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briarborealisart · 10 months

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tell me about your favorite characters (or ocs if you’d like) 👀👀👀

this post is going to be long so: oc info under the cut! i guess this is a good time to tell anyone who doesnt know me from other sites that i have a bunch of various ocs in my brain always. fun fact: originally this blog was going to be my art and oc blog! hence: briarborealisart. unfortunately the allure of fandom reblogs Got Me and now my blog is a deeply disorganized folder of Interests rather than me putting anything of my own out there LOL. maybe i should make an oc sideblog or smth but i feel like i wouldnt keep up with it </3

OK SO I HAVE A NUMBER OF OCS FROM DIFFERENT WORLDS. i'll go in order of world age (mostly---i don't remember the exact chronology) and stick to my main oca. anyone who i tag as a collaborator/co-author also has ocs that interact with mine and did a great amount of the worldbuilding and u should check them out hehehehe!!

WHOOPSVERSE

whoopsverse is a world jointly created by some friends and i (@natyune-art, @catatonickeeper and alythea). it's an epic fantasy and it is also falling apart actively lore-wise because we all became Adults With Jobs who had some creative differences regarding what we wanted for the roleplay SO its kind of a free for all rn. BUT IT IS SO DEAR TO ME. it started out as an offshoot of the google plus roleplay community World of Alengra by derbybubblefish but it quickly became its own thing. i technically have a billion and a half ocs from this world but most of them are defunct/shelved for now (read: dead)

my two most active ocs from whoopsverse are vas and kiska

vasushri jilpa nuriya, aka vas, is a mortal girl who keeps getting reincarnated with the same voidkin attached to her soul. voidkin are minor gods who are born from the void, a nebulous sea of chaos. they are goopy fellas and can latch onto mortal souls to give them innate void magic. void magic involves portaling, hammerspace, and in rare occasions, shapeshifting into a voidkin. vas has the rare shapeshifting bond.

kiska, aka the godkiller, aka tempest, is a once-mortal woman, now immortal, who is blessed by the death god with immortality and great power. in return, she is to wander the earth exterminating rogue immortals. she's like a very specialized grim reaper.

kiska frequently runs into vas in her many incarnations and adopts her.

PROJECT STARSTRUCK

@ask-projectstarstruck (mine and @doeblossom 's poor abandoned baby) is an ask blog set in a world much like our own, except that magic exists! it takes place in a fictional college and follows two (or three? 👀) students. blog spoilers to follow!! (also, the concept existed before and continues to exist outside of the ask blog, lol). MY two (most active) ocs in there are austral and boreal

austral lucis is a college student at the university of lenton springs! she's a business major and communications minor who graduated valedictorian of her high school class, and got a full ride scholarship to this ivy league college not too far from her home. she's a huge stick in the mud and very VERY type A. her story revolves around learning how to be her own person instead of doing what everyone expects/wants of her. her college roommate is callista aka elise, @doeblossom 's oc!

boreal lucis is dead. no, really! she's a ghost, and austral's twin sister. through an uncanny twist of fate, or maybe magic, when boreal was stillborn her life force attached to austral, and her ghost grew up with her. austral is the only person who can see her, and ghosts/hauntings aren't really well researched in the world of project starstruck, so... austral has defaulted to pretending she doesn't exist, so that people don't think she's crazy. boreal is a silly goofy guy, because you've got to have some way to entertain yourself when the only other person who knows you exist pretends she doesn't. boreal's story is ALSO about learning to become her own person, but this time a lot more literally.

boreal is very protective of austral, the both of them having grown up with a mother that was very demanding and dismissive of austral's emotional needs. austral would prefer not to talk about it.

SILLY SUPERHERO STORY

THIS ONE IS ALLLLL ME BABEY. i read so much of the Alernate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers tag on ao3 that i haaaaaaaad to make my own. since this is all me i have a bajillion ocs in this world.

here i'll just copy and paste over from my discord (these descriptions might not be super accurate since they were written a long time ago)

ok core cast

19 year old spiderman kinnie mc, a vigilante named leon wright. became a vigilante after his existing powers mysteriously evolved (this Doesn't Happen to other people)

15-16 year old dani wright, leon's little sister, found out leon was a vigilante and promised to snitch on him if he didn't let her join him

17-18 year old stereotypical tech/hacker/guy in the chair guy named mick simmons, technically a supervillain because he keeps committing minor cyberterrorism. his only parent was a supervillain who got arrested when he was like 14. he met leon online after hacking his animal jam account. so far he's the only one whose codename ive made and it's discord

18-20 yo main villain, kammie stoll, a deranged and unhinged cartoonishly evil young woman who leon is a MASSIVE simp for, and she is in love...with DESTRUCTION!!! NYEHEHEH

a registered dad-aged hero, brendan powell, so stressed about the fact that these kids are out here fighting, desperately trying to be a positive role model for/adopt them

a dad-aged villain, grant stoll, kammie's bio dad, they have a great relationship /gen, he is also trying to adopt all the kids because he respects their gusto and thinks they'd be great friends for his daughter

the wright parents, phoebe and cyrus; one of them knows about their kids vigilante stuff, the other is oblivious (havent decided which is which). theyre separated but friendly and have a rivalry going on about who the kids like more

the hero hq secretary, sandra flores, who has a power that "lets her type really fast" but actually its just legitimately a superspeed power and shes so cool and rad. she just lets people think she's Normal

milo pryce, mick and leon's third roommate that they picked up off of craigslist or smth because they couldnt afford an apt on their own salaries. he's pretty normal (or is he?) and just a background civilian (or IS he?) except that he's a doomsday prepper with a serious hoarding problem, but only in his room. very meticulous otherwise

and, of course, the REAL big bad evil guy: clarisse simmons, mick's supervillain mom. she's a very mysterious force for most of the story until the THIRD ACT TURN WHERE ITS REVEALED SHES BEEN THE MASTERMIND THE WHOLE TIME! or... something like that

THE WEAVER'S APPRENTICE

story MAINLY driven by @natyune-art featuring witches, betrayal, and mystery!! my character in there is named dijah

khadijah, aka khadi or dijah, is a witch. in this world, witches can see the strings of fate that surround a person and view, interpret, and/or manipulate those strings. dijah wanders the world as kind of a rogue, wandering from town to town with nothing tying her down anywhere. that is, until she arrives at a town where a string of kidnappings finally catches up to her location. a bartender she made sort-of friends with is the next to go missing, and she immediately decides to start investigating. while she's in town, she also meets auryn, a traveling performer like herself. he's extremely suspicious, but she has no real evidence that he's behind the kidnappings, especially when he agrees to help her with her investigation. drama! intrigue! romance! horror! whimsy! they have it all!!!

THE OWL HOUSE

most recently and most clearly the subject of my brainrot, @doeblossom peer pressured me to make an owl house self insert oc and BOY DID I. ITS SO FUN. in addition to being besties with toh!doe, she ALSO has interactions with @mothsha 's toh oc myrna, and @blimate 's toh oc wynter. her name is sol

solstice finch is a teen prodigy. she graduated hexside at 15 years old under the potion track, and ended up succeeded in the emperor's coven tryouts, which she had entered by accident. she quickly made her way through the coven scout ranks and at 16 is a coven official a la kikimora. she's besties with doe and hunter :) her mentor WAS lilith, but after The Season One Finale... they don't talk for a while haha. I HAVE SO MUCH TO SAY ABOUT HER BUT I'LL KEEP IT BRIEF: sol is THE silliest little guy. she's also basically a cat, we swear. shortly after hollow mind she defects from the coven and that's when she ends up meeting myrna and re-meeting wynter.

AND THATS IT. THATS EVERYONE THAT I CAN BE BOTHERED WITH RN. I FEEL LIKE IM MISSING SOME KEY FELLERS BUT WHAT CAN BE SAID. IM LATE FOR MOVIE NIGHT I JUST CHECKED THE TIME. GOTTA GO!

#briarborealisart #briarsocs #tmi tuesday

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dinaive · 8 months

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Israel is home to various brands and companies that operate in a wide range of industries. Some of the well-known Israeli brands and companies include:

Intel (Intel Israel): Intel has a strong presence in Israel and operates multiple research and development facilities.

Mobileye: A subsidiary of Intel, Mobileye is a leader in autonomous driving technology and advanced driver-assistance systems.

Waze: A popular GPS navigation software app that was developed in Israel and acquired by Google.

Check Point Software Technologies: A leading cybersecurity company known for its firewall and security solutions.

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries: One of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies, specializing in generic and specialty medicines.

OrCam: An AI-driven technology company that develops assistive devices for the visually impaired.

Mellanox Technologies: A provider of high-performance networking and data center solutions, acquired by NVIDIA.

Nice Systems: A multinational software company specializing in analytics, recording, and voice biometrics.

Given Imaging: Known for developing PillCam, a capsule endoscopy technology for medical diagnostics.

Elbit Systems: A defense electronics company specializing in military and homeland security technology.

SodaStream: A manufacturer of home carbonation systems for making sparkling water.

Ahava: A skincare brand that utilizes minerals and mud from the Dead Sea in its products.

Wissotzky Tea: A well-known tea company with a wide range of tea products.

Strauss Group: A multinational food and beverage company with a diverse product portfolio.

Tnuva: Israel's largest dairy manufacturer and a major player in the food industry.

Osem: A leading food company in Israel, known for its wide range of products, including snacks, pasta, and soups.

Israel Chemicals Ltd. (ICL): A global specialty minerals and chemicals company that extracts and manufactures products for a variety of industries.

Sabon: A skincare and cosmetics brand with a focus on natural ingredients and handmade products.

These are just a few examples of Israeli brands and companies that have made significant contributions in various industries, including technology, healthcare, food and beverages, and more. Israel's entrepreneurial spirit and innovative culture have led to a diverse array of successful businesses.

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adultswim2021 · 1 year

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Squidbillies #30: “The Appalachian Mud Squid: Darwin's Dilemma” | March 24, 2008 - 12:00AM | S03E10

This episode begins with a nature documentary about the squids, giving THIS viewer some impression that maybe this would be the entire episode. A gimmick episode, if you will, which Adult Swim has a penchant for. I also thought that maybe it would feel like some kind of unnecessary introduction to the characters and the show. When this act is premeditated and includes a significant promotional push they call that “re-piloting”. Luckily, that’s not really the case here, because the nature documentary part is brief, and what we do see of it seems sorta pointless. It turns out to have exactly one point: to establish the species of squid the Cuylers are (Appalachian Mud Squids, like the title says), and that they are endangered.

Cheers! To Squidbillies, for dispensing with the fake documentary format after it proves to operate at a laugh-deficit! But, Jeers! to Squidbillies, for ending this segment on yet another unfunny gag where the squids have murdered a human and are eating that human, as though it’s acceptable to just have your unsavory characters be psycho killers for comedic effect. I don’t think it’s offensive, it’s just like, really obvious and staid territory, especially on Adult Swim. I think I said this story once, but I once wrote on a failed TV show where the least-creative person involved in the production would constantly use the gag of “man eating another man’s corpse for no reason” as though it was the pinnacle of comedy and not just an idea that is extremely easy to think of.

Anyway: The episode is mostly about Sheriff’s attempts to protect the squids, due to their endangered status. He puts himself in front of a Jaguar attack (more like an f-slurguar, says Early… RUDE!), and then tags the squids and invades their space to put safety locks on various cabinets whose contents may harm them. Sheriff also replaces Early bitchin’ monster truck with a safety sedan. Early immediately wraps his lips around the exhaust pipe. He’d rather be dead than drive a sensible vehicle.

The ending of the episode involves Dan Halen hosting an endangered species hunt with some Japanese tourists. I assumed this was influenced by “Whale Wars”, the Animal Planet docuseries about the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and their attempts to thwart Japanese whaling boats. After some light googling I discovered that the show didn’t actually debut until later in 2008. But, I’m guessing that the Sea Shepherds were getting some form of publicity and that it played some role in the writing of this episode.

Squidbillies is continuing this season’s streak of being not particularly lovable, but respectably consistent and fairly amusing. Good for them.

EPHEMERA CORNER:

Frisky Dingo - Season One DVD (March 25, 2008)

My God! I nearly forgot to cover this. Lucky for me, I don’t have to say anything about it, really. There’s literally no extras on this at all. I guess the added value is that you have all the episodes of season one in one place, and can watch them in their proper order. That was still sorta valuable in 2008. These days, it’s only valuable in theory, provided HBOMax yanks the show offline, you can’t get a cable login for Adult Swim’s app, or you don’t know how to torrent shows.

The only true extra you could claim this has is that they were originally packaged with the prerequisite Adult Swim promo leaflet, with a listing of their other DVD releases on one side and a replica of the “Welcome to you’re ‘doom’” postcard from the series on the other. That’s fun, if you’re a Frisky Dingo megafan. I, however, am a dipshit who bought every non Robot Chicken Adult Swim show on DVD for completest reasons.

#adult swim #adultswim2021 #squidbillies

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lunasdayspa · 2 years

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bro-stoevsky · 4 years

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Could I please request Hartving and the class differences prompt? Love your writing!

oh friend. please understand i tried with this one. i really tried. like i have seen the terror approximately 5,000 times and i still started this fanfiction by googling “hartnell the terror” so that’s the level of sophistication you’re dealing with. this is my first attempt at writing either of these guys and I hope you like (don’t mind?) it! thank you for this prompt & sorry in advance

Tears Into Thy Bottle

In which Tom Hartnell’s brother dies under mysterious pre-canon circumstances, Irving tries to do a Good Deed, and no one is happy for even 30 seconds.

Tom Hartnell removed his brother’s things from his sea chest one by one, feeling miserable and invasive. The chest had been left in disarray; the unruly boy who came home so many times with mud on his knees had, in the end, not even had a clean shirt to be buried in.

Hartnell took out trousers, the badly-folded coat John had worn on land, a pipe, and another pipe. Shoes that would not fit him and shirts he did not need. When he came upon a silhouette portrait of a woman he looked it over, curious, for a name, and his heart throbbed when he recognized their mother. He would have to be the one to bring her the news. He would tell her that her firstborn son had carried her portrait from Gillingham to the end of the map, and kept on carrying it.

“Alright, Tom?” He tore his eyes from the portrait, noticing belatedly that someone had put a hand on his shoulder. It was Harry Peglar of the foretop, quiet and tactful. “Mr. Armitage is here for you, Tom.”

“Mr. Armitage?” said Hartnell, not understanding what the gunroom steward would want of him or what interest he might have in a dead man’s old clothes.

“Mr. Armitage,” Peglar affirmed. “He has a message for you.”

Armitage was indeed there waiting, wringing his hands. “I’m awful sorry,” he said, “but Lt. Irving would like to see you, Tom.”

It made less and less sense. “Lt. Irving? What could he want with me?”

Hickey laughed. The crass, rude caulker’s mate had been somewhat in John’s orbit, at arm’s length but never entirely rejected, and he had come for his share of the dead man’s tobacco.

“What couldn’t he want, that one? I’ll tell you what I think: you on your knees,” Hickey paused for a long time as he puffed on his pipe, grinning as he held everyone’s attention. With visible relish he reached his conclusion: “In prayer.”

All at once, Hartnell’s friends hissed at him.

“Can’t you show some fucking respect,” said Gibson. “His brother’s just died.”

“And the good lieutenant will pray for his soul,” Hickey replied.

“See what the lieutenant wants,” Peglar advised, “and I can keep my eye on John’s things. I’m sure you won’t be long away.”

Hartnell nodded, rising to follow Armitage up and aft to the officers’ cabins.

“Lieutenant,” said Armitage as he knocked on one of the doors. “Tom Hartnell is here for you sir, as you asked.”

The door slid back. Hartnell knuckled his forehead.

“That will do, thank you, Mr. Armitage,” said Irving. “Mr. Hartnell. Will you come in? I’m afraid there isn’t much room, but I should like to speak privately to you.”

“Aye, sir,” said Hartnell, and stepped inside. It was the finest and most rarified place he had been aboard the ship, and it disappointed him to discover that the cabin was miserably small, little more than a bed and a cramped writing desk. Irving’s bed was neatly-made and there was a writing set on his desk, a sheet of unmarked white paper waiting for him. Hartnell searched these items for a clue in Irving’s purpose and could find nothing.

Irving shut the door behind him. “I grieve for your loss,” he said, meeting Hartnell’s eyes. “Your brother was a good seaman and well-liked. Will you accept my condolences?”

“Of course, sir,” said Hartnell, uncomfortable. He had known that Terror’s third lieutenant had a serious, searching gaze, but to have that wide-eyed attention pointed toward him at close quarters was unnerving.

“You do not need to stand,” said Irving, himself taking a seat at his writing desk. There was nowhere else to sit except the bed, and Hartnell hesitated at taking that liberty. “Please be at your ease, Hartnell. I’m sorry I can’t offer you a chair, but the bed will do you just as well. Are you—have you had your rum? I could call Mr. Armitage back.”

“I have had it, sir.” And more besides—the bosun having seen fit to measure out a final tot for John. He sat down on the bed, and the frame creaked. “There is nothing else I need.”

They passed a moment in silence. Irving laced his fingers together and separated them. “Death is harder to bear when it comes far from home,” he said. “It should not be so but it is. Would it comfort you for me to say that it matters not a whit, how far we roam? For our true home is in Heaven, and on Judgment Day your brother will not be forgotten.”

It was not comforting at all, and in fact Hartnell did not like to think about Judgment Day or any of the other more dreary Christian aspects. “Thank you, sir.”

Irving sighed. “But I haven’t eased your mind a bit. I can tell from your face. You know, I asked Lt. Little for permission to speak with you, and his reply was, ‘If it please you, only don’t frighten the boy with your talk.’ And of course that’s just what I’ve done.”

“It would have to be worse than that to frighten me,” said Hartnell.

“Good man,” said Irving. His face did something that was nearly a smile, and it made his gaze less uncomfortably luminous and more congenial. “You know it was never my intention—is never my intention—to be such dismal company. Of course it would have been better for me to have said something more benign, your brother is on a cloud somewhere looking down on you.”

“You would not be the first to tell me so,” Hartnell admitted. He had, for the better part of the afternoon, been assured that John watched over him and sang in a celestial choir and would guide them all to the Passage.

“I know it. And you have all my compassion. It is only that I think it is a hard world, and it does us no good to pretend it is not governed by hard philosophy.”

This was altogether more speech than Hartnell had heard from an officer in his entire career at sea. He looked at Irving and was reminded that this man was very near his own age, and the only officer to wear a beard, very probably to obscure the boyishness of his features. From his conversation, it was clear that he did not find much sympathy with his views from his fellow officers—at once the tiny room and the privilege of privacy seemed horribly lonely.

“You make sense to me, sir,” said Hartnell, a little unsure who was being comforted.

Irving smiled completely. “You are kind to say so. But I had asked you here in the hope that I might provide you a more practical service. I do not know when we shall next have the opportunity to post the mail, but when we do, it will be better to be prepared. Should you like to send a letter to your mother, I will gladly take it down for you.”

“Sir?” The blank sheet of paper and the inkwell was explained, then.

“Your mother—she is living, yes? I thought I had seen it in the purser’s log.”

Hartnell saw her in his mind’s eye. He wondered if it was possible she did not already know what had happened. Surely she did. Surely the mystical powers bestowed by motherhood had alerted her already to calamity. And if not, John would have found some way to inform her.

“She is living,” he affirmed. “But sir, I can read and write.”

Horror dawned on Irving’s face. “I had not thought,” he said. “But of course you can. It was not my intention to insult you—I shall not take more of your time. Will you please express my consolation to her?”

Hartnell felt his face flush as he realized his misstep. He had contradicted an officer, the very thing that above all was not done in the sea service. For even young, even lonely, Irving was the third lieutenant of their ship and his word was as God’s to the ratings. But Hartnell’s mind was soft and fatigued with grief and he had not reacted correctly.

He tried to revise his story: “I should not have said that, sir, forgive me. I mean I can read and write a little, but not very well. I should be glad of your help.” He wondered, in the back of his mind, how Irving proposed his mother to read the letter, if she had indeed raised an illiterate child.

Irving’s smile in response was enough that Hartnell was ashamed to have thought any ill of him. Young, he thought again, and lonely.

“Is this time convenient?” Irving asked, already wetting his pen.

Hartnell thought of his brother’s sea chest—the mess that John had not meant anyone to see, the junk that had turned in the space of a few hours into relics of the dead, the heartbreaking portrait of their mother—he had no desire to return. He had no desire to see any of it again, to dole it out to their friends, to hear the caulker’s mate make his crude remarks. “There is nowhere else for me to be,” he replied.

Irving gave him that shy look again, and wrote something on the sheet. “I am writing an introduction,” he explained, “in case she does not recognize the writing. And then you may say what you like, and I’ll write it down.”

“Can you start out with, ‘My dear Mother—’ or, ought I to put our location at the top?”

“I have already done so. ‘My dear Mother,’ it is a very good beginning. What then?”

“And then—I should go to the point. ‘I have terrible news,’” he tried to think of how to put this terrible news, but he could not take his mind away from the sea chest. He thought of his mother, darning one of John’s shirts, complaining that he was too rough on them. He thought of her portrait, which John had never showed him. “‘Terrible news, Mama,’” he repeated again, and when he tried a third time his voice broke and he began to weep.

Irving set down his pen. “Hartnell?” he asked, and there was a scrape of his chair as he crossed the step or so to the bunk. “Hartnell, let me get you a handkerchief—I have one—” there was a clattering of things around the desk, and then Irving was handing him a white square of fabric.

“Forgive me, sir, ” said Hartnell, wiping at his eyes and his nose. “I should return to the fo'c’s'le. I am not fit for your company. You have been too kind already.”

Irving sat down beside him, and after a minute’s hesitation took Hartnell’s hand in two of his own. “There is nothing to forgive. Come now—come now, your brother is with God.”

Grief did nothing to dull Hartnell’s other senses, and he realized that Irving’s palm was damp. He thought, distantly, of the propriety of their position, and Hickey’s crass remarks, and he was not compelled by these objections. It did him good to feel another living person beside him, someone whose attention was only on his comfort.

“Do you think so, sir?”

“I am certain,” said Irving.

They sat in silence for some time as Hartnell reeled himself in and regained his composure.

“I’m sorry, sir,” he said again, looking at the handkerchief. The initials J.I. were embroidered on it. “I can wash this.”

“Do not trouble yourself,” Irving replied. He withdrew his hands. “It is a gift. As for the letter—I should have seen I was keeping you from your mates. Perhaps we shall try again tomorrow.”

“Of course, sir. But you’re not keeping me from anything.”

Irving stood up, and paused during his step to the desk. He looked at Hartnell again—shy, round-eyed and eerie—and he nodded with satisfaction. “Stay then, and we will finish your letter.”

#my fic #it's saturday night time to post MISERABLE FANFICTION #hartnell x irving #sort of #they just touch hands #sorry to psalm 56 #and god #also i am just noticing that this is my 666th post #so extra sorry to god

28 notes · View notes

save-the-spiral · 4 years

Note

fellow wiz/tma fan here: if your wizards were in the TMA universe, what fears do you think they would serve?

(link to entities page on The Magnus Archives Wiki, comprised ENTIRELY of spoilers.)

This is completely incomprehensible unless you listen to like an entire like three seasons of podcast. Luckily, I have, because I’m HYPERFIXATING bitches.

This is my full list of current OCs (aside from wicked beau wright, who is SO undeveloped I dont even KNOW), not all are developed, feel free to ask about them. I have a google doc to keep track or I FORGET. if anyone wants me to do npcs hit me up, im already planning one for the eleven w101 schools and 5 p101 classes.

ALSO I TURNED AROUND AT ONE POINT AND THOUGHT THE LAMP BEHIND ME WAS AN EYE. SO IM DOING GREAT. (ALSO HAD TO TURN A LIGHT ON AFTER A BIT)

WIZARD101

Irisi- The End. Her fear of ghosts, the undead, and the inevitability of death ruled her for a time. She had to overcome it, venture deep into previously resting tombs, entangle with mummies, wraiths, banshees, and simple ghosts. She found a fondness in learning their stories, and she watches her aging adoptive father, Alhazred, and wonders when he will turn into something that simply stops, or if he will linger, and they will chat.

Mahamari Jade- The Buried. Her life magic is nurtured by the earth, and that was a quick fall into allowing herself to be buried alive, to choke on the mud and clay. She had a fear of being confined into one role, and broke free. But now the rock and dirt fuel her magic, the worms nurture it, and she finds a detached peace in returning to the earth from whence she came.

Emrys Pyre- The Lonely. He has self isolated ever since his first great trauma, believing if he had not been a fool, had not dragged his younger sister along, he could have prevailed on his own. It is his deepest failing, and the Forsaken has hooked him deeply in his belief that he alone can survive.

Quyen Jade (Serpentine King)- The Hunt. While others prefer a more active chase in the hunt, there is an aspect of waiting. Not all predators can spend their days racing after the next meal. Lions sleep for most of their day, after all. Snakes as well, feasting only when necessary. When Quyen finds the necessary moment, and strikes, he never hesitates, and the venom and blood call to him.

Morelle RavenHunter- The Hunt. When slighted by the Ravens of Grizzleheim, she began to hunt them down, to prove a point. It is how she gained that name, Raven Hunter. She gave that name to her wife and child, as well.

Morae RavenHunter- The Slaughter. She is not an active avatar, one touched but not guided. Her chronic pain, caused by a sudden attack fueled only by bigotry and ignorance, haunts her. That, as well as her own organs waging war, causing pain, lead to a fear of that pain, a fear of sudden attacks.

Ianthe RavenHunter- The Corruption. His magic has always taken well to fungus, to mushrooms that feed on decay. At first her fascination with pretty, bio-luminescent mushrooms drew her in, but how quickly we fall once we get a taste.

Leo Nightside- The End. For all he loves animals, finds them good companions, he is a necromancer. His respect for death only extends as far as he is willing to bend the rules.

Noah DreamTamer- The Stranger. He has redefined himself so often he forgets who he was, doesn’t want to know the person he was born as. He loses people. He doesn’t remember her voice, how tall she was. He has to become someone he is not to continue on, and not simply stop in place and never move again, not even to breathe.

Haley RainTamer- The Vast. Her fear of heights is unrivaled, ever since a bad broomstick accident where she broke her wrist at age 10 or so. One day the sky will claim her, and until then, she will look up, practicing the magic of the storms that she allows herself to believe rule it.

Fledge- The Desolation. They are so angry, stolen from their home. They are willing to inflict that pain on any who stand in their way, to take short cuts, to technically get the job done to ‘save the spiral’. They find a certain dark joy in how the professors and students of Ravenwood Academy despair when they hear of the fight taking place outside of their own world.

Ursae- The Vast. Not the sky, but the sea. She is a mermaid, of Celestia. Not many know of the deep trenches, the branching and convoluted caves under the sea, the endless darkness. She survives there, and stares back out of the endless depths.

Kestrel RainbowWeaver- The Eye. She sits idly by, content in her passive inaction. She was locked away in a time vault in Dragonspyre, and escaped. Her current events became history books and scrolls. So now, she smiles vacantly from her blacksmithing shop, and asks for idle gossip, and learns about Wizard City.

Elissa Silvertusk- The Web. Taken in, pulled by her own lack of initiative. Her life changed from where it was before, being pulled and puppeted by her mother’s vindictive whims, until now she lives in the web’s embrace, following orders, content to allow someone else to do the worrying, and let herself be dragged along.

PIRATE101

Darling Alexander Dove- The Flesh. He has no concept of the sanctity of sentient bodies. He holds no respect. Of course, he derives no entertainment when his victims are dead, unable to struggle, unable to dance alongside him in a macabre display of skills and how prettily a blade can cut into skin, fur, feathers, and then deep into the muscle, the bone, the flesh itself. It takes a long time to recognize what has gripped him.

Darcy ‘Rusty’ Rhode- The Stranger. She becomes who you expect. She is docile, dumb, ditsy. She giggles at what you say even when it is not funny. Her eyes glint with excitement at the simplest of things, cooing over you. She is just another dumb broad, a woman who flips her long hair and drawls out things, bats her eyes. She becomes someone you do not know when she strikes, kicking you down and then again, pulling out a pistol and winking as if it is a joke you were both in on when she fires right between your eyes.

Zenobia Ire- The Vast. She lost her parents to the storm. She grew up having a connection to it, fearing it, but the way the thunder in those vicious Grizzleheim storms would thrum through her body like knuckles rapping against the tight skin of a drum, it calls to her.

Carlyle Nightngale- The Spiral. He lies, of course. Easily. He is a man of science, but nonetheless, no one can know in this Pirating side of the Spiral. So he tells tall tales of witchdoctors, the same thing every one of these ‘hoodoo practictioners’ claim, even if it’s all a ruse so they all can practice their own spirituality or science in peace. He never tells people what he is doing, simply smiling until they think they are in on what doesn’t exist.

Vitale Florus- The Lonely. He has been consumed by his on insecurities, but even before that, he was one of the few humans alone in a sea of automatons. All he was raised by was cold machinery. So he sits, alone, and tends to a secret garden he knows would be destroyed if he let anyone know. It is easier to not speak to anyone else.

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naturalhandcraftedsoap · 9 months

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sirjustice1027 · 4 years

Text

How rockets made

Electric rocket is made when paw paw placed in hay in slanting cold desert lands as in dawn then from above u hurl cold kale from refrigerator or mix cold acid with avocado juice few yards from such heap and boom ya rocket dude while big missiles made when queen cake in hay then from above drop cold avocado juice or masturbate an old man 4 electric 1 while a kid 4 the normal one in cold grass lands slanting to the sea or lake or in cold deserts slanting to the lands.

Like sunking solar kit made when photo as in the link below placed in container in like paw paw heap in the middle then from lofty high u drop paw paw trunk or writing pen and written by them papers or hide avocado in green grass in hillside made partially slanting land or in desert/dry lands sloping land not in basement but made flat part on that slanting land by leveling portion of it to the sea or lake dude in the evening or rainy days or in hillside down hill forest with smoke emitted as charcoal maybe burnt nearby dude or paw paw in hay drop guava in bar soap or hide mango in book cover like egg create bro in the dark in in dug right triangle place within small hills to forested land down hill or in company house towards the lake under disco lights bro

https://www.greenlightplanet.com/solar-lights-shop/sun-king-home-400-price/

U illuminate the drawings below unto heap of hoho enclose within white clothe as in the links below then with water one in factory house towards the road, hurl kale unto grass from above or hide it into grass when outside in lands towards the small rivers or chop inside of mango seed or defecate unto cement in factory lands down the road river dude

https://holleywater.en.made-in-china.com/product/AKZJCOqoSuhc/China-Water-Meter-Ami-System.html

With electric meter one do the same with hoho then drop kale unto spinach in sloping factory house land unto the sea while if u just place from below when the heap in basement u need slanting land to the brown water river or blood placed up stream as with Egypt 1 plague dude as much blood was made in boom process by in the same way few in bif containers placed next to hoho then waru fallen unto paw paw seeds and boom much channeled to the river in dry season in pipes to give it that red colour or still with water meter chop cassava outer peel or grown grass dude in factory house slanting towards instead a road but planted in a road like trees bro

Even the 1 in the below tumblr a/c such placed in projector then illuminates like heap of grass in white linen then u placed cow dung in tangerine or hide paw paw in pumpkin leaves or hide old clothes in garden flower leaves or hide waru in dry grass or pork meat in both red and white guava that 1 4 the motor dynamo type while 4 the water tank 1 u hide candy as tangerine unto cow dung or cow hide unto goat hide, cut piece dude or u hide ripe paw paw unto dry grass or hide hay unto heap of ripe paw paw dude

https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/mrmonde

4 willy bird one u hide raw paw paw unto raw mango heap or cassava unto unto paw paw leaves in factory house slanting towards the river or road dude

4 the oven timer mounted on alternator u draw as connected with belt on the computer then illuminate on the same as grass heap then hide cabbage in dry grass or paw paw in heap of stones in slanting lands towards the stream or hide mfenesi in stone pregnant women eats in sloping lands toward a river if in factory but on bare land toward planted trees dude or just 2 things above as google alternator and over timer illuminate on the grass in bare lands towards the river then insert peel paw paw unto cut flowers or dung into green grass in those lands sloping to the river or gravel into dead snake or gravel into broken glass in the evening and others at dawn, dusk, twilight, daytime or midnight

How fish made much in slanting lands towards the road, placed next to like pumpkin then u hide paw paw unto guava while red guava 4 omena and Nile perch u hide paw paw unto kale or kadhira, mud fish u hide kale unto ripe paw paw dude in the evening dude or dark

Chicken next to tamarind then u hide cabbage unto rocks 4 turkey in the evening or cabbage unto lemon in the night 4 chicken, where heap placed leveled to be flat a little bit dude

Beef u u place next to coconut then u hide paw paw unto ginger in the dark while goat meat u hide cabbage unto brown green grass, rule of the thump if u know how to talk to the devil or burn cabbage in fire and 4 omena burn clothes and burn anything to come out with another results altogether dude

Even the bulb illuminate on solar generator self charging using step ups u draw by copy pasting the same from the net then again connect wires using ya hand or computer software illuminate like on hoho heap then hide like yam in hay or paw paw in ripe mango and boom ya generator and if not out try with hiding 1 thing in many veggies, fruits, leaves or berries don't strangle with many until u find it in slanting lands towards the river or road at night or dawn or evening and u can do it many people dude

The internet server in the link below made when paw paw placed in hay then u hide guava in ripe paw paw in slanting lands towards the lake in moonlight or the photo placed in grass in the middle heap facing up then u drop passion seeds in the dark or tangerine seeds

https://www.engadget.com/2018-07-21-facebook-confirms-internet-satellite-plans.html

while the server is made when paw paw placed in green grass then u hide dry passion in paw paw trunk under bulb light or photo in grass on the floor then u drop tangerine or lemon both in the dark whichever near dude as in the link below

https://qz.com/africa/1138104/africas-internet-economy-needs-more-content-data-servers-on-the-continent/

Water meter made when cabbage placed in kale then in the dark outside in sloping lands towards the river in the dark drop paw paw unto the heap as ripe one give generators as in the link below or cut photo in sideways manner then hurl tangerine seeds unto it and boom those meters under darkness in sloping lands towards the river.

https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/DN15mm-valve-control-software-system-IC_62456467557.html?spm=a2700.galleryofferlist.normal_offer.d_title.79762e58ZBNb0n

https://satoms.com/satellite-internet/

Internet dis made when guava place in carrot in slanting lands towards the road outside then 1 hide soda create or bear or one trample on red bricks or chop paw paw when its hay in carrot as heap and is iced or trample on ripe paw paw or old rugged cotton clothes or just photo in the middle of grass heap in factory house slanting towards the lake then one hide guava unto paw paw or hay unto cut pieces of cow meet under Xmas lights dude

Jet made when the 6 volt rectangular battery u hurl unto the heap of ugali mixture with kunde in the somehow dark night, if u hurl with sukuma wiki gives ya light rail, with cabbage light rail, with kadhira big air-plane, with apoth generator, with ododo doors in the dark or evening, try hurling even in mixed cooked foods as Githeri and ugali with other foods 4 more produce dude, even same battery if u hurl in metallic plate on top placed pineapple or apple or any fruit in lands to the lake or river or different kind of African cooked vegetables dude covering all fruits pr marble with clothes or placing in boxes b4 the boom process dude

Antennae dish 4 mobile is made as in the link below when such photo placed in transparent jars in the middle of iced heap of grass then 1 drop guava seeds unto the heap when not iced formed under bulb light or u hurl paw paw or hide guava unto paw paw trunk when iced down in lands slopping towards the sea/lake or trample on rat or fuck a woman dog style or iced cabbage from the fridge when heap iced dude or illuminate projector photo of the same unto like ripe paw paw heap then trample on cooked beef or hide cabbage in iced dry grass or chop beef or corpse when ripe paw iced or not

https://flashfiction.city/2020/04/09/local-man-attacks-3g-cellular-tower-claims-it-gave-him-herpes/

With radio satellite placed grass into the company house basement in slanting lands towards the lake or river then from above drop cooked cabbage unto iced cabbage above or drop cooked cassava unto the wild grown dry grass or hide paw paw unto old clothes or masturbate an old man if heap iced and 4 kid when dry or 3D illuminated projector photo unto the grass heap even outside then u hide cut tire of tractor into heap of sugar or hide tangerine into heap of millet or caress a kid on the shoulder at night or in the evening or raining dawn smoke emitted around dude near planted sweet potato or paw paw hided within boxes or in polythene bags

https://www.123rf.com/photo_31204908_modern-satellite-dish-radio-telescope.html

Live this world not struggling, locate 3 friend of same character and do like rude boys until u r 40 as life begins at 40 years, Google rudeboiz songs as in the link below, women this the way as Mtindo as Kebi has taken his stand as the 1 in head band, smelling conc perfume like never before dude, follow suit, why hurt in ya hustling yet time still young as well as with ya, stop playing big dude, will kill ya bro

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDJPzbQIGGs

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renaer-is-allegedly-hot · 4 years

Text

actual session 8 notes

• I made a mistake

○ Mistake as in I came in late oops

• Anyways

• They're talking abt hair

• For sneak attack you roll 2d6 just a friendly reminder to yourself

○ oH IT TELLS U IN DNDBEYOND HOW MUCH FOR SNEAK ATTACK OKAY

• Now they're talking abt pranking ppl in the rides

• Now they're talking abt disneyland problems

• Now they're talking abt rollercoasters

• Jacob's fish ate each other

• Ok dnd time

○ "no worries" re: me being late s u r e ok nvm it's not depression time

• Passive perception checks and then we do smth idk

• Last session(s)

○ Downtime and then breakfast was bombed

○ Found out the attack was deliberate

○ Went to the one fancy villa house and got into a few fights

○ A nimblewright ?? Was responsible for the attack ig

○ We dipped and it's rainy

• The city is engulfed in thiccccc fog

○ Walking back to mirt's house

§ Lillian got prankt

• Lillian's sister has a guinea pig

○ Its name is buttercup

○ "buttercup dumpy tho" - jacob, 2020

• We're talking abt china's laws wrt eating dogs

• We're in the fog going to mirt's

○ Mirt's house is in sea ward, we're in north ward (a ward away)

○ If we just walk it's a half mile away

○ But there r streets so like a mile walk

○ Visibility is bad bc spring fog

○ Disadvantage on perception checks, visibility reduced to 30 ft

○ We're walking we get there

• Cel knocks

○ No one answers the door

○ Adam is making an investigation check

§ Does a short tour of the front, nothing out of the ordinary

§ Door is locked

§ Looking into the house there's an occasional candle burning by itself

□ Adam uses thaumaturgy to rapidly change the color of the lights inside to see if he can get anyone's attention

® Lights change color, nothing happens

§ Maybe we'll break in but cel will try the pebble on a window thing first

□ Throws, door opens and floon lets us in

□ Mans just got up

® We're a lil wet

□ It's abt 5am

• Short rest? There's no medium rest

○ I want cake I might make cupcakes after this bc I need cake sugar

§ I'll make cake after this and watch criminal minds bc it had me scream

○ We're taking shifts for keeping watch sleeping in mirt's living room w windows facing out onto the street

○ We're taking a long rest

• When cel is on watch she's just watching the door and windows

• Eventually renaer and floon get up n operate on a normal schedule

• Cut straight to wake up

○ Once we're all up it's raining

○ Hi jacob's dad isn't his name frederic ? Oh god I could b v wrong but I'm p sure bc when marguerite named the squirrel someone was like it's jacob's dad

§ "usually what I say should be cut off" - frederic, 2020

§ Aw bye jacob's dad

§ Jacob sounds exactly like his dad

□ Tb to the one time we were playing split the room on jackbox w my cousins and my dad and the choice was trading ur average newborn for an uber smart one or not and all of the cousins and myself said don't trade and mY DAD SAID TRADE

• It's pouring

• Mirt doesn't seem to b here but we can talk to renaer and floon

○ Gonna talk to them abt the mansion n ppl / things at the mansion

○ Oh a nimblewright is the one thing

§ Oops I accidentally googled it and turns out they're employed as bodyguards / assassins / spies

○ "renAer . Do u recognize this symbol"

§ He is indeed familiar w the crest

§ "well to me this looks like the house of grahlund (idk) ?? Or smth"

§ The houses of waterdeep

§ We're suss abt the book

□ We don't see any other black pages tho

§ Adam says the gnome was unfortunately barbecued

□ "trying to deliver the stone of galore" to us probs

□ Y would he deliver it to us

□ "bc mirt is relatively well known ,, this house is probs well watched"

□ The stone of galore v sought after by noble families apparenTly

□ The house ppl r embezzling that's y they want the rock

□ Had their robot blast our door for it

□ But now city watch probably has it

□ Theo remembers the one elven lady having seen someone run off

□ The zents want it, the nobles want it, the citywatch want it

○ So is the plan to go find a zent ??? Or what we'd learn if we went to the robot's location

§ I don't remember any frickin robot I'm just trying to pick up on context clues

§ Oh right grinda in mistshore ?

§ We're gonna go find grinda

□ It's like around 4 in the afternoon

□ Sun not shining too brightly

□ Renaer not coming

® Ur leaving groot w renaer this time

□ Neither is floon, mirt mentioned he had to go do some business elsewhere

® Adam is currently suspicious of mirt

□ We need a ride

® We all dish out 3 copper for a taxi

® Dom dabbed and no one cares

○ Can u drop a message to the guy ?? Somehow ?? Somewhere ?? Just like ,, keep him in the loop ???? Ur confused

• Ok we pay

○ Adam is playing the uke

§ We're in the cab

§ Imagine it's raining aggressively

§ A dwarf guild member picks us up

§ Ugh I want cake

§ Could I bake while playing hm

§ Cab driver has a rigging of sorts set up

§ I have to pee too

§ Any interesting looking ppl in the cab w us ?

○ A gnome w a fedora looking p drenched, dragonborn woman half sleeping kinda elderly, human man

§ Adam slaps the gnome, you stare at the gnome, gnome looks at adam and adam runs an insight check adam rolls 23, gnome tries to look surprised but looks like he's overacting

§ "there's not a lot of big ideas here"

§ "well that's obvious enough"

§ Gnome picks up on stare

§ You get the paper you flip it, you roll for insight gets 22

□ Takes the bait, looks at the paper; eventually human gets off

□ We're getting close to outskirts of dock ward, road is mud

□ At some point the gnome tries to start conversation

□ "say what's that you've got there"

□ "well I only saw him at the carnival that shows up every fall"

® Common in the autumn but not nowadays

® Would have to wait another summer

□ "are you a nimblewright fanatic sir"

® "all I'm saying is I like springtime rain as much as the next guy but when the wind season comes in it's kinda unusual"

® Gnome's name is elbridge

◊ Adam rolls for insight

} 25

} Looks like he's used to saying that name but it might not be his name

® "say I have some business to attend to so driver u can keep the tip just don't tell the guild" dwarf nods and slows the horses down, gnome gets off and dips

• Adam wants him to blow a nose

• "did he leave any little hairs" - marguerite, 2020

○ Cab driver shouts and says no stabbing on the cart

• We're in the dock ward, cart stops and dwarf leans over and makes us get out

○ Shakes his head and says we shouldn't go to mistborne

○ "is there any instruction you can give us for how to 'get there get there' because you're not 'taking us taking us'" - adam, 2020

• Aerana's leading

○ Dom sends a map

○ We're not standing on the muddy running water streets but on wooden planking

○ You have your dagger at hand

○ Beached ships but ppl living inside them probably

○ U can see there r some ppl peeking out of various doorways + shifty characters milling abt

○ Cel and adam r holding hands

○ Adam is sweating a lot but cel still holds it

○ At some point a dragonborn that looks like a sailor or smth w lots of battlewounds n tattoos looks p savage w dull brown color to scales, stands in front of u without saying anything

○ Ur like a lil shorter than humans and dragonborn r much taller

§ "I have business in mistborne what are you doing in my way"

§ Not so many city types

§ Adam mumbles smth under his breath

□ Asks adam what kind of business

□ "we're looking for grinda"

® Tries to appear jovial

® Says ah yes she lives here

® Dragon therapy

◊ He takes and puts to temple

◊ U pay him 3 gold

◊ Grinda garloff

} Strange woman w a shed at the end of the dock

} Take a left here and follow the sounds of the waves

} Throws out a fourth

– Has many visitors w strange visitors

◊ Cel says she likes his tattoos

} "yes these r when I was sailing around the isle of chault"

• We follow his directions and eventually get to d1, we see ppl trying to set a fire

○ Walk down the dock towards d2, door to north of d2 has small assemblage of ppl

○ Can see up to 60 ft away some odd looking ppl

§ Four thugs bearing weapons; three humans w a dwarf barking instructions, attempting to break down the door to d2

§ Might b grinda's house but we really don't know

§ Adam spruces up the one fire of the dock workers

□ Cel lets go of adam's hand

□ They don't notice adam did it

• Adam tries to hear what the dwarf is saying bc it's rainy and doesn't hear anything

○ Lots of shifty ppl around

○ Some of them r watching the scene and also us

○ We approach the audience

§ Adam nudges the friendliest looking person

§ We all go up onto the elevated ship

§ Immediately ppl look at us suss

□ Confrontational almost and eventually a half-elf woman asks us if we're here to watch them string up grinda

® Cel makes persuasion check

® Isn't there another door ?

® Adam goes to cushiest looking person and asks y they're after grinda

◊ Old grizzled halfling answers adam and says grinda took smth she wasn't supposed to have

◊ "we're here to make sure that grinda doesn't escape unharmed"

◊ "we're pretty tough as well" adam says

◊ More ppl come over closer to us

◊ Adam asking how much it would be to outbuy

◊ "that depends on how much you're asking oh wrinkly one"

◊ Halfling confers w fellows

◊ Halfling appears to be a ringleader

} Says 15 dragons

– 19 for insight

w Confident guy, lived a tough life

w Ppl put their trust in him

w Halfling says 15 is bargain price

w Unsuccessful try to push the price down you all cough up 3 dragons

– They start distributing dragons

w Not used to containing excitement

○ After distributing money asks if we have a bone to pick with the xants

§ Adam's gonna play them a song and plays it so hard it casts shatter on the dock the thugs are standing on

□ Constitution saving throws for everything

® Two of the bandits and the dwarf fail their saving throws, other two succeed

® Tl;dr the dock - two of them r shocked so hard they're either dead or unconscious

® Dwarf Is particularly affected

® Dock they're standing on collapses

® Door blasted off inwards

◊ "that's a little trick I learned at bard school"

◊ Ppl on the boat have moved away

® Humans and dwarves screaming

◊ 3 left

} We're not killing them just going into the house

} Go to the side entrance

– V small room w all bare necessary fixtures

– Strange safes n intricate bolted locks

– Hanging talismans from the roof

– Nvm went too fast

w Aerana jumps and runs into a wall but you run into a cabinet

w 3 damage

w Human woman looks unconscious

w Adam casts healing word

w Resuscitates her

w Has mismatched eyes, one yellow other dark green

w V gray hair

w Doesn't look particularly old just has gray hair

w Startles when she wakes up trying to assess our intentions

w Adam tries to convince her the thugs outside tried to blow up her door

w 18 for deception

w Lie works

w "who are you people?"

® Theo asks if she knows anything abt this *pulls out paper*

◊ Affirms we're not w the xants

◊ "I appreciate what you did my name's grinda"

◊ Doesn't look used to talking to this many ppl at once

◊ Stands up and busies herself w putting the room back in order

◊ Looks like she had been barricading the door w stuff before everything was knocked over

◊ "you're telling me you just happened across this place and drove off some xants for some odd purpose"

◊ "actually we were looking for you" - theo

◊ Were told she might have smth to do w the paper

◊ "all the homies hate xanathar" - adam, 2020

} "I've had my dealings w the xanathar before…" admits she was in over her head

} Looking at the paper "so this nimblewright was instructed to drop off an artifact I was supposed to hold for the xanathars

} She got greedy bc she's a treasure-seeker

} The artifact is worth a lot

} "it's just what we do lady" - adam, 2020

} Adam is gonna charm her

– Adam tries to flex "what exactly what was the dangerous item that put a poor, poor, well-facially featured woman like you in danger" what is this jacob

w 17 persuasion

– Her expression changes a little

– It's the stone

w "I was attempting to attune with it but I was unable to in time"

w She put it in a hide hole

w Adam offers to trade hidey-hole locations

w She has a rat familiar and instructed it to take the stone to the city of the dead

w "can you tell the rat to bring it back"

• The city of the dead: mass cemetery where ppl of waterdeep bury their dead within city limits

○ Almost like its own ward

○ In the garlock? Garlof? family mausoleum

○ Adam gets her to pull out some of the items she's collected; some resistance

§ She comes back w a brass ring

□ Once one is attuned to it you are rendered invisible

□ "hold on to that for me hun and I'll come back"

○ Aerana is aware there are guards posted at night but it's a vast open space

• To the cemetery we will go

• Summary

○ Successfully dispatched the thugs

○ Gradually learning more abt the alleged horde of dragons

#sn #8 #dnd #d&d #wdh

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tatticstudio55 · 5 years

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Bran Stark in ADWD: caves, moons, wolves and other thoughts

Bran’s last ADWD gave me pause for a lot of details: how they all nestled beneath the earth while the wolves outside hunted and ate frozen wights, for a start. It reminded me of the wolves invading the lands north of King’s Landing at the start of ACOK. It reminded me of Ghost, and how he was the only beast unafraid of the still moving, undead hand. It was in this chapter that Leaf told Bran of the death of unicorns, giants, and other magical forces who once lived North of the Wall. I thought of the giants who supposedly helped build the Wall.

And it just hit me: that the Others probably rose again because Nature’s natural “weapons” against them – giants and direwolves and children of the forest – were dying out. That the War against the Others was never a war meant for men to fight. Bran, Jojen and Meera did nothing while Summer led his pack in a wights hunt. We learned that there was another way, apart from fire and dragonglass, to kill wights: you could eat them.

Maybe there’s a reason, apart from the war of the five kings, why wolves are invading the lands. Maybe it’s nature, preparing itself for the oncoming of the dead.

(Maybe Jon will slip into Ghost’s skin to kill the Night King? Ghost is silent as a dead and white like snow, so the Night King might not see him until it’s too late.)

~֎~

Back to Bran: while Summer gorges on bloodless wights, he eats blood stew and a weirwood paste “with dark red veins running through it” (Bran, ACOK). That he feeds on blood strangely fit with the vampiric undertones of Bloodraven sustaining himself on the life of a tree, or rather, the other way around: that’s it’s the tree who feeds on Bloodraven, slowly absorbing and digesting him: “the weirwood roots snaking in and out of his withered flesh, the mushrooms sprouting from his cheeks, the white wooden worm that grew from the socket where one eye had been.” (Bran, ACOK). Bloodraven’s description also evoke a fetus in the womb: “Lord Brynden drew his life from the tree, Leaf told them. He did not eat, he did not drink. He slept, he dreamed, he watched.” (Bran, ACOK) The cave is very womb-like; a place providing ample food, blood and warmth, brimming with sleeping life, and where days and nights intermingle.

"I wore many names when I was quick, but even I once had a mother, and the name she gave me at her breast was Brynden."

"The secrets of the old gods," said Jojen Reed. Food and fire and rest had helped restore him after the ordeals of their journey, but he seemed sadder now, sullen, with a weary, haunted look about the eyes. "Truths the First Men knew, forgotten now in Winterfell … but not in the wet wild.

He was almost a man grown, and he did not want Meera to think he was some weepy babe.

There he sat, listening to the hoarse whispers of his teacher. "Never fear the darkness, Bran." The lord's words were accompanied by a faint rustling of wood and leaf, a slight twisting of his head. "The strongest trees are rooted in the dark places of the earth. Darkness will be your cloak, your shield, your mother's milk. Darkness will make you strong."

In the beginning he had tried to count the days by making note of when he woke and slept, but down here sleeping and waking had a way of melting into one another.

He even crossed the slender stone bridge that arched over the abyss and discovered more passages and chambers on the far side. One was full of singers, enthroned like Brynden in nests of weirwood roots that wove under and through and around their bodies.

He wanted to put his arms around her, hold her tight the way his mother used to hold him back at Winterfell when he'd hurt himself.

His father and the black pool and the godswood faded and were gone and he was back in the cavern, the pale thick roots of his weirwood throne cradling his limbs as a mother does a child.

…a woman heavy with child emerged naked and dripping from the black pool, knelt before the tree, and begged the old gods for a son who would avenge her.

These are most of the references to motherhood appearing in the chapter (as you can see, there’s quite a bit), but there’s another detail worth bringing up. The shape and position of the moon in the sky are mentioned eight time in total:

The moon was a crescent, thin and sharp as the blade of a knife.

The moon was fat and full.

The moon was a black hole in the sky.

The moon was a crescent, thin and sharp as the blade of a knife.

The moon was fat and full.

The moon was a crescent, thin and sharp as the blade of a knife.

The moon was a black hole in the sky.

The moon was a crescent, thin and sharp as the blade of a knife.

Afterward, we have Brynden telling Bran “it’s time” (Bran, ADWD). We also have the “woman heavy with child” from Bran’s last set of visions. We’ll be reminded that there’s nine moons in a pregnancy.

It’s a bit unsettling, however. The moon “fat and full” is a clear reference to pregnancy and life, whereas the “crescent, thin and sharp as the blade of a knife” means death. The chapter concludes with a set of three visions, the first of a pregnant woman emerging from a “black pool”, the last of a woman with white hairs (old, I presume) slicing a boy’s throat as an offering to the weirwood:

Then, as he watched, a bearded man forced a captive down onto his knees before the heart tree. A white-haired woman stepped toward them through a drift of dark red leaves, a bronze sickle in her hand.

"No," said Bran, "no, don' t, " but they could not hear him, no more than his father had. The woman grabbed the captive by the hair, hooked the sickle round his throat, and slashed. And through the mist of centuries the broken boy could only watch as the man's feet drummed against the earth … but as his life flowed out of him in a red tide, Brandon Stark could taste the blood. – Bran, ADWD

I searched “sickle” on Google image and this is what I got:

Basically, it’s a crescent moon shaped knife. In farming, it is (or was) used to harvest wheat and corn stalks. It’s both a reference to death (as it’s used to kill) and life (as it’s used to collect food). The sickle is actually very similar to the arakh, a signature dothraki weapon:

(You’d knew I’d find a way to bring Daenerys into this, didn’t you?)

But I had to, because you just can’t talk about pregnancy in asoiaf without mentioning the primary character associated with motherhood, pregnancy, sacrifice and the moon. From this Bran chapter, one thing that seems connected to fertility is the rich, dampness and warmth of the earth. Daenerys, who believes herself to be barren, rule over a dry, barren land in Meereen. Droughts, deserts, dryness… she encounters it all.

They rode to the lake the Dothraki called the Womb of the World, surrounded by a fringe of reeds, its water still and calm. A thousand thousand years ago, Jhiqui told her, the first man had emerged from its depths, riding upon the back of the first horse.

The procession waited on the grassy shore as Dany stripped and let her soiled clothing fall to the ground. Naked, she stepped gingerly into the water. Irri said the lake had no bottom, but Dany felt soft mud squishing between her toes as she pushed through the tall reeds. The moon floated on the still black waters, shattering and re-forming as her ripples washed over it. – Daenerys, AGOT

The “fringe of reeds” part is interesting, since Bran is also surrounded by “reeds” (Jojen and Meera) when inside the “womb” of the cave, in ADWD. Anyway, Daenerys bathing in the black waters (bathing with the moon, I might add, just like she’s bathing with the child inside her belly) is definitely a parallel to the “a woman heavy with child emerged naked and dripping from the black pool, knelt before the tree, and begged the old gods for a son who would avenge her” part. Odder, even, is that her child will be sacrificed, like the man sacrificed to the weirwood in Bran’s vision.

The black waters are present in Bran’s cave as well:

"The river you hear is swift and black, and flows down and down to a sunless sea.” – Bran, ADWD

Bran “emerges” from it every time he warg a raven, or Summer, and leaves the cave. Once, he goes into the literal black waters, and back up, while warged into Hodor:

One day Meera and Jojen decided to go see the river, despite Leaf's cautions. "I want to come too," Bran said.

Meera gave him a mournful look. The river was six hundred feet below, down steep slopes and twisty passages, she explained, and the last part required climbing down a rope. "Hodor could never make the climb with you on his back. I'm sorry, Bran."

Bran remembered a time when no one could climb as good as him, not even Robb or Jon. Part of him wanted to shout at them for leaving him, and another part wanted to cry. He was almost a man grown, though, so he said nothing. But after they were gone, he slipped inside Hodor's skin and followed them. – Bran, ADWD

I think the black waters are linked with the black moon and overall symbolize a phase of “incubation”. The crescent shaped moon, I’d link it with blood magic, magical sight (for Bran) and for Daenerys, something related to the dothraki, as well as to the “reaping and harvesting” stage. You could probably view her recruitment of the dothraki in season six as a form of “harvest”. Dany’s army/armies and Bran’s magical sight both come at the price of blood, during the “crescent moon phase” of their journeys. That’s where ADWD leaves them: Bran’s last “moon” is a crescent shaped one, his chapter ending with him lost in a vision and tasting the blood of the man dying at “his” weirwood’s feet. Dany’s last chapter ends with her being surrounded by dothraki warriors in the Great Grass Sea.

I don’t think they’ve reached the full moon phase yet. The moon “fat and full” will come last for them.

P.S as usual, pic link in the comments below.

#asoiaf meta #daenerys targaryen #bran stark #A Dance with Dragons #a game of thrones #moon symbolism #i hope this is coherent

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kazlifeadventures · 5 years

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Trinidad & Tobago - Carribean dreams...

I am so ‘vex’ that I won't be ‘liming’ in this beautiful place any more. I have been one lucky person to have been able to come here and hang with a local for almost a week. Jasmine has shown me her Trinidad and for that I am truly grateful. I have eaten so many local foods and they have all been fantastic. I have impressed the locals no end with my love of pepper sauce. The food here is tasty, spicy, and pretty much specific to this island. ‘Nah boy’, I am so very much enamoured with this country! One of my friends asked me if I had posted photos of the food. Truth be told, I don’t have a lot of pics, its not the most photogenic, and I seriously just wanted to eat it! I have partaken in the local speciality of doubles, with ‘plenty’ I might add - for those unaware that is with extra hot sauce and/or the mango bone that is infused with more pepper. Doubles is made with 2 baras filled with a curry channa (chick peas), it originally started as a breakfast food, progressing to be an anytime of the day food. It’s nutritious, tasty, and sold at street side vendors everywhere. Apparently even pizza and KFC taste better over here. This I can now say I agree with. Not sure if the food tastes better, or if its adding the ketchup, mustard, and pepper sauce that assists with the taste upgrade.....

Jas took me to the home of street food a little town called St James, and made sure I got to have saheena, (seriously amazing spicy little deep fried spinachy deliciousness ) as well as alloo pie...amongst other things. The locals only really eat out at restaurants on special occasions so that meant Jas cooked for me a lot of the time, and wow, just wow. I loved the chicken curry (brown), smoked herring, baigan choka, salt fish, home made roti, the fabulous goat curry.... I could rave on, but google Trinidadian food and you’ll understand. Jas lives out in the ‘country’ to the South of Port of Spain, the capital. We spent one evening heading around to some of the local rum bars. Rum bars are everywhere here. Beer is cold and cheap (and made here - love the Stag and the Carib!). I got to meet a few of the locals. Over here they will buy you a drink even for something as simple as the fact that they had to order over you slightly. At the bar. They loved to meet the ‘white girl from Austalia’, as out here they dont see a lot like me... The good thing is none of it was them just trying it on with the foreigner. These are genuinely lovely, polite, caring people. I had a dance off with some girls from Venezuela, and ended up drinking way more drinks then I paid for, eating (they sell bar snacks and’cutters’ only at the rum shops) some tasty wontons at one place, and some really tasty fried chicken at another. We then got some free food from another lovely local who bought us a drink, and also then brought us across some Souse and Corn soup from his food stall (across the road from the rum shop). Anyway I can now say I have tried Souse, not sure I’d eat it again, it was flavourful, but pigs trotters in broth with onion and cucumber is not on my list of things to eat again! I think I have decided that I need to come back to Aus and start my own Trini food store, I think it’d be a huge hit. Love the local beers. Love the rum here. Jas made sure I tasted the Puncheon rum - 75 % and you never get a hangover or upset stomach... I wanted to bring some home, but alas no room in the suitcase! One of the biggest things, I was not aware that this is the home where Angostura bitters is bottled. It was first created in the town called Angostura in Venezuela by a German surgeon stationed in Venezuela, originally produced there between 1824 - 1830. In 1875, the plant was moved to Trinidad and that’s where it’s secret recipe is still produced today.

One of the main religions here is Hindu, they have a giant (85 feet - 26m) statue of Lord Hanuman Murti located in the grounds of Dattatreya Yoga. The statue is the second tallest in the world, and the tallest one in the western hemisphere. When we pulled up onsite there was one man looking after the bookstore who allowed us to enter the grounds and take photos. We weren't allowed to enter the temple/yoga centre as we weren't appropriately dressed. The gentleman then showed us the book explaining how the statue had been built and answered all my gazillion questions. It was like having our own private tour! Jas then took me down the road a little further to show me the temple in the sea. This temple was originally constructed by hand 1947 -52 by Sewdass Sadhu an immigrant from India. It has since been added to, and tidied up, but it's an amazing place, and a site of pilgrimage for Hindus. It's also one of the designated locations for Hindus to perform the funeral pyre. Hindu religion requires that the dead are burned near water and a holy place.

Brian Lara is still HUGE here. He is a home town Trini boy so I completely understand. Cricket is massive, and the new Brian Lara stadium is a huge landmark. They had a cricket game on when I was here (Trinidad vs Jamaica) but they had sold out the tickets otherwise we would have gone.

I spent a day at the beautiful Maracas beach, located on the northern part of Trini. On the way there we stopped at the lookout and had a quick look at the food stalls. I got to try some ‘Chow’, a garlicky spicy way of preserving such things as Pineapple, apple, mango, cucumber... its yummy and not too spicy and I really appreciated the stall holder giving me a taste ( and Jas’s friend Isabelle for buying some of the pineapple one). Maracas beach is a favourite with the locals and its a thing to do to have a ‘bake and shark’ when you go to the beach. Betcha cant guess what I had... Can I say amazing (again!!) You not only get your bake (which is a deep fried Roti) You get beautiful fresh deep fried shark fillet inside it, then you go to a buffet like area and add as many of the additions as you want . Yep, of course I added a bit of EVERYTHING . I had to taste it all. Seriously that thing was amazing. BTW I do taste everything first before adding pepper sauce... pepper sauce heightens the flavours. Jas’s friend Isabelle got her son in law to give us a shout out on the radio station he worked at ( they had it playing at the beach), so ‘Karen from Australia’ is now Trini Famous... love it!!

Jasmine took me out to the Pitch lake, in La Brea, and I’ll admit, I had no idea what it was ( I thought it was a lake!!) Anyway, some how we ended up with a colourful local as our personal guide, he was You tube famous and has apparently featured on David Attenboroughs visit to the lake. I have to sit and edit my ‘documentary’ when I’m back in Australia, it’ll be awesome.. I promise. Suffice to say the lake is the most amazing tar pit. Seriously amazing tar pit. The roads leading into the area are all like travelling over mini crazy hills due to the impact of the tar movements in the area. You have to use an authorised guide on the site, which is fair enough as a wrong step could see you disappear forever into the tar... literally... Trinidads pitch lake is the largest natural deposit of asphalt in the world (estimated to hold about 10 million tonnes) Its covers about 100 acres and is about 250 feet deep. There is a cool legend involving the origin of the lake the involves a hummingbird (I like the story), Historically Walter Raleigh re-discovered the lake on his expedition there in 1595. It has that charming rotten egg smell, and the mud and sulphur water apparently have healing properties. Locals were there immersing themselves in some of the pools while we were there. As we didnt have swim suits we had to settle with getting coated in the mud on our legs, and for me, also my face...lol!!! I didnt get a chance to put it on myself, out guide was very keen to smear it all over my face... (and shirt and hair.. etc...). Rinsing it, after it had set, was a whole other process involving splashing what looked Iike green water all over my face (and legs), all I wanted to do was rinse my face with some fresh water afterwards - and it took over an hour or so until I finally got somewhere to do it. Let’s not talk about how much scrubbing it required later that night to get the last bits of our skin! A great fun day though, made all the better for our colourful guide! I have had a crash course in some of the Trinidadian slang/words and between that and their accents I am sometimes lost in a conversation... (definitely accents particularly when you are trying to enter the country and the border control guy is talking to you and you have to continually say, sorry what??? ) I’m a lot better now!!

Jas couldn’t make it over to Tobago as she had work scheduled at her house that she needed to be around for. So I decided to head over for a night, hire a car, and see what I could see. Its literally a 20 min flight over (only costs about 50 US return) FYI 24 hrs isn’t really enough to see everything. I didnt get to the water fall or national park. I had headed down to Store bay beach when I first arrived with instructions to try the curry crab, conch and dumplings in Tobago (its their local specialty, amongst a few other things). Have to say I liked the conch, crab was over cooked and dry, and dumplings were kind of chewy. The ‘provisions’ that I got with it were really nice though - Plantain, Potato, green banana, avocado ..I would have liked to have tried another outlet to give a second opinion, but didnt have the time. I did get to the beautiful Pigeon Park, a natural reserve area, filled with some shops, water sports hire, beautiful beaches and glorious spot to watch the sunset. I also got out to the Fort of King George in Scarborough hiking up the giant hill to take in the glorious views. Hilariously there was a traffic hold up on my way there due to some goats being herded along the road. Island time boy. I would have to say, as much as its a part of the one country, Tobago island is completely different to Trinidad. Its a lot more touristy for a start, it has more servicible beaches. The roads are not as pot holed as Trinidad. The people are still lovely, but you get the tourist scouters who are looking to sell you on anything they can. Its a beautiful place and I’m so glad I got to go across and visit. As always, I can always go back!

My time in the Caribbean has come to a close. (9-16 Oct). What an adventure. I have had a fabulous time, and recommend to anyone to come here and see this place, taste the food and meet the people for themselves. The country has their own issues with government corruption which impacts the improvement of infrastructure like roads etc. And there are warnings around safety as there are elements involved in crime that impact locals and tourists alike. This just makes Trinidad Tobago, not unlike a lot of other countries that I have visited on my adventures. It just means the more prepared you are to be open to new things, different ways of doing things, different cultures. The more you are aware of your own safety, and that of your belongings , the more you can avoid crime. Crime can impact you anywhere in the world, countries like this dont have it any more or less than others, it just seems to be in the media more....

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roadjanus · 5 years

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Heading to the Dead Sea...lucky we’re not dead...

A Muslim woman’s bathing suit next to a bikini! Border crossing and our YMCA lobby . So beautiful!

First glimpse of Israel...from Jordan height of land.

Heading to the Dead Sea

We thought we had that covered...just a short drive from Aqaba to the north end of the Dead Sea. There we would take a look at that oddity (400 m below sea level). Stay overnight and the next day...over the border to Israel. But of course, 5 hours later we arrive. How did that happen? Well, I’m using that new app — maps.me. It is a wonderful little app that works like google maps but offline. But we’re not too good at operating it as yet. So we set the route but didn’t press start, so it was showing where we were going rather than where we should go. So we ended up on this little road heading out of Wadi Musa, past Little Petra (who knew) and the road got smaller, and twister, and then smaller, and we were climbing up and up and up. And the road got smaller and narrower. An occasional donkey cart. Bedouin settlement. Then nothing. Just that narrow, serpentine road. We eventually came to the height of land. What a view. I think it was our first sighting of Israel. Fabulous. Then we had to come down from that height of land. I closed my eyes.

We came along the Western Jordanian border. There were a lot of very poor people living along this border. Looked like market gardening was the main industry. Until we got to the potash mines at the south end of the Dead Sea. This whole area was poor and extremely ugly. People were living in shacks that used some sort of poly to keep out the wind. This was in great contrast to the beautiful farms in the Jordan Valley. Towns were as poor as anything we ever saw in Africa. Even when we got to what the map said was a resort area we were taken aback by the lack of resort infrastructure. There didn’t seem to be any resorts that were close to the sea. We can see Israel across the sea. This land is so poor that we can’t understand why anyone is fighting over it. Lots of times we’ve said this. The land is so rocky and mountainous. Desert, rock fields.

When we finally reached the north of the sea we drove in circles for quite a time to find the hotel. No signage. Then when we finally reached the hotel we find a fairly new Ramada, with a fence and gate...and a man who checks for bombs. So we passed that test. We got checked in and then discovered that all our worldly goods would have to be handed over in order to eat at the hotel. What a price! Crazy. Who are they feeding at that price. By that time we were pretty tired and a little Hangry. So off we went to a little restaurant that was on the main road. So I go in to check out the menu and while I’m there, Bestie’s Man discovers he can’t open the car door. He’s locked in! Haha. A man steps up to help. Eventually it’s fixed. He’s out! So the restaurant doesn’t have hummus. The man who helped said, “Just go next door to the convenience store and buy some. You can bring it to the restaurant.” And that is what we did. We ordered fried chicken and grilled chicken (the best we’ve had so far this trip— and that is saying something) and brought hummus from next door and had wonderful bread. All for a pittance. And a cat came in from outside and shared our leftovers. Don’t you just love this country! People were so friendly and helpful. The food was so good. The cat was friendly. No more Hangry!

In the morning Bestie and I headed down to the sea. We only had about an hour as the man from the car company was coming to pick up the car and drop us at King Hussein Bridge (Allenby Bridge). I rubbed the mud on, then went into the ocean. A couple who were already there told me to walk in and then sit. so I did. And I floated. It was next to impossible to push my legs down. I know that sounds crazy. So I had to turn and propel myself backwards with my arms until I got to shallow water. It felt unnatural. I’d been warned not to get the water in my eyes or even on my face as it would burn. The mud came off, sort of oily. It stuck to my cuticles and under my nails. It was a ‘sperience!

And off to the crossing. We’d been warned that trouble could be had at this bridge. It is the only crossing for the Palestinians coming from the West Bank. They can cross into Jordan and fly out of their airport or continue into the Middle East. Of course the Israelis are touchy about the Palestinians. The Jordanians are touchy about the Israelis that are coming into their country or going out. So everyone is on edge. The men at the crossing were grim. Uniforms and guns. Not the friendly Jordanians that we’d been encountering incountry. Not that they were unpleasant. Just serious. But we were dropped off and walked into Jordan customs, paid our exit fee and then boarded a shuttle bus that would take us to the Israel border. The system they have set up seems to me to be awkward in the extreme. They take our passports when we pay, (10 Dinars) then we wait, then we go out and put our luggage on the bus, board the bus...all without any instruction. A very nice Chinese man helped us. And a priest also offered assurances that we were doing the right thing and that our passports would be returned. And sure enough, a man came on with a pack of passports and matched them up with the faces on the bus. We paid him the fee to ride the bus. 8.5 Dinars each. What they were doing with those passports I can’t imagine.

We drove awhile, waited awhile. A Jordanian policeman came on and checked a passport or two, looked us over. We drove some more. Checkpoint. Then we were at Israeli customs. Another lineup. Luggage goes through a big scanner. We waited quite a while for it. Took a long time for the luggage to come through. But I had some time to look around. There were women working there. I hadn’t realized how much I missed them. They were, generally, smiling and cheerful, helpful. The men were friendly, although I noticed there were several men just watching. They had security tags on and were just leaning on the wall, watching. Many soldiers with big guns stood around but did not appear threatening to us.

I have to say that the magic word is “Canadian”. I can’t tell you how many times we’ve said this and been fast tracked through security lines, scanner lines. Welcome, Welcome! It’s wonderful to be Canadian.

We got through Israeli customs. So from start to finish, about 3 hours. Not bad. No problems, just waiting.

And we’re in Israel. It is immediately more organized, more European. Everything is done quickly and completely. We get a taxi and we’re off to Jerusalem. The country is neat and tidy. Great road. It is obvious we have left Jordan. It’s 45 minutes to our hotel. So glad to be here

#jordan #dead sea #retirement #second childhood #border crossing #Allenby Bridge #King Hussein bridge #Israeli customs

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olivjonas-blog · 5 years

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My Experience on Gil Travel's Private Tour in Israel

My family and I decided to visit Israel last year since we’d never been there before. We usually plan and organize all of our trips ourselves, but being short on time, we optioned to take Gil Travel’s private tour to Israel, as we wanted to see as much as possible and have a guide who would tell us all about the places we visited, so all of us could learn, not only enjoy the trip.

In this post, I’ll share my experience and impressions.

It was a 3-day tour with a price of $650. It may seem a bit pricey, but I must say that it was worth every penny. Why?

The trip was well-organized, everything was as scheduled, without major delays, problems, or difficulties. Our guide was not only polite and kind, but also impressively patient with us. My children can be pretty irritating with thousands of questions they ask in a minute, but the guide answered all of them in a humorous way so the children could really enjoy the stories he told.

For our first day of the trip, Jerusalem was on schedule. We went to Mount of Olives and were stunned by the view: an amazing complex of catacombs, churches, stories of King David and King Solomon, so much history at that place. I was blessed to be there.

After the Mount of Olives, we were headed to the Old City, visiting old Jewish and Christian quarters, and the Church of Holy Sepulchre. I’d never before thought that people of different religious views could live in such a harmony. After seeing what happened around the world, especially in this area, this was truly surprising and relieving, I must admit.

We spent the second day of our trip to the New City, where we visited the Church of Visitation. A striking mosaic on the facade of the upper church and statues of Mary and Elizabeth left us speechless. After the church, we left to visit Yad Vashem, the Memorial to the Holocaust. So emotional, still impossible to believe that something like that could have happened. After this emotionally exhausting visit, a relief came, and what my children were thrilled by- the miniature model of Jerusalem from the late Second Temple Period. We were all amazed by how well and skillfully it was made.

We then proceeded to Bethlehem, visited Shepherds’ field, Israel Museum, Church of Nativity, and the Shrine of the Books. Children were not really surprised, and the tour guide, on our request, made a couple of pauses in between the visits to have kids play in a park while we had a nice chat about the city, people, culture, and some traditions. We were provided all the information, that we didn’t need to google anything at all.

The third day was reserved for Massada, the Dead Sea, and Qumran. A cable car, a fortress, and finally relaxing in the mineral-rich mud were perfect for the end of our trip. Children said it was their best day, I was so pleased to see them enjoy the view and play, and their curiosity at its peak when we reached the fortress and King Herod.

I wish the trip had lasted a bit longer. A three-day tour is definitely not enough to see everything, but I’m glad I had a chance to visit some of the most important historical and religious sites in Jerusalem. It was a truly enlightening and pleasant experience. When everything is well-organized and having a guide who understands your needs, it leaves no place for complaints or any bad memories.

I can’t wait to schedule my next trip to Jerusalem and see not only some other sites in Jerusalem but also other cities and landmarks.

#israel #TourIsrael #IsraelTour #TourToIsrael #GilTravel #GilTravel.com

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dailyaudiobible · 5 years

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02/22/2019 DAB Transcript

Leviticus 13:1-59, Mark 6:1-29, Psalms 39:1-13, Proverbs 10:10

Today is the 22nd day of February. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian. It is a pleasure and an honor to be here with you today. Coming to you from the Dead Sea currently and there is much to do and see today as there was yesterday and we will talk about that in a little bit. But before that we should that we should do what we've come to do and that is to take the next step forward in the Scriptures this year. So, we’re reading from the Christian Standard Bible this week and we’ll move back into the book of Leviticus. Today we'll read Leviticus chapter 13.

Commentary:

Okay. So, in the book of Leviticus as very specific statutes and regulations are being put in place about very specific conditions, you know, like like we were saying yesterday, we can glaze over on this, but yesterday we talked about the fact that there is still clean and unclean, and that principal still matters as much today as it ever did. So, we get into the book of Leviticus today and God is telling Moses and Aaron, you know, about people who have swellings or rashes or discolorations on their skin and what might develop into a serious skin disease and what my not. And, so, it's easy again to just kind of tune out, like, come on, a reddish bump on the skin needs to be examined by the priest, he's gotta declare clean or unclean. Whew…thankfully we don't have to do this. And we can understand, you know, why these kinds of instructions would be given from a practical perspective because, I mean, we’re talking about a time without antibiotics. If there is an infectious disease that can infect another person, especially through blood or, you know, exposing raw flesh or whatever. Well, then that could affect a lot of people, not just one person. So, we can we can see that but it's hard to know why God wanted this in the Bible at face value, but we have been talking about the fact that the tapestry of this culture that is being formed in the wilderness has certainly got practical value in how people are to relate to each other, keep each other protected, and keep each other healthy. But also, what is being woven into this culture is a spiritual underpinning so that pretty much everything they experience in life is connected to its spiritual reality. So, the priest was to inspect a rash or swelling and quarantine the infected person. And the way that the priest would determine whether what he was examining was dangerous was to determine whether it was on the surface of the skin or if it went deeper. We’re starting to see the spiritual implications here, right? If somethings on the surface, I mean, it can pretty much be plucked off the surface and disposed of easily but something that’s deeper can cause chronic problems, right, both in our body and in our Spirits and we can’t always tell was happening within us. So, in our modern era, we have the medical community, right, we have members of our clergy, we have the counseling community to help us work through these things. In Israel's time they had family leaders, right, the tribal leaders and they had the priesthood. So, different labels, maybe different functions, but we’re not as different as it might seem. But regardless, the things that have become more than a surface issue, whether they are in our body, our mind or our spirit, those things should not be left to grow into a life-threatening issue that could impact everyone around us and Leviticus brought this clear, front, and center for us today.

Prayer:

Father, we come into Your presence. You are our great high priest. Examine us. We come and submit ourselves before You and ask You to show us the things that would be declared unclean because they are unclean. Show us the things that we've allowed to exist that have now become more than skin deep, the things that are seeping poison slowly into our souls and we know something is wrong and it feels like slowly fading but we can't explain why. It's because we've allowed things in our lives to grow beyond skin deep. Holy Spirit come show us these areas. We open ourselves to You. We want to be made whole. So, come Jesus we pray. In Your mighty name we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

Okay. So, coming to you today from the Dead Sea where we will be heading out and heading north and by the time that the days over today, we will have left the wilderness behind. Yesterday, we spent our second full day in the wilderness by beginning in Eilat where we had spent the night and then beginning our journey North because you can only go north. And our first stop was at a place called Timna. Ancient mines are there and human activity from the time archaeologically is there, but there is also a scale replica of the tabernacle. So, we read about the specifics of the tabernacle that God outlines, the place to be the center of the camp of the Israelites, the place where God would dwell, right in the middle of all of them. And it's detailed completely but so much detail is given that it's…it's kind of…you know…and so many of the measurements, like, how big is a cubit exactly and all of this. So, it's like hard to imagine exactly how it looked and how it would be. So, there’s a full-scale replica of the tabernacle out in the wilderness just kind of sitting in the desert. So, it's in the right setting and it's just powerful to see the themes in the tabernacle emerge and how they point the way forward toward Jesus. So, we spent some time there viewing and hearing about the tabernacle before continuing forward and we made another stop at our favorite Yatvota dairy. Stopped for some more ice cream and a bathroom break before a bit of a long drive going north but actually descending to the lowest point on earth, which is where we ended up, in the Dead Sea. But before that went to Masada. And Masada goes back all the way to King Herod's time, at least where Herod at an opulent palace out in the desert but it was also us a stronghold. And, you know, if you've ever been to Masada, if you’ve been to Israel than you know, like…it…you see that place and you wonder how it could ever be taken, but it's the Romans did and that's part of the Hebrew story and that's part of the heritage here, but it is also a an unbelievably spectacular view of the wilderness. So, we spent some time there before, just coming back to the shores of the Dead Sea and considering some of the Genesis stories about Abraham and Lott and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and Lott fleeing and how his story went, which we talked about when we read through it in Genesis, but we just kind of revisited that right there on the shores of the Dead Sea before getting to our hotel before dark so that everyone would have the opportunity to bathe themselves in mud and float in the Dead Sea, which is always a highlight and always a lot of fun. So, we covered some significant ground today allowing us to kind of stage ourselves at the Dead Sea and begin to move north a few stops along the way and begin moving our way out of the wilderness. So, we’re having a blast, you know, we’re slowly all moving through jet lag and all this kind of stuff and just enjoying community and company and fellowship and fun and conversation and friendship all while being aware that God is speaking to us through the wilderness, speaking to us about the wilderness, and in many ways reinterpreting things that we've considered maybe incorrectly about the wilderness. And at this point , now that we’ve had a couple of days to just kind of view the vastness of the wilderness it's unspeakably clear, you take roads out of the equation and you take electricity out of the equation and everything that we are accustomed to and you take a horde of people into the wilderness that there is nothing to do but be utterly dependent upon God, which is kind of the point and kind of the point when we go through our own seasons of wilderness. And, so, we have often invited the Holy Spirit to speak into and interpret these wilderness seasons of our lives as we’ve wandered in the wilderness and it creates a foundation for the story that's being told here as we do our best to tell the story that the Bible is telling through the land of the Bible. So, we thank you for your prayers continually. Believe me when I tell you that we feel them, and we sense that and it brings an incredible amount of peace over the entire journey. So, thank you for your continued prayers and I will look forward to describing all that we will do today tomorrow because we have to do all we’re going to do today before I can buy can tell you about it. But thank you for following along and you can certainly follow Daily Audio Bible on Facebook or Instagram and we are posting things as they happen. And, so, excited to have you along virtually.

One way to really come along virtually is this Saturday, this Saturday evening, at least for us here in Israel, we’ll be at the Sea of Galilee and we always get together and just kind of debrief a little bit, talk to each other a little bit as we approach the halfway point of our journey, not quite the halfway point but as we’re getting there and just kind of talk through a little bit, share some experiences, but we spend a bit of that time throwing up a camera and broadcasting on Facebook Live. And, so, you are invited. This is gonna happen at 7pm here in Israel. So, the difference there, like back to where I live in Tennessee, it will be 11 AM on Saturday. So, you can just Google the time difference between Tel Aviv, Israel and wherever it is that you are and you’ll be able to figure out what time that will be for you. But do tune in, we’ll be broadcasting this on Facebook Live at the Daily Audio Bible Facebook page, which is Facebook.com/Daily Audio Bible or just, you know, search for Daily Audio Bible on Facebook and you'll find it. And hope to see you there. And that's a fun time because that draws the whole community together. So many people are chatting with each other from all over the place and throwing questions to the group here in Israel and getting those questions answered and it's always a good time. So, hope to see you there. It'll be fun.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com. There is a link that lives on the homepage and I thank you for everyone who's ever clicked that link. My heart is grateful beyond words. Thank you. If you're using the Daily Audio Bible app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or, if you prefer, the mailing address is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

And, as always, if you have a prayer request or comment, 877-942-4253 is the number to dial.

And that's it for today. I'm Brian I love you and I'll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayer and Praise:

Hello, good morning Daily Audio Bible, this is Yolanda from Atlanta. I’ve been listening for about seven years. I have not called in in about five years, but I was very convicted when I heard the prayer from, I believe, Byron concerning his 12-year-old son that he believes has been exposed to carnal, maybe lustful things at some point. And it was super amazing to me to hear this because it is…I have an 11-year-old son and it is something that I kind of struggled being afraid of knowing that __ have YouTube, you have the Internet and so many kids have so much exposure to so many things and I try my best to monitor things that, as you all know. And as we were growing up there were probably things that our parents never knew that we got into that we got into and it created strongholds in our lives that we still deal with today. So, understanding how I grew up and kind of what I dealt with. I am praying fervently for your son, I’m praying for all of our sons our daughters and whatever it is the enemy is trying to do in their lives I’m binding it in the name of Jesus, I’m coming against it. Lord God…but even in that…even in that because I have a story from when I was very young, my father having a pornography addiction and me finding things, whether it was VCR tapes, projectors, magazines, all that stuff at the age of four and having that stronghold all of my life. So, knowing how I’ve been able to come out of that and still be able to be a testimony also comforts me. So, I want to comfort you, that maybe ultimately where your son’s pain is will be his purpose. So, I’m praying for you, praying for all of our kids Lord God, I pray that they’re all covered in the name of Jesus. Have a Wonderful day.

Hi, this is Cherry from Claremore Oklahoma. I called in last May for __ and Greg and I have to say this real quick to get in. And I thank you everyone for praying and Victoria Soldier your words bring life. I always struggled remembering your name because the only name __ soldier of truth. It’s just been that way since I heard your name. Anyway, __ Greg struggles with severe alcoholism and when I called back and they he was in the hospital fighting for his life from a brain bleed and two surgeries in two days. They said he would die and he didn’t and they said he would be a vegetable and not recognize anyone and that didn’t happen either. He’s only 48 yet he struggles with anxiety, depression, __ his feet - L4, F5, and F1 - just from being a paratrooper in the military, cerebella ataxia where the lower part of the brain sits against the spinal column and let’s see, brain surgeries I mentioned earlier. Today he is with me as I travel across the country on my job, a door God’s opened to stem cell injections this Thursday the 21st. So, for the first time in his life he’s willing to try and stop drinking on his own due to the pre-and post-cell injection requirement. And he’s a fighter. His hearts willing, but please pray, his flesh is __ strong. And now he listens to Brian with me and he repeats every morning the famous loved words of Brian Hardin, “I love you and I’ll be waiting here for you tomorrow” with tears in his eyes. He prays for the callers with a broken voice and so many changes in his heart and mind and so many more are needed. Another issue is he will have to stop drinking…oh…I’m sorry…he’ll have to stop working out after the injections for quite a few weeks and that’s what releases his anxiety and he’s always been a gym rat and it’s just really gonna be a hard thing to overcome and work through. I trust God to lead each and every one of you on how to pray that my thoughts are praying for purity and the mind of Christ, that he would have pure thoughts, desires and an identity in Christ and not what he thinks he should be or expected to be. So, okay, I think I got it in. Hope you understand it. Thank you, guys.

Hey family this is Darrell down in Georgia calling in, I think for my third time. Anyway, this is my first time that I’m calling and asking for some prayer. It is for a very good friend of mine his name is Al and his wife Kathy. They’re in their early 80s and Al came home from the hospital yesterday. He’s been battling cancer and he is now involved in hospice. They are anticipating a week or two and he will be home with Jesus, which, I know that Al is ready to go and excited about going. He’s just the most wonderful man with the most gentle heart, gentle spirit. I’ve known this man for many many, many, years, love him and his wife to death but he’s very sad because he knows he’s breaking the hearts of his children and, of course, his wife. His wife Kathy is the one that is really going to need the prayer because she’s very dependent on Al. She doesn’t drive. She has friends around her. She has us around her. She has her family, but Al was her strength and she loves the Lord, absolutely. But if you could pray for Kathy I would really appreciate that and for Al that there wouldn’t be any suffering. I heard today, and I teared up today as I learned that he was starting to struggle in his breathing and it literally breaks my heart. So, if you guys could remember Al and Kathy my good friends I would be very grateful. Thanks so much. I love our family. Have a great night.

Hey Daily Audio Bible family this is Trish calling in Chicago…and head down…let’s pray. God, thanks for today. Thank You that You give me parents that love me, and You give me friends as well. I ask that You would encourage my heart and anybody else’s out there that’s really discouraged about things __ and just really sad __. Lord, I ask that You would raise up godly men and godly women __ each other and make an impact on this world and that You would provide for __ as well. Thank You that You see us and You are the living __ You are the living one who sees us and we thank You God for that. I ask that You would encourage the heart of anybody that is thinking of taking their lives, that You would enable them to be impacted by a sermon or reminded them of something You’ve taught them in the past. Thank You that I’m not suicidal right now but…trust in You dearly __ as a result of hearing this prayer request. Thank you for the Daily Audio Bible and everyone here. Amen. Good night friends. Thanks for praying. Bye.

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