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draegonkin · 8 years ago

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Beneath Shadowed Wings: Chapter 9 – Cliffkeep

(Alternate Title: The Session in which we owe victory to half a dozen screaming mushrooms)

There were a few preparations that took place the night before the group left for Cliffkeep: supplies were purchased, axe beak mounts were rented (or bought, depending on if they survive the trip), and the group convinced Thog (with a bit of gold) to come with them rather than stay at the stronghold and try to kill an orc he’d set his eyes on. Thyme spent the evening performing in the Common grounds, and in the morning, they set out for the abandoned city of Cliffkeep.

Making it across the anvil of the sun was as much of an ordeal as ever. Taking the axe beaks with them sped the journey along and kept the party from becoming too exhausted, though it did cause a drain on Kizzy and Bitsy providing water for their mounts. Along the way their only encounter was with a passing Gabran patrol that, once they had confirmed the group’s Writ of Permission from the Ember Chief, let them go on their way.

Midmorning of the fourth day they came to end of the broken rocks of the Anvil, and to the open sands surrounding Cliffkeep. It immediately became clear to them that they would need to be careful. They could see before them dozens of pits dotted across the desert; pits that they learned were the dens of antlions. Absinthe and Bitsy’s sharp eyes noticed forms swooping in and out of the openings high in the façade of the cliff face the city was built into. They weren’t sure what they were yet, but they knew the needed to be careful and they approached the city cautiously.

The city was a series of tiers, built into the red stone of the half mile high cliff face that marked the border between the Akken Desert and the Highlands. As the group probed the passages and rooms there they found a city thoroughly empty and abandoned. Five thousand years had given ample time for any trace of life here, beyond the rooms and artwork carved into the living rock, to have been destroyed or taken.

Delving only far enough into the cliff to determine if each path provided a way up they slowly made their way to a terrace of the city where they found the monolith that Rufus had told them they would find. Being wary of the flying creatures, identified as harpies as they’d neared the city, Absinthe and Thyme moved with as much stealth as they could to try and translate the words on the monolith’s face. Absinthe was able to cast comprehend language as Thyme took a rubbing of the language that he was quickly becoming familiar with.

“The Sanctum Lies Beneath the Sands/Where the antlions make their nests/Hidden there in plainest sight/There our oldest fallen kings do rest”

As they each finished and Absinthe had jotted down the words into her notebook they all heard a high, tempting song. The ladies looked up to see harpies descending on them, on singing the eerie song, while the men went glassy eyed and started to walk mindlessly towards the winged beasts.

What followed was a short, ugly encounter for both sides. Seeing that she had charmed half of the party the first harpy flew out the edge of the terrace and lured those caught in her charm closer. Thyme, unable to fight the impulse, walked right off the edge and fell fifty feet below, injuring himself greatly. Kizzy, having to choose where to cast her spell chose to help the larger number of her allies and cast calm emotions, freeing Olek and Thorn from the grasp of the charm, while Absinthe cast sleep into Thyme far below, hoping to keep him from repeating the leap to a lower level with even worse consequences.

By the time everyone had reached the fight Absinthe had fallen to another harpy’s song. The charm was short lived as Bitsy, in her Giant Spider form, shot a web that encased the offending creature and dropped it 150 feet to its death, freeing the endangered bard. The last harpy tried the same trick as her fellows, disengaging from combat with Absinthe, only to find her song fell on deaf ears and an illusionary creature distracting her enough to be easily killed by Thorn and Kizzy. The last harpy, ready to flee, was brought to the ground with an earthbind by Bitsy, and hacked to bits by Olek. Any others that may have been watching quickly fled back into their den above.

After helping Thyme they searched a part of the city that appeared to be a temple. It was of no gods they had ever seen before, and Bitsy and Kizzy began to wonder if they were gods at all. While they pondered that they found an amulet discarded amongst some broken rocks in the corner of the room that matched the style of the one they’d found outside of Svanith’s tomb, though with a different symbol.

Meanwhile Spider-Bitsy scaled the cliffs to take a look in the harpy nest, finding nearly a dozen more harpies gathered, speaking to their matriarch. Very quietly she made her way back, suggesting they just avoid raiding the nest as Thorn was contemplating. The spent the rest of their night pondering the meaning of the monolith’s riddle, keeping watch and recovering from the day. They came to the conclusion that one of the antlion pits was likely fake and hiding the real entrance.

When they looked at them in the morning they noticed they had moved.

What followed was amusing attempts discover which holes contained antlions in an attempt to find the one that didn’t. Olek, Thorn and Thyme led the effort by cutting up harpies from the battle the day before and throwing the meat into holes. Unfortunately, their limited supply of harpy bits wasn’t enough to uncover the real hole.

Kizzy spent the day carefully drawing a map from her vantage in the cliff homes of the city and the relative cool they provided.

When they woke the following morning, with no incursions from their harpy friends, they looked to see that the antlions had indeed moved again. Using Kizzy’s map, they found a pit that seemed to be a likely candidate, threw in some wolf meat that Bitsy had kept with her, and got no reaction. Excited, but cautious, they decided to scout the path ahead before venturing fully in. The question was how to do it.

Obviously, the best choice was for Olek and Thog to play stone, parchment, shears to see who got to cannonball in. The first game Thog one, but Olek claimed it was because he wasn’t sure if they were going on three or go, to which Thog replied, “Everyone knows the civilized rules call for going on go. Only those that degrade themselves with common go on three.”

Thog won the next game too.

And cannonballed into the pit with a rope tied to him.

Now, to be fair, that part of the plan went fine. Pulling him out didn’t. Thyme, Thorn and Olek liked up, in that order, on the rope to pull him out. The rope went taught, Thorn was lifted off the ground between the other two, and all three were pulled right in. They found themselves in a dark cave with a smooth floor that seemed to lead towards Cliffkeep.

After some effort, and Bear-Bitsy, they got everyone out of the pit and spent the rest of the day preparing for their trek into the tomb. There was a lot of question about how to take care of the axe beaks. Ultimately they found the deepest most remote corner of the homes built within the cliffs, left them with food and water, and hoped for the best. They rested for the night, and Thorn thought he heard the distant sound of harpy song outside the city, but nothing that concerned him. In the morning they headed into the tomb, taking both Thog and Rufus with them.

After a fair distance down the tunnel they came across an altar with a crystal sphere upon it. Thyme identified it as some kind of magical key. To what, his magic didn’t say.

But probably the maze that sprung up when they touched it.

They got a look at the room beyond before they picked it up. More than a hundred feet wide, twenty feet tall, with a smooth stone ceiling, and a perfectly flat sand floor interrupted only by three narrow pillars evenly set around a stone dais at the center. A sand floor that sprung up into solid stone walls when they picked up the keystone.

Olek, claiming a surprising wisdom, led them through the maze keeping one hand on the wall to keep from losing themselves. This led to finding one of the stone pillars they’d seen where an inactive stone was set. Touching it with the keystone activated it and caused the maze to shift around them to a different configuration.

Several people cursed. (Some of them were the players.)

(Here is the map. The point at top is pillar one, the bottom left pillar two, the bottom right pillar three. The number at the bottom represents which one is on or off.)

It took several hours to navigate the maze, but eventually they reached the middle and activated the larger glass stone there. It gave off extremely bright light and the maze dropped back into perfectly calm sand once more and silence seemed to fall.

Feeling confident in his performance in the maze Olek took the lead and stepped onto the sand only to have Thorn immediately yell at him to stop. There had been movement in the sand, moving closer to him with each step, but once he stopped so did the movement. Quickly he stepped back to the stone dais to contemplate their situation.

There were many contemplative looks, trying to logic a solution out of the situation.

Olek pulled out the bag of beans and planted it in the sand. He had no idea what would happen, but he was feeling good. Slowly little mushrooms began to grow. Bitsy let out a little “Awww” when she saw them. As they grew larger and sprouted little eyes it was a little squeal of glee.

The mushrooms responded by shrieking back with an unending, gods awful sound. It made them all grab their ears and cringe. Fortunately, it drove away whatever was beneath the sand, letting them cross the sand to another entry way. They searched it quickly finding a hidden room where they found treasure and a series of murals portraying the world ending in fire. In them they saw columns of light protect groups of people while leaving others to the fire. Three figures rose up and restored the land, finally holding aloft three gems while surrounded by a field of pillars.

Finally there was only one way to proceed.

Opening the door sent a chill through them as they entered a hall line on both sides by a total of sixty statues, each showing a king with a crown, a bow, and an amulet. Each slightly different than the next. Just like Svanith’s tomb. Down to the trapped floor. (They discovered this by throwing the shriekers onto the floor to set off a nearby statue. It fired a flaming arrow that nicely roasted the mushroom…which Bitsy stuck in her pack.)

At the end of the hall they were face with another door which led to a chamber nearly identical to the one they had confronted Svanith in. Olek told Bitsy to hold back on the spirit stuff for now, and for Thyme to stow his book. This time Gbranth was waiting for them already as they entered. His red wraith-like form was clad with iron armor and stood waiting for them at the top of the room opposite them.

“Leave this place. You do not belong here.”

Familiar words. Just as before he was not interested in talking. While saner than his brother king, he had kept his silence for more years than they could contemplate. He needed no friends. No allies. He wanted to rest and keep his secrets with him.

Thyme failing miserably didn’t help, and may have contributed to Gbranth drawing his bow and golems dropping from the ceiling.

#D&D #D&D 5e #Beneath Shadowed Wings #Campaign #DM #I've waited so long for them to use the bag of beans and I am not disappointed.#I honestly gave it to them because I thought it would be the stupidest thing to have a bunch of screaming mushrooms randomly grow. Who knew #Let's not forget maze puzzle fun!#Maybe Bereteth will be less of an asshole.#Doubt it #Also my players rolled like garbage this session to the point I felt really bad #To be fair I also failed almost every perception roll for my harpies so at least there's that

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octranslations · 7 years ago

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Haiiro no Ginka Volume 45

Haiiro no Ginka Vol. 45 December 2009

Translation Credits:

Gansonaki Kaoruya - Cammie

The Making of ?????????????????????? w/ interview

Aibiki no Mori - Risu

Shinya Dr. nemunemu no daigyakusyu - Nao

Overseas EU - Risu

Die Meisyo de Meisyu - Nao

The happiness of nothing the assembled and neck - Cammie

News and So On - Risu

R.I.P. - Risu

TOUR09 ALL VISIBLE THINGS [North/South America] Maquinaria Festival - Risu

Gansonaki Kaoruya

After the tour, there was a time-off so I did things likely during a break, which I haven’t done in a long time.

Went to watch LIVE of my acquaintance and great seniors, drank, watched tons of movies,

Listened to tons of music, contacted people that I missed, went to see Gundam even before break, and distressed all day long about buying 64 GB iPod touch or 160 GB iPod classic, and I did a lot of stuff.

Enough about that, but did you guys listen to the single?

How is the sound that has been about a year since the last one? This year we almost became a band that kept releasing DVDs. Well, that’s fine that way too.

I began to write songs since the latter half of the break that was after the time-off described above. Until the U.S. tour, we are all gathering and “packing” various things into it (note: song). As of now, I have a feeling of “A good thing is being made~” where we are creating this without any rush.

I don’t know how long it will take until we can make lots of good stuff but hang in there patiently!

So (let’s meet) at Budokan then.

Before that, I guess it’s the end of the year (live).

Recently Watched Movies

“ANVIL~ Men that couldn’t give up on their dreams”

This was great... (tears)

Tojo-san, thank you very much until now.

And please look after us from now on too!

Toshiya Aibiki no Mori

How is everyone? I can't believe that this year is almost over. I want to get excited and pumped up for the year-end lives too! And, Budoukan at the start of next year...let's both make it 2 days that we would never regret!!

So, here you go!

A statue of "Daimajin" that decorated the studio when we shot the "RED SOIL" clip.

A moment when I took a morning stroll during the "TOUR09 ALL VISIBLE THINGS" Osaka.

One of the typical items in Kyoto!

This is the skirt with a different color that SHELLAC'S Mr.AKINORI and Mr.ATSUSHI promised to make for me. Thank you very much!

I wanted the adidas collaboration with Porsche shoes that Mr.INOUE wore so he bought it for me.

There is a weird creature on the upper left of the picture, please ignore it.

An incident happened at the party on the last day of "TOUR09 ALL VISIBLE THINGS"!

At SHELLAC's exhibit/show

I drank out with the people from the office until morning and a drunk Mr.KAWAMOTO was really drunk that he bashed his face in the ground, he was covered in blood and we couldn't do anything so this is him about to go home in a wheelchair. The one pushing the wheelchair is Mr.FURUTA.

My friend from when I was a student opened a Teppanyaki place somewhere in Tokyo. This is the okonomiyaki from that place.

Somewhere in Tokyo. An acquaintance who've taken care of us since "GAUZE" opened a magic bar.

This handling [the way he used his hands]. Is a magician.

This is a magic trick that Zero did that penetrated through glass, [the magician] did the same thing for us.

This is "Cool!" but I don't know if you can understand it from the pictures...

Well, this is it for now! Let's both take care of our body [health] and go through next year without restraint!! Have a great year!

Translator's Notes: 1. The Daimajin (???) (or Majin) is a daikaiju (giant monster) from the Daimajin trilogy created by Daiei. All three movies in the trilogy — Daimajin, Return of Daimajin (Daimajin ikaru), and Wrath of Daimajin (Daimajin gyakushu) — were made in 1966, and were released months apart.

2. Zero is a well known magician who is like Japan's David Blaine. One of his well known tricks is suddenly having a card appear from the opposite side of a glass wall or window.

Shinya Dr. nemunemu no daigyakusyu

Hello everyone. I am currently writing this in fall. And if I were to say fall(autumn), it's mushroom gathering. Therefore the mushroom-loving Dr. Nemunemu went to the heart of the mountain to gather [mushrooms].

It's been 20 years since I went Shiitake gathering. I don't remember much from that time but I was remembering more as I made my way through the path of the deep mountain. There were a lot of insects along the road. There were especially a lot of spider nests[webs] of course, there were spiders there as well. Dr. Nemunemu who hates spiders and insects became a nervous wreck by just walking through. I suddenly arrived at the farm while thinking, "They [the spiders] won' t probably come [for me]-".

I am supposed to be happy that I am surrounded by my favorite Shiitake mushrooms but when I saw the Shiitake it felt a bit eerie.

At once, I lost my appetite. Anyway, I picked around 300 grams that I can consume.

They are weird Shiitake mushrooms but there are some that have beautiful shapes.

This one really has a good shape. From the moment I glanced at it, I didn't get tired of it.

Immediately I grilled the Shiitake that I picked over coals at the same area and ate them.

The flavor was stronger than the ones you normally eat, this is probably the taste of freshly-picked Shiitake. I was thinking it's good that I still came even through the various hardships, I was able to fully savor it.

And when I finished all the shiitake, I thought that I should head back from the mountain and I got my bag. As I took my bag, there was some white cotton thing sticking to it.

Dr. Nemunemu was thinking, "What? Did the fungus[mold] of the shiitake got stuck to it?" He tried to pick the cotton off and stretched out his finger. As he did that, a spider leaped out from inside the cotton. And so it was that during the short time Dr. Nemunemu was eating shiitake that the spider made a nest there. Dr. Nemunemu almost dangerously fainted and all thoughts of the shiitake were blown away[vanished].

"Ah-of course, they[the spiders] didn't come."

And so, this time I had worked hard but it's all over now. This time's present is Dr. Nemunemu's hand-drawn Shiitake drum-head(drum skin).

Until the next time we meet.

Mu no koufuku, sanretsusha to kubi/ Happiness of nothing the assembled and neck

My Existence

The reason of my existence inside of someone

Inside of them, I am an existence like the others that line shoulders together

But if it were simply like that I don’t need it

Together with time, individual times and reasons become twisted

As the reason for my established self becomes vaguer and vaguer,

My song will no longer be heard

It merely becomes a reverberation

If I were to sink into the trifling “same(ness)”,

I would rather cut off that person, him, or a friend without any hesitation

That is the pride within me and my way of existence

OVERSEAS (EU)

OVERSEAS (EU) - JUNE 2009 Plunge in the middle of the EUROPE TOUR that started on June 5 at the biggest Fest in Germany, "ROCK AM RING". This time while interweaving interviews with the accompanying staff in this tour, we will look back at the TOUR.

Answering "Heavy Metal!" to the question, "For you what kind of band is DIR EN GREY?" is Mr. Rick who is a regular in foreign tours. From a height close to two meters he is the FRONT OF HOUSE PA who surveys the entire live venue and creates the best live sound, and is also the TOUR MANAGER who works hard everyday in order for the tour to progress perfectly by not only talking to the members and crew but also frequently communicating with each venue's promoter and local staff. By the way the role of the TOUR MANAGER is the overall facilitator from the time the tour schedule is finalized until the tour ends, he is an important character in the tour production that oversees budget management, equipment, travel method, accompanying crew etc from overall logistics to scheduling while conferring with each venue's contact person. Mr. Rick is a veteran who has been on this road for more than 25 years, in the past he has worked along with famous artists even in Japan like SLAYER, HATEBREED, SHADOWSFALL, MUDVAYNE etc. in lives around the world. That person first met DIR EN GREY on February 2007 during the North America headline tour. His first impression of DIR EN GREY was "Very Serious Musicians". And Mr. Rick shares with us a memory during his first tour with DIR EN GREY that he still even now clearly remembers.

"As for DIR EN GREY, the sounds that come out of their amps is very nice. Properly utilizing their created sound, I want to make heavy and awesome sounds with them"

2009.06.14 Garage -Saarbrucken / Germany- Saarbrucken is a city adjacent to the border with France in German's southwestern area. Tonight's 1,000 person capacity venue, "Garage" is in a city where all places have a lot things that give off a French feeling.

Being more particular with sound than any person, as for Mr. Rick's tone creation, a rough form was mainly created at sound check but sound changes depending on the sound equipment installed in the venues, how the venues are constructed and even weather. On top of understanding all factors, he is constantly in pursuit of creating the best sound within a limited time."Today we were able to come up with an awesome sound! FUCKING HEAVY! If possible I want it so awesome that it turns this place upside down! (laughs)"said Mr. Rick boastingly after the live who was in good spirits and excitedly talked about the members and the live. The tour manager assistant and interpreter Ms. Nora also during the sound check felt the "awesomeness" of that sound, "it was so heavy that if I were in the center of the venue, it's like I could be blown away by the it [sound]".

The same person worked as the FOH PA during the domestic performances "TOUR07 THE MARROW OF A BONE" held in December 2007, so I am sure that there are a lot of people who experienced that very low sound, but due to the voltage differences between Europe and Japan (Europe: 230?240V, Japan: 100V), then it seemed that another different sound was created.

2009.06.16 Backstage Werk -Munich/Germany- The party after leaving Saarbrucken went to Munich. The party that arrived in Munich after a long time had a reunion with the contact person from the label and they were treated to some hometown food (BAVARIAN FOOD) for dinner. Actually Mr. Rick who is a German American warmly chatted about a lot of things with the label representative the whole time. According to the label representative, the Saarbrucken performance that Mr. Rick gave a rave review of received very good reviews from the people who went to it. The members have visited Munich in the past, it was also a place where they were able to be reunited with crew they were acquainted with, and may have been a fleeting/brief break for the party who live everyday by the schedule.

2009.06.17 Alcatraz -Milan/Italy- This is the first time they arrived in Italy for a live. Today's venue is "Alcatraz" a livehouse in Milan, a city located in the northern part of Italy and is also famous as a global city. At the 1,000 person capacity venue there were already a lot of fans forming a queue. There were not tourist spots etc. near the venue, so they decided to spent the day in the bus parked on the side of the venue.Due to this venue's location and schedule, spending time cooped up in the bus isalso quite frequent of foreign tours, in fact what is a hassle during tour?

Ms. Nora shares, "It's a bother that I can't get a shower in a decent place, I think for everyone." "Depending on the venue, there are places where the facilities are not in perfect order, because the schedule is so tight we would go to the next venue without stopping by a hotel (for a shower), even if there were a shower room, hot water won't come out. Especially the crew there are also times when we go for more than 2 days without going for a shower. (laughs) Now because we've gone on tours for a number of years, I could shower as long as there's a sink! (laughs) that's not something to be proud about???"

As for the important live both the members and the fans who filled the venue were supercharged. Even if the country/regions are different, the feeling of the pursuit for DIR EN GREY, that is felt with the whole body, and for the members who leaves nothing in reserve when expressing DIR EN GREY, it was one night that proves that nothing has changed. But even with that high level of satisfaction, the members and crew talk about what they felt during the live, and that is where their always improving selves are.

2009.06.18 Alte Boerse -Zurich/Switzerland- The beginning of one grueling day. Today's venue is "Alte Boerse" in Zurich, Switzerland's biggest city found in the northern part of Switzerland. The main character is not the members but Mr. Rick. After loading in the sound equipment in the venue, during sound check he was in a foul mood and was talking about something with the person in charge of the sound in the venue. The cause was sound volume restrictions. The restricted sound volume differs for each country and city but today's venue seemed to be even more strictly regulated than normal.

Before the members appeared on stage, time ran out due to the sound check, and the time for doors opening was approaching. Somehow they negotiated with the venue if we can only check a number of songs, and were barely able to do 3 songs. During the second song before the main performance of DIR EN GREY, Mr. Rick called Ms. Nora. "Today is completely bad!" and he was pretty annoyed/frustrated. Even when she said soothingly, "RELAX! RELAX???" he couldn't contain his agitation. It seems that not only were the equipment's not in a good condition, due to the heat inside the venue, it seemed that the PA system went down repeatedly. On very short notice on stage they placed electric fans near the amps as a stop-gap measure. Since there was no air-conditioning in today's venue, the heat generated by the audience's heat up was trapped inside the venue, and it was literally a sauna. On stage the members also while fighting with the heat they struggled to create a live.

2009.06.20 NOVA ROCK?Pannonia Fields II -Nickelsdorf/Austria- RED STAGE: IN EXTREMO / CHICKENFOOT / KILLSWITCH ENGAGE / MONSTER MAGNET / ALL THAT REMAINS / DIR EN GRY / ATROCITY / EISBRECHER / CENTAO

The band's first ever time in Austria's at the rock fest "NOVA ROCK". Along with remarkable acts such as NINE INCH NAILS, SLIPKNOT, CHICKENFOOT etc. On the day before they will perform at the fest, the DIR EN GREY party that entered Austria took a day off at Vienna. Kaoru, Die, Toshiya, Shinya, The tech Mr. Kuroo and Ms. Nora went for a stroll around the city. After returning to the bus, a couple of people went to the Schonbrunn Palace near the parking lot. Other than a Japanese Garden there are other gardens included and is registered as a World Heritage Site.

After that, they went to the fest venue by bus. Mr. Rick spoke with a person related to the venue and was able to get passes made one day earlier. They went to watch lives, ate, and while preparing for the next day, they enjoyed their day off to the fullest.

The next morning, the day of the live. You wouldn't believe it but the continuous raining from the previous night transformed the venue into a big swamp. When DIR EN GREY stood on stage the raine finally stopped but when you think about the weather and the condition of your feet (the NOVA ROCK stages were both the same size and there are 2 stages called <RED STAGE> and <BLUE STAGE>, DIR EN GREY performed at the <RED STAGE>), it was difficult to move around. Mr. Rick who finished settings said, "Today is bad???there are only 50 people in front of the stage" uncertainty flashed through everyone.

But, when they started there were people, people, and people in the audience area. There were a lot of people who saw DIR EN GREY for the first time but they were able to do a moshpit and because of the young people covered in mud, the LIVE was also fun/exciting.

Mr. Rick was satisfied and said, "Today was the best among all the fests!" After the performance they greeted the Lacuna Coil members and crew, and through Mr. Rick's suggestion they watched CHICKFOOT's performance. On the stage side they were reunited with Mr. Martin who was in charge of lights in the previous EUROPE TOUR. Currently he is touring with DIMMU BORGIR. As DIR EN GREY's overseas experience increase, along with new encounters, they also reunite with people who make lives.

2009.06.21 Stresse E -Dresden/Germany- After the live performance, the members try to discover points to improve throughout the day where they had a lot of discussion especially about acoustics in particular. Because the the sound that the members hear onstage (inside sound) is different per venue, depending on how the inside of the venue is constructed there are times when the sound that the audience hears (outside sound) can also be heard until the stage. "There are some times when the language barrier is a problem. During those times I want to talk in Japanese. In that way I might be able to communicate various things to them" Mr. Rick's thoughts about the members progressively become more and more passion/enthusiasm as the TOUR passes.

2009.06.23 Palac Akropolis -Prague/Czech Republic- Czech Republic, this is the second country on this tour that the band first ever step foot in the country. The members and crew who were waiting for the live at the capital, Prague on the next day took a stroll in the city and enjoyed Czech cuisine. According to Mr. Rick discovered with just walking a bit downtown in 20 places that there were DIR EN GREY live announcement posters. Most of it were in subways and billboards but the anticipation for the live also went up. On the day of the live, a lot of the audience have gathered/amassed around the venue, you can't say that the size of the venue was big but because of the people who saw DIR EN GREY for the first time the venue was a great success.

2009.06.24 Stodola Club -Warsaw/Poland- This is the second performance in Poland since August 2007. Previously they were able to appear together with TOOL because of their appearance at the "METAL HAMMER FESTIVAL" but this time is their first solo performance. A two year "gap" has passed they were uncertained on wonder how much fans would gather for them, but they were completely deceived. An audience of more than 1,000 that even surprised the promoter were waiting for DIR EN GREY. For this tour the venue crew were in charged of lights. They've sent them a complete set of materials beforehand but the song's image and staging changes all the time so they created the lights as they instantly decided on what to do. In the middle it was a pretty bright stage but as each time passed what was adjusted and came out and was created in the end was a world-view with an atmosphere that the members themselves would get into.

2009.06.25 Columbia Club -Berlin/Germany- This is first solo performance at Germany's capital, Berlin since May 2006. Tickets were quickly SOLD OUT, and there were fans outside the venue who didn't have tickets. Today was also the last of the solo performances and the excitement inside the venue was also to the maximum/climactic.

2009.06.27 METALTOWN, Frihamnspiren -Gothenburg/Sweden- RED STAGE: DIR EN GREY / MUSTASCH / ALL THAT REMAINS / THE HAUNTED

The party who entered the venue on the previous day went and watched DISTURBED, SLIPKNOT etc. performances, and spent each of their time going to other band's buses and dressing rooms. On that night, Kaoru and Toshiya were brought by Mr. Rick towards a place. The destination of the three people was TRIVIUM's bus. TRIVIUM's PA, Mr. Goody was one of the people who started at the same time as Mr. Rick in this industry and they both respected each other. Mr. Rick and Mr. Goody introduced the members of TRIVIUM and as expected of both artists they immediately went into buddy mode, Kaoru chatted all night with the guitarist Corey through the translation software included in the iPhone. Then, the vocalist Matthew knew about DIR EN GREY from before and personally has all of their CDs. There were times when they've appeared together on fests during foreign tours but there was no time to talk to each other. Fests are a good chance to know about new bands and is also a great opportunity to establish connections with artists who will allso appear in the fest. I felt that anew.

Live day. DIR EN GREY's performance will start from 21:30, but one hour before that after the stage was free was setting of the equipment. They had enough time and checked everything and when all of it was in perfect condition, the members appeared in the stage side. On the other stage OPETH was performing, and the audience's mood was better than normal.

Even if they were service as the headline act on the RED STAGE the anticipation in the area was high but make no mistake that there was pressure on the members. But when the SE resounded in the venue right on schedule, that space literally was DIR EN GREY's world. The awesomeness and energy generated from the stage that the members created can also be completely felt from the stage side. From the audience area I saw the in front that the sound completely permeated through them, and the people in the back were also watching the stage. In the middle of the live the sun started to set, and the stage stained with the sunset was fantastic/unreal.

"Everyday like a drama there are different funny and sad happenings. There's too much that I can't remember (laughs)" Ms. Nora who has overcome several trials along with the members and through that experience and trust has become a vital person for DIR EN GREY's foreign tour activities, says this about this tour when looking back. "Of course (during the tour) problems occurred but we're lucky that we were touring around with pretty awesome staff, other than not being able to buy Japanese food even if I wanted to eat it, no problem! (laughs)"

In one of the interviews abroad there was a question, "What is the secret behind DIR EN GREY's success abroad?" The answer to that question is DIR EN GREY's current shape tells it. "We don't feel that we are successful. But, we are able to do this kind of activities because of the fans who wait for us and the staff who always do their best."

Die Meisyo de Meisyu

It's commonly known as Silver Week. It is exactly at the end of the TOUR09 ALL VISIBLE THINGS and I am able to take a break for 1 week cooped up in the house. During my break it was also the public's break so wherever I go there are tons of people so I didn't feel like going out. Time-off on weekdays are definitely better.

A while ago I read all the fanletters from the tour in one go. I always read during free times during tour but this time I never read one until the tour ended. It's because I just didn't want to hear anything about me or the band. It's whatever goes.

As expected it's tiring to read them all in one go. There were some letters that had ??? contents but I think there are some [letters] many various things and some communicated with their own words but since I have received them I need power(energy).

Meanwhile about 10 years before, I have received letters that I wanted to rip apart and throw away while in the middle of reading them. The content was a complaint about my comments and actions in a magazine. Anyhow, I don't know what this person who wrote it looks like. And [she] just took liberty to say things. As my hands were getting ready to rip it apart, after reading the very last line, I saw that the kid[fan] wrote her full name at the bottom. She wrote it firmly down as if to say she asserts it. I was very glad that she confidently let me know her name. While I was feeling embarrassed the girl's words were right on the money on everything about me though (Laugh)

Which is why anything you can think of like, "Don't get all in a bad mood and be irritated during a live" or "don't throw your guitar around", you can send everything to me. Once the letters arrive I read all of them.

In the previous tour, it's been a while since we played "Akuro no Oka". This song's chord progression is really great. It's progression is so simple and faint but as soon as the band comes in and when I move to the second chord the scene that unfolds is so good. 11 years ago when I was listening to the demo I was thinking that this won me over. Whenever I listen to this song, I would always remember things during that time. Once we arranged the song here in Japan, we went to Los Angeles to record and as soon as we came back to Japan we immediately flew to Italy for the Promotional Video shooting and, being continuously busy before the debut. During the rehearsal before the tour it's been a long time since we got together to jam, when I started with my acoustic guitar and the band came in, those memories came back to life and my eyes watered. I don't know when we'll do this again but if we do this again after a long time I will remember things during that time.

For a while my computer typing hand took a rest and the break was over. It's been 2 weeks that have passed since we went in the studio to make songs. To arrange our songs takes a really long time. We tried putting together each member's part that have passed through their own filter and we have repeatedly experimented over and over to make our very own sound that is beyond our expectations. Currently, no songs has been completed yet but it's much like us that we'd have a song that has shown us a new light. Even underground, DIR EN GREY will progressively move towards the next year.

Translator's Note: Japan normally has a time called Golden Week during May every year and it's almost a week of red calendar holidays. However this year's September 2009 there was a coincidental sandwich of holidays that resulted to a 5-day long weekend. Thus, they aptly named it Silver Week.

NEWS AND SO ON

On a certain day in October, rain. Photoshoots were conducted for the "Hageshisa to, Kono Mune no Naka de Karamitsuita Shakunetsu no Yami" single that will be released on December 2.

The first magazine was "CD Data". The place was a certain station on the Yamanote line, around one minute from the east exit. Literally right in the center of the red-light district. When we went down the stairs of a multitenant building and opened a door, the interiors were cleanly gone; it was literally a space in a skeleton-like condition. Before, that place was a high profile cabaret club during the heyday of the bubble economy but only the lone toilet retains a memento of the lavishness of the bubble era, and that radiated a strange atmosphere. The brains of the members who spoke a lot during the interview on the previous day were on full spin; in addition to it being a photoshoot from early in the morning they uncharacteristically had few words. During that time, first they started from individual cuts. The cameraman was Mr. Houkou Horiguchi. Facing the lens, the nimble/light shutter sound stopped for a second, and when I peered into the LCD there they were, serious and completely different from their pre-photoshoot mode. Today's start seems good. This day's time schedule cannot allow any overtime or changes. Then the 2-pattern individual photoshoot. Once all of the members' pictures were taken they moved to the group photoshoot with a large amount of water sprinkled on the floor. How would it be finished on the magazine? Quickly they shot a number of cuts and the photoshoot ended and we went on our way to the next photoshoot location.

The second magazine was "Ongaku to Hito". The cameraman was Mr. Yoshimitsu Umekawa. At first were photos that used after images that flowed. Mysterious photos were created through a peculiar method. After that was a group photo on a black background. A photoshoot that flowed more towards full body shots occurred.

The third magazine was "GiGS". It's difficult to know it from the pictures but they used sparkling gold as the background backdrop. The cameraman was Mr. Komatsu Yousuke who we've worked with several times in the past. Mr. Komatsu minutely adjusted the lighting's brightness and color and was already standing by. Without having a lot of meetings, before we knew it the photoshoot started. Foregoing test shots, they immediately started with the photoshoot. The movements of the camera assistant were, as always, prompt, and proceeded with the cameraman's superb combination. After taking one-shots and two-shots of them holding instruments, the shoot was over.

The fourth magazine was "WeROCK". It was a photoshoot that began when it was already evening and since it was only the guitars, Kyo and Shinya were in another room. The camerman was Mr. Noda Masayuki. Since this was the first time we worked with Mr. Noda, when we were having a meeting on how the photoshoot would be, there was a touch of nervousness in Kaoru, Die, and Toshiya. But, when they were facing the lens and the shutter was pressed their nervousness seemed to fly off somewhere. It was a simple situation with a bare exposed concrete [wall] so, as expected, if the photo subjects weren't good then they wouldn't be able to make more of this situation. The cameraman also fully understood that and instantly calculated angles and was able to take several good shots.

The fifth magazine, today's last, was "ROCKIN' ON JAPAN". It started at 19:00. The shooting location moved outside. The cameraman was Mr. Jan Buus, a Danish man. From here all of the conversation progressed in English. Mr. Jan's style was to take photos while communicating with the members, like a session style. Today the air outside was a bit chilly and a severe chill lingered in the air. The mode up until then was clearly different. As was mentioned previously, Jan, who was doing a photoshoot like a session, created an enclosed unique space with partitions. The staff watched through the gap in the partition. It was a narrow gap but we were able to get a glimpse of their serious selves as they stood on the stage. And for the members who are severe with themselves and who never showed any signs of exhaustion the whole time, one substance/content rich day was finished.

R.I.P.

September 29, 2009, because of the extreme sudden news of his death, the members and all of the management staff were at lost for words. Masahito Tojo continuously loved DIR EN GREY and was one of the people who understood and supported them while he was the former editor-in-chief of "FOOL'S MATE" and editing consultant.

Written here are some memorable words of Mr. Tojo about DIR EN GREY.

???

"Make no mistake, this is the most important album to represent 2008" - Shinseido Free Magazine "DROPS" #019

"That mind-boggling crazy depraved beauty surpasses the concept of borders and words, and would definitely make the world go wild." - Tower Records Free Magazine "TOWER" NO.266 "You probably can't say that it was because of their attitude that lead to the unparalleled level of perfection in "UROBOROS"" - "UROBOROS" ALBUM LIMITED CONTENTS

"The music of DIR EN GREY is strong and craziest" -SHANKARA -breathing-

"My resolve to "watch DIR EN GREY's Osaka Hall" never wavered even for a bit." -Haiiro no Ginka vol. 42

???

We grieve the passing of Masahito Tojo and express our deepest condolences.

DIR EN GREY

Kyo Kaoru Die Toshiya Shinya

All staff

TOUR09 ALL VISIBLE THINGS [North/South America]

11/2 (mon) Warehouse Live -Houston, TX / U.S.- 11/3 (tue) Trees -Dallas, TX / U.S.-o 11/6 (fri) Court Central Estadio Nacional -Santiago / Chile- 11/11 (wed) The Gramercy Theatre -New York, NY / U.S.- 11/13 (fri) The Gramercy Theatre -New York, NY / U.S.- 11/14 (sat) The Gramercy Theatre -New York, NY / U.S.- 11/16 (mon) Metro -Chicago, IL / U.S.- 11/18 (wed) Gothic Theatre -Englewood, CO / U.S.- 11/20 (fri) House of Blues Sunset Strip -West Hollywood, CA / U.S.- 11/22 (sun) House of Blues Sunset Strip -West Hollywood, CA / U.S.- 11/23 (mon) The Fillmore -San Francisco, CA / U.S.-

Maquinaria Festival 11/8 (sun) Chacara de Jockey -Sao Paulo / Brazil-

Santiago, Chile Chile that borders the Pacific Ocean side of the South America continent, with a length of 4,329km that spans from the equator until the south pole, and an average width of 175km from east to west, it is a narrow and long country like no other in the world. This time the first solo performance was held in Chile's capital, Santiago (Officially, Santiago de Chile). For DIR EN GREY, the South American continent is a place where they have never set foot in but for the past few years the ardent local fan's wish for LIVE was strong, and the Europe agent who produced the live in South america also strongly recommended that DIR EN GREY do a South American performance. A number of offers from Brazil have come in the past but in Chili, how much do they know about DIR EN GREY? Prior information was unlimitedly sparse. They did their first solo live in a place where they've first stepped foot on, what kind of incidents happened? What did the members and their staff who accompanied them see in Santiago, Chile?

Sao Paulo, Brazil

Brazil, with a land area around 22.5 times of Japan, it is a country that takes up around half of the South American continent. That area is bigger than all of Europe's land, and is ranked 5th in the world alongside Russia, China, Canada and America. What comes to mind when you hear Brazil is the "Corcovado Christ Statue" that is often shown on TV and videos, "soccer", "Rio Carnival" etc, the people gather in one place and enthusiastically support and dance. It was decided that DIR EN GREY will first arrive here in mid-September. Mr. Michael the North American agent contacted us. Around one month before that there was talk that "the organizers of the fest in Brazil where DEFTONES would appear seems interested with DIR EN GREY" but after that there was no more talk of it so at that time we thought that maybe the plans went up in smoke. The "Maquinaria Festival" where they will appear this time is the 2nd this year, according to the organizers they are expecting 30,000 people. The event is for 2 days and they've prepared 2 stages in the venue (Main Stage/MySpace Stage). The headliner that graced the Main Stage on the 1st day was FAITH NO MORE who also appeared in the DOWNLOAD, England. For the members, along with the appearance of DEFTONES who they toured with in America in 2007, these were the reasons why they willingly consenting to this fest's offer.

North America

Counted from the "SHOWCASE TOUR" that was held in 2007, this will be the 6th US TOUR labeled "ALL VISIBLE THINGS", and will have 10 performances in 7 cities. The different between this tour and past tour are the consecutive lives in New York and West Hollywood (Los Angeles). Even if 1 year has passed for the fans who don't have that much of an opportunity to see a DIR EN GREY live, along with being more chances, it was announced as performance with high expections that a setlist that you won't easily experience at ordinary lives would be performed!? To give some clue on what songs were planned to be performed, "Akuro no Oka" "AMBER" "Ugly" "Shokubeni" "Kodou" etc that were also performed during the domestic tour in August~September were written down in a candidate list that were given to the local techs as a prior information. DIR EN GREY who we won't know what setlist they've prepared for us until that day itself. After presenting their 7th ALBUM, "UROBOROS", for the members who will be performing that album for the first time for Americans, what did they feel, what did they think about the TOUR bus life and LIVES created in different environments and conditions from Japan?

-The 6th American and South America, the otherside of Japan...-

we are planning on writing about the America TOUR in the next volume (vol.46/March 2010 Issue), so watch out for it!

#haiiro no ginka

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