I am a 28 year old female. The story I’m about to tell you happened back in 2016 with my best friend Chris
Now every since the day Chris and I met we have always got ourselves in the dumbest things ever. I mean Chris ran away once and had my nerves all messed up. But He came back because he had no money. We were not the smartest teens but we still enjoyed life.
So one summer night Chris and I were hanging and we were trying to think of a place to explore (like we always did). At the time I told him I’ve never been to the old Rock House In Greenwood South Carolina.
( Now before I get started let me give you a little History on the Rock house. A man named Thomas “Tom” Payne Tolbert built a “Fire Proof House” in 1926. The fireproof house was constructed entirely from stone, concrete, glass, and steel.After years of family homes burning down. Tolbert lived in the detached kitchen and used the large house to store family heirlooms. Tolbert lived his later years in isolation.) The now-crumbling fortress is accessible only by foot, and no one has ever lived inside its walls. You can look up way more about the History online if you like.
No back to my story. I’ve always been told the Rock House has many spirits in and around it but like I said at the time I’ve never been to it. So with that said. Chris and I took my cousins car and headed out to the Old Rock House. I’ve heard of people going in the day time but never heard people say they went at night. We being dumb went at night because why not. Ghost and spirits never bothered me to much being that I’ve seen them my whole life.
Once we pull up to the woods and park on the side of the road I get the bad feeling run all over my body. I sit there for a moment. I believe Chris sees this look on my face and ask if I still want to do this.
Something is telling me not to get out but at the same time I want to see this place even at night. “Yeah let’s go see how scary this place is” I told him. “Hell yeah let’s do it!” he replied. We get out and start walking threw the woods. As we are walking we have our phones out for light and we are making jokes acting silly like we always do. We can never take anything seriously no matter what. As we are walking we don’t realize how quite it is to be in the woods… at night… in the middle of summer…
We find our way to the front of the house. Chris is in front of me and we are looking at the house. No front door and no windows. All you can see is pure darkness. For some reason I just can’t move even though Chris is walking to what used to be the door. At this moment I realize we are in complete darkness and there are no sounds. No animals, no bugs no wind or anything. Just pure silence. Then out of the corner of my eye I see something in the top left window. But before I completely look I hear something to the left of me and I look over. But I see nothing. Only the darkness.
A feeling of dread falls over me but nothing is there. Chris is now at the door of the house and looks inside. I look at the windows and there it is. Something is there in the window looking down at me. My body turns cold. Those eyes. I’ll never forget those eyes burning a hole in my soul. Bright yellow redish eyes like fire.
All of a sudden I hear Chris say “Oh Hell No” He turns to run to me but my body is still frozen. He grabs my wrist and pulls me to run. He never lets me go. As we are running we are jumping over falling trees and everything on the ground that people have left over time. As we run I realize something is running beside us and I don’t dare to look back.
My body is now in pilot mood as Chris has the grip still on my wrist pulling me. My mind is blank and my heart is racing. At one point I feel like I can feel the breath of what ever is chasing us.
The moment we make it to the car everything comes back to me and I’m back in control of my mind and body. We jump In the car and Chris goes to start the car he has is face covered in the string wheel as he tries to start the car... but… it’s dead! THE CAR IS DEAD! We start freaking out with my head buried between my legs and Chris still hiding his face I yell out “THIS IS IT CHRIS THIS IS HOW WE DIE! THIS IS WHY US WHITE PEOPLE DIE IN MOVIES BECAUSE WE DO DUMB SHIT LIKE THIS!” Chris yells back at me “Shut up we are not going to die the car will start!” I can still feel this thing outside of the car. Its just there. Is this why there are so many spirits here? Does it take the souls of people who it has caught come here? I feel it looking at us. Something wants me to look at it but at the same times a voice in my head is telling me not to. I want to cry.
The car starts and Chris tries to speed off. We start going dowm the road but then… one of the ties blew. We are now on the side of the road again and we just sit there not wanting to get out. It’s quite again. The feeling of being watched is still there. Luckily for us a guy in a truck pulls up behind us. I feel safe right now. The guy pulls over and helps Chris change the tire. I hold my phone as a light with my back to the woods. I still have that feeling. I want to turn and see what is there but I dare not to. Something is telling me not to look.
After the tire gets fixed we head to the Huddle House close by to calm down. The poor lady working that night sees something is wrong and with what little money we have the lady helps us pay for a meal.
The next few days Strange things start happening around my house. For example I’m in the kitchen fixing something for lunch. My roommate and I are talking like normal and the cutting board goes flying across the kitchen. See gives me this looks and says. “See what you caused! Shit keeps happening for no reason all because you want to visit haunted places.” I pick up the cutting board. At this point I feel like I need to make things right. I've always been told that if you disturb the dead that you have to make things right. So with that being said.
That weekend I go see some friends who doesn’t live for from the Rock House and tell them I need to go there so we do. This time it’s full daylight. Once we get there I still have this feeling but I don’t say a word. Once we get to the house my friends go in to look around. They explore the place. Inside and out. I look to the left of me and see nothing but the feeling is there. My body is weak.
As I walk in I look in the direction that Chris saw something at. Then I look into the room to the left of me and see the room is full of designs in paint all over the room. The whole house is cover the same way. But there is something about this one room. I walk into the room. There is a Pentagram with all the markings around it. I walk over to it and examine it closely.
I walk around it seeing if it’s done right and to my eyes I see that it is. I yell out to my friends “Hey I think someone tried to summon a demon or something!” As soon as the words leave my mouth something comes crashing down. I nope the hell out of there and just start running out of the house sadly leaving my friends inside not meaning to. All I do is run through the woods yelling “I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry!” I don’t stop until I’m out of the woods.
My friends come after me wondering what is going on so I tell them about the other night and what just happened as well. At this point I just want to leave. We all get into the car. The friend driving goes to start the car… it’s dead… just like the other night but in a different car. My mind goes back to the other night this big dark creature comes to mind for some reason. I never seen it before. Was it the thing chasing us that night? Was it putting itself in my mind to scare me more? So many questions. I try my best not to freak out. I called my roommate to come pick us up.
As we are waiting a car pulls up. He must live on this road and knows what happened. He says every time someone goes to the house their car is dead when they get back. He helps jump start the car and we go down the road. I see my roommate and I jump out of the car and jump into mine. I speed off as fast as I can wanting to get as far away from this place at possible. My friends meet me at my house and I made a promise to my self to never go back to the Rock House.
For some reason Chris and I stopped hanging out. We didn’t get in a fight or anything we just stopped being friends and we never spoke about what happened that night until a few weeks again. We both seemed to have forgotten that night. I called him and asked him what it was that he saw that night inside the house to make him do what he did. He doesn’t remember what he saw but he remembers that night. I thought I wouldnt forget but I did until a few weeks ago...
Someone told me that a brain will block out something so traumatizing that you won’t remember what happened and live your life like normal. Maybe that’s what our brains did for us so we won’t live in fear forever.
Now its 2023 and now that I remember this I told this story recently to a few of my friends at work and one person told me they want to visit The Rock House. I told them no they don’t but they really want to not believing in Ghost and has never experienced anything Ghostly. So I said “Go if you want but I promise you I won’t be going back to that place ever again and once you do you won’t go back there either. The witch that used to live behind me didn’t scare my as much as what ever was in the woods that night.” Yes a witch used to live in the property beside the house I lived at back then and passed away or so we thought... Crazy things happened at night around the inside and outside of house but that… is a story for another time.

I bought a newly-constructed (end of 2021) townhouse in Sunnyvale, CA, and there are a few defects I've noticed. Most recently, the light fixture in my garage is detaching from the ceiling (photos).
My question: is there any code or proper installation process that should have been followed? I'm assuming that the buildeinstaller simply screwed it directly to the sheetrock without using anchors, but I'll double check.
What recourse do I have when it comes to these kinds of defects that the builder claims to be out of scope of their "Limited Warranty"?
Thanks in advance!

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Some motherfuckers are always trying to ice skate uphill. - The Daywalker, Third Vampire War, Age of Paranoia
Whatever I lost, I lost a long time ago. - Barbara, Third Zombie War, Age of Paranoia
This is the dumbest shit we've ever done. - Everyone everywhere.
The dumbest shit so far. - The smartass next to them.
"Captain," Chuck's voice was quiet, barely audible to her ear. "Don't react, just lay there."
Nakteti held still, able to tell by the slight tingling that Chuck was using her mastoid implant to talk to her over a secure channel.
She brought up the visual keyboard and rapidly typed out on her retinal link. "Sit-rep."
"Our four guests are talking. They think with Magnus and Surscee out in the park picking apples and you asleep, that the simple act of moving away from the computers will keep me from listening in," Chuck said.
"Patch me in," Nakteti typed.
There was a slight sound of static.
"...we knew this was a one-way trip when we left Darkside," the Rose Knight was saying.
"Well, duh, the Mantid glassed Earth and the colonies. We knew that," Sword Knight One said. Nakteti could see his face, that he was chewing on something. He swallowed. "Momma already told us that."
"The mission objectives are still unchanged. Get the SUDS back online or figure out a way to start repairs," the Rose Knight said. "Momma gave us the orders, we follow them."
"Which we are doing," the Tome Knight stated, her voice cold and remote. Nakteti noted that her face was deliberately held expressionless, but her chin was slightly tilted up, and she was looking at the internal camera of her helmet down the length of her nose. "Without the help of the alien, that AI, and those twins, we would still be stuck with our equipment malfunctioning and leaving us stuck at the center of a layered time distortion."
"Do you really trust her? Trust their story? That it's been nine thousand years since the Glassing. That there was something called the Digital Omnimessiah and the Twelve Biological Apostles?" the Rose Knight asked, a slight sneer in his voice. "That just curiosity and luck led her here?"
"Then what, she's a Mantid slave race spy? Come here to... I don't know, repair the SUDS so we get back our manpower edge?" the Tome Knight asked. This time she was the one sneering. "The stupid bullshit of reducing military manpower to bare minimum with the excuse of 'oh, we can just pull them from the SUDS and force-growth clones for them, that way their cybernetics are modern and they can be put in the SUDS at the height of their skills instead of suffering skill degradation' came back to bite us on the ass."
"Armistice agreements mandated everyone have only a quarter-million troops, outside of the United Nations of Sol," the Rose Knight said. "It kept the peace."
"Yeah, that and vegetation that would eat you if you sat in one place for too long," Sword Knight Two snorted. He chewed on something for a moment, swallowed, the continued, "Face it, we're on the edge of extinction. If the Mantid don't get us, the plants will."
"Theoretically, glassing Earth would take care of the Extinction Agenda attack," the Tome Knight said.
"We're getting side-tracked," Sword Knight Two said. "That dude, Magnus,"
"Gods above, he's fucking annoying," Sword Knight One said, chewing at the end of his sentence.
"If I hear his sister bitch about not having any fruit to eat one more time, I swear, I'm going to go completely ape shit," Sword Knight Two added. "Anyway, that dude, Magnus, he said that the next temporal dissonance layer is about to be peeled off. That leaves two more layers."
"And there's the problem. Once they peel off the last layer, they'll have full access to the SUDS facility," the Rose Knight said. "Which is in direct conflict to our mission orders to secure possession of the SUDS facility."
"Except our orders are nine thousand years out of date," the Tome Knight said. "The Combine is gone, replaced by the Imperium. I read that part. I know the guy who founded the Imperium, well, I served under him. He's some United Nations of Sol representative's son and a complete douche."
"And the Imperium was replaced by the Confederacy," Sword Knight Two said, swallowing whatever he was chewing on.
"Yeah, five thousand years after the Imperium got its skull kicked in by someone with the goofy ass name of Daxin Freeborn," Sword Knight One said. "Sounds like some hab block ganger bullshit name to me."
"And 'Martial Orders'? Like the Templars? For who? Christianity? Islam? Hinduism? Scientology?" Sword Knight Two sneered. "The whole thing sounds like bullshit to me."
"But the evidence is clear," The Tome Knight broke in.
"What evidence? A file on a computer? I can write you one that states those stupid characters from the Gorilla Girls tri-vee show took over the universe and we all have to wear gorilla costumes now," the Rose Knight said.
The Tome Knight made a disgusted noise. "The tech, dumbass."
"Watch your words and tone with me," the Rose Knight snapped.
"The technology," the Tome Knight said.
"Better."
"Our armor has the best in miniaturization tech, and we've only got a nine q-bit system. That Surscee woman has a computer embedded in her forearm that's running at least ten-twenty-four q-bits. A computer only a little bigger than a piece of gum," the Tome Knight stated. "Those temporal charges are light years ahead of anything we have."
"Mantid technology?" Sword Knight One guessed.
"If the Mantid are that advanced, we've already lost the war," the Tome Knight said. She lifted her chin again. "We must take into account the fact that nine thousand years have passed since we entered the mat-trans at the Darkside Facility to get here," she stated coldly. "The team waiting for us to return is long dead."
"Maybe we can go back and help them?" Sword Knight One asked. He frowned, then broke into a big smile.
"No. They'll have their hands full re-activating the facility from the damage from when half the staff went crazy," the Tome Knight said. She shook her head. "Losing the engineering and scientific staff means the facility is little more than a habitat orbiting an anomaly."
"We can't just leave them. We need to do something," Sword Knight Two said.
"They're dead. You can't go back in time. You'll hit the energy limit or get the worst possible outcome, or you'll spaghetti," the Tome Knight said. "I've told you that before. I stated it during the mission briefing."
"What about Momma?" Sword Knight One said, his voice wistful.
"We all knew this might be a one way trip," the Rose Knight repeated. There was silence for a moment. "I'll consider what each of you have stated and decide if the mission parameters should be adjusted," he paused. "Get some sleep."
"Not tired," Sword Knight Two said.
"Don't wanna," Sword Knight One said.
"I have research I must continue," the Tome Knight said.
"Doesn't matter. We don't have to worry about an ambush. Set reflex triggers," the Rose Knight said.
One by one they confirmed they'd set their reflex triggers.
"Nunc me dormiam," the Rose Knight said, his voice replaced by a woman's voice that was accompanied by a quick series of tones.
Nakteti watched as all of their eyes closed and they moved almost immediately into REM sleep.
"Mnemonic triggers," Chuck said. "I got the tones. In case it requires that female voice, I've got a high fidelty multi-tonal recording."
"Good," Nakteti said. "I don't want to kill them if I don't have to."
"And if they force it?" Chuck asked.
"Then I'll kill them."
-----
Nakteti spooled out the superconductor cable carefully, moving between one temporal disruptostabilizer and the other. She stopped, plugged it into the repeater, then ran another cable.
She was going over the discussion again in her head.
The four had still never taken off their armor, and Nakteti kept chewing over that fact, over and over.
She looked around, realized she was the only living thing for a couple thousand miles, and touched her implant.
"Chuck, do you read?" she asked.
"I read you, Captain," Chuck said. "Line is secure."
"Good," she said. "Do we have any visuals on who is inside that armor and what they look like?"
"Internal helmet cam," Chuck said.
"Anything besides that?" Nakteti asked.
"No. It's live feed," Chuck said.
"Is it?" Nakteti asked. "Seriously. Is it? Could it be computer overlay?"
"You mean, they're using digital avatars?" Chuck said.
"It's just something about the feed. Something about them that I keep chewing over," Nakteti said. "Can Surscee get a better read on them?"
"No. Their armor is sealed. It's a closed system with memory metal joints," Chuck said. "Internal power systems. The only thing that armor gives off is their suit telemetry, communications, radiation, and visual light reflection."
Nakteti sat down on a bench, pulling out her water flask and taking a long drink.
"Something's not right. We've been doing this for months, maybe a year or more, it's hard to tell with the temporal disruptions," Nakteti said. "We know virtually nothing about them. If anything, they'll withdrawing more and more."
She took another drink and put away the flask. "See if you can hack their armor systems further, but be subtle."
"The only input their systems allow is that one single encrypted channel, and then only compressed bursts," Chuck said. "They aren't even using a frequency agile system."
Chuck made a slight static noise. "You're right. That is odd. We don't really have any schematics for Combine Era power armor in our database, but the fact it's completely sealed is weird."
Nakteti thought for a long moment. "You record their conversations, right?"
"I record all of it. The one thing I've managed to do is break their telemetry feed," Chuck said. "Let me look at the feed better."
"Show me that last conversation, only give me an hour or so before that, just visual, on fast forward," Nakteti said.
"What are you looking for?" Chuck asked.
"I don't know," Nakteti admitted.
She watched it through twice.
Something about it was bugging her.
She reached in her pocket and pulled out a Goody Yum-Yum Bar, unwrapping it and chewing on it while she watched it through a third time.
She was halfway through the fourth watch when it dawned on her.
They were chewing on nothing. She never saw them put anything in their mouths. They never had food in their mouths when they talked.
"Chuck?" she asked.
"Here, Captain," the DS answered.
"I need you to run a fast forward. Check to see if you ever see them take a pull of nutripaste or water. Especially around the time they start chewing," she said.
"Checking," Chuck said.
Nakteti finished off her Goody Yum-Yum bar before Chuck got back to her.
"I've checked all the telemetry, and no, they never take a drink of water or any nutripaste nor do they ever appear to have something in their mouths when they talk," Chuck paused. "It points at your idea that what we're seeing is being generated by their suit computers."
"See what you can do about getting me a look at them," Nakteti said.
"I'll be careful," Chuck promised.
Nakteti looked up at where the 'sun' was frozen in the magnetic guidance tube. It had several others just off of it, making it look like a cluster of three stars.
There's something going on, and I don't like it, she thought.
-----
"Anything?" Nakteti asked.
"No. It's really weird. I should be able to cut through archaic code like a hot knife through butter, but it's more than just the code. There's weird hardware safety interlocks. Everything is extremely partitioned, more than even Atrekna War combat armor," Chuck said. "One thing I did get, is that the armors definitely have chronotron leakage. Not much, but enough to tell me that they're using chronotron for something inside the suit."
"Stabilization? Like Confederate armor during the Atrekna war?" Nakteti asked.
Chuck just shrugged. "I'm not sure. You're right, there's something hinky about them. After you noticed that they don't eat I took a better look. There's something weird with their telemetry."
"Like what?" Nakteti asked.
"Like, according to their brain waves, right now, the two Sword Knights are asleep. High activity REM sleep," Chuck said. "Yet, they're out there helping Magnus lay down the last of the control cabling."
"That is strange," Nakteti said. She sighed. "I wish I knew more about Terran combat systems."
"Same here," Chuck said. He looked up suddenly as Nakteti heard the door swoosh open behind her. "Captain!"
She was already lunging forward, landing on her catching hands, using her feet and gripping hands to push herself into a roll that took her behind an unpowered console.
"You might as well come out, xeno," the Rose Knight said. "You brought a sword to a blaze rifle fight."
"Do not do this. We are allies," Chuck tried.
"Silence, AI," the Rose Knight said. "You are an amalgamation of circuits and code, I am a flesh and blood being, touched by the creator himself. You have no right to speak to me, much less attempt to command me."
Nakteti used the time the Rose Knight was monologuing to draw her sword as well as to reach down and activate her personal protective field. She sent off a quick set of emojis to let Surscee and Magnus know they were about to be attacked by the Chronotronic Knights.
"I am blessed by the Digital Omnimessiah," Chuck started to say.
"BLASPHEME!" the Rose Knight shouted.
Nakteti winced at the blaze rifle fired. It made a high pitched screaming sound as the gold/white beam of energy lanced out, bisecting Chuck.
"Please," Chuck said. "As if."
Nakteti pulled a device out of her pouch and slid it across the floor, behind another console. It winked on and Chuck was crouched down behind the console, a blaster pistol in his hand. He looked at Nakteti and nodded.
"Don't make me kill you, Rose Knight," Nakteti said.
"SILENCE, XENO!" the Rose Knight screamed partway through Nakteti's plea.
Nakteti could smell it suddenly. Ozone, scorched copper, rusted iron.
Wrath.
She looked at Chuck and mouthed "Enraged" at him.
Chuck gave an 'of course' slump to his head and shoulders, shaking his head at the same time.
"Come out. You're only prolonging the inevitable," the Rose Knight said. "Your friends are dead or will be soon. They are armed with only swords and are not even wearing armor."
"Take off a limb or two, take them alive," Nakteti ordered over her retinal link.
"Let me try something," Chuck said. He raised his face to the ceiling. ""Nunc me dormiam," he said in a woman's voice.
"YOU'RE NOT MOMMY!" the Rose Knight shrieked.
"Worth a try," Chuck put on Nakteti's retinal link.
Nakteti shrugged, waiting.
The Rose Knight was ranting about xenos, Earth, the Mantid.
Magnus and Surscee both flashed emojis back, Chuck just nodded.
"Ready?" Nakteti asked Chuck over the retinal link.
Chuck nodded.
Nakteti ended up curling up as the Rose Knight started screaming and shooting the walls, the ceiling, random computers.
"I WANT MY MOMMY!" he screamed, his voice crackling with distortion. "MOMMY! DADDY! WHERE ARE YOU?" The sound of the rifle being used to smash things was loud in the sudden silence.
Nakteti blinked and looked at Chuck, who shrugged and mouthed "enraged".
The Rose Knight stopped screaming and Chuck stood up, leveling the blaster pistol.
The Rose Knight was punching and kicking chairs, consoles, computer equipment.
Aiming, the hard-light manifested Chuck fired, hitting the Rose Knight in the knee.
Nakteti rolled out from behind the console, running on four limbs, using her legs and catching hands, holding her sword tight with her gripping hands.
The Rose Knight screamed, his words incoherent.
The Rose Knight's lower leg blew off in a shower of sparks and fluids. The armored Terran went down on one knee, still screaming.
Nakteti came in, standing up, hacking one, twice with the nanite sharpened blade.
The limbs came off in a shower of sparks, showering Nakteti with hydraulic fluids.
Nakteti ignored it.
She'd been splattered with worse.
Chuck stepped up and kicked the Rose Knight onto his back, putting on foot on the armored man's chest.
"I want my mommy," the Rose Knight said.
Nakteti realized that he was weeping.
She held out her hand. "Why? Why did you attack us?"
"Mission. The mission," the Rose Knight said. He started crying again. "I want my mommy."
"That panel. Open it," Chuck said, pointing at a seemless patch on the armor. "Just press against it and let go."
Nakteti did so. The panel slid open, revealing an induction port. Nakteti held up her finger where she had an implanted induction link. Chuck nodded.
Nakteti pressed her finger against the induction jack.
"Let's get a look at you," Chuck said.
"No. You're not supposed to. Don't," the Rose Knight wept. "Mommy."
"Digital Omnimessiah preserve us," Chuck whispered, his eyes going wide with horror. He looked down.
"Have mercy upon us for what we have done," Chuck said.
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Looking for some recommendations for an LED fixture that is good for top lighting a stage. These lights would be used the same way Source4 Pars are typically used.

In early may 2023 I sat in church with my family. The preacher Approached his podium looking war torn sad, and with a worried look on his face. He raised his hands and said. "I've had dreams of god speaking to me. Hes telling me so much. It's almost incomprehensible to me his words they burn my ears as if a red hot iron is being forced into them. What I can gather from him is that the end times are close, and the seven trumpets shall call it forth. Now my children As your preacher, my intention are to deliver a sermon that not only explains the significance of the seven trumpets being sounded but also encourages individuals to reflect on their own lives and prepare themselves for the end of the world.
The seven trumpets are significant in the book of Revelation as they represent the final warning of God's judgment on the earth. The first four trumpets describe catastrophic events that will result in widespread destruction and devastation. The fifth trumpet describes a swarm of locusts that will torment those who have not been sealed by God. The sixth trumpet describes an army of 200 million that will bring destruction upon the earth, and the seventh trumpet announces the final judgment of God.
The sounding of these trumpets serves as a warning to all of us that the end of the world is near, and we must prepare ourselves accordingly. As we read in the book of Revelation, the effects of these trumpets will be catastrophic, and those who have not prepared themselves will face a terrible fate.
Therefore, we must examine our own lives and make sure that we are prepared for the end of the world. We must ensure that our hearts and minds are focused on God and that we are living our lives according to His will. We must repent of our sins and ask for God's forgiveness, so that we may be sealed by Him and protected from the judgments that are to come.
In conclusion, the sounding of the seven trumpets serves as a warning to us all that the end of the world is near, and we must prepare ourselves accordingly. We must make sure that our hearts and minds are focused on God, and we must repent of our sins and ask for His forgiveness. Let us heed this warning and prepare ourselves for the return of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen."
Finishing up he smiled at us all as he pulled a pistol from his robe putting it in his mouth squeezing the trigger and blowing the back of his head apart. Painting the statue of jesus christ behind him with a grotesque mosaic brain matter, skull fragments and so much blood. After the cops were called his building in the church were searched. The two nuns that accompanied him hanging and they're chambers and bleed dry. In his quarters They found the he used the blood and painted on his walls repeatedly. The seventh trumpets shall sound they shall sound. This was painted and cover the entirety of his room. After this was done the church was closed and we never went back.
Then it happened The two witnesses show on june 7th 2023, in an attempt to save humanity, they spread the gospel of God explaining to all those who were willing to listen, but most turned a blind Eye with this. The two witnesses then had no choice, but too have the first of seven trumpets sound. The first Trumpet sounds with the echo across the world. More of a vibration than a noise many people had not known it went off. After it had stopped Hail began to fall from the sky with a drastic change. The Hail went from solid small pieces of ice to pieces of Red hot glass as it hit the ground it burnt everything in touched. Within two weeks it spread across the world. Because of this most of the world's vegetation Burnt to the ground, leaving nothing but melted glass and ash across the lands. With this a three hundred day war breaks out across the world. Nations began to fight for what food was left in the world. As april approached the war ended with no victor. With hundreds of thousands dead the world went into mourning. Realizing that the war caused nothing but harm to the world. Bringing the sadness and pain to all those that had to be involved. Countless families torn apart so many wounded so many dead. Children without fathers or Mother's, wife's mourning Their husbands. mothers screaming and crying over the lose of their children. The world fell silent as it realized that if they had listened Maybe none of this would have happened. None of that mattered now. Now there was too much pain, too much anger, and too much hate. The world blamed god for all this tragedy that had happened to them as a whole. They cursed it's name. Those who had faith in God, Started to doubt they felt as though God itself had left them. How could something so powerful, So all-knowing do this to them. It wasn't fair, was God acting out like a child? How could God be all-powerful and be jealous that not every single being on the Earth showed it Love and loyalty. what kind of power hungry thing Was God? if this is what god was They didn't want to believe they didn't want to follow. They wanted to forget they wanted to abandon it. Seeing this the witnesses called out to the world. Trying the best they could to get everyone to understand why God was doing what it was doing. This caused more problems than good. People started burning churches to spite god. No longer were churches safe no longer could families go and feel safe and at peace. Now churches were taboo and known to be a place of death.
Not having convinced the world the witnesses called forth the second trumpet to sound. The sound of the second trumpet was unlike anything humanity had heard. To most that could comprehend the sound described it as if thunder was crying out in pain. On the last day of April the sky looked as though it was being torn open by the sound of the trumpet. Stopping abruptly people from all over the world could see that the sky had in fact had been torn open like a wound, and from that wound spilled an asteroid that resembled a blood clot. The asteroid was said to be the size of mount everest. Slowly it fell towards the earth. The closer it came to earth the more people felt a sense of dread and sorrow. Knowing that once it hit all would be turned to ash. People stood in shock as the mountain of an asteroid split in to smaller pieces and falling to the world's oceans. Hitting the water with such forces tsunamis to accrue across the plant killing thousands. Over the next few day the pieces decayed into the waters turning them into a viscera soup, killing roughly a third of all sea life. People started smelling the rot that came from the now think blood like ocean waters. Noticing the animals dying out and rotting giving the bloody ocean a acid like state causing those who lived on the waters to die slowly and painful. Soon people left the oceanside for they no longer could fish for food to survive.
In less than a year the world's oceans became a gelatinous mass of blood and gore. Spreading sickness and suffering to most if not all of the world's population the sickness only caused pain and discomfort but never death.
By July 2026 the Temples that once held weekly services to worship and praise God, were now completely abandoned and avoided by all that still lived. Knowing that their voices would fall to deaf ears the witnesses sound led the third trumpet. The sounds a weeping was heard throughout the disease ridden word. Knowing that a new plague approached the weak and trembling people hid the best they could. A flash of green light flooded the sky as a second asteroid came for the heavens. This one devolved in the air turning to light rain. Only hitting the lakes ponds and every other body of water. Seeing that nothing had changed the slowly dwindling population went back to what lives they could live. Unfortunately over the next year many died of was thought to be from dehydration no matter how much water they'd consume. Looking back the people that were left realized that all the waters had been poisoned. Those who survived learned what was safe to drink and what caused a slow labored death. The ones who died suffered incredible pain as their insides turned to a mess of rot and decay. Slowly they'd rot throwing up their literal guts and organs until nothing was left. At the end of the year only a quarter of the earth's population was left. Roaming what was left of the war torn lands searching for some sense of peace only to find rage pain and death at every corner of the world. Then the witnesses sounded the forth trumpet it was a quiet dull sound the next few weeks. The skies began losing light as if the sun was dying. The night sky was now a void of darkness with no stars in sight and a fading moon. Slowly darkness was all the people knew. Christmas came that year some people tried to show they had faith once again. Setting up small groups to share the holiday spirit most were meet with hatred but some were welcomed with loving arms. With their all seeing eyes the witnesses observed with hope that the world was going to change for the betterment of all. Then the new year started with a major power claiming that they held the right to command over what was left in the world for they had more of a population and those who disagreed would be delt with a swift and painful experience. This well, this caused so much to happen and none of it was good. People started looting fight and killing just because they knew they could. There was no rules anymore and people took full advantage of that. What's no hesitation? The witnesses sounded the fifth trumpet. The trumpet Sounded as though A million babies were screaming out in causing everyone to drop to their knees and hold their ears. The sound penetrated them, causing mass hysteria. With an hours of the Trumpet sounding hells Pit of torment Tour open from the Earth's crust and from it, a rupted millions upon millions of locust. Please locust tour through homes, buildings, and people. The sound that they made made people tear At their ears shoving Anything that they could get their hands-on into their own ears Just to stop the sounds from entering their body. This went on for 5 months, then abruptly all that's a locust died. Falling from the sky, as a terrible reminder. Once they all fell to the ground the sixth trumpet screamed out calling forth an army of two million undead warriors, for the next eighteen months they search and brutally attacked and killed close to a third of the male population leaving nothing but death in their wake, once they had accomplished their task they caught fire burning up the locusts and their own bodies to dust. As a calmness came over the world the witnesses came forth speaking of the coming of christ itself, and those who are righteous shall know peace and all others shall know pain and death. In a show of power the witnesses disappeared in a flash of bright blue light and a clap of thunder that shook all that was left. The sky opened as a voice echoed through the ears of all people. Tellimg them to fall to their knees and beg for forgiveness and show that they have true faith in God for if they don't it would strike them down sending them to hell. With much fear, anger, pain, and hatred. People of the world lashed out, calling the so called one true God a false God a sad and jealous God end they would not Worship follow or do, as is it commanded and for it's so-called chosen one, it could also turn back and never return. For they As people of the world would find their own way they could live. Be happy and grow they would turn this world back in to something lavish and beautiful once again. Screaming out to gods so-called prophet youre not needed. Your God is not needed here all of this pain, death and destruction, it was caused by you. And we will be the ones to rebuild it not you Your profit, not your witnesses, us. And only us now close your gates to heaven and hell. Leave us to our own we've already turned our backs on you so you do the same. We don't want you and we don't need you. The sky closed and went dark leaving only the last few survives scattered across the wasteland that was once earth.

In early may 2023 I sat in church with my family. The preacher Approached his podium looking war torn sad, and with a worried look on his face. He raised his hands and said. "I've had dreams of god speaking to me. Hes telling me so much. It's almost incomprehensible to me his words they burn my ears as if a red hot iron is being forced into them. What I can gather from him is that the end times are close, and the seven trumpets shall call it forth. Now my children As your preacher, my intention are to deliver a sermon that not only explains the significance of the seven trumpets being sounded but also encourages individuals to reflect on their own lives and prepare themselves for the end of the world.
The seven trumpets are significant in the book of Revelation as they represent the final warning of God's judgment on the earth. The first four trumpets describe catastrophic events that will result in widespread destruction and devastation. The fifth trumpet describes a swarm of locusts that will torment those who have not been sealed by God. The sixth trumpet describes an army of 200 million that will bring destruction upon the earth, and the seventh trumpet announces the final judgment of God.
The sounding of these trumpets serves as a warning to all of us that the end of the world is near, and we must prepare ourselves accordingly. As we read in the book of Revelation, the effects of these trumpets will be catastrophic, and those who have not prepared themselves will face a terrible fate.
Therefore, we must examine our own lives and make sure that we are prepared for the end of the world. We must ensure that our hearts and minds are focused on God and that we are living our lives according to His will. We must repent of our sins and ask for God's forgiveness, so that we may be sealed by Him and protected from the judgments that are to come.
In conclusion, the sounding of the seven trumpets serves as a warning to us all that the end of the world is near, and we must prepare ourselves accordingly. We must make sure that our hearts and minds are focused on God, and we must repent of our sins and ask for His forgiveness. Let us heed this warning and prepare ourselves for the return of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen."
Finishing up he smiled at us all as he pulled a pistol from his robe putting it in his mouth squeezing the trigger and blowing the back of his head apart. Painting the statue of jesus christ behind him with a grotesque mosaic brain matter, skull fragments and so much blood. After the cops were called his building in the church were searched. The two nuns that accompanied him hanging and they're chambers and bleed dry. In his quarters They found the he used the blood and painted on his walls repeatedly. The seventh trumpets shall sound they shall sound. This was painted and cover the entirety of his room. After this was done the church was closed and we never went back.
Then it happened The two witnesses show on june 7th 2023, in an attempt to save humanity, they spread the gospel of God explaining to all those who were willing to listen, but most turned a blind Eye with this. The two witnesses then had no choice, but too have the first of seven trumpets sound. The first Trumpet sounds with the echo across the world. More of a vibration than a noise many people had not known it went off. After it had stopped Hail began to fall from the sky with a drastic change. The Hail went from solid small pieces of ice to pieces of Red hot glass as it hit the ground it burnt everything in touched. Within two weeks it spread across the world. Because of this most of the world's vegetation Burnt to the ground, leaving nothing but melted glass and ash across the lands. With this a three hundred day war breaks out across the world. Nations began to fight for what food was left in the world. As april approached the war ended with no victor. With hundreds of thousands dead the world went into mourning. Realizing that the war caused nothing but harm to the world. Bringing the sadness and pain to all those that had to be involved. Countless families torn apart so many wounded so many dead. Children without fathers or Mother's, wife's mourning Their husbands. mothers screaming and crying over the lose of their children. The world fell silent as it realized that if they had listened Maybe none of this would have happened. None of that mattered now. Now there was too much pain, too much anger, and too much hate. The world blamed god for all this tragedy that had happened to them as a whole. They cursed it's name. Those who had faith in God, Started to doubt they felt as though God itself had left them. How could something so powerful, So all-knowing do this to them. It wasn't fair, was God acting out like a child? How could God be all-powerful and be jealous that not every single being on the Earth showed it Love and loyalty. what kind of power hungry thing Was God? if this is what god was They didn't want to believe they didn't want to follow. They wanted to forget they wanted to abandon it. Seeing this the witnesses called out to the world. Trying the best they could to get everyone to understand why God was doing what it was doing. This caused more problems than good. People started burning churches to spite god. No longer were churches safe no longer could families go and feel safe and at peace. Now churches were taboo and known to be a place of death.
Not having convinced the world the witnesses called forth the second trumpet to sound. The sound of the second trumpet was unlike anything humanity had heard. To most that could comprehend the sound described it as if thunder was crying out in pain. On the last day of April the sky looked as though it was being torn open by the sound of the trumpet. Stopping abruptly people from all over the world could see that the sky had in fact had been torn open like a wound, and from that wound spilled an asteroid that resembled a blood clot. The asteroid was said to be the size of mount everest. Slowly it fell towards the earth. The closer it came to earth the more people felt a sense of dread and sorrow. Knowing that once it hit all would be turned to ash. People stood in shock as the mountain of an asteroid split in to smaller pieces and falling to the world's oceans. Hitting the water with such forces tsunamis to accrue across the plant killing thousands. Over the next few day the pieces decayed into the waters turning them into a viscera soup, killing roughly a third of all sea life. People started smelling the rot that came from the now think blood like ocean waters. Noticing the animals dying out and rotting giving the bloody ocean a acid like state causing those who lived on the waters to die slowly and painful. Soon people left the oceanside for they no longer could fish for food to survive.
In less than a year the world's oceans became a gelatinous mass of blood and gore. Spreading sickness and suffering to most if not all of the world's population the sickness only caused pain and discomfort but never death.
By July 2026 the Temples that once held weekly services to worship and praise God, were now completely abandoned and avoided by all that still lived. Knowing that their voices would fall to deaf ears the witnesses sound led the third trumpet. The sounds a weeping was heard throughout the disease ridden word. Knowing that a new plague approached the weak and trembling people hid the best they could. A flash of green light flooded the sky as a second asteroid came for the heavens. This one devolved in the air turning to light rain. Only hitting the lakes ponds and every other body of water. Seeing that nothing had changed the slowly dwindling population went back to what lives they could live. Unfortunately over the next year many died of was thought to be from dehydration no matter how much water they'd consume. Looking back the people that were left realized that all the waters had been poisoned. Those who survived learned what was safe to drink and what caused a slow labored death. The ones who died suffered incredible pain as their insides turned to a mess of rot and decay. Slowly they'd rot throwing up their literal guts and organs until nothing was left. At the end of the year only a quarter of the earth's population was left. Roaming what was left of the war torn lands searching for some sense of peace only to find rage pain and death at every corner of the world. Then the witnesses sounded the forth trumpet it was a quiet dull sound the next few weeks. The skies began losing light as if the sun was dying. The night sky was now a void of darkness with no stars in sight and a fading moon. Slowly darkness was all the people knew. Christmas came that year some people tried to show they had faith once again. Setting up small groups to share the holiday spirit most were meet with hatred but some were welcomed with loving arms. With their all seeing eyes the witnesses observed with hope that the world was going to change for the betterment of all. Then the new year started with a major power claiming that they held the right to command over what was left in the world for they had more of a population and those who disagreed would be delt with a swift and painful experience. This well, this caused so much to happen and none of it was good. People started looting fight and killing just because they knew they could. There was no rules anymore and people took full advantage of that. What's no hesitation? The witnesses sounded the fifth trumpet. The trumpet Sounded as though A million babies were screaming out in causing everyone to drop to their knees and hold their ears. The sound penetrated them, causing mass hysteria. With an hours of the Trumpet sounding hells Pit of torment Tour open from the Earth's crust and from it, a rupted millions upon millions of locust. Please locust tour through homes, buildings, and people. The sound that they made made people tear At their ears shoving Anything that they could get their hands-on into their own ears Just to stop the sounds from entering their body. This went on for 5 months, then abruptly all that's a locust died. Falling from the sky, as a terrible reminder. Once they all fell to the ground the sixth trumpet screamed out calling forth an army of two million undead warriors, for the next eighteen months they search and brutally attacked and killed close to a third of the male population leaving nothing but death in their wake, once they had accomplished their task they caught fire burning up the locusts and their own bodies to dust. As a calmness came over the world the witnesses came forth speaking of the coming of christ itself, and those who are righteous shall know peace and all others shall know pain and death. In a show of power the witnesses disappeared in a flash of bright blue light and a clap of thunder that shook all that was left. The sky opened as a voice echoed through the ears of all people. Tellimg them to fall to their knees and beg for forgiveness and show that they have true faith in God for if they don't it would strike them down sending them to hell. With much fear, anger, pain, and hatred. People of the world lashed out, calling the so called one true God a false God a sad and jealous God end they would not Worship follow or do, as is it commanded and for it's so-called chosen one, it could also turn back and never return. For they As people of the world would find their own way they could live. Be happy and grow they would turn this world back in to something lavish and beautiful once again. Screaming out to gods so-called prophet youre not needed. Your God is not needed here all of this pain, death and destruction, it was caused by you. And we will be the ones to rebuild it not you Your profit, not your witnesses, us. And only us now close your gates to heaven and hell. Leave us to our own we've already turned our backs on you so you do the same. We don't want you and we don't need you. The sky closed and went dark leaving only the last few survives scattered across the wasteland that was once earth.

My name is Canopy Hydrangea. I recover cursed artifacts, explore haunted places, and report back the information needed to the people I work for. The Company then arranged what has to be done to remove these blemishes from the world.
If it isn't possible, we make sure the evil of cursed artifacts and bizarre places doesn’t make it’s way to the general public.
But sometimes, it’s important to leak a report or two to the unsuspecting public. Makes for a good warning- and this particular file is one of many that must be known.
“Do you have clearance?” asked a young man, hat with a carefully embroidered VII obscuring his face. He held out a little notepad with tables for signatures labeled ‘sign-ins and security’. “We can’t have anyone here without proper clearance.”
I sighed and took the pen that was attached to the pad. “Of course I have clearance,” I said. “I’m the one supposed to be in charge of this damn operation.”
He looked at me in confusion. So did I. I was told by the Company’s board members this specific location was assigned to me. And yet, my team was clearly not the first ones there.
This wasn’t what we were promised. Not by a long stretch. “I was told Varaluz was in charge.” he pointed over to a bulkier man in camouflage gear, director agents of the Company around the dig site.
Varaluz. Of course he was here- he was always getting in people’s business. “Am I being subjected to an internal security probe?” I looked him in the eye. “Right now? Right here?”
The meek young man hesitated and backed away. “See, your previous assignment against the House of Lorreno has some of us in the Company…” he chose his words carefully, “doubting your status.”
This was no issue. I just wanted control of the dig site back in my hands- after all, I was the one sent to study it. And my team. “No problem.”
So let’s talk about the dig site. The mass grave that, as I was told by my historian Kyran, contained the corpses of over 200 skeletons, and counting. “254,” he mused, counting again. “And some aren’t human.”
I asked him about it. And then I saw the bones for myself.
They, at first, looked like the bones of children. But on closer inspection found them all to be distinctly serrated. Their skulls were a bit too flat and wide to truly be human, and what was more bizarre were the limbs.
Each non-human remain had eight limbs, all that seemed like the legs and feet of ordinary human body; obviously inhuman, and the way they were connected told me this wasn’t some post-mortem ritual that positioned the bodies like so after death.
No. This was the real deal- dozens of dead, non-human entities that perplexed and sent chills up my spine.
And the skulls. The damn skulls were like they were smiling, of all things. And instead of two eye sockets there were four.
I also noted the sharp pines of wood that impaled the skeletons. “What’s with that?” Even before asking the aura of something… powerful emanated from the bones.
My assistant, Rainie, had an answer. “We suspect they may not be fully dead,” she informed. “We’re doing our best not to er, dislodge the wood until we can get a priest to put them at rest.”
I knelt down near one of the many impaled creatures and observed it. Distinct markings were present. I took off a glove off and touched it, feeling the history within it.
Sparks of violence. War. Famine. An ember of something not entirely dark I could not place. It unnerved me. “How long until we can put them at rest.”
“Well, we haven’t figured out what religion this place aligns to,” she pointed out. This was true- if we invited the wrong priest to bless the place it could invoke the opposite of peaceful rest. “And you haven’t even seen the staircase.”
“The what?”
The mass grave was discovered by an oil company looking to drill new ground. When the reports of the unusual remains came in, a report was handed over to me and my team, and we were sent to eliminate the disturbance, remove all evidence of the bizarre and hand it back over to the oilmen.
The bodies were found in concentric trenches, squares. There were about five, each within another, and a sixth being uncovered by the dig team.
In the center of the squares was a small ruin, a large jutting cylinder with a door. Beyond this door was a spiral staircase of stone, seemingly cut in by the ancient builders of the grave site so many centuries ago.
Varaluz, the internal security inspector, awaited me there. “Canopy,” he greeted, extending a hand. He peered into the staircase, holding out strong, twisted rope. “We’ve got four assets who’ll be out just about-” a man, panicked, rope attached to his waist scrambled out, hyperventilating.
He was in standard prison garb. As usual- we often used death row prisoners to explore new, dangerous territory.
He started to ramble about a shape in the darkness, and something about pages and a book. “Sir,” asked a woman, placing the man under handcuffs. “What should we do with him?”
“Remove him,” Varaluz ordered.
She looked at both of us, puzzled. “Like, kill him?”
Varaluz shook his head. “Don’t be silly- we need to know what he saw down there- extract his memories, then have the handlers do what they please.”
Yuck.
Memory extraction was something I hated to see. A needle laced with symbols and science, injected into the center of the eye. It would then extract memories to be read by a rather interesting-looking book.
The prisoner would then develop amnesia for a while, but that was no issue. The prisoners we worked with for these excursions were often terrible, irredeemable people.
Varaluz and his team informed me of what they had discovered, just as three Company agents entered the depths, rope tied along their waists.
The staircase was seemingly endless, according to two other excursion teams they had sent into the depths.
The first team had only been equipped by a radio and led by an agent of the Company, but after an hour dropped from radio contact. After another hour, they should have returned- yet they had vanished into the depths.
A rescue operation was made- equipped with rope, Varaluz sent in a team of prisoners led by a more experienced agent into the depths.
Oddly enough, the initial agent leader stumbled back out, informing us the passage had shifted, and they had across a labyrinth underneath the entire dig site- some sort of temple.
Video footage revealed the place was a hellhole. There were signs of life, but twisted, impossible things- strange fungal matter and the bones of long dead creatures- and something else, still active.
This active entity, according to the survivor, seemed to work in tandem with the stairway, dislodging stairs, sending one prisoner falling into the abyss. Another was seemingly sucked into the walls of the place.
The last simply faded, and that was when the agent started to evacuate.
The rescue team came back, fully intact. They hadn’t encountered nay such temple, merely more of the same: staircases, illuminated by the light to be made of bone.
Subsequent testing informed us the bones were human.
“Okay, I want-” as soon as I was about to say I wanted to enter the staircase the line snapped. “Whoa!”
Varaluz held on, and two agents joined him. “It’s being- pulled!” he turned to me.
I retreated to a machine the rope was connected to and selected a button labeled ‘retract’. “This should-” it started to pull against whatever was on the other end- but it was straining, “work.”
The machine started to creak, and the bulky thing began to move against itself. “Security!” Varaluz ordered. “Get the hell over here- now!”
That’s when the line loosened and pulled back, and blood came flying from the abyss. Two bodies- no- a torso and a set of legs, rope still attached flew out, nearly splattering us with blood.
A man came running out, splattered in the blood of his friends. “There’s something down there-” he said it with such fear I started what lurked in the shadows, “it- it was like those bones!”
A growl emerged from deep within. My assistant, Rainie came up to me. “Sir, should we seal it up?” she gestured to security, already prepared to request explosives.
I thought about this for a moment. “Not yet, no,” I decided. “We don’t know if sealing it up will work.”
Whatever was inside- it was powerful. So I decided we needed a proper operation into the temple. With actual agents. “Rainie,” I began, “have the rest of the team meet me here- we’re going in.”
Reckless? Maybe. But if what was inside was a threat to humanity- it needed to be neutralized, captured, and sealed away. “By the way,” she started, “we’ve identified the ruin.”
My eyes lit up. “Can we get a priest?” The sooner we could remove the undead bones from the site the safer I’d feel.
“Already have one,” she hesitated. “But…”
“But?”
She sighed and pointed to the outskirts, where a rather fancy motorcycle had arrived. “It’s Quincy Kieni.”
Quincy Kieni was a rather eccentric figure in the cursed artifact black market. He was both an asset, working for us, telling us the details of when a major deal would go down- and an enemy.
His faith to Calayu, the Salamander King made him have so called ‘prophecies’ over when to help us and when to suddenly disappear off the grid.
I made a noise somewhere between a grunt and a sigh of annoyance. “Of course it’s him.” I watched as the man with black tinted glasses and fiery red hair waltz about the gravesite, raising his hands up and dancing.
Within the hour my team was ready.
I, Canopy Hydrangea would lead them in, coordinate our actions. My expertise in psychically sensing the bizarre would come in handy, if it need be, and the few spells I’d learned.
Then there was Rainie- my assistant, who had reviewed the tapes and studied all too many places similar to this. Of course, there was Kyran, my main security guy, and today, we would be joined by the rather annoying Quincy.
There were others, but I didn’t want to lead a large team.
So we entered the depths. Varaluz attached a rope to us, connecting it to the large bulky machine in case something attempted to pull us in. And then we were set, and so we began the journey into the depths of the pit.
“Canopy, we meet again!” Quincy cheered. “I didn’t know you were in the business of exploring new and exciting places.”
“And I thought you’d finally gotten yourself killed for good,” I chided. “After the whole Stet’Kai incident.”
He laughed maniacally at that, and the noise reverberated around the walls. “Were you demoted as a result of, who were they?” he thought. “Lorreno’s team?”
“None of your business,” Kyran cut in. He held up a hand. “I hear something.”
We all silenced ourselves- even the bothersome Quincy. There was a dull growl in the background, and the clicking of insects- no- “Automata,” Rainie identified. “Temples of the Salamander have automaton.”
Machines given life through ancient magic. Not a huge problem.
The next hour was rather boring, and we continued in silence, fearing disturbing one of the more dangerous security automata. Sure, machines weren’t as dangerous as any live creatures- but still a threat nonetheless.
“Hold it!” Quincy shouted. We all stopped. He stepped ahead and knelt down, inspecting the step in front of me. He spoke something I couldn’t understand, and symbols appeared, and we heard the clicking of gears. “It’s a classic pitfall trap.”
I remembered Varaluz’s prisoners. The story about the place working against them. “Who,” Rainie posited, “built this place?”
“It is a Temple of the Salamander,” I reminded. “But those bones up there don’t match anything we have on record.”
Quincy ordered another stop, and chanted- and a wall beside us faded away, revealing a hallway. “Now that’s the temple.”
I noted the images and statues, “And I think I know who built this place.”
Satyrs. The statues were satyrs, half-man half-goat creatures spotted throughout mythology and ancient times. We knew them, life many other of the ancient kinds, to be extinct.
Long dead. But the statues of the Satyrs here seemed different, more human than beast somehow. They lined the hall, facing away from us, bowing to a large statue of a salamander, an eternal flame still burning within its mouth.
“Look!” Kryan commanded, raising his gun. A machine, moving as if it were alive, appeared in the distance. “It looks just like those bones.”
No. It was made from the bones that had been dug up and the eight limbed thing came charging at us. Kyran fired, to no effect, before Quincy stepped out and clapped, uttering a single word.
The machinery grinded to a halt and collapsed; I was right- it had been made from the bones of the things above, strapped to gears and circuitry.
Whatever those things were, the worshippers below had clearly venerated them enough to create frankenstein-like beasts in their fashion. “Well that was… not at cool as I thought it’d be.” Kyran shrugged.
“And,” Rainie added, gesturing to the statue, “looks like that’s a sort of artifact we’ll want to secure.” In the mouth of the Salamander statue, was the flame- and as I studied it- I realized it was a book that was burning.
Quincy put the flames out and handed the warm pages to me. This was powerful alright. I reached into the ether and felt that it contained great animosity, malevolence- something insane.
“Now,” Quincy murmured, “I don’t want to alarm you, but-” the walls started to creak, and they began to slowly move downwards, threatening to crush us, “we are at risk of immediate death.”
We ran out of the temple and back on the stairs, which were now starting to shake, and crumble. Quincy quick-casted some spell, and we ran, tugging on the rope.
Varaluz, despite my opinions towards him, was skilled, effective, and he activated the machine pulling us in, just as the steps collapsed. The rope hung in midair, slowly drifting upwards.
By the end of the hour we were out. I gave Varaluz the details. The mass grave had completely been excavated, and all the skeletons sent to facility deep within the clutches of the Company.
More research would be done by a secondary team, but the immediate danger was neutralized. The automata, traps, and all had been disabled by Quincy, and the temple, according to a scan, had largely collapsed.
But there was something underneath it- a second temple that mirrored the concentric squares of the graves, ready to be excavated and revealed. And according to an initial scan- there were life signs inside.
That, I assume, was where the real treasures were hiding.
But that isn’t my business. The initial first contact was made, the fears within stabilized. My job there was done; another day was complete. The unexplained was eliminated, and I was ready to move on another excursion.
The world is filled with places like these. And I’m just one of many who work to keep these hidden away. We keep the public safe. It’s what we do.

In early may 2023 I sat in church with my family. The preacher Approached his podium looking war torn sad, and with a worried look on his face. He raised his hands and said. "I've had dreams of god speaking to me. Hes telling me so much. It's almost incomprehensible to me his words they burn my ears as if a red hot iron is being forced into them. What I can gather from him is that the end times are close, and the seven trumpets shall call it forth. Now my children As your preacher, my intention are to deliver a sermon that not only explains the significance of the seven trumpets being sounded but also encourages individuals to reflect on their own lives and prepare themselves for the end of the world.
The seven trumpets are significant in the book of Revelation as they represent the final warning of God's judgment on the earth. The first four trumpets describe catastrophic events that will result in widespread destruction and devastation. The fifth trumpet describes a swarm of locusts that will torment those who have not been sealed by God. The sixth trumpet describes an army of 200 million that will bring destruction upon the earth, and the seventh trumpet announces the final judgment of God.
The sounding of these trumpets serves as a warning to all of us that the end of the world is near, and we must prepare ourselves accordingly. As we read in the book of Revelation, the effects of these trumpets will be catastrophic, and those who have not prepared themselves will face a terrible fate.
Therefore, we must examine our own lives and make sure that we are prepared for the end of the world. We must ensure that our hearts and minds are focused on God and that we are living our lives according to His will. We must repent of our sins and ask for God's forgiveness, so that we may be sealed by Him and protected from the judgments that are to come.
In conclusion, the sounding of the seven trumpets serves as a warning to us all that the end of the world is near, and we must prepare ourselves accordingly. We must make sure that our hearts and minds are focused on God, and we must repent of our sins and ask for His forgiveness. Let us heed this warning and prepare ourselves for the return of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen."
Finishing up he smiled at us all as he pulled a pistol from his robe putting it in his mouth squeezing the trigger and blowing the back of his head apart. Painting the statue of jesus christ behind him with a grotesque mosaic brain matter, skull fragments and so much blood. After the cops were called his building in the church were searched. The two nuns that accompanied him hanging and they're chambers and bleed dry. In his quarters They found the he used the blood and painted on his walls repeatedly. The seventh trumpets shall sound they shall sound. This was painted and cover the entirety of his room. After this was done the church was closed and we never went back.
Then it happened The two witnesses show on june 7th 2023, in an attempt to save humanity, they spread the gospel of God explaining to all those who were willing to listen, but most turned a blind Eye with this. The two witnesses then had no choice, but too have the first of seven trumpets sound. The first Trumpet sounds with the echo across the world. More of a vibration than a noise many people had not known it went off. After it had stopped Hail began to fall from the sky with a drastic change. The Hail went from solid small pieces of ice to pieces of Red hot glass as it hit the ground it burnt everything in touched. Within two weeks it spread across the world. Because of this most of the world's vegetation Burnt to the ground, leaving nothing but melted glass and ash across the lands. With this a three hundred day war breaks out across the world. Nations began to fight for what food was left in the world. As april approached the war ended with no victor. With hundreds of thousands dead the world went into mourning. Realizing that the war caused nothing but harm to the world. Bringing the sadness and pain to all those that had to be involved. Countless families torn apart so many wounded so many dead. Children without fathers or Mother's, wife's mourning Their husbands. mothers screaming and crying over the lose of their children. The world fell silent as it realized that if they had listened Maybe none of this would have happened. None of that mattered now. Now there was too much pain, too much anger, and too much hate. The world blamed god for all this tragedy that had happened to them as a whole. They cursed it's name. Those who had faith in God, Started to doubt they felt as though God itself had left them. How could something so powerful, So all-knowing do this to them. It wasn't fair, was God acting out like a child? How could God be all-powerful and be jealous that not every single being on the Earth showed it Love and loyalty. what kind of power hungry thing Was God? if this is what god was They didn't want to believe they didn't want to follow. They wanted to forget they wanted to abandon it. Seeing this the witnesses called out to the world. Trying the best they could to get everyone to understand why God was doing what it was doing. This caused more problems than good. People started burning churches to spite god. No longer were churches safe no longer could families go and feel safe and at peace. Now churches were taboo and known to be a place of death.
Not having convinced the world the witnesses called forth the second trumpet to sound. The sound of the second trumpet was unlike anything humanity had heard. To most that could comprehend the sound described it as if thunder was crying out in pain. On the last day of April the sky looked as though it was being torn open by the sound of the trumpet. Stopping abruptly people from all over the world could see that the sky had in fact had been torn open like a wound, and from that wound spilled an asteroid that resembled a blood clot. The asteroid was said to be the size of mount everest. Slowly it fell towards the earth. The closer it came to earth the more people felt a sense of dread and sorrow. Knowing that once it hit all would be turned to ash. People stood in shock as the mountain of an asteroid split in to smaller pieces and falling to the world's oceans. Hitting the water with such forces tsunamis to accrue across the plant killing thousands. Over the next few day the pieces decayed into the waters turning them into a viscera soup, killing roughly a third of all sea life. People started smelling the rot that came from the now think blood like ocean waters. Noticing the animals dying out and rotting giving the bloody ocean a acid like state causing those who lived on the waters to die slowly and painful. Soon people left the oceanside for they no longer could fish for food to survive.
In less than a year the world's oceans became a gelatinous mass of blood and gore. Spreading sickness and suffering to most if not all of the world's population the sickness only caused pain and discomfort but never death.
By July 2026 the Temples that once held weekly services to worship and praise God, were now completely abandoned and avoided by all that still lived. Knowing that their voices would fall to deaf ears the witnesses sound led the third trumpet. The sounds a weeping was heard throughout the disease ridden word. Knowing that a new plague approached the weak and trembling people hid the best they could. A flash of green light flooded the sky as a second asteroid came for the heavens. This one devolved in the air turning to light rain. Only hitting the lakes ponds and every other body of water. Seeing that nothing had changed the slowly dwindling population went back to what lives they could live. Unfortunately over the next year many died of was thought to be from dehydration no matter how much water they'd consume. Looking back the people that were left realized that all the waters had been poisoned. Those who survived learned what was safe to drink and what caused a slow labored death. The ones who died suffered incredible pain as their insides turned to a mess of rot and decay. Slowly they'd rot throwing up their literal guts and organs until nothing was left. At the end of the year only a quarter of the earth's population was left. Roaming what was left of the war torn lands searching for some sense of peace only to find rage pain and death at every corner of the world. Then the witnesses sounded the forth trumpet it was a quiet dull sound the next few weeks. The skies began losing light as if the sun was dying. The night sky was now a void of darkness with no stars in sight and a fading moon. Slowly darkness was all the people knew. Christmas came that year some people tried to show they had faith once again. Setting up small groups to share the holiday spirit most were meet with hatred but some were welcomed with loving arms. With their all seeing eyes the witnesses observed with hope that the world was going to change for the betterment of all. Then the new year started with a major power claiming that they held the right to command over what was left in the world for they had more of a population and those who disagreed would be delt with a swift and painful experience. This well, this caused so much to happen and none of it was good. People started looting fight and killing just because they knew they could. There was no rules anymore and people took full advantage of that. What's no hesitation? The witnesses sounded the fifth trumpet. The trumpet Sounded as though A million babies were screaming out in causing everyone to drop to their knees and hold their ears. The sound penetrated them, causing mass hysteria. With an hours of the Trumpet sounding hells Pit of torment Tour open from the Earth's crust and from it, a rupted millions upon millions of locust. Please locust tour through homes, buildings, and people. The sound that they made made people tear At their ears shoving Anything that they could get their hands-on into their own ears Just to stop the sounds from entering their body. This went on for 5 months, then abruptly all that's a locust died. Falling from the sky, as a terrible reminder. Once they all fell to the ground the sixth trumpet screamed out calling forth an army of two million undead warriors, for the next eighteen months they search and brutally attacked and killed close to a third of the male population leaving nothing but death in their wake, once they had accomplished their task they caught fire burning up the locusts and their own bodies to dust. As a calmness came over the world the witnesses came forth speaking of the coming of christ itself, and those who are righteous shall know peace and all others shall know pain and death. In a show of power the witnesses disappeared in a flash of bright blue light and a clap of thunder that shook all that was left. The sky opened as a voice echoed through the ears of all people. Tellimg them to fall to their knees and beg for forgiveness and show that they have true faith in God for if they don't it would strike them down sending them to hell. With much fear, anger, pain, and hatred. People of the world lashed out, calling the so called one true God a false God a sad and jealous God end they would not Worship follow or do, as is it commanded and for it's so-called chosen one, it could also turn back and never return. For they As people of the world would find their own way they could live. Be happy and grow they would turn this world back in to something lavish and beautiful once again. Screaming out to gods so-called prophet youre not needed. Your God is not needed here all of this pain, death and destruction, it was caused by you. And we will be the ones to rebuild it not you Your profit, not your witnesses, us. And only us now close your gates to heaven and hell. Leave us to our own we've already turned our backs on you so you do the same. We don't want you and we don't need you. The sky closed and went dark leaving only the last few survives scattered across the wasteland that was once earth.

Time stamp & photos: https://imgur.com/a/z9C8vXh
$575 bundled includes PPG&S & USPS shipping.
Leicaflex SL fully functioning with fresh light seals. Working meter with extra Wein Cell battery. Summicron R 50mm/F.2 glass is clean with smooth focusing ring and distinct aperture clicks. A finely made SLR with satisfying mechanics. Viewfinder has some spotting but is still bright with ease in usability. Camera is in overall good condition with signs of usage from years of service.
Olympus XA bundled. Well loved with missing red shutter button. Light seals need attention. All items sold together as kit.
Message below before PM. Thank you!

Selling scents that did not work for me. My home is smoke-free and dog-friendly. Full bottles and samples have only been sniffed or tested on clean skin 1–2x.
I use PayPal G & S. Shipping is $5 in the U.S. (will need to quote for elsewhere), and I will ship Thursday or Friday. Minimum of $10, please. Thank you for looking!
Samples
Alkemia (all dabber samples) $3 each or all for $10
1) Dusk in Autumn (amberwood, lapsang souchong tea, salted cream caramel, spiced teacakes)
2) Femme Sauvage (wild blackberries, sensual musk, dark patchouli, warm ambers)
3) Prairie 66 (linden blossoms, citrus, aldehydes, flowering sage, concrete)
4) Scented Verses: Miel (golden honey with a light beeswax background)
Arcana Craves/Wildcraft (all dabber samples) - $3 each or all for $7
1) Blue Amber (single note)
2) Queen Mab (orange blossoms with marshmallow pillows, narcotic petitgrain, creamy coconut milk, wild harvested bitter orange, Tahitian vanilla, and feathery ylang ylang petals)
3) Tess (rustic violets, fresh cream, amber, vanilla bean, and soft, milky musk)
BPAL (all dabber samples) - $3 each or all for $22
1) Bloodlust (dragon’s blood essence, heavy red musk, Indonesian patchouli and swarthy vetiver with a drop of cinnamon)
2) La Petite Mort (I have 2; the scent of warm, damp skin flushed with the glow of passion, touched by the luxuriant potency of ylang ylang and myrrh)
3) New Orleans (reminiscent of hothouse blooms on a humid night, ripe, but touched with decay. Sweet honeysuckle and jasmine with a hint of lemon and spice)
4) The Forest Reverie (a sunlit ancient forest, dotted with wild roses, grape vine, and queenly lilies, clothed in swirls of opium smoke)
5) The Isles of Demons (wet, dark greenery, carnivorous flowers, volcanic gas, and the hot black musk of the demons and wild beasts that populated the islands)
6) The Red Queen (deep mahogany and rich, velvety woods lacquered with sweet, black-red cherries and currant)
7) Two, Five & Seven (a huge bouquet of squished rose petals: Bulgarian rose, Somalian rose, Turkish rose, Damascus rose, red and white rose, tea rose, wine rose, shrub roses, rose, rose, rose…and just an itty bitty bit of green grass)
8) Urd (muscadine, black and red patchouli, cereus and nag champa)
Wild Veil – take all for $50+
Liquid 1 mL samples - $8
1) Amber Flood (sorcerer's amber hunk: black gold from beginning to end. Labdanum orb, labdanum ring, labdanum liquid. Booze, resin, amber crystals, smoke, balsam, gold wood)
2) Cancer (mood of saline grasses winking against a black iris ocean. Oceanic, herbaceous, grassy, powdery)
3) Grey (pine pitch, firmament resin, and Siberian musk)
4) Laudanum (opulent black wax, soma euphoria)
5) Taurus Moon (cardamom, wild clove bud, black pepper, aged Himalayan cedar wood, Siberian deer musk tonquin, civet)
Solid and absolute 1 mL samples - $8
1) Arborvitae absolute (single note) – a thick and sticky absolute
2) Conifer fixative solid (single note) – a beeswax-based solid perfume
Full bottles
Arcana Craves/Wildcraft
Fir Balsam Absolute (5 mL splash bottle; single note) - $15
Herne (5 mL splash bottle; cassia cinnamon, Atlas cedarwood, fir needle oil, and a whiff of Herne's holy oak tree) - $18

Does anyone have recommendations for good sunglasses, ideally with photochromic lenses, that can be fitted with a clip for prescription lenses? I wanted to get Bollé Lightshifters, but it seems like they've just stopped selling the clips in favor of directly attached lenses, which cost more than I am willing to pay. I've seen Rudy Project mentioned a lot, but they don't seem to mention the light transmission range of the photochromic lenses on their website, and I'd also love a more minimalist design. Any other good options?
I don't really understand why this seems to be a rather small market given that statistically, almost one in two people need glasses. Does everyone just wear contacts? If so, is it because it's just easier or is there another reason?

[Chapter One]
Prev and Next
​
Late at night, in the back of a warehouse.
Grigory squirmed against his restraints. The rope binding his hands was coarse and too tight, causing his hands to lose feeling. A bored council guard stood nearby, but was mostly ignoring him. He wasn’t going to get far with his hands and feet tied together. It was worse than he had thought possible. They are very much going to kill him tonight. This was even worse than either Stanisk or Aethlina had speculated, and he just knew that they would use his role in this disaster against him in future disagreements. However, he might be overly optimistic worrying about a future that might not include him.
Grigory thought over what he had left in his notebooks, contemplating if it would be enough for someone to continue his work. He wasn't sure. It was a lot more than he started with, but there weren't a lot of qualified scholars looking to follow his footsteps. The best outcomes for a lot of different paths all need him to survive.
Grigory tried not to be distracted by the ropes digging into him, and frantically wracked his mind for any sort of escape plan. He had a single imp totem on him, and they left him with his satchel nearby. That’s something. He would need to be untied to invoke it, and a single perfectly safe imp wouldn’t change the balance of power much. Perhaps if everyone but the four executive members left, he and Stanisk might have a chance to overpower them. Well he could at least be distracting while Stanisk overpowered them. They also hadn’t checked his satchel yet, so maybe he could bribe them with the ten thousand glindi engraved gold bar he brought to pledge his support? Bribes are a type of negotiation, and being tied up while they already had the gold put him in a frustratingly weak position to start negotiations. Not getting executed by the organised crime successor to the Council of Demonologists wasn’t on his list, but he still felt it was important.
Grigory could clearly see and hear the meeting continue in the centre of the warehouse. A small detail that he noticed was just how small the sums were. Robberies of a few hundred glindi? The value of a business protection racket being ten glucks a week? Had the runaway success of his imp-made goods distorted his value of money? Pandemonium Partners profited a few hundred thousand a month, and the big safe in the workshop’s basement held about a million glindi, mostly in heavy gold bars. That was after the expenses, taxes and salaries had been paid. Maybe bribes will work here.
Another trend that emerged was how cheap lives appeared to be. Stole a knife from the boss? Death. Miscounted the take? Death. Didn’t show up to the job? Finger loss. How they attracted or retained any talent at all was its own mystery. On that note, we wonder if he enormously overpaid his people? These goons were killing each other over sums of money close to what he paid each of his security goons a day, which in turn was a fraction of what he was paying his partners. All the people he hired seemed excited when he told them the starting salary, and not a single one asked for a raise. Not the time for that! Focus on the matter at hand! Grigory continued to look for anything that he could use to escape.
All too soon the business part of the meeting was concluded. Two of the Council's guards wheeled out a cask of beer, and a crate of cheap clay mugs. Not great news for plans that require being left alone. In singles and groups the ‘Demonologists’ started to come over to where he was tied up. To drink cheap beer and look upon true evil in his demon summoning face.
“Hullo gentlemen! This is all a silly mistake, I’m sure we can work something out,” Grigory said with a calmness and pleasantness he didn’t feel.
A gangster in a threadbare tunic and patched leather pants started going through his coat, and then his satchel. His notebooks with neatly written titles were thrown on the floor, and the minor spell reagents placed on top of a nearby crate.
“Holy shit!” he exclaimed far too loudly, ensuring everyone saw him pull out the slim gold bar, about the size of a knife handle. “This can’t be real?!” The gangster saw how everyone near him stared, mouths agape at the bar in his open hand. The bar’s engraving of the Royal Mint of Hiruxia glinting in the flickering rushlight.
“Back off! I found it!” He held the gold tight in his fist and drew his dirty, nicked knife from his belt with his free hand. Quicker than a blink of an eye every member had their blades out and the men at arms from the edges moved towards the commotion.
“PUT IT AWAY!” boomed Arcanist Devorio. He reasserted control of the situation with palpable menace. “The prisoner and all his goods are the property of the Council! Put it down on the table, Tricky Tupo!”
The gangsters grudgingly resheathed their weapons, and Tricky Tupo passed the bar to the Arcanist without making eye contact.
“Holy shit, it is actually real gold!” Devorio muttered after inspecting it for a second. “Where the hell did you steal something like this?”
Something in his phrasing crystalized a plan in Grigory’s mind. An insane, reckless, dangerous plan. Grigory tried not to smile when he replied, “Not stolen at all, well not from our plane of reality.”
“You summoned it?” the well dressed head of the council asked incredulously.
“Oh no, not at all! I stole it from the treasury of Hell! You see that’s the point of having a perfectly obedient demon, it does what I say, and not what the Lords of Hell say,” Grigory lied. The Hellplane wasn’t organised like that at all. There was no such thing as a treasury there. He still wasn’t sure how to sell it, but he hoped there was enough ignorance and greed in the room to do the heavy lifting for him.
“Demonologists have never stolen from hell! As far as I know. I think?” The arcanist was in uncertain territory.
“Mostly true! But we steal minor things all the time, like magical energy, or arcane secrets, but the exciting advance I wrote to you about was stealing things like minerals or artefacts and sometimes regular boring gold.” Grigory was hoping he was priming their greed enough. He worried he was being too subtle.
“Well, it looks like you have a new job! You steal Hell gold for us now!” The Arcanist-turned-crime-lord was back in familiar territory of coercing people into giving him what he wanted.
“Oh I couldn’t!" Grigory feigned reluctance. “I don’t have the right equipment, I haven’t done the full balancing equations for today’s planar alignments! I should go home and get what I need, and I’ll be happy to come back tomorrow and we can get a fresh start on this.”
“Not a chance! You’re doing the ritual this instant, or your blood will cover this entire floor!” Davenio countered.
Grigory, aware that excess blood could damage goods, decided against arguing. “Alright, you win, I’ll have my imp steal another dozen gold bars tonight, I guess. But that’s it! I’m leaving after that!”
“Hah! We’ll see about that!” The arcanist cut Grigory’s bonds while staring straight into his eyes.
Grigory rubbed his sore wrists, and looked at the fifty or so people that had gathered around him. Cruel smiles and the stink of cheap beer surrounded him, but he had a plan. “First I’ll need to summon my imp, to help me set up the ritual!” Grigory found himself speaking like a showman at a fair, with exaggerated gestures and in a loud clear voice. The assembled thugs, goons and crime lords backed up to give him some space. Aethlina suggested obscuring the details of invoking a demon, which was a great idea. He slowly and rhythmically chanted in demonic detail how he likes his tea, with lots of hand gestures and steps and ritualistic looking movements. After a few long seconds he pulled out the imp totem from his vest, waved it around like a wand for a bit before doing the quick gesture of invocation to actually invoke the imp. With two small clicks the tiny imp landed on the rough floorboards of the warehouse. Several goons gasped, and one of the lady goons even shrieked a bit. Truly a sad state of affairs when someone calling themselves a demonologist is startled by a tiny perfectly safe imp!
Grigory picked up his notebooks from the floor, and found the one titled ‘Charts, Formulas, and Tables.’. Doing some mental maths, and modifying a few old spells and rituals on the fly, Grigory gave his imp simple directions in demonic. He could have just spoken plainly, but he was aware he was also putting on a show. Keeping everyone’s attention was important for the next part.
“Ahem, is there any furnace ash, or the like? I’ll need to create a circle in ash or wax or sand.” A few people turned to look for what he needed, and Grigory returned to working out the planar alignment in his notebook. They returned with a canvas bag of stove ashes, he looked them over and nodded. “Does anyone have a silvered steel blade I can use? Anyone at all? No matter, I have one!” Grigory pulled out the small pocket knife he used to cut his food with. It actually was silvered steel, since that also came up from time to time in his line of work. Besides it was interesting to learn that was the only silvered steel blade in the room.
Grigory passed the bag of ash to the imp. He gave detailed instructions on the shape, symbols, and spacing of the elements, all crucial to the huge circle taking shape in the middle of the warehouse floor. The assembled crowd of dirty, dangerous, and desperate deviants started to look concerned. What had started as a bit of mean spirited fun was fast turning into the exact thing they knew was evil incarnate. A path to Hell was being built in front of them! A few moved to leave, but the others called them names and threatened their reputations, forcing them to stay and watch. There was a good reason to stay, there was about to be a lot of gold for everyone. In theory.
At last the preparations were complete. Grigory slowly walked the entire outside of his circle to make sure it was unbroken. He had done similar rituals before, but always with hours of double checking, and never with an audience. His hands were sweaty and shaking as he tore a page out of his notebook. Quickly, he scribbled down a final set of instructions in demonic script and handed it to the imp.
“Merp!” it said in agreement.
Grigory turned to address everyone. He saw a very worried Stanisk standing off to the back, and he subtly gestured for him to wait. Steadying his nerves for a second he addressed his gathered kidnappers, “Soon you will see a small tear in reality! Plug your ears, lest the screams of the damned drive you mad!” Grigory looked around, to make sure everyone was properly alarmed, and activated the ritual.
With a crack of thunder and a hurricane blast of dry wind that reeked of hot iron and sulphur Grigory’s surprise appeared in the centre of the circle. A towering rage demon, its black armoured hide covered in dancing hellfire, its wolf-like face filled with jagged fangs, and its shoulders brushing the rafters of the old warehouse. The assembled criminals looked up from the floor and saw the bipedal nightmare towering over them. They stood stalk still, not knowing how to react, nor sure what exactly was happening.
Grigory stood up straight and turned on the crowd, in a commanding bellow he condemned them, “What kind of idiots let a master demonologist do any summoning ritual he wants?! Look upon the true power of hell and despair!! Your petty schemes are –”
Grigory’s gloating was cut short by a foundation shaking roar from the demon. It started grabbing people at random, and biting them in half, throwing hunks of torso against the wall with splattering force. In accordance with the note, Grigory’s imp hopped up on the table, grabbed the bar of gold from where Arcanist Devorio put it, and sprinted figure eights between the demon's legs. With everyone’s fear AND greed now focused in the same area, Grigory took his stuff and ran for the door. Most of the so-called ‘demonologists’ were trying to escape, but a few were focused on the imp running with a gold bar held over its head. That was as much as a labourer would make in a year, and they couldn’t just walk away from that. The massive demon continued to kill and dismember with glee. The sound of tearing meat and snapping bones was even louder than the screams of the dying. As far as distractions go, Grigory was pretty proud of this one.
Grigory started for the door they had entered by. However, it was jammed with people trying to escape. He stopped at the edge of the chaos, trying to gather his thoughts. As he did, a better solution appeared to him. The demon grabbed one of the cutthroats that dove at the imp’s gold, and threw him at the wall with enough force to vaporise him. The impact filled the whole side of the warehouse in a steamy red mist, and sprayed meaty chunks over everything. The demon howled with laughter when he saw how people popped when thrown into walls.
The important part for Grigory was that there was now a second exit. An exit covered in gore and bone fragments, but entirely clear of goons. Signalling Stanisk, he made his way out through the wreckage. Slower than he’d like, and getting blood and worse on everything, but a clear path. The demon had stopped feeding entirely and was just throwing people as hard as he could, first at the floor then at other people. Its roars of rage were now peals of terrifying laughter. The air in the warehouse was thick with a mist of blood from the high energy impacts.
“I assume it knows not to kill us?” Stanisk asked in a ragged voice once he caught up to Grigory.
“Yes, but only not to kill people in purple. So don’t take off your tabard! It was the best I could do!”
They struggled out into the cool night air of the yard, free of the stenches of hell, gore and terror.
Stanisk looked down at his tabard, so soaked in fresh blood that it looked black. He ran even faster to the wagon.
“So this thing is just going to destroy the city until someone slays it then?” Stanisk asked, as they ran to the cart while frantically gesturing for his two guards to turn the wagon around and get it rolling.
“Oh no! Just until midnight” Grigory explained after he dove into the moving wagon. He wiped his blood soaked hands on his blood soaked robes, to no benefit.
Stanisk stared backwards at the destruction unfolding behind them. The demon had brought the warehouse down around himself and was clearly visible from the road. It was still energetically killing and smashing. “That's more than an hour! You reckon it’ll come for us?”
The single horse dragging a cargo wagon with four men on it was maddeningly sluggish
Grigory fumbled around for something to get the blood and bone fragments off his glasses. Finally finding part of his undershirt clean, he wiped them and he replied,“Oh my no,It’s bound to the summoning circle. Within a hundred paces.” They both watched as a few people fled on horseback, and a wagon rattled away at a gallop. Mostly it was a mess of shouting and terror. Knife fights broke out as people tried to commandeer the remaining horses. Horses were panicking and bolting without riders. Some survivors just ran away on foot. With every fresh kill the demon laughed so loud that Grigory felt like it was coming from his own skull.
“What the hell happened in there, sirs?” asked the terrified guard driving the cart.
Grigory turned around to answer, but Stanisk put a hand on his arm and answered instead, “Those filthy witches in there tried to kill us with a demon, but Grigory outsmarted them and turned it on its creators. Keep driving Kedril, we should be safe in an intersection or so.”
“Light preserve us all!” Kedril the driver said. “Is that a real demon Sir?”
Grigory watched the demon grab one of the goons fighting in the yard and threw him in a high arc towards the city centre. The demon’s arm cracked like a whip as it threw. The ragged corpse left a trail of blood mist as it arced far overhead.
Grigory answered calmly, “Yes.”
Grigory pulled out his demon totem from his robes, and devoked the imp, causing a gold bar a block and a half behind them to clatter to the blood soaked warehouse floor and slide into some debris. He was surprised how calm he felt. By all accounts his plan was in shambles and he’d stirred up a dozen hornets nests. Facing certain death and prevailing did wonders for one’s perspective.
Grigory looked over at Stanisk, and he was looking less calm. Which was entirely fair. A lot of uniquely horrific things happened tonight. Stanisk’s mouth was a tight line, face pale and eyes bloodshot. That might have just been blood from before, that got in his eyes.
“We can’t go through town looking like we bathed in the blood of the innocent, take us to the Golden Anchor’s warehouse on Glibstone Street. We own that place, we can clean up and change there,” Stanisk tersely told the driver.
Grigory countered, “First off, the previous owners of this blood were far from innocent, and secondly that’s across town, let's just lay in the bed, throw the rainsheet over us, and go to the main workshop.”
Stanisk groaned and tried to rub the blood off his face while he thought it over, but just smeared it around.
“Fine, Kedril, Remember to do a few triple left turns to make sure we aren’t being followed, like we discussed last month.” Stanisk undid the oilcloth on the side, connected it to the mounting points, and slid underneath.
“I think we need to review our plans!” Grigory whispered.
“Shhhh, cargo don’t talk.” Stanisk whispered back. The soldier cupped his head in one hand, and covered his eyes with the other and tried to get comfortable enough to sleep. Grigory rolled onto his back and stared at the cloth in front of his face. He tried not to dwell on the odd whip crack sound coming from behind them, nor the horrified gasps of the two guards on the driver’s bench while he mentally updated his plans.
****
A few hours later Grigory was bathed, wearing fresh clothes and feeling much better. He sat contemplating at the kitchen table in his workshop. He was troubled by what this was going to mean for his business and for himself. Stanisk was still in the tub cleaning up, and the two guards had been dismissed for the night. It was shortly after midnight now, and that meant more to Grigory than it did other nights. He hoped no one innocent died tonight, but he was also a little surprised how little he was bothered by the destruction he unleashed this evening. Considering it was the first time he took another human’s life, albeit indirectly, he expected a stronger emotional response. Part of this was a clear case of kill or be killed. Another part was these people were awful people. Grigory worried this might mean he had more subconscious bias against the value of the lives of the economically disadvantaged, but that’s probably not it. Being biassed against people that were willing to kill him made more sense, but also he knew the coming years mean that will become the same as willing to kill most of the world.
Grigory put on some fresh tea, and set out another cup for Stanisk when he was done washing. He couldn’t shake the feeling that his worst fear, being mad with power and using that power to violently kill everyone he perceived as an enemy, wasn’t as far-fetched as it was before. These were the goons that might have killed his mentor, Archmage Willoford. Avenging a mentor was a reasonable rationale, at least in songs and plays. Grigory knew that wasn’t his motivation tonight. And besides that was the inquisition from the sounds of it, these ones just celebrated his mentor's execution, which isn’t really moral grounds for demonic dismemberment. He also knew he could have summoned a stench demon or a screaming demon, or just non demon based rituals he could have used to escape without violence. He didn’t even offer to bribe them, just straight to violence. Grigory wasn’t sure he liked finding out who he really was when lives were on the line.
His introspection was interrupted by a sound coming from his workshop door, and he sagged with relief when he saw it was just Aethlina. Relief that was short lived, because the questions started immediately.
“I assume you had something to do with the demonic giant that threw seventeen people into the side of the Cathedral of the Light?” the elv asked, without reproach or scorn.
Grigory took a second to answer. “I had something to do with the presence of that demon in our plane of reality. I had a little to do with either the people it chose to throw. Nothing to do with where it chose to throw them nor its accuracy. Interesting it threw them at the Cathedral, you’d think it would have some kinship with the church? They both love burning people.”
“By all accounts the accuracy at least, was excellent. All the bodies hit Cathedral Square. The Cathedral itself requires extensive repairs to the nave, and two flying buttresses collapsed. At least according to the terrified lady I ran into.” Aethlina paused for a few seconds in case Grigory chose to share more details.
Aethlina asked mildly, “How rude of me. I meant to ask, how did your meeting go tonight?”
Stanisk came out from around the partition wearing fresh clothes. “The fucking witches weren’t even witches! They were just shadow blighted gangsters what stole the demonologists reputation! Broke as shit, and twice as dumb!”
Stanisk grabbed a bottle of whiskey off the shelf and sat down at the table, ignoring the cup and the pot of tea. After drinking right from the bottle he continued, “It hit the actual main Cathedral? The one right in the centre of town? That’s like an hour walk from where we were! A catapult wouldn’t have thrown a person half that far!”
“The one and the same, The Grand Ubrafadter’s residence is in that square, so I assume what follows will be the sort of witch hunt the city has never seen before.” Aethlina turned to Grigory, “May I also assume your reasons for staying in the city are weaker and your reasons for leaving are stronger than they were yesterday?“
“There were definitely survivors, and I was introduced by name. I can’t stay here, probably not in the empire at all. I don’t think they know the name of the company, but Stanisk and I were wearing the company’s sigil, so it might not be long for them to work it out.” Grigory rubbed the bridge of his nose without taking off his glasses. “I guess we should start planning our exit immediately.”
In a rare show of emotion Aethlina smiled for a second, “We are leaving on a ship named the Widow’s Remorse, it’s provisioned for us and departs on the morning tide, in about nine hours. The captain agreed to wait until we were in open water to hear our destination. He and his crew also suffer from a rare medical condition where their memory fades entirely anytime they are given a bag of money. The ship can carry thirty-five passengers, so the guards can bring their families. I’ll describe the places I think we should go, after we are in open waters.”
Grigory was both very impressed and a touch alarmed. “Did you know what would happen at that meeting? Did you know what I was walking into?”
“No, I had mistakenly assumed you were on top of that, and took you on your word about them. The odds of them being what you expected were poor. I also had a detailed plan in case they kidnapped you.”
Stanisk burst out laughing, “Imagine if they kidnapped you, Boss! All trussed up like a rotisserie chicken! Hah! I guess I’ll get packed and meet back here to get everything organised! I’ll miss my townhouse, but I’ve had enough of living in Jagged Cove, it's loud and crowded.”
Stanisk stood up, and turned to leave, but paused mid stride. “Miss Aethlina, how big of an investigation do you reckon it’ll be? Reckon they could keep after us after we leave?”
“Likely.There are cases where the inquisition spent entire centuries on the trail of heretics and their descendents. Those heresies were vocally opposing an aspect of doctrine. This may be the first heresy in which a building-sized demon flung citizens into Cathedral Square. I assume yes, they will be interested in following up.”
“Alright, I’ve got an idea that might buy us some time. Grigory, are there any specific numbers that are significant to demons?”
“Um, not actually, but the older texts are filled with references to threes and eights I guess?” Grigory said with a shrug.
“Perfect!” Stanisks' smile strengthened and he turned to Aethlina. “Can you think of eight nobles, eight businessmen, and eight clergy the city would be better off without? Here, write 'em on this!” He slid her a notebook page when she nodded.
Grigory leaned forward,”I’m not sure what you are going for?”
“In the army, there was a famously clever bird that would trick soldiers, called a red heron. We are going to make a whole flock of ‘em!” Stanisk excitedly explained. “Oh, draw a demon circle on this page, doesn’t have to work or anything, like the one from the warehouse”
Grigory began his sketch. “I don’t think red heron is quite right, but I’m catching your drift.”
While they wrote, Stanisk went to the carved chest where all the imp totems for the workshop were stored, and invoked twenty four of them. Taking Aethlina’s list and Grigory’s sketch, he ordered each imp to sprint across town and use hellfire to scorch the circle into the street in front of the home of a specific name.
After the final imp bounded out of the building and was leaping along the rooflines Stanisk returned to his partners. “Now they’ll have too many leads! Hopefully folk see the imps and hellfire, that’ll be even better!”
“We can just outvoke them in an hour or so, that's easy enough. Great idea, Stanisk!” Grigory said cautiously, still thinking through the plan.
“If your big demon didn’t cause a public panic, I can’t imagine a better way to finish the job.” Aethlina replied.
Stanisk smiled and shrugged. “It wasn’t my good looks alone that kept me alive this long! I’ll send some runners to gather the lads and get this show on the road. Human runners I mean!”
Prev and Next

Info on Sir Finnigan:
Tank: 20 gallons Tankmates: two rabbit snails Live plants & artificial decorations Ammonia: 0ppm, nitrite: 0, nitrate: 10-20ppm (I have such a hard time telling the two apart on the color chart), ph: 7.8, gh: 8 drops, kh: 4 or 5 drops Tank is vacuumed at least once a week, 5 gallon water change.
I've had little Finnigan here since last September with no issues. But I've recently been avalanched by new issues that I can't seem to get under control because I honestly don't know what the problem is in the first place. All of my plants that were thriving are doing really bad. Most of which I had to remove, including all of his floating plants. I'm also dealing with algae that pops up pretty quickly. It isn't taking over in a massive bloom or anything, it just isn't something I've had to deal with. In addition to all of that, I can't seem to ever get the nitrates down and even had an ammonia spike. Now he has fin damage.
I'm at my wit's end. I've been doing 5 gallon water changes every other day in an effort to keep the nitrates down and out of fear of another possible ammonia spike. Also in hopes of maybe helping his fins. He's been acting a little off lately. Hiding a bit more. He's eating fine and he's still alert and social like normal. Is there anything I can do to try and help his fins without medication? I recently lost a betta that I loved with all of my heart that responded horribly to medication and I'm petrified now. He's also very nervous. He bolted away in fear because I lightly tapped up against the glass trying to get a picture of his fins, hence the lousy picture.
Lastly, I swapped his old HOB filter with the hygger 20 gallon sponge filter (cycled first) a few months back. That's why I took the second pic. I don't even know if you can tell in a photo but it seems like the output is weak? I don't know. Any input or advice will be highly appreciated. I love him so much and I want to give him his best life possible and I'm struggling.

A widow on the path of vengeance,
A life taken, her heart in fragments.
She wanders through the dark of night,
Her thoughts consumed with deadly might.
No mercy shown, her aim is true,
She'll take revenge, see it through.
With each step she grows more bold,
Her heart beats fast, her grip is cold.
Her enemies beware her wrath,
Their fate is sealed, there's no escape path.
Her sword is sharp, her aim is sure,
No one can stop her, the gods assure.
The widow on her quest for retribution,
Will not rest until there's restitution.
Her mind is focused, her heart is strong,
Her foes will pay the price, no right or wrong.
In the end, justice will be served,
The widow's heart, though broken, will be preserved.
For she has triumphed in her quest,
And now can lay her soul to rest.
-The Legend of the Shade
-----------------
One would expect that a planet named Ilara would be some sort of paradise, or at the very least, pleasant to experience. This could not be further from the truth. Ilara is an arid, hot and dusty mess of a world. What little surface water there is has seen settlements of all kinds pop up around it, and considering the sort of planet it is, it’s no wonder that these oases have become dens of lawlessness.
Well, most of them have, a few still manage to be civilized, but to paraphrase a good man, many are ‘“Wretched hives of scum and villainy”, and it is one of these places where this tale takes place.
Nefaria’actul’oproni, or as the citizens called it, Murkville, was not a happy place. It wasn’t particularly nice looking either, the buildings all worn and smooth thanks to the repeated sandstorms that like to roll on through. There were scorch marks and even streaks of dried blood in all the colors of the rainbow on the walls in some places. And yet, for all its shittiness, people still lived there. They didn’t like it, but the next nearest and far more civilized town was much too far away for any of them to make it without suffering some form of horrible accident, attack by the wildlife or something else along those lines. So they stayed, and they endured.
Murkville was also under the control of the crime syndicate calling themselves the Set’ruthal, a brutal organization that specializes in drugs, human/xenos trafficking and prostitution, none of which was mutually exclusive in the slightest. They were scum of the highest order and they held Murkville in their iron grip, extorting the populace for ‘protection’ money and the like. All terribly cliche, but such is the way of the world.
It was a dark and blissfully cool night at the local saloon, and Scaszer - A Solvoih, who are what humanity would call an anthropomorphized snake with legs - was enjoying a drink with his friends after a long and hard day of work. His two friends, a Khik or vaguely like a tall dog person and an Almell, which humans describe as an elf with feathers, sat with him. They were all simply enjoying the cool air and the good drinks, one of the few actual luxuries in this gods forsaken dump of a town.
Flardryn - the Almell - was the first to break the silence that lingered over all of us.
“So, have you heard the rumors?” He asked, his voice a touch chirpy at times, but today not so much. Scaszer and Deikx the Khik both looked at him curiously, then at one another before they shook their heads. Flardryn grinned and leaned forwards, lowering his voice to a whisper only we could hear.
“Rumor is, someone’s sticking it to the Set’ruthal. Blowing up outposts, caches, and just generally causing chaos.” He said, Scaszer and Deikx looking rather disbelieving.
“What a load of ketch, if that were true don’t you think we’d have noticed? Ketch, if that were true this whole place would be worse than it was, they’d be taking out all that anger on us instead of the person causing the trouble.” Deikx snorted, shaking his head in a manner that had his droopy ears flopping about.
“Yeah, you know how they get when things go wrong. We pay the price.” Scaszer said, Flardryn huffing.
“But it is true! They say a human is causing all this fuss.” He protested, and that gave the other two pause. Now that sounded pretty plausible, when humans wanted to break something, they always seemed to do so in spectacular fashion. So one human causing such a ruckus wasn’t unheard of, but still it was only a rumor.
“Alright then, tell us about this human.” Scaszer said, and Flardryn looked overjoyed at the prospect of doing so, leaning in even closer to speak.
“So, rumors say this human holds a personal grudge against the Set’ruthal. They say the syndicate killed the humans family and nobody would bring them to justice, so the human decided to do it themselves.” That was honestly not that surprising. Humans love a good revenge arc. “Anyway, they started small, or so the rumors say. Just some low level scum going missing, then working their way higher and higher up the ladder. It’s got the Set’ruthal scared but they don’t wanna show it, keep up appearances you know?”
Scaszer and Deikx nodded, both of them fully understanding the concept of saving face. But this did seem a little far fetched.
None of them really noticed the human that entered the saloon, a long, dusty and tattered coat draped over their shoulders, heeled boots that gently thumped against the floor and a wide brimmed hat on the top of their head. Nobody noticed them save the bartender when the human sat at it, nor did they hear the softly spoken request for a drink from this human.
What they did notice was the very loud group of Set’ruthal enforcers, who were off duty at this time, wandering into the saloon not five minutes later, cussing and generally being obnoxious. The establishment fell silent, fearful eyes tracking the enforcers as they kicked the occupants of a table out of their chairs and claimed it for themselves. Nobody moved a muscle to challenge them, they all knew what would happen if they did.
The human however, hardly seemed perturbed as they glanced over a shoulder, the long ponytail of red hair shifting with the motion. It didn’t take the Enforcers long to notice the human, nor the fact that the human was a female. There was a very good reason why there were no humans in Murkville, and the Set’ruthal were that very reason, as the men tended to get slaughtered and the women… well, best to not talk about that.
“Well well, looks like we have a newcomer!” One of the enforcers said, grinning maliciously. The Set’ruthal were almost exclusively occupied by members of a species known as the Bholkal. To humans, they were very large armadillos, with the same amount of teeth as a shark and generally they all had very bad attitudes. “And a human at that, it’s our lucky night lads! Seems we’ll be having some lively entertainment.”
They all stood and the trio of friends all felt a bit of bile rise in their throats, feeling for the poor human who had wandered into the wrong town. But the human did the most curious thing, and perhaps the most stupid thing as well. They ignored the enforcers and instead flagged down the bartender, who looked to be quivering in fear.
“Could I just have the bottle, please and thank you.” The human said, her voice light and lilting, but with a touch of a Terran subcultural accent, what they would call Southern. The bartender was quick to acquiesce, and a bottle of some alcoholic beverage was placed before her. She was quick to take it up, spinning the cap off it with a well practiced motion. She didn’t even care that the cap was sent flying off into the unknown as a result, she instead focused on chugging the contents of the bottle while turning on her stool to face the enforcers.
The enforcers didn’t look too pleased and everyone else all wanted to look away from what was going to happen next, but found themselves transfixed.
“Aren’t you a pretty thing, why don’t you come play with us girly.” The lead enforcer, a particularly nasty fellow and coincidentally the son of the Set’ruthal patriarch, grinned as he reached out a claw to stroke her cheek. Instead of responding verbally, her head tilted back as she continued her drinking, a single finger raised to single him to wait. He didn’t really appreciate this, as he moved with such speed that nobody really knew what happened till the bottle had been cut into pieces, the contents splashing partially onto her and the floor while the glass shattered on impact.
She stared at the broken and empty bottle with a look of exasperation, before her ice blue eyes shifted their focus onto the heir apparent.
“Alright, I’ll play with you.” She said softly, and the enforcer grinned, leaning in to begin his violations, only for all of us to hear a sound we were most assuredly not expecting.
It was the sound of railgun coils spinning up.
Before anyone could react, there was a sharp sound of metal on metal, followed by wet squelching, as nearly every soul tracked the arm that sailed through the air and landed in a bloody heap well across the room. Then came the screaming, as the enforcer looked at the stump where his arm had been, and the ancient looking revolver that had removed it. The gun shifted, angling lower, the same whine repeating and now he was missing a leg as well.
The saloon burst into motion as his screaming intensified, his buddies all surging towards the human who stood in a flash and used their foot to hook onto the rungs of the stool she’d only just been occupying, sending it sailing straight into the face of an enforcer even as she took aim and fired again, turning another's head into a fine purple mist. She became a blur, firing and slashing with the broken bottle. She painted the room with their blood and they never even laid a claw on her.
It was over in an instant, the human standing there and breathing heavily, even as she watched the first enforcer claw his way out the door on his stomach. With a deep breath she turned, placed a stack of credits on the bar and walked after the fleeing enforcer, all while reloading her weapon.
Without much hesitation all present who had merely been spectators scrambled from their hiding places and to the windows, watching as she stepped over the prostrate being and pressed the barrel of her gun to the back of his head.
“D-Do you know who I am? Who my father is!?” The being wailed, and the human nodded.
“I do, that’s why I’m here, why I’m doing this. Because you took everything I ever held dear from me, and now… now I have nothing left to lose.” She murmured, and the alien grinned, purple blood oozing from his mouth.
“You know you’re gonna die right? We’re gonna take our time with you, make it hurt!”
“Perhaps, but here’s the thing,” She kicked him over onto his back, a position of great shame to a Bhokal. “There’s room in my grave for you too.” She hissed, and they all expected her to end him right then and there. But she didn’t. Instead she drew a knife and smiled in a sweet manner, yet instead of the comfort that such a smile should have brought, they felt nothing but a chill run down their spines (or spine equivalents.)
“Now, you’re gonna be a messenger to dear old dad, so you best listen close, don’t want to miss a single word.”
Those watching turned away, some getting sick at what she did next, the screams echoing down the street.
Ten Hours Later
The plantation on the outskirts of Murkville was an opulent affair, reminiscent of ancient Terran plantations as well, which is what it had been based off of coincidentally. It was here where the end of this story shall take place, and it shall go down in history as a pivotal point for Ilara. A night of blood and death, of vengeance secured and the end of a dynasty.
It began, with the sound of someone scratching at the door, a sound that was entirely unheard of in this place. When a guard was ordered to investigate, they found only the mangled son of Patriarch Bilharzia bleeding - not nearly as profusely as he had been earlier - on the stoop. He was quickly moved to a secure room and his father was livid, bellowing up a storm of vile hatred for whomever had done this to his son.
When eventually he calmed down enough to not only hear himself think, but to hear others when they talked to him, he was informed that there was a camera attached to the front of his son's uniform. He quickly snatched it up, peering directly into the camera as a snarl ripped from his throat.
“I don’t know who you are, or why you’re doing this, but you’ve made a very grave mistake! I will hunt you down, I will tear everything you love and hold dear apart! I will make you beg for death and I shall not give it! DO YOU HEAR ME! I SHALL NOT GIVE IT!” He roared into the camera, unsure if whomever was watching could even hear him. But apparently they could.
“You already have. Now it’s my turn. An eye for an eye.” Came the sibilant response, and that’s when they all heard it. A gentle beeping coming from nearby. Bilharzia turned towards the source, only to find his son awake yet again, and looking fearfully at him. He couldn’t speak, whomever had mutilated him had not stopped at his limbs, but had removed his ability to speak, to warn them of the danger he presented.
It clicked in Bilharzia’s head that the beeping was only getting faster, and just as it became a solid tone he bolted from the room. He was fortunate to have done so, his son and the others however… not so fortunate. The high explosive charge that had been embedded into his son detonated, blowing a good chunk of the west wing entirely to pieces.
As Bilharzia raised his head from the ground where he’d landed thanks to the blast, he caught sight of missiles streaking up into the air, only to explode mid-flight and rain down phosphorus and napalm over the fields of product he maintained, setting them ablaze. Heavy gunfire sounded, the rattling of a very large chaingun booming through the silence of a beautiful evening, raking rounds over his vehicles and depots. Everything of value save the servants quarters was put to the torch, and he could only watch.
From the smoke strode a figure, one he instantly recognized. He was not ignorant of human history, their conflicts Shumon Synergy or the Valvak Despoilers, he knew a human warmech when he saw one. And this one was particularly well known.
Before his home stood the warmech known as the Black Widow though its official name was 22-39 Ward. The body was painted black, a single red hourglass on the chest partially hidden by some sort of tactical covering that closely resembled a poncho. It was a monster of a machine, and there was only one person who had ever piloted it. A woman who was known as Shade, or that was what her foes had called her. To her peers, to her family, her name was Myra Fields. A war hero a thousand times over, a loving wife and mother of four.
A widow, whose family had been ripped from her by Bilharzia’s very hand.
The warmech launched another salvo, striking at targets that went unseen behind the manor, and his men, his loyal men, rushed out to face the beast of metal and wrath, only to be gunned down without mercy or hesitation. And then the chassis opened, and out stepped his worst nightmare.
A woman in black, with blood red hair, dropped from the pilots cradle and landed with nary a sound. Bilharzia made to flee through the house, but the fire caused by the explosion within it had weakened the structure, a burning beam landing upon his legs and pulverizing the bones. He cried out as he was stopped dead in his tracks, and from where he lay he could see her approaching slowly, patiently.
Finally she stepped into the burning home, the smoke filled wind catching her coat and making it flap. She knelt before him, not a single emotion on her face. She studied him for a moment, then looked at the beam and the fire which engulfed the house before nodding. She didn’t say a word, not even in response to his begging, his pleas for mercy. She had none to give, none to show, and so she stood and left, leaving him to his fate.
Finally she spoke, even as she walked past the waiting warmech.
“Light the fire, Ward.” She said, and the machine nodded, launching more incendiary missiles high into the air, and watching as the payload rained down on the home. And just like that, it was over, a syndicate which had existed for five hundred years, reduced to ashes. The machine nodded again, then turned and trailed after its mistress.
Four days later
Myra crouched before a series of headstones, brushing the sand off them carefully and with reverence. She didn’t know what to say, didn’t know what to do. But looking at them sparked something inside her, a purpose.
“It’s done… They won’t take anyone else anymore, I made sure of that.” She whispered. “Now… Now I think I’ll see what I can do to help make the galaxy a better place. There are more out there like me, who need their own closure. More like them that need to be brought to justice. If I can do even just a little bit… Then that’ll be enough for me.”
She rose, dusting the sand off her knees and took one last look at the graves of her family.
“I love you all.” She murmured, turning and clambering up into the cockpit of her warmech. As it sealed she placed her hat upon a hook, and turned them both towards the horizon, and the star port beyond it.
“What are we going to do now, Commander?” Ward asked, and she smiled, giving one of his consoles a gentle pat.
“Now… Now we’re going to do what we do best. Think you’re up for it?”
“Affirmative.”
“Good boy. Let’s go kill some bad guys.”
And so, the two walked off into the great unknown, looking to bring justice to those that required it.

it been a month (sorry but am even more poor now so i cant buy anything, i still have a few but i have to space it out)
am i sitting here at 10 pm (i write the review in multiple days sometimes lol) making a review because i have to declutter my cloths and am TERRIFIED, yes absolutely is it wort it yes
it a few days later and now am watching the fast and the furious am at the 8 right now, ill probably be done by tomorrow, it a fun marathon, right now the best one is the first, but like as a kid my fav was always the 3 one, guess when we grow up our taste grow up too lol
what's a duet: it a concept created by osmofolia (am pretty sure as i never seen it before) where a perfume is made by 2 perfume, so lets say you have exquisite corps that's the perfume you buy, when you receive it you gonna have 2 bottle, vanilla milk and smoked lavender musk, when you layer them on your skin, they become exquisite corps! but the fun part is that you have 3 perfume, and the 2 bottle you get are amazing layering notes (as it their hole purpose) so you can add them to any perfume you want
LIKES: tea, patchouli, tart fruits, close to skin smell, greens (grass, moss, leaf's of all sort (tomato leaf yum)), atmospheric/realistic, citrus, frankincense, cedar, most fruits actually, soil, roses, lavender, salt, sage, cannabis, rosemary, cozy gourmand, marshmallow, smoke, cinnamon actually most spice, pine/fir, violet leaf/violet, i like stuff that feel wet (fog, ocean, rain), ambergris
DISLIKES: ozone, aldehyde, oud, sandalwood, cinnamon leaf, big silage, white floral, especially tuberose and gardenias, but also just florals in general, alcoholics, vetiver, perfumy perfume, most milk, tar, when company say “for woman” or “for man”
HATE OR LOVE no in between: Hay, jasmine, incense, pink pepper, fancy woods, most resins, iris/orris, petrichor
to your attention: this is not really a critique, but it still normal i don't gush over everything, am talking about my taste not trying to sell you anything, i like all the company i talk about and if i don't i will say it. i am a bitch but don't let your feeling get hurt over a little dumb post please ;) love yall lets do this
​
HONEY DUST you mean pollen right?
notes: pollen, hay, honey, beeswax, powdered sugar
though: so on the bottle there the name of the duet (what a spellcaster leaves behind) and a number not the name of the note, and when i got them i was too lazy to look it up to make sure i wrote the right name so i just did it by memory, so now on my bottle it written "pollen" lol. i do think it perfect for this perfume it super dusty to the point were if you have pollen allergy i would tell you to stay away from this, it also gives me the same harshness grass perfume give me sometime but it not at all green wish is kinda weird too maybe the hay? idk but it welcome, this perfume is the mix of comforting sweater and seasonal allergy, weird but i love that in a perfume
color: golden yellow dust of pollen in a gold ornate jar sitting on a red tinted wood table
+
ANTIQUE BOOK if vanilla ice cream and white wood had a child
notes: paper, leather, glue, old book, cedar, vanilla, cetalox
though: every single book fragrance is either super chemical or super woody marshmallow there just no in-between and this is a woody marshmallow that dry down to a sandalwood-y thingy, i don't hate it but i do think it better as a addition to another perfume then by it own. but on it own i think it perfect for the book ladies that are a little (a bit) more conservative then me (and always ladies in a non gendered way lolll i just have a booktok person in mind and shes a woman, but it not a woman perfume none are)
color: a hard cover book with no letter printed on any of the page (your gonna say, oh a drawing pad, nah, a small hard cover where they just made a mistake on the print and there nothing) and also you know the wood you can find around lake and the sea, it super white and soft, that but in a 2x4

WHAT A SPELLCASTER LEAVES BEHIND cream pollen
notes: pollen, hay, honey, beeswax, powdered sugar, paper, leather, glue, old book, cedar, vanilla, cetalox
though: this is interesting the antique book note almost lost itself in the honey dust, but then you smell honey dust on it own again and your like ok i see it much more chill on the dusty-ness, i get it i get it, it also a perfect on the name i love it! what a spellcaster leaves behinds it so descriptive and cute and definetly perfect for the perfume, you can imagine the scene, a big dusty book closing, the dust particule going everywhere, someone closing a candle and then a door.
color: a huge dusty, very dusty book, with gold corner and yellowing pages
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VANILLA MILK sweet brown milk (smell better then it sounds)
notes: cream, caramel , heliotrope, vanilla, milk, musk
though: that's not for me, for sure, i mean to be fair my skin don't work with anything milk, my only love is milk shaka from Damask Haus, to me this is sickly sweet, but i don't think most would think that, if you like a milk caramel this is for you for sure, this is concerning because of the realism, i mean it smell like warm milk, and the thick light brown caramel that looks like melted plastic but actually taste pretty good, just very artificial, witch is weird cuz caramel sauce is so easy to make and i don't get why restaurant and ice cream shop don't make it themselves it like 3 ingredient, butter, sugar and cream, (brown sugar if you want butterscotch) but anyway you also have a bit of a floral note but it just adds to the warm milk, really interesting i see this being very popular with the gourmand people
color: a room temperature glass of milk forgotten on a oval shaped table, you know the big ones in wood, with a super big feet underneath, they always have some middle piece of broderie made by some grand mother and and a flower pot full of fresh flower (white heliotrope this time) on the other side of the table there a caramel cream pie
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SMOKED LAVENDER MUSK gay fur
notes: lavender, smoke, oakmoss, musk
though: lavender smoke is a pretty common mix, i don't particularly care for but i love this, it fun it sexy and the lavender pretty realistic. if you know a bit about queer history, lavender been a symbol of gay-ness (lol) since the end of the 19th century, and idk if it since i know this fact that i believe all lavender perfume are gay, well this not the exception (i really don't think there one, it like violet) idk know why exactly but this perfume is just very queer to me, only downside, cuz it really smell good, it that it doesn't last super long contrary to vanilla milk that's super persistent
color: light purple fur coat, and a black leather cat suit with cowboy boots and a big chunky belt, but truly it just a smoke lavender love

EXQUISITE CORPS They are cold like porcelain
notes: lavender, smoke, oakmoss, musk, cream, caramel , heliotrope, vanilla, milk, musk
though: you know i bitch a lot about name accuracy but this is spot on, does it smell like a crops, i mean no, not that i know of (and idk every dead i seen was in dust form not corps form) but it has this cold creaminess mix with the floral it just exactly the name. this is amazing if you put just a little bit of the vanilla milk (my opinion, but don't you think this concept is amazing for that you can dose your 2 perfume to make exactly the combi you prefer) i just think it better when it the smoky floral that take the lead it more mortuary less floral caramel
color: cold, soft but lifeless skin. resting on a pile of white and purple flower, white coffin, 2 small marble column on each side to witch rest on top flower pot. people crying
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7/11 STEAMED MATCHA LATTE a dammed good matcha latte
notes: steam, matcha, warm milk, green tea, cream
though: this is the best of them all, by far, on it own, it just so perfect, the matcha super realistic, it super creamy it has this amazing grass quality and i just sweet enough, as a tea note lover THIS, IS perfect. i were it the most out of the 6 and any combination of the 6. oh last thing it kinda also smell like white chocolate just so you know but there literally nothing else i can say to this perfume it a perfection in simplicity
color: white chocolate and matcha ganache, i kinda want to make a matcha latte recipe but it would be too long cuz there way to many step to make a fancy matcha latte, you'll have to imagine it lol
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COLD RAIN ON PAVEMENT perfectionism
notes: cold air, humid air, puddles, rain, concrete, tar
though: i hate ozone/aldehydes, but objectifly this one is not too bad, osmofolia has a goesmin single note that is actually realistic rain this one is not (to me) but it still adjacent, it wet, bright, soapy and and a bit floral, i mean ofc i wont like a perfume that give me a headache, but that's not the perfume fault right like, i know this perfume is beautiful, it gives me Ghibli rain scene, like in Arrietty, Totoro or Kiki the Little Witch, it rain but in a very aesthetically pleasing way, am doing a fast and furious marraton but after i feel like watching all the ghibli movie
color: walking next to a flower shop after the rain, a little brightness in the thick of the concrete jungle

ON THE CORNER OF JINHU ROAD too pretty
notes: steam, matcha, warm milk, green tea, cream, cold air, humid air, puddles, rain, concrete, tar
though: every one that read my reviews know 2 thing for sure about me, i hate ozone/aldehydes like we seen right before and i have weird references, well weirdly i don't hate this, i mean not on me it would still give me a head ache like ozone/aldehydes always do but it pleasant, i think it the creaminess, it kinda chill out the harshness of cold rain on pavement, but it still has the buzz-ness, it like a soapy, after the rain drinking a matcha latte (that has some kind of white floral syrup in) it pretty, too pretty for me
color: walking next to a flower shop after the rain, a little brightness in the thick of the concrete jungle but the flower shop is also a coffee shop and you get yourself a matcha latte
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MIX AND MATCH, if you get it you get it if you don't you don't ok
Matcha + Milk = Brown Sugar Matcha Latte
Matcha + Lavender = Dirty Matcha
Matcha + Book = White Chocolate BonBon
Matcha + Pollen = Fancy HoneyBee With Her Little Tea
Milk + Book = Alpha, Eating At The Library
Milk + Pavement = Frolicking, Naked After The Rain
Milk + Pollen = Sexy Picnic
Lavender + Pavement = Smoking In The Flower Field
Lavender + Book = Gay Woodworker
Lavender + Pollen = Ashtray, Potpourri
Pavement + Pollen = Electric Bee, Buzz Buzz
Pavement + Book = Little Bookstore In Old Montréal
Pollen + Book = Reading in the Sunroom
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i could do a combi of 3 perfume but that just to much work, but if you do please share in the comment your favs lolll
this month as been kinda hell, am still working on my move (to no where lol) and am nowhere near done, now am starting to make the boxes (tomorrow) and it stressing me the fuck out, anyway on that note, how do you make pr? loll (half joking) cuz yeah i miss doing these review, but dont worry i still have maybe 5 review left if i don't count the discontinued stereoplasm
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also, have a great night love xoxo