Section 1

1. How do you work?
I'm still a student. I study; I don't work.
**Why do people go to work?**
Some people like to work, others want to be rich, but most people don't want to starve to death. Some are forced to work.
**Are there any parameters that determine whether you can do work or not? What are they?**
No, I need to survive school no matter what happens.
**2. How do you determine the quality of work? How do you determine the quality of a purchase?**
I could say with my grades, but I can study hard and still get a bad grade, so I will say with the amount of pages I did.
**Do you pay any attention to it?**
I pay more attention to my grades than the amount of pages I did.
**3. There is a professional next to you. How do you know they are a professional? How do you evaluate their skill?**
This person is a teacher or someone with very good grades.
**4. If you struggle to do something, how do you fix that?**
If it's important, I find a way or another to fix whatever the problem is. I can use different methods or ways to fix it. If it's not important, I won't put any energy into it.
**Do you know if your performance is better or worse than others?**
I know my weak spots and my strong ones, but I don't really pay attention to others.
**5. How do you measure the success of a job? What standard do you use?**
My grades: high grades = success, and low grades = failure.
**Do you pay attention to it?**
I want to succeed in my school year.
**When should you deviate from this standard?**
When there will be no need for good grades to pass my classes, which sadly never will happen.

Section 2

**1. What is a whole?**
Everything without the details.
**Can you identify its parts?**
Yes.
**Are the parts equivalent to the whole?**
No, by looking into one part you miss the rest and don't get to the solution which is equal to the whole.
**2. What does "logical" mean? What is your understanding?**
Something I can understand with not too much effort and that makes sense.
**Do you think that it correlates with the common view?**
Sometimes logic can correlate with the common view but sometimes not.
**How do you know you are being logical?**
When I'm doing math or when I'm thinking.
**3. What is hierarchy?**
A schema of what is prioritized.
**Give examples of hierarchies.**
The chores you will do before doing other chores.
**Do you need to follow it?**
Yes, you should always follow it because you should always do what is most important, but your hierarchies should be adaptable in every situation because in some situations other things become more important and some things less important.
**Why or why not? Explain how hierarchy is used in a system you are familiar with.**
If I prioritize the schoolwork that's not important over the schoolwork that is important, I get bad results.
**4. What is classification?**
It's the same as categorizing.
**How does classification work?**
The amount of work I have, what is more urgent, and what is harder.
**Why is it needed and where is it applied? Give examples.**
When organizing the work I need to do for school.
**5. Are your ideas consistent? How do you know they are consistent?**
It depends on how strongly I believe in the idea. If I don't believe in it, it's not consistent, but if I do, it will be consistent. I see it when comparing the ideas I believe in with those I don't.
**How do you spot inconsistency in others' ideas?**
With the amount of time it stays in their head. Some people stay with the same idea for years and others forget it the next day.
**1. Can you press people?**
I don't press people.
**What methods do you use? How does it happen?**
It doesn't happen. I use no methods.
**2. How do you get what you want? What do you do if you have to work to get what you want?**
I work the amount of work I think is worth it, not more or less.
**3. How do you deal with opposition? What methods do you use to defend your interests?**
I'm most of the time too tired to deal with it, but if I have my own interests I will try to win.
**4. When do you think it's okay to occupy someone's space?**
Whenever the person consents to it.
**Do you recognize it?**
I don't get this question. If this info is important to know, just ask me about it in the comments in a different way, please. I'd be more than happy to answer it.
**5. Do others think you are a strong-willed person? Do you think you have a strong will?**
Yes, I'm lazy but unwilling to back down on my positions. I'm truly ambitious and determined to achieve them.

Section 4

**1. How do you satisfy your physical senses? What examples can you give? What physical experiences are you drawn to?**
To satisfy my senses, I use materials, food, music, and certain styles/aesthetics. The experience goes much deeper than only my senses; it's about how my whole body feels, the hormones, and the excitement I get from it. I'm drawn to everything that will give me a enjoyable feeling or give dopamine or energy.
**2. How do you find harmony with your environment?**
I don't care about my environment.
**How do you build a harmonious environment?**
i'm not focust on building harmony outside of myself
**What happens if this harmony is disturbed?**
It rarely gets any reaction from me, but if it does, it's me being annoyed by loud sounds or being annoyed. (I can enjoy the silence and balance of harmony as much as I can be bored of it.)
**3. What does comfort mean to you? How do you create it?**
As long as I have no problems on my mind I can be comfortable in any kind of situation. Of course, it is a bonus if my senses are stimulated by pleasant things.
**4. How do you express yourself in your hobbies? How do you engage yourself with those things?**
It's not about me expressing something or myself but more about my body expressing itself. I like doing sports and when I'm doing it I let my body, impulses, and instinct take control. I also like to use my physical energy as school uses a lot of my mental energy. I'm balancing it with physical energy. I don't know how it works, balancing the waste of one energy by wasting more of another energy. I think it's weird but it makes me feel good, so I like it.
**5. Tell us how you'd design any room, house, or office.**
In a way that pleases me aesthetically and styled based on my tastes with materials that are soft but also resistant because I often break things accidentally. I also try not to fill the places too much because I like space and try to design in a way I won't have to clean it that often because I hate cleaning. If we are talking about a workspace, I will make sure it's not too aesthetically pleasing so that I can focus on work. I will make sure that the materials used make work easier. I will probably accidentally go over the budget that I have for the design of the rooms because I can have pretty expensive tastes.
**Do you do it yourself,**
Yes.
**or trust someone else to do it? Why?**
Hell no, I don't have the same style as other people and I like thinking of what I like aesthetically for me and decorating things based on my style. I know nobody will do a greater job at it than me, but I will not refuse assistance for measurement or installation, especially with measurement. I don't like to do it so I prefer other people doing it.

Section 5

**1. Is it acceptable to express emotions in public? Give examples of inappropriate expressions of emotions.**
People should be free to express emotions when or where they want without being judged and in the way they want. But they should know their limits. Not everyone is interested in their emotions and for some people, it's annoying. They shouldn't expect people to react the way they wanted; everyone is free to react the way they want too.
**2. How do you express your emotions? Can you tell how your expressions affect others in a positive or negative way?**
With the way I talk and in my jokes, with my body movement and facial expressions.
**3. Are you able to change your demeanor in order to interact with your environment in a more or less suitable way? How do you determine what is suitable?**
No, I'm too blunt and unaware of my environment.
**4. In what situations do you feel others' feelings?**
People often feel things with an intensity different from mine that I don't have. I can feel bad or happy for people but I can't feel exactly what they feel.
**Can you give examples of when you wanted to improve the mood of others?**
When my friends or family members felt sad I wanted to make them happy.
**5. How do others' emotions affect you?**
Not at all.
**How does your internal emotional state correlate or contrast with what you express?**
No idea. I don't focus that much on my internal emotions but just on those surface ones. I don't think I have emotions that go that deep.

Section 6

**1. How can you tell how much emotional space there is between yourself and others? How can you affect this space?**
I don't focus on that much. People sometimes feel closer to me than I feel to them.
**2. How do you determine how much you like or dislike someone else? How does this affect your relationships?**
I don't really determine how much I like or dislike someone. I just like them or not. I don't question my relationships with people; I just enjoy them or not.
**3. How do you move from a distant relationship to a close one? What are the distinguishing characteristics of a close relationship?**
It's the hard work and patience of the other person that really makes the relationship work.
**4. How do you know that you are a moral person?**
When my intentions are for the best (wanting to help people or do what is just).
**Where do you draw your morality from?**
Religion, family, and what I believe is right and wrong and just.
**Do you believe others should share your beliefs on what's moral? Why?**
No, but we should find a common base to have a society for everyone that is healthy to live in.
**5. Someone you care about is acting distant to you. How do you know when this attitude is a reflection of your relationship?**
I would not notice it and if I do, I will just believe that person needs more time.

Section 7

**1. How can you tell someone has the potential to be a successful person? What qualities make a successful person and why?**
I don't notice people's potential or talents.
**2. Where would you start when looking for a new hobby?**
A new sport.
**How do you find new opportunities and how do you choose which would be best?**
I don't know, probably take whatever I would want to take before me.
**3. How do you interpret the following statement: "Ideas don't need to be feasible in order to be worthwhile." Do you agree or disagree, and why?**
You can just enjoy the idea in your head without the need of it becoming real or realistic.
**4. Describe your thought process when relating the following ideas: swimming, chicken, sciences.**
Swimming: Imagine swimming in an indoor pool.
Chicken: Think of chickens in a farm with their little chicken houses where they eat and lay eggs.
Sciences: Scientists experimenting with chemical substances in a laboratory.
**Do you think that others would draw the same or different connections?**
I don't know.
**5. How would you summarize the qualities that are essential to who you are?**
The ones I have and will help me become successful.
**What kind of potential in you has yet to be actualized and why?**
I don't know yet my full potential, but I'm planning on discovering it.

Section 8

**1. How do people change?**
I don't often notice it.
**Can you describe how various events change people?**
No.
**Can others see those changes?**
I don't know.
**2. How do you feel and experience time? Can time be wasted? How?**
I don't notice time that much but as long as you made progress, I don't believe your time is wasted. In case of no progress, yes, time has been wasted but you can win it back with more progress. Sometimes rest is needed to make that extra progress.
**3. Is there anything that cannot be described with words? What is it?**
Everything that contradicts itself but somewhat still makes sense or works.
**If so, how can we understand what it is if language does not work?**
I'm sure some people understand it but I don't know how.
**4. How do you anticipate events unfolding?**
I don't.
**How can you observe such unfoldments in your environment?**
I don't observe my environment.
**5. In what situations is timing important?**
Yes, but I never have the right timing.
**How do you know the time is right to act?**
I don't know.
**How do you feel about waiting for the right moment?**
I don't like it and I often get distracted doing that. I'm too impatient and have the need for immediate gratification.

I recently got a new job a couple months ago.
I didn’t love my old job because it was a long commute, and I was only working about half the day (maybe less). I feel like I stepped into another role just like it. It pays more, but I work even less.
I’ve been here two months, and, on average, I have about 20 min - 4 hours of work a day.
I’m an admin assistant to three people and they reach out to me for scheduling, but not much else.
I’ve worked with the other admins in the company (it’s a big one) to do some training and I’ve updated some basic things (PowerPoints, spreadsheets, org charts) without being asked. I’m getting glowing reviews from my managers but I don’t do anything!
I’ve asked for more work. I always ask about any projects in my 1:1s with them, but usually they don’t have anything for me. One of them even told me this job has downtime, and I’ve seen my coworker reading at her desk. I will say we do have an odd busy day when an in-person meeting is happening and I’m picking up lunches/setting the rooms up.
I’m hybrid and only in twice a week, but I feel immensely guilty about not doing much. I also feel stuck because I don’t know enough to create work for myself to fill the day. I do personal projects at home, but that feels guilty too. I’m also worried that they’ll eliminate the position because it’s clearly not needed.
The company itself has great benefits and pay and there are rarely any layoffs.
Is this normal? Should I wait and see if the workload increases?

[Chapter 1] ; [Previous Chapter] ; [Discord + Wiki] ; [Patreon]
Chapter 169 – A moment of truth. A moment to lie.
Shida exhaled slowly as she flew in a parallel line along the massive, slowly rotating hull of the Sun. The near true-black surface of the enormous ship loomed ominously next to her, tricking her brain into the impression that it was somehow trying to pull her tiny little hunter into it like a black hole or some shadowy portal. Though obviously, that was just a literal trick of the light.
Activating her frontal thrusters yet again to slow the momentum of her flight, she just barely noticed the movement on the hull next to her as something adjusted to the now slowing movement of her cargo. A moment later, a harpoon much like the one she herself had fired into the lump of molten material that had solidified around the still dutifully pinging black box shot against the precious debris, latching onto it and connecting it to the larger ship.
With the press of a button, Shida's own harpoon then automatically shot off its tip before her hunter reeled in the connecting cable as well as the remaining rod. Almost as soon as she was detached, the Sun's harpoon already began to reel the black box lump in as well.
It admittedly took a bit of time and finesse, but this process was still much easier than trying to somehow land with the barely controllable lump of hull-slag still attached to her ship.
Rubbing a hand over one of her hears, Shida released a mild huff before then firing her engines up again as she adjusted her course to fly around the ship and find her way into the dock.
Once the slightly precarious maneuver of flying through the relatively narrow, rotating tunnel that was her entrance was overcome, the feline turned her hunter onto 'life support' mode as she sat back, since she would have to wait for the atmosphere in the dock to be reinstated before she could even think about getting out.
Suddenly, a comm came in for her, making her ears twitch as she listened up.
“Please move your ship to the corner of the dock and stand by, Lieutenant-Commander,” the voice from her radio informed her briefly. “The dock will be needed for the landing of an urgent shuttle. Atmosphere cannot be reinstated before it has landed.”
Blinking slightly, Shida stared at her console for a moment. Shuttle? Why was there shuttle flying around in a situation like this?
Luckily, it didn't even take a full second before her brain fired up again and she quickly reached for the button to activate her own microphone.
“Copy that,” she said before quickly starting her ship up again, just enough so that she could slowly roll it into the dock's corner. Once there, she activated her microphone again. “Standing by,” she announced before leaning back once again.
She released a long exhale as she stared at the wall that was now right in front of her. And as she sat there with nothing to do but to think while she was surrounded by an airless room, she slowly began to feel that something was wrong.
Not with the situation, no. Even if she still wondered why the hell a shuttle was dicking around out there just after an active combat situation, that wasn't what was irking her. Though, admittedly, she also didn't really know what was. Was it something about herself? Not really. She felt fine.
Though, after a few more moments of being alone with her thoughts, it slowly began to hit her. Why did she feel so fine?
Not that she had expected to be totally broken up by a combat situation, even if it was sudden. She was trained for that much, she sure would hope that she wouldn't let it get to her too much. However, while not being too stressed out was one thing...why wasn't she angrier?
The last few times she had so much as heard about an attack, she had been absolutely livid. Blood-boilingly so. And that didn't even come close to how she had felt when she saw the victims of the attack on the detention center...
But now? She was calm. They had just been attacked out of nowhere. She had been dragged into a sudden battle. So many people, both foe and friend, had died today. And she was sad about that. She felt the remorse about the people who had been killed here. She even felt the aftereffects of pulling the trigger herself down in her stomach. But apart from that? Nothing.
What was different now? Where was that fire? And more importantly...was it good or bad that it was so suddenly gone?
Prooobably something to bring up with Dr. Nasution once she got an opportunity to attend her next session, which would probably be quite soon given current circumstances. It had been a while with everything that was going on, but she figured there was at least a good chance that their 'pleasure cruise' would not be continuing after everything that had occurred.
It seemed that the coreworlds were even more hostile ground than they had imagined.
About a quarter of an hour later, the announced shuttle had finally settled down and all hatches were sealed shut while air was slowly funneled back into the room. It took maybe a minute or two more before a specialized sensor in her ship informed her with a glowing light on her console that the surroundings were once again breathable, meaning she could safely open her hatch.
Pressing the corresponding button, the hatch of her ship sprang open, releasing a slight hiss as the seal was broken and air-exchange with the outside took place for the first time since she had closed it.
Once it was open, Shida could already hear some commotion as a large group of people came immediately flooding into the room as soon as it was safe to do so, and once she had climbed out onto the wing of her ship, she could see that they had come bearing large bags as they hurried towards the shuttle, which was currently in the process of lowering its ramp.
Resisting her urge to stand and stare to see what was going on, Shida climbed off the wing in order to go and properly announce her return.
However, almost as soon as her feet made contact with the dock's floor, she suddenly felt how she was almost taken off her feet by another body crashing into hers, startling her so much that her claws were already coming out as her arms raised to meet her sudden tackler – though a combination of a familiar scent and breathing luckily soothed her nerves long before her aware mind could catch up to who had run into her there.
Instead of sinking their claws in, her hand laid flatly down on James' broad back as her arms wrapped around him to return his sudden hug. As she held him, she could feel that he was quite unsteady on his feet, and she subtly supported him to not loose his footing as they embraced for a long moment.
A bit of a purr started up in her chest as she leaned her head against his. She didn't say anything, worrying that it may come off as mockery if she did, but she could feel that he had been worried about her. And although she obviously didn't like making him worry – especially since she knew how much that stung after having to worry about him way too often recently - she still couldn't deny that she always appreciated getting to feel just how much he cared about her so directly, and a warm feeling spread throughout her as her purr intensified.
Though admittedly, she could've done without the firm kiss he pressed onto her cheek after a moment. Still, she knew that it was an important expression of his care to him, and so she simply closed her eye on the kissed side and endured it for a moment before he finally pulled away.
Looking at his reddened face, she could read right off it that he wanted to say something like 'Don't ever do that again' or anything in that vein, but obviously he also knew that she was just doing her duty, and so he held his tongue.
His mouth opened a bit, presumably to say something else, however the chaotic and from this distance slightly incoherent shouting of the group that had rushed in earlier now meeting with the crew of the shuttle interrupted him, catching both of their attentions as they looked over.
As they did, Shida's eyes widened slightly once she realized what the chaotic scene she was looking at there really was. A stretcher carrying Admiral Krieger was wheeled down the shuttle's ramp, surrounded by medics and doctors working on her on all sides.
Her skin was a ghostly white, far more so than even her usual pale complexion, and fully on display as the remains of her uniform were under her in tattered, cut-open rags, leaving her almost entirely exposed except for her most private area and her right leg, which had been covered with a white sheet. Every other inch of her skin seemingly had to remain free as the medical personnel worked on it from all angles; sticking her with needles or attaching cables, tubes and electrodes to her as she was rolled along. Two blood bags were already dripping fresh life into her at that point, and by the look of things, a third one was soon to follow.
Still, the almost body-horror-esque sight of the doctors trying to preserve her life was by far not the most gruesome one the scene offered. That honor belonged to her uncovered left leg. Or at least...what was left of it...
Shida's ear twitched as her concentration on the scene was briefly interrupted by a soft voice speaking right next to her.
“Mama...” James mumbled aghast, causing Shida's eyes to widen slightly.
It was one of the few words from his native language that the feline actually knew. “Mom”. And hearing it out of James' mouth was an almost bizarre experience. James never called his mother mom or any similar term of endearment. In fact he made it a point not to.
Granted, in this case, it was unlikely that he had consciously made the choice to do it in this case, however the sheer fact that it would slip out of him like this spoke volumes of just how deeply the shock of seeing her in that state reached.
Not that Shida didn't understand, of course. Familial bonds or not, the Admiral was...well, of course they both knew that she wasn't untouchable by any measure. Far from it. She was just a person like anybody else in the end.
However, knowing that she could get hurt and actually seeing it were two very different things, apparently.
In the corner of her vision, she noticed how James suddenly began to move in the direction of the ongoing rescue, and she quickly jolted forwards to stop him, wrapping her arm around him firmly as she held him back from getting in the way of anything.
Luckily, apart from a brief push that only lasted for as long as it took him to realize that he had been stopped, he didn't resist her as she restrained him from approaching any further, and so the both of them just watched as the stretcher was rolled along and ultimately out of the dock.
“That was meant for me...” James mumbled, clearly thinking aloud as he kept staring at the door even after it had closed again.
Immediately, Shida pulled him in firmer, side-hugging him as she pressed her body up to his.
“She wouldn't have traded places with you if you tried to force her,” she assured him while pushing her face against his shoulder. She knew that the relationship of those two was rocky to say the least, however she still knew that much to be true. Whether she was the motherly type or not, if anything, the Admiral was just as stubborn as James was, especially when it came to duty.
James stood frozen for a bit, seemingly not exactly knowing what to do with his feelings in his current state. Shida could only imagine how much ethanol was still flowing through his veins at that time, mixed with a cocktail of all kinds of different hormones and endorphins. With all of this added back-and-forth stress, she couldn't blame him for struggling to hold onto a single thought at that time.
“Oh, James!” a new voice suddenly joined the fray, whipping both of their attentions around yet again as even more bodies emerged from the shuttle, having presumably stood back to make room while the rescue efforts were ongoing.
But now that the coast was clear, so to speak, two familiar large forms came lumbering down the shuttle's ramp.
Moar and Congloarch looked...rattled...to say the least. With Moar, it was understandable. She probably didn't have all too much experience of standing right next to a dying person as every thinkable thing was done to them to keep them alive, so Shida wouldn't have thought twice about it had it just been her.
However, the tonamstrosite was a...different story. His four eyes didn't scan the room or focus on different things at all. All four of them were pointed straight ahead with only very loose seeming focus on the people he was approaching as he walked.
His mouth hung slightly open, and he seemed to push his tongue out just a little bit while the fleshy muscle twitched up in place before settling down again, over and over, making it appear almost as if he was subtly retching.
James' stormy mind seemed to immediately latch onto the the possibility to focus on anything and went right along with a wave of his usual compassion as his eyes fell onto the to giants. This time, Shida didn't hold him back as he hurried in their direction.
“What in chaos' name happened?” he asked once he was just a few steps away from them, though even in his now focused and concerned state you could clearly tell from his gait that he wasn't quite all there.
“Oh James...” Moar repeated, struggling to speak as she shuddered in place where she stood, both of her clawed hands firmly hooked into her long fur as if clinging on for dear life.
Releasing a deep groan, Congloarch shook himself so heavily that a grinding sound came from some of the plates along his body.
“There was an attack,” the large reptile then said the quite obvious before shaking again. “There was...an invasion-” he kept describing before pausing abruptly, turning his head away as his tongue pushed itself up again, causing him to clearly struggle to suppress whatever urge overcame him at that moment.
Shida's ears and tail sank deeply as she watched those two. She could only imagine what could've occurred to have even Congloarch so broken up. And she could see it on James' face that his heart sank just as much, even if less outwards signs clearly showed it.
Slowly, Shida began to walk up to Moar at an even pace. As she did so, she gently nudged James in the direction of the other giant while passing him, knowing that he had the better relationship to the tonamstrosite out of the two of them.
Taking the hint without issue, James walked up to the enormous reptile and placed his hand on the highest part of the man he could reach while Shida leaned up against Moar's plushy leg comfortingly.
“It's alright,” James then said softly, patting his hand against Congloarch's armored skin gently while also leaning his face against the side of the giant's body. “You don't have to talk about it right now. You can take some time.”
The reactions of the two giants were very different, but at the same time equally appreciative of the soothing contact.
Moar leaned down as one of her hands unclenched from her fur to reach for Shida, reciprocating the gentle touch through an innate social drive. Seemingly on instinct, her hand went right for Shida's hair, seemingly seeking the contact with fur since that is what another rafulite would provide, and so the old lady simply petted through Shida's hair in gentle strokes while the feline pressed up against her.
Meanwhile, Congloarch seemed to simply relax in place as James leaned against him, making no effort to initiate any form of contact himself as his eyes slowly closed.
It even went so far that it seemed like he needed to put in a conscious effort to not lay down right then and there, which would've probably been inappropriate in the middle of a dock. In fact, all of this was probably inappropriate for this place, but sometimes what had to be done had to be done.
Still, with James being only somewhat in-commission right now, Shida eventually felt it to be her duty to coax everyone out of the dock once she felt that things had calmed down enough to move so they could continue this at a calmer, more private location, where the two giants could truly focus on processing everything that had happened.
–
A gentle humming filled the air, stirring her awake as light uncomfortably shone through her twitching lids while she struggled back and forth between a conscious and unconscious state.
Though once she finally pushed herself far enough into awareness to gain control over the motion and slowly forced her eyes fully open, even if she still had to squint heavily against the light from above, she glanced around through her blurry vision, instinctively searching for the source of the increasingly familiar sound of the hummed song.
She recognized the melody. It was the 'Ode to strange suns', a very old and very famous song that first emerged back in the early days of Earth's interstellar travel, when traversing light-years to reach another star-system was still a daunting endeavor. It was often sung by those in the primitive ships, often called 'tubes', to give them hope during their bleak journey. A melancholic song about giving up your life just to see what's out there – and one day push your people so far beyond what they had once been.
So far, they hadn't quite reached the lofty goal that the song set for humanity, since it spoke of mapping every star and finding eternity too short and infinity too small for their ambitions. According to the song, the day would come when 'no more strange suns rise'. What an idea that was...
Still, even more so than the song itself, she recognized the soft voice that was humming it, and her heart lifted at the implications of hearing it. She felt soft sheets rustling underneath her head as she slowly turned her face towards the sound, and the corners of her lips slowly lifted into a smile as her eyes, which were gently tearing from the harsh light biting into them so suddenly, fell onto the scene before her.
Nia sat slightly leaned against the headrest of her bed with her eyes closed, the room's white light gently playing over her dark yet soft features as she turned her face in the Admiral's direction while softly swaying her head to the rhythm of her humming, not moving it more than a centimeter with each tilt so her gentle dance wouldn't interfere too much with the work of James' hands. He sat behind her with both hands behind her back, gently holding her hair as he weaved it into long braids with practiced motions. There was a clear 'weakness' to Nia's movements, and the way she sat strongly indicated that she likely lacked the strength to completely hold herself up on her own.
And yet despite that, her humming was cheerful and content as she had her hair braided by her brother. She seemed...at peace.
After simply observing the scene for a few long moments, feeling like she could get lost in the sight if she wasn't careful, Admiral Krieger then tried to push herself up a bit, however the attempt was short-lived as a searing pain shot through her right shoulder as soon as she put any pressure onto that side of her body, forcing her to flop back down almost immediately. And as soon as she did, the pain quickly dissipated into a mellow numbness that was all too familiar to her.
She was on some strong painkillers, she could tell. Therefore, if it still hurt like that when she attempted to move, moving was probably a bad idea. Not that she couldn't have borne the pain if it was necessary, however the sight of her children like that told her that it very clearly wasn't. Whatever other challenges and battles the future may have had in store for them, this was a moment of peace, and she should use it for her recovery while she still could.
Meanwhile, her movement and brief hiss of pain had naturally not gone unnoticed. Once her eyes were no longer closed from the brief jolt of pain, she saw that Nia's eyes had now also opened. Her humming had stopped as the sweet girl's face lit up upon noticing that the Admiral was truly awake and had not just shifted around in her sleep.
“James!” she exclaimed, trying to move so suddenly that she accidentally pulled on her own hair that was still firmly in her brother's grasp, before he could react and adjust to her movements. Uncaring about the brief discomfort that surely caused, Nia excitedly lifted her hand to point at the Admiral, however James already had a knowing look on his face.
“I saw,” he replied, clearly far less focused on the braiding process than his demeanor would indicate from the outside. He quickly finished up the in-process braid between his fingers and fixated it with a small, golden, tube-shaped clasp before letting go of Nia's hair, thus allowing her to freely move her head around again.
Nia then looked over at her while James slowly stood up and moved to the corner of the room.
“How are you feeling, Sophia?” Nia asked in a gentle tone that did nothing to hide her happiness, her eyes gleaming slightly in the light as tears began to well up within them.
The Admiral released a long exhale as she settled into the sheets, though her eyes never left Nia's face – apart from a very brief moment of them following James to see where he was going. Nia looked slightly messy with her hair half-braided and the light-blue gown she wore all crumpled up, however just like her earlier humming, that messiness had a certain peace to it that allowed the Admiral to relax.
“Just how I look, I suspect,” she replied, the smile on her face returning. “I'm glad to see you awake again.”
“Hey, that's my line!” Nia jokingly complained with a mild chuckle that audibly got very close to shifting into a soft sob at one point.
At this point, James had returned from the corner of the room, walking up to the side of Nia's bed opposite to the one he had been sitting at previously. And with him, he had brought a large wheelchair.
Briefly, he turned his head towards his mother, the look on his face rather unreadable. For a moment, his mouth twitched, and it seemed like he wanted to say something. However ultimately, he pulled his gaze away again before anything was said.
Without complaint, Nia allowed her brother to lift her out of the bed and into the wheelchair, before he slowly pushed her over to the side of the Admiral's bed.
Almost immediately once she was within reach, Nia's hand found hers, holding it gently while James was once again on the move, this time towards a bedside-drawer that stood in between both of their beds.
Opening it, he briefly rummaged through it before pulling out an arrangement of small items, with which he then sat down next to the Admiral as well.
Leaning down, he gently reached for her face in a gesture that could've been mistaken for tenderness, had his fingers not reached to pull her lids open a bit with gentle force right before he shone a bright light directly into her eyes. Despite the uncomfortable nature of the action, Admiral Krieger didn't resist it in any way, physically or otherwise.
After he had ensured her pupils worked properly, James then gently grabbed her by her chin and moved her face around so that she looked straight 'ahead', which in this case meant right up to the ceiling while he got up a bit to loom over her.
“Aaaaaah,” he then ordered while holding a clear, plastic tongue-suppressor close to her mouth.
Following the order without hesitation, the Admiral opened her mouth widely, though she forewent the actual saying of 'aaah' in the process. Soon enough, her tongue was uncomfortably pushed down by the plastic item while she could see some light leaking out of her mouth in the corner of her vision.
After a brief moment of inspection, the pressure was already relieved and she could close her mouth again as James moved away from her, checking some of the monitors of devices that were attached to his mother in various ways.
The Admiral couldn't help but gently chuckle at the professionalism he clearly very deliberately employed as he dealt with her waking up. It was a nice act, however, she was smart enough to know that, since he didn't call anyone in to do it, he likely had asked to conduct these precautionary examinations himself instead of calling a doctor in for it, likely promising to call in someone more professional than himself should he find anything actually worrying.
But, based on his reactions, it seemed like everything was in working order. At least the vitals she could see on the monitors herself certainly were. Not exactly 'healthy', of course, but also not directly concerning for someone who had just gone through the wringer like she had.
Or, well...she didn't quite know how 'just' it had been. She was admittedly a bit too groggy to fully remember the exact date and time during which the attack leaving her injured had taken place, which meant even the clock on the wall was of very little help with determining just how long she had been out for.
“Do you feel anything strange?” James asked her, pulling her out of her thoughts. “Any pain? Nausea? Discomfort?”
Krieger shook her head.
“Nothing, apart from being high as a kite,” she replied before briefly glancing down at herself. Her body was almost completely covered by a white sheet, so she couldn't exactly see anything. However, she knew what was underneath. “Though I'm sure my leg would be in a lot of pain if I could actually feel it.”
In the corner of her vision, she both saw and felt Nia flinch as she was still holding her hand, her face darkening a little.
James' expression also seemed to turn more serious after her jokingly said words, betraying his usually not horrible pokerface.
Slowly, she released a long breath.
“It's gone, isn't it?” she suspected immediately. Not surprising after the state her leg had been in when she last saw it.
Nia's face just turned even more glum at that, however James sighed and nodded.
“Most of it, yes,” he replied honestly, knowing her well enough to cut any sort of bullshit. “Though you will be glad to hear that your usual 'precautions' worked without a hitch. Your body accepted the prosthesis and you should be able to walk again almost immediately.”
She smiled.
“I always told you, it pays to be prepared,” she said, lifting her unoccupied arm with a finger playfully raised in lecture. Though then, she moved her gaze over to Nia, reaching her already raised arm over to Nia's head and pulling her in a bit closer before gently caressing her cheek. “Come on, why the frown?” she asked, giving a gentle smile. “You heard what he said, I'll be good as new.”
A returning smile fought itself through Nia's tears at the caress, and she nodded meekly – before then suddenly throwing herself forwards, out of the wheelchair and onto the Admiral in a brazen embrace.
A sharp pain once again shot through the Admiral's shoulder as another body suddenly pressed down onto hers, however this time she did not care a single bit as she moved her arms around her daughter and gently petted along her back while Nia clearly did her absolute best to suppress the quiet sobs leaving her. Meanwhile James stood next to it all with a stoic expression, only his eyes betraying the obvious compassion he felt for his sister's happiness.
Once the embrace was enjoyed and a few soft words were exchanged, he aided Nia in getting back into the wheelchair wordlessly.
And the Admiral didn't need him to say anything. The mere fact that he had decided to be here told her more than enough – even if he would likely say that he was here to visit Nia when he would be asked about it.
A few moments later, the door to the room opened, with two new people entering in a visible hurry. Though, despite their haste, both Tuya and Shida froze when they fully processed the scene they had barged into, with neither of them seemingly knowing if they wanted to proceed or not.
Taking the decision off them, the Admiral lifted her hand and waved them closer.
“Come in,” she said invitingly, not at all opposed to their presence here. Not for nothing, she was more than happy with the partners that her children had found for themselves. She could hardly have wished for better ones.
Still seeming a bit hesitant, the First-Lieutenant and Lieutenant-Commander then continued their motion, even if much slower now.
James and Nia both had pretty unreadable expressions on their faces at this point as they watched their respective partners approach. They all exchanged a long gaze with each other, which clearly told her children something that she wasn't quite privy to yet.
James was finally the one to break the silence.
“What brilliant timing,” he sighed a bit as he turned around, quickly grabbing a remote from a nearby nightstand. With it, he turned up the volume of a running but up until now muted screen that the Admiral had only been tangentially aware of so far.
Though now that everyone's attention seemed to be pulled towards it, she didn't need to be a genius to realize that something important was being broadcast there. And so she got quiet and listened, her professional seriousness returning as he fought through her slightly hazy state to not miss a detail, especially so as she saw just who the cameras were pointed towards.
Leaving her enormous head to hang slightly, Apojinorana Audoxya Tua, High-Matriarch of the zodiatos and current Acting-Leader-Supreme of the G.C.S. had taken the stage behind what had to be a house-sized podium, even if it didn't appear like it on screen.
The Admiral suppressed any feelings she had towards that vile woman as she concentrated on listening to her words.
They had seemingly missed the beginning of the conference they were not tuning into, so hopefully they hadn't missed anything important.
“...firm the attack. One of the current Nahfmir-Durrehefren, previously known as Melvolhorron, used his command over several of our ships and the loyalty of crews that had been radicalized by the ongoing galactic tensions -both zodiatos and coluyvoree- to mount the attack. No outside influence on his actions from any third-party outside of the zodiatos territories has been indicated during the investigations. The black box that was discovered by the human forces and handed over to galactic investigations in full accordance to communal law and without any resistance brought some additional light to his motivations. Among the usual logs and data you would expect to find, it also contained a seemingly deliberately saved...letter of devotion to...none other than my own person. It seems that this...tragic event turned heinous crime was something that he saw as his best chance to advance his position to that of the true Durrehefren. He seemed to believe that my devotion and favor could be gained through a decisive strike against the humans, whom he believed I hated deeply – along with all other deathworlders, it appears. It also appears that he believed this hate would go far enough that I would approve of any methods to achieve this strike against them – even an attack on not only another coreworld, but one of our oldest and most loyal allies. It's-” she cut of briefly, releasing a distressed trumpeting sound before reaching her trunk up to run its ends over her many dark eyes. “It is, of course, hard for me. Not only to have such a crime committed ostensibly in my name, but also that this seems to be an image that I have imprinted onto my people. An image of hate and discord that has radicalized them to the point that they would stoop to such levels simply to see the 'opposition' suffer. And while it is no secret that the humans have been at odds with me, I would never approve of such a heinous attack, not only because...friends of mine...were lost in it, too. And I am not free of blame. I see now that I was so focused on sternly defending us from the accusations posed against us, that I entirely forgot to also show the compassion that is so necessary at a time like this. And I want to apologize for this. Deeply. Even as the attack was committed by a blinded individual, the zodiatos will take full responsibility for it. We are willing to pay any required reparations to each of the injured parties involved, and we deeply wish that our ties we have to those harmed can be mended, be they old or new, strong or tattered. We will gladly welcome any diplomatic outreach from the injured parties as well as all others who are concerned in hopes to not only aid in the recovery of our alliances, but also in the healing of our very own souls as we will take any effort we can to move away from the hate that has caused this tragedy. Our people will not become one of violence and terror, that I swear by all three of my names. And I hope that all others follow that example, so that this tragic event may become a part of our history that will never be repeated. Now more than ever, we need to remind ourselves of the values that this galaxy was built upon. I thank each and every one of you for your attention. Success to you. Prosperity for all. Unity in the community.”

I'm 24 (M) with a HS diploma, I went to college for a year but due to my bad decision making with the school I chose, it became too expensive which forced me to give up school completely. Instead of seeking alternatives for cheaper schools to continue to path to obtain my degree (which is what I thought I wanted at the time) I felt pressured by my parents instead that I needed to work or I was out the house. Once I got the job at 19, I felt like I was doing pretty good with the salary + benefits I got at the time, I was able to live comfortably having that security within my workplace knowing I was a great employee always looking to learn more. Then I turned 20, my parents ended up moving out without me which led me to take over the apartment we once lived in together and have an instant overhead of about $1500/monthly. I was only making around $2300 so it was kind of rough for a few months until I was able to get a roommate for a year or so which allowed me to split costs 60/40 and be complacent, just not "comfortable" to my standards at least. Even with the roommate I felt like it was still hard to save money and be able to get out of the hole I was in after taking over the apartment so I was presented an opportunity to try a different avenue of work which allowed me to make the most money I'd ever make in my life working in Healthcare IT. I took the risk of leaving my job at the time which I was unhappy doing because of all the countless hours, heavy lifting and little to no incentive to grow within the company so I felt like I had to jump ship and risk it for the biscuit to see if this was worth it because I've always loved Tech and Computers growing up so I felt like it was a great opportunity to transition from working in a water treatment plant/warehouse to working in different hospitals/clinics around the world teaching different softwares where I don't have to get myself super dirty or deal with the politics that come with working with a bunch of grumpy old men either. Once I turned 22, I made the jump and found myself getting paid 3-4x what I was back at my old job in a month span and it felt really good, being my age traveling the world all expenses paid, staying at different locations for 3-6 weeks working and experiencing new places and people have really opened my eyes on life and the true value behind it. It was also a big downfall for me since getting paid way more money just meant that I created more problems for myself. My finances were all over the place as I was spending more than I should've on my WANTS and barely focusing on my NEEDS. This found me in a lot of bad situations at different times, especially from the point when I switched careers, my roommate left me and I couldn't find no one to fill the apartment that could be trustworthy enough with my work scheduling and traveling so much, I felt like I was able to handle everything that came with this transition, so I took on the challenge of being independent to keep up with my image of a responsible young man to my peers but behind the scenes I was the opposite of that. A lot of my bills were late due to me just HATING paying for my needs and it was hard for me to understand that at the time because I was so focused on living in the moment with a mentality of "I'll figure it out whenever it happens" so fast forward to the beginning of last year, I get evicted from my apartment from nonpayment... A big eye opener for me as I felt like "that could never be me" and sure enough, it was. I was working as a contractor which means I didn't work all the time but when I did, it paid enough to where I didn't have to. If there was work that came up and I said no, then it was up to me which was my downfall, why would I say no to working if I claimed I wanted more money? I wish I could go back and fix things to be a different person and be disciplined enough to where all that money I made could've been used properly and turn lemons into lemonade, I have nothing to show for those lemons now.
Of course we know we can't change the past so now I feel like with that experience of being so low with nothing to show for it, I have a chip on my shoulder and extra motivation to never feel like that again. As of right now my current situation is me crashing at my brothers place on his couch while he lives with my two nephews and I have a great support system around me where in situations where I feel like I have no one, I can always rely on my family even though I don't like getting help from others, it's just part of my character but I am very grateful to have a support system like them. I still travel for work and get contracts but not as much as I used to. I really would love to get a full-time role so I can have job security rather than waiting around for work to be thrown my way but in today's economy the job market is really terrible. I've had the past 3 years of gaining experience within the Healthcare IT industry that I feel like I should be qualified enough for a lot of entry-level positions that are out there but once again, the job market is terrible so instead of just relying on just that one avenue, I would love to discover more and really focus on changing my life around to really be a better person and get out this shell of who I once was. I'm starting to see how easily distracted I can get with things that are apart of my daily life that provide no benefits to my life currently so I feel like it needs to be put on hold so I can become something. My biggest distractions at this moment are:

• Friends: As much as I love them, I find myself being around them and conversing with them too much for my own good where I'm so worried about helping them and not myself. I need a break to be selfish
• Social Media: Probably the biggest thing for a lot of us young folks but you can't help it sometimes. I've got rid of my pages last year for a whole six months to really get me away from the "false reality" that others live on there and I think I'm ready to do it again if it means focus/concentration. I don't care much for it other than to keep up with current events or sports.
• Women: I find myself building different relationships with different women at different times but somehow it can never work the way I want it to because as a man who enjoys being a provider, how can I give my significant other the life I want when mine is all fucked up? I plan on taking a break from dating because it is selfish to be a burden to anyone.
• Gaming: Something that has been apart of me since I was young, I'm very talented but not talented enough to where I could be gaming professionally. I do feel like if I put more time into it then I could possibly find ways to make money from it whether it be streaming or content but if I'm not making money now then it can wait.
• Smoking: This one is not so big to me since I do smoke but I'm not someone who smokes by myself either, I enjoy smoking in social settings with my friends. It shouldn't be too hard to give up since I only find myself smoking in a group, I just need to stay away from it to allow myself to have a clear mind and build more discipline.

Now with all of that, I look to make a lot of drastic changes before my birthday in December when I turn 25. I use 25 as a turning point because I'm almost halfway to 30 and I feel like by that point in time, I should have a lot more things figured out rather than waiting for it to come to me. I'm hungry and looking to become more proactive with my life and that's why I've come here, I love the mystique of you not knowing who I am exactly so I don't feel as embarrassed from all my shortcomings but why am I so comfortable spilling my life story to you guys? Because I feel like Reddit has a lot of intelligent open-minded individuals who may see a crack in my path and can offer to fill it with concrete. I'm writing this now while I'm at work and I would love to hear the feedback you guys have for me. With all that being said, here's the questions I have for you and myself.

• What can I do to help me change?
• How can I turn words into actions?
• What can I do to stay focused on this new path?
• What books can I read to help me?
• Where should I look for different job opportunities with my experience?
• Any career suggestions you may have for me?
• Can you relate to my experience in any way? If so, how and what age were you when you went through it?
• What resources can I replace social media with to allow me to be informed/stay focused?

Here’s part 4 and the finale of my posts on forgery in the New Testament. Today I’m looking at the letters of James and Jude. These letters seem to be written under the names of Jesus’ brothers, mentioned in Mark 6:4. But were they really by them?
First off is the letter of James, which has some pretty terrific teachings. For example:
“What use is it, my brothers, if a person says he has faith but has no works? Is faith able to save him? If a brother or sister is naked and has no daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and be filled,” without giving them what their bodies need, what use is that? So also faith, if it does not have works, is dead, being by itself.” (James 2:14-17)
Many scholars have noticed that James seems to be opposing Paul at several points. For example, in Galatians Paul writes:
“We know that a person is not justified by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ; so we ourselves have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because no one will be justified by works of the law…. Thus Abraham “believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness.” You see therefore that those who have faith are the children of Abraham.” (Galatians 2:16; 3:6-7)
The author of James says:
“But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from works and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that God is one? You do well: even the demons believe, and they shudder. But do you wish to know, O shallow man, that faith apart from works is barren? Wasn’t Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? You see that faith was working with his works and faith was completed by the works. And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “And Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” And he was called a friend of God. You see that a person is justified by works, and not by faith alone.” (James 2:18-24)
Both James and Paul cite Genesis 15:6 to make their point. Interestingly enough, the letter of James seems to be challenging a misunderstanding of what Paul means by “works of the law,” a misunderstanding that also occurs in Ephesians. When Paul talks about works of the law, he means following Jewish customs- observing the Sabbath, keeping kosher, etc. He doesn’t mean not working to help other people. However, later followers thought that was what he meant and so James writes to counter that view.
So, could James the brother of Jesus have written this? For one, the James of the letter doesn’t claim to be that James but it certainly seems like he wants the reader to believe so, as James was a major figure in the early Jerusalem church. It was accepted into the canon because the early church believed James the brother of Jesus wrote it. But did he?
For one, the letter of James was written in Greek, while James himself was a lower class peasant from Galilee. If he had learned to read, it would’ve been in Hebrew, and he probably didn’t write. He would’ve spoken Aramaic. We also know from Galatians that James was particularly concerned with followers of Jesus keeping Jewish law, and he and Paul had disagreements about it. Those concerns are completely absent from the letter, which is strange if the writer is countering Paul’s views on things.
Next up we have Jude. One of the brothers of Jesus mentioned in Mark 6:4, Jude claims to be written by “Jude, the brother of James.” This is a more clear cut claim of authorship by a brother of Jesus. This book is written in opposition to false teachers in the early Christian community:
“Beloved, …I found it necessary to write to you in order to exhort you to struggle for the faith that was delivered to the saints once and for all. For some people have secretly snuck in who were written about long ago as being subject to this condemnation. They are unholy people who corrupt the grace of our God, changing it into licentiousness, denying our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Jude:3-4)
While this passage certainly is relavent to certain Christians today, could it be written by Jude, the brother of Jesus? Probably not. We don’t know too much about Jude’s position in the early Church, or if he came to believe in Jesus as his brother James did. But the reasons for him not writing this are similar to James- he simply probably could not write and if he could it would not be in highly effective Greek. The author also speaks of “remembering the predictions of the apostles” (Jude:17) as if he is living after their time.
So that concludes this series! I’m hoping to post on more on what I’ve learned from studying the Bible if anyone is interested!

So I've been working on this one for quite some time, running sessions here since November, so I thought I'd finally share with the class. My previous domains have all the highly streamlined into a specific gimmick (or if you're being less generous, one-trick ponies), and I wanted to transition to an episodic style campaign for scheduling and session-planning reasons. So I challenged myself to make something that had a lot of potential in the type of sessions, terrain, and factions. I'm pleased with the result and I have endless fun. Dragonmine dungeons, sea monster hunts, and up to my armpits in murder mysteries (Involving everything from serial killers, forced marriages to sea creatures, finding shipwrecks, and backstreet grafting, and their current conundrum involving medieval compacts and mining rights).
What I have here is the stripped down version, hence the lack of things like a detailed backstory, NPCs, or the factions I'm mentioned. These things all exist, but there's far too much for a random reddit post.

Caergwynt

Domain of cursed bloodlines and stolen flesh
Darklord: Dr James Pugh
Genres: Body horror, cosmic horror
Hallmarks: A cursed piscine populace, dragon-flesh grafting surgery, a seaside town.
Mist Talismans: A preserved dragon’s bladder, A piece of leather with a triple-eye tattoo, a carver’s blade

A thousand years ago the people of Dan-y-Mor bargained with the Deep Ones of Thol’Yth, a bargain that caused their home to sink into the sea and has left a corrupting mark on their bloodline to this day. But times have moved on, and in the seaside tourist town of Caergwynt the people try to throw off the chains of the sea and embrace modernity. Dr James Pugh, master surgeon, alchemist, and prodigal son of Caergwynt, brough home with him the discoveries of Dragon-flesh grafting, and how the power within draconic meat can counteract the curse that afflicts them as they age.

But along with innovations, Pugh has brought twisted ideals of supremacy, callousness, and self-loathing to the town. Behind the pastel painted houses and ice-cream stands, Pugh holds the domain in the grips of his ideology. In Caergwynt both beauty and ugliness are skin deep; horror lies beneath both.

And where are they getting this dragon flesh?

Noteworthy Features

Those familiar with [Domain Name] know these facts:
· The coastal population is cursed by their piscine ancestry. Though they appear human to begin with, they start to warp into fish-like beings as the enter middle-age, until eventually they can’t survive on land.
· Magic and the occult arts aren’t banned in the town, but they pride themselves in their modern thinking, and so both are rare and seen with suspicion. Alchemy is very popular, as is natural philosophy of all kinds, though scientific truth is often clouded in ideological bias.
· Minor surgeries involving dragon flesh is hugely popular in the town, primarily as it staves off the piscine transformation. Draconic virtues such as wealth, independence, and power are idealised, while meekness, poverty, and laziness are seen as the result of oceanic taint.
· The inland parts of the domain are mountainous and sparsely populated, but under the mountains dragons lie hibernating in the hundreds. Through use of industrial quantities of sedatives, mining teams, and the skilled blades of the ‘Carvers’, they remove the flesh of living dragons for sale to surgeons.

Geography and locations

At the heart of the domain lies the town of Caergwynt, for which the domain is named, though it extends well beyond the picturesque town. Coastline stretches to the north and south for 9 miles in each direction. Outside the town much of the coastline is steep cliffs with only occasional cove, until the northern most two miles, which level out into sand dunes and finally to an estuary, the river bisected by the mists.

The domain extends another 13 miles inland to the east, almost immediately rising into rolling mountain ranges worn smooth eons ago by glaciers. Beneath these mountains are rich veins of ore, usually lead, copper, tin, silver, and even gold. Not to mention another, slumbering, treasure. These ridges and valleys are mostly populated by sheep farmers and miners, and their distance from the civilised towns means the old traditions still hold strong. Travellers here are likely to be vexed by the remaining fey spirits, whom they have likely offended by breaking their baffling codes.

Lastly, to the west is 13 miles of sea. Beneath the sea here is the remains of Dan-y-Mor, the lands that were drowned. Legends tell that the dragon Rhodri Efydd drowned these lands to punish the people there for their pact with the Deep Ones, and that it’s the survivors of this event that settled in Caergwynt and established the cursed bloodlines that still dwell there. The ruins are now populated by the Deep Ones, and the seas are treacherous to those who do not pay tribute to them.

Caergwynt town The main settlement and namesake of the domain, Caergwynt town is the seat of James Pugh’s power, and the nexus for his ideas. A rail line connects the town to the wider world through the mists, bringing tourists from far and wide to enjoy its pastel houses, seaside attractions, and healthy sea air. The town has grown incredibly rapidly over the past fifty years, so many of the houses are relatively new, painted brightly, and have plumbing. Wealthier houses often have electricity even, as Pugh idealises technological progress as a means of freeing oneself from the overlords of old.

Along the seafront promenade one can find ice-cream stands, circus acts, and countless sun loungers. Many children paddle in the shallows, under the watchful eyes of the many lifeguards. An impressive pier thrusts out to sea over 600ft, hosting a bar, dancefloor, and bandstand, as well as being decorated by colourful electric lights along its whole length.

On an upward-thrust outcropping of stone overlooking the bay, the ruins of a medieval castle can be found. Though much of the old outer portions are now a pleasant picnic overlook, the ruins themselves act as a façade that conceals the home and workshop of Dr James Pugh, the regal remains cloaking the garish metal construction where Pugh conducts his experiments and surgeries.

Dan-y-Mor Long ago, these lands were cast into the sea for the betrayal of the people here to their own kin: In return for protection against floods, the elders of the town betrothed many of their younger relatives to the Deep Ones. When forced to confront the horror of what they’d done, they refused to repent, and so the dragon Rhodri Efydd flooded the land to try and kill off all those tainted by the deep.

Not only did he fail, but the Deep Ones now occupy the ruins in great numbers, growing their strength and plotting their control over the surface. Led by the high priest Xrilath, ancient human structures have been supplemented by cyclopean temples to unfathomable gods. Here Xrilath experiments in creating mutants for his legions, and plots to spread his insanity to all. His aristocrats constantly feud and war over slaves and territory, and his priests construct monuments to induce storms and curses over the ocean. Unnatural reefs and trenches can come and go under the force of their magic, and shipwrecks are a frequent sight.

To this day, the church bells of Dan-y-Mor can be heard when the sea mists are thick.

Llwyd North along the coastline, as the cliffs finally give way to pebbles and finally a sandy beach, sits the unfortunately named Llwyd. Behind the town lies the only flat terrain of the domain, but it is boggy and brackish and so of little use, without a safe harbour like it’s sibling settlement to nucleate around. Thus, it’s a stretched-out town of a few hundred, composing of only two streets running a mile each in parallel along the beach, with the only high ground occupied by a church and a small railway station.
Like Caergwynt, its populace are doomed to mutate as they age, but away from the most intense of Pugh’s influence, they see themselves as more at peace with their nature. Repulsed by their lack of self-repulsion, Pugh has successfully discredited the town as being run-down and dire, stalling its attempt to draw in tourists as Caergwynt has, despite superficially similar pastel houses and beach attractions. Without cash coming in, most of the town is now stuck in a cycle of dilapidation that makes true Pugh’s slander.
Of the ailing attractions, the most notable it the Abominarium, a fledgling zoo that pivoted to displaying captured cryptids and the occasional escaped carver’s pet when funds for proper zoo animals wasn’t available.

Porthniwl
This town lies at the very south of the domain, a ruined place that was bisected by the mists when they descended and never left. Formerly, it was the template that Caergwynt copied to reinvent itself, but now the ebb and flow of the mists leaves it inhospitable and maddening, populated only by aberrations, Aled Llias-y-mor’s Deep-One splinter faction, and insane pirates. The cultists worship and bargain with otherworldly entities that spawn from the mists, welcoming them as Xrilath’s distant kin.

Cwm Crith
Following the river Crith from its terminus in Caergwynt inland (Or better yet, simply taking the narrow-gauge train with the miners each morning) will eventually lead to Cwm Crith, the upper reaches of the Crith valley. Formerly a loose scattering of shepherds, the valley has become dominated by Pugh’s dragonflesh mines that have poked holes in the mountainside. Leaked poisons, smelting effluent, and the residue of toxic ores has rendered the river a pretty but toxic blue colour, and decimated the agriculture of the valley.
While not the only dragonflesh mining compound in the domain, Cwm Crith is by far the busiest and most profitable. Owned of course by Dr James Pugh, Cwm Crith Mining Company, and its subsidiary the Goldscale Carvers, is an economic powerhouse by the standards of the other businesses in the domain. Along with dragon flesh, the draconic influence that seeps into the rocks has imbued the region with rich veins of ore that facilitates the industry of the domain.

Dr James Pugh

_See biography for full account_
Having left the decrepit town as a teenager, Pugh returned with a surprising supply of cash, a doctorate, and ambitious ideas about how the town should enter the bold new world of industry that was emerging. When he returned with a mysterious supply of money, he quickly set to work rebuilding his hometown to fit his own ideas. Where as the curse of their bloodline was formerly an accepted fact of life in the town, he introduced shame of their heritage along with the pioneering surgeries that could counteract it.

Dr James Pugh's Powers and Dominion
Despite being over seventy years old, Pugh appears to be in excellent health. Tall and lean, it’s clear to anyone meeting him, and confirmed by any who knew him as a youth, that he has always possessed an angular but handsome face, one that has only ever expressed seriousness or coldly simmering rage.
However, while age hasn’t affected him too greatly, his own surgery has: He has reptilian eyes, shimmering gold in the irises, and faint golden flecks in all visible skin. Golden scales can be seen around his neck and hands, though his habitual long-sleeved shirts don’t reveal much else. While most grafting subjects are left with swollen and distorted scars to be covered with heavy layers of make-up, Pugh’s few visible stiches are immaculate.
He always wears well made but not flamboyant clothing, so that it is his body, not attire, that draws the eye. Always practical, he is never seen in anything other than the ideal apparel for the occasion.
Though Pugh’s physical self is as full of hypocrisy as his ideology. Despite every sign of refinement and control, he can only maintain this visage by regular consumption of an expensive dragon-blood potion.

His true form, a consequence of his self-inflicted experiments, is a monstrous brute, with heavy staples holding together draconic and human flesh. These wounds are rife with infections that causes him to ooze pus and blood as he moves. While his hulking asymmetrical frame is strong, he suffers greatly from migraines, and thus his intelligence is drowned out by pain and anger. In a mockery of a dragon’s breath weapon, he can vomit great quantities of phosphorescent acid that ignites on contact with air.

Despite seeming to be bursting at the seams, his constitution is remarkable. He has survived poisoning, blood loss, strangulation, and many of his own experimental procedures beyond any reasonable explanation. Grievous wounds will render him in an apparently dead state for several days, but so far he has always woken back up.
However Pugh doesn’t hold sway over the domain by brute force, for almost none know his true condition. His true power is ideological and economic.
With his stolen money, he made many early investments into the mining sector, paid for the rail line that feeds visitors into the town, is the landlord of many homes in the town, and financed most of the tourist attractions. From this he earns a reliable and steady fortune that frees him up to pursue his research, and gives him leverage over a significant amount of the town as their landlord or employer.

Whilst the domains police are not officially under his command, his generous donations, forensic assistance, and loyal local politicians means that they tend to act in his favour.
And when he needs direct actions take, he has the Goldscale Carvers.
As their owner, he has cultivated a collection of brutal and loyal men who aren’t afraid of dirty work. They are also the unofficial biohazard containment specialists of the domain, so Pugh will gladly invent some hazard the police are ill-suited to handle when he wants things handled by his goons.

If attacked, he can choose to transform into his monstrous true form, but will resist doing so at almost any cost. Instead, he is comfortable in using potions and a dueling pistol, along with some magic that resides in him from all his tampering with dragon’s blood.

Dr James Pugh's Torment
· Xrilath is occupied full time with undermining Pugh’s ideology and trying to engineer his fall from grace. The mad aboleth believes only by bringing Pugh down to his level will they all be free of the mists (He’s not wrong either).
· Pugh relies on the dragonflesh mines to not only make money, but also perpetuate his ideology of grafting. Yet he’s terrified one day a dragon will break loose and take revenge on him for his crimes against them.
· Despite all his talk, Pugh has the most monstrous, most obscene grafts of everyone. By his own preaching, if anyone found out, they’d cast him down for his weakness.

Roleplaying Dr Jame Pugh
Pugh is a man of many dualities, hypocrisy made flesh. He’s the tortured spirit of a man whose self-image and true self are incompatible. Pugh’s motives are a web of his enlightened philosophies and base desires. What welds them together is his determination, an iron rod that glows hot enough to burn but never bends.

Pugh believes that gracious physical form belies a noble mind, and vice versa. And that his surgeries are not simple jobs of stitching and cutting, but a means of balancing out a noble intellect with a suitable body, if said body has been unfairly tainted. He blames failed surgeries and the common madness that comes from them on the result of unworthy recipients trying to claim grander forms than they deserve. He practices phrenology, the pseudoscience of determining character from the shape of one’s skull. He will often offer to undertake a phrenological exam on new acquaintances and prospective clients, and fills in the results with assumptions and what knowledge he has gathered on them so far.

In another brazen display of circular logic, he believes that the taint of the deep ones hides the town’s true draconic ancestry, and that the surgery simply helps it rise to the surface. Yet his own true body is a mockery of his own art, the most gruesome of all his patients is himself, and his grandeur is only a façade.

Most tragically, is that from a young age, Pugh has adored the legends of old. He envies the way that the world used to make sense, that people could earn their place by their qualities, and that larger-than-life characters decided the fate of the world. Yet he’s too astute to be blind to the apathetic randomness of the modern world, where logic and science tell us that nobody is truly important. This manifests in his ideology of great people displaying draconic traits, and sometimes in his more crazed experiments…
For Dr James Pugh does go mad. Sometimes for days at a time, he’ll whip himself into a stupor of narcotics and paranoia, lock himself in his laboratory, and perform experiments that would sicken even himself in the light of day. Mockeries of beast of legends, such as drakes and chimeras, are a common result of this.
Bonds: “I have a lot of work still ahead of me: I must fend of the nefarious Deep Ones, perfect my work of removing their curse, and outs my rivals for this kingdom I have built.”
Ideals: “A man should be strong, unwavering, and bold. What he owns is proof of his power. A graceful visage belies a respectable heart.”
Flaws: “I’m surrounded by enemies at all time! I can’t trust anyone! Paranoid? I’ll show you paranoia!” “I’m terrified of dragons.” “My body and blood are tainted and I’m worried I won’t be able to undo any of it.”
Traits: “Yes I’m the smartest man in the room. Any room. All rooms. I take what I want, and by successfully doing so, I prove that I am right to do so.”

Despite his exhaustive list of flaws, Dr James Pugh is an extremely capable individual. Along with his academic brilliance, he has a keen mind for business, strategy, and social manipulation. He can be charming, though more often opts for an aloof commanding presence. Knowing how durable he’s become, he rarely shows fear.
Pugh will try to befriend anyone who seems well-learned, strong-willed, and bold. He’ll compliment those he believes are following his ideals, but the closer they come to being his ideal man, the more he’ll see them as a rival.


Adventures in Caergwynt
By its design, Caergwynt has a wide variety of locations to explore, and several factions to interact with. The ocean is riddled with the feuding Deep Ones, shipwrecks, and the mutated kin of Caergwynt. Inland is host to fey and ghosts that bedevil the simple farming folk, as well as with dragonflesh mines. Caergwynt town is a hotbed for backstreet surgeries, families torn apart by biology, and the clash of the old ways against the new. And while the domain is modern enough for gunpowder, steam trains, and even the odd electric bulb, the history of a thousand years ago still casts its shadow into the current day.

· A pair of serial killers have been abducting those with dragon grafts ripping out the valued flesh, and selling it on the black market. Can anyone track them down?
· A man driven mad by his grafts has become obsessed with a 30 year old shipwreck, claiming that the sunken treasure aboard is his hoard, and has hired help finding it and taking it from a Deep One noble.
· A valuable item has been hidden in an abandoned mineshaft, but the Goldscale carvers have started using it as a convenient place to farm their carrion crawlers.
· A washed-up sea monster has started an outbreak of a strange disease. Pugh is confident he can create a cure, but needs someone to hunt down a living specimen.
· Sightings of a strange creature have spread around the town. Is it a monster from the ocean, or was it created closer to home. To find out, one would have to race the carvers to find and kill it, lest any evidence disappear.

Greetings from Castle Goring,
Lady C, did you hear the scathing rebuke of Meghan by the First Lady of Nigeria as being a trendsetter and as being part Nigerian? Do you think this was done as a bid to save face with the King or do you think she really was chastising Meghan because she said the beautiful woman of Nigeria should not be “parading around half naked.” Yes, this has been a hot topic in the last few days. Recall I already told you that Meghan’s conduct in Nigeria had gone down like a lead balloon. I understand most woman in Nigeria did not like Meghan’s conduct when she was in Nigeria. Meghan disrespects traditions. She sets out to undermine values. She likes causing trouble. This was a blessing in disguise. Lets see how many other countries welcome Meghan and Harry. I was told the ladies of Nigeria said she dressed like a slut and acted like a whore. Traditional values require modesty. Meghan lit a match with the younger generation. They want to dress more provocatively. The First Lady of Nigeria was giving a speech on how they have to save the younger generation. That is why she brought up Meghan. The First Lady of Nigeria said, “We see the way they dress. We are not having the met gala. The nakedness is everywhere. And the men are well clothed. We do not accept nakedness in our culture. That is not beautiful at all. They do not want to emulate film stars from America. Why did Meghan come here looking for Africa? We do not want to lose who we are.” Meghan was the only person she mentioned. Meghan is the only person who was dressed semi-nude. You could interpret her comments to say that Meghan came to connect with her roots and she should be able to see the Nigerian woman clothed appropriately. In my opinion, she was clearly referring to two groups of women. The woman of Nigeria who dress appropriately and the other women who dress semi-clothed, which is what Meghan was doing. The First Lady of Nigeria is powerful in her own right. She is a Senator and also married to the President. She was clearly sending a message that you do not show up in Nigeria dressed like a B*tch in heat.
Lady C, I can’t help but believe the conspiracy theories about the Princess of Wales. The conspiracy theories are preposterous. They provide content for those who otherwise need to fill their pages. Remember all those conspiracy theories about Princess Charlene of Monacco? She was seen just last weekend and looked very well. I have insight into what Catherine is going through and what she wants. She wants to be left in peace while she battles for her health. We need to leave her with her dignity and self respect. She does not want pity. We need to give her break and give her the time she needs so she can return to work on her own terms. I have been told she has lost a lot of weight and has the terrible side effects of chemotherapy. They are trying to be positive and harmonious as possible. They have three children to consider as well. Meghan is trying to steal the spotlight, but Catherine is only focused on herself and her family. I will not predict how long she will be out.
Lady C, I think King Charles is spineless. He allowed his son and the wife to slither in and foist invisikids on us. If he can’t remove the titles, I am going to become a Republican. I have tried to point out that the King cannot strip Harry’s peerage. If the peerage and Harry’s princely rank cannot be stripped at the same time, it would invite a whole new set of problems. With all the problems going on in the government, I am glad we have a globally respected head of state.
Lady C, The King’s indifference to The Harkle’s BS is working. According to Sun Tzu in “Art of War,” “He will win when he knows when to fight and when not to fight.” This is right. The King will fight his battles only when he knows he will win.
Lady C, in Spare, Harry discussed having his guns fixed on his fathers car from a helicopter. Isn’t this treason? No. Charles wasn’t King yet and it is not treason to imagine a crime. That is stuff straight from Henry VIII time. What Harry really did was show us was a crazy, mad, druggie he is.
Lady C, you said something was going to happen at Easter. The comments you have been giving us are general and uncoordinated. The impression you were giving us is that it would be one event. I am sure we were all expecting some kind of announcement. Yes, I said H&M would get their comeuppance. Another viewer wrote in and said that, “6 years ago, they were globally respected and at the top. Today, they are despised in the UK, maligned around the world, and ostracized. Their charity Archewell is not taking in donations, and Meghan now wants to sell jam. The only thing they have that is positive is Invictus, and with Meghan’s involvement, that is now going down the drain.” Harry and Meghan are self-destructing before our very eyes. Despite the mainstream media turning a blind eye, look at the tear down by the First Lady of Nigeria. And if Meghan is not completely humiliated by this, then Meghan is not even a human being. The reason why people think M&H have not been getting their comeuppance is because there hasn’t been one big knockout. The groundwork has been laid. Some of the groundwork has been laid by my book to ask questions and clear up mysteries. If you want to have answers, I would demand them from the Royal Family. Let them know you demand certain answers. If I misled you to think H&M would receive a total eradication, then I apologize. If you want them eradicated, there must be a groundswell from the public, demanding answers. Call them out on each and every thing. Use your voice on social media. I try to provide you insight, but it is not realistic to expect a cataclysmic event.
Toodles Sinners

Chapter 9
Location: On the Road to the Citadel. Outside Tulla Hold
POV: Orfantal
Tulla Hold is built in a cliffside and is massive. Haral tells Orfantal that Lady Hish is not here, so they don't have to go inside, which is good, because Orfantal's horse would not make the climb. Instead they camp. Orfantal does not share the captain's view of his horse. Orfantal thinks his horse is strong and will take him all the way to Kharkanas. Gripp notices the gate to the hold opening. Orfantal creates another fantasy where he gets kidnapped by bandits, but through cleverness becomes the bandit king until he is betrayed. Breaking him out of his reverie, Gripp tells him there is a highborn in a carriage coming out of the hold. About the same age as Orfantal. When they arrive they bring food and supplies as is the Tulla tradition. The young noble is Sukul Ankhadu, sister of Sharenas. Orfantal asks if she is a hostage like him. Haral tells him lesser families only exchange hostages with their equals. Tulla is of the Greater Families in court. Orfantal thanks Sukul for the food and supplies and she responds that he definitely didn't learn his manners from his grandmother who showed no honor to Urusander's Legion. Orfantal apologizes for his grandmother and Sukul who is touched by his words, says, "Should the need arise in your life for an ally, you may call upon Sukul Ankhadu." She beckons him to join her at a campfire. Orfantal imagines they will be great friends, but vaguely in the future awaits their betrayer.
Orfantal is dismayed that Gripp and the others left the two nobles to their own fire. While in their company he had begun to think there was no difference between them in regards to class. He was one of them. But now the division was obvious and he was reminded of the rules of behavior that made no sense and kept people apart. Sukul asks Orfantal to tell her about himself, saying that she knows about his grandmother and thought their line dried out. She says he must have come from far away. Orfantal knows the story he is supposed to tell when people ask him, but as Sukul is to be his companion he tells her the truth. He says Sandalath is his mother and his father died in the wars saving many famous highborn. Sukul says that Orfantal surely has a different story he's supposed to tell. Orfantal says yes, but that it doesn't make sense. Sukul asks if they are truly friends now. Orfantal nods. Sukul then gives him advice on what to do when he gets to the Citadel. She says he may be lonely as all the adults have very busy lives. He is surprised by this, thinking they would all welcome him warmly as they did his mother. Sukul tells him to seek out Lady Hish Tulla. Sukul will give him a message to give to the lady. Orfantal agrees and asks why she is a guest in Tulla Hold.
She says her sister has taken a wayward path and her mother did not want her to follow. Her mother was friends with Lady Hish from the battlefield and asked her for a favor. Lady Hish had also been on a wayward path, but has since pulled back. Sukul then tells Orfantal, "blood is not the only loyalty in the world. Two spirits, matched of vision, can reach across any divide. Remember that, Orfantal, for on this night such a friendship has begun, between us." She says that Hish Tulla is trying to forge bonds between nobles and officers in Urusander's Legion in order to prevent a civil war.. But that many officers like her sister have no interest in peace. Orfantal says he wishes that Sukul was his sister, Sukul says friends are better and more reliable. She also tells him to make the story he is supposed to tell, the truth in his mind. She makes him promise that he will tell no one else what he has told her. Sukul tells him, "You can create whatever truth you choose. We live long, Orfantal – much longer than the Jheleck, or the Dog- Runners. Live long enough and you will find yourself in the company of other liars, other inventors, and all that they make of their youth shines so bright as to blind the eye. Listen to their tales, and know them for the liars they are – no different from you. No different from any of us." A small voice in his head says that he does not like liars. Lying meant betraying loyalty.
Location: Citadel
POV: Rise Herat
Rise Herat and Legyl Behust, a small girl, are out on a merlon. Rise is telling her not to fall off. She is excited to be this close to the edge. He tells her to look out of the city, but to ignore the industrial section. She wants to see the forest he keeps talking about, but it has receded to a dark line on the horizon. He goes on to compare Kharkanas with a body with it's areas of industry. She doesn't understand him and says, "Cedorpul's a better teacher than you. He makes sense. You don’t." She leaves to play in her room. She is the lone hostage in the Citadel. Cedorpul had ambushed him and made him give her a lesson during his morning ritual. Before he could say no, Cedorpul was gone. Rise Herat is the court historian and attempted to give Legyl a history lesson, but her questions and comments confused him, so he gave up. He knows he's a terrible historian. He prefers sweeping color over obsessive detail and feeling over intense analysis.
He sees the shadow of Mother Dark's indrawn breath. The priestesses believe that she feeds on the light. He laments what must be if Mother Dark becomes absolute. The loss of light. He thinks of Kadaspala. The priestesses say that all who would dwell in the coming darkness would be able to see in it. He knew that would come from sorcery and so would not be free. Cedorpul joins him at the tower. Round face and round body huffing. Someone else comes with him. Cedorpul asks where Legyl is and Rise tells him in her room. He says that Rise has abdicated his responsibilities. Rise responds, just like you did this morning. Endest Silann pushes past Cedorpul to look out over the city. Rise asks what he sees. Endest says it is more what he feels and he feels unburdened. The weight on his shoulders will return when he goes below.
Cedorpul tells Rise that Warlock Resh brings a guest to see Mother Dark. He says that she is from the Vitr. Rise faces Cedorpul surprised by his statement and the man's lack of eyebrows or other facial hair. Cedorpul says they should reach the edge of the forest soon. They wanted to see if they could witness it from the tower. Endest jokes about the proper decorum. Cedorpul doesn't like his irreverence. Endest reminds Cedorpul in which state he found him this morning. Under 3 priestess candidates. He tells Rise that Cedorpul tells them that their prowess in bed must be tested prior to becoming priestesses. He also swears them to secrecy. Cedorpul is mad at Endest for outing him and also tells Rise that Endest doesn't mind taking his cast-offs every night.
POV: Sister Emral Lanear
Sister Emral Lanear is one of two High Priestesses in the court of Mother Dark. She thinks about the illusions they all must keep up. The lesser priestesses around her are gossiping about the visitor. Sister Syntara, the other High Priestess, calls to Sister Emral and tells her it is time. She does not like the young powerful woman. She thinks there is no need for two High Priestesses. The temple they occupied was built as a tribute to the long forgotten god of the Dorssan Ryl. The Yan and Yedan cults were of that time, but she dismissed those as they invented rules of suffering confusing that with faith. Syntara is annoyed that Emral continues to look in her mirror. She has topics to discuss with the other High Priestess. She tells Emral that they must be ready to take advantage of any opportunity. Emral has resisted her at every turn. Syntara says it's not her fault that Emral is old and she's sure Mother Dark only elevated her because she pities her.
Hunn Raal is in the city and Emral had denied his petition for an audience with Mother Dark. Syntara says that was a mistake and tells her about T'riss. Emral says she hasn't denied his petition, only delayed. She wonders aloud at the reasoning for Hunn Raal going to Syntara filling her ear. She surmises that he wishes to use this Azathanai from the Vitr to get a command from Mother Dark to mobilize Urusander's legion and reinstate it's veterans. Emral asks how the highborns will react to a full strength Legion in light of the proposed marriage between Urusander and Mother Dark. Syntara responds that Draconus's response to said marriage is the only thing people are worried about. Emral asks if he will indeed be sacrificed. Even if he is, that would be a short term mollification if Urusander's legion is full strength and holding their swords over the heads of the highborn. She asks Syntara if she would dance for them. This comment hits Syntara as there are rumors of her being a sex worker dancing in alleys in her youth. Emral says that hating Draconus is only a sign of jealousy and that he is granted no power from being Mother Dark's lover.
Location: Outside Kharkanas
POV: Caplo Dreem
The party escorting T'riss to Kharkanas is coming upon the edge of the forest. Previously they had stayed at the Yan monastery. Caplo thinks about how unfortunately he had made Faror Hend his enemy and how he would now have to assault her reputation. He thinks about when he brought T'riss to meet with Mother Sheccanto. Mother Sheccanto asks T'riss is she will be a guest here and T'riss responds how dry it is and it is not befitting a mother. Sheccanto says if she will not be a guest she can go on her way without delay. T'riss says that Mother Sheccanto's faith is empty, but that she likely knows that. She goes on to tell her that there was once a river spirit/god near here. Once they had dug the well and put in a fountain, they had made the god a prisoner. Prisoners die.
Sheccanto observes that T'riss lacks the tact of most Azathanai. T'riss tells her that tact is really just amused condescension. She tells Sheccanto that she is dying and her cult is dying. Sheccanto says of course she's dying and tells Caplo to get her out, but then T'riss accepts and says she will be a guest. She tells them that she thinks Mother Dark has made a grave error in judgment. Then she says she will now go bathe in the fountain. Sheccanto tells Caplo to stay and berates him for letting the bandits kill their children. The cult needs children to stay alive. Caplo was shocked by Mother Sheccanto's admission that of course she was dying. She had been alive for 2,000 years. Amid this reverie, she says, I'm not dead yet staring directly at Caplo. Caplo says he thinks the Vitr damaged T'riss. Mother Sheccanto responds, "Mad she may be, but her power remains, and it is unmitigated by the restraint of reason." She tells him he will be her escort to Mother Dark and to keep his skills at hand. He is an assassin and wonders if it's possible to kill an Azathanai. He also questions whether or not Mother Dark can protect herself. He thinks she surely can. Sheccanto says Mother Dark only trusts one man and he is an outsider who has gone to the Azathanai lands. Her old suspicions are awakened by this.
She goes on to say that while they cannot pierce the veil of mother dark, her spies tell her that Anomander may be able to, so that proves that others might as well. Caplo wonders aloud if he should just kill her here. But she is known to be here, so that would invite the wrath of the wardens. Caplo is doubtful of his ability to kill T'riss in the chamber of night as he has seen Anomander fight and knows he is fast enough to stop Caplo. Mother Sheccanto is fine with the odds and Caplo knowing his low chance of success understands that he may be a sacrifice. Mother Sheccanto tells him to only strike if T'riss intends harm to Mother Dark. They need Mother Dark's gratitude. Caplo's death is worth that gratitude in Sheccanto's eyes. She gives him other tasks to do while in Kharkanas. Caplo joins Resh at the fountain where T'riss swims naked. They philosophize for a long time, then T'riss gets out and asks Caplo, "Your Mother advised against my murder, then? It is well. You would not like my blood on your hands, lieutenant." Caplo denies, but then says they will defend our own. T'riss questions what constitutes 'their own' and that he relies on that ambiguity to justify his killing. She goes on to say, "I believe you are a killer, and that you are both given reasons for the necessity, and assemble in private more of your own, bolstering such justifications as needed." Warlock Resh gagging asks T'riss to restrain her power. T'riss responds that it isn't her. Caplo asks who's power if not hers. T'riss responds, "Your river god was dead. It is dead no longer." Warlock Resh says the god is enraged.
T'riss remained in her room for the next two days as the settlement is plunged into chaos. Mother Sheccanto has lost all control of her body and is confined to her bed. Resh had sent a rider to the Yedan monastery telling Father Skelenal. The thirteen eldest sisters among them had died. In the great well of the ancient god, the water boiled. As T'riss is readying to leave, Resh says he will wait for Father Skelenal to arrive. T'riss says no and that Resh is not needed here. Mother Sheccanto will recover and speak in private with Skelenal. T'riss orders Resh to accompany her. Resh accepts her command, but asks why. T'riss says he needs to witness what will happen. Caplo asks if she is a threat to Mother Dark. T'riss says if she is, there is nothing anyone can do about it, but she says no she is no threat. She says she brings change and how Mother Dark responds is up to her.
While on the way Resh tells Caplo that something is building and that the forest people are free and when they kill the last tree, the last free people of the realm will cease to be. After long discussion of this, T'riss breaks in and says their rituals are meaningless. Once subservience becomes rote, it ceases to be subservient. In any case that is not the relationship the river god wants. It wants comprehension on it's existence. T'riss goes on. You offer your life to the river god, but that's not what the river god wants and it has no idea what to do with your longing, helpless soul. If the god could make you understand something it would be, "the only thing worthy of worship is humility itself." Caplo starts to respond with derision, but Resh gestures him to be silent. Caplo thinks that though he was going to argue, he sees the truth in their predictable behaviors. Resh then exasperatedly asks, "what does our god want of us?" T'riss responds, "he wants you to be free." Caplo is rocked by this revelation. Warlock Resh is brought to tears. "In tears, water runs free."
Location: Citadel
POV: High Priestess Emral Lanear
Emral and Syntara are on their way to see Mother Dark and the way gets progressively darker as they get closer. Emral thinks that there is no beauty in the citadel and the old temple looks a skull with ants trying to escape. The Tiste are the ants. As they get closer Mother Darks presence weighs on them and they must slow down and their breath becomes more shallow. Most of the priestesses and those close to the goddess have developed some ability to see in the dark. Emral is shocked to feel a rain drop fall on her head. The water freezes as it rolls down her face. There was never any rain in the citadel. Alarmed she announces that something is happening. The rain starts to fall harder and the lesser priestesses are panicking. Emral tells them they are dismissed and that the High Priestesses need to speak with Mother Dark. Syntara is mad because Emral doesn't command the procession.
Anomander and his brothers arrive and tell the High Priestesses that the Azathanai is through the gate and that the river is flooding and water streams the streets. He asks for Emral's thoughts. Emral says the Shake. Syntara is looking around confused. Anomander tells Emral that it's unlikely that this is the doing of the Shake. They've never attempted to reclaim the old temple. Emral posits that perhaps they would be allies then. Anomander says they are unreliable, "One thing the worship of a dead god assures, and that is unmitigated freedom for the priesthood" They are off balance now. Emral says if the Shake are nimble they can turn this to their advantage. Anomander says Mother Sheccanto is very ill. Silchas responds that they must look to Warlock Resh then. Emral thinks this shows that Silchas too is very sharp. She tells the brothers that T'riss's escort is Resh and Caplo Dreem. Anomander says that they must think on why Caplo is here. They sniff out that Caplo is there to kill the Azathanai if necessary. Anomander says that he doesn't share Sheccanto's panic. Emral asks if the brothers can stop him. They aren't sure. Caplo is the fastest with a blade that either has seen. Syntara frustratingly says Anomander should then stand between Caplo and T'riss and that they are wasting a lot of time as the group approaches.
Syntara says they must warn Mother Dark. Anomander assures her that Mother Dark already knows and doesn't need anything from them. He goes on, "Sister Syntara, we hens have much to decide here, yet you persist in pecking the ground." Syntara asserts that she is a High Priestess. Anomander verbally eviscerates her, "Your elevation was intended to ease the burden of administration from Sister Emral. Little did Mother Dark realize your venal ambition, and if you think high tits and a damp nest are the surest paths to power, might I refer you to Gallan’s poem, “Trophies of Youth”? Anomander says he will address the Caplo situation. Emral is shocked by Anomander's revelation. She was not aware that Syntara's elevation was to help her. Emral feels a great fondness for all three of the brothers. They remind her of their father whom she loved.
Anomander says they will wait for the Shake party to come to them. Andarist points out that having so many here is a sign of weakness and says he will leave. Silchas says he will join him as his talents are made redundant by Anomander remaining. Silchas suggests that they go find Captain Kellaras who has recently returned to the citadel and enquire about Hust Henarald's answer to Anomander's request. Emral once again contemplates Anomander's competence and attributes it to the same qualities in his father. In the same thought she also hopes that none them have their mother's flaws.
Syntara asks if they will just stand there. Anomander responds that she's not needed and should go seek shelter in Mother Dark's presence. Syntara agrees, but says she won't sink to their level of rudeness. She says she seems to be the only one to understand the position of High Priestess. Anomander responds, "Would that be on your knees, Syntara?" Syntara, enraged, leaves. Emral cautions Anomander that while she is awful, she is not powerless. Anomander agrees that he was unwise, but thinks Syntara's rage will fall on Emral and for that he is sorry.
Location: Streets of Kharkanas
POV: Caplo Dreem
As they move through the streets of Kharkanas they encounter it's citizens in panic. Caplo, Resh, and T'riss stop their mounts in front of the rising water. T'riss says she will walk from here. Resh asks if all of the bridges and stone banks must be destroyed in order for the river to be free. T'riss responds that, "Mother Dark is awakened to its presence. She asserts her domain." The flood is subsiding and T'riss comments on Mother Dark's impressive power. T'riss continues on in the water. Caplo and Resh remain mounted and follow. Caplo looks and sees steam. Mother Dark's power is growing. T'riss wonders why if there is highborn and lowborn why there is no royalty among the Tiste. Caplo says their was, but the queen died on the battlefield trying to find her husband's body. The queen's body was never recovered. She was Mother Dark's half-sister. T'riss asks why she couldn't have just assumed the mantle of Queen. Caplo says it was possible, but that she was deemed unsuitable. Resh says that she was not political. She was idealistic and romantic. T'riss says she thinks the empty throne suits the tiste highborn. Resh says that the throne is now the throne of night and Mother Dark does indeed sit upon it. T'riss asks if she will be sitting on it when they have their audience. Caplo says he has no idea. It's in darkness after all. T'riss guesses that while the queen had no direct descendants that she did have other relations. She correctly guesses that these are Mother Sheccanto and Father Skelenal. She says that they could claim the throne. Resh stops Caplo and asks him why she knows this and why she's bringing it up. He doesn't know, but assures Resh that the age of Kings and Queens is over. For love the queen cast the realm into chaos. The lesson was not lost on the Tiste.
Location: Kharkanas Old Tower
POV: Rise Herat
Rise, Cedorpul and Endest Silann watch as T'riss and her escort walk down the street. Rise wonders if warlock Resh will lay claim to the Old Temple they are watching from as it was an ancient temple to the river god. They watch as Resh and Caplo dismount and continue on with T'riss leaving the other Shake behind. Rise wonders about the nature of Mother Dark's godhood. How it is difficult to worship negation and that if T'riss is in opposition it may help define how they worship their goddess. He also correctly guesses that T'riss is the one in danger at this meeting. Rise challenges Cedorpul's faith and Cedorpul takes Endest and leaves asking Rise to check on the child.
Location: CItadel
POV: High Priestess Emral Lanear
Emral and Anomander await T'riss and her escort. Syntara has gone in to commune with Mother Dark. Emral knows how frustrating that can be as she offers no clear answers. She says that Mother Dark is idealistic and romantic and that probably suits an object of faith and worship. As T'riss approaches a bloom of light does as well. Ice had sheathed the walls and it now cracked. T'riss displays great power. Emral wonders why the Azathanai are not worshipped as gods. Caplo and Resh follow close behind and look uncertain and exhausted. T'riss stops in front of Anomander and says, "Night will claim your skin. Before your eyes, darkness will be revealed. But I will make visible the defiance within you, as a gift." Anomander responds that he asks for no gifts and has no defiance. To Emral T'riss says, "Your sorrow, High Priestess, is lonely, and you are driven to share your truths. I advise against it. Give voice to your secrets and you will be rejected by those for whom you care the most." Anomander tells her if she seeks answers, she may be disappointed. T'riss says, "The Tiste view the Vitr as an enemy, It is no such thing. It exists for itself. It is a sea of possibilities, of potential. It holds life in the manner that blood holds life." Anomander asks if it created her, she says no. He says it is expanding towards Kurald Galain. T'riss responds, "The sea does not dream of you." T'riss says she will see Mother Dark now and moves past Emral. Caplo and Resh make to follow, but Anomander snaps out a hand and pins Caplo to the wall. Emral sees the gleam of a knife in Caplo's hand. Resh shakes his head and it abruptly vanishes. T'riss does not react to this and continues forward. Anomander tells Caplo that no blood is to spilled within the chamber. Caplo says the command is unnecessary. Anomander then addresses Resh and tells him to tell Sheccanto that if she ever sends her Assassin into audience with Mother Dark again, they will spike his head on the wall of the citadel. Resh agrees to relay the message.
From the doorway, T'riss's light vanishes and Syntara stumbles out skin changed to white. When Emral goes to assist her, Syntara declines and calls her a hag. She says she chose her gift and rushes out of the corridor. Resh groans and says, "She's gone." Anomander asks if she was banished. Resh asks if Mother Dark gives him nothing. He says she might, but he doesn't ask. Resh says time twisted in the chamber. It could have been days and that T'riss brought some of the Vitr with her. They didn't know. Anomander asks if it was weapon. Resh says, no it was a gift.
Anomander commands the Shake to stay and takes Emral into the chamber. Emral notices that the darkness is less oppressive to her and that she can now make out details of the chamber. Mother Dark is on the Throne of Night . She is now black-skinned. Anomander asks if Mother Dark is harmed. She responds that she is not. Anomander asks if she sent her away. Mother Dark instead addresses Emral saying she is now the only High Priestess and that Syntara chose to create a schism. It cannot be undone. Anomander asks about the ancient river god being resurrected. Mother Dark responds, "There is peace between us. You see too many enemies, First Son. We are not threatened from without; only from within." Anomander asks what T'riss has done here and how she has changed the darkness. Mother Dark again doesn't respond. She addresses Emral and says that the temple is now sanctified. Emral thinks sanctified by the Vitr? She wonders how Syntara was changed as she thought her faith unassailable. Mother Dark says T'riss was able to see deep into a mortal soul, but doesn't understand tact. She gifted Syntara with something that put her beyond Mother Dark. Mother Dark says that they both now have the ability to see in darkness and everyone who comes before her will receive the blessing. Emral looks to Anomander and sees his black skin, but is shocked at his silver hair. Mother Dark says she is troubled by this and that one day she will tell him of his mother. Anomander says he has no interest and that, "Love cannot survive the absence of memories, and for that woman we have none."
Anomander asks if she will meet with the Shake. Mother Dark says not yet. Anomander shouts, "then name your enemy!". Mother Dark says she has none. She asks him to win the peace for her. Anomander continues to ask about threats and to say that he is a soldier and cannot win peace without war. He asks how Syntara poses a threat. He says the Shake will not take her. Mother Dark says her gift will draw people to her and that they cannot stop it. The schism must be made so it can be healed. Anomander asks, what about Draconus. Mother Dark stills and tells him to leave. Anomander says without him he cannot accomplish his task. She tells him to leave again.
Location: Kharkanas
POV: Hunn Raal
Syntara has come into Hunn Raal's tent. He is shocked by her skin change and asks if Mother Dark had blessed her with new sorcery. Syntara responds that she has been cast out and that T'riss had said she could see in her soul and saw terrible things. She then touched her and did this. She demands sanctuary and says she needs the protection of the legion. He says it's now complicated. She says it wasn't yesterday when he groveled about everything being in place. He says she isn't a High Priestess anymore, so things are different. She asks if he is too drunk to fuck. He says probably. She asks if Urusander will take her.
She asks contemptuously if Hunn Raal will now wage war on the Azathanai. She says that T'riss disappeared as if she open a door in the air itself and Mother Dark recoiled from this power. Hunn Raal sees that Syntara is the same as him and tells her to take this information to Urusander. He tells her exactly what to say. He says she has light within her. She says she will now be a High Priestess of light. She says Liossan and asks who their enemies are. Hunn Raal responds that their enemies are anyone that seeks to hurt Mother Dark. He asks who could challenge this. She responds what about Draconus. He says Draconus uses Mother Dark, so is a threat along with The Deniers, and the brothers and sisters of the Monasteries. Syntara says they will plunge Kurald Galain into Civil War. Hunn Raal says they will prevent one. He says after they purge the realm it will be the end of war and Light will balance out the Dark. She says she wants Emral dead. He says no. Syntara dubs Urusander Father Light. She says she must leave immediately. She tells him his troops must wait now, the Highborn are no longer their enemies. He says he fears it may already be too late. She tells him to make sure it isn't.
Location: On the road to the Citadel
POV: Orfantal
The caravan comes upon some well equipped riders that are definitely not bandits. Haral moves the wagons to the side to allow them to pass. Orfantal notices the equipment of Urusander's legion. He asks Gripp if they are hunting bandits. He begins to say they are Legion. Gripp pinches him and tells him to shut up. Orfantal notices that Gripp is pale. Orfantal twists around to look at the soldiers and Gripp tells him to turn back around and ride on. Orfantal asks what's wrong. Gripp looks for a sign from Haral and sees it when he frowns. Gripp tells Orfantal to listen to him and that the soldiers are coming back. Orfantal asks why and Gripp says because the soldiers shouldn't be here. At least three of them were from disbanded units. He tells him to ride ahead and once he has a straight path to gallop. He says no more questions and don't look back. He slaps the nag's rump and she takes off. Orfantal hears swords being pulled as he runs away. He hears screaming. He presses the horse on and she gallops, but eventually slows.
He hears another horse galloping behind him and fears a knife in the back. The horse rushes past and he sees that it's Haral's but with no rider. It is soaked in blood and gore. He looks back, but is around a corner. He sees two riders emerge and they take off after him. His horse is laboring. Orfantal looks around for a place to hide. He pulls off onto a different path and hears the riders getting closer. He sees their swords are out. He kicks the horse forward and she sinks through the clay into mud. She pushes through. They are half way to the other side when she sinks to her belly and stops. Orfantal now crying sees that the two riders do not dare to follow into the mud. He dismounts and rolls away. The nag had now sunk to her shoulders. He knows she will die and knows that he betrayed her. He's not supposed to be the betrayer. He is able to stay on the crust because he is very light. He makes it across this bog and looks back to see the two riders leaving. He also sees two columns of black smoke and knows that all of his companions are dead. He knew they weren't bandits because they would not fire the wagons. He looks back at his horse. He goes back to her. He puts his arms around her neck and holds tight. The nag puts her cheek against his head and Orfantal weeps. The horse takes her last breath. He is now numb. He knows that the real world doesn't care about his fantasies. That anyone can be a betrayer and that he can trust no one, not even himself.

As many other's I highly anticipated Homeworld 3 as the next entry of the Homeworld franchise, but the experience and gameplay leave me disappointed to a degree where I don't see myself playing this game long-term. The developers really need to take a step back and work on the core gameplay mechanics to deliver an entertaining experience, rather than delivering the DLC content to a soon to be dead game. In a sense the game did not innovate enough to fully realize it's potential and feels like a mod to the earlier games. I miss innovation and long term replay value. I do intend to give constructive feedback with the hopes of the game ending up better for it. A dream would be for the game to embark on a redemption arc and receive major reworking updates this year to be formed into something better, but maybe that's just hopeful thinking.

Campaign

A redeeming quality was the varied mission design. I would have hoped for more missions and mission types (harvest/escort/intercept etc.).
The story was dissatisfying and cringe. I understand that it is a challenge to match the original gravitas of Homeworld 1 with the last of their kind setting aside differences and embarking on a journey to reclaim their homeworld. However, the lore offers near limitless potential to tell more epic stories than the one that was delivered. I take particular issue with the one-dimensional and childish portaial of the antagonist - it's almost offensive to consider that this was settled on.
This Campaign is a done deal and the damage is done, enough has been said about that in other places. I could look past the campaign if there was a great game beyond that, but unfortunately there are a lot of gripes.

Wargames

I see potential in this mode provided some tuning and more variety. I started seeing repetition too early. The difficulty does not appear to scale for solo runs, though. I tried multiple runs but typically got overwhelmed by enemy multiple destoyers while only having strikecraft and frigates. A way to beat wargames solo involves cheesing the capture mechanics on mission 1 to amass captured frigates, along with having the right fleet and relics, and sometimes abusing bomber cloak with passive stance. This is not fun or entertaining. I see this designed for multiple players taking on different roles, but a solo mode should absoultely be viable.

• Wargames needs more varienty and challenge tuning based on the number of players.
• I'd love the ability to pause or control speed when playing solo
• Later maps should allow to hyperspace in battlecruisers

Relic design: There are so many to pick from, and RNG is a problem, especially if it doens't align to your fleet. I'd rather propose pre-defined relic tech trees that you progressively unlock/progress per relic, and you could spec these into distinct 'builds' over the course of missions, and in alignment to your fleet. Fleets could have distinct trees to explore, which would add to replay value, and there could be different relic types that progress different branches.
The relic buffs are extreme, but most also have downsides. A notion is that this having tech trees will allow for more granular balancing and customization, without having to worry about the various relic effects stacking and interacting. It would allow for a more defined progression, and the advancement would benefit the fleet, as the benefit is aligned to its niche.
Generally, information about fleet attributes is a bit lacking. I'd appreciate more information about pros/cons, unit unlocks, unit limits (and tech trees).

Skirmish

Skirmish is not that interesting given the small maps and design of the tech tree. The gameplay is rather chaotic with an emphasis on the earlier tiers. Resources are limited, and matches may not last long enough for capital ships to be relevant.

• More objective-driven gameplay would make it more interesting (holding/fortifying certain postions)
• There could be strategic points with limitless RCU like mining asteroids or megastructure outlets etc. to control
• Symmetrical maps!

Abuse of capture mechanic

This was a thing in the first game where you captured all the beam frigates, but really it's not a good mechanic if it can be cheesed to go beyond the unit limits. In mission 9 I amassed an armada of battle cruisers and steamrolled the later missions with them. Why destroy an enemy battle cruiser if you can easily caputre it?
For wargames this became a means to beat it solo, but really it feels cheap and it's not fun or engaging - the mode should be tuned instead. I'd say a way to limit this would be to prevent ships from launching beyong the unit cap, or to have ships captured ships be dismantled for resources instead when at the limit.

Resources

In campaign mode you basically never have to really worry about resources. You limit your losses and replace the few you have. In wargames you get by, but it isn't viable when using strikecraft fleets.

Controls

I gave the modern controls a go and was ok. At times I struggles to navigate unit movement, especially if sending them in open spaces at different heights. I had to reconfigure many keybindings because e.g. WASD was incompatible with some of the default unit ability keys (D for dock, S for stop). Abilities could be streamlined to fewer keys, especially considering that some are unique to units.

• Modern controls in conjunction with ability keybindings need to be reviewed

Megastructures and mechanics

A key difference with HW3 are map megastructres. These are largely a gimmick because at the end numbers and composition matter more. I find it unfortunate that many of the mechanics aren't actually being used in the game modes:

• No nebulas to use for flanks or hidden approaches
• No asteriods to watch out for
• No spires to control for extended vision in skirmish

In a sense it is a missed opportunity to embed some of these mechanics into the gameplay in a meaningful way. Outside of the mission with limited units and no repairs these mechanics can be largely ignored.

Capital ships - lack of hard points

The fact that capital ships lack hard points and customization is a misgiving. This would have added tactical depth and more interesting mechanics. It is also missing identity for specific ships. I would have hoped for strikecraft to be expendable harassment unit (i.e. drones) fielded by carriers, and ships to be customizable to a degree.

• Motherships/Carriers could be able to be customized with docking bays that field and mantain (without cost, other than time) a squadon of strikecraft - this way a carrier = strikecraft, with a degree on emphasis, depening on whay types of strikecraft you assign for maintenance
• Destoyers should feature modules for additional weapons, or vision upgrades
• Motherships/Carriers should also have options for weapon systems or modules for passive auto-repair
• Motherships/Carriers should feature options for repair beams to repair nearby units
• Modules to extend range of strikecraft
• Modules to customize abilities/superweapons
• A module should be replacable for auto-repairs
• Shield generators?

Strikecraft should in turn excell at taking our hard points to e.g. penetrate and disable shields, take out engines for rotation/movement, cripple repairs or disable strikecarft production. That would create more of a rock/papescissor dynamic between capital/strikecraft/frigate classes.
Carriers and the mothership should be capable of 'short jumps' to reposition over larger distances on the map to setup staging areas (but with a long cooldown and module dependency). This would play particular interesting with nebulas/megastructures/asteriods on maps to hide the position of carriers.

Strikecraft

Outside of spamming strikecraft in some modes they are actually not a good in terms of cost/benefit. Frigates can take out entire squadrons costing less than that squadron collectively cost to build. If you have the option you stop using vulnerable strikecraft and maybe only keep bombers at hand/docked until you need them. In later campaign mission and even in wargames I kept bombers docked until I had a high HP target to use them against. Anything else was dealt with using frigates etc. that can be repaired.
As outlined above I had hoped to see strikecraft squadrons tied to carrier hangar bays and being explicitly expendable, but possibly limited to an operational range within a carrier by a control/fuel mechanic. I also think that strikecraft should have had shields and auto-repair to enable hit & run tactics, while elevating carriers as higher-value targets.

Corvettes

I found corvettes weak. A main use was against missile frigates and capture corvettes, but typically I'd keep them away from combat because they aren't durable enough. Corvettes could be harder-hitting, wither anti-srikecrafr or anti-frigate, but field smaller squadrons (see carrier hard points and strikecraft bays). In turn they should be a bit more durable.

Frigates

A small gripe is a certain overlap/redundancy with assault and suppression frigates, which could have been used to diversify factions instead. Similarly this applies to beam frigates compared to other alternatives (e.g. heavy missiles).

Unit behaviors

• Units break formations (missile frigates are particularly agregious since they move away from escorts in attempt to maximize distances to targets)
• Units level targets on the Z-plane instead of staying above
• Strikecraft overtake targets in runs instead of matching speed and pursuing while maintaining fire
• Stikecraft behavious in general leave to be desired when it comes to avoiding enemy lines of fire etc., and stances should factor more into these
• Using shere formation isn't a mobility disadvantage for strikecraft (maintaining position is not necessarily a risk)

Faction balance and design

Overall unit design is too equivalent which makes for a much larger impact of imbalanaces on other aspects, e.g. Incarnate lacking repairs and the Incarnate Mothership being unable to harvest resources.
With unit designs the slots should be filled with fewer, more distinct units (e.g. more diversity with use of shells/lasers/rockets etc.). The incarnate are in a sense to similar to other factions. This is also resembled in abilities, which are generally unimaginative and not utility based. Most abilities just buff either speed, damage or armor, so most of the time it is beneficial to use abilities, and timing or targeting isn't crucial.

Bugs and Annoyances

• The game telling me I lost ships when I take down enemy ones
• Addition of units to control groups resets formations
• Support frigates should be enables to repair groups (ctrl-drag ability) and repair the unit with least relative hp.

Conclusions

For context, I played about 27h in game (campaign on hard, all achievements done), all solo. I've played all the previous games. Theres a lot more to say, so this post is by no means comprehensive, but more of a write-up in the moment. Opinions may vary.
On a positive outlook the game ran well for me without issues, and I do see potential with the game. However, a lot of potential is untapped. I do hope that feedback is taken into account and the game will be actively developed into a better version of itself over the next months.

Hi
I feel like i need to give a large amount of backstory here. I am not suicidal at this present moment however i have suffered from depression for over twenty years and the last nine years have been particularly hard. During this time though I have discovered multiple ways to pull myself out of this and they are the usual tricks; exercise, keeping brain stimulated good diet etc etc etc but what i am facing and what i believe my depression to be due to is getting horrendous and i am frequently having people making jokes about how i should kill myself and attempting to push me towards it.
Im being harrassed, abused and stalked on a daily basis, seemingly by police, military "intelligence", freemasons and various other branches of government. Not only have I had this confirmed by people in the military, but i've confronted main people involved in this and they've apologised and broken down or have given me what they know.
I've issued 9 complaints, split between my local police, my local council and the home secratary (who apparently would have had to have signed off on the types of harrassment and surveillance that they use) and had zero response. Not only do i get 0 responses, when speaking to three officers face to face (the police were called on me by an unknown person posting a video online about this) they told me there was no record of any of my complaints. I spoke to a organisation in my home town (nottingham) regarding this and they knew all to well of the types of harrassment that i was describing but told me that they are/were unable to assist with complaints regarding law enforcement etc and that i would have to hire a solicitor. i am broke. I am broke because near enough every job i've gone into since leaving the catering industry and a few before are seemingly filled with people who know exactly who i am and make a bee line for me straight off the bat, by manipulating the thoughts and opinions of people around me and doing nothing but try to hold me down and ridicule me.
It is crazy to start stating the amount of abuse and harrassment i face. Not only is the amount of abuse i face the issue, but the reason. It seems to be to do with a fire started in 1976 at st wilfrids church in wilford, nottingham (13 years before i was born) and seems to stretch all the way to the monarchy. If you think this sounds far fetched, the military, police and tax office all come under "his majesties(HM)" etc etc, meaning regardless us stating that we're controlled by government, the monarchy still runs said branches and the church... I was mutilated as a child (i knew this from about 12-14 years old and around three years ago one of the heads of the midwifry department in the hospital i was born in was arrested for having a part in over 1500 deaths and mutiliations) The types of abuse i face are vast; Car registration plates with messages from officers/undercover officers, the false conversations that are had around me constantly, the false people who get involved in my life merely to act as antagonists, i am hacked and surveilled constantly and i am let know that people watch my diary entries that i record onto my pc, at least my last two flats are repeatedly broken into, i am watched everywhere i go and seemingly inside my own flat... It seems as though every name i see on forums or content posts are a thinly veiled allegorical insult towards me...it used to be comments that were thinly veiled insults, however i would reply with some sort of allegorical insult so now it seems to be the names of posters on innocuous posts. This is the same as they used to insult me directly, however i've always been a pretty direct person so now they use allegory and groups of people because they seem to need to tell people i don't stand up for myself which i do the majority of the time, or things such as the reg plates with vehicles usually driven by the elderly or women with kids because if i confront these people it's going to make me look worse...I have actually confronted multiple people, and they give some rushed vague answer as to why they have an obvious insult towards me on their registration plate. I have also been let know twice, by people that work for the government that i have no proof and i'll be able to prove nothing. The last guy was an apparent councilor, who smiling extremely brightly said " it must be really frustrating that you have no proof". speculate all you want on my mental health but that is either a fucking wank councillor or this is another case of them attempting to wind me up. Oh and i was told by a psychiatrist that they were hoping i was going to see this as satirical...I was beaten unconscious while handcuffed one night by three riot vans full of police officers, who in the morning said it was because i matched the description of someone that was trying to break into a vehicle in a hotel car park close to where they arrested me. I don't drive and I was wearing a different coloured hoodie than the color of the hoodie they described in the morning and from what i remember, the police officer was sat on my back screaming "we know you've got something on you"...they mentioned nothing about any vehicle. I was then knocked unconscious and awoke in the morning. This is apparently what i'm supposed to find satirical. Said psychiatrist prescribed me mirtazerpine... split the letters up - mi - (r) tazer - pine...This is more of what they do because to me that equals "military intelligence tazer of the pineal gland" and it for sure made me feel brain dead and devoid of any energy therefore acting as a complete negative, so i stopped taking it after the first round. IT isa similar technique that they use with the naming of alot of drugs - co-caine...All of these organisations are based in religions and in the bible it was caine that killed able...caine killed ability...co...covert operative. weed, which we used to call theshit that grew in our gardens that strangled all the other plants... I believe that i am frequently drugged, set up to appear as shit that i'm not and the last few properties i've lived in have been repeatedly broken into. I actually fully believe that on at least three occasions they have broken into my flat/s to fuck with my cats - the reason being that i was warned that they had done this and over the next couple of days they near enough erupted in fleas and worms. They are house kittens and at the time they were around two months old. When i saw what i perceived to be a warning that they had fucked with my cats, it was another occasion where i thought, "if this comes true then this is another case of indisputable proof in my head".
I am aware, and have told people in the past that alot of this looks ridiculous. I am fully aware that people like this usually like to make their targets seem as untrustworthy/insane as possible, creating a vast amount of smoke and mirrors, such as telling me there doing this "to see how far they can push a decent man before he breaks" or that this is to do with a police officer who arrested me when i was seventeen; They arrested me for taking photos of two guys doing graffiti in an abandoned warehouse...in the interview, i told him he was talking to me like a twat and repeatedly insulted him...due to him being an overly aggressive twat that had arrested someone...for taking pictures....of two people spray painting a wall in a warehouse where we had had a party the week before, hosted by whoever the fuck. He told me they were charging me with burglary, criminal damage and breaking and entering...for taking...photos....in a warehouse that was utterly and completely trashed and had one of its ceilings caved in, was covered in graffiti and had the majority of its windows smashed in...did they think i was going to say "i'm ever so sorry". I'm not and i wont be doing, and he's still a petty piece of shit that should have been charged with wasting police time. They are also trying to make out its to do with this girl i went to school with whose father and mother are both in education and ive seen her dad leaving the freemason building which is about a five minute walk from where i live, covered in shit loads of medals and like, mr t esque chains....i was never into her...i dont think that since we left school, she would say she's been at all into me, but i dont know how it was from her side but ive had nothing but people we went to school with telling me that they think we're going to end up together, over and over and over a fucking gain. I know that she had created a fb page back back in the day, we're talking 2010 (when i discovered it) or possibly prior where she'd invited a bunch of people i know to keep tabs on me and tell her my whereabouts because i used to not respond to her messages. wtf. Oh also one of my mums best friends told me that she was trying to have me sectioned...her ex boyfriend was also sectioned. This would make alot moresense if we'd ever been together...we havent been. we hung out when we were kids and occasionally in our mid twenties. IT would be harsh to say she is nothing to me but like...i really didnt hang out with anyone from school once i left so i dont know how else to put it...There was also another website called "spicy ketchup" that was a tonne of photos of me in compromising positions (drunk etc) that was basically reeling off however much this person hated me and talking about how i couldn't "wax lyrical" and basically a tonne of insults that you could sling at any other human being. This is what i'm talking about when i'm saying that they are trying to make out it's multiple reasons but there are merely multiple reasons because they're trying to mask what it actually is. Oh and i forgot they've been trying to get me to join them for years, telling me on a ridiculous amount of occasions that i'm passing multiple tests oh and they've tried to get me to target my friends child. they told me that they stop killing me when i start killing, (killing not meaning literal murder but killing someones currently personality, which they seem to believe is a mere imprint of modern day society which conflicts with the "free" masons idea of what they think people should be...so essentially they want me to bully an eighteen year old...)i declined this bullshit offer of taking out my own torture and punching down and its obviously caused this to ramp up massively.
I could talk, for days if not weeks about everything that goes on because its about 20 shots each day. To be honest, what pisses them off them most seems to be that i keep doing what im doing and time and time again just ridicule them when they seem to think im done in. It's such a strange situation. On the one hand i faze alot of it out because i have alot of different interests, i keep myself active and i really dont give a shit about some fair weather friends/fed rat kids that wanted to do mummy and daddy proud. On the other hand i'm surrounded. at all times. stalked. harrassed. filmed. set up. physically assaulted. tortured. poisoned/drugged. Oh and more recently, since ive been complaining to the police over and over and over again and began posting youtube videos regarding what was going on, they now seem to be threatening me by telling me that they're going to fuck me if i take this to the media. I imagine that it going to be with false accusations. And why would i give a fuck? ive done nothing...therefore all they'll be able to do is slander me and why would i give a fuck about that.
There's tonnes, upon tonnes of shit ive missed out. Oh yeah this other guy i went to school with once askled me a question that i thought was strange..."would i rather have a hot woman take a dump on my chest but we were in love and together or...i forget the other question because that was the answer i chose. around twelve yearsafter this i came back from doing some travelling in europe and this couple near enoughscreamed at me "yeah well you chose for her to take a shit on your heart"...no somebody asked me a question that i thought was some sort of shit joke...no pun intended.
I am 34 and i can remember thinking something was not right when i was seven. I had a maths teacher when i was fourteen who held me back after class and told me that she had no idea what was going on but that i was intentionally being held back (i was put in the bottom group for nearly everything and my test results were constantly above average and apparently specifically for maths, based on these exams we had to do called CATS). right after this and i mean right after this, she was moved into a different class and was no longer our teacher. within a couple of months she was sacked. I have her name and i also queried all of this with my school, being one of many companies i submitted a sar (subject access request) to. They told me they had no records on me at all, much the same as the two security companies said. In my early teens, there was this guy who used to fuck with me, who i later found out was a cocaine dealer, who was the boyfriend of my mums friend. He's maybe forty-ish years older than me. He has much like the fed, shown up again and again in my life as someone seemingly fucking with me. i found out a few years ago his dad was a priest, which again, was just another "oh yeah well that makes sense" moment.
I am fully aware that i seem insane, but these people seem to be intent on deleting me from history and making it so that it even fucking looks like i dont exist. Again, this seems to be shit to do with some beef over a fucking church gazebo and for them most part, i want to know what the fuck to do. I have been speaking to mental health professionals for sixteen years and they never deem me to have any serious mental health issues, except for the guy that came with the police who wrote down that i had psychosis, which was not mentioned at all in the conversation and i believe along with the piss take medication he prescribed me and letting me know that i was going to find this funny, just thought he'd record that i was insane to further discredit me. I have mentioned this to multiple police officers and i'm on my tenth fucking complaint and i have a feeling theyre going to tell me that they have no information on me other than a couple of drunk and disorderly arrests pre nine years ago and the other two i mentioned and i have a feeling that intelligence will tell me that they can't give me any information.
Like...what do i do..? I'm an average person...i'm bright in some areas and dim in others...i'm happy sometimes i'm miserable others...im hardworking for half the time and im lazy other times...i'm creative-ish but im not a fucking slash...again no pun intended. icant see any reason that im being fucked with other than old men being stick in the mud, rapey pedo twats that are trying to keep some shit you learnatseven years old about code breaking, metaphor and simile "secret squirrel"...its not secret...it never has been, and if im as bang average or thick as you're making out i am then i probably shouldnt be deciphering everything...Again, wtf do i do about this?
p.s. ive rushed this. it doesnt seem like i have due to how long it is but this has been my whole fucking life full of being harrassed and bullied by these people.

Hi
I feel like i need to give a large amount of backstory here. I am not suicidal at this present moment however i have suffered from depression for over twenty years and the last nine years have been particularly hard. During this time though I have discovered multiple ways to pull myself out of this and they are the usual tricks; exercise, keeping brain stimulated good diet etc etc etc but what i am facing and what i believe my depression to be due to is getting horrendous and i am frequently having people making jokes about how i should kill myself and attempting to push me towards it.
Im being harrassed, abused and stalked on a daily basis, seemingly by police, military "intelligence", freemasons and various other branches of government. Not only have I had this confirmed by people in the military, but i've confronted main people involved in this and they've apologised and broken down or have given me what they know.
I've issued 9 complaints, split between my local police, my local council and the home secratary (who apparently would have had to have signed off on the types of harrassment and surveillance that they use) and had zero response. Not only do i get 0 responses, when speaking to three officers face to face (the police were called on me by an unknown person posting a video online about this) they told me there was no record of any of my complaints. I spoke to a organisation in my home town (nottingham) regarding this and they knew all to well of the types of harrassment that i was describing but told me that they are/were unable to assist with complaints regarding law enforcement etc and that i would have to hire a solicitor. i am broke. I am broke because near enough every job i've gone into since leaving the catering industry and a few before are seemingly filled with people who know exactly who i am and make a bee line for me straight off the bat, by manipulating the thoughts and opinions of people around me and doing nothing but try to hold me down and ridicule me.
It is crazy to start stating the amount of abuse and harrassment i face. Not only is the amount of abuse i face the issue, but the reason. It seems to be to do with a fire started in 1976 at st wilfrids church in wilford, nottingham (13 years before i was born) and seems to stretch all the way to the monarchy. If you think this sounds far fetched, the military, police and tax office all come under "his majesties(HM)" etc etc, meaning regardless us stating that we're controlled by government, the monarchy still runs said branches and the church... I was mutilated as a child (i knew this from about 12-14 years old and around three years ago one of the heads of the midwifry department in the hospital i was born in was arrested for having a part in over 1500 deaths and mutiliations) The types of abuse i face are vast; Car registration plates with messages from officers/undercover officers, the false conversations that are had around me constantly, the false people who get involved in my life merely to act as antagonists, i am hacked and surveilled constantly and i am let know that people watch my diary entries that i record onto my pc, at least my last two flats are repeatedly broken into, i am watched everywhere i go and seemingly inside my own flat... It seems as though every name i see on forums or content posts are a thinly veiled allegorical insult towards me...it used to be comments that were thinly veiled insults, however i would reply with some sort of allegorical insult so now it seems to be the names of posters on innocuous posts. This is the same as they used to insult me directly, however i've always been a pretty direct person so now they use allegory and groups of people because they seem to need to tell people i don't stand up for myself which i do the majority of the time, or things such as the reg plates with vehicles usually driven by the elderly or women with kids because if i confront these people it's going to make me look worse...I have actually confronted multiple people, and they give some rushed vague answer as to why they have an obvious insult towards me on their registration plate. I have also been let know twice, by people that work for the government that i have no proof and i'll be able to prove nothing. The last guy was an apparent councilor, who smiling extremely brightly said " it must be really frustrating that you have no proof". speculate all you want on my mental health but that is either a fucking wank councillor or this is another case of them attempting to wind me up. Oh and i was told by a psychiatrist that they were hoping i was going to see this as satirical...I was beaten unconscious while handcuffed one night by three riot vans full of police officers, who in the morning said it was because i matched the description of someone that was trying to break into a vehicle in a hotel car park close to where they arrested me. I don't drive and I was wearing a different coloured hoodie than the color of the hoodie they described in the morning and from what i remember, the police officer was sat on my back screaming "we know you've got something on you"...they mentioned nothing about any vehicle. I was then knocked unconscious and awoke in the morning. This is apparently what i'm supposed to find satirical. Said psychiatrist prescribed me mirtazerpine... split the letters up - mi - (r) tazer - pine...This is more of what they do because to me that equals "military intelligence tazer of the pineal gland" and it for sure made me feel brain dead and devoid of any energy therefore acting as a complete negative, so i stopped taking it after the first round. IT isa similar technique that they use with the naming of alot of drugs - co-caine...All of these organisations are based in religions and in the bible it was caine that killed able...caine killed ability...co...covert operative. weed, which we used to call theshit that grew in our gardens that strangled all the other plants... I believe that i am frequently drugged, set up to appear as shit that i'm not and the last few properties i've lived in have been repeatedly broken into. I actually fully believe that on at least three occasions they have broken into my flat/s to fuck with my cats - the reason being that i was warned that they had done this and over the next couple of days they near enough erupted in fleas and worms. They are house kittens and at the time they were around two months old. When i saw what i perceived to be a warning that they had fucked with my cats, it was another occasion where i thought, "if this comes true then this is another case of indisputable proof in my head".
I am aware, and have told people in the past that alot of this looks ridiculous. I am fully aware that people like this usually like to make their targets seem as untrustworthy/insane as possible, creating a vast amount of smoke and mirrors, such as telling me there doing this "to see how far they can push a decent man before he breaks" or that this is to do with a police officer who arrested me when i was seventeen; They arrested me for taking photos of two guys doing graffiti in an abandoned warehouse...in the interview, i told him he was talking to me like a twat and repeatedly insulted him...due to him being an overly aggressive twat that had arrested someone...for taking pictures....of two people spray painting a wall in a warehouse where we had had a party the week before, hosted by whoever the fuck. He told me they were charging me with burglary, criminal damage and breaking and entering...for taking...photos....in a warehouse that was utterly and completely trashed and had one of its ceilings caved in, was covered in graffiti and had the majority of its windows smashed in...did they think i was going to say "i'm ever so sorry". I'm not and i wont be doing, and he's still a petty piece of shit that should have been charged with wasting police time. They are also trying to make out its to do with this girl i went to school with whose father and mother are both in education and ive seen her dad leaving the freemason building which is about a five minute walk from where i live, covered in shit loads of medals and like, mr t esque chains....i was never into her...i dont think that since we left school, she would say she's been at all into me, but i dont know how it was from her side but ive had nothing but people we went to school with telling me that they think we're going to end up together, over and over and over a fucking gain. I know that she had created a fb page back back in the day, we're talking 2010 (when i discovered it) or possibly prior where she'd invited a bunch of people i know to keep tabs on me and tell her my whereabouts because i used to not respond to her messages. wtf. Oh also one of my mums best friends told me that she was trying to have me sectioned...her ex boyfriend was also sectioned. This would make alot moresense if we'd ever been together...we havent been. we hung out when we were kids and occasionally in our mid twenties. IT would be harsh to say she is nothing to me but like...i really didnt hang out with anyone from school once i left so i dont know how else to put it...There was also another website called "spicy ketchup" that was a tonne of photos of me in compromising positions (drunk etc) that was basically reeling off however much this person hated me and talking about how i couldn't "wax lyrical" and basically a tonne of insults that you could sling at any other human being. This is what i'm talking about when i'm saying that they are trying to make out it's multiple reasons but there are merely multiple reasons because they're trying to mask what it actually is. Oh and i forgot they've been trying to get me to join them for years, telling me on a ridiculous amount of occasions that i'm passing multiple tests oh and they've tried to get me to target my friends child. they told me that they stop killing me when i start killing, (killing not meaning literal murder but killing someones currently personality, which they seem to believe is a mere imprint of modern day society which conflicts with the "free" masons idea of what they think people should be...so essentially they want me to bully an eighteen year old...)i declined this bullshit offer of taking out my own torture and punching down and its obviously caused this to ramp up massively.
I could talk, for days if not weeks about everything that goes on because its about 20 shots each day. To be honest, what pisses them off them most seems to be that i keep doing what im doing and time and time again just ridicule them when they seem to think im done in. It's such a strange situation. On the one hand i faze alot of it out because i have alot of different interests, i keep myself active and i really dont give a shit about some fair weather friends/fed rat kids that wanted to do mummy and daddy proud. On the other hand i'm surrounded. at all times. stalked. harrassed. filmed. set up. physically assaulted. tortured. poisoned/drugged. Oh and more recently, since ive been complaining to the police over and over and over again and began posting youtube videos regarding what was going on, they now seem to be threatening me by telling me that they're going to fuck me if i take this to the media. I imagine that it going to be with false accusations. And why would i give a fuck? ive done nothing...therefore all they'll be able to do is slander me and why would i give a fuck about that.
There's tonnes, upon tonnes of shit ive missed out. Oh yeah this other guy i went to school with once askled me a question that i thought was strange..."would i rather have a hot woman take a dump on my chest but we were in love and together or...i forget the other question because that was the answer i chose. around twelve yearsafter this i came back from doing some travelling in europe and this couple near enoughscreamed at me "yeah well you chose for her to take a shit on your heart"...no somebody asked me a question that i thought was some sort of shit joke...no pun intended.
I am 34 and i can remember thinking something was not right when i was seven. I had a maths teacher when i was fourteen who held me back after class and told me that she had no idea what was going on but that i was intentionally being held back (i was put in the bottom group for nearly everything and my test results were constantly above average and apparently specifically for maths, based on these exams we had to do called CATS). right after this and i mean right after this, she was moved into a different class and was no longer our teacher. within a couple of months she was sacked. I have her name and i also queried all of this with my school, being one of many companies i submitted a sar (subject access request) to. They told me they had no records on me at all, much the same as the two security companies said. In my early teens, there was this guy who used to fuck with me, who i later found out was a cocaine dealer, who was the boyfriend of my mums friend. He's maybe forty-ish years older than me. He has much like the fed, shown up again and again in my life as someone seemingly fucking with me. i found out a few years ago his dad was a priest, which again, was just another "oh yeah well that makes sense" moment.
I am fully aware that i seem insane, but these people seem to be intent on deleting me from history and making it so that it even fucking looks like i dont exist. Again, this seems to be shit to do with some beef over a fucking church gazebo and for them most part, i want to know what the fuck to do. I have been speaking to mental health professionals for sixteen years and they never deem me to have any serious mental health issues, except for the guy that came with the police who wrote down that i had psychosis, which was not mentioned at all in the conversation and i believe along with the piss take medication he prescribed me and letting me know that i was going to find this funny, just thought he'd record that i was insane to further discredit me. I have mentioned this to multiple police officers and i'm on my tenth fucking complaint and i have a feeling theyre going to tell me that they have no information on me other than a couple of drunk and disorderly arrests pre nine years ago and the other two i mentioned and i have a feeling that intelligence will tell me that they can't give me any information.
Like...what do i do..? I'm an average person...i'm bright in some areas and dim in others...i'm happy sometimes i'm miserable others...im hardworking for half the time and im lazy other times...i'm creative-ish but im not a fucking slash...again no pun intended. icant see any reason that im being fucked with other than old men being stick in the mud, rapey pedo twats that are trying to keep some shit you learnatseven years old about code breaking, metaphor and simile "secret squirrel"...its not secret...it never has been, and if im as bang average or thick as you're making out i am then i probably shouldnt be deciphering everything...Again, wtf do i do about this?
p.s. ive rushed this. it doesnt seem like i have due to how long it is but this has been my whole fucking life full of being harrassed and bullied by these people.

I hate to bring this matter into public light in this fashion because of the immense negativity of it, however, I strongly believe that I should speak up about it. I am making this post here because the discordapp subreddit has chosen to silence this post when I tried to post it there.
On April 23rd my Discord account was hacked using a method that I later found out to be called 'token hacking' or something. The hacking occurred because they had reached out to me on the account of a close friend who was not able to warn me that their account had been hacked; normally I have a pretty good radar of suspicion for scammers or hackers, but this time it slipped by me. I reacted to the hacking to the best of my ability and tried to shut it down, however, they stole not just my account but also a large portion of my identity and bank information. I had to spend a large amount of time recovering from that. Immediately after my account was stolen I submitted a ticket to u/discord_support / @discord with all of the necessary information regarding the case. In the time it took them to respond the hacker was able to do several things: 1. Contact numerous amounts of people through my friends list and attempt the same hack (I hope they weren't successful for the people I don't have contact with.) 2. Delete discord servers that I was the owner of that had been around for years as the hub for several communities. 3. Make tickets to @discord_support trying to impersonate me saying that the account really belonged to them. (The tickets weren't even written in English, they were written in what I believe to be Turkish.)
The reason for me making this post though is I had been the owner of that account since 2017, I had 2FA activated (they tell you it is the magical fix to all problems yet it didn't stop a single thing from happening), I had been an avid 'Discord Nitro' subscriber and Server Booster in many servers for almost as long as I had the account (I was a heavily paying customer), since the making of the account I have always lived in the U.S. and only spoken English (I wish I did speak more languages though). Yet with all that being said when @discord_support finally responded, it took them a week by the way, it was merely a bot that advised me to reset my password or make a new account and enable 2FA. So I submitted another ticket and got a bot response that didn't even recognize the issue. I submitted ticket after ticket for a month straight, waiting at least a week each time to just get a measly unhelpful response from a bot, I never got to speak to an agent. Though I gave them countless details, told them I could tell them anything they needed to know, and requested to speak to an agent; no matter what I said or told them, I got the same cookie-cutter response every time that I had to wait at least a week to receive.
I am finally saying something about this because it has come to my attention that recently the person who stole my account deactivated it, ruining any hope of me ever getting it back. I had years of countless memories on that account that I will never get back, and I had countless connections with people on that account that I have no way of contacting ever again. I am truly sad to know that there are so many people that I will never get to talk to again because my only form of connection was on that account. From the bottom of my heart, I am disgusted with @discord_support considering the fact that I worked with them in every way I could, I had much patience for them throughout the entire process, I was an avid supporter of them for so many years; yet when I needed them most they didn't even lift a finger to help, never even gave me the courtesy of talking to a real person. Their actions are truly pathetic and I know that I will never give them another dime of my money.
With all this being said, I want to say I merely felt like my story needed to be heard on the matter and I am sorry to bring this negative topic to this account which I try to fill with a positive light. Lastly, thank you so much for reading if you made it this far and if you were previously in contact with me on my old discord and want to reconnect feel free to shoot me a DM on here, I'd be happy to hear from ya!

I hope this is the right place to post this and if not, I apologize.
I am looking for a short story I read a few years ago (2020) in my graduate year. It was a professionally published piece and all I can remember about it is the following: • It followed a young couple and their first child • The child, a boy, becomes more and more precocious as time goes on • He is above average intelligence for his age and I believe it is first framed as a positive thing • The child eventually begins reading bizarre, conspiracy filled literature (I think it was 9/11 denial type stuff) and it starts to creep out the parents
That’s it! If anyone has any clue as to what story I’m referencing, please let me know! It’s been haunting me for years! Thanks :)

I’ve posted a few times about my current position and struggles I’ve had with my supervisor. I’ve only been in my position for a few months but really since the beginning there was a complete lack of respect towards me from my supervisor. There have been numerous inappropriate things said and the tone in which they’ve been said is out of line. It’s been addressed by leadership and we are working to remedy the issues. However, in the meantime, I’m having a really hard time rebuilding trust and respect with them. I can’t help but worry for the other side of them to come out and reprimand me for no reason or think about what their ulterior motives are in what they say to me.
It is not as simple as just leaving especially without another offer for employment. (I am actively looking) So I know that it is important to keep our team moving forward and not dread going to work every day. One important note is that leadership has addressed this directly with my supervisor. I have not addressed it one on one with them, aside from shutting down an email filled with accusations and referring it to an in person conversation with leadership. It has not been brought up again. I am looking for any advice on maybe seeking out a career coach or resources that may help me address this and move forward.
Hopefully I am not too vague here and there is some advice to be given. Thanks in advance!

I (20F) broke up with my now ex boyfriend (19M) for a variety of reasons (who i’ll call A.) A and i dated for 8 and a half months which proved to be a very memory filled ride. we were in a long distance relationship and one of the few reasons why things didn’t work out was because i failed to communicate a hard boundary between him being friends with his ex. by the time i was able to fully communicate my feelings about the situation and he finally was able to let go his past connections for his future ones, the resentment i had for A was already very overwhelming. that, on top of life treating me absolutely terribly, made me be in a very bad position where i would find myself crying very often with my panic attacks increasing as the most recent month went past. for a couple of weeks, breaking up with A and trying to find out if i was strong enough to keep working on the relationship kept popping up on the back of my mind and kept asking myself if it was over. at that point, i figured that that was an answer in itself, with the lack of trust and commitment on my part being blatantly obvious, and yet i selfishly tried hanging on anyways. it wasn’t until i was at a very low point where i finally told myself that whether it was the best decision or not, i had to leave the relationship or else i would have hurt the both of us even more so than i already have. the resentment was too much and i found myself snapping at every little problem i had with him, and even when he didn’t do anything, i would try to sabotage the relationship so that i had something to be angry about and it wasn’t fair to him at all. he is a really amazing and sweet guy and did not deserve that kind of treatment. i have been feeling absolutely terrible at the fact that i decided for the both of us that the relationship wasn’t going to work instead of communicating and trying to fix things, but the fact is, i’m not mature enough to balance fixing my mental health and relationship at the same time and unfortunately it was at his expense. what i wasn’t able to realize is just how much breaking up with him would hurt, fully aware that i did this to myself. im trying to stay strong and not reach out to him and immediately apologize and beg for him to take me back because then all of the confidence and build up it took for me to finally break up with him would be for nothing, and that would only bring more pain to him. i wasn’t ready to break up with him but no one is ever really ready (or at least i would like to tell myself that). i’ve been fighting with myself even more on if it was the right decision and i just don’t know. all i can think about is how quiet everything is now that i won’t be talking to him 24/7 and how hurt he must be right now because of me. the reasons on why i broke up with him in the first place has become all blurry despite my friends saying that this was probably the best decision. ive been crying nonstop and know that time will heal the hurt but it’s only the beginning. i can’t believe im kicking and crying that i broke up with my boyfriend. A really deserves the world and i feel like i really can’t give that to him, especially with how bad my mental state is right now. i just know that by the time i seek professional help and start to feel like im improving on myself, that he won’t be there with me and that kills me. i think i fell really hard and i definitely shouldn’t have been so open with taking about the future we could have together knowing that i would end up breaking his heart. i know i need to now focus on myself but i just hope he’ll be okay… it’s all i want at this point in time

I am supposed to be starting a PGCE in secondary chemistry in September. I had 4 offers on the table and went with my chosen scitt as I liked the director and subject leader. However what I though was a small SCITT happens to be partnered through Teach first. I can only find experiences of people who have them as a school direct provider and none of them seems positive. My personal experience with the onboarding has been terrible. They send requests for information marked urgent and then when the requested information is sent to them they do nothing with the information for several weeks. There is no one you can ring and ask queries everything has to be done via email and response can take up to a week. My occupational health has now taken 11 weeks and I still don’t have an appointment for an assessment. They have an odd process where they ask for a health questionaire and sit round with a panel. To decide who needs a referral and then you have to fill in another with the occupation health. Most providers seem to get you to fill out a form directly with OT and they decide who needs to be seen and only need to know information is provided back to the provider. The original health questionnaire provided to teach first was extremely intrusive and far more detailed then that requested by the actual OT provider. I believe they are in breach of GDPR as they have asked for medical information not relevant to being a training teacher. (Ie any hospital admission in the last 5 years - how was a a second trimester miscarriage relevant). Everything I have filled out with them refers to me as an employee which I am not. I do have bipolar so I am extremely anxious about the OT assessment and the way this has been dragged out with out the opportunity to speak to some one directly to clarity issues I have found stressful. They are now chasing a reference from my current employer -but I can’t ask them until I know that OT has been passed as if I fail I will need a job.
In addition so have found the admission officers to be quite deceitful and out right lie when you try to chase things up.
I just wish know I had chose the other SCITT provider and they were local easy to contact and not part of a multinational company.

The CEO approached me on Linkedin regarding a Digital Marketing role at his company (Pro Cloud Marketing Group: https://procloudmarketing.com/ ).
I've had multiple long calls with this guy. He liked my background and wanted to onboard me as a Regional Marketing Account Manager instead. I realized that instead of an employment, I will be an independent contractor to a franchise resell/white-label company, I was fine with that.
Although throughout all those long calls he's always been vague when I asked how his CRM was engineered, how many people are in the company, how large is the client base, and when I can have the onboarding meeting/interview with them.
He's giving me unusual and too-good-to-be-true undertakings. These are some questionable things I'm quite torn about: 1. He wants to build a base in the Bay Area since his headquarters is in a co-working space located in Ontario, CA. 2. He wants me to manage his outsourcing connection in Asia since I speak the language. I contacted this small firm and they did confirm their partnership with him, but when I asked for a coffee chat to learn more about how we will be working together, they ghosted me. I got a voicemail from this CEO and asked me why I did that and to call him immediately. 3. He said that I would man a team of 20-50 (which are mostly outsourced from Asia and Nigeria) people who will do everything from graphic design, web hosting, and client acquisition, almost promising me that I wouldn't have to do much leg work aside from managing the accounts and creating the full stack marketing campaign as long as I'm using this CRM. 4. Once I have my team, he will set me up with an LLC under my name where the company will basically be white-labeled as my own. I'm not very well-versed in business and I am confused in terms of how the FTB fees, taxes, outsourced employees payroll, etc. I asked and he said the same, he would explain further after I signed up. 5. He gave me a list of co-working spaces that I can choose, where the company will pay for me. 6. He sent me a text message that his product is an affiliate government grant. I visited this grant website and it just looked so sus. He asked to scroll down to this page from the website which is strikingly similar to Pro Cloud Marketing's official site; copywriting where almost every word starts with capital letters, and video format. So I called the number on this website to confirm its government affiliation, and he answered, I couldn't hear him well so I asked what his name was (CEO's name), and I said, hey it's me – he hung up. 5. This isn't a paid position. It's commission-based only; "uncapped" commission to be precise according to him. I tried to negotiate an hourly until I finished the "training", and he agreed but he was also very vague about how it works and could only explain everything else once I officially signed up for the application:
On the application form on the said website, he asked to fill in the following:

Answer these questions to complete the application:
Tell us about your digital marketing education, skills and experience?
Please share your 3 most recent Digital Marketing Tasks that you have completed
Have You Visited the Pro Cloud Marketing Website? (procloudmarketing.com)
Did you watch the "Marketing Strategy Webinar Video Replay" on the website?
What interest you the most about joining the Pro Cloud Marketing Group Team?
Please Upload your Resume
How did you hear about the Digital Marketing Account Manager Position?
Are You Willing to be Trained & Certified as a Pro Cloud Marketing Specialist?
Payroll: Bank Account Wiring - Please Share Your Bank Routing & Account Number
Upload A Copy of Your Signed W8-BEN or I-9 Independent Contractor Form
Upload A Copy of Your Government Issued Personal ID Identification Card
Upload A Copy of Your Signed Independent Contractor Agreement
Upload A Copy of Your Signed Authorized Software Reseller License Agreement
Upload A Copy of Your Signed Web Hosting Reseller Agreement

Has anyone done and worked for anything like this setup? What has it been like? What do you think of the company if you've seen my links here? If I am just paranoid, and they are actually legit, should I give it a shot? Would you personally give it a shot?
I appreciate any advice!

We’ve been together 11.5 years. We have two kids (4F, 10M) I’m going to give a little background, but not too much because I could write a book.
My husband is VERY career focused. He works out of state, about 60-70% of the year. I went to college, but never have worked in my field. I’ve picked up part time work, or restaurant jobs that will work around my schedule the entire time we have been together.
My main focus has always been the kids. We don’t have reliable help so I’m in charge of everything kid and house related.
When we purchased our home I put down $16,000 of my own money (ALL OF MY SAVINGS) he put down the remaining 30k and my husband maintains ALL bills for the household except my and our sons phone, wifi, gas, groceries and part time preschool costs. We do NOT share finances, and with inflation I’ve been “broke” for months. I pay my bills with my little side cash and then have no money for anything. I can’t remember that last time I even bought clothes for myself. Both of our vehicles are paid off.
My husband has money. More money then I would even know what to do with. But it’s “HIS. “ He pays for everything when we are out together as a couple/or family outing. I think he makes between 10-15k before taXes a month based on his YTD.
I’ve been in therapy for awhile now and I’m pretty good at processing my emotions and being logical.
I know I’m being financially abused. But his stance is for me too… get a full time job.
He doesn’t realize how hard it would be for me to maintain everything I do with a full time job. I do all of the cooking,cleaning, drs, dentist, sports. It’s on me. And he’s never fucking home.
So today at breakfast… we were going over his summer calendar, when he’s going to be home, we have his family members flying in at two different times and I am hosting them. And he suggested we sit down and go over our monthly subscriptions, budget and I said “yeah I’d love to do that so you can see how broke I am” And he said “I would rather just divorce you and pay you, then give you my money”
???? I walked out and we haven’t spoken since.
My BIL is really high up in his company and has offered to get me in a lower level position for many years. I finally reached out to him and filled out an application. He’s talking to HR today ….
Fine. He’s wants me to work a full time job and maintain the household by myself and kids…. Okay. But I feel sick.
I want to know if he’s justified in feeling this way.
I’ll have my phone for the next 1.5 hours to respond to any questions.

I'm a 24 y/o software developer, I've worked at my job for 2 years. I have never really enjoyed it, but it's never been too stressful. It pays the bills, I have flexibility in my schedule, and it has some pretty good job security. I am incredibly blessed to have this position, and yet I feel as though I'm a leech on a broken system, I feel like I do nothing and get rewarded nonetheless, and I have never felt worse because of it. I want to quit to focus on the other things I want to do, that have more meaning and purpose, but there is no way it will ever pay for my living expenses, which only increase with rent going up.
I've told myself I'll find a new job, but the excuses and procrastination never end. The only way I can interact with my volunteer side gig is because of the 8-5 job that I currently have. I've tried to force myself to have a "I'm doing this to support my passion" mindset, and it just fills me with dread every day, for a majority of the day.
The worst part is I just feel weak, like people are telling me to just find a new job, "How's the job search coming?" "I know a guy if you want to talk, no pressure though", and with all the opportunities I have, I sit and do nothing, leeching on a system that just pays me to do practically nothing. I'm trying to be responsible, but it feels like the responsible thing is the wrong thing to do, but the irresponsible thing isn't sustainable, and why do something that will cause my future to be thrown down a drain, when I can just sit in mediocrity and disappointment, but maybe I'll be set up better later in life. It feels like a cop out of living a full life, like I'm waiting to live my life for when I hit some threshold that doesn't exist.
How do people get the courage to actually change jobs?

Hi guys
so the spark has been on the water since winter and after 5 min or so it dropped a EML light went into limp mode
now I had it on the local shops BUDS they struggled to make it talk, but when they did the only fault code they got was the IBR and the IBR bucket was stuck
They can’t get me in for two weeks so I stripped the Ibr actuator to check the motor … the motor still spins
fire up the spark with out the arm attached just to see if the spark is actually making the ibr work and it does not seem to be
I get a loud beep and a EML No registration of IBR position on the left hand side of the dash
also can’t get it to Ibr override
thing is with out having the computer BUDS am I stuck to diagnose if it is the ibr ? Is there a way to make the trix modal think it’s a standard one
also I did over fill the oil so I wonder if that triggled the EML and it’s still thinking oil is to full maybe
… kinda hitting my head against a brick wall
as regards the motor in the Acuator do they completely die is it worth me swapping it for a 775 which I have, I’d just rather prove the issue first
Sheffield UK