Hello everyone, my name is Marcus (18M)
I would first of all like to state that this post is requiring a single player to join a group (5 players) that has played online together for about a year now. An old campaign came to a rather abrupt ending so we are starting a new one in a new homebrew setting. Sadly, one of our long time players has had to drop out after the first session (aka; you haven't missed much) and thus we are looking for a new adventurer to join us.
We are a fun-loving LGBTQ+ friendly group all aged around 18-25yrs old. We like cracking jokes and enjoy a fast-paced, rule of cool style game. I am a bit homebrew nuts with rules, items, spells and sometimes features and classes. So if you just want a barebones dnd experience, this isn't for you. New players are certainly welcome as well as this is the perfect opportunity and environment to learn the game.
Before reading further, please confirm that the time as advertised would work consistently for you as this is a non-negotiable. I myself and another one of our players are Australian with most of our group comprised of sleep deprived Americans.
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FIRSTLY SETTING
This campaign takes place in a high fantasy archipelago between two continents where pirate and mafia leagues run rampant, scorched and broken islands lay unchanged from wars (and dragon attacks) long past. New flourishing nations seek to gain power and divine influence over each other while the champions of their states seek immortal quests to honour the gods.
This is a setting that derives heavy inspiration from both traditional Greek Mythology as well as the Theros books, including a piety system of its own. The 5 main gods of the setting often walk amongst their worshippers and will often be seen lobbying supporters much like a politician would. They wish for influence over their fellow gods and will actively try and screw each other over.
In the small kingdom of Lael, the first signs of a sinister corruption spreading from deep beneath the earth can be felt, as oracles all around speak of tendrils rising from underneath, spreading decay to all they touch.
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THE FIRST MISSION
Every four years, the followers of the Ocean Goddess Rheona will compete in a festival known as "The Ridge Run" where they sail all along the East Coast, stopping off at each town to drink, party and honour the Ocean Goddess. Each follower is required to complete this pilgrimage at least once in their life to gain the Goddess' favour but this year in the oceanside small city of Ghulal, something has gone wrong.
The new bishop of Rheona in Ghulal, "Belas T Windrider," has noticed that two teams haven't arrived in Ghulal from the last town. Which is odd because the ocean Goddess usually assures that the event is "smooth sailing." Not wanting to look bad, the young cleric has hired a group of local adventurers to conduct the search party for the two missing boats and bring them back so they may continue the event.
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THEMES
This group is good mix of roleplay and combat with this campaign focusing primarily around mystery and adventure on the high seas. We technically have only played one session so far of the campaign as of yet and haven't started on the main story mission. The current 5 lvl 1 pc's is as follows.
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Oniero Aegeus, a graviturgy wizard who is using a custom race called "The Dreamborne" a starry skinned race of celestials.
Ikarus Aegeus, an ex-soldier Samurai who is Oniero's human brother. Ikarus outwardly distrust divinity and is looking to reclaim his family's lost heroism.
Nakhash "Kash" a snake-person gunslinger whose part of a mafia family operating out of Outlaw's Landing.
Casanova "Carnation" Bloom, a fairy drakewarden whose recently (whether he likes it or not) become an oracle of a scary ocean goddess.
And last but certainly not least, Yliaster Argryos, A Heavy Metal, armour wearing, rock bard whose from a lost culture of hard rock playing war bards.
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APPLY, WE'D LOVE TO HAVE YOU!
Before you apply, while roleplay is a priority, the party still wants to be well-rounded in combat. Meaning while its not required, wanting to play a divine caster like a cleric or druid will earn you extra pts for consideration as its what the party doesn't currently have.
To apply, please fill out the following google forms and reply to this post. I'll be in touch with those I consider fit for the group.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfC3mYtky9b9_RknQzS9Y4g0rLkDGmzrjhtF9zXfucUdpwccw/viewform?usp=sf_link

Welcome back to Part 2, of my rewrite of Phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, this time, we discuss the films of 2021, since the shows have already been rewritten.

Black Widow:

The Plot: Since Black Widow is a prequel to Infinity War and Endgame, it's best to leave this film canon in my own timeline to avoid contradictions in the timeline. Especially because Phase 1-3 still happened in my canon.
Also, I think the female Taskmaster has potential, and we can get the more comic accurate version in the future, along with the existing Antonia Drekov version. We will cross that road when we reach The Thunderbolts.

Shang Chi: Legends of the Ten Rings

The Plot: This film would stay exactly the same, aside from the title change. I would cut down the humor, but the movie would stay the same in my MCU continuity.

Eternals:

The Plot: Druig takes Ikaris's place throughout my version, to be more comic accurate, since he was the one who betrayed The Eternals in the comics. Aside from that, here is the synopsis of my rewrite of The Eternals film.
Act-1: In 5000 BC, a strike team of Eternals, Ajak, Sersi, Ikaris, Kingo, Sprite, Phastos, Makkari, Druig, Gilgamesh, and Thena are sent by the Celestial Arishem to Earth on their starship, the Domo, to exterminate the invasive Deviants.
I'd keep the opening action sequence of The Eternals fighting The Deviants on the shore of an island.
Throughout the centuries, the Eternals continue to relocate to other growing civilizations and defend them from the Deviants, although they are barred by Arishem from interfering with human conflicts to allow them to evolve naturally. Two Eternals, Sersi and Druig, would develop a close relationship over the centuries, eventually becoming a married couple.
As for other relationships between The Eternals:
Ikaris develops feelings for Thena, during this time. The two are good friends and often are a duo during confrontations with The Deviants.
Druig is close with Makkari, and they sometimes play pranks on the humans together. Makkari even has unrequited feelings for Druig.
Ajak is the mother of The Eternals, she is keeping everyone rational and in check and comforts them in times of distress.
Phastos is constantly coming up with new technology and is often extremely critical of himself and his creations.
Ikaris and Druig are cousins, however they often bud heads and are prone to fighting each other, which often have to be broken up by Ajak.
Sprite is the kid of the group. Thena is always looking for a fight. Gilgamesh is the gentle giant. Makkari is quiet and shy. Kingo is very dramatic and theatrical.
The last Deviants left on Earth are killed in combat by The Eternals, in 1521. The Eternal-Deviant War was now in it's final days.
Also in 1521, the Spanish invasion on the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan ran concurrently with an attack from the last of the Deviants. While fighting and killing them off, Thena's Mahd Wy'ry causes her to momentarily turn on her allies, only to be stopped by Gilgamesh.
The Prime Eternal, Ajak, offers to cure Thena's affliction at the cost of her memories, but Gilgamesh volunteers to look over her, conceding with the possibility that she may have to be killed if she turns again. Druig, frustrated with how the Eternals have been abstaining from human affairs, deserts them to end the Spanish conflict himself. With the Deviants (seemingly) eradicated on Earth, Ajak releases the Eternals to go their separate ways. (That's why The Eternals didn't help The Avengers and were absent during Infinity War or Endgame)
In the years after 1521, Druig would completely abandon Sersi as the other Eternals await their return to Olympia. In the present day, Sersi and Sprite live together in London, she is now in a sexual relationship with a human, Dane Whitman who works at the Natural History Museum.
(Dane will later become The Black Knight, and even an Avengers and Midnight Sons member, like in the comics)
After Sersi's partner, Druig, left her centuries earlier. When the trio are attacked by the Deviant Kro, Druig arrives, firing a torrent of lightning at the deviant and chases the creature away. The three Eternals travel to South Dakota to reunite with their leader, Ajak, only to find her dead. Sersi is posthumously chosen by Ajak as her successor, granting her the ability to communicate with Arishem.
They approach Kingo as he shoots a new Bollywood film, who is hesitant to leave his life of stardom and rejoin the Eternals. He gives in when he learns about Ajak's death, alongside additional encouragement from his valet Karun Patel, who also tags alongside them to film a documentary for Kingo.
The group locates Gilgamesh and Thena in an outpost in Australia as the latter's Wy'ry resurfaces due to a recent Deviant attack. After examining Thena's artwork she had painted during her constant episodes of Wy'ry, which visualized memories of planetary destructions in the distant past.
Sersi learns that the mission of the Eternals was actually to prepare Earth for the Emergence. Arishem explains that, for millions of years, he has been planting the seeds of Celestials inside planets where the energy from large populations allows new Celestials to be born.
The Deviants were sent to destroy the apex predators of each planet to ensure the development of intelligent life, but when the Deviants evolved and began hunting the planets' native populations, Arishem created the Eternals to counter them. With The Avengers reversing The Snap, Earth has reached the necessary population for the birth of the Celestials, Tiamut, which will result in Earth's destruction.
So basically, The Eternals were androids that were deployed onto Earth to protect the humans, unaware that they were also defending a seed that would spawn the new Celestial Tiamut the Communicator once the population quota of intelligent life was achieved.
When that happens, the Emergence would commence, resulting in the destruction of the planet and the birth of said Celestial, which would allow for new life and galaxies to form. Afterwards, the memories of the Eternals would be taken from them and studied by Arishem to make way for their next planetary mission.
However, my rewrite depicts The Celestials as neutral beings, they focus primarily on seeding life and the evolution of the lower species in the universe.
I'd have Arishem also state that there are other groups of Eternals in the universe, guarding planets for The Celestials to burst out of the planet's surface.
(We'll see some more Eternals appear in the sequel, so that line will have some payoff, later on)
Appalled with the true meaning of their existence, Sersi informs the others. Together, they realize that Thena's mental affliction was the result of a botched memory wipe after a previous Emergence.
Act-2: To delay the Emergence, the Eternals reconvene. At Ikaris's residence in the Amazon rainforest. It's revealed that over the next five hundred years, Ikaris founded and managed to run a community that saw him as a god, within the Peruvian Amazonia.
Ikaris started a settlement and managed a peaceful lifestyle off the shores of Lake Junin, running a camp composed of farmers, woodworkers, and fishermen, among others. Ikaris had a wife named Margo Damian, but she passed away of old age. She had a striking resemblance to Thena. Her death left Ikaris in a depressed state and reluctant to help his old friends and cousin, wishing to be left alone in peace.
(That's a reference to the comics, where Margo Damian was Ikaris's love interest, but was killed by The Deviants, but in My MCU, she dies more peacefully)
They are attacked by a troop of Deviants. Kingo, Druig and Sersi are ambushed and viciously attacked by them, but she uses her powers to transmute one into a tree, much to everyone’s surprise.
Druig hypnotizes one of the deviants, distracting it long enough for him to electrocute it into submission. The deviant explodes, killing it. Kingo was barely able to repel one of them which was attacking Sersi. As he was able to hold his own against the Deviants, Kingo noticed that Patel was still filming to have some action sequences, and instructed Sprite to take him to safety.
Ikaris has a change of heart, seeing the village getting destroyed and he fights against a deviant, like in the actual movie, just to showcase his powerset of flight, superhuman strength and heat vision. Ikaris gets the upper hand on the deviant and burns it alive with his heat vision, killing him.
As Thena begins to fall insane yet again, Gilgamesh rushes to her side. However, this allows the Deviant leader Kro to attack him and absorb his powers, gaining a humanoid figure, intelligible speech, and his memories. Gilgamesh dies in Thena's arms.
Before he passes away, Gilgamesh successfully gets Thena to remember who she is. However, Thena would still have her mental illness, albeit she can control it better. The rest of the Eternals mourn the loss of their strongest member with a burial.
Druig proclaims that he is not powerful enough to affect a Celestial, so they head to Chicago to seek out Phastos, who had long abandoned mankind and his technological ambitions after his technology was used to create the atomic bomb. However, he has newfound hope for humanity after finding a new life with his husband and son.
(Yes, Phastos is still gay in my version of the film. Stay mad, Homophobes)
He initially refuses to leave his family, but relents after Ben convinces him to fight for Jack's future. Phastos proposes the Uni-Mind, a connection between all the Eternals that would give Druig enough power to put Tiamut to sleep with his mind-control powers.
Heading to Iraq, The Eternals retrieve the Domo from an archaeological site and find Makkari residing in the ship. As they all are imbued with infinite cosmic energy, Phastos proposes they channel their energy into Druig and form a Uni-Mind so that he can take control of the Celestial and stop the Emergence.
Act-3: However, not everyone is onboard with the plan, with Druig being the primary dissident. When Kingo pledges to remain alongside Druig up until the end, he recalls his last encounter with Ajak six days prior.
Druig, after The Eternals split up, was an agent for The KGB in Russia. He was also mind controlling humans for his amusement. (Similar to his comic counterpart)
She informs Druig that although the Blip brought the Emergence closer to reality, the heroics of the Avengers inspired her to doubt Arishem for the first time.
(I'd have The X-Gene and Mutants be mentioned by Ajak as an experiment done on Earth by the Celestials, like in the comics. This alludes to The X-Men and other Mutant characters being a huge deal in the future)
However, Druig remains a firm and loyal believer in Arishem, Druig mind controls and takes Ajak to a town in Alaska, where the Deviants trapped in ice were resurfacing due to global warming associated with the Emergence. He pushes her into the path of Kro, who absorbs her life force, killing her, and the deviant gains her regenerative powers. Druig takes Ajak's body back home before breaking down over what he had done. As electricity furiously flies across the field.
Sersi senses the commencement of the Emergence, prompting Phastos to send Makkari out and find Tiamut, who is at a volcanic island in the Indian Ocean. Ikaris deduced Druig's role in Ajak's death, and Sersi learns he was made aware of their true mission by Ajak centuries ago.
Druig argues that it is their duty as Eternals to protect the Celestial cycle of life so that the universe may continue to exist. When Kingo threatens to attack Druig, Sprite decides to leave with him. As he does not want to face Arishem but wishes not to fight his friends, Kingo also departs along with Karun.
Thena convinces Sersi to continue Ajak's mission as her successor and prevent the Emergence from eliminating all of mankind. To facilitate the Uni-Mind, Phastos takes Sersi's communication sphere and disassembles it to construct bracelets for the other Eternals to wear.
Sprite joins Druig due to her unrequited love for him while Kingo chooses to get up and leave. Makkari locates the place of the Emergence, an active volcano in the Indian Ocean, where Druig and Sprite attempt to stop them.
At the island, Sersi, Thena and Makkari lend their energy to Ikaris and allow him to connect with Tiamut, but Druig electrocutes and blasts him into a hole and destroys the Domo. Determining that Sersi's matter transmutation powers are their last chance to stop the Emergence, Makkari, Thena and Phastos confront Druig to give her cover.
I'd keep the same battle that Ikaris gave The Other Eternals in the finished film. However, it's instead with Druig, who uses electricity and mind control, instead of heat vision. However, he can still fly during the battle though.
A devastated and rageful Makkari wailed as she saw this and sought to seek revenge for Druig betraying her, since they were close friends. Makkari rushed towards Druig dodged several of his lighting blasts and gained the upper-hand in fighting him with her super speed.
However, Makkari quickly lost as her fight pattern was recognized by Druig and he grabbed her by the neck and electrocuted her chest, wounding her. Thena and Phastos were able to battle Druig for some time. Kingo even returns with a change of heart, and he brought over twin katanas, to help out against Druig.
(This is to make Kingo more accurate to his comic counterpart, who is Japanese and uses katana blades)
Kingo deflects Druig's lightning back into his face, with his two twin katanas, similar to the move that Rey did to Palpatine in The Rise Of Skywalker. Kingo even lands a few slashes to Druig's torso, and blasts him with a giant energy ball, which collides with Druig's electricity, causing a massive explosion.
However, Druig comes out of the smoke and electrocutes Kingo, sending him flying backwards and taking him out of the fight and he almost tortures and kills him with his electricity.
However, Druig is interrupted by Kro, who attacks the Eternals and nearly kills Makkari, but Phastos knocks him into a cave where Thena follows him into to get some revenge for Gilgamesh's death.
Sprite projects an illusion of Ajak to distract Sersi before jabbing her with a dagger. As she is constantly mocked for her childlike stature, Sprite envies Sersi for being able to live a full life among humans, hoping that the Emergence's aftermath would allow her to be reborn as a full-sized lifeform.
Ikaris recovers and punches Sprite out, but he is unable to utilize his powers against Tiamut again, forcing Sersi to face it alone as the Celestial begins to rise from Earth’s crust.
Kro impersonates Gilgamesh and attempts to take over Thena's mind, but she is able to resist him and kills the Deviant by slicing him in half. Phastos manages to restrain Druig and prevent him from using his powers momentarily, but he eventually breaks free, using his cosmic flame to incinerate his restraints and flies away to stop Sersi.
Sersi instead attempts to turn him into marble. Druig breaks free of his restraints and goes to kill Sersi, but finds himself unable to due to his love for her. Both he and Sprite join with the others in the Uni-Mind and Sersi gains enough power to turn Tiamut into marble. Guilt-ridden, Druig flies into the Sun. At Sprite's request, Sersi uses the remaining energy from the Uni-Mind to turn Sprite into a human, ending her permanent childlike state. However, I would make it clear that Sprite still has her powers, she just will age like a normal human.
Thena, Ikaris, and Makkari depart on the Domo to find Eternals on other planets and warn them of the Emergences while Sersi, Phastos, Sprite and Kingo remain on Earth.
Whitman professes his love for Sersi and is about to reveal a secret about his family history when she, Phastos, Sprite, and Kingo are lifted into space by Arishem. Displeased with their treason, Arishem says he will spare humanity if the Eternals' memories show that humans are worthy of living. Vowing to return for judgment, he takes the trio with him into a singularity. (That sets up a sequel)
Post Credit Scenes: Ikaris, Makkari, and Thena track that Sersi, Phastos, Sprite and Kingo have been kidnapped, and they are tracking where Arishem is headed, since Celestials aren't exactly sneaky. However, Starfox and Pip The Troll have come to help them on their little rescue mission.
Dane Whitman, inside his castle, pulls out his inherited Black Knight armor and Ebony Blade. However, a voice appears saying "You sure you want to touch that, Mr. Whitman".
Blade, The Vampire Hunter, himself approaches Dane, which sets up the Blade reboot.
Sersi, Kingo, Sprite and Phastos, are captured by Arshem, and he shows the clones of Druig, Gilgamesh and Ajak. This sets up the dead Eternals having replacement versions of them in the sequel.
All of The Eternals are all androids, created in the World Forge after all. The Celestials can simply create more of the exact same Eternal.

Spder-Man: No Way Home:

No Way Home would stay the same. This film is almost perfect. I would use "The More Fun Stuff Cut" as the definitive version of the story that happened in universe.
Post Credit Scenes: Tom Hardy's Venom still leaves a piece of The Symbiote behind, before he is sent back to his universe.
(There will also be an MCU variants of Eddie Brock, Gwen Stacy, and Norman Osborn, and a few other characters in my college trilogy)

Hey folks, I won a local RCQ playing Yorion Enigmatic Fires. Then I wrote almost 4,000 words about the deck and the day and I thought you might be curious to read them! Feel free to ask me any questions you like.
Decklist: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/5521211#online
Deck Choice:
I don’t necessarily believe Enigmatic Fires is the best deck in the Pioneer format, but it is definitely the most fun deck for me to play. There are a lot of extremely powerful interactions in the deck and it does represent pretty much a free win for any deck that can’t remove enchantments, like Rakdos. The deck is almost entirely Explorer legal too (WoTC can we have Chained to the Rocks pls?) so I’ve had a lot of practice with the deck with easily over 300 matches online. That familiarity with the deck and its lines definitely paid off during the day, and I was able to find some pretty great winning moves that I probably wouldn’t have found without that experience.
Card Choices:
Okay, first off, that manabase will look very weird. I could write all day about the intricacies of the 5c Fires manabase, but suffice it to say that there’s a mix of “here’s the triomes and checklands I own / could borrow” and “actually some of these decisions might reflect specific choices I’ve made in deckbuilding.” The mana actually felt incredibly smooth though, there was only one game the entire tournament during which I had to make difficult choices regarding what I was able to cast due to mana constraints (and it was during the finals) which I would consider incredibly good for an 80 card, 5-colour deck in Pioneer.
When it comes to 1-of creatures, lists are fairly settled. My most notable decisions there are playing Gloomshrieker over Shigeki, Jukai Visionary (Gloomshrieker is the better tutor target) and playing Atraxa where some lists choose not to. I can’t believe I’m having to try and convince people to play Atraxa, but play Atraxa! She draws 3 cards and doesn’t afraid of anything.
For enchantments, I’m completely sold on Bitter Reunion as the card advantage spell of choice (over Omen of the Sea). The activated ability can be very relevant, especially to give Refliki of Kiki-Jiki hastiki to criki a tiki of aniki nonlegiki criki we contriki. There tends to be 3 spots left in the enchantments for some kind of removal spell, with popular choices including Oath of Chandra, Omen of the Forge, and Trial of Ambition. While I used to be a big fan of Trial, it does put considerable pressure on the manabase, so I decided to cut them. Omen can go upstairs, but 2 damage just isn’t enough in the format. I think Oath of Chandra is the best choice as 3 kills most early drops and doubling it with Elesh Norn or Yorion can kill most later game threats in the format. However, I didn’t own any Oath of Chandra in paper, and also wanted to respect Greasfang and Creativity, so I chose Touch the Spirit Realm which has a tonne of synergies with the deck as both an O-Ring and a Cloudshift (that can target your opponent’s creatures). However, I found I didn’t own 3 Touch the Spirit Realms, so I went for 2 and an Omen of the Sea. #justpaperthings
Rending Volleys and Radiant Flames are must-haves in the sideboard for me (WoTC can we pls have Radiant Flames in Arena?) for Spirits and Humans. Mystical Disputes are also very good against Spirits and are great for Control and Creativity too. Rest in Peace is a pretty good card for the meta generally, though if you’re not seeing much Greasefang then I don’t think they’re necessary (we have tools to beat other graveyard decks in the main, like Callous Bloodmage and a bunch of exile-based removal). I knew I would be seeing some Greasefang, so I wanted the RIPs. That just leaves a few slots for tutor targets. Koma is my choice for extra 7 drop in the side (over Dragonlord Atarka), Nimble Larcenist is great in any slower matchup. After getting to the venue, it seemed like there were a good number of Creativity and Lotus Field players, so I cut a Rending Volley for Reidane, God of the Worthy. In retrospect, I think I should have cut a Radiant Flames instead (early removal is so much more important in the aggressive matchups than Sweepers) but I was still happy with this meta call.
The decklist is heavily inspired by NJAMTG and the Enigmanifesto, and the sideboard guide as well as matchup tips therein was an incredibly useful resource for me and reduced the mental load of sideboarding massively (which is very useful for a deck that already has hundreds of interactions). I sent them $10 through PayPal for the help that this doc provided me.
The Day:
6 of us from the Patriot Games Sheffield massive traveled to Manchester to show them how Magic is played. Between us we represented Enigmatic Fires, Abzan Greasefang, MonoU Spirits, UW Spirits, Rakrifice Sacrifice, and Izzet Phoenix. I trusted all of these players to do well, and that definitely influenced my decision to run this deck in the first place (over what I would have otherwise played, MonoG Devotion) and also influenced my decision to run Touch the Spirit Realm. Having such a large group was amazing for morale and having people to chat with and decompress with between rounds, as well as having a very good understanding of what decks were being played in the room after only a couple of rounds.
It became very clear very quickly that the meta was aggressive. There were a lot of Spirits players, Control was almost nowhere to be seen, Mono Green was underrepresented, and even Rakdos Mid wasn’t making much of a showing with RakSac being more popular.
This did not bode well for me. There’s a reason our sideboard has 10 cards for MonoU Spirits and it’s not because we’re trying to make a good matchup better. Registering 5c Enigmatic Fires, I’d already decided I was happy to lose some games and just have a fun time, doing my best to cheer on the rest of my team, and seeing a bunch of Spirits players did nothing to raise my ambitions higher than that.
The Matches:
Round 1 - Sam on MonoU Spirits
Sam was one of the Sheffielders I’d brought in the car and is a good Spirits player, so I was very much prepared to lose Game 1 and have to battle it out in the sideboard games, still expecting to lose.
In Game 1, after managing to resolve a Fires by forcing a counterspell on a Chained to the Rocks and then using a Treasure from Fable of the Mirror Breaker to cast the Fires, I was fortunate enough to draw my Kenrith and Knight of Autumn, allowing me to cast Kenrith, cast Knight gaining 4, use Kenrith to give Refliki haste, copy Knight for another 4, then use Kenrith’s ability to gain 5. Gaining 13 life a turn is a great way to stem the bleeding, allowing me to quickly stabilize and crack back for the win.
In Game 2, I was able to land a Fires and Enigmatic on Turn 4 after playing a bunch of removal early, picking up Tolsimir which cleaned up the board pretty quick with Yorion to double the trigger.
Result: A very surprising 2-0
Round 2 - Charlie on MonoU Spirits
High off a victory on an unfavoured matchup, seeing a Snow-Covered Island was simultaneously horrifying and exciting. Maybe I’d learned how to crack the matchup? Maybe I’d ran hot and was about to have my dreams crushed.
I can’t entirely remember what happened in the match, but I can see on my lifepad that my life total went from 4 > 8 > 12 > 16, so I’m assuming I managed to make some copies of Knight of Autumn again.
Game 2 the Spirits trounced me.
Game 3 my opponent mulliganed down to 5, had their Spirits removed, cast a couple of counters, but then only drew lands, leaving me to beat down with Yorion and a 4/3 Knight of Autumn. So Magic goes sometimes.
Result: A continually surprising 2-1. I’m 2-0 in matches.
Round 3 - Alfie on MonoB Zombies
Enigmatic Fires is generally very happy to see a deck that has no way of removing enchantments outside of discard spells, and this was no different. I was slightly surprised to see this relatively budget brew in the 2-0 bracket. Alfie said he’d so far beaten Greasefang and a BW Midrange deck, both of which surprised me. He finished the day 4-2 though so clearly there’s something cooking here.
Anyway, if there’s one thing a Zombie hates, it’s being exiled, and we did a lot of that to win 2-0 very safely.
Result: 2-0, I’m 3-0 in matches.
Round 4 - Andy on Izzet Creativity
Andy is a lovely man that I’ve seen at almost every RCQ I played in this season, and we’ve been paired together a couple times too. While I ultimately lost the match, I was not sad to lose to him at all as he’s a strong and friendly player, which truly is the best combo in Magic.
A slightly less good combo is Izzet Creativity, which I should have known he was on. While shuffling, he accidentally dropped a Stormcarved Coast, and I knew he knew better than to play Izzet Phoenix in Sheoldred’s Meta. In this matchup, the only card that matters in our deck is Leyline Binding (and Touch the Spirit Realm too) to break up the combo at Instant speed. I should have mulliganed aggressively for that in G1, but I chose to just keep a pretty decent hand as though I was blindly queuing into him. He combo’d off on Turn 5 like the deck wants to do and I felt very silly for my decisions.
In Game 2 I was able to land a Koma onto the battlefield, which shuts off his combo and is extremely difficult to remove, so I won.
In Game 3, he did manage to combo off but I got to channel the Touch the Spirit Realm to avoid taking damage, giving me an extra turn to find an answer. After a lot of deliberation on a Fable discard/draw trigger, the best I could get to stick was a Deputy of Detention on the Wurm, he revealed Fire Prophecy in his hand and I shook it (the hand, not the Prophecy).
Result: A sore 1-2, I’m 3-1 in matches.
Round 5 - Ray on MonoU Spirits
As we sat down, my opponent said to their friend “I really hope this guy’s not on Spirits”. My opening hand had 2 Chained to the Rocks, 2 Leyline Bindings, and the lands to cast those spells. I prayed that my opponent wasn’t on Control or Lotus Field and hoped for the best.
Then I proceeded to remove every threat they played and make an Atraxa on Turn 4.
I don’t remember Game 2 very clearly, but the lifepad shows that it went similarly.
After the games, my opponent said they absolutely hated playing against my deck and they always lose to it. I wonder if Spirits players are misunderstanding this matchup? Because it feels absolutely awful on my end, and yet I’ve now beaten it 3 times.
Result: I’m not sure whether or not it’s still surprising, but 2-0 to put me on 4-1 in matches.
At this point, the ID maths starts. After a lot of inevitably pointless discussion, as we sit down it becomes clear that the Top 6 can ID and lock themselves in, but that Tables 4 and 5 would have to fight for it.
Round 6 - Ben on Izzet Phoenix
Upsettingly for both of us, we’re on Table 4. Ben is another of the Sheffield massive, and is playing my Phoenix deck which he has borrowed from me. Ben first played this deck last week at WNM and has gone on an insane 4-1 streak playing one of the most complex (and not very well-positioned) decks in the format. Man’s just good at Magic and loves drawing 3 cards.
We have a little chat and Ben tells me he’s leaning towards conceding to me because he feels I have a better chance at going on to win the tournament and, being his first RCQ in years, he’s not in a great position to start gearing up for an RC in a format he’s barely played.
We decide to start playing our games anyway though and see how things go before we make any further decisions. I land an early Atraxa, which he is able to remove with a Galvanic Iteration and a Lightning Axe, but his draws haven’t been very kind and he has to Temporal Trespass with only a 2/4 Ledger Shredder on the board. I remove it and win.
We realise that if I win, I’ll be the top seed, giving me the ability to start on the play every round of the Top 8. That information pushes Ben to concede the match and save us both the bother of sideboarding.
Result: I’m 5-1 and locked as Top Seed of the Top 8. Out of the 6 of us from Sheffield, we’ve put 3 into the Top 8. That’s in a 50-player tournament. Sheffield showing the North how it’s done.
Out of the three of us, Ian isn’t interested in the invite to Athens because he’s at an Arctic Monkeys concert that night and Sheffield does revoke your citizenship if you decline to go to an Arctic Monkeys concert for any non-life-or-death reason. He is, however, interested in the £250 that goes to first place. The three of us agree to split all of our prizes evenly no matter what happens to give us the best chances of getting what we each want.
Top 8
Quarterfinals - Lewis on Abzan Greasefang
Unfortunately, Lewis is one of the 3 from Sheffield we’ve put into the Top 8 and isn’t Ian, so is looking for the invite too. Unfortunately for me, Greasefang is a pretty difficult matchup also.
At this point, we’ve mapped out the Top 8 and know these are the decks involved:
Enigmatic Fires Abzan Greasefang
RakSac x2
Creativity x2
UW Control
Humans
It’s not clear which of us would be better into the rest of the field, so there’s no clear concession decision. We also both want the invite, so we wouldn’t feel good choosing to pass it up when there’s no guarantee the other person will get it.
In Game 1, Lewis manages to assemble his combo on Turn 4, but I have a Leyline Binding to stop it. He plays another Greasefang on Turn 5, and after a while I remember the Legend Rule, playing Yorion to flicker my own Leyline Binding, making him sacrifice one Greasefang and I exile the other. That’s enough of a hit to his plan that I run away with the rest of the game.
In Game 2, I’m able to stick an Elesh Norn but he assembles the combo and hits me down to 2. I use Enigmatic to get Tolsimir and wipe his board, except for the angels, and gain 12 life. The Angels continue to hit me down to 6 and I’m left with the difficult decision between either cycling a Triome to dig for a 2cmc enchantment that I can Enigmatic into an exile effect for the angels, or casting Yorion and blocking one angel to go down to 2, dead to a Witherbloom Command. I opt for the Yorion line, he has Witherbloom, we go to Game 3.
In Game 3, I keep a 2 lander with Enigmatic and Fires and a Bitter Renunion to find the other lands I need or hate for the Greasefang. I get T1 Thoughtseized and he takes the Reunion which is controversial but I think correct. I manage to just draw the lands that I need and land a Fires plus Enigmatic, getting an Elesh Norn and later a Tolsimir, while his Salvage only finds a Skysovereign which I just take the hit of and I snowball away with the game.
Sucks to knock out a friend, but we played some really fun and interesting games.
Semifinals - Ian on RakSac
With our prize split already agreed, for Ian and I the main decision is who we think has the best chance to win the tournament. The other semifinal match is RakSac vs Humans, which we’d expect RakSac to win. If that’s the case, I’m better off going into the finals as RakSac cannot remove Enchantments so it’s generally a good matchup, especially compared to the mirror which is inherently a bit more of a coinflip. Ian had already played and beaten that same opponent in the Swiss though and felt like he understood the mirror better than his opponent did, so it wasn’t completely cut and dry.
We started to play out our match. On Turn 3, Ian discards a Mayhem Devil to a Blood token, which initially I see as quite a positive for me. Of course I should have realised what that telegraphs, which is that he had 3 more in his hand. 3 Mayhem Devils is very strong as it turns out, and even though I manage to remove two with Skyclave Apparition and Tolsimir, by this point the damage is already done and I lose.
I’m not necessarily deterred though. I’ve played XCom. It’s very possible to miss a 90% shot and it’s very easy to lose a 90-10 matchup, doesn’t mean you’re any less favoured.
By the time we finish sideboarding, the other semifinals match has finished with Rakdos Sacrifice predictably coming out on top. Ian extends his hand and tells me to go get ‘em (after his best efforts to knock my confidence on the matchup).
Finals - Jeremy on Rakdos Sacrifice
I’m not entirely sure, but I think this might have been Jeremy’s first time in an RCQ Top 8. He’d had a very strong run; meanwhile this is the first time in 4 rounds that I hadn’t played against a friend. Even though I played out some of those games and this likely would have been the outcome, I do feel like a bit of a Nepo Baby coming into the match.
We take a quick snack break and I eat some of the best mango I’ve ever consumed. Tesco Meal Deal really coming in clutch there. Ian gives me a bit of advice on his perspective on the RakSac matchup, saying “When you have a Yorion turn, you win.”
In Game 1, I Chained to the Rocks a Bloodtithe Harvester, Leyline Binding a Mayhem Devil, then drop an Enigmatic, make an Atraxa, which finds another Binding to rebind the Devil. He hardcasts Eaten Alive to remove Atraxa, and next turn I play Yorion, he scoops. Ian pats me on the back.
In Game 2 I suffer the only manabase difficulty of the day. My 7 has only 2 lands and a lot of one-of creatures instead of impactful spells. My 6 has 2 lands, Chained to the Rocks, Rest in Peace, Radiant Flames, and a Bitter Reunion, but no white mana. I figure the Bitter Reunion will do enough to fix the mana, but he Thoughtseizes it away from me and follows up with a Bloodtithe Harvester. I play out my lands and he casts Go Blank on me. I discard a land and the Chained to the Rocks (a mistake, Rest in Peace should have gone over one of those cards), and I’m immediately punished by drawing Nylea’s Presence which could have cast the Chained. I have to Radiant Flames to stop the Bloodtithe Harvester from beating me down, but at this point he’s got the lands to animate Den of the Bugbear and there’s nothing I can do about it. We go to Game 3 and things get tense.
By Game 3, fatigue is definitely setting in, possibly also nerves. I start to think that Chained to the Rocks has the mana value restriction of Portable Hole (crossed wires from playing Arena, where we have to play Portable Hole instead of Chained, WoTC pls) and almost Chained to the Rocks an Unlucky Witness instead of Mayhem Devil. Fortunately, my opponent asks me what the Chained is targeting and that prompts me to remember that it can target the Devil.
I Chained 2 Devils and each time he sacrificed them to the Oven, but this allows me to cast Yorion and bounce my Chains to pick up new targets. Yorion is also bouncing a Nyleas’s Presence and a Bitter Reunion, so gets me a lot of value. I Glasspool Mimic my Yorion for another round of triggers, keeping the old Yorion and using the new Yorion’s trigger to flicker it, giving me a third round of triggers also. However, despite drawing 12 cards, I can’t find an Enigmatic or another creature to save my life and he’s able to whittle me down with a Hive of the Eye Tyrant and a Ramunap Ruins until I’m at 4. I manage to drop a Callous Bloodmage and make a Pest as a blocker and hopefully a source of life, while continually holding up a Leyline Binding in case he finds Bloody Betrayal for Yorion. 4 per turn from Yorion is enough to eventually get him down, and I close out the match with an attack all for 7 (Yorion, Callous Bloodmage, and 2 Pests from Touch the Spirit Realming the Bloodmage) when he’s at 6.
Fantastic games all around.
Closing Thoughts:
During the car journey back we discussed how this was a very strange meta for the tournament. MonoU Spirits was the most popular deck and that probably reflects its low cost. The store owner was very pleased to see 51 people turn up for an event, and that’s largely due to how accessible Pioneer is as a format. This had two huge effects for me. Firstly, the Spirits players that I played against had a lot less experience in the matchup than I had. That’s the benefit of playing an off-meta deck into a bunch of meta decks. Through experience and my opponents’ inexperience, I was able to find lines that flipped an unfavourable matchup 3 times in the same day. Secondly, the Spirits players were very weak to the Rakdos Sacrifice players, allowing them to get into the Top 8 where I could prey on them, efficiently rock-paper-scissoring the win into my hands.
While I played pretty tightly all day, and this was my third Top 8 of the season so I’d somewhat proven my ability to get there, there was also a lol of luck involved in my win as there is with any Magic tournament.
Having a team of 6 people was also an insane boon. I’ve worked hard to help build this community of competitive Magic players in Sheffield and even just having friends around for morale and (OUTSIDE OF MATCHES) advice is an incredible help. I’m sure there’s some conflicting opinions about how fair the team advantage is, but I think it’s only fitting that in Magic: the Gathering, working alongside people to improve as a player is a valid path to victory.

Hey folks, I won a local RCQ playing Yorion Enigmatic Fires. Then I wrote almost 4,000 words about the deck and the day and I thought you might be curious to read them! Feel free to ask me any questions you like.
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Decklist: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/5521211#online
Deck Choice:
I don’t necessarily believe Enigmatic Fires is the best deck in the Pioneer format, but it is definitely the most fun deck for me to play. There are a lot of extremely powerful interactions in the deck and it does represent pretty much a free win for any deck that can’t remove enchantments, like Rakdos. The deck is almost entirely Explorer legal too (WoTC can we have Chained to the Rocks pls?) so I’ve had a lot of practice with the deck with easily over 300 matches online. That familiarity with the deck and its lines definitely paid off during the day, and I was able to find some pretty great winning moves that I probably wouldn’t have found without that experience.
Card Choices:
Okay, first off, that manabase will look very weird. I could write all day about the intricacies of the 5c Fires manabase, but suffice it to say that there’s a mix of “here’s the triomes and checklands I own / could borrow” and “actually some of these decisions might reflect specific choices I’ve made in deckbuilding.” The mana actually felt incredibly smooth though, there was only one game the entire tournament during which I had to make difficult choices regarding what I was able to cast due to mana constraints (and it was during the finals) which I would consider incredibly good for an 80 card, 5-colour deck in Pioneer.
When it comes to 1-of creatures, lists are fairly settled. My most notable decisions there are playing Gloomshrieker over Shigeki, Jukai Visionary (Gloomshrieker is the better tutor target) and playing Atraxa where some lists choose not to. I can’t believe I’m having to try and convince people to play Atraxa, but play Atraxa! She draws 3 cards and doesn’t afraid of anything.
For enchantments, I’m completely sold on Bitter Reunion as the card advantage spell of choice (over Omen of the Sea). The activated ability can be very relevant, especially to give Refliki of Kiki-Jiki hastiki to criki a tiki of aniki nonlegiki criki we contriki. There tends to be 3 spots left in the enchantments for some kind of removal spell, with popular choices including Oath of Chandra, Omen of the Forge, and Trial of Ambition. While I used to be a big fan of Trial, it does put considerable pressure on the manabase, so I decided to cut them. Omen can go upstairs, but 2 damage just isn’t enough in the format. I think Oath of Chandra is the best choice as 3 kills most early drops and doubling it with Elesh Norn or Yorion can kill most later game threats in the format. However, I didn’t own any Oath of Chandra in paper, and also wanted to respect Greasfang and Creativity, so I chose Touch the Spirit Realm which has a tonne of synergies with the deck as both an O-Ring and a Cloudshift (that can target your opponent’s creatures). However, I found I didn’t own 3 Touch the Spirit Realms, so I went for 2 and an Omen of the Sea. #justpaperthings
Rending Volleys and Radiant Flames are must-haves in the sideboard for me (WoTC can we pls have Radiant Flames in Arena?) for Spirits and Humans. Mystical Disputes are also very good against Spirits and are great for Control and Creativity too. Rest in Peace is a pretty good card for the meta generally, though if you’re not seeing much Greasefang then I don’t think they’re necessary (we have tools to beat other graveyard decks in the main, like Callous Bloodmage and a bunch of exile-based removal). I knew I would be seeing some Greasefang, so I wanted the RIPs. That just leaves a few slots for tutor targets. Koma is my choice for extra 7 drop in the side (over Dragonlord Atarka), Nimble Larcenist is great in any slower matchup. After getting to the venue, it seemed like there were a good number of Creativity and Lotus Field players, so I cut a Rending Volley for Reidane, God of the Worthy. In retrospect, I think I should have cut a Radiant Flames instead (early removal is so much more important in the aggressive matchups than Sweepers) but I was still happy with this meta call.
The decklist is heavily inspired by NJAMTG and the Enigmanifesto, and the sideboard guide as well as matchup tips therein was an incredibly useful resource for me and reduced the mental load of sideboarding massively (which is very useful for a deck that already has hundreds of interactions). I sent them $10 through PayPal for the help that this doc provided me.
The Day:
6 of us from the Patriot Games Sheffield massive traveled to Manchester to show them how Magic is played. Between us we represented Enigmatic Fires, Abzan Greasefang, MonoU Spirits, UW Spirits, Rakrifice Sacrifice, and Izzet Phoenix. I trusted all of these players to do well, and that definitely influenced my decision to run this deck in the first place (over what I would have otherwise played, MonoG Devotion) and also influenced my decision to run Touch the Spirit Realm. Having such a large group was amazing for morale and having people to chat with and decompress with between rounds, as well as having a very good understanding of what decks were being played in the room after only a couple of rounds.
It became very clear very quickly that the meta was aggressive. There were a lot of Spirits players, Control was almost nowhere to be seen, Mono Green was underrepresented, and even Rakdos Mid wasn’t making much of a showing with RakSac being more popular.
This did not bode well for me. There’s a reason our sideboard has 10 cards for MonoU Spirits and it’s not because we’re trying to make a good matchup better. Registering 5c Enigmatic Fires, I’d already decided I was happy to lose some games and just have a fun time, doing my best to cheer on the rest of my team, and seeing a bunch of Spirits players did nothing to raise my ambitions higher than that.
The Matches:
Round 1 - Sam on MonoU Spirits
Sam was one of the Sheffielders I’d brought in the car and is a good Spirits player, so I was very much prepared to lose Game 1 and have to battle it out in the sideboard games, still expecting to lose.
In Game 1, after managing to resolve a Fires by forcing a counterspell on a Chained to the Rocks and then using a Treasure from Fable of the Mirror Breaker to cast the Fires, I was fortunate enough to draw my Kenrith and Knight of Autumn, allowing me to cast Kenrith, cast Knight gaining 4, use Kenrith to give Refliki haste, copy Knight for another 4, then use Kenrith’s ability to gain 5. Gaining 13 life a turn is a great way to stem the bleeding, allowing me to quickly stabilize and crack back for the win.
In Game 2, I was able to land a Fires and Enigmatic on Turn 4 after playing a bunch of removal early, picking up Tolsimir which cleaned up the board pretty quick with Yorion to double the trigger.
Result: A very surprising 2-0
Round 2 - Charlie on MonoU Spirits
High off a victory on an unfavoured matchup, seeing a Snow-Covered Island was simultaneously horrifying and exciting. Maybe I’d learned how to crack the matchup? Maybe I’d ran hot and was about to have my dreams crushed.
I can’t entirely remember what happened in the match, but I can see on my lifepad that my life total went from 4 > 8 > 12 > 16, so I’m assuming I managed to make some copies of Knight of Autumn again.
Game 2 the Spirits trounced me.
Game 3 my opponent mulliganed down to 5, had their Spirits removed, cast a couple of counters, but then only drew lands, leaving me to beat down with Yorion and a 4/3 Knight of Autumn. So Magic goes sometimes.
Result: A continually surprising 2-1. I’m 2-0 in matches.
Round 3 - Alfie on MonoB Zombies
Enigmatic Fires is generally very happy to see a deck that has no way of removing enchantments outside of discard spells, and this was no different. I was slightly surprised to see this relatively budget brew in the 2-0 bracket. Alfie said he’d so far beaten Greasefang and a BW Midrange deck, both of which surprised me. He finished the day 4-2 though so clearly there’s something cooking here.
Anyway, if there’s one thing a Zombie hates, it’s being exiled, and we did a lot of that to win 2-0 very safely.
Result: 2-0, I’m 3-0 in matches.
Round 4 - Andy on Izzet Creativity
Andy is a lovely man that I’ve seen at almost every RCQ I played in this season, and we’ve been paired together a couple times too. While I ultimately lost the match, I was not sad to lose to him at all as he’s a strong and friendly player, which truly is the best combo in Magic.
A slightly less good combo is Izzet Creativity, which I should have known he was on. While shuffling, he accidentally dropped a Stormcarved Coast, and I knew he knew better than to play Izzet Phoenix in Sheoldred’s Meta. In this matchup, the only card that matters in our deck is Leyline Binding (and Touch the Spirit Realm too) to break up the combo at Instant speed. I should have mulliganed aggressively for that in G1, but I chose to just keep a pretty decent hand as though I was blindly queuing into him. He combo’d off on Turn 5 like the deck wants to do and I felt very silly for my decisions.
In Game 2 I was able to land a Koma onto the battlefield, which shuts off his combo and is extremely difficult to remove, so I won.
In Game 3, he did manage to combo off but I got to channel the Touch the Spirit Realm to avoid taking damage, giving me an extra turn to find an answer. After a lot of deliberation on a Fable discard/draw trigger, the best I could get to stick was a Deputy of Detention on the Wurm, he revealed Fire Prophecy in his hand and I shook it (the hand, not the Prophecy).
Result: A sore 1-2, I’m 3-1 in matches.
Round 5 - Ray on MonoU Spirits
As we sat down, my opponent said to their friend “I really hope this guy’s not on Spirits”. My opening hand had 2 Chained to the Rocks, 2 Leyline Bindings, and the lands to cast those spells. I prayed that my opponent wasn’t on Control or Lotus Field and hoped for the best.
Then I proceeded to remove every threat they played and make an Atraxa on Turn 4.
I don’t remember Game 2 very clearly, but the lifepad shows that it went similarly.
After the games, my opponent said they absolutely hated playing against my deck and they always lose to it. I wonder if Spirits players are misunderstanding this matchup? Because it feels absolutely awful on my end, and yet I’ve now beaten it 3 times.
Result: I’m not sure whether or not it’s still surprising, but 2-0 to put me on 4-1 in matches.
At this point, the ID maths starts. After a lot of inevitably pointless discussion, as we sit down it becomes clear that the Top 6 can ID and lock themselves in, but that Tables 4 and 5 would have to fight for it.
Round 6 - Ben on Izzet Phoenix
Upsettingly for both of us, we’re on Table 4. Ben is another of the Sheffield massive, and is playing my Phoenix deck which he has borrowed from me. Ben first played this deck last week at WNM and has gone on an insane 4-1 streak playing one of the most complex (and not very well-positioned) decks in the format. Man’s just good at Magic and loves drawing 3 cards.
We have a little chat and Ben tells me he’s leaning towards conceding to me because he feels I have a better chance at going on to win the tournament and, being his first RCQ in years, he’s not in a great position to start gearing up for an RC in a format he’s barely played.
We decide to start playing our games anyway though and see how things go before we make any further decisions. I land an early Atraxa, which he is able to remove with a Galvanic Iteration and a Lightning Axe, but his draws haven’t been very kind and he has to Temporal Trespass with only a 2/4 Ledger Shredder on the board. I remove it and win.
We realise that if I win, I’ll be the top seed, giving me the ability to start on the play every round of the Top 8. That information pushes Ben to concede the match and save us both the bother of sideboarding.
Result: I’m 5-1 and locked as Top Seed of the Top 8. Out of the 6 of us from Sheffield, we’ve put 3 into the Top 8. That’s in a 50-player tournament. Sheffield showing the North how it’s done.
Out of the three of us, Ian isn’t interested in the invite to Athens because he’s at an Arctic Monkeys concert that night and Sheffield does revoke your citizenship if you decline to go to an Arctic Monkeys concert for any non-life-or-death reason. He is, however, interested in the £250 that goes to first place. The three of us agree to split all of our prizes evenly no matter what happens to give us the best chances of getting what we each want.
Top 8
Quarterfinals - Lewis on Abzan Greasefang
Unfortunately, Lewis is one of the 3 from Sheffield we’ve put into the Top 8 and isn’t Ian, so is looking for the invite too. Unfortunately for me, Greasefang is a pretty difficult matchup also.
At this point, we’ve mapped out the Top 8 and know these are the decks involved:
Enigmatic Fires Abzan Greasefang
RakSac x2
Creativity x2
UW Control
Humans
It’s not clear which of us would be better into the rest of the field, so there’s no clear concession decision. We also both want the invite, so we wouldn’t feel good choosing to pass it up when there’s no guarantee the other person will get it.
In Game 1, Lewis manages to assemble his combo on Turn 4, but I have a Leyline Binding to stop it. He plays another Greasefang on Turn 5, and after a while I remember the Legend Rule, playing Yorion to flicker my own Leyline Binding, making him sacrifice one Greasefang and I exile the other. That’s enough of a hit to his plan that I run away with the rest of the game.
In Game 2, I’m able to stick an Elesh Norn but he assembles the combo and hits me down to 2. I use Enigmatic to get Tolsimir and wipe his board, except for the angels, and gain 12 life. The Angels continue to hit me down to 6 and I’m left with the difficult decision between either cycling a Triome to dig for a 2cmc enchantment that I can Enigmatic into an exile effect for the angels, or casting Yorion and blocking one angel to go down to 2, dead to a Witherbloom Command. I opt for the Yorion line, he has Witherbloom, we go to Game 3.
In Game 3, I keep a 2 lander with Enigmatic and Fires and a Bitter Renunion to find the other lands I need or hate for the Greasefang. I get T1 Thoughtseized and he takes the Reunion which is controversial but I think correct. I manage to just draw the lands that I need and land a Fires plus Enigmatic, getting an Elesh Norn and later a Tolsimir, while his Salvage only finds a Skysovereign which I just take the hit of and I snowball away with the game.
Sucks to knock out a friend, but we played some really fun and interesting games.
Semifinals - Ian on RakSac
With our prize split already agreed, for Ian and I the main decision is who we think has the best chance to win the tournament. The other semifinal match is RakSac vs Humans, which we’d expect RakSac to win. If that’s the case, I’m better off going into the finals as RakSac cannot remove Enchantments so it’s generally a good matchup, especially compared to the mirror which is inherently a bit more of a coinflip. Ian had already played and beaten that same opponent in the Swiss though and felt like he understood the mirror better than his opponent did, so it wasn’t completely cut and dry.
We started to play out our match. On Turn 3, Ian discards a Mayhem Devil to a Blood token, which initially I see as quite a positive for me. Of course I should have realised what that telegraphs, which is that he had 3 more in his hand. 3 Mayhem Devils is very strong as it turns out, and even though I manage to remove two with Skyclave Apparition and Tolsimir, by this point the damage is already done and I lose.
I’m not necessarily deterred though. I’ve played XCom. It’s very possible to miss a 90% shot and it’s very easy to lose a 90-10 matchup, doesn’t mean you’re any less favoured.
By the time we finish sideboarding, the other semifinals match has finished with Rakdos Sacrifice predictably coming out on top. Ian extends his hand and tells me to go get ‘em (after his best efforts to knock my confidence on the matchup).
Finals - Jeremy on Rakdos Sacrifice
I’m not entirely sure, but I think this might have been Jeremy’s first time in an RCQ Top 8. He’d had a very strong run; meanwhile this is the first time in 4 rounds that I hadn’t played against a friend. Even though I played out some of those games and this likely would have been the outcome, I do feel like a bit of a Nepo Baby coming into the match.
We take a quick snack break and I eat some of the best mango I’ve ever consumed. Tesco Meal Deal really coming in clutch there. Ian gives me a bit of advice on his perspective on the RakSac matchup, saying “When you have a Yorion turn, you win.”
In Game 1, I Chained to the Rocks a Bloodtithe Harvester, Leyline Binding a Mayhem Devil, then drop an Enigmatic, make an Atraxa, which finds another Binding to rebind the Devil. He hardcasts Eaten Alive to remove Atraxa, and next turn I play Yorion, he scoops. Ian pats me on the back.
In Game 2 I suffer the only manabase difficulty of the day. My 7 has only 2 lands and a lot of one-of creatures instead of impactful spells. My 6 has 2 lands, Chained to the Rocks, Rest in Peace, Radiant Flames, and a Bitter Reunion, but no white mana. I figure the Bitter Reunion will do enough to fix the mana, but he Thoughtseizes it away from me and follows up with a Bloodtithe Harvester. I play out my lands and he casts Go Blank on me. I discard a land and the Chained to the Rocks (a mistake, Rest in Peace should have gone over one of those cards), and I’m immediately punished by drawing Nylea’s Presence which could have cast the Chained. I have to Radiant Flames to stop the Bloodtithe Harvester from beating me down, but at this point he’s got the lands to animate Den of the Bugbear and there’s nothing I can do about it. We go to Game 3 and things get tense.
By Game 3, fatigue is definitely setting in, possibly also nerves. I start to think that Chained to the Rocks has the mana value restriction of Portable Hole (crossed wires from playing Arena, where we have to play Portable Hole instead of Chained, WoTC pls) and almost Chained to the Rocks an Unlucky Witness instead of Mayhem Devil. Fortunately, my opponent asks me what the Chained is targeting and that prompts me to remember that it can target the Devil.
I Chained 2 Devils and each time he sacrificed them to the Oven, but this allows me to cast Yorion and bounce my Chains to pick up new targets. Yorion is also bouncing a Nyleas’s Presence and a Bitter Reunion, so gets me a lot of value. I Glasspool Mimic my Yorion for another round of triggers, keeping the old Yorion and using the new Yorion’s trigger to flicker it, giving me a third round of triggers also. However, despite drawing 12 cards, I can’t find an Enigmatic or another creature to save my life and he’s able to whittle me down with a Hive of the Eye Tyrant and a Ramunap Ruins until I’m at 4. I manage to drop a Callous Bloodmage and make a Pest as a blocker and hopefully a source of life, while continually holding up a Leyline Binding in case he finds Bloody Betrayal for Yorion. 4 per turn from Yorion is enough to eventually get him down, and I close out the match with an attack all for 7 (Yorion, Callous Bloodmage, and 2 Pests from Touch the Spirit Realming the Bloodmage) when he’s at 6.
Fantastic games all around.
Closing Thoughts:
During the car journey back we discussed how this was a very strange meta for the tournament. MonoU Spirits was the most popular deck and that probably reflects its low cost. The store owner was very pleased to see 51 people turn up for an event, and that’s largely due to how accessible Pioneer is as a format. This had two huge effects for me. Firstly, the Spirits players that I played against had a lot less experience in the matchup than I had. That’s the benefit of playing an off-meta deck into a bunch of meta decks. Through experience and my opponents’ inexperience, I was able to find lines that flipped an unfavourable matchup 3 times in the same day. Secondly, the Spirits players were very weak to the Rakdos Sacrifice players, allowing them to get into the Top 8 where I could prey on them, efficiently rock-paper-scissoring the win into my hands.
While I played pretty tightly all day, and this was my third Top 8 of the season so I’d somewhat proven my ability to get there, there was also a lol of luck involved in my win as there is with any Magic tournament.
Having a team of 6 people was also an insane boon. I’ve worked hard to help build this community of competitive Magic players in Sheffield and even just having friends around for morale and (OUTSIDE OF MATCHES) advice is an incredible help. I’m sure there’s some conflicting opinions about how fair the team advantage is, but I think it’s only fitting that in Magic: the Gathering, working alongside people to improve as a player is a valid path to victory.

In 1963, Rose Cheramie was a heroin addict with a long list of prostitution and other arrests. According to a Louisiana State Police report from mid-November 1963, she worked “as a dope runner for Jack Ruby,” and had “worked in the night club for Ruby and that she was forced to go to Florida with another man whom she did not name to pick up a shipment of dope to take back to Dallas and that she didn’t want to do this thing but she had a young child and that they would hurt her child if she didn’t.” On November 20, two days before the JFK assassination, she was thrown out of a brothel in Louisiana by the two men she was traveling with and was hit by a car. Suffering from heroin withdrawal, she was taken to East Louisiana State Mental Hospital by Lt. Fruge of the Louisiana State Police to sober up.
During the ride to the hospital, Rose told Fruge she was traveling from Florida to Dallas with two Italian looking men and they were going to Dallas to kill Kennedy. They were actually Cuban exiles active in the war against Fidel Castro. One was Sergio Arcacha Smith, who worked closely with JFK assassination suspect Guy Banister in New Orleans. David Lewis, a former employee of Banister, told the New Orleans DA’s Office that he had witnessed a meeting in the late summer of 1963 at Mancuso’s Restaurant in New Orleans between Arcacha, Lee Harvey Oswald and a man named Carlos whose last name Lewis did not know.
Dr. Victor Weis, a psychiatrist at the hospital, confirmed that Cheramie also told him that she knew both Ruby and Oswald and had seen them together on several occasions in Ruby’s club. The word spread throughout the hospital that Cheramie had predicted the JFK assassination and had implicated Jack Ruby. On November 25, Louisiana State Police Captain Ben Morgan came to the hospital to hear her story first-hand. The next day, Fruge and Morgan flew in a small private jet to Houston and everything she said checked out. Customs found her reservation at the Rice Hotel; the boat identified by Rose, the SS Maturata, was due in port soon; and an agent confirmed that the Dallas man holding Cheramie’s child was a suspected drug dealer. Rose said the seaman aboard the ship was named Luther, and Houston police records show that “Luther” may have been Joseph P. Luke, a narcotic trafficker who was closely associated with Joseph Civello of the Dallas Mafia, who worked for Carlos Marcello. Customs corroborated Rose’s information that the Houston and Dallas Mafia families were involved, and both “had records or reputations for narcotics [and] white slavery [prostitution].” However, when Captained Morgan phoned Capt. Fritz of the Dallas Police to relay the evidence they had, amazingly he was told they were not interested in Rose’s story.
Not surprisingly, customs agents lost track of the seaman they were tailing, and they didn’t bother to interview the Mafia families involved or place them under surveillance. The Houston police wanted to drop the investigation. The Secret Service filed a report, but that was it. Years later, Congressional investigators wrote that when they looked into the matter, “US Customs was unable to locate documents and reports related to its involvement in the Cheramie investigation,” although such involvement was not denied.
Also in November 1963, Carlos Marcello was acquitted at trial in the government’s latest attempt to have him deported, but Rose would attempt one last time to convince authorities to take down the New Orleans Mafia boss. In August 1965, she told FBI agents that “individuals associated with the syndicate were running prostitution rings in several southern cities such as Houston and Galveston, Texas…furthermore, she claimed she had information about a heroin deal operating from a New Orleans ship.” Congressional investigators found that her story checked out, just as her November 1963 information had. An FBI “call to the Coast Guard verified an ongoing narcotics investigation of the ship” Cheramie had named. The prostitution ring she described sounded very much like an operation run by Marcello lieutenant Nofio Pecora, whom Jack Ruby had called just three weeks before JFK’s assassination. However, as in 1963, the New Orleans FBI, who turned a blind eye to Marcello’s illegal operations, dropped the case. Had the FBI and the Federal Bureau of Narcotics pursued the matter, they would have uncovered a heroin trail through New Orleans that reached all the way to France.
One month after Rose contacted the FBI in August 1965, she was dead. Congressional investigators found that “Cheramie died of injuries received from an automobile accident on a strip of highway near Big Sandy, Tex., in the early morning of September 4, 1965. The driver stated Cheramie had been lying in the roadway and although he attempted to avoid hitting her, he ran over the top of her skull, causing fatal injuries.” Though her official autopsy records had disappeared by the time investigators had tried to find them, one medical file that survived said that Rose had a “deep punctuate stellate [star-shaped] wound above her right forehead.” Such a wound would not have been caused by a car or tire but could have been caused by a pistol fired next to her skull. Dr. Charles Crenshaw claimed in his book that the wound was consistent with “gunshot wounds - that is, when a gun barrel is placed against a victim’s body and discharged. It is especially applicable to a gunshot wound of the skull.”
And the Mafia in Louisiana and Texas continued operation as if nothing had happened. For more stories like this, check out the books, It Did Not Start With JFK, The Decades of Events That Led to the Assassination of John F. Kennedy, Volumes 1 &2, published by Sunbury Press.
Rose Cheramie
https://preview.redd.it/6p0poo9pigra1.png?width=595&format=png&auto=webp&s=60fbc3b935c0f9960a89dd093722735248984f28
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In 1963, Rose Cheramie was a heroin addict with a long list of prostitution and other arrests. According to a Louisiana State Police report from mid-November 1963, she worked “as a dope runner for Jack Ruby,” and had “worked in the night club for Ruby and that she was forced to go to Florida with another man whom she did not name to pick up a shipment of dope to take back to Dallas and that she didn’t want to do this thing but she had a young child and that they would hurt her child if she didn’t.” On November 20, two days before the JFK assassination, she was thrown out of a brothel in Louisiana by the two men she was traveling with and was hit by a car. Suffering from heroin withdrawal, she was taken to East Louisiana State Mental Hospital by Lt. Fruge of the Louisiana State Police to sober up.
During the ride to the hospital, Rose told Fruge she was traveling from Florida to Dallas with two Italian looking men and they were going to Dallas to kill Kennedy. They were actually Cuban exiles active in the war against Fidel Castro. One was Sergio Arcacha Smith, who worked closely with JFK assassination suspect Guy Banister in New Orleans. David Lewis, a former employee of Banister, told the New Orleans DA’s Office that he had witnessed a meeting in the late summer of 1963 at Mancuso’s Restaurant in New Orleans between Arcacha, Lee Harvey Oswald and a man named Carlos whose last name Lewis did not know.
Dr. Victor Weis, a psychiatrist at the hospital, confirmed that Cheramie also told him that she knew both Ruby and Oswald and had seen them together on several occasions in Ruby’s club. The word spread throughout the hospital that Cheramie had predicted the JFK assassination and had implicated Jack Ruby. On November 25, Louisiana State Police Captain Ben Morgan came to the hospital to hear her story first-hand. The next day, Fruge and Morgan flew in a small private jet to Houston and everything she said checked out. Customs found her reservation at the Rice Hotel; the boat identified by Rose, the SS Maturata, was due in port soon; and an agent confirmed that the Dallas man holding Cheramie’s child was a suspected drug dealer. Rose said the seaman aboard the ship was named Luther, and Houston police records show that “Luther” may have been Joseph P. Luke, a narcotic trafficker who was closely associated with Joseph Civello of the Dallas Mafia, who worked for Carlos Marcello. Customs corroborated Rose’s information that the Houston and Dallas Mafia families were involved, and both “had records or reputations for narcotics [and] white slavery [prostitution].” However, when Captained Morgan phoned Capt. Fritz of the Dallas Police to relay the evidence they had, amazingly he was told they were not interested in Rose’s story.
Not surprisingly, customs agents lost track of the seaman they were tailing, and they didn’t bother to interview the Mafia families involved or place them under surveillance. The Houston police wanted to drop the investigation. The Secret Service filed a report, but that was it. Years later, Congressional investigators wrote that when they looked into the matter, “US Customs was unable to locate documents and reports related to its involvement in the Cheramie investigation,” although such involvement was not denied.
Also in November 1963, Carlos Marcello was acquitted at trial in the government’s latest attempt to have him deported, but Rose would attempt one last time to convince authorities to take down the New Orleans Mafia boss. In August 1965, she told FBI agents that “individuals associated with the syndicate were running prostitution rings in several southern cities such as Houston and Galveston, Texas…furthermore, she claimed she had information about a heroin deal operating from a New Orleans ship.” Congressional investigators found that her story checked out, just as her November 1963 information had. An FBI “call to the Coast Guard verified an ongoing narcotics investigation of the ship” Cheramie had named. The prostitution ring she described sounded very much like an operation run by Marcello lieutenant Nofio Pecora, whom Jack Ruby had called just three weeks before JFK’s assassination. However, as in 1963, the New Orleans FBI, who turned a blind eye to Marcello’s illegal operations, dropped the case. Had the FBI and the Federal Bureau of Narcotics pursued the matter, they would have uncovered a heroin trail through New Orleans that reached all the way to France.
One month after Rose contacted the FBI in August 1965, she was dead. Congressional investigators found that “Cheramie died of injuries received from an automobile accident on a strip of highway near Big Sandy, Tex., in the early morning of September 4, 1965. The driver stated Cheramie had been lying in the roadway and although he attempted to avoid hitting her, he ran over the top of her skull, causing fatal injuries.” Though her official autopsy records had disappeared by the time investigators had tried to find them, one medical file that survived said that Rose had a “deep punctuate stellate [star-shaped] wound above her right forehead.” Such a wound would not have been caused by a car or tire but could have been caused by a pistol fired next to her skull. Dr. Charles Crenshaw claimed in his book that the wound was consistent with “gunshot wounds - that is, when a gun barrel is placed against a victim’s body and discharged. It is especially applicable to a gunshot wound of the skull.”
And the Mafia in Louisiana and Texas continued operation as if nothing had happened. For more stories like this, check out the books, It Did Not Start With JFK, The Decades of Events That Led to the Assassination of John F. Kennedy, Volumes 1 &2, published by Sunbury Press.
Rose Cheramie
https://preview.redd.it/5q8fm7z7igra1.png?width=595&format=png&auto=webp&s=8e3d51fb043d0027218da133b903d175842245b7
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In 1963, Rose Cheramie was a heroin addict with a long list of prostitution and other arrests. According to a Louisiana State Police report from mid-November 1963, she worked “as a dope runner for Jack Ruby,” and had “worked in the night club for Ruby and that she was forced to go to Florida with another man whom she did not name to pick up a shipment of dope to take back to Dallas and that she didn’t want to do this thing but she had a young child and that they would hurt her child if she didn’t.” On November 20, two days before the JFK assassination, she was thrown out of a brothel in Louisiana by the two men she was traveling with and was hit by a car. Suffering from heroin withdrawal, she was taken to East Louisiana State Mental Hospital by Lt. Fruge of the Louisiana State Police to sober up.
During the ride to the hospital, Rose told Fruge she was traveling from Florida to Dallas with two Italian looking men and they were going to Dallas to kill Kennedy. They were actually Cuban exiles active in the war against Fidel Castro. One was Sergio Arcacha Smith, who worked closely with JFK assassination suspect Guy Banister in New Orleans. David Lewis, a former employee of Banister, told the New Orleans DA’s Office that he had witnessed a meeting in the late summer of 1963 at Mancuso’s Restaurant in New Orleans between Arcacha, Lee Harvey Oswald and a man named Carlos whose last name Lewis did not know.
Dr. Victor Weis, a psychiatrist at the hospital, confirmed that Cheramie also told him that she knew both Ruby and Oswald and had seen them together on several occasions in Ruby’s club. The word spread throughout the hospital that Cheramie had predicted the JFK assassination and had implicated Jack Ruby. On November 25, Louisiana State Police Captain Ben Morgan came to the hospital to hear her story first-hand. The next day, Fruge and Morgan flew in a small private jet to Houston and everything she said checked out. Customs found her reservation at the Rice Hotel; the boat identified by Rose, the SS Maturata, was due in port soon; and an agent confirmed that the Dallas man holding Cheramie’s child was a suspected drug dealer. Rose said the seaman aboard the ship was named Luther, and Houston police records show that “Luther” may have been Joseph P. Luke, a narcotic trafficker who was closely associated with Joseph Civello of the Dallas Mafia, who worked for Carlos Marcello. Customs corroborated Rose’s information that the Houston and Dallas Mafia families were involved, and both “had records or reputations for narcotics [and] white slavery [prostitution].” However, when Captained Morgan phoned Capt. Fritz of the Dallas Police to relay the evidence they had, amazingly he was told they were not interested in Rose’s story.
Not surprisingly, customs agents lost track of the seaman they were tailing, and they didn’t bother to interview the Mafia families involved or place them under surveillance. The Houston police wanted to drop the investigation. The Secret Service filed a report, but that was it. Years later, Congressional investigators wrote that when they looked into the matter, “US Customs was unable to locate documents and reports related to its involvement in the Cheramie investigation,” although such involvement was not denied.
Also in November 1963, Carlos Marcello was acquitted at trial in the government’s latest attempt to have him deported, but Rose would attempt one last time to convince authorities to take down the New Orleans Mafia boss. In August 1965, she told FBI agents that “individuals associated with the syndicate were running prostitution rings in several southern cities such as Houston and Galveston, Texas…furthermore, she claimed she had information about a heroin deal operating from a New Orleans ship.” Congressional investigators found that her story checked out, just as her November 1963 information had. An FBI “call to the Coast Guard verified an ongoing narcotics investigation of the ship” Cheramie had named. The prostitution ring she described sounded very much like an operation run by Marcello lieutenant Nofio Pecora, whom Jack Ruby had called just three weeks before JFK’s assassination. However, as in 1963, the New Orleans FBI, who turned a blind eye to Marcello’s illegal operations, dropped the case. Had the FBI and the Federal Bureau of Narcotics pursued the matter, they would have uncovered a heroin trail through New Orleans that reached all the way to France.
One month after Rose contacted the FBI in August 1965, she was dead. Congressional investigators found that “Cheramie died of injuries received from an automobile accident on a strip of highway near Big Sandy, Tex., in the early morning of September 4, 1965. The driver stated Cheramie had been lying in the roadway and although he attempted to avoid hitting her, he ran over the top of her skull, causing fatal injuries.” Though her official autopsy records had disappeared by the time investigators had tried to find them, one medical file that survived said that Rose had a “deep punctuate stellate [star-shaped] wound above her right forehead.” Such a wound would not have been caused by a car or tire but could have been caused by a pistol fired next to her skull. Dr. Charles Crenshaw claimed in his book that the wound was consistent with “gunshot wounds - that is, when a gun barrel is placed against a victim’s body and discharged. It is especially applicable to a gunshot wound of the skull.”
And the Mafia in Louisiana and Texas continued operation as if nothing had happened. For more stories like this, check out the books, It Did Not Start With JFK, The Decades of Events That Led to the Assassination of John F. Kennedy, Volumes 1 &2, published by Sunbury Press.
Rose Cheramie
https://preview.redd.it/kkv7txumhgra1.png?width=595&format=png&auto=webp&s=a2c7a53fca5836f9a852583e736a47b73fba684d
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In 1963, Rose Cheramie was a heroin addict with a long list of prostitution and other arrests. According to a Louisiana State Police report from mid-November 1963, she worked “as a dope runner for Jack Ruby,” and had “worked in the night club for Ruby and that she was forced to go to Florida with another man whom she did not name to pick up a shipment of dope to take back to Dallas and that she didn’t want to do this thing but she had a young child and that they would hurt her child if she didn’t.” On November 20, two days before the JFK assassination, she was thrown out of a brothel in Louisiana by the two men she was traveling with and was hit by a car. Suffering from heroin withdrawal, she was taken to East Louisiana State Mental Hospital by Lt. Fruge of the Louisiana State Police to sober up.
During the ride to the hospital, Rose told Fruge she was traveling from Florida to Dallas with two Italian looking men and they were going to Dallas to kill Kennedy. They were actually Cuban exiles active in the war against Fidel Castro. One was Sergio Arcacha Smith, who worked closely with JFK assassination suspect Guy Banister in New Orleans. David Lewis, a former employee of Banister, told the New Orleans DA’s Office that he had witnessed a meeting in the late summer of 1963 at Mancuso’s Restaurant in New Orleans between Arcacha, Lee Harvey Oswald and a man named Carlos whose last name Lewis did not know.
Dr. Victor Weis, a psychiatrist at the hospital, confirmed that Cheramie also told him that she knew both Ruby and Oswald and had seen them together on several occasions in Ruby’s club. The word spread throughout the hospital that Cheramie had predicted the JFK assassination and had implicated Jack Ruby. On November 25, Louisiana State Police Captain Ben Morgan came to the hospital to hear her story first-hand. The next day, Fruge and Morgan flew in a small private jet to Houston and everything she said checked out. Customs found her reservation at the Rice Hotel; the boat identified by Rose, the SS Maturata, was due in port soon; and an agent confirmed that the Dallas man holding Cheramie’s child was a suspected drug dealer. Rose said the seaman aboard the ship was named Luther, and Houston police records show that “Luther” may have been Joseph P. Luke, a narcotic trafficker who was closely associated with Joseph Civello of the Dallas Mafia, who worked for Carlos Marcello. Customs corroborated Rose’s information that the Houston and Dallas Mafia families were involved, and both “had records or reputations for narcotics [and] white slavery [prostitution].” However, when Captained Morgan phoned Capt. Fritz of the Dallas Police to relay the evidence they had, amazingly he was told they were not interested in Rose’s story.
Not surprisingly, customs agents lost track of the seaman they were tailing, and they didn’t bother to interview the Mafia families involved or place them under surveillance. The Houston police wanted to drop the investigation. The Secret Service filed a report, but that was it. Years later, Congressional investigators wrote that when they looked into the matter, “US Customs was unable to locate documents and reports related to its involvement in the Cheramie investigation,” although such involvement was not denied.
Also in November 1963, Carlos Marcello was acquitted at trial in the government’s latest attempt to have him deported, but Rose would attempt one last time to convince authorities to take down the New Orleans Mafia boss. In August 1965, she told FBI agents that “individuals associated with the syndicate were running prostitution rings in several southern cities such as Houston and Galveston, Texas…furthermore, she claimed she had information about a heroin deal operating from a New Orleans ship.” Congressional investigators found that her story checked out, just as her November 1963 information had. An FBI “call to the Coast Guard verified an ongoing narcotics investigation of the ship” Cheramie had named. The prostitution ring she described sounded very much like an operation run by Marcello lieutenant Nofio Pecora, whom Jack Ruby had called just three weeks before JFK’s assassination. However, as in 1963, the New Orleans FBI, who turned a blind eye to Marcello’s illegal operations, dropped the case. Had the FBI and the Federal Bureau of Narcotics pursued the matter, they would have uncovered a heroin trail through New Orleans that reached all the way to France.
One month after Rose contacted the FBI in August 1965, she was dead. Congressional investigators found that “Cheramie died of injuries received from an automobile accident on a strip of highway near Big Sandy, Tex., in the early morning of September 4, 1965. The driver stated Cheramie had been lying in the roadway and although he attempted to avoid hitting her, he ran over the top of her skull, causing fatal injuries.” Though her official autopsy records had disappeared by the time investigators had tried to find them, one medical file that survived said that Rose had a “deep punctuate stellate [star-shaped] wound above her right forehead.” Such a wound would not have been caused by a car or tire but could have been caused by a pistol fired next to her skull. Dr. Charles Crenshaw claimed in his book that the wound was consistent with “gunshot wounds - that is, when a gun barrel is placed against a victim’s body and discharged. It is especially applicable to a gunshot wound of the skull.”
And the Mafia in Louisiana and Texas continued operation as if nothing had happened. For more stories like this, check out the books, It Did Not Start With JFK, The Decades of Events That Led to the Assassination of John F. Kennedy, Volumes 1 &2, published by Sunbury Press.
Rose Cheramie
https://preview.redd.it/zgw1hxs9ggra1.jpg?width=595&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=afc0d6d508e33456be22aee1a961daf4e865731e
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^{From the AFL app}
CHRIS Scott says he won't be over-reacting to Geelong's 0-3 season start and is looking forward to unravelling the mystery of why the Cats are "a little bit off". Sunday's 19-point loss to Gold Coast completed a hat-trick of defeats to start the Cats' premiership defence, after succumbing to Collingwood and Carlton in the earlier rounds.
It's the first time they've lost three straight since 2017 and the first time a premier has lost the opening three matches of the following season since North Melbourne in 1976.
Against the Suns it was a mixture of poor ball use, not taking opportunities, being beaten badly at stoppages and just a general lack of connectivity that cost the champions.
A philosophical Scott said his team was a bit off, noting that an even competition did not allow the Cats to win when playing below their best.
"Our execution is off, it doesn't look like the way we play when at our best," he said.
"We've always known, even when we we're going well, if your level slips, you fall back and you're at risk of losing every game you play.
"There's some things that are really obvious to us, we went in eyes wide open with a few of our guys that will get better as the year goes on.
"And some other parts of our game and personnel that are a little bit off and that is harder to explain."
One of the players he is referring to above is spearhead Tom Hawkins, who has kicked just three goals in three games after missing a large chunk of the pre-season following foot surgery.
Scott said he believes the superstar full-forward is close to being back to his best.
There are also personnel problems in the Cats' backline, with Sam De Koning being subbed out following a third quarter head clash with Nick Holman not helping the synergy.
Scott said Mitch Duncan and Jake Kolodjashnij would return from injury to face Hawthorn next week to help steady the ship.
"We haven't been tested in a position where we've lost three in a row in a while," he said.
"In a way I'm looking forward to that.
"It's easy to say the words when things are going smoothly. It's been rare to get the opportunity to show how you can fix things.
"The art of coaching, or part of it, is getting the group together and being rational about how we think about things.
"There's very little chance we'll overreact, but you also need to react.
"It's not a matter of saying "she'll be right".
"There are some parts of our game that are off and we need to fix them as fast as we can."
Scott said it "feels bad" to lose, but wasn't panicking about the premiership defence.
"We could spend a whole lot of time thinking about what it means and referring back to last year, which I get why people do, but it would be a mistake for us to do it.
"I get it, if you fall too far behind it means you've got to win more games in less time, but it is also true if you win a lot of games in a row late, good things can happen.
"And it's possible."

Hi everyone. I posted a query on here 7 months ago, and I sent out about 6 queries at that time (I actually voluntarily removed one, so it ended up being 5.) I got form rejections from two, personalized rejections from two, and never heard back from the other one. Since then I've done massive re-writes and reconstructed a lot of the backstory, so if you read my old post thats why there's some inconsistencies. I'm not planning to query again for a while but I thought I would start getting feedback sooner rather than later.
Other notes:

• I've been reading LGBTQ sci-fi and have found that finding comp titles is my mortal enemy, so I'm ignoring that for now. I have no idea what aspect to focus on….the fact that it’s epistolary? The plot itself? Sapphic books? I know ideally it’s a mix, but I don’t know how “strict” to be when choosing comparisons.
• My old query was super unconventional and I loved it, but it was a little confusing. I'm trying a more traditional style here but I fear that I swung too far in the other direction and completely lost my voice. Does it seem too plot-heavy?

_______
Dear ,
Magdalene grew up in a cult on Mars. Her best friend, Elias, is next to join a group that’s mutilated in order to maintain the computer they worship. They panic and come up with a plan for his escape, which goes horribly wrong. Magdalene is excommunicated— but she’s determined to sneak Elias away with her.
Ten years later, Magdalene is living on the Lunar Outpost. She's spent the past decade trying to avoid thinking about her past, diving head first into her work as a way to avoid it. She begins to date Cassie, a journalist who's obsessed with the history of the past century, the way that Mars and the Lunar Outpost replaced Earth as it died. She convinces Magda to keep a diary and document her experiences, and Magda realizes that the root of her guilt isn't the failed plan. It's the fact that she smuggled Elias out in an effort to save him, and then he disappeared.
Elias left to the dilapidated Earth and never came back. He could be dead, and it could be her fault. She sets out to find him, explores the planet she's been told to fear her whole life, and is forced to reckon with the past that she's been running from.
REPENTANCE is a stand alone, epistolary, adult science fiction novel complete at approximately 90,000 words. Thank you for taking the time to consider my query.
Sincerely,
_______
First 300 words:
I was eighteen when I burnt down 256 acres of crops. I only meant to destroy one or two— only wanted to give the impression that Elias had died in the fire and burnt to a crisp. What I wanted didn’t matter. I stood near the edge of the field, watching miles of flames move faster than I could have imagined, and I was unable to move.
Elias, at this time, was running in the opposite direction. I remember watching the fire and imagining him running, and I thought, rather distantly, about how the plan had been for him to run at night and yet my fire was taking the darkness away. This detail made me realize how idiotic the whole thing was. How easily we had been blinded by desperation. He was set to be ordained in two weeks and we could think of nothing else. Could not plan his escape as intricately as we should have. How was I supposed to stop the fire at only an acre? How was Elias supposed to show up in another neighborhood unannounced? I want to imagine that we had answers to these things, but it’s hard to remember the details. This was nearly ten years ago.
I should have been running, too. I should have been distraught, should have faked the pain of my best friend dying by my hand. I willed my toes to move, but they didn’t move at all. I counted one, two, three, run and ended up standing there for a while longer.
I watched my fire consume nearly a year’s supply of food. That was my clearest thought — that I was causing a famine and yet still could not run for help.

Two years ago, I completed my Master's degree and began working at a company where I support existing websites in React and a React Native mobile app. While I have a basic understanding of Python, machine learning, and other concepts, I have not had any professional experience with these languages or frameworks. Although I mainly use Js and some basic edits in c# backend and database stuff , I do not consider myself an expert at it and I struggle with Easy leet code problems.
Currently, I earn $70,000, but I am shooting to earn around $130,000, I am not confident in my experience and skills. I am concerned that if I were fired tomorrow, I would not be able to find another job. Additionally, since our company transitioned to remote work in 2020, I have not been learning much and have been coasting, feeling guilty about taking advantage of my employer. I also somehow lost all interest in coding and it feels like a hassle just to look at any line of code.
My goal is to earn >$130,000 without moving to CA or working for a FANG company. How can I achieve this goal? Should I focus solely on LeetCode or also learn other programming languages and frameworks? What is the quickest path to landing a job that pays >?$130,000? Should I invest my time in learning React, web applications, iOS development, cloud computing, or machine learning?
My biggest fear is switching jobs and being fired for not being skilled enough. How can I find motivation to learn more, improve my skills, and achieve my goal of earning over $100,000?

Protests, drought, fatalism, recession, and the spread of infectious diseases. Just another week on our dying planet.
Last Week in Collapse: March 26-April 1, 2023
This is Last Week in Collapse, a weekly newsletter bringing together some of the most important, timely, helpful, depressing, ironic, stunning, or otherwise must-see moments in Collapse.
This is the 66th newsletter. You can find the March 19-25 edition here if you missed it last week. These newsletters are also on Substack if you want them sent to your email inbox.
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The U.S. government is auctioning off a colossal section in the Gulf of Mexico for oil drilling. The parcel totals 73.3M acres—just under the size of Italy’s landmass, or the Philippines. Explore the full map here or here.
Southeastern Europe is facing a dry, dry summer. A year of constant record-breaking will not slow down soon. (Can you believe we are already 25%+ through 2023?) Drought is getting so bad in Spain that group prayers for rain have begun. Spain is also seeing wildfires.
North Africa is suffering from drought too, and it’s affecting their crops. El Niño is heating up the Pacific Ocean already, and forecast to become more severe as the year drags on. Phnom Penh, Cambodia’s capital, is feeling the strain of drought.
Once a sustainable producer of grains, Pakistan (due to drought and debt and overpopulation, etc.) is now unable to produce enough grain to sustain its own people. Government distributions of flour have caused deadly stampedes and injuries to the desperate & hungry people.
2,000 elderly Swiss women are taking Switzerland to court, the European Court of Human Rights, to be precise. They are seeking a binding judgment that climate change is putting their health and lives at risk.
After 8,000 gallons of chemicals (190 barrels) spilt in a tributary of the Delaware River, Philadelphia officials say the water is safe to drink.
Berlin voters narrowly voted to obligate their city to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030—but the vote lacked the overall votes necessary to become law. So the climate effort failed. Germany’s economy is contracting and hundreds of thousands of workers went on a one-day strike on Monday.
Private jet use has hit record highs, far surpassing the pre-pandemic figures. Meanwhile, South Korean researchers may have found a method to transform CO2 from the air into a kind of polyester. The study claims that the electricity-intensive process can be easily scaled up.
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Amnesty International released a 412-page report on the state of human rights in the world today. Spoiler: it’s really bad. You can download it in 46 languages. The document is organized by countries, so you can skip to a particular nation and read about its indicators of Collapse.
68 Central/South American migrants, en route to the U.S., were locked in a holding facility in northern Mexico when several started a mattress fire after they learned that they would be deported. Empathy from the guards was lacking, and nothing was done to prevent the suffocation and fire; 38 of the men died.
78% of Americans believe the next generation will have it worse than they do, according to a WSJ poll. The other 22% are fools. U.S. bond markets are in a tough spot, too. The other questions in the poll reveal a damning picture of the American Dream. 27% believe community involvement is very important, while 43% believe money is very important.
Argentina’s currency—the Argentine Peso (the official rate is 1 USD = 208 ARP, but the black market rate is closer to 1 USD = 380 ARP)—has been downgraded from a C rating to CCC, in advance of an “imminent default” of government bonds. Faith in the government’s ability to stabilize its currency is gone—it’s not just the banks that have lost the people’s trust.
China is encountering concerning levels of debt that are forcing governments to find new sources of money. Yet despite China’s structural economic flaws (poor age demographics, corrupt real estate sector, political influences on markets), some economists think China is a safe investment in a turbulent global economy. Last week, China made its first ever purchase of LNG using Chinese Yuan. And China warned the US against hosting Taiwan’s President for a visit.
The IMF says that the stability in the world economy is shaking while growth slows, trust fallout from SVB lingers, and interest rates rise. Central banks are allegedly being called upon to do more—but the situation may be beyond institutional control. What is a bank if not a collection of other people’s debts?
The UK has hit record levels of household debt: £2 Trillion. Meanwhile the ECB (European Central Bank) is warning that shadow banking may lead to the current next economic crisis. “The nonbank {shadow} sector involves firms which are engaged in bank-like activities, but are neither registered nor regulated as banks. These include the likes of funds, insurance firms, venture capitalists and currency exchanges.”
Protests, which are sometimes becoming riots, are continuing in France. This weekly observation gives an interesting summary of the situation. You can watch some footage here, or here, or here. What begins as a protest for one issue can quickly become co-opted by other forces, or organically grow into something larger than itself. Thousands of police and 10 helicopters were deployed in western France to stop protestors trying to obstruct the construction of several reservoirs for agriculture.
Iranian special forces are training to handle new protests; whether their violence can overcome the political grievances remains to be seen. Teachers, many of whom have reportedly not been paid, are allegedly joining the protests. We seldom hear about the situation in Iran these days—is this because the protest movement is dwindling, or something else?
In another silenced conflict, Myanmar, last week the ruling party dissolved a number of opposing political parties, most notable the NLD, the party of Aung San Suu Kyi, who tried to move Myanmar away from military rule. She was eventually removed in a 2021 coup which precipitated Myanmar’s current phase of Civil War.
The runner-up in Kenya’s 2022 election—the 78-year old, Raila Odinga, ran unsuccessfully for President five times—is calling for twice-a-week protests that began two weeks ago. Two protestors have been shot dead in the escalating protests so far, which have given cover for looters and anti-government vandals.
Israel’s embattled PM is temporarily holding back his judicial reform bill after massive protests flexed their opposition. Israel said they totally weren’t intimidated by the US into holding back from the proposed law, which has become a symbol for the struggle of Israel’s identity.
In Senegal, the trial of opposition leader Ousmane Sonko is set to begin—and the people are protesting. The government allegedly wants to block Sonko from running in 2024, accusing Sonko of stirring up the masses to avoid prosecution.
Donald Trump has not (yet) been arrested—but he has been indicted on a number of charges relating to Stormy Daniels and campaign finance law, fraud, etc. Trump said, “this Witch-Hunt will backfire massively on Joe Biden,” and he could be right; however, pro-Trump protests have not yet materialized. Trump is allegedly talking to his advisors about (if he is elected again) going to War in Mexico, something that happened not long before the first American Civil War.
Bakhmut continues to hold out against the Russians. Tanks are arriving in Ukraine and this phase of the War turned 400 days old a few days ago. Russia is believed to be planning another wave of mobilizations to recruit 400,000 men to be sacrificed for nothing. Russia is also becoming more popular in the developing world from a combination of self-interest, anti-western sentiment, and Russian disinformation. The War drags on, and victory, whatever that is, remains far away.
The War in Yemen turned 8 years old several days ago, and peace hinges on a fragile ceasefire. It is believed that the Houthi rebels (backed by Iran, in opposition to the Saudi-backed government) will restart an offensive if a deal cannot be secured. It is always easier to break something than to build it back up.
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Northern China is expected to see more sandstorms as desertification continues. Thailand is seeing blistering heat waves in some areas above 40 ° C (104 °F); Laos set a new record for March.
Several major cities in Tunisia are cutting off water at night as their drought grows more severe. The water rations are expected to continue through the summer—and perhaps beyond. Nigeria is also suffering from water scarcity.
The ICJ (International Court of Justice) is going to give an advisory opinion on climate change and states’ responsibilities surrounding its damage. Some people believe the opinion (if it is favorable to climate activists) will galvanize action—when it is released sometime within the next two years. Others, who have witnessed the quiet IPCC coverage, catastrophic flooding and wildfires, COPout climate conferences pass without fanfare, and the not-so-gradual expansion of extraction companies into delicate ecosystems accelerate…are not so optimistic.
The “full volume” IPCC synthesis report has still not been released yet. But don’t hold your breath; corporate interests supposedly watered down the language and inserted pages of carbon-removal copium, scrubbing the text of many references to fossil fuels and industrial agriculture.
A study from Functional Ecology about plants in the Sonoran Desert indicated that climate-stressed plants are moving to higher elevations—but they are not thriving at the mountaintops.
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A bipartisan supermajority of U.S. Senators, 68-23 voted to end the COVID emergency early—and President Biden has indicated he will sign it, ending the state of emergency about 5 weeks ahead of schedule. With about 1,125,000 confirmed COVID deaths, the United States still leads the world in COVID-19 fatalities. (If you search “COVID India” or COVID {country name}” on Google, you will no longer see the Our World in Data charts appear.) India is currently facing the highest confirmed case numbers in 6 months. Brazil recorded its 700,000th COVID death last week, the country with the second-most COVID deaths.
A small town in Burundi has detected 3 strange deaths from a mystery illness with similar symptoms to Ebola and Marburg. However, both those diseases were ruled out. The disease, whatever it is, killed within 24 hours. Two weeks ago, Burundi saw polio reappear after 30+ years. Polio was also detected again in New York state, after several months of dormancy.
Marburg was detected in Equatorial Guinea’s largest city, while cholera spreads across southern Africa untraceably.
A woman in southern China tested positive for H3N8, a different version of bird flu. She is the third human case in recent history, after two other people in China tested positive last year. A variant of H3N8 killed a million people in the 1889-1890 pandemic.
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Things to watch next week include:
↠ The International Academy of Astronauts is holding its annual Planetary Defense Conference next week to discuss the potential of meteor impacts on earth, and how the human race should respond to unlikely threats from space (impacts, Carrington Events, etc). I, however, believe our Collapse will come is coming from within.
Select comments/threads from the subreddit last week suggest:
-The United States may soon pass the most comprehensive security surveillance legislation since the Patriot Act …ever. This thread on the proposed law, ostensibly intended to regulate TikTok, cites large parts of the bill that are concerning, to say the least. This debacle also reveals how difficult it can be to combat modern hybrid War(s).
-A 2.7 °C temperature increase will devastate India, according to this thread exploring the future of the future-most-populated nation on earth. A few years ago, someone made CollapseIndia to explore Collapse in an explicitly Indian context; the subreddit has never broken 800 subscribers.
-Thawing permafrost is going to be a really big pollution problem, according to this post from BiosphereCollapse. You can read the full study here, from Nature Communications.
Got any feedback, questions, comments, articles, doomed petitions, seed-planting wisdom, hate mail, War advice, clandestine maps, etc.? Consider joining the Last Week in Collapse SubStack if you don’t want to check collapse every Sunday, you can get this newsletter sent to your email inbox every weekend. I always forget something... What did I miss this week?

We have been to Corsica several times, and there are several ways to travel to Corsica by ferry: We went to Nice, took the afternoon ferry and were in Bastia in the evening. The next time we took the night ferry from Savona and arrived in Bastia the next morning. And we also went to Livorno once, took the early morning ferry and were in Bastia by noon.
From Bastia, we first headed north on a 110 km coastal road with small villages and breathtaking views. First we came to ERBALUNGA with its massive tower on a rock by the sea has a picturesque location. Then we passed Maccinaggio, Cap Corse, Centuri-Port - a small romantic fishing port and center of lobster fishing - and continued via Pino to Nonza.
In NONZA the houses cluster around a rock that rises 160 m from the sea. We walked up to the Tour Pouline - a fortified tower from the 16th century. From there you can see the black beach, which makes a great contrast to the turquoise sea.
After we had explored the north, we drove from Bastia down the whole east coast - we made a stop at Moriani Plage with a beautiful sandy beach - to Porto Vecchio.
PORTO VECCHIO has a fantastic location and has a lively old town: the Genoese fortress from 1539 is situated on a hill. Porto Vecchio is the third largest city of Corsica, besides the flourishing tourism there is still the traditional salt mining and other trades especially in the suburbs. The malaria mosquitoes were wiped out in the 1950s, so that even in this area could be built without further ado. The old town consists of only four longitudinal and ten transverse streets, it is closed to traffic in the summer. At the Place de la République people like to drink their Pastis or Kir in the evening. In the old town there are many restaurants in various price ranges and boutiques partly with typical products of the country.
Many people come to Porto Vecchio for its beautiful beaches. BENEDUTTU PLAGE - a long fine sandy beach with a view of Punta di Chiappa and also of Porto Vecchio. A part of PLAGE CALA ROSSA is occupied by a luxury hotel, therefore the fine beach is accessible only from the western side. PALOMBAGGIA PLAGE with white sand and turquoise calm water - one of the most beautiful beaches of Corsica - is surrounded by red rocks. At ST. GUILIA PLAGE some hotels are settled in the meantime. Thus, the once paradisiacal bay has now become more of a commercial place. But the beach is still wonderfully bright and the water crystal clear. RODINARA PLAGE - a dreamlike round bay - one of the most beautiful of Corsica. Once only a dirt road led to the lagoon. Since a real road was built, this bay is very busy in the season.
From Porto Vecchio we made a tour to COL DE BAVELLA (1218 m high) - an impressive landscape. There are good hiking trails, e.g. to the Cumpudella (Trou de la Bombe), a huge hole in the rock face, where you are rewarded with an incredible view after a scramble. In season, of course, it is very busy there, and the "real" hikers come as early as possible in the morning.
Near the small village of L'Ospedale is the drinking water reservoir BARRAGE DE L'OSPEDALE. From there you can hike up to the 70 m high waterfall Piscia di Gallo - but it is more worthwhile in spring, when there is still enough water.
From Porto Vecchio we went on to BONIVACIO, one of the great attractions in Corsica - despite the many visitors. The upper town, where we stayed, is built on a 60 m high chalk rock plateau and still has a historical structure. We could see all the way to Sardinia from our hotel - it was beautiful weather.
The harbor is at the end of the long, narrow inlet. From there it is best to make a tour on foot. From the fortress walls you have a fantastic view of the city, the coast and the sea and all the way to Sardinia. On the harbor promenade there is a sea aquarium in a natural grotto. The shore road leads to the fishing port and the ferry port,
The upper town is reached through the 16th century Porte de Gênes. From the Jardin des Vestiges one has the most beautiful view over the harbor. It is hard to walk from the lower town to the upper town, because it is quite steep and with many stairs.
The journey continued to the extreme southwest, the land of blood vengeance - still until 1840. SARTÈNE - the "most Corsican of all Corsican towns" - is an interesting old town, which is virtually stuck on a rock. Almost no ray of sunlight reaches the winding narrow streets, and the narrow multi-story houses sometimes have window holes like sinister defense towers. The center of the old town is the Place de la Libération with some restaurants where you can sit outside and enjoy your drink.
From Sartène we drove to PROPRIANO. This place was discovered late by the tourists, there is a nice promenade between the marina and the pier, where it is lively especially in the evening. Propriano is located on the Gulf of Valinco, here the rivers Taravo, Baracci and Rizzanese flow. Right next to the lighthouse is the beautiful beach Plage du Lido.
On a scenic coastal road you drive from Propriano to PUNTO DE CAMPOMARO. Here is still an unspoiled stretch of coast with calm turquoise water and bizarre granite rocks. Above the small village of Campomoro you can see a 16th century watchtower.
AJACCIO is the administrative center and capital of Corse du Sud. The city with its southern flair has a beautiful old town with the citadel and many restaurants and stores. Ajaccio is probably best known as the birthplace of Napoléon, whose statue can be seen at Place Maréchal Foch. In the evening it becomes lively in the alleys of the Genoese old town with many bars and restaurants.
Unfortunately, the citadel can only be visited as part of an organized guided tour. Worth seeing is the church "Notre-Dame-de-la-Miséricorde" with a large dome, where Napoleon I was baptized. There is of course also a Casa Bonaparte. In the new town, you can still find some magnificent houses on the Avenue de Paris or the Cours Grandval, where there are often stores and boutiques.
Northwest of Ajaccio one comes to the POINTE DE LA PATARA. You can easily walk to the Genoese tower from 1608 from the parking lot. From there you have a beautiful view of the Iles Sanguinaires with the lighthouse. From the parking lot you can also make a coastal hike to the north. There are beautiful views of the sea everywhere and you can walk down to the beach at Capo de la Fena to cool off. However, the surf is quite strong.
The view was magnificent on the CHEMIN DES CRÈTES, but it was also very difficult to even find an "entry" to this trail. And besides, the Macchi was partly so dense that you had to be careful not to hurt yourself on the thorny bushes.
Especially in the south of Ajaccio there are beautiful beaches. First of all there is PORTICCIO with its long wide beach. Porticcio is now a large seaside resort with good infrastructure.
Then comes the bay with the long PLAGE D'AGOSTA with a view of the Isolella peninsula. In the next bay there is the fine sandy Plage de Ruppione between rocks with quite high waves.
And then comes my absolute favorite beach with fine light sand and crystal clear water - SOLE E MARE, and I hope that there will not also be larger hotel and apartment buildings there.
A beautiful small lonely sandy bay with calm water can be found at PLAGE DE PORTIGLIOLO. North of Ajaccio are the beaches PlLAGE SCUDO and PLAGE MARINELLO, very popular with the locals because they are not too far from the city.
From Ajaccio you can make an excursion to PORTO POLLO. On the way we went through the mountains, where we "got lost" a few times, because there were no signs, and we could only drive by "feeling". Porto Pollo is located on the Gulf of Valinco and has a fine sandy beach with many picturesque round rocks. In summer, a lot of people come here. At the end of September however many things are already closed or will be closed.
A recommendable tour south of Ajaccio is the ROUTE DES COLS. Over various passes and through the largest eucalyptus forest on the island, you come to the small village of Coti Chiavari, 486 m high, with a pretty little church. From there you also have beautiful views of the mountains to the sea.
On a hiking tour, we headed towards Corte and then to the small village of Cuttoli-Corticchiato, continuing to the idyllically situated hamlet of San Petru at 888 m above sea level. From there we went to the MONTE ARAGNASCU, a somewhat arduous tour in the blazing sun. But we were rewarded with a beautiful view of Ajaccio, the Gulf and the Gravonatal.
In the GRAVONA VALLEY is the village of Bocognano, from where you can also hike well. We came on the poorly signposted "Chemin", whereby we were also surprised by rain.
Interesting was that we were accompanied all the way first by several dogs, then later one remained. When we eventually had enough of the rain and the bad path and walked back, we encountered some wild boars which did not look very "friendly". The dog started barking at them. And indeed, they sought the distance. It looked like the dog was trying to protect us somehow. Down in the village we met the owner of the dog - the older man invited us spontaneously for coffee - and he told us that his dog was often on the way as a "companion" for hikers.
Another hiking tour led us first to the GORGES DE PRUNELLI and to the reservoir Lac de Tolla, which supplies Ajaccio with water. From there we went to the large farming village of Bastelica, the gateway to the high mountains. From here, many hiking trails lead into the mountains and to some waterfalls.
Another excursion we made towards the north over the Col de San Bastiano to the Golf de la Liscia to CARGÈSE. This place with a small harbor is located on the southern slope of a headland. Worth seeing is the Greek church "Eglise greque" from the 19th century with old icons. North of Cargèse are of course again beautiful sandy beaches.
From Ajaccio in the direction of Corte we looked at the CASCADE DU VOILE DE LA MARIÉe, where the water normally plunges 150 m into the depth. It was quite a climb and then, unfortunately, the waterfall didn't even have too much water at the end of September.
Through beautiful pine forests we came towards Corte past the famous PONT DU VECCHIU, built in 1927 by Gustave Eiffel. Until 1999 this was the only connection across the gorge, but now there is a modern bridge.
CORTE has the only university in Corsica with about 4000 students. The old town, rich in tradition, is situated below a rock with an old fortress built in the 11th century. In 1962-83 this fortress was used by the Foreign Legion. From the Belvedère viewpoint near the citadel, there is a beautiful view of the mountains and the surroundings of Corte.
Also worth seeing is Fontaine des Quatre-Canons, a colossal fountain that served as a water supply for the upper town in times of siege. On Cours Paoli you can find restaurants, bakeries and many other stores. On the Cours Patrimonial, there are some arts and crafts stores. The 17th century church Eglise de l'Annonciation is one of the oldest buildings in Corte.
From Corte we drove along a narrow road through a beautiful mountain landscape to the RESTONICA VALLEY, a nature reserve with many Corte pine trees. By car, you can drive to the parking lot at the Bergerie de Grotelle. The ascent to Lake Melo was quite difficult, you had to climb over many large stones, sometimes you didn't know at all how to continue and had to climb back, and so on. After about 2 hours we had made it and were at the Melo mountain lake. After a 30-minute rest in the sun, we then needed for the descent again 2 hours. Because with one of my trekking shoes the sole loosened, and I had to hold them together in a makeshift way with the shoelace...
From Corte we went first through the NIOLA VALLEY with numerous hiking trails. For a long time this area was only accessible by mule trails. Here wild boars ran across our path. You can see them especially in autumn when the chestnuts fall from the trees.
The large village of EVISA is located in the middle of chestnut forests and is a popular destination. Here begins (or ends) the hiking trail through the wild gorge of Spelunca. Through a beautiful mountain landscape and a 14 km long granite gorge we came to the GORGE DE SPELUNCA, an impressive gorge where you can hike very well - either from Evisa or from Ota.
In the small very popular town of PORTO at the mouth of the Porto River, we had a beautiful view of the Genoese Tower, the Gulf and the mountains from our hotel. The angular Genoese Tower on a headland is the landmark of Porto.
From Porto we drove to the CALANCHES DE PIANA, which start 8 km behind Porto. The granite rocks here are eroded by wind and water into the most bizarre shapes. The colors vary depending on the time of day, in the evening for example bright red. From the old mule trail - Sentier Muletier - you have great views of the rock world. There are also other trails - e.g. La Corniche.
Then we drove to PIANA, perched on a 434 m cliff, which can call itself "un des plus beaux villages de France". The only sandy beach in the area is the Plage d'Arone in a beautiful crescent shaped bay with only a few people.
From Porto, the best way to get to CALVI is to take the coastal road, which is very winding but takes you through some beautiful scenery on the Gulf of Porto. From our accommodation in Calvi we had a great view of the fortress and the Gulf of Calvi.
Calvi, the pearl of the north, is a well known and popular vacation center. Very nice are the lively alleys in the lower town and the harbor quays. In the alleys of the lower town and the harbor quay you can stroll nicely and also find restaurants and stores. The church "Sainte Marie Majeure" with a polygonal ground plan is striking. The first Christian chapel on this place was built already in the 4th century, subsequent churches were destroyed several times. The present church was built in 1774. Outside the town on the Gulf of Calvi there is a long narrow sandy beach, the water here gets deeper only slowly - ideal for small children.
The citadel "Bastion Spinchone" is the landmark of the city, you can walk around it on a ring of walls and have beautiful views of the city and the sea. The citadel was built on Roman foundations and is the oldest fortified building in Calvi.
Worth seeing is the church of Saint-Jean-Baptiste in the center of the citadel. Originally built in the 13th century, the church was largely destroyed by the explosion of a powder tower in 1567 and subsequently rebuilt in the Baroque style.
A beautiful beach near Calvi is the Plage d'Argentella, about 1 km long, in the bay of Crovani. You can get to the peninsula on a dirt road. You can make a nice but strenuous hike there. From a parking bay you have a beautiful view of the peninsula.
A nicely situated and rather quiet place is l'ILE-ROUSSEL with a small harbor and the Genoese tower and lighthouse on the peninsula "La Pietra". The village owes its name to this offshore island, which has now been turned into a peninsula by a dam and turns red at sunset.
L'Ile Rousse was laid out in 1765 in a rectangular street pattern around the harbor and is said to have the mildest winter climate in Corsica. In the alleys of the old town of L'Ile-Rousse there are several small shops selling souvenirs, jewelry, clothing, wine, etc. In the Marché Couvert there is a market in the morning. In the surroundings of Ile-Rousse there are many light sandy beaches.
Between Calvi and L'Ile-Rousse in the small village of Algajola there is a very beautiful wide and 1.5 km long beach - PLAGE D'AREGNO. In high summer, the beach is apparently very crowded. When we were there in mid-September, we had the beach to ourselves.
SAINT FLORENT is located in the north of Corsica on the wide bay of the same name - in winter an idyllic fishing village. Since the place is very popular, the population increases tenfold in the summer. A point of attraction for tourists is the large marina. In the center you can find bars, restaurants and many souvenir stores. St. Florent is also called "St. Tropez of the island" because of its special flair. On a panoramic road above Saint Florent one has again and again beautiful views of mountains and sea.
On the way to Bastia you can make a detour to the local mountain of Bastia - the 960 m high SERRA DI PIGNO. On a clear day you have a good panoramic view over both sides of Cap Corse .
BASTIA is the most important port for ferries from the French and Italian mainland and also for freight traffic. Bastia is the biggest commercial and economic center of Corsica with an industrial zone. But Bastia is also a busy center of Corsican everyday life. The Place Saint Nicolas with plane trees and palm trees is 300 meters long and 90 meters wide, making it one of the largest squares in France. The beach Plage Arinella, located south of the city, is very wide and long, but unfortunately not very attractive.
The heart of Bastia's Terra Vecchia district is the horseshoe-shaped Vieux Port with the church of Saint-Jean-Baptiste in the background. Walking north through the narrow streets, you come to the Place de l'Hôtel de Ville, where a market is held on weekends.
Around the dock there are many restaurants in all price ranges. When we are in Bastia, we always have our aperitif at a bistro where we have a nice view of the small harbor and the church.
The citadel was built by Genoese in 1380. There are the magnificently renovated Governor's Palace, the Cathedral of Sainte-Marie-de l'Assomption - a Genoese Baroque building erected in 1604-1619 - and the small chapel Oratoire de la ConfrIère de la Sainte-Croix, where you can see a cross made of black ebony in a side chapel.
The palace was the seat of the Genoese governors between the 15th and 18th centuries, today it houses the Ethnographic Museum.

She placed the single working ear bud of the headset into her ear and started the recording. The speaker was an old man with a deep gravelly and slow voice. She knew there were lots of pauses where he would stop to think. It was not the first time she had heard this recording and nor would it be the last, but it would have helped if he hadn't spoken so softly when it was recorded.
"Our home planet, Earth is most likely lost.... The invaders had started so slowly and carefully. Plans within plans, machinations, corruptions and manipulations.... It was easier to see in hindsight, but it had been terrifying at the time.
They had not come in massive spaceships with invading armies. There never were any mass murder robot armies or viral infection plagues. They came in the dark, in the quiet and they tempted and corrupted those in power. The slow... insidious kind of corruption that eats at your soul until they owned so much of a person that the person would do anything just to hide the lies and actions they've already said and completed.
It started with the wars. Nothing big, no nuclear or biological weapons, probably because they never wanted to have to clean up afterwards. The drug wars, the proxy wars, the gang wars, the religious wars and then the environmental wars. They slowed and perverted the justice and legal systems so the guilty walked free. When justice ceased to be seen to be served, the cultural war was started in earnest. They fanned the flames of both sides with the sole goal of breaking us down and apart and helping us kill our selves....
and it worked.....
By the time they showed up to strip mine our planet of whatever they wanted from it we were isolated fragments who trusted no one. A generation of isolationists..... inflamed by passionate but useless causes.
They are a long lived species who reproduce slowly. They hold their lives to be very precious. They take few and only well calculated risks, and they make plans that last lifetimes of our own. Every death we cause, takes another drop from the ocean that is our enemy. Though it take a million lifetimes, we will remove them from the universe for the suffering they have caused.
We've found records in their systems..... They've done this before and are actively in the process of doing it again on other worlds..... We were not the first and we won't be the last, but as the void and the stars are our witnesses, we WILL work to end it...
We believe they've made a mistake or a 'miscalculation' might be the better translation from their language. We believe that they did not take into account the unintended consequences of trying and failing to completely destroy us.
Like the rats and roaches of our native world, we were forced into in the margins and shadows of the things they inhabited and created. Like those rats and roaches..... we worked our way into their structures and ships looking for food and resources to survive. They treated us like we had treated those same pests to our society. But like the those pests, we learned how to grow and flourish just out of their senses and reach. We are just like that itch in the middle of your back that is just bad enough to bother you, but not bad enough to spend the effort to try and scratch it.
Ironically, it took them coming to our world to make us a truly space faring species. Because we stowed away on their ships along with our other indigenous plants and animals. We now have confirmed settlements on over a hundred and fifty stations and worlds and uncountable ships and outposts. We survive in the margins of their society by staying hidden. Because when they find us they attempt to exterminate us like the pestilence they believe us to be. We must always be in the shadows if we are to continue to survive because we are not strong enough and we don't know enough yet to fight back properly. But we will.... in time ... and with continuous effort...
We were the first sapient species to stow away, but now... we are not alone. There are others and you might eventually meet them, learn and watch for the signs of who to trust.
We have finally moved beyond worrying about the survival of our species. Collect and distribute our Terran heritage, our Human heritage, so that it may never be lost to the our people. Learn and be both passionate and compassionate for they are both our greatest strengths and our weaknesses. Children and education are our most precious possessions after our invisibility."

Hello!
I'm a white nb trans gal living in the pnw of the US. I'm 28, I live with my husband, his partner, n his partner's wife. I work from home in a continually collapsing health care role, and only attend events that have suitable COVID precautions (outdoors, masks on).
We pretty much isolate from everyone, due to our various identities bio fam connections are super strained.
I'm looking for Internet pals. I have lost so much capacity and bandwidth for making connections, and don't really understand how to reconcile with folks who like will categorically not look out for me n my family.
I know there's gotta be other folks like us, I know the systems n structures of capitalism and settler colonialism operate to divide and isolate people to disappear them, and I also fully believe that it can and will and must be different.
I'm interested in building mutual aid capacity as well with that in mind. We're housing insecure and trying to move from under a slumlord, but we're really making moves to be somewhere different.
A lot of my current internet based pals are all east coast, so like already trying to meet limited social capacity doesn't help with time delay.
My interests include: gardening, cats, Nintendo games (I play mostly on a switch emulator these days), competitive Pokemon, roguelikes, boardgames, baking and cooking, skating, jokes, and cartoons to name some stuff.
Have y'all had luck making new friends in the world as it is? Would also love to hear about it.
Thanks for hearing me out, wish you all the best!

A special thanks to u/bluefishcake for the wonderful original story and sandbox to play in.
A special thanks to my editors LordHenry7898, RandomTinkerer, and Swimming_Good_8507
And a big thanks to the authors and their stories that inspired me to tell my own in this universe. RandomTinkerer (City Slickers and Hayseeds), Punnynfunny (Denied Operations), CompassWithHat (Top Lasgun), CarCU131 (The Cook), and Rhion-618 (Just One Drop)
Hy’shq’e Ay Si’am (Thank you noble friends)
​
Chapter 22: The Concern of Parents
Andy drove the old pickup out of the base impound lot, with Aftasia and Sitry beside him on the bench seat. It was an old Rez truck, faded with age, dented, and rusting out in places, but it ran well enough and had a half tank of gas.
They’d landed easily enough, and Andy had let Aftasia and Sitry step out first to explain to the surprised militia garrison about him and his rifle. Andy was conscious of the leering faces of the Shil’vati women as they walked off the tarmac to the impounded vehicle lot. He’d spent twenty minutes convincing the two of them not to take one of the Marine transports. Now they bounced along in the old truck, and he had to stop himself from laughing at how they had to keep readjusting their ears as they folded over against the ceiling.
He drove out on the old coast road towards the river that had once been the border between the North Straits Salishian Reservation and Washington. Andy opened the window and the cab filled with the sea breeze as he drove over the neglected and bumpy road carefully. His two passengers were silent as they drove through the old abandoned suburbs of the town until they reached the crossing by the old collapsed bridge that used to span the river. Andy pulled the vehicle up on the bank and got out. The water was muddy and moving fairly fast. Andy took out a cigarette and started considering his options. The storm had swollen the river, and while the truck could probably ford the crossing, it wouldn’t do to have to go for a swim in front of the maybe boss and her cute daughter.
“Is this how you get home?” Andy turned when he heard Sitry’s voice behind him. Both of the Erbians had gotten out too, and Andy put the cigarette back in the pack unlit. Sitry was looking at him expectantly, and Andy found himself suddenly at a loss for words. Behind her, her mother had pulled out her omnipad and had popped in a set of earbuds.
“Hold on, Yes? Ah, Akil’eas, I was wondering when we’d get your call…she’s fine, I checked her myself. Her eyes are still black, her skin is still purple, and she has no viral lesions. Sakalbi and Rhaxiid are taking her to that little hospital in Bellingham. Yes, and no, I don’t want you calling her when you’re in this state. Kalai doesn’t need an overwrought father right now, she needs a mother who’ll flick her ears and tell her what an idiot she is.”
Andy couldn’t help but chuckle at hearing the one-sided conversation before looking over at Sitry and cracking a smile.
“My sister’s in trouble,” Sitry whispered as she moved to stand next to him as they watched her mother speak to what was presumably Kalai’s father on the other end of the line.
“So how does that work, exactly? Is she adopted or something?”
“Akil’eas, smart people do dumb things sometimes, and I choose to focus on the outcome…no one was permanently hurt, she’s on her way to the hospital for a check, and she’s back with….I’m her parent too, you know…I have been for years while you’ve been here, and quite frankly, if this is the full extent of her ‘pre-teen rebellion’, I’ll happily take it over what some of my other children have done when they were her age!”
Sitry looked around and walked over to sit on a fallen log and patted the space next to her. “Yes and no? Dr. He’osforos is an old family friend. He went to school with my moms and my dad, and he used to teach and do research at VRISM with them, too. Me and Narny were born around the same time as Kalai and Gadea.”
Andy huffed in amusement and unwrapped the blanket from his shoulders to refold it over him like a sash. Sitry turned bright red and averted her eyes while he did before he took a seat next to her.
“Our folks put us all in the same nursery and we all went to the same school…we’ve been in each others’ back pockets ever since.” She started up again after a moment. “When the…attack went down, all the Shil’vati got sick. The virus doesn’t affect us, so our House didn’t lose anybody, but…almost everyone in our class got sick and died. Kalai lost her sister and her two mothers. Her dad came to Earth looking for a way to cure her, and he’s been here ever since. Kalai’s been living with us for so long, she may as well be Erbian at this point, but she’s not officially a member of our Warren or anything.”
Akil’eas….AKIL’EAS! She is fine, a sprained ankle, a sore shoulder, and too much humble pie at the moment. That’s all! Yes. Yes, she won’t be let out of our sight until you wrap up whatever it is you’re doing that’s so important right now…Well, I think that’s something I need to speak to you about in person.” Andy locked eyes with Aftasia for a moment and gulped before turning back to Sitry.
“So sisters but not. Family, but not. Strangely, I can relate.” Andy focused on Sitry who seemed to be playing with her hair while deliberately trying not to look at his exposed chest.
“You had a brother too, right?”
“Have. I have a brother. Like I said, he got nuked by the Imp Navy and all it did was nothing. He and grandpa took what stommish were ready to fight and went to war.” Andy felt a wave of sadness wash over him and his breath caught in his throat for a moment. “I can barely remember him, I was so little the last time I saw him. He took no shit from anybody.” Andy felt tears in his eyes and he sniffed them back, as he recalled a story that he could tell her without falling into tears.
“You know he, uh…one of the few things I remember about him was…there was this kid on the base, and he used to knock me down when we were coming home from school. Kay Tee…Konstantin…he found out and he followed me home, but he thought he was James Bond or something because he was running behind fences and trees and mailboxes waiting to ambush the bully. So the kid, I don’t even remember his name, walks up and pushes me down…and Kay Tee just bull-rushes him from the side and does this flying jump kick into the kid's nads and beats the piss out of him.” Andy started laughing at the memory. “So he puts the kid on his ass, and he says, ‘You mess with one Salish, you mess with all of us, and we don’t fight fair!’ He picks me up and tells him ‘You push my brother again, I’ll cut your head off and stick it on a stake on the beach!’ or something like that.”
“He sounds like Leonidas.” Sitry’s voice had an airy quality and she was staring at him with very large blue-green eyes.
Andy burst out laughing. “What?”
“You know, a hero! Blight, that didn’t come out right!” Sitry giggled nervously and she looked away.
“I mean, if you say so. Leonidas got himself killed, and Kay Tee isn’t dead," Andy laughed while giving Sitry a side eye. She squealed and pulled her ears over her face as she flushed a deeper red.
“-No I won’t, so message me when you can…alright, the human Shel, your place. We’d love to, and we’ll be bringing a guest…yes. We’ll see you then, and I’ll let the rest of the family know. Goodbye, Akil’eas!” Aftasia walked over to them as she wrapped up her phone call and removed her earbuds. “So, you two seem to be getting cozy,” she said in a flat tone and a raised eyebrow to her daughter.
“I wasn’t looking, honest ma!” Sitry mumbled, going red again in embarrassment. Andy looked from Sitry to her stern looking mother and he cleared his throat to get her attention.
“So I know why you want to hire me, but what exactly is it that I’d be doing on a day to day basis? A thousand credits a week is an exorbitant amount of money around here. I want to know what it is I’d be getting myself into.” And folded his arms over his chest as he studied Aftasia, watching her closely to try and discern what she might be thinking.
Aftasia’s stern expression softened and her ears swiveled forward towards him. “Well, ideally, you’d come live with us at Headquarters in Victoria, so you’d have twenty four hour access to the facilities and our people. I think my husband wants you to be a field guide for our restoration teams, which would mean leading expeditions and excursions. I’d imagine there’d be a training component to it as well. Teaching us to identify invasives, avoid causing ecological harm, and so on. We’d also like to ask you to speak to your people about perhaps not trying to shoot us or sabotaging our equipment? Would you be willing to do that for us?” She held her hands open at her side and they moved slightly as she talked.
Andy felt his brow get heavy and his mouth pulled down in a frown. “That last one might be hard. I don’t speak for all the humans that live around here. I don’t even really speak for all of my own people…but there are enough that would at least hear me out because of my name and my heritage.” He schooled his features back into a stoic mask to hide the sudden wave of fear that threatened to make him shiver. “Living with you…giving up my home…”
Aftasia knelt down in front of him, concern clear on her face. “You’d have transportation at your beck and call, if that’s what it takes. If you’d rather not live in the arcology, then we’d make arrangements for ground transportation or even a shuttle service.”
Andy took a deep breath and considered his words carefully. “It just feels…well, almost like I’m being conscripted. Instead of a rifle and that black catsuit armor, I’d get a clipboard and a collaborator’s jacket.”
“We aren’t the military, Mr. Shelokset. Even if you signed the contract, we’d never ask you to compromise your people or yourself.” She reached out and grabbed his hand, causing Andy to flinch, and instinctively pull his hand away and he stiffened, unable to hide the sudden burst of panic on his face. Aftasia seemed to pause and looked at him with an expression he couldn’t read, and her face fell before she spoke again. “Andrei, I don’t know the details of how the Imperium treated you, but…I know that there were many cruel and ‘inhumane’ things done to you. I can’t change that, but I know that we want to be better. We’ve been trying to reach out to humans for a few years now and…all they see is the marines and the nobles. We aren’t those women, Andrei.”
Andy felt himself begin to untense, and he fought back the sudden desire to flee, letting Aftasia continue. “My family…our Warren…was tasked with the restoration of Earth to showcase the benefits of being part of the Empire. We’d like to be a force for good. To make a gift of your homeworld restored to the brilliant and beautiful garden world it was. We’d like to build a working relationship with humans and earn your trust and hopefully, your friendship. That means when you speak, we listen. When you tell us how it is, we believe you and act on it.”
Andy stood up and walked a few paces away. He stared down at the coursing mud-brown river, as he tried to silently calm himself down. Now was not the time for a ‘Cry Song’, and he longed for the bottle of Jack Daniels he’d hidden in his closet. He focused on his breathing until the panic and fear subsided before he spoke again. “Well, this was the way home, but the water's a little high at the moment to risk crossing here. The bridge over by Ferndale’s still up, so we’ll detour around.” Andy made a show of brushing himself off. “Should only add about fifteen minutes to the drive.
“Well, at least our flood prevention is keeping the river contained.” Aftasia said brightly as she watched Sitry walk back to the truck like a hawk.
“Yeah, about that. We’ll need to talk about what you did to the river. You caused more problems than you solved," Andy replied as he clambered back into the truck and started it up again.
“Wha…really? I’d ask now, but I’d rather wait until we can pay you for your time and expertise. Your knowledge should be properly honored,” Aftasia sighed as Andy turned the vehicle around to drive the back roads to get to home.
“I think if you take that approach, it’ll make things a lot easier with my people in the long run," Andy added hopefully as they drove alongside the farm road by the river. The new raised and reinforced embankments to either side that contained the river and straightened its course out had made him and most everyone else grind their teeth in frustration. It was one of the reasons the salmon populations were dying in the rivers.
They fell back into silence again as they drove on and around, crossing the bridge onto the old Reservation. The road led past The Silver Reef Casino, and he felt a wry sense of amusement to see the parking lot full of both human and alien vehicles. They were doing good business at least, and he’d check in with the Kwainset and the George families that ran it and coordinated their less than legal activities.
“Is that another one of those Indian Casinos?” Sitry asked as they passed by the only buildings in the middle of the abandoned farmland.
“Yeah, each Band has its own, and that’s the Silver Reef, which belongs to my Band. Grandma’s Clan owns half of it because they built it with their money. We do alright, but we’re nowhere near as successful as the Lower River Salish between here and Seattle,” Andy grumbled bitterly. They may be Salish, but some Band rivalries ran deep and the formal dissolution of the Tribe had broken their unity as a people with everyone out for themselves. Stand together or die alone. That was our way. His jaw tightened and he growled.
“So what’s the difference between a Band and a Clan?”
“Oh, uh, not much really. Bands are what the American and Canadian Governments organized us into when they took our land and forced us on different Reservations. The Clans were our own Warrens, so to speak. Some Bands have only one Clan, others have multiple Clans.”
“So which are you?”
“Bear Clan, North Straits Salish Band. We’re the northern most Indians that the United States kept inside their borders. Which reminds me, there’s a good chance my grandma’s not home. So if she’s not, I’ll just run in, get cleaned up and into civilian clothes, then we’ll go to the Casino. The Council officially meets there these days. If we do, just…let me do the talking.” Andy was gratified to see Aftasia nod earnestly before turning to whisper to her daughter. Andy brought his attention back to the road as they drove deep into the Rez and around back to the old coastal road to his home.
By some miracle, their old two story home had survived the orbital bombardment and the firestorm that had followed. The old blue and gray house sat on the top of the cliff, overlooking the bay towards Bellingham and had a beautiful view of the volcano, Kulshan. The gravel driveway crunched noisily as he pulled up the small dive, and found his grandmother’s car parked in front of the garage.
“Huh, looks like you’ll be able to meet my grandma after all,” Andy noted as he killed the engine and opened the door.
“This is your house? Your view is amazing!” Aftasia exclaimed as she followed him out and took in the view of the rising green hills, dominated by the single snowclad mountain behind them.
“Thank you. You’re welcome to come in if you’d like, but if you’d prefer not to, I’d ask that you stay close to the house. Not everyone around here is friendly to hwun’eetums. It might help that you’re not Shil’vati, but I’d rather not risk it!” Andy called back to them as he made his way up to the front door and the porch. He heard them scurry up behind him as he pushed the door open. The smell of smoked salmon wafted out of the house and he closed his eyes happily as he crossed the threshold. Old blankets hanging over the bay windows cut the light and suddenly he felt his head nod. The events of the last two days finally caught up to him and reminded him of how tired he was.
“Grandma! I’m home!” he shouted as he looked over at the living area in the front of the house. The potbelly stove in the corner was cold, and the couch that faced the windows was empty. Magazines and bills filled the coffee table and he walked quickly over to poke his head in the kitchen. She wasn’t there either.
A sudden loud chain of high pitched barking, scrambling, and scratching, followed by a series of thumps from the stairs by the kitchen heralded the approach of the worst guard dog in the world. Puck, the little snow white, fox-faced, American Eskimo Dog came tumbling down the stairs in his excitement, skidding across the hardwood floor like an idiot. Andy knelt down happily and the little fluffy cannonball jumped up into his arms barking and whimpering in his excitement.
“Oh my goodness, a Rakiri!” Andy heard Sitry practically shout as she and Aftasia came in after him.
“Not exactly. This fluffy idiot’s my dog, Puck. Don’t worry, he’s all bark and no bite,” Andy huffed as Puck hopped out and barked loudly at the two alien women. He skittered excitedly over to them and started hopping in place barking at them while panting happily. Aftasia held her ground admirably, but Sitry shrunk back from the loud little puffball.
“Alright, you little idiot! I know we’ve got alien invaders! Now sit!” Andy commanded and the dog half squatted, half sat as he danced from foot to foot. He fell mercifully silent, save for the panting and he looked up with a happy smile.
“Tsu’ti’tsi’uqw!” The iron twinged voice, gravelly from years of smoking, echoed from the back rooms where grandma’s home office was located. She appeared in the doorway, dark eyes blazing with anger. She spoke in Salishian as she advanced into the kitchen, and he stood up at attention, the blanket falling to the floor as he put his shoulders back and his chin up.
“You took the Ancestor Masks out to Orcas and held a Gathering? Are you insane?” she roared at him in their language. She was smaller than him by almost a foot and a half, but there was no one in the world he was more terrified of in that moment as she came blazing up to him. The carved ivory necklace she wore clacked and clattered against the beaded hair ties that kept her steel gray hair in two tight ponytails as she stared up at him.
He refused to meet her eyes, staring over her as he felt his insides turn somersaults. “There were more than twenty Clans there, Grandma! Representatives from-”
“And no tumulhs except you! It was an insult and a failure that will set our plans back again! Do you know I’m getting calls from the tumulhs of those Clans claiming everything from Wendigo attack to you turning traitor and…what and who are they?” Grandma Kwainset looked over and behind him at the two suddenly fearful Erbian woman who had gone stock still. “Cover yourself, for God’s sake, and I’ll deal with you later,” Grandma said as she moved to stand in between Andy and the Vaidas.
“Uh, good morning!” Aftasia managed brightly, though her tone was a bit unsteady to Andy’s ears. “Would you happen to speak Vatikre?”
“Fluently,” Grandma replied icily in the alien language with a look back at Andy as he quickly rewrapped himself.
“Ah, well, I’m Aftasia Vaida and this is my daughter-”
“Yes, I know your name. You work with the Ministry of Sciences and are one of the advisors to Governess Ta’naios. You and your family are responsible for the…environmental protection of the region.” Grandma’s icy tone did not abate and Aftasia closed her mouth for a moment.
“Grandma, they stopped the marines from abducting me, and they brought me home-” Andy continued in Salishian, moving around to stand beside her.
“And they’ll want something in return, no doubt.” Grandma’s reply in Vatikre was curt as she stared at Aftasia, appraising her.
“Grandma, they want to offer me a job-”
“Enslave you-”
“Grandma, they saved my life! Be mad at me, not at them!” Andy’s voice was firm as he stepped in front of her again, shielding the two aliens from grandma’s wrath.
“Oh, I’ve no need for your permission to be mad at you, grandson!” Andy felt the full weight of her authority hit him like a tsunami and he did his level best to hold his ground against it.
“Grandma, they want to hire me to fix the things they’re fucking up on! They’re willing to listen!”
“Of all the people to suddenly develop a naivete about the foreigners…” Grandma growled at him before walking over into the kitchen. “May I offer you something to drink?” She called out to Aftasia and Sitry in Vatikre, switching her language to one they could understand.
Andy looked over to Aftasia and nodded his head. “Uh, yes, please and thank you.” There was clattering from the kitchen and Andy rushed over to whisper to Aftasia.
“Our rules of hospitality mean she can’t kick you out if you accept food or drink; just don’t finish it. If you do before we resolve this, claim hunger," Andy whispered before quickly moving back to where he stood as Aftasia gave him a nod of understanding. Sitry’s eyes went wide as she stood next to her mother and gulped audibly. Grandma Kwainset came back out carrying two small glasses of water, which both Aftasia and Sitry accepted graciously and sipped at.
“So you have a job for my grandson. What is it?” Her tone was brusque and she folded her arms over her chest as she glared at the two of them.
“We’d like to hire him as a cultural expert-” Aftasia began before being cut off.
“His culture is not for sale.”
Andy took a deep breath to steady himself and interjected in the short silence that followed. “Grandma, she wants me to help them restore the land!”
“I’ve seen how they’ve been going about it. No deal. I’ll not put our plans, your reputation, and the family name at risk with the Clans to see you sell out to the invaders.” Grandma’s words stung him to the core and Andy felt that old core of frustrated anger that lived inside him start to awaken as his heart began to pump faster in his ears. The two of them glared at each other with neither backing down an inch.
Aftasia’s voice broke the small battle of wills and the two of them turned to look at her. “Missus uh…”
“Kwainset,” Grandma responded, and Andy bit back an angry growl at her use of her maiden name.
“Mrs. Kwainset, I’m not asking him to sell out. We need your help-” Aftasia began.
“I’ll say.” Grandma’s words were a challenge that Aftasia did not take, but instead she soldiered on admirably. Her tone remained gentle and even, just as it was in the shuttle when she’d talked with Andy.
“...your grandson has made us aware of several of the shortcomings in our approach to land management, and we would like to ask for his help in correcting these shortcomings. He’d even help us undo our mistakes in a way that honors and restores the historical territory of your people.”
“And by ‘your people’, you mean us humans?” Grandma shot Andy a severe look.
“No, I mean the Salishians. The indigenous people who have lived here since…how did you put it, Andy?”
“Since time began. Nilh tu’ oh,” Andy said, folding his own arms over his chest as he gave Grandma her own look back.
Aftasia finished her drink deliberately and set the cup on a coaster lying on the coffee table. She looked over and gave the clearly terrified Sitry a reassuring smile before moving to stand before Grandma Kwainset. “Yes, exactly. You are quite right, of course. We are in desperate need of your help, and we are also indebted to your grandson. He saved three of my children last night; this one in particular.” She motioned to Sitry who gave a nervous nod of agreement as Grandma turned her gaze on the teenage girl.
Aftasia continued when Grandma said nothing. “He is a credit to you and your family, and his care for and knowledge of your ancestral homeland is something we admire and would like to engage with to protect and restore it. He was adamant that he needed to receive your blessing before giving us an answer to our offer. We will, however, abide by your decision as his Matriarch, and if your answer is no then we will not impose upon your family any longer.”
Grandma Kwanset held her gaze for what seemed a long while, and Andy could see the impending negative answer building in her eyes. As she drew breath to speak, Andy felt a wild stab of courage compel him to make one last plea in Salishian. “They’re willing to listen! Something is better than nothing and better late than never, Grandma! Please! They’re willing to listen and change!”
Grandma’s words halted in her mouth as she fixed Andy with that hard appraising stare, and again Andy felt as though she would crush him under the weight of her authority and inwardly he trembled at what felt like the inevitable answer. Seconds felt like hours as the silence hung, before grandma finally spoke. “Andy, go get cleaned up. I want a word with this hwun’eetum.”
It wasn’t a no, but it wasn’t a yes either, and Andy felt a different tension settle over him. A feeling of defiance that had seen him into so much trouble in the school, but had kept him alive ever since. It reared its ugly head and tried to rebel at the order. She wanted to speak to Aftasia, and that at least was something. All he could do was nod and turn to give a reassuring nod to Sitry and Aftasia that he didn’t feel before trudging up to the stairs that led to his room on the upper floor. When he’d gotten halfway up he stopped for a moment as he heard the front door open and close. His jaw clenched as he turned around, ready to fly back down the stairs to confront Grandma when her voice stopped him in his tracks and he stayed rooted in place, silent.
“Your warriors killed my husband, my sons, and all my grandchildren except him. He is the last of several long lines of leaders and LET ME FINISH…if he is frozen out by the Clans, or worse, taken AGAIN to be held hostage and brainwashed, then everything he represents will be lost.” Andy knew Grandma didn’t believe like he did that Grandpa and Konstantin were still alive. It had been far too long, and the two of them argued over it incessantly. He knew why she believed them dead, and why she was so insistent that he stop believing they were alive. She wanted him to sit in on the Council Meetings. The Shelokset name was an old and very respected name, but had become controversial. Many of the Clans still held Grandpa Wiley in high regard for his decision to go to war, and several of the surviving elders that had been recovered and brought home from the relocations had made it clear that until the exiles were recalled, there would be no reunification, recognized or not.
Grandma had wanted Andy to step up and take over as a young voice on the Council, but to do so would be to usurp Grandpa and Konstantin’s place, not to mention put him in the limelight, which he feared more than anything. He shivered and his skin got goosebumps as the thought of having to be ‘in charge’ frightened him. What if he got something wrong? Who was he? Just some kid, but doing something was better than nothing, and Grandma’s grand plan of Imperial recognition was never going to work. The Imperium just didn’t give a Goddamn about anyones’ inherent rights.
He quietly trudged up the stairs, avoiding the ones that creaked and went straight to the bathroom. With the shower heating up, he turned to look at himself in the mirror. His paint was a mess. Large areas had washed away or smeared all over him, and the bags under his eyes reminded him that he’d been awake now for almost two whole days. His blanket fell away and he stared at himself, wishing he could be certain of something, anything, about himself. The only things he felt any surety in was his roles as a tumulh, and a Speaker.
“Some Speaker though, the voice and Witness of my family and outside an official gathering I can barely hold it together without either trying to kill somebody or wanting to go fetal. At least I found some hwun’eetums willing to listen. Maybe I’m not such a failure of a healer after all.” Andy wiped the mirror as it began to fog up, so he quickly washed his face and shaved the patchy stubble before stepping into the shower. The hot water felt good and he stayed to enjoy it for a bit longer than he’d meant to. Remembering that he’d left the two Erbians downstairs with his grandmother had him speed up through his normal routine. Slipping and sliding a bit on the floor, he moved quickly to his room to get dressed. His mind chased itself as he wondered what to wear and if he’d need to pack or prepare to say goodbye.
They’ve seen me at my most ‘primitive’, now might be the time to try and impress. He thought as certain lessons about male deportment came bubbling up from the school. Andy squeezed his eyes shut and forced the memories and the feelings of white hot rage and hatred back down deep as he quickly dressed in some of his best. “If they want a fucking Indian Prince, I’ll give them a Goddamn Indian Prince," he said aloud to himself as he finished dressing and braiding his hair. Andy stood in front of the mirror on the dresser and looked himself over. Black slacks, white shirt, beaded pattern vest buttoned up, black coat left open, ivory beaded choker with three carved ivory feathers hanging down over his chest, and three Bald Eagle feathers secured in his rope-tight braid that hung down to the small of his back. “You’ve seen the savage half of me, now let’s see what you think of the noble,” Andy told his reflection sarcastically before looking back at his bed. He’d pulled his suitcase out, but had left it empty. Hope for the best, plan for the worst.
Andy made his slow way down the stairs, straining his ears for any sound from the living room, but heard nothing. When he rounded the corner of the stairs, he saw his grandmother in the kitchen, leaning over the sink, and Aftasia’s ears poking over the back of the couch. He cleared his throat to get their attention.
The red ears over the couch rotated almost comically and Aftasia poked her head up to look at him. There was a moment where the woman did a double take and had a look of surprised shock as she looked him over. Grandma on the other hand took a moment to turn around and look at him. When she did, her face was unreadable. She walked slowly, heavily, towards him until she was standing right in front of him. When Grandma spoke, she spoke in Vatikre.
“You are your own man now, grandson, and you are a Chief of the Salish. I cannot tell you what to do, but I will not give you my blessing to work for our overlords.” Andy felt his jaw tighten, but he waited as Grandma took a breath and looked over at Aftasia, who averted her gaze from the two. “Nor will I forbid you either. You do what you think is right, but remember that your actions will be carried forward by your children and your children’s children. Succeed, and you will be praised. Fail, and your name and line will be forgotten. If you’re willing to gamble your heritage and your birthrights on these hwun’eetums, then there’s nothing I can say or do that will stop you. My door will always be open to you, but the Tribe’s doors may close and you well know that once they do, they never reopen.” With that, she gave him a brief hug and walked away back towards her office in the back of the house.
Andy stood alone looking down the dark hall she’d gone down and heard her shut the door. She doesn’t want me to do this. She thinks I’m making a grave mistake…maybe I am. We need the money, especially if the Tribe’s ever going to…no. We have to succeed! If the Clans take this the wrong way, they’ll freeze me out…but if THEY think I’ve turned, I’ll wind up in a black bag or worse. Andy felt a soul crushing icy pressure settle in his chest, and he felt very alone and small in that moment.
Aftasia approached slowly, stopping a few feet from him and she seemed subdued when she spoke. “I would understand if you turned us down. Your grandmother laid out your situation quite clearly, and as much as I’m convinced that we need your help more than ever, I cannot in good conscience ask you to give up-”
“I am a tumulh…and the last Shelokset tumulh. If not me, then who?” Andy said, interrupting her as he continued to stare down the hall after his grandmother, emotions whirling too fast to make any sense of. “Can you promise me that you will listen? That you will make what I stand to lose worth the risk?” Try as he might, he couldn’t keep the trepidation out of his voice.
“Andrei, you don’t know me yet, so I don’t expect that at this moment my words will carry much weight with you.” Aftasia spoke firmly and with conviction. Andy tore his eyes from the empty hall to look her dead in the eyes. He saw iron resolve reflected there and the claws that had him by the heart started to lose their grip to see it. “Come what may, the Vaida Warren will do right by you and your people. Upon my degrees, upon my children, upon my marriage. When you speak, you will be heard. If you need shelter or protection, our Warren will provide it.”
“And you speak for the others too?” Andy pressed, hoping for an answer that would shake the last of the tendrils of fear from him.
“As I said, you don’t know me yet, but you will…and when you do, you’ll understand the significance of what I’ve pledged. Suffice it to say, yes…I speak for my spouses…and all the Houses within the Warren.”
Andy stared at her in concealed amazement. She spoke like the elders and the fear subsided enough for him to make his choice. He stood still, his face a stoic mask to hide his feelings behind, until at last he made up his mind, and held out his hand, palm open.
“What…what is…I don’t understand?”
“A handshake. For us, the most unbreakable ‘contracts’ are sealed with a handshake and backed by your sacred honor.” Andy quoted one of the many video-letters his father made for him and his brother whenever he went on deployment. Aftasia looked down and slowly held her own out. He clasped her hand firmly and gave it a single shake, never breaking eye contact with her. “Then it’s done. I’ll come work for you.”
Aftasia’s face broke into a smile. “We’ll still get it in writing for appearance’s sake…for the Accountants and ITAD. They like their paperwork.”
“Government, the necessary evil,” Andy replied. “Where honor dies, and it’s only what you can prove in a packed court.”
“Spoken like a true citizen of the Imperium. Get packed, our driver is on his way to pick us up. We’ll fly over to the hospital, pick up the rest of the family and head out to Headquarters. We’ll get you your own apartment in the complex so you don’t have to worry about shuttle availability. Of course you’ll be able to come and go as you please…which reminds me, we’ll need to get you an Approved Entry pass from the Governess’ office.”
Andy nodded and hurried back upstairs to shove as much as he could into the one or two bags he owned. One for all the clothes he owned, which was enough to see him through a week if he ever fell behind on laundry, and the other for his regalia. Plans started to form in his mind, and he hoped that Atasia and her husband would be true to their word.
​
First:
https://www.reddit.com/Sexyspacebabes/comments/yz0u3h/the_cryptid_chronicle_chapter_1/
Previous:
https://www.reddit.com/Sexyspacebabes/comments/12290wz/cryptid_chronicle_chapter_21/
Next:
To be posted 4/9/23

I would first like to say, this post may be missing some variants such as Panama and does not specify which maps had weather variants. My intent with this post is just to show how much was truly lost from an analytical perspective. I will be using the battle tier system as that is what was shown. This will be a WWII mode only post as that is all I play and do not want to make any errors or other by commenting on something which I do not play
Maps Currently In Game
Map Name Type Size Battle Tier
Abbey Summer 1000m x 1000m 3-4
Airfield Desert 1000m x 1000m 3-4, 5-8, 9-11
Artic Region Winter 1000m x 1000m 5-8, 9-11
Cliff Summer 1000m x 1000m 3-4, 5-8, 9-11
Dragon Ridge Summer 1000m x 1000m 5-8, 9-11
Dukla Pass Summer 1000m x 1000m 5-8, 9-11
El Alamein Desert 1000m x 1000m 5-8, 9-11
El Hallouf Desert 1000m x 1000m 5-8, 9-11
Erlenberg Winter 1000m x 1000m 5-8, 9-11
Fisherman's Bay Urban 1000m x 1000m 5-8, 9-11
Ghost Town Summer 800m x 800m 3-4, 5-8
Great Wall Summer 1000m x 1000m 5-8, 9-11
Heilbronn Summer 1000m x 1000m 5-8, 9-11
Hidden Village Summer 1000m x 1000m 3-4, 5-8, 9-11
Highway Urban 1000m x 1000m 5-8, 9-11
Himmelsdorf Urban, Winter 700m x 700m 3-4, 5-8, 9-11
Karelia Summer 1000m x 1000m 5-8, 9-11
Kasserine Desert 1000m x 1000m 5-8, 9-11
Kaunas Summer 1000m x 1000m 5-8, 9-11
Lakeville Summer 800m x 800m 3-4, 5-8, 9-11
Malinovka Summer, Winter 1000m x 1000m 5-8, 9-11
Mines Summer 800m x 800m 1-2, 3-4
Mountain Pass Summer, Winter 1000m x 1000m 3-4
Murovanka Summer, Winter 1000m x 1000m 5-8, 9-11
Nomonhan Summer 1500m x 1500m? 5-8, 9-11
Overlord Summer 1000m x 1000m 5-8, 9-11
Pearl River Summer 1000m x 1000m 3-4, 5-8, 9-11
Pilsen Summer 800m x 800m 3-4, 5-8, 9-11
Port Urban 800m x 800m 3-4
Prokhorovka Summer 1000m x 1000m 5-8, 9-11
Raseiniai Summer 1000m x 1000m 5-8, 9-11
Redshire Summer 1000m x 1000m 5-8, 9-11
Sand River Desert 1000m x 1000m 5-8, 9-11
Siegfried Line Urban 1000m x 1000m 5-8, 9-11
Steppes Summer 1000m x 1000m 5-8, 9-11
Sunset Coast Summer 1000m x 1000m 5-8, 9-11
Swamp Summer 1000m x 1000m 3-4, 5-8, 9-11
Thiepval Ridge Summer 1000m x 1000m 5-8, 9-11
Vineyards Summer 1000m x 1000m 5-8, 9-11
Westfield Summer 1000m x 1000m 5-8, 9-11
​
From the existing maps list, we can visually see that the majority of the maps are summer, Desert, or Winter maps. There are a total of 40 maps available to WWII players. Of these, Summer maps make up 70% of the maps (28), Desert maps make up 12.5% of the maps (5), Winter maps are tricky and can overlap with summer, so I have included them in this number of 15% (6 maps with winter variants), and Urban with 12.5% of the maps (5). Of these numbers, only 4 maps are available at low tiers, with Port being the only low battle tier urban map. Urban maps also include Fisherman's Bay, Siegfried Line, and Highway which have large open spaces further reducing the amount of true Urban maps to just one at higher tiers: Himmelsdorf. Where does this lead us, well let me show you instead.
​
Maps Removed During 6.0
Map Name Type Size Proposed Battle Tier
Ardennes Winter, Summer 1000m x 1000m 5-8, 9-11
Berlin Winter, Urban 800m x 800m 3-4, 5-8, 9-11
Caen Summer 1000m x 1000m 5-8
Ensk Urban 600m x 600m 3-4, 5-8, 9-11
Fjords Summer 850m x 850m 3-4, 5-8, 9-11
Icebound Winter 800m x 800m 5-8, 9-11
Komarin Summer 800m x 800m 3-4, 5-8
Liberty Falls Summer 1000m x 1000m 3-4, 5-8
Live Oaks Summer 1000m x 1000m 3-4, 5-8, 9-11
Northwest Summer 1000m x 1000m 5-8, 9-11
Pacific Island Summer 1000m x 1000m 3-4, 5-8
Province Summer 600m x 600m N/A
Ravaged Capital Summer 1000m x 1000m 5-8, 9-11
Ruinberg Urban 800m x 800m 5-8, 9-11
Sacred Valley Winter 1000m x 1000m 3-4, 5-8, 9-11
Serene Coast Summer 1000m x 1000m 5-8, 9-11
Severogorsk Winter 1000m x 1000m 5-8, 9-11
Scorpion Pass Desert 1000m x 1000m N/A
South Coast Summer 1000m x 1000m 3-4, 5-8, 9-11
Tundra Winter, Summer 800m x 800m 5-8, 9-11
Widepark Urban 600m x 600m 3-4, 5-8, 9-11
Windstrom Winter 1000m x 1000m 5-8, 9-11
​
In the 6.0 update, there was a huge loss of maps, but the most significant loss was the amount of maps which included Urban areas to fight in. While 22 maps were lost during the update, only 18.18% of the maps were Urban, however, I would reclassify a few of these maps from summer to Urban due to their large urban areas. These are Ravaged Capital, Windstrom, and Icebound, however Windstrom and Icebound are only winter maps despite the large area of urban fighting. In addition to losing the maps, were maps which favored a different meta of play. I know with the return of Swamp, many in this sub have been vocal about Live Oaks returning. Live Oaks definitely favored the old Hull Down Heavy Meta. With the increase in speed and mobility, the meta played on the maps that have returned has also changed.
​
What changed the meta was not just the new tanks of high mobility and accuracy, but rather a combination of the loss of close quarters maps where heavy tanks could make a strong impact with the new tanks. Smaller maps make it more difficult for tanks to hide, enhance the effectiveness of the heavies, reduce arty impact, and can help curb the effect speed has in a game. I remember when the Vanguard was introduced and was game breaking speed on open maps. On smaller maps, it took a skilled player to use it well.
​
In summary, the loss of urban maps has hurt the game in more ways than just the loss of map variety, it really encourages speed in the game because almost all the maps have huge areas to dominate. I do not play heavy tanks often, but every time I do, I feel like it takes forever to get to the battle. Or when I play my stock Jagdtiger, I struggle to be in a good position. All too often, its a large open map. An increase in the smaller or more Urban maps will see an improvement in gameplay purely from a heavy tank perspective just by not having to drive long open stretches to reach the battle point. Power creep and meta change over time occurs, but the loss of urban maps forced a change which negatively hurt this game for the long term. And while I may be rambling at this point, I hope Wargaming does see this. With some maps returning over time, maybe this will push urban maps to be brought back sooner.
​
Thanks for reading all! If you do find a mistake, let me know in the comments. I will make a comment for all the corrections so everyone can see them.

Co-Authored by me and u/Research-Apart, enjoy
Special thanks to u/Acceptable_Egg5560 for editing
CW: >! Medical gore and mild body horror !<
First Previous Next
____________________________________________________________________________________
> Access File: Hybris (4)
[OPENING FILE]
Notice from Department of Extrasolar Records: These records were discovered in a floating black box data recording in the Gliese 832 system. These transcriptions contain the memories of prominent individuals who were directly involved with the events detailed below. The components of the transcription technology used are under review by the Department of Xenotechnology, and any transcriptions found within the data logs will be transferred directly to the Department of Extrasolar Records for further processing.
____________________________________________________________________________________
Memory transcription subject: Shella, Venlil Space Corp
Date [standardized human time]: March 21, 2143
The ship had become a hive of activity. Scientists were running from one side to the other preparing all the equipment we would need to study this new predator disease. Of course, we didn’t have half the equipment of a normal PD screening facility so we had to improvise. We had all passed our tests so nobody expected any incidents while in the middle of a mission. Well, most of us had passed. I glanced over at Teklov while I was busy cannibalizing a medical scanner. He was staring out of the airlock window with an apprehensive look on his face. His paw hung limply at his side where his pistol had been.
A spike of fear ran through me, images of Velnek being gunned down swimming in my vision. How Teklov had put him down without any hesitation or remorse was macabre. Predatory even. Maybe they had been right about him all along, that he really was a threat. Nonetheless, I cannot let my fear of him get control over me. Whether we liked it or not, we were all in this together.If we want to understand what happened to Velnek then we will need to work cohesively.
I took a deep breath and called out to him.“Teklov! We need you to help us with Velnek’s body after we’re done. We’ll need to perform an autopsy to see if there are any remains of the disease and if it altered his brain chemistry.”
Teklov turned his head and replied,“Understood”
After answering, he went back to looking back outside only for a confused look to form on his face. Going off of his initial expression, he must’ve seen something outside to make him stare so intently. I took a small peek for myself to see if anything was out there but found nothing. All that could be seen was the perimeter we set up and Wesley’s frozen carcass. It was a disturbing sight to witness: seeing Wesley's body lay there lifeless atop his research equipment felt mortifying. The only thing I could look forward to was the sight of Venlil Beta. It glowed beautifully in the dark skies above and seemingly brought a sense of amazement in contrast to the fear I felt of Teklov. The beautiful white stripes of the gas giant’s clouds and the pulchritudinous northern auroras brought a sense of awe so great I almost forgot where I was. Teklov turned around and I quickly looked away and returned to modifying our medical scanner. I didn’t want him to think I was staring.
I soon finished up and signaled for him to come with me. We took the tarp we had stored for later and layered the floor and walls of the infirmary with the material before placing Velnek’s body on a table. Seeing the lifelessness in his face took me aback. I never faced a real cadaver before, and so I was hesitant to operate. I thought for a moment that Teklov could take action since I was too unnerved to begin, but when I looked at him I could tell he was feeling the same way. Seeing how he was reacting to the sight, I began to rethink my judgment of him being a predator and felt somewhat ashamed of my initial thought. Then I remembered how this cadaver got here in the first place and my fear came back in full. Regardless, sinceTeklov was unable to start us off then It would have to be me. With great hesitation, I grabbed clippers and shaved Velnek’s head down to his skin. Seeing a Venlil with a woolless head disturbed me, but I had to press on. To keep ourselves from creating too much of a mess, I grabbed one of the knives we brought with us here and carefully cut through the scalp before peeling back the skin. ‘Now we have his bare skull exposed.’ I cautiously grabbed one of the power tools we were planning to use and created multiple boreholes around the cranium before creating segmented fractures across the top of the skull. Slowly but surely, I grabbed the section by the perforations I made and pulled it off. As soon as I did, I was met with several other layers of tissue meant to protect his brain from hitting his inner cranium. I made quick work of cutting off those layers before I was finally met with his bare brain.
Upon first glance it seemed fine, but upon closer inspection something wasn’t right. The folds of his brain were seemingly misshapen and out of place while other sections were seemingly dead or nonexistent. This was a terrifying discovery. Not only does that mean this new disease is capable of interfering with the brain, but it has the ability to change it almost entirely. All I could do was stare and get lost in thought thinking about what I had just found.
‘If this is what happened to Velnek after infection, then what does that mean for the rest of us?’
After zoning out for a few seconds, Teklov shook me lightly to get my attention.
“Shella? Are you alright?” He asked concerningly.
I staggered back from the sudden contact, pointing the drill at his face like a gun. He quickly withdrew his paw and stepped back, his eyes dropping to the floor.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you, you just zoned out and I was worried,” he said, intently studying the deck plating. Despite seeming remorseful for scaring me, I can’t feel bad after knowing what he did.
‘Like a predator would care at all for your wellbeing’
“It’s fine, you just startled me.” It was an obvious lie, but Teklov didn’t seem to notice. I pushed down my thoughts of Teklov killing me so I can resume the operation. He could have broken my neck right then and there, but he didn’t. That’s what matters.. I took a steadying breath to calm myself down before speaking.
“Teklov.” He looked up at my calling his name. “Can you please.” I waved vaguely around the ship, “move somewhere else? I need to show everyone else this… and I want them to be comfortable.”
A tidal wave of fear engulfed me after asking. It felt as if time slowed within that instant. I had said something I knew I shouldn’t have. I could feel my breath become sharper, my heart racing and my paws shake with fear. I tried to look him in the eyes after saying that, but I couldn't muster the courage to do it. Right when I was sure he would pounce, he wordlessly strolled past me and across the ship before slipping into the bathroom. Just before the door closed I thought I saw tears forming in his eyes, but that must have been a trick of the light.
I notified the rest of the team of what I had just found and came rushing in after receiving the message. Before they entered the room, however, they wanted to make sure Teklov wasn’t close by. When the coast was clear, the team rushed to the infirmary wearing protective gear so as to not get infected by this new illness. As soon as they arrived, they were visibly repulsed by the sight of Velnek’s body and exposed skull, but their curiosity overpowered their disgust. They stood at a great enough distance from the operation table to not make direct contact with the body while still being able to see clearly what I had discovered.
“So, Shella, show us what you found.” One of the researchers said with apprehension in his voice.
When he gave confirmation, I gave him a tail swish before slowly pulling out Velnek’s brain with my paws. I could feel how cold it was when I grabbed it and I immediately started feeling light headed right afterwards. The thought of having to hold a fresh organ was bad enough, but actually holding it was overwhelming. ‘I think I’m gonna be sick.’ When I realized it was still connected to the spinal cord, I knew it was going to be a problem, but I couldn’t bear another second of this. Rather than taking my time and severing the spinal cord properly, I yanked it out. Spinal fluid flew onto Roi, one of the researchers that came to observe. They immediately started screaming in terror and others left to vomit. I realized how much I messed up and immediately went to apologize.
“I am so sorry! I-I didn’t know it would turn out this way! I thought-”
“SHELLA! WHAT THE SPEH WERE YOU THINKING!?” Roi exclaimed with anger in his voice.
My tail dropped as my ears pressed back against my head; I let out a faint whimper as the shame for what I had done filled my head. ‘I should’ve known better than to do that. What is wrong with me!?’
I was so distracted by disgust in that moment that I forgot what I was still holding in my paws. I gagged seeing the dripping organ in my hands before placing it back on the table by the corse. This is an experience I know I will never live down ‘till the day I die. I tried to the best of my ability to continue with presenting my discovery, but to do that would mean holding the cerebrum again. I was hesitant to touch it, but I mustered up the courage to do it again. Regardless of how repulsive it was, I needed to show them what I found.
I approached the remainder of the group with Velnek’s brain in my hands as they took a step back. It wasn’t until it was in full view that one of them noticed the anomaly and took a look for themselves. Despite the physical deformity from holding it, the malformations of the cortex were apparent.
“This was Velnek’s brain?” the head researcher going by the name Indri asked.
I swished my tail in confirmation, for a long moment we all stood silently contemplating the discovery.
Eventually, Roi broke the silence. “This… super predator disease, if it spreads then… I-I don't want to imagine the consequences,” he was visibly shaking, his tail quivering and his arms wrapped around himself.
“Which is precisely why we must do everything we can to learn about it and make sure we don’t bring it home with us,” Indri declared, his voice and stance exuding more confidence than the rest of us put together.
He continued, “Shella, continue studying Velnek’s brain to identify the microbes responsible for this. Roi, Felvi, prep standard decontamination and quarantine procedures. The rest of you ready the equipment to screen the crew for similar brain abnormalities. I need to send a report back to Venlil Prime.”
With that, he marched to the cockpit as he pulled out his pad to formulate a message. With the spell broken, the rest of us began moving to complete our assigned tasks. Turning back to the work table, I carefully set the brain on a tray and made my way to the washroom to sterilize my paws. I was about to enter before remembering that Teklov was still in there. My breathing became hitched as I realized I was about to casually intrude on a hiding predator. I stared at the door, half expecting him to lunge out and maul me to death.
I slowly opened the door and peeked in expecting him to be angry, but I noticed something else instead: rather than being enraged or irritated, he was weeping. Tears of sorrow flowed down his snout as he sat huddled in the corner, knees to his chest and his tail wrapping around him. I stared dumbfounded at the display. Cautiously, I stepped inside.
“Teklov…?” I said, unsure of what to say. His crying subsided somewhat and was soon reduced to a whimper. After a few seconds he spoke, “What do you want?” he asked, his tone tinged with dreariness and misery.
“I was just wondering… why are you crying in the bathroom?” I asked, deciding to take the direct approach.
He was silent for several seconds, his tail flicking in time with his soft cries of despair. After a tense and awkward silence he answered, “I thought you were different, that you saw me as more than my diagnosis, that you saw the person hidden beneath the predator, that you saw more than an abomination…”
A new wave of sobs wracked him, and he buried his head into his arms. I stood in the room, motionless, my fear of predators battling my sympathy for Teklov for dominance in my mind.
When he calmed down again he continued, “...But you made it clear what you said was a lie. Please… just leave me alone.”
“I will, I just need to wash the Cerebral fluid off first,” I reassured him, moving to the sink. As I washed my paws, I looked over at Teklov with his back turned towards me. My mind wandered. ‘How can someone like him act so emotional? It didn’t say there was any history of this in his file; wasn’t he incarcerated for lack of emotions in the first place?’ . Almost immediately, I remembered Velnek’s abnormally aggressive behavior towards Wesly and Teklov. There was a chance that Teklov had this ‘super predators disease,’ but how can that be? Not only did he never touch the body, but he always stood as far as he could away from it. This makes no sense: how could someone that hasn’t touched the infected, or anything they used, suddenly show symptoms? I briefly considered getting him screened right now, but decided he needed some space. Yeah, Intruding on him right now could trigger a rampage, it totally wasn’t because I felt guilty for hurting a predator's feelings.
Leaving the bathroom, I walked over to my work table, my thoughts elsewhere. How could a cold emotionless killer somehow turn into a broken, weeping Venlil? It was almost as if there were two people in one body. Staring down at the table, my gaze drifted to my datapad; I disregarded the brain and sat next to the tray as I pulled it out. I scrolled through the database until I found Teklov’s personnel files. I needed to research how a normal predator disease diagnosis could influence this super predator disease and not because I wanted to fix things with Teklov, yeah. As I opened the file, I thought back to the incident. Sure, Teklov had gunned down Velnek, but he had been going on a blood fueled rampage and had lunged at Teklov, self defense was perfectly reasonable. In fact now that I thought about it, many Venlil would have reacted similarly in those circumstances. After all self preservation was a prey's most powerful instinct, so what made Teklov different?
‘He felt nothing while committing the greatest sin: slaughtering prey,’ a voice said in the back of my head. That was true, he didn’t react much to killing Velnek, there wasn’t the terror of any prey or even the viciousness of the Arxur. it was just nothing. It was as if he was a hollow shell of a Venlil, unable to feel anything no matter what he does. Well, except for the quiet irritation with being degraded, his fear while being attacked by Velnek, and his disgust during the dissection, and now he’s sobbing and wanting to be left alone. Clearly he felt emotions, just to a different degree than others. Was being less emotional enough to label him a threat and treat him just slightly better than an Arxur?
My thoughts were engrossed on both how and why he was diagnosed with such a disease before I heard a familiar voice from the entrance of the infirmary.
“Is something wrong, Shella?” Startled, I looked up from my pad to see Indri looking at me from the doorway. It seemed like he was already done with implementing the procedures and wanted to see if I, too, was doing alright. Knowing my proximity to Velnek’s body and prolonged dissociation, I understood why.
“You have been sitting there staring at Teklov’s file for a while.” he continued with a concerned look on his face.
“Yeah I’m fine, I’ve just been thinking about Teklov…” I need to choose my next words carefully. Any misstep could start a panic and I didn’t want to hurt Teklov more than I already had. He had enough with being labeled and disconcerting treatment.
“He has been displaying some abnormal behavior. I don’t want to jump to conclusions, but I suggest getting him screened first just to be safe.”
Indri swished his tail in agreement. “We might not know how this super predator disease works, but I have a reason to believe Teklov would be at greater risk considering his disorder. I’ll bring the equipment when I’m done getting it ready. For now, try and get Teklov out. Seeing that you seem to have a rapport, he is more likely to listen to you.” With that he turned and left the room.
‘Had a rapport.’ I thought, guilt twisting my stomach. I glanced at the bathroom door and considered knocking, but quickly realized doing something like that wouldn’t be such a good idea. He is in emotional distress. Interrupting him and disrespecting his wishes might not end well.
I rubbed my arm as I thought about what to do before an idea came to mind: rather than calling him over, why not just message him? I pulled out my pad and sent him a message.
“We’re starting the screening for this super predator disease, Indri ordered that you be tested first.”
I considered the message: it was short and direct while also placing the responsibility on Indri. I hesitated before sending the message, but soon pressed ‘send.’ I paced around the med bay for a few minutes,waiting for a response before the rest of the crew stepped through the doorway with a hastily put together brain scanner in their paws.
“Were’s Teklov?” Felvi asked
“He’s distressed at the moment. I sent him a message a few minutes ago, but I’m still waiting for a response.” I responded.
Felvis ears flicked in confusion, “Distressed? I thought he wasn’t able to feel emotions. Is this the abnormal behavior that you mentioned?”
“That’s correct,” I replied simply.
We then waited patiently for Teklov to come.
Soon there was a knock at the door, “I’m coming in,” Teklov called out from the other side.
While the others instinctively backed away I made a point of standing my ground. When he came in, the fur around his eyes was stained and matted. When he looked up, however, something changed: when I gazed into his eyes, it bared a similar appearance to velnek’s when he went on that rampage. This realization brought disquietude to both me and the group alike, causing me to step back along with everyone else. I never thought it would happen so soon so quickly, especially to Teklov. Luckily, in Teklov’s case, he still possessed higher brain functions and was still able to think and communicate. Maybe it was having a delayed effect due to his pre-existing condition?
“Are you going to do the scan or are you just going to stand and stare?” Teklov inquired, displaying his impatience with the team.
I can see in his face he did not want to be bothered, but he came out anyway to confirm their suspicions.
“A-Alright Teklov. Just step a l-little closer so I can take the scan” Felvi said, trembling with fear.
Felvi pointed the scanner at Teklov while trying to maintain his distance. He kept the paw holding the scanner with an extended arm so he wouldn’t have to be in his reach. When the scan was finally complete, Felvi stepped away before displaying a holographic model of Teklov’s brain from the device. It showed structural changes in his insular cortex, thickening of his corpus callosum, a slightly enlarged medulla oblongata, and his amygdala was almost twice its original size. It was in contrast with most of Velnek’s changes, but what remained similar to Velnek was the enlarged gland and oblongata in his brain .
“It seems the disease affects everybody differently, especially those who already have a more weakened version of the disorder. We’re going to have to quarantine him for the moment until we have figured out what this thing really is. Shella, have you found anything on Velnek’s brain?” Indri asked.
“I haven’t had a chance to properly study it,” I admitted.
“I see, well get working on it then. And Teklov, until further notice you are under quarantine. Felvi and Roi prep storage room two for him,” Indri instructed.
We all quickly got to work, walking over to my work table I could see Felvi and Roi pulling crates out of the storage room. Storage room two wasn’t packed with much, probably why Indri had chosen it. Luckily for Teklov, he will get all the alone time he wants from everyone on board; up until this disease manages to take complete control over him. I felt somewhat bad for him: he didn’t choose to be infected or be born the way he is.
The scientists carried makeshift weaponry and the controller for his shock collar as he was escorted. They weren’t taking any chances leaving him on his own knowing his mutations. Once everyone finally left the room. I was left with Velnek’s brain to find the microbes responsible for these alterations, and I immediately got to work. I decided to take a small cross-section of the cerebrum before taking a closer look into its gray matter to see if there was anything present. Upon closer inspection with the microscope, there was nothing to find. The only thing there were dead cells with some with a perforated membrane. I double checked with other samples only to find the same thing, even in regions where mutations occurred directly. I even checked the spinal fluid itself to see if it retreated somehow, but it was completely clean.
‘This makes no sense. How can changes like this occur so quickly without some kind of viral or bacterial influence? Maybe it was a bio weapon? No, that can’t be. If it was a bio weapon then it would have left behind traceable fragments.’ My mind raced trying to find a reasonable explanation for this mutation.
I looked at every part of the cadaver to try and find something, but there was no sign of any foreign organism anywhere in his body. It was at this moment I knew there was nothing to find. Velnek was a perfectly healthy Venlil without disease or gene modding of any kind. I needed an extra pair of hands to confirm this discovery, so I decided to send a message to the crew to see if anyone could help me. As soon as I even pulled out my pad, I received a message from Felvi.
“Quick question: we confirmed Wesley was dead right?”
My tail swaying in confusion, I messaged back, “What are you talking about? His faceplate was smashed in and he’s been sitting outside for the past hour.”
Felvi replied almost immediately.
“Then why is he standing in the airlock?”
Accompanied with the message was a picture, taken from the opposite end of the cargo bay from the airlock. The image was blurry and distorted from the jittering camera, but it was clear enough. Standing in the airlock was Wesley's vac suited body.
There was a crash of plastic and glass against metal as the pad slipped from my paws.

Hello! My name is sai, your semi-experience DM. I'm looking for a group of brave adventures to take on the cult of the dragon and the dragon goddess herself Tiamat. I'll be honest I've never run Hoard of the Dragon Queen or Rise of Tiamat but I have run Lost Mines of Phandelver and The Dragon of Icespire Peak several times. I have been playing Dnd for 8 years off-again, and for most of those years, I've been the DM.
Basics

• Game sessions will be held weekly on Wednesday from 7 PM to 11 PM CST (UTC -6). Must be able to make sessions, if not give notice.
• We will be using Roll20, Dnd beyond, and a google extension called beyond 20 to connect the two together. we will also be using discord for voice chat and journal hub.
• I will be context sharing on Dnd beyond, I have the mean 3 books and also Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide, Xanarhar's Guide to Everything, Tasha's Cauldron of Everything, Fizban's Treasury of Dragons.
• Over the following week, I will add certain applicants on discord to schedule a quick interview.
• players will be chosen by Session 0 on the 5th of April and the following week we will get into the campaign in session 1 on April 12th.

Player
Player must be 18+, have a decent Microphone, and Beyond 20 google extension. players are also expected to respect one another and the DM. we will start at level 3, multi-classing is allowed. I also allow some homebrew (anything in Dnd Beyond), let's discuss to work something out. Come up with a character concept or build.
Campaign Info

Tyranny of Dragons is set in the Forgotten Realms on Faerûn’s western shore—the Sword Coast. A thin strip of civilization stretches down this coast, where widely spaced cities are arranged like beads on a string. Roads loosely connect the cities that stretch from Luskan in the north to Calimport in the south, passing through Neverwinter, Waterdeep, Baldur’s Gate, and other ports along the way. The bulk of this adventure occurs on the stretch between Baldur’s Gate and Neverwinter.
-Tyranny of Dragons

Tyranny of Dragons tells an epic story across two adventures, of which Hoard of the Dragon Queen is the first and Rise of Tiamat is the second. we will start the campaign at level 3 and by the end of Hoard of the Dragon Queen your level will be 8 read to start Rise of Tiamat, By the end of the Campaign your characters should be level 15. If you have ever played any of the two modules, you'll know that it is a very linear campaign. I have modified and homebrewed small parts of the campaign, just to make it easier for the player and myself. we will be using a google extension called beyond 20 it connects Dnd beyond and roll 20. Discord for voice chat and main game hub.
If you are interested please fill out the Form and comment confirmation. hope to see you.

I go to Shambhala every year but miss the ease that was popping over to Pemby or Squamish Music festivals as well. Feels like I have to fly to Osheaga in MTL for anything similar and even that isn't a camping festival or fly/drive to USA. Does anyone think festivals like this will return or better yet have any leads on big multi genre camping festivals that are in the works in BC?? I completely acknowledge that Pemby was mismanaged and people didn't respect the land that allowed them to host the festivals (leaving tonnes of trash etc). Not really sure what crushed Squamish fest. However, its been like 6+ years since we lost Pemby and Squamish, they were loved by many and I can't believe anything hasn't filled the void. Maybe this is a bit of a vent, but interested to hear what the community thinks.
Other festivals: Rifflandia still feels small. FVDED is horrible (EDM only, meh crowd/sound etc), all the Rock/Indie/Alt (Squamish Constellation, whatever its called in North Van etc.) just don't really do it in terms of vibe and offerings, and I don't really enjoy country. Bass Coast and other local electronic ones in BC are great but again, not what I think is missing in our music scene.