We have to tell you something before we finish this. Do you remember the humans; their appearance, language, culture, and technology? We do. Each planet that they colonized. All the advancements they made. Every sentient they encountered. Understand that as a Hivemind, our species has little use for language, either written or otherwise. But because of our telepathic connection, as long as there are enough of us around, we can keep memories well past what a single mind species could. We remember first contact. Our appearance millennium ago was much more different than that you look at now. See, our home world Apis 3 drifted too close to one of the gas giants present in our system. It was thrown out of orbit and was threatened to become a nomad world. At that point in our history, we were still in our hunter-gatherer phase, so there was no possibility for us to save ourselves. Vegitation was dying, animals went extinct. We were doomed to be snuffed out like a small fire in a roaring blizzard. But our saviors came. The Hive remembers. Humanity saw that the planet, despite going rogue, was a perfect planet to colonize if they could just solve the problem of it free floating into the void. So that's what they did. We remember the structures the size of cities that pushed the planet back into orbit around our star. We stayed underground, scavenging what was left of our world trying to survive as their terraforming efforts marched on. It was awe inspiring for how quickly the frozen wastes became meadows of their homeworld's flowers. We never saw them up close until desperation made us attempt to steal their food. That was our first encounter with a human at a settlement called Mel Farms. See, the humans had brought the DNA of about every domesticated species of flora and fauna with them to clone and modified them to be able to live on our planet. One such species was an insect about 15 millimeters long, yellow with black stripes, and had a symbiotic relationship helping the plants reproduce in exchange for producing their food. The humans had kept them in large boxes outside that allowed them to breed and overproduce this food for human harvest. We attempted to steal this food after discovering it was really, really good. Our first encounter with a human was after we learned of this insect's defense mechanism. Injecting us with venom at the cost of its own life while summoning more of its sisters to continue the onslaught. As embarrassing as it was, the Hive remembers. The security measures around the area had alerted a male human named Charles. We recall the white clothing he wore to protect him from the insects as well as the atmosphere. We recollect the weapon he wielded to pacify the creatures, a tool to emit smoke. We reminisce about the kindness he showed us when we were left to seven members of our species. You have to take into account that we were weakened by the recent climate catastrophe, so at that moment, we accepted our fate. But destiny had other ideas at hand. They fed us, shelted us, studied us, healed us, and most importantly, they saved us. We learned how to communicate non verbally with the help of their machines. They showed us the many other species of insects that they brought, worms that produce silk and transform, small insects that farmed and built structures, arachnids that flew on tiny balloons; we admired the little creatures they showed us. Despite our small stature, we did our best to repay the humans and their kindness even if it was just helping their construction, manufacturing, and agriculture. They were concerned about this relationship; Charles said it was because historically, humans had a tendency for a group with superior technology to take advantage of with different advancements. But we continued unfazed. And as our numbers increased so to did our reverence of them. They taught us quickly how to stand on our own legs and think critically to solve our own problems. When Charles died, we honored him by asking the humans to genetically alter us to appear as his pets. Our chitinous armor is now covered with yellow and black setae, larger eyes, small antenna, small clear wings added to our bodies, and the capability to produce materials like wax, honey, and silk. We call ourselves the Keepers. Despite being cute by their standards, we were useful to them; even if it was just as a way to intantly communicate accross systems. The Hive remembers. Understand that it is completely common for a human contacted sentient to alter themselves to honor their friends. When the reptialian Drakon were suffering from a global plauge; the humans came down, helped them, and gave them the means to advance. They learned of human history and culture and incorporated it into their own, adding ancient heroes like Shaka and Sun Tzu to their pantheon. When they discovered the gods and demons humans revered, they saw fit to mimic them. Now, all the Drakon females have brightly colored feathered wings and serpentine bodies, while the males have large leather wings, spiked tails, and produce combustable gases in their mouth they ignite for a dangerous attack. When humanity discovered Gaia, it was just a living mass capable of converting inorganic material like heavy metals into biomass. It was starving, having converted the whole planet into biomass, and its last resort was to self-destruct so that its spores could potentially discover new planets. A human gifted the planet the genetic information of every known Earth species into Gaia, allowing the all-consuming planet to morph thriving biosphere of new unseen creatures and photosynthisis capable plants to feed from. Perhaps it wanted a civilization of its own, so it created a sentient similar to the humans, albeit with pointed ears, a telepathic link to the planet, and distinct dimorphic traits where the social herbivorous females outnumber the solitary carnivorous males. The Alvari have now taken to the stars, bringing the spores of Gaia to terraform new worlds. We could go on forever rehearsing every species that changed to honor the humans. The Vanara changed their appearance to be more simian after humans averted a drought on their jungle world. The robotic Rossum altered their mechanical bodies to be more humanoid, making relations easier and distancing themselves from the creators they overthrown. The polypheltic Limosa, after their first contact, now shape their gelatinous bodies to appear more human, even placing their control core in their chest similar to a human heart. The humans have left their mark on hundreds of sentient lifeforms accross the galaxy; and despite our different customs and biologies, we all cooperated for the sake of the humans. And then you killed them. You came to our galaxy, you slaughtered them by the trillions, and drove the species that has done so much to make up for its own dark history into extinction. Your entire empire is built on the bones of a once prosperous species. Do you remember how they found you dormant on your own orphan planet? When they brought you to their one of their own systems? When you conquered their worlds and butchered them for meat? Have you forgotten the bravery that human soldiers fought when they defended their homes in vain? Can you even remember their screams? We are the Keepers of their legacy. It has taken us generations, but we are ready to avenge our fallen saviors. We have amassed a swarm so massive that your computers would malfunction, trying to comprehend the strength of our numbers. And we are not alone. Every sentient uplifted by humanity is on a warpath to eradicate you. The combined fleets of our crusade will block the light of the stars from hitting the surface of your stolen worlds. We will lose many, but we guarantee that you will wish that you froze to death on that rogue planet centuries ago instead of collapsing under the weight of your sins. We hope your gods are forgiving because each and every one of you will be introduced to them. You will die, and not even the Hive will remember you. 

The most popular release from Ladysmith Black Mambazo comes with the support of Paul Simon after they worked together on Graceland. The skill is admirable even for me, not a huge fan a Capella music. Few artist are an institution such as them with such political and artistic capital.
Spotify / YouTube Music / Apple Music
I'm doing the 1001 albums before you die challenge, this is part of this journey. Join the subreddit here.
***
Next: 401. The Jam / All Mod Cons / 1978
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A bit too close to the last entry by Elvis Costello, but that does not change the fact that this is the album that should be on this list. I remember when I went through the list the first time I question my taste with him... How come I didn't get that he is one of the top ten artists since the recording recording was a thing? Now I know that he is good but not that insanely talented to have so many albums... anyway this one really deserve a spot here, pretty great.
Spotify
I'm doing the 1001 albums before you die challenge, this is part of this journey. Join the subreddit here.
***
Next: 602. Ladysmith Black Mambazo / Shaka Zulu / 1987
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Its amazing when you destroy a civ designed for war like The Zulu or the Aztecs.
My current game I've been having a pissing match with Shaka (same continent but diveded by a bay); he kept expanding closer to one of my colonies, I captured and burnt one of those cities down, and took a city on his part of the continent (south of the bay) through peace negotiations.
While the treaty was in place I built forts between our territory, built up a navy and a small but powerful army of crossbows, canons, musketmen (in the forts), frigates closeby and camel archers. In the bay my navy, an island fort, and coastal defences stood ready across from a coastal city of his.
Then, he made a mistake.
He had like 6 impis and several trireme in the bay; some with boats, some unprotected. I saw the chance and took it. Declared war, took out most of the ships and impis in the first turn, and took some shots at nearby impis to the south, and got ready to bear the onslaught.
They just kept coming. The forts (and Himeji Castle) helped the musketmen deal with the extra damage to gunpowder units the impis have, camel archers and frigates harassed the impis all around as crossbows and pikeman performed the coup de grace.
They keep coming and I start worrying I got myself in too deep. But then I capture the city across from me in the bay, get a great general to make a citadel, and get more units there.
And then....less impis.
I've survived the onslaught and can now advance. His cities start to fall, and eventually I take his capitol and all his cities on the continent.
He is left with two cities (2 and 1 pop colonies) and Denmark subsequently destroys them.
Its so satisfying fighting what can be a dangerous civ and taking victory thanks to an opportunity presented via the AI swapping units around constantly.
Anyway that's my latest war story, I can't stop gushing about all the ways this game is able to create stories so naturally. (Will share screenshots when able, for now imagination is your friend)

When I was a child in the 80s, reading was my refuge and my life. I spent hundreds of hours in libraries, and the few books I possessed were treasured.
Unfortunately, when my parents threw me out of the house at age 16, I was unable to take books with me and they threw them away.
Many years later now, and I have several children of my own who have all, to varying degrees, inherited at least some of my love for books.
My 11-year-old boy loves history and all things martial. I’m trying to find a particular book that I loved as a child, and I’m hoping someone will recognize the following description.
It was “old” when I read it as a kid, so it could have been published in the 60s or 70s. It was a book of famous battles in history. There were watercolor (I think that’s the right description) illustrations on many of the pages. I specifically remember there being a description of the Battle of Marathon, and a description of a battle between British soldiers and Zulu warriors (this battle talked about no one having a screwdriver to open the ammunition crates).
Does this admittedly vague description ring any bells for anyone?

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Zulu

• Required DLC: Rise and Fall Expansion Pack

Unique Ability

Isibongo

• Conquering a city upgrades the unit into a Corps, Army, Fleet, or Armada if the necessary Civic is researched
• Cities with a garrisoned unit gain +3 Loyalty per turn, or +5 Loyalty if the unit is a Corps or Army

Starting Bias: none

Unique Unit

Impi

• Basic Attributes
  • Unit type: Anti-Cavalry
  • Requires: Military Tactics tech
  • Replaces: Pikeman
• Cost
  • 125 Production cost (Standard Speed)
• Maintenance
  • 1 Gold per turn
• Base Stats
  • 45 Combat Strength
  • 2 Movement
  • 2 Sight Range
• Bonus Stats
  • +10 Combat Strength against cavalry units
• Unique Attributes
  • Gains +50% more experience
  • +2 Flanking bonuses
• Differences from Replaced Unit
  • (R&F) -75 Production cost (Standard Speed)
  • (R&F) -2 Gold maintenance per turn
  • (GS) -55 Production cost (Standard Speed)
  • (GS) -1 Gold maintenance per turn
  • Unique attributes

Unique Infrastructure

Ikanda

• Basic Attributes
  • Infrastructure type: District
  • Requires: Bronze Working tech
  • Replaces: Encampment
• Cost
  • Halved base Production cost
• Maintenance
  • 1 Gold per turn
• Base Effects
  • +1 Great General point per turn
  • +2 Gold and +1 Production per citizen working in the district
• Bonus Effects
  • (R&F) Units trained in this city only requires 1 relative Strategic Resource
  • (GS) +10 Strategic Resource accumulation per district building
• Unique Attributes
  • +1 Housing
  • +25% Production towards Corps and Army units
  • Corps and Armies can be trained without the Military Academy building
  • +2 Gold and +1 Science per district building
• Restrictions
  • Cannot be built adjacent to a City Center
• Differences from Replaced Infrastructure
  • Halved base Production cost
  • Unique attributes

Leader: Shaka

Leader Ability

Amabutho

• Corps unlock upon researching Mercenaries civic instead of Nationalism civic
• Armies unlock upon researching Nationalism civic instead of Mobilization civic
• Corps and Armies gain +5 Combat Strength

Agenda

Horn, Chest, Loins

• Tries to form as many corps and armies as possible
• Likes civilizations who have many corps and armies in their military
• Dislikes civilizations who have few corps and armies

Civilization-related Achievements

• uSuthu! uSuthu! — Win a regular game as Shaka
• Ibutho — As Shaka, train a Corps of Impi using the Ikanda district

Useful Topics for Discussion

• What do you like or dislike about this civilization?
• How easy or difficult is this civ to use for new players?
• What are the victory paths you can go for with this civ?
• What are your assessments regarding the civ's abilities?
  • How well do they synergize with each other?
  • How well do they compare to other similar civ abilities, if any?
  • Do you often use their unique units and infrastructure?
• Can this civ be played tall or should it always go wide?
• What map types, game mode, or setting does this civ shine in?
• What synergizes well with this civ? You may include the following:
  • Terrain, resources and natural wonders
  • World wonders
  • Government type, legacy bonuses and policies
  • City-state type and suzerain bonuses
  • Governors
  • Great people
  • Secret societies
  • Heroes & legends
  • Corporations
• Have the civ's general strategy changed since the latest update(s)?
• How do you deal against this civ if controlled by the player or the AI?
• Are there any mods that can make playing this civ more interesting?
• Do you have any stories regarding this civ that you would like to share?

There's a thought experiment I've been doing these last few weeks. South Africa and India have very similar political patterns of development. I've been trying to figure out if we aren't due for a BJP moment of our own. If South Africa is just India with a lag, then Congress should be replaced by a right wing nationalist movement.

The Nationalists

There are only three or four forms of right wing political organizing that are somewhat relevant in South Africa:

• Afrikaner Nationalism (sometimes including Afrikaans speaking Coloureds)
• Zulu nationalism
• Conservative Christianity
• Xenophobia

The first two are much more prominent and well organized. And there is a history of cooperation between Afrikaner nationalists and Zulu nationalists. Other tribes don't have strong nationalist movements or ethnic parties, but there are royal families and traditional leaders in each tribe who would obviously be interested in getting more power for themselves. Conservative Christians are not well organised - political Christianity in the Black majority has historically been more Desmond Tutu in its style. Xenophobia is new, but growing and important.
What's interesting to note is that if you look around, you can see these various forces trying to unite:

• On the radical side, Zuma's MK is Black nationalist in its policies and mostly Zulu in terms of membership. Zuma associates with white nationalists who seem to think that if they empower him they can get an Afrikaner ethnostate out of it. The Patriotic Alliance is not wedded to any particular coalition, but are a confluence of Coloured nationalism and xenophobia and Christian nationalism all in one.
• The DA's allies are more liberal, respectable versions of all the conservative identity politics above. You've got IFP (Zulu), FF+ (Afrikaner), ACDP (Christian) and ActionSA (anti-immigrant).
• Afriforum, a prominent Afrikaner self-reliance and solidarity movement, has been reaching out to various African royal families and cooperating with them and helping them. They even assisted the Botswana government in going after Ian Khama.

All these groups have some policy overlap, even though the gap between the radicals and the conservatives is large. They all want devolution of power from the national government to as low a level as you can get. They all lean socially conservative, from the anti-woke country club libertarianism of the modern DA at the center, to the soft ethnonationalism of the modern IFP and FF+, to "Put My Group First" politics at the end.
The problem here is that you can't really get the radicals like Zuma's MK and Gayton Mackenzie's Patriotic Alliance to work with the DA's coalition. The DA finds them totally unpalatable, although I suspect the rest of the alliance can see themselves working together - especially if Zuma himself were not the MK leader.
Nonetheless, they could be forced to work together. In KZN, the emergence of MK has fragmented the politics so much that nobody is getting above 30% in the polls. The ANC, DA, MK and IFP are all between 15% and 30% as per SRF (DA-aligned pollsters).

DA-IFP-MK Coalition

At various points in the history of this poll, even an ANC-MK coalition would not be enough to hit the 50% mark in KZN. A third partner like the EFF would be needed. The DA will do everything to stop this happening at a provincial level, because it would make it more likely at a national level.
In KZN, the IFP could act as a compromise party. The MK can support them because they share their pro-traditionalist politics. The DA can support them because they share their free market economics. If MK starves the ANC in KZN, MK can grow in power over time.
At national level, there is an outcome where the DA-aligned parties do so well that MK itself can put them into power. If the DA coalition parties get 40%, MK and a few minor parties plus a few EFF MPs could put them into power. Again, they could well choose an IFP person to be President, rather than a DA person. There's no rule that says it has to be a 'big party' that delivers the Presidency. Again, the DA would back an IFP president.
Once the ANC is out of the picture, this coalition will grow enough to be more stable. Zuma is 82 and MK is 5 months old. The MK of five years from now will not be the same radical Zuma personality cult that it is now. The MPs he leaves behind one day will be presented with the option to cut a deal that gives them genuine power if they just moderate on a few issues. There's not reason to believe they will be so deeply principled, especially once their leader has passed on. They could be a big player in KZN at the cost of being a junior partner nationally.
The DA would finally be able to get federalism and run the urban provinces - Western Cape and Gauteng - like "first-world countries". All they have to do is keep supporting an IFP President - which is fine, these are pro-Western free market capitalists. They can insist on one or two portfolios that they really care about. But other than that, I suspect the technocrats of the DA would much rather be powerful executives in urban provinces rather than sitting in Parliament all day. The economy would boom under IFP-DA free market policies. The DA's base would be happy - the potholes are fixed and the streets are clean and my retirement fund is looking good.

The Worst Case Scenario

I'm confident that an IFP government would lead to an economic boom, especially if they weren't corrupt and were held in check by coalition partners.
The problem is, I don't like their social worldview. The line between the Zulu royal family and the secular state would be blurred - the IFP have always done this. And the dominance of one tribe would itself be problematic - South Africa is a diverse country and that diversity should be represented.
The collapse of the ANC, together with the federalization of the country and the dominance of Zulus and Afrikaners in government, could lead other tribes to feel like "we need our own parties". All of a sudden we might have Tswana tribes, Sotho tribes and Xhosa tribes - something we've never had. The entire country could lurch towards a parochial, right wing worldview.
If you want a glimpse of what the material effects of this could be, consider the Ingonyama Trust. In the 90s, the IFP ran KZN. That government created something called the Ingonyama Trust, which is a trust which owns 1/3 of the land in KZN. The sole beneficiary of that trust is the Zulu king, who is supposed to administer that land on behalf of the Zulu people as a whole and to their benefit. Nonetheless, that hasn't always worked out. For example, there have been instances of discrimination where women have to bring male relatives in order to be properly provided with land to settle on. Despite the land being communally owned, there have been instances of people being charged rent and lacking security of tenure.
Conservative people, even the 'nice' ones, don't understand why things like this are a problem. In their minds, if you are born of Sotho parents in a Sotho area then you are Sotho. By definition, you should be happy to follow Sotho customs. They don't even understand why you would be upset that your parents are asking you to slaughter a goat when you're vegan. Those of you who have grown up in small conservative towns know exactly what I'm talking about. If you point out to them the diversity of your own heritage, they'll ask you what your father is and tell you that's what you are, end of discussion.
Unlike in India, we can't have a nation spanning right wing nationalist movement on common identity. There is no cultural identity common enough to make that a reality. But what the FF+, IFP and others will do is to carve the country up into little communities where different conservative cultural communities have a lot of power, and then you just have to choose where you want to live. The Constitution is too strong and progressive to allow really regressive politics in each of those communities. We won't get Apartheid, but we could get Quebec.
As people are conscientized into regional-ethnic identities, separatism could become a real problem. It wouldn't have to be violent separatism - it could look more like it does in the modern West, the SNP and Catalonia and all that. Once we separate, the states that would be formed once Mandela's Constitution expires would be much less socially progressive. Just tiny little parochial ethnostates that prove that diverse peoples really can't just live together.
On my most cynical days, this is what I worry could happen if the DA's multi-party coalition were to take over and the ANC were to die completely. It's such a small probability that this scenario would play out, that I don't think about it much. While I'm skeptical of the membership, I do believe that leaders like Helen Zille are genuinely liberal. But if MK were to work with the DA/IFP coalition, I would genuinely start to worry about it. What bothers me is that these worries are not as explicit and well articulated as the threat of the EFF and the ANC's radical left lunacy. It just sounds like you are worried about social issues because you're woke.

I wanna call out BINI with their 🤙 gesture.
I'm an international fan from Hawaii, and i would like to educate BINI lang and share a little knowledge pati na rin sa blooms. this is not meant to hate on them or anything. Napanuod ko kase interview nila with Karen Davila and Karen started doing it too and i had fear na baka gayahin rin ng blooms.
So everybody knows "🤙" as aloha sign but the locals actually call it 'shaka' and it has a deeper meaning to it other than being just a cool handsign. The shaka sign represents solidarity/friendship/agreement between native hawaiians and non hawaiian locals and that includes us filipinos because Hawaii is a home to approximately 370,000 filipinos, making us the 2nd biggest ethnicity living in Hawaii.
The gesture shows thumb and pinky being shaken.
The thumb reprsents hawaiians,the pinky reprsents non hawaiian locals, the three fingers in the middle represents the islands of Hawaii and as you shake it, it symbolizes the two as if its dancing together, coexisting together, living together in the islands of Hawaii. We use the sign to greet or say goodbye to someone to show respect and friendship.
Locals find offense to when tourists ignorantly throws without shaking it, without knowing when to use it, or only used as a selfie sign.
I, personally am not offended but i cringe at people who appropriates it. Hawaiian Culture and history is so pushed out by America and locals are very patriotic about reminding everyone their culture.
Kaya sana ma educate ang girls ng a little history about the sign kase its not just a sign you throw when you think something is cool, or funny. Its a cultural sign. I know the girls doesn't mean anything bad when they do it kaya ayon. Sana may aral rin kayong napulot dito, blooms!
Just saying kase alam kong may plan pa sila to go international and baka ma accuse pa sila ng cultural appropriation.
Just because others has it doesnt mean you have to forget the origin and the culture.

Chapter 1/Part 1
A blood curdling scream pierced the night. Solon jumped to his sleep, reaching for his hatched, looking around the wagon as another howl echoed out across the sands. Sheela too, was now awake, moving over to Solon while crouching. "What the hell is that?"
The mercenary poked his head through the curtain of the wagon, tracing the sounds back to the other cart in the caravan, one hauling the merchandise. The four guards were poking their spears through the bars of the cage, angrily using the blunt ends to push and jab at a small creature. Solon and Sheela exited the main wagon to better see what was going on.
"You two! Go back inside, there's nothing to see here." Kopak turned to them, barding out the order.
"Easy now son, don't be rude to our guests." Vur'z said, walking past the pair while talking to his son. "They must have been quite startled by the noise."
With a snap of his fingers, the old man lit a small lantern that hung by the cage wagon, illuminating what is inside. Solon leaned forward, squinting his eyes to see better what was moving under the flickering light. A pair of piercing green eyes stared back at him. He could make our a tail and some ears, nothing out of the ordinary, until what he thought to be a large cat stood up on its hind legs.
"So that's a beast person?" The mercenary concluded, looking at the creature with slight aversion. "Every basement dwellers fantasy."
"They exist on your world too?" The former genie asked.
"No, just as folk tales, legends. Fiction." The man replied, as the creature went from howling frantically to speaking.
It stuck its head through the wooden bars, waving its hands and tail around, yelling something at the man. Solon looked at it, confused, as he did not understand a word that was being said. By the sound of the voice tho, he could deduce that the creature was a young boy, and not a fully grown beast person.
"Alright little one, that's enough out of you for tonight." Vur'z said, waving his hand in front of the boys face. "Sleep now."
The beast child backed away, but the spell had already been cast, causing it to slowly stumble until it collapsed on the floor of the wagon.
"Well, now I know why an old man and four would-be guards can make a living as slavers." Solon chuckled.
"Adult beast folk are impossible to train. They follow only who they believe is stronger than them, and they are freakishly strong, so not many people outside their own tribes can command them. That's why there is very little beast folk as royal help, soldiers or guards." The old slaver explained.
"They are only good for gladiatorial combat. But if you train one before they start adolescence, they can be molded into serving just about any purpose." Sedef added, as his father proudly nodded.
"I see. So what will become of this one?" Sheela asked, folding her arms.
"No clue. We acquire them and sell them further. The thought never crosses my mind as to where they end up, I don't think my conscience could handle it." Vur'z grinned at his own, before patting Solon and Sheela on their backs.
"The sun will soon rise, and we are all already awake, so what do you two say we get this caravan back on the move?" He asked, and the pair agreed, making their way back to the main wagon.
[ ]
"Shit. They have barricaded themselves too well in there." One of the dungeon clearing squad members cussed.
"What's the situation?" Clyde, who was sitting on the floor, back against the wall, looked up at the woman as she returned from the hallway that lead to the next dungeon floor.
Clyde's squad had reached the fifth floor of the dungeon with expert proficiency. Somewhere after the third floor, they stopped taking prisoners regardless of race, which resulted in a one sided bloodbath of various monsters and adventurers alike. On the fifth floor they decided to make a small makeshift camp, to rest after driving the goblins that reemerged back to their burrows. Their progress had been halted by a party of platinum adventurers that were tasked with guarding the next floor below.
Within the ranking system of many guilds across the continent, platinum adventurers were considered the highest tier of freelancers in the adventuring business. Though there were a few higher ranks than platinum, adventurers of that tier were most often employed as guards to many various royal families or were made into private militia, again under employment by royalty or extremely wealthy businessmen. Despite being considered adventurers still, they rarely abided by regulations and code of conduct of their respected guilds and gravitated more towards following the orders of their employers. Platinum rank adventurers were the highest tier of adventurer that still functioned as freelance parties or individuals.
Clyde didn't feel like they were any issue to his unit, however they did possess magic that had proven a nuisance. A mage in the party guarding the sixth floor had the ability to manifest various defenses, and has used that power to create multiple gates at the very entrance to the chamber. Realizing that they will run out of explosives to tear down walls way before the mage runs out of mana to spam the same spell over and over, Clyde has decided to call in for backup, sending one of his men to the surface, as long range communication did not in the dungeon at the depth that they were in.
He now sat on the floor of the fifth floor, helmet resting by his side, as he smoked.
"We can't get in there." Said one of the soldiers, approaching him. "I mean, we could, but they are pretty well prepared and since that's the only entrance, we would end up in a bottle neck and that'll lead to unnecessary casualties."
"I know, relax. Have a doobie." Clyde grinned, offering the man his smoke.
"Oh shit, don't mind if I DO." The other man grinned and sat down, taking a long inhale from the joint. "How'd you even smuggle this past the outpost control?"
"Man, those bastards don't check for shit once I'm inside this armor. I have so much weed on this inside of this thing, If I get blown up, the whole dungeon will be hallucinating for weeks." The huge man tapped on his chest plate and laughed.
The two rowdy men attracted the attention of another comrade of their. The man put down his handheld monitor and walked over to them. "What the fuck are you two doing?"
"Smoking, why?" Answered Clyde.
"What are we going to do about the sixth floor?" The guy standing over them asked.
"Jeremy, baby relax. I got it all covered." His armored comrade blew him a kiss and laughed. "I called in for backup, that'll take care of everything. Now come hit this while we wait."
[ ]
"Uh... Gods." Quinn huffed, leaning on her staff while chugging a mana potion, face frowning at the bitter taste. "I think they finally stopped trying to breach"
"You alright?" Filtz patted her on the back. The paladin looked up, checking on the rest of his party. "Everybody else alright?"
The remaining members of the party all raised their hands, signaling that everyone was alive and standing.
"Damn elves, they did not tell us we would be going up against such a force. While they hide on the last floor no less!" The parties fighter, a stocky dwarf said, spitting on the ground. "Typical of those long eared wimps."
"Shut up." Quinn angrily said, not taking kindly to the dwarves insulting of her people. "We were paid well for this job. Are you not an adventurer? If you dislike this, maybe you should retire instead and get paid to sit around and mold."
"Quinn relax. I'm sure he meant nothing bad by it." Said the party's tank. The large ogre woman walked over to the exhausted elf, casting a recuperation buff on her.
"Did they really back off?" Belam'Bal asked Filtz, while still casting her spell on Quinn, who had already started to feel less shaky and exhausted.
"I don't know. Rin! Anything outside the gate?" The paladin asked.
Outside of the dark behind the party, one of the three assassins replied. "Yeah, they seem to have backed off. I sense no one near the entrance."
"Perhaps they have went to lick their wounds. Or maybe they have ran out of supplies. Their weapons aside, they did not seem too equipped to stay down here a long time. We can probably wait them out like this." The dwarf cackled.
"And have me do all the heavy lifting to keep the entrance sealed." Quinn rolled her eyes.
The party settled down, deciding to rest as much as they could before the next breach attempt by the invaders. Tension seemed to die down as a few hours passed without a single movement on the other side of the sealed off entrance.
"Told you, they must have realized we're not letting them in without a fight and gave up." Laughed the warrior.
"They are no match for Quinn's magic!" Belam'Bal patted the elf on the back.
"Wait. I sense movement." Yu, the second of the three assassins said, grabbing everyone's attention.
"The goblins in the area decreasing in number rapidly." Rin added to her brothers statement.
"Hah! They must be so angry at their loss, they are taking it out on the goblins." The dwarf said, slapping his knee.
"There is someone on the other side of the gate. A single person by the feel of it." Said Jan, the third of the party's assassins. Each of the three siblings was blessed with powerful detection magic, capable of sensing things even through objects and behind walls.
"Just one guy? Maybe they want to surrender? Think it's a trap?" Belam looked at the paladin, who shook his head and shrugged in response.
"Yes. There is other present anywhere near, it seems he is alone." Rin's answer was interrupted by a faint knock on the stone gate, coming from the other side.
Cautiously, weapons drawn, Flitz told the elf mage to lower the gate, but be ready to cast it again immediately. The elf nodded and did as she was told. To the party's surprise, a black man stood on the other side. He wore the uniform of the invaders, with slight modifications such as decorative furs and feathers that matches the green of the uniform. Filtz noticed something hanging off the mans hip and quickly identified the object to be a Kobold skull, clearly taken as some sort of trophy.
The man took a single step into the chamber, flashing the party an honest smile. His stature in no way matches his overwhelming confidence and lack of any fear or worry, considering he was no taller than the party's dwarf warrior.
"What do you want?" Filtz asked.
The man seemed to be glad that someone present spoke a language he could understand and locked eyes with Flitz. "I have come here to tell you that you are surrounded."
Everyone stood in silence, baffled at what the man had just said. "Surrounded?" Quinn whispered, looking over at the assassins.
Before she could get an answer, the man continued. "Since we just had appetizer, I want to offer you one chance to surrender. Give up and I will let you leave here alive and in one piece. No harm. No foul."
[ ]
"Sir, sir, wake up. The reinforcements are here." A soldier nudged Clyde with her foot as he laid passed out on the floor. The short black man pushed past her, stomping on Clyde's ribs, as he was laying on his side. "Wake up, ya bastard!" He shouted with a heavy Cameroonian accent.
"Auuuugghhh... yeah, yeah, I'm up." Groaned the head of the unit as he got up to his feet, rubbing his bloodshot eyes. He took a deep inhale, hoping the stale dungeon air would clear away the fog in his head. Groggily looking down, a huge smile appeared on the man's face.
"Shaka Zulu! Glad you could join us, all the way down here." Clyde laughed, patting the small man on the shoulder.
"Clyde, I see your humor is still as shit as the rest of you." The single person reinforcement replied with an equally big smile.
The other two men who were passed out on the floor woke up from the noise and slowly started getting up to their feet.
"So, this is our reinforcement? A pygmy?" Jeremy chuckled, looking down at Clyde's friend.
The black man looked at him, his confidence unimpacted by the comment. "You will find me more than enough."
The armored behemoth shot a quick glare at Jeremy, causing the latter to look down and quickly head somewhere else in the cap to help the rest of the unit with preparations. They hauled in large, heavy, metal boxes as per the short man's orders, leaving them very close to where the exit to the fifth floor met the hallway that lead to the sixth floor. Soft huffing and noise could be heard from inside the containers, as Marcel walked over in front of the containers, signaling to the rest of the unit to move a healthy distance away.
"So, what's in the cages?" Jeremy asked Clyde, observing as the other man tampered with what looked like a remote to the containers.
"Gungams." Replied Clyde, his comrade looking up at him with confusion.
"Marcel is to beasts what Cesar Millan is to dogs." The behemoth in combat armor continued his explanation as the remove beeped and all ten containers simultaneously opened.
Jeremy shone a flashlight in Marcel's direction to better see what was going on, as the darkness in the hallway made it nearly impossible to see. The soldier stood frozen in his tracks, watching massive lizard like beasts emerge from the containers, sniffing the air and crawling around Marcel. The short, dark skinned soldier did not seem worried in the slightest, actually seeming glad and happy to be around those creatures.
Each of the ten lizards seemed equal in size, 5 feet from the head to the tail at least. Their arms and backs were covered in thick scales, the ones on their backs being the size of diner plates and overlapping. Arm scales seemed equally thick but smaller to keep mobility. Their tails ended with two dorsal plates, but horizontal, giving the tails an appearance of a double sided axe swinging side to side. They moved slowly, having only one pair of limbs, that being their arms.
As the soldier stood in shock, one of the creatures turned towards the source of the light that was shone. Clyde quickly grabbed his comrade by the wrist, snatching the flashlight away from him.
"They dislike artificial light. So, don't do that." He said, letting go of Jeremy's wrist.
The soldier still stood stunned, as the creature's attention turned back to Marcel, the image of the lizards face forever etched into his memory.
It's head was torpedo shaped, bone plating covering it like a helmet, connecting to the neck and back plates. 2 pairs of eyes, one eye on each side like the snakes and lizards of Earth, the other pair sitting atop the head, facing directly forward. It was unlike anything he had ever seen.
Marcel whistled once, snapping Jeremy out of his trance and getting the attention of his pets. He pulled something out of his pouch and let the creatures get a good sniff. With the second whistle, the lizards moved uncharacteristically fast, lunging at the walls and ceiling of the hallway and boring into them. Silence ensued, soon followed by muffled and distant screeching of the goblins in their nearby burrows.
"Huh, I guess some goblins did survive." One of the other soldiers commented nonchalantly.
"What the fuck are those?" Jeremy muttered under his breath.
"Told you, Gungams. Cave dwelling predators from this world. Everything from their webbed claws to the shape of their head and scales is designed to have them glide through the ground like they're swimming. They use their arms to clear the way and move forward, while their long bodies use motion similar to snakes to move fast. Pretty tough to kill too, those plates are thick as shit, damn near bulletproof to standard caliber. Even lower caliber ammo piercing rounds struggle against them. Their underbellies are soft, but good luck flipping one of those nimble bastards on their backs." Clyde explained.
"I have no clue where Marcel found them, let alone how he got them doing tricks." He added.
"If they're underground, why do they need 2 sets of eyes?" Clyde's comrade asked.
"I don't really know. According to Marcel, they use the eyes on the side to see, like our reptiles. The eyes up front at to mesmerize and entrance a larger opponent or bigger prey, while the rest of the pack moved in from the side to kill. So yeah, do not look them dead in the eyes. Don't look at them directly at all, those things are always itching to beef." With his explanation finished, Clyde raised his right hand, making a circling motion with his index finger, giving the unit the order to start packing up as they're about to head out soon.
Jeremy took one more glance at the now silent hallways, but Marcel was already gone, walking on his way to the sixth floor, to deal with the party that was barricaded there.
[ ]
Everybody stared confused at the dark skinned soldier standing at the entrance to the sixth floor. He did not seem very armed nor armored. Even if he was carrying a hidden weapon, the party knew there was little to no chance he would be able to take them all out before Quinn's magic or the assassins took him out. But for some reason, his words carried the weight only irrefutable truths do, when he told them they are surrounded.
"Rin, Yu, Jan! Observe the area again, this time as far as you can, include the walls and ceiling too." Ordered Filtz, never taking his eyes off the enemy soldier.
"Surrounded? You must be mad. There is no way they would be able to dig through this much earth in such a short time. Plus, we'd hear them." Said Belam'Bal, looking from one party member to another, seeking someone to agree with her.
The paladin opened his mouth to speak when the clamor, the tale tale sound of steel hitting stone, echoed from the side. He turned to the source, only to be met with Rin, kneeling on the ground, staring up at a spot in the ceiling. She had dropped her dagger, her arms hanging limply at her side in utter surrender.
"Right there... There is a lizard, right above me." She whispered, never taking her eyes off the spot above, tears welling in her eyes.
"There are lizards, all around us. Burrowing through the soil." Jan answered, as Quinn rushed over to Rin, trying to snap her out of her daze.
"Gungams." The dwarf said, exhaling in defeat and taking a step towards the enemy soldier, axe in hand.
"What are y-?" The party's tank reached out to stop him, but the dwarf already had his mind set.
"There is no chance we can survive this, let alone fight the beasts off." The warrior continued, looking Marcel dead in the eyes.
Although the invader did not understand a single word of dwarven, he got the message loud and clear. The dwarf dropped his axe to the ground and raised his hands high, palms pointing outwards. "I surrender."
"You coward!" Quinn hissed, snapping her head to face the dwarf, glaring at him furiously. "It is so like you, to abandon something as soon as the going gets tough."
"I have been paid to defend the dungeon, not leave my bones in it." The dwarf replied, walking over to the enemy and turning around to face his comrades. He looked at the paladin, begging him without a word to listen to reason and surrender. Even though dwarves never had a habit of expressing their feelings, he did not wish to see them die.
"I agree." The ogre woman sighed, dropping her spiked club next to the dwarfs axe. "We have been paid in advance, and quite a hefty sum at that. But to defend the sixth floor of this dungeon. We failed at that. Even if we fight and die here, that outcome will not change. Please Filtz, I know you have plenty of reasons not to die here."
"Anyone else?" The paladin asked, though his mind was set on an answer the second the dwarf put his axe down.
The threes siblings threw their assassins daggers onto the pile, and went to stand next to their comrades. Filtz sighed, somewhat glad at the decision they had made. He turned and looked at the elf mage, the only one still hesitant to lay down her staff.
"What, what if he still kills us after we surrender? We can't guarantee that." She shouted, pointing her finger at Marcel, who had leaned against the edge of the hallway, already bored with the display.
"He might. But if there is even a small chance that we can walk out of here alive, I will take that gamble." The party leader answered, sheathing his blade back into its scabbard and extending his hand to Quinn. The mage looked down at her feet, before taking his hand and joining the group.
The black man looked up at them. "So? I take it you surrender?"
"Y-yeah. We surrender." Flitz answered, avoiding the man's gaze despite being significantly taller than him.
The party's hearts collectively sank as Marcel frowned at their answer bit, before shrugging. "A disappointing answer, but a very expected one. I am a man of my word. Leave."
Without another word, he turned around and walked back up the hallway, letting out another short whistle as he went. Gungams burst through the walls and ceiling of the hallway and followed their master obediently, never once glancing back at the stunned party, that up until a few minutes ago could have been their meal.
Not stopping to think or reflect on the situation, the adventurers quickly grabbed their discarded weapons and bolted up the hallway, running past Clyde and his unit who began to descent from floor five to floor six, running all the way to the exit of the dungeon.
[ ]
Solon was overjoyed when small village peeked from the behind the dunes. It was far from what he would consider a developed settlement, but at this point, he did not care at all. Soon, the caravan slowed to a halt, just in front of, what seemed like a market of sorts, and everybody stepped out.
"Thank you again Vur'z, for sharing your wagon and supplies with us." Solon said to the caravan leader, bowing his head slightly.
"Thank the two of you, for sharing stories and a good time with us." Vur'z replied, bowing back.
The caravan moved once more, leaving the pair behind and disappearing around the corner.
"Well Sheela. It has been an... experience." Solon said, extending his good hand to the former genie.
"Oh don't get ahead of yourself mortal. We are not on equal ground just because YOU believe you outsmarted me. I am the Goddess of the Sands!" She scoffed, looking down on him, partially due to her superior height, partially due to her over superior ego. Arms crossed and resting on her chest, it was evident she would not reciprocate his show of good faith. A few passerby's turned their heads at her loud statement, before moving on with their business.
Solon closed and retracted his hand, making a clicking sound with his mouth. "Oooo-kay then."
Before he could turn away, he stopped for a second, one last question on his mind. "You speak a lot of languages. Do you know what that beast thing was yelling at me before Vur'z knocked it cold?"
She raised an eyebrow, rubbing her chin. Solon wasn't use if she was trying to remember or if she was trying to decide whether to tell him or not.
"It thought you were an adventurer and mentioned something about having a big reward for its safe return or something like that. Saying its parents are adventurers too, I believe. Too late now though."
"Yeah." Solon nodded. "Well, so long Sheela, best wishes with your new life."
"Hah! I don't need wishes. I will amass a following and usher new rule of power and prosperity." She proclaimed boldly, garnering some more attention from the vendors and onlookers.
"Great. Looking forward to it. I'm sure your reign will bring even more sand to this desert." Replied Solon, before nodding and walking away, quickly blending into the crowd. He moved at a brisk pace, making sure to get out of ear shot before she could retort, relishing in the having the final word.
Sheela grinded her teeth, before swiftly turning on her bare heels and walking away in the opposite direction. Both quickly got swallowed up by the marketplace crowd, never once turning back as they parted ways.
(Notes: Let me start this off by saying: Screw new Reddit. A turd of a website, had to repost this more times than I would like, because the text would magically vanish every time I hit post.
Initially my thoughts were to have the adventurers on floor six absolutely dismantled by the lizards, but have decided against it. An enemy, in this case invading humans, are much more cool when they show thought and restraint, rather than just being a mindless meat grinding machine that kills everything. Plus if I was up against 10 bullet proof lizards that can bore through a brick wall, I would surrender too.
That aside, I hope you guys like this one. I have put in the link for the first chapter, in case any new readers find themselves here, so they don't have to start from the middle. I hope the link doesn't screw over Reddit again.)

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