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nickfowlerrr · 2 years

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pretty when you cry - chapter seven

series masterlist / chapter eight

*originally posted to @bellareadsandrecs on 03/23/22*

pairing: dark!biker!bucky x curvy!reader (dark!soulmate au)

warnings: 18+ ONLY. mentions of violence. mentions of assault. arguing. mentions of anxiety attacks. noncon/dubcon relationship. uh that’s it i think but please let me know if i need to add anything!

words: 4.2k

notes: this is actually longer than i thought it would be so yay! i hope you guys like it. as always feedback is always welcome and appreciated. also! chapter eight is in progress and i think you guys are gonna like it 👀 anyway! thank you for the continued support you’ve shown for this series - it seriously makes me so happy people are enjoying it. you guys are the best and i love you all 🥰💘

This is a DARK series!!! Please proceed with abundant caution.

It couldn’t have been more than two hours that passed. The ringing of a phone was what first roused you, but it was the movement of Bucky getting off of your bed that really woke you. You kept your eyes closed and strained to hear as he walked toward the door leading back to the living room. You couldn’t make out anything, just heard his hushed tones as he walked further from your bedroom. You rubbed your eyes and stretched out before looking for your phone. You realized you left it on your couch and grumbled to yourself as you got out of bed.

“I said I’ll get there when I get there. Stop calling me every ten fucking minutes.”

“So what if it is? I know what I’m doing and you need to mind your own business. I’m not getting into this with you again. My phone rings one more time and nobody’s dead or dying, we’re gonna have a problem.”

You could only hear Bucky’s side of the conversation he had going on as he spoke aggressively on his cell in the kitchen. You wondered briefly who he was talking to and what he was talking about, but told yourself that you didn’t care as you grabbed your phone off of the couch cushion it was laid on.

“You’re awake,” he said as he walked into the living room, eyes locked on you. Like he was trying to gauge how much of his conversation you heard and if you had anything to say about it if you did.

“Thanks to you,” you muttered, “Sounds like you have somewhere to be. You should go, deal with… whatever it is you do,” you suggested vaguely as you read your notifications on your phone.

“Work. But I’ve got more important things to deal with here,”

“You really don’t,” you said breathily, feeling completely exasperated as you brought your head up to meet his eye. “I’ve told you, repeatedly, that I can’t do this with you. I don’t want to deal with this. At all. I’m sure you’ll find someone who is just your type and doesn’t care that you’re a selfish asshole who thinks of no one but himself and what he wants, but it’s not me.”

“I’m not going anywhere. And we can keep having the same back and forth argument over and over again, if that’ll make you feel better, princess, but it doesn’t change the truth.” he said as he plopped down on the couch, somehow smoothly pulling you with him before you could bat his hand away.

“The truth? And what exactly is the truth, Bucky?” you said as you shrugged away from him and stood back up.

“We’re soulmates, y/n. That is an undeniable fact. The truth is that we can’t fight forever. Not each other. Not this.” he said as he leaned forward, elbows resting on his knees as he looked up at you.

“Maybe that’s your truth, but it’s not mine. I can keep fighting this, and I will. I deserve better,” you said, trying to sound sure of yourself but it sounded more like you were just trying to convince yourself of that fact and having a hard time believing it. “…And I’ll keep reminding you of that every chance I get since you refuse to leave me alone. I’ll be sure to remind you that the very first time you spoke to me, you threatened me. And “spoke” is a very kind way of putting it, actually. If I remember correctly, you got in my face and yelled at me. And then you broke into my house and assaulted me while I could do absolutely nothing to fight you off,” you continued as calmly as you could manage, ignoring the fire burning in his eyes as he watched your every gesture, every step, as you began to walk around the coffee table to put more space between you. It was easier to think when he wasn’t so close.

Once you had the nerve, you forced yourself to meet his gaze and spoke more strongly than you thought you’d be able to. You felt a spike of ire in you and through the hurt and humiliation you still felt about the situation - you were reluctant, and worried, to realize there was just a little bit of jealousy lurking there, too.

“You took my virginity, then looked me in the eyes and insulted me before leaving to go on a date with some random woman that you then fucked,” you fought down the aggression threatening to show itself but continued on, “As if that wasn’t enough, you then had me watched, and you stalked me, too, right? Online. Did you know I knew about that? Don’t answer that actually, I’m sure you aren’t bothered one way or the other. You probably know nearly everything there is to know about me by now, while I still know absolutely nothing about you. I -,” you laughed humorlessly, “You realize I don’t even know your name? This “soulmate” thing, fine - it’s true. But it’s torture. For both of us. You don’t want me, Bucky. I don’t know what you want, honestly. Maybe you just want someone to love - someone to love you, or maybe just someone to own, I don’t know, I don’t know you. All I know is that it’s not me. I’m not the girl you’re looking for. I’m not the girl you want.”

“You don’t have to keep reminding me. I know what I did. And I apologized -”

“And it’s not enough,”

“This whole thing is only torture because you’re too fucking stubborn to let it happen and admit that you want it!” he yelled as he stood up from the couch. You flinched and backed away further at the sound and sudden movement and he softened instantly. Taking a breath, he walked away from the couch but didn’t try to move closer to you as he ran his hands down his face before he turned his back to you and continued, “I can’t blame you, though. I didn’t want to admit it either,” he said before he turned back around to look at you, making sure you were looking back as he tried to clarify, “Not because of you,” he said sounding like he wanted to reassure you of that fact - like he knew you weren’t going to believe him but wanted to make it clear anyway.

“Because of the intensity, whatever it is that’s pushing us together. This…love. I didn’t want it. I didn’t want to care,” he said, seeming to measure his words before he spoke as he walked toward you cautiously - like he was approaching a fawn that was liable to take off at any sudden movement. “Not that night I first saw you and not the night I really fucked everything up. But don’t you get that that’s why everything got so fucked?” He was close enough to touch and he reached his hands out to gently hold your face as you stared at him - frozen like a deer in headlights.

“Because I was trying to fight this so hard that everything snapped at once and all I wanted was you. And then I came down from that high and tried to ignore the truth again, and fucked things up even more. I hurt you and I hurt us.” You swallowed hard at that statement and knew you should try to steel yourself against whatever pretty words he was going to throw at you next.

“I told you before and I know you don’t believe me, but I didn’t mean it. I wanted to mean it. Wanted to be over it and just stop thinking about you, but that didn’t happen. You’re all I ever think about. I never used to have dreams, but I’ve seen you in them every night since I first looked into your eyes.” The pessimist in you wanted to roll your eyes so hard, but the hopeless romantic in you made your eyes want to water. You shook your head in an attempt to rid yourself of a reaction either way and to get his hands off you, and he did drop them to his sides after a moment of looking into your eyes, again trying to gauge your honest reaction before you cast your eyes back down. His gaze was penetrating and you were worried he’d see what you were thinking. Or worse, you’d slip and just tell him yourself like you were under hypnosis.

You wouldn’t tell him - but when you dreamed, you always saw him, too.

Why did knowing he dreamed about you too make you feel less solitary? You didn’t dwell on it as he grabbed your chin in his flesh hand and tilted your face up to lock eyes with you and spoke again as his metal hand found your waist. The sincerity in his eyes and in his touch was evident and it stressed you out. You weren’t supposed to let him affect you, you chided yourself but when he started to speak again, your mind went momentarily blank as you stared back at him and listened. You swore you were in a trance.

“You’re mesmerizing. And you’re sweet. You never miss posting on your sisters’ birthdays. And you love poetry and you don’t post many pictures of yourself but I wish you would. Being able to see you even when you’re not in front of me, and I can’t look at you in person, brings me a comfort I didn’t know I was looking for. Seeing your face is something I look forward to everyday now. Just seeing you smile makes me feel better. And seeing you sad - I never thought I’d be so affected by someone else’s feelings before, but when I know you’re sad or upset or hurt it’s like this overwhelming urge to soothe you and protect you takes over,” he added while his metal hand began to move soothingly along the exposed skin your crop top allowed, pulling you closer to him without you realizing. His eyes looked sad as he thought for a brief second. “You seem so drawn to loneliness - solitude,” he began as his thumb stroked your cheek, “I wonder if you’ve made it a part of yourself. I had. Maybe you’re not used to not being alone. But no one is made to be alone forever. I do know a lot about you and you don’t really know me. But I promise that I’m exactly who you need. We need each other.” He finished as he rested his forehead against your own.You had to take a deep shuddering breath as his hand left your jaw and fell to your waist along with his metal hand as he wrapped them around you tightly and pulled you ever closer to his chest, his cheek resting on your head as he held you.

Fuck.

You felt like crying but you’d rather gouge your own eyes out before you did that again. Why was this getting to you? Are you really this weak? This pathetic? A few cheesy words and you’re a mess of emotions, you continued to demean yourself in your head. Maybe that would stop the tears that threatened to appear. You bit your tongue. Hard. You then realized you had started reciprocating his hug and pulled away almost instantly…almost instantly. You had to really compose yourself first, but when you finally did pull away and pushed him away slightly - you plastered on a near stoic look - doing your best to appear unaffected before you took a hard, scrutinizing look at his face - tilting your head and saying,

“You are really sappy, has anyone ever told you that? What happened to you not being the mushy type, huh?”

You expected - and maybe even hoped that he’d get upset with you - upset that you were trying to brush him and his words off once again, but he surprised you with his response.

“My ma when I was a kid,” he laughed as he looked down at you smiling playfully and almost adoringly - it was slightly alarming. That look on this big beefy biker, the man who is almost always looking either angry or arrogant - or both - and always intimidating no matter who he was around - you figured it must be a rare sight. And that made you feel a little too soft as you realized that look was for you. Just you. “I’ll show you who I really am, doll. I swear I’ll never hurt or take advantage of you or our connection again, I promise.”

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”

“I don’t,” he intoned as he took a step closer - now back to where he was standing before you pushed him away as you stood with your arms crossed against your chest as if they were your last layer of protection. “Look, just have dinner with me. Just for tonight - forget everything that’s happened. Pretend it’s the first time we’re meeting and if you still don’t want to do this, I won’t force you to.”

You were annoyed at the insinuation that everything he did was something you could just forget about, but the softness you were feeling was still partly clouding your rational mind so you didn’t fight too hard at the moment. You didn’t have it in you after hearing his words. The man practically fucking love bombed you and you were still trying to clear from the fallout.

“I’m not getting dressed and I’m not planning on leaving this house today, so -”

“I’ll order in.”

His seeming desperation was giving you a major ego boost and unfortunately his determination and unrelenting advances were wearing you down. “And then that’s it? I tell you to go and you go?”

“You tell me to go.. I’ll go.” You didn’t really believe him. And the confident, dark undercurrent in his eyes seemed to assure you that he was going to get what he wanted. And what he wanted was you.

“Fine,” you found yourself acquiescing to him yet again. Seemed to be a bad habit forming.

You tried to avoid conversation as he looked for a good place that delivered and then ordered food as you worked on cleaning your mess from last night. You knew anything other than asking what you wanted and from where would just lead to you fighting. You were also very aware of the fact that he had been acting very sweet and caring since last night. Gentle, even. It was quite a change from his behavior at the diner the other day and literally every other interaction you had had with him previously. You were expecting a snarky or rude or just straight up mean response from him when you were talking earlier and he seemed to pass up every opportunity you presented him with to do so. You were still wary, though. Like the facade would break without a moment’s notice and you’d either be left feeling whiplashed from his ever changing moods yet again or shoved up against a wall with his hands all over you and his tongue down your throat. You felt a small spark in your core as the image of him doing so popped up in your mind and you recalled the way you felt in the diner restroom with him pressed up against you the other day. You hated to admit it but you almost missed the feeling of him. You convinced yourself you were just feeling that way because you hadn’t been able to get off properly in weeks - not because of him specifically. But you knew that was all because it seemed like nothing could compare to his touch now that you knew it. And it was constantly leaving you feeling unsatisfied and unfulfilled when you tried to get yourself off. And that certainly didn’t help your stress and anxiety levels. Or the attitude you’d been having lately, though you thought that’d be present no matter what given the situations you’d been finding yourself in lately and your current circumstances.

So here you were, in your home, walking on eggshells and feeling awkward as hell while Bucky made himself at home and looked perfectly at ease while he sat on the couch - not paying much attention to the screen, but rather watching you walk back and forth and all around trying to make yourself seem busy. So much for a relaxing day off, you thought to yourself. You met his eye as you passed by him on your way to the front door to grab your bag off the floor along with your jacket. It was like he was studying you intently, but when you did a double take with a raised brow, he schooled his expression to one of amusement. You carried on, not wanting to start a conversation now when you knew he wouldn’t let you have any peace when dinner got here and you’d be forced to sit across from him and pretend like everything was normal. Just a nice get to know you first date of sorts. It wasn’t. He had to know that. Of course he knew that.

You felt uneasy now. Like you were walking into a trap. If you did sit and play along with Bucky’s date, what kind of precedent would that set? Could he use your lack of fight against you? Would he? Like, if you’ve been civil enough to have dinner with him once and it was “fine”, you were fine with it so why is it different now? Why can’t you do it again? If you could forgive him for one night, forget for one night, how do you stop that from spiraling out further down the line. Because you felt your defenses weakening and knew that you would. You would allow yourself to forget. To be with him- despite everything- even though he didn’t deserve you and you deserved better - you would. You felt your breathing pick up as you tried to calm yourself in the laundry room. Your mind was racing and you were getting more and more upset. At him. At yourself. At the whole fucked up situation.

Would he bring it up should you argue against being with him again? Because you did it once and it was fine, why can’t you do it again? You weren’t easily manipulated, but you hated to admit that with just a hint of sadness in those ocean blue eyes of his, you would crumble. Any resolve you may have, gone to the wayside. It was gross. And scary how easily he could have you- hook line and sinker, if he really wanted to and you didn’t even really know him. All you knew was who he’d shown you previously and you should hate him. But in reality you only hated yourself for feeling the way you did about him nonetheless. And this new side of him he was showing you was even harder to try and hate - and not for lack of trying on your part. If you didn’t use every bit of your rational mind to fight off these feelings for him that only seemed to get stronger the more you were around him - as if they weren’t suffocating enough when he was “trying to leave you alone” and he wasn’t around every corner. Well, none that you realized.

Just as you processed that thought, turning the corner from the laundry room back down the hallway, you were greeted by an ever intimidating Bucky. He was deceptively quiet and you startled at the sight of him, a gasp leaving your lips as you clutched your hand to your chest. You were already trying to steady your breaths from your sudden anxiety and him appearing out of nowhere certainly didn’t help you.

“What the fuck?” you whisper yelled at him while you caught your breath, heart still racing.

“What were you doing?” he questioned, sounding as if he wanted to accuse you of something nefarious.

“Laundry,” you responded, annoyance lacing your tone in return. He stepped around you and entered the laundry room, like he was expecting to find some unknown assailant hiding in there.

“What are you doing?” you asked while he moved to check inside your room and the bathroom. “Are you expecting to find someone or something?”

“Are you okay?” he asked, ignoring your questions.

“No. But what’s new,” you said before turning back to continue down the hall to find something else to do. “You know that door in the laundry room leads to the garage if you want to check for monsters in there, too.”

You heard him stomp behind you and you could feel his annoyance at you now as he burned holes into your retreating figure.

He suddenly grabbed your arm to stop you from walking further into the house, it wasn’t a rough grab, just enough to halt you as he held his grip. “Seriously, y/n. Are you okay?”

You didn’t even need to think before responding right away, “No. I’m not. Why are you asking again?”

“Something was wrong,” he said as if it was obvious why he was asking. “What’s wrong?”

“That is a very stupid question, Bucky. I’m not going to keep repeating myself and arguing with you, okay? You know why I’m not okay, and I know you want me to forgive and forget already but I’m not going to,” you spoke quickly as your anxiety showed itself. “This is all extremely confusing and frustrating and I don’t know what I’m supposed to do or how I’m supposed to feel and I’m feeling stressed and…” you took his hand off your arm and took a breath, “…look I’m sure the food will be here soon, you can find me when it gets here and we can have your play pretend dinner just like you want, but until then I’m going to find things to do while I try and process everything - like, like what’s going on between us and maybe try and reason what the fuck is wrong with me for not calling the cops on you yet. I’m sure this is trespassing, blackmail, stalking, and I think technically kidnapping? I don’t know what you’d be charged with for essentially holding me hostage, but I think it is kidnapping.” You rambled on and he rolled his eyes as you turned and walked back into the living room following behind you.

“Don’t worry too much about it, I wouldn’t be charged with anything, sweetheart. And the food’s not going to be here soon, I haven’t ordered it.”

“I’m sorry?” you questioned, stopping dead in your tracks as he purposely continued and walked into your back. Attempting to wrap his arms around you but you grabbed his right wrist to stop him as you felt his hands sliding around your hips and spun yourself to face him, dropping his wrist in the process and taking a small step back from him.

“I was waiting for you to tell me what you wanted.”

“I did, - that’s not-” you shook your head and crossed your arms as you attempted to ask him why he was so sure he wouldn’t be charged with anything but he interrupted you.

“No, I asked you what rice you wanted and you told me to give you a second while you ran around with your broom sweeping and then you never told me.” You narrowed your eyes at him before responding.

“That was at least thirty minutes ago, why didn’t you just ask me again?”

“Seemed like you were on a roll, didn’t want to interrupt you.”

“You don’t seem to mind interrupting me any other time, for example, about 15 seconds ago.”

“Let’s not do this,” he said ominously. You took a measured look at him before subconsciously licking your bottom lip and shrugging, “Fine,” you began.

“I’m not going to push it right now because I don’t want to, but I’m not letting it go either.”

He grimaced and you noted the way his jaw clenched in mild annoyance but seemed to be glad you didn’t push it at the moment. He didn’t want to argue with you anymore than you wanted to argue with him again. He walked forward and pushed you around to face the same direction he was - heading back toward the living room. He put an arm around you and pulled you to him as he walked you both to the couch.

“So.. steamed, brown, or fried?” he asked casually while you shoved away from him fighting a small smile you didn’t want to have and certainly didn’t want him to see while you huffed and rolled your eyes. Of course you felt more calm now that he was right next to you.

“What part of ‘stop touching me all the time’ do you not get?” you said as he smirked smugly.

“What’s wrong, princess? Don’t think you’d be able to control yourself with my hands on you?” he taunted.

You felt yourself heat up in embarrassment and annoyance. He really had the audacity to talk about lack of self control? You shot him a sharp look of impatience as he continued past you to the couch.

You somewhat reluctantly followed him and took a seat as far away from him as your couch would allow and with irritation clear in your voice said, “Just order the fucking food, Bucky.”

He laughed as he pulled his phone out once again and you tried and failed to get comfortable on the couch as you waited for the time to pass and this “dinner date” to be done and over with.

#dark!bucky x reader #dark!bucky #dark!bucky barnes #dark!bucky barnes x reader #dark!biker bucky #dark!biker!bucky #dark!bucky x curvy!reader #dark!bucky x plus size!reader #dark!bucky x plus size reader #dark!bucky x chubby!reader #pwyc series #soft!dark bucky x reader #soft!dark bucky #dark bucky #dark bucky x reader

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farelian · 5 years

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Humans are Insane “Insurgency” Part 1

Disclaimer: Blood and violence are in this post, proceed with caution.

So i want to take a turn around and do something serious with Michael, hope this is good and thank you for the number of people that liked and reblogged my previous story, thank you so much

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Being a temporary diplomatic envoy is quite hard, especially when you’re not experienced in speeches and answering questions that are presented to you in which you know nothing about, or know the answer in that matter. After the Migration Meeting being overtaken by another human representative, Michael took the next few days thinking, planning, planning to get his health back on track.

it was shocking to find out that he's suffering from Type-2 Diabetes, not the worst but still taking a toll on his body. High-Blood sugar and Insulin resistance make his body weak, the doctors said it’s from his Liver that keeps cranking out sugar into his system. He doesn’t understand, he’s a fit guy. Maybe moving to the Zarqon homeworld changed his lifestyle a bit, he does sometimes binge-eating while watching a movie, and he rarely exercises now.

Maybe that was the reason, maybe that is the reason his health if going downhill. No matter, right now he's ordered to give a tour to a group of aliens around the city of Ursa Jaron on the agriculture colony at the edge of UTA space, the planet of Dawut. Known for its abundance of fertile land and it's many volcanoes that crank out natural resources that make the land fertile, it's one of the colonies that contributed a lot to the UTA food stockpile and distribution.

This makes the colony rich and more developed over the years, but when the War of Insults started it's one of the worlds that got hit in the first attacks. Garrisons at the time could not repel the Janid onslaught that came and forced to retreat after an evacuation of the civilians. Some people were left behind in the chaos, forced to live in ruins and scavenge for food while trying not to get detected by Janidean patrols.

Rebuilding efforts immediately started after the war, cities getting rebuild, farmlands and greenhouses are built, but it will take years until most of the scars are healed. He sighed, wearing his Tuxedo quite proudly with the UTA emblem on his left upper chest but still, he rather stay home at Zarqon, and with Yaku. He's grown quite attached to the little alien gal, he likes her patients and curiosity of everything. He wished he can answer all of her questions about humans, then again, he's not a genie.

Walking down the hallway inside the Murmur embassy within the city, he walked into the ballroom where all the alien delegates are waiting. He tightens his tie and straighten his suit, and begun his announcement "Gentleman, the UTA appreciates your arrival to our colony here today, as you already know you will be given the best accommodations this colony has" He glances at the single Janid delegate "Because after the war we're short on recreation and landmarks so please excuse our lack of beautiful architecture"

All the delegates nod in acceptance, understanding the situation humanity is going through. "With introductions sorted away, I Michael Stone will be your guide today" He hates being formal, and why does he have to do this and not a professional guide? Could it be that his title of "Being the first human to migrate" gave him a special place in the UTA?

He turned around and walked out of the room, a group of aliens following closely behind him passing the embassy guards and several Murumur guards that are here. He smiled and shook his head, he cannot believe this. Walking out of the assembly he quickly shows off the things in front of them, a big commercial mall. Unfortunately, a UTA Warbird swooped down from the skies dropping off it's the payload of Humanoid Machines that quickly enters the mall before Michael could explain to them. "Well, that wasn't on the schedule..." He pondered to himself, then went back to the delegates.

"This is the Yukatan Commercial Center! One of the largest shopping centers we currently have in the city. With over 20.000 shops and 7 stories tall, it has everything you need starting from kitchen appliances, electronics, food, and everything else" He turned back around and noticed the unusually high presence of police cruisers and police officers in the area, there's even a SWAT van down the street with its squad of heavily-armed and exosuit wearing men. He got a bad feeling about this.

His feeling was proven when he got a call from the Central Chief of Migration. "Michael gets out of there that area is not saf-" the transmission was cut when there's an explosion on the 4th floor of the mall, the alien shopping floor to be exact that sell alien goods and food. Michael turned back to the delegates as glass falls and shatters onto the street. "I need all of you to return to the embassy right away! NOW!" His command startled everyone, even the Janids who haven't seen a human yell that loudly.

Then on the speakers of the city a man can be heard, talking through it. "All civilians please clear sector 2 and 3. Police lockdown has been initiated over at the area please evacuate" That's when panic kicks in, all the bystanders starts running away, it only gets worse when there are loud gunshots can be heard from within the mall, adding screaming into the chaos. The shooting moved from the fourth floor to the third, to the second and then a police android gets kicked out the window and fell to the ground. The SWAT team that's here quickly set up barricades and cover on the main entrance, as the side entrances are locked down.

The alien delegates, instead of returning to the embassy, they observe from a safe distance. Who could've done this? Michael walked to one of the officers. "What's the situation here?"

"We got reports shots fired on the fourth floor from one of the androids, possible terrorist attack" The officer quickly explained as more police reinforcements arrived.

Michael took cover behind one of the back cruisers, away from the entrance with a police officer as he took out his own handgun. "Well fuck, everything we try to approach the aliens peacefully someone has to fuck that up huh?" He exchanged a couple words with the police officer.

"Haha! Always the case sir!" The man answered back with a cheery tone

Michael looked over the hood, feeling the intensity of the situation in the air. The SWAT team trained their weapons towards the entrance. "AST! EVACUATE THE AREA NO-" The SWAT officer yelled out but t was too late, a rocket got shot out from within the entrance straight into the crowd of policemen. Men flying and a police cruiser exploded.

The ground shook making Michael widened his eyes from shock and held the bumper of the cruiser, a police officer crashed onto the ground in front of him. He gets the injured man into cover behind the cruiser as he heard the shooting starts. "An AST!? How the fuck did they get that!?" The man that's tending to the injured one exclaimed.

"Hey, what's your name?" Michael asked the officer.

"J-Jacob sir!"

He nodded as he peeked out from again, a single massive Armored Suit Transport standing in the crowd of bodies scanning the area for prey. Not even a Warbird dared to enter its Killzone. It's M4 Mini Under-Hand Rocket Launcher can take out an attack helicopter in one hit. Then it's S.W.A.R.M.S missiles can lock-on to infantry and obliterate their ranks.

He then noticed on a corpse of a police officer is a S.M.A.W Launcher, it can incapacitate it. Ugh, he wished for an emp grenade right about now.

Michael looked back at Jacob. "Ok Jacob here's the plan, the AST has a manual ejection lever on the back, between the spine and hip armor okay? What I want you to do is go around it, while i cause a distraction with that smaw launcher alright? Time to be a hero" Michael said to the police officer patting his shoulder

"A-are you sure about this sir? I-i'm just a police officer"

"I don't care about ranks Jacob, men are men, now are you ready? We can't let that thing go on a rampage for 5 minutes until the military comes to deal with it"

Jacob took a few seconds to think, finishing treating the injured police officer and then nodded. "...I'm ready" Michael grins and pats his shoulder once more. Both of them takes their position.

"On my signal... now!" Michael got out from behind the cruiser sprinting for the next, the AST quickly took notice of Michael and starts raining hell down on him, firing it's Vulcan Minigun on its right hand at Michael. Close calls but Michael made it to the next cruiser, but the AST doesn't give up, it kept firing and firing at the cruiser but doesn't want to waste a rocket on one guy.

Meanwhile, Jacob is sneaking around on the side while the AST is distracted, hiding behind a cruiser then moved slowly towards the van as the sounds of repeated gunfire can be heard.

The Minigun finally overheats and Michael makes his next quick move, running out of his cover and slide towards the Smaw launcher picking it up in his hands, and then hid behind another cruiser. The AST, seeing it's in danger goes back to firing at Michael while closing the gap, walking towards Michael's position. "Come on Jacob... pull it..." Michael muttered.

Jacob slowly, sneaked up behind the AST, seeing the manual ejection lever between the armor of the suit. He reached into it and pulled as hard as he can, falling back on his ass. "Attempted Manual ejection procedure detected, failsafe activated," The suit said. Jacob looked on in horror at the giant AST, turning around, looking down at the puny little police officer with anger, lifting its right hand up ready to squish the poor man with its fist.

"JACOB COVER YOUR EARS" Heard from behind the AST as a series of launchers went out of the Smaw launchers first shooting up at the sky, then rained down on the AST explosion after explosion of the mini-missiles. After the missiles finished, the AST fell weakly onto its knees, then forwards onto the ground. "Fucking hell..." Michael cursed throwing the empty smaw launcher to the side and rushed over to see if Jacob is okay. That attempt was denied when a bullet hit the ground in front of him coming from the entrance of the mall.

Three men wearing spray-painted exosuits came out from the darkness, pointing their weapons at Michael. He held his hands up. "Who the fuck are you guys...?"

The one in front answered that question with a punch to the face, blood splattering onto the ground as Michael fell to his hands and knees coughing up blood. A gunshot shortly followed as a hand fell and came into his view, it was Jacob's. "Humanity's Front" the man then finally answered his question correctly in a deep, heavily modified voice.

Then one of the men's head exploded then followed by a bang, the other followed the same fate, then the last one as well. UTA snipers have come and saved the day as jeeps and APCs arrived on the scene. He looked up, at Jacob's dead body, eyes wide open with fear and shock, blood flowing down from the side of his head to his face.

Michael couldn't stop them.

#humans are insane #humans are space orcs #humans are weird #aliens #humans are adorable #humans are complicated #humans are crazy #sci-fi

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techcrunchappcom · 4 years

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New Post has been published on https://techcrunchapp.com/invincibility-punctured-by-infection-how-the-coronavirusspread-in-trumps-white-house-the-washington-post/

Invincibility punctured by infection: How the coronavirus spread in Trump’s White House - The Washington Post

Spirits were high. Finally, Trump was steering the national discussion away from the coronavirus pandemic — which had already killed more than 200,000 people in the United States and was still raging — to more favorable terrain, a possible conservative realignment of the Supreme Court.

Attendees were so confident that the contagion would not invade their seemingly safe space at the White House that, according to Jenkins, after guests tested negative that day they were instructed they no longer needed to cover their faces. The no-mask mantra applied indoors as well. Cabinet members, senators, Barrett family members and others mixed unencumbered at tightly packed, indoor receptions in the White House’s Diplomatic Room and Cabinet Room.

Five days later, that feeling of invincibility was cruelly punctured. On Thursday, counselor to the president Hope Hicks, who reported feeling symptoms during a trip with the president to Minnesota on Wednesday, tested positive for the virus. Early Friday morning, Trump announced that he and the first lady also had tested positive and had begun isolating inside the White House residence.

On Friday, Lee, Conway and Jenkins announced that they, too, had tested positive, as did Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), who was at the ceremony, and Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, who had recently spent time with the president, including at an indoor fundraiser last week. At least three journalists who had been at White House events in the past week also reported testing positive on Friday. And White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said he was bracing for additional infections among administration officials.

By Friday afternoon, Trump’s condition had worsened, officials said, though they maintained he was “in good spirits.” The president had a low-grade fever, a cough and nasal congestion, among other symptoms, according to two people familiar with his condition who, like others interviewed for this story, spoke on the condition of anonymity to candidly discuss a sensitive matter.

Trump was transported about 6:16 p.m. Friday to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for further treatment out of what the White House described as an abundance of caution.

As Trump’s condition deteriorated during the day Friday, the president and his team ultimately made the decision to send him to Walter Reed preemptively — and, from a public relations perspective, when he was still able to walk to Marine One on his own, according to one outside adviser in frequent contact with White House officials. They feared the possibility of a further decline, and what that might mean, both for the president’s health and his political optics.

The White House outbreak thrust Washington into a state of heightened alarm Friday, with uncertainty one month before the election about the health of the president, whose age of 74, as well as additional co-morbidities — obesity, high cholesterol and slightly elevated blood pressure — increase his risks of a negative outcome.

Though White House officials have begun contact tracing to try to identify the origin of the outbreak, it is not publicly known whether the Rose Garden announcement of Barrett’s nomination was a superspreader event.

Still, the jarring contrast between the carefree, cavalier attitude toward the virus on display in the Rose Garden last Saturday and the pernicious awakening that occurred Thursday night resembles a Shakespearean tragedy.

The White House’s handling of the period between the first known symptoms — those of Hicks on Wednesday — and the president’s infection, which was confirmed about 1 a.m. Friday, is what experts considered a case study in irresponsibility and mismanagement.

Administration officials at first were not transparent with the public, and have not been forthcoming with detailed information about Trump’s condition since. Meadows told reporters Friday morning only that Trump was experiencing “mild symptoms” and would not elaborate on what those symptoms were.

“I’m not going to get into any particular treatment that he may or may not have,” Meadows said.

On Friday afternoon, the White House distributed a memorandum by White House physician Sean Conley describing Trump as “fatigued but in good spirits.” Though Conley listed the drugs he had administered, he provided to the public no measurements of the president’s condition, nor did he nor any other knowledgeable source submit to questions from journalists.

‘Losing their minds’

Inside the West Wing’s narrow corridors, where staffers for months have worked in proximity largely without masks, what had long been an atmosphere of invincibility turned into one of apprehension and panic. “People are losing their minds,” said the outside adviser.

First, aides fretted about their own risks of exposure. If the president got infected, so might they.

Then they considered the political implications, coming so close to the Nov. 3 election. “We don’t want to be talking about coronavirus and now we’re talking about coronavirus,” the outside adviser said. “The hit writes itself: He can’t protect the country. He couldn’t even protect himself.”

Then they considered the reality that the president could actually get very sick. Trump was unusually quiet Friday, not appearing before cameras nor even calling into Fox News Channel by phone, as he does from time to time.

Vice President Pence, whose doctor said he tested negative for the virus Friday morning, worked from his residence at the Naval Observatory for the day. But other White House officials did not take the same precautions.

Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, the president’s daughter and son-in-law who both are senior advisers and have interacted with Trump and Hicks this week, tested negative on Friday, said White House spokeswoman Carolina Hurley. But she declined to answer questions about whether the two planned to self-isolate, and Kushner was seen at work in the White House on Friday.

Meadows, who also has had regular interaction with Trump and Hicks, did not wear a mask when he briefed reporters outdoors on Friday morning. Asked why, the chief of staff responded defensively, “I’ve obviously been tested. We’re hopefully more than six feet away.”

It was unclear where or how Trump contracted the virus, but his travel schedule has been robust all week. He visited five states between Sunday and Monday and interacted with hundreds of individuals.

The first sign of symptoms inside the presidential bubble came on Trump’s trip Wednesday to Minnesota, where he attended a campaign fundraiser in Shorewood and an evening rally in Duluth.

Hicks, who spends more time with the president than most staffers, tested negative for the coronavirus on Wednesday morning, but started to feel ill during the Minnesota trip. She self-isolated aboard Air Force One for the flight home that night, although some other aides on the trip were unaware she had done so. Hicks took another test Thursday morning, and the results came back positive.

Meanwhile, Trump’s voice sounded raspy at times during his rally performance in Duluth, and he delivered a shorter speech than is typical, clocking in at 46 minutes compared to other recent rally speeches that have stretched well past an hour.

On Thursday, Hicks’s diagnosis was kept secret from the public and even from some of her own colleagues. Press secretary Kayleigh McEnany did not know Hicks had the virus when she briefed reporters about 11 a.m., but learned midafternoon, as the president was preparing to depart for another campaign fundraiser, this one at his private golf club in Bedminster, N.J.

By then, word about Hicks’s condition had begun spreading among Trump aides. Some staffers suddenly started wearing masks, a sign that something was amiss. A few senior aides were pulled from the Bedminster trip, including McEnany, who had been around Hicks extensively that week and was replaced by one of her deputies, Judd Deere.

Other aides on the trip were Johnny McEntee, Tony Ornato and Brian Jack. None wore a mask on Air Force One, but they did aboard Marine One, considering the helicopter has far tighter quarters than the airplane.

“Trump thought he could go to the fundraiser and keep it secret that Hicks had it,” Republican donor Dan Eberhart said.

Trump’s decision to proceed with the fundraiser after the known infection of Hicks, someone with whom he had extended recent close contact, went against the recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other public health authorities.

“They knew she was positive and they still let Marine One take off with the president. Why didn’t they ground him? That was the break in protocol,” said Kavita Patel, a practicing physician and former health adviser in the Obama White House. “The CDC’s protocol clearly states that as soon as anybody, i.e. Hope Hicks, was confirmed positive, anybody she came into close contact with for at least 48 hours prior should have at least isolated.”

In Bedminster, Trump held a roundtable fundraiser indoors where donors were sitting around the table with him. Masks were not worn in the room. The president then went outdoors to address a larger group, and some of those attendees wore masks, people present said.

Many of the attendees were elderly, a mix of real estate figures and Trump friends, including Keith Frankel, a vitamins executive who had worked with Trump on hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malarial drug Trump had falsely touted as a coronavirus cure.

“It was mostly the same stuff you hear him say on TV,” Frankel said of the president’s remarks, describing them in an interview late Thursday before Trump had tested positive.

En route back to the White House, Trump acknowledged Hicks’s diagnosis to his traveling team and said he was going to be tested, people with knowledge of his comments said.

News of Hicks’s infection came late in the evening — not in a public release by the White House, but rather from a Bloomberg News report, which White House officials quickly confirmed. About 10 p.m., Trump called into his friend Sean Hannity’s show on Fox for a pre-scheduled interview, where the host asked him about Hicks contracting the virus. Trump said he had taken a test and was awaiting his results.

“You know, it’s very hard,” the president said, his voice again sounding raspy. “When you’re with soldiers, when you’re with airmen, when you’re with Marines, and I’m with — and the police officers. I’m with them so much. And when they come over here, it’s very hard to say, ‘Stay back, stay back.’ It’s a tough kind of a situation. It’s a terrible thing. So, I just went for a test, and we will see what happens. I mean, who knows?”

In another breach of standard protocol for controlling the spread of the virus, not everyone who had come into contact with the president was immediately notified by the White House’s contact tracers. Former New Jersey governor Chris Christie, who had been helping Trump with debate preparation earlier this week, said Friday afternoon that he had not been contacted. In addition, at least one journalist who tested positive after traveling with the president this week also had not heard from the White House as of Friday afternoon.

‘No one was distanced’

As White House officials worked to trace the origin of the outbreak, they became concerned about a series of events Saturday: Barrett’s Rose Garden announcement and the private indoor receptions surrounding it.

A feeling of invincibility from the virus was pervasive. Guests were administered rapid coronavirus tests upon arrival and waited in a room wearing masks, according to Jenkins, the Notre Dame president. Then, he wrote in a statement Friday, “we were notified that we had all tested negative and were told that it was safe to remove our masks.”

Once escorted outside, guests mingled in the Rose Garden shaking hands and hugging, then took seats positioned closely together. Jenkins said he regretted “my mistake” of not wearing a mask and shaking hands at the event.

The mixing continued at indoor receptions to celebrate Barrett, which two White House officials said Friday have caused deep concern within the president’s circle. They were attended by Cabinet members, senators, Barrett’s family, family members of the late Justice Antonin Scalia and other guests, including Fox News host Laura Ingraham.

“They were all mingling without masks and in close quarters,” one of the officials said. “No one was distanced.”

Rochelle Walensky, chief of the division of infectious disease at Massachusetts General Hospital and professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, said a negative test is hardly a guarantee of immunity.

“People believe that if their test is negative, then they should be fine and the truth is that means you’re fine today,” Walensky said. “It doesn’t even mean you’re fine tonight, as the Thursday testing demonstrated.”

On the Friday night before the Barrett announcement, Trump attended an indoor fundraiser at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, along with McDaniel, Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia, lobbyist Brian Ballard and a coterie of Trump aides and allies.

McDaniel, who then spent two days with the president before beginning to show symptoms earlier this week, tested positive for the virus on Wednesday. She told the president about her infection on Friday morning, although she had notified some White House officials before then, according to two people familiar with the situation. She attempted to reach Trump sooner but did not get through to him and spoke instead with a White House doctor.

Trump’s non-socially distanced interactions continued throughout the week. After the Barrett announcement, Trump traveled to Middletown, Pa., to hold an evening campaign rally. On Sunday, he played golf at his private club in Northern Virginia, held a news conference at the White House and hosted a reception for Gold Star parents. On Monday, Trump spoke in the Rose Garden to update the nation on the coronavirus.

All the while, Trump held debate preparation meetings with Christie, Hicks, Conway, personal lawyer Rudolph Giuliani and a handful of other advisers. Neither Trump nor Hicks showed symptoms or wore a mask, according to two people with knowledge of the discussions.

“He was totally like himself,” Conway said.

Trump traveled Tuesday afternoon to Cleveland for his first debate with Democratic nominee Joe Biden. The candidates’ podiums stood 12 feet 8 inches apart, roughly double the recommended social distancing space of six feet, according to Frank J. Fahrenkopf Jr., co-chair of the nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates.

Fahrenkopf said the commission adopted changes to the routine because of the pandemic, including killing the typical meet-and-greet backstage. Everybody in the debate hall — other than Trump, Biden and moderator Chris Wallace of Fox News — was required to test negative for the virus and to wear a mask.

“The first family came in wearing masks, but they took them off,” Fahrenkopf said. “The rules said you had to wear a mask.”

Trump’s schedule continued apace Wednesday and Thursday. When he spoke about the virus in the Rose Garden on Monday afternoon, the president all but declared victory over the virus.

“Tremendous progress is being made,” he said. “I say, and I’ll say it all the time: We’re rounding the corner. And, very importantly, vaccines are coming, but we’re rounding the corner regardless.”

He could not have known then what was yet to come.

Amy Gardner contributed to this report.

#coronavirus #infection #invincibility #punctured #spread #trump #white #Politics

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twosidestarot · 6 years

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Awesome Tarot Books & Resources for Beginners & Beyond

I’m often asked what resources I’d recommend to people keen to learn more about tarot. We’re so blessed at this point in tarot history to have such an abundance of books, blogs, podcasts, courses, and conversations, both online and off, to nurture our understanding of this rich and complex art form.

When you’re starting out, though, that abundance can be pretty overwhelming. Who’s got the time or the cash to try courses that don’t resonate, or read books that barely skim the surface? Sometimes, we need a little help sorting the signal from the noise.

To that end, here is a list of books and other resources that have boosted my tarot game and enriched my understanding of the cards. Of course, I can’t claim to have tried everything that’s out there, but I do have a stable of recommendations I can wholeheartedly hand over to tarot beginners, and also some juicy gems for more advanced readers to sink their teeth into.

I intend for this list to be a rolling resource, so I’ll update it from time to time as new and worthy things cross my path.

Books

My Ultimate Go-Tos

This is a pair of books I always recommend in tandem, because I read them both when I was first learning, and together they helped me to deepen my understanding of both the philosophy and the practical applications of the Rider-Waite-Smith system.

Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom by Rachel Pollack is hands down, my go-to for learning the Rider-Waite-Smith system. It gives some history, and looks at individual card meanings with a lot of focus and depth, particularly for the Major Arcana. The real gold in this book is the way it describes the underlying philosophical structure of the deck, with attention to its historical origins in the Western esoteric tradition. I’d say this is essential reading for anyone hoping to understand what this branch of tarot is, in the deepest sense.

If that all sounds quite theoretical, fear not! Rachel Pollack’s masterpiece is well paired with a more accessible and practical tarot handbook, Tarot: Plain and Simple by Anthony Louis. Louis’ book is also based on the Rider-Waite-Smith system, and it goes through card by card with key words and phrases, as well as situations and types of advice that might be represented by each card.

The approach is immensely practical, so I often recommend this guide as an on the go reference, when you need some clues about how a card might relate practically to a particular query. It also arranges the Minors by number rather than by suit, so you see all the Aces side by side, and so on. This gives the reader excellent grounding in how the numerology of the tarot functions, and how readers use the structure of the deck, rather than just individual cards, to make meaning.

New Favourites

My go-tos, dating back to my beginner days, might be some of the most well-thumbed books in my collection, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t found other new favourites over the years. Here are some other tarot books I’d recommend:

The Creative Tarot by Jessa Crispin is one of only two tarot books I’ve sat down and read cover to cover, like a novel. That’s how juicy and compelling it is! The Creative Tarot is exactly what it sounds like - a method of reading tarot for creative questioning, especially as it relates to art practice and other creative work. There are many things to love about this book, but one of my favourites is that Jessa gives recommended media - books, poems, songs, films - for each card, so you can dive deep into the archetypes. You can find tons more detail about this book in my full review here.

Tarot for Life by Paul Quinn isn’t a new book, but is a new favourite here at Two Sides Tarot. I love the anecdotes that Quinn includes to demonstrate how each card might play out in real life, but what really captured my attention is the table he lays out for each card, which includes Keywords, then suggestions for each card as Being, Doing, Shadow, Reversed, and Possible Advice. I like thinking of card meanings as different parts of grammar - like, what is the Nine of Swords as a verb? A noun? Thinking about cards in this way gives them flexible applications, and Quinn’s handy dandy tables have plenty of accessible inspiration for that way of thinking.

I picked up Michelle Tea’s Modern Tarot mostly because I love Michelle Tea. I wouldn’t say that Modern Tarot is a perfect resource for the beginner, because it doesn’t include what I would consider essential learning tools, like a history of tarot, and chapters on how tarot spreads work, how to shuffle, how to read for others, and so on. What does make it great, though, is that it includes extensive anecdotes from the author’s own experience to illustrate how each card might appear in the world, and it includes a spell or ritual for working with every single card of the deck. LOVE!

Finally, an honourable mention goes to a funny little book called The Tarot Masters, edited by Kim Arnold. This isn’t really a reference book, but when I was getting more seriously immersed in my tarot studies, it proved to be a rich treasure trove of stories that inspired me to go deeper with the cards. Editor Kim Arnold has assembled a true dream team of tarot masters, and each one writes about a card from the Major Arcana, as well as a memory or story from their own tarot history. It’s like eavesdropping on the ultimate tarot celebrity dinner party. There is tea!

Advanced Books

Some of the books mentioned in this post (especially the ones in the next category) do deal with more advanced level tarot practices, so in terms of books that stand alone for more advanced readers, I’ve just got one that I love.

Tarot Interactions by Deborah Lipp doesn’t include card meanings, instead, it gets straight into how cards interact in a reading, and how readers can use the structure of the deck - the suits, the numbers, the elements - to inform the way they read multiple cards at a time. My favourite part of this book is the table where Lipp uses some basic maths to help readers determine what is statistically significant in a reading (what counts, mathematically, as “a lot” of Pentacles, or a lot of Majors, in a reading with six cards, or ten cards, for example). I’ve never come across that in a tarot book before, but it seems like pretty important knowledge to have! This is particularly useful intel if you read with reversals.

Books That Are Kinda Like Courses

Rather than sitting down and reading a book cover to cover, many of us would prefer something that feels a little bit more like a course or a workshop, with a bit of reading, a few worksheets, and maybe some homework if we’re feeling super motivated (and who isn’t feeling super motivated to learn tarot? Come on!).

Tarot for Yourself by Mary K. Greer is stuffed full of exercises you can undertake to really go deep with the cards. Its focus is on using tarot for self-inquiry, and it contains a ton of practical ideas from figuring out your soul card, to doing meditative pathworking with the cards, and so much more. You’ll learn plenty about the cards, of course, but this book is really focused on putting the deck to work so you can learn about you.

Tarot 101 by Kim Huggens is not numbered like a college course for nothing! This book is best treated like a term of study, and worked through in order. Huggens weaves her lessons in interesting ways, arranging archetypes thematically, and interspersing the study of individual cards with exercises on designing spreads, doing readings, and using the cards for self-reflection.

If you’ve not seen Holistic Tarot by Benebell Wen in the flesh, you’ll have to trust me when I say it is A Tome. This brick of a book from one of the most knowledgeable and prolific esoteric scholars working today will see anyone go from stumbling beginner to sage expert, because there is just SO much in here to learn. This book is technical, academic in its approach, so if you’re an absolute beginner I’d say you could start here (and certainly, the earlier part of the book is aimed at beginners), but if you’re easily intimidated by vast swathes of occult knowledge and you’ve never read so much as a blog post about tarot before, well, maybe proceed with caution! When you’re ready to dive in, you may want to supplement your reading with the Holist Tarot resources on Benebell’s website.

Courses

I’ve taken an online course in tarot here and there over the years, most of which don’t seem to exist anymore, but I’m thrilled to find that one of my favourites, Little Red Tarot’s Alternative Tarot Course, is still very much alive and kicking. This self-paced, delivered-by-email course is a really great way to dive into the cards. I especially love that it reflects Little Red Tarot’s ethical, inclusive approach to, well, everything! So many tarot decks and resources fail to grapple with problematic and exclusionary power structures and gender roles that exist in traditional tarot, but you can be sure that this course isn’t afraid to challenge that status quo and make tarot available to all of us.

If you’d rather take things card by card, Little Red Tarot also offers a Card A Day course. I haven’t tried this one myself but I think I’d happily vouch for the quality of anything that Beth makes.

For those of us with a passion for the Tarot de Marseille, or perhaps just for a different approach to the heavily metaphorical way many of us read in the Rider-Waite-Smith tradition, Camelia Elias’s courses are fantastic. Who wouldn’t want to read like the devil?

Other Resources

This part of the list is a grab bag of things I’ve found helpful and interesting, across different media. No doubt there’ll be updates to come!

First, if you’re looking to deepen your relationship with the archetypes of the Major Arcana, you might enjoy a free resource I created for journaling with each of the tarot trumps. This guide will encourage you to dig into your own experiences and make connections with the cards.

If you enjoy doing some tarot study on the go, try Lindsay Mack’s podcast, Tarot for the Wild Soul. Lindsay shares deep dives into individual cards and themes, as well as some really amazing interviews with luminaries in the worlds of tarot and other spiritual crafts.

I mentioned above that Little Red Tarot has some great courses, but if you’re not ready to commit to a course (and even if you are), don’t miss the incredible blog. It’s an overflowing wellspring of tarot knowledge and exploration, and captures so many marginal, magical, and necessary voices.

And of course, you can find lots of deck reviews, tarot spreads, and card analysis right here on the Two Sides Tarot blog. Perhaps start with this one, or this one. Enjoy!

What are your favourite tarot resources? Give your beloved books, blogs, and podcasts a shoutout in the comments!

Want more tarot goodness, delivered right to you? Subscribe to my monthly newsletter for more deep dives into the cards.

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softupshur · 6 years

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The Lord Rejoices: Chapter 4

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Ao3 link if you’re into that kind of thing

~Updates every Sunday~ During Temple Gate’s founding years, Marta nears womanhood and wonders of God’s plan for her.

*Warning that we’re getting into some game-typical subject matter in this chapter. Please proceed with caution.*

Chapter 4:

Paige said nothing the following day. Not when the teacher called on her. Not when class let out for recess. Not even when the bells chimed. She stormed past Marta and Otis wordlessly.

Otis raised an eyebrow, leaving Marta to pursue, shouting after her. “Paige, wait!”

Paige looked over her shoulder for only a moment before speeding up. “Leave me alone.”

Though Paige nearly ran, Marta easily caught up to her. “But why? I won’t tell anyone. I swear it.”

Paige stopped and spun around to face Marta. Her eyes were puffy and her hands balled into fists. “Like how you didn’t tell me what was going to happen!?”

Her exclamation rang through town square. A group of laborers glanced to Paige, but only Marta responded. “Huh? What do you mean?”

“Don’t you play dumb!” Tears bubbled in the corners of Paige’s eyes. “You must have known! He tells you everything so why couldn’t you tell me!?”

“I don’t understand.” Marta shrank. “What is it that I should have known?”

“Just forget it! It’s too late now, but maybe if I had known—” Paige rubbed her eyes. “There...there had to have been something I could have done, but—” She swallowed a sob. “How was I supposed to know on my own!?”

Marta’s tone became serious. “Paige, what are you talking about?”

Paige stared at her in disbelief. “You really don’t know, do you?”

“I swear to God that I don’t know what you speak of. I hardly even see Papa these days, he’s so busy. He couldn’t have told me anything.”

Paige seemed to speak more to herself than Marta. “Maybe it wouldn’t have made a difference. If he really...how was I supposed to fight back…”

“Fight back what?” Marta asked slowly, reluctantly.

“The prophet’s desire to lie with me.” All color drained from her face. Her voice shrank to a whisper, eyes wide.

Any words that would bring Paige comfort remained in the back of Marta’s throat.

“You don’t have anything to say to that?”

Marta shook her head, as if awoken from slumber. “It...it is a great honor to receive the prophet and his seed.”

“Then why did it hurt so much!?” Tears escaped Paige at last, streaming down her cheeks.

People stopped and stared. Hammering against the buildings fell silent. Someone might have approached if Marta wasn’t so quick to take Paige’s hand and guide her aside to a shaded area. She claimed a stiff, uncomfortable bench of wood on the verge of splintering and sat beside Paige.

Her cries evolved into sobs in the passing minutes. Other schoolgirls had wept in that same spot before, collapsing onto the bench when walking home. Marta had always passed them by. She had never bothered to find the reason for their weeping.

“Are you feeling better now?” Marta asked when Paige only sniffled.

“No!” Though she shouted, too many tears strained her voice. It came out like a final gasp. “It still hurts. Even though I waited and waited for that pleasure everyone spoke of, it never came and I just felt gross after, and it hurt so much…” She buried her face in her apron and cried again.

“At least it’s over now, right?” was all Marta could offer.

Paige froze, uncovering her face. “...Is it? You don’t think he’ll come to me again, do you?”

Marta opted to look at the dirt instead of meeting Paige’s gaze. “I’m sorry. I wouldn’t know.”

“But—” A hiccup interrupted. “You can ask him.”

“W-what? No...I couldn’t.”

“And why not? He couldn’t be angry if it was you. Maybe you can even tell him I wouldn’t be fit to bear children. That way he wouldn’t even want to come to me. Oh, Marta, please tell me you’ll try. He’d have to listen to you.”

Marta shifted. “I don’t know…”

“Even if he doesn’t, if I just know when he’ll come back, I...I can figure something out! If I pretend I’m sick, make myself unappealing to him, just maybe...” She wiped the last of her tears away.

“I suppose...I can try…”

Paige let out a sigh of relief. “Thank you, Marta. Thank you…”

“But I can’t promise his answer.”

“I know, I know. It’s just that...it’s worth a try, isn’t it?”

Marta nodded.

“Thank you.” Paige attempted a smile, but not even a second later, she wept. Her cries were loud and tears heavy. “I’m sorry. I don’t know why I’m still crying…”

Marta said nothing. She only sat beside her until she quieted.

They parted ways then. Paige returned home to rest. Marta went the opposite way to her large, empty home.

Upon entering, she attended to as many chores as possible to distract from the gnawing pain in her stomach. She swept the floors, dusted the shelves, and organized the ice box twice. By the time it came to prepare dinner, her limbs weighed her down and her head spun. Even so, she forced herself through the motions.

The table was first set with only her spot, until she realized Knoth’s space was neglected. She went to fetch him a plate, but before she could reach the table, the door opened.

The plate fell and shattered at her feet as she looked into Knoth’s eye. A silence filled the distance between them, until Marta forced, “Welcome home, Papa.”

Knoth raised an eyebrow. “Good evening, child.”

“I’ll clean that up right now.” Marta hurried to the closet to fetch the broom and dustpan. She herded the jagged shards into the pan. When Knoth offered to help, she pretended not to hear and passed him by to dispose the mess.

She fetched a new plate and reset his spot, filling it with the oversized portions he always requested. One wrong move and the abundance would spill.

“Many thanks,” Knoth said when she set the feast before him. “It’s been so long since I’ve had your cooking.”

“It has been,” Marta murmured. Her fork scraped across the plate, mixing the mashed potatoes with the meat, but she never took a bite.

“So how have you been, my child?” He asked halfway through his serving. “I feel as if I hardly see you these days.”

Marta’s eyes remained glued to the table. “I’ve been well. How about yourself?”

“Far too busy. You know how the farmers get when winter is near. This year has been most bountiful, yet they still fear we won’t have enough to survive the winter.” He shook his head. “We’ve survived each year, even when there was little to spare. You think their faith would be stronger by now.”

“Uh-huh.” Marta’s stomach tightened.

Knoth set his fork and knife down and looked at Marta. “Something is troubling you.”

“Hm?” At last, she took a bite. The food tasted like ash through the seasonings and grease.

Knoth waited until she swallowed before speaking up.

“Tell me what is on your mind, child. It pains me to see you so downcast.”

She shrugged. “Nothing’s wrong.”

“Marta.”

“Actually…” She took a deep breath. “There is something I would like to ask you.”

“Is that all?” Knoth chuckled. “Then you need only ask. You have my ear.”

She sighed before lifting her gaze. “Papa—” She cut short when looking into the hollow eye socket. It was dark as the nights when she waited in the wilderness for his return. To look into that emptiness made her shiver as if the icy wind passed through her still. “May I be excused? I feel unwell.”

Knoth reached across the small table to place a hand to her forehead. She stiffened at his touch, but held her tongue.

“Yes, you do feel quite feverish.”

Marta relaxed when he retracted his hand.

“If that is all, then I agree retiring early would be wise,” he said.

“Thank you.” She started to rise when Knoth cleared his throat.

“After you’ve had a few more bites.” He pointed to her nearly full plate.

“But Papa—”

“Just a few, please,” He pleaded rather than demanded. “You already eat so little…”

Marta said nothing as she sat. She quickly cut four bites, and forced herself to eat them, barely chewing enough to swallow. Setting her silverware down, she stood from the table. “Good night, Papa.” She hurried up the stairs to her room and slammed the door.

She leaned against the wall and curled into herself. Clutching her aching gut, she remained there until the queasiness dissipated, and went to her bed to take the gospel from the bedside table. Flipping to Chapter 10, she ran her finger down the page until she reached Verse 5.

'And I asked the Lord for guidance of the temptations of many wives and a voice of strong wine spoke: know ye not Abraham, Jacob, David, and Solomon. Verse 6: It is simply commanded that you take no woman as rival to her sister. Do not uncover one’s nakedness while the other is alive.'

Marta read and reread the verse that followed.

'Nor take your daughters as rival to their mothers before their blood or while the elder is alive.'

Her hands grasped at the dark cross she wore around her neck. Once, it belonged to her mother; the same mother she likened as dead, just as Paige’s mother who had abandoned her long before the testament.

Heavy footsteps interrupted her reading, their sound so familiar that she could barely remember a time they weren’t there. Marta lowered the gospel and listened as they stopped right outside the door. She waited for a knock or a ‘good night,’ but neither came. Nothing came. Taking a deep breath, she remained, but the silence dragged so long that she had to release it. Only then did the footsteps return, distancing with each step.

#Marta #Sullivan Knoth #Paige #Otis #Outlast oc's #Outlast #Outlast 2 #fanfiction #writing

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darkelfshadow · 6 years

Text

Session Summary - 45

AKA “The Wayward Harper”

Adventures in Taggeriell

Session 45 (Date: 19th May 2018)

Players Present:

- Rob (Known as “Oloma”) Human Female.

- Travis (Known as “Trenchant”) Human Male.

- Sean (Known as “Seanicus”) Elf Male.

- Bob (Known as “Sir Krondor) Dwarf Male.

- Arthur (Known as “Gim”) Dwarf Male.

Absent Players

- Paul (Known as “Labarett”) Elf Male. <Played by Travis>

NPC

- (Known as “Naillae”) Elf Female. <Controlled by DM>

- (Known as “Nac”) Half-elf Male. <Controlled by Rob>

Summary

- Fireday, 5th Abadius in the year 815 (Second Era). Early Spring.

- The party begin this session, just before noon on the north trade route road, standing in the middle of the remains of the battle from last sessions orc ambush. Dead bodies of orcs are scattered everywhere. The party survey the scene as Seanicus waves his hand to dismiss the green light that swirls around the area. The horse on the lead security wagon is dead, cut down by the attacking orcs, and Nac is still unconscious but his bleeding and wounds have been stabilised thanks to words of enchantment from Labarett.

- The party, Bruhomn and the other wagon security guards all get to work to deal with the situation and get moving as fast as possible. Oloma moves around the area trying to find the tracks of where the orcs came from but it appears they have been here a few days, waiting for a caravan to attack, and the rains from a few days previous have washed away any chance of finding where the band of orcs had come from. Bruhomn and some of his staff get about the messy work of removing the harness from the dead horse, moving the animal off the road, and attaching a spare horse to the front wagon. Some of the party search about the bodies of the orcs but can not find anything of value. Whilst this is going on Trenchant is standing a top one of the tall rock formations with Bruhomn’s spy glass and is keeping a watch to make sure they are not attacked by any more foes whilst repairs are under way.

- Labarett is kneeling down casting a spell of healing upon Nac just as a small winged flying snake about 2 feet long suddenly appears in the air near Nac and then lands at the feet of Nac, who is starting to sit up coughing.

- Labarett moves to grab one of his long swords exclaiming, “A snake!”

- Nac quickly puts out one hand to stop Labarett saying, “No wait. That is for me.”

- The winged serpent drops a small messenger scroll at the feet of Nac and then leaps towards Nac and seems to vanish as it nears him.

- Labarett sheaves his long sword and turns to Nac, “You want to explain what that was?”

- Nac turns a cold stare to the Barbarian, “No.”

- Naillae moves closer and says, “I’ve seen that before. When I was doing a job for Halia in Phandalin, there was one time I saw Halia receive a message from a flying snake that popped in and out of thin air. I saw it from a distance and Halia never knew I was there. I never mentioned to Halia I saw it as I figured it might not be good for my health if she knew.”

- Nac stands up brushing the dust off himself and says, “Yes, and if you know what’s good for you, you’ll keep your mouth shut about this too.”

- Labarett takes a step forward, to place his imposing figure between Nac and Naillae, an edge of constrained anger tones his voice, “Are you threatening another member of our fellowship?”

- Nac smiles, “No Labarett, I’m giving Naillae some life advise, if she wants to keep her life that is. I would not lay a hand on her but there are others, within my group that would kill to keep that knowledge secret.”

- Naillae leans around Labarett and looks at Nac, “You mean the Zhentarim, don’t you? I thought we were allies with the Zhentarim now?”

- Nac replies, “I’m not threatening you Naillae, I’m warning you. There are those in the Zhentarim that would kill for less. The Zhentarim may be cooperating with the other groups at this time but make no mistake. When this business with the Cult is done the Zhentarim will return to the shadows and once again protecting itself from knowledge. Those people that spoke out too much previously will be remembered. For your sake I caution you to be careful what you say and who might over hear. The eyes and ears of the Zhentarim are everywhere.”

- The caravan is once again ready to head off. The party take up the lead wagon position, except for Labarett and Seanicus who stay in the rear security wagon to help guard the rear. The rest of the afternoon passes uneventfully and the caravan does not stop for a midday break or meal as Bruhomn wishes to reach Dunfrun well before sunrise so he can start sorting out getting the sick members of the caravan seen too as soon as possible.

- With still an hour and half of light left before sunset the road moves in between two large rocky hills. Between the hills spans an enormous stone fortress made up of a series of large towers made of white stone. The tops of each tower are brightly coloured red. Along the sides of both of the rocky hills are many manned sentry posts. High above the fortress, placed on the north hill, is a high stone wall behind which can be seen the tops of various building.

- The road is leading straight to the largest of the white towers, the size of the base of the tower easily the same size as a small town, and the two tall stone doors there are closed. Many Dwarves, all armed and wearing similar armour with a red scarf draped over one shoulder, can be seen walking the tops of the defensive walls and manning large catapults and ballistas.

- Trenchant, pulls out his Doss Lute and begins to sing a song about the exploits of the caravan and bravery of the wagon guards who defend it. Nac bends his head down and sighs, “Bloody bards.”

- The song echoes around the valley and the stone walls of the fortress as the caravan slowly proceeds onwards. Some of the Dwarves up above can be seen nodding their heads in time to the tune. The large stone doors of the fortress begin to open as Leda rides up next to the party in the front wagon just as Trenchant finishes his song.

- Leda speaks in a loud enough voice to carry to the party in the adjacent wagon, “Welcome to Dunfrun. This is a Clanless Dwarf strong hold. It has no Thane that rules here, as it isn’t a Clan, but the duty of rulership is held between a Char, or ceremonial chief and a Dar, or the war chief. The reality is the war chief runs Dunfrun. There are many exiled Dwarves here, kicked out of their Clans, and they eventually end up here, bitter and with nothing left to lose. Just be careful you don’t go wandering around here alone. Follow me, we’re going through the main tower and out to the other side to the stockyards where the wagons will be staying.”

- The caravan follows Leda through the large stone doors into an impressive display of Dwarvish stone work. The ground level of the tower is one large open space, the ceiling which is forty feet high is seemingly held up by an occasional large thick stone pillar. Many arched windows let in an abundance of light. Inside the tower is a town, with roads, buildings, market squares, inns and all manner of shops. The streets are filled with a throng of people, mostly Dwarf but also with some Humans, Halfling, Tiefling and Dragonborn. All of the Humans have very dark skin. Scattered around the far circular edge of the tower can be seen wide stone steps raising to another level above. Leda tells the party that this is just one level of many like levels of this tower.

- Winding through the many streets the caravan eventually comes to the far side of the tower city and exits via a pair of stone doors, though large, are not as large as the main entry doors that the party entered the city by. They continue through into a inner compound area of some size, protected on all sides either by the rocky hills or large stone walls. Leda leads them to an empty area of the stockyard. There are scattered wagons and horses here and there.

- Once the caravan has halted Bruhomn gets off and starts to prepare for the stay. After paying the party for their guard duty for the last segment he tells them that the caravan will be staying in Dunfrun for two days as he will need to organise dealing with the deceased wagon drivers and their gear and see to the medical aid for the sick people within the wagon. The party are free to do what they like for the next two days and can either camp in tents next to the caravan or hire rooms in one of the many inns in town.

- The party look over to the cultists in the their wagons and can see they are setting up their tents to stay with the wagon. Bruhomn advises the party that with all the Dwarven soldiers walking around the area the wagons should be safe.

- As the party stand around the caravan deciding what to do, the Bag Of Sharing on Trenchant’s back tightens. Trenchant takes the bag off his back and then waits for it to loosen again before opening it. He pulls out a parchment note that he unfolds and starts to read, “It’s another letter from Valder. It reads, greetings friends. I have been continuing my studies into the book. I have learnt that the twin Elven Red Wizards Virion and Merith crafted the six dragon masks in the Wave Echo Cave Spell Forge: white, black, green, blue, red and a clear one. Each of the coloured Dragon Masks grants resistance to certain types of damage, protects the wearer and defends them, enhances certain abilities that involve breath attacks, grant dragon sight and speech, and each of the coloured masks grant certain other powers like water breathing or assisting in dealing damage to enemy foes.”

- Seanicus looks confused, “What book? Who’s Valder? What do the Dragon Masks have to do with this?”

- Nac replies, “Before you joined us. Valder was a former travelling companion, a Wizard. He left our group to stay in Lington as an assistant librarian in the Royal Library to research a large book there called Dragons Of The Council. The book tells about the Dragon Wars two thousand years ago when the Cult tried to call Tiamat into the world by forging the Dragon Masks. They failed but the masks still exist and now the Cult is searching for them to try again.”

- The party decide to get some business sorted whilst it is still daylight and after bidding Bruhomn farewell and promising to return on the morning two days from now, the party leave and make their way back to the ground level of the tower town and enter the busy settlement. Sounds and smells assault them as they walk around the busy town. All the signs on the shop fronts and street signs are written in Dwarvish.

- Gim asks a passing Dwarf about what inns or taverns are around here and is told about three near by ones on this level, the Buhrad Ats (Translation: “Golden Axe Tavern”), the Bof Smag Gar (Translation: “Home of the Strong Smoke House”) and the Syr Lin (Translation: “Silver Moon Inn”).

- The party decide to split up to save some time and then meet up later at the Golden Axe tavern but heeding Leda’s warning they make sure not to go wandering alone around the town. Seanicus and Oloma want to find somewhere to sell the black mushrooms Seanicus collected from the Bad Lands. Sir Krondor and Gim, glad to be in a Dwarven town, decide they will head straight for the Golden Axe tavern to get some drinking done and lastly Nac, Trenchant and Naillae decide to wander around the town looking what is about. Labarett decides to stay with the Dwarven cousins to make sure they don’t get into too much trouble or drink too much. Before splitting up Oloma asks Naillae if she can find and purchase a specialised crafting kit.

- Seanicus and Oloma look around trying to find an alchemist or herbal shop. They ask some of the locals but each Dwarf they speak to either completely ignores them or curses them in Dwarvish before walking off. They eventually see a sign, one of many that indicate the various shops and services available, and see that there is a sign in Dwarvish with “Nadmul’s Mystical Services and Readings” pointing upwards near one of the large stone stairways that leads to the next level. The pair walk up the stairs and find themselves on another open large level similar to the ground level. Streets and buildings are visible filling the open area and Dwarves walk to and fro. The buildings on this level appear to be more into crafts and trade, with black smiths, tanners, weavers, dye makers, and all manner of crafts.

- Following another sign the pair eventually come to a stone building, well made and clean, with a sign out the front in Dwarvish indicating “Nadmul’s Mystic Hut”. The pair enter a clean premises with a colourful and sparkling interior, as many dangling crystals and beads hanging from the ceiling catch the light from many scented candles that burn through out the room. Coloured feathers and scarfs adorn the room and in one corner is a round table covered in a red cover, with a black silk cloth covering a small round object.

- A female Dwarf, with striking red hair and dressed in purple robes adorned with silver stars, smiles and speaks in Dwarvish, “Welcome to my shop, I am Nadmul, how may I help you?”

- Oloma speaks in common, “My friend here has some black mushrooms from the Bad Lands to sell.”

- Nadmul changes her speech into common and informs them that she has no use for the stuff herself but knows that the mushrooms are used to make a potent brew at the Bof Smag Gar downstairs. She gives them directions on how to get there. Oloma and Seanicus look over the wares on offer but nothing interests them or they are too expensive.

- Oloma looks over at the round table, “What’s that used for?”

- Nadmul moves over to the table and removes the black silk cloth to reveal a large round crystal orb, “For a gold coin I can read your fortune.”

- Oloma takes out a coin and moves to sit down at the table, as Nadmul takes the coin and sits down opposite her. Oloma reaches out with her mind towards Nadmul and can sense her thoughts. The Dwarf touches her hands to the orb and then instructs Oloma to do the same. When Oloma touches the orb her connection to the Nadmul is broken and her entire focus is drawn to the orb. Light and smoke swirls within the orb and Oloma can see shapes and images forming within the smoke but they are hard to make out.

- Nadmul speaks, “You are a traveller from a far land.”

- Oloma sees shapes forming within the orb, is that the elder tower of Halruaan? A face? The smoke swirls to reveal the face of a female with a look of sadness. Mother? Mother!

- Nadmul continues, “You have made new friends and new alliances.” The smoke swirls and a series of faces and figures fly past, so fast as to be hard to see. Was that Morthos? A flash of white then a series of faces flashes past, some Oloma can see and recognise, Sir Krondor’s, Trenchant, the others moved too fast for her to see.

- Nadmul speaks, “A time will come when you will have to make a decision between yourself and others.” The orb goes dark, swirling with black smoke and from within a figure stands with their back to Oloma, the face hidden. The figure holds up a long sword, glowing yellow at first and then turns to purple. From within the smoke another figure moves but Oloma can not see it clearly and then fire, an explosion of heat and power so intense that for a moment her sight is blinded. Who was the figure? What decision?

- Nadmul takes her hands off the orb and her eyes, which had been completely white, return to normal. She speaks, “Was the vision to your liking?”

- Oloma nods, blinking, unsure of what to say, “Yes.”

- The pair quickly leave shop, Oloma looking behind her at the hut, the vision of the figure standing within the fire still seared on her sight.

- On the way back Seanicus and Oloma stop at an open wooden market stall that is selling various weapons. Seanicus attempts to buy a sling but has to pay the outrageous price of 1 gold coin for the item. It is obvious the Dwarf shop keeper is inflating the prices because neither Seanicus or Oloma are Dwarves. When they attempt to buy some sling bullets and the Dwarf again tries to charge them 1 gold coin Oloma uses her psionics to cause a distraction behind the shop keeper and Seanicus grabs the bag of bullets and the pair run off into the large crowd without paying for it.

- They look for the stairs down and begin to make their way over to the Golden Axe tavern to reunite with the party.

***

- Sir Krondor, Gim and Labarett have found the Golden Axe tavern and taken a seat at one of the tables within. The place is busy with many Dwarves seated at tables drinking, eating, talking and playing games. Everyone in the tavern keeps looks at Labarett, the only non-Dwarf in the place. Sir Krondor and Gim talk to the owner, Arak, and order two drinks for each of them and one drink for Labarett. When the drinks come out Sir Krondor and Gim’s eyes open wide and they smile broadly looking at the two drinks sitting in front of each of them. Each drink is the size of a small bucket. Labarett looks at the single large drink in front of him with some trepidation, it is the biggest size mug he has ever seen.

- The three sit and relax and enjoy their drink. Sir Krondor and Gim speak to the Arak, in Dwarvish, about the town and other news, whilst Labarett who can not speak Dwarvish, just sits and smiles and nods his head occasionally.

- Arak asks in Dwarvish, “Why are you two hanging around with a bloody Elf?”

- Sir Krondor sighs and replies in Dwarvish, “I know right. We have to baby sit him. He’s a bit slow. Don’t want him going off by himself and getting lost. We all work for the same boss as guards on a caravan.”

- Arak smiles, “Right. Right. You could always arrange an accident to occur to him. I know people that could arrange that. You wouldn’t have to look after him then.”

- Labarett, oblivious that the inn keeper has just offered to do him serious harm, is sitting and smiling.

- Sir Krondor replies, “Oh no. We would get in trouble if we lost him.”

- Arak leaves the three to drink in peace.

***

- While Nac, Trenchant and Naillae are wandering about they come to a large open public square that has many open stalls set up in a large fresh food market. There is a raised platform on the side of the square, obviously used for public speaking, and Trenchant decides to put on a performance. The Bard walks up to the platform and takes out his Doss Lute and begins to play a song about the many great deeds of the Dwarves past and present. At first the Dwaves around the area ignore him but then eventually a crowd starts to form around the bard, clapping and cheering about the songs.

- Trenchant is enjoying the song and cheering. Naillae is standing next to platform looking up at the Bard with obvious affection. Nac looks across at her and scoffs in displeasure.

- Trenchant then changes the song lyrics to talk about a new threat coming to the lands outside of Dunfrun, the Dragons, and the need for the brave and strong Dwarves of Dunfrun to join the fight. Trenchant watches the happy faces of the Dwarves one by one stop smiling and with a scowl turn and walk away. Trenchant knows immediately he has misread the audience and he has lost them. As he plays out the last chord, all the Dwarves have left, and only one person, an elderly female human stands just outside the front of a near by inn. She is smiling and tapping her feet in time to the last few bars.

- She wears a fine green dress, with detailed embroidery. Long white hair falls on either side of a smiling and welcoming face. As the song ends she claps at Trenchant, “You play well young man.”

- Trenchant looks over at her and starts to walk over to her, Naillae and Nac following. The Bard asks, “I think I lost my audience. What did I do wrong?”

- The female smiles, “You need to know your audience. The Dwarves of Dunfrun are a proud lot, boastful too, but they have grown insular and withdrawn from the rest of the world. They do not care of the problems that lay outside of these walls. And they grow worse year to year. They do not trust or like non-Dwarves or outsiders. They no longer patrol the northern lands or the northern trade route. Bandits and others have become more of a problem in these parts now. But come, let me buy you a drink for your song, I do love music and the sound of it is rare in these parts. My name is Livia.”

- Trenchant, Nac and Naillae follow her into the inn, which a sign in Dwarvish reads the “Syr Lin” (Translation: “Silver Moon”). Naillae says she’ll head over to the bar and drink there and see if she can learn where to get the crafting kit Oloma wanted. Nac and Trenchant follow Livia to a round table near a front window, which from a half drunk mug, a brown travelling cloak hung over a chair and a small backpack laying next to the table, must have been where Livia was already seated.

- Nac and Trenchant sit at two of the unoccupied chairs whilst Livia takes the travelling cloak and placed it over her shoulders before sitting down too.

- She waves down one of the Dwarven inn staff and orders drinks for Nac and Trenchant. When the drinks are delivered Trenchant notices in the dust of the near by window is a scribble. To anyone else it would be appear to be a random mark, with no meaning, but to Trenchant, he immediately recognises it as a Harper sign for “help”.

- Trenchant leans over and says, “Thank you for the drink.” and then extends a hand out to Livia to shake it. She takes the hand and smiles, feeling the quick and secret finger sign that Trenchant makes, the secret hand shake of a Harper.

- Still smiling, she lets go of Trenchant’s hand and then takes a small silver box out from an inner pocket of her cloak. She places it in the middle of the table and then opens the lid. Nac and Trenchant felt a pressure flow over them but nothing else.

- Nac looks at the elderly female suspiciously, “What was that?”

- Livia smiles, “Something that will allow us to talk without fear of others hearing.”

- Nac asks, “It places a silence around us?”

- Livia replies to Nac, “No, people will still hear us but they will not hear what we really say, only a mundane boring conversation about the weather and cooking recipes.”

- Turning to Trenchant she speaks, “I am Livia, Brightcandle of the Harpers.” (Third Rank).

- Trenchant nods, “I am Trenchant, Harpshadow of the Harpers.” (Second Rank).

- Trenchant and Livia speak about Harper matters, Nac muttering under his breath about “bloody harpers.” It appears that Livia’s apprentice and newly joined member of the Harpers, a Watcher (First Rank) by the name of Ignaaz, has gone missing whilst searching for the location of an orc lair near Dunfrun. Livia can not look for him as she must remain in the Syr Lin Inn waiting for a important contact. She asks Trenchant if he can search for her missing apprentice.

- Livia speaks, “Ignaaz is new to the Harpers. He is still learning and sometimes he takes risks when patience or prudence is needed. He will learn one day, if given the chance. I fear he has been captured and taken back to the orc’s lair. Have you heard of the treatment orcs give to captured foes? They play with them like toys, torturing them for days until they are near death and then finally kill them for food.”

- Trenchant asks, “How will we find Ignaaz or the lair now?”

- Livia says, “A Dwarf hunter by the name of Onnar drinks at the Bof Smag Gar. He knows the location of the lair but each time Ignaaz tried to ask him he was so drunk that he could not speak. Perhaps if you try to speak to him now you might be lucky and find him sober enough.”

- Trenchant answers, “We will speak to Onnar and then we will find your wayward Harper, Ignaaz.”

- Nac leans forward, “First, we need to discuss the how much this is going to cost you in gold to find him.”

- Livia raises one eyebrow in disgust and turns to Trenchant, “He’s with you?”

- Trenchant, looking embarrassed replies, “Yes. He’s not with the Harpers.”

- Livia turns back to Nac, “I find it highly insulting that the need the coin would even go through your brain. He is a Harper, and Harpers look after each other, like family. I will leave this in your capable hands Trenchant Harpshadow, please find Ignaaz.”

- Trenchant grabs Nac and in company with Naillae, who was unsuccessful in finding anything from the Dwarves as they don’t appear willing to help a non-Dwarf, leave the inn to head over to the Golden Axe to regroup with the rest of the party.

***

- A short time later the party are all reunited and seated within the Golden Axe inn. They discuss what to do next. Seanicus states he needs to go to the Bof Smag Gar to sell his black mushrooms and Trenchant says he needs to go there too to speak to the Dwarven hunter Onnar. Oloma asks Naillae if she has been successful in finding the item Oloma asked for but when Naillae replies that the Dwarves don’t seen to trust or like any non-Dwarves Oloma and Seanicus nod in agreement and understanding.

- The party all head out of the inn and see that there are now large flaming braziers along the circular walls and the pillars that hold up the ceiling. There is little smoke coming from the fires and what there is is somehow directed through holes in the tower to the outside. It must be evening now as the many windows are in darkness.

- Walking through the many streets the party make their way over to a run down part of the lower section of the town. The houses here are dirty and unkept and the people wandering around here all appear desperate. All the eyes of the locals here look hard at the party, as if wondering if the risk the party poses is worth the risk to try and rob them. Seanicus summons his Shadow Hound follow behind to look out for trouble. Likewise, Oloma uses her psionics to improve her senses and toughen her skin in case of attack.

- The party arrive at a wooden building with a broken sign out the front with “Bof Smag Gar” written in Dwarvish script. Some of the windows of the building are broken. A strong unpleasant smell comes from the building. It gives everyone a headache.

- Out the front of the building, seated on a broken wooden bench, are two Dwarves. One appears unconscious, as he is slumped backwards on the seat with vomit on his chest, and the other Dwarf is holding a wooden mug, looking around with red blood shot eyes.

- Sir Krondor walks up to the two Dwarves and asks about Onnar the hunter. It takes him a while to get any answers from the conscious Dwarf but he eventually only learns that Onnar may be inside.

- Opening the door to the building, a white fume of sickly smelling smoke drifts out. They enter the dark room, only scattered candles are around the room. A long bar is on the far wall, where two Dwarves stand behind, a pair of battle axes on hooks hang on the wall near them. Around the room are tables, chairs and rugs over which are seated or laying about twenty Dwarves in various states ranging from unconscious to semi-sober. Some Dwarves are drinking and some are smoking and all are in a pitiful state, wearing dirty and torn clothes, unkept hair, and from the smell obviously have not washed in weeks.

- The party sit down at an empty table.

- One of the Dwarves from behind the bar comes over, “You in the right place? You don’t seem like the sort we normally serve.”

- Sir Krondor speaks, “We’re here to speak to Onnar the Hunter. Is he here?”

- The bar keeper looks up and says sarcastically, “Onnar, Onnar? I know the name. If only something could loosen the block in my memory I might remember where he is.”

- Trenchant throws a gold coin onto the greasy table and the Dwarf grabs it immediately and then points to a corner table with a lone occupant, “That’s him there. You ordering any drink or smoke?”

- When the party inform the Dwarf they will not be buying anything he turns and walks back to stand behind the bar.

- Seanicus, Oloma and Sir Krondor make their way over to the bar whilst the rest of the party walk over to see the Onnar.

- Onnar the Dwarf Hunter is seated at the table, with a half drunk mug in front of him. He is wearing dirty, torn travelling gear. A backpack and longbow that have seen better days are laying on the floor next to him. Trenchant bangs his hand down onto the table, “You Onnar?”

- The Dwarf blinks a few times and then looks up, his eyes trying to focus on the where the voice came from. In a slurred voice the Dwarf replies, “Yeah, I’m Onnar, who wants to know.”

- Trenchant sits down and speaks to the Dwarf hunter. Luckily the party have caught Onnar before he has drunk too much and he is sober enough to talk too. He does know the location of the orc lair, having come across it in the near by mountains by accident on a hunt a few weeks ago.

- Trenchant asks again, “So you’ve never heard of someone called Ignaaz and you’ve never told anyone where this orc lair is?”

- Onnar burps, “Nope, who would I tell?”

- Trenchant says, “You will lead us to the lair tomorrow.”

- Onnar snaps, “I don’t have time to go leading you around the place.”

- Gim leans over and smiles, the light reflecting off the two great axes strapped to his back, “Yes, you do.” (Intimidation check successful).

- Onnar looks up at the grinning face of Gim and slowly replies, “Yes, I do.”

- Trenchant says, “Excellent. Then you’re coming with us now and staying with us in the Golden Axe. You can lead us to the lair first thing tomorrow morning.”

- Onnar slurs, “I can’t afford that fancy place!”

- Trenchant answers quickly, “We will pay for your accomodation and meals.”

- Onnar stands up, unsteady on his feet, “You hear that boys! I’m staying in the Buhrad Ats!”

- No one else in the inn notices or pays any attention to the outburst. Trenchant puts the half drunk mug away and leads Onnar away, “That’s enough drink. I need you sober for tomorrow.”

- Seanicus, Oloma and Sir Krondor leave the bar and reunite with the party.

- Naillae asks, “How did you go? Did you sell the black mushrooms?”

- Sir Krondor smiles, “Yes. The little weasel tried to fleece us! I got him to pay us a fair and honest price.”

- The party walk out of the Buhrad Ats and walk back to the Golden Axe, helping the unsteady Onnar walk. Once they arrive at the Golden Axe they arrange and pay for rooms and meals from Arak the inn keeper. Labarett and Seanicus take Onnar with them into a shared room to keep on eye on him. The party retire to their respective rooms and get to sleep. The rest of the night goes uneventfully.

- Starday, 6th Abadius in the year 815 (Second Era). Early Spring.

- The morning sees the coming of a sunny day with medium winds bringing a cool breeze. It looks like the weather will be pleasant for the coming incursion into the mountains.

- After a large breakfast the party prepare to leave. Onnar is looking much more sober now and much more capable. He checks his equipment and makes sure it is stowed and ready for travel.

- The party leave Dunfrun and Onnar leads the way. Any doubts about the Hunter’s abilities are quickly squashed when they see the now sober Dwarf moving with a practised ease. He leads the party away from Dunfrun towards the east and up into the Anum mountains that stretch for hundreds of miles to the north, west and east.

- Trenchant keeps an eye on Onnar and is impressed with his skill as a tracker. The Dwarf is somehow picking out the way amongst a bleak and featureless landscape. Trenchant moves upwards to speak to Onnar, “You have some skill out here in the wilds. Why do waste your life away with what ever coin you have on drink?”

- Onnar turns to look at Trenchant, and says nothing. At first Trenchant does not think he will get a reply, then after a time Onnar speaks, his voice filled with pain, “I’m not proud of what I’ve become. I drink to forget. I was married to a fine woman and had two children. That was when I was living in Clan Moribek. Then my family was killed by bandits whilst out in the mountains around the Clan stronghold. I blamed everyone. I blamed the other Dwarves for not protecting my wife, I blamed the Thane for not driving out the bandits from around our stronghold, I blamed my wife for going out that day. But really deep down, I blamed myself for not being there when they needed me. I turned to drink. I become violent and disruptive. I attacked the Thane in a drunken rage. I was banished by the Thane. Left the Clan a broken man. I can never return to Clan Moribek.”

- Trenchant looks at the neck of Onnar, “I’m sorry for your lose Onnar. You don’t have the mark of a traitor branded on you. Why is that?”

- Onnar smiles, “Oh the Thane wanted to alright. And I deserved it, mark my words boy, I attacked the Thane of my Clan. What can be more dishonourable than that? But one of his advisors, my cousin, convinced the Thane that my tragic story should be taken into consideration in passing sentence. So instead of being branded a traitor and bared from all Clans, I was just banished from his Clan. I headed out west and ended up here at Dunfrun with all the other Dwarves that have failed in life. Drink is all I have left. I go out when I’m sober and hunt big game, the rarer stuff that is in demand. I get a good price for it back in Dunfrun and then I use the money to drink until I forget again.”

- Trenchant leaves Onnar to the task of leading them and the party continue onwards, speeded up by the gift of Labarett’s supernatural abilities. After only an hour, Onnar crouches down and slowly moves up to a large rock and peers over it. The party likewise move up carefully.

- Onnar speaks, “Up ahead is a long cliff, not high, but long. An old river bed and dry waterfall are there. There are lots of caves along the cliff face but one of them is marked, you can’t miss it. That’s the one you want with the orcs. There’s a trail of sorts here, must be made by the passing orcs. Looks a fair number of them too. Follow the trail from now on. Good luck.”

- Onnar starts to turn around to leave. Trenchant stops him with a hand, “Onnar come with us. We could use your skill with a bow.”

- The Dwarf laughs, “You wanted me to take you to the lair. That’s the lair. I’m no hero and this isn’t my problem. And my skill with the bow extends to hitting large animals that are standing still and not aware I’m even there. I don’t want to try firing at fast moving orcs intent to take my head off for lunch! If you survive, head back west. You shouldn’t miss Dunfrun but even if you do miss it, you have to cross the road so just follow that into the town.”

- With that Onnar turns and walks away. The party watch him go and then proceed onwards towards where Onnar indicated the cliff starts. They continue forward following the rough trail and after a moment they see that the trail is splitting into two. One path winds downwards to the lower ground and one path stays on the upper ground of the cliff.

- The party have a quick discussion as to whether to stay on the high or low path and vote to stay on the higher ground. They continue following the trail until they see further ahead it leads to the edge of the cliff where there is a pile of bones sticking up. An old, dry river bed can be seen further ahead.

- Labarett speaks, “That’s the river bed Onnar spoke of and that must be the marker. Now what?”

- Trenchant speaks, “Wait here, I’ll scout ahead with my cloak and see if it’s safe. I’ll throw a rock if it is.”

- Trenchant pulls up the hood of his cloak and then the cloak takes on the bland colours of the rock around them, making him blend into the surrounding. He moves cautiously across the lose rocks, making no sound thanks to his Boots of Elvenkind. He climbs up a nearby small hill and looks around him. He can see no sign of orcs. He throws a small rock towards the party and seeing the sign they move forward, with Gim, Oloma and Seanicus leading the way and moving closer to the cliff edge and the bone marker.

- The three look over the edge and can see caves everywhere but directly below there are two caves, one at the ground floor below and one set half way up the cliff face. Another bone marker is placed next to the cave on the bottom. Seanicus sends forth his shadow hound to the ground cave and the has it wait there on look out.

- Seanicus leans over the cliff edge and looks at the rocks, “It would appear that this section of rock has had a lot of use, they are claw and foot marks all over it.” (Successful Perception check).

- Gim speaks, “Orcs like to climb, dam good at it too. And they have claws. This must be how they get in and out.”

- Labarett speaks, “Then way is there another path that goes to the larger bottom cave? Why would the orcs need or use that too?”

- No one has an answer.

- Oloma waves over Naillae and the Rogue Elf moves over to the cliff edge and then proceeds to climb upside down towards the nearest cave. She pops her head into the cave to look inside and then turns around to climb back up to the top. She climbs up and stands next to the party and tells them that the cave goes back into a cavern and all she can see is bats on the ceiling but no orcs.

- Trenchant rejoins the group and removes his hood to reappear saying, “Well then lets see what’s in the upper cave.”

- The party hammer a spike into the ground and tie a rope to it. The rope is tied around Nac, being the heaviest in the party due to his armour, and the rest of the party helps lower him down whilst he climbs down into the upper cave. Once there he unties the rope around him and waits until one by one the party climb down and into the cave. Naillae is last to come, removes the spike and takes the rope with her and then easily climbs down unaided to join the others in the cave.

- The party move forward and follow the cave passage into a larger cavern. There appears to be no other exits from here.

- Gim looks around, “This doesn’t make any sense. Why would the orcs climb into a dead end cave?”

- Nac moves to one of the cavern walls, “Everyone start looking for secret doors.”

- Seanicus kneels down, “I’ll perform my ritual of Detect Magic, maybe something hidden here.”

- Labarett also sits down, “And I’ll perform my ritual of Speak to Animals. The bats here might give us some information.”

- The party all start checking the walls but the size of the cavern and the rough nature of the walls and rock make it slow going. After ten minutes Nac and Oloma both locate a hidden section of rock that as they are running there hands over it, it easily swings back to reveal a hidden stairway going down and bending round slightly. When they let go of the rock section it swings back into place to once again look like a normal section of the cavern wall.

- Nac calls out, “Found a secret stairway, what about you two, have you discovered anything?”

- Seanicus stands up, “No, there is nothing magic here.”

- Labarett stands too, “The bats are difficult to understand but I did get that the orcs do come through here, a large group of them. They come and go as a group about every week or two.”

- Gim asks, “A hunting party?”

- “Maybe,” replies Labarett and continues, “But the bats mentioned another thing I don’t understand. They said the ones of our size, which must be the orcs, come through this cave, but the ones of a much larger size come through the cave down below.”

- Trenchant asks, “Any idea what these large creatures are?”

- Labarett shakes his head with a no. The party prepare to go down the stairs and because the stairs are narrow have to descend single file. The stairs curve around and go a fair distance but Gim doesn’t think they have descended too fair as the incline of the steps wasn’t that much (Successful Stone cunning check).

- The stairs end at a small 10’ square room with no other seeming exits again. The party begin to search the small area for another secret door. Sir Krondor and Gim, being the first in line down the stairs begin to search the small area but can’t find anything. Oloma comes down too but can’t find anything either.

- Gim turns back to the rest of the party still waiting on the stairs as there is no more room in this small area, “Check out the walls on the stairway might be a button there.”

- The rest of the party start to search the stairway but no one can find anything until Naillae sees a small indentation that she presses and it clicks but with no apparent affect.

- Oloma tells her to press the button again and she’ll try to push the forward wall at the same time. Naillae presses the button and Oloma places her hand onto the plain stone wall at the end of the small room and it swings open to reveal a large cavern light by a campfire. Around the campfire, a dozen orcs turn to see the stone door swing open and immediately raise up grabbing their weapons. Other orcs, from around the corner of the cavern pop into view.

- Oloma and Gim, using the element of surprise to their advantage quickly rush in. Gim move around to the right and engages the closest orcs and Oloma steps inside and then vanishes to reappear in the corner of the cavern behind some raised broken stalagmites that provide some cover.

- The party are struggling to get down the narrow stairs quick enough and are finding it hard to enter the cavern quickly. The orcs, half naked wearing only a loin cloth and with war paint all over them, rush forward screaming. Orc Berserkers. They show no fear and are fighting recklessly and dangerously.

- Two large orcs, wearing armour are getting up from their seated positions on the side of the cavern. These orcs each have an eye missing, apparently gouged out. A medallion around each of their necks has a simple metal disc with an engraved eye on it. These two special orcs are Eyes of Gruumsh. They have willingly sacrificed one of their eyes to the Orc God Gruumsh and in doing so have been granted divine powers by the god. They are his emissaries, his clerics.

- Oloma, from her spot behind the broken stalagmites sees the orcs beginning to rush forward and the two Eyes of Gruumsh beginning to stand up. She unleashes a powerful psionic blast into the room that kills five of the orcs and badly wounds the two Eyes of Gruumsh.

- Seanicus has managed to squeeze his way forward towards the secret door and looking into the cavern speaks words of power to summon within a green light that swirls and moves around the cavern, attacking the orcs as it does so.

- The Orc Berserkers rush in, not caring for the display of magic and psionics all around them. They know no fear and will fight to death. Their great axes swing towards Gim and Oloma as they are the only ones of the party in the cavern. One of the Eyes of Gruumsh starts to cough blood and falls backwards dead, succumbing to the green light of Seanicus’s spell of Sickening Radiance. The other remaining Eye of Gruumsh does not succumb to the green light and points his hand at three of the Orc Berserkers that are attacking the party. He Blesses them in the name of Gruumsh, a yellow pale light now surrounds them; their attacks shall ring true in the great Orc gods name!

- Oloma finds herself surrounded by four Orc Berserkers but thankfully only one can reach her as the broken stalagmites are giving her cover. She summons her Soul Blades and prepares to fight back. One of the orcs swings its great axe at her whilst another throws it weapon at her head, narrowly missing her.

- Nac calls upon the power of his Goddess, Takhisis, and brings her Aid to Labarett, Sir Krondor and Gim, empowering them to fight longer and harder and then the Cleric moves into the cavern.

- Gim is pushing the orcs back from the secret door, allowing Sir Krondor and Labarett to both move in. Sir Krondor’s green war hammer swinging into the head of an orc whilst Labarett’s battle axe Snaidh swings into chest of another orc. Gim not to be outdone swings his great axe into the head of one orc and slices the top half of the head clean off killing the creature (Critical Hit - Triple Damage and Blinded).

- Seanicus moves forward into the room only to be surrounded by two more Berserkers, one of which grabs him whilst the other attacks him. Sir Krondor, Labarett and Gim having cleared the orcs around them quickly move towards Seanicus and kill the orcs attacking the Warlock.

- Oloma aims a psionic attack at the last Orc Eye of Gruumsh, killing him. As the orc lets out one last breath his dead body falls backwards and it hits a section of the cavern wall which then swings back to reveal a hidden door.

- The party have managed to enter and over whelm the orcs quickly. They move into the cavern and begin searching the dead bodies. They can see that this cavern leads to the outside area and is the bottom cave they saw from above. The secret stone door is 15’ high and 10’ feet wide and beyond it a set of 10’ wide stone steps descend down with a slight bend. The secret door, though being one large solid block of stone easily moves and swings even with just one hand pushing it with no effort.

- Gim looks at the door, “That is Dwarvish make. No one else could make a stone door so large and so perfectly balanced.”

- Naillae looks at the large door, “Why are all Dwarvish doors so big?”

- Nac replies, “It’s a Dwarf thing. They’re over compensating.”

- The bodies of the orcs have nothing of value. Trenchant takes the two eye medallions.

- The party spend some time searching the cavern for other possible secret doors but can not find anything else. They decide to go back upstairs to the upper cavern with the bats and again search it for secret doors but again find nothing else.

- They decide to proceed down the 10’ wide stone steps, the two cousins Sir Krondor and Gim leading the way. The stairs descend for some distance, the air getting colder around them, until they see an opening up ahead. Gim believes they have descended about 70’ below the surface of the ground.

- Seanicus sends his Shadow Hound forward into the room to see what lays ahead. Through the eyes of his invisible hound Seanicus sees a large carven filled with stalagmites. A thin layer of cold mist covers the ground but still visible on the ground is littered bones and rubbish all over. The cavern is so large and of an odd shape that not all of it is visible. To the left is an open stone archway, that stands 10’ wide and 15’ high that has some engravings upon it. Light is coming from somewhere beyond the open archway. Two broken stone pillars stand before the archway. In the far corner of the cavern is a large hay pile, flattened like a bed, and seated upon it is a large Ogre. The massive beast has his back to the direction of the party and appears to be eating a large dead animal, the crunching sound of its jaws crushing the bones of the animal echo through out the cavern.

- Wishing to check out as much of the room as possible, the Shadow Hound is sent further and it sees a second Ogre seated on another pile of hay on the opposite corner to the first Ogre, in a small portion of the cavern to the side and behind the entry stairs from where the party are positioned.

- The party decide to send in Oloma and Trenchant who will sneak forward into the room to get a better look. The two enter the room slowly and head to the left to a near by formation of large stalagmites. Trenchant is silent, his Boots of Elvenkind making no noise on the uneven ground but Oloma walks onto a piece of bone and it brakes with a loud enough snap that even the party waiting up on the stairs can hear it.

- From the Ogre near the stairway, the sound of it raising up can be heard by everyone. Oloma moves back into a safer position whilst Gim comes running down the stairs and into the room. The sound of his rattling armour and pounding feet has now drawn the attention of the far Ogre who now stops eating to turn and look towards the party.

- Gim readies his great axe for combat. As a flash of colour runs past him, Labarett is charging at full speed into the room and towards the closest Ogre. The Elf Barbarian Sorcerer does not hesitate, in a full rage he starts to swing his enchanted battle axe towards the approaching Ogre. The battle axe cuts a deep wound (Critical Hit on a Charge).

- Oloma looks across the cavern at the Ogre standing on the far side and turns her mind towards the Ogre. Oloma’s psionics concentrate into the Ogre’s mind and force it to escape into itself, shattering its resolve and making it unlikely to want to attack or approach the party. The Ogre is now cowering down and covering its face with its large hands.

- Seanicus steps towards the cavern entry and leans around the corner to see that the Ogre that Oloma just affected is standing on the pile of hay. Seanicus aims a spell at the hay and a small bonfire erupts under the feet of the Ogre and the hay pile immediately erupt into flames.

- Sir Krondor runs down the stairs pulling out his long bow and sees the Ogre lit up on fire on the far side of the cavern. Unfortunately Sir Krondor does not see Trenchant standing in the way as the Bard still has his Cloak of Elvenkind on and is camouflaged from view. Sir Krondor fires an arrow at the flaming Ogre but hits Trenchant instead injuring him (Fumble attack that was rerolled from using Inspiration that was again rolled as a Fumble). Trenchant grits his teeth in pain from the blow but does not yell out in order to not give away his position.

- Naillae stays well back from the cavern entrance and waits for an opportunity to use her unique talents.

- The Ogre that the party have engaged near the stairs moves closer to the party and swing its massive great club. The Ogre standing in the flaming hay pile, its mind still confused and affected by Oloma’s psionics, jumps out of the fire and around a corner to try and hide from the view of the party.

- A third Ogre now raises up into view, having previously been laying down asleep behind a large pillar of stone. Now the party face the threat of three Ogres! This new Ogre strides easily to reach the party, its long thick legs making large strides and comes to stand in front of Sir Krondor. The large creature swings its great club and strikes the ground near the Dwarf with a loud thud.

- Trenchant, still hidden by his cloak, carefully moves away from the Ogre, who does not notice he is there, and moves to the large rock pillar. The Bard places an oil flask onto the ground near him.

- Gim and Labarett takes turns swinging their weapons into one of the Ogres, the large beast unable to avoid their blows and finding it hard to hit the pair. With a loud roar Labarett slices his battle axe into the leg of the Ogre forcing it to kneel down and allowing Gim to slice open the neck of the beast with his great axe. A loud thud sounds as the creature hits the ground dead.

- From the large stone archway, that has light coming from it, appears a group of Orcs running into the cavern. There are fourteen Orcs dressed in hide armour, four Orc Berserkers covered in war paint and a single Orc Orog wearing full plate armour. The group is running in at full speed. One of them knocks over the oil flask placed on the ground by Trenchant, the oil splashes onto his legs and so too the legs of an adjacent Orc but does not slow them down.

- Seanicus, still looking into the cavern from the entry way, sees the new threat of the Orcs and summons a Sickening Radiance into the cavern. Suddenly the air is filled with green light as it swirls around attacking all the foes within.

- Labarett charges towards the new Ogre and begins to swing his battle axe Snaidh into the Ogre’s back. At the same time, Sir Krondor drops his long bow and reaches for his war hammer from his back. The Dwarf Knight does not bother to take his shield out but rather holds his weapon two handed and begins to pound into the Ogre, joining Labarett’s attack, the sickening sound of breaking bones filling the cavern with each strike of his war hammer into the Ogre. The last swing of Sir Krondor’s war hammer slams into the chest of the Ogre and as it coughs up blood, gurgling and unable to breath, it falls to the ground to die.

- Naillae, standing behind Seanicus in the entry way, throws daggers at the approaching Orcs. Then she exclaims in panic and takes a step back as the figure of the Orc Orog, wearing full plate armour, comes into view to stand directly in front of Seanicus, who also leans back to try to get away.

- The final Ogre, trying to move forward away from the fire, suddenly falls forward, its eyes closed, as it succumbs to the green light of Sickening Radiance slowly draining it of life. Now only the Orcs remain.

- Trenchant, still hidden, summons a Stinking Cloud at the on coming Orcs to try to slow them down. A noxious thick yellow cloud appears around the Orcs. Coughing can be heard coming from it but the cloud is soo thick as to make it impossible to see them now. The Bard then moves back away.

- Nac summons a spell around him, soon the air is filled with whirling pale Spirit Guardians that glow with a faint white light. They surround Nac and attack and slow down any foe that comes near him.

- Gim and Labarett are trying to move back to the entry way, striking Orcs aside as they do, desperate to aid Seanicus and Naillae against the threat of the Orc Orog. Sir Krondor too is moving from Orc to Orc, bringing them down.

- Oloma moves to the side and opens her mind fully, allowing a powerful blast of psionic energy to flood forth. She directs it towards the yellow cloud of stinking vapours and the force of the wave is so great the minds of all the orcs trapped within the cloud are shattered. They all fall down dead. Oloma sighs with the effort, her reserves of psionic potential are dwindling.

- Seanicus summons a bonfire under the feet of the Orc Orog. He howls in pain as the flames lick up his legs, heating his full plate armour. Naillae throws two daggers at the Orc Orog but the daggers just bounce off the armour of the foe. The Orog screams in pain from the fire that is heating him up and the combined power of the green light of the Sickening Radiance and the white swirling Spirit Guardians attacking him. He drops to the ground dead.

- Most of the Orc Berserkers also succumb to the twin energies of the green and white eldritch powers raging around them. The last Orc Berserker is quickly dropped by the combined blows of Gim, Labarett and Sir Krondor (Fumble attack by Sir Krondor but his Master Work war hammer ignores Fumbles).

- The battle is over and all the foes are dead.

- The whole party is smiling and ecstatic from their overwhelming victory.

- Nac boasts, “That’s how you do it. Blast them into oblivion! Don’t give them a chance!”

- Sir Krondor bends down to pick up his long bow and sighs, “No, that’s not how you do it. Do you know how many more caverns we face? Do you know how many more foes we face? Are these foes the strongest we will face in here or the weakest?”

- Nac shrugs, “I don’t know. Who cares?”

- Sir Krondor, “I care. I’ve been fighting wars and battles long enough to know you are all being reckless. You are wasting your limited spells on the likes of these. Orcs! Ogres! By the gods we could have cut them down with blades and hammer. We didn’t need to waste precious spells on the likes of those. Let’s hope for our sakes that we don’t get caught short if we face a greater threat later on in this cavern. You may wish you hadn’t wasted them on a flashy light show to see who could kill the most grunts in the quickest possible time!”

XP Allocation

Group - Combined (This is equally divided by the number of players who were involved)

Quests (Only quests that are completed or rendered undoable, during this session, are shown here)

- Arrive Next Settlement (Dunfrun) = 200 XP

- Accept The Quest From The Harper (Livia) = 100 XP

- Locate the Orc Lair = 100 XP

Creatures Overcome

- Orcs - Eye Of Gruumsh = 900 XP

- Orcs - Berserkers = 3400 XP

- Ogres = 1350 XP

- Orc - Orog = 450 XP

- Orcs = 1000 XP

Individual (This is only given to that person and is not divided amongst all players)

Special Bonus (Outstanding Role Playing)

Nil

XP Levels and Player Allocations

Player : Start + Received = Total (Notes)

Rob : 42064 + 937 = 43001

Arthur : 30076 + 937 = 31013

Travis : 29720 + 1171 = 30891

Paul : 25594 + 702 = 26296

Sean : 27205 + 937 = 28142

Bob : 25763 + 937 = 26700

NPC (Naillae) : + (468)

NPC (Nac): + (468)

#D&D #DnD #5th #5e #RPG #HOTDQ

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kprciffdw · 4 years

Text

Ratchet and Kim Possible: The Solanian Revolution-Part 6

After a long flight, they were able to arrive at the Planet Marcadia. They landed in a large city. As soon as they got out of the ship, they found themselves in the middle of a war-zone. Ron: "Whoa, this place sure is a mess. Those Tyhrranoids really did a number on this place." Kim: "Look, the Galactic Ranges are also here, as to be expected."

They walked up to the Rangers. 1st Ranger: "Glad you could make it, sir. The presidential compound is on the other side of the city. Keep your head down, the Tyhrranoids are crawling all over the place." Ron: "No problem, we can handle a few alien scum here and there." Kim: "Let's get going, you guys."

They rushed into the middle of the vicious battle as they made their way through the city. There were Tyhrranoids everywhere they looked, just like the Ranger told them. Their army seemed more abundant and vicious than on Veldin, but the group was able to handle them just fine, especially Ron, which seemed very surprising to the others. They were eventually able to make their way towards another drop ship along with a few more Rangers. Ranger: "Great teamwork, guys. A second wave of Tyhrranoids just landed. They're attacking the compound from the other side. We could sure use your help." Ron: "You've got it! Just leave it to us!" Ranger: "Follow me to the drop ship."

They rushed over to the drop ship, got in and flew off. After a long flight, they arrived at the presidential compound. Ranger: "Sarge, you and your team arrived just in time. We must defend the Presidential Palace." Kim: "Yikes! You guys look like you really have your hands full." Ron: "Well, this shouldn't be too hard to handle. I say bring on the fight." Ratchet: "You're willing to face the Tyhrranoids head on with absolutely no fear what-so-ever and yet you're still afraid of monkeys?" Ron: "Hey, monkeys are terrifying, not to mention evil. Tyhrranoids, on the other hand, aren't really so bad." Ratchet: "Ron! Monkeys are NOT evil! Tyhrranoids are, not to mention that there's a lot more to fear about them than monkeys!" Ron: "Yeah, if I run into the Tyhrranoids at Camp Wannaweep, then maybe I'll have something to fear about them." Ratchet: "Are you serious? Do all of your greatest fears have to come from that place? The Tyhrranoids are monsters! Monkeys are just…(grunt) you know what? Forget it! The only person who's more difficult to reason with than you is Qwark, even when he hasn't lost his mind!" Kim: "Can't argue with that."

They went on to the battle. During the battle, wave after wave of Tyhrranoid forces kept on coming. The Rangers were panicking but the group was able to remain calm. Surprisingly, even Ron kept his cool throughout the entire battle. Kim: "Heh, so not the drama." Ron: "This isn't so hard." Ratchet: "Why weren't you like this during our previous adventure when we needed you to be?" Ron: "After being in that terrifying jungle with all of those vicious monkeys, nothing else seems to scare me anymore." Kim: "Huh, that's strange, he's never been like this before." Ratchet: "Hm…maybe we should throw him into a room filled with a whole hoard of monkeys and maybe he'll remain completely fearless of everything else." Ron: "Not funny, Ratchet!"

They continued on with the fight until the Tyhrranoids stopped coming and everything was quiet. Soon enough, the President stepped outside. The group was able to meet with him. The President bent down to shake Clank's hand. President: "Agent Clank! You're even more impressive in person than you are on the holovid!"

He then noticed Ratchet, Kim and Ron. President: "And you 2 seem to be use to fighting quite a lot. I did hear that you were both heroes on your home planet." Kim: "Yep, all in a day's work." Ron: "This is typical, everyday stuff for the both of us. Not anything for us to worry about." President: "And, I must say, I've never seen a chauffeur fight like you do, son."

He shook Ratchet's hand. President: "Who says you can't find good help these days, right, Clank?"

Kim glared as the President chuckled. President: "Sasha's told me a lot about you. Don't get any ideas, kid. She's way out of your league."

Kim and Ratchet whispered to each other. Kim: "No surprise this guy thinks Qwark is capable of saving this galaxy; he's clearly an imbecile." Ratchet: "You just took the words out of my mouth, Kim." President: "Now then, Sasha's filled me in the, uh…Qwark situation. I'm told the man thinks he's a monkey?" Clank: "He has lost his memory." President: "Well, then you'll simply have to find it for him. We need our star player back in the game ASAP. Is that understood?" Ron: "Uh…" Ratchet: "Yes, sir." Clank: "We will do what we can." Kim: "Whatever." President: "My daughter tells me that you're a man who's good with his hands, Ratchet. And you, Ms. Possible, I was told by your dad that you can do anything." Kim: "You've met my dad?" President: "Of course. And some kid by the name of Wade." Ratchet: "Dr. Possible and Wade have already contacted you?" President: "Oh, yes, they have already spoken with me and Sasha. Dr. Possible has told me that he trusts Ratchet with your life, little missy."

Kim was a little surprised and somewhat touched. Kim: "Dad…" President: "So, anyway, the city's laser shield went down during the attack. We're defenseless without it. I sent out a repairman to fix it, but he disappeared. I need you and your team to get it back online." Ratchet: "Yes, sir. We're on it. Let's go, Kim."

Ratchet rushed off. Kim: "I'm right behind you, Ratchet. Oh, and Mr. President? Ratchet is nobody's chauffeur! I want you to never mention anything about that ever again!" President: "Whoa, calm down, little lady. I had no idea that bothered you so much." Kim: "No, of course not."

She rushed out. Ron and Clank stood by astonished. Ron: "KP…" Clank: "Her feelings for Ratchet are very conspicuous and wide open. And yet…she does not wish to continue to acknowledge this." Ron: "I know…"

They walked off afterwards. They left on the drop ship and were taken to the Laser Defense Facility.

They arrived at the Laser Defense Facility. As soon as they rushed out of the drop ship, Kim pulled out her Kimmunicator. Kim: "Wade, we just arrived at some place known as the Laser Defense Facility. We'll need a detailed outline of the functionality of this place." Wade: "You've got it, Kim. I've managed to look into a device known as a refractor. It can handle the lasers within the facility. I've managed to build not 1 but 2 refractors: one for you and another for Ratchet. I'm sending them now."

Wade's vendor appeared for the first time since the previous adventure, transporting the 2 refractors. Kim grabbed both of them and passed one over to Ratchet. Ratchet: "I can't tell you how much I miss getting cool stuff from you, Wade." Wade: "I've spent a lot of my time studying alien technology and building some awesome new gadgets since the last time we met. Hopefully, the next set that I send out will be a lot more impressive." Ratchet: "Looking forward to it, as always, Wade."

Kim put away the Kimmunicator. Kim: "Come on, let's fix this place."

They rush off into the facility.

Throughout their run through the place, Kim and Ratchet worked together to utilize their refractors. There were a number of lasers being emitted within one room after another. They navigated through the place with the use of the refractors and some guidance from Wade. There were also several Tyhrranoids all over the place, but they were able to defeat them very easily, especially Ron. Kim and Ratchet utilized the refractors to refract the lasers in any direction they needed to in order to progress through the facility. Ron seemed very mesmerized by the sight of the lasers being refracted. Ron: "Whoa…cool. I had no idea lasers could be redirected like that!"

Wade's vendor reappeared beside Ron, displaying Wade's image. Wade: "I know, right? Alien technology just keeps getting more and more amazing." Ron: "Yes it does."

They kept going until they were about to reach the very end. From there, Wade chimed in again. Wade: "Be careful, guys. I'm detecting another life form at the very end of the facility. I'm not picking up on any hostile readings, but anything can happen." Ratchet: "Copy that, Wade. We'll proceed with caution."

They continued to the very end. There, they ran into a guy that Ratchet and Clank seem to know very well. Ratchet: "Hey, Clank, look who it is. It's Al." Clank: "Yes, I seem to recall seeing him during our first adventure together." Ron: "Al?" Al: "Silence, all of you! I am concentrating…" Kim: "On what, the security system?"

Ratchet walked up to the computer console that Al was working on and noticed something. Ratchet: "What the…? That's a Qwark Vid-Comic!" Al: "Excuse me, it is a Historically Accurate Interactive Graphic Novel." Kim: "You're using the city's defense network to play a video game? Isn't that, oh I don't know, irresponsible?" Ron: "Not to mention a potential danger to the entire city?" Al: "And who are you to question my genius at work? As a matter of fact, who are you guys? I've never seen either of you before. Are you from around here?" Ratchet: "Al, this is Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable. They're from another planet in a very distant galaxy." Al: "Nice to meet you both. Now then, if you excuse me, I have some important work that needs to be done. OK, I've bypassed the security server with a 626-hex-matrix adapter and reprogrammed the graphic sub-processor." Ron: "Uh, did any of that make any sense?" Kim: "I…don't know." Ratchet: "Clank, you seem to understand a lot of this stuff. Help us out with this, please." Clank: "Sir, it seems that you have a feedback loop in the induction coils of you DB-3 signal processor." Al: "Impossible! I ran a recursive checksum on the signal matrix…hey, there is a feedback loop."

Al went on to typing on the keyboard. Ron: "I still have no idea what any of that meant."

Clank walked up to the vid-comic. Clank: "May we borrow this vid-comic?" Al: "Treat it gently. It's a first edition."

Clank grabbed the vid-comic and pulled it out of the socket on the side of the computer. Kim pulled out the Kimmunicator. Kim: "Wade, I'll need you to run a system's check on this place to make sure this space case didn't wreck anything or won't for that matter." Wade: "Already on it, Kim. I'll have the city's defenses up and running in no time."

The group head out towards the exit. Clank: "Perhaps this will help restore Qwark's memories." Kim: "Sure, whatever helps people sleep at night." Computer voice: "Shield power restored." Wade: "Was that good enough for you, Kim?" Kim: "I don't think that could have gone better. Thanks, Wade." Wade: "I made certain that nothing went wrong just like you asked me to."

They went back to the drop ship, returned to their ship, took off and left the planet.

#Kim Possible #Ratchet and Kim Possible Chronicles #Ratchet and Clank #Ratchet #Clank #Ron Stoppable #Wade #Kimmunicator #Solana Galaxy #Up Your Arsenal #Galactic Rangers

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expatimes · 4 years

Photo

Trump moves to Walter Reed after COVID-19 diagnosis

US President Donald Trump has arrived at a military hospital for treatment after being diagnosed with COVID-19, a move the White House said would last for a “few days” and was taken “out of an abundance of caution”.

Roughly 17 hours after he announced he had tested positive for the coronavirus, Trump on Friday walked slowly from the White House to a waiting helicopter to be taken to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland.

He wore a mask and business suit and did not speak to reporters.

“I think I'm doing very well, but we're going to make sure that things work out,” Trump said in a brief video that was taped before leaving for Walter Reed and posted on Twitter.

pic.twitter.com/B4H105KVSs

- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 2, 2020

Trump will work in a special suite at the hospital for the next few days as a precautionary measure, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said.

She said he remains “in good spirits, has mild symptoms, and has been working throughout the day” and added: “Out of an abundance of caution, and at the recommendation of his physician and medical experts, the president will be working from the presidential offices at Walter Reed for the next few days. ”

Trump, 74, has a mild fever, nasal congestion and a cough, the New York Times reported, citing two people close to him.

White House doctor Sean P Conley said the president is being treated with an experimental drug cocktail and is “fatigued but in good spirits”.

Risk factors

Trump's diagnosis came during an already turbulent period in Washington and around the world, with the US gripped in a heated presidential election amid the human and economic toll of the virus.

Trump's immediate campaign events were all canceled, and his next debate with Democrat rival Joe Biden, scheduled for October 15, is now in question.

Trump has been trying all year - and as recently as Wednesday - to convince the American public that the worst of the pandemic is in the past, and he has consistently played down concerns about being personally vulnerable. He has mostly refused to abide by basic public health guidelines - including those issued by his own administration - such as wearing face coverings in public and practicing social distancing. Until he tested positive, he continued to hold campaign rallies that drew thousands of often maskless supporters.

Esther Choo, an emergency physician and professor at Oregon Health and Science University, told Al Jazeera that Trump has a number of risk factors.

“He falls into several categories of people who tend to experience more severe symptoms of COVID-19 and to need hospitalisation: his age, his obesity, the fact he's male - there seems to be a male predominance in severe disease and hospitalisation and ICU care and fatalities. '

Referring to the president's doctor previously revealing that Trump has high calcium deposits in his coronary arteries, Choo said: “We also know that he has some coronary heart disease. So, he has more than one risk factor, but that's across the population and how that plays out in an individual person, we never know. ”

She added: “He also has some positive things - he doesn't smoke, he doesn't drink alcohol and also importantly, he's extremely wealthy and privileged.

Conley, the White House doctor, said Trump has received an experimental treatment, Regeneron's REGN-COV2. The drug is one of several experimental COVID-19 drugs known as monoclonal antibodies, which are used for treating a wide range of illnesses. US infectious disease chief Dr Anthony Fauci has been among those saying the technology has promise.

Trump is also taking zinc, Vitamin D, famotidine, melatonin and a daily aspirin.

Trump 'is in charge'

White House officials said the president has not transferred his powers to Vice President Mike Pence. “The president is in charge,” Judd Deere, a spokesman, told the New York Times.

Peter Mathews, professor of political science at Cypress College in California, said the president's move to Walter Reed is significant, adding that it is important to know what plans are in place for any transfer of power.

“The fact that he's been transferred to Walter Reed is a major development. He could have been quarantined in the White House and waited it out there. It could be they are being very cautious as he's the president, but still, you have to take these things seriously and look at what is being put in place by this administration to make sure there's a smooth transition, ”Mathews told Al Jazeera.

“There's two ways to go and there's a precedent when President Ronald Reagan had to go in for surgery, he signed a letter saying he's turning over power to Vice President George HW Bush for eight hours and then he would resume after that. And it worked out pretty smoothly. That's one way, with the president voluntarily signing a statement.

“Another way is when the president is incapacitated, and it seems very clear that he is, the vice president has to lead and call the cabinet has to vote by majority vote to proceed to transfer of power to the vice president. When that happens, the president can challenge it if he's available to do that, then it goes to Congress where it is voted by a two-thirds majority in each house to transfer the power over. So, there's a couple of options here and it all depends on how President Trump comes through right now as far as his physical health goes. ”

Biden, Trump's election opponent, pulled ads attacking Trump off the air but otherwise continued his campaign, traveling to Michigan on Friday after testing negative for the virus.

At a union hall in Grand Rapids, Biden said he was praying for his rival's recovery. However, he also implicitly criticized Trump, who has mocked Biden for routinely wearing a mask and has held huge campaign rallies with little social distancing.

“Be patriotic,” Biden said. “It's not about being a tough guy. It's about doing your part. "

Trump is the latest world leader to contract the virus, which can cause a severe respiratory infection.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was rushed into intensive care after falling gravely ill in March. Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro called the virus a "little flu" after being infected in July. Both men recovered.

#world Read full article: https://expatimes.com/?p=11338&feed_id=8498

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tipsycad147 · 5 years

Text

3 Money Spells To Make Your Life More Abundant

SL Bear

Money can be so many things. A source of stress, a source of comfort. It can be the thing we wish for above all else, thinking of it as the solution to so many problems in our lives. It is the root of the problem in so many situations. But that’s another post altogether…

The bottom line is, struggling to pay your bills is going to be hard on you, and the impulse to turn to quick-fix spells is strong (non-witches will turn to lottery tickets and similar last-ditch attempts). However, most money spells are inherently flawed because the put the focus of the spell on the wrong thing.

To work successfully, spells must be feasible. It’s possible to fall in love and it’s possible to bring more peace to your life. These are natural things that are disrupted sometimes by the way our modern life works, but it’s possible to re-balance things — with spells if necessary — and unblock pathways so that we may have what will make us happier. Avery wrote a wonderful post about why money spells fail and I’d like to expand on that just a little by offering you a new way to look at spellwork and how to ask for favour from the universe when casting, this time specifically with spells involving money. Changing the way you look at something, seeing possibility and opportunity instead of wanting a quick fix, is the only way these spells will ever work.

I’m not writing this from my high horse, by the way (she’s on vacation). I perfectly understand the broke blues. I’ve researched fortune spells from libraries, online, and visited shops where I’ve bought money powder and the like. I’ve bought lottery tickets and was just sure I’d win. I’ve followed instructions to the absolute T — with no results. Once I realised I was actually spending more money on things to bring me money than I was earning from any of these endeavours, I decided maybe it was time to change the way I was looking at this situation.

Find Your Passion: Compass Spell

It’s hard finding a job. It’s a hundred times harder finding a job you enjoy so much that it doesn’t feel like work anymore. Some people are born knowing what they want to do and these are the lucky ones. The rest of us usually try a few things and, hopefully, settle into something we’re good at and enjoy. But it’s not easy and with never-ending bills, many of us don’t have the luxury of trying things until we strike gold and find a job we love.

This spell is designed to guide you toward your passion. Instead of thinking in terms of a big payout, this spell will help you focus on the thing you’ll enjoy doing the most while also earning a living. How can you ever move forward if you don’t know where you’re going? Knowing what you want is half the battle and this spell will help light your way.

Best time to perform: With the waxing moon, on a Sunday

You will need:

Time (this spell requires patience)

Peppermint

One moonstone

One labradorite

One compass

Your grounding stone or talisman (to represent you in the spell)

One yellow candle

One pale blue candle

Tarot cards: High Priestess, The Empress, The Tower

A leaf from your area

A small bowl (big enough to hold the candle)

A small hand towel

To begin, place your blue candle in the bowl of saltwater then add your leaf to the bowl. Place the yellow candle to the left of the bowl, and sprinkle your peppermint around it. Light the yellow candle.

Place your compass and High Priestess card before your yellow candle and set your grounding stone or talisman, moonstone, and labradorite on top of this card.

Recite these lines:

In thick forests, I find a path on a dark night

Sailing wild seas, I am a compass

I see a light

Light your blue candle. Set your Empress card to the right of your High Priestess card and move the stones to this card. Set your compass above it.

Recite these lines:

Guide my way when I am lost

The path that’s meant for me

Always was, always will

What I was born to be

Remove your High Priestess and Empress cards and place your stones in the bowl. Take your compass and hold it in your hands, close your eyes and let the ideas flow to you. Let options appear to you, things you have always known, that will now make themselves loud and clear. Listen hard to your intuition and remember, you already have the answer. Don’t be afraid; you already know.

Blow out your blue candle, remove your stones and discard the leaf. Set your Tower card before the yellow candle. Place your stones on top of this card.

Recite this line:

Now guide my way

Blow out the yellow candle. Carry the moonstone and labradorite with you for as long as necessary. The answer may not be clear to you yet, but it’s on its way.

New Job: The Ventana Spell

Now that you’ve figured out what you want, it’s follow-through time. Depending on what you want to do, this can be tricky. This spell is about bringing opportunity your way — whether it’s just a stepping stone to a higher ground or landing your dream job — while giving you courage to be open to new things when they cross your path. This spell will also work for those who would simply like something new in their lives, career-wise. In the days and weeks after casting this spell, you should remain hypervigilant about all new people and “coincidences.” On a personal note, I cast this spell a few months ago and a day later got an email from the Travelling Witch calling for writers. In a completely uncharacteristic move, I applied, and now I’m doing something I actually enjoy. The key here is being open to new things and recognising opportunity when it comes your way. This spell will call opportunity to you and you must be willing to say yes instead of no.

Best time to perform: With the new moon, on a Thursday

You will need:

Sea salt

Four green aventurine stones

One lodestone

Chamomile

Frankincense oil

Bay Leaves

Four small green taper candles and holders

A sharp tool to engrave the candles

To begin, mix together the salt, chamomile and frankincense oil, making sure not to make the mixture too wet. Only a few drops of frankincense are necessary. Use this mixture to draw a square, then draw a line down the middle of the square and then across. You should have what looks like a simple window shape formed from the salt and herb mixture.

On each corner of the square place a bay leaf, and at each endpoint of the cross place a green aventurine. In the centre of your square, where the cross intersects, place your lodestone.

Take one drop of frankincense oil on your forefinger and touch it to the lodestone in the centre of your square while reciting these words: Opportunity comes my way and I embrace it.

Inscribe these words on your four green candles, then repeat the anointing process with the frankincense oil on each candle. In each quarter of the square, place one green candle and light the candles in a clockwise fashion.

When the candles are halfway burned, dust away the horizontal line of your square. When the candles have finished burning, dust away the vertical line, so you are left with just your original square. This serves to “open the window” of opportunity and allow new energies into your life. Don’t remove the lodestone from the centre of the square until the candles are completely burned down and extinguished. Carry the lodestone with you as a reminder. Since this stone has now been charged with your intention, it will work better for you if it’s kept close.

If you have not had any success within a few weeks, repeat this spell. The bay leaves and salt can be reused at that time and can be stored together in a small jar.

Advancement At Work: Dirty Quartz Spell

What’s better than being appreciated at work? Why, getting paid more, of course. This spell focuses on drawing attention to hard work and financially rewarding you for it. Note: If you’re under-performing at work this spell will bring your employer’s attention to it as well, so proceed with caution!

Best time to perform: With the waxing moon. Note: It is suggested that this spell is performed outside if possible.

You will need:

One yellow or gold candle

Bergamot oil

One clear quartz

Pencil and paper for sigil making

A fireproof work surface

First, you must create a sigil for getting noticed at work and rewarded for it. Your line of intent should be something along the lines of, "My employer notices my good work and offers me a promotion." You may word this any way you wish, just make sure you include that you are noticed and rewarded.

Once you’ve got your sigil, tear away any loose edges of paper and fold the paper into a bowl shape. Anoint your candle with bergamot oil and light it. Let a small drop of wax fall in the middle of the work surface, then place the sigil in the wax so it sits upright (it will tend to roll to its side without support, which will make burning it more difficult). Put the clear quartz inside the sigil bowl and light the edges. Repeat your intent out loud as your sigil burns away. Make sure your entire sigil burns and no paper remains. Place a drop of the bergamot oil on your quartz, then roll it around in the ash, covering it with the remains of your sigil. Blow any remaining ash southward.

Now, you may keep the quartz with you or hide it somewhere where you work (your desk will work just fine if you don’t want to risk someone finding it and carting it away).

Bonus Spell: Pennysave

My uncle always used to say, “Can’t save it, might as well spend it” and unfortunately this phrase runs through my head every time I want to buy something I don’t need. It’s my family’s version of “treat yourself!” This spell is meant to curb reckless spending and break bad money habits. A surefire way to ensure you lose your fortune is by carelessly giving it away, so instead of treating yourself, protect yourself and your funds — from yourself if necessary!

Best time to perform: Anytime, the sooner the better!

You will need:

A shiny new penny

A small amount of bakeable clay (any colour will work)

A tool to write on the clay

I love using clay in spells because it’s elemental and also incorporates a transformation of physical properties (the clay goes from being soft to hard as stone). I think this is important in any spell that asks for a change in the caster as well. Clay is also very easy to find and work with. Copper is a protective metal (lightning rods are made of copper to protect buildings in storms) so the penny, while also symbolic, will be effective in keeping your fortune safe!

For this spell, simply wrap the penny in the clay and then write in the clay: I didn’t earn it so you could take it away!

Granted, this will be a lot to write on a small piece of clay so get a very fine point and write small. While there are no specifications on the shape of the clay, it’s better to keep the whole thing quite small as you’ll be carrying it with you.

Bake your clay according to the package instructions. At least once a day, pull this token out and say the words out loud. Before any unnecessary purchase, hold the token in your hands and think about the hard work that went into your paychecks, the hours of your life spent, and how fleeting the joy is whenever you splurge and buy something recklessly.

Nothing for sale will ever bring you more long-lasting satisfaction than financial security. Keep this token with you as a constant reminder.

Good luck with these spells, witches! I hope they serve you (and your wallets) well.

https://thetravelingwitch.com/blog/2018/6/23/4-money-spells-to-make-your-life-abundant

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kiryuva · 7 years

Text

Wires

[Author’s Note: I wanted to post trigger warnings just in case this would be a bit too much for others! Slight torture and blood is described in this drabble. It is a light amount, but proceed with caution!]

Trigger warnings: Slight torture, blood

A deliciously wicked smile appeared on the hacker’s face as she stood before your person. Her hands glowed a vibrant hue of purple as she watched you through the holograms and detailed screens she created in the air, the neon lights the only source of light you’d seen in awhile. The room you were held in was dark, dry, and cold — all the more unfortunate as it seemed to sap the energy from your body with every aching moment.

You were held in an advanced type of captive area — that much you knew — with an abundance of technological parts and networks. At the same time, it was unforgiving and mostly barren. You don’t remember when you first arrived here, or even how long you’d resided; everything was one big blur. Dried blood caked around your left temple, and you tasted blood in your mouth. It hurt too much to swallow at this point, and your breathing became harsh.

Through the transparent purple codes, you watched with strained vision as she connected the images together. “I must say, you do have quite the fight in you,” she swiped the screen away, causing it to form into a cube of assorted colours, “too bad you just don’t work with us. You know why you’re here, right, amiga?”

A playful, mocking giggle came from her as she watched you struggle in your restraints once she said ‘amiga’. You coughed, spitting blood onto the floor and immediately shot a deathly glare at her. She was unmoved, and looked to the device that was keeping you in place. Your arms were spread apart, legs dangling to the floor below. The machine that held your wrists in place dug into your skin harshly, and seemed to become tighter the more you flailed.

Her expression was unchanging, and she found entertainment in watching you use what little energy you had left to undo your restraints. The more you tried, the more amusement she found. Her violet orbs focused on your feeble attempts at prying your hands free from the device, and she walked closer to you. The way you were positioned, you were slightly taller than her, but she could still easily ascend to meet your gaze.

“Aw, what’s wrong? Don’t be so upset, cariño. I promise, we’re not doing this because we want to.” Tilting her head, she examined your bruised face and damaged attire, her eyes seeming to caress your features in your unhealthy state. “Well.” She couldn’t help but snicker at her own comment.

“Shut up, you b-“ You began to speak, but right as the words left your mouth, you felt a harsh shock travel through your body, causing you to cry in pain. You bit your lip, whining, your body trembling as the shocking ended. Light, electric disturbances would occasionally tug at our body, resulting in more twitching. Panting, you lowered your head and did your best to stay conscious in addition to keeping your vision straight. Your body writhed in pain, and you could do nothing but weakly glare at the ground.

She crossed her arms, watching your limited movement while captive. “Remember, I do the talking here.” She lightly pressed her hand on your face, feigning a nurturing caress. She lifted your chin to meet her gaze directly, peering into your conflicted eyes. Her voice became soft, and she cooed, “All of this will stop if you just tell us where he is.”

You jerked your head as best you could from her grasp, coughing as she stepped backwards. She groaned, as if she were annoyed, and your [colour] eyes did their best to focus on the little light the room did have. You were loyal, and refused to give up your team — more specifically him — because of your predicament. Perhaps your pride amplified the occasional adrenaline burst you would receive while confined.

“Look, trying to play ‘hero’-“ she rolled her eyes and used air quotes, “-isn’t going to end well for you. Keep being defiant and you won’t be able to return to your friends and family.” The end of her sentence seemed to hold a caring tone, but you knew better than to trust this woman. She murmured something in Spanish, something you couldn’t readily translate, and you grunted.

“Kill me, then,” you narrowed your eyes, trying to get a good visual of her. Her figure was blurred, as were many things, and you felt you had to squint just to get a clear image in your mind. But from the highlighted purple accents and faded traces of blue, you could somewhat piece together what she looked like.

Black hair? No, it had to be lighter. Purple eyes, yes. Brown skin? You think? Everything was melding together. Due to you only having the bare minimum to keep you alive, your conscious began to wear on you. Your eyesight had been drastically affected by the darkness, and this machine lowered your reaction time. Despite all this, you let your pride do the talking. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, anyway.”

For once, the hacker didn’t have a grin, or even a smirk on her face. She simply observed you, looking towards your direction as if she were studying you further. Turning her back to you, she chuckled and examined the object in her hand. She tossed the cube in the air over and over, and her silence made you question if she was planning to do something further to you. Exhaling once more, she shrugged, and decided to face you. “Well, from the little information we got from your files, it won’t be a complete waste.”

“We need you to talk, and I can only be entertained for so long,” she lifted her free hand at you, coded lines of electric violet wiring reaching out and attaching themselves to you. Like a puppeteer, the strings attached to you, causing you to go even more limp, and you were completely unable to move. in that instant, you felt as though you were barred on how to do the most basic of things. You knew you couldn’t fight, but why were these attachments so damaging to you? “Heh, but don’t worry, I’m not the one you need to worry about.” She winked at you, glancing at the machine before averting her attention.

To this point, you had only encountered her, and other Talon agents that had apparently dragged you here. Or kidnapped. You had no clue at this point, and didn’t want to recollect the details if you didn’t have to. Her cheekiness only infuriated you, and you hesitated on speaking. You hated that you were here, like this. Anything you would give to get away, but you would be damned if you sold your family out to scum like her.

You blinked slowly, watching as the woman waved at you as to her departure, a rather nefarious smile drawing itself on her face as her figure faded in a burst of neon purple. You were confused; why hadn’t she killed you? Why leave? You couldn’t do anything, only remain still in your suspended state as the darkness of the room began to eat at you even more.

A coldness crept through the room, the shadows growing with every second the longer you stared ahead. Though you were underground, you didn’t understand why you felt a gust of what appeared like wind pass over your person. It didn’t make sense. You were sore, and once the ‘wind’ hit against you, it only made your person burn more. Pathetic whimpers escaped you as pain pulsated throughout your body in the cold. You became anxious, unsure of what was going on, all the while trying to regain control of your body.

Just then, you realized what she meant. You could feel your heart beat faster, your eyes widening as far as you could make them. Weak breaths left your mouth as, in the place of her, you saw a bright, blood-splattered owl mask staring directly at you.

#tw; blood #tw; torture #sombra #reader #reaper #overwatch imagines #overwatch drabble

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goldeagleprice · 4 years

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Coronavirus Leads to Coin Shortage

By Richard Giedroyc

The Mint temporarily suspended production at its West Point facility beginning April 15. (Image courtesy U.S. Mint)

A shortage of COVID-19 respirator masks, then a shortage of toilet paper, an economic shutdown, and now a shortage of coins? We’ve been nickeled and dimed with extra expenses during the coronavirus pandemic, but now even those nickels and dimes appear to have vanished.

Even cashless society advocates are scratching their heads. If people are using less cash, then why is the demand for coins outstripping supply?

News of the shortage came straight from the top: Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. Powell’s announcement was made during a June 17 virtual hearing involving the Fed chief testifying before the House Financial Services Committee.

Powell said, “With the partial closure of the economy, the flow of coins through the economy has gotten all – it’s kind of stopped.”

Powell continued, “The places where you go to give your coins, and get credit at the store and get cash – you know, folding money – those have not been working. Stores have been closed. So the whole system has kind of, had come to a stop. We’re well aware of this. We’re working with the Mint and we’re working with the reserve banks, and as the economy reopens, we’re seeing coins begin to move around again.”

Powell attempted to put a positive spin on the news, saying, “We all don’t want to wake up to headlines in the near future such as ‘Banks run out of money.’ We feel like we are making progress.”

Rep. John Rose (R.-Tennessee) didn’t take the news lightly. Rose retorted, “In a time when pennies are the difference between profitability and loss, it seems like it might be a bigger concern than the announcement from the Fed would indicate that it is.”

The coin shortage of the 1960s was partially (and unjustly) blamed on coin collectors pulling too many coins from circulation. This time the shortage can be blamed on the coronavirus coupled with unanticipated demand for bullion American Eagle coins by an increased number of precious metal investors.

Employee safety has been paramount throughout the pandemic.

U.S. Mint Director David J. Ryder said, “My commitment to the health and safety of the Mint workforce is unwavering and continues to be my highest priority. These are challenging and unprecedented times, and decisions on Mint operations are made with the best interests of Mint employees first and foremost.”

The pandemic forced the closing of the West Point minting facility on April 15. This directly impacted the availability of precious metal bullion, collector and gold commemorative coins.

At that time U.S. Mint spokesman Michael White said, “Due to the increasing number of COVID-19 cases in Orange County, New York, and out of an abundance of caution, the United States Mint has temporarily suspended production at the Mint facility at West Point. The Mint will resume production once it is deemed prudent to do so.”

The U.S. Mint failed to satisfy demand between 1959 and the late 1960s. Part of the problem was circulating silver composition coins at a time when the spot price of their metal composition was greater than was their face value. Half dollars were falling out of favor with the public regardless of their metal composition. The Treasury cautioned two large business chains not to proceed with their own privately issued scrip as the shortage continued. A new Philadelphia Mint facility opened in 1969, with the San Francisco assay office striking coins for circulation as well. Fiat coinage replaced specie in circulation, eventually alleviating the shortage.

It will take increased production to “mint” our way out of this shortage. On June 17 the Federal Reserve Bank notified local banks that the pandemic had “disrupted” coinage. The Mint’s ability to ramp up production had been slowed as the Mint began implementing ways to protect employees from the coronavirus infection. As the Mint moves towards increasing production, the Fed announced it will limit the number of business strike coins that will be sent to banks, “to ensure a fair and equitable distribution of coin inventory.”

Coin collectors are not being blamed for the current coin shortage, but collectors are being impacted. The Mint’s customer care representatives, as with so many other working people nationwide, have been working from home or other remote locations since March. Since that time, the only way someone can purchase coin products is buying them online. Telephone calls and over-the-counter sales are out. A Mint spokesman was unable to suggest a date when either of these two services will resume.

According to the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco website, “The Federal Reserve System operates 28 cash processing locations in the United States, providing U.S. currency and coin to financial institutions domestically and around the world. Banks in the United States order currency and coin from the Federal Reserve (Fed) and deposit excess bank notes back with the Fed.”

The U.S. Department of the Treasury website adds, “Banks are usually first to feel the impact of the public’s demand for cash. To meet the needs of the public, banks turn to their regional Federal Reserve bank for coins and currency when their supplies are low.”

The Treasury website explains deliveries as well: “Armored carriers usually transport ten-cent coins, quarter-dollar coins and half-dollar coins, while tractor-trailer trucks transport one-cent coins and five-cent coins.”

The post Coronavirus Leads to Coin Shortage appeared first on Numismatic News.

#Precious Metals

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foggyvoidyouth-blog · 6 years

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Embrace Opportunity but Proceed with Caution

15 Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Ephesians 5:15-16 Would you go for a walk in the jungle at night? I suppose there are some adventurers who would accept the offer. However, most of us would emphatically say, “no.” To be honest, I’m not all that keen on strolling in a jungle in daylight. Too many dangerous critters waiting for a good meal.

Notice the Apostle Paul’s use of the word “then” in verse 15. He has concluded an argument that began in verse 8, in which he contrasts our lives before Christ when we walked in darkness, and our Christian lives now in the light of Christ. His point is that we as Christians are in the light, but we must still proceed with caution because the world remains in darkness. Like that jungle I referenced, there is danger all around. As “children of light” (v8), we are to “seek the fruit of the light," (v9) which is “goodness, righteousness and truth," (v9) and “find out what pleases the Lord.” (v10) I recently watched a PBS documentary about an herbalist. He had devoted his life to identifying plants and trees that have medicinal qualities. But just as there are many beneficial plants, some can make you sick and others can kill you. As we navigate this evil world, we look to God to show us the good and the bad so we can make right and godly choices. Our goal is to find what pleases Him. In verse 11 Paul warns, “Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness…” Sin abounds. Wickedness prevails. None of it is beneficial. It’s very much like living in the Garden of Eden. There’s plenty of good fruit from which to choose. Just don’t partake of the bad fruit, no matter how attractive it may be. That brings us to our focus text. “Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise.” (v15) God gives us wisdom to make the right choices, to distinguish between right and wrong. When our children are growing up, we do our best to teach them right from wrong; principles to help them get the most out of life. Our rules and prohibitions are not designed to rob them of joy, but rather to insure they will find it as they become adults. God does the same with His children. He wants us to experience abundant living in Christ and avoid the dangers that seek to devour us. We’re to make “the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.” (v16) The opportunity he refers to is taking advantage of the good fruit revealed by the light, which is “goodness, righteousness, and truth.” Therein lies God’s wisdom and His will. In verse 17, Paul writes, “Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.” As I have said in previous devotions, God’s will is not mysterious or hard to find. It’s as plain as the words on the pages of the Bible. There’s a flashlight beside my bed, just in case the power goes out at night. It helps me navigate through the darkness. Even with that tiny light, I have to proceed with caution. That’s what Paul is telling us about living in the light of Christ. The world in which we live is evil and dark, but we have been given light for wisdom and to know God’s will. The light enables us to make choices that please God. I really like what Paul said in verse 11. “Find out what pleases the Lord…” Whenever we encounter a decision or an activity that raises a flag of possible impropriety we should take a moment to ask, “Lord, if I do this will it please You?” May we have the fortitude and good sense to change direction if His answer is “NO.” For more on this topic, check out this article: How to Walk by the Spirit Reprinted from The Forever Notebook, Book 3 (July - September) Get your copy here: Paperback and eBook/Kindle formats.

Read the full article

#Biblestudy #christian #dailydevotions #encouragement #faith #hope #inspiration

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suepaage · 7 years

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8 dazzling color trends for 2018

The future looks bright (like, really bright) for color lovers. When it comes to color trends, we’re seeing way more consistency across design disciplines this year. Social media platforms like Instagram and Pinterest have enabled trends to emerge from a global design consciousness. And industry experts are taking notice, incorporating these emergent color trends in their designs to add more variety and reflect the aesthetic taste of the masses.

This year’s diverse spectrum of color trends has a little something for everyone. From bold, vibrant technicolor to pretty (and punchy) pastels and an assortment of new neutrals, you’re guaranteed to find the perfect palette for your project in 2018.

1. Pretty practical in pink —

via BackerKit with illustration by Lisa Tegtmeier

Pink has become one of the most ubiquitous and versatile colors of the decade. Its modern rise to fame began on Tumblr as content creators across the platform widely adopted the color, which became known as “Tumblr Pink”. The resurgent popularity of pink quickly reached mainstream status and began to take the design world by storm.

By 2016 the favored pink palette evolved from bubble-gum tints to the spectrum of blush, ashy rose and salmon hues we know today as “Millennial Pink”. Through its versatility, commercial popularity and staying power, Millennial Pink has transcended traditional gender connotations to become an androgynous “new neutral” associated with an entire generation.

“Pink has developed more power than ever before”

– Leatrice Eiseman, Executive Director of the Pantone Color Institute

When the Pantone Color Institute (the global authority on color) named Rose Quartz and Serenity colors of the year in 2016, many trend watchers claimed pink had peaked. To the contrary however, pink refuses to fade as the trending spectrum continues to expand. With vibrant technicolor palettes in the forecast this year we will be seeing it as a statement color (think Instagram) as well as an alternative neutral. Expect a continued adaptation and evolution of the color pink.

2. Metallics as neutrals —

At the 2017 International Home + Housewares Show the Executive Director of Pantone, Leatrice Eiseman shared her insights on color in 2018 and told her audience that “Metallics we know are classic, but they have really moved over into neutrals.” It’s easy to see her reasoning behind this statement.

Metallics are standard in interior and fashion design as they have the unique ability to mesh beautifully with a broad range of color palettes and design trends. From minimalist accents and effortless pairings with natural materials to being the epitome of glamour and luxury, metallics have proven they really can do it all.

Despite their commercial appeal, metallics have not achieved the same status in graphic and new media design—yet. Likely due to the difficulty of accurately representing them on screen, they’ve typically been reserved for luxury products and label design. Recently however, metallics have been gaining popularity in visual brand design—particularly for fashion, beauty, and lifestyle brands as companies seek to evoke the trending aesthetics of their industries within their identities.

So no matter what your design discipline, you can add a little shine to your designs in 2018 using this versatile palette of new metallic neutrals.

3. Bright and bold —

Design by Mila Jones Cann

Bold color has been trending in web and app design for years and this will continue in 2018. A staple of the flat design movement, the introduction of Google Material Design’s vibrant palette in 2014 further solidified the trend making it the standard in new media.

“As consumers continue to embrace color, designers are recognizing the need to show more color in their collections.”

– Leatrice Eiseman

As flat design evolved into flat 2.0 the use of vibrant color reigned and the recent reintroduction of modern gradients will take this trend to the next level. Expect a plethora of electric 80’s technicolor, hot tropical palettes and iOS-inspired color transitions in the coming year.

The technicolor invasion didn’t stop at pixels as more brands are adopting eye-catching hues for their visual identities. Spot color aside, print has limitations in reproducing vibrant color so proceed with caution when considering this trend for use offline. For the increasing number of brands that live predominantly online however, this has become less of a hurtle.

Though not quite as electric, bold color is also making a prominent appearance outside of digital design as well, as Pantone announced a few eye-popping selections in the PANTONE® Fashion Color Trend Report Spring 2018 edition for New York Fashion Week to cater for ”consumers’ ongoing fascination with color”. This is hardly an understatement as vibrant hues like Meadowlark, Cherry Tomato, Ultra Violet and Lime Punch made the cut.

4. Pantone’s color of the year: ultra violet —

We’ve established that bold and beautiful color is in for 2018 and according to the Pantone Color Institute, Ultra Violet will be the hue to rule them all.

PANTONE 18-3838 Ultra Violet, PANTONE® Color of the Year 2018.

“The Pantone Color of the Year has come to mean so much more than ‘what’s trending’ in the world of design; it’s truly a reflection of what’s needed in our world today.”

– Laurie Pressman, Vice President of the Pantone Color Institute

Pantone describes this particular purple shade as “dramatically provocative and thoughtful” and further explains that “…purples have also long been symbolic of counterculture, unconventionality, and artistic brilliance. Musical icons Prince, David Bowie, and Jimi Hendrix brought shades of Ultra Violet to the forefront of western pop culture as personal expressions of individuality.”

While Pantone’s selection may seem surprising to some, digital media designers have witnessed vibrant violets become a popular color choice in recent years, especially in web and mobile app design. With its official “Color of the Year” status, we can expect this trend to gain steam in 2018.

5. Modern gradients —

Gradients are making their modern-day comeback as a semi-flat design enhancement and are predicted to be one of the biggest graphic design trends of the year. Semi-flat design (a.k.a “flat 2.0”), combines the best qualities of the flat design movement with additional cues like gradients and shadows to improve functionality and user experience.

Design by Molecula

Their return to iOS and adoption by industry leaders like Instagram, Stripe and Spotify have solidified their popularity. While gradients are rapidly returning to screens everywhere in the form of vibrant UI, backgrounds, illustrations and overlays, the trend has already spread to print design and visual brand identities.

Modern gradients are beautiful and can be subtle or extremely vibrant color transitions. With bold technicolor palettes on the menu this year, gradients can be an excellent way to make the most of your plethora of color options in 2018.

Design by KarenW-freelance

6. Pastels: the new minimalist palatte —

Minimalism is a core value of hipster counterculture—less consumption, less waste, less stuff—and with their affinity for Scandinavian style (and its predominantly white color palette of the time) that meant less color too. These “hipster aesthetics” emerged prominently in interior, graphic and new media design, resulting in an overabundance of whitewashed walls and websites, and black and white branding.

When it comes to color, we will see pushback in 2018 with a rise in modern pastel palettes—sandy Scandi pinks, mint and sage green tints, taupes and stormy blues will be replacing generic grey and breaking up the white surplus.

via Javier Torres

Palettes we often refer to as “farmhouse chic” are also commonly found in Scandinavian interior design, proving they can pair effortlessly with minimalist aesthetics. Given their tried and tested success in minimalist interiors, they make a great choice for the reintroduction of color into whitewashed graphic design as well.

“If you’re feeling adventurous, go for punchy pastels and ice cream colors.”

If you’re feeling a little more adventurous, palettes of “punchy pastels” are gaining some serious steam as well. Made famous by the beauty industry through rainbows of luscious pastel locks, electric eye color and stand-out nail art, we’re seeing brilliant pastels make their move into other disciplines. Shutterstock (a global image licensing platform) announced these ice cream and candy colors as one of their top 11 styles to emerge in the coming year. This prediction is based on search and download data aggregated from their platform. Spring runways are forecasted to host these hues in abundance and with vibrant color trending in digital design we can assume they’ll make an appearance in pixels as well.

While black and white will forever be a popular and desirable classic, in 2018 you can inject more individuality into your minimalist designs using a broad spectrum of pastels.

via Sarah Dufour

7. Brutalism: the good, the bad, and of course—the ugly —

Brutalism is seeing a niche revival in web design. Brutalist websites are raw and often use “ugly” as a design statement making designs intentionally unpleasant and uncomfortable to look at. While brutalist web design may be viewed as an artistic and nostalgic nod to the early days of the web, ultimately it’s a rejection of current design ideals like functionality, simplicity and aesthetic perfection.

Color is a major component in making a brutalist website brutal. Intense colors, uncomplimentary schemes and overall color theory chaos are the order of the day in creating a design that is truly uncomfortable. We can expect to see some peculiar palettes emerge from this trend. Like with many web design trends, we can also expect expansion into other areas of design resulting in avant garde visual identities and a revival of raw graphic design for those brands brave enough to embrace aesthetic anarchy.

“Love it or hate it, brutalism will make you stand out from the crowd.”

For companies looking to dip their toe in the trend without sacrificing user experience (because let’s face it, conversion rates are seriously important guys), Dropbox’s recent and daring redesign demonstrates how you can capture the essence of brutalism through color without sacrificing usability. This unique form of “brutalism-light” does have a certain je ne sais quoi, creating designs that are both unique and memorable. Love it or hate it, brutalist-inspired color is a surefire way to get noticed this year.

8. Black is the new black —

2018 Color of the Year, Black Magic via Olympic® Paints

Black is the ultimate neutral. It can be sexy, sophisticated, edgy or mysterious and everything in between. Black has the unique ability to fade into the background or be used as a statement color while effortlessly integrating into almost any design style. If you’re thinking “wait a minute, black isn’t a color”, you’d technically be correct if we were talking about basic black, but in 2018 we’re looking at modern black shades with rich charcoal and indigo undertones.

“Unique shades of black make a statement and work beautifully with all of the year’s hottest color trends.”

While Pantone opted for Ultra Violet this year, PPG (a global supplier of paints, coatings and industrial materials) and prominent paint brands Olympic and Glidden (a PPG company) have all announced shades of black as their pick for color of the year in 2018. PPG’s Black Flame is described as an “unprecedented, statement-making black with deep tones of indigo.” Olympic’s Black Magic is more saturated and charcoal but follows suit being described as the “perfect mix of masculine and feminine”. Glidden characterizes their color of the year Deep Onyx, as “Just like a little black dress… a classic, timeless staple.”

The best part about black’s popularity this year is that it not only applies to all design disciplines, it works beautifully with almost all of the year’s hottest color trends:

Black is a brutalism staple. Via Frontier Imaginaries

2018 is the year to be bold and color outside the lines —

Color lovers rejoice—2018 is going to be an exciting year! With so many fresh and punchy palettes and the continued evolution of old favorites, this year’s trends are inclusive of all aesthetic tastes. Whether you’re a designer, DIY-er, or selecting swatches for the guest room, color outside the lines this year and explore color as a form of self-expression.

Ready to see these colors work their magic?

Find a designer for your next bold and beautiful project.

Yes please!

The post 8 dazzling color trends for 2018 appeared first on 99designs Blog.

8 dazzling color trends for 2018 syndicated from https://www.lilpackaging.com/

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pamelahetrick · 7 years

Text

8 dazzling color trends for 2018

1. Pretty practical in pink —

via BackerKit with illustration by Lisa Tegtmeier

“Pink has developed more power than ever before”

- Leatrice Eiseman, Executive Director of the Pantone Color Institute

2. Metallics as neutrals —

So no matter what your design discipline, you can add a little shine to your designs in 2018 using this versatile palette of new metallic neutrals.

3. Bright and bold —

Design by Mila Jones Cann

“As consumers continue to embrace color, designers are recognizing the need to show more color in their collections.”

- Leatrice Eiseman

4. Pantone’s color of the year: ultra violet —

We’ve established that bold and beautiful color is in for 2018 and according to the Pantone Color Institute, Ultra Violet will be the hue to rule them all.

PANTONE 18-3838 Ultra Violet, PANTONE® Color of the Year 2018.

“The Pantone Color of the Year has come to mean so much more than ‘what’s trending’ in the world of design; it’s truly a reflection of what’s needed in our world today.”

- Laurie Pressman, Vice President of the Pantone Color Institute

5. Modern gradients —

Design by Molecula

Design by KarenW-freelance

6. Pastels: the new minimalist palatte —

via Javier Torres

“If you’re feeling adventurous, go for punchy pastels and ice cream colors.”

While black and white will forever be a popular and desirable classic, in 2018 you can inject more individuality into your minimalist designs using a broad spectrum of pastels.

via Sarah Dufour

7. Brutalism: the good, the bad, and of course—the ugly —

“Love it or hate it, brutalism will make you stand out from the crowd.”

8. Black is the new black —

2018 Color of the Year, Black Magic via Olympic® Paints

“Unique shades of black make a statement and work beautifully with all of the year’s hottest color trends.”

The best part about black’s popularity this year is that it not only applies to all design disciplines, it works beautifully with almost all of the year’s hottest color trends:

Black is a brutalism staple. Via Frontier Imaginaries

2018 is the year to be bold and color outside the lines —

Ready to see these colors work their magic?

Find a designer for your next bold and beautiful project.

Yes please!

The post 8 dazzling color trends for 2018 appeared first on 99designs Blog.

via 99designs Blog https://99designs.co.uk/blog/trends-en-gb/color-trends-2018/

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