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A real exercise for building internal connections in the hands
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Timothy WK
Location: Chicago, IL
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 187
A real exercise for building internal connections in the hands
Here is a real exercise that builds internal connections in the hands. More specifically, this "exercise" outlines the activity of the hands in various standing postures and qigongs, such as wuji or zhan zhuang. It's not normally practiced by itself, and honestly, I'm not sure how much practical use this exercise will be without working the rest of the body.
But my hope is that if people can "get" this exercise, it will give them a real, actual, literal "feel" for something internal. And if they get that, some of the stuff people are talking about here might start making more sense. And maybe, just maybe--- if people figure this out, it might give them a clue on how to establish connections in other parts of the body.
I found it relatively easy to begin feeling this stuff in my hands. I'm not exactly sure why, but I figure there's a good chance all the grabbing in my Aikido and sword work had something to do with it. So I'm hoping it won't be too difficult for y'all, either.
Though many styles and individuals do the thing I'm talking about, this particular "method" is my own attempt to explain it, based on how I figured it out. I'm sure others familiar with it would explain it differently.
Also, be warned that I'm still a beginner. I'm sure I'm missing some subtleties, and I'm sure my understanding will change with time. I probably won't be able to explain much beyond what I've written. But I know a lot of people are curious about this stuff, so I'm hoping that I can offer people a taste, even if it's incomplete.
The Basic Posture
You want to relaxedly open your hands. Lightly extend your fingers and thumbs, they should be spread apart with a nice curve to them. It's important that the hand be nice and relaxed. They should NOT be rigid and straight.
If you're curious about the exact shape, place your palm on the top of your forehead, pointed up. Spread your fingers and rest them on the top of your head. While keeping that shape, remove your hand. That's about the shape you want.
Start by relaxing your shoulders and letting your arms fall to your sides. Now raise up your forearms until they're parallel to the ground. Hold your wrist "vertical", so the bones of the forearms are positioned one over the other (your palms should be facing sideways towards the inside).
Your wrist should be held relaxed, the pinkie side of the hand should fall towards the ground. But try and keep the "line" of your palm in line with the bones of the forearm. (So if looking at the hand from the side, it should be bent downward. But if looking at the hand from the top, it should look straight with the forearm.) Now open your fingers as described above.
That's the basic exercise. You hold that posture for as long as the given qigong or whatever continues. It's important that you keep the hand as relaxed as possible. Use only enough muscle as is necessary to hold the posture. Always try to find ways to relax the hand more and more. It's likely that at first, you'll subconsciously hold some tension in the hand, and it will take a bit before you learn to truly relax it.
Learning to "Open" the Hand
Begin by doing the above exercise for 5-10 minutes, or maybe 15. Pay attention to the feeling of the hand. You'll likely notice a slight tension in the fingers/thumb. You might start to feel a fuzzy-warm-electric feeling in the palm of your hand, possibly like you're holding a ball.
At this stage, holding the hand posture does two things: First, I personally find that it takes a bit for the connections in the hand to "warm-up" and get going, so doing this will prepare the hands for what's to come. And second, holding the hand like this will actually strengthen (slightly) the connections in the hands, in case you can't muster the strength to do the next part. But in order to strengthen the connections, it's important that you always try and relax the hand more and more (without letting the fingers/thumb move).
Here we come to the hard part, the part that requires some mental work and experimentation. Here you need to learn how to (literally) open the fingers/thumb with your "mind" or "will" or "intention" alone, without using muscle. For this part, you may find it easier to concentrate on one hand at a time. It also requires quite a bit of relaxation, so you may find it beneficial to rest your forearm on your lap or off the edge of a table.
Keep the same wrist position as before, but relax the fingers. They should naturally rest half-way open.
Think back to that feeling of the hand being open, that slight tension, and maybe that fuzziness in the palms. What you want to do is just barely---and I mean barely---open the hand, so you begin to feel that sensation again. There should only be the slightest, if any, movement in the fingers/thumb. Actually, it's better if you can generate that feeling without actually moving the fingers/thumb.
Ready now? You want to
that feeling in your hand, without actually moving your fingers/ thumb. See how far you can take and exaggerate that feeling. This will involve playing with sortakinda moving your fingers, but without actually moving them. Just experiment a bit, but always try and keep the hand relaxed, don't engage the muscles in the forearm if you can. Don't just "imagine" the hand moving, but rather experiment with the sensations in the hand. If you do get that fuzzy-electric feeling in the palm of your hand, it might be helpful to focus more on that feeling than on the tension in the fingers. Focus on this for a few minutes, and be mindful of what's happening with your hand.
As you learn to increase this feeling, something "magical" will happen. The fingers/thumb might start twitching a bit... and then... they'll start moving... all on their own... they'll start drifting open.
Your fingers probably won't move all that much at first, but it will feel really,
. It'll be obvious that you're doing
, but it won't feel like you're moving your own body. There might be the feeling that the "fuzzy ball" in your palm is inflating. When I did this the first time, I got a prickly, tingly feeling in my forearms, like my tendons used to be stuck but were now loosening up. I also became distinctly aware of each individual tendon. I could actively feel them running along the top and bottom of each finger, and could feel them run into my forearms. (I'm not sure how universal these sensations are.)
It should be very obvious when this begins to work. If you have to question it, you probably don't have it yet. If it doesn't feel weird, you probably aren't doing it right. If you do get it right, there's a good chance you'll be oddly sore in your forearms the next day.
I have no idea how long it will take for y'all to get to this point. It took me a few weeks, but I wasn't actively trying to just move my fingers. I don't expect you'll get it the first time. So when you can't, don't sweat it. Just continue with the exercise once or twice a day until you can.
Building Strength
You've made it this far? Awesome! Now that you can manifest those connections in your hands, you can begin the (long) work of strengthening them. Go back to the basic posture, but this time, try to achieve it using just your "intention"/"mind"/"will" without using muscle. Hold that for 5, 10, maybe 15 minutes a day.
Honestly, you probably won't be able to completely open your hand at first using just the connections. So just go back to using muscle, but as I said before, use as little muscle as necessary to hold the posture, and try to relax the hand more and more. Actually, after you learn to manifest these connections, you'll find it's possible to engage the muscles (slightly) while simultaneously engaging the connections. So you won't be totally giving up on using the connections.
You also want to try to "create" the feeling that your fingers/thumb are "stretching" or "extending" or "growing". You "create" these feelings similarly to the way you created the "opening" feeling in your hands. As you play around with this, see if you can get that feeling of "stretching"/"extending"/"growing" to reach all the way through the forearm and into the elbow. See if you can get the feeling like your elbow is growing backwards, while your fingers tips are growing longer (this will probably take some time, I still don't quite have it down).
As you work on all this, your hands will likely do funny things, and may behave differently from day to day. The hand may turn inward or upward. The fingers might straighten out. Certain fingers might behave differently than others. These things usually indicate some sort of imbalance of strength. Go back to holding your hand with muscle, it will take some time to build up the weak connections.
As you're trying to open your hand, your fingers might kinda get "stuck" halfway open. You might feel a sense of pressure in the fingers, as if the bones in the fingers were being pressed together. The finger knuckles might even feel like they're rubbing together. This isn't the feeling you want. Just quickly open your hand normally, and then relax them. This should "reset" your fingers, and they should stay open. Then focus more on the feeling of "extending" or "stretching" the fingers.
I'll quickly mention an issue I encountered---I like to curl my pinkie. This causes my wrists to twist. Try and keep the palm of your hand flat.
Moving Beyond the Hands
Doing this exercise will, overtime, strengthen your wrists and fingers. There are a few more things you can add to this exercise, but to get the most out of it, you really need to learn how to extend the connections with your fingers into your upper arms, and eventually though the shoulder and into the body. Getting the connection into your upper arms isn't so difficult, but getting it past your shoulders
. If you keep practicing this, you'll likely start experiencing other weird sensations in your hands and arms. But all of that is much more complicated, and more than I am qualified to talk about (if I haven't said too much already
--Timothy Kleinert
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What Keeps Bill Parcells Awake at Night
Michael Lewis has an in-depth profile of Dallas Cowboys head coach Bill Parcells in the NYT Sunday Magazine entitled "What Keeps Bill Parcells Awake at Night."
Some excerpts:
Bill Parcells is the only coach in N.F.L. history to take four different teams to the playoffs, but that only begins to set him apart. In 1983, in his first N.F.L. head coaching job, he took over a New York Giants team that had one winning season over the previous decade, turned it around on a dime and led it to Super Bowl titles in the 1986 and 1990 seasons. In 1993, he became head coach of the New England Patriots a year after they finished 2-14. Two seasons later they were 10-6 and in the playoffs for the first time in eight years; another two seasons later, they were in the Super Bowl. From there Parcells went to the Jets, who were coming off a 1-15 season, and coached them to a 9-7 record in his first year and a 12-4 record in his second. The Cowboys had finished 5-11 three seasons in a row before Parcells arrived in 2003. His first year they were 10-6 and reached the playoffs. No N.F.L. coach has ever proven himself so clearly to be a device for turning a losing team into a winning one. And yet, even now, as he begins his 16th season as a head coach in the N.F.L., he lives the psychological equivalent of a hand-to-mouth existence.
He still returns in his mind to a question his wife often asked him: why do you do what you do? Coaching football doesn't make him obviously happy. Even in the beginning, in the late 1960's, when he was an assistant coach at West Point, he would come home after games so evidently displeased that his eldest daughter would sit on the sofa next to him, silently, and put on a long face. She was 5 years old and had no idea what had happened; she just picked it up from his expression that postgame wasn't happy time. "When my wife asked me that question,†he says, "I never had a good answer. There was no answer. There is no answer.â€
When watching video, Parcells doesn't usually waste a lot of time studying his quarterback. That's one player he can see pretty well during the game. But this morning has been different. Against the Jaguars, Drew Bledsoe missed throws he once made in his sleep. He was indecisive and slow to see open receivers. As a result, he held the ball far too long. Last season Bledsoe was sacked 49 times and smacked in the act of throwing 82 times, a league high. He has been showing the symptoms of a quarterback who is looking at the rush instead of his receivers — which is to say a quarterback who should no longer be playing in the N.F.L. Parcells studied the video to determine if Bledsoe had indeed lost his nerve. The video didn't say. But the video did reveal that the Cowboys' cornerbacks were soft and that his left tackle's inability to handle the pass rush had the potential to ruin the Cowboys' season.
What has him troubled — what has him waking up choking on his bile — isn't what you might expect. It's not concern that the Redskins' coaching staff could spring something on the Cowboys for which they are entirely unprepared. And it's not his team's raw ability. It's a thing that's harder to put into words, and impervious to strategy. Even as he is trying to study his next opponent, he can't shake what happened on Sunday. How his team, the moment the Jaguars pushed back, collapsed. How, the moment the players felt the pressure, they began to commit penalties and the sort of small but critical mental errors that only a coach watching video can perceive. In their performance he smells the sort of failure he defines himself against.
It's heresy in the N.F.L. to suggest there should be free time, or that there is such a thing as diminishing returns to work. But the truth is that there are some days when there is more to do than others, and on Saturday there is next to nothing to do. All strategic decisions have been made, all plays practiced, everyone who needs to be yelled at has been yelled at, at least twice. When I ask Parcells how he spends Saturday, he says, "Worrying about the game.†One sign of how little actual work needs to be done is that he sets aside the morning for the photographers to take this season's official team photograph.
By the time the players — 63 of them — have arranged themselves on the scaffolding, there are, in addition, 32 coaches, trainers and other support staff. The number of jobs on the playing field has remained steady for decades, but the number of ancillary jobs has boomed. (This is one of the two notable differences when you compare current team photos with those from the early 1960's that decorate the Cowboys' hallways. The other is the increasing numbers of black players.) In 1961, the Dallas team photo had just 6 men out of uniform; as late as 1980 it had a mere 13. The turning point came in 1990, when the team photographer could no longer cram all the nonplayers into a single row and began to stick two at both ends of the rows. As the price of the asset — the N.F.L. player — has skyrocketed, so has the value of those, however peripheral, who can extract a bit more value from it. As the game becomes more complex, it requires more people to understand it, and as more people are brought in to parse it, it becomes more complex. By about 2030, the Cowboys' team photo will be a handful of players nestled among hundreds of trainers and coaches and God knows what else. Competitive forces break people's nerves. They also reshape football teams.
Parcells is a complex man doing an incredibly tough job.
One thing that is clear from this piece–and I commend the whole thing to you–is that he knew from the outset, or at least after the first game of the year, that Drew Bledsoe no longer had what it takes to lead a team to the Super Bowl. It wouldn't surprise me if he knew that last season. One wonders, then, why the Cowboys didn't either pick up Drew Brees in the off-season or take a quarterback in the first round. If he legitimately thought Tony Romo was the answer, he would have started Game 1. He didn't.
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text: Share: Comments Print February 12, 2013 at 12:14 PM Felix Hernandez deal is done; press conference in Seattle tomorrow at 2 p.m. PT Posted by Geoff Baker Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik announces the contract extension for Felix Hernandez in Peoria, Ariz. moments ago. A relieved-looking Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik just walked into the media room here in Peoria and announced that, as expected, the contract extension for Felix Hernandez is now complete. A press conference has been scheduled for 2 p.m. PT tomorrow at Safeco Field. "We're headed out right now and Felix will be headed out shortly as well," Zduriencik said. "We'll give you all the details at that time." It is being reported by Jon Heyman of CBS Sports that Hernandez's old deal will, in fact, be torn up and replaced with a brand new seven-year, $175 million extension. [do action="cinesport" url="http://cinesport.seattletimes.com/inline/2160909902001/"/] There will likely be a signing bonus attached to that, meaning Hernandez will very likely be earning far more than the $20.7 million he was initially slotted to make this year in base salary and a pro-rated bonus. That will impact the budget short-term and could be a reason the Mariners did not make any significant payroll additions the past few weeks. Payroll was at $85 million as of today, with the potential to go to about $91 million if players reach easily-attainable incentives. We'll see how Hernandez's new deal breaks down. Zduriencik sent out congratulations to Hernandez's agents, Scott Pucino and Wil Polidor, calling them "very professional" in how they handled negotiations. "I think it's a great thing for the Seattle Mariners, it's a great thing for Felix Hernandez and we're looking forward to this guy being here for a long time, obviously," Zduriencik said. The Hernandez extension clearly was not dependent on the remainder of the physical Hernandez is taking here this afternoon. Hernandez hasn't taken the remaining portion of his physical — the stuff not done last week in Seattle — as of yet. Word of the extension first broke last week, but the finalizing of it was delayed when an elbow issue was discovered after Hernandez took a physical in Seattle last Thursday. The issue is not said to be an injury, but a potential long-term risk related to wear and tear in the elbow seen on an MRI. The two sides worked through the weekend to introduce protective language into the deal that would safeguard the Mariners in the event Hernandez suffers an elbow injury down the road. In other news, pitcher Jon Garland did pass his physical and has agreed to a minor league deal with the club with an invitation to spring training. "I'm excited to test the arm and get the competitive juices going again," Garland said, adding that he feels 100 percent and has been throwing off a mound the past month. Garland underwent rotator cuff surgery in July 2011 and decided to abort a comeback attempt with Cleveland a year ago prior to taking his required spring training physical. "Going into spring, I'd gotten off the mound a few times and I was going in the wrong direction," he said. "Every time I got on the mound, it was getting weaker and it wasn't recovering as well. And I knew right then and there that I had to shut it down and give it the time it needed. It was probably the best decision I ever made." Garland said he could have played midway through last season if he really wanted to. He'd been told by other pitchers who'd had similar surgery that it takes a full year to get complete strength back and feel normal again. Last July, that's just what happened. Garland resumed throwing again in September and says he now feels ahead of where he'd normally be heading into spring training. "Really, what it was is that the strength needed to come back," he said. "Not only did it need to come back, it needed to stay and recover after a good hard session off the mound." Comments | More in Felix Hernandez | Topics: contract extension, elbow, Jack Zduriencik


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The party continued onward with their investigations of the cursed treasure and found themselves heading toward the cavern inwhich the treasure was held. Once inside, they were attacked by the spirit of Vhalnirr. After defeating him, the party was able to locate a ledger with a list of all the treasure in the cave and there were several missing pieces. The party than returned to confront the O'neal about who these piece were sold to. After a painful argument with a butcher who has purchased two of the cursed items, the party was able to recover them and set their sights on gather the rest of the treasures.
The party found themselves invited to a celebration by Callum O'neal . After arriving near [[ O'neal the party made their way through the small town of EagleRock. After staying the night there, they agreed to deliver a package for the barkeep and quickly arrived in O'neal.
Once there the party explored the city a bit before delivering their package. From here they sought at Callum's home where they stayed for the few days before the party started. The group encountered a number of different nobles from Oas, most of whom came off quite rude. Ultimately, however, the party turned out to be just Auction for an item that belonged to the Order of The Dawn. The trinket was purchased, however, as luck would have it it was cursed. This caused the woman who bought it to instantly die, prompting Callum to send a party member to retrieve a member of the McTires. After the mess was calmed, Callum revealed that he had taken the item from a treasure horde the order of the Dawn had hidden in the mountains near there. He explained that if this was cursed… It likely all was and he had already begun to sell the items.
The Party took to the skies and began handling a series of side quests
The party exited the drow fortress and began making their way toward one of the large locations marked in Red on their map of the Under dark. Along the way, they encounter a cavern Dragon, but he was scared off by Seron leaving the location. A few days later, the party found that they were being pursued by what they assumed was the mother of the prince dragon they had killed.
During this time, Danica located Goblin tracks that Seron was able to trace back to their layer. Inside the goblin layer, the good found a strange glass portal but ignored it for a time despite it glowing when something was slain. As they continued going through, they soon found themselves face to face with a demon that seemed to be controlling the Brood mother. The group slew the demon before moving on and executing the Brood Mother using the Everblade.
It was then upon exploring the rest of the cave that they found the location where the Angel Barchiel appeared to not only be alive but trapped. She touched her hand to the glass before being pulled back into the shadows of the crystal but some dark mysterious force. While this occurred Icette fell to the ground screaming in pain as the gods spoke to her. She awoke with a formula for the God Serum and a Message for the Goddess Alandra: "Resurrect her."
As the party continued on with their new companion, they crossed a long underground desert with heavy winds that beat against the group and made travel very difficult. After traveling for roughly half a day, they were attacked. The party fought and killed the dark Jinn. Despite trying to find it's nest, they were unsuccessful and moved on.
The broke out of the desert area and soon found themselves moving through large hill lands where they ran across a small hut. Inside, after some convincing, they were able to trade some goods with an old drow woman before once again heading north toward a mushroom forest.
Once in the forest the group picked exotic fruits and kept heading toward what they believed was the goblin nest. While in this mushroom forest, party was attacked by Drow that quickly killed their animals and warned of Fort Dread!!
The group found themselves entering the Underdark through a long underground tunnel leading. After following the tunnel for several miles, the group came to a massive fortress with Old Mino banners all over it.
Upon exploring the keep for a bit, the party found corpses that were 100s of years old. All with their skulls cracked out. A diary from one fallen soldier indicated that the fortress had been taken over my monsters that no one else could see. It indicated that they would have everyone acting normal and going about their day as the monsters slowly ate their brains.
The party eventually made it the world room and Seron was able to duplicate one of the maps of the area of the Underdark the party was in. At this time they were suddenly attacked by an Umber Hulk and it's kinfolk!
After defeating that creature, the party continued onward heading towards one of the strange markings on the map. Soon the party found themselves with only the light of glowing crystals overhead to navigate by. After encountering a number of aggressive creatures, the party eventually began seeing glowing green stones on the ground. After deciding to steal one of the larger crystals growing from the earth, the party was attacked by a large emerald dragon. The Dragon stated that he was the prince of this land and began attempting to kill Danica and Seron. He failed.
Deciding that it was best for them to not continue (Fearing they would meet the mom) Danica and Seron turned around and headed toward a different landmark. After several more days and several more monsters, the party arrived at a small house by an underground river. Close by the party found a mill that was producing a blue flour from nearby mushrooms and turning it into a sort of bread.
After camping for a bit, it was noted how many spiders were on the ceiling above the mill and before the party knew it they were engrossed in a battle with tons of giant spiders that resulted in Seron burning the web and essentially sending out a giant flare for everyone to see for miles!
The group then booked it down the river, before eventually crossing. Soon the party located a real road and found themselves walking past ruined houses and spider carvings. One night on the road, the group was even passed up by a massive 2 story scorpion that rushed past the group.
Finally, the party arrived at the map location that turned out to be a temple to the spider queen Lolth Inside the party found a specter containing a powerful mana stone and a device that transfers life from one victim to another host. Unaware of what the device did, Seron ended up give up 3 years of her life to make Danica 3 years younger. The Group ended up being the staff to steal the mana stone and leaving.
Continuing on their way the Seron began to hear the cries for her from a young girl. After much searching, they were able to meet with the girl who was reaching out telepathically. The girl was a Mind Flayer, the same type of monster that killed the entire McE Keep. She explained that she was not a brain eater and because of that her family wanted her dead. She begged the party to help her and get her to the surface before her family found her. They agreed…..
The party began by Celebrating their return with a large feast held in Leo's honor. Leo and Seron spent much of the night night together while Danica found herself being followed by their golem. After not seeing Gronn or Sir Phineas, Danica found the two of them practicing a special attack together off at the airship. Meanwhile, the groups newest companion Kirean met with his contact who called off the hit on Leo.
In the morning the group discussed plans to head toward the underdark to deal with the goblins and left Gronn with some plans for an armored wagon. Sir Phineas also mentioned wanting to put some weapons onto the Airship and the group agreed.
On the road, the group was made aware of both a woman following them from the skies by Golem 66. Despite trying to find her, they had no luck. That night night the group found themselves under attack by Goblin riders and then ultimately by undead. After the fight, the group attemtpted to clean up when they noticed that Seron had been bitten by what they could only assume was a vampire.
As the party moved out of the forested areas near Beals on the flat open plains leading to the serptine tongue Mts. They still had the distinct feeling that they were being followed. The next day, the group found themselves running across a large stag torn in half. Seron located tracks and the group soon found themselves moving though a small chasm. Seron soon after was attack by a large Frost golem that she dropped almost instantly with little effort. Near it they located his dead owner with a book entitled "Building a snow golem" and a cracked controller gem.
With that at an end, the group once again continued pushing towards the under dark.
The party located the closest of the trials of Azel and made off toward the keep Salt Mist. Talking with them Leo and Menith, the group set off for the long trip ahead. The group may or may not have befriended a golem who logic his way into traveling with them!
Once at Salt Mist, the group entered inside and was immediately attacked by a large wormlike monster that shot fireballs over the castle walls. The group fought the worm, who eventually retreated to the underground. Entering into the keep, the group fought several ghost before eventually running across the ghost of the Lord of the keep, a McTire.
The ghost then explained that the others haunt the house after their horrible deaths and that their moaning and screams made it hard for him to haunt the keep himself. He offered to tell the group where the trial was if they could kill the ghost so he could get some rest. Naturally the party did and went from room to room slaying the ghost before returning to Lord McTire. He explained that the trial was in a hidden passage under the nursery. At some point before returning to see Mctire, the group climbed one of the towers of keep and fought the worm one final time. The worm had wrapped itself around the tower threatening to bring it down.
After a brief searching of the McTire's treasure room, the party went down into the trial. The trial was more a series of combats then anything else . At the end, there was a large field with one sacred tree and a ton of King's root. Leo ingested the root in an attempt to trigger a vision and in doing so collapsed. While this was all going on, the group was attack by more guardians. Eventually however Leo awoke with new knowledge and understanding that they were all wrong. At first Leo could not talk, but eventually the former inquisitor began to open up about the things that he'd seen on his spirit quest.
After returning to Beals, the group split and met with their various friends. In the church of the red, Marcellous explained to the group that Nikolia and several other high ranking inquisitors he'd been fighting with had mysteriously chosen to leave town. He then introduced the party to a new comer to the town that chose to join the group for now.
After this, Danica left the church to speak with Gron who had finished the airship. Unfortunately Gron built the ship to large and it was determined that there was not enough power with the mana stone they had to make it fly.
While this was occurring, Seron was across town with Icette and Leo trying to make sense of his visions. Leo came to the conclusion that a war was coming and that he was to be a soldier in it. That the world eater curse was sent to punish his people for poorly worshiping Azel, and that he needed to take up the mantle of the paladin as a follower of Bahamut who gladly accepted him.
Later that night Icette spoke with Azel about a request she had regarding her family. Icette wanted the group to escort her to the grave site of her father within the Highhills. This was a particularly interesting proposal for the group as the Highhills were know to be the #1 spot to mine raw manastone.
Finally the night ended with Leo coming to meet with Seron to ask her out on a date. He was awkward and unsure of himself, but for once he was honest about his feelings. Luckily for him, she said yes.
The party found themselves heading out toward an abandon tower per the instructions of Leo. With them the group brought their new travelling companion Sir Finigan. The travel was mostly easy going and along the way the group met up with a troup of travelling merchants being defended by some caravan guards. After doing some business with them, the group continued on toward the tower. There were few distractions along the way and Seron even ended bounding with Icette over Tarot readings.
Nearing the tower, the party began to see signs of a large predator. There were dead animals, burned by acid, and corpses torn in half. It was at this point that the party knew these were the actions of a Dragon of some kind. This made Finigan uneasy as he refused to sleep and remained completely armored. After getting closer to the tower, Seron was able to Identify that the dragon was in fact a drake of sorts. With that knowledge the party approached the tower and which was cover in flying jellyfish.
Soon a battle to place with Danica rushing the jelly fish and Seron downing the dragon with arrows through it's wings. Sir Finigan finished the job by running it through before coming to help Danica who had all but destroyed the remaining Jelly fish.
Once inside the tower, the group found their inquisitor kneeling before a statue of Sabriel praying. Seeing the group with Leo's ring, the inquisitor bowed his head and accepted that they were there to kill him. After a brief explanation, The inquisitor came to the conclusion that the group was sent there by the will of Sabriel. He also revealed that his last name was Hippogrif meaning that from his perspective, Gron's prophecy was about him. While the rest of the party was not as sure, the inquisitor was certain and renounced his faith to Azel.
The group returned with no trouble on the roads to Beals where they found Gron still plugging away at his boat. The inquisitor reunited with his former brothers and they all went off for a chat. A short time later, the group was taken back but the inquisitors all fighting and storming off in different directions. It was at this time that Danica received a book from Menith about Azel when she was still a mortal. Danica gave the book to a very down Leo and explained it might help.
Later that night Seron awoke to a loud knocking coming from outside her door. Upon opening the door she found Leo standing outside in the rain, half shaven and drunk. He broke down to her and telling her that she was right all along and that he thought the inquisitors had been following Azel wrong. He explained that he was confused and alone. He told her of Azel trials, dungeons designed to test the worthiness of Azel's followers. He then pleaded her as a friend to help him find one of these trials so that he might find his truth….
The party found themselves traveling back to Beals after the conflict with Baerune. Along the path, the party was stopped by a group of men in thick living bone armor that appeared to be made of Remains.
The group explained that they were after a ring that the party was in possession of to give to Alandra as a gift. They explained that they needed it to assist her in her fight for the underworld.
As the party set off to discuss what to do, Icett hit the ground and began to speak in tongues. Seron rushed to comfort her and join with the rest of the party in prayer for guidance on what to do.
Amos invited the group over to discuss their intentions a bit more, while sitting at the fire with these men. While not directly threaten, they did inform the group that they could not let them continue on without handing over the ring.
It was at this point that one of the men's clothing burst into flame violent. After this his fiends and Amos tried desperately to put out the fire but were not successful as the men were reduced to charred corpses in a matter of seconds.
Amos had a bit of a break down mentally at this point. He had recieved the sign from the gods he so desperately had been looking for, but it made him question both his own importance and the importance of everything.
After burying the corpses, the group moved on and soon found themselves in Beals. Nikoli left to meet with Leo and the rest of the group took off to say hello to their companions. Gronn was talking about construction and how he did not hear from the angel lately. But the group did take him out to start on a boat. Undoubtedly their intention was to begin building their airship.
Later that night, the town throw a large party to celebrate Nikoli coming back. It was clear from talking to the Leaf guard that they were still confused about Azel's message but for the first time in awhile, they seemed happy. Seron spent the night awkwardly flirting with Leo, the bard Aenon played songs, and Amos was alone with his thoughts. During this time, the village elder introduced the party to (Gnome). He explained that he was a member of the Order of The Dawn and was sent here to prove himself worthy to be in their ranks.
The party seemed to welcome him full heartily and he soon spent the rest of the night talking with Danica about Oas and bonding. The next morning the group looked over their options and decided that their best bet was to head to the broken tower described by Leo when they first met. There they hoped to find the next inquisitor. Bringing their new gnome friend with them, the party headed out.
Continuing through the old mine shaft, the group eventually came to a dead end that looked to be a living quarters. There was nothing useful here and so the group moved on, hallway by hallway.
Within one of the room, the group found the bodies of several long dead dwarves and an old safe. Luckily, Bill had a boot crowbar and with Danica's assistance opened the safe. Inside there was some gold but more importantly blueprints for a war chariot, an airship, and lastly a underground drill cart.
After some more searching, the group found the main room of the cavern and were attacked by a fierce acid elemental and several slimes. The party fought hard and was able to pull through but just barely. The fight left the party exhausted and scarred. Danica lost spots of hair all over and half of Icet's hair was melted away.
After the fight, the group gathered a number of items, including the glove of the slime lord, and also located the lost inquisitor. After some conversation with him, the group decided to rest, but outside. Preparing for a fight with Baerune, the group went out and rested. As expected a large daemon came forward making threats to the group but still remained non aggressive. He asked to offer a deal between himself and the party, but they refused. This is when Seron noticed that there were footprints in the snow next to the daemon, thinking quickly, she launched arrows at it and revealed a small angry imp. The imp cursed wildly as he was controlling the other daemon which was now expressionless. As the party attempted to get answers from the creature, he bombarded them with spells ranging from Hideous laughter, to confusion. Eventually however he ran out of spells and the party realized they had found Baerune.
Taking the ring from his neck, the party questioned the imp about his origins. He explained that he hated his master Marcos. He also explained that Marcos made a ring to control him but it was much more powerful than expected. Baerune poisoned Marcos in his sleep and stole the ring. Using the rings awesome power, Baerune took over several powerful demon's in the underworld and then hid his identity before going to fight Alandra's armies. Over the course of this conversation, it was revealed that without his ring, Baerune has been weakened greatly as most of his power was coming from a demon he controlled. He also let it out that he was going to be hunted now and tortured. Feeling bad for him, Seron helped make him a small home and told him that she may come back to check on him sometime.
With new ring in hand, the party continued on their way to Beals….
The party continued their way back toward Beals to regroup and help inquisitor Leo find his order. Despite believe it would be a long march back through harsh weather, the party made incredible time only really stopping along the way.
They began to smell a putrid odor that was unmistakably of death. Going to investigate, the group found a black stump in the center of a clearing with 13 bodies laid out around it. Most notable about the corpses was that,despite smelling foul, they showed no signs of death. There were no animal bite marks, no bloating, and on further inspection, they had no organs.
After much thought on the matter, the group came to the conclusion that this was the results of teleportation. On the Mainlands with magic still haywire, teleportation can be very risky as such it appeared this was a failed attempt.
Once in Beals the group made the decision to avoid Gron due to the Everblade situation. As imagined, this did not go well as Gron quickly found Seron. Gron was quick to explain that the angel no longer wanted the Everblade but instead gave him a warning to deliver to the group. The angel warned that a great and powerful dragon was upset with the Inquisitors of Kiverly and that a hippogrif would be coming to destroy them. Gron of course was confused by this but in true Ogre fashion had drawn this out on his wall as cave paints. After a bit of talk about construction, Gron new favorite hobby, Seron left the Ogre paladin and headed to warn her allies.
At the Church of the Red, Amis found himself performing service for the people of the town when Seron came in. Most notable was that there were many members of the Leaf guard here worshiping. Without much thought, Seron explained the warning to the group and was over heard by one of the worshiping Leafguard who misunderstood. Thinking that Azel was wrathful for his worship of the Celestial Angels, the member of the guard left in a panic to warn his companions.
The group left the church to check in with Menith before finally heading to meet with Leo and the town Elder. Menith was initially cold and short tempered with the group when they came. He expressed his frustrations, especially when being asked once more if he was a Liche. Despite his temper, the old sage expressed a desire to help the group and a small amount of faith in their competence. Menith pulled out an old spell book and explained that while going through his things he found it and that while he was not as strong as in his youth, he could still be helpful. The party let him know that they would consider traveling with him.
From here they went to meet with Leo and the towns elder. After a short talk, Leo explained that some of the men from an inquisitor's personal guard had come to Beals and that the inquisitor was in trouble. He'd left to find "The gauntlet of the Slimelord" and never returned. Leo expressed being torn about whether or not to leave as he did not want to abandon his friends in their time of need should hippogriff's attack. Likewise He wanted to come and save the Inquisitor. Ultimately Leo removed his signet ring to give as proof that they were with the order so that any Inquisitor's would join them and left the choice to the party. The group decided it would be best for him to stay there and instead took Icette with them to this mysterious cavern.
After 2 days journey the party located the cavern, an old iron mine, and went inside. There was a thick citrus aroma to the mine as the party walked deeper into the earth. Along the way the group found several acid pools before eventually coming to a large room filled to the brim with Acid Slimes!
After a long fight in which the creature split and split and split again, the group found themselves exhausted and staring down multiple paths forward. With 1 day until Bearune is said to arrive and a dungeon full of ooze, the question becomes, what's next?!?
The group of adventurers found themselves in Warok's Treasure room, dividing up his loot. After handing out the gold and other various items it was time to free the slaves and address the riot's going on outside.
Leo lined the halls with truth candles and the group freed all of the prisoners. This included their former traveling companions. Oloath in particular became a concern when he demand the keep be given to him and expressed that he would be enacting vengance and slavery on those that stole the keep in the first place. With a heavy heart, the group gave Leo the ok to follow him upstairs and slay the frost giant.
While down in the dungeons, the group was led by Maly to machine she had been trying to repair called the Lazarus table. A table able to raise the dead without the use of divine magics. Seron was immediately concerned that this could fall into the wrong hands and snuck down later that night to change some runes on it. That way she would slow Maly's progress, but still be able to fix it incase it was needed.
Leo confronted the group about their promise and expressed that he was worried about his home and was ready to save it. He let the group know that if they wanted him to stay, that he wanted them to fulfill their end of the deal. If not, he held them no ill will but was going to leave to find his brothers and save Kiverly. The party agreed to help him out.
The party spent the next week planting Azel berries as the towns food stuff's would be drained without them constantly raiding. They also set up a new gambling hall and made the former "Slave catcher" the towns new General/Mayor to enforce law while they were out. Likewise they gave Maly the responsibility of ruling while they were away. Finally the group thought that the town needed a proper name. "Golden Rouge" it was doubt in honor of the angels that the group mostly worshiped.
With that said, the party headed out. They first went to the goblin village where they met a man who had frozen all the creatures in place. He explained that he was tired of sending assassins after the group and simply wish to buy the ring the vampires were looking for from Danica. After being questioned. they were told that the bone ring contained a piece of the crimson ring. The vampire continued by explaining that the ring could make it so one of his kind was never hungry again. After dumping out 5,00 gold and making offer after offer, along with veiled threats, the party attack. It was useless however as the vampire was simply an illusion that vanished upon being shot. The gold however was very much real. With that out of the way the group continued on and spoke with the goblin chief who made good on his promise and provided them with a map to the Underdark.
Heading back to Beals, the party camped out. During Seron's watch a dying man limped up to give a dread message to the party before throwing himself into the flames of their campfire. "In on week's time, Baerune will come for his vengance". With that mystery the party is left to wonder, what comes next?
The party rushed down the hallway towards the mother fungus and engaged it in combat. The mother fungus summoned forth defenders and soon began to attempt to take over party members. After a short fight however, the group was able to slay the Mother fungus with the Everblade proving that the weapon was the one they had been searching for.
No sooner did the combat with the mother fungus end that another challenger appeared. Forming from mist, the man demand that the group stop what they were doing and come with him. After some backlash from Amos the party found themselves in a fierce some fight with another vampire. Before long the vampire took control of Danica and commanded her to kill the Cleric. Complying she rushed him but in true Danica fashion, hurled her battle axe out of her hands as she swung. Before long the group had beaten the vampire back to mist form and ultimately it was Amos that saved the day, killing it with a blast of positive energy.
After the fight the group walked out to greet the Ogre's at the entrance when they were greeted by a half naked slave man. He explained that the Ogre sent him in to convince the party to come out and the Ogres were not to bright. Eventually the group agreed and left the keep to be greeted by nearly 30 Ogres and Warok.
Unlike what they had expected, Warok expressed a great respect for the group. He let them know that they had done him a great favor by slaying the Dwarf for him and that he wanted to make them leaders in his army. However this was only if they agreed to give him the Everblade. The group refused but continued to parley with Warok who eventually decided that this was no place for negotiations. Warok invited the party back to his keep for a great feast in their honor to discuss these matters. The group agreed under protest and headed back to Warok's keep with them.
Along the way, Warok came into the party's tent and made sure their accommodations were to their liking. He expressed that he was insanely impressed with them, but it was not the right time to discuss it. Instead Warok wanted to know of their lands and to be given more information about the humans living in prime. As they drank with him, he talk a bit about meeting unity on the battlefield and about his ambitions to concur the human lands to the south. This is why he needs the Everblade, to make the conquest go faster.
After their discussion the Ogre left and the party briefly discussed what they were going to do. There was some consideration but ultimately they were still torn, especially Danica.
Once at the Ogre Fortress, the group moved about waiting for the feast. Aenon and their new friend from the ogres walked to the prison to check on their Frost giant and Drow friend who had been forced back into slavery, before relaxing and drinking in Warok's lounge. Meanwhile Seron re-uped on her narcotic supply and watched another slave auction with Danica. One of the slaves caught the party's attention and they demanded that the Ogre guard buy it for them in Warok's name.
From here the party returned to Warok to feast, but Leo was not with them. The group ate while Aenon walked around seizing up the enemies who were unarmed, and playing his bardic songs. Discussions were intense as Warok eventually agreed to allow the group to keep the Everblade long enough to slay the goblin brood. From here they were to return the sword and receive an army from him to take back Kiverly. There was an uncomfortable tension in the air as both sides went back and forth, each trying to get more and keep the Everblade. Eventually an agreement was reached and Warok called forth his court mage Maly to write up the death contract. This made the group very uneasy.
Warok pressed the party to sign. Likewise Unity, who was actively debating the group, pushd them to sign the contract. Danica was to be the first to put signature to paper and walked over to Warok. She hated this plan and knew that it stood against all of her beliefs. Standing between unity and Warok, Danica gave the signal to Seron and the two attack Warok. The stunned Ogre seemed confused and almost offended but soon whirled Unity around the room killing most of it occupants. After a few rounds, the group managed to slay Warok but not before he spoke to Unity. "I agree" he said to the sword before releasing his soul to the demon that was Unity. The two became one and the party found themselves engaged with a very wicked devil looking.
Immediately it was attacked by Danica but soon clapped onto it with his long monstrous crab like claws. From here the monster crushed her shoulders as she screamed in pain. The rest of the party attempted to save her but Even the Everblade could not seem to crack the beasts exoskeleton. In a final act of desperation, Danica prayed to Anachiel who heard her loyal servant. Danica's axe ignited as she swung it through the air and severed Unity's arm, before cracking the Devil's thick armor. At this time, Leo broke down the door to the mess hall and rushed Unity. Seeing her chance, Seron launched a barge of arrows into Unity's severed stumped. Finally the free'd Human slave they had met from before rushed up and with the Everblade in hand delivered the final blow to Unity who exploded into a million pieces.
With the final blow dealt, chaos could be heard from outside as the party made their way to Warok's treasury. After cleaning it out, they returned to the mess hall to sort out their next moves and to speak with Maly the court wizard.
The group found themselves heading off to investigate a Frost giant fortress. This fortress was said to be held by a single Dwarf who was keeping out the Ogre's that had been attacking.
Upon entering, the group was attacked by several Skeletal Frost Giant's and then a zombie like dwarf, along with several zombie like Drow. As the group fought them, they noticed they the creatures were being controlled by some kind of fungus and were in fact not true undead. Over the course of this fight, Danica was infected with said Fungus.
The group took the night to rest in the dungeon and study the samples of said fungus. Seron was able to conclude that the fungus had to have something issuing the commands, a mother fungus of sorts. So the group decided that if they kill it, while it will not cure Danica it should stop her from being controlled.
Moving forward, the group found themselves staring down an entire great hall filled with the fungus. After much debate on how to get through it the party bucked up and when through the fungus, using wet rags to minimize it's effects.
After this they found themselves at the Frost Giant's old treasury where the group too a breather. While looking around the empty room, the party eventually found a secret panel and there behind it was the Everblade.
It was at this point that the group heard a booming voice coming from outside the fortress. It Warok who was quite unhappy with his troops being slain. Warok demanded that the group come out and face him, or he would collapse the entrance to the fortress, trapping them inside. Paying little mind to his threats, the group continued on with their task in mind. To kill the Mother Fungus with the Everblade to both cure Danica and see if it worked.
The group met together and decided to bring inquisitor Leo with them to the Serpent tongue mountains on their quest to find the Everblade.
Traveling was fast with the group running into no real obstacles on their way aside from the weather. Once making it to the woodline of the mountain chain, the group found a traveler's trove. Inside there was nothing to valuable with the exception of a magical cooking knife that Aenon took in place of his collapsible bathtub.
After a day or so into the mountains, Seron build an impressive shelter that was soon ambushed by Goblins. The group was hardly effect as Seron and Danica got the jump on the goblins and quickly pacified them.
The goblins explained that they were only trying to steal enough money to buy back their fellow tribesmen who had been captured and sold into slavery. It was at this point that the group learned of the Ogres that were taking over the area. They lead the group to their tribe where one of them, Skiv was badly beaten for bringing outsiders.
The group had words with the leader of the goblins who explained that they like many others were forced from the underdark but the growing goblinoid army. He was untrusting but let them know that the Ogre's were lead by a fierce war lord Warok who had taken a Frost giant keep and was uniting the tribes of Ogres.
With that said the party left the goblin village and headed toward his keep in hopes of not only freeing the captured goblins, but also in hopes of gaining a new lead on the Everblade. Along the road they encountered some merchant's heading to the Ogre city. These humans explained that they often brought weapons from Finalle to the Ogre's in return for furs and other rarities for the mountain chain. After some discussion the party did trade with the group buying a merchant's loop and another bag of holding and in turn selling a number of their items.
The group left their animals behind after being warned of the Ogre's distaste for those on horseback and headed into the Ogre city outside of the keep. Here they were greet by some very aggressive guards but ultimately made it in fine after Seron confused one of the guards with some very mixed signals.
Once inside they were warned not to leave the market area or they would face the consequences. The group agreed and went into the market where they found a slave auction going on. Disgusted, the group watched and questioned if they should bid as it would draw attention to themselves. After watching the first slave owner brutally kill one of the goblins he purchased their minds were made up.
The group drew some attention after Seron purchased a frost giant named Oloath and then Aeon purchased both Goblins and a drow named Ardul for large amounts not allowing others to even bid. After the auction ended, Aeon was approached by a Orge who was angry with his show of wealth. The ogre demanded that Aenon give me the slaved. Aenon attempted to barter with him by offering him wine. The ogre who was already drunk took the wine, and still demanded that the slaves be given to him. After Aenon once again refused the ogre threw him o the ground. Leo reached for his weapon as the Ogre continued to harass Aenon but wiping his muddy feet on him before Seron stepped in and stared the Ogre down. He decided it wasn't worth it and poured the rest of the wine out on Aenon before spitting on him and walking off.
The group decided that they were going to take their new slaves out to talk to them while Leo stayed behind to gather information. the goblins were released and the party started by talking to Oloath. He explained that he was part of a raid that attempted to take back the fortress and fail but wanted nothing more than vengeance. Next was Ardul who was busy praying. She explained that she was a kidnapped priestess though she was clearly stand-offish.
Leo returned that night and explained that after a few fights, he found that the goblins were being kept at a locations close to the city. He also warned that the groups new companions were very evil and to watch them.
With this new information the group headed toward the Ogre camp. Once there Seron and Danica snuck in to free the slaves, while Aenon created a distraction through song! eventually however one of the Ogres no in the song caught Seron and combat broke out. Leo, Seron, Danica, and Aeon fought until only the leader was left. He attempted to run, but a crack shot from Seron the Ogre was stopped. From here the group interrogated they learned of the leader Warok and his godlike weapon Unity. It became clear to them that the Ogre's seemed to worship Unity as a god. They also found the the weak point in the fortress was a sewer passage passage. Turning their backs, Leo killed the warlord and the group was off.
The party continued moving toward the town of Match in hopes of finding the last volume of the Everblade story. While heading up the snow began to become overwhelming but through some cleaver use of rope, Danica and Amos were able to craft improved tires for her war chariot.
The party eventually made there way to the town after running across the remains of several frozen zombie corpses. Once inside, the group broke up and explored the town. For the most party the town was ruined, with graffiti everywhere and clear evidence that there had been people there recently. Inside the main tower, Amos was able to find a large cache of books and with the help of Seron was able to find what they were looking for.
No sooner did the party step outside did they get immediately attacked by a swarm of undead and a large skeletal dragon. As the group did battle with the creatures, Seron noticed a man on the towns wall casting a spell of sorts. Serons wolf quickly ripped the man's robe off only for him to burst into flames when exposed to the sunlight. Searching his remains, the group found his robe generated darkness and that he was carrying a note mentioning that the one with the ring would be traveling with an elf.
The party cleaned up and took off toward Beals. Once in Beals, the party returned Ari's artifact. The horns soon blew and signaled that someone was at the gates. It was an Inquisitor. The group recognized him as Inquisitor Leo. Leo was clearly inquired and exhausted. Once inside there was no time for celebration, he wanted to talk to the group.
Taking them to a home in the back of the town, Leo sat them around a candle of truth and began to question them. Despite questioning each other back and forth for quite sometime, very little was learned from one another. Leo did have some insights on other members of his order but nothing substantial. After finally calming down, Leo returned to his normal self and stopped grilling the group even going so far as to offer to join them. Like the Wood guard Leo assured them that if they helped him out, he would be more than willing to assist them.
The party began by returning to the home of Menith . Along the way the group ran across the Wood Guard from Kiverly. They came looking for Seron and Danica, but not to arrest them. The guard captain, Bradford, instead wanted to ask for the group's help.
He explained that after the group ran, The inquisition was sent off in different directions to find them. With every inquisitor gone, the plague spread and the emperor locked himself up. Soon the town was sieged by horrific beast caused by the plague. Bradford and a small group of men barely escaped and began looking for Danica and Seron.
The Wood guard offered to help the party with their liche issue and to guard the town of Beals if they helped them find the missing inquisitors. The group agreed and told the Wood group to meet them in Beals.
From here the group went to confront Menith about the accusations of the Liche. He explained that it was nonsense. Menith then went on to research the Undieing with the groups help. He discovered that the title of Cerebremsis could be stripped from a liche by poisoning him with a non-intelligent brain. This would cause the spirit to leave the liche but they would still have to deal with the liche.
Menith refused to say at his home and told the party that they would be taking him somewhere safe since he blamed them for this. They agreed and made their way to Beals. Along the way the group met an old woman who read their fortunes. Danica was told that death followed her and would be killing those close to her, while Seron was given a heroic destiny.
Once in Beals it was clear that the Woodguard were making a difference. They began putting up walls, helping to rebuild, and defending the city against what looked like more goblin attacks. The group held up here for a few days be deciding to head to the town of Match to find a library.
Along the road they met an injured man named Ari. Ari explained that his things were stolen by goblins and asked for the groups help. They agreed and followed the goblin tracks to an abondon mine shaft. The miners looked to have dug into a crypt that the guard began to explore.
In the crypt they were attack but vermin and undead. Soon they discover that this was the rest place of a demon from the apocalypse. Xix was it's name and after a long hard fight, they defeated him and found Ari's things. With his gear intact, the group left the mine and once again head up toward Match.
The party defeated the bodak behind the red door and left to head back to Menith's shack.
Upon arriving, Menith was greatful for the wine and informed the party of what he know about the Everblade. The weapon was only mentioned in an ancient story about an antihero going about the land and trying to overthrough a king. Menith stated a strong distaste for the author and let them know that the tale was not complete. He needed the second volume to guide the party further.
The night the group came upon a well equipped ogre riding a direbear. After some talk they learned that he was having dreams about what sounded like Sabriel and may be a paladin in the making. His name was Gronn. The party asked Gronn to join them as they were both after the Everblade.
The party decided their best bet to find the book was a keep a few days from their location. Along the roads they met a halfling who was a follower of Khalia. After offering him food, he talked to them a bit and gave them a shiny stone to say thank you.
Once at Fort north the group noticed something was off. Gronn waited outside while the rest of the party entered in only to find a library of Brains in jars. At this point a Lich came out to greet them. He explained that he was Cerebremsis on of the The Undieing. He also stated that he was not going to harm them but was after Menith's brain. He sent them on their way implying the Menith was like him in some way and that they need to bring his brain back to Cerebremsis.
And so the party took off from Fort North trying to decide who to side with and what comes next.
After the attack, the party handed over the goblin and helped conduct a trial for him. He goblin was then hung for his crimes.
Afterwards, the began heading down the trail toward Old man Menith's house. Along the way they had a few strange encounters but nothing too substantial. After arriving, Menith begrudgingly offered to let the party member in. From here Amis spent his time slowly pouring over Menith's books while Scron and Danica camp outside.
In the woods, Scron noticed a misty fog that beconed both herself and Danica to it. From here the two took off with Amis to investigate. They located a small grave to a girl "Olivia" and where then attacked by a Drown! After killing the monster the girl's spirit was put to easy.
With this act done, Menith let the party know he was willing to be more helpful and offered to assist with the research of the Everblade. This came with the condition that they go off and find him a bottle of wine.
The party sat off on a quest to do, quickly finding the keep and loading up on wine! (40+bottles of it). After finding a secret passage, the group entered into the keep. After an encounter with some shadows the group was ready to just leave until Amis showed up to cure them. From here the group explored the dungeon, killed many undead, and stopped with redkey in hand before opening the final door!
The adventure began in the town of Beals with Danica entering a church of the Red to tithe where she met Amis. The two briefly discussed religion before a militia member rushed in and informed them to ring the bell, the town was under attack.
Danica and Amis rushed outside to greet the goblins and were met by Seron. The three proceed to slay goblins until finally the magic user goblin arrived and destroyed most of the church. After subduing him, the group questioned the goblin to learn that they were after the EverBlade. A weapon that kills families.
The group held a funeral for the dead villagers and then spoke with the elder who informed them that a man named Menith might know something about the sword. So the party ventured forth to meet Menith and discover the secret of the EverBlade.
After a bit of house keeping (Plots being bought etc)
The Order of the Dawn set out to retrieve the corpse of the legendary Blacksmith Conway.
the Dawn's research lead them to the Ruined town of Thrickenridge. Immediately the Dawn could tell something was wrong as the town appeared to be covered in a thick haze that aged everything within it.
After some investigation the party was confronted by the multihead ChronoHydra Ferosis. Calming the creature the party explained the state of the world and what they were looking for. Ferosis led them to Conway's remains in exchange for a favor. Ferosis explain that he was one of many Natural guardians, birthed to protect the lands of Mino-Cross. Ferosis was concerned for the well being for his companion Raspitek of the Floral Plains. It was at this point that the group was confronted by a large army of demonic forces that taunted them with threats of death. Taking this opprotunity, Alandra stepped forward and Screamed, killing the entire army and gravely wounding it's Lieutenant who fled.
The party agreed to seek out Raspitek and left for the plains. The group there found the remains of the Colossal spider and resurrected him, agreeing to take him back and seek out the rest of the Guardians, hoping to make powerful new allies in their war on Hell.
Days Past – 2
The party walked through the remains of Floresdale only to see a city full of rot and death. After making it to the well in the old dwarven distict,the group descended into the catacombs and made thier way through the twisted dungeon. After retrieving the remains requested by Lance the group decided that since H ewas not entirely trustworthy that they would have a Dimensional Anchor ready to stop him in his tracks. They were sucessful to some degree, Alandra however used a staff to get all "innocents" out of the way ultimately leading them to the slaughter as the major spell usage attracted yet another member of the Devil's Council. The group let Lance get his wish, choosing to instead fight the demon that Trog managed to slay on a lucky charge and alandra managed to capture. With Khalia feeded, the group used thier favor to wish both themselves and the resistance member back home to the safety of Bendpoint.
Days past – 4 days
The Party hung around Bendpoint for a bit after Trog's trial before deciding it was time to Summon the Archfiend. The Party slept well before getting Marcos and heading out to a field near where the Knights first encountered The Linnorm. From here Marcos made Douglas and Trog turn away while he prepare a sacrfice to the demon. Once summoning the fiend marcos booked it and combat began.
The Fight was Harsh with Douglas and Trog Almost Dieing but in a last ditch effort, Trog Active Eggbert And launched him off, Sealing the Arch fiend for 100+ years to the plains of hell.
Exhausted the party returned to the guild hall to rest where Morgan presented them with the SR Broaches.
Out Heroes began the session engaged in Combat with Sir Mccoy, Sir Trogs former mentor who was now clearly under a demonic posession. The Former Knight Attacked Firecely and was able to sucessfully pocess Trog and at one point Douglass. After defeating him, more member of the Order of the Shield Poured in, All Pocessed. They Hit Trog Multiple times each landing another Spike inside of him.
In a moment of choas Trog Teleported back to bendpoint but was then taken over. Rushing to the scene the other members of the Dawn were able to stop the knights rampage but not before the slaying of one of the cities carpenters.
After taking Trog to Alandra's medow, The group called Penn to trace the bones orgins. Penn then left so that Morgan and Marcos might come in to assist them. Morgan Dispelled the Pocession, while Marcos informed them that He could sommon this beast so that the Dawn could destroy it.
With the crisis Handle, Alandra and Azel entered the guild hall to speak with Sir Stills to discover him speaking with two very attractive males. Taking an interest in them the two woman proceed to flirt relentlessly. Alandra was able to identify the two as the Dragon Allies Brought to the Order as new found allies in the upcoming war.
Lane also announced that the carpenters family would be well Compensated and that the order would be paying for his ressurrection and that this would be coming from Sir Trogs pay. In Addition Sir Trog was to be held in the stocks until his Trial.


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Our first week as councillors has been a mix of developing some of the right links with inside the council bureaucracy and getting to grips with various issues that people need our help with.
On Monday we attended the AGM of Southwark Labour Group where we elected several of the positions within the Group (including the Leader and Deputy Leader) and made some important early decisions to show how this administration is going to differ to the last. Labour councillors delivered on our first manifesto pledge by agreeing a 10% cut in the Special Responsibility Allowances for councillors. Victoria, Renata and I are all proud that we are taking a lead on this issue.
On Tuesday we went into the council offices on Tooley Street to officially sign up as councillors and get our e-mail and contact details sorted out.
Casework is now coming in thick and fast. All three of us are having to learn quickly who to contact and how to get the best results for residents. Luckily we have the assistance of one or two more experienced Labour councillors to help out when we need some advice. We've also been signing up to the various training sessions that all new councillors need to go on: Southwark IT systems, safeguarding, casework management etc etc.
But as we said time and again during the campaign, we're determined not be couped up in the Town Hall as councillors. As often as possible we want to be out talking to people living in our area and finding out how we can improve things. Tomorrow we're going to Nunhead Cemetery open day (on the boundary of our ward). Nunhead Cemetery is an fascinating place, and we want to show our support for the work of the Friends of Nunhead Cemetery.


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Wednesday, April 4, 2018
España en Corto: Spanish Short Film Festival7 – 9 pm
Join us for the sixth-annual Spanish Short Film Festival, started by UGA students to showcase award-winning Spanish short films. Spanning two evenings, a different selection of films will be shown each night. Co-sponsored by the UGA Department of Romance Language.


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People ask me frequently what vegetarians/vegans eat for Thanksgiving. I made this feast for us. We had pot pie with pumpkin biscuit crust, mashed sweet potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce, rolls and roasted green beans. Dessert was apple pie and it was the best! Yummy!
Vegan Thanksgiving, a photo by elizabeth's*whimsies on Flickr.
We went thrifting yesterday and I found this gorgeous candy-colored afghan. It's now my craft room afghan!
We also decorated for Christmas. I found this heart garland at the thrift store and it looks great up there with my mistletoe!


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TV Review: Arrow - Season 2 Episode 19 "Canary Cry"
Join us each week as we review the latest episode of ARROW. Warning: the following review contains major spoilers for the newest episode of the show.
Episode 19: "Canary Cry"
Synopsis: Oliver and the team struggle to come to terms with Laurel's death, especially Diggle who is overwhelmed with guilt for choosing to believe Andy had changed. Meanwhile, Lance refuses to believe his daughter is really gone and asks Nyssa to help bring her back. A recent Black Canary sighting in Star City only seems to prove his theory that Laurel isn't actually dead.
Review: The death of a main character is always a stirring moment on any series. With Arrow, the finality of death has lost some meaning over the four seasons of the show as many characters have been resurrected or only presumed dead. During the prior episode, I was convinced that Arrow's showrunners were going to pull yet another switcheroo, but by the end of this new episode I am sure that Laurel Lance is dead and not coming back. That being said, this is a very melancholic hour that serves as a memoriam for the fallen Black Canary without progressing the season long narrative at all. With no appearances by Damien Darhk, this feels like a wasted opportunity to drive home the final act of the season but instead serves as an extended lamentation on loss.
With Laurel dead, the team is reeling at the loss of their close friend. Laurel's father is especially hit hard, having lost both of his daughters. While Captain Lance sees a bright lining when a Black Canary sighting occurs while Laurel lies dead, we soon learn that the culprit stole Laurel's sonic device. The girl, 16 year old Evelyn Sharp, is seeking vengeance for the death of her parents at the hands of Hive and Darhk's Genesis gas chamber. Sharp is a very poorly developed character who doesn't seem to serve any purpose but to give our characters something to do in between dramatic scenes. This fake Canary is besmirching Laurel's legacy and Oliver feels responsible to stop her before she gets herself killed.
While Captain Lance pleads with Nyssa Al Ghul to use the Lazarus Pit to bring back Laurel, Diggle is enraged at his blindness regarding his brother having led to the death of his friend. Diggle attacks Mayor Ruve Darhk and demands revenge but instead gives her the fuel to declare the vigilantes of Star City to be criminals that need to be apprehended at any cost. Diggle has some solid scenes here with Felicity as they discuss their roles in Laurel's death and both find solace in the fact that they neither directly led to their friend's death nor are they incapable of righting those wrongs. Finding Evelyn Sharp and saving her is their new mission and they take to it with Oliver. Oliver himself is very focused and single-minded in dealing with Laurel's death as he once again feels responsible for both her death and the death of Evelyn Sharp's parents.
When all is said and done, the weak plot is resolved in fairly formulaic fashion and the episode wraps with Laurel's funeral. Dinah Lance returns, as does Barry Allen, to bid farewell to the fallen Laurel and Oliver delivers a profoundly stirring eulogy for his fallen love. While Laurel may not have been his true love, she was a significant person in his lives, both past and present, as evidenced by the flashbacks. Instead of heading to Lian Yu, the flashbacks this week took us to the events following the first season finale as Oliver deals with the death of his best friend, Tommy Merlyn. They serve to show the growth and difference between the Oliver of two years ago and today and may be the most relevant flashbacks this series has ever had.
Ultimately, this episode serves as a build-up for those final minutes featuring Oliver's promise to take down Darhk once and for all. Arrow started with Oliver Queen's quest for revenge and evolved into a show about the right way to take down evil without killing. For almost the full hour of this episode, Laurel's legacy was looked back upon fondly. Then, in the final minutes, Oliver proclaims that Damien Darhk must die. While I agree that the villain has finally gone too far, this seems to fly in the face of what Green Arrow has become over the last three seasons. Once he crosses back over that line, will he ever be able to come back to a point of no longer killing his enemies?
This is a very deep and sad hour of Arrow. I am glad that Laurel Lance's death is not being used as a cheap ploy to develop the narrative and is instead being used to drive our characters in new and darker directions. But, for an episode as moving as this, with outstanding performances from David Ramsey and Paul Blackthorne, they really should have thought up a better plot element than a fake Black Canary who doesn't make any sense at all. How did she do the things she did which took both Laurel and Sara Lance months and years respectively to learn. I know I shouldn't be looking for logic or sense on a comic book show, but this is too glaring an issue to ignore.
Final Verdict:
Next on ARROW: "Genesis" airs May 4th - As Oliver and Felicity look for a magical solution to defeat Darhk, a vengeance-driven Diggle gets a lead on Andy's whereabouts and heads off to confront his brother. Meanwhile, Alex takes Thea on a vacation that quickly turns into a nightmare.
Previous Arrow TV Review columns More


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Clean and healthy air is the starting point for a healthy environment and a vibrant, healthy community.
What we're about…
PT AirWatchers' primary goal is to eliminate pollution from the Port Townsend Paper Mill (PTPC) in Port Townsend WA, and to see that their full operating and cleanup costs are shifted off of taxpayers and back to the mill and its owners.
We deal with many sources of air pollution according to concerns and energies of our members and constituencies.
But with nearly 10 years of work and study, we see that in any number of types of pollution and burdens on the community, those from the Port Townsend Paper mill far outstrip those of all other parties combined.
Port Townsend Paper's pollution damages the environment and endangers the health of residents and visitors, especially elders, children and even that of people working at the plant.
Their 100-year history of polluting creates an enormous toxic legacy on and around the site that will need to be cleaned up — either by them or by us. We feel that PTPC should bear the full cost and burden.
Further, they must start shouldering their full ongoing costs of doing business.
Some of the mill's toxic legacy, such as their signature menu of stink, have been very obvious; much has come to light only through research and investigation.
For example:
- The onsite ash dump/landfill — what's in it, what happens when it reaches capacity in a dozen or two years?
- CO2 emissions — false accounting allows them to claim reductions in CO2 emissions without any actual reduction in numbers!
- Toxic Tresspass — over 500,000 pounds of noxious chemicals are spewed over the town every year, requiring teachers to air out their classrooms in the morning before children come in, and the hospital to close vents when trade winds come their way;
- ASB — fumes pour off on-site 35-acre process waste treatment "pond." What's in the sludge that they dredge from the pond? Heavy metals? PBTs (persistent bioaccumulative toxins)? Dioxins and furans? Where is it dumped — onsite? sent to a poorly accounted for "somewhere else"? spread on fields as "beneficial reuse"?
- Water — will the City start requiring PTPC to pay for their water usage when the mill's sweetheart deal with the City is renegotiated over the next couple of years? A deal that was made for services done in the early 1900's; repeatedly re-extended even though re-paid in full early last century; which allows them to use more water than all other users combined — for free — while the City claims that giving a break to a handful of poor customers will break the system!
- "Legacy" questions — who pays to remediate the entire site when/if the mill were to shut down? what will it take? why aren't we requiring the mill start cleaning it up now?
- Port Townsend Bay — more heavy metals and noxious chemicals are dumped annually, directly into Port Townsend Bay!
- What was dumped for decades and decades before the start of EPA oversight? From what old timers tell us, it isn't pretty!
*to learn more, click here. For data, please click here. [link to "data" & "more" pages]
The mill can operate cleanly and they can clean up the toxic legacy they've created through decades of dumping. The technology exists. It's a matter of corporate will.
When required by law they've taken steps to clean up some processes. Yet, their total (regulated) toxic release numbers remain virtually unchanged.
Ultimately the community needs to decide: What would healthy options for our town look like? Can we create support the trades, small business, white collar professionals, farmers, creatives, and retirees, along with a healthy environment? What physical products do we use in our every day life, and are there healthy, environmentally sound solutions? Do we have the will to make these real?
Whatever the answers to these questions, PT AirWatchers strongly feels that we — our residents, visitors and workers — should not have to choose between jobs and health.
The community has waited … and waited … We need answers and cleanup. PTPC's 100-year legacy of toxic pollution needs to stop NOW. Cleanup should start NOW, at the mill's expense, not that of the state or taxpayers.


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From The Daily News of Friday, Aug. 24, 2007 . . .
The Kamloops Blazers Sports Society's membership voted 151-43 Thursday night to sell its WHL franchise to River City Hockey Inc. (RCH), a group that is led by Vancouver businessman Tom Gaglardi and includes ex-Blazers players Shane Doan, Jarome Iginla, Mark Recchi and Darryl Sydor.
The purchase price will be around $7 million, the highest price — by $3 million — ever paid for a WHL franchise and the second-highest price ever paid for a major junior team. The OHL's Mississauga IceDogs sold for a reported $9.2 million last summer.
There were 194 of 256 eligible members at the extraordinary general meeting in the Sports Action Lounge at the Interior Savings Centre.
The meeting, which began at 7 o'clock, ended about 9:30.
The society's nine-man board of directors was forced into calling the meeting when RCH and its supporters, using a clause in the B.C. Society Act, were able to get a requisition asking for a vote on its offer.
The vote, which was done by a show of hands, was resounding, something that meant a lot to the RCH group.
"It hasn't sunk in," said Sydor, before jetting back to Dallas where he is a member of Stars' centre Mike Modano's wedding party. "But it's been a long time coming. The membership has spoken.
"It was resounding and that makes us feel better. It makes us proud."
Gaglardi added: "Wow! That's quite something."
Emotions and passion ran high throughout a lot of the meeting that featured 19 different speakers, including all five members of RCH as well as society board members Dennis Coates and Don Moores.
"The time has come to choose a private model," said Coates, who is the society's treasurer. "My personal opinion is . . . that the time has come to privatize the enterprise. Quite frankly . . . I disagree with price being the driving force. I think it's a combination of price and hockey commitment."
Moores, who spoke emotionally on July 11, 2006, when members voted that the assets weren't for sale, favoured selling, too, but not without going to the market place.
"I'm not naive enough to not take a look at all this and see that we have a membership that is fractured. There's no question that's what has happened. So in my mind it's inevitable that this hockey club is going to sell.
"The four guys that are wanting to buy the hockey club . . . this has nothing to do with them. . . . My issue with what is going on is the process. As a society, there is a process that is laid out. And we should be putting this hockey club on the open market only because it's the right thing to do."
The members, however, felt otherwise, despite claims of a hostile takeover by one of them.
"We love you guys," Helen Long said, "but what you are attempting here is a hostile takeover. If we decide to sell, it should be on our terms and open to all offers."
Other speakers, like former Blazers marketing director Don Larsen and Ross Cundari, felt otherwise.
"I have no problem turning the team over to these guys," Larsen said.
"This is a dream team for any hockey fan," Cundari said of the RCH group. "This is an opportunity that we shouldn't delay any further."
Andy Clovechok, a former board member who served the society for a long time, also sided with RCH.
"Now is the time to sell," he told the crowd, "not two years down the line. What are we waiting for? Let's go."
Society president Murray Owen had said Tuesday that the board wouldn't sign off on the offer that was in front of it at that time. RCH presented an amended offer Wednesday, one that takes liability for the education fund among other things. Owen told the members during the meeting that the board would sign off on the amended offer should the vote go that way.
The society board was to meet late last night and Owen said the WHL has a process that will be followed involving a transfer of ownership.
Should the WHL approve the sale, a process that WHL commissioner Ron Robison has said could take at least 90 days, Gaglardi will be the franchise's governor, a role presently filled by Owen.
RCH first attempted to purchase the Blazers for $6 million on June 27, 2006. That offer never was presented to the society's membership. In fact, at a meeting on July 11, 2006, the members voted that the society's assets weren't for sale. RCH returned July 18 with an offer of $6.1 million. RCH amended that offer Wednesday and it now is valued at around $7 million.
A group of shareholders purchased 33 per cent of the franchise from the NHL's Edmonton Oilers in the summer of 1981. The remaining 67 per cent was purchased from the Oilers over the summer of 1984 when the team name of Junior Oilers was changed to Blazers.
Later, a non-profit society was formed and its board of directors has, under the terms of the Society Act, continued to operate the franchise.
That all ended officially last night.
"I'm very happy," Larsen said. "As soon as the motion was passed, I became a Blazer again. I know it sounds corny but I had shivers."
The situation in Kamloops has had an impact elsewhere, too.
Ron Toigo, the majority owner of the Vancouver Giants, signed head coach Don Hay, a former Blazers coach and a Kamloops native, to a five-year contract yesterday. Toigo later admitted that the uncertain situation here and not knowing what new ownership might mean in terms of the coaching staff contributed to his decision.
"Everybody would want him," Toigo told The Province. "But I think he likes living here. I think he likes the atmosphere with the team. I think he likes the support from the community."


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Current Law Students / Re: 0L- hard to make friends in LS?« on: May 04, 2006, 09:27:50 AM »
Cliques do form, but it's not really based on who you study with. I have lots of friends in LS and I always study by myself. I don't think you'll have a problem unless you are really social phobic. I think it's actually easier to make friends than in college b/c you are with the same people all day, every day- it's almost impossible not to get to know them.


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Energy optimisation systems promise to dramatically reduce the power consumption and maintenance requirements of modern hospitals.
The adoption of an energy optimisation program devised by engineering giant Siemens has enabled Robina Hospital on Queensland's Gold Coast to achieve dramatic reductions in power usage that are already well ahead of projections.
Towards the end of 2015 Robina Hospital became the first health facility in Australia to install the Siemens Demand Flow energy optimisation system, with a view to cutting down the power consumption of its chiller plant.
The Demand Flow system is an intelligent infrastructure solution that is designed to reduce total plant energy consumption by anywhere between 20 and 50 per cent. This reduction is achieved means of variable pressure curve technology that can optimise the performance of chiller plant control systems.
Robina Hospital has conducted a review of the system's performance following its first four months of operation, and concluded that it has achieved impressive reductions in the total energy consumption of the Gold Coast facility's chiller plant.
Total energy consumption fell by 24 per cent on average, enabling the hospital to save as much as 364,154 kilowatt hours in four months.
According to Stefan Schwab, Siemens Executive General Manager Building Technologies, this impressive performance is well ahead of expectations, and puts the system on a trajectory to save nearly $100,000 in its first year of implementation.
"We are well on track to achieve the annual target of reducing to achieve the annual target of reducing energy usage by 792,091 kWh, and the resultant $95,051 cost saving," said Schwab.
"Given that we have already achieved 367,154 (46.35 per cent) of the annual guarantee figure of 792,091 kWh in just four months, we are confident of hitting the guaranteed payback period of 3.3 years in an even shorter period."
Nigel Hoy, Gold Coast Health Senior Director Operation Support Services, said that the health service had initially been drawn to the system because of its proven track record in hospitals around the world.
"We were looking for ways to reduce the hospital's energy consumption and were impressed by the results Demand Flow had achieved in hospitals around the world," he said.
Hoy notes that the energy optimisation system has had other benefits aside from energy savings, enabling them to streamline their water infrastructure and associated maintenance requirements.
"In addition to significant energy savings, the work Siemens carried out at Robina provided the opportunity for us to consolidated chilled water infrastructure from three separate chilled water plants into one," he said.
"This has resulted in a reduction to the ongoing maintenance requirements and costs for the facility."