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need-a-new-hobby · 4 years

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The Boogeyman

summary: oc is dr. piper bishop. you may find a full profile on my tumblr (soon). her qualifications are 4 Ph.Ds in different branches of psychology, a master’s in history and bachelor’s in literature all by 22 (I wanted her to compete w/ reid). based on S2E6: The Boogeyman

When her honey-brown eyes fluttered awake, it was still dark. 5:30 am. She rose out of bed, rubbing her eyes, like a child waking up on a Sunday morning. Slipping on her ruby slippers, she staggered to the kitchen, remnants of last night’s class schedule and history projects strewn across her beige countertop, to make a cup of tea. It was strange, here in Ozona, to drink iced coffee, never mind tea. She set the kettle, pulled her long cardigan to cover her chest and regarded the manor in the woods. The whistle shattered her gaze at the dilapidated house.

In Virginia, 6 agents discussed the death of two children in the middle of Texas. "Nicholas Faye of Ozona, Texas, was beaten to death roughly 13 hours ago. Blunt force trauma to the head," JJ sighed. There was never a good day nor time to deliberate on innocent and defenceless children. But she’d worked this job too long to slip into that pattern of doom and gloom. "He’s the second young boy to die the same way in the last 2 months. A local hunter found his body in the woods. First victim’s name, Robbie Davis."

"Are these boys connected somehow?" asked Morgan.

"Ozona’s population is roughly 2 500. Everyone has some kind of connection."

"Well, if they weren’t linked before they certainly are now." Morgan wore the same grim expression of exasperation as JJ. The agents agreed that they were both murdered by the same offender who was hunting children. The repulsiveness wasn’t lost on any of them.

^-^

Piper Bishop was a history teacher. She asked herself why every day. Every day she’d sit on her front porch, sipping on tea, asking why. Her entire life, she’d wanted to help people, and her entire life, she questioned if it was enough. She wasn’t smart enough to go to medical school, her father had made sure she understood that at most. Her clear preference for the humanities was seen as repulsive, condemned for "supporting these damn bleeding-heart liberals". Neither were Daniel’s remarks lost on her either. She remembered her last reunion with her siblings. "You have 4 Ph.Ds Pipes," he’d said, blues gazing at browns. "Why are you teaching school kids?" She’d find the answer every time a young girl whispered about a bully in her ear, every time a young boy bared his scars to her. She’d tried doing the psychiatry gig, but the stigma behind her patients meant she had none. Her father’s words still stuck to her. Though she’d shaken him off, his voice became her own. What if he is right though? What if you really won’t amount to anything? Piper laughed at her own absurdity. She’d almost missed the sunrise. The warm sun peeking out at her behind the trees melted away all her doubts. "Time for school Dr. Bishop."

^-^

"You guys hear Elle was cleared?" Spencer sat down with his cup of hot coffee next to Derek. Well, more sugar than coffee anyway.

"Self-defence," Derek stated, flipping through the files, with an air of disbelief.

"So it was a good shoot." Derek turned towards the young agent.

"She hit what she was aiming for." JJ commented without a glance at the two men in front of her, eyes focused on the case at hand.

"That’s not what I meant."

"I know." The blonde agent said.

"If they cleared her," Morgan asked, "then how come she’s not here with us? Or Hotch?"

"Focus on the case," Gideon reprimanded, seated away from them. Taking it as a sign to change the conversation, JJ handed out the autopsy reports. Morgan then suggested the bludgeoning was a form of frustration or rage.

"With no apparent sexual motivation," Reid added, "that’s rare when the victims are this young."

"The unsure is taking pleasure from the kill itself." Gideon contributed.

"If it’s not sexual, what’s the significance in killing young males?"

"Most serial killers prey upon specific types to carry out fantasies of revenge.” Spencer answered, drawing on his memory. “Bundy killed women that looked like an ex-girlfriend who jilted him, Dahmer claimed that schoolyard harassment federal into his fury."

"Okay, so maybe these kids represent someone who victimised the offender?"

"Unlikely," JJ replied, "they just found another body. 11 year old girl."

^-^

Piper glanced over her desk quickly once more. Her worksheets were ready, her timeline of Alexander the Great was drawn up and her map of Alexander’s territory was pinned, dotted with little flags and sketched out. She was determined to make this module the best one yet to make up for the tension in the classroom. She’d already lost 2 kids to that coward in the woods, she wasn’t about to lose a third. The Persian horde had arrived and the young doctor opened the gates to receive the 45 little kids raging to their beloved history teacher. No, 43 now, she chided herself. Closing the door, she mentally reminded her to control her emotions. She turned to face her little devils, "Who’s ready to fight the Macedons?"

Her warm eyes flitted across the desks. That was weird. Three desks were empty this time. "Has anyone seen Sarah?" She entertained her class for a while and told them to take a worksheet each while she made a call. Piper popped her head into Mr Davison’s class and asked him to keep an eye on her class. She tapped her fingers erratically while the administration office checked up on Mrs Peterson. "Well,?"

"Dr. Bishop, Sarah’s not at home either."

Piper took a shaky breath before entering her classroom. She’ll be fine. She probably got lost on her way to school. The police will do their job. Relax.

"Okay, who can tell me who Alexander is?"

Hailey jumped up and recited, "Alexander III of Macedon, commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon and a member of the…" The young brunette stumbled. Piper could see the happiness leech from the young girl’s face.

"Argead dynasty, idiot." Jeffrey yelled, sticking his tongue out. "She can’t even speak. Are you dumb, Hailey?"

"Enough, Jeffrey, don’t you ever put someone else down for trying. If you keep your head down and keep studying, maybe you can be a teacher too, but trying and failing is better than doing nothing at all." Piper turned her attention to the tears rapidly forming in the child’s blinking eyes. Piper handed her a tissue from her desk and kneeled down next to her. "It’s okay kiddo. We make mistakes sometimes. That doesn’t mean we stop trying. What do you think that word says?" After a couple of tries, Hailey got the hang of it, and Piper could move on.

"Alex spent most of his years on a military campaign through western Asia and northeast Africa," Piper said, drawing their attention to what she’d say was an impressive map. "And by the age of thirty, he had created one of the largest empires of the ancient world, stretching from Greece to northwestern India."

^-^

Gideon and the local sheriff trudged through fallen leaves to the site of where the battered boy was. "This isn’t a dump site," Gideon noted, "the murder happened right here." Kneeling down, he said, more to his own benefit than the sheriff, "Autopsy report claims no sign of a struggle."

"Poor little guy never had a chance."

Gideon envisioned the incident. The 8 year old boy walking past, turning back to see his abuser.

"The victims knew their killer." He muttered to himself. "Followed them to this spot."

"What makes you think that?"

"Well, the kids went this deep into the woods because they trusted them. Probably stashed his weapon here beforehand. We’re looking for someone intelligent, methodical, but the method of killing doesn’t fit. It’s confusing. Doesn’t make sense." Gideon’s words were as fragmented as his thoughts, desperately trying to pull the pieces together.

Less than a quarter mile away from the other dumpsites, the gangly doctor stood next to the bagged and battered kid. "Violence was post-mortem," revealed the medical examiner on the case, equally horrified at the scenes unfolding over the past few weeks.

"So, the killer’s becoming more brazen."

"But now he’s spending more time with the victims even after death." Morgan glanced at the yellow 'Hunting Area' sign nailed to a tree. "If he’s a hunter," Derek turned to Spencer, "he’d know every inch of these woods."

^-^

The PA squealed out just as Piper was getting to the Persian conquest. "All students, please head to the assembly hall immediately, all teachers to the teacher’s lounge." The young woman herded the daydreamers out, grabbed her Doctor Who mug and rushed to the lounge. Whilst pouring herself a cup of coffee, James told her about the parents and the BAU members coming to discuss the murders. Steeling herself for a gruesome speech, Piper headed over to the hall to introduce the kids to FBI agents while James stayed behind to console parents. While the soles of her sneakers rushed, her head wandered. Who were these agents? Were these kids gonna be okay? At the entrance to the hall, her forehead wrinkled and her body collided with a lanky agent and her warm coffee stained the whole of both their cardigans, her brain juice spilling all over the floor.

"Sorry," they both exclaimed. Gideon and JJ walked by, snickering as she entered the hall, but Gideon barely spared them a glance.

"Seriously, I am so sorry." Piper gushed. "I have some tissues, and there’s a bathroom right there."

The agent just laughed and took the cardigan off. "Don’t worry about it, it’s brown anyway." He stared at your TARDIS mug. "Is that…" Piper blanched. Did she now also have to explain Doctor Who to him?

"I know it looks like a phone booth but it’s actually a…" She stumbled. "I have no idea how to explain this without sounding like I’m a complete lunatic."

"No, I know what Doctor Who is." He chuckled softly.

Piper sighed in relief. "Finally, you have no idea the glances I get for this thing."

"Reid!" Gideon yelled from the hallway.

"That’s me. Bye." Spencer waved awkwardly at the young woman in front of him, before sidestepping her quickly to get to his mentor.

^-^

"It could be someone you know or it could be a stranger you pass at the grocery store. But it’s vital that we keep our eyes open and our children close. Now as Ozona’s guidance counsellor, I can only help your children with the aftermath but our police department is working with the FBI, gathering information on the case. To elaborate on that, Agent Jason Gideon." James introduced the middle-aged agent to the anxious parents sitting in the lounge. Reid stood behind his mentor.

"We want you to know we’re doing everything we can to find the person responsible. Until we do there are a number of precautions you need to take. Let me go over some of them with you."

^-^

Piper watched the kids attentively, just barely paying Agent Jareau and Agent Morgan attention.

"It’s a buddy system," JJ started. "That means you always go everywhere with a friend."

"That’s because bad men and women only talk to us when we’re alone."

"We don’t know what these guys look like yet. It might be someone you know."

Hailey raised her hand.

"Yeah, sweetheart, you got a question?" Piper was touched by the kindness in Agent Morgan’s voice. You couldn’t fake that tenderness.

Hailey took a deep breath, "There was this little girl once on the news who just got grabbed right in front of our house. Could that happen to us?"

The tall agent looked back at Agent Jareau. Piper understood the hesitation.

"Hailey, sweetheart, nothing will happen to you, you have my word." She walked over to the young girl and gently rubbed her shoulder. "So long as you listen to the FBI, honey." She nodded to the agents and stepped back.

^-^

"Any more questions?" Gideon asked.

"Did you ever find his hat?" Mrs Faye asked in a trembling voice, fighting the urge to cry.

"'Scuse me?" Jason was confused.

"The red one I put on him. He was wearing it when he left."

"I’m sorry, Mrs Faye," Jason rubbed his hand.

"Mandatory curfew at 5pm." James interjected and dismissed the parents. "Just make sure you know where your children are."

^-^

Piper grabbed her bag after the last bell had gone. The ghosts of Robbie, Nicholas and Sarah hadn’t left your head. She wished she could kiss the fear away from those kids. Piper jumped at the rap on the door.

"Agent Morgan. What can I do you for?"

"Just a few routine questions." Piper gestured to the seat next to her desk.

"How can I help you?"

"How long have you worked here?"

"Must be about a year now."

"As a history teacher?" Piper smiled.

"Did you guess from the armour and the coffin?" The tall doctor swung his head to take a look at the almost replica of armour.

"Have you noticed anyone looking at the children in a strange way?" Morgan continued.

“Is this an original?”

“Gods, no. Everyone knows a teacher doesn’t make enough to own original Macedonian armour. Also Greece refuses to sell any artefact to American citizens considering their scuffle with the British Museum.” Her eyebrows furrowed as she considered Morgan’s question. "I don’t think so. The chances of a child predator in a small town are ridiculously low since state law requires registered sex offenders live 2,000 feet from schools and Texas’s registry is public. I suppose the problem would then be unregistered ones, in which case, kids are always under supervision. Most likely, only someone the kids trust would be the coward doing this. In that scenario, the only adults with that kind of trust would be family friends, family, the teachers and the bus driver. I’ve met all the parents and none of them fit the psychological requirements of a sexual predator and honestly, neither do the teachers."

Morgan smiled at your thought process. "Huh, you’d make quite the profiler, but we don’t think it’s a sexual act since the bodies don’t show any sign of a sexual assault."

Piper mulled over the new information. "I know those kids. They’re good kids and even if it just boils down to a case of rage, no adult within their inner circles would be capable of such a thing. It’s not that it’s impossible, but it is highly unlikely. A lot of these people have kids of their own." She saw the disbelief on their faces so she switched tacks. "What’s your profile of the killer?"

"We can’t disclose that to the public yet."

"Then think of it as a consultation." Piper said, pulling out her resume from an inner drawer.

Morgan whistled and Reid glanced at the sheet over his shoulder. "4 PhDs in clinical, child, abnormal and counselling psychology. Why are you a history teacher?"

Piper glanced at the door. "Everyone told me to start my own practice, and I did." She pointed at the glowing resume in Derek’s hands. "When people heard about this, they came too. But slowly they stopped. At first I thought it was a good sign. But I’d call them in a month, and they’d tell me they’d slipped back into their addictions, or their depressive episodes." She combed her hand through her hair.

"So I quit, packed my bags, moved to Ozona and asked for a teaching position." She let out a shaky breath. "I am more than qualified to help you out, Agent Morgan, so please let me." Morgan looked back at Reid who shrugged.

^-^

"Can I have your attention please?" The local department turned to focus on Agent Gideon. "We’d like to make something clear." He cleared his throat. "Due to the velocity of change, we predict this offender could try to strike again at any time. His confidence builds with every attack."

"Look for someone physically fit, shy, kind disposition. Someone you may trust with your own child. Because the killer targets kids, he may be small himself," Morgan took over, "and though we keep referring to this unsub as he, do not rule out a woman."

A mother and her young son rushed over to the small congregation. Piper recognised her. "Excuse me. My son Matthew never came home today."

Gideon stepped forward, asking where he was last seen. "His teachers saw him in the parking lot after school." At that moment, all officers and agents moved to start looking for the boy. Reid and Morgan turned to the map, trying to figure out how and where he may be taken. Noticing the woman in distress and panic, JJ asked the woman to take a seat. Piper watched the scene from a corner and focused on the little boy with her.

"What are you thinking about over here?" She knelt down in front of him.

"Nothing," said the child softly.

"You look awfully upset to be thinking about nothing. Wanna tell me what’s wrong?"

"Matty said he was just gonna ring the doorbell. At the haunted house. On the hill."

"Finnegan’s place," interrupted James.

"Forever kind of a local legend," the sheriff informed the agents. "Folks say he watches kids from the window. Hunts 'em. Skins 'em. Eats 'em."

"Why weren’t we told about this?" Morgan faced the sheriff. "Fables often come from an ounce of truth. We should exhaust every possibility."

^-^

As day turned to night and the FBI agents raided Finnegan’s manor, Piper sat on her porch, mulling the profile over and over. She knew the people in town. She’d have known if there was a killer in their midst. Do you, though? You think you know better that professional profilers? What, because you wrote a few research papers in 4 years. Get a grip. She glanced at Old Man Finnegan’s place. He’d stopped coming into the town after his wife died, she knew that much. No, it couldn’t be him. Why would the kids trust a man they fear? So, who? Shaking her head, the young woman walked into the house. She grabbed a mandarin from her little fruit bowl and busied herself making a cup of tea. I have to be making an assumption. C’mon Pipes! Her mind flashed back to class. The little boy in her 7th grade class yelling at little Hailey then the incident in April in the parking lot. Ignoring the yell of her kettle, Piper left her orange on the counter and rushed to her dining table to her binders. She scrambled to her 7th grade class binder. Jeffrey Charles and on top, her cursive handwriting that her mom was so damn proud of. Father, James Charles, guidance counsellor. Mother, unknown, left in Apr. 2006. She flicked to her notes.

Disruptive. Borderline bully. Possesses strained empathy for others. Loner. Apathetic towards school. Can be attributed to broken family.

She glanced at the time. 1:30 am. Shit. Should I call Morgan anyway? Piper pulled out her phone and the card Derek had given her. Not giving her brain the chance to overthink, Piper dialled the number. After 7 rings, she hangs up. Of course he didn’t pick up your call. Did you really think what you have to say matters? She brushed the nasty voice of her dad off, but left the phone on the table. She took the kettle off, turned the lights off, locked the door, and went to bed.

^-^

The boys separated in the night, torches and guns at the ready. Gideon and Reid took the back while Morgan and the sheriff took the front of the house. Morgan flicked the lights on and off, but nothing happened. "Definitely haunted."

Gideon and Reid edged towards the garage. "FBI," Gideon yelled, only to hear the soft mumbles of a child.

"I didn’t want the old man to find me."

"All right," Gideon said, rather gruffer than he intended, "No one’s gonna harm you."

^-^

Spencer settled down in the darkness. "Hey Garcia, did you get anything?" he greeted their tech analyst softly.

"Well, only that Finnegan’s house in the hill is like the Bates hotel of Ozona, Texas." She grinned and continued her knitting.

"Yeah, we heard the legends."

"Spencer, seriously, people that go into that house supposedly never come out. SpoOky!" Penelope sang.

"Garcia, could you at least pretend not to enjoy that rumour so much considering I’ve actually entered the house?"

"Sensitive," she mocked the young doctor. "Sorry,"

"Besides, local police say there are no reports of that happening."

"Yeah, this is true. All complaints filed were false alarms. But then there is that matter of his missing wife," the blonde taunted.

"Wife? What wife? When did she go missing?"

"Almost 50 years ago," she said sinisterly.

"Is there no record of her ever being found?"

"I got 2 words for you my friend, rear window." Reid abandoned his files to pay attention to his dear, quirky and unrelentingly mischievous friend. "That guy probably chopped that lady up into delicious, bite-sized little pieces."

Something creaked outside Reid’s window.

"Think about it, Spencer," she continued, "she may have never left the premises." Garcia could barely contain her giggles. "She may still be in the house," she whispered into her mic.

That creaking something creaked again.

"Garcia, I’m sitting here in the dark, alone. Thanks."

"While you’re waiting for a potential murderer to come home, that’s kinda dangerous." Garcia smiled into her mic, twisting her pen in her hand and picturing the deliciously scared features on Spencer’s face. "Kinda sexy," she added.

"I gotta go," Reid said, looking out into the darkness on the other side of the window.

"You’re having creepy fun, I wish I was there."

As Reid turned off his cell, he glanced back towards the noises on the stairs. Slowly standing up, he felt something. An entity. A presence. An existence. Spencer turned his head around, only to bump into a tall, dark stranger and he jumped, terrified. "You really are afraid of the dark," Derek said, smiling.

"I’m working on it," Spencer shot back quickly and walked away.

"You should work a little harder."

The sheriff came back to the group, reporting that his deputy would get the boy back safe. Morgan shook his head. The whole town was on edge. Perhaps that’s why Finnegan was in the wind. The agent flicked his torch to the wall, only to see a rack of rifles.

"The unsub didn’t use a gun," Gideon pointed out. He kept walking, piecing together his thoughts aloud. "Finnegan’s an avid hunter, why didn’t he use it?" He reached under the table to pull out Robbie’s lunchbox and Sarah’s backpack.

"I guess Finnegan brought the kids back here before finishing them off. But why wouldn’t he get rid of the evidence?"

"He considers them trophies,"Spencer said softly.

Morgan huffed. "When this is all said and done, I’d like to hang his head on a wall."

^-^

Morgan, Reid and Gideon paced the next crime scene, only this time it wasn’t a child. It was Finnegan. The medical examiner explained that he died of natural causes.

"His heart probably gave out while setting this trap," Reid suggested.

"Yeah, well, karma’s a bitch," the M.E. commented, "those coyotes were gnawing on him for a week."

"Before the second or third murders even happened," Morgan pointed out.

"This area’s off the travelled path, it’s a wonder anyone even discovered him at all."

"If you ask me," the medical examiner suggested, "those leaves didn’t cover him by themselves."

"If Finnegan’s been dead all this time, who’s living in his house?"

^-^

Piper Bishop rose later than usual. 7 am. She’d missed the sunrise. Shit. Pulling on her slippers, she went through the rounds; a cup of tea, pancakes, review of the class schedule and that’s when she remembered. She meant to call Morgan in the morning. She dialled his cell again. Nothing. Sighing, she told herself she’d drop by later today. She changed into her favourite outfit, white satin button-up, dark blue pants, grey blazer, drop necklace.

^-^

"Here’s a question," Reid asked, crossing his legs on the couch, "if a tree falls in the forest, does it make a sound in nobody hears it?"

Morgan stared at him. "What the hell are you reading over there?"

"I was just thinking," Reid gazed back at the journals on his lap.

"Found something," Gideon announced. The boys followed him into the kitchen.

"Provisions," he said, staring at the near-dozen near-empty dishes, "delivered by the church to every elderly’s doorstep." He waved his hand to all of them, saying, "Each one dated after Finnegan died."

"So the unsub ate everything?" Morgan asked.

"Almost everything," Gideon answered, "unopened bowls of creamed spinach thrown in the trash, each one wrapped with duct tape."

"One with each tray," Spencer noted, handling the casings carefully.

"So we’re looking for a guy who really, really hates spinach?" Morgan was exasperated.

"Who doesn’t?" Spencer retorted.

"Ritualised, meticulous, organised."

"He would eat the same particulars." Reid was confused.

"Full prints," Gideon ordered. At that, Gideon’s cell rang and seeing the name, walked out.

"It’s about Elle, isn’t it?" Spencer said, walking closer to Derek, arms crossed. "I talked to her in Ohio."

"Reid, we all talked to her."

"No, no, I talked to her before. I went to her room one night and…she was drinking."

"She almost died. I’d be drinking too."

^-^

To say Piper was frustrated would not even begin to cover her chagrin at being unable to talk to Morgan. He wasn’t answering his cell and she couldn’t find a sub this last minute. Her students felt the tension and none wanted to see her explode. They kept quiet, answering their comprehension questions of Alexander the Great’s Persian conquests. As soon as the bell rang, she started, rushing students out the door and grabbing her bag. She dialled the sheriff’s number and asked to meet his as soon as possible.

"Just hear me out, Sheriff," she pleaded.

"You really expect me to believe that a child could do something as heinous as this."

"Jeffrey isn’t an ordinary child. His mother left him in April, you know that. Children grow resentful of other children anyway."

"That’s ridiculous. So he’s a little jealous." He got up and started pacing.

"Except he’s not just resentful about mothers, it’s about James too. You and I both know how much he cares about those kids. Some days he calls me at 3 in the morning to talk about how stressed he is. Not 'cause of his workload, but 'cause he’s worried he’s not doing enough. Sheriff, I’m begging you to see reason."

"No, you’re delusional."

"I don’t think you know what that word means and you definitely aren’t qualified to use it.”

"A child would never do this."

"That’s exactly why you’ll never find your killer."

"Are you doubting me, Ms Bishop?"

"No," she said forcefully, "Quite frankly, Sheriff, you don’t know the first thing about kids. I’ve seen how worried Langdon gets sometimes because he’s scared that his Daddy isn’t going to come home one day. I’m not doubting your ability, Sheriff, I’m doubting whether you’ll find the unsub before another child has to die. 3 children are dead, I’m trying to help and for the record, it’s Doctor." For once, she felt calmer and having said her piece, she walked out the sheriff’s office, greeting Agent Gideon politely before she walked away from the both of them.

^-^

"Why the woods, JJ?" Morgan asked, sipping his terrible coffee in station’s waiting room.

"Hmm?"

"Your fear, you said it was of the woods. Why?"

"Oh, I was a camp counsellor when I was a teenager. In the woods up in Vermont, I had the night shift. Tucked the girls in, turned off the lights, you know the typical stuff. Everything seemed fine, all the kids were asleep, you know. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Until, I noticed there was some blood on the hallway floor. So I followed the blood trail out to the camp director’s cabin, walked up to his bed and he was just lying underneath his covers, dead. Someone stabbed him. I ran out of there so fast, out the door, down the hall, I just remember it being really dark and once I got to the door, there was another counsellor. I guess she must have heard me scream. Anyway, they caught the cleaner on his way to town. He must have had the knife on him. So, that’s when I decided didn’t like the woods." JJ fought to suppress her giggles at Derek’s expression.

"You’re serious?"

"No," She laughed. "No, I don’t know why I’m afraid of the woods. Why is he still afraid of the dark?"

"Yeah, Reid?"

"Because of the inherent absence of light," he replied.

"That was good JJ," Morgan’s phone started ringing, "Just know that paybacks are a bitch."

"Hey girl," he called to his favourite tech analyst.

"I love our relationship. We barely need words."

"Talk to me baby."

"So I pulled two sets of prints of those trays," she said.

"Two?"

"Yeah, one of them belonging to a child?"

"Okay, which one of the victims? Why don’t you work with the Ozona Coroner’s Office?"

"Oh baby, that’s so yesterday. I’ve already got those minions working on it. The other set, however, is on the database. Name is James Charles, he’s the-"

"He’s the local guidance counsellor helping with the investigation."

"You’re kidding. Sending address now." Morgan looked at the two agents who had just abandoned their cups.

"Call Gideon. We know who the unsub is."

^-^

Piper was supervising the history projects. She’d managed to pull off having a history fair with a Renaissance theme to cheer the kids up. Each kid had to make a diorama and the history department would judge based on creativity, historical merit and above all enthusiasm, a word she was not feeling. A month ago, she would’ve been over the moon, but now, all she was thinking about was when the next body would show up. She’d yelled at the sheriff and Agent Gideon had seen it. It was unprofessional and now they’d never listen to her. So you finally agree then? It was a stupid and unnecessary thing to say. Clearly you aren’t as praiseworthy as teachers say. "Ugh," Piper swept her short wavy hair into a tight ponytail. Kneeling next to Langdon, she asked him where Jeffrey was. His shrug was worrying. Piper pulled out her cell and called the administration office. "Hi ladies, is Jeffrey at school today? He’s not in my class."

"His dad called him in sick."

"Thanks, girls." Piper tried to push it out of her mind. Maybe she was wrong.

After school was out, Piper grabbed her things and left. That’s right baby girl. Just let the police do their job and just go home like the insignificant bitch you are. She grabbed her helmet and was about to drive home when she got a call from the ladies in Administration.

"It’s James. They’ve arrested them Piper. What do we do?"

"Hang tight Claudia, I’ll deal with it, okay."

^-^

"Here’s the deal," Morgan leaned over James in the interrogation room, "I could stand here and tell you what I think you were doing in Finnegan’s house for the last 2 weeks. Or, you could do us all a favour. Sign a confession, maybe get a little something taken off your time. What’d you say?"

"I never stepped inside Finnegan’s house." James stared right back into Morgan’s eyes.

"What the hell do you think you’re doing?" Piper slammed the door behind her. The agents turned from staring at the small television screen. "Seriously, you think Jamie would do something like this?"

"Piper," The sheriff started.

"No, you don’t get that privilege anymore. It’s Doctor or nothing because clearly you don’t value my experience, Sheriff. I’m sorry to interrupt what clearly isn’t a waste of your time, Agents, but James couldn’t have done any of this."

"Then why won’t he talk to us? He had the baseball cap at his house, his prints are all over the food trays. I don’t see another explanation."

"His prints were on the food trays because he volunteers at the church’s food drive and he’s not the one with the baseball cap, it’s his son. That’s why he called him in sick yesterday, it’s why he’s hiding the truth from you all. James doesn’t have the time nor the motive. If his wife left him, why would he attack kids? More importantly when? When he isn’t at school, he has a session with a kid. If not there, helping with your investigation or handing out food for retired folks. The man has no opportunity and no motive. If anything, he’d be killing women resembling his wife, but instead he’s devoting every possible minute of his life to this community. As for why I think it’s Jeffrey, if you’d listened to me, Sheriff, the kid lost his mom in April. If you don’t know, if a kid loses a parent when they’re in their formative years as a result of abandonment rather than death, they grow increasing resentful of kids who do have their parents. Except for Jeffrey, it’s like he lost both. When his mother left, James devoted his life to the community and as a natural consequence, Jeffrey lost his father too. Whether you believe me or not is up to you, but 3 kids are dead and Jeffrey is missing." They were all standing up, ignoring the interrogation and gawking at Piper. Reid couldn’t stop staring at her and her ears began to redden significantly. Gideon broke the silence.

"Stay. Observe. You know him better than we do. Watch his behaviour and tell me if you don’t think he’s guilty."

Piper was slightly relieved that Gideon took her seriously enough to let her stay.

"How these last 6 months been for you James? Not too good huh? I don't know, your whole life is falling apart isn't it? Oh yeah you got to be feeling a loss of control, sense of abandonment. And I would guess, a little impotent maybe?" Morgan chuckled. "Come on man, give me something! Why did your wife leave you? What happened James, she get bored? I mean you don't seem all that exciting to me. She started feeling a little uninspired? You're not a minute man, aren't you? Uh, that's what it is!"

"You don’t think that’s a little uncalled for?" Piper exclaimed.

"We need him to talk. If he gets angry, he may slip up." Piper settled down.

^-^

"You think Dr. Bishop’s right?" Reid asked, playing with the handcuffs in his palm.

"I don’t know. I can’t believe a kid could be capable of something like this. She seems close to James too. Could be covering for him."

"I guess so."

"You know, it's bad enough his mother left and now his father's in custody. We’ve also got to take the poor kid into child services."

"It’s the law."

So is jaywalking. I don't have to like it. Good afternoon this is Agent Jareau, with the FBI, we're gonna be picking up Jeffrey Charles in about 20 minutes, if... Okay, I see. Thank you."

"What is it?"

"Dr Bishop may have been right."

^-^

"Jeffrey never was at school today. His father said he was sick." JJ informed them.

Piper’s instinct was to yell 'Aha!' but thankfully she went against it.

"Reid, go though his apartment." Gideon ordered.

"No, you don’t seriously still think this is his fault."

"I think he may have blamed his kid for his failed marriage."

"Then I can’t watch this interview. Let me help Dr Reid with the search." Everyone looked to Gideon.

"Okay, fine. Reid, keep an eye on her."

^-^

"Why are you so sure it isn’t him?" Reid asked her softly.

"Hmm?" Piper looked up from the abandoned dirty dishes.

"What you said back there, how are you so sure?"

"I’m not exactly the most experienced psychologist. I mean, I’ve studied it, wrote about it, talked in conferences about it, but I haven’t applied it, not the way he has. I guess, if he does turn out to be the killer," she huffed, "then he’s not the man I hoped he’d be." Reid stared at her.

Piper pulled the elastic from her hair and moved past Spencer to the bookshelf.

"It’s difficult. Being a single parent. Not that I would know. But I can understand." She pulled a book of the shelf. Kurt Vonnegut. "But James handled it as best he could. He put his personal trauma aside for the whole community. Only issue was," she turned to look back into Reid’s soft gaze, "his kid got the brunt of it. Most saints have something to hide, Spence. Gandhi accused his eldest son of 'alcohol and debauchery,' even sexual assault. And no-one believes me because no-one’s met the kid. He has serious rage issues, strained empathy for others and is apathetic to others."

"Huh. Look at this." Piper moved towards the doctor.

"It’s an EpiPen. So?"

"So, at Finnegan’s house, we found all the creamed spinach duck-taped and thrown out."

"Spence," Piper levelled her gaze, "Jeffrey has an allergy to dairy."

^-^

"Can I have a word with him?" Gideon asked. Morgan nodded and left the room. "It’s a rough day, huh? Coffee?"

"Yeah I wouldn't mind."

"Milk?"

"Please."

"So how long have you known that your son is a murderer?" Gideon abruptly asked without breaking eye contact.

"What are you talking about?"

"You might have been the one who brought the food trays to Finnegan's, but your son ate them, everything but the creamed spinach."

"You want me to confess? Is that what this game is? That's fine. You bring me another pen, I'll write out my confession."

"We found an EpiPen in your kitchen."

"So what that proves that my kid has an allergy."

"To milk."

Piper had had enough. "Let me in there, I’ll get him to talk. If Gideon threatens the freedom of his child, James won’t talk. He’ll talk to me."

"Not with Gideon in there." Morgan chided you.

^-^

Piper sat cross-legged on the chair, head resting on the back of her arms. Morgan was almost falling asleep. Reid was on his 8th cup of coffee. Piper’s ringtone woke Derek up and she couldn’t help laughing. "Big bad Derek Morgan’s afraid of a ringtone?" she laughed and raised the phone to her ear.

"Hi, Mrs Belle. How can I help you? Is Tracy okay?" Piper’s change of expression from glee to gloom wasn’t lost on anyone. "Okay, sit tight Mrs Belle, we’ll find her. Please relax." Piper hung up the phone and tied her short hair up again.

"Tracey Belle was just reported missing. Last seen getting off her school bus on Fuller Road."

^-^

What happened after was just a blur. Piper had managed to convince Gideon to let her come, citing her certification for hostage negotiation. They’d all strapped the Kevlar suits on and found a spare for her. Reid and JJ left in one car, Morgan and the sheriff in another and Piper was paired with Gideon.

"Why are you a history teacher?" Gideon asked.

"Hmm?"

"You’re 25, you have 4 Ph.Ds in Psychology, a Masters in History and Bachelors in Literature."

"Thought I wasn’t doing much good in a university classroom. Swapped it for an elementary school"

"I’m a profiler. Don’t lie to me."

"Yes, sir. They wouldn’t come because they didn’t want people to think they or their kids were crazy. So I stopped. I wrote books and papers. I taught at universities. But I kept getting this nagging thing in my head, that I should be doing more. So I packed and moved."

"Where’d you teach?"

"The main ones. Guest lectured at Brown for months at a time. Harvard was my alma mater so I was there for a semester. Columbia offered but I rejected them. They were kinda stung that I chose a high school over them." He chuckled at that. "None of you smile a lot."

"Hmm?"

"Especially you. Do the cases get that bad?"

"Yeah."

"So why do it?" The car stopped near the woods. They both got out of the vehicle and headed towards the others.

"Because it has to be done." He looked over at her and smiled.

^-^

Tracy was running. Her bag was gone. Jeffrey was going to hurt her. She knew she was at the playground, but after a few minutes, the woods had enveloped her. She prayed that her mom was looking, that someone was looking, but the only thing that filled the little girl’s little heart was the dread. Dread that in these big bad woods, she was all alone with a killer.

"Split up, she’s gotta be somewhere."

Bishop and Gideon ran through the woods looking for the small blonde.

"Tracy!"

Trees.

"Tracy!"

Trees everywhere.

"Tracy!"

They were looking for a red and a blond needle in a green and orange haystack.

"Tracey!" Jeffrey cried in a sing song voice. "Let's just go home. I was only playing! Why do you have to be such a baby? Tracey?"

Tracy’s feet hurt. She should have been home by now. She staggered towards the nearest tree and hid. He couldn’t find her here, would he? Her breaths were jagged and she was terrified.

Bishop heard screaming. "Tracy!" They ran towards the piercing scream. She saw the scene unfolding and determined to be anything but helpless, Piper ran in between Jeffrey and Tracy. "Stop!" Gideon ran to Jeffrey, locking him in one arm, throwing the bat away with the other. Piper pushed Tracy into JJ’s arms and breathed with relief.

^-^

In the aftermath of things, James was pacing, scared of what his kid had become, terrified of what would happen to him. Piper held her head in her hands, sitting on the parkside bench. Morgan gently pushed Jeffrey into the car. Reid sat next to her.

"You did good."

"Did I? I blamed a kid for a serial murder because he lost his mother. What does that make me?" Piper lifted her head to look at him.

"A profiler." Spencer rubbed her shoulder and walked away. Piper glanced at James, pacing.

"You think you could have prevented this?"

"Maybe if I’d been there for him…"

She put a hand on his shoulder. "James, you’d put the world’s problems on your own back if you could. You can still be there for him. What he did, it isn’t his fault and it isn’t yours." He looked at Piper, his gaze shattered, his soul broken.

"You really believe that?"

"I believe that care and love can make anything possible."

^-^

Piper packed her things slowly. She folded her maps, packed away the Macedon’s armour and the Egyptian coffin.

"So where to next?" Gideon leaned on her desk, arms crossed.

"Vacation to Italy, maybe Venice. Figuring things out." She shrugged.

"You did good today, but…you could be better."

"I’m sorry?"

"I want you on the team." Piper levelled her gaze to Gideon, standing straight.

"In what capacity?"

"Consultant, on a temporary basis. If you put in the hours and do the classes, maybe even an agent. You in?"

"This a one-time offer?"

"Yes."

"I’m in."

#criminal minds #spencer reid #derek morgan #penelope garcia #jj #gideon #spencer reid x oc #reid x oc

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newstfionline · 3 years

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Sunday, April 18, 2021

Biden’s Afghanistan plan a plus to some vets (AP) Patrick Proctor Brown says the war in Afghanistan was lost within a year of its start. The suburban Milwaukee lawyer, who was an infantry captain in Iraq, said the trillions of dollars spent and the thousands of lives lost, including a lieutenant he trained with, make it “a tragedy.” “And the Taliban will be back in power in a year,” said Brown, 35, who also studied diplomacy at Norwich, a military university in Vermont. “It’s insane.” Brown supports President Joe Biden’s decision to withdraw all troops from Afghanistan by Sept. 11, and by voting for the Democrat, he represents a subtle but potent shift in the voting behavior of some in the military. Voters who served in the military have long leaned toward Republicans. But there are signs that Biden may have cut into that advantage. “This president has got to end these wars,” said Jon Soltz, a former Army tank captain who formed the Democratic-leaning VoteVets.org in 2006. “He’s got to fulfill some of these promises. There’s a war-weariness in the military.”

Riot declared after windows smashed in Portland protests (AP) Police in Portland, Oregon, declared a riot Friday night after authorities said protesters smashed windows and burglarized businesses during demonstrations that started earlier in the day after police fatally shot a man while responding to reports of a person with a gun. The vandalism downtown came after the Friday morning police shooting but also was part of vigils and demonstrations already planned for the night in the name of people killed in other police shootings nationwide. They include 13-year-old Adam Toledo of Chicago and Daunte Wright, a Black man in a Minneapolis suburb. Deputy Police Chief Chris Davis told reporters earlier in the day that a white man in his 30s was shot and killed by police, who opened fire with a gun and weapons that fire non-lethal projectiles. A witness who spoke to reporters at the scene said the man, who had removed his shirt and was blocking an intersection, appeared to be in a mental health crisis.

Castro era in Cuba to end as Raul confirms he’s retiring (Reuters) Raul Castro confirmed he was handing over the leadership of the Cuban Communist Party to a younger generation at its congress that kicked off on Friday, ending six decades of rule by himself and older brother Fidel. In a speech opening the four-day event, Castro, 89, said the new leadership would be party loyalists with decades of experience working their way up the ranks and were “full of passion and anti-imperialist spirit.” The new generation of leaders, which did not forge itself through rebellion, has no easy task. The transition comes as Cuba faces the worst economic crisis since the collapse of former benefactor the Soviet Union, while there are signs of growing frustration, especially among younger Cubans. A tightening of the decades-old U.S. trade embargo and the coronavirus pandemic have exacerbated a liquidity crisis in Cuba’s ailing centrally planned economy. Shortages of even basic goods mean Cubans spend hours lining up to buy groceries.

Argentina closes schools, imposes curfew in Buenos Aires as COVID-19 cases spike (Reuters) Argentina’s government will tighten pandemic restrictions in and around the capital Buenos Aires to rein in a sharp spike in COVID-19 cases, including shutting schools and imposing a curfew from 8pm to limit social activity. President Alberto Fernández, 62, given his all-clear earlier in the day after he was infected with the virus, said the South American country needed to “gain time” in the fight against COVID-19 after daily cases hit a record this week. The measures will see schools closed in Greater Buenos Aires from Monday, and the suspension of indoor sports, recreational, religious and cultural activities until April 30.

The queen says goodbye to Philip, continues her reign alone (AP) Sitting by herself at the funeral of Prince Philip on Saturday, Queen Elizabeth cut a regal, but solitary figure: still the monarch, but now alone. The queen sat apart from family members at the simple but somber ceremony in accordance with strict social distancing rules during the coronavirus pandemic. But if the ceremony had been for anyone else, at her side would have been her husband of 73 years, who gave a lifetime of service to the crown. The monarch’s four children and eight grandchildren sat in small groups nearby, during a stripped-back service at Windsor Castle that made their loss somehow more personal for people who often live their lives in public. The service was quiet and without excessive pageantry. Philip was deeply involved in planning the ceremony. At his request, there was no sermon. There were also no eulogies or readings, in keeping with royal tradition. Former Bishop of London Richard Chartres, who knew Philip well, said the 50-minute service reflected the preferences of the prince, who was a man of faith but liked things to be succinct. “He was at home with broad church, high church and low church, but what he really liked was short church,” Chartres told the BBC.

Philip’s legacy lives in chef who traded prison for kitchen LONDON (AP)—Jon Watts was 18 years old when he woke up in a prison cell and decided he had to change. He enrolled in every course he could find, from mathematics to business. But he says it was a program founded by Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, that gave him a “passion for food” and a career as a chef when he got out of prison 3 1/2 years later. “I was a young boy in prison,” Watts, now 32, told The Associated Press. “It helped mold me to be what I like to think is a good person, and it set me up to believe in myself, to believe that I can achieve things.” After Philip’s death last week at age 99, politicians and world leaders rushed to eulogize his lifetime of service to his wife, Queen Elizabeth II, and to the British nation. For many people across the country, though, his greatest contribution was the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, a program which seeks to give young people the skills and confidence they need to succeed. Participants in the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award must complete volunteer work, improve their physical fitness, learn new skills, and go on expeditions to earn each of three progressively more difficult levels of achievement—bronze, silver and gold. More than 6.7 million people between the ages of 14 and 24 have taken part in the U.K., and the program has expanded to 130 countries since Philip founded it in 1956.

A Bitter Family Feud Dominates the Race to Replace Merkel (NYT) With less than six months to go before Germans cast their ballots for a new chancellor, the political vacuum Angela Merkel leaves behind after 16 years of consensus-oriented leadership is coming more sharply into focus. A rare and rancorous power struggle has gripped Germany’s conservatives this week as two rivals vie to replace her, threatening to further hobble her Christian Democratic Union, which is already sliding in the polls. Normally, Armin Laschet, 60, who was elected in January to lead the party, would almost assuredly be the heir apparent to Ms. Merkel. Instead, he finds himself unexpectedly pitted against his biggest rival, Markus Söder, the more popular head of a smaller, Bavaria-only party, the Christian Social Union, in a kind of conservative family feud. Experts and party members alike are calling for the dispute to be resolved within the coming days, as it risks damaging the reputation of the two conservative parties, jointly referred to as the Union. Because the two parties operate as one on the national stage, they must choose one candidate for chancellor.

Russia to expel 10 US diplomats in response to Biden actions (AP) On Thursday, the Biden administration announced sanctions on Russia for interfering in the 2020 U.S. presidential election and involvement in the SolarWind hack of federal agencies—activities Moscow has denied. The U.S. ordered 10 Russian diplomats expelled, targeted dozens of companies and people, and imposed new curbs on Russia’s ability to borrow money. Russia responded by saying it would expel 10 U.S. diplomats and take other retaliatory moves in a tense showdown with Washington. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov also said Moscow will move to shut down those U.S. nongovernment organizations that remain in Russia to end what he described as their meddling in Russia’s politics. The top Russian diplomat said the Kremlin suggested that U.S. Ambassador John Sullivan follow the example of his Russian counterpart and head home for consultations. Russia will also deny the U.S. Embassy the possibility of hiring personnel from Russia and third countries as support staff, limit visits by U.S. diplomats serving short-term stints at the embassy, and tighten requirements for U.S. diplomats’ travel in the country.

Russia’s surveillance state (Washington Post) Russian authorities are ramping up the use of facial recognition technology to track opposition protesters to their homes and arrest them—a powerful new Kremlin tool to crush opposition. But when state security agents are suspected of murders or attacks on journalists and opposition activists, surveillance cameras have at times been switched off or “malfunction.” And the system is so leaky that surveillance data on individuals can be bought for a small sum on Russia’s notorious black market in data, along with all kinds of other personal information. There is even a name for the clandestine cyber-bazaar: probiv. China leads the world in rolling out a vast network of facial recognition technology, including a system to track and repress its Uyghur minority. But Putin’s Russia is racing to catch up. Russian firms such as NtechLab produce some of the world’s most sophisticated facial recognition software as authorities grapple with counterpunches by the opposition, including using social media to expose Russia’s kleptocracy such as extravagances by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s political allies. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said the facial recognition system—rolled out in Moscow en masse in January 2020 and expanded to at least 10 other Russian cities—is now used in 70 percent of crime investigations. Moscow has more than 189,000 cameras with facial recognition capabilities, as well as more than 12,300 on subway cars in Moscow’s Metro.

Health care: The medical cost crisis will outlast COVID (The Week) Few would disagree that “much-reviled Big Pharma pulled off one of the great achievements in medical history,” said Geoff Colvin at Fortune—quickly developing multiple effective COVID-19 vaccines. Hospital workers, too, “have been heroes in the truest sense” in the fight against the pandemic. These are not groups America “wants to punish” right now. But something has to give. A system of “perverse incentives,” from drug distribution to insurance rebates, has made health-care costs “maddeningly untamable.” In the six years since the Affordable Care Act was passed, health-care spending per capita has increased faster than it did in the six years prior. Three-quarters of Americans say that the quality of the health care they get isn’t worth what they are paying for it. Big Hospitals and Big Pharma are “at each other’s throats” over who is to blame, but the trend in costs “isn’t about to reverse.” Poorer hospitals have “limped through the year,” straining under the costs of COVID, said Jordan Rau and Christine Spolar at Kaiser Health News, but many wealthier ones have done just fine. The U.S. has budgeted $178 billion in aid for health-care providers, and even profitable hospitals have gotten help. After receiving $454 million in federal aid, Baylor, the biggest nonprofit hospital system in Texas, “accumulated an $815 million surplus, $20 million more than it had in 2019.” Despite this, hospitals have devised ways to pass on costs, said Sarah Kliff at The New York Times. Lenox Hill, one of the oldest and best-known hospitals in New York City, has “repeatedly billed patients more than $3,000 for the routine nasal swab test” for COVID, “about 30 times the test’s typical cost.” The hospital “advertised its COVID-19 testing on a large blue-and-white banner,” then charged each visit as an emergency room procedure. Federal legislation mandated that coronavirus testing be free for patients. “But eventually, American patients bear the costs in the form of higher insurance premiums.”

#headlines #news

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stshyt · 3 years

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thisdaynews · 5 years

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POLITICO Playbook: Who’s gonna make the debate stage?

New Post has been published on https://thebiafrastar.com/politico-playbook-whos-gonna-make-the-debate-stage/

POLITICO Playbook: Who’s gonna make the debate stage?

BREAKING OVERNIGHT … FT: “Johnson to suspend parliament in bid to frustrate efforts to block no-deal Brexit,”by Sebastian Payne and Philip Georgiadis in London: “Boris Johnson is set to suspend parliament for at least a month in order to curtail the efforts of MPs who hope to pass legislation to avoid a no-deal Brexit on October 31.

“British MPs will return for a week in early September,but parliament is expected to be suspended during the party conference season and ahead of a fresh Queen’s Speech, scheduled for October 14.

“Senior Downing Street officials confirmed to the FT that parliamentwill return on September 3 ‘as timetabled,’ but will probably be suspended again early the following week. It will then return on October 14.

“The prime minister has failed to rule out proroguing parliament several timesand insisted that ‘politicians don’t get to choose which public votes they respect.’ A cross-party agreement was struck on Tuesday to bring forward legislation next week that would force Mr Johnson to request another extension to Article 50.” FT

DEBATE STATS, BY THE NUMBERS …This album is dedicated to those who are complaining about being left out of the upcoming Democratic presidential primary debate in Houston.TODAYis the deadline for qualifying for the third debate, and we’re expecting at least two more relevant polls.

Ten candidates have already qualified:Joe Biden, Cory Booker, Pete Buttigieg, Julián Castro, Kamala Harris, Amy Klobuchar, Beto O’Rourke, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Andrew Yang.

There have been21 DNC-APPROVED POLLSby today, and if you want to be on the stage, you need to have reached2%inFOUR POLLS.Four of 21.… THOSE WHO WILL NOT QUALIFYare failing to reach1%in the polls.

… AND ANOTHER ONE … NEW, USA TODAY: “Poll: Americans dread the 2020 election and have doubts about the outcome; Biden maintains his lead,”by Susan Page, Jason Lalljee and Jeanine Santucci: “A nationwide USA TODAY/Suffolk University Poll found a sharply divided country that views next year’s presidential campaign as a sobering test of the fundamental values of the United States. A majority of those on both sides called the election the most important of their lifetimes.

“And after it’s over? If the candidate they support loses, nearly fourin 10 said they would have little or no confidence that the election had been conducted in a fair-and-square way, setting up what could be a debate over the legitimacy of the next president. Those expressing doubts crossed partisan lines – 30% of Republicans and 45% of Democrats – although they identified different threats to the electoral process.

“In the crowded Democratic contest, former Vice President Joe Bidenretained a wide lead, at 32%, up 2 percentage points from the USA TODAY/Suffolk poll taken in June. But Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren moved up 4 points to second place, at 14%, and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders dropped 3 points, now at third place with 12%.” USA Today

— AT ZERO PERCENTin this new poll: Montana Gov. Steve Bullock, Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, John Delaney, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii), Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Klobuchar, Wayne Messam, Joe Sestak, Tom Steyer and Marianne Williamson.Check out Zach Montellaro’s poll tracker

— ELENA SCHNEIDER: “Dems who miss debate take aim at DNC”

BIDEN SPEAKS. AND SPEAKS. … AND SPEAKS. … NOLAN MCCASKILL: “Joe Biden took questions from black reporters for 90 minutes. He did not disappoint”:“Joe Biden’s campaign convened a dozen or so black reporters from major media outlets Tuesday for what was offered as a private, off-the-record sit-down with the Democratic frontrunner.

“But Biden opened the discussion allowing himself to be quoted.And then he started talking, and talked some more, and before everyone knew it, the former vice president had held forth for 90 minutes. That’s an extraordinary amount of time for a major presidential candidate to meet the press in a single sitting.

“Donning a sleek blue suit and white shirt with no tie,Biden personally greeted each reporter and ended up taking a question — in some cases, multiple questions — from each one. He then darted off to catch a flight to Richmond, Va., where he was scheduled to hold a fundraiser Tuesday evening, before heading to South Carolina Wednesday for a campaign swing. …

“Biden expressed a preference for a smaller debate stage… ‘It’s taken me and I assume others some time to figure out how to engage in a non-debate debate, because there’s no debate,’ said Biden. He acknowledged his ‘mistake’ in saying ‘my time is up’ during a previous debate instead of talking over his allotted speaking time. ‘Turns out that’s a big mistake.’” POLITICO

PLACE YOUR BETS NOW … WHICH HOUSE DEMOCRATwill try to kill the G-7 at President Donald Trump’s Doral golf club in Miami by trying to attach language to a spending bill that says no international summit can be held at a hotel and/or venue owned by an elected official?

Good Wednesday morning.

WAPO’S NICK MIROFFandJOSH DAWSEY: “‘Take the land’: President Trump wants a border wall. He wants it black. And he wants it by Election Day”:“President Trump is so eager to complete hundreds of miles of border fence ahead of the 2020 presidential election that he has directed aides to fast-track billions of dollars’ worth of construction contracts, aggressively seize private land and disregard environmental rules, according to current and former officials involved with the project.

“He also has told worried subordinates that he will pardon themof any potential wrongdoing should they have to break laws to get the barriers built quickly, those officials said.

“Trump has repeatedly promised to complete 500 milesof fencing by the time voters go to the polls in November 2020, stirring chants of ‘Finish the Wall!’ at his political rallies as he pushes for tighter border controls. But the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has completed just about 60 miles of ‘replacement’ barrier during the first 2½ years of Trump’s presidency, all of it in areas that previously had border infrastructure.” WaPo

— DEMOCRATSare likely going to be very, very interested in the president instructing aides to break the law, and promising a pardon.

TO WIT … WSJ: “Trump Administration to Divert Hurricane Relief Funds for Border Detention,”by Natalie Andrews and Michelle Hackman: “The Trump administration plans to use $271 million of Department of Homeland Security funds, including some designated to help hurricane-stricken areas, to detain and remove immigrants who cross the southern U.S. border illegally.

“DHS plans to divert money that lawmakers had designatedfor other purposes at the agency to increase its capacity to handle people crossing the U.S.-Mexico border, many of whom are Central Americans seeking asylum from violence in their home countries.” WSJ

— AP/SAN JUAN: “Storm Dorian expected to strengthen, could hit Puerto Rico”

DRAFT HUCKABEE SANDERS EFFORT LAUNCHES …Jarrad Shelton has launched a “Draft Sarah Huckabee Sanders For Arkansas” PAC to try to get the former White House press secretary into the race for governor.

“My name is Jarrad Shelton from Nashville, Arkansasand I wanted to take a moment to invite you to join me, President Trump, and Patriots across America in showing Sarah Huckabee Sanders that she will have the support both in Arkansas and across the United States if she decides to run for Governor or any elected office in Arkansas.”The email…The website

THE PRESIDENTannounced a rally in Fayetteville, N.C., on Sept. 9, the night before the competitive special election in North Carolina’s 9th Congressional District between Democrat Dan McCready and Republican Dan Bishop.TRUMPcan presumably help Bishop in this race, since the president won the district by nearly 12 points in 2016.

— LAURA BARRÓN-LÓPEZandALEX ISENSTADT: “Trump, GOP fret loss in bellwether House special election”: “Republicans are funneling resources into the southern North Carolina district as they try to stave off an embarrassing loss in a GOP-heavy seat that President Donald Trump won in 2016 by more than 11 percentage points. With private polling showing a close race between Bishop and Democrat Dan McCready, Trump will travel to the district on Sept. 9, the night before the special election, for a rally in Fayetteville, N.C. And the White House is also planning to deploy Vice President Mike Pence and the president’s son, Donald Trump Jr., before the election. …

“Republicans hope that Trump’s involvement in the district —which is filled with the type of white and older working-class voters that powered his 2016 win — will put Bishop over the top. ‘This race is about Donald Trump,’ said Jim Blaine, a senior adviser to Bishop’s campaign. ‘Dan’s embraced Trump 100 percent.’” POLITICO

NOTABLE AROUND TOWN … THE PENTAGONwill hold a briefing Thursday. SecDefMARK ESPERand Joint Chiefs ChairmanGEN. JOSEPH DUNFORDwill speak to reporters at 1:30 p.m., for the first time in months. … Secretary of StateMIKE POMPEOwill meet with Saudi Arabian Deputy Defense Minister Khalid bin Salman at 1 p.m.

WAPO: “Cheers! Barr books Trump’s hotel for $30,000 holiday party,”by Jonathan O’Connell and David Fahrenthold: “U.S. Attorney General William P. Barr is planning a holiday treat for his boss. Last month, Barr booked President Trump’s D.C. hotel for a 200-person holiday party in December that is likely to deliver Trump’s business more than $30,000 in revenue.

“Barr signed a contract, a copy of which was obtained by The Washington Post,for a ‘Family Holiday Party’ in the hotel’s Presidential Ballroom Dec. 8. The party will feature a buffet and four-hour open bar for about 200 people.

“Barr is paying for the event himself and chose the venueonly after other hotels, including the Willard and the Mayflower were booked, according to a Department of Justice official. The official said the purpose of Barr’s party wasn’t to curry favor with the president. Barr holds the bash annually and it combines holiday festivities and a ‘ceilidh,’ a party featuring Irish or Scottish music.” WaPo

THE INVESTIGATIONS …

— “Deutsche Bank all but confirms it possesses some of Trump’s tax returns,”by Andrew Desiderio and Brian Faler: “The financial giant was responding to an order from the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals in New York, demanding information about whether Deutsche Bank and Capital One possess any of Trump’s tax returns subpoenaed by the House Financial Services and Intelligence committees earlier this year.

“If the 2nd Circuit upholds those subpoenas to the two banks,the president’s tax returns and other financial documents could be used as part of the House Judiciary Committee’s impeachment investigation. Last week, Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) asked four other House committees — including Financial Services and Intelligence — to share documents with his panel that could aid its impeachment probe. Lawyers for Capital One, for its part, said in a corresponding response that the firm ‘does not believe it possesses tax returns responsive to the subpoenas.’” POLITICO

REUTERS/LYNCHBURG, VA.: “Exclusive: Falwell steered Liberty University land deal benefiting his personal trainer,”by Aram Roston and Joshua Schneyer: “Evangelical leader and prominent Donald Trump backer Jerry Falwell Jr personally approved real estate transactions by his nonprofit Christian university that helped his personal fitness trainer obtain valuable university property, according to real estate records, internal university emails and interviews.

“Around 2011, Falwell, president of Liberty University in Virginia,and his wife, Rebecca, began personal fitness training sessions with Benjamin Crosswhite, then a 23-year-old recent Liberty graduate. Now, after a series of university real estate transactions signed by Falwell, Crosswhite owns a sprawling 18-acre racquet sports and fitness facility on former Liberty property. Last year, a local bank approved a line of credit allowing Crosswhite’s business to borrow as much as $2 million against the property.” Reuters

SQUAD UPDATE … STAR TRIBUNE: “D.C. doctor alleges her husband left her for Rep. Ilhan Omar,”by Jim Spencer and Patrick Condon: “A Washington, D.C., physician alleged in divorce filings Tuesday that her husband, a national political consultant, left her after becoming romantically involved with U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, a client of his fundraising business.

“The couple, parents of a 13-year-old son,have been separated since the alleged affair came to light around April 7, according to a family court petition filed in D.C. Superior Court. Dr. Beth Mynett said her husband, Omar consultant Tim Mynett, confessed to her that he was ‘romantically involved with and in love with another woman, Ilhan Omar, a U.S. Representative from Minnesota.’

“A spokesman for Omar declined a Star Tribune request for comment.In a later interview on WCCO television, Omar denied that she is separated or dating outside her marriage. However she cut off further inquiry about the Mynett divorce. ‘I have no interest in really allowing the conversation about my personal life to continue,’ she said.” Star Tribune

2020 WATCH …

— “Bernie Sanders won’t kiss your baby, but he feels your pain,”by Holly Otterbein in Sioux City, Iowa: “Bernie Sanders is getting warm and fuzzy. The Democratic presidential candidate who wouldn’t be caught dead kissing babies or flipping burgers at state fairs has figured out a way to engage in retail politics on his own terms — and there’s evidence it might be working.

“Over the past month, Sanders has held a series of small,share-your-pain town halls and other events, in which he’s asked voters to respond to prompts such as ‘Talk about your health care experience’ and ‘Anybody in the room trying to make it on less than $15’ an hour? …

“The emphasis on intimate, personal interactionswith voters is a departure from the early days of Sanders’ 2020 campaign, when he often spoke uninterrupted for long periods of time at large rallies. When he held smaller town halls, Sanders would sometimes take a few questions from the audience and be done.” POLITICO

THE JUICE …

— KARL ROVEwill go to Louisiana to fundraise for Rep. Ralph Abraham’s (R-La.) gubernatorial campaign.The invite

TRUMP’S WEDNESDAY —The president will have lunch with Interior Secretary David Bernhardt at 1 p.m.

WILD STORY … K.C. STAR: “LaTurner weighs GOP primary against Rep. Watkins after urging from former Gov. Colyer,”by Bryan Lowry: “Kansas Treasurer Jake LaTurner said Tuesday that he will consider dropping out [of] the race for U.S. Senate to instead mount a primary challenge against freshman Republican Rep. Steve Watkins after encouragement by a former Kansas governor.

“Former Kansas Gov. Jeff Colyer took the highly unusual step Tuesdayof calling for LaTurner, a Republican, to drop out of the race for an open Senate seat and challenge an incumbent Republican after Watkins has spent more than a week battling a whisper campaign. …

“The National Republican Congressional Committee said in an emailthat it does not ‘comment on Republican primaries, real or hypothetical.’ … Watkins held a town hall in Topeka Monday following a week of so-far-unsubstantiated rumors circulating about his personal life. On Friday, he pushed back against speculation in political circles that he would resign. Asked by a reporter after the event if he knows where the rumors are coming from, Watkins responded: ‘I don’t know.’” KC Star

— HOW DO YOU LIKE THAT!The NRCC won’t comment on a potential primary of a sitting Republican member of the House.

ICYMI — ANDREW DESIDERIOandSARAH FERRISwith an Irvine, Calif., dateline:“‘You are helping him’: Vulnerable Democrats grilled on impeachment”:“Voters across the country — from California to Pennsylvania to Massachusetts — grilled House Democrats on the potential impeachment of President Donald Trump at a series of events this month, regardless of whether they support or oppose the drastic measure.

“The very first question Rep. Katie Porter received at a town hall here,for example, was where she stood on impeaching Trump. To rousing applause, the vulnerable California Democrat told the crowd that she favors impeachment — even though some worry it would play into the president’s hands. Porter, who flipped a Republican seat in what is becoming a more liberal Orange County, also acknowledged the political dangers of her pro-impeachment stance.

“‘People said, “Well, this might be risky,you might not get reelected,”’ Porter said. ‘I said, “I am here to do what’s right.”’” POLITICO

HOT IN TEHRAN — “U.S. Plans to Open Direct Talks With Iran-Backed Houthis in Yemen,”by WSJ’s Dion Nissenbaum and Warren Strobel: “The Trump administration is preparing to initiate direct talks with Iran-backed Houthi forces in Yemen in an effort to end the four-year-old war, a conflict that has become a volatile front line in the conflict with Tehran, according to people familiar with the plans.

“The U.S. is looking to prod Saudi Arabiainto taking part in secret talks in Oman with Houthi leaders in an effort to broker a cease-fire in Yemen, according to these people.” WSJ

VALLEY TALK — “Former Star Google and Uber Engineer Charged With Theft of Trade Secrets,”by NYT’s Mike Isaac: “Anthony Levandowski was once one of Silicon Valley’s most sought after technologists. As a pioneer of self-driving car technology, he became a confidant of Larry Page, a co-founder of Google, and helped develop the search giant’s autonomous vehicles. Uber wooed him to gain an edge in self-driving techniques. Venture capitalists threw their money at him.

“But on Tuesday … [f]ederal prosecutors charged him with 33 counts of theft and attempted theft of trade secrets from Google.At an arraignment in a federal courthouse in San Jose, Calif., a disheveled Mr. Levandowski, dressed in a blue blazer and dark brown pants and accompanied by his parents, posted $2 million bail and was ordered to wear an ankle monitor after prosecutors argued that he was a flight risk.” NYT

MEDIAWATCH — N.Y. POST’S @LevineJonathan:“Ken Klukowski, a longtime senior legal analyst for Breitbart News, has been hired as a ‘special counsel’ for the Office of Management and Budget. He will report to general counsel Mark Paoletta.”

— Maya Kingwill be the next POLITICO fellow, covering the 2020 campaign on the politics team. She graduated from Howard this spring.

Send tips to Eli Okun and Garrett Ross at [email protected].

SPOTTED:Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas) meeting last week at a Dallas social gathering with Raja Farooq Haider Khan, PM of Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

TRANSITIONS — Kerry Healeyis joining the Milken Institute as the first president of the Center for Advancing the American Dream, which is slated to open in 2022. She most recently was president of Babson College and previously was Massachusetts lieutenant governor. …Joe Schatzwill be partner and managing principal of cybersecurity strategies and operations at TechCentrics. He previously was chief information security officer at the White House. …Caitlin Brosseauwill be senior director of U.S. public policy at TripAdvisor. She previously was senior director for government relations and public policy at Pandora.

ENGAGED — Bill Russo,deputy communications director for the Joe Biden campaign, got engaged toAlice Muglia,former protocol specialist and advance officer at DoD under Ash Carter, while on a fly-fishing vacation with family in Montana.

WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Sam Wainwright,a resident physician at Mass General, andEmilie Wainwright,a site manager at TNTP, welcomed Josephine Jamie Wainwright on Monday afternoon. The couple met at the New America Foundation.

BIRTHDAY OF THE DAY:Ellen Carmichael,president of the Lafayette Company, is 32.A fun fact about her:“My favorite musical artist is Mark Knopfler, and Dire Straits is my favorite band. I even did a podcast about my love for them on National Review’s ‘Political Beats.’”Playbook Plus Q&A

BIRTHDAYS:Rep. Julia Brownley(D-Calif.) is 67… Sheryl Sandberg is 5-0 … Gary Shapiro is 63 … Alex Skatell of IJR … former Defense Secretary and Sen. Bill Cohen (R-Maine), now chairman and CEO of the Cohen Group, is 79 … R.C. Hammond … POLITICO’s Marty Kady and Caleb Wong … WSJ’s Ken Thomas … Tom Jolly … Pat Pelletier … Robert Greenwald, founder of Brave New Films, is 74 … Morgan Chalfant, White House reporter at The Hill … Hilary Halpern, VP of government affairs at Polaris Consulting … Brian Horn … Ellen Ratner … Jessica Herrera-Flanigan, EVP of government and corporate affairs at Univision Communications … Mallory Blount, director of public affairs at Treasury, is 25 …

… Matthew Swift,chairman, co-founder and CEO of the Concordia Summit … Sarah Carlson Brooke, director of NBC’s “Meet the Press” … Precision Strategies’ Thomas Winslow … Heather Marie Vitale of Sourceree … Jim O’Brien, vice chair of the Albright Stonebridge Group … Connor Ryan … Callie Strock … Ann Marie Jablon … Robert Simpson … Jay Wegimont … Luke Bunting … Luci Arveseth … Abbie Sumbrum … Lindsay Gill … Arlet Abrahamian … Rachael Dollar … Jennifer Cervantes … Bird’s Taylor Bolhack … Carol Kelly … Emma Tomaszewski of Advanced Network Strategies … Ben Halle, press secretary for PPFA and Planned Parenthood Action Fund … Allison Lichter … Tori Stilwell … Kimberly Plumer … Kate Peyton (hat tip: Teresa Vilmain)

Anna Palmer @apalmerdc

Jake Sherman @JakeSherman

View all our political and policy newsletters

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roland-terrasold-blog · 7 years

Text

Journal 59

Yesterday morning Ichibod returned, in the middle of more pancake shenanigans. In another sugar high, Unae covered Linda in syrup, and Elkin and Linda had to grapple the childish elf girl, with Elkin finally dragging her off to her room to calm down. Ichibod didn’t seem to be in the mood to talk, something about wherever he’d gone seemed to have upset him.

Since there was nothing he would let me do for him, I left the ship, intending to go to the temple to pray and clear my mind. I was a bit anxious, honestly. While discussing the parade the other day, it came up that the townsfolk were expecting us to give speechs. I am not good with crowds at the best of times, and due to my new position as bishop I couldn’t decline, as much as I wanted to. I didn’t feel that someone like me should have the position I now hold, much less giving advice to the masses. But this is the path I walk for the Dawnflower. When I finally got a chance to clear my mind and pray, I came to the conclusion that regardless of whether I asked for the position or not I had a responsibility now, not just to the church and Sarenrae, but to anyone who might follow my example. I’ve made many mistakes in my life, and if there’s one thing I can do, it’s leads others that they won’t fall onto the same path I once walked.

I didn’t get the chance to come to this conclusion until today, however. On the way to the temple, I was stopped by Sheriff Hemlock. He told me that a large encampment of people had set up outside of town, wanting to ‘pledge themselves’ to myself and Linda. I returned to the ship to fetch Linda, and the two of us went to see what the commotion was.

As it turned out, a large mercenary band had camped out by town, wishing to follow the new queen of Blackwell. Their leader, a half-orc named Vindarian, met with Linda when we approached. With them an even larger congregation of pilgrims and followers of the Dawnflower’s path had arrived in Sandpoint wanting to pledge themselves to ‘Sarenrae’s chosen’.

Sarenrae help me, this is all too much.

I admit to being less than eloquent talking with their leader, a dwarven cleric named Molderoc who had broken off from Zalbrag’s congregation after everything that happened in the last week. I was stunned and honestly had no idea what to ask of an entire congregation of followers. I hardly knew what to do when Nel pledged himself to my cause. I didn’t want to shun them, I wanted to live up to their expectations, but I hardly know any official church doctrine outside of what I’ve read from the Light and Truth. And quite honestly I’m accustomed to doing whatever I need done myself, not having others do it for me.

Whatever else I might think of Zalbrag or the way he originally acted towards us, he wasn’t wrong that I was in no way prepared to have a high position in the faith.

Fortunately, Linda is much more comfortable in the role of leader than I am. She pulled me aside and we discussed what we could accomplish with such a large following. We came to the conclusion that we could have an official embassy built for Blackwell, and it could double as a temple for pilgrimages, a place of learning for Blackwellians like Ichibod who might be interested in learning more about the gods, and so forth. I could kiss her for the clever idea, if I wouldn’t mind getting my head removed from my shoulders afterwards, of course.

The two of us met with Lord Grabanath, to discuss the possibility of building an outpost as a halfway point between Magnamar and Sandpoint, which could house the embassy. Magnamar’s lord mayor agreed, with the stipulation that he wanted the rights to our group’s images and stories for his merchandising ventures. We were promised a decent cut in return, and he swore not to let something like the slander against Elkin happen again. I’d honestly rather return to obscurity myself, but seeing as that’s impossible at this point, this sounded like a good deal. Linda and I promised him an answer tomorrow, so that we’d have time to run it by the rest of the group.

Linda asked me to pass on the request to the group while she handled some business of her own. We’d learned from Lord Grabanath that Clyde would be hosting a tournament in the near future in Magnamar, and Linda had been eager to find a way in to spite the crime lord. I don’t know if her business had anything to do with that, but I wouldn’t doubt it.

I returned to the ship and discussed the proposition with the rest of the group, who readily agreed to the lord mayor’s deal. Afterwards, however, Ichibod pulled me aside. He told me a little about what happened to him while he’d been gone. I won’t write the specifics here, as much of it is Ichibod’s personal business. However the end result was that he wanted me to cast detect evil on his son, to make sure the boy wasn’t being used as a spy for Karvoug and Mary. I agreed to my friend’s request, and used the spell. As with all children, his moral code wasn’t quite set in stone yet. He had no greater draw towards good or evil, chaos or lawfulness, than any other child. I reassured Ichibod that he had nothing to fear, and that his son was simply a child caught up in all of this.

While the rest of the group went about their own business, Ichibod was excited to share an idea he had with me. He’d gotten the tablet Linda used in Blackwell and somehow modified it so that it wasn’t stuck only showing the journal as it once did. He only needed to find a way to modify it so that it would run off of an energy source we had access to, and it would be a useful tool for our group. I suggested that perhaps Anders would know of a way to modify the technology with magic, considering that the eccentric magic user had his fingers in a number of magical and alchemical experiments.

Anders, it turned out, did have an idea on how to fix the machine, and told us it would take him a day to complete.

In the meantime, Ichibod wanted to spend a night on the town. I don’t know why I trusted the witch’s judgment in tavern, but we somehow found ourselves in a shady looking bar called the “Gobblin’ Goblin”. Everyone there seemed friendly, if a bit rowdy, at least. Although they became convinced, despite my protests, that Ichibod and I were an item. It was awkward and embarrassing until the second or third drink. We played some games, of which Ichibod knew none, but he still somehow managed to have a good time and made friends with the other patrons. I think they liked that he kept losing my money to them.

When the bar closed I probably helped to carry Ichibod home. I don’t really remember how we got back. That’s twice now. I might need to cut back a little. It was a fun evening, at least, and I’m glad that Ichibod is warming up to local forms of entertainment.

This morning Ichibod and I returned to Anders to procure the tablet we’d left with him. As promised, he’d worked out a way for the tablet to be recharged via magic rather than the Blackwellian energy sources. Ichibod showed me how to take pictures with it and how to use it to keep a journal without having to carry around books, quills, and ink. This will likely be the final handwritten entry. A shame considering I just bought this journal. More impressive, however, is another modification Anders made to it, which allows it to store a number of my arcane spells in the tablet, freeing up my daily casting ability slightly. As confusing and strange as many of the Blackwellian technologies are, there are some honest wonders as well. I can see why Ichibod likes them so much.

In a more horrifying variation of technology, however, when we got back home Ichibod and Linda got together and got it into their heads that Ichibod should graft metal under Linda’s skin. I had to stand by while Nemo put Linda to sleep and cut her open for surgery. For some reason Elkin and Unae came in to watch as well. I felt sick at the sight of her chest opened up, and metal being grafted into her. I only remained in the room because they needed me around to heal Linda afterwards, and because I wanted to be close in case anything went wrong (which blessedly it didn’t).

This will likely add to my nightmares tenfold, thanks Ichibod.

After this…event…I finally found time to visit Father Zantas to thank him for helping Ichibod and Elkin the other day. I also took some time to pray, to give thanks to Sarenrae that the events of the last few days had finally passed, and that all had ended for the better.

Finally given some quiet time to think, I felt calmer about my new role, and the upcoming festival. I returned home to work on writing my upcoming speech, which I will include below.

“I am Roland Terrasold, of the church of Sarenrae. You all have heard my title by now I'm sure. The Transcendent Sinner. I don't know how much of my story has become public knowledge at this point, but I will say that while I have tried to better myself, I am a deeply flawed man with many regrets. If you had told me a year ago, when I first came to Sandpoint, that I would someday be part of a group hailed as heroes for our actions, I would have laughed at the idea. I wouldn't have believed it possible, I would have told you 'you must have the wrong person'.

“For many years I let regrets shackle me, and it made me believe I couldn't make a positive impact on this world. I had chosen to follow Sarenrae's path, but I hadn't truly embraced her teachings, as far as forgiveness for one's self. Yet here I stand, one year later, alongside my friends in a town whose fate was changed by our actions. I'm not here to preach to you, I know that this town has a diverse set of beliefs and I hope the message I want to impart can be relevant everyone, be you a follower of the Dawnflower, Desna, Caden Kalen, or no god at all. If I would want you to take anything away from my story, it's this. Don't let past mistakes and regrets be your shackles. Learn from them, so you won't repeat them. Let them motivate you to become a better person each day. But don't let them hold you back. No matter how dark of a place you find yourself in, keep moving forward. Because someday when you look around you'll find yourself surrounded not by the regrets of the past, but by those impacted by your present actions. If anyone out there is currently in a dark place, I especially hope my words reach you. The sun will rise anew, each day. There is always hope for something better. Thank you and Sarenrae bless you.”

#Journal Entry #pathfinder #Rise of the Runelords

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