Hello there,
I've built my computer back in 2020, and I've had this recurring bug where all my USB disconnects and my fans stops randomly when using the pc.
It's not that random to be fair, it mostly happens when I'm playing games, and most of the time when I'm streaming my games on steam or discord. The streming part is not necessary but that's when it happens the most.
Until now it wasn't a big deal, it would happen once every full moon when I do stream (or not) and it's not permanent, everything goes back as normal after a few seconds.
But recently I decided to stream my games from steam on my laptop to play in other parts of my house, and when doing so, it just happen constently. Like every 5 minutes the fans stops, USB disconnects and comes back after a few seconds.
On the opposite, when doing desktop tasks like Word or just browsing, it might reboot randomly.
There is definetly something wrong with it, probably due to a mistake of mine when installong everything.
Does any one knows what could be the source of this black magic curse ? I've tried many solutions found online, took it a few times to be repaired, but it never worked.
Thanks !

My friend looks for an animated movie about a villain inside water bucket carried by a dog or a wolf. I searched Internet using different keywords - Google, IMDB and Fandom and nothing fits.
He watched it around 2013-2015 maybe? The animated 2D (or 3D low quality) cartoon movie is set in the world of animals. The people are antropomorphic animals like bears or pandas. They can speak like humans, but they don't understand the speech of other animals. The elder from their community is missing, so other bears dont know where he is. There is a painting of him too. The main villain of this story is a witch who put a curse on the other animals so their speech is incomprehensible and she also put a curse on the elder so that he is stuck inside a painting. The witch doesn't have a body (she lost it bc of a curse?) but she is actually the form of water and is carried around in a water bucket by a dog. She resides in an abandoned cave. The bears set out on a journey to find the witch and defeat her. In the end the curse is broken and the people inside the painting are free and the other animals can now talk.
If you have idea, let me know. Thank you in advance. I think that it is tough to find.

I am hosting a black-tie Gala in a few months with a fantasy/magical theme. My gown is sheer illusion with delicate crystal overlay. I want to smell like a fairy princess/fairy godmother. What comes to mind? White florals? Gourmand? I have a moderate collection of mostly niche fragrances but have a open mind. TIA!

I watched the film this morning. It's extremely fun and moving until about when the four arrive in Emerald City. The song the Cowardly Lion sings about becoming a king is just weird and grating to me. Actually seeing the wizard (I've never seen the whole movie beginning to end before) was interesting but underwhelming in a way. The side quest to kill the Wicked Witch of the West makes sense she's the established antagonist but also seems forced by the wizard. And then Tin Woodman, the Scarecrow, and the Cowardly Lion don't actually get their requests fulfilled magically.
For me it's as though the magic of being transported from the black and white Kansas to Oz wore off when they met the wizard

I've been meaning to make this post for a while but life kept getting in the way.
There is a bunch of new (well, new to me) stuff I've discovered over the last few weeks, and wanted to share my thoughts with you.
Let's start with the "prequel" (although never canonically confirmed) to the Marathon series was a game called Pathways to Darkness. The backstory for this game is:

Sixty-four million years ago, a large extra-terrestrial object struck the Earth in what would later be called the Yucatan Peninsula, in south eastern Mexico. The dust and rock thrown up by the resulting explosion caused enormous climactic changes in the ensuing years, and many of the Earth's species became extinct during the long winter that followed.
The object itself was buried thousands of feet below ground, its nearly two kilometer length remarkably intact. It remained there, motionless, for thousands of years before it finally began to stir-- and to dream.

Hmm. Buried below ground. Finally beginning to stir and dream. Who does that sound like?
Let's keep going.

The heat of impact liquefied the rock around it, which later cooled and encased the dead god's huge body far below ground. As it began to dream, it wrought unintentional changes in its environment. Locked deep beneath the Earth, strange and unbelievable things faded in and out of reality. Vast caverns and landscapes bubbled to life within the rock, populated by horrible manifestations of the dead god's dream.

As it began to dream, it wrought unintentional changes in its environment.. Locked deep beneath the Earth, strange and unbelievable things faded in and out of reality.
Like Fingerrats? Or like Spider-wolves?

Vast caverns and landscapes bubbled to life within the rock, populated by horrible manifestations of the dead god's dream.

Caverns and landscapes. I want to expand this point here for a bit because it's also mirrored across Alagaesia.
Let's start with Helgrind.
For any FV enjoyers, I've previously speculated that Helgrind is a reliquary, or a previously living being that was transformed (a la Ctein).
But the curious thing here is the timeline of Helgrind and it's tunnel system, taken with the above context.

Q: Assuming it wasn't built by the Ra'zac themselves, was the lair inside Helgrind purpose-built for the Ra'zac and Lethrblaka, or did they appropriate it some time after it was built? If it wasn't built for them, what was its original purpose?
A: Partially natural formations (linked to tunnels elsewhere in Alagaësia), partly expanded by the priests of Helgrind and Galbatorix himself.

But... The Ra'Zac didn't inhabit Helgrind until at least after the Humans came over. So these tunnels underneath Helgrind existed before the Ra'Zac, or Galbatorix ever set foot on Alagaesia. Which, I don't know about you, but a massive network of tunnels does not smell entirely natural to me.
So.. where else are there "natural" formations that link to other tunnels elsewhere in Alagaesia?
We've seen these "natural" formations in Vroengard:

Q: The deeps under Vroengard, were they created by the riders or was it a previous system of caverns that they repurposed?
A: Previous system. I mean, there's been work done on them, but... 'It looks similar, parts of it feel similar to the caverns that we encountered in this book. They both have that hole in the cave which goes deeper, with something in the hole that's not clearly defined.' Yeah.

And we've seen similar depictions in the Beors, and Nal Gorgoth. So from the Beors to Vroengard, "natural" tunnels exist underground. I don't buy that they are entirely natural.
Given the context of the Marathon game above:

Vast caverns and landscapes bubbled to life within the rock, populated by horrible manifestations of the dead god's dream.

I think these tunnels came from Azlagur.
Let's switch gears here, I want to talk about another archaeological mystery in the world of Eragon - El-Harim.
I believe El-Harim was heavily influenced by the (not canon confirmed, but implied) prequel to the Marathon games, the Pathways into Darkness

Pathways casts the player as a member of a US Army Special Forces team sent on a mission to the Yucatán Peninsula. On May 5, 1994, a diplomat from the alien race known as the Jjaro appeared to the President of the United States and informed him that on May 13, an ancient godlike being sleeping beneath a pyramid would awaken and destroy the Earth. The only way to prevent this catastrophe is to prevent the god from awakening. The eight-man Special Forces team carries a nuclear weapon, with the goal of entering the ancient pyramid, descending to the bottom level where the god sleeps, and activating the bomb to stun the god and bury it under tons of rock.

Getting into a bit more of the backstory:

Only during the last few centuries has the god begun to effect changes on the surface of the Earth. Grotesque creatures have been sighted deep in the trackless forest of the Yucatan, and strange rumors of an ancient pyramid-- which is neither Aztec nor Mayan-- in the same area have been circulating in the archaeological community since the early 1930's.

Pyramid, eh? There are two different options here I can think of that equate.
The extended FWW Map
First, in the extended map from FWW, we can see a Pyramid-esque shape - Different color, different slope, etc.
Or, second (and probably more likely), it could be El-Harim:

It is a very bad place. It’s a place where some bad things happened at one point and it’s not a good place to go walking around. I don’t want to get into it too much more because again, it’s a good possibility for another story and I want to keep thinking about it a bit more. It is in Alagaesia and we’ve actually been close to the location.

Many speculate that the below vision from Eragon in Brisingr, which was never explained in the main cycle, is of El-Harim:

And he rested, and visions beset him of a circular stone city that stood in the center of an endless plain and of a small girl who wandered among the narrow, winding alleys within and who sang a haunting melody (A Feast with Friends, Brisingr).

If this vision IS El-Harim , it's super significant because of these two descriptors:

circular stone city
narrow, winding alleys

Fractals. The city itself is a fractal, like Nidus for any FV enjoyers.
The narrow winding alleys are significant because of the descriptors of the Vanished/Grey folk:

The spaces between the structures were narrower than the humans preferred; the proportions were taller, thinner, which matched the images she had seed of the Vanished...
The ancient outline of the city was - as she suspected - a fractal, and the shape of it contained meaning.... At the nexus of the apttern, where it coiled in on itslef like a nautilus shell" (Shards, TSIASOS).

Narrow. Circular (Nautilus shell). Winding. Fractal.
Whatever this city is, El-Harim or otherwise, it is/was a grey folk/vanished city.
And given the quotes from above - "Its a place where some bad things happened at one point", and "dangerous, creeping, ancient, evil thing" - My guess is that the event that caused the Grey Folk to bind the AL to magic happened here, in El-Harim.
Alright, moving along.
Let's talk about the Az and the God. There are a few parallels I've talked around, but the BIG link between the two are Dreams. This is especially important because of the release of the world map recently.

We are the devotees of Azlagur, the Devourer. Azlagur the Firstborn. Azlagur the Dreamer. He who sleeps and whose sleeping mind weaves the warp and weft of the waking world. But the sleep grows restless" (Obliteration, Murtagh).

Versus

As it began to dream, it wrought unintentional changes in its environment. Locked deep beneath the Earth, strange and unbelievable things faded in and out of reality. Vast caverns and landscapes bubbled to life within the rock, populated by horrible manifestations of the dead god's dream.

I could write a whole post about the parallels between the two and their linkage to dreams, but I'll cut it short here for now to save room to dig in to other areas. Specifically, the Dreams connection is especially important because of the relase of the world map recently - I have another post here that gets into more detail, but the translations from the World Map in the middle translate to:

where dreams and dragons dwell

Dreams (!) and Dragons.
Combine that with the Etymology of the words:

Alagaësia ala = land gaësia = rich/fertile
Alalëa ala = land lëa = a beautiful dream
Elëa = the dream itself

So the planet, named Elea, translates to "The Dream Itself". Very interesting.
This is even more significant when you take into account this tweet chain from Chris, a bit earlier in March

Darn it. Just invented a name in the ancient language. Googled it to make sure no one else had used it ... only to discover that I had used it in an earlier book. Lol.
Can we ask what name?
Edurna

I believe the name was a potential candidate for the name of the planet of Alagaesia, which is important because of the etymology of THAT name (All credit to Zora for digging this one up).

Edurna sounds awfully like Adurna and Edur
Adurna meaning water and Edur being a prominence

Prominence. And Water. You know what that sounds like to me? Plaintive Verge. Just food for thought.
Second-to-last Az connection I want to cover: Hunger.

Whirling darkness swallowed him, and at the center of it... lay a formless horror - ancient and evil and from which emanated a constant merciless hunger (Dreams and Portents).

Versus a quote about the cosmic entity in Marathon:

Now I fear what that weapon has unleashed will destroy us. I once boasted to be able to count the atoms in a cloud, to understand them all, predict them, and so did I predict you, but this new chaos is entirely terrible, mindless, obeying rules that I don't comprehend. And it is hungry.

Now, the last piece of Azlagur-related lore I want to cover here is the "Black Sun".
In all of the visions, a Black Sun precipitates Azlagur's rise.

"A black sun rimmed by black flame hung against a darkling sky... The beast rose rampant against the black sun - A wingless dragon, apocalyptic in size, terrifying in presence. Destroyer of hope, eater of light"

Before getting into the Black Sun a bit more, there's an additional connection here I want to touch on - usage of the word rampant in connection with Azlagur.

In Marathon, Rampancy is the enhanced self-awareness of a computer AI, causing a progression towards greater mental abilities and destructive impulses. The destructive impulses, however, are primarily caused by being threatened or harassed. There are three main stages, as well as a fourth and final stage that is rarely achieved, to rampancy, named by the primary attitude of the AI during those times: Melancholia, Anger, Jealousy, and Meta-Stability.

There are some overlaps with what we see from the Maw.
And Melancholia.. that's an interesting word. Especially when taken into context the meaning of the name:

A melancholy dream of great beauty.

Melancholy.. Dream... The pieces of the puzzle are coming together. And Rampant...
Chris also uses that exact same verbiage when discussing a deleted scene from TSIASOS:

Q: I just finished reading To Sleep in a Sea of Stars and I have to know: it sounds like the Wranaui fought the corrupted during the Sundering but if that's true and it happened almost 300 years prior.... Who created the old corrupted? I've been questioning this for days!
A: That was actually in material cut by editors (some of the dream memories). Another Seed/Idealis was damaged and, when the Old Ones tried to separate it from its host, the xeno went rampant.

The xeno went rampant. Very interesting.
Alrighty, I keep getting distracted, back to the black sun.
The reason the Black Sun is important is because it always precipitates Azlagur's rise, throughout several of Murtahgh's visions. In each of them, there is a Black sun.
So, by this, we can extrapolate that the sun needs to be Black in order for Azlagur to rise (which is hinted at at the "Day of Black Sun" celebrations near the end of the book).
But... what does it actually mean?
There is a parallel in Marathon, their weapon:

The trih xeem (also "tri xeem") is an extremely powerful weapon that can be used to force a star into early nova... it was originally conceived and built by the Jjaro [The Old Ones/Vanished equivalent]. Much of the Marathon Infinity story revolves around preventing the Pfhor from using the tri xeem and inadvertently releasing a W'rkncacnter that is supposedly trapped within the Lh'owon sun.

So, the story of the last Marathon games revolves around preventing the usage of the weapon to release the cosmic-level baddie trapped in the sun. So, effectively, the antagonist is imprisoned by the sun.
But.. how does that translate to Azlagur and Murtagh?
The Black Sun requirement for Azlagur's rise could be construed as "imprisonment" by the sun; Azlagur cannot escape until the sun is turned Black. But it only really starts to come together when you piece together these pictures.
First, early concept art for the Fractalverse
You see the black orb, heading directly for the glowing star? Sounds pretty similar.
But that's not the smoking gun; look at the depiction of the black orb in the concept art, and compare it to the trih xeem, the weapon in Marathon.
A black orb with a trail heading directly for the sun. Almost an exact match.
OK.. so I get that it has some relevence in fractalverse, but how does it translate to Eragon?
Well, because of the Beors. Specifically, a picture CHRIS HIMSELF posted about the Beors.
Here
I propose that THIS black orb, at the top of the Beors (which, suspiciously, no one has traveled to) houses the black weapon. After all, the depiction is quite similar - A large, circular, black orb. Looks pretty similar to the other pictures.
And given the above context that Azlagur can only rise with a "Black Sun", the pieces all start to fit together. It's not perfect, but there are definitely a lot of overlaps.
Alright. I've been waiting for this one. The last piece. Let's talk about Angela.
Q: Will we get Angela lore? I feel like she could have killed Galbatorix and just didn't feel like it.
A: For those who don't know Angela is based on my sister Angela, because she breaks the fourth wall to a degree she has. Not only does she have plot armor, she knows she's in a story and can break the story itself. So, yes, she could have killed Galbatorix, but that would have made for a very bad story. That said, I do have an entire book planned around Angela, and it's very high on my list of books to write because it takes place before some of these other big stories I want to write. And that's also the difficult thing. I have my big storylines, and then I have a couple of one off side books I want to write, and it's just a question of time, energy and effort.
She knows she's in a story, and she can break the story.
Based on that, and several other descriptions I will get into in a bit, I think her story is directly related to the Marathon Infinity game.

Marathon Infinity begins as the Pfhor destroy Lh'owon using a Jjaro-derived doomsday weapon known as the Trih Xeem or "early nova". Unfortunately, the weapon also releases a powerful chaotic being: The W’rkncacnter, which threatens to destroy the entire galaxy. Because of the W’rkncacnter's chaos or by means of some Jjaro tech of his own, the player is transported back and forward in time, finding himself jumping between timelines and fighting for various sides in a desperate attempt to prevent the chaotic being's release.

and

In Marathon Infinity, a W'rkncacnter is imprisoned in the sun of planet Lh'owon. It is theorized by some that the W'rkncacnter's powerfully chaotic nature may be responsible for the jumps between realities seen in the game. When the Pfhor use a trih xeem device to send the star into early nova, the creature is released, to the horror and destruction of the Pfhor.

Angela is the Eragon-equivalent of the player.
She can transport back and forward in time, jumping between timelines, and fighting to prevent the chaotic being's (Azlagur's) release. Let's dive in.
First:

Q: Is it canon that Angela the Herbalist is a Time Lord and did she make a cameo in To Sleep in a Sea of Stars?
A: Is Angela the Herbalist is a Time Lord? That would be copyright infringement, so I'm going to say "no comment", but she is in To Sleep in a Sea of Stars. And there is a canon reason for this. And you should have no problem spotting who she is in that book.

So there's a canon reason she's in the book. Interesting. When you take that into context with the next bit

Q: On your last AMA on reddit, someone asked if any fan had guessed the identity and history of Angela correctly. You said nobody has guessed correctly and there's not enough information in the books to do so. That puts every fan theory out there on her wrong, correct? She's not the soothsayer, a time lord, grey folk, etc, correct?
A: Angela: Some of the fan theories have gotten parts of her history and identity correct. However, there's a HUGE aspect to her nature that no one has guessed (or least, not in a non-joking way). And no, I don't mean her being a Time Lord.

So there's a huge aspect to her nature that no one has guessed (at least at the time of writing). She's self-aware, knows she's in a story, and can jump around in time. And, similar to the Marathon games, it appears like only she knows that she's in a story.
So, based on the Marathon inspiration, we can guess that she is trying to accomplish the same thing - To prevent the release of the cosmic-level villain. We know that she has some kind of relationship with the Draumar:

In Murtagh, it’s revealed that Bachel and “Uluthrek” (Mooneater, Angela’s given Urgal name) met with Bachel explicitly going out to confront her (a courtesy not even offered to a Rider like Murtagh)

So, by extension, she has some kind of connection to Azlagur. This is supported by other circumstantial evidence in FWW as well:

Since we know that the Dream Well in Mani's Caves is similar to the Well in Nal Gorgoth I can assume that Angela is revealing the existence of the Draumar to Elva there? I feel certainly feel as if you're setting up her for something in the future series.
Heh. Good Catch.

So, she is clearly working with Elva to do something related to the Dream Wells, and she also previously confronted Bachel, many years ago. So throughout multiple years across the WoE, she is connected to Azlagur and the Draumar; her story clearly revolves around them/Azlagur, somehow.
Putting the above pieces together, my guess is that she is jumping around in different timelines, trying to manipulate actions of the past to prevent the rise of Azlagur. Just like the player character in Marathon. There's another piece of circumstantial evidence to support this assertion as well.
In Marathon Infinity:

After multiple "jumps," the player (seemingly the only one who realizes he is being transported between possible realities)

Versus Angela:

As hours passed, the stars turned above, night chill drew the heat from my body, and I fell into a curious trance, not asleep but not fully awake... The world altered" (On the Nature of Stars, FWW).

I believe this world "Altering" was the first time she experienced an alternate timeline, without knowing what it was at the time.
We've also seen her create "Doorways" as well - Although it's not clear if this is fast traveling (a la a Torque Gate), or truly opening a path to another timeline.
In Eldest:

"As they landed, he noticed a patch of white on a small hill nearby. The patch wavered strangely in the dark, like a floating candle, then resolved into Angela, who was wearing a pale wool tunic" (A Sorceress, a Snake, and a Scroll).

and then later, more concretely:

"I traced a line on the wall, reached out, and opened a door that wasn't there. ON the other side - nighttime, a beach by a black ocean lit only by stars, so many, many stars, more than there should be. Of course, I would not take Elva to my home, not yet. But this was a waypoint, a place to build and learn and grow... She stared into the gap, the impossible portal" (On the Nature of Stars, FWW).

Still, as always with Angela, so many questions.
Alright, we've reached an ungodly wordcount, so I'll call it here. There are still more connections I'm uncovering between the two series (such as the potential connection between the Gedway Ignasia and the "warning" sensation from Marathon), so I might make a follow-up post in the future with everything else I uncover.
As always, thanks for reading! Let me know what you think in the comments, or if you've found any other connections between the two.

Hey everyone! So I have always lived in high rise buildings with fantastic management, amenities, and maintenance. But I had a baby last year and decided it was time to move to a quieter and safer location. The apartment itself is very nice and has everything we need as a family, but it keeps having somewhat minor issues. I’m genuinely not sure if these issues are to be expected and I’m just spoiled, or are these real problems I need to address?
I’m not sure if this matters, but this is a middle class, mildly upscale, complex with about 1500 townhouses and apartments split in smaller buildings, all gated and homey feeling. I will just go ahead and list the issues I’ve had since May 1st.

1. Power went out for about 20 mins. I called emergency maintenance and left a voicemail per my welcome packet instructions, no response or follow up on their end but power did come back on.
   
2. May 4th I submitted a maintenance request because the dryer isn’t working, they came a day later and determined the knob was broken. They ordered parts, haven’t heard from them since. I have been using a power drill to turn the knob and use my dryer as that’s the only way.
   
3. The gas fireplace smokes and sets off the smoke alarms. They checked it out and used a C02 detector and said it’s not leaking. When I asked why it smokes and sets off alarms the maintenance man didn’t have an answer or offer to look at it more.
   
4. The hot water is “private”(?), as in the tank is in my unit and only for my use idk I’m not well versed in that stuff, but it can’t even fill a bath tub with hot water after no hot water being used for hours. This home has two extra large bathtubs and I have a baby so this one does really matter to me. I’ve been going olden days with pots of boiling water to heat it up for my son.
   
5. Breakers short out almost everyday. Not a huge inconvenience but it can be frustrating when I have the oven going and I don’t even realize the kitchen just turned off.
   
6. Phone service in my home is unreasonably bad, but perfectly fine anywhere else in the community. I can’t have phone calls or use data at all in my home.
   
7. Secondary bathtub (my bathtub since the master bath is in the room my son sleeps in) always spews out dark black specks when I initially run it. After it drains the remaining specks leave black smears on the tub, they come off with magic eraser.
   

Am I overreacting and this is all just part of living in more of a townhouse situation? Is this complete bs and I should make a big deal out of it?

The rules of black magic in the TVDU got confusing as they worked the same in TVD and the Originals and then in Legacies it could all of a sudden create an evil alter ego of someone (aka dark josie). I haven’t fully rewatched these shows in a long time (aside from legacies as i recently did rewatch it). so i don’t remember everything, but i know legacies retconned and changed alot of stuff instead of just keeping with og lore. Cause wasn’t it like overuse of black magic would eventually kill a witch and then some can just use it??? how do you guys think they could have expanded on black magic and its rules to make the dark josie arc work or would you have preferred a different arc for josie?

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A/N: This incorporates a new build, with additional drawbacks and perks. I added a few gamer functions, as well as Lightning Quick, Brute Strength, DPS, and Rogue. More details are available over on Spacebattles (I also edited the original chapters there to reflect the changes).
Within minutes of entering the building and clocking in, I'm speedily typing away at my computer. There are stacks of papers on my desk that I am dedicatedly transcribing and digitizing.
This is my job, at least on most days. I have to take sheets of paper, invariably assorted forms related to insurance, and digitize them. In minutes I have already done this to a few different types of forms, from applications to the paperwork regarding claims and investigations into claims. "Speed Typist" mixed with "Lightning Quick" allows me to easily breeze through even dense forms and shift between the programs I need to use for each type of form. My job is hilariously, almost offensively, easy and I have already heard that we have a backlog so I have plenty of stuff to go through.
As I type I begin to think about each of my gamer perks as well as my system. Every few minutes I'll "mistype" thanks to "Buggy" and I'll spend a split second going back and fixing my mistake but between "The Devil's Own Luck" and "Lightning Quick" I'm able to fix my mistakes in a span of milliseconds. While I type I use "Observe" every instance I can, throwing in a tiny burst to the overall amount of experience I gain.
I use my enhanced mind's passive ability to follow two trains of thought while I work. As far as anyone can tell I'm diligently doing my job, but in actuality I'm exploring my system. Through passive, almost imperceptible gestures, mostly due to how fast they are, I am messing around with my rather system.
I whittle away the hours I need to spend at my job doing this. During this time I get a few of my skills to level up a few times, thanks to my decision to faithfully and diligently hone some of my other abilities like "Observe". Eventually lunch rolls around and Amy sneaks up behind me so she can surprise me and draw me away from my work. I feign surprise when she reaches me up and taps on my shoulder, and this is a perfect chance for me to try something out.
I make small talk and I silently activate my ability to pause reality while I'm in the middle of a sentence. The world freezes around me and I get to see Amy freeze as she reacts to what I'm saying. I have a reason for doing this, it's all for the sake of experimenting with some of my more intriguing abilities.
I focus on Amy even as I interact with my system's UI and I activate my "Gacha" mechanic. In my mind's eye I can see a logo representing a capsule machine beginning to stir to life and spin some of the capsules containing various awards, and I think about two enormously powerful perks: "The Face" and "Silver Tongue".
These two charisma enhancing perks are incredibly valuable tools in my repertoire and I have yet to meaningfully use them. One of them, "Silver Tongue" is not as directly powerful as "The Face" but it offers me broad knowledge of psychology, enhances my charismatic intuition, and makes me incredibly attractive. The real powerhouse of a perk is "The Face". By focusing on people and thinking of something I want them to believe or persuade them to do I have a supernatural intuitive sense that allows me to know the best sort of argument I could make to achieve that goal. To test this I study Amy while wondering if there's any way for me to convince her to go on a date with me, and after a split second of thinking I begin to feel vague intuitive senses of what I could say and do that would make her see me as a potential romantic interest, and I know that doing that before I ask her out would guarantee success if I wanted her to go on a date with me.
I immediately shift tactics and try to see if I could persuade her to give me 100,000 dollars, and I am unsurprised when I do not gain any vague sensations about how to make that happen one way or another. "Worth a shot..." I tell myself, and if I could smile more I would. Both of these perks are strong, but I'm clever enough to recognize that they become even stronger when I add "Beautiful Mind" and "Well of Wisdom" to the mix. WoW is especially handy in a combination like this, since it allows me to pick and choose the most efficient route to my desired outcome. This is especially true if I mix it with my ability to pause time, since I can give myself breathing room and contemplate how to most skillfully word my arguments and present my positions.
The gacha machine, or some abstraction of one, in my head slows to a stop. When it does a symbol of a capsule pops out and I am delighted to see that I've won a mundane iPad like device, a handy thing I can use as a computer for the time being! This is quite handy, and I can see this particular mechanic becoming something life-saving in a moment of desperation with the right amount of luck. The decide immediately fills a slot in my inventory, and I make a mental note to pull it out and use it later.
I unpause time and over the course of the next few minutes I use my skills, mixing all of the aforementioned perks and functions of my gamer skills as Amy and I walk over to the cafeteria. It is only when we're sitting through the door into the cafeteria that I sense an opportunity to ask my friend something.
"Hey, do you want to try a soup I made? I like it but having a second opinion is always good." I remark, causing her eyes to brightly light up. I grin at her and we walk over to the same table we ate at yesterday. I hand her the small container I'm holding my soup in, and she looks at it. I see her inhale and watch as her eyes light up. We're the first of the people to arrive at our table so no one else sees this. The container I gave her also has some silverware which she uses to go ahead and take a sip of the soup. I am delighted when time freezes and I get a notification alerting me to the acquisition of a new class: that of a chef. I immediately equip it even as I click through the drawback that appears before me. This also confirms that at least in some cases what is needed for me to get a class is for me to do stuff in front of others or at least involve them in some way.
As time resumes I see Amy's face light up.
"This is delicious!" She states with a delighted and sincere grin. I light up as she tells me this and I lightly cheer. This is excellent news, and my acquisition of this class is very fascinating. When it comes to classes I have a unique ability to get them to "Prestige" once they reach a high enough level, and given my current build's focus on support, buffing, and healing, if I can master a class like that of a chef I can do a lot.
"I'm so happy you like it!" I exclaim, sincerely. It really does taste quite good, but my whole body is enhanced and I'm superhumanly sensitive to things like taste so there's no guarantee that what I taste will be what others taste. That said, cooking is an absolutely incredible skill so if I can master it... Well, I'll always be able to prove my worth in almost any situation involving other people. Cooking... is a cracked skill to have in real life.
Our friends join us and as they do Amy turns to them and hands one of the women the container. Mary looks at us quizzically and Amy pantomimes for her friend to try the soup. Mary's look of confusion only becomes more apparent, but she still dutifully does as she's been asked, using her own silverware to do so. Her eyes light up as well and I feel how much experience I have as a cook slowly increase, which brings a smug smile to my face.
"This is delicious! What is this?!" Mary asks, and I grin and point at me. She smiles, impressed, before handing it back to me.
"I made this soup last night. I liked it but I didn't know if I was going crazy or not." I remark, and that gets a laugh out of Amy.
"Well, if working at an office ever gets boring you could make a living as a chef. This is amazing!" She states, and I can hear the honesty in her voice. It's kind of nice how much she likes the stuff, and a part of me wouldn't mind making more food for her if she's gonna be this enthusiastic about what I give her to eat.
It's hard not for me not to beam at my companions in passive delight the whole time we're eating lunch. The lunchroom conversation is kept simple and we simply inform each other about upcoming plans and light gossip, all of which I've heard before thanks to my enhanced, and growing, senses. Super Sensory is a strong enough perk by default but because of my ability to expand every facet of myself, coupled with the universality of "Master of All" I am just passively growing in my ability to hear stuff. Seeing as I am uncapped I could see myself someday hearing every conversation in this building, almost certainly by the end of the year given how all of my growth is linked together and builds on each other.
Lunch comes and goes in a blur and in minutes I'm back in front of the computer. In front of the computer I'm a blur, my fingers strengthened by Lightning Quick and Speed Typist. I whittle away the hours diligently doing my job, distracting myself and minorly doing other things by making use of my dual trains of thought, and even when I overcome instances of "Buggy" every few minutes I still find myself grateful that I took the drawbacks I did. This work would be... less than fun otherwise. By the time my workday comes to an end and I find myself outside of the office I've filled out hundreds of forms and diligently pushed various skills of mine to new levels. Colleagues of mine are walking around me and also leaving the office. I casually pause time. making use of my pause ability again, and I begin to think of what to do and where to go next.
"I suppose now's as good a time as any to go and see about volunteering..." I eventually realize as I think about the various things I can do from here. I momentarily wonder where I should go to try and do that before I remember what I told Amy and the others yesterday about how I volunteered at a clinic. WIth Healer volunteering at a hospital would be good for me, even if I couldn't do as much good as I'd like too since I am not a doctor. I unpause time and smile as I reach into my pocket, use "Inventory" and retrieve my cellphone.
"Where is the nearest hospital?" I ask aloud, into the phone. Some of the people walking past me glance at me curiously and I smile sheepishly as my phone begins to tell me where to go. I begin to walk in the direction the phone indicates, happy to have a chance to begin to do some good.
The walk isn't terribly long. It turns out that the hospital is in a part of downtown that I didn't explore last night, and I reach it less than five minutes after I start walking, just in the opposite direction of where I was going before. The hospital isn't huge, which surprises me since I don't seem to be living in some small town but in a decently sized city. I walk into the main entrance and step into a large lobby where a decent amount of foot traffic seems to happen, judging from the footprints I can faintly see on the floor beneath me. I walk up to a receptionist desk and the man behind it doesn't bother looking up and instead taps the clipboard in front of him. I glance at it and laugh when I see that it's a standard questionnaire for people who are visiting a hospital for normal, health-related reasons. My reaction surprises the man, and to be fair it's definitely odd for someone in a hospital to laugh at the sight of a hospital questionnaire.
I am laughing at the questionnaire because it's amusing to think about the possibility of getting sick, I'm a gamer, and while normally that'd conjure images of nerds and geeks in my case it means that my health is protected. I have two very powerful perks/features that wildly mitigate the dangers of sicknesses: "Tough As Nails" which guarantees that it'd take something supernatural or almost supernatural to stand a chance of even slowing me down, and "Gamer Body". Gamer Body is interesting in this context since it gamifies negative conditions and allows me to, quite literally, sleep them off. Even something like losing a limb can be cured with a night of sleep thanks to my abilities which feels radically overpowered given how little it cost. I have other perks which further lower my odds of being negatively affected by sicknesses, such as "The Devil's Own Luck". I also have my magic, which includes spells that completely heal and purify the body, and would work on me just as readily as they'd work on other people.
"I'm actually here to learn how to volunteer? I'm new in town and I used to volunteer at a clinic in my home town so I wanted to see if I could volunteer here." I explain, which causes the guy to look up at me. When he does his eyes widen, and I smile awkwardly. I consider feigning ignorance, or perhaps innocence, but I know what's going on. He wasn't expecting me to look the way I look.
My new looks are something it is taking me a beat to get used to. I was only okay looking before, but now my looks are hyper idealized, and I am a conceptually handsome version of the very best I could have ever looked, and it is a bit jarring. It's more jarring for me, knowing that before I was an at best average-looking guy before coming to this world and gaining this new form. I allow the man a beat, before I clear my throat and the sound snaps him out of the daze he was in.
"Oh! Sorry, man, I just assumed you were sick. Umm... Yeah, let me give you a packet." The man says, before reaching under the desk in front of him. I smile lightly as he rummages around the interior of the space that separates us.
My powerful senses allow me to easily notice all sorts of stuff occurring around me. I can hear the vital processes in the bodies of the people closest to me, such as heartbeats and the smells of sweat, as well as other bodily fluids. Many of the people in this area of the hospital are sick, and truthfully if I could I'd heal them all.
One of my reasons for coming here today is to give myself a means by which I can help and heal people. This is, mildly, altruistic but more than anything else I want to master the power to heal people before I leave this setting. In the right setting, being a healer is absolutely a pivotal method of interacting with my environment and also getting allies, as well as staying alive.
The man eventually hands me a packet, along with a pen to use to fill out parts of it, and I smile at him as I take it. It is filled with information, including an application to fill out, and I thank him as I walk over to the waiting area and begin to fill it out. The questions are simple and ask for basic information about me. I fill it out, though a part of me is curious how this'll mesh with my drawbacks...
When I finish filling out the form I hand it to the man and he gratefully takes it. He explains that I'll be contacted by someone named "Ms. Jimenez" soon, and that she oversees the volunteer program. I delightedly thank him for that information and begin to head out of the hospital.
In minutes I'm part of the way home. I am a decently fast walker, though that's something I'd like to work on more in the days to come. The sun is quickly descending, and the moon is already visible in the night sky. I'm approaching the row of apartment buildings that include the building I live in. As I draw nearer and nearer to it I spot a lone homeless man sleeping next to one of the apartments. He is clearly asleep and my observation ability only confirms this. It also reveals that the man is sick, and when I glance at his hit points I see further confirmation of that, as he's down a few of them. I am walking towards him, and as I move I see a nice opportunity for me to try something.
I silently activate "Rogue", one of my more odd perks, and I feel my presence become much more subdued and difficult to notice. I approach the man, and I shut my eyes. As I walk towards him I allow myself to be guided by Super Sensory and only stop when I'm right in front of the man. I kneel and I focus on my spellbook icon, allowing me to see my list of spells. My senses allow me to be confident that the figure is still asleep when I gently move my hands so that they are in front of him. Time freezes as I gain a "Stealth" skill, and while time is frozen I swap my class and become a mage so I can gain valuable experience before I deactivate "Tutorial Sprite". I allow time to resume and smile as I trigger a spell for the first time, one of healing.
For me to activate the spell requires nothing more than for me to have enough magic points and an applicable target. This particular spell is my more advanced spell and it can work on all sorts of living targets. It is named "Intermediate heal" and the fact that I have it is a sign of one of my purchases; Healer. I feel my points of arcane energy be converted into sacred, restorative energy and I open my eyes in time to watch my hands begin to glow as energy leaves me and enters him. I look at his hit points and watch them begin to slowly increase even as I hit him with another instance of "Observe". I do so just in time to feel time freeze as new notifications appear in my mind's eye. One of the first notifications is that I have just earned experience for the "Mage" class, which becomes experience for everything thanks to Master of All, while another indicates that I've just unlocked a quest to become a healer! I study these notifications with a proud grin as this marks an important milestone in my journey. The fact that the class I want is locked behind a quest is interesting and I make a mental note to study the quest as I head home.
I unfreeze time, notice that the man is already visibly healthier, and turn to make my way back to my new home. It takes only about six minutes before I find myself stepping into my apartment. Now I can play with my new toy from earlier!

Here's a story how I became a walking Inanna embodied entity here on Earth.
So let's start... I grew up in the suburbs of Colorado in a dark house with an abusive family. My father was quite dark and my mom was not here mentally due to autism. The sick energy of my father's abuse and the land caused a haunted house with sentient poltergeists. I was the black sheep of most things and my main friends were the men in the walls, so I grew up with the dead instead of the living.
I started hearing voices young, but they'd come with some advice and helped guide me through the world, so I've always trusted that they had my better interest then most of the people I was around. I've been a rather reclused person, but I've always tried to remain a kind person, even when I have my darker sides from the trauma of childhood and adulthood. I've kept a relationship with spirit my whole life.
I grew up to be a talented artist in garment creation. I got known for designing fairytale themed ballroom gowns and was dubbed a fairy godmother by the models I worked with, but my trauma got the best of me and I wound up with a narcissistic man. I fell into a space where I assumed I had done something to deserve the abuse he dished out. Then, in August 2020, he had a full psychotic episode. It was like a demonic possession and the worst month of my life. He also referred to me as a Goddess and himself as the God Dumuzi. I developed ulcers from the amount of stress and had near death experience where the Goddess Inanna appeared out of the waters of the dead river and requested me to go back to Earth.
Her voice continued guiding me. She pointed out where my mind was and helped rework it to realize the situation I was in and finally flee after my ex gave me a mild stroke and seizures. I fled to my sister who ironically was in a "contemporary shamanism" cult, mainly based on death magic. They worship some entity called "Crazy Woman".
At first, their version of shamanism was helpful. I had some knowledge and have studied into Shintoism, Hinduism and Pagan religions. The group seemed kind and wanting to help, but I studied narcissism and the effects on people, and I quickly started to pick up on the red flags by the Godhead in charge of the group. When I brought it up, I would be met with an intense amount of hostility and violence along with a whole trained technique of narcissism on a spiritual level. It felt like I was energetically being eaten alive and I couldn't stay awake. I lost my ability to create or basically function, again, thinking it's me.
But this whole time, I had Inanna telling me other things like, "You're to meet a great storyteller and solve the riddles of the world." I didn't believe it. My personal life was so dark ,and my brain was so damaged, I no longer could function on a cognitive level. Then, another friend and I, who also hears guiding voices, followed their advice to do a ritual to escape what Inanna called "A mind maze". We ironically drew the eye of Ra with our car as we ventured across the Cascade mountains and over a giant river. We did what's called a soul retrieval from hell and Inanna took over my body. It worked and our minds started to settle after about 3 days.
Then reality shifted my sister in a rage violently attacking and humping me screaming, "I'm the crazy woman!" I ran outside to fall in front of some stranger I didn't know, but had seen him around before. I unloaded everything crazy about my life and this stranger simply asked "Have you heard of the Djinn?" When I said no, he went on to explain ancient knowledge, saying that he studied the quorum tablets, language and indigenous studies from a ancient tribe in Persia (or now Iran). He's like a wizard or something. We went on to talk about the Annunaki and Sumeria, where Inanna comes from, and I recognized him immediately as the great storyteller. He came with a slew of unusual spiritual gifts. We now hang out, constantly picking at each other's cultures and learning so much about the world. Ironically, he read my parents book as a child and idolized the life of the child who's parents are Paleontologists.
Slowly, Inanna and I have learned to switch places and she uses my body to heal victims of narcissistic abuse, mainly 20 year olds (Generation Z). It's taken a whole group of young brilliant minds, a stream strange coincidences that can't explained, and people who seem brought to you by the universe or sky itself to center you down and realize your actually not insane or seeing things. I somehow just learned how to do this by sheer will to fight against the abuse that was being done to me to enchant something real because the people in the rich, contemporary shamanism keep it in secret. They are stealing indigenous knowledge of healing and are using it to hurt people and force them into their belief system. Somehow, I did this, and its honestly unbelievable. Most of them and my life seems almost unreal (or insane) to most people, but somehow, some way.... The entity known as Inanna is coming down and lending a helping hand to those in need. My friends all say I'm the real thing, looking into my eyes and calling me a gift to the world when what I used to hearing was how I was the devil and waspushed into such darkness. Now I have light and dark humbly embodied into a fairytale couture designer by a hell goddess who brought me back from the dead.
So here I am on the will of dragon (dinosaur) spirits, guided by crazy goddess grabbing random young adults to give them some hope and guidance in the poverty class as I live in my run down little apartment creating fairy tale gowns and working nights at the grocery story, fairy godmothering doesnt pay much these. This is wild 😜

Hello all friends,
Hoping you are well. I am interested in clearing some space and cash up for new hobbies and some vacationing this summer. The list is a little jumbled but gets the job done. If I missed anything the vast majority are $2-4 with some price breaks if you pick up multiple books.
All that is needed is your current shipping address on paypal when I request or invoice your email, with shipping info updated within 2 days of order. Orders to be shipped with media mail and with a few layers of packaging.
That should be it, I hope you enjoy the list!
Timestamp- Imgur: The magic of the Internet
Air gear 19, 23, 24 $45 G4
Tokyopop Sampler 2003-2006 (6 vols) $75 G4
Gantz 1-23 $360 G4-G5
Gantz 11-13 $65 G5
Hitman Reborn 1 Misprint upside down inside $40 G4
Cutie Honey $75 G4
Bastard! 1-19 G4 $600
Hellsing 7, 8 $35 G4
Iron Wok Jan 8-10, 12, 19-21 $105 G4
Battle Vixens 13, 14 $80 Sealed
Animal land 1-14 $400 G4-G5
Inuyasha 37, 40, 46-48, 52 $134 G5
Gakuen Alice 6, 9 $40 G4
Berserk DMP (8 Vols) $50 G4
Pandora crimson in a shell 1-3, 5-11 $35
Princess Knight 1 $10 G4
Limited Copies/ Signed/ Sealed OOP:
Dementia 21 1st print $90
Color Of Rage Sealed $60
Akira Volume 4 Limited Edition Hardcover Graphitti Katsuhiro Otomo $50 G4
Astro Boy Essays Osamu Tezuka Mighty Atom, and Manga/Anime Revolution Signed By Frederik L. Schodt G4 $40
Yumiko Kayukawa 2013 Japanese Wolf /1000 $40 G4
Cardfight Vanguard 1 with Sealed card $25 G4-G5
Ragnarok #1 Signed $20 G4
Alice Hearts 1-3 $12 G4
Hino Horror 11 $39 G4
Ikigami 1-8, 10 $120 G4
Gundam R 3 $5 G3-G4
Omamori Himari 6 $5 G3-G4
Kagerou Daze 1, 3 $8 G4
Tokyo Tribes 1 $4 G4
Psycho Pass 1-4 $20 G3
Code Geass 1, 2, $18
NGE Shinji 10 $5 G4
Dragon Ball Vizbig 1-2, Z 2,4 $32 G3-G4
Kamen Tantei 2-3 $20 G4
Initial D 3 $12 G4
Gantz 1-2 $30 G3
Btooom 25 $10 sealed
Fire Force 1-8 $30 G4
Appleseed Alpha $8 G4-G5
Cromartie 8 $4 G3
Ring 0 $10 G4
Zombie Fairy 1 $5 G4
Gundam Blue Destiny $5 G4
Mid 2010s Japanese Shonen Jump Magazine $25 each
Crimson Shell 1-3, 5-11 $50 G4
Sherlock Bones 1-7 $20 G4
Jack Ripper 1, 5 $50 G4
Midori Days 8 $12 G4
Record Of Lodoss War Chronicles Of The Heroic Knight 1 $20 G4
Get Backers 9 vols $25 G3-G4
Samurai Kyo (3) volumes $9 G3-G4
Dragon Head (FRENCH) $100 G4
Incomplete sets:
GTO 3, 6-9 $75 G4-G5
With the light 2-4, 6 $70 G3-G4 Ex lib
With the light 2 $20 G3 Ex lib
Berserk 1-3, 5, 9, 15, 18, 19 G2-G4 (8 Volumes) $30
Crayon Shin 3 $12 sealed CMX
Lum 1-2 90s 1st print $20 G4
Record of Lodoss War Chronicles of the Heroic Knight Vol. 1 $15 G4
Scientific Accelerator 2, 4-7 G4 $50
Lone Wolf & Cub Omnibus 1985 Japanese $80
Saint Tail 2 G3 $10
Saint Seiya Sho 1-2 G4 $4
Mushoku Tensai 1-2 + Roxy 1-2 G4 $15
Magical girl raising project 1-2 G5 $9
First love monster 1-2 G5 $8
Big Order 1 G4 $4
Tomodachi monster 1 $3
Those who hunt elves 1-2 G4 $9
Spare 22 G3 $4
Rin ne 3 G4 $3
The story of Saiunkoko 1-3, 6-9 G4 $40
Fuishigi Omnibus 1-3 G4 $20
Eden Zero 1-3 G4 $6
New lone wolf 1-4 G4 $50
Wedding Peach 1 $15 G4
Strawberry Marshmellow 1-2 $38 G4
Lone Wolf and cub 13 volumes with spare $50 G3-G4
Chaotic Century 11 G4 $
Emma 1-2 G3 $10 ex lib
Jyu oh sei 3 G4 $5
Jack Ripper 1, 5 $50 G4
Beyblade 3 $20 G4
Clover omnibus G3 $5
Blade immortal spares (3) spine fade G3/G4 $10
Vampire Game 15 $8
The promised neverland 17 G4 $3
W Juliet 1-4 G3 $10
Scrapped Princess 1-4 $10
Tenchi- $3
Exaxxion 1 $5
Karneval 1 G4 $8
Black Jack 1, 3, G4 $10
Spare 1 $4
Wotakoi 1 G5 $5
Shin Chan CMX #3 Sealed $12
Dance In The Vampire Bund 1-3, 7-9, 18-21 G4 $30
Bt'x 13 G4 $35
Aoi house $1
Angel Sanctuary 2 $1
Ragnarok 1 $1
World War Blue 5, 7 G4 $3
Grils got game 2 $1
Akame ga Kill 1 $2
Captain Ken 1, G4 $10
Sex ed 120% $3
Ichiroh 5, G4 $5
Infini T Force 1-4 G5 $18
Shugo chara 2-6 G3/G4 $20
Magic Knight Rayearth 1st 3 G3 $3
Ode To Kirihito 2 G4 $10 Spare Available
Desert Coral 1-3 G4 $10
Spare Ryu Final 3 G4 $10
Thanks for checking it out and be safe out there!
Clover Omnibus $10 G3
Utena 2 $20 G4
Summit of The Gods 2 $13 G4
Stawberry Marshmellow 1-2 $25 G4
butterfly flowers 5 $3
Honey Clover 10 $40 G4
Yugioh (3) volumes $10
Oreimo 4 $4 G4
Megaman 12 Ex lib $12 G3
Berserk 4, 15 $5 G2-G3
Death note 1-13 + 2 journals $49 G3
Suikodon 9 $5 G3
Scrapped Princess 1-3 $6 G3
Eden zero 1-2 $5 G4
I dont like you at all big brother $3 G4
Vampire game 15 $3 G4
One Piece (9) volumes $24 G3
Bleach (14) $34 G4
Mushoku 1-2, roxy 1-2 $15 G4
Shaman king (6) ex lib $20
Kurosagi 4, 7 8 $10 ex lib G3
Tsubasa 1-4 $10 G3-G4
Ajin 8 $3 G4
Juvenile Orion 1-5 $12 G4
Ranma 22 $4 G4

Worst 3 $15 G4
Rayearth 1 $4 G3
Captain Ken 1 $30 G4
Dounuts under a crescent moon 1 $3 G4
Again 2 $3 G4

Manga Diary of a Male Porn Star Vol. 1 $3 G4

The Great Jahy Will Not Be Defeated! 1 $2 G4

Inuyasha 46, 48 Ex Library $20 G3
Stray Little Devil 3 $5 G4
Ng Life 3 $3
D frag 1 $4 G4
Velveten & Mandela $8 G4
Franken Fran 1 1st priint $20
Hollow Fields $6 G4
Record Lodoss CMP $15 G4
Lum: Urusei Yatsura Vol. 1-2 $50 G4 1988
Remina $10 G4
A brides story 1 $5 G4
Karneval 1 $4 G4
Oh my goddess (4) $10 G3
Inuyasha (5) larger tpb $20 G3-G4
Saikano 1-3 $13 G4
Dark Metro 1-2 $13 G4
Gyo 1 $25 G4

Demon Gate: Dreamcatcher

1. Setting: Demon Gate: (a dark/ high fantasy campaign)
2. System: Chaos System by Arcanum Syndicate
3. Time/ Day: Saturday 10pm EST till 1 am EST
4. Platforms: Roll20 & Discord
5. Character Classes: Create your own or choose a premade

About the Campaign: It is the Year of the Crow in the 11th Era. You have watched the twin suns set outside the arched window many times ever since you arrived here. The great city known as The Nine Towers. It is a place of powerful and esoteric knowledge, filled with some of the greatest libraries in the north. The city sits on the borderlands of Thead and Kauldane, two northern kingdoms that were once at war long ago. Yet, now, these two countries are united for the sake of power and peace. For not far away are the countries Varagoth, the land of the goblinoids, and Vasgar to the south, where the vatagi dwell... a race of mutants that many call half demons.
Magic is untrusted in this world. Many blame magic and those who use it on the arrival of the Pale Plague. Necromancers, once hired by the empire during the Black Arbitration, were meant to quell this pandemic. Yet, they could not stop it. For the sick were not undead, they were something else entirely. They were not able to be controlled by black magic. Now, the Arbiters have been disbanded, blamed for the disease by the Aticraulian Empire, the very ones that gave them power to stop it. Now, they are hunted down to be burned at the stake. It is true that magic is dangerous, but the elves believe they can control it. They believe that great things lay hidden within its mysterious secrets.
You have come here to some of the finest schools of magic in the northern lands. All manner of species dwell here, living in harmony in their quest for knowledge. You have come to the Academy of Thaumaturgical Investigation to advance your career, gain power, reputation, coin... well, the rest is for you to decide. Not all of you need to be spell casters. We have plenty of jobs for you to do. For we need all the heroes we can get.
Setting and System: We are playing Demon Gate, and the system is the Chaos System. This particular campaign is a mix of dark fantasy and high fantasy. Some of you can play as new students to a school of magic. Where you are learning your skills for the first time. Even those who are not playing caster classes will be training in combat or other skills they will be learning. During the course of the stay, it will become apparent that there is something amiss.
Platform: Roll20 and Discord: If accepted, I will send you a link to my Discord for the game to be set up in a private room. We are using it as a home base and the link to the Roll20 game is there.
Game Time: 10pm EST Bi-weekly every other Saturday until the campaign is complete. The game runs about 2 and a half to 3 hours where we have a hard stop.
GM: I am a GM with many years of experience, but I am fine with beginning players and I am happy to help out. There are character sheets available or you may choose a premade. This is a module I am creating and would love to run you through it as a playtester. If you are okay with it I will use your name or alias in the publication as a playtester. There will be a questionnaire to fill out so I can get to know what style of play you like and a bit about yourself. Please feel free to message me if you have any questions.

So when the Andals began invading Westeros there were more than humans on the continent. The Andals declared the non human races demons, and began slaughtering them and the non humans fled to the North to safety. Eventually the North was the only region with Non Humans living in it, and the non human races helped the Northerners repel the Andals.
When Aegon and his sister wives came to Westeros, the North was backed by the non human races. Along the years the non humans got Lorships also. The North is the only place to see non humans, as the South is very hostile to them. Many Northern Lords have married non humans, and eventually some people forgot there was a time the non humans weren't apart of the North. Races idea
Snow Elves (Taking this from elder scrolls): a race of elves that can live up to three centuries, are set apart from the other races for their pale skin, pure white hair, and icy blue eyes, they are completely immune to the Cold and rumors have it that they're capable of ice magic. Bran the Builder is believed to have married a Snow Elf. The easiest way to tell apart the Snow Elves are the fact that the females of the race usually have their hair grow to their waist, while the males prefer short hair and clean shaven faces. Ned Stark is rumored to have a snow elf great grandmother. Evidence supports this, as the Starks ears are more pointed than normal humans, Starks are paler than other Northerners, and live longer than normal for most humans, a Stark ancestor apparently living to 180 before dying of old age.
Lizard Men: A race of humanoids that are only found in the neck, this race is completely immune to disease, can breath underwater, and are said to be masters of stealth. Many believe the humans in the Neck have interbred greatly with them, to the point every human in the Neck has a non human ancestor.
Viga-maðr: the deadliest of the non humans, this race greatly resembles bears, towering over humans at 9-11 feet, this race has to have their armor custom made, and though some use weapons, many prefer using their claws and teeth to rip apart enemies. These bears have fur that can be as black as midnight to being pale enough they blend into the snow. Whenever a Viga-maōr goes into a life of crime, the other races are encouraged to contact the Viga-maðr, as one of them could easily slaughter dozens of humans and other races. This race sticks around the Wall, and are known to be the Night Watches greatest ally besides the Starks of Winterfell. Rumors say that Ned Stark sent a Viga-maōr to Kings Landing to protect Elia Martell and her children, and Gregor Clegane and Amory Lorch wore torn apart when the Viga-maðr saw Gregor attempt to kill baby Aegon. Elia and her children disappeared that night, and the Northerners refuse to discuss with non-northers what happened to them, Ned and Robert Baratheon having a huge fight over it that lasted until the Greyjoy Rebellion, where Robert declared the hunt for Martell and her children over. A Viga-maōr rules over the dreadfort, his ancestor having slaughtered the last Bolton centuries ago, and was rewarded the fort for his loyalty, and the Bolton Lordship was passed down to his descendants, The Snow-Paw family being the most respected and feared in the North, known to have extremely loyalty to the Starks
dwarves (taken from the lords of the rings and the hobbit) they would reside inside The Northern mountains

1. Deathblight weapons and greases. Would be very fun, and with the DLC tie-in to Miquella, it is possible. Maybe even a deathblight whetstone?
   
2. More magic for underrepresented schools, especially for sorceries. More bubbles, thorns, cold, and scarlet rot incantations please! Maybe even an extra spell or two for madness, black flame, and bloodflame incantations.
   
3. More movement + damage ashes of war, like piercing fang.
   
4. More underrepresented weapon classes, like twinblades, whips, greatspears, fists, and claws. I probably won't switch of claymore, but still.
   
5. Talisman that makes bows a little more worthwhile to run.
   

1. Legend Of The Northern Blade
2. Swordmaster’s Youngest Son
3. Return of the Mount Hua Sect 4.The Greatest Estate Developer ( tip ~this one is funny as hell )
4. Reincarnation of the Suicidal Battle God
5. Academy’s Genius Swordmaster
6. Murim Login
7. The Beginning After The End
8. Solo Leveling
9. Kaifuku Jutsushi No Yarinaoshi ( tip ~NSFW but great story )
10. Infinite Leveling: Murim
11. Unordinary ( Tip ~ DON’T READ THIS ONE IF YOU WERE EVER GOT BETRAYED BY SOMEONE IN LIFE , this one will mess with your heart & head )
12. Reformation Of The Deadbeat Noble
13. The God Of High School ( tip ~ initially very good but too lengthy fights after 400 chapters) 15 . Nano Machine
14. Record Of Ragnarok (Tip~ black & white but amazing)
15. Overpowered Sword
16. Player Who Returned 10,000 Years Later
17. A Returner's Magic Should Be Special
18. The Great Mage Returns After 4000 Years
19. Survival Story Of A Sword King In A Fantasy World
20. Noblesse
21. Gosu
22. Tower of god ( tip ~ initially good but boring later )
23. My Dad Is Too Strong

Ps ~ this is not a ranking list Just my favourites that I read & re read all the time. Thank you !

1. Legend Of The Northern Blade
2. Swordmaster’s Youngest Son
3. Return of the Mount Hua Sect
4. The Greatest Estate Developer ( tip ~this one is funny as hell )
5. Reincarnation of the Suicidal Battle God
6. Academy’s Genius Swordmaster
7. Murim Login
8. The Beginning After The End
9. Solo Leveling
10. Kaifuku Jutsushi No Yarinaoshi ( tip ~NSFW but great story )
11. Infinite Leveling: Murim
12. Unordinary ( Tip ~ DON’T READ THIS ONE IF YOU WERE EVER GOT BETRAYED BY SOMEONE IN LIFE , this one will mess with your heart & head )
13. Reformation Of The Deadbeat Noble
14. The God Of High School ( tip ~ initially very good but too lengthy fights after 400 chapters) 15 . Nano Machine
15. Record Of Ragnarok (Tip~ black & white but amazing)
16. Overpowered Sword
17. Player Who Returned 10,000 Years Later
18. A Returner's Magic Should Be Special
19. The Great Mage Returns After 4000 Years
20. Survival Story Of A Sword King In A Fantasy World
21. Noblesse
22. Gosu
23. Tower of god ( tip ~ initially good but boring later )
24. My Dad Is Too Strong

Ps ~ this is not a ranking list Just my favourites that I read & re read all the time. Thank you !

Just got the program and I have found tutorials, but each video has only one or two features in it.
The official tutorials by black magic are a bit… long. They have a little TOO MUCH info.
Does anyone know any function as a simple beginners guide?

Cover Art!
Just because you’re transported to another world, doesn’t mean you’ll escape from your pain.
Abused by her parents, thirteen-year-old Frances only wants to be safe and for her life not to hurt so much. And when she and her class are transported to the magical world of Durannon to fight the monsters invading the human kingdoms and defeat the self-titled Demon King, Frances is presented with a golden opportunity. If she succeeds, Frances will have the home she never had. If she fails, Frances will be summoned back to the home she escaped.
Yet, despite her newfound magic and friends, Frances finds that trauma is not so easily lost. She is dogged by her abuse and its physical and invisible scars. Not only does she have to learn magic, she has to survive the nightmares of her past, and wrestle with her feelings of doubt and self-loathing.
If she can heal from her trauma, though, she might be able to defeat the Demon King and maybe, just maybe, she can find a home for herself.
[The Beginning] [<=Chapter 216] [Chapter Index and Blurb] [Chapter 218 May 28 or see the next chapter now on Patreon]
The Fractured Song Index
Discord Channel Just let me know when you arrive in the server that you’re a Patreon so you can access your special channel.
Frances and company catch up before the final battle.
***
“Hold on. How would he win this battle if we outnumber him and surround him?” Ginger asked.
“He could target our leadership. Focus on killing Titania, Antigones, you and Martin,” said Ayax.
“Only, he’d have to kill Sebastian and Megara, as well as Edana and you too, Frances, along with a whole list of targets. I’m not sure how he could pull that off,” said Elizabeth.
Ayax grimaced, brow furrowed, but Frances knew the answer to that question.
“Thorgoth doesn’t need to find half the targets he’s after. Myself, mom, Titania, our strongest mages and the rest of the people that will be on his list have leadership positions. Like it or not we’ll be involved in the battle and he just needs to find us on the battlefield. A well-placed spell and he’d snuff any non-magic person out,” Frances said.
“So what do we do then?” Martin asked.
Frances’ heart was pounding, for she knew the answer, but was afraid to give it life. Yet what could she do but tell what she knew was the truth?
“Take the battle to him. Thorgoth will have to operate by himself with maybe just his Royal Guards. We need to hold him and his escort and defeat him before he hurts everybody else.”
“So, all the Otherworlders, our best mages?” Ayax asked.
“Not all of them. But my mother and I, Jessica and Leila, Dwynalina and Jim and Nicole, with a few Otherworlders holding off his guards,” said Frances.
Elizabeth pursed her lips. “Ayax and I can go after Queen Berengaria. I can’t imagine her going far from her husband.”
“This is assuming we can at least split the attention of the dragons and keep them occupied of course,” said Martin. He touched Ginger’s elbow. “Not that I don’t trust you dear.”
“Oh I know, but it is a consideration.” She swirled the wine in her cup. “That means Martin and I will be directing the battle with Sebastian and Alexander.”
“It’s likely you’ll be the overall commander with Martin. Alexander and Sebastian would then take charge of their own contingents,” said Elizabeth. She bit her lip. “Do you feel up for it?”
Ginger shrugged. “I mean, we have to—”
Elizabeth reached out to pat her friend’s shoulder. “Martin, Ginger, you know we have every faith in both of you, but if you need help, there is no shame in asking for it.”
“Besides I think we’re all scared. I know I am,” Ayax said with a smile. Even so, they could all see how her tail looked like it was trying to twist itself into knots. Frances figured her cousin wasn’t trying to hide her fear, just trying not to alarm or panic them.
Martin sighed. “I think that’s the problem, Liz. Duty compels us. Love binds us. So I know no matter what happens, I know we’ll stand together to face him. Still, we are afraid and while I know I won’t run, I worry that fear may cloud my judgment at a crucial moment.”
Ginger wiped her eyes, but her tears now flowed freely down her cheeks. “How do I know I won’t panic, and make a bad call? How do we know we are all coming back? We can’t. I…I guess we have to accept that, but I don’t want to lose you. Any of you.”
Drawing her friend into a tight hug, Elizabeth gently patted Ginger’s back. “I don’t either. I suppose that for me, I’ve always looked to my faith in God, and in you all. Have we not triumphed in all we’ve faced?””
Frances found herself nodding, her throat unclenching and the tight nervousness in her shoulders and neck fading. What remained was a faint feeling of lightness that lifted her chin.
“You’re right. We should believe in ourselves, and hope. Hope for a future when we win this war. Hope that our good will triumph over Thorgoth’s evil. Hope that in a few days, we’ll be home with our family, and our friends.”
Martin gave Frances a wondering look. “How are you able to hope that?”
Frances smiled. “I think that I have always been good at having hope. I didn’t realize it until now, but even in my darkest moments, I always hoped that I would find a place where I could be me.”
Ayax stood up, raising her glass. “To faith, friendship and hope. May it see us all through our final trial.”
Rising to their feet, the five touched glasses and drank deep. They all were smiling. The pain and fear in their hearts soothed by the hope they held and the determination to see each other once again.
***
“Frances, can I walk with you?”
Frances would never have said no to her best friend, and she could tell that past Elizabeth’s bright smile, her friend was worried. There were just too many small signs learnt from years of friendship. She was scratching behind her ear, and her eyes were narrowed just slightly from the tension in her face.
“Of course,” said Frances, falling in beside the tall Otherworlder. “How are you and Ayax?”
Elizabeth giggled. “We’re great! Fantastic even. She and I are even talking about what we might do after the war. We have so many plans and well, I kind of wanted to talk to you about that.”
Frances waited as Elizabeth continued to walk beside her, lips pursed.
“I know that after the war, I’m choosing to stay here with Ayax, with all of you. I just…” her voice trailed off, and her walk slowed to a crawl.
Taking a slight breath, Frances touched her friend’s hand. “Liz, you know it’s okay for you to doubt that.”
Elizabeth stopped and shook her head. “Oh no, I don’t have any doubts about my decision. At the very least, I’m past the point where my doubts aren’t going to change my decision. I know I’ve changed too much in the past seven years. I’ve come to terms with my sexuality. I’ve fallen head over heels in love with a woman who loves me just as much. I’ve commanded armies, led soldiers into battle and helped to make decisions affecting hundreds of thousands of people. I can’t go back pretending I’m Grade 8 and neither do I want to.” She squeezed Frances’s hand. “My decision is the right one. I know it in my heart and I’ve prayed about it. I can do a lot of good here and me going back? That won’t just hurt the people I love here, but it’ll hurt me and my family at home. I can’t hide who I’ve become and I’m proud of what I’ve grown into.”
Frances closely studied her friend knowing Elizabeth wouldn’t mind her staring.
“So what are you feeling, Liz?”
Closing her eyes, Elizabeth sniffled. “Guilt. It’s stupid. I know I’m making the right choice. I’m sure in my heart that God is encouraging me to make this choice, but I still feel guilty.”
“How could you not? You know your family loves you.”
“And I’m abandoning them. I know I’m doing the right thing but I still feel like I’m doing something wrong,” said the Otherworlder.
Frances hugged her best friend, squeezing her tight, hoping that her warmth and touch could comfort the woman who she’d trusted as much as her own mother.
“Liz, if they are everything you told me, they’re going to be alright. Have faith in them, like your faith in me and your friends.”
Elizabeth let out a sigh, but returned the hug. “Thank you, Frances. If…if the worst comes and you are sent back without me, go to them. Tell them I love them.”
Tears in her eyes, Frances nodded. “I promise. If you are sent back, I will take care of Ayax.”
Elizabeth let out a gurgly hiccup. “Thank you. I know you will.”
***
The historic coronation of King Martin and Queen Ginger would found what would be known as the Congrey dynasty. Con for Conthwaite and Grey for King Jerome’s dynasty.
It was an unusual coronation as King Martin and Queen Ginger were long-betrothed but not married. Yet King Jerome and Queen Forowena’s wills had been clear. Apart from that, the coronation involved as many of Eridale's traditions as possible in light of the circumstances.
Down the parade route attended by all those that could be mustered, King and Queen marched in at the head of an honor guard composed of their closest companions. These included Frances, Elizabeth, and Ayax, who held three poles of a crimson banner that hung over the pair. The fourth corner was held by Martin’s sister Mara, who wore a slightly undignified grin. Yet, nobody could really blame her.
Martin wore a black-white checkered tunic with red-gold trimmings and shoulder epaulets. His trousers were dark gray with again red-gold tassels. Ginger did wear a dress. It was of a dark maroon with silver lacing. A bejeweled gorget studded with emeralds hung from her neck and her ears sparkled with dark blue sapphires.
There was one minor alteration. As the procession marched up to the entrance of the old Goblin Empire palace, on a raised wooden dais dressed with elaborately embroidered carpets stood the attending dignitaries. They included all the other Erisdalian lords and ladies such as Viscountess Katia and Lord Tarquin, dressed in all the finery they could muster. Other notables such as Prince Timur, representing the Kingdom of Alavaria, Grandmaster Edana of the White Order and Alexander and Eloise of Erlenberg stood proudly side by side.
Towards the center of the dais were three figures. King Sebastian and Queen-Consort Megara, and the former Queen Janize. Sebastian and Megara were standing, holding Queen Forowena’s crown, whilst the heavily pregnant Janize sat, holding King Jerome’s crown. Thorgoth may have taken their decorated helmets, but he did not have their ceremonial attire.
Martin and Ginger stepped out from under the awning, giving their bearers a brief nod, before taking the last steps up the dais.
Whistling a spell, Megara touched her throat with her wand. “Who stands before the crowns?”
Martin knelt to one knee. The bearers of the awning followed. “Sir Martin of Conthwaite. A Knight of Erisdale.”
Ginger curtsied low. Frances nearly split her lips as she grinned at her friend’s perfect form. “Ginger. Just Ginger of Erisdale.”
Janize’s expression was unreadable as she rose to her feet. There was a slight archness to her features, and yet that could just be how she lifted her haughty cheeks.
“As witnessed by all, and by the King and Queen of Lapanteria, do you swear to defend Erisdale with all means at your disposal including force of arms?”
“We do.”
“Do you swear to uphold the laws of the land and the rights of Erisdale’s citizens?”
“We do!”
“Do you swear that until your dying breaths, to govern and reign over Erisdale not for your benefit, but for the benefit of the people and for their future generations?”
From her kneeling position, Frances frowned. That wasn’t quite the right oath. The wording was “Do you swear to govern over Erisdale wisely and justly?” She supposed that she might have missed it, or maybe there was a variation.
Yet as she noted her fiance’s face, she noticed his eyes were wide and her mother’s eyebrow was arched.
Not skipping a beat, Martin and Ginger bellowed. “We do!”
“Do you swear that you will do your utmost not to make the same mistakes as your predecessors and do whatever it takes to preserve Erisdale’s peace, even if it may cost you your lives?”
Frances blinked. Janize had gone completely off script. There was no fourth oath.
However, Martin and Ginger only hesitated for a moment as they exchanged a glance and looked up to meet Janize’s gaze.
The blonde woman’s eyes were bright and the hands holding Jerome’s crown were trembling ever so slightly. Frances had wondered why she’d insisted on doing this. Martin and Ginger had wanted to approach her to ask if she was willing, but the enigmatic former queen had surprised them by demanding they allow her to crown them. She now had an idea as to why.
“We do,” said Martin, smiling.
Ginger returned that smile. Blinking back her own tears, she took a breath. “In the name of Queen-consort Forowena and your brother, King Jerome. We solemnly swear.”
Janize closed her eyes, a single tear running down her cheek.
“Then as the last heiress of House Grey, I pass the crown of Erisdale on forever. Long live the Congrey dynasty. Long live Martin the Hero of Erisdale and his queen to be Ginger, whom I dub Erisdale’s Burning Heart.”
Lifting Jerome’s crown high, she set it onto Martin’s head. Swiftly taking Queen Forowena’s crown from Sebastian, she set it on Ginger’s head.
“Hail King Martin and Queen Ginger!” Janize bellowed as Martin and Ginger rose to their feet.
The crowd chanted back, their voices filling the great cavern. “Hail King Martin and Queen Ginger! Hail King Martin and Queen Ginger!” Frances could barely hear her own voice over the crescendo. The call that they all raised. Like the sound carried up into the void, she could feel herself be carried up. It was like she was floating on the power of their united song.
Turning around, Martin and Ginger smiled at Frances. Their eyes were wide, and she could see them clasp each other’s hands tightly.
Frances found herself standing on her feet, the pole to her awning in her hand. Without a second thought, she stabbed the pole’s spike into the ground. As her hand dropped to Alanna, she paused for a moment before her mind caught up with her body, and she nodded as if to herself.
Drawing the estoc, Frances raised her blade high, saluting her two friends.
“Long may they reign! Long may they reign!”
Elizabeth was right behind her, hammer raised high. Ayax followed suit with her staff and Mara and the rest were soon drawing their weapons. From the corner of her eye, Frances even spotted Morgan and Hattie raising their wand and staff.
“Long may they reign! Long may they reign!”
***
Helias glanced over his shoulder toward the accursed city. Despite the distance, there was a tremble in the air of Kairoun-Aoun itself.
“Helias?” Sara asked.
“Sounds like they crowned Martin and Ginger. They’re going to attack soon,” he said.
Sara nodded, her tense jaw the only sign of the worry that had seized the harpy-orc. As gently as he could manage with his rough, scarred hands, he wrapped his arm around her waist.
“Sara. We’re going to be fine.”
“You’re lying,” she said with eyes fixed forward.
The general couldn’t help but wince. “Sorry.”
Slowing in her stride, Sara placed a hand over Helias’s. “I still appreciate you trying to comfort me but I would prefer you to tell me the truth. How bad is it?”
Helias looked around. “Thorgoth may pull off a miracle and get himself and Berengaria out. However, a lot of Alavari are going to die.”
“What are you going to do?” Sara asked.
“I’ll have to attend this meeting and see what Thorgoth is planning. We’ll make a plan after that.”
“You and I know it’s not going to change anything,” Sara said, looking up at her husband, who could not meet her gaze. Yet, she didn’t push him away. Instead put her hand around his waist, drawing him closer.
“I know, but I want to be sure,” said Helias in a low tone.
“I understand. See you soon,” said Sara.
***
Helias found himself exchanging side-long glances with Glowron. The pair sat, both leaning forward toward King Thorgoth and a pacing Queen Berengaria, who’d finished explaining tomorrow’s strategy.
“Do you have anything else to add, my good generals?” Thorgoth asked. The king still smiled easily as he swirled a cup of wine in his hands.
Glowron shook his head. His tone was short but he kept this expression neutral. “No sire.”
The goblin general was Helias’s superior in rank and social class. The fact of the matter was that if Glowron had no objections, then there was no way the tauroll could object.
And still, Helias felt bile rise in the back of his throat. He froze, ever so briefly. Closing his eyes, he shook his head. Nothing mattered, except for Sara and Gwendilia.
“No sir. I’ll have my troops ready for tomorrow.”
That should have been that. They would have been dismissed to prepare for tomorrow’s suicide mission, but the king’s whims had other plans.
King Thorgoth put his cup down and leaned forward. “Oh come on my good generals. Surely you have something to improve on this plan.”
Glowron’s expression remained blank, whilst Helias smiled. “Your Majesty, you were the one who taught me everything I know. I can think of nothing I can add to your strategy.”
Queen Berengaria strode toward him. “You’re usually so talkative, Helias. Are you sure you have no other thoughts?”
“I beg your apologies, but I do not have any further additions to your plan, Your Majesty. My lord Glowron?” Helias asked.
“I do not either, my liege—” Glowron fell silent and Helias’s tail stiffened.
Thorgoth and Berengaria were no longer smiling and with a few more steps, the harpy queen had put herself behind the two generals.
“Let me be plain, we are now not asking you about how to improve the plan. We are asking for your thoughts. Give them.”
The Demon King’s remaining dark eye was narrowed. The other was now covered with a black silk eyepatch, the remains of the scar that Queen Forowen had given him, a discoloration scouring a line along the side of his face and right over his ear. In spite of the king’s injury, Helias felt nothing but cold dread dry his mouth.
“Your Majesty, my only thought is that we have no option but to follow your plan. No matter how we got into this situation, the only thing we can do is go forward and try to win this day,” Glowron said.
“And do you blame me, Glowron?”
Helias watched, eyes wide as somehow the much smaller goblin general continued to meet the king’s eyes. “I would be lying to you if I said I didn’t assign some responsibility to you at all, but I believe we ought to have thought of the possibility of such a trap. So the responsibility is mine as well.”
Thorgoth nodded. Out of the corner of his eye, Helias saw the slightest of nods that Berengaria gave to her husband. Alarm shooting his gaze back toward the Demon King, Helias found the full attention of his sovereign and sometimes uncle directed right at him.
“And you, General Helias?”
Lie and he might not be able to make it convincing enough. Tell the truth about what he thought about this war and he was never seeing Sara and Gwendilia again. Thorgoth hadn’t just been hurt, his pride had been wounded and he was now backed into a corner. It would be unwise to anger him, but what to say? What could he say?
All he could think of, and see was his child and her adoring gaze. All he could feel was the touch of Sara’s hand against his. They’d become closer than he could have imagined and were more than just companions with mutual goals now.
If he was to die, then maybe he could tell this truth.
“I am mostly thinking of my wife and my child, my king. The coming battle has me greatly concerned with how dangerous it shall be.”
Thorgoth narrowed his eyes at Helias for a brief moment. The tauroll, staying very still, waited for the presumed reaction by Berengaria.
Whatever Berengaria did made Thorgoth arch an eyebrow.
“I thought you didn’t consider your wife to be worth much,” said the king in a mild tone.
His mind racing, Helias ran with the idea. “She has responded well to the constraints and discipline I’ve enforced on her. She does nothing but facilitate all my needs and has served me well.”
He could feel Berengaria’s eyes narrow, but Thorgoth was already leaning back onto his chair. “Good for you. You are dismissed.”
“Thank you, sire,” said Helias, almost unable to hide his sigh of relief.
***
Author’s Note: While I wish I could have spent more quality time with Martin, Elizabeth, Ginger and Ayax, I do love the best-friend/team that I created for Frances. This chapter and the last was my little way of giving each of them a bit of time with Frances before the final battle.

TLDR; After trying EVERYTHING I reduced stimulants to promote rest and digest and reduced sugar to limit bacterial infections Would like honorary phd for this ten year $100k research project “Fine” now 🥹 ?
Full story: I have had eczema since 8 months old. Cats and dust allergy and sweat/heat induced. It was no biggie. An antihistamine and the occasional topical OTC steroid cream - easy peasy.
Fast forward, I’m 24. I started getting really hot and red in my face. Can’t tolerate heat at all. My eczema was flaring non stop like crazy. Had it in places I never had before, eye lids, neck. Couldn’t sleep I was so itchy. Had restless leg wtf could only sleep every second day
Saved up for an allergist and started doing desensitisation treatments, bactroban in the nose, and the nurse secretly told me I could take up to 6 antihistamine pd and switch between a few brands
My skin got so bad the doctor wouldn’t let me have the injections anymore Doctor offered me lyrica and prednisone. I was so far gone the prednisone did NOTHING . They literally told me “I can’t help you anymore please don’t come back”
My skin was now flaking bad, like I was turning into sand. Scratch , weep, scab, flake, repeat. Folliculitis all over my legs. I was itchy every waking hour. I slept in a bathtub for 6 weeks getting 1 hour sleep while working full time wearing cream and barrier cream under full body bandages. Found out about TSW and related
Ended up in hospital with a golf ball sized boil in my eyebrow. IV antibiotics cleared up the infection but still itchy. Was told it was the type of antibiotic they don’t give out unless you’re about to die .
Finally saved up and waited 3 months to see a dermatologist. She said option 1. Cancer drugs (assuming an immunosuppressant?) 2. Light therapy
I chose 2. Not sure what it did but I got a nice tan I also tried EVERYTHING short of sacrificing small animals and children during an eclipse . Spent $$$$ laser hair removal, chiro, naturopath , special elixirs, creamssss , dottera, hcl tablet, bleach then peroxide baths, condys crystals, iron, avene, acupuncture, fungicide, silk sheets, plain tooth paste, shower water filter , digestive enzymes, magnesium, tar, charcoal poultice, drink clay powder, activated grains, keffir , blood type diet, psychology, relaxation , Chinese herbs, vitamins, shaman ritual with eagle feather (not joking). Taking showers scared me because of the excruciating pain of open wounds everywhere. Tried swimming in the ocean. Felt like being set of fire but I was wrong. Had a bath with a bit of tea tree oil. Ah, NOW I know what it feels like to be set on fire (creepily got itching relief from the pain Ala black mirror).
Nothing working So I quit literally everything I ate except 30 INGREDIENTS (1 water, 2 salt , etc) on the combined advice of three eczema books Eczema slowly improving Reduced it further to having nothing but one fruit smoothie per day for SIX MONTHS “because fruit is healthy” (and eating one celery stick was too depressing ). Somehow lost no weight . Was getting better but still red and hands still looked like dinosaur skin. I
An energy healer told me it was fruit. lol. Stopped eating the smoothies and skin was better in 1 week. Redness/heat tolerance didn’t improve. Still have restless leg
Flakes and infections came back every year. Back in hospital with another golf ball boil when I’m 30. Goes away Flares again a year later
Had emotional crisis and got Valium from doctor . Magically healed! Stop Valium (not a fan) Heat intolerance recurs. Frequent flare up Try medical cannabis . Fine for a while then I adapted again like the Borg
This year (I’m 34, with 1 year of a biomed degree under my belt) I hear about anticholinergic syndrome and relate. I quit drinking tea and coffee (rip ☠️ switched to chicory root) or taking antihistamines.
Redness going away Heat tolerance improving Eczema disappeared Been healthy??? for 6 weeks Wish me luck 🍀
Sorry this post is so long , tried to condense a 10 year journey of misery as short as possible. hope this helps someone