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Blaming Rogoff-Reinhart for Austerity Policies is Absurd
REUTERS/Carmen Reinhart
By Lawrence Summers, Reuters
The economics commentariat and no small part of the political debate in recent weeks has been consumed with the controversy surrounding the work of my Harvard colleagues (and friends) Carmen Reinhart and Ken Rogoff (RR).
Their work had been widely interpreted as establishing that economic growth was likely to stagnate in a country once its government debt-to-GDP ratio exceeded 90 percent.
Scholars at the University of Massachusetts have demonstrated and RR have acknowledged that they made a coding error that resulted in their omitting some relevant data in forming their results and also have noted that using updated data for several countries reduces substantially the strength of some of the statistical patterns they asserted. Issues have also arisen with respect to how RR weighted observations in forming the averages on which they base their conclusions.
RELATED: THE ECON STUDENT WHO CHALLENGED REINHART AND ROGOFF
Many have said that the questions raised undermine the claims of austerity advocates around the world that deficits should be quickly reduced. Some have gone so far as to blame RR for the unemployment of millions, asserting that they provided crucial intellectual ammunition for austerity policies.
Others believe that even after re-analysis the data support the view that deficit and debt burden reduction is important in most of the industrialized world. Still others regard the controversy as calling into question the usefulness of statistical research on economic policy questions.
Where should these debates settle? From the perspective of someone who has done a fair amount of econometric research, consumed such research as a policymaker and participated as an advocate in debates about fiscal stimulus and austerity, here would be my takeaways.
First, the RR experience should accelerate the evolution of mores with respect to economic research. Rogoff and Reinhart are rightfully regarded as careful, honest scholars. Anyone close to the process of economic research will recognize that data errors like the ones they made are distressingly common. Indeed the JP Morgan risk models in use when the "London Whale" trade was placed had errors not unlike those made by RR.
In the future, authors and journals and commentators need to devote more effort to replicating significant results before broadcasting them widely. More generally, no important policy conclusion should ever be based solely on a single statistical result. Policy judgments should be based on the accumulation of evidence from multiple studies done with differing methodological approaches.
Even then, there should be a reluctance to accept conclusions from "models" without an intuitive understanding of what is driving them. It is right and understandable that scholars want their findings to inform the policy debate. But they have an obligation to discourage and on occasion contradict those who would oversimplify and exaggerate their conclusions.
RELATED: DRAMA OVER DEBT PAPER CHANGES NOTHING AND EVERYTHING
Second, all participants in policy debates should retain a healthy skepticism about retrospective statistical analysis. Trillions of dollars have been lost and millions have been unemployed because the lesson learned from 60 years of experience between 1945 and 2005 was that "American house prices in aggregate always go up." This was no data problem or misanalysis. It was a data regularity until it wasn’t.
The extrapolation from past experience to future outlook is always deeply problematic and needs to be done with great care. In retrospect, it was folly to believe that with data on about 30 countries it was possible to estimate a threshold beyond which debt became dangerous. Even if such a threshold existed, why should it be the same in countries with and without their own currency, with very different financial systems, cultures, degrees of openness and growth experiences? And there is the chestnut that correlation does not establish causation and any tendency for high debt and low growth to go together reflects the debt accumulation that follows from slow growth.
Third, while RR’s work, even unqualified by the recent replication efforts, did not support the claims made by the prominent figures on the right in the U.S. and UK regarding the urgency of deficit reduction efforts, much of the joy taken on the left in their embarrassment is inappropriate.
It is absurd to blame them for austerity policies. The authors of those policies chose the policies first and only then cast about for intellectual ballast.
While there may be no threshold beyond which debt automatically becomes catastrophic, and while the British and American experiences are both suggesting that fiscal contraction in a slack economy where interest rates are near zero is inimical to growth, it is a grave mistake to suppose that the debt can or should be accumulated with abandon.
On all but the most optimistic forecasts, further actions will be necessary almost everywhere in the industrial world to assure that debt levels are sustainable after economies recover.
Now is not the time for austerity, but we forget at our peril that debt-financed spending is not an alternative to cutting other spending or raising taxes but only a way of deferring these painful acts.
Economist Lawrence Summers served as Secretary of the Treasury under President Bill Clinton and was Director of the National Economic Council for President Barack Obama until November 2010.
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Alwaght | News & Analysis Website
Israeli Regime
Central Asia & Caucasus
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US Assassinated Commander of Iran’s Quds Force, Deputy Head of Iraq’s Popular Forces The US regime has assassinated Major General Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the Quds Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the second-in-command of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), early of Friday in the Iraqi capital Baghdad.
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Bahrain Economy Haunted By Bankruptcy Amid Ongoing Crackdown The small Arab kingdom’s economy struggled while its ruler focuses on cracking down on the protests.
Iran accidentally shoot down the Ukrainian airliner last week when there were reportedly several US stealth warplanes in the Islamic Republic’s border area, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday.
US Disgraced after Assassination of General Soleimani: Iran Leader Leader of Islamic Republic of Iran Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei said on Friday the assassination of a top Iranian commander disgraced the US as it had to own up to the "terrorist" action and see its image dealt a blow by Iran’s retaliation.
US Troops to Suffer Heavy Defeat if They Refuse to Leave Iraq: PMF A senior leader of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) threatened that his fellow comrades were ready to inflict heavy losses on US forces should Washington refuse to comply with a parliament decision ordering the withdrawal of all US-led foreign military forces from the Arab country.
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Russia’s Ruling Party Approves Putin’s Candidate for PM Russia’s ruling party has unanimously approved the candidacy of President Vladimir Putin’s pick, Mikhail Mishustin, for the post of prime minister
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Ansarullah
A Zaidi Shiite movement operating in Yemen. It seeks to establish a democratic government in Yemen.
represents the second largest denomination of Islam. Shiites believe Ali (peace be upon him) to be prophet"s successor in the Caliphate.
Axis of Resistances refers to countries and movements with common political goal, i.e., resisting against Zionist regime, America and other western powers. Iran, Syria, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and Hamas in Palestine are considered as the Axis of Resistance.
Persian Gulf Cooperation Council
A regional political u n i o n consisting of Arab states of the Persian Gulf, except for Iraq.
ISIS Terrorist Group
A terrorist group that fights against Resistance Axis in Syria and Iraq. It was founded & armed by America and its allies covertly.
Taliban is a Sunni fundamentalist movement in Afghanistan. It was founded by Mohammed Omar in 1994.
Wahhabism & Extremism
Wahhabism is an extremist pseudo-Sunni movement, which labels non-Wahhabi Muslims as apostates thus paving the way for their bloodshed.
Kurds are an ethnic group in the Middle East, mostly inhabiting a region, which spans adjacent parts of Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey. They are an Iranian people and speak the Kurdish languages, which form a subgroup of the Northwestern Iranian branch of Iranian languages.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization is an intergovernmental military alliance based on the North Atlantic Treaty which was signed on 4 April 1949.
Islamic Awakening
Refers to a revival of the Islam throughout the world, that began in 1979 by Iranian Revolution that established an Islamic republic.
A militant Sunni organization founded by Osama bin Laden at some point between 1988 and 1989
Why EU Parliament blocked Saudi Blacklisting?
Alwaght- On Friday, the European Parliament blocked a proposal to add Saudi Arabia to its terror and money laundering blacklist. The proposal was made in February by the European Commission. The member states opposing the bill justified their rejection by saying that it lacked adequate transparency and reliable information.
A couple of days before the bill was sent to the Parliament, the European Commissioner for Justice Vera Jourova said that the EU has been launching the strictest campaign against money laundering and that they should be careful the other countries’ “dirty money” not penetrate the European financial system. Jourova added that dirty money was a drive for organized crimes and terrorism and those on the EU blacklist should immediately address their shortcomings and loopholes allowing the crime.
The draft bill was sent for first reading on last Wednesday and intended to blacklist 23 states for money laundering and terrorism financing. The members had one month to discuss the bill and accept or reject it. But the opponents of blacklisting Saudi Arabia only two days later removed the Saudi name from the list. Some twenty countries, including Germany, France, Britain, Spain, Italy, Belgium, and Greece, have opposed blacklisting Saudi Arabia. What is these countries’ drive to block putting Riyadh on the dirty money blacklist?
Global arms trade
Europe is one of the main exporters of arms in the world. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), 6.7, 5.8, 4.8, and 2.5 percent of the global arms sales shares are respectively held by France, Germany, Britain, and Italy. Saudi Arabia, the SIPRI goes on, is the top global arms purchaser with 10 percent of the world arms being sold to the oil-wealthy state.
In 2017, the absolutely-ruled monarchy was the largest arms importer in the world. So, the arms exporters cannot ignore the lucrative arms trade with the Saudis. The latest report by the SIPRI suggests that the kingdom bought worth of $4.325 billion arms from various suppliers in 2017.
Between 2015 and 2017, the largest arms providers were the US with $6.980 billion, Britain with $2.029 billion, France with $291 million, Spain with $254 million, Switzerland with $129 million, and Germany with $120 million worth of sales. Such huge money exchanged for arms can explain why the key European powers like France, Britain, and Italy are the top blockers of the anti-Saudi bid in the European Parliament.
Saudi global lobby with money and arms trade as pressure tools
Being added to this blacklist severely damages the countries’ international record and prestige, fewer tourists will travel to them, and fewer investors will be ready to take their money there as these states are assessed to be of high investment risks. Once blacklisted, their financial transactions with the EU banks and financial institutions will be more complicated and will undergo a strict regime of monitoring.
The Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in 2016 unveiled a roadmap to curtail the reliance on oil incomes and diversification of the economy through expanding the service, health, education, infrastructure, tourism, and entertainment sectors. The plan, dubbed Saudi Vision 2030, is in desperate need of foreign investment and tech provision for it to proceed.
Riyadh leaders, using the arms trade and sometimes threatening to withdraw their huge investment in the Western countries, have pressed for removal of their name from dirty money blacklist. According to a European diplomat, Saudi Arabia at the Warsaw meeting, held in mid-February with an anti-Iranian agenda, threatened that if EU put its name in the list, it will scale down or stop trade with some European countries.
Reports say that the Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz just before the bill reading in the Parliament sent a letter to the EU threatening its leaders with reducing financial and trade relations if the proposal proceeds. Washington, on the other side, has repeatedly asked the Union to drop Riyadh name from the list.
Riyadh did similar lobbies in the past. In 2016, threatening to cut off its UN budget, the kingdom forced Ban Ki-moon, then UN secretary-general, to cross off Saudi name from the list of children killers.
Furthermore, after Canada's foreign ministry blasted the Saudi mistreatment of women activists and for other human rights violations, Riyadh severed its diplomatic relations with Ottawa and suspended new investment in the North American country. It also withdrew 7,000 students from Canadian universities to new universities in other countries.
Additionally, Saudi Arabia threatened to take out billions of dollars in investment money from the US economy if CIA releases a 28-page report proving Riyadh hands in the 9/11 attacks on the US soil. The CIA went ahead with the publication but did not specify the kingdom’s role in the 2000 operations.
Many times the Saudi lobbyists, using investment and weapons trade pressure tools, forced Western capitalism to adopt double-standard policies. The British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt who started a visit to Saudi Arabia on Saturday to ostensibly discuss Yemen peace has met on Sunday with the Saudi Foreign Minister Ibrahim Abdulaziz al-Assaf and described the two countries’ ties “strategic.” The two sides discussed the latest regional developments and a “joint fight” against terrorism and extremism.
But London’s opposition to blacklist Saudi Arabia a day before practically questioned Hunt’s stated intention to talk peace with the Saudi rulers. With regard to the British support to the Saudi-led Arab military coalition against Yemen which is marked by the huge sales of weapons to both Saudi Arabia and the UAE as key aggressors in the campaign, it seems that the foreign secretary’s trip is aimed at boosting the trade ties with the kingdom rather than discussing peace for Yemen which has been victim of the Saudi-led coalition’s atrocities since March 2015.
Saudi Arabia EU Terrorism Money Laundering
* Text :
Iran Armed Forces Launch Rescue Operation in Flood-Hit Sistan and Baluchestan
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Video: Five Nigerians Injured amid Police Crackdown on Protesters Demanding Sheik Zakzakys Release
Copyright 2016 by Alwaght News & Analysis
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Explore Anime.com
Anime Review
Okay let's see, here's yet another boring, seen it all before... wait a minute, did they just reference Dirty Harry in the opening song???
Ichiko Sakura is a lucky girl. A very lucky girl. Incredibly lucky. Blessed, even, she's smart, sexy, beautiful, rich, athletic, and nothing bad ever happens to her. She is, in fact, a good-luck vampire, sucking the luck from other people and bestowing it onto herself. She's so lucky that she's upset the balance of luck and even the gods have taken notice.
So, a poverty-god has been assigned to her case to take back some of that luck and redistribute the wealth, so to speak. Poverty-God Momiji, a slacker if there ever was one, begrudgingly takes the case. And Momiji initially thinks that things would be simple, except Ichiko has no intention of letting her luck be taken. Ichiko wants to continue to be smart, beautiful, have the attention of all the boys, be despised by all the other girls, and have everything in the world come to her on a silver platter and intends to fight Momiji with every trick she can think of, preventing her from taking her happiness energy.
It all sounds like the set up to a fight show, and it kind of is, but it's a slapstick comedy and quite a funny one too. Their to-the-death struggle over happiness energy is hilariously frantic, non-stop comedy.
Ichiko, obviously designed to be marketed as a hug-pillow, is actually a clever protagonist, and Momiji, initially uninterested in the assignment, gets beaten so often that she starts becoming motivated to succeed simply as a matter of pride that a normal human is beating a god. Momiji stoops to devilishly ruthless schemes to steal Ichiko's happiness energy, and yet at the same time evolves into Ichiko's moral compass.
The show could have easily devolved into mere fanservice, (implied by the opening and closing credits, the animators clearly were having fun doodling Ichiko's character in various outfits) but thankfully the series is smarter than that, and the comedy is also smarter than it is funny, and yet it's actually pretty funny (which means it's pretty damn smart). Sure, there seems to be a bath scene every 3rd episode, with someone barging in on her, but it's used to hilarious effect because Ichiko doesn't take anything sitting down.
Ichiko eventually learns that there's something to be had by giving, by sharing her luck/happiness energy, and buried deep in the bowels of this wacky in-your-face comedy is an alegory about the haves and have-nots. Perhaps I'm jaded, but I see something in this series about the American Financial Crisis, and how the 1% have everything, and the rest of us do not.
The show is rife with anime insider jokes and references (Dragonballz seems to be a favorite) as well as being self-aware it's an anime TV show, there's a bizarre potpourri of supporting characters, and although competently executed I can't truthfully say the animation or music will win any awards -- nevertheless it is a totally enjoyable romp with enough humor to keep you interested, and a moral heart to hopefully drive home the overall point of the series. In other words, if you give it your time, it'll give back enjoyment.
Reviewed by Brian Cirulnick, February 2014
Below: Scenes from Good Luck Girl!.
Below: Promotional illustrations and characters from Good Luck Girl!.
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Richard Carter Replaces Itai Zak as SBTech CEO
Published On - January 7, 2020
Mark Neal new jersey casino online
Provider of sports wagering technology and software SBTech confirmed today the departure of CEO Itai Zak and announced the visit of Richard Carter as their permanent replacement.
Mr. Carter has previously been Director of Research at Deutsche Bank. During his seven-year tenure at the monetary services business, he had been responsible for analyzing gambling industry trends. Between 2003 and 2009, Mr. Carter was a key member of the Leisure and Gaming team of Stockbroker Numis Securities. He was at the forefront of a quantity of major online gambling businesses, with 32Red, 888, and Empire on the web being just handful of those.
Commenting regarding the latest statement, SBTech Chairman John Anderson said they look at it as a great honor to own Mr. Carter as member of their team. Mr. Anderson included that having strengthened its position being a market leader, SBTech’s brand new CEO takes the organization towards the level that is next may help it concentrate on reinforcing the ‘impressive energy’ it has gained in the last several years.
On his appointment, Mr. Carter commented that it is wonderful to be joining a group of ‘exceptionally talented individuals’ who work at a company with a clearly established strategy to get to be the industry’s ‘most trusted and innovative’ provider of sports gambling solutions. He further noted which he appears ahead to taking on his brand new post and lead SBTech as it grows and provides towards the objectives of its clients, workers, and shareholders.
Mr. Carter is replacing CEO Itai that is former Zak. Mr. Zak has assumed their post in April 2011 and during their tenure, the company has was able to expand its operations tenfold, therefore learning to be a major leading technology provider that is gambling. In addition, he introduced a corporate development strategy that led the organization to inking partnership agreements with major gambling operators and opening corporate offices in Bulgaria, Gibraltar, Israel, and Ukraine.
SBTech was established back 2007. Since then, the business was providing various both completely managed and turnkey online, offline, and mobile solutions for the interactive recreations industry that is betting. Lately, it announced that it has extended its partnership with on the web gambling operator ComeOn!. The provider would supply its Chameleon360 platform to the gaming company, together with its platform for mobile devices and tablets under the terms of their agreement.
Amaya Appoints Financial Advisor after Informal Takeover Proposal
Canadian online gambling giant Amaya Inc., which bought internet poker spaces PokerStars and Full Tilt in August 2014, established today that Barclays Capital Canada Inc. was appointed by the board of directors’ unique committee as an exclusive advisor that is financial.
The appointment happens to be manufactured in regards to week that is last realize that Amaya Chairman and CEO David Baazov promises to buy the gambling business at a cost of C$21.00 per share. Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP has been appointed as appropriate consultant to Amaya in relation to the acquisition proposal that is unofficial.
Last week, it had been stated that Mr. Baazov has started discussing the matter having a number of investors whom may be thinking about the major deal and that he’s more likely to submit their formal proposal by the finish of February. In addition became clear earlier today that the administrator has been accompanied by four Amaya workers, with Executive Vice President for business Development and General Counsel Marlon Goldstein being one particular. The names associated with the other three employees being prone to take part in the transaction, if one occurs, have not been revealed.
Amaya revealed in a statement from previous today that its unique committee hasn’t received a formal bid from Mr. Baazov for a potential acquisition deal and that if one is submitted, there isn’t any assurance so it will ultimately end in the state bid or offer. And if the proposed acquisition results in an official bid or offer, the transaction may not the best online casino be finished.
The organization additionally managed to make it clear that for now, investors will not be expected to vote on a proposal or take some other action in the matter. Amaya promised to provide updates regarding the course of the activities if so when that is important, plus in complete compliance with all laws that are applicable.
Mr. Baazov announced their desire for buying the company he has found himself on February 1. Reportedly, the administrator has hired Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank as his advisers that are financial. However, a spokesperson for Mr. Baazov has refused to verify whether advisers have indeed been appointed and added that when there is certainly extra information in the matter, it shall be released towards the public.
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Tweak says, "Nuh uh dunna think so"
Iris ( steadier) wrote in rooms,
@ 2015-02-18 09:21:00
Entry tags: *journal, fran phillips, iris morgenstern, ra's al ghul, selina kyle
[Ra's, Public]
[Ra's]
[After the completely awful Valentine appears at the nurse's station while she works. Her co-workers make pleased comments about the flowers, but when Iris realizes who they're from, she throws the entire bouquet away. She writes once she's at home, necklace back around her throat, so her name appears as a "Co" followed by a long, dark smudge obscuring the rest of the word.]
How dare you. Abida has nothing to do with this.
[Public (minus Ra's!)]
[Her name doesn't appear on this one. It's not marked as anonymous, just a faded grey water stain where her name should be. It's a toss-up whether people can even see the post or not.]
I never thought that fewer people in the hospital would feel like a bad thing.
(Read comments) - (Post a new comment)
Re: Selina/Smudgy
steadier
2015-02-18 09:49 pm UTC (link)
[...] I want to agree to help. But I have someone other than myself that depends on me. I can help in emergencies. [...] I have in the past.
(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)
Do you have a name, smudge?
[There's a pause, but then she writes "Iris" (even though she knows that this Selina is not "her" Selina). On Selina's end though, it comes out as faded, running ink.]
[...] Did that work?
No, mystery smudge. It didn't.
[Crap.] I think my wish is causing some issues.
Hiding from someone?
2015-02-19 12:43 am UTC (link)
[...] Something like that.
(Reply to this) (Parent)
(Read comments) -
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Roots Industries honks for Safety
in Shop Floor Sojourn — by Bhargav S — April 23, 2016
Text: Bhargav TS
The Roots Industries plant in Coimbatore makes around 6.5 lakh horns every month, manufactured according to IS 1884 standards that comply to all Indian and international (ECE) regulations. It produces 15 to 20 models ranging in diameter from 70mm to 150mm and supplies to all the major OEMs both in domestic as well as the export market. The company is also present strongly in the aftermarket business and has around 90 distributors across India.
An automobile has a lot of safety components, which are not seen and felt unless a necessity arises. But a component that is used every day and helps avert major accidents is the electric horn that alerts and saves more lives during the daily commute. Over the decades electric horns have been transformed with manufacturers developing new models to keep the market alive. To capture the frequencies and amplitude, Auto Components India visited Coimbatore-based electric horn maker Roots Industries India Ltd (RIL) to understand how this small component is manufactured that plays a vital role in safety aspects.
Some horn developments have been purely technical, but others have turned upon the physics of sound. Designers have found, for instance, that pitch is more important than loudness in achieving and carrying sound power, and that loud sounds are not so unpleasant if air-blown trumpets are used on cross-country trucks and buses, and as custom accessories for passenger cars. They work like trumpets in a band with vibrating reeds or diaphragms taking the place of player’s lips. Horns are mostly electrical to warn passersby of other automobiles. As the utilisation of automobiles is increasing day by day due to increase in population and living standards of countrymen, the use of this product is also going up.
A normal horn consists of about 70 parts; Roots manufactures around 85% inhouse and the rest is outsourced. A typical car horn consists of a flexible metal diaphragm (usually made of spring steel), a coil of wire that forms an electromagnet, a switch and a housing that functions somewhat like a megaphone. The entire apparatus functions according to Hooke’s Law, which states, “The extension of a spring is directly proportional to the load applied, provided the limit of proportionality is not exceeded.”
Press Shop
The company receives raw material as sheet metal strips which are loaded into the press machines. In the press shop, components like housing, diaphragm, tone disc and bracket are manufactured in different press machines. The entire operation is made in a single press and comes ready for painting. Diaphragm and tone disc should be manufactured at high levels of accuracy; Roots Industries does this – manufacturing with high precision.
Once the components are manufactured in the press shop, they are sent to the paint shop, where they go through several stages before painting. The company uses powder coating to avoid rust and other external damage; therefore it is treated in a sequence of operations to remove rust, oil and water. The paint shop is a single line process, where the components are fed in at one end and painted at the end of the line. In this line, the components first enter the degreasing line, where the oil present in them is removed, and then washed with water. They then enter the zinc phospating chamber where a thin layer of zinc is formed that acts as a bonding and additive material.
When the components are dried, they enter the powder coating facility. Here the components are powder coated with the help of electrostatic charge coating and finally sent to the oven for curing, where the paint is dried at 220 degree Centigrade. After curing the components are tested and sent to the assembly line.
Coil Winding & Horn Assembly
Coil winding is said to be the critical aspect of horn manufacturing, for which the company has created a dedicated coil winding line where all the different kinds of coils are manufactured very precisely. Once the coil winding is done and the other components are painted, they travel to the assembly line, where these components are assembled according to the assembly sequence. In order to avoid mistakes, Roots Industries has made several poke yokes (mistake proofing) so that the operator is guided through sensors about which component has to go in next. If the operator misses to assemble a component, the machine stops and indicates that there is a mistake in the assembly process. To curtail rejections, the sensors even check critical components before they are assembled. If the machine senses any mistake in the component, it is placed in the non-confirmation box where it will be verified by the quality department.
To complete the assembly, each horn has to pass through 13 stages like terminal fixing and coil assembly, contact point fixing, diaphragm assembly, housing and diaphragm assembly, grill or trumpet assembly and mounting bracket fixing. Once the assembly is completed, all the horns are tested and verified according to rated voltage ranges. After testing, they are visually checked and packed according to the models, and dispatched. The company’s assembly shop has a total of 17 lines that manufacture different horns including 4 for OEMs, 2 for exports and the rest for the aftermarket.
Working principle of electric horn
Horns are constructed with a flexible electrical contact that is attached to, or actuated by, the flexible diaphragm. To produce sound when the horn is pressed, an electromagnet is used to cause the steel diaphragm to move. As current is applied to the electromagnet the diaphragm moves towards the core. During displacement of the diaphragm, the closed contacts are opened, temporarily disconnecting the current and allowing the diaphragm to relax. Once this happens, the contacts close, applying current to the electromagnet, which again moves the diaphragm towards the core. This cycle repeats evenly causing the diaphragm to oscillate and vibrate the air column through the trumpet, producing sound. Recent developments at RIL replace the contacts with an electronic circuit for higher reliability and service-free operation.
To create a loud and sustained sound that is often in excess of 90 decibels in sound pressure takes a lot of energy. That energy is electrical current, and is also the reason to use a relay to actuate the horns. Horns come with an endless variety of notes or frequencies. The note of a horn is determined by the flexibility of the diaphragm, its physical size, the power of the electromagnet, the mass of the diaphragm, the mechanical arrangement of the switch contacts, the size and shape of the horn’s case and a number of other contributing factors.
Roots Industries is the flagship of the group, a leading manufacturer of electric and electronic horns in India; also a key player in the international and domestic OE market, able to sustain its lead position for well over 3 decades now. RIL is the first Indian company to be certified with ISO/TS 16949; it also complies to ISO 14001 certification. Roots Auto Products Pvt Ltd is the country’s largest supplier of air horns and a market leader. RIL is a preferred supplier of electric horns to leading OEM’s all over the world.
Demand for this product has enormous scale worldwide. This product can be an ancillary to major automobile manufacturers in the country. Automobile manufacturers associations can provide tremendous market potential for these horns. The main scope of the market for this product will be in new installations and the aftermarket.
INTERACTION: K Ramasamy, Chairman, Roots Industries India Ltd
Ramaswamy Chairman, Roots Industries Ltd
Q: What is the capacity utilisation of the plant and what are the expansion plans?
Ramasamy: The capacity utilisation of the plant is 75%. As a strategy, capacity expansion is planned once 80% of the installed capacity has been utilised, and it is a continuous process.
Q: What are the various value engineering steps you have implemented for products manufactured here?
Ramasamy: Standardisation, alternate material, simplified manufacturing tools and process are the various value engineering steps we have implemented for the products manufactured.
Q: Tell us about the quality system in this plant, to send flawless products to your customers?
Ramasamy: Roots is an ISO/TS 16949 company. Every activity and process is system driven with poke yokes in every critical stage to ensure flawless products reach our customers. Our approach is customer centric and voice of customers is periodically captured and duly incorporated after evaluation. Quality is a continuous journey in all our activities.
Q: What is the current ppm level and how do you plan to contain it further?
Ramasamy: We are working with ‘zero ppm’ for most of the customers and overall our ppm level is in single digits.
Author: Bhargav S
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Role Playing Guild Mythological Wing
CrossGen Reborn
[IC] The World of Emporium: The Hunt of Light and Dark
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Thread: The World of Emporium: The Hunt of Light and Dark
SilntAngl5
The World of Emporium: The Hunt of Light and Dark
The Kingdom of Rekōdo
Attachment 686
On the planet called Emproium is a country called Rekōdo. Rekōdo is a world where the people live and dress similarly to that of late 1800s Western Europe. The clothing ranges from victorian to a mechanical steampunk and their abilities to wield magika re just as varied and creative. Within Rekōdo City, the heart of the united provinces, any style is accepted because in Rekōdo, almost anything is possible. For one who is not from Rekōdo, visiting for the first time can be quite the experience. There are pegasus-drawn carriages to flying automobiles, flying umbrellas to gargoyle pulls, giant tethered balloons and moons in the sky, and singing fountains. If you can imagine it, and if you cannot, it will be in Rekōdo City.
It is also a world of magik and mystery, boasting what some may find eerie, strange or mystical in origin. It is a place of magik that thoroughly encourages its children to study and delve deeply into its magikal use and history just as they do with all their studies. As the people of Rekōdo dedicate their lives to their academics and magikal practices, it's only natural that they have public libraries. Chronicling is particularly important in the hearts of people from Rekōdo. The name of their United Provinces, after all, means "to record."
The Central Library of Rekōdo boasts over one million books, both written and magikal. Every person is born with the ability to use magik and is encouraged to develop their abilities as much as they are encouraged to further themselves academically. There are tiers and levels of the Library. The most common area within the vast dome is a many-shelves-high area filled with floating scribe parchments and quills, scrying imps, floating book carts and chairs in which to read. There are wings that branch off from the main rotunda and each wing houses a more specified selection of books. Each Province has its own dedicated wing with books of great renown and importance to their study and history.
The Central Library
The library is opened at all hours, except for two hours in the early morning hours where the highest level of staff take time to re-strengthen the wards and spells surrounding the Library and more restricted sections. It hosts books containing ever subject imagined and all will need protection in the interests of preserving their vastly faceted history. There are Haunted Sections where ghosts of history are bound to their tomes and will speak directly with you if you choose their book from its shelf. There are even books of prophecy that spills their secrets to those who turn their pages. There are books that will shelf themselves when they are done. Whatever can be imagined exists within the Central Library. One has but to go inside to see.
The Most Sacred Texts
The most sacred text of the people of Rekōdo is the Book of Memories (sometimes referred to with more scorn as the Book of Secrets). Tel' Parma en' Rinarim, as it is called in the ancient tongue of magik, contains the recordings of past rulers dating back to the beginning of Rekōdo's founding and with it the life-account of every king or queen since. No one is allowed to lay their hands upon the Book of Memories except the current ruler. Anyone who touches it will have their life recorded onto its pages from their birth unto their death. Only the rulers are allowed to view the chapters of the rulers before them. Otherwise all the secrets of the country would be laid bare, possibly with catastrophic consequence.
There are other, more minor books that have restricted access. There are Books of Prophecy that, when opened will have words appear on their pages of the next major prophecy to come true, prophecies that, once set into motion, cannot be stopped. There are other prophecy books inclined to write specific futuristic predictions of those who open their pages. There are tomes on how to Quiet (cut a person off from their magikal power), how to indenture into the servitude of genie lamps, of ancient rituals that are forbidden in the modern world. These cannot be checked out and can only be viewed with the highest levels of permission. They are held in the same tier of secretive chambers in the library as the Book of Memories. They are guarded by two house-sized stone lions. One of fire and one of ice. When awakened by an intrusion into the restricted section, they will defend the priceless tomes with magikal fire (enchanted to not burn the cargo of the shelves), or ice.
Those Who Rule in Rekōdo
The Children of Liar'Adon and Deanna of the Stars
Those who are to rule a world containing magik as this one does must be able to control and manipulate magiks to a great extent. The heirs to the throne are descended from a line that, according to history, flows directly from the God-Creator of their world, Liar'Adon, and the lady mortal who won his heart, Deanna the Favored. When the current ruler has children, those children are tested to see if they inherited their predecessors ability to control and create magik. If they are, it is the second child who is to rule unless that child shows an underwhelming deficit of magikal ability over the older sibling. None have faltered so far.
Traditionally, it is the younger child who will rule and the older who will be their life-guardian. If there is no second sibling, the first will rule and a cousin (or other relative) will be their Life Guardian or one will be appointed of a person with remarkable magik abilities (usually from a prominent family). If they are seriously committed to their cause, an older sibling to the heir may chose to take the Oath of Protection, which bonds them magikally, spiritually, and mentally to the heir so that they may better serve them. They forsake companionship with any other and dedicate themselves fully and completely to protecting the ruler-to-be. They are released from their bond only by the ruler or by death- either theirs of their charge.
The Founding Spirits of Rekōdo
In the beginning, the warring peoples were united under the leadership of the First King. His power and magik marked him as a Child of Liar'Adon and Deanna and it was he who convinced the leaders of the factioned peoples to unite under one banner, yet retain their individualism. For the sake of peace and those they lead, Clow of Taroc, Siochana of Shamaa, Dayena of Astral, J'Adonai of Da'Jinn, Arxus of Maginus and the First King became the Founders of Rekōdo. It was during this time that the Book of Memories was created, so that the wisdom of the First King could be passed on to each succeeding ruler of his line. It was in his example that the Founders of Rekōdo decided to create and bind themselves in the Oath of Masters. Upon their deaths, their Spirits would seek out and bond with a Vessel of their choosing. This new Vessel would become the next Guild Master of their Province. As that Guild Master passed, so the Ancestral Spirit of their land would pass itself on to the next deserving Host. The Five Founding Guild Masters ritually ended their lives before they grew too old or infirm to lead and began the cycle that lasts in Rekōdo to this day.
The Guild Masters of Rekōdo
There is a High Council of Rekōdo, whom are direct advisors to the ruler. They are a group of five of the highest magik wielders in the Five Provinces of Rekōdo, chosen by the Ancestral Spirits of their Guilds.
They serve as both law makers and peace keepers, judges in the highest courts and solvers of all problems related to the inheritance of the leadership of Rekōdo. Their leadership is both given and elected. They contain the Spirit and possess the history and knowledge of their people since the beginning of Rekōdo. The Vessel that is the High Council member to the Ruler and Guild Master of their Province is chosen completely by the Ancestral Spirit. Some provinces have an under council of sorts who attempt to train and watches the growth of the youth in the province for a potential successor. If one is not chosen, they may be elected by the people of that province, though such a case has not happened in Rekōdo's history.
The Seconds of Rekōdo
Each Guild Master has the privilege of choosing a Second, their right hand and most trusted advisor. In the event of an emergency or incompetence of a Guild Master, the Second of each province can be instated as the Acting Guild Master of their province, giving them full power, authority and political strength of an actual Guild Master. The Second of the province is one greatly considered to be next to receive the Ancestral Spirit upon the passing of the Guild Master, though that is not always the case. Traditionally, the Second is one born within the boundaries of the province they assist and is fluent in their ways, magiks and traditions. A Second can act as a diplomat, an ambassador, and a figurehead. They are treated with utmost respect and adhered to with only the Guild Master and the ruler of Rekōdo above them to veto their words.
Last edited by SilntAngl5; 10-14-2017 at 07:41 PM.
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The Six Provinces of Rekōdo
Rekodo City is at the heart of the Country of Rekōdo and is the epicenter of its magik. On all sides it is surrounded by the 6 Provinces. Rekōdo City itself does not cater or favor one specific province, but like any big city with a vast network of cultures, it has sections that are "Little Provinces" and sport the colors, fashion, foods, educational advancement and practices of a particular province.
Below are the Six Provinces and their current Council Members:
The Province of Taroc
Guild Master: Alain LeCavalier
Founding Spirit: Clow
Colors: Red & Gold
Tradition of Magik: Divination
The Taroc are a very serious people for their art and do not take the magik they do as lightly as the other provinces do. They came from the West originally, navigating by the stars and guided by them to what would be Rekōdo. Their destiny brought them to this land. Their primary practice is in predictions, fortune, and prophesy: the Arts of Divination. Many from this province are the "authors" of the predictive texts. They are a people constantly trying to advance their magik and sight through harnessing the magik of foresight with tarot cards, star-reading, reading tea leaves, prophetic writing and vision-seeing. Initially, they were the gypsies and fortune-tellers of the land, but have since grown into a powerful province of sophistication, might and dedication. There are orders and temples dedicated to the specialization of each of the areas of Divination. The land of Taroc ranges from ocean cliffside in the north to rolling hills where wild horses roam, long stretches of grassland for farming and ranching and warm southern beaches. It was a woman called Deanna of the Hills, born of the first people of Taroc, who was said to have captured the heart of Liar'Adon the Creator and as favor her people were gifted with the Stars in the night's sky. It is said that the Taroc are an arrogant people, but who could not be proud of such a rich, strong history?
The capital city is Clow. It is the largest city and boats a wealth of fruition from hundreds of years of hard work. Taroc boasts the most developed cities of all the Provinces. It also has the most extensive coastline and strongest fleet of ships, both air and naval. The island of Faraking is home to the floating Heli'Dom, the largest telescope in Rekōdo. The people of Taroc are everything from sailors to farmers, to visionaries, to seers, and businessmen, ranchers and traditional gypsies. Their strength of unity and organization rivals all other provinces and is one of their greatest assets. They are varied, but they are extremely loyal. Taroc is located on the Western most border of Rekōdo City.
The Province of Shamaa
Guid Master: Mindoka
Founding Spirit: Siochana
Colors: Brown & Blue
Tradition of Magik: Earthen/Spirit Magik
Natural Magik is one of the oldest magiks known to man. It dictates that everything (people, animals, plants, rivers, mountains, etc.), everything natural, not man-made, has a Spirit that can be called upon to guide, help or give information etc. This is known as Animism. The Shamaa are the only ones who can naturally call upon these Spirits. The Shamaa can see into the 'Spirit World' (sometimes thought to be the Dream World) where these spirits dwell. The Shamaa are very traditional and many remain in their tribal formations and lodgings. Some have adapted to city life, but adhere to traditions during sacred times. Many think them barbaric when more sophisticated living is available to their world. Though the Shamaa are among the native peoples of Rekōdo, it is they who have the most people who have talents for Dream Walking, waking or sleeping freely in the World of Dreams with control and without the use of a Totem. The Shamman also have a master of herbology and potions, making them among the best naturalists and makers of old potions and medicine. Each person born a Shamaa as an Animal Spirit to guide them. In essence, it is like a Familiar or patronus, personifying the person's soul in animal form. A Shamaa man or woman can undergo a Rite of Passage by venturing into the Tiarna Wood, the oldest place in Rekōdo, where old, wild magik still reigns. There, they drink the waters there- water that nullifies all magik ability- and have visions. By this, they can become honored members of their tribes. The Shamaan are among the greatest animorphs, taking on the appearance of their spirit guide or projecting them.
The people of Shamaa often dress naturally, using natural things such as animals, bones, furs, skins etc. over man-made fabrics. Their land is rich in unspoiled beauty. The edge of the Hundred Year Plains skirts across their northwestern border with Taroc and to the south and east are lush, ancient forests steeped in lore and Old Magik. Shamaa hosts two great lake-riverways. One flows to the north and out along the Taroc-Maginus border, the other South into the Sea of Sul. Tradisi shelters a deep trench called Echo Deep where ancient creatures are rumored to lurk. The forests melt into moist marshlands on its southern-most hook where is borders the Wilderlands. The capital, Siochana is nestled directly in the middle of the lakes at the heart of the Province. Shamaa is located on the Southern most border of Rekōdo City.
The Province of Astral
Guild Master: Herotus
Founding Spirit: Dayena
Colors: Purple & Yellow
Tradition of Magik: Illusionary & Creative
To the Southeast of Rekōdo City is the luxurious and lush Province of Astral. Its western border is lined with border forests that mirror Shamaa's. Its center is rich in the lush southern grasslands of the edge of the Hundred Year Plains. A river and lake near the capital city of Dayena divide the Province into its wealthy upper half and naturally beautiful and peaceful lower half. The eastern portion of the province is tropical and a tourist hot-spot. While it touches no oceans, Siadharri and all of Lake Doras make up for that. the Zhido Canal, which divides Lake Doras from the Da'Jinn-controlled Lake Anaya, is rich in trade. Adaya's Temple upon the lake is a mecca for those craving the wilds of night life. The mysterious Six Stones of Past lie in the southern heart of the Province and the infamous White Towers of Dayena are where all, regardless of their province of birth, who have talent in the White Light of Healing go to pursue their training.
It is a beautiful province and it is filled with beautiful people. Astral puts a lot of value in the created as much as the real. The Arts are honed and perfected in Astral and it boasts the best artists, dancers, musician, sculptors, painters, singers and healers. They are also the most crafty, employing some of the best illusionists, magician and inventors. They are expert mathematicians and have found ways to bend geometrics and physics to the will of their magik. Astral spends a vast amount of time trying to create a world where anything and everything is accepted and possible. It is a province wealthy with talent and beauty, both in their terrain and people. The Astrals are chiseled pieces of human perfection, more self-centered than their naturally-centered neighbors to the west. The people of Astralian are a semi-self centered people, feeding their ego with the images they project and maintain. Their bodies are flaunted in their tropical climate and exotic, sometimes seen as scandalous, garb. Much stock is put into their physical appearances. Astralians are among the most beautiful and exotic-looking people of Rekōdo.
The Province of Da'Jinn
Guild Mistress: Jinai
Founding Spirit: J'Adonai
Colors: Orange & Green
Tradition of Magik: Elemental & Wish/Fate
To the East of Rekōdo City lies the dry Province of Da'Jinn. Opposite of Taroc, the people of Da'Jinn are ancient nomads that came to Rekōdo from the Far East, across the Shifting Sands and Desert Eternal Sun. They are a skeptical people, a self-isolated people steeped in ancient, undying tradition. Its fully desert-like climate makes for little change in a vastly nomadic people who travel to great cities and out again as quickly as they entered. Some use portals, traveling long, magikal routes from the Ancestral Ruins, mapped out eons ago by their ancestors, to doorways in the desert- though the old ways have long fallen into abandon and disrepair with the inescapable influence of modern magik. Most of its population prefer a more physical movement among the desert with tents and beasts of burden. Their harsh, strict lifestyles are opposite to much of the other provinces in Rekōdo. Because of its unwavering glue to tradition and nomadism, Da'Jinn has the least amount and least-populated cities in all of Rekōdo. The only exceptions are J'Adonai, its capital and the most western of cities where the hub of trade and western politics mingle with eastern goods and fares and Mararat, the city farthest east and richest in merchants and their wares from across the desert. Mararat's population shifts seasonally with the occasional nomadic tribe stopping in for supplies before moving out again. Lake Anaya and the Sea of Serpens provide water of food, but little else in the ways of income and tourism due to their arid and fluctuation in supremely hot and bitter cold climates.
The magikal forte of the Da'Jinn are wishes and fate. Their Provincial name literally means 'masters of Jinn.' A Jinn is an elemental force of nature birthed from the elements. The two main types are the Jinn (spirits of air) and the Efreet (spirits of fire). Earthen and Water-based Jinn exist, but those elements are scarce among the hot, airy desert landscape. Both are incredibly powerful and difficult to deal with if you are not a Da'Jinn. To better master them, the Da'Jinn have Totems hidden on their person to help control their Jinn of Efreet. These Totems can be anything from a necklace to a nose-ring to a gold cap on a tooth, but are traditionally something precious. Some Jinn are confined to lamps and sold into the markets of Rekōdo as genies- spirits who grant wishes. It is an archaic practice, but still used especially among the nomads, to sell people into the bonds of such or other types of servitude. The bands on their wrists and legs mark them as bound servants to pay off a magikal debt by bringing wishes and fortune to those who possess their prison (lamp). The Da'Jinn dress in long garb and wear turban or wrap-styled hats to avoid the desert heat, wind and sand. Women, especially those married into or daughter of great wealth, often wear a shawl over their hair and faces and vast amounts of sculpted jewelry to show off such wealth. it is a highly partiarchal society where women have little sway.
The Province of Maginus
Guild Master: Darmon
Founding Spirit: Arxus
Color: Black & Dark Blue
Tradition of Magik: The Dark Arts
The Northern-most Province is set in a colder, more hilly and mountainous climate and it's reflected in their wardrobe. The Magini wear long, layered robes, high-necked sweaters and everything wrapped in additional shawls and cloaks. Maginus has a strict caste system with little upward movement for those who are not so fortunate to be in their upper crust. Theirs is the power based from witchcraft and warlockery, of ancient runes and dark rituals centuries old. The Dark Arts often involves blood rites and rituals of the oldest kind, from the age when people were primal and sacrificed or worshipped in exchange for power. Many of the modern Magini specialize in the Soul, ancient runes and creatures of lore. Controversially, there is still much in the way of Necromancy, especially among the High Priesthood. Ancient, family power is revived through ritual surrounding the deceased. While considered taboo and against nature, re-animation of the dead or the re-use of Souls is a practice that has not fully been extinguished in Maginus.
The Province of Maginus is a place that has know warfare for much of its life, and it is reflected in the reflected cities it has populated along its borders with other provinces. The cities of Windf'rte, Elve and Krig all stand across the border from another province's major city in a defensive gesture. The northern-most province of Rekōdo sees the Hills of Deanna swell into steep hillsides of the Northern Hills along the entirety of it's western and northwestern half. It boasts it's own cliffside shorelines along the throat of the Bay of Rekōdo that it shares with Taroc. The southern, eastern and northeastern entirety of the province is the drier, alee portion of the grasslands of the Hundred Year Plains. the mountains, the vast Great Swells eat up the entire northern portion of the province. The city of Arx, its capital, it protected from its greatest rivals in Taroc, by the southern-most tip of the mountains. Well forged trails and roadways lead into the Great Hold, the stronghold and mightiest fortress of Maginus. It is home to the Guild Master, the High Priests and the greatest Maginus has to offer. In the Dragon Range, along the border with the Unsettled Lands, Maginus has station Lesser Holds in defense against their never-ending disagreement with the Dragons that live beyond. The Hydros islands in the Sea of Serpens by its border with Da'Jinn are, scornfully, the only islands Maginus can lay claim to in either of it's watery borders.
The Islands of Enchantry
Guild Mistress: Nalia
Founding Spirit: None
Color: Green & Black
Tradition of Magik: Totem Discovery & Creation
Enchantry is located in a scattered grouping of islands called the Aile Bones between Taroc's Faraking Island and the western coastline of Maginus. The closest island to the mainland boasts the city of Capios, the single city and capital of the newest and smallest province in Rekōdo. The Guild was founded recently by Nalia al'Vatar, whose exiled birthright is Astral. the purpose of Enchantry stems from Nalia's passion: the discovery, unearthing and education of old artifacts on the islands called Totems. Totems are anything magikal in origin from the early eras of Rekōdo that heighten a specific magikal ability. Stone rings on a necklace are Totems often found on people who wish to Dreamwalk, though such artifacts are not handed out lightly. Totems are most prevalent in two places in Rekōdo: The Aile Bones and the Tiarna Woods. The only other place to still have Old Magik is in the territories around Rekōdo: The Unsettled Lands and the Wilderlands. The Ailes are terribly old and riddled with ruins and artifacts. Some have potentially dangerous power. Enchantry has made it its mission to find, catalogue and distribute as necessary to the Guilds where they would best fit any Totems that are uncovered within the boundaries of Rekōdo. They are stored and studied by the people of Enchantry. Some artifacts have unknown abilities and women who tried their power have died using them. They are the keepers of all great artifacts found in the Provinces of Rekōdo.
Nalia's talents are not something that stem from her birthright and, though she was exiled and trained in both Maginus and Taroc, she created Enchantry so that any who felt out-of-place in their own homeland had a haven where they could potentially employ their talents. Unfortunately, men are shown to have a harder time adjusting to the constant hum of the Old magik that permeates the Ailes. To prevent a civil war within the city-guild, and to prevent any permanent damage from the madness brought on by the Old Magik, the men were expelled from the Ailes. The province of Enchantry is the only Guild that is open exclusively and entirely to women. The term for the women is Enchantresses. The name usually refers to the magik of coercion and control, but such things are illegal.
The Aile Bones are a small smattering of land within the cold, northern waters of the Ocean of Liar'Adon. The islands range from beautiful hillsides to rough, craggy outcroppings of rock jutting from the water. The climate is moist, receiving much rain that makes the hillsides a rich emerald green. The summers are cool and the winters cold and snowy. Trade with the mainland if prevalent to the function of the Enchantry Guild, though extended stay is not recommended for many who are not accustomed to the constant feel of Old Magik. The City of Capios is the only developed city on the Ailes, though the Enchantresses and their Novices often make excursion out into the other islands through the use of old Totems that were fashioned as teleportal stones linked to the larger of the Ailes. Though small, Enchantry's influence on Rekōdo if great. It is a link to the past and a gateway to the future for many who do not fit the provincial norms of their world.
Index of the First Thread for Emporium
_+CHAPTER 1: In The Beginning+_
Pages 1 - ?
[SIZE=2]-= The Runaway Princess =-
-= They Came From the Stars =-
-= To Felicity Poahr's Apartment =-
-= Darmon Summons Kali, Two Escape from Enchantry & Enter the Clone =-
-=Tamarah Arrives in Rekōdo City=-
-=Nalia and the White Light=-
-=Branwen Seeks out Mindoka =-
_+CHAPTER 2: All the World's Troubles Begin+_
((Descriptions of the chapters and information on what happens in them is forthcoming. It will take time, so please be patient as this part of the new thread will be undergoing constant construction.))
Last edited by SilntAngl5; 03-24-2018 at 10:53 AM.
Currently on Emporium...
At the Heart of Rekōdo City...
Rekōdo is beginning to be consumed by the chaos and turmoil left in the wake of the missing Princess, who was taken at the height of her Coronation by the High Chronicler of Magik after the Guild Masters were attacked and rendered Unconscious. It was unclear what motivations the man, Emit Shornoc, who held the third highest station in all of Rekōdo would have that would lead him to kidnap the heir to the golden throne. It had been weeks and they had not been found. With their Princess gone and the Prince in hiding for his own protection, the people of Rekōdo looked to their Guild Masters, the leaders of their Provinces and seats on the Royal High Council for guidance, for answers, for anything. Since the coronation where they were attacked, all six Guild Masters had been eerily absent. In a time when their people were afraid and needed them most, their presence, their voice, their reason was gone. Rumors have begun to spread and have seized the frightened hearts of the masses like wildfire, rumors that the Guild Masters were powerless, captured, enslaved, dead. There were reports of fighting in Astral, of Taroc and Shamaa troops slaughtered and Da'Jinn's betrayal. There is even a new rumor steamrolling over all others that has instilled panic upon a near-leaderless people: The Ancestral Spirits had been lost.
Each Guild Master is chosen upon the death of their predecessor by the Founding Spirit of their Province, the admirably-called Ancestral Spirit of their land who passes on the knowledge and history of every Guild Master before them and the province which they lead. Those Spirits, the light and memory of their world had been taken or had left the Guild Masters. It is unclear which, if either, are the truth behind the lack-of-presence of the Six Guild Masters of Rekōdo. The hearts of the Six Provinces, Rekōdo City, is beginning to show the fractures of stress and fear. Rioting has begun to sweep through the streets. Crime and murder are rising and the tentative Treaty of Tradisi that ended the Great War but two decades earlier is now teetering on a dangerous precipice. If the Princess is not found, the royal line restored or the Guild Masters returned to calm their frightened provinces, Rekōdo could fall hopelessly into a war that will not stop until the world on which they live burns.
In the West...
Darmon of Maginus has been murdered. The Guild Master of Maginus's corpse was found atop the ruined portion of the Great Hold at Arx after a supposed altercation between the Nalia, the Guild Mistress of Enchantry and her Second, Kali. The explosion that jettisoned heavy stones into the surrounding cityside of Arx was felt as an earthquake from the Aile Bones east into the border of Da'Jinn and into the northern tip of Rekōdo City. The High Priests of Maginus determined that Nalia al'Vatar was the one who murdered their Master. They sensed the presence of the Nightmare energy she housed within herself and launched an immediate counterattack upon the Guild of Enchantry for her treachery. They were joined by the might of the Da'Jinn's army of sand soldiers, fiery Jinn and watery Efreet. The body of Darmon of Maginus was taken down into the depths of the Great Hold at Arx.
Nalia of Enchantry, heavily pregnant with the forbidden love-child of she and the Guild Master of Taroc, fled into the Aile Bones where she met the Dire Wolves. She fell under their protection, as they existed on the Ailes with the soul, mysterious purpose of protecting Enchantry. Her Second, Kali, fled to Taroc under Nalia's orders to find Alain, its Guild Master. The Master of Taroc had at his hidden fortress the imprisoned Adaya Second of Astral, Branwen Second of Shamaa, and prince Eri of Rekōdo. They received Branwen and, after having met with the lost Princess in the World of Dreams, formulated a plan to free her from Da'Jinn. Having learned the truth of how Nalia began Enchantry and the truth of its name and the Forgotten Province of Rekōdo from the Princess, Alain attempted to contact the fleeing Nalia and, when talks of having her seek asylum with him failed, an Agent of Taroc, Olivia Kuhrson, found her and put Nalia under her protection. Arion bar Sohil, the Second of Taroc returned from Mararat in Da'Jinn after an altercation with Jinai's Second. Arion had tracked the Princess to Da'Jinn and was attacked when he demanded her safe return. He was badly injured, but became the Acting Guild Master of Taroc in Alain's stead as he headed off to Da'Jinn to free the Princess.
During the Maginus-Da'Jinn assault on Capios, Nalia convinced the O'aris to aid her people. In efforts with a fleet of Taroc's naval ships and three Celestial Airships, Arion lead a defensive measure for Enchantry. The might of Da'Jinn was defeated, and it was with the assistance of a ghostly remnant of a pirate vessel, the Raven's Triumph, that Captain Jacob Petrov, his undead crew, and the might of Taroc defeated those who sought harm to Enchantry. Arion, already badly injured from his fight in Da'Jinn, returned to the Heli'Dom on Faraking Island where he was placed into sleep so that his extensive injuries could be healed.
But a threat lingered on the Cliffs of Maginus. A man was there among the chanting Priests. Caldur Eirikson of Isolert held aloft the Dragon Staff of Darmon of Maginus, the murdered Guild Master, and has proclaimed himself the new Guild Master of Maginus.
In the East...
... there is treachery. Herotus and Adaya, twin siblings and the respective Guild Master and Second of Astral lead the Guild Master of Shamaa, his Second and hundreds of Taroc and Shamaa soldiers to captivity and death. Adaya had sought the council of Mindoka of Shamaa and plead with him for protection from Da'Jinn. In their weakened state, the Second and her Master feared that the more powerful might of Da'Jinn would come raining down on the much weaker and less organized Astral and crush them. For the sake of peace, Mindoka lead his warriors and a large escort of Taroc troops from their brother-province to the west, into the heart of Astral in order to disperse presence and aid. They were lead right into a trap. Adaya, the temptress, had moved among the troops and every man or woman she touched tuned on her their brothers and sisters at arms upon Herotus's command. Nearly all were lost in the self-slaughter. Mindoka of Shamaa was captured and brought before Jinai of Da'Jinn, the grand architect of the entire plan's design.
In the East, there is betrayal. As part of the plan, Jinai bound Mindoka into the Servitude of the Lamp and made him a mindless, commanded genie. What Herotus did not know was that there was a Lamp for him as well and Jinai bound him to the same fate as the Guild Master he betrayed. Adaya was sent scampering to Taroc for asylum.
Jinai of Da'Jinn, the first woman to ever have the title of Guild Master in her land, sought to conquer the lands of Rekōdo in the name of the Empire of Da'Jinn in the Far East across the Desert of Eternal Sun. It was she and her Second, Majed ibn Eyad, who attempted to steal the Ancestral Spirits from the Guild Masters of Rekōdo along with the hereditary power of the Princess at her coronation. What Jinai did not know was that Emporium sought balance and the Spirits did not go to her as she had planned. They went, instead, into the Princess of Rekōdo. Having foresaw this with her ability to Dream Walk, the Princess sought the help of the most powerful, neutral and loyal person she knew: The High Chronicler of Magik, keeper of the Central Library, and recorder of all of Rekōdo's deeds and history. It was he who took the unconscious Princess from the dangers of her coronation and fled. Jinai's Second tracked and set a trap for the High Chronicler and brought he and the unwakeable Princess to the city of Mararat in Da'Jinn.
Far from the prying, shambled eyes of the West, the Second of Da'jinn tortured the High Chronicler of Magik until a way to wake the Princess was found. She protected herself and the Spirits in the World of Dreams. When Jinai entered the World where the Princess hid, the presence of the two genied Guild Masters tore their Ancestral Spirits from the Princess's mind and forced her to wake up. She was imprisoned with the intention of having the rest of the Spirits ripped from her Soul and shackled to the same fate as Mindoka of Shamaa and Herotus of Astral. All for the sake of honor-restored to the exiled inhabitants of the Province of Da'Jinn and the glory of the Far East that cared not for them any longer.
And Now in Rekōdo...
In the wake of the attack, Enchantry searches for its Mistress. As the chaos of defense is rerouted into order and rebuilding, the head Enchantresses of Nalia's Council send two of their own into the Ailes to find her and bring her home. They encountered the Dire Wolves and were attacked. Nalia healed the gravely injured Sister with her uncontrolled White Light of Healing and fell into deep unconsciousness. As restitution for their actions, Sisters were escorted by the Dire Wolves back to Capios and the City is now under their watchful protection. Olivia, powerful in the ways of Necromatic Arts through her Maginus lineage recalled her friends on the Raven's Triumph to the Ailes to bring she and Nalia away from Rekōdo and into the safety of whatever lay beyond the Ocean of Liar'Adon. The two Sisters of Enchantry returned to Capios as Kali returned and news broke of the possible resurrection of Darmon of Maginus. Nalia's secret affair and impending child were revealed to the Council of Enchantry and the threat of fracturing between the Sisters loomed. In Shamaa, Branwen and Udaya are facing similar tensions with the heads of their tribes. Order must be restored to their world before it descends completely into chaos.
Alain of Taroc lead a team consisting of Branwen of Shamaa, Kali of Enchantry, the prisoner Adaya of Astral, Prince Eri of Rekōdo and his two personal guards to Shamaa. There, they ventured to where the two rivers converged at the hut of Udaya. The seemingly imbalanced wise woman of Shamaa gave them access to the ancient Paths the Da'Jinn used to travel farther West into Rekōdo undetected. They used these same Paths to travel through the Desert of Eternal Sun long, long ago when they were exiled here and sought to keep trade with their old homeland. The Paths, an eerie, silent darkness with lit passageways of stone, were maddening and drove Adaya of Astral to insanity. The rest of Alain's team made it to Mararat unscathed before the desolate, vast emptiness and nothingness laid claim to their minds. In Jinai's floating palace, they encountered the violent Qadir, a man bonded with Jinn of fire into a burning, onyx monster. The once-man fought but was slain by the Prince of Rekōdo, but not before claiming one of his eyes with his daggers. The severity of the battle caused Jinai's palace to fall onto the shore of Lake Anaya. Before she could be capture, Majed ibn Eyad took his Guild Mistress and fled. The whereabouts of Jinai and her Second are unknown. Alain had completed his mission. The Princess was freed and in his custody. Mararat was in the custody of Taroc's soldiers. The suicide of Adaya of Astral, who had betrayed Taroc and Shamaa was barely mourned among such a victory.
But there was trouble at home. A group called The Circle sought to undo Alain's hold on his title as Guild Master of Taroc. They knew the truth of the missing Ancestral Spirits and of his affair and forbidden, expected child with Nalia of Enchantry. They sought to undo him. A group of eerie seers, the Five Sisters of Mirian- who never leave the city of their namesake- appeared before the Guild Master within the ruins to Jinai's palace. Unhappy with him, they sent him into a deep sleep and focused their prophetic words on the Princess and the rest of Alain's rescue party.
In the World of Dreams, Alain and Nalia were reunited. He told his lover of the Princess's vow to renounce the laws that forbade them from being together and convinced her to come to him in Da'Jinn. The High Chronicler of Magik was sent back to Rekōdo City to find information on how to free Mindoka of Shamaa and Herotus of Astral from their genie lamps. He was captured by the High Guard of Rekōdo, but not before he could send an ancient Da'Jinn tome to the Princess. His fate is unknown.
Nalia arrived in Mararat aboard the Raven's Triumph after a harrowing journey through the Spirit Realm. It was the quickest way to deliver her to Da'Jinn and, with the missing Ancestral Spirits throwing the balance of the Spirit World into chaos, they were attacked by Spirits lead by Olivia's Necromancer father. It was with the intervention of the Spirit of Nalia's mother than Undead Captain and his crew sailed the ghost ship safely into the living world once more. Before the Princess and Prince, Nalia, Alain and Olivia learned of the new living threat in Maginus: Caldur Eirikson. Princess Pasce revealed to them the truth of the origins of the Dragon Staff and Darmon's plans for devastating annihilation of their world with it. It was discovered that Nalia could not have taken Darmon's life if she can wield the White Light of Healing and all signs pointed to the self-proclaimed Guild Master of a Maginus as the murderer.
Now, the Soul of the Master of Maginus has been returned to his body. The Undead Guild Master has only one thought: revenge on Nalia of Enchantry and the destruction of all she holds dear. He has made his way to Capios with an army of Nightmares beside him. The Prince is being sent back to Rekōdo City to govern and lead in the Princess's stead until she is fit to rule again. If she is ever fit to rule again. Carrying seven Ancestral Spirits has taken its toll on the young Princess. Her body is dying. If she passes before the Spirits can be safely released back to their Guild Masters, then they could fall under the power of Caldur of Maginus. Then, all would be lost.
((Continued from here.))
Windf'rte in The Province of Maginus... The Temple of Souls
Sacha, The Shepherd of Souls and Nitya of Sahil, a servant to the Temple
The chaos was different this time. He knew, stepping into the water, that it would be. He went anyway because it was his job.
The water was thick, and the ripples that came from where he walked were slow. His movements were slow as he lifted the twisted, blue Shepherd's Crook above his head. He held it pointed in the direction he was going and though the waters only came up to his thighs, he held the staff aloft with both as if readying to strike at something. When the stairs met the level ground of the pool, Sacha's movements slowed. The ripples faltered and died too close to his body, as if the farther he walked, the further he went away from the place where live motion mattered. Where ripples mattered. Ripples meant something living moved. Before his movement could die completely, Sacha released the spear-end of his staff and twirled it by its hook high above his head. It made a noise in the air, a soft hum as if sliced and moved through the air above and behind his head. Whenever it arched back down, his second hand caught it and moved it back upward into the air again. Before him, above him, beside him, never quite touching the water before lifting again until the runes carved into and along the twisted staff began to glow a light purple in color. The pool around him began to hum in perfect pitch with the motions of the staff until the sound of it echoed and ricocheted off the arched ceilings above the waters. The air around him grew dark and the blue Soulfire along the arches became the only light. Just it and the glowing archaic spell carved into his staff. The hum grew louder, maddeningly intense until Sacha swung the staff upwards and held it aloft as a perfect vertical extension of his body. The humming echoed, reverberated and moved in a decreasing wave down the entire length of the temple until there was silence.
Sacha rotated the staff around from behind him grabbed it's crooked end when it was perfectly perpendicular with the water and then yelled out loudly as he threw all his weight into thrusting the Shepherd's hook straight down into the water.
A tear appeared in the water, as if he'd pierced the membrane of an egg. Violet and violent light opened before him as he began to stir the light in the water. He moved forward again, scribing runes in the violet light with two fingertips of his hand as he went. Though the pool never went above one's waist, he began to disappear into the smoky blue water. The staff held before him was like a diviner rod, dividing the water all around him and filling its absence with violet light until he completely disappeared within it. For a moment, there was a volatile mixture of water and otherworldly light. As if faded, the Soulfire of the temple dimmed until there was an eerie darkness in the large, open space. Nitya stood rigidly where she was as she watched Sacha disappear into the water. From the Soulfire's half-hearted glow, mist began to pour in and cover the top of the water. Nitya had seen this before. This had all happened before. Many times before. He disappeared into the water. The fires dimmed. The mist came. She took a step forward, just as she had done each time, to make sure he'd gone. But this time she was shaking.
Something was not right.
A moment later, the sounds of screaming began to fill the air of the city surrounding the temple.
-+-
Something was very wrong.
The Shepherd walked among the fog and mist of the Spirit Realm. It was eerily silent. Eerily absent. he could feel the presence of Spirits around him, but he saw none. He felt something else too, something that, again, he could not see. He could smell it, almost. A foul sense of something he could not quite place. Not a smell. Not a sight.
There was a grating sound, like nails on a chalkboard to his right. Sacha whipped around and pointed the arrowed end of the crosier into the fog. He held it perfectly horizontal, an extension of his arm. He trailed the echo of the horrible sound as it moved past him, behind him and away. Sacha kept the twisted rod parallel against his arm and walked. His dangerously keen blue eyes shifted and darted as he surveyed the misty Realm. A day earlier, moments even, it had been teeming with hell-bent Souls. Imbalanced by the shift of the Ancestral Spirits to one source, the Souls of the dead were driven into a maddened frenzy. He had been attacked ruthlessly while trying to shepherd the newly arrived Spirits on to their final rest, if they were meant to have such. The one source was far to the east. He had spoken of this to no one. It was dangerous information to know that Arxus had not been within Darmon of Maginus for some time. That no Guild Master had their Founder with them.
Sacha gripped the half-arrow of his staff and flung the shepherd's loop forward into the mist. He extended himself as far as he dared and then stepped back with a hard yank of his staff. A spirit came with it, head trapped within the runes glowing around the loophole of the crosier. It writhed and hissed and howled. It clawed at the thing that held it prisoner. A man once in life, from the Capital City he decided by a quick study of his Astralian-colored attire. He had faded, rose-colored hair and would have been quite tall in life. The man, now acting more like an animal than a man, wore the tattered remains of a long suede coat of dark purple. The rebellious spikes of his hair moved on the ethereal winds by which only the dead could feel and be moved. Sacha pulled the dead spirit closer, but not close enough to be scratched. He lifted a hand to the man's face and stared hard into the Spirit's glowing eyes. He pulled back and the Spirit's head moved as if tugged forward. The Shepherd's robes fell down his arm which was riddled with scars. Sacha's eyes narrowed. He stopped, moved his hand closer to the ghoul's face and pulled back again with more strain. The spirit's mouth opened and on a voice sounding like more breath than words, the man spoke.
~Nightmares~
The whispery voice ended in a long, drawn out hiss. Sacha's white brow furrowed. Nightmares?
~Sacha~
He looked up from the spirit's eyes and around. He and the spirit were moved to absolute stillness by the voice. Sacha turned, trying to place the voice's location.
~Sacha... Sa... cha...~
It seemed to whisper from everywhere, which had meaning to him. The Shepherd of Souls turned back to the spirit and shook his staff had three times. The runes lost their glow and the Spirit slipped free. Sacha brought his crosier erect and upright. He bowed to the Spirit and then turned and ran into the fog and mist.
~Sa- ~
He ran faster.
He spun his blue crook out before him, loophole behind him, half arrowhead facing forward.
~Sach- ~
~-cha~
He scribed in the air as he ran and left a trailing spell of runes in his wake. They glowed hotly, like irons. When he reached the end of his spell, he leapt and jabbed the pointed to forward.
"Sacha!"
Nitya yelled his name pushed her way through the thick water of the pool. She had to find him, but her movement in the water was slow as if she tromped through a bog and the weight of the mud and grim were pulling her down.
"Sacha!" she called out again desperately, afraid. Alla round her people in Windf'rte were screaming. When she'd gone to the balcony, she'd seen some jump to their deaths in the icy water below. Theere were dark things in the streets, the air. Their movement blotted out the nighttime stars. She had been desperate enough to plunge into the water to find him, but he was not there.
"Sacha!" she screamed and felt her weight double in the water. It was only as deep as her waist, but it pulled her down. "Sacha, please! Answer me!"
A moment later, the water was pierced sharply by the end of his signature crook. Violet light streamed upward from the tear as Sacha pulled himself forward and out. His blue eyes assessed the temple and found Nitya in the water. He waded through it and grabbed her arm. He did not weave the violet light into the water to make his travel easier. There was no time. Behind him, the membrane-like water sealed itself back up. The violet light disappeared like a setting sun and the flickering light of the temple's fire overtook the air again. Sacha looped his strong arm around Nitya's back and pulled her along through the water.
"Never in the water" he chastised harshly as he drug her toward the stairs. "I will always hear your call. Never the water. It is not safe."
He hoisted Nitya up onto the stairs and the soaking pair made a heavy plop noise as they collapsed onto the level floor of the temple. He breathed heavily and stared at her.
"Why did you go in the water?" his voice was fast, quiet. He did not want her to suffer from her father for this. She was weeping. She was shaking. "Why, Nitya? You know that-"
A piercing shriek cut him off. Nitya covered her head in her hands and shook.
Sacha stood up and looked out toward the wide balcony before him. He reached down and grabbed Nitya's arm andpulled her up.
"Stay behind me" he commanded her. Mutely, she obeyed. She reached out and pinched the back of his robe between her fingers. Normally, he would scold her for that, but this was different. Something was very wrong.
Another scream, this one from above and someone flung themselves from the top of the temple. The sound of their agony as they fell grew loud and then faded away with a sickening thud as the body his the cliffs. Nitya's hand jerked on Sacha's robes and she ducked into him. He threw out an arm to shield her, but his intense blue eyes watched the man fall. How had someone gotten to the top of the temple!? Sacha looked up and his mouth fell open. He saw them. Hundreds, no, thousands of black grotesque shapes floated through the nighttime air. They came from Windf'rte and glided out to the sea past the cliffs.
"Sacha" Nitya whispered with calm dread in her voice. "What are those things?"
He recognized that the screaming he'd heard in the air all around them was slowly going silent again as these things departed. Sacha's breathing intensified and his eyes went wide as he watched them pass high overhead. He felt a shiver course through his body. He remembered the undead voice that he'd asked a very similar question to in the Spirit Realm. Sacha's eyes tracked them as he and Nitya hunkered a bit lower to avoid extraneous detection by the things above. They all moved at the same pace due west. His eyes narrowed as he watched them all form a thick line and continue onward, west, with one figurehead at its front.
"Nightmares" he said. There was only one person known to have such abilities, but she was in hiding. She had killed someone using that filthy dark power. Sacha looked to the figurehead floating on winds felt only by those who were not of this life anymore. Sacha swore under his breath.
"We have to go. Now."
He spun around, grabbed Nitya's hand and roughly pulled her back into the shadows of the temple.
The City of Mararat in Da'Jinn To the Far East of Rekōdo: Jinai’s Fallen Palace
Attachment 1638 Attachment 2240
Pasce, Princess of Rekōdo, Prince Eri, his guards Ganard of House Fallandor and Merelin of House Diorna, and Nalia of Enchantry
Nalia put a hand to her heart as if it were going to break. Her nails dug lightly into her skin as she took an unconscious step back from the princess, from them all. Her emerald eyes left the seated royal and fell distantly down and away from them all. Her mouth opened and work on words, but none came out. Alain would feel their mental connection dim as if she were moving far and away from him. She dove and tore through her own mind. She searched and rooted and upended everything down into the farthest reaches of her mind. There was nothing. They were gone from her.
"How?" she asked in a voice that was soft and wrought with grief. Her eyes looked back up to the Princess, who stared down at her with eyes that tried to abandon the pity she felt.
"Did you ever use that power on him?" The Princess's tone was particular. She knew Nalia's whole life. Hers was an open book to the royal heiress, just as every ruling relative before hers has been. Nalia sense the loaded question, but that did not make it easier to answer.
"Yes" she answered honestly in the presence of royalty. Her voice sounded as if it were about to break apart. "Twice."
The Princess visibly inhaled. She knew of the first time. Both she and Alain would know of it because it was shown to them. A memory form the day the idea of of Enchantry was born at the Heli'Dom on Faraking Island. A beaten and bloodied young girl sat and shivered with a Guild Master on his knees before her. A warm, moist towel. A bowl of hot water. Gentleness. An idea. The Princess tried not to look at Alain, only at Nalia.
"The last was at Arx?" Pasce avoided the topic of the first time, for her sake. Nalia's link to Alain was still there, though weak. He would see flashes between their linked minds. Bits of memory playing in her head as she recalled her use of the dark power. Once in Arx, the same room, but with him above her, hurting her. There was a scorch mark at his throat, a hand print around his wrist. The second time after he'd pinned her down, touched the protective womb where their child lay, after his hand had delved down purposefully too far. he'd whispered the things he was going to do to her, to their child. Nalia had attacked him. Nightmare ichor was fed to him from her palms. It dripped from his eyes, his nose and mouth. It filled him. She almost had not stopped. If it hadn't been for Alain, for their child, she could not have stopped.
"Yes, highness."
Nalia looked down. Her hands were before her. She was picking at the skin of her fingernails. She never did that. Her hands were shaking. It was too keep anyone from seeing just how badly this was ruining her. Alain would know this, from years of training her, raising her, supporting her. He knew this was her worst nightmare come true. She had allowed the Nightmares to be freed. They were at Capios. Capios was doomed.
The Princess saw the woman's turmoil and allowed the pity she felt to be seen. Pasce turned to her brother and reached out her healed hand. He came to her, knelt and took it in his own. She squeezed his hand. There was a different look in her eyes now. Well masked and slightly unreadable, but there. Pasce placed the parchment scroll in Eri's hand and re-closed it with her own.
"Rekōdo needs you, Eri. Please take care of her until I return home."
Her brother bowed his head and looked up at her with his only eye. He'd inherited a new one in the tin box he held at his side. His lips were set in a grim frown, so much like their father.
"Go now" she commanded him gently, sadly. They were just reunited and now they would be apart again. Eri bowed his head to his sister. Before he rose, he pressed his lips to her hand. He looked down at her as he rose, but spoke to Alain.
"I am counting on you to keep her safe, Master Alain" the Prince said. The Master of Taroc would know of the conflict warring within his heart. His voice was softer next. "Please keep her safe for me."
The Prince descended the stairs and turned to look at Alain, Olivia and Nalia.
"Ganard. Merelin."
The Prince's guards rose and bowed to the Princess before flanking the Prince. Eri opened the doors to leave the room and looked at Pasce once more. Something silent was exchanged between the siblings. He and his guards exited the room. The doors shut behind them.
Nalia was still staring downward at her hands. They were palms up so she could look at their ivory beauty. They had force-fed Darmon Nightmares. She had filled him with the sick ichor. Or had they escape because the White Power had come to her? Her face had gone pale. She spoke to Alain and Olivia both in a voice that was haunted by what had been done.
"It is my fault. Despite how hard I tried..." Nalia looked up from her hands to Alain and Olivia.
"I have to fix this." Her voice was desperation on the verge of collapse. She had given Darmon hat he wanted and now he was at Capios's doorstep. She was quite literally as far from Capios as she could be within the boundaries of Rekōdo. "I have to go to Capios."
Qwaring's clone#1
The Great Orange One
Walking around.
Commander Colina Weir
Southern Rekōdo in the Shamaa Province: Siochana... The Capital City
Travel from Eloruh to Siochana required two changes of steeds and the use of a local trappers port-a-door. It was a tough but necessary journey. Made all the more difficult by the need to get to Siochana in great haste.
Colina was needed to help defend a Taroc seer as he aided the local Shamaa mystics in warding a point on the Shamaa/Astral border where a group of nomadic raiders have been preying on several trade routes. Normally, as a Commander in Taroc's military, Colina could send someone under her command to perform the task, but her ranks have been thinned. The tragedy in Astral decimated the troops under her command. The following occupation and need to secure Taroc borders brought about most of her soldiers being reassigned to other locations.
Within no time at all Colina has gone from a strategic liaison between Taroc and Shamaa, to a strategic liaison that also has to pull double-duty troubleshooting any and all problems within her assigned area. Considering her assigned area is essentially a whole province, Colina has not had much down time.
Tired. Sore from the rides. And her ears ringing from a port-a-door that is in desperate need of maintenance. This is how Colina enteres the gathering of warriors, tribal leaders, spirit animals, and province advisors. She hasn't even had a chance to change out of her field armor. The armor is plates of enchanted metal, elemental resistant cloth and leather, and the fur of a beast she helped to slay while participating in a hunt with Shamaa warriors in the forests to the east of this capital city.
Colina makes her necessary greetings to the various warriors and representatives. She has been trained to be visible, to assure her southern brothers and sisters that Taroc is always present and willing to lend aid. It's why she's here. Her oak-colored eyes lock onto the gaze of everyone she meets. She has a strong stare, one that assures everyone that her focus is on them and their corner of the universe.
Once the greetings are done, she finds a place to sit beside the great fire, and takes out her Guild badge. The small metal token, a symbol of her status in the Taroc Guild, grants her access to the mystical lines of communications running through the Taroc military and government. She lets the most recent intelligence reports and announcements wash over her thoughts for a few minutes before eventually Branwen and a top hatted old woman arrive.
Colina pockets her badge and rises out of respect for the arrival of the acting Guild Mistress. She was going to sit back down, but news of Darmon's return halts her. Memories of burning fields and screaming people and animals chills her. It's her earliest childhood memory. A recollection given to her and so many others by Darmon and his invasion of Taroc during the Great War.
The armored woman takes in a deep breath. Alain will be on top of the Darmon situation. Colina must focus on helping Shamaa. She must remain the line of communication between the two allied provinces.
She observes the dialogue between Branwen and her advisors. Colina seeks out the eyes of these leaders of Shamaa, trying to read all that their gaze can tell her. She was born with the gift of oculomancy, an ability to divine information from the eyes of others. The colors, patterns, and behavior of eyes are a language to Colina. A brief or distant look she can gather small tidbits or surface notions. A deeper study is required to truly delve into the nature and life of another.
Here she can see that those gathered around her are truly the noblest and wisest Shamaa has to offer. All except for this old woman with closed eyes, an unusual accent that Colina can't place, and a habit of drawing in the dirt. This old woman in the well-worn top hat seems to speak in riddles, and without eyes to assess, Colina can't tell if they're riddles with purpose or genuine ramblings.
Colina decides to give this old woman the benefit of the doubt, for now. Branwen seems to welcome her wandering words, or at least tolerates them while appearing to welcome them.
The Taroc soldier steps forward, and tries to offer her own piece to the puzzle that the Second of Shamaa seeks to solve.
"I can't say I have any special insight to offer. I do know that recent reports from Taroc mystics have shown that the ambush in Astral may have created a blind spot for my people. A massive loss of Taroc life can cause large waves in the magical medium we work in. It's easier to see the horizon in calm seas, but when the waves get this big we can't see past our own bow. It will take time to get past this event. When we do we'll get a clearer look at what's going on."
Realizing she has only contributed an excuse for her people's lack of foreknowledge, Colina straightens herself and continues, "Despite that, the people of Taroc stand ready to face whatever the future brings. And as always we will face that future by the side of the Shamaa people. We offer our wisdom, out swords, and our courage."
Qwaring
The Province of Taroc... On the coast of the Ocean of Liaradon...
"Your youngest?" Xalidus asks. He struggles a moment. So many memories. "Cao? Yes, of course."
With a recollection of Cao comes images of others. Xalidus sorts through what his mind shows him.
"I am sorry you have lost the others," Xalidus whispers, sounding so very human. Lost, fragile, compassionate. The moment of humanity soon slips away, and the air of confident godhood is dragged back into place. "I know you will learn from this iteration of creation, and will eliminate these flaws from the next. Stay strong and someday all will be perfect."
When Sil asks about his crime and imprisonment, Xalidus digs into the mind of one of his parts. It is as he roots through memories that are and are not quite his own that he slowly replies to Sil, "Very much like myself, this version of me was abducted as a child. He- We escaped but found myself exiled from our home universe.
"I grew up hopping from one universe to another. Searching the multiverse for home. Secundae need to be attuned to the cosmos around them before they can ascend to a First. It is how we find our place in the universe, and then earn our title. However, we grew up in other universes, with different physical properties. Our power and bodies adapted in ways that do not translate well in this universe.
"When he arrived in his home universe, his body would take a great deal of time to readjust to this cosmos. Ascension would take ages. I was lucky enough to find safe harbor in the old universe. Places where I could study the problem and fix it. This version of me was not so lucky. He became desperate and sought out a source of power. Energy he could harvest and try to jump-start his ascension. He believed this world was just such a power source."
He falls silent as he thinks of Elysia. It's difficult to isolate the correct version of the world in his conjoined memories.
"He could not reach Elysia. There was something in the way. I don't know if it's still there. Its been so long.
"He came to this world, and made contact with the inhabitants. He needed time to figure out the best way to steal the magic of this world, so he made the leaders of the time believe he was a benevolent visitor. Eventually, he thought he knew how to harvest the magic, and revealed his true nature and intentions. The province leaders fought against him. Eventually, the leader of Taroc tricked this version of me, and lured him into a trap. The Guild Masters did not believe they had the power to destroy me, so they locked me away in this place."
Count / Countess
Your guess is as good as mine
In another time, another place Kali would have been thrilled about having a discussion with Dyani about just how love could be selfish. A good debate was about as exciting as a good spar with the right partner and she and Dyani had done plenty of that in their time together. With the recent fluctuations of her pheromones, and had Dyani been so inclined, such a debate could easily have turned into a spar of a different nature.
And though Dyani was on Kali’s mind after the revelation of recent truths, it had swept them all up into a whirlwind of doubt and turbulent emotions. Kali’s main focus needed to be in the room with the women that still remained. She could have felt it through the little dragonling but she understood the need for privacy when one needed space to work through their feelings. As for the little dragonling, she curled up and was content to watch the other creatures roam around the grounds, her tongue of fire flickering out to taste the anticipation in the air.
Strange creatures, these ones of flesh in blood, even the furry ones. Their aura’s danced before her eyes like flames in a fire, shifting and changing according to mood. Dyani’s was always bright, no matter what the female was going through. The dragonling liked this female, intense in all things, much like Kali and the flaming reptile found a comfort in it. So she would rest here until either Dyani finally conceded in letting her move closer, sent her away or Kali called for her return. Her flaming white eyes finally rested back on Dyani in her ever vigilant watch.
In the meantime, Kali responded to her remaining sisters, the edge of danger ever pressing upon her senses and the urgency to resolve this as best they could and focus on defenses. Kali’s skin rippled with the laughter from the shadows, perhaps being a child of such shadows it did not drive her insane, but she has seen what it did to others. And the half of Kali’s nature, the part of her that lived and thrived in the dark fought the changes she felt just underneath the surface of her flesh.
“Love, it is love.” She answered Laelis.
Merriam had not been taking any of this news well, none of them had. It was like a line was drawn into the sand and everyone was taking sides according to their feelings. One could not help the way they felt, but they could help the way they responded. That was the difference between feeling and emotions. Feelings where obviously how one felt, the emotions were how you responded to those feelings. It was a lesson that Branwen had first tried to get through her thick head, what Nalia had tried to convey in her own way, and what her mother had spoken to her about on this journey to save the Princess.
“No one can help the way they feel about any of this.” Kali replied.
“Had Nalia been able to hide it from all of us, events still would have unfolded and we would be blind to what is about to take place. The shadows in here grow colder and each passing moment puts us in danger. Sisters of the dark arts, surly you feel it too?”
Kali regarded all of her sisters again, if it was not for the impending danger they were in, she would have let them have their rights to express their feelings in this manner, in this forum. It is not the first time that she had been involved in discussions with her sisters in this type of setting; but it was the first time
that Nalia was not present. It was the first time she actually felt a true division that would take time to mend, if it could be mended at all. But for all things Kali was, she was not one that easily gave up hope. And when the sisters started to come together, Kali smiled.
“I promise you, when things have settled; you will all have your say. I swear to you on my mother’s name that I will take full responsibility for my actions and do everything to protect all of you and Enchantry. My priorities at this moment is the current danger and it is my duty to protect Enchantry and the women that live here, that is where my focus must be. Have faith in the rulers of Rekōdo, I have heard good things about them and I have seen it with my own eyes. I have no doubt they will be fair and just.”
At that moment in the court yard, just as the howling of the wolves filled the air, the little dragonling double in size and sizzled white hot, behind Dyani. When the woman spoke, her words were instantaneously received by Kali, who at the same moment felt the crushing pain from fighting her body to instantly transform. Discussion was over, darkness had arrived.
Kali stepped back from her sisters, no longer able to keep her bones from shifting and the change from occurring. Draconic type wings and horns erupted from her head and back, as Kali’s hands suddenly sported talon like claws at the end of her nails. She staggered slightly from the force of the change before a strange set of golden orbs peered at her sisters. Her body was covered in the most vulnerable places by beautiful black and green scales, the colors of Enchantry, and at the tips of her horns, sharpened to a fine point, capped with emerald.
Her wings unfurled as she spoke.
“Take no chances, sound the alarm. Utilize whatever totems, enchantments, glyph's or spells you can to combat the darkness. Stay away from any of the shadows unless accompanied by myself. Do not separate yourselves from each other, stay in groups, but do not make yourselves large targets. We are stronger in numbers than as individuals.”
Kali took to the air and turned one last time. Two more flaming dragons burst forth from Kali’s palms and settled on the ground next to her sisters.
“Shalla, Evalyn, stay with each other, do not separate from your sisters.”
Her golden eyes lingered for only a brief moment on each sister, unspoken feelings bathing them each as her eyes passed over them and falling lastly on Fateema.
“They will obey any commands you give them. As long as I still draw breath, they will be by your side to protect and serve in whatever capacity you need them in. Protect each other; be as a shield to one another.”
With those final words, Kali flew toward the door, pulling them open with the use of a spell and flew out to the court yard to Dyani’s side. The same feelings would bathe over her fellow warrior, perhaps they would be given a chance to share them after this was all said and done. To settle this as the two of them
needed, as warriors, and Kali hoped as friends and allies. Until then, there did not need to be words on what they were about to do. They would stand as sister’s in arms to protect their guild, to protect their sisters, to protect Rekōdo, and to protect each other. It was all conveyed in a single glance.
Peace is a lie
There is only passion
Through passion I gain strength
Through strength I gain power
Through power I gain victory
Through victory my chains are broken
The Force shall set me free
Between Windf'rte and Capios... Waiting
Darmon_Returned.jpg
Darmon, The Returned
He was the only thing glowing in the night sky. There were no stars. There were no moons. All was darkness and all was cold. He hovered there, high above the waves and surf that crashed down on craggy beaches. It was snowing. He'd forgotten what snow felt like. He knew it was cold. He knew it killed if there was too much. He remembered snow in the mountains. He remembered cold before it snowed, how the air was chilled and the winds of the north biting.
There was wind, cold wind, by a lakeshore in the Unsettled Lands. He'd asked a beautiful, raven-curled woman to get a book at the bottom of the lake.
Uncaring eyes stared down at the island in the distance. They could see him. He knew they would see him. It was easy to spot something you knew was coming. He floated there and watched the white city working beneath the protection of an emerald dome. His acquaintances. They were feasting in the city behind him. It had been his city once, one of many which he ruled. His people were screaming. Their worst fears were laid bare before them and they were destroyed in their fear. Food for the Nightmare fodder. She had starved them severely. They needed to be replenished before The Hunt could commence.
His unnatural senses picked up the sound of bodies as they plummeted through the air. They smelled of their fate before they hit the ground. Their Spirits burst upward from them and dissipated to the Realm that had entrapped him. His people. Nothing would be wasted.
They were not his people anymore.
He was here for one purpose.
~... Na... li... a...~
His voice was a rasping, echoing whisper, a scratching and awful sound come from a throat that had been burnt by Nightmare ichor. She fed it to him. It was delicious. His voice, the eerie, haunting echo of it, whispered throughout the island. Everyone would hear it. Every Enchantress. Every Novice. Children would hear it. It seemed to come from everywhere. Every corner. Every shadow. It had no source, but they would see him. A violet beacon floating between sea and sky.
He exhaled sharply. A sort of twisted half-laugh.
He could feel it, their panic. But he could not feel her.
They felt it too. The fear. The chaos beginning to unfurl. The sweet, beautiful sound of hearts thumping in panic. They began to come to him. They had their fill of Windf'rte. They came to him now and formed an impenetrable circle around Capios. A mighty army of dark, hellish things. They did not move. Nothing moved except his cloak, on winds that were not of this world, and the snow. They just floated there.
They wanted what he wanted.
What they wanted was not here.
She would come to him.
And if not... He would let his acquaintances feed on everyone and everything here until she was found.
They could do it.
They already had once, looking for her. They had told him about it as they filled him. As they fled her white light. As she fed them to him.
Some place like this. Another universe. Another time. He did not know how little he knew. They had destroyed everything. They had showed him picture. They'd shown her fighting, Alain by her side. On a hill surrounded. Hopeless. A place called Ardea. It was this Nalia's turn. Her time had come.
Black eyes, dark as pitch and tar stared with glowing, violet irises down at the green dome. He stared at all of them, singularly and together. He felt the fear rising. They felt the fear rising and hissed and cackled in something that might be called gentleness. Eagerness.
An oppressive feeling weighed down on the island. A feeling of dread. Of hopelessness at the sight of the Nightmare Hoard. Of the almost-man that lead them.
They waited.
She would come to them.
Just as she had in so many other universes. So many other times.
She would come.
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Meredith, Shaun
Whiterod, Nick
Walsh, Robert
aquatic invertebrates
Greenacres wetland
Lynnbrae wetland
"June 2003".
Project no.
Research on the private property wetlands around Deniliquin - M/BUS/69
Publication no.
MDFRC Technical Report 6/2003
A post-wetting ecological survey, partially funded by the NSW Murray Wetlands Working Group Inc., was conducted at three Deniliquin wetlands (Forest Creek, Greenacres and Lynnbrae) in NSW between October and December 2002. Sampling of three wetlands commenced on the 27th of October 2002 and was conducted over 5 weeks after flooding. Water was released into the wetlands from three separate channels fed from Lake Mulwala through the main Mulwala channel. The water formed part of an environmental water allocation managed by the NSW MWWG. The aim of the study was to determine post flood responses of water quality, nutrients, phytoplankton and microcrustaceans. Throughout the study period changes in the following water quality parameters were observed. Water depth in all three wetlands ranged from 5-28 cm and were influenced by additional inflows. Temperatures ranged from 25-30°C. The Forest Creek wetland was acidic throughout most of the sampling period (pH range 3.5 -7.0), while the Greenacres and Lynnbrae wetlands were slightly basic (pH ~ 7.5). High initial post flood turbidities were recorded in the wetlands, however these declined rapidly 4 days after the inundation then continued to decrease gradually for the remainder of the sampling period. Electrical conductivity remained low, peaking at ~135 µS/cm on day 15 in the Forest Creek and Lynnbrae wetlands and 220 µS/cm on day 27 in the Greenacres wetland. Inflow salinities followed similar patterns to wetlands, however remained 5-50 µS/cm below wetland salinity. Dissolved oxygen (DO) concentrations were generally below 6 mg/L in the three wetlands. The lowest DO was recorded in the Lynnbrae wetland on day 15 (1 mg/L). Initial peaks in all nutrients examined -total nitrogen (TN), Oxides of Nitrogen (NOx), total phosphorus (TP) and filterable reactive phosphorus (FRP) -were recorded within a few hours after inundation in all three wetlands and had decreased rapidly by 5-12 hours after inundation. Secondary peaks in TN, TP and FRP were also seen on day 15 in the Forest Creek and Lynnbrae wetlands. Maximum TP concentrations of 250, 505 and 835 µgP/L and TN concentrations of 2410, 4185 and 2405 µgN/L were recorded in the Forest Creek, Greenacres and Lynnbrae wetlands, respectively. Chlorophyll trends during the sampling period were similar in the Forest Creek and Lynnbrae wetlands with 2 peaks occuring on day 15 (38 and 14 µg/L, respectively) and on the last day of the study (19 and 15 µg/L, respectively). The Greenacres wetland recorded an initial peak in chlorophyll concentrations on day 7 (16 µg/L) and a second peak on day 35 (39 µg/L). Chlorophyll peaks were mainly due to increases in blue-green algae (Anabaena sp.). Microcrustacean abundances remained below 10 individuals/L until day 27 in the Forest Creek wetland and channel sites, after which they increased to 42 individuals/L by the end of the study period. This final peak was dominated by Daphniidae and Cyclopidae taxa. Very similar trends were reported between the Greenacres and Lynnbrae wetlands in relation to timing of peaks and dominant species found at the peaks. Two peaks were recorded on days 5 and 27 in both wetlands with the initial smaller peak being dominated by Cyclopidae, Centropagidae and Bosminidae and the larger second peak consisting mainly of Cyclopidae, Centropagidae, Moinidae and Daphniidae. Temporal responses of nutrients, chlorophyll and microcrustacea in the Forest Creek and Lynnbrae wetlands followed responses reported for other wetlands (Greiger et al. 1985, Culver and Geddes 1993, Ingram et al. 1997), with an initial peak in nutrients occurring within the first day, followed by a peak in phytoplankton at 2 weeks and finally a peak in microcrustacea at 5 weeks after inundation. The Greenacres wetland demonstrated the same short response time of a few hours for nutrients, however microcrustacea and phytoplankton responses differed. Following the initial nutrient peak, a peak in microcrustacea was seen on day 27, one week prior to the phytoplankton peak. Future suggestions. Due to the very high nutrient concentrations found within all the wetlands there is an urgent need to keep out grazing animals not just from wetlands but also from adjoining channels and/or decrease possible fertilizer run-off into the channels and wetlands. Future monitoring should be extended past 35 days to more clearly identify macroinvertebrate responses, which are likely to be slower than the other parameters examined. Further filling of the wetlands performed on a natural time scale should be monitored for the above examined parameters to determine the possible change in response times and effects in concurrent wetting cycles. Monitoring future flood events occurring at different times of the year within the studied wetlands will help identify possible post flood responses to seasonal variations.
MDFRC funding agency: NSW Murray Wetlands Working Group Inc.
MDFRC client: NSW Murray Wetlands Working Group Inc.
Open Access. This report has been reproduce with the publishers permission.
Permission to reproduce this report must be sought from the publisher.
Copyright (2003) Murray-Darling Freshwater Research Centre.
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Volunteers hope to boost library use with ‘not just for children’ message
'Belsize Park used to be a bohemian place with artists and writers'
21 May, 2019 — By Helen Chapman
Mark Carroll, library volunteer, with Maria Colucci
A LIBRARY saved from closure by volunteers has begun a drive to encourage adults to come inside, amid concerns that its seen as a place mainly for children.
The Belsize Community Library has extended its opening hours and is launching art workshops and a book club as part of a “new vision” to attract older users.
Maria Colucci, the manager of the library in Antrim Grove, said: “It is seen as a children’s library, which is great, but I want it to be for adults too. It should be a cultural meeting point and a place to socialise with your neighbours. With our new vision, I want to change the way people see the library.”
She added: “Someone phoned up here once because they lost their keys and said ‘I lost them in the playground area’. I don’t want to it to be seen as a playground anymore.”
Camden stopped running the library amid budget cuts in 2013, but it was kept open by Swiss Cottage charity The Winch after a campaign to prevent its closure. Unpaid volunteers now keep it running from Monday to Wednesday. New opening hours will see a later 8pm finish on Wednesday.
Keats Community Library in Hampstead and Primrose Hill Library were also handed to volunteers six years ago. Camden’s other libraries are still run by the council.
“People fought to keep this place open,” said Ms Colucci, a former cinema manager who previously worked at a library in Hackney. “At first it was just open Monday and Tuesday. Now we are open Wednesdays. Hopefully we can open it for more days soon.”
The library held an event with Ha-Joon Chang, author of 23 Things They Don’t Tell You About Capitalism and Bad Samaritans, which was banned in South Korea in 2008, on Thursday, launching the library’s Banned Book Club which will take place once a month discussing books that have been censored in other countries or in the past.
“Belsize Park used to be a bohemian place with artists and writers,” said Ms Colucci. “Now there are lawyers and bankers moving in, but there is still a bohemian nuance around and artists are still here.”
She added: “We have lots of second-hand books and donations but are raising funds to buy brand new books for our Summer Reading Challenge encouraging children to read six library books during the summer holiday.”
Fears personal trainers are ‘wounding’ Highbury Fields trees
17 January — By Calum Fraser
Delivery riders go on strike after ‘road rage’ killing
17 January — By Sam Ferguson
Thames Water bosses face fury of residents forced out by Finsbury Park flood
Upstairs at the film club, transplant pioneer who escaped Nazi Germany
17 January — By Dan Carrier
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The Bromance Book Club by Lyssa Kay Adams
The first rule of book club:
You don't talk about book club.
Nashville Legends second baseman Gavin Scott's marriage is in major league trouble. He’s recently discovered a humiliating secret: his wife Thea has always faked the Big O. When he loses his cool at the revelation, it’s the final straw on their already strained relationship. Thea asks for a divorce, and Gavin realizes he’s let his pride and fear get the better of him.
Welcome to the Bromance Book Club.
Distraught and desperate, Gavin finds help from an unlikely source: a secret romance book club made up of Nashville's top alpha men. With the help of their current read, a steamy Regency titled Courting the Countess, the guys coach Gavin on saving his marriage. But it'll take a lot more than flowery words and grand gestures for this hapless Romeo to find his inner hero and win back the trust of his wife.
Source: complimentary copy provided by publisher in exchange for an honest review
I rather liked this book's approach to mending a strained marriage. Gavin finds out his wife Thea has been faking it in bed and his entire world just crumbles. It's a massive blow to his ego and stirs up every insecurity he's ever had about himself throughout his life. His immediate reaction is to leave and then Thea asks for a divorce. The book opens with the guys - his teammates and other assorted gents - visiting him at his hotel room and telling him that they're going to help him save his marriage but he has to be a willing participant and keep an open mind. Their solution is rather unconventional - reading romance novels, in this particular case, a Regency that seems to perfectly fit his current messy love life.
Just like Gavin, I was skeptical. I felt a lot of it was wishful thinking that the guys would talk this way and discuss serious feminist issues with sincerity. I'm not saying it's not possible but personally, it forced me to reconsider whatever conditioned thought I had about guys and their opinions on romance. I didn't know what to make of their romance reading except that it was rather original and intriguing. Segments from the Regency title (Courting the Countess) make an appearance throughout the book providing a framework for Gavin to follow. He really is hopeless but bless him, he's honestly trying. I have to say the guys are hilarious in this and Gavin's initial cluelessness gives them plenty of fodder but their hearts are all in the right place. I think it was almost halfway through that I started to really enjoy the story.
As silly as the guys' shenanigans were, there were elements of the story that gave me much to ponder. The book started out with Gavin firmly in the wrong by overreacting and walking out on Thea. It heavily focused on his transgressions but barely touched her issues until a couple chapters towards the end. Thea has so much baggage brought on by her parents' dysfunctional marriage and subsequent relationships such as fear of abandonment and feeling like an outsider. There is a ton, A TON, to unpack there and when she finally has that much-needed moment of introspection, it seems to fix itself rather quickly. It felt flippant to me especially since Gavin did most of the heavy lifting to improve himself when her backstory was just as crucial to the problems in their marriage. The problem being that she never communicated her feelings to him. They never talked. It feels like a huge power imbalance to expect the world of your partner when you never clue them in to your needs or worries in the first place. I empathized with Thea at the start but once I got to the end I wished she had been more a part of rebuilding the marriage in the first place. I kind of resented her later because of that. But not as much as I resented her sister's presence. The protective sister (understandable) who keeps inserting herself between Thea and Gavin (not okay) and stirring things up about him to her (definitely crossing the line). Once again, there's a backstory but until you get there, Liv is too much.
The Bromance Book Club presents an unorthodox and entertaining way to looking at marriage and what it takes to make it work. It also hints at something broader, so yes, I'd happily recommend it to others. I believe it initiates a deeper discussion about the characters and communication in relationships, and I'm certain that every reader will have a different take on them that I would love to hear!
Labels: adult contemporary romance, Lyssa Kay Adams, marital problems, romance book club, The Bromance Book Club
The One For You (The Ones Who Got Away #4) by Roni Loren
The highly-anticipated fourth book in Roni Loren's unforgettable The Ones Who Got Away series.
She got a second chance at life.
Will she take a second chance at love?
Kincaid Breslin wasn't supposed to survive that fateful night at Long Acre when so many died, including her boyfriend—but survive she did. She doesn't know why she got that chance, but now she takes life by the horns and doesn't let anybody stand in her way
Ashton Isaacs was her best friend when disaster struck all those years ago, but he chose to run as far away as he could. Now fate has brought him back to town, and Ash doesn't know how to cope with his feelings for Kincaid and his grief over their lost friendship. For Ash has been carrying secrets, and he knows that once Kincaid learns the truth, he'll lose any chance he might have had with the only woman he's ever loved.
It seems almost weird to be such an avid fan of this series that follows the lives of four friends years after they survived a school shooting. Weird because it's a god-awful event that brought these people together, otherwise they might not have ever crossed paths. The friendships that sprouted from that brought hope and love into their lives, and the strongest of bonds that'll stand up to any challenge.
Kincaid and Ashton are both survivors. Best friends in high school with Aston nursing the biggest crush on Kincaid but never coming forward with his feelings. Things changed dramatically after that night and later when Ashton couldn't take it anymore, he moved away. Kincaid always felt that he left her behind so she had to heal and get on with life on her own without her most trusted friend by her side. Now that he's moved back to Long Acre temporarily after a break up and to write his next book, they have to make peace and get along. Ashton still loves her but Kincaid has been in love with a ghost this entire time - her boyfriend who died in the shooting. That's always stood between them. But now that they're older, and Ashton is not as timid about expressing his feelings, he's willing to let it all out there even if he hasn't quite figured out the rest of his plans.
I loved that these two had a friendship before this. They clearly got each other and had fun. Their reunion may be uncomfortable for a bit but at least they're working through it. I like that there is communication between them instead of waiting for a good portion of the book for them to be honest about their feelings. Kincaid, for all her bravado and upbeat personality hides her insecurities well which is obviously harder to do when Ashton knows her best and knows how her family history affects her. And Kincaid knows why, other than the shooting, that it's hard for Ashton to come home. The toughest part of this unexpected reunion is that they finally have to confront certain truths about that dreaded night. They have to separate fact from fiction which is painful but necessary if they are to repair and rebuild their relationship.
The reason this series is so powerful to me is because it looks at what the survivors go through years after a shooting. The repercussions don't go away with thoughts and prayers. They are intrinsically tied to that event forever and it's hard to carve out an identity away from that, something that Kincaid, Ashton and the town of Long Acre know too well. Long Acre is still perceived as a morbid tourist destination attracting spectators rather than investors, and its town folk have to figure out how to re-brand itself, so to speak.
I knew The One for You was the last book but I was surprised by how I was not ready for it to end. I actually had to read the epilogue twice to accept it. I also had to wipe away a tear after that. Kincaid, Bec, Taryn and Liv thought they were alone after their tragedy but together the found friendship and unending support. The epilogue was so satisfying for me because they each got their happily ever after and that's the most you can wish for someone who's thriving after overcoming the worst.
Labels: adult romance, best friends to lovers, bookstore, high school shooting, Romance, Roni Loren, small town, Sourcebooks Casablanca, survivors, The One For You, The Ones Who Got Away
The One For You (The Ones Who Got Away #4) by Roni...
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bisbos
The Daedalus Starship
The first serious attempt to design a ship capable of travelling to the nearest stars. Weighing 50,000 tonnes, powered by nuclear fusion, travelling at 12% of the speed of light, the journey time would be close to 50 years.
Read moreNext »
Aircraft & Missiles
Aircraft from the past and future, and projects that never made it past the drawing board.
ImagesNext »
Science Fiction Illustration
Images from the classic Terran Trade Authority books, and a selection of images of exoplanets.
Reaction Engines
Images illustrating the work of Reaction Engines Ltd, the UK company behind the SKYLON spaceplane, and much more.
Project Nerva
After the Apollo Moon landings, the next target was Mars. Using nuclear powered ships, mankind could have set foot on the Red Planet as early as 1982.
The largest object in orbit by far, visible from the Earth as the brightest star in the sky.
Updates: Latest Images: New Daedalus Gallery Updates: New Section: Starships Updates: New Section: Paintings Updates: New Section: Publications
Aerospace Illustration and Visualisation - Graphical Engineering.
On this site you'll find examples of my work - mostly aerospace and science fiction. All the illustrations are available for purchase, and new illustrations can be commissioned. My work has featured in many books, magazines, websites, presentations and TV programmes.
Site News:
Feb 2017 - New Images, New Sections.
Added a new menu item - Illustrations, which features a selection of my historical and technical images, and also various maps and cutaways.
To the Illustrations...
Also added some more items to
"Space Stations" and various other stuff.
March 2015 - New Images.
Added a new section featuring a selection of Space Probe and Telescope images, featuring various landers and space telescopes, most of which are still in the future.
1 May 2013 - Latest Book "The Air Staff and AEW", by Chris Gibson.
Just received my copy today - and it's excellent! My good friend and colleague Chris Gibson has been researching the long and tortuous story of the RAF's procurement of an AEW system for the last couple of years, and this book is the result. I did the layout and design, and the CG aircraft illustrations.
Meticulously researched, written in his usual engaging and entertaining style, copiously illustrated with line drawings and photos, it documents the history of RAF AEW from the early days during WWII to the present day. Highly recommended for anyone with an interest in aviation history.
Available at Amazon soon: The Air Staff and AEW: Royal Air Force Airborne Early Warning Projects
May 2013 - New Images.
Just uploaded new imagesincluding - Titan Boats (Issue 12 of 'All About Space).
Also a selection of images of the Gas Dynamic Mirror Fusion Rocket, from the forthcoming book "Starship Century", edited by Greg Benford. More on this soon.
Feb 2013 - New Images.
Uploaded new pages of images that have recently appeared in various magazines - Space Elevator, Orbital Ring, Comet Harpoon, Tiangong 3. and the BIS Moonship.
There's also a short preview of the TTA: Capital Ships movie.
2013 Calendar: 'Interstellar' now available.
My calender for 2013, featuring a selection of interstellar spacecraft related images is now available through the store.
Price is $24.99, it's 11"x8.5" (28 x 20cm), printed on good quality stock through CafePress.
You can order it here: Bisbos.com Store
Just added some new images of the newly discovered planet orbiting Alpha Centauri B.
Not a lot is know about it yet, but we do know that it orbits very close to the star, has a very short orbital period, and will be exceedingly hot on the surface. More Images...
Three of my images are featured in the first issue of All About Space.
More images to come in Issue 2 - Mercury and Vostok capsules, and the NASA 'Galileo' Jupiter orbiter and probe, and yet more for Issue 3 - tractor beam ship, 'spagettification', future Russian space station and inflatable module, and even more for Issue 4 - space cannon, the entire Universe to scale, Voyager II and Virgin Galactics' Spaceship 2!
Just finished the final illustrations for the latest book by Chris Gibson "Battle Flight", the follow up to his previous work "Vulcan's Hammer".
I've seen the text and it promises to be yet another fascinating and extensively researched book. Highly recommended!
Also in the works is the next volume in the Project Tech series, "The Air Staff and AEW", following on from "The Admiralty and AEW". Yet more bizarre, scary, ugly and unbuilt attempts to bolt radar onto aircraft.
Featured Publications:
SKYLON / Reaction Engines
SF / TTA
Project Icarus
“The mission of Icarus Interstellar is to realize interstellar flight before the year 2100.“
Our team is international, 100% volunteer and is engaged in a number of research programs, public outreach endeavors and educational commitments. Read More
The British Interplanetary Society (BIS) is Britain’s leading think tank on space development. Founded in 1933, it is the world’s longest established organization devoted solely to supporting and promoting the exploration of space and astronautics. Join Now!
Initiative for Interstellar Studies
The mission of the Institute for Interstellar Studies is to conduct activities or research relating to the challenges of achieving robotic and human interstellar flight. We will address the scientific, technological, political and social and cultural issues. Read More
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Accommodation, Tourism, Events, Attractions and Discount Accommodation and Specials available in Brisbane, Queensland. For all your Brisbane hotels, Brisbane resorts, Brisbane apartments and Brisbane holidays.
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*Based on number of nights stay and subject to availability. Terms and conditions apply. These are some of the best properties at some of the cheapest prices you will find.
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Looking for Brisbane accommodation? You will find a selection of some of the best hotel and apartment accommodation in Brisbane on our website. If you are looking for affordable, discount accommodation in Brisbane then check out the latest accommodation deals and packages that we have put together. Our website features some of the most popular accommodation deals for Brisbane and is highly recommended by locals, business people and interstate holiday makers, each year we consistently deliver on our promise to provide the best deals possible for our customers.
For all your Brisbane Accommodation - Brisbane resorts, Brisbane tourist information, hotel reviews, Brisbane maps, discount accomodation.
Brisbane is the major hub of Queensland, hoasting national and international music, culture and sporting events, as well as being home to the largest nightlife district and some of the most luxurious accommodation in South East Queensland. Here are some key facts about business, and safety in Brisbane, as well as a breakdown of the rich history of this beautifully diverse city.
Brisbane is the thriving capital city of Queensland, a lush city with a perfect climate and diverse culture and history. Brisbane is a growing city with one of the fastest growing economies in Australia. It is a city of many small quirks from having our very own style of building (the ‘Queenslander’) to creating a swimming beach (Southbank) right in the middle of our CBD. Population
The Brisbane population is reaching close to 2 million, this makes Brisbane the third largest city in Australia. Brisbane also has the largest population growth rate of any other capital city in Australia, but also a lower inner city population density than Australia's two largest cities, Sydney and Melbourne. The multicultural population has 21.7% of residents born overseas and 16% speaking a language other than English at home. Economy
Australia has been ranked the most resilient economy in the world for five of the past six years. Real GDP growth in 2008 saw Australia outperforming global competitors such as the UK, USA, Germany & Spain.
Queensland consistently outperformed the national economy in 2007/2008, with Brisbane being the engine room of the state’s outstanding economic performance. Brisbane’s key sectors include information and communication technology, creative industries, life sciences, food & beverage, tourism infrastructure, manufacturing, logistics & distribution and aviation. Brisbane is one of the major business hubs in Australia. Most major Australian companies, as well as numerous international companies, have contact offices in Brisbane.
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MISSED IT!! Shazia Mirza from Have I Got News For You & the award-winning Glenn Moore at The Winding Wheel, Chesterfield on Thurs 19th September
Shazia Mirza
‘Calm, confident, challenging and always with original material’ – The Evening Standard
‘In that global menagerie of comedy Mirza is that rarest of rare creatures. She guarantees an audience with her biting deadpan observations’ – The New York Times
Shazia is an award winning British Asian stand up Comedian and columnist from Birmingham sticking the figurative knife into political correctness with devastatingly funny effect. She performs all over the world and has toured the US, Sweden, Denmark, France, Holland and Germany. Her vast array of TV credits include CBS ‘60 Minutes’, NBC’s ‘Last Comic Standing’, Paramount’s ‘The World Stands Up’ and BBC’s ‘Have I Got News For You’. She has also graced the stage in several plays including ‘The Vagina Monologues’ at the Royal Albert Hall.
“Witty gags, spot-on timing” – Derbyshire Times
Returning hero who won the Crooked Smile Award at Spotlight Comedy club in 2012. A former Chortle student award runner-up and So You Think You’re Funny? finalist, Glenn’s inventive one-liners steeped in wordplay and lashings of posh buffoonery have established him as a ‘must see’ act on the British comedy circuit. He is also part of the acclaimed sketch duo Thunderbards, who were featured in GQ magazine’s ’10 best acts of the Fringe’ at this year’s Edinburgh Festival.
Nicola James
‘Inventive material and onstage poise in abundance, Nicola is a sardonic treat’ – bbc.co.uk
If you’ve ever wanted to understand the psychology behind chintzy patterns and serial killers she’s the one to watch.
She is a Sheffield based comedian who has quite rightly been described as ‘sweetly cynical’.
Compere – Anthony J Brown
‘Hilarious ad-libs and wicked one-liners from an infectiously funny performer’ – The List
Spotlight Comedy Club
Winding Wheel
Holywell St
S41 7SA
Entry £11/9/6 – student price
Doors 7PM Show 8PM
Thursday 19th September
Anthony J Brown
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Census Facts
1 Top 10 States of India by Population 2011 Population
2 Top 10 States by Population Growth Rate Population Growth Rate
3 Top 10 Most Densely Populated States of India Density
4 Top 10 States of India by Highest Sex Ratio (Gender Ratio) of Female per 1000 males Sex Ratio
5 Top 10 States having lowest Sex Ratio of India (Low Gender Ratio) Sex Ratio
6 Top 10 States having lowest Population Growth Rate 2011 Population Growth Rate
7 Top 10 Least Populated States of India Population
8 Top 10 Least Densely Populated States of India Density
9 Top 10 Smallest States of India by Total Area Area
10 Top 10 Largest States of India by Total Area Area
11 Top 10 Highest Literate States of India : Ranking Literacy
12 Top 10 Lowest Literate States of India : Ranking Literacy
13 Top 10 States having highest Child Population 2011 Census Population
14 Top 10 States having least Child Population 2011 Census Population
15 Top 10 Least Urban States of India Population
16 Top 10 Urbanized States of India Population
The magnanimous land of India is comprised of 28 states and 7 Union Territories. The state Census 2011 has been conducted on both the states as well as the territories of India. If you are interested on the state census data, here goes a short brief with highlights on all the chief parameters of the society to present the reader with a considerable gist on Census Facts 2011 States.
When it comes to the highest India population 2011 by state, Uttar Pradesh rules albeit Maharashtra hosts both the optimum populous district and city in the country. U.P. is the maximum populated state in India with a population of around 19.96 crores. Maharashtra comes second with a population of 11.23 crores. The least populated state in the country is Sikkim with a population of 607688 and Mizoram is the 2nd least populated state with a value of 10, 91014. In regards to Union Territories, Delhi is the most populous Union Territory in the country with a population of 16,753,235. Lakshadweep has been found with least population in the country with a population figure of 64,429. Delhi NCR shows the highest density/square kilometer of 11297 individuals. Arunachal Pradesh shows the least density/square kilometer of 17 individuals.
If you search census 2011 for the growth percentage in the Indian states, Meghalaya comes up as the Indian state with optimum growth rate of 27.82%. On the other hand, Nagaland shows the least percentage of growth. The growth rate in Nagaland is (-) 0.47%. The Union Territory with highest growth rate is Dadra and Nagar Haveli with a growth percentage of 55.50%. Lakshadweep is the Union Territory with lowest rate of growth which is 6.23%.
According to India's census facts 2011, Kerala comes up as the most literate state in the country with 93.91 percentage of literacy rate. The state of Bihar is the least literate with 63.82% of literacy rate. As regards to Union Territories, Lakshadweep shows the highest literacy rate of 92.28%. The least literate Union Territory in India is Dadra and Nagar Haveli with a literacy rate of 77.65%.
As per the Indian Census 2011, the state of Kerala maintains the optimum sex ratio as always with 1084 women per 1000 men. Haryana displays the least ratio with 877 women per 1000 men. Puducherry shows the optimum sex ratio in the country with 1038 females per 1000 males. Daman & Diu is the Union Territory with least ratio on sex with 618 females on 1000 males.
High Growth Rate
Pop Growth
1 Dadra and Nagar Haveli 55.88 %
2 Daman and Diu 53.76 %
3 Puducherry 28.08 %
4 Meghalaya 27.95 %
5 Arunachal Pradesh 26.03 %
High Literacy States
1 Kerala 94.00 %
2 Lakshadweep 91.85 %
3 Mizoram 91.33 %
4 Goa 88.70 %
5 Tripura 87.22 %
High Population
1 Kerala 1084
2 Puducherry 1037
3 Tamil Nadu 996
4 Andhra Pradesh 993
5 Chhattisgarh 991
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cc/2020-05/en_middle_0007.json.gz/line49
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