Inka symbols

Did you know that a child helped discover Machu Picchu?

2024.04.23 21:21 UltimateTrekking Did you know that a child helped discover Machu Picchu?

Did you know that a child helped discover Machu Picchu?
And if Hiram Bingham could never have discovered Machu Picchu, here you can do it yourself.
  1. The Genesis of Machu Picchu: Pachacutec's Vision Pachacutec, a visionary leader of the Inca Empire, sought to expand his dominion towards Vilcabamba and stumbled upon the natural marvel of Machu Picchu. Recognizing its strategic and symbolic significance, he commissioned its construction around 1450. Motivated by familial legacy and the desire for a grand resting place, Pachacutec orchestrated the building of what was originally named Patallacta, now renowned as Machu Picchu.
  2. Ethnic Diversity in Machu Picchu's Construction The construction of Machu Picchu required the expertise of skilled artisans and laborers from various ethnic groups, including the Collas, Lupaqas, Pacajes, Chimus, Cañaris, and Chachapoyas. These diverse communities, recently incorporated into the Inca Empire, contributed to the architectural marvels and terraced landscapes of Machu Picchu, serving both as builders and cultivators under the Inka elite's supervision.
  3. Machu Picchu: Administrative, Political, and Religious Nexus Functioning as an administrative, political, and religious center, Machu Picchu became the heart of Inca governance and spirituality. It provided a sanctuary for the Inka elite, who were descendants of Pachacutec's panaca, to govern and conduct rituals. The terraced agricultural fields surrounding Machu Picchu sustained its inhabitants and showcased the empire's agricultural prowess.
  4. Legacy of Pachacutec: Veneration and Rituals Upon Pachacutec's death in 1471, he was laid to rest in his "house" in Patallacta, ensuring his eternal connection to Machu Picchu. Revered as an esteemed figure by his servants and descendants, Pachacutec's legacy transcended his mortal life. His remains were occasionally transported to Cusco for ceremonial events, underscoring his enduring influence even beyond Machu Picchu's sacred grounds.
Complete information about Machu Picchu
https://preview.redd.it/0ijtnubw4awc1.jpg?width=1280&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0801c8be5897cc525e8e72f77de68bb5466fde6a
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2024.04.23 21:00 CarcgenBleu Mujhe nahi karna cse, lekin kya karu?

8th mein aaya tha coding ka shauk. Kyunki future is technology. Thoda websites mein python seekhne ki koshish ki (yt nahi tha mere paas). Kuchh khaas seekha nahi, utna junoon bhi nahi tha seekhne ka. Socha koi na, mains clear, adv clear, IIT-B CSE -> Harvard -> Google. 10th ke baad socha tha IIIT-H jaunga, CSE se placement hoga kahi, andha paisa. Mera 11th 12th mein bifocal subject CS hi tha (maha hsc). Lund subject bhai. Object variable pointer function inke 34 prakaar, phir 200 symbols, functions andar lo bahar lo bulao g maro, 3-4 languages hai sabki alag masti, isme bhi code jaldi banana hai chhota banana hai dimaag lagana hai... hatt bc. Mujhe nahi karna ye.
Lekin jaise jee gaya hai (27s1 89%ile, 6s1 118) cse toh vaise bhi nahi milne wala. Socha ece kar lunga. Mujhe uska bhi khaas pata nahi, par cse se zyada bearable hai (ye bhi tha 11th 12th mein hume). Mujhe interest hai research, art, chemistry, linguistics etc. Lekin inka scope hi nahi hai yaha. Dost bola graphic designer ban ja... vo kamate kaha hai.
main kya karu ab? mhtcet ka prep toh chal hi raha hai.
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2022.04.23 23:42 LokeTFG April 23, 2022, 09.00 AM - 11.30 PM (EST+2) Ukraine News Summary

– 06.24 PM /General Staff of the Ukraine Armed Forces/: – Volyn and Polissya directions - no active actions by enemy; – Slobozhansky direction - partial blockade of Kharkiv continues; – artillery shelling in the area of Chuhuiv, Korobochkino and Dovgenke; – Donetsk and Tavriya directions - the enemy is trying to take Popasna; – also Rubizhne, preparing an offensive on Severodonetsk; – in Mar’inka area and in most other areas, the enemy had no substantial success; – Pivdennobuzky direction - no offensive, artillery fire; – we have information, that the enemy has problems with medical supplies; – many wounded in Balakliya, placed in civilian clinic in addition to military hospital; – medical personnel are being forced to provide assistance to the military in occupied Vovchansk; – Russian troops have problems with replenishment, trying to mobilize residents of Kherson region; – occupiers transport military goods in civilian trucks; – they also use stolen agricultural machinery for military purposes;
Summary prepared by zvedeno.info team.
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2022.01.17 13:25 parky95 Shiny mew and Borderlands vault symbol done by benji memmo @inka derby uk

Shiny mew and Borderlands vault symbol done by benji memmo @inka derby uk submitted by parky95 to nerdtattoos [link] [comments]

2021.09.04 16:31 ArthurDrakoni Review: The Years of Rice and Salt by Kim Stanley Robinson

2019 was a year where I got to experience a lot of alternate history books in audio form for the first time. It was also, like 2018 before it, a year where I finally got around to listening to several alternate history I'd been meaning to get around to. Case in point, the book we'll be reviewing today. We're taking a look at the classic alternate history novel The Years of Rice and Salt by Kim Stanley Robinson
The Years of Rice and Salt takes places in a world where the Black Death killed ninety-nine percent of Europe's population. The story follows six or seven individuals, though three in particular, as they are reincarnated over the ages. Robinson makes it easy by having their names start with the same letter. The main characters we follow having names starting in K, B, and I. Secondary characters have names with Z, P, and S. The novel spans hundreds of years of history, and spans numerous nations, giving it a truly global feel to it.
The novel is divided into ten segments of varying lengths, and I will discuss each of them individually. For now, I will give some overall thoughts. I'd been putting off listening to this one, but I'm glad I finally got around to it. I absolutely loved this book. I loved its vast global scope, and how it features nations and cultures you don't often see in alternate history. I also loved the use of reincarnation as a plot device. It was certainly an interesting twist I haven't really seen in too many other alternate history novels. The story uses the Islamic Hegira Calendar for dates. The Islamic year 1 being when Mohammad felid Mecca for Medina in 622 AD. However, I've rendered the dates in the Gregorian Calendar for convenience sake. There's a ton of historical and cultural references throughout the novel. You don't necessarily have to catch them to enjoy the novel, but it adds to the experience. Thankfully, the Kim Stanley Robinson website has this handy reading guide that catalogs and explains them all.
Well, enough of all that, lets dive in.
Our first segment is titled "Awake into Emptiness." It takes place from 1381-1424. It follows a Mongol warrior named Bold who is serving in the army of Timur. Timur has sent Bold to scout ahead into the Hungarian Basin. Bold find a land almost totally devoid of humans. Bold travels through the depopulated Balkans until he is captured and sold into slavery by Arab slavers. During his time aboard a slave ship he meets an African slave named Kyu. As the ship makes its way to China, Kyu and Bold discover that their lives are destined to be intertwined.
This segment sets things up for the rest of the novel. The descriptions of the depopulated Europe were evocative and haunting. There are multiple mentions of cathedrals being only partially built because everyone died in the middle of construction. Medieval cathedrals took decades, if not centuries, to be fully constructed. Often, those who began work on the cathedrals would do so knowing that they would not live to see them completed.
There's a particularly sad scene where Bold encounters the sole European in all of his travels. The man can't speak any of the languages Bold know, but he gets his point across with gestures. He was just a fisherman, and was out fishing when the plague hit. He came back to find everyone, including his wife and children, dead. Now he's all alone, and due to the language barrier, Bold isn't much company. They share food and camp together, but the very next day the man is gone. His footsteps lead to the riverbank, which strongly suggests he might have committed suicide out of despair. What would it be like, I wonder, to be like the lone European? What thoughts would go through one’s head as the sole survive of a once prosperous village? To know that you might be alone forever? Chilling stuff indeed.
Bold and Kyu eventually get sold to the admiral Zhang He. He was the commander of the Ming Dynasty's fleet of treasure ships. They were massive ships that traveled everywhere from the South China Sea, to India, and even East Africa. The goal was to proclaim China's power and influence to the world, and to collect tribute. Zhang He is a staple in alternate histories about China colonizing the New World. Ironically, that doesn't happen in this book til after Zhang He. We'll talk more about that in a bit. We also get a frighteningly detailed explain of how eunuchs, of which Zhang He was one, are made.
Another significant aspect of "Awake into Emptiness" is how it sets up the character meeting in the Bardo at the end of each segment. The Bardo is an afterlife of sorts in Tibetan Buddhism. It is where souls go as they wait to be judged and then reborn. I should probably go over the difference between reincarnation in Hinduism and Buddhism. Hindu reincarnation is like water being passed from one cup to another; your outside changes, but the essence of who you are stays the same. Buddhist reincarnation is more like one candle passing its flame to another; there is a deep connection between you and your reincarnations, but they are ultimately different people. Tibetan Buddhism differs in that it is a bit more like the Hindu view of reincarnation.
The character we meet in The Years of Rice and Salt were part of a Jati in Tibet that got killed in an avalanche. A Jati is type of village or community; sometimes it can also mean clan or group of that nature. Throughout the book the Jati constantly find each other, often without meaning too, across their reincarnations. East Asian cultures, and other Asian cultures to an extent, place emphasis on finding your place within the web of other's lives. The part of this section that muse about the nature of reincarnation and Buddhism have an almost poetic quality to them. There's also some parts that end with "but if you want to know what happens next, read the next part." This is a nod to the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West.
The second segment is titled "The Haj in the Heart." The bulk is set in the 1560. It begins in India with two sisters named Kokila and Bihari. Life is mostly good, and they get married. Then Bihari dies in childbirth, and Kokila poisons their husbands, for which she is executed. Kokila is then reincarnated as a tiger named Kya, who is also killed, but not before she saves a wandering Sufi mystic named Bistami. While on a Hadj to Mecca, Bistami hears of a caravan in North Africa heading to the depopulated land of Al-Andalus. The caravan is led by the charismatic sultan Mawji Darya, and his beautiful wife Katima. Bistami finds himself drawn to Katima, almost as though he knows her from somewhere.
This is the only time, barring the last segment, our characters get reincarnated multiple times in one segment. Bistami at one point finds himself in the court of Emperor Akbar. He was a real ruler of the Mughal Empire. It was an off-shoot of the Mongol Empire established by Central Asian Mongols who settled in Northern India. Akbar was a Muslim, but promoted religious tolerance and understanding. He often held meetings with representatives of the different religions within his empire. Unfortunately, subsequent Mughal rulers didn't share his open-mindedness.
I previously mentioned the poetic nature of this book, and it's true in this segment as well. There is a particularly great scene where Bistami visits the tomb of a great Sufi mystic. He undergoes a religious experience and has visions, including of his past lives. The poetic nature, combined with the musings on the nature of reality, reminds me of The Man in the High Castle, another of my favorite alternate history novels. I should probably talk about Sufism. Sufism is a type of Islamic mysticism. They tend to be a bit more peaceful and less politically inclined than Sunni and Shia Islam. Most Sunnis and Shias, the two main branches of Islam, do not like Sufis very much, and don't consider them real Muslims. If you've ever heard of the Whirling Dervishes, those are Sufis. The Medieval Iranian poet Rumi is another famous Sufi.
It does make sense that the Beber, or Amazigh, as they call themselves, were first to resettle Europe. Towards the end of its history Al-Andalus was ruled by several BebeAmazigh dynasties such as the Almoravids and Almohads. I also liked that the alternate Black Death hit all of Europe, not just the Christian bits. Al-Andalus, and the Muslim settlements in the Balkans, were just as depopulated as the rest of Europe. It made it feel a bit more realistic. Granted, having ninety-nine percent of Europe be whipped out wasn't that realistic, but it is a thing I'm willing to accept for the premise of the novel. Amusingly, even the characters discuss how odd it is that Europe was totally whipped out.
Katima and her caravan are shown to be more open-minded and liberal than most Muslims. This is partially because they follow Sufism, but also because they are Berber. Traditionally, most Berber women have not worn the hijab, and woman have play major roles in Berber life. The caravan eventually moves further north and founds a settlement at the former site of Bayonne, France. They name their settlement Baraka. Katima's husband dies, but there's no precedent for women ruling on their own in Islam. In fact, the Hadith even forbids it.
Thus, Bistami and Katima declare that those Hadith's don't matter and forge their own. Granted, there's some precedence to this. Muslims believe that the Hadith is less authoritative than the Koran, but still important. Several Muslim women, in places such as West Africa and America, choose to ignore the Hadith to justify not wearing the hijab. The closest the Koran comes is saying that women must cover their breasts. Throughout the book there is a theme of trying to reconcile Islam with women's rights, and secular liberalism in general. The Sufis, and those like them, are trying to establish a light in the darkness, but these lights can easily be snuffed out. Case in point, more conservative Muslims from Al-Andalus come to overthrow Katima, forcing everyone to flee further north to Nantes. They name this new settlement Nsara.
Interestingly, when everyone arrives in the Bardo they perceive it as being similar to the Islamic afterlife. Does the Bardo appear different to everyone? They do seem to realize that it isn't the Islamic afterlife, and do start to remember their past lives before getting reincarnated. We'll talk more about all that in just a minute.
The third segment is titled "Ocean Continents." It takes place in the 1620s. Japan has been a thorn in China's side for centuries. The emperor orders a huge fleet of ships to conquer the island nation. However, a few ships get blown across the Pacific and discover two previously unknown continents. The section follows the crew as they explore this brave new world.
This is the part where China finally discovers the Americas. Overall, I did enjoy this segment, but the novel does show its age in places. When the Chinese first arrive, they meet the Miwok people of Northern California. The Miwok are overall portrayed well, even if it occasionally dips into "paint with all the colors of the wind" territory. The narration mentions how the natives barely use the land, and how everything is pristine. We now know that Native Americans played a big role in cultivating land, and played a major role in shaping North America's ecosystem. They just did so in a way that wasn't always recognizable to the Europeans. In fairness a lot of this scholarship has only come on in the last decade or so. Robinson wouldn't have had access to it.
The bigger issue is when the Chinese arrive in the Aztec Empire. At first, it looked like we might get a nuanced look at the Aztecs. They performed human sacrifice, but they did so because they believed it was necessary to thank the gods for giving them the world. Those chosen as sacrifices lives like kings in the year leading up to the sacrifice. They were also one of the few societies to give mandatory education for both men and women. I was hoping we'd see all this, but Robinson fell onto the lazy stereotype of the Aztecs as bloodthirsty barbarians. It got even worse when one of the Chinese fired a gun, and the Aztecs ran around like chickens with their heads chopped off. There is a reference to something this is claimed to have happened when Pizarro conquered the Inca. The problem being that there is no historical evidence that the Inca trampled each other to death when Pizarro fired his gun. It is likely a fabrication by post-conquest chroniclers.
Anyway, when we get to the Bardo we see that it is falling under the sway of the Chinese celestial bureaucracy. Does that mean Chinese Mythology is real too? Overall, not a terrible segment, but could have been better.
The fourth segment is titled "The Alchemist." It takes place in the Khanate of Samarkand in the 1640s. It follows three alchemists named Bahram, Khalid, and Iwang. The start off performing experiments to turn lead into gold. However, they soon start making discoveries that will overturn all pervious knowledge. The age of alchemy is over, and the age of science has begun.
I've always loved the history of science, so this segment was pretty fun for me. The characters make discoveries in all sorts of fields, but the Khan is only interested in military applications. There's a particularly amusing scene where Khalid complains about Sufis being a inch of hippies with their heads in the clouds. He's blissfully unaware that he was a Sufi in a past life. Another scene mentions that Armenia is a Muslim nation. That's particularly odd given that pervious segments mentioned them, along with Georgia and Ethiopia, as one of the few Christian nations that avoid the plague. There's also mention of small communities of Christians in Egypt and the Maghreb. The characters do speculate that the Armenians might be faking it to get better trade deals, but it is still odd. Samarkand in our world had some very famous universities, with some very impressive mosaics. All in all, another great segment.
The fifth segment is called "The Warp and the Weft." It takes place in North America and follows a ronin named Busho, but his friends know him as Fromwest. He is severing as a guest to the Haudenosaunee people, and tells of how his homeland was invaded by China. Busho must convince the Haudenosaunee, and the scattered tribes to North America, to unite and modernize so they can resist colonization from the Chinese and Muslims.
Overall, I thought that Robinson did a much better with his depiction of the Native Americans here. The Haudenosaunee people are more commonly known as the Iroquois. They are nation originally made of the five tribes: the Seneca, Mohawk, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Oneida. In 1722 they welcomed the Tuscarora tribe to the nation. Interestingly, this segment mentions that the Haudenosaunee have expanded to nine tribes. Just who are these additional tribes? The Native Americans were exposed more gradually to Old World diseases than in our world. They've had more time to recover their population. This does give them more of fighting chance than the Native Americans did in our world. Still I can't help but feel that the fate is the Haudenosaunee is just a tad optimistic. Granted, they've got Busho to help them.
Perhaps it is optimistic, but I'm willing to take it. I've always wished alternate history featured the Native Americans more. I've also been fascinated at the idea of Native Americans successfully resisting colonialism. From what we hear, the Chinese invasion of Japan was incredibly harsh. There was no divine wind to save the Japanese this time. Busho wonders if the gods were made because of the Muslim missionaries in Nagasaki. It's a sly joke, because around the same time in our world, Christian missionaries were in Nagasaki. In fact, Nagasaki and Hiroshima were the two biggest Christian settlements in Japan. I wonder if the souls that would have been those missionaries got reincarnated as Muslims?
The Bardo segment is also interesting. The Jati try to resist drinking the elixir of forgetfulness to try to retain the memories in their next lives, and find each other.
The sixth segment is titled "Widow Kang." It takes place in South China in the 18th century. The widow Kang Tongbi has been plagued by strange dreams and strange happenings. She speaks in strange foreign languages, and finds herself draw to the Buddhist monk Bao Ssu and the Muslim scholar Ibrahim ibn Hasam al-Lanzhou. It's almost as though she knows them from somewhere before.
The parallelism was very strong in this story. At times it almost felt more like straight-up historical fiction rather than alternate history. The Machu overthrew the Ming Dynasty, thus establishing the Qing Dynasty, just as in our world. There's also a hysteria over supposed queue cutting, just as in our world. Queues are long braided ponytails the Manchu pushed upon the Han Chinese. The Han weren't required to adopt Manchu clothing and hairstyles, but the Manchu put indirect pressure on them to do so. There were also numerous instances of anti-Muslim persecution carried out during the Qing Dynasty. Yeah, if the goal of the novel was to speculate about a world without Europe, this was not one of its better moments.
Now, I must be fair here. Robinson utilizes a more leftist view of history that emphasizes intangible forces of history over individual choice. Additionally, there the wrinkle of people being reincarnated. Reincarnation might account for why this world had a Renaissance so similar to our world. Presumably, the Europeans got reincarnated too. Perhaps the Manchu were destined to overthrow the Ming Dynasty. It's interesting to speculate, but let's get back to the story.
Kang eventually marries Ibrahim after he helps her with some hypnosis exercises. They work together on try to find a way to reconcile Islam with Buddhism, and Chinese culture in general. There one scene where Kang disparages Islam for the way Muslim women are treated. Ibrahim point that Chinese women don't have it much better. Kang concedes that women have it pretty bad all the world over. Kang also takes to collecting poems and mantras. Her favorite? It has to do with rice and salt. There's also an amusing scene where, when discussing the possibility of past lives, Kang insists that she's always been Chinese. By this point, we know she's also been African, Berber, Muslim, Indian, Iroquois, and even a tiger.
It seems that Ibrahim, a few other Muslims, believe in reincarnation. In our world, there are some Muslims who believe this, but they are fringe groups, and don't represent mainstream Islamic thought. Granted, with the changes to history, maybe their beliefs became mainstream. I just loved Kang and Ibrahim's constant back-and-forth. They argue, but they also clearly care about each other. We also hear that many Sufi settlements have gotten crushed by Wahhabis. They're a brand of ultra-conservative Islam; Saudi Arabia is run by them. Sadly, this isn't too dissimilar to what happened in our world. Attempts to reform Islam pretty much always ended badly.
Our seventh segment is titled "The Great Age of Progress." It takes place from 1829-1864. The Ottoman Empire has long thought of itself as invincible. That all changes when they get into a war with the League of Travancore; an alliance of states in India. Travancore is a land of mechanical wonders and scientific advancement. The segment follows an Ottoman doctor named Ismail as he is taken to Travancore to experience these wonders firsthand.
Well, this certainly made up for the parallelism of the last segment. I love seeing industrial revolution alternate histories in non-Western nations. I also like that Travancore is an alliance of Indian states rather than a single nation. India is just as ethnically and culturally diverse as Europe, after all. The scene where Travancore invades Konstantiniyye is an ironic echo of the Ottoman's sack of Constantinople in 1453 AD. Of course, this time the Ottomans are in the role of the Byzantines. Wouldn't it be ironic if they were the Byzantines reincarnated? We also see that the Haudenosaunee League is an ally of Travancore, and are doing quite well for themselves. Several Buddhist monasteries have also become centers of science and learning. Buddhism originated in India, but faded away due to the actions of Brahmins, that is, Hindu priests. They knew they had to try to discredit Buddhism, or they'd be standing in the unemployment line. It is fitting that Buddhism has returned to the place of its birth here.
We also find out that some European survived in the Orkney, Shetland, and Faroe Islands. A few also managed to survive in England. Unfortunately, the Ottomans prized these surviving English for their exotic beauty. The Ottomans made a point of keeping the English members of their harams ethnically pure. Eventually, this resulted in some pretty nasty inbreeding. Yeah, those poor English would have been better off if the plague had taken their ancestors.
We skip ahead a bit where Ismail is serving as Tranvancore's ambassador to Yingzhou. It's China's colony on the west coast of North America. We discover that the Japanese people and culture have survived in spite of China's efforts to whip them out. There's even a strong underground resistance movement brewing in Yingzhou. There's mention of flood occurring in California, and interestingly enough, there was indeed a flood in California around the time this segment is set.
The eight segment is titled "War of the Asuras." It is set in the 1950s. Tension between China and Dar-Al-Islam have been brewing for years. Now they've finally boiled over into an all-out war. In time, this war will be known as the Long War. The segment follows three Chinese solders named Bai, Kuo, and Iwa.
This segment was maybe not my favorite, but all the same, not terrible. The Long War can best be described as World War I leading directly into World War II with no break in-between. The Long War lasted sixty-seven years in total. The war is so intense that our character beginning to lose their grasp on reality. Also, apparently the Muslims blew-up the top of Mount Everest so that K2, a mountain in Afghanistan, would be the tallest mountain in the world. There was no real point to this, and it probably didn't affect Chinese moral very much. It probably also wasted time and resources for the Muslims, and seemed more petty than anything. On a brighter note, Japan has used the chaos of the war to regain their independence.
The ninth segment is titled "Nsara." It takes place from 1999-2002. Budur Radwan is a young woman living in the United Alpine Emirates. She longs to be free and independent like her aunt Idelba, who works as a physicist in Nsara. Budur decides to seek on a train bound for the great Sufi city. She finds Nsara to be a land of wonders, and is drawn to the study of history and archeology by one of the city's madrasahs. Life is good, but the effects of the Long War still linger. How long can this temporary peace truly last?
This segment gets fairly metafictional as Budur and her classmates discuss the nature of history. They even speculate on how things might have gone had history turned out differently. One of the class's first projects is considering women's role in history, particularly as it relates to Islam. Their professor Kirana Fawwaz is convinced that it is possible to reconcile Islam with feminism if you throw out the Hadith. She even claims Mohammad was a feminist. Yeah...she must be using a different translation of the Koran, because everything I've read of the Koran paints a rather unflattering picture of the prophet. Feminist is...not a word I'd use to describe him. For example, he once ordered a village of Jews to be put to death for refusing to convert to Islam. Then there's the whole marrying an underage girl and consummating the marriage with her thing. There's a little old lady in the class who says that religion has brought nothing but suffering to people, especially women, and should be done away with. Well, I guess I know what happened to the soul that would have become me.
As someone with a history degree, I can attest that many of the conversations Budur and her classmates have are quite accurate. There would certainly be even more archeological sites in Europe than there already ate in our world. We even get to briefly see some surviving Native Europeans in the Orkney, Shetland and Faroe Islands. They're under the watchful eye of the Haudenosaunee. So we've got Native Americans overseeing what is, essentially, a European reservation. Oh how the tables have turned. One of Budur's friends is named Tristan, and he makes music based on that of Medieval Europe. Strange that more isn't made of his status as one of the only ethnic Europeans we meet. Unless his name isn't really Tristan, and he's the Years of Rice and Salt version of a weeaboo, but with European culture rather than Japanese.
I probably should have mentioned before that the Muslims renamed Europe as Firanja. Well, the Middle Eastern and North African ones did. The Central Asian one's call it Firanjistan. Most of Western Firanja speaks a language that, while similar to Arabic and Berber, is unique to Firanja. Though Skandistan speaks a separate language related to the Turkic languages of Central Asia. Firanja was placed under heavy reparations following the Long War. The terms also forced them to allow Buddhist monasteries to be established in their cities. I guess it makes a sort of sense that Muslim madrasahs and Buddhist monasteries became centers of learning. In our world, many universities, such as Oxford and Cambridge, started off as places to train/educate Christian clergy.
Budur travels to a science conference in Iran to help deliver a message to her aunt's colleges. Specifically, about the potential to split an atom, and create new bombs. This is presented as something that the world must not know of, but I'm not sure about that. Mutually Assured Destruction, and thus deterrence, could have saved quite a few lives during the Long War. From what we hear, it got so bad that women and children got drafted. On the other hand, Dar-Al-Islam does seem just crazy enough to push the button. Don't forget what they did to Mount Everest. On a happier note, we do see that the Buddhist monasteries are making bricks to rebuild the summit of Mount Everest.
Budur also attends an archeology conference. One of the presentations is of a village in Tibet that got caught in an avalanche. It is the very village the sent the Jati on their journey across the ages. I also liked how the Middle East is called the Middle West, as a nod to how Sinocentric this world is. There's mention of scientists wanting to create a new calendar, with the date of their meeting being year one. Something similar happened in our world, but the Apollo 11 mission was used as the year one.
Post-war Firanja bares more than a passing resemblance to Germany during the Weimar Republic. It is mentioned that the Sultanate of Rum has experienced particularly bad hyperinflation. As the segment progresses, there's increasing political turmoil, and many radicals begin to blame mi routines such as Christians, Jews, and Armenians for Firanja losing the Long War. There's mention here, and in several other segments of a people called Zotts. Apparently, that's the Arabic word for Gypsies/Romani. With all the political chaos brewing, it's a good thing the Haudenosaunee keep a military presence in Firanja.
It would seem the Sufis' efforts weren't in vain after all. Nsara appears to be a liberal modern city. And yet it is also mentioned that several parts of Firanja, such as the United Alpine Emirates and Skandistan, are rather conservative. It goes back to the theme of trying to reconcile Islam with liberalism, pluralism, and multiculturalism. Quite forward thinking for a book published in 2002. Personally, I'm not sure it's really possible. Of course, I'm not sure any religion can truly be reformed. Better to discard them and find our truths and meanings in something more solid and rational.
Our final segment is titled "First Years." It takes place from 2030-2088. The segment follows a Chinese man named Bao Xinhua throughout his life. He participates in a democratic-ish/socialist-ish movement lead by the Chinese-Japanese philosopher Zhu Isao. We then follow him as he is assigned to a diplomatic post in Burma, gets married, and then moves to Yingzhou and becomes a history teacher.
I know that doesn't sound very exciting, but I promise this is a good segment. It appears that, despite winning the Long War, China wasn't much better off than Firanja. Of course, it was less than China won and more that Dar-Al-Islam lost. It might seem a little odd that the book doesn't really give as much attention to the social revolution China experienced, but it makes a sort of sense. The wheel symbol is very important in Buddhism and religions like it. It symbolizes reincarnation, rebirth, and the cycle of ages. As you get closer to the center, the arc of the wheel gets smaller. So there's that, or perhaps Kim Stanley Robinson felt that, much like this review, the book had gone on for long enough and it was time to wrap things up. The revolution has aspects of socialist movements, but the philosophy behind it is very much a product of the world of The Years of Rice and Salt.
The real winners of the Long War seem to be the Travancore and Haudenosaunee leagues. Though there were times where the characters referenced Yingzhou as though it comprised all of North America. From what I've gathered, Yingzhou seems to refer to China's colonies in America, and North America as a whole. Sort of like how America can mean either the Untied States, or the Americas as a whole. Similarly, Inka seems to be South America as a whole, and the Inka Empire. Anyway, there certainly does appear to be a growing sense of multiculturalism, pluralism, and international cooperation. All things that are founding principles of Travancore and the Haudenosaunee. In general, though not completely without flaws, the world does seem to have become a more peaceful place. There's also reference to a United Nations analogue called the League of All Nations.
Based on what we've seen both here and in the previous segment, it seems that this world is less technologically advanced than ours. Airships are the primary civilian aircraft, and there doesn't seem to be much mention of any nation having a space program. There's also not really any mention of television, movies, or computers. Granted, maybe the characters we follow don't watch much TV, or go to the movies very often. Still, the lack of computers and the Internet is pretty notable. It also a shame that, throughout the book, we never really get to see what sub-Saharan Africa is like. How did they evolve in a world without European colonialism?
It's mentioned that places, such as much of Firanja and Inka, still suffer from widespread poverty, but on the flip side, much of the world has improved quality of life. In the last segments we did see some Inka in Firanja, so it does seem that they and their culture have survived. There's certainly a sense of cautious optimism for the future throughout the world. Bao himself finds a sense of community and belonging in Yingzhou. His housing complex is much like a modern-day village. He and his fellow Jati members might not have achieved Nirvana, but they did pretty well for themselves. It kind of reminds me of the ending of Candide. Despite all of the hardships, the Jati made it out alive, and are happily tending to their garden, literally and metaphorically. Well, everyone but the K character. Of course, Bao does find himself with a new student named Kali towards the end of the book. Perhaps she'll come around in time.
I'd say, overall, the world of The Years of Rice and Salt isn't necessarily better or worse than ours, but it is very different. And so, at least for now, the journey of the Jati is at an end. Well, I think at this point it is pretty obvious that I loved this book. I also loved the audiobook adaption narrated by Bronson Pinchot.
This was truly epic alternate history. It spanned, continents, cultures, centuries, and lifetimes. It shinned a light on cultures and peoples you don't often see in alternate history. It was an amazing journey, and I'm glad I was along for the ride. I'm glad I finally got around to listening to this book. I can't recommend this book enough. Check it out today, you'll be glad that you did.
Link to the original review on my blog: https://drakoniandgriffalco.blogspot.com/2020/01/book-review-years-of-rice-and-salt-by.html?m=1
submitted by ArthurDrakoni to audiobooks [link] [comments]

2021.07.04 22:51 Yohananironsidev2 Chapter 1018 Spoilers

Sun god Nika is an anagram for the word Inka reference to the word Inca, the Incan's were a south American civilization that happened to worship a sun god called Inti, inti is symbolized by a sun with a face, similar to the Thousand Sunny. In the image who's who paints, you see Inka wearing an attire similar to that of the Shandians, a people in one piece who were also inspired by the Aztecs, I say Aztecs and not Incans because the incans were technologically oriented while the Aztecs sacrificed humans, just like the Shandians. Nika was seen smiling/laughing, we've seen a lot of Shandians but none were particularly jolly, the lore is ancient but there's 800 years between the void century and present day, there's 400 years between the void century and the flashback with Norland and Calgara, the city of good was already past it's prime and in ruin by then, Inka might have been a D. a previous Joyboy or something close like Roger. I have no idea who Nika is and what ramifications his inclusion will have on the story moving forward, but we see CP-0 saying they're there to make sure Who's Who does and they're deliberating about the likelihood of his knowledge being outdated, he never learned about Nika from CP-0 but learnt about him from a guard in Impel down, the guard disappeared without a trace days later. Who's Who the ex CP-9 intelligence agent thinks it was because the guard shared a knowledge that wasn't supposed to be shared with him and his life was now in danger, he believed this strong enough to risk his life to break out of prison, after years of being imprisoned, that's a man that knows how the world government works. I think we're in for some wonderful lore and exposition once the dust settles on this Wano War!
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2021.06.20 10:46 EkskiuTwentyTwo Evolving Conlang (3)

Winning change

semantic shift: "impostor" to "your mom" By ultlang, with 11 points

Phonology

Consonants: m n p t k f s h w B j
Vowels: a i u
Phonotactics: (C)V(N), gemination allowed

Orthography

This conlang is written in the Cyrillic script. The orthography will not change because we want to have some fun historical spelling later on.
Sound Symbol
a а
f ф
h х
i и
j й
k к
m м
n н
p п
B р
s с
t т
u у
w ш
ja я
ji йи
ju ю
Credit to RBolton123, St. Cyril, and St. Methodius for designing this writing system.

Grammar

Word order: OSV
NP order: (Preposition)(Determiner)(Colour)Noun(Other adjectives, in any order)(Number)
VP order: (Tense Marker)Verb(Mood Marker)
Verbs conjugate for person:
Person Verb ending
1s -inaja (-иная)
2s -anja (-аня)
3s -ija (-ия)
1p -ima (-има)
2p -un (-ун)
3p -uja (-уя)
The infinitive of a verb ends in -iju (-ию)
Subordinate clauses providing contextual information begin with the particle "ita" (ита)
Object and subject are separated by the particle "kasin" (касин)

Derivational Morphology

The suffix -ijjj (-иййй) refers to a place where you can find something. e.g. tap тап "food" > tapijjj тапиййй "cafeteria"

Lexicon

amnus амнус - Year (n.)
ana ана - Indefinite article (det.)
anmus анмус - Among (prep.)
anti анти - Favourable (adj.)
fawa фаша - Three, 3 (num.)
fin фин - Arm (n.)
fiBi фири - Two, 2 (num.)
fuBsuna фурсуна - Sensible (adj.)
han хан - Singular, Solo (adj.)
him хим - Imperative/Jussive mood (mark.)
hunkaBiju хункарийу - To eject (v.)
impasi импаси - Impostor (n., archaic)
inkaBa инкара - They (plural) (p.)
inka инка - They (p.)
ita ита - Subordinate Clause (mark.)
ju ю - We, us (p.)
jun юн - I, me (p.)
kasin касин - OS Separator (mark.)
ki ки - Through (prep.)
mama мама - Father (n.)
manipuBa манипура - Vent (n.)
mi ми - Y'all (p.)
min мин - You (singular) (p.)
nani нани - Unknown (adj.)
nun нун - Demon (n.)
paji пайи - Four, 4 (num.)
pan пан - Leg (n.)
papa папа - Mother (n.)
pi пи - Of, from (prep.)
pinsa пинса - In, at, within (prep.)
Batak ратак - Bed (n.)
Bumujafi румуяфи - Medicine (n.)
san сан - Indicative mood (mark.)
sitiju ситию - Set (v.)
sus сус - Suspicious (adj.)
ta та - Definite article (det.)
tap тап - Food (n.)
tapijjj тапиййй - Restaurant, Cafeteria (n.)
tintin тинтин - Plural (mark.)
tu ту - One, 1 (num.)
umami умами - Past tense (mark.)
usiju усию - To use (v.)
wan шан - Zero, 0 (num.)
waBiju шарию - Copula, "to be" verb (v.)
wihi шихи - Future tense (mark.)

Examples

Two impostors used the vent.
Ta manipuBa kasin papa min fiBi usuja Та манипура касин папа мин фири усуя
The impostor is suspicious.
Sus kasin papa min waBija Сус касин папа мин шария
There is an impostor among us.
Papa min waBija ita anmus ju Папа мин шария ита анмус ю
Let's eject the impostor!
Papa min kasin ju hunkaBima him Папа мин касин ю хункарима хим
I will eject the impostor through the vent.
Papa min kasin jun wihi hunkaBinaja ita ki ta manipuBa Папа мин касин юн шихи хункариная ита ки та манипура
I'm in the medbay
Ta Bumujafiijjj kasin jun waBija Та румуяфииййй касин юн шария
submitted by EkskiuTwentyTwo to EvolvingConlang [link] [comments]

2021.06.18 08:00 housecatspeaks 'National Museum of American Indian Returns Pre-Inka Gold Disc Held Since 1912 to Peru' The disc is recognized as the symbol of the city of Cusco, an Indigenous community in Peru

'National Museum of American Indian Returns Pre-Inka Gold Disc Held Since 1912 to Peru' The disc is recognized as the symbol of the city of Cusco, an Indigenous community in Peru submitted by housecatspeaks to IndianCountry [link] [comments]

2021.06.14 12:10 EkskiuTwentyTwo Evolving Conlang (2)

Winning change

r > B By Aspamer, with 4 points

Phonology

Consonants: m n p t k f s h w B j
Vowels: a i u
Phonotactics: (C)V(N), gemination allowed

Orthography

This conlang is written in the Cyrillic script. The orthography will not change because we want to have some fun historical spelling later on.
Sound Symbol
a а
f ф
h х
i и
j й
k к
m м
n н
p п
B р
s с
t т
u у
w ш
ja я
ji йи
ju ю
Credit to RBolton123, St. Cyril, and St. Methodius for designing this writing system.

Grammar

Word order: OSV
NP order: (Preposition)(Determiner)(Colour)Noun(Other adjectives, in any order)(Number)
VP order: (Tense Marker)Verb(Mood Marker)
Verbs conjugate for person:
Person Verb ending
1s -inaja (-иная)
2s -anja (-аня)
3s -ija (-ия)
1p -ima (-има)
2p -un (-ун)
3p -uja (-уя)
The infinitive of a verb ends in -iju (-ию)
Subordinate clauses providing contextual information begin with the particle "ita" (ита)
Object and subject are separated by the particle "kasin" (касин)

Derivational Morphology

The suffix -ijjj (-иййй) refers to a place where you can find something. e.g. tap тап "food" > tapijjj тапиййй "cafeteria"

Lexicon

amnus амнус - Year (n.)
ana ана - Indefinite article (det.)
anmus анмус - Among (prep.)
anti анти - Favourable (adj.)
fawa фаша - Three, 3 (num.)
fin фин - Arm (n.)
fiBi фири - Two, 2 (num.)
fuBsuna фурсуна - Sensible (adj.)
han хан - Singular, Solo (adj.)
him хим - Imperative/Jussive mood (mark.)
hunkaBiju хункарийу - To eject (v.)
impasi импаси - Impostor (n.)
inkaBa инкара - They (plural) (p.)
inka инка - They (p.)
ita ита - Subordinate Clause (mark.)
ju ю - We, us (p.)
jun юн - I, me (p.)
kasin касин - OS Separator (mark.)
ki ки - Through (prep.)
manipuBa манипура - Vent (n.)
mi ми - Y'all (p.)
min мин - You (singular) (p.)
nani нани - Unknown (adj.)
nun нун - Demon (n.)
paji пайи - Four, 4 (num.)
pan пан - Leg (n.)
pi пи - Of, from (prep.)
pinsa пинса - In, at, within (prep.)
Batak ратак - Bed (n.)
Bumujafi румуяфи - Medicine (n.)
san сан - Indicative mood (mark.)
sitiju ситию - Set (v.)
sus сус - Suspicious (adj.)
ta та - Definite article (det.)
tap тап - Food (n.)
tapijjj тапиййй - Restaurant, Cafeteria (n.)
tintin тинтин - Plural (mark.)
tu ту - One, 1 (num.)
umami умами - Past tense (mark.)
usiju усию - To use (v.)
wan шан - Zero, 0 (num.)
waBiju шарию - Copula, "to be" verb (v.)
wihi шихи - Future tense (mark.)

Examples

Two impostors used the vent.
Ta manipuBa kasin impasi fiBi usuja Та манипура касин импаси фири усуя
The impostor is suspicious.
Sus kasin ta impasi waBija Сус касин та импаси шария
There is an impostor among us.
Impasi waBija ita anmus ju Импаси шария ита анмус ю
Let's eject the impostor!
Ta impasi kasin ju hunkaBima him Та импаси касин ю хункарима хим
I will eject the impostor through the vent.
Ta impasi kasin jun wihi hunkaBinaja ita ki ta manipuBa Та импаси касин юн шихи хункариная ита ки та манипура
I'm in the medbay
Ta Bumujafiijjj kasin jun waBija Та румуяфииййй касин юн шария
submitted by EkskiuTwentyTwo to EvolvingConlang [link] [comments]

2020.08.19 02:17 ArthurDrakoni Review: The Years of Rice and Salt by Kim Stanley Robinson

This review was first published on my blog, but I am reprinting it here per the subreddit rules.
2019 was a year where I got to experience a lot of alternate history books in audio form for the first time. It was also, like 2018 before it, a year where I finally got around to listening to several alternate history I'd been meaning to get around to. Case in point, the book we'll be reviewing today. We're taking a look at the classic alternate history novel The Years of Rice and Salt by Kim Stanley Robinson .
The Years of Rice and Salt takes places in a world where the Black Death killed ninety-nine percent of Europe's population. The story follows six or seven individuals, though three in particular, as they are reincarnated over the ages. Robinson makes it easy by having their names start with the same letter. The main characters we follow having names starting in K, B, and I. Secondary characters have names with Z, P, and S. The novel spans hundreds of years of history, and spans numerous nations, giving it a truly global feel to it.
The novel is divided into ten segments of varying lengths, and I will discuss each of them individually. For now, I will give some overall thoughts. I'd been putting off listening to this one, but I'm glad I finally got around to it. I absolutely loved this book. I loved its vast global scope, and how it features nations and cultures you don't often see in alternate history. I also loved the use of reincarnation as a plot device. It was certainly an interesting twist I haven't really seen in too many other alternate history novels. The story uses the Islamic Hegira Calendar for dates. The Islamic year 1 being when Mohammad felid Mecca for Medina in 622 AD. However, I've rendered the dates in the Gregorian Calendar for convenience sake. There's a ton of historical and cultural references throughout the novel. You don't necessarily have to catch them to enjoy the novel, but it adds to the experience. Thankfully, the Kim Stanley Robinson website has this handy reading guide that catalogs and explains them all.
Well, enough of all that, lets dive in.
Our first segment is titled "Awake into Emptiness." It takes place from 1381-1424. It follows a Mongol warrior named Bold who is serving in the army of Timur. Timur has sent Bold to scout ahead into the Hungarian Basin. Bold find a land almost totally devoid of humans. Bold travels through the depopulated Balkans until he is captured and sold into slavery by Arab slavers. During his time aboard a slave ship he meets an African slave named Kyu. As the ship makes its way to China, Kyu and Bold discover that their lives are destined to be intertwined.
This segment sets things up for the rest of the novel. The descriptions of the depopulated Europe were evocative and haunting. There are multiple mentions of cathedrals being only partially built because everyone died in the middle of construction. Medieval cathedrals took decades, if not centuries, to be fully constructed. Often, those who began work on the cathedrals would do so knowing that they would not live to see them completed.
There's a particularly sad scene where Bold encounters the sole European in all of his travels. The man can't speak any of the languages Bold know, but he gets his point across with gestures. He was just a fisherman, and was out fishing when the plague hit. He came back to find everyone, including his wife and children, dead. Now he's all alone, and due to the language barrier, Bold isn't much company. They share food and camp together, but the very next day the man is gone. His footsteps lead to the riverbank, which strongly suggests he might have committed suicide out of despair. What would it be like, I wonder, to be like the lone European? What thoughts would go through one’s head as the sole survive of a once prosperous village? To know that you might be alone forever? Chilling stuff indeed.
Bold and Kyu eventually get sold to the admiral Zhang He. He was the commander of the Ming Dynasty's fleet of treasure ships. They were massive ships that traveled everywhere from the South China Sea, to India, and even East Africa. The goal was to proclaim China's power and influence to the world, and to collect tribute. Zhang He is a staple in alternate histories about China colonizing the New World. Ironically, that doesn't happen in this book til after Zhang He. We'll talk more about that in a bit. We also get a frighteningly detailed explain of how eunuchs, of which Zhang He was one, are made.
Another significant aspect of "Awake into Emptiness" is how it sets up the character meeting in the Bardo at the end of each segment. The Bardo is an afterlife of sorts in Tibetan Buddhism. It is where souls go as they wait to be judged and then reborn. I should probably go over the difference between reincarnation in Hinduism and Buddhism. Hindu reincarnation is like water being passed from one cup to another; your outside changes, but the essence of who you are stays the same. Buddhist reincarnation is more like one candle passing its flame to another; there is a deep connection between you and your reincarnations, but they are ultimately different people. Tibetan Buddhism differs in that it is a bit more like the Hindu view of reincarnation.
The character we meet in The Years of Rice and Salt were part of a Jati in Tibet that got killed in an avalanche. A Jati is type of village or community; sometimes it can also mean clan or group of that nature. Throughout the book the Jati constantly find each other, often without meaning too, across their reincarnations. East Asian cultures, and other Asian cultures to an extent, place emphasis on finding your place within the web of other's lives. The part of this section that muse about the nature of reincarnation and Buddhism have an almost poetic quality to them. There's also some parts that end with "but if you want to know what happens next, read the next part." This is a nod to the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West.
The second segment is titled "The Haj in the Heart." The bulk is set in the 1560. It begins in India with two sisters named Kokila and Bihari. Life is mostly good, and they get married. Then Bihari dies in childbirth, and Kokila poisons their husbands, for which she is executed. Kokila is then reincarnated as a tiger named Kya, who is also killed, but not before she saves a wandering Sufi mystic named Bistami. While on a Hadj to Mecca, Bistami hears of a caravan in North Africa heading to the depopulated land of Al-Andalus. The caravan is led by the charismatic sultan Mawji Darya, and his beautiful wife Katima. Bistami finds himself drawn to Katima, almost as though he knows her from somewhere.
This is the only time, barring the last segment, our characters get reincarnated multiple times in one segment. Bistami at one point finds himself in the court of Emperor Akbar. He was a real ruler of the Mughal Empire. It was an off-shoot of the Mongol Empire established by Central Asian Mongols who settled in Northern India. Akbar was a Muslim, but promoted religious tolerance and understanding. He often held meetings with representatives of the different religions within his empire. Unfortunately, subsequent Mughal rulers didn't share his open-mindedness.
I previously mentioned the poetic nature of this book, and it's true in this segment as well. There is a particularly great scene where Bistami visits the tomb of a great Sufi mystic. He undergoes a religious experience and has visions, including of his past lives. The poetic nature, combined with the musings on the nature of reality, reminds me of The Man in the High Castle, another of my favorite alternate history novels. I should probably talk about Sufism. Sufism is a type of Islamic mysticism. They tend to be a bit more peaceful and less politically inclined than Sunni and Shia Islam. Most Sunnis and Shias, the two main branches of Islam, do not like Sufis very much, and don't consider them real Muslims. If you've ever heard of the Whirling Dervishes, those are Sufis. The Medieval Iranian poet Rumi is another famous Sufi.
It does make sense that the Beber, or Amazigh, as they call themselves, were first to resettle Europe. Towards the end of its history Al-Andalus was ruled by several BebeAmazigh dynasties such as the Almoravids and Almohads. I also liked that the alternate Black Death hit all of Europe, not just the Christian bits. Al-Andalus, and the Muslim settlements in the Balkans, were just as depopulated as the rest of Europe. It made it feel a bit more realistic. Granted, having ninety-nine percent of Europe be whipped out wasn't that realistic, but it is a thing I'm willing to accept for the premise of the novel. Amusingly, even the characters discuss how odd it is that Europe was totally whipped out.
Katima and her caravan are shown to be more open-minded and liberal than most Muslims. This is partially because they follow Sufism, but also because they are Berber. Traditionally, most Berber women have not worn the hijab, and woman have play major roles in Berber life. The caravan eventually moves further north and founds a settlement at the former site of Bayonne, France. They name their settlement Baraka. Katima's husband dies, but there's no precedent for women ruling on their own in Islam. In fact, the Hadith even forbids it.
Thus, Bistami and Katima declare that those Hadith's don't matter and forge their own. Granted, there's some precedence to this. Muslims believe that the Hadith is less authoritative than the Koran, but still important. Several Muslim women, in places such as West Africa and America, choose to ignore the Hadith to justify not wearing the hijab. The closest the Koran comes is saying that women must cover their breasts. Throughout the book there is a theme of trying to reconcile Islam with women's rights, and secular liberalism in general. The Sufis, and those like them, are trying to establish a light in the darkness, but these lights can easily be snuffed out. Case in point, more conservative Muslims from Al-Andalus come to overthrow Katima, forcing everyone to flee further north to Nantes. They name this new settlement Nsara.
Interestingly, when everyone arrives in the Bardo they perceive it as being similar to the Islamic afterlife. Does the Bardo appear different to everyone? They do seem to realize that it isn't the Islamic afterlife, and do start to remember their past lives before getting reincarnated. We'll talk more about all that in just a minute.
The third segment is titled "Ocean Continents." It takes place in the 1620s. Japan has been a thorn in China's side for centuries. The emperor orders a huge fleet of ships to conquer the island nation. However, a few ships get blown across the Pacific and discover two previously unknown continents. The section follows the crew as they explore this brave new world.
This is the part where China finally discovers the Americas. Overall, I did enjoy this segment, but the novel does show its age in places. When the Chinese first arrive, they meet the Miwok people of Northern California. The Miwok are overall portrayed well, even if it occasionally dips into "paint with all the colors of the wind" territory. The narration mentions how the natives barely use the land, and how everything is pristine. We now know that Native Americans played a big role in cultivating land, and played a major role in shaping North America's ecosystem. They just did so in a way that wasn't always recognizable to the Europeans. In fairness a lot of this scholarship has only come on in the last decade or so. Robinson wouldn't have had access to it.
The bigger issue is when the Chinese arrive in the Aztec Empire. At first, it looked like we might get a nuanced look at the Aztecs. They performed human sacrifice, but they did so because they believed it was necessary to thank the gods for giving them the world. Those chosen as sacrifices lives like kings in the year leading up to the sacrifice. They were also one of the few societies to give mandatory education for both men and women. I was hoping we'd see all this, but Robinson fell onto the lazy stereotype of the Aztecs as bloodthirsty barbarians. It got even worse when one of the Chinese fired a gun, and the Aztecs ran around like chickens with their heads chopped off. There is a reference to something this is claimed to have happened when Pizarro conquered the Inca. The problem being that there is no historical evidence that the Inca trampled each other to death when Pizarro fired his gun. It is likely a fabrication by post-conquest chroniclers.
Anyway, when we get to the Bardo we see that it is falling under the sway of the Chinese celestial bureaucracy. Does that mean Chinese Mythology is real too? Overall, not a terrible segment, but could have been better.
The fourth segment is titled "The Alchemist." It takes place in the Khanate of Samarkand in the 1640s. It follows three alchemists named Bahram, Khalid, and Iwang. The start off performing experiments to turn lead into gold. However, they soon start making discoveries that will overturn all pervious knowledge. The age of alchemy is over, and the age of science has begun.
I've always loved the history of science, so this segment was pretty fun for me. The characters make discoveries in all sorts of fields, but the Khan is only interested in military applications. There's a particularly amusing scene where Khalid complains about Sufis being a inch of hippies with their heads in the clouds. He's blissfully unaware that he was a Sufi in a past life. Another scene mentions that Armenia is a Muslim nation. That's particularly odd given that pervious segments mentioned them, along with Georgia and Ethiopia, as one of the few Christian nations that avoid the plague. There's also mention of small communities of Christians in Egypt and the Maghreb. The characters do speculate that the Armenians might be faking it to get better trade deals, but it is still odd. Samarkand in our world had some very famous universities, with some very impressive mosaics. All in all, another great segment.
The fifth segment is called "The Warp and the Weft." It takes place in North America and follows a ronin named Busho, but his friends know him as Fromwest. He is severing as a guest to the Haudenosaunee people, and tells of how his homeland was invaded by China. Busho must convince the Haudenosaunee, and the scattered tribes to North America, to unite and modernize so they can resist colonization from the Chinese and Muslims.
Overall, I thought that Robinson did a much better with his depiction of the Native Americans here. The Haudenosaunee people are more commonly known as the Iroquois. They are nation originally made of the five tribes: the Seneca, Mohawk, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Oneida. In 1722 they welcomed the Tuscarora tribe to the nation. Interestingly, this segment mentions that the Haudenosaunee have expanded to nine tribes. Just who are these additional tribes? The Native Americans were exposed more gradually to Old World diseases than in our world. They've had more time to recover their population. This does give them more of fighting chance than the Native Americans did in our world. Still I can't help but feel that the fate is the Haudenosaunee is just a tad optimistic. Granted, they've got Busho to help them.
Perhaps it is optimistic, but I'm willing to take it. I've always wished alternate history featured the Native Americans more. I've also been fascinated at the idea of Native Americans successfully resisting colonialism. From what we hear, the Chinese invasion of Japan was incredibly harsh. There was no divine wind to save the Japanese this time. Busho wonders if the gods were made because of the Muslim missionaries in Nagasaki. It's a sly joke, because around the same time in our world, Christian missionaries were in Nagasaki. In fact, Nagasaki and Hiroshima were the two biggest Christian settlements in Japan. I wonder if the souls that would have been those missionaries got reincarnated as Muslims?
The Bardo segment is also interesting. The Jati try to resist drinking the elixir of forgetfulness to try to retain the memories in their next lives, and find each other.
The sixth segment is titled "Widow Kang." It takes place in South China in the 18th century. The widow Kang Tongbi has been plagued by strange dreams and strange happenings. She speaks in strange foreign languages, and finds herself draw to the Buddhist monk Bao Ssu and the Muslim scholar Ibrahim ibn Hasam al-Lanzhou. It's almost as though she knows them from somewhere before.
The parallelism was very strong in this story. At times it almost felt more like straight-up historical fiction rather than alternate history. The Machu overthrew the Ming Dynasty, thus establishing the Qing Dynasty, just as in our world. There's also a hysteria over supposed queue cutting, just as in our world. Queues are long braided ponytails the Manchu pushed upon the Han Chinese. The Han weren't required to adopt Manchu clothing and hairstyles, but the Manchu put indirect pressure on them to do so. There were also numerous instances of anti-Muslim persecution carried out during the Qing Dynasty. Yeah, if the goal of the novel was to speculate about a world without Europe, this was not one of its better moments.
Now, I must be fair here. Robinson utilizes a more leftist view of history that emphasizes intangible forces of history over individual choice. Additionally, there the wrinkle of people being reincarnated. Reincarnation might account for why this world had a Renaissance so similar to our world. Presumably, the Europeans got reincarnated too. Perhaps the Manchu were destined to overthrow the Ming Dynasty. It's interesting to speculate, but let's get back to the story.
Kang eventually marries Ibrahim after he helps her with some hypnosis exercises. They work together on try to find a way to reconcile Islam with Buddhism, and Chinese culture in general. There one scene where Kang disparages Islam for the way Muslim women are treated. Ibrahim point that Chinese women don't have it much better. Kang concedes that women have it pretty bad all the world over. Kang also takes to collecting poems and mantras. Her favorite? It has to do with rice and salt. There's also an amusing scene where, when discussing the possibility of past lives, Kang insists that she's always been Chinese. By this point, we know she's also been African, Berber, Muslim, Indian, Iroquois, and even a tiger.
It seems that Ibrahim, a few other Muslims, believe in reincarnation. In our world, there are some Muslims who believe this, but they are fringe groups, and don't represent mainstream Islamic thought. Granted, with the changes to history, maybe their beliefs became mainstream. I just loved Kang and Ibrahim's constant back-and-forth. They argue, but they also clearly care about each other. We also hear that many Sufi settlements have gotten crushed by Wahhabis. They're a brand of ultra-conservative Islam; Saudi Arabia is run by them. Sadly, this isn't too dissimilar to what happened in our world. Attempts to reform Islam pretty much always ended badly.
Our seventh segment is titled "The Great Age of Progress." It takes place from 1829-1864. The Ottoman Empire has long thought of itself as invincible. That all changes when they get into a war with the League of Travancore; an alliance of states in India. Travancore is a land of mechanical wonders and scientific advancement. The segment follows an Ottoman doctor named Ismail as he is taken to Travancore to experience these wonders firsthand.
Well, this certainly made up for the parallelism of the last segment. I love seeing industrial revolution alternate histories in non-Western nations. I also like that Travancore is an alliance of Indian states rather than a single nation. India is just as ethnically and culturally diverse as Europe, after all. The scene where Travancore invades Konstantiniyye is an ironic echo of the Ottoman's sack of Constantinople in 1453 AD. Of course, this time the Ottomans are in the role of the Byzantines. Wouldn't it be ironic if they were the Byzantines reincarnated? We also see that the Haudenosaunee League is an ally of Travancore, and are doing quite well for themselves. Several Buddhist monasteries have also become centers of science and learning. Buddhism originated in India, but faded away due to the actions of Brahmins, that is, Hindu priests. They knew they had to try to discredit Buddhism, or they'd be standing in the unemployment line. It is fitting that Buddhism has returned to the place of its birth here.
We also find out that some European survived in the Orkney, Shetland, and Faroe Islands. A few also managed to survive in England. Unfortunately, the Ottomans prized these surviving English for their exotic beauty. The Ottomans made a point of keeping the English members of their harams ethnically pure. Eventually, this resulted in some pretty nasty inbreeding. Yeah, those poor English would have been better off if the plague had taken their ancestors.
We skip ahead a bit where Ismail is serving as Tranvancore's ambassador to Yingzhou. It's China's colony on the west coast of North America. We discover that the Japanese people and culture have survived in spite of China's efforts to whip them out. There's even a strong underground resistance movement brewing in Yingzhou. There's mention of flood occurring in California, and interestingly enough, there was indeed a flood in California around the time this segment is set.
The eight segment is titled "War of the Asuras." It is set in the 1950s. Tension between China and Dar-Al-Islam have been brewing for years. Now they've finally boiled over into an all-out war. In time, this war will be known as the Long War. The segment follows three Chinese solders named Bai, Kuo, and Iwa.
This segment was maybe not my favorite, but all the same, not terrible. The Long War can best be described as World War I leading directly into World War II with no break in-between. The Long War lasted sixty-seven years in total. The war is so intense that our character beginning to lose their grasp on reality. Also, apparently the Muslims blew-up the top of Mount Everest so that K2, a mountain in Afghanistan, would be the tallest mountain in the world. There was no real point to this, and it probably didn't affect Chinese moral very much. It probably also wasted time and resources for the Muslims, and seemed more petty than anything. On a brighter note, Japan has used the chaos of the war to regain their independence.
The ninth segment is titled "Nsara." It takes place from 1999-2002. Budur Radwan is a young woman living in the United Alpine Emirates. She longs to be free and independent like her aunt Idelba, who works as a physicist in Nsara. Budur decides to seek on a train bound for the great Sufi city. She finds Nsara to be a land of wonders, and is drawn to the study of history and archeology by one of the city's madrasahs. Life is good, but the effects of the Long War still linger. How long can this temporary peace truly last?
This segment gets fairly metafictional as Budur and her classmates discuss the nature of history. They even speculate on how things might have gone had history turned out differently. One of the class's first projects is considering women's role in history, particularly as it relates to Islam. Their professor Kirana Fawwaz is convinced that it is possible to reconcile Islam with feminism if you throw out the Hadith. She even claims Mohammad was a feminist. Yeah...she must be using a different translation of the Koran, because everything I've read of the Koran paints a rather unflattering picture of the prophet. Feminist is...not a word I'd use to describe him. For example, he once ordered a village of Jews to be put to death for refusing to convert to Islam. Then there's the whole marrying an underage girl and consummating the marriage with her thing. There's a little old lady in the class who says that religion has brought nothing but suffering to people, especially women, and should be done away with. Well, I guess I know what happened to the soul that would have become me.
As someone with a history degree, I can attest that many of the conversations Budur and her classmates have are quite accurate. There would certainly be even more archeological sites in Europe than there already ate in our world. We even get to briefly see some surviving Native Europeans in the Orkney, Shetland and Faroe Islands. They're under the watchful eye of the Haudenosaunee. So we've got Native Americans overseeing what is, essentially, a European reservation. Oh how the tables have turned. One of Budur's friends is named Tristan, and he makes music based on that of Medieval Europe. Strange that more isn't made of his status as one of the only ethnic Europeans we meet. Unless his name isn't really Tristan, and he's the Years of Rice and Salt version of a weeaboo, but with European culture rather than Japanese.
I probably should have mentioned before that the Muslims renamed Europe as Firanja. Well, the Middle Eastern and North African ones did. The Central Asian one's call it Firanjistan. Most of Western Firanja speaks a language that, while similar to Arabic and Berber, is unique to Firanja. Though Skandistan speaks a separate language related to the Turkic languages of Central Asia. Firanja was placed under heavy reparations following the Long War. The terms also forced them to allow Buddhist monasteries to be established in their cities. I guess it makes a sort of sense that Muslim madrasahs and Buddhist monasteries became centers of learning. In our world, many universities, such as Oxford and Cambridge, started off as places to train/educate Christian clergy.
Budur travels to a science conference in Iran to help deliver a message to her aunt's colleges. Specifically, about the potential to split an atom, and create new bombs. This is presented as something that the world must not know of, but I'm not sure about that. Mutually Assured Destruction, and thus deterrence, could have saved quite a few lives during the Long War. From what we hear, it got so bad that women and children got drafted. On the other hand, Dar-Al-Islam does seem just crazy enough to push the button. Don't forget what they did to Mount Everest. On a happier note, we do see that the Buddhist monasteries are making bricks to rebuild the summit of Mount Everest.
Budur also attends an archeology conference. One of the presentations is of a village in Tibet that got caught in an avalanche. It is the very village the sent the Jati on their journey across the ages. I also liked how the Middle East is called the Middle West, as a nod to how Sinocentric this world is. There's mention of scientists wanting to create a new calendar, with the date of their meeting being year one. Something similar happened in our world, but the Apollo 11 mission was used as the year one.
Post-war Firanja bares more than a passing resemblance to Germany during the Weimar Republic. It is mentioned that the Sultanate of Rum has experienced particularly bad hyperinflation. As the segment progresses, there's increasing political turmoil, and many radicals begin to blame mi routines such as Christians, Jews, and Armenians for Firanja losing the Long War. There's mention here, and in several other segments of a people called Zotts. Apparently, that's the Arabic word for Gypsies/Romani. With all the political chaos brewing, it's a good thing the Haudenosaunee keep a military presence in Firanja.
It would seem the Sufis' efforts weren't in vain after all. Nsara appears to be a liberal modern city. And yet it is also mentioned that several parts of Firanja, such as the United Alpine Emirates and Skandistan, are rather conservative. It goes back to the theme of trying to reconcile Islam with liberalism, pluralism, and multiculturalism. Quite forward thinking for a book published in 2002. Personally, I'm not sure it's really possible. Of course, I'm not sure any religion can truly be reformed. Better to discard them and find our truths and meanings in something more solid and rational.
Our final segment is titled "First Years." It takes place from 2030-2088. The segment follows a Chinese man named Bao Xinhua throughout his life. He participates in a democratic-ish/socialist-ish movement lead by the Chinese-Japanese philosopher Zhu Isao. We then follow him as he is assigned to a diplomatic post in Burma, gets married, and then moves to Yingzhou and becomes a history teacher.
I know that doesn't sound very exciting, but I promise this is a good segment. It appears that, despite winning the Long War, China wasn't much better off than Firanja. Of course, it was less than China won and more that Dar-Al-Islam lost. It might seem a little odd that the book doesn't really give as much attention to the social revolution China experienced, but it makes a sort of sense. The wheel symbol is very important in Buddhism and religions like it. It symbolizes reincarnation, rebirth, and the cycle of ages. As you get closer to the center, the arc of the wheel gets smaller. So there's that, or perhaps Kim Stanley Robinson felt that, much like this review, the book had gone on for long enough and it was time to wrap things up. The revolution has aspects of socialist movements, but the philosophy behind it is very much a product of the world of The Years of Rice and Salt.
The real winners of the Long War seem to be the Travancore and Haudenosaunee leagues. Though there were times where the characters referenced Yingzhou as though it comprised all of North America. From what I've gathered, Yingzhou seems to refer to China's colonies in America, and North America as a whole. Sort of like how America can mean either the Untied States, or the Americas as a whole. Similarly, Inka seems to be South America as a whole, and the Inka Empire. Anyway, there certainly does appear to be a growing sense of multiculturalism, pluralism, and international cooperation. All things that are founding principles of Travancore and the Haudenosaunee. In general, though not completely without flaws, the world does seem to have become a more peaceful place. There's also reference to a United Nations analogue called the League of All Nations.
Based on what we've seen both here and in the previous segment, it seems that this world is less technologically advanced than ours. Airships are the primary civilian aircraft, and there doesn't seem to be much mention of any nation having a space program. There's also not really any mention of television, movies, or computers. Granted, maybe the characters we follow don't watch much TV, or go to the movies very often. Still, the lack of computers and the Internet is pretty notable. It also a shame that, throughout the book, we never really get to see what sub-Saharan Africa is like. How did they evolve in a world without European colonialism?
It's mentioned that places, such as much of Firanja and Inka, still suffer from widespread poverty, but on the flip side, much of the world has improved quality of life. In the last segments we did see some Inka in Firanja, so it does seem that they and their culture have survived. There's certainly a sense of cautious optimism for the future throughout the world. Bao himself finds a sense of community and belonging in Yingzhou. His housing complex is much like a modern-day village. He and his fellow Jati members might not have achieved Nirvana, but they did pretty well for themselves. It kind of reminds me of the ending of Candide. Despite all of the hardships, the Jati made it out alive, and are happily tending to their garden, literally and metaphorically. Well, everyone but the K character. Of course, Bao does find himself with a new student named Kali towards the end of the book. Perhaps she'll come around in time.
I'd say, overall, the world of The Years of Rice and Salt isn't necessarily better or worse than ours, but it is very different. And so, at least for now, the journey of the Jati is at an end. Well, I think at this point it is pretty obvious that I loved this book. I also loved the audiobook adaptation narrated by Bronson Pinchot.
This was truly epic alternate history. It spanned, continents, cultures, centuries, and lifetimes. It shinned a light on cultures and peoples you don't often see in alternate history. It was an amazing journey, and I'm glad I was along for the ride. I'm glad I finally got around to listening to this book. I can't recommend this book enough. Check it out today, you'll be glad that you did.
Link to the original review on my blog, though you won’t find anything you didn’t find here: http://drakoniandgriffalco.blogspot.com/2020/01/book-review-years-of-rice-and-salt-by.html?m=1
submitted by ArthurDrakoni to Fantasy [link] [comments]

2020.08.03 16:51 RexiconJesse A Pub Called Quest - A Tavern Where All 18 NPCs has a Place in the Pub, Distinct Look, Personality, Quirk, and even a Quest

Sometimes you want to go where everybody has a name…
If you'd like this as a fancy PDF (for my skills at least), you can snag it for free on my itch page.
Every GM knows the joke: The players ignore the NPC with the ! above their head and gravitate to the one person drinking alone at the tavern because (insert player logic).
This lone drinker has no backstory, name, look, personality, or even reason for being there other than making sure the tavern isn’t empty.
So we present to you: A Pub Called Quest. Quest is a tavern where each of the 18 NPCs has a name, place in the pub, distinct look, personality, quirk, and even a quest. You can drop Quest into existence any time or place you want in your game. All quests stand alone, allowing players to do only one or complete them all in any order. Some have a few connections.
A Pub Called Quest is system agnostic, so use it with any fantasy game you prefer.
This post was made by these awesome people:
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If you don't want the PDF, here's the raw text:

A Pub Called Quest

The Patrons at a Glance

  1. Roverti Valanpulk: Middle-aged human bartender and owner of Quest.
  2. “Tillie”: Friendly and busy human barmaid running around helping people.
  3. Lord Albert-Frederik Middason (second of his name): Lordly bloke looking like he’s judging everyone in the joint.
  4. Dizrah: Massive gnoll bouncer.
  5. Simon Grimm: Charismatic regular who is loud.
  6. Marla Primtor: Dwarven shopkeeper and regular at Quest.
  7. Zin Thistleworn: A gnomish child cleaning Quest’s unique fireplace.
  8. Darius: Hunchbacked ratfolk struggling to tend to the animals in the stable.
  9. Gravrlst (or Grav Rolost. His speech is very slurred): Loud drunk trying to get people to sing a song he can’t remember.
  10. Thunderfang Jones: Lizardfolk drug user trying to get a fix.
  11. Crunchy Mohab: Gnome with bagpipes who is either playing them or chatting with whomever he can.
  12. Auke Inka: Sloppy drinker who works hard at not working.
  13. Lucca Huntsman: Frustrated looking chef in a bloodstained apron.
  14. Sym Skallywood: Reclusive human drinking alone.
  15. Izzy: Teenage ratfolk sitting at a table with a bird who is singing to her.
  16. Sir Albertus Quintifican: Human man who has never been there before trying to make eye contact with any tough-looking patrons.
  17. Frega Lodges: Human woman reading tarot cards at a table.
  18. Matyus Decker: Burly human with a thick mustache that laughs very loudly.
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The Patrons

Roverti Valanpulk
Location and role in the tavern: Roverti is found behind the counter serving drinks. Roverti is the owner and lead bartender of Quest.
Appearance: Roverti is a middle-aged human who towers above most of the patrons. Pulled back hair falls out of a worn, purple cap. Their brown eyes shine within a weathered, rugged and handsome face. A loose apron, vibrant purple shirt, and black slacks mask their bulky form. While not visible behind the bar, Roverti does not wear shoes.
Quirk: They are constantly looking around. Perhaps a bit too much…
What’s their quest: Roverti has an air of malcontent about them. Their eyes dart around the room, noting each patron’s actions at that moment.
If engaged, Raverti tells the person they have grown tired of Quest. While the regulars are nice and the travelers always have great stories and wares, Raverti wants to be the one telling the stories instead of listening to them. Roverti offers to sell Quest to the party for an astoundingly low price so long as they buy it right now. Roverti says they have plenty of money saved up, and they want to go see the world.
The truth is debt collectors are coming to find the owner of Quest to either get their money or beat it out of them, whomever the owner is. And the debt collectors will be there later this night.
Created by: u/RexiconJesse
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Tilde “Tillie” Millings
Location and role in the tavern: All over the place, as she serves food, cleans tables, and washed dishes.
Appearance: Tillie is in her late 20s and young looking. She has long, almost blonde hair tied in a rough functional braid. Her eyes are fiercely green that, regardless of her history and life, still manage to compliment her sympathetic smile. She has a small nose that is slightly crooked at the tip. Her clothes are basic, though she sews tassels and fancy buttons on her clothing whenever she finds some.
Quirk: Whenever she laughs aloud, she makes the noise of a pig, after which she gets embarrassed. She is also too busy for love interests.
What’s their quest: She needs the party to travel to the nearest big town—which the party was headed anyway—and find her birth mother. Her birth mother stole the deed to the plot of land her father had built a mill on when she left him for a minor nobleman. The problem is that the Lord who holds the land here is trying to stake a claim to her family’s land. Currently, he only tries to bully her father with overpriced taxes and petty fees, which her father can’t pay forever, but she fears her family mill will go up in smoke if the Lord grows inpatient.
Her birth mother might have ended up in the oldest business when the fling with the nobleman turned out to not be a nobleman and left her in debt. The Lord also might have an ulterior motive, as he is trying to get to Tillie for denying him rather than taking the land of her father.
Created by: u/Mimir-ion
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Lord Albert-Frederik Middasson (The Second of his Name)
Location and role in the tavern: Regular patron of the Quest.
Appearance: Lordly riders outfit, complete with a short ornamental whip he never uses or unties. His hair is slick and combed backwards to cover a well-hidden start of a bald spot. With forty years plus of experience he still manages to put his rings on the wrong fingers.
Quirk: Petty loser and highly competitive, even when his competitors are not aware they participated in a game. If he loses at his imaginary games, he will be cruel to those around him and even seek revenge through his authoritarian power.
What’s their quest: He is in trouble with his family. They don’t approve of his active peasant participation. He however can’t get enough of the easy life here, which is spoiled by some thievery. He asks the party to investigate the disappearance of two of his rings, and he suspects several people, amongst them is Tillie and Dizrah, who he says have been making advances at him (not really). He claims all of the suspects he listed are having money problems. He pays 40% up front, already a significant sum, and says the rest is paid when evidence is found.
The pouch of gold he pays up front contains one of his rings, and depending on the result of the players investigations, he will try to corner them at the mill of Tillie’s father with a dozen soldiers in tow. The players may choose to betray an innocent family or try to talk/fight their way out.
Created by: u/Mimir-ion
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Dizrah “Just Dizrah”
Location and role in the tavern: As both barmaid and bouncer, Dizrah is most often found leaning against the side of the bar looking grumpy.
Appearance: Dizrah is large, even compared to other gnolls. Her short, rough fur is a tawny brown with dark spots, and she has dark green eyes that only accentuate her perpetual glare. In reality, she just has a natural scowl and only appears to be always angry. This still means only braver newcomers to the bar order drinks from her instead of the less intimidating Tillie.
Quirk: Her left ear tilts forwards and twitches when she is truly annoyed.
What’s their quest: Her cousin, “His name in unpronounceable, just call him ‘Griff,’” was meant to pick up a shipment of booze from the next town over. He’s several days late and she wants the party to see what’s taking him so long. (She’s secretly worried). Dizrah doesn’t particularly care about most of the booze, just the cask of Black Absinthe which is a traditional gnoll drink and is “bloody expensive.”
Turns out Griff encountered some bandits on the road. He’s unharmed and has just been sitting with them in their camp drinking all the booze he was meant to deliver. Luckily, the precious Black Absinthe is untouched, as none of the bandits have been brave enough to tap the alarmingly odorous barrel. There’s opportunity for the party to solve things non-violently as the bandits are all quite drunk and feeling pretty content at the moment.
Created by: u/PaganUnicorn
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Simon Grimm
Location and role in the tavern: A regular whenever he’s in town, occasionally takes up stage time for street evangelism.
Appearance: A handsome and charismatic performer—whose parentage is irrelevant—in well-maintained traveling clothes.
Quirk: Simon’s personality is a 50/50 blend of smooth Southern preacher and Charles Manson. He preaches a non-theistic philosophy that defines Good and Wisdom as being equal parts Kindness, Honesty and Foresight. He claims to have come to this revelation as a result of his study of the goodly gods of the pantheon, drawing together their commonalities and abandoning their differences.
What’s their quest: Simon has a series of quests, all geared toward helping a group in need. The through line for all of the groups is that they traditionally worship gods Simon doesn’t consider “good gods.” The people he wants them to help range from farmers to knights.
There should always be elements of the GM’s characterization of Simon that lead to suspicion that his goals are nefarious. It’s an easy conclusion to draw that he wants to drive worshippers away from the gods of good. The twist at the end of it all is that he’s telling the truth, he genuinely just wants to fundamentally understand and then actively practice “good,” and his works help people in need.
Created by: u/M0rdenkainen
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Morla Primtor
Location and role in the tavern: She’s a local shopkeeper (Scribe and Scroll) who is at this moment wandering around eavesdropping, especially on conversations about port travel and trade.
Appearance: Morla is a handsome woman with a neatly trimmed beard. She’s somewhat squat with relatively undamaged skin and pressed clothes; one might even have a hard time recognizing her as a dwarf.
Quirk: She’s in the tavern, but she doesn’t drink, she is devoutly opposed to what she considers “deviant revelry.”
What’s their quest: Morla loathes adventures and adventurers. Her daughter, Dwayna, has “too much dwarf in her,” and Morla suspects she has run away on an adventure in spite of her upbringing. Morla’s at Quest to try and find her daughter and bring her back to the Scribe and Scroll; which is where a sensible young lady should aspire to be. Stubborn and hesitant to enlist the assistance of filthy vagrant mercenaries, she is getting desperate to find her daughter, so she will accept help, if the adventurers will do it for the right price. Basically a GM can add this quest to any existing one (just add Dwayna as a character in another quest) or they can make up a path where Dwayna has gone and what it’s going to take to get her to return or to get her mother to stop looking for her.
Created by: u/foofieboo
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Zin Thistleworn
Location and role in the tavern: Zin is cleaning the hand-sized holes and flutes connected to the fire that heat the building. She is the only person small enough to properly clean them, and she does whatever other odd jobs Roverti, Dizrah, or Tillie can give her to make a few coins.
Appearance: She is a rail thin, very young gnomish girl, standing only 14 inches tall. Her gaunt face accentuates her large eyes. She is covered in soot, masking her clothes and matting her hair.
Quirk: She likes to use big words, though she doesn’t always use the correct ones.
What’s their quest: Zin’s father is in prison. Zin usually gives her father food and some comfort items because the guards treat him horridly. However, the prison changed their rules and now she cannot visit him. She needs someone to get into the prison and give him a blanket (the nights are getting colder), a note from her (written in gnomish), a handful of dried flower petals (that have a powerful and pleasant smell), and a piece of white charcoal (because he loves to draw).
Zin is actually a pixie using illusion magic to appear as a young gnome. She’s convinced the staff at Quest that she is a child. The man in prison is an archfey she is trying to rescue. The prison has too much iron in it for her to enter, and while the archfey is powerful, the amount of iron around him has neutralized his powers. If he gets the charcoal, he can draw a rune and use the petals as a beacon to allow Zin to open a portal and get him out. The prison guards do not know he is an archfey.
Created by: u/RexiconJesse
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Darius
Location and role in the tavern: Darius is the stable person and can be found in the stable tending the horses and other mounts from patrons.
Appearance: Darius is a hefty ratfolk covered with shining white hair. While he is only 20, he has a severe hunch and the peak of his hump is partially bald.
Quirk: None of the animals like him, and they make their displeasure obvious.
What’s their quest: Darius struggles to get the animals stabled and fed. A pack of mounts (horses, megaraptors, big cats, whatever the GM chooses) have escaped the stable and run off together into the wilderness. The owners of the mounts are asleep in Quest. Darious won’t be able to search for the mounts until his shift ends deep into the night. He pleads with any players who show interest in tracking and retrieving the runaway mounts. He cannot pay them with coin, but he does have information about a quest the party is currently pursuing.
Created by: u/RexiconJesse
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Gravrlst (or Grav Rolost. His speech is very slurred)
Location and role in the tavern: Gravrlst is at a table.
Appearance: Gravrlst is a middle-aged half elf with tall ears and what humans call a three-day beard. The front of his shirt is wet from spilled ale.
Quirk: He keeps starting to sing the same song, getting lost and starting over after a few lines. He is also completely tanked.
What’s their quest: Gravlst is trying to get people to sing his favorite drinking song with him. The song which he believes is called “That one with the mermaid and there were some rocks somewhere? Or on the rocks maybe? It’s the catchy one. You’ve heard it.” However, he cannot remember anything after the first line. It’s driving him mad, and he promises a round on him if someone can finish the song.
Players with related knowledge-based skills or a history of sailing, as well as players who are heavy drinkers or musically inclined, may have heard of the song he’s trying to sing. Alternatively, players can try and improvise a song and convince him that’s the one he meant. The players will have to write the whole song to do this option.
Created by: u/RexiconJesse
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Thunderfang Jones
Location and role in the tavern: Drug user, usually hangs out near the bathrooms
Appearance: Thunderfang is a red-scaled lizardfolk who is casually dressed in priests’ robes with a half-dozen holy symbols from various faiths adorning his garb.
Quirk: Collects “faiths” and has joined every cult he’s been able to find. He is very knowledgeable about religion.
What’s their quest: To find “enlightenment” one narcotic experience at a time. He is desperate to find a rare and powerful hallucinogen and is willing to pay top dollar for it.
Created by:famoushippopotamus
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Crunchy Mohab
Location and role in the tavern: Performer who is either on stage or hanging around the most charismatic person in the tavern.
Appearance: Crunchy is a gnome dressed in tattered leathers and mismatched boots. His instrument is a modified set of bagpipes, enchanted to produce electric guitar sounds and amplified to be extra loud. A number of facial piercings and tattoos complete his unique appearance.
Quirk: Cannot stand the smell of tobacco or burning candles.
What’s their quest: Is searching for his lost brother, also a performer, and is retracing his brother’s last-known-tour.
Created by: famoushippopotamus
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Auke Inka
Location and role in the tavern: Patron–sitting at the bar drinking heavily.
Appearance: Auke is dressed as a commoner and is a bit disheveled. To even a casual observer, it is obvious Auke has been there for quite some time.
Quirk: Will work extremely hard at not working–always has a scheme.
What’s their quest: If engaged in conversation, Auke will discuss any number of topics, but will eventually mention a buried treasure. If pressed further, he will indicate a wealthy merchant who has recently met his demise left the entirety of the mentioned treasure to him. He plans to dig it up in two days’ time but has to leave on business before that happens. He will give the party a general location in his backyard where it was buried “around 8 feet down.”
If the party investigates the location indicated, they will find pickaxes and shovels left out. If the party digs, they will find nothing. Here one of two things will happen: Either Auke returns and measures the hole, proclaiming it close enough for the pool he wanted installed or later on the party may hear about how Auke tricked some people into digging his pool for him (possibly back at the tavern).
Created by:zweefer
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Lucca Huntsman
Location and role in the tavern: As the cook, Lucca can be found in and out of the kitchen.
Appearance: Blood stained apron, long unkempt hair, filthy hands, generally a walking health code violation…
Quirk: Picks his nose.
What’s their quest: Lucca tells the party he has a problem with rats “in the food.” He wants to hire the party to kill as many large rats in the stables as they can. To prove the deed has been done, he insists they bring the bodies of each rat killed, and he will pay per corpse.
In reality, the Quest is about out of meat, and beef is too expensive. He was telling the truth when he said the rats were indeed “in the food,” because he’s going to use them to cook.
Created by:zweefer
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Sym Skallywood
Location and role in the tavern: Sym is nursing a large tankard of ale alone. He is a little reluctant to speak with strangers.
Appearance: Sym is a short-but-handsome young man with sandy blonde hair and blue eyes. The unfocused gaze of his left eye drifts lazily toward the wall.
Quirk: Sym fidgets with the silver chain he wears around his neck.
What’s their quest: Sym carries with him a vial of a rare poison that causes any who ingests it to suffer from terrible dry-mouth and flux. If untreated, the person will be dead of dehydration within 4 hours. Sym was hired by, Willam Fold, an up-and-coming local merchant, to prepare the potion and make sure it ends up in the drink of the merchant’s rival. Sym is very concerned about a threat of blackmail from Mr. Fold (secret: Fold is actually a half-devil), who has taken the ledger from Sym’s home workshop and lab and is holding it locked in a safe in his villa in the Garden District. Sym doesn’t have the stomach for killing, so he’ll one of two things. First, he might ask the party would travel across town to the Resolution Alehouse–he expects his mark will be there–so they can do the poisoning and Sym’s life can go back to normal. Alternatively, he could ask the party to break into Mr Fold’s villa and steal back Sym’s ledger. Sym is an expert in preparing curatives, and he promises he’d be able to spare a few handy potions from time to time, the kind that might help you out of some sticky situations.
Created by:OrkishBlade
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Izzy
Location and role in the tavern: Niece of Darius, found loitering around the common room.
Appearance: Izzy is a young ratfolk in her early teens. She has shiny coal black fur with a white spot on her nose.
Quirk: Animals seems to adore Izzy. A swallow is currently sitting on the table singing to her.
What’s their quest: Izzy wants to cheer up some of the inn’s more sulky staff, especially her uncle Darius. She has heard tales from explorers that there’s a magical glade in a nearby wood where moonlight collects in shallow pools. Izzy is convinced that a few jars of moonlight on their nightstands could fix the mood of any person, no matter how petulant. She provides a box of heavy glass jars and a thick black wax to seal them.
Getting to the glade is not difficult upon a little asking around or exploration. The party can find themselves there within a day’s hike. The difficulty lies in the fact that liquid moonlight causes a crippling feeling of nostalgia. Getting close to the pools without succumbing to weepy tears for years lost is a significant challenge, and once the jars are finally collected, they affect anyone in close proximity with the same feelings. It will take a lot of willpower and a great many tissues before the party can get the moonlight to Izzy.
Created by:u/PaganUnicorn
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Sir Albertus Quintifican
Location and role in the tavern: Central, trying to attract the attention of anyone who looks kind of tough. He is a first-time patron.
Appearance: Albertus is a mid-20s human minor noble, and he appears very well-off. He dapples himself with jewels and gold, his clothes are of the finest silks and linens with radiant dyes and intricate embroideries. The only thing plain about him is that he’s plainly out of place here.
Quirk: Tries to make eye contact with anyone tough looking. As soon as eye contact is made, he’ll come to introduce himself and buy everyone with that person (or persons) drinks. He flashes his cash everywhere, is highly energetic, and seems to think everyone already likes him.
What’s their quest: Albertus’ best friend, Francois, is getting married. Naturally, Albertus wants to throw the biggest bachelor party ever. Francois has always had fantasies of being an adventurer, so Albertus wants someone strong and simple to capture a terrible beastie (or several!) and bring it to his estate. Once there, the beast will be caged and kept weak.
The bachelor party will be a night of raucous merrymaking and debauchery, drinks flowing fast, a multitude of high profile and notable guests, gambling, you name it… But the pièce de résistance is when Albertus will reveal the monster to Francois, who (undoubtedly very drunk) will be able to dispatch it and feel like a real hero! The players will be kept around to make sure it all goes smoothly and that Francois gets the killing blow.
After that, Francois will be feeling very confident and will probably challenge anyone and everyone to a duel. Depending how the players run with that, they may be invited to join in with the merrymaking or end up imprisoned for the murder of the young preppy noble.
Created by:u/brittommy
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Frega Lodges
Location and role in the tavern: Frega is sitting in a corner table doing tarot readings for coin.
Appearance: Frega is a fat woman with kind eyes. Her dark hair is pulled back in a loose bun just above her sloping shoulders.
Quirk: Frega has a flair for the dramatic, to a fault.
What’s their quest: Frega is concerned about a dwarven girl named Dwayna, an enthusiastic and strong lass who wants adventure and to protect the common folk in these parts. She gave Dwayna a reading recently in which she revealed to her that she was the reincarnated soul of the ancient elvish hero Hedrallon the Dragonslayer. Dwayna was ecstatic and immediately began preparations to search for the tomb of Hedrallon. Local legends have told that Hedrallon is buried in a mausoleum in the shadow of Mount Deaftide on the far edge of the Longwood. Many have gone looking for Hedrallon’s resting place, and all who have returned were disappointed. If they find Dwayna, Frega promises to contact some friendly spirits to inquire where to find something for which one of the PCs is searching for.
Created by:OrkishBlade
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Matyus Decker
Location and role in the tavern: Matyus is walking around, trying to get other patrons to play dice.
Appearance: Matyus has a boisterous laugh that erupts through is thick mustache. He wears an open shirt that displays his hairy and well-muscled chest.
Quirk: Matyus has more gold teeth than originals.
What’s their quest: Matyus was a sailor on the pirate ship Backstab Betty, commanded by the dangerous and half-mad Captain Graysky. Matyus tells a wild tale: After plundering and sinking a spicer ship laden with gold and silver after it sailed from Whiteclyff, Graysky turned the ship northward and then deliberately smashed the Backstab Betty onto the rocks of the Seaspray Coast in the dead of night. For those few crew members who made it to land, Graysky and his first mate— a vicious human named Markesh—were waiting, axes in hand to hew them as they crawled onto the stony shore. Concealed by the darkness, Matyus was able to swim and float in the shallows for a few miles before heading into land. He feels he owes it to his fallen crewmates to retrieve some of that treasure, and he’d gladly split whatever they find in equal shares with the party if they help.
Created by:OrkishBlade
submitted by RexiconJesse to DMAcademy [link] [comments]

2020.08.03 16:41 RexiconJesse A Pub Called Quest - A Tavern Where All 18 NPCs has a Place in the Pub, Distinct Look, Personality, Quirk, and even a Quest

Sometimes you want to go where everybody has a name…
We originally made this some years back, but I gave it another pass on editing, dressed it up, and formatted it into a fancy (for my skills at least) PDF that you can snag for free.
Every GM knows the joke: The players ignore the NPC with the ! above their head and gravitate to the one person drinking alone at the tavern because (insert player logic).
This lone drinker has no backstory, name, look, personality, or even reason for being there other than making sure the tavern isn’t empty.
So we present to you: A Pub Called Quest. Quest is a tavern where each of the 18 NPCs has a name, place in the pub, distinct look, personality, quirk, and even a quest. You can drop Quest into existence any time or place you want in your game. All quests stand alone, allowing players to do only one or complete them all in any order. Some have a few connections.
A Pub Called Quest is system agnostic, so use it with any fantasy game you prefer.
This post was made by these awesome people:
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If you don't want the PDF, here's the raw text:

A Pub Called Quest

The Patrons at a Glance

  1. Roverti Valanpulk: Middle-aged human bartender and owner of Quest.
  2. “Tillie”: Friendly and busy human barmaid running around helping people.
  3. Lord Albert-Frederik Middason (second of his name): Lordly bloke looking like he’s judging everyone in the joint.
  4. Dizrah: Massive gnoll bouncer.
  5. Simon Grimm: Charismatic regular who is loud.
  6. Marla Primtor: Dwarven shopkeeper and regular at Quest.
  7. Zin Thistleworn: A gnomish child cleaning Quest’s unique fireplace.
  8. Darius: Hunchbacked ratfolk struggling to tend to the animals in the stable.
  9. Gravrlst (or Grav Rolost. His speech is very slurred): Loud drunk trying to get people to sing a song he can’t remember.
  10. Thunderfang Jones: Lizardfolk drug user trying to get a fix.
  11. Crunchy Mohab: Gnome with bagpipes who is either playing them or chatting with whomever he can.
  12. Auke Inka: Sloppy drinker who works hard at not working.
  13. Lucca Huntsman: Frustrated looking chef in a bloodstained apron.
  14. Sym Skallywood: Reclusive human drinking alone.
  15. Izzy: Teenage ratfolk sitting at a table with a bird who is singing to her.
  16. Sir Albertus Quintifican: Human man who has never been there before trying to make eye contact with any tough-looking patrons.
  17. Frega Lodges: Human woman reading tarot cards at a table.
  18. Matyus Decker: Burly human with a thick mustache that laughs very loudly.
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The Patrons

Roverti Valanpulk
Location and role in the tavern: Roverti is found behind the counter serving drinks. Roverti is the owner and lead bartender of Quest.
Appearance: Roverti is a middle-aged human who towers above most of the patrons. Pulled back hair falls out of a worn, purple cap. Their brown eyes shine within a weathered, rugged and handsome face. A loose apron, vibrant purple shirt, and black slacks mask their bulky form. While not visible behind the bar, Roverti does not wear shoes.
Quirk: They are constantly looking around. Perhaps a bit too much…
What’s their quest: Roverti has an air of malcontent about them. Their eyes dart around the room, noting each patron’s actions at that moment.
If engaged, Raverti tells the person they have grown tired of Quest. While the regulars are nice and the travelers always have great stories and wares, Raverti wants to be the one telling the stories instead of listening to them. Roverti offers to sell Quest to the party for an astoundingly low price so long as they buy it right now. Roverti says they have plenty of money saved up, and they want to go see the world.
The truth is debt collectors are coming to find the owner of Quest to either get their money or beat it out of them, whomever the owner is. And the debt collectors will be there later this night.
Created by: u/RexiconJesse
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Tilde “Tillie” Millings
Location and role in the tavern: All over the place, as she serves food, cleans tables, and washed dishes.
Appearance: Tillie is in her late 20s and young looking. She has long, almost blonde hair tied in a rough functional braid. Her eyes are fiercely green that, regardless of her history and life, still manage to compliment her sympathetic smile. She has a small nose that is slightly crooked at the tip. Her clothes are basic, though she sews tassels and fancy buttons on her clothing whenever she finds some.
Quirk: Whenever she laughs aloud, she makes the noise of a pig, after which she gets embarrassed. She is also too busy for love interests.
What’s their quest: She needs the party to travel to the nearest big town—which the party was headed anyway—and find her birth mother. Her birth mother stole the deed to the plot of land her father had built a mill on when she left him for a minor nobleman. The problem is that the Lord who holds the land here is trying to stake a claim to her family’s land. Currently, he only tries to bully her father with overpriced taxes and petty fees, which her father can’t pay forever, but she fears her family mill will go up in smoke if the Lord grows inpatient.
Her birth mother might have ended up in the oldest business when the fling with the nobleman turned out to not be a nobleman and left her in debt. The Lord also might have an ulterior motive, as he is trying to get to Tillie for denying him rather than taking the land of her father.
Created by: u/Mimir-ion
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Lord Albert-Frederik Middasson (The Second of his Name)
Location and role in the tavern: Regular patron of the Quest.
Appearance: Lordly riders outfit, complete with a short ornamental whip he never uses or unties. His hair is slick and combed backwards to cover a well-hidden start of a bald spot. With forty years plus of experience he still manages to put his rings on the wrong fingers.
Quirk: Petty loser and highly competitive, even when his competitors are not aware they participated in a game. If he loses at his imaginary games, he will be cruel to those around him and even seek revenge through his authoritarian power.
What’s their quest: He is in trouble with his family. They don’t approve of his active peasant participation. He however can’t get enough of the easy life here, which is spoiled by some thievery. He asks the party to investigate the disappearance of two of his rings, and he suspects several people, amongst them is Tillie and Dizrah, who he says have been making advances at him (not really). He claims all of the suspects he listed are having money problems. He pays 40% up front, already a significant sum, and says the rest is paid when evidence is found.
The pouch of gold he pays up front contains one of his rings, and depending on the result of the players investigations, he will try to corner them at the mill of Tillie’s father with a dozen soldiers in tow. The players may choose to betray an innocent family or try to talk/fight their way out.
Created by: u/Mimir-ion
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Dizrah “Just Dizrah”
Location and role in the tavern: As both barmaid and bouncer, Dizrah is most often found leaning against the side of the bar looking grumpy.
Appearance: Dizrah is large, even compared to other gnolls. Her short, rough fur is a tawny brown with dark spots, and she has dark green eyes that only accentuate her perpetual glare. In reality, she just has a natural scowl and only appears to be always angry. This still means only braver newcomers to the bar order drinks from her instead of the less intimidating Tillie.
Quirk: Her left ear tilts forwards and twitches when she is truly annoyed.
What’s their quest: Her cousin, “His name in unpronounceable, just call him ‘Griff,’” was meant to pick up a shipment of booze from the next town over. He’s several days late and she wants the party to see what’s taking him so long. (She’s secretly worried). Dizrah doesn’t particularly care about most of the booze, just the cask of Black Absinthe which is a traditional gnoll drink and is “bloody expensive.”
Turns out Griff encountered some bandits on the road. He’s unharmed and has just been sitting with them in their camp drinking all the booze he was meant to deliver. Luckily, the precious Black Absinthe is untouched, as none of the bandits have been brave enough to tap the alarmingly odorous barrel. There’s opportunity for the party to solve things non-violently as the bandits are all quite drunk and feeling pretty content at the moment.
Created by: u/PaganUnicorn
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Simon Grimm
Location and role in the tavern: A regular whenever he’s in town, occasionally takes up stage time for street evangelism.
Appearance: A handsome and charismatic performer—whose parentage is irrelevant—in well-maintained traveling clothes.
Quirk: Simon’s personality is a 50/50 blend of smooth Southern preacher and Charles Manson. He preaches a non-theistic philosophy that defines Good and Wisdom as being equal parts Kindness, Honesty and Foresight. He claims to have come to this revelation as a result of his study of the goodly gods of the pantheon, drawing together their commonalities and abandoning their differences.
What’s their quest: Simon has a series of quests, all geared toward helping a group in need. The through line for all of the groups is that they traditionally worship gods Simon doesn’t consider “good gods.” The people he wants them to help range from farmers to knights.
There should always be elements of the GM’s characterization of Simon that lead to suspicion that his goals are nefarious. It’s an easy conclusion to draw that he wants to drive worshippers away from the gods of good. The twist at the end of it all is that he’s telling the truth, he genuinely just wants to fundamentally understand and then actively practice “good,” and his works help people in need.
Created by: u/M0rdenkainen
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Morla Primtor
Location and role in the tavern: She’s a local shopkeeper (Scribe and Scroll) who is at this moment wandering around eavesdropping, especially on conversations about port travel and trade.
Appearance: Morla is a handsome woman with a neatly trimmed beard. She’s somewhat squat with relatively undamaged skin and pressed clothes; one might even have a hard time recognizing her as a dwarf.
Quirk: She’s in the tavern, but she doesn’t drink, she is devoutly opposed to what she considers “deviant revelry.”
What’s their quest: Morla loathes adventures and adventurers. Her daughter, Dwayna, has “too much dwarf in her,” and Morla suspects she has run away on an adventure in spite of her upbringing. Morla’s at Quest to try and find her daughter and bring her back to the Scribe and Scroll; which is where a sensible young lady should aspire to be. Stubborn and hesitant to enlist the assistance of filthy vagrant mercenaries, she is getting desperate to find her daughter, so she will accept help, if the adventurers will do it for the right price. Basically a GM can add this quest to any existing one (just add Dwayna as a character in another quest) or they can make up a path where Dwayna has gone and what it’s going to take to get her to return or to get her mother to stop looking for her.
Created by: u/foofieboo
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Zin Thistleworn
Location and role in the tavern: Zin is cleaning the hand-sized holes and flutes connected to the fire that heat the building. She is the only person small enough to properly clean them, and she does whatever other odd jobs Roverti, Dizrah, or Tillie can give her to make a few coins.
Appearance: She is a rail thin, very young gnomish girl, standing only 14 inches tall. Her gaunt face accentuates her large eyes. She is covered in soot, masking her clothes and matting her hair.
Quirk: She likes to use big words, though she doesn’t always use the correct ones.
What’s their quest: Zin’s father is in prison. Zin usually gives her father food and some comfort items because the guards treat him horridly. However, the prison changed their rules and now she cannot visit him. She needs someone to get into the prison and give him a blanket (the nights are getting colder), a note from her (written in gnomish), a handful of dried flower petals (that have a powerful and pleasant smell), and a piece of white charcoal (because he loves to draw).
Zin is actually a pixie using illusion magic to appear as a young gnome. She’s convinced the staff at Quest that she is a child. The man in prison is an archfey she is trying to rescue. The prison has too much iron in it for her to enter, and while the archfey is powerful, the amount of iron around him has neutralized his powers. If he gets the charcoal, he can draw a rune and use the petals as a beacon to allow Zin to open a portal and get him out. The prison guards do not know he is an archfey.
Created by: u/RexiconJesse
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Darius
Location and role in the tavern: Darius is the stable person and can be found in the stable tending the horses and other mounts from patrons.
Appearance: Darius is a hefty ratfolk covered with shining white hair. While he is only 20, he has a severe hunch and the peak of his hump is partially bald.
Quirk: None of the animals like him, and they make their displeasure obvious.
What’s their quest: Darius struggles to get the animals stabled and fed. A pack of mounts (horses, megaraptors, big cats, whatever the GM chooses) have escaped the stable and run off together into the wilderness. The owners of the mounts are asleep in Quest. Darious won’t be able to search for the mounts until his shift ends deep into the night. He pleads with any players who show interest in tracking and retrieving the runaway mounts. He cannot pay them with coin, but he does have information about a quest the party is currently pursuing.
Created by: u/RexiconJesse
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Gravrlst (or Grav Rolost. His speech is very slurred)
Location and role in the tavern: Gravrlst is at a table.
Appearance: Gravrlst is a middle-aged half elf with tall ears and what humans call a three-day beard. The front of his shirt is wet from spilled ale.
Quirk: He keeps starting to sing the same song, getting lost and starting over after a few lines. He is also completely tanked.
What’s their quest: Gravlst is trying to get people to sing his favorite drinking song with him. The song which he believes is called “That one with the mermaid and there were some rocks somewhere? Or on the rocks maybe? It’s the catchy one. You’ve heard it.” However, he cannot remember anything after the first line. It’s driving him mad, and he promises a round on him if someone can finish the song.
Players with related knowledge-based skills or a history of sailing, as well as players who are heavy drinkers or musically inclined, may have heard of the song he’s trying to sing. Alternatively, players can try and improvise a song and convince him that’s the one he meant. The players will have to write the whole song to do this option.
Created by: u/RexiconJesse
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Thunderfang Jones
Location and role in the tavern: Drug user, usually hangs out near the bathrooms
Appearance: Thunderfang is a red-scaled lizardfolk who is casually dressed in priests’ robes with a half-dozen holy symbols from various faiths adorning his garb.
Quirk: Collects “faiths” and has joined every cult he’s been able to find. He is very knowledgeable about religion.
What’s their quest: To find “enlightenment” one narcotic experience at a time. He is desperate to find a rare and powerful hallucinogen and is willing to pay top dollar for it.
Created by:famoushippopotamus
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Crunchy Mohab
Location and role in the tavern: Performer who is either on stage or hanging around the most charismatic person in the tavern.
Appearance: Crunchy is a gnome dressed in tattered leathers and mismatched boots. His instrument is a modified set of bagpipes, enchanted to produce electric guitar sounds and amplified to be extra loud. A number of facial piercings and tattoos complete his unique appearance.
Quirk: Cannot stand the smell of tobacco or burning candles.
What’s their quest: Is searching for his lost brother, also a performer, and is retracing his brother’s last-known-tour.
Created by: famoushippopotamus
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Auke Inka
Location and role in the tavern: Patron–sitting at the bar drinking heavily.
Appearance: Auke is dressed as a commoner and is a bit disheveled. To even a casual observer, it is obvious Auke has been there for quite some time.
Quirk: Will work extremely hard at not working–always has a scheme.
What’s their quest: If engaged in conversation, Auke will discuss any number of topics, but will eventually mention a buried treasure. If pressed further, he will indicate a wealthy merchant who has recently met his demise left the entirety of the mentioned treasure to him. He plans to dig it up in two days’ time but has to leave on business before that happens. He will give the party a general location in his backyard where it was buried “around 8 feet down.”
If the party investigates the location indicated, they will find pickaxes and shovels left out. If the party digs, they will find nothing. Here one of two things will happen: Either Auke returns and measures the hole, proclaiming it close enough for the pool he wanted installed or later on the party may hear about how Auke tricked some people into digging his pool for him (possibly back at the tavern).
Created by:zweefer
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Lucca Huntsman
Location and role in the tavern: As the cook, Lucca can be found in and out of the kitchen.
Appearance: Blood stained apron, long unkempt hair, filthy hands, generally a walking health code violation…
Quirk: Picks his nose.
What’s their quest: Lucca tells the party he has a problem with rats “in the food.” He wants to hire the party to kill as many large rats in the stables as they can. To prove the deed has been done, he insists they bring the bodies of each rat killed, and he will pay per corpse.
In reality, the Quest is about out of meat, and beef is too expensive. He was telling the truth when he said the rats were indeed “in the food,” because he’s going to use them to cook.
Created by:zweefer
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Sym Skallywood
Location and role in the tavern: Sym is nursing a large tankard of ale alone. He is a little reluctant to speak with strangers.
Appearance: Sym is a short-but-handsome young man with sandy blonde hair and blue eyes. The unfocused gaze of his left eye drifts lazily toward the wall.
Quirk: Sym fidgets with the silver chain he wears around his neck.
What’s their quest: Sym carries with him a vial of a rare poison that causes any who ingests it to suffer from terrible dry-mouth and flux. If untreated, the person will be dead of dehydration within 4 hours. Sym was hired by, Willam Fold, an up-and-coming local merchant, to prepare the potion and make sure it ends up in the drink of the merchant’s rival. Sym is very concerned about a threat of blackmail from Mr. Fold (secret: Fold is actually a half-devil), who has taken the ledger from Sym’s home workshop and lab and is holding it locked in a safe in his villa in the Garden District. Sym doesn’t have the stomach for killing, so he’ll one of two things. First, he might ask the party would travel across town to the Resolution Alehouse–he expects his mark will be there–so they can do the poisoning and Sym’s life can go back to normal. Alternatively, he could ask the party to break into Mr Fold’s villa and steal back Sym’s ledger. Sym is an expert in preparing curatives, and he promises he’d be able to spare a few handy potions from time to time, the kind that might help you out of some sticky situations.
Created by:OrkishBlade
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Izzy
Location and role in the tavern: Niece of Darius, found loitering around the common room.
Appearance: Izzy is a young ratfolk in her early teens. She has shiny coal black fur with a white spot on her nose.
Quirk: Animals seems to adore Izzy. A swallow is currently sitting on the table singing to her.
What’s their quest: Izzy wants to cheer up some of the inn’s more sulky staff, especially her uncle Darius. She has heard tales from explorers that there’s a magical glade in a nearby wood where moonlight collects in shallow pools. Izzy is convinced that a few jars of moonlight on their nightstands could fix the mood of any person, no matter how petulant. She provides a box of heavy glass jars and a thick black wax to seal them.
Getting to the glade is not difficult upon a little asking around or exploration. The party can find themselves there within a day’s hike. The difficulty lies in the fact that liquid moonlight causes a crippling feeling of nostalgia. Getting close to the pools without succumbing to weepy tears for years lost is a significant challenge, and once the jars are finally collected, they affect anyone in close proximity with the same feelings. It will take a lot of willpower and a great many tissues before the party can get the moonlight to Izzy.
Created by:u/PaganUnicorn
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Sir Albertus Quintifican
Location and role in the tavern: Central, trying to attract the attention of anyone who looks kind of tough. He is a first-time patron.
Appearance: Albertus is a mid-20s human minor noble, and he appears very well-off. He dapples himself with jewels and gold, his clothes are of the finest silks and linens with radiant dyes and intricate embroideries. The only thing plain about him is that he’s plainly out of place here.
Quirk: Tries to make eye contact with anyone tough looking. As soon as eye contact is made, he’ll come to introduce himself and buy everyone with that person (or persons) drinks. He flashes his cash everywhere, is highly energetic, and seems to think everyone already likes him.
What’s their quest: Albertus’ best friend, Francois, is getting married. Naturally, Albertus wants to throw the biggest bachelor party ever. Francois has always had fantasies of being an adventurer, so Albertus wants someone strong and simple to capture a terrible beastie (or several!) and bring it to his estate. Once there, the beast will be caged and kept weak.
The bachelor party will be a night of raucous merrymaking and debauchery, drinks flowing fast, a multitude of high profile and notable guests, gambling, you name it… But the pièce de résistance is when Albertus will reveal the monster to Francois, who (undoubtedly very drunk) will be able to dispatch it and feel like a real hero! The players will be kept around to make sure it all goes smoothly and that Francois gets the killing blow.
After that, Francois will be feeling very confident and will probably challenge anyone and everyone to a duel. Depending how the players run with that, they may be invited to join in with the merrymaking or end up imprisoned for the murder of the young preppy noble.
Created by:u/brittommy
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Frega Lodges
Location and role in the tavern: Frega is sitting in a corner table doing tarot readings for coin.
Appearance: Frega is a fat woman with kind eyes. Her dark hair is pulled back in a loose bun just above her sloping shoulders.
Quirk: Frega has a flair for the dramatic, to a fault.
What’s their quest: Frega is concerned about a dwarven girl named Dwayna, an enthusiastic and strong lass who wants adventure and to protect the common folk in these parts. She gave Dwayna a reading recently in which she revealed to her that she was the reincarnated soul of the ancient elvish hero Hedrallon the Dragonslayer. Dwayna was ecstatic and immediately began preparations to search for the tomb of Hedrallon. Local legends have told that Hedrallon is buried in a mausoleum in the shadow of Mount Deaftide on the far edge of the Longwood. Many have gone looking for Hedrallon’s resting place, and all who have returned were disappointed. If they find Dwayna, Frega promises to contact some friendly spirits to inquire where to find something for which one of the PCs is searching for.
Created by:OrkishBlade
​
Matyus Decker
Location and role in the tavern: Matyus is walking around, trying to get other patrons to play dice.
Appearance: Matyus has a boisterous laugh that erupts through is thick mustache. He wears an open shirt that displays his hairy and well-muscled chest.
Quirk: Matyus has more gold teeth than originals.
What’s their quest: Matyus was a sailor on the pirate ship Backstab Betty, commanded by the dangerous and half-mad Captain Graysky. Matyus tells a wild tale: After plundering and sinking a spicer ship laden with gold and silver after it sailed from Whiteclyff, Graysky turned the ship northward and then deliberately smashed the Backstab Betty onto the rocks of the Seaspray Coast in the dead of night. For those few crew members who made it to land, Graysky and his first mate— a vicious human named Markesh—were waiting, axes in hand to hew them as they crawled onto the stony shore. Concealed by the darkness, Matyus was able to swim and float in the shallows for a few miles before heading into land. He feels he owes it to his fallen crewmates to retrieve some of that treasure, and he’d gladly split whatever they find in equal shares with the party if they help.
Created by:OrkishBlade
submitted by RexiconJesse to DnDBehindTheScreen [link] [comments]

2019.12.13 09:34 iminterestingplease Part 47.

It's starting to pick for the Christmas season but for how long?
7373.(Can't think of a title.)Do you remember these things being different or not a thing?(Mandelaeffectresearch.com, red Phoenix bird, Skylab dates, Capital building shape changed again, Iridodonesis, St. Christopher now sometimes depicted with a mutant dog head because ancient people didn't know what a Caananite was, Schumann Resonances, Thinker is now eating his hand even more, Mandela Effect card game having answers inconsistent with present reality, meth invented in 1887 and common during WW2, big lakes showing on bottom of map of Australia and other big lakes, more geography changes, Area 51 wasn't near Roswell, Jingle Bell Rock new lyrics changes, Up On The Housetop new lyrics changes, European clown funerals, and other things.)(Video below.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKk8L2YWZB4
7374.(Music Lyrics change.)"Begging mercy for their sins."/"Begging mercies for their sins."("Satan laughs and spreads his wings."/"Satan laugh and spreads his wings.")(Any of the other lyrics off?)(Anything else off?)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Njawjl4d8cE
7375.(History change.)Do you remember the last major plague being the Black Death in the 1300's instead of in China in 1850?
https://www.alternatememories.com/historical-events/science/plague-pandemic
7376.(Real Life Quote change.)"But what you can do for your country."/"Ask what you can do for your country."
https://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/education/teachers/curricular-resources/elementary-school-curricular-resources/ask-not-what-your-country-can-do-for-you
7377.(Fictional Character appearance change.)Do you remember Indiana Jones' hat being shorter on the top than it is now?(Anything else off?)
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indiana_Jones
7378.(Can't think of a title.)Do you remember Bermeja being located in the Gulf Of Mexico instead of not existing?
https://www.alternatememories.com/historical-events/geography/bermeja-island
7379.(Phantom t.v. show quote.)Do you remember Dr. McCoy from the original Star Trek saying something similar to "Dammit Jim! I'm a doctor, not a miracle worker."?
https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/dammit-jim-im-a-doctor-not-a-x
7380.(Can't think of a title.)Do you remember these things being different or not a thing?(Spider tailed horned viper, Great Wall Of China not one wall, The Thinker is not actually named The Thinker, truffles grow in the desert, naked mole rats can move their teeth independently like chopsticks, American Nazis saluted the American flag for 50 years, and other things.)(Video below.)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LIr62WSQImk
7381.(Town name change.)Gettysberg, Pennsylvania/Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gettysburg,_Pennsylvania
7382.(Can't think of a title.)Do you remember Ashton Kutcher starring in Friends With Benefits instead of Justin Timberlake?(Was Mila Kunis in No Strings Attached with Ashton Kutcher instead of Natalie Portman?)
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friends_with_Benefits_(film)
Add-On: Do you remember candy canes not having such a complex history?
https://www.whychristmas.com/customs/candycanes.shtml
7383.(History change.)Do you remember Marty Jannetty getting kicked out of the window instead of being thrown out?
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=QLiVGQP5ksc
7384.(History change.)Do you remember Ramesses II not having a passport given to him in 1974?
https://www.ripleys.com/weird-news/ramses-ii-the-mummy-who-had-a-passport/
7385.(Can't think of a title.)Do you remember Ebenezer Scrooge being based on a real person?(Anything else off?)
https://www.alternatememories.com/historical-events/books/ebeneezer-scrooge-was-a-british-mp
7386.(Movie Quote change.)"All I need are some tasty waves, cool buds and I'm fine."/"All I need are some waves, cool buzz and I'm fine."("Way to go Hamilton."/"Alright Hamilton.")
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=hReFx1kjuIE
7387.(Music Lyrics change.)"They like to get you there and smile in your face."/"A real life Pikachu laughs while in your face."(Does it sound like the former or the latter?)(Anything else off?)(Any of the other lyrics off?)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HPyCtkZ9SeI
7388.(Real Life appearance change.)Do you remember Nancy Pelosi not having such big boobs?
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=--VsefXs-f4
7389.(Spelling change.)Samarai/Samurai(Other spellings?)
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samurai
7390.(Music Lyrics change.)"When I'm stuck with a day that's gray and lonely."/"When I'm stuck with a day that's grave and lonely."(Do you hear the former or the latter?)(Anything else off?)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=BsMu5uM8juY
7391.(Music Lyrics change.)"Lightning and the thunder."/"Lightning then the thunder."(Anything else off?)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Wr4RYPTJV6w
7392.(Music Lyrics change.)"Cause I don't wanna remember."/"Cause I won't remember."(Do you hear the former or the latter?)(Any of their logos off?)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=h8MAHQhKe7Q
7393.(Music Lyrics change.)"And now it's when I kissed her."/"And that was when I kissed her."(Do you hear the former or the latter?)(Any of their logos off?)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=H_pRyMShJ0k
7394.(Music Lyrics change.)"40000 million notches away."/"40000 million light years away."(Do you hear the former or the latter?)(Any of their logos off?)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=UBnPedWPatI
7395.(Music Lyrics change.)"Since I met you."/"Since I left you."(Do you hear the former or the latter?)(Any of their logos off?)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=P3YR-RKrL1g
7396.(Music Lyrics change.)"What happened to my cinnamon buns?"/"What happened to Miss Independent?"(Do you hear the former or the latter?)(Any of their logos off?)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=oOpwA6rGUR4
7397.(Can't think of a title.)Do you remember the weird voice at the beginning of 1999 by Prince?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1999_(Prince_song)
7398.(Phantom movie.)Do you remember Harley Davidson And The Marlboro Man not existing?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harley_Davidson_and_the_Marlboro_Man
7399.(Can't think of a title.)Do you remember I Am Legend having zombies in it instead of vampires?(Is the news interview scene different?)(Anything else off?)
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Am_Legend_(film)
7400.(Music Lyrics change.)"Every moment gets better."/"Every moment red letter."(Anything else off?)
https://genius.com/Walt-disney-records-a-whole-new-world-lyrics
7401.(Can't think of a title.)Do you remember these things being different or not a thing?(Ring of fire solar eclipses, legendary Aksum Empire, Hitler's talking dogs with poetry and religion, more population changes, Gombe Chimpanzee War, ground effect is enough to lift a vehicle, crocodiles can also climb trees, tigers have eye spots on back of ears, Tom Thumb was real, more moon landing changes, brown hyena, more orca changes, heavy and semi-heavy water, rough head grenadier, and other things.)(Video below.)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=a1v9YQsnxk0
Add-On: Do you remember the Statue Of Liberty not standing on a platform or small tower?
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pK0fMRd8Wcc
Add-On: Do you remember "Fly! Fly! Fly!" being the new The Wizard Of Oz quote instead of "Now fly! Fly! Bring me that girl and her slippers! Fly! Fly! Fly!"?
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HRM_TfhgrZY
7402.(Music Lyrics change.)"Gonna fly high like a bird up in the sky."/"Will he fly high like a bird up in the sky?"(Anything else off?)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=A7-fWrugUkk
7403.(Phantom movie.)Do you remember The Wash not being a thing?
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=lMjYiYRWO1k
7404.(Can't think of a title.)Do you remember Pavlov using a bell on his dog in his famous experiment instead of a metronome?
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=fCikajujJ6c
Add-On: Do you remember The Mystery Machine just saying Mystery Machine on the car instead of The Mystery Machine?(Were Velma's shoes a different color or style?)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=J-XwqUY0ezU
7405.(Music Lyrics change.)"Pushing down on you."/"Pressing down on you."(Any of the other lyrics off?)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=It3TB4B8Fqw
7406.(Can't think of a title.)Do you remember "See what you want to see" phenomena like the viral guy on the swing not being a thing?
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_c8tr3tdXhg
7407.(Music Lyrics change.)"Voices of the angels."/"Voices of the angel."("Hear the angels' voices."/"Hear the angel voices.")("The angels did say."/"The angel did say.")(Was Angel always capitalized or not?)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7UFGh-uuEa0
7408.(Can't think of a title.)Do you remember Inka-Dink not being a thing?(Was Potato Man not a thing either?)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qWncwaMrC3Q
Add-On: Do you remember "I went for a walk" instead of "I've been for a walk" in California Dreamin'?
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MUXUM4hocTs
Add-On: Do you remember Fomoco not being a thing?
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=hysocmnnzC4
7409.(Song name change.)I Looked At You/The End(Any of the lyrics off?)(Anything else off?)
https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/doors/ilookedatyou.html
7410.(Celebrity death change.)Do you remember Emma Thompson dying while skiing with Liam Neeson instead of Natasha Richardson?(Anything else off?)
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natasha_Richardson
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emma_Thompson
7411.(Fictional Character name change.)Marsha Brady/Marcia Brady
https://bradybunch.fandom.com/wiki/Marcia_Brady
7412.(Music Lyrics change.)"My world turns upside down."/"The world turns upside down."(Any of the lyrics off?)(Any of his logos off?)(Anything else off?)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=A84FUZvlFUQ
7413.(Movie name change.)The Labyrinth/Labyrinth(Is the logo off?)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=70eBNIRuNgc
7414.(Music Lyrics change.)"Mad world."/"Enlarging your world."(Anything else off?)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=t_Lq3RFnKkM
7415.(Can't think of a title.)Do you remember these things being different or not a thing?(Ribbon lightning, bead lightning, more new sprites, Rock Of Gibraltar proof, Line Of Blaschko(Humans are getting stripes.), Vitiligo, Greater Adria, more cat nostril changes, spiders have pet frogs, African wild ass, more New York changes, more Washington changes, and other things.)(Video below.)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jTKVmiQe6Zg
7416.(Spelling change.)Stupify/Stupefy(Stupified/Stupefied)(Aggitate/Agitate)(Aggitation/Agitation)(Habenero/Habanero)(Other spellings?)(Anything else off?)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vBW-BIml2pY
7417.(Can't think of a title.)Do you remember the Thin Red Line not existing?
https://www.patriotwood.com/blogs/news/83224135-what-does-the-thin-red-line-mean-for-firefighters
7418.(Music Lyrics change.)"Might sound crazy what I'm 'Bout to say."/"It might seem crazy what I'm 'Bout to say."("Sunshine's here so you can take a break."/"Sunshine she's here, you can take a break.")("Clap along."/"Clap alone.")(Do you hear the former or latter?)(Anything else off?)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7ACkJwqOEWM
7419.(Music Lyrics change.)"Pick up the receiver."/"Lift up the receiver."(Do you hear the former or latter?)(Anything else off?)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LsXlQW0kfCo
7420.(Music Lyrics change.)"Wasted days and wasted nights."/"Wasted days and wasted night."(Do you hear the former or latter?)(Freddie FendeFreddy Fender)(Anything else off?)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mBFph1jsl9A
7421.(Music Lyrics change.)"Make God as my objection."/"Regardless my objection."(Do you hear the former or latter?)(Do any of their logos look off?)(Anything else off?)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xQzS3JnZQZM
7422.(Music Lyrics change.)"He walked in."/"You walked in."(Do you hear the former or latter?)(Any of her logos look off?)(Anything else off?)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DpQcfzj-3gY
7423.(Music Lyrics change.)"You know they won't win."/"We know they won't win."(Do you hear the former or latter?)(Any of their logos look off?)(Anything else off?)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XjBwAYIxUso
7424.(Music Lyrics change.)"That's the night that they harmed an innocent man."/"That's the night that they hung an innocent man."(Do you hear the former or latter?)(Any of her logos look off?)(Anything else off?)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vpkE5Ee3AOo
7425.(Music Lyrics change.)"I'll pretend my shit's not stinking."/"I'll pretend my ship's not sinking."(Do you hear the former or latter?)(Any of their logos look off?)(Anything else off?)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XLdNb9FxTU0
7426.(Animal name change.)Morning Dove/Mourning Dove
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mourning_dove
7427.(Spelling change.)Femenist/Feminist(Anything else off?)
https://www.britannica.com/topic/feminism
7428.(Famous Actor name change.)Annette Benning/Annette Bening(Other spellings?)
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annette_Bening
7429.(Movie name change.)Blues Brothers/The Blues Brothers(Anything else off?)
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Blues_Brothers_(film)
7430.(Spelling change.)Astroid/Asteroid(Other spellings?)
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asteroid
7431.(Island name change.)Catalina Island/Santa Catalina Island
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Catalina_Island_(California)
7432.(Company name change.)Bartles & James/Bartles & Jaymes(Anything else off?)
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bartles_%26_Jaymes
7433.(Famous Singer name change.)Sammy HageSammy Hagar
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sammy_Hagar
7434.(Famous Singer name change.)Johnny Lang/Jonny Lang
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonny_Lang
7435.(Band name change.)The Commodores/Commodores(Any of their logos look off?)(Anything else off?)
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commodores
7436.(Song name change.)Johnny B. Good/Johnny B. Goode(Other names?)(Anything else off?)
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_B._Goode
7437.(Famous Actor name change.)Telly Savales/Telly Savalas(Other spellings?)
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telly_Savalas
7438.(T.V. Show Logo change.)Do you remember the E in Homeland being normal?(Were the Es in The Event normal?)
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homeland_(TV_series)
7439.(Phantom t.v. show.)Do you remember The Fonz And The Happy Days Gang not being a thing?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fonz_and_the_Happy_Days_Gang
7440.(Phantom t.v. show.)Do you remember Gilligan's Planet not being a thing?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilligan's_Planet
7441.(T.V. Show Logo change.)Do you remember the letters in Hannibal not being connected?(Anything else off?)
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hannibal_(TV_series)
7442.(Movie Scene change.)Do you remember the woman in the famous painting in Pleasantville not being completely naked?(Anything else off?)
https://www.slideshare.net/mobile/MissGatBC/artworks-featured-in-pleasantville
7443.(Famous Singer name change.)Kenny Wayne Shepard/Kenny Wayne Shepherd
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenny_Wayne_Shepherd
7444.(Movie name change.)Fifty Shades Of Gray/Fifty Shades Of Grey(Book too.)
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fifty_Shades_of_Grey_(film)
7445.(Movie name change.)The Story Of Robin Hood And His Merry Men/The Story Of Robin Hood And His Merrie Men(Anything else off surrounding the history?)
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Story_of_Robin_Hood_and_His_Merrie_Men
7446.(Denomination name change.)Jehovah's Witness/Jehovah's Witnesses
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jehovah's_Witnesses
7447.(Can't think of a title.)Do you remember it always being Merry Christmas instead and never Merrie Christmas?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Merrie_Christmas_to_You
Add-On: Do you remember Unusual Suspects instead of The Usual Suspects?(Anything else off?)("The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he doesn't exist."/"The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist.")
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Usual_Suspects
7448.(Phantom celebrity.)Do you remember Elinor Smith not existing?(Do you remember there not being women pilots who flew for Hitler as well?)
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elinor_Smith
7449.(Movie Scene change.)Do you remember the plane in The World According To Garp being red instead of blue?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_World_According_to_Garp_(film)
7450.(Town name change.)Punxatawney, Pennsylvania/Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania(Other spellings?)
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punxsutawney,_Pennsylvania
7451.(Music Lyrics change.)"In the white room with black curtains at the station."/"In a white room with black curtains near the station."(Any of their logos off?)(Was it something else?)(Anything else off?)(The White Room/The Killing Room)(Book too.)
https://genius.com/Cream-white-room-lyrics
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Killing_Room
7452.(Music Lyrics change.)"Café, café, café."/"Yeah babe, yeah babe, yeah babe."(Do you hear the former or latter?)(Anything else off?)
https://genius.com/Justin-bieber-yummy-lyrics
7453.(Music Lyrics change.)"It's alright. It's okay."/"It's alright. That's okay."("You can look the other way."/"You may look the other way.")(Other lyrics?)(Anything else off?)
https://genius.com/Bee-gees-stayin-alive-lyrics
Add-On: Do you remember Smith & Western?(Remington/Reminton/Remington)(Anything else off?)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=y6yEgarL5zA
7454.(Can't think of a title.)Do you remember these things being different or not a thing?(100 stars vanish, WW2 GPS, dragon lizards have separate wings, Allais Effect, 76% of ocean animals are bioluminesecent, wet haystacks catch fire, Magellan did not circumnavigate the globe, black knight in Monty Python was based on real person, The Secret Of NIMH story was based on real events, bone marrow transplants change huge amounts of your DNA and make you a Chimera, blood transfusions can do the same thing and so they are irradiated, mitochondria can separate and fuse together in huge chains and networks, and other things.)(Video below.)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=r2biiJglZbA
7455.(Famous Actress name change.)Diane Cannon/Dyan Cannon
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyan_Cannon
7456.(Movie name change.)My Cousin Vinnie/My Cousin Vinny
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Cousin_Vinny
Add-On: Do you remember Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots not having nametags on their backs?(Did the quote originally change to "My block was knocked off" instead of "My block is knocked off"?)
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_%27Em_Sock_%27Em_Robots
7457.(Phantom movie scene.)Do you remember there being a scene in Flight Of The Navigator where a UFO is flown through a McDonald's drive-thru?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flight_of_the_Navigator
7458.(Fictional Character appearance change.)Do you remember Scooby Doo wearing a headscarf and sunglasses instead of a hat and regular glasses in the iconic scene?
https://scoobydoo.fandom.com/wiki/Grandma_(2002_film)
Add-On: Do you remember "Now every gambler knows that the secret to survival." instead of "Every gambler knows that the secret to surviving."?
https://genius.com/Kenny-rogers-the-gambler-lyrics
7459.(Can't think of a title.)Do you remember Psychic Pokémon being strongest other Psychic Pokémon instead of Bug Pokémon being strongest against them?
https://www.serebii.net/pokemon/type/psychic/
Add-On: Do you remember Snow White not being 7 years old?(Were the dwarfs and other things in Snow White not supposedly based on real events?)
https://www.alternatememories.com/historical-events/books/how-old-was-snow-white
7460.(Can't think of a title.)Do you remember Iboga not being a thing?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tabernanthe_iboga
7461.(Can't think of a title.)Do you remember Chester Cheetah having an all-black nose instead of white too?(Was his snout less yellow and more orange?)(Anything else off?)(Coke II was now a thing.)(Pepsi AM was now a thing.)(Cheetos Lip Balm was now a thing.)(Frito-Lay Lemonade was now a thing.)(Philadelphia Cream Cheese is actually from New York and not Philadelphia.)
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chester_Cheetah
7462.(Movie Scene change.)Do you remember E.T. pointing at Elliott's heart instead of his head in the iconic scene?
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=75M1XXEZciU
7463.(Music Lyrics change.)"No one's ever gonna stop us tonight."/"No one's ever gonna stop us now."(Do you hear the former or latter?)(Fun/fun.)(Any of their logos look off?)(Any other lyrics off?)(Anything else off?)
https://www.metrolyrics.com/carry-on-lyrics-fun.html
7464.(Music Lyrics change.)"I get high."/"I can't hide."(Do you hear the former or latter?)(Anything else off?)
https://genius.com/The-beatles-i-want-to-hold-your-hand-lyrics
7465.(Music Lyrics change.)"Woke up to where time stands still."/"Welcome to where time stands still."(Do you hear the former or latter?)(Any other lyrics off?)(Anything else off?)
https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/metallica/welcomehomesanitarium.html
7466.(Music Lyrics change.)"So I set the world on fire."/"So let's set the world on fire."("We can go brighter than the sun."/"We can burn brighter than the sun.")(Do you hear the former or latter?)(Any other lyrics off?)(Anything else off?)
https://genius.com/Fun-we-are-young-lyrics
7467.(Music Lyrics change.)"Cause I'm being sassy."/"Cause I feel sassy."/"Cause I'm the assassin."(Do you hear the former or latter?)(Any other lyrics off?)(Anything else off?)
https://genius.com/Iron-maiden-the-assassin-lyrics
7468.(Music Lyrics change.)"Boy I've been watching you like a hawk in the sky that flies and you are my pray."/"Boy I've been watching you like the hawk in the sky that fly but(Does it sound like Boy?)were my pray."(Any of her logos look off?)(Any other lyrics off?)(Anything else off?)
https://genius.com/Aaliyah-are-you-that-somebody-lyrics
7469.(Can't think of a title.)Do you remember these things being different or not a thing?(What doesn't kill you makes you stronger quote, pride goeth before a fall, definition of Oceania has changed, ring shaped Atoll islands popping up all over, Jumping Frenchman Of Maine Syndrome, Irlen Syndrome, Mars sky is blue at sunrise and sunset, plants form memories, more weird volcano lightning, you can safely ride cows, most gummy worms have smiley faces, and other things.)(Video below.)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XuuLWGEYaWI
7470.(Logo change.)Do you remember the Air Force Crest having more stars than it does?(Anything else off?)
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Air_Force_Symbol
Add-On: Do you remember Tin Man not being rusty or dirty at all?(Tin Man/Tin Woodman)(Anything else off?)
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tin_Woodman
7471.(Famous Singer name change.)Ace Freely/Ace Frehly(Did he never wear blue makeup?)(Did billboards in most places never say Regency on them?)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEZ255a6nQA
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MEgqSpu3epA
Add-On: Do you remember Dorothy having ruffled socks?(Did she have a white apron?)
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorothy_Gale
7472.(New species.)Have you heard of the toadhead agama?(Have you heard of Nitinol?)(More weird aircrafts.)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=cz60xzHfPHM
7473.(New fungi.)Have you heard of the Lobster Mushroom?(Have you heard of the Chicken Of The Woods?)(Have you heard of the SweeTango(Sweet Tango?)Apple?)(Have you heard of the Cosmic Crisp Apple?)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=TCH7mkWpV5w
7474.(Can't think of a title.)Do you remember Vincent arriving at the apartment and placing his gun on the counter in Pulp Fiction?
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rzVa1t2G2PY
7475.(Can't think of a title.)Do you remember Greek Fire not being a thing?(Have you heard of the Claw Of Archimedes?)(Morpheus from The Matrix is based off a Greek deity named Morpheus.)(Medusa is now sometimes depicted with wings and the pegasus having wings was apparently inspired by her having them.)(One of the earliest depictions of a yo-yo is on a Greek vase from 440 B.C..)(Greeks call their country Hellas or Hellada and not Greece.)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=iSRuLyIvisM
7476.(Can't think of a title.)Do you remember there being numerous surgery types where surgeons have to temporarily pull out the eyes and rest them on patients' checks?(They apparently have never been on record despite all the people in the forum.)
https://forums.digitalspy.com/discussion/1835400/do-any-surgeries-require-the-eyeball-to-be-removed-from-socket-temporarily
Add-On: Do you remember beatboxing not going as far back as the 1930's?(Did groups like The Mills Brothers always use real instruments before?)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=14QEoEIvUuk
Add-On: Do you remember Cruella De Vil wearing a white coat or white coat with black spots instead of a yellow coat?
https://www.alternatememories.com/historical-events/movies/what-color-coat-did-cruella-de-vil-wear
Add-On: Do you remember the Tin Man not having having a dot on his head?(Did the Tin Man not have a collar?)(Did he have a hatch for where his heart should be?)(Anything else off?)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=iOxcMdkYsWE
Add-On: Do you remember also not being able to jump cows?
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KNFYS2XLZ30
Add-On: Do you remember Michael Jackson not having large hands?
https://www.lipstickalley.com/threads/yess-gawd-look-at-them-big-hands-michael-jackson-hands-and-finger-appreciation-thread.624872/
7477.(Can't think of a title.)Do you remember these things being different or not a thing?(Sea foam invades a town, Columbus' crew never thought the world was flat and were not afraid of sailing off the edge, Williams Syndrome makes people look like elves and act extra friendly, Dyschromometria, Super 8 logo changes, Stater Bros. logo changes, European bison and 2 kinds of American bison now, raining diamonds on Saturn and Jupiter, Saturn's rings are raining "ring rain" onto Saturn, weird UFO sightings, and other things.)(Video below.)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-SahtGZ34_Q
7478.(Music Lyrics change.)"So baby hold me closer."/"So baby pull me closer."
https://genius.com/The-chainsmokers-closer-lyrics
7479.(Can't think of a title.)Do you remember the Marriott World Trade Center not being a thing?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marriott_World_Trade_Center
7480.(Can't think of a title.)Do you remember Dan Aykroyd not being in Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom?(Were George Lucas, Frank Marshall, Kathleen Kennedy, and Steven Spielberg not in the movie either?)
https://www.slashfilm.com/trivia-dan-aykroyd-and-the-temple-of-doom/
7481.(History change.)Do you remember there being hundreds of suicides on Wall Street in the 1929 crash?
https://www.alternatememories.com/historical-events/general/how-many-suicides-on-wall-st-in-the-1929-crash
7482.(Company name change.)Rubbermade/Rubbermaid
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubbermaid
Add-On: Do you remember Tin Man not having blue eyeshadow or lipstick?(Do they squirt the oil on him differently now?)
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tin_Woodman
7483.(New species.)Have you heard of the Australian feral camel?(Was there not an overpopulation of camels in Australia?)(Was Australia not the origin for most camels found in other places such as the Middle East?)
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_feral_camel
7484.(Can't think of a title.)Do you remember the traffic lights in RECALL VECTOR's intro not having white outlines?
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xmkmm1Ah3so
7485.(History change.)Do you remember there not being a 1939 Pro-Nazi event in America?(Anything else off?)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HX2lPyxDo10
7486.(Snack name change.)Brazil Bites/Brazi Bites(Airheads/Airhead/Airheads)
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/09/30/where-brazi-bites-is-today-after-its-feeding-frenzy-on-shark-tank.html
7487.(Real Life appearance change.)Do you remember Jackie Kennedy's blue collar on her dress also being pink?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pink_Chanel_suit_of_Jacqueline_Bouvier_Kennedy
7488.(Can't think of a title.)Do you remember Winnie The Pooh always having a red balloon or red balloons and never any other color?
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/484911084851416162/
7489.(Can't think of a title.)Do you remember herbivores never eating dead animal bones?
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pMZZN3pkQjw
7490.(Can't think of a title.) Do you remember there being a sequel to Batteries Not Included called Batteries Still Not Included?
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kbFq2sdZe7E
7491.(Phantom movie scene.)Do you remember Jennifer Love Hewitt wearing the tuxedo to help Jackie Chan in The Tuxedo?
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wtCLfQ3jPCc
7492.(Can't think of a title.)Do you remember Little Caesars or Domino's making the Bigfoot pizza instead of Pizza Hut?(Did the Pizza By The Foot from Little Caesars not exist?)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ho6mICY6dYY
7493.(Movie Quote change.)"Keep your friends close and your enemies closer."/"Keep your friends close but your enemies closer."
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ISOUsjycrEQ
7494.(Can't think of a title.)Do you remember these things being different or not a thing?(Volcanic eruption turns brain to glass, Space Force logo looks like Star Trek logo, pet otters, gay Greek gods, more ice changes, aye-aye weird middle finger and 6th finger, invasion of crazy jumping worms, 30% of babies are born with hair and grow a mustache in the womb, women can store sperm for 10 days or more, Tartars/Tatars, Hogmoth larva, more human body temperature changes, and other things.)(Video below.)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8e_VO1dGmNo
7495.(Music Lyrics change.)"Loving would be easy if your colors were like my dreams."/"Loving would be easy if your colors were like my dream."(Did he say "Coma" instead of "Karma"?)(Any other lyrics off?)(Any of their logos off?)(Anything else off?)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=UpV28oe4dik
7496.(Video Game Quote change.)"Sorry but your princess is in another castle."/"Thank you but our princess is in another castle."(Was it something else?)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9DkZBgafnwo
7497.(Spelling change.)Whoopie Cushion/Whoopee Cushion(Was it always the former?)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xmC7FiuLd6o
Add-On: Do you remember Mickey Mouse always having eyebrows?
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=v7ZT9mPmeD0
7498.(Movie Quote change.)"They're coming to get you Barbra."/"They're coming to get you Barbara."(Just how he says her name that one time.)(Is it Barbara Cole or Barbra Cole?)("Look! Here comes one of them now."/"Look! There comes one of them now.")
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0dxeUGVch50
7499.(Can't think of a title.)Do you remember these things being different or not a thing?(Stretching is bad for you, Tully monster, Kiev turned to Kyiv officially in 1995, list of Hitler's drug habits, Shermer's neck, lasers can give you alien eye colors, spiders can catch and eat snakes, brainy scalp disease, separation of church and state not in Constitution, T-Mobile logo changes again, Supercuts logo changes, Sulfur Hexafluoride makes your voice deep, coyotes and badgers hunt together, and other things.)(Video below.)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=H2L77Y9GcLg
7500.(New species.)Have you heard of all these "bird poop" and "stick-like" insects and spiders?(Have you heard of cliff honey?)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KQ-5FtUwD2Q
7501.(Store name change.)Lane Bryan/Lane Bryant
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lane_Bryant
7502.(Famous Journalist name change.)Bryan Gumbel/Bryant Gumbel
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bryant_Gumbel
7503.(Famous Basketball Player name change.)Kobe Bryan/Kobe Bryant
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kobe_Bryant
7504.(Can't think of a title.)Do you remember the Chrysler Screw Amphibian not being a thing?
https://www.macsmotorcitygarage.com/video-the-1964-chrysler-marsh-screw-amphibian/
7505.(Music Lyrics change.)"Like fire! Hell fire! This burning in my skin."/"Like fire ! Hell fire! This fire in my skin."("It's not my fault it's in God's plan."/"It's not my fault if in God's plan.")
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9wWHL4g3SYs
7506.(Fictional Character appearance change.)Do you remember Esmeralda wearing 2 earrings instead of 1?(Did the explanation for why she only wears 1 not exist?)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=57RE9eoV9kA
7507.(Can't think of a title.)Do you remember this extended version of Pressure by Billy Joel not existing?
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=lw9eT7zLFsQ
7508.(Phantom movie scene.)Do you remember Harrison Ford not being in E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial?(Is the whole scene off?)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Xs8PxiYT8Z0
7509.(Can't think of a title.)Do you remember Muhammad Ali never having anything to do with saving hostages?
https://face2faceafrica.com/article/how-muhammad-ali-convinced-saddam-hussein-to-free-15-u-s-hostages-in-1990
7510.(Phantom t.v. show.)Do you remember Hawaiian Eye not existing?
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=v7u5pHsac1I
7511.(Fictional Character appearance change.)Do you remember Lois Griffin not having earrings?(Anything else about her head look off?)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ygauLwRe0Lk
7512.(Fictional Character appearance change.)Do you remember Lucy from The Lego Movie not having freckles?(Anything else off?)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wO1YwD-wstY
7513.(Product name change.)Mamwich/Mannwich/Manwich
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PZw_m9CSfPs
7514.(Company name change.)Troybuilt/Troy-Bilt(Was it something else?)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-417JBK2GnA
7515.(Rock Band name change.)Grand Funk/The Grand Funk/The Grand Funk Railroad/Grand Funk Railroad(Any of their logos off?)(Anything else off?)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EL3D0uuIZ6Q
7516.(Folk Duo name change.)Simon And Garfunkel/Simon & Garfunkel(Was it one or the other or both?)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2-PGOzAoJpQ
7517.(Rock Band name change.)The Butthole Surfers/Butthole Surfers(Was it one or the other or both?)(Any of their logos off?)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KX0VFdKjwr4
7518.(Pop Duo name change.)Bellamy Brothers/The Bellamy Brothers?(Was it one or the other or both?)(Any of their logos off?)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8ODclRH-O8g
7519.(Rock Band name change.)Moody Blues/The Moody Blues(Was it one or something else?)(Any of their logos off?)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9_Lf9WnBQME
Add-On: Do you remember Boyz II Men not ever being known as Boy II Men or Boyz II Men?(Anything else off?)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XfNu0GyDyuc
7520.(Movie Scene change.)Do you remember only the second R in Redrum in The Shining being backwards instead of the D too?(Were the letters dripping?) ("Little pig! Little pig! Let me in!"/"Little pigs! Little pigs! Let me come in!")(Is the full line off in any other way?)(Do you remember the axe being red instead of normal?)(Did Jack Torrance show his axe in the hole he created in the famous scene?)("Danny is not here Mrs. Torrance."/"Danny isn't here Mrs. Torrance."/"Danny's not here Mrs. Torrance.")(Was it something else?)(Is the bear scene off in any way?)("I'm not going to hurt you. I'm just gonna bash your fucking brains in."/"I'm not gonna hurt you. Wendy! Darling! Light of my life! I'm not gonna hurt you. You didn't let me finish my sentence. I said I'm not gonna hurt you. I'm just gonna bash your brains in. I'm gonna bash 'em right the fuck in. I'm not gonna hurt you.")(The Shining/Shining)(Was the latter never acceptable?)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8Y25wtYp-nw
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CYYqlgvje20
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RL51fQ78k24
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MzOlJjDhT2Y
7521.(Phantom movie.)Do you remember The Big Bus not existing?
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mtHDeWW-q-M
7522.(Music Lyrics change.)"Well they ran through the briars and they ran through the brambles and they ran through the bushes where the rabbit wouldn't go."/"Yeah they ran through the briars and they ran through the brambles and they ran through the bushes where a rabbit couldn't go."(Was it something else?)("Old Hickory said we took 'em by surprise if we didn't fire our muskets 'til we looked between their eyes."/"Old Hickory said we took 'em by surprise if we didn't fire our muskets 'til we looked 'em in the eye.")(Was it something else?)(Any of his logos off?)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=crns95LEhKw
7523.(Quartet name change.)The Four Tops/Four Tops(Was it one or the other or both?)(Any of their logos off?)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3WyqEPrdKvU
7524.(Phantom movie.)Do you remember Hercules In New York not existing?
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CbVgbtaQhkw
7525.(Can't think of a title.)Do you remember Sabbath Mode on certain household appliances not being a thing and not going as far back as 1988?
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=i8mg8g67OdM
7526.(Movie name change.)Omen/The Omen(1976 and 2006 movie.)(Anything else off?)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=n-tGipQn0jM
7527.(Song name change.)Children Of Korn/Children Of The Korn(Lyrics too.)(Anything else off?)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dWvXjK57rqg
7528.(Rock Band name change.)George Thorogood And The Destroyers/George & The Destroyers(Was it one or the other or both?)(Any of their logos off?)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=YsDQvAxhEZg
7529.(Music Lyrics change.)"She thinks that happiness is a mat that sits on your doorway, but outside it starts raining."/"She thinks that happiness is a mat that sits on your doorway, but outside it stops raining."/"She thinks that happiness is a mat that sits on her doorway, but outside it stopped raining."(Was it something else?)(Any of their logos off?)(Anything else off?)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=GIizdFo1AxI
7530.(Can't think of a title.)Do you remember these things being different or not a thing?(Chimp dances and claps on beat with music, whale poopnados, more Thinker changes, fish that can sand above water with its fins and breathe air 3 different ways, Ancient Puquois in Nazca uses wind to pull water up from deep aquifers, Jimmy Carter collapsed in a marathon when he was president, babies should eat solid food at 4-6 months instead of 1 year, Lamproderma Echunilatum, Fugitive Slave Law Of 1850, the broomstick challenge, and other things.)(Video below.)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=hBQrIX3Ly_s
7531.(Song name change.)Be Cruel To Your School/Be Chrool To Your Scuel(Any of their logos off?)(Dee SnydeDee Snider)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xoPFCxHbtwM
7532.(Rock Band name change.)The Faces/Faces(Any of their logos off?)(Mamas And The Papas/The Mamas & The Papas)(Was it something else?)
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faces_(band)
7533.(Music Lyrics change.)"I never was one of them money hungry fools."/"I never was one of them money hungry fool."
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=GBICjEa_7KA
7534.(Rock Band name change.)Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers/Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers(Was it one or the other or both?)(Anything else off?)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=COXniUD94oM
7535.(Rock Band name change.)Joan Jett(Jet?)And The Blackhearts/Joan Jett & The Blackhearts
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Otx6qMVpw-g
Add-On: Do you remember Gran Tourismo instead of Gran Turismo?(Was it something else?)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7YhTTtG3SVA
submitted by iminterestingplease to Retconned [link] [comments]

2019.05.14 16:45 RexiconJesse A Pub Called Quest

Sometimes you want to go where everybody has a name
​
Every GM knows the joke: The players ignore the NPC with the ! above their head and gravitate to the one person drinking alone at the tavern because (insert reason). This lone drinker has no backstory, name, look, personality, or even reason for being there other than making sure the tavern isn’t empty.
So we present to you: A Pub Called Quest. Quest is a tavern where every NPC has a name, place in the pub, distinct look, personality, quirk, and even a quest. You can drop Quest into existence any time or place you want in your game. All quests stand alone, allowing players to do only one or complete them all in any order. Some have a few connections.
Enjoy!
I want to thank my fellow Gollicking chums for contributing as well as making this both possible and fun: u/Mimir-ion, u/PaganUnicorn, u/M0rdenkainen, u/foofieboo, u/famoushippopotamus, u/zweefer, u/OrkishBlade, and u/brittommy
​

The Patrons at a Glance

​

The patrons

​
Name: Roverti Valanpulk
Location and role in the tavern: Roverti is found behind the counter serving drinks. Roverti is the owner and lead bartender of Quest.
Appearance: Roverti is a middle-aged human who towers above most of the patrons. Pulled back hair falls out of a worn, purple cap. Their brown eyes shine within a weathered, ruggedly handsome face. A loose apron, vibrant purple shirt, and black slacks mask their bulky form. While not visible behind the bar, Roverti does not wear shoes.
Quirk: They are constantly looking around. Perhaps a bit too much…
What’s their quest: Roverti has an air of malcontent about them. Their eyes dart around the room, noting each patron’s actions at that moment.
If engaged, Raverti tells the person they have grown tired of Quest. While the regulars are nice and the travelers always have great stories and wares, but now Raverti wants to be the one telling the stories instead of listening to them. Roverti offers to sell Quest to the party for an astoundingly low price so long as they buy it right now. Roverti says they have plenty of money saved up, and they want to go see the world.
The truth is debt collectors are coming to find the owner of Quest to either get their money or beat it out of them, whomever they are. And the debt collectors will be there later this night.
Created by:u/RexiconJesse
​
​
Name: Tilde “Tillie” Millings
Location in the tavern (and role): All over the place, as she serves food, cleans tables, and washed dishes.
Appearance: Tillie is in her late 20s and young looking. She has long, almost blonde hair tied in a rough functional braid. Her eyes are fiercely green that, regardless of her history and life, still manage to compliment her sympathetic smile. She has a small nose that is slightly crooked at the tip. Her clothes are basic, though she sews tassels and fancy buttons on her clothing whenever she finds some.
Quirk: Whenever she laughs out loud she makes the noise of a pig, after which she gets embarrassed. She is also too busy for love interests.
What’s their quest: She needs the party to travel to the nearest big town- which the party was headed anyway- and find her birth mother. Her birth mother stole the deed of the plot of land her father had built the mill on when she left him for a minor nobleman. You see, the problem is that the Lord who holds the land here is trying to stake a claim to her family’s land. Currently, he only tries to bully her father with overpriced taxes and petty fees, which her father can't pay forever, but she fears her family mill will go up in smoke if the Lord grows inpatient.
Her birth mother might have ended up in the oldest business when the fling with the nobleman turned out to not be a nobleman and left her in debt and with little choice. The Lord also might have an ulterior motive, as he is trying to get to Tillie for denying him rather than taking the land of her father.
Created by:u/Mimir-ion
​
​
Name: Lord Albert-Frederik Middasson (The Second of his Name)
Location and role in the tavern: Regular patron of the Quest.
Appearance: Lordly riders outfit, complete with a short ornamental whip he never uses or unties. His hair is slick and combed backwards to cover a well hidden start of a bald spot. With forty years plus of experience he still manages to put his rings on the wrong fingers.
Quirk: Petty loser and highly competitive, even when his competitors are not aware they participated in a game. If he loses at his imaginary games he will be cruel to those around him and even seek revenge through his authoritarian power.
What’s their quest: He is in trouble with his family. They don't approve of his active peasant participation. He however can't get enough of the easy life here, which is spoiled by some thievery. He asks the party to investigate the disappearance of two of his rings, and he suspects several people, amongst them is Tillie and Dizrah, who he says have been making advances at him (not really). He claims all of the suspects he listed are having money problems. He pays 10% up front, already a significant sum, and says the rest is paid when evidence is found.
The pouch of gold he pays up front contains one of his rings, and depending on the result of the players investigations, he will try to corner them at the mill of Tillie's father with a dozen soldiers in tow. The players may choose to betray an innocent family or try to talk/fight their way out.
Created by:u/Mimir-ion
​
​
Name: Dizrah “Just Dizrah”
Location and role in the tavern: As both barmaid and bouncer, Dizrah is most often found leaning against the side of the bar looking grumpy.
Appearance: Dizrah is large, even compared to other gnolls. Her short rough fur is a tawny brown with dark spots, and she has dark green eyes that only accentuate her perpetual glare. In reality she just has a natural scowl and only appears to be always angry. This still means only braver newcomers to the bar order drinks from her instead of the less intimidating Tillie.
Quirk: Her left ear tilts forwards and twitches when she is truly annoyed.
What’s their quest: Her cousin, “His name in unpronounceable, just call him ‘Griff.’” was meant to pick up a shipment of booze from the next town over. He’s several days late and she wants the party to see what’s taking him so long. (She’s secretly worried). Dizrah doesn’t particularly care about most of the booze, just the cask of Black Absinthe which is a traditional gnoll drink and is “bloody expensive”.
Turns out Griff encountered some bandits on the road. He’s unharmed and has just been sitting with them in their camp drinking all the booze he was meant to deliver. Luckily the precious Black Absinthe is untouched as none of the bandits have been brave enough to tap the alarmingly odorous barrel. There’s opportunity for the party to solve things non-violently as the bandits are all quite drunk and feeling pretty content at the moment.
Created by:u/PaganUnicorn
​
​
Name: Simon Grimm
Location and role in the tavern: A regular whenever he's in town, occasionally takes up stage time for street evangelism.
Appearance: A handsome and charismatic bard- whose parentage is irrelevant- in well-maintained traveling clothes.
Quirk: Simon's personality is a 50/50 blend of smooth Southern preacher and Charles Manson. He preaches a non-theistic philosophy that defines Good and Wisdom as being equal parts Kindness, Honesty and Foresight. He claims to have come to this revelation as a result of his study of the goodly gods of the pantheon, drawing together their commonalities and abandoning their differences.
What’s their quest: Simon has a series of quests, all geared toward helping a group in need. The through line for all of the groups is that they traditionally worship other good gods, i.e. helping farmers who normally worship Pelor, knights who usually pay homage to Hieronious (insert your setting's gods as needed).
There should always be elements of the DM's characterization of Simon that lead to suspicion that his goals are nefarious. It's an easy conclusion to draw that he wants to drive worshippers away from the gods of good. Make him a tiefling if you want to be on the nose about it. The twist at the end of it all is that he's telling the truth, he genuinely just wants to fundamentally understand and then actively practice “good,” and his works help people in need.
Created by: u/M0rdenkainen
​
​
Name: Morla Primtor
Location and role in the tavern: She's a local shopkeep (Scribe and Scroll) who is at this moment wandering around eavesdropping, especially on conversations about port travel and trade.
Appearance: Morla is a handsome woman, neatly trimmed beard, not overly squat, relatively undamaged skin and pressed clothes; one might even have a hard time recognizing her as a dwarf.
Quirk: She's in the tavern, but she doesn't drink, she is devoutly opposed to what she considers "deviant revelry."
What’s their quest: Morla loathes adventures and adventurers. Her daughter, Dwayna, has "too much dwarf in her," and Morla suspects she has run away on an adventure in spite of her civilized upbringing. Morla’s at Quest to try and find her daughter and bring her back to the Scribe and Scroll; which is where a sensible young lady should aspire to be. Stubborn and hesitant to enlist the assistance of filthy vagrant mercenaries, she is getting desperate to find her daughter, so she will accept help, if the adventurers offer her the right price. Basically a DM can add this quest to any existing one (just add Dwayna as someone who attempted before the party does) or they can make up a path where Dwayna has gone and what it's going to take to get her to return or to get her mother to stop looking for her.
Created by: u/foofieboo
​
​
Name: Zin Thistleworn
Location and role in the tavern: Zin is cleaning the hand-sized holes and flutes connected to the fire that heat the building. She is the only person small enough to properly clean them, and she does whatever other odd jobs Roverti, Dizrah, or Tillie can give her to make a few coins.
Appearance: She is a rail thin, very young gnomish girl, standing only 14 inches tall. Her gaunt face accentuates her large eyes. She is covered in soot, masking her clothes and matting her hair.
Quirk: She likes to use big words, though she doesn’t always use the correct ones.
What’s their quest: Zin’s father is in prison. Zin usually gives her father food and some comfort items because the guards treat him horridly. However, the prison changed their rules and now she cannot visit him. She needs someone to get into the prison and give him a blanket (the nights are getting colder), a note from her (written in gnomish), a handful of dried flower petals (that have a powerful and pleasant smell), and a piece of white charcoal (because he loves to draw).
Zin is actually a pixie using illusion magic to appear as a young gnome, and she’s convinced the staff at Quest that she is a child. The man in prison is an archfey she is trying to rescue. The prison has too much iron in it for her to enter, and while the archfey is powerful, the amount of iron around him has neutralized his powers. If he gets the charcoal, he can draw a rune and use the petals as a beacon to allow Zin to open a portal and get him out. The prison guards do not know he is an archfey.
Created by: u/RexiconJesse
​
​
Name: Darius
Location and role in the tavern: Darius is the stable person and can be found in the stable tending the horses and other mounts from patrons.
Appearance: Darius is a hefty ratfolk covered with shining white hair. While he is only 20, he has a severe hunch, and the peak of his hump is partially bald.
Quirk: None of the animals like him, and they make their displeasure obvious.
What’s their quest: Darius struggles to get the animals stabled and fed. A pack of mounts (horses, megaraptors, big cats, whatever the GM chooses) have escaped the stable and run off together into the wilderness. The owners of the mounts are asleep in Quest. Darious won’t be able to search for the mounts until his shift ends deep into the night. He pleads with any players who show interest in tracking and retrieving the runaway mounts. He cannot pay them with coin, but he does have information about a quest the party is currently pursuing.
Created by: u/RexiconJesse
​
​
Name: Gravrlst (or Grav Rolost. His speech is very slurred)
Location and role in the tavern: Gravrlst is at a table.
Appearance: Gravrlst is a middle-aged half elf with tall ears and what humans call a 3 day beard (or what dwarves call 5 o’clock shadow). The front of his shirt is wet from spilled ale.
Quirk: He keeps starting to sing the same song, getting lost and starting over after a few moments. He is also completely tanked.
What’s their quest: Gravlst is trying to get people to sing his favorite drinking song with him. The song is called “That one with the mermaid and there were some rocks somewhere? Or on the rocks maybe? It’s the catchy one. You’ve heard it.” However, he cannot remember anything after the first line. It’s driving him mad, and he promises a round on him if someone can finish the song.
Players with properly related knowledge-based checks or a history of sailing, as well as players who are heavy drinkers or musically inclined, may have heard of the song he’s trying to sing. Alternatively, players can use persuasion or deception to improvise a song and convince him that’s the one he meant. The players will have to write the whole song to do this.
Created by: u/RexiconJesse
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Name: Thunderfang Jones
Location and role in the tavern: Drug User, usually hangs out near the bathrooms
Appearance: Thunderfang is a Red Dragonborn who is casually dressed in priests robes with a half-dozen holy symbols from various faiths adorning his garb.
Quirk: Collects “faiths” and has joined every cult he’s been able to find.
What’s their quest: To find “enlightenment”, one narcotic experience at a time. He is desperate to find a rare and powerful hallucinogen and is willing to pay top dollar for it.
Created by:famoushippopotamus
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Name: Crunchy Mohab
Location and role in the tavern: Bard, is either on stage or hanging around the most charismatic person in the tavern.
Appearance: Crunchy is a Rock Gnome, dressed in tattered leathers and mismatched boots. His instrument is a modified set of bagpipes, enchanted to produce electric guitar sounds, and amplified. A number of facial piercings and tattoos complete his unique appearance.
Quirk: Cannot stand the smell of tobacco or burning candles.
What’s their quest: Is searching for his lost brother, also a Bard, and is retracing his brother’s last-known-tour.
Created by:famoushippopotamus
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Name: Auke Inka
Location and role in the tavern: Patron - sitting at the bar drinking heavily.
Appearance: Auke is dressed as a commoner and is a bit disheveled. To even a casual observer, it is obvious Auke has been there for quite some time.
Quirk: Will work extremely hard at not working - always has a scheme.
What’s their quest: If engaged in conversation, Auke will discuss any number of topics, but will eventually mention a buried treasure. If pressed further, he will indicate a great fortune was entrusted to him by a wealthy merchant that has recently met his demise, thus leaving the entirety to himself. He plans to dig it up in two days time, but has to leave on business before that happens. He will give the party a general location in his backyard where it was buried “around 8 feet down.”
If the party investigates the location indicated, they will find pickaxes and shovels left out. If the party digs, they will find nothing. Here one of two things will happen: Either Auke returns and measures the hole, proclaiming it close enough for the pool he wanted installed, or later on the party may hear about how Auke tricked some people into digging his pool for him (possibly back at the tavern).
Created by:zweefer
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Name: Lucca Huntsman
Location and role in the tavern: As the cook, Lucca can be found in and out of the kitch. Appearance: Blood stained apron, long unkempt hair, filthy hands, generally a walking health code violation…
Quirk: Picks his nose.
What’s their quest: Lucca tells the party he has a problem with rats “in the food.” He wants to hire the party to kill as many large rats in the stables as they can. To prove the deed has been done, he insists they bring the bodies of each rat killed, and he will pay per corpse.
In reality, The Quest is about out of meat, and beef is too expensive. He was telling the truth when he said the rats were indeed “in the food,” because he’s going to use them to cook.
Created by:zweefer
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Name: Sym Skallywood
Location and role in the tavern: Sym is nursing a large tankard of ale alone. He is a little reluctant to speak with strangers.
Appearance: Sym is a short-but-handsome young man with sandy blonde hair and blue eyes. The unfocused gaze of his left eye drifts lazily toward the wall.
Quirk: Sym fidgets with the silver chain he wears around his neck.
What’s their quest: Sym carries with him a vial of a rare poison that causes any who ingests it to suffer from terrible dry-mouth and flux. If untreated, the person will be dead of dehydration within 4 hours. Sym was hired by, Willam Fold, an up-and-coming local merchant, to prepare the potion and make sure it ends up in the drink of the merchant's rival. Sym is very concerned about a threat of blackmail from Mr Fold (secret: Fold is actually a half-devil), who has taken the ledger from Sym's home workshop and lab and is holding it locked in a safe in his villa in the Garden District. Sym doesn't have the stomach for killing, so if you would either travel across town to the Resolution Alehouse--he expects his mark will be there--you could do the poisoning, and Sym's life can go back to normal. Alternatively, you could go break into Mr Fold's villa and steal back Sym's ledger. Sym is an expert in preparing curatives, and he promises he’d be able to spare a few handy potions from time to time, the kind that might help you out of some sticky situations.
Created by:OrkishBlade
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Name: Izzy
Location and role in the tavern: Niece of Darius, found loitering around the common room.
Appearance: Izzy is a young ratfolk in her early teens. She has shiny coal black fur with a white spot on her nose.
Quirk: Animals seems to adore Izzy. A swallow is currently sitting on the table singing to her.
What’s their quest: Izzy wants to cheer up some of the inn’s more sulky staff, especially her uncle Darius. She has heard tales from explorers that there is a magical glade in a nearby wood where moonlight collects in shallow pools. Izzy is convinced that a few jars of moonlight on their nightstands could fix the mood of any person, no matter how petulant. She provides a box of heavy glass jars and a thick black wax to seal them.
Getting to the glade is not difficult, upon a little asking around or exploration. The party can find themselves there within a day’s hike. The difficulty lies in the fact that liquid moonlight causes a crippling feeling of nostalgia. Getting close to the pools without succumbing to weepy tears for years lost is a significant challenge, and once the jars are finally collected they affect anyone in close proximity with the same feelings. It will take a lot of willpower and a great many tissues before the party can get the moonlight to Izzy.
Created by:u/PaganUnicorn
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Name: Sir Albertus Quintifican
Location and role in the tavern: Central, trying to attract the attention of anyone who looks kind of tough. First-time patron.
Appearance: Albertus is a mid-20s human minor noble, and very well-off. He dapples himself with jewels and gold, his clothes are of the finest silks and linens with radiant dyes and intricate embroideries. The only thing plain about him is that he's plainly out of place here.
Quirk: Tries to make eye contact with anyone tough-looking. As soon as eye contact is made, he'll come to introduce himself and buy everyone drinks. He flashes his cash everywhere, is highly energetic, and seems to think everyone already likes him.
What’s their quest: Albertus' best friend, Francois, is getting married. Naturally, Albertus wants to throw the biggest bachelor party ever. Francois has always had fancies of being an adventurer, so Albertus wants someone strong and simple to capture a terrible beastie (or several!) and bring it to his estate. Once there, the beast will be caged and kept weak.
The bachelor party will be a night of raucous merrymaking and debauchery, drinks flowing fast, a multitude of high-profile and notable guests, gambling, you name it... But the pièce de résistance is when Albertus will reveal the monster to Francois, who (undoubtedly very drunk) will be able to dispatch it and feel like a real hero! The players will be kept around to make sure it all goes smoothly and that Francois gets the killing blow.
After that, Francois will be feeling very confident and will probably challenge anyone and everyone to a duel. Depending how the players run with that, they may be invited to join in with the merrymaking or end up imprisoned for the murder of the young preppy noble.
Created by:u/brittommy
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Name: Frega Lodges
Location and role in the tavern: Frega is sitting in a corner table doing tarot readings for coin for a few rough-looking characters who are seated with her.
Appearance: Frega is a fat woman with kind eyes. Her dark hair is pulled back in a loose bun just above her sloping shoulders.
Quirk: Frega has a flair for the dramatic, to a fault.
What’s their quest: Frega is concerned about a dwarven girl named Dwayna, an enthusiastic and strong lass who wants adventure and to protect the commonfolk in these parts. She gave Dwayna a reading recently in which she revealed to her that she was the reincarnated soul of the ancient elvish hero Hedrallon the Dragonslayer. Dwayna was ecstatic and immediately began preparations to search for the tomb of Hedrallon. Local legends have told that Hedrallon is buried in a mausoleum in the shadow of Mount Deaftide on the far edge of the Longwood. Many have gone looking for Hedrallon’s resting place, and all who have returned were disappointed. If they find Dwayna, Frega promises to contact some friendly spirits to inquire where to find something for which one of the PCs is searching for.
Created by:OrkishBlade
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Name: Matyus Decker
Location and role in the tavern: Matyus is seated at a long table, playing a dice game with several other patrons.
Appearance: Matyus has a boisterous laugh that erupts through is thick mustache. He wears an open shirt that displays his hairy and well-muscled chest.
Quirk: Matyus has more gold teeth than originals anymore.
What’s their quest: Matyus was a sailor on the pirate ship Backstab Betty, commanded by the dangerous and half-mad Captain Graysky. Matyus tells a wild tale: After plundering and sinking a spicer ship laden with gold and silver after it sailed from Whiteclyff, Graysky turned the ship northward and then deliberately smashed the Backstab Betty onto the rocks of the Seaspray Coast in the dead of night. For those few crew members who made it to land, Graysky and his first mate, a foreign barbarian named Markesh, were waiting, axes in hand to hew them as they crawled onto the stony shore. Matyus was able to swim and float in the shallows for a few miles in the darkness before heading into land. He feels he owes it to his fallen crewmates to retrieve some of that treasure, and he’d gladly split whatever they find in equal shares.
Created by:OrkishBlade
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I forgot to link to my site. David Bowie, it's been a long day. rexiconjesse.com
submitted by RexiconJesse to DnDBehindTheScreen [link] [comments]

2018.10.08 00:22 AfroNin Lost in Eternity // 20th October 2018 // 06:00 UTC

BTW this is a Semi Prime. Be warned.

If this could be more indie then IDK how, but the song is legit af, had me inspired to do this thing here.
Part of the Blahdfeud run chain.
Also a SPACE run, even though LEO, so characters with magic should be aware that the presence of the FUN!!! mechanic of BGC is kind of unavoidable, even if held to a minimum for that specific area.
Duration: I honestly don't know. When in doubt, prepare for multiple sesh?
My rambly Style Sheet.
Memes: X-Files, Friday the 13th Space Edition, Stargate: Atlantis, something with vampires in it
Location: Seattle, then Space.
Job Offer:
It is me again. The true scientist. The knower of secrets. The One who can see the patterns in the obfuscating mist and wireless trash. My insight is that of a white eagle. The end is approaching rapidly. I can decode the signs clearly. I read the books of Moses and didn't end my life. The return of the Maya Gods, the giant craters on Mars, the Inka temples with their death traps. Physicists across the globe swallowing cyanide capsules for what they know is too much to bear. But the news stay silent about this.
Nonetheless, I understand the symbols, the sneaking omens, the Sign of the Rose, the Eye in old One-Dollar-Notes. They are everywhere. Everywhere I can see the signs of the Free Mason's Lodge... I hope that my species understands, but I do wonder how late it does... I could show you how everything is real, but I don't feel like getting tortured. I have to stay underground. You have to come find me.
Our blue planet is doomed. The armageddon is coming, as surely as the seasons. They are hidden, reports of galaxy travel possibilities, but we all know that they just use this as cover... for the ALIENS! And they talk about odysseys to strange planets, meeting weird rubber-like creatures, who travel across the universe like pirates and take over worlds, with the toolkit of global parasites.
I have made enough money stealing state secrets and shuffling them around, but there have been some harsh moments that have been too close for comfort, operations thrown and restart from the beginning. Now is the time! Runners, it's time once more you come find me. It's time we find the truth. I know where it is, for one place up there in the sky hasn't reported back in a while. Surely this must be it.
The truth is out there.
RP Prompt (Optional):
In a scene of your choice, your character is confronted with the Alien, the Impossible. Do they dismiss it as coincidence, or do they realize that the truth is out there? Are they foolhardy enough to seek it?
Alternatively, one kitten image! Jigurd fought hard and well to keep the kitten image production market stable.
Picks on the 18th. I will post a reminder on that day again.
submitted by AfroNin to ALightInTheDark [link] [comments]

2018.05.17 19:46 forkdrop Forkdrop.io Weekly Digest 2018-05-17

https://forkdrop.io and follow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/forkdrop
Projects Tracked: 108 (Bitcoin: 70 Altcoin: 19 Historic: 19) - Exchanges: 81
* Kucoin exchange announced it is going full KYC
* Exvo exchange's own Twitter account was claiming it was a scam and the developer disappeared. We added a red flag warning to highlight this
* Bitcoin Anonymous chose a new ticker symbol. It is now 'ANON' to replace the previously announced 'BTCA'
* Clarified premine details for Bitcoin Clean (BCL) it has a 2.3% premine which is discussed in their whitepaper on page 11 and implemented in their source code.
* We have upheld the yellow flag and claim of replay protection problems for Bitcoin Clean (BCL). The project began claiming otherwise and we went looking into the issue ourselves. To our knowledge and expertise from examining the source code and claims. We concur with the replay protection warning given in Ymgve's script and his implementation appears to be correct. We have clarified our statement that was initially claiming it is broken two ways. To our current understanding it only appears broken for Bitcoin (BTC) transactions being replayed into the Bitcoin Clean (BCL) network. We are open to further clarification from the project.
* Added an entry for Bitcoin Incognito (BTCI), however we have subsequently delisted this project. The airdrop is only given to BTC held on select exchanges and not individuals holding BTC on their own private keys. We have internally decided that this is not the type of project we wish to list on forkdrop.io since it requires giving up custody of BTC to participate.
* Added Bitcoin Class (BCS) fork of Bitcoin Cash (BCH). 1:1 at BCH block 528000 (2018-04-29). This is only the second BCH fork after Bitcoin Candy (CDY)
* CoinEx, and BTC-Alpha exchanges are supporting MoneroV (XMV) for deposit and trading
* Cryptopia is supporting EtherZero (ETZ) for deposit and trading
* HitBTC is supporting Monero Classic (XMC) for deposit and trading
* Added BitINKA exchange - KYC required and it looks more like an OTC brokerage rather than a regular exchange - deposit and trading for BCH and BTG
* Added MicroBitcoin (MBC) fork. 10,000:1 ratio at block 524377 (about two weeks from now)
* Added yellow flag warning to Quantum Bitcoin (QBTC) on account of the only method of claiming appears to be a closed source mobile app. It does have listing at a couple established exchanges (Coinegg, CoolCoin), so there is some apparent legitimacy behind it, though we still don't recommend exposing your keys to untrustworthy software.
* Added Bitcoin Dao (BTD) fork 1:1 at block 531650 (late June) - also an ETH presale live now, without anything more than an announcement thread, which makes this a bit shady.
* moved Bitcoin Transfer (BTCT) to Historical section -> homepage down
* moved Bitcoin Minor (BTM) to Historical section -> homepage down
* moved Bitcoin Lunar (BCL) to Historical section -> inactivity
* moved Bitcoin Star (BCS) to Historical section -> inactivity
* moved Bitcoin Lite (BTCL) to Historical section -> inactivity
* moved Bitcoin Master (BCM) to Historical section -> homepage down
submitted by forkdrop to BitcoinAirdrops [link] [comments]

2017.07.02 12:21 -varg Normal ist das nicht!

Normal ist das nicht! submitted by -varg to 600euro [link] [comments]

2017.04.04 06:08 ImagesOfNetwork A simple Inka sun symbol. Taken at Pentagram Tattoo, Miraflores, Lima

A simple Inka sun symbol. Taken at Pentagram Tattoo, Miraflores, Lima submitted by ImagesOfNetwork to ImagesOfPeru [link] [comments]

2015.03.10 01:21 RegalLegalEagle Memories of Creature 88 Chapter 15: Clean up

I told you it wouldn't be as long between updates. I've got more already brewing in my mind so we'll see how quick the next one comes along. Also this chapter is 4444 words long. I didn't plan that but am oddly smug about it. Not sure why.
My Stories
Memories of Creature 88
The city was on fire. Everywhere he looked was roaring flames casting unusually long shadows considering everything else seemed to be on fire as well. There were felons, vandals, and rioters on the streets, screaming, shouting, throwing bricks and rocks, goading the fire larger. Why hadn’t he stopped this? Then he heard the marching and saw the columns of Yurvesh beginning to advance towards the wild mob. They were holding the banners and standards of the Eternal Evolutionaries which he knew couldn’t be right. The two forces seemed to square off, wild fire wielding criminals, and the dark shadowy Patrol.
He looked at the person next to him, and realized it was another copy of himself. He waved and the copy waved back. Or perhaps he was the copy looking at the original? He wasn’t sure. Then they looked back down at the battle that began to unfold before them. Each side began to attack the other as the lines started to blur. The dark Patrol trying to extinguish the flames of the criminals as the criminals would start ever more fires to push back the shadow that was the Patrol.
Finally one of them spoke. He or his copy. He wasn’t sure. “Which are you and which am I?”
“I don’t know that it’s that simple.” Came the reply as they continued to watch the senseless conflict below.
“This is likely greater than us.”
“Very likely.”
“Two creatures that through myth can be reborn. One of fire.”
“And one of Shadow.” The fighting seemed to get more intense as a giant bird suddenly rose out of the flames of one of the burning buildings, spitting out fire at the Patrol just before a great shadow spread along the ground to put out the flames, coalescing into some sort of creature.
“The Phoenix.”
“And the Shade.” The struggle below became less defined along lines as each side seemed to splinter until there was close combat everywhere in the square below them.
“Darkness and light?” Ventured one of them.
“Mmhhh but the flames don’t just illuminate they burn. And without the fires the shadows wouldn’t be so intense.”
“Mmhhh.” They nodded.
“What happens if we let them simply fight it out?” There was an explosion below but they couldn’t tell if it helped either side.
“I suspect the city will be destroyed.”
“The shadows then? They do not burn or destroy.”
“While they aren’t darkness they do bring it. Gloom, despair, and fear are all aspects of the shadows even if they keep everything in place.”
“The fire then? Light. Freedom.” They watched the Phoenix fly overhead, smashing into a building to bring it down on some of the dark Yurvesh.
“Destruction. Chaos.” They were silent for a while as they watched. “I suspect harmony is the key.”
“But harmony cannot be possible with these two can it? There is always strife. Struggle. One wishes to consume the other. And as one grows strong so does the other for they are never without the opposite.”
“Perhaps the best option then would be to find two other elements.”
“Or symbols.” They chuckled at the idea for a moment until they remembered the city burning around them in the heart of the struggle.
“Perhaps this is simply how it will be. Struggle. Conflict. Instead of supporting just one side or the other we should change the battlefield?”
“To moderate it perhaps? The city burns but I see no innocents in the middle.”
“The fire is necessary for heat, for light, and to hold the shadows at bay.”
“But the shadows are there to stop the fire. To soothe and cool.”
“This might be for the best.”
“Conflict. But managed.”
“Managed but not romanticized.” They nodded. As they watched the struggle began to slow and grow smaller as the smoke cleared from the sky and they could see the two snakes eating one another’s tail.
They leaned forward then, jumping from the edge of the building that they had watched the battle from. The other Phoenix vanished as the true creature appeared. Vincent was falling towards the battle below but before he could hit the ground he caught fire, flapping his wings as he soared over the combatants, the powerful blasts of his wings knocking them free of the square. He began to extinguish the fires as he flew over them until the city was safe once more.
He could see the citizens return, going back to their lives as he continued to fly above them, circling to make sure the only fire that remained was his own, and he was always accompanied by his shadow on the ground beneath him. It was a good feeling. A very good feeling indeed. He began to fly through the buildings then, watching over the city. There was a small gap between two massive structures before him and he quickly rolled sideways to fit.
Which was when he rolled off his bed onto the floor. “Ah fuck…” He grumbled twisted up in his sheets as he struggled to get free. Once he began to unwind the sheets he tossed them onto his bed and stood up, realizing he was still in his pants. He stretched and yawned for a moment as he ran a hand through his hair and worked to wake up. What had he been dreaming about? Flying around the city or something. He kind of remembered something about flames and smoke but couldn’t really hold onto the thoughts. It hadn’t been a nightmare though which was nice.
Stripping out of his pants and underwear he quickly climbed in the shower, shivering as the cold water came blasting out before it gradually began to warm up. He’d slept well, hadn’t had a nightmare, and Kavizore wasn’t calling him to tell him to hurry up and get on patrol. Perhaps today wouldn’t be so bad. He couldn’t imagine what the Hierarchy was going through to replace the Chairman. Or perhaps there was a set line of command so they’d already replaced him. He really should learn more about how everything worked in politics around here. He just hated spending time on that sort of thing.
Once he was done with the shower he quickly dried off and got dressed once more before walking out into the kitchen. When he opened the fridge though he looked around for a moment and closed it again before walking over to his comm screen and giving Kavizore a call. It took a moment before the Yurvesh came up on screen. “Creature 88 you haven’t synced yet.”
“Oh. Shit right, sorry when I got back I was extremely tired and passed out.”
“Sync immediately the Council wants to see what’s on the black box.”
“Alright alright. But where’s my food?”
The Yurvesh gave Vincent a questioning look. “Your food?”
“Yeah you guys usually send someone by to restock my kitchen when I’ve been alive a few days.”
“Ah… with everything that’s been going on I forgot.”
“Well I need to eat.”
“Chairman Litero died yesterday. You need to sync, then just go buy groceries.”
“I’ve never gone shopping. I still don’t know most of the food you guys eat and what makes me sick. What makes you think letting me go shopping would be a good idea?”
“What makes you think I care right now? I’m busy. Sync up. Shop. You have plenty of credits Creature 88.” Kavizore cut the call then and Vincent sighed out before heading back into his bedroom. He laid out on the bed as he activated the machine, grimacing as he felt the pinch in his neck before he started to sync up. He really should have gotten it out of the way last night but he really had been too tired.
As he started to view the memories flashing through his mind of the Chairman’s house he didn’t really focus on anything. He’d been so focused when he was there he tried to view everything again from a more stepped back mindset. There were times when he could notice details he missed by letting everything sort of drift past. If the encryption hadn’t worked and the Council saw everything unaltered he was pretty well screwed. He’d find out once this section got updated.
Overall he didn’t see anything new as he looked back through his investigation which wasn’t too surprising. When he was climbing into bed to go to sleep though he had a strange echo he got at times by seeming to take up the same spot but in one view through the memory is blackness, and the other being his current state staring up at the ceiling. Did they record his dreams? He suddenly realized that he had no idea if they could watch what he saw in his dreams. He’d have to ask Mach’s academics even though he was loath to be around that freaky gecko again.
Either way the memories were soon synced since it sped through his sleeping time much more quickly before he was disconnected and got up, heading for the door. He paused and looked at the entrance to his armory but realized he didn’t actually need his mask or his gear since he was just going to buy groceries. He kept his Magnum holstered of course but other than that he figured he was alright.
Stepping out into the hallway was a little strange as well and every step away from his apartment without mask, or any kind of combat harness made him feel more and more uneasy until he finally just shook his head and pressed on to the lift. When the xenos inside saw him they were a little confused. Most of them had seen him at some point on his way to a Patrol in full gear but now they were seeing his face and he didn’t have anything else. Even so they edged away from him.
When he got off on the main floor he could hear a few confused murmurs behind him and looked around the open Square in front of his hab block. He’d lived in the apartment for a year but seldom ventured out in the upper sections. He had earlier on to solve murders and some robberies, but that was it. He pointed to a random xeno as he walked through the area. “You.”
The creature jerked to a stop. It was a slight thing, his height but very skinny, three small arms that began to fiddle nervously as he approach. “Wh-what? I didn’t do anything illegal!”
“Where’s the nearest grocery store?” The creature blinked in confusion for a moment.
“Uh… right over there?” Three hands pointed past him to a store halfway down his hab.
“Thanks Citizen.” Vincent said and walked off, leaving the confused xeno behind. As he approached the grocery store he scoffed immediately. There were sections outside of various fruits or… some sort of produce at the very least. But a number of them were empty and it looked like they’d slacked off on properly cleaning the sidewalk in front of the store. Did no one teach the employees here how to properly manage a respectable grocers?
As he walked inside he saw a big line of checkout stands but only three of them seemed to have people working at them. He hated that about big stores. What was the point of having so many stands if you would only keep a few open? He shook his head and picked up a basket as he started to wander through the store. While he could read the writing on the various products they used different names for most things so he always had trouble figuring out what he could eat, especially since not all food could be eaten by all species of the Union.
He saw a little scanning device on the end of each row with some writing on them. “Unsure if you can eat a product? Scan it and find out?” Well perhaps this shopping trip wouldn’t be as hard as he thought. He grabbed a can of something random off a shelf and scanned it. The little screen just flashed. “Unknown species! Food safety not verified!” He scowled and put the can back on the shelf. Looking over the aisle he rubbed his chin trying to figure out where to start. Maybe they had eggs? Eggs had to be pretty similar right? Maybe.
As he started to roam the aisles he heard someone start to scream and quickly rushed over only to see some sort of juvenile and its mother. The juvenile was screaming and stomping around in front of what looked like candy while the mother was trying to get it to be quiet. Very unsuccessfully. Vincent momentarily considered kicking the screaming kid in the face and doing the world a favor but then shook his head and moved on. “Clean up. Aisle 3. Clean up Aisle 3.”
He shook his head as he heard that. Did they actually announce that over the PA still? No code words or anything? Just let everyone know there’s a big ol mess? Amateur hour. As he walked down one of the aisles he found bags of flour and sugar, but he didn’t see cake mixes, or other baking goods. They had pastries, Mach had given him some, so he figured they likely had something like cake mixes. Why not keep them together? In fact as he read the little signs over the Aisles he couldn’t discern any rhyme or reason to why things were placed where they were. They had milk on the other side of the store from the eggs and juice! They had two different refrigerated sections? Who the hell designed this place?
Just as he was entering another row he stepped in a big puddle of water he hadn’t noticed. “The fuck…” He muttered and looked up finding himself in aisle 3. There was some sort of xeno holding a mop that made him think of a bee without wings or a stinger. It was just soaking the mop and then slapping it on the floor!
“Okay. That’s it. You!” He walked up to the startled xeno who turned and blinked. Then grabbed the mop out of its hand and set his basket on a shelf. “That’s not how you fucking mop!” He put the mop head back in the top of the bucket, squeezing out the water before he began to soak up the water on the floor. “The objective is not to drown the mess! You use just enough to clean up the stain, and then mop up the water!”
Once the mop was more pushing water around than soaking more up, he squeezed it out and then kept going. He didn’t stop until the aisle was clear of the puddle before turning and pressing the mop back into the xeno’s hands. “That’s how you mop. Now put it away and come up front with me.”
“But… I need to stock…” The creature started until Vincent starred daggers at it. So instead it quickly scurried away with the mop and bucket. He walked back up to the front and saw the big lines at the few open checkouts once more.
“You!” He pointed to a startled cashier. “Why aren’t you opening more lines?”
“Uh… we weren’t told to. And Tezki is on break…” Vincent walked into the small office he spotted up front and pointed to the heavyset slug behind the desk.
“Are you the manager?”
“Yes?” It started.
“Are you or aren’t you?”
“I am. Yes.”
“Can you run a cash register?”
“Yes of course. But why…”
“Get your ass out here.” He growled and walked behind one of the checkouts. He turned it on and stared at the buttons for a moment. Shaking his head he punched on a few of them and the screen came on. “What’s your log in code?”
“3756.” The slug huffed as it slithered out of the office. Vincent punched it in and then waved at some of the xenos in line.
“This lane’s open, get back here.” Then he pointed at the slug. “You need to either open a check stand or start bagging. It stared at him in confusion before slithering into another checkout stand. He saw the wingless bee return and pointed to the slug. “Bag for him.”
The xenos approaching him looked a little nervous and confused but he’d waved them over so they obeyed. As the first started to set his items on the conveyor Vincent quickly scanned them through, glad that the system worked exactly like he expected it to. “Need anything double bagged?” He asked as he quickly worked through the customer’s cart twice as fast as the other cashiers.
“No?”
“Good.” He finished up, tapped on a few buttons and then took the offered credit chit, swiping it through the system. Once it beeped at him and the receipt printed he was already scanning the next customer. Soon xenos from the other lines were moving into his as they realized how much faster he was working. The only things that held him up were loose fruits and veggies. Or… what he assumed were loose fruits and veggies.
Generally after muttering. “What the fuck is this?” He’d quickly tap through some of the selections on the machine for items that don’t scan and if he couldn’t find it would just hit the button for miscellaneous item and ask the customer how much they thought it was. It had been years since he worked in a grocery store but all the old habits came back. He didn’t even notice he’d been at the checkout stand for a good half hour until there was no one else in line and the others were clear as well.
The slug finally slithered over to him. “I thought you were Patrol. A detective or something.”
“I am.”
“So… why are you here making me help customers?”
“Because there were long lines! What’s wrong with you? You have all these open checkout stands but only a few open and people were clearly waiting! You want to get people in and out as quickly as you can! And this is obviously a decently busy hour and you had that one stocking shelves!” He gestured at the bee.
“So?”
“So? So! You stock during the slowest parts of the days and bring in extra people to get it all done fast! The less you inconvenience the customer the better! You’ve stocked complementary items in different aisles! For some reason you have two sections of frozen or refrigerated goods, and the sidewalk outside is dirty! Not to mention most of the displays are low on whatever the hell it is you’re selling out there! Did no one tell you guys how to run a grocery store?”
The various xeno employees were just staring at him. The slug slithered into his office and then came back out with a data slate he was writing on. “Any other pointers?” He looked to Vincent who paused and then nodded.
“Yeah let’s start going through this.” The slug and the bee followed after him as he started going through the aisles giving tips and pointers on how to better organize the store. “You want breads next to the deli counter, but on the other side of the store from the bulk meats. If you guys make soups fresh you should have a display up front to let people what is being made that day. Some people don’t think to check fresh soups and buy the canned stuff even if the fresh is better.”
The slug was following behind scribbling away as the bee seemed to node and note things in his head. Her head? Its head. “Why have two sections of cold goods so far apart?” Vincent asked then.
“Well… I don’t know?”
“I don’t think you can move those so you’re stuck. But you want to stock like with like. Are eggs and milk big things for breakfast?”
“Yes. And juices.”
“You want those at the back of the store.”
“But then people will have to walk further.”
“And they have to walk through all the other things you have to offer which might remind them they need something else.” The slug nodded and jotted that down. Vincent pointed to a package of what sort of looked like purple bacon to him. “What’s this?”
“Uh… it’s the fatty belly of a creature from Inka Prime I think. You grill it up, usually until crispy. Dinner stuff.”
“Not anymore. Put it near the eggs and have a big sign that says great with eggs and toast for breakfast.”
He could see the bee perk up. “That sounds good!”
“It is kid trust me.” Vincent realized that he was promoting human tastes on the xenos but overall their system seemed horribly organized anyway so trying something had to be better than what they were doing now on their own. “Furthermore you want to cross train some of your employees. Make sure each one can do multiple things. If you need someone to work a cash register-“
“A what?” The slug asked.
“Er… a credit register then you should be able to pull almost anyone to work it at least for a little until the rush has died down. Schedule breaks around slow points. Do you have data on when its busy or slow?”
“Of course. All that is tracked by the store’s computer.”
“Why don’t you read it then?”
“What do you mean?”
“How do you schedule now?” The xeno shrugged.
“I just follow the standard company layout I guess.”
Vincent arched a brow. “And they don’t tell you this sort of stuff? Why do you track all the data?”
“Oh it’s law. The Analysis Bureau wants everything tracked.”
“But you guys don’t read it? Is it illegal?”
“I don’t think so.” The slug thought it over for a moment and shrugged. “I guess we just let them deal with it.”
“Do they give you guys guidelines or anything?”
“Just in hygiene and keeping things from rotting.” Vincent nodded slowly. It seemed hard to believe that a city that tracked everything didn’t have people analyzing all the data outside of one government agency. He knew that they only placed new structures, habs, lifts, and sector roads after a lot of long term analysis but for some reason companies didn’t data mine.
“If you start mapping out customer movements you can figure out how to streamline the store. And from there you can figure out how to put impulse items in their path without messing up the flow. I can’t guide you through that but I think you guys have enough to work off of.”
The slug was nodding quickly as he kept writing. “This is a huge help. I’ll start making changes. If you ever need groceries they’re on me. I never thought the Patrol would help my business like this.” The slug laughed.
“Not the Patrol. Me personally.” Vincent corrected.
“Oh. What’s your name anyway? I know what the rumors say but obviously they’re not correct.”
Vincent smiled. “Vincent.”
“Vincent? I’m Oshg. This is Fleep.”
“Hello.” The bee person waved.
“Nice to meet you two. Now then I need to get some food cause I’m hungry. I think I might as well take some eggs and bacon and make sure your version is as good as what I’m used to back home.” He picked up the package of purple bacon before walking a few aisles over to the eggs. Once there he looked at the various cartons then and paused. “Uh would these be safe for a Yurvesh?”
He was pretty sure most Yurvesh food was safe for him. Maybe. Hopefully. “Not those little pink ones.” Fleep said. “But the rest are.” Vincent picked up a set of blue eggs speckled white that looked roughly the same size as chicken eggs.
“Whatcha think about these?”
Fleep shrugged at the question. “Uhm… they’re eggs? The yolks are a bit big if you’re going to boil them.”
“Nah, just crack em open and grill them in the grease left over from cooking this.” He said and hefted the bacon. He saw the bee’s eyes… or eye clusters? Whatever he was looking at Vincent with seemed to get more attentive.
“Oh that sounds really good! You use the fat to cook the other food instead of oil or synthetic pan grease!” Vincent frowned at the term synthetic pan grease. That didn’t sound appetizing to him at all.
“Yes. That’s how my people do it.”
“Wow! You’re like a culinary genius aren’t you?” Vincent laughed for a moment and thought back on the times his dad chased him out of the kitchen after burning this, or ruining something his parents were working on when he was little.
“Yeah sure.” He said before the smile faded a little at the thought. But other thoughts began to roam around in his head and he nodded at Oshg. “You said that everything is tracked by the Analysis Bureau right?”
“Yes?”
“Traffic, shopping patterns, work locations compared with habitats. All that sort of thing?”
“Yes, certainly. They try to plan out new buildings and infrastructure before they’re needed.” Vincent thought it over and even though Mach had mentioned the Hierarchy grand AI thing noticing he decreased crime he couldn’t remember the Yurvesh ever mentioning statistics on crimes. In all the cop shows back home they mentioned mayors pressuring them for better numbers because all that was tracked. It helped the cops get an idea of patterns and demographics didn’t it? Why hadn’t the Yurvesh made it a big deal then?
He glanced around the aisle for a moment and then at the two xenos in front of him. Could it possibly be that there was no communication between the Analysis Bureau and Patrol? The Wardens were driving up crime in the lower sectors so the Patrol would start moving more heavily in those areas. But if they wanted to hide operations wouldn’t they just kill the competition on a sector and so the Patrol would never be called there? He needed to go to the Analysis Bureau.
He nodded at the two once more and held up the eggs and purple bacon. “Thanks for this guys. I hope the changes help. Let me know how it all works out.”
“Really you’re the one who deserves all the thanks.” Oshg said with a facial expression Vincent figured as a smile. The bee nodded quickly.
“Yeah feel free to come back any time!” Vincent nodded in return and headed for the exit. First breakfast. Then work.
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