Pritable ruler thirds

Can you still contact the police against these types of perpetrators even though they have murdered people or committed a crime? I mean, can they still be arrested and put into prison?

2024.05.21 11:38 Affectionate-Mars196 Can you still contact the police against these types of perpetrators even though they have murdered people or committed a crime? I mean, can they still be arrested and put into prison?

In terms of a dictator:
Figures such as Putin are the ones usually giving their subordinates such as mercenaries, special forces or the regular military the order to commit any crime against humanity, so they are the true mastermind, sitting behind the scenes while their subordinates commit the crime on their behalf.
They know that the police can't do shit to them, due to being in power of the country, so it'll not make sense as to why they would arrest someone above their pay grade. It does matter if you pursue the case via the ICC, that only works in absentia but not make them physically present.
They have their own military, law enforcement and equivalent of the CIA, so the police stand no chance on approaching them, despite these people being complicit with committing any crime, such as murder, torture, extortion, kidnapping, etc.
In terms of PMCs & Mercenaries:
Usually, they are employed by a private corporation. Even though the personnel look like soldiers, they are not fighting for a nation, solely for monetary gain, the rules for typical soldiers do not apply since they are not considered as part of the conventional military.
Heads of such PMC firms know that police can't arrest them directly, shifting accountability of their crimes to a third party just to save their own skin, so it'll be a challenge. A real example, there were American mercenaries who murdered 2 Iraqi nationals in cold blood but got away with it.
The most infuriating part is that they were pardoned by the president 9 years after it happened, plus the USA is not an official member of the ICC, making it hard for the victim to pursue justice, basically the government who hired them are deemed immune from legal repercussions.
In terms of terrorist organizations:
You will be in immediate danger if you dared to confront or called the authorities on such people and organizations, since they will kill everyone without mercy if they know you alerted the police of their crimes or atrocities. (Murder: Beheadings)
Police would be too intimidated to face them (since they will also target their loved ones), from terrorists ruthless as I5I5 are known to kidnap, torture and murder anybody regardless of their status and occupation. They have no problem on murdering both the judge and jury.
You can try to pursue justice, but it'll come at a huge sacrifice, plenty of judges, jurors, cops, lawyers, prosecutors, eyewitnesses, private citizens including yourself will all be prey, as all of you will be murdered by these people, so there is no trial or prison time for them.
In terms of governmental bodies & departments:
There is no luck, since they are politicians and have such a strong upper hand over the police, you can be the next Snowden but guarantee that you'll be labeled as a traitor and a whistleblower, you are basically doomed at this point. (There's not much you can do to save yourself.)
Organizations equivalent to the NSA or CIA can orchestrate an assassination staging it as an accident, while they utilize their governmental connections to conceal their involvement. The police are heavily tied to the state, so calling them while being targeted is useless.
These governmental bodies can also hire a hitman too, that is if you know too much. Since they can just order and pay a contract killer to assassinate you, who might subject you to torture eventually on considering killing you.
In terms of the military and special forces:
In a situation akin to what happened in Iraq, the soldiers will consider policemen in the country they are in as combatants, so the police will be murdered in cold blood, as the military remains steadfast about asserting their authority over them.
Despite if the military or special forces being complicit on murdering your loved ones, you got to consider that they are following orders from the higher authorities (usually their superior or government itself) so that will pose a challenge on arresting the true mastermind.
The cloest thing you can achieve is at least arresting one of the soldiers through military justice and a court martial to convict him or her, but not the official armed force branch itself. For instance, what happened at a prison in Iraq, the US troops abused the inmates there.
In terms of a world leader:
Again, like with dictators, they are the ruler of the nation. Whilst still in their tenure, they cannot be prosecuted, the only way that would work is to wait for their tenure to end, once they are no longer in office then you can pursue justice.
For example, Trump incited the insurrection of the white house, despite him not bearing arms, but his rhetoric exacerbated the influence on his supporters to storm the white house, it was too much for the police to handle, although they did arrest some figures involved.
Though Trump himself remained immune whilst in power, although after he was no longer president, there was a case against him for that, it is still dragging on until now. He is not been officially convicted of the insurrection back in 2021.
submitted by Affectionate-Mars196 to legaladviceofftopic [link] [comments]


2024.05.21 03:02 rei_mayo I try to integrate my OCs and other characters in Honkai : Star Rail !

Hello !
So... I'm rei_mayo, and I have a little bit unrealistic project. I create OCs and I imagine characters in lore what would they be in game.
I'm French, so I'm sorry for my bad English ! I prefer precise that there is just original or official content in the post ! This is just from the currents versions of the game and from my head !
Since one year, I work in my free time on this project and there is multiple things :
-First part : the lore of the project, like the background and the location ;
-Second part : the relics, and the elevation materials ;
-Third part : the characters, and the banners ;
-Fourth and last part : the plot of the history (in the big lines).
I prefer to precise why I do this. When I play video games, I love to create characters when it's possible, and in MiHoYo games, it's not possible... But, create characters that only me like, it's very selfish, so I would like to present them to have notices if they are fantastic !

First part :

So, the history would be in a location called the "Shìjiè-Chuán of Xianzhou" (nb : mean Ship-World (世界船) in Chinese). The Shìjiè-Chuán is the capital and the most important part of the Alliance. A little time after Lan became an Aeon, Yaoshi asks to an Emanator to kill the Emperor of Xianzhou and to make a plague mark in the original planet of Xianzhou.
Lan discovers that and he purifies the planet, kill Abominations, destroys the plague mark. With the remains of the planet and the Xianzhouan (?) planet, he creates a huge boat, the Shìjiè-Chuán.
For comparative, the Shìjiè-Chuán is so huge that all the other boats can fit in with no problem. It's contains important locations like :
-The Judgment Palace : The place where the Ten Lords and the Generals Arbiters judges the most dangerous criminals. Despite the fact the criminals are jail in the Xuling, they really are judge in the Shìjiè-Chuán.
-The Starry Streets : Streets where neon, big screens and buildings are. The popular streets of the Shìjiè-Chuán, mix of tradition and modernity.
-The Fallen Garden : A garden where plants of all the planets who were saved by the Hunt are. It's also the place where the Yamato was before the Emanator of Lan gets him.
-The Shackling Prison : The prison of Xianzhou, where all the criminals of the Alliance are located. In the depths of the prison, just one person is remained... Shuhu, Emanator of Abundance.
-The siege of the Ten Lords Commission : The place where all the Ten Lords (not included the Fallen King and the Stellar Queen) are when there is no process. It's also the place where all the Judges, the Wraith Wardens and the Aurumations are when they don't have missions.
-The boats Goldsmithery : The place where the boats of the Alliance are repair. Actually, the Cangcheng is here for reparation after the destruction of Rahu.
-Other places... How to discover them ? Play~
And here is some clarifications !
So, who is the Marshals ?
In my idea, Hua is a false Marshal, to cover and hide the Shìjiè-Chuán, but she's really powerful. She would be a Fu Hua expy... And I will talk about her later...
The reals Marshals are Rei -The Fallen King- and Xingxing -The Stellar Queen-.
Rei is the Emanator (and the only) of Lan. Called the Fallen King because of a legend, he's considered like the most powerful person of the Alliance. He carries a divine katana called the Yamato-Shinigami. (nb : Yamato > Yama, Hindu god and judge of the dead. The Chinese god Yanluowang or Yanluo Wang has his origins in Yama. Shinigami > Death Kami). I will talk about him later.
Xingxing (nb : star (星星) in Chinese) is an Emanator of Nous and a Eclairor (?) of IX. Called the Stellar Queen because she uses stars with martial art for fight, she done renovations in the Shìjiè-Chuán for make it more modern. I will talk about her later too.
The Marshals are the boss of Xianzhou and of all the factions who follow the Hunt, like the Galaxy Rangers. They rule all the commissions, and are very important, but they rule different commissions. For example, The Fallen King rule the Cloud Knights, but the Stellar Queen rule the Artisanship Commission. The only Commission they rule together is the Ten Lords Commission.
Who is the Ten Lords ?
In my idea, the Ten Lords Commission would be composed with eight Lords and the two Marshals, and that would be the Ten Lords. In game, it's said that nobody knows where the commission is despite the members of the Commission them-self, but she would be in the Shìjiè-Chuán. The Ten Lords would be :
-The Fallen King ;
-The Stellar Queen ;
-Yuen (I will talk about her later) ;
-Styx, an Emanator of Finality and a member of the Galaxy Rangers (I will talk about him later);
-Athena (I will talk about her later) ;
-and other people... NPCs, so we don't care about them.
Who is really Hua ?
In my idea, Hua would be a "Marshal". When she (in my mind, she's a she) appears in public, she is the Marshal, but in the Shìjiè-Chuán, she's judge like a General. Her title would be the "Fenghuang" (nb : phoenix of Chinese mythology).She would be in the General of the Cangcheng when he would be repair.
But... The Cangcheng is destroyed, no ?
Yes, he was devoured by the activated planet Rahu. But in the year 8098 (so two years before the game), Rei destroyed Rahu (and killed ~10 000 000 000 of abominations). That liberated the remains of the Cangcheng, and Xianzhou is trying repair him.
Why Shuhu is in the prison ? Shouldn't be dead ?
Technically, she's in prison, but it's precised that nobody knows if it's the really Shuhu of not. In fact, in each prison of Xianzhou, a few reproductions mecha-organics were made by the Stellar Queen for hide the real Shuhu. In the Shìjiè-Chuán, she's just a spirit, seal in a transparant box cell. She just wants to talk with five persons : The Fallen King, the Stellar Queen, Yuen, Blade and Jing Yuan. The unique persons who know that Shuhu is alive are the Ten Lords, the Generals and the Stellaron Hunters. Her real body and remains are with the Abundance, but originally her remains were with Xianzhou, and her spirit was with the Abundance.
Now, here is some more lore that I created :
The Trinity of the Abundance :
If you never see Yaoshi, THEY have a lot of plants in THEIR representation. There is a wheat, a bramble, and a large tree.
I imagine that the members of Abundance considered that these three plants are divines. For them, the wheat represent the immortality, the bramble represent the price to pay for become immortal and the thanks to Yaoshi, and the tree represent the life the Abundance offer to the mortals.Traditionally, the Emanators must wear one of these three symbols. For example, Shuhu wears brambles for gives her blood to Yaoshi.
At the opposite, each plant that the Hunt has purified is considered as a sin. For example, each lotus in the Xianzhou Alliance is a sin for Abundance. But the lotus in the planets of Abundance are holy. The lotus is the incarnation of Yaoshi THEM-SELF, but only if it's in a planet of Abundance.
Rakshasa and Luocha :
If you know Luocha, I think I don't to explain that is said that he's related to the Abundance. And Luocha is an other name for "Rakshasa", a type of evil spirit of the Buddhist mythologize who are cannibals. So, I will tell you who they are :
So, after the planet of Luocha get destroyed and his wife gets killed under his eyes, Yaoshi gave to him immortality and powers to become an Emanator of Abundance. Luocha asks to resuscitated his wife, but Yaoshi tells that THEY will do that if Luocha destroys one of the different boats of the Xianzhou Alliance. But Luocha, who was a doctor in his original planet, cannot do that. But the time past, and he couldn't do that... But Yaoshi implants an sort of mara in him, like an evil spirit, so Luocha decided something.
I imagine that Luocha create a another corpse/puppet with remains of different corpses, and transverse the evil part of him in this, but not his powers and his immortality, to trying to find an another way to resuscitate his wife. He create a coffin with powers of Abundance for conserve the corpse of his love, and decided to leave the Abundance, and became a interstellar merchant for trying to discover how to resuscitate his wife.
But Yaoshi couldn't accept that. So THEY gave powers and life to the puppet contained Rakshasa, and THEY gave immortality. And Rakshasa became an Emanator of Yaoshi, for avenge him and Yaoshi. But because he was born from Luocha spirit, he has his savior of doctor.
Rakshasa tries, with Shuhu and the living planet Rahu, to destroy the Shìjiè-Chuán. But the Stellar Queen fought him, and "kill him". But Rakshasa false his death, and he takes with him the remains of Shuhu.
Rakshasa is known for his cannibalism and for his experiences. He's like a Dottore in term of personality, but more crazy and more psychopathic.
The Yamato-Shinigami and the divine spirits of the Hunt :
So, what is the Yamato-Shinigami ?
This saber is an odachi created by Lan, to purge the Abominations and for the Emanators of Lan. So, Lan created this saber with a galaxy and imaginary energy for this first Emanator, but when he dies, Lan hid the saber in the Shìjiè-Chuán for the next Emanator... A long time ago, Rei meditated in the Stellar Garden after the death of his mother, and the Yamato has called him. Since this event, he and the Yamato are lied and the odachi is his saber.
Lan doesn't choose the Carrier of the Yamato, but it's the saber himself who choose his owner. The saber has only two owners in his life : The first Emanator of Lan and Rei.
Lan doesn't place the powers he gives to his Emanator in the Emanator, he place the powers in the Yamato. More the Emanator does miracles and heroics acts, more the Emanator gain the power. Actually, Rei have 100% of his powers, but there is a state more powerful : the Resonance.The Resonance is a phenomenon that caused when the willpower of the Emanator and the willpower of the Yamato are the same, and the power of the Emanator are increase so much that the people say when the Fallen King reach this state temporary, he becomes powerful as a Aeon.
But this state can be permanent, if the willpower of Rei became so strong that him and the Yamato become just one. The spirit in the saber changes his form according to who is the person who meet him. And he doesn't fight, the spirit of the Yamato-Shinigami doesn't fight with Emanators. The Yamato measure ~225 cm/~7,3 feet, and his pound is unknown. (The pound depend of who carries the blade. Very light for the carrier but very heavy for the other)
But what are the divine spirits of the Hunt ?
Do you know the Lighting Lord ? I think yes.>! In the lore, it's "said" and showed that the past General of the Luofu, Teng Xiao, uses the Lightning Lord, like Jing Yuan. But not the same sword, because of the Starfall Reverie has been forged by Blade when he was Yingxing.!< So I imagined that :
The first Generals, when they passed away, Lan take there spirits and gives a lot of power. Since the creations of these spirits, they are give to the Generals, until they choose to retire. Then, it's give to the next Generals, and this cycle is repeated. These spirits are unlike of the spirit of the Yamato, because they don't give their powers and doesn't are in a weapon. Plus, the spirit of the Yamato can't fight with his carrier.
Technically, the General Arbiters are Emanators, like Rei, but the divine spirits changes all. Rei does have powers of Lan/The Hunt and he has the Yamato-Shinigami, but if he fights without, he changes nothing (just the fact that the Yamato uses as a multiplying for the slashes. But if the Generals fights without the spirits, it would changes. (it's a theory/created lore, so please, not rude in comments !)
So the divine spirits would be like the reasons why the Generals of the Hunt are considered as Emanators.
So, now, I think the first part is finish... Let's go to the second part !

Second part :

The relics :
For the relics, I imagine some relics and some planet ornaments :
1 : Set of the Tearful Child of the Moon :
Memories of the Moon's Child : Beyond dreams, the tearful child of the Moon remembers his mother during the day, and finds her again at night. The child of the Moon is said to protect his mother from nightmarish creatures as she searches for her lost husband among the stars.
Protective cuddly toy of the Moon's Child : Beyond dreams, the tearful child of the Moon protects his mother with his teddy bear during the day, and finds her again at night. It is said that the child of the Moon is always accompanied by his faithful teddy bear, which the Sun himself is said to have woven for him.
Moon's Child pajamas : Beyond dreams, the tearful child of the Moon protects his mother and walks the land by day, and finds her at night. The Moon Child is said to always be dressed in extremely light blue pajamas, and to protect him from any enemies he may encounter.
Warmth of the Moon's Child : Beyond dreams, the tearful child of the Moon protects his mother, the Moon, during the day, and joyfully reunites with her at night. It is said that the child of the Moon never despairs because of a gift from his mother, his maternal love.
Effect :
2 pcs : Increases Imaginary DMG by 10%.
4 pcs : Increases CRIT rate by 15% and the CRIT DMGS by 25% for 2 turns after the porter uses his skill or his ultimate. Not cumulative.
2 : Set of the Blazing Goddess.
Divine Crown of the Blazing Goddess : A crown of incandescent flowers that ignite the hope of being rescued. The crown shines like a beacon for a castaway, and illuminates the hope of new and flourishing days.
Divine brambles and roses of the Blazing Goddess : Bracelets sinking into the flesh and blooming incandescent roses of blood, awakening Beauty to the divine state. It is said that these roses are the most beautiful in all existence, and that it only blooms in contact with the blood of Beauty.
Divine dress of the Blazing Goddess : A burning and brilliant dress, making even the stars admire it. The flames of this dress conceal inestimable treasures, the words and thoughts of Beauty, which leave in diamond whispers and stellar sighs.
Graceful step of the Graceful Grace of the Blazing Goddess : Beautiful shoes covered in burning flowers, growing roses with every step. It is said that the whole universe could not help but admire these flowers with their incandescent beauty, and that the flowers admired Beauty itself.
Effect :
2 pcs : Increases DoT by 20%.
4 pcs : Increases DoT by 15% when an ally or the porter deals DoT to an enemy. Increases fire DMGS by 15% when the porter uses their ultimate. The effect lasts 2 turns and can be accumulate 3 times.
3 : Set of the Keeper of the Fighting Will.
Ancient helmet of the Keeper of the Will : An old ancient helmet found on the ashes of a battlefield. When putting it on, you can hear the soldiers screaming and fighting, while the previous owner of this helmet beat to the rhythm to galvanize his troops.
Galvanizing Wands and Drum of the Will : Ancient drumsticks accompanied by a drum found on an old battlefield. If you strike the drum even once with the old sticks, you can feel your body filling with the will to fight.
Ancient chain mail of the Keeper of the Will : An old, slightly battered piece of mail, found on an old battlefield. Despite the age of the armor, it shines with a burning brilliance of an insatiable will to win and fight.
Ancient sandals of the Keeper of the Will : Old solid wooden sandals found on an ancient battlefield. When we put them on, a thrill spreads through our body, and a will to victory and battle is triggered.
Effect :
2 pcs : Increase Energy Regeneration Rate by 20%
4 pcs : For each enemy eliminated thanks to the porter's ultimate, increase the Energy Regeneration Rate by 5% and the DMGS by 15% for all the allies for 2 turns. The effect can be accumulated 3 times.
4 : Set of the Hopeless Plague Doctor.
Terrifying mask of the Hopeless Plague Doctor : The mask of a doctor who kills, destroys, and inoculates plague and immortality to the mortals. The hope go away and the despair arrives, to condemned all the patients, and give their blood to the greatest of the greatest Aeon, the Abundance.
Needle claws of the Hopeless Plague Doctor : The claws of a doctor who kills, destroys, and inoculates plague and immortality to the mortals. The plague in one, the despair in another, the immortality in another and the last takes the blood of the patients to give to THEM.
Calamity dress of the Hopeless Plague Doctor : The dress of a doctor who kills, destroys, and inoculates plague and immortality to the mortals. The blood and the suffer of all the people who became patients of this mad doctor are in this dress... But there is also the benediction of the Abundance.
Bloody boots of the Hopeless Plague Doctor : The boots of a doctor who kills, destroys, and inoculates plague and immortality to the mortals. Blood. Just blood. Only blood. Blood of THEM. Blood of Abundance. But serve as the shoes of the doctor. Of the mad doctor.
Effect :
2 pcs : Increases Max HP by 15%.
4 pcs : When the wearer consumed their HP or the allies's HP, their CRIT Rate and their CRIT DMGS get increased by 6% for 2 turns. This effect can be accumulated 4 times.
5 : Set of the Godly Hope Doctor.
Kindly mask of the Godly Hope Doctor : The mask of the doctor who has acceded to the redemption. Before, he was a Emanator, who tries to destroy for heals his love. But now, he's a doctor, a healer, and a benefactor... Despite his kind mask, a deep sadness live in his spirit, but he always live with his mask who hide his suffer.
Holy gloves of the Godly Hope Doctor : The gloves and the pendant of a doctor. The redemption and the kindness breathe in those objects, who have heals so many people. An holy energy can be feel in these accessories, and all the kindness of a man who loved his wife live in this.
Greatest coat of the Godly Hope Doctor : The coat of the doctor who heals all his patients. In this coat, all of the kindness and the healing power of this doctor are concentrate, but there is, hide in the depths of the clothe, a melancholy... A melancholy of his ancient planet.
Divine boots of the Godly Hope Doctor : The boots of the doctor who always heals his allies. In those shoes, all the journey of this doctor is gathered... Even if a kindness is present, the deep sorrow of all the travels that is here.
Effect :
2 pcs : Increases Max HP by 15%.
4 pcs : When the wearer heals their HP or the allies's HP, their Outgoing Healing and their ATK increase by 20% during 2 turns. This effect can be accumulated 4 times.
6 : Set of the All-mighty Burning Father.
Effect :
2 pcs : Increases Max HP by 20%.
4 : When the wearer deals Break DMGS or Super Break DMGS, the wearer and the allies gains Stack of "Blazing Child", up to maximum 6 stacks. "Blazing Child" increase the HP, the Break DMGS and the Super Break DMGS by 20% for each stack, and when the wearer gains 6 stacks, then the Energy Regeneration Rate increase by 10% and the Super Break DMGS increase by 50%.
Now, it's time to present the planet ornaments !
1 : ~Set of the Judgment Ship~
Judgment Palace of the Shìjiè-Chuán of Xianzhou : Sealed within this planar sphere is Shìjiè-Chuán, sacred land of Xianzhou. The World Ship floats and admires a new starry landscape every year to escape the abominations. You can see the Palace of Judgment, the Star Garden, the Goldsmith of Ships, and all kinds of other places, each one as important and fabulous as the last.
Promise of the Lovers of the Shìjiè-Chuán of Xianzhou : In Shìjiè-Chuán, it is said that the wind and rain bring back the dreams and promises of old. And some say that the promise of two lovers kissing in the rain can be heard in the Star Garden.
Effect :
2 pcs : Increases the CRIT DMGS by 25%. If the CRIT Rate reaches 40/50, the CRIT DMGS are increase by 25%/35%, and the CRIT DMGS are increase by 10% each time that the porter uses their ultimate. The effect can be accumulated 2 times, and lasts 3 turns.
2 : ~Set of the Floral Echo of the Ashes~
Flowering ashes of Fjoralys : Sealed within this planar sphere is Fjoralys, a once flowery and warm planet. When the Destruction came, life and people on the planet all died. Not one survived. Except a little girl, daughter of the stars. Now, flowers of yesteryear rise from the ashes of Destruction, like a phoenix rising from the ashes.
Star goldwork of Fjoralys : In the flames of Fjoralys's destruction, only the stars and a little girl witnessed the massacre. And when life, flowers, and trees resurfaced, the stars cried with joy, washing the earth of all this sadness to put, in its place, colorful joy and flowers... Thousands of them.
Effect :
2 pcs : Increases DoT by 12%. If the wearer deals DoT to an enemy, then the DoT dealt to enemies increases by 26%.
So, let's go to the next part !
3 : ~Set of the Duality of the Rulers~
Starry Yin and fallen Yang of the duality of Rulers : Sealed in this planar sphere are two complementary wills, that of the two rulers of Xianzhou, a brother and a sister. Depending on the inclination of the sphere, we can see different memories appear and disappear, like fleeting winds facing the erosion of time.
Brotherhood of the duality of Rulers : Tears, blood, joy and friendship are condensed in these threads of destiny. It is said that the years erode certain things, but the threads of destiny grow and become denser to the rhythm of the emotions of the two Rulers.
Effect :
2 pcs : Increases Break effect by 12%. Each time that the wearer or an ally deals Super Break DMGS, the wearer gains a stack of "Rule of Flame", up to maximum 4 stack(s). A stack of Rule of Flames increases Break Effect by 20%.
4 : ~Set of the activated planet Rahu~
Floral sea of ​​lotuses of Abundance : Sealed within this planar sphere is the living planet Rahu, eater of Cangcheng and guardian of the lotus scourge. It is said that the living planet blows billions of lotus petals that rip the life force from humans and offer them to the abominations. On this planet lies its heart, the lotus floral sea, where abominations and Emanators bathe in the human suffering.
Bridge of Immortal Hope of Abundance : It is said that every Emanator must pass through the "bridge of immortal hope" if he wants to be in total symbiosis with his body. This bridge was carved from the flesh and blood of Yaoshi, after THEY fought with the Emanator of Lan thousands of years ago, and it now glows a beautiful blood red, and screams the damned who did not know how to listen to their bodies.
Effect :
2 pcs : Increases the CRIT DMGS by 10%. If the HP of the wearer reaches 3000 or more, then their CRIT DMGS increases 20% more. Each 1000 HP more than 3000 HP increase the CRIT Rate by 5%.
5 : ~Set of the Sacred Land of Annihilators~
Sacred Temple of Annihilating Destruction : Sealed within this planar sphere are the ashes of the old and new worlds, in the form of the Temple of Destruction. Everything in this palace has been destroyed by Nanook and THEIR Ravager Lords, and the Antimatter Legion pines and enjoys the suffering extinguished by the devastating breath of Destruction itself.
Petals and sobs of annihilating Destruction : On the planets that the Legion destroys, the Ravager Lords always bring back two things, a person, the sole survivor, and flower petals sticky with blood. The petals then mingle with the sobs of the last living creature, creating pitifully perfect flowers and trees.
Effect :
2 pcs : Increases ATK at 14%. If the HP of the wearer reaches 4000/5000 or more, then the DMGS of their ultimate and their skill increases by 15/25%.
6 : ???
2 pcs : ???
4 pcs : ???
7 : ???
2 pcs : ???
4 pcs : ???
So now, the elevation materials !
The Hunt : Ancient runny cord of the Divine Bow :
A thread who was once part of the Divine Bow of the Aeon of the Hunt, and who was emit after of a battle. It's now a shooting star. Used to level up Traces slightly for Hunt characters.
Purge Echo of the Divine Bow :
An image of the bow that Lan uses, who remain in the space and the time after THEY throw an arrow. Used to level up Traces moderately for Hunt characters.
Full Incarnation of the Divine Bow :
The bow that Lan uses, constitute by imaginary energy and stars, who can destroy space-times and galaxies. Used to level up Traces significantly for Hunt characters.
The Nihility : Fragment of lazy memory :
A glowing fragment of the memory of someone who has been blessed by the Nihility. Used to level up Traces slightly for Nihility characters.
Once nihilistic reminiscence :
The glowing piece of the memory of a past Eclairor of the Nihility. The rare images of the memories are colorless. Used to level up Traces moderately for Nihility characters.
Memory of an Auto-Annihilator :
A red glowing jewel, who contain all the life of an Auto-Annihilator. All the memories are scramble by the black sun. Used to level up Traces slightly for Nihility characters.
The Abundance : Godless tear of the Abundance :
Plague of the Immortal :
Suffering of the thousand recoveries :
The Harmony : (I don't have ideas, sorry T^T)
And for the other paths... You have to wait (Sorry T^T)

Third part :

For the order of apparition of the characters, it would be :
?.0 : Xixian (first phase) 5 star Harmony ; Thunde Yuen (second phase) 5 star Erudition ; Wind, with 4 star character
?.1 : Rakshasa (first phase) 5 star Abundance ; Ice/ Hua (second phase) 5 star Fire ; Destruction, with 4 star character
?.2 : Xingxing (first phase) 5 star Nihility ; Fire/ Rei (second phase) 5 star Hunt ; Imaginary
?.3 : Shuhu (first phase) 5 star Abundance ; Quantum/ Athena (second phase) Harmony ; Wind, with 4 star character
?.4 : Elio (first phase) 5 star Preservation ; Thunder (can change)/ Styx (second phase) 5 star Erudition ; Quantum.
So, who is Xixian ?
Xixian is the Lieutenant of the Shìjiè-Chuán. She's around 60, and she's a long-life specie. She wears a artificial arm, because Rakshasa cut off her arm during the battle of the Shìjiè-Chuán. She trusts the Fallen King and the Stellar Queen, but she's a little overprotective in them.
Xixian is a character of the Harmony who can increase different stats depending on the Path of the character. If it's a Destruction/Hunt/Erudition character, she can increase CRIT DMGS and ATK. If it's a Preservation character, she can increase DEF. If it's a Nihility character, she can increase the Effect Hit Rate and the DoT DMGS. If it's a Abundance character, she can increase the Outgoing Healing Boost. And if it's a Harmony character, she can increase ERR. Her bonus can last for 1 turn. Her ultimate can increase the duration of the bonus of the characters to 2 more turns.
So, who is Yuen ?
Yuen is one of the Ten Lords. Nicknamed as the Erudite, she's the most younger person named in the post of one of the Ten Lords. Despite the fact she's still a child/teenager, she's very wise and intelligent, and she's a very good strategist.
Yuen is a character of the Erudition that inflict wind DMGS. Her technique and her ultimate would change with her talent, Condensation. For example, less enemies are here, more DMGS are inflict : 5-4 enemies in the battlefield : Effect Zone ; 3 enemies in the battlefield : Burst ; 2 - 1 enemies in the battlefield : Unique target. But don't worry, you can choose what type of attack the skill does. Her talent can also increases her CRIT DMGS and ATK.
So, who is Rakshasa ?
Rakshasa is an Emanator of the Abundance, and he was the evil part of Luocha. His body was simply a puppet, but Yaoshi make his body organic... So he would be very flexible. He would fight with needle-gloves.
Rakshasa is a character of the Abundance who can heal... But with a particular way ! So, all the allies have a effect at the beginning of the battle : "Holy Sacrifice", who is his talent. When a character lost HP, the Holy Sacrifice absorbs his loss of HP, until a limit. The skill of Luocha can release the Holy Sacrifice for heals the ally, and makes the effect reborn. Release the Holy Sacrifice can increase the DMGS and the ATK of Rakshasa. Also, his talent take some allies's HP in each turn to increases the Holy Sacrifice. His ultimate, who would be an Burst, can uses the HP of the allies to increase the DMGS and the CRIT DMGS of Rakshasa, and then, he attacks the enemy/enemies. Then, he releases the Holy Sacrifice of all the characters to heal them.
His VA would be the same of Luocha, Craig Lee Thomas.
So, who is Hua ?
Hua is a sort of Marshal of Xianzhou. Even if in public, she appears as the Marshal, she's in reality the future General of the Cangcheng, and she possesses the divine spirit of the boat, the Inferno-Empress. Her nickname is the Fenghuang.
The Inferno-Empress would appears like a gigantic phoenix.
Hua is a character of the Destruction who deals Fire DMGS, but also Super Break Effect. So, the Inferno-Empress would be like the Lightning-Lord, but when shes uses her ultimate, the Inferno-Empress merges with her and she enters in the "Fenghuang" state. When she's in this state, every attack that Hua uses consumes her HP. But, each time that her HP get consumed, her Break Effect increase. The state lasts for 2 turns, and she inflects Super Break Effect. At the end, a sort of a ultimate attack is trigger and all the HP (even the HP that are not here, for example, if her max HP is 10000, but she only has 8000 HP, then her HP are going to be in -2000) are consumed and the Break Effect is increase in a certain value for each 500 HP that are consume, and she inflicts DMGS and Super Break Effect for the enemies who are in Weakness Break. She cans heal herself with the DMGS that she has done, but the heal cannot exceed 75% of her HP ! The Inferno-Empress deals Fire DMGS, and Super Break Effect to the enemies who are in Weakness Break.
So, who is Xingxing ?
Xingxing is one of the two Marshals of Xianzhou, the Stellar Queen, an Emanator of the Erudition, an Eclairor of the Nihility and one of the Ten Lords. She's the possessor of the Stellar Marks, a gift of the Erudition who can permits to create micro-stars and stellar flames to fight. With the power of the Nihility, she create black holes also for fight.
She's 17 years old, and she would uses the same model as for March !
Xingxing is a character of the Nihility who deals Fire DMGS. She cans add more DoT on enemies who already have DoT with her special DoT : Starburn, who can also inflects Burn. Starburn is inflect to the enemies with her skill and her ultimate. She can also reach multiple enemies because she does effect zone attacks. Her talent can increases the DoT DMGS she does to the enemies depending on their HP.
Her VA would be Judy Alice Lee (VA of Melinoë).
So, who is Rei ?
Rei is one of the two Marshals of Xianzhou, the Carrier of the Yamato-Shinigami, the unique Emanator of the Hunt, the chief of the Galaxy Rangers and one of the Ten Lords. Anyway, he's a very important person of the Xianzhou Alliance. He's from a forgotten planet, who has been destroyed by the Abundance. Rescued by the past Marshal, Lingyue when he was six years old, he quickly became one of the greatest fighter of the Alliance at his teenage years.
He is 19 years old, and he is around 1m96/~6,43 feet. (so I think he's one of the most tall character.). He's VERY muscular, and very handsome (according to me)
Rei is a Hunt character (an Emanator of this path) who deals Imaginary DMGS. His gameplay would be concentrate in the CRIT DMGS. Depending on the attacks, it's giving to him "Fallen Royalty" accumulations. When he has a certain number of this accumulation, he entering in the "Fallen King" state, who increased his CRIT rate and his CRIT DMGS and reinforce his skill and his ultimate. For his ultimate, it increases his CRIT rate and his CRIT DMGS, and he gives 9 slashes to the enemy. When he's in the "Fallen King" state, it's would increase his CRIT rate and CRIT DMGS, also gives XIII (4, 4, and 5) slashes to an enemy. For each slash that are a CRIT hit, an additional slash is inflect. Each additional slash increases the Rei's CRIT DMGS, and they do a CRIT vulnerability. If all the all the additional slashes has been concluded, then a last additional slash is inflect. When he does CRIT DMGS when he uses his ultimate in the "Fallen King" state, it's does another hit in the enemy.
Here is his description :
"One of the two Marshals of the Xianzhou Alliance, the Carrier of the Yamato, the Emanator of Lan and the Fallen King. Feared by his enemies, respected by his allies. He always wears a fickle smile, and he always brings death with him.
Lan, the Reignbow Arbiter entrust the Yamato to Rei, the greatest weapon of all the Alliance. As a great strategist, he's also a good brother. He knows all the Stellaron Hunters, and he's apparently in a relation with the Stellaron Hunter named Blade..."
His VA would be Kaiji Tang (the VA of Gojo).
So, who is Shuhu ?
Shuhu is an Emanator of Yaoshi, considered as the "daughter of the Abundance". She's always with a scythe made with the body of Yaoshi and with the bones of her victims. She has a very sense of the sadism and she hates the humanity for all they have done to her.
Shuhu is a character of the Abundance who deals Quantum DMGS. She has three skills : One where she consumes the HP of the allies for increase DMGS and CRIT DMGS, and she attacks the enemies. An other where she consumes her HP for increase DMGS and CRIT DMGS, and where she attacks the enemies. And the last where she attacks the enemies for steal the HP of the enemies for heals her and the allies. In her ultimate, she consumes her HP and the allies's HP for increase her DMGS, her CRIT DMGS and her CRIT rate, and she attacks the enemies for steal the enemies's HP and heals the allies.
So, who is Athena ?
Athena is one of the Ten Lords, nicknamed as the Protector. She's always with a owl named Zhìhuì (nb : wisdom in Chinese (智慧)), and is a real master of the strategy and the war inventions, but she's also one of the more oldest members of the Ten Lords.
Athena is a character of the Harmony who can increase the DMGS and the ATK of the allies with her skill. Her talent can increase all the allies's RES PEN and their SPD. Her ultimate can increase all the allies's CRIT DMGS for 2 turns, for a chosen ally, she cans place her owl for 2 turns, who inflict additional DMGS on the enemy/enemies who the ally attacks. Also, if the ally get attack, the owl defend them with a counterattack.
So, who is Elio ?
Elio is the chef of the Stellaron Hunters (and if you don't know that, you must haven't touch HSR). I imagine him as a cat (practically not imagine, because it's quite official, but not official, so you know), but he uses his puppet... I doesn't draw him because I know that his design already be... You know what. I imagine him very kind and mysterious.
Elio is a character of the Preservation who can predict the DMGS of the allies. His skill would be a shield. For his ultimate, it's would add a status for all the allies and him : "Forecast of the Script". This effect would last one turn, and would cancel all the DMGS the allies receive.
So, who is Styx ?
AH-HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA ! You have to wait !

Fourth part :

The history would be in the Shìjiè-Chuán, and here is the principal plot :
First quest : " You and the Astral Express receive a mysterious call of Jing Yuan, who telling you that he have something important to said to you. The thing in question is that is a feast for the "saviors of the Luofu" (the Nameless) in the... Shìjiè-Chuán ?! Not time for chatting, Jing Yuan gives you the localisation of the mysterious ship, and the Astral Express start his new journey... "
Second quest : " After a few warp jumps, you finally reach the Shìjiè-Chuán, capital of the Xianzhou Alliance. After meet all of the Generals and the Lieutenant Xixian, it's finally the time for you to meet the Ten Lords, including the Fallen King and the Stellar Queen, real Marshals of the Alliance... "
Other quests...? You have to play~
The quest would be a quest long as Penacony... Maybe a little more... And there would be all the Nameless... Yes, Pom-Pom in the quest and he would use his powers ! If he has powers.
In the final boss of the Shìjiè-Chuán, the music would be like, if it's possible, of the song "Bad Apple". In the battle, the people singing for encouraging the ones who are fighting the final boss.
In the 1st phase, it's would be only the divine spirits who singing.
In the 2nd phase, it's would be all the soldiers and the divines spirits who singing.
In the 3rd and the final phase, it's would be all Xianzhou Alliance (yes, Lan included too !) who singing.
The "R" attack ( like the Dan Heng attack during the Phantylia fight ) would be all the divine spirits and the two Marshals conferring their power to the Trailblazer, and then, he/she slashes the boss.
So, it's the end of the post... If you have questions for clarify something, you can in comments, and I would be respond with pleasure !
Bye byeeeeee !
submitted by rei_mayo to HonkaiStarRail [link] [comments]


2024.05.21 00:13 InverseNexarus 60+ Year Old DM does not charge his friends in Pay-to-Play campaign, insults the party for his amusement, and is probably a misogynist. Spoilers for Curse of Strahd.

60+ Year Old DM does not charge his friends in Pay-to-Play campaign, insults the party for his amusement, and is probably a misogynist. Spoilers for Curse of Strahd.
Last Monday I posted a quick and dirty RPG horror story about a pay-to-play campaign. This will be a proper attempt at telling the whole story, from the alluring start to my bitter resignation. Spoilers ahead for the beginning portions of Curse of Strahd. Trigger Warning for bullying and mentions of self-harm.
Mondays and Tuesdays are my guaranteed days off, so that is when I am available to enjoy my TTRPG hobby. Typically I am involved in three or four campaigns a week as either a DM or a player. A year-long campaign I was running reached its finale in the middle of March. When that ended and the time slot opened up, I wanted to be a player for a while. So I started looking in all the usual places; Discord servers I am a part of, StartPlaying ads, LFG threads, and the Roll20 boards. I indiscriminately applied for free-to-play and pay-to-play games at 1 PM on Mondays and ultimately got invited to join a Curse of Strahd campaign. I’ve experienced good and bad games in both camps, so this story is not about bashing pay-to-play games. Being a DM requires time, effort, and availability; and I am willing to pay since free games are not typically hosted during that time slot.
The DM hosting this Curse of Strahd campaign presented himself as a knowledgeable Grognard from the Gygaxian era. A retired man who ran D&D games to have fun and get a bit of spending money as a side hustle. He made promises that this campaign was going to be more than just an out-of-the-box 5th edition game. It would run the gambit of Ravenloft’s rich history taking elements from older editions and novels like ‘I Strahd: The Memoirs of a Vampire’. The game would be going from level 1 to 20, as defeating Strahd and escaping Barovia was just the beginning. He planned on the party visiting other domains of dread and dark places within the shadowfel. During a voice call interview, we spoke about table conduct, civility, respect, lines and veils, and all the things that sold me the idea he was a professional DM and cared about the integrity of his campaign. At no point did this grown-ass old man proclaim anything along the lines of, “This will be like playing D&D with two friends in a basement, and you’re the third wheel who buys our snacks”. If he had, I would not have signed up. We shall call him the Bantering DM for the rest of the story.
Two weeks go by and the game fills with four players: My half-goblin moon druid named Olivia; an elf bladesinger wizard named Cayden; a purple tiefling lore bard named Eternal Cake; lastly the problem player Jormungandr the fallen-aasimar giant barbarian. We have session zero with everyone in the Discord voice channel. The Bantering DM goes over the same points from the interview and has us go around the table so that we can introduce ourselves, our characters, and the lines/veils we’d like to avoid. I don’t like witnessing instances of child abuse, Cayden does not like descriptions of spiders, Eternal Cake does not want the party to torture NPCs, and Jormungandr asks that we be patient with him as he has ADHD. I go above and beyond by making high-resolution character tokens for everyone. As we are chatting and filling out our character sheets, it is revealed that Eternal Cake and Jormungandr are longtime friends of the Bantering DM and are not paying for the sessions like Cayden and myself. Personally, I’d feel more comfortable if all the players either paid a fee or played for free, but I let it slide because everyone seemed nice at the time.
https://preview.redd.it/er4ul1kgmn1d1.png?width=1129&format=png&auto=webp&s=e9a8df11e4c27d1a3f89f7fab8de05985bae6667
In session one, unfortunately, Eternal Cake was not able to join us so we had to puppet his purple tiefling. The Bantering DM uses the Creeping Mists introduction. Each of our characters was spirited to Barovia with whatever equipment we had on our person. Cayden and Jormungandr sounded mildly inconvenienced upon discovering that they were kidnapped by magical mist and then plopped into a dark forest. Meanwhile, Olivia was scared out of her mind and avoided the three strange men. She decided to climb a tree to find a road or landmarks. Survival checks were made, she discovered a road not too far away and heard the howling of wolves in the distance. Even though she did not trust these men, she motioned for them to follow her, hopefully, they’d be safe together.
We were ambushed by three wolves on the road. During the surprise round, both Cayden and Eternal Cake were rendered unconscious. Pack tactics caused a critical hit on Cayden, the wolf’s bite attack damage was 13, meaning his wizard with 7 hit points was a single point away from instantly dying. Thankfully, I prepared healing spells for just such an occasion. It was at this point that I got to experience the Bantering DM and Jormungandr’s dynamic.
DM: “At advantage from pack tactics, that is a 17 to hit.”
Barb: “No that does not hit me.”
DM: “Your token is linked to your sheet. You have 15 AC, my guy.”
Barb: “What about with a shield? Ever think about that?”
DM: “Even if you had a shield, that's 17, it meets it beats. But you're using a maul.”
Barb: “Does Cake have silvery barbs? I demand a reroll.”
DM: “Cake is unconscious.”
Me: “Um, I will get him up when it is my turn. Can you drop it?”
Barb: “Fine.”
DM: “That is 7 piercing damage.”
Barb: “7 bullshit damage! I have not even had a turn. I’m not raging so it is FULL!”
Olivia played cautiously, healing the downed party members and using ranged cantrips. Jormungandr did big damage with his maul but complained and argued with the Bantering DM, extending each of his turns longer than they needed to be. Injured, but grateful to be alive, we travel down the muddy road.
The party makes it to the village of Barovia. We wander the streets and eventually find the Blood of the Vine tavern. Cayden and Jormungandr do the majority of the talking, as Olivia is unsure if the villagers will be hostile or welcoming to a goblin like her. The Bantering DM laced the expositional dialog with a lot of profanity, personal attacks, and spitting on the floor. The barkeep explained that spitting was a Barovian custom, that if an evil thing is expressed one must spit quickly otherwise demons will possess the soul. The insults were primarily based on our characters' appearances. Cayden was called a knife-ear, short, girly man, hairless, and physically weak. Jormungandr was mocked for being stupid, a savage brute, and likely to get struck by lightning as he had a metal pauldron. Eternal Cake was spared as he was not at the session, though I imagine the Bantering DM had plenty to say about a purple devil man. The barkeep called Olivia an ugly greenskin, asked where the rest of her clothes were, if she was like goblins in fairytales that hide under children's beds to eat their toes, and that I may as well “get it over with as it will happen sooner or later”, implying that I should kill myself. When he said that, Olivia spat and glared at the man. Through that abuse, we learned the leader of the town recently died. His son Ismark was now in charge, but no one liked him. There was a cursed child with red hair named Ireena, taken in by the prior burgomaster. The ruler of this valley is called The Devil and he’s been sending monsters to torment the village recently. The priest of the local church had gone mad when his son died in a recent attack. Finally, there is a town further down the road called Vallaki. We rent a room and end the session with a milestone level up.
After the game wrapped up, we were still in the voice call and I expressed a couple of concerns I had about the banter during combat. Saying that it made the fight drag on for longer. I also said that I could handle rude or unlikeable NPCs and that I understand Barovia is a bleak atmosphere, but I felt the barkeep overstepped into abusive language with his comments. The Bantering DM apologized, said that it was all just in character, and excused the innkeeper by saying he is scared, small-minded, and considered us a bad omen on top of recent terrible events. I chalked it up to adjusting to a new group. This will be the only time that the Bantering DM will apologize or engage with my concerns and criticisms. After this, he would ignore what I had to say.
For session two Eternal Cake is unable to play again. The party woke up and left the inn. Immediately we are confronted by Ismark, he puffs himself up and banishes us from the town. Yelling for us to get out, that we were harming his people, we were unwelcome, and no merchant was legally allowed to trade with us. Then he stomped off unwilling to talk about whether or not we could help his people. Now, I’ve run Curse of Strahd before, I have meta-knowledge about things we can do in this village. There is content to explore, stuff to do, and ways to better the village. Some of which was hinted at by the barkeep last session. However, in character, Olivia was told to kill herself and a few hours later got banished. She does not belong here, she is not wanted, so the true neutral thing to do is leave. But in-character and out-of-character are very different beasts because I know that leaving would mean abandoning the story's most pivotal character Ireena. Jormungandr and Cayden both agree, well screw this town if everyone is going to be a jerk. I’m panicking, internally screaming, trying to come up with an in-character reason to force us to meet Ireena, but drawing a blank.
Then as we are about one hundred paces outside of town, we hear a young woman calling out after us. It is Ireena. She is running after us, short of breath and begging us to stop for a second. She explains that we are the heroes of prophecy. Asking if she could travel with us to Vallaki. The way that Bantering DM is playing Ireena, makes me mad, as he is putting on a stereotypical airhead voice and making her sound dumb. Cayden and Jormungandr pick up on this and ask a few questions. Ireena explains that she was never allowed out of the house and that this is the furthest she’s been outside of the village. She found her dad's old breastplate and rapier, but she’d never used them before. That she’s never been in a fight. Later on, the Bantering DM would show this by having her routinely make dexterity saving throws in combat to not trip and fall prone. Describing her as swinging wildly and whenever she did hit an enemy made it sound like an accident. Nor does she seem to have any bonds with her village, or care to say goodbye to her brother. The biggest problem is never mentioned out loud, but through meta-knowledge I know that her father has not been buried yet. This means that the Bantering DM chose to cut the funeral from the module, or that it still needs to be done but Ireena does not care about laying her father to rest.
We travel down the road and come to the gallows at the crossroads. It just so happens that Olivia sees the apparition of her own body dangling from the noose. She expresses sorrow and I hint at backstory trauma, calling the event “probably a bad memory of the last time I had a rope around my neck”. Then the Bantering DM performs the final part of Ireena’s character assassination. Ireena kneels down, looks Olivia in the eye, and says, “You must have gone mad”, then laughs at her. This is not Ireena, this is a careless fool with no empathy. I don’t know why the Bantering DM made these changes. Because he is sexist? To be funny? Is it because he considers the village portion of Barovia boring? Is he ignorant or malicious? I cannot answer these questions, nor will I pretend to be a mind reader. I am just laying out what he did.
We continued to travel down the road, eventually meeting an old woman with a cart headed toward the village. Ireena seemed to know this woman, calling her Granny, and spoke louder to imply the older woman was hard of hearing. She greeted us and offered pies for sale. With meta-knowledge I know that this is Morgantha, a night hag who kills people and grinds their bones at her windmill aptly named Bonegrinder. But I would never act on this knowledge nor spoil the surprise for anyone else. Jormungandr then asked, “Are the pies made of people?”, without any suspicious behavior or provocation. Granny said ‘no, of course not’. But then Jormungandr started to question the old lady intensely. Why are you traveling all by yourself? Are you not scared of wolves? How big is this woman DM? Does she look like she has an arcane focus? Is there anything weird about her cart? Can I do an insight check to sense her motivations? He hardly even let the DM answer the damn question before firing off another one. So I break character and say. “Stop meta-gaming! Knock it off!” Confronting Jormungandr seemed to get him to stop, but this should be the job of the DM, especially one who laid out a list of table etiquette during session zero. Once we resumed, in character I ran defense for the hag. Saying that as a druid I could talk to animals and giving them food often lets them know you are friendly. Just because she is an old woman, does not mean she was incapable of taking care of herself. To which the hag agreed and gave me a free pie.
After that, we got to the Vistani camp and Madame Eva’s fortune-telling. The cards we got were the best pulls I’ve ever seen, super thematic, and a great fated ally. The Sunsword would be at the beacon of Agronvostholt after we light it. The Tome is hidden in Baba Lysaga’s hut, makes sense that she’d keep her darling son's diary safe. The Holy Symbol is behind the sun at St. Markovia, so we have to confront a fallen angel to retrieve an amulet of faith. And we got the G.O.A.T. - Ezmerelda d'Avenir, we could run into her at a bunch of different places. All of this was meta-knowledge, of course, and unlike Jormungandr I did not intend to start demanding we go to these places to speedrun win D&D. We ended the session at that point, and once again we got a milestone level up.
I left the voice call, took a few days to cool off, and then carefully wrote out a respectful message detailing my frustrations to the Bantering DM. Both about Jormungandr’s meta-gaming outburst during the hag interaction and how he chose to portray Ireena Kolyana. I explained that she was coming across as an unempathetic ditz. The way she was acting made it difficult for my character to like or trust her. Hammering on the points about the funeral as well as her mocking Olivia at the gallows. I wrote that I understand there are many ways the community around Curse of Strahd has characterized Ireena. Ranging from Palidoozy’s disney princess version to Dragnacarta’s complete rework of her character into an arc to recover her memories. Sometimes she is a damsel in distress, other times the light that Barovia desperately needs. I never got a response to my criticisms. Perhaps I was out of line? I did not want my comments to come across as backseat DMing. I never interrupted the flow of the session, waiting until afterward to try and communicate my concerns. I felt like my issues were tangible and explainable. I did consider leaving the game if things did not improve. In hindsight, I think that it was the insane fortune pulls that got me to stay.
In the third session, Eternal Cake could play with us, but Cayden could not. Also, we got a new player added to the roster. A paladin named Paul. The party travels down the road until they come across a kidnapping in progress. Several men were tying up a young woman and stuffing her into a burlap sack. We charged in, and the DM puppeted Cayden. Paul was introduced in this fight. He emerged from the bushes and went after the bandits, ready to smite evil and save a damsel. Eternal Cake passed out inspiration like candy and used spells like bless and command. Jormungandr became a big angry boy and smashed his way through the bandits. Olivia got to show off her higher AC from taking a level dip into monk. Blowing everyone’s mind when I explained how these features stacked with wildshape. However, once again this combat brought out the worst in Bantering DM and Jormungandr.
DM: “The bandit disengages and runs over here. Then he fires a crossbow at George-Munger.”
Barb: “Jormungandr.”
DM: “That is what I said, Gorge-Gander.”
Barb: “Say my name right. Jormungandr.”
DM: “Your Muh Ganger.”
Barb: “George is my cat. He is a milk puddle. But I am not George.”
Me: “Can we please keep combat going?”
Barb: “No one asked you.”
Me: “Whatever…”
DM: “Anyway, a 13 misses your AC. Then it is this bandit’s turn. And he kills Jormungandr instantly.”
Barb: “You haven't even rolled yet.”
We manage to win the fight and have one enemy restrained in my entangle spell. During combat, we decided as a group to spare one of the kidnappers so that we could question him. Untying the young woman and pulling her from the sack. Then the girl casts produce flame and murders the bandit. Everyone is miffed, as it felt like the Bantering DM took away our opportunity to gain information. The girl explained that she was a Vistana named Arabella. Asking for us to guide her back to her camp, it is not far from Vallaki. We do so, and I don’t remember much of what happened during this session. I was upset about the bantering and that our group agency was taken away. I disassociated from the conversations but got the gist of it
Like with Ismark and the barkeep, the Vistani people insulted us. They gave the party a cloak of protection as a reward for saving Arabella. The Bantering DM said that we should argue over who gets to wear it. The Vistani name-dropped Strahd and called themselves his allies. Telling us that we may as well give up any hope of escaping. He briefly mentions dusk elves also being in the camp. At one point, the Bantering DM realized I was not contributing to the conversation. So Arrigal asked if Olivia was for sale. I flatly said, “I am free, don’t ever say something like that to me again!” The lines between in and out-of-character blurred. When it was about ten minutes till, I wanted to do something else. I said that I would be interested in speaking with the dusk elves. The Bantering DM said, “They are prisoners and the Vistani told you to not bother them”. I asked if I could make a stealth check. He said, “There are like 300 Vistani in this camp and someone will spot you.” On the one hand, he did not make me roll for something I could not succeed in, but it still felt shitty to be told no it is impossible. We ended the session with a milestone level-up. I did not write the Bantering DM between sessions. I should not have returned for another game.
Fourth session, Eternal Cake is once again missing in action. I had hoped that in this session everyone would be able to play and we could finally all get on the same page. We were also supposed to go into the town of Vallaki. However, once we started walking down the path a dusk elf appeared. She, yes a female dusk elf named Kassy-Mira no less, asked us to go to a haunted fort to find one of her sisters named Savida. My meta-knowledge goes into overload wondering what in the hell did this Bantering DM do. For those of you in the know, I am looking forward to responses and speculations in the comments section. Kassy-Mira explains that Savida is the keeper of their lore and history, an elven leader who must be recovered. I ask a couple of clarifying questions because at this point I have no idea what is going on. The elves are prisoners of the Vistani, yet a leader was able to escape? Why did no one else escape? Where is this fort? If the fort is haunted why would they flee there? Why are the dusk elves prisoners anyway? Did you escape Miss Kassy-Mira? Do the elves want to revolt against the Vistani? But I only got answers that the fort was to the west and that returning their leader was paramount. Then she rushed back to voluntarily go back into dusk elf prison, I guess. So instead of going to Vallaki like I was hoping, I guess we are going to the house of the silver dragon. My only theory is that the Bantering DM wanted us to get started on the questline to retrieve the skull, so he shoe-horned in a way for us to redirect to Argonvostholt. But in doing so he also revealed whatever he did to the dusk elf lore. I’m guessing he reversed the gender of the events before the campaign started. Which makes me wonder, did he gender-bend Rahadin too?
We wander down the road and find the haunted mansion atop the muddy hill. Seeing the statue and for whatever reason we decide to check out the collapsed stables first. The rest of the session was a combat encounter against a dozen giant spiders. Two of the three hours were dedicated to this, mostly because the Bantering DM and Jormungandr took forever to keep the turns moving along. And they were particularly toxic during this combat because Jormungandr hated that his rage did not resist poison. I knew that once the session was over, I’d be writing up my farewell message. Every time it was my turn, I simply stated what actions I took and quickly did it. Elaborating if questioned on my abilities.
DM: "Make a Con save against poison".
Barb: "No, make me."
DM: "Do it bitch."
Barb: "Fine. 21."
DM: "You failed."
Barb: "It says DC 11 for spider DM."
DM: "Yeah, well, fuck you."
Me: “I use multiattack, bite, claw, bonus action unarmed strike. 21 to hit, for 7 piercing damage. 18 to hit, for 15 slashing damage. 24 to hit, for 5 bludgeoning damage.”
Barb: “You can do three attacks? That is bullshit.”
Me: “Brown Bear has multiattack, monk grants martial arts.”
After the fight, we had just enough time to enter the mansion and find Savida. Olivia still had some spell slots, so I tended to her injuries. The Bantering DM said that the party would question her at the start of the next session. Once we ended the call, I wrote up a few things. First I left a message in the general chat thanking the players and wishing them well. I learned from Cayden later on that my farewell message was deleted by the DM. Then I wrote my final criticisms and sent them to the Bantering DM privately, letting him know I would not be returning.
https://preview.redd.it/q3vodfhvln1d1.png?width=823&format=png&auto=webp&s=d9518097a06761bceec649228aa34b8d8b786165
https://preview.redd.it/kvj7l4u3mn1d1.png?width=1225&format=png&auto=webp&s=865388fc0d5c65ff64776196f6725de01c228049
The punchline to this joke of a campaign. A week later, today, Cayden tells me that the Bantering DM canceled the session because neither of his buddies showed up to play. Eternal Flake, Geogreinanger, and the Bantering DM, despite all my complaints I hope they continue to have fun. Maybe next time though, don’t play favorites and charge people for a “fun time in Grandpa’s basement”.
https://preview.redd.it/vycv0uqsln1d1.png?width=1229&format=png&auto=webp&s=2c241b09728ebc29653e384dea90a24d770e7a0b
submitted by InverseNexarus to rpghorrorstories [link] [comments]


2024.05.20 20:24 SeredW Into the heart of Romans: Romans 8:34-39 Nothing Can Separate Us From God’s Love

This is the final installment in the series about N.T. Wright's 'Into the heart of Romans'. Originally a collection, that feature has since been deprecated by Reddit, leaving this series as a bunch of separate, unorganized posts :-( I'll add a flair to each of them later to make them searchable (edit: flair added!)
What I've learned about myself: I am bad at finishing books. By the time you've read 80% or so, the main conclusions and revelations have usually been drawn, and I have a hard time pushing through and finishing the whole thing. This weekend I finally made time to finish writing this final part for this book, after beginning this series months ago. I apologize for the delay.
I am grateful to Wright for writing this book. It is a grandiose view of God's love, the work of the Messiah and the Spirit in and through us. It is really worth checking out!
Without further ado, the final chapter.

Romans 8:34-39 Nothing Can Separate Us From God’s Love

‘Romans 8 ends on a note of wonderful confidence’. Philosophers have always tried to find solid ground, how can we know? Decartes claimed ‘I think, therefore I am’ (cogito, ergu sum) and ‘much subsequent western thought has tried to build on that, with (to say the least) mixed success’. Bishop Leslie Newbigin even altered that statement some time ago into ‘tesco, ergo sum’: I shop, therefore I am!
But Paul says something different: Amor, ergo sum: I am loved, therefore I am. ‘The gospel urges upon us an epistemology of love’, not simply the feeling, but agape, the generous self-giving which affirms the reality of what is known and loved. When Paul says ‘I am persuaded’ in verse 38, he isn’t just summing up Romans 5-8 but he’s also looking at ancient intellectual life and philosophy, saying ‘this is where you can stand’.
This is the love of God the creator, anchored in Jesus. In this passage Paul lists grave threats and forces aligned against us, but ‘the gospel itself, the message about Jesus crucified, risen, ascended, interceding, holds us in place despite everything: God’s love in the Messiah, Jesus our Lord’.
This answers the first common question, about the beginning and the end of the section, we’ve answered in each chapter so far: it begins and ends with God’s love, in verses 35 and 39.
For the second question, we’d usually look at the small connecting words, but again Paul isn’t using careful argumentation here, but a rhetorical device: seven threats in 35, and larger powers in 38-39a. Paul invokes Psalm 44 when speaking of the threats, but then claims that ‘the one who loved us (37) will enable us to be not just victorious, but super-victorious (hypernikomen). Why (gar, 38)? Because no forces on earth or in heaven can separate us from that same love.
The third regular question: what about the wider world in which Paul’s hearers would receive this message? The ‘question of confidence’ is vital, today as it was back then. We know God will look after us after death and we can cling to Jesus when bad things happen, but there is something else going on here.
People in Paul’s culture (and today!) might interpret the bad things happening to Christians as a sign that God was angry with them. They assume that if you live your life in tune with God, you wouldn’t have any problems. But if there are problems such as persecution, ‘the people or indeed the whole movement had obviously gone off the rails.’ Wright here devotes a few paragraphs to criticizing the western world, as pandemics and wars disrupt what seemed to be a success story but made victims along the way. ‘How should we look out upon a world in a mess?’ That question must have occupied the minds of Roman thinkers as well, as the empire’s rhetoric of peace and prosperity sounded hollow, especially to Jews at times of anti-Jewish riots or for instance when Caligula tried putting a statue of himself in the Jerusalem temple. Jews read Daniel’s prophecy about the 490 years and they too expected God to step in when the situation became very bad or dangerous. ‘For all these reasons, the two lists of dangers and hostile forces would represent real and present threats to Paul’s hearers’.
Paul had been questioned about this before. In Corinth, some wondered whether God would allow a proper apostle to lead such a bizarre life as Paul had, including persecutions and dangers. In 2 Corinthians, Paul turns that argument on its head in a ‘glorious, ironic rebuttal’: all the bad things that happen to Paul, he insists, are actually ‘the defining marks of genuine apostleship’. Romans was written not long after 2 Corinthians and Paul may have thought about vulnerable Christian groups in Rome, too. For instance, the gentile believers in Rome might regard the Jews, who were expelled under Claudius, as ‘obviously under divine displeasure’, which could lead to these gentile believers becoming ‘Job’s comforters’ to these Jewish Christians when they returned under Nero.
Wright ‘suspects’ that Paul isn’t just talking about ‘assurance of final salvation’ here but also about ‘penultimate assurance’, which his part of the doctrine of justification. This assurance is what we as Christians ought to give to one another: ‘we are to see one another’s misfortunes and sorrows, not as signs of God’s displeasure, […] but rather as part of the calling to share in the messianic woes, in wich – as in verses 26 and 27 – the spirit is calling out to the father from the heart of the pain and perplexity’.
Christians still make mistakes, some still step off ‘the steep ladder of vocation and settled for a gentler climb’. Compromised Christians or a worldly church no longer challenge their wider community. But those who refuse to slide into the world’s ways of thinking may well face real trouble. Paul makes that point in verse 36, where he cites Psalm 44. In that psalm, the psalmist celebrates God’s promises, but complains that they have not been coming true, even though they have kept the covenant. They have remained faithful, and yet this is happening. The psalmist concludes: it must be because of you, it is ‘for your sake’ (Ps 44:22). He knows God is in charge, but there must be ‘stranger, darker and deeper things going on in the world than one would see on the surface’. There were earlier allusions to Ps 44 (Rom 8:27 echoing Ps 44:21) and now Paul points to the next verse, Ps 44:22 to express the belief that the ‘severe troubles of God’s people are somehow for God’s sake’. As seen in 17-30 already, ‘the point seems to be that those facing severe troubles are somehow sharing in the Messiah’s present redemptive sufferings’, a point on which Wright will later elaborate.
Paul isn’t simply saying ‘everything is going to be all right, nothing else really matters’. He is saying that in a way, but he is doing so in a world that saw misfortune as a sign of divine misfortune. No, this is part of our vocation, our calling to bear in the spirit the pain of the world. This is part of our salvific ministry in and for the world. ‘Paul is, as it were, applying the unique fact of Jesus’ crucifixion to the present sufferings of Jesus’ people as they stand in prayer, as in verses 26 and 27, at the heart of the suffering world’. Our sharing in the messianic woes makes us part of the way in which Jesus’ victorious death is applied to the world (Colossians 1:24). ‘With the spirit groaning within us, we are called to share in God’s rescue plan for the whole world’.
Let’s remind ourselves how the last five verses work. There aren’t many connecting words. The troubles mentioned, just like the cross of Christ, aren’t unpleasant or ghastly things we have (or Christ had) to endure, but actually the setting for the greater victory, in which ‘all opposition is not just defeated but swept off the board’. Twice Paul uses alla, but, to make this point, in verses 36 and 37. In 38, we then get a gar which explains this seemingly counter-intuitive super-victory, which is based on the ‘unbreakable love of God himself, of which Paul has become utterly persuaded’. This love is the framework for these verses, opening with the Messiah’s love in 35 and ending in 39 with ‘the love of God in the Messiah Jesus our Lord’. Verse 37 too mentions love, as a halfway stepping stone. And with this, this major portion of Romans (5-8) returns to where it began, in Romans 5, where God’s love is displayed in action in the death of Jesus, and is being poured out in our hearts by the spirit. Paul has now, at last, worked his way back to that ‘great statement’.
Paul offers two lists here, as part of his heightened rhetoric: 7 bad things that might happen to you in verse 35, and ten power structures that might be arranged against you in 38-39. Seven plus ten, in ancient rhetoric, indicates a kind of completeness: ‘anything and everything the world, the flesh and the devil might throw at you.’ 31-39 draw together ‘the whole scripture, all human experience, the whole hostile world, and the whole victorious gospel’. Nothing can sepate us, those in the Messiah, from the love of God. And for the first time since Rom 5:6-10, Paul makes clear that it is all about that love.
Wright thinks we don’t ‘sufficiently ponder’ what that means. We know about Gods love, but to we really understand it? Wright proposes to ‘rattle the cage a bit’. First, many Romans believed Rome had a secret name, its Latin name spelled backwards: Amor, Latin for Love. Romans believed they descended from Aeneas, the son of the love goddess Venus. It’s ‘quite possible’ that Paul here is reclaiming love (agape), as ‘the deepest truth of the creator God’ instead of as a secret name of a pagan city. This matches with the other ‘subversive’ way in which Paul appropriates Roman imperial language for the Gospel, such as ‘gospel’ and ‘Lord’ (kyrios), words Rome used for its own rulers and messages of imperial benevolence and peace. Paul reclaims those words and applies them to Jesus as the true ‘Son of God’ and lord of the whole world, bringing true justice and peace. ‘No wonder the rulers and authorities of Paul’s day struck back in every way they could’ and that is the context for the final passage. Second, in verses 35 and 37 Paul speaks of the Messiah’s love, the love of Christ. That is actually quite rare. Wright lists a few examples in 2 Cor 5, Gal 2, Eph 3 and 5, but that’s about it. Paul speaks often of the love of God ‘that sent the son to die’. And when Paul speaks of grace, he speaks of ‘the grace of Lord Jesus’, not of the Messiah. So why, here, the Messiah’s love? In scripture or extrabiblical sources, there ‘is nothing to suggest that if and when a Messiah turned up he would act out of love. Ruling, bringing justice, defeating enemies, but not love. So where does it come from, here at the heart of the passage and the rhetorical climax of the letter so far?
The answer must be ‘the great Biblical theme of the love of YHWH himself, Israels God’. And the idea of the Messiah’s love must mean that the Messiah is the personal embodiment of Israel’s God. God loves his people (as we see in scripture, Wright cites examples) and the Messiah ‘clothes that love in human flesh and blood’.
And to speak of God’s love is to speak of the covenant, God’s unbreakable loyalty to his people and covenant renewal through the Messiah. Now, European philosophers since Hegel have thought in terms of progress through either evolution or revolution. It can’t be both, and theologians have likewise said that Paul’s theology can’t be both ‘covenantal’ (evolutionary) and ‘apocalyptic’ (revolutionary). These categories have joined ‘forensic’ which has been used to analyse Paul, which means ‘belonging in a law court’. But, in Romans 8 we have ‘in the same breath, the covenant with Israel, now focused on the Messiah, and at the same time we have the sudden inbreaking of God’s powerful rescuing love in the new messianic exodus’. ‘Apocalyptic’ and ‘covenant faithfulness’ fit together in ancient Israelite and Jewish thought. Paul has also spoken of the unveiling (apokalypsis) to the world of the justice of God. All this explains, says Wright, why he sometimes translates the key term dikaoisyne not as ‘righteousness’ (which has its own modern theological misleading connotations) but as ‘covenant justice’, which draws together the covenantal and forensic categories together, in line with the Hebrew tsedaqah which in the Septuagint is often translated with dikaiosyne. We have to stop applying post-Enlightenment, modern categories; we shouldn’t give 19th century answers to 16th century questions, but 21st century answers to 1st century questions. We have to think like ‘first-century, Bible-soaked, Messiah-focused Jews’. That’s the only way to learn to understand our own world.
This agape love of which Paul speaks, what is that exactly? Not some special sort of Christian love; the Septuagint uses it for God’s love for his people as well as for destructive lust. The early Christian use of agape picks up on the theme of the Hebrew hesed (mercy, loving kindness, generosity) rather than a linguistic phenomenon. Both Paul and John use it to indicate the ‘biblical theme’ of divine love and God’s faithfulness to his covenant and its purposes, now fulfilled in Jesus. But, again, Jewish and Biblical thought never links this to the Messiah. There are three other (converging) answers as to why Paul speaks of the Messiah’s love. **First, ‘**early Christian throught began with reflection on the resurrection of the crucified Jesus’. This had to be the revelation-in-action of the long promised divine love, if it was the new exodus: God the Creator had at last remembered his long promised mercy. God had promised to reconcile the world to himself in reconciling love, and this had happened through the Messiah. God’s plan for himself and the Messiah converged in a way that was not apparent from contemporary Jewish readings of Scripture, but it became obvious in the light of Jesus. Wright connects this to the hesed Adonai, the loving kindness of YHWH himself. Second, Jesus’ first followers did not separate his resurrection from their memory of him before his death. Jesus displayed a ‘sovereign kindness in so much of what he did’, his closest followers knew him, and they spoke of his crucifixion itself as the supreme act of love. (John 13:1). Third, ‘the church’s present awareness of the person of Jesus himself’. ‘That strange presence’, always loving, promised and experienced in the sacraments for instance. ‘The Jesus who was experienced as a man of love before his crucifixion was known personally as the loving Lord in the intimate prayerful life of his followers’. ‘Memory and experience dovetail with the scriptural promises of YHWH’s rescuing love’, resulting in this remarkable theme, written less than 25 years after the crucifixion (!). This is, then ‘a radical innovation in Jewish messianic thinking’, as Jesus’ first followers came to see him as the human embodiment of Israels God. This passage is designed to give comfort and assurance, but underneath is a revolutionary theology of incarnation. Coupled with what has been said in Rom 8 about the spirit (pneumatology), this is ‘one of the greatest expositions of Trinitarian thought from any point of Christian history’. Not in the shape of cold theory, but in the shape of gratitude, allegiance, faith, hope and answering love.
At last, we can now walk through these verses and see how they work.
In 35b, Paul lists ‘the physical dangers and threats he himself had met’ or expected to meet, and his hearers might encounter soon as well. In the Greek, the list has an ‘audible punch’ which is not easy to pick up in English.
·Suffering and hardship: physical pain and cultural challenges such as loss of home or job.
· Persecution: Paul had experienced it and he could see it coming for the community in Rome.
· Famine: uncommon for us westerners, but a regular occurrence in those days.
· Nakedness: could happen after a shipwreck or at a public beating.
· The sword, machaira, a short sword used for executions, not in battle.
In Paul’s days, many would have said that if these things happen to you, the gods must be angry with you, you must have done something wrong. But in vs 36, Paul cites Ps 44 to ward of any suggestion that divine displeasure is causing these things. In Ps 44, the psalmist says that ‘all these things have come upon us, but we have not played you false or denied the covenant’. We suffer ‘because of you’ says the psalmist and Paul echoes that, we suffer ‘on your account’ (heneken sou), because of you we are sheep destined for slaughter. These sufferings are not signs of heaven-sent anger, but but ‘actually the outworking of the purpose which was sketched in 8:18-27’. What’s more, this verse closely echoes the Isaianic language for the suffering Servant, in Is. 53:7. That means these sufferings can be seen as ‘Messianic afflictions’, not just some nasty things to get through. They are to be embraced as part of the ‘redemptive vocations’. ‘This is where the wounds of Jesus meet the wounds of the world’. We are ‘reckoned’ sheep for the slaughter, just as the Messiah, when we are baptized and justified in him.
BUT… verse 37 begins with alla, ‘but’. Don’t let all these things ‘dominate your horizon’, because ‘in all these things we are super-conquerors, hypernikomen’. The enemy has been completely wiped out. Through our participation in the messianic sufferings, the ‘pain and the anger of the world may itself be exhausted and overcome’, through the supreme act of love of the Messiah and our participation in those sufferings, when we go ‘prayerfully to the dark places, to bring God’s light and healing right there’.
The reason for this ‘extraordinary analysis’ is given with the gar of verse 38, pepeismai gar. Paul is persuaded, he ‘has done the math’. He has listed 7 dangers and 10 powers that could attack us, ‘and he declares that none of them can come between the believer and the lof of God in Messiah Jesus’. The list of ten dangers is mostly arranged in pairs. We can read this list as ‘north, south, east, west’: Paul is covering the bases, it includes our possible states (life and death), the past and our (uncertain) future, powers in heaven and on earth, and anything in the cosmos. All of this is created, they are all creatures, ‘part of the world made by God, whereas the gospel is about the incarnate love of the creator himself’. These creatures, taken over by powers darker than themselves might indeed try separate us from the divine and messianic love, that is part of the ‘groaning of creation’, the out-of-jointness of God’s good creation. That creation will be rescued from its slavery to decay (8:19-25), that is the ultimate answer to that problem, and therefore also to any intermediate problems that might arise from the ‘creatures’ as they still are. Paul has lived experience with these powers, but he knows they will fail to separate us from the love of God.
Our human love experiences separation regularly (travel, work, death), but this love gives assurance of eternal unbreakability. Hard to imagine, but that is what the gospel provides. And with Paul, we need to be persuaded of all of this, ‘because of the resurrection of the crucified son of God’. It doesn’t all depend on the cross like some think, either because of a theological liberalism or because their specific atonement theory doesn’t really seem to need the resurrection. But the resurrection is the victory, where the creator God declared that the crucified and risen was indeed really his son, Israels Messiah and the world’s lord.
That’s after all where Romans began, from 1.3-5. Wright briefly recaps Romans from 1-5 and then 5-8. In the end, 8 ‘comes back full circle’ to the introduction in 5:1-11: ‘justification leads to glory, marking out the path of suffering and hope, sustained by the spirit-given love of God’, ‘this in itself is rooted in God’s action of utter self-giving love in the Messiah’. ‘That is where this first half or Romans now concludes’.
The victorious covenant love of God isn’t some fuzzy generalized sense of the transcendent or something like that. It’s not some conviction you have to talk yourself into. No, his conviction, persuasion and assurance all follow from the central ‘good news’ event of Easter. ‘If God really did raise Jesus the Messiah from the dead… then everything follows’. Wright here repeats an anecdote he often shared as a speaker, about a London cabbie who saw Wright was a bishop, and said to him: ‘What I always say, is if God raised Jesus Christ from the dead, then everything else is just rock ‘n roll, innit?’ ‘That is Paul’s doctrine of assurance in a nutshell. Nothing else in all creation can separate us from God’s love in the Messiah, Jesus our Lord’.

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2024.05.20 18:47 Conny_and_Theo CK3 RICE Mod Dev Diary #47 Sicily Flavor Pack (Part 3): Flavor Content for Southern Italy

CK3 RICE Mod Dev Diary #47 Sicily Flavor Pack (Part 3): Flavor Content for Southern Italy
https://preview.redd.it/6v22roz0rj1d1.jpg?width=1500&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=461d36f235f05c69357fcd350bd480bfe9bee9bd
“Because of the variety of different people subject to our rule [in Sicily], the usages, customs and laws which have existed among them up to now are not abrogated unless what is observed in them is clearly in contradiction to our edicts here.”
- Roger II of Sicily
I'm Cybrxkhan, creator of the Regional Immersion and Cultural Enrichment (RICE) mod, which adds simple "Flavor Packs'' to different parts of the world. This is the third, final dev diary about RICE’s next flavor pack, Sicily: Where Three Worlds Met. In dev diaries 1 and 2, we covered the Sicilian struggle. Today, we’ll go over more miscellaneous features in this update instead, such as new activities, buildings, historical characters, and more!
If you want to read the previous dev diaries, here’s links to them:
Lastly, feel free to check my mods' website, discord, and twitter for more info, previews, and updates as well!

Liminality Dynasty Legacy

The last time RICE introduced a new dynasty legacy was way back with the Tarim Basin flavor pack in 2022. Now, a new one will come with the Sicily update, called Liminality.
Liminality has both general bonuses, and those more specific to the Sicilian struggle’s mechanics. For instance, the 1st perk in this legacy, Populus Trlininguis, doubles trait XP you gain in the Sicilian Signore trait (a trait given to every ruler in Sicily) from various actions in the Sicilian struggle. It also improves interfaith opinion, and the language learning scheme.
https://preview.redd.it/mv4yygejqj1d1.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c23b653c8a23e10217fe1d5e386494dda4f75017
The five perks in this legacy are:
  • Populus Trilinguis
  • Latifunda
  • Incastellamento
  • Nostalgia
  • Grand Signores
If you recall from the 1st Sicily struggle dev diary, the Sicily struggle can start up again and repeat continuously unless you achieve the Crossroads or Dominion ending. However, both these “true” endings require that you unlock the whole track – an important incentive to go through this track if you want to truly master the Sicilian Frontier.

Activities

Pilgrimage to Monte Gargano

Some of the new activity-related content has to do with previously introduced activities in RICE. For instance, Christians in Sicily now have access to their own local pilgrimage, to Monte Gargano in Foggia in southern Italy.
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Historically, the main destination for pilgrims was the sanctuary for Saint Michael there. As one of the earliest centers of pilgrimage dedicated to the Archangel Michael, it served as a model for future, similar pilgrimage sites, such as Monte-Saint-Michel, an Abbey in Normandy that RICE already added a local pilgrimage activity for.

Baths of Baia

Another one of RICE’s general activities is the Visit to the Hot Springs. For those unfamiliar with this RICE feature, it is an activity that can be done anywhere in one’s realm, but going to certain baronies gives extra bonuses like useful modifiers. The barony of Naples, will now be one such site, for the baths of Baia.
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Baia was a popular resort for centuries, and during both the ancient and medieval era, it had a negative reputation as a place of decadence and sin. While both male and female visitors were criticized in historical sources, the latter generally faced greater scrutiny and disapproval.
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Thus, while you’ll get a beneficial modifier from visiting the hot springs in Baia, the modifier has a malus to piety and opinion, and the malus is doubled if your gender isn’t considered dominant by your faith. If your faith meets certain requirements, like having the hedonist tenet, you get bonuses to piety/opinion rather than maluses instead.

Ancient Tombs

There are also two new activities. One, available to anyone in the region, is to pay a Visit to the Crypta Neapolitana. In medieval times, people thought the poet Virgil used magic to build this tunnel, as he was venerated as a powerful sorcerer in medieval legend. People also believed his tomb was nearby, and visitors from near and far came to his supposed tomb, which also became a local site of Christian worship.
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Going on this activity lets you choose between two intents, that provide different modifiers: to be either Inspired by Virgil, or supposedly be blessed by Virgil’s Miracles.
Virgil’s legendary tomb isn’t the only tomb you can visit, however. In the city of Palermo, you can pay a Visit to Palermo’s Ancient Tombs to similarly gain minor bonuses and modifiers. It is available only to those who have territory on the island of Sicily, and has two options: the tomb of the philosopher Aristotle, or that of the physician Galen.
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Ibn Hawqal, a 10th century Arab geographer and scholar, observed that the main mosque of Palermo (previously the city’s main church) had a wooden beam where Aristotle's supposed coffin was suspended. Ibn Hawqal further notes how Christians venerated this Greek philosopher and prayed to him for rain.
Meanwhile, Galen’s purported tomb lay Misilmeri, a short distance from Palermo on the road to Agrigento. A useful source making note of this was that of al-Harawi, an Iranian traveler from the 13th century.

Special Buildings and Modifiers

Several special buildings have been added to the map in southern Italy. Generally, I spread them out with roughly one per duchy (with the exception of Sicily), representing different aspects of the region’s history, and buildings that I felt would be more relevant for the time period.
https://preview.redd.it/23a79lbpqj1d1.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=06fb2d685a07160e4eefec1aebb726732320ec99
The buildings, and the baronies they are in, are as follows:
  • Arch of Trajan in Benevento: One of the finest and best-known surviving examples of a Roman triumphal arch.
  • Monte Cassino in Cassino: One of the most influential Christian abbeys during the high medieval period.
  • Mount Etna in Catania: One of the tallest active volcanoes in Europe; the land around it is particularly fertile.
  • Royal Palace of Palermo in Palermo: A magnificent example of the fusion of Islamic, Byzantine, and Latin artistic styles. It is not built at game start.
  • Generic University in Salerno to represent the Salerno School of Medicine, arguably the most important medieval European center of medicine, drawing from Latin, Arabic, Greek, and Jewish medical traditions.
https://preview.redd.it/ns9vbtcqqj1d1.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fab2f910f6b71cd6ded4f34cc1560243cb816eb7
The Salerno School of Medicine is also represented by a special county modifier in Salerno to represent its unique influence on medieval Europe and as a scholarly crossroads of different cultural traditions.
https://preview.redd.it/06th8bfrqj1d1.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=754228a70f1bf0231857d9ae12c5f560092c5a92
Nearby, the county of Naples has the Phlegraean Fields modifier, representing the famous resort region discussed earlier.
https://preview.redd.it/9wzijrwrqj1d1.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0f2d54a5391ab76705dc18d20d51d3e74d47a1da

Historical Characters and Flavor

Several historical characters have been added across both bookmarks, and some come with flavor. I won’t list them all here, but I’ll mention a couple of the more interesting ones.

Rulers

For new playable rulers, in 867 we have Uthman. Historically, he ruled the Emirate of Taranto and may have harbored a defeated Emir Sawdan – the new bookmarked character in 867 if you recall – if Sawdan wasn't executed or captured by King Louis of Italy. Taranto was later conquered by Christian forces in 880. As Taranto is in the county of Bari in-game, I opted to make Uthman a vassal count of Sawdan.
https://preview.redd.it/envfi7ntqj1d1.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d717f083dd4108f58231c8eedc1805b148989101
In 1066, Robert Guiscard is no longer the owner of Bari. In real life, Bari was controlled by the Byzantines until 1071; I assume PI has it otherwise either for balance reasons or to reflect how the Byzantines mainly controlled the region’s coastline. Anyhow, the new “count” of Bari in 1066 is Aboulchares, the second to last Catepan of Italy, who historically led the Byzantine defense against the Normans admirably. Based on his name, he was likely of Arab origin.
https://preview.redd.it/a0dfglauqj1d1.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=41481efffdc80afb3195fddd039191c1b4ff3258

Courtiers

Aaron or Abu Aaron is a Jewish mystic and scholar in the 867 bookmark who was prominent in southern Italy at the time. He starts off as a courtier and friend of Sawdan, the Emir of Bari.
https://preview.redd.it/ely0f2xuqj1d1.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b940a1f28d28bff495caf75a4393c898175355e1
A few years after game start, if he is in your court, most likely that of Sawdan, you’ll get an event where he’ll try to return to his homeland in Mesopotamia. In Jewish sources, the locals, including Sawdan, tried convincing him to stay, with Sawdan going as far as attempting to forcibly detain him, but nothing came out of it. If Abu Aaron is allowed to go, or successfully escapes an attempt to detain him, then he’ll go to the court of whoever’s holding Baghdad.
https://preview.redd.it/b7zm7kcvqj1d1.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e7672ae2aa35a581eaeaa0bf825876cc5219b929
Constantine of Africa is a Christian monk and physician of North African origin (and possibly a convert from Islam) in the 1066 bookmark. He played a prominent role in the translation of medical texts and the development of Salerno’s school of medicine mentioned above.
https://preview.redd.it/3vhx1stvqj1d1.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8464155d9790b50a9eb631581a8c3b84fd72713e

Starting Flavor

There’s also some other flavor to flesh out the historical situation in 1066.
To represent the aforementioned Norman attack on Bari, there is a new county claim war at the start of the game in 1066: the Norman Conquest of Bari. While the Byzantines do outnumber Robert Guiscard, the attacker, he’s been given extra troops at game start and the ERE is fighting a two-front war as they’re also being invaded by the Seljuks.
https://preview.redd.it/j6ei2mkwqj1d1.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=42e2b6b9ebeb2b2c83c71e6685b8e95e324a4a1f
Next, in 1066, a random selection of counties North Africa, particularly those controlled by or near the Zirids in Tunisia, will start off with a hit to control and a modifier called Chronic Ifriqyan Famines that reduces control and development. There is a small chance every year they’ll disappear.
https://preview.redd.it/o74dsq3xqj1d1.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e3f49d66aa170773f19f7f73f62acd689228c89c
The modifiers encourage you to take the interaction to ask for grain shipments from Sicily discussed in the previous dev diary, since if you’ve done so recently, it’ll increase the chances of your counties losing the modifier significantly.
For some historical context, as was also discussed in the previous dev diary, North Africa was increasingly dependent on exports of grain from Sicily in the 11th and 12th centuries.

Minor Decisions

There are a few minor flavor decisions that can be taken, besides the struggle-related ones discussed in dev diary 2.
https://preview.redd.it/36u77woxqj1d1.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3b68fcf75a91853df62f43becfdd383047ef5ac0
First, rulers near Salerno can take the decision to Support the Medical School of Salerno for a cost, which gives a beneficial health. There’s a chance you’ll get further modifiers, artifacts, or even a physician courtier for free. This chance is increased if you own Salerno. This is also one of the few ways you can get a boost to all tracks of the Sicilian signore trait at once.
Lastly, there is a minor decision to Construct the Admiral’s Bridge for rulers in Palermo. The Admiral’s bridge, impressive back in its day, and, interestingly, was the site of a major battle during Garibaldi’s expedition during the Italian Unification in the 1860s.
https://preview.redd.it/6laow06yqj1d1.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=10be181c5c6ea9c8ac01383b039367f04198fdbd
The decision grants you and Palermo modifiers for a while. Historically, the bridge got its name from how it was built on the orders of George of Antioch, one of the most powerful officials of the Kingdom of Sicily in the 12th century who was given the title of Great Admiral or Admiral of Admirals. However, some recent scholarship has casted doubt on this, and the bridge might be older, perhaps even dating back to the Islamic period.

Concluding Remarks

That concludes the final dev diary!
Following the Sicily update, if time permits, work will start on a minor patch to add in miscellaneous features and bugfixes. The next planned flavor pack after Sicily is on the Zhangzhung and the Bön religion of ancient Tibet.
ETA for the Sicily content will be at the end of the month (though possibly early next month, depending on time/energy). Despite the large size of this update, there’s a lot that will be cut for time, that I might add in future updates. Until then, I’ll continue to post further previews on my discord, twitter, etc.
Thank you all for your time!

Selected Sources for Further Reading

As promised in the previous dev diaries, here is a full list of sources I’ve used (so far) on Sicily since I started researching for this update half a year ago.

General History

Byzantine Sicily

Islamic Sicily

Lombard Sicily

Norman Sicily

Other

submitted by Conny_and_Theo to paradoxplaza [link] [comments]


2024.05.20 18:47 Conny_and_Theo RICE Mod Dev Diary #47 Sicily Flavor Pack (Part 3): Flavor Content for Southern Italy

RICE Mod Dev Diary #47 Sicily Flavor Pack (Part 3): Flavor Content for Southern Italy
https://preview.redd.it/dnd6vt10rj1d1.jpg?width=1500&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=216be2693664f0a983646e11ece7bf051b6089d7
“Because of the variety of different people subject to our rule [in Sicily], the usages, customs and laws which have existed among them up to now are not abrogated unless what is observed in them is clearly in contradiction to our edicts here.”
- Roger II of Sicily
I'm Cybrxkhan, creator of the Regional Immersion and Cultural Enrichment (RICE) mod, which adds simple "Flavor Packs'' to different parts of the world. This is the third, final dev diary about RICE’s next flavor pack, Sicily: Where Three Worlds Met. In dev diaries 1 and 2, we covered the Sicilian struggle. Today, we’ll go over more miscellaneous features in this update instead, such as new activities, buildings, historical characters, and more!
If you want to read the previous dev diaries, here’s links to them:
Lastly, feel free to check my mods' website, discord, and twitter for more info, previews, and updates as well!

Liminality Dynasty Legacy

The last time RICE introduced a new dynasty legacy was way back with the Tarim Basin flavor pack in 2022. Now, a new one will come with the Sicily update, called Liminality.
Liminality has both general bonuses, and those more specific to the Sicilian struggle’s mechanics. For instance, the 1st perk in this legacy, Populus Trlininguis, doubles trait XP you gain in the Sicilian Signore trait (a trait given to every ruler in Sicily) from various actions in the Sicilian struggle. It also improves interfaith opinion, and the language learning scheme.
https://preview.redd.it/kg081vnnpj1d1.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e9af884d9d203f151f0a71eb419063ae4a820641
The five perks in this legacy are:
  • Populus Trilinguis
  • Latifunda
  • Incastellamento
  • Nostalgia
  • Grand Signores
If you recall from the 1st Sicily struggle dev diary, the Sicily struggle can start up again and repeat continuously unless you achieve the Crossroads or Dominion ending. However, both these “true” endings require that you unlock the whole track – an important incentive to go through this track if you want to truly master the Sicilian Frontier.

Activities

Pilgrimage to Monte Gargano

Some of the new activity-related content has to do with previously introduced activities in RICE. For instance, Christians in Sicily now have access to their own local pilgrimage, to Monte Gargano in Foggia in southern Italy.
https://preview.redd.it/bktn7kpppj1d1.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6b466a245e361fda7bcb744a74a878da5d1ea790
Historically, the main destination for pilgrims was the sanctuary for Saint Michael there. As one of the earliest centers of pilgrimage dedicated to the Archangel Michael, it served as a model for future, similar pilgrimage sites, such as Monte-Saint-Michel, an Abbey in Normandy that RICE already added a local pilgrimage activity for.

Baths of Baia

Another one of RICE’s general activities is the Visit to the Hot Springs. For those unfamiliar with this RICE feature, it is an activity that can be done anywhere in one’s realm, but going to certain baronies gives extra bonuses like useful modifiers. The barony of Naples, will now be one such site, for the baths of Baia.
https://preview.redd.it/pthg7bbtpj1d1.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=61d59b16c5d82511f24349497e7f43bf8d028dee
Baia was a popular resort for centuries, and during both the ancient and medieval era, it had a negative reputation as a place of decadence and sin. While both male and female visitors were criticized in historical sources, the latter generally faced greater scrutiny and disapproval.
https://preview.redd.it/2q63tbytpj1d1.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e1d1d8c3774dd162082dcaf0596db06a09e9566e
Thus, while you’ll get a beneficial modifier from visiting the hot springs in Baia, the modifier has a malus to piety and opinion, and the malus is doubled if your gender isn’t considered dominant by your faith. If your faith meets certain requirements, like having the hedonist tenet, you get bonuses to piety/opinion rather than maluses instead.

Ancient Tombs

There are also two new activities. One, available to anyone in the region, is to pay a Visit to the Crypta Neapolitana. In medieval times, people thought the poet Virgil used magic to build this tunnel, as he was venerated as a powerful sorcerer in medieval legend. People also believed his tomb was nearby, and visitors from near and far came to his supposed tomb, which also became a local site of Christian worship.
https://preview.redd.it/dcgslknvpj1d1.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8331915ac296ec63991f86e8a4c99b726ab18060
Going on this activity lets you choose between two intents, that provide different modifiers: to be either Inspired by Virgil, or supposedly be blessed by Virgil’s Miracles.
Virgil’s legendary tomb isn’t the only tomb you can visit, however. In the city of Palermo, you can pay a Visit to Palermo’s Ancient Tombs to similarly gain minor bonuses and modifiers. It is available only to those who have territory on the island of Sicily, and has two options: the tomb of the philosopher Aristotle, or that of the physician Galen.
https://preview.redd.it/g3d3ef9wpj1d1.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=18074120215d56b7d521d6b1d2f51714cbc44e61
Ibn Hawqal, a 10th century Arab geographer and scholar, observed that the main mosque of Palermo (previously the city’s main church) had a wooden beam where Aristotle's supposed coffin was suspended. Ibn Hawqal further notes how Christians venerated this Greek philosopher and prayed to him for rain.
Meanwhile, Galen’s purported tomb lay Misilmeri, a short distance from Palermo on the road to Agrigento. A useful source making note of this was that of al-Harawi, an Iranian traveler from the 13th century.

Special Buildings and Modifiers

Several special buildings have been added to the map in southern Italy. Generally, I spread them out with roughly one per duchy (with the exception of Sicily), representing different aspects of the region’s history, and buildings that I felt would be more relevant for the time period.
https://preview.redd.it/n68wnslxpj1d1.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=39300d9a3a5735deec75d401ae47a925685fc6d8
The buildings, and the baronies they are in, are as follows:
  • Arch of Trajan in Benevento: One of the finest and best-known surviving examples of a Roman triumphal arch.
  • Monte Cassino in Cassino: One of the most influential Christian abbeys during the high medieval period.
  • Mount Etna in Catania: One of the tallest active volcanoes in Europe; the land around it is particularly fertile.
  • Royal Palace of Palermo in Palermo: A magnificent example of the fusion of Islamic, Byzantine, and Latin artistic styles. It is not built at game start.
  • Generic University in Salerno to represent the Salerno School of Medicine, arguably the most important medieval European center of medicine, drawing from Latin, Arabic, Greek, and Jewish medical traditions.
https://preview.redd.it/3o2uw81zpj1d1.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=72383d7dfb6bd7e87312ecc53c2c8fa19b733743
The Salerno School of Medicine is also represented by a special county modifier in Salerno to represent its unique influence on medieval Europe and as a scholarly crossroads of different cultural traditions.
https://preview.redd.it/mqwv6onzpj1d1.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=13738ae1e15d44b4fbac91f539121bd84d1c6a10
Nearby, the county of Naples has the Phlegraean Fields modifier, representing the famous resort region discussed earlier.
https://preview.redd.it/5amv1rh0qj1d1.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6d29890a9710b8924842fe1965bfe71ba3c1ab7c

Historical Characters and Flavor

Several historical characters have been added across both bookmarks, and some come with flavor. I won’t list them all here, but I’ll mention a couple of the more interesting ones.

Rulers

For new playable rulers, in 867 we have Uthman. Historically, he ruled the Emirate of Taranto and may have harbored a defeated Emir Sawdan – the new bookmarked character in 867 if you recall – if Sawdan wasn't executed or captured by King Louis of Italy. Taranto was later conquered by Christian forces in 880. As Taranto is in the county of Bari in-game, I opted to make Uthman a vassal count of Sawdan.
https://preview.redd.it/dhk4mwl1qj1d1.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b471e989e6932017d49f00c88ec39035e1e3b76c
In 1066, Robert Guiscard is no longer the owner of Bari. In real life, Bari was controlled by the Byzantines until 1071; I assume PI has it otherwise either for balance reasons or to reflect how the Byzantines mainly controlled the region’s coastline. Anyhow, the new “count” of Bari in 1066 is Aboulchares, the second to last Catepan of Italy, who historically led the Byzantine defense against the Normans admirably. Based on his name, he was likely of Arab origin.
https://preview.redd.it/ac6vibf2qj1d1.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5af49b2d34bc3c20e1f15db0075186cd09f43faa

Courtiers

Aaron or Abu Aaron is a Jewish mystic and scholar in the 867 bookmark who was prominent in southern Italy at the time. He starts off as a courtier and friend of Sawdan, the Emir of Bari.
https://preview.redd.it/ohf9d953qj1d1.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=dbe380a2530c58793353f5837e543ce31dfb7f47
A few years after game start, if he is in your court, most likely that of Sawdan, you’ll get an event where he’ll try to return to his homeland in Mesopotamia. In Jewish sources, the locals, including Sawdan, tried convincing him to stay, with Sawdan going as far as attempting to forcibly detain him, but nothing came out of it. If Abu Aaron is allowed to go, or successfully escapes an attempt to detain him, then he’ll go to the court of whoever’s holding Baghdad.
https://preview.redd.it/e9fddzt3qj1d1.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ec9e8a45d281db20d19aa1e07bfcd6504235a81f
Constantine of Africa is a Christian monk and physician of North African origin (and possibly a convert from Islam) in the 1066 bookmark. He played a prominent role in the translation of medical texts and the development of Salerno’s school of medicine mentioned above.
https://preview.redd.it/iowt6o55qj1d1.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=89dffcea41f12f666c060b1209ab0cb2ee40ee9a

Starting Flavor

There’s also some other flavor to flesh out the historical situation in 1066.
To represent the aforementioned Norman attack on Bari, there is a new county claim war at the start of the game in 1066: the Norman Conquest of Bari. While the Byzantines do outnumber Robert Guiscard, the attacker, he’s been given extra troops at game start and the ERE is fighting a two-front war as they’re also being invaded by the Seljuks.
https://preview.redd.it/80rck756qj1d1.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4f8593da144e6a05f5e4cfba62c4a1ca5778f130
Next, in 1066, a random selection of counties North Africa, particularly those controlled by or near the Zirids in Tunisia, will start off with a hit to control and a modifier called Chronic Ifriqyan Famines that reduces control and development. There is a small chance every year they’ll disappear.
The modifiers encourage you to take the interaction to ask for grain shipments from Sicily discussed in the previous dev diary, since if you’ve done so recently, it’ll increase the chances of your counties losing the modifier significantly.
https://preview.redd.it/23kzs1p6qj1d1.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=79578ce64659910afba7c1ad00d487fa8e1212bb
For some historical context, as was also discussed in the previous dev diary, North Africa was increasingly dependent on exports of grain from Sicily in the 11th and 12th centuries.

Minor Decisions

There are a few minor flavor decisions that can be taken, besides the struggle-related ones discussed in dev diary 2.
https://preview.redd.it/c15vsbo7qj1d1.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d0b48dc91905071cf00205cc13c0cf2e04fa2c85
First, rulers near Salerno can take the decision to Support the Medical School of Salerno for a cost, which gives a beneficial health. There’s a chance you’ll get further modifiers, artifacts, or even a physician courtier for free. This chance is increased if you own Salerno. This is also one of the few ways you can get a boost to all tracks of the Sicilian signore trait at once.
Lastly, there is a minor decision to Construct the Admiral’s Bridge for rulers in Palermo. The Admiral’s bridge, impressive back in its day, and, interestingly, was the site of a major battle during Garibaldi’s expedition during the Italian Unification in the 1860s.
https://preview.redd.it/szk337d8qj1d1.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ddf53e8515f90fb935fb73652fbaeb925fdc3862
The decision grants you and Palermo modifiers for a while. Historically, the bridge got its name from how it was built on the orders of George of Antioch, one of the most powerful officials of the Kingdom of Sicily in the 12th century who was given the title of Great Admiral or Admiral of Admirals. However, some recent scholarship has casted doubt on this, and the bridge might be older, perhaps even dating back to the Islamic period.

Concluding Remarks

That concludes the final dev diary!
Following the Sicily update, if time permits, work will start on a minor patch to add in miscellaneous features and bugfixes. The next planned flavor pack after Sicily is on the Zhangzhung and the Bön religion of ancient Tibet.
ETA for the Sicily content will be at the end of the month (though possibly early next month, depending on time/energy). Despite the large size of this update, there’s a lot that will be cut for time, that I might add in future updates. Until then, I’ll continue to post further previews on my discord, twitter, etc.
Thank you all for your time!

Selected Sources for Further Reading

As promised in the previous dev diaries, here is a full list of sources I’ve used (so far) on Sicily since I started researching for this update half a year ago.

General History

Byzantine Sicily

Islamic Sicily

Lombard Sicily

Norman Sicily

Other

submitted by Conny_and_Theo to CrusaderKings [link] [comments]


2024.05.20 17:12 ksagara I need Tips for getting out of red ranks and cleaner inputs (and the issues I know I have)

Ok like the title says, I'm pretty stuck in shinryu occasionally dropping to ganryu for a spell. I have a pretty good grasp of my main(drag) but noticing a lot of my plays that got me to where I am get blown up fighting ruler ranks, this is especially annoying when moves I hit in practice, or in the waiting room just don't seem to come out and the misinput ends up with me getting badly. As a drag his wr2 1+2 I can do consistently In practice and it always comes out, but in a match it comes out maybe one every 5 times I use it. His crouching df1 3 is super hard for me to get consistently, I try to set it up but half the time I end up getting his df1 poke, which since it's shorter gets me blown up, I'm starting to think it works better as a faux string. Or I will start a string like b3 2 1 and only the first hit will come out. I don't understand why my inputs seem to get eaten in a match but works so consistently In practice. I def rely to much on mixup pressure, combined with the fact that my inputs not being consistent ends up causing a lot of gaps. My third issue is simply getting up against super rush down characters like Lars, eddy, Nina, etc. I feel every time I try to stand up, either normal or crouchingor a roll, I get clipped while standing before I can get up. I'm not quite sure how to consistently get to my feet and end up loosing 80% off one launcher. Any tips would be appreciated
submitted by ksagara to Tekken [link] [comments]


2024.05.20 17:07 Agneus [Online] [5e] [18+] [GMT+1] Virtues of Essence - Roleplay Focused Mystery and Lore Driven Forgotten Realms Campaign seeking a replacement player

“What defines virtue and how are we to gauge it? An inquiry that reverberates through epochs, its answer as fickle and capricious as the fates of those who deem to ask it. Duty, honor, justice - many over the ages would name these virtues, the conduits through which noble intentions find expression. Yet, as the battlefield of beliefs unfolds, a legion emerges, each as sworn to these principles as to obliterating all who would dare stake alike claim. Thus, battles rage and wars are waged and, in the end, those who are left are no more right than those fell by the blade. Alas, it is the victors whose ideals are etched into monuments for posterity. Except even words chiseled in unyielding stone are fated to fade in time. So is the wicked cycle destined to repeat in all its futility, its ephemeral prize seized again, only to be lost and sought anew. Try and picture, if for but a moment, a world where our rulers paused to reflect on the lessons of yore. They, too, would discern the elixir that enables one to escape the confines of memory—the very burden our fleeting nature forbids us to carry. Progress and evolution. Adaptability and transcendence. Everlasting and yet not stagnant, irrefutable, and yet fluid, these are the only true virtues. Thus, must we ever venture into the uncharted and unfamiliar for only from these unexplored domains may the truly virtuous arise.”
Where: Discord (Video and Voice) + FoundryVTT
When: every Saturday 5 - 9/10 pm GMT+2 (CEST), 11 am - 3/4 pm EST
Who: party of 4 players and a DM seeking one extra player
Updates: Recruitment updates will be posted here.
Hello there and well met! If you’ve made it past the flavor text (or skipped it) and through the basic info (hopefully didnt skip past that one) you might very well be at the right address! Without further ado onto the post.

🐲The campaign🐲

Having only just recovered from the Second Sundering and the War of the Silver Marches, the North had been ravaged by a whole new set of tumultuous events - the rise of the Cult of the Dragon and that of the Absolute, the Fall of Eltruel and the short reign of the beholder crime lord Xanathar just some among them. After a brief respite from the twisted and the unnatural the clouds once more begin to gather. Along the Long Road, whole hosts of wild beasts and monsters have been accosting travelers seemingly at random and in the grand metropolis of Waterdeep a sudden rise in crime seems to coincide with strange events passing unnoticed beneath the surface. Amidst all this, in spring of 1493 DR, a party of adventurers delves into a mystery of enchanted gemstones being utilized to nefarious ends by unknown perpetrators all the while navigating the labyrinthine twists of city faction politics.
As implied by the post title, this is an ongoing campaign (we are 12 sessions in at the time of this post). Due to some irl commitments weve recently dropped a player and are looking to replace them.
As the title suggests, this is a roleplay focused mystery/lore driven campaign. Expect an overreaching plot with ample secrets to uncover, conspiracies to unravel and eldritch truths to unearth. The first word of the password is "Doth". On the same level of importance or more important even be that the players preference, there is a variety of subplots to engage with, from small and goofy and random to ones rivaling the main story arc in complexity and variance. Among these, individual character story arcs play a leading role, at times seamlessly intertwined with the current focus of the party, at times separate and independent.
As was already mentioned and is further described below, this is a roleplay focused campaign and a roleplay heavy game. This means that roleplay exists as a unifying concept for all other aspects of the game including exploration, combat, and puzzles. That said DnD is only DnD with all three of its main pillars intact and this campaign is no exception in that regard. I very much enjoy the mechanical side of the game as well besides roleplay and so things like multiphase boss fights and custom magic items are definitely on the table.

🧙‍♂️The DM🧙‍♂️

Hello there, Jay here, 25 yo law student from Central Europe currently working on finishing his master’s degree, trying to stay afloat in the current lease market. I study and work in a law firm by day and DM or play DnD by night (more like evening but night sounded cooler). I have been a big fan of TTRPGs since my early teens and of online DnD for the past five years. I’ve DMed multiple campaigns, finished CoS not least among them and I currently play in a long-term campaign. Before you ask, yes, my schedule is strained but not to the point I am unable to engage with my hobbies.
I would describe my DMing style as driven, realistic, and involved but also very conscious about player agency and collaborative storytelling as core values that make TTRPGs so popular and unique. I spend a lot of time ensuring the worlds I create and the stories I want to tell feel alive. From hand-picked music, to fully voiced NPCs and scenic descriptions designed to breathe life into the campaign setting I daresay my games rival in quality those of the professional DMs that charge for each session.
There is a drawback to this all however. Second word of the password is "thy". I expect a lot from my players as well. Writing a story in DnD is not a one person job. It takes a collective effort of the entire group to create something truly unique, something that one can be proud while looking forward to each session. Unwinding and letting off steam means something else for everyone. For me it means losing myself in the creative process of roleplaying an NPC or describing a scene, watching my players masterfully portray their own characters or having the party derail my plans in an awesome unforeseen and unexpectedly enriching way. If you find yourself in any of what I just described than this may be a game for you. If you don’t, that’s fine. This is definitely not a game for everyone.

🏰The setting🏰

Forgotten Realms is a default setting of Dungeons and Dragons but it is anything but boring and mundane. With now decades worth of lore behind it, it offers an unparalleled opportunity for anyone wanting to build on solid foundations to bring their ideas to life. While it has garnered a lot of attention lately with the release of a certain videogame (more people now know Astarion than a good amount of Hollywood celebrities I’d say) it has had its loyal following even before then, being constantly expanded and living its own life in a host of both online and home games. It’s been a natural choice of mine for a while now and not once have I had any regrets. The third word of the password is "mirror". I feel with how great of a variety of content the Forgotten Realms offer everybody is able to pick something that suits their creative vision. In summary the Forgotten Realms almost feel like a real place with how much worldbuilding has been done with them and offer a diversity of content few other TTRPG settings can boast.
When it comes to setting of the campaign in the world of Faerun I have once again made a somewhat traditional pick and decided to place the onset of the game onto the Sword Coast, more precisely into the city of Waterdeep. If one of the key upsides of Forgotten Realms is diversity of content, Waterdeep is one of the best representations of this. Being the largest settlement on the known Faerun, Waterdeep offers nigh limitless options in terms of main story arc genre, character creation and character backstory implementation. It has everything every large TTRPG settlement ought to have (fickle upper class, enigmatic factions, quaint taverns and extravagant nightclubs, always in bad mood city watch, a castle and a harbor) as well as few pretty original ideas such as colossal definitely not alive statues, a city council where even its members don’t know each other’s identity and a massive dungeon right underneath the city where you can literally fall right from a tavern taproom.
In case you are wondering, while this campagn takes place primarily in the city of Waterdeep itself, there is nothing stopping the players from exploring past the city if they so choose. The final word of the password is "crack?". Different parts of the main plot and various subplots can and will encourage the party to explore Waterdeep environs and sometimes even further.

📃The requirements📃

No exceptions here. Unless otherwise stated, the requirements must be met at the time of application.

🙋‍♂️How to sign up🙋‍♀️

Youve made it all the way to the end of this long post. Congratulations. Or maybe you’ve skipped all the way to the end. In that case I strongly recommended you go back. If not to learn what you are applying for than to make sure you haven’t missed something very important. Now if you are confident that you have what it takes and that this is a game that you could have a lot of fun with, please fill the below attached google questionnaire (if for any strange reason the link doesn’t end up working, please let me know in the comments under this post) and if fortune favors you, I shall get back to you promptly. Best of luck to you and I hope to speak to you soon!
https://forms.gle/5kc4RbwavJPfT8PD9
______________________________________
PS: As a part of the questionnaire, you will be asked to submit a short piece of your narrative writing in a form of a google doc link (not a custom piece of writing, any relevant past one you have will do). Maybe best have that ready beforehand? On that note, dont apply for the game with a detailed backstory of a character you want to play that you arent willing to adapt to the conditions of the setting/campaign.
PSS: Not to discourage you but if you do make it through the questionnaire and into the second group of applicants you will be asked to do a discord interview with your webcam turned on. I am asking you to go through a lot for a game you might not even end up liking I know, but if you do end up liking it, all this effort will be well worth it as I am sure my other players would agree.
submitted by Agneus to lfg [link] [comments]


2024.05.20 16:29 Hot_Reach_7138 Who is more sympathetic? Macbeth or Cersei Lannister (from A Song of Ice and Fire)?


Macbeth
Cersei
For those of you who don’t know, there are several wikis for villains. One of them is called Pure Evil wiki (which, in short, is about villains with no redeeming or sympathetic qualities), the second is called Near Pure Evil wiki (Which, in short, is about villains with almost no redeeming or sympathetic qualities but they still can’t qualify for the Pure Evil wiki for some reason. However, there are other cases where a villain can be Near Pure Evil even if they don't have any redeemable qualities like slightly lacking moral agency or slightly failing the heinous standard of the series because they don't go the extra mile in terms of crimes). There is also a third wiki called the Inconsistently Heinous wiki (which, in short, is about characters who have committed awful crimes, but they still have too many redeeming and sympathetic qualities and excuses for their actions to qualify as Pure Evil or Near Pure Evil). The name “Inconsistently Heinous” means that the characters are too inconsistent in their heinousness to be Near Pure Evil and they need to have many redeeming and sympathetic qualities and/or excuses for their actions. Oftentimes Inconsistently Heinous characters can even be morally ambiguous heroes in the stories they are depicted, but they also do some bad things along the way.
Macbeth is listed on the Near Pure Evil wiki because he does have some pretty minor preventions from being Pure Evil but he still comes very close. Here is a link to his page:
https://near-pure-evil.fandom.com/wiki/Macbeth
Cersei is listed on the Inconsistently Heinous wiki due to her many redeeming and sympathetic qualities as well as the fact that her character is way too tragic to even be Near Pure Evil. Near Pure Evil characters can have some tragedies, but they shouldn't be too tragic like Cersei or otherwise they get listed as Inconsistently Heinous.
This means that Cersei Lannister is much more sympathetic than Macbeth because he is Near Pure Evil while she is Inconsistently Heinous! Here is a list of her redeeming and sympathetic qualities which is taken from her page on the Inconsistently Heinous wiki:
So, do you agree with that?
submitted by Hot_Reach_7138 to shakespeare [link] [comments]


2024.05.20 11:06 AMissedOpportunity [m4F] [Wholesome] The Hell Queen's Heir

Hell is a place that is associated with torture and death of the highest degrees, and rightfully so. Only the worst of the worst mortal souls fall below the layers of purgatory and the ascendant mountains of the heavens, and there they find punishment for their unbound cruelty; the world's judgement for their wretched sins. But there must be order amidst chaos, and punishers amidst the punished.. enter the demons.
Despite the mortal myths and claims, demons have held little malice towards any soul walking on the rights paths- even those stained by misdeeds worthy of purgatory have their respect and goodwill. Deals with demons never dragged souls to the pits of hell, rather the cities and fields.. as demons themselves. Bound by strict order and a fair society, demonhood is a surprisingly gentle existence. Some hold normal mortal jobs, some are specialized to the climates of hell, and others punish the damned as they rightfully should. Yet by the end of the day, just like you and I, they head home and sleep in their own beds. They have their own lives, and participate in a society, following the rules of their Queen.
A Queen who, until recently, has been alone for eons. A great and powerful soul above the 9 rings and the common class, she had been a good and kind ruler ever since the heavens gifted her the title. But all grow lonely eventually.. and eventually, word began to spread that another royal was in the grand palaces. A little daemon Prince; a rumor that was spurred along by the Queen's several season long disappearance from public eye. It wasn't until the first newspapers emerged featuring the swaddled Princeling on the headline that it was deemed true- and rumors turned into a furious storm of gossip. Lesser nobles, commoners, even the celestial authorities began to wonder who fathered the boy; and what he would become. Time would prove that he would be a deeply sweet and kind child, despite his birthplace, deeply beloved by his mother.. and spoiled beyond belief.
[Good evening, morning, or afternoon! I'm looking for a roleplay that I admit is focused almost solely on sweetness and warmth. I quite like contrasting themes, and the thought of a little princeling being brought up as a good child in the midst of hell is.. tempting. I adore the image of a terrifying daemon queen and her tiny, sweet son, and that was really the main inspiration.
To put things simply, I'm looking for a slice of life roleplay focusing on both mother and son being sweet and kind. A little drama here and there, yes, and some intrigue, but nothing too much. There could be some deeper drama stirring beneath the surface, too.. demons still have criminals, after all, political unrest can still happen; and no one else but the Queen knows who sired her heir.. so there's plenty of potential here.
I'm a third person writer who tends to put out 2-4 paragraphs a response, and am looking for folks at about the same literacy level! Those with creative worldbuilding and an excitement for expanding on themes would be greatly appreciated.. as would anyone, frankly. I'd love to see this roleplay happen. I hope you all have a lovely day or night!)
submitted by AMissedOpportunity to RoleplayPartnerSearch [link] [comments]


2024.05.20 11:05 AMissedOpportunity [m4F] [Wholesome] The Hell Queen's Heir

Hell is a place that is associated with torture and death of the highest degrees, and rightfully so. Only the worst of the worst mortal souls fall below the layers of purgatory and the ascendant mountains of the heavens, and there they find punishment for their unbound cruelty; the world's judgement for their wretched sins. But there must be order amidst chaos, and punishers amidst the punished.. enter the demons.
Despite the mortal myths and claims, demons have held little malice towards any soul walking on the rights paths- even those stained by misdeeds worthy of purgatory have their respect and goodwill. Deals with demons never dragged souls to the pits of hell, rather the cities and fields.. as demons themselves. Bound by strict order and a fair society, demonhood is a surprisingly gentle existence. Some hold normal mortal jobs, some are specialized to the climates of hell, and others punish the damned as they rightfully should. Yet by the end of the day, just like you and I, they head home and sleep in their own beds. They have their own lives, and participate in a society, following the rules of their Queen.
A Queen who, until recently, has been alone for eons. A great and powerful soul above the 9 rings and the common class, she had been a good and kind ruler ever since the heavens gifted her the title. But all grow lonely eventually.. and eventually, word began to spread that another royal was in the grand palaces. A little daemon Prince; a rumor that was spurred along by the Queen's several season long disappearance from public eye. It wasn't until the first newspapers emerged featuring the swaddled Princeling on the headline that it was deemed true- and rumors turned into a furious storm of gossip. Lesser nobles, commoners, even the celestial authorities began to wonder who fathered the boy; and what he would become. Time would prove that he would be a deeply sweet and kind child, despite his birthplace, deeply beloved by his mother.. and spoiled beyond belief.
[Good evening, morning, or afternoon! I'm looking for a roleplay that I admit is focused almost solely on sweetness and warmth. I quite like contrasting themes, and the thought of a little princeling being brought up as a good child in the midst of hell is.. tempting. I adore the image of a terrifying daemon queen and her tiny, sweet son, and that was really the main inspiration.
To put things simply, I'm looking for a slice of life roleplay focusing on both mother and son being sweet and kind. A little drama here and there, yes, and some intrigue, but nothing too much. There could be some deeper drama stirring beneath the surface, too.. demons still have criminals, after all, political unrest can still happen; and no one else but the Queen knows who sired her heir.. so there's plenty of potential here.
I'm a third person writer who tends to put out 2-4 paragraphs a response, and am looking for folks at about the same literacy level! Those with creative worldbuilding and an excitement for expanding on themes would be greatly appreciated.. as would anyone, frankly. I'd love to see this roleplay happen. I hope you all have a lovely day or night!)
submitted by AMissedOpportunity to roleplaying [link] [comments]


2024.05.20 08:12 MonchChamp Skyrim crashes on New Game

Mod_Priority,#Mod_Status,#Mod_Name

"0000","+","DLC: HearthFires"
"0001","+","DLC: Dragonborn"
"0002","+","DLC: Dawnguard"
"0003","+","Creation Club: ccQDRSSE001-SurvivalMode"
"0004","+","Creation Club: ccBGSSSE037-Curios"
"0005","+","Creation Club: ccBGSSSE025-AdvDSGS"
"0006","+","Creation Club: ccBGSSSE001-Fish"
"0007","+","Creation Club: _ResourcePack"
"0008","-","Fores New Idles in Skyrim SE - FNIS SE"
"0009","+","Project New Reign - Nemesis Unlimited Behavior Engine"
"0010","+","Nemesis Output"
"0011","+","FNIS output"
"0012","+","ALLGUD Meshes"
"0013","+","RaceMenu"
"0014","+","XP32 Maximum Skeleton Special Extended"
"0015","+","Address Library for SKSE Plugins"
"0016","+","PapyrusUtil SE - Modders Scripting Utility Functions"
"0017","+","powerofthree's Tweaks"
"0018","+","powerofthree's Papyrus Extender"
"0019","+","Mfg Fix"
"0020","+","Belt-Fastened Quivers"
"0021","+","All Geared Up Derivative SE - AllGUD"
"0022","+","Spell Perk Item Distributor"
"0023","+","MCM Helper"
"0024","+","Immersive Sounds - Compendium"
"0025","+","Cutting Room Floor - SSE"
"0026","+","Unofficial Skyrim Special Edition Patch - USSEP"
"0027","+","SkyUI"
"0028","+","Ordinator - Perks of Skyrim"
"0029","+","Apocalypse - Magic of Skyrim"
"0030","+","Seraphim Blade by Hentai for Skyrim SE"
"0031","+","Blade of Intrigue SE"
"0032","+","Remiros' Ebony Blade HD"
"0033","+","FSMPM - The FSMP MCM"
"0034","+","Crash Logger SSE AE VR - PDB support"
"0035","+","FSMPV - FSMP-Validator - HDT-SMP XML Schema"
"0036","+","Leveled List for Wayfarer's Coat"
"0037","+","Magnus Robe"
"0038","+","Vigilant - Covered Female Robes"
"0039","+","Coats for Skyrim - UPDATED - SSE"
"0040","+","Nord Battlemage Armor"
"0041","-","New Armory Series Lunar Weapons - A Silent Moons Camp Overhaul"
"0042","+","Complete Crafting Overhaul Remastered"
"0043","+","Sound Record Distributor"
"0044","+","Wind Ruler Armor - My patches SE by Xtudo"
"0045","+","Jewelry Limiter - Another Multiple Rings and Amulets Mod"
"0046","+","Display Enemy Level"
"0047","+","Open Civil War SSE"
"0048","+","Multiple Floors Sandboxing"
"0049","+","Extended Vanilla Menus"
"0050","+","ConsoleUtilSSE NG"
"0051","+","Dylbills Papyrus Functions"
"0052","+","UIExtensions"
"0053","+","MergeMapper"
"0054","+","Keyword Item Distributor"
"0055","+","Simple Dual Sheath"
"0056","+","Read the Room - Immersive and Animated Helmet Management"
"0057","+","Kaidan's Armory Samurai for HIMBO"
"0058","+","HDT-SMP (Skinned Mesh Physics)"
"0059","+","BodySlide and Outfit Studio"
"0060","+","Sleek Wolf Armor - Replacer and Standalone - CBBE - 3BA - BHUNP - HIMBO - Vanilla"
"0061","+","Timing is Everything SE"
"0062","+","YOT - Your Own Thoughts SE"
"0063","+","Zikoru Swords Collection"
"0064","+","Ebony Armor Male Neck gap fix"
"0065","+","Kome's Inventory Tweaks"
"0066","+","JK's Arnleif and Sons Trading Company"
"0067","+","JK's Riverwood Trader"
"0068","+","JK's White Phial"
"0069","+","Skyrim Reputation"
"0070","+","Strange Runes"
"0071","+","Artifacts - The Ice Blade of the Monarch [SSE]"
"0072","+","Atlas Map Markers SE - Updated with MCM"
"0073","+","Dawnguard Arsenal SSE"
"0074","+","Man Those Borders! (SSE)"
"0075","+","JK's Warmaiden's"
"0076","+","JK's The Drunken Huntsman"
"0077","+","Yes Im Sure"
"0078","+","JK's The Bannered Mare"
"0079","+","Winter Is Coming SSE - Cloaks"
"0080","+","Immersive College of Winterhold"
"0081","+","No Spinning Death Animation SE"
"0082","+","OBIS SE - Organized Bandits In Skyrim Special Edition"
"0083","+","Wearable Lanterns"
"0084","+","Windyridge - Player home in Winterhold"
"0085","+","Hjertesten Hall - Player Home and Settlement"
"0086","+","Halla - A Whiterun Player Home"
"0087","+","Elianora's Breezehome Overhaul"
"0088","+","Open Cities Skyrim"
"0089","+","Run For Your Lives"
"0090","+","Dragon Falls Manor - SSE"
"0091","+","Stormcloak Battle Armor Replacer SE"
"0092","+","Perfect Legionnaire - Imperial Armor Reforged 6-0"
"0093","+","Silver Armor SE"
"0094","+","Royal Armory - New Artifacts"
"0095","+","Volkihar Knight - Vampire Armor"
"0096","+","Armors of the Velothi Pt. II"
"0097","+","Simple XP Buff - A Faster Skill Leveling Mod"
"0098","+","Unusual Perks of Barenziah"
"0099","+","Andrealphus' Jobs Overhaul x Sons of Skyrim - SkyPatcher"
"0100","+","Elven Eternity - Anime MMR"
"0101","+","Stress and Fear - A Dynamic Sanity System"
"0102","+","Tonal Architect"
"0103","+","Freyr - Integrated Standing Stones of Skyrim"
"0104","+","Mannaz - Integrated Races of Skyrim"
"0105","+","Ice Spike and Ice Spear no Impale"
"0106","+","Unlimited Wood Chopping"
"0107","+","Armor of Malacath"
"0108","+","Gorm HDT-SMP Armor - But Black"
"0109","+","The Elder Scrolls - Tomebound"
"0110","+","The Great City of Winterhold Patch Collection"
"0111","+","The Great City of Dragon Bridge SSE Edition"
"0112","+","The Great City of Rorikstead SSE Edition"
"0113","+","The Great City Of Winterhold SSE Edition"
"0114","+","The Great Cities- Resources"
"0115","+","The Great City of Solitude SSE"
"0116","+","The Great City Of Dawnstar SSE Edition"
"0117","+","The Great City Of Falkreath SSE Edition"
"0118","+","The Great City Of Morthal SSE Edition"
"0119","+","Guards Armor Replacer SSE"
"0120","+","The Great Cities - Minor Cities and Towns SSE Edition"
"0121","+","SkyClimb"
"0122","+","Yet Another Starting Skills Mod"
"0123","+","EVG Animated Traversal"
"0124","+","Experience"
"0125","+","Paired Animation Improvements"
"0126","+","Animation Queue Fix"
"0127","+","Amazing Follower Tweaks SE"
"0128","+","Simple Leather Armor Replacer"
"0129","+","Knight Sword SE"
"0130","+","Grandmaster Wolven Armor and Swords SE"
"0131","+","Akaviri Katana - Blades Sword Replacer"
"0132","+","Open Animation Replacer"
"0133","+","Dunmeri Leaf Swords"
"0134","+","Ritevice - Sword of Stendarr"
"0135","+","ORI - Harkon's Sword - Blood Matron"
"0136","+","Elven Blades SSE"
"0137","+","BillyRo Ultimate Swords Anthology"
"0138","+","Sharpen Other Swords II - AnimObject Swapper"
"0139","+","AnimObject Swapper"
"0140","+","Immersive Equipment Displays"
"0141","+","JaySuS Swords SE"
"0142","+","Perk Points and More Gold for Bounty Quests"
"0143","+","Even Better Quest Objectives SE"
"0144","+","Dynamic Mercenary Fees"
"0145","+","Immersive Weapons"
"0146","+","Immersive Armors"
"0147","+","JS Embalming Tools SE"
"0148","+","JS Rumpled Rugs SE"
"0149","+","Base Object Swapper"
"0150","+","Detailed Rugs"
"0151","+","JS Knapsacks SE"
"0152","+","JS Torture Tools SE"
"0153","+","JS Emissive Eyes SE"
"0154","+","JS Unique Utopia SE - Rings"
"0155","+","JS Helm of Yngol SE"
"0156","+","JS Initiate's Ewer SE"
"0157","+","JS Bloodstone Chalice SE"
"0158","+","JS Essence Extractor SE"
"0159","+","JS Dwemer Control Cube SE"
"0160","+","JS Dwarven Oil SE"
"0161","+","JS Dwemer Ichor Barrels SE"
"0162","+","JS Dwemer Artifacts SE"
"0163","+","JS Common Cages SE"
"0164","+","JS Unique Utopia SE - Daggers"
"0165","+","JS Instruments of Skyrim SE"
"0166","+","JS Barenziah SE"
"0167","+","JS Lockpicking UI SE"
"0168","+","JS Armored Circlets SE"
"0169","+","JS Dragon Claws SE"
"0170","+","JS Ioun Stones SE"
"0171","+","JS Purses and Septims SE"
"0172","+","The Joy of Perspective"
"0173","+","Rich Skyrim Merchants"
"0174","+","Stones of Barenziah Quest Markers"
"0175","+","Backported Extended ESL Support"
"0176","+","Triumvirate - Mage Archetypes"
"0177","+","Wyrmstooth"
"0178","+","Summermyst - Enchantments of Skyrim"
"0179","+","FileAccess Interface for Skyrim SE Scripts - FISSES"
"0180","+","ConsoleUtilSSE"
"0181","+","True Directional Movement - Modernized Third Person Gameplay"
"0182","+","VioLens - A Killmove Mod SE"
"0183","+","JContainers SE"
"0184","+","Expressive Facial Animation -Female Edition-"
"0185","+","Expressive Facegen Morphs SE"
"0186","+","SMP-NPC crash fix"
"0187","+","SkyHUD"
"0188","+","Fuz Ro D-oh - Silent Voice"
"0189","+","Immersive Patrols SE AE"
"0190","+","Alternate Start - Live Another Life - SSE"
"0191","+","Sacrosanct - Vampires of Skyrim"
"0192","+","Dragonbane Replacer"
"0193","+","Isis Dagger"
"0194","+","NordWarUA's Vanilla Armor Replacers SSE"
"0195","+","JS Shrines of the Divines SE"
"0196","+","Blended Roads"
"0197","+","Haugbui - A Draugr Overhaul"
"0198","+","Security Overhaul SKSE - Lock Variations"
"0199","+","Unique Uniques SE"
"0200","+","RUGNAROK - Special Edition"
"0201","+","Frankly HD Nightingale Armor and Weapons [SSE]"
"0202","+","Frankly HD Dawnguard Armor and Weapons"
"0203","+","Skyrim Immersive Creatures Special Edition"
"0204","+","RS Children Patch Compendium"
"0205","+","Seranaholic by rxkx22 - SSE"
"0206","+","Bijin Wives SE"
"0207","+","LeanWolf's Better-Shaped Weapons - All in One Installer"
"0208","+","RUSTIC CLOTHING - Special Edition"
"0209","+","Bijin NPCs SE"
"0210","+","Gemling Queen Jewelry SE"
"0211","+","Bijin Warmaidens SE"
"0212","+","CBPC - Physics with Collisions"
"0213","+","Ancient Dwemer Metal - My patches for SMIM Dawnguard Dragonborn by Xtudo"
"0214","+","Apachii Sky Hair SSE"
"0215","+","Noble Skyrim Mod HD-2K"
"0216","+","Beyond Skyrim - Assets"
"0217","+","A Quality World Map"
"0218","+","KS Hairdos SSE"
"0219","+","Caliente's Beautiful Bodies Enhancer -CBBE-"
"0220","+","Sidequests of Skyrim"
"0221","-","MCO_separator"
"0222","+","Payload Interpreter"
"0223","+","Animation Motion Revolution"
"0224","+","oneclickmodified v"
"0225","+","Attack MCO-DXP"
"0226","+","Behavior Data Injector"
"0227","+","Combat Pathing Revolution"
"0228","+","SCAR - Skyrim Combos AI Revolution"
"0229","+","SmoothCam"
"0230","+","IFrame Generator RE"
"0231","+","MCO Universal Support"
"0232","+","Dodge MCO-DXP"
"0233","+","Disable Turn Animation SE I AE"
"0234","+","Keyword Compatibility Framework"
"0235","+","Smooth Combo Animation Framework Fix"
"0236","+","Smooth Moveset"
"0237","+","Smooth Heavy Armor Count"
"0238","+","Smooth Magic Casting Animation"
"0239","+","Dynamic Fus Ro Dah"
"0240","+","Smooth Weapon Jump Animation"
"0241","+","Open Animation Replacer - IED Conditions"
"0242","+","Dynamic Bow Animation"
"0243","+","TK Dodge SE"
"0244","+","Simple TKDodge Sidestep"
"0245","+","No .esp"
My current load order
submitted by MonchChamp to skyrimmods [link] [comments]


2024.05.20 07:27 RadiantMastodon6296 The King's Dilemma

Ali, the King of Yemen, sat in his grand hall, the weight of his crown feeling heavier than ever. The decision of who should succeed him as ruler of the richest and most powerful kingdom in the world was not an easy one. With 25 queens and 50 children, the task was daunting. After much contemplation, King Ali devised a plan—a competition that would test his children's abilities, wisdom, and character.

The Competition

Round 1: Swordsmanship

The first test was a display of physical prowess and combat skills. Each child would face a series of opponents, showcasing their swordsmanship. The criteria were not only their ability to defeat their foes but also their technique, discipline, and honor in combat.
Ali's Address to the Children: "To lead this kingdom, one must possess strength and skill. You will each demonstrate your abilities with the sword. Remember, a true warrior fights with honor."

Round 2: Horse Riding

The second test focused on agility and command over one of the most revered animals in the kingdom. The children would navigate through an intricate course, demonstrating their riding skills and their bond with their horses.
Ali's Address: "A leader must be agile and in tune with their steed, for in times of war and peace, the horse is our most loyal companion. Show me your prowess in riding."

Round 3: War Tactics

The third round was a test of intellect and strategic thinking. The children were presented with various war scenarios and had to devise tactics to achieve victory. This round would reveal their ability to think critically and lead an army.
Ali's Address: "Strength alone does not win wars; it is the mind that guides the sword. You will each present your strategies in different war scenarios. The sharpest mind will prevail."

Round 4: Judgement and Morality

The fourth round was a test of their wisdom, justice, and moral compass. The children were presented with complex scenarios where they had to make judgments on disputes and moral dilemmas. This round was crucial in determining who could lead with fairness and integrity.
Ali's Address: "A true leader must judge wisely and act with a moral compass. You will face dilemmas and disputes, and your decisions will reveal your capacity for justice."

The Hidden Fifth Round: Kindness

Unknown to the children, the most critical test was one they wouldn't even realize they were taking. King Ali had planned various situations where his children's kindness and empathy would be tested without their knowledge. This final round would reveal their true character.

The Competitors

Among the 50 children, there were several who stood out:

The Setting

The competition took place in the grand courtyard of the palace, a vast expanse that allowed for the various tests to be conducted. The palace was bustling with activity as the children prepared, each determined to prove themselves worthy of the throne.

The First Round: Swordsmanship

The day of the first round dawned bright and clear. The children, dressed in their finest combat attire, gathered in the courtyard. King Ali, seated on a magnificent throne, looked out over his progeny, feeling a mix of pride and anticipation.
The Contest: Each child faced off against skilled warriors, showcasing their swordsmanship. Amir, with his powerful strikes and disciplined technique, quickly emerged as a favorite. Layla, while not as physically strong, demonstrated incredible agility and precision. Zara's style was more defensive, focusing on outlasting her opponents, while Hassan's approach was a blend of strength and empathy, ensuring he never inflicted unnecessary harm.

The Second Round: Horse Riding

The following day, the children were tested on their horse-riding skills. The course was designed to challenge their agility, speed, and connection with their horses.
The Contest: Amir once again showcased his prowess, navigating the course with ease. Layla impressed with her quick thinking, adapting to obstacles swiftly. Zara's calm demeanor allowed her to guide her horse smoothly, while Hassan's gentle nature created a visible bond with his steed, leading to a flawless performance.

The Third Round: War Tactics

On the third day, the children entered the strategic round, presenting their war tactics in front of King Ali and a council of seasoned generals.
The Contest: Layla shone brightest in this round, her strategies detailed and innovative. Amir's tactics were bold and aggressive, fitting his warrior nature. Zara's plans were defensive and focused on minimizing casualties, reflecting her fair and compassionate nature. Hassan's strategies emphasized diplomacy and minimizing conflict, showing his preference for peaceful solutions.

The Fourth Round: Judgement and Morality

The fourth round tested the children's ability to judge fairly and make moral decisions. They were presented with various scenarios, each more complex than the last.
The Contest: Zara excelled in this round, her judgments balanced and wise. Layla's decisions were logical and fair, though sometimes harsh. Amir's judgments were straightforward, reflecting his no-nonsense attitude. Hassan's decisions were compassionate, always considering the well-being of all involved.

The Hidden Fifth Round: Kindness

Throughout the competition, King Ali orchestrated various scenarios to test the children's kindness. Servants in need of help, animals requiring care, and strangers seeking assistance were all part of these hidden tests.
Hassan, true to his nature, went out of his way to help everyone he encountered. Zara, while not as outwardly kind, always acted with fairness and empathy. Layla and Amir, focused on the competition, were less aware of these opportunities for kindness, though Layla showed moments of thoughtfulness.

The Decision

As the competition concluded, King Ali reflected on the performances. While many of his children had shown remarkable skills, only a few had demonstrated the qualities he deemed essential for a ruler. Strength, intellect, and fairness were important, but so were kindness and empathy.
In a grand ceremony, King Ali gathered his children and the court. He praised their efforts and announced his decision.
King Ali's Speech: King Ali rose from his throne, his regal presence commanding the attention of everyone in the grand hall. He looked out over his children, his eyes filled with pride and warmth. He took a deep breath and began to speak.
"My beloved children, my dearest queens, and esteemed members of the court, today marks a momentous occasion in the history of our kingdom. We have witnessed the incredible talents, strength, and wisdom of my children, each of whom has shown the potential to lead our great nation.
These past days have been filled with trials that tested not just your abilities, but also your hearts. I have watched with great pride as each of you displayed your skills in swordsmanship, your grace in horse riding, your brilliance in war tactics, and your wisdom in judgment. You have all proven that you possess the qualities of a true leader.
However, a ruler's journey is not just about strength and strategy. It is also about the heart. It is about compassion, empathy, and the ability to see beyond oneself. A true leader must care deeply for their people, acting with kindness and humility, even when no one is watching.
Amir, your bravery and strength are unparalleled. Layla, your intellect and strategic mind are remarkable. Zara, your wisdom and fairness shine brightly. Hassan, your kindness and compassion have touched my heart deeply. Each of you has strengths that are vital to our kingdom.
But the next ruler of Yemen must embody all these qualities—strength, intelligence, wisdom, and above all, a compassionate heart. After much contemplation, I have made my decision.
The next ruler of Yemen shall be Hassan. His kindness, empathy, and unwavering desire to help others are the qualities that will make him a great king. Hassan, step forward. May your reign be long and prosperous. May you lead with the same kindness and compassion you have shown throughout this competition.
To all my children, I am immensely proud of each and every one of you. You have all shown greatness, and I know that you will continue to contribute to the glory of our kingdom in your own unique ways. Let us celebrate this new chapter in our kingdom's history with joy and unity."
With these words, King Ali embraced Hassan, who knelt before him. The hall erupted in applause, not only for Hassan but for all the children who had shown their worth. It was a moment of unity, hope, and the promise of a bright future for Yemen under the guidance of its new kind-hearted king.
submitted by RadiantMastodon6296 to MicroFables [link] [comments]


2024.05.20 06:14 MyLiege23 Nexus Pro X Barrel Mod (tutorial & some testing)

Nexus Pro X Barrel Mod (tutorial & some testing)
Hey, y'all, I wanted to upgrade the seals and barrel to my Nexus Pro X. I was trying to decide between all these different tube sizes and materials. While I was considering the 17/32 brass, I decided to take a serious look at the internals. I took the blaster apart, broke out the ruler, and started making a rough CAD version of the little plastic coupler with the key-shaped seal and the o-ring connecting to the included aluminum barrel. Here's everything I found:
TL:DR - Sand/drill out the inside of the plastic chamber that's screwed down so that it can tightly fit a 17/32" OD brass tube, then spread out the end of it so when darts are fed through, they don't clip. Push the 17/32 barrel down enough so it doesn't get in the way of the plunger tube inserting itself into the O-ring, and you're golden for an accurate, high-efficiency springer. This worked better than 13mm ID aluminum at the same barrel length. I didn't cut the barrel, so it now has a 12" 17/32" OD brass barrel.
First, the included aluminum barrel and the plastic chamber piece are both 13mm ID. They sit very flush internally, hence the practicality and ease of using a longer 13mm ID barrel. This is an excellent choice for an easy barrel upgrade (though I couldn't tell you the optimal barrel length). That being said, when I plugged the barrel and pulled the trigger, I found that the o-ring around the barrel is the weakest seal, and when under high pressure, that's the first seal to leak. If you want to use another 16mm OD/13mm ID longer barrel, look into ways to improve that seal.
Second, the keyhole o-ring is impressively good. I wasn't able to get that one to leak in any way.
On to experimentation... I bought an aluminum 16mm OD 13mm ID x 300mm tube and a 17/32 brass tube (along with a telescoping brass selection because I had an itch to try out a telescopic barrel). I wanted to empirically test the fit of each ID, the pressure required for the dart to shoot down each tube, and their distance.
Third, the comparison of the tube diameters. Methods: I used worker gen 3 bamboo darts (red) and the dart zone darts that came with the blaster. I did 3 tests; first, a blow test with my lungs (how scientific), second, a test where I created a seal with the chamber and the plunger tube mechanism and compressed the plunger to see how far the plunger moved before the dart popped out the end of each barrel (low velocity, slow compression, measuring the plunger distance). Lastly, I'd point the sealed mechanism down the hall and compress it with my hands simply to see if one tube shot a dart significantly farther than the other. For all 3 tests, I'd load the dart into the end of the foot-long tube and then make the seals. This way, I can ignore the lip between the plastic chamber and the metal tube. The length of each tube was the same (12" & 300mm).
Results: 13mm ID aluminum - With the worker darts, they were snug, not too tight, not too loose. Blowing down the pipe with my lungs showed a little pressure buildup behind the dart, then it budged and popped out the other end. This seems ideal for a minimal-effort mod, just like before. With the dart zone darts, the pressure buildup was less than the worker, so these might be ever-so-slightly smaller than the worker darts. For the second test, the worker and nexus darts just moved as the plunger moved, so there was little to no pressure buildup and probably minimal air leakage. I believe the dart exited when the plunger was a little past half way (? my memory is fuzzy on this one).
17/32" OD brass - The dart barely fit in the tube; the fit was very snug. The dart slid in well once the foam's front lip was in. When I tried a blow test, I could barely move the dart with all the force of my lungs. I'd like to think that I have pretty good lung pressure/strength because I used to be a singer. That being said, I didn't put everything I had into blowing the dart out. Blowing the dart zone darts and inserting them into the brass was easier. Next, I switched to the plunger, saving my lungs the effort. The exciting thing here is that the seals were good enough that pushing the plunger slowly was effective in building up the air pressure behind the dart until it exited the 12-inch barrel. More specifically, the plunger built up pressure; the dart would move a few inches and get stuck again, then the pressure would rise again and move the dart another few inches, and so on, until it popped out the end. This effect was more pronounced for the worker darts than the dart zone darts. The plunger had around 15% of the length of the plunger tube left before the dart popped out. If I'm right, that means that the pressure from the plunger tube and the seals is enough to overcome the friction of the tighter barrel. This is leading me to pick the 17/32" OD for my mod.
Comparing the hand-plunger-push firing distance between the 17/32" and 13mm tubes, the 17/32" tube consistently came out farther after a handful of attempts. I think this is because it took more work to push that foam dart down the tighter diameter tube, so there was more pressure, and that led to more velocity.
Onto the mod procedure: Given the plunger and seals were enough to withstand the pressure to fire a worker dart through a foot of 17/32 brass tubing with still some plunger space to spare, my decision was made. Back to the CAD model. The coupler was 13mm ID, so if I put the 17/32 brass right up to the chamber, I'd have the lip of the barrel to worry about. I decided that if I bore out the inside of the plastic chamber, I could nest the brass barrel inside. This way, when the dart is chambered, it's fed directly into the barrel. The plastic chamber for the dart would now function as the mounting point and seal for the barrel.
I wrapped a drillbit in sandpaper, put it on a drill driver, and sanded away at the inside of the plastic chamber piece. I did it very gradually, and it took a while. I also tried to jam in the brass tube because it would cut away at some of the plastic, leaving shavings behind and creating a step for the sanding bit to smooth out. There's probably a better way to do this if I had more tools, but I don't. End of story, the copper pipe was able to nest itself into the plastic chamber very tightly, effectively holding a seal and keeping the barrel in place. Slipping that plastic anywhere along the brass tube took a lot of force.
After getting the 17/32 barrel through the chamber, I expanded the end of the brass barrel to make it easier for darts to slide in. This was slight, mostly unnoticeable with my eyesight, but the effect was achieved. No darts were clipping their front edges when being fed into the barrel. The last step was getting the barrel to be flush at the entrance of the former chamber so that it wouldn't collide with the insert from the plunger tube. Done. After putting everything back together, it was clear that this was the most straightforward approach to modifying and maximizing gains. The 17/32" tube could be telescoped into a 9/16" brass tube that fits inside the original blaster tip without wiggle room.
The best part about this method is that it completely removed the second o-ring seal as an air leak. This is a win.
Now, I don't have a way to measure the dart's speed, so I couldn't tell you how fast they are, but now my darts have a distinct louder whooshing sound that they didn't have before the mod, and the blaster's accuracy is phenomenal. I've been out of the Nerf community for years, and I've been waiting to re-enter. I don't plan on aiming this thing at anyone or anything besides targets, cans, etc., so this is perfect for me.
I'd love to know your thoughts, and whether this is something you'd do to your nexus pro x!
Here's the CAD image of the copper barrel nested inside the plastic piece. The shape isn't exact, but it's all measured to scale.
submitted by MyLiege23 to Nerf [link] [comments]


2024.05.20 02:21 Kaltovar Great Eras of the Cybernetic Federal Republic of Kaltovar (Abridged)

The First Era:
Kaltovar was once part of massive Empire whose name is now lost to time. That Empire fractured into individual counties when the Emperor died at the age of 93, having outlived his heirs who had died variously of disease, war, and old age.
Most Counties were fiercely xenophobic due to centuries of rivalry, but the County of Kaltovar was an important trade hub of many peoples and its tradition was to welcome outsiders if they had coin. A non-noble member of the officer class, Major Karl Von-Doppelberg, had been elected to rule the County in place of a Count. Karl did not have the highest military rank, but was incredibly wealthy due to his family background, and was able to literally purchase votes.
The less intense xenophobia and more permissive atmosphere toward building meant rapid growth of an industrialized population in the city centers without having to drain the rural areas of their people to make the "Great Industrial Shift" as many of their peers had to do. Land became very expensive but labor was cheap and steel was in great supply, so the Merchants built higher and higher. Rural communities were subsidized to support the growing urban population, and a period of incredible wealth and prosperity ensued that drove even further immigration.
Kaltovar's massive wealthy population in relation to its neighbors allowed it to maintain a substantially larger military force, which came in handy during the brutal decades of civil war between the Counties. The death of the Emperor had left a power vacuum in which every County believed it was the best and most fit to inherit the Imperial throne. Huge factions formed, supporting different rulers, while Kaltovar traded with all of them and accepted the many refugees generated by the fighting. The Kingdom of Nirn, the Kingdom of Balugia, and the Republic of Thet.
A great paranoia swept the land, and it was during this period that the rule of Universal Conscription and the law requiring all citizens to own a "Modern Infantry Weapon" was introduced. At the time, that meant a bolt action rifle. One had to pay a fine of 3 Kaltmarks or 2 chickens if their household was found to have less than one such rifle for every member over the age of 16. This period also saw women and children conscripted into the military for the first time under the theory that they were capable of operating rifles in battle, which was later proven correct.
Eventually the Kingdom of Nirn decided to invade Kaltovar, which brought support from both the other factions who wanted it for themselves. Together, Kaltovar and the two factions slowly consumed the Kingdom of Nirn and then Kaltovar was again neutral. Balugia and Thet resumed their struggles, both intending to finish Kaltovar off when the war was over. Kaltovar, in the meanwhile, continued to build improvements and strengthen its military. Many years passed in the great war between Balugia and Thet, and both of them did frequent trade with Kaltovar.
After a long battle, the exhausted forces of Thet finally defeated the Balugian Royal Army and proceeded to immediately turn their forces against Kaltovar. Kaltovar defended its new lands and simultaniously invaded the former Balugian territory, which was only protected by a light occupation force meant to keep the locals suppressed. Kaltovar, being rich, paid great sums of money to the locals to rise up against their new Thetian masters. The combined peoples of Kaltovar and Balugia annihilated the armies of Thet in a relatively short campaign, because Thet was already tired from fighting against Balugia.
Major Karl Von Doppelberg celebrated the victory by declaring the First Directive of the new Nation, "From Many Peoples One Nation." which confirmed that there was no single culture to be venerated above the rest. Loyalty to the nascent State, productivity, wealth, and military competence were more important.
The Revolution:
Vadim Bel-Khyber was, at one point, an eager young Cybernetics Professor from a long line of aristocratic merchants and military officers. He received the best education from the youngest age, and was groomed constantly to fill the role of a leader. He did not by any means reject his role as the family heir, and was by all accounts excited to take up his position as the head of House Bel-Khyber, but spent enough time in Marxist theory circles to cause minor embarrassment to his family.
When his father fell out of favor with the high nobles for losing his temper during a plenary session, most of their family property and wealth was confiscated,. Vadim's casual interest in Marxist theories of inequality turned into a fanatical obsession now that economic and social inequality personally impacted him. It wasn't just about achieving justice, which was truly part of it, but also more prominently about taking revenge against the Nobles who had wronged his family for simply [talking shit] speaking their minds.
Vadim started by getting a job as a low level public servant, and gradually working his way up to the position of Comptroller-General. He was essentially the master-treasurer for the entire nation, someone who in theory was supposed to have very little actual power. The nobles found it hilarious to keep him in this role, which was seen as unfit for one of his birth, and a mark of shame on the wider Bel-Khyber dynasty. However, they always viewed him as a coward and so never feared him - to their magnificent error.
Over 3000 years ago he instigated a coup against the government he served, though he never altered his official title. He always remained the "Comptroller-General", a position responsible for all financial disbursements on behalf of the government. Gradually, after convincing the nobles to allow him a small "Treasury Police" to catch white collar criminals, he leveraged that authority to refuse to pay for the buildings or wages of entities that opposed him on the grounds of corruption and abuse of funds. This was corrupt on his part because it was to serve his own interests, but he could not be impugned because the corruption actually existed and had merely been overlooked for decades... Enough decades to establish long chains of evidence.
Although his behavior was obviously corrupt, the citizens almost universally supported it because everyone else was even more corrupt.
Vadim worked his way to the top of the Oligarchy, and proceeded to systematically dismantle it using its own tools of control, concentrating all their authority under him and elevating himself to the status of the Supreme Ruler in the process.
As soon as his control was undisputed, Vadim had many of the Nobles and Oligarchs arrested or even killed without warning all over the country on the same night. He established control over state broadcasting systems, ordered the army to open their armories to the public, and ordered the public to go into the armories and take up weapons and "clean up the government as they saw fit."
Although that night of chaos spiraled wildly out of control, the aftermath transitioned into hundreds of years of relatively peaceful rule under a new cybernetic form of government. He originally achieved this by personally performing surgery on himself using a wireless transmitter attached to his brain-stem to enable him to control the robotic surgical instruments even as he extracted his own brain and implanted it into the state machinery.
The Golden Age:
After approximately 1000 years in power, Vadim decided a human brain was no longer necessary. Having already expanded his mind with machine components, he realized his organic brain was less than 1% of his total cognitive capacity. In order to abandon his mortality completely and prove his theory of total consciousness transfer, he dissected his own brain alive and studied it as it died, observing hardly any change in his overall processes and confirming his beliefs.
The same day he faked his own death, releasing press statements that his brain had passed away during a recreational drug induced stroke. He did this because his position as dictator had started to inspire too much fear in his subjects. He wanted them to grow freely and experiment with democracy, though his shadowy hand would continue to guide their course.
Kaltovar was brought under the management of the TEMPEST Council (Temporary Emergency Management Political Economic Security and Technical). The TEMPEST Council was made up one third of those personally selected by Vadim, one third those selected by the leaders of his ministries, and one third by those elected by the people.
The Rule of the TEMPEST Council progressed for hundreds of years and enjoyed broad public support. It was seen as a step toward democracy, spearheaded by one of Vadim's most trusted advisors, Diplomatic Mainframe O.D.I.N. / DZ-00a69v00, until ...
The End of Time:
A top secret facility designated X-16 at the heart of an artificial depleted uranium moon named Lucifer was infiltrated by an agent from a foreign power. There, experiments on a new generation of hyperspace drive were well underway. This hyperspace drive was much faster than previous models, and required hundreds of times more energy. Unfortunately, the technology was dangerously unstable and the lead scientist was under the influence of an inter-dimensional being who sought to turn his work toward demented ends. What manifested was a device capable of altering the specifications of reality, and that is what the foreign agent gained access to. The Agent wished for "A world that would start from scratch, where neither country would be hostile toward each other, and the threat of a great war between them was no more."
Reality, as it was known, was totally destroyed by the device. Survivors were thrust into a new and previously unknown dimension where the laws of physics remained largely intact except for the minor detail that magic existed. Dozens of nations from the same reality were shunted into a single planet that was perfect for life yet mysteriously devoid of advanced civilizations. The new reality is more durable than the previous one because of the presence of magic, and it is no longer possible to destroy it with the same level of technology. This event created a massive energy signature within the multiverse that attracted scouts from other advanced multidimensional civilizations, and this single planet became one of the most populated worlds across realities, where many countries own "Embassy Territories" that are often thousands of miles and include cities, forests, lakes, and all the other features one would expect of a country. This arrangement facilitates diplomacy between these various ancient entities.
A new figurehead, an acid-blooded insectoid alien General T'Xlekhan L'Xrada, has become the defacto leader of Kaltovar due to being in charge of a special anti-doomsday taskforce and leading the bulk of the survivors at the time of the disaster. However, the TEMPEST Council, still lead by O.D.I.N. / DZ-00a69v00, continues to wield extraordinary influence. It is currently unknown whether L'Xrada might become the next supreme leader, or whether he'll inevitably be forced to yield full control to the Council.
submitted by Kaltovar to worldbuilding [link] [comments]


2024.05.19 19:19 FairyTailMember01 Anyone else married the nhor siblings with the hoshido siblings?

Pairings: Xander & Hinoka Ryoma & Camilla Leon & Sakura Takumi & Elise
My thought process is that if I made it so that they fell in love and married the possibility of war re starting after the ending would be low.
The royals found love in their once enemies and heach gave heirs to both thrones. Plus corrin as the third ruler helping keep balance.
Making the peace last a bit longer.
submitted by FairyTailMember01 to fireemblem [link] [comments]


2024.05.19 18:39 NaiteiruAkuma So I finished watching Nocturne

Hi! So last week i have finished watching the first season of Nocturne after long time of delaying so, but I must say it left a bitter taste in my mouth to say the least. I wanted to make a review since, so... here goes nothing I guess. Two disclaimers are that english isnt my mother language, so apologies for any hiccups and mistakes. Second is that I haven't played any of the Castlevania games. I go own a few, but havent played them yet.
FOR THOSE WHO DONT WANT TO WASTE THE TIME TO READ THE ENTIRE THING: It's not as good as the OGs for me, not that much of a fan. Major rant on Elizabeth
To not be so negative, I have to say that the animation is still pretty good, especially in the fights and its entertaining to watch, the voice acting was good imo as well (maybe except Elizabeth, who sounded like she has fucked up mic compared to others) and I overall liked the characters. Despite being more bratty and snarky, I liked Richter. Him and Trevor remind me so much of Dante and Nero in DMC5 with their dynamic and levels of sarcasm and cool. Anette was interesting character and I was happy to see more forms of magic in this season, counting Maries own as well. Highlight of the season for me is definitely Olrox, who i didn't like at first and loved him at the end of the season. I like his story, motivations, design, and the graduating relationship with Mizrak as much as some people bitch about the gay stuff. It's not like being gay is only 21st century thing, but that's not important atm. I just wanted to say I love Olrox and I am curious how is his (and inevitably Mizrak's) story gonna continue.
Well, this might be where the praise ends. I don't want to say that the show was unwatchable, it was still entertaining and the fights are still as good as ever, so I did have a good time when it comes to that. I have seen some posts here regarding the writing that i cannot but agree with, like the laziness of making Richter become a magic god with no effort or training (pretty much re-learning it), forced start of romance between him and Anette who hated his guts few episodes prior mind you, and few more things that people mentioned and my goldfish brain doesn't remember.
While I agree with all that, there is one thing I feel like I am alone in disliking so far, and that's Elizabeth Bathory herself. While I was excited to see her and heard of her from games (just mention of her), and she was teased as this terrifying threatening menace to mankind, I was so so so so disappointed with her. Her design is fine i guess, the way she arrived on the golden carriage was very regal, her wide skirt truly fit one of a duchess or other nobles and her narrow eyes looked menacing. Then she cussed in the first dialogue aaaand all her regality disappeared. I don't know if i am just picky over this, but it is really one of the things that ruined her for me. Yes, Camilla cursed, but only when she was properly pissed off, she could keep her regality and status of a ruler, she was wonderful manipulator and my hate towards her is the "love to hate, hate to love" type. Eizabeth isnt this. She was teased for multiple episodes, and while she arrived, she felt more like a spoiled princess who would throw a temper tantrum when things don't go her way, instead of being so menacing that you want to obey. An absurd moment that left me baffled like "bitch what" was when Terra offered herself as a sacrifice instead of Marie, and she stood there like "b-but shouldn't I want a virgin tho?"... excuse me? You're a ruler who caused a literal eclipse to start an eternal night and you are questioning your own servant as if she's your parent? Another nitpick is her second form, the goddess of death if i recall? While she looked amazing, rocking similar creepy ass vibes as Sphinxes in Dragon's Dogma 2, I am not a fan of these overpowered plot armored enemies. There is difference between being strong and what seems like cheating. Overall Elizabeth was a huge letdown for me. She isnt menacing, her power doesnt seem as threatening and she seems sometimes pretty dumb in my book.
Which leads me just to the last point. It felt like nothing happened during the 8 episodes, and while yes, I am aware second season is already announced iirc, some things just feels like they were for nothing. Half of the season was pointless fighting with no results. All fights are like that i think, because more night creatures and vampires will come, so even in OGs you could argue it was pointless, but it felt like there was progress made, even if not by hands of Belmont. Lennore and Camilla are gone, Dracula was killed, the forgemasters were not forced to make army for vampires anymore, Trevor killed Death. In Nocturne, the only thing that feels like it holds some sort of significance was the eclipse of the sun, which didn't hit for me as hard as it should be. I didn't care, i wasnt worried for the characters, it didn't really... idk, hit the spot? Of course it cannot compare to Dracula's furious face forming from the flames and declaring war on humankind for killing Lisa, as this was pretty much catalyst to everything, all the night creatures, usage of forgemasters and conflicts and alliances amongst vampires, but come on! Solar eclipse means that vampires lost their largest weakness and it fell so flat. I genuinly hope the second season gets better, because by far we got mary sue protag magic king, BDSM looking vampire who felt like she came from Hellraiser, not castlevania, we got introduced third Belmont, Juste, only for him to get immidiately captured and shown as pretty much useless.
Again, i hope season 2 gets better. At this point I want Alucard to find his dad and send him to france so Dracula and Bathory can have vampire 1v1. Feel free to call me a dumbass for my opinions or for the way i worded this, i suck at reviews and putting my words into comprehensible text. Also I am someone who has no idea about the source Nocturne adapts so feel free to educate me in the comments
submitted by NaiteiruAkuma to castlevania [link] [comments]


2024.05.19 18:21 IrinaSophia Sunday Of The Myrrhbearers

Sunday Of The Myrrhbearers
The third Sunday of Holy Pascha is observed by the Orthodox Church as the Sunday of the Holy Myrrhbearers. The day commemorates when the women disciples of our Lord came to the tomb to anoint his body with myrrh-oils but found the tomb empty. As the woman wondered what this meant, angels appeared proclaiming that Christ had risen from the dead.
About the beginning of His thirty-second year, when the Lord Jesus was going throughout Galilee, preaching and working miracles, many women who had received of His beneficence left their own homeland and from then on followed after Him. They ministered unto Him out of their own possessions, even until His crucifixion and entombment; and afterwards, neither losing faith in Him after His death, nor fearing the wrath of the Jewish rulers, they came to His sepulcher, bearing the myrrh-oils they had prepared to anoint His body. It is because of the myrrh-oils that these God-loving women brought to the tomb of Jesus that they are called Myrrh-bearers.
Of those whose names are known are the following: first of all, the most holy Virgin Mary, who in Matthew 27:56 and Mark 15:40 is called "the mother of James and Joses" (these are the sons of Joseph by a previous marriage, and she was therefore their step-mother); Mary Magdalene (celebrated July 22); Mary, the wife of Clopas; Joanna, wife of Chouza, a steward of Herod Antipas; Salome, the mother of the sons of Zebedee; Mary and Martha, the sisters of Lazarus; and Susanna. As for the names of the rest of them, the evangelists have kept silence (Matthew 217:55-56; 28:1-10. Mark 15:40-41.
Luke 8:1-3; 23:55-24:11, 22-24. John 19:25; 20:11-18. Acts 1:14.) Together with them we celebrate also the secret disciples of the Savior, Joseph and Nicodemus. Of these, Nicodemus was probably a Jerusalemite, a prominent leader among the Jews and of the order of the Pharisees, learned in the Law and instructed in the Holy Scriptures. He had believed in Christ when, at the beginning of our Savior's preaching of salvation, he came to Him by night. Furthermore, he brought some one hundred pounds of myrrh-oils and an aromatic mixture of aloes and spices out of reverence for the divine Teacher (John 19:39). Joseph, who was from the city of Arimathea, was a wealthy and noble man, and one of the counselors who were in Jerusalem. He went bodly unto Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus, and together with Nicodemus he gave Him burial. Since time did not permit the preparation of another tomb, he placed the Lord's body in his own tomb which was hewn out of rock, as the Evangelist says (Matthew 27:60).
The Sunday of the Holy Myrrhbearers is celebrated with the Divine Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom. On this Sunday and throughout the Paschal period until the Apodosis or leave-taking of Pascha, the day before the Feast of the Ascension, the services begin with the chanting of the troparion of Pascha, "Christ is risen..."
Scripture readings for the feast are the following: At Orthros: Luke 24:1-12; At the Divine Liturgy: Acts 6:1-7 and Mark 15:43-16:8.
(from goarch.org)
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2024.05.19 18:20 IrinaSophia Sunday Of The Myrrhbearers

Sunday Of The Myrrhbearers
The third Sunday of Holy Pascha is observed by the Orthodox Church as the Sunday of the Holy Myrrhbearers. The day commemorates when the women disciples of our Lord came to the tomb to anoint his body with myrrh-oils but found the tomb empty. As the woman wondered what this meant, angels appeared proclaiming that Christ had risen from the dead.
About the beginning of His thirty-second year, when the Lord Jesus was going throughout Galilee, preaching and working miracles, many women who had received of His beneficence left their own homeland and from then on followed after Him. They ministered unto Him out of their own possessions, even until His crucifixion and entombment; and afterwards, neither losing faith in Him after His death, nor fearing the wrath of the Jewish rulers, they came to His sepulcher, bearing the myrrh-oils they had prepared to anoint His body. It is because of the myrrh-oils that these God-loving women brought to the tomb of Jesus that they are called Myrrh-bearers.
Of those whose names are known are the following: first of all, the most holy Virgin Mary, who in Matthew 27:56 and Mark 15:40 is called "the mother of James and Joses" (these are the sons of Joseph by a previous marriage, and she was therefore their step-mother); Mary Magdalene (celebrated July 22); Mary, the wife of Clopas; Joanna, wife of Chouza, a steward of Herod Antipas; Salome, the mother of the sons of Zebedee; Mary and Martha, the sisters of Lazarus; and Susanna. As for the names of the rest of them, the evangelists have kept silence (Matthew 217:55-56; 28:1-10. Mark 15:40-41.
Luke 8:1-3; 23:55-24:11, 22-24. John 19:25; 20:11-18. Acts 1:14.) Together with them we celebrate also the secret disciples of the Savior, Joseph and Nicodemus. Of these, Nicodemus was probably a Jerusalemite, a prominent leader among the Jews and of the order of the Pharisees, learned in the Law and instructed in the Holy Scriptures. He had believed in Christ when, at the beginning of our Savior's preaching of salvation, he came to Him by night. Furthermore, he brought some one hundred pounds of myrrh-oils and an aromatic mixture of aloes and spices out of reverence for the divine Teacher (John 19:39). Joseph, who was from the city of Arimathea, was a wealthy and noble man, and one of the counselors who were in Jerusalem. He went bodly unto Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus, and together with Nicodemus he gave Him burial. Since time did not permit the preparation of another tomb, he placed the Lord's body in his own tomb which was hewn out of rock, as the Evangelist says (Matthew 27:60).
The Sunday of the Holy Myrrhbearers is celebrated with the Divine Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom. On this Sunday and throughout the Paschal period until the Apodosis or leave-taking of Pascha, the day before the Feast of the Ascension, the services begin with the chanting of the troparion of Pascha, "Christ is risen..."
Scripture readings for the feast are the following: At Orthros: Luke 24:1-12; At the Divine Liturgy: Acts 6:1-7 and Mark 15:43-16:8.
(from goarch.org)
submitted by IrinaSophia to OrthodoxChristianity [link] [comments]


2024.05.19 15:44 TheParanoidPyro The amount of people that I face that are ready and able to punish Law's bullshit is impressive. How many characters do most of y'all have their main 'bullshit' strings or moves memorized and can react to?

I am new and am only in Might Ruler. I am stuck as I am trying to get better against players at this level and it is a fucking struggle. My main problem is I get counter hit a lot, I have the worst timing it seems, but I also just don't know what my opponents can do.
I was facing someone and I never used junkyard the entire match. it was the third set on the final round and I finally used it after attacking his block for a bit. Dude reacted and low parried. I know it is a known move especially with legacy players, and I didn't expect it to hit, but damn.
How many characters do you have their main bullshit tools memorized to punish on reaction? How long do you think it takes to learn some of them? and is the punishment training option in training mode worthwhile?
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2024.05.19 11:45 Odd-Release-7958 What if the "Artic Remnants" were summoned to the new world

What if the
I'll try to improve on it with more questions
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2024.05.19 09:15 Agneus [Online] [5e] [18+] [GMT+1] Virtues of Essence - Roleplay Focused Mystery and Lore Driven Forgotten Realms Campaign seeking a replacement player

“What defines virtue and how are we to gauge it? An inquiry that reverberates through epochs, its answer as fickle and capricious as the fates of those who deem to ask it. Duty, honor, justice - many over the ages would name these virtues, the conduits through which noble intentions find expression. Yet, as the battlefield of beliefs unfolds, a legion emerges, each as sworn to these principles as to obliterating all who would dare stake alike claim. Thus, battles rage and wars are waged and, in the end, those who are left are no more right than those fell by the blade. Alas, it is the victors whose ideals are etched into monuments for posterity. Except even words chiseled in unyielding stone are fated to fade in time. So is the wicked cycle destined to repeat in all its futility, its ephemeral prize seized again, only to be lost and sought anew. Try and picture, if for but a moment, a world where our rulers paused to reflect on the lessons of yore. They, too, would discern the elixir that enables one to escape the confines of memory—the very burden our fleeting nature forbids us to carry. Progress and evolution. Adaptability and transcendence. Everlasting and yet not stagnant, irrefutable, and yet fluid, these are the only true virtues. Thus, must we ever venture into the uncharted and unfamiliar for only from these unexplored domains may the truly virtuous arise.”
Where: Discord (Video and Voice) + FoundryVTT
When: every Saturday 5 - 9/10 pm GMT+1 (CET), 11 am - 3/4 pm EST
Who: party of 4 players and a DM seeking one extra player
Updates: Recruitment updates will be posted here.
Hello there and well met! If you’ve made it past the flavor text (or skipped it) and through the basic info (hopefully didnt skip past that one) you might very well be at the right address! Without further ado onto the post.

🐲The campaign🐲

Having only just recovered from the Second Sundering and the War of the Silver Marches, the North had been ravaged by a whole new set of tumultuous events - the rise of the Cult of the Dragon and that of the Absolute, the Fall of Eltruel and the short reign of the beholder crime lord Xanathar just some among them. After a brief respite from the twisted and the unnatural the clouds once more begin to gather. Along the Long Road, whole hosts of wild beasts and monsters have been accosting travelers seemingly at random and in the grand metropolis of Waterdeep a sudden rise in crime seems to coincide with strange events passing unnoticed beneath the surface. Amidst all this, in spring of 1493 DR, a party of adventurers delves into a mystery of enchanted gemstones being utilized to nefarious ends by unknown perpetrators all the while navigating the labyrinthine twists of city faction politics.
As implied by the post title, this is an ongoing campaign (we are 12 sessions in at the time of this post). Due to some irl commitments weve recently dropped a player and are looking to replace them.
As the title suggests, this is a roleplay focused mystery/lore driven campaign. Expect an overreaching plot with ample secrets to uncover, conspiracies to unravel and eldritch truths to unearth. The first word of the password is "Doth". On the same level of importance or more important even be that the players preference, there is a variety of subplots to engage with, from small and goofy and random to ones rivaling the main story arc in complexity and variance. Among these, individual character story arcs play a leading role, at times seamlessly intertwined with the current focus of the party, at times separate and independent.
As was already mentioned and is further described below, this is a roleplay focused campaign and a roleplay heavy game. This means that roleplay exists as a unifying concept for all other aspects of the game including exploration, combat, and puzzles. That said DnD is only DnD with all three of its main pillars intact and this campaign is no exception in that regard. I very much enjoy the mechanical side of the game as well besides roleplay and so things like multiphase boss fights and custom magic items are definitely on the table.

🧙‍♂️The DM🧙‍♂️

Hello there, Jay here, 25 yo law student from Central Europe currently working on finishing his master’s degree, trying to stay afloat in the current lease market. I study and work in a law firm by day and DM or play DnD by night (more like evening but night sounded cooler). I have been a big fan of TTRPGs since my early teens and of online DnD for the past five years. I’ve DMed multiple campaigns, finished CoS not least among them and I currently play in a long-term campaign. Before you ask, yes, my schedule is strained but not to the point I am unable to engage with my hobbies.
I would describe my DMing style as driven, realistic, and involved but also very conscious about player agency and collaborative storytelling as core values that make TTRPGs so popular and unique. I spend a lot of time ensuring the worlds I create and the stories I want to tell feel alive. From hand-picked music, to fully voiced NPCs and scenic descriptions designed to breathe life into the campaign setting I daresay my games rival in quality those of the professional DMs that charge for each session.
There is a drawback to this all however. Second word of the password is "thy". I expect a lot from my players as well. Writing a story in DnD is not a one person job. It takes a collective effort of the entire group to create something truly unique, something that one can be proud while looking forward to each session. Unwinding and letting off steam means something else for everyone. For me it means losing myself in the creative process of roleplaying an NPC or describing a scene, watching my players masterfully portray their own characters or having the party derail my plans in an awesome unforeseen and unexpectedly enriching way. If you find yourself in any of what I just described than this may be a game for you. If you don’t, that’s fine. This is definitely not a game for everyone.

🏰The setting🏰

Forgotten Realms is a default setting of Dungeons and Dragons but it is anything but boring and mundane. With now decades worth of lore behind it, it offers an unparalleled opportunity for anyone wanting to build on solid foundations to bring their ideas to life. While it has garnered a lot of attention lately with the release of a certain videogame (more people now know Astarion than a good amount of Hollywood celebrities I’d say) it has had its loyal following even before then, being constantly expanded and living its own life in a host of both online and home games. It’s been a natural choice of mine for a while now and not once have I had any regrets. The third word of the password is "mirror". I feel with how great of a variety of content the Forgotten Realms offer everybody is able to pick something that suits their creative vision. In summary the Forgotten Realms almost feel like a real place with how much worldbuilding has been done with them and offer a diversity of content few other TTRPG settings can boast.
When it comes to setting of the campaign in the world of Faerun I have once again made a somewhat traditional pick and decided to place the onset of the game onto the Sword Coast, more precisely into the city of Waterdeep. If one of the key upsides of Forgotten Realms is diversity of content, Waterdeep is one of the best representations of this. Being the largest settlement on the known Faerun, Waterdeep offers nigh limitless options in terms of main story arc genre, character creation and character backstory implementation. It has everything every large TTRPG settlement ought to have (fickle upper class, enigmatic factions, quaint taverns and extravagant nightclubs, always in bad mood city watch, a castle and a harbor) as well as few pretty original ideas such as colossal definitely not alive statues, a city council where even its members don’t know each other’s identity and a massive dungeon right underneath the city where you can literally fall right from a tavern taproom.
In case you are wondering, while this campagn takes place primarily in the city of Waterdeep itself, there is nothing stopping the players from exploring past the city if they so choose. The final word of the password is "crack?". Different parts of the main plot and various subplots can and will encourage the party to explore Waterdeep environs and sometimes even further.

📃The requirements📃

No exceptions here. Unless otherwise stated, the requirements must be met at the time of application.

🙋‍♂️How to sign up🙋‍♀️

Youve made it all the way to the end of this long post. Congratulations. Or maybe you’ve skipped all the way to the end. In that case I strongly recommended you go back. If not to learn what you are applying for than to make sure you haven’t missed something very important. Now if you are confident that you have what it takes and that this is a game that you could have a lot of fun with, please fill the below attached google questionnaire (if for any strange reason the link doesn’t end up working, please let me know in the comments under this post) and if fortune favors you, I shall get back to you promptly. Best of luck to you and I hope to speak to you soon!
https://forms.gle/5kc4RbwavJPfT8PD9
______________________________________
PS: As a part of the questionnaire, you will be asked to submit a short piece of your narrative writing in a form of a google doc link (not a custom piece of writing, any relevant past one you have will do). Maybe best have that ready beforehand? On that note, dont apply for the game with a detailed backstory of a character you want to play that you arent willing to adapt to the conditions of the setting/campaign.
PSS: Not to discourage you but if you do make it through the questionnaire and into the second group of applicants you will be asked to do a discord interview with your webcam turned on. I am asking you to go through a lot for a game you might not even end up liking I know, but if you do end up liking it, all this effort will be well worth it as I am sure my other players would agree.
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