For those in Blacksburg, here's a rundown of 28 local events you can enjoy in Blacksburg and throughout the New River Valley as June arrives.
Weekend Rundown of Local Fun: 1. Matt Holloman in Concert Rising Silo Farm Brewery, Blacksburg Friday, May 31, 2024, 6:00 - 9:00 PM Admission: Free Born and raised in southeastern Virginia, Matt Holloman has been playing around Virginia for more than 25 years. Growing up on his older brother’s blues collection, Matt mixed the likes of Howlin' Wolf and Muddy Waters with the experimental sounds of songwriters like Leonard Cohen and Frank Black, creating a style all his own. Always interested in reinventing his live performance, Matt uses a looper so he can improvise and manipulate layers of sound not usually heard from an acoustic performer. You can also expect simple, but memorable songs, reminiscent of storytelling songwriters like John Prine and Bob Dylan. Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=777075
2. Friday Nights at the Farm with Music from Jim Korb Beliveau Farm Winery, Blacksburg Friday, May 31, 2024, 6:00 - 9:00 PM Admission: Free Jim Korb is an acoustic musician and guitarist based in Southwest, VA and a member of the band Stonehouse. "Just a singer; a natural-born guitar ringer, playing and singing a mix of Classic Country, Eagles, CCR, Skynyrd, and a little bit of everything else from John Denver to The Blues." Beliveau welcomes a special musical guest every Friday night with live music from 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM and sing along to all of your favorite classics. Enjoy delicious food from their full service kitchen until 8:30 PM and chat over a glass of wine during our extended bar hours until 9:00 PM. Get a $5 Beliveau Buck to use during your next visit for every $50.00 you spend on Friday nights from 6:00-9:00 PM. Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=777450
3. Pizza Roll (Bike Ride) Blacksburg Library, Blacksburg Friday, May 31, 2024, 6:00 PM - TBD Admission: Free The New River Valley Bicycle Association (NRVBA) presents a Pizza Roll starting at the Blacksburg Library. Enjoy a five mile bike ride on the Huckleberry Trail and through Virginia Tech's campus, followed by post ride pizza at Benny's provided by Trek Blacksburg. This is a NRVBA ride, meaning waivers are required and can be filled out on site. If you have never ridden with NRVBA before, your first ride is free. Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=777778
4. The Grascals in Concert Little River Bluegrass Barn, Radford Friday, May 31, 2024, 7:00 - 10:00 PM General Admission: $30.00, Reserved Tickets: $35.00 Great musicians will always find a way to make good music, but for great musicians to make great music, they must form a bond – one that, more often than not, goes beyond the purely musical to the personal. For The Grascals, that bond has been forged at the intersection of personal friendships, shared professional resumes and an appreciation for the innovative mingling of bluegrass and country music that has been a hallmark of the Nashville scene for more than 40 years. Their cutting-edge modern bluegrass is delivered with a deep knowledge of, and admiration for, the work of the music’s founding fathers. Timely yet timeless, The Grascals make music that is entirely relevant to the here and now yet immersed in traditional values of soul and musicianship. It’s a unique sound that has earned three Grammy® nominations and two Entertainer of the Year awards from the International Bluegrass Music Association, as well as national media attention that seems to perpetually elude acts entrenched in niche genres. Such appearances include The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Fox & Friends, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, and CBS’ The Talk. The Grascals have over 200 guest appearances on the Grand Ole Opry to their credit and have also performed on the revered stages of Radio City Music Hall, the Ryman Auditorium and the Kennedy Center as well as music festivals such as MerleFest, Stagecoach, and the CMA Music Festival. In addition to performing across the United States and Canada, the awarding-winning band has traveled the world to take bluegrass music to Japan, Greece, France, Germany, Switzerland, Norway, and Belgium. Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=777777
5. Line Dancing at Sinkland Sinkland Farms, Christiansburg Friday, May 31, 2024, 7:00 PM - TBD Admission: $10.00 Join Sinkland Farms for a fun-filled night of line dancing. All types of music and all levels of experience welcome. Energetic, enthusiastic instruction begins at 8:00 PM. Adult beverages and food truck will be available for purchase. Weather permitting, there will be outdoor dancing as well. This event is fun for all. Ages 16 & under must be accompanied by an adult. Doors open at 7:00 PM. Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=778214
6. 2024 Pulaski County Spring Flea Market New River Valley Fairgrounds, Dublin Saturday, June 1, 2024 and Sunday, June 2, 2024, 7:00 AM - 5:00 PM Admission: $2.00, Kids 6 and Under: Free The Dublin Lions Club presents the 2024 Two-Day Pulaski County Spring Flea Market celebrating 49 years. With over 20,000 visitors and 800 vendors spaces, more than a dozen different food vendors offering varied food options and the chance to eat a few of the famous "Lion Dogs", you will not want to miss this event. Check out vendors with crafts, antiques and more at the semi-annual Pulaski County Flea Market. Expect to have a ton of fun hunting for that rare items or the deal of the century. Although over 100 spaces are under roof, it is a largely an outdoor event. All proceeds go to the Dublin Lions and their numerous community causes such as eyeglasses for the needy and hunger relief in the community. This is their primary fundraiser each year. The event is rain or shine and parking is free. Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=778201
7. Benefit Ride for Bubba Williston's Family KFC, Christiansburg Saturday, June 1, 2024, 9:00 AM - 12:30 PM $15.00-$20.00 Donation per vehicle. The Benefit Ride for Bubba's Family will start and end at KFC. Registration begins at 9:00 AM with kickstands up at 10:30 AM. Help raise money for Bubba Williston’s family. Bubba lost his life on Thursday, April 11th after saving his boys. Bubba leaves behind a wife, Danielle and three small children, Brantley, Kyler and Aubree. Let’s come together as a community and help ease the financial burden. There will also be door prizes, raffle and 50/50 raffle. Lunch will be served following the ride and returning to KFC. All bikes, cars, trucks and all vehicles welcome. Snacks will be provided on ride and lunch and drinks afterward. All proceeds benefit Bubba's wife and his three children. Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=778242
8. Cabin Fever 12: Six Band Charity Event Cabin Fever, Pilot Saturday, June 1, 2024, 11:00 AM - 10:00 PM Adults: $10.00, Kids 13 & Under: Free Cabin Fever Charity Events presents their semi-annual charitable musical fundraiser event Cabin Fever 12 benefiting the Floyd County Humane Society in honor of Kevin Dodson. A family style buffet and t-shirts will also be available for purchase and there will be both a live and silent auction featuring donations from local businesses and our line-up of seven performers. 100% of the proceeds from all items will be donated to the Floyd County Humane Society. Music Performers include Chris and Chelsea, Seph Custer, Jake and Jess, The Good Ole Boys, The Flying Doves, Hoppie Vaughan and the Ministers of Soul and By All Means. The family style buffet is highlighted by the world class pulled barbecue provided by Cabin Fever friend Hamp Maxwell is $10.00 per person. Credit cards and personal checks will be accepted the day of the event. Pets and children are welcome. Bring your dog and a $25.00 donation will be made on your behalf. All donations made to Cavin Fever Charity are 100% tax deductible. The event is BYOB and lawn chairs are welcome. Parking is free. Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=778240
9. Summer Reading Kickoff Event Blacksburg Library, Blacksburg Saturday, June 1, 2024, 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM Admission: Free Grab your chalk and head to the library to kick off our summer reading program. Enjoy activities like a chalk walk, face painting, bubbles, and a sweet treat. Available while supplies last. All ages are welcome. Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=777959
10. Ride-A-Rescue Cornhole Tournament Bisset Park, Radford Saturday, June 1, 2024, 11:00 AM - TBD Tournament Entry: $25.00 per team, Spectators: Free Ride-A-Rescue and Winterfrost Farm presents their Ride-A-Rescue Cornhole Tournament. Ride-A-Rescue is a local, non-profit, equine rescue that is holding an epic Cornhole Tournament throwdown to raise funds and awareness for their rescue's operation and rescue horses. The Cornhole Tournament is a double elimination tournament and open to all ages. There will also be a Kids Corner open all day and food vendors on site. First, second and third place teams will win big prizes. Teams can battle back in the Losers Bracket for another shot at the championship. All participating teams will also be entered in a drawing for awesome bonus prizes. Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=776144
11. Lazy, Crazy, Hazy Days of Summer JBR Vineyards LLC, Pearisburg Saturday, June 1, 2024, 12:00 - 5:00 PM and Sunday, June 2, 2024, 1:00 - 5:00 PM Admission: Free Wine Pricing: Tasting: $5.00, Glass of Wine: $5.00, Bottles of Wine: $15.00-$20.00 plus tax Experience the lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer with a delightful afternoon of wine tasting. Savor fine wine in a relaxed and enjoyable atmosphere. Stroll through the vineyard with a glass of your favorite wine. Credit cards and cash accepted. Dogs and kids welcome. Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=778155
12. Annual Loyalists in the Backcountry Event Wilderness Road Regional Museum, Newbern Saturday, June 1, 2024 and Sunday, June 2, 2024, 12:00 - 4:00 PM Admission: Free Join the Wilderness Road Regional Museum for the Two-Day Annual Loyalists in the Backcountry Event and learn about both the Patriots and Loyalists in the Backcountry of Southwest Virginia during the Revolutionary War. There will be some mischief afoot. Living history will be presented by the Fincastle Company on both days. Members of the Fincastle Company Living History group will share the history of the complicated interactions of the Patriots, "rascally" Loyalists, Tories, and those trying to stay "unaffected" during the American Revolution. On Sunday, there will be expanded programming including kids activities and a mock round up of the Tories to recreate some actual events in and around the Newbern area during the Revolutionary timeframe to include conspiracies, counterfeiting, and rounding up of the rascals. The event is free, but donations are always welcome and appreciated. Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=778165
13. 2024 New Town Festival Gospel Sing St. Luke and Odd Fellows Hall, Blacksburg Saturday, June 1, 2024, 12:00 - 6:00 PM Admission: Free The Blacksburg Museum & Cultural Foundation presents the 8th Annual New Town Festival Gospel Sing. The afternoon will be filled with dancing, singing and fellowship as five local groups and soloists perform their favorite current and old-time gospel favorites. Kirk’s BBQ will be onsite with food available for purchase. Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=778231
14. Speed Friending Program for Ages 20-45 Christiansburg Library, Christiansburg Saturday, June 1, 2024, 1:00 - 3:00 PM Admission: Free Are you interested in meeting new people? Want to make friends in the area, but find it hard to make time? Join the library for a fun and free way to connect with others in the community. Speed Friending will start with a speedy round of conversation starters. Yes, similar to speed dating, questions and conversation will be available for those who need it. Hang around after to chat, enjoy snacks, play games, or make plans with new friends. There will also be door prizes. Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=778081
15. Saturday Afternoon Music with Leslie Brooks New River Vineyard & Winery, Fairlawn Saturday, June 1, 2024, 2:00 - 5:00 PM Admission: Free Leslie Brooks is a singer-songwriter, performing solo with guitar, playing jazz, folk, blues, rockin' country and popular favorites originally from Kentucky now resides in Virginia. She has played the best venues in a 16-state area, as well as in Norway and Monte Carlo. Opened for Heart, James Taylor, Bob Margolin and Willie Nelson to name a few. Feel to free to select your favorites from her 300-song music menu. Seating is first come, first served. No reservation required. Guests can bring a blanket and/or chair. Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=778088
16. Spring Garden Day and Flower Art Opening Montgomery Museum of Art & History Gardens, Christiansburg Saturday, June 1, 2024, 2:00 - 4:00 PM Admission: Free This event will feature the "Flower Art in the Garden" Theme Show, showcasing the creativity of local artists. Participants were tasked with decorating "flat flower" templates, thoughtfully crafted by students at Blacksburg High School, which will be placed throughout the site. Participants were encouraged to incorporate native southwest Virginia plants into their artwork, resulting in a vibrant display that celebrates the region's natural beauty and artistic talent. In addition to the art exhibit, Spring Garden Day offers a wonderful opportunity for attendees to explore the Museum Garden with gardeners on-site to answer any questions. Visitors will also have the chance to engage with the Virginia Native Plant Society's plant clinic, Virginia Master Naturalists, and Virginia Master Gardeners, as several booths will be set up to provide information and insights into the rich botanical heritage of Southwest Virginia. Note: This event was originally scheduled for Saturday, May 4th, but was postponed due to inclement weather. Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=778241
17. Summer Arts Festival Free Classic Movies: Wizard of Oz Lyric Theatre, Blacksburg Saturday, June 1, 2024, 3:00 - 4:45 PM Admission: Free The 2024 Summer Arts Festival kicks of the Free Classic Movies series featuring "The Wizard of Oz". The classic "Wizard of Oz" was originally released in 1939 with a rating of PG and stars Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger, Bert Lahr and Jack Haley. Synopsis: Dorothy Gale along with her dog Toto is swept away from a farm in Kansas to a magical land of Oz in a tornado and embarks on a quest with her new friends to see the Wizard who can help her return home to Kansas and help her friends as well. The Summer Arts Festival is presented by Virginia Tech and the Town of Blacksburg. Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=778205
18. Grand Opening in Blacksburg J.H Bards Spirit Co., Blacksburg Saturday, June 1, 2024, 4:00 - 9:00 PM and Sunday, June 2, 2024, 12:00 - 6:00 PM Admission: Free J.H Bards Spirit Co. has moved the distillery from Fairlawn to Blacksburg and can't wait to show you their new completely renovated digs. On Saturday, last call will be ~8:40 PM and on Sunday ~5:30 PM. Parking is available in the Kent Square parking deck, on-street anywhere downtown, or in the municipal lot directly across Washington Street from us. Enter the distillery off of Draper Road. Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=778076
19. 2024 Oldtown Nights Concert Series Kickoff featuring Miller Holler Band Oldtown Fields (Shawsville Middle School Rec Area), Shawsville Saturday, June 1, 2024, 5:30 - 9:00 PM Adults: $5.00, Ages 12 & Under: Free The Eastmont Community Foundation presents the 8th season of the Oldtown Nights Concert Series Kickoff featuring the Miller Holler Band with a large open green space that is family and children friendly. Miller Holler is a country rock band with southern roots and a hunger for going against the grain and stirring up the music industry in Nashville, Tennessee. Concessions and drinks including adult beverages for those ages 21 & up will be available for purchase. Please bring cash for tickets and beer sales. Only limited credit card sales available. Please bring your own chairs and/or blankets. No tents or umbrellas allowed. Ages 16 & under must be accompanied by an adult. No outside drinks and no pets permitted. Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=774327
20. The Wild Wood Band in Concert Long Way Brewing, Radford Saturday, June 1, 2024, 6:00 - 9:00 PM Admission: Free Wild Wood is based in the New River Valley performing country, classic rock & country, folk, bluegrass and originals. Enjoy an old school sound and a very eclectic catalog of music with your favorite sing-along ballads and originals. Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=778071
21. Baxter Briefly in Concert Rising Silo Farm Brewery, Blacksburg Saturday, June 1, 2024, 6:00 - 9:00 PM Admission: Free Baxter Briefly is a Roanoke, VA musician performing unique and original music in the alternative rock, nu-funk and indie realms. Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=778232
22. Stand Up Comedy Show with Headliner Heather Joyce Bull & Bones Brewhaus & Grill, Blacksburg Saturday, June 1, 2024, 8:00 - 9:30 PM Admission: $7.00 Comedians Gone Rogue presents a Stand Up Comedy Show with Headliner Heather Joyce in the Banquet Room. Headliner Heather Joyce will be joined by other amazing comediennes from across Virginia and one very strong and independent man. Other performers include: Andrew Gustafson, Katherine Rogue, Christinia Tynes, Chelsea McCreight and Amanda Fitz. The cover goes directly to the talent. For ages 18 & up. Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=778246
23. 2024 Huckleberry Jam Point-to-Point 8.1 Mile and 1.75 Mile Run / Walk Runabout Sports, Blacksburg Sunday, June 2, 2024, 6:45 - 11:00 AM 8.1 Mile Run: $40.00 (through June 1st), $45.00 (after June 1st) 1.75 Mile Run: $29.00 (through June 1st), $32.00 (after June 1st) Return Shuttle: $5.00 Runabout Sports presents the 4th Annual Huckleberry Jam Point-to-Point 8.1 Mile and 1.75 Mile Runs on the Huckleberry Trail with the 8.1 Mile Run starting at RunAbout Sports in Blacksburg, VA and the 1.75 Mile Run starting on the Huckleberry Trail in Christiansburg, VA at the gate by Uptown Christiansburg's Kohl's store with both runs finishing at the Christiansburg Rec Center. Race Day Registration & Packet Pickup is from 6:45-7:45 AM. The 8.1 Mile Race starts at RunAbout Sports at 8:00 AM. The 1.75 Mile Race starts on Huckleberry Trail near Kohl's side of Uptown Christiansburg at 8:30 AM. Both race distances are point-to-point courses finishing at the Christiansburg Rec Center. Two aid stations will provide water and Gatorade along the way. RunAbout Sports will be donating all net proceeds to the Friends of the Huckleberry Trail. The group uses 100% of donations and funding for the engineering and construction of the Huckleberry Trail and the amenities along the trail. Participants may purchase an add-on shuttle ticket for $5.00 per person when registering. If you have a ride from the Christiansburg Rec Center, you are not required to purchase a shuttle pass. All finishers will receive an engraved rail-road spike finisher award with overall awards for the top three male and female finishers. The top two finishers in each age group also receive awards. Spectators and those picking up runners from the finish may park in front of the Christiansburg Rec Center and walk to the back where the race finishes. Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=778200
24. 2024 Check Farm Trail Downtown Check, Check Sunday, June 2, 2024, 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM Admission: Free Floyd Country Tourism presents the 3rd Annual Check Farm Trail at seven participating farms and businesses throughout Check, Virginia. This family-friendly experience is an up-close chance to learn about agriculture through demonstrations, tastings and farm tours including plants & animals and more. Food and/or products will be available for purchase at most of the farms and businesses. Carpooling is encouraged and please leave pets at home. Note: Times and hours vary by farm and tour stop. Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=778239
25. Youth Spaghetti Fundraiser Blacksburg United Methodist Church, Blacksburg Sunday, June 2, 2024, 12:00 - 6:00 PM Admission: $10.00 The Youth Ministry at Blacksburg United Methodist Church (BUMC) hosts a Youth Spaghetti Fundraiser. This fundraiser will offset cost associated with summer youth mission trip. BUMC’s youth will venture to the Eastern Shore of Virginia to Camp Occohannock on the Bay this summer. During the weeklong mission trip, the youth will work with Chesapeake Housing Mission. Grab lunch from 12:00-2:00 PM or dinner from 4:00-6:00 PM. The menu includes one serving of spaghetti (with or without ground beef), salad, garlic bread and choice of cookie (chocolate chip, sugar or snickerdoodle). For those unable to dine in, carryout will be available. Pre-ordering is available online. Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=777765
26. Free Outdoor Acroyoga Class and Jam In Balance Yoga Studio @ VTCRC, Blacksburg Sunday, June 2, 2024, 12:30 - 2:30 PM Admission: Free Learn about the playful practice of Acroyoga in a safe environment. Acroyoga is a physical practice that combines yoga and acrobatics typically involving a base, a flyer, and spotter. No experience or partner is necessary. The first hour will be guided learning, followed by free form jam for an hour. This event will be held outdoors at the corner of Pratt Drive and Kraft Drive. The rain location will be In Balance CRC studio. Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=777994
27. Book Club: Mr. Brightside's Italian Adventures with Discussion and Tasting Blacksburg Wine Lab, Blacksburg Sunday, June 2, 2024, 1:00 - 3:00 PM Admission: $40.00 Join the Wine Lab Book Club tasting & discussing featuring Mr. Brightside's Italian Adventures by Ryan Jacobson. After the success of his first humorous travel memoir, "The Adventures of Mr. Brightside", in which he traveled around the world exploring each country he visited on three different budget levels, Ryan Jacobson has now decided to tackle the country of Italy. Ryan travels to all of the Italy's twenty unique regions and splits his time in each by spending half his time on a low budget and half on a luxury budget before moving on to the next. Through the use of his humorous storytelling, Ryan shares what makes each of the regions so special and worthy of visiting. Reservations are required. Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=776425
28. Sunday Mountain Music Series Kickoff with Victor Lawson and the Boogie Chillin Band Mountain Lake Lodge, Pembroke Sunday, June 2, 2024, 4:00 - 6:00 PM Free Admission Mountain Lake Lodge presents their Sunday Mountain Music Series Kickoff with Victor Lawson and the Boogie Chillin Band. Victor Lawson and the Boogie Chillen Band have forged an identity as a good-time party band that plays the real deal blues and down in the mud rock ‘n roll and funk music as well. The tight three-man band takes their name from the song, “Boogie Chillen” which was made famous by late Delta blues icon, John Lee Hooker. From Tennessee to Virginia to West Virginia, in bars and saloons and restaurants and festivals, Victor Lawson and Boogie Chillen’s exuberant, joyful music has made the band one of the area’s premier attractions. Stop by Salt Pond Pub every Sunday from Memorial Day to Labor Day from 4:00-6:00 PM and enjoy live music along with food and drinks. Perfect for relaxing with the whole family (furry friends are welcome too). Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=776813
For all the 65+ big events happening this weekend, check out: • http://www.nextthreedays.com/featuredevents.cfm
Thanks for reading and have a great weekend!

Letting myself in, Aunt Lilicana spun around her silver chair. Chewing on my lips, her bright lilac eyes brightened at the sight of me standing next to Marcus. Smoothing out our outfits, her hands clasped together the moment she rose to her feet. Her lilac suit swayed with each step towards me, her lilac waves bouncing around her waist. Fussing with her bangs, her sharp eyes examined my new wedding band. Clasping her palms around my hands, her eager smile had me averting my gaze to the fine marble floor. Gushing about me being married, my eyes took in the lilac walls with fine snow white accents. Clapping her hands in front of my face, a quick huh escaped my lips.
“You need to wake up and rescue your first member of your own little coven.” She announced with a big grin, my brow twitching with disbelief at her words. “I think if you run your own coven, you have a real shot at becoming the grand witch.” Struggling to hold my tongue, my aunt couldn’t be serious. Pressing my lips a thin line, the old lady had brought it up again. Dropping her hands, a sad smile dimmed her features.
“I don’t want any of that. Stop saying that shit like you are going to die.” I protested heatedly, Marcus showing off his ring by placing his hand on my shoulder. “Fine. I will start with a coven and a coven alone. If that goes well, I will consider your offer to become the grand witch.” Burying me in a bear hug, she spun me around. Sliding her hands to my flat stomach, tears welled up in her eyes. Marcus took a step back with his next question, panic leading him to grin ear to ear.
“So the next thing I would like to ask is about children. How many do you want and when can I expect them?” She queried seriously, her hands squeezing my cheeks. “Maybe this old girl wants to be a great aunt some century.” Pursing my lips, the subject wouldn’t die without an answer. Lowering her hands instead of giving my usual sarcastic retort, Marcus glanced around like he had never been here before. Useless, thanks for being useless in this damn situation.
“Within the year if we are lucky.” I answered with a bright smile, her hands clapping as she spun around the big space. “Information please. Please tell me there is no time travel inv-” Sliding over a time card with the date into my eager palm, her grin grew wider. Reading the date, a discreet fuck rolled off of my tongue. Smacking the back of my head, she shouted language. The medieval times were the most dangerous times to travel, witches got burned like freaking candles. Shivering for a second, the trauma of being burned at the stake had me shrinking back.
“There will be an auction to sell her and I need you to swoop in and save her.” She explained while opening up her closets of disguise, her proud gaze flitting between the nervous Marcus and my fuming self. “So when I say coven, I mean a little branch of mine personally.” Great, no pressure or anything. When she chose to retire, my coven would become the elite ones and become the council members. Selecting a couple of black cloaks and golden parrot masks, she pressed them into our chest. Curious as to what her plan was, an eager grin curled across her lips. Oh, how I dreaded that eager grin!
“I’d hate to ask but what is very thought process?” I queried with a cock of my brow, my politeness slipping for a second. “Judging by the wear and tear, these were uniforms and not a ball gown." Cupping my cheek, her smile grew more genuine. Sinking into the warmth of her love, my life was owed to her. Even with her flaws, her maternal bond made it worth it!
“You are going to be dressed as slave handlers. Get in and free them for me.” She spoke in a motherly tone, Marcus watching in wonder as I snuggled into her palm. “You remind me of your lovely mother. Hell, you have her sharp tongue. What I wouldn’t do to banter with her again. Be a dear and stay safe.” Pulling me out of Marcus’ earshot, her bear hug had me cuddling into her chest. A tender blush rose to my cheeks, her fingers twirling my hair around.
“Pride glows in my heart for how far you have come.” She whispered with a soft chuckle, her fingers twisting my hair into a simple side bun. “The moment a little witch comes into being, I would be honored to be the sweetest grandmother. That means you have a free babysitter. Get going, my dear." Hugging her harder, part of me didn’t want to go. It was her that took me in after my father died, my love for her being as true as it could be. Releasing me, her dainty hand spun me around. Sauntering over to her desk, the chair squeaked the moment she crashed down. Walking out with a genuine smile, these visits left me with a fuzzy feeling. Draping my cloak over my shoulders, Marcus’ nimble hand tied the silky ribbon. Brushing his lips against my forehead, his loving gaze had my heart fluttering. Don't say it, I mumbled to myself. My eyes rolled at his next words, the damn things were sure to come.
“So you can be nice.” He teased with a playful grin, my lips curling into a sly grin. “Don’t be like that.” Poking my nose, scarlet painted my cheeks. Fiddling around with my mask, a flurry of feverish kisses causing my breath to hitch. Sliding on his mask with a crooked grin, a graceful flick of his wrist had his cloak obscuring his identity. Plucking my mask from my hand, his lips grazed the top of my head as he slid it over my bright red face. Quit being a Casanova, damn it!
“I happen to think it made you look adorable.” He commented with a wink, dropping my pendant into my slick palm. “I for one want to have a certain type of fun tonight, if you catch my drift.” Catching his drift, my fingers flicked the card into focus. Holding onto my waist, my slender fingers began to spin the pendant clockwise. Clearing my throat, another adventure was to be had.
“I call upon the sands of time to whisk me away to the year thirteen twenty on the day of January twelfth.” I chanted boldly, the pendant spinning faster. The blast of energy knocked us into the stables of a gray stone castle, the majestic draft horses whinnying in horror. Dropping my pendant over my head, my magic usage would have to be kept to a minimum. Another cloaked finger stomped to us, his sharp tone pissing me off. Letting him yell at us, his grubby hands dragged into a beat up building. Pointing towards the sea of cages, our task was to care for the merchandise. Hiding my hate, we nodded with tired smiles. Crunching back into the snow covered courtyard, magical creatures of all kinds roared in cages. Running through the hall of cages, my aunt gave the name Sabaku Neko. The last name spoke of a human and demon hybrid, an idea coming to mind. Tapping my pendant twice, three illusion pearls shimmered in my palm. Expanding my dagger, a swift cut had blood coating the pearls. Rolling them onto the wooden floor, the cages creaked open. A unicorn trotted past me, a bow of its head opening up a portal to a sacred forest. Neighing sternly, the creatures leapt into the portal. Watching each one with alert expressions, the cages slamming shut with copies of the creatures glitching into life. A clattering can had me spinning on my heel, a flash of bright red hair catching my eyes. Spinning my dagger in my palm, a pair of emerald green eyes shimmered in the shadows. A gruff voice called for Marcus, his hands holding my cheeks. Lifting up his mask, his trickster grin had me worried for the person on the other end. Don't be daft on me, Marcus.
“Steal her away into the woods and I will meet you in a couple of hours.” He ordered with his signature wink, our target knocking over a pile of armor. Bouncing up to him casually, his club poked out of his sleeve. Rounding the corner, a cute witch with bright red cat ears and a matching fluffy tail cowered behind a wooden column. Crouching down to her level, the poor thing was shivering from the cold. Untying my cloak, her quivering eyes traced me draping the cloak over her shoulder.
“I am Gearz, your coven leader if you wish me to be.” I introduced myself with a kind smile, her tag twitching slightly. “Please follow me to safety. Trust me! I don’t bite.” Offering her my hand, her fingers curled around mine. One yank had her stumbling back, her feeble body seeming too weak to move. Placing her on my back, her arms curled around my neck. Darting between the shelves, Marcus chatted pleasantly with our boss. Pretending to trip, his double wink telling to run with her. Sprinting into a blizzard, a harsh cold lashed at my bare skin. Crunching through the snow until I couldn’t anymore, an abandoned home caught my eyes. Kicking the door open, a muffled apology had me glancing back at the witch I had rescued. Setting her down by the fireplace, a few old pieces of wood hit my feet. Arranging the wood while watching her shiver, a snap of my fingers had violet flames roaring to life. Plopping down across from her, my dagger bounced off of my legs. One could never let their guard down in such a time.
“My name is Sabaku Neko.” She choked out awkwardly, her eyes refusing to meet mine. “The one skill I have is being able to speak to animals. I doubt you would have me with that information.” Tracing her fingers on the floor, her kind gaze averted to the floor. Reading that she was ashamed of such a rare gift, kind words were needed. The floor protested as I moved until our knees met, my hands curled around hers. Such sorrow should not follow anyone.
“I would love that gift. Animals make excellent spies and friends.” I chirped cheerfully, her wet eyes meeting my genuine smile. “Join me if you wish. Together we can solve all kinds of crimes. Pigeons and such see the things I can’t see.” Ripping her hands back, hesitation lingered in her eyes. Shaking her head, too much trauma had occurred to her. Switching tactics, there had to be a way to get to her. Asking for her hands, her head shook. Holding my hand behind my back, a rush of air had my loose hairs floating up. Feeling a violet lily in my palms, this might win her over. Lowering her hood, a bit of life sparked in her eyes at me tucking the flower in her hair. Curling her fingers around the edge of my mask, anxiety built in her eyes the moment her hands ripped it off. Smiling cautiously in my direction, her fingers traced the faint scars on my face.
“Call me Saby if you want to be my coven leader.” She spoke almost too soft for me to hear, her smile growing brighter the moment she cut her palm with my dagger. “I vow to serve you as a faithful member of your coven.” Remembering to cut my own palm, the wet sound of blood splattering had nausea flipping my stomach. Holding my hand with a quiet laugh, her ears flicked with excitement at an inky pocket watch tattoo appearing on her chest. Lowering our hands to our laps, something about our bond had me brimming with joy. The door blew open, Marcus huffing with blood pouring from a wound in his side. Collapsing next to me, my shaking fingers pulling my pendant over my head. People shouted in the distance, Saby climbing onto my back while I pulled him onto my lap. Spinning the pendant clockwise, no words could come to mind. Speaking too late, a blast of energy shot me into the front of my house in the nineties. Cursing under my breath, something seemed off. Heavy footfalls crunched behind us, a quick healing spell sealing his wounds shut. Helping Saby off of my back, her protection would be necessary.
“Watch my husband for me. He should wake up any second.” I requested politely, her head nodding as whistled. Shivering with joy at saying the word husband, the bliss was short lived at an ogre jumping over my head. Throwing the necklace into the air, a quick spin had it landing around my neck. Flipping the dagger in between my fingers, his fate was sealed. Flicking my wrist, the dagger whistled into his left eye. Muddy sludge rained onto me the moment it boomeranged back to me. Nice touch, I pondered curiously to myself. Whistling sharply, his good eye narrowed in my direction.
“Come get me, big boy!” I called out while sprinting towards the park, the ground shaking with every stomp from his oily forest green feet. Skidding down random streets, the plan wouldn’t work if I didn’t show up first. Leaping over a wooden fence, my boots touched the lush grass I used to escape to on the bad days. Running over to the dugout of the local softball field, a fresh pile of dirt had me smiling to myself. Kicking at the loose dirt, my old witchcraft kit greeted me. Pulling the tired girl out, a devilish grin curled on my lips at the sight of my black iron case. Remembering that I took down monsters in the area, the kit was rich with what I needed. The ogre was new in this timeline, the tool wouldn’t be missed. My smile fell at what tonight was, a single tear cascading from my eye. Plucking the jade ball from the bottom, this spell would prevent me from going home until the early morning. Debating on winning this fight or reliving one of the worst nights of my life, the answer was clear. Cutting my palm, ruby coated the ball. The ball glowed to life, a sea of unfiltered energy trapping the ogre in place. Rising to my feet, my time window was dwindling. Jumping over the dugout, time slowed with every step. Green energy took out the ogre, the aftermath smashing me into the tree. Sliding the bark with a grimace, a ribbon of blood poured from the corner of my lips. Damn, a couple of organs must have burst. Wincing the moment I struggled to my feet, her guard dog of a demon friend pounded towards me. Blocking his club with my dagger, a swift kick shot him into the sky. Leave me alone, damn it! Nobody wanted to see the two of them.
“So you can fight.” Glanda mused with a scoff of disbelief, my brow cocking at her approaching me in a lovely emerald dress. “I am afraid you have me beat in that department. Then again, I am not a heathen like you. Gareth, kill her already!” Tossing him an emerald stone, green energy whisked her away. The ground rumbled the moment he landed in front of me, his Cheshire Cat grin spread as he bowed.
“Shall we have a fun duel, my lady?” He suggested with an adventurous tone, his club bouncing in his palm. A warm breeze blew the seeds of a dandelion in the air, something seeming off about the situation. Tugging at his leather jacket and jeans, guilt dimmed his eyes. Picking up on that he didn’t want to kill me, a witch’s mark burned on his neck. Mouthing an apology as he charged at me, his club striking the tree next to me. One should open up if they need help, otherwise receiving it would be a mere pipe dream.
“‘She canceled her mate's bond with me and placed this damn curse on me.” He cried out desperately, aiming his club for my head. “Please take me out and make me a part of your team. In order to do that, you have to nearly kill me. On the brink of death, I will vow to make you my master. Work with me!” Dodging his attack, my dagger spun in my palm. Hating myself for what I was about to do, my heart couldn’t deny his request. Hitting the dirt, his club smashed into my shoulder. Screaming brokenly into the still afternoon air, my left shoulder had been shattered to pieces. Unable to get off the dirt, violet energy built around my right fist. Waiting until he was inches from my face, my fist smashed into his chest. Bone crunched, the tissue giving off a sickeningly wet noise as I squeezed until inky blood ran down my arm. Begging me with wet eyes, Marcus called out for me in the distance. Throwing him down next to me, his wheezes sounded horrendous. This plan had better work!
“I vow to serve you as a faithful servant.” He wheezed with a serene grin, tears of joy gliding down his cheek as an inky pocket watch tattoo replaced his former mark. “What is this warmth?” Chuckling under my breath, violet light blinded me as time reversed his heart’s damage. Listening to the ribs click back together, Marcus towered over us, his eyes flitting between his new mark and me. Jealousy flashed in his eyes before he settled on a pensive expression, his mind working through what to say. Don't you dare blow it!
“Mind explaining a few things for me? Why is our former enemy part of our team? When can we go back?” He inquired with a sneaky irritated tone, the dirt crunching as Saby caught up. “You look like hell and you only look like hell when you have run out of your powers. Did he do that to your shoulder because if he did, he would die if it were up to me.” Understanding that he meant every word, Gareth shot out a million apologies. Marcus cut his palm in a chilly silence, his inky blood pooling in his palm. Sitting on my lap, his palms smeared his blood all over my shoulders while humming a demonic spell. Stopping at the first sign of dusk, the bones took a minute to click back into place. Clutching me close to his chest, his chin rested on the top of my head. Tears soaked the top of my head, the vulnerable side being a rare side of him.
“Don’t you ever pull this shit again or God help me. You are way too important to me.” He admitted between sniffles, his lips grazing my cheek. “When your aunt brought up having a family, it struck a nerve with me. My whole family died in front of me and I can’t have that happen to our children. You would like to have children, right?” Parting my lips to speak, tears welled up in my eyes. The younger version of me skidded into the park, my eleven year old self looking covered head to toe in fresh bruises and cuts. Marcus placed a simple invisibility spell on us to protect the timeline, Struggling to keep my composure, my rat nest of hair spoke of weeks of neglect. Digging my fingers into Marcus’ arms, my grubby father marched into view. Screaming at her while beating her with a belt, his rage wouldn’t stop. Horror rounded my friends' eyes, the shame of my past being played out in front of them sickened me. Ruby began to splatter his red face, the corner of my lips quivering as the color drained from my cheeks. Threatening to kill her, his screwdriver plopped into her palm. Getting too close for us to hear his words, the wet sound of the screwdriver sinking into his artery had her screaming out the moment he landed on top of her. Pushing him off, a crowd began to gather. Whispering among themselves, the dark rumors of how dangerous the family was began to swirl. Begging for help, no one offered her assistance the moment police showed up. A sleek lilac car squealed up, my aunt hitting them with a forgetting spell. Apologizing to my younger self, they began to seal off the scene. Guiding my younger self into her car, Marcus knew well enough to order the others to start hiking with him. Fighting back a fresh wave of tears, that day had been like any other. Placing me on his back, the others shot out quick yeses. Crunching into the treeline, we came upon a cave system within five miles. Shooting the others a stern expression, they wandered off to find firewood. Chewing on my lips, violent sobs wracked my body. Burying my head into his chest, he had to hate me at this point. Cupping my face, his comforting words were doing little for my shortening breaths. Wanting to run, my lack of ability to run away was the sole thing preventing me. Gripping his shirt, my grasp couldn’t get any stronger.
“Shhhh!” He whispered sweetly into my ear, his lips brushing the tip of my ear. “What I saw was a girl fighting for her survival and nothing else. I am sorry that happened to you and I understand why you hid it from me.” His words faded in and out as if he was underwater, everything doubling. Exhaustion weighed on my eyelids, a dark slumber stealing me away.

ChromieCraft is an interesting server, with the goal of creating a completely free, non-profit server without any pay2win. It's a progressive server, which is currently at Mount Hyjal in TBC, but will progress to WotLK in early 2025.
The community is very good and friendly and casual, and about half of the players are good at the game (that's a pretty good ratio for any server).
You've probably seen all the people speaking highly of the server. It's true that it's a special place. I've been there for about 50 days now, leveled all the way to 70, and made about fifty friends and met a great guild.
It's a very low population server, and people say that it gets better at 70. It certainly does, but the queues are still long for dungeons, even as a tank or healer. Using world chat to tell others to queue ("LF 1 DPS last spot RDF!") is almost always required even at 70.
While you level, you'll start seeing some of the cracks in the server's programming, but the real issues will only become fully visible at 70, and especially if you are the tank. If you have ever played on official or any other private server, you'll soon be disgusted by the deep, fundamental bugs with all of the NPC mechanics on this server.
There are 3500 open bug reports (here and here), lots of which are about fundamentally incorrect mechanics, and most of which are 2-3 years old and totally ignored. In case of very serious bugs, the most activity you might see is some 2-3 year old admin reply saying how hard it is for them to fix that bug, and no other replies after that.
They spend all their time releasing new raids. And yes, it's commendable that they are scripting raids and doing all of this for the good of the private server community, but they should honestly just stop all raid development right now and go back to square 1 to fix core NPC gameplay mechanics.
Without further ado, let's look at some of the issues, just a few things that I can remember right now:

• Mobs are pathing underground, totally disappearing into the terrain. This can happen to any NPC but is especially common for underwater mobs, since underwater pathing is completely effed up. So you'll attack a mob, and see it walk into the ground, disappearing.
• The mob underground pathing happens to bosses too. You'll see things like Vazruden in Hellfire Ramparts walking towards you and then sinking into the ground, before he finally pops up near you.
• (Serious Bug) Many, many mobs, especially casters, will suddenly path away from you during combat (even though they are at full health), running faaaaaar away from you, and then they stop attacking you but they stay in combat with you. So they're 3000 meters away, still aggroed onto you, keeping you in permanent combat so that you can't use your mount. This aggro lasts for around 5 minutes and has a huge range.
• The weird pathing also happens during combat, where many mobs will slowly and gradually walk away from you while you fight them. Which totally breaks the feeling of the game, seeing these stupid pathing bugs everywhere.
• (Serious Bug) Now onto an absolutely effing gigantically effing huge issue: There are NO DIMINISHING RETURNS on spells, so you will be chain-stunned/stunlocked/perma-disarmed/perma-silenced forever in any dungeon where there's lots of stun/disarm/silence mobs, especially Shattered Halls. When a tank is stunned, their evasion goes to 0% and every hit is taken directly. This is effing idiotic. And their only reply? They just said that this is "very hard to fix" (even though other private servers don't have this issue), and they said that they made NPCs cast spells less often which should alleviate the fact that each stun/silence lasts the full duration on this broken server. Well, it doesn't alleviate anything. It's absolute torture as a tank (and healer).
• Random mob evasion bugs, where mobs will become completely unhittable by anything except AoE spells. This is especially painful for melee, where they will evade every hit. So for example, a warrior has to use Whirlwind or Thunderclap to kill those bugged mobs, even though they are literally standing in front of you. You can't hit them.
• (Serious Bug) The "Random Dungeon Finder" queue is completely broken. You'll queue, wait maybe an hour, finally it says "1 tank, 1 healer, 2 dps" so you really just need one more DPS... And then boom, the queue pops! You get the popup and accept! But... someone declines. Okay, so back into the queue... Now, you suddenly see "0 tank, 0 healer, 1 dps (yourself)" because yeah, the queue doesn't give a SHIT that you queued before other people. If the queue pops and someone declines, ALL other people in the queue get redistributed and matched with other people (if others are in the queue). This bug is especially serious because it's super common that people time out or decline the queue pop on this server, because it's so low population that people simply go AFK while queueing for hours. As a tank, I often see people decline or time out the "Enter Dungeon" popups 3-5 times in a row. It's a serious enough problem that people have been whining in world chat and begging people to stop queueing if they're AFK...
• The server has extremely long mob aggro timers. They'll follow you for minutes, meaning that you can forget about outrunning huge packs.
• (Serious Bug) Ground NPCs aggro you when you're in the air and continue chasing you even when you're flying, which makes farming annoying, since you might grab a node, then mount up, get seen by an enemy, and as you fly to the next node, the enemy will continue chasing you across the world below you, until it finally reaches you at the next node. And since you're technically "in combat", you cannot mount up again to go to the next node, so you must wait for the old enemy to reach you so you can kill it. Oh and the ground NPCs that chase you while you're flying will shout for help as usual, often making the pack below you grow larger and larger as they all chase you. In Shadowmoon Valley, I had like 40 blood elf NPCs below me on the ground, all chasing me while I was flying. Ridiculous.
• Broken mob packs/logic: You can sometimes pull single mobs out of large packs, which is especially weird in dungeons.
• Terrible mob pathing, they can't follow you down mountain slopes, which breaks kiting mobs down hills. If you run down any slope, they just stand at the top, looking at you, stutter in the air a bit, and then teleport back to their original spawn location.
• (Serious Bug) Pet pathing is a totally broken mess. Hunters, warlocks and mage pets will just randomly attack random enemies far away from the party, running across the room, pulling everything, and wiping the party. This is not because of idiotic hunters. It's just idiotic pet pathing/AI which picks random targets anywhere in the room, totally ignoring all logic and sanity.
• Pets and enemy NPCs often end up spinning in circles as they chase each other, each one chasing the other, making them do a "ballet dance" of circle-spinning as they slowly drift away into the horizon like two lovers eloping together. Yes, really...
• (Serious Bug) The aggro range of mobs is completely wrong and is waaaaay wider than it should be, making it likely that you will chain-pull several packs for no reason other than that ChromieCraft is broken. This is especially painful in Hellfire Ramparts, where you can end up pulling 30 enemies when you simply attack 1 pack. It wipes most parties. I've seen every single mob in the first boss room attacking the party; meaning the boss, all side packs on both sides, and even the guards at the stairs at the back of the room, all coming at the same time. It's braindead. The issue is also very noticeable in the Shattered Halls, where you can end up with huge pulls, or the final corridor in the Shadow Labs which is supposed to pull one "line" of mobs at a time but instead often pulls 2-3 lines.
• (Serious Bug) Mob placement in dungeons is wrong, this is mostly noticeable in Hellfire Ramparts, where there are wandering mobs incorrectly placed directly between multiple packs. There are 3 spots in the first boss room and 1 spot in the main plateau above, where you have about 90% risk of pulling the entire room when just pulling one pack, due to the idiotic mob placements on ChromieCraft. This makes the tank look like an idiot even though it's the broken server core's fault. Basically, imagine that every dash - is an NPC: --- - --- - ---, so since Chromie has placed wandering NPCs BETWEEN packs, the packs all end up chain-pulling each other. It makes Hellfire Ramparts heroic much harder than RAIDS!
• (Serious Bug) Spell damage is completely wrong for most caster NPCs. For example, the Mana Tombs final boss has 4 orbs which do 1800 dmg per hit (even on Normal mode). The correct value is 180 damage per hit. This incorrect value means that they nuke the tank with 4x1800 = 7200 damage per second with their channeled arcane spell. In just two seconds, most tanks are dead from taking 14400 damage. On this idiotic server, every tank now knows that you have to shield wall when you pull that simple boss. I used to tank like 10-15 of those orbs on official, we totally ignored them and just attacked the boss. Here, the 4 initial orbs easily wipe the tank in TWO SECONDS, because those 4 orbs on ChromieCraft do as much damage as 40 (!!) orbs in the real game.
• (Serious Bug) Spell casting NPCs are completely incorrectly programmed. They spam the spells over and over and over again, without any cooldown or any group-logic. This means that things like the final dragon boss in Ramparts spams the party with 3-4x more fireballs than it should, constantly targeting the healer and other ranged users, over and over and over again, making the entire fight into absolute torture, and making it impossible for melee DPS due to fire everywhere. The spell-spamming also means that the Summoners in Shadow Labs will rapidly spam out endless summoned adds, which really messes with the tank and risks healer or DPS death (since those adds have zero threat when they spawn). It also means very silly NPC behaviors, like the healer NPCs in OHF (Old Hillsbrad) spamming their heals endlessly over and over again even when all enemies are at full health.
• (Serious Bug) Line of sight doesn't work properly. Enemy mobs can see you through walls and can cast spells through walls. I'll do pulls that I am super used to doing (having tanked since 2006 and knowing these dungeons/raids very well), and I will aggro the mobs as usual, and then run around a corner to make them come to me, but... instead the casters will STILL stay far away and still cast at me. This makes tanking and pulling waaaay more tedious than it's supposed to be... forcing me to actually silence spellcaster mobs to get a few more mobs to come to me. I've also seen many enemies finishing their cast and hitting me AFTER I've already gone line-of-sight from them during their cast, which should normally interrupt their spell-casting and make them come to the tank. These line of sight bugs always happen, but there are workarounds such as going *far away* around corners to truly force the NPCs to come, but that just makes the game way more tedious. The calculations for LoS and the mob behaviors when LoS'd are fundamentally wrong on this server.
• Healer threat is way, waaaaay higher than it should be, making the healer a huge target in dungeons. A single heal easily causes way more threat than a warrior's AoE thunderclap. Tanks have to CONSTANTLY taunt on this server.
• Threat in general is totally wrong on this server, with everyone doing way more threat than they should be doing relative to the tank.
• The threat range of heals is also stupidly high on this server, which can wipe parties, because it's possible for a healer to "buttpull" packs that are faaar away from the healer, just by casting heals at the tank who is also faaar away from the extra pack. It's completely idiotic.
• Hunters have an insanely annoying bug where they often become stuck in "attack mode" with their gun in their hand even after combat has ended. And as soon as you target ANYTHING, you will INSTANTLY shoot them. This can cause accidental pulls in dungeons if you're used to pre-targeting the next pack. It's yet another idiotic bug.
• Dual wielding enemy NPCs aren't implemented (bug report). They hold two weapons, but they only attack with the main hand. This means they only do about 66% of the intended damage. I guess that's nice since there are so many other bugs that increase the NPC's damage on this server core, but still, it's ridiculous that not even dual wielding attacks are implemented. All mobs just use the main hand's swing timer.
• (Funny Bug) Stationary NPCs, such as cannons, can walk on this server. So you will see the Burning Legion's "Fel Cannons" walking across the ground periodically.
• (Funny Bug) The server doesn't implement animation state switching for all NPCs, so there's many NPCs that go directly from standing to "dead and flat on the ground" instantly, without any "falling/dying animation". It's jarring the first time you see it. It doesn't affect too many NPCs but still, it happens all over the game world and in various dungeons, so you will see it enough that it ruins the atmosphere of the server. Even the Ogre in the tavern in Shattrath has that bug, and he's alternating between standing with a beer mug and sitting on the ground, just rapidly switching between the two states without any animation between. It looks so scuffed.
• (Serious Bug) Ranged enemy NPC attacks can never miss. So if an NPC has a bow/gun, they always hit you. This, combined with the insane aggro timers and range of this server, means that if you're ever chased by a ranged mob while leveling, then you're usually dead, unless you can heal or run out of line-of-sight for long enough. It's the kind of bugs you'll notice especially during leveling. But it also affects the fact that many TBC heroic dungeons and raids have ranged NPCs which therefore do a lot more damage than they should, since every shot hits.
• The action house is almost dead, with very few buyers and sellers. It's also really bugged, with searches randomly returning ZERO results until you retry the exact same search again. They also haven't implemented "GetAll" scans, so people who use auctioning addons have to manually scan the auctions instead of fetching them all instantly. Back in 2021, they discussed the lack of GetAll scans, and someone linked to TrinityCore's code for that feature, but nothing else was done with it. This is typical for AzerothCore issues. A message or two, and then silence for 2-3 years. But then, in November 2023, someone opened a pull request which implements that feature and fixes other Auction House bugs, and as usual, there was a tiny bit of discussion (about a week), and then it was totally abandoned by the project leaders, leaving the contributor with total silence.
• (Serious Bug) This server slowly progresses through each raid, and various level caps (I think it started with level cap at 19 a few years ago), and the stated goal is that they will "polish and perfect the dungeons and raids before releasing each one". But the thing is... there are so many bugs with the content that it doesn't look polished at all. Timers are totally wrong, requiring players to use a different ChromieCraft Edition of the DBM addon, to match the wrong boss behaviors on this server. There's also so many bugs in the bosses themselves. Let's take Karazhan for example; Attumen the Huntsman doesn't charge at the players the way he should, the chess event breaks constantly and the chess NPCs fail to face the other pieces and auto-attack properly, Netherspite's rays and transition are disgustingly bugged, and Nightbane lands during his air phase which makes everything a shitshow. That's what we get on a server that supposedly "polishes every raid before release"... Right... And Karazhan was released in SEPTEMBER 2023 and is STILL deeply bugged.
• Simple vanilla dungeons are broken in various ways too. Let's look at Zul'Farrak: The graveyard is completely incorrectly programmed, and spawns 3 elite level 60 "heroes" from EVERY grave. Those level 60 "heroes" do about 600 damage per hit, meaning that they will kill any ZF-level tank in about 2 seconds. If this server was properly implemented, you should be getting 0-1 very weak zombies per grave. It's bizarre why they're spawning "heroes" instead. Furthermore, the door to the final boss is permanently open, isn't scripted properly and doesn't require you to fight anything before you can end the dungeon. This is sad, since the whole point of ChromieCraft was to "polish things deeply before releasing each dungeon and raid".
• Even basic bugs aren't fixed, such as the teleporter from Booty Bay to Gadgetzan for Horde. It's a simple fix, and someone even posted the solution years ago (the server core is missing a single, hidden teleporter floor object), but nothing is being done. Another simple fix is the fact that Outlands vendors are missing high level vanilla ammo, which would be so easy to add to their shop tables, but things like this just remains ignored for years.

All of this and more combines to make heroics way harder than raids on this broken server.
It might sound minor at first, but when you know how the game is supposed to be, and you see these totally unfixed bugs that were all reported 2-3 YEARS AGO, it really shatters the illusion that this is such a "great, bug-free server". Hell no. It's an okay server, with a nice community, and tons of painful bugs with EVERY core gameplay mechanic.
I'd say that tanks are the ones that will notice these bugs the most. Followed by healers. And finally, DPS probably don't notice anything since they just stand and push a button over and over while the tank and healer deals with all these bugs.
So yeah, do I recommend this server? Actually not... at all... unless they stop adding raids and go back to actually fix core NPC behaviors and game mechanics.
I see so many positive posts about this server, and nobody discussing these deep, fundamental bugs with every gameplay aspect. Probably because most people are DPS and are completely unaware of the bugs since they're too busy standing in fire (heh). I really hope their admins finally take these bugs seriously, because it's ruining what could be a very good server.
Thank you for listening to my TED talk.

I was originally posting a response to a different thread, but it grew to needing its own post so I'm posting here. For context, I've already set aside the 60k RP for the event, but will probably only get the Immortalized Legend Collection as I couldn't care less about the Faker content.

We are not the same. You play Ahri with other champions. I only play Ahri and will stop playing League the moment she's dropped from the game. For me, Ahri is League

Summary:

• I don't care about any of this monetization stuff
  • I do care, see next bullet point
• Vote with your wallet - don't spend for anything related to the event.
  • I vote with my wallet - give me Ahri content, I'll give you money. If it's not Ahri content, don't come looking for my money.
• Be the Faker, don't just want to own a Faker
  • Just use the base skin. It's what he would do.
  • Riot will see that a champ can still be popular and fail to move sales
• If I can't have this, nobody can:
  • You all sound like that jealous ex that becomes a murder.
  • This very clearly indicates the desire for ownership/materialism and a frustration out of an inability to acquire.
    • That's how life works. Have you ever lost out on an auction before?

"Well, it's easy for you to get it and you must not care."

• I don't like how Riot has split the skin and gated the majority of the "ultimate"/"transcendent" features behind a paywall that is not champion-specific
  • I don't care about the event pass at all - except for any Ahri-specific content
    • This is exactly what the Immortalized Collection is for - Just the Ahri stuff
  • 30% of the purchase price isn't even for the content - it goes to the player, the team, and the Riot General Purpose Fund (which is a soap box in and of itself)
    • In reality, only $140 USD is for the "actual Ahri content" in the Immortalized Collection.
• Faker is legendary in the community, but I don't care about him as a product. If there was a skin for Ryze that turned him into Faker, I wouldn't even consider getting it.
  • I like watching the eSports side of League, I like seeing the nutty stuff that Faker does, but I have never gone out of my way to purchase the eSports skins because they're not Ahri. This just happens to be Ahri.
    • If it weren't Ahri, I'd just be spamming games with the fox, with 0 cares about the shitshow over some $400 Urgot skin
• The skin/cosmetic collectors are real and they're driving this too.
  • Ever since games have had collectibles, there has always been a portion of the player base that pursue digital 'hoarding'/collecting. This mentality is what helps drive the market. I figured that the 100% collectors were super-rare, but I've run out of fingers to keep tally of the ones I've met. That's great for them if they like having them all, but what the hell am I going to do with skins for champs that I don't even know the icons or names of the abilities for because I won't ever play the? To boot, one of them was a college kid who admitted they probably shouldn't have all the skins.
    • Mounts/Pets
    • Outfits/transmogs
    • Accessories
  • Note, this started way back before League existed with things like Mew in the original Pokémon .
• If I buy this (I've already got the 60k RP in my account for the release), then they'll do another and even higher pricing.
  • I won't give a rat's ass or even buy the event pass unless there's something Ahri-related. If you were to do an analysis of my purchase history with Riot merchandize, you'd see it revolves exclusively around Ahri. No Ahri - no cares.
• A lot of people can't get this in the timeframe allotted, not enough time to save up.
  • I agree that 3 weeks is a lot shorter considering 6 week is the normal event pass duration. Add in that people only have 2 week notice to start budgeting...(shouldn't this these types of discretionary purchases already be budgeted for? Unless you're just living paycheck-to-paycheck, which is an entirely different issue withe the general social structure which is no different than the medieval ages - we're just running around on horses while wearing plate armor nor do we have castles with villages)
  • I think that should Hall of Legends continue over the years (which I'm actually skeptical of - I'd bet that this was a one-off excuse for Faker FOMO), they should make previous inductee skins available but without any effects or flair at a 1350 price point to allow people that weren't able to get the skin previously (maybe they didn't have a job) to have a chance to acquire
• You're a traitor for not joining #permabanAhri
  • In my eyes, everyone else is the traitor for turning their back on the fox when this isn't her fault. She's a victim of being popular.
  • Quickplay is a thing and since I only care about the fox, then I'll get to play the fox while all of you stop being #AhriMains and become #YasuoMains
  • Faker wouldn't use the skin anyways, so why should you? To want a Faker skin, then use it is very un-Faker-like.
  • It'll be amusing if Riot removes Ahri from the ban pool during the event. They shouldn't, but it'd be amusing.

In Tarisland, character development is a core aspect of the game progression, involving reputation management, equipment acquisition, optimizing the Inscription system, and participating in daily activities. Understanding and effectively executing daily and weekly tasks are crucial to maintaining your character’s competitiveness. This guide will provide detailed strategies and advice to help players efficiently develop their characters. Essential Daily and Weekly Tasks
Daily Tasks: 1. Reputation Events:Complete three reputation events on any map, rewards include reputation, Inscription energy, and emblems. 2. Dungeons: Participate in two elite dungeons or Mystic Realms, primarily aimed at PVE players, rewards include basic equipment and PVE exchange tokens. 3. Battleground or Arena: Preferred by PVP players, provides PVP exchange tokens and silver coins.
Weekly Tasks: 1. Universal Hall: Refreshes every three days, provides Inscription energy and Universal Essence. 2. Dark Invasion: Refreshes every three days, offers a significant amount of Inscription energy. 3. World Boss: Refreshes every three days, rewards gems and PVE exchange tokens. 4. Arena: Refreshes every Friday, provides PVP tokens.
Inscription System and Equipment Strategy
-Inscription System: Unlocked during the main quest, similar to the artifact systems in other RPGs. Players can embed emblems with various effects and upgrade nodes to enhance attributes. Inscription upgrades rely on Inscription energy obtained through various gameplay, which is non-tradeable, ensuring fairness.

• Emblem Acquisition: Mainly obtained through daily activities and crafting, available in green, blue, and purple tiers. Emblems can be upgraded by consuming other emblems and gain random additional attributes upon reaching specific levels.
  
• Equipment Acquisition: Divided into raid equipment and Mystic Realm equipment, where raid equipment has unique set effects, while Mystic Realms and crafting provide individual pieces. The tempering system allows transferring attributes and special skills from one piece of equipment to another, enhancing the personalization and flexibility of equipment.
  

Development Plans
Free-to-play Player Development Plan: - Reputation and Daily: Prioritize daily reputation tasks and participate in the Universal Hall to accumulate Inscription energy and emblems. - Dungeon Challenges: Participate in appropriate five-man dungeons or Mystic Realms based on equipment needs. - Inscriptions and Emblems: Unlock new Inscription nodes and emblems as you progress, gradually strengthening character capabilities.
Pay-to-play Player Development Plan:

• Rapid Progress: Accelerate character development by purchasing high-level equipment and emblems.
• Targeted Investment: Actively purchase needed Inscriptions and equipment at the auction house, using gold to optimize character setup.

With the above development strategies, both free-to-play and pay-to-play players can effectively enhance their characters in Tarisland. It’s important to choose the cultivation path that best suits your personal gaming style and schedule.

This is a copy of a report filed with the IRS and local police departments. It is a 3 page report detailing a Pittsburgh area AAU baseball team called Pittsburgh premiere and their illegal activities over the past 4+ years. Activities include tax evasion, money laundering, racketeering, filing false tax returns, embezzlement, theft, mail fraud, and running an illegal gambling operation. They use youth baseball as a front for their illegal operations.
the owner runs a youth baseball “non profit” in southwestern Pennsylvania. I put non profit in quotation marks because there are hundreds of thousands of dollars being generated every year through tuition and gambling operations but most of it is not used on baseball or the players but seems to disappear. The owner is running a non profit but running it as a business and making very large unreported profits. There is no over sight on the money or costs associated with the program.
In 2020 there were 72 players across 6 teams at an average of $2500 a year in tuition per player. That’s $200,000.
Expenses include tournaments at around $500 each(around 8 tournaments per team per calendar year). Indoor training facilities (at a discount as it’s owned by one of the coaches on staff). Baseballs. Insurance. Team Equipment. 2 uniforms for spring/summer. (Fall uniforms are typically a hat/t shirt donated by a sponsor). Bat bags. Helmets. Etc. All travel expenses are covered by the parents though. I would estimate expenses around $100k a year worst case scenario. which would leave around $100k that should be invested back into the program and players. For things like individual Equipment. pitching machines for each team, technology like Rapsodo, professional guest coaches like college/pro coaches, uniform/tournament cost and travel costs. But it disappears every year.
To try and explain where all the money goes the owner told a parent he has to pay big field rental fees(not true it’s typically free for a resident to get a field permit) and that he pays 20k a year for insurance. According to the web it’s around $300 a year per team for sports insurance. So $1800 roughly for 6 teams. That’s off by $18,200. For 72 players. So $18,200 is missing. To compare, A local community (greater Baldwin Whitehall athletic association) with 2000 ball players pays 6k a year for insurance. Jessie Siefert is the president and Told us the costs for his entire org. Again. GBWAA pays $6000 a year for 2000 players and jim coulter claims to pay $20,000 for 72 players.
At the 2020 cash bash 4 years ago (and each year since ) the owner charged his own organization $15,000 for food(many non profits get the food donated or at the very least provided at cost). There were around 350 people in attendance. That is approximately $42 per person for food. For frozen chicken fingers, pasta, rolls, pop, and salad. The owners restaurant provided the food For the event. We tried to raise funds for our sons but the owner took $15,000 off the top for food that could not have cost more than $2000-$3000. I have not spoken to one family that made money unless their ticket won or they won money gambling. Because everyone spent more money donating baskets than they received on their ticket sales.
An at that 2020 cash bash. 72 Families were given 15 tickets each to sell for a cash bash at $40 each. The owner Let one dad sell 57 tickets off the top. taking money out of 71 families hands and putting it into the hands of one guy. Why? Why that guy?. That guy is a bookie. The owners bookie. He goes by the name of “smitty”. And the owner bragged to me personally that he gambles $4000 per football game. Plus This bookie was owed $10,000 dollars by a friend of the owners. I don’t know his name. But it was the cousin of one of the assistant coaches. Which nearly resulted in fight between the bookie and the assistant coach in the parking lot at the end of the cash bash. Which then resulted in many parents questioning if the fundraiser helped to alleviate someone’s gambling debts. And that appears to be what happened.
40k brought in on ticket sales 15k given out at cash bash. $25x 1000 ($25k) given to parents for each ticket sold. And Expenses =Food. Beer (donated i believe) Hall rental. Party Supplies. We sold Jell-O shots. Liquor shots. (Both donated by parents). Money wheel. Dice game. Multiple 50/50 all night. “Tip boards”. Chinese auction ( all baskets donated) and table games.
People in the count room estimate We Must have brought in 40k+during the cash bash with 350-375 people attending in person and tipping on all of their winnings. Money was pouring in everywhere. My wife and i lost at least $250 gambling at the event alone. Nearly every guest I talked to says they lost/spent over $100 at the event.
Yet All of those games and events brought in exactly enough money to cover the cost of food. Beer. And party supplies. ? So we brought in approximately 80k gross. Gave out 15k at the event in cash bash winnings and gave parents $25 per ticket or $25k. And our expenses at the event were $40k for a 4 hour youth baseball fundraiser? Most people do not spend $40,000 on a 300 guest wedding. which included $15k in food that went straight to the owner of the program. How did all of the other gambling and sale of things like Jell-O shot and liquor (that were donated by parents) result In 0 profit. Nothing. Not one dollar. I saw hundreds and hundreds of dollars in the tip cup at the bar and yet none of that was profit? The 50/50 profit alone was in the thousands on the night. Yet it disappeared.
One family gave the following information. our personal donations and expenses were around $600. But they only received $500 for selling 20 tickets. So they lost $100 on the event. But the owners restaurant had a $15000 night for food that probably cost around $2000-$3000.
The only people that seemed to make money were the owner and his buddies who he allowed to exceed The table max from $10 a hand to $100 a hand on a table game. The table game lost over $1000 within minutes and had to be shut down.
2 days after the event the owner and his wife flew to las Vegas for a vacation. With what appears to be tens of thousands of dollars of Pittsburgh premieres money that was raised by families for their son’s baseball expenses.
Pittsburgh premiere also routinely promotes lotto tickets for sale on Facebook. They are advertised to benefit Pittsburgh premiere players. Here is one example. 250 tickets were sold. 1000 possibilities. Based on the Daily 3 digit. 25% chance someone who bought a ticket wins. 75% chance the owner wins and keeps it all. They are trying to ensure the winning ticket doesn't get sold. By Only selling 250 tickets. With 1000 possibilities. That means it's a 75% chance the owne keeps it all.
Not only that. To make matters worse they also have an org wide bingo every year where all of the proceeds “go to the org” not the players or their families. the coach keeps the money. All of it. Tens of thousands in profit for this bingo completely disappears each year. Each family is forced to sell X number of tickets. It’s in the contract they sign when they join the team. The event brings in tens of thousands in profit and it all goes directly to the coach Jim coulter and none of it appears to be spent on the boys or baseball.
I am told he takes the cash and buys equipment and supplies for his restaurant and will not be able to explain where the cash comes from. As well as cash funneled through the restaurant.
This appears to be money laundering. tax evasion. Embezzlement. Filing of false tax returns. Misappropriation of non profit funds. Mail fraud. felony theft. Racketeering. And Illegal gambling. This “non profit” runs a year round illegal gambling and fundraising operation that includes football polls. Basketball polls. Lotto tickets. Bingo games both in person and virtual. Cash bash events multiple times a year. And They post about these events and fundraisers on Facebook all year long. Very little of the funds actually benefits the players and the org. The people involved used Venmo and PayPal for gambling but more recently switched to cash to try and conceal the money.
This coach was forced out of his job as a police officer when he was found to have unlawfully beaten a motorist after a traffic stop and it resulted in a Multiple million dollar lawsuit settled for the plaintiff
When I try to make the money disappear on paper. I can’t. Not even close. Even if each team does 12 tournaments a year(they don’t). At $600 per tournament (it isn’t) that’s $43,000. And if uniforms/helmets/bag bags are $600 per player (they aren’t) that’s another $43,000. That’s $86000. With $124,000 a year left for equipment. Baseballs. Indoor training facilities (that one of the coaches owns and rents at a discount to the team). Insurance. No matter what I can’t seem to spend $200,000 a year on 6 teams no matter how frivolously I spend it on paper. For profit teams often pay the head coach, sometimes up to $5000 a year or more I’m told. But that’s still only $30,000 across 6 teams. And I don’t believe that income was claimed on any tax returns as they try to force you to pay in cash for tuition. And fundraisers to limit the paper trail. So all of the coaches accepted cash but did not report it as income. They can’t stand it was a gift as it was a paid position in cash.
Also. In 2019. When the owner was coaching for another AAU org. He organized a bingo fundraiser for his 11u team. The owners of that team forbid him from running the fundraiser using their name when the org would not benefit from it. He did it anyway. And was fired. He took that 11u team and created the Pittsburgh premiere org.
around 150-200 people attended this bingo game in 2019. and the owner reported the profit only covered the costs of the event and a handful of tournaments and uniforms for the players. The owner reported Approximately $9000 in profit from the 13-14 families that sold tickets to the event. His restaurant also provided the food but we did not get the food at a discount or at cost. The event also included games of chance like the aforementioned cash bash. He kept the $9000 and was supposed to use it to completely fund the season but we had to give more money when he spent it all. I do not remember all of the details. It just immediately struck me as odd that a coach would be so adamant and insistent that we organize a bingo fundraiser when no other for profit baseball org does that. You charge the parents tuition and it’s their responsibility to come up with the money and that’s the end of it. He insisted on organizing a bingo game and handling all of the money. And having his restaurant provide the catering at a premium price.

Copied and pasted from Wikipedia. The original sources are likely better, this is pretty dry, and doesn’t do the absurdity justice.
Doug (current Ontario Premier)
From various points in his career:
Ford opposed a house for developmentally disabled youth in his ward, saying the home had "ruined the community".
Comments Ford made during the campaign received criticism for alleged bigotry, such as misogyny and antisemitism, and critics accused him of conflict of interest and of drug dealing in the past.
In December 2016, the City of Toronto's integrity commissioner concluded that Ford broke the city's code of conduct when he was a councillor finding that Ford improperly used his influence in municipal matters pertaining to two companies that were clients of his family's company
that if elected his government would allow Hamilton City Council to reallocate the $1.3 billion allocated for the city's proposed rapid transit system to roads or other infrastructure. Hamilton mayor Fred Eisenberger responded saying that city council had already decided the issue and that cancelling the LRT would mean $100 million would "be thrown away".
Ford's government cancelled the basic income pilot project.
On June 15, 2018, then premier-designate, Ford announced in a statement that one of the first actions of his newly formed cabinet would be to eliminate the province's cap and trade program under the 2016 Climate Change Mitigation and Low-Carbon Economy Act, a polluter pay bill that "generated funds for climate change mitigation and adaptation," put in place by the Liberal government.
As a result, rebates for electric vehicles funded through the program were cancelled, and a program known as the Green Ontario Fund, which was financed by the proceeds of cap-and-trade auctions and aimed to help homeowners reduce their carbon footprint and reduce hydro bills, was eliminated.
Ontario's "fiscal watchdog" and other analysts said that the province will have to refund an estimated $3 billion in carbon credits over four years purchased under the cap and trade program. By mid-November 2018, The Globe and Mail reported that the Ontario government had "lost $2.7-billion in revenue" which included the $1.5-billion loss of revenue from the elimination of the cap-and-trade program.
In 2018, Ford expressed support for publicly funded healthcare and a belief that funding should be increased to create 30,000 additional long-term care beds. In 2020, Ford's government spent $3.5 billion less on health care than budgeted.
Ford has been accused of attempting to privatize healthcare in the province of Ontario. In August 2022, Ford suggested additional private deliveries of healthcare in order to supplement existing public healthcare in response to a hospital staff shortage throughout Ontario.
Immediately after taking office in 2018, Ford proposed to cut 3,475 Ontario teaching jobs over four years to save $292 million a year, Ford also cancelled the Green Ontario Fund residential rebate program which included a $100 million fund for public school repair, free prescriptions to youth 24 and under, and an initiative to add indigenous peoples content to school curriculum, and eliminated free tuition for low-income students (while reducing tuition fees by 10 per cent),
On July 11, 2018, Ford announced that Ontario's health curriculum including sexual education components, updated by the previous government in 2015, would be reverted to the 1998 curriculum before the next school year.
Ford used back-to-work legislation to end the 2018 strike at York University prior to the start of the 2018–2019 school year. The strike had gone on for over four months, making it the longest post-secondary strike in Canadian history. Ford ordered all public universities and colleges in Ontario to develop free-speech policies that meet his government's expectations and stated that universities and colleges that do not comply will face funding reductions.
By June 2019, the Ford government had removed or decreased funding for "school programs like after-school jobs for youth in low-income neighbourhoods", "tutors in classrooms", "daily physical activity for elementary students", "financial assistance for college and university students", "free tuition for low-income students", and "three satellite university campuses". He also "increased class sizes" and "cancelled three summer curriculum-writing sessions—one mandated by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and two others.
Bill 28 imposes a contract on CUPE, and makes it illegal to strike, setting fines of $4000 for workers. The bill invokes the notwithstanding clause, shielding it from being struck down by the courts by allowing the bill to operate despite the right to collective bargaining granted by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The legislation was widely condemned, including by opposition parties, the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada David Lametti, the Ontario Bar Association, and other unions including those which had previously endorsed the PC Party.
On December 6, 2018, the Ford government tabled its omnibus bill, Bill 66. The bill allows municipalities to request a provincial government override of any regulations that currently deter businesses from locating in the region. Ford's political opponents and groups that promote environmental protection raised concerns that the "opaque", "vague language" in Bill 66 could mean clean water regulations and other bylaws that protect environmentally sensitive land could be bypassed.
In September 2022, Ford's government passed the Strong Mayors, Building Homes Act that grants extra powers to the mayor of Toronto and the mayor of Ottawa within their mayor–council governments. The Act grants the mayors of Toronto and Ottawa direct control over the drafting of city budgets; the appointments and dismissals of their city managers and department leaders (except police chiefs, fire chiefs, or auditors general); vetoes over laws that may conflict with provincial priorities
Before Ford was first elected in 2018, a video emerged of him informing developers that he would "open up a big chunk of the Greenbelt" if elected. After a public outcry, Ford said he would replace any removed land and that his goal was to increase supply to reduce housing costs. Pre-election, Ford also pledged not to remove Rent Control, stating, "I have listened to the people, and I won't take rent control away from anyone. Period. When it comes to rent control, we're going to maintain the status quo." After taking office, Rent Control for all newly-built or newly-converted rental units was removed as a measure to incentivize developers to build more apartments, to help landlords cover costs and make profit, and to keep condo investors buying. After re-election in 2022, and amidst a worsening housing and affordability crisis, Ford became embroiled in controversy over properties released from Greenbelt protection. One developer had purchased property shortly before the decision was made. A total of 7,400 acres of Greenbelt land was removed, while 9,400 acres of land was added.
Ford has disagreed with criticism regarding his friendships with developers, saying, "no one can influence the Fords". Specifically, he called questions about the optics of developers attending his daughter's pre-wedding party in August 2022, "ridiculous". Ford sought clearance for the event from the Integrity Commissioner in January 2023. In February 2023, the Ontario Provincial Police anti-rackets branch were still looking into complaints about his government's decision to open up a portion of the Greenbelt for development. The OPP asked the RCMP to take over the file in August 2023, in order to avoid any perceived conflict of interest.
On October 10, the RCMP announced it was opening a criminal investigation into the allegations around developer favouritism in the Greenbelt land swap process used by the Province of Ontario.
Ford came under fire in December 2018 by Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) Deputy Commissioner Brad Blair, who claimed Ford requested the OPP “purchase a large camper-type vehicle ... modified to specifications the premier's office would provide” and keep the costs “off the books.” The vehicle was intended for the premier to use for work, and reportedly was asked to include a swivel chair. The accusation followed on the heels of Ford appointing a longtime family friend to be the next OPP commissioner just days after lowering the requirements for the position.
Amid growing case numbers in mid-2021, the government moved to introduce a third province-wide stay at home order. As part of the response, Ford announced on April 16, 2021, that outdoor amenities including playgrounds would be closed, and that he would be authorizing police to require pedestrians and drivers to explain why they are not at home and provide their home address and other relevant details. The regulations raised concerns about a re-legalization of carding. The government experienced significant backlash with the new enforcement measures, with some commentators – such as the National Post's Randall Denley, a former PC politician – equating the province to a "police state" Members of the Ontario COVID-19 Science Table described the new restrictions as "absolute madness", and not based on science questioning the need to restrict "safe options from people as you do nothing to impact the places where the disease is spreading". After dozens of police services across the province announced that they would refuse to enforce the new measures, Ford promptly rolled back the new enforcement provisions the next day and reopened playgrounds, while keeping other outdoor amenities closed.
Mandate letters requested by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation through a freedom of information request were not released to the public, despite being ordered to by the Ontario information and privacy commissioner in 2019. The final appeal of the decision is now being sent to the Supreme Court of Canada.
In September 2021, an Ontario judge issued an injunction on mining in Wiisinin Zaahgi'igan (an area sacred to the Ginoogaming First Nation peoples). The judge ruled that the Ontario government did not consult with the Ginoogaming as is their constitutional duty.
In 2018, Ford endorsed the economic policies of the Republican Party and the presidency of Donald Trump in the United States, saying his support for Trump is "unwavering". After Trump announced tariffs on Canadian aluminum imports in August 2020, Ford expressed his disapproval, calling Trump's policy "totally unacceptable".
In 2018, Ford's sister in law, through his late brother, Rob, sued Doug and Randy for mismanagement of Rob's estate, saying their actions deprived her and her children of due compensation while overseeing business losses at Deco Labels totalling half of the company's market value. In response, Doug alleged that the claims and the lawsuit's timing in the same week as the 2018 Ontario election amounted to extortion.
Over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, Ford's daughter Krista has controversially engaged in the spread of COVID-19 misinformation and conspiracy theories. In December 2021, Krista and her husband participated in The Christian Fight for Freedom, a panel discussion which included discussions that were anti-vaccine and anti-mask in nature. The event was advertised as having special guests "Dave and Krista Haynes, family of the premier Doug Ford".
Rob Ford (former mayor of Toronto, Doug’s older brother)
During the debates around the 2002 municipal budget, Ford and Councillor Giorgio Mammoliti got in several heated exchanges, where Mammolitti called Ford a "goon" and Ford called Mammolitti a "scammer". The argument got heated to the point where Ford called Mammolitti a "Gino-boy". Mammolitti called the insult a "racist remark" and filed a complaint with the city's human-rights office. Three councillors stated that they heard the insult said by Ford, who denied it. Ford dismissed the councillors stating that they were liars if they thought he had made a racist remark. "I'm a conservative and the majority of people are left-wing and cannot stand my politics." The exchanges led Councillor Pam McConnell to complain about "testosterone poisoning" in the chamber
In June 2006, Ford spoke out against the city donating $1.5 million to help prevent AIDS, arguing that most taxpayers should not be concerned with AIDS.
On March 7, 2007, Ford spoke out against cyclists sharing roads with motorists, which were "built for buses, cars, and trucks, not for people on bikes". As councillor, Ford opposed the installation of bike lanes on University Avenue and Jarvis Street
Bike lanes were installed on Jarvis in 2010 over the objection of traffic advocates, and Ford made it a priority to get them removed during his campaign. As mayor, he was able to get council to reverse the decision in 2011, a move which was criticized by cycling advocates and led to protests. The Jarvis bike lanes, which cost the city $86,000 to install in 2011, were removed in December 2012 at a cost of $200,000–$300,000.
After his driving under the influence (DUI) conviction became public, his share of the vote increased 10%. After it was revealed he was banned from high school coaching, he raised CA$25,000 in campaign contributions overnight.
Near the end of Ford's term, Ford's powers were reduced by Council, spurred by Ford's personal problems, most notably reports of a video showing Ford smoking crack cocaine.
In 2008, after a 9-1-1 call from the Ford home, he was charged with assault and threatening to kill his wife. The Crown attorney said "there was no reasonable prospect of conviction" because there were "credibility issues" with allegations by Ford's wife due to inconsistencies in her statements.
In two separate incidents, on October 25, 2011, and again on December 25, 2011, police were called to Ford's home to investigate domestic disputes. During the Christmas Day incident, his mother-in-law called 9-1-1 between 4:00 – 5:00 a.m. local time as she was concerned that Ford had been drinking and was going to take his children to Florida against his wife's wishes. No charges were filed for either incident. Further domestic incident calls to police occurred in 2012 and on August 27, 2013. Again, no charges were filed.
At Saint Patrick's Day festivities in March 2012, Ford was "very intoxicated" at City Hall and a downtown restaurant. According to those attending, he held a "wild party" in his office. Ford knocked down a staffer, insulted others, then went to a restaurant. According to one server, Ford did cocaine in a private room at the restaurant. After "flailing around" on the restaurant's dance floor, he returned to City Hall by cab, making racial slurs to the driver. Ford then wandered around City Hall after 2:00 a.m. with a bottle of brandy, using profane language at his staffer, Earl Provost,
In March 2013, Ford was accused of groping former mayoral candidate Sarah Thomson at a social event, and Thomson publicly stated that she thought that he was high on cocaine. It was around that time that Ford was recorded on video smoking crack cocaine, a video which the dealers attempted to sell to the Toronto Star and other media outlets.
In November 2013, on live television, Ford denied that he had made lewd remarks to a female aide, wherein he allegedly said he wanted to give her oral sex. In his denial, he said, "I'm a happily married man. I get more than enough to eat at home." He later apologized for his graphic remarks.
Krista Haynes (Doug Ford’s daughter)
On August 29, 2012, Haynes stirred controversy through a tweet she sent, an hour after Toronto Police had advised women of a recent outbreak of sexual assaults. Haynes' tweet said: "Stay alert, walk tall, carry mace, take self-defence classes & don't dress like a whore." Toronto Police consider mace a "prohibited and restricted weapon". Haynes' comment was compared to those of Michael Sanguinetti, a Toronto area police officer whose widely criticized safety suggestion to college students that "women should avoid dressing like sluts not to be victimized" triggered the worldwide SlutWalk phenomenon.
Haynes has been critical of COVID-19 vaccines and vaccine passports and has expressed anti-mask sentiments. She has also expressed disdain for vaccine mandates. Her husband was placed on unpaid leave by the Toronto Police Service due to his lack of vaccination. She has compared public health protocols and vaccine mandates to the holocaust and the civil rights movement.

"After the Meltdown" (Part 1 of a series of short stories)
by P. Orin Zack
 
“As Is” (Story 1 of 7)
[12/16/2007]
 
Ryan Svorlin stood in front of the big house, gaping. The keys hung loosely in his shaking hand, clattering against one another in rhythmic reflection of the waves of shock coursing through his troubled mind. “It… it’s… mine,” he stammered, unable to comprehend what had just happened.
“Well, sure,” the real estate lady told him. “You did sign the papers, didn’t you?”
He slowly turned to look at her. Paper-thin skin stretched across unnaturally prominent cheekbones. Overdone make-up. Probably over seventy, he guessed. “Of course. But I never expected to ---.”
“To be selected? Well, someone had to be. They couldn’t afford to let these places go vacant, after all.”
Less than a year had passed since the first cannonade in the financial meltdown destroyed the façade of normalcy masquerading as prosperity in the United States. Some faceless blogger had instigated a mortgage strike, an incautious response to the revelation that the reason the government was so determined to protect the masses from being dispossessed in their forced insolvency was the dirtiest little secret at the heart of the country’s high-flying economy – that nobody really owned all those high-risk loans, and therefore the houses could not be foreclosed. No one could have predicted what happened next.
“But what happened to the people who used to live here?” he said, taking in the carefully manicured grounds surrounding what must have been a million-dollar mansion not more than a year ago.
“Didn’t you follow that slow-motion train wreck in the news? How all the high-risk loans had been bundled into anonymous investment vehicles and oversold to the tune of about a hundred to one?”
He shrugged. “Well, sure. But what I didn’t get was why that meant the people in places like this ended up on the street. I thought they were rich. I mean, wouldn’t they have to be, in order to afford a place like this?”
“Come on, Mr. Svorlin, you can’t be that naïve, can you? They were only rich on paper. People like Gregory Davis, who used to live here, were only riding high because of the same financial leverage that made the risky mortgage scam work. Once the investment banks realized they couldn’t liquidate the loans they’d turned into sludge, they had no choice but to pull the so-called safe ones, like this gem. Davis might have thought he was rich, but once his house of cards came down, he wasn’t worth enough to get his own dog back from the pound.”
“So where did he end up?”
“To tell you the truth, I don’t really care. The world might be in chaos right now, but it’s a far sight better, as far as I’m concerned, than it was before the meltdown. At least now there’s some relationship between a person’s ability to do things and her budget. With all those clowns out of the picture, ordinary folks, people who can offer some useful product or service to others, are finally getting their due. For my money – and I earned it by knowing a thing or two about aircraft back in the day – I think it was worth the cost.”
He studied her briefly, wondering after her back-story, but then let it go. Things were changing so quickly any more that the most important thing about a person was what he could do right now. “Well, thanks for all the help,” he said, nodding courteously.
“Sure.” She turned smartly, perhaps recalling a younger day, and strode back towards the bus stop.
Ryan waited until she had rounded the bend before heading towards the big house’s ornate front door. Like all the other people who had posted bids for these mansions, he had no idea what he might find inside. They were all offered as-is, and it was up to the lucky winner to deal with whatever it is they might find.
His pace slackened as he drew towards the broad brick stairway up to the deck, which looked like it encircled the building. He slowly scanned the façade. The windows were intact, and he didn’t see any obvious signs of forced entry or vandalism. At least Davis’ public anonymity was good for something. A lot of these homes had been ransacked within days after the bottom fell out. Those were the ones with owners whose faces were plastered all over the news in the inevitable hunt for the guilty. Happily, even the newspapers didn’t fall for that dodge. They ran the stories, of course, but only as a way to hook the shadowy types who had thrown their business associates in front of the train to save their own skins. But Davis wasn’t one of them. Nobody really knew what he did, or where his wealth came from. Only that it had all evaporated one afternoon. And that he never made a move to protect it.
As he reached the top step, he raised the bundle of keys the real estate lady had handed him, and located the one she’d said was for the front door. He could see inside, through the gauzy layer of curtain beyond the big windows flanking him on both sides. The lights were still on.
The moment he opened the door, Ryan knew something was wrong. He hadn’t smelled death before, but couldn’t think of anything else to attribute the stench to. He grabbed a small table from just inside and used it to prop the door open. He’d crack some windows as soon as he’d determined what the source was.
Whatever else Davis might have been, he was a man who didn’t like clutter. The big room had a few carefully placed chairs and tables, Danish Modern from the look of them, and little else. He glanced down the long corridor that led towards the back of the house, but didn’t see any lights. So he followed the dogleg around to the right, and towards the arched entry to the dining room. He was getting closer, judging by the smell.
Steeling himself, Ryan stepped past the long dining room table, only tangentially aware of the intricate inlay work along its edge. Finding a body slumped over a table in the kitchen had been so overused in film and fiction, he was already flashing to several vintage mysteries, in a half-hearted attempt to lighten the mood. So, when he crossed the threshold and scanned the room, he was relieved to find the man he assumed to be the former owner, collapsed over the island sink, with a bloody pile of towels strategically placed to minimize the mess.
“How thoughtful, Mr. Davis” he said to the corpse. “Low profile to the end. I guess now I know why your house was so attractively priced.”
After opening the kitchen door and windows to clear the air a bit, Ryan returned to Davis’ impromptu sacrificial altar for another look. He’d cleanly slit his wrist with one of seven knives he’d laid out for the chore. The lucky one was submerged in the half-filled sink.
“Indecisive?” he asked. Then, spotting an open bottle of prescription narcotic near the microwave, he added, “And conscientious, too. So who were you, and how did you come to this?”
Not too long ago, a discovery like this would have been reason to call 911. But that was before the meltdown, before the city government admitted that it had been engaging in foolhardy investment schemes, too. It was just as broke as Davis here. The only city services still functioning were the ones charging users directly, like the bus system. The fire department had taken to using a pay-as-you-burn system. They’d put out your fire as soon as you showed them enough real money to cover the call, which meant that for most people, there was no fire department.
Davis was Ryan’s problem.
He’d have to dispose of the body himself, unless he had some way to pay for someone else to do it. Fortunately, there was plenty of lawn. All he needed was to find a shovel. Who knows, maybe the guy left one of them around, too.
But that could wait. At the moment, he was more interested in finding out more about his late benefactor. So he set off into the house in search of clues. Not surprisingly, it was a brief search. Davis had left some papers open on his office desk, and Ryan sat down to look through them.
The one on top was a copy of Davis’ will. Before the meltdown, he’d decided to leave everything to charity, a foundation that helped people rebuild their credit after going through bankruptcy. “Feeling guilty, were you, Greg?” he said as he paged through the man’s financial records. Just about every bit of his estate had been tied up in one kind of risky derivative or another… bundled mortgages, several kinds of GDP futures. It was a veritable grab bag of monetary moronity. And they were all worthless.
The only saving grace in the whole stack was a frayed news clipping, part of an old investigative piece that, if it were true, nearly landed the man in a Senate hearing room. Ryan flattened it out and began to read. About two-thirds of the way through, the author asserted that Gregory Davis had been instrumental in getting the government’s oversight board to look the other way when they had the chance to stop the worst of the schemes from being launched.
Davis had personally cocked the trigger. He was responsible for having set up the meta-derivatives that were offered to the governments of the world as a way to actually profit from their own debt. The meltdown, as inevitable as it might have been, must have been triggered by something. He was just unlucky enough to have been the fool who placed that last straw on the camel’s back. And nobody knew. It was his secret, and he couldn’t live with it. No wonder he killed himself.
Ryan dropped the clipping and went back to the kitchen… back to the site of what he now guessed was Davis’ idea of ultimate penance: personal blood sacrifice. He stared at the man’s body for a long moment, with not so much as a thought coursing through his head.
It wouldn’t do to clean up the mess, he decided, not after Davis went through so much trouble to make such a dramatic, albeit private, exit. No. Not when it could be put to such a good use.
He rummaged around the house for a while, until he finally found something suitable for a sign, and some heavy markers. When he was finished, he took it out on the patio and hung it from the banister so anyone passing by could see.
‘Thank the Trigger Man,’ it read, ‘$1.00 a spit.”
Davis, he decided, would be worth more, left as is.
 
THE END
 
"Full Value" (Story 2 of 7)
[12/26/2007]
 
Ryan Svorlin, bleary-eyed from a lack of sleep, had nearly stopped noticing the stench from the corpse in the kitchen. Nearly. The distraction of reading might have been more effective if he’d become engrossed in a good spy thriller instead of the stack of financial records left by the suicide down the hall.
At the sound of footsteps from the front room, he stopped reading a ‘white paper’ laying out the political strategy of a powerful industrial lobby and cocked his head to listen. Might be a paying customer, he thought. “Come on in!” he shouted over his shoulder.
Knowing that the former owner had been personally responsible for the chaos unleashed when the Ponzi scheme the international banking cartel called a monetary system collapsed was enough reason to try to make sense of it all. Finding both the man and his legacy in the mansion he’d just lucked into made it imperative. At a buck a shot, though, it didn’t look like he’d make enough money from people coming in to spit on the bloody hulk to cover the cost of getting rid of him. Ever since the global monetary meltdown, there were no municipal services any more, no police department to investigate the death, or morgue to pick up the body. Well, not that you’d notice, anyway. And there was just so long Ryan was willing to share his kitchen with the guy.
“Gregory Davis, you slimy son-of-a-bitch!” The voice echoed hollowly, sounding dry, raspy.
Svorlin smiled, and spun around on the expensive office chair. He’d left a donation jar amongst the knives that Davis had laid out beside the kitchen island sink where he’d slit his own wrist. He dropped the paper and rose to meet his guest.
“But why’d you have to go and kill yourself?” the voice lamented. “I’d have gladly saved you the trouble.”
By the time Ryan reached the kitchen, his visitor, a middle-aged man in a dirty business suit, was stuffing what looked like a hundred dollar bill into the jar. “Hi,” he said. “Sounds like you got here a bit late. Did you have a personal beef with him?”
The man nodded, turning. “You could say that. I’m Horace Lembridge, a member of the last class of Representatives voted into office before the roof fell. And to think I actually believed there was anything I could do to avert the crisis. More fool me.”
Ryan introduced himself, explained how he’d won the house in the foreclosure lottery, and then gestured at the jar. “Was that a Ben Franklin you just dropped on me?”
“Yeah. It’s blood money as far as I’m concerned, though. You’re welcome to it if it’ll help put his ass where the sun don’t shine.” Lembridge looked around for a moment. “Listen, can you spare a bite to eat? It was a long bus trip, and I didn’t stop for anything but nature.”
“Sure. I didn’t want to keep any food in here until I’d had a chance to disinfect. Fortunately, my benefactor had another fridge in the den. Come on back.” They walked past the office where Ryan had found Davis’ paper trail, and down two steps into a big room at the rear of the mansion. Ryan had set up a make-do kitchen beside the wet-bar, and used the ornate pool table by the picture window for a pantry. There was a wealth of packaged goods stacked by a corner pocket, and some plates and tableware nearby. They cracked some cans and boxes, opened some drinks, and sat in two of the ugliest chairs Ryan had ever seen.
Once they got settled, Lembridge picked up the conversation. “I was prepared to find that the true face of governance was ravaged with sores before I was sworn in, but I never expected to discover that the people elected to congress were embedded in a 360-degree theater of propaganda so compelling that they didn’t doubt it for a minute.”
Ryan chuckled humorlessly. “Naïve, were you?”
“It’s worse than that. You think you’re doing some good for the people who elected you. And you make excuses for the compromises you’re forced into, thinking that on balance you’re improving things. But the problem was that no matter which way you looked, the world you saw was contrived. Every source of information at your disposal, every choice you’re faced with, has been rigged. It’s like the whole government exists inside some perverted version of that movie, ‘The Truman Show’. And it’s not just our government, either. They’re all like that, or most of them, anyway. I don’t know what to believe any more.”
“Yeah,” Ryan said somberly as he picked up a can of tuna. “I was reading through Davis’ papers when you came in. And as usual, it all comes down to money. I used to scoff at all the conspiracy theorists… especially the ones who claimed the terrorist attacks on 9/11 were an inside job. But there it is. They were right. And it all came down to money.”
Congressman Lembridge lowered the stalk of canned asparagus he was munching and narrowed his eyes. “What?”
“The whole so-called ‘War on Terror’ was a put-up job. You knew that, right?”
“But that was the basis of my whole campaign. We’ve been struggling for years to prevent another attack like that. And it’s worked, too. Okay, I’ll grant you that there’s been some games played with the intelligence, but only to focus our efforts, to make it clear what we’re really up against.” The man’s voice had slowly taken on an edge of angry desperation, one that was now beginning to reflect in his face as well.
Ryan sat back, nervously fingering his fork. “Let me ask you a question, then. Do you believe that anything a business does to increase its profits is fair game… that an industry can legitimately induce national governments to act in its best interest?”
“Well, of course. They’ve just been taking it a bit too far, that’s all.”
“Even,” Ryan said, and paused uncertainly, “even if that means some people get hurt… or killed?”
His visitor’s face darkened. “Sometimes that can’t be helped.”
“If it’s intentional,” Ryan pressed.
“What are you suggesting?”
“I’m not ‘suggesting’ anything. According to Gregory Davis’ records, the Senate hearing that was conveniently cancelled so he wouldn’t be called to testify at was investigating the GDP derivatives being floated by the three biggest banks in the country. Those were the goodies that were sold short by an unidentified cartel of investors just before the mortgage strike hit the wind. The greedy bastards who placed those sell orders were betting that the US economy was about to tank. They positioned themselves to make the biggest killing in history on the backs of every single person and business that went into the crapper that day. Do you, in your wildest imagination, believe that anyone with the gall to pull that stunt would balk at killing a few thousand people for the sake of drumming up trillions in war profits?”
Lembridge stared at him, ashen-faced. “You’re serious?”
“Like the corpse in my kitchen. I’m sitting on proof of how the house of cards the banking cartel built up over the years was pulled. It’s all in Davis’ office. But what people have to be shown is how that house of cards was built, who was involved, and how long it took to build it. This isn’t something engineered by a bunch of billionaire cowboys. They might have gotten some of the booty, but anything with a time horizon that long has to be organized by something that has an even longer lifetime.”
The congressman rose and faced the window. He stood there for some minutes, nearly long enough for Ryan to finish the tuna in his can. Then he walked over to the pool table and leaned heavily against it, arms crossed tightly. “Like who?”
“I thought it was the old banking families at first. You know, Morgan and the rest. But then I wondered how there could have been a recurring effort to put them down, to reclaim the money system from the people who create it in the form of debt, rather than as payment for work done, the way the gang at Independence Hall laid it out when they founded this country. And I had to wonder if there wasn’t another player out there, and that maybe this struggle has been going on for longer than that, even.”
Lembridge relaxed a bit, dropping his arms and draping his fingers over the edge of the table’s felt inner ledge. “Like the perpetual struggle between good and evil?”
“Something like that, yeah. Maybe. Or perhaps a competition between two secret societies that have been manipulating humanity for millennia. But the point is that we have to start looking at the evidence, at all of the evidence, and in a way that doesn’t discard out of hand the possibility that what we see isn’t really what’s going on. Because sometimes, the truth is only obvious in hindsight. Sometimes, the only way to get there is by seeing the world in ways that others don’t.”
“So what do you intend to do?”
“Bury Mr. Davis, for one thing. But not too deeply, and not too far away. There’s plenty of lawn out there, and I’ve found a few shovels. If you want to help, I’d be thankful for it.”
Lembridge stepped away from the pool table, and faced Ryan squarely. “I think I would.”
“Great.” Ryan started towards the door, then stopped and turned back. “I do have one question for you before we start.”
“Oh?”
“You said you had a personal bone to pick with Davis. What was it?”
He smiled. “My sister. She worked on K Street, for one of the more specialized lobbying outfits. They focused on environmental issues, mostly. She thought she was one of the good guys, helping show Congress and the various agencies how their decisions affected the planet.”
Ryan shrugged. “I don’t understand. From what you just said, I’d say she was one of the good guys. That’s the upside of lobbying.”
“You’re right. And she was proud of her work there. But then she discovered that some of their work was being directed by outside interests. They were being used as cover, to make people like me vote for things that had other effects as well. Far worse ones.”
“So why didn’t she come here herself?”
“That’s kind of hard when you’re dead. She was killed in an explosion. What’s left of the media parroted the usual drivel about some lone terrorist who blamed environmentalists for destroying the economy. But after talking with you, I’m pretty sure it was much simpler. They just weren’t useful any more.”
“Grisly. But what does that have to do with our stiff?”
Lembridge didn’t answer right away. Instead, he continued on into the kitchen and stopped in front of Davis’ smelly corpse, still hanging there face down over the sink. “Our boy ran a clearing house for coordinating lobby activities, watching out for conflicts that could get them in each others’ way, right?”
“Sure. That’s how he put the bug in so many institutional ears about the new GDP derivative he was asked to testified about.”
The congressman glared angrily at Davis. “One of those institutions was my sister’s agency. He bankrupted the good guys along with everyone else. Oh, right,” he said, “I almost forgot,” and cast the spit he’d paid for. “Come on. Let’s go dig a hole.”
 
THE END
 
"LA Scrip" (Story 3 of 7)
[1/5/2008]
 
Cristall Bellows, dressed more formally that she liked, and cradling a backpack in her lap, signaled the driver, and waited nervously for the bus to stop. She’d never been to this part of Los Angeles before, and the sight of all these unkempt McMansions was making her queasy. She shouldered the pack, and started towards the front.
The driver, who had been watching in his mirror, turned as she approached. “Is that LA Scrip you’re carrying?”
She clutched it defensively, pale blue textured paper in a dark brown hand. “Yeah. I just got paid down at City Hall. Don’t you take it? I thought all city services --.”
“We do, we do,” he laughed. “Thanks for helping out. It’s not everyone gets paid with Scrip just yet, only the folks working directly for the city. So what do you do for us?”
“Teaching, after a fashion,” she said as she stuffed her fare into the slot. “I’ve been going around explaining this new money to people. I get some of the strangest looks when I tell them the city just prints it up.”
“Well, that did used to be illegal, after all. Counterfeiters were offered special treatment by the criminal justice system back when the Federal Reserve had a monopoly on creating money.” He opened the door. “Who knew they’d end up getting hired by the city after the economy crapped out? Well, thanks for riding my bus, and good luck.”
As the bus pulled away, she glanced up at the street sign to get her bearings, and then wriggled into her backpack. She was headed for one of the houses that were handed out in last month’s foreclosure lottery. This particular one interested her because the previous owner had been deeply involved in the financial sleight-of-hand that yanked down the economy around everyone’s ears. And like a lot of the people who affect the world in outsize ways, he was a cipher, one of the shadowy villains who thought they were so smart they could run the world from behind a curtain of secrecy and deniability. What she didn’t know was whether the man that won the property, a Mr. Ryan Svorlin, had the first clue about what sort of a ghost roamed his halls.
“Gregory Davis?” Svorlin said with an amused grin when she asked. “Sure. He was still hanging around in the kitchen when I got the keys. Buried him by that tree over there.”
She turned to look at the mound of dirt and recoiled. “You didn’t kill him, did you?”
“Hardly. The creep politely offed himself. Tried not to make too much of a mess at it, too. I gotta say, though, he did leave quite a treasure trove back in the office.”
“Money?”
Svorlin shook his head. “Paper trail a mile wide. The guy was flat out apoplectic about trying to atone for what he’d done. He even tried leaving his fortune to help the people whose lives he helped ruin. Not that those securities are worth anything any more. Even his back-up plan – a safe in the basement – was a disaster. US currency. All of it. Listen, I get the feeling this chat’s going to take a while. Come on in. I’ll show you around Davis’ old digs. What’s your interest in him, if you don’t mind a nosy question?”
She stopped to study an incomprehensible collage hanging in the foyer. “He had odd taste in art, didn’t he?”
“If you ask me, the man’s taste was all in his wallet. While he was still flying high, he prowled the auction circuit, snatching up what he thought of as investment properties. Of course, things like that are only worth what someone’s willing to pay for them. All those bucks he poured into his collection is just a pile of washable paper now. So if there’s something you like, let me know. Maybe we can work out a trade.”
Cristall smiled privately, and then turned to follow him down the hallway to the back of the house. She glanced into a cluttered room in passing, probably the office Svorlin had mentioned, judging from the furnishings. “You asked about my interest in Gregory Davis,” she said, descending the two steps into the sunny den.
“Actually,” he said after holding eye contact for a moment, “I was surprised you even knew about him. Is it personal? The congressman who helped me bury the guy took some satisfaction in digging his grave. Said it gave him a sense of closure.” He pointed at an ugly conversation set by the big window. “Is wine okay? He left me a ton of it.”
She set her pack down beside the chair, and watched while he uncorked a bottle of something neither of them would have been able to afford, and filled two glasses. “I discovered who he was while preparing the economics seminar I teach for the city. The subject is hard for most people to grasp, so I’ve gone out of my way to make it real for them, to put some flesh behind all those antiseptic terms we’ve been bludgeoned with over the years.”
“Yeah,” he said, handing her a goblet. “I know what you mean. It’s been murder… I mean, it’s been difficult figuring out what all those papers he left behind are all about. Fortunately, he also had some reference books, so I can look stuff up easily enough. Still, it’s not exactly my field.”
“Oh? What did you do before the meltdown?”
Svorlin shrugged. “Software. Tech stuff. There isn’t a lot of call for that sort of work right now, though. Anyone with working computers is going to be stuck with whatever programs they’ve got, at least for a while. There isn’t any new development going on except for the open source projects, and even those are hobbled by problems with the Internet. If it weren’t for the Ham Radio guys’ do-it-yourself packet network, we wouldn’t have gotten what backbones we have hooked up again after the telcos went all twitchy.”
She stared at him like he was signing in Swahili.
“Um,” he said sheepishly, “that didn’t mean a lot to you, did it.”
“No, but it did give me a good feel for what my own students are up against. Thanks.”
“What’s your seminar about?”
Cristall fished around in her pack for a moment, and handed him a crisp light blue ten-angel note. “LA Scrip. Have you gotten any yet?”
He examined it and handed it back. “The city’s printing money now? What’s it worth in dollars?”
“It’s not convertible. Scrip’s a whole different kind of money. I guess you could say it’s the modern-day equivalent of the old Greenbacks. They’re issued by the city in exchange for work performed for the common good. So I get paid in these for teaching people what they are. Which is poetic, really, because unless I do that, they really aren’t worth anything. People have to be willing to use them as money for them to be money.”
“I don’t get it. If that bill represents ten angels worth of labor, what kind of labor was it, and how to I convert that to the kind of work that I do? I mean, some labor’s more valuable than others, isn’t it?”
“Not if it’s performed for the common good. Scrip’s egalitarian.”
Ryan took a thoughtful sip of wine. “Okay. I’m lost. I get that you traded an hour of your time for some number of those angels, but how do you buy bread with it? What’s an hour of your time worth in terms of apples?”
“That’s the point of the seminar. We’re just now working it all out. That’s only one of the questions we needed to answer.”
“So what’s the conversion? How much bread is that new bread worth?”
“At this point, we’re just working with the local bakeries, because they make it themselves. And our solution is still a bit clunky, but it’s a start. A loaf of bread takes a certain amount of time and materials to make. We can assign a value to the labor portion in terms of LA Scrip, but anything the baker still needs to pay in dollars for, like materials and the shop itself, are valued in dollars. We’re hoping to eventually get everything moved over to Scrip. Then we can dispense with the dollars entirely.”
He sat back and gazed out the window for a while. After another sip of wine, he said, “So if I offer my tech services to the city, I’d get paid in LA Scrip?”
“Uh huh. And then you could use it for bus fare, like I did on the way over. The driver gets paid based on the number of riders, so friendliness is a virtue. Your fare is what you think the trip is worth. We modeled that after how some musicians have started selling their recordings. And the extra goes to keeping the busses running.”
“What about rent? How would that work?”
Cristall thought for a moment. “Don’t know. We haven’t tried cracking that one yet. Got any suggestions?”
“Not suggestions, but I do have a problem to solve.”
“Oh?”
“Well, yeah. You’re sitting in it. This place has seven bedrooms. What does a single guy need with seven bedrooms? I figured maybe I could turn it into a boarding house or something.”
She chuckled. “In that case, I think you may have just answered your own question.”
“What do you mean?”
“There’s a difference between running a boarding house and just renting out rooms. You’d be providing a service to the people living here, wouldn’t you? Meals, for example.”
“I hadn’t really thought it through that far, but okay, what if I do?”
“Then you can take angels for your time, at least. Are you serious about this?”
“Sure. Why?”
“Because I’d like to help you work out the bugs. I wouldn’t mind living here, if there were a chance to turn all these big lottery prizes into something of value. Once we’ve got the kinks worked out here, we can spread the word. So what do you think? Can we move in?”
He cocked his head slightly. “We?”
“Well, sure. I can’t keep leaving my daughter with my folks forever, you know. Daycare is a service, after all. It’ll be good for the new economy.”
 
THE END
Copyright 2007-2008 by P. Orin Zack
 
[To be continued with Story 4 "Face Value"]

Pretty sure I have my answer but wanted to run it by some other folks to make sure I’m on the right track.
I picked up a custom 1911 at an auction. It caught my eye being a 6” slide Remington Rand which I had never seen. It’s an Essex frame and I was going to pass it up but when I tested the trigger and was cycling it it’s the smoothest 1911 I’ve ever dealt with. Slide feels like it’s on rollers and the trigger is amazing. Won the auction and got it home. It was listed as a 9mm. Tossed a round in it to cycle and it got stuck just out of battery. Did the tap rack to get the round out figured it just didn’t like that specific type of ammo tried with a different round. Went fully into battery but wouldn’t eject the live round from the chamber at all. Took it out and fired it to see if the ejector just needed the extra umph and no dice. Took it apart and the ejector doesn’t even come close to holding an empty case. Hot dog in a hall way type looney tune situation. Thought maybe it’s actually .357sig since there’s no markings on it anywhere. Tried a 40 s&w case no dice still just falls right out. Tuned the extractor as much as possible (gotta pry it out at this point) and it’s still no where close to catching.
I’m thinking the gun was originally a .45, someone swapped the barrel and left the original extractor in it.
I’ve bent it enough I doubt it would show me if that were the case now so I’m going to order a 9mm extractor, my biggest question is with it being a long slide is there a certain length I should buy?

I think they would be a great thing to auction off for a big charity event or something, but I can also see them line the halls of ed gambles mansion

Chapter One: The First Midnight
It was exactly twenty minutes until midnight when Jacob mounted his old mountain bike and pedaled quietly out of the garage, out onto the gravel driveway. He didn’t turn on the bike-light attached to the handlebars yet. He wouldn’t do so until he was well away from his parents’ property. There was a full moon tonight, so there was enough light to see at least tolerably well by, anyway. In fact while he was still in sight of the farmhouse’s shuttered windows, he wished it would have been a little bit darker.
The driveway was half overgrown by weeds and grass, and rutted by deep tire-tracks. It descended a gentle slope from the house till intersecting with the main gravel road that ran past the ten-acre property. His parents were of course asleep by now; so were his older sister and younger brother. Or at least, they’d better be at twelve o’clock at night, he thought. To be caught wouldn’t only be humiliating, it would be as painful as the whipping that would be sure to follow. His parents had whipped, kicked, and otherwise beat him and his two siblings many times—usually for what he thought were minor offenses. They went only a little easier on his brother and sister. He had always been the least favorite, he couldn’t really say why.
He was fourteen and a half years old. And obviously, biking away from home in the middle of the night isn’t something even adults usually get away with; as far as kids…. If his parents found out he was gone, and stayed gone for a long time, they might call the police. Not because they particularly liked having him around the house, but more simply because they wouldn’t want the neighbors finding out that their own son had disappeared! Although they probably wouldn’t call the police—not unless he was gone more than a few hours; and he was confident he would be back before then.
Although not a hundred percent certain.
By now the dim lights showing from the old two-story house had disappeared behind the canopy of trees that surrounded the acreage. He could breathe a little easier now. This road stretched about a half a mile south from home till reaching the highway, which was paved asphalt and not gravel. He would be able to ride a lot faster once he got to the highway. The gravel road then went on several miles further south from there, past a handful of other country houses all scattered well apart from each other.
But he wasn’t going that direction tonight.
This highway was hardly ever well traveled, being as it was here in the middle of the Missouri countryside. But still he expected to come across some traffic, at nighttime mainly trucks and farm vehicles. In fact a tractor was rolling slowly by just as he was coming up the steep hill to the highway, its’ huge wheels making a grating, grinding sound on the asphalt. Whoever was driving the tractor wouldn’t be harvesting in early summer, obviously. More likely just spreading manure or spraying pesticides. At the stop sign Jacob slowed to a halt and readjusted his handlebars; then, switching his bike-light on, he turned eastward down the highway (conveniently the opposite of the direction the tractor was headed in.)
The wind rushed against his face, a slightly damp wind. It felt almost as if there might be rain coming, he thought. But not too soon; there were only a few streaky clouds drifting across the starry, moonlit sky. It was the end of June, and the days here in northwest Missouri were supposed to be pretty hot by this time. But this year had been a little better, so far. In fact the night air was cool, almost cold. He was glad that he was wearing jeans and a long-sleeved shirt.
The moon glared bright almost directly above—almost too bright, a little ominous-looking. He felt like something really bad was sure to occur tonight. And considering where he was going, why wouldn’t he expect that? He tended to be a pessimistic person to start with, and to agree go to Creighton Hall of all places, in the middle of the night….
Why was he going there? People said that it was haunted, they said that it was a place where vampires lived. But that must be superstition, he kept trying to tell himself. In fact those were the very words he had used when talking to his three friends over at the Schaefers’ property. The fifteen year old Jason was the neighbors’ second son (they had three), and he was somewhat of a know it all. He’d insisted that there must be a reason for the all those century-old rumors about the mansion. There had been an argument.
“Don’t you know anything about the story of that Castle?” Jason had said, his voice filled with incredulity.
Jacob admitted that he didn’t—except that people said they thought it was haunted.
“But it’s not a castle. And heck,” he added, “they’re mostly kind of joking when they say that about the vampires. I mean, I know there are plenty of superstitious people, but—“
‘’Let me tell you,” Jason had interrupted. ‘’I guess you didn’t’t know that the mansion was built in the late 1800s by a millionaire called James Creighton. He was one of the richest people in America, at the time—at least, one of the richest in Missouri.”
“What about him?”
“They say that after the house was built, he planned on living there like a king, with a dozen servants, and he did for a while, only….” His voice trailed off mysteriously; but Jacob didn’t say anything, so he went on, “it wasn’t more than a year that he was there before he died, for no reason that was obvious to anybody. His immediate family claimed it was of ‘’natural causes’’. But some people say he was murdered. But by who? Well, there’s no way to know. And do you know something else?”
“What?”
“They say that none of the public ever got to see his dead body. They had a big funeral for him, and his coffin was lowered underground, but nobody actually ever saw a corpse. At least that’s what I’ve heard.”
‘’Well that is pretty strange, if it actually happened like that,” said Jacob. ‘’But to say the house is haunted seems—-“
“And also,” Jason interrupted—he had an irritating habit of interrupting everyone, ‘’Creighton’s relatives demanded that there wouldn’t be a police investigation into his death. And if that isn’t suspicious I don’t know what is.”
‘’And you know what they say,‘’ Travis Lyon, who was also present, said. ‘’They say no one has seen the inside of Creighton Hall in twenty years.’’
‘’I know nobody ever goes in there,’’ Jacob admitted.
‘’But there’s this,” Jason said. ‘’The last time anybody DID go into that castle was when a man named Gregory Creighton, a great-great grandnephew of James Creighton, decided to go inside to see if there was any of James Creightons’ old belongings in there that could be auctioned off. And do you know what? When he came back out of the castle, he appeared to be a completely different man than the one that had gone in! Nothing was ever auctioned. And if anybody ever asked him about what he had seen inside the castle, why, Gregory would refuse to talk about it. But his last words on his death bed were, “That castle must be burned to the ground.” Or at least that’s what I’ve heard, anyway.”
Jacob said nothing for a moment. It did seem like an awfully strange series of coincidences, if true…. ‘’But for crying out loud,” he said, eventually, “you actually believe all that? I mean, that’s superstition. That’s silliness.”
The conversation had devolved from there. Jacob couldn’t remember when or how exactly it happened, but somehow or other he had been fool enough to volunteer to go into the castle himself and prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that it wasn’t haunted.
‘’But not in broad daylight,‘’ Jacob insisted. ‘’That’s not when the vampires come out. Everybody knows that vampires come alive at night.’’
‘’At night?”
‘’So, if you do go to the castle, be sure to do it at nighttime—in fact, at midnight. Well, around midnight; it wouldn’t have to be exactly that time, obviously. You know midnight is the devil’s hour, as they say.’’
Jacob said nothing. Go all the way to Creighton Hall at midnight? What more absurdities, he wondered! Still, he thought, why not?
‘’The only problem is that leaving home at that time wouldn’t exactly go over well with my parents, I—“
‘’That’s why you’d have to be stealthy about it. Don’t up and tell them you’re leaving! But do it secretly. That is, if you’re interested. And it’s understandable if you’re not.’’
‘’No, no,” Jacob said hurriedly. ‘’I’ll do it—I’ll go. When?”
The other three boys looked at each other.
‘’How about this Saturday? That’s three days away,” Travis suggested. ‘’I think it’s supposed to be a full moon that night.’’
‘’Yeah, this Saturday,” said Jason. ‘’Would you be willing to do that?’’
‘’Sure, it doesn’t make any difference to me when,” Jacob said, shrugging. ‘’I’ll go next Saturday.’’
And that had been the end of that conversation.
And now, here he was, just a couple minutes away from midnight, just a few minutes away from the ‘’haunted’’ mansion. For the hundredth time he asked himself WHY had he been so stupid as to agree to this? Well, anyway, he was doing it now, and there was no going back.
No going back.
There came a sudden wailing of a coyote—a wild, mournful, lonely sound—piercing the stillness of the night. Then came another, and again several more. In a few seconds there was a whole chorus of their wild voices echoing throughout the countryside.
Coyotes always sound closer than they really were, Jacob thought. And with rare exceptions, they hardly ever attack people anyway, so he really didn’t have much to worry about.
At least as far as coyotes were concerned.
By now he had come to a hilly, forested area—called Berstier Wood—where the road took numerous twists and turns. The dark trees on either side of him smothered much of the moonlight. Still, the light on his bike lit the road ahead of him tolerably well.
He could feel his heart beating faster as he realized that he was close, very close, to the mansion, now. Why anybody ever wanted to build a mansion here, of all places, in the middle of nowhere, was one of the many mysteries concerning Creighton Hall. But Berstier Wood had grown up around the castle after the passing of the original builder. It wasn’t particularly farmable country anyway, considering all the rough hills and valleys.
Suddenly the trees ended. There before him was the ancient mansion, much overgrown with moss and lichen, and partly covered by the surrounding tangle of trees.
He pulled is bike up to a halt. In the garish moonlight the place had an even more ominous look than it did ordinarily. There it towered up above him, five stories high, with innumerable spiky turrets like steeples clawing at the moonlit sky. The grimacing faces of gargoyles, spaced regularly along the crenellated battlements, seemed to survey the world below with disapproval. If there was ever a house (if ‘’house’’ it could be called) that looked haunted, he could not help but think, then this was it.
But of course, it wasn’t actually haunted, he tried to tell himself reassuringly.
He left his bike lying on the ground a short distance from the road, in the shadow of the low, broken stone wall that skirted the property. The property itself was in a sorry state, overgrown by tall, thick weeds and bushes, including a certain species of tough, thorny bushes. More than once he felt their sharp pricking against his denim jeans.
What remained of a winding stone pathway led from the door of the outer wall to the castle’s gates. But this pathway was almost entirely covered in weeds and thorns, and thus worthless. Jacob had to pick his own way slowly and gingerly up to the gateway. Just as he was reaching it there came a gust of wind, moaning between the branches of the nearby pine and oak trees. With it came more crying, almost wailing, of coyotes. They sounded closer than ever. He felt a sudden impulse to turn and get out of here as fast as humanly possible. But no. He had come here for one purpose, and now he was going to follow through with it.
He cleared his throat a few times before pressing his hand lightly against the gates. He wasn’t sure if he would be able to push them open, and for the first few seconds they wouldn’t give an inch. But gradually, with a groaning and grating sound, they began to move, reluctantly. In a minute the entrance was open, and he was staring into the empty darkness of the mansion. He took a deep breath.
This was the moment he had been waiting for, the moment when he would shatter all superstition and prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that the castle was not “haunted”, that there were no demons lurking inside. But now that he had come to it, he could not help but hesitate. He had taken a flashlight with him, but up to this point there had been no need to turn it on, as the moonlight was bright enough to see by clearly while he was still outside.
But now he withdrew the little flashlight from his pocket and flipped its’ switch on. Then, without further ado he walked through the archway. He could almost hear the words of Travis Lyon ringing through his head, “they say no one has seen the inside of Creighton Hall in twenty years.’’ Twenty years! Was that true? How could that possibly be true? Was he, perhaps, walking out of the ‘’real’’ world and into… well, somewhere else. Somewhere terrible and evil.
Was he walking into his own grave?
He didn’t know whym but something told him he should close the doors behind him. Fortunately, they closed mich more easily than they had opened—in fact, surprisingly easily, and silently. almost automatically, really.
Jacob held up his flashlight and shone it around the room into which he had just come, which wasn’t a room, but more like a hall, with floor and walls of smooth stone, and many lamps up at the ceiling (but none of them lit now, of course). There was no furniture, not a single chair or table anywhere. Jacob did see, on the opposite side of the hall, an open doorway and through it a corridor, which obviously would extend to the rest of the castle. It might be interesting to explore the labyrinth of rooms, but he really felt no desire to. It was all disconcertingly empty. It looked like a place where no one had lived for centuries—which was, in fact, almost true. Charles Creighton had been the first and only occupant of Creighton Hall, and he had passed away more than a hundred years ago.
However, all of that was neither here nor there, Jacob thought to himself. He had done what he had set out to do. There was nothing else now except to go back home. He could tell his three friends that he had come to Creighton Hall, saw no vampires (nor anything else, for that matter), and that would be the end of it. He turned his flashlight off and glanced outside through the window, much cracked and moss-grown, near which he was standing. The full moon was beginning to descend towards the horizon, but it still lit the landscape enough to see clearly by.
Jacob’s eyes froze.
What was that? Approaching the castle across the weed and thorn choked lawn, was what appeared to be a person. A very, very tall person, in dark robes that fell all the way to the ground, rather like the kind of robes worn by a priest. But this was no priest. There was something monstrous and evil about this person. Most frightening about him was his face, which was extraordinarily pale—a sickly, ghastly shade of white—with eyes that were very dark, possibly black, as was his hair. He hardly even looked human.
A vampire. The thought sent chills down his spine. Did it mean that such beings actually existed, in real life, and not just in stories? It had to mean that. And Creighton Hall was, after all, haunted.
All these thoughts flashed through his head in an instant. What in the world was he to do? The person, or creature, was getting close to doors of the castle. His mind began racing. It appeared certain that he was going to enter. In not another instant Jacob turned and ran across the hall, into the open passageway. There was nowhere else to go, and nothing else he could do. He had to get away from here, and the only way to do so was further inside the castle.
Further in….
Chapter Two: An Unauthorized Investigation
‘’For crying out loud, what are we going to do?” Jason exclaimed. He was sitting, his face buried in his hands, on a straw-bale near one corner of the same old barn where the fateful discussion with Jacob had taken place a few days ago. It was an unseasonably cold day, the first of July, with a gray sky and an intermittent spatter of rain.
“There has to be something we can do about this! Otherwise I’ll spend the rest of my life feeling like I got somebody killed! I mean that. Murdered. How could I ever live with that?”
His two friends there with him said nothing. Travis shook his head. Neither of them could believe it, either. The disappearance of Jacob Morris seemed unbelievable, it seemed impossible. In fact when Jason first told Travis and Josh about it, they had refused to believe it.
None of the three of them had been especially close friends with Jacob. Jacob was not the most talkative person. Still, they had been, to some extent, friends.
“Well, he could be hiding out in the castle,” Travis said, his voice straining to sound optimistic. ‘’I mean, to assume he’s dead seems to be going overboard. He could very well still be alive for all we know. It’s only been a day since he disappeared, so—-“
“But let’s just say he is alive—well, so what?” Jason said, his face coming up from his hands. ‘’I mean, whether he’s dead or alive, he’s in there, somewhere, in that building; and he’s not coming out, is he?” He trailed off hopelessly.
“Well, this might be saying the obvious, but we could tell the police what happened,” Josh interjected. By this time the police had already been contacted by Jacob’s parents, and there was a man-hunt on in an effort to find the missing boy. But of the fact that it was in the supposedly haunted house Jacob had disappeared, neither the police or anybody else knew anything. His parents had no idea. The only ones who knew were those three of them, there.
“We should tell the police,” Josh repeated.
“I guess you’re probably right.” Jacob swallowed heavily before he went on. ‘’The only problem then being that the police and everybody would immediately get suspicious of US three. Well, why wouldn’t they? I mean, the police might think that we murdered Jacob. Now how do we prove that we didn’t? There’s no way to, basically.”
There was a sullen silence. The pitter-patter of rain could be heard bouncing off the barn roof above them. It could be heard falling in steady drips from the gutters and then splashing on the little puddles in the grass.
“I guess,” came Jason’s voice again, after an interval, “I guess that there is another option, even though….’’ He hesitated a few seconds, before going on. ‘’Even though it isn’t a good one. And that is for us three to go right over there to Creighton Hall ourselves and try to see if we can find out what happened to Jacob. I mean, it isn’t something I want to do anymore than any of you do, but….’’
‘’But what if that castle actually is haunted?” said Travis. That was what they had all been inwardly thinking, but not wanting to say it. No one said anything. ‘’What then?”
‘’I mean, I guess that’s what we would have to find out,” Jacob said at length, his voice sounding somewhat shaky.
‘’Well, if we do go, we should go armed,” Josh put in. ‘’My parents have a couple of handguns I could, well, let’s just say, borrow, for the time being. They would have no idea they went missing.”
‘’But what good would guns do against—well, against…..’’
“Vampires? Huh—I guess we wouldn’t know that till we came across any, would we?’’ Jason muttered.
Jason said nothing. It seemed to him that the three of them had gotten themselves into an exceptionally bad situation. ‘’Well, are we all in agreement, then? We’ve got to go into that castle ourselves.’’
‘’For crying out loud, what are we going to do?” Jason exclaimed. He was sitting, with his face buried in his hands, on a straw-bale, in a corner of the same old barn where the fateful discussion with Jacob had taken place a few days ago. It was an unseasonably cold day, the first of July, with a gray sky and an intermittent rumble of thunder.
“There has to be something we can do about this! Otherwise I’ll spend the rest of my life feeling like I got somebody killed! I mean that. Murdered. How could I ever live with that?”
His two friends who were there with him said nothing. Travis shook his head in some bewilderment. Neither of them could believe it, either. The disappearance of Jacob Morris seemed unbelievable, it seemed impossible. In fact when Jason first told Travis and Josh about it, they had refused to believe it.
None of the three of them had been especially close friends with Jacob. Jacob was not the most talkative person, and didn’t socialize too much. Still, they had been, to some extent, friends.
“Well, he could be hiding out in the castle,” Travis said, his voice straining to sound optimistic. ‘’I mean, to say he’s dead seems to be going overboard. He could very well still be alive for all we know. It’s only been two days since he disappeared, so—-“
“But let’s just say he is alive—well, so what?” Jason said, his face coming up from his hands, but only for a moment.
“I mean, whether he’s dead or alive, he’s in there, somewhere, in that building; and he’s not coming out, now, is he?” He trailed off hopelessly.
“Well, this could be stating the obvious, but we could tell the police what happened,” Josh interjected. By this time the police had already been contacted by Jacob’s parents, and there was a man-hunt on in an effort to find the missing boy. But of the fact that it was in the supposedly haunted house Jacob had disappeared, neither the police or anybody else knew anything. His parents had no idea. The only ones who knew were those three of them, there.
“We definitely should tell the police,” Josh repeated.
“I suppose you’re probably right.” Jacob swallowed heavily before he went on. ‘’The only problem then being that the police and everybody would immediately get suspicious of US three. Well, why wouldn’t they? I mean, the police might think that we murdered Jacob, and how do we prove that we didn’t? There’s no way to.” There was a sullen silence. The pitter-patter of rain could be heard bouncing off the barn roof above them. It could be heard falling in steady drips from the gutters and then splashing on the puddles on the ground.
“I guess,” Jason resumed, “that there is another possibility, even though….’’ He hesitated a moment before going on. ‘’Even though it isn’t a good one. In fact it’s a terrible one. And that is for us three to go right over there to Creighton Hall ourselves and try to see if we can find out what happened to Jacob. It isn’t something I want to do anymore than any of you do, but….’’
‘’But what if that castle actually is haunted?” said Travis. That was what they had all been inwardly thinking, but not wanting to say it. There was a long, dead silence.
‘’I mean, I guess that’s what we would have to find out,” Jacob said at length, his voice sounding somewhat husky.
‘’Well, if we do go, we should go armed,” Josh put in. ‘’My parents have two handguns.”
‘’But what good would guns do against—well, against…..’’
“Vampires? I guess we wouldn’t know that till we came across any, would we?’’
Jason said nothing. It seemed to him that the three of them had gotten themselves into an exceptionally bad situation. ‘’So are we all in agreement, then? We’ve got to go into that castle ourselves.’’
”Agreed,” the other two boys said together.
There was another, heavier silence. The rain was starting to come down a little bit harder now, and the wind was picking up. This wouldn’t be a pleasant day, of all days, to go all the way to the old Creighton Mansion, Jason thought. However, there was really nothing else for it.
Half an hour later, at about two o’clock in the afternoon, the three of them could be seen biking along the highway under a steady downpour. Even worse than he had feared, Jason thought with a bitter smile. The country around them already looked quite a bit greener than it had yesterday, sharply contrasting with the pale, almost whitish-gray of the overhanging clouds. They were riding in single file, with Jason in front—which meant he had by far the worst of the wind and rain. Riding behind, the other two were at least partially sheltered. Regrettably, the waterproof hooded jacket he was wearing did not extend all the way to the lower part of his jeans or his shoes, which were already soaked. And also, the handgun strapped to the right side of his belt was heavy and cumbersome, and interfered with his pedaling.
But anyway, they were getting close to the mansion. Already the leafy canopy of the Berstier woods could be seen, barely, in the distance through the pouring rain. Jason could hear Travis and Josh behind him talking, but couldn’t make out what they were saying. But he was mainly lost in his own thoughts, just now. He was thinking about vampires. The obvious question that kept coming back in his mind over and over again was, what if vampires actually did exist? Admittedly, he had told Jacob that he believed in them; but people say things like that, sometimes. They don’t necessarily mean them. But Jacob’s sudden disappearance might seem to support those old rumors about the Creighton castle. And vampires in general. Which…..
He felt the cold, hard metal of the pistol next to him. Guns might not do anything against people that were not even, well…. alive. On the other hand, what if it wasn’t evil spirits that had anything to do with Jacob’s disappearance? Maybe there was some criminal, or group of criminals, hiding out in Creighton Hall. It wouldn’t be the worst place in the world for that to happen in. In fact, real-life criminals would probably be less catastrophic than vampires. In which case, the guns might come in more than useful.
A few minutes later the three boys had pulled up their bikes before the stone wall of the ancient mansion. As luck would have it, the rain decided to stop at almost exactly the same time. Which allowed the boys to see the surroundings with much better clarity.
“This place sure gives me the creeps, I have to tell you,” Travis muttered, staring up at the ruinous castle. It seemed to be a sprawling mass of pointed towers, with the faces of dozens of monstrous statues leering down in disapproval.
“It gives a lot of people the creeps. That’s why they say it’s haunted I guess,” Josh said, shaking his head.
‘’How the heck are we gonna get across this lawn is what I’d like to know,” Jason said. ‘’See all the thorn-bushes? They’re everywhere, looks like.”
“Hey, hey, what in the world is this? Is that Jacob’s bike?’’ said Travis, pointing.
“It sure appears to be,” Jason replied quickly.
Yes, there could be no question about it. The bike was leaning against the low stone wall that surrounded the property, partly hidden by Jacob walked over and pulled the bike up by its’ handlebars.
“Well,” he said, after a short silence, “it would definitely seem as if Jason did come here, after all. But he never left. Or at least, that’s the way it looks to me.”
“Hmm,” said Josh. ‘’This isn’t good.”
“That’s an understatement,” Jason said. He laboriously drew the pistol from its’ holster under his rain-jacket. ‘’Well, it seems pretty clear we can’t go back now. We’ve got to go into that mansion, one way or another. Why don’t we leave our bikes over here, right around where Jacob left his.’’
It was with growing apprehension that the boys went through the open gateway and began up towards the mansion.
“See that statue?” he said, about halfway across.
“What of it?” said the other two boys.
A short distance to the right was what remained of a marble sculpture—a sculpture of a Minotaur, with the body of a man and the head, legs, and hooves of a bull. But of its’ two long, curving horns, one had been broken in half. Around the pedestal the statue was standing on there lay a shallow basin that must have had water in it, long ago, but now was it was mostly empty.
“Does that face bother you at all?” Jason said.
“Oh, I suppose it does, but no more than the faces of all those statues above us,” Travis answered matter-of-factly.
Admittedly, Jason thought, those were also unpleasant looking. But there was something about the face of this statue especially that—he didn’t know why—was even more disturbing. Maybe it was because the face, supposed to be like a bull’s face, looked awfully close to the face of a man. Its’ open mouth was what had used to be the water spout which filled the basin below, and from the mouth was thrust a long, sharp tongue.
“I don’t know,” he said. ‘’But I just wonder why anybody would want to have something like this in their front yard,” he said. ‘’I mean I know James Creighton was nutty, but this is….” He shrugged.

Anyone in the market for a walk through metal detector or their own pay phone? They have some interesting stuff up for auction. Ends 7:30 Wednesday May 29th.
Forsyth County Hall of Justice Auction

Greetings World, my name is Sride. Founder and Leader of Team Void of the Quire Region. Quire (Q-war-ay) being a region I have been very slowly working on for a couple years now. I come to you today in the hopes of boosting the numbers amongst our ranks as well as to get more trainers to join the mod we play. To begin, I’d like to go right into it by telling you about a few things, in bullet point format, about: Team Void, our discord and in game Guild Hall, as well as about the PokePlex Discord and the Better Cobblemon Mod.
(Note: All Links will be at the very end.)
———
—The Game—
Better Cobblemon (by Arshaan) is a CurseForge mod, free to play, with many epic and up coming features. This is includes: - Custom Claim settings. (You can add entry or exit messages, be notified when some enters or entirely deny anyone from entering at all via an invisible barrier. You can set custom time and weather as well as several other cool and fun options coming. There’s even subdivisions in claims! Oh and PVP! - Weekly Auctions! - Hourly Crate Keys (with a good chance to gain Party Keys when cashing in your hourly keys for even better rewards!) - Fun, non-toxic players as well as incredibly helpful management team. (Ivv tested a small hand full of servers and none were as kind as these guys are!) - An up coming Pokemon League! - Furniture! Ya you read that right! Custom furniture! (They are planning on creating a catalogs worth of furniture but for now it is rather super limited.)
Please note the server we play on currently has one Realm, however, they do plan on expanding this. We are primarily located within Ember Realm, the only one so far.
———
—PokePlex, (the games Discord)—
PokePlex is the official discord of Better Cobblemon. It is 100% public and trainers of all ages are welcome! Here you can find updates about the game, announcements, as well as chat with in-game players (not sure how they did that but it’s pretty epic!) You can make support tickets in here if you need any help and you can apply for staff! (Currently the server is still growing and rather small so there not adding new staff just yet.)
———
Secondly, Team Void. This is my fakemon regions Evil Team. I founded Team Void within Cobblemon on the basis of expanding and making new friendships over common similarities! Expanding Connections across the globe! Obliviously we all love Pokemon and/or Minecraft or ya wouldn’t be reading this ay? lol. We have an in game Guild Hall as well as our discord.
———
—The Team Void Guild Hall—

• Available to ALL Ages.
• Tools Room: Need an anvil? Or a bunch of furnaces to smelt? We got it all. From crafting tables to Brewing Stands, you can find the correct tool block you’ll need here.
• Medical Room: Need to heal your Pokemon or quick access to a PC? This room will come in handy.
• Trophy Room: Wana see the servers Badges and Ribbons? Wanna display a cool in game art piece you made via maps? This room is the place to place it.
• Share Chest: One persons trash is another persons treasure. This rooms walls are lined with chest for you to drop off/dump/swap/trade/take/ etc. any and all random items you might not need. Before you throw it away, considering dropping it off here for someone else.
• Several many hidden red stone doorways to secret fun things!
• A Battle Field at build height!
• A garden with (nearly) all medicines, mints, apricots and berries!
• A Cactus tower for quick in game money!
• A hidden laboratory!
• I, Sride, your leader, do 100% Free Tool Repairs! No longer are the days of breaking your tools and having to find new mats to make new ones. (As long as I am online that is. lol)
• And much more!

Please Note we do NOT offer in game lodging / homes for Grunts, just the Guild Hall to hang out and use its features. Despite not lodging trainers, we do offer Admins an office at least. These offices are partially furnished for your convenience. (We only add an admin after every 20+ or so new Grunts and our numbers are too low to add anyone currently. We will announce when we need more.)
———
—The Team Void Discord—

• Strictly 18+ !!!
• Pokemon talk every day! Or just chat in general. lol
• We also welcome DnD players, especially Pokemon DnD players!
• Lots of Rolls to pick from!
• A Weekly Question to promote conversation.
• An Evil League Club (like the BlueBerry Academy’s club but open to the public. Winners who are not members of Team Void will automatically become members.
• Monthly Challenges in 3 formats! (You pick one: A writing, drawing or in game build.)
• Bi-monthly (every other month, not twice a month) chapter releases of my Pokemon Novel.
• Brand new Podcast. (Currently one episode is out so far, just me introducing everything.) Titled: The Poke-Talk Talk-Show Podcast.
• Monthly Community Days (a day we management are here 100% just for you, For anything and everything! Not exactly a Pokemon Go thing but we could do that too over VC!
• Several Voice Chat rooms!
• Lots of forums for different chats!
• And much more!

———
So? What cha waitin for? Come check out Team Void and Better Cobblemon!!!
Even if you don’t side with the Evil, at least come check out Better Cobblemon today! You won’t be disappointed! (And if you are….well boo hoo to you.) Best of Luck Trainers and hope to see ya soon!
———
—Links—
Better Cobblemon:
https://www.curseforge.com/minecraft/modpacks/better-cobblemon-modpack
Team Void in Game:
/pw VoidGuild
PokePlex:
https://discord.gg/s2hzhkQv52
Team Void Discord:
https://discord.gg/dTFJATjKJd
———

Empire HQ:

???

1st Affiliate (Kai Jin Ma):

Wing's of Freedom(A Club) [Nats and Bong Kwang]:
An "ordinary" club. Under the ground floor, there is a basement that hosts "special features". One of the "features" is that inside the club are Private Soundproof Rooms (PSRs).
Private Soundproof Rooms (PSRs): They consist of Karaoke Rooms, Bedrooms and Gambling Rooms.
Of 20 rooms, 10 are for gambling, 7 are for Karaoke and the remaining are Bedrooms.
Karaoke Rooms:
Legal business; customers can opt for this room at a higher price.
Gambling Rooms:
Illegal business; rooms have a TV which is connected to iPads in each room. Customers can use it to gamble or bet on "Fights"
Bedrooms:
Mixed; A love hotel with legal and illegal facilities. Normal Customers can use it as a normal love hotel or a motel room for the night. Illegally, VIPs can choose women to sleep with. Where these women come from is a mystery...
Fighting Arena:
Illegal; A level lower than the PSRs, there is a big hall. Drugs from Lab H are circulated here freely.
Additionally, there is a betting table available for those interested in placing bets on the outcomes of the boxing matches.
This table is not only limited to boxing but also extends to professional combat sports like MMA and athletic competitions such as track events.
This can be viewed live on a large flat-screen TV on the wall.
Boxing Arena:
Illegal; A boxing ring where individuals can resolve their conflicts through physical combat. However, it is strictly prohibited to engage in fights outside of the designated boxing ring.
Lab H (Drug Building) [Jinsu Yeo and Chin Chaosi]
Abandoned Warehouse (Drug Producer Building) [Jinsu Yeo]:
Illegal; located deep within the dense woods, a warehouse sits, blending in with the surrounding trees and foliage. Unbeknownst to most, this warehouse serves as a clandestine Drug Producer Building, operating under the watchful eye of Jinsu, a notorious figure in the underground drug trade.
Within the confines of the warehouse, a hidden farm thrives under the glow of sunlight streaming through the windows, nurturing the illicit drug plants that will eventually be harvested. Beneath the farm, a secret laboratory hums with activity as Jinsu's trusted men meticulously produce chemical drugs using a variety of substances and equipment.
Every step of the drug production process, from cultivating the plants to synthesizing the chemicals, is meticulously overseen by Jinsu's most loyal associates, ensuring the quality and potency of the final product. Once the drugs are fully grown or manufactured, they are swiftly transported to the main base for distribution and sale.
Internet Cafe (Chain) [Chin Chaosi]:
With the help of Chin, the duo operate internet cafes as a front for their illegal activities, using the spacious storage room as a discreet hiding place for the drugs. Only they hold the key to this room, safeguarding the valuable merchandise from prying eyes and potential threats. The operation runs smoothly and efficiently, with Jinsu's keen business acumen and tight security measures keeping the drug empire thriving in the shadows of society.
Recruitment Center [Everyone]
Positions Of Power:
1 Recruit Overseer (Kai Jin Ma) 2 Recruit Examiners/Rule Enforcers (Chin Chaosi and Jinsu Yeo) 3 Exam Guards (Bong Kwang, Nats and one of Zygarde's men)
Recruitment Duration: 1 Month
Construction Site (5 Floors):
The exam building stands as a bustling construction site, brimming with potential and dread. However, its progress remains at a mere halfway point, leaving it devoid of the finishing touches that would make it a fully functional space. With its five floors stretching towards the sky, the absence of furniture, windows, and even a roof is palpable. Yet, amidst this incomplete state, a unique pathway to ascend and achieve higher ranks emerges - the completion of a rigorous qualification test. This test serves as the sole gateway to access the upper floors, where success and advancement await those who prove their mettle.
Personal People Test is a rigorous and challenging assessment that spans for one month. The test is divided into 5 floors, each with its own unique set of challenges and requirements.
First Floor: (Free For All)
Mission: A free-for-all where participants engage in fierce competition to prove their strength and eliminate the weaklings.
Failure: Sent to either Kai's Executives or the other Empire Executives. However, even after failing, they are not exempt from further trials. Throughout their stay under Kai's supervision, they are subjected to a daily battle royale, testing their resilience and determination.
Success: Move on to the Second Floor
These individuals who were unable to pass the First Floor Test are considered [Unranked].
Second Floor: (Back to Basics and Second Chance)
A seven-day preparation period for the next stage. During this time, participants focus on training their bodies and engaging in sparring sessions to enhance their skills.
Once the preparation period concludes, they are sent back down to the first floor.
Mission: Their mission on the second floor is to survive the onslaught of failed participants who are filled with envy and jealousy towards those who succeed.
Success: Participants who initially failed the First Floor Test but displayed exceptional performance against those who succeeded were promoted to the second floor, second-floor participants will move onto the third floor.
Failure: Those who fail to survive this test remain on the second floor.
These individuals are known as [Low Ranks].
Third Floor: (Filtering)
Mission: This time, advancement is determined through a weekly tournament that assesses their qualifications.
Success: Moving onto the fourth floor.
Failure: Those who failed to advance held weekly tournaments for further training and improvement.
On the Third Floor, participants undergo two weeks of intensive training before the actual test begins. Throughout their remaining time on the Third Floor,
These individuals are referred to as the [Middle Ranks]
Fourth Floor: (Can you go beyond?)
The Fourth Floor Test differs from the previous floors as it is not a mandatory requirement.
Mission: Instead, the only expectation for participants on this floor is to engage in daily training. However, as they progress through the floors, the training becomes increasingly arduous and demanding, pushing them to their limits.
Success: Moving onto the fifth floor.
Failure: Moving onto the fifth floor or choosing to be on the 4th floor.
These individuals are referred to as [High Ranks].
Fifth Floor: (Rebirth)
Mission: Get acknowledged by "Recruit Overseer" Success: Getting better job opportunities Failure: Remaining as a [High Ranks]
These individuals are referred to as may be
TL/DR:
Overall, the Personal People Test is a gruelling and comprehensive assessment that challenges participants physically, mentally, and emotionally. It is a test of endurance, skill, and determination, with each floor presenting its unique obstacles and opportunities for growth.
Fate: [Unranked]: Sent to the other Executives [Low Ranks]: The low ranks were split among the other Executives and Kai's Executives. [Middle Ranks] and [High Ranks]: The middle ranks and the high ranks were kept as Kai's men. [Stars]: Sent to HQ to be part of "The Forces"

2nd Affiliate (William Texiter):

Dojos:
William beats up dojos and martial arts gyms to gain ownership of them. He then asks them to pay rent or pay a part of their revenue (10 to 15%) to continue to operate. Failure to comply, The "Construction Company" will take care of them.
These dojos may be used by [Stars] for training.

3rd Affiliate (Oh Yechan):

Construction Company: A company that hires young men as labourers. Ones with potential will be transferred to Kai's Recruitment Centre. It also helps the syndicate expand by helping to build buildings.
Laundromat (Chain): A typical Laundromat Chain. Undercover place for meetings and communication between members.
Loanshark: The typical Loanshark business.

4th Affiliate (Seongji Yun):

Supply Chain:
Yun controls the flow of goods in the region. The transportation and storage of legal and illegal goods is under his command.
Transportation: -Lorries -Cars
Warehouses: -Cold Storage -Butcheries
Goods: -Drugs -People -Equipment -Etc
Business: For a fraction of a cost, we will help you "transport goods".

5th Affiliate (Kim Seol Jin):

False Teacher:
In this business, the main way of gaining money is through blackmail.
Step 1: Getting employees and who would that be... prostitutes, even in a place like Korea there's prostitution so we will focus on gathering prostitutes that only care about money.
Step 2: Making fake college certificates of graduation so that the parents will be more easily tricked
Step 3: The "tutor" will throw hints of being attracted to them at both the parent and the son and when either the parent or the son does "That" with the "tutor" the "tutor" will record everything to then blackmail the family into paying a high amount of money if they don't want to get sued
Treasure house:
It's a normal casino but this one will move to various locations throughout Gangseo.
But there's one thing that will remain the same.
"La Oferta especial" (The special offer)
Products offered:
Live Humans
A weekly auction in the basement of the casino where it is located, where all types of people will be present If you want a personal killer or just a slave, go ahead and buy whoever interests you the most.
But be aware that we are not responsible for what happens with your purchase.
And one last thing, you will be asking "If the casino is gonna be moving around, then how are we gonna find it?"
Don't worry about that, you just gotta pay a bit just for us to know that you are a client, we will tell you where the casino is located
"¿How?"
Only we know
Heaven's Voice:
Tell me, what attracts the male audience?
Women or more precisely, cute or sexy women, so for this business the main attraction is going be "Idols" Yeah, a group of teenagers or women (not that old) that dance and sing on a stage, but would that attract the male audience...
Of course not!
Most of them wouldn't even care!
But what if we give the idols clothes that show skin, that would attract more people, but of course, we would search for girls that have nice bodies and talent to either dance or sing.
Of course, we are going to pay them! We aren't monsters!
We would make sure that they have the most healthy food with some cheat days and they exercise... OH and how could I forget the female audience?
We are going to hire male idols too! They will receive the same treatment as well.
So feel free to come here and enjoy the show and thank you for being with us
[Heaven's Voice]

6th Affiliate (Mangu Yeom):

Mapo Union's businesses