#he and the party 100% started investigating and had to be rescued when it went wrong

[blackcanary567]

Ronance as Batman and Catwoman but Nancy as Batman and Robin as Catwoman just for the sheer hilarity of their first meeting not remotely going how they thought it would.

Like, Robin’s heard all about the big, bad bat that took down the mob, foiled the Joker, fought Bane and has terrorised the criminal underworld. She’s seen hardened criminals shaking while telling her about their encounters with the vigilante, swearing it can’t be human. Nancy’s been tracking a number of robberies targeting the rich and corrupt, hearing stories of a woman who can break in, take what she wants and leave without anyone noticing, even highly trained security teams.

They finally meet when Nancy finds Robin stealing from someone she’s investigating. Robin’s expecting some huge, over six foot, burly man dressed as a bat, not this ball of angst and rage who’s top of the head only just reaches her eyes while in heavy boots (she later finds out about the red-headed spitfire sidekick in the red and green suit, and discovers Nancy’s identity after her annoying little brother and his friends come into the Batcave to convince her to let them drive the Batmobile). Meanwhile, Nancy thought the theft would be some graceful and sly master of her craft, but then Robin’s tripping over her own feet, talks at a mile a minute and has a terrible time understanding social cues (they go back to Robin’s apartment when they decide to team up, where she has her numerous cats all named after characters from noir movies and lives with her best friend who just so happens to be Nancy’s ex-boyfriend from high school.)

(This is definitely not an excuse for Robin is some cool catsuit with her patches and Nancy’s jawline à la Pattinson’s Batman. Or for Nancy to pin Robin to a table.)

[ashen-vulture]

RPG story time/Pictures

So I am a gamemaster for a pathfinder group that’s been my reliable RPG gang for years. I wanted to make this as like a small gallery of pictures I’ve drawn for my most recent game, titled Red Gold.

As per usual it’s a long one, so I’ll put the bulk of things under the cut:

It was a simple RPG starting point, everyone was bounty hunters in a prestigious organization called the Hall of Red Gold. They deal with prison escapes, grave robbers, train robbers, necromancers, dangerous animals/creatures, and all other sort of variety of unlawful or evilness.

The founders of the Hall of Red Gold, they had a large painting made of a much smaller photograph taken just before their last battle.

Their center organization is in one of the largest cities in the country (population over 1.5 million) called Mkali (top picture) specifically that’s an area called the Canal Promenade. The canal serves to water their fields, prevent disastrous flooding, and allow for steamboat traffic and it’s a huge and central fixture. It’s almost always filled with merchant cards and street performers, and the city itself is brightly painted.

Their first quest was to cull a pride of man-eating lions and collect the tails for bounty proof. Through their Lion encounters they ended up with multiple critical decapitations. So they cut off the heads, cut off the tails, and quickly solidified their name:

Heads and Tails

They’ve come so far since then. They’ve made NPC allies in their organization, several of whom traveled with the party until they started taking on quests that were just too dangerous for them.

Their first companions were a goblin bard who mostly went by his stage name: Corpsebeater, and a Alchemist Halfling half-fiend who was *mistakenly* rescued from a demon cult under the assumption that she was a 5 year old tiefling. Both of them wonderful companions now retired. Corpsebeater changed his bard name to Venomblood after surviving a dozen scopion stings. He retired from the group shortly after that, but continues to build percussive music to shout exploits to. And for Zippi, after her time experimenting on the party (and herself) she got accepted as an apprentice in a shop called The Basilisk’s Eye.

The way I did it is Red Gold has a number of NPCs who can be invited along, and I’ve made it fairly easy for characters to flow in and out of the party without changing the game up too much. When VB retired Zippi stuck around just long enough to nearly die (she was like 2-3 levels behind the party at that point) and the party had some downtime, enough downtime to get up to a Fun Side Non-Bounty Related Thing.

Performing in the COLOSSEUM OF COURAGE! A temple to a minotaur/cervine god of battle and martial prowess. It trains warriors and also hold grand events in the tradition of old colosseums as a way of generating money. And this temple is run by the Grand Paladin RHEMBOL IRONHIDE!

The number of PCs I expected to hit on Rhembol was 2 higher than the 0 I thought it would be I could not stop snickering to myself I make this big old banged up greyed minotaur but he’s just got so much personality that everyone loved him. And of course he was glad to have Red Gold Participate in THE GRAND MASTER’S MAZE RUN! (Sorry, he is inflicted with SPONTANEOUSLY PROJECTING STAGE VOICE! meaning when I think in his headspace sometimes YOU JUST GOTTA ALLCAPS IT!)

But there was one little condition. You see, Rhembol has four wonderful lovely daughters that he would give the world for, three of whom are mostly like him: charismatic, gregarious, boisterous, always up for a fight but not looking for conflict.

And then, there’s...

Chesvah Ironhide, his awkward, unsociable, perpetually on auto-pilot daughter. She doesn’t like the performative aspect of her father’s temple, never has, but has never known anything other than Be A Paladin/Performer. So Rhembol spoke with Red Gold and allowed their teams into the games if Red Gold agreed to hire his daughter.

She joined a group that had formed just to compete in the games with plans to dissolve afterwards- and boy did they.

The 6-person team she was a part of contained a lot of other NPCs the party could bring into Heads and Tails, but only one of them is relevant- that being Tulio. Tulio is a catfolk who is a crack shot with a rifle, but also a LOT of other problems. He was almost always some variant of high, and showed many concerning behaviors. Red Gold kept him around because of his skill...

But, when in a drugged stupor he opened friendly fire in the colosseum with a crowd of tens of thousands in the audience, Red Gold had had the last of it with him and he was kicked out.

The party picked Chesvah up shortly afterwards.

And they probably didn’t expect Tulio to ever come back.

And certainly for a while he didn’t. Things ramped up, the party had been tasked with wiping out a Lamashtan cult, their leader Jiyaki who was a very prolific murderer, and stopping them from whatever their mysterious and bloody Goal was.

Pictured above is not the cult leader, but a demon bound to her service by another caster, and perpetual game wildcard. A powerful concubus who goes by the name of Kel. Yes, the same two members of the party did hit on them, successfully (depending on your definition of success here). Kel repeatedly showed no interest in obeying their master’s wishes, especially if they got in the way of fun, but its soul-bound sword “Shiver” had a number of contingencies in place to ensure Kel’s behavior.

Around this time they also were contacted by a blue dragon. You see, the last time they were investigating this, they had been told it was bandits, not a cult they were after. It was an inside-attempt to throw potential bounty hunters off their trail.

When they investigated the city one of the things that stood out was that there had been a break-in at a greenhouse called the Greenbriar Reserve. Upon investigating, Heads and Tails comes to the discovery that the Greenbriar Reserve had a dragonsbane plant. Dragons have been known to raize entire cities or countrysides over even a HINT of dragonsbane, because it is one of the few things that challenge their supremacy, and this greenhouse in a massive, populous city just happened to have one. The owner of the reserve kept it secret- for obvious reasons- and didn’t even state the name of the plant or 100% confirm he had one to the party. Hints and innuendo and nothing more. But he did ask them to please keep looking for the snip of plant which was taken- and his missing daughter as well (Kel kidnapped her and many others to use their faces for infiltration)

And then a blue dragon arrived at Red Gold HQ. Hushand the Gardener.

It had been over a month and he wanted to know how they were doing at finding HIS dragonsbane plant.

Because you see, he was working on a cure.

More and more things pile up on this city, culminating in a huge battle.

Someone pulled many strings to create what could have been (and honestly still was) a disastrous chain of events which involved red dragons attacking the city, Hushand the Gardener coming to the city’s defense. And there being two active shooters in the crowd with dragonbane poisoned weapons.

And one of those shooters was

Tulio swift, former Red Gold member, suspected veteran of the 27 year long surriedan civil war, habitual drinker and drug user and over all fringe NPC to the game. 

In the heat of battle one of the PCs killed Tulio- but with the intent of getting him raised afterwards, to interesting effects.

Meanwhile under the cover of the military battles above, the party begins fighting the demon cult in the secret vaults below the city. Down below in the vaults where they had learned a lamashtan Artifact lies which turns sacrificed souls into conduits for summoning powerful demons.

And I’ll continue this when I get back from a walk. I’ve got more to add, but this has gotten long enough as it is.

[jennifercrowart]

D&D Diary - The Yawning Rodent, 11

Refresher: Our adventurers Lugs (grung barbarian), Lurk (grung rogue), Aelia (tiefling cleric), and Valas (drow sorcerer) with tagalong Deku (ratfolk cleric) levelled up to 3, and Lugs and Lurk were able to get their new subclass abilities - Lugs becoming a Path of the Storm Herald barbarian with a swamp storm aura, and Lurk becoming a Soulknife rogue using psychic abilities.

The party went down the well shaft into the lower floor of the Sunless Citadel, lying to Yusdrayl about still needing to find Calcryx down there when, in reality, they'd found her earlier and taken her to the Rat's Nest to recover from her mistreatment at the hands of the Kobold Gang and Goblin Gang. They defeated a bugbear hunter and his two giant rat pets, and looted his old cave room. Next, they found a laboratory, and subdued the goblin interns working there. They found and rescued Chadley Hucrele, one of the Hucrele siblings they were sent to the Sunless Citadel to rescue in the first place. He'd been experimented on by a man they've heard of called Belak, who seems to be the boss running the lower floor of this citadel and controlling the Goblin Gang, so Chadley had started to transform into a plant creature.

Sunless Citadel spoilers!

The party decides to start exploring more of this floor by checking out the large rift that opened up from the back of one of the laboratory's empty rooms. The tunnel quickly becomes pitch black, with no luminescent fungi growing off the walls and providing light like in the other rooms of the temple. Luckily, Lugs has his candle of Continual Flame strapped to his head to provide a source of light as he goes down first.

Chadley asks if the party knows what they're going to be doing, and if he should do anything as well. Aelia tries to check out if he's got what it takes to fight, but in his current state - sickly, beaten-up, and scared, with plant-like growths growing out of his barky skin, and stripped of his armour and weaponry - it's nearly impossible to tell. Not wanting to send him back upstairs alone, they decide to take Chadley with them.

The rift they're going down looks like the earth has split to either side, probably when the citadel sunk beneath the ground. The lower walls and floor are littered with 2-foot-wide holes. As they go further down, they find what looks like corridors to the left and right sides of them - a single corridor of the citadel that had been rendered straight through when the rift formed, offsetting the two halves from each other. They try the left-side corridor first.

At the end of the corridor is a small room, no traps or locks on the door. The lovely tiling in the room has since been shaken up by the earth, crumbling and falling off the walls and ceiling and smashing on the floor. Everything is covered in thick layers of dust and dirt. On the floor in the centre of the room is a decorative circular tile, with writing on it in Draconic, and in front of it against the back wall is a stone statue of a dragon with a tray in its mouth. Deku translates the writing on the tile into Common, stepping back and telling the others that it says, "let the warrior's strength embolden my body."

Everyone starts having a look around the room. As he's normally quite good at investigating already, Deku casts a spell on Lurk to help boost his abilities even more. He opens his purple eyes and a laser grid shoots out, scanning the area. Lurk determines that this place looks like it was made to be a small offering and prayer chamber for the lower class occupants of this citadel to worship the statue. Aelia, recalling her basic archaeologist research about the Sunless Citadel that she'd looked up before they got here, realises that the statue is of a red dragon in particular, and must be of Ashardalon - the red dragon the Cult of the Dragon (AKA Keepers of the Secret Hoard) worshipped when they once lived here, before the citadel fell. Deku confirms this, having read about it in his Cults Around the World book.

Lugs tries putting 100 gold pieces into the offering tray the statue is holding, but nothing happens. Deku, wondering if the people who would come here to pray would do so while standing on the decorative tile, tells Lugs to stand there and copy the words he says in Draconic; "Let the warrior's strength embolden my body."

Although he doesn't really understand, Lugs is eager to play along as he usually does, and mimics what Deku says while standing on the tile. Suddenly, a torrent of blue flames - not real flames, just an illusion - jet out of the tile's seams and wash over him, imbuing him with strength. He tells Lurk that he feels sturdier than before, as he now has advantage on constitution checks and saves for the next while. Happy with this service, Lugs puts 200 more gold into the offering tray. Amazed, Aelia and Deku scramble to do the same so they can get a boost to their wimpy spellcaster constitutions, but the tile and statue no longer react, even when Aelia tries to offer some gold in the tray. Sighing, she returns all the gold to her pockets.

The party goes back through the corridor to the rift passageway, and Lugs, again, goes first while the others try to look out for any traps. The rift splits into an open cavern, full of more of the holes in the ground and lower walls. Just in front of the doorway is a littering of what appears to be goblin bones, picked clean. At the back of the cave, one of the larger holes glows with a warm red and orange light from within. As Lugs walks gung-ho into the cave and his companions talk amongst themselves behind him, the light from the hole starts to waver, and then disappears further down the hole until it's no longer visible. Suddenly, a large red snake with tendrils of flames licking off its head and body looms out from the hole closest to Lugs, the source of the light now clear as it radiates a hot fiery glow from its body. Lugs' frog skin tingles uncomfortably as it starts to dry out from the close proximity. The fire snake hisses, revealing their long fangs.

Aelia, for some reason not phased at all, marches from the thick of the group up to Lugs and the fire snake. As though she was a snake wrangler in a past life, she wastes no time in outstretching her fingers towards the creature and upcasting Guiding Bolt. A huge flash of light sparks from above her head and shoots towards the snake, and everyone tries to cover their eyes, blinded for a moment from the flare. As their spotty vision returns, they find that the fire snake has already been completely annihilated by the extraordinarily strong spell. Aelia blinks, eyes wide in disbelief at what just happened and how strong her spell was, and slowly lowers her hands.

Lurk goes to check out the rest of the snake's cave, the holes clearly leading to a tunnel system beneath the ground that it had made. In its nest at the back, he finds a few gems, which he pockets immediately. Aelia notices but doesn't say anything, like their secret siphoning off of treasure before the rest of the party notices has now become a game between the two. Nothing else is really in the cavern aside from the remains of toasted goblin skeletons.

The party heads back out into the rift, backtracking to find the other half of the corridor from earlier and going down it. Showing a bit of confidence for once, Chadley smirks and flirts, complimenting Aelia on her strong spell, but she doesn't really take any mind. The door at the end of the hall opens up - as they suspected - the final unexplored door from the garden chamber they'd entered into at the start of this floor, after dropping in from the well shaft above.

As they're back here again, they decide to explore the nearby bugbear hunter's cave tunnel that they'd left behind earlier. Lurk tries to go down it, and it's lit with the luminescent fungi, but it appears to fork, with one path leading upwards and the other path leading further downwards, presumably into the Underdark.

They go back through the laboratory, to where Lugs had once passed through the weapon storeroom and found a door to the adjoining unexplored hallway, its walls decorated with etchings of dragons torching cities. Knowing that Lugs had seen another bugbear gardener with a mean sickle-bladed glaive on their back when he'd poked his head in earlier, Lurk goes on to scout ahead, quietly sneaking out the door and hiding behind a pillar. Sure enough, the bugbear is patrolling the hallway, and doesn't see him. He creeps up behind her, and, after quickly coating his scimitar with the poison from his Grung skin, suddenly stabs her in the back before she even realises he's there.

The bugbear yells in pain and surprise and whirls around, lifting her glaive to defend herself while backing away from Lurk. The grung rogue, not bothered by the normally-intimidating height difference, suggests she drops her weapon and surrender, or he'll kill her. Frustrated and badly hurt, the bugbear hesitantly complies, and Lurk snatches up her glaive as soon as it hits the ground. Having disarmed her, Lurk goes and opens the main door from the laboratory, inviting the rest of the party in. The bugbear, dripping a lot of blood from the wound in her back, sinks to the ground to sit against a pillar, defeated.

They try to ask her questions, but the bugbear is flippant. Lurk tries to offer her 25 gold to buy her loyalty from her boss, Belak, sure that it would beat the wage he pays her. She doesn't seem to care about the money. Growing frustrated with her rude behaviour, Aelia steps forward, hands glowing with a spell to finish the bugbear off - but Lurk stays her hand. He suggests the bugbear leave the citadel and go to the Rat's Nest to find honest work, but she spits back, saying she has no idea what's waiting for her on the upper floor if the party of adventurers have already killed Durnn and the other goblins, suspecting Lurk just wants to send her into a death trap. Valas and Deku realise that she may be right, as the Kobold Gang are still upstairs, and would surely kill anyone they perceive to be a Goblin Gang member if the bugbear were to try and pass them. The bugbear also doesn't know how to get to the Rat's Nest at all. Valas comments that she doesn't seem to necessarily be loyal to Belak or to her job, but just nervous about testing her boss' power. She says she took the job here with her best friend - the bugbear hunter, Balsag - because it just sounded interesting and like she'd get to fight. Additionally, she adds that most of the goblins on this floor are just untrained interns doing research jobs for Belak, not fully trained bandits like Durnn had on the upper floor.

The party starts talking about how they want to proceed. The bugbear says the rooms connecting to this hallway are mostly arboretums where the interns are working, as well mentioning a snake being in one. Deku asks how to get to where Belak is, as she says that he must be working as usual, and she gives him the directions which he dutifully scribbles down onto a piece of parchment: go up through this hallway to the northern arboretum, take the southwest door from there into the big dragon shrine, go up through the library, down and along a very long corridor, and there at the end he'll either be in his study, or he'll be at the back of his massive main garden. Of course, Lurk hears that they should start by going north, and he immediately goes south into a different arboretum.

In there, he finds a few goblin interns and a bandit gathering white fungi from the garden beds into little baskets of test tubes. He casually commands them all to drop to the floor, and the interns immediately do so, hiding their heads beneath their hands as they cower. The one trained fighter in the group initially draws his scimitar, but when he sees that the others have surrendered, he drops his weapon and puts his hands up. Valas, Deku, and Aelia set to work on gathering all the white fungi, convinced it must be the same ingredient used to make the potion that Chadley was forced to drink to turn into a half-plant creature. Valas uses his Frostbite cantrip on the pile of fungi they gather, killing off the plants so that no one can continue using them for such nefarious purposes.

Lurk moves on to the southeast arboretum off the dragon hallway. After a cursory look, he sees that no one is in this one. As he's walking through and having a poke around, another fire snake suddenly rears out from a hole in the centre garden bed, poised to strike him. The realisation dawns on him that, although this room was otherwise empty, a lot of the plants here look burnt and charred, which he'd noticed too late. Before the snake can attack, he flees the room and slams the door shut.

Lugs, instead, pokes his head into the same room, as the snake slithers around to face him. Reaching into his pocket, he grabs the strips of jerky pet treats he'd taken from the bugbear hunter's body, and tosses them in front of the fiery monster while rubbing his fingers together and saying "pspspspspspsps" like trying to coach over a cat. The snake stops, staring him down for a few minutes, before it greedily snaps up the jerky. Lugs grins widely, and dashes off to retrieve one of the goblin carcasses slain by Lurk in the laboratory earlier. He eases into the arboretum to drop the body in front of the snake, before running back to hide behind the door, eagerly peering through the crack to watch. The fire snake, again, stares at him, flicking their tongue in and out and trying to gauge the grung's intentions, before they unhinges their jaws and begins swallowing the goblin whole. Lugs tears a small strip of fabric off of his pants and rubs it on his skin, apparently trying to make sure the fabric clearly has his scent on it, and tosses it over to the snake's meal so the snake can get used to his scent. He closes the door all the way, and turns to Lurk, proudly saying that he's feeding his new pet snake, so Lurk should tell the others not to go in there. Lurk's amused.

The party goes back into the laboratory, taking the bugbear gardener with them. Lurk sets to work rounding up all the surviving goblins they'd terrified into submission (as well as waking up the confused and scared goblins who had been sleeping in the bunk room), but is suddenly surprised that the goblins - particularly the untrained interns - are so scared of them now, shaking in terror as he tells them to all line up. He tries to calm them down, but also says that they have a choice: they can either go up to the upper level and face the Kobold Gang, or they can go into the hunter's Underdark tunnel. Valas cuts in, saying that, as an Underdark native, he says it's definitely not a good idea to send them into the Underdark - they'll surely die, as it's such a dangerous place. Deku asks the goblins why they're torturing humans (like Chadley) for Belak, and the bugbear confirms that the Goblin Gang had been taken over by Belak and his aggressive bugbear crew, giving the weaker goblins the choice of either obeying him or being killed - so they obeyed him.

The adventurers decide to take the goblins and bugbear with them, potentially back to the Rat's Nest or to the surface where they can be let free. Finally, Lurk asks the name of the bugbear they've captured. She says that her name is Grimwarg. They start tying up the prisoners so they're linked around the waists by a rope, still able to climb up the well shaft to the upper level but unable to easily escape their captivity.

Before they leave, Lugs ducks his head into the snake's arboretum again, and says in Grung, "goodbye for now, Snakey, I love you!"

They all climb up the vines in the well to the upper floor, with Valas and Deku leading the way. As they climb up, Deku says that he thinks Valas will do a great job of lying to Yusdrayl about Calcryx,  and gives him a friendly pat on the back while stealthily casting a charisma-boosting spell. Valas notices the spell, but wilfully ignores it, taking the encouragement.

When they reach the top of the well, Yusdrayl is dozing in Durnn's old throne, still sitting upright with her head leaning on her propped-up hand. The two elite guards on either side of her tap the stone throne so she wakes up with a start, greeting Valas and Deku and asking how they've gone on their search for Calcryx. Valas tells her that they haven't found the dragon yet, but they did find a laboratory where the real boss controlling the Goblin Gang has been experimenting on people. Since they haven't found Calcryx yet, he theorises that this is because Belak must be keeping her with him, not letting the valuable creature out of his sight. Yusdrayl agrees that that's probably the case.

As Grimwarg and the other goblin prisoners start to come up from the well, Valas also tells Yusdrayl about how they captured most of Belak's workers from his laboratory. The Kobold Gang leader is impressed, and mentions how her guards escorted Durnn and the last of his gang members after the big fight out via the tunnel the Kobold Gang has that leads to the surface, used by their foragers to find and bring back food. She suggests that these prisoners be escorted out by her guards as well, but Valas politely declines the offer, saying they have it handled. Grimwarg comments that this must be the Kobold Gang leader that she's heard about before, and Yusdrayl tilts her chin up at her, boasting about how she's beaten the Goblin Gang and chased Durnn out.

Because of his broken arm, Chadley wasn't able to climb up the well by himself. When Lugs reaches the top, he throws back down a rope that Chadley can hold onto with his foot put through a loop at the end, so the strong grung and everyone else can haul him up. When Yusdrayl sees the human, she's appalled, disgusted at his transformed body, and agrees that Belak must be stopped. Chadley looks embarrassed and ashamed.

The party suggests that Chadley can get seen to at the Rat's Nest, though Chadley says he could probably contact his mother to send someone to fetch him so he can be seen by the family's private and expensive medical professionals. While he would like to stay and help find his sister, he's aware he's in no shape to do so.

Ready to leave the Sunless Citadel so they can take the prisoners away and get themselves a good rest at the inn, the exhausted adventurers leave Yusdrayl and continue on their way out.

[realswofficial]

MEGGY’S DESTINY REVIEW

With an epic journey and the tragic loss of a possible friend if such events didn’t unfold under her belt, our favorite squid humanoid (minus the squid part) fulfills a promise to her long-gone rival in this coming-of-age YouTube video which is not only a feature short-film but a step forward for this family of mentally-challenged paisanos. Howdy everyone, SuperWarrior here and welcome to this review of SMG4’s first ever movie (or special extended episode depending how you look at it), “Meggy’s Destiny”. Let’s just say we are in for a TREAT today, and before we begin I must advise you: This review is SPOILER-HEAVY, so if you haven’t seen this movie yet GO WATCH IT then come back here once you’re DONE. I’m already throwing this out there, I HIGHLY recommend watching this video if you’re an SMG4 fan or very interested in these kinds of stories. Are you done? Well then grab your Ink Bois and buckle-up, you’re in for a RIDE.

「昨年は大変でした」 “Last Year Was Rough”

To start off the synopsis, our adventure begins with Meggy resting in her bed telling us her backstory on how she was introduced into the SMG4 universe, met Mario for the first time, and reminiscing the dozens of journeys they and her new friends went on together. But her past year came with a price. All thanks to the SMG4 gang’s anime-related hijinks, a spiraling lead of events caused the casualty of Meggy’s bitter rival, Desti. When the two cephalopods were held captive at Francis’s Ink Prison, she discovered her enemy never truly despised her at all and was only looking forward to her humiliation when it came to competition. During the octo’s funeral, Meggy in her new form vows to finally win a Splatfest tournament in her honor. Just imagine if Desti was a much bigger character, Final Hours would’ve had an even bigger impact on the series than it already left. Months have passed since the group’s biggest misadventure yet and the final tournament is right around the corner.

「マルーナーズベイで相手を守れ！」“Keep Opponents at Marooner’s Bay!”

It’s the next day and the Splatsquad is finishing up training for tomorrow. Mario, Luigi, Meggy, and Tari are about to hone their Turf War skills one last time with the rest of the SMG4 group cheering them on in the bleachers. The team successfully completes their exercise as their friends congratulate and wish them luck for the big day. Professor E. Gadd suggests if they want to be victorious, they’ll have to use his latest inventions or as he calls them Ink Bois to even the score since none of them can hide in and slide across ink. Meggy gets a surfboard, Luigi uses a roller chair, Tari obtains a keyboard, and Mario owns a… lawnmower. Meggy refuses to use her gadget because of her pride and confidence, claiming that the advantage is personally insulting. The squad begins another round with their new devices by battling each other, she manages to survive until Tari knocks her out. Everyone cheers (besides Meggy) for the humanoid cyborg and they all go to the former Inkling’s apartment for a wrap-up party. During the celebration, Axol checks up on her but Meggy hides her concerns about losing saying she’s just fine. Then Mario offers her a game of Pin The Tail On Boopkins of all people (ok, not sure what he did to make this a thing) and she happily accepts.

「レース・トゥ・ザ・フィニッシュ！」 “Race To The FINish!”

Now it’s the first day of the Splatfest and the team arrives at Deca Tower preparing for the opening round. Meggy hallucinates seeing Desti nearby, making Tari worried but Meggy once again says she’s fine. The Squid Sisters (presumably Off The Hook is on vacation) announce the beginning of the tournament and explain the rules of the round: A race in the SPLATstacle Course as a test of agility and skill and any fighting during this round will result in disqualification, whoever makes it within 20 minutes advances to the second round. Splatoon purists, it’s time for your lesson in universal lore facts. For those of you who were wondering, the tournament shown in this movie is NOT based on any event from the game series. This Splatfest is primarily original for the sake of the story as Callie and Marie said it themselves: it’s apparently the last ever tournament due to them being less cost-effective (likely since interest in Splatoon died down after Chaos vs. Order) and they’ve decided to do something different to make it special (unless they ever get proper funding again). I do not make the rules, nor do the writers. This series is not meant to follow any canon video game lore since this interpretation of the Splatoon universe is different from the official just like the Mario one. And to those who think humans cannot be in Inkopolis since they don’t exist anymore, a little game called Super Smash Bros. Ultimate already kinda threw that rule out the window. Anyway before the race starts, the team is abruptly introduced to their new rivals, Team Killer Ink. The two briefly have a back-and-forth as expected from typical rivalries like this, then all competitors stand at the start and the race begins. Everyone races to the finish while beating the following obstacles: sliding down rails, avoiding buzzsaws, shooting Zapfish dolls at hoops, avoiding water sprinklers (which is a given for the Splatsquad), climbing a tower which Meggy manages to do with a lava butt-bounce, and long jumping a huge gap towards the goal. Our heroes run into trouble with the last obstacle thanks to the Killer Ink’s leader pushing Meggy off, but the team successfully rescues her with 30 seconds remaining. Later that day, Meggy walks around frustrated about her rivals teasing her for being human and she tries to calm down with an order of ice cream. However, Crusty Sean notices her and explains that his food truck has a strict “no humans” policy. Then she travels to other shops which also happen to have the same sign from earlier. Yeah, I’m not one to reference real-life history but someone needs to tell this side of Inkopolis that it’s not 1965 (or in this case 2015) anymore. This might be the most confusing part of the video as everyone refusing to serve Meggy doesn’t make sense even for this universe. If she was able to live in Inkopolis after becoming human, why is this a thing NOW? Didn’t she help save the town with her friends? But it turns out this sequence might’ve been a dream all along as Meggy sees her past self. She tells her that she is nothing without her old abilities and she only won the round because of her friends’ help. But Human Meggy claims she’s capable on her own especially without the surfboard, her Inkling self leaves, and she wakes up.

「スクワイドラン」 “Squidward Run”

The second day of Splatfest is here and Meggy throws away her gadget as Axol oversees her entering the tower. Later on, the Squid Sisters introduce the second round which is attacking an army of Squidwards. First team to 100 and wins and advances to the finals but attacking teammates will cost 10 points. The battle begins as the four teams scramble to earn the winning score. Everything seems well until Meggy struggles to keep up with her team. Nearing 100 points, Mario spots a cannonball of Squidwards and the Ink Brigade team wins the match (not Killer Ink, this is a different team). The Splatsquad is shocked to have lost resulting in Meggy breaking down crying. She regrets throwing away the board as it would’ve helped them out to win and she runs away. Mario grows suspicious of the Brigade’s victory and proceeds to investigate.

「メギーの絶望」 “Meggy’s Despair”

That night, Meggy is depressed about her failure thinking about letting Desti down. She exclaims “Don’t be sad”, but it turns out to be Axol looking over to cheer her up. He hands her the surfboard she trashed earlier, saying that the professor upgraded his Inkweaver and is willing to test both of them out. They both spray and slide down the building which cheers Meggy up missing what it felt like having those abilities. Meanwhile back at the stage, Mario, Luigi, and Tari search for clues about the rigged match. Mario trips on something, and it happens to be a switch behind some plants. He activates it revealing a cannon that shoots out Squidward clones, and it turns out that the winning team had cheated and the three rush to tell the news. Back to Meggy and Axol as the two finish their fun, she is enlightened but still complains about the board since it reminds her of her past. Axol explains that the device does not take away from her personality or shows sign of weakness, despite being one the best manga artists out there he relies on his trusty pen to unlock his true potential. What really matters is being yourself and the advantage is nothing to be ashamed of. Meggy agrees but she wishes he had told her before they lost the tournament. SUDDENLY the Squid Sisters barge in to tell her the good news: The Splatsquad is back in the Splatfest. Thanks to the trio’s detective work (which Mario desperately wants all the credit for), the Ink Brigade has been disqualified for tampering with the arena and her team can compete in the finals. Everyone is ecstatic, especially Meggy since she is relieved to have one last chance to fulfill her promise.

「あなたに勝利を約束しました」 “Promised You a Victory”

Back to her dream, Meggy makes a deal with her past form to use the Ink Boi and she evaporates into particles floating in the breeze. Then Desti shows up asking her how it feels to fulfill her dream, but she says it’s not about winning and is doing this for her. Desti smiles and knows she will win. Then it’s the third day and final round at Walleye Warehouse, where the Turf War begins with Splatsquad against Killer Ink. Poetically as Callie says, it ends where it all began this time with standard rules. The match starts and the heat is on between the competitors resulting in some cool tricks from the Squad team. As time gets closer to zero, tension builds up when three of our heros get splattered and it’s down to Meggy. But through her skill and determination she knocks out three opponents with a triple-combo kill buying her time. The Killer Ink leader tries to escape and she chases after her. Nowhere in her sights, the leader surprise-attacks Meggy and looks up getting mocked and then hallucinates Desti as if she was right in front of her. Meggy exclaims she’s only getting started. Using the surfboard, she throws her Splattershot at her, kicks her own weapon and knocks her out. 15 seconds left and the Squad spray as much of the warehouse as they can. Time is UP, and silence looms over the arena when the score is tallied (I wonder if Judd and Li’l Judd are there). And the winner is…. TEAM SPLATSQUAD. Everyone cheers and Meggy has finally made her vow to win for Desti with tears of joy. The SMG4 crew congratulates their friends and Bob declares another party back at the apartment to celebrate the wondrous occasion. But E. Gadd shouts for a thank you for his inventions.

「何でもいい！」 “No Matter What!”

Back at Meggy’s home everyone is gleefully partying the evening away and she is finally proud to have completed her momentous task and thanks Axol for his help. Meggy goes outside to the rooftop viewing the sunset and Desti’s spirit appears. She asks what she’ll do now, Meggy replies with what she meant about her friends but Desti explains all she saw was her constant training and mourning her loss and she needs to move on. Meggy responds saying that it’s been difficult to forget so she makes it easier with a hug. Desti thanks her for keeping the promise and they both say goodbye. She fades away into the sky and Meggy is comforted knowing she achieved closure. Overhearing Mario playing Pin the Tail again, she rushes back to her room to play with her friends as the camera shifts to the sunset concluding the film.

「涙ぐましい、間抜けな、楽しい映画」 “A Tear-jerking, Goofy and Fun Film”

I love this movie A LOT and the positive reception is well-deserved. Luke, Kevin, all of you guys down at Glitch Productions, FANTASTIC work for bringing justice by finishing what the Anime Arc left off. I have nothing but true praise for this masterpiece which we’ll finally go over. The editing is well done especially during certain scenes along with the video’s overall tone make it close to the feeling of a feature-length movie. I know, 40 minutes doesn’t necessarily count as the arcs do a better job satisfying length but it holds the record for being the longest SMG4 video ever. Characters are spot-on with Meggy having the starring role to boot. The comedy is par for the course like the usual SMG4 video, but I’m glad it doesn’t clash with the overall story and serves its purpose for a good laugh as it usually does. And there are memorable moments such as Meggy crossing paths with her Inkling self, Axol helping her and my most favorite part, the ending when Desti hugs her and says goodbye. That’s powerful AND beautiful. But nothing is ever really perfect as my only problem is that there isn’t much of a bump in quality with the visuals like how most shows upgrade their art style when they’re turned into movies. I don’t think the whole thing falls apart because of it, I just wanted to know what the video would look like had it looked as good as the poster, but looks aren’t everything if you have a great plot to back it up. Maybe someday Garry’s Mod 2 will be released and the next movie will look even better than this one also becoming the new standard for future videos, who knows. If you’re confused or don’t agree on why I love the current state of the channel, it’s because we would like to see them at their true potential. By the looks of it, they might be taking baby steps or they might not be far off soon enough. Meta Runner and Glitch Productions were made from their ambition and hard work and is pretty commendable from their background of making videos initially for fun, and this movie may as well be the bridge for things to come. Whatever happens, I wish all of these people the best of luck. With all that said, I’m giving Meggy’s Destiny a perfect 10/10 and nothing else needs to be spoken.

That’s all for my review everyone, I really hope all of you enjoyed it and the film as much as I did because SMG4 DEFINITELY pulled it off. Most of my friends love it and wish them the best too. So thank you guys so much for watching and once again thank you Luke and your friends for giving us something special after all these years, please keep it up don’t let yourselves down. See you guys later and we’ll meet again for more reviews and reactions and peace out!

[euroman1945-blog]

The Daily Tulip

The Daily Tulip – News From Around The World

Monday 27th August 2018

Good Morning Gentle Reader….  I hope you slept well and have woken full of the joys of summer… The meteors are quite beautiful this morning, I stood and watched with Bella as streaks of fire zipped across the night sky, then together we walked back to the house, Bella thinking about the cookie I promised her and me looking forward to the fresh Colombian Coffee that was brewing while we walked, it’s 3 years ago that we lost Sadie and almost 5 years since Mackie left us, but I believe they still walk the town with us in the mornings……So before I start getting all maudlin on us, let’s take a look at what’s happened in this mixed up world we call Earth….

DRUG TUNNEL RAN FROM OLD KFC IN ARIZONA TO MEXICO BEDROOM…. US authorities have found a secret drug tunnel stretching from a former KFC in the state of Arizona to Mexico. The 600ft (180m) passageway was in the basement of the old restaurant in San Luis, leading under the border to a home in San Luis Rio Colorado. Authorities made the discovery last week and have arrested the southern Arizona building's owner. They were alerted to the tunnel after the suspect, Ivan Lopez, was pulled over, according to KYMA News. During the traffic stop, police dogs reportedly led officers to two containers of hard narcotics with a street value of more than $1m in Lopez's vehicle. Investigators say the containers held 118kg (260lb) of methamphetamine, six grams of cocaine, 3kg of fentanyl, and 21kg of heroin. Agents searched Lopez's home and his old KFC, discovering the tunnel's entrance in the kitchen of the former fast-food joint. The passageway was 22ft deep, 5ft tall and 3ft wide, and ended at a trap door under a bed in a home in Mexico, said US officials. The drugs are believed to have been pulled up through the tunnel with a rope. This is not the first such discovery - two years ago a 2,600ft tunnel was found by authorities in San Diego, California. Authorities said it was one of the longest such drug tunnels ever discovered, used to transport an "unprecedented cache" of cocaine and marijuana. In July alone, US Border Patrol seized 15kg of heroin, 24lbs of cocaine, 327kg of methamphetamine and 1,900kg of marijuana at border checkpoints nationwide… Comment: Now we know what the “Secret” ingredient is in the Col’s recipe…..

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION 'CONSIDERS FUNDING GUNS IN SCHOOLS'…. The Trump administration is considering allowing schools to access federal education funding to purchase guns for teachers, US media report. The Department of Education (DoE) is looking at allowing states to use academic enrichment funds for firearms, the New York Times first reported. The federal grant being considered for this purpose is one that does not specifically prohibit buying weapons. Congress forbids using federal funds for school safety to purchase weapons. DoE spokeswoman Elizabeth Hill told CBS News: "The department is constantly considering and evaluating policy issues, particularly issues related to school safety." "The secretary nor the department issues opinions on hypothetical scenarios," she added… Comment: I cannot think of a more irresponsible action on behalf of a government…

AUSTRIA REJECTS 'GIRLISH' IRAQI ASYLUM SEEKER…. Austrian officials rejected an Iraqi migrant's asylum application because he was too "girlish", local media say. The 27-year-old's claim to be gay was deemed "unbelievable", in part due to his behaviour, according to reports. He can appeal against the decision. It comes just days after Amnesty International criticised Austria's asylum processes as "dubious". The government has hit back at the criticism, saying its asylum officials work appropriately. In the latest case, the Iraqi asylum seeker was felt to exhibit "stereotypical, in any case excessive 'girlish' behaviour (expressions, gestures)", which seemed fake, Austria's Kurier newspaper reported. Said to be an active member in local LGBT groups, he is understood to have fled Iraq in 2015, fearing for his life. However a spokesman for Austria's asylum office said the decision had been reviewed, and rejected the accusation it contained any "clichéd phrasing" by officials in Styria state, Kurier added. It is the second controversial asylum case in recent days. Last week, activists said that an 18-year-old Afghan asylum seeker had his application rejected because he did not "act or dress" like a homosexual. "The inhuman language in asylum claims does not conform with the requirements of a fair, rule-of-law procedure," Amnesty International said in a report. Interior Ministry spokesman Christoph Poelzl also rejected the accusation officials used "inhuman" language, telling news agency AFP that all employees who assess asylum claims receive training. However, the official involved in the Afghan asylum seeker's case is no longer involved in assessing applications, he added. Austria is currently run by a coalition of the conservative People's Party and the far-right Freedom Party, which came to power following an election dominated by Europe's migrant crisis last year. Comment: Immigration should not be based on “Sexual Preference” especially when determined by the “Far Right” party…

CHINA ARRESTS OVER TANG DYNASTY RELIC THEFTS…. Chinese police have arrested 26 people suspected of stealing relics from an ancient burial site. The gang allegedly seized almost 650 objects, including gold and silver cutlery and jewellery, from the Dulan Tombs, which lie on the ancient Silk Road in northwest China. The stolen items date back to the 7th Century, the Chinese Ministry of Public Security said in a statement. The suspects allegedly tried to sell them for about $11m (£7.8m). The objects were said to have been illegally excavated from the tombs, located in the north-western province of Qinghai. Silk, gold, silver, bronze ware and other items have been unearthed at the tombs, of which there are more than 2,000, since 1982. Experts believe that many of the items are of huge historical value as they show cultural exchanges and interactions between East and West during the early Tang Dynasty (618-907). Following the arrests, police will increase their crackdown on cultural relics crimes to better protect the country's cultural heritage, the Chinese government said. (See photographs at https://www.facebook.com/groups/OurPastBeneathOurFeet/ )

INDIA'S 'BIGGEST' PET RESCUE OPERATION IN KERALA FLOODS….  When rescuers in India's flood-ravaged southern state of Kerala reached a flooded hut in the city of Thrissur, the couple living there refused to leave without their 25 dogs. The water was rising, and the dogs were huddled on a single bed. The rescue workers had arrived on boats, and Sunitha, who uses only one name, flatly told them she and her husband would not leave without their stray and abandoned pets. "Our neighbours had been moved to schools and camps nearby. Rescue workers said that we could not bring our dogs to the relief camp," she said. So the workers went back and got in touch with an animal rescue group. Sally Varma of Humane Society International told the BBC that their volunteers arrived soon, and arranged for the dogs to be taken to a special shelter for affected animals. Ms Varma said she has started a fundraiser for the family and its pets so a kennel could be built at their home after the floods recede. Nearly 400 people have died in the worst flooding Kerala has witnessed in a century. Thousands remain stranded. More than one million people have been displaced, with many of them taking shelter in thousands of relief camps across the state. But what is striking is how hundreds of animals are being rescued in the affected areas. In what appears to be one of the biggest animal rescue operations during a natural calamity in India, hundreds of volunteers and animal rescue workers have travelled to flood-affected areas. Social media is awash with dramatic rescue videos: a rescuer removing his life jacket and putting it on a Labrador to help it swim to higher ground; drenched dogs being taken out of flooded homes and kennels; and country boats and inflatable rafts carrying dogs, goats and cats to safety. Rescuers have waded through water, and travelled on boats and rafts to treat, feed and rescue hundreds of animals - dogs, cats, goats, cows, cattle, ducks, and even snakes - as the waters have begun receding. Trucks with animal feed and medicines are reaching affected districts. Some animals have been moved to shelter camps, and others to higher ground. A number of animal rescue help lines have been set up, and rescuers are using WhatsApp and social media to respond to calls. "We are getting more than 100 calls a day on our helpline. The number of animals that have been moved to higher ground and rescued must be in hundreds," Anand Shiva of Kerala Animal Rescue said.

Well Gentle Reader I hope you enjoyed our look at the news from around the world this, morning… …

Our Tulips today are from India, where the Tulip garden with the backdrop of the mighty Zabarwan range of mountains was thrown open for the public, on Sunday by Minister for Floriculture Javid Mustafa Mir.

Asia’s largest tulip garden, which has about 12.5 lakh tulips of 50 varieties in its lap on the banks of world famous Dal Lake in the summer capital, Srinagar, marked the beginning of new tourism season in the Valley.

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 27th August 2018 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 4:00 am…on the streets of Estepona…

All good stuff....But remember it’s a dangerous world we live in

Be safe out there…

Robert McAngus #Spain #India #China #USA #Bella

[spinnerprincess]

an incomplete list of fantastic things across campaigns i have dm’d for and been a player in over the last year and a half or so

please, fellow players, feel free to reblog and toss in any great stories i forgot. i love u guys

local cleric/rogue decides it’s her new life mission to teach a couatl, which can’t lie, how to lie (or use misleading truth)

the party was being chased around by a mysterious entity in a forest, and were surrounded by whispers everywhere they went. but then they used zone of truth... on... the forest...... and it woRKED...

one time our paladin ran into a mysterious magical sphere, promptly nicknamed “death orb,” was about to get caught by the local security, and quickly rolled the orb into their bag of holding, and soon after heard a loud noise and a scream and connected the dots to realize “OH MY GOD I JUST DEPLANED THE ORB”

our sweet little halfling bard uses mass suggestion on a few mercenaries looking for our adventuring party. “huuuuuuh? oh, we’re definitely not here... maybe just... look somewhere else?” they get back on their dragon, THEIR DRAGON, WHO IS 100% SUS OF US AT THIS POINT, BUT CAN’T ARGUE WITH ITS RIDERS, and just... leave. encounter status: thoroughly skipped

“shit, the goddess we’re trying to rescue is in danger!” “no, it’s okay, we prepared for this. use dimension door to teleport her to safety” local evil boy, stepping out from behind a rock 5 feet away from ‘safety’: “lol thanks for the delivery???”

more under the cut:

half-orc monk PC tells half-orc monk NPC about the secret history of their people. half-orc monk NPC then investigates and becomes a high level monk in the background, without telling anyone where she went???? iconic????

same half-orc monk PC has a contentious relationship with her father which eventually resolves for the first time into a relatively healthy relationship... of essentially being business rivals. they’re basically fighting to win over leadership of their people and it’s the best their relationship has ever been, i can’t,,,

random dude, about the cleric/rogue: “is... she flirting with me?” extremely gay half-elf lady PC: “UGH. UGHHHHHHHH” *walking away* “STAY AWAY FROM HER. AND ME. UGHHHHHHHH”

just in general any time the subject of men comes up that player’s character being like “i’m out” lol

party’s bard is deeply in love with her girlfriend. the party runs into a strange woman who flirts with said bard. bard says, “oh sorry, i’m taken, i’m dating the most amazing woman i’ve ever known and i love her and i’m gonna propose to her!! but you’re amazing too and beautiful and i hope you find a love just as true some day” turns out this strange woman IS ACTUALLY GIRLFRIEND IN DISGUISE, AND BARD JUST ACCIDENTALLY MENTIONED PROPOSING TO HER

same bard later prepared to propose to her girlfriend for real, and personally wrote an 80+ line poem to read to her in-game, holy shit????? 

BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE: NPC GIRLFRIEND FUCKIN’ BEAT HER TO THE PROPOSAL PUNCH!!!!! incredibly gay from start to finish

one time we played a wizard oneshot where gnome wizard turned tiefling wizard into a tyrannosaurus rex... she had been, at the time floating several feet above the prone stone giant they were fighting. ow.

two PCs and their NPC adopted goblin son walk into a naga’s hideout, cut his head off, steal his dragon bones, have they made an enemy forever? ehhhhh maybe

one time an NPC cleric got into trouble with the guards in a PC’s hometown because he tried to break up a fight in a gay bar. he didn’t mention that it was a gay bar

bard nicknames a sphinx the party knows “pretty kitty.” uses it to sphinx’s face on a regular basis. sphinx turns out to secretly be a 1000+ year old polymorphed druid hero who saved their world

one of the PCs kind of had a thing for a moon goddess? for a long time there were jokes like “sooooo your turn to take night watch... what are you doing?” “oh just stargazing” “got it, being gay.”

my sorcerer’s hair all fell out because of wild magic. “NOT AGAIN..... i hope it comes back a cool color :c” (it did.)

fellow PC at the same sorcerer: “wait why is your last name ‘dawnstrider’ on that portrait? i thought it was duskwalker” “DON’T WORRY ABOUT IT”..... months later, she adds “look, sometimes you make decisions when you’re an angsty teen, and stick with them,”

“Also is our forever arch nemesis just going to be tryhard daddy-issues sorcerers?” - glitz, calling me out. HEY, I’VE ONLY DONE TWO OF THEM,

the time the party just casually invited the mortal incarnation of a goddess to come be their roommate. she accepted

[bigyack-com]

Carlos Ghosn: The C-Suite Fugitive Under Pressure

BEIRUT, Lebanon — Most global fugitives tend to lie low. They do not beckon reporters to televised news conferences or allow themselves to be photographed drinking wine by candlelight days after being smuggled in a box aboard a chartered jet to freedom.But Carlos Ghosn, the deposed auto executive, is no normal fugitive. Unapologetic and unrelenting, he stood at a lectern in Beirut before more than 100 journalists on Wednesday and laid out his case for how criminal charges of financial wrongdoing in Japan are part of a vast conspiracy to take him down. The highly choreographed event, during which Mr. Ghosn took aim at the Japanese justice system and his corporate enemies, was scheduled 415 days after he was first arrested and more than a week after a team of operatives helped spirit him away from house arrest in Tokyo, where he was awaiting trial.“I did not escape justice,” said Mr. Ghosn, 65, wearing an immaculate blue suit, white shirt and red tie. “I fled injustice and political persecution.”For all the bravado he projects, Mr. Ghosn is a potent symbol of globalism under pressure, an imperial executive in retreat.Until his arrest, he ruled an automotive alliance that spanned continents, comprising Nissan, Renault and Mitsubishi. As head of Nissan, Mr. Ghosn was one of only a handful of foreign chief executives of a Japanese company. But the alliance now threatens to fall apart, a parallel for a time when the global trade order and the military and political alliances that once held the modern world together are facing their toughest tests in decades.For nearly three hours on Wednesday, alternating flawlessly through four languages (English, Arabic, French and Portuguese), Mr. Ghosn talked about how “more than 20 books of management have been written about me.” He referred to himself in the third person and talked about the drop in market valuation at the auto companies he once ran. He drew applause from some reporters, and flattered others, promising to take questions from every region.Mr. Ghosn’s presentation felt, at times, like one he would have delivered to fellow executives and global leaders during one of his regular trips to the World Economic Forum in Davos, the annual gathering in Switzerland that has come to be seen as both a forum for world-changing ideas and a convening of the capitalist and self-congratulatory elite.In a sit-down interview with The New York Times after the news conference, Mr. Ghosn sounded more subdued than during his fiery performance in front of the cameras. He expressed regrets about whom he had hired to replace him at Nissan, admitting, “Frankly, I should have retired.” But Mr. Ghosn remained fiercely protective of his legacy, which is badly bruised. “The revival of Nissan, nobody’s going to take it from me,” he insisted. Mr. Ghosn’s story isn’t a neat one. Company insiders have described him as increasingly haughty and imperious. Though he blames the Japanese justice system for its unfairness, he agreed last fall to pay $1 million to settle a civil case in the United States, which barred him from serving as an officer or a director of a publicly traded company for 10 years. Mr. Ghosn did not admit wrongdoing under the terms of the settlement, but it essentially ended his chance of ever running another large global business. A man with passports from several countries and homes across the world, Mr. Ghosn and his wife, Carole, who also faces a Japanese arrest warrant, are essentially stuck in Lebanon, where they have family and own property but are not free from prosecution. On Wednesday, Lebanese prosecutors said Mr. Ghosn must submit to an interrogation over his flight from Japan.France is also investigating whether Mr. Ghosn used company money from Renault to throw a Marie Antoinette-themed party at Versailles in 2016. And Nissan has accused him of siphoning millions of dollars from the auto company to pay for his yacht, buy houses and distribute cash to members of his family — all of which he denies. Mr. Ghosn argued that in most countries, he would not have been held for months in jail for these types of allegations. He said he felt he was being treated “like a terrorist.”During the news conference, he flashed giant slides on a white wall behind him, showing various corporate documents. In explaining some of the questionable personal expenses, Mr. Ghosn used a defense common on Wall Street: He said other executives at Nissan had signed off on the transactions, which made them authorized by the company.Since his arrest in Japan in November 2018, Mr. Ghosn and his supporters have worked aggressively to tell his side of the story and attack his critics.He has employed lawyers on at least three continents, talked to a Hollywood producer about making a movie about his legal ordeal and hired a public relations firm that advised the National Football League on its efforts to reduce head injuries.In France, the “Committee to Support Mr. Carlos Ghosn” formed on Facebook. Some of his supporters there blame the government for failing to stand up for Mr. Ghosn, a French citizen, for fear of angering the country’s “yellow vest” protesters railing against the global elite.In Lebanon, where Mr. Ghosn grew up, he is celebrated as a member of the diaspora of business leaders and artists who have achieved worldwide success. Hours after he landed in Beirut, Mr. Ghosn met with the country’s president, Michel Aoun, and other top leaders, and operatives who helped him carry out his escape had ties to the country. Lebanese supporters paid for billboard ads across Beirut with the executive’s face on them and the message: “We are all Carlos Ghosn.” But in truth, there are few people in the world who have Mr. Ghosn’s money and influence.A grandson of a Lebanese entrepreneur who ran several companies in South America, Mr. Ghosn was born in Brazil in 1954. His family moved back to Lebanon when he was 6, and he later attended college in France.“I’ve always been someone who was different,” he wrote in his autobiography in 2003. Mr. Ghosn went to work in the auto industry after college and made his mark revitalizing Renault. In the 1990s, he helped turn around Nissan by slashing jobs and upending its corporate culture. “It was a dead company,” he said on Wednesday.Mr. Ghosn expanded his auto empire further by creating the alliance of Renault, Nissan and another Japanese company, Mitsubishi.His leadership of Renault, which the French government partly owns, gave him political standing in France. In Lebanon, some people hoped he would run for public office, maybe even president.Mr. Ghosn’s personal and professional empire collapsed when he was arrested at the Tokyo airport on his return from a trip to Lebanon. By that point, he had stepped down as chief executive at Nissan, but was still its chairman.From the airport, Mr. Ghosn was taken to jail, where he was forced to live in solitary confinement for weeks at a time. He was allowed to shower twice a week and was let out of his cell for 30 minutes a day. Prosecutors, he said, hid the evidence against him and prohibited him from contacting his wife in Lebanon.He was released on bail, but he was jailed again in April after he announced that he planned to speak with the press. Last fall, Mr. Ghosn said, his lawyers told him that his case could drag on for five years, which he said was a violation of a basic human right to a speedy trial. It wasn’t all glum. Two days before his Dec. 29 escape, his secretary made him a reservation at a Tokyo restaurant where he enjoyed his favorite salad with sesame dressing, according to the restaurant’s manager. He posed for photos with about 40 customers.Mr. Ghosn wouldn’t talk on Wednesday about how he got from Japan to Beirut, despite reporters’ attempts. Government-authorized media accounts from Turkey, where Mr. Ghosn landed on the first leg of his journey, have said he was smuggled inside of a large box from an airport in Osaka, Japan.The box was loaded into the storage area of a private plane, which was accessible from where the passengers sat, according to the Turkish account. The two operatives working with Mr. Ghosn told the flight attendant not to bother them.After takeoff, Mr. Ghosn was let out of the box and sat in the passenger area, which contained a bed and sofa and was separated from the front of the plane by a locked door. For about 12 hours, the quintessential global citizen was officially stateless, flying high above Asia in secret.The Bombardier jet landed in the rain at Ataturk International Airport in Istanbul. A car pulled up to the plane and then drove to another jet parked a short distance away, according to the Turkish media. That second plane then took off for Beirut.At least 15 operatives were involved in the operation, and some of them were not aware of whom they were extracting from Japan, according to a person briefed on the operation. They assumed that the plan was to rescue a kidnapped child.In the interview on Wednesday, Mr. Ghosn said he had planned the escape himself, but with help from others, whom he wouldn’t disclose. “Little by little,” he said, he began to think through a strategy for getting out. “When I started to do that, it kept me motivated. It kept me alive.”During the escape, he kept telling himself: “You need to always remember what happened to you. No matter what, never forget that.”Ben Dooley reported from Beirut, and Michael Corkery from New York. Reporting was contributed by Vivian Yee from Beirut, Hisako Ueno from Tokyo, Liz Alderman from Paris, and Emily Flitter and David Yaffe-Bellany from New York. Read the full article

[kizmetcandy]

My Candy Love - Episode 34 Guide

Notes:

-      Negative result for LOM /      Neutral result for LOM +     Positive result for LOM

/ or + Means my Love’O’Meter is at 100 so the result is either neutral or positive

If an answer does not have -, /, or + beside it, it means I don’t know the result

LOM: Love’O’Meter; Low LOM is around 75 points or lower. High LOM is 75 and over.

Action Points: 400-600 Action Points depending on how lucky you are on finding people within the episode.

Illustrations: There are 5 Illustrations in total. One Illustration with each boy. Illustration is based on outfit choice and one dialogue choice. Four episode replays are needed to get all Illustrations.

Auntie: Found during the objectives: ‘You can’t stay in the school cafeteria any longer. Go eat outside.’ She can be found in the basement. The gift is a Spaghetti Bowl.

Hidden Items

Objective: ‘Find Iris cell phone’. It can be found in the Cafeteria, Library, and Garden, Science Room or in the Art Room after talking to Capucine, Violette, and Li. You might also run into one of the other boys, Kim and Mr. Faraize, and Ms. Delanay, though they are not needed to finish this objective. It appears the cell phone can be found depending which boy’s route you are on.

Nathaniel > Art Room Castiel > Garden Lysander > Library Kentin > Science Room Armin > Cafeteria

Satchel: During the objective ‘It’s the end of the day, it’s time to go home’; go by the shops. This will trigger dialogue for the satchel. Dialogue:

A.   (Well, it’s too expensive for me and I don’t really need it…)

B.  (Well, it’s too expensive for me, that’s true… But I don’t often buy purses for myself…) ($130)

Outfit

Money

Sandwich and Beverage $12 Satchel $130 Armin/Kentin Outfit $220 Nathaniel/Lysander Outfit $185 Castiel Outfit $190

Special Note (Single Episode Replays)

Using a single episode replay for this episode is done a little differently. First: ‘with which boy do you want to replay this episode?’ This part you pick the boy you want as your boyfriend for the replay, then it will say ‘which boy almost kissed you during the spin the bottle game at Iris’. You cannot choose your boyfriend’.  At this point, you pick the boy that would have been used for the dare. You can pick any boy you want (other than the boy you pick for the boyfriend). This not only gives you the chance to try out different boyfriend options, but the boy your boyfriend gets jealous over.  

Candy

[Choice]

A.  (No, no, no. I’ll content myself with just bringing the phone to her and asking her if it’s hers.) /

B.  (Come on, just a peak, she will never know…) /

[Choice]

A.  (Well, it’s too expensive for me and I don’t really need it…)

B.  (Well, it’s too expensive for me, that’s true… But I don’t often buy purses for myself…) (Hidden Item $130)

Nathaniel

What’s going on Nickname? Did you lose something?

A.  No, I… I’m helping Iris find her cellphone. /

B.  Hmm… In a way… -

C.  No, no. Have you seen Iris by chance? +

[Choice]

A.  Are you angry with me? -

B.  Are you trying to avoid me?

C.  Is everything okay? / or +

(You Start Discussion)

A.  What did you go do?

B.  If I hadn’t taken the time to get to know Priya, I would have been jealous.  +

C.  I was a bit sad that you didn’t come talk to me.

Me too, you came to my rescue not that long ago…

A.  (I don’t want to go back there…)

B.  (If I had to do it all over again, I wouldn’t hesitate for a second.) / (Nathaniel’s Illustration)

C.  (Maybe he need to talk about his father?)

  Castiel

What are you doing little nosey parker?

A.  I’m not being nosey!

B.  Did I ask you why you’re lurking around here?

C.  I’m helping Iris find her cellphone.  +

No need to beat around the bush, I know you need to talk.

A.  I wanted to know… Are you angry with me?

B.  Do you need to talk?

C.  I wanted to know… Is everything okay? +

(You Start Discussion)

A.  What did you go do?

B.  If I hadn’t taken the time to get to know Priya, I would have been jealous.  /

C.  I was a bit sad that you didn’t come talk to me. +

I will have to watch you closely, you mean.

A.  I just need you to be by my side. /

B.  Yes, to watch out for my clumsiness… /

C.  I don’t need a babysitter! / (Castiel Illustration)

Lysander

(You Start Discussion)

A.  Are you angry with me

B.  Are you trying to avoid me?

C.  I wanted to know… Is everything okay? /

(You Start Discussion)

A.  What did you go do?

B.  If I hadn’t taken the time to get to know Priya, I would have been jealous.  

C.  I was a bit sad that you didn’t come talk to me.  +

I’ll help you. I want to be there to protect you.

A.  You’re exaggerating… I’ll be fine.

B.  I sure hope so!

C.  I don’t want to force you to do anything and get you involved in a messed up situation…  (Lysander’s Illustration)

  Kentin

(You Start Discussion)

A.  Are you mad at me? +

B.  Are you trying to avoid me?

C.  I wanted to know… Is everything okay? –

(You Start Discussion)

A.  What did you go do?  /

B.  If I hadn’t taken the time to get to know Priya, I would have been jealous.

C.  I was a bit sad that you didn’t talk to me.

I wanted to take part too. Don’t try to stop me.

A.  I didn’t see myself starting the investigation without you. (Kentin’s Illustration)

B.  Are you sure you want to be a part of this?

C.  What authority!

Armin

No way… What do I have to do for you to understand?

A.  Swear to me that it won’t happen again.

B.  Besides erasing the utter downfall of the spin the bottle game from my mind, I don’t know…

C.  I heard what you said on Saturday. Message received. +

Well thanks for the confidence.

A.  I trust you, but we don’t both need to go. I just don’t want to give her the impression that we’re invading her space.  /

B.  Don’t be a child, I should be the one to go. -

C.  I’m telling you, stay put! +

Yeah, Alexy always needs me when I’m not there.

A.  So that’s what it’s like to have a twin. /

B.  And Iris? We have to help her with geography… / (+ with Iris)

C.  Alexy is throwing fits… +

 Someone wants to hurt Iris. She’s getting really threatening messages.

A.  Do you know who’s sending them?

B.  Threats? What kind of threats? /

C.  But why? What did she do? /

(You Start Discussion)

A.  That’s it, you feel at home now, don’t you?

B.  This looks like an indecent proposal…

C.  (I laid down next to him, happy to see him so at ease.) (Armin’s Illustration)

  Alexy

Ahh, there’s the finest of them all!

A.  Ahhh, stop it, will you? -

B.  I thought Rosa was the finest? +

C.  Wow! Today is the day for compliments! /

  Rosalya

So it’s a passionate romance, huh…

A.  You’re joking, but seriously it is… +

B.  Stop it already! /

C.  Of course not, it’s not that… -

I’m coming. I just got back from the gym.

A.  Did you ask for private lessons from Mr. Boris? /

B.  Did you ask for an exemption again? /

C.  Did you play basketball with the club?

Iris

[Choice]

A.  You’re also going home to eat? /

B.  You know, if you need anything, I’m here. We can talk about it… -

C.  Are you going to tell me what’s going on? –

(You Start Discussion)

A.  That’s not how you’re going to be able to figure out the social inequalities of the countries in the European Union, you know.

B.  Yes, let’s talk about other things than geography. +

C.  Yes, okay… Let’s move.  /

  Violette

Until the end.

A.  What do you mean? /

B.  I don’t see what you’re talking about.

C.  (I look at her.)  +

 But what happened? Did you slip?

A.  (I should just tell her the truth.) +

B.  (No need to worry her by talking about Amber and her friends.) /

  Amber

You were the one that went and filled Capucine’s head with the idea that it would be a good thing to date that loser!

A.  I convinced her of nothing. She chose all by herself. – (- with Charlotte)

B.  I just told her that she had to make her own choices. – (- with Charlotte)

C.  Yes, that’s exactly it. Too bad for you, right? – (- with Charlotte (Largest Drop in LOM))

(You Start Discussion)

A.  I’m sorry am I in your way? /

B.  I was here first. Move! /

C.  (I’m not going to say anything and just take my place behind them in line.) /

  Melody

And it’s also important to have boys on your team. They are stronger than us and can hold us up more firmly during lifts.

A.  What you’re saying is redundant. A girls can very well be stronger than a boy. /

B.  Huh… You seem pretty thrilled about this lifting ordeal.

C.  I will be sure to choose my team very carefully in that case… /

[Choice]

A.   (Many of us weren’t very nice with Melody. It’s time to make amends.) /

B.   (I don’t want to talk to Melody. I prefer to slip away.)  -

[Choice] (Armin’s Route)

A.  (I wasn’t very nice with Melody. It’s time I mend things.) /

B.  (I don’t want to talk to Melody. I prefer to slip away.)  -

 Hello Nickname.

A.  What are you doing? /

B.  I wanted to talk to you about the party. /

  Kim

So, was your little party at Iris’s fun?

A.  Yes, we had a lot of fun! / (+ Later)

B.  It was alright.

C.  Hmm… It went bit sideways towards the end… /

  Pryia

Are you okay?

A.  No… I’m not okay, no. /

B.  I already feel a little better, yes… /

C.  (I shrugged my shoulders while sniffling.) /

(You Start Discussion)

A.  I have other things to think about right now. /

B.  I pity her really. Her, and her friends. And I don’t want to stoop to their level again. / (+ later)

C.  She will never stop.  /

It’s in the past now. It was hard, but now, I’ve moved on. Most people you meet are often just passing along. And anyway, what I lived in Tokyo I had already lived before, so…

A.  Well, you have such a complicated love life! /

B.  Well, you’re filled with sorrows of love!

C.  Well, you haven’t been lucky! /

I think gender has no great importance. You can love a person basked off of their personality, their attitudes or even physically, why not… But whether it’s a girl or a boy, it won’t stop me from being attracted to them.

A.  I see. I can understand that, even if I have never been attracted to a girl. /

B.  I had never seen things from that angle before. That’s going to make me think.  /

  Capucine

(You Start Discussion)

A.  I think the entire high school saw me… +

B.  And…?

C.  I imagine it must have made you laugh too.

  Thomas

(You Start Discussion)

A.  Wrong door!

B.  I’m waiting on Iris to come out of her room, so I was just walking around. + (+ later in discussion)

C.  I shouldn’t have come into your room like that, I’m so sorry.  +

[driftwork]

a station where life ended (beta and final)

1.Every walker, wrapped up in himself, perhaps walking through meadows, across a common, standing on the flat roofs of a building, is alone even when they are standing with others, the daylight effectively  binds them together, connects them in the network of an enormous web. Consider how as they walk across the common for the very last time, the three men are screaming in fury into their smart phones (whoever thought given them phones was a good idea?) they are disconnected from everything, from themselves and from one another.  Passing the bystanders that they terrify, disconnected from the bushes, grass, trees and tarmac, as they walk the last 100 metres along the pavement to the station, enjoying the fear and terror they cause. Let us introduce the soon to be dead and the one who is to be hospitalized. Stuart Hall, Apple and Seb Brown walked along the platform, cropped hair, shaved heads, exercise pants, jeans, Doc Martens, big muscular strides -  Hall's jacket said "White", Apple and Brown's advertised the latest fascist party. Brown was the shorter of the three, six convictions for assault, two cases of rape that failed in the court. His first conviction was at fifteen for beating a young man into a coma. It only got increasingly violent from there. His arms, like his friends covered in swastikas and other symbols of fascism. Hall and Apple had another five convictions between them. Hall had a shiny metal baseball bat. Apple,  well the less said about Apples love of inflicting pain and suffering the better. Their social imaginaries are full of thoughts of being the descendants of fascist warriors, worshippers of Mars. You might want to ask what constructed these three violent walkers who are about to meet their end, what kind of society made them, in actuality little can be said that you will not have heard before.  There is (a) CCTV video of the three of them walking across the station forecourt, onto the platform and everything that followed. They started by damaging the notice boards in the ticketing hall. They tormented a middle aged woman who became frightened and ran off out of the station. They walked southwards along the platform hitting vacant seats and the metal uprights of the canopy. At the far end of the platform there were some more benches. And then they discovered her sitting on the bench. A Japanese or Chinese woman , She was in her 30s. Black shiny hair tied back, black leather jacket zipped closed, dark grey leggings with shiny black ankle boots, a brown leather bag with strap work across her body. A housewife or an office worker they thought, a husband at home with the children. Easily scared. The three of them approached her in a line,  "Hey girl had a fuck today ?" She ignored them.  The warrior waited she hoped they would simply go away. It had been a long day.  She was tired, Eyes half closed, half asleep. looking out onto the railway tracks. Brown prodded her.  She ignored him, not moving. They thought she was scared hoping for a train or rescue. Brown and Hall were both increasingly incensed, angry at being ignored. Apple slower to anger enjoying the build of Adrenalin. So Brown took his butterfly knife out of his jacket pocket, Hall swung the baseball bat to one side.  She still  didn't move. She didn't react. Brown waved the knife across her chest,  a fraction of a centimetre from her chest, closer each time,  the third time cutting a slice into the surface her leather jacket. It could not penetrate the kelver protection in the lining of the jacket. He screamed "........ abuse abuse blah blah etc etc... " An accountant standing on the other platform on his way home, coincidentally from some meetings at the police station, was on the phone to the police, he told the police later that it all happened so fast that he could scarcely believe it.  The station CCTV cameras recorded the three men's abusive behavior, showing their demise in glorious technicolor. Brown swung the knife again and Hall and Apple cheered.  She grabbed his hand with her right hand and hit Browns arm with such force that she fractured his elbow joint, pushing the hand holding the knife along the swing towards Browns body, the blade went straight through his ribs  and buried itself in his lung. She rose pivoting and punching him in the throat. It was a perfect dance move, liquid, modern, precise. Brown fell to the ground and died almost immediately.  She continued the fluid movement and stepped to the left away from Brown's body. What is the destiny of the warrior? The warrior turned facing Hall and watched the third man who was slightly further away by the platform edge. Neither Hall nor Apple knew whether to fight or flee. Hall simply made the wrong decision, because she still looked like a Japanese or Chinese housewife to him. He attacked with the baseball bat, it never made contact,  she stepped forward and punched him twice in the throat. He fell down gasping for breath and when his heart stopped in the ambulance he had to be resuscitated. Apple should have run at this point but instead attacked, she pirouetted on one foot, slightly overbalanced and her arms spread out to stabilize and attacked him with elegant ferocity, fracturing his ribs and  punching him multiple times in the face and throat. Apple fell back onto the rail tracks the back of his head hitting the steel rail with a horrible wet thud and lay staring at the sky.  She surveyed the damage she had inflicted on her attackers.  Visibly sighed and sat down on the bench and waited for the police. When the police arrived they found  a man with a knife in his chest, another dying on the railway tracks and the third gasping for breath. She was  on the phone speaking to someone.

2.The police took her to Mugeyeong police station which  is the main office of the serious crime and homicide division in the area. It is a pretty standard regional police station, two and a half floors, concrete steps and a wheelchair ramp going up to the ground floor main entrance. It is a forty year old systems building, last refurbished ten years ago. It is about 80 metres across and 20 meters high. The roof is flat with a concrete balustrade, behind which solar panels can be seen facing southwards. The building has a concrete frame within which the prefabricated components of the window sections are slotted between the grey concrete uprights. The lower half of each section containing pale blue panels that are fading from the sun and weather, the upper half being made up of sealed triple glazed window units with Venetian style blinds hanging inside the inner unit. Some of the offices have roller blinds on the inside of the windows. There are fire exits at both ends of the building and a rear entrance.  There are floodlights pointing forward at the car park in front of the building. It is still light when they arrive and she makes them pause  so she can survey the building. The  woman police tries to pull her forward but cannot make her move. They take her to the front desk and try to book her in. She refuses to say a word. Her face expressionless under the led and tube lighting. They book her in under nameless, identity unknown and take her upstairs to the offices for interviewing and further investigation.

3.[Defense lawyers]: Not long after the police arrive at the police station we received a call  - A client has just called and asked for a lawyer to take a case, please go to Mugeyeong police station. What is the case ? we asked,  I don't know the details,  an important client has been arrested and is at the police station.  It involved some people dying, that was all they knew. She is very important.   The inside of the police station is mostly painted in municipal grey and with the pale blue that the police seem to prefer. The section of the floor she was being held in is an open plan office with three sets of desks arranged in groups of 7,  the dividers are a soft grey colour with white boards strategically arranged. each desk having one or two monitors, with tough laptops or low profile desktop computers. Photons flood the room from led lights set into the ceiling, some of the desks have additional desk lamps, strip lighting or angle-poise lamps. There is the low humming from the air heat exchange unit.  The detectives on the floor are dressed in various styles of business casual clothing, shirts, tee shirts, jeans, trousers, trainers or boots. Its 2/3rds men and 1/3rd women. There are a few officers dressed in the local police uniforms.  She is escorted onto the floor and passed over to the duty inspector who in turn hands her over to Detective Inspector Ross. It's sometime after nine when we arrive, when its an important client we always travel in pairs, in this case myself and my assistant. Detective Inspector Ross was waiting for us at his desk, situated at the end of the third row of desks.  Ross had interrogated  thousands of people over the years and was  extremely effective  at interviewing suspects and extracting confessions from them. He was meeting a wall of patient silence. He was just back from holiday and was already wishing he'd taken a few extra days off to avoid this case.  There is a tendency for interrogators to shout and browbeat  suspects/witnesses who are too silent, in this case Ross had taken one look at the CCTV footage and knew there was no advantage in using aggression. He judged that it might even be dangerous. It took about fifteen minutes for us to get through to the room where they were keeping her.  She had not said a word, hadn’t even looked interested. They tried various european languages, then mandarin, korean, and finally  japanese, she had smiled at their bad pronunciation. They had taken photographs,  fingerprints, checked her wallet and bag. She had refused to take off or unzip her jacket. They were trying to find her details so that they could log the crime, identifying her as either a victim or an aggressor. In the outer office there had been a steady stream of police viewing the CCTV recordings: "Christ, look at that, how did she do that ?" was the immediate response. The video was copied onto PC’s and IPADs and eventually uploaded where it stayed for half a week before vanishing. The accountant and a few other witnesses were interviewed which established that the three men had threatened and attacked her after verbally threatening and abusing the woman further down the platform [...] DI Ross was unusually pleased to see us,  the police normally prefer to interrogate people without our presence, but to our surprise, he said “We are getting  absolutely nowhere, she is simply refusing to cooperate. Perhaps she will speak now you are here"  We went into the dark green painted interrogation room and tried to speak with her,  she thanked us for attending but said nothing except for....  "I haven't eaten since lunch, is it possible, for me to have something to eat, perhaps some tea and water ?". My assistant went down to the canteen on the ground floor and came back with a couple of sandwiches, chicken and bacon and a cheese sandwich, a cup of tea and a bottle of water. She scraped the mayo off the chicken and bacon sandwich. She wolfed the sandwiches down in a predatory fashion. "I was starving" she said sipping her tea as  Ross returned with his Sergeant and tried to question her again, whilst we sat beside her. This continued throughout the night.  A trace of a smile appeared on her face at around 5 AM. She asked for water when the Sergeant went out for drinks. We went and sat in Ross's office drinking coffee from the star buck's next door that had opened at 6AM.  We watched the video a few more times. She asked for a breakfast sandwich. 

4.I said, we said, to Ross that it was a classic case of self defense. "True, but something about her is wrong. She is obviously waiting for something but what ?" I agree, I said, but you have no possibility of holding her. If she starts speaking about it, it may get even worse. "We have two dead men and a man in a coma, I would like to charge with manslaughter."  But it was clearly self-defense, we have witnesses and video to prove it. Nobody would charge her and expect a conviction. This was the core of our discussion about the event and continued all night. At seven AM Ross phoned his Detective Chief Superintendent, who begrudgingly came to the station on the way to his office. We all sat down in the glass walled meeting room around the table at around eight AM. He read the testimony of the witnesses three of four times. Then watched the video from where the three men entered the station to when the police arrived. He watched the fight sequence half a dozen times. "That is one dangerous woman." He told the technical sergeant to turn it off and looked at us expectantly."I'd like to hold her with a view to arresting her for manslaughter, failing that,  failing that excessive violent defense. The excess being the knife in the man's chest and the two punches in his throat and the kicks..."  Ross said."Go ahead" he said looking at me and my assistant. "That is insane,  she was assaulted by a man with a knife, another with a baseball bat and... so of course she is allowed to defend herself. DI Ross knows that he cannot possibly believe that with this evidence he could take this case to a jury.""Ross, Have you been able to establish her name ?""Not yet,  she won't speak""And I cannot tell you who she is, as I have been asked not to. I can supply details of the client through the office which contacted us. It's ten, eleven hours since she was brought here. There is no chance of any successful prosecution."(I had no idea who she was and only found out later) "...Nor is the accused obliged to identify herself, she after all has done nothing illegal or wrong. Nor has she been cautioned. So she is allowed, encouraged to remain silent.""Is there any known relationship between the victims and the woman ?""We don't have any information about that" Ross said."Do we  have anything about her from our files ? fingerprints, dna etc. Is there evidence of any crimes ?"”Nothing at all. There are no records. If we arrest her, then we may find other things ...”“A charge that there is no chance of successfully prosecuting...” I Interjected.Ross groaned. To the DCS's visible amusement. "The complete autopsy reports have not been delivered...."The DCS looked cynically at him - "Well the two dead men certainly did not die of heart attacks or old age." The DCS grunted as he looked at the paperwork again, he told the Duty Sergeant to go and fetch her.  She came in carrying a bottle of water that she collected on the way from the interview room. I could see her scanning the open plan office as she walked towards the meeting room.  We talked and exchanged a few more views, more or less repeating what we had said  when she wasn't there. We repeated the conversation just so that she knew what we were talking and thinking about. She sat facing the door and looking out of the room into the station towards the exit. She was looking pale and tired. Sergeant Taylor came into the room carrying a breakfast roll, a drinking yogurt and an orange juice. She handed it to the woman. She nodded her thanks and started to eat the roll. It was now after 9am, the morning shift was arriving,  people looked with interest at the room, understandably curious at what was going on. She was looking with interest at us speaking. She looked as if she wanted to join in the discussion but wisely kept silent. The DCS asked her a few questions which she did not reply to. He told her that he thought she was very irritating. She looked like she wanted to smile at him."O.K. In fact I think your grasping at straws, Ross. I have heard enough." He stretched back into his chair. " The issue of self-defense is pretty clear, if someone is attacked with a knife  and a baseball bat, a person is allowed to defend themselves so that the attack is ended. There is no way the prosecution people could win this case."He looked between the four of us before facing her.  "Ross is right it is an unusual case. I think the calmness with which which you faced the attackers/and/victims alarming. But I do not think that excessive violence was used. Which is also demonstrated that the third man will be prosecuted when we can do so..." He paused and looked at Ross who shrugged." Your request for an arrest warrant is refused. The witness/accused is to be released." The sergeant began to prepare the discharge paperwork.  Ross was about to answer when she suddenly smiled. Beamed, the tiredness flickering away. She was looking past him across the room, what she was waiting for arriving. "They have come for me..."The DCS turned and looked at the man who he recognized and his Sergeant who were walking across the room."Is that who you mean ?" "yes, and that's his DI/Sergeant..." The five of us watched them walk across the room, the duty Inspector intercepts them to say good morning. 

5. Leaving...He phoned at around 6AM apologizing to her, asking if she could come and look after their child. He explained  why and where he was going, she arrived around 8 AM limping up the path her left leg in a support, he couldn’t manage to ask how she was. She looked at the control he was struggling to maintain and immediately took over dressing the child ready for the morning. He packed a change of clothes for his wife in the traveling bag. His sergeant,  actually she was a DI, but he always referred to her as his sergeant arrived around 8.15. You came ? he said to her as he made more coffee. Yes, I came to make sure we walk her out of the station, I'm better for this than anyone else. The babysitter was feeding breakfast and chatting to his daughter as they left. At the station She parked the deep blue colored Porsche Cayanne in front of the station. She had taken the keys from his hands before they left, I'll drive, you might crash. She parked in a disabled spot, put the police badge on the dashboard. They walked to the front desk hanging identification lanyards around their necks. We've come to see a witness you have upstairs, you don't have a name for her. My name however is, waving the Id pass at them.  They signed into the computer system. She refused to give a name - the desk sergeant said.  Good, that is what I told her to do. He told him.  The sergeant looked disconcerted and  told a constable to take them upstairs. They arrived with the constable who directed them to the meeting room, he was walking them along the passageway between the desks when the duty inspector intercepted them, offering his hand, taking a slightly obsequious stance.  Asking if there was anything he could help them with. He gestured at the meeting room, saying something. The defense lawyers reviewed and then signed the discharge papers for her. She was about to be discharged from the meeting room, she was given  her bag, it's contents and the other objects. She was looking better, happy, the tiredness flickering away. She was looking across the room as she took her copy of the paperwork.  She took a few of the defense lawyers business cards. She suddenly smiled, and spoke for the third or fourth time "They have come for me..." Ross was about to answer. She was beaming, the tiredness flickering away. She was looking past him across the office. The DCS turned and looked at the man who he recognized and his Sergeant who were walking across the room.   "Thank you. I'm sorry to have caused you so much trouble.  Do you want a witness statement from me, later? "  The DCS took Ross to greet them, they left the door open.  The man said something shook the DCS's hand, said hello to Ross. Followed them into the meeting room. "I brought a change of clothing, you should change before I take you home."  The constable escorted them to the disabled toilet. She stepped in, he offered the bag to her and she grabbed his wrist and pulled him into the room with her. The constable leaned against the partition wall and listened to her moving, them talking, telling him what had happened, as she changed, water ran, washed, sat on the toilet, washed again, dressed, tied her her back with a clean hairband.  She emerged wearing clean black leggings, a cream silk shirt that ended at her waist with half sleeves, tattoos emerging from her sleeves, her slightly round stomach more obviously sticking out carrying her damaged jacket over her arm. The constable looked at her obviously pregnant body. "Congratulations. How many weeks ?" "Three or four months, I've lost track..." He was carrying the bag with the clothes.  His DI/Sergeant watched the CCTV, read the witness statements. Looked around the meeting room with a rueful and wintry smile. "So no charges. A sensible result.  A pregnant woman kills a man who is attacking her with a knife, imagine taking that to court, never going to work. If you need her as a witness for their prosecution you can contact her through our office."  Ross and the Defense lawyers watched them drive off in the Porsche.

6.Later after having a shower she came downstairs and put her cool hands on his face, the babysitter and the DI/sergeant both looked at her stroking his face.  He lent back into her body as she hugged him.  “Thanks for rescuing me...” The DI looked at them both, “I have to go and be shouted at by our, your boss. She may call you to harangue you later. Expect no sympathy from me...” “I will have to get my jacket repaired...” she said...

[brownstonearmy]

2019-10-11: Official Business

June 25 (Thursday Morning)

As the party assembles at SHART HQ on an overcast morning after the events at the perfumery, Dave greets them with solemn news. He has received an angry letter from the mayor:

Tell your interns or whatever you call them that they have a meeting with me on Friday at 1:00PM after the auction. This is not optional. -Mayor Shepherd Dunwall

No one is sure exactly what's gotten the mayor so mad, and Dave requests that they don't come in to work until after the meeting as a precautionary measure. Left to their own devices, the party ambles about town and does whatever it is people do when they have a sudden abundance of free time. Grieg went hunting and Q flirted with Lady Jangles. Maybe some people took naps? The mayor presented his final session in his three-part self-defense series on how to avoid getting kidnapped, but the party thought it best to avoid any interaction with the mayor until absolutely necessary.

June 26 (Friday morning)

After a light rain the night before, the weather is back to being overcast again. Q is feeling especially girlish today as they don the stage name Dazzle for today. There's still a good turnout at the weekly auction in the town square, and the party heads there to kill time. Grieg briefly entertains the idea of buying a 100GP shack in town to store all his collectible wolf statuettes, but decides against it.

Several notable items are available on the auction block today: a scroll of Green Flame Blade, an Eye of Minute Seeing, a Potion of Stone Giant Strength, a Potion of Longevity, Bracers of Archery, a Mace of Disruption, and half of a broken mask that appears to be made out of bark. After examining the items at auction, the party is reasonably confident about the ballpark figure each item is worth... Except for the mask. Kalani looks for anything that might identify the purpose or provenance of the mask, but finds nothing. They go up to Harold, the town crier and chief auctioneer, to ask about the item. Harold has no idea who brought the mask to auction, or what the mask is, and starts the bidding at 1GP. Since everyone at the auction is mostly here to gawk at magic items, the broken mask is not as attractive a purchase to most people. Kahlani opens the bidding on the mask at 1GP and no one else ups the bid. Kalani is now the proud owner of a broken mask!

However, since Kalani is a druid, they see something on the mask that no one else does. What looks to be small scratches on the edge of the mask is actually a message written in the secret language of the druids, and it mentions a particular spot in the Grove of Eldath where something of great value is located. But before Kalani can set off on a quest, it is near time to meet with Shepherd Dunwall at the Mayoral Manor on the eastern edge of the town square.

Mayor Dunwall is a short human who professes to have dwarven heritage (despite having no formal way to prove it). The first floor of his manor functions as his office and city hall. Once the meeting starts, Dunwall pulls no punches. Q and Grieg try to take control of the situation, but their efforts do not go alter the mood by much. According to the mayor, SHART has been derelict in its duties. The party refused to investigate a potential health violation submitted by fellow dwarf Gimgen Brawnanvil when The Hole first unveiled its eating contest. Additionally, Dunwall claims that when the party took an unscheduled leave of absence for several weeks, the sewers backed up and trash didn't get collected. Although the town's charter specifies that there must always be an organization dedicated to the maintenance of the sewer system in Brownstone, it doesn't specify where the funding has to come from. And Mayor Dunwall is running on a platform of fiscal responsibility and thinks cutting funding for SHART is a quick and easy way to balance the budget and punish SHART as an unnecessary and redundant organization.

Grieg opens a door leading to Dunwall's private office and storms through. Dunwall protests, but before he can stop the intrusion, Grieg rummages through the papers and snatches a document with numbers and figures that looks more budget-y than the other documents on the desk. Having successfully stolen something from the unpleasant mayor, Grieg allows himself to be escorted out of the manor with the rest of the party.

Back at SHART HQ, the party gives Dave a summary of what went down and hands over a copy of what Grieg hopes is the budget (Spoiler: it is). Dave makes note of some of the inflated figures in the budget, and says that this isn't the first time someone has withdrawn funding for SHART. The party discusses contingency plans, some of which involve the assassination of the mayor, and other plans that involve leaking the news to Dash Wooten, the community reporter. SHART has gone through lean periods before, where the organization had to rely on nontraditional funding and donations to continue services to the community. Although he can't officially require the party to do this, he hands them a flyer for the upcoming annual Battle Cart tournament. There will be cash prizes that the winning team could potentially use to fund SHART for the next few months.

The party is willing to help, but they want to renegotiate their contracts upon entering the Battle Cart tournament. Dave has been relying on "criminal labor" and conveniently "forgot" to pay them. When Kalani points out that they are not a criminal and just joined SHART because they were homeless and hungry, Dave realizes that this is not an argument he will win. Back pay for everyone!

With that administrative detail settled, Dave explains the basics of what every battle cart team needs: a team name, matching outfits, a flag, a cart and/or wagon outfitted with weapons and armor, and some method of propulsion. Since this whole thing started because the mayor is a jerk, the team name comes up almost immediately. Henceforth, they shall be called the Dungwalls and their team outfits will look like the mayor's daily clothes. Initial suggestions for the team flag involve King Chonk taking a massive dump from atop a brick wall, but there will definitely be more debate about what exactly the design will feature.

The party heads to Jangles' house to ask about designing a propulsion system for their wagon. Specifically, the party is interested in harnessing Jangles' previous experiments to make a fart-powered engine that can zoom around the arena without requiring horses. Jangles agrees to help, though it will require the construction of a suitable pressure chamber at at least 32 ounces of strong acid. Construction of the engine will take about 3 days, though collecting the necessary acid from the alchemy jar will take at least an extra day beyond that. Grieg sets to work helping Jangles with construction, while Q and Kalani head toward Robin Stormblossom's ranch to ask if SHART could give a shout-out to Robin's animal rescue operation during the battle cart tournament. Also the party hopes to get permission to use King Chonk's likeness as a mascot for their team. Robin is 100% okay with both requests.

While Q is chatting with Robin, Kalani saunters off toward the Grove of Eldath to partake in their own mission. The druidic script on the mask indicates that there was once a tree in the grove that has long since fallen. Where the stump once was, a rock sits there instead. Kalani finds the rock in question and discovers a small wooden box underneath it. Inside the box is the other half of Kalani's mask, as well as a single Sending Stone. When Kalani puts the two halves of the mask together and casts Mending, the wood stitches itself together. The druidic inscriptions on the sides of the mask glow and then disappear as the bark-like mask seems to draw some of the energy of the forest into the mask itself. The mask seems to fill with life and becomes green and verdant. This is the treasure the druids know as the Mask of the Woodlands.

Stay tuned next time for more!

[sepiadice]

SepiaDice Missed a Session; Lyons writes a Blog Post!

Well, well, well…

My time has finally come. In CanvasWolfDoll’s hour of need he called upon me – Windy Jerk “*wind sounds*” Lyons – to fill in for him![1] But in all seriousness, hey everyone, Lyon’s here. You’re probably more likely to recognize the characters I’ve played; Indicus: The Wind Jerk Genasi, and most recently Solomon Monte: Sandsoul Search and Rescue. I’ll try not to take up too much of your time, fortunately for Canvas we got a late start and didn’t go very far.

If I remember right, the last session ended with a battle just outside the city of Cherry. Lucy, who we thought was from the above islands, died in a tragic accident trying to flee the city. Her body was taken to be examined and investigated by the officials. Meanwhile the over-zealous Gabe took life for the first time and was throwing up (as graceful as an Aasimar can)[2] in the tent we set up on the shore. A few of us went to check out the church where we knew Anais and Silver had wandered off to. After exploring the empty church, we notice a couple figures that we could see reflected in the mirror, but not visible on our plane. A few moments later they leave and we see Anais and Silver in the same predicament. Reflections only. And so, this chapter begins.

We get the two girls attention through the large wall mirror and spend a fair amount of time writing back and forth. Apparently, they walked in as the priest was being pulled through a portal and turned to ash, so they did the only rational thing and walked through before it closed. We experimented and found that we could use a small mirror that I carried to track them through their side of the world and in doing so we realized that the side they were on was a plane of history where the islands never rose from the earth to float in the sky. It aptly became known as “the clean side”. Now through whatever circumstance, our trapped friends had learned that this group is killing the doubles of their members and their next target is in Wyrm, the city built in the crater of Vortch[4] after it rose, and wanted to go prevent his death. This seemed like a very natural response[5] and we couldn’t really stop them given that all this portal stuff is a mystery to us.

We make it to Wyrm of the dirty side, a city covered in the gold dropped from the casino city (Vortch)[6] above. There’s so much gold dropped with the trash that the inhabitants consider it worthless and still use a rough barter system. This city is filled with Worms – subclass humans that are forced to wander the trash paths below the floating islands. This is their capital. We recognized the face of a giant bronze statue positioned atop a huge tower, the tiefling face of one of the cloaked men we saw in the mirror of Cherry’s church. Now the murder group’s lookout (a bird person) stayed to keep watch on the clean side (Vortch) and our female companions are forced to sneak upstairs through the vents, but the dirty side parallel is guarded by an easily bribed orc. We slowly make our way up the floors, each one getting a little bit nicer as we go up on each side. At one point on the clean side, a bouncer is preventing Silver from proceeding so Anais pulls from her tiny bag of assassination skills and drops down from the vent to kill him in one shot. Ummm… awesome.

Now describing the next part gets tricking because the stories of two planes of history are being told simultaneously, so I hope I do it justice. On the dirty side, we’re able to go to the final floor where we come face to face with a rich tiefling so high and drunk that he doesn’t know that he doesn’t know us, they set up so they’re prepared to react when the murder party comes in using mirrors to see the other side. Gurm, our resident little scientist finds and keeps a foot for himself. On the flip-side, two floors down, the murder party is tired of negotiating with security so they, including the double of the red dragonborn Rufus that used to be in our party, kinda just tear their way through to the next floor and then again through these hardcore (looking) security team. We’re all like, “well crap”, but when has personal safety been a real reason to avoid confrontation?[7] Well they get past the security on the clean side and push aside a random person who owns the office on the clean side that parallels the tiefling’s office on the dirty side. The psycho murder tiefling takes a crystal in his hand and creates a ripple portal to grab his double for the assassination, but our party is ready. A quick cut from Gabe and the crystal drops with two fingers. A scream of pain and the tiefling pulls his double through, turning him to ash and completing the process, the bleeding from his hands stops and we’re like – oh snap, this is turning them immortal. Well, some quick thinking from our pine martin assassin Anais and she scurries to grab the crystal that the psycho tiefling dropped, pulling it away from the murder party and creating a small portal to escape with it. There’s a bit of a rush where Anais opens a portal to let Silver and her back into the dirty side, but eventually everyone is on the side they originated from. We both have mirrors to look at each other from across the planes, and the tiny portal Anais had originally opened let us hear Rufus accuse us of starting a war and letting us know that this wasn’t over. We all pretty much agree that they started it, but we’re warned not to cross over to the clean side before they jump out of the building to ground 100 feet below. The female paladin[8] rappels down, clearly not immortal yet. We all take a deep breath and move down to the main city level of Wyrm on the dirty side where we use mirrors to confirm our safety and use the crystal and some gold lying around to pay for a nice evening on the clean side before heading off again. Between sessions Solomon finds another crystal by chance and the rest of the party gets shot at and take a hostage on the clean side, but I’ll let Canvas tell that story.

I think that’s everything... Not a bad progression of the story if you ask me. Maybe I’m biased.

Keep playing strong,

Lyons

[1] Don’t worry, my footnotes remain. Even if my nom de plume here is SepiaDice. [2] The true value of guest writers: remembering and knowing details that I don’t. Because complex names confuse me.[3] [3] This is why I usually give other characters nicknames. [4] Which I suppose is one of the lesser islands, as I recall the major three being Jeruphat (Teddi’s home), Alonzee, and Kratt. [5] Teddi’s still on team ‘this doesn’t affect us in any meaningful way, why make enemies?’ [6] Oh... that’s what Vortch is! [7] The Adventurer’s Motto, that. [8] Member of the now enemy party.

[thedeadshotnetwork]

10 things you need to know today: November 22, 2017 1. President Trump on Tuesday appeared to encourage voters to back Republican candidate Roy Moore in Alabama's special Senate election despite allegations of inappropriate sexual advances toward several women when they were teenagers and he was in his 30s. "He denies it," Trump said. "He says it didn't happen and you have to listen to him, also." Trump called Moore's Democratic opponent, Doug Jones, "terrible" on issues from crime to borders, and added, "We don't need a liberal person in there, a Democrat." When asked by reporters about a broad wave of revelations on sexual abuse in politics, entertainment, and other industries, Trump, who also has been accused of sexual misconduct in the past, said "it's a very special time ... I think it's very, very good for women and I'm very happy." 2. The Navy rescued eight survivors who had been aboard a Navy plane that crashed in the Pacific Ocean near Japan, the Seventh Fleet said Wednesday. A search is continuing for the other three people who were on the C-2 Greyhound transport aircraft when it went down 90 miles northwest of Okinotorishima, a Japanese atoll. The plane had been making a routine flight from Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni in southern Japan to the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier, which is participating in joint exercises with Japanese maritime forces. Investigators could not immediately say what caused the crash, the latest in a series of accidents the Seventh Fleet has seen in the Pacific. 3. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai on Tuesday announced plans to scrap the 2015 "net neutrality" rules that barred internet service providers from blocking or slowing connections for some users, and charging more for privileged access. The Obama administration championed net neutrality, saying it was crucial for a free and open internet. Pai, a Republican appointed by President Trump in January, said the commission will vote at a Dec. 14 meeting on rescinding the rules. The move amounts to a victory for the big internet providers, including AT T, Comcast, and Verizon, who will be able to charge different prices for certain content once net neutrality is rescinded. Major internet companies such as Google parent Alphabet and Facebook had lobbied against the change. 4. CBS News and PBS fired TV host Charlie Rose on Tuesday, the day after several women who have worked with him on his PBS interview show said he had committed sexual misconduct, including groping them and walking naked in front of them. Both organizations had suspended Rose Monday night, making him the latest broadcaster punished for sexual harassment and other inappropriate behavior. "Despite Charlie's important journalistic contribution to our news division, there is absolutely nothing more important, in this or any organization, than ensuring a safe, professional workplace — a supportive environment where people feel they can do their best work," CBS News President David Rhodes said in a memo to staff. "We need to be such a place." 5. Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri put his resignation on hold Wednesday shortly after returning home for the first time since announcing he was stepping down during a trip to Saudi Arabia. Hariri said his decision to hold off came at the request of President Michel Aoun, who had questioned whether the Saudi government had been holding Hariri against his will, something the prime minister had denied. Hariri's first stop after his return on Tuesday was the grave of his father, Rafik Hariri, who was assassinated while serving as prime minister. Hariri, a long-time ally of Saudi Arabia, had said he feared for his own life, accusing Iran and the Hezbollah militant group it backs in Lebanon of creating instability. 6. Longtime Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe announced his resignation on Tuesday as lawmakers were starting proceedings to impeach him. Mugabe, 93, had ruled the nation since independence in 1980, but the military last week placed him under house arrest. As protesters called for his ouster, his ruling Zanu-PF party on Sunday kicked him out as party leader. Mugabe shocked his nation that night when he refused to step down in a televised speech. On Tuesday, he said that he had decided to leave out of concern for "the welfare of the people of Zimbabwe and the need for a peaceful transfer of power." The country's recently fired vice president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, was returning to the country on Wednesday to be sworn in as Zimbabwe's new president on Friday. 7. More remains of Army Sgt. La David Johnson have been recovered at the site where his body was found outside the remote village of Tongo Tongo in Niger, where Johnson and other soldiers were ambushed by as many as 50 Islamist militants five weeks ago, the Pentagon said Tuesday. Johnson, Staff Sgt. Bryan C. Black, Staff Sgt. Jeremiah W. Johnson, Staff Sgt. Dustin M. Wright, and five Nigerien soldiers were killed in the fighting. Johnson's body was found separate from the others two days later, his hands bound and a gaping wound in his head suggesting he had been captured and executed. The Pentagon did not immediately provide details on the remains most recently recovered. 8. Hackers stole the personal data of 50 million Uber customers and 7 million drivers in October 2016, the ride-hailing company announced Tuesday. Uber paid the hackers $100,000 to delete the data, which included names, email addresses, phone numbers, and in the case of some U.S. drivers, driver's license numbers. Uber, which is struggling to repair its image after scandals over its corporate culture, said it didn't believe any of the information had been used by criminals, but this week ousted its chief security officer and one of his deputies for their roles in keeping the incident secret. "None of this should have happened, and I will not make excuses for it," CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said in a statement. "We are changing the way we do business." 9. An international tribunal at The Hague on Wednesday found Ratko Mladic, the former Serb warlord known as "the Butcher of Bosnia," guilty of genocide and crimes against humanity. Judge Alphons Orie read the verdict after a trial that lasted four years, saying Mladic's crimes while commanding forces that carried out some of the worst atrocities of the Balkan wars "rank among the most heinous known to humankind." Mladic, 74, had been too ill to attend the trial, and he was removed from the courtroom before the verdict was read after shouting insults at the judge. Nearly 600 witnesses testified during the trial, including people who had been held in concentration camps during a military campaign against Bosnian Muslims. 10. David Cassidy, the singer best known for his starring role in the 1970s ABC show The Partridge Family , died Tuesday in a Florida hospital from multiple organ failure. He was 67. Cassidy sang on a string of hits with The Partridge Family, including "I Think I Love You," which hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in November 1970, and the show's signature tune "Come On Get Happy." Cassidy also fronted five solo albums, but struggled with personal problems from bankruptcy to substance abuse. He announced in February that he had dementia and would stop performing to "enjoy life," after an incident when he fell on stage and forgot lyrics. November 22, 2017 at 01:49PM

[imthescapman-blog]

Session 2: 1/26/2017

The second session wasn’t as long as the previous. There were constraints that prevented us from going too long into the night.

Chapter 1: Life’s Bazaar, continued

We began with the party waking up and recapping their options. I prepared with the thought that they would go to the library then to investigate the locksmith’s shop. Of course, they did this in opposite order, which meant the library got skipped completely.

The party proceeded to Ghelve’s locks. It was morning, and the party saw that the place was open for business. They attempted a nonchalant approach, five heavily armed and armored individuals pretending that they didn’t know each other as they all entered at the same time. Keygan Ghelve, who is not a complete idiot, quickly caught on that something was afoot, and challenged the party to get to the point of their visit or kindly get out.

As the party explained their investigation, the old gnome locksmith was skeptical. The fact that they had a gnome in their group helped their cause, however. Ghelve loudly denied any involvement, but began to motion to the curtain behind him, using his eyes and body language to convey that it wasn’t totally safe to speak. Unfortunately, Tiny’s read of this situation was that Ghelve was trying to subtly flirt with her. Fogo caught on to what was happening and peeked behind the curtain. His curiosity was rewarded as he noticed an almost entirely nude figure whose skin seemed to blend in to his surroundings. Fogo rolled Stealth to see how discrete he could take his peek, and he rolled badly. The creature behind the curtain, a skulk, sliced through Fogo’s face, cutting through his cheek and jawbone. With a spray of blood, combat had begun.

The combat was a five on one short affair. Fogo used his second wind ability, which I described as him growling through the pain and shoving his jaw back into place. He rolled to heal max hit points, so I figured it fit. Tiny grappled onto the skulk and held him still. She intimidated him into dropping his sword and answering a couple of questions, which the skulk was hesitant to do. Still, he hissed that he had allies down below, in the dark, and that the party would all die if they went down there. After getting what they could out of him, Tiny moved to slit his throat. Hugo, Fogo, and Amria agreed with this sentiment. In fact, Amria was all for a more sinister fate, using the skulk for ‘trap bait’ and dragging him along for the ride. Ris tried to intervene on the creature’s behalf, but Tiny wasn’t having it. She opened up the skulk’s neck and he quickly bled to death. This left an uneasy situation, but Ris didn’t defend his position with violence and made his disapproval known.

After the skulk was down, the locksmith was able to explain his role in the kidnappings more accurately. He penitently confessed that he had made skeleton keys for the kidnappers after they kidnapped his familiar, Starbrow, and threatened to kill him if he didn’t assist. The party believed his shame was legitimate, so they didn’t penalize the gnome any further. Keygan explained that his shop is one of the last remaining entrances to Jzadirune, and that this is where the kidnappers are coming out of. He didn’t have much more knowledge to share, but did have an old map of the place, which he handed over eagerly. He warned them against the traps and the curse, then pleaded with the party to rescue his poor Starbrow.

The party was very cautious as they descended the tunnels and entered the ancient facility. Hugo had the best eyes, Tiny was a naturally curious creature, and Amria had always possessed an eerily aware aura, her fingers and ears always searching for details that her eyes would never catch. The group encountered their first trap on the stairs that led into the complex. Hugo made an attempt at figuring the trap out, and during his investigation, noticed that there was also a secret door right above the pit. He performed more searching and found that the secret door was tied to a sconce above it that was mounted differently than other sconces they had encountered. This one could rotate, apparently. Before the group could discuss much, he made a command decision and rotated the sconce clockwise.

The trap’s lid opened beneath his feet, and he made a leap to safety. The party spent a couple of seconds grumbling, then the lid click-click-clicked back into place. Hugo tried again, this time turning the sconce counter-clockwise. This did the trick, and the secret door popped open. The group entered this new hallway quietly, hyper-alert for any further traps or secrets as they quickly approached a dead end. The group found another pit trap in the corridor, and Tiny insisted on checking this one out. She started poking around the pit’s edges, and her player rolled a natural 1 on the check to investigate. During her investigation, she found part of the edge that had crumbled, and stuck her fingers in to feel around a little better. She found a small, smooth metal catch of some kind and it responded to her probing by flinging itself away, causing the pit to spring open. Ris and Hugo leapt to safety, almost falling into the trap. The party waited as the pit tried to reset itself, but after listening to the shuddering click and watching the lid vibrate loudly until a crack of some kind was heard, they were unhappy to see that the lid remained open.

Turning around, the group returned the way they had come from and entered a large chamber where the gentle sounds of the forest could be heard. The noises were emitted by copper masks mounted to the wall all around them. From one, the calming rush of water; from another, the call of a sparrow; and so on. One of the masks greeted the party with a short rhyme:

“Welcome to Jzadirune - behold the wonder!

But beware, ye who seek to plunder.

Traps abound and guardians peer

Beyond every portal, behind every gear.”

This room was also the party’s first encounter with the gear doors of Jzadirune. Each door had a rune of some kind on it, and it looked very mysterious to most of them. To Ris, however, it was just the gnomish alphabet, and he was able to easily make sense of the runes on each door. One of the doors to the south was ajar, and from it escaped a fair amount of light. The party decided to investigate.

Hugo entered the room and found a glow rod sitting on the floor, the source of light spilling from the room. He was also able to see the skulk hiding right beside the door, and gave him an unamused smirk. “Really?” he asked, and the skulk’s response was to stab out with his rapier. This is where we ended tonight’s session.

House Rules

This session brought up some interesting instances where I had to house rule some things. I’ll explain below.

Familiars

In third edition D&D, if a wizard lost his familiar, it was bad news. Third edition was really big on crunch, and everything had a mechanic tied to it. If a spellcaster lost their familiar back then, they lost experience points and took penalties to rolls, and lost sleep and got a tax penalty and all kinds of other insanity. Fifth edition moved away from this mindset. In fifth edition, if a spellcaster loses their familiar, all they have to do is summon another one, so this would not work as a lever against the locksmith Keygan Ghelve. The trope of ‘save my family’ was already in full effect, so I didn’t want to change the victim from his familiar. I also didn’t want to make a rule against the feel of fifth edition, since I didn’t yet feel I had fully explored its capabilities.

My house rule for familiars was that when a familiar is summoned, the bond formed between them and their master is the same kinship as a person would have for their child. This was a ‘roleplay’ solution, I suppose, and it makes the familiar less of a disposable asset and more of a real creature with personality and its own identity. This rule didn’t come up at all, though, and none of the players asked or challenged this, so it was moot. It will probably come up later, however, since at least one party member is aiming toward growth that includes a familiar.

Blindsight

Blindsight is a nightmare, from a rules perspective. It threatens to defuse a lot of tense situations, especially in an adventure where the party is hunting for stealthy types that may be lurking in any shadow. Amria has blindsight out to 30 feet, but beyond that, she is 100% blind. This is a pretty crazy trade, with big sums on each side of the bargain.

After talking it over with the player, though, it turned out that blindsight isn’t as game-breaking as you would first believe. We looked at a little errata and discussed it back and forth and got a happy medium. Blindsight is different from a dragon’s truesight (I don’t know if that’s still a thing in 5e), and it still requires ‘line of effect’. This comes from the perceiving creature using other cues, such as changes in air pressure, sound, and even the wind to detect the environment and movement within it. So a creature hiding behind a curtain, for instance, is still effectively hidden. If a creature knows about Amria’s blindsight somehow, or is making some attempt to stand perfectly still just in case, then Amria would get a normal chance to detect it, Perception vs. Stealth. If a creature doesn’t know about the blindsight and isn’t trying to defeat it or a similar effect, Amria would get advantage to the roll. She wouldn’t automatically detect the hidden creature, because even a sighted person isn’t always paying the best attention to everything that they perceive.

The last aspect of this house rule is that I believe there are certain creatures that possess qualities making them stealthy regardless of what senses the perceiver would use to notice them. This would include skulks, who possess qualities that make them more difficult to scry, track, and perceive visually. I ruled that the skulks are also ‘slippery’ to Amria’s blindsight, so it’s a straight Perception vs. Stealth roll for Amria to notice the skulks.

[driftwork]

a station where life ended (1,2 of 6)

1.Every walker, wrapped up in himself, perhaps walking through meadows, across a common, standing on the flat roofs of a building, is alone even when they are standing with others, the daylight effectively  binds them together, connects them in the network of an enormous web. Consider how as they walk across the common for the very last time, the three men are screaming in fury into their smart phones (whoever thought given them phones was a good idea?) they are disconnected from everything, from themselves and from one another.  Passing the bystanders that they terrify, disconnected from the bushes, grass, trees and tarmac, as they walk the last 100 metres along the pavement to the station, enjoying the fear and terror they cause. Let us introduce the soon to be dead and the one who is to be hospitalized. Stuart Hall, Apple and Seb Brown walked along the platform, cropped hair, shaved heads, exercise pants, jeans, Doc Martens, big muscular strides -  Hall's jacket said "White", Apple and Brown's advertised the latest fascist party. Brown was the shorter of the three, six convictions for assault, two cases of rape that failed in the court. His first conviction was at fifteen for beating a young man into a coma. It only got increasingly violent from there. His arms, like his friends covered in swastikas and other symbols of fascism. Hall and Apple had another five convictions between them. Hall had a shiny metal baseball bat. Apple,  well the less said about Apples love of inflicting pain and suffering the better. Their social imaginaries are full of thoughts of being the descendants of fascist warriors, worshippers of Mars. You might want to ask what constructed these three violent walkers who are about to meet their end, what kind of society made them, in actuality little can be said that you will not have heard before.  There is (a) CCTV video of the three of them walking across the station forecourt, onto the platform and everything that followed. They started by damaging the notice boards in the ticketing hall. They tormented a middle aged woman who became frightened and ran off out of the station. They walked southwards along the platform hitting vacant seats and the metal uprights of the canopy. At the far end of the platform there were some more benches. And then they discovered her sitting on the bench. A Japanese or Chinese woman , She was in her 30s. Black shiny hair tied back, black leather jacket zipped closed, dark grey leggings with shiny black ankle boots, a brown leather bag with strap work across her body. A housewife or an office worker they thought, a husband at home with the children. Easily scared. The three of them approached her in a line,  "Hey girl had a fuck today ?" She ignored them.  The warrior waited she hoped they would simply go away. It had been a long day.  She was tired, Eyes half closed, half asleep. looking out onto the railway tracks. Brown prodded her.  She ignored him, not moving. They thought she was scared hoping for a train or rescue. Brown and Hall were both increasingly incensed, angry at being ignored. Apple slower to anger enjoying the build of Adrenalin. So Brown took his butterfly knife out of his jacket pocket, Hall swung the baseball bat to one side.  She still  didn't move. She didn't react. Brown waved the knife across her chest,  a fraction of a centimetre from her chest, closer each time,  the third time cutting a slice into the surface her leather jacket. It could not penetrate the kelver protection in the lining of the jacket. He screamed "........ abuse abuse blah blah etc etc... " An accountant standing on the other platform on his way home, coincidentally from some meetings at the police station, was on the phone to the police, he told the police later that it all happened so fast that he could scarcely believe it.  The station CCTV cameras recorded the three men's abusive behavior, showing their demise in glorious technicolor. Brown swung the knife again and Hall and Apple cheered.  She grabbed his hand with her right hand and hit Browns arm with such force that she fractured his elbow joint, pushing the hand holding the knife along the swing towards Browns body, the blade went straight through his ribs  and buried itself in his lung. She rose pivoting and punching him in the throat. It was a perfect dance move, liquid, modern, precise. Brown fell to the ground and died almost immediately.  She continued the fluid movement and stepped to the left away from Brown's body. What is the destiny of the warrior? The warrior turned facing Hall and watched the third man who was slightly further away by the platform edge. Neither Hall nor Apple knew whether to fight or flee. Hall simply made the wrong decision, because she still looked like a Japanese or Chinese housewife to him. He attacked with the baseball bat, it never made contact,  she stepped forward and punched him twice in the throat. He fell down gasping for breath and when his heart stopped in the ambulance he had to be resuscitated. Apple should have run at this point but instead attacked, she pirouetted on one foot, slightly overbalanced and her arms spread out to stabilize and attacked him with elegant ferocity, fracturing his ribs and  punching him multiple times in the face and throat. Apple fell back onto the rail tracks the back of his head hitting the steel rail with a horrible wet thud and lay staring at the sky.  She surveyed the damage she had inflicted on her attackers.  Visibly sighed and sat down on the bench and waited for the police. When the police arrived they found  a man with a knife in his chest, another dying on the railway tracks and the third gasping for breath. She was  on the phone speaking to someone.

2.The police took her to Mugeyeong police station which  is the main office of the serious crime and homicide division in the area. It is a pretty standard regional police station, two and a half floors, concrete steps and a wheelchair ramp going up to the ground floor main entrance. It is a forty year old systems building, last refurbished ten years ago. It is about 80 metres across and 20 meters high. The roof is flat with a concrete balustrade, behind which solar panels can be seen facing southwards. The building has a concrete frame within which the prefabricated components of the window sections are slotted between the grey concrete uprights. The lower half of each section containing pale blue panels that are fading from the sun and weather, the upper half being made up of sealed triple glazed window units with Venetian style blinds hanging inside the inner unit. Some of the offices have roller blinds on the inside of the windows. There are fire exits at both ends of the building and a rear entrance.  There are floodlights pointing forward at the car park in front of the building. It is still light when they arrive and she makes them pause  so she can survey the building. The  woman police tries to pull her forward but cannot make her move. They take her to the front desk and try to book her in. She refuses to say a word. Her face expressionless under the led and tube lighting. They book her in under nameless, identity unknown and take her upstairs to the offices for interviewing and further investigation.