Since I have been under assault the funding for directed energy weapons has absolutely exploded.
Directed Energy development budget growth from 2014- 2023.
-2014- $1,630.6M

• 2023: "US$6.4 billion in 2023 and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 19.6% during the forecast period 2024-2034."

News June 30, 2014
Conducted And Directed Energy Weapons To Drive Non-Lethal Weapons Market Growth
The concept of a weapon that is designed merely to temporarily incapacitate, with little or no lasting injury, is relatively new. The development of non-lethal weapons can be viewed as a consequence of the rise of democratic values. The use of lethal force on a nation’s own citizens is often met with dissent and criticism in democracies. The rise of non-lethal weapons has taken place in the last two decades. Non-lethal weapons for anti-personnel purposes have become increasingly high in demand from law enforcement agencies across the world. The new report has calculated that in 2014 the market will be worth $1,630.6M.
The new report, now available on ASDReports, Non-Lethal Weapons (NLW) Market 2014-2024: Conducted & Directed Energy Weapons (CEW & DEW), Less Lethal Weapons (LLW) & Equipment for Military & Law Enforcement. This report finds overall market growth over the forecast period as more nations enter the market and technological advances realise new capabilities.
A detailed analysis of the latest political, economic and technological trends lies at the heart of the reports unparalleled quantitative and qualitative analysis of the non-lethal weapons market. The new report assesses that global spending on non- lethal weapons will amount to $1630.6m in 2014, or the start of the forecast period covered by this report. This 239 page report is packed with 205 tables, figures and charts that illustrate key trends in the market at the global level, 2 submarkets, and in 15 leading national markets. The report profiles 17 leading non- lethal weapons companies. The report also contains interviews with expert members within the industry and details of more than 150 relevant non-lethal weapons contracts and programmes.
“Non-lethal anti-personnel systems such as conducted energy weapons, less-lethal ammunition, tear gas and pepper spray have proven capabilities in crowd control situation. Our research indicates that non-lethal anti-personnel weapons are becoming increasingly high in demand particularly from law enforcement agencies.
In recent years, advances in energy weapon technology both Conducted Energy Weapons (CEW) for anti-personnel utility and Directed Energy Weapon (DEW) technology predominantly for anti-vehicle have highlighted the demand for such systems, particularly in nations with more advanced armed forces.
Furthermore, efforts of nations such as India, Brazil and South Africa to modernise their armed forces and security services will provide significant new market opportunities. It is believed that a lowering of barriers to entry with technological advancements made over the past decade will create new demand for a range of non-lethal systems. This new demand will drive growth within the market.”
The Non-Lethal Weapons (NLW) Market 2014-2024: Conducted & Directed Energy Weapons (CEW & DEW), Less Lethal Weapons (LLW) & Equipment for Military & Law Enforcement report will be of impressive value to current and future investors into the industry, as well as to companies and research centres who wish to broaden their knowledge of the non-lethal weapons market.

Conducted And Directed Energy Weapons To Drive Non-Lethal Weapons Market Growth
The concept of a weapon that is designed merely to temporarily incapacitate, with little or no lasting injury, is relatively new. The development of non-lethal weapons can be viewed as a consequence of the rise of democratic values. The use of lethal force on a nation’s own citizens is often met with dissent and criticism in democracies. The rise of non-lethal weapons has taken place in the last two decades. Non-lethal weapons for anti-personnel purposes have become increasingly high in demand from law enforcement agencies across the world. The new report has calculated that in 2014 the market will be worth $1,630.6M.
The new report, now available on ASDReports, Non-Lethal Weapons (NLW) Market 2014-2024: Conducted & Directed Energy Weapons (CEW & DEW), Less Lethal Weapons (LLW) & Equipment for Military & Law Enforcement. This report finds overall market growth over the forecast period as more nations enter the market and technological advances realise new capabilities.
A detailed analysis of the latest political, economic and technological trends lies at the heart of the reports unparalleled quantitative and qualitative analysis of the non-lethal weapons market. The new report assesses that global spending on non- lethal weapons will amount to $1630.6m in 2014, or the start of the forecast period covered by this report. This 239 page report is packed with 205 tables, figures and charts that illustrate key trends in the market at the global level, 2 submarkets, and in 15 leading national markets. The report profiles 17 leading non- lethal weapons companies. The report also contains interviews with expert members within the industry and details of more than 150 relevant non-lethal weapons contracts and programmes.
“Non-lethal anti-personnel systems such as conducted energy weapons, less-lethal ammunition, tear gas and pepper spray have proven capabilities in crowd control situation. Our research indicates that non-lethal anti-personnel weapons are becoming increasingly high in demand particularly from law enforcement agencies.
In recent years, advances in energy weapon technology both Conducted Energy Weapons (CEW) for anti-personnel utility and Directed Energy Weapon (DEW) technology predominantly for anti-vehicle have highlighted the demand for such systems, particularly in nations with more advanced armed forces.
Furthermore, efforts of nations such as India, Brazil and South Africa to modernise their armed forces and security services will provide significant new market opportunities. It is believed that a lowering of barriers to entry with technological advancements made over the past decade will create new demand for a range of non-lethal systems. This new demand will drive growth within the market.”
The Non-Lethal Weapons (NLW) Market 2014-2024: Conducted & Directed Energy Weapons (CEW & DEW), Less Lethal Weapons (LLW) & Equipment for Military & Law Enforcement report will be of impressive value to current and future investors into the industry, as well as to companies and research centres who wish to broaden their knowledge of the non-lethal weapons market.

https://www.rfglobalnet.com/doc/conducted-energy-weapons-drive-non-lethal-weapons-0001

Visiongain Publishes Directed Energy Weapons (DEW) Market Report 2024-2034
26 February 2024
Defence
Visiongain has published a new report entitled Directed Energy Weapons (DEW) Market Report 2024-2034: Forecasts by Type (Lethal Weapons, Non-lethal Weapons), by System (Anti-Satellite (ASAT) DEW, Electromagnetic Railgun Systems, Counter-Drone DEW Systems, Other), by Technology (High-Energy Lasers (HEL), High-Power Microwaves (HPM), Sonic Weapons, Electromagnetic Weapons, Other), by Application (Ground-Based DEW for Military Bases, Airborne DEW for Aircraft Defence, Naval DEW for Ship Defence, Homeland Security, Critical Infrastructure Defence, Other) AND Regional and Leading National Market Analysis PLUS Analysis of Leading Companies AND COVID-19 Impact and Recovery Pattern Analysis.
The global directed energy weapons (DEW) market was valued at US$6.4 billion in 2023 and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 19.6% during the forecast period 2024-2034.
Requirement for Cost-Effective Defense Solutions
The requirement for cost-effective defense solutions amidst constrained defense budgets is driving the adoption of directed energy weapons by military organizations worldwide. Traditional kinetic weapons and missile defense systems involve high procurement, operation, and maintenance costs, making them economically unsustainable for many defense budgets. Directed energy weapons offer a more cost-effective alternative with reduced ammunition costs, minimal logistical footprint, and lower lifecycle expenses. For example, the deployment of laser-based counter-UAV systems by military forces provides a cost-effective means of defending against small unmanned aerial threats compared to conventional missile-based interceptors.
Increasing Investments in Directed Energy Programs
The increasing investments in directed energy programs by government agencies, defense contractors, and research institutions are driving innovation and growth in the global directed energy weapons market. Countries such as the United States, China, Russia, and European nations are allocating substantial funding to accelerate the development and deployment of directed energy technologies for military applications. These investments support research and development initiatives aimed at enhancing the performance, reliability, and operational capabilities of directed energy weapons across various platforms. For instance, the U.S. Department of Defense's Directed Energy Weapons Directorate (DEWD) oversees a range of directed energy programs focused on advancing laser, microwave, and radiofrequency technologies for military use.
How has COVID-19 had a significant negative impact on the Directed Energy Weapons (DEW) Market?
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a discernible impact on the directed energy weapon (DEW) market, influencing various aspects of its development, production, and deployment. One notable effect has been the disruption of supply chains and manufacturing processes. Lockdowns, restrictions on movement, and workforce limitations imposed to curb the spread of the virus have led to delays in production schedules and the availability of essential components for DEW systems. This has, in turn, affected the overall pace of development and delivery of directed energy weapons.
Financial constraints have emerged as another significant impact of the pandemic on the directed energy weapon market. Many defence budgets faced reallocations and adjustments to address the immediate healthcare and economic challenges posed by the pandemic. Consequently, some defence programs, including those related to advanced technologies like DEWs, experienced budgetary constraints, slowing down investment and procurement processes.
Operational disruptions have affected the testing and validation phases of DEW systems. Social distancing measures and limitations on gatherings have impeded the ability to conduct field trials and exercises. These constraints have slowed down the evaluation and validation of directed energy weapons in real-world scenarios, hindering progress in achieving operational readiness.
How will this Report Benefit you?
Visiongain’s 372-page report provides 113 tables and 198 charts/graphs. Our new study is suitable for anyone requiring commercial, in-depth analyses for the global directed energy weapons (DEW) market, along with detailed segment analysis in the market. Our new study will help you evaluate the overall global and regional market for Directed Energy Weapons (DEW). Get financial analysis of the overall market and different segments including type, system, technology, and application and capture higher market share. We believe that there are strong opportunities in this fast-growing directed energy weapons (DEW) market. See how to use the existing and upcoming opportunities in this market to gain revenue benefits in the near future. Moreover, the report will help you to improve your strategic decision-making, allowing you to frame growth strategies, reinforce the analysis of other market players, and maximise the productivity of the company.
What are the Current Market Drivers?
Need for Precision and Lethality in Modern Warfare The need for precision and lethality in modern warfare scenarios drives the adoption of directed energy weapons by defense forces worldwide. Traditional kinetic weapons, such as missiles and artillery shells, often result in collateral damage and unintended casualties, limiting their effectiveness in densely populated urban environments and sensitive infrastructure areas. Directed energy weapons offer a more precise and controlled means of engaging targets, minimizing collateral damage and civilian casualties while maximizing lethality against enemy assets. For example, the U.S. Air Force's Tactical High Energy Laser (THEL) system demonstrates the capability of DEWs to engage and destroy incoming artillery shells and rockets with pinpoint accuracy, reducing the risk to friendly forces and civilian populations.
Growing Threat of Ballistic Missile and Hypersonic Weapons The growing threat posed by ballistic missile proliferation and the development of hypersonic weapons systems is driving the demand for directed energy weapons as a viable defense solution. Ballistic missiles and hypersonic glide vehicles pose significant challenges to existing missile defense systems due to their high speeds, maneuverability, and unpredictable trajectories. Directed energy weapons offer a potential solution for intercepting and neutralizing ballistic missiles and hypersonic threats in the boost, mid-course, and terminal phases of flight. For instance, the concept of using high-energy lasers or particle beams to intercept and destroy incoming missiles in near-real-time is being explored as a cost-effective and reliable defense against advanced missile threats.
Where are the Market Opportunities?
Advancements in Compact and Mobile Directed Energy Platforms Advancements in compact and mobile directed energy platforms are expanding the operational flexibility and deployment options for directed energy weapons in military environments. Traditional directed energy systems were often large, stationary installations limited to fixed bases or naval vessels, which restricted their mobility and deployment agility. However, recent technological advancements have led to the development of compact, lightweight, and mobile directed energy platforms that can be integrated into various military platforms, including ground vehicles, aircraft, and dismounted soldier systems. For example, the development of man-portable laser weapons, such as the U.S. Army's Mobile Experimental High Energy Laser (MEHEL) system, enables ground troops to engage and neutralize threats with precision and speed in diverse operational environments.
Need for Counter-UAS and Counter-Swarm Capabilities The proliferation of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) and the emergence of drone swarms as asymmetric threats are driving the demand for directed energy weapons with counter-UAS and counter-swarm capabilities. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and drone swarms pose challenges to conventional air defense systems due to their small size, agility, and swarm tactics, making them difficult to detect and intercept using traditional kinetic weapons. Directed energy weapons offer a rapid and effective means of countering UAS threats by providing continuous, 360-degree coverage, rapid engagement, and scalable lethality. For instance, ground-based laser and microwave systems deployed in urban areas or critical infrastructure sites can detect and neutralize hostile drones and swarms with precision, protecting assets and personnel from aerial threats.
Competitive Landscape
The major players operating in the directed energy weapons (DEW) market are BAE Systems PLC, Blue Halo, Elbit Systems Ltd, Honeywell International Inc, L3Harris Technologies, Inc, Leonardo S.p.A, Lockheed Martin Corporation, Moog Inc, Northrop Grumman Corporation, Rafael Advanced Defence Systems Ltd., Raytheon Technologies Corporation, Rheinmetall AG, Textron Inc, Thales Group, The Boeing Company. These major players operating in this market have adopted various strategies comprising M&A, investment in R&D, collaborations, partnerships, regional business expansion, and new product launch.
Recent Developments
24 Sept 2023, Raytheon Technologies Corporation has entered into collaboration with Northrop Grumman to develop a prototype High-Power Microwave (HPM) weapon system for maritime applications.
04 June 2023, Lockheed Martin and Rafael Advanced Defence Systems partnered to manufacture 100 kW fiber-class laser weapons for the IRON BEAM project, aiming to defend Israel against rockets, mortars, and drones.
Notes for Editors If you are interested in a more detailed overview of this report, please send an e-mail to [contactus@visiongain.com](mailto:contactus@visiongain.com) or call +44 (0) 207 336 6100.
About Visiongain Visiongain is one of the fastest-growing and most innovative independent media companies in Europe. Based in London, UK, Visiongain produces a host of business-to-business reports focusing on the automotive, aviation, chemicals, cyber, defence, energy, food & drink, materials, packaging, pharmaceutical and utilities sectors.
Visiongain publishes reports produced by analysts who are qualified experts in their field. Visiongain has firmly established itself as the first port of call for the business professional who needs independent, high-quality, original material to rely and depend on.Visiongain Publishes Directed Energy Weapons (DEW) Market Report 2024-2034
26 February 2024

https://www.visiongain.com/dew-market-report/

Since I have been under assault the funding for directed energy weapons has absolutely exploded.
Directed Energy development budget growth from 2014- 2023.
-2014- $1,630.6M

• 2023: "US$6.4 billion in 2023 and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 19.6% during the forecast period 2024-2034."

News June 30, 2014
Conducted And Directed Energy Weapons To Drive Non-Lethal Weapons Market Growth
The concept of a weapon that is designed merely to temporarily incapacitate, with little or no lasting injury, is relatively new. The development of non-lethal weapons can be viewed as a consequence of the rise of democratic values. The use of lethal force on a nation’s own citizens is often met with dissent and criticism in democracies. The rise of non-lethal weapons has taken place in the last two decades. Non-lethal weapons for anti-personnel purposes have become increasingly high in demand from law enforcement agencies across the world. The new report has calculated that in 2014 the market will be worth $1,630.6M.
The new report, now available on ASDReports, Non-Lethal Weapons (NLW) Market 2014-2024: Conducted & Directed Energy Weapons (CEW & DEW), Less Lethal Weapons (LLW) & Equipment for Military & Law Enforcement. This report finds overall market growth over the forecast period as more nations enter the market and technological advances realise new capabilities.
A detailed analysis of the latest political, economic and technological trends lies at the heart of the reports unparalleled quantitative and qualitative analysis of the non-lethal weapons market. The new report assesses that global spending on non- lethal weapons will amount to $1630.6m in 2014, or the start of the forecast period covered by this report. This 239 page report is packed with 205 tables, figures and charts that illustrate key trends in the market at the global level, 2 submarkets, and in 15 leading national markets. The report profiles 17 leading non- lethal weapons companies. The report also contains interviews with expert members within the industry and details of more than 150 relevant non-lethal weapons contracts and programmes.
“Non-lethal anti-personnel systems such as conducted energy weapons, less-lethal ammunition, tear gas and pepper spray have proven capabilities in crowd control situation. Our research indicates that non-lethal anti-personnel weapons are becoming increasingly high in demand particularly from law enforcement agencies.
In recent years, advances in energy weapon technology both Conducted Energy Weapons (CEW) for anti-personnel utility and Directed Energy Weapon (DEW) technology predominantly for anti-vehicle have highlighted the demand for such systems, particularly in nations with more advanced armed forces.
Furthermore, efforts of nations such as India, Brazil and South Africa to modernise their armed forces and security services will provide significant new market opportunities. It is believed that a lowering of barriers to entry with technological advancements made over the past decade will create new demand for a range of non-lethal systems. This new demand will drive growth within the market.”
The Non-Lethal Weapons (NLW) Market 2014-2024: Conducted & Directed Energy Weapons (CEW & DEW), Less Lethal Weapons (LLW) & Equipment for Military & Law Enforcement report will be of impressive value to current and future investors into the industry, as well as to companies and research centres who wish to broaden their knowledge of the non-lethal weapons market.

Conducted And Directed Energy Weapons To Drive Non-Lethal Weapons Market Growth
The concept of a weapon that is designed merely to temporarily incapacitate, with little or no lasting injury, is relatively new. The development of non-lethal weapons can be viewed as a consequence of the rise of democratic values. The use of lethal force on a nation’s own citizens is often met with dissent and criticism in democracies. The rise of non-lethal weapons has taken place in the last two decades. Non-lethal weapons for anti-personnel purposes have become increasingly high in demand from law enforcement agencies across the world. The new report has calculated that in 2014 the market will be worth $1,630.6M.
The new report, now available on ASDReports, Non-Lethal Weapons (NLW) Market 2014-2024: Conducted & Directed Energy Weapons (CEW & DEW), Less Lethal Weapons (LLW) & Equipment for Military & Law Enforcement. This report finds overall market growth over the forecast period as more nations enter the market and technological advances realise new capabilities.
A detailed analysis of the latest political, economic and technological trends lies at the heart of the reports unparalleled quantitative and qualitative analysis of the non-lethal weapons market. The new report assesses that global spending on non- lethal weapons will amount to $1630.6m in 2014, or the start of the forecast period covered by this report. This 239 page report is packed with 205 tables, figures and charts that illustrate key trends in the market at the global level, 2 submarkets, and in 15 leading national markets. The report profiles 17 leading non- lethal weapons companies. The report also contains interviews with expert members within the industry and details of more than 150 relevant non-lethal weapons contracts and programmes.
“Non-lethal anti-personnel systems such as conducted energy weapons, less-lethal ammunition, tear gas and pepper spray have proven capabilities in crowd control situation. Our research indicates that non-lethal anti-personnel weapons are becoming increasingly high in demand particularly from law enforcement agencies.
In recent years, advances in energy weapon technology both Conducted Energy Weapons (CEW) for anti-personnel utility and Directed Energy Weapon (DEW) technology predominantly for anti-vehicle have highlighted the demand for such systems, particularly in nations with more advanced armed forces.
Furthermore, efforts of nations such as India, Brazil and South Africa to modernise their armed forces and security services will provide significant new market opportunities. It is believed that a lowering of barriers to entry with technological advancements made over the past decade will create new demand for a range of non-lethal systems. This new demand will drive growth within the market.”
The Non-Lethal Weapons (NLW) Market 2014-2024: Conducted & Directed Energy Weapons (CEW & DEW), Less Lethal Weapons (LLW) & Equipment for Military & Law Enforcement report will be of impressive value to current and future investors into the industry, as well as to companies and research centres who wish to broaden their knowledge of the non-lethal weapons market.

https://www.rfglobalnet.com/doc/conducted-energy-weapons-drive-non-lethal-weapons-0001

Visiongain Publishes Directed Energy Weapons (DEW) Market Report 2024-2034
26 February 2024
Defence
Visiongain has published a new report entitled Directed Energy Weapons (DEW) Market Report 2024-2034: Forecasts by Type (Lethal Weapons, Non-lethal Weapons), by System (Anti-Satellite (ASAT) DEW, Electromagnetic Railgun Systems, Counter-Drone DEW Systems, Other), by Technology (High-Energy Lasers (HEL), High-Power Microwaves (HPM), Sonic Weapons, Electromagnetic Weapons, Other), by Application (Ground-Based DEW for Military Bases, Airborne DEW for Aircraft Defence, Naval DEW for Ship Defence, Homeland Security, Critical Infrastructure Defence, Other) AND Regional and Leading National Market Analysis PLUS Analysis of Leading Companies AND COVID-19 Impact and Recovery Pattern Analysis.
The global directed energy weapons (DEW) market was valued at US$6.4 billion in 2023 and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 19.6% during the forecast period 2024-2034.
Requirement for Cost-Effective Defense Solutions
The requirement for cost-effective defense solutions amidst constrained defense budgets is driving the adoption of directed energy weapons by military organizations worldwide. Traditional kinetic weapons and missile defense systems involve high procurement, operation, and maintenance costs, making them economically unsustainable for many defense budgets. Directed energy weapons offer a more cost-effective alternative with reduced ammunition costs, minimal logistical footprint, and lower lifecycle expenses. For example, the deployment of laser-based counter-UAV systems by military forces provides a cost-effective means of defending against small unmanned aerial threats compared to conventional missile-based interceptors.
Increasing Investments in Directed Energy Programs
The increasing investments in directed energy programs by government agencies, defense contractors, and research institutions are driving innovation and growth in the global directed energy weapons market. Countries such as the United States, China, Russia, and European nations are allocating substantial funding to accelerate the development and deployment of directed energy technologies for military applications. These investments support research and development initiatives aimed at enhancing the performance, reliability, and operational capabilities of directed energy weapons across various platforms. For instance, the U.S. Department of Defense's Directed Energy Weapons Directorate (DEWD) oversees a range of directed energy programs focused on advancing laser, microwave, and radiofrequency technologies for military use.
How has COVID-19 had a significant negative impact on the Directed Energy Weapons (DEW) Market?
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a discernible impact on the directed energy weapon (DEW) market, influencing various aspects of its development, production, and deployment. One notable effect has been the disruption of supply chains and manufacturing processes. Lockdowns, restrictions on movement, and workforce limitations imposed to curb the spread of the virus have led to delays in production schedules and the availability of essential components for DEW systems. This has, in turn, affected the overall pace of development and delivery of directed energy weapons.
Financial constraints have emerged as another significant impact of the pandemic on the directed energy weapon market. Many defence budgets faced reallocations and adjustments to address the immediate healthcare and economic challenges posed by the pandemic. Consequently, some defence programs, including those related to advanced technologies like DEWs, experienced budgetary constraints, slowing down investment and procurement processes.
Operational disruptions have affected the testing and validation phases of DEW systems. Social distancing measures and limitations on gatherings have impeded the ability to conduct field trials and exercises. These constraints have slowed down the evaluation and validation of directed energy weapons in real-world scenarios, hindering progress in achieving operational readiness.
How will this Report Benefit you?
Visiongain’s 372-page report provides 113 tables and 198 charts/graphs. Our new study is suitable for anyone requiring commercial, in-depth analyses for the global directed energy weapons (DEW) market, along with detailed segment analysis in the market. Our new study will help you evaluate the overall global and regional market for Directed Energy Weapons (DEW). Get financial analysis of the overall market and different segments including type, system, technology, and application and capture higher market share. We believe that there are strong opportunities in this fast-growing directed energy weapons (DEW) market. See how to use the existing and upcoming opportunities in this market to gain revenue benefits in the near future. Moreover, the report will help you to improve your strategic decision-making, allowing you to frame growth strategies, reinforce the analysis of other market players, and maximise the productivity of the company.
What are the Current Market Drivers?
Need for Precision and Lethality in Modern Warfare The need for precision and lethality in modern warfare scenarios drives the adoption of directed energy weapons by defense forces worldwide. Traditional kinetic weapons, such as missiles and artillery shells, often result in collateral damage and unintended casualties, limiting their effectiveness in densely populated urban environments and sensitive infrastructure areas. Directed energy weapons offer a more precise and controlled means of engaging targets, minimizing collateral damage and civilian casualties while maximizing lethality against enemy assets. For example, the U.S. Air Force's Tactical High Energy Laser (THEL) system demonstrates the capability of DEWs to engage and destroy incoming artillery shells and rockets with pinpoint accuracy, reducing the risk to friendly forces and civilian populations.
Growing Threat of Ballistic Missile and Hypersonic Weapons The growing threat posed by ballistic missile proliferation and the development of hypersonic weapons systems is driving the demand for directed energy weapons as a viable defense solution. Ballistic missiles and hypersonic glide vehicles pose significant challenges to existing missile defense systems due to their high speeds, maneuverability, and unpredictable trajectories. Directed energy weapons offer a potential solution for intercepting and neutralizing ballistic missiles and hypersonic threats in the boost, mid-course, and terminal phases of flight. For instance, the concept of using high-energy lasers or particle beams to intercept and destroy incoming missiles in near-real-time is being explored as a cost-effective and reliable defense against advanced missile threats.
Where are the Market Opportunities?
Advancements in Compact and Mobile Directed Energy Platforms Advancements in compact and mobile directed energy platforms are expanding the operational flexibility and deployment options for directed energy weapons in military environments. Traditional directed energy systems were often large, stationary installations limited to fixed bases or naval vessels, which restricted their mobility and deployment agility. However, recent technological advancements have led to the development of compact, lightweight, and mobile directed energy platforms that can be integrated into various military platforms, including ground vehicles, aircraft, and dismounted soldier systems. For example, the development of man-portable laser weapons, such as the U.S. Army's Mobile Experimental High Energy Laser (MEHEL) system, enables ground troops to engage and neutralize threats with precision and speed in diverse operational environments.
Need for Counter-UAS and Counter-Swarm Capabilities The proliferation of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) and the emergence of drone swarms as asymmetric threats are driving the demand for directed energy weapons with counter-UAS and counter-swarm capabilities. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and drone swarms pose challenges to conventional air defense systems due to their small size, agility, and swarm tactics, making them difficult to detect and intercept using traditional kinetic weapons. Directed energy weapons offer a rapid and effective means of countering UAS threats by providing continuous, 360-degree coverage, rapid engagement, and scalable lethality. For instance, ground-based laser and microwave systems deployed in urban areas or critical infrastructure sites can detect and neutralize hostile drones and swarms with precision, protecting assets and personnel from aerial threats.
Competitive Landscape
The major players operating in the directed energy weapons (DEW) market are BAE Systems PLC, Blue Halo, Elbit Systems Ltd, Honeywell International Inc, L3Harris Technologies, Inc, Leonardo S.p.A, Lockheed Martin Corporation, Moog Inc, Northrop Grumman Corporation, Rafael Advanced Defence Systems Ltd., Raytheon Technologies Corporation, Rheinmetall AG, Textron Inc, Thales Group, The Boeing Company. These major players operating in this market have adopted various strategies comprising M&A, investment in R&D, collaborations, partnerships, regional business expansion, and new product launch.
Recent Developments
24 Sept 2023, Raytheon Technologies Corporation has entered into collaboration with Northrop Grumman to develop a prototype High-Power Microwave (HPM) weapon system for maritime applications.
04 June 2023, Lockheed Martin and Rafael Advanced Defence Systems partnered to manufacture 100 kW fiber-class laser weapons for the IRON BEAM project, aiming to defend Israel against rockets, mortars, and drones.
Notes for Editors If you are interested in a more detailed overview of this report, please send an e-mail to [contactus@visiongain.com](mailto:contactus@visiongain.com) or call +44 (0) 207 336 6100.
About Visiongain Visiongain is one of the fastest-growing and most innovative independent media companies in Europe. Based in London, UK, Visiongain produces a host of business-to-business reports focusing on the automotive, aviation, chemicals, cyber, defence, energy, food & drink, materials, packaging, pharmaceutical and utilities sectors.
Visiongain publishes reports produced by analysts who are qualified experts in their field. Visiongain has firmly established itself as the first port of call for the business professional who needs independent, high-quality, original material to rely and depend on.Visiongain Publishes Directed Energy Weapons (DEW) Market Report 2024-2034
26 February 2024

https://www.visiongain.com/dew-market-report/

My son was born at 35 weeks he has never hit a single milestone on time. He has an autism screening next week and I'm just trying to prepare myself. His therapists think he might have some sort of OCD, autism or anxiety. He is in our state's early intervention program and he has done occupational therapy, speech therapy, feeding therapy and developmental therapy.
My husband and I've been collecting a list of things that have been concerning for the last 6 to 9 months. I'm just wondering if these things seem worth having him tested for autism and what I should be expecting during his testing?
This is a random list completely out of order and not at all organized. I've made this list as things come to mind
[ ] Will quit eating if his hands get dirty [ ] Will stop eating if he drops food. Will not eat again until the "mess" has been cleaned up [ ] Does not eat well and when we cut his Kate Farms back he lost weight in a month [ ] His food needs to be separated and each section of his plate has to have food before he will eat [ ] He has had an upper scope, a lower scope, two swallow studies, anal, Botox He has prescriptions for Senna miralax and an appetite stimulant [ ] If his fork gets dirty we have to wipe it off before he will keep eating [ ] Mealtime takes one to two hours [ ] Most days he won't eat until 11:00 to 2:00 p.m. some days he will go all day without any food or water. He does not seem to be bothered by not eating [ ] Cries any time we try to have meal time [ ] Panics about things "coming apart" especially about food. He will say "back on" and cry [ ] He pockets food and uses his whole hand to shove food down his throat [ ] He will eat the same food for a few weeks at a time and that will be the only thing he eats and when he's done eating that type of food it takes us a few weeks to figure out something else he'll eat [ ] He has a food choice chart with pictures made by his DT to help with mealtime [ ] Knows what a horizontal stabilizer is on an airplane. Knows 8 or 9 planes parts and types [ ] Loves naming airplane parts, cranes, construction equipment, telescopes and trucks [ ] Loves wheels and gears and building things [ ] Used a medicine syringe as a screw driver to fix things around the house [ ] Blinks funny. Will hold both eyes shut for 2 or 3 seconds [ ] Will not get his hands dirty [ ] Hits and kicks during diaper changes [ ] I'm unable to change poop diapers without having to shower him because he won't stay still enough [ ] Cries every time he has a diaper change. He does not recognize when he's gone to the bathroom in his diaper [ ] We've tried a mirror, songs, hair brushes, TV, toys etc for helping with diaper changes [ ] Copies random phrases. "good job dude" or "hot dog" [ ] Bites every day. Mostly when happy or overwhelmed. Never during a tantrum [ ] I have to rip the tags out of his clothing in public [ ] He doesn't seem to care when we tell him his biting hurts or not to kick. [ ] Does not play alongside other children well. Does not follow directions or stay with the group like his peers [ ] Does not respond to his name unless it is called multiple times and then screamed [ ] Will only engage in conversations he starts [ ] Loves to fall down and crash. He will bloody his hands and then continue to throw himself down on concrete [ ] Covers his ears in public. When there is an air blower at the entrance he will freak out [ ] Loves to climb [ ] Loves to spin [ ] Head banging [ ] Loves flipping [ ] Is afraid of the dark [ ] Has little to no fear or sense of danger [ ] Gags himself with his hand until he throws up [ ] The vacuum scares him hair dryer scare him and he does not like it when the AC or heat kicks on [ ] Will get in your face to talk about something he is interested in but doesn't make good eye contact unless it's a topic he wants to talk about [ ] Will make eye contact briefly but will not hold it [ ] Plays with the same toys the same way every time [ ] Loves playing with small Legos especially the wheels [ ] Lines up his toys and food [ ] If we do something once it becomes our routine and it must be done over and over again [ ] Repeat the same words or phrases over and over again for a few weeks at a time [ ] He will have 2 hour long tantrums. We will do everything we can for him and we don't have any other things to help him. Last time we used a sensory brush and his z vibe. He will sound like he's having trouble breathing during these fits, has coughing fits and needs his inhaler [ ] He has trouble staying with his group and following directions at soccer and gymnastics. He doesn't like moving through rotations. He wants to stay in one spot [ ] He will zone out and we will have trouble getting his attention. We have to call his name multiple times and then scream his name for him to respond [ ] Had a speech delay. First word at 22 months [ ] Has trouble functioning outside of his routine. When we travel and we stay in our routine. He does great traveling as long as we follow our routine. He can't function if we change it up [ ] Will not lay on his back for diaper changes or bath time [ ] Freaks out if his hands are dirty [ ] He needs a tight squeeze when he gets upset but does not want to be touched unless he's asking [ ] Reacts well to changing tasks if we have a timer
[ ] Will stop writing his bike to clean leaves and dirt off of his tires [ ] Loves to be asked questions but will only answer yes and no questions. He doesn't always answer correctly [ ] He will pick a body part and say it hurts for weeks [ ] Everything has to be clean and picked up. He has to take every piece apart before putting a toy away like Legos, stackable boats in bathtub [ ] Refuses to leave Grandmamas house until all the mess is clean (toys and food) [ ] Never wants to be alone. Refuses to play alone unless he is outside or playing Legos. [ ] He's normally a very happy kid but the things that upset him makes it so he can't function [ ] Walk with his ear to shoulder [ ] Makes himself throw up [ ] Won't sleep unless his mouth is in the covers, his gray blanket in over his feet and his ceiling fan is on. He will lay in his bed and call for us to come fix it if we do it wrong. [ ] Does not follow what other kids are doing during soccer and gymnastics [ ] Loves to play Legos and build wheels [ ] Nightmares [ ] Lots of affection. Hugs, biting, tight squeezes, banging head when happy [ ] Loves trash cans [ ] Calls himself "you" [ ] Wants the same songs, toys, and books over and over again [ ] Doesn't like it when the wind blows. Covers his ears [ ] Whiny/ distressed/ high pitched voice [ ] Randomly walks away in public. Tries to chase cars in parking lots. Wants to touch cars we pass [ ] Only hits and bites when happy and excited [ ] Can not tell you his name [ ] Stopped hunting easter eggs to organize them by color [ ] Toe walks some [ ] Some hand flapping [ ] Remembers small details [ ] Runs his hands along the shelves in the grocery store [ ] Refused to get in his high chair at every meal until we confirm that it is clean [ ] Started chewing on hands and keeping hands in mouth all the time [ ] Will sometimes chew the neck of his shirt [ ] Loves reading. Will sit and listen to books for an hour [ ] Parents of friends have made comments. One parent said her child has started "saying everything 3 times like Teddy does" and "Teddy shakes when you touch him" [ ] His therapist have previously mentioned that Teddy wouldn't let her touch him [ ] Gets in your face to tell you things he's interested in [ ] Shakes so badly during swim class that he made himself throw up. He was not crying when he got sick. He loves water and loved swimming until his swim teacher started holding him [ ] Wouldn't go down the stairs to get in the car until I would sweep the dog hair out of the hall way [ ] Shakes his head really hard in front of sound machine [ ] If we are fussing at him or trying to get him to change tasks and we touch him, he falls to the floor screams and has a meltdown

The bellowing ring of the galleon's bell cuts clear through the clouds before its prow does, the baby blue sky joined with the rich umber of a hull following a long series of Clang... Clang... Clang. A careful eye might notice the gashed rips of claws in the half-drawn sails, but not many eyes are careful. Excitement has been the watchword of the day, the restlessness of the Guildhall practically bubbling over in confirmed anticipation of the vessel's arrival. Regardless of what might be below decks and upon newly minted charts there is one price coveted above all earned by the returning crew: Stories. More vital to your guild than any cargo is what that ship brings everywhere it goes. The bellowing ring of the galleon's bell cuts clear through the clouds before its prow does, the baby blue sky joined with the rich umber of a hull following a long series of Clang... Clang... Clang. A careful eye might notice the gashed rips of claws in the half-drawn sails, but not many eyes are careful. Excitement has been the watchword of the day, the restlessness of the Guildhall practically bubbling over in confirmed anticipation of the vessel's arrival. Regardless of what might be below decks and upon newly minted charts there is one price coveted above all earned by the returning crew: Stories. More vital to your guild than any cargo is what that ship brings everywhere it goes. Wonder*.*
Hi! I'm Ellory (They/she), DM of 8 years, and I'd like to be yours! DnD 5e was my very first exposure to TTRPGs and since then I've enjoyed a great many systems, but always will 5E have a very special place in my heart. I believe that the PCs are the main characters of the story that we all tell together, guided by my own work of set dressing and plot writing. I asked my players if they had anything to say for my DMing abilities, so I'll let them speak for me!

Reviews!

• "I've always believed that the single most important rule of any tabletop game is to have fun, and Ellory has mastered this rule. She's a top class Dungeon Master who has provided me with some of the greatest tabletop memories I've ever had. They've crafted some of the most heart pounding action, soul jerking sorrow, and joyous celebration I've felt at the table." -Tyler
• "Ellory is, by far, the best DM I have ever had. I have been playing at their table for 4+ years in a wide variety of systems and settings - a 1.5 year long campaign in a home-brewed world in DnD 5e, a 2-year-long campaign of Vampire: the Masquerade, and a variety of one-shots and short campaigns in other systems. I will likely continue to play at their table for the next decade or longer. I have played with a number of different storytellers and dungeon masters, and none of them have ever demonstrated the same level of care for the enjoyment of their players, nor for their world. Their voice-acting is varied, their passion for the story is noticeable, and their flexibility to account for players' desires is impressive." -Kaitlyn
• "Ellory's style of DM'ing immerses you in worlds that are vibrant, detailed, and dynamic. Every NPC in their games feels individually unique, with their own motives and plans, making interactions deeply engaging and often leading to unexpected twists and turns. Ellory manages to strike a perfect balance between long over-arching storylines and player agency. The plots are compelling and well-structured, providing a sense of purpose. However, they never impose these narratives at the expense of player freedom. Choices matter, and player actions have a genuine impact on the world and its inhabitants. Each player's decisions is woven seamlessly into the broader narrative, making every game feel like a collaborative storytelling effort. Most importantly, after being a part of Ellory's games for years, I still look forward to every session and always leave having had a great time. If you're looking for a great DM whose sessions you eagerly anticipate each week, look no further." -Tanner

Game Details!

As is my wont, I've gone and made another fully fleshed out setting for a brand new group of players to experience. You will play as the explorers at the horizon, agents of The Cartographer's Guild. Maps are very important when you have to worry about another island, however distant, on a collision course with your house. And while map making is less than dramatic, the real main event is the exploration of never-before-seen chunks of land that haven't seen a soul in generations. Forgotten tombs and harrowing dungeons, isolated villages and monster nests await our intrepid voyagers, getting rich off of history before it kills them.
There's a fair bit of lore that would make this ad far and away overstuffed. If you're interested to learn the lore of creation, see a glimpse of history, and examine the 5 detailed cultures of the world, feel free to peruse this drive folder! https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/117zEVINT4h8qY4dkA3O5EU9J2VDrXPNY?usp=sharing
Generally speaking, our format of play will involved downtime at the Guildhall with our characters unwinding from the last expedition and preparing for the next. From there, exploration will ensue with brief but enriching and immersing random encounters until a plot encounter is discovered. Following its resolution our heroes will return to base and so the cycle repeats, with some glaring exceptions when player decision calls for it.
I have a handful of ideas for an overarching narrative, but our final choice will be made collaboratively and in accordance with player interest and backstory considerations.
I accept any and all classes from officially published material, though your selection of lineage/race will be more limited to fit the lore of the setting. Your options will include:

• Humans, the Tribe Undivided
• Dwarves, the Tribe of Earth
• Drau-shi, the Tribe of Water
• Rani, the Tribe of Fire
• Elves, the Tribe of Air

Even the familiar names of the above list do have occasionally significant alterations from the PHB to reflect their unique standing in the Shattered Skies.

Logistics & Requirements!

This game will require payment to the Game Master at a rate of $20 per session excepting absences and session zero delivered through Venmo, Cash App, or Zelle.
Roll20 will be used for the purposes of tactical combat encounter maps, dice rolling, and character sheet management. Discord will be used for voice and video communications. I will be using my camera for our sessions so I can talk with my hands and face alongside my voice, and I would encourage you to do the same! I have a server made and prepared for this game.
My timezone is CST, and I'm entirely available on Saturday to make a session time work around whatever our schedules allow for. I'm partial to evening start times myself. I'm hoping our (free) session zero can happen on the 25th and we can begin play properly on the 1st of June.
If you're paying for sessions of DnD it's a fair assumption you're over the age of 18, and I would prefer you're at least that old. Exceptions can be made, but my games tend to be adult and include elements of occasionally disturbing horror.
I expect y'all to have fun, and if that involves drug or alcohol use for you I'd ask the dial to be set to somewhere around 3 out of 10. I've been known to have a glass of wine during sessions but never anything more.
Safety tools will be utilized to maintain a safe environment where everyone is having comfortable fun. Lines and veils will be established, and mine is an open table. If you knowingly violate a line it is grounds for ejection without refund. There is a certain amount of emotional trust we give our players and our DMs when we play this game, and it will not be betrayed.
Furthermore, this is an explicitly LGBT friendly space. I'm queer in multiple ways and queer identities will be portrayed in the NPCs of the world. If either of those things are deal breakers for you, please look elsewhere for a game.

In Closing!

If this game has piqued your interest, shoot me a message on Reddit or find me on discord at "teslazoa"!

The bellowing ring of the galleon's bell cuts clear through the clouds before its prow does, the baby blue sky joined with the rich umber of a hull following a long series of Clang... Clang... Clang. A careful eye might notice the gashed rips of claws in the half-drawn sails, but not many eyes are careful. Excitement has been the watchword of the day, the restlessness of the Guildhall practically bubbling over in confirmed anticipation of the vessel's arrival. Regardless of what might be below decks and upon newly minted charts there is one price coveted above all earned by the returning crew: Stories. More vital to your guild than any cargo is what that ship brings everywhere it goes. The bellowing ring of the galleon's bell cuts clear through the clouds before its prow does, the baby blue sky joined with the rich umber of a hull following a long series of Clang... Clang... Clang. A careful eye might notice the gashed rips of claws in the half-drawn sails, but not many eyes are careful. Excitement has been the watchword of the day, the restlessness of the Guildhall practically bubbling over in confirmed anticipation of the vessel's arrival. Regardless of what might be below decks and upon newly minted charts there is one price coveted above all earned by the returning crew: Stories. More vital to your guild than any cargo is what that ship brings everywhere it goes. Wonder*.*
Hi! I'm Ellory (They/she), DM of 8 years, and I'd like to be yours! DnD 5e was my very first exposure to TTRPGs and since then I've enjoyed a great many systems, but always will 5E have a very special place in my heart. I believe that the PCs are the main characters of the story that we all tell together, guided by my own work of set dressing and plot writing. I asked my players if they had anything to say for my DMing abilities, so I'll let them speak for me!

Reviews!

• "I've always believed that the single most important rule of any tabletop game is to have fun, and Ellory has mastered this rule. She's a top class Dungeon Master who has provided me with some of the greatest tabletop memories I've ever had. They've crafted some of the most heart pounding action, soul jerking sorrow, and joyous celebration I've felt at the table." -Tyler
• "Ellory is, by far, the best DM I have ever had. I have been playing at their table for 4+ years in a wide variety of systems and settings - a 1.5 year long campaign in a home-brewed world in DnD 5e, a 2-year-long campaign of Vampire: the Masquerade, and a variety of one-shots and short campaigns in other systems. I will likely continue to play at their table for the next decade or longer. I have played with a number of different storytellers and dungeon masters, and none of them have ever demonstrated the same level of care for the enjoyment of their players, nor for their world. Their voice-acting is varied, their passion for the story is noticeable, and their flexibility to account for players' desires is impressive." -Kaitlyn
• "Ellory's style of DM'ing immerses you in worlds that are vibrant, detailed, and dynamic. Every NPC in their games feels individually unique, with their own motives and plans, making interactions deeply engaging and often leading to unexpected twists and turns. Ellory manages to strike a perfect balance between long over-arching storylines and player agency. The plots are compelling and well-structured, providing a sense of purpose. However, they never impose these narratives at the expense of player freedom. Choices matter, and player actions have a genuine impact on the world and its inhabitants. Each player's decisions is woven seamlessly into the broader narrative, making every game feel like a collaborative storytelling effort. Most importantly, after being a part of Ellory's games for years, I still look forward to every session and always leave having had a great time. If you're looking for a great DM whose sessions you eagerly anticipate each week, look no further." -Tanner

Game Details!

As is my wont, I've gone and made another fully fleshed out setting for a brand new group of players to experience. You will play as the explorers at the horizon, agents of The Cartographer's Guild. Maps are very important when you have to worry about another island, however distant, on a collision course with your house. And while map making is less than dramatic, the real main event is the exploration of never-before-seen chunks of land that haven't seen a soul in generations. Forgotten tombs and harrowing dungeons, isolated villages and monster nests await our intrepid voyagers, getting rich off of history before it kills them.
There's a fair bit of lore that would make this ad far and away overstuffed. If you're interested to learn the lore of creation, see a glimpse of history, and examine the 5 detailed cultures of the world, feel free to peruse this drive folder! https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/117zEVINT4h8qY4dkA3O5EU9J2VDrXPNY?usp=sharing
Generally speaking, our format of play will involved downtime at the Guildhall with our characters unwinding from the last expedition and preparing for the next. From there, exploration will ensue with brief but enriching and immersing random encounters until a plot encounter is discovered. Following its resolution our heroes will return to base and so the cycle repeats, with some glaring exceptions when player decision calls for it.
I have a handful of ideas for an overarching narrative, but our final choice will be made collaboratively and in accordance with player interest and backstory considerations.
I accept any and all classes from officially published material, though your selection of lineage/race will be more limited to fit the lore of the setting. Your options will include:

• Humans, the Tribe Undivided
• Dwarves, the Tribe of Earth
• Drau-shi, the Tribe of Water
• Rani, the Tribe of Fire
• Elves, the Tribe of Air

Even the familiar names of the above list do have occasionally significant alterations from the PHB to reflect their unique standing in the Shattered Skies.

Logistics & Requirements!

This game will require payment to the Game Master at a rate of $20 per session excepting absences and session zero delivered through Venmo, Cash App, or Zelle.
Roll20 will be used for the purposes of tactical combat encounter maps, dice rolling, and character sheet management. Discord will be used for voice and video communications. I will be using my camera for our sessions so I can talk with my hands and face alongside my voice, and I would encourage you to do the same! I have a server made and prepared for this game.
My timezone is CST, and I'm entirely available on Saturday to make a session time work around whatever our schedules allow for. I'm partial to evening start times myself. I'm hoping our (free) session zero can happen on the 25th and we can begin play properly on the 1st of June.
If you're paying for sessions of DnD it's a fair assumption you're over the age of 18, and I would prefer you're at least that old. Exceptions can be made, but my games tend to be adult and include elements of occasionally disturbing horror.
I expect y'all to have fun, and if that involves drug or alcohol use for you I'd ask the dial to be set to somewhere around 3 out of 10. I've been known to have a glass of wine during sessions but never anything more.
Safety tools will be utilized to maintain a safe environment where everyone is having comfortable fun. Lines and veils will be established, and mine is an open table. If you knowingly violate a line it is grounds for ejection without refund. There is a certain amount of emotional trust we give our players and our DMs when we play this game, and it will not be betrayed.
Furthermore, this is an explicitly LGBT friendly space. I'm queer in multiple ways and queer identities will be portrayed in the NPCs of the world. If either of those things are deal breakers for you, please look elsewhere for a game.

In Closing!

If this game has piqued your interest, shoot me a message on Reddit or find me on discord at "teslazoa"!

Hi! I feel like a lot of the discourse about people not liking this season is in part due to people not really understanding what friends to lovers is, specifically the trope as it applies to Colin and Penelope, so I thought I might share my thoughts :)
Now I haven’t read the books - this is all based on what I gleaned from the show on multiple rewatches and as someone who has been the Penelope in a friendship for a longggg long time. Hopefully this makes sense.
Romance tropes can often boiled down to their immediate, basic truths. The popular enemies to lovers, for example: Enemy 1 + Enemy 2 + sexual tension = Lover 1 and Lover 2. Not to say enemies to lovers can’t be complex, but generally the starting point for enemies is an essential lack of trust between the parties and moments of connection (via fights) fueled by intense feelings of hatred/rage/whatever which can, in turn, translate to sexual tension. Due to the lack of trust, when they do get together it’s an explosion of that intense energy, highlighted even more-so by the knowledge that they don’t truly trust each other but they need each other which makes the heart race all the more and the passion all that more explosive.
Let’s look at Kate and Anthony as this trope. When they meet there is an immediate spark, fueled by a race in which they’re in competition. Once she hears him at the ball she decides she will do everything in her power to stop him from marrying her sister, and since he is determined to marry Edwina every interaction they have from that point on, until they have their happily ever after in the last episode, can be considered a fight. Moments like the bane of my existence and you vex me are such high intensity because it’s two people fueled by anger and sexual/romantic tension. They need each other like air but will do everything to fight it because of the anger, making the onscreen affections super intense for the viewer (especially as viewers who have just been introduced to Kate and are getting to know her through the lens of Anthony).
Now friends to lovers is, if I may say, quite a bit more complicated. A basic boiled down is Friend 1 + Friend 2 + romance/sexual tension = Lovers. But all friendships are different - if you’re new friends your pipeline to lovers is likely entirely different than old friends to lovers. If one party is in love with the other that changes the dynamic entirely; are they long distance or close? Were they childhood friends? Are they both likeable and popular or is one more nerdy and quiet or both? Do they know each other’s families? Are they best friends or just friends? All of these and more create new dynamics and emotions that can lead to love in different ways. My point is that friends to lovers is not as easy to pin down as something like enemies to lovers. So that’s why a couple like Polin may seem like they don’t have as much chemistry on screen - because their intensity shines in a different way than what we’re used to in Bridgerton.
Going into season three we know that Penelope has been in love with Colin for a long time, but during that time the two also formed a close friendship. When Colin proposed to Marina, yes Penelope whistledowned about the pregnancy to stop him from marrying her for love reasons, but also because he is her friend and she didn’t want to see him trapped in a loveless marriage. We also know that when Colin traveled between seasons one and two Penelope most often responded to his letters. Even during a scene in season two Pen specifically asks to hear more about his travels, even though everyone else in Colin’s life had asked him to stop talking about it. Pen’s crush and friendship don’t cancel each other out, they exist side by side as two parts of Penelope that often overlap but are most importantly separate entities. And she knows that.
Colin does not. In season three when Colin is talking about when they first met, Penelope looks away with anxiety when Colin suggests he knows why Penelope was so forward in making fun of him for falling off his horse and starting their friendship. She knows it’s because she had a crush on him. He states that it was because they were kids. This means it’s canon that Penelope had a crush on him since the moment they met. As a result, Colin has never experienced a friendship with Pen that doesn’t also have an underlying crush. He doesn’t know that Pen doesn’t respond to everyone’s letters all the time, or hangs onto their every word, or goes out of her way to talk to them. How Pen acts around him is how he assumes she acts around everyone - that’s why he doesn’t pick up on her crush.
It’s also why, I argue, he doesn’t realize that he loves her until the kiss in season three. He truly and genuinely takes her affections, her friendship, for granted because he doesn’t understand that someone so loyal and loving like that is rare. He doesn’t appear to have much else in the way of friends; outside of his family we don’t really see him interact with other men, and in season three the “friends” he does spend time with make comments to suggest they only started hanging out with him after his personality change to be more like his brothers - a rake who doesn’t care much for real affections. It’s why he said he would never court Penelope Featherington, or why he said “You are Pen, you do not count” when asked why he was still talking to her if he swore off women. He was super young when his dad died, so the only male role models he has for what love means are Anthony and Benedict. So, as he understands it, a man courting a woman is about sleeping around until the man finds a suitable match that pleases the family regardless of the man’s happiness. Even though he saw that Anthony fell in love by the time Colin said he would never court Pen, he didn’t see Anthony’s journey to understanding that love is not something to run from but something to cherish like we, the viewers, did. Anthony’s arc was just background noise for Colin, so it wasn’t like that would change his outlook on what Anthony’s actions in season one and beginning of season two loudly called out: choosing love over meaningless sex is idiotic and weak. It is explained in a letter that the reason Colin decided to try being like his brothers is BECAUSE Penelope stopped responding to him during his travels between seasons two and three. He decided to start guarding his heart, throwing on the rakish armor we see him dawn in the first half of season three, because he didn’t have that relationship that made him feel stable and loved anymore.
This is why Colin is genuinely distressed when Penelope walks away from him at the garden party in the first episode of season three, and why he went after her to explain that he missed her. He loves his relationship with her, not understanding that what he feels is actually love for her because he has never been aware that true love feels the way it does when he is with Pen. He sees Penelope as his best friendship, rather than the love of his life, because he literally can’t see it any other way based on how everything in his life played out to that point.
———
Okay this is way longer than I intended this to be already, but to finally make it to my main point! The Friends to Lovers trope as it plays out in Season Three Part One: Polin Do Be Polining.
What does all this mean for how Polin’s intensity shines as a couple? Due to the way their friendship has played out things like Colin taking Pen to the dance floor (not small social feat btw) in season one when Cressida bullies her, seeking each other out at social events, Pen asking about his travels - all of these are part of their relationship! It’s all part of the slow burn; it’s just less slap-you-in-the-face noticeable, to a viewer of a show about specified romance, as Kate and Anthony and even Simon and Daphne because acting like friends is an implicit part of Polin’s love story. Because they are best friends as well as eventually lovers!!
This is in full display in Season three, though put more on blast since it’s their season to get together. Colin saying he’ll teach Penelope how to get a husband isn’t a pity thing, it’s a real moment of genuine care that Colin is extending towards her.
—— “Pen wants to get a husband to be happy? Great! I’ll help to make her happy because her happiness means everything to me. Because I am her friend. Duh :)” - top ten photos taken ten seconds before disaster. ——
And it works! They start spending all this time together, and Pen has always looked gorgeous but is finally wearing clothes that she feels gorgeous in and you can see it in the way she acts, and suddenly Colin’s heart starts doing all these weird jumps around her like when she’s in the drawing room and when she wraps his hand because he has always loved her, so he doesn’t understand what these feelings that are coming up during these scenes are because they are not new feelings, just more intense ones of what he believes is pure friendship.
Penelope, on the other hand, has had her brain decide to give up on Colin Bridgerton (even though her heart hasn’t). As someone who’s been there, being in unrequited love with your friend is brutal but you can never really let go. No matter how many people they date, or the hours you spend together talking about their new crush, or the life moments share together where they do everything but love you there is always that small spark of hope in your chest that you can’t let go of lest they ever possibly realize they love you back. That chance is too precious to give up - that’s why Penelope can’t give Debling a real answer when he asks her if she would like to be with Colin in episode four. Logically she knows she should give it up but her heart just can’t. She is a hopeless romantic and her life has been spinning around Colin Bridgerton since she was 16 like the earth around the Sun. There is no other way to live, for her, if she isn’t in love with Colin. And that’s what breaks her heart the most.
It’s also why, I believe, she asks him to kiss her in that garden. She had just written about herself in Whistledown that she did the upmost embarrassing act of taking Colin’s assistance on the marriage market, and her mother dressed her down about being a spinster for the rest of her life. All of Pen’s plans, of marrying and getting out, are utterly gone for her in that moment when she goes out to the garden. She doesn’t have her prospects. She doesn’t have Eloise. She doesn’t have safety in her own home. The only thing she has left is Colin. That’s why she asks him to kiss her, because he might grant her this one kindness of making her feel alive for just this one moment before the rest of her life ends. That moment is the culmination of all of her feelings up to that point in the show. She’s given up on Colin - she wouldn’t have asked him to kiss her had she any hope left. This was her last ditch attempt to just be a girl and be kissed regardless of what he actually meant to her. It wasn’t out of desperation, it was staring down the barrel of the gun with societies’s finger on the trigger.
When she asks him Colin is taken aback. Not because he doesn’t want to kiss her but because he has never considered it before. Kissing was reserved for women you are looking to sleep with at a bar, for prostitutes in alleyways, not for his caring Pen. I’ve seen some upset over not including more of Colin’s writing in the show, as he becomes quite the writer in the books apparently, and the writing we do see is just about sex but given the way they paced the show they provided the most important piece of context for Colin’s understanding of intimacy in the writing they did use. He wonders how one can feel, despite sleeping with every kind of woman across Europe, such intimacy in physical closeness and yet such distance emotionally. It’s some level of satisfying for him to sleep around, but it doesn’t fulfill him in the way it seemed to fulfill his brothers. He cannot equate the idea of kissing to Penelope because he feels such emotional closeness to her. But when she brings it up, suddenly everything clicks into place for him. All the emotions he feels towards her, what he thought was just friendship, is so much more. Yes she is his friend, but by god he wants to kiss his friend; not out of the need to search for something but of the overwhelming feeling of going home.
Their kiss is sweet, and soft. Unlike Daphne and Anthony’s first kisses with their respective partners it isn’t this immense clashing of bodies and teeth. It’s two friends who love each other finally meeting each other as sparks fly.
———
Colin is left speechless, and confused. The kiss was amazing to him because he finally unlocked that part of him that made him realize he was in love with Penelope. The kiss was amazing to Penelope because she has been in love with him for so long, but it was also tinged with her own doubts and feelings of hopelessness. That’s why she runs away, and thanks him, because this was her last stand and he was just her friend helping her out as she believes.
But as always, a night of sleep helps clarify things. The next time Pen goes into society she is awkward but still well intentioned about getting a husband because that kiss was a long day’s worth of self pity followed by, in her terms, a moment of weakness. But it clarified things for her too. Now she can’t die without ever having been kissed, so that ultimatum she set up in her own mind was gone and everything seems much more manageable from that point on. Colin, as we know, is a wreck who is absolutely bamboozled at these feelings and we love to watch him flounder!!!
———
Now the tables have been turned. To those of who are think Penelope should have chosen Debling, this part is for you. This is when Debling really starts to court Penelope as she goes after him. She literally fights Cressida for him, because he seems like the most amenable husband for her to be able to continue Whistledown and be provided security. She isn’t looking for love in Debling because she already has love in Colin (love she believes will always remain unrequited, but that kiss can be a memory she cherishes for the rest of her life and that be that); she basically did what Anthony did at the beginning of season two. Find a suitable match that makes the most sense for her and leave searching for a love match out of it. She likes Debling, for sure, and he’s a rly nice guy!! He cares about her in a way that a suitor might, and I’m certain had they gotten married he wouldn’t have been mean to her or anything. But she would’ve been lonely. As remembered she is a romantic, someone who craves the love she reads about in her romance books. She’s spent most of her conscious life in love - marrying Debling would stop that in its tracks. In his own words, Debling tells Pen that he could try to maybe love her but that it was far too unlikely to find any room in his heart for her over his passions (aroace Debling stans rise). He specifically mentions that he is choosing her to marry because she has her own passions, separate from his, that can keep her company while he is gone both physically and emotionally from her. She doesn’t realize this until it’s too late, when her focus on the chase is over, and Debling asks her mother for her hand. It’s only then that she thinks that maybe she could hold out for love, and that power is strong enough to make her actively not want to ensure her security through Debling.
Love is treacherous, and yet we yearn for it like a sailor who cannot help but smile at the beauty of the raging sea at it comes crashing down upon him. Penelope would rather a thousand lifetimes of the chance to be in love with Colin over one lifetime married to Debling in safety.
That is why Debling breaks it off with her. Because she loves Colin, Debling knows she would choose Colin over him, and he sees Colin’s interest in her even if she does not. Like girl…. Colin literally found out she was going to get engaged, ran to the ball, interrupted the dance wherein Debling was going to ask Pen to marry him, ran after her carriage just to know if she was engaged because he couldn’t fathom letting her get away in a loveless marriage, and when finding out she was not engaged telling her he loved her even if she did not love him back because he simply had to express to her how much he loved her as he owed her that as his friend. Colin got in his knees in that carriage because he was genuinely splaying out his heart to her for her to dissect as she chose. He put himself at her mercy because that is where he believes his place to be - hers.
———
The carriage scene is, of course, the moment of highest intensity from the viewer standpoint of what we think love should appear to be. Other scenes could be Colin’s dream, and the moment in the sweets tent, etc. But those moments aren’t all of Polin’s love story. They may be the most visceral to witness, but they are just as important as the two of them laughing together in the corner of a ballroom. Their romantic trope is defined as Friends to Lovers, but that isn’t quite right - they are both. There is no big “or” between the two. Colin and Penelope are friends and lovers, and all of it is a beauty to witness.
Okay that’s it! If you’ve made it this far thanks for sticking around to hear my obsessive little thoughts. I wish you a very happy Bridgerton rewatch :)

For reference, I'm lvl 98 galactic commander and I've played at least 100 games with the spear against the automatons, and a couple of times against the bugs.
The spear is supposed to be an anti-tank weapon that can lock on to distant enemies. Not that complicated in terms of design, yet it fails to do either consistently.
We are all aware that the lock on is jank, which already makes it frustrating. But even when it does lock on and you manage to fire the missile before it forgets its target, this does not gurantee the target dies.
I cannot stress how bad it feels to finally get the missile to launch, watch it fly towards it's target, and either miss completely (gunships) or watch it collide with a tank, and it just calmly turns around as if all I did was knock on the door. So I load another round, watch it make contact with the same tank a second time, and IT'S STILL ALIVE. WTF? I can only carry THREE missiles on my back. You're telling me I need ALL THREE to kill ONE TANK? It's an anti-TANK missile. You can't look me in the eye with a straight face and tell me this apple doesn't taste like bacon.
I've even watched the missile collide with fabricators and not kill them. I've tried repositioning so the missile will hit the top half of the fab, and I watch the missile collide again doing nothing. If the third doesn't blow it up, I straight up log off. I usually pair the spear with the shield relay and 2 sentries, and I can't blow up the fab with stun grenades so I'm just stuck there waiting for someone else to blow it up or call in supplies/new spear just to waste 3 more rockets and not blow it up. (While I'm thinking about it, why can't the autocannon sentry blow up fabs? Or hell, why not the mortar? Honestly seems like a bug to me seeing as they will both waste all their ammo trying to blow up fabs, and they both work for bug holes)
It just feels like a slap in the face that the highest level anti-tank weapon can't even kill a tank without using all the ammo on your back. The auto-cannon can kill a tank from behind in like, what, 3-5 shots? Leaving over 90% of it's ammo supply still available for engagements? If the auto cannon is the king of balance for support weapons, then they have to make the spear more consistent so you don't blow through all your ammo on one heavy/fab.
Factory striders and bile titans I understand not being one shots. (However, I don't understand why the spear one shots Bile Titans to the face while EAT and recoiless do not - face contains brain, you hit face with rocket = brain dead. That's how it should work) Regardless, I have seen the spear one-shot tanks, and I think this only happens when the missile comes down from above making contact with the TOP of the cannon. If it hits the side of the cannon, you're SOL. I swear I've even watched it make contact with the heat-sink and it didn't explode.
I'm not sure how to properly fix this. If you change the Spear trajectory, it might not be able to properly target a Bile Titans face anymore. And if you nerf the parts on the tank, you might end up with certain weapons being able to kill tanks when they shouldn't.
IMO, they should buff the damage on all of the anti tank launchers. Make it so spear can two-shot titans in the same spot, one-shot tanks without hitting weakspot, and so EAT and recoiless can one-shot titans to the face. This would not only improve the spears inconsistency with tanks and bile titans by decreasing the minimum amount of shots to kill, but also make more variable loadouts useful against the bugs because you won't feel as forced into taking anti-titan eagles/orbitals if someone on your team brings an AT-launcher. Titans are too tanky anyways. There's no reason they should be able to tank over 6-7 rockets, that's just absurd and drags out encounters when you don't have strategems available. Bile titans should never take more than 4 shots from EAT/recoiless and no more than 2 from spear in the same spot. Anything more just feels unreasonable. Same goes for spewers, like why tf does a rocket launcher not one-shot the super bloated bug filled with liquid when a tiny grenade does?
Fabricators could probably be fixed pretty easily by using the same durable part value for the entire structure, instead of having weird pockets with higher armor that prevent the spear missile from doing any damage. And for the love of liberty, either let the sentries blow up fabs, or remove fabs from the sentry targeting list. They don't appear to be armored and they contain delicate manufacuring equipment so just let the sentries blow them up.
I can't shake the feeling that when they finally release the spear fix, it's just going to be a targeting consistency improvement, which is very welcome, but I'm really hoping they go the extra mile and make this thing the beast it deserves to be. Remove striders and shriekers from the target list and change the poi pickups to replenish 2 missiles. That alone will make the spear feel much better. Also, I don't think the spear should ever miss gunships. Gunships fly through the air extremely slow, even after the movement buff. If the spear missile flies past it should always try to circle back and correct itself.
I hope the super earth engineer who designed the spear missiles/targeting system is being properly reeducated

To start this story off, I suppose it's best to talk a little bit about myself and my experience in the TTRPG space. I've been an avid TTRPG enthusiast for almost two decades now. Yes, I'm a bit of an old hat/old fogey. I started my enjoyment of the hobby with Pathfinder 1st edition, eventually transferring over to DnD 5e when it first arrived on the scene, mostly because it was the new hotness, but I ultimately found that it was better suited for the type of games that I enjoy running at my table. While I very adamantly enjoy the structure that a game's mechanical rules bring to the table, 5e provided a rules system that wasn't invasive, and so me and my friends were able to focus on the things about the game that we enjoyed the most - the roleplaying, the storytelling, and (most importantly) the fun.
Many years would go by, as well as a couple of what I would consider to be successful campaigns - basically anything that managed to survive longer than 3 months. Scheduling, right? I digress. Eventually, I arrived at a point where my current circle of friends and I were itching to play a new campaign, and for the shits and giggles of it we decided we would livestream it on Twitch. At the time, we had managed to get affiliated on Twitch, and one or two of us would occasionally have a couple of viewers pop in when we were streaming whatever video game we were playing, and we figured it would be fun to do the same thing with our next campaign. So we did. As you might expect, nothing really ever came out of it. We were just doing it for fun. The campaign only lasted about 3 months or so, and we never set out with the expectation that what we were releasing into the world was anything amazing - we were just four normal dudes having fun playing a game we enjoyed, and if you happened to find yourself on our Twitch channel to see it, awesome! If not, cool. We weren't doing it for you.
So, yeah, that campaign eventually fell off, and we would eventually return to just streaming whatever video game excited us. One of friends got married, and had a kid, and was too busy for DnD. Another friend got a new job, and his schedule just didn't give him the time. Hell, even I managed to land a pretty decent job at the time, and I struggled to make time for our weekly video game nights, but I managed. But ever since that streamed campaign had ended, I had an itch in the back of my mind that I really wanted to scratch. I thoroughly enjoyed everything about livestreaming our campaign. Sure, it was nothing to write home about, but I fell in love with the showmanship of it all. Maybe it was because of the thought of the potential for someone to eventually watch it, but whenever we would stream, I would get in the zone and pretend I was putting on a show for thousands (even though we may have only ever had three or four viewers at max). Basically, I had fallen in love with the idea of putting on a show for others, and I knew I would jump at the chance to do it again in the future. Enter Wayne.
A little over a year ago (at the time of this posting), I was perusing through the /LFG subreddit and not looking for anything in particular, when I stumbled across a post that checked off all the boxes.
I don't like to admit that I'm picky, but that fact that this sub exists should give credence to that fact that one should, at the very least, have a criteria when looking for games to invest yourself in when looking at advertisements. And if my little backstory above should inform you, there were a number of things on my checklist that this post had. For starters, it was longer than a few sentences. Clearly, the person who posted this was meticulous about what they wanted and what they didn't want (I would learn, much later on, that Wayne was not the one who wrote the post, but one of his players). Secondly, the post was very adamant about what was of paramount importance at the table - rich and compelling narratives, deep exploration of characters, and a passion for roleplay. And thirdly, the plan was to turn this into a "production". The post even included a promo video of respectable quality. Clearly, the people involved with this had a plan, much more of a plan than my friends and I had when we streamed. And, I considered myself a pretty decent roleplayer, so I applied. They were only looking for 1 applicant, but I figured I had a decent shot, with my previous livestreaming experience, and the fact that I already owned a (what some would call excessive) microphone and camera. So I shot my shot. If I didn't get picked, no biggie, life goes on. But when I received a discord invite and told that I had made it to the second round of the application process, I was ecstatic.
It is around here that I should introduce you to our cast of characters (names have been changed, of course:

• There is, of course, me, Dave - a guy who fundamentally believes that fun and safety at a table supersedes everything else, who happens to really enjoy hamming it up in character, and telling exciting stories.
  
• Ava - an already confirmed player at the table, with a past experience of playing with Wayne. I would come to find out that Ava was the one who had written the LFG post. Ava was also in charge of Discord moderation, and the second round interview process. She has her own story, which I will allude to here, but is ultimately hers to share.
  
• Jelly - Wayne's significant other. Jelly was supposedly not involved with the upcoming campaign at all, but had a presence on the Discord, and have previously played in Wayne's campaigns.
  Seth - another already confirmed player at the table. Admittedly, Seth plays a minor role in the story, but his inclusion is necessary.
  
  • and Wayne - the lead character of our story. The DM of the upcoming campaign. The visionary. The guy who plans to have the next big thing in the TTRPG actual play space.

There are at least a half dozen other individuals involved in this story, but ultimately play very minor roles. If at some point while I am writing this one of them pop up, I will update the list above to include them.
Back to the story. I was ecstatic to find out I had been selected for an Discord interview and scheduled it at my earliest convenience. This is where I first meet Ava. To be honest, I don't recall much about the interview, but I remember it being pretty standard and what I was expecting an interview to be. Mostly it was just going into detail about some of the stuff I had included in my primary application and talking about expectations and goals. I was told that after the Discord interview, the next step would be a participation in a practice one shot, to get a feel for how I would play at the table. After the interview was over, Wayne hopped into the voice channel, and this would be when I would meet the man, the legend.
I pride myself on being very good at reading people. I can usually pick up on when someone is trying to sell me something, pretty quickly. I tend to over analyze words and expression looking for intent. I have been gaslit and manipulated several times in my past by people very close to me, and so I have developed this defense when meeting people for the first time. Very rarely do I take someone at their word, or completely buy what they are selling when I hardly know them, and even less so to a complete stranger. In this case, when meeting Wayne for the first time, my defenses failed me.
Perhaps it was because it had been over a year since I last ran a campaign. Perhaps it was because it had been even longer than that that I actually got to be a player in a campaign. Perhaps it was because of that itch of wanting to perform again for an audience. Or, perhaps, it was because Wayne was very good at pitching his plans. Whatever the reason, my first impression of Wayne was that this was a guy who had a plan, and had the means to enact that plan, and I wanted to be a part of it in any way that I could.
Wayne, you see, had two big passions in life. The first was DnD. The second, as he would admit, was being an entrepreneur. He owned his own business in New York City. One of several ventures he had pursued, and it afforded him a premium NYC apartment and the time and luxury to spend on his second passion - playing DnD. And so, he thought, why not marry these two passions together? He had a great head for business. And according to him, the last campaign he had run was fantastic. So fantastic, he thought, that surely other people would enjoy listening to it. And so he hatched a plan - he would use his business knowledge and savvy to launch a Youtube channel that would be home to his next great campaign. But he had the foresight, at least, to know of just how saturated the DnD actual play space has become in recent years. If he wanted to be successful at this venture, he would have to stand out from the rest. And he had a solution to that. He wasn't going to put out just any old DnD actual play. He was going to create "DnD Cinema".
To do that, he said, he needed the right people that share in the same core philosophies that he had. Namely, a "pretentious level of hyperfixation on roleplaying and narrative storytelling". Most other actual plays, to him, were playing "beer and pretzels" DnD. You know, the type of game were you sit around with your friends having a good time and a laugh, where you might spend five minutes on an out of character joke, etc. Shit like that wasn't going to fly in this campaign. When you came to the table, you were going to be in character from start to finish. And recording sessions were going to be seven hours long. Could I handle that?
And I admit that I told him I could. Like I said, he had a way with words. He was clearly passionate about it. And he talked a good talk. And he was friendly enough. So he said he would be in touch. And the wait began.
Over the course of the next month or so, I would come to become friends with Ava and Wayne. We would hop into Discord and play games, talk about the upcoming campaign, etc. It was going to be several months before the campaign actually began recording, and so Wayne was still conducting the interview process while also working on worldbuilding for the campaign. He was also spending over $3000 dollars commissioning an animated table for the youtube video. This was clearly something he was very proud of, as he took every and all opportunity to talk about how amazing and innovative it was going to be.
You see, in Wayne's vision of "DnD cinema", the videos that would be put up on youtube would not include the faces of the players. Or battlemaps. Instead, it would be animated table that he could manipulate in editing at various cue points. It would feature portraits of the characters that would light up when they speak. It was the next big thing in the TTRPG space - a (frankly) audio only experience that was accentuated with the occasional fancy animation that cost thousands of dollars. No one else was doing it, he would say, and that would help him stand out even more.
It was also during these more innocent days that I would come to understand Wayne's obsession with Brennan Lee Mulligan. He idolized the guy. In fact, he would brag on multiple occasions that his significant other's job had her 3 or 4 degrees removed from Brennan - basically, she worked for someone who worked for someone who was involved with the Dungeons and Drag Queens season of Dimension 20, and he would often mention how he was hoping to use that connection to someday have a sit down and meet and greet with BLeeM himself. As time would go on, I would eventually find out that Wayne actually considered Brennan Lee Mulligan as his competition.
About a month would past before I would hear anything about my application. I never brought it up during our gaming sessions, as another core tenet of mine is that I don't want my friendship or acquaintance with someone to give me an edge over other candidates. I want my experience and what I bring to the table to stand on its own merit. This will come up later in our story. Eventually, I would get a message from Wayne asking me if I would be interested in participating in a try out one shot for the campaign. Apparently, he had completely forgotten that I had applied, and wanted to schedule in a last minute try out for me. My fellow players during the one shot would be Ava, some other member of the discord community, and Jelly.
I'll be honest, the one shot was nothing to write home about. And even Wayne would admit it was something he threw together last minute so that he could say I had my chance. I immediately found Ava to be a fantastic scene partner, and even for a one shot, put the time and effort into her character and actions. Jelly, on the other hand, was not that good. To be fair to Jelly, my criteria for grading her performance was strictly on the curve that Wayne himself said he was grading people on. I found her to be a very selfish player, who failed to pick up on narrative cues, and was solely focused on her time in the spotlight. But it was a trial one shot that didn't mean anything. My biggest take away from Jelly was that she was a player that I would not enjoy playing with in the future, and that I wouldn't seek out as a player at a table that I was DMing for. Not horror story bad (yet), but not good. Average.
When the application process was done, it would eventually come down to two choices. I was one. Wayne loved my southern twang, and thought it would sound good in a production. And we had become friends. The other was someone with a theater and acting background, who had been to Julliard. I was not selected. And I was okay with that. The decision did not impact my friendship with either Ava or Wayne, and we continued to hang out and play games together. I then learned of Wayne's new plan.
In the original posting ad for the campaign, it had been mentioned that a possibility for guest character appearing in the campaign could happen. The original idea was that, as members of the Discord community would play in one shots, Wayne would then be able to invite stand out performance to appear in an episode or two of the new campaign, as a gift to the community and to give those players a chance to play in a campaign with other players of similar caliber. This all changed as the months got closer to release date. The idea for guests at the table changed completely. Instead, Wayne's plan was to use the guest spots at the table as a networking opportunity. Don't forget - Wayne is an entrepreneur. This was a business venture for him, and successful businesses need to show growth. And he wanted to achieve growth at an accelerated pace. The plan was simple - as the channel grew, Wayne would scour the internet for similar channels with slightly higher subscriber count than his. Well, I say Wayne would do this. Wayne would actually pawn this off on to someone else. A tangent that I will perhaps need to touch on later in this story - Wayne was very good at finding ways of pawning off work on to others, and then taking the credit. He very much believe himself to be a manager, and other members of the Discord that showed any interest in the success of this venture as his employees. He would then engage in communications with these other channels in the hopes of achieving some Quid Pro Quo. You send someone to be a guest on our channel for a few episodes, and we'll shout you out. In return, he would send someone from his channel to theirs, and get a shout out in return. Something to note here - all of this was done without ever including his players in the discussion. He was offering them up to strangers without even asking if they even wanted to do that.
Time passes, and eventually recording for the campaign begins. It would be about two months into recording when Wayne approached me about being the first guest character. (At this point, I had been an active member of the Discord community for over six months now). He wanted me to be the first guest character for two reasons. The first was because I was familiar, and he wanted to test out the format before bringing in strangers. The second was because of my prior livestreaming experience. I was a part of an affiliated Twitch channel that met the criteria of having a slightly higher subscriber count than his. But for the most part, our old Twitch channel was dead. Sure, we still streamed games into the void, but there was practically no engagement. And I told him so when he asked me if I wanted to be introduced as someone from that Twitch channel. I was more involved in his community as that point, anyway. And so, I finally got what I was wanting - to sit down and play quality DnD with like minded individuals for the purposes of entertaining others.
At this point, only a handful of episodes had aired. The recording schedule had them a grace period of a month or so before release, and I admittedly hadn't watched them. Honestly, I wasn't that interested. I don't know if that's bad or not. There are a lot of actual plays out there of varying quality. And each one requires a lot of time commitment to watch. Already I was regularly watching Critical Roll, and I was having a hard time to find time to watch some of the other really good shows I was enjoying, like Dimension 20 and The Glass Cannon. On top of that, it was an game that I wasn't a part of, so yeah, I admit I hadn't watch any of it. But even if I had, it wouldn't have prepared me for what playing at the table was actually like. The released episodes were highly edited, with sound effects and music. It wasn't until I became actually involved at the table that I would find out just how manufactured the game actually was. And I use the word "game" very generously.
For starters, once recording began, all out of character talk and banter was immediately and explicitly forbidden. We were to remain in character at all times. Secondly, I would find out that Wayne had developed a "formula for success" in regards to time spent recording. No scene would ever last longer than ten minutes. If players spent too much time having their characters engaging with each other and the time elapsed, we were moving on the next scene, regardless of if it was a natural conclusion or not. Speaking of the characters, I would come to learn that the characters that the player brought to this campaign were secondary to the story that Wayne wanted to tell. "This campaign isn't character focused, it's story focused" he would say. The campaign simply did not have time for that. I don't like to toss out the word "railroaded" very often, but it quickly became apparent that there was a good bit of railroading being done here. The only character decisions or choices or conversations that would ever make it to the final cut were ones that provided what he thought would be the most interesting while pushing his narrative forward. And for a DnD game, there wasn't a whole lot of game being done here. Sure, the players had character sheets, and classes, but it was all superficial. Combat was a rarity on the level of a shiny Pokemon. I think mostly because Wayne didn't find combat narratively compelling. But in that case, I have to ask, why use DnD as your game system? If all you want to do is roll clicky dice and improv, there are much better systems out there. And speaking of the dice - I'm sad to say that in most cases they were superfluous, as well. The only real purpose the dice served to Wayne was when they could be used to clip epic moments of success or failure. A natural 20 or a natural 1 was gold for him, because then he could clip it into a Youtube or Tiktok Short and grow those subscriber numbers. For a game in which "every decision hung on the roll of a dice", there weren't a lot of dice rolls, there weren't a lot of decisions, and when there were decisions, most of the time, the outcome was predetermined by Wayne. Everything Wayne did in regards to this game was in service to growing his Youtube channel. And the sad part? It worked.
In a shockingly short amount of time, Wayne was able to grow his Youtube channel from just over a 100 subscribers to over a 1000. This was mostly done by his excessive push of Youtube and Tiktok shorts. For a short period of time, I was deemed trustworthy enough to have access to the Youtube channel's admin, and I could view the statistics. The turnover rate for shorts into actual video views was miniscule. Only a tiny fraction were tuning in for the actual show. At this point, he had just become a Youtube Shorts creator.
And I want to mention at this point - I understand and respect the hustle. The world of Youtube is a dog eat dog world, and you have to have to play the game to stay in the game - I get it. I don't have any issue with being proud of what you've created, and pushing it out to people. I really don't. My issue was with how deceptive Wayne was being with it. And how deceptive he was, in general, as I would come to find out.
You see, before the inaugural campaign had even launched, Wayne approached me one day to see if I would be interested in running a campaign on his channel, as I had experience before in it, and had expressed an interest in doing it again. And I will admit, I was excited about the prospect. But before my words of "Yeah, I'd love to talk about" even had a chance to dissipate into the ether, Jelly would hop into the channel, in the middle of the discussion to say, "You know who should run a campaign? Seth." And then immediately log off.
I don't have a lot to say about Seth. I think he is an amazing, caring, friendly guy. He also happens to be an incredible roleplayer and storyteller, and his character is Wayne's campaign is truly phenomenal. I envy how easy it is for Seth to get into and portray the wide arrange of emotions of a character. He also happens to be a great GM. I understand why Jelly would suggest him to run a campaign. What I didn't understand, at the time, were her motives. Wayne, Ava, Jelly, and Seth had all played in a previous campaign together, and Wayne and Jelly had become enamored by just how good Seth was. And even prior to that, Ava and Seth had a past campaign together. Jelly wanted to be a player in a Seth run campaign. And if Wayne was going to have a second campaign on the channel, she wanted it to be Seth's, and she wanted to be a player in it.
And so, immediately, any and all discussion about me running a campaign was ceased, and the legwork was put forth for Seth to run a campaign. Wayne would approach him about it, and he was interested. Seth would already have in mind the players that he wanted for it - two friends of his from outside the server, Ava, and another player from the Wayne campaign. Noticeably missing from that list - Jelly.
Strangely, Wayne would then tell Seth that if he was going to run a campaign on the channel, he would have to have an application process for the players, and open it up so that anyone could apply. After Seth had already stated he already had players in mind - players who already said yes. I don't know about you, but as a DM, I would never let someone dictate to me who I could have at my table. If I have players in mind already, it's because I have a reason. But Wayne demanded an application process be followed, and a second LFG post would appear in LFG for the Seth run campaign - that was noticeably advertising for 4 players. After Seth had chosen his players. The advertisement came with another well edited and narrated youtube promo that was, and still is, the highest viewed video on the channel. And all of it was a sham. Which I knew it was. And I confronted Wayne about it. It was then that I learned some unsavory backstory involving Ava and Jelly and the prior campaign. That is not my story to tell. I have shared my accounts of events with Ava, and she is considering posting an account from her perspective following this. The most I am willing to say on this is that involves situations that should never be okay at a DnD table, and that Wayne would gloss over and sugarcoat these situations as no big deal. It would lead to Ava not being comfortable with being at a table with Jelly which both I, and Seth, would understand.
Wayne, however, found this to be unfair and manipulative on Ava's part. Those past incidents should have had no bearing on Jelly's consideration for the Seth run campaign. Which is why he would demand an application process. He would then confide to me when I questioned the duplicity of the LFG advertisement that it wasn't completely misleading. There would still be someone chosen from the list of applicants - because he was going to make sure that Ava wasn't part of the campaign. After Seth had already told both Wayne and her that she was. After the players for that game had already come together for a session zero. He claimed that Ava had prior incidents of being difficult to work with, and that because he wasn't involved in the campaign, he couldn't be there to handle any situations that might arise of conflicts between players at the table. At the time I thought that was an odd statement to make - if you are trusting enough of another person, like Seth, to run a campaign on your channel shouldn't you be trusting enough in their ability to handle problems between players? Looking back now, I can only assume he made that statement because he was certain that Jelly would be a player at the table, and that problems might arise between Jelly and Ava. He asked that I keep the conversation between us. But that was something I could not do. None of that situation felt right to me. Wayne, Ava, and I had been friends playing games together for nearly a year now. I never saw any inclination of Ava being a "problem player" - she was great at the table, and a great person to hang out with. And I found it weird that Wayne would say those things about her, and not approach her about it. So of course I talked to her. For weeks she had been sharing her excitement of the new campaign with me, often with Wayne in the voice channel with us. Ava would then share with me her past experiences with Wayne and Jelly. Again, it is not my story to tell, but I am a good judge of character. I believed Ava's account of events. It made sense to me, with how Wayne and Jelly acted.
I wish I could say this story had a happy and/or satisfying conclusion. I'm not even really sure if there is a point to it, or even if it will be a good read. It has been clear for some time now that Wayne has been entirely obsessed with the growing of his Youtube channel, damn any and all bridges burned, and walking back some of his initial promises of what he claimed the campaign and the Youtube channel would be. It's also very clear to me that Wayne is someone who absolutely has to have control over everything, especially the narrative (fictional and real life).
There are so many minor grievances to air about Wayne that I haven't already touched on, and I feel like I've already taken up too much of your time already. Here's just a brief overview, I'd be more than happy to go into more details if you want them:

• Multiple players from the Wayne campaign confided in me about some of the problems they had with Wayne and how the game was being run. When Wayne found out, he blew his lid, and said that he was both Manager and HR, and no one should be complaining to anyone outside of the table. If they were going to complain to anyone, it should be him.
  
  • It turns out, Wayne has a prior history of being an asshole. Long before the Youtube channel, and the campaign, even before the previous campaign, he told his then group that they were playing the game wrong. He then found a new group, sang their praises to the old group, and then even brought both groups together to show the old group "the right way to play"
  • In addition to Wayne, he has two editors working for him. One of which he pays. The other one has had no compensation. The one not getting paid is doing the same work as both Wayne and the paid editor combined.
  • I mentioned way early on in the story that Ava was the Discord Administrator for the Discord server. After the Seth campaign incident, Wayne unceremoniously removed Ava as Administrator, told her it was "by mistake", and never put it back. As far as I can tell, there was nothing to warrant this other than control. I suspect it was because there were certain Seth campaign related channels or other channels he didn't want Ava to see.
  • The unceremonious removal of myself and Ava from the Youtube channel admin. Admittedly, we contributed very little to it, but it was removed without a word mentioned.
  • Recently making a post requiring his "talent" to purchase a minimum $5 dollar Patreon subscription. He has admitted to me the reasoning for this was to inflate Patreon subscriber numbers to entice new subscribers. He has since walked that back after much outcry from the "talent"
  • Asking Seth if it wouldn't be too much to convert his envisioned DnD campaign into a Daggerheart campaign, because Daggerheart is the new hotness, and will attract more viewers.

Ultimately, I suppose I feel disheartened and deceived. Deceived because I originally signed up for what I thought was going to be a bunch of friends sitting around and recording themselves playing quality DnD, and it has shifted so far from that original purpose. Wayne is obsessed over subscriber numbers and views, it's all he ever talks about. He claims that his goal is to reach a level of success to which all 10+ people involved will be able to achieve financial freedom (which he claims is roughly $2000 a month). I'm sure you've done the math, just like I have. Even if you believe $2k a month is financial freedom (I certainly don't), that comes out to $240,000 a year. That's an insane level of success to promise your players. Oh, I'm sorry, your "talent".
I feel disheartened because....there's actually good work being done here. Some of the players are some of the best I've ever played with. Wayne can actually be a good storyteller, when he's not pushing for likes or clicks. The editors do a really fantastic job. I have seen and listened to the work being done on the Seth campaign (luckily Wayne is only tangentially involved), and Seth's campaign is turning out to be something really special. There is something good being done here, but it seems so tainted by Wayne and his obsession for Youtube and Tiktok success. So, maybe this is an RPG Horror Story, maybe it's a cautionary tale. I dunno. I have committed to finishing out my run in the campaign, (I was brought back to the table multiple times because the players enjoy playing with me, and also I suspect I was involved in one of his highest viewed shorts), but my hearts not in it. I've told Wayne I've no interest in any of his future projects, and I wish him well on his Youtube journey. But in the pursuit of clicks, and likes, and subscribers, I feel like he has fundamentally lost what attracts people to actually watch and invest in TTRPG actual plays - authenticity.

In the year 2050, astronomers made a chilling discovery - a massive meteor was hurtling towards Earth at an alarming speed. Scientists calculated that the impact would be catastrophic, potentially wiping out all life on the planet. Panic spread across the globe as governments scrambled to find a solution to save humanity.
After intense deliberation, world leaders came to a controversial decision - only the polite and considerate individuals would be allowed to evacuate Earth before the impending doom. Those who had ever engaged in rude behavior, whether in person or online, were deemed unworthy of salvation.
Governments around the world established special committees tasked with evaluating each individual’s conduct based on their interactions with others. Social media posts, comments, and even past records were scrutinized to determine who would be eligible for evacuation.
People who had a history of cyberbullying, spreading hate speech, or engaging in disrespectful behavior were immediately disqualified from the evacuation list. Acts of kindness, empathy, and politeness became the criteria for securing a seat on the spacecraft that would transport survivors to a new habitable planet.
As the evacuation date drew near, tension mounted among the population. Families were torn apart as some members were approved for departure while others faced rejection due to their past transgressions. The world witnessed a stark divide between those who had upheld civility and those who had succumbed to negativity.
On the day of departure, only those who had passed the stringent criteria lined up at the spaceport, ready to embark on a journey into the unknown. Tearful goodbyes echoed through the air as the chosen few boarded the spacecraft, leaving behind a planet on the brink of destruction.
As Earth braced for impact, those left behind grappled with their fate. The meteor struck with unparalleled force, unleashing chaos and devastation on a global scale. In its wake, civilization as we knew it crumbled, leaving behind a scarred landscape devoid of life.
The survivors aboard the spacecraft looked back at their former home, grateful for their second chance at life. United by their shared experience and commitment to kindness, they set out to build a new society based on respect and compassion - determined never to repeat the mistakes of their past.

Assuming it’s the carb but has anyone ran into this before? It’s my 3rd mow of the season so it’s not bad gas or anything. Blew out the air filter as well. it turns over and runs but seems like it’s getting bogged down. In turtle mode when I turn on the deck it seems like it’s not getting enough power. Idle in turtle seems bogged down (without running the deck) and even up to rabbit it seems to be the same. The only time it “sounds good” is in rabbit mode with the choke fully engaged.

Part 1: https://www.reddit.com/HFY/comments/1cxj7h8/comment/l52vtd5/?context=3
*****

The Palatini of Orias journey took nine grueling days of traveling down the peaks of Torness Mountain Range. But at long last, they reached the Coralus Valley. While the temperature was far below what the half-elf usually enjoyed, it was far better than the mountain peaks.
They traveled through the valley, trying to avoid the multiple hostiles, villages, and anyone else who could tip off their enemies. They had to take every tedious path imaginable to prevent possible contact with the enemy.
Staring at their destination, Fraeya Holiadon could not decide if she should be thrilled or distorted at the sight. "Is this the place?"
"I believe so," Raegel said. "The pattern of the structures matches my drawings and the map. See the remains of the two walls?"
"And the stone rings that direct out," Henness said.
"So, you have read the legends," Raegel said, surprised by the centurion's knowledge of the temple.
"I always prepare before a mission," Henness said. "Those half rings, are they stone or artificial?"
"They look like stone, so I think they used the ground stone and molded them," Raegel said.
Fraeya Holiadon carefully stared at the temple ruins. All she could see was the destruction—fractured stone buildings, walls, weed-infested stone pavement, and so on. While there were still many stone structures, most were destroyed. She could only see death, not the walls her father could see.
She turned to ask her father what he was talking about but saw Centurion Fionntan Henness pointing toward the walls and other details.
Watching the two communicate about the features of the temple, she realized how out of depth she was. Her father spent generations studying ruins like this, while Henness is an experienced soldier. For Fraeya, this was her first mission outside the academy supervision, and she realized how different the world was compared to the classroom.
As the two spoke, her elf ears overheard Henness mention that he saw green webbing. As the two men debated what creatures could create that webbing, she already knew based on the type of webbing. Being an excellent student, she recalled the topic regarding intelligent monsters. While many species produce a web, only one creates a thick green. Goblins.
"Father," Fraeya said. "I think goblins made those webbings."
"How could you possibly know that?" Henness asked, unconvinced by the theory. "It would easily be Rorgo or a Kipt."
Fraeya reached into her backpack and pulled out her notepad. She flipped through the pages and responded, "Kipt is more silk-like, while Rorgo is more for capturing prey. Both are white. Only Goblins make green."
"She is correct," Raegel said. "The green should have been a given."
"Alright," Henness said. "That complicates things."
"How so?" Fraeya asked. "The academy said they are weak. Adventures and local militia kill them constantly, so your men should be able to wipe them out with your weaponry easily."
"Goblins are weak in small numbers, but they are a nightmare in large numbers," Henness said. "And depending on the horde, they adapt to who their enemies are quickly. For all I know, we could be fighting a nest that is as heavily armed as we are."
Fraeya looked back toward the next with much confusion. She knew about the goblin's ability to adapt. However, her teachers never stated how formal they could be. Only treating them as barbarians is a functional civilization. "I would think the academy would mention something like that."
"If you are going to be out here in the world, you must understand that life is very different from the classroom," Henness said. "The difference between someone who lives behind a desk versus someone on the ground. Now, I need to get my forces ready for our attack."
Once the centurion left, Fraeya looked at her father. "I am starting to get the impression that my schooling wasn't as truthful as I once thought."
Raegel chuckled at the statement from his daughter. "That is what I said when I left my academy in Thali'ean," he said with a short chuckle before he spoke. "Henness was correct; there is a large gap between the classroom and out here in the world."
"I see. So, now, what do we do?"
"We wait for the legionaries to form a plan. Because time is not on our side, he will want you to assist with your magic. Do you think you can assist? If you are uncomfortable, tell me now, and you can stay here where it is safe."
Feeling a nervous chill creeping down her spine, she looked back toward the temple and breathed heavily. "I admit, I am scared, but I didn't come here to babysit the camp. I want to help."
She felt her father pat her on the back, feeling a sense of pride from his touch.
"That's my daughter."
After an hour of planning, the Palatini of Orias began their assault on the temple ruins. The plan was for a primary team to assault the temple directly, triggering a response from the goblin. The second team would remain on the high ground and pick off the horde.
Fraeya ended up on the right side of the group team. To her surprise, many soldiers were thrilled that they were finally getting into a fight. She wondered, after two weeks of crawling over the mountains and hiding like rodents, they finally got a chance to be soldiers.
The primary assault group she was attached to advance toward the temple once the signal was given. Passing one of the few remaining wall structures, they entered the temple ground. As they swept through the old temple's front sections, the goblins huddled around a fire pit, noticed them, and prepared for battle.
Three legionaries known as circilmen, from the palatini positioned themselves to engage the incoming enemy. Carrying a ranged projectile weapon known as a circiletum, they hid behind the front shield men and fired upon the incoming enemy. They picked off two of the three goblins as the last one quickly crawled under a piece of rubble for cover. Then, the palatini heard a painful screech from the hiding goblin.
Fraeya couldn't help herself but stand there noticing the two fresh corpses. She then watched as two of the swordsmen rushed to the hiding goblin. They reached in and pulled the little green monster out of its hiding spot.
Two swordsmen grabbed the goblin and dragged it from its cover, it jumped on top of one of the legionaries, stabbing its blade into its armor, unable to break through. With a short struggle, the legionary could slam the goblin onto the ground. The other legionary stomped on the body before thrusting his gladius into the monster.
Hearing another screech, Fraeya looked down the stone path and saw goblins popping out of every crack and corner.
One of the legionary officers ordered the unit to reform. The swordsmen took the front with their large scutum shields, creating a two-line protective shield wall. Behind them were the circilmen, taking cover behind the scutum.
The group of goblins charged forward. As they approached, the legionaries saw the raw, starving rage within their dark green eyes—a thirst for primal instincts of food and lust and nothing else.
"Fraeya, is it?"
Hearing her name, she turned to the commanding offer of this group.
"When I give the order, shake the ground." The lower-ranking Centurian said.
Fraeya acknowledged the order as she understood what he was planning.
Turning back to the incoming horde, she watched the three circilmen open fire. The circiletums cut down the forward group of goblins. The ones behind that row suddenly stopped from the shock but were cut down by a second volley.
"Now. Before they scatter."
Fraeya placed her hands together and chanted. The two tiny mana crystals on her gloves blew green as she felt a raw energy channel through her body. A moment later, that glow expanded to the point that it encompassed her hand.
Channeling the mana needed for the spell, Fraeya placed her left hand on the ground.
The stone ground beneath them shook the stone terra, stunning the goblins. Right down the center, cracks formed, and the terra broke apart. The road slightly uplifted into an elevation, forcing the goblins to focus on what was happening.
With the ground disinformed, it prevented the enemy from scattering in an organized manner, allowing the circilmen to fire another volley.
The front scutum marched forward and started cutting down anything that moved. The other line split into two groups. They were marching down the street in an almost synchronized manner. They held their shields high toward the ruins, protecting the circilmen from any incoming projectile. Arrows and magic.
Fireballs flew and impacted the scutum infantry, protecting the flanks. Some of the shields glowed from the impact. The flames engulfed one of the men's arms, and he started to scream from the pain.
The circilmen returned fire, and a firefight began. The sound of their weapons crackled throughout the surrounding area, amplified by the ruined walls. Above the sound of battle were the voices and cries of the wounded—the circiletum that were deployed on the ridge above rained fire from the suppressive team.
The Palatini of Orias pushed deeper into the temple ground as the battle continued. That was until the town began to be consumed by this thick haze, providing cover for the goblins, and restricting visibility for the Lat forces. While not educated to the standards of civilized races, Goblins were not stupid.
"It is a haze," Fraeya said. "They must have a mage somewhere within the nest."
Centurion Fionntan Henness approached their forces and began to regroup. "Can you counter it?"
"No," Fraeya replied. "I never studied Aeromancy magic."
"Nebulo," Henness said. "Our armor and weapons will be less effective."
Fraeya understood his concern. From what she recalled from her classes; goblins have sharp senses. Based on the density of the haze, it was clear even to her that they were planning to force them to huddle and expose themselves to be surrounded, making their ranged weapons worthless.
"We will just have to work around it," Raegel said.
As Frayea prepared herself, she felt a strange feeling throughout her body, almost like some field affecting her body. She saw a female legionary in light armor and a cloak checking over the wounded. One of the few women in the legionary, she could tell she was the unit healer specializing in Sanamancy magic. The women must have placed a barrier to help protect against any poisonous gasses lying within the haze.
Orias advanced through the haze; this forced the soldiers to clump together for safety. As the assault group progressed, they were hit non-stop by the goblin's arrow fire, spears, and fire shots from sling guns. Most of these projectiles caused minor damage thanks to the heavy armor legionary’s wear. However, this did not remove the damage as it brought discomfort and limited their progression to a crawl.
Barely noticing two figures on top of a rooftop through the haze, who were firing slingshots toward their position, she pointed her hand toward a piece of rubble and, with her magic, lifted the debris and projected it through the haze. The rubble temporarily formed a gap in the haze that increased the line-of-sight.
She then called out to the fire battle mage within the unit. The mage realized what was happening and fired multiple firebolts toward the tower. Five bolts impacted the building from different directions, engulfing the structure in flames. Everyone could hear the faint sound of goblins screaming as the building burnt.
With the tower collapsing suddenly, arrows rained through the thick haze, hitting the legionaries in retaliation. While most arrows bounced off the armor, some found exposed spots. Two more legionaries fell to their knees, with one vomiting blood, forcing the healed to focus on the sick over protecting the group.
It became clear that the goblins changed their tactics and poisoned their arrows. While worthless against armor, they could still puncture the underneath clothing and scrap any exposed part of the skin.
A luperca legionnaire picked up an old broken wagon and used it as a shield to protect. With the cover, the lower ranking commanders directed the circilmen to pick off any goblins that peaked above the surface.
Combined with the haze and change of tactic, this formed a strange stalemate between the two sides. The Orias was forced into a defensive; they were well equipped to deal with any goblins who dared to get within melee range. However, the goblins had surrounded and had the range advance as they could see through the haze, allowing them to snipe any legionary who adventured far from the group.
Fraeya saw a blob of acid impact a swordsmen's scutum. The scutum started being consumed by the spell, slowly falling into pieces. The man screamed as he felt his arm burn, desperately untieing the strappings to ditch the heavy shield.
"We need to kill their shaman before we are picked off," Raegel said.
"I agreed," Henness replied. "As long as this haze is here, my suppressive team is useless."
"If I recall," Fraeya said. "A Shaman should be nearby. Someone close enough to maintain this haze and give commands but not put themselves in danger."
"Then I know where it should be," Henness said. "Let's go half-elf."
She felt her ears perk up once she realized the centurion was talking about her. She looked toward her father and saw the 'it is time to prove yourself' look. Taking a deep breath and preparing herself, she gathered behind Henness and six of his men.
The assault unit left the main one and adventurer deeper into the temple grounds. As they reached what remained of an intersection, goblins stormed out of the stone buildings to ambush the legionaries.
With their disciplined reaction, the legionaries immediately adjusted their formation and sliced down the attackers. Henness stood at the center, holding his sword out as flames wrapped around the blade.
As the goblins attacked the swordsmen, Fraeya broke apart the ground on the right flank, knocking many goblins. The one that fell, she entangled them by summoning vines - which trapped the goblins and pulled them into the ground until their death or burial.
She then turned and lifted parts of the ground on the left flank, blocking some of the goblins. This prevented the legionaries from being encircled.
"Reform," Henness ordered. "We need to advance quickly. Stay close."
Once the path was clear, the unit moved toward the building where the goblins had fortified. Henness moved in front of her to provide protection. He held up his shield, deflecting arrows.
"Stay behind me," Henness said.
While not being a military woman, Fraeya quickly learned to accept the chain of command on this quest. On the battlefield, her father told her to listen to Henness as he was a man of war. She realized that the structure and safety of the city and the academy are vastly different in the countryside. Getting behind him, she followed him close behind as he pushed forward, arrows striking his shield, allowing her to get in range for her spell.
The legionaries stopped engaging the incoming goblins, allowing their centurion and the young mage to get closer. Henness reached around his scutum and pressed the amulet attached to the outer shell's center. Once pressed, the large shield briefly glowed before darkening, returning to the standard red with white lining design.
Up ahead, Fraeya saw in full display of the nest. Spikes, fortification, and green webbing filled the gaps between the ruined structures. Skeletons and decomposing bodies littered the areas of their past victims. The goblins were standing in the bunker sections, preparing for battle. With how heavily guarded it was, she concluded that this must be where the Shaman was.
"Fraeya, now!"
Fraeya moved around the man to cast her spell. With a quick chant, her hands glowed green again. As she channeled her mana, an acid attack impacted Henness' scutum. While the added hardening enchantment from the amulet increased the scutum resistance, the acid slowly ate through the large shield.
Stepping from cover, Fraeya aimed her hands at the nest. The ground trembled a little as the front of the nest collapsed on itself from the summoned sinkhole.
With the front entrance open, Fraeya saw the Shaman in plain view—a female, being one of the few within a goblin nest. The Shama looked scared as she looked around where to hide.
Fraeya did not give it time as she cast a spell that created a spike from the ground below the Shaman and pierced straight through the vicious monster, killing it instantly.
As the Shaman staff hit the ground, the haze started to disappear.
Believing that her work was complete after killing the goblin leader, her ears quickly heard footsteps surrounding them.
Noticing that the goblins were about to swarm their position, she took cover behind Henness to protect his rear. She took a deep breath as she felt exhausted from the battle and cast so many spells quickly.
Starting at five goblins that emerged from the ruins, Fraeya watched as they charged toward them. Before they got close, however, each one was sniped from the ridge-side suppressive team.
With a moment of confusion, she stared toward the cliffside and saw the suppressive team. Now that the haze is disappearing, they could snipe off the remaining goblins from their elevation position.
"Good job, half-elf," Henness said, slowly stepping back with a shield aimed at the flames, guiding Fraeya back.
"Stop calling me half-elf," Fraeya yelled. "I am out here risking my life with the rest of you, and don't give me that war is a male-domain thing! I am willing to see this through. Most of my kind would stay home and let you fight, so why do you keep degrading me?"
"Because ideals get people killed," Fionntan Henness replied. "Out here, you must earn that respect within the brotherhood of warriors, especially if you are used to living inside the city walls. People with a self-protected mindset usually end up as food for the worms or get my soldiers killed because they do not understand what it takes to survive."
The centurion then turned to the destroyed nest. "I will say, though, what you did here. It is a good first step for a half-elf." He then turned to give her an approving smile.
Not understanding the humor from the Lat, Fraeya accepted it. From her experience, Lats always had a strange sense of humor. Insults are sometimes seen as compliments while praising could be considered offensive. Saying one thing but meaning another is a common trait for them.
With the remaining palatini coming after clearing the remaining goblins, Fraeya saw her father. She rushed over and hugged him and teared up.
"You did good, my dear," Raegel said as he patted her.
"Is this really what it is like out here?" Fraeya asked.
"Sadly, it is," Fraeya replied. "That is why I never brought you around on my digs."
"I am sorry to interrupt," Henness said. "We are on borrowed time, so can we get at it?"
Fraeya looked toward the centurion with frustration as she wanted a moment with her father. After taking a deep breath, she realized that he was right.
After finishing her hug, she brushed off the goblin's blood and clothing.
"Then we better begin searching for what we came for," Raegel said as he reached for his bag. She watched as he pulled out a perfectly smoothed, pure black orb. By itself, it didn't look impressive. She had seen hundreds of these orbs at the academy or the many workshops within the city.
Raegel held the orb in one hand and activated it with his mana. The orb glowed light blue and fainted, barely emitting any energy. He then took it against the mountain and began scanning.
Not wanting to miss anything, Fraeya quickly pulled out her journal, skipping past all her notes until she reached a blank page. She then began documenting everything her father did, taking in every world and detail.
The palatini began walking through the ruins, heading toward the mountain wall. Raegel explained in his research that the temple extended inside the mountain, like a dwarf borrian. While others who came before him came up with this theory, they were still looking for a way to detect the hidden door markings and find it.
Raegel moved down the side of the mountain, holding the orb high.
"Why are you not using a door-detecting amulet?" Fraeya asked.
"Because people have been using that for generations and found nothing here," Raegel replied.
After a reasonable amount of time when nothing had happened, Fraeya began to wonder if everything was for nothing. Seeing the lack of progress, Henness inquired if the orb failed to work. As Raegel replied, the orb suddenly blimped orange for a moment.
Witnessing the sudden change, the group backed away as they did not know how to respond to the sudden glow.
Noticing a renewed excitement from her father, she followed him closely as they investigated the mountainside.
As they searched, her father noticed that the faint blue glow from the orb had changed to orange. It then disappeared and slowly appeared, like it was slowly pulsing. When they continued walking forward, the pulsing light increased in speed.
"I think it is directing us, father," Fraeya said.
"Possible," Raegel said. "There must be some type of link."
The palatini followed the direction the orb gave. As the group approached a mountainside wall, the pulse frequency increased until it looked like the orb glowed a solid color.
"I think we found it," Raegel said. He lifted the orb toward the wall.
As the orb drew closer to the mountainside, these blue lines appeared all over the rocky wall. The rough chips of rock melted away and turned smooth as the light traveled through the grooves, slowly creating what looked like a giant door of light.
Once the bright lights finished designing a massive door, Fraeya placed her hand on the wall, shocked at how the natural bulky rocks turned into a marble-like wall.
"I would step aside, Fraeya," Raegel said.
As Fraeya stepped backward, she watched her father open the door with a magical spell. Like most magical doors, the door brightened as she expected it would fold into the mountain. To her surprise, the door didn't fold away but melted into the ground.
"What happened to the door?" Fraeya asked.
Raegal placed his hand on his chin. "It seemed that the wall was not solid but some liquid matter. These people are impressive."
The wall began to shake as dusk from the cracks spread through the area.
A large opening formed as the door walls folded into the mountainside. A passage leading deeper into the mountain. The walls were black and smooth, while the floor had these textiles in perfect order, leading deeper into the mountain.
"This has to be a dwarven design," Fraeya commented. "Only they could do something like this."
"I'm not sure," Raegel said. "This is not a design I have seen from dwarves."
Fraeya understood what her father meant. Dwarven doors into the mountains took a lot of work to find. While there were many designs of such hidden doors and the means to open them, it was doubtful that anyone had ever seen a secret magical door like this before.
Raegel started to walk into the chamber but was suddenly stopped by Henness. Stating that he wanted his men to go first to ensure no trap, three legionaries moved through the large chamber. Once they gave the clear, the rest of the group entered.
While walking, Fraeya stayed close to her father as she took notes. The soldiers ahead of them set up torches to add more light. To her surprise, the walls and floor were smooth. The air was stale, probably trapped within this chamber for centuries.
As they walked inside, the room lit up. Everyone stopped as they looked toward the end of the hall. The chamber was empty, with only a strange-looking platform at the very end. Noticing that the orb was pointing toward the platform, they approached it.
"Is this it?" Henness asked. "It does not look that impressive."
"Not everything is based on size, centurion," Raegel replied, to which his daughter giggled.
Fraeya then analyzed the platform. It was smooth, almost marble-like. However, she doubted whether it was marble. The fundamental details that she noticed were a strange-looking blue crystal at the center of the platform and another in a hole on the side.
"This is interesting," Fraeya commented. The design looked surprisingly simple. This orb must act as some command orb for this device. They must be communicating in some manner."
"Assuming that the legend was true, the orcs were the ones who summoned the lats from Altaerrie," Fraeya said. "Maybe, when this place was lost of that time, it was never turned off. Being left in a state of slumber, waiting to be reawakened."
"Possible. It would explain why the orb directed us here. The orange pulse is now pointing down at a rapid pace."
"I think it goes into that hole, father," Fraeya said. "From what I can tell, the crystal in there connects to the one on top of the platform."
"I see," Raegel said. "The pulse is pointing toward it too. I recommend that everyone step back."
"Be careful, father," Fraeya said.
Stepping back from the platform, Fraeya watched as her father placed the orb into the hole. This was the moment her father had been talking about for decades, and it had finally come true. The Bridge between two worlds had finally been discovered.
As Raegel placed the orb into the platform, it glowed orange in a solid state, no longer pulsing. The blue crystal in the middle of the platform slowly lit up, like it was waking up after a long sleep.
The air suddenly chilled as the air flowed toward the platform. A bright light beamed out of the crystal and slowly faded away, leaving a light as if on standby.
To their dismay, the orb changed to red, dimming and brightening in a slow, tired pattern.
"What is it doing, father?" Fraeya asked.
"I have no idea," Raegel replied. "It must be waiting for something."

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92 Hours After the First Round of Interloper Interrogations. UNAFS Perseverance (HSR) - Shuttlecraft - 01. En Route to the New Lorisa Forests LZ.
Lysara
“Touching down in ten seconds.” I announced, my voice emanating from the encounter suit’s speakers in a language that, until just days ago, was an enigma.
Yet in a matter of days, this deceptively simple translation suite, a triumph of xenolinguistics, was now able to match my tone perhaps better than ever before.
Which explained exactly why Evina had responded in the way that she did. “Nervous, Lysara?” She offered in a snide, yet well-meaning jab.
I didn’t respond, not yet at least, as the last five minutes on approach were more often than not the most dangerous aspects of aeronautics; that much I learned from the pilots and armed service members I worked with over the years.
It was only after we’d touched down, and the final safety checks were complete, that I finally turned towards Evina. “I would be lying if I didn’t say I wasn’t at least a little bit unnerved about this whole situation.” I offered, gesturing towards the back of the shuttle, as the both of us unbuckled and left our seats. The whole mission was already memorized in our minds as we’d already run through every plan and backup plan we had over the entirety of the flight time down here. “And to be quite frank, I’m surprised you’re taking this whole thing so incredibly well.” I continued, going through the final checklists on the deployment of this platoon’s worth of combat drones as I did so.
“I think we’ve long since sailed past the point of no return the moment you told me that there was an intergalactic, eons-long war going on, Lysara.” The felinor offered with a shrug. “A bunker with potential ties with that aforementioned malevolent cosmic entity is nothing compared to that bombshell.”
“I’d have assumed that the nature of the bunker, and this mission being issued by said interloper, would’ve been the sticking point here.” I offered, genuinely curious as to the nonchalant attitude projected by the felinor.
“Eh. When you’ve lived in the wastes for this long, you’re bound to have heard the whole ‘the aliens did it’ conspiracy more often than you’d like. Now I’m not saying I believe every wastelander with a conspiracy theory… but I can’t admit the fact that the bunker has always been something that radiates a really weird aura about it. I mean, compared to literally everything else out there in the wastes? It exists in almost this time capsule of complete isolation. The beasts that roam the area, preying on anyone that gets close, don’t really help out much in that whole weird vibe either. So yeah, ever since my first iteration tried to drill her way into it, Far-Reach Point has been a point of great mystery amongst the survivors of the waste. Which lends itself really well to the possibility that your alien enemies could actually be behind it.” Evina shrugged once more, before adding a cheeky self deprecating comment. “The fact that it’s been broadcasting all this time should also be a dead giveaway to be honest. Because you definitely won’t see anything felinor-made still functional without constant maintenance after a few years into its lifespan.”
I chuckled at that statement, if only because it seemed to be made in genuine jest. “Well, we can’t say for certain that interloper tech is involved in its construction. What we do know is that the interloper has some vested interest in the facility.” I shot back, attempting to temper the felinor’s expectations and keeping everything to the limited facts we had on hand. “Or more specifically, the individual living within it.”
“And you got all of that just by putting two and two together huh? Your mission to find this person-of-interest, and the weird anomaly that is this signal station.” The felinor shot back with a disquietingly critical stare.
“It’s our one and only lead.” I shrugged. “It’s either that, or we comb through every living felinor on this planet. So in light of this massive lead, my hypothesis is that our person-of-interest, is in fact, somewhere within that facility.”
“Eh.” Evina once more shrugged. “A better conspiracy theory than the nutjobs. Or rather, good enough that I’d buy it.” She grinned, baring her teeth in the process which, at this point, I’d become accustomed to. If anything, it was after hours of ‘cat videos’, as Vir called them; that I finally started to become accustomed to these fangy grins. Moreover, it was becoming a point of endearment more than anything.
“In any case, drones are online and ready to go.” I continued, moving the conversation out of speculation and back into action, as the rear of the shuttle opened to a charred and lifeless forest floor.
“Man, Vir really did a number to this place, didn't he?” Evina whistled out.
“I… do apologize for all of the collateral damage we’ve incurred on your world-”
“Are you kidding me?!” The felinor interjected with a devious grin. “I hate forests! Heck, maybe it’s a carry-over from my perpetually-indoors first iteration, but forests have always been a place of danger and death lurking over every corner! So yeah, nah, don’t worry about it. If anything, Vir did us a favor by doing this; so be sure to like… let’s make sure to grab him a souvenir or something when we come back.”
The felinor’s frankly erratic behavior worried me sometimes.
But then again, this was to be expected given the nature of cultural barriers. As such, I simply ‘smiled’ back a smile of my own, bearing my blunt teeth as best as I could. “Noted, Evina.”
It was around that point where Evina finally donned her helmet, clasping it into place as she began testing the communications suite with surprisingly little difficult.
“Alright. Can you still hear me through this thing?”
“Loud and clear, Evina.” I nodded.
“Right, let’s get this party started.”

92 Hours After the First Round of Interloper Interrogations. New Lorisa Forests LZ, En Route to the Signal Station (Far-Reach Point).
Evina
We were parked approximately seven hundred or so meters from the signal station.
Though that distance was measured from point to point, and definitely didn’t account for the obstacles and terrain that stretched from here to the station.
Despite that, and what my memories had warned me was a treacherous trek through dense and uncompromising foliage, the world outside was now anything but.
However, despite the constant mission briefs and the logical part of my brain telling me that what awaited outside was nothing like my prior iterations recalled… the power of several lifetimes were just too powerful to overcome.
That was, until the exit ramp opened, and I saw the flattened devastation that awaited me. The charred forest, and the open landscape, quickly sent any doubts incurred by my prior iterations back to whence they came from.
So with one of the greatest obstacles out of the way, and the raw and unbridled power of human-driven alien technologies at our disposal, our deployment out of the shuttle and into the forest was a piece of cake.
More than that, I now had front row seats to the shock and uncompromising efficiency of automated combat.
Needless to say, I was more than happy to be on the other side of the barrel when it came to this engagement.
Four distinct squads of robots formed up and ran out of the back of the shuttle, forming into cohesive units comprised of ten or so felinoid bots, accompanied by a whole host of flying, crawling, slithering, and galloping machines that secured the perimeter for us within a matter of seconds.
Upon a single urging from Lysara, we walked out, flanked on all sides by a remaining detachment of bots, consisting of five felinoid units and a flight of five more drones.
For the first time in any of my prior iteration’s lifetimes, I finally felt like I was on the winning side.
It was a good feeling.
And one I hoped continued as we made our leisurely march through the decimated forests and up towards the station.
The whole scene was just so… jarring.
Especially as memory after memory came to the forefront of those trials and tribulations from the lives of my first, second, and third iterations that had all made this trek several times over.
The massive tileroot tree that dominated the area next to the station… was now just gone. The same could be said for the thick pipewood vines that obstructed the path every couple of steps, and even the earltail moss that kept growing thicker and thicker on the front entrance of the bunker.
Most importantly, the air around me was now silent and still, interrupted only by the near-silent whirrs from the robots and the crunching of ashen foliage beneath our boots.
This was perhaps the first time in my life I actually enjoyed the devastation, a thought that was both ironic as it was troubling.
Regardless, we eventually made our way to the front of the facility in a staggering seven minutes; arriving in front of a circular door with gear-like cogs that were sunken into the facility itself.
“So… why didn’t you try blasting through the walls or the other surfaces of the facility?” I inquired bluntly, pointing at parts of the facility that weren't built into the hillside.
“Countermeasures.” Lysara responded, his voice resonating into my ears, a weird and alien sensation that still sent shivers down my spine. “Our scans were incapable of determining the detailed makeup of what was inside. And as a result, we have the be on the lookout for potential countermeasures against unauthorized entry. In addition, given the fact the facility still has enough power to maintain that broadcast, we can be certain that we not only have to worry about passive countermeasures, but active ones as well.”
“Makes sense.” I nodded. “Is this why you wanted my expertise to begin with? In the hopes that I might have some intel on this place?”
“Correct.” Lysara nodded.
“Well thankfully, you’re in luck.” I responded with a cocky grin, pointing towards a not-so-insignificantly sized hole drilled into one of the door’s massive cog-like edges. “Like I told you in the briefing, my first iteration had tried her hand at breaking into this place. It didn’t work out, obviously, but she did have some theories as to how the whole door system works.” I began walking towards the hole, as a flood of memories from my first iteration slammed into me hard. “So, just beyond this hole should be an emergency release mechanism. Apparently most fallout shelter doors have this as a failsafe or something; accessible only from the inside but capable of being accessed from the outside if you're willing to dig through twenty or so meters of solid metal and rock. This is the mechanism I’m talking about here, so not actually the door itself. My memory’s a bit fuzzy on the specifics but… I’m sure that if we drill deeper into that, angling the hole sideways so we don’t actually go through the door itself, we should hit a mechanism that can be manipulated. Now if you have some fiber optic camera wire and a master lockpick or something, I’m sure you can do it in a few days. But considering we have the power of artificial intelligence on our side… I’m sure we can do it in five minutes.”
That vote of confidence for Vir was rewarded with a ping and a notification in front of my visual field. The existence of a HUD was again, just as jarring as literally everything else right now.
With a heavy breath from Lysara, who at this point was scanning the hole with a whole host of scientific instruments, I received my answer as to how it was we were going to proceed. “One of the bots can be repurposed as a multipurpose drone.” He gestured towards a combat bot that was quickly switching from its main weapon, to what looked to be a seriously well-kitted out multitool kit masquerading as a hand. “We should be able to bore through this in about five minutes, from there… I’ll switch things over to Vir, and I’m sure we’ll be inside that bunker in under fifteen.”
The confidence was palpable in Lysara’s voice, giving me hope that today was the day that the burning curiosity in my first iteration’s memories would finally be addressed.
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​
(Author’s Note: We arrive on the planet, and make our way towards the signal station! All the while, we observe the tireless preparations Vir has made in ensuring that the landing zone is cleared of threats! Evina elaborates further on exactly what her first iteration had done in order to try to get in, let's just hope that this time around, they can make more progress than her first iteration! :D The next chapter is already out on Patreon as well if you want to check it out!)
[If you guys want to help support me and these stories, here's my ko-fi ! And my Patreon for early chapter releases (Chapter 97 of this story is already out on there!)]

◈》ARCANE SANCTUARY《◈

Step into the mystic realms of the *Arcane Sanctuary*, a crucial part of the Arcane Alliance. Dive into a world where ancient magic thrives and the air is filled with the essence of forgotten spells. Experience a unique blend of tranquility and intensity, engaging in wars that challenge both mind and spirit. Join us for vibrant discussions and strategic battles in our Discord Server.

   
◈》What to Expect《◈
🛡️ A Zen War Clan exclusive to the Arcane family.
🛡️ Engage in back-to-back wars regardless of hero availability.
🛡️ A thriving community full of passionate players.
🛡️ Experienced and supportive leadership.
🛡️ Continuous clan wars with a focus on growth and strategy.
🛡️ Opportunities for all members to contribute and advance.
 
◈》Clan Details《◈
📚 Clan Level: 24
📚 Clan Tag: #2JGULJQL
📚 Clan Capital: 7
📚 Clan League: Gold League I
 
◈》We Want You!《◈
👉 Recruiting players TH8 and above.
👉 Looking for active and engaged members ready to participate in wars and clan activities.
👉 Join our Discord for full access to our resources and community events.
👉 Professional strategy planning and friendly challenges available.
 
Feel we're the right fit?
🔗 Discord link - https://discord.gg/ArcaneAlliance
💬 Contact me - @.naytro on Discord
⚔️ Clan link - https://link.clashofclans.com/en?action=OpenClanProfile&tag=2JGULJQL

Good day to you, Daemonolaters!
I’m here to express my deepest gratitude to Duchess Bune.
Bune is an unparalleled friend, teacher and spiritual ally. When working with Bune in depth, she is nothing short of a truly transformative goddess.
Now, I’m sure most of us here are already aware that Bune is widely known for being thee daemonic divine who is beginner friendly, reliable, benign and simple to engage with for fast luck & easy money. This is however, not where Duchess Bunes greatest strengths lay.
Bune is all of, yet none of these things. Like most individuals are, Bune is a complicated being, composed of swirling & opposing energies and contradictions. Equally shadow and light, perfectly balanced (as are the daemonic divines as a whole). Like any spiritual (or mundane) work, you tend to get what you put in. So all this benign, easy luck, money for nothing stuff with Bune is really just scratching the surface of what she is actually capable of. Yes, she is incredibly generous, friendly, loving, beautiful and smoking hot, but she’s also… not.
I’ve been working with Bune for a few years now. In this time we’ve mostly just been getting to know each other and built a beautiful and cherished relationship. I’ve never viewed her as a spiritual ATM, it hasn’t ever really sat right with me to do so. I’m not saying it’s wrong, y’all do y’all, no judgment from me & not any of my fucking business anyway. I mainly like to have fun and hang out with Bune, she’s got great energy and I also like to learn and research about her. I have great respect and love for Bune and she for me.
I think this mutual love and respect is the reason why Bune recently put her foot down and started fucking kicking my ass. She’s got me working incredibly hard - because she wants me to be my best self, I guess.
Throughout my life, I have worked with various deities and spirits with wonderful results and successes (and plenty failures too!). There is however, something very special about the Daemonic divines in particular, which is incredibly powerful for us Earth bound meat bags when it comes to our spiritual workings. The Daemons are intermediary spirits, capable of going anywhere on the physical plane, into the spiritual realms, able to reach out to almost all and any other beings. They can enter our bodies and create changes in both our internal and external worlds. They are capable of physical and spiritual realm manifestations. They are both physical and spiritually based beings, which makes them incredibly powerful allies. They are the most tactile and tangible of spirits to work with. Sometimes it’s hard to tell where the human ends and the demon begins.
Bune decided it was time for us to stop messing about with drinking tea & dancing under disco balls and get to work! We’ve been on it for some time now but for the past few months, I have been working extremely hard under Bune. I have been gifted with laser focus (which is an incredible fucking feat in itself, believe me), a small respite from chronic health issues and presented with some weirdly specific opportunities. I am being supported and guided on a journey of personal, mental & physical growth and betterment. I don’t even look or speak like the person I was a few months ago.. I am physically and mentally changing into a different version of myself, which I’ll say, is not an easy thing to do but it’s not impossible - which it actually was, before Bune went HAM on my ass.
Duchess Bune is providing me with opportunities to step into my actual potential. This is something that realistically shouldn’t be available to me and it all makes ZERO sense to outsiders as to how the fuck I’m managing it but hey, all of us here know what the big, pearl clutching secret is. It’s frickin demons ¯_(ツ)_/¯
Make no mistake, this has been taking every ounce of time, energy and focus I have. It is terribly gruelling, hard work and none of this journey is without facing continual uphill challenges, relentlessly thrown in my way (my patience / temper hanging by a whisper thin thread, but we’re working on that too). Here’s the thing though, as many times as I’m hit with an obstacle, instead of facing the usual roadblocks that stop progress for x amount of time ..there’s always somehow, an attainable solution. How lucky! ; )
By offering Bune your blood, sweat and tears (I’m talking by hard work & dedication, not by giving literal bodily fluids as an offering on the altar lmao… maybe it works, I haven’t actually tried. LMK) she will very likely work with you to lay the path to your goals right at your feet. Just a fair warning though, she will destroy you and everything around you in order for you to rebuild yourself, if need be. Belial, WHO?
She can giveth AND taketh away. Just as easy as she can make 10k appear out of thin fucking air into your bank account… she can just as easily take anything away from you too.
When her power and guidance is combined with your hard work and dedication, you’ll step into and unlock your full power and potential for yourself and for her. Both of your strengths are also made available to each other too. Bune fucking loves your hard work way more than oranges! She still delights in the citrus though… gotta keep those tangy boys on the altar! 🍊The best offering I’ve found for Bune is hard graft but please do still treat her to all the usual offerings she enjoys. Let’s be honest, she absolutely deserves them!
This path of transformation I have been thrown upon by Bune is not easy, but it is attainable - which is simply a fucking miracle even to begin with, in my book!
The biggest caveat here is that I can’t stop working like a MF. If I lose focus or give up, so will Bune. She’s fucking pissed if I’m not working to my fullest abilities each day. There’s no where to hide from a boss who’s an actual real life daemon. They know and see everything, they can read your mind and taste your fucking soul, bruh. Micromanaging really is an understatement. Also, I can’t push myself too hard either otherwise the same! It’s a tricky balance of working hard alongside strict self care (which feels like just as much work as the actual working tbh). Anyway, I couldn’t do this without Bune, I need to learn this balance and earn this discipline through practice. Bune only provides opportunity, the choices are still only mine to make. She helps me when the correct choices are made, which are usually not the easiest options available. Bune can only reveal pathways, I still have to get my boots on to travel the roads and choose which directions to take, completely alone.
I know most people don’t get into Demonolatry or call upon Bune only to have to work really fucking hard, it’s usually for the exact opposite reason! But I hope others can be inspired to give both themselves and Bune the dedication to work with her in depth to achieve positive transformations too.
So, once again. Huge shout out and big ups to Duchess Bune! Thank you for everything you have helped me with so far and thank you for all your aid and support. This public praise post falls short of the gratitude I’m trying to express.
Bune is capable of so much more than the little boons she’s so well known for. Put the hard work in for her to help you, to help yourself.
Now, I better get back to work before the demon boss gets mad at me for being on Reddit… 👀
Peace out for now, Demonolatry sub. Hope everyone is doing well, FYI I’m totally missing you guys!!
Hail, Great Duchess Bune!
Haha! Just as I finished writing this, I received something I need to further my path. Very specific and completely out of the blue. I’m gobsmacked & bursting with love for her rn. Guys, I fucking love Bune.
Thank you Buney 🧡🧡🧡🧡
HAIL, BUNE!

*Note: This post was originally deleted from /helloicon and am just reposting here to make sure it is documented and not being censored or deleted.
Edit: I know very well that the community tends to downvote any sort of negativity surrounding the project. However, instead of immediately downvoting me, take the time to digest what I'm trying to say. If any ICON team members want to provide any counter-arguments (though I am certain they will not be able to justify every single thing I will have to say, especially in part 2/3), i would love to hear them. Some sort of transparency and communication from the team would be nice for a change. I believe this isn't just a trivial thing either. This is something that warrants a response from the team. There have been questions that have been buried and ignored when this initially happened. The community deserves better.
If anyone has been here from the start, my name might ring a bell. I was the Lead communications/community manager for ICON for quite some time. I helped cultivate and manage the communities during its peak. In comparison, here is a blockchain project that had similar popularity and trading volume to ICX.
I will make a separate post later going into greater depth about all the things, but for now, I'll stick to basically one thing I wanted to address first. In short though, I absolutely have no faith in this project or team anymore. I think the ICON team has consistently demonstrated a complete lack of transparency, poor judgement, and a company that is embarrassingly slow at adopting new strategies and adapting to the constantly evolving landscape.
There's a whole laundry list of reasons I could get into, but as I stated earlier, i will get into most of it in another post. First thing I want to address is ICON's first dApp, Blue Whale Foundation. I am waiting to see if I get replies from past Blue Whale Foundation members so I can just verify some things before writing more extensively about it, and get confirmation on some things.
For those that don't know, Blue Whale Foundation (BWX) was ICON's first dApp, and it was promoted directly by Min and two senior ICON council members were Advisors for Blue Whale Foundation, including ICONLOOP/PARAMETA's CEO. https://medium.com/biomanforcerose/ico-analysis-5-reasons-why-you-should-have-a-look-to-blue-whale-foundation-4bb55ef3bff3
I don't know if this was ever addressed, but BWX appears to have been a pump&dump/exit scam after the successful ICO launch. Majority of the people on Blue Whale's team immediately departed after the ICO, leading me to believe that they knew this was an empty shell of a project. Blue Whale abruptly closed operations in 2022, leaving many people frustrated and angry. I believe the BWF team recruited me to give BWF an air of more legitimacy. To be clear, I had zero knowledge of what was going to happen, and I was compensated a very modest and flat monthly rate for only a few months, and did not receive any bonus or incentives for making the ICO successful. I believe that other people involved may have gotten paid significantly more than I did, and that they simply used me for my likeness and status within the ICON community to legitimize and get ICON supporters to invest. For anyone that ended up buying because of me, I truly am sorry, and I had absolutely no idea that this was going to be the end result. I should have done more due diligence, but even if I did, I don't know if it would have made a difference because some of the damning information wasnt available until after the ICO. Also, because Min and ICON Council Members approved, endorsed, or were involved in the BWF project, I thought this ICON vetted this project and team. I had always felt terrible once I realized what the BWF team has done, but I didnt fully realize until I left ICON and blockchain space completely. Last I heard from BWF team was that they were going to take some time off after the ICO launch and I didnt hear back from them again. They actually left me in the dark completely for some time, and I was emailing them confused asking what I am supposed to be doing. For a month before the ICO, it was radio silence despite my repeated attempts to get a hold of them, and i finally heard back a month later when they told me that the team went on vacation or something? I can pull up email logs later.
Unfortunately, it seems like this was a pump and dump exit scam after the ICO launched. The ICO raised nearly $4million USD, and I believe the other members on the team could have earned potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars. The amount I earned? Very low, but somehow was actually a bit higher than what ICON was paying me monthly which was like barely above minimum wage at the time.
I will share more details in a future post regarding this, but I mainly want to apologize to anyone that bought and ended up losing money on $BWX. I had no idea that this was BWX's true agenda, and all of the information was deliberately kept from me from by the BWF team. I recently did some digging on the founder of BWX, Will Lee, and he states that he is a "serial entrepreneur", but in reality, I believe he is more of a serial griftescammer, and don't know why ICON and Min endorsed this project and the founder in the first place. I believe it was either gross negligence and incompetence from ICON or it was fraud considering that the ICON council members received compensation from the ICO.
Anyone that knows me knows I have been maybe one of the strongest advocates for ICON, and I would even go as far as saying that despite ICON's no communication policy, I believed I played a major role for ICON maintaining and even growing the community even during the extended bear market period. Maybe it was a coincidence, but there was a dramatic decrease in engagement and interest in the ICON project when I decreased my involvement and eventually left all together. Maybe it was a coincidence? Or maybe it wasn't. What I do know is that other projects i consulted on at the time immediately saw lifts in their community numbers when I gave them a hand.
I want to make it clear that while this is primarily about BWF, this is just one of many things that ICON handled poorly, did not address or take accountability, and showed how little they cared about its community considering that many people that bought BWF were likely those involved in ICX.
I didnt have time to proof read this because I'm sleepy and need to take a nap, so sorry if my thoughts are a bit disjointed or if this is just filled with some grammatical errors.
This is also just one of many many red flags and issues that I have with ICON, and why I no longer have faith in this project. I will post a part 2 and maybe part 3 later that are directly related to ICON, the team, amongst many other things, including my personal experience working for them.
edit: also just wanted to say hi to all the amazing and cool people in the community that were around when i was around. while i cant say too many great things about icon, i can say that a lot of you guys here are genuinely awesome people who helped keep my sanity intact. and im sure there are some that hated me too, and its understandable. My unspoken role at ICON was being the person at whom people can direct their frustrations and anger at, but hopefully, you don't hold it against me. To any new people, welcome, but I want you to know that if you do end up sticking around, be mentally prepared for an endless, repeating cycle of being disappointed, getting your hopes up a tiny bit, only to be let down again. Then repeat.

Hi there, rate my IT resume, especially CyberSec resume, and I’m open to any meaningful recommendations & suggestions, thanks in advance.

chapters 1&2
chapter 3
chapter 4
chapter 5
chapter 6
chapter 7
chapter 8
chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
The lecture was supposed to be on Rationality 101, apparently not for Newcomers only. Serene was there to have her back but G was having a hard time focusing.
The boring black uniform more fitting for a hotel receptionist defaced the godlike beauty standing in front of a huge screen. Gentry couldn’t believe her eyes: this was the man she had her hands on a little while ago?
No, it couldn’t be.
It had been just an avatar, too perfect in its unblemished visage, too pure for this world. Yet the man whose face she remembered as if it was etched on the back of her eyelids, who she’d been constantly thinking about, who her hands itched to snatch, was standing right there, in the flesh.
Back in the dreamy simulated world she caught herself thinking that a trim waist like this couldn’t anatomically work on a human, yet here he was: a towering spread of fit shoulders perfectly balanced above the flexible whip of his midsection. The light-grey eyes that betrayed every movement of his pupils were as real as the ones that reflected the mock moon during her test. Below them lay the sharp slope of the cheekbones one could cut themselves on.
The only thing a bit different, apart from the outfit choice, was the young god’s hair. In the simulation, it was flowing and probably too long to be practical. This person’s mane was much shorter and fell down his neck in a neat ponytail, tastefully tamed with a single hairpin.
She had to get her hands on this treasure.
He was making last minute preparations for the lecture, looking through the papers on the desk, dark strands framing his face, light grey eyes sharp in careful concentration.
Professor Q, huh.
He said this was his name, and so did the note on the lecture hall door.
She was sure it was the man who had melted in her arms making the most delicious sounds a male throat could produce.
Had he recognised her?
Unlikely.
At the time of the simulation session, she didn’t have a camera that could pick up her facial features but just to be on the safe side, she decided to go by “G” in his class. There were bound to be lots of people with a name starting with a G, right? What would be the odds it was this particular newcomer that Q had tested that would end up in his class?
The man finally lifted his eyes at the audience and a gentle smile momentarily graced his features before disappearing as if he didn’t see someone he’d expected to.
The holoboard on the wall behind him obediently lit up following his nonchalant gesture. Gentry found it annoying that one needed a pair of special glasses to see all the augmented reality stuff and really navigate the city but again, with Sereen’s help she had more or less gotten used to it in the couple of days she had to deal with the necessities like settling down, getting food and finding her way around Ashtapada.
Still, could they use a piece of chalk or, at least, a marker to write on the board? No need to show off your Fully Automated Luxury Space Communism tech just to write a couple of notes on the board!
On second thought, high-tech-crazy or not, if this city brought up men like this one, she would definitely do her best to stay here to… reap the benefits!
They took a desk next to a huge clear floor-to-ceiling window that overlooked the winter garden.
“Professor Q seems a little distracted today,” Sereen said, swiftly tapping a couple of buttons on G’s wrist to show her how to confirm that she was attending the lecture. “He’s usually much more chatty and friendly. I wonder what got into him.”
“Is he?” Gentry responded with an artificial air of indifference. “I just hope he’s more open to a discussion than that Poe guy.”
“He is! And Professor Poe isn’t that bad,” Sereen reprimanded before chuckling a little — since his little secret became known to students, he became known as Holopoe. “Just wait and see, it’s gonna be a blast. Q’s lectures are always very engaging.”
It proved to be utter bullshit.
After fiddling with the symbols on the interactive screen for ten minutes into the class, students getting more and more agitated behind his back, the lecturer seemed to give up. Turning back to the audience, he absentmindedly nodded to a couple of people in the lecture hall and sighed with a painfully fake smile.
“For today’s class, we are going to need to read a certain extract from a book,” he said, tone apologetic for some reason, but it solidified G’s conviction that she already knew this person. “I’ve just sent it to each of your wristcomms. We’ll have some quiet time and read it by ourselves, alright?”
“Reading from the comm?” Sereen mumbled to herself. “Couldn’t he just print them out?”
The rest of the students’ grumbles showed that they shared her disappointment. Q could only hopelessly smile again before returning to his work on the board.
Reading from the little semi-transparent screens was indeed torture. Quickly giving up on trying to awkwardly use gestures for scrolling through the text, she looked out of the window to entertain herself with the garden outside. From the modest height they were sitting at, the people below were quite discernible, partly hidden by the greenery, spread here and there in small groups and pairs. Gentry longed to be there, too. What was the use of being here with the most attractive person in the whole world if the only thing she could see was his back?
Well, the back didn’t look half bad, if she was honest, and what was below also pleased the eye.
But still. It would soon bore even the most easily entertained.
Her gaze fell to a small clearing where a lone male figure was sitting, writing something in a notebook. By the looks of it, the notebook was a real paper-made thing without the bells and whistles usual for Ashtapada. The next thing G noticed was a pair of slender legs, barefoot, stretched to dip the toes into the clear water of the artificial stream.
God bless the urban designers of this place!
The figure lifted the head and in an inconceivably graceful motion, swung the long blond bangs away from the face.
G straightened her back. Was it... Ok, maybe Q was the most handsome man she’d seen in her life but this... This was the younger boy she’d noticed a couple of days back, the one in a plaid skirt, shamelessly flirting with everyone within reach. Today, he wasn’t wearing one but the blue jeans hugging his thighs, rolled up almost to the knees, presented a picture just as tantalizing. Even with the hair was a completely different colour, even though the half-up, half-down style kept his face hidden, she was absolutely certain it was the same person.
Just you wait, young beauty, as soon as this “lecture” was over, your princess in shining armour was coming to pick you up!
Suddenly snapping out of the dull weariness, she turned on the auglasses S helped her obtain earlier and tapped away on her comm screen.
What a chance to give the local text sharing feature a go!
“The garden is pretty, but with a blossom like you, it is truly breathtaking. I wonder if anyone has picked this sweet flower or if anyone dares to,” she typed a cheesy note and folded the message into a neat 3D figurine of an origami paper crane with her fingers in the air.
Was S watching? Screw it, even if she was, she couldn’t read the message with her glasses off, right?
Carefully aiming the device at the lone figure, she launched the crane downwards, and it fluttered like a weightless butterfly in spirals, through the glass and right into the young man’s lap, not disturbing the notebook pages. He started at first at the intrusion but then turned his own glasses on and unfolded the message. A shy smile appeared on his plump lips, and he looked flattered, turning his head around to see if the sender was in sight. Catching no one, he typed something below the initial message and deftly folded it back into a crane that, to G’s surprise, flew directly at her, in uneven spirals along the wall. The man traced it with a smile, propping himself back on his arms, his whole slim body and face on full display now.
God, was he good-looking.
Easily passing the physical border of the glass again, the crane crashed into Gentry’s wristcomm, dutifully delivering the message and betraying her tactical position at the same time. An amused kind of surprise showed on the young man’s face and he waved at her to show that she had been exposed. She waved back, trying to look nonchalant but probably failing miserably.
Very smooth, G, way to go.
The message read, “Is a flower only good for looking at? Not this one.”
Oooh, this boy was playing with fire!
“Hey, G,” Sereen nudged. “Have you finished reading?”
“Mm? Oh, yeah.” Gentry lied easily. She had skimmed the first couple of paragraphs and was sure she’d be able to come up with something if asked.
“Done everybody?” the deep gentle voice called from the holoboard and G’s attention snapped back to the dignified face.
The class murmured affirmatively.
“I’m sorry today’s lecture isn’t as fun as usual,” he admitted. “I must say I’m still unsure how to approach such complex topic as this one. But with your help, I hope we’ll figure it out.”
Everyone seemed to perk up.
“You just read an extract on paradoxes,” Q went on. “And you might be wondering why we are raising a philosophical topic on a rational thinking course.”
“There you go,” Sereen whispered. “He’s back to normal!”
G humphed. This did seem interesting. Was it a good idea to read the extract after all?
Q continued, “In the text, you might have encountered the definition of a paradox. Would anyone explain it with their own words?”
A raised hand and the lecturer’s nod brought some courageous soul to their feet.
“It’s when you start with the correct premises, use consistent logic but wind up with an impossible conclusion,” they said. “There are three types: falsidical, veridical and antimony-type, which are...”
“Correct,” Q smiled and nodded the person back down. It was a smile worth starting a thousand wars over.
“Now there’s a reason why I asked you to read about them. Why do you think people have been fascinated with paradoxes for such a long time?”
S raised her hand and received a kind invitation.
“I might be wrong,” she said. “But it seems that they point at the limitations of our thinking, things that seem rational but in fact aren’t. We feel that with our all-conquering logic we can solve any puzzle but it’s not always the case. Right?”
“This is very insightful,” the teacher confirmed. “It is believed by many that what’s rational is true and therefore what rationality cannot explain must be false.”
“I definitely know someone who would die on that hill,” Gentry grumbled under her breath.
“I’m sorry?” Q asked. “Is there something you wanted to add... sorry, I don’t know your name?”
Still half mad with professor Poe, Gentry stood up. “It’s G, I’m a Newcomer. I was saying how a human mind can fool itself into thinking it knows what it looks at as long as it makes sense. But in reality, it’s not there, like the sky.”
That was the only thing she remembered from that last lecture! She felt the tips of her ears heat up but the kind and considering look on Q’s face showed her gamble paid off.
“These are very insightful observations, G, why don’t we try exploring them together?” — he waived her to sit down and turned back to the class — “Five minutes to discuss how paradoxes might reveal the weaknesses of rational thinking. Send your answers to the board when you’re done.”
“Whoa, daring as usual,” Sereen smiled. “I knew you’d enjoy his class.”
“Now, consider these two questions,” Q said to another student who stood up at his hand wave. “If an unstoppable force meets an indestructible object, what is going to happen?”
The person seemed to contemplate it for a while and the teacher didn’t rush him.
“Isn’t it one of those which are impossible to solve because the existence of the one automatically disproves the existence of the other?”
Q nodded, “Correct. The second one about the barber in a small town is of the same sort. Sereen?”
S stood up too, “The one that shaves all and only men that don’t shave themselves?”
“Yes,” he confirmed. “At first, a premise like this seems perfectly reasonable, doesn’t it?”
“It does,” S responded, somewhat rashly. “But it’s clear that a barber like this cannot exist.”
“Wait, really?” Gentry whispered as Q nodded in satisfaction and urged her friend to go on.
“Yes, if we ask ourselves if this barber shaves himself. If he doesn’t, then he is part of the group which he does shave that do not shave themselves, but if he is in this group, then he does shave himself which makes it impossible for him to be this barber by definition.”
While the rest of the class was catching up with the logic, Q’s smile got only wider, more inviting.
“What does it tell us about the nature of the premise then?” he asked.
“That although it seems that it sounds logical on the surface, it is in fact nonsense and we don’t even need to hear the rest of the riddle to discard it completely,” S concluded.
The man chuckled.
“Well, I wouldn’t be that brash, to be honest, but on balance, you’re right,” he said. “If you stay after the lecture, I might recommend a couple of books on the topic. Your Newcomer friend is welcome to stay, too.”
G put up the best of the aloof fronts, “I’d be happy to, Professor.”
“Q is fine,” he smiled again and went on addressing the rest of the class that immediately exploded into a heated discussion.
***
“Basically, what I think we’re supposed to learn from this,” S concluded after a while, standing up so that everyone could hear her. “Is that before applying rationality, we have to make sure that all the premises we are dealing with are in fact realistic. Otherwise, there is no way rational thinking will help us.”
“Excellently put, as always,” Q applauded. “I’d love to see if everyone agrees or has something else to add to the discussion but our time is up. Feel free to write me a letter with your reflections on the topic.”
As interesting as the class was, the urge to leave the premises as soon as the teacher dismissed everyone seemed to be universal and applicable even to the Ashtapadans.
“I have to go now,” Sereen said. “Text you later, ok?” And with a reciprocal nod to Q, disappeared in the doors, joining the rest of the students.
Sadly, she couldn’t recall what they were talking about after the lecture, nor what titles Professor recommended for some home reading. She just hoped she didn’t make a fool of herself.
What Gentry did remember though was that after Q left as well and she came up to the panoramic window, Sereen and the mysterious flower boy were leaving the garden together. And it was hard not to notice that her new friend took off her wristcomm before they took off, and hid it in the tall grass.

This is a rundown of the predominant intelligent races on my fantasy version of Saturn, which is a sword-and-sorcery world loosely based on Classical mythology. Your feedback is greatly appreciated!
Aranians are the oldest of Saturn’s intelligent races. Like their kin the Arthropoids, they are entomons, with multi-jointed legs and semi-flexible exoskeletons. Unlike the Arthropoids, they are only slightly humanoid. Their lower bodies are spider-like, with eight legs and large abdomens, while their upper bodies are more humanoid, although they have six arms and numerous eyes. Once long ago, they boasted a planet-spanning civilization; they were the first to develop philosophy and art, mathematics and astrology, architecture and literature. But in the apocalypse of the Day of Wrath, their civilization was annihilated, and today, the descendants of those ancient Aranians have largely forgotten about the glories of their once-proud people. Many Aranians, such as the Slavars, live nomadic existences, although a few settled Aranian nations, such as Anansazi and Ctenizan, still exist.
{Classical Mythology equivalent: Centaurs}
Arthropoids are entomons, insect-like creatures with semi-flexible exoskeletons, but are far more humanoid than their Aranian cousins. Most are of human height, with two legs and four arms, but a few are smaller, such as the ant-like Marwari, who stand roughly four feet tall, or the flea-like Zaoi, who are usually less than three feet in height. Most Arthropoids have wings, which allow them to fly thanks to their irridescent membranes, membranes which manipulate colour and permit flight despite the Arthropoids’ weight. Unlike the Dendryads, the Arthropoids are not a single species, but rather a collection of many species that are not capable of interbreeding. A wide variety of nations have been founded by the Arthropoids—the expansive empire of Marwar, the reclusive land of Aed, the militaristic Vazhka—and in a few places, mainly Naranj and Merinj, they live in harmony with the Dendryads. In the main, however, a state of war usually exists between the Dendryads and the Arthropoids, as the two “superraces” compete for control of Saturn.
{Classical Mythology equivalent: Myrmidons, Amazons}
Although Dendryads appear to be plants, they are not. They are instead phyta, a kingdom of organisms that split off from plants roughly 400 million years ago. Humanoid, like almost all creatures native to Saturn the Dendryads have six limbs, four arms and two legs. Unlike the Arthropoids, the Dendryads are a single species, although with astonishing diversity; their subraces are capable of interbreeding, but this usually requires divine intervention. Most races of Dendryads are sequential hermaphrodites: they change from male to female or female to male periodically throughout their lives. Over the millennia, the Dendryads have spread out across the surface of Saturn, forming mighty kingdoms and vast empires. Today, most Dendryads would assert that, even if their own nation is not particularly powerful, the greatest and most puissant of Saturn’s civilizations are still Dendryad. The most notable of these is Aquarium, the Golden City, the Light of the World, the last remnant of the Anthemite Empire and defender of civilization since Anthem’s fall ten thousand years ago. Other Dendryad kingdoms of note are Naranj and Merinj, Dzjanggakh, Mora, and Qoq. With the fall of Anthem, though, the Dendryad position is threatened by rising powers, most of which are either Arthropoid or Mykobold in ethnicity. On multiple fronts, the Aquarine Empire is challenged: by its ancient enemy Marwar, by the new and dynamic Swarm of the Azzuzzazi, by invading Slavars. Only time will tell if Aquarium can withstand this onslaught of “barbarians”.
{Classical Mythology equivalent: Dryads}
Mykobolds are the fungal equivalent of Dendryads. Shorter than the Dendryads, they prefer dark and moist regions of Saturn, such as deep caves, swamps, and the undergrowth of many of Saturn’s forests. This often brings them into contact with the te’Ythul (see below), often at the Mykobolds’ cost. Their relations with the other races of Saturn vary significantly depending on the tribe of Mykobolds and the counterparty: the Russulkas or Redcaps are mischievous bordering on murderous, the Troggoths of the subterranean empire of Troggoroth are insane cultists, the Kuba are peaceful shamans, the Lichens are undead necromancers who possess the rotting bodies of other races, the Gomphlins are friendly but isolationist, the Thallids have an ancient but proud scholarly tradition, and so forth. Recently, many tribes of Mykobolds have begun migrating from their traditional strongholds into the vacuum left by the decaying eastern half of the Anthemite Empire, creating new petty kingdoms for themselves and occasionally finding themselves as the ruling class over Dendryads. This has led to tension between the two ethnicities.
{Classical Mythology equivalent: Troglodytae}
The Coral Brains are not, strictly speaking, a race in the same way as the others. They are, instead, vast colonies of polyps that function as enormous neural networks. Once a single supercomputer that covered much of the surface of Saturn, the coral was shattered during the Day of Wrath and many fragments were ejected into Saturn’s atmosphere and beyond. Now the remaining pieces, which range in size from a few dozen meters across to dozens of miles, roam the skies of Saturn, kept aloft by careful channeling of colour which provides an antigravity force. It also fuels their computation. Some of them have seen their surfaces colonized by other races, but those settlers exist on the coral brains only at the brains’ sufferance. For at least a million years, the coral brains have been locked in a secret war with the Shimmering Demons, recruiting from the other races individuals and sometimes entire nations as pawns in their struggle to control Saturn; most notably, both sides have engaged the services of what remains of Anthem’s ceramic legions as foot soldiers.
{Classical Mythology equivalent: Genii Loci}
The te’Ythul, or Spawn of Ythul, are one of the most ancient and mysterious of Saturn’s races. These hulking giants, who can reach heights of thirty feet, are found only in humid and swampy areas, where the water in the air keeps their mucous-covered skins moist. Having arisen from the congealing, rancid blood of the thousand-mile-tall embodiment of primordial chaos Ythul when it spilled from his body on the Day of Wrath, the te’Ythul hid themselves in secret parts of the world, far from the other races towards which they were and are profoundly hostile. Many have become masters of manipulating the obsidian oil, giving them access to arcane and eldritch powers unknown and forbidden to the rest of Saturn’s peoples. A few have even taken to dabbling in anti-colour, a sinister and unholy force of unknown origins. With their dozens of tentacles, they are formidable and terrifying foes for any adventurers who encounter them, whether in the depths of the earth or secreted within foul swamps or roaming the dusk-shrouded undergrowth of Saturn’s rainforests.
{Classical Mythology equivalent: Cyclopes}
Syngnals are the messengers and servants of Phragma, the trickster goddess of magic. These small, seahorse-like creatures flit around, gradually influencing the course of Saturnian history in the direction Phragma would like it to go. Unfortunately for her, they aren’t very good at their jobs. Or maybe they are…
{Classical Mythology equivalent: Hippocampus}
Titanians and Uberonians are humanoids not native to Saturn; instead, they originated on Saturn’s moon Voeba. However, when Voeba was destroyed during the Day of Wrath, its inhabitants were forced to migrate elsewhere, to other moons. One group settled on Titan; the other, after finding their first choice of Hyperion unsuitable, eventually formed a new society on Rhea. Not being native Saturnians, they only have four limbs, rather than the standard six, and they have a higher level of technology than the Saturnians, boasting flying saucers, rocket ships, and rayguns. Since the Day of Wrath, they have been locked in a cold war for control of Saturn’s moons and rings, largely ignoring the planet itself, which they regard as inhabited by primitives. Of the two, the Titanian are marginally more benevolent, although both nations feel perfectly free to abduct Saturnians and probe them, or, in the case of the Uberonians, enslave them for their own amusement. This latter habit is frowned upon by the Titanians, who attempt to enforce what they call the “First Order”, which states that more advanced and sophisticated and, frankly, intelligent races are not supposed to meddle in the affairs of primitives, because primitives, with their primitive planet-bound brains, simply cannot grasp how dangerous even a single piece of Titanian or Uberonian technology can be to a witless primitive. That raygun? Put it down. That com-talker? Put it down. That belt buckle? Put it down! The Titanian Ring Patrol, with its stalwart band of Space Marshals, attempts to enforce the law on a largely lawless Ring system, but even they periodically break the First Order, usually because the Uberonians broke it first or because the primitives had already been exposed to advanced technology or because the captain really didn’t feel like following it.
{Norse Mythology equivalent: Ljósálfar and Dökkálfar}
The Shimmering Demons, like the Titanians and Uberonians, are not native to Saturn. In fact, no one knows where they come from, exactly. What is known is that they don’t seem to be entirely…here. Flickering in and out of perception, they are found throughout Saturn, usually as traders, but what they trade in is…odd. Want wealth? They’re happy to oblige, in exchange for a handful of twigs. Want power? Sure thing; you’ll just need to give them your happiest memory. Want immortality? It only costs a broken sword. Want true love? Not a problem—but you’ll be sacrificing all the messy complexity of a real relationship…which the demons are glad to take off your hands. It’s been noticed that people who deal with them come away from the transaction a little…flatter, somehow; a little more two-dimensional. Those of the demons who aren’t engaged in trade are busy measuring. They measure everything, absolutely everything—from the diameter of that tree to exactly how much of a “hero” you are--and when they aren’t measuring, they’re cataloguing. They catalog everything. Even people. They would classify you as a web-based amateur worldbuilder grade B+ (not to be confused with a web-based amateur worldbuilder grade B++). Would you be interested in being reclassified as a web-based amateur worldbuilder grade A---? They have an installment plan…
{Classical Mythology equivalent: none}