There were enough barrels, tubs, buckets, bottles, cups, gallon jugs, pots, pans, cauldrons, and empty cans to collect a shit ton of water.
We needed roughly 70,000 gallons of water just for one day.
Each person got at least three.
It was more water than we had to start with, but it was enough for the time being.
What was weird for me was that it only started raining after everything was in place. Thinking in terms of it being a miracle, it certainly seemed that way. I couldn't bring myself to just think in terms of it actually being a real miracle.
It was serendipitous.
But not a miracle.
That didn't stop Galax from preaching like it was.
"My brothers and sisters of the Warren, Bahamut provides!" It was such a raw, emotional statement, I had no doubt he firmly believed it happened.
I'm not the kind of asshole atheist who thinks all religion is evil and that it should be banned from the earth entirely. Nor do I think of people who believe in them as deluded fools who should get a grip and face reality.
Hope can be a powerful thing, it can keep a person going even when everything has completely collapsed. It was why the Book of Job was an entire thing in the Christian bible.
So when we gathered for a Council meeting, we were all delighted to learn that Locate Object did find an aquifer, and that the Artificers and Druids were getting right on digging a well.
"We'll go with the classic design, straight down until we hit water, then surround the hole with large stones. We've got plenty to work with from the catacombs, so once we get it set up and the pump finished, we can look for other aquifers." Rekka finished her report.
"I should also note that the more specific I was with my request, the narrower the result was. There are a few aquifers in the area that replenish themselves fairly quickly. We should have enough water to sustain us if we ration it." Merti stated. "If our Rangers have anything to report, we'd love to hear it."
"Nothing yet." Tatla replied. "The rain made it difficult to tell what was constant and what was a result of it."
"We have enough water for roughly six days." I said. "How long until the wells are done?"
"We're estimating around three days.' Rekka said. "And that's just for the first well. We're having to scrap electronics we considered too vital to just break down, one of them being an actual water pump that requires gasoline. I'm fairly certain I can get it to run off of just straight electricity. I have my Artificers working on windmills as we speak."
"Galax, is something wrong?" Tudru asked.
We all looked at the Cleric, who was sat hunched over in his seat, eyes closed, arms crossed, and claws softly tapping at his arm in a wave motion.
"I had a vision." He said.
"Sorry, what?" Dave interjected from across the room.
"When the rain fell, I was struck with a vision." Galax stated. "In my vision, seven songbirds sang to me an old lullaby my mother used to sing to me as a child. As they flew away, I gave chase, following their song until I was parched. And as they perched upon a branch, I saw the merest glimmer of dew upon the leaves, and drank it until I was quenched."
He looked up at us. "This repeated two more times. They would lead me away until I was thirsty, and they would bring me to a branch covered in dew, which was just enough to keep me going." He thumbed the pendant he wore and said, "In three days, we will run out of water, and it will rain once more. And three days after that, we will run out of water, and it will rain." He looked at us with this strange intensity in his eyes.
"I firmly believe Bahamut has granted me these visions to give proof of his miracle. I humbly ask the Council, on the third day, have the people put out their barrels, and catch the rain that will surely come."
"Galax, we don't have time to waste on religion." Tatla said. "We are entrusted with peoples' lives, having them put their barrels out in the hope of rain is not going to make it rain."
"I agree with Galax." I said. Everyone shot me an incredulous look. "Don't get me wrong, I don't believe in any Gods, but I know he does. If he's certain there's a miracle, we can afford to put some barrels out." I looked at the others. "Worst case scenario, we have the barrels out for the next time it rains."
Tatla nodded. "Very well." She said grudgingly.
"Until then." Galax stated. "Now, onto the next part of our agenda. Electricity. I have a proposal."
"Speak your proposal." Merti said.
"Ruuk, it has come to my attention you have access to the spell Witch Bolt. We have rechargeable battery cells that can handle both direct and alternating currents. We want to see how much power one casting of Witch Bolt can give."
I nodded. "I'll be happy to." I said.
For the time being, things were stable. Our crops were well-watered from the rain, and we had a fairly basic irrigation system set up so all we needed to do was load up a barrel and let it do its job. Trying Witch Bolt on a lightning rod definitely charged up half of the ten batteries, with a little metamagic, I could charge them all up no problem.
"What's the plan with these power cells?" I asked.
"Charging power tools." Galax said. "We've just had our first egg laying this morning, we're going to need a nursery."
I gasped. "Wait, someone's having kids?" I asked.
Galax nodded. "Our more nurturing kin are already tending to the eggs, but we need a place to keep them safe. It's the duty of the Warren to nurture them."
It didn't even occur to me until later that what he said was at odds with what we had believed to be the proper way to raise kids. But the idea of them being kept together and raised by everyone made sense in my brain. Maybe it was some kind of instinct? I wasn't certain.
I saw Tallyn helping people out the best way he could. Seeing him doing everything in his limited power to help others always brought a smile to my face, it made the fact that there were still so many unawakened all the more sad.
"Out hatchlings might not even have the benefit of someone who knows what they're doing." I muttered.
The days continued, until the prophesied third day. Everyone put out their barrels, as asked, and for a while, nothing.
Galax fell to his knees. "I was so certain..." He said softly.
"We'll just have to get into the reserve supply." I said.
As I walked away, I heart him speak. I looked back to see him, head to the ground and hands clasped together above praying. I felt sorry for him. I couldn't imagine having that much faith, only to be proven wrong.
There was a loud crash, followed by a deluge of rain. I watched as Galax unclasped his hands and held his arms out, singing, like he had the last time. I looked up, it had been bright and clear literally moments ago, yet now the sky was full of dark clouds.
For a moment, I wondered if Galax was actually right, but that couldn't be. He must have known in advance or done some kind of magic.
I cast Detect Magic, and it certainly was magical rain, but the aura was too powerful for any of us to have pulled off. I walked over to Galax, who stood up and hugged me.
"Thank you, my brother, my friend. Thank you for granting me this even in doubt. May Bahamut bless you."
He began preaching again, arms raised up to the sky, screaming with intense fervor. I watched as people began to gather around him, eyes wide, listening to every word. Here he was, stood in a rainstorm, speaking of his vision, speaking of how Bahamut had granted me the wisdom to test his miracle, and then he shared the rest of his omen.
"In three days time, Bahamut shall grant us rain once again. We shall be as parched seekers, and this shall be our dew!"
The cheer that rose up in the crowd, their excitement, it was infectious. For a moment, I forgot I was supposed to be the skeptical one, simply because for one moment, I convinced myself this really was a miracle.
The next few days progressed much the same, except now Galax was proselytizing in the street, inviting people to come to the temple, to give thanks to the Dragon God.
He approached me, one time that I was watching. He took my hand, and he said, "The time to be apart from the Warren has long passed, Ruuk. Come, even if faith does not grip your heart, you are worthy to be among us."
The day of the supposed third miracle, we placed our barrels out once more, and Galax spoke. "I shall begin praying, and my God will bless us with rain, for he sees our strife, and knows our pain. You are not required to pray."
He dropped to his knees and began imploring Bahamut to grace us with rain once more. One by one, the people in the crowd fell to their knees, echoing his words, staring at the clear, blue sky.
There wasn't a single cloud, yet I found myself getting on my knees and putting my hands together. "Alright, Bahamut." I said. "Give me absolutely zero reason to doubt now."
The clouds appeared from nowhere, blossoming out like someone had turned on a fog machine in the sky. I watched in astonishment as the sky grew darker, and lightning crashed through the heavens. Rain fell upon us, lightning struck the ground not far from us, not just once, but several times, all in the same spot.
"Alright." I said. "I believe."
It was such an alien feeling, faith. I'd had it once before, long ago, had realized that it was pointless and stupid. Yet as the lighting continued to strike the same spot over and over again, I found myself lowering myself to the ground, head to the dirt, utterly shaken by how much I revered the Dragon God in such a short amount of time.
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[Navigation for 'Dragon Rising'- [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]]

Hello everyone, today I have finished the goal I had originally had set out for myself when I had started this game: GWAMM and 50/50 HoM and wanted to reflect my journey throughout my time and appreciation for this game with this post. Ill also be pointing out things I had wish I had known to those looking for their GWAMM and HoM as well.
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Background on me as a player, I am a Guild Wars 2 player that started back in December 2017 and wanted to find a mmo that I wanted to enjoy since I grew up playing Runescape and wanted a change. This led me into starting GW2, learning about the world of Tyria, exploring content and fell in love with it immediately. Fast forward four years and I have become well versed in all of GW2 content and was playing on and off and told myself, why not try the original Guild Wars while I was waiting for the EoD expansion to come out?
I had already set myself that I would try out the game and I happen to remember the exact moment which lead me to want to play Guild Wars; Ingame I happened to stumble across a player with a title that I wanted for myself: God Walking Amongst Mere Mortals. A quick wiki search told me I had to achieve that title in GW1 to obtain it in GW2. Coupled with the fact that I was a lore nerd for all things Tyria, I had to see what Guild Wars 1 was all about.
Cue in when I ended up buying this game, I was excited after I had purchased the complete edition, wiki searching up the fastest way to get GWAMM while the game was downloading and searching up video guides on youtube, when I stumbled upon Peter Kadar's GWAMM and Elementalist guide videos. Yeah I was the kind of player that likes to read guides and minmax everything, and this game was no exception. Despite wanting to get GWAMM as quickly as possible, I also wanted to play to enjoy the story content in a linear fashion so I decided to make a roleplaying Prophecies character. I also chose Elementalist as my class (even though I had read that Mesmers were top tier DPS Classes), since I had picked elementalist as my first class in GW2 as well. Thankfully the name that I used for my GW2 Character was not taken, and with that my journey finally begins.
I remember my first impressions of the game: though admittedly it has good graphics for its time that aged like fine wine and had grown on me, my original assessment of the "bad" graphics; the lack of jumping and third dimension as well as the static combat compared to the dynamically fluid combat system of GW2 admittedly did throw me off slightly. Despite this I had set myself to start prophecies as well to grind out the Legendary Defender of Ascalon (LDoA) title as well to make my GWAMM easier. Hours later after grinding out all quests, Charr and Farmer Hamnet, as well as ticking my pre-searing checklist before I leave, I step out to post-Searing, not knowing that many hours in the future I would be super glad that I got the title before leaving. (1/30)
My subsequent journey became like this:

• Did every primary mission (including bonus missions) till I unlocked Lions Arch,
  
• Briefly played a bit of Nightfall and Eye of the North to unlock my heroes and finalise my endgame build. I ended up following the beginner Mesmerway comp from PvX wiki into the offensive mesmerway comp with a Fire magic Assassins Promise Ele build, getting my endgame armor and gearing up myself as well as my heroes with the money I would be earning playing missions. It was also around this time I stopped playing a bit due to EoD expansion for GW2, though I came back after a few months away.
  
• Finished Prophecies story, then Factions and Nightfall after, along with their respective hard mode counterparts and bonus missions/objectives, filling out storybooks along the way. (8/30)
  

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• Worked on my Vanquish+Cartography+Skill Hunter titles at the same time. Athough admittedly this was intimidating to start working towards, It eventually became relaxing after I got into the groove, I would often vanquish 3 or so areas per day, which would take me a few weeks. Finished vanquishing Elona and Cantha first as I was dreading the caravan vanquishing from Tyria, which I ended up doing Maguuma to Ascalon in one sitting. Money for signets of capture would be acquired through the missions I had completed as well as the drops I would get while vanquishing. Learning the vipers jump and SaO chain for cartography was pretty cool as well. Also a huge shoutout to Textmod for helping me scrape the final few % to complete cartography, I'd imagine it would be frustrating otherwise. (20/30)
  
• I would also end up maxing my Sunspear and Lightbringer titles just from Elonian vanquishes and taking shrine bounties during the Double Elonian points week, although from my experience getting sunspear points were a lot easier so the storybooks so if you cannot afford to wait for double point week, I would probably recommend using it to get Lightbringer. I would also like to note I also did all my Cantha vanquishes under double Elonian faction week, which although inconsequential for my GWAMM, I would end up being glad I had done so for my HoM run. (22/30)
  
• For Survivor title I would afk farm exp at the Gate of Madness mission, found a video guide for it as well as looked at the PvX build but ended up using my standard Offensive Mesmerway comp and flagging my heroes far away at a safe distance where the portal spawning the infinite mobs would definitely not get destroyed by my heroes. Also did it in Normal mode instead of Hard mode for more consistency albeit taking a bit longer. (23/30)
  
• EoTN titles: I had also completed all my titles in the span of the double Northern reputation point week, Happened to get lucky with my Asura title by maxing it with vanquishes only with the boss bounty and rampager combos, Dwarf title was maxed while vanquishing while doing NM and HM dungeons with bounty (Minus Slavers exile HM, NM already gave me a headache), Ebon Vanguard and Norn Title were maxed with Vanquishes and Storybooks. Master of the North was completed while I was doing my other titles as well as completing the story quests NM and HM. (28/30) This left my consumable titles. Up until this point I had made my money by receiving story quest rewards as well as picking up all the loot dropped by foes during vanquishes. I had also been playing the game solo, so learning how to interact and trade with people in Kamadan, and my first trading memory was like magic. Only around then did I learn about farming Nick gifts (which I wish I had started doing earlier). Until then I had been buying Ales from merchants contributing to a tenth of my Drunkard title, which you could imagine me facepalming when I realised what a scam this was compared to buying them from other players. A few week of Nick gifts later, I finally got GWAMM by finishing my Drunkard and Sweet tooth titles by purchasing them with the ectos I had earned from nick gifts with other players (30/30)
  

Boy was I so happy when I finally achieved that title. I had clocked around 320~ ish hours to get GWAMM over the span of around 6 months (minus the time I took a break for EoD) which I was pretty happy about considering it was my first playthrough. At some point though, the magic of the game clicked. Instead of logging on to the game just to get some rewards for GW2 and to reach my goals, I started to log in because I genuinely enjoyed the game. I thought why not? I'll fill up my HoM as well just to keep playing.

• From completing GWAMM, (13/50). For my Devotion section, I had essentially begged in Kamadan for spare minis. It was there I would like to make 3 special shout outs: Kind player no 1, which after a little chat, I ended up joining their guild. He would and gave me around 13 Minis, A full set of Oppressors weapons and would craft me a destroyer weapon. You kind sir really made my day that day! (22/50) Kind player no 2, Whom after a little chat, found out he was a player who was returning to GW and was giving away his wealth. I ended up receiving 30 minis from him, as well two stacks of obsidian shards, for their generosity I was eternally grateful, ended up adding them: (26/50) Although there was no kind player no 3, I would like to make minor shout outs to a few players whom while I was chilling out in Kamadan, managed to find myself in a few 100k giveaways as well as getting a few freebie minis here and there to fill out my Devotion section. (27/50)
  
• For my Valor section, I had already received a full set of oppressors weapons and a destroyer weapon , so I had simply crafted two more destroyer weapons. Although I saw you could get a free tormented weapon from the wayfarers reverie event, I had simply gotten impatient and ended up buying an armbrace for the final tormentor weapon. Because I wanted to keep the minis and weapons that were dedicated, I ended up buying bank tabs just so I could keep them, (I was sentimental like that) (28/50)
  
• For my Fellowship section, I simply Farmed Glints challenge 9 times for the EoTN Hero armors, (1 Hero armor of which I got from Slavers exile NM) for my EotN heroes, farmed Stolen Sunspear armor and Mysterious armor pieces from Dakjah Inlet and Shadow Nexus challenge missions respectively, and ended up skipping Ancient armor remnants by buying Primeval armor remnants from other players (simply because I hated the Remains of Sahlahjah wurm mission after getting very unlucky RNG from armor drops from multiple attempts of the mission). I unlocked the remaining heroes I needed to unlock, as well as charmed the widow spider from a first time failed UW run, and charmed a level 20 black moa from the quest (I had already charmed a phoenix earlier in order to learn a SaO chain). I also learned about the whole pet death leveling process from this, getting my vampiric weapon from Shiro's blades which was bought from the Amulet of the mists from my Factions campaign completion). (36/50)
  
• For my Resilience section with the money I had from the Nick gifts, as well as the 2 stacks of obsidian shards I had received, I managed to buy all my armours, leaning towards the cheaper EotN armors. I ended up getting : Elite Kurzick Armo Ancient Armor, Vabbian Armor, Asuran Armor, Norn Armor, Monument Armor, and the heavily coveted Obsidian Armor thanks to the stacks of obsidian I had received from the kind stranger :) (44/50)
  

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• And finally finishing off with my Honor section, I got my PvP title with rank 3 Zaishen title, through buying keys (Although at this point I was poor again and beginning to wait for my weekly gifts again, as well as wishing I did zaishen quests during my vanquishing days). At this point I had 34 statues out of 40, I realised in order to fill out the rest I needed to get the eternal conquerer statues for the elite zones, already dreading the rest of the statues due to my failed Underworld run I had done earlier. Although Fissure of Woe and Sorrows embrace I had done solo easily (While in FoW, I had crafted my obsidian armor), Underworld was proving a challenge even with video guides. It was then my guildies helped me out with a run, saving me from the PTSD of solo 4 Horsemen. Dhuum fight was... interesting to say the least, though I was disappointed to see it was not like the GW2 Dhuum fight. Urgoz's Warren was completed when it was a Zaishen bounty and it was pointed by a guildmate of mine that I would get a statue by completing the fourth stage of a Kurzick/Luxon title. I had gone for Kurzick statue with one vanquish away from rank 4, as I had given out my storybooks before for the Kurzick side which left one final statue. It was thankfully today I just happened across a bunch of people randomly running the deep while I was chilling in the outpost which I was kindly invited to and did a run with today, thereby completing my HoM. (50/50)

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All I can say after this journey is that GW is such an amazing game and I thoroughly enjoyed my experience with it as well as the friends I made along the way. In the end I have nothing but praise for this game and now I can see why there are so many diehard GW fans who would defend this game. Although as a GW2 player and from a GW2 standpoint I have no reason to continue playing the game, I can forsee myself still coming back every now and then playing this game for the same reason I play Guild Wars 2; in the end it was all for fun and the memories and the incredible journey I had.
Thank you all if you have read this far :)

The quarantine lifted.
It was determined that whatever was going on wasn't spreading, that aside from the fact that people who visited could turn into Kobolds.
The scientists who had transformed stuck around, partly because they wanted to do more research, and partly because, well, they were Kobolds and we were making this place as comfortable for our kind as possible.
With quarantine lifted, we were finally able to make contact with the outside world.
The problem was, our restructuring meant that new internet lines needed to be laid, and nobody was willing to come out here to do it, lest they become a Kobold. It wasn't even a 'We'll find someone who is willing to do this." It was a flat out, "We will not extend our services until the situation there is resolved."
So, unless we went out of our way to go to the city and hijack the library, we were, and continued to remain, largely socially isolated. Our phones still worked, sure, but out here, the signal wasn't really that great on the best of days, and that was when the service tower was being maintained.
It wasn't even a week until it just flat out stopped working. Then our utilities started shutting down for likely the same reason. They weren't willing to send someone our way to maintain power lines, they weren't willing to keep our pipes maintained, they weren't willing to take care of our sewer system.
It was effectively an eviction notice.
"We have no power, no running water, and no phone or internet." Nakk said. "We are completely socially isolated out here, and we scrapped all of our cars just to ensure we can comfortably get from place to place here."
Rekka spoke up. "We have enough parts to make another tram, we just connect it to the nearest city, and we use that as our primary method of transportation."
"Problem with that. We don't have any permits to build in or around the city. We try, we run into the problem of people tearing it down, fining us, and generally making life a living hell for us."
"Then what are we supposed to do, huh?!" Kuvli snapped. "Just let them tell us no? I say we make this everybody's problem. If they're willing to cut us off from everything we need to function in a modern society-!"
"Then we don't live in a modern society." Merti interrupted. We all stared at her. "Yes, it's shit that nobody is willing to at least give us the means to maintain our current way of life, so we refuse. Our mining? That will be for our own use, to make what we need when we need it, rather than outsourcing to companies that practice planned obsolescence. We have magic that can purify food and water, that can create berries that can sustain a person for an entire day."
"I can create ten gallons of water in either a container or as rain in a thirty-foot cube,
"For over 70,000 people." I said.
"It is literally better than nothing." He stated. "Pouring all of our resources into creating water, having a reservoir for waste-"
"Is still going to have a net loss, even if half of us don't sweat." Tudru said. "Bare minimum, around 16 cups of water is needed per day for the average Human to survive. Not thrive, survive. Ten gallons gives is enough to keep ten people alive."
"So, what do we do, then?" Tatla asked. "Even if every Human leaves, we're still up shit creek, and nobody's abandoning their home."
"With what we have, how long can we last?" I asked.
"Assuming no rain, however many gallons of water-" Tudru started.
"We have eight Clerics with four 1st level spell slots and two 2nd level spell slots." Galax interrupted. "Upcasting creates an additional ten gallons. If my math is correct, that is the equivalent of eight first level castings of the spell, so six-hundred and forty gallons total per long rest. Assuming we do nothing but create water, no healing injuries or anything, we can create a total of one-thousand nine hundred and twenty gallons. We can provide enough water for one-thousand nine-hundred twenty people."
"Three days with everything we have. Three, maybe four days with just that." Tudru replied. "Let's face it, we're going to need a fucking miracle."
"Then I will get started praying." Galax stated. "Maybe if enough of us pray, Bahamut will grace us with rain. If that will be all..?"
"We should let the people know." I said. "Make finding a solution a crowd-solved problem, give them the opportunity to start leaving now while we have time."
Nobody liked this idea.
"That will cause panic, mass hysteria!" Tudru yapped.
"Then come up with a better plan, then!" I roared. "Because there are over 70,000 people out there, they are trusting us with their lives!" I looked around. "And what if the Anomaly follows us, huih? What if we all go to the city, and we start turning people into Kobolds just by proximity? Or what if the Anomaly goes somewhere once we're all fucking dead!?"
I struggled to catch my breath. "We can't rely on miracles. We can't rely on magic. So we either find a source of water that's least likely to kill us, and we start using that."
"Can Locate Object locate an aquifer?" We all looked at the Humans, who were having much the same discussion among themselves. "I mean, it's an option, right?"
"There!" I said, pointing at Dave. "Fucking brilliant! Who the fuck can cast that?"
"Clerics, Druids, and Rangers." Dave replied. "We might have to wait a day for them to reset-"
"I have the spell prepared." Merti said, raising her hand. "I mean, I've never used the spell personally, but since we lost internet, I keep it prepared specifically to help me find my phone. Not that my phone's useful at the moment."
"Alright. Merti, Rekka, you're on water duty." I said. "If you can locate an aquifer, get as many people as you need to tunnel down to it and get a pump installed. You've got scientists, they might be able to determine if it's sustainable."
"What, you're ordering us around, now?" Kuvli asked.
"Are there any objections?" I asked pointedly. "No? So my assumption that the two people with the skills and magic necessary to succeed was correct?"
"Your point is made." Galax stated. "I would also like to hazard the suggestion of Tatla and her cadre of Rangers going out and finding us potential sources of water. A river, a pond, anything. A spring might be useful."
I nodded. "I second this." I said. It went around the table, Tatla was incidentally the third to agree.
"At this juncture, we should at least make sure the people are aware that water is probably going to be an issue, and we should get someone on bringing this to the attention of the news. Maybe getting people on our side out there will help."
"Do we really want to deal with people who would drop us like a bad egg the moment we're inconvenient?" Jason, Tudru's partner, asked. "I mean, this shit's basic Human rights, they can't argue that you're not entitled to it because we're here."
"We give people a chance to right their wrongs." Galax stated. "Once it's clear we are abandoned, then we act appropriately. Not before." He looked at his partner. "Right, Jake?"
Jake, a former pastor turned worshiper of Bahamut, nodded. "Right. Honor and Correction to the enemies of Justice and Good."
We agreed to convene the next day at the latest, with the church bell serving as a signal to gather.
First, we posted the results of today's meeting on the town bulletin board.
[Due to the shut down of basic utilities, and the lack of immediate water, the Council has unilaterally declared an emergency situation. Residents of the Warren are encouraged to limit themselves to 16 cups of water a day if at all possible. It is estimated we have three days of water.
During this time, we have deployed our Druids and Artificers to attempt to locate sources of water from aquifers. We cannot guarantee this alone will suffice, and urge residents to continue rationing water as described above.
We have also deployed our Rangers to search for other sources of water, and have given them permission to do whatever is necessary to ensure our survival.
In addition to this, we are opening up suggestions to the public on how to deal with this situation. Please remember to boil your water before drinking it, if at all possible.
Lastly, we are looking for volunteers to head into the city to get in touch with local news.
Persvek taexirsj ekess hesi xiekivi.]
There was some panic as people realized how serious the situation was, but everyone immediately got to work on solutions. Plastic and metal rain barrels were set out, carpenters immediately got started on making wooden barrels for long-term water storage. Each barrel was ten gallons, in preparation for the Clerics, who would expend their allotment of spells and pray to Bahamut for aid.
They put up a sign that read, [We are praying to Bahamut to grant us rain. We will not force you to pray with us, but if you wish to send your earnest prayers, do not hesitate to join us.]
I watched this from a distance, contemplating whether or not I wanted to join in. The sound of birds chirping nearby caught my ear, and I looked around to see a Human sat on a bench, surrounded by birds, gently tossing bird seed out.
He was an older man, with graying hair and a kind smile. He was dressed in loose garments, not unlike what the SCA made for everyone. I walked toward him.
"Everyone's trying their hardest to get us set for water, and here you are, feeding the birds." I remarked.
"Is that illegal, perhaps?" He asked.
No, just an observation." I said. "I'm still getting acquainted with everyone in the Warren, so I'm sorry that I don't recognize you."
"It's quite alright. Not many people do." He patted the seat beside him. "Don't worry about scaring the birds, they're quite fearless."
I walked over to him and sat down. He held his bag of seeds out to me, and I took a handful, spreading them out so all of the birds could have a chance to get some.
"An equitable allowance." The man remarked. I looked at him, his eyes were blue, like the sky before a storm. They captivated me in a way no others had. He smiled. "You were well-chosen to lead, not many would care for such fleeting lives."
He chuckled, as if to a joke I didn't understand.
"Do you think we'll survive this?" I asked.
"Is the situation so dire, that survival is your worry?" He asked. "Thousands of people all working together. Enough barrels, and the town is set and ready to live for years."
"That's assuming the rain comes." I said. "I've... never really had much respect for gods who would make their worshipers pray for miracles."
"Prayer is a petition." He stated. I shot a questioning look at him. "You are used to the notion of an infallible, omniscient deity who does not answer prayers. Such a being, can they truly be worthy of worship?"
"No." I said.
"Ah, but look at the sky."
I looked up, I could see storm clouds slowly making their way toward us. I looked at him, he chuckled again. "As I recall, the forecast predicted nothing but sunny days. Not a cloud in the sky. This, to me, seems like a miracle."
"It has to be coincidence." I said.
"Perhaps." He said. "It is easy to see coincidence in everything. An entire town falls asleep all at once, yet nobody is injured. Not a single person dead from such a sudden and disruptive moment. This is before that town's major mine collapses, trapping thousands inside. Yet, everyone who is capable of efficiently clearing out the rubble does so, they have the means to support the mines, they are able to rescue everyone who is still alive." He looked at me pointedly.
"Okay, but that's still two shitting things that still happened." I said.
"A miracle never shines in peace." He said. "It is when things are dire that they are truly miracles."
"Are you... preaching at me?" I asked.
"Presume that I am." He said. "I am speaking of absolute crises resolving in a manner that mitigates damage, that preserves more lives than is lost. Nobody crashes their car, nobody drives over someone who has passed out in the street. Everyone is able to stop. Magic does not care, it is a force that does what it is meant to do."
"Alright, so things weren't as bad as they could have been. But it was my efforts that kept the mine from collapsing until the last minute." I pointed out.
"Solely your efforts?" He asked.
"Well, no." I said. "But if I wasn't there, it would have been much worse."
"Remove any one person from the situation. Just one, and it would have been much worse." He said solemnly. Remove the man who diverted a boulder with a clever use of a spell, the man whose insistence on repairing everything he could and all of those lives would be lost. Remove the Cleric, who stabilized the still living, who healed the dying, and there would be more who could not live. Remove the man who desperately dug for his son, who willingly sacrificed his Humanity, just on the remotest chance that he was still alive, still breathing. Who was able to hear the merest of sound at the peak of his despair and desperation."
He rest his hand on my shoulder. "You are alive, because of something many would consider a miracle. And now, rain."
I heard the first few drops of rain fall, followed by the cheers of thousands of people, I heard Galax singing, praising Bahamut for delivering a miracle.
"And now, rain." I echoed.
"Go, celebrate." He said. "Pretend for a moment that you have been given a grand and magnanimous gift, that there is truly something out there watching, who wants you to live, to succeed. I will sit here, and enjoy the sound of the rain."
I nodded and stepped around the birds, who were still pecking at the seeds. I stepped out into the rain, and as it fell on me, around me, I couldn't help but feel relieved.
Maybe we could make it through this.
[Navigation for 'Dragon Rising'- [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]]

Hey Everyone!
Let’s go….
Newly Covered Today:

1. Transaction volume is looking very interesting right now. https://messari.io/charts/cardano/txn-vol
2. JPG Store has now launched Android and IOS apps. https://twitter.com/jpgstoreNFT/status/1663281982262919170
3. It’s true. Cardano is straight killing it on the security leg of the trilemma.https://twitter.com/cardano_whale/status/1662987243655684096
4. Just checked. Yep. The centralization in ETH is still staggering. https://twitter.com/StakeWithPride/status/1663222056870350848
5. There’s a documentary about a 2022 Plutus hackathon in Argentina. https://twitter.com/LarsBrunjes/status/1663111319732535297
6. Pavia is testing NFT gating. This could get very interesting. https://twitter.com/Pavia_io/status/1663153213988823040

Previously covered, but still interesting:

1. So much ghostbusting would be needed to clear us out. https://twitter.com/TheOCcryptobro/status/1653527418588774401
2. Charles was on Fox again and discussed a wide range of topics with Maria. https://twitter.com/IOHK_Charles/status/1653571613135196163
3. Coinbase didn’t waste any time in getting their non-US futures platform open. https://twitter.com/coinbase/status/1653385513011740672
4. A former SEC Chair in his 90s sees that the current SEC is wrong on crypto. https://twitter.com/ramahluwalia/status/1648134506359009280
5. Rumor is that Pacwest is next on death row. https://twitter.com/CryptoHayes/status/1653403052899192833
6. ADA + Lime Wire. Only asked for 300 retweets…they definitely don’t know us. https://twitter.com/limewire/status/1653834307259998221
7. Token locking. Not a comment on any specific project. But, Is there any good case it’s not really just to artificially drive price up? Obviously also useful to centralize liquidity. https://twitter.com/MatthewPlomin/status/1653773401645826049
8. You can’t say that many of us in Cardano didn’t warn about exactly this. Always the same with these VC coins. https://twitter.com/mr_cata/status/1653788019084734468
9. Caitlin Long points out that both the non-main candidate challengers in the 2024 Presidential race are pro-crypto and anti-CBDC. https://twitter.com/CaitlinLong_/status/1653528247655694336
10. The Fed raised by a quarter point bringing the federal funds rate to 5-5.25%. https://www.cnbc.com/2023/05/03/live-updates-fed-decision-may-2023.html
11. As predicted PacWest is facing death. https://twitter.com/WatcherGuru/status/1653873317110071305The Florida anti-CBDC bill passed both the FL House and the Senate. https://twitter.com/samuelarmes/status/1653761904169320448
12. A sitting US Senator just said that the modern banking system is a sophisticated ponzi scheme. https://twitter.com/BertusMaximus2/status/1653819148596543489
13. Hydra is live on mainnet. https://twitter.com/rom1_pellerin/status/1654185072415723529
14. IOG wants you to know about the advantages of native tokens on Cardano. https://twitter.com/InputOutputHK/status/1654077799697727488
15. Cardano Movies! https://twitter.com/coc_space/status/1653862307439542275
16. We really need to primary some members of the U.S. Congress. https://twitter.com/BradSherman/status/1653928972026093569
17. Wow! Not surprised at what’s being said here back in November. Just surprised it’s being said publicly. https://twitter.com/balajis/status/1654239504574853120
18. Here’s the longer video of that FDIC meeting for context. http://fdic.windrosemedia.com/index.php?category=Systemic+Resolution+Advisory+Committee
19. Looks like Western Alliance is up next. https://twitter.com/WatcherGuru/status/1654133106037739522
20. The weekly development update from IOG is out. https://twitter.com/InputOutputHK/status/1655248376194105347
21. It’s not hard to make a meme coin on Cardano. https://twitter.com/nmkr_io/status/1654923697885532160
22. Still a crazy amount of mark-to-market losses that haven’t been absorbed by the system. https://twitter.com/BillyM2k/status/1655207860572422144
23. Warren Buffet gives a not too comforting answer to a question about the status of the dollar: “America…we’ve got everything going for us…but…you can’t print money indefinitely as debt.” https://twitter.com/GRDectestatus/1655203348033810439
24. …and then everyone remembered what fee markets look like in busy times. https://twitter.com/CryptoStylesUSA/status/1654711146673479680
25. …same for Bitcoin. https://twitter.com/MatthewPlomin/status/1655320093084057600
26. Cardano hit 94% load. https://twitter.com/SebastienGllmt/status/1655624561789112321
27. he MEV game is getting out of control over on Cardano’s biggest competitor chain. Convince me this shouldn’t just be called “theft” or “fraud”. https://twitter.com/0xNox_eth/status/1655615309695586306
28. Cardano Native Assets are vastly superior to BRC20 and ERC20 tokens. https://twitter.com/TheOCcryptobro/status/1655673557710692352
29. Rumor: SEC is going to make a move against Binance. Will the DOJ also? https://twitter.com/AP_Abacus/status/1655546961968103425
30. At the end of Q3 of last year, 722 banks reported unrealized losses greater than 50% of capital. https://www.federalreserve.gov/supervisionreg/files/board-briefing-on-impact-of-rising-interest-rates-and-supervisory-approach-20230214.pdf
31. Wyoming is inching closer to a state stablecoin. IOG’s significant presence there may turn out to be a huge advantage. https://cowboystatedaily.com/2023/05/09/wyoming-stable-token-a-multibillion-dollar-opportunity-as-officials-wrestle-with-how-to-make-it-happen/
32. Paypal disclosed almost $1 billion in customer crypto in its latest 10-Q. https://blockworks.co/news/paypal-discloses-1b-crypto
33. MiCA is shifting the balance of crypto investment to Europe. https://twitter.com/paddi_hansen/status/1655883224726241281
34. Today (May 10) will be a joint hearing of the Agriculture and Financial Services Committees on Crypto. The CLO of Kraken will testify. https://financialservices.house.gov/
35. This is a legit point about centralized L2s: the best ones are called Coinbase, Kraken, and Binance. https://twitter.com/el33th4xostatus/1655845787593502720
36. There’s already a new version of Lace Wallet out. https://twitter.com/lace_io/status/1656347737355608066
37. A nice thread on the many strengths of Cardano. https://twitter.com/TobiasIlskov/status/1656388178369212416
38. Remember, lobster traps are a thing. https://twitter.com/TheCardanoTimes/status/1656064744225120257
39. Today (May 11 at 1pm EST) there will be a Messari Cardano Analyst call with Charles & Frederik. https://twitter.com/StakeWithPride/status/1656272372452954112
40. I think we all love it when they start making our case for us. https://twitter.com/WatcherGuru/status/1656379837823561730
41. Ethereum is lamenting many of its poor design choices that Cardano already fixed. https://twitter.com/moo9000/status/1656215016016683008
42. Drunkenmiller says this is the broadest asset bubble he’s ever even studied let alone seen firsthand and we’ve only had a few soft landings since 1950. https://twitter.com/Stephen_Geigestatus/1656416819312222219
43. Live footage of meme coin investors accepting their ROI. https://twitter.com/KaylerSmithTV/status/1656130092966264834
44. Here’s the Messari call from today with both Fred & Chaz. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouUhWwF74MM
45. People really seem to be enjoying the CF’s Blockchain Education Alpha Program. https://twitter.com/andreassosilo/status/1644263843743293451
46. The US Chamber of Commerce brief in the Coinbase case is calling out the SEC for acting “unlawfully”. https://twitter.com/MetaLawMan/status/1656737447756038177
47. About that whole self-custody thing we’ve discussed… https://twitter.com/BitcoinMagazine/status/1656706653801136132
48. The SPO poll on K and minFee starts today (May 15)! You should redelegate if your stake pool doesn’t vote the way you would vote! https://cardanofoundation.org/en/news/entering-voltaire-poll-experiment-live-on-mainnet/
49. There are also a series of forum topics for discussion of the various options in the Cardano.org forums. https://twitter.com/Lovecoach_nic/status/1657700010148896770
50. Coinbase spotlights Empowa! May be the first time they’ve ever given such a spotlight to a Cardano project. Tides are turning. https://twitter.com/coinbase/status/1657081243518005254
51. Wow. Leaked “Key Messages” document for the joint committee meeting in the US House last week. Best part: they basically complain about separation of powers in point three. https://twitter.com/EleanorTerrett/status/1656362002577772544
52. Dr. Vanishree Rao on ZK-Rollups. https://twitter.com/InputOutputHK/status/1657778843854274560
53. Here’s a new Decentralized Identity article from IOG. https://iohk.io/en/blog/posts/2023/05/11/atala-prism-pioneering-digital-identity-with-decentralized-solutions/
54. There are reasons we’re in a hard capped cryptocurrency like Cardano. https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/15/business/argentina-interest-rates-inflation/index.html
55. What is a dRep? This video is for you. There will be additional categories of default dReps that vote abstain or no confidence on every vote. https://twitter.com/InputOutputHK/status/1658034085401337857
56. The US Dept. of Justice is officially saying they are targeting exchanges. Great. Great. https://www.ft.com/content/5aac457e-cc80-44ae-ac40-9b51d9b601a3
57. Wow! Ledger just made what is possibly the greatest PR blunder in the history of crypto. Trezor will be poppin’ bottles tonight. https://twitter.com/Ledgestatus/1658458714771169282
58. People are claiming that the hysteria is a misunderstanding of cryptography. But, that’s not what’s going on here if Ledger plus one of the other two shard custodians can reconstruct your private key without having to use your private key. https://twitter.com/nimuepool/status/1658517533836574720
59. The Ledger Recover FAQ seems to support this understanding as it suggests you use a brand new device for recovery. https://support.ledger.com/hc/en-us/articles/9579368109597
60. Wow. Unfortunate timing for this. https://twitter.com/Ledgestatus/1658095051375800321
61. Ken Kodama will be doing a Japanese language interview on CardanoSpot on May 18. https://twitter.com/Emurgo_Ken/status/1658838077136162828
62. The stake pool operator poll on network parameters of K and minPoolCost is live. See the results here. The re-delegation phase will begin on May 25th. https://adastat.net/polls/96861fe7da8d45ba5db95071ed3889ed1412929f33610636c072a4b5ab550211
63. Cornucopias dropped some new in-game footage. As expected, Solace is beautiful. https://youtu.be/j5iwNsQVMDQ?t=1846
64. Wow….the Ledger shards are encrypted with “a master key that is contained in all devices”. Wut? https://twitter.com/P3b7_/status/1658809445965606913
65. Sadly, the Ledger CEO seemed to be denying exactly the above just a day ago. https://twitter.com/_pgauthiestatus/1658508082941403144
66. Here’s why 340 ADA minPoolCost promotes multi-pools. https://twitter.com/ArmySpies/status/1659387255537176581
67. Numbers are emerging on the benefits of K=1000 over K=500. https://twitter.com/StakeWithPride/status/1659398551917727744
68. Here’s the latest on the Stake Pool Operator poll. https://adastat.net/polls/96861fe7da8d45ba5db95071ed3889ed1412929f33610636c072a4b5ab550211
69. Rep. Tom Emmer is trying to help crypto by cutting crypto assets out of the definition of a “security”. He creates a new non-security asset category called “investment contract asset”. https://twitter.com/GOPMajorityWhip/status/1659291641281146886
70. Prof. Wadler (co-inventor of Cardano’s Plutus) has been elected a Fellow of the Royal Society joining the likes of Einstein, Darwin, Hawking, and Isaac Newton. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLOm-dWje-M
71. Huge amount of voting for economic self-interest by multi-poolers in the SPO poll. Earlier today (May 21), 84.73% by stake of the vote for K=500, Min Cost 340 ₳ was multi-poolers. Only 15.6% of the vote for K=1000, Min Cost 170 ₳ was multi-poolers. https://adastat.net/polls/96861fe7da8d45ba5db95071ed3889ed1412929f33610636c072a4b5ab550211
72. Large pools also voted heavily for economic self-interest with the K parameter. 70.02% by stake of the vote for K=500, Min Cost 170 ₳ was pools with delegation over 35 million. Only 30.57% of the vote for K=1000, Min Cost 170 ₳ was pools over 35 million. https://adastat.net/polls/96861fe7da8d45ba5db95071ed3889ed1412929f33610636c072a4b5ab550211
73. Apparently Cardano has its own wiki now! Probably better given our previous treatment by the big wiki group. https://twitter.com/StakeWithPride/status/1660383700243329024
74. Rep. Tom Emmer is getting some reactions on the bill he sponsored with Rep. Soto. https://twitter.com/GOPMajorityWhip/status/1660329932495486977
75. You’re really gonna hold up a debt ceiling deal because you hate crypto so bad? https://twitter.com/gaborgurbacs/status/1660248530135515138
76. Looks like a few big multi-poolers have voted in the poll since yesterday. Pretty easy to predict what they didn’t vote for. https://adastat.net/polls/96861fe7da8d45ba5db95071ed3889ed1412929f33610636c072a4b5ab550211
77. Reports coming in that DCG has defaulted on the payment owed to Genesis. https://twitter.com/AP_Abacus/status/1660671386388504577
78. Ledger Recover would allow governments to confiscate crypto assets by subpoena? Called “not a real concern in the end.” Really? https://twitter.com/TheBTCTherapist/status/1660677064700178436
79. Frederik Gregaard on DeFi and regulation. https://twitter.com/F_Gregaard/status/1660655806709211137
80. Don’t Forget, the May Cardano 360 will be on May 25th. https://twitter.com/InputOutputHK/status/1660621805017608194
81. Here’s the daily check-in on the status of the SPO Poll. We have surpassed 590 pools voting (as of May 23). https://adastat.net/polls/96861fe7da8d45ba5db95071ed3889ed1412929f33610636c072a4b5ab550211
82. The Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong has decided to get our hopes up with a proposed regulatory framework for crypto exchanges that could mean more trading for coins like Cardano. https://apps.sfc.hk/edistributionWeb/gateway/EN/news-and-announcements/news/doc?refNo=23PR53
83. Here’s an IOG thread on the latest out of Atala Prism and Self-Sovereign Identity. https://twitter.com/InputOutputHK/status/1660904360925188097
84. Here’s an IOG article on Cardano native tokens. https://twitter.com/InputOutputHK/status/1660975383997448193
85. The difference in decentralization between Cardano and Bitcoin is still…laughable. https://twitter.com/StakeWithPride/status/1660979639907500033
86. Ledger is finally caving (a little) to the backlash. It’s reported that they will focus on open sourcing parts of their code and only release the “Recover” firmware after that open sourcing is finished. https://twitter.com/NFTherdestatus/1661026174779420672ext to an old identity book. Stop reading into things.” Everyone enjoys speculating what e
87. Looks like the Hong Kong announcement yesterday might have been a hint of what’s coming. https://twitter.com/cz_binance/status/1661391542504902664
88. The Cardano Layerverse is coming to life. https://twitter.com/TobiasIlskov/status/1660697833115385856
89. Wow! Incredible! Thank you for voting in favor of decentralization, 1PCT! https://twitter.com/StakeWithPride/status/1661460222203002880
90. Federal Reserve report debunks claim that crypto is not useful to people in the US. https://twitter.com/SebVentures/status/1661063483369177108
91. The SPO phase of the poll is over. Nearly 800 pools voted. Now it’s your turn to see how your pool voted and re-delegate if you think they voted against decentralization and for their own pocketbook. https://adastat.net/polls/96861fe7da8d45ba5db95071ed3889ed1412929f33610636c072a4b5ab550211
92. The May Cardano 360 is out! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_bCa_xCoxA
93. Charles dropped an update today. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfL2U2hAGWw
94. Sen. Cynthia Lummis declares her opposition to the 30% tax on bitcoin mining. https://twitter.com/SenLummis/status/1661803569341759495
95. Today is a holiday for some of you. Enjoy a Cardano video game I made for you with AI. MJ made the textures. GPT-4 did 100% of the coding. https://openprocessing.org/sketch/1941253
96. Lots of volume being transacted on Cardano recently! https://twitter.com/cwpaulm/status/1662929296329981952
97. As expected, a debt ceiling deal has been reached. It includes an extension until January 1, 2025 which means we won’t be talking about it again until after the election. https://apnews.com/article/debt-ceiling-deal-food-aid-student-loans-3c284b01d95f8e193bca8d873386400e
98. Recent subpoenas to the Python Package Index don’t bode well for those hoping to store seed phrases with third-party custodians. https://twitter.com/_jonasschnelli_/status/1662531840606093312

~Army of Spies

I know the endgame event isn't finished, and I'll probably keep paying attention to what happens with it, but I think my involvement is mostly wrapped up. I had some ideas for new plotlines to write, but I think my characters have largely reached a good conclusion to their various arcs, and I don't really have the time to give new ones justice. Plus, I'm interested in greener pastures. I might post a broad epilogue post or two, once the endgame event is wrapped up, but for now, this chapter in the history of the Blackwood Vale draws to a close.
The Blackwood forces currently raised can be commanded by Lansdale, or if they're inactive, Tully or Daeron. All my PCs who were with the force are now dead. Lansdale has full mechanical control over Raventree Hall, due to Tristifer's position as Lord, Osmund Butterwell's position as castellan, and Bethany's withdrawal. If Estermont and Mooton wish it, they can assume that Bethany introduces Warren to Zhoe once their mission is over. As for Bethany's mission in King's Landing, Warren can take over completely.
It's been an absolute blast writing with you all this game, and I've loved my time as Blackwood, for all its unexpected twists and turns. I've enjoyed conversing about lore and history, and I've enjoyed watching all of these little plot threads play out - and trust me, I've been paying attention to nearly every plotline in the game. I'd especially like to shout out ingan, Norlium, Vierwood, TT, Tellural, Mads, Art, Mia, Plasma, Goch, Stank, Pitchy, Bob, Prester, Rangi, and Razor, all of whom were wonderful writing partners. I know I can be abrasive at times, especially as this iteration got older, but I really do appreciate all of you who have taken the time to write in this community.
I'll see you all in 9PK, and I hope to see you all there to, along with whatever unexpected twists and villainy we come up with.

I'd admit I am a sucker for old romance music back in the 1950s, and ever since I saw The Conjuring 2 and Ed and Lorraine Warren dance to this song, I had to make it for Clem and Louis. This is one of my favorite all-time love songs next to the Righteous Brothers with "Unchained Melody" love theme from Ghost. Since I did an old romance song to Clem and Lou for this one, I will do a Maya and Violet one to Unchained Melody or try to.
​
https://reddit.com/link/13vgb2v/video/kz2hmjzmpx2b1/player

It was called disassociation, the change in my life had been so traumatic that I just... kind of existed, largely doing things on autopilot, only engaging in things when necessary.
I hadn't wanted to be a Kobold, part of me kept thinking, 'this isn't real, I'm going to wake up any moment now'. But I never woke up to anything but this reality. Rather than tackle this like a normal, sane person, I just withdrew and didn't engage.
"Hello, I'm Ruuk." I said. "I haven't exactly been here the past year and some."
The way everyone welcomed me to the warren, not like a stranger finally being accepted, but as a family member who was gone for far too long- It felt good to just... connect.
While I sequestered myself to my shack on the edge of town, the warren had been organizing, fixing things up, just generally working their asses off to make things as comfortable as possible for people. The result was kind of an anachronistic mess, but it worked. Roads had been turn up and repaved, taking a mess of a car-reliant town and streamlining it so people could actually walk from place to place.
The Artificers had taken cars apart and reused the tools to make a tramway that was convenient for everyone. Why bother with cars when half of us can't even reach the pedals? With the restructuring of the town building by building, done simply because it needed to be done, the surrounding houses could be utilized more efficiently.
The reason why my house was largely untouched was because it was still my house, there was no committee ruling that demanded I give it up. It was understood that I'd know what I wanted to do with it when I was finished being a hermit.
Well, more than a handful of people suggested I just have a full-on mage tower, I realistically didn't need that much space, and even then, the things I wanted to keep were so few that having an entire four-story house to myself with more rooms than I realistically needed.
"Besides, when you get to Level 15, you can create your own demiplane." Tudru, the Fighter, remarked.
The plans for such a hypothetical mage tower put it toward the center of the town, just north of the central tramway. It would be convenient to get to me, and it would be convenient for me to go anywhere.
"Plus, well, we've been wanting you to be the Sorcerer on the Council." Goss, the Sorcerer, remarked.
"The what on the what?" I asked.
The Council, as I understood, was comprised equally of Humans and Kobolds. Kobolds with a set Class were put into a position to discuss the needs of the town. No matter who it was, no matter the Class, there was a representative, even if they were the only one present.
There was no Sorcerer Councilor yet, in spite of us being fairly common.
"Why me?" I asked after being given a significantly less truncated explanation.
"Because you're the most competent one out of all of us, are unbound by preconceived notions of how things work." Goss replied. "I mean, I would have never thought of using Magic Missile on that boulder, or staggering the hits like that so nobody got hurt."
I rubbed the back of my neck. "I mean, anyone could have done it." I said.
"The fact of the matter, Ruuk, is that most of us have assumptions based on a bunch of books in a situation that we still don't really understand. I choose to believe that another world has made contact with ours, and we're the ones burdened with responsibility. That doesn't mean I am correct."
They further broke down expectations.
"I am in charge of infrastructure." Rekka, the Artificer, spoke. The goal was to transform the town into an entirely self-sufficient place. Since we were still technically under quarantine, we couldn't get supplies in or out, not without the government allowing it through. The dissemination of magic items and technology that was essential to our continued existence hinged on understanding where to put it and how to ensure it was used correctly.
Barbarians and Fighters- in spite of Kuvli and Tudru being the only ones- were in charge of town defense.
"We work in tandem to find the best solution to a threat." Tudru said. "While thus far purely theoretical, we have options for if and when monsters show up. Let's not forget the Dire Rat that came out of the mine."
"Dire Rat?" I asked.
"Big fuckers." Kuvli said. "Ever seen a nutria? That fucker you killed was even bigger."
It was understood that if monsters came about, we would need weapons. Artificers took care of that, we had a small cache of magically enhanced swords ready and available, as well as every gun in town somewhere where people could grab and react.
Bards, when we would eventually get one, would be in charge of communications and entertainment. With the quarantine in place and us having no actual income at the moment, short of going out and stealing shit, we were largely on our own with what we already had.
"I am in charge of ensuring the town's spiritual needs are taken care of, and the adjudication of our laws." Galax stated. "Given the high probability of Gods existing, and the likelihood of demons, ghosts, and other beings eventually showing up, This includes discerning which deities are existent, and which ones are not. So far, we've only had minor to moderate luck with divine magic. Prayer is necessary for it to work, as we have to explicitly petition our Gods for it every long rest."
"Aren't you biased toward Bahamut?" I asked.
"Of course." He said. "Any anyone who comes to the Temple is welcome to hear anything I have to say on the matter. The biggest problem is figuring out how it all relates."
Next was Merti. "We Druids are in charge of ensuring this town's sustainability and harmony with nature." She said. "That includes recycling materials, ethical and sustainable logging, hunting, farming... Essentially, as long as it pertains to nature, it's our duty to ensure we don't shoot ourselves in the foot."
"Well, while you're busy speaking for the trees, we're responsible for going out there and making sure nothing is coming to kill us. That and getting meat." Tatla spoke. "We're also in reserve in case of a combat situation, we defer to our Fighter and Barbarian for that."
"When we get a Rogue, they will focus on security. As the closest thing we've got to that, I've got plans set up for establishing a wall around the town, just outside the Anomaly, so that people can't just waltz right in, and to prevent any wild animals or hypothetical monsters from getting in." Nakk the Locksmith who might actually be a Rogue said. "And for the record, I've tried everything I can think of to awaken to a Class, and I'm reasonably certain Rogue isn't one." He paused. "That being said, I am offering lockpicking lessons to anyone who thinks it might help."
"Considering we just share and share alike, I don't think we need to worry about our Rogues." Someone I wasn't familiar with yet said.
The way Nakk reacted to his statement, avoiding his gaze, made me wonder why he reacted that way.
"Nakk, why do you look guilty?" I asked.
He looked at me with wide eyes, and for a tense moment, it seemed like he was about to run. I walked up to him and gently put my hand on his shoulder. "It's better to get it out now, rather than later."
He looked away. "I... I've been overcharging everyone since I moved in." He said. "On top of that, I've used my skills as a locksmith to steal from people."
He expected us to get angry, and a fair number of us did.
"Honor and Correction to the enemies of Justice and Good." Galax spoke, "Nakk, is the confession you have spoken true?"
"Y-yes." Nakk said softly.
"When you moved here, was it your intention to steal from us?"
"No." Nakk said. "I just- I had some bad debts, I was trying to escape, start a new life. But then they found me, told me if I didn't pay off the debt, they'd make me regret it. So I stole, but no matter how much I took, the debt never seemed to shrink. When we were all transformed, I was so happy because I could finally escape. They couldn't possibly hurt all of us, and with the quarantine..."
"Nakk." Galax spoke. "Is it your intention to atone for your crimes?"
Nakk nodded. "Yes."
"Then I shall ease your burden, that you no longer are swayed into such temptation." Galax took a pouch out of another pouch on his belt. "This is powdered silver." He said, several eyes widened, clearly understanding the significance of this. "Bahamut, Grandfather of Dragons, Grand Master of Flowers, Justicemaker. Before me stands a penitent soul seeking to atone for his sins against his fellow people. If he hides from you, you are the one who shall bring him into the light. If he hides his face, you are the one who shall reveal it. If his tongue betrays him against his people, you shall be the one who frees it from evil machinations."
He threw the powdered silver upon Nakk, and as he did so, he roared.
"NOMAG SVABOL UI WHEDAB RANNOX EKESS MITNE!"
The silver flashed with brilliant light that, somehow, didn't hurt to look upon, and then Nakk was engulfed in flames. Before anyone could panic, the flames swirled as if caught in a whirlwind and flew into Nakk's open mouth.
For a moment, Nakk was suspended in the air, and then he fell onto his feet, then onto his hands and knees. He gasped for breath, faint wisps of silvery fire escaping his open maw.
"What the fuck just happened?" Kuvli asked.
"That was the Atonement spell." A Player remarked. "You touch a willing creature whose alignment has changed, and if you're powerful enough, you bring them back to their original alignment. In this case, maybe neutral leaning toward evil back to good."
Galax nodded. "You have caused suffering to your people, Nakk. I have firmly put you back on the path to righteousness. You will no longer fear the reprisal of your warren, but will openly accept it. You will no longer hesitate, you will do what is necessary to make amends. Though I can do this as many times as I deem necessary, for you, this is but one chance. In the guidance of Bahmut, go forth and sin no more."
"I will. Thank you." Nakk said.
"I do not need thanks, I am simply the one who interceded on your behalf. Zhin mrith filkiati."
With that out of the way, the meeting resumed.
"Ruuk, as the Sorcerer Councilor, you would be responsible for the responsible use of magic. As every Sorcerer has unique spells, there is a level of versatility that the Warren can use. It would be your duty to advocate for your fellow Sorcerers, to ensure we do not end up taking advantage of them for our own selfish desires." Rekka said. "What do you say?"
I gave it some thought, then nodded. "I'll do it." I said.
What the Council does, as I learned, is convene every week to go over current events and how to deal with them, and occasionally plan ahead on hypothetical situations. We were each paired with a Human who was chosen by other Humans to serve as their representative on specific matters.
My partner is Dave. Dave is a Pagan, he practices magic as a form of spirituality. He is also, currently, the only Human with any level of magical skill, being able to use magic items fairly easily without it blowing up in his face.
"The only reason why I'm not a Kobold is because I want to be an Elf." He said. "I'm hoping that learning more about the Anomaly on the magical end of the spectrum of scholarly pursuit will allow us to do that." He paused. "I will also settle for Dragonborn. You and Galax are currently the best chance of either."
"Why would we want to do that?" I asked.
"Well, presently, only Kobolds are capable of magic, meaning that Humans in the Forgotten Realms are different from us."
"The what?"
"Common setting for D&D." He said. "Now, back when this was all make-believe, Earth was mentioned as being existent in the D&D multiverse, meaning that something decided to mess with us." He paused. "Look, from what I've been able to gather, Earth is in a part of the Prime Material plane that has very weak connections to other planes, we lack magic because of this. However, we are currently in a dome of sustained magic-"
"It's actually a relatively short column." I corrected.
"-which means something has connected us, and specifically us." He finished.
"Alright, so this raises several presumptions, like the notion that someone did this to us for a reason. Do you have any ideas as to what that reason would be?"
"Interplanar invasion, the astral plane bleeding into ours, maybe we're crashing into another plane, maybe a wizard got lucky. We don't have enough information."
I sighed. "Look, let's just get some work done."
We got started on requests, most of them were just questions on if a certain spell was viable for use, some were requests to run experiments with certain spells. With Dave and I debating back and forth, we got them done by the end of the day.
​
[Navigation for 'Dragon Rising'- [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]]

Did anyone here attend? What was your opinion? This was the first year I have gone. Stapleton never disappoints so I enjoyed his performance despite having seen him a couple of times already. Warren Zeiders was good and I’m not particularly a Little Big Town fan but they were okay. It was my first time seeing George Strait and I think I’m the only person who wasn’t completely blown away. While I love his music and respect him as an artist, I felt like he wasn’t as good live as everyone had told me he would be. He is 71, though, and voices age just like everything else .

There was this quiet sort of contemplation as the weight of the Cleric's words echoed in our minds.
There were Gods out there, at least one, but likely more, and for whatever reason, we were the ones who had potential access to actual miracles.
Everyone just kind of accepted that this was a thing that had happened, we were terrified to think about it any more deeply than that, yet some had seen it as a sign that there was some kind of intelligent divine force out there and called out to it.
And it had answered.
Nobody addressed it, not until the funeral.
The Cleric stood among the dead, who were gathered and put into caskets, he solemnly addressed the town.
"We stand before proud men and women of this town, who worked a dangerous trade to support their families. Upon their caskets, me and my fellow Clerics have carved their names, There are some of us who would rather let the dead remain dead, whether it is because they are in heaven, or because it cannot be certain that they will, indeed, return."
He cast his gaze around us. "None have denied me permission to try."
I could hear the weeping of people who were simply devastated, others simply stared forward in abject sorrow. Some watched with hope in their eyes. Hope that one day, we would have our family back.
"It is the duty of the living to carry on, to grant solace to the dead, whether that is in honor of a God, or in honor of oneself, or one's family. We consign these souls to the safekeeping of those whose gentle gaze falls upon us. Whether that be in the arms of Bahamut, or another."
He held his hand out to us. "May peace rain down, and soothe your woes."
There was a subtle lightening of the area around us, followed by a feeling of calm and peace. The weeping petered out.
"I have been given permission to have made a mausoleum for the dead." He said. "For the next ten days, the dead will not decay, during this time, we will dig, until the dead are at rest. Anyone who wishes to help is welcome. Wer tiichir di wer Naflopsola qe acht wux."
The blessing of the Grandfather be upon you.
Everyone went to their lost family members, they were kindly warned not to disturb the salt-covered pennies over their eyes. "It is necessary for the spell to remain in effect." The Clerics explained.
I didn't have anyone who was dead that I particularly missed, but that could have easily been an entirely different story, had we not gone as deep as we had. That said, the idea of a God existing was... I had been a fairly staunch atheist most of my life, and the idea that there was a God felt... weird.
Like, we had proof that there was more going on than met the eye, there was proof that these Clerics got their magic from something.
In the next few days, I helped out with digging out the mausoleum. There was something about digging solid, stable tunnels that felt wonderful, We started with exploratory tunnels, if we found any veins of ore, we would mark the tunnel as such and move on. We managed to find one, before settling on a location just outside the Anomaly.
We needed to make it large enough for Humans to walk in, wide enough for them to walk past one another, with enough space to stack up to four caskets. The idea was to use the natural coldness of the underground to help preserve the bodies. Even if they would be restored to their original state, they weren't embalmed, just drained.
The Clerics didn't want to risk something going wrong with preservatives, and cremation wasn't an option since the other resurrection spell, True Resurrection, would take even longer to achieve.
We started with a large antechamber, one that the Clerics intended to have as a shrine and temple to their God, followed by a long tunnel downward, which would lead into the catacombs proper. Stairs would be carved along either side, with a recessed ramp serving as a place to install a lift. We already had Kobolds on the job, 'Artificers', who could make magical items and technology.
Over time, as we worked, the Clerics would pray to their God, asking for the guidance and wisdom to see things through.
During one of our rest periods, the main Cleric approached me and sat beside me.
"Do you need something?" I asked.
"No. Not in the sense that you expect." He said. "I wished to thank you for your help. I understand you prefer your solitude, and appreciate you taking time to aid us."
What he said confused me. "Solitude?" I asked.
He nodded. "The Warren is well aware of how you prefer to be alone, how when this all started, you were among those who were distressed. You consigned yourself to this new reality, rather than accepting it as we had, and in respect of that, we wait for you to find your peace."
"I'm not that antisocial." I said.
He looked at me, his brow ridge raised. "How many of our names do you know?" He asked.
"I, uh... Well, my brother goes by Tallyn now." I said.
"Now. As though it were only recent, rather than from the start. I do not wish to sound rude or disrespectful, the rest of us have accepted we will never be Human again, I do not think you feel that way."
He was right. No matter how I integrated into the warren, it was always grudgingly. I only practiced magic because it was something I could do, something that could give us answers, something that could at least give us the option to go back. I only took on the name Tallyn, because my own brain forced me to. I still resolutely spoke in English, even though the Humans were getting better with Yipyak every day.
I was the only one who hadn't given up. Or rather, I was the only one who refused to move on.
"My name is Galax, and you are Ruuk."
I nodded. "I just... I don't think we should just give up, there has to be something."
"It is my belief this is a gift." He said softly. "One with unfortunate mistakes, perhaps a wish gone awry, or an attempt at equity, to ensure we would not be outnumbered to our detriment." He smiled. "And that is the least I can say, without preaching, at least."
I rubbed my thumb against my palm. "I... wouldn't mind if you did. Just to have a better idea of what to expect."
He nodded. "Perhaps another time." He said. "For now, I will leave you with this. Of my faith, these are our tenets. Justice and Good above all. Honor and Fealty to the King of the Good Dragons. Honor and respect to righteous innocence. Honor and Duty to the Balancer, to Her Mercy, and to the Justicemaker. Honor and Protection to the lesser races. Honor and Correction to the enemies of Justice and Good. And Honor and Forebearance for oneself."
"Lesser races?" I asked.
"Perhaps a bit unfortunate a term there, for our day and age." He admitted. "But it means people like you and me, we would be considered a lesser race." He thought for a moment. "Honor and Protection to those in the minority. Yes, I believe that is better. May Bahamut see wisdom in this, and if not, guide me to a greater truth."
We finished resting, and at least for the time being, I could understand why he worshiped the God he did.
By the time the mausoleum was finished, a week had passed. The ramp lift was installed and worked, it was capable of holding two caskets at a time, or four people if the seats were pulled up. We all worked to bring the caskets down, before slotting them into their final resting places.
Once the work was finally done, we were invited for a shared meal.
"So, what's the plan now?" I asked Galax.
"We will continue to expand upon this temple." He said. "After all, we will need a place to sleep and pray, not to mention having a place for visitors to stay." He smiled. "It is my hope people come here to worship in peace, and I do hope you come to visit, even if it's just to say hi."
I nodded.
After stepping into the sunlight, after spending so much time underground, I snarled. I really did not like being outside, it was too bright and exposed, and nobody made Kobold sunglasses.
To my knowledge, at least.
Galax's words to me in the catacombs, about separating myself... It made me actually look around and see how much the town had changed. We had sequestered ourselves at the edge of town, making our own tools and living without easy access to technology, simply because we were overwhelmed and needed some place to be. Now, I could see new houses in the place of old ones, large tracts of land that now functioned as its own little village in the middle of everything.
While I stayed separate, unable to be Human, but unable to accept that I was, and likely will be, a Kobold for the rest of my life.
I walked over to my old house, practically abandoned, and walked in.
Everything was coated in a layer of dust, there were cobwebs everywhere, and everything was just as giant as I remembered it being. This used to be my entire life, and now it was just a snapshot of one that I couldn't live in anymore.
There was no electricity going to it, why direct it here if nobody's inside?
The fridge was empty, Mom and Dad emptying it out for me.
"It's taken you longer than everyone else." I turned around to see my brother, his talons clacked against the wood floor, digging slight furrows into it. "Oh, uh, sorry." He said.
"It is what it is." I said.
"Thinking of selling the place?" He asked.
"I don't know what I want anymore." I admitted. "I just... I keep thinking, maybe one day I'll find a way to go back, to return to my life... But this is it, isn't it?" I looked at him. "There's no going back. This isn't even a curse or something I can handle, even if I work my ass off."
Tallyn walked over to me and hugged me, I hugged him back.
After that, and some time just sitting in silence, he said, "You could have the place demolished and have a new house built."
"With what money?" I asked.
"Wait, you still haven't figured it out?" He asked, shocked.
"Figured what out?"
"We abandoned money, like, a month into this. I mean, we got turned into a bunch of little lizard dudes with dragon blood in our veins, money just kind of felt like an arbitrary thing we used. We've been self-sufficient for months at this point, and we did it all through the power of our kind just naturally gravitating toward helping each other out."
"So, wait, we're a bunch of communist lizards?" I asked, shocked.
"Socialist." He replied. "It probably helps that we're a relatively little grouping of people with fairly solid infrastructure, even if we're in the process of fixing it."
"Huh." I sat in silence for a few moments. "So, wait, you're telling me someone's just going to build me a house."
"You literally spent the last seven days digging out a temple and a catacomb out of the goodness of your own heart." He said. "Money didn't even cross your mind, did it?"
"Well, no, but that's because it was needed." I said.
"Yes, and housing is a need." He pointed out. "Look, we've got a council and everything, just ask them to take this place apart and build you a new one. A building this size would support four storeys for us." You can have it as modern as you want, or you could go full medieval like a lot of us have and go for aesthetic."
"Well, I do like the aesthetic." I said. "But I'm absolutely having electricity, because fuck cooking over a fire."
He laughed. He invited me to his house, and well, it was cozy. He wasn't having any Human visitors for a while, except in the absolutely huge sitting room.
"There are windows on the interior wall." I remarked.
"Yeah. Sometimes I can't be bothered to go all of the way to the ground floor, and unlike someone, I can't just leap off and float to the ground."
"What is it that you do?" I asked. "I never asked, because I was too much in my own damn head."
"Well, first thing you need to know is that there are roughly thirteen Classes, fourteen if we ever get a Blood Hunter."
"A what?"
"Nevermind. So, unlike you, most of us don't have one yet. Like, it's there, but we haven't awakened to it yet. Everyone with some sort of practical skills, they awakened to the easier Classes to awaken to. Druids, Rangers, Sorcerers, Artificers- all have something innate to them that makes it easier for them to awaken. We have one Fighter, and he's ex-military. We have one Barbarian, and he's that guy who has anger management issues."
"Getting pissed off is a Class?" I asked.
Getting pissed off regularly. Now, Bards? Nobody's musically inclined, so that's a no go. Monks? About the best we've got is yoga, and until someone starts learning karate, I doubt we're getting one any time soon. Paladins? Well, they're specifically people bound to a sacred oath, rather than a God, and until one of us swears vengeance on someone, that's not happening any time soon."
He paused, thinking to himself. "If anyone's a Rogue, they're keeping it hidden. My guess would be the locksmith. Warlocks require making a pact with an otherworldly being, and Wizards are explicitly people who have studied magic long enough to understand how to use it, unlike you, who just knows."
"So, like, what? You don't have a Class, so you're screwed until you get one?"
He shook his head. "No. We definitely get stronger, but we can't use something we don't know we have, and reading about it isn't enough."
I had always assumed that everyone just knew what they were, but in all actuality, we were the ones who were lucky.
"Do people hate me?" I asked, suddenly self-conscious.
"No." He said firmly. "You've thrown yourself into understanding your Class, even though out of all of us, you're probably the least knowledgeable. Which is actually fitting. You haven't hesitated to use your magic to help other people, but you don't go around flaunting it like an asshole."
He paused, waving his hand in circles, likely trying to recall something. "Like that Mending spell. Do you even remember how many people come to you to get their broken shit fixed? You just know it's broken, you can fix it, so you do."
I nodded. I hadn't even kept count.
"Or the times you used that Mage Hand to get things that were out of reach for people, like getting that frisbee down, and let's not forget how you've used Pressi- Presiti="
"Prestidigitation." I said.
"That. Just that one spell alone has been monumental in making things easier for people. We actually have Artificers working on gloves that just do that, because it's so useful." I nodded. I did make a habit of just cleaning things with it because I simultaneously couldn't bother with it, but didn't want to leave it alone.
"Ruuk." He said. "Everyone's been waiting for you to join us, rather than stay alone. We are a warren, all of us, even the Humans. It's time to come home."
​
[Navigation for 'Dragon Rising'- [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]]

Stats: 4.0 GPA, 516 MCAT
ORM; NJ resident
ECs:
~1,500 clinical hours through EMT, volunteer and paid + good LOR
~400 clinical hours through volunteering at nursing home; award for involvement
~1,500 non-clinical service hours as COO and co-founder of a nonprofit focused on addressing disparities in community health education, org has grown a lot and made a nice impact
~1,500 leadership hours: president of two student organizations (one that I co-founded; both are tied into my clinical experiences), RA, TI, intern for nonprofit related to clinical volunteering, etc.
~2,500 hours research + 1 4th author publication + thesis project with 2 awards + poster presentations + great PI LOR
~75 hours of shadowing
Taking 1 gap year to do part-time research and part-time patient care tech
My MCAT is definitely low for the top medical schools as an ORM, but again thinking about shooting my shot to more holistic ones. I also tried to do a decent amount of research on mission fit and in-state bias when narrowing down the list. Let me know of any other mid/low tier schools I should add... I would be comfortable applying to up to 45 schools. I feel super shaky with this list lol. Thank you!!

1. Johns Hopkins University
2. Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons
3. Duke University School of Medicine
4. Stanford University School of Medicine
5. University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine
6. Yale School of Medicine
7. University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
8. University of Michigan Medical School
9. Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
10. University of Chicago Division of the Biological Sciences The Pritzker School of Medicine
11. University of California, Los Angeles David Geffen School of Medicine
12. Emory University School of Medicine
13. Ohio State University College of Medicine
14. Case Western Reserve University
15. Boston University Aram V. Chobanian & Edward Avedisian School of Medicine
16. University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry
17. University of Cincinnati College of Medicine
18. Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University
19. Albert Einstein College of Medicine
20. University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine
21. Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth
22. USF Health Morsani College of Medicine
23. Georgetown University School of Medicine
24. Tufts University School of Medicine
25. University of Connecticut School of Medicine
26. Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University
27. Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University
28. Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine
29. Rutgers, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
30. Rutgers New Jersey Medical School
31. Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University
32. Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University at Buffalo
33. Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine
34. Saint Louis University School of Medicine
35. Drexel University College of Medicine
36. The University of Toledo College of Medicine and Life Sciences
37. Cooper Medical School of Rowan University
38. Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine at Quinnipiac University
39. Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine

"Dread it, run from it, destiny arrives all the same, and now's it here. Or should I say, 'I am'?" –Thanos, Avengers: Infinity War
Here we are. Ronald Dion DeSanctimonious DeSanctus DeSaster Meatball DeSantis is in for 2024, setting up the clash between Donald Trump and his protégé, the concentrated bigotry of every Florida Man headline encapsulated in the body of a five-foot-nine manlet with a moderate case of gay voice. His announcement was a flop, consumed by technical difficulties and rage-boner driven rantings about wokeness with the occasional smart-ass remark by blood emerald billionaire and perpetual mental fourteen year-old Elon Musk.
Surrounding these two titans is a laughable cast that varies from former UN Ambassador and Governor of South Carolina Nikki Haley, who Steve Bannon once referred to as being "as ambitious as Lucifer" to Vivek Ramaswamy, who looks like an extra from HBO's Silicon Valley and has the policy positions of a Veep antagonist Selina Meyer would ultimately barely win against after a recount. These morons, however, will play the roles that Elizabeth Warren, Pete Buttigieg, and Amy Klobuchar played in 2020, mostly sapping off support from the Bernie Sanders of the Republican Primary, played by DeSantis himself.
Yes, Meatball is the Bernie Sanders of the Republican Party. In both contests, their ideologies are more strongly aligned with where the base sits, they are exciting to their party and spark fury and fear in the other, and they're generally seen as the leaders of the faction which opposes the present order within their respective parties. They are also massively overly-hyped by their stans and have glaring electoral weaknesses.
Trump, meanwhile, is Joe Biden warped through a looking glass. He is the party's past, present, and future. Connected to a perceived lost golden age for the party base (which kinda sucked for everyone else), far too old to be doing this shit anymore, seemingly the worst candidate with a realistic chance of winning the primary, and the primary's predestined winner. No amount of mud-slinging, policy proposals, or frantic attempts to assemble a coalition against him will succeed.
Simply put, DeSantis, who is lacking in charisma, unused to governing by anything other than diktat and fiat, and generally considered a massive asshole by everyone who's been in the same room as him, is little more than the blind hopes of those in the GOP who either opposed Trump from the beginning or are tired of his bullshit now after Republicans have managed to bungle every election cycle from 2017 to present.
Much like Bernie had in 2020, a path exists for DeSantis to claim victory over his establishment rival–Yes, Donald Trump is the Republican establishment now–but it is requiring a two man race from the get-go. The others in the primary will simply serve to divide the anti-Trump vote, allowing him to build a strong delegate lead. Meanwhile, many anti-Trumpers will return to the fold after their preferred candidates flame out, as we saw with the likes of Warren, Klobuchar, and Buttigieg supporters in 2020.
There are reports saying that DeSantis is writing off the early states, instead favoring the large prizes later in the contest. This is a folly, because narrative matters. Undecided voters will look at a poor early performance for DeSantis and see a candidate who isn't viable. Trump will mock his low numbers in Iowa, Nevada, and New Hampshire, and the media will report on DeSantis as floundering. The narrative will doom him before he can ever hope to manifest his victories.
I'll return to the looking glass analogy, because we've gone through one. 2024 is shaping up to simply be 2020 flipped on its head, with the same two opponents finding themselves in the reverse positions, but with key differences. No one wants this rematch of the geriatrics, but we're getting it. Biden will (most likely) not be crippled by a public health crisis, and with the debt ceiling agreement reached, economic disaster seems to have been averted for the moment.
Instead, a radical Republican judiciary is issuing ruling after ruling which infuriates the general population, and GOP-led state legislatures are going after culture war third rails that are proving to be deeply unpopular, while also passing laws which serve to decimate their states' interests, such as the recent ban on undocumented labor in Florida, which has ground the construction industry in America's fastest-growing state overnight.
Democrats are within striking distance of reclaiming the House, and the Senate appears to be a tossup rather than the rout that was being predicted five years ago after the Democrats' 2018 shellacking. The House itself is a nightmare, a case of the inmates running the asylum, as Kevin McCarthy's debt-ceiling nonsense has already raised cries for a motion to vacate, the House's version of a no-confidence vote. This madness is reigning hell on the GOP's chances of retaining their control of a chamber which they barely claimed in 2022.
Meanwhile, Democrats have actually managed to direct their ire at the correct people. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema are reviled amongst the base, to the point that Manchin is written off as DOA and Sinema has been driven from the party entirely. Arizona, somehow, has continued its blue shift so resolutely that the three-way Senate race there is still generally seen to favor Democrat Ruben Gallego.
We have an instance where Joe Biden has somehow had everything go right for him. Trump's legal woes may not have damaged him with the Republican base, but they are doing real damage amongst the general electorate, and with his first criminal trial set for March of 2024, by which time it's likely his delegate lead will be insurmountable, it will be an endless circus. At the same time, federal charges from Special Prosecutor Jack Smith and state-level charges from Atlanta DA Fani Willis are poised to come down the pike.
Republicans will be forced to either denounce their party's nominee, or cape for a man who was civilly convicted of sexual assault and has been buried under an avalanche of charges ranging from theft of classified documents to election interference to financial crimes. We know what they're going to do, and the GOP base will produce a crop of shameless nominees for key races that will espouse radical positions and brazenly defend Trump's criminality.
The Party of Law and Order will have become the Party of Lawlessness. Trump will spiral downward, DeSantis will have been vanquished into irrelevance under the blistering tongue of the man who made him, and all the Democrats have to do, in return, is simply allow America to witness the opposition's carnage and ask if they want to empower that.
2024 will be closer than it ought to be, but as it stands, the result will be the same as 2020.

Series History

Game	Date	Home	Score	Away	Score
1	5-23	Bears	1	Amerks	5
2	5-25	Bears	2	Amerks	0
3	5-27	Amerks	2	Bears	4
4	5-29	Amerks	2	Bears	4
5	5-31, 7:00 PM	Bears		Amerks
6	6-2, 7:05 PM	Amerks		Bears	If Necessary
7	6-5, 7:00 PM	Bears		Amerks	If Necessary

Lineup

Buffalo	Left	Center	Right
	Murray	Jobst	Rousek
	Warren	Malone	Mersh
	Rosen	Kozak	Kulich
	Cederqvisk	Olischefski	Weissbach

Buffalo	Left	Right
	Pilut	Metsa
	Davies	Cecconi
	Bartkowski	Eliot

Buffalo	Goalies
	Subban
	Houser

Scoring

Team	1st	2nd	3rd	OT	Tot
	1	1	0		2
	0	0	4		4

Goals

Per	Time	Team	Player	Assist(s)
1st	3:01		Weissbach (2)	Cederqvist, Metsa
2nd	16:01		Weissbach (3)	Bartkowski, Cederqvist
3rd	10:06		Johansen (2)	Protas, Anas
3rd	12:11		Day (3)	McMichael, Morelli
3rd	15:27		Morelli (4)	Day, Pilon
3rd	19:02		Morelli (5)

Penalties

Per	Time	Team	Player	Penalty
1st	10:37		Massie	Cross-checking (2:00)
1st	14:05		McIlrath	Tripping (2:00)
2nd	5:35		Cederqvist	Tripping (2:00)
2nd	10:26		Murray	High sticking (2:00)
2nd	18:22		Cecconi	Tripping (2:00)

It was at midnight exactly when everyone who was awake promptly passed out.
It wasn't an instant 'fall to the ground like a corpse' mass unconsciousness. It was just this sudden and intense state of exhaustion that made it impossible to stay awake.
Ours was a mining town, averaging around 70,000 population, and recently being hit by recession that made finding work a pain in the ass. And with the mine running dry, it was all we could do to keep afloat.
I was out for a stroll when the exhaustion hit, I was crossing the street when this oppressively heavy state of exhaustion just hit me. I panicked, of course, thinking that I was having a stroke or something, desperately trying to get to the other side of the crosswalk.
Then darkness.
It was the sunlight that woke me up, I squinted in the hellishly bright light and fumbled around for my sunglasses. Why I kept sunglasses on my person in the dead of night was because I was that kind of asshole who wanted to look cool. My mileage definitely varied on that front, but it was at least an attempt.
Still, when I managed to find them, confused as to why I was on hot asphalt, I put them on, only for them to immediately fall off. I was forced to open my eyes, and that's when I saw my hands.
At first, I thought it was the mother of all sunburns, being so bright red, but when the sound came out of my mouth, I knew something had gone terribly wrong. First and foremost, I was covered in bright red scales, I had these short, sharp claws at the end of my hands, on top of which my feet were utterly fucked up, and I had a tail.
I scrambled for my phone, wondering if it would even register my touch, Thankfully, it did.
You know those memes where someone takes a picture of an animal, and it looks really fucking funny? Guess whose first picture was like that. I turned on the camera, flipped the camera so I could see myself on the screen, and accidentally took a picture as my new snout filled the screen.
I tried to get up, but I realized that my clothes were too big, and that I had gone from a solid 6 feet and dropped to a measly three. Bear in mind, the average height of a person with dwarfism is a solid four, and I know this because I did an entire project on it in ninth grade.
I had no idea what the hell I was, if I was the only person like this, and I was forced to use my XL shirt to cover my otherwise naked body, tearing the shit out of it with my new feet claws, and being faced with the reality that being a three-foot lizard meant I had to crawl through my dog door.
Thankfully, Brutus didn't even seem phased, he just walked up to me, tail wagging, and very much wanting to be pet, which I did, very carefully. I needed something pure and wholesome in the world to keep me from going insane.
That was around six AM.
Now, googling 'Help, I've turned into a three foot lizard' didn't help at all, and I sure as shit didn't want to walk all of the way to my parent's house and potentially freak them out, but I did have my brother.
James is a furry, I'll just say it flat out. Like, an absolute turbo furry. It had taken me time to get used to the idea that he liked furry characters, and I knew a lot of the art he liked dealt with this kind of situation.
I was desperate, and I needed someone on my side. When I called him, it rang and then went to voicemail, and I proceeded to continuously call him, because he will eventually wake up. I got ready to call him again when a notification came up saying he wanted to FaceTime.
I braced myself for his inevitable squeeing when he saw I'd been transformed into a tiny little lizard.
I didn't expect him to be one as well.
Of course, he was the one who was fucking ecstatic, and it took me a lot of attempts to get him to listen to me, which he eventually did.
"Bro." I said, the words slipping out of my mouth weird. I had to carefully enunciate, moving a tongue that was completely alien to me inside of a mouth that didn't work the way I was used to. "What the thuck ith going on?" I asked. "Do you haff any idea what ith going on."
It was painful, really. Of course my brother spoke fluently. It didn't occur to me until he was halfway through his diatribe about TF triggers that I said, "Hey, wait, you're speaking another language." I paused. "I'm speaking another language!"
Like, it all translated into English for me, but we were very much speaking a language that was full of sibilants and yips, yaps, and naks.
"Oh, yeah. That's Yipyak." He said.
"What the fuck is a Yipyak, and if this is some sort of deez nuts joke, I'm going over there and clawing you."
So he explained that we were both Kobolds, creatures from Dungeons and Dragons, and our native language was Draconic, more specifically a pidgin language known as Yipyak.
"Alright, scholar of the Kobolds, what do we do about this situation, because people are going to freak out."
"Brother." He said. "There's no way in hell it's just us."
Part of me knew he was right, but I absolutely did not want to believe it.
Naturally, people gathered around the Town Hall.
The screaming started around eight AM, as people woke up to find themselves turned into Kobolds. Some of them were screaming in joy, others were as horrified as I was, but that wasn't the worst part.
Only half of us were Kobolds.
Mom and Dad picked us up, because they could reach the pedals. They were, of course, very concerned, but they helped us out because they loved us.
Most of the people who arrived who had been turned into Kobolds had to make due with shirts hiked up to their waists and tied off with a belt, the rest just stood around. Naked. There was one weirdo who just made a loincloth and was looking very proud of himself.
Weirdly enough, I actually kind of wanted one.
So, there we were, engaging in what was effectively a cultural exchange between the nerds and furries and the rest of us normal folk. Really, the only explanation as to how and why this happened was. "Fucked if we know, but it has knock-on implications for the rest of the universe."
The Humans- wow, that was a thought I just had, and not one I could just not have- The Humans were of course upset that this had happened and that our entire town was facing a crisis that we didn't know how to deal with.
But the furries had hypotheses.
First, the facts as we knew them. Exactly half of our population had been transformed. The only people who transformed were the D&D nerds and the furries, with the rest being directly related. The transformation only seemed to only effect family members in the same generation, which is why a husband and wife were Kobolds, but their kids weren't. Finally, there was nothing like this happening anywhere else in the world.
Therefore, the hypotheses were thus:
A. Some sort of wild magic surge triggered the transformation. And yes, magic was real because some of us could use it. Me included.
B. The D&D universe actually existed and was bleeding into reality. This excited the D&D players, because it meant they could go on an adventure.
C. There was a Dragon somewhere, maybe in the mine, and it wanted minions. Nobody liked this idea. Well, nobody said they liked it. I felt weirdly okay with it.
D. This was just Some Weird Shit, so let's just move on.
Naturally, someone leaked what happened, the government came, and, well, that's when we discovered that anyone entering the town limits had a roughly 50/50 chance of getting instantly turned into a Kobold. We also determined we could leave, but the way was blockaded because nobody wanted this to spread.
To the government's credit, they didn't take away our civil liberties to dissect us, they just showed up, brought scientists, and started trying to figure out what was going on.
The rest of us just had to adjust.
We couldn't really live in our own houses anymore, I mean, they're not even built for people with Dwarfism, it was even worse for us because we couldn't even reach the counter. So we just did the best we could. Some carpenters got together and started building houses that were proportional to our size. Kitchen appliances weren't going to be of any real help, so we just had to make due with houses that didn't have any electricity, but at least worked well with space heaters.
One of the best things about these houses was that they were quick to make and were easy to navigate. Some of the people built medieval-style housing, which I found myself increasingly attracted to as a place to live. Some of the D&D players were part of something called the Society of Creative Anachronism, and they hand made a lot of clothes that, for whatever reason, my stupid little Kobold brain liked, so here I was in a thatch-roofed house proportional to my size in medieval clothing that I could not fathom why I liked it.
In fact, I'm beginning to hate who I used to be.
The first sign that I was experiencing a dislike of my Human body was when I saw a picture of me and just got angry. Like, I smashed the frame against the floor and tore the thing to shreds before I got a hold of myself.
I catch myself only talking in Yipyak, and being annoyed when I have to switch to English. Not to mention, I've begun practicing magic. I can't explain how it works, I just know it works, it's helped me keep the place clean.
I know how to cast six of these spells, though, two of them exhaust me. The D&D nerds identified them as 'Prestidigitation, Mage Hand, Mending, Firebolt, Detect Magic, and Magic Missile.' Basically, the power do to a lot or really minor effects, the ability to create a magic hand that does whatever I want it to, the ability to fix some things, and the ability to throw fire at something- all at will. As well as the ability to see magic and the ability to throw magic at something that will always hit.
A lot of utility.
So with Detect Magic, I was able to determine that the town was surrounded in a cylindrical magic field, I actually took the time to help mark the border so people wouldn't accidentally become a Kobold. Other things I was able to figure out was that it was a '9th level' spell with Transmutation.
"Oh, that's Mass Polymorph! But that spell only effects ten creatures."
"Well, whatever it is, it's made a hell of a mess of things." I said.
Well, something came out of the mine earlier today, it was a giant fucking rat, and I used Magic Missile to kill it. I was halfway through skinning it when I realized I was skinning it, and that I had never skinned an animal before. I kept at it, and brought it to the warren.
The warren?
Yeah, that word fits.
I have these weird moments of self-awareness where I suddenly remember what life used to be like, and how much I had changed. How much the others changed. Some of them had changed their names , and I realized with a start that I didn't want my name anymore.
But there's another one that's just on the tip of my tongue.
Ruuk.
A Kobold came up to me, wanting some help with something. He said my old name and all I could say in response was, "My name is Ruuk."
He didn't even question it, and immediately started using it. I helped out with what he needed- he'd broken his hoe and needed it fixed, which I obliged.
It struck me, as we hit our first year of this, that I didn't want to go back to being a Human.
​
[Navigation for 'Dragon Rising'- [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]]

I'm enjoying the core gameplay a lot, the relationship system is eh but for the sake of argument let's say everything else was implemented perfectly.
What value is the Roguelike format adding to DDs formula? All I'm experiencing are ways it makes the game more restrictive, more difficult to enjoy, obscuring the variety and fun that is already there.

• longer, more tedious runs
  My DD2 runs average 2-3 hours depending on party comp, whether I enter the sluice, how many lair bosses I fight, etc.
  Even if you take it piecemeal, for the most part you are stuck using the same 4 heroes for that entire time short of death (bad) or bounty hunter hire (temporary).
  Compared to DD1, runs are much shorter, averaging 10-30 minutes, so in that same time frame you can run a lot of different missions with a variety of teams.
  
• lack of variance
  In DD2 your decisions at the crossroads pretty much cement what you're doing for the entire run, as Paths will often outline what abilities you'll use and even rank position.
  I almost never find myself shaken off my starting composition either through negative or positive encouragement. Mastery points as a limited resource enforce this rigidity this even more, I'm putting those towards my strongest skills for each Path and don't care about skill flexibility until I'm swimming in them.
  I think something as simple as letting heroes switch paths/refund all mastery points at an inn would massively boost the players ability to change their party significantly depending on what they've encountered in their run.
  
• generalization is favored over niche
  In DD1, it's perfectly fine to have a hero tailored to clearing a specific region. If you hate the Warrens, why not have a Houndmaster with a lot of anti-beast or Warren bonus quirks? It's one hero in a sizable roster, you can have more Houndmasters to do other things, like one focused on dodge tanking.
  In DD2, this would be stupid because you only have 1 of each hero, and to win you need to clear multiple regions with them so it doesn't make sense to specialize in one. You also only have 1 quirk you can lock, so ideally it should be useful across all 3 Paths unless you want to keep replacing it. You don't want to lock in ranged damage for Sharpshot if you want to play Yellowhand later. You want what is consistently good in all situations, which makes things duller.
  

None of these criticisms are about DD2s core mechanics. All of them are really just facets of the same issue - the restrictive nature of the Roguelike format and how DD2 employs it.
Allow me to preempt the most common reply:

DD2 is different from DD1

They're not, their bones are very similar. Go play DD1's Endless Harvest, it's basically a DD2 prototype with the exact same format staples I take issue with in this post.
Despite "not being the same game", I think it would be easily achievable to have a mode in DD2 that removes restrictions and plays more like DD1.
Pick 1 region to run for a single 15-30 min mission, 3 quirk locks, build up a trinket pool+roster of multiple heroes you can save variants of to make switching between Paths/Builds seamless (still lost on death). A "free play" mode for DD2, offering the variety of end-game DD1 without having to grind for it.

A friend of mine worked closely with Carl Icahn in the early to mid 2000's. I've been peppering him with questions and I think I see a narrative that fits recent events.
What I found most interesting from my friends depiction was the almost Office level comedic aspect of the whole operation. Apparently Carl is the most brutal good hearted man you can imagine, kind of a story in reconciled duality.
My friends job was essentially to meet directly with the board that Carl just brutally eviscerated and somehow convince them that not only was it not a malicious takeover in the sense that it was altruistic by design and ultimately beneficial to the board themselves. Interestingly there was in fact an altruism buried in the brutality of the hostile takeover and this trojan horse strategy is what will define Carl Icahn for generations to come. A man who wouldn't shy away from fighting the enemy on its chosen battleground should victory mean the company regain principle.
However where Carl’s an historical figure in terms of activism, his post acquisition strategy leans towards split up resale and the conversations discussing alternative strategies Caro and his son Brett routinely engage in should be archived for posterity. Where Carl has a tried and true model of honing in on undervalued companies, especially those maliciously destroyed by a compromised C Suite, enacting a hostile takeover and ultimately breaking it's component parts and to sell at an aggregate profit, to conglomerates with distribution models more befitting the business. Brett, born of a different era, has the marketing and business administration acumen along with a steady finger on the pulse and so he’s keen on maintaining full ownership and rebuilding the brand for exponentially more profit if successful.
The arguments the two have are brilliant, terse, informative and they are always resolved with a gentle agreement to respect one anothers strengths and vision. This is where I see BBBY fit in. Ryan Cohen is the bridge between father and son. He is Warren Icahn, corporate raider and strategic investor, but also master marketer and a finger that seems to be driving the pulse at the moment, and in Ryan Cohen I think the Icahn family found the missing link.
The dominoes appear to be in place. Carl gains control of BBBY. Carl does what he does best, breaks off Buy Buy Baby and sells to Ryan Cohen at a valuation multiples of the current market cap of the entire company, Ryan populates Teddy.com with Buy Buy Baby products, Teddy.com features a payment link directly to the Gamestop Marketplace, Brett takes over Bed Bath and Beyond, a squeeze allows for a share offering that wipes the debt, Brett combines Harmon inventory with current inventory to pivot towards a Bed Bath and Beyond digital marketplace which will have some kind of developing relationship with Ryan Cohen and Web3. The store closings are obviously strategic, the brand name is iconic, it's time to bring Bed Bath to the Beyond that is Web3. Should they pull this off these three men go down in history for tipping the first domino inexorably towards a new, digital, inclusive, unprecedented era ripe with opportunity.