I tried a couple of load order templates I found online and the current one has been pretty good at making sure the mods worked as intended across a few character builds but recently started having the game crash more often without any change to it, or the game failing to even start on Xbox. So hopefully someone who knows modding better can help me out this mod list in a more reliable order or suggest a better mod or if any are known to cause issues and should be removed. Here’s my current load order:
USSEP
Reforging - to the masses
Modern brawl bug fix
[XB1] Simple time scale change
Civil war quest immersion bundle
Paarthurnax - quest expansion
The enemy of my enemy
Sursummer assault
Night mother’s embrace - an assassin’s tale
A dishonest day’s work
Destroy the thieves guild
Destroy the dark brotherhood
Penitus oculatus
Return to helgen SE
The forsworn we’ve been waiting for
Where darkness dwells
Where darkness dwells: shadow kingdom
Mythic dawn expansion
Good guys quests
Better thieving alternate
Castle volkihar rebuilt
[XB1] recover cities
Crusader - a dawnguard bundle
Soljund’s sinkhole
Windstad mine
Training adjustments
Guild leader perks
VioLens
Summermyst- enchantments of Skyrim
Heart of gold - an adoption bundle
Free player home hearthfire bundle
Better vampires 8.7
[Xbox One] vampire lord perks
Double perks
Rich merchants of Skyrim
Better courier
Improved slow time shout
Effective blocking
Wards act like shields
Magic scales with level
Buffed bound weapons
Simple paladin [X1]
Archery skill set
Convenient horses
Scales one-handed attack speed for Ordinator
Faster casting SE for XB1
Vampire underwater suffocation fix
[XB1] truly absorb dragon souls
Berserker rage for everyone
Run for your lives
Better vampire NPCs 1.9
Serana infinite
Populated forts towers places
Tolft TG fence
Auri updated - song of the green
Immersive patrols lite
Warrior poet powers
Cloaks of Skyrim
Elemental walls redone
FYX - 3D Skyrim
Realistic water two
Enhanced lights and FX
Enhanced blood textures
A quality world map - vivid with stone roads
Dawnguard map markers
Wear multiple rings
King ports - arvak replacer
Better shadowmere (armored)
Auri re-imagined CBBE
Gritty animations requiem 2.0
Animated mounted casting
PrivateEye’s heavy armory - new weapons lite
PrivateEye’s heavy armory - USSEP patch
Jlmountainkeep (must fall keep player home I think, deleted from Bethesda net)
Better vampire weapons 1.4
Dark dawnguard armor
Nether mage armor
Ebony blades - by CrazyLion
Summerset shadow armor
Dragon infused daedric armor
Dragon knight armor
Clipsymoon weaponry artifacts
Silver elven armor
Silver dagger
Kynreeve armor
Vampire Mira armor
Molag bal - armor
Volkihar knight armor
Ebony Damascus crossbow
Liliths harbinger custom sword
Hoodless dragon priest masks
Green thumb - rare curios
ARs Metallica
Tweaks crafting recipes v2
Vortikai’s playable clothing
Jewelry of power
Elemental vision of Skyrim
Improved spellbreaker ward
Simple upgradable leveled list items
Ring of carry weight
Instant mastery
CBBE
Unique uniques by insanitysorrow
aMidianBorn steel pack
aMidianBorn dark elven armor
aMidianBornnordic carved
Molten glass armor & weapons replacer
Ancient shrouded armor replacer
Mxblack dawnguard weapons & armor
Visage of mzund replacer
Superior harkon’s sword
CL’s weapon replacer 5 in one
True dawnbreaker
Unlimited sprinting
Visible favorited gear
Relationship dialogue overhaul
RDO - USSEP patch
Undead beloved - Serana bundle
Serana dialogue add-on
Serana dialogue add-on castle volkihar rebuilt patch
Serana dialogue add-on RDO patch
SDA convenient horses patch
Stones of barenziah quest markers
Critical weapon mastery
[xb1] vampire sun damage clothes covering
Tweaked arrows and bolts
Convenient arrows and bolts
My home is your home
Awesome artifacts - anniversary edition
Unique thane weapons
XP32 maximum skeleton + realistic ragdoll and forces
Weapons on back - swords and quivers
Dawnguard as a vampire
No vampire cure on rumors
Ordinator - perks of Skyrim
Apocalypse - magic of Skyrim
Ars arcanum nova
Apocalypse - Ordinator compatibility patch
Odin - Ordinator compatibility patch
Sustained magic
Sustained magic apocalypse patch
[xb1] proper aiming
Growl - were beasts of Skyrim
Mannequin maker
Xbox - disenchanting overhaul
[ICS] enchantments unleashed
Infinite charges
Debug menu

摘要: 现代医院的诊断和治疗，离不开各种先进的医疗设备，而各种设备都离不开安全可靠的供电。很多手术往往长达数小时，手术过程中突然断电的话后果不可想象；同时很多医疗器械都直接接触或深入人体脏器，此时极小的漏电流都会威胁病人的生命安全。因此，针对医院配电系统供电的连续性和安全性，国家相关标准作了明确要求，医疗2类场所重要设备必须用IT系统供电，同时IT系统需要配置绝缘监测装置。本文介绍了安科瑞医疗IT系统在安哥拉罗安达总医院的应用。
Abstract: Diagnosis and treatment in modern hospitals are inseparable from advanced medical equipment, which are inseparable from safe and reliable power supply. Many operations often last for several hours, and the consequences of a sudden power failure during the operation are unimaginable. At the same time, many medical devices directly touch or penetrate into the human organs. At this time, the very small leakage current will threaten the life of the patient. Therefore, the national standards have made clear requirements, medical group 2 locations must be powered by IT system. This article introduces the application of Acrel Medical IT System in Luanda General Hospital, Angola.
关键词: 医疗IT，绝缘监测装置，报警显示仪。
Keywords: Medical IT system, Insulation monitoring device, Alarm indicators.
1. Project Overview项目概述
安哥拉罗安达总医院是由中铁四局承担的中国援安哥拉罗安达总医院改扩建项目，该项目使用了8套安科瑞医疗IT系统产品。主要包括：AITR系列隔离变压器，AIM-M系列绝缘监测仪，AID系列报警显示仪和AKH-0.66P26电流互感器。
Luanda General Hospital in Angola is a China-aided reconstruction and expansion project of Luanda General Hospital in Angola undertaken by China Railway Fourth Bureau. The project uses 8 sets of Acrel medical IT system products. They are AITR series isolation transformer, AKH-0.66P26 current transformer, AIM-M series insulation monitoring device, AID series remote alarm indicator and DC power supply unit.
2. Introduction of Medical Isolated Power Supply System 医疗IT系统介绍
医用隔离电源系统就是通过医用隔离变压器将接地系统（TN-S系统）转接成不接地系统（IT系统）来为重要的医疗设备供电。IT系统通过绝缘监测仪实现绝缘监测，通过绝缘故障产品进行绝缘故障定位。
The medical isolated power supply system is to switch the grounding system (TN-S system) into ungrounded system (IT system) through a medical isolation transformer to supply power for important medical equipment. The insulation monitoring device has the function of insulation monitoring and fault locator has the function of fault circuit locating.
3. Acrel Medical Isolated Power Supply System Solutions 安科瑞医疗IT解决方案
Acrel medical isolated power supply system is suitable for operating room, ICU, CCU and other medical group 2 locations providing safe and uninterruptible power supply. It mainly includes AITR series isolation transformer, AKH-0.66P26 current transformer, AIM-M series insulation monitoring device, AID series remote alarm indicator, DC power supply, ASG series test signal generator and AIL series insulation fault locator.
3.1 Acrel Medical Isolated Power Supply System for Operating Room 手术室配电解决方案
​
https://preview.redd.it/ncmj1y5j98pa1.png?width=538&format=png&auto=webp&s=a8781a8245d20aa7fd926b1ccf10297cbae60641
方案一 不带绝缘故障定位功能
Option I without insulation fault location function
​
https://preview.redd.it/4h28hdij98pa1.png?width=592&format=png&auto=webp&s=215eb58da1e50b8c146dc48687bba14b1790e41b
方案二 带绝缘故障定位功能
Option II with insulation fault location function
注：1.在手术室的配电解决方案中，AID系列外接报警与显示仪应安装于手术室内部情报面板上，或情报面板的旁边（嵌墙安装）。在手术过程中，由医务人员来监视隔离电源系统的运行状况。
2.带绝缘故障定位功能的方案中，如果需定位回路超过8路，可采用两套AIL150定位仪来实现，其组合可以是AIL150-8型+AIL150-4型(最多定位12路)，或AIL150-8型+AIL150-8型（最多定位16路）。
Note: 1. For operating room, AID series alarm indicator should be installed on the intelligence panel inside the operating room, or next to the intelligence panel (wall mounted installation) so that medical personnel can immediately receive a notification when there is power supply failure.

1. In Option II，if the number of located channels is more than eight，two sets of AIL150 can be used. The combination can be AIL150-8 and AIL150-4 (up to 12 channels), or AIL150 -8 and AIL150-8 (up to 16 channels).

3.2 Acrel Medical Isolated Power Supply System for ICU and CCU ICU,CCU配电解决方案
​
https://preview.redd.it/th3o53zj98pa1.png?width=632&format=png&auto=webp&s=01a14fb45a7d0f74532436eb7bf55b3584060aa6
方案一 不带绝缘故障定位功能
Option I without insulation fault location function
​
https://preview.redd.it/5vjyg7ok98pa1.png?width=632&format=png&auto=webp&s=2b93c55c801cb9481fe8f8ee7d7ef2a07229c79f
方案二 带绝缘故障定位功能
Option II with insulation fault location function
注：在重症监护室的配电解决方案中，AID系列集中报警与显示仪应该安装在护士站内，由护士站的医务人员来监视各隔离电源系统的运行状况。
Note: For intensive care unit , AID series alarm indicator should be installed in the nurses 'station so that medical personnel can monitor the operating status of isolated power supply system.
3.3 Product Selection产品选型
Model
Picture
Function
AITR series isolation transformer
​
https://preview.redd.it/x0cjxjel98pa1.png?width=135&format=png&auto=webp&s=f9f784fc61feef7088643eee0680eccfea42ca13
a. H class insulation meterial, which permits more higher temperature rise so as to extend the using time. b. PT temperature sensors
c. inrush current (IE): ＜12In d. capacity: 3.15kVA, 5kVA, 6.3kVA, 8kVA, 10kVA
e. low noise
f. CE approval
AIM-M series medical insulation monitoring device
​
https://preview.redd.it/xohi2uul98pa1.png?width=125&format=png&auto=webp&s=ab37c3628e661537d3704937690f6502c236eba3
a. insulation monitoring, overload monitoring, over-temperature monitoring
b. fault alarm output
c. RS485 and CAN communication
d. IEC and CE approval
AKH-0.66P26 current transformer
​
https://preview.redd.it/2vo1cp6m98pa1.png?width=106&format=png&auto=webp&s=271df91e0b61f75efc3e833bf1fc4249293409ea
a. protective current transformer
b. maximum measurement current: 60A
c. ratio is 2000:1
d. installation: fixed inside cabinet by screwing
e. CE approval
DC power supply
​
https://preview.redd.it/vakuvjkm98pa1.png?width=120&format=png&auto=webp&s=38f14c30de68635bd95e66c7f2c3ec453fa8d62e
a. output voltage: DC 24V
b. 35mm DIN rail installation
c. provide power for AID series alarm indicator
AID series alarm indicator
​
https://preview.redd.it/udwmts2n98pa1.png?width=131&format=png&auto=webp&s=922da0fad65c72d9b1b498803acd988815e8f031
a. display the data of insulation monitoring device
b. panel or wall-mounted installtion
c. eqipped with DC power supply
d. CE approval
4. Connection Diagram接线图
​
https://preview.redd.it/a7pt85zn98pa1.png?width=572&format=png&auto=webp&s=14318ba01dacdeff5941fa901b4f6621560e24be
5. Installation Photos 安装图片
https://preview.redd.it/6wfkdmco98pa1.png?width=528&format=png&auto=webp&s=d5bf7889d9afa8a5662c1a9da12ac6f97d223c09
https://preview.redd.it/2i143fro98pa1.png?width=516&format=png&auto=webp&s=2df55d5f66fa13505976ac275202503a5d8e4762
6. Conclusion 总结
经过扩改建以后，罗安达总医院已成为安哥拉规模最大、硬件设施一流的医院。而安科瑞医疗IT系统为该医院的安全、连续供电提供了重要保障，有效改善了当地医疗条件，造福了当地人民。
After expansion and reconstruction, Luanda General Hospital has become the largest hospital in Angola. The Acrel medical IT system provides safe and realible power supply for hospitals, effectively improving the local medical conditions and benefiting the local people.
Bibliography

1. IT System Insulation Monitoring Device and Fault Location System of Acrel. 2020
   
2. IEC 60354-7-710: 2002 Electrical installations of buildings-Part 7-710:Requirements for special installations or locations - Medical locations. 2002
   
3. IEC 61558-1-15:2011 Safety of transformers, reactors, power supply units and combinations thereof-Part 2-15: particular requirements and tests for isolating transformers for the supply of medical locations. 2011
   

Part 1 https://www.reddit.com/DrCreepensVault/comments/11y06d4/headgames/
Opening his eye’s, it was dark and Michael sensed he was sitting up rather than laying down as one expected to be when sleeping. His neck was sore and when he tried to move his head to relieve the tension, he found it impossible. He wondered if maybe he were still dreaming and tried to will himself to wake up, but nothing changed. He thought maybe if he pinched himself that would work, but he could not feel his hands, or the rest of his body for that matter.
At the back of his neck a dull pain throbbed as if tension had built up and he needed to pop his neck. It wasn’t sharp pain but rather irritating, and he thought he would go mad if he didn’t find a way to relieve it. Finding himself immobile with no way to relieve the tension, Michael changed his thoughts to take his mind off of it.
Remembering the visit from the prison warden, Michael recalled the man saying that certain precautionary medical measures were taken to prevent aggression and wondered just what had been done to him. He thought about what he knew of that could be done to prevent aggression and other than his earlier thoughts of reduced testosterone levels or increased levels of estrogen, he could think of nothing which would require immobilization.
‘Unless they castrated me!’ he thought suddenly and wished he could reach down to feel if his parts were still intact. But he wasn’t a sexual offender, so that didn’t really make sense. This thought calmed him and he continued to search his mind for answers.
Michael’s thoughts were interrupted by the sound of footsteps coming closer. He couldn’t see anything, but he felt someone had come into the room with him. The lights came on, hurting his eyes and Michael squinted to shield them. He could hear the other person moving around but had no idea where they were or what they were doing.
Finally he could open his eyes fully and saw immediately that he was in a white room not unlike the one where he had received the shot. The wall in front of him was bare except for the mortar joints of the cinder block it was constructed of and a small stainless steel rolling cart parked directly in front of him.
“So, are we awake yet?” a man’s voice asked.
Michael tried to talk but couldn’t.
A face popped up in front of him, grinning at him in a weird way with eyes bulging. This guy was way too happy.
“How you doing, Michael?” he asked with his rather high, effeminate voice. “Did you sleep okay?”
Michael tried once again to answer but no sound came forth. In fact, he could not even feel his breath moving through his mouth.
“It’s okay, Mikey boy. I know you can’t talk, but what you can do is blink your eyes. So when I ask you a question, just blink once for yes and twice for no. Okay?”
Michael blinked once.
“Very good, Mike!” he said in a patronizing tone. “Now the first thing we need to do is make sure you are okay. So I’m going to pull up a seat and we’ll go over a few things.”
He stepped away from Michael’s view for a moment and returned carrying a clipboard and pushing a stool. He sat on the stool with a flourish, reaching down to adjust himself at the crotch and Michael found himself wishing he could do the same thing.
“Alrighty then, let’s continue shall we?” he said with a broad grin, cocking his head to one side. “Remember, blink once for yes and twice for no.”
Michael blinked once to acknowledge he understood.
“Awesome! Now, let’s see,” he said flipping up a page on the clip board. “Are you in any pain?”
Michael thought for a moment of how to answer. He wasn’t in pain, but he was very uncomfortable with a dull throbbing in the back of his neck. He blinked three times.
“Well, okay Mike. I see we have some work to do.” he sat up straight and laid a finger to the side of his mouth. “You blinked three times which is neither yes nor no, so it means something else, right?”
Michael blinked once.
“Okay, I asked if you were in pain and you didn’t say yes, but you also didn’t say no, so you’re not in pain but you don’t feel good.” He looked to Michael quizzically.
Michael blinked once.
“Oh good, we’re making progress!” He clapped his hands together and smiled broadly. “Is it a headache?”
Michael blinked twice.
“Alright, does your neck hurt?”
Michael blinked once, paused and blinked twice.
“Oh I see, yes and no,” He maintained the silly grin. “Your neck is uncomfortable?”
Michael blinked once.
“Let me see if I can help,” he reached around behind Michael’s head and began to massage the back of his neck.
Michael felt the warmth of the man’s smooth hand as he massaged and soon the knot began to relax. Looking at his new friend, Michael wondered what had brought someone of such a personality to work in a place like this. His blonde hair was shoulder length and stringy but time had not been nice as he was mostly balding on top. He had a very large rather pointed nose that sloped steeply back to his eyes. Up close he could see the eyes were somewhat sunken in and there were large dark circles around them, indicating the man did not sleep well. But what really got him was the smile. A goofy grin with his large but well maintained teeth.
“How’s that?” he asked, removing his hand.
Michael blinked once.
“Good. Now let’s get on with the other questions so we can start to get you settled in.” He looked to the clipboard. “Do you have any other pains?”
Michael blinked twice.
“That’s great. A lot of times, guys come out of surgery like you did and they have headaches or other pains and there’s not much I can do but give them a painkiller.” He noted something on his chart. “Now, your neck doesn’t hurt now but it may start to as the healing progresses so I want you to let me know if it does and we’ll take care of it.”
Michael blinked once.
“Oh by the way,” he looked serious at Michael for a moment. “My name is Peter and I’ll be the one who takes care of you from now on. There is another attendant by the name of Marco who comes in late at night, but he doesn’t do much other than make sure the equipment is running right. Marco is, how should we say, a little strange. And then there‘s Natalie. You already met her. The nurse who got the room ready when you first got here.”
Michael thought about the nurse he had seen. He didn’t really see her well, but figured it didn’t matter as there would be plenty of time for that. What he did remember though was she had a great body and it was something to look forward to seeing again.
“Anyway, Michael, we run in three shifts here. Natalie works seven am to three pm, I work three pm to eleven pm and Marco works eleven pm to seven am. So there is always someone here to see that you boys are taken care of. Okay, do you have any questions?”
Michael blinked twice.
Peter reached around to one side of Michael’s head and pulled a very thin computer monitor around for him to see, angling it off to one side so as to not block Michael’s view forward, but still easily seen. The screen was divided into several parts which looked to be medical monitors and a small box in the lower corner which reminded Michael of a chat box he and his friends used on the internet.
“This is your life support monitor and it also serves as a way for you to communicate with me.” He reached up to adjust a small object at the top of the screen. “I need for you to look directly at this point for a few minutes Mike so I can calibrate it.”
Michael looked at the point indicated where Peter’s hand rested. There was a small beam of light emitting from a very tiny hole and he could also see a picture of his eye coming to focus on one part of the screen. He realized it was a camera of some sort.
“This is an optical mouse,” Peter explained. “It follows the iris of your eye so that once calibrated, wherever you look on the screen, the mouse pointer will follow. And like a mouse, you can click on menu’s but instead of a finger, you simply blink twice rapidly to click the mouse.”
Michael watched as Peter continued to calibrate it and saw a mouse icon appear on the screen.
“There we go.” Peter sat back satisfied. “Now Michael, I need for you to look at the screen and look at what I tell you to so we can make sure the mouse is calibrated.”
Michael blinked once and turned his eyes to the screen. He watched the mouse rove the screen as it followed his eye movements.
“Look at the blue circle,” Peter instructed.
Michael searched the screen and looked directly at the blue circle in the corner as the mouse followed to rest there.
“Good, now find the red box.”
Michael looked across the screen, the mouse icon following his eye until he found the red box.
“Excellent. Now let’s do a little more. Find the word menu and click the mouse.”
Michael looked until he found the word menu above the small box which resembled a chat box. He waited for the icon to settle on the word and blinked twice. A small box slid down with menu choices and he read them, the icon following his eyes across each one.
“Okay Michael, this is your communication interface. From here you can type messages in the box below by opening the keyboard on the menu.” He reached over and pushed a button on the screen to make the keyboard appear on the screen above the chat box. “At first, your eyes are going to get very tired as you type messages, so don’t try to do a whole lot at first. As time passes your eyes will become accustomed and grow stronger.”
Michael looked at the interface and wondered just how long he was going to have to use this. The way Peter was talking this would be his only means of communication for a long time to come. Just what had they done to him to make it so he needed to be immobilized for such an extended period of time?
“Now, if you’ll look up here for a moment,” he pointed to an exploding star symbol at the top of the screen with a small black box under it. “Before you are finished healing, there are probably going to be times when you do have pain and since we won’t always be around you to know, you can simply click this icon and get a small dose of painkiller. After it is administered, the counter will appear in the box below the icon so you will know when the next dose is available.”
Michael blinked once.
“But I gotta warn you, Mike.” Peter got real close to Michael’s face and he could smell his aftershave. “The painkiller is a strong narcotic. The computer will only let you have a dose every two hours, but that is still enough to get you addicted. Once the doctor determines you are healed, the painkiller will be removed, so don’t get yourself hooked on it. I’ve seen a couple guys do this and believe me, the withdrawal is very painful and there’s nothing we can do but watch you suffer through it as you quit cold turkey.”
Michael blinked once.
He wasn’t interested in the painkiller. In fact, other than aspirin, he wouldn’t take any medications when he was free unless a doctor prescribed an antibiotic for infections.
“Okay, Michael, I’m about to get off shift so let me show you one more thing before we stop for today. On the menu, you will find the heading “games”. When you select it, you are given a choice of several different computer games which can be played with the optical mouse.” he looked at Michael and grinned proudly. “These were my idea and I programmed them in so you guys wouldn’t get too bored. I know it must really suck to be immobilized like that.”
Michael blinked once.
“So anyway, I would suggest trying one of the simple games like tic tac toe or hangman at first until your muscles get used to using the optical mouse. Also, the games will turn off for fifteen minutes of every hour in order to prevent eye strain and headaches that can result from these.” He stood up and moved the stool over against the wall. “I gotta go now, but I’ll be back in the morning. Get some sleep and play with the games if you like. Marco will come and check on you before too long.”
Michael watched him walk out of sight, listening to his footsteps fade in the distance. Suddenly he felt very sleepy and questions of his situation no longer seemed important. He looked at the computer screen for a moment and decided he would check it out further later on. Right now, he needed to rest. He closed his eyes and waited for sleep to come.
But sleep did not come as he could not make himself feel comfortable enough to sleep. The familiar pressure against the back or side of his head when he lay down was missing and he had the ever present feeling of sitting at attention. He opened his eyes and looked at the computer screen, considering if he should dose himself with the narcotic to induce sleep. He immediately decided against it as he remembered Peter’s warning about not becoming addicted. He would have to find some other way.
Wondering how he would deal with his inability to make himself sleep, Michael became aware of a squeaking sound. Very faint at first but it was slowly getting closer and louder. He wondered what it was and wished he could turn his head to see, as he could really only hear it out of his right ear. This meant the sound was originating in the hallway as that was the way Peter had gone when he left.
The noise came even closer and now Michael could hear footsteps walking in time to the squeaking as if the irritating noise was a marching cadence. As it shifted around his position, he watched as a gurney came into view being pushed by a very strange looking man. He assumed that this was Marco and knew the gurney was not for him as there was already someone laying on it, covered entirely by a white sheet and Michael found himself wondering why the person under the sheet seemed to have no head.
“Well, well, lookee here,” he said mockingly, as spittle gathered at the ring in the corner of his lower lip. “If it isn’t the big bad bank robber who killed all those people in cold blood. Not feeling so tough now, are you dude?”
Michael tried not to let the man’s words get to him. He had been taunted by guards and even other inmates before who didn’t believe he was innocent. This time, unlike those other times though, he had no choice but to keep silent.
“So you’re Michael Chaste. You don’t look so tough.” He leaned in very close. “In fact, you look like a bitch. That’s right, you heard me bitch!”
The man’s breath was horrible and Michael found himself wondering if this guy chewed on road kill at meal times. He had short greasy black hair, an eyebrow piercing, the lip ring piercing he had noticed at first and a tattoo on his neck of a flying bird which looked to Michael like a swallow. Oh the fun he could have with this guy if he had his voice and was not incapacitated.
“So, I guess Peter got you all hooked up on the monitor since it’s pulled around now. Enjoying them drugs, dude?” He looked at the screen. “Oh, you haven’t taken any yet, huh?”
He walked out of Michael’s site to the left and could be heard moving something around in a drawer. When he returned, he was carrying a small thin strip of something clear like tape.
“Okay Mike, here’s the deal. Since you can’t talk or even really communicate yet, let me give you the rundown.” He pulled the rolling bench over and sat in front of him as Peter had done.
“Open your mouth,” he held the strip close and laid it on Michael’s tongue.
The taste was very sweet and he realized it was also dissolving slowly. Whatever it was, he liked it.
“That my friend is a treat for you,” Marco said calmly. “I know I can come off all bad ass and all but really I feel for you cause it has to be one major bummer to be in your position. I don’t really care if you wasted a bunch of people. Hell, I’d waste people too if I could get away with it. Most of them are worthless as tits on a boar hog anyway.”
He spun around in the chair, as if making a point. “Fact is, I don’t think there’s any crime in the world so bad that you should have to be treated this way, but I don’t make the rules. I just exploit them.”
He got up from the stool and headed off around the room again. Michael could hear him running water in a sink and sloshing something around, but had no idea what was happening. Again he wished he could turn his head. After a few minutes, Marco came back and sat down. There were now dark blotches on his smock.
“So like I was saying, I exploit the rules to get what I want out of this crummy job. But I really can’t complain. I come to work about the time all my friends are passing out and I get off in time to sleep before it’s time to party again, so it’s cool.” Marco lit a cigarette. “Hope you don’t mind if I smoke. I’m not supposed to but there’s nobody here at night but me and you guys.”
He sat back and inhaled deeply from the cigarette and for once Michael could imagine what it was smokers got from smoking as he recalled his last smoke. The smell in the air was actually a pleasant change from the sanitary smell of cleaners, disinfectants and purified air. He watched Marco smoke and play with the cigarette. He was a strange one, but seemed to have a certain quality that Michael found he could like.
“So dude, I guess you met Peter.” Marco looked him straight in the eye. “Is that dude a flake or what? Man, the first time I saw him I was thinking to myself, dude, there’s a weird one if ever I saw one! And what’s with that hair? I mean, come on. If you’re bald on top you don’t let the sides and back grow. He looks like he tried to jump up too fast and his head pushed through the top of his scalp.”
He jumped up abruptly and did a little dance, ending up leaning back against the body on the gurney. He reached back and patted the stomach.
“Wow, that’s pretty muscular.” He pulled up his shirt to reveal a small paunch and rolls. “I wish I was that muscular. The chicks would really dig it.”
He walked to the far side of the gurney and lifted the sheet up between them.
“Holy shit!” he exclaimed, “Man, you were hung weren’t you buddy. Talk about a trouser snake. It’s like a damned boa constrictor.”
Michael could hear the sound of slapping and wondered just what Marco was doing to the body. He watched as he dropped the sheet and walked over to lean in close.
“Dude, you were really something, weren’t you?” He smiled and reached out to touch Michael’s nose gently. “I bet the ladies loved you.”
Michael was confused. What was he talking about?
Seeing his confusion, Marco walked over to the body and whipped back the sheet. Reaching down, he grabbed hold of the bodies penis and lifted it for Michael to see.
“Man, do you know what I could do if I was hung like that?” He smiled and seemed lost in his own perverse joy. “I could have any woman I wanted.”
Michael felt wrong. He couldn’t say watching Marco man handle the obviously dead body made him sick cause he felt nothing of the sort, but it did feel wrong.
“Oh, I get it now,” Marco said slowly. “You still don’t know what’s really going on yet, do you?”
Michael blinked twice.
“Oh yeah, Peter taught you the blinking thing. Good.” He walked out of sight, returning with something in his hand. “Okay, let me lay it out for you Mike. Part of my job is to take the bodies to the incinerator here and cremate them, which is what I was on my way to do when I stopped in here to see you. Being that you’re new and all, I thought what the hell, let’s take some time to get to know the new guy and maybe have a little fun. So here we are in this damned cold ass prison, just the two of us in a plain white room with a stiff, except the stiff isn’t just any stiff It’s you!”
Michael was completely confused now. What did he mean the stiff was him? He was right here looking at him and being talked to, so how could the dead body be him.
“Still confused, eh, Mike?”
Michael blinked once.
“Okay, maybe I should ease you into this and let you know what my job is really all about.” He sat on the stool and lit another smoke. “I come in here every night and, aside from cremating stiffs, I also maintain all the life support equipment that keeps you guys alive. I mean, there’s the blood oxygenation re-circulator which acts like a heart to keep blood flowing to the brain and the feeding solutions which are added to the blood to make sure you have the nutrients you need. That’s the easy stuff. Then there’s about ten other solutions that have to be added to the blood continuously since you don’t have the organs to make them. And of course, the blood is also then continuously cleaned so you don’t get infections or blood poisoning. I’m telling you, Mike, it’s like maintaining a whole laboratory for each one of you guys and I do it all myself.” He turned and looked at Michael seriously. “If it weren’t for me, I’d be cremating all of you!”
He got up, walked to the end of the gurney and began to push it toward the door opposite where he came in.
“I’ll be back in a few minutes, dude,” he called back.
Michael thought about everything Marco had just told him and tried to grasp the point that was alluded to, but never made. It was as if he was supposed to understand something that was beyond his comprehension and he couldn’t put it all together. He had said the body was him, but how could that be when he was still right here and the body was now on it’s way to be cremated?
“Okay dude. I’m back,” Marco said entering the room. He came back and sat on the stool once again. “So, did you figure it out yet?”
Michael blinked twice.
“Man, I don’t know whether you’re just not that smart or just in denial.” Marco sat back and moved something around in front of him. “Okay Mike. This is going to be painful, but you have to know before you can be moved into the ward with the rest of the inmates.”
He held up a small mirror so Michael could see himself.
Disbelief filled his eyes and Michael wondered how what he was seeing could be true. They had shaved all of his hair off, including his eyebrows and there were multiple patches with wires stuck all about his head which ran off to a bundle that wandered away from the base of his neck. Around his neck was what looked to be a black leather collar connected to some sort of rubber sheet which was in turn fastened to the tabletop his head protruded from. There were small silver bolts in the circumference of the leather collar and there was no doubt in his mind that they actually were attached to him in some manner.
He looked from the mirror to Marco and back again. Now Marco moved the mirror back a little to give him a broader view and Michael was horrified. He could see the edge of the tabletop under him now and below it, instead of his body, was a vat of clear liquid only a few inches deep. Now he understood what Marco was trying to tell him and he looked at the man as if he held some answer that would take the horror away.
“I’m sorry, Mike. Like I said, I do not think any crime deserves for this to happen to you.” He put the mirror down. “But that was your body I just took to the furnace.”
Marco got up and rolled the stool over by the wall. “I have to go and check on the others now, but I’ll be back in a couple of hours.”
He went out the door he had first entered and Michael listened as the sound of his footsteps faded away. His mind was numb and he couldn’t think. He wanted to scream and yell and rage at the world about how he had endured so much without ever once acting in any way to justify what was happening to him and now they had done this to him.
They had taken his body and mounted his head on a plate like a trophy. A living trophy. Michael looked over at the monitor and looked directly at the painkiller icon. He blinked twice, feeling immediately as the narcotic began to flow freely into his brain, numbing his thoughts and senses.
He looked again and saw the monitor was now counting down from two hours, but still tried to administer another dose. If he could somehow overdose, the nightmare would end. But the machine refused to respond and he was left to stare blankly at the counter as it worked it’s way down to his next dose.
Narrated by me on YouTube https://youtu.be/kPnf7LDXhUM
My YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwyAE1VdOplNBMyqEDeNOeA
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Eternal Convictions / HeadGames Steven Knies (c) October 23, 2009

This is a collection of oddities, real world inspirations and possible clues that hint to the true purpose of Area Zero and other mysteries in Paldea. My intention was to compile this into one big Theory of Everything, but all of this has been sitting in a Google Doc for a month and a half and I don't see how I can tie it all together with the information we currently have. I figured that I might as well talk about the discoveries I have made because if I had not compiled all of this into a reddit post, it might never have happened. My hope is that it will open up some new discussions about the games, and that someone else may see something that I can not.
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THE TWO METAL PLATES
Let's start with Area Zero. In the Scarlet/Violet books, the page discussing the strange symbol found in A0 has a few qualities that I have not seen discussed so far. It's titled "Mysterious Plates", plural, and even shows a second plate below the main plate containing the two intersecting triangles. This second plate is strangely never mentioned or shown again anywhere else. It appears to be longer in width and much shorter in height than the one we see in A0, and contains a long string of undecipherable text.
This mysterious second plate is not the only strange thing about this page of the book. The top image is drawn so that the symbol plate has its right side obscured behind rocks, but the bottom image gives you enough of a view to see that it doesn't contain anything to the right of the two zeroes. The map of Paldea and its accompanying text is strangely missing. The drawing is from the side and far away, so the plate is at an angle where it is difficult to make out certain details, but it certainly appears to not be wide enough to contain the mysterious symbol AND the map of Paldea.
That's not all about the metal plate, however. The entire thing, as seen when you yourself go into A0, seems to be based on the concept of a Kilometer Zero location marker. This is something that can be found in many countries across the world, which is why it seemed so strange to me that I have not seen any discussion about this. Regardless, the Kilometer Zero markers are typically placed in locations where multiple roads, railways or other routes of transportation come together in a central location. The marker was popularized by the Roman Empire, which is where the phrase "All roads lead to Rome" originates from. GameFreak makes this connection even clearer by having Hassel say almost that exact same line during one of the Art classes, "All roads lead to Area Zero".
Finally, if you look at the Kilometer Zero marker used in Spain it's clear that GameFreak took inspiration from this specific one for the metal plate of A0. It's located in the center of the country, in Madrid, and has an interesting history. The plaque was removed in 2002 in order for the town square to undergo renovations, and when the plaque was put back the construction crew accidentally put it in the ground upside down, so the north point was facing south and vice versa. This was fixed in 2007, but two years later in 2009 the plaque was removed and a new one was put in. Could this also be the history of the metal plate in A0? While I have yet to think of any implications of this, could it be possible that the A0 plate was found upside down and has been kept that way since Heath's expedition?
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THE EIGHT TREASURES
GameFreak pulled from numerous parts of Chinese mythology/folklore when putting together Area Zero and the story around Paldea, as the Treasures of Ruin are inspired by the Four Perils and the Kitakami Legends are inspired by Momotaro. Once the DLC was revealed, specifically its logo, I was able to make another similar connection. A not very well known piece of Chinese folklore is that of the Eight Treasures, or the Eight Precious Things, which are eight auspicious symbols that signify good luck and fortune. They had a similar cultural role to the Eight Auspicious Symbols of Buddhism, but beyond that the similarities end.
What the Eight Treasures are exactly varies depending on the source, as the symbols are pulled from the Hundred Treasures of Chinese folklore. The more commonly used Treasures seem to correlate to the eight symbols found on the corners of both the SV logo and the DLC logo. I will point out what I believe to be the Treasure that inspired each symbol, and this is where you can find a more detailed analysis on the Treasure's symbolism.
Starting with the upper left corner of the Scarlet/Violet logo, the Metal Plate inscription is based on the Double Lozenge, representing two hearts joined together to act as one mind. The hexagon in the bottom left is the Jewel, sometimes depicted as a Pearl or Flaming Pearl, containing generative energy and the ability to grant wishes. The four circles in the top right seem to be the Double Coins and the spiral in the bottom right seems to be the Wish Granting Ingot. The symbols in the DLC logo are harder to identify, but I believe the top right is the Mirror Lozenge, the Blueberry academy logo (that looks like an '8') in the bottom left might be inspired by the Coral treasure, and finally the bottom right symbol is the Wish Granting Scepter that is associated with the wish granting ingot. The upper left DLC symbol is too obscure for me to make any direct connections. While I have not drawn any definite conclusions on what these inspirations indicate for the symbols, it certainly seems to indicate the true nature of the Tera jewels and what secret wish-granting powers they may have.
The last thing I'd like to mention about Area Zero is that it seems to be heavily inspired by the Taoist concept of "Grotto Heavens", are worlds believed to exist hidden within the crust of Earth, often times inside the hollow center of a mountain. They are said to receive no actual light from the stars, but rather from "the root of the essence of the sun... its light matches the sun of the outer world". A0, as many have noted, is always lit no matter the time of day.
The mythological locations of Mount Penglai and Mount Kunlun) share some similarities to Area Zero, both of which are believed to be Axis Mundi of the world (a celestial pole, like Yggdrasil from Norse mythology). Mount Penglai is also known as Horai, the name given to the mountain in a short story written by Lafcadio Hearn. It is said to be the home of a cabal of immortals known as the Eight Immortals, although Penglai is found on just one of the mythical islands the Eight Immortals are said to reside on.
Lafcadio Hearn does not share many similarities with what little we know of Heath from the Area Zero Expedition team, but the book Hearn published his many short stories in, including that of Mount Penglai, was titled "Kwaidan". This certainly sounds similar to Koraidon, but I must admit it is a loose connection.
Mount Kunlun, a separate mythical paradise, connects to Paldea through its western/southern river (the direction the river flows from varies) that is known as the "Scarlet RiveWater)". Beyond just the name, in the announcement trailer for Scarlet and Violet there are three globes that can be seen in the room. One is a regular globe of the Earth, one is a regular globe of the Moon, and then the third is a globe depicting the Earth with red colored water instead of blue. If the globes were placed there with thematic intent, I believe the red globe was meant to create the connection between Paldea/A0 and Mount Kunlun. Both Penglai and Kunlun share other similarities to Area Zero through generic paradise tropes that I will not go into here, as the Scarlet RiveRed Globe and Kwaidan/Koraidon felt the most significant and this post is already long enough.
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THE CARDINAL COLORS
As Scarlet and Violet introduced us to the first open world in the series history, it is understandable that the cardinal directions (North, South, West, East) would receive a bit of attention. What stands out in GameFreaks inclusion of them, however, is the colors associated with each direction.
If you look at what colors different cultures associate with the cardinal directions, you will not find a single society in history that had the same associations as Paldea does. In all my research, I could only find two pieces of cultural or fictional media that shared the same Cardinal Colors. In Buddhism, the Mandala Of Avalokiteshvara (Compassion Buddha) and the Mandala of the Medicine Buddha are sometimes depicted with these Cardinal Colors, but these depictions are not easy to find.
For the second instance, the Land Of Oz from the books by L. Frank Baum see the same setup of Blue/Yellow being opposite one another, red representing the south (which itself is rare enough), with some depictions using purple to represent the North and others using green. This would not seem to connect to Pokemon if not for the fact that the games have actually referenced the Wizard of Oz before. In Generation 1, if the player clicks on the TV in their home the text box indicates that Stand By Me is currently playing, the plot of which seems to have inspired the final act of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, The Way Home. In the Gen1 remakes, FireRed and LeafGreen, the same reference is made as long as the player chose the male protagonist. Even Sun and Moon included the same Stand By Me reference as well. However, in FLG, a different film is referenced if the player chooses the female protagonist, The Wizard of Oz. Once again I admit this is a flimsy connection, but with one of these two films being an obvious inspiration for the story of Scarlet/Violet, it opens up the possibility that the Wizard of Oz might have also been used as inspiration.
That is all I could find on the inspiration for the choices made for the Cardinal Colors, however certain ways GameFreak utilized the Cardinal Colors of Paldea stood out to me, and I have not seen any discussion on this either. Here are two diagrams demonstrating some ways the Cardinal Colors may have more to do with the Legendary Pokemon of the games than we have realized. Specifically, the shrines encasing the Treasures of Ruin across Paldea are located in the four corners of the region, with their colors being a combination of the Cardinal Colors closest to them. The fire-type Chi-Yu is found in the NorthEast, so its shrine is a combination of blue and green, cyan. This is true of all four of the Treasures of Ruin. If you look at the four new Pokemon introduced in the DLC The Teal Mask, each Pokemon incorporates a Cardinal color in their design, with Ogerpon being the only outlier. Of course, we have barely seen Ogerpon's actual design without the mask, and even then in the image we do have it has a yellow-colored eye which is the only color not utilized by another Pokemon.
Then there is the Mesagoza Type Compass that sits in the center of the city, which has the types arranged in a seemingly random order. I tried to figure out if maybe these Cardinal Colors or the corner colors have something to do with the Type Compass, or the color wheel found in the Art Room, but so far I have had no luck. However the compass is odd in that it has 12 points rather than the 8 points or 16 points typically seen on compass roses, which supposedly is normal of a Japanese Compass Rose but I have yet to find a depiction like this outside of a single DeviantArt image. Beyond the colors, not much else seems relevant to the cardinal directions, although there is one part of A0 that sticks out to me.
While it is difficult to figure out which direction you are looking towards when you enter A0, it is possible to see the Zero Gate above the clouds where you land if you get high up enough along the sides of A0. A link to a screenshot of this is included near the end of the post. Based off of this, it would appear that each river in A0 is coming from a lake located on the cardinal ends of the area. While the North, West, and South rivers all flow down into the bottom of A0, the East river is the one that takes you to the cave with the four circles pointing towards the cardinal directions. This is the only river that does not flow into the crystalline depths below. Given that Part 1 of the DLC seems to take place in the Eastern area connected to Paldea, it makes me wonder if there is any relevance to this river being the only one to not connect with the others.
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THE LUNAR THEORY
There are a number of strange things throughout the story that seem to connect to the moon, specifically its strange orbit that is scarcely commented on anywhere. While most of the observations in this post are just that, observations, I feel strongly that the moon plays a role in the overall plot of Scarlet and Violet, and will be a focal point of the DLC.
When developing a video game, nothing is particularly easy to implement. The easiest thing to do in game development is doing something again. Taking a feature you have already developed, and copy and pasting it to something else in the game. Knowing this, I would like to discuss the strange behavior of the moon as opposed to the typical behavior of the sun.
Imagine you are standing idly in Paldea while facing the Northeast at night, you watch as the sun rises in the East like it does in the real world. You can watch as it crosses the sky over the course of the day, eventually arriving in the West where it disappears over the horizon. Once the sun has set, you look back over at the Northeast direction expecting to see the moon rise over the horizon. The stars start to appear and the sky darkens, and yet you see no moon. If you were to then look back over at the Northwest direction, if you do so quick enough, you can see the Moon suddenly just appear in the West. Not only that, if you watch it over the course of the night you can see it go from West to East, the opposite direction it would normally travel, and then disappear by fading into the sky as the sun starts to rise once again. The sun has a proper orbit, it rises and sets in the correct locations and arcs across the sky. The moon on the other hand does not rise, it does not set, and it moves across the sky in a straight line. Most may chalk this up to a development bug, but I see an intended behavior. Like I said, once you've implemented something once, here being a circle in the sky rising and setting over the horizon, it's not very difficult to copy and paste it to another giant circle. I believe that this has to have been intentional, especially given that it was not fixed in the latest patch.
That's not all though. Of the four symbols on the Scarlet/Violet logo, one of them seems to lack any sort of context behind its relevance. This would be the bottom right spiral found in the Poco Lab. Even the metal plate inscription has some sort of commentary attributed to it, so that players can at least wonder what its relevance may be. The spiral, however, is left mostly unexplained. That is, if you don't pay attention to the other diagrams on the whiteboard. While the specifics of these equations are a little lost on me, it would seem the two circles found on the Poco Lab whiteboard are depicting calculations relating to the horizon of the Earth, possibly the light refraction of a celestial object. The top diagram appears to either calculate the influence of a satellite on the planets gravity, or a calculation of the true altitude of the satellite. That one could be a number of things, but I believe the bottom one to be a calculation of the true position of the moon based on the principle of the moon illusion. While I can't be certain what the spiral symbol represents, I wonder if it is depicting the strange orbit of the moon that is causing it to appear and disappear in the middle of the sky. Could the "moon's" refraction of light rays) be the relevance of ultraviolet and infrared light wavelengths, which many have theorized to have something to do with Scarlet/Violet?
Based on what we know of the Professor, the last time they left Poco Lab was the final time they set foot outside of Area Zero. These diagrams would have been the last thing they wrote on the whiteboard before going to Zero Lab, where a dozen more strange diagrams can be found on the whiteboards there. If you look at what the diagrams are depicting, each one shows a single circle following a path and/or existing within a strange 3D geometric shape. If I am correct that the Poco Lab whiteboard is the Professor discovering that something is off about the moon's orbit, the whiteboards in Zero Lab might be their attempts at finding out what exactly the orbit is. Could this be why they become more of a hermit, locking themselves in the lab and creating more security protocols to keep other people out? Is it possible they discovered some sort of conspiracy and became the target of those upholding the conspiracy?
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THE TURTLE THAT CARRIED THE WORLD
While I have already rambled long enough about the suspicious nature of the moon, there's one final observation I would like to make. If you look at the page in the Scarlet/Violet where Heath drew the Disk Pokemon, which we now know is Terapagos, there's still a number of unexplained aspects of the image. The giant disk Terapagos is resting on, the fact that its fur turns into an ocean with ships atop it, the clouds to the left of Terapagos that are completely disconnected from the Pokemon, and the many planets that can be seen in the background. It has already been pointed out that if you flip the image upside down, the black parts of the image actually appear to be crystals encircling the large disk, but there's something else about the image that has yet to be mentioned. The shading of the large disk is strange, familiar even. This image depicts the view of the Earth from the surface of the moon. It is the same exact shading. Looking at the Disk as a large celestial object from the upside down perspective, suddenly makes its appear as if the artist is looking up into the sky, past the Tera crystals of Area Zero, seeing a large object very far away. After all, it's common knowledge that Terapagos might be inspired by the many myths of a World Turtle that carries the Earth on its back. Looking at the drawing upside down, it almost appears as if that were the case here.
Of course, then there's the whole problem with how Area Zero could possibly be on the moon and/or some other satellite object, and then why Earth has the weird hexagonal shapes covering its visible portion. This could always be attributed to simple Human error with the artist not fully comprehending what they were seeing, but that certainly would not be a satisfying answer. Another theory I hope to discuss more of one day is that the clouds seen inside the Great Crater are teleporting anyone who enters to Area Zero, and vice versa, but I'm still working on how exactly that would fit with what we know about A0 and Terapagos so far.
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LINGBAO DAOISM
One final piece of folklore I'd like to mention is the beliefs of a Daoist school from 400 C.E, known as both the School of the Numinous Treasure and the School of the Sacred Jewel (also known simply as the Lingbao School). While I'm not sure if this actually a source of inspiration for these games, I certainly found some of the aspects and beliefs of this Daoist sect interesting. It's also another piece of spiritual beliefs that have connected to the old Chinese story Journey to the West. This story has had connections to many things I have already talked about, like the Grotto Heavens and Axis Mountains I mentioned earlier. Frankly, anything I found in Chinese mythology that seemed like it might have been inspiration for these games had some sort of connection to that tale, and so as a result it may have been a bigger piece of inspiration that I realized.
Lingbao cosmology is based around the idea of a mountain known as the Jade Capital being the center of the heavens, the Axis Mundi housing the Celestial Worthy (creator god). There are three subsequent deities, the Lord of Celestial Treasure, Lord of Sacred Treasure and the Lord of Divine Treasure. Each deity also resides within its own Grotto Heaven. It was believed by Lingbaoists that time was divided into cosmic cycles, and at the end of each era a deity related to the color associated with that era would descend to Earth provide Humanity a piece of Cosmic teaching. Two types of eras/cycles can occur, one ending with the moon causing a flood that resets the universe, and the other ending in total apocalypse. Before the apocalypse a select few of those who were given the Cosmic teaching, those that actually correctly learned the teaching, would be gathered up by the Queen Mother of the West (A central character of Journey to the West), and taken to a land of bliss not impacted by the apocalypse.
After reading through much of the Journey to the West, I believe that Geeta was inspired by the Queen Mother of the West and plans to take those who follow her to Area Zero when an apocalypse is eventually started, either by her or by natural forces/a Pokemon. This is mostly because I hope that they do something interesting with her character, but partly because it just seems very much like a story GameFreak would tell, especially given the writing of villains in Pokemon games and how recently they have represented big corporate powers.
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I hope that many of these topics fuel the theorizing parts of your brains, as I know that they have for me. Of course this post is formatted the way it is because I have not been able to come up with a cohesive theory that utilizes all of these oddities, as well as the bullet points below, but maybe one day it will click for someone.
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(*MANY) ADDITIONAL OBSERVATIONS
- If you get on top of the Academy using the Cyclizar Paradox, you can access the outside of the conservatory-like structure. The Academy exit connected to it is the color red, as well as the door used to enter the treehouse-like structure. As far as I can tell, based off of the intro sequence of Violet I found on YouTube, the doors appear to be red no matter the version. Also, the doors to the conservatory have what might be the second metal plate sitting above it with the text blurred, I imagine intentionally so that anyone like me climbs up to them, we don't discover any secrets.
- The hexagonal symbol in the bottom left of the logo may be depicting the six satellite dishes found around Area Zero, rather than the time machine or the Tera jewel/crystal itself.
- Student IDs are only mentioned two times, both mentions are by the AI Professor. First is when the Professor says the player's ID, 805C393. 805 because that's how many years since the Academy was founded, I presume 'C' is the semester (A is spring, B is summer, C is fall), and 393 because we joined the Academy late in the semester. Penny is 803B121, which tracks with that logic as a year and a half before was when she formed Team Star. Strangely, Nemona is 805C001. This means she registered with the school at the beginning of the current semester, and was the first to do so. This does not line up with what Giacomo says about Nemona taking over Student Council president a year and a half before the events of the game. Also - the previous Director mentions that his assistant tried to coverup the Team Star incident by destroying "digital records", no mention of physical records. We assumed this coverup caused the pages to be ripped out of the Student Registry book found in the Academy Library, but this does not track. Was someone trying to hide Nemona's previous ID? This might explain why the Professor felt it was necessary to create the Pokeball Locking security system, as it has to do with ID numbers. Nemona would be able to use Pokeballs with a new ID, up until the final battle where the AI Professor locks ALL ID's other than their own.
- Zero Gate is not the only thing that can be seen above the clouds in Area Zero. On top of the fact that the ledge it rests on looks nothing like the ledge seen in Paldea, the ridges seen above the Area Zero clouds are a completely different shape than the walls of the Great Create of Paldea, appearing more like a mountain range than a crater. Here some screenshots I took.
- Another reason for why I assume the cardinal directions are the way they are in Area Zero, despite the minimap not functioning from within the area, is because of this promotional artwork GameFreak released prior to Scarlet/Violet hitting the shelves. You can see that to the right of the Zero Gate is a waterfall, and the distance between the two appears to be the same as the distance from where you spawn in Area Zero and the closest waterfall to your left. What's most interesting about this image, though, is that the waterfall depicted in the image is not present in the final game. This would have been the only think linking the Crater above the clouds to the grotto below the clouds, and for whatever reason they decided to remove it in the three months between releasing the image and releasing the games.
- The Kitakami Legends each seem to each have a European heraldic charge) depicted on their design. Given that the Koraidon/Miraidon designs on the front of the Scarlet/Violet books are based on how lions and other animals are depicted in heraldry, this seems like a safe assumption. Okidogi has two crescents#/media/File:BlasonJean_Leliwa(selonGelre).svg) underneath its eyes, and the shape on its chest seems to be the shape of the heraldry shield#/media/File:Swiss_Escutcheon.svg) itself. Munkidori has a maltese cross#/media/File:Maltese_cross.svg) on its stomach. Fezandipiti has a cross moline#/media/File:Cross-Moline-Heraldry.svg) at the end of its tail. Ogerpon is yet another outlier here, just like with the cardinal colors, but one could argue the five pointed star on its chest is its charge, which is called a mullet#/media/File:Blason_de_la_ville_de_Deh%C3%A9ries(59)_Nord-France.svg). Also - on the left side of the top floor of the Entrance Hall you can find a strange shape hanging from a light fixture. It appears to be the water-bouget charge.
- Mount Penglai is the home of the Eight Immortals. The Adventure into Area Zero page in the Scarlet/Violet book depicts seven individuals descending into Area Zero, and we can assume that Heath or whoever illustrated the page was not depicted. Was the Expedition team made up of only eight people? With the prevalence of the number '8' in the games and DLC (Blueberry Academy logo), could this have any significance?
- AI Professor mentions that the energy of the Tera Crystals can "alter the organic functions of living things". The future Paradox Pokemon seem to be actual living Pokemon despite being made of machinery. If "Dream Theory" ends up being partially true, then I wonder if the Tera function that 'created' them (summoned, resurrected, there are many possibilities) possibly healed the Professor by turning them into a cyborg. The research journals suggest the assistant mentioned is the AI Professor, but certain discrepancies in them and the AI Professor's dialogue suggests that is not the case.
- In the Scarlet/Violet book the Director depicted to be shaking Heath's hand has a little piece of hair on his forehead that looks like a crescent moon. The two founders of the Academies depicted by the busts on the top floor of the entrance hall have hair that looks like Grapes and Oranges depending on the version, so theres a precedent for hair shapes of Academy figureheads having double meanings. This is the reachiest reach in this entire post, but I thought I'd include it.
- A pet theory I have had since the release of the games is that Geeta runs a secret society in Paldea that is orchestrating events from the shadows. The compass logo of the Elite Four is reminiscent of an all-seeing-eye, which is largely where this notion came from (The 'eye' portion of the logo is also identical to the marking on Lusamine-Nihilego's legs). If this is truly the case, then I imagine its based on the mythical La Garduna secret society of Spain, which historians are unsure ever actually existed. Secret Societies are also a common trope of Academies and Universities. A real world example that the games may be hinting at with the Paldean Pokemon Gimmighoul is a collegiate secret society at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, called the Order of Gimghoul.
- Every time the Professor summons a Paradox Pokemon from the time machine, the Pokemon falls from the machine in a Master Ball - seemingly just having been caught. In multiple locations within Paldea, including the Player's bedroom and Arven/Penny's dorm rooms, there are scattered boxes with a company logo depicting Tauros. Inside of the Zero Lab, however, the Professor has a large amount of boxes with the Delibird company logo. Most of the settlements in Paldea, like Medali outside of Zero Gate and Levincia where the real estate company is, have warehouses with the Delibird company logo. Is this the company that is providing the Professor with such a large amount of Master Balls? Does this mean that the Delibird company is a subsidiary of Silph Co., or some other Pokeball-manufacturer?
- Penny mentions that Nemona's dad is on the board of the Rotom Phone company. Nemona then mentions how her sister will "take over the family business". Does Nemona's family own a separate corporation from the Rotom Phone company, as 'take over' suggests ownership of the business rather than simply being a part of an executive team. On top of that, we know that the company producing Rotom Phones - or at least the cellphones that the Rotom possesses - is Macro Cosmos, based off of this concept art from Sword and Shield where you can see their logo on the unpossessed phone.
- If you start in the United States and dug a hole straight through the earth, you would end up in China, as the classic saying goes. This is called an "Antipodal Point". The Antipodal point of Madrid, give or take a few dozen miles, is a large isolated mountain in New Zealand with a lake named "Crater Lake" sitting at its peak. If Area Zero's clouds are in fact a portal to multiple locations, and the inscribed symbol was inspired by the Double Lozenge (two hearts joined as one), then could this location in North New Zealand be the other location connected to A0?

I'll start by saying this isn't a 1-to-1 guide. We all know it's always a game of tweaking.
But with a bit of tweaking you can easily create images like this:
Cutie Pie: https://ibb.co/NC2X6bn
Here's the prompt used to to create the CutiePie pic:
----------
An extraordinary breathtaking photograph of the intelligent silicon-based alien species the Jini, expertly captured. The jini have slicon skin in wavy patterns that looks like fabric. The Jini have expressive Tarsier (Tarsius) faces. Prismatia, the Silicari are remarkable for their organic biological bodies that masterfully refract light, producing a breathtaking array of dazzling colors. This striking image was taken with the following camera settings Canon EOS R5, Lens 35mm, F2.8, ISO 400, 1/250s, and a high dynamic range color profile meticulously crafted to accentuate the vivid and enchanting hues that define Prismatia's extraordinary landscape. --ar 9:16 --q 2 --s 750 --v 5
----------
I was playing around trying to create an image of a silicon-based life form and I think the AI grabbed onto my mention of the animal Tarsier (Tarsius) because there's some professional shots of that thing.
The most important thing is to give it example commands in the style you want, I think. They make the most difference, I think. Maybe YOU could test it out. Create 10 different categories with 10 different prompts and test it all out and see how big a difference it makes. I aint gonna do it, 25 messages every 3 hours I'm poor son, plz donate:
// bc1qmr9enk052w245v40f6j8dvs07yspy0k2vh9c0a //
Oh heavenly deities, please hear my plea. Let a shower of one-dollar bills descend upon me.
.
The prompt above is created in three parts:
1.
GPT-4 is primed with this data giving it information on how Midjounrey V5 works:
The examples provided in the V5 primer are photography related.
GPT-4 Midjourney V5 Primer:
https://pastebin.com/2LesvZ8a
After that you can start asking it to create prompts for V5 to use in Midjourney.
2.
I get GPT-4 to give me the photography related information with another primer.
I prime GPT-4 in another session and feed it photogragphy related information like camera settings and such. Photography primer:
https://pastebin.com/kBvCHzkb
I then explain to the photography primer what I want to take a photo off and ask for advice on settings. You can get a whole wall of text. I then ask the V5 primer to edit all the photography info into something for a V5 prompt.
3.
Parameters
I tend not to let GPT-4 handle this part. It's not good at it. Read the documentation and do it yourself. Play around with it:
https://docs.midjourney.com/docs/parameter-list
.
LET'S DO AN EXAMPLE FOR THIS:
I want a close up shot of a blue blade of grass.
I add this to the bottom of the V5 primer:
ChatGPT, you task is the use all the information above and create a V5 prompt that describes a closeup shot of a blue blade of glass. Explain intricate details.
And I get this output:
Close-up shot of a single, vibrant blue blade of grass, illuminated by the warm, golden sunlight of an early morning::4 The grass blade exhibits intricate, lifelike details, showcasing the delicate veins running along its length, tiny droplets of dew clinging to the edges, and subtle variations in hue and texture::6 Captured using a Nikon D850 with a macro lens at f/2.8 and ISO 100, the image highlights the play of light and shadow on the grass blade, revealing its stunning iridescence and the intricate interplay between its organic structure and the surrounding environment::8 The final result is a hyper-realistic, ultra-detailed portrayal of this solitary blue blade of grass, celebrating its unique beauty and resilience in a serene, natural setting.
I then ask my Photography primer for camera information:
ChatGPT, you task is the use all the information above and tell me what camera settings I should use for a close up shot of a blade of grass.
Which outputs this wall of text:
Camera data: https://pastebin.com/g5XLPEiJ
Then I paste it all into the V5 primer like this:
Reduce the information below into a few short sentences that V5 can understand:
"Camera data yoho"
Then I smack those bitches together into midjourney with some shit smacked to the end which I ofcourse read about at https://docs.midjourney.com/docs/parameter-list. I forgot to do it in this example tho. No V5 specification too because I got that turned on in the Discord settings instead.
The prompt:
----------
Close-up shot of a single, vibrant blue blade of grass, illuminated by the warm, golden sunlight of an early morning::4 The grass blade exhibits intricate, lifelike details, showcasing the delicate veins running along its length, tiny droplets of dew clinging to the edges, and subtle variations in hue and texture::6 Captured using a Nikon D850 with a macro lens at f/2.8 and ISO 100, the image highlights the play of light and shadow on the grass blade, revealing its stunning iridescence and the intricate interplay between its organic structure and the surrounding environment::8 The final result is a hyper-realistic, ultra-detailed portrayal of this solitary blue blade of grass, celebrating its unique beauty and resilience in a serene, natural setting. Close-up macro shot of a blade of grass::3 Manual mode, ISO100-200, shutter speed 1/125, aperture f/8-f/11 or f/2.8-f/4 for depth of field, focal length 50-100mm, external flash with diffuser, adjust settings as needed.
----------
The image of the blue blade of grass we wanted:
https://ibb.co/RS8GRDc
This is the true first output. Tweak around a bit with everything above, both with chatgpt and midbjouerny and youll easily get it to start making shit that will scare the bejeebus out of ya.
.
REMEMBER the token limit that it has as of 21.03.2023 of 4096 which corresponds to a character limit of very approximately 18.000, I think. It does not only relate to the per input, but the entire session. If you session is long enough the "memory" in the token limit will have scrolled up so far that it has forgotten. For example the primer itself is 4392 characters (Which can probably be reduced by a lot), so that's already 23% of your token limit used up by primer itself before you have to start a new session or prime it again.
Here's the specifics of what I'm talking about explained by GPT-4:
GPT-4 has a token limit of 4096 tokens per input. Tokens are chunks of text that can be as short as one character or as long as one word. In English, on average, one token is roughly equivalent to 4-5 characters, including spaces and punctuation. However, the token count may vary depending on the complexity and length of words in your text.
Given that your example sentence "My name is Henry" is about 5 tokens long, you can continue to write text until the total number of tokens reaches the model's limit of 4096. Once you cross that limit, the model will start losing information from the beginning of the text to accommodate new input.
To give you an approximate character limit, we can assume an average of 4.5 characters per token. In that case, you have around (4096 - 5) * 4.5 characters left before I might lose the ability to recall your name.
That would give you approximately 18,409 characters (including spaces and punctuation) before the model might not be able to recall your name.
----------
DISCLAIMER: By using this guide, you agree to the "Take My Guide, Please!" policy: use it, tweak it, share it with the world, and even profit from it. Just make sure to keep my Bitcoin address intact, because, well, I have a soft spot for digital currency and a grumbling belly

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Region: NA (Canada)
Price are in USD. Fees on buyer.
CTRL + F to find your games in terms of name
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BIOMUTANT
Jurassic World Evolution 2
Golden Light
Hero's Hour
Monster Crown
Rogue Lords
Call of the Sea
Trek to Yomi
Shadow Warrior 3
OlliOlli World Rad Edition (EU)
Encased
Grow: Song of the Evertree
Conan Chop Chop
Hokko Life
The Serpent Rogue
BATTLETECH MERCENARY COLLECTION
BATTLETECH Shadow Hawk Pack
Knights of Pen and Paper +1 Edition
Knights of Pen and Paper - Haunted Fall
KNIGHTS OF PEN AND PAPER 2 - DELUXIEST EDITION
Knights of Pen and Paper 2 - Here Be Dragons
Deathloop
Hell Let Loose
Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice
F1 2019 Anniversary Edition
Valkryia Chronicles 4 Complete Edition
Mafia Definitive Edition
Mordhau
HOT WHEELS UNLEASHED ™
GAS STATION SIMULATOR
IN SOUND MIND
MIND SCANNERS
EMILY IS AWAY <3
OMNO
ATOM RPG Trudograd
Banners of Ruin
Lawn Mowing Simulator
Legend of Keepers
Yes, Your Grace
Mechwarrior 5: Mercenaries
Endzone - A World Apart
60 Parsecs
XCOM: ULTIMATE COLLECTION
PGA 2K21
Bioshock Collection
Warhammer: Vermintide 2 - Collector's Edition
Kingdom Come: Deliverance
CRUSADER KINGS III
JUST CAUSE 4: COMPLETE EDITION
Plague tale
Gas station simulator
Mind scanners
BATTLESTAR GALACTICA DEADLOCK SEASON ONE
Monster Hunter World
Gamedec
Command & Conquer Remastered (Origin)
Surviving The Aftermath
Genesis Noir
Dirt Rally 2.0

Stand With Ukraine Charity Bundle
Gang Beasts
Tinkertown
Cloud Gardens
Blightbound
Stick Fight: The Game
Railway Empire
Mad Experiments: Escape Room
ibb & obb Double Pack
The Falconeer
Truberbrook
At Eve's Wake
Interrogation: You will be deceived
Hoplegs
Cannibal Cuisine
Necronator: Dead Wrong
Awesomenauts All Nauts pack
1993 Space Machine
8-bit Adventure Anthology: Volume I
ChromaGun
Baby Dino Adventures
Click and Slay
Swords and Soldiers 2 Shawarmageddon
Cosmonautica
Crash Drive 2
Dimension Drive
The Way
Explosionade
Gelly Break Deluxe
Guppy
Journey For Elysium
Last Resort Island
Lumini
Marooners
Nelly Cootalot: Spoonbeaks Ahoy! HD
Pizza Connection 3
Pressure Overdrive
Renowned Explorers: International Society
Tales of the Tiny Planet
TaniNani
THE CORRIDOR
AWAKE - Definitive Edition
Treasure Temples
Shu
Combat Tested
Unexplored
Rayon Riddles - Rise of the Goblin King
Circles

F*CK CANCER Bundle
WWZ Aftermath
Dead by Daylight
PAYDAY 2
PAYDAY 2 Bonus
Magicka
Dungeon of the Endless
theHunter: Call of the Wild
Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak
Homeworld Remastered Collection
Little Nightmares
Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons
Red Faction®: Armageddon™
Hamilton's Great Adventure

Other Games
AVICII Invector: Encore Edition
10 Second Ninja X
The Indie Mixtape
Diaries of a Spaceport Janitor
Epistory - Typing Chronicles
Heroes of Hammerwatch
Monster Slayers - Complete Edition
My Big Sister
Red Ronin
Heal
Cat Lady - The Card Game
Undungeon
Tangledeep
Styx: Shards of Darkness
Styx: Master of Shadows
Squids Odyssey
Pendula Swing - The Complete Journey
Mists of Noyah
King's Bounty: Crossworlds
Jotun: Valhalla Edition
Hero of the Kingdom: The Lost Tales 2
Hero of the Kingdom: The Lost Tales 1
Epistory - Typing Chronicles
Warhammer 40,000: Space Wolf Special Edition
Undead Horde
S.W.I.N.E. HD Remaster
Ghost 1.0
Stirring Abyss
Scarlet Tower
Blood And Zombies
One More Island
Doorways: Prelude / Doorways: Holy Mountains of Flesh
Slain: Back from Hell
Lucius/Lucius 2/Lucius 3/Lucius Demake
Aragami
Deliver Us The Moon
Anuchard
Call of Juarez: Gunslinger
Darkwood
Intravenous
Unexplored 2: The Wayfarer's Legacy
Interstellar Space: Genesis
Survive the Nights
Blasphemous
Unto The End
NUTS
Cat Quest
Cosmic Star Heroine
Degrees of Separation
Pure Farming 2018
SEUM: Speedrunners from Hell
SUPER CHICKEN JUMPER
Syberia/Syberia II/Syberia 3
The Innsmouth Case
Tinytopia
Sniper ghost warrior contracts
Trine 4
Risen 3
Shadowgate
How to Survive
FORCED
Psychonauts
Warhammer 40,000: Space Wolf Special Edition
Sniper Elite 3 + Season Pass DLC
Sniper Ghost Warrior 3 - Season Pass Edition
METAL GEAR SOLID V: GROUND ZEROES
Strange Brigade Deluxe Edition
Call of Duty® Modern Warfare 3™
Sniper Elite 3
Sniper Elite 4 Deluxe Edition
Amnesia: Rebirth
PGA 2k21
Jurassic World Evolution
Darksiders Genesis
Endless Space® 2 - Digital Deluxe Edition
SID MEIER'S CIVILIZATION VI : PLATINUM EDITION
F1 2020
Titan Quest
Euro Truck Simulator 2
Witch It
BEAUTIFUL DESOLATION
CHANGE: A Homeless Survival Experience
Mighty Switch Force! Collection
EVERSPACE
Gone Home + Original Soundtrack
The WB Batman Collection
Batman: Arkham Asylum Game of the Year Edition
Batman: Arkham City - Game of the Year Edition
Beholder
Beholder 2
We Were Here Together
Kyle is Famous: Complete Edition
GRIP: Combat Racing *-GRIP: Combat Racing - Cygon Garage Kit *-GRIP: Combat Racing - Nyvoss Garage Kit *GRIP: Combat Racing - Terra Garage Kit *GRIP: Combat Racing - Vintek Garage Kit
Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes
Lead and Gold: Gangs of the Wild West
Miscreated
Second Extinction
Survive or Die
Breathedge
Dead in Vinland
Die Young
Empyrion - Galactic Survival
How to Survive 2
The Wild Eight
One Finger Death Punch 2
Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid
Slap City
Fahrenheit: Indigo Prophecy Remastered
Layers of Fear: Masterpiece Edition
Civilization: Beyond Earth – The Collection
Borderlands: The Handsome Collection
Primal Carnage: Extinction
Due Process
SimpleRockets 2
Killing Floor 2
For the King
For The King: Lost Civilization Adventure Pack
Pro Cycling Manager 2020
Tour de France 2020
Infectonator 3: Apocalypse
Warhammer: Chaosbane
Project Highrise
LAST OASIS
The Beast Inside
Terminus: Zombie Survivors
Crown Trick
Discolored
Everhood
Grand Mountain Adventure: Wonderlands
Nomad Survival
Sparklite
The Ramp
Valfaris
Dusk Diver
Neverinth
Tokyo Xanadu eX+
Zengeon
Spirit Hunter: Death Mark
Unmemory
Nigate Tale
Rogue Heroes: Ruins of Tasos
Liberated
Neversong
Nine Parchments
The Walking Dead
Secret Government
Monsters' Den: Godfall
Interplanetary: Enhanced Edition
Learn Japanese To Survive! Hiragana Battle
Learn Japanese To Survive! Kanji Combat
Learn Japanese To Survive! Katakana War
The Eternal Castle [REMASTERED]
THIS WAR OF MINE: COMPLETE EDITION
Cats in Time
Afterparty
Battlecruisers
Astronarch
Save Room - Organization Puzzle
PlataGO! Super Platform Game Maker
Nongunz: Doppelganger Edition
Warhammer vermintide collector's edition
Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons
Tank Mechanic Simulator
The Uncertain: Light At The End
INSOMNIA: The Ark
Darkside Detective
Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun
GIGA WRECKER
Panty Party
Fell Seal: Arbiter's Mark
Tannenberg
Golf It!
Heroes of Hammerwatch
The Battle of Polytopia *DLC1. Cymanti Tribe *DLC2. ∑∫ỹriȱŋ Tribe *DLC3. Aquarion Tribe *DLC4. Polaris Tribe
Leisure Suit Larry - Wet Dreams Don't Dry
Lornsword Winter Chronicle
Oddworld: New 'n' Tasty
N++ (NPLUSPLUS)
Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair
Virgo Versus The Zodiac
They Bleed Pixels
Maize
Smile For Me
The Haunted Island, a Frog Detective Game
Frog Detective 2: The Case of the Invisible Wizard
A Hole New World
Sumoman
Shape of the World
Evan's Remains
Ministry of Broadcast
She Sees Red - Interactive Movie
A Long Way Down
Depraved
Helheim Hassle
Neurodeck : Psychological Deckbuilder
Tropico 5 - Complete Collection
Escapists 2
Worms Rumble *Worms Rumble - New Challengers Pack *Worms Rumble - Legends Pack *Worms Rumble - Armageddon Weapon Skin Pack *Worms Rumble - Captain & Shark Double Pack
John Wick Hex
Hiveswap friendsim
Achtung! Cthulhu Tactics
Turmoil
Narcos: Rise of the Cartels
Rogue Stormers
Torchlight
Fictorum
Ken Follett's The Pillars of the Earth
Moon Hunters
No Time to Relax
Overpass
Blood Bowl 2
SimCity 4 Deluxe Edition
Conarium
Brawlout
F1 RACE STARS Complete Edition Include DLC
Killing Room
Tenta Shooter / The 触シュー
Everreach: Project Eden
Railway Empire
Looterkings
Headsnatchers
Battlestar Galactica Deadlock
AIdol
Livelock
The Letter - Horror Visual Novel
F1 2018
Tacoma
Hard West - Collector's Edition
Hard West: Scars of Freedom DLC
Masquerada: Songs and Shadows
The Shrouded Isle
Joint Task Force
The World Next Door
Verdant Skies
DISTRAINT 2
Ittle Dew
Ittle Dew 2+
Oxenfree
Monstrum
Strikey Sisters
Do Not Feed the Monkeys
Counter Terrorist Agency
Cyber Ops
European Ship Simulator
Fishing Adventure
Internet Cafe Simulator
Zen Chess: Mate in One, Mate in 2 , Mate in 3 , Mate in 4 , Champion's Moves (5 games)
Transport INC
Shoppe Keep 2 - Business and Agriculture RPG Simulation
Desolate
GRIP: Combat Racing + DLC
OUTBUDDIES DX
Eidolon
Pizza Connection 3
Spartan Fist
River City Ransom: Underground
Saints Row: The Third
Koi-Koi Japan [Hanafuda playing cards] *Koi-Koi Japan : UKIYOE tours Vol.1 DLC *Koi-Koi Japan : UKIYOE tours Vol.2 DLC *Koi-Koi Japan : UKIYOE tours Vol.3 DLC
Mahjong Pretty Girls Battle
Mahjong Pretty Girls Battle : School Girls Edition
Pretty Girls Mahjong Solitaire
Princess Kaguya: Legend of the Moon Warrior
Delicious! Pretty Girls Mahjong Solitaire
Chaos Reborn
Driftland: The Magic Revival
Shadows: Awakening
Caveblazers
Fallback: Uprising
Mordheim: City of the Damned
WRC 7 FIA World Rally Championship
Mana Spark
Autonauts
Nusakana
Shift Happens
Crash Drive 3
Hot Tin Roof: The Cat That Wore A Fedora
Automachef
Demolish & Build 2017
Resort Boss: Golf
Out of Space
Narita Boy
Aven Colony
Alien Breed Trilogy
Tools up
Mount & Blade
Mount & Blade: With Fire & Sword
BLACKHOLE: Complete Edition
Detention
Downfall
Miasmata
Overclocked: A History of Violence
Silver Chains
White Night
The Cat Lady
Syberia 3
Textorcist
GARAGE bad trip
Guts and glory
Swag and Sorcery
Fort Triumph
Orwell: Ignorance is Strength
FRAMED Collection
ROTASTIC
As Far as the Eye
Cepheus Protocol
Overruled
Ageless
Giana Sisters 2D
Prank Call
Hotshot Racing
Undead Horde
Streets of Fury EX
Rec Center Tycoon
JumpJet Rex
Hyper Knights
Vectronom
Levelhead
I am not a Monster: First Contact
Papo & Yo
Crookz the big heist
Iron Fisticle
Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2
Fun with Ragdolls: The Game
Reventure
Smoke and Sacrifice
American Fugitive
The Signal From Tölva
Medieval Kingdom Wars
Rebel Galaxy
XIII - Classic
Comedy Night
Darkness Within 2: The Dark Lineage
FLATLAND Vol.2
The Chess Variants Club
Armada 2526 Gold Edition
Toybox Turbos
Sudden Strike Gold
Airport Madness: World Edition
King's Bounty: Warriors of the North
Planet Alcatraz
NecroVisioN: Lost Company
Star Wolves
Konung 2
Men of War
A.I.M.2 Clan Wars
Parkan 2
El Matador
Ascension to the Throne
Peaky Blinders: Mastermind
The Flame in the Flood
When Ski Lifts Go Wrong
Bomber Crew
10 Second Ninja X
The Sacred Tears TRUE
Fred3ric
Lovecraft's Untold Stories
Path to Mnemosyne
CastleStorm
Crush Your Enemies
Semblance
S.W.I.N.E. HD Remaster
Radio Commander
Boneless Zombie
Robot Squad Simulator 2017
Pretty Girls Panic!
Poker Pretty Girls Battle: Texas Hold'em
VVVVVV
Warhammer Space wolf
Blazing Chrome
Car Mechanic Simulator 2015
Pang Adventures
Party Hard 2
REKT! High Octane Stunts
Thief of Thieves: Season One
Trailblazers
Warhammer: End Times - Vermintide
Demetrios - Deluxe Edition
Cobra Kai: The Karate Kid Saga Continues
GemCraft - Frostborn Wrath
Neversong
Nickelodeon Kart Racers 2: Grand Prix
Rebel Galaxy Outlaw
Shadowhand: RPG Card Game
Survivalist: Invisible Strain
We Were Here Too
Blacksad: Under the Skin
Heroes of Hammerwatch
Leisure Suit Larry 1-7
Murder by Numbers
Redout: Enhanced Edition
Rise of Industry + 2130 DLC
Ziggurat
They Bleed Pixels
Sunblaze
Noosphere
Train Valley 1+2
Door Kickers: Action Squad
Vikings - Wolves of Midgard
Vambrace: Cold Soul
The Void
The Vagrant
Republique
Nephise: Ascension
Leisure Suit Larry - Wet Dreams Don't Dry
Knock-knock
Jewel Match Atlantis Solitaire - Collector's Edition
Healer's Quest
Fictorum
A Robot Named Fight!
Skautfold Chapters 1-4
Hero of the Kingdom: Trilogy
198X
Danger Scavenger
Doctor Who: The Lonely Assassins
Dread X Collection
Going Under
My Lovely Daughter
Rage in Peace
Flashback
Garfield Kart
Curse: The Eye of Isis
Amerzone: The Explorer’s Legacy
Black Moon Chronicles
Nostradamus: The Last Prophecy
Red Riding Hood - Star Crossed Lovers
Chicago 1930 : The Prohibition
Sinking Island
Haegemonia: Legions of Iron
Occultus - Mediterranean Cabal
Gevaudan
Windscape
Ultra Space Battle Brawl
Through the Woods
This is the Zodiac Speaking
The Uncertain: Light At The End
The Uncertain - The Last Quiet Day
Tales
Tales of the Neon Sea
Styx: Master of Shadows
She and the Light Bearer
Epistory - Typing Chronicles
A Wolf in Autumn
The Music Machine
Jalopy
Insane 2
Clustertruck
Antigraviator
All-Star Fruit Racing
Constructor Plus
Ice Lakes
Knights of Pen & Paper 2
Victoria II
Kingdom Come: Deliverance – Band of Bastards
Kingdom Come: Deliverance – From the Ashes
Mindustry

Games
Cube Runner
Slash It Ultimate
Slash It 2
Slash It
Cybercube
Poly Island
Spin Rush
Upside Down
Neon Space
Hungry Flame
Charlie's Adventure
Neon Space 2
Duke of Alpha Centauri

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CHANGE: A Homeless Survival Experience
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Lead and Gold: Gangs of the Wild West
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Pizza Connection 3
Spartan Fist
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Mahjong Pretty Girls Battle
Mahjong Pretty Girls Battle : School Girls Edition
Pretty Girls Mahjong Solitaire
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Mordheim: City of the Damned
WRC 7 FIA World Rally Championship
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Shift Happens
Crash Drive 3
Hot Tin Roof: The Cat That Wore A Fedora
Automachef
Demolish & Build 2017
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Out of Space
Narita Boy
Aven Colony
Alien Breed Trilogy
Tools up
Mount & Blade
Mount & Blade: With Fire & Sword
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Downfall
Miasmata
Overclocked: A History of Violence
Silver Chains
White Night
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Textorcist
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Orwell: Ignorance is Strength
FRAMED Collection
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As Far as the Eye
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Prank Call
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Streets of Fury EX
Rec Center Tycoon
JumpJet Rex
Hyper Knights
Vectronom
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I am not a Monster: First Contact
Papo & Yo
Crookz the big heist
Iron Fisticle
Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2
Fun with Ragdolls: The Game
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American Fugitive
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FLATLAND Vol.2
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When Ski Lifts Go Wrong
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Lovecraft's Untold Stories
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Car Mechanic Simulator 2015
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Thief of Thieves: Season One
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Cobra Kai: The Karate Kid Saga Continues
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Nickelodeon Kart Racers 2: Grand Prix
Rebel Galaxy Outlaw
Shadowhand: RPG Card Game
Survivalist: Invisible Strain
We Were Here Too
Blacksad: Under the Skin
Heroes of Hammerwatch
Leisure Suit Larry 1-7
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Redout: Enhanced Edition
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They Bleed Pixels
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Skautfold Chapters 1-4
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Doctor Who: The Lonely Assassins
Dread X Collection
Going Under
My Lovely Daughter
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Garfield Kart
Curse: The Eye of Isis
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Nostradamus: The Last Prophecy
Red Riding Hood - Star Crossed Lovers
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Ultra Space Battle Brawl
Through the Woods
This is the Zodiac Speaking
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Tales
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She and the Light Bearer
Epistory - Typing Chronicles
A Wolf in Autumn
The Music Machine
Jalopy
Insane 2
Clustertruck
Antigraviator
All-Star Fruit Racing
Constructor Plus
Ice Lakes
Knights of Pen & Paper 2
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Kingdom Come: Deliverance – Band of Bastards
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Cube Runner
Slash It Ultimate
Slash It 2
Slash It
Cybercube
Poly Island
Spin Rush
Upside Down
Neon Space
Hungry Flame
Charlie's Adventure
Neon Space 2
Duke of Alpha Centauri

VR Games
House Flipper VR
Telefrag VR
Slinger VR

Wishlist

Pleas does someone have ever the same issue or something like this.
already tried everything but still nothing changed.
I think its something wrong with create but i have already tried to update all of his mods and apis but stil nothing.
After the server is loaded the game run about 10mins and then crash with this repport:
​
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
Description: Exception in server tick loop
​
java.lang.NullPointerException: Cannot invoke "java.lang.Integer.intValue()" because the return value of "com.simibubi.create.foundation.utility.ServerSpeedProvider.getSyncInterval()" is null

at Not Enough Crashes deobfuscated stack trace.(1.18.2+build.4) at com.simibubi.create.foundation.utility.ServerSpeedProvider.serverTick([ServerSpeedProvider.java:26](https://ServerSpeedProvider.java:26)) at com.simibubi.create.events.CommonEvents.onServerTick([CommonEvents.java:104](https://CommonEvents.java:104)) at net.fabricmc.fabric.api.event.lifecycle.v1.ServerTickEvents.lambda$static$2([ServerTickEvents.java:62](https://ServerTickEvents.java:62)) at net.minecraft.server.MinecraftServer.handler$dcf002$onEndTick(MinecraftServer:5832) at net.minecraft.server.MinecraftServer.tick(MinecraftServer:889) at net.minecraft.server.MinecraftServer.runServer(MinecraftServer:697) at net.minecraft.server.MinecraftServer.method\_29739(MinecraftServer:273) at [java.lang.Thread.run](https://java.lang.Thread.run)([Thread.java:833](https://Thread.java:833)) 

​
​
A detailed walkthrough of the error, its code path and all known details is as follows:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
​
-- System Details --
Details:

Minecraft Version: 1.18.2 Minecraft Version ID: 1.18.2 Operating System: Linux (amd64) version 4.19.0-23-amd64 Java Version: 17.0.6, Azul Systems, Inc. Java VM Version: OpenJDK 64-Bit Server VM (mixed mode, sharing), Azul Systems, Inc. Memory: 721988536 bytes (688 MiB) / 3414163456 bytes (3256 MiB) up to 19327352832 bytes (18432 MiB) CPUs: 12 Processor Vendor: GenuineIntel Processor Name: Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E7-4890 v2 @ 2.80GHz Identifier: Intel64 Family 6 Model 62 Stepping 7 Microarchitecture: Ivy Bridge (Server) Frequency (GHz): 2.80 Number of physical packages: 1 Number of physical CPUs: 12 Number of logical CPUs: 12 Graphics card #0 name: SVGA II Adapter Graphics card #0 vendor: VMware (0x15ad) Graphics card #0 VRAM (MB): 64.00 Graphics card #0 deviceId: 0x0405 Graphics card #0 versionInfo: unknown Virtual memory max (MB): 22068.24 Virtual memory used (MB): 5793.45 Swap memory total (MB): 1952.00 Swap memory used (MB): 0.00 JVM Flags: 20 total; -Xms2G -Xmx18G -XX:+UseG1GC -XX:+ParallelRefProcEnabled -XX:MaxGCPauseMillis=100 -XX:+UnlockExperimentalVMOptions -XX:+DisableExplicitGC -XX:+AlwaysPreTouch -XX:G1NewSizePercent=30 -XX:G1MaxNewSizePercent=40 -XX:G1HeapRegionSize=8M -XX:G1ReservePercent=20 -XX:G1HeapWastePercent=5 -XX:G1MixedGCCountTarget=4 -XX:InitiatingHeapOccupancyPercent=15 -XX:G1MixedGCLiveThresholdPercent=90 -XX:G1RSetUpdatingPauseTimePercent=5 -XX:SurvivorRatio=32 -XX:+PerfDisableSharedMem -XX:MaxTenuringThreshold=1 Fabric Mods: ad\_astra: Ad Astra! 1.0.5 additionaladditions: Additional Additions 4.0.5 adorn: Adorn 3.5.0+1.18.2 advanced\_runtime\_resource\_pack: Runtime Resource Pack 0.5.7 advancednetherite: Advanced Netherite 1.5.1-1.18.2 advdebug: Advancements Debug 2.3.0 adventurez: AdventureZ 1.4.11 ae2: Applied Energistics 2 11.6.2 ae2additions: AEAdditions 3.1.2-fabric ae2things: AE2Things 1.1.1-beta.1 ae2wtlib: AE2WTLib 11.5.0 animal\_feeding\_trough: Animal Feeding Trough 1.0.3+1.18.2 appbot: Applied Botanics 1.3.4 appleskin: AppleSkin 2.4.1+mc1.18.2 aqupdcaracal: Caracal mob 1.18.2-1.3.8 aqupdgrizzly: Grizzly Bear mob 1.18-1.3 arcanus: Arcanus 1.29 archeology: CapsLock Archeology Mod 0.1.9 midnightlib: MidnightLib 0.4.4 architects\_palette: Architect's Palette Fabric 2.2 architectury: Architectury 4.10.86 artifacts: Artifacts 7.0.3+fabric expandability: ExpandAbility 6.0.0 attributefix: AttributeFix 14.0.2 auto-workstations: Auto Workstations v1.0-SNAPSHOT-19 autoconfig1u: Auto Config v1 Updated 3.4.0 automobility: Automobility 0.2.1+1.18.2 jsonem: JsonEM 0.1.2 myron: Myron 1.6.3+1.18.1 badpackets: Bad Packets 0.1.2 balm-fabric: Balm 3.2.0+0 bamboocombat: Bamboo Combat 1.0.1 beaconoverhaul: Beacon Overhaul 1.6.1+1.18.2 bedbenefits: BedBenefits 6.0.2 better\_bad\_omen: Better Bad Omen 1.3.0 betterdeserttemples: YUNG's Better Desert Temples 1.18.2-Fabric-1.3.1 betterdungeons: YUNG's Better Dungeons 1.18.2-Fabric-2.1.0 bettermineshafts: YUNG's Better Mineshafts 1.18.2-Fabric-2.2 betteroceanmonuments: YUNG's Better Ocean Monuments 1.18.2-Fabric-1.0.3 betterstrongholds: YUNG's Better Strongholds 1.18.2-Fabric-2.1.1 betterwitchhuts: YUNG's Better Witch Huts 1.18.2-Fabric-1.0.1 bewitchment: Bewitchment 1.18-23 impersonate: Impersonate 2.4.1 bhmenu: BHMenu-Fabric 1.17.1-1.18.2-1.3 biomemakeover: Biome Makeover 1.18.2-1.4.32 blast: BLAST 1.9.1 blockus: Blockus 2.4.8+1.18.2 terraform-wood-api-v1: Terraform Wood API (v1) 3.0.0 bookshelf: Bookshelf 13.2.50 bosses\_of\_mass\_destruction: Bosses of Mass Destruction (Beta) 1.3.9-1.18.2 maelstrom\_library: Maelstrom Library 1.2.4-1.18.2 multipart\_entities: MultipartEntities 1.1.5-1.18.2 botania: Botania 1.18.2-435-FABRIC botanypots: BotanyPots 8.0.14 botanytrees: BotanyTrees 4.0.2 bowinfinityfix: Bow Infinity Fix rv11 buildinggadgets: st'ructure tools 1.0.22 mm: Manningham Mills 2.3 byg: Oh The Biomes You'll Go 1.4 cacao: Croptopia's Chocolaterie 1.2 campanion: Campanion 3.0.3 capybara: Capybara 1.0.8 cardinal-components: Cardinal Components API 4.2.0 cardinal-components-base: Cardinal Components API (base) 4.2.0 cardinal-components-block: Cardinal Components API (blocks) 4.2.0 cardinal-components-chunk: Cardinal Components API (chunks) 4.2.0 cardinal-components-entity: Cardinal Components API (entities) 4.2.0 cardinal-components-item: Cardinal Components API (items) 4.2.0 cardinal-components-level: Cardinal Components API (world saves) 4.2.0 cardinal-components-scoreboard: Cardinal Components API (scoreboard) 4.2.0 cardinal-components-world: Cardinal Components API (worlds) 4.2.0 carrier: Carrier 1.10.0 catwalksinc: Catwalks Inc. 1.3.0 cccbridge: CC:C Bridge 1.3.1 chalk: Chalk 2.0.1+1.18.2 chassis: Chassis 1.1.0 chipped: Chipped 2.0.0 chiselsandbits: Chisels & Bits 1.2.114 clienttweaks: Client Tweaks 7.1.0 cloth-api: Cloth API 3.2.64 cloth-client-events-v0: Cloth Client Events v0 3.2.64 cloth-common-events-v1: Cloth Common Events v1 3.2.64 cloth-datagen-api-v1: Cloth Datagen v1 3.2.64 cloth-utils-v1: Cloth Utils v1 3.2.64 cloth-config: Cloth Config v6 6.4.90 cloth-basic-math: cloth-basic-math 0.6.1 clumps: Clumps 8.0.0+15 compactmachines: Compact Machines 4 ${version} forge\_tags: Forge Tags 2.2 companion: Companion 2.0.1 compressor: Compressor 0.2.0 crowdin-translate: CrowdinTranslate 1.4+1.18.2 computercraft: CC: Restitched 1.100.8 conjuring: Conjuring 1.0.22+1.18 connectivity: Connectivity Mod 1.18.2-3.3 cookingforblockheads: Cooking for Blockheads 12.1.1 couplings: Couplings 1.8.0+1.18.2 com\_electronwill\_night-config\_core: core 3.6.5 com\_electronwill\_night-config\_toml: toml 3.6.5 coxinhautilities: Coxinha Utilities 1.4.2+1.18.2 omega-config-gui: Omega Config GUI 1.2.3-1.18.1 

cloth-config-lite: cloth-config-lite 2.0.6

 craftingtweaks: Crafting Tweaks 14.0.3 crawl: Crawl 0.10.6 create: Create 0.5.0.i-963+1.18.2 com\_google\_code\_findbugs\_jsr305: jsr305 3.0.2 milk: Milk Lib 0.3.2 

dripstone_fluid_lib: Dripstone Fluid Lib 1.2.0

 porting\_lib: Porting Lib 1.2.783-beta+1.18.2 

com_github_llamalad7_mixinextras: MixinExtras 0.1.1

 registrate-fabric: Registrate for Fabric MC1.18.2-1.1.7 creativecore: CreativeCore (Fabric) 2.6.12 creeperoverhaul: Creeper Overhaul 1.3.1 croptopia: Croptopia 2.1.2 com\_typesafe\_config: config 1.4.1 io\_leangen\_geantyref\_geantyref: geantyref 1.3.11 org\_spongepowered\_configurate-core: configurate-core 4.1.2 org\_spongepowered\_configurate-hocon: configurate-hocon 4.1.2 croptosis: Croptosis 1.5.0 cyti: Can You Trash It? 1.0.6 dangerousstonecutter: Dangerous Stone Cutter 1.6 dankstorage: Dank Storage 1.18.2-3.7.2 dark-enchanting: Dark Enchanting 1.0.0+1.18.2 libgui: LibGui 5.4.0+1.18.2 

jankson: Jankson 4.0.0+j1.2.0
libninepatch: LibNinePatch 1.1.0

 omega-config: OmegaConfig 1.2.3-1.18.1 darkpaintings: DarkPaintings 10.0.3 darkutils: DarkUtilities 10.0.5 dawn: Dawn API 3.3.2 deathlog: DeathLog 0.2.9+1.18 decorative\_blocks: Decorative Blocks 2.1.1 deepslatecutting: Deepslate Cutting 1.3.4 com\_moandjiezana\_toml\_toml4j: toml4j 0.7.2 maybe-data: Maybe data 1.3.1-1.18.2 defaultoptions: Default Options 14.1.1 display\_case: Display Case Mod 1.0.3 dml-refabricated: Deep Mob Learning: Refabricated 1.18.2 dml-refabricated-base: DML: Refabricated - Base 1.18.2 dml-refabricated-events: DML: Refabricated - Vanilla Events 1.18.2 dml-refabricated-modular-armor: DML: Refabricated - Glitch Armor 1.18.2 dml-refabricated-rei: DML: Refabricated - REI Integration 1.18.2 dmlsimulacrum: Deep Mob Learning: Simulacrum 0.5.4-beta ktdatataglib: KtDataTagLib 1.6.5+1.18.2 doodads: Doodads 0.1.2-1.18.2 dragonfight: Dragonfight Mod 1.18.2-2.5 dragonloot: DragonLoot 1.1.0 dual\_riders: Dual Riders 1.1.1 duckling: Duckling 1.0.7 dungeons\_arise: When Dungeons Arise 2.1.50 dusk: Dusk Mod 1.18.2-2.1 dustrial\_decor: Dustrial Decor 0.5 ecologics: Ecologics 1.7.10 elytratrinket: Elytra Trinket 3.0.0-1.18.1 enchancement: Enchancement 1.18-18 experiencebugfix: Experience Bug Fix 18 extraalchemy: Extra Alchemy 1.8.1 fabric-api: Fabric API 0.76.0+1.18.2 fabric-api-base: Fabric API Base 0.4.5+64b7c69360 fabric-api-lookup-api-v1: Fabric API Lookup API (v1) 1.6.3+2373a54560 fabric-biome-api-v1: Fabric Biome API (v1) 8.0.7+e83becad60 fabric-block-api-v1: Fabric Block API (v1) 1.0.0+ee3621fc60 fabric-command-api-v1: Fabric Command API (v1) 1.1.10+d7c144a860 fabric-commands-v0: Fabric Commands (v0) 0.2.9+b4f4f6cd60 fabric-containers-v0: Fabric Containers (v0) 0.1.24+d7c144a860 fabric-content-registries-v0: Fabric Content Registries (v0) 3.1.3+c85f2e3860 fabric-convention-tags-v1: Fabric Convention Tags 1.1.0+43ce63a460 fabric-crash-report-info-v1: Fabric Crash Report Info (v1) 0.2.1+ee261a3e60 fabric-data-generation-api-v1: Fabric Data Generation API (v1) 3.1.0+6c70b68e60 fabric-dimensions-v1: Fabric Dimensions API (v1) 2.1.21+489d6f8260 fabric-entity-events-v1: Fabric Entity Events (v1) 1.4.9+d7c144a860 fabric-events-interaction-v0: Fabric Events Interaction (v0) 0.4.20+d7c144a860 fabric-events-lifecycle-v0: Fabric Events Lifecycle (v0) 0.2.22+d7c144a860 fabric-game-rule-api-v1: Fabric Game Rule API (v1) 1.0.13+d7c144a860 fabric-item-api-v1: Fabric Item API (v1) 1.6.2+8165403660 fabric-item-groups-v0: Fabric Item Groups (v0) 0.3.16+91896a4960 fabric-lifecycle-events-v1: Fabric Lifecycle Events (v1) 2.1.1+cc71601c60 fabric-loot-api-v2: Fabric Loot API (v2) 1.1.2+1997ad1260 fabric-loot-tables-v1: Fabric Loot Tables (v1) 1.1.4+e747827960 fabric-mining-level-api-v1: Fabric Mining Level API (v1) 2.1.6+cc71601c60 fabric-networking-api-v1: Fabric Networking API (v1) 1.0.24+2d30af4b60 fabric-networking-v0: Fabric Networking (v0) 0.3.11+b4f4f6cd60 fabric-object-builder-api-v1: Fabric Object Builder API (v1) 2.1.5+032c981d60 fabric-particles-v1: Fabric Particles (v1) 0.2.13+526dc1ac60 fabric-registry-sync-v0: Fabric Registry Sync (v0) 0.9.12+bb2e047760 fabric-rendering-data-attachment-v1: Fabric Rendering Data Attachment (v1) 0.3.9+ee3621fc60 fabric-rendering-fluids-v1: Fabric Rendering Fluids (v1) 2.0.3+54e5b2ec60 fabric-resource-conditions-api-v1: Fabric Resource Conditions API (v1) 2.0.3+91b7aa6660 fabric-resource-loader-v0: Fabric Resource Loader (v0) 0.5.3+047a5ecb60 fabric-screen-handler-api-v1: Fabric Screen Handler API (v1) 1.2.3+1f6558e860 fabric-transfer-api-v1: Fabric Transfer API (v1) 1.6.4+f4563ac860 fabric-transitive-access-wideners-v1: Fabric Transitive Access Wideners (v1) 1.1.0+e747827960 fabric-language-kotlin: Fabric Language Kotlin 1.8.5+kotlin.1.7.20 org\_jetbrains\_kotlin\_kotlin-reflect: kotlin-reflect 1.7.20 org\_jetbrains\_kotlin\_kotlin-stdlib: kotlin-stdlib 1.7.20 org\_jetbrains\_kotlin\_kotlin-stdlib-jdk7: kotlin-stdlib-jdk7 1.7.20 org\_jetbrains\_kotlin\_kotlin-stdlib-jdk8: kotlin-stdlib-jdk8 1.7.20 org\_jetbrains\_kotlinx\_atomicfu-jvm: atomicfu-jvm 0.18.4 org\_jetbrains\_kotlinx\_kotlinx-coroutines-core-jvm: kotlinx-coroutines-core-jvm 1.6.4 org\_jetbrains\_kotlinx\_kotlinx-coroutines-jdk8: kotlinx-coroutines-jdk8 1.6.4 org\_jetbrains\_kotlinx\_kotlinx-datetime-jvm: kotlinx-datetime-jvm 0.4.0 org\_jetbrains\_kotlinx\_kotlinx-serialization-cbor-jvm: kotlinx-serialization-cbor-jvm 1.4.1 org\_jetbrains\_kotlinx\_kotlinx-serialization-core-jvm: kotlinx-serialization-core-jvm 1.4.1 org\_jetbrains\_kotlinx\_kotlinx-serialization-json-jvm: kotlinx-serialization-json-jvm 1.4.1 fabricloader: Fabric Loader 0.14.10 farmersdelight: Farmer's Delight 1.18.2-1.2.2 farmingforblockheads: Farming for Blockheads 10.0.2 feature\_nbt\_deadlock\_be\_gone: Feature NBT Deadlock Be Gone - Fabric 2.0.0+1.18.2-rc1 ferritecore: FerriteCore 4.2.1 findme: FindMe 3.0.6 floral\_flair: Floral Flair 1.3.0 flytre\_lib: FlytreLib 1.8.2 forgeconfigapiport: Forge Config API Port 3.2.4 ftbchunks: FTB Chunks 1802.3.7-build.172 ftblibrary: FTB Library 1802.3.7-build.154 ftbquests: FTB Quests 1802.3.8-build.106 ftbteams: FTB Teams 1802.2.7-build.71 ftbultimine: FTB Ultimine 1802.3.3-build.67 gag: Gadgets Against Grind 1.0.1-build.2 gateofbabylon: Gate Of Babylon 1.7.0-1.18.2 geckolib3: Geckolib 3.0.67 com\_eliotlash\_mclib\_mclib: mclib 18 com\_eliotlash\_molang\_molang: molang 19 geodes: More Geodes 1.4.2 glassential: Glassential 1.3.0 go-fish: Go Fish 1.5.0-1.18.2 goblintraders: Goblin Traders 1.5.1 goldenhoppers: Golden Hoppers 1.3.3 goodall: Goodall 1.0.2 graveyard: The Graveyard 1.9 graveyard\_biomes: The Graveyard Biomes 1.1 guardvillagers: Guard Villagers Fabric 1.18.2-1.0.14 guild: Guild 0.4.0 harvest\_scythes: Harvest Scythes 2.5.3+mc1.18.2 hexcasting: Hex Casting 0.9.4 fiber: fiber 0.23.0-2 horseinfo: Horse Info 0.4.1-1.18 iceberg: Iceberg 1.0.38 icy-incitement: Icy Incitement 1.18.2-fabric-1.1.3 impaled: Impaled 1.1.3 incantationem: Incantationem 1.1.6+1.18.2 indrev: Industrial Revolution 1.14.0-BETA fake-player-api: Fake Player API 0.3.0 libblockattributes\_core: LibBlockAttributes (Core) 0.10.0 libblockattributes\_fluids: LibBlockAttributes (Fluids) 0.10.0 libblockattributes\_items: LibBlockAttributes (Items) 0.10.0 magna: Magna 1.7.0-1.18-pre1 step-height-entity-attribute: Step Height Entity Attribute 1.0.0 indrev-nikolite: Industrial Revolution: Nikolite Expansion 1.0+1.18.1 infusion\_table: Infusion Table 1.1.0 inmis: Inmis 2.6.0-1.18.2 inmisaddon: InmisAddon 1.0.1-1.18 inventorysorter: Inventory Sorter 1.8.8-1.18 iron-jetpacks: Iron Jetpacks 0.4.3 ironchests: Iron Chests: Restocked 2.0.4 itemfilters: Item Filters 1802.2.8-build.47 jamlib: JamLib 0.0.5 java: OpenJDK 64-Bit Server VM 17 kibe: Kibe 1.9.10-BETA+1.18 kjsextras: KubeJS Extras 3.0.0 kleeslabs: KleeSlabs 11.1.1 kubejs: KubeJS 1802.5.4-build.535 kubejs\_create: KubeJS Create 1802.2.2-build.28 lazydfu: LazyDFU 0.1.2 lifts: Lifts 1.4.1-BETA+1.18 lithium: Lithium 0.7.10 logbegone: Log Begone 1.0.2 logicates: Logicates 1.0.2+1.18.2 logprot: Logprot Mod 1.18-1.6 lootbags: Resourceful Lootbags 1.1.0 resourcefullib: Resourceful Lib 0.0.4 lootintegrations: Loot integration Mod 1.18.2-1.5 lootr: Lootr [0.3.23.60](https://0.3.23.60) lovely\_snails: Lovely Snails 1.0.4+1.18 luggage: Luggage 1.3.2 magicalforest: Magical Forest 2.0.3 mcwbridges: Macaw's Bridges 2.0.5 mcwdoors: Macaw's Doors 1.0.7 mcwfences: Macaw's Fences and Walls 1.0.6 mcwlights: Macaw's Lights and Lamps 1.0.4 mcwpaintings: Macaw's Paintings 1.0.4 mcwpaths: Macaw's Paths and Pavings 1.0.1 mcwroofs: Macaw's Roofs 2.2.1 mcwtrpdoors: Macaw's Trapdoors 1.0.7 mcwwindows: Macaw's Windows 2.0.3 megane: megane 7.10.0 megane-api: megane-api 7.10.0 megane-applied-energistics-2: megane-applied-energistics-2 7.10.0 megane-create: megane-create 7.10.0 megane-deep-mob-learning-simulacrum: megane-deep-mob-learning-simulacrum 7.10.0 megane-fabric-transfer: megane-fabric-transfer 7.10.0 megane-industrial-revolution: megane-industrial-revolution 7.10.0 megane-kibe: megane-kibe 7.10.0 megane-lib-block-attributes: megane-lib-block-attributes 7.10.0 megane-luggage: megane-luggage 7.10.0 megane-modern-dynamics: megane-modern-dynamics 7.10.0 megane-powah: megane-powah 7.10.0 megane-reborn-core: megane-reborn-core 7.10.0 megane-reborn-energy: megane-reborn-energy 7.10.0 megane-runtime: megane-runtime 7.10.0 megane-tech-reborn: megane-tech-reborn 7.10.0 megane-vanilla: megane-vanilla 7.10.0 megane-wireless-networks: megane-wireless-networks 7.10.0 minecarttweaks: Cammie's Minecart Tweaks 1.5 minecraft: Minecraft 1.18.2 mobscarecrow: Mob Scarecrow 2.1.1 mocolors: Mo' Colors 1.4.0 modern\_industrialization: Modern Industrialization 1.2.2 playerabilitylib: Pal 1.5.0 moderndynamics: Modern Dynamics 0.2.6-beta morevillagers: More Villagers 3.3.2 mostructures: Mo' Structures 1.4.2+1.18.2 mythicmounts: Mythic Mounts 1.18.2-7.0 naturalist: Naturalist 1.1.1 naturescompass: Nature's Compass 1.18.2-2.0.3-fabric nears: Nears 1.1.8 netherportalfix: NetherPortalFix 9.0.0 no\_angled\_brackets: No Angled Brackets 1.0.0 no\_null\_processors: No Null Processors - Fabric 2.0.1+1.18.1 notenoughcrashes: Not Enough Crashes 4.2.0+1.18.2 onastick: On A Stick 2.0.0 openloader: OpenLoader 12.0.1 overloadedarmorbar: Overloaded Armor Bar 1.18.1-6 owo: oωo 0.7.2-no-cme+1.18 patchouli: Patchouli 1.18.2-71.1-FABRIC paucal: PAUCAL 0.4.7 pehkui: Pehkui 3.6.0+1.14.4-1.19.3 kanos\_config: Kanos Config 0.3.1+1.14.4-1.19 peripheralium: Peripheralium 0.4.3-1.18.2 peripheralworks: Unlimited Peripheral Works 0.2.1 piercingpaxels: Piercing Paxels 1.0.3+1.18.x pigpen: PigPen 8.0.1 playdate: Playdate 2.2.4 polylib: PolyLib 1801.0.2-build.13 powah: Powah! 3.0.5-beta probablychests: Probably Chests 0.5.5-1.18.2 productivevillagers: Productive Villagers 1.0.2 promenade: Promenade 2.6.3 terraform-shapes-api-v1: Terraform Shapes API (v1) 2.1.0 pyrotastic: Pyrotastic 1.18.2+2.0.3 questsadditions: Quests Additions 1.4.0 quickshulker: Quick Shulker 1.3.9-1.18 kyrptconfig: Kyrpt Config 1.4.6-1.18 

blue_endless_jankson: jankson 1.2.1

 shulkerutils: shulkerutils 1.0.4-1.18 rare-ice: Rare Ice 0.4.1 reborncore: Reborn Core 5.2.0 redstonebits: Redstone Bits 1.8.2 repurposed\_structures: Repurposed Structures 4.1.14+1.18.2 respawnablepets: Respawnable Pets 1.18-4 revelationary: Revelationary 1.0.2 rhino: Rhino 1802.1.14-build.225 rightclickharvest: Right Click Harvest 3.0.3+1.18 rottencreatures: Rotten Creatures 1.0.0 roughly\_enough\_loot\_tables: Roughly Enough Loot Tables (RELT) 1.18-1.1 roughlyenoughitems: Roughly Enough Items 8.3.563 error\_notifier: Error Notifier 1.0.9 roughlyenoughprofessions: Roughly Enough Professions 1.0.2 roughlyenoughresources: Roughly Enough Resources 2.5.0 runelic: Runelic 11.0.1 seedfix: Seed Fix 1.0.1 shulkerboxtooltip: Shulker Box Tooltip 3.1.3+1.18.2 simpleteleporters: Simple Teleporters 2.3.0 simplevoidworld: Simple Void World 4.0.0 slimyboyos: Slimy Boyos [4.0.0.7](https://4.0.0.7) slimyfloor: Slimy Floor 1.18-1.2.2 smootherbedrock: Smoother Bedrock 1.0.4 smwyg: Show Me What You Got 1.0.1 someforgepatchesported: Some Forge Patches Ported 1.0.3 spark: spark 1.9.11 fabric-permissions-api-v0: fabric-permissions-api 0.1-SNAPSHOT spectrum: Spectrum 1.5.7-1.18.2-magic additionalentityattributes: Additionalentityattributes 1.0.0+1.18.2 bannerpp: Banner++ 2.0.6-teb.1+mc.1.18.2 incubus\_core: Incubus Core 1.7.1 programmerartinjector: Programmer Art Injector 1.2.1 speedometer: Speedometer Mod 1.1.0 spirit: Spirit 2.1.8 splash\_milk: Splash Milk 1.0.2 staffofbuilding: Staff of Building 1.4.1-1.18.1 starlight: Starlight 1.0.2+fabric.89b8d9f stoneholm: Stoneholm 1.4.3 strawdummy: Straw Dummy 1.7.0 strongersnowballs: StrongerSnowballs 6.0.1 structory: Structory 1.0.0 tamago: Tamago 1.0 tconstruct: Hephaestus 1.18.2-3.5.2.155 mantle: Mantle 1.18.2-1.9.156 

star: Star 1.3+1.18.2

 serialization\_hooks: Serialization Hooks 0.3.23 techreborn: Tech Reborn 5.2.0 team\_reborn\_energy: Energy 2.2.0 tempad: Tempad 1.4.1 terrablender: TerraBlender [1.1.0.102](https://1.1.0.102) terrarianslimes: Terrarian Slimes 1.2.1-BETA+1.18 thatched: Thatched 1.1.0 thonkutil: ThonkUtil 2.14.1+1.18 thonkutil-base: ThonkUtil Base 1.12.2+23c1dc2c60 thonkutil-capes-v1: ThonkUtil Capes (v1) 1.3.2+9e23427060 thonkutil-customization-v1: ThonkUtil Customization (v1) 1.0.14+9b80223760 thonkutil-legacy: ThonkUtil Legacy 1.0.20+9b80223760 thonkutil-modchecker-v1: ThonkUtil ModChecker (v1) 1.0.12+9b80223760 thonkutil-potions-v0: ThonkUtil Potions (v0) 1.4.1+9b80223760 thonkutil-trades-v1: ThonkUtil Trades (v1) 1.1.20+9b80223760 tinycoal: Tiny Coal 1.0.1 toolstats: ToolStats 9.0.3 totemmod: Wither Totems Mod 0.3.5-1.18.2-pre2 totw\_additions: Towers of the Wild: Additions 1.2.1 transportables: Transportables 1.2 trapexpansion: Trap Expansion 1.3.3 trashslot: TrashSlot 11.0.2 travelersbackpack: Traveler's Backpack 1.18.2-7.1.11 reach-entity-attributes: Reach Entity Attributes 2.2.0 travelstaff: Staff of Travelling 1.0.11 trinketofundying: Trinket of Undying 2.0.2-1.18.2 trinkets: Trinkets 3.3.1 twilightforest: The Twilight Forest 4.1.268 javax\_annotation\_javax\_annotation-api: javax.annotation-api 1.3.2 vanilla-hammers: Vanilla Hammers 3.4.0-1.18.2 static-content: Static Content 1.0.2-1.16.2 

staticdata: Static Data 1.1.2

 vanillaexcavators: Vanilla Excavators 1.1.0 villager-hats: Villager Hats 1.4.0 voidtotem: VoidTotem (Fabric) 1.18.2-1.3.1 waystones: Waystones 2.5.5+mc1.18.2 wildbackport: TheWildBackport 1.2.3 wirelessnetworks: Wireless Networks 1.5.1 wolveswitharmor: Wolves With Armor 1.7.1-1.18.2 wthit: wthit 4.13.4 xlpackets: XLPackets 2.1-1.17.1 xps: Xp Obelisk 0.4.6-r+1.18.2-Fabric xps\_additions: XP Obelisk Additions 0.1.4-r+1.18.2-Fabric yigd: You're in Grave Danger 1.3.11 yungsapi: YUNG's API 1.18.2-Fabric-2.2.6 org\_javassist\_javassist: javassist 3.28.0-GA org\_reflections\_reflections: reflections 0.10.2 yungsbridges: YUNG's Bridges 1.18.2-Fabric-2.1.0 yungsextras: YUNG's Extras 1.18.2-Fabric-2.1.0 Server Running: true Player Count: 0 / 3; \[\] Data Packs: vanilla, minecraft/croptop, compressor (incompatible), Fabric Mods World Generation: Stable Is Modded: Definitely; Server brand changed to 'fabric' Type: Dedicated Server (map\_server.txt) Suspected Mods: Create (create), Fabric Lifecycle Events (v1) (fabric-lifecycle-events-v1) 

[19:20:14] [Server thread/ERROR]: Encountered an unexpected exception java.lang.NullPointerException: Cannot invoke "java.lang.Integer.intValue()" because the return value of "com.simibubi.create.foundation.utility.ServerSpeedProvider.getSyncInterval()" is null at Not Enough Crashes deobfuscated stack trace.(1.18.2+build.4) ~[?:?] at com.simibubi.create.foundation.utility.ServerSpeedProvider.serverTick(ServerSpeedProvider.java:26) ~[create-fabric-0.5.0.i-963+1.18.2.jar:?] at com.simibubi.create.events.CommonEvents.onServerTick(CommonEvents.java:104) ~[create-fabric-0.5.0.i-963+1.18.2.jar:?] at net.fabricmc.fabric.api.event.lifecycle.v1.ServerTickEvents.lambda$static$2(ServerTickEvents.java:62) ~[fabric-lifecycle-events-v1-2.1.1+cc71601c60-87d8f812a1297025.jar:?] at net.minecraft.server.MinecraftServer.handler$dcf002$onEndTick(MinecraftServer:5832) ~[server-intermediary.jar:?] at net.minecraft.server.MinecraftServer.tick(MinecraftServer:889) ~[server-intermediary.jar:?] at net.minecraft.server.MinecraftServer.runServer(MinecraftServer:697) ~[server-intermediary.jar:?] at net.minecraft.server.MinecraftServer.method_29739(MinecraftServer:273) ~[server-intermediary.jar:?] at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:833) [?:?]

First Previous
Chapter 2: Now Is Found
​
The moment the Into the Black entered Sol, the human’s home system, various transmissions and radio signals poured in. At first, the captain and the rest of the crew thought that humanity was well and truly alive. But upon closer inspection of the deluge of signals they were receiving, they realized they were nothing more than automated warnings, echoes, and ghost signals bouncing around the countless derelict ships, stations, habitats, and arcologies that surrounded nearly every world and moon in the system. The place was a mass grave, far greater than any of the previous systems. In fact, this system was the most developed Ohmata had ever seen. The Galactic Union’s capital is the most advanced system in the GU, and it pales compared to the level of development of the human home system!
The sheer amount of death and destruction was frightening. Entire fleets worth of ships clumped together in the void of space. Their own mass creating a small gravity, pulling them together and fashioning massive hulks. While also creating hazardous clouds of metal debris, more than a few moving fast enough to rip the Black to shreds, should they not be vigilant. Constructs the size of cities floated aimlessly, stuck within the confines of the star’s influence. Mobile defense platforms, which once bristled with the finest weapons humanity could field, lay battered and broken amongst the many wrecks that called Sol home. Humanity did not go down without a fight, that much was for certain. If anyone ever called them cowards, Ohmata would simply show them the recorded footage of their home system to prove the naysayers otherwise.
There looked to be more metal strewn about from the battles and destroyed ships alone than in every GU fleet combined, and more than a few worlds, too. The difference in the ships was obvious. The human vessels were boxy, utilitarian. They did their jobs, and they did them well. Many of which appeared to be nothing more than massive guns someone built a ship around, then put more guns on that.
The Nemesis were different; they weren’t boxy and rigid angles like the humans, but not totally smooth either. They had a far more organic look with multiple bends and curves, but the surfaces seemed to be rough and bumpy, and unlike the human ships, almost none were symmetrical. But though they were asymmetrical, there existed patterns in the various derelicts. As if they were variations of preexisting models, updated and expanded upon with time. In comparison, most GU ships were a happy medium. They had the bends and curves like the Nemesis, but were neatly symmetrical like the human ships.
Looking past the destruction and death, the system was fairly average. Four rocky worlds, four gas giants, and several smaller bodies here and there. The gas giants still had the broken remains of floating cities scattered across them, while their moons contained colonies and stations galore. But what was most interesting were the third and fourth rocky worlds. The fourth one had depressingly little green on it. It was mostly red, with an occasional white streak indicating clouds. It was highly developed, ruined cities ranged across its surface freely. But it bore the marks of war none the less. It would be a prime candidate for collecting samples, as long as the surface wasn’t too hazardous. Humanity did have a fetish for nuclear annihilation towards their end, after all.
The third planet, the third planet was something else. It was a grey husk devoid of life. Its moon had a massive crater denting its facade, with many smaller ones marking its surface. They stood out prominently. Fresh wounds of war contrasted against natural meteor strikes. The debris from the lunar surface and whatever had caused the impact was already starting to form the semblance of a ring around the planet. And like everywhere else, the surrounding space was choked with battle debris, though most had collected in the planet’s “proto ring”. There was so much debris that they could barely scan the planet, and what parts they could get to was so irradiated that a signal couldn’t penetrate from such a distance. Which meant if they wanted to scan the home world of these legendary humans, they would have to get closer. Which, frankly, was currently impossible.
“Nix’Fa, can you maneuver through that debris field?” Ohmata asked, while peering down at her console.
“No ma’am. A shuttle may get through, but it won’t have any of the equipment necessary to scan the planet. At least, not at any reasonable rate,” Nix’Fa replied. She, too, was looking over her console at potential flight paths.
First Lieutenant Qhaax spoke up from her station. “We may not need to actually scan the planet to learn more about humanity, captain. Most of the planet is a flattened, irradiated death pit, but the debris field around it still contains warships from both sides, some in remarkable condition. In fact, several derelicts appear to still have power, even after thousands of years. We may be able to board them using a shuttle and extract data from any intact computer systems we find. And while not exactly human, there is a Nemesis ship relatively close to the edge of the field. It would be a good first target.”
“Then we’ll change our plan to that. Qhaax, contact Kitern and tell her to get her marines suited up, send a techy or two and some researchers with them as well. You’ll have to contact Tentzonta to get her to let some of her engineers loose for once, and Glevar for her researchers. Though you won’t have to convince her, she’ll be jumping at the opportunity. Nix’Fa, start plotting them a course, and we’ll go from there, understood?”
The two responded with a crisp, yes ma’am, and got to work on their respective tasks.
-
“Kitern, can you hear me?” Ohmata’s voice called out from Kitern’s suit’s comms.
“Loud and clear, cap, whatcha need?” Commander Kitern responded as she stowed away several more energy cells for her weapon. She was a digitigrade, feline like mammal known as a Lioranian, with thick paw like hands that held deadly claws within them. They were still thin and nimble enough to manipulate objects accurately, but most importantly, pull a trigger. Her kind also had a slightly elongated snout, long tail, and top forward facing ears. Their eyes were dark, but a few bore mutations which lightened the iris to a sky blue. And their pupils are vertical, but would dilate periodically to give better depth perception and low light visibility. Her species’ coats ranged from a dark tan to a bright yellow gold and had multiple coat patterns of varying intensities. She personally had a dusty tan coat with slight stripe markings originating from her spine, but quickly fading as they reached around to her abdomen and chest.
“You already have a basic rundown about what to do. But I just wanted to remind you, we marked an entrance for you through some old battle damage on a derelict Nemesis ship that is close to the edge of the debris field. Enter, make your way to the power source, secure the area, and set up a pressurized zone if possible so the techies can work in peace. If you can’t, oh well, they can work in their suits. Also, you see anything living, as unlikely as that is, don’t go shooting it. Try to capture or reason with it, but if it does anything stupid, then do what you and your girls do best.”
Kitern smiled maliciously. “Aye, aye, captain. We’ll keep the civvies alive and kick’n, get the goods and be back in no time.”
“Then I leave the rest to you. Oh, try not to mess with the shuttle’s controls while it’s on autopilot this time. It’ll be weaving through a debris field too compact to get the Black into. Any rescue efforts will take a long time, longer than what you’ll have, so don’t touch the throttle like last time!” Ohmata raised her voice jokingly, playfully reminding Kitern of the last time they were on a shuttle together in such conditions.
“Ha! Dontcha worry, I’ll be in the back. Onsa will be in the pilot’s seat for this go. She’s a better flyer anyways,” Kitern played.
“Alright then, get done and come back, preferable alive. Ohmata out.” There was a click as Ohmata closed the channel.
“Hmph, always do.” Kitern had been staring at a random wall while talking to Ohmata. With the call over, she turned to her squad. “Alright girls, get your shit together and get to the shuttle. Oh, and keep your hands to yourself, Hran is coming along, I don’t want any complaints from him, or hands where they shouldn’t be, got it?” she barked, eyeing each of the three other marines, more specifically the youngest two.
“What if he lets us?” one of said marines asked jokingly.
“It’ll be a cold day on Ca’tab before that happens, Asteli,” Kitern replied.
“You never know, we might just wear him down finally, right Gre’Namra?” the perky Venanian replied.
“How many times do I have to tell you? Just call me Namra, and I doubt it. Men like to be wined and dined. Take them out, pay for a fancy meal, maybe buy them something. You know, the usual,” her counterpart, a Drae’Ildan, responded.
Kitern sighed. “Or how about not harassing anyone and act like a decent sentient, you hornbags? Now, shut it and get to the shuttle. Dentala you’ll have your work cut out for you keeping track of these two today.”
“Not as big of a job as keeping track of you, I pity Onsa,” Dentala said as she lifted a heavy kinetic slugger with a red hand, another Venanian.
Kitern chuffed deeply, her species version of a chuckle. “Me too! But, you might wanna put on a glove before we go out. Might help with the whole vacuum thing.” Dentala looked at her hand, surprised that she had forgotten it, before slipping one on. It attached to her bracer and made an airtight seal, forming an armored gauntlet. With that, the four marines left to join their fifth member in the shuttle.
As they left the locker room, Asteli mumbled under her breath. “We wouldn’t do that. We’re not assholes,” she said, addressing Kitern’s assertion of harassment.
“Well, you sound like one,” Gre’Namra replied quietly. After that, they kept their heads down and trudged along with their commanding officer.
A short jaunt later, they were passing through the hangar bay’s airlock. They were greeted by the Black’s only two shuttles. One, small and cramped, meant for scanning dangerous locations that they couldn’t get to with the ship. Logically, that would mean it was best suited to scan Earth. But even its equipment was not powerful enough to breach the radiation. Not without descending into the planet's atmosphere and becoming so irradiated they would practically glow in the dark. And while they could get Aphosi to pilot the shuttle remotely, its scanners aren't able to scan such a broad area like an entire planet. They were more meant to target small, specific locations.
The second shuttle was much larger. It was built to transport supplies and the handful of rovers they had in storage, to make excursions to planets. The smaller shuttle had permanently extended wings and large thrusters on the rear. The larger of the two, simply dubbed Shuttle One, could fold its wings. And had a variety of thrusters located across the ship for better maneuverability in space, and atmospheric thrusters embedded in the center of each wing for flight in atmo. But it also had two large engines in the back for forward thrust, just above its rear ramp.
Walking over to shuttle one, Onsa, the other Lioranian in the squad, was already waiting for them in the pilot’s seat. In the rear seating area were two engineers and two scientists, wearing grey, lightly armored EVA suits that looked to be made of cloth, but were instead a variety of advance polymers and flexible but insulative materials. Most of the helmet was a large, one way transparent material, allowing for increased awareness while sacrificing protection. In comparison, the marine’s helmets had no exterior window, instead a suite of miniature sensors embedded in their black armored helmets allowed them to see through an internal display screen. The helmets appeared to be smooth metal from a distance, only up close could you see the microscopic sensors embedded in them.
The marine’s suits held many of the same features as the civilians, but were black and had thick armored plates over vital areas and on select parts of their extremities, with thinner, non-metal armor segments filling in the gaps. Both suit types had an array of pockets and hideaways, each holding their respective tools of the trade. Regardless of the accessories, or level of protection, each was specially crafted to accommodate for the unique physiologies of the different species.
Had the ship and its equipment not made with each of their species in mind, they would have worn generic multi species suits. Instead of the pre-built features tailored for their specific anatomy, they would be covered with a thick insulated, pliable material that fitted over the horns, tails, and crests and shrank until it was tightly pressed against every nook and cranny. Aside from personalized helmets, each species’ leg sections and gloves/gauntlets catered for whether they were plantigrade, digitigrade, or for how many digits they may possess.
Hran being a male Venanian, had small horns jutting out from his temples. But because his horns were so small, his helmet did not need any special features. Thus was fairly plain. It looked like a sphere that had been slightly squished in on the sides. Unlike the females of his species, who had much larger, curved horns, their helmets were marked with two twin armored segments sticking up like antenna. Otherwise, their helmets were just as “stubby” as his, for their flatter faces. At least, in comparison to the other species onboard.
The Shednae with their elaborate head crests and long faces, had a stubby mohawk like metal protrusion for their crests to fit in, and longer helmets to account for their heads. The Drae’Ildan’s helmets were similar to the Shednae. In fact, they could be mistaken for one another if not for the lack of a head crest. Lastly, the Lioranian helmets were quite plain, aside from the extended “snout” for their slightly longer faces and two nubs to house their ears located on the top of their heads.
Those with tails were likewise afforded a special area to put them, instead of the shrinking material normal for such species. The Shednae have a small knob like space for their short tails. While the Venanians and Lioranians had long thin tails, they could be coiled in the suit. Drae’Ildan suits had a much longer and thicker tail section that looked burdensome but was quite flexible. Their suits were also equipped with a much larger array of sensors to assist them, as the Drae’Ildan’s natural sensory organs were significantly dulled in such tight confines.
“I see the grunts have finally made their appearance. Why did you bother bringing so many guns with you? It’s a derelict that has been floating dead in space for thousands of cycles. There won’t be anything living on board.”, one of the engineers nagged, as the marines ducked into the shuttle. Though her helmet was on, it was clear she was a part of engineering by the orange stripe running along the left of her suite, and left sleeve. Mimicking their uniforms.
“And a fine hello to you Kass, you too, Hran,” Kitern said as she sat down across from the two Venanians and buckled in. Hran simply nodded silently. Kitern continued, “And as for your question, we have no idea what we’ll find. You want to be stuck out in space with no way of protecting yourself if something is there? Yeah, I’m sure it’s empty too. Doesn’t mean I’m taking any chances.” Kass snorted at her reply.
“Shavizi, Jurwa, what about you two, think we’ve over prepared?” Kitern asked the two scientists to her left. Their stripes were blue.
“One can never be too prepared! Though the heavy slugger seems a bit excessive, but as long as you don’t drop it on me, I have no complaints,” Jurwa, a Shednae, said gleefully, practically bouncing in her seat.
“I agree, organic enemies aside. The ship may have automated defenses still functioning. If so, they will have to be dealt with accordingly.” Shavizi added. Yet another Venanian.
“See Kass, they get it,” Kitern grinned smugly underneath her helmet as she leaned back and buckled herself in.
As the others sat down and buckled in, Onsa turned in her seat to see if they were all ready. Everyone confirming they were. She turned back around and started up the shuttle. Quickly putting it into autopilot, but still keeping her hands on the controls just in case. The shuttle slipped out of the bay, passing through the atmospheric retention field, and pitching down and to the left, heading for the derelict Nemesis ship.
As the debris field is so dense and dangerous, the Into the Black was several hundred kilometers away, clear of any potential danger. As such, the trip would take around five minutes before they reached the field, another six to navigate the debris, as it was so hazardous. The Nemesis ship in question was near the edge of the debris field, but still mostly intact, with some power readings emanating from within, a perfect target for research.
-
“We’re coming alongside it now. Once we have successfully magnetized to its hull with the docking clamps, I’ll decompress the shuttle and you can open him up,” Onsa called out, just barely turning her head back in their direction.
Kitern activated her comms so everyone could hear her clearly once the air was siphoned out. “Gotcha. Scans show two distinct points of power readings. Both look to be in the same place, or at least really damn close. We’ll take a right once we get into the ship and follow the corridor until it leads to a three-way intersection. Then we make a left, then a right, and we’ll be on track. The room in question will be along that corridor. Keep your eyes and sensors open for anything that looks Nemesis-y.”
“Oh, like the entire ship?” Kass chimed in.
Kitern rolled her eyes. “Onsa, give a countdown.”
Onsa nodded her head. “Affirmative. Decompression commencing in three… two… one… starting.” There was an audible hiss that slowly faded away as the air in the shuttle was pulled back into storage tanks for later use. “Decompression complete, safe to open the door,” she confirmed over their comms.
“Opening door. Don’t go floating off,” Kitern joked as she pressed a button near the hatch, causing it to slide open silently. Before them was a gaping hole in the side of what looked like a ship that had grown large warts. The human beacons had mentioned that the Nemesis ships weren’t smooth, but the reality was a bit more unsettling up close. The humans weren’t sure why the Nemesis ships were so… bumpy. But they knew it wasn’t actually part of the building process, as newly refurbished or repaired Nemesis vessels lacked the warty exterior. But they had seen no importance in investigating the reason, as they had no tactical or structural advantage. Humanity theorized they were damage, but what could cause metal to ripple and bubble? So it remains a mystery to this day.
Kitern lifted a foot, causing the magnetic lock on that boot to disengage automatically, then re-engage when she put pressure on it. Allowing her to walk forward until she was looking down into the hole. Kitern put a foot on the lip of the shuttle, and bent forward, pushing herself into the opening.
As Kitern floated into the ship, she could see the corridors were circular, with strange partitions along the edges. The partitions didn’t seem to move or close, so she guessed they were more decorative support beams than actual doorways. A second later, she put out a hand to stop herself from colliding with the far wall, and pushed downward, boots magnetizing to the floor. Upon magnetizing, she immediately lifted her weapon. It was a small energy-based firearm, similar in size and function to an SMG.
Looking down both directions of the corridor showed nothing of interest other than more of those strange support beams and closed bulkhead doors on either end. She noted the twisted metal and battle damage in the corridor caused by whatever had impacted the hull.
Before everyone had touched down, she started making her way toward their objective. She continued on until she reached the bulkhead door at the end of the corridor. It was not fully closed, only partially, allowing someone to grip between the two sections and pull them apart. She did just that. As the door slowly opened, Dentala came up behind her and lent her strength to the task. Grunting in exertion, they pulled the door apart until they could easily walk through. Kitern silently fist bumped Dentala on the shoulder in thanks before she continued on, weapon held at the ready.
As they proceeded through the derelict, signs of battle began to appear. At first, it was only a few scorch marks or kinetic impact craters on the wall. Then, what looked like dried blood from some ancient creature. It had aged into a sickly dark green color with a hint of yellow. A quick scan showed that no genetic material could be retrieved, it had long degraded into nothing. Though some sort of information could certainty be gleamed from the stain if they searched long enough, but the sample was unimportant, as it was not a focus of the mission. Pressing on, the signs of battle intensified, as well the amount of spilled blood. At one point, an entire corridor looked like it had been painted in viscera.
The team could only speculate on what had happened. Was it a mutiny? Civil war between surviving Nemesis forces trapped in the Sol system? Or perhaps the humans had something to do with it? But there was one thing on everyone’s mind as they walked through the ancient carnage. Where were the bodies? They hadn’t passed a single corpse yet, just blood stains.
“Captain Kitern, do you suppose we can slow down and so I can scan the ship a bit more? I can’t get a proper reading while moving like this,” Shavizi requested from the back. She had some sort of tool and was waving it back and forth across the surface of the corridor.
“You can scan the ship when we stop, and that will be when we get to those power signals. And once we make sure the place is secure,” Kitern responded, weapon still up at her shoulder as she swept the hallway.
“If that is your order,” Shavizi relented, but still attempted to scan everything they passed, incomplete or not.
It didn’t take long before they arrived at where the Black said the power readings were. They had weaved about the ship a bit more than desired. Several bulkhead doors were completely sealed shut, causing them to detour, but they managed it in the end. They were now standing in front of a large single door; it was nowhere near as large as the bulkhead doors that sealed off entire corridors, but it was large enough to allow passage with room to spare on all sides.
It too bore damage from whatever conflict had occurred within the ship. The door’s access panel was damaged, and the surrounding wall panels warped. Preventing them from directly interacting with the door.
“This is the place; my scanner is already picking up power readings from here. Hran, be a dear and get out the interface tools. We’ll see if this door has power first, instead of brute forcing our way through first thing,” Kass stated. Hran silently carried out his orders, unpacking a variety of tools they may need.
After pulling off several of the panels to see if they allowed access to the door’s wiring, they eventually found the right one. Sadly, a closer inspection revealed that the door, like nearly the entire ship, had no power, meaning it couldn’t be opened by the press of a button like they wanted.
“Oh well, do what you do best, Kitern,” Kass shrugged as she and Hran began packing up their tools.
“Eh, worth a shot. Privates, if you please,” Kitern motioned to the door for the two young marines to take a crack at it. They both replied with a crisp, yes ma’am, and quickly got to work trying to pry open the door.
It took a little more effort than they thought, but over time it slowly slid further and further open, until Gre’Namra wedged herself in between the door and frame, and used her entire body to push it open. Asteli joined in when it widened enough for the both of them. Together, they pushed it fully open, the door slowly recessing into the wall. Revealing an old dusty room with several long bed-like pods.
“Thank you, girls. Now clear the room while you’re at it. Though by now any baddies would have chewed you up,” Kitern ordered. The two did just that. Thankfully, the entire room could be seen from the doorway, so there really wasn’t any clearing. Just looking behind the pods for anything not so friendly.
During their little search, they noticed one bed had several lights flickering on its side. They pointed it out to the others. Immediately, Kass and Shavizi pushed them aside to get to it. Drooling over it like children being offered sweets.
“I wonder what this is?! After so many thousands of years, it still has power. I thought those beacons were incredible enough, but this is something else!” Kass said to no one in particular.
Shavizi had been scanning the bed, as well as its neighbors, while Kass looked it over. “Hmm. The pods have a sliding covering that encloses the occupants. All the others are open, yet this one is closed.” Shavizi tapped at her scanner a bit. “Wait… the other energy signature… it’s coming from inside it!” she said astonished, while moving a hand over the top of the slid that covered the pod. As she did, thousands of years’ worth of dust floated away from where she dragged her hand. Allowing a small amount of light to break free from within.
Noticing this, Shavizi leaned forward and peered inside the pod. Her eyes went wide as her mind tried to make sense of what she was seeing. “GET BACK! DON’T TOUCH IT!” she screamed, but was too late. Kass, who was now crouched down near the base of the bed, had pressed a finger to one of the flickering lights just as Shavizi yelled her warning. All Kass had time to do was turn her head up and mutter a confused, “huh?”, before the covering of the pod slid open, unleashing its occupant onto the galaxy.
First Previous
Hello once again! First things first. If you see the name Osan, please point it out to me. It is supposed to be Onsa, but the program I use to write the story changed the name to Osan for some reason. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the cliffhanger! This chapter is meant to help further detail the various species and their features, and of course set up for many things to come!
Also, in my last story. I had a lot of flashback sequences to add in fluff and give backstory to the MC. While I don't want overuse it in this story, I do want to have flashback esque sequences that are basically just battles of the Human-Nemesis war (recorded combat footage recovered from human ships and installations), introduce new characters, or maybe give further development to preexisting characters. The flashback sequences will be called Orphan: Tales of the Past and won't begin until a certain point in the main story. Once that point is reached, the side stories will pop up every once in a while in place of the main story chapters. Or, if I fell as if its safe to push the story ahead, you'll get the main story and a side story in one week.
That's it for the week folks! See you next week!

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PART FIFTY-FOUR
[Previous Part] [Beginning]
I deliberately slowed our pace to give Thalien’s cousin time to scramble upstairs. That was a huge change to how I had conducted myself as emperor. Ten years ago, I would’ve been half a step behind her, watching her shift between a sideways shuffle that would show her subservience to me while attempting to gain what she hoped would be enough distance for a miracle to appear around the next corner. For my part, I would’ve been gathering guards in anticipation of making her pay the ultimate price for having failed to meet my expectations.
When we reached the top of the stairs, three elves in robes met us … and looking past them, I saw a distinct lack of horses and horse paraphernalia. It was an artificial tunnel, fifteen feet high by forty across, with smooth stone walls. I wasn’t a stone mason, but having spent time with Polly, I recognised things like an utter lack of tool marks. Again that turtle shell weapon that destroyed things without touching them flashed across my memory.
This was clearly a staging area. One hidden from prying eyes.
Two of the three elves were of an older generation but were obviously blood family to the gatekeeper who stood to one side. At least she had the good sense to look abashed.
“Whatever you think you want to say to me must wait another day. We’re in a hurry,” I decreed as we approached, ready to push through them if necessary.
“Your horses are being readied as we speak,” the older female said, glancing at Thalien before levelling her gaze at me. “But I would like to know who has my people scrambling so hard on such short notice.”
That had me jerking to a halt. Hard. “Your people?” I was beginning to see Polly’s point about the disjointed nature of the empire, and I didn’t like it. “I am the Emperor’s Shadow,” I snarled as I started to move once more, for there was no getting around it. I could threaten her. I could threaten the library again. But at the end of the day, we didn’t need to be watching our backs like that. We had enough enemies. “Which, just to spell it out to you, means they’re not your people scrambling for the horses I required some time ago. They’re mine, and their lapse has put me behind in a schedule that is already uncomfortably tight.” My eyes met hers with the imperiousness I was raised to exude. “And you are still standing in my way.”
“Move,” Tarq said pointedly, already stepping forward to make a path for me if they failed to comply.
The woman looked behind me, most likely at Thalien … and maybe Lanna, before allowing Tarq to ‘guide’ her group to one side. “If it’s troops you require, we can have whatever number you’re thinking here as soon as they are assembled, your majesty,” she said with a bow as I swept past her.
I paused and looked back. Tarq gave the slightest flick of his eyebrow, which was enough for me to know it was worth considering, so I did. The Consitors couldn’t have known about the gateways, or they would’ve already been destroying them to prevent this very thing, which meant the elves in front of me were still imperial elves.
“The empire has enemies that have breached our borders from across the ocean. They’ve been here a long time and dug in deep. How discreet can your troops be? I’m not talking about uniforms. I’m talking numbers in general. If they come here, they must be able to utterly blend into the woodwork before anyone sees them. If so much as twenty elves are spotted in one place where they shouldn’t be, these people are ruthless and would rather poison our land on a scale that would challenge a plague rather than admit defeat.”
Saying that out loud, it suddenly dawned on me who could move around in the mountains of the south in as many numbers as they wanted without fear of discovery … mainly because there wasn’t much they did fear.
The trick would be getting them to trust us. To trust me.
Another ‘later me’ problem.
“Elven warriors can run like the wind and disappear just as quickly when needed,” the woman insisted.
I took a few minutes to explain the duplicitous nature of our enemy, and it was agreed that if elves were brought through, they would bring enough battle and defence mages to remain hidden and avoid the cities. It was a tall order, and their movements would be hampered by their need for discretion.
“The contingents you have north of Ayodyn are to remain where they are,” I added. "That wall must be repaired, or we’ll be fighting this battle on two fronts. Whoever you send must come from elsewhere.”
“Five hundred warriors will kill our gatekeeper,” she said while gesturing to her daughter, not to argue but to remind me of that fact.
I huffed out a snarl, for there was our problem in a nutshell. I couldn’t be in two places at once. I turned to our friends. “Thalien, contact Polly and see if I need to be standing right here at the gates for her to access them or if I can be elsewhere and give permission for her to bring them through a scry.”
Thalien nodded and stepped away from the group. He pressed his back to the wall and cast a tight sound blister over himself. The way his eyes refocused, he’d opened up a scry, and Polly was now in front of him. He smiled and raised his hand to prevent anyone from lip-reading, and while I was sure he was talking to Polly, I couldn’t see it from this side: which was the whole point.
“May I ask who is this Polly?” the woman probed.
“No one to concern you with.”
Thalien was back with us in under a minute. “It can be done via scry,” he said without explaining how. I knew that was to keep his aunt and the rest of the elves from learning what we knew, and I was grateful for his prudence.
“Good.” I looked at his aunt, whom I still didn’t know the name of. “When the troops are ready to move at the gate’s staging area, contact Thalien. We’ll take it from there.”
“And how will they find you once they get here?”
“Finding us won’t be necessary,” I answered. “When they arrive, have them work their way to the northeast towards Jinis Ridge. They’re already going to be moving at a snail’s pace to remain inconspicuous, and we should catch up before they arrive.” I immediately saw a problem with my plan and turned to Milo. “How well do you still know Jinis Ridge?”
Milo squinted. “What have you got in mind?”
“We need somewhere not far from those copper mines where they can hole up in numbers but won’t be seen by the enemy in case we get delayed.”
Milo rubbed his jaw, covering his mouth in the process. “Up in Cerro Nexo, there’s a horseshoe formation of mountains about half a day’s march from Morales’ mines. It’s open to the sky, so Polly can keep tabs on them, but far enough away and secluded enough that Morales shouldn’t notice them. It’s about as good as we’re going to get on this short notice,” his eyes came up to meet our host’s. “Provided your people can handle severe cold. Plus, you’ll also need to look out for roving tribes of snow half-orcs. They’re not prolific, certainly not like regular orcs, but they’re twitchy around newcomers and tend to kill first before remembering to ask questions.”
The very people I’d thought of just a few minutes earlier. If only there were a way to get them onside. No one … no one saw a grey and white-skinned half-orc in heavy snow.
“They’ll need to bring food rations in bags of holding, too,” I added, thinking of what awaited them. "You’re going into the mountains in winter at the worst possible time, but also the best since only a fool would attempt this, and the enemy won’t be looking for you.”
“I take it fires shouldn’t be attempted?”
I instinctively shook my head. “Not while you’re in transit. You won’t have enough mages to cover that much up. But once you reach the gorge, you can settle in, and lighting fires inside tents will be fine.”
I gave her a look of sympathy, for I knew better than I did a decade ago what I was asking of these soldiers. “Make no mistake; this will be rough for them, pushing them to the limits of their endurance. We were given incredibly warm furs when we first came here nearly two months ago. Your troops are going to need that level of warmth if they’re going to survive weeks of this weather.”
“And you’re positive you don’t need any assistance with whatever is lined up on the coast?”
I shook my head, trusting Polly in that regard and wanting as few people as possible to see what she was truly capable of with my approval. It would give me nightmares, and I was supposedly in control of her. “Do you know this gorge Milo speaks of?”
The older woman turned to her daughter, who nodded. “I do.” Thalien’s cousin then turned to me. “If you don’t mind my asking, your majesty, how time critical is it that you reach the coast?”
“Why?”
“The disk that I used to bring you here yesterday is something I can craft three times a day. I can cover up to thirty miles with that spell if you wish to eat and rest while still staying on the move.”
That was tempting, with one immediate hiccup. “How well would the horses cope with being on your disk?”
She rolled her hands nervously. “I’ve never tried it.”
“They’d slip off,” the older man, who I assumed was her father, said on her behalf. “And even if you got them to lay down, they’d panic without the right training.”
“It’s probably not a good idea to use up all of our magic either,” Thalien added, “If I have to cast an area effect invisibility spell each time, I’ll be severely hampered if we get into a fight.”
I sent a grateful smile to the woman who only a few minutes ago had royally pissed me off. “I appreciate the offer, and now we must leave. Are those horses ready?”
She looked briefly at her parents, who then turned and led us to a door at the other end of the room. Our approach had it sliding upwards similarly to the mountain when Polly showed us her spinning turtle-shell weapon that somehow made the Consitor weapons explode by themselves. The track it followed was U-shaped, though it was upside-down, with the door rolling over the top of the track. It also made no sound, like it wasn’t actually in contact with the door.
As soon as we crossed the threshold, I recognised the space we were in. A stable capable of housing thirty or more horses, though at the moment, only six were rugged up and saddled in readiness.
I felt the shift in the air as the door slid shut behind us. When I turned, it held the back wall’s appearance, complete with ropes and tools I could take down and use.
I wondered how that was possible until I remembered how the thrones kept us secure during transit. Knowing what we were once this capable as a people was mind-blowing! “Impressive, isn’t it?” our guide whispered with pride.
“It certainly never gets old,” I agreed, which caused her face to fall.
“I think you broke her, Uncle Em,” Shay-Lee snickered behind me.
I had bigger things to worry about than her hurt pride. “Six horses?” I queried with a sharp arch of one eyebrow when it was quite clear there were seven of us—eight, including Liab.
“We don’t have any ponies, I’m afraid,” our elven guide answered, making eye contact with Lanna, even though Milo was on the shorter side as a halfling.
I huffed in annoyance. “Thalien, I’m assuming you’ll keep Lanna with you?” At their nod, I looked at Harmony. “And Liab will ride with you.”
Harmony also nodded.
As we familiarised ourselves with the strange horses for a few minutes, I said to our hosts, “Remember, when you want to open the gateway, scry to Thalien. He’ll get me to open it for you without any loss of life.”
“The council is going to want to know how you’re doing that,” the mother said, not as a threat but as a word of caution. At least, that was how I decided to look at it.
“Wanting to know something is one of the few vices the empire has no legal standing over,” I said with a knowing smirk. “Pushing for more is when it gets dicey.”
Dicey. Sheesh. My father would drag himself out of his crypt to beat me senseless if he heard such a common lexicon pass my lips.
That thought amused me, for he’d have done it long before now with the level of gutter-talk that had since crept into my language … courtesy of my sticky-fingered thief.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” the mother said as we mounted and others opened the stable doors, battling against the snow that swirled outside.
Fuck, I hate the cold!
I lifted my hood and pulled up the face sock built into the lining to cover my nose, but as I went to leave, someone shouted at the top of their lungs, “WAIT!”
Another male elf (yet another one I didn’t know) ran around our group to move between mine and Tarq’s horses at the front. “Here,” he said, passing me up what looked like a sleeping mask, only solid bone with slats carved horizontally across the eyes. Like a sleeping mask, it had a slight curve and holes where a pair of leather straps were tied, no doubt to keep it in place.
“What’s this for?” I asked as he made his way down the line, passing one to everyone … and two to Harmony.
“Have you ever travelled in heavy snow, sir?” the young man asked. “These will prevent you from going snow-blind.”
I glanced back at Milo, who nodded in silent agreement. Snow-blindness? I guess I hated the cold more than I thought; if it was possible to spend so long in the snow, it sent you blind.
I flicked my hood back and tied the strange mask in place, noticing through the slits that everyone else was doing likewise. Once it was in place, it was a strange concept, like constantly peeking through a shuttered window, but I would accept Milo’s superior knowledge.
A few minutes later, we headed into snow that easily came up to our horses’ knees, and I already wanted to turn around and head back to the warmth of the elven stables. As stupid as it sounded, I made up a ditty in my head that was tied to an ever-increasing number of Consitors that would die for forcing me to do this.
Without me needing to say anything, Tarq pulled to the left and waited for our party to pass while Milo made his way through the centre to take Tarq’s place at my side (because the guy who knew the course wasn’t the one you wanted protecting your rear).
Keeping our eyes as peeled as possible, we rode silently for several hours, pulling up only when Milo pointed out a workable clearing. Tarq dismounted and went to work snapping off branches he would tie together to create a cover, but Thalien surprised us all by casting a spell that prevented the snow from penetrating a fifteen-foot dome around us.
“Thalien!” I roared, for this was the opposite of what I wanted this far away from our objective, even if my body did inwardly sigh in relief.
“Relax, Emeron. No one’s going to see this. Do you see any manner of tracks anywhere near us? Not even the animals are foolish enough to be out in this,” Thalien shot back. “Besides, we need to be in a clearing for you to contact Polly to bring in the ground troops.”
I’d been so focused on our immediate situation that I forgot we were waiting on a scry contact from the gatekeeper. “Are they ready?” I asked, dropping all hostility.
He nodded. “They were ready about an hour ago, but I felt it more important to keep moving until we were ready to stop, then do a stop-start an hour ago only to stop again now. I told them I’d contact them as soon as we were situated.”
While Milo saw to our horses, I reached into my dual backpack of holding and began pulling out dry firewood and kindling, and within a few minutes, the fire was slowly warming up the dome.
I wanted to make this contact before we removed our winter kits, refusing to reveal the ‘Do-As-I-Say, Not-As-I-Do,’ hypocrisy where magical domes for shelter in this weather were concerned.
Thalien contacted his cousin to let her know the gate was about to be opened, then severed the contact before other subjects could be broached. His next scry revealed the empty hall where we’d practised shooting the light weapons.
My hand went to where mine sat on my right hip, having forgotten it was there now that we were back in our familiar environment. Which I told myself was a good thing. The ancient gun should be my last resort, not my go-to.
“Open whichever gates are necessary to bring the assembled elven forces down to the last gate I travelled through, Acropolis.” I didn’t use her abbreviated name because Acropolis had said her illusion answered to Polly only after I summoned her into existence. Given that this conversation would consist of two sentences, I didn’t see the point.
“Yes, Mr Shadow President, sir,” her voice echoed, and then the scry was severed.
For a few seconds, I wondered what the double identifier was about, but after that, I didn’t give the Consitors, the elves or even Polly a moment’s thought …
… because the second most powerful person in the empire became engrossed in putting together a decent meal for his friends.
* * *
((All comments welcome. Good or bad, I'd love to hear your thoughts 🥰🤗))
For more of my work including WPs: Angel466 or an index of previous WPS here.
FULL INDEX OF WE PLAN, GODS LAUGH TO DATE CAN BE FOUND HERE!!

PART FIFTY-FOUR
[Previous Part] [Beginning]
I deliberately slowed our pace to give Thalien’s cousin time to scramble upstairs. That was a huge change to how I had conducted myself as emperor. Ten years ago, I would’ve been half a step behind her, watching her shift between a sideways shuffle that would show her subservience to me while attempting to gain what she hoped would be enough distance for a miracle to appear around the next corner. For my part, I would’ve been gathering guards in anticipation of making her pay the ultimate price for having failed to meet my expectations.
When we reached the top of the stairs, three elves in robes met us … and looking past them, I saw a distinct lack of horses and horse paraphernalia. It was an artificial tunnel, fifteen feet high by forty across, with smooth stone walls. I wasn’t a stone mason, but having spent time with Polly, I recognised things like an utter lack of tool marks. Again that turtle shell weapon that destroyed things without touching them flashed across my memory.
This was clearly a staging area. One hidden from prying eyes.
Two of the three elves were of an older generation but were obviously blood family to the gatekeeper who stood to one side. At least she had the good sense to look abashed.
“Whatever you think you want to say to me must wait another day. We’re in a hurry,” I decreed as we approached, ready to push through them if necessary.
“Your horses are being readied as we speak,” the older female said, glancing at Thalien before levelling her gaze at me. “But I would like to know who has my people scrambling so hard on such short notice.”
That had me jerking to a halt. Hard. “Your people?” I was beginning to see Polly’s point about the disjointed nature of the empire, and I didn’t like it. “I am the Emperor’s Shadow,” I snarled as I started to move once more, for there was no getting around it. I could threaten her. I could threaten the library again. But at the end of the day, we didn’t need to be watching our backs like that. We had enough enemies. “Which, just to spell it out to you, means they’re not your people scrambling for the horses I required some time ago. They’re mine, and their lapse has put me behind in a schedule that is already uncomfortably tight.” My eyes met hers with the imperiousness I was raised to exude. “And you are still standing in my way.”
“Move,” Tarq said pointedly, already stepping forward to make a path for me if they failed to comply.
The woman looked behind me, most likely at Thalien … and maybe Lanna, before allowing Tarq to ‘guide’ her group to one side. “If it’s troops you require, we can have whatever number you’re thinking here as soon as they are assembled, your majesty,” she said with a bow as I swept past her.
I paused and looked back. Tarq gave the slightest flick of his eyebrow, which was enough for me to know it was worth considering, so I did. The Consitors couldn’t have known about the gateways, or they would’ve already been destroying them to prevent this very thing, which meant the elves in front of me were still imperial elves.
“The empire has enemies that have breached our borders from across the ocean. They’ve been here a long time and dug in deep. How discreet can your troops be? I’m not talking about uniforms. I’m talking numbers in general. If they come here, they must be able to utterly blend into the woodwork before anyone sees them. If so much as twenty elves are spotted in one place where they shouldn’t be, these people are ruthless and would rather poison our land on a scale that would challenge a plague rather than admit defeat.”
Saying that out loud, it suddenly dawned on me who could move around in the mountains of the south in as many numbers as they wanted without fear of discovery … mainly because there wasn’t much they did fear.
The trick would be getting them to trust us. To trust me.
Another ‘later me’ problem.
“Elven warriors can run like the wind and disappear just as quickly when needed,” the woman insisted.
I took a few minutes to explain the duplicitous nature of our enemy, and it was agreed that if elves were brought through, they would bring enough battle and defence mages to remain hidden and avoid the cities. It was a tall order, and their movements would be hampered by their need for discretion.
“The contingents you have north of Ayodyn are to remain where they are,” I added. "That wall must be repaired, or we’ll be fighting this battle on two fronts. Whoever you send must come from elsewhere.”
“Five hundred warriors will kill our gatekeeper,” she said while gesturing to her daughter, not to argue but to remind me of that fact.
I huffed out a snarl, for there was our problem in a nutshell. I couldn’t be in two places at once. I turned to our friends. “Thalien, contact Polly and see if I need to be standing right here at the gates for her to access them or if I can be elsewhere and give permission for her to bring them through a scry.”
Thalien nodded and stepped away from the group. He pressed his back to the wall and cast a tight sound blister over himself. The way his eyes refocused, he’d opened up a scry, and Polly was now in front of him. He smiled and raised his hand to prevent anyone from lip-reading, and while I was sure he was talking to Polly, I couldn’t see it from this side: which was the whole point.
“May I ask who is this Polly?” the woman probed.
“No one to concern you with.”
Thalien was back with us in under a minute. “It can be done via scry,” he said without explaining how. I knew that was to keep his aunt and the rest of the elves from learning what we knew, and I was grateful for his prudence.
“Good.” I looked at his aunt, whom I still didn’t know the name of. “When the troops are ready to move at the gate’s staging area, contact Thalien. We’ll take it from there.”
“And how will they find you once they get here?”
“Finding us won’t be necessary,” I answered. “When they arrive, have them work their way to the northeast towards Jinis Ridge. They’re already going to be moving at a snail’s pace to remain inconspicuous, and we should catch up before they arrive.” I immediately saw a problem with my plan and turned to Milo. “How well do you still know Jinis Ridge?”
Milo squinted. “What have you got in mind?”
“We need somewhere not far from those copper mines where they can hole up in numbers but won’t be seen by the enemy in case we get delayed.”
Milo rubbed his jaw, covering his mouth in the process. “Up in Cerro Nexo, there’s a horseshoe formation of mountains about half a day’s march from Morales’ mines. It’s open to the sky, so Polly can keep tabs on them, but far enough away and secluded enough that Morales shouldn’t notice them. It’s about as good as we’re going to get on this short notice,” his eyes came up to meet our host’s. “Provided your people can handle severe cold. Plus, you’ll also need to look out for roving tribes of snow half-orcs. They’re not prolific, certainly not like regular orcs, but they’re twitchy around newcomers and tend to kill first before remembering to ask questions.”
The very people I’d thought of just a few minutes earlier. If only there were a way to get them onside. No one … no one saw a grey and white-skinned half-orc in heavy snow.
“They’ll need to bring food rations in bags of holding, too,” I added, thinking of what awaited them. "You’re going into the mountains in winter at the worst possible time, but also the best since only a fool would attempt this, and the enemy won’t be looking for you.”
“I take it fires shouldn’t be attempted?”
I instinctively shook my head. “Not while you’re in transit. You won’t have enough mages to cover that much up. But once you reach the gorge, you can settle in, and lighting fires inside tents will be fine.”
I gave her a look of sympathy, for I knew better than I did a decade ago what I was asking of these soldiers. “Make no mistake; this will be rough for them, pushing them to the limits of their endurance. We were given incredibly warm furs when we first came here nearly two months ago. Your troops are going to need that level of warmth if they’re going to survive weeks of this weather.”
“And you’re positive you don’t need any assistance with whatever is lined up on the coast?”
I shook my head, trusting Polly in that regard and wanting as few people as possible to see what she was truly capable of with my approval. It would give me nightmares, and I was supposedly in control of her. “Do you know this gorge Milo speaks of?”
The older woman turned to her daughter, who nodded. “I do.” Thalien’s cousin then turned to me. “If you don’t mind my asking, your majesty, how time critical is it that you reach the coast?”
“Why?”
“The disk that I used to bring you here yesterday is something I can craft three times a day. I can cover up to thirty miles with that spell if you wish to eat and rest while still staying on the move.”
That was tempting, with one immediate hiccup. “How well would the horses cope with being on your disk?”
She rolled her hands nervously. “I’ve never tried it.”
“They’d slip off,” the older man, who I assumed was her father, said on her behalf. “And even if you got them to lay down, they’d panic without the right training.”
“It’s probably not a good idea to use up all of our magic either,” Thalien added, “If I have to cast an area effect invisibility spell each time, I’ll be severely hampered if we get into a fight.”
I sent a grateful smile to the woman who only a few minutes ago had royally pissed me off. “I appreciate the offer, and now we must leave. Are those horses ready?”
She looked briefly at her parents, who then turned and led us to a door at the other end of the room. Our approach had it sliding upwards similarly to the mountain when Polly showed us her spinning turtle-shell weapon that somehow made the Consitor weapons explode by themselves. The track it followed was U-shaped, though it was upside-down, with the door rolling over the top of the track. It also made no sound, like it wasn’t actually in contact with the door.
As soon as we crossed the threshold, I recognised the space we were in. A stable capable of housing thirty or more horses, though at the moment, only six were rugged up and saddled in readiness.
I felt the shift in the air as the door slid shut behind us. When I turned, it held the back wall’s appearance, complete with ropes and tools I could take down and use.
I wondered how that was possible until I remembered how the thrones kept us secure during transit. Knowing what we were once this capable as a people was mind-blowing! “Impressive, isn’t it?” our guide whispered with pride.
“It certainly never gets old,” I agreed, which caused her face to fall.
“I think you broke her, Uncle Em,” Shay-Lee snickered behind me.
I had bigger things to worry about than her hurt pride. “Six horses?” I queried with a sharp arch of one eyebrow when it was quite clear there were seven of us—eight, including Liab.
“We don’t have any ponies, I’m afraid,” our elven guide answered, making eye contact with Lanna, even though Milo was on the shorter side as a halfling.
I huffed in annoyance. “Thalien, I’m assuming you’ll keep Lanna with you?” At their nod, I looked at Harmony. “And Liab will ride with you.”
Harmony also nodded.
As we familiarised ourselves with the strange horses for a few minutes, I said to our hosts, “Remember, when you want to open the gateway, scry to Thalien. He’ll get me to open it for you without any loss of life.”
“The council is going to want to know how you’re doing that,” the mother said, not as a threat but as a word of caution. At least, that was how I decided to look at it.
“Wanting to know something is one of the few vices the empire has no legal standing over,” I said with a knowing smirk. “Pushing for more is when it gets dicey.”
Dicey. Sheesh. My father would drag himself out of his crypt to beat me senseless if he heard such a common lexicon pass my lips.
That thought amused me, for he’d have done it long before now with the level of gutter-talk that had since crept into my language … courtesy of my sticky-fingered thief.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” the mother said as we mounted and others opened the stable doors, battling against the snow that swirled outside.
Fuck, I hate the cold!
I lifted my hood and pulled up the face sock built into the lining to cover my nose, but as I went to leave, someone shouted at the top of their lungs, “WAIT!”
Another male elf (yet another one I didn’t know) ran around our group to move between mine and Tarq’s horses at the front. “Here,” he said, passing me up what looked like a sleeping mask, only solid bone with slats carved horizontally across the eyes. Like a sleeping mask, it had a slight curve and holes where a pair of leather straps were tied, no doubt to keep it in place.
“What’s this for?” I asked as he made his way down the line, passing one to everyone … and two to Harmony.
“Have you ever travelled in heavy snow, sir?” the young man asked. “These will prevent you from going snow-blind.”
I glanced back at Milo, who nodded in silent agreement. Snow-blindness? I guess I hated the cold more than I thought; if it was possible to spend so long in the snow, it sent you blind.
I flicked my hood back and tied the strange mask in place, noticing through the slits that everyone else was doing likewise. Once it was in place, it was a strange concept, like constantly peeking through a shuttered window, but I would accept Milo’s superior knowledge.
A few minutes later, we headed into snow that easily came up to our horses’ knees, and I already wanted to turn around and head back to the warmth of the elven stables. As stupid as it sounded, I made up a ditty in my head that was tied to an ever-increasing number of Consitors that would die for forcing me to do this.
Without me needing to say anything, Tarq pulled to the left and waited for our party to pass while Milo made his way through the centre to take Tarq’s place at my side (because the guy who knew the course wasn’t the one you wanted protecting your rear).
Keeping our eyes as peeled as possible, we rode silently for several hours, pulling up only when Milo pointed out a workable clearing. Tarq dismounted and went to work snapping off branches he would tie together to create a cover, but Thalien surprised us all by casting a spell that prevented the snow from penetrating a fifteen-foot dome around us.
“Thalien!” I roared, for this was the opposite of what I wanted this far away from our objective, even if my body did inwardly sigh in relief.
“Relax, Emeron. No one’s going to see this. Do you see any manner of tracks anywhere near us? Not even the animals are foolish enough to be out in this,” Thalien shot back. “Besides, we need to be in a clearing for you to contact Polly to bring in the ground troops.”
I’d been so focused on our immediate situation that I forgot we were waiting on a scry contact from the gatekeeper. “Are they ready?” I asked, dropping all hostility.
He nodded. “They were ready about an hour ago, but I felt it more important to keep moving until we were ready to stop, then do a stop-start an hour ago only to stop again now. I told them I’d contact them as soon as we were situated.”
While Milo saw to our horses, I reached into my dual backpack of holding and began pulling out dry firewood and kindling, and within a few minutes, the fire was slowly warming up the dome.
I wanted to make this contact before we removed our winter kits, refusing to reveal the ‘Do-As-I-Say, Not-As-I-Do,’ hypocrisy where magical domes for shelter in this weather were concerned.
Thalien contacted his cousin to let her know the gate was about to be opened, then severed the contact before other subjects could be broached. His next scry revealed the empty hall where we’d practised shooting the light weapons.
My hand went to where mine sat on my right hip, having forgotten it was there now that we were back in our familiar environment. Which I told myself was a good thing. The ancient gun should be my last resort, not my go-to.
“Open whichever gates are necessary to bring the assembled elven forces down to the last gate I travelled through, Acropolis.” I didn’t use her abbreviated name because Acropolis had said her illusion answered to Polly only after I summoned her into existence. Given that this conversation would consist of two sentences, I didn’t see the point.
“Yes, Mr Shadow President, sir,” her voice echoed, and then the scry was severed.
For a few seconds, I wondered what the double identifier was about, but after that, I didn’t give the Consitors, the elves or even Polly a moment’s thought …
… because the second most powerful person in the empire became engrossed in putting together a decent meal for his friends.
* * *
((All comments welcome. Good or bad, I'd love to hear your thoughts 🥰🤗))
For more of my work including WPs: Angel466 or an index of previous WPS here.
FULL INDEX OF WE PLAN, GODS LAUGH TO DATE CAN BE FOUND HERE!!

Enemies/Biome: Silent valley-A dark valley that is mostly empty, part of dark forest on the atlas. The enemies are blind and deaf so they use touch. They consist of (different enemy attacks): A spin attack and a slash attack to try to find you, after that, they leap/kick in your direction, and if they hit you they start dealy heavy damage till you escape. The boss would have a jump attack for finding you then a slam to hit you. Once you attack them they permanently go into keen mode, where they are ready to use their strong attack right when you hit them. The "birds" are normally one tap, but if you attack an enemy, they release a screech that summons all birds within 50 blocks to leech onto you. The replacement for cbthullu (or whatever his name is, the thing that drops from the sky) Would be a large, 4-handed thing that is always keen. When attacked he will throw you into the ground and reduce your speed, then beat you down. There is a special dungeon that is just a small hole in the ground that goes into a pit where you fight the boss.
There is a new rarity, Gilded, that is gold and has a bench. The gilding bench makes any item legendary and up better. The gilded boost gives a random buff to your gear, like chance to do 2x damage on crit. It can be changed too. You craft the bench with 5000 flux, 200 shapestone, a pearl of wisdom, and a sentience shard. To gild an item, you need 100 flux and a silent core, obtained from the silent valley 4-armed enemy. with a 5% drop rate. To re-gild, you need 100 flux and 1 silent limb, with a 1% drop rate from silent enemies. You cannot un-gild or have 2 gilds on one item.
There is a new class, Solstice. She is a light-based healer with a staff. Main fire is a beam of healing/damaging light that does both at once. You must damage enemies to get healing power though. Ability one is a healing radius blast that has a 4 block AOE heal, and grants her 40% damage resistance for 5 seconds. It uses 50% energy. Ability two is a wall of transparent light that enemies can't pass through but allies can. It breaks after 7 seconds and is three revenants wide and two revenants tall. All enemy attacks are blocked by 80%. It has a 15 second cooldown. Ultimate is a form that creates a beam of light coming from the heavans. For 15 seconds, her and anybody in the 3 block radius has better hp regen, an insta-heal when activated, and her main fire is stronger. Also, her aoe heal uses just 20% energy and her wall instead is a dome. The cooldown is 23 seconds. Her subclass has a 30% chance on attack to heal you by 5%, so leeching. The bonus is +20 health regen. Her passive is when she uses an ability or heals allies, she gains light that builds up to 5 times. Each stack increases her heal power by 5%, so if she heals 5% at 2 hps, (But runs out of healing power in 3 seconds if at max heal power), then gets 5 stacks, she heals at 30% heal! She loses at a stack every 10 seconds. (I know this class needs to be balanced)
The new features include: Mount would be a white with gold edged-dragon that has functional, translucent gold wings which are lined with a solid white line. The boat is a sea angel (look it up), the ally, ray, is an orb that floats and gives health regen, along with a weak leeching effect. The mag rider would be a translucent gold/white cart, and the wings would be angel wings.

Welcome to the fifth season of Peaks & Valleys! This season we used Proximity Chat & played my spin of Tiered Mystery Teams. Which makes you be able to craft a radar help lower tier player find their teammates instead of just luck!
GAMEMODES!
Proximity Chat: You can hear players when they are close to you. This was done by the Voice Chat Mod.
Tiered Mystery Teams: Everyone gets a wool that represent their team color to find their teammate. Tier 2 and lower also have access to a radar which gives these abilities.
Tier 4 will have a radar to detect your closest teammate's coords. (every 3 minutes)
Tier 3 will have a radar to detect if your teammate is in your quadrant. (every 3 minutes)
Tier 2 will have a radar that they will be able to check if a teammate is near by in a 200 diameter range (every 3 minutes)
Tier 1 will just have the wool, radar will say "lol."
The craft for the radar is 4 gold around a diamond, in a compass shape.
Tier List: https://prnt.sc/QY5Aovh1mZ0Q
^{*Bold = Highlighted}

Team	Color
Team 1:	Purple
azoof	Episode
Charrlottie	Episode
Eluniel	Episode
itsWingu	It Was Nice Knowing You
Team 2:	Orange
Chasmic	Dive Bomb
Codwhy	SONMICA.
Jahrod	Episode
KatyLawson	Australia
Team 3:	Green
SpyroJ	Dead
Talonraker	Dead
TheSlimeBrother	Episode
ZebraTonic	Dead
Team 4:	Gray
Brodator	Stealing Ironman
Ninetals38	Episode
TheSonicJoey	[Episode](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbKts2Q2Wx0
TorinFBF	Late
Team 5:	Brown
78ford	Episode
fruitlogic	Episode
MarcC5M	This is an Intense Episode
WackoFlipper	Everest Gaming
Team 6:	Magenta
Fazz2	Episode
Kaismartypants	Sonny With A Chance
Rohcket	[Mount Doom](https://youtu.be/b_wZ5W22A9w
sonmica	Battle For Ironman
Team 7:	Lime
Greeples	Episode
jimmyjegs	Episode
Klickacat	Mount Doom
lexicuhl	Episode
Team 8:	Light Gray
CaptainRichy	Dead
ceije	Dead
Flouzemaker	Being the Bravest
Randehh	Sneaky Operations
Spectator:
527Max	Meetup Shots

Credits

Organization - Codwhy
Host/Coding - BrodatoMarcus
Intro - itsWingu
Logo - Codwhy

• Author's Note: Do not ask where this came from... it just did. My writing goblin had been nagging me to put this in writing since last night, so honestly it might have mistakes in it, the pacing and premise might be weird... but it helped my brain settle. Anyways, enjoy and please NOTE, this was written just for the sake of fun (well... it sounded funny to me)!

William Falis, born somewhere around the late 1300s or early 1400s by Earth's time, somewhere in Europe, first born son of a low ranking noble, one of many to come and go along human history. His story lost to time and unknown by his own people.
His life has been most usual from birth up until his mid twenties. The boy, like many others, had grown with knights being a main leading force in his country's lands and many around it. Looking up to the profession with a romanticized view, the young man grew upholding the views of knights of story, even being closer to something akin to a paladin in virtues. Like any person he had his moments of weakness and his vices, but his love for the meaning of the word 'knight' and the power behind what it meant to be one, always held him closer to a righteous path, more than many others.
His unique story begins when William was about the late age of 25, already having lived half of his life. While on his way back home after participating in a siege while on the attacking side, his attention was drawn to some bright blue lights off into the distant horizon, shining from the thick depths of a near by forest.
As he was on horse back, William stopped his mount's speedy galop as he gazed confused upon the bizzare lights. "Oh, what a light of azure shines through to mine eyes from the depths of the forest. Godly and angelic, tis a sign from God Himself, surely. He must be calling for me to meet him, why else would I be graced by this miracle?"
He took a moment to find a place to loosely tie his horse to and give its head a few gentle pets. "Do not worry, Stevellion. I shall return back to you, but should danger find you, hearken onto my plea and run akin to the wind. The wood is too thick with brush and root for you to safely traverse it. I shall return, post haste, mine steed."
Dressed in a light cloth garb with some padded leather armor on top, the knight grabbed his satchel, spear, sword at the hip and shield, from the horse and he set course into the wood. With decided steps he advanced, ready to meet his God and hear Him and His orders to him.
Meanwhile, at the source of the light deep into the woods laid a metal vessel of decent size, half buried into the earth. Tossed about and broken trees confirm a crash landing. Inside the space craft of a spherical shape, Azail and Gab'el, were just coming back to conciousness. They were nearly 7 feet tall and with a light blue complexion upon their wirey frames, the impact had shook them to their cores, bruises formed on their gentle features.
Azail, pushed back silvery white strands of hair as her golden eyes blinked slowly while she got her bearings. "Oh fuck... everything hurts. Agh-... Gab'el? You alive?" She groaned as she lifted her head up from their ship's console, looking to her co-pilot who was splaied on the floor.
"Y-yeah... agh... although I wish I wasn't..." Gab'el said as he shakily pushed up on his elbows, his four digits on each of his hands, feeling his face for damage.
"W-what happened? My head-... oof..." Azail said as she put a palm to her left temple, pulling away, dark blue blood was staining it.
"We got intercepted b-by a Daemar fighting vessel while getting out of Planet-347H's atmosphere. Evasive manuevers failed and we had to make a crash landing." Gab'el continued as he struggled to his feet making his way back to the console.
"Fucking hell... ugh... check with the xenobiologists over comms and see if they are alive in the back. I will send off an Emergency Signal and a message to the outpost we have on Planet-M4/R5. W-we... we gotta be quick and pray the signal reaches them or anyone really that can come quick."
Gab'el nodded as he got to it, trying the communicator he had a shared frequency eith everyone on board. "Luken, Ashi'in. Report on your state if you can hear this message. This is Gab'el. Over."
Azail got to work as well, setting their emergency beacon online and starting to record a message. "This is pilot Azail from the Anghelon Empire, pilot for the scientific vessel, designation 'Enlightenment', the xenobiology branch. We have crash landed on Planet-347H, situated within the 7th space sector. Crash landing was caused by a surprise attack made by a Daemar combat vessel. Send reinforcements and a medical unit asap. We are not clear of danger."
As Azail finished the message she could hear Gab'el swear angrily as he went to the locker storing their only Redemption Fighting Suit, which was only for emergency cases, which it seems, this was one of those.
"Gab, t-talk to me. What happened?" Azail mumbled loudly to her co-pilot as she inched her way towards him holding onto the wall of their decently sized cockpit.
"I got a hold of Lukin! Shit! It's stuck, fuck! He said, Daemars got their hands on Ashi'in, the back left side is busted open and they grabbed her as she was near the opening. I'm trying to get the suit out, but the damn door is busted." He growled man.
"We are wasting time. I'll grab the first aid kit, check your kinetic energy handarm for damage and we've got to mobilize." Azail said as she unholstered from her hip her weapon, gave it a quick look over and then went to grab the medical kit they had in storage under the console.
"Sigh, wish they let us issue our standard Rail Rifle for this mission, SPECIFICALLY because of shit like this. These dinky things won't do shit against Daemar armor." Gab'el said as he checked his gun while opening the doors leading from the cockpit to the small hallway with doors leading to their storage closet, small accomodations and the lab at the back.
The duo advanced carefully towards the lab doors that were already partially slid open, seemingly busted from the reck. Passing through them they had found Lukin hiding behind one of their research tables, which were standard issued as bolted to the floor. The scientist's left golden eye was busted swirling with his own blue blood .
"Hah! Azail, G-Gab'el. There's four of them, h-heard them talking about coming in for a sweep." The scientist, Luken, whispered with groans of pain. "They beat up my assistant, p-please do something!" He said desperate.
"Did you see what weapons they are using? Anything higher cal-" Gab'el began questioning, but a shot from a Rail Rifle ripping a hole in a different table answered his unfinished inquiry. "Ffffuck! If we live, I will kill our whole logistic department, the greedy fucks. They give us an old first gen RF Suit and they think its enough. Pieces of shit." He swore with fury, whispering exasperated as he went into proper cover besides the scientist.
Azail crouched near them as she peeked over cover and out the hole in the side of their ship. Four Daemar, indeed, all equipped with impact body suits that harden when struck by high velocity projectiles. "Ghah... at best our pistols are distractions."
Daemars were shorter in stature than Anghelons, mainly due to their long legs being double jointed with a joint bending back while the second one bent forward, their legs had thicker toes near akin to hooves and their backs were hunched heavily. When fully sprawled out they might actually beat Anghelons in length, which wasn't encouraging as they also seemed brawnier physically than them.
"Come on fellas, you have until the count of three or we blast this bluey's brains onto this forsaken shit planet's mud." One of the Daemars yelled out.
"Agh- fuck you, you red piece of crap!" Ashi'in yelled out which got her a kick in the jaw in return.
"Feisty fucking thing." Chuckled another who administired the blow.
At about this time, William had gotten closer and closer to the flashing blue light, hearing sounds of voices he couldn't understand he became wary of danger. Sneaking up through the brush he found his eyes gazing upon a scene he had a hard time understanding.
After his mind took a moment to process what his eyes saw, he arrived to one certain conclusion. "God hath called upon me to assist one of his angels upon which demons had been set. Oh what woe for such a divine being to have been befallen by!" he whispered angrily to himself.
'How dare they!' He thought with a wordless gasp as he witnessed one of the demons kick the angel in the head.
Insulted by the uncalled for strike upon the already subjugated angel, William stood, an iron grip on his spear. Holding his spear for a throw, Michael rushed out of the brush in a charge. "HOW DARE YE, VILE FIENDS! GET OFF THAT ANGEL! RHA!" He roared tossing the spear at the closest demon his eyes landed on.
Daemar's hearing the shouting turned confused seeing a human charge at them. "IS THAT A FUCKING NATIV- AGH!" The Daemar closest to William said exploding into a shriek of pain as the spear he tossed impaled his torso. "AGH! HAAAH! HA! HOW?! W-WHAT?!" It shrieked out as he grasped the spear's shaft that was stuck in him.
The reds in shock reacted really slowly, since the knight had enough time to continue his charge. He shield bashed with the edge of his shield the one who already got struck by the spear, retrieved his weapon and then shoved his spear once more into the unlucky one's throat.
"Shoot it!" Said a higher ranking Daemar as his two goons began pointing a rail rifle and a kinetic pistol at the leather armored knight.
Before they could fill the primitive native of the muddy planet with holes, the trio of Daemars got covered in a small volley of pistol fire from inside the ship.
William peered from where the flashes of light came and he could see more angels. He tossed his shield aside and using his free arm he lifted up Ashi'in onto his shoulder, which he seemed to do so with ease. "Pray forgive me your Divinity, but I must assist hastly!" He yelled as he bolted inside, slipped on the slanted metal floor and slid on his ass all the way to the back.
Gab'el, Luken and Azail looked wide eyed at William who's eyes sparkled with awe.
"Doc, can it understand us?" Gab'el asked as he took cover back behind the desk.
"W-we've been studying them for quite a bit and no, they shouldn't... I don't understand why it came to our assistance, its kind hates one anothers i-if they wear slightly different clothes! This is insane!"
Azail groaned impatient as she kept overwatch towards the opening into the ship. "Less talking, untie Ashi'in, you morons! You can gawk at the dirt mammal after we're done with this. Gab'el shoot it if it tries to do anything stupid."
"Uhh... Az, I think it's getting up to go out there." The co-pilot said uncertain as he undid the zip tie like bindings from Ashi'in's wrists behind her back.
William had indeed set Ashi'in down, who looked in a confused awe at him as he brushed some of her longer silvery locks from her face. "By God. You are a true beauty, truly God's children." William said gazing towards the others as he grasped his spear tighter.
He stood up confidently and began scaling the slanted floor towards the opening.
"Fucking hell, its going to kill itself." Gab'el said as he face palmed.
"M-maybe not. Despite his primite weapons he seemed like he could fight them. His species is rather sturdy and surprising. He might be able t-" before Lukin could finish his words, the group witnessed the primitive mammal go up to the opening, was about to chuck his spear which got a yelp from one of the Daemars and then promptly got shot, based on the less scary sound, by the kinetic pistol.
William groaned, fell on his back while dropping his weapon, and like a pendulum, slid downwards once more at the back of the laboratory next to his 'angels'.
"Oh God! M-my heart! Ghah!" He said holding onto his chest.
"Oh, for the love of... the dominant species on this planet are complete idiots." Gab'el said as as he went besides Azail, at this point not caring about the fate of their unlikely helper.
"God, could you be more heartless." Ashi'in said annoyed as she grabbed one of the arms of William. "Doc, help me pull him towards the back, quick, he's losing blood. Lets give the soldiers space and go to safety."
"R-right." Lukin said as he got a grip on William, and the two dragged him towards the cockpit with the first aid kit.
"Why do you think his attack worked?" Gab'el asked his colleague clearly confused by how a primitive's weapon could hurt a Daemar.
"I don't know... the suit is supposed to harden upon high velocity... impact..." that is when Azail's golden eyes glimmered with realization. "His spear is as slow as hell by comparison to our weapons... the armor doesn't register them."
The Anghelan woman then reached and took in her hands William's spear looking at it. "Gab' take this and sneak closer to the opening. If they approach I will shoot to distract, you stab."
"Eh, good of a plan as any other." The co-pilot sighed resignated at the situation before him. He took the primitive weapon and began his sudden suicide mission.
Back inside the cockpit, Lukin and Ashi'in, had dragged their unlikely native ally inside. The lead xeno biologist began looking over the heavily bleeding William, who seemed to be slowly dying. "Damn it, i think the bullet might have ruined the heart." He said as he began grabbing a few tools and bio sealant gel packets, and basically tried to patch the hole in his chest with fast acting cell regeneration medicine. "This should works, the native cells seemed similar in make to our own and in testing it seemed effective."
Ashi'in frowned. 'It'll be too slow.' She thought as her eyes looked quickly about. As her golden gaze laid upon the locker of the RF Suit, eureka struck her. "The suit. It has cell replication properties and an in built life support, it could help." She said as she took William's sword from him and began using it to pry open the busted looking door, struggling to do so.
"The suit?! Are you crazy?! That is the equivalent of giving a nonsentient primate a Rail Rifle after putting its digits on the trigger." Lukin said while keeping on with the first aid.
"Well, that thing saved my life and I don't know about you, but I am not about to let it die. I owe it at least that!" Ashi'in said grunting as she pried open the locker doors just enough for an arm to fit in.
She stretched as best she could and pulled from inside the locker a silvery metal disc about the same size as her palm.
"Ashi'in as the lead researcher I forbid it!" Lukin said standing up with a clear furious expression on his face, which receeded quickly once he saw Ashi'in lift up the sword she wielded in one of her hands.
"You can shove your position up your ass, and if you do, please make sure you can taste it in the back of your throat." She growled as she gave Lukin a shoulder shove.
She kneeled besides William and she looked down upon the pale pink primitive who's brown eyes stared half open at her, his long brown hair spread about the floor, soaked lightly with his own blood. "O-oh... mine beautiful angel... see that mine soul reacheth the gates of Heaven... and please... go release Stevellion of his duties as mine stead... he doesn't deserve to suffer the wait of my never coming... return." He said coughing up a few globs of blood.
Ashi'in listened, but... she couldn't understand a single grunt the damn thing was making. She just nodded her head and took his hand into hers. "Don't worry, it'll be fine... hopefully." She said nervous as she placed the metal disk at the center of his chest and gave it two finger taps.
The silvery metal disk chimed with a gentle sound after a few moments and it began saying. "The suit's pilot is in critical condition, for quicker life support assistance would you like to initiate full suit integration instead of the standard operating system?" The device declared, its monotonous voice echoing in the cockpit.
"Yes! Initatite full integration, focus on life support before booting any other systems." Ashi'in yelped impatient.
The metal disk chimed in an affirmative sound as it then shifted across the knight's chest, right over the wound. It sealed the hole with its own surface and then it started buzzing.
As William felt himself fade a spike of pain shot from his chest, more specifically his heart. It was as if something was shredding his heart apart and then it came in stabbing his inner flesh with many hot needles, it burned and stung like nothing else he ever felt. He yelled as his body convulsed and after about two minutes of this constant torture, the pain dulled and subsided.
"Biological analysis complete. Repaclement of damaged vital organs complete. Suit systems connected neurologically to host. All basic boot up functions complete." The suit stated once more monotonously.
Ashi'in sighed with relief as she sat down onto the floor. "Phew... I am so glad that worked." She said with a shakey voice and a small smile on her lips.
Lukin groaned annoyed as he looked at the suit's core now physically implanted into the native's left side of his chest. The damned thing tore through his bio clothing and just dug itself into him. Looking more closely now, the bit of it that was still exposed... it morphed... into a shape akin to the metal shield that the primitive was carrying.
William feeling himself breath fully and feeling life course through his veins proper, he looked at his chest and noticed the hole in his leather armor and the shirt below it. His eyes sparkled with a hope renewed as she looked at Ash'in. The young man scrambled onto his knees and palms and bowed his head with the forehead against the floor. "Oh! Most gentle and generous angel, thank you for your blessing, thank you for gracing me with the Lord's love and keeping me in your favor. I shall devote myself to assisting you and the Father in purging those demons."
"Oh, what the hell is it doin' now?" Ashi'in asked as she chuckled nervously, doubting her choice at this point. Her eyes wandered towards Lukin for an answer.
The lead xeno scientist stared into empty air after seeing William's display and he seemed to search for an answer in his mind's library. "I... don't... I know this has something to do with religious behaviors and rituals, but... why would it..." Lukin stuttered flustered.
William stood to his feet with a determined look upon his fair features. "God! I carry thine will as you command me, grant me thine protection and strength to end the plague that are those demons!"
"A.I. Assistant designation, God. Activating defensive protocols, enabling full access to in built nano machine weaponry." The suit's voice declared in a lpw tone monotonous voice.
"Did he just... name the suit's A.I. ... as God?! I understood what the suit said, but really, God?" Ashi'in asked confused as she stood up.
Lukin face palmed himself as he finally realized. "The unevolved idiot is mistaking us for divine creatures, oh hell... there's like fuck knows how many religions that I documented here, which one is he even part of?!" The lead scientist said stepping back.
The silver disk on William's chest began spreading over his body like mercury, enveloping him entirely. As it began taking shape, initially in the standard form of the suit, it then began changing. It morphed into a full suit of armor that looked like the full plated armor the xeno biologists have seen the natives of this planet make and wear in one region of the planet.
Despite the look akin to various metal plates strapped together, it was simply just the design choice of the user for the suit's exterior. The living metal even moved to make filigree patterns across various "edges" of the armor and in the middle of William's chest the designs merged to form a cross. His head piece took the shape of a Great Helm style helmet with a cross pattern in the middle, the eye holes being actual visors that shined a blue hue.
"Damn, these people are really into religion h-huh..." Ashi'in said as her eyes widened at how much the suit had changed from the standard look. This feature was usually used for one to lightly personalize their suit's design, but it was now unrecognisable.
"God, hear my plea! Grant me a blade to cut through mine enemies with thunderous force! Let me smite them, lightning quick!" William shouted as he reached a hand forward and from his palm, bits of his suit formed into a hilt, which grew a pummel and hand guard eventually shooting a straight edge blade that pulsed with electricity.
As Lukin observed he began tapping away at a little data pad. "I don't think the suit understands his vocal commands, but... full integration merges the suit with one's nervous system... it might actually be able to reproduce these details and follow his commands based on his brain's electric patterns which form his thoughts. Oh ho ho... this might be quite interesting. Such a basic intelligent life form operating intricate technological machinery. This'll-... agh!"
Lukin groaned as Ashi'in elbowed him in the side. "I understand this is our work, but can you not?" the assistant groaned annoyed shaking her head as she then gazed back at William. "Lets hope it'll put it to good use."
The knight stared at his new blade and down at himself as he tightened his free hand and began making his way out of the cockpit and back towards the laboratory he gor dragged from. "By the grace of God..." He uttered zelously under his breath as he pressed onwards, his voice ringing out with a metalic tone to it and echoing.
Next Issue!

​
Griger Kel-Am watched from his cell in the old town jailhouse as workers busily erected a scaffolding in the courtyard below. It was shaping up nicely, he thought with an appreciative nod; the skeletal beams reminded him of the bones of dead animals in the Karel Desert and that comparison almost disturbed him.
Which was no easy feat. Griger had seen the worst the world had to offer. He fought beasts in the Staygin Mountains, fended off feral bandits in the Jarel Plains, and weathered more attacks, fights, battles, and death than most people even knew existed. Nothing on earth could rattle him. He couldn’t afford to let himself be shaken. Life, he had learned, was like a surging storm tide. You either stand strong against it, or you get knocked down and swept away. Griger refused to be swept away. He refused to wind up like the old bones he stumbled across on the North Road and in the snowy stepps at the top of the world. A man must be hard and stoic to survive, and he must be harder and colder to thrive.
Despite his grizzled face, many scars, dead eyes, and unseemly facial hair, Griger, a sword for hire since before the Great Plague, had always thrived.
Sighing, Griger left the window and walked over to the door; three brisk paces. He threaded his arms through the bars and tried his best to look up the corridor. In the cells across from him, other men, their faces dirty and white, cowered, waiting for their judgement.
Their open fear disgusted Griger.
Cowards.
Griger wasn’t afraid to die. Dying was easy; you closed your eyes and went to sleep. Living...living was hard, every day a knock down, drag out fight for dominance against something. Outlaws, nature, your own inner darkness. He did not seek death, but he welcomed it. The prospect of a noose tightening around his neck, of his body jerking and dancing before many jeering eyes and spitting mouths, however, almost bothered him.
But as a wise old man he once knew had said, This too shall pass.
A sardonic smile touched Griger’s chapped lips and he shook his head like a man who couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Of all the things he’d done in his life to deserve a hanging, self-defense is what did him in. Ha.
Two weeks ago, he was following the river from the North, on foot and alone save for his sword and his rucksack. He stopped at a tide pool to drink, and was beset by a man with a knife. In his frock coat and rubberized boots, he was too well dressed to be a highwayman; he never spoke a word until he lay in the grass, his throat laid open and gushing rich red blood. “Scoundrel,” he gurgled.
Griger relieved him of his boots and pocketbook and carried on. Before dusk, he came across the village and rented a room at the inn. Women in cheap, homespun dresses haunted the halls, knocking at doors to sell their company, and Griger, lying in bed by the flickering light of a lamp, was considering spending the rest of the money on one when three constables broke down the door.
The man he killed, they told him later, was the son of the mayor. At that moment, Griger knew he was in trouble.
They refused to believe that the son attacked first and pointed to the things Griger had taken from his as proof of overland piracy, theft, and murder. He was tried in a packed courtroom and found guilty, standing tall and proud but alone as no lawyer in the land would take his case.
Out in the courtyard, someone shouted, and a team of horses neighed, Griger, sitting on the edge of his cot, looked up at the window. The light was getting weaker as night approached. Shadows, long and black, fell through the slats and made unwholesome shapes across the earthen floor. Down the hall, a man cried out for water, and elsewhere, someone raked a metal cup back and forth across the bars. Would they hang him tonight, Griger wondered, or would they wait for dawn?
“You,” someone spat.
Griger looked up to find the mayor standing at the bars, his bloated face filled with hatred. Another man was with him, this one taller and thinner. They were both clad in the finest garments, but the stranger was undoubtedly better suited. Griger took him for a government official.
“What do you want?” Griger asked, an edge in his voice.
The mayor opened his mouth to speak, but the stranger silenced him. “My name is Urick Farbin. I’m the governor of Ezk Province and I have a proposition for you.”
“What’s that?”
Farbin flashed a tight smile.
It looked to Griger like he wouldn’t be hanged at all.
And that made him smile.
***
Griger watched the countryside pass slowly by, all green hills, trickling brooks, and dense thickets. The occasional straw hut loomed out of the wilderness like an antsy thief, and six miles out of the village, they passed a stately manor house that could only have belonged to the mayor.
It was mid-afternoon and the overcast day wrapped itself around Griger like a wet blanket. The previous night, Governor Farbin sprang Griger from his cell and brought him to the inn, where he was kept under armed guard. Griger spent most of the evening in a straight back chair and whittling. You don’t have to worry, he said to the sentry standing at the door, I’m not going anywhere.
And he wasn’t. He was not an honor bound man by any stretch, but Farbin saved his life, and Griger reckoned that earned him a little loyalty.
The guards didn’t stand down, but Griger didn’t blame them. He wouldn’t have either.
In the morning, they set off in a horse drawn carriage, heading northwest along the Western Road. Now, hours later, Griger sat next to the Governor, who wore a dark cloak and wide-brimmed hat befitting his office. Beside him, the driver held the reins and stared ahead with the practiced indifference of a man used to tuning out things he wasn’t supposed to hear.
“Will you explain to me what I’m doing?” Griger asked.
Farbin was quiet for a moment, then he looked up at the sky, the muted light bathing his craggy features. “Your file says that you’ve done work for the Government.”
“Some,” Griger replied.
“You’ve handled things of a singular nature,” the old man continued. “Things that most other men have never dreamed possible.”
Gringer nodded. He had. His only oath was to himself, and he worked for whoever paid him the highest sum. Men like him were called mercenaries but he preferred to think of himself as a businessman.
“There’s a matter in a nearby village that has been ongoing for quite some time,” Farbin said, picking his words carefully. “I have sent my best agents and they’ve done nothing for it. When the paperwork on you came to my office, I checked your name, as I do all condemned men, and knew at once that you were the man for this job.”
Griger was almost touched. “What’s the job?”
The Governor turned to face Griger, his expression bloodless and sober, as though he had something great yet terrible to impart upon him. “Do you believe in werewolves?”
“Yes,” he said, “I do.”
“Have you ever killed one?”
Griger hesitated. “No,” he said, “not personally, but I was with a party that did.”
Five years before, Griger wintered in a village among the steep foothills guarding the forbidding expanse of Mount Grez. In the deepest, darkest days of the freeze, local livestock began to die, ripped asunder and strewn across snowy fields like trash. Wolf tracks larger than any Griger had ever seen led to and from each scene, and at night, high, ghostly howls rose above the shrieking wind, curdling the blood of even the most sturdy men.
After a watchman on patrol was attacked and gutted in the main square, the men of the village banded together and tracked the beast, eventually cornering it in a cave near a frozen river. Even if he lived to be a thousand, Griger would never forget the monster they encountered. Seven feet tall, coated in matted gray fur, its face canine yet human, its eyes blazed with the fires of hell, and as the men approached, it snapped and snarled, the sounds it made so close to words that even now, Griger wondered if it were trying to speak. They beset it with swords and torches, and when the dust settled, five men were dead and three were wounded. The wolf lay crumpled on the ground, decapitated and aflame. Even with no head, even with its heart divorced from its body, it screeched as the fire consumed it, a high, hitching wail that haunted Griger’s dreams for many moons after.
Farbin nodded. “I figured as much. A man as well-travelled as you has to have seen such things.”
He went on to explain that a suspected werewolf was loose in the countryside around the village of Koreth, a tiny fishing port on the sloped and muddy banks of the Rey River. Three weeks before, sheep and horses began to turn up dead, their bodies laid open and their intestines pulled from their stomachs. Before long, travellers along the Western Road started to die in a similar manner. Every time a new victim appeared, officials found large wolf tracks and strands of fur nearby.
Several nights ago, it broke into the home of a land baron and killed him, his wife, and his daughter. His young son survived, but was blinded in one eye.
‘It was a massive beast,’ the boy told the Governor, a personal friend of the baron. ‘It stood seven feet tall, was as wide as it was long, and had the snarling face of a man mixed with a dog.’
“You want me to kill it,” Griger said. It was not a question.
“Yes.”
The carriage jostled as its big wheels splashed through ruts and puddles. “And in return…?”
“You’ll get a full and unconditional pardon.”
Hmm. Griger considered the offer carefully, even though he was in no position to bargain. “Alright,” he said at last, “I’ll do it.”
They arrived at the village three hours later. Perched on the banks of the lazy river, it seemed a single estate rather than a town. A stone wall, roughly a dozen feet high, enclosed it, pitched roofs visible beyond. Two guards in helmets and chainmail, swords on their hips and crossbows in their hands, stood at the gate, their expressions stony and as hardscrabble as the fields sloping away from the walls.
Inside, tiny buildings lined narrow dirt streets and people in plain, homespun clothes went about their business, pushing carts, hawking vegetables, and playing dice. Old men sat in canned chairs before the town pub and a group of boys chased each other back and forth through shadowed warrens, their faces smudged and weatherbeaten beyond their years. Chickens and pigs, both plump and hale, ran free, the former flapping their impotent wings and the latter snorting happily as they wallowed and shat. Griger spotted a blacksmith in his quarters, striking an anvil with a hammer, and wondered idly if he had any interesting items for sale.
“The people here are stubborn and refuse to flee,” Farbin said.
Griger faced forward. “These types usually are.”
“You are not to worry about their safety,” Farbin warned. “They can see to themselves. Your only concern is to be the wolf.”
“Understood.”
The driver parked near the town inn and tied the horse to a hitching post while Griger and Farbin got out. Griger rolled his neck and flexed his shoulders. After so many years of walking wherever he went, he was unaccustomed to sitting for long periods and inevitably ended any long, stationary trek sore.
Past the batwing doors, a shadowy lobby lit by candlelight greeted them. Farbin led Griger directly up the stairs and to a tidy room with a single, neatly made bed and a desk beneath the window. “These are your quarters,” Farbin said.
“Spacious,” Griger said unsarcastically. He sat on the edge of the bed. “What leads do you have on this wolf?”
“None beyond what I’ve told you,” Farbn said. “My men have scoured the countryside but they haven’t found a thing.”
Griger hummed. “No tracks? Droppings? Nothing at all?”
“Not beyond what I’ve told you.”
That was odd. Werewolves rarely strayed far from their den. Unless they were of the rare half-breed that turned upon the cycle of the moon, man at day and beast by night. But those were as common as an honest man in the High Council - not very damned common at all.
“What are you thinking?” Farbin asked.
Griger said what was on his mind.
“But those aren’t real,” the Governor said, a hint of confusion in his voice.
“I tell you they are.”
Farbin’s brow furrowed with incredulity. “A man cannot simply change his form, nor can a wolf, for that matter. It goes against all logic.”
All Griger could do was spread his hands. That a man - even a large one - could transform into a werewolf (and that a werewolf could shrink back to the size of a mere man) did defy logic. Griger could not account for it, but he knew it to be so, and he said as much. Farbin, shaken by the confidence in Griger’s tone, nervously scratched the back of his neck and looked constipated. “Put aside what you think you know and ask yourself. What if it is a wolf-man?”
“But what if it isn’t?” Farbin countered.
Griger ticked his head to the side in acquiescence. “Maybe it’s not. Maybe your men have failed to uncover a den large enough to house a seven foot tall monster. Maybe they’ve been looking up each other’s backsides instead of where they should be.”
A dark shadow flickered across Farbin’s face. “My men are highly trained and highly skilled.”
“That’s why you came to me.”
Farbin fumed. “I came to you because you have experience in such things.”
“Right,” Griger said. “I do. And I’m telling you - in my expert opinion - that if there is no den, the wolf is a changeling. I cannot explain the science behind how and why it is a changeling. I don’t know how it can happen...but it does. You have to consider the possibility that you are looking for a phantom, that your wolf may be out there right this second ploughing a field or herding sheep and not asleep in a cave waiting to be found and made.”
Farbin turned away and put his hands on his hips. No shoulder had ever been colder, and for a second, Griger thought the old man was going to send him back to the gallows. “Alright,” Farbin finally said, “suppose it is a half-breed. What then?”
“I want to see where the latest attack happened.”
A half an hour later, Griger and Farbin stood before a large stone house with a slate roof and wide windows. A dirt drive looped around an ornate fountain and tall trees rustled in the new breeze. Several Provincial Guardsmen accompanied them, all with swords and crossbows and one, the commander, with a rare flintlock on his hip. Farbin led Gringer to the west side of the structure. “The wolf came in through the servants’ entrance,” he explained. A set of paw prints led to the door and Gringer knelt to study them. Roughly half a foot apart, they were slightly larger than any other he had seen.
Inside, the house was dark and cold, shadows clustered in corners like demons waiting for the fall of night to advance their ghoulish aims. Dried blood stained the wooden floors and spackled the bare walls. “Has anyone seen this creature and lived but the boy?”
Farbin shook his head. “No.” His face was white and strained, the somber, funeral atmosphere affecting him.
“You’ve told me everything?”
“Yes.”
Griger nodded to himself. If the wolf were a changeling, someone, somewhere likely would have seen it coming or going. That was a strike against his theory. On the other hand, there were likely dozens of isolated farms and homesteads scattered through the surrounding countryside. The wolf could be anyone from anywhere.
“I want to talk to the locals,” Griger said as he and Farbin walked back to the carriage.
“Right.”
“I’ll also need a team of men at my disposal,” Griger said. “And a sword.”
They were sitting across from each other in the carriage’s enclosed cab. Without, the sky was beginning to cool to purple and evening gloom stealthy crept from the forest. “We’ll get you one.”
“It must be made with silver,” Griger said.
Farbin frowned. “Silver is a poor alloy for sword-making.”
“But it’s the only alloy for werewolf killing,” Griger said. “It shouldn’t be made entirely of silver, but there must be some in it, the more, the better.
Farbin nodded that he understood.
By the time they made it back to the village, full dark had fallen. The streets stood deserted, the animals locked up for the night and most of the people hunkered in their homes. A few guards walked the lanes and dooyards, bows and swords at the ready, and a stray cat with no tail slunk furtively between piles of refuse, its ears laid flat against its skull and its fur matted and crisscrossed with scars from battles past.
The only activity was at the pub attached to the inn, where lights burned in the segmented windows and the chatter of many voices drifted into the street, occasionally flaring in laughter or song. Apparently, those hearty souls refused to let a wolf stand between them and their end-of-day festivities.
Griger’s respect for them increased.
Before entering, Farbin and Griger called on the blacksmith, a burly man with a bald head and a mustache that reminded Griger of walruses he had killed and eaten at the top of the world. Griger explained his need and impressed upon the man a sense of urgency. “I need it as soon as you can possibly have it ready.”
The blacksmith nodded gamely. “I’ll have it by dawn.”
Farbin took out his purse and paid, then they made their way to the inn.
Inside, a roaring fire crackled in the stone hearth and lamps on the walls sent shadows flickering across the floor. A dozen men sat at the bar with stines of beer and a half dozen more occupied the many tables in the middle of the room. A barkeep kept the drinks flowing while a pretty waitress with her blonde hair done up in an elaborate braid like a golden tiara brought trays of beer and pretzels to the tables.
Griger and Farbin sat at an empty table near the fireplace and Farbin removed his gloves. “Men will make merry even while the world burns around them,” he mused.
“Why not,” Griger said, “they can’t do it in the grave.”
The women came over and they ordered a pitcher of beer and a sandwich each. While they waited, Griger went to every man one-by-one and asked them about the wolf. They responded, to a man, with an eye roll or a dismissive laugh. None were worried in the slightest. One man lifted his brow in a pitying sort of way and looked Griger up and down as though he were mad. “Werewolves? Why, those were banished from the Realm centuries ago, it’s all much ado about nothing.”
“It’s a big wolf,” the barkeep said, “and dangerous too, that much is fact. But it’s a lot of hysteria. People today are too goddamn soft. In my time, we had wolves and bears too. If they acted out of line, we hunted them down and cut their heads off.”
The last man Griger came to was a wispy, white-haired oldster with rheumy eyes and three days’ worth of stubble covering his angular chin. Baggy brown clothes, old and wrinkled and caked in the dirt of the field, hung slack from his scrawny frame, and his long, spindly fingers threaded through the handle of his mug like fleshless bone. If Griger had ever seen a man who bore the official title “Town Drunk” he wouldn’t look the part any more than the old man.
Before Griger could ask him a single question, he spoke in a rusty voice that conjured images of graveyard gates in the dark Province of Helem. “I seen it,” he said, “and it weren’t no regular wolf neither.”
The barkeep sniffed. “You see lots of things, Sel. Like them little pink elephants.”
A wave of mean-spirited laughter ran through the bar, and Sel’s jaw clenched. Griger sensed that Sel was often made sport of at the bar.
Ignoring the other, Griger asked, “You’ve seen it?”
Sel nodded and held up three fingers. “Thrice, in fact,” he said with a belch.
“Tell me.”
The old timer looked up at him with a twist of suspicion. “Down by the road leadin’ up,” he said.
“All three times?”
“All three times,” Sel confirmed.
Once a mason, Sel had moved to the village ten years before to try his hand at farming, he explained. His homestead, comprising five acres, a tumbledown barn, and a decomposing shack masquerading as a house, sat below the walls, in a hollow between the hill and the river. Many nights, he sat on the front porch and “communed with the King” (King Rum, Griger assumed). From that perch, he witnessed “The damned beast” loping toward town. “The first time, I seen’t it over in the road,” he said, pronouncing road as rud. “I have good eyesight and I knew right off it weren’t normal, so I jumped outta my chair and ducked down real low so ways he couldn’t see me.”
Sel couldn’t provide a description of the wolf beyond “near eight damn feet tall and built like a mountain” but Griger didn’t need one. The old man’s story supported his supposition that the wolf was coming from somewhere else and not a den in the hills. Why would it come down the middle of the road each time? The only thing to the south was the river and open fields dotted by stands of forest, all of which Farbin’s men had already searched.
Werewolves are nocturnal creatures who sequester themselves somewhere dark and dry during the day. Farbin’s men should have found it by now. That they hadn’t suggested that it was a changeling.
Thanking Sel for his help, Griger went back to the table and sat across from Farbin. “The baron’s house lies in the direction of the river,” he said, more to himself than to the Governor. “What of the other attacks?”
“Mainly in that area,” Farbin said, “why?”
“The changeling - and that’s what it is - comes from across the river. How many homesteads are there beyond the banks?”
“At least two dozen,” Farbin said.
Griger crossed his arms and thought for a moment. “I want your men, tomorrow, out there going door to door with garlic. Make everyone they come across smell it and anyone who sneezes is put under watch.”
The Governor looked stricken. “But...why?”
“Changelings are allergic to garlic,” Griger said.
Farbin pursed his lips in contemplation. “Alright,” he said, “I’ll have them start at first light.”
After dining, they adjourned to their rooms, Farbin on one side of the hall and Griger on the other. A team of six Guardsmen took up position in the empty saloon and kept watch, ready to roll out at a moment’s notice. Griger threw the window open and perched on the ledge, the night breeze washing over him and rustling his graying hair. He rolled a cigarette, lit it with the bedside candle, and looked up at the glowing face of the waxing moon. Tomorrow night it would be full and the changeling would be compelled to turn and hunt as the tide was compelled to crest. It could come tonight still, but unless it was killed, it would return tomorrow for certain, mad with bloodlust.
Well past midnight, Griger blew out the candle and retired. The mattress was far too soft and it took him nearly a half hour of tossing, turning, and muttering curses to himself to find a position he liked. Once he did, he fell into a light sleep from which he was aroused near dawn by a knock at the door. One of the guards informed him that the blacksmith was finished with his sword, and after dressing, he and Farbin went to collect it. Comprising a simple blade with a guard and a grip, it was far from the most opulent weapon Griger had ever wielded, but it was well-suited to his needs and fit comfortably in his hand.
Back at the inn, Farbin gathered every available man under his command, including the constable and his three deputies, and ordered them to sweep the countryside as Griger had suggested the night before. They showed no reaction despite their lord’s strange request, and departed in a single file line.
The saloon opened for breakfast at six and Griger and Farbin each had a plate of eggs, bacon, and beans. People began to drift in as they ate, Sel the Drunkard at the head of the pack. The maiden, who quartered somewhere upstairs, came down in a simple white dress beneath a waist apron, and Griger’s eyes tracked her as she carried out her functions. The dress - loose and high cut - revealed nothing of her bosom, but pulled tight across her bottom when she leaned over to set food and coffee in front of her guests. Their gazes met, and her eyes flicked quickly away like two timid minnows in a fish bowl.
She was beautiful.
She reminded him of someone.
His mind went back to the jagged mountains atop the world, to a little cabin where weary travellers waited out the snowstorms that raged sometimes for weeks in the winter. There, in one of the most isolated outposts of the Realm, lived a woman Griger had known. She was tall and gaunt whereas the barmaid was average and healthy, her hair was black to the maiden’s blonde, but their eyes were the same breathtaking hazel. Now, staring at his plate, his chest stirred in a way that it hadn’t in years.
He didn’t like it.
“...else,” Farbin was saying.
“Yeah,” Griger said, as though he knew what Farbin had said. Now, the woman he loved one winter was on his mind and his mood was verging on foul. He recalled the way her hair brushed the creamy slope of her throat when she turned her head, the sound of her laughter, how her heels dug into his behind, urging him deeper unto her.
He was young, then, and a fool. People, he learned later, come and people go. Loving someone...indeed even hating them...was pointless, for in a breath of summer wind, they’re gone.
After finishing with breakfast, Farbin requested a metal tub be filled with water so that he could bathe. While he did that, Griger threaded his sword through his belt and walked down to the river, keeping his eyes open for wolf tracks. He spotted a few in the dirt edging the road, all pointing in the direction from which he had just come, and squatted down to examine one more closely.
Just before reaching the water, Sel’s farm appeared on the right, the main house seeming to sag in the middle as though under the burden of years and the field out back overgrown and gone to seed. The place looked as though it had died, come back to life, then died again. The screen door, which naturally hung askew, banged open, and Sel himself backed out butt first, a ceramic pot in his hands. He turned, saw Griger, and hesitated, then ducked his head and scurried down the stairs, disappearing around the side of the house Griger lingered a moment, then followed, tangles of grass pulling at his boots. In the back, a clear patch boasted several pots like the one Sel had come out with, each blossoming with an assortment of multicolored flowers. Sel knelt before one and heaped rich soil in with his hands. A gust of wind flipped his lank, white hair back and forth, and a satisfied smile played at the corners of his thin mouth.
“You garden?” Griger asked.
Sel shot him a dirty look. “I do,” he said, a defensive edge in his voice. He stopped, favored the flowers with a sober look, and added, “These plants are the only friends I’ve got.” He chuckled self-consciously.
“Plants seem like they’d make poor friends,” Griger said. “When the first frost comes, they leave you.”
Sel ticked his head to one side in acquiescence. “Tis better to have loved and lost than not to have loved at all.”
An image of the girl at the top of the world flashed across Griger’s mind, and for a moment he could feel, feel, her presence. “I don’t believe that,” Griger said. “Loss is hard for a man who’s known love.”
“Still better than never knowing it at all,” Sel said and got stiffly to his feet. He dusted his hands on his pants.
“You’ve never lost someone,” Griger said.
“You’ve never loved someone,” Sel countered.
Griger stiffened. Mouthy old bastard, yes I have.
“What do you want?” Sel asked.
“I wanted to ask you about the werewolf.”
Sel’s face crinkled. “I told you everything I know.” He started walking back to the front of the house, and Griger fell in beside him.
“Is there anywhere around here you think a werewolf might live?” Griger asked. “Caves? Dens? Anything.”
“There’s some caves about,” Sel said, “other than that, I can’t say.”
They were on the porch now, Sel holding the door open.
“Can you tell me your story one more time?” Griger asked. “Maybe it might jog something you forgot.”
Sel sighed. “I don’t have nothin’, okay?”
He started to go inside, but Griger stopped him. “Please?”
The old man looked at him, then sighed. “Fine. Come in.”
They sat in Sel’s tiny and cluttered parlor. The furniture was as old and threadbare as the man who owned it, and the simple walls were crowded with old photos, many of them featuring a smiling woman with dark hair. She looked nothing like the girl at the top of the world, but Griger was reminded of her anyway. “Your wife?” he asked.
Sel, seated in an armchair across from him, busied himself pouring Griger a cup of tea. “Yes,” he said shortly.
From his tone - and the woman’s absence - Griger inferred that she was dead. “I’m sorry.”
Sel’s hand shook as he pushed the cup across the table. “So am I,” he said.
“Children?” Griger asked.
“Three,” Sel said. “Two boys and a girl.” Tears crept into the old man’s faded eyes and he fixed his gaze on a point over Griger’s shoulder. Open displays of emotion made Griger uncomfortable, and he shifted in his seat, sorry that he had brought the topic up. “We were married thirty years,” Sel said. His lips trembled and Griger thought he was going to break down crying. Instead, he smiled. “Those were good years.”
Griger nodded to himself. “I bet.”
He must not have sounded convincing, because Sel creased his brow. “Are you married?”
“No.”
“Ever loved someone?”
“No.”
Sel looked at him with a frank directness that bordered on mind-reading, and though it wasn’t possible, Griger could almost imagine the old man was seeing into his mind...and his heart. “You’re a liar.”
Griger considered his reply for a long time. “When I was a boy,” he said. “I thought I was in love.”
“What happened?”
Perhaps the old man had cast some kind of pall over him...or maybe he was in a rare mood...but Griger heard himself answer honestly. “I left her.”
A heavy silence lay between them.
“You left her?”
Griger nodded. “I moved on. She had her ways and I had mine. I didn’t see us working.”
“You regret it.”
“Yes,” Griger responded instantly. “I wish I tried.”
Sel nodded understandingly. “All boys make mistakes. Some are just luckier than others, I reckon.” He laughed, his posture relaxing, and Griger realized he was starting to like the old bastard.
“True,” he said. “Now your story…”
Sighing, Sel lifted a hand. “I don’t have much ways else to say.” He ran through his story just as he had before, with no additions or subtractions.
Griger nodded that he was satisfied, and got to his feet. “That’ll be all.”
Sel walked him to the door and stuck out his hand. “That damned thing’s a monster,” he said as they shook, “you watch yourself.”
“I can handle a werewolf,” Griger assured him.
Later on, after returning to the inn, Griger and Farbin rode out to meet the men on the other side of the river, catching up to them at a fork in the road. “No one’s sneezed or broken out, sire,” Farbin’s second-in-command, a tall, rodent-faced man, reported.
“Expand the dragnet,” Griger said.
Rat-face looked at Farbin for confirmation, and the Governor nodded.
They would find the wolf...or the wolf would find them.
Griger wanted the former, but would settle for the latter.
If he had to.

Tyler and his kid sister sat at the kitchen table and ate uncooked pop tarts with milk. He glares across the table at her, right at the bright pink Hannah Montana shirt she wore all the time, the image of that teen idol's plastic smile burned into his brain. "So is Taylor still messing with you?" He asked. "No, not since you beat him up." "I wouldn't have had to if you hadn't of pissed him off. What did you do to him anyway..." "Oh you're gonna think I'm evil for this," She smiled with that same shit eating grin she knew annoyed him. He shook his head, "You are evil." He said taking a bite of poptart. "I kinda started a rumor that he had a crush on that guy Josh." Tyler made a *thump*on the table with his glass. "Well I'd kick your little ass too if I were him!" She busts out laughing, unconcerned with waking their hungover parents. They knew an earthquake wouldn't wake them after date night. "I didn't mean for it to get around as fast as it did. Me and Katy were joking around and I mentioned that I thought I saw Taylor trying to kiss Josh!" She washes some pop tart down with milk and wipes her mouth with the sleeve of her jacket. "Somebody must've overheard us talking and started spreading it around, so it was just an accident." Tyler shrugged just as he heard the bus pulling up. Then he turned his glass up, enjoying the cold milk falling down his dry throat. He threw his backpack over his shoulder and said, "YOU ARE AN ACCIDENT...let's go." Her grin turned upside down as she followed him out the door. "Well I'm mom and dad's favorite so BLAH."
They walked through the front yard heading toward the bus. Tyler comes to a halt and reaches his hand in front of Angel and stops her. "What?" she said. "You see Taylor right there don't you..." He nods toward the middle window of the bus where She recognized the chubby pale freckled face of Taylor Barns. "Yeah, so?" "He's not alone." Then she notices the other two boys glaring right at them. "Crap! they're gonna try and jump us! What do we do!?" She imagined herself getting beat up by Taylor's big ass while his friends beat up Tyler. "We're gonna walk to school. I don't feel like dealing with these assholes today." "We can't! That'll take forever to walk!" "I know a shortcut through the woods. We'll get there before they will." "I've never been in the woods...what if we get lost!" She insisted. Tyler grabbed her wrist and lead her away from the bus as it's doors closed and moved away. On the same block, stood the remains of a condemned house. She thought they were going inside, but then Tyler cuts and walks around it. Behind the old house was the beginning of thick brush and tall trees that had dead limbs hanging above. In front of them, leading through all of the fading green red and yellow colors of autumn, was a walked down path that stretched forward as far as She could see, and fallen leaves covering the ground every step of the way. "We can cut right through the woods and come up behind the school. It's only about a mile walk."
*Crunch*
Tyler stepped into the edge of the forest and made it several yards out before he realized he was alone. He turned around to see his little sister standing still with wide eyes. "Come on! we gotta hurry or we'll be late!" He yelled. "I don't want too..." Angel said, her voice shaking. "We don't have a choice, now come on!" "It's scary in there! I'm not going..." "Don't do this to me angel, not now goddammit..." He groaned hard, already feeling groggy from poor sleep, and more than pissed about the long terrible day he predicted would end with him fighting off three overweight kids with bad breath. Angel folds her arms and says with a smart ass tone, "I won't do it! and you can't," Tyler all but leaps over to her and grabs her by the scruff of her coat. "You listen to me you little shit, because of you I'm gonna have to deal with those assholes probably all year!" He growled through his teeth. "I don't want to walk through these woods either and because of you I don't have a choice. Now follow me or I'll leave you here!" She starts welling up with tears, but Tyler didn't buy it. She did that all the time with their parents just to get her way. "You won't leave me here! mom and dad will kill you!" calling Tyler's bluff. "FINE!" Tyler pushed her down on her butt and leaving her behind. "Tyler if you leave me here I'll go wake mom and dad up right now!" her confidence faded when he didn't look back or slow down as he marched forward on the trail. She didn't want too, but she knew she didn't have a choice. So she followed. "Oh God...I don't like this...HEY LET ME CATCH UP!" she began running through the brush trying to catch up to her brother.
He didn't want to talk to her or let alone even look at Angel. All he did was try to tune out her complaining for most of the walk. He kept a quick pace to stay ahead of her, and still kept track of her by listening to her bitch about the woods and how mean he always was to her. She dragged her feet through the leaves, sounding as though they were hissing at her for disturbing them. He could hear every step she took and knew she was still right behind him. *CRUNCH CRUNCH* He was sick of her. *CRUNCH CRUNCH* He was sick of her getting everything that he wanted . *CRUNCH CRUNCH* He was sick of being her caretaker. *CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH* He was sick of his parents treating her like a princess and treating him like a workhorse. He was so tired. The injustice of his situation was getting to be too much. He did most of the chores around the house and always after a full day at school. He wasn't a slacker academically either. He maintained a B average and could even score an -A- in math when he felt like it. Sleep was a problem lately. Now it was bad dreams. They started over a few weeks ago and he had been dealing with the grogginess and fatigue from it everyday. As he followed the path, he made wishes that his parents would stop dismissing his complaints and would actually try to help him with his sleep problem. Maybe they could take a little bit of that money they blew every weekend on weed and booze and get him some medicine that'll help him sleep. That's all he wanted. Maybe he'd Just skip school today, go home and lay back down in his bed. He didn't care if he got yelled at. He didn't care if he had another nightmare; bring on the damn SPIDERS! He started to enjoy the walk some. The weather was cool and the woods were grey and beautiful today. And It was quiet. Not even the birds were chirping like they do in the summer. Save for the sound of shuffling leaves under his feet, it was calm and tranquil out there...save for the sound of leaves.
*CRUNCH*
He stopped in his tracks. Now it was almost silent out there. After he enjoyed only a few minutes of a relaxing walk through the woods, he realized something terrible. Dread came crawling up in his guts as it dawned on him that he hadn't heard a second shuffle in the leaves this whole time; he had blocked it all trying to escape this day. He turned around to see that Angel was nowhere in sight. As far as he could see, she was gone.
He kicked up leaves and dirt running back down the path. He reached the spot in the trail where he thought he last heard her. He looked all around, but saw nothing; no evidence that she was ever here. He looked at all the rotting crumbling leafs and sticks littered on the ground everywhere searching for a trail she might have left behind, but he couldn't even find his own tracks in the cold dried dead earth that blanketed the area. He took a deep breath. "ANGEL!!! I'M GONNA KICK YOUR ASS WHEN I FIND YOU!!!" He yelled as loud he could in the slim hope that she was pranking him for earlier. "THIS ISN'T FUNNY ANGEL! YOU'RE GONNA MAKE US LATE!" He heard nothing but the little cracks and twitches of nature. He took another deep breath. "FINE THEN! I'M GOING HOME AND WAKING MOM AND DAD UP AND TELL THEM EVERYTHING THAT YOU DID, LIKE HOW YOU GOT ME INTO FIGHTS AND HOW YOU AIN'T LISTENING AND HOW YOU WANDERED OFF AWAY FROM ME!" He took a quick breath to yell even louder; he was crying now. "GOD DAMN IT I HATE YOU!...YOU LITTLE BITCH!!!!!" He hurt his throat yelling so hard. He knew he'd be blamed for losing her as he was nearly hyperventilating. Then something merciful occurred to him, and it made so much sense that he immediately calmed down.
(That little brat turned around and went home! He turned around and started walking back down the trail. Thank God!)
He could make it to class and not have to deal with her, and if he saw Taylor, he could just walk wide circles around his fat ass. Then he could go home and maybe his Mom and Dad will hear him out and Angel will get scolded for once in her spoiled rotten little life. The best part of it all was that he could go back to bed and sleep; nightmares be damned. He'd grab the biggest fattest spider and use it for a pillow! He'll sleep and... and... then... Then he heard it. Something, a voice, a whisper, dancing through the silence of the woods. What is that? Faint, far away, but he heard it. It almost sounded like a person singing a note, dangling in the air like it was tied to a string. It was resonating with him, within him. He thought of a fishing lure in the water, flickering beautifully for any big mouth that might bite at it. That memory coming from fishing trips with his father. Yes. Think of a little fish swimming around in the bottom of the ocean, the pitch blackness of the deep. As black as space, minus the stars as not even the sun can be seen in the deep waters. What would you do if you were down there alone and scared and then suddenly you spotted salvation? A light! A little bulb of light just floating there in the nothing; Beautiful, Warm and just for you; would you have the sense to question it, or would you just chase it? And he chased it.
The voice sounded light and female. Sweet and calming. He didn't understand, but somehow he's whole mind was calm, yet his thoughts were clouded. His judgement subdued, but he was okay with it. Where is it? Where is it coming from? He could almost figure out the direction, but it still felt like it was in the air dangling just above his head. The longer he listened, the more it sounded to him like a woman singing. No words; just harmony. For a moment, a small opening in the dark clouds in his head, allowed for pessimism to shine through.
(What's happening to me... This doesn't make sense... I need to go home...)
Above him, the voice began to fall, creeping down, leading off the trail and deeper into the woods. The song was all but a lustful taunt now, beckoning him to give chase.
(COME FIND ME...)
"Who's that!" He heard it. It was in his head, an alien voice spoke so loud that he actually heard it more clearly than if it was spoken aloud. The opening in the dark clouds were closing and becoming darker like heavy storms with only glimmers of light showing through.
(COME FIND ME...TYLER...)
And with that command, he obeyed.
*CRUNCH*
He pushed through the dying forest. A machete would be handy. Either way, he was hell bent on finding her, or whatever it was calling him. He forgot about school, about Angel, about getting in trouble with his parents, and about Taylor's fatass. He wasn't studying anything else except,
(HURRY! COME FIND ME!)
There she was again. There was no mistaking it: this was the voice of a woman. He imagined her features that went along with that sweet voice. Long dark flowing hair, a perfect glowing face with almond eyes and a bright smile. Breasts, hips and long legs, Yes; there was a woman in these woods. Maybe she needed help? Maybe she needed a young man to come save her! Tyler knew none of that made sense, but he still had to find her no matter what. He reached a thick bush that seemed there was no getting around it, and there was a deep ditch on the other side that he hadn't noticed. He pulled his hands into his jacket, got down and fought and crawled through whatever openings he could find through. And what if he did find some weird woman out here; what was going to happen? It was unlikely that he was going to lose his virginity to some sexy siren out in the middle of these woods. He figured he had made it at least a mile or two away from the trail, and considered the trip back. The bush and brier patches annoyed him, as cracks in the dark clouds were letting more light shine through; then the voice would repeat itself:
(HURRY! COME FIND ME! HURRY!)
And the dark clouds would regain control over him. This voice was engaging his adolescence with promises limited only to his imagination, and he had a healthy imagination for his age. She'd be waiting for him on the other side of this shit, he'll emerge all cut up and bleeding, he'll see her standing there, she'll turn and see him down on all fours exhausted and go to him, drop to her knees getting dirt on her angelic white dress, he'll look up at her and see the most beautiful face he'd ever laid eyes on, she'll smile at him and put her soft warm hands on his face, he'll lay his head in her lap and she'll gently pet his head. Then she'll bend down to tell him something as her bosom squishes against the side of his head; her lips will move and,
*CRUNCH*
The ground he reached to grab wasn't there; he fell forward and rolled down the sudden drop into the ditch on the other side, landing flat on his face, hissing at the scraps and cuts. "that hurt..." The lights were on and he escaped the clouds; whatever had him, lost its hold in the fall. He couldn't hear her anymore. He didn't feel tired anymore, just slightly dead inside. Face down in the dirt, he thought about how there was no chance at making it to school on time, how horrible this day was, how things would be if Angel hadn't started shit with Tayler. Better yet, what if she had never been born? The day started off bad enough, and now here he was laying down in the dirt, in the middle of nowhere miles away from home and not sure how he was going to get back. Hell, he wasn't sure how he made it this far. He turned his head and saw more woods, then he turned the other way, resting his cheek on the cool dirt: The sun was setting. Already? How long had he been,
*Cccccrrraaaaaang*
His head lurched up to the loud metallic shriek. He saw nothing, Almost. He would have missed it otherwise, but he remembered now: the dream; there was something from it that this place conjured up. Right in front of him was a hill where the noise came from. At a first glance, there's nothing remarkable about it, yet somehow, Tyler knew the secret. He pushed himself up to his feet. He'd seen it before; that's what it was. He couldn't think of it that morning; he had to see it play out in front of him before he could remember it: There was a faint outline in the hill and Tyler reached and grabbed the side to feel around for..."There!" He pulled with all his strength, then he let go of the big rusty metal door as it fell open, unveiling metal stairs leading down into darkness. He knew this was here! Maybe an old cellar or a storm shelter, but how did he know it was here? He looked down and thought of going in, but then thought better of it. He stepped back away from the entrance, then lights flickered over the stairs defeating the darkness that covered them, leading down to a metal door. Tyler realized that it was dark all around him; the sun had finished setting and the daylight was over. The woods around him now scarier than the hole with lights reflecting off the steel walls and stairs. He took his first step following them down careful to not make a sound. He wasn't trying to sneak, but was ready to turn and run back up the steps and into the woods in case he might jump an animal or a homeless man living down here. The metal door wasn't closed all the way, as if someone left it cracked. He pushed and it swung open, revealing a long hallway with more lights flickering on. He went forward, and wasn't so afraid; now he was just curious.
(Some kind of bunker maybe? Old and abandoned, but still has electricity?)
The hallway made a sharp right turn, then there was another metal door left open as well. The lights were already on inside. Tyler peaked through the crack and saw a room filled with lab equipment.
(Some mad scientist's hidden laboratory? How the hell could something like this be here?)
None of the equipment was like anything he had ever seen before; even the tech displayed in science fiction movies did this stuff justice: it was all shiny and well kept. Whatever science project that was going on down here was serious, and obviously, a secret. He passed a file laid open and couldn't resist taking a look.
"1973 The M.A.W. Project. by Dr. Les. Entry##113 submitted at 4:54 AM 'On behalf of the staff at NEW CELL research LAB #13, we require further funding: This project must be finished. It is necessary to do this at the site of where this strand of the NEW CELL anomaly, was located and is where we need to conduct our work. We do not know how to make CELL grow on its own yet, but this environment seems to encourage a reaction. It takes the form of a gas, reduced to a molecular level and singled it out. That's how NEW CELL's R-strand was discovered. It infects organic tissue with a compound never seen in history. It's proven to have high mutative properties, like other NEW CELL strands, but the R-strand has an amazing effect: psychokinetics is developing in the subjects! The R-strand will catapult Bio Engineering to places never thought possible!"
Tyler skips a few pages.
"It was necessary to have built 'Lab #13 at the sight where R-strand was discovered; It is imperative that our research continue, and is the opinion of this department and myself. The location isn't ideal, but this is also closest to civilian life that NEW CELL has been found to inhabit. It is costly -and risky- but necessary in order to collect this priceless data. You of course have seen the product of the remarkable capabilities of the R-strand with the M.A.W. Project; It's still to soon to move on from this location! So much we still have to learn! This is about the future of our species!"
Tyler flips to the last pages in the file:
Request to terminate the M.A.W. project.
"We have accomplished huge strides with the research of the R-strand. We've concluded that this location is not in fact the place of its origin. We can't prove it yet, but we believe now that the R-strand isn't native, or that the location is consequential to the mutations. The cells of R-strand cover this area, slowly growing like any organic matter. We are close to making a significant breakthrough on R-strand, and likely a huge leap in the NEW CELL anomaly.
Concerning The MAW Project, she has proven R-strand's remarkable capabilities, but we feel the project has hit a dead end, and is no longer a viable source for further study. I will note that with careful planning: further development of NEW CELL Projects can heed viable results, and we shouldn't shut the Lab down just yet. However, MAW'S devolvement has hit a brick wall. Her higher brain functions mimic that of the human host used, and this could be what is making her feral. However, I don't believe that to be the case. There's something else I've been looking into: It is possible that R-strand itself is where this intelligent/malevolent behavior is coming from. We had removed her brain and three of her limbs for our own protection, yet these problems persist. If my theory is true, then that means that the NEW CELL anomaly is the most intelligent viral life form ever exhibited. It goes beyond what human evolution has ever been capable of.
Concerning MAW: it is understood that the resources expended on her were substantial, but we've got all that we need and then some from the project. Immediate termination of MAW is requested. Let me also clarify the problems arising for the Lab in keeping her contained here: we believe she's been telepathically commuting with sentient life outside of the perimeter. First we notice an excess of animals wandering closer to the lab, then our security was finding civilian life wandering in the area, and furthermore, somehow getting inside; they never remember how they got here. One poor soul actually made it inside MAW's containment: what we found wasn't a pretty sight. We have other issues of MAW affecting Lab #13 personal. Mostly complaints of strange dreams and emotional problems. Working within such close range of MAW is subject to high stress, and the project wasn't recommended to personal with pre existing mental conditions, as it became common that She could exacerbate the conditions. I myself am having trouble, as I haven't been able to sleep well in months. I and my staff humbly request that a N.C.H. team is sent to sterilize this area, and to terminate the MAW Project."
Tyler saw there was a tape recorder next to the file. He pressed rewind, and then the Play.
'Those bastards. They actually went ahead and did it. The data we collected over the course of L thirteen's establishment was more than viable enough and worth saving, but no, those bastards never cared. They really went ahead and did it! They're gonna leave us and L thirteen to rot! We got them everything they wanted from the NEW CELL growing in this area, and then they cut their losses and abandon us! R-strand is growing; its infecting this whole area. Yes we were here to research it, but also to contain it! The civilian life that's anywhere within a thousand kilometers will be totally lost...
They sealed us in here. The team we requested sealed us down here to die! I Wonder how far they'll get before they too are...
It's MAW again...
I hear her now, she's tempting me. I'm out of time..."
The rest of the tape was nearly silent save for steps on the tile floor, echoing as they got further away, until they couldn't be heard, and then silenced altogether. There was nothing now but the light hiss of the tape spinning, and there would be nothing else on the rest of the tape either.
*thunk*
Tyler heard something. He turned to see another door. He carefully pushed it open, and there was more stairs. No lights flickered on this time. It looked like the stairway to hell itself. Briefly, there was no way he was going down. So turned back. He was done with this. He was frightened and wanted nothing more than to leave this place and forget about it, the tape, everything. It was cold and lifeless in here. He had to get home. Then, he heard her voice; not the woman, not the sirens song he heard all afternoon, but his sister's voice.
"Tyler..."
He heard it. And it wasn't in his head. "Hello?" "Tyler..." "Angel? is that you!" he yelled. It was coming from down the rusty stairs, coming from the bottom. No response. He took a deep breath, and then he took the first step down, then another, then on the third, he heard Angel's blood curdling scream eco from the bottom. "Angel! Hold on!" He yelled going down the steps as fast as he could, nearly slipping on what he thought was rags or towels, following Angel's scream all the way to the bottom; down to the precipice. The scream ceased just he saw a metal door hanging from bent hinges; It was decimated, ripped through like tissue paper. His gut told him to turn and leave now, then something caught his eye: Something familiar was hanging on one of the sharp pieces of the metal door, slivers of cloth. He approached and grabbed it: on the front was torn ribbond of tHanna Montana's face still smiling that plastic smile. Tyler felt terror crawl up through his guts. Suddenly the lights came on above. The floor was covered in discarded clothing. Most of it was adult sized: white lab coats, leather shoes, male and female undergarments, socks, and more laying everywhere. Watches, cellphones, pens, wigs, jewelry, etc. He looked up the stairs, and saw even more just littered all the way up. He realized something horrible: Nothing can get close to this place without coming under the influence of this MAW...How many people had wandered down here just like himself? Facing the stairs, he stepped on something sizeable. He bent down, and found that it was a backpack. Hanna Montana's face plastered on it too. It was Angel's. He went down to his hands and knees and found a small pile of clothes, jeans, pink socks, a bright pink jacket and white panties. He became nauseous, his stomach twisting itself up as he understood that Angel, along with all these other people had all been...
*CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH*
The sickening sound found his ears, and then, he heard that woman's voice speak aloud,
"Tyler, You found me."
(The little fish that swims in the darkness will see the dangling light and approach it; never seeing the terrifying mouth of the anglerfish waiting just behind the light.)
A moist and warm gust of air covered him, and behind it was the mouth that exhaled it. Tyler on all fours, turned his head around to see it, and what he saw was a giant gaping mouth, filled with large jagged teeth, smelling of death and wide enough to bite him in half. For a moment, he didn't want to run away. For a moment, the mouth seemed to not be so threatening. For a moment, he was almost at peace with it, then that turned into a euphoria, rapturous, pleasurable even. The dark clouds were thundering, blocking all light, all sense. He was okay with this. Even wanted it...for a moment. Then, as the mouth neared and began closing down, he saw something hanging from one of the long yellow stained teeth: something little, long and black. Like a worm? No... He then realized what it was, and all the clouds blow away as sheer horror swept through like a 200 mph wind: It was in fact, a lock of hair from Angel's head. The mouth spoke once more as the fresh stince of blood and guts seeped from the beastly dripping mouth:
"You found me."
He screamed louder then he ever had in his life. His fight or flight chose the latter. His prone position was almost that of a runner's stance, as the mouth started to close down for a bite. Tyler lunged up the metal staircase, the piles of clothes, phones and jewelry impeding him every step of the way, all the while that hot sick breath was rushing up his shirt. He made it halfway up the stairs and looked back at it to see if he was getting away from it. When he did, an even louder scream erupted from him with tears and mucus pouring from his face. He saw a massive hand reaching up for him, big enough to grab him around his waist and crush him into pulp, and pull him back down to face the same nightmarish death that his kid sister met. He caught a good look at the thing: a huge humanoid, that looked like it would have been a giant, but there was nothing below its lower torso. The hand swiped at him just barely missing the temporarily despondent boy, its large nails making deep scratches on the metal, sending an ear splitting shriek through the air. Tyler cuffed his ears in pain. He saw it trying to orient itself to take another swipe. It seemed to look up and let out a guttural roar at him, spitting its saliva and little tiny pieces of Angel all over him. Then he saw that the thing was missing its eyes: above the mouth, everything; a nose, its cranium, eyeholes, were gone. Atop of the mouth was just the healed over stump from where those things used to have been, maybe. That huge hand was connected to a long muscular arm, the only limb it seemed to have left. Then all at once, Tyler understood it:
(It can't do much else but eat. So it got good at luring its meals down to it... Like one of those parasites that wiggle into the head of a grasshopper and make it commit suicide and that's how the worm survived...That's how this thing survived. He could hear it; feel it. The same voice the owners of these piles of clothes heard. The same voice that Angel heard. That same sweet voice that lured him down, all the way from home, was now trying to wiggle its way back into his head. She was telling him that everything was alright; come back down, take your clothes off -and anything else that if wouldn't like to chew on- and everything will be alright. Come down. Come down. Come down. Come down. Come down. Come down come down come down come down Come down. Come down. Come down. Come down. Come down. Come down come down come down come down Come down. Come down. Come down. Come down. Come down. Come down come down come down come down Come down. Come down. Come down. Come down. Come down. Come down come down come down come down Come down. Come down. Come down. Come down. Come down. Come down. Come down. Come down come down come down come down Come down. Come down. Come down. Come down. Come down. Come down. Come down come down come down come down Come down. Come down. Come down.)
"COME DOWN TO ME NOW!!!!!"
Tyler snapped out of it for the last time as She lurched forward, mouth open wide. Tyler turned to the metal stairs, crawled up the rest of them and finally reached the door. He bolted through the lab, hearing both her voice in his head, beckoning him, while the monster was bellowing from below; cursing at the escape of its meal. Tyler passed the file, and grabbed it thinking he might need it later with all the rational thinking he had left, besides running. He reached the long hallway, the echo of his shoes coming down on the metal engulfing everything including her cries for him. He leaped out of the big metal door, and he got on the other side of it and pushed with all his strength, making slam back shut. Then he was out into the dark woods, at this point the safest place in the world to him. He didn't stop. He ran back the way he came. He made his way around the hill he fell down, found the path through the brush that he made earlier and finally after scurrying through all of it again, he found the path to the school; the same path he could take home. The running wasn't over; not yet; Not until he saw his parents.
His mother and father sat on the front porch along with several police officers who were gathering up for a search party. The mother with her head in her hands and the father was speaking to the police officer taking down descriptions in his book. The red and blue lights of the police cars lit the whole street up, and that's how Tyler found his way back. He saw the lights and new that that had to be his block. He held the file in his hand that would prove that everything he saw was true. He finally took a moment to catch his breath...
Then, she spoke to him again, and he listened...and he listened.
His mother looked up with tears in her eyes and almost didn't see him: her son was standing there covered in dirt, grime and little bleeding cuts all over him. He was empty handed. She cried and ran to her son and embraced him as his father and the police officers followed. She hugged him tight. She loved him and he felt it. His father kneeled down with tears in his eyes, checking Tyler's wounds. "Tyler, what happened?" "Tyler, are you okay?" "Tyler, talk to me baby!" "Tyler...where's Angel?" He was in awe. He looked up to the night sky without saying anything. He saw that the stars were out. They cared. They cared. He felt like he was the center of their world. And it made him feel good. This felt good. She was right.
****
Tyler woke up at 6:00 AM to the sound of his alarm blaring ZZ Top. He was sleeping so well that he hated the alarm. He stretched and pulled himself out of bed. He looked out of his window and saw the sun creeping up from behind the line of trees of the woods behind that old house. He grabbed the window seal and stretched himself. He left his room, past the hallway bathroom, and then went into the room that -use to- belong to Angel. The posters still hung, but the room was a mess where the police had searched it for any possible leads. He ignored the mess like his parents did, albeit for different reasons. He enjoyed a shower. Angel's shower that was. In the kitchen he ate uncooked poptarts with milk. He was feeling great, well rested and had a sense of wellbeing he hadn't felt in a long time. He thought about trying out for basketball, or maybe football. The school bus pulled up outside and he slammed his milk and ran out the door. On the bus he sat in the middle, right next to a girl he had never talked to before, and they struck up a conversation. As they got off the bus she waved at him and saying whe would love to have lunch with him. He smiled and turned to go to class. He ended up trying out for football and fell in love with the sport that day. He liked his coach, and he made friends with almost everyone on the team. Everyone except for one big freckled face Taylor Barns. When Tyler caught up with him after school, Taylor didn't know what to say to this knew and very chipper Tyler. They had gotten into a fight over his sister, and then she was pronounced dead, all back in the fall. When the bus passed his house, it seemed to be a ghost house with nobody home. Now here he was trying to make friends? How could he say no. He thought that he should try and be nice. Felt like he owed him that much. He didn't have much of a choice though... No choice, really. See, Taylor had recently been experiencing some sleep deprivation, all from some recurring nightmares within the last week, give or take. Perhaps brought on by some remorse; an underserved guilt over the disappearance of Tyler's kid sister. He didn't know why it was happening; he definitely didn't know that Tyler knew about it, either. Taylor agreed to hang out with him after practice, and they would walk to Tyler's house, play video games, and talk about football. Tyler told him that he knew a shortcut through the woods. Taylor Barns smiled, and Tyler smiled right back...
and so did she.
*CRUNCH*
Written by Jacob Pittman.

Hello everybody,
Welcome to the second discussion of Babel by RF Kuang! Sorry that this discussion has been posted a day late, there was a family crisis at my end. A few of our questions from last week’s discussion have been answered in this part of the book, but as we learn more about this world I think it’s fair to say that everyone will have a lot more questions they’d like answered.
Summary
Chapter 5
Robin goes to the Twisted Root with his doppelgänger, who upon closer inspection doesn’t appear to be an exact copy of Robin after all – he is older than Robin, slightly taller and thinner, and has darker hair and paler skin [so that probably puts an end to the hypothesis that future Robin has travelled back in time, although I greatly enjoyed that part of last week’s discussion].
He tells Robin that his name is Griffin Lovell, and that not only are they half brothers but Professor Lovell actually has a wife and two (acknowledged) children living on an estate in Yorkshire. The professor married his wife Johanna for her money; she is terribly rich with five hundred pounds a year [maybe I’ve read too much Jane Austen but that doesn’t seem like a lot?] and he uses her money to fund his travels abroad. Griffin doesn’t think Johanna knows about him and Robin, but doubts she would care apart from any potential scandal. He points out that ironically, the professor spends more time with his unacknowledged children than his acknowledged ones, who he sees maybe twice a year.
Griffin tells Robin that he’s part of a criminal group called The Hermes Society that steals silver, manuscripts and engraving materials from Babel, adding that Robin’s help the previous night was technically treason and if anyone found out he would be tortured and thrown into Newgate prison.
Griffin also asks Robin why his mother died – not how, but why.
They walk around Oxford to avoid being overheard as they continue their conversation, and Robin buys pastries to back up the lie he told Ramy about going to see Professor Lovell. Griffin tells him he is from Macau. He asks Robin to help The Hermes Society steal, as he has access to Babel. He can’t, or won’t, tell Robin more details about the headquarters or members, but says they redistribute silver to people who need it more than wealthy Londoners. Griffin tells him what most silver is actually used for - not for healing people, but for more frivolous uses like alarm clocks and colour-changing curtains
He also says the second and third largest sources of Babel’s income are militaries and slave traders. Babel collects foreign languages and uses them for translation magic that benefits England and the empire. The new powerful bars use Chinese, Sanskrit and Arabic. Griffin calls it a deliberate exploitation of foreign cultures and foreign resources that is intricately tied to the business of colonialism. The British empire amasses silver and it cajoles, manipulates and threatens other countries into trade deals that benefit them. The silver allows the British to make their ships faster, soldiers hardier and guns more deadly.
However, Hermes aids slave revolts and resistance movements, melting down silver made for cleaning doilies and using them to cure disease instead, Robin thinks it’s a compelling argument but implicates everything he holds dear. He realises his hesitation boils down to fear. He is reluctant to say yes as he still doesn’t know much about Hermes, but Griffin tells him this is real life which is messy, scary and uncertain and asks Robin to take a chance.
Robin asks for time to think, and Griffin gives him five days. He instructs him to carve an X on a birch tree in the Merton College gardens if he wants to join them. Griffin tells Robin he can’t reach him directly, which is for his safety in case Robin turns out to be an informer. In the meantime, he should act like a Babel student and try not to be suspicious.
Robin asks Griffin if Professor Lovell knows about him, but he doesn’t know; he left Babel after his third year when it was no longer safe to continue his double life. He tells Robin not to mention his name to the professor. He also reveals that Robin’s room on Magpie Lane used to be his room.
Chapter 6
Professor Playfair’s class on Translation Theory talks about the difficulty of translation, as there is no one to one correlation between words or concepts. As he talks, Robin thinks about how Griffin’s conspiracies sound ridiculous in the light of day.
The professor says the dilemma of translation is do we take words as our unit of translation, or do we subordinate accuracy of individual words to the overall spirit of the text? Translators do not so much deliver a message as they rewrite the original, as things like syntax, grammar, morphology and orthography get in the way. Victoire speaks confidently and precisely in class as if reading from the textbook, and Robin feels intimidated.
Professor Playfair talks about The Tower of Babel parable from the Book of Genesis, and how nobody knows what the original, Adamic language is. Some people think its Hebrew, another language lost to time, a new language that we should invent, or even French or English. Ramy suggests it is Syriac, and the professor laughs at his joke, although Robin isn’t sure if it was supposed to be a joke.
Professor Playfair says it doesn’t matter what the Adamic language was as we’ve clearly lost access to it, but Babel can collect all the world’s languages under one roof and by perfecting the arts of translation they can achieve what humanity lost. He gets emotional with tears in his eyes.
Robin asks if Babel’s purpose is to bring mankind back together, and everyone else is confused by his question. Professor Playfair finally answers that it is; “Such is the project of empire – and why, therefore, we translate at the pleasure of the Crown.”
Latin taught by Professor Margaret Craft, who is severe and doesn’t refer to them by name. Robin doesn’t like her. Letty is rapt, however, and gazes at the professor with shining admiration. After class, Letty tries to speak to her privately and get advice about being a woman at Oxford, but she dismisses Letty, saying class is over and that she is infringing on her time.
The students have solo tutorials in their languages of study. Robin’s Chinese instructor is not Professor Lovell, but Professor Anand Chakravarti, who speaks English with a posh London accent. The professor doesn’t lecture, but converses with Robin to dismantle and understand Chinese.
He and Lovell are trying to answer various questions, and since Robin is useful as a rare native speaker capable of expanding the bounds of Babel’s scant existing knowledge (or a silver mine to be plundered). But Robin is excited to contribute to the Grammaticas.
Robin can’t answer everything, especially regarding Classical Chinese which is to vernacular Mandarin as Latin is to English. He asks Professor Chakravarti if they could just take a research trip to Peking and talk to other people who might know. However, the Qing Emperor has made it punishable by death to teach a foreigner Chinese.
Robin asks if there are other students who speak Chinese, and the professor gives him a funny look. He tells him there was another student called Griffin Harvey who was nice but not as diligent as Robin, but he died of an illness on a research trip. Robin asks if they could get more Chinese students at Babel, or set up an exchange programme, but the professor brings up national loyalties and that Professor Lovell thinks they require a certain upbringing because the Chinese tend towards certain natural inclinations. But of course, they don’t mean Robin as he was raised ‘properly’.
Robin goes for dinner with Professor Lovell. His Oxford house is smaller than his Hampstead one but is still fancy. The trees have cherries even though the fruit is not in season, and Robin thinks there is probably silver in the soil. Mrs Piper is excited to see him and is shocked at his stories about the college food.
At dinner, they talk about Robin’s studies and Professor Lovell tells him another story about Psammetichus isolating two infants from language to see what the original language was, and concluding that it was Phrygian. Professor Lovell says it’s a pretty story, and muses about how it might be interesting to buy a child and try it.
Professor Lovell derides the idea of an Adamic language. He talks about dominant languages, and throws some shade at Portuguese. Robin is drinking, and feels the conversation is getting away from him so tries to pull it back to familiar territory. The professor says European languages are dwindling in importance, and that they need eastern languages to innovate. He thinks Chinese is the future.
There are some departmental politics among the academics at Babel, and some people are hurt that only one of the new students is a classicist and that she’s a woman. However Professor Lovell says the classicists will have trouble getting jobs when they graduate.
Robin asks who buys the silver bars. The professor says its people who can afford them, which is simple economics. People in other countries can’t always afford the export fees. Robin asks why they don’t use them for healing abroad, but the professor says they can’t expend energy researching any frivolous applications. Robin thinks it’s only fair to have an exchange since they’re using foreign languages and give nothing in return, but the professor says language isn’t a commercial good but an infinite resource.
The professor says the Qing Emperor has one of the largest silver reserves in the world, so why don’t they have their own grammars and silver bars – why should the British just hand them to them? Robin says they are hoarding knowledge, because if languages are free, then why are the Grammaticas locked up in the tower?
Professor Lovell coldly asks if Robin believes what they do is fundamentally unjust, and Robin says he just wants to know why silver couldn’t save his mother. The professor is flustered, and says it was Canton’s poor public hygiene that led to the cholera outbreak that killed his mother, not the unequal distribution of silver bars. Robin is drunk and continues to argue, and the professor says “She was only just a woman”.
They are interrupted by the doorbell ringing – it is Sterling Jones, the nephew of the famous William Jones. He stares at Robin and acts weird and rude. He and the professor start their own conversation about translation and ignore Robin, who feels out of place and dismissed, especially as they hadn’t finished discussing his mother. He leaves the professor’s house and goes to Merton College, where he carves an X on the tree Griffin told him about.
Chapter 7
The following Monday, Robin finds a note under his windowsill. It’s in Chinese characters and also a code. Robin cracks the code and it says “The next rainy night. Open the door at precisely midnight, wait inside the foyer, then walk back out at five past. Speak to no one. Go straight home after. Do not deviate from my instructions. Memorize, then burn.”
Wednesday evening brings heavy rain, and Robin feels mounting dread all day as the sky darkens. At 11:45pm he starts to head towards Babel, but Ramy sees him, and Robin has to lie again and pretend he forgot something in the stacks. Ramy seems to accept the lie.
At midnight, Robin approaches the entrance to Babel and two people in black appear. He lets them in, and waits as instructed. He never sees their faces. It seems to go smoothly but he sleeps badly that night and is late for his Latin study group. Ramy says he knocked twice on Robin’s door but there was no response, so he had assumed Robin had already left. Robin says he slept badly due to nightmares, and Victoire is sympathetic. Letty is annoyed though, because Ramy wouldn’t let them start until Robin arrived.
The students have drastically different translation styles and engage in lively debate. Letty likes to stick to Latin grammatical structures as much as possible even if it makes sentences awkward, Ramy prefers to abandon technical accuracy for rhetorical flourishes that he thinks better deliver the point, while Victoire is frustrated by the limits of English. Robin feels better sinking into the refuge of Latin, but still feels some dread. The anxiety really hits him that afternoon and he is distracted in Latin class, but nobody comes to arrest him. That night he has a new note under his windowsill saying to await further contact from Hermes. He is disappointed despite all the anxiety and dread of the day, and hopes for more missions.
Weeks pass and he acts like a normal student, and falls in love with Oxford and its people. He’s constantly tired from the coursework but is forming close friendships with the other three students. He and Victoire share a love of literature, and even Letty becomes more tolerable. Her insights into the British class system are a source of great amusement, especially when she trashes Colin Thornhill as “the sort of bottom-feeding middle-class leech who likes to pretend he’s got connections because his family knows a mathematics tutor at Cambridge.”
The four students need each other because they have no one else. The older students at Babel are unfriendly; one of the second years, Philip Wright, tells Robin he got into Oxford because Babel is ‘overcorrecting’ and taking spots away from equally qualified (presumably white British) candidates. Robin starts to see things through his friends’ eyes, although the four of them do argue; Robin and Victoire disagree on the superiority of English vs French literature, and Letty and Victoire get snippy around issues of money. Letty and Ramy bicker the most, usually about British colonialism in India. Even still, they spend all their time together and Robin realises it’s the first time since he left Canton that he feels he has a family, a circle of people he loves so fiercely his chest hurt when he thought about them. He feels guilty for loving Oxford as much as he does, despite the daily slights. He feels like he’s not ready to fully commit to Hermes, and that he would kill for his friends. By the end of Michaelmas term he would trust them with his life.
Robin later wonders why he never told his friends about Hermes, and was only tempted once during argument between Ramy and Letty about British presence in India, including the Battle of Plassey in 1757 [which marked the beginning of British rule in India]. Robin almost said something, but stops himself because he “could not bear how this confession would shatter the life they’d built for themselves.” He can’t resolve the contradiction of loving being at Babel despite it becoming clearer that its foundations were unjust.
Chapter 8
Robin assists Hermes in three more thefts, but never found out what they stole or what it was used for. He is almost caught during the fourth robbery, when a chatty third year student called Cathy O’Nell comes into the building while he’s there. When she leaves and the two Hermes thieves reappear, one of them asks Robin what Cathy said to him. Robin thinks his voice seems strangely familiar but he can’t place it. He continues to help Hermes and convinces himself he’s not doing anything dangerous.
A week into the Hilary term, after Robin assists in his seventh theft, Griffin meets him again in person for what feels like a progress report. Griffin says the Hermes thieves like working with Robin because he sticks to the instructions, and that he’s pleased. He won’t tell Robin more about Hermes. Robin asks how the arrangement will end up because it seems unsustainable, and Griffin says very few stay in Babel so it’s likely he’ll either get caught or have to fake his own death and go underground, like Griffin did five years ago. Robin hesitates at the idea of being cut off from Babel.
Griffin tells him how the Romans fattened up dormice – by using a glirarium, a jar with breathing holes with surfaces so polished that the mice couldn’t escape. They provided food, and the jars had ledges and walkways to keep them occupied, and they were kept dark so the dormice would think it’s time to hibernate and fatten up. But Babel represented more than material comforts for Robin; it was also about belonging and recognition of his talents. As Griffin leaves, he says “Enjoy your glirarium, little dormouse.”
Robin feels conflicted, like he has two hearts. Babblers were privileged in some ways in Oxford, such as getting special treatment in the libraries. Their living expenses were paid for and they received a generous stipend and access to a discretionary fund, unlike other servitors who had to serve food or clean tutors’ rooms. One night he finds Bill Jameson struggling with his bills, and Robin lends him money.
Babel is rich and respected, and the students enjoy being fawned over by visiting scholars. Letty and Victoire realise that they can get away with looking more feminine, despite the university telling them to wear men’s clothes; they start growing out their hair, and Letty even wears a skirt to dinner. However, Ramy can’t get served in pubs, and the girls can’t get books out of library without a male student. Victoire is sometimes mistaken for a maid.
The students develop Oxford English and all the words and phrases that entails. However there are many social rules and unspoken conventions to struggle with, which Letty understands the best because she is from a posh background. Ramy wonders why they are never invited to parties, and Letty explains calling cards to them. She ridicules rich boys studying on their fathers’ money, like Elton Pendennis, a second year gentleman-commoner. However, Robin envies them and imagines what it would be like to be part of their circle, and the belonging that would come with it.
One night, Robin receives a calling card from Elton Pendennis, inviting him to drinks the following Friday. Ramy doesn’t understand why Robin would want to go, and thinks he’s invited because he passes as white. He asks Robin if he’s hoping they’ll invite him to join the Bullingdon Club. Letty also opposes Robin going, saying that those boys are bad influences, and Robin is surprised to see that she looks like she’s about to cry.
That Friday, Robin puts on his one nice jacket and goes to Elton’s flat. A guy called Milton St Cloud answers the door and is rude, although he lets him in. Three other boys are inside smoking cigars. Robin thinks about how Elton is really handsome up close, a “Byronic hero incarnate”. Elton is telling a weird story about his dad’s friend inviting homeless people to a fancy dinner party, and how he wished he’d been there because he thinks it sounded hilarious. Robin recognises Colin Thornhill, and Elton introduces to Robin to Vincy Woolcombe. Colin is eager to say he knows Robin.
The boys ask Robin ignorant questions about China. Robin asks what they’re planning to do with their degrees and they laugh, and Elton calls it proletarian to ‘do’ something. Vincy says Elton will live off his estate and subject his guests to grand philosophical observations. Elton reveals that he writes, and reads some of his bad poetry to Robin – a reply to Shelley’s Ozymandias. [The author shits on Percy Shelley again and I’m honestly starting to wonder if RF Kuang is u/Amanda39’s pen name?]
Elton scoffs at translation as being for those without creative fire, but Robin disagrees; he says it’s harder than original composition as you’re constrained by the original. He says the translator dances in shackles, which impresses the other boys.
Robin no longer cares if they like him, and feels pity for them. He also realises that no one ever talks back to Elton Pendennis. They talk a bit about silver-working, and Robin explains that not everyone can do it as you have to live and breathe a language for the magic to work. He decides to leave and put the other boys out of their misery.
The next morning, Ramy and Victoire laugh at Robin’s story about the party, and he recites bits of Elton’s terrible poem for them. Letty doesn’t laugh though, and storms off. After she leaves, Victoire tells them that Letty’s brother Lincoln died the previous year. He came to Oxford and acted like Elton Pendennis does. One night he went out drinking and was run over by a cart. Letty came to Oxford a few months later, and Babel was the only faculty that would take women [sidenote – in real life, women could attend the University of Oxford from the late 1870s (although not all colleges), and could receive actual degrees for the first time in 1920].
Victoire tells them they don’t understand how hard it is being a woman at Oxford – “Every weakness we display is a testament to the worst theories about us, which is that we’re fragile, we’re hysterical, and we’re too naturally weak-minded to handle the kind of work we’re set to do.” She adds that much of Letty’s behaviour is dictated by fear, such as her fear she isn’t meant to be at Oxford, her fear that she’ll be sent home, and her fear that Ramy or Robin will follow in her brother’s footsteps.
The next day Letty is better and even smiles at Robin. Professor Playfair’s classes that term focus on the idea of fidelity, who the translation should be faithful to – the text, the audience, the author? They discuss it, but the professor says there is no correct answer and it’s an ongoing debate in the field. He tells them that the opposite of fidelity is betrayal, and that translation means doing violence on the original. Robin feels a squirm of guilt in his gut.
Bookclub Bingo 2023 categories: POC author or story, fantasy, big read, historical fiction
Other potentially useful links (although beware of spoilers):

• Babel on Wikipedia
• RF Kuang on Wikipedia
• Babel on Goodreads
• Babel on Storygraph

The discussion questions are in the comments below.
Join us for the next discussion on Sunday 26th March, when we talk about Book 2, Chapters 9-12 [approx. 60 pages].

Presenting a chapter from what will eventually be the full 1st Volume of the Multiversal Manuscript, a catalog of all sorts of new characters, places, and things drawn from all piles of notes and random writing I've done for my D&D games and setting work. While generally written for a Dungeons & Dragons and Pathfinder style setting, its contents can be setting agnostic and made to fit any world.
This chapter contains entries for 19 Organizations as well as sample NPCs for each. It also includes the 20 page Appendix of minor entries that are referenced by both the Organizations in this text and what will eventually be the full product. Consider them a sneak preview.
They are intended to serve varied roles in many settings, from allies to enemies and anything in between. These organizations and their members are meant to be both inspiration and foundation for more, providing hooks and conflicts that can be tailored to your own worlds.
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• The Aggrieved - Covert - Grudge Bearing Dwarves
• The Bedlam - Mercenary - Chaotic Shock Troopers
• Black Iron’s Sixth - Military - Entrenched Goblinoid Remnant
• Celebrants of the Corpse Gods - Cult - Worshippers of the Divine Dead
• Crownfall Initiative - Covert - Resurgent Spy Masters
• The Dead Fish - Criminal - Infamous Harbor Gang
• Dustbringers' Market - Guild - Ghostly Wandering Merchants
• House Garsese - Noble - Hoard Takers and Ruin Delvers
• House Nemosar - Noble - Psionic Power Brokers
• The Manifest Order - Druid - Totemic Hybrid Shapeshifters
• Onyxfang Syndicate - Criminal - Werebeast Controlling Crime Families
• Order of the Unbound Tome - Mercenary - Arcane Tactical Operators
• The Reclaimers - Cult – Paranoid Artifact Destroyers
• The Ruinous Dawn - Divine - Seekers of Deific Rebirth
• School of the Last Gasp - Monk School - Rogue Trap Masters
• Thurandic Earthguard - Military - Alchemically Enhanced Elemental Warriors
• Typhon’s Revenge - Military - Rebels With A Dreadnought
• Wakeners - Arcane - Spreaders of Magical Knowledge
• The Zolothron - Mercenary - Loot Hungry Orc Artificers

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It is Free on DriveThruRPG - https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/430677/Multiversal-Manuscript--Volume-1--Organizations?src=Reddit
Slowly working my way through editing everything and in refining the Organizations the size of the overall project has gone gone up about 25 pages. Looking at working on either my Monsters or Gods chapters next.
There is also my more general Preview version I posted here about 4 months ago if it is of interest; it gives an idea of the full scope of the project and what the final think is headed towards, content wise.
Any comments or suggestions to edits on either doc is welcome!
Below are 3 examples from the set -
-----Examples-----

Aggrieved, The

Covert - Grudge Bearing Dwarves
A clandestine organization of dwarves spread across the world. For a fee, they take on the grudges and hatreds of any dwarf or clan, storing them in massive iron tomes. They dispatch specialists to ensure that the targets of the grudges suffer or repay what is owed, be it in blood or gold. The group actively recruits dwarves who have nothing left to lose, such as exiles, criminals, lone survivors, or those who cannot fit into normal dwarven society. The Aggrieved provides them with purpose and an outlet for pent-up frustrations, especially against surface dwellers or their eternal foes in the depths of the world. While the group is something of an open secret in most dwarven communities, they are keen to keep their existence from outsiders. Chief among the grievances they are sought to satisfy is the reacquisition of ancient dwarven treasures that have been stolen and the punishment of those who currently possess them, even if they are many owners removed from the original thieves. Rumors persist of a Grudgebearer who has spent over a hundred years systematically tracking down every subsequent owner of a long-dead dwarven mountain lord’s treasure, leaving hundreds of dead in their wake. The Aggrieved also fulfills more indirect grievances, such as ensuring that a particular human noble family will forever see their fortunes ruined for cheating a clan elder in a trade deal in a prior generation, or that the elves will never expand past the mountains that once belonged to a now-fallen dwarven city for failing to come to their aid when needed. Additionally, a few of their members, more unstable and violent than the rest, are sent on Bitter Hunts to forever seek out and slay the sworn enemies of the dwarves until they wipe them all out or die in the process.
Kerganosk the Brazen: An Aggrieved hunter who has made it his mission to seek revenge against fire giants. He has become a legend among the giants, who fear him greatly. The dwarf is known for his scorched and pitted brass armor, which he refuses to take off until he has seen to the utter decimation of his enemies. Despite the fact that the greater dwarven kingdoms have publicly disavowed Kerganosk's crusade, they do nothing to stop him. In fact, many younger dwarves who are eager to earn a name for themselves or reject the withdrawn nature of their forebearers have joined his cause. These dwarves are cult-like in their devotion to Kerganosk and have expanded their hatred to include all giants, no matter where they may be. Although Kerganosk remains focused on his mission, he is more than willing to share his martial tactics and specialized weaponry with anyone who wishes to see the giants destroyed, even non-dwarves who show some talent. Together with his allies, he has been able to vex his enemies for years, often laying low for extended periods as they plan simultaneous strikes against multiple targets, or emerging suddenly for an overwhelming attack on a valuable target before quickly disappearing once again. Through bounty hunters and smaller allies. the giants have attempted to track down Kerganosk and his hidden lairs throughout the Underdelve. Thus far they have only found fleeting traces of his passing and no small number of cleverly hidden traps in the broken halls of dead dwarven fortresses that the Brazen and his followers rotate through.
Gallkag Brimrift: A grim dwarf who has claimed a stretch of mountains that were once settled as part of a collaborative effort between dwarves and humans to establish a long-lasting trade city. However, the short-lived humans and their tumultuous politicking soured the venture, leading to tensions that eventually flared into skirmishes, then war. In the end, the dwarves were forced to cut their losses and retreat back into the depths of the earth to their homeland. Gallkag, left for dead in the last days of the conflict, was "rescued" by the Aggrieved. After he recovered, he eagerly took it upon himself to make the humans of the region pay for their transgressions. He now ceaselessly stalks the mountain passes of his former home, waylaying any human travelers that have the misfortune of crossing paths with him and his pack of beasts. Operating out of the half-built trade city, Gallkag's territory is honeycombed with tunnels that only he knows about. Many have tried to ferret the vicious dwarf out, but his mastery of the landscape allows him to evade interlopers with ease, picking them off one by one or tricking them into the many hazards present.
Urist Dastordruk: An undercover liaison for agents of the Aggrieved in one of the largest aboveground cities of the realm. He owes an extensive debt of both coin and honor to the organization for avenging his extended family's death many years prior. Though few are sure what exactly he does as an occupation beyond being a perennial socialite, the dwarf has earned a reputation throughout the city and beyond for his uncanny knack for making friends across all strata of society and getting them connected. If he doesn't know someone or something, he certainly knows who does and can get in touch for a nominal fee, of course. However, Urist hates every second of it. Every handshake, every fake smile, and every cheering toast. He wants nothing more than to be back in the mountainhome of his kin and away from the petty, meaningless lives of all the small-minded people on the surface. To maintain his composure, Urist's handler in the Aggrieved has supplied him with a steady stream of alchemical concoctions that serve to both suppress his incredible hatred of those peoples tangentially responsible for the downfall of his family and enhance the charming facade of his public personality. Over time, the doses have had to become more and more potent to maintain their effect, and the dwarf has begun experiencing strange fugue states. When he emerges, Urist is often standing at the edge of a roof looking out over the city below or back in his home covered in blood that is not his. He is both terrified of what has been happening and hopeful that it might lead to an end of his torment, honor be damned. The Grudgebearer that owns his debt cares little for Urist's plight. While the dwarf has been exceedingly useful in feeding the organization information and the whereabouts of targets, the cost of maintaining his persona has begun to outweigh the benefits, especially if it possibly draws attention to the existence of the Aggrieved.
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Dustbringers' Market

Guild - Ghostly Wandering Merchants
Hailing from an abandoned marketplace in a long-dead city where the Veil between the realm of the living and the dead is nearly non-existent, several lingering dead have managed to leave the city and establish wandering markets in derelict sections of distant cities. They have achieved this through the use of mortal ‘handlers’, ragged humanoids who have forged a sort of pact with the dead of the city to serve as anchors for the ghostly merchants. Visitors to one of these markets, whether in its original city or one of its wandering offshoots, can trade their knowledge of the living world or more ephemeral wares such as memories and emotions in exchange for the long-forgotten knowledge of the dead city's people or whatever other secrets they've garnered from beyond the Land of the Dead. The Dustbringers have somehow managed to craft or acquire ghostly goods that provide boons to the living when it comes to dealing with or fighting the undead. Some are even willing to cut long-term deals and pacts with the living to acquire resources for their strange deathly economy.
Morof and Echessar: This pair is the most widely known members of the Dustbringers, accompanied by their ever-cloaked and silent human servant. They have come to reside in a city of the living, but the authorities take exception to their very existence, forcing them to stay on the move within the city walls. They set up their ghostly shop in different abandoned buildings or dark alleyways each night and simply wait. They are content to let the rumor mills bring customers to them, as they always seem to have something that entices prospective buyers, even with the strange prices they demand. The most common items they sell, if anything of theirs could be considered common, are lead coins stamped with a closed eye. Swallowing one of these coins renders the imbiber undetectable to the undead until it passes. Their usual fee for most purchases is measured in minutes of life per day, in perpetuity, from what remains of a customer’s natural lifespan. The portly Morof eagerly assures prospective customers that they won’t miss such a paltry sum of time. However, each night when the toll comes due and the disturbingly gaunt Echessar appears to collect, many feel they have chosen poorly as the shade’s icy hand reaches into them and pulls away threads of their soul. Such is the power of the Dustbringers’ deals that they are able to reach their customers wherever they may be on any plane. Should a client attempt to hide out elsewhere, the ghostly merchants are not above hiring others to retrieve them, so that they may collect what they are due, plus interest.
The Urn: One of the most powerful members of the Dustbringers, it has a cadre of lesser member shades of the guild bound to it by contracts etched upon large scrolls of thin lead sealed within ivory cases. These pacts seemingly predate the deaths of the Dustbringers’ mortal forms in centuries past and raise questions as to just how the demise of their city came about. The Urn itself is a massive vessel of cloudy black marble, weighing hundreds of pounds, with patterns traced in gold that subtly shift and flow. It has a brass cover at its top, with several fluted pipes emerging from it, curving upwards. Although it rarely moves, when it emerges from its vault-lair, it is carried on a great palanquin by a dozen mortal handlers. Through the deals it has struck with entities from the Land of the Dead, The Urn has extensive power over souls that have passed into that realm, summoning them forth for interrogation, torment, or to bind them back onto the mortal realm. It is even able to shape these recalled shades into physical objects with particular potency and protection against both the living and the dead. While The Urn allows its servant Dustbringers to conduct their deals in their own way, what it desires above all is vast quantities of physical wealth, such as gold and other valuable metals, along with gems of all kinds. Why The Urn would seek such extensive and mundane riches instead of the more ephemeral things like emotions or life force, which its kin typically traffic in, is a mystery. Some speculate that it aims to perform a ritual on behalf of a Power that it has contracted with, utilizing the symbolic connection and meaning of wealth to enact some drastic change to the mortal plane. Others believe that it is working towards building a powerful construct body through which it can personally enact its will. However, The Urn freely allows such conjecture, confident in its power to control other souls with minimal effort. The Urn does not manifest its ghostly form directly to interact with its servants or prospective clients. Instead, it emerges from the brass pipes at its apex as a sickly mist before occupying the body of one of its ragged mortal attendants. Even then, it rarely does so, instead relying on the fanatical devotion of its Dustbringer seneschals to negotiate on its behalf. It stirs to action only when it needs to call forth and shape a soul from beyond.
Zaunfe: Once a respected member of the Dustbringers, renowned for her ability to craft and transmute strong metaphysical sympathetic energy into physical objects and vice versa. However, fleeting traces of mortality constantly slipping through her spectral fingers began to torment her with fragmented memories of the life she once lived. Now, Zaunfe desires nothing less than to become mortal again. Despite not being formally expelled from the guild, it has been declared that none are to interact with her or allow her back into the city of their origin. If it became known just how many of their secrets she has been sharing in her pursuit of a new life, and the crimes she has committed against other shades, it is likely that they would actively hunt Zaunfe down and return her to the Land of the Dead by force if necessary. Unlike others in the guild, Zaunfe forms symbiotic pacts with the suffering mortals she comes across, giving them a longer lease on life than they might have had without her help. Unfortunately, she constantly leeches away her pact bonded associate's emotions and personality, mingling with hers until they are difficult to distinguish from one another. More than just keeping her partner alive, she is able to extend her spectral transmutation power through them, turning emotional connections into physical boons and weapons. With such objects, she reverts back to the mercantile nature at her core, wheeling and dealing with them to gain the allies and resources she requires. Given her knowledge of how the Land of the Dead and the mortal realm interact, she feverishly pursues leads on how to contact the Powers of that plane to forge whatever deal is necessary to be reborn. This pursuit for knowledge and those who possess it has proven exceedingly dangerous, and over the years she has led a number of her mortal partners to their own deaths. When untethered, Zaunfe is forced to rekindle and perpetuate her own essence through the consumption of powerful emotions, either elicited from nearby mortals or through the destruction of physical mementos that bear a great deal of sentimental value. In desperation, she has even consumed lost ghosts that she has encountered. These shades, often confused and trapped in the Veil of the mortal realm, are easy prey for one of their kind that possess full awareness and sentience. All of this consumption of emotion and personality has not come without a cost. Zaunfe now resembles little of the unique entity that she once was and is now an amalgamation of all the different beings she has fed upon in one way or another. While these conflicting impulses can sometimes drive her into fits of mania, what has remained a constant tethering influence to her soul is the overwhelming drive to attain life once again.
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Ruinous Dawn, The

Divine - Seekers of Deific Rebirth
A group of former heroes and remnants of a forgotten age of the multiverse. Their all-consuming desire for the rebirth of their divine patron has driven them to transcend mortality and resort to abhorrent methods to carry out their 'sacred' task, one that fervently believe will ultimately redeem the multiverse. Uzarial was one of the earliest celestial deities of the sun, life, and purification of evil, and their death in a catastrophic final conflict with an unknown Elder Entity is something the founders of the Ruinous Dawn have never truly accepted. Their goal is to resurrect Uzarial, seeing its return as the catalyst required to cleanse the wretched planes of what they consider to be pervading and all-consuming evil. Each member has vowed to use whatever means necessary in pursuit of the knowledge and power they need to breach the Vale of Dead Gods and usher forth Uzarial's return. Despite this, they believe that their actions constitute the ultimate good, a concept that exceeds the grasp of most mortal minds and is superior to the 'morality' of ordinary individuals. The current Gods of Light are viewed by the Dawn as either ineffective pretenders at best or complicit in the multiverse's defiled state through their inaction at worst. They aim to subsume all such false gods into the reborn Uzarial when the time comes, reclaiming their deific essence and putting it to proper use. The six elders of the Ruinous Dawn are scattered throughout the planes, each pursuing the 'Endeavor' in their own way. They meet every fifty years to pool their knowledge and make arrangements for the future. These summits often result in an ambitious act against perceived foes, as well as the setting in motion of complex plots towards their ultimate goal. Their schemes can range from the acquisition of required relics and artifacts to the realignment of several planes towards a configuration more suitable to their cosmic aims. Most founders of the Ruinous Dawn have long since ceased feeling remorse for their actions, no matter how questionable or amoral they may become. Those that do bear regret for all the lives they have spent seeking the God's return fully intend to suffer the judgement of their patron or scour themselves from existence as unworthy to reside in the paradise that will result. Several have attracted followers that share their cynical view of the planes and desire to resurrect Uzarial, or founded obscure faiths across the planes with the same intent. However, such allies are often seen as fleeting or expendable and are tested regularly, for the Ruinous Dawn is ever paranoid of infiltrators and those that would despoil their sacred Endeavor.
Alithrienne: Uzarial’s most devout mortal agent and an Exalted of demi-god like power, she took the celestial deity’s fall most severely and was a driving force towards the formation of the Dawn. Bearing a large portion of the fallen God’s power after their passing, she set about holding together what was left of their divine realm. Alithrienne fought to stave off planar usurpers and scavengers that sought to pick over its remains. If that was not enough, she was also forced to stave off other celestial entities and divine servitors that balked at a mortal claiming such a role. Despite considerable effort, even she and her allies were not able to prevent the gradual dissolution of Uzarial’s realm; infusions of celestial essence and sundered relics only delaying the inevitable. In a moment of despair and anguish, she plunged the God’s final relic, a great spear of pearlescent stone and golden light, through her own heart. She intended to give the last shreds of power in both herself and the weapon to the divine realm in a bid to halt its decay and ensconce it as a memorial within the Astral.
The inherent desperation of her act mixed with the unstable divine energies of the plane, the relics, and the Astral instead merged her soul with the last of Uzarial’s divine power. Alithrienne, the realm, and the great spear became one, an untethered demi-plane out of phase with the rest of the multiverse. Other members of the Dawn, still holding on to a semblance of their connection to the dead God, were able to locate it in this state and commune with the transcended Exalted. In her new form, she quite literally became the foundation of the Ruinous Dawn. While the further deterioration of Alithrienne’s realm has halted, it remains in a shattered state. It is composed of several dozen floating islands of broken marble-like rock covered in golden grass. Spires and temples of an opaque white glass are scattered across the islands, cracked, and crumbling but still held aloft even in pieces. The only structure that has remained whole is a grand temple of the same shimmering glass in the realm’s center, the seat of Alithrienne’s power and the meeting place for the rest of the Ruinous Dawn during their infrequent conclaves.
Nearly a true God herself, Alithrienne has been able to create minor servitors to watch over the realm, though they are little more than bird-like beings of light. The spear that was integral to her transcendence was once held in a reliquary of stained glass at the apex of the central cathedral. Still a greater relic in its own right, Alithrienne discovered that her consciousness and will reside in it as well. When wielded by a mortal, she would be able to freely traverse between the rest of the multiverse and her realm and assist the rest of the Dawn in its plot to resurrect Uzarial. Over the ages, Alithrienne, in her spear form, has been wielded by countless mortals; many willingly chose to bear her power and enact her will, but not all. When an accord could not be made with a bearer to serve, she would bring the full force of her semi-divine might down upon them. Such recusants are left as little more than puppets hollowed out by her terrible light; even if they were to be freed from Alithrienne spear, it would take a greater divine power to make them whole again. Through these wielders, legend and infamy has been carved across the multiverse by her actions, each a small part of the greater Endeavor. As the Ruinous Dawn’s plans grow ever closer to fruition, Alithrienne hopes deeply to serve as the cradle from which Uzarial may be reborn, even if she may be utterly consumed in the process.
talshir: A zealot in the service of Uzarial, he had spent his entire life operating in the shadows cast by the celestials’ divine light. Brought up from birth to eradicate enemies of the faith, Talshir remained steadfast in his crusade, even after the fall of his God. In fact, he saw the death of his deity as validation of his actions, as it demonstrated that anything was killable. However, Talshir's methods went beyond merely ending the lives of his adversaries, he went so far as to master the tools of his enemies, including forbidden mystical arts that would have marked him a heretic under normal circumstances. When he eventually joined the core founders of the Ruinous Dawn, Talshir discovered a newfound sense of purpose as part of the Endeavor. It was his destiny to be the left hand of the reborn God and usher in the demise of the hopelessly corrupt planes.
To achieve the longevity required for such a destiny, Talshir delved into the darkest secrets of soul magic and combined them with the knowledge of life provided to him by other members of the Dawn. Rather than consuming the souls of others, he chose to shatter his own soul into hundreds of fragments and scatter them throughout the multiverse. Although the results were unpredictable, the vast majority of his soul fragments were able to take root in mortal hosts. After Talshir's original body was placed in stasis in a hidden tomb, his will was able to manifest within those who bore his soul fragments, even across generations of their descendants. Spread across various planes, the Talshirs form a unified cult with a common purpose, and dozens of them are active on different mortal realms at any given time. While the personality of each Talshir may vary due to their diverse experiences, they are essentially simulacrum of the original, sharing his mind if not his physical body. The Prime Talshir is the singular host in which the full consciousness of the original Talshir is able to manifest, representing the Talshirs at the Ruinous Dawn's conclaves and issuing orders to the others. During the years between conclaves, the Prime Talshir takes it upon himself to visit each of the other Talshirs individually, in order to ensure their continued adherence to their mission. Any Talshir who has strayed too far from their task is dealt with in a manner that Talshir himself refers to as being 'returned to the source'. In such cases, a new incarnation is sent to take their place, even if it takes years for one to manifest.
Shepherd of Eternity: Once a grand paladin of an inter-planar order, sworn to Uzarial, their name has been deliberately purged from history. They made a glorious sacrifice in order to obtain the power necessary to bolster the martial forces of the Ruinous Dawn. By rending open their own soul, they established a direct conduit to the Plane of Life, a realm of positive energy from which all nascent souls originate. Using this raw creative energy, they have created a legion of homunculi to serve the Endeavor. Over the centuries, in order to sustain the portal within their body, this individual, having come to be known as the Shepherd, replaced most of their body with sanctified metals and sacred stones, effectively becoming a construct save for their heart and a few other organs.
Embracing their role as the forgemaster of the Dawn, the Shepherd is driven to perfect their creations to better serve the cause of their allies. While they often lament the necessity of forcing pure and untainted souls into new forms, the Shepherd sees it as a necessary act to preserve the planes in the long run, confident that Uzarial will purge them of any suffering they might experience once the rebirth of reality comes. Although most of their creations are humanoid in appearance, with stone-like opaline flesh and silver armaments, the Shepherd aspires to create artificial angels to serve as the ultimate shock troops in the eventual siege of the Vale of Dead Gods. However, they have thus far met with limited success, as their pseudo-angels of condensed soul-stuff prove to be highly volatile and prone to mutation, resulting in horrific forms with too many limbs and eyes. Nevertheless, even in their malformed state, these creations have proven useful against the enemies of the Dawn and those who have stumbled across their secret existence. Despite the accolades of their comrades, the Shepherd has grown increasingly despondent over their failure to create a true angel. They have begun to engage their private homunculi forces to delve into the primeval ruins of the First War between the Gods and Primordials in search of the secrets that led to the first angels' creation.
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