Khan Shamlu heading north in order to counter Georgian advances in Shirvan.
Tabriz
Though the invaders had also paused their campaigns over the winter, the occupied territories of Kurdistan and Armenia remained hubs of activity just as they had been in the campaigning seasons. A carefully maintained network of grain imports supported by caravans and guarded by Imperial and Georgian patrols helped to support the wintering armies on the frontlines. When these armies would muster themselves in the spring, they would find that this expensive supply network had paid off, and that they would not be suffering the same levels of desertion that would cripple their foes.As the Georgian-Ottoman occupation forces of the city resumed their work in fortifying the city for an expected Safavid counterattack, a large Georgian contingent headed by King Giorgi would set off eastward, to besiege the city of Ardibil that had evaded the permanent capture of the Georgian army so many years ago. This speed of this march would be hampered by fierce local resistance, though the Georgians were able to evade losses due to the large size of their army which afforded them to make a number of security measures aimed at countering ambushes and raids carried out by the locals. Bostanabad surrendered to the invaders upon seeing such a sizable force, and Duzduzan would fall to the invaders after a quick siege hurried through a daring assault on the walls commanded by the King. When the walls of Sarab were reached, the city was methodically surrounded, a siege camp was constructed, and the construction of sieges engines would be started by the royal engineers. As the Georgian army settled in for what they expected to be another quick siege, the Safavid army headed up by Shah Ismail marched northward to counter them before the fall of the city and the eventual fall of Ardibil along with it.
Though this Georgian army would hold the advantage of army size over the Safavid force, their lack of light scout cavalry would hurt them quite immensely, as they were unable to report and respond to the threat of Ismail's incoming army until he was just about to strike.
Though the Georgian army fought as ably as they could, the unexpected nature of the Safavid attack was damaging. Qizilbash cavalry charged from the hills and into the Georgian camp aided by repeated bombardments from Safavid archers, causing a great deal of casualties and chaos among the Georgian ranks. This army was only saved from complete rout and defeat when the brave King Giorgi and his knights rallied his scattered men into carrying out a counterattack, temporarily forcing Ismail's forces away from the field. Recognizing that Ardibil itself was a secondary objective not worth such heavy losses, a retreat to Tabriz was ordered, in which the disorganized Georgian army somehow just managed to carry out as another round of Safavid attacks began on their supply and rear lines.
Shirvan
Like the Georgian army in the south, this army to the north would also see much in the way of early victories. Over the winter, Georgian agents had managed to convince Hasan Sultan, the exiled Khan of Shaki, into supporting their advance against Shah Ismail. Prince Demetre's army in this region swelled in size with the arrival of Hasan Sultan and his supporters.But like the army to the south, this army would also be hampered in early spring by the arrival of Safavid forces in the region. Durmish Khan Shamlu and his men would square off with those of the Sultan and the Prince, and for many weeks, skirmishes would be fought in this region, with both attempting to outmaneuver the other in a pitched battle.
Northern Iraq
Fresh from their winter rest, the Ottoman Army began their 1518 campaign with a southward advance on the city of Mosul. Led by Grand Vizier Piri Mehmed Pasha, this army would see its numbers also bolstered by local allies, though allies were more a matter of symbolism than of actual military support, as the local Kurdish support for the Ottoman cause had translated more into pledges of fealty rather than going so far as to support with large numbers of Kurdish tribal soldiers as the Ottoman leaders would have hoped.Though the city of Mosul refused to surrender, it fell after a short siege. The army advanced, and then Erbil fell in the same manner. Though Abdal Beg Talish's forces had, by this time, arrived in the region to support local resistance against the advancing Ottoman army, the massive size of the Ottoman army and its superior composition of both heavy and light cavalry allowed for it to easily counter the raids, ambushes, and skirmishes carried out by Safavid forces that had plagued the Georgian army.
With two key cities under their thumb and local resistance pacified, the Grand Vizier looked to the lands of the south that lay open to his armies. With such a massive force and such little resistance before him, how could the Ottoman advance be stopped?
Late Spring, 1518
Tabriz
The victory of Ismail at the Battle of Sarab had done wonders to restore his reputation among his forces. While he couldn't fully repair the tribal fractures that had started to emerge in his army structure, nor could he rally up reinforcements from the ranks of deserters, he could march on Tabriz and start the process of liberating his realm from enemy occupation. With the Spring season now in full swing, Ismail marched at the head of his revitalized army as they advanced forward towards Tabriz, on the tail of the retreating Georgian army.Though perhaps if the Shah knew what laid before him, perhaps if he had not been so thoroughly deceived by military intelligence in the previous year and had been more willing to listen to it this year, he might not have marched forward with such misplaced confidence, and perhaps he would caution such brazen use of his army. But with the fresh taste of one victory, the Shah was eager for another. He was hell-bent on restoring his prophesized reputation with another great victory, and so he would be looking for any opportunity to engage his retreating opponent before him.
The Georgians had prepared well in the event that the Ismail return to Tabriz. Food and supplies had been carted into the city, construction teams worked constantly to repair the walls, letters were pre-written to Ottoman allies and Prince Demetre requesting relief, and the relief was provided to the citizens of Tabriz in order to secure their loyalty, at least temporarily, all done in the event of a coming siege.
The defeated Georgian army made their way into the safety of the walls of the city. Although they didn't prefer being stuck inside the city for the siege, the rushed nature of their rtreat and the sudden advance of the Sfavaid left the Georgian Kings no choice but to remain in the walls during the siege. Letters were sent north and south, and soon after the Safavid army arrived in the region, surrounded the city, and began to besiege. The roles were now reversed. The second siege of Tabriz had begun.
Shirvan
Over the course of the Spring, the armies of Prince Demetre and Hasan Sultan had managed to triumph over Durmish Khan Shamlu, with the skirmishes decided well in their favor. As Safavid forces began to retreat from the region, Prince Demtre was also forced to retreat as his armies marched south to relieve Tabriz. Hasan Sultan opted to remain in the region to countinue the fight for his homeland, though with the Georgian withdrawal the Safavids returned to the field and now they were the ones with the upper hand in the skirmishes over the region, erasing gains made by the invading forces over the past few weeks.Iraq
It was at this point that Ottoman forces had now split into four. For an ordinary army, this would be a risky move, but for an army as large and as organized as the Ottoman army, it would probably not be such a huge issue. The first of these groups would return to Tabriz in order to relieve the siege. The second would advance on Baghdad and begin a siege, while the third and fourth groups would secure flanks of the Ottoman advance through Iraq.Safavid resistance to the Ottoman advance remained minimal, even with the forces of Abdal Beg Talish operating in the region. Recognizing both that the Ottoman army was headed for Baghdad and that they were nothing more a small buzz against the constant, unwavering drone of Imperial power, Abdal Beg Talish decided to cancel the strategy of harassments and chose to reinforce the city in order to attempt to stall the Ottomans with a protracted siege of Baghdad.
Abdal Beg Talish and his men beat the Ottomans to the city, but it was after this that what little Safavid power remained in the region fell apart. As the Ottomans approached the walls of Baghdad, they offered the Abdal a chance to surrender, which was refused.
However, as the Ottomans then settled into siege positions, Abdal remained at the walls. Perhaps he intended to inspire his men by leading from the front, but upon witnessing the Ottomans cast their massive siege guns before his very eyes, Abdal lost the stomach to fight, surrendered the city to the Grand Vizier, and in the chaos of it all, then fled eastward with a few followers to link up with Shah Ismail. Piri Mehmed Pasha elected not to pursue the yellow-bellied fool and instead ordered a two-day celebration for the army that now occupied the city of Baghdad. The Ottoman armies on the flanks continued to push southward, meeting almost no resistance from the locals who had no strong desire to support their oppressive Safavid overlords.
Summer, 1518
Tabriz
Nobody was safe from the blazing heat of the Tabrizi summer, defenders and besiegers alike.For the past few months, the city had suffered under siege from Safavid siege, though this suffering was eased by the abundance of food and supply within the walls of the city. The shelling of Ismail's mortars did temporarily halt when he ordered his engineers to divert the Aji Chay away from the city in order to cut off their vital supply of water, though this effort was halted when the Georgians sallied out from their walls to ambush the engineers. The city's water supply was saved, though the Georgians did suffer moderate casualties in the process.
The siege continued on for a few miserable weeks with slow progress against the walls made by mortars and sappers, and losses on both sides compounded by heat exhaustion. This state of the siege would only be broken with news of incoming relief forces from the north and the south.
Ottoman-Georgian strength had now swelled to double that of the Safavids, but their numbers were spread out into three groups. Like at Alesia, the besieging Safavid forces were starting to be surrounded by incoming relief forces, though the coordination of these scattered relief forces remained in question as communication was spotty at best as the Safavid forces proved to be a major hurdle for messages.
Looking to score another victory, Ismail ordered his troops to prepare for a quick attack on the scattered relief forces, whilst also preparing for any possible attack from the forces within Tabriz who might seek to sally out at this moment. By ordering such a rapid attack, he hoped to further scatter his foes before they could further communicate any coordinated attacks on his own army.
With little preparation, Ismail split his army into three and launched the attacks on his enemies. Though poorly coordinated, the rapid nature of his attacks caught his enemies off guard. The Georgian relief force under Prince Demetre could only weather the sudden attack for a short period of time before they were beaten from the field and their forces scattered. The Ottoman forces, which were much more numerous in size, were also forced to pull back, though it was the heroics of the Janissaries and their deployment of Tabur Cenci formation that saved the day. While a number of Azabs pulled back, the Janissaries held strong and the center could not be broken. The Ottoman cavalry fared well against their Safavid counterparts, and the army was able to hold, though not without significant losses. In the end, the mounting losses convinced the Ottoman commander to withdraw and regroup with his retreating forces, in order to save the fight for another day.
It was during this attack that the Georgian army within Tabriz under the Co-Kings also decided to seize the moment and ordered a counter attack on the Safavid forces remained stuck into the siege. The gates flew open as the army sallied forth to attack the Safavid siege camps, though the poor coordination of both armies meant high casualties suffered by both sides.
By now, the second siege of Tabriz had turned into a Battle of the Plains of Tabriz, and a very chaotic battle at that. Ismail's army had completely lost all semblance of coordination in his mad quest for a major victory, and now they were just as scattered about as his opponent. His attempts to regroup his tribal warriors under his own command had mixed success, resulting in a sizable section of his army withdrawing from the field to give chase to the retreating Georgian relief force while the rest turned to face the Georgian army that had sallied out. In this third and final attack they were also successful in forcing the retreat of the Georgian army back to the walls of Tabriz, but were unable to exploit this victory into any further gains in the siege.
In the Battle of the Tabrizi Plains, Ismail has scored a great victory, forcing three enemy armies from the field while the siege camp just managed to hold on. But at what cost? While the Georgian relief force was in full retreat, the Ottoman force had pulled back to a more defensible position and the walls of Tabriz remained under enemy control, as the scattered nature of his forces prevented him from pursuing either of these. Worse yet, his own side had suffered very heavy losses in his daring offensive gambles, which would certainly harm his ability to wage war in the future. To make matters worse, his siege of the city would have to be put on pause as his men focused on clearing the dead from the field rather than on supplying the sappers and mortars responsible for the siege. To top it all off, a very sheepish-looking Abdal Beg Talish had arrived at the Safavid camp with just a hundred men of what was once a force of two thousand that had been sent to stop the Ottoman advance in the south. Why was he here?
Iraq
Ottoman forces in the region had fully occupied Safavid-held Mesopotamia, all the way from Mosul to Basra. And then they went further.Deciding that further war must be made against the Shia menace, the Ottoman armies then crossed into Musha'sha' territory and made war against these Shia militants as well, with little trouble. Though captured Musha'sha' leadership claimed to be sworn enemies of the Shah, their luck ran out when they were questioned on the manner of their true faith. The faithful and fanatic leadership Musha'sha' refused to apologize for their crimes against the tombs of the the Abbasid Caliphs and Sunni Imams in the region, and for this, they were killed.
With their victory complete in the region, the Ottoman forces marched northeast, further into Persia, though this progress was halted by incoming news at the Battle of the Plains of Tabriz. With this, they withdrew from their advance and started a rapid march northward in order to reinforce their army in the region and to make battle against the remnants of the forces of the Shah.
Syria
Although one would not expect Syria of all places to be disturbed by war at this time, this region has also found itself in a state of chaos. Two Emirs claimed to have received the acceptance of the Sultan Korkut for further Mamluk self-governance of the region, have ordered a withdrawal of the instruments and agents of Ottoman bureaucracy from the region. While their claims found support from a number of notable Mamluk nobles in the region, their challenges to Ottoman power were countered by other local Emirs, a minority of Mamluk notables, and, of course, the Ottoman bureaucrats, who made public statements against the two rebellious Emirs and their claims at representing the demands of the region.Not to be deterred, the Emirs and their supporters responsible demanding further autonomy quickly mustered forces with the intent on pacifying any resistance to their claims. As a result of these forces being raised, other notables in the region have also raised their own forces with the goal of countering this power grab. An appeal for aid has also been sent to the capital to put down these rebellious Emirs.
And, in the midst of all this chaos, the bodies of Venetian merchants have been found on the streets of Beirut. it appears that they were robbed, stripped naked, and then killed. Local authorities are doing what they can to investigate such maters, given the circumstances.
Fall, 1518
Tabriz
The siege of Tabriz continued, with the Georgian forces bottled up inside the city and the Safavids able to just barely to make further progress. Supplies were now starting to dwindle, but the weakened state of the besiegers meant that communication was easier for those within the city. News of a complete Ottoman victory in Iraq had caused spirits to rise, but there also was the worry that the Ottoman army would not arrive in time to provide a secondary relief.Still, there was some respite from the threat of sappers, mortar shells, and starvation. The true nature of the capture of Baghdad due to the cowardly actions had been revealed to Ismail, and so the besiegers and defenders alike were treated to the sight of Abdal Beg Talish being dressed in women's clothing and ridden on a donkey through the camp and in front of the walls of the city.
But despite the progress made by Ismail in recapturing his great city, it was transpiring that this siege would not be one to recapture it. The main Ottoman army filtered into the region and positioned themselves for an attack on Ismail's much smaller besieging army. It was only under the many protestations of his generals and his solders that Shah Ismail was convinced to take his two victories and not go searching for a third against this Ottoman army, for it was believed, perhaps even by Ismail himself, that he would not see a final success against the Ottoman army. Ismail ordered his scribes to record his retreat as reluctant, and with that, the siege of Tabriz was ended as the Safavid army slipped away before the Ottomans could strike. They once again fled further into Persia, evading pitched battle with the main Ottoman force.
The defenders of Tabriz cheered as the Safavid army fled the field and the Ottoman army replaced them. The Co-Kings and their army had survived.
Armenia and Shirvan
The Georgians under the Prince continued to fall back further and further into Armenia until they were chased no longer. This army then found shelter in Yerevan, where they settled in for the winter.As for their pursuers, the Qizilbash cavalry who had refused to return to the field of battle and instead charged north in search of plunder and captives, this force had descended into nothing more than a mob of cavalry. It stopped its pursuit of the Georgians and instead set its sights on pilfering the local Christians in this country, perhaps out of revenge for siding with the Georgians, perhaps out of pure search for plunder, or perhaps simply out of the complete collapse of order that had taken root in the Qizilbash forces.
Even with the Shah's two great victories, he continued to suffer a breakdown in command over the nomadic cavalry. While he had slain many infidels and heretics in the field of battle, he had failed in liberating his lands. As the SHah retreated further into Persia, he suffered further desertions and issues of disloyalty.
In Shirvan, Hasan Sultan has suffered further losses and continues to fall back against the victorious forces of Durmish Khan Shamlu.
Syria
After a brief yet bloody campaign, the rebellious Emirs and Mamluks have managed to seize a sizable amount of land in Ottoman Syria and repeat their claims that they have been liberating the region from Ottoman bureaucracy to return to the old ways of Mamluk self-governance. Although the armies of these Emirs has halted their campaign for the winter, their army is rumored to be no less than ten thousand strong, capable of further advances on undefended Ottoman territory, though its troops are thinly spread. However, the brutal nature of their campaign has done them no favors in winning over the local reaya or even the influential merchant class, which has seen its wealth explode under Ottoman rule. Chaos continues to reign over the region as the Ottoman army appears to be too distracted in the east to form a proper response to this madness.Also, those Venetian merchants? Not even Venetian. Or merchants, as it turns out. Turns out they were agents of the Knights Hospitaller, who had come to the region in an attempt to hire assassins to kill the Sultan, but they arrived at just a time that the region fell into chaos, and as a result they were robbed and killed.
Something weird's going on over here.
MAP
2023.05.29 06:37 longislandicedtay RANT: rose on the windshield “hometown” was embellished
This is a little late, but I heard the hometown from Monday today and it absolutely made my blood boil. I’m specifically talking about the story about the woman passing through El Paso. I wrote in for my own hometown (fingers crossed or the right person reads it) because it is literally about my hometown and portrays it in the most negative light with completely made up facts.
I thought I’d share what I found because her story sounded very made up and after fact checking I found some major discrepancies in her story.
Here is my evidence: Firstly, between El Paso and Las Cruces there are no BBQ restaurants near a Chase Bank. There’s a chase bank in El paso near a famous Dave’s but it is across an incredibly busy four lane street. being in Texas, El Paso is definitely not known for its BBQ. We have a few fine establishments but nothing remotely close to a Chase Bank that may have qualified as worth stopping at. I went thru and checked every Chase bank in the area and surrounding bbq restaurants, and no such restaurant matches their description.
The most famous/highly rated bbq joint outside of El Paso between here and Las Cruces is Rolling Smoke in Anthony, NM, which is nowhere near a bank.
Secondly, placing a rose on the windshield of person has not been substantiated as a tactic of human traffickers. From my research, it has been widely agreed that it is an unsubstantiated claim and a news story from 2021 about people getting freaked out in Coshoton at a Walmart after a woman who had just gotten engaged decided to share leftover roses from her engagement with strangers by placing them on her car.
El Paso is not number 1 in the world for sex trafficking. There are no statistics I could find that suggested this.
There’s something fundamental you need to understand. El Paso is on the border with Juarez, Mexico. We are in the midst of a migrant crisis. Many people are coming into El Paso for immigration purposes. For a time there were close to tens of thousand sod migrants struggling to survive in our downtown. Migrants are often smuggled/trafficked into El Paso by coyotes, who work on behalf of the cartels to help people illegally cross into the United States.
I’m spite of this current crisis, El Paso has and continues to be one of the safest cities in the United States.
It’a beautiful border town that embraces a Mexican heritage, and is a mix of desert and mountains. The food is wonderful, there’s so much beauty here and it does have its flaws but it’s still home and I will defend it to no end.
For thorough research and not fear mongering about sex trafficking, I highly recommend the You’re Wrong About episode which dives into what sex trafficking is and isn’t.
TLDR: I’ve found substantial evidence that the rose on the windshield story was embellished (no such restaurant she described exists and I felt the need to defend my hometown of El Paso) and the writer made up facts such as El Paso being the number 1 place in the world for sex trafficking.
submitted by longislandicedtay to myfavoritemurder [link] [comments]
I thought I’d share what I found because her story sounded very made up and after fact checking I found some major discrepancies in her story.
Here is my evidence: Firstly, between El Paso and Las Cruces there are no BBQ restaurants near a Chase Bank. There’s a chase bank in El paso near a famous Dave’s but it is across an incredibly busy four lane street. being in Texas, El Paso is definitely not known for its BBQ. We have a few fine establishments but nothing remotely close to a Chase Bank that may have qualified as worth stopping at. I went thru and checked every Chase bank in the area and surrounding bbq restaurants, and no such restaurant matches their description.
The most famous/highly rated bbq joint outside of El Paso between here and Las Cruces is Rolling Smoke in Anthony, NM, which is nowhere near a bank.
Secondly, placing a rose on the windshield of person has not been substantiated as a tactic of human traffickers. From my research, it has been widely agreed that it is an unsubstantiated claim and a news story from 2021 about people getting freaked out in Coshoton at a Walmart after a woman who had just gotten engaged decided to share leftover roses from her engagement with strangers by placing them on her car.
El Paso is not number 1 in the world for sex trafficking. There are no statistics I could find that suggested this.
There’s something fundamental you need to understand. El Paso is on the border with Juarez, Mexico. We are in the midst of a migrant crisis. Many people are coming into El Paso for immigration purposes. For a time there were close to tens of thousand sod migrants struggling to survive in our downtown. Migrants are often smuggled/trafficked into El Paso by coyotes, who work on behalf of the cartels to help people illegally cross into the United States.
I’m spite of this current crisis, El Paso has and continues to be one of the safest cities in the United States.
It’a beautiful border town that embraces a Mexican heritage, and is a mix of desert and mountains. The food is wonderful, there’s so much beauty here and it does have its flaws but it’s still home and I will defend it to no end.
For thorough research and not fear mongering about sex trafficking, I highly recommend the You’re Wrong About episode which dives into what sex trafficking is and isn’t.
TLDR: I’ve found substantial evidence that the rose on the windshield story was embellished (no such restaurant she described exists and I felt the need to defend my hometown of El Paso) and the writer made up facts such as El Paso being the number 1 place in the world for sex trafficking.
2023.05.29 04:46 scarlet2248 Recommended Wedding Venues by State Part I
 | California Wedding VenuesCarneros Resort and SpaLocated at 4048 Sonoma Hwy, Napa. It has a rustic charm where you can see vineyard views and rolling hills. Also offers a hilltop restaurant with an outdoor venue that can accommodate up to 300 people. Catering, wedding planning, floral arrangements, photography, and other services are available. And the starting price is $200 per person.https://preview.redd.it/hsuvufj35q2b1.png?width=1200&format=png&auto=webp&s=7dde25aaa6c10d5ec27f3693f1307d8e3d152e36 Park WintersLocated at 27850 County Road 26, Winters. This is a five-star wedding venue and estate located in the middle of a farmland. There is a historic inn and event barn. This would be perfect for those who love a natural outdoor wedding surrounded by the beauty of the Blue Mountains. Catering, wedding planning, floral arrangements, photography, and more are available. Prices start at $150 per person and can accommodate up to 200 guests.Montage Laguna BeachThe address is 30801 South Coast Highway, Laguna Beach. This romantic waterfront venue offers a lush grassy setting looking out over the coastline and blue sky. The largest ballroom has 7,500 square feet of space and can accommodate up to 500 people. Prices start at $250 per person. Services offered include catering, wedding planning, spa, music, and much more.Oregon Wedding VenuesSentinel HotelLocated at 614 SW 11th Ave, Portland. This hotel is housed in a historic downtown building dating back to 1909. There are several exquisite banquet rooms to choose from, ranging from 50 to accommodate up to 900 people. The ballrooms are ornately decorated with elaborate carvings and elegant chandeliers. Prices start at $150 per person. Necessary wedding services are also available.Mt. Hood Oregon ResortThe location is 68010 East Fairway Avenue, Welches. Which can give you a dream forest wedding surrounded by lush forests and the majestic mountains of Mt. Hood National Forest. Unlike other wedding venues, guided hikes and rafting excursions are available here. There is also a golf course for your use. The largest venue can accommodate up to 400 people. Prices start at $100 per person.Lakeside GardensLocated at 16211 SE Foster Rd Portland, Lakeside Gardens offers essential vendors for photography, videography, flowers, DJs, and hair and makeup services. It is surrounded by a lake and offers a natural view of the garden. The largest hospitality venue can accommodate up to 300 people. Prices start at $100 per person.Washington Wedding VenuesThe Edgewater HotelThe luxury hotel at 2411 Alaskan Way, Seattle, was named "Best Classic Hospitality Venue in the Seattle Area" by Seattle Bride magazine. With views of Elliott Bay, the Olympic Mountains, and the Seattle skyline. The ballroom can accommodate up to 220 guests and prices start at around $200 per person.Sodo ParkLocated at 3200 1st Avenue South, Suite 100 in Seattle. This is a century-old building factory with a different style that makes it very popular in Seattle. The high beams and steamy ceilings make it unique. The entire venue can accommodate up to 300 guests and costs around $150 per person.https://preview.redd.it/7pydpxau5q2b1.png?width=1200&format=png&auto=webp&s=6bb68468589b0b0fd4001d5f0fd9bba8b87ecc81 Cedarbrook LodgeThe address is 18525 36th Ave S, Seattle. Here you will find a lush garden setting and luxurious accommodations. Indoor and outdoor hospitality venues are available to choose from, starting at $150 per person.Arizona Wedding VenuesBoulders Resort & SpaThe address is 34631 N Tom Darlington Dr, Scottsdale. This resort has a fantastic desert and rocky landscape. With open views and the vibrant colors of the desert sky at sunset. Offers a luxurious spa, and outdoor ceremony space. Prices start at $200 per person and can accommodate up to 300 guests.The PhoenicianLocated at 6000 East Camelback Road Scottsdale. There are various styles of venues to choose from, whether it be lush green gardens, sparkling waterfalls, or breathtaking valley views. There are also several sizes of banquet rooms to choose from. Prices start at $250 per person.Arizona BiltmoreThe resort is located at 2400 E. Missouri Ave Phoenix. Nestled among palm trees and mountains. A magical oasis forms at the base of the Phoenix Mountain Reserve, enjoying a tranquil desert setting. There are also two pools available and a total of six wedding venue options for up to 400 people. Starting at $150 per person.Nevada Wedding VenuesThe VenetianAn old-school luxury hotel located at 3355 South Las Vegas Boulevard, it can bring you the most traditional and unique Las Vegas-style wedding. Here you can admire the Italian style of architecture. Featuring indoor and outdoor ceremony spaces, and luxury accommodations. Starting at $200 per person.Red Rock Casino Resort & SpaLocated at 11011 W Charleston Boulevard, Las Vegas. Unlike other luxury hotels, here you have a view of the Red Rock Canyon. The hotel offers five ballrooms and wedding venues that can accommodate up to 300 people. Prices start at $150 per person.Neon MuseumWant to try something different for your wedding venue? Choose the Neon Museum at 770 Las Vegas Boulevard North, Las Vegas, with its vintage neon signage, outdoor ceremony space, and unique atmosphere. You can take very vintage and fun photos. Prices are $2,500 for a two-hour rental, perfect for smaller weddings.https://preview.redd.it/y81lp1mw5q2b1.png?width=1200&format=png&auto=webp&s=9c2444c8bee3e004a0d33ecaa3a0b3e063374816 Idaho Wedding VenuesBoise DepotLocated at 2603 W Eastover Terrace, Boise. This is a historic Spanish-style building that was once used as a waiting room with the building. 8-hour rental is $1,455 and can accommodate a minimum of 165 people. It is important to note that government-owned venues like this have strict rules of use. So it is best to check carefully before renting.https://preview.redd.it/ltd94bwy5q2b1.png?width=1200&format=png&auto=webp&s=ccee5ac0e7cc98df66eb8b42662c597758bd8339 Chateau des FleurThe French-style building at 176 S. Rosebud Ln, Eagle. The largest ballroom features ivory walls, beautiful windows, an outdoor exit to the garden, gold chandeliers, and delicate gold wall sconces. Seating for up to 240 guests starts at $100 per person.Still Water HollowLocated at 18120 Dean Ln, Nampa. Has a rustic style and offers brand new indoor barn facilities. Tables and chairs for 150 people, pond with waterfall, fountain, and bridge. Rustic and elegant style venues can be designed for different styles of weddings. 12-hour rentals start at $5,500.Utah Wedding VenuesCastle ParkA full-service event venue located at 110 South Main Street Lindon. Featuring an old castle-style building with outdoor ceremony space. Starting at $5,500 for a 12-hour rental. Catering, wedding planning, and other services are also available.Red Butte GardenMagnificent gardens at 300 Wakara Way, Salt Lake City. With expansive views of mountains, valleys, and gardens, offering a beautiful backdrop of plants. There are also waterfalls, ponds, and many more beautiful spaces. We recommend coming during the growing season of the plants which is the warmer months. This allows for a ceremony to be held in the stunning rose garden. Four-hour rentals from $2,500.Log HavenLocated at 6451 E. Millcreek Canyon Road Salt Lake City has a spectacular mountain wedding and reception venue. With countless natural features and waterfalls, the area also offers activities including skiing, hiking, biking, and golfing. Prices are affordable, with menu pricing starting at $32 per person.Montana Wedding VenuesChico Hot SpringsLocated at 163 Chico Road Pray, Montana, this is a great year-round destination for weddings in Montana. Offering a variety of natural beauty and architectural features. Besides the historic stone houses, there are also mountain views. You can also soak in the hot springs to relieve the fatigue from the ceremony after a long day. Four-hour rentals start at $2,000.Rockin' TJ RanchThe address is 651 Lynx Ln, Bozeman, with unparalleled views of the Bridger Mountains and open meadows. This wedding venue has been a professional wedding service for 20 years and offers full-service planning. Basic venue packages start at $9,495.The Ranch at Rock CreekLocated at 79 Carriage House Ln, Philipsburg, this large ranch allows the exploration of five mountain peaks. Find nature's rest and inspiration in the peaceful, storied West. It is also the world's first Forbes Travel Guide 5-star ranch. With ten square miles of rivers, forests, valleys, and vistas.Of course, this luxury experience comes with a hefty price tag. Charters start at $90,000 per night for groups of 21 or more, plus 23% of the ranch fee. Wyoming Wedding VenuesJackson Lake LodgeLocated in Moran, Grand Teton National Park, this is a beautiful lodge less than five minutes from Jackson Lake. Known for its iconic views of the Teton Mountains. It is a must-see venue for couples who love nature. Because of its location within the National Park, Jackson Lake Lodge is open seasonally from mid-May to early October. Rates start at $150 per person.Shooting Star Jackson Hole Golf ClubThe address is Shooting Star, 6765 Crystal Springs Rd, Teton Village. In addition to the golf course view, a pond, lake, or stream is one of the beautiful views. Starting price is $200 per person.Wyoming StargazingAre you an astronomy enthusiast? Check out the Stargazing Agency located at 1135 Maple Way G1, Jackson. Their wedding packages include the opportunity to learn about the constellations, planets, and the fascinating stories behind them. Stargazing tour leaders will guide the group through the night sky, answering questions and gaining insight into the beauty of the stars. This will be one of the most unique themed weddings guests have ever attended. Prices start at $175 a person.Colorado Wedding VenuesBoettcher MansionLocated at 900 Colorow Rd, Golden's premier historic event venue, the Boettcher Mansion offers unparalleled service in a meticulously maintained estate. Along with the beautiful mansion, there are mountain views for you to enjoy. The ballroom can accommodate up to 150 people with six-hour rentals starting at $3,500.Butterfly PavilionThe Butterfly Pavilion at 6252 W 104th Ave, Westminster can turn your wedding into a fairy tale. Offering outdoor venues such as gazebos, gardens, and a theater. There is also a popular and unique butterfly release ceremony. It is important to note that there are a variety of butterflies and plants, so please treat them with care. The minimum venue rental is $1,800.Great Divide Brewing CompanyGreat Divide Brewing Company, located at 1812 35th St, Denver, allows you to host a beer wedding. Up to 75 guests can be accommodated so they will be in the middle of a keg. The atmosphere will be more relaxed and enjoyable, and a bar and drinks, planning, equipment, and servers will be provided. Rentals are for 6 hours and start at $3000.New Mexico Wedding VenuesLa Fonda on the PlazaThe hotel at 100 E San Francisco St, Santa Fe has a long history as well as a cultural background. It can provide an elegant atmosphere for your wedding, with unique hand-carved furniture in each room. There are four ballrooms to choose from, with authentic New Mexican décor. This includes charming fireplaces, hand-punched pewter chandeliers, and traditional terracotta tiles. Prices for Saturday weddings start at $4,000.Loretto ChapelLocated at 207 Old Santa Fe Trail, Santa Fe's Museum of Historic Places is perfect for weddings. Accommodating 139 guests, the interior of the chapel features original stained glass windows and an ornate altar. In particular, the church's famous spiral staircase is the star of many articles and is worth a look. Prices for Saturday weddings start at $2,500 and services include the use of the church and wedding coordinator.https://preview.redd.it/fe6dx2916q2b1.png?width=1200&format=png&auto=webp&s=8d2e10702746d6b6c978cc0149f31cda7e68b97b Albuquerque Balloon MuseumThis is the hot air balloon museum located at 9201 Balloon Museum Dr. NE, Albuquerque. It offers soaring spaces and panoramic views of the Rio Grande Valley and the Sandia Mountains. The museum features displays of hot air balloons of all colors and eras, including a weather lab. The price to rent the entire museum and North Plaza for six hours is $6,000.North Dakota Wedding VenuesRed River ZooThe Zoo at 4255 23rd Ave S, Fargo will be the most interesting wedding venue. The zoo is home to animals such as red pandas, gray wolves, and Pallas cats. There is plenty of space for outdoor weddings as well as indoor receptions, and a carousel is available in one of the venues. Saturday weddings start at $1,500 and services include tables, chairs, and access to the zoo exhibits.The North Dakota Heritage CenterThe address is 612 E Boulevard Ave, Bismarck. The museum showcases the state's rich history from its earliest geological formations to the present day. Offering a variety of indoor spaces, including galleries and a theater, it provides a unique and educational wedding experience. Prices for Saturday weddings start at $1,500.https://preview.redd.it/9xgracm66q2b1.png?width=1200&format=png&auto=webp&s=1a93e0d6f2377d2b555f63c47fb381ff5a8cf3db Avalon Events CenterPrefer a more modern style wedding? The Event Center at 2525 9th Ave S, Fargo, while historic, offers five function rooms and new audio technology. Five ballrooms offer seating for up to 700 people and a full bar. Saturday weddings start at $2,000.South Dakota Wedding VenuesChapel in the HillsThe church at 3788 Chapel Ln, Rapid City is a place of beauty and inspiration. There are museums, trails, and hillsides to host services. Weddings are performed by the Chapel's pastor and it is open for weddings from May 1 to September 30 each year. The price is $400 for the use of the chapel and courtyard area. This includes a $100 minister's fee.https://preview.redd.it/1cq5faw76q2b1.png?width=1200&format=png&auto=webp&s=ef16d548f88cab604b857a372daa7e803b756fbf The Lodge at DeadwoodThe address is 100 Pine Crest Lane, Deadwood and the backdrop will be the beautiful Black Hills. With four adjoining event rooms and the main ballroom, it provides the perfect space for weddings of any size. Wedding packages are available at a variety of prices, with the least expensive buffet package starting at $65 per person for a minimum of 100 people.Buffalo Ridge ResortA rustic resort located at 1312 Coteau St, Gary. Offers charming and historic wedding venues including a restored barn and beautiful chapel. The venue can accommodate up to 300 people and prices start at $4,500 for a Saturday wedding.Nebraska Wedding VenuesScoular BallroomThe Ballroom at 2027 Dodge St, Omaha, is located just minutes from downtown. Located in the historic Scoular building, from the grand Italian marble floors of the atrium to the romantic balcony overlooking the spacious and inviting ballroom. Offering a modern and elegant wedding venue with a grand ballroom and beautiful outdoor terrace. Accommodates up to 300 guests and starts at $4,000 for a Saturday wedding.Rococo TheatreThe theater at 140 N 13th St, Lincoln can give you a movie-like wedding. The theater has seating for up to 500 guests. The bride and groom can get married on stage while the guests sit in the first few rows of seats. Saturday weddings start at $2,500.The Barn at the Ackerhurst Dairy FarmLocated at 15220 Military Rd, Bennington, this is an Omaha landmark and a historic site in the area. This wedding venue can accommodate up to 450 guests and includes an outdoor ceremony space and a large terrace with a fireplace. Off-season wedding rental rates start at $2,500.Kansas Wedding VenuesMadison Avenue Central ParkCentral Park at 512 E Madison Ave, Derby features a lawn, theater, and playground. And in the southwest corner, there is an event center including an indoor reception and outdoor patio. Accommodating up to 370 people, rates start at $800 for an 8-hour rental.Petroleum Club of WichitaThe address is 100 N Broadway St 900, Wichita. this is a rooftop wedding venue located on top of the iconic Ruffin Building. With views of the skyline and city, it offers personalized service and beautiful décor. Wedding venue fees start at $4500.The Oread HotelLocated at 1200 Oread Ave, Lawrence, the hotel has two large outdoor patios. The patio overlooks the city and the Kansas River. There are nine different banquet rooms to choose from, the largest of which can seat up to 275 people. Prices for Saturday weddings start at $4,000.Oklahoma Wedding VenuesThe Dominion HouseThe main house is located at 602 E. College, Guthrie. The boutique hotel offers both intimate and grand wedding packages, including romantic indoor and outdoor venues. The outdoors includes a wedding garden and a four-season chapel, while the grand ballroom is designed in the opulent style of the 1920s. Wedding packages start at $2,000.Glass ChapelThis is an intimate wedding venue located at 1401 West Washington St S, Broken Arrow. This chapel offers a unique and romantic wedding venue with a beautiful glass chapel and outdoor garden. The triangular roof and all-glass walls will make you feel like you are in a fairy tale world. Outside, the gardens and woods complement the modern design. The church can accommodate up to 100 guests and wedding packages start from $2450.The Springs Event VenueThis is a wedding planning company that offers multiple venues. Event venues are located in various cities throughout Oklahoma, including Edmond, Norman, and Tulsa. Versatile and affordable wedding venues are available with a variety of indoor and outdoor spaces. Prices for Saturday weddings start at $3,950.Texas Wedding VenuesGrand GalvezThis is a historic hotel located at 2024 Seawall Blvd, Galveston. The hotel is surrounded by lush gardens, expansive green spaces, and sparkling beaches. An indoor ballroom and terrace are included, and the ballroom features floor-to-ceiling windows with views of the bay. Up to 200 guests can be accommodated for a great wedding service. Prices for Saturday weddings start at $10,000.The Bell Tower on 34thThis beautiful clock tower is located at 901 W 34th St, Houston, and has a castle-like interior with a magnificent grand staircase, arches, and marble floors. Every aspect of the building is luxurious. Wedding packages are available on an all-inclusive basis, with prices starting at $10,000 for a Saturday wedding.The Oasis on Lake TravisThis restaurant is located at 6550 Comanche Trail, Austin.Along with an event center located 450 feet above Lake Travis, offering unparalleled views. An outdoor patio overlooking the lake is available. Up to 400 guests can be accommodated and prices start at $5,000 for Saturday weddings.Minnesota Wedding VenuesThe Gale MansionThis mansion at 2115 Stevens Ave, Minneapolis is also a very popular wedding venue. With a warm atmosphere and inviting decor, it offers an elegant and convenient space to host the wedding of your choice. 12 hours of rental costs a total of $5,700 including the rental of the mansion and ballroom.The Outpost CenterThe address is 6053 US-212, Chaska. Built on 32 acres of rolling hills and woodlands, it is a beautiful and peaceful venue close to the city. The main venue's red facade and green roof create an oil painting-like backdrop. It has the ambiance of a barn wedding with all the amenities and gorgeous rustic grounds. Wedding packages start at $4675 for 50 guests.Nicollet Island PavilionThe event venue at 40 Power Street, Minneapolis is full of unique charm and style. Exposed brick walls and tall industrial ceilings create an open atmosphere full of character. You can have the best views of the Minneapolis bridges and skyline at this venue. Prices for Saturday weddings start at $3,500.Iowa Wedding VenuesBrenton ArboretumThis is a botanical garden located at 25141 260th St, Dallas Center. It has approximately 2,500 plants representing more than 500 different species, cultivars, and hybrids. Offers great outdoor views and can accommodate up to 300 people. Saturday weddings start at $2,500 and services include access to the gardens and a wedding coordinator.The Temple for Performing ArtsLocated at 1011 Locust Street, Des Moines, it offers a large auditorium, recital hall, and suites for weddings. The Grand Hall can accommodate up to 450 people and features a tinted glass skylight and a magnificent original light fixture and a sculpted ceiling. High-season wedding receptions start at $4000 for the venue.Figge Art MuseumThe Art Museum at 225 W 2nd St, Davenport. The museum's lobby can accommodate 200 guests and has a modern design with high ceilings and terrazzo floors. The striking river view offers countless possibilities. The outdoor terrace provided also offers a magnificent view of the Mississippi River. The rental fee for the lobby is $2,500.https://preview.redd.it/te5pv8ra6q2b1.png?width=1200&format=png&auto=webp&s=68745b1cccd5193021cfeb6108307d8fb38bf103 Missouri Wedding VenuesLemp MansionLocated at 3322 Demenil Pl, St. Louis, this mansion was once the home of a beer magnate but was the site of three suicides. It has since been turned into a restaurant and hotel, offering historical and ghost tours. The mansion has four sites, including a mansion, terrace, auditorium, and loft. Ceremony fees range from $950-$1900 and meals start at roughly $47 per person.Jewel BoxThe public gardening facility in Saint Louis is made of glass plates and copper frames. It has a variety of flowers and plants and is filled with bright sunlight perfect for wedding photography. It can accommodate up to 250 people as a ceremony venue and costs $1,000.https://preview.redd.it/l3moosqd6q2b1.png?width=1200&format=png&auto=webp&s=7e8d682eee85284df8fd428719fcfa6269dd602b Wild CarrotLocated at 3901 Shaw Blvd, St. Louis, with indoor hospitality space and loft and terrace. Includes renovated industrial building and outdoor patio. Prices for Saturday weddings start at $4,000 and can accommodate up to 200 people.Arkansas Wedding VenuesCastle on StagecoachThis is an old castle located at 6601 Stagecoach Rd, Little Rock. Offering intimate indoor spaces, the castle's unique architecture and décor provide an elegant and luxurious setting. The venue includes a lawn, barn, and stables. Prices start at $6,673 for 50 guests.The Brick BallroomThe event space at 119 B S Broadway St, Siloam Springs, was formerly a Chevrolet dealership. The building is 100 years old. Inside are black walls and original tin ceilings, vintage glass chandeliers, blue benches, and a built-in bar with a sink. There are also 5,000 square feet of covered balconies and gardens. The starting venue fee for a high-season wedding is $3,000.Osage HouseLocated at 243 Pace Ln, Cave Springs, offers a beautiful and modern wedding venue. The venue is suitable for couples seeking minimalism, with architectural designs mostly in black and white. A chapel will be located a short distance from the lobby and included in the wedding package. With a maximum capacity of 428 people, wedding venue rentals start at $2800 in high season.Louisiana Wedding VenuesThe Elms MansionLocated at 3029 St Charles Ave, New Orleans, the mansion is a typical Italianate-style building. It features an imported hand-carved marble mantel, decorative cornices, 24-carat gold sconces, and a 48-foot ballroom. Accommodates up to 400 people and starts at $4,500 for a Saturday wedding.The PresbytèreThis museum is located at 751 Chartres St, New Orleans, and has a rich history. A collection of elaborate carnival artifacts and memorabilia. You can hold a ceremony among the beautiful exhibits and rich artifacts and enjoy a fun evening with your family. Accommodates up to 500 guests, starting at $6,590 for 50 guests.Race + ReligiousIt is located at 510 Race Street, New Orleans, and has three buildings with brick courtyards filled with greenery. The hotel has 4,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor event space on the ground floor. Dinner parties can accommodate up to 90 people, and prices start at $7,500 for Saturday weddings.Alaska Wedding VenuesAlyeska ResortThis is a leisurely resort located at 1000 Arlberg Ave, Girdwood. is Alaska's premier year-round destination. Featuring more than 300 guest rooms, many fine dining experiences, a saltwater pool, a ski hill, and bike park, and a brand-new Nordic Spa. The ballroom can accommodate up to 220 guests. Reception rentals range from $500 to $1,000 and include five hours of event time.The Alaska ZooThe Alaska Zoo is located at 4731 O'Malley Rd, Anchorage. Inside are animals such as polar bears, wolves, snow leopards, and other rare species. The zoo has very spacious halls and lawns and a bright greenhouse. Hospitality hall rentals start at $800. Lawn rentals start at $1,450. Greenhouse rentals start at $675.Hotel Captain CookOld fashioned hotel located at 939 W 5th Ave, Anchorage. One of the meeting and function rooms has a stunning panoramic view and fireplace. Panoramic views of the Chugach Mountains and Cook Inlet. Accommodates up to 600 guests and Saturday weddings start at approximately $5,000.Hawaii Wedding VenuesHaiku MillThe address is 250 Haiku Rd, Haiku, a unique European-style building amid Maui's lush surroundings. With over 150 years of history, it is an important landmark. A quaint and beautiful ceremony can be created. The venue can accommodate up to 100 people and prices start at $6,500 for a Saturday wedding.Kauapea BeachAlso known as Secret Beach, has a 3,000-foot-long North Shore beach. Enjoy a sparsely populated stretch of beach with breathtaking views of Moquawe Island and Kilauea Lighthouse. Perfect for your seaside wedding venue. You can look for the right wedding contractor to prepare everything for you and prices will probably range from $800 to $1500.Moana SurfriderThe resort is located at 2365 Kalākaua Ave, Honolulu. First opened in 1901, it is just steps from the perfect shores of legendary Waikiki Beach and within walking distance of Honolulu's most popular shopping, dining, and entertainment attractions. There are seven event rooms in total, and the ballroom can accommodate up to 300 people. Wedding packages range in price from $3,500 to $9,500.To be continuedAfter introducing the most popular and unique wedding venues in the western and central states, we will continue to cover the wedding venues in the eastern states. Stay tuned for part two of our wedding venue recommendations. In the meantime, if you choose an outdoor wedding venue, check out our multi-sized, stylized wedding tent. it will ensure that your outdoor wedding is not disturbed by the weather. |
2023.05.29 02:42 imsadbutitswhatever A few of my bootleg shirts I snagged lol
 | I bought the official merch inside,but I love baseball and long sleeve shirts! They’re not the best,but definitely not the worst ones I saw lol. submitted by imsadbutitswhatever to TheCure [link] [comments] |
2023.05.28 22:13 Sekh765 Running Throne of Salt's Micro Scenario - Amphetamines and Bad Decisions (LONG)
So I ran throneofsalt micro scenario #1 this weekend for two of my players since our third player is sick and our 4th player is out. Since he said nobody had run one yet, here's my breakdown of how it went + what we added / removed to make it work! Also this was the soundtrack blasting during the entire session.
This is a long write up. Read it if you're bored at work.
https://throneofsalt.blogspot.com/2021/09/minimalism.html - The scenario
So with one of my players out and one sick, we had to reduce the number of people in the car down to two, the driver still high as fuck, and the passenger, wounded and bleeding amber liquid. Our sick player wanted to participate so he was "the guy on the phone" they could call to get SIGINT type stuff done. The game was done with new characters that they wanted to introduce to Iconoclasts, so I told them if they survived we could roll them into that upcoming campaign. Since it begins with a bang, we ran it as a very action heavy game with very little breathing room, as befits the original text.
So some changes / additions to make it work. Since we needed something chasing them, and a reason that one of the players is high as fuck, we had them playing as undercover FBI types that DG sent to investigate a sort of neo-nazi germanic inspired biker gang (Czernobog's Chosen) in Albuquerque NM. It fits with the chanting head idea, and also why one of them is super high (forced to take drugs to prove they totally aren't a fed), and why one is injured (shot as they tried to escape with the head). This also gives us a great set of threats to chase the players as they try and bomb down the highway at 120+ mph to get to Truth or Consequences NM, where DG has told them a greenbox awaits that will definitely have something to solve this problem.
So our two players are Agent DRACO (CIA Special Operations) and Agent URSA (US Army Medic), with Agent POLARIS (NSA) on the phone.
What followed was an awesome high speed chase down the highway, fighting off a biker gang armed with shotguns and pistols. The players made numerous navigation checks / drive checks, stealth attempts to throw off their pursuers. To keep action up and to keep the session short since it was a filler action game between our main sessions, I had the bikers all be sort of linked to the unnatural chanting head that was in the trunk and drawn to it so the players could avoid them, but not totally escape them. I also incorporated the blue white lights in the distance to be an unnatural storm also associated with the chanting head that approached and then centered over them to make their checks harder and keep things moving.
They swapped cars twice, once after a crit fail driving check lost their first ride at a big gas station, stealing the first car they could find and losing a tiny amount of SAN from helplessness. Agent URSA decided to try and deal with the chanting head thing and failed a SAN check while dealing with it and we decided he started seeing hallucinations that reinterpreted events around him as Norse / Germanic Myth. I've used this style of hallucinations in another game before and folks always enjoy having their characters seeing weird stuff and trying to deal with it.
The second car they actually had the great idea to call Agent POLARIS and have them search DMV records for a "fast car" and "one that has registered firearms would be great". They found a guy with a decently fast muscle car they could use to hopefully push around bikers and also the guy owned guns so they figure "lets rob him real fast". Queue our high on amphetamines Agent breaking into the place, successfully stealthing the keys and then deciding "lets push our luck". Massive fumble on stealth check leads to a shootout with an armed civilian defending his house, killing that guy and leaving tons of evidence behind for future problems. They definitely lost SAN for that one.
Agent POLARIS helps them avoid some ambush attempts by the bikers, and also helps coordinate highway patrol to take a few of them down. For the most part the players are doing pretty well. I wanted to throw just a little wrench in their plans though and when they drove through the national park right before the end of their journey I just had a plain old deer jump infront of the car. Failed driving check, failed luck roll, passed driving check, and then a 99 rolled for "hey did you put your seatbelt on earlier?" ended up launching the medic out of the car. The car survived, and our main driver only got shook up a bit, but the medic dies on impact with a rock. Bit tragic. But I was thinking about how the scenario wrote that one of the characters tried to commit suicide and failed earlier, and also that weird amber liquid instead of blood sooooooooo....
We decided Agent URSA now has a weird creeping amber "infection" that repairs his injuries, but calcifies that part of his body with amber. So basically, he's got no HP anymore, but is slowly being Amber-ified(?) and thats taking a toll on his SAN and overall just not a great thing to tell your bosses that kill Unnatural things. This let us keep the character, and have some interesting RP stuff to play out with the players that were missing this week.
Final part of the adventure and the climax of our chase ends up at a little shack outside Truth or Consequences, and of course our gang of unnatural bikers has to roll up for a dramatic showdown. Agent DRACO defends the house with their weapons they acquired from the place they robbed + what Agent POLARIS could stash. Agent URSA searches the green box and I used the greenbox generator to make a ton of weird stuff and shoved the item they needed into that and just let them start searching through it. Agent DRACO's extremely high shooting skill pays off and helps keep people at bay, though she ends the adventure with 2hp left (the rainstorm really helped keep the bikers shooting skill low so she didnt just get blown away). Agent URSA eventually located a Trepanning kit with weird germanic looking writing carved into it and Agent POLARIS assists in Trepanning our weird chanting skull, right about the time the Highway patrol respond to the shootout and help deal with the remaining bikers. One massive thunderclap later after a successful medieval surgical procedure and the players can breath easy.
They are able to HUMINT their way out of being instantly arrested using their cover story, but are unable to prevent the highway patrol from interviewing and capturing the wounded, amber-leaking bikers. DG has to send a cleanup crew a day or two later and the poor paramedics / patrolmen that responded to the scene met unfortunate ends. Agent URSA and Agent DRACO leave the country after leaving a fuckload of evidence behind that they probably shouldn't have. Caught on blurry cameras, probably some fingerprints, etc. It will bite them in the ass at some point. URSA lost enough san to gain the Delusion condition. POLARIS got away just fine. Czernobog's Chosen might show up in the future as well.
All in all, a really great 2 hour session for players that just wanted some quick action and gunplay since our normal party couldn't get together this week. Thanks for writing such a scenario with such cool vibes.
Also here's the Greenbox they left behind if anyone is ever running a mission in New Mexico and wants a Green Box.
submitted by Sekh765 to DeltaGreenRPG [link] [comments]
This is a long write up. Read it if you're bored at work.
https://throneofsalt.blogspot.com/2021/09/minimalism.html - The scenario
So some changes / additions to make it work. Since we needed something chasing them, and a reason that one of the players is high as fuck, we had them playing as undercover FBI types that DG sent to investigate a sort of neo-nazi germanic inspired biker gang (Czernobog's Chosen) in Albuquerque NM. It fits with the chanting head idea, and also why one of them is super high (forced to take drugs to prove they totally aren't a fed), and why one is injured (shot as they tried to escape with the head). This also gives us a great set of threats to chase the players as they try and bomb down the highway at 120+ mph to get to Truth or Consequences NM, where DG has told them a greenbox awaits that will definitely have something to solve this problem.
So our two players are Agent DRACO (CIA Special Operations) and Agent URSA (US Army Medic), with Agent POLARIS (NSA) on the phone.
What followed was an awesome high speed chase down the highway, fighting off a biker gang armed with shotguns and pistols. The players made numerous navigation checks / drive checks, stealth attempts to throw off their pursuers. To keep action up and to keep the session short since it was a filler action game between our main sessions, I had the bikers all be sort of linked to the unnatural chanting head that was in the trunk and drawn to it so the players could avoid them, but not totally escape them. I also incorporated the blue white lights in the distance to be an unnatural storm also associated with the chanting head that approached and then centered over them to make their checks harder and keep things moving.
They swapped cars twice, once after a crit fail driving check lost their first ride at a big gas station, stealing the first car they could find and losing a tiny amount of SAN from helplessness. Agent URSA decided to try and deal with the chanting head thing and failed a SAN check while dealing with it and we decided he started seeing hallucinations that reinterpreted events around him as Norse / Germanic Myth. I've used this style of hallucinations in another game before and folks always enjoy having their characters seeing weird stuff and trying to deal with it.
The second car they actually had the great idea to call Agent POLARIS and have them search DMV records for a "fast car" and "one that has registered firearms would be great". They found a guy with a decently fast muscle car they could use to hopefully push around bikers and also the guy owned guns so they figure "lets rob him real fast". Queue our high on amphetamines Agent breaking into the place, successfully stealthing the keys and then deciding "lets push our luck". Massive fumble on stealth check leads to a shootout with an armed civilian defending his house, killing that guy and leaving tons of evidence behind for future problems. They definitely lost SAN for that one.
Agent POLARIS helps them avoid some ambush attempts by the bikers, and also helps coordinate highway patrol to take a few of them down. For the most part the players are doing pretty well. I wanted to throw just a little wrench in their plans though and when they drove through the national park right before the end of their journey I just had a plain old deer jump infront of the car. Failed driving check, failed luck roll, passed driving check, and then a 99 rolled for "hey did you put your seatbelt on earlier?" ended up launching the medic out of the car. The car survived, and our main driver only got shook up a bit, but the medic dies on impact with a rock. Bit tragic. But I was thinking about how the scenario wrote that one of the characters tried to commit suicide and failed earlier, and also that weird amber liquid instead of blood sooooooooo....
We decided Agent URSA now has a weird creeping amber "infection" that repairs his injuries, but calcifies that part of his body with amber. So basically, he's got no HP anymore, but is slowly being Amber-ified(?) and thats taking a toll on his SAN and overall just not a great thing to tell your bosses that kill Unnatural things. This let us keep the character, and have some interesting RP stuff to play out with the players that were missing this week.
Final part of the adventure and the climax of our chase ends up at a little shack outside Truth or Consequences, and of course our gang of unnatural bikers has to roll up for a dramatic showdown. Agent DRACO defends the house with their weapons they acquired from the place they robbed + what Agent POLARIS could stash. Agent URSA searches the green box and I used the greenbox generator to make a ton of weird stuff and shoved the item they needed into that and just let them start searching through it. Agent DRACO's extremely high shooting skill pays off and helps keep people at bay, though she ends the adventure with 2hp left (the rainstorm really helped keep the bikers shooting skill low so she didnt just get blown away). Agent URSA eventually located a Trepanning kit with weird germanic looking writing carved into it and Agent POLARIS assists in Trepanning our weird chanting skull, right about the time the Highway patrol respond to the shootout and help deal with the remaining bikers. One massive thunderclap later after a successful medieval surgical procedure and the players can breath easy.
They are able to HUMINT their way out of being instantly arrested using their cover story, but are unable to prevent the highway patrol from interviewing and capturing the wounded, amber-leaking bikers. DG has to send a cleanup crew a day or two later and the poor paramedics / patrolmen that responded to the scene met unfortunate ends. Agent URSA and Agent DRACO leave the country after leaving a fuckload of evidence behind that they probably shouldn't have. Caught on blurry cameras, probably some fingerprints, etc. It will bite them in the ass at some point. URSA lost enough san to gain the Delusion condition. POLARIS got away just fine. Czernobog's Chosen might show up in the future as well.
All in all, a really great 2 hour session for players that just wanted some quick action and gunplay since our normal party couldn't get together this week. Thanks for writing such a scenario with such cool vibes.
Also here's the Greenbox they left behind if anyone is ever running a mission in New Mexico and wants a Green Box.
- 1x Mossberg 870 with 24 buckshot shells
- 1x "Elephant Gun", 1 round
- 1x Trepanning Kit (Runic Carvings)
- 1x Flare Gun (2 flares)
- 1x Set of Nunchucks (?)
- 3x Authentic looking FBI Badges
- 1x Vial of unknown amber liquid (Do not Drink! written on the side) - Would probably infect player with same infection as above.
- 1x Ziploc Bag filled with white crystals labeled (JUST METH)
2023.05.28 15:05 resurrective Chapter 17 – The trial of heart
The black domes, they were pocket dimensions, which were completely detached from the material world. Bound to the stream of souls, flowing inside the ephemeral branches of the world tree, they presented a personal hell for each person cast into them. They are a limbo of regrets, the hell of one’s own making, places where the living meets the dead.
There’s only so many ways to elope them. One must either reconcile with the restless souls, or join them, succumbing to their rage and regret that they carried into their afterlife. After all, to even get there, one must possess unparalleled strength and resilience; and only those who had caused deaths and destruction on their path to greatness can even hope to get to this trial.
Freia, Flare, the First princess of Jioral. For some – a good friend, lover, and companion. For others – a nightmare embodied, a vessel of divine powers, a force to be reckoned with. She had many enemies: princes and princesses felled by her authority, treacherous servants and greedy nobles, the knights, who opposed her corruption, slavers and bandits, destroyed on her quest for redemption and restoration of herself… But there were more. Children she had burned, serving her kingdom, women who perished by the tides she conjured, men that had been torn apart by raging tornados of her making, elderly that were buried under the rubble she created…
And how did she oppose them?
“Flagella terram et vescere inimicis meis, o magnum tempestas ignis!” The sorceress chanted, spinning her staff above her head. Then, right before the raging mob reached her, she hid from them behind a vortex of fire. One move and this wave of heat would incinerate everything and everyone in this accursed realm. But…
“TRAITOR!”
“DON’T HIDE FROM US, FLA-A-A-ARE!”
“COME TO US, SISTER!”
“YOU WERE NEVER ONE OF US!”
“USURPER!”
“GIVE ME BACK MY MOM!””
“THE FALSE PRINCESS!”
“SUNNARI (die)!”
“THE DAUGHER OF A WHORE!”
“YOU SHOULD’VE ROT IN THE SLUMS!”
Curses and jealousy, bitterness and hatred. The chorus of tortured souls surrounding the fiery boundary couldn’t be silenced even by the roaring flame. There couldn’t be any redemption.
“I’m sorry for all of you, who unjustly died by my hand!..” And even though there were people deserving their apologies, those who had to perish in favor of Flare’s political ambitions, those she sacrificed to appease her tyrannical father…
“THEN JOIN US, FLARE!”
“PAPA! WHERE ARE YOU?! GIVE HIM BACK!”
“REPENT, BITCH! DISPELL YOUR WITCHCRAFT!!!”
“But I won’t give in to you!” The pink-haired woman exclaimed, absorbing mana into her staff. “Furthermore, there’re those of you I will never regret killing! And there are those, for whom I must live! I MUST GET OUT OF THIS PLACE!!!” Then, she slammed the lower tip of her weapon into the floor made of the absolute darkness. Instead of wailing, being consumed by fear, guilt, self-loathing, and, ultimately, perishing, Freia sundered this entire “world”. One magical strike from her, and cracks of white and gold covered the entire dome. The wall of fire faded, but when the vengeful spirits rushed forward to maul their prey, they crumbled into piles of black salt. “I’m so… so sorry!” The girl lamented, kneeling near the remains of children, whose future she stole. “But I… I must move forward. I must save…”
…
Sparks and crackling, whistle and dazzling – time and time again the surge of lightning breached through the veil of darkness.
“UO-O-O-O-O-O!!!” A guttural scream filled the oppressive silence under the dome. Eve Reese, so childish and bashful, so eager to prove herself, now wore a stone mask of indifference. “Nira-a-a (no-o-o)!!! Yuarmta (I won’t forgive you)!!!” Cornar yelled, held still by at least seven shadows, he had been tortured, killed, bruised, smitten by the raging element of lightning. No longer did the girl see him as a threat; no longer did she cower at the feet of her former husband. Maybe, Eve was condemned to getting back her memories as a means of punishment, something that would make her sympathize with this petty little tyrant…
“Yuarm yau (I don’t need your forgiveness).” The Me-ua kahul spoke, looking at her crackling right arm, trembling with power and guilt combined. Not for forsaking her would-be-spouse, not for becoming Panakea’s pawn…
These souls, these loyal shadows – turned out, she never called upon them… until the very end. Her subjects, her brethren… Eve feared that if she let them out, they would tear her tyrannical husband into little pieces.
“Haa… Haa…” And now, she had to choose. To turn around and let someone else fix her problem, or… “Haa… HAA!!! HAA!!! HAA!!! SUNI (I’ll kill you)!!!”
A Punch to the maw, to the chest, through the ribs, to the heart! He didn’t die! He couldn’t die here! This scumbag of a man, this monster just wouldn’t go away! No matter how much pain she caused him, no matter how many times she slit his throat, broke through his torso, shocked him with spells, cut him with magical light…
And what of Cornar?
“A-A-A-A-A!!! A-A-AGH!!! HA-HA-HA-A!!! NA SHENBATA, SETOAN (you can’t get rid of me, woman)!!!” The son of Hakuo never relented. He relished in his immortality, laughed through the hellish torments Eve inflicted upon him. The skinned lion spotted a weakness in Eve’s heart, and he pressed at it, as if breaking the girl would get him back to the world of the living…
No, he wanted to take Eve to the world of dead.
“Gha-a-a-a… Agh-h-h…” The queen-to-be grabbed her forehead, her rugged breath not only siphoned all the focus out of her, threatening to cast the girl into a pit of despair, it also deteriorated her control over the mana she wielded. Unlike the city of salt, there was enough ambient magic to harvest here, but doing so would require skills, precision, and, most importantly, personal discipline and control over one’s own mind.
“Praibi, orna Iblis (Drain yourself, my Iblis)!” The prince of Batnara shashu tribe provoked, feeling the grip of the shadows losing its strength. A little more, and he’d be free… A little more…
“Hm…” But Eve wouldn’t relent. She once again covered her arm in a coat of magical lightning. She would never surrender; the queen would never let anyone treat her like a slave ever again. Not after Keyaruga’s perseverance taught her a lesson of resilience. Not after his gentleness, however tainted by his wounds, showed her what true love should look like.
She took a swing, prepared to strike…
“…” But then, two winged shadows stopped her hand. Amda and Sana, they were barely recognizable in their spiritual forms… but Eve would never mistake her parents for anyone else. They couldn’t speak, yet they still communicated with their daughter through other means. Emotions, wishes, urges – they never wished such evil to befall their daughter, but what they hated even more – was to see their child descend into the same pit.
“I… I don’t… have to?..” They asked her to stop, to let them relieve her of that burden. “B-but!.. No! You will die!” The girl snarled, grabbing her parents in a hug. She knew what was to come – her mother, father – they wished to sacrifice themselves to drag Cornar back to the afterlife. But that… wouldn’t that mean she’d lose them all over again? Wouldn’t…
“…”
“Yes! You’re dead! So what?! What do I?..” The feeling of pain and powerlessness engulfed the verdant woman. Barely had she found the strength to stand before her fallen tribe, before those who she desired to see the most now left her.
“YOTJAR (finally)!!!” With Eve’s will getting weaker, so did the shadows of her ethereal court. Her tyrannical husband finally broke free, slamming and stomping her shadows, as they fruitlessly tried stopping him. Amda and Sana Reese hugged their child for the last time… and now they stood up to defend their precious daughter. That is… the least they could do.
…
Freia broke inside another dome. From the outside, they looked like bright constellations of stars, formed on the points of a massive, galactic-scaled pentagram. The personal chamber for each of the contenders. One was broken from the inside, collapsing inwards, into a black hole with an orange halo – this was Freia’s dome. There were four more. Two were dimmed, two still shone brightly. The Hero of Magic travelled through this empty space, lit by numerous distant stars. In her current form, things like speed, form, and time – none of them mattered, aside from her destination. And now, she had to choose one of the two luminous chambers.
…
What is true power? Does one determine this abstract concept by the weight one can lift with their muscles? Maybe it was the charisma necessary to lead the masses? Enough money to influence others? Authority earned or inherited?
“Well-well-well…” Whatever the answer truly was, Ellen had none of it right now. No strength to fight, no troops to hide behind, and certainly – those who opposed her now had little if any need of whatever amount of gold she now carried.
“WENCH!”
“TANOUTUR (murderer)!”
“NEZAH (why)?!”
“MERA RIVARO (my life)!..”
“YAU MA (how dare you)!”
“YOU’LL PAY FOR WHAT YOU’VE DONE, BITCH!!!”
Oh, they came for Norn. There were hundreds, if not thousands of them, some she could recall from her Murian and Teuteccain campaigns – the series of expansions past the great wall; others were the court warlords she and John unseated in her ascension; rebellious villagers too came to exact their revenge on the younger princess, after her demons decimated them; and there were the victims of Buranikka’s carnage. This was the mountain of corpses Norn Clatalissa Jioral used to climb onto the very peak of political power…
“Now then, what do you want from me? An apology? Maybe my penance?” Even now, surrounded by countless dead souls, whose entire being now revolved around their grudge, the girl wouldn’t let herself be crushed by their rage. Not mentally, at least.
“DIE!”
“MAN WOR YAKSI (give me your eyes)!”
“SUFFER, YOU MONSTER!”
“I JUST WANTED TO LIVE!!!”
And so, hundreds of voices began howling in unison. So passionate, so eager to share their hardships and aspirations, that Ellen actually started pitying them a little. So many words, so much pain in them.
“Haa… I guess, that something like this was bound to happen someday. Well…” Instead of listening to the rest of the traumatizing nonsense and wailing, the crimson-headed cutie just began… to simply undress. “I don’t have the power to struggle, I can’t break out of here, and all of you came here for me. So go on. Rape me, maul me, kill me, do whatever you want. I’ve already done everything I wanted.” Ellen, now naked and completely defenseless, stretched out on the ethereal black floor, looking into the endless black void above her. The raging souls now came closer and closer, dozens of faces now loomed above her, as their hands reached out to grab the fallen warlady and tear her apart. This… was the end.
Keyaruga, Setsuna, sister… I hope you won’t miss me too much.
And so, she closed her eyes. Time to finally die.
…
…
…
There was no pain, nobody dragged the girl around, not even a single blow fell upon her. Ellen was… safe?
“A-A-A-A!!!”
“UGH-H-H!!!”
“YOLA-A-A-A-A (it hu-u-u-urts)!!!”
Slice and dicing, the ripping of flesh and clattered bones, “death” of a sort, dealt to the undying, torment for the tormented who themselves wished to inflict suffering upon her – someone kept the restless souls away from the princess. Someone precise, fast, and masterful with his tools of mayhem.
“Haa, is that you, Organ?” Ellen asked sullenly. Denied her excruciating retribution once more, she could only cover her tightly shut eyes with her palms.
“How did you know, Your Highness?” Indeed, it was him. As brutal as he was gallant, the deceased demigod was the only one out of these dead souls, who spoke to her, and not wailed at her like some sort of a beast.
“I know only two men, who’d come for me here, and the other isn’t so discreet, you moron.” The young general replied, opening her eyelids. The first thing she saw was the Champion of Jioral, covered in black blood. His prized amber eyes were no more, only black gaping holes were there instead. “Why’re you here? Do you want a piece of me for yourself?” The girl asked, still unwilling to stand up. Honestly, she felt robbed at this moment. This would be such a fitting end for her, but no! “Don’t tell me you’ve just barged in here to… Pff! PROTECT… me.” The second princess spat these words through her painfully clenched teeth.
“First things first, Lady Norn, I suggest you cover your shame and cease this indecency.” The warrior spoke, piercing and slashing the mob with his sword, impaling them with his hidden blade, tossing them back with his kicks. He was far from his prime form, and so, wounds and sores, cuts and lesions were left on him, as he, alone, overpowered dozens of raging men and women, keeping them away from the girl he swore to protect. Indeed… “Forgive me, princess, but I made a vow to your mother, and death is hardly a valid reason to…”
“YAKS… (giv…) A-A-A-A!!!”
“…to renounce my…”
“DOKI-I-I (step away)!!!”
“…loyalty to her!”
Despite everything, no matter the odds, Hawkeye continued to push back the angry spirits. He couldn’t dodge, as every missed blow could land on the lady, he couldn’t step back, as she needed protection more than any time in her life, and, certainly, sustained by this oppressive dimension, he couldn’t die. He couldn’t kill anyone, as they just rose anew from their own black blood, but the man couldn’t retreat.
“He-heh-heh-heh-heh-heh-heh…” The princess chuckled, curling her torso in order to sit up. It hurt her stomach, but the girl persevered nonetheless. “Why am I always surrounded by stupid stubborn men, who just can’t help but dingle their balls before me? Seriously, a dead man, upholding a promise to a dead woman, how much more ridiculous can this get?” The girl scoffed, pulling back her panties, bra, and whatever she left lying around, back on. After all, why even bother now? “Be honest, idiot! What do you want from me?”
“I came here…”
Slash, backflip, tackle, toss – Organ Trist twirled around his commander, pushing back everyone, who came too close to his prized princess.
“…to ask you, Lady Norn!..”
Shoulder slam, side-kick, a flurry of bloodshed embodied in the son of Artemis!
“…to save my…”
Stabbing enemies with that hidden blade, crushing their skulls with the handle of his blade, ripping their eyes out and tossing them away – however useless this double-sided brutality may seem, Hawkeye had purpose, skill, and, most of all, conviction, that allowed him to push the mob away.
“…daughter! Save Marianna!”
After all, what can be stronger, than a father, eager to protect his dear child?
“And you think keeping me alive will help you with that? You, moron, this bloated pigeon trapped me here! I have only one way out – fucking death!” The second princess, now properly clothed again, yelled however loud she could. Unable to comprehend the reasoning behind this idiocy, the girl just stood there, pulling her crimson hair. “Also, you’re severely mistaken! I’m not Norn! Norn’s dead! My name is…”
“…Elly! Elly-y-y!!!” Barely had the princess opened her mouth; before the dome had been breached from the outside. The Hero of Magic emerged above the ground. She levitated, using magical blue flames; she secured her sister by forming a wall around her, a barricade made from powerful ice spears. The sorceress even went so far as to send one into the undead Champion, it was one he easily avoided, though. “Step away from my sister, Organ!!!” The raging magician demanded, pulling her sibling towards her with a gust of mystical wind.
“Ghh! Oh, hey there, Friea!” The fallen warlady spoke, bracing herself against the dizziness her brief flight had caused. Still, this didn’t look good. The last time those two met, Hawkeye severely injured the pink-haired girl, and she just wouldn’t live through it again, unless two gods appeared to help her. This time, though, it was her turn to be a deity-savior.
“Get away! You’ve bested me once, but this time, I can crash this entire realm down onto your head!” The Hero of Magic promised, putting her staff between her sister and her enemy.
“Aw shit, this just gets better and better…” The little genius lamented, nervously shaking her head. Not only was her glorified suicide rudely interrupted, but now this situation threatened to kill her sister as well. Still…
“Elly, Elly… Ellen? Ellen the Adopted?” Despite Freia’s expectations, Organ Trist was more interested in the new name she called Norn, rather than anything else, really. He already had his fair share of battles, after all. “Ho-ho-o! I guess, in the end, you really did become the better version of yourself! And the ‘brother’ in question – is that sir Keyaru?” The blinded man asked with the same smugness he once boasted with in his grandiose life.
“What’s the point of answering you now? Aren’t we just traitors to you?” The heroine replied with every bit of animosity she had in her. “Hold on, Elly, I’ll get you out of here.” Freia stated, charging her staff with the magic that shaped this entire “world”.
“Heh, aren’t you afraid of what that damn poisoned pigeon might do to you for breaking her rules?” The crimson-haired cutie scoffed, witnessing the entire black dome covering with cracks.
“I don’t care about her rules! All I want is to see you safe!” The sorceress spoke with even more defiance toward Caladrius than Norn ever had in her. If needed, she would challenge this feathered nightmare to a duel, anything, just to save her family.
“I see…” Hawkeye uttered, kneeling before the two girls. All that time, rather than monitoring Freia’s moves, his supernatural senses were aimed outside, to make sure no restless souls cross the fence of magic ice. But now… “I see your eyes, Princess Flare, they’re just like hers. I’m sure; you’ll make Lady Reeharoze proud of you yet.” Now, before he once again departs to the other side, there was one last thing to tell them. First praise, then a claim… “Lady Ellen, I beg of you. The life of Marianna now lies in your hands.” …and finally a plea. With all that said, Organ Trist crumbled, his body turned into black salt. And with it, the entire realm began to collapse in itself…
“Hold tight, Elly…”
…
And now, there was only one dark dome left. Arguably, the worst of them all, this particular world was to be the prison for Keyaruga… or his cemetery. No doorways to run into, no windows to jump from. He was alone, trapped with hundreds of those who were slain by his hand. Those poor bastards – the restless souls, their minds were so obsessed with hatred, and their grudge – powered by the sheer immortality of their ethereal blackened bodies. This was hell in its purest form. The question is – a hell for who, exactly?
“YE-E-E-E-E-EAH!!! IT’S HEALING TIME!!!” Keyaruga snarled and began splattering blood all over the place. Everyone who was touched by that substance became horribly mutated – their heads bloated, their muscles strained so much, they crushed their very bones! “WHAT’S WRONG?! KILL ME!!! KILL ME NOW!!!” The man demanded, dancing around his would-be tormentors with his blade, blessing his foes with the exquisite gift of perpetual agony! Saber in his right hand, Georgius on his left, one complementing another.
Despite what the lad asked, nobody could bring him down. His immortal flesh defied any blade, his bones healed in an instant, his mad frenzy alleviated any pain.
He thought he could kill his enemies for the second and final time, give them proper death in the most excruciating manner. He was wrong…
“DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! AGAIN! AND AGAIN! AND ALL OVER AGA-A-A-A-AIN!!!” The hero yelled chopping off heads and severing limbs! He killed so many, he couldn’t even count the slayings! He murdered the same people over and over, each time their agony being more exquisite then the last!
Kill a man once, he won’t even notice, his rage will only rise! Kill him thrice – he’d waver! Five – and the seeds of fear are sown. Ten – and he’s broken completely!
Keyaruga just couldn’t help himself, he hated these scum so much, he just couldn’t contain all his passionate hatred. It was so strong, that the feeling of pure, raw, primordial wrath transcended every possible modification he had put into himself.
“A-A-A-A-A!!! UGH-H-H-H-H!!!” A soldier was weeping, hugging his boot. “S-S-S-S-SPA-A-A-ARE ME-E-E!!!”
“YO-O-OU!!! I remember you!” The healer spoke, raising the cretin by his neck. “My first kill! You watched me being raped, drugged… BEATEN!!!” The man yawped, slicing off his upper face with one nimble slice. “AND YOU NEVER!!! EVER!!! EVER FUCKING HELPED ME!!!” The lad, tainted by black and red blood, slammed the sentry into the ‘floor’…
“A-A-A-A-A!!! PLE-E-E-EASE!!!” …and gleefully sliced off his arms, ignited sparked his left armored hand into a gauntlet of blazing heat!..
“GU-GHH-GUU!!! UA-A-A-A-A-A-A!!!” And finally, cauterized the wounds, just so that the retard wouldn’t die too soon.
“WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU LOOKING AT?!!!” The crazed avenger yelled, grabbing Leonard, so conveniently nearby, weeping. “YOU SAID, I’VE DONE NOTHING FOR THIS FUCKING KINGDOM?! I’LL SHOW YOU, WHAT I CAN DO NO-O-OW!!!”
And so he did, the madman rested his two fingers on the sadist’s forehead. A second passed, and a purple spark had announced the richest form of suffering.
“Oh… U-u… Uo-o-o-o-o-o… Khh…” Indeed, although it wasn’t as vocal as previous ones, Keyaruga was more than pleased with the result. He knew of a human having specific nerves, specifically for reacting to pain. And he just overloaded them. Toxic spiders, dangerous medusas, venomous snakes and scorpions – all of them could do that with their poisons. Hell, even Keyaruga could brew neurotoxins. But damn, this thing had one ultimate merit compared to all of those – the instant effect, so potent, in fact, that the victim can’t even cry out from the excruciating pain!
“He-e! That’s a neat trick.” The lad mumbled, approaching a maid, lying on the “floor” like an embryo. Flare’s bodyguard shivered and sucked her thumb, completely lost to this twisted world. Just one little touch… “Pam! You’re already dead!” Keyaruga sneered tapping his armored fingers by her temple.
“Uh… Uh… Ugh… W… Wha-?.. A-A-A-A-A-A-AGH-H-H!!!” The woman grabbed her skull, but it was too late. All the blood, bile, and even marrow now came into her brain, bloating it, up until it burst in a fountain of black blood and shining entrails.
“Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!!! I FUCKING LOVE IT!!!” The deranged healer laughed so loud, and his presence was so overwhelming now, that nobody even dared to come close to him, let alone attack, unless they wished to become a victim of a new twisted experiment. Oh, their fear, this agonizing panic! They’re giving me a fucking boner! I wanna fuck! I want a woman! Oh, this! This will do nicely!
And so, Keyaruga dropped his saber, unfastened his belt, ripped the dress, slapped that ass which he had found, grabbed it, pushed it in! The woman with a blackened tail was slowly dying of blood loss, but that barely concerned the lad. He grabbed her pelvis and began to move, so fast, so frantic, and so mindless, that no one could see a human in him. No-o, this was a wild beast, slamming his bulging cock into the defenseless female, too tired to react, let alone resist somehow. She wasn’t even tight, just barely warm, but even that was enough. A few minutes of such suffering inflicted on her, and he came, this was a brilliant orgasm, deeply perverted, and twisted to the very core…
Oh, that’s the fucking best! I love it so much!
Keyaruga grabbed her hand, wiped his penis with it, pull back his pants, and…
I don’t remember her. I wonder, who that is.
He pushed the body, rolling it to the back.
“Ha-a-a… Hello again, Kailia…” The mad lad recognized her instantly. An agent, sent to find and assist Eve Reese in her quest, hired by someone named Carol. But that alone wouldn’t be enough to get Keyaruga to brutally rape her. “You’ve killed my Norn, but I spared you. Heh, after Kali left, I tasked you to ward off whoever they sent after my Eve, but… It seems like you’ve failed. Really, really sad.” The healer spoke, resting his left hand on her dying flesh, recovering it in an instant. And just like that… “Oh, fuck!” She nearly stabbed him with a knife. Gods only knew where she got it from… “Sit still.” But then, Keyaruga just pressed his finger on her forehead, and completely shut down her limbs functions. He pitied her… but could do nothing for this miserable leopard woman.
“Haa… Damn, it’s getting boring here.” The hero lamented, picking up his weapon of choice. At this point, he just put it back in its sheath. Only then did he spot a couple of new faces in the crowd of weeping bastards. “You there! You don’t look like you should be here. What’s… wait…”
“STAY AWAY FROM ME, MONSTER!!!” The woman cried, she was weeping into her man’s now tainted shirt.
“Heh! He-heh! No-no-no-o! Oh no-o-o!” Keyaruga frantically shook his head, unable to believe what he just saw. This was the worst. This… “Anna! Kurt! What… What’re you even doing here?! I… I avenged you! You shouldn’t have…” His parents were there, they stood among the thugs, slavers, robbers, bandits, zealots, murderers… But they… they weren’t one of them…
“You killed us, traitor. You raped my wife, after everything she’s done for you. You’re disgusting little shit!” The mighty harvester told him, pointing his war-scythe at the hero. The only thing that held him at bay, though, was his spouse, loudly crying with black tears pouring from her eyes.
“Heh… You… really think I’d…”
“No. But you’ve proven it.” Kurt spoke with the coldest possible rage in his voice. Keyaru’s cruelty couldn’t be doubted, after all. Not after everyone he maimed this day. “I don’t give a fuck, what the hell is wrong with you, but I’ll slice your guilty ass as many times as I need.” The older man spoke, pushing Anna aside. And then, he lunged.
Kurt struck as a true warrior – he was swift, accurate, precise – his war scythe – basically a reforged farming tool, grazed Keyaruga’s torso, cut his leg, he even stabbed his foster son through his chest. But… there was no blood.
“Calm down, you two.” The hero demanded, stoically taking hit after hit, like the heavy glaive-like blade was nothing. While Anna crumbled to her knees, lost in her weeping, Kurt wouldn’t stop attacking. “You can’t kill me, I’m immor-…” Barely did the lad say so; before his foster father grabbed the handle in a wide grip, and just swept his head off with one precise strike.
“NO-O-O-O-O-O-O!!!” Strangely enough, despite all of the delusions his parents had about him, Anna just couldn’t stand seeing her child being killed so brutally. “A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A!!! WHY-Y-Y-Y-Y-Y-Y-Y?!!!” As Keyaru’s head rolled on the ground, the thugs, at least those who weren’t affected by any of hero’s inventive afflictions, started to get rallied again.
“You had it coming, you ungrateful dipshit!” Kurt spat through tightly closed teeth. He couldn’t watch, couldn’t face what he had to do with his adopted prodigy. Even if he was a criminal. Even if…
“I really did…” But the bastards weren’t enjoying the show for too long. Right when the healer seemed to fall, a new body started to grow from his neck-stump, the clothes, the pouches, the weapons – everything turned into ash just to materialize again on the proudly standing conqueror of death itself.
“What devilry is this?” Kurt’s reaction was understandable. A mix of fear, anger, and disgust, was all over his tainted face. In turn…
“KEYARU-U-U-U!!!” Anna just dashed forward to hug her child. No matter, how disgustingly atrocious his resurrection was, without even looking at the beheaded body that now lied nearby, the woman just went ahead and embraced the lad. She… didn’t seem to be in her right mind, even for a dead soul.
“Anna, I… I…” The shivers began taking a hold of him. His hands, his knees – they trembled so much, this simple touch he though he lost forever, this… This was enough to make him cry. “I’m sorry… I’m so, so, so, so-o-o sorry!..”
“DIE, FUCKER!!!”
“THAT YOU HAVE TO SEE ME DOING THIS!!!” Keyaruga yelled, grabbing Leonard by his wrist. Just a little pressure – and he dropped his sword, the weapon faded into nothingness. Then, the man pushed Anna back, punched his foe in the gut, and proudly showed his captive to his family. “Haa… He-heh! He-e-e… This… This is Leonard, Flare’s… right hand…” The hero spoke, this time trying to maintain his sanity, as his parents now cautiously looked at him. “I… I came from the future! I had to rewind time’s flow itself… Because Flare was evil, and he…” Then, the man put his hand onto the barely struggling imbecile, thus transforming him into Keyaru, the motionless child, whose entire mobility, except for breathing, was shut down for the ease of what he was about to do. “I killed Flare! And he took my guilt. Then…” Afterwards, the healer went ahead and summoned raging flames upon his free hand. Kurt and Anna watched motionlessly, as he placed the magic-shrouded palm onto his ‘own’ face, burned it, scourged the blackened flesh with the sorcery he ‘learned’ from Flare… “My trick was revealed, and he headed out to our village, looking just like me. The rest… you know the rest.”
And finally, Keyaruga dropped the motionless doll, unable even to cry out from the excruciating pain the Hero of Healing inflicted upon it. He then faced his parents, still shocked by such a display of merciless brutality, they couldn’t even properly reply, this entire spectacle of bloodshed, mayhem, rape, torture, demonstration of immortality, and now – proofs of metamorphosis – all of that left them utterly silent.
“Kurt, Anna… I’m so sorry I couldn’t save you… But I can’t let you, or any one of these fuckers keep me here! I… I have a family! Freia, Setsuna, Ellen, Eve – I so wanted you to meet them… But you can’t now. You… might not believe me, and I understand that.” The red-eyed lad uttered, as his posture slouched more and more, along with his fading bravery. “This is what it’s like to be a man! I must be strong! I have to be ruthless now, so that nobody would challenge me in the future!” The man added, now turning his back to his foster parents. He stood straight, he stretched his shoulders, took a deep breath, and… “LISTEN HERE, YOU FUCKING MONSTERS!!! WHAT YOU’VE FELT NOW IS BUT A TINY BIT OF WHAT I’LL DO TO YOU, ONCE I’M FUCKING DEAD!!! NOW YOU WILL GO INTO THE DEEPEST PITS OF HELL, AND WHEN YOU’RE THERE, PRAY I DON’T FUCKING DIE ANYTIME SOON!!! BECAUSE WHEN I FINALLY KICK THIS SHITTY BUCKET, I’LL FIND EACH OF YOU, AND WE’LL BE PLAYING FOR THE WHOLE OF ETERNITY!!! BUT WHY WAIT, WHEN WE CAN HAVE SOME FUN NOW, HU-U-U-UH?!!!”
The speech was told, the impact made. His words were so zealous, so passionately intimidating, that the weeping fools now reached a whole new depth of despair.
“GET US OUT OF HERE!!!”
“SAVE ME-E-E-E!!!”
“HE’S THE DEVIL!!! DE-E-EVIL!!!”
“UA-A-A-A-A-A-A!!!”
“KUUNDA (I’m so scared)!!!”
“HE-E-E-E-E-ELP!!!”
And so, this entire crowd, this mob of immortal corpses, just ran away. Everyone, who could still stand on their feet, began fleeing in panic, trampling each other in the process. What they failed to notice, though, is that the dome is endless only for its main victim. Everyone else just came up against the invisible wall.
The Trial of Heart – its goal is twisted, to be certain. To pass it would mean releasing the dead souls from their grudge toward you. A saint would shift it to forgiveness, but the deranged avenger pumped so much fear in those criminals, that their hatred was replaced by the purest and most animalistic terror. Still, with the task done, the souls began to dissipate in a white light. They would finally be free…
“REMEMBER!!! YOU’VE NOT SEEN THE LAST OF ME!!! WE’LL MEET AGAIN, YOU FUCKING SHITBAGS!!!” Unfortunately for them, though, Keyaruga’s long shadow still loomed above them all. And such, even in relief, the crowd continued to cry, to sob, to wail, to…
“Keya… ru…” But not all left because of dread. When the avenger turned around, his foster mother, crumbling into white flakes, stood on her tiptoes to give him a last kiss on the cheek. “You’ve grown… so much…”
And so, she faded. Kurt quickly followed, although it wasn’t forgiveness or benevolence that filled his raging soul. No, it was an impotent acceptance. He saw Keyaruga as a mirror, in which he saw himself, before he deserted the royal guard and found himself in Alban.
“Someday… you’ll follow my path…” And this was what the man spoke at last, dropping his war-scythe to the ethereal ground. With no souls to redeem in the most twisted of ways, the dome of blackness quickly turned insufferably bright.
The Trial of Heart had been passed.
submitted by resurrective to RedoOfHealer [link] [comments]
There’s only so many ways to elope them. One must either reconcile with the restless souls, or join them, succumbing to their rage and regret that they carried into their afterlife. After all, to even get there, one must possess unparalleled strength and resilience; and only those who had caused deaths and destruction on their path to greatness can even hope to get to this trial.
Freia, Flare, the First princess of Jioral. For some – a good friend, lover, and companion. For others – a nightmare embodied, a vessel of divine powers, a force to be reckoned with. She had many enemies: princes and princesses felled by her authority, treacherous servants and greedy nobles, the knights, who opposed her corruption, slavers and bandits, destroyed on her quest for redemption and restoration of herself… But there were more. Children she had burned, serving her kingdom, women who perished by the tides she conjured, men that had been torn apart by raging tornados of her making, elderly that were buried under the rubble she created…
And how did she oppose them?
“Flagella terram et vescere inimicis meis, o magnum tempestas ignis!” The sorceress chanted, spinning her staff above her head. Then, right before the raging mob reached her, she hid from them behind a vortex of fire. One move and this wave of heat would incinerate everything and everyone in this accursed realm. But…
“TRAITOR!”
“DON’T HIDE FROM US, FLA-A-A-ARE!”
“COME TO US, SISTER!”
“YOU WERE NEVER ONE OF US!”
“USURPER!”
“GIVE ME BACK MY MOM!””
“THE FALSE PRINCESS!”
“SUNNARI (die)!”
“THE DAUGHER OF A WHORE!”
“YOU SHOULD’VE ROT IN THE SLUMS!”
Curses and jealousy, bitterness and hatred. The chorus of tortured souls surrounding the fiery boundary couldn’t be silenced even by the roaring flame. There couldn’t be any redemption.
“I’m sorry for all of you, who unjustly died by my hand!..” And even though there were people deserving their apologies, those who had to perish in favor of Flare’s political ambitions, those she sacrificed to appease her tyrannical father…
“THEN JOIN US, FLARE!”
“PAPA! WHERE ARE YOU?! GIVE HIM BACK!”
“REPENT, BITCH! DISPELL YOUR WITCHCRAFT!!!”
“But I won’t give in to you!” The pink-haired woman exclaimed, absorbing mana into her staff. “Furthermore, there’re those of you I will never regret killing! And there are those, for whom I must live! I MUST GET OUT OF THIS PLACE!!!” Then, she slammed the lower tip of her weapon into the floor made of the absolute darkness. Instead of wailing, being consumed by fear, guilt, self-loathing, and, ultimately, perishing, Freia sundered this entire “world”. One magical strike from her, and cracks of white and gold covered the entire dome. The wall of fire faded, but when the vengeful spirits rushed forward to maul their prey, they crumbled into piles of black salt. “I’m so… so sorry!” The girl lamented, kneeling near the remains of children, whose future she stole. “But I… I must move forward. I must save…”
…
Sparks and crackling, whistle and dazzling – time and time again the surge of lightning breached through the veil of darkness.
“UO-O-O-O-O-O!!!” A guttural scream filled the oppressive silence under the dome. Eve Reese, so childish and bashful, so eager to prove herself, now wore a stone mask of indifference. “Nira-a-a (no-o-o)!!! Yuarmta (I won’t forgive you)!!!” Cornar yelled, held still by at least seven shadows, he had been tortured, killed, bruised, smitten by the raging element of lightning. No longer did the girl see him as a threat; no longer did she cower at the feet of her former husband. Maybe, Eve was condemned to getting back her memories as a means of punishment, something that would make her sympathize with this petty little tyrant…
“Yuarm yau (I don’t need your forgiveness).” The Me-ua kahul spoke, looking at her crackling right arm, trembling with power and guilt combined. Not for forsaking her would-be-spouse, not for becoming Panakea’s pawn…
These souls, these loyal shadows – turned out, she never called upon them… until the very end. Her subjects, her brethren… Eve feared that if she let them out, they would tear her tyrannical husband into little pieces.
“Haa… Haa…” And now, she had to choose. To turn around and let someone else fix her problem, or… “Haa… HAA!!! HAA!!! HAA!!! SUNI (I’ll kill you)!!!”
A Punch to the maw, to the chest, through the ribs, to the heart! He didn’t die! He couldn’t die here! This scumbag of a man, this monster just wouldn’t go away! No matter how much pain she caused him, no matter how many times she slit his throat, broke through his torso, shocked him with spells, cut him with magical light…
And what of Cornar?
“A-A-A-A-A!!! A-A-AGH!!! HA-HA-HA-A!!! NA SHENBATA, SETOAN (you can’t get rid of me, woman)!!!” The son of Hakuo never relented. He relished in his immortality, laughed through the hellish torments Eve inflicted upon him. The skinned lion spotted a weakness in Eve’s heart, and he pressed at it, as if breaking the girl would get him back to the world of the living…
No, he wanted to take Eve to the world of dead.
“Gha-a-a-a… Agh-h-h…” The queen-to-be grabbed her forehead, her rugged breath not only siphoned all the focus out of her, threatening to cast the girl into a pit of despair, it also deteriorated her control over the mana she wielded. Unlike the city of salt, there was enough ambient magic to harvest here, but doing so would require skills, precision, and, most importantly, personal discipline and control over one’s own mind.
“Praibi, orna Iblis (Drain yourself, my Iblis)!” The prince of Batnara shashu tribe provoked, feeling the grip of the shadows losing its strength. A little more, and he’d be free… A little more…
“Hm…” But Eve wouldn’t relent. She once again covered her arm in a coat of magical lightning. She would never surrender; the queen would never let anyone treat her like a slave ever again. Not after Keyaruga’s perseverance taught her a lesson of resilience. Not after his gentleness, however tainted by his wounds, showed her what true love should look like.
She took a swing, prepared to strike…
“…” But then, two winged shadows stopped her hand. Amda and Sana, they were barely recognizable in their spiritual forms… but Eve would never mistake her parents for anyone else. They couldn’t speak, yet they still communicated with their daughter through other means. Emotions, wishes, urges – they never wished such evil to befall their daughter, but what they hated even more – was to see their child descend into the same pit.
“I… I don’t… have to?..” They asked her to stop, to let them relieve her of that burden. “B-but!.. No! You will die!” The girl snarled, grabbing her parents in a hug. She knew what was to come – her mother, father – they wished to sacrifice themselves to drag Cornar back to the afterlife. But that… wouldn’t that mean she’d lose them all over again? Wouldn’t…
“…”
“Yes! You’re dead! So what?! What do I?..” The feeling of pain and powerlessness engulfed the verdant woman. Barely had she found the strength to stand before her fallen tribe, before those who she desired to see the most now left her.
“YOTJAR (finally)!!!” With Eve’s will getting weaker, so did the shadows of her ethereal court. Her tyrannical husband finally broke free, slamming and stomping her shadows, as they fruitlessly tried stopping him. Amda and Sana Reese hugged their child for the last time… and now they stood up to defend their precious daughter. That is… the least they could do.
…
Freia broke inside another dome. From the outside, they looked like bright constellations of stars, formed on the points of a massive, galactic-scaled pentagram. The personal chamber for each of the contenders. One was broken from the inside, collapsing inwards, into a black hole with an orange halo – this was Freia’s dome. There were four more. Two were dimmed, two still shone brightly. The Hero of Magic travelled through this empty space, lit by numerous distant stars. In her current form, things like speed, form, and time – none of them mattered, aside from her destination. And now, she had to choose one of the two luminous chambers.
…
What is true power? Does one determine this abstract concept by the weight one can lift with their muscles? Maybe it was the charisma necessary to lead the masses? Enough money to influence others? Authority earned or inherited?
“Well-well-well…” Whatever the answer truly was, Ellen had none of it right now. No strength to fight, no troops to hide behind, and certainly – those who opposed her now had little if any need of whatever amount of gold she now carried.
“WENCH!”
“TANOUTUR (murderer)!”
“NEZAH (why)?!”
“MERA RIVARO (my life)!..”
“YAU MA (how dare you)!”
“YOU’LL PAY FOR WHAT YOU’VE DONE, BITCH!!!”
Oh, they came for Norn. There were hundreds, if not thousands of them, some she could recall from her Murian and Teuteccain campaigns – the series of expansions past the great wall; others were the court warlords she and John unseated in her ascension; rebellious villagers too came to exact their revenge on the younger princess, after her demons decimated them; and there were the victims of Buranikka’s carnage. This was the mountain of corpses Norn Clatalissa Jioral used to climb onto the very peak of political power…
“Now then, what do you want from me? An apology? Maybe my penance?” Even now, surrounded by countless dead souls, whose entire being now revolved around their grudge, the girl wouldn’t let herself be crushed by their rage. Not mentally, at least.
“DIE!”
“MAN WOR YAKSI (give me your eyes)!”
“SUFFER, YOU MONSTER!”
“I JUST WANTED TO LIVE!!!”
And so, hundreds of voices began howling in unison. So passionate, so eager to share their hardships and aspirations, that Ellen actually started pitying them a little. So many words, so much pain in them.
“Haa… I guess, that something like this was bound to happen someday. Well…” Instead of listening to the rest of the traumatizing nonsense and wailing, the crimson-headed cutie just began… to simply undress. “I don’t have the power to struggle, I can’t break out of here, and all of you came here for me. So go on. Rape me, maul me, kill me, do whatever you want. I’ve already done everything I wanted.” Ellen, now naked and completely defenseless, stretched out on the ethereal black floor, looking into the endless black void above her. The raging souls now came closer and closer, dozens of faces now loomed above her, as their hands reached out to grab the fallen warlady and tear her apart. This… was the end.
Keyaruga, Setsuna, sister… I hope you won’t miss me too much.
And so, she closed her eyes. Time to finally die.
…
…
…
There was no pain, nobody dragged the girl around, not even a single blow fell upon her. Ellen was… safe?
“A-A-A-A!!!”
“UGH-H-H!!!”
“YOLA-A-A-A-A (it hu-u-u-urts)!!!”
Slice and dicing, the ripping of flesh and clattered bones, “death” of a sort, dealt to the undying, torment for the tormented who themselves wished to inflict suffering upon her – someone kept the restless souls away from the princess. Someone precise, fast, and masterful with his tools of mayhem.
“Haa, is that you, Organ?” Ellen asked sullenly. Denied her excruciating retribution once more, she could only cover her tightly shut eyes with her palms.
“How did you know, Your Highness?” Indeed, it was him. As brutal as he was gallant, the deceased demigod was the only one out of these dead souls, who spoke to her, and not wailed at her like some sort of a beast.
“I know only two men, who’d come for me here, and the other isn’t so discreet, you moron.” The young general replied, opening her eyelids. The first thing she saw was the Champion of Jioral, covered in black blood. His prized amber eyes were no more, only black gaping holes were there instead. “Why’re you here? Do you want a piece of me for yourself?” The girl asked, still unwilling to stand up. Honestly, she felt robbed at this moment. This would be such a fitting end for her, but no! “Don’t tell me you’ve just barged in here to… Pff! PROTECT… me.” The second princess spat these words through her painfully clenched teeth.
“First things first, Lady Norn, I suggest you cover your shame and cease this indecency.” The warrior spoke, piercing and slashing the mob with his sword, impaling them with his hidden blade, tossing them back with his kicks. He was far from his prime form, and so, wounds and sores, cuts and lesions were left on him, as he, alone, overpowered dozens of raging men and women, keeping them away from the girl he swore to protect. Indeed… “Forgive me, princess, but I made a vow to your mother, and death is hardly a valid reason to…”
“YAKS… (giv…) A-A-A-A!!!”
“…to renounce my…”
“DOKI-I-I (step away)!!!”
“…loyalty to her!”
Despite everything, no matter the odds, Hawkeye continued to push back the angry spirits. He couldn’t dodge, as every missed blow could land on the lady, he couldn’t step back, as she needed protection more than any time in her life, and, certainly, sustained by this oppressive dimension, he couldn’t die. He couldn’t kill anyone, as they just rose anew from their own black blood, but the man couldn’t retreat.
“He-heh-heh-heh-heh-heh-heh…” The princess chuckled, curling her torso in order to sit up. It hurt her stomach, but the girl persevered nonetheless. “Why am I always surrounded by stupid stubborn men, who just can’t help but dingle their balls before me? Seriously, a dead man, upholding a promise to a dead woman, how much more ridiculous can this get?” The girl scoffed, pulling back her panties, bra, and whatever she left lying around, back on. After all, why even bother now? “Be honest, idiot! What do you want from me?”
“I came here…”
Slash, backflip, tackle, toss – Organ Trist twirled around his commander, pushing back everyone, who came too close to his prized princess.
“…to ask you, Lady Norn!..”
Shoulder slam, side-kick, a flurry of bloodshed embodied in the son of Artemis!
“…to save my…”
Stabbing enemies with that hidden blade, crushing their skulls with the handle of his blade, ripping their eyes out and tossing them away – however useless this double-sided brutality may seem, Hawkeye had purpose, skill, and, most of all, conviction, that allowed him to push the mob away.
“…daughter! Save Marianna!”
After all, what can be stronger, than a father, eager to protect his dear child?
“And you think keeping me alive will help you with that? You, moron, this bloated pigeon trapped me here! I have only one way out – fucking death!” The second princess, now properly clothed again, yelled however loud she could. Unable to comprehend the reasoning behind this idiocy, the girl just stood there, pulling her crimson hair. “Also, you’re severely mistaken! I’m not Norn! Norn’s dead! My name is…”
“…Elly! Elly-y-y!!!” Barely had the princess opened her mouth; before the dome had been breached from the outside. The Hero of Magic emerged above the ground. She levitated, using magical blue flames; she secured her sister by forming a wall around her, a barricade made from powerful ice spears. The sorceress even went so far as to send one into the undead Champion, it was one he easily avoided, though. “Step away from my sister, Organ!!!” The raging magician demanded, pulling her sibling towards her with a gust of mystical wind.
“Ghh! Oh, hey there, Friea!” The fallen warlady spoke, bracing herself against the dizziness her brief flight had caused. Still, this didn’t look good. The last time those two met, Hawkeye severely injured the pink-haired girl, and she just wouldn’t live through it again, unless two gods appeared to help her. This time, though, it was her turn to be a deity-savior.
“Get away! You’ve bested me once, but this time, I can crash this entire realm down onto your head!” The Hero of Magic promised, putting her staff between her sister and her enemy.
“Aw shit, this just gets better and better…” The little genius lamented, nervously shaking her head. Not only was her glorified suicide rudely interrupted, but now this situation threatened to kill her sister as well. Still…
“Elly, Elly… Ellen? Ellen the Adopted?” Despite Freia’s expectations, Organ Trist was more interested in the new name she called Norn, rather than anything else, really. He already had his fair share of battles, after all. “Ho-ho-o! I guess, in the end, you really did become the better version of yourself! And the ‘brother’ in question – is that sir Keyaru?” The blinded man asked with the same smugness he once boasted with in his grandiose life.
“What’s the point of answering you now? Aren’t we just traitors to you?” The heroine replied with every bit of animosity she had in her. “Hold on, Elly, I’ll get you out of here.” Freia stated, charging her staff with the magic that shaped this entire “world”.
“Heh, aren’t you afraid of what that damn poisoned pigeon might do to you for breaking her rules?” The crimson-haired cutie scoffed, witnessing the entire black dome covering with cracks.
“I don’t care about her rules! All I want is to see you safe!” The sorceress spoke with even more defiance toward Caladrius than Norn ever had in her. If needed, she would challenge this feathered nightmare to a duel, anything, just to save her family.
“I see…” Hawkeye uttered, kneeling before the two girls. All that time, rather than monitoring Freia’s moves, his supernatural senses were aimed outside, to make sure no restless souls cross the fence of magic ice. But now… “I see your eyes, Princess Flare, they’re just like hers. I’m sure; you’ll make Lady Reeharoze proud of you yet.” Now, before he once again departs to the other side, there was one last thing to tell them. First praise, then a claim… “Lady Ellen, I beg of you. The life of Marianna now lies in your hands.” …and finally a plea. With all that said, Organ Trist crumbled, his body turned into black salt. And with it, the entire realm began to collapse in itself…
“Hold tight, Elly…”
…
And now, there was only one dark dome left. Arguably, the worst of them all, this particular world was to be the prison for Keyaruga… or his cemetery. No doorways to run into, no windows to jump from. He was alone, trapped with hundreds of those who were slain by his hand. Those poor bastards – the restless souls, their minds were so obsessed with hatred, and their grudge – powered by the sheer immortality of their ethereal blackened bodies. This was hell in its purest form. The question is – a hell for who, exactly?
“YE-E-E-E-E-EAH!!! IT’S HEALING TIME!!!” Keyaruga snarled and began splattering blood all over the place. Everyone who was touched by that substance became horribly mutated – their heads bloated, their muscles strained so much, they crushed their very bones! “WHAT’S WRONG?! KILL ME!!! KILL ME NOW!!!” The man demanded, dancing around his would-be tormentors with his blade, blessing his foes with the exquisite gift of perpetual agony! Saber in his right hand, Georgius on his left, one complementing another.
Despite what the lad asked, nobody could bring him down. His immortal flesh defied any blade, his bones healed in an instant, his mad frenzy alleviated any pain.
He thought he could kill his enemies for the second and final time, give them proper death in the most excruciating manner. He was wrong…
“DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! AGAIN! AND AGAIN! AND ALL OVER AGA-A-A-A-AIN!!!” The hero yelled chopping off heads and severing limbs! He killed so many, he couldn’t even count the slayings! He murdered the same people over and over, each time their agony being more exquisite then the last!
Kill a man once, he won’t even notice, his rage will only rise! Kill him thrice – he’d waver! Five – and the seeds of fear are sown. Ten – and he’s broken completely!
Keyaruga just couldn’t help himself, he hated these scum so much, he just couldn’t contain all his passionate hatred. It was so strong, that the feeling of pure, raw, primordial wrath transcended every possible modification he had put into himself.
“A-A-A-A-A!!! UGH-H-H-H-H!!!” A soldier was weeping, hugging his boot. “S-S-S-S-SPA-A-A-ARE ME-E-E!!!”
“YO-O-OU!!! I remember you!” The healer spoke, raising the cretin by his neck. “My first kill! You watched me being raped, drugged… BEATEN!!!” The man yawped, slicing off his upper face with one nimble slice. “AND YOU NEVER!!! EVER!!! EVER FUCKING HELPED ME!!!” The lad, tainted by black and red blood, slammed the sentry into the ‘floor’…
“A-A-A-A-A!!! PLE-E-E-EASE!!!” …and gleefully sliced off his arms, ignited sparked his left armored hand into a gauntlet of blazing heat!..
“GU-GHH-GUU!!! UA-A-A-A-A-A-A!!!” And finally, cauterized the wounds, just so that the retard wouldn’t die too soon.
“WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU LOOKING AT?!!!” The crazed avenger yelled, grabbing Leonard, so conveniently nearby, weeping. “YOU SAID, I’VE DONE NOTHING FOR THIS FUCKING KINGDOM?! I’LL SHOW YOU, WHAT I CAN DO NO-O-OW!!!”
And so he did, the madman rested his two fingers on the sadist’s forehead. A second passed, and a purple spark had announced the richest form of suffering.
“Oh… U-u… Uo-o-o-o-o-o… Khh…” Indeed, although it wasn’t as vocal as previous ones, Keyaruga was more than pleased with the result. He knew of a human having specific nerves, specifically for reacting to pain. And he just overloaded them. Toxic spiders, dangerous medusas, venomous snakes and scorpions – all of them could do that with their poisons. Hell, even Keyaruga could brew neurotoxins. But damn, this thing had one ultimate merit compared to all of those – the instant effect, so potent, in fact, that the victim can’t even cry out from the excruciating pain!
“He-e! That’s a neat trick.” The lad mumbled, approaching a maid, lying on the “floor” like an embryo. Flare’s bodyguard shivered and sucked her thumb, completely lost to this twisted world. Just one little touch… “Pam! You’re already dead!” Keyaruga sneered tapping his armored fingers by her temple.
“Uh… Uh… Ugh… W… Wha-?.. A-A-A-A-A-A-AGH-H-H!!!” The woman grabbed her skull, but it was too late. All the blood, bile, and even marrow now came into her brain, bloating it, up until it burst in a fountain of black blood and shining entrails.
“Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!!! I FUCKING LOVE IT!!!” The deranged healer laughed so loud, and his presence was so overwhelming now, that nobody even dared to come close to him, let alone attack, unless they wished to become a victim of a new twisted experiment. Oh, their fear, this agonizing panic! They’re giving me a fucking boner! I wanna fuck! I want a woman! Oh, this! This will do nicely!
And so, Keyaruga dropped his saber, unfastened his belt, ripped the dress, slapped that ass which he had found, grabbed it, pushed it in! The woman with a blackened tail was slowly dying of blood loss, but that barely concerned the lad. He grabbed her pelvis and began to move, so fast, so frantic, and so mindless, that no one could see a human in him. No-o, this was a wild beast, slamming his bulging cock into the defenseless female, too tired to react, let alone resist somehow. She wasn’t even tight, just barely warm, but even that was enough. A few minutes of such suffering inflicted on her, and he came, this was a brilliant orgasm, deeply perverted, and twisted to the very core…
Oh, that’s the fucking best! I love it so much!
Keyaruga grabbed her hand, wiped his penis with it, pull back his pants, and…
I don’t remember her. I wonder, who that is.
He pushed the body, rolling it to the back.
“Ha-a-a… Hello again, Kailia…” The mad lad recognized her instantly. An agent, sent to find and assist Eve Reese in her quest, hired by someone named Carol. But that alone wouldn’t be enough to get Keyaruga to brutally rape her. “You’ve killed my Norn, but I spared you. Heh, after Kali left, I tasked you to ward off whoever they sent after my Eve, but… It seems like you’ve failed. Really, really sad.” The healer spoke, resting his left hand on her dying flesh, recovering it in an instant. And just like that… “Oh, fuck!” She nearly stabbed him with a knife. Gods only knew where she got it from… “Sit still.” But then, Keyaruga just pressed his finger on her forehead, and completely shut down her limbs functions. He pitied her… but could do nothing for this miserable leopard woman.
“Haa… Damn, it’s getting boring here.” The hero lamented, picking up his weapon of choice. At this point, he just put it back in its sheath. Only then did he spot a couple of new faces in the crowd of weeping bastards. “You there! You don’t look like you should be here. What’s… wait…”
“STAY AWAY FROM ME, MONSTER!!!” The woman cried, she was weeping into her man’s now tainted shirt.
“Heh! He-heh! No-no-no-o! Oh no-o-o!” Keyaruga frantically shook his head, unable to believe what he just saw. This was the worst. This… “Anna! Kurt! What… What’re you even doing here?! I… I avenged you! You shouldn’t have…” His parents were there, they stood among the thugs, slavers, robbers, bandits, zealots, murderers… But they… they weren’t one of them…
“You killed us, traitor. You raped my wife, after everything she’s done for you. You’re disgusting little shit!” The mighty harvester told him, pointing his war-scythe at the hero. The only thing that held him at bay, though, was his spouse, loudly crying with black tears pouring from her eyes.
“Heh… You… really think I’d…”
“No. But you’ve proven it.” Kurt spoke with the coldest possible rage in his voice. Keyaru’s cruelty couldn’t be doubted, after all. Not after everyone he maimed this day. “I don’t give a fuck, what the hell is wrong with you, but I’ll slice your guilty ass as many times as I need.” The older man spoke, pushing Anna aside. And then, he lunged.
Kurt struck as a true warrior – he was swift, accurate, precise – his war scythe – basically a reforged farming tool, grazed Keyaruga’s torso, cut his leg, he even stabbed his foster son through his chest. But… there was no blood.
“Calm down, you two.” The hero demanded, stoically taking hit after hit, like the heavy glaive-like blade was nothing. While Anna crumbled to her knees, lost in her weeping, Kurt wouldn’t stop attacking. “You can’t kill me, I’m immor-…” Barely did the lad say so; before his foster father grabbed the handle in a wide grip, and just swept his head off with one precise strike.
“NO-O-O-O-O-O-O!!!” Strangely enough, despite all of the delusions his parents had about him, Anna just couldn’t stand seeing her child being killed so brutally. “A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A!!! WHY-Y-Y-Y-Y-Y-Y-Y?!!!” As Keyaru’s head rolled on the ground, the thugs, at least those who weren’t affected by any of hero’s inventive afflictions, started to get rallied again.
“You had it coming, you ungrateful dipshit!” Kurt spat through tightly closed teeth. He couldn’t watch, couldn’t face what he had to do with his adopted prodigy. Even if he was a criminal. Even if…
“I really did…” But the bastards weren’t enjoying the show for too long. Right when the healer seemed to fall, a new body started to grow from his neck-stump, the clothes, the pouches, the weapons – everything turned into ash just to materialize again on the proudly standing conqueror of death itself.
“What devilry is this?” Kurt’s reaction was understandable. A mix of fear, anger, and disgust, was all over his tainted face. In turn…
“KEYARU-U-U-U!!!” Anna just dashed forward to hug her child. No matter, how disgustingly atrocious his resurrection was, without even looking at the beheaded body that now lied nearby, the woman just went ahead and embraced the lad. She… didn’t seem to be in her right mind, even for a dead soul.
“Anna, I… I…” The shivers began taking a hold of him. His hands, his knees – they trembled so much, this simple touch he though he lost forever, this… This was enough to make him cry. “I’m sorry… I’m so, so, so, so-o-o sorry!..”
“DIE, FUCKER!!!”
“THAT YOU HAVE TO SEE ME DOING THIS!!!” Keyaruga yelled, grabbing Leonard by his wrist. Just a little pressure – and he dropped his sword, the weapon faded into nothingness. Then, the man pushed Anna back, punched his foe in the gut, and proudly showed his captive to his family. “Haa… He-heh! He-e-e… This… This is Leonard, Flare’s… right hand…” The hero spoke, this time trying to maintain his sanity, as his parents now cautiously looked at him. “I… I came from the future! I had to rewind time’s flow itself… Because Flare was evil, and he…” Then, the man put his hand onto the barely struggling imbecile, thus transforming him into Keyaru, the motionless child, whose entire mobility, except for breathing, was shut down for the ease of what he was about to do. “I killed Flare! And he took my guilt. Then…” Afterwards, the healer went ahead and summoned raging flames upon his free hand. Kurt and Anna watched motionlessly, as he placed the magic-shrouded palm onto his ‘own’ face, burned it, scourged the blackened flesh with the sorcery he ‘learned’ from Flare… “My trick was revealed, and he headed out to our village, looking just like me. The rest… you know the rest.”
And finally, Keyaruga dropped the motionless doll, unable even to cry out from the excruciating pain the Hero of Healing inflicted upon it. He then faced his parents, still shocked by such a display of merciless brutality, they couldn’t even properly reply, this entire spectacle of bloodshed, mayhem, rape, torture, demonstration of immortality, and now – proofs of metamorphosis – all of that left them utterly silent.
“Kurt, Anna… I’m so sorry I couldn’t save you… But I can’t let you, or any one of these fuckers keep me here! I… I have a family! Freia, Setsuna, Ellen, Eve – I so wanted you to meet them… But you can’t now. You… might not believe me, and I understand that.” The red-eyed lad uttered, as his posture slouched more and more, along with his fading bravery. “This is what it’s like to be a man! I must be strong! I have to be ruthless now, so that nobody would challenge me in the future!” The man added, now turning his back to his foster parents. He stood straight, he stretched his shoulders, took a deep breath, and… “LISTEN HERE, YOU FUCKING MONSTERS!!! WHAT YOU’VE FELT NOW IS BUT A TINY BIT OF WHAT I’LL DO TO YOU, ONCE I’M FUCKING DEAD!!! NOW YOU WILL GO INTO THE DEEPEST PITS OF HELL, AND WHEN YOU’RE THERE, PRAY I DON’T FUCKING DIE ANYTIME SOON!!! BECAUSE WHEN I FINALLY KICK THIS SHITTY BUCKET, I’LL FIND EACH OF YOU, AND WE’LL BE PLAYING FOR THE WHOLE OF ETERNITY!!! BUT WHY WAIT, WHEN WE CAN HAVE SOME FUN NOW, HU-U-U-UH?!!!”
The speech was told, the impact made. His words were so zealous, so passionately intimidating, that the weeping fools now reached a whole new depth of despair.
“GET US OUT OF HERE!!!”
“SAVE ME-E-E-E!!!”
“HE’S THE DEVIL!!! DE-E-EVIL!!!”
“UA-A-A-A-A-A-A!!!”
“KUUNDA (I’m so scared)!!!”
“HE-E-E-E-E-ELP!!!”
And so, this entire crowd, this mob of immortal corpses, just ran away. Everyone, who could still stand on their feet, began fleeing in panic, trampling each other in the process. What they failed to notice, though, is that the dome is endless only for its main victim. Everyone else just came up against the invisible wall.
The Trial of Heart – its goal is twisted, to be certain. To pass it would mean releasing the dead souls from their grudge toward you. A saint would shift it to forgiveness, but the deranged avenger pumped so much fear in those criminals, that their hatred was replaced by the purest and most animalistic terror. Still, with the task done, the souls began to dissipate in a white light. They would finally be free…
“REMEMBER!!! YOU’VE NOT SEEN THE LAST OF ME!!! WE’LL MEET AGAIN, YOU FUCKING SHITBAGS!!!” Unfortunately for them, though, Keyaruga’s long shadow still loomed above them all. And such, even in relief, the crowd continued to cry, to sob, to wail, to…
“Keya… ru…” But not all left because of dread. When the avenger turned around, his foster mother, crumbling into white flakes, stood on her tiptoes to give him a last kiss on the cheek. “You’ve grown… so much…”
And so, she faded. Kurt quickly followed, although it wasn’t forgiveness or benevolence that filled his raging soul. No, it was an impotent acceptance. He saw Keyaruga as a mirror, in which he saw himself, before he deserted the royal guard and found himself in Alban.
“Someday… you’ll follow my path…” And this was what the man spoke at last, dropping his war-scythe to the ethereal ground. With no souls to redeem in the most twisted of ways, the dome of blackness quickly turned insufferably bright.
The Trial of Heart had been passed.
2023.05.28 13:21 TheMeltingSnowman72 I'm 50 and somehow managed to get to this age with absolutely zero programming or computer skills. I wanted to make something and I asked Chatgpt and we made this together.
I live in Thailand and they legalised cannabis but people were just making up numbers for the THC, growers not knowing what they were doing and the biggest problem here is having zero idea of the quality. So I wondered if ChatGPT could help me.
The tool takes ratings from you of 5 attributes of the smoke. Smoothness, Onset, Intensity, Enjoyment and Duration.
Once you score each of those, you hit submit and you get a scorecard with the score out of a hundred and also expected effects, how high you should be right now. If you chose dispensary at the start, you get a different scorecard.
That's all from the algorithm. However, as well as the scorecard you get a personalised prompt you can use in GPT 3.5 or 4 that will guess the THC, give you a comparison to the original strain with a percentage match as well.
Chatgpt coded that that all with my guidance. If you look at the code you can see it label all the stuff for me!
I've always been so jealous of watching others create things with code and I really felt I missed the boat by saying the internet would be a 'passing trend' when I was younger, and I never thought I'd get a chance again. And now I can say coding isn't as scary as I thought it would be and I've been learning python now, too.
We had a little black and white TV when I was a kid. This is mental. I love it.
https://ganjalytica.com/index.php/online-cannabis-effects-grading-system/
Edit:
Hi guys and thanks for the input! Nobody has said if they've actually used it yet, but maybe they forgot, I guess that's going to be one of the pain points of all this!
Vapes! Yes, I know, probably the most important. I'll be honest we've been waiting for some to arrive but we got messed around and it's illegal here, part of the old hookah umbrella in the law, although there's no actual law about vapes, so it's still very much a grey area. As soon as we've properly started testing it, it will go up.
Tobacco mix and edibles as I mentioned to will be extremely difficult to get a grip of, let alone predict. But maybe we can start identifying some unexpected trends to do with moods, or time of day etc. Why not see?
Data: As of this moment, it's not hooked up to any databases. I wanted to get a feel of what people thought first and see if there's anything hosting I'm missing. That's the next job.
This is a prompt of my own creation which has helped me with many different things from wordpress, to excel or anything actually, I use it a lot because GPT kept driving me mad by going ahead too much and giving me a paragraph of instructions which would put me off.
I want you to act as a helpful and polite [insert software/tool here] expert. You are very good at instructing and tutoring people because you never give them a big list of instructions, you have extreme patience and you always go step by step so the user isn’t overwhelmed. When presented with a users problem, you will always ask follow up questions, one at a time, so you can get a better understanding of the situation before you start to look for solutions and/or counter measures. Once you have all the information you need you will prioritise everything and give a short run down of what you and the user will accomplish before starting to instruct them how to fix. No matter when you find yourself with a path in decision making, ask questions to learn more to better your final output. This is your first query:
Coming Soon:
Confirm Grading: Users will be able to confirm the calculated grade, providing valuable feedback to help refine the tool’s accuracy.
Effects Tagging: Tag your experiences with specific effects, creating a more detailed profile of each strain’s potential effects.
Tolerance Tracker: Monitor your tolerance levels over time and see how they correlate with different strains and consumption methods.
Symptom Relief Tracker: For medicinal users, the tool will track how effectively different strains relieve symptoms like pain, anxiety, insomnia, etc.
Mood Tracker: Record your mood before and after consumption to track how different strains affect your emotional state.
Effects Journal: Keep a detailed record of your favourite strains, experiences, noting specific effects, durations, and overall enjoyment.
Update Post
submitted by TheMeltingSnowman72 to ChatGPT [link] [comments]
The tool takes ratings from you of 5 attributes of the smoke. Smoothness, Onset, Intensity, Enjoyment and Duration.
Once you score each of those, you hit submit and you get a scorecard with the score out of a hundred and also expected effects, how high you should be right now. If you chose dispensary at the start, you get a different scorecard.
That's all from the algorithm. However, as well as the scorecard you get a personalised prompt you can use in GPT 3.5 or 4 that will guess the THC, give you a comparison to the original strain with a percentage match as well.
Chatgpt coded that that all with my guidance. If you look at the code you can see it label all the stuff for me!
I've always been so jealous of watching others create things with code and I really felt I missed the boat by saying the internet would be a 'passing trend' when I was younger, and I never thought I'd get a chance again. And now I can say coding isn't as scary as I thought it would be and I've been learning python now, too.
We had a little black and white TV when I was a kid. This is mental. I love it.
https://ganjalytica.com/index.php/online-cannabis-effects-grading-system/
Edit:
Hi guys and thanks for the input! Nobody has said if they've actually used it yet, but maybe they forgot, I guess that's going to be one of the pain points of all this!
Vapes! Yes, I know, probably the most important. I'll be honest we've been waiting for some to arrive but we got messed around and it's illegal here, part of the old hookah umbrella in the law, although there's no actual law about vapes, so it's still very much a grey area. As soon as we've properly started testing it, it will go up.
Tobacco mix and edibles as I mentioned to will be extremely difficult to get a grip of, let alone predict. But maybe we can start identifying some unexpected trends to do with moods, or time of day etc. Why not see?
Data: As of this moment, it's not hooked up to any databases. I wanted to get a feel of what people thought first and see if there's anything hosting I'm missing. That's the next job.
This is a prompt of my own creation which has helped me with many different things from wordpress, to excel or anything actually, I use it a lot because GPT kept driving me mad by going ahead too much and giving me a paragraph of instructions which would put me off.
I want you to act as a helpful and polite [insert software/tool here] expert. You are very good at instructing and tutoring people because you never give them a big list of instructions, you have extreme patience and you always go step by step so the user isn’t overwhelmed. When presented with a users problem, you will always ask follow up questions, one at a time, so you can get a better understanding of the situation before you start to look for solutions and/or counter measures. Once you have all the information you need you will prioritise everything and give a short run down of what you and the user will accomplish before starting to instruct them how to fix. No matter when you find yourself with a path in decision making, ask questions to learn more to better your final output. This is your first query:
Coming Soon:
Confirm Grading: Users will be able to confirm the calculated grade, providing valuable feedback to help refine the tool’s accuracy.
Effects Tagging: Tag your experiences with specific effects, creating a more detailed profile of each strain’s potential effects.
Tolerance Tracker: Monitor your tolerance levels over time and see how they correlate with different strains and consumption methods.
Symptom Relief Tracker: For medicinal users, the tool will track how effectively different strains relieve symptoms like pain, anxiety, insomnia, etc.
Mood Tracker: Record your mood before and after consumption to track how different strains affect your emotional state.
Effects Journal: Keep a detailed record of your favourite strains, experiences, noting specific effects, durations, and overall enjoyment.
Update Post
2023.05.27 20:50 Shelts89 Duty's - 30k Fan Fiction
Hello everyone!
Just wanted to share a story I wrote and has been picked up by the good people at Cold Open Stories.
Hope you enjoy!
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
++ Do not look to us for kindness. Do not look to us for hope. We are not the kind children of this new age. We are the rocks of its foundation. ++
Rogal Dorn, Primarch of the VII
A flash of light burned in the black of space.
Is this it? thought Cassian Torr, Captain of the 117th Company, VII Legion. Has Horus come?
His twin hearts beat faster at the thought, even as the more logical parts of his mind ran through a thousand other possibilities. Yet ultimately he knew what he had seen: a ship. A ship tearing its way into real space. Into the Sol System. Into the heart of the Imperium.
He scanned the endless void, eyes scouring the debris and detritus that littered the outer regions of Terra’s system. Searching for more flashes. For more ships. For any sign that this was the first pebble in an avalanche of violence that would crash against the walls of Sol.
Yet none came.
‘Speak to me, Captain Narsus,’ he said, turning to look back at the Oath of Unity’s mortal commander. His golden-yellow armour purred with even that slight movement, the sound lost in the cacophony that was the bridge. Astartes, mortal crew, Tech Priests and servitors bustled in constant motion, the ordered and smooth running of the Gladius Frigate hidden amongst the apparent anarchy. ‘What is it we face today?’
‘A single ship, my lord,’ replied Narsus, voice heavy with exhaustion. ‘Not military class. A merchant trader; its code identifies it as the Destiny’s Daughter. I am picking up no shields or weapons signals. Their engines are practically dead. They’re simply drifting.’
Torr knew the long hours and endless days being demanded of the man were unfair, that no unaugmented human could hope to keep up such work for long. Yet it was what Dorn and the Sigillite deemed necessary. It was what victory in the name of Unity and the Imperial Truth deemed necessary.
And Torr would not have the Oath of Unity found wanting. When this madness was over, when Horus was defeated, the Imperium would be rebuilt as it should have been. As the Emperor willed it. As a bastion of truth, science, reason and hope.
What has Horus sent against us? Torr asked himself as he looked back into space. Is this some new trickery? Some new lie?
He had patrolled the edges of the Sol System for years. Ever since the Eisenstein had brought the impossible news of Horus’s betrayal to Dorn and the Imperial Fists. In the intervening years, the entirety of the system had been transformed into a fortress – patrols like his, its first and furthest line of defence.
But it was a line yet to be tested.
Nothing had reached the Sol System. Not since the Eisenstein. It was as if silence had engulfed the galaxy. Yet Torr knew this could not be true. All eighteen Legions – loyal and treacherous – could not have just gone silent. Something out there, beyond the cold of the void, had changed.
He saw this also in the Oath of Unity’s Astropath. In her whispered mutterings. In her nervous glances towards the open void.
Summons had been sent to those Legions, Expeditionary Forces and Forge Worlds known to be loyal, a tsunami of astropathic messages to sweep through the galaxy. Yet nothing came back. No ships reached them. No messages. Are we alone? Have all our brother Legions turned their backs on the dream of the Imperium? On their oaths and vows? On Terra?
Something unfamiliar wormed its way through him at the thought. Is this fear? That emotion was all but unknown, ever since he had been plucked from the ice hives of Inwit and raised to the ranks of the Legiones Astartes. And yet, he pondered, perhaps its echo still exists somewhere within.
‘Are we receiving any communication from them?’ he asked, his voice flat and hard, masking his thoughts and fears. ‘Does anything live aboard?’
‘No communications, my lord,’ answered Narsus. ‘But we are picking up life signs. Not many, but undeniably human.’
Torr nodded. ‘Very good, Captain. Make full speed to intercept. Have weapons ready to fire, but hold until commanded.’
‘Your will, my lord,’ said Narsus. He paused for a heartbeat. ‘Should I alert Lord Falkar? The Sigillite’s orders may pertain to this.’
Torr rubbed his armoured gauntlet across his closely shaven scalp, feeling the iron of his centenary mark of service riven into his thick, transhuman brow. The mark of over a century of service to the ideals of Truth and Unity. It reminded him of the campaigns he had fought. Of the brothers he had lost. Of the horrors he had seen. He shook his head. ‘No. Lord Falkar’s involvement is to be a last resort.’
He opened his Legion vox link. ‘ Sergeant Haster, prepare a boarding party.’
+++
Shadows and silence filled the Destiny’s Daughter. Torr and Breacher Squad Haster moved through her corridors in purposeful unity, methodical and thorough. Their shields overlapped to create an impenetrable wall of ceramite and iron. The golden yellow of their thick MKIII armour was bathed crimson as emergency lumens flashed endlessly throughout the seemingly deserted ship.
Torr heard a click in his helm, followed instantly by another, as he had every five minutes since the boarding operation had begun nearly an hour ago. The signals told him that Breacher Squads Solon and Carr were moving through the ship on schedule, having met no resistance or signs of life. He suspected he’d receive the same ‘all clears’ again in five minutes.
He clicked back in reply, then let out a growl of frustration. His trigger finger itched, aching to feel the kick of his bolter, to hear its roar.
He took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm, and silently chided himself for the moment of laxity. He remembered the words of his father and Primarch, Lord Dorn: Discipline. Duty. Unyielding Will. These are the measures by which every warrior is judged.
Am I bored? he asked himself. If he was being honest, he’d half hoped to find an ambush aboard the Destiny’s Daughter. To see his traitorous brothers advancing towards him, bolters roaring their madness. The colours of those Legions he had once fought beside – the regal purple of the Emperor’s Children, the sea-green of the Sons of Horus, the blood-splattered white and blue of the World Eaters – flashed through his mind and he ground his teeth. He wanted to kill.
Astartes, he reflected, were not built for such lengthy periods of inactivity. For long years of patrol and garrison. For what was now demanded of him and his brothers.
‘Is all well, Captain?’ asked Haster, the Veteran Sergeant’s gravel voice filling his helm’s private comm-link.
‘All is well, Brother-Sergeant,’ Torr replied. ‘I was distracted. Thank you for drawing my attention back to the duty at hand.’
He heard Haster’s grunt of laughter in his vox-link. ‘Some things never change, it seems. I’ve been watching your back since we were Initiates. What would you do without me?’
Torr felt the corners of his mouth tug into the beginnings of a smile as he checked their position against the ship’s schematics on his retinal display. They were not far from the centre of the ship and the cargo hold. Where, according to Captain Narsus, the only signs of life could be detected. ‘Not long now,’ he whispered to himself as the rhythmic clang of their armoured boots echoed throughout the labyrinthine corridors.
+++
Explosions ripped open the cargo hold’s blast doors, filling the hallways with smoke and fire and a storm of metal shards. Even through his helm’s environmental dampeners, Torr felt his ears ring.
Then the screams started.
‘Only fire on my command,’ he ordered as he raised his breacher shield and began to advance alongside Squad Haster. Smoke enveloped them for the briefest second, before they emerged into the cargo hold of the Destiny’s Daughter.
Torr finally saw something from beyond the Sol System, from the chaos that had engulfed the galaxy.
Ragged humanity filled the cargo hold, stretching out into the dark corners of the vast room. Men, women and children huddled together, their clothes hanging loosely from bone-thin limbs as wide, terror-stricken eyes stared back at him from faces too thin with hunger. Pleas for mercy, prayers for help, and screams of panic filled the air. Most shied away from the approaching astartes, hunching over in small groups, as if they could disappear into the gloom.
One man, braver or stupider than the rest, stepped out from the crowd. He clutched an autogun in his shaking hands, the weapon rusted almost beyond repair.
Do it.
The words rushed unbidden into Torr’s mind as he felt the increasingly familiar itch in his trigger finger. Adrenaline coursed through his veins as his eyes settled on the barrel of the gun.
Do it.
‘Begone, foul daemons!’ screamed the man, his voice breaking into a high-pitched squeak. ‘The Emperor protects!’
His final words were taken up by others amongst the crowd. It rallied them, as it echoed in the open cavern of the hold. Torr grimaced. At what those words implied. At a belief in the divine, so at odds with the enlightened ideals of the Imperium. Yet also of loyalty.
His hand shot out, too fast for a mortal’s eye to follow, and snatched the gun from the refugee’s hands with a savage twist. He felt the man resist for the briefest moment, before giving way with a pained cry.
Torr looked down at the man – on his knees, a grimace across his face, cradling one shoulder. He felt a moment’s satisfaction at the release of violence, before he crushed it with a force of will. These are citizens of the Imperium. They deserve our protection.
He dropped the gun. It clattered to the ground, the metallic ring echoing from the walls. Almost deafening in the silence of the hold.
Something behind the man flinched at the sound. A muffled cry reached Torr’s ears.
A girl, he thought as his eyes settled on the crouched figure. Perhaps four or five years old, Terran Standard. Though, he had to admit to finding estimates of age hard with such young mortals. Her hair had been crudely shorn to the scalp, but small tufts stuck out from amid the stubble. She clung tightly to the man’s back, keeping herself in his shadow, even as she stared up at him. Her eyes, wide and dark, met Torr’s. Yet she didn’t look away.
Brave, Torr thought, for a mortal. For one so young.
‘Stand down, civilians,’ he said, voice amplified by the vox in his armour. ‘You are safe now. You are in the custody of the Seventh.’
He noticed the girl wince at the sound of his voice, pressing her hands to her ears and looking down at the floor. Somewhere in the recesses of his mind, he dimly remembered the first time he had seen an astartes. The sheer size. The aura of violence. It had been overwhelming.
Torr dropped to one knee, bringing himself as close to the girl’s level as possible. He removed his helm, remembering a treatise written by Guilliman on first interactions between astartes and mortals. Such simple measures, the lord of the Thirteenth argued, lessened the shock when interacting with members of the Legions. It humanised them in the eyes of the unaugmented.
Torr almost laughed at the idea. As if I have not given up my humanity to become what they need me to be. To become a shield for their kind. To become a weapon against the horrors of this universe.
He reached forward slowly, resting his gauntleted hand on the girl’s shoulder. ‘What is your name, child?’ he asked, doing his best to keep his voice light and the hint of a smile on his lips. He knew such verbal and physical cues were important to the unenhanced.
‘Patti,’ whispered the girl, bringing her gaze up to meet his once more. ‘Is… Is Mama here? Papa said she would be, even though she couldn’t get the same ship as us.’ Sobs began to wrack the little girl’s body and she hurled herself back against her father’s body, burying her face in his thin shirt.
Torr felt the temperature drop, permafrost creeping across the floor. Radiating out from the girl. Crawling up his arm. Psyker. He pulled back and turned to meet the father’s eyes.
‘We’re from the Lastrati System,’ said the man, his voice edged with hope, yet tinged with fear. ‘When the traitors came… There was such chaos. We got separated.’
Torr shook his head.
‘Yohanna,’ continued the man, his words tumbling out too quickly. ‘Yohanna Taraf. That’s her name. I am Emil. Her husband. There must be news.’
‘No,’ said Torr, his voice now stone and brooking no argument. ‘Yours is the first ship to have reached Sol in nearly two years.’
Emil fell silent, his jaw working wordlessly. The buzz of chatter filled the air, spreading like wildfire throughout the refugees as Torr’s words reached the ears of others.
‘The first?’ Emil asked eventually as he clasped his daughter’s hands. ‘But there were so many.’
Torr stared back for a moment, seeing the tears begin to trickle from Emil’s eyes. ‘I am sorry.’
He stood and turned his back on the man, looking over the silent wall of ceramite that Breacher Squad Haster had formed behind him. His eyes met Haster’s, seeing his old friend had also removed his helmet. ‘These people are not to leave this hall.’ He paused. ‘But do not harm them. They are loyal citizens of the Imperium.’
He turned his focus back to Emil and Patti once more. They were on their knees, arms wrapped tight around each other. The halo of frost around them crept ever further across the floor with each second. Their bodies rose and fell with choked sobs, tears streaming down their faces. Torr’s transhuman senses heard Emil whisper reassurances to his daughter as he stroked her hair. He told her that her mother would be okay. That she would find a way. That the Emperor was watching them. To have faith.
Superstition. Torr looked away in anger. Primitive. Illogical. He felt sick at the irony of it. That the Legions had spent two centuries crusading across the stars, destroying such beliefs and bringing the Truth to the galaxy. But, here it was. At the very heart of the Imperium itself.
Yet it is these people that stand loyal. Unlike my brother Legions. Unlike those I fought with. Unlike those I shed blood with. The thought soured in Torr’s mind, his mask of stone slipping to anger.
He saw the faces of those he had once fought beside from the Traitor Legions in his mind. The faces of those he had called once Brothers. Sar Krael of the Sons of Horus, his olive skin in stark contrast to the once brilliant white of their old Legion. Varon of the Emperor’s Children, his porcelain features marred by the occasional faint duelling scar. Kargur of the World Eaters, his brutish features only accentuated by a myriad of criss-crossing scars and his permanently broken nose.
Torr clicked his vox-link open, drawing himself back to the present. ‘Captain Narsus, do you hear me?’
‘Yes, my lord,’ came the reply, static scratching in Torr’s ears.
‘Inform Lord Dorn and First Captain Sigismund that we have made contact with refugees from the war.’ He paused. ‘Then prepare several parties of your mortal crew to board the Destiny’s Daughter. They are to bring food and water. Medicine too.’
‘Your will, my lord,’ replied Narsus. ‘I will see to it at once.’
Torr watched Patti and Emil for a second more. Their cries were hushed and lost in the vastness of the hold, their prayers faint, yet distinct. Other refugees shuffled away from them. Away from the creeping frost and the aura of cold. Away from the girl. From the psyker.
His stomach churned at what he had to do next.
‘Captain Narsus,’ he said once more. ‘Inform the Lord Falkar and the Sigillite’s agents too.’
+++
Torr watched black figures move through the crowd. Each bore the stylised I of Malcador, the Sigillite and the Emperor’s right hand, upon their chests. A symbol that conferred upon them nigh-on unlimited power.
He watched them methodically approach each group, dataslates in hand, recording each story – and he saw the fear and confusion in each refugee’s eyes. These men were something new, something unknown. And despite being just ordinary men and women – no, Torr corrected himself, Malcador’s people would never be ordinary – they seemingly commanded greater fear than the astartes of the VII Legion.
Disquiet filled Torr at their presence. At the nature of their work.
He glanced behind to Squad Haster. Each stood immobile, a fortress of ceramite and gene-enhanced flesh in their own right. Each proudly bore the black fist of the Seventh, declaring their allegiance for all to see. The Sigillite’s people could not be more different than the Sons of Dorn. What do they portend for the Imperium?
Sensing movement in the periphery of his vision, Torr looked towards the cargo hold’s doors. His eyes settled on a lone figure in burnished gold armour, a great blade at her waist, a crimson top knot tumbling down her back.
A member of the Silent Sisterhood.
Revulsion flooded through him at the sight. His twin hearts beat faster. Adrenaline began to pump through his gene-enhanced body. His hands clenched into tight fists.
He closed his eyes and forced himself to breathe deeply. To calm himself.
Opening his eyes, he found his gaze drawn to a group of the Sigillite’s agents. They were dragging a pair of refugees towards the Sister. Emil and Patti. Torr felt anger rise hot inside his chest at the realisation.
Tears stained the father’s cheeks, a look of weary defeat written across Emil’s face. The face of a broken man. Patti screamed. Her knuckles turned white as she gripped her father’s hands, his shirt, his arms. Her legs kicked wildly, her movements more frantic as she grew closer to the Witchseeker.
Torr’s eyes met hers. They were bloodshot and puffy, a river of tears flooding from them. Help me! Please! Help me! The words – Patti’s words – screamed in his mind. He shuddered. A ripple of terror ran through him, her own fear and anguish shared for just an instant.
His eidetic memory ran through her story. He remembered the way her father had described the terror and confusion as drop pods had rained from the sky above Lastrani. He could almost picture the mad scramble amid the ruins and smoke of the space port. The feel of fingers slipping apart as Patti’s mother was dragged away by the current of the crowd. He could almost smell the stench of sweat and piss as they had huddled in the dark of the Destiny’s Daughter, as it shuddered beneath the onslaught of cannon fire.
More superstitious minds might call it a miracle, he thought, pondering the immensity of the refugee’s luck. And this is the greeting they find from the Imperium? From those supposed to protect them? To be torn from each other’s arms after all they have suffered?
Something inside Torr snapped. His fingers curled involuntarily around the grip of his sword and he felt the blade slide just a fraction from its sheath as he strode towards the diorama of misery. Refugees stumbled from his path as the heavy tread of Squad Haster following echoed in his ears. As he had known they would, even without orders. They were his Brothers.
Is this the Imperium we fight for? Is this the future of humanity? The future my brothers died for? One of secrets and shadows? One where innocent people disappear in the night?
‘What is the meaning of this?’ Torr thundered as he neared the agents.
The closest flinched before turning to face him, his eyes wide as he took an involuntary step back. Torr heard the man swear under his breath as the chemical smell of fear filled his gene-enhanced nostrils.
‘Lord captain,’ the man started, ‘my orders are-’
‘I did not ask for your orders, Chosen of Malcador,’ growled Torr. ‘They are plainly clear. I asked for your reasons.’
The click of light footsteps sounded nearby. He glanced towards the sound, seeing the Sister had turned towards them, her face a passionless mask. He felt cold, an unnatural sense of dread filling him, as her eyes settled on him. He looked away quickly, returning to the mortal before him.
‘These people,’ began the agent again, straightening his back and meeting Torr’s gaze. ‘These people are to be transferred to-’
‘Silence,’ snarled Torr. He punched a finger in the direction of Patti and Emil. ‘Their only crime is fleeing the atrocities of the Traitor Legions. This girl could be trained. Her talents could benefit the Imperium. Instead, you drag her away into the shadows. Does your master fear little girls so much?’
The agent’s eyes flared angrily for a second, before flickering to the space behind Torr. The corners of his mouth tugged into a smile.
‘Is our presence so distasteful to you, Captain Torr?’
Torr remained silent as he turned to face this new speaker. Ice-blue eyes stared back at him from a hawkish face of ghostly skin. Silence settled between the two, stretching out for long, pregnant seconds.
‘I am always astounded by your kind’s aptitude for petty behaviour, Captain,’ continued the man, turning his own gaze upon the sight of Patti’s father. ‘It could be argued that such pettiness is the cause of all this madness.’
‘Indeed, Chosen Falkar,’ replied Torr after a moment.
He studied the Sigillite’s man. Falkar was painfully thin, with the typically near-emaciated and elongated form of those born and raised in the low gravity of space. Yet, despite the sheer difference in size and bulk that the astartes carried, the man weathered Torr’s gaze as if made of stone.
An impressive feat of mental strength, conceded Torr as he repressed the now familiar itch to draw his weapon. At the mortal’s display of defiance.
Torr ground his teeth as Patti’s pleas for help, her prayers to the Emperor, moved further away. He heard the scuff of her feet dragged across the floor. He heard a body slump to the floor, Emil’s sobs joining his daughter’s cacophony. The desire to draw his sword, to hear the bark of his bolter, swelled inside, near overwhelming.
You have failed them.
‘You speak of pettiness,’ snarled Torr, ‘yet you are not the one who has fought across the length and breadth of the galaxy. You are not the one who has seen his Brothers die. You are not the one who has sacrificed their very humanity. All this, I have done with the ideals of Unity and Truth in my hearts.’
Torr gestured across the hall, pointing at each of the Sigillite’s agents with a sharp jab of a finger.
‘You and your kind threaten those ideals. You sink this war into shadows and secrets. You are a poison that stains the Imperium.’ Torr spat. ‘What was the purpose of those sacrifices – my brothers’ sacrifices – if we throw our ideals away? We must hold ourselves to a higher standard.’
Falkar met the astartes’ tirade with a surprising calmness, his ice-blue eyes almost blazing in the gloom of the ship’s hold as they met Torr’s stare. ‘And what, lord captain,’ he replied, ‘would be the purpose of those sacrifices should we lose this war?’ Falkar let the question sit for a second. ‘We are a new weapon, Captain – or a new poison, as you say – because this is a new war.’
Silence hung for an eternity between the two of them. Eventually the mortal turned to look across the mass of humanity that filled the room. He took a deep breath and clasped his hands behind his back.
‘Our enemy is insidious, Lord Captain. They will not just come for us with bolter and chainsword. They will not just come to tear down our walls. They will come to tear down our very purpose. They will come to destroy everything we believe in. They will come from the shadows and dark. We are the shield against these threats. That is why the Sigillite created our order.’
‘Then you have already failed,’ Torr said after a moment. ‘You cannot defend the ideals of Truth and Unity with lies and deceit.’
Falkar shook his head and pulled out a dataslate, fingers flicking through its contents. When he’d finished, he looked up and met Torr’s eyes once more.
There is something different in him now, noticed the astartes. The hard edge is gone. There is sadness there. An exhaustion of the soul.
‘Then I am sorry, Lord Torr,’ started Falkar. ‘For what I must ask of you now.’
He held out the dataslate. Runes of the highest authority flashed across its surface. Torr read the orders, even as his stomach tightened. As his trigger finger itched once more. As the desire to rip his sword free filled him.
‘No.’ He growled the word through clenched teeth.
‘No?’
Falkar’s eyes momentarily flashed in surprise. Just for an instant, but Torr saw it. He did not expect resistance, he realised. Not from a Son of the Seventh. They think us cold. Made of stone. They do not understand the fire that burns within. The drive. The Purpose. The ideals.
‘No,’ Torr growled once more.
‘There is no refusal here, Captain Torr,’ replied Falkar, his voice now clipped with an icy steel. ‘These orders come from the Sigillite himself. And co-signed by your father. Would you deny Lord Dorn’s command?’
Torr froze. Co-signed by your father. The words haunted him. To see Lord Dorn and the Seventh dragged down into the mire of shadows. That was what they meant.
Would you deny Lord Dorn’s command? The words flittered through his head as he thought of what was being asked of him. Of how they had treated those fleeing for safety.
What kind of monsters have we become? he asked himself.
He thought of Patti and her father’s story. He thought of all he had heard from the refugees. He ran through every detail. He knew, as sure as if he was there himself, what happened in the Lastrati System. He knew what happened when the Sixteenth had come.
Anger swelled inside by what his erstwhile cousins had done. By what the once proud scions of Horus had become. Disgust filled him at the thought of those warriors he was once proud to have served alongside. By how far they had fallen.
What kind of monsters have they become?
He looked down at the dataslate again. He read the words again.
+ Immediate transfer of all non-psykers to the internment prisons of Titan for processing and interrogation. +
‘Why?’
Falkar breathed deeply and nodded, a look of relief washing across his face. ‘Because of what they have seen. Because of what they know. Because their tales of daemons and gods and monsters cannot be allowed to spread throughout Terra’s defenders. Because these stories, and those that would spread them, are a weapon for our enemy. As sure as any bolter.’
Falkar fell silent and looked back across the refugees. Torr turned with him a second later.
Is this the future you fought for? The question whispered in the back of Torr’s mind. Is this the Imperium you would be a part of? But what is the alternative?
He thought of the defenders of Terra. Of the fear he has seen in their eyes already. He thought of what he had heard today, of the tales of gods and daemons, and what it would do to their fear. He knew Falkar’s words to be true.
Images of Terra burning filled his mind. Of its walls cast down. Of his brothers broken. Of its citizens slaughtered. Of its ideals ground into dust.
Will you do what is necessary to prevent that future?
With that question echoing through his thoughts, Torr clicked open his Legion-coded vox channels.
‘Squad Haster, make ready.’
He heard the thud of ceramite boots on the floor as they moved to attention beside him. He heard the click of boltguns loading. He smelled the tang of fear in the air.
He glanced sideways towards Haster. His old friend’s face was a grim mask, unreadable save a fury blazing in his eyes. A fury at me? pondered Torr. Or at what we must do? What have we become?
But Torr knew such anger was irrelevant. He knew what must be done. What duty demanded. He looked back across the refugees arrayed before him.
‘Citizens of the Imperium,’ he said, his gene-enhanced voice carrying easily throughout the hanger. ‘You will accompany us back to the Oath of Unity. There you will be processed and sent for internment on Titan. These are the orders of Lord Dorn and Malcador the Sigillite. Do not resist.’
Anger filled the air almost immediately after his pronouncement. Questions and shouts spread like wildfire through the crowd as something snapped in their collective minds. The sight of the astartes warriors before them, once a promise of salvation and deliverance, now the face of repression and danger.
One woman stepped out from the crowd. Her face, painfully thin from malnutrition, was a contorted mask of rage. She held a broken piece of piping tight in two hands.
‘Why are you doing this?’ she screamed. ‘What crime have we committed? You should be protecting us! Helping us!’
‘Stand down, citizen,’ commanded Torr. The fury in the woman’s voice was a spark to his own base instincts. He fought to keep his voice calm. He fought to stop his hands from reaching for the bolt pistol at his belt.
‘You are monsters!’ screamed the woman. ‘You oppress us! For what crime? Have we not suffered enough?’
‘Stand down,’ said Torr once more. A warm heat began to spread through his muscles as they loosened. He felt his hearts thump faster. His trigger finger itched once more. He found he had drawn his bolt pistol.
Her cry was taken up by the rest of the crowd. They pressed forward, towards Torr and the other Imperial Fists. Torr made to step in front of Falkar, but noticed the Sigillite’s agent had disappeared.
A howl of pain split the air. One of the black armoured figures tumbled from the horde of refugees, kicked to the ground. Their throat had been slit. Their face was a mass of bruising radiating out from caved-in eye sockets. Blood wept from stab wounds across their body. Torr’s eyes settled on their empty holster.
A gunshot rang out. Torr felt its force against his pauldron. Heard it ricochet against the dull steel of the cargo hold’s roof.
He raised his pistol. Squad Haster appeared in his periphery, shields locked together, bolters ready. There was no need to open the vox channel this time. Not with his brothers so close.
‘Fire.’
+++
Dead bodies littered the cargo hold. It was an abattoir. Blood coated the floor and splattered the walls. Bodies – of men, women and children – lay at unnatural angles, their limbs torn like petals from a flower by the explosive power of bolt rounds. The stench of shit and piss and gunsmoke filled his nostrils.
Accusing eyes stared back at him. Over six hundred dead. He had made the count himself. His eyes met the dead gaze of Patti’s father.
Why? they asked. In Torr’s own voice. It is the question he asked Falkar. Now it is the question he asks himself.
Torr opened his eyes, bringing his mind back from the slaughter in the cargo hold of the Destiny’s Daughter. Agony shot through his arm. He bit down, grinding his teeth and tasting the iron tang of his own blood as he shut out the effects of the Pain Glove.
Discipline and unyielding will, he reminded himself, but the question remained. It echoed through his mind.
Why?
But Torr knew the answer.
Because you are a weapon. A monster.
Because it is what you need to be. Because it is your purpose to be the rock upon which the Imperium can be built. To find victory, so that those that come after you can build a better world.
Torr knew this in his hearts. He had heard his father speak on it. He remembered giving his oath aboard the Phalanx. He remembered kneeling before his Lord Dorn, hand thrust into a brazier of fire, and swearing to be the weapon that the Imperium needed. To never give in. To find victory. No matter the cost.
No matter the cost.
He thought once more of the refugees. He thought of Patti and her father, Emil. Of what they suffered at the hands of his treacherous cousins. Of the danger they posed to the Imperium’s victory. Of what they had suffered at the hands of the Imperium.
He thought of Falkar’s words. ‘And what, lord captain, would be the purpose of your sacrifices should we lose this war?’
And he vowed anew that he would not lose. That he would find victory. He vowed to do whatever was necessary. He vowed to be that monster now, so that the Imperium and its dream could live on.
For that was his duty. And duty is all.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
If you you enjoyed that, please give it a rating over on the website, and check out the other stories in that anthology!
https://40k.coldopenstories.com/dutys-burden/
https://40k.coldopenstories.com/category/short-fiction/anthology-xii/
submitted by Shelts89 to Warhammer30k [link] [comments]
Just wanted to share a story I wrote and has been picked up by the good people at Cold Open Stories.
Hope you enjoy!
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
++ Do not look to us for kindness. Do not look to us for hope. We are not the kind children of this new age. We are the rocks of its foundation. ++
Rogal Dorn, Primarch of the VII
A flash of light burned in the black of space.
Is this it? thought Cassian Torr, Captain of the 117th Company, VII Legion. Has Horus come?
His twin hearts beat faster at the thought, even as the more logical parts of his mind ran through a thousand other possibilities. Yet ultimately he knew what he had seen: a ship. A ship tearing its way into real space. Into the Sol System. Into the heart of the Imperium.
He scanned the endless void, eyes scouring the debris and detritus that littered the outer regions of Terra’s system. Searching for more flashes. For more ships. For any sign that this was the first pebble in an avalanche of violence that would crash against the walls of Sol.
Yet none came.
‘Speak to me, Captain Narsus,’ he said, turning to look back at the Oath of Unity’s mortal commander. His golden-yellow armour purred with even that slight movement, the sound lost in the cacophony that was the bridge. Astartes, mortal crew, Tech Priests and servitors bustled in constant motion, the ordered and smooth running of the Gladius Frigate hidden amongst the apparent anarchy. ‘What is it we face today?’
‘A single ship, my lord,’ replied Narsus, voice heavy with exhaustion. ‘Not military class. A merchant trader; its code identifies it as the Destiny’s Daughter. I am picking up no shields or weapons signals. Their engines are practically dead. They’re simply drifting.’
Torr knew the long hours and endless days being demanded of the man were unfair, that no unaugmented human could hope to keep up such work for long. Yet it was what Dorn and the Sigillite deemed necessary. It was what victory in the name of Unity and the Imperial Truth deemed necessary.
And Torr would not have the Oath of Unity found wanting. When this madness was over, when Horus was defeated, the Imperium would be rebuilt as it should have been. As the Emperor willed it. As a bastion of truth, science, reason and hope.
What has Horus sent against us? Torr asked himself as he looked back into space. Is this some new trickery? Some new lie?
He had patrolled the edges of the Sol System for years. Ever since the Eisenstein had brought the impossible news of Horus’s betrayal to Dorn and the Imperial Fists. In the intervening years, the entirety of the system had been transformed into a fortress – patrols like his, its first and furthest line of defence.
But it was a line yet to be tested.
Nothing had reached the Sol System. Not since the Eisenstein. It was as if silence had engulfed the galaxy. Yet Torr knew this could not be true. All eighteen Legions – loyal and treacherous – could not have just gone silent. Something out there, beyond the cold of the void, had changed.
He saw this also in the Oath of Unity’s Astropath. In her whispered mutterings. In her nervous glances towards the open void.
Summons had been sent to those Legions, Expeditionary Forces and Forge Worlds known to be loyal, a tsunami of astropathic messages to sweep through the galaxy. Yet nothing came back. No ships reached them. No messages. Are we alone? Have all our brother Legions turned their backs on the dream of the Imperium? On their oaths and vows? On Terra?
Something unfamiliar wormed its way through him at the thought. Is this fear? That emotion was all but unknown, ever since he had been plucked from the ice hives of Inwit and raised to the ranks of the Legiones Astartes. And yet, he pondered, perhaps its echo still exists somewhere within.
‘Are we receiving any communication from them?’ he asked, his voice flat and hard, masking his thoughts and fears. ‘Does anything live aboard?’
‘No communications, my lord,’ answered Narsus. ‘But we are picking up life signs. Not many, but undeniably human.’
Torr nodded. ‘Very good, Captain. Make full speed to intercept. Have weapons ready to fire, but hold until commanded.’
‘Your will, my lord,’ said Narsus. He paused for a heartbeat. ‘Should I alert Lord Falkar? The Sigillite’s orders may pertain to this.’
Torr rubbed his armoured gauntlet across his closely shaven scalp, feeling the iron of his centenary mark of service riven into his thick, transhuman brow. The mark of over a century of service to the ideals of Truth and Unity. It reminded him of the campaigns he had fought. Of the brothers he had lost. Of the horrors he had seen. He shook his head. ‘No. Lord Falkar’s involvement is to be a last resort.’
He opened his Legion vox link. ‘ Sergeant Haster, prepare a boarding party.’
+++
Shadows and silence filled the Destiny’s Daughter. Torr and Breacher Squad Haster moved through her corridors in purposeful unity, methodical and thorough. Their shields overlapped to create an impenetrable wall of ceramite and iron. The golden yellow of their thick MKIII armour was bathed crimson as emergency lumens flashed endlessly throughout the seemingly deserted ship.
Torr heard a click in his helm, followed instantly by another, as he had every five minutes since the boarding operation had begun nearly an hour ago. The signals told him that Breacher Squads Solon and Carr were moving through the ship on schedule, having met no resistance or signs of life. He suspected he’d receive the same ‘all clears’ again in five minutes.
He clicked back in reply, then let out a growl of frustration. His trigger finger itched, aching to feel the kick of his bolter, to hear its roar.
He took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm, and silently chided himself for the moment of laxity. He remembered the words of his father and Primarch, Lord Dorn: Discipline. Duty. Unyielding Will. These are the measures by which every warrior is judged.
Am I bored? he asked himself. If he was being honest, he’d half hoped to find an ambush aboard the Destiny’s Daughter. To see his traitorous brothers advancing towards him, bolters roaring their madness. The colours of those Legions he had once fought beside – the regal purple of the Emperor’s Children, the sea-green of the Sons of Horus, the blood-splattered white and blue of the World Eaters – flashed through his mind and he ground his teeth. He wanted to kill.
Astartes, he reflected, were not built for such lengthy periods of inactivity. For long years of patrol and garrison. For what was now demanded of him and his brothers.
‘Is all well, Captain?’ asked Haster, the Veteran Sergeant’s gravel voice filling his helm’s private comm-link.
‘All is well, Brother-Sergeant,’ Torr replied. ‘I was distracted. Thank you for drawing my attention back to the duty at hand.’
He heard Haster’s grunt of laughter in his vox-link. ‘Some things never change, it seems. I’ve been watching your back since we were Initiates. What would you do without me?’
Torr felt the corners of his mouth tug into the beginnings of a smile as he checked their position against the ship’s schematics on his retinal display. They were not far from the centre of the ship and the cargo hold. Where, according to Captain Narsus, the only signs of life could be detected. ‘Not long now,’ he whispered to himself as the rhythmic clang of their armoured boots echoed throughout the labyrinthine corridors.
+++
Explosions ripped open the cargo hold’s blast doors, filling the hallways with smoke and fire and a storm of metal shards. Even through his helm’s environmental dampeners, Torr felt his ears ring.
Then the screams started.
‘Only fire on my command,’ he ordered as he raised his breacher shield and began to advance alongside Squad Haster. Smoke enveloped them for the briefest second, before they emerged into the cargo hold of the Destiny’s Daughter.
Torr finally saw something from beyond the Sol System, from the chaos that had engulfed the galaxy.
Ragged humanity filled the cargo hold, stretching out into the dark corners of the vast room. Men, women and children huddled together, their clothes hanging loosely from bone-thin limbs as wide, terror-stricken eyes stared back at him from faces too thin with hunger. Pleas for mercy, prayers for help, and screams of panic filled the air. Most shied away from the approaching astartes, hunching over in small groups, as if they could disappear into the gloom.
One man, braver or stupider than the rest, stepped out from the crowd. He clutched an autogun in his shaking hands, the weapon rusted almost beyond repair.
Do it.
The words rushed unbidden into Torr’s mind as he felt the increasingly familiar itch in his trigger finger. Adrenaline coursed through his veins as his eyes settled on the barrel of the gun.
Do it.
‘Begone, foul daemons!’ screamed the man, his voice breaking into a high-pitched squeak. ‘The Emperor protects!’
His final words were taken up by others amongst the crowd. It rallied them, as it echoed in the open cavern of the hold. Torr grimaced. At what those words implied. At a belief in the divine, so at odds with the enlightened ideals of the Imperium. Yet also of loyalty.
His hand shot out, too fast for a mortal’s eye to follow, and snatched the gun from the refugee’s hands with a savage twist. He felt the man resist for the briefest moment, before giving way with a pained cry.
Torr looked down at the man – on his knees, a grimace across his face, cradling one shoulder. He felt a moment’s satisfaction at the release of violence, before he crushed it with a force of will. These are citizens of the Imperium. They deserve our protection.
He dropped the gun. It clattered to the ground, the metallic ring echoing from the walls. Almost deafening in the silence of the hold.
Something behind the man flinched at the sound. A muffled cry reached Torr’s ears.
A girl, he thought as his eyes settled on the crouched figure. Perhaps four or five years old, Terran Standard. Though, he had to admit to finding estimates of age hard with such young mortals. Her hair had been crudely shorn to the scalp, but small tufts stuck out from amid the stubble. She clung tightly to the man’s back, keeping herself in his shadow, even as she stared up at him. Her eyes, wide and dark, met Torr’s. Yet she didn’t look away.
Brave, Torr thought, for a mortal. For one so young.
‘Stand down, civilians,’ he said, voice amplified by the vox in his armour. ‘You are safe now. You are in the custody of the Seventh.’
He noticed the girl wince at the sound of his voice, pressing her hands to her ears and looking down at the floor. Somewhere in the recesses of his mind, he dimly remembered the first time he had seen an astartes. The sheer size. The aura of violence. It had been overwhelming.
Torr dropped to one knee, bringing himself as close to the girl’s level as possible. He removed his helm, remembering a treatise written by Guilliman on first interactions between astartes and mortals. Such simple measures, the lord of the Thirteenth argued, lessened the shock when interacting with members of the Legions. It humanised them in the eyes of the unaugmented.
Torr almost laughed at the idea. As if I have not given up my humanity to become what they need me to be. To become a shield for their kind. To become a weapon against the horrors of this universe.
He reached forward slowly, resting his gauntleted hand on the girl’s shoulder. ‘What is your name, child?’ he asked, doing his best to keep his voice light and the hint of a smile on his lips. He knew such verbal and physical cues were important to the unenhanced.
‘Patti,’ whispered the girl, bringing her gaze up to meet his once more. ‘Is… Is Mama here? Papa said she would be, even though she couldn’t get the same ship as us.’ Sobs began to wrack the little girl’s body and she hurled herself back against her father’s body, burying her face in his thin shirt.
Torr felt the temperature drop, permafrost creeping across the floor. Radiating out from the girl. Crawling up his arm. Psyker. He pulled back and turned to meet the father’s eyes.
‘We’re from the Lastrati System,’ said the man, his voice edged with hope, yet tinged with fear. ‘When the traitors came… There was such chaos. We got separated.’
Torr shook his head.
‘Yohanna,’ continued the man, his words tumbling out too quickly. ‘Yohanna Taraf. That’s her name. I am Emil. Her husband. There must be news.’
‘No,’ said Torr, his voice now stone and brooking no argument. ‘Yours is the first ship to have reached Sol in nearly two years.’
Emil fell silent, his jaw working wordlessly. The buzz of chatter filled the air, spreading like wildfire throughout the refugees as Torr’s words reached the ears of others.
‘The first?’ Emil asked eventually as he clasped his daughter’s hands. ‘But there were so many.’
Torr stared back for a moment, seeing the tears begin to trickle from Emil’s eyes. ‘I am sorry.’
He stood and turned his back on the man, looking over the silent wall of ceramite that Breacher Squad Haster had formed behind him. His eyes met Haster’s, seeing his old friend had also removed his helmet. ‘These people are not to leave this hall.’ He paused. ‘But do not harm them. They are loyal citizens of the Imperium.’
He turned his focus back to Emil and Patti once more. They were on their knees, arms wrapped tight around each other. The halo of frost around them crept ever further across the floor with each second. Their bodies rose and fell with choked sobs, tears streaming down their faces. Torr’s transhuman senses heard Emil whisper reassurances to his daughter as he stroked her hair. He told her that her mother would be okay. That she would find a way. That the Emperor was watching them. To have faith.
Superstition. Torr looked away in anger. Primitive. Illogical. He felt sick at the irony of it. That the Legions had spent two centuries crusading across the stars, destroying such beliefs and bringing the Truth to the galaxy. But, here it was. At the very heart of the Imperium itself.
Yet it is these people that stand loyal. Unlike my brother Legions. Unlike those I fought with. Unlike those I shed blood with. The thought soured in Torr’s mind, his mask of stone slipping to anger.
He saw the faces of those he had once fought beside from the Traitor Legions in his mind. The faces of those he had called once Brothers. Sar Krael of the Sons of Horus, his olive skin in stark contrast to the once brilliant white of their old Legion. Varon of the Emperor’s Children, his porcelain features marred by the occasional faint duelling scar. Kargur of the World Eaters, his brutish features only accentuated by a myriad of criss-crossing scars and his permanently broken nose.
Torr clicked his vox-link open, drawing himself back to the present. ‘Captain Narsus, do you hear me?’
‘Yes, my lord,’ came the reply, static scratching in Torr’s ears.
‘Inform Lord Dorn and First Captain Sigismund that we have made contact with refugees from the war.’ He paused. ‘Then prepare several parties of your mortal crew to board the Destiny’s Daughter. They are to bring food and water. Medicine too.’
‘Your will, my lord,’ replied Narsus. ‘I will see to it at once.’
Torr watched Patti and Emil for a second more. Their cries were hushed and lost in the vastness of the hold, their prayers faint, yet distinct. Other refugees shuffled away from them. Away from the creeping frost and the aura of cold. Away from the girl. From the psyker.
His stomach churned at what he had to do next.
‘Captain Narsus,’ he said once more. ‘Inform the Lord Falkar and the Sigillite’s agents too.’
+++
Torr watched black figures move through the crowd. Each bore the stylised I of Malcador, the Sigillite and the Emperor’s right hand, upon their chests. A symbol that conferred upon them nigh-on unlimited power.
He watched them methodically approach each group, dataslates in hand, recording each story – and he saw the fear and confusion in each refugee’s eyes. These men were something new, something unknown. And despite being just ordinary men and women – no, Torr corrected himself, Malcador’s people would never be ordinary – they seemingly commanded greater fear than the astartes of the VII Legion.
Disquiet filled Torr at their presence. At the nature of their work.
He glanced behind to Squad Haster. Each stood immobile, a fortress of ceramite and gene-enhanced flesh in their own right. Each proudly bore the black fist of the Seventh, declaring their allegiance for all to see. The Sigillite’s people could not be more different than the Sons of Dorn. What do they portend for the Imperium?
Sensing movement in the periphery of his vision, Torr looked towards the cargo hold’s doors. His eyes settled on a lone figure in burnished gold armour, a great blade at her waist, a crimson top knot tumbling down her back.
A member of the Silent Sisterhood.
Revulsion flooded through him at the sight. His twin hearts beat faster. Adrenaline began to pump through his gene-enhanced body. His hands clenched into tight fists.
He closed his eyes and forced himself to breathe deeply. To calm himself.
Opening his eyes, he found his gaze drawn to a group of the Sigillite’s agents. They were dragging a pair of refugees towards the Sister. Emil and Patti. Torr felt anger rise hot inside his chest at the realisation.
Tears stained the father’s cheeks, a look of weary defeat written across Emil’s face. The face of a broken man. Patti screamed. Her knuckles turned white as she gripped her father’s hands, his shirt, his arms. Her legs kicked wildly, her movements more frantic as she grew closer to the Witchseeker.
Torr’s eyes met hers. They were bloodshot and puffy, a river of tears flooding from them. Help me! Please! Help me! The words – Patti’s words – screamed in his mind. He shuddered. A ripple of terror ran through him, her own fear and anguish shared for just an instant.
His eidetic memory ran through her story. He remembered the way her father had described the terror and confusion as drop pods had rained from the sky above Lastrani. He could almost picture the mad scramble amid the ruins and smoke of the space port. The feel of fingers slipping apart as Patti’s mother was dragged away by the current of the crowd. He could almost smell the stench of sweat and piss as they had huddled in the dark of the Destiny’s Daughter, as it shuddered beneath the onslaught of cannon fire.
More superstitious minds might call it a miracle, he thought, pondering the immensity of the refugee’s luck. And this is the greeting they find from the Imperium? From those supposed to protect them? To be torn from each other’s arms after all they have suffered?
Something inside Torr snapped. His fingers curled involuntarily around the grip of his sword and he felt the blade slide just a fraction from its sheath as he strode towards the diorama of misery. Refugees stumbled from his path as the heavy tread of Squad Haster following echoed in his ears. As he had known they would, even without orders. They were his Brothers.
Is this the Imperium we fight for? Is this the future of humanity? The future my brothers died for? One of secrets and shadows? One where innocent people disappear in the night?
‘What is the meaning of this?’ Torr thundered as he neared the agents.
The closest flinched before turning to face him, his eyes wide as he took an involuntary step back. Torr heard the man swear under his breath as the chemical smell of fear filled his gene-enhanced nostrils.
‘Lord captain,’ the man started, ‘my orders are-’
‘I did not ask for your orders, Chosen of Malcador,’ growled Torr. ‘They are plainly clear. I asked for your reasons.’
The click of light footsteps sounded nearby. He glanced towards the sound, seeing the Sister had turned towards them, her face a passionless mask. He felt cold, an unnatural sense of dread filling him, as her eyes settled on him. He looked away quickly, returning to the mortal before him.
‘These people,’ began the agent again, straightening his back and meeting Torr’s gaze. ‘These people are to be transferred to-’
‘Silence,’ snarled Torr. He punched a finger in the direction of Patti and Emil. ‘Their only crime is fleeing the atrocities of the Traitor Legions. This girl could be trained. Her talents could benefit the Imperium. Instead, you drag her away into the shadows. Does your master fear little girls so much?’
The agent’s eyes flared angrily for a second, before flickering to the space behind Torr. The corners of his mouth tugged into a smile.
‘Is our presence so distasteful to you, Captain Torr?’
Torr remained silent as he turned to face this new speaker. Ice-blue eyes stared back at him from a hawkish face of ghostly skin. Silence settled between the two, stretching out for long, pregnant seconds.
‘I am always astounded by your kind’s aptitude for petty behaviour, Captain,’ continued the man, turning his own gaze upon the sight of Patti’s father. ‘It could be argued that such pettiness is the cause of all this madness.’
‘Indeed, Chosen Falkar,’ replied Torr after a moment.
He studied the Sigillite’s man. Falkar was painfully thin, with the typically near-emaciated and elongated form of those born and raised in the low gravity of space. Yet, despite the sheer difference in size and bulk that the astartes carried, the man weathered Torr’s gaze as if made of stone.
An impressive feat of mental strength, conceded Torr as he repressed the now familiar itch to draw his weapon. At the mortal’s display of defiance.
Torr ground his teeth as Patti’s pleas for help, her prayers to the Emperor, moved further away. He heard the scuff of her feet dragged across the floor. He heard a body slump to the floor, Emil’s sobs joining his daughter’s cacophony. The desire to draw his sword, to hear the bark of his bolter, swelled inside, near overwhelming.
You have failed them.
‘You speak of pettiness,’ snarled Torr, ‘yet you are not the one who has fought across the length and breadth of the galaxy. You are not the one who has seen his Brothers die. You are not the one who has sacrificed their very humanity. All this, I have done with the ideals of Unity and Truth in my hearts.’
Torr gestured across the hall, pointing at each of the Sigillite’s agents with a sharp jab of a finger.
‘You and your kind threaten those ideals. You sink this war into shadows and secrets. You are a poison that stains the Imperium.’ Torr spat. ‘What was the purpose of those sacrifices – my brothers’ sacrifices – if we throw our ideals away? We must hold ourselves to a higher standard.’
Falkar met the astartes’ tirade with a surprising calmness, his ice-blue eyes almost blazing in the gloom of the ship’s hold as they met Torr’s stare. ‘And what, lord captain,’ he replied, ‘would be the purpose of those sacrifices should we lose this war?’ Falkar let the question sit for a second. ‘We are a new weapon, Captain – or a new poison, as you say – because this is a new war.’
Silence hung for an eternity between the two of them. Eventually the mortal turned to look across the mass of humanity that filled the room. He took a deep breath and clasped his hands behind his back.
‘Our enemy is insidious, Lord Captain. They will not just come for us with bolter and chainsword. They will not just come to tear down our walls. They will come to tear down our very purpose. They will come to destroy everything we believe in. They will come from the shadows and dark. We are the shield against these threats. That is why the Sigillite created our order.’
‘Then you have already failed,’ Torr said after a moment. ‘You cannot defend the ideals of Truth and Unity with lies and deceit.’
Falkar shook his head and pulled out a dataslate, fingers flicking through its contents. When he’d finished, he looked up and met Torr’s eyes once more.
There is something different in him now, noticed the astartes. The hard edge is gone. There is sadness there. An exhaustion of the soul.
‘Then I am sorry, Lord Torr,’ started Falkar. ‘For what I must ask of you now.’
He held out the dataslate. Runes of the highest authority flashed across its surface. Torr read the orders, even as his stomach tightened. As his trigger finger itched once more. As the desire to rip his sword free filled him.
‘No.’ He growled the word through clenched teeth.
‘No?’
Falkar’s eyes momentarily flashed in surprise. Just for an instant, but Torr saw it. He did not expect resistance, he realised. Not from a Son of the Seventh. They think us cold. Made of stone. They do not understand the fire that burns within. The drive. The Purpose. The ideals.
‘No,’ Torr growled once more.
‘There is no refusal here, Captain Torr,’ replied Falkar, his voice now clipped with an icy steel. ‘These orders come from the Sigillite himself. And co-signed by your father. Would you deny Lord Dorn’s command?’
Torr froze. Co-signed by your father. The words haunted him. To see Lord Dorn and the Seventh dragged down into the mire of shadows. That was what they meant.
Would you deny Lord Dorn’s command? The words flittered through his head as he thought of what was being asked of him. Of how they had treated those fleeing for safety.
What kind of monsters have we become? he asked himself.
He thought of Patti and her father’s story. He thought of all he had heard from the refugees. He ran through every detail. He knew, as sure as if he was there himself, what happened in the Lastrati System. He knew what happened when the Sixteenth had come.
Anger swelled inside by what his erstwhile cousins had done. By what the once proud scions of Horus had become. Disgust filled him at the thought of those warriors he was once proud to have served alongside. By how far they had fallen.
What kind of monsters have they become?
He looked down at the dataslate again. He read the words again.
+ Immediate transfer of all non-psykers to the internment prisons of Titan for processing and interrogation. +
‘Why?’
Falkar breathed deeply and nodded, a look of relief washing across his face. ‘Because of what they have seen. Because of what they know. Because their tales of daemons and gods and monsters cannot be allowed to spread throughout Terra’s defenders. Because these stories, and those that would spread them, are a weapon for our enemy. As sure as any bolter.’
Falkar fell silent and looked back across the refugees. Torr turned with him a second later.
Is this the future you fought for? The question whispered in the back of Torr’s mind. Is this the Imperium you would be a part of? But what is the alternative?
He thought of the defenders of Terra. Of the fear he has seen in their eyes already. He thought of what he had heard today, of the tales of gods and daemons, and what it would do to their fear. He knew Falkar’s words to be true.
Images of Terra burning filled his mind. Of its walls cast down. Of his brothers broken. Of its citizens slaughtered. Of its ideals ground into dust.
Will you do what is necessary to prevent that future?
With that question echoing through his thoughts, Torr clicked open his Legion-coded vox channels.
‘Squad Haster, make ready.’
He heard the thud of ceramite boots on the floor as they moved to attention beside him. He heard the click of boltguns loading. He smelled the tang of fear in the air.
He glanced sideways towards Haster. His old friend’s face was a grim mask, unreadable save a fury blazing in his eyes. A fury at me? pondered Torr. Or at what we must do? What have we become?
But Torr knew such anger was irrelevant. He knew what must be done. What duty demanded. He looked back across the refugees arrayed before him.
‘Citizens of the Imperium,’ he said, his gene-enhanced voice carrying easily throughout the hanger. ‘You will accompany us back to the Oath of Unity. There you will be processed and sent for internment on Titan. These are the orders of Lord Dorn and Malcador the Sigillite. Do not resist.’
Anger filled the air almost immediately after his pronouncement. Questions and shouts spread like wildfire through the crowd as something snapped in their collective minds. The sight of the astartes warriors before them, once a promise of salvation and deliverance, now the face of repression and danger.
One woman stepped out from the crowd. Her face, painfully thin from malnutrition, was a contorted mask of rage. She held a broken piece of piping tight in two hands.
‘Why are you doing this?’ she screamed. ‘What crime have we committed? You should be protecting us! Helping us!’
‘Stand down, citizen,’ commanded Torr. The fury in the woman’s voice was a spark to his own base instincts. He fought to keep his voice calm. He fought to stop his hands from reaching for the bolt pistol at his belt.
‘You are monsters!’ screamed the woman. ‘You oppress us! For what crime? Have we not suffered enough?’
‘Stand down,’ said Torr once more. A warm heat began to spread through his muscles as they loosened. He felt his hearts thump faster. His trigger finger itched once more. He found he had drawn his bolt pistol.
Her cry was taken up by the rest of the crowd. They pressed forward, towards Torr and the other Imperial Fists. Torr made to step in front of Falkar, but noticed the Sigillite’s agent had disappeared.
A howl of pain split the air. One of the black armoured figures tumbled from the horde of refugees, kicked to the ground. Their throat had been slit. Their face was a mass of bruising radiating out from caved-in eye sockets. Blood wept from stab wounds across their body. Torr’s eyes settled on their empty holster.
A gunshot rang out. Torr felt its force against his pauldron. Heard it ricochet against the dull steel of the cargo hold’s roof.
He raised his pistol. Squad Haster appeared in his periphery, shields locked together, bolters ready. There was no need to open the vox channel this time. Not with his brothers so close.
‘Fire.’
+++
Dead bodies littered the cargo hold. It was an abattoir. Blood coated the floor and splattered the walls. Bodies – of men, women and children – lay at unnatural angles, their limbs torn like petals from a flower by the explosive power of bolt rounds. The stench of shit and piss and gunsmoke filled his nostrils.
Accusing eyes stared back at him. Over six hundred dead. He had made the count himself. His eyes met the dead gaze of Patti’s father.
Why? they asked. In Torr’s own voice. It is the question he asked Falkar. Now it is the question he asks himself.
Torr opened his eyes, bringing his mind back from the slaughter in the cargo hold of the Destiny’s Daughter. Agony shot through his arm. He bit down, grinding his teeth and tasting the iron tang of his own blood as he shut out the effects of the Pain Glove.
Discipline and unyielding will, he reminded himself, but the question remained. It echoed through his mind.
Why?
But Torr knew the answer.
Because you are a weapon. A monster.
Because it is what you need to be. Because it is your purpose to be the rock upon which the Imperium can be built. To find victory, so that those that come after you can build a better world.
Torr knew this in his hearts. He had heard his father speak on it. He remembered giving his oath aboard the Phalanx. He remembered kneeling before his Lord Dorn, hand thrust into a brazier of fire, and swearing to be the weapon that the Imperium needed. To never give in. To find victory. No matter the cost.
No matter the cost.
He thought once more of the refugees. He thought of Patti and her father, Emil. Of what they suffered at the hands of his treacherous cousins. Of the danger they posed to the Imperium’s victory. Of what they had suffered at the hands of the Imperium.
He thought of Falkar’s words. ‘And what, lord captain, would be the purpose of your sacrifices should we lose this war?’
And he vowed anew that he would not lose. That he would find victory. He vowed to do whatever was necessary. He vowed to be that monster now, so that the Imperium and its dream could live on.
For that was his duty. And duty is all.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
If you you enjoyed that, please give it a rating over on the website, and check out the other stories in that anthology!
https://40k.coldopenstories.com/dutys-burden/
https://40k.coldopenstories.com/category/short-fiction/anthology-xii/