#cairngorm caverns

[lumendelmari]

Chapter Thirty-Nine

The Dreamwalker

1485 DR / Day 41

Laduguer’s Furrow, Gracklstugh 

The sad pattern continued as Zelyra, Kazimir, and Prince Derendil made their way westward to Cairngorm Caverns. Destruction, death, silence, fear… The once bustling city of Gracklstugh was rank with it. What should have been a ten-minute walk quickly tripled due to the damage the red dragon, Themberchaud, had wrought.

And yet, there was one bright spot amidst the fallout—

Gracklstugh was already starting to rebuild.

The petty war that had broken out between clans was forgotten. Duergar, who had been at each other’s throats, needlessly spilling blood mere hours before, now rallied together and stoically worked side by side to put out fires, clear the streets, and search for trapped victims. The trio did what they could to help along the way, which slowed them even further.

As they navigated the wreckage of the southern housing district, Zelyra’s sharp eyes fell upon a figure lying near a collapsed building. The druid gasped and rushed forward. Derendil and Kazimir hurried after her. The body that Zelyra had found was none other than Grinta Ironhead.

Not only had Grinta been one of the co-conspirators of Blackskull’s coup—she was Laird Thangus Ironhead’s only daughter. [1] The once proud and fierce weaponsmith now looked so small and fragile, her armor cracked and scorched. Further search revealed Grinta’s honor guard trapped among debris. The elderly priest who presided over their Heroes’ Feast was also there. He lay flat on his back, his dark eyes trained upwards, lifeless and unseeing.

They had never asked the priest’s name, let alone thanked him for the powerful adjuration magic that had undoubtedly saved their lives in the throne room…

And now they never could.

“How did it come to this?” Kazimir muttered.

“Pride was allowed to override reason,” Prince Derendil replied, his head downturned. “No side would have come out of the coup without substantial loss. But they knew that, I think. Blackskull, Amber, Grinta, and the other lairds who sided with them… Themberchaud knew it, too. That’s why he chose to attack when he did. It was his best and only chance. This was a battle that neither side could have won.”

“They didn’t deserve this,” Zelyra said as she dropped to her knees beside the priest and reached out with trembling fingers to close his unseeing eyes in respect. “None of them did,” the druid muttered. She then brought her hands to her mouth in a gasp. “Poor Blackskull! She must—”

Zelyra left the conclusion of ‘guilt’ unsaid.

But both of her companions knew what she meant.

“Yeah,” Kazimir breathed.

The wizard reached into the pocket of his robes for the small, polished stone that connected him to Captain Errde Blackskull. He hesitated, his thumb rubbing its smooth surface before relaying the news and location of the bodies. Blackskull’s response was swift and clipped, but the tiefling could tell it significantly weighed on her.

“I will send a recovery team immediately.”

There was a slight pause, and then—

“Thank you for letting me know, Kazimir,” the duergar said softly. “Stay safe. We’ve lost too many already.”

Not for the first time, the tiefling wizard warred with himself internally. Surely, they could have done something more. Or perhaps they should have done the opposite and turned their backs on Blackskull, washing their hands of the duergar city altogether when they had the chance. But a nagging voice in Kazimir’s subconscious that sounded suspiciously like Fraeya argued that Gracklstugh would have been worse off had they done that. If they had not exposed Shal, if they had not broken the succubus’s hold and returned Deepking Horgar to his right mind—

Themberchaud’s attack would have devastated the City of Blades.

And that effect would not have been limited to Gracklstugh. Had the duergar city fallen to the dragon, it would have had untold consequences on the entire trade infrastructure of the Underdark.

“Any news of Amber Thrazgad’s whereabouts?” the wizard finally asked.

“None,” the captain replied curtly.

The link between the sending stones fell silent.

Kazimir sighed. It was strange, given that their interaction with the head of Clan Thrazgad had been limited to just a few short meetings, but the tiefling felt as though a rock had settled in the pit of his stomach. Had the fiery armorsmith met the same fate as Grinta Ironhead?

The wizard took another deep breath and then released it. Around them, the duergar continued their grim work, cleaning the streets and tending to the wounded. There was resilience to them, some stubborn determination to keep going despite all odds. Kazimir had come to respect it during their time in the city. They might not see eye to eye on specific policies—the slave trade, for one—but these were a people who had built their lives in the harshest of environments, who had carved out a place for themselves in the unforgiving Underdark. They would survive this, somehow.

. . . Read more: https://archiveofourown.org/works/35100307/chapters/152830810

[graywyvern]

( me / via )

Because of Duties.

"unbirdlike bird picture"

corduroy loiterer a light for Whispercord December gales corrode

rode a pale harpsichord

Rippling crescents.

"THE CHRYSALIS (Anagrammed Lines)

A shy echo splinters those shiny parcels. The chrysalis opens physical otherness."

--@Anthony_Etherin

Arctic Hare in Cairngorms.

a piece of the Cavern talisman & hierodule bombshells in the cabbage patch

golden leaves against gray sky my poems know before i do

Pilgrims.

[sheepgirlwizard]

i think more people should put emphasis on "stone giants are seers/diviners that dont always know what theyre prophesying" i.e. in oota i put carvings in cairngorm cavern referencing events/adventures they shouldnt have an idea abt bc they live in gracklstugh bc a) i thought it was cool and b) it was neat easter eggs for ppl to figure out

[sharedstoriescairngorms]

Into the Mountain - Garbh Choire Mor

by Neil Reid

A dished out hollow of snow, sharp, granite scree rising steeply before me, disappearing into a cold grey void.

A crack, a clack, a rattle. Impossible to identify a direction, but it's not the first stone that has fallen while I've stood here, nor will be the last. I am alone. I feel alone. Uneasily so.

When Nan Shepherd talks of walking out of the body and into the mountain it's a metaphor for heightened focus and perception; here, in the furthest reaches of the Garbh Coire Mor I feel I have walked out of the world and into the mountain - literally.

The Cairngorms have many faces and I have loved - and do love - them all: the lush river banks, the birdsong-filled quiet of the pinewoods, the austere beauty of the wind-scoured desert plateau. I enjoy auld mannie naps on the hillsides in summer sun, have stood for an hour in contented contemplation in a winter white-out. The Cairngorms have been mine since I was a child, and I theirs.

But here is different. There is no welcome here, no comfort. To journey into the Garbh Coire Mor is, as truly as is possible, to journey into the mountain; a pilgrimage not into its heart, but into an open sore, unhealed, raw edges actively plucking at the smooth waves of plateau which are thus revealed to be surface rather than substance. Here is the interior exposed and it cradles not the crystal water of other corries, but cold, hard ice.

For the 'eternal snows' of the Garbh Coire Mor are no snows at all; they are pressed by weight of winter after winter, when snow may lie to a depth of a hundred feet, hardened by a thousand failed thaws. As insubstantial as snow feels when it drifts out of the skies, one year when the longest-lived snowpatch melted we put a time capsule in a plastic box in the bottom of the hollow it has created for itself high up at the foot of the cliffs. The following year, when the unthinkable happened again, the time capsule was recovered - crushed flat by the weight of just one winter's snows.

The pilgrimage here to see those snows of high summer, to stand truly inside the mountain, is a challenge in excess of reaching the tops of most mountains - the bowl of the inner corrie is over 1000 metres above sea level.  Leaving the steep-sided confines of Glen Dee, the mountains press in closer and steeper as you climb, channelled towards your goal,  the now pathless way becoming ever rougher. Temptation beckons in the spacious Garbh Choire Dhaidh, where the Dee Waterfall feeds a vein of life nourishing pools and lush grasses. But you resist, and persevere up bedrock and boulder into the bare bowl of  Garbh Choire Mor. On and on yet, for the boulders climb to an inner recess, a corrie within a corrie, ringed by fractured cliffs of grey and raw pink.

Labour up this slope and you're aware of another interior - beneath your feet. The voids between the massive grey boulders fall to unknown depths. It's common on such slopes to hear water running beneath, but here to the familiar rush is added echo, the sound of vast, subterranean cisterns. Can such things be? Climbing alone, upwards into this innermost maw of unfinished geology, you lose any assurance that it can't be and balance up, boulder to boulder, as though caverns lie below.

And you breast the lip of this innermost corrie into a dip. If the winter snows have gone from this cauldron then the rocks are covered in black moss. It has the feeling of a trap waiting to be sprung by an unwary footstep, so you do not linger but head on up the slopes of boulder, scree and grit, slipping as the ground steepens and moves beneath your feet. These are not rocks rounded by the millennia: they are sharp, freshly broken from the mountain, raw pink still, and gritty, loosely bound in a matrix of mossy sand and gravel. Feet slide, the slope feels dangerous, unstable.

When you reach your goal, that last fragment of snow, you realise it to be a chimera. That the snow has lasted through another summer is, obscurely, important to you, but the substance of it holds no magic; it's just dirty ice, dripping into ground that looks freshly bulldozed, stones on the surface a reminder that where you are, under the cliffs, is not safe. Up this close, foreshortening appears to rob the cliffs of their height and makes of them great, jagged teeth, but you are yet more than 500 feet below the surface of the plateau.

I have crawled between these teeth to escape upward, up through grit and scree, thick, dark moss that hides holds for hands and feet. I have carried on up the granulating scar of Pinnacles Gully,  fingers pushing, twisting, prising through moss and wet, red granite grit, seeking solidity in the shifting, unstable gully bed, to thrutch and scrape upward between granite jaws, watching and listening as another boulder slurps out of its mossy socket and cracks and bangs its way downward, bouncing from wall to wall, a smell of brimstone tracking its passage.

Release comes suddenly. A last chockstone, a widening of rubble and tenuous vegetation, then out from damp shadow to a sun-baked plateau stretching out in long, lazy waves of landscape. It's a liberation that lifts the heart, to be back on the surface after a journey inside the mountain.

Can I say I love even this most remote corner of the Cairngorms? It tests my devotion, this seeping wound gnawing at the edges of the plateau, in its near lifelessness, its damp chill, its raw unfinishedness. But it draws me. If I cannot yet love it I am fascinated by it and, even as my stride stretches out across the open plateau, I am plotting a return.

[ootacampaign]

Adventure #14 - Whorlstone Tunnels

In a strange city of evil deep dwarves who are slowly becoming mad, they only seek a way to the surface but to find it they must satisfy the Flame Keepers’ request to find the derro rogue named Droki so he leads them to where the Gray Ghosts’ lair is and the stolen secret from the Keepers. But before even starting, the group of Caduceus, Aryn, Ikki, Jimjar, Derendil, Stool, Ront, Eldeth, and Eighteen decide to enjoy their first night in many months on a soft warm bed with their bellies full of fresh food and their minds numbed with liquor.

The next morning most of them ache a painful hangover but are still happy to be somewhat free from looking over their shoulders for drow & monsters. Their breakfast is interrupted by a derro boy with a “Candy-Gram.”

“What’s a ... Candy-Gram?” questions Ikki.

The derro smiles with a practically rotted out toothless mouth, “You give candy and I give gram... which is a message...” 

So Ikki hands over some candied leeches he’s had since Sloopdulop which the boy licks to prove its sweetness and tells Ikki that the Stone Giants of Cairngorm appreciated their actions in stopping their the two-head giant and more importantly the mercy they showed their brethern who is currently under their care. The derro finishes by telling them that the Stone Giants’ invite them as guests to their fortress and to receive gifts as new friends to Clan Cairngorm.

The group instead decides to focus on their mission for the Keepers to track down this Droki character, and perhaps swing by the Stone Giants’ abode later. So they head out to the East Cleft in the rift dividing the city. 

There they discover a jarring difference of lifestyle and architecture between duergar and derro. While the duergar were orderly and had purpose, the derro were chaotic and unpredictable. Shacks made from any materials they could find, grew up and down the cliffs of Laduguer’s Furrow connected with bridges even Ikki felt were dangerous.

Caduceus and Jimjar thought the best place to inquire about Droki would be a gambling hall, so they played some dice games while Jimjar & Eighteen pried information from the gambling derro. Finally after some winning jackpots, they report that Droki is usually in the West Cleft, not the East, so they cash out & give up some more coins to the info providers before booking their taxi back up at the “ground level” of Gracklstugh.

While they could have stopped by the Cairngorm cavern, they are eager to find this Droki and get their reward from the Keepers. In the West Cleft, it is more of the same eclectic mess of shacks build up on top of each other in the cavern valley. Once again they find a gambling den, this time a bingo hall that is true to the derro’s insane nature as the number caller does so in random languages forcing those without the tongue to guess and the others with an advantage.

Aryn, Caduceus, and Ikki put their language knowledge base together while the others join the strange dance floor of 3 different bands playing at the same time. After some games, with Ikki well ahead in coins, Jimjar nudges Aryn to get her attention to the derro that just walked in, a mutton chop bearded derro with patchwork threads and a giant full brimmed hat fringed in random baubles dominated by two stuffed displacer beast tentacles drooped down his neck.

The derro, the know as Droki, makes a quick deal with the bouncer for some coins and leaves quicker then he arrived. The group sprints out to shadow their target but Droki is faster then they anticipated and a spontaneous carnival of derro impedes their path. Ikki flies over, while the others try to bob and weave through the chaos. Ikki struggles to spot Droki, but luckily Aryn easily emerges on the other side of the street party to keep Droki in her sights until the rest catch up. They run down winding streets and in their haste Ikki turns a wrong corner and while on his feet a mad derro stabs him in the back claiming Ikki is a wild turkey that deserves to be in his belly. Caduceus and Ront throw some barrels out of the group’s way while Aryn throws an eldritch blast at the harassing beggar allowing Ikki to escape. Derendil leads them back to Droki’s trail to a purple lit cave in the wall with eerie similar colored fog emerges from a fissure.

Deciding to follow, they drop down into a tunnel leading to a three-way branch, finding strange fungi covered figures in on of the branches they opt for the another where they spot Droki just in time to see him eat a mushroom to turn even smaller to fit into a small crack in the wall! Caduceus looks over the shrooms near the crack and identifies them as pygmywarts and bigmies, one to make you bigger the other to make you smaller. So they all agree to take the pygmywart, and turn to the size of a toddler allowing them to follow Droki into the small crack that leads to a larger tunnel with more stools growing near their exit. Most of them except  Ikki take the bigmies to grow back to their normal size but they lose Droki’s trail so they have to guess which way. 

[alexandrasmoot6-blog]

Practical Cosiderations For Buing One As A Gift For X-mas.

There are actually a variety of fundamental errors people make in setting objectives that maintain them battling as well as repeating the very same errors. Most of our team do not have the opportunity to find refuge in a Usmiechnietanatalia.Info mountain or in a cavern, yet all of us should find out the sacred space within ourselves. The walk up to Pressure Rock Mine is actually rather easy once the short stroll up aspect of the Whinlatter Successfully pass has been actually performed. Their range of bikes features certain mountain bicycle coming from leading producers such as Saracen, Trip, as well as Kona as well as among others. It has just a hr or so to climb Teapot Mountain range due to the much shorter course, compared to 5 or even 6 hrs if approaching this off the Gold Ecological Playground. Stifel Nicolaus analyst Sign Astrachan approximates Eco-friendly Mountain are going to handle about 85 per-cent from the K-cup market if it completes the Diedrich accomplishment. Success is straightforward, however challenging because it takes the capability to grow, extent, hunt and learn to take pleasure in day-to-day as you develop to your 5-year target. In the mountain ranges, quickly tough walking requires substantially more attempt in comparison to strolling at that exact same rate on degree ground. Rebuilding in distant mountain range regions is actually hard, mentioned Tapas Upadhyay, an architect at the Hunnarshala Structure, a nonprofit company in Bhuj, India. Our team rank Red Hill as an Experimental Buy and also assign a 6-9 month price target of $0.017 - $0.025 every reveal. Despite the fact that the main aerial cable car is being actually substituted, you may still rise the mountain on the Bridger Tram.

Virtually every little thing on a mountain bike could be quickly repaired or even altered through any normal cyclist and also as you all need to understand - you will spare great deals of funds performing that on your own. Boots that are actually produced mountain cycling offer you really good security around the ankles and are actually a great assets. This showcases stunning hill viewpoints, a variety of wildlife, differed weather as well as environments from woody forests to mountain range tundra as well as simple access to back-country campsites and also paths. A few of the most ideal treks in the area are dayhikes of less than 5 kilometers such as the Eiger Path, a spectacular however secure mountain range path at the foot of the Eiger's establishing North Face. The Cairngorms National Park golf courses are bordered through mountain chains, rivers, want attired pitches and vast stream lowlands. Many individuals brand new to the sport only typically aren't certain which from the many Haro mountain Bikes they ought to select.

[talesfromtheabyss]

Adventures in Gracklstugh

After being escorted to the Darklake District by the Stone Guard, the party had to decide whether to follow through on paying the bribe or attempting to get out of town as fast as possible. They started by heading for the local tavern, the Shattered Spire, to sample the only drink on tap: Darklake Stout and looking for insight. The party hears about general unrest in the town and locals are very resistant to the idea that any of the Stone Guard would be corrupt as it's nearly unheard of. Soon, a fight breaks out between two duergar that Kelkoa and Lonehunter break up. The dwarves can't remember why they started fighting or what it was even about. They begrudgingly thank the party, but don't want to talk much more about it.

The party then decides to find Werz Saltbaron and see what he's about and whether this bribery by the guard will weigh over them. Instead, they interrupt an assassination attempt and kill one of the assassins and chase off the other one. Oddly, they were using glowing swords, but after the battle, no weapons were found. Just a drawing of Werz that implies this was a hit. Werz is grateful, but evasive when asked why he might be a target. When he sees a detachment of Stone Guard approaching he makes his exit while telling the party to meet him at the Shattered Spire the next day. The party also leaves not wanting to explain themselves with a dead duergar on the docks.

Since Werz didn't ask about the bribe, the party goes to spend some loot in the market the next day to upgrade armor and weapons as they can. After outfitting the crew, the entire marketplace is surprised when a stone giant bursts through the gate and begins destroying anything in his reach. Worse, this giant has a second head and seems completely crazed. Lonehunter knows how out of character this is and even suspects the giant is suffering, so encourages his teammates to help subdue, but not kill the giant. After a skillful use of Tasha's Hideous Laughter by Philis, the party is fairly quickly able to get rope around this giant and wrestle him to the ground. The duergar guards are able to knock the giant unconsious and begin to ask questions of the bystanders and the party itself. 

At the same time, another giant comes and apologizes for his companion's behavior and thanks the party for helping to subdue his friend without killing him. He tells a bizarre story about how this giant was communing with the stone and suddenly sprouted a head and stormed out of their cavern. The clan has no idea what happened, but it's not the only strange occurrence they've seen lately. He invites the party to come to Cairngorm Cavern to meet Stonespeaker Hgraam to discuss what has happened.

While Dorhun arranged to have Rihuud transported back to the cavern, the party started asked the Stone Guard to escort them there themselves. They weren't happy about it, but the relationship with the stone giants was valued and they didn't want to create a problem. The party is escorted through the off-limits areas outside of the Darklake District and to a giant crack in the town called Laduguer's Furrow. The chasm has been used to both gather and process the venting gasses and to house many inhabitants of Gracklstugh. At either end, the party can see gates that they later learn represent the boundary between the civilized areas where the duergar live and the more chaotic ghettos where the derro live. They continued on to meet Hgraam.

The Stonespeaker is also grateful for the party helping to subdue and not kill his apprentice and offers to help the party however he can. When asked about traveling to the surface he gives good directions to Blingdenstone, the town of the deep gnomes, as they have more direct dealings with those from the "dreamlands". The party has learned that the Neverlight Grove is likely on the way to Blingdenstone and they hope they can take Stool home as they look for a way out. He also shares some things he's learned while communing with the stone:

"Something evil stirs in the Underdark. The rock itself cries in pain and horror, and a madness creeps from the blackest depths. Pay heed to the signs surrounding you. A cave with two faces. Rock devoured, and the land overgrown. The pebble believes itself flesh. The earth rejects its wards, and the tunnels shake in fury. By these portents, you shall know of evil's presence and of evil's face. This is what the stones tell me."

As you leave, Hgraam also gifts the party with a nineteen-inch long shard of quartz that he says may be valuable to you later. It's easily recognizable as a magic item that Philis chooses to carry in hopes of attuning to it when she has a chance. She believes it will help her greatly. The party heads back to the District hoping to complete their business with Werz. On the way, they are met by Gartokkar Xundorn. This duergar is wearing some lightly colored robes that qualify as the most colorful thing you've seen in Gracklstugh. He introduces himself as member of the Keepers of the Flame and says he may have work for recent visitors if the party is interested in meeting the Wyrmsmith. The party agrees to meet with him later and continues on to see what Werz has to offer.

At the Spire, Werz meets the party and rewards each of them with a gemstone for saving him. But, then he also tells them that he has a job for them. He would like a bag of gemstones to be delivered to Kazook Pickshine in Blingdenstone... no questions asked. When Kelkoa attempts to up the ante, Werz lets him know that he has not forgotten about the bribery payment that was required of them, but is willing to overlook it. The party agrees. Topsy and Turvy know Kazook well and, after examining the gems, recognize them to be the kind of spell gems Kazook had been using to protect their town. They are empty now, but must be the raw materials he uses to set traps and triggers around Blingdenstone.

Soon thereafter, the party meets up with Gartokkar and they are led further into the off-limits area of the duergar town where they are shocked to meet a large (if not overweight) red dragon named Themberchaud. He is the Wyrmsmith, the dragon that keeps the forges of Gracklstugh burning. Atop his giant hoard of treasure, he demands the Keepers leave so he can speak to the party in private. He starts by asking them where they're from and what they are doing in the Underdark. This leads to the shocking revelation that Lonehunter is seeking Jimjar. He later describes how Jimjar was the one member of his previous party that tried to help him, but they lost contact. The rest of the party is shocked and confused because they clearly remember Jimjar dying after falling from the spider webs in Velkynvelve. Did Jimjar survive? Was he somehow in two places at once? Furthermore, Lonehunter reveals that they were hot on the trail of the Tomb of Khaem which he believed held treasures to be gathered.

Ignoring this little soap opera, Themberchaud explains that he need agents in the city and he is offering them the job. His only request is that the party do what the Keepers ask them to, but to report back to Themberchaud first. He clearly doesn't trust his keepers, but needs outside sources to gather information for him. Without even giving the party a chance to answer, he encourages the party to exit his chamber and get badges of the Keepers to give them access to the town and to begin their mission. Gartokkar is suspicious and wants to know what the dragon wanted. The party doesn't share the request for subterfuge, but does agree to carry out the Keepers' wishes. Their first mission is to track down and bring back information about the Gray Ghosts who are at war with the Keepers. They are a group of derro who have stolen a dragon egg (that Themberchaud should NEVER know about), but who the Keepers are convinced are also responsible for all of the strange, evil changes happening in Gracklstugh. The one lead they have is Droki. A derro agent who runs messages and exchanges for the Gray Ghosts throughout the town. He can often be seen in the Blade Bazaar, but the Keepers also believe that he meets his Gray Ghost contacts in the West Cleft District.

The party heads into the West Cleft (against the advice of the duergar guards) and find a ghetto of squalor and madness where the derro of Gracklstugh live in caves and hovels and wander around muttering and raving. The party stands out like a sore thumb, but they move through the district (Philis attempting to read the thoughts of the crazed derro around her) looking for Droki. Soon, a large group of derro finally rush the party. While not too difficult to dispatch, it does not help their search... until Eldeth spots a curious derro in odd attire watching them and leaving in a surprising hurry.

The party follows this person through a narrow crack in the cavern wall and down into some tunnels that still sport stalactites and stalagmites and more of the faerzress fog they have seen elsewhere. As they pursue him through the tunnel, the see him stop at a very thin crack in the wall, stoop to eat a mushroom, shrink to the size of a doll, and then races down the tiny passage. The rest of the party follows suit quickly (grabbing multiple samples of the two new kinds of fungi they've never seen before) and find themselves exiting into a normal sized tunnel again where they see normal-sized derro footprints moving away. They eat the other fungi and find themselves restored to normal size as they chase the speedy derro further.

Finally, the come upon a fungi grove that is difficult to pass without clearing it. Anar, Philis, and Xenophrane, all shrink down again and enter the grove to attempt to follow the derro. Instead they are set upon by swarms of centipedes and spiders. The ensuing battle sees Anar light some of the grove on fire (causing an explosion of firestalk) and Kelkoa clearing fungi as fast as he can. While the party all grows to full size again and does eventually disperse the swarms of bugs, they have clearly lost the derro and find themselves at an intersection in the tunnel with no clear idea which way he went.

So many questions have been posed! So many options and opportunities to learn more or flee! THe party will have to decide how to fulfill their charge from Themberchaud, what the insight from Hgraam means and what the crystal being carried by Philis does, and whether they'll be able to leave Gracklstugh soon and seek out Stool's home and possible help in escaping to the surface by the deep gnomes of Blingdenstone.

The party has gone from no options and no resources, to having too many options. Therein lies the challenge.

[robertmcangusgroup]

The Daily Thistle

The Daily Thistle

Monday 8th January 2017

"Madainn Mhath” …Fellow Scot, I hope the day brings joy to you… The start of another week, work for some of us, turning over in bed for the rest.. Me? I treat every week as if it’s work, over the years I built a routine and have just stuck with it, rise at about 3.45am, walk Bella, but not before putting the coffee on.. back and write The Daily Thistle and the Tulip, Shower, prepare food for the family.. and the rest you can imagine, I always thought retirement was different, but it’s not, I’m still at work…

A SEARCH has been launched to find a partner for Scotland’s last elephant after she lost her only companion last year. Mondula, a 45-year-old female, has been left crestfallen by the loss of her enclosure mate Toto. And now her keepers at Blair Drummond Safari Park, near Stirling, are looking all over Europe to find her a new friend. Elephants are like humans in the sense that they need company to thrive in life. Ailsa McCormick, head keeper of the park’s large animals, wants to create something like a retirement home for older elephants. And while Mondula and Toto did not form powerful bonds as they were not related, Ailsa said they were like old women who tolerated - but needed - each other. She said: “When we lost Toto it was a very difficult time for Mondy and all of the staff. “The pair were never what you would exactly call friends because both came from different family groups, but they were together for around 20 years. “It’s not that they did not like each other, just that they did not have the family bonds that elephants form in their herds in the wild.” Toto arrived at the park from Basel Zoo in Switzerland in 1997, while Mondula arrived from Erfurt Zoo in Germany the same year. The third elephant at Blair Drummond, 49-year-old female Estrella, died in 2013. After collapsing in March last year, Toto was put down by keepers to prevent her suffering further. Visitors at the time saw keepers in tears as the decision was made to euthanise the elephant. Ailsa is looking forward to welcoming a new female to Mondula’s enclosure as soon as possible. She said: “It’s something that we’re looking to do and we have had a lot of questions about Mondula being on her own, but it’s something that’s going to take time. “Getting a companion is not going to happen as we, or she, would like - but it is going to happen. “It has to be the right elephant with a temperament that’s compatible with Mondula’s.” In the months since Toto’s death, keepers have put in an extra effort to make sure Mondula did not grow lonely. This included a more stimulating environment for her, and more interaction with the keepers. Ailsa added: “She is doing really well. It has been a big change for her, but she has been really happy with the effort we have put in to helping her adjust.”

TWO YOUNG mountaineers who carried a hypothermic walker to safety have been praised as “heroes” for helping to save his life. The man had climbed Ben Macdui in the Cairngorms - Scotland’s second highest peak - but got into difficulty on his return trip. Rescuers said the two mountaineers passing by, a young man and woman who are a couple, found the walker “in a bad way”. They then “half-carried” him for two to three kilometres, supporting him to walk until he could no longer bear his own weight. After carrying the walker far enough to get a phone signal, they called mountain rescuers. Cairngorm Mountain Rescue Team (CMRT) said: “CMRT and Glenmore Lodge instructors were flown to the area close to the casualty, thanks to SAR Helicopter R951 flying in poor weather. “After immediate treatment, the casualty was assisted to the waiting helicopter and evacuated.” The man was initially warmed on the hill and then further warmed up and fed at the mountain rescue team’s base. CMRT team leader Willie Anderson said the incident was a great example of mountaineers helping each other.

AN ABERDEEN FAN has been jailed for six months after displaying aggressive and violent behaviour towards a rival supporter ahead of the Scottish League Cup final. Kevin Goffin, 35, was arrested at Glasgow Central station on Sunday 27 November ahead of the match between Aberdeen and Celtic at Hampden Park. British Transport Police (BTP) said officers were made aware of a man acting aggressively on the station concourse just before 2pm. Goffin then “acted inappropriately” towards a Celtic fan at the station’s Marks & Spencer store and became “increasingly hostile” when approached by BTP officers. He launched a “torrent of homophobic, intimidating and violent abuse” towards officers which continued all the way to police custody. Goffin, whose address was listed as Kincorth Circle, Aberdeen, pleaded guilty at Glasgow Sheriff Court on Wednesday to one count contrary to the Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications Acts. As well as being jailed, Goffin was given a three-year football banning order. Sergeant Michael McEwan said: “Threatening or abusive behaviour will simply not be tolerated and I am pleased that this man has been handed a prison sentence.

A NEW ROAD BRIDGE across the river Tay has the potential to ease traffic congestion in Perth and boost employment, councillors were told yesterday. The £113 million Cross Tay Link Road will direct vehicles away from the city centre by linking the A93 and the A94 north of Scone to the A9 between Inveralmond and Luncarty. The route of the crossing has been approved by councillors. Picture: Contributed The preferred route for the project was approved unanimously by members of Perth and Kinross Council. A report prepared by the local authority suggested the new bridge would lead to increased productivity and a wave of new homes. Council depute chief executive Jim Valentine noted in the paper “increasing concern” about traffic congestion and air quality issues around Perth over the past 20 years, which are linked to the rising number of vehicles passing through the city. The route has two-thirds of its funding in place, with the remainder tied to the approval of the proposed Tay Cities Deal. The report estimated that for every £1 of capital invested in the new bridge and link road, the completed project would generate an estimated £4.30 of revenue. It added the project could lead to a total of £966m of private sector investment.

AND FINALLY…. A CITY can’t flourish unless built on solid foundations. That’s the guiding belief of a £100 million infrastructure development taking place beneath the streets of Glasgow, a massive undertaking largely unseen by anyone except for a few dozen contractors. The drilling machine has been named Daisy by a school pupil The Shieldhall tunnel is the biggest upgrade to the city’s waste water infrastructure since Victorian times, and the largest project of its kind attempted north of the Border. A state-of-the-art tunnel boring machine is building the tunnel at depths of to 32 metres, or 105 feet, as it travels at speeds of about 30m per day, excavating earth and stone and installing the lining of the tunnel in the form of massive concrete rings. When complete in late 2017, the tunnel will be more than five times as long as the Clyde Tunnel and 4.65m in diameter – big enough to fit a double-decker bus inside. It will be the biggest waste water tunnel in Scotland, with a storage capacity equivalent to 36 Olympic-sized swimming pools. The completed project will allow future housing and office developments to proceed across the Greater Glasgow area by greatly expanding the capacity of the Scottish Water system. Construction of the tunnel in the south-west of the city involves excavating some 250,000 tonnes of material and installing more than 18,000 pre-cast concrete segments, each weighing 2.5 tonnes. Engineers on the project work 12-hour shifts, starting at 7am or 7pm, with the tunnel boring machine working non-stop. The centre of operations for staff is at the Craigton industrial estate, five miles south-west of the city centre. Engineers climb down four flights of metal stairs to the tunnel shaft, a vast industrial cavern which houses a small-gauge railway. The railway transports workers to the tunnel boring machine. On their way, workers pass a small encased wooden carving of Saint Barbara - the patron saint of tunnelers, mounted on a shaft wall to keep silent watch over them in accordance with tunneling tradition.

Well Fellow Scot I hope you enjoyed our look at the news from Scotland this morning…

Our look at Scotland today is a fantastic sunset over the River Lochy at Lochybridge. taken by Colin MacKinnon, from Fort William.

A Sincere Thank You for your company and Thank You for your likes and comments I love them and always try to reply, so please keep them coming, it's always good fun, As is my custom, I will go and get myself another mug of "Colombian" Coffee and wish you a safe Monday 9th January 2017 from my home on the southern coast of Spain, where the blue waters of the Alboran Sea washes the coast of Africa and Europe and the smell of the night blooming jasmine and Honeysuckle fills the air…and a crazy old guy and his dog Bella go out for a walk at 4:00am…on the streets of Estepona…

All good stuff....But remember it’s a dangerous world we live in ….. Be safe out there…

Robert McAngus