Monarch ucc 3-9x40 bdc review

Unfortunately I bought these used from an original owner in excellent condition however I recently found out there's zero warranty on used Nikon's. There's 7 year warranty only to the original owners who purchased them from authorized Nikon USA dealers brand new sealed box not demo not open box otherwise no warranty.
That's a major bummer because these Nikon HFs weren't cheap even when paying used prices for them.
They have the exact same warranty as the way cheaper ScoopX UHDs which in fact aren't that far behind optically. Just the Nikons are easier to snap into focus more quickly and have slightly better sharpness but actually you'd be hard pressed to notice unless you got both of them together side by side to compare.
I actually don't use these HGs much because I'm afraid if they break I'm pretty much screwed. And believe it or not the much cheaper Prostaff P7 I recently paid FULL PRICE AND THEN SOME FOR I much prefer to use on a daily basis due to their lighter weight and slightly wider FOV. The P7 focus is buttery Smooth too even though they're not as sharp.
If and when buying these Nikon's only buy them brand new sealed box from authorized Nikon USA dealers to get their current 7 year warranty and never buy used otherwise you're SOL if and when they break.
Only buy used Nikon's at a price you can afford to throw away after they break. If you got plenty of cash and don't care then it's not a problem to keep on buying them used. I think even buying a used Chinese Monarch M7 is kinda stupid for $250-$300 or even brand new from unauthorized eBay sellers just because of no warranty. Their M7 brand new are a rip off IMHO just because after comparing one side by side with the ScoopX UHDs man the M7s not as clear edge to edge with more noticeable CA.
I think MAAAAYBE $200 max for no warranty Binoculars and preferably under $100 or cheap as possible which is not as painful to throw away.
I have a Vortex Razor HD 10x42 inbound to compare this Nikon Monarch HG to. Lifetime VIP warranty and Vortex even pays for your round trip shipping if and when you need to use their no fault no questions asked LIFETIME WARRANTY which is in fact totally totally totally opposite of NIKON.

Introduction- This'll be a collection of shorter reviews about each of the 'story' daydreams from Trails into Reverie- this is meant to be supplemental material for my main series of reviews. I will be reviewing five Daydream stories each, and unlike my usual style there won't be a dedicated section for pros and cons, instead a few paragraphs about each little story. With that all out the way, I hope you enjoy reading.
Buried Trails, Beaten Trails, Blazed Trails- A short, fun and interesting little story involving the Arc en Ciel girls, but mainly featuring Rixia, Nadia and Swin. The plot is a pretty classic 'misunderstanding plot', which I think is good for introducing these characters and their shared experiences as well as their shared instincts in a way that makes sense for each of them without feeling overly hackneyed. The fight with Rixia isn't all that fun, but it's mostly there for flavour and context, and I think it's perfectly fine.
Nadia and Swin are hilarious and tragic in equal measures here- I don't quite know the full extent of their stories just yet, however it's pretty clear to me that especially Nadia went through some intense programming in her youth. Their conversation with Rixia at the end is genuinely heart-warming as well. One of the things I liked even more than this, though, is the lore we get about Three and Nine, and a certain artefact known as the 'Monarch's Regalia'. Some really interesting stuff. Also, that's how Ilya got the mask huh?
Overall, a really nice little story that also serves as a good introduction to the Daydream system.
A Day in the Lives of the SSS- Nothing too special, aside from fighting... Mecha Mishy? Randy and Mireille had some nice moments, and it was great to see the SSS back together in their old building (given we haven't had a chance to do that up to this point in the game either). It kind of reminded me how they never got to have that hotpot with KeA with the entire crew present during Azure, one of those little plot points that kind of broke my heart when I thought about it.
But yeah, much less to say about this particular Daydream, aside that this continues the pattern of the last two of foreshadowing the true cause of the main mystery of the Reverie storyline as a whole. It also continues the trend of slightly more restrained (well, relatively) stories that slow down for the characters a bit that this whole game has going on, which I really like.
St. Astraia's Violet In Bloom- Why.
Also the lore stuff with the devil and the artefact was cool I guess, I wonder if we're getting more of that in Calvard. The mystery was cool, and Myka was a pretty good character I guess (I like how she just accepted she had a crush on a 'girl', even if that bit is reversed that was pretty nice), but I couldn't really look past Uh 'Kurtina'.
There's definitely been better so far (ie Swin, Nadia and Rixia). Moving on.
Home Sweet Turf- Nice little story about Wazy and Wald meeting up with their own gangs and putting a cap on their old rivalry from Zero/Azure. Nothing that particularly stands out, but I like this little story. Tying up loose ends from the previous games, and having a nice little quiet story to boot as well. Nice little Seeker side plot as well, even if as usual I don't really care that much about Noel.
I especially like how Wald's old group handles what happened. They don't just let him off the hook, but they don't jump him for it either. I think it's a really good way to handle that particular plot beat from Azure- one I wasn't incredibly fond of, it has to be said. Overall, a nice, lowkey but still bombastic little story. I like it!
Down the Rabbit Hole- A really, really good follow up story to Millium's revival, as well as putting the final embers of the Black Workshop to rest, this daydream is probably the best so far. The bits and pieces of lore we get about the combat shells, for instance, are an added bonus.
Nice moments for Jusis and Alisa as well as George and even an appearance from Schmidt make this the perfect daydream to finish this section of the Daydream reviews on. Another one of those 'loose ends' getting tied back up, so to speak. The story of Altina and Millium, as well as Argeitlam and Claoimh Solais, is a beautful one, and to have this final resolution to it (in a sense) is just really satisfying. Also, the Black Workshop is as fascinating as always, I really like the visual design. The bit with Franz at the end also got my eyes a bit wet, I'll admit.
Conclusion- This is the end of the first part of my review series, I'll release another one of these when I complete 5 more. Until then, thank you for reading and I'll see you at my review of Act 3 of Reverie.

I just joined this dealership in April and ive sold 10 cars in a month. Some from BDC lead and some from drive-by. Well out of the 10 cars I sold, I netted $1895. $1895 was my pay for selling 10 cars in a month. I just need some review on my pay plan because I made me question the pay. It is hard to get some of my own leads since I just started, so bdc leads is helping, but I barely earn enough to take care of bills.

All sales representatives must deliver a maximum of 8 units per month averaged out over a 90 day period.
All Sales representatives must post and market every day and produce a minimum of 5 verifiable sales from their own efforts in order to qualify for any bonuses.
Credit Union BHPH Transactions 10% Commission on down payments unless the vehicle sales through BDC leads will pay $250 commission flat non BDC leads is 10% of down ($400 Cap) In House Transactions
Worked by management and given to salesman to deliver vehicle pays a flat $100
Cash/Bank Sales: All cash/ bank and special financed deals sold from BDC leads will pay a flat $300. 25% Commission on gross profit over Pack $1000 or $200 mini for non BDC deals
King of the Hill Salesman that accumulates the most gross gets $300 bonus. Note: Salesman must generate a minimum of $30,000.00 gross to qualify.
MONTHLY BONUS STRUCTURE Fast Start Bonus: $250 to sell & deliver 8 vehicles by 15" of month Fast Finish Bonus: $250 to sell & deliver 8 vehicles after the 15" of month Unit Bonus: 12" unit pays $200 13th and 14th unit pays $60 each 15th unit pays $350 16" thru 19* unit pays $85 each 20* unit pays $500 ** All house deals worked by management and given to salesman to deliver vehicle pays a flat $100

What's up all! 4thWall here. Hope you guys have had a fantastic weekend.
If this is your first episode of "The Black", Welcome!! I hope you will join us from the beginning!
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Tense silence greeted Corellus Grarzia. Moments ago, he had stepped off the shuttle sent for him, and now he was standing in the entryway to the main conference room aboard USN Wisconsin. This meeting greatly reminded him of his first meeting after taking captainship of Olyvia. This time however, there were many more players. All but two of the Privateers were present, the latter being simply too deep into a mission, and too far away to make it in time. Both of the missing ships had completed their objectives, and were in transit, but waiting for them was simply not an option. Admiral Grarzia had arrived with Wisconsin and the rest of the Privateers inside of a week from Cory’s transmission, and Admiral stevens had arrived a week after that. Admiral fulmori had retained the USN Texas as his Flag, having grown fond of Captain Gleeson. Unity High Admiral Kawmarin was still currently flagged aboard USN Galveston and was currently using her superior speed to respond to race across unity space in an attempt to rally Unity forces.

Admiral Clint Stevens had arrived with a five-ship battle group. He was flagged aboard USN Tharsis and was escorted by USN Furlong, USN Iowa, a recently retrofitted and upgraded DDS Protectorate, and a newly commissioned Delmar Frigate. The DDS Stormhold was a hybrid vessel. She had been in the early stages of construction when Humanity and Delmar met for the first time, and she had been modified during construction to make use of the recent innovations born of the their budding alliance. She had but half the displacement of an Iowa Class, but she sported two thirds of the weight of fire by destructive potential. Stormhold had struck many human sailors as what a battleship class would have looked like if the Martians had decided to build the class during Humanity’s civil war. Stormhold carried but a pair of super firing Kinetic batteries in dorsal and ventral positions with a single pair of super firing batteries at her midships. Each turret in the battery only boasted a pair of barrels, and they fired the same 1005 projectile. Stormhold was armed to please however, and she carried twice the same number of PAC batteries as USN Tharsis, and she boasted a full-length central weapon that was very uniquely Delmar. The combined minds of the Brothers grem and their research counterparts in Sol had spent years researching and iterating on the Martian Particle Acceleration Cannon, and they had found something.

DDS Stormhold sported a single long low profile blister stretching the length of her ventral hull, set just to the left of centerline to make room for her kinetic batteries. No less than 6 PAC systems were arrayed in parallel, all feeding one focusing array of titanic size. Stormhold could fire up to all 6 at the array, varying the amount of destruction she wished to adjudicate upon her enemy. Bart had dubbed tis weapon the C-PAC, or “Compound Particle Acceleration Cannon”. The discovery however was not that combining Pac beams was doable. Mars had tried and failed to accomplish this. The discovery was how to make it efficient enough to create a viable weapon. This accomplished, something became abundantly clear from the initial testing…. A C-PAC did not scale linearly, but exponentially. A C-PAC could produce the same destructive energy as an Eros, but only within two hundred fifty thousand Kilometers. The rate of fire was still low, and firing all 6 feeder PACs at once was a cautious calculation, as the heat generated was still a problem, but early tests in a long dead system had seen the accidental cracking of the target planet’s crust. The reaction that followed destabilized the planet entirely and said star system was now one interstellar body lighter.

Stevens brought more than just a battle group, having appropriated four troop transports. Each transport carried a detachment of Marines, with the two MACE squads spread between them for heavy support. It was a small number, but they were to be on hand to evacuate any survivors they could. “Alright people, gather round. All of you have seen the brief by now, and I know all of you are ready for this to happen. Let’s not go in halfcocked” Several heads bobbed in acknowledgement and Stevens turned to spear Cory with a gaze, “For those who might not have met yet, this is Corellus Grarzia, Captain of the Privateer that uncovered this little honeypot of horrors. He’s been the closest to this thing the longest.” Stevens waves to Cory, “Captain?”

Cory stepped up and took a long breath, “The situation’s only gotten worse since my first transmission. The prison freighters and the frigates in orbit are just the beginning of the problem. We’ve since discovered camps on the surface of the planet, I’ve marked them in your updated files” Cory flicked his wrist over his data pad, propagating the information to everyone else’s pad and the table in the center of the room, “This is not just a torture camp, it is an indoctrination and training facility. The kissing of the hand is a surrender trigger of sorts. Kiss the hand, and the child is taken from hell, given food, and given a task. Usually something simple and innocuous, but it is rewarded. If a child accepts without instruction, and without question; they are sent to the surface where they are put into an intense indoctrination program.” Cory took a pause, watching the faces of the men and women in the room. Hard eyes and grim expressions waited for him to continue. “The children are eventually taken on hunts…. Hunts of other failed children and adults of their own species… and hunts of the locals… they are creating insurgents. We may and will encounter opposition made of child soldiers and operatives on the surface. We’ve also discovered a fast response system. Attacking one freighter at a time will trigger the destruction of the other freighters, and it appears that the Frigates in the system are in direct communication with someone outside the system every 20 minutes. That is all we know, at this time.”

Cory nodded to the admirals before stepping back from the table. Mac gave Cory a nod before taking a deep breath, “Thank you Captain. Alright people, no idea goes unspoken. No question goes unasked, we only have one shot at this. Let’s get to work.”

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Warren’s eyes slowly fluttered open, aroused from his slumber by soft lips working their way up from the nape of his neck, “Hmm, Good morning.” He whispered as Jezz pulled herself atop him with a smile of her own. She kissed her way up his chin to his ear before responding, “Morning.” She coo’d back at him, her sultry tone lighting his senses on fire. Warren pulled her the rest of the way to his lips, kissing her gently just as his communicator chirped, “UUgghhhh!!” he groaned, breaking their kiss to open the channel, “L.T. Patterson here.” He stated, trying to keep his voice professional as Jezzaria’s lips began to wander again.
*Lieutenant, We’ve received word. The cargo transports finished loading earlier than anticipated. We will be departing in twenty minutes. Captain Yasushi has asked for your presence on the bridge.*

“Understood, I’ll be there… uh…. Momentarily.” Warren responded closing the channel, looking down at a smugly amused Jezzaria, “Jezz! Now how am I supposed to show up on the bridge with that…”

“Hmm” She mused coyly. “Probably shouldn’t, I better take care of that.” Warren never had a chance to respond.

Twenty minutes later, an only slightly breathless Warren arrived on the bridge, receiving a raised eyebrow from Excelsior’s Captain. “Cutting it rather close, Lieutenant?” Yasushi asked as he scanned the last of the information before departure.

Warren kept his face carefully neutral, “Unavoidable, Sir.” He said formally. “You asked to see me?”

“Yes, Is the Elerian delegation settled in?” Yasushi asked first. “We’ve done what we can to give them ample spaces on the ship attuned to their gravity, and signage to prevent accidents, but I’ve heard rumblings.”

“It not… the gravity sir… May we?” Warren responded carefully, nodding to the captain’s ready room. The two of them stepped into the more private setting, and Warren sat heavily into the chair opposite the desk.

Yasushi regarded the young officer with a studious gaze, “Talk to me son. I need to know if something is brewing during this voyage.”

Warren sighed inwardly. The delegation made up about a quarter of the surviving Elerian race, the Oldest of the Children saved from their planet. They had finished catching up in their education and updating on changes wrought while they were asleep. These Oldest had requested, and obviously granted, permission to travel to their home planet to participate in its recolonization. There was only one real problem with the situation. “Jezz wishes to continue to Delmar, but she is the defacto leader of her species. It is, chafing in some area’s.” Warren finally answered.

“Ah, I see.” Yasushi leaned back into his chair. “Has she told them that She is not staying?”

Warren shook his head, “No sir. She knows she has to stay. It’s just…. It’s just obvious that she hates the reality of the situation, that I must continue to Delmar. It does not help that Many of her people see our relationship as hurtful. They see us as narrowing the genetic pool from which they can recover.”

Yasushi’s eyes softened slightly in understanding, “Atticus’ research?”

“Almost complete sir, it’s all but certain that the Corth placed Elerian DNA in the Human genome. He believes that We could be the key to the genetic diversity needed to jumpstart their species, but… They don’t know that.” Warren sighed, “It’s all still heavily classified pending the conclusion. Her people don’t know what she has put herself through to ensure accurate data. They just see me as stealing their future, and her as a love struck girl playing at leadership.”

Yasushi nodded, bringing up the progress synopsis on his consol, “It appears that Atticus requires only one further ‘experiment’ before his conclusions can be reached. Do you know what that is?”

Warren shook his head, “Sorry, Sir. I don’t. We are to meet him in his onboard lab after lunch. He’s fastidious about records, I’m sure you will know by the time we leave his office.”

“Hmm,” Yasushi mused, taking a moment to review the update before closing it, “I know this is hard for you. You two have been thrust into quite a bit above your stage in life. Let me know if there is anything I can do. Dismissed, Lieutenant.”

Warren saluted crisply, following Yasushi out to the bridge just in time to watch the small convoy leap into slip space. His feet slowly guided him back to the quarters he shared with Jezz, feeling the shift in gravity as he passed into the Eleri safe parts of the ship. It would be a two month sail to the Elerian homeworld, and Warren was not looking forward to its conclusion. His thoughts were interrupted by raised voices, one of which he was intimately familiar with, coming from around the corner, and Warren accelerated his gate.

“You know we barely have the numbers to survive! Instead of doing your duty, you’re bedding that heavy worlder!” It was the oldest Elerian male, Bregan, flanked by two other Elerians. They had ambushed Jezz against the door to the quarters Warren and her shared.
“Back up Breg, I don’t care that your father was pappa’s top general. This is not the play you want to make right now. I am Warren’s, and that is not changing.” Jezz’s voice was stern, and she noticed Warren arrive around the corner. The smallest shake of her head kept him from barging in. Elerian female leaders were a prickly thing, and because He was not Eleri, she needed to do this on her own. They had talked about it, expecting something like this once the first complaints had been whispered. Jezz was still kicking herself for not spending more time with her people, but she had also been instrumental in the Gate project that promised to bind the galaxy more tightly than ever before.

Breg openly scoffed at Jezz, “A woman, ordering me around? Maybe Your precious Human will have an accident.” He sneered, blatantly reaching for Jezz’s wingtips, “Then maybe You’s search for a proper m… UGH!” Warren winced as he heard the tale tale cracking of bone. Jez had slapped away Bren’s outstretched hand before driving her fist into his side. She had underestimated her power, having lived for over a year in various gravities that exceed that of her homeworld, and Bren doubled over with eyes wide as he fell to a knee. He clutched his side, glaring at Jezzaria, “Bitch! I’ll have you brought up on charges! Let’s see your precious human get you out of an assault charges, with witnesses.” Bren sputtered, and his two friends nodded angrily.

“Go ahead, but I do not think you will be successful.” Jezz pointed up to the corner of the corridor opposite Warren, “All hallways are rigged for video and audio. Every threat you have made was logged in the ships computer the moment you puked it out of your pathetic mouth.” Warren had to stifle the chuckle that threatened to escape his lips at the pure vitriol in Jezz’s ton. “As for witnesses, you can come on over, hun.”

Warren put on severe expression, locking eyes with Bregan even as the young mans eyes bugged out of his head. “My husband has been watching for quite a while and would make an excellent witness.” Jezz’s smug expression nearly broke Warrens facade as he crossed his arms in front of the three.

“Hmm, threatening the murder of a Naval officer.. Attempted assault on a reigning monarch… Getting recorded doing so, not a good look.” Warren rumbled, and Breg spat at his feet.

“Fuck you.” Bren spat, “If you believe that to be true, why did you wait for your woman to fight instead of protecting her, coward.”

Warren openly laughed in the boy’s face, “you assume my woman needed saving from you. She’s soared on Luna and Conquered the gravity on Ceres.” Warren paused as a profoundly contemplative expression washed over the three boy’s faces, “What makes you think you were anything close to a threat to MY mate.” Warren growled the last part, making the miscreants take an involuntary step back, “Now get out of here. And get that rib checked out, I heard it break from over there.”

The three Elerian boys scrambled down the hallway, unable to flee on wing because of the narrow space. Warren waited for them to round the corner, and felt Jezz collapse into him almost instantly after. Warren quickly opened their door and pulled her in with him, “Hey, hey, hey. Shhhh” He soothed rubbing her down patch between the base of her wings. She melted into him, but continued shaking for a moment. “Their gone, it’s ok now.”

Jezz took a long shakey breath, “I… I don’t know what to do…. My people are so scared… and I can’t tell them that we need Humans to recover our numbers. I… I don’t know what to do…”

Warren kept rubbing her back, “I’ll have lunch brought here. Breg doesn’t need to see that he shook you.” And Jezz nodded, and a few minutes later a pair of cold cut sandwiches arrived. The two of them ate, Jezz curled up in Warren’s lap. Violence was not a natural decision for her, and it had been the first time she had struck anyone outside her occasional sparring with Warren. Warren partially blamed himself for her not knowing her own strength. He always allowed her to strike at him as hard as she could, knowing that she was incapable of hurting him with her bare hands, and she had gained enough speed and technique to occasionally get through his admittedly average hand to hand skills. He had still not taught her to shoot Kinetics. He worried that she would be simply too fragile to shatter bones should she get behind one of his pistols, or even his rimfire rifle.

They were just beginning to leave when a knock at the door interrupted their clean up. And Warren opened the door, his face a serious mask as he prepared to deal with more of the… “Atticus?” He asked as the Androgenous Corth stepped into their quarters. “I thought we were meeting you in your lab?”

“You are correct Warren. However, after word of Jezzaria’s little incident spread across the ship, I thought it best to have this conversation somewhere more comfortable.” Atticus stated in his usual analytical tone, waving to the seating in the pair’s living quarters. Warren raised an eyebrow and the uncharacteristic catering to circumstances from Atticus and settled onto one side of the queen bed in the corner. Their compartment was spacious considering Excelsiors size, but still lacked any major furnishing outside of the bed, a place for clothes and a chair for the desk which held the computer console. Jezz sat down next to him, and Atticus pulled the desk chair to face them.
“What’s this about Att.” Warren asked, picking up on the small tells that told him that Atticus was stalling.

Atticus flashed a smile to Warren before responding, “I’ve completed my research, at least, as much of it I can without more direct observation, and I am unwilling to ask that with so few Elerians left.” He began, holding up a hand to Jezz who was already opening her mouth to protest, “I have already found some remarkable discoveries regarding you. As you are probably aware, being able to adapt to Luna, and even Ceres should not be possible for your species” he continued looking a Jezz as he spoke, “None of your people, who tried anything like that before have succeeded.”

“But Atticus,” Jezz asked in confusion, “I’m fine… I’m better than fine. Warren and I spent a weekend on Luna to say goodbye to his parents. I don’t have to be tossed to fly there anymore.” Atticus raised an eyebrow and Warren nodded in confirmation.

Atticus seemed to freeze for just a split second, as if adding the information to something before his eyes focused on the two of them again, “I’m impressed, but not entirely surprised, Jezz. You’re ability to adapt has an explanation, I simply needed to prove my original findings from Ceres.” Atticus leaned forward slightly, “My dear, you are an anomaly because of your relationship with Warren. I’ve been told that I am too direct, so I will attempt to be… less so” Atticus gave Warren a semi sharp look as he snorted, but continued, “Both of you already know this first part. My people, many many eons ago, used the fledgling Human species as a library of genetic markers meant to be able to save those species and cultures wiped out by the Cataclysm. What I have learned is that Humanity took many of those genetic markers and evolved with them as their own. Almost nothing of what we added to Humanity’s genetic code is how we left it, but some of our library is still capable of interacting with the origin species. That is what has happened with you Jezz.”

Jezz looked shocked for a moment, but then returned to her confused expression, “But, we haven’t done any of those experiments yet. You told me they were too dangerous.” Warren rubbed her shoulders but said nothing, simply waiting for Atticus to explain himself.

Atticus nodded, “I did, and they are; but I failed to account for something that was already happening naturally. To put it… delicately… Your body has been naturally been exposed those same Genetic markers, including the Elerian ones, in significant quantities since you and Warren chose to become life mates. Because those genetic markers include a hormonal component to them, and because of the extra strain your body had been put through on luna and ceres; your body has reacted to them, using them as a template for survival. Your bone mass has tripled since you travelled to Ceres, and your Muscle mass and composition has dramatically changed as well.”

“But how… Oh..” Warren’s face reddened as his mind finally put the pieces together, and Jezz’s cheeks flushed a bright blue upon her own realization. “But that would mean…”

Atticus shook his head, “No, luckily being able to monitor Jezzaria’s health has led me to a much safer way to help jumpstart the Elerian species, but there is a catch… I believe that this level of artificial genetic hybridization can only be done during the embryonic stages of Elerian life to be 100 percent safe, but I wont know until I study a….. natural hybrid.” Jezz’s breath caught in her chest as her eyes widened but Atticus raised his hands quickly, “I cannot ask this… but I know you would be angry with me if I hid this fact from you. I know the two of you desire children, and I will not lie. It is still a great risk. I’ve learned that the two of you prefer to make your own decisions, so I want you to do so with the most recent information. I’ll leave everything here for you to review.” Leaving a data stick on the desk, Atticus stood. He began stepping toward the door as the stunned couple stayed where they were, “I’ll give you some space. I am sorry for the heaviness of my findings.” Atticus opened the door and stepped out.
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If you made it this far, Thank You! I hope you enjoyed the episode. If this if your first time seeing this series, I hope you will join us from the beginning. I do have a patreon that has extra content that is not main story arc, but still cannon shorts, as well as exclusive content from some of my other series. If you believe I've earned it, feel free to give it a look; but know that just coming to hang is already enough.
Have a wonderful rest of your day.
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First Previous Wiki
Ascendant Denali swept his tail across the floor. "Greetings. The New Ascendancy welcomes you and your kin, Diplomat Sommi."
The Misan creature did its equivalent of a bow, honoring him in his palace as was proper. He had been starved of respect from his surrounding powers lately and would feast upon this memory like a fine cut.
"The Misan Li Heptarchies receive your warm greetings, Ascendant Denali. We offer official congratulations on your ascent to the Trikkec throne, and the continued unification of your people. We are glad that you are regaining your prosperity, and offer additional aid to that end."
It was the perfect language of the High Dialect, with almost no imperfections on the translator's part. An expertly trained device, for sure, given the vast cavern between their respective languages. He had a translator as well working to ensure that the Diplomat heard his words correctly, and that he would know how their language distorted them to prevent any unfortunate misunderstandings.
Such things could be disastrous with certain civilizations, and Denali saw no need to make true enemies. He was strong enough to project power inside the New Ascendancy but nowhere near so outside of it. Pirates and raiders still festered upon the upper borders, and the lower borders were contested by a few minor lords who had survived the collapse of the Ascendancy. He was currently bombarding their planetary shields with asteroids and lasers.
"Aid of what sort, and with what stipulations?" Denali asked, waving an economic advisor over with a stray claw.
"Military and economic."
"Stipulations?"
"You close all business with the Alliance."
"Ah."
Denali stepped off his throne. "Diplomat, I can assume you know how valuable that relationship is to the Ascendancy? I assume you already have a plan to replace them with something better. If your plan is ready, I will have my advisors review it. If not, no further discussions are to take place."
"Do you accept their power over you, Ascendant?"
"In this galaxy, it does not matter what we accept. If a Sprilnav comes barging into your house and takes your mate in front of you, there is nothing you can do. If one of the Core Powers manages to reach us, they can do the same. There are the laws of nations, and there are those of power. The Alliance's aid, even as its darker purposes twist it, has saved millions of lives. Children eating. Families working. They have the might of two AIs behind them."
"They are far too young of a nation for you to realistically believe their abilities are this high."
"Many have made that mistake," Denali said. "They are an older nation than mine, certainly. Would you say that my nation's abilities are lower?"
"I would not."
"Then you tell lies. I am not some foolish monarch who cannot see the reality in front of him. The Alliance's aid is a tool to keep me leashed like some common lizard. But it comes with economic growth and power that fuels the New Ascendancy further. I do not believe I will overtake their growth even when the entire species is reunited. And since your borders are further away than theirs, you will have added economic costs to any aid you give, with little gain on your end."
"They influence your culture. Your people."
"They do," Denali agreed. "You are a powerful nation as well. You would do the same with your own aid, yes? And you would call for us to destroy our traditions, our religions, and our very culture. We have seen your attempts at negotation with other powers nearer to you. You are an aspiring hegemon. But the Alliance's hegemony is already established. The Grand Defense Organization is something that I might even join, when I have the military might to meet their threshold."
"Why?"
"Because when power rises, others can latch on," Denali said. "Your offer, please. I am quite interested to hear it."
The Diplomat gave him a tablet. Denali brought it up with a hologram isolated from the network. His eyes began to shine.
"You should have led with this, Diplomat."
"Ah, but I needed to see the esteemed Ascendant's viewpoint on us. It is a shame that you must bow and scrape to the Alliance. How would you like to meet them on the field of battle?"
Denali chuckled. "I would like it very much, were they a normal nation. But they are taking planet crackers from King Siran and hauling them back to their space. They have a few of their own, not just stolen from the Wisselen."
"And they are pacifist."
"But not weak, Diplomat. All that means is they will not start the fight. But as we stand now, they will finish it. And a transfer of this many ships likely comes with enormous drawbacks and conditions."
"Then let us discuss those conditions, Ascendant. I am sure something more sufficient to your tastes can be selected."
"I am glad to hear that." Denali made a table hologram that was complete with hard light compatibility. Seating for the Misan, his guards, and Denali and his guards also appeared. The table was transparent.
"I will present my documents on this, and we can discuss in greater detail how you can divest from the Alliance without significant economic damage. There are certain facets we have identified which are key to your growth: military might, industrial capacity, and social cohesion."
Denali rubbed his teeth with his claws. Several cooks came in, bringing him food. The Misan Diplomat and his entourage refused, which was expected given the vast differences in their palettes.
"Those are indeed key parts of the Alliance's aid. Do you have an answer for me which is cheaper than the exports of the Alliance?"
"Yes. We can deliver 250 billion androids capable of continuous work for 20 years, each with a 96% likelihood of continued operation at the end of this period. We are willing to deliver these for you at once, though we would only request an escort of your ships alongside our own for added diplomatic security."
"A veritable army," Denali said.
"None of which will carry or operate weapons."
"We would need to verify that before shipping," Denali said. "As we would need to do for the price. The Alliance demands 1% of our current discretionary yearly foreign trade budget. How does your offer compare?"
"We would ask for a 30 year non-aggression agreement, and diplomatic outposts in your territory, as well as a possible defense pact, where we can defend you legally and militarily against Alliance encroachment."
"A large offer," Denali said. "Tell me, what is in it for you?"
"The Heptarchies wish to curtail the Alliance's growing influence by any means necessary, even if it means spending large amounts of money in the process. Having a monetary outflow is something the Heptarchies are happy to entertain, and we would be grateful for you to join us in this endeavor."
"And what of the risk of me playing both sides?"
"We can offer you high enough boons to ensure that does not occur."
So a bribe, then. A massive one. It was already enticing, but Denali sensed he could get more with better negotiations.
"You mentioned social cohesion and military might as well," Denali said. "Can you explain what you mean by this, and what aid you will send to address this?"
Now, the Diplomat looked more uncertain. It was an act, though a fairly convincing one. The pause lengthened.
"Ascendant Denali, surely you understand..."
"I understand you said 'any means necessary' for curtailing the Alliance. With an AI in their nation, such a thing will be expensive, yes? I'm sure that I need not remind you I will choose what is best for my nation overall. And if you cannot come through... I can always notify them of this offer to explore their ability to match it. Or, gods forbid, even exceed it."
"The trade agreement cannot encompass-"
"Then we have nothing more to discuss, Diplomat."
"Wait! Fine, we can discuss it! Just let us work out the new conditions. They're favorable to you, Ascendant. The Heptarchies value you as a potential customer-"
"I'm sure you do. You have four days to present an offer I appreciate more," Denali said, shoving the tablet back at the Diplomat. "Would you like me to procure food capable of Misan consumption?"
"That would be kind of you, Ascendant. We will accept that. And we will begin drafting a more suitable deal for both of our nations."
"Good!" Denali grinned, settling upon his chair with a new sense of pride in his posture.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Elder Pundacrawla settled his robe about his shoulders as he waited outside the room. In his implant, a small countdown reached zero. The silver doors slid open, and his eyes feasted on the room. It was quite ornate, but what really set it apart was the scene in the center. Elder Kashaunta sat on a short chair across a small table from the object of the entire star system's latest obsessions.
The bipedal alien sat in her own chair, which had an odd raised section to support her back. Her clothing was somewhat simple, with black and grey fabric covering her upper torso. He could tell the fabric was high quality—in fact, it was infused with psychic energy.
Her odd face looked a little smushed, and there was a faint red color to her pale skin and two bars of psychic energy thicker than he'd ever seen adorning her cheeks. She appeared unassuming, but her eyes latched onto him with an entrancing glare.
Her scrutiny waved over him, making Pundacrawla smile. Her gray hair fluttered, with a ring of fabric collecting it behind her head to rest on her back. Her fingers were short, without claws of any appreciable size. Her feet were hidden entirely by shoes; he could sense a thick armor.
In the mindscape, she roiled with collected psychic energy, like a promise of action for any slight. Her mind almost looked to have three minds in one, and iron bands of psychic energy encircled it from all sides, even above and below, preventing any quick avenue of mental attack. All in all, she was like an alien Elder when the conceptual energy came into account. She reminded Pundacrawla of an old friend, a secret he kept with Kashaunta that initially had been her leverage over him.
"It is an honor to meet you," Penny said. "You look as impressive as Kashaunta said."
There was no accent. The words flowed from her mouth smoothly, and Kashaunta showed no reaction to the omission of her title. That alone spoke volumes, and Pundacrawla knew he would be showing Penny more respect than most had the privilege to receive.
"I am happy to meet you as well, Penny Balica. Your accomplishments follow your name, and you are also quite impressive."
He settled on a third chair that appeared in front of him. He took a deep breath, his eyes falling on the pair of them.
"Elder Kashaunta has hired me to serve as your lawyer in the Judgment trial," Pundacrawla said. "This requires a great deal of risk to be taken on my part, which has also required that I received advancements."
He drew the word out, causing Penny to raise an eyebrow.
"Advancements?"
"Yes. I would like you to push the Soul Blade toward my left front leg."
Penny drew the sword, her fingers wrapping around the hilt easily. A grip of psychic energy materialized on her hands, and she carefully pressed the tip of it into the place he'd marked.
His skin was pierced. Penny frowned as her weapon went no further. Black blood spilled from the wound, which closed within moments.
"What?"
"These are Type 3 nanites," Pundacrawla said. Black limbs materialized on his back, a second set of arms. And then a third set. They withdrew quickly.
"They also happen to cost a considerable amount of money," Kashaunta said. "Which I have paid, thanks to the added funds your singularities have brought."
"I will tell you not to worry if I am killed in the courtroom. I already have a deal in place with the Collective to ensure, at considerable costs, that I will still survive in some form."
"And killing Pundacrawla is also a declaration of war on the Peoples' Autonomous Stars," Kashaunta added. "You do not stand alone."
"Indeed, I do not," Pundacrawla smiled. He bowed his head toward Penny. "If I may, I would like to start the discussion around the argument for this case."
His implant connected to several devices on his body, manifesting many holographic articles and stories around the room. Penny's 'Liberator' title was printed on half of them in the headline. In others, images and even videos of her in various situations took precedence.
Pundacrawla pulled up an image of Penny kneeling in the rubble of Justicar, holding a dead child. "This is the argument I will make for you."
Penny nodded, her silence confirming that this was the right decision.
"You will be the alien who came to a world named after the concept of justice, and an Elder who bears the same name. I will show how you care for many Sprilnav in your life, and also that you have little motivation to do so purely for the Judgment. I will show you as a loving daughter to a doting father, as a willing partner of Elder Kashaunta, bearer of the Pact of Blades, and as a woman capable of acting with wisdom and grace beyond her years to work with an enemy to sign a truce contract.
I will paint you in as sympathetic a light as possible and will eventually call you as a witness several times. You will need to swear upon your life that you are not lying, and Indrafabar and Justicar will both be capable of detecting your lies, total or partial. If you want to win this case, you will follow my advice without hesitation and without question. Do you understand?"
"I do, Lawyer Pundacrawla."
"You may call me High Lawyer Pundacrawla, or Elder Pundacrawla. With an Eonic degree, I am deserving of this title, and it will remind them of who backs you and who I am."
"I understand."
Pundacrawla took a long moment to organize his thoughts. He removed unnecessary jargon that might be untranslatable. He had the VI program rephrase and dumb down the explanations he needed to say so they would be shorter and easier to understand. Understanding was critical for the early phases of any case, and the client always needed to be ready for what came.
That was Rule 53.
"Now for the second half of the Judgment. The Alliance. They have published a great deal of rhetoric condemning the Sprilnav and the Elders. Yasihaut will first attempt slander using the usual methods. Your species, your barbarity, your lack of being Elders. She will find images of people on social media platforms calling for the deaths of the Sprilnav en mass.
If she desires, she will flood them with this, as the Alliance's population allows for many instances to be located. She may call to past Elders' deaths or to the previous battles with herself and Kashaunta in the earlier history of your nation. But the most likely platform she will use to pose the Alliance as a threat will be the presence of Phoebe, Edu'frec, Brey, and the hivemind of Humanity. The reasons for this are many. I will list several now, with ideal ways to counter them also attached.
Given Yasihaut's personality, she feels that you and the Alliance's continual success is a direct and constant threat to her reputation as an Elder. When you first shamed her, this is what ignited her hatred. Kashaunta has regaled you more on what reputation means to us immortals, but it is a severe concern. Do not underestimate her willingness to regain her reputation and to do so by attempting to defeat you in a public matter.
Here, your physical advantages will be nullified. If you speak out of turn or show signs of resistance, they will be twisted against you and the Alliance. The next reason is that your specific rivalry is personal. It is unique, and the High Judges know this. You are a threat to her, and everyone in that court knows you mean to kill her when the Judgment ends. Do not express your wishes to do this because she may present your threat to her as one to Elders overall. Now, for the Alliance, the fear of AI, unregulated, intelligent, and improving, as Phoebe and Edu'frec both qualify as, is ancient and potent among the Elders.
Across all of history, rogue AI presents the largest threat to our rule, making weapons capable of disabling our ships with merely thousands of years of time to advance. The Alliance has been given leniency on this. But most importantly is the Path. For an AI, approaching technological singularity is a threat to all other beings in existence by the sheer possibilities that it provides. Yasihaut knows this, as do the High Judges. I will aim to prove that Phoebe and Edu'frec do not intend to kill the Elders or go to war with them when they reach singularity.
But this, Penny, will require that Phoebe comes to the stand herself and swears before the court. The Collective will be connected to her and will be capable of detecting the lies in all forms she attempts to tell. This is likely the only way to defeat the arguments Yasihaut presents in that manner. While Phoebe is not allowed to represent you as a lawyer, she is still allowed to be a witness, presumably for exactly this reason. The Collective will also use this as a means to determine Phoebe's progress in weaponry, so I suggest she finds a way to hide those memories well. The next reason Yasihaut will involve the Alliance is because it is visibly divided.
Your leaders bicker and argue, and she will attempt to use this to show you as an unstable power with dangerous ambition. She will use the clashes between your leaders as a way to convince the High Judges that you cannot be trusted, as your lifespans are too short and your minds too alien to remain trustworthy and united in their support of any sort of treaty. She will likely use this to bypass the reality of your truce with Valisada, which the Alliance is not a direct party to. She will discuss the specific threat of Brey in the Alliance. Her ability to use portals makes your nation over fifty times as productive as it would otherwise be.
This makes you an economic threat, coupled with Phoebe. Brey has a historical hatred of the Sprilnav, which also motivates possible military attacks against us. She is also being directly strengthened by the Alliance's psychic amplifiers. I will attempt to stave off this argument by downplaying the threat Brey poses and showing the reality that a Progenitor could kill her instantly.
I am not expecting any specific arguments in this scenario to be effective against the High Judges. This will be a difficult point if Yasihaut exploits it properly. As for the hivemind of Humanity, your threat comes in multiple forms. Firstly, we can confirm you share some power with the hivemind. So if you grow strong, it too will grow strong, and it bends to the will of Humanity as a whole. Polls show that you all, to put it lightly, hate us.
The hivemind also has a direct diplomatic link to the Source and easy access to it via the Servant in the hivemind's city and the city's location itself amidst the Source's bones. Remember that many of us still call the Source the Great Enemy and the Servants the Enemy. Yasihaut will likely attempt to use Rimiaha's presence here to link you as well to the image of the Source, if not the hivemind. If she does this successfully, you will lose the case.
The hatred we have for the Servants is almost bottomless and is only exceeded by that of the Source. Kashaunta has told me that there have been over 30 thousand attempts to kill Rimiaha since he got here, most psychic in nature. All of them have failed due to the intervention of either Justicar, Kashaunta herself, or Rimiaha using his psychic energy to blend in with Sprilnav. Behind the scenes, Kashaunta has destroyed entire mercenary companies in the Underground for this and made deals with Justicar to suppress any mention of this to avoid stirring the fires of war. I will do whatever I can to distance you from Rimiaha.
But if this fails, you must call him to the stand. Make him testify of his lack of willingness to attack the Sprilnav. Indrafabar may request that his mind be invaded to determine the truth about this. If the Source intervenes in that case or Rimiaha refuses, you will also lose the trial. This is the most dangerous idea that Yasihaut could bring against you, which links back to Humanity and you, Penny.
Another reason she has is that if she can push the Judges enough on the Alliance to either level more restrictions or kill the AIs, you will be crippled beyond recovery and will fade into nothingness for her to kill at her leisure. In short, most of this trial hinges on circumstances and testimonies given by witnesses. This is another reason Indrafabar is on the case. He can detect lies in almost any being if he uses his power. And if you resist, which you might be capable of, but..."
"I lose."
"Exactly. This is not a place of honor. This is not a court like before. Arguments will be heard, debated, and either accepted and recorded or discarded and ignored. I will do my best to use Justicar's law principles like recency to your favor, but history is littered with petty Judges making decisions on cases related to how much a threat people are. Not to this level, of course, but there is luckily precendent to lean on in both types of outcomes."
"Pundacrawla, I thank you for your high-level overview. Shall I assume the legal jargon was left out of your description?"
"Yes," he said. "I was uncertain if some words would translate."
"What are my realistic chances for winning this trial?"
Pundacrawla sighed. He didn't want to see her hope shatter, but he refused to lie. Kashaunta seemed fine with him sitting here and talking about things truthfully. If she wasn't, she would have requested a different lawyer.
"In the worst case scenario, which is Indrafabar and Justicar dislike you, and Yasihaut has a lawyer with an Eonic degree of their own, then I would say about 9%."
"That is quite high, actually, for a worst case scenario."
"That is only because this is a Trial by Majority, Kashaunta's backing and all that implies, your friendships with Nilnacrawla, Spentha and Equisa's continued survival within the Alliance, the various political motivations the Judges might have, the fact that you have built up your image, that you have refrained from killing your enemies recently, and the extreme nature of Yasihaut's hatred for you.
Your attack on Tassidonia's court normally would have been the death knell for you. But since your power didn't kill anyone and specifically was weakened to avoid that, it has been a boon more than a curse. And the Sprilnav with bleeding hearts also are pleased with your war on slavery. You will lose that war without Kashuanta's help, but your determination on that is seen as an endearing characteristic."
"Endearing?"
"The Elders think of you as a child, Penny," Kashaunta said. "Your fight against slavery is seen as a childish fantasy, but in a good way. If you wish, Pundacrawla can lean into either your maturity or immaturity on this case. Both may achieve the desired effect, if done right."
"I am not sure about that. Who will watch this trial, and how many?"
"Cast away your ego, Penny, it will not serve you here," Pundacrawla said.
"I'm 76 years old. I can handle this."
"I don't think-"
"200 quintillion," Kashaunta blurted out. Penny flinched.
"What?"
"That is the number of watchers on the channels that have reserved timeslots for the trial among Sprilnav territory."
"And... Elders?"
"35 million, likely including all the Elders with names of any note," Kashaunta said. Pundacrawla gave a worried look to Penny. But the human just took a deep breath and nodded.
"Thank you for telling me. That is manageable."
"You're quite composed about this," Pundacrawla noted.
"I can conceptualize the enormity of that, but also this is a pretty big deal. And if I prove that I am fighting for the common people, it will achieve-"
"Nothing," Kashaunta said. "They cannot rebel on a large enough scale to risk toppling the Elders. If there is one aspect of our system that has survived the rot of a billion years of decay, it is the ability to divide and conquer. This is not an opportunity to get a manifesto out. I warn you against treating it as such."
At first, Penny looked wary of accepting the Elder's advice. She seemed to contemplate that matter, though she was really talking with her adoptive father. But instead of arguing, she simply smiled.
"I understand, Kashaunta. Thank you. I was getting a little sidetracked. All that matters is winning."
"So is there anything I can do to increase my chances?" Penny asked Pundacrawla.
"Outreach. Keep fighting the slavers, and maybe do a few interviews. Make sure to express a lack of hostility toward the Sprilnav people. And be wary of the gangs. When you are in the trial, they may seek revenge upon the freed slaves, or upon you yourself. I would not be surprised if they did their best to conduct false flag attacks under your name. In high-profile trials like this with many enemies, that risk is high. The gangs have high numbers of personnel and a motivation to see you lose this trial before you destroy them."
"I see. Thank you, High Lawyer Pundacrawla," Penny said, lowering her head in an approximation of a bow. Kashaunta nodded but didn't say anything. Penny took another breath in, and Pundacrawla could feel the air currents entering her nostrils.
"Can you explain exactly how a Trial by Majority would work versus the previous sort of Judgment?"
"Previously, the Judges, led by a High Judge, had to agree on a verdict. In that case, they failed. This structure is more flexible, however. All the Judges on the court, or the High Judges in this case, may voice their opinions behind closed doors and attempt to come to a verdict. They will emerge when the agreed-upon time period has passed, and their decisions will be made public.
If one Judge disagrees, there will not be a mistrial. Instead, the verdict with the most Judges behind it, ideally the majority opinion, will be the one chosen. This Judgement will have 20 High Judges. The final verdict, if none can reach the required 11 Judges to pass, will simply be held once all remaining evidence is heard or discarded."
"Held?"
"The High Judges will be required to resolve the dispute. If there are three or more options, the one or multiple with the fewest High Judges backing it will be discarded, until a runoff occurs. The result will then determine the verdict given."
"Can I be acquitted of the charges if that is the majority opinion?"
"Yes, you can. So can the Alliance. The structure of this Judgment is such that Indrafabar and Justicar will counterbalance each other."
"Can't Indrafabar just offer them money to do what he wants?"
"If he wants to lose his licence, severely harm his reputation, and destroy the careers of the High Judges being bribed, sure. While obviously Justicar will not have the power to truly punish him, the consequences would be severe, to say nothing of the other Progenitors. Given the factions present within them, it would be quite unwise for him to influence the case in such a manner. That influence would not be accepted by all."
"What if Yasihaut makes them an offer they can't refuse, or tries to make it look like Kashaunta did to get me in trouble?"
"I have taken steps to prevent that second outcome," Kashaunta said. "As for the first, my spies within Yasihaut's groups will alert me of it, and Justicar will know."
"But if he is a High Judge, wouldn't that be a conflict of interest?"
"His institutions function properly even without his intervention," Kashaunta replied. "There is little risk of that on his part."
"Hmm. Kashaunta, should I hide the Pact of Blades until the trial?"
"Yes. Its shock value will be maximum at that point."
"Elder Pundacrawla, are the rules on decorum the same as before?"
"Yes, but this time there will be proper enforcement. With the galaxy's eyes on him, Justicar will have no choice but to be firm in this trial. He will not be lenient to either of you, and might punish you more for infractions given that you are not a Sprilnav. It is unfair, but it is in his best interest to please the Elders who will be viewing this trial."
"Kashaunta, is there a way I can help you with the politics around this trial?" Penny asked. "I know if the event is this big, there is a lot for you to do, either to gain or to lose."
"A thoughtful offer. I might require one more linear singularity, and to finally get a piece of that negative energy you promised me. If you could tune your rhetoric toward peace with the Elders, it would help my position massively. The Alliance has already started scrubbing anti-Sprilnav rhetoric from its networks after I discussed the damage they could do, so what remains is your opinions. After the Judgment, more eyes will be on you than before. Declare your continued anti-slavery position, and I will have an easier time helping you with less damage to my reputation due to the revealed Pact of Blades."
"Do you also have an entourage of Elders to back you through thick and thin?" Penny asked. Pundacrawla smiled, glad that she was concerned about helping Elder Kashaunta.
She didn't know it, but now Pundacrawla was fully resolved to help her case. He'd been properly convinced that she really did care for her friends. In this case, while she likely was conflicted about it, Kashaunta was her friend. Given the Pact of Blades was in place between them, they were lifelong friends, close enough to be effectively married.
The political meaning of the Pact was certainly closer to that side of it since its most common use was to unify powerful Elder families. Kashaunta didn't have a family name, but that was because her name already carried so much weight everyone knew who was related to her. Pundacrawla gave Kashaunta a list of additional actions Phoebe needed to take using his implant. Kashaunta's eyes sparkled with recognition, though Penny didn't seem to notice.
"I do," Kashaunta said. "They all work for me. Most of them I acquired through either mud diving or through owed favors, though."
"Mud diving?" Penny asked.
"It is a term for doing one's utmost to please a superior for personal benefit, even if the 'please' section is derived from an unfortunate root meaning."
"I see. Elder Pundacrawla, can you get me something I can use for personal communication to you and Kashaunta, like an implant but less invasive?"
"Yes, I can do that," he responded.
"And also, one more thing before we go. Displace."
Penny appeared right in front of him, crouching down so her eyes aligned perfectly with his. They crackled with psychic energy, but beneath them lay a guarded desperation that he recognized from many of his more unfortunate past clients.
"I will not threaten you right now. But I need you to understand what is at stake for me. My friends. My family. My species. My nation. Over 200 billion living, breathing souls with lives and dreams they struggle every day to inch closer to. My titles, Champion of Humanity and Liberator, do not describe what I am but who I am. My world, my people. My home. Everything I have ever known and everything I have ever loved is at stake. Maybe you know what that is like. Maybe you don't.
Either way, please, I beg you to do your best to save us. I'm relying on you to be my hero, Pundacrawla. You can do this, and you must, or I will die for nothing. You will live with the consequences of this Judgment for the rest of your life. I hope you are everything Kashaunta claims you to be and more.
Hundreds of billions of people are counting on you. Look me in the eyes, Pundacrawla. Take in my alien face and my alien features. Know the creature standing here, and tell her you will do everything you can to save her and her people. And if it comes down to choosing to save me or the Alliance, save the Alliance."
Pundacrawla let out a breath. The hot air flowed across Penny's face, moving alien hair strands to the side. He looked into her eyes, peering into the reflection of three beings inside of her.
"Penny Balica. Champion of Humanity. Liberator. Human. I, Pundacrawla, High Lawyer, Elder, and Sprilnav, promise you, with all of my heart, all of my mind, and all of my soul, that I will do my best to win this Judgment for you and your kin. My actions will speak even louder than my words to you."

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1582373	DONA 도나	ASMR MUKBANG 직접 만든 대왕 가래떡 떡볶이 불닭볶음면 소세지 핫도그 먹방 & 레시피 FIRE NOODLES AND Tteokbokki EATING SOUND!
1555356	ASMR FOOD	豚のナックルをこっそり隠しましたが、夫は知りませんでした|美味しい食べ物の ASMR FOOD 🍜🍝🍜🥓🥢🍗#asmr #美味しい食べ物#食べ物#vlog
1487771	TwinKle Couple	Giant Rainbow Chicken Wing Challenge 🥵#asmr #mukbang
1455109	Hằng Mommy	Thử thách Mukbang cùng bé P5 #hangmommy #babycute #mevabe #asmr #baby
1448189	Swapno Uran Vlogs	কাঁচা আম মাখা #আমমাখা #कच्चे आम को मैश कर लीजिये #villagefood #eatingshow #food #delicious
1418717	tanboy kun	GILA! MUKBANG 3 KELAPA KAMBING MANDI CABE!!!
1361412	TwinKle Couple	Pink VS Yellow Food SpongeBob Food Challenge ASMR🥵 #asmr #mukbang
1240135	zidanmibrr	cape makannya dikit🥹 #mukbang #food
1180346	진영민yeongmin	아이스크림으로 싸이코패스 구별하는법9
1178864	Erika Kaa	FIX!! GA BAKAL ADA YG BISA TEBAK !! #challenge #mukbang #asmr
1125612	써니 Sunny SHORTS	@SunnyEATING Mermaid jelly, thin ice eating sounds
1110766	MAX PLAYS	CHIPS Confusion - Surprise Mukbang Fail #shorts
1078047	Erika Kaa	NAMA ASLI MIAW AUG APA GUYS?? #challenge #mukbang #asmr
1067802	tzuyang쯔양	대왕 솥뚜껑 삼겹살! 숨은 찐 동네맛집 이라길래 가봤습니다🤔 사장님이 음식에 진심인 천호동 맛집 먹방
1066081	Mimi Mihol channel	MAKAN CILOK😁😅 #jajanan #cilok #mukbang #ngeshortsbareng #comedy #funny
1035631	Best Ever Food Review Show	Cambodia’s Street Food Dollar Menu!! Cheapest in Asia!!
1032286	Jon's Snacking Time	EATING VARIOUS CHOCOLATE FROM CONVENIENCE STORE #asmr #mukbang #shorts
1028448	Erika Kaa	MAKAN🍦🍫NEGARA KOREA PERNAH VIRAL GA SIH?? #challenge #mukbang #asmr
1010867	FatSongsong and ThinErmao	mukbang: Who will win the spicy eating competition between Song Song and Er Mao?
945968	BAD BOY PROLOY	Snack Baby Shark🦈 #asmr #mukbang #makansesuaiemoji #babyshark #pinkfong #mommyshark #daddyshark
931624	CR Food Blogger	Bakso wow 🫰🏻🥵 #bakso #baksopedas #kuliner #kulinerbandung #mukbang #kulinertasik #food #baksohits
907100	Cutelittlerudra	#streetfood #kandaloverseatingchallenge #food #foodie #panipuri #golgappa #eatingshow #indianfood #f
894960	tzuyang쯔양	60년전통 메밀국수 몇판 먹었을까? 서울3대메밀국수! 남대문 송옥 판메밀먹방
894569	tzuyang쯔양	갈비 무한리필집에서 진짜 예쁜 배우님을 만났습니다🥹 스테이크 무한리필 먹방
850701	Mister Am ASMR	Funny head ASMR 의 젤리 사탕 초콜릿 먹방 ASMR #asmr #mukbang #먹방 #funny
811000	TwinKle Couple	Random Blue VS Yellow Food MUKBANG ASMR🩵💛 #asmr #mukbang #shorts
800711	Jon Cit	MAKAN BERBAGAI MACAM VARIAN ES KRIM WALLS PART.4 #asmr #mukbang
778190	ARE YOU HUNGRY	Delhi Viral Popcorn Momos 😱😱 Let’s Try #shorts
777432	Nita Mukbang	MUKBANG CHAT SHOW REAL ASMR SOUND , 먹방 모음이 팅쇼 리얼 사운드 ​, Nita Mukbang ep.925
776548	[햄지]Hamzy	Real Mukbang:) Special Spicy Tteokbokki with Beef tripe ☆ Fried food

After reviewing contracts (Themis) heavily over the past week, I stumbled across a question on another source that discussed gap fillers in a licensing agreement and I was really taken aback by it. Honestly, I haven't ever studied this topic and the entire Themis outline on contracts contains about 4 total words about licensing agreements. According to Google, article 2B of the UCC (re: licensing agreements) definitely can be covered on the UBE. Is this accurate and has anyone seen these types of questions on the MEE/MBE?
I haven't given much thought to licensing agreements and my understanding of them is very limited. I'm just trying to understand how much energy to expend figuring out the relationship between gap fillers, the UCC, and licensing agreements.

Timestamp: https://imgur.com/a/EnFf8kE
Monarch UCC 5.5-16.5x44
1/4 MOA adjustment with front focus adjustment.
This was a fantastic scope used on a 16” .223 rifle. The glass is great, adjustments are crisp, and overall it’s in excellent shape
Shipped to lower 48 for $350
PayPal G&S only. No Notes

Timestamp: https://imgur.com/a/jsZKf9R
Holosun AEMS Opmod- giga bubbad mount currently. It’s actually just a screw holdover thing put on on the rail clamp in the meantime as you can see in image. Holosun would send you a new little piece for the bottom or buy a nicer mount up to you. Full solar Mrs model. Ships alone optic only in bubba mount configuration
280$ SOLD
Nikon 3-9x40 Long range BDC Ships in double lug cheapo monstrum rings 90$
PayPal ff shipped.

Originally posted at my blog.
Description
Discover the brutal hidden history of Keanu Reeves’ record-shattering immortal warrior’s saga, soon to be adapted for Netflix!
Renowned filmmaker and record-shattering comic creator Keanu Reeves is joined by writeartist Steve Skroce (The Matrix, Post Americana), screenwriter and director Mattson Tomlin (A Vicious Circle, The Batman Part II), and artist Rebekah Isaacs (Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Money Shot) for a pair of self-contained stories set within the 80,000 year history of BRZRKR! In Poetry of Madness, a sea of gore and devastation awaits as B., through a fateful chance encounter, safeguards the advanced and ancient realm of Atlantis as its unstoppable protector. But a sickly monarch serves as a symbol for the rot inside, as the security and bliss created through B.’s violence is shallow...the cracks created by a secret cult might spell a monstrous end for the legendary city, one beyond even B.’s ability to save. In Dead Empire, a former kingdom eradicated by the BRZRKR has a single living survivor. She and her people knew B. as the God King. In this tragic story of death and cataclysm, the survivor recounts a fable in which lost love, manipulation, and warring empires brought out the very worst of Unute... but is the fable’s narrator reliable? What might the survivor be hiding? Collects BRZRKR: Poetry of Madness #1 and BRZRKR: Fallen Empire #1.
Overview
Title - BRZRKR: Bloodlines [Volume #1]
Author(s) - Keanu Reeves (Author), Mattson Tomlin (Author), Steve Skroce (Illustrator)
Publisher - BOOM! Studios
Genre - Fantasy/Action [Adult Fiction]
Chapters - 2 Stories
Pages - 112 (Print)
Cover - 7/10
Release Date - 2 April, 2024
Get your copy - Amazon
Review
NO Spoilers
Let's start with a simple enough question - What would you do when you found out that 'John Wick', aka Keanu Reeves, has written a comic/graphic novel series featuring himself as an immortal warrior who loves carnage? Me personally, I would want to grab a copy instantly! I mean, it sure sounds super fun, right? So when I got my eyes on 'BRZRKR: Bloodlines' over at NetGalley, I beat the heck out of the 'Read Now' button until I got the digital copy. And for that, I would like to thank the authors, the publishers - BOOM! Studios, and NetGalley for making it readily available. Oh, and how can I forget? My deepest of thanks to 'Mr. John Wick' himself!
So then, what really is 'BRZRKR' all about?
'BRZRKR: Bloodlines' is the first volume of the series which collects two stories - 'Poetry of Madness' and 'Fallen Empire'. Both of these stories shed a light on the life and times of the immortal, carnage-loving warrior known as the Berserker (portrayed by Keanu Reeves himself). Here's a quick summary, along with the pros and cons for each:

• Poetry of Madness

Welcome to Atlantis! A kingdom like no other, Atlantis is full of wealth and prosperity under the rule of King Azaes the Kind. But naturally, enemies want to take over the rich kingdom and have it all for themselves. But Atlantis and its people have nothing to worry or fear about. The King's Guard is there to protect them. And oh, if you didn't already know, the Guard is not consisted of "they", but just one person, and one person only...

For Atlantis’s true legend isn’t in its spires or its riches… but in the demi-god who protects them.
Behold!! Poseidon’s pet demon! The tip of the trident! The hope slayer! Unute, the Berserker!!!

Yep, it's the one and only 'John Wick' aka Keanu Reeves himself as Unute, the Berserker!
The opening sequence sets the tone for what this series is going to be about (at least for most parts in my opinion anyways) - blood, gore, and total CARNAGE! The present attacking enemy forces don't even stand a chance against the Berserker as he makes light work of them all, slashing and cutting them down to pieces one by one (almost quite literally!). And just like that, Atlantis is unharmed yet again, thanks to 'John Wi...', uh, I meant the Berserker. Unute, who is physically messed up himself and covered in gore, is paraded through the city as a hero. Not to worry one bit though, as he is an immortal demi-god (if you hadn't figured it out already) … who also has healing powers (not surprised to be honest, no?).
The story is narrated in the first person POV of Zubatai, a loyal servant to the beloved monarch of Atlantis, King Azaes the Kind. Not only that, she is also the honored chronicler and squire to the King’s personal guard, the royal protector of Atlantis - Unute himself. Her master, the Berserker, has only one true need that must forever be met… CARNAGE. Oh, and he absolutely LOVES carnage. And as Zubatai mentions -

The people want their gore.

And they all, including us fellow readers, are gonna get plenty of it right here!
The king is behaving a bit strange lately, and Vizane, the wizard priest, has something nasty and evil up his sleeves... And suddenly, one fine day, Atlantis is thrown into total chaos, destruction, and death when an unspeakable and equally unimaginable horror is unleashed. Can Zubatai and her master, Unute the Berserker, save the city and its people before it's too late?

• Pros
  • Blood, gore, and carnage present (if you love that kind of stuff) … lots of it!
  • A pretty good "twist" as to the identity of the real enemy. Was certainly not expecting it for sure. Took me by surprise.
• Cons
  
  • Not a solid enough plot in my honest opinion. Didn't get connected, or satisfied, with how it unfolded.
  • The ending wasn't that satisfactory.
• Fallen Empire
  

This time, we start off "many centuries ago" (presumably in the context to the events of 'Poetry of Madness') at a desert kingdom named Olos. The king is anything but kind (unlike the one from the first story). He is ruthless and hungry for power, with a sense of madness about him, and will do anything to crush his enemies. But onto his land, one day, steps foot a person who is not human...
The Berserker is here, and Olos is thrown into turmoil as the immortal's thirst for carnage seems to be never-ending. The queen, who is hiding secrets including her own dark past, sets out to carry on with a plan that will set in motion nothing but death and destruction of the highest of orders for Olos and beyond.
Narrated by the first person POV of a mysterious woman who has been the witness of the Berserker's journey and carnage firsthand, this tale depicts a range of emotions with an underlying aspect of sadness and grief... and what ultimately happens when the "rage for carnage" takes over...

• Pros
  • Blood, gore, and carnage present... but in a considerably lesser amount (which I thought worked out well).
  • There was more to the story, and I really liked it.
  • The emotions displayed - anger, sadness, grief, betrayal, love, etc. came across pretty well.
  • The ending was pretty good and satisfactory.
• Cons
  • None. I enjoyed this one much better than the first.

What was great about it?

• The illustrations were really good throughout. Very much liked the style of it all.
• As mentioned, this has plenty of blood and gore if you like that stuff, and absolutely pulls no punches.
• Read it in one sitting, and enjoyed it for the most parts.
• There are alternate covers present for both the stories. Loved that!

What didn't hit the mark?

• Both the stories were lacking that "X factor" in terms of plot (although I felt that the second was much, much better than the first).

Other info.

• Note: Strong, mature themes present throughout, like - blood, gore, nudity, profanity, etc.

Final thoughts
Overall, if you are looking for a fun and enjoyable start to a series featuring an immortal being who loves carnage, then this just might be what you are looking for. With no shortage of blood, gore, action, drama, and a decent amount of "steamy" stuff throughout, 'BRZRKR: Bloodlines' (Volume #1) pulls no punches in delivering the aforementioned elements. The plot aspect could have been done better in my opinion, but nonetheless, this was a pretty good enough read altogether.
Rating: - 7/10 (A fun read)

I am looking to get a model for my birthday this summer for a little bit of fun (as an adult who finally has a little money and the largest model I have done before is the 4k pcs bucket wheel).
I only recently heard about these types of models and there are a few I like but cant decide what to start with.
My top choices right now:
MOC Executor (about 7,200 pcs) - iconic from my childhood when I was not able to get one
ISD Monarch (12,000 pcs) - reviews seem to say the design of this model is high quality and I think a cool ship
Mould King 17007 (8,500 pcs + moving parts) - seems expensive vs. others and stretches the budget a little to far. Could be a fun challenge if the instructions are good along with the quality of the pieces.
The large Mellennium Falcon (12,000 pcs + angled stand) - big and iconic, meh on the falcon itself.
The union pacific train look interesting (3k pieces, so not the biggest of the bunch)
Once I narrow down the model then I will figure out the best place to order from.
Anything I should look at in more detail or things to stay away from? I know Mould King as a company has some questionable practices, so other alternatives of similar size would be nice to look at.

Hey all, 4th Wall here. The little storm that blew threw upended my, sort of, schedule. So, I'm just decided to write what came to mind first then alternate from there. Hope you guys enjoy the Episode.
First, Previous, Next (Patreon)
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Benjamin stared at the exhausted looking Farie in shock, “How much time do we have?”. Jukha simply stood, stepped over to the floorboards near the fireplace, and began ripping them up with his bare hands. After several planks yielded to his strength, Jukha pulled out a pair of packs, and handed one to Vilora. “Oh” Ben stated flatly, having been given the answer to his question. He turned to see the sisters already packing up their packs, and Ben began the same.

In moments, the four were ready to go, slipping out the back door and into the forest. Benjamin paused, “Hold on a moment.” He turned to look back at the house, reaching out with one hand before clenching it into a fist. He ripped the heat out of the roaring fire dispelling it into the air before kneeling down and placing both hands on the ground. Vilora gasped quietly at the power Benjamin began wielding a dangerous amount of Majik. He pulled from the depths of the world itself, summoning pure compounds from the ground and from various natural sources. He used the refuse in Jukha’s farmyard to provide him with the last of the required ingredients. It wouldn’t be much, but Benjamin relit the fireplace, forcing the flames to turn a few of the remaining logs into charcoal without burning them.
Extinguishing the flames once more, he combined the components he had acquired, before willing the concoction up into the flue and packing it around the circumference of the inside of the brick chimney. Vilora stepped up to him, touching his shoulder with a trembling hand, “What… what have you done. I felt it, but I don’t understand it.”
Benjamin took a long cleansing, and slightly shakey breath. The exertion left him feeling drained for a moment. He turned to her, expression was grim, but he patted her hand on his forearm, “Giving us some breathing room. They will search the house. I’ve just left them a little surprise.” He stood, looking towards the forest, “how do we get to your sisters.”

Vilora nodded and they followed her into the forest, it was not a long walk. And after about 20 minutes they came to a clearing with a strange tree in the middle. “Please, Ben. Whatever happens next, know that we are not Fay. Promise me.” Benjamin heard the fear in her voice wondering if it was from what he had just done, or something deeper. He nodded once absently, his musket already unslung and in his hands. He had loaded a buck and ball cartridge into it before they left the cabin, knowing that he was only going to get one shot in an ambush. Viola had his original flintlock pistol in her hand, and Valtrya was semi hiding behind her sister with Bens Stiletto dagger clutched tightly in her fingers. “Very well,” the Farie stated, and turned to face the tree. Her wings quickly began glowing a vibrant green, and they fluttered violently as she began to chant something in her native tongue.

____________________________________________________________________________________________

The Hunters arrived, led by the singular Orc from the capital guard. He was the same one that had been spared by Benjamin just over a week earlier. He brought with him a tracker. Ski’murika was one of the arachnid people known as Sil’skira. This one was a flat grey to Mi’ki’s own jet-black carapace, and she skittered lightly into the room. The Sil’Skira had no sense of smell, but their sense of taste bordered on the supernatural. She raised one leg to her mandibles, tasting the ground around them, before dipping it into a bowl and repeating the process, “four of them. An Orc, a Fay, two Aereesin females, and… a strange one. I’ve not sampled this one before, but he carries majik’s sour aftertaste.” The Soldier orc, and the three other Hunters managed to not cringe. The Sil’Skira were known for their wide… pallet… as far as what they considered food. Many a sentient being had been turned to a husk by a hungry Sil, and The Orc did not doubt that this one came by her… flavor recognition… honestly. The other three; a Hellirine named Jazeel, her twin brother named Jeraal, and a Mountain troll who’s name defied pronunciation gave the Sil a wide birth, stepping up to the fireplace. “Well, while we’re here. Lets warm our bones.” Jazeel casually began stacking wood and kindling atop the chared remains of an apparently freshly quenched fire. “How far do you think they could have gone?”

“Not far” the Sil’Skira stated absently, “Their food is but lukewarm. I can still taste the spittle on the strange one’s spoon.” She turned to pad over to the fireplace. The Soldier orc, named Gurrut leaned up against the table, “Should we really be stopping for a fire? If they are so close?” Jeraal only smirked, “It’s a long game boss. They may not have gotten far, but they will be frantic. Look at how they left. Something, or someone warned them. They will be ill prepared. No, better to keep our pace. We will wear them down easily in the mor..”

Jazeel lit a spark into her tinder box while her brother was talking. She placed it into the fireplace and the kindling lit quickly. A single twig flared up, sending an ember into the flu where Benjamin had packed his quickly made gunpowder. It ignited instantly, and the flu provided enough constriction to pressurize the reaction. The fireplace detonated in a weak, but effective improvised bomb. The brickwork shattered into shards of deadly fragmentation, Jareel simply ceased to exist, being turned to a cloud of yellow blood and internal organs trimmed in red skin and white bone fragments. Her brother’s head was caved in by a large brick chunk, sending skull bone spalling deep into his brain, rending it to ribbons. He died before he hit the floor. The Sil’Skira’s abdomen popped like a balloon in the over pressure wave, and she quickly curled into a quivering ball as her blood pressure dropped, no longer fighting against her leg muscles. Their employer, the soldier orc from the capital, lost his arm above the elbow. His armor saved his vital organs however, but one shard threaded the needle, taking his right eye. The Mountain troll was thrown to the far wall, but Her naturally resilient body survived both the shockwave and the fragmentation impacts. She picked herself off the floor, stumbling to the screaming capital guard. She bound his wounds quickly before taking a flaming shard of the sabotaged fire and searing the stump to stop the bleeding. She then left him there. There was no point in anything else. The hunt was over.

___________________________________________________________________________________________
Benjamin tried not to stare, but he was failing miserably. Jukha’s Farie wife’s body was glowing bright green now, and he almost had to shade his eyes if he tried to look directly at her. She was not the only one he was struggling not to stare at. Viola’s explanation and subsequent revelation had taken him by surprise. He realized that he had treated them like children, pupils at best. Benjamin had focused on training them to be free, turning a blind eye to the relationship forming between them and himself. *You are not forcing us to do anything but leave* He ran that statement over in his mind. The “leave you” was implicated heavily, and it ate at him. He did not want to force these girls to do anything. Yet, despite his best efforts, he was forcing something on them anyway. He silently both cursed his situation and cursed his own ignorance. He found that, if he was truthful with himself, he did not want them to leave either; and that more personal revelation brought its own paradox. He could not bear to own them as property, but the thought of leaving them tore at him with similar pain.

“It is almost time!” Benjamin looked back from where he was keeping watch, Vilora was panting heavily, her painfully bright glowing wings drooping slightly, “I won’t be able to keep the connection for long!” She called as the tree in front of them began to creak. Two of its great limbs began to move on their own accord, groaning under forces older than space and time. Benjamin’s eyes widened as the two branches slowly formed a sphere, then his head snapped around at the sound of a dull thud emanating from the direction they had come. He smiled grimly. His little IED must have been triggered, and with any luck, taken their pursuers with it.

“Ready yourselves!” Jukha called, and Ben turned back to a view he had not expected in his wildest dreams. ‘you’ve gatta be shitting me’ He thought as a rippling green mirror filled in the center of the circle created by the branches of the tree. Benjamin felt the sisters at his side. And he nodded to them, “you first. I’ll cover our six.” Vi raised an eyebrow at the odd expression but nodded. Taking her sister’s hand and stepping through the portal. They were closely followed by Jukha, who seemed absurdly calm about the whole thing. Benjamin held his ground, slowly backing toward the portal while he kept his eye on the tree line.

“Benjamin. Hurry, I can’t.. I can’t hold!” Vilora’s frantic tone moved Benjamin into action, He spun on his heels, slipping his musket to his left hand and scooping up Vilora as he passed her at a full sprint. He jumped as the portal sputtered, passing through it and into a familiar tunnel that he remembered from his first meeting with the Celestial, Sol. This one was a minute fraction of the distance, however, a single step in fact. His feet landed on soft moss and an earthy smell alerted him to his change of location. His eyes began to adjust to the much dimmer light as he set Vilora’s exhausted form on the ground gently. His eyes peeled away the darkness after a moment and Benjamin grunted, tucking the butt of the musket under his right arm as he thumbed the hammer and slapped the frizzen in place. He drew his sword/pistol hybrid and settled the sights on a second being, who just so happened to have the misfortune of being ordered to bind the sister’s wrists. The mechanical sounds of his weapons attracted the attention of everyone in attendance, but his voice froze them in place, “unbind them… now” he growled.
His musket, loaded with Buck and ball, was trained on a small group of Farie’s standing in close formation with thin lances rested base to the on the ground. The other Farie was currently holding the rope leash to the sisters. He glanced at the small squad of lancers, “you move, you die.” His tone bore icy promise on its wings, and even Jukha could not bring himself to act. “Benjamin. Peace, please. These are my sisters. They are Vin. Remember your promise” Vilora’s voice cut through the silence first, and Benjamin glanced at her, then back at the scene in front of him. He took a long deep breath, sheathing his sword/revolver, and lowering his Musket. He did not sling it, he returned it so a muzzle up ready position designed to keep his ammunition from falling out of the barrel should he still need it. “Then please explain to them that I have a pathological aversion these women being bound, and that It would be in their best interest to release them...mediately.” Vilora’s eyes widened as she turned to see the state of Vi and Val. She spoke quickly, and the Vin who held the girls looked back at Ben in shock before frantically unbinding both Vi and Val. The girls sprinted to Benjamin, slamming into him with shaking embraces before he gently, but protectively pushed them behind him.

One of the Lancers, a Farie with more ornate armor on than the rest stepped forward and Benjamin turned to face her, not so subtly settling his musket into a position to easily kill her if he needed. The Fairie paused, clearly considering something before Vilora stepped over and laid a hand on her shoulder. She shook her head at the other woman, it was an almost imperceptible thing, but the other farie’s eyes widened as she regarded Benjamin again. “Peace, Beenjaymin.” She said finally, handing off her lance to a subordinate and opening her hands to show them empty. “We do not mean you harm, but we must protect what little we have left. The Matriarch wishes to see you, but we cannot allow you to meet here bearing arms. Please, understand.”

Benjamin hesitated, and Viola leaned around him to look up. He gave her a smiling glance before looking back at the Farie. She nodded in understanding, “I swear to you. Your… girls… will be permitted to stay at your side for the trip. Our sister has explained that they are not mere slaves to you.” Benjamin eyed her skeptically, and if this realms concept of honesty were not already explained to him, he would have not believed her. He slowly reached for the hammer on his musket, lowering it gently to half-cock before handing it slowly to the Farie who originally bound the sisters, “Do not touch anything on it. This is not a weapon you have any concept of, and it can kill 4 people at once.” He held her gaze until she nodded, “lean it against something. This side up, and DON’T touch it.” He then unhooked the scabbard from his belt, handing the revolver sword and its sheath to her as one unit, “Same goes for this. I’ll know if you touch it. It is very loud.” He did the same with Vi’s flintlock pistol, surprised that it didn’t go off when it was dropped on the ground during their capture. The stiletto dagger was the last, a familiar weapon to this realm that needed no explanation.

“Very well.” Benjamin said finally, “I believe that is everything.” The head lancer nodded, waving an arm elegantly toward the biggest live oak that Benjamin had ever seen. Benjamin thought it might be a live oak, at least. It stood twice the height of a California Red Wood but had the proportions of a Live oak. Massive drooping main branches arched overhead before touching the ground and returning skyward. Some of the largest limbs were the lowest and seem to bounce along the ground. Each grounding seemed to sprout smaller trees, and Benjamin felt his mouth fall open as they drew closer. The texture of the limbs sharpened as they closed, and Benjamin began to make out lit windows, carved into the tree limbs themselves.

Carved into the base of the tree was an ornate entrance with lettering that Benjamin didn’t recognize carved into the arches. Benjamin felt Viola take one of his hands, and Valtrya take the other. He ran his thumbs over the soft tops of their hands, trying to comfort them as much as he could. He felt them press up against him as they entered a throne room of some kind. On the far end, atop a series of steps was a throne, carved into the wall itself. “The Matriarch” Vilora whispered from behind him.

Ben halted several paces behind the lancer squad, bowing as he watched Vilora and Jukha do so out of the corner of his eye. “Rise” came the command from the ornately yet unarmored Farie sitting on the throne, “So tell me,” She asked, looking directly at Benjamin, who was keeping the girls directly behind him, “Are you the reason that my orders to bind the Aereesins were not followed?” Benjamin instantly regretted giving up his weapons. “I am,” he stated meeting her gaze unflinchingly. “Oh? You believe yourself above my command?” Her cold tone registered, and Benjamin slowly closed his fist, finding what he was looking for. A single guard, one not present at their arrival began to march toward him, hand on her sword.

Benjamin speared the guard with an icy glare, while talking to the Farie ruler, “I expected Vin to be more hospitable.” He reached out with one hand and the guard froze as he gripped the metal of her armor with his mind, “Especially with women baring Vin names in solidarity.” He slowly began to close his outstretched fist, and the guard inside the armor began screaming as the metal buckled, compressing against her body. Benjamin finally turned his icy gaze to the monarch, “My girls” He hated to use that card, but it was the only one he had that wasn’t lethal, “Have spent over a century being bound, tortured, raped, and degraded. I killed their former master, a Romoregin no less, for it. I killed his puke son’s champion for it. I’ve killed two capital guards for it. I will kill without mercy to keep bindings from touching their skin. So, my lady what are you willing to do to bind them.” He gave the guards armor another small squeeze, using the shrieking metal to punctuate his resolve.

The queen slowly stepped off her Throne, walking stoically over to her guard as she eyed Benjamin contemplatively. “Stand down, Vailin.” She said to the now trembling guard, but her eyes were on Benjamin. Benjamin slowly released his grip on her armor and she fell to the floor, weeping. “You two, get her to a healer.” The monarch ordered before taking to her wings and hovering up to face Benjamin at eye level. “You care so much for your slaves, yet you do not free them. Why is that.”

“Benjamin doesn’t want to keep us slaves!” Viola blurted out before she caught herself meekly adding “Your majesty” as the Monarch leveled a surprised but firm expression at her. “Oh? And yet you are still his, dear.” she said, turning back to Benjamin. Benjamin took a deep breath, “The principality would have resold them anyway. My only choice was to own them, teach them, then smuggle them to a free nation, or murder them by returning them to the system. Had we made it to Maridia, they would be emancipated already.” He met the Monarchs gaze levelly, “Their lives are in my hands… but at least their blood isn’t on them.”

“Hmm, compassion and violence of action. No wonder Cosmos touched you.” The Queen mused. Benjamin chuckled at the expression drawing a raised eyebrow from the Vin Monarch, “Something funny, young one?” and Benjamin gave her an amused smile, “It’s just that I’ve heard something like that before, from Sol. I believe the Orcs call her Suelin.”

This time, the Vin Monarch’s face smoothed of all expression as she failed to find any falsehood in Benjamin, “Come with me, please.” She stated it as a question, but her urgency peaked Benjamin's curiosity. The four of them followed the queen up to the throne. She pulled on an armrest and the throne slid into the wall to one side, revealing a simply carved passage into the heart of the tree.
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f you made it this far, I very much appreciate it. I hope you enjoyed the episode! If you believe I have earned it, I have a Patreon that is two episodes ahead of the free releases for this series. I hope you feel taking a look is worth it. Either way, come hang out in the comments. Everyone's welcome! I've discovered Im a bit of a "warts and all" poster, so even critical comments are welcome. Hell, You might even teach me something (it happens more than I'd like to admit).
I have heard people off and on reference Royal road, So I am going to give it another shot. I'll be adding the Royal Road link from now on. If you like reading over there, It is on the same schedule as here. I would greatly appreciate a like/review/comment if you feel so inclined. Thank you again for stopping by.
First, Previous, Next (Patreon) Royal Road

So I did two recent blind buys(bad I know). But they were based upon fragrantica and notes that I know I like. The problem is, there are very limited reviews out there for this house in particular, which was surprising as they have been out since 1996. I was wondering if anyone has had any experience with this house? I have Oud Noir and Monarch arriving in the mail soon and can provide a detailed review if anyone is also looking into them!

Well, I just beat the game. Overall I enjoyed it, don't regret playing it, but there was a lot about the game that was pretty off putting. I really didn't enjoy any of the Umbral mechanics, a lot of the areas were pretty drab and uninspired (even in axiom), and the encounter design was just not great. The last area of the game was especially frustrating - how many flame dogs can we put in a single room?
As for positives, the combat was genuinely fun when done right (I loathed the combat of the 2014 game), the player progression was rewarding, the quests were great. The bosses... well, let's get to that.
Here is my quick review of every boss I fought in my first playthrough of the game (Radiance ending). I chose to play the game as melee only, no summons or spell casting. I find that this is the way I enjoy soulslike games the most, although I'm sure it made some bosses particularly annoying.
Here is a playlist of all of my first kills, and I will also include links to the specific videos in each.
Pieta, She of Blessed Renewal - Fantastic fight. Really fun, very tough considering you have no resources and very little game knowledge. This fight is what made me decide to give the game a real go. 9/10
Scourged Sister Delyth - Cool fight, but the ambiguity of what to do with the parasite made was a bit of a put off. I thought that I had sucked the parasite out of her but of course she just walked out of range. 7/10
Gentle Gaverus, Mistress of Hounds - Add based fights can be really quite annoying, and this is no exception. It sucks to have to spend so much time cleaning up the adds before you actually get to fight the boss. Still, not a bad fight. 4/10
The Congregator of Flesh - Cool fight, a lot of fun. Really well done for a big monster fight. Design is awesome if a little bit goofy. 7/10
Mendacious Visage - Wow, this absolutely sucked. This fight was not enjoyable in the slightest. The boss has way too much health, and easily exploited AI made this a real slog. Not good. 2/10
The Hushed Saint - Incredible fight. Really fun, very tough. Had to master the fight to beat it and none of his moves felt unfair or gimmicky. The only thing detracting from the fight is the horse phases, which are dead boring if you don't use the parasites, and insanely frustrating if you do try to use them. 8/10
Crimson Rector Percival - Fun fight once I learned how to deal with the gimmick of his healing, by just doing the whole fight in Umbral. Not really a lot to it though. 5/10
Ruiner - an easy fight made frustrating by the arena and those totems he drops. Not really very fun, couldn't wait to be done with it. 4/10
Infernal Enchantress - The first fight that I really hated. Visage made me sad, this one just made me furious with frustration. Popping the parasites was a gimmick I was already sick of, and this fight highlights the design flaw of not being able to see around you while you are siphoning. Combine that with many attacks that would one shot me and yeah this fight was one of the worst. Only getting rated higher than Visage because at least there was some strategy involved here. 3/10
The Sacred Resonance of Tenacity - Not a bad fight. Full of the usual gimmicks, but done in a way that makes them easy to deal with and not frustrating. Fun boss, but like all of these 'regular enemy' mini bosses there isn't a lot to his moveset, which means you get pretty bored as you chip away at the big health pool. 5/10
Spurned Progeny - Awesome boss design, cool arena, but somewhat spoiled by a lot of waiting around as he lumbers towards you. Seemed to me like the Iron King fight from DS2, but done 'right'. If it wasn't for the down time it would be higher rated. 7/10
Kinrangr Guardian Folard - The dumb gimmicks return in all their glory. The only thing that made this fight good was that it was easy, so over quick. 4/10
Griefbound Rowena - Frustrating, add spam. Really not fun. The arena even looks exactly like the Crystal Sage's from DS3, which this boss is pretty much a copy of. I wouldn't have hated it so much if she didn't have that frost shield that prevents you from putting pressure on her. Sort of felt like the devs forcing me to engage with the most annoying aspect of the fight. 3/10
The Hollow Crow - Oh my god. Just one of the worst bosses in a soulslike I've ever encountered. The fight is ONLY adds, it goes FOREVER and the gimmick of the fight is obtuse and arbitrary. I could not work out why I was able to Soulflay her some times but not others. The adds they chose are the most annoying adds that you could have possibly picked, and throw in some movement slowing for extra frustration. Just a miserable experience. It gets a 1 instead of a 0 because the design is good. 1/10
Abiding Defender Duo - As far as duo fights go, this is one of the better ones. A good mix of strategy and skill required. A fun fight, but the bloated health pools make it go on for a bit too long. 7/10
Blessed Carrion Knight Sanisho - A straight up fight with added poison. Not bad really, but I think I only enjoyed it because my hp restore ring pretty much negated the gimmick. Also a one shot, so a little too easy. 6/10
Tancred, Master of Castigations - A lot of fun. One of the better fights for sure. Really enjoyable move sets to learn, satisfying to master, forgiving enough to not be too frustrating. Well, except for in phase two when I was jammed against a wall in lava. Also, the parasite gimmick adds NOTHING to the fight. Why do they keep putting those in? There's not even a real lore reason for it as far as I could discern? 8/10
Skinstealer - Incredibly easy fight with what is clearly just going to be a standard enemy. Forgettable. 3/10
Bringer of Stillness - Look, I get the idea of introducing regular enemies as mini bosses first. But I had fought tens of these guys throughout the game already, including two at once. Adding a third doesn't make the fight interesting. Also why can't I plunge attack at the start? Another first try kill to boot. 2/10
Harrower Dervla, the Pledged Knight - Absolutely awesome fight, that was somewhat spoiled by an apparently known bug where the music didn't play. A real shame, because it shows just how much the music contributes to the tension and excitement. If the music had worked this fight might have been an 8 or 9. 7/10
Abbess Ursula - One shot moves, and an area denial ability that she can sit in and heal herself. Annoying fight, but I enjoyed the aesthetic elements. Not too hard either, so not too painful. 5/10
Rapturous Huntress Lirenne - Fun fight with a lot of cool moves, but was too easy. Killed her first try. 6/10
The Iron Wayfarer - I guess he wanted the rune of Adyr? Cool fight, one of the better NPC fights. Good music. 6/10
Paladin's Burden - This was done first try, which is why it was a 7 minute fight. Knowing how to deal with the heal makes the fight a lot more palatable. 5/10
Judge Cleric, the Radiant Sentinel - Really great fight. Great design, cool arena, interesting moveset and phase transition. Perhaps a little on the easy side for a figure that has been built up so much in the story. Great music. 8/10
The Lightreaper - Really not a fan of being forced to summon to complete questlines, as I like to play these games without summoning if possible. Fight is pretty cool, he can be very dangerous. Probably the fight with the highest genuine difficulty so far. Big props to anyone that kills this guy in the tutorial. 8/10
Andreas of Ebb - Would be an okay fight if he didn't have so much damn health. The fight just goes forever and ever, and his quick chip damage moves make it a battle of attrition. Arena is frustrating, with those market stalls often blocking your view. 3/10
Damarose the Marked - I did this fight like two hours ago, and I can't remember it at all. At least it was easy. 3/10
The Sundered Monarch - Cool fight, it's a shame that there isn't a lot to it. Very easy unfortunately, considering he is pretty much the final boss. His design is a bit on the goofy side too. 7/10
Adyr, the Bereft Exile - What the fuck is this? Who sees the deacons of the deep and goes, YES that will be the final boss of our game! Mind boggling decision for the final boss of the game and a guy you've been hearing about since the very start. At least it was over easily. notaboss/10