Two players looking to find a DM to build a group with. I work a week on and week off schedule so unfortunately weekly games aren't on the table for me, but on the week off both myself and my friend have fairly open schedules so we can work with just about any time/day of the week combination.
Us: we have a few years of various TTRPG system experience, pretty chill and welcoming to anyone of any background, open sense of humor, 60/40 combat to RP types (we like strong characters, but try not to just shatter the game) though we definitely can appreciate good RP sessions, and we can definitely appreciate a dangerous game world with PC death being a real possibility.
While it isn't a must check all the boxes situation some of the things we are hoping to find in common with said DM. (and any players that might see this wanting to message me it's fine to throw your hat in the ring just know we want to find the right DM first before any official player recruiting happens as we feel this should adapt as much as possible to the DM's comfort and schedule)
-Prefer people ok with talking things out if there is a problem don't let it fester
-PVP can happen for story/character reasons that make sense but the party should ultimately be cohesive and not antagonize each other
-Good grasp of the ruleset and makes it clear & consistent when we won't be following said rules (homebrew can be just as fun as RAW when done right)
-While people have lives and things to do having a presence in chat between sessions from time to time is nice or at least staying up to date.
-We are all there to have fun, but that said start time is start time and people should respect other's time and be ready to play at game time.
Message me here or either of us on discord our handles are Storment#2857 and halospirit#8915

For context, I have just come out of the D4 beta having played for a grand total of 2 hours before quitting.
The reason? It felt like a weird combination of MMO lite and a mobile game constantly throwing praise and quest updates at you. “You’ve achieved X renown! You are at 250/1000 kills! You can claim this award! You have engaged this enemy!”
But the biggest reason I stopped playing the beta and am about to go back to LE is that I have no choice how to play Diablo 4.
During my (admittedly brief) beta experience, I kept seeing players entering into my “events”. I also saw players in town. Just as I was off to go slay some demons and save the world, I ran into “bigtities09”.
I really do not like being forced to play with and/or see other players when logging in. It kills the immersion. Some people may want to group up and that’s great.
But Blizzard has decided for us how we should play their game.
I am so happy to say that EHG gives players flexibility to enjoy their game as we want to- whether that is as a party, solo online or solo offline.
It is becoming less common for games to offer solo modes (especially offline modes), so this is a huge THANK YOU to EHG for letting the players decide how they want to play, rather than forcing a decision onto us.
Last Epoch feels like it is being made for gamers to enjoy and it shows.
So once again, THANK YOU!!!!
Signed,
A gamer who spends all day with people at work and doesn’t want to log into a game to see even more people

English is not my native language, and what I'm say may seem utter nonsense, but myself I consider it important. I not be offended if you all decide that this is unreadable garbage. 🌈
I REALLY like Warframe. Here I rest. Before that, I played in Destiny, which caused me some disarrangement, but in Warframe it's completely the opposite, and I'm so glad that I nevertheless decided to expand my zone of perception, and go after my buddies in Warframe. But sadly, in my language, community is terribly toxic to newcomers. They things, that if newbies easier to play, than they used to, they are unworthy of help. I would have continued to play anyway, but thanks to my buddies I made a lot less mistakes than I could.
I usually notice problems with story and lore, gameplay, and I with caution approach to games that I don't consider monolithic. I can't explain... I have a form in my head, that tells me how perfect everything should be. And if it's not, I get really sick of every mention of it think. But in Warframe that doesn't bother me at all. Absolutely. This is so marvelous and amazing! I this moment in Warframe, some moments, and my brain not react to them at all. Plot holes, storytelling problems, gameplay roughness - I don't care, because the story and gameplay in Warframe is still amazing! It's like living all life with head, what wrapped in barbed wire, on which twisted hot sticky polyethylene, and then suddenly it all disappeared. It's an amazing feeling. I also really like the visual style. It style like a dream, or AI art, when everything around is so fluid and changing, and often you see a picture that suddenly becomes different. For some reason, it relaxes me. And the plot, it so close to me. And I love that there are so many choices for player, as to who the Operator and the Drifter are, and it doesn't contradict world story in any way. For example, in my canon, main character is Drifter, and the Operator's universe is alternate.
I really like frame system because that I'm not limited by one class. I like games like The Elder Scrolls, where I can adapt to situation and not be locked into one role. But there I feel myself very bad from Khajiit. I like cats, and that way they talk about themselves in the third person, it`s like conecting to me... but their lore and strange things make a complete mess in my head. With Argonians, everything is much simpler and good, and they are so monolithic and fluid same time ... and these are the things that give me problems when I come contact with games and their systems. And not only, bruh.
From this I constantly feel guilty from that I not being able to play some relevant frames. Either their mechanics break my brain, or their skins break my brain, or their existence breaks my brain. Huh. And I have a special story with Nekros. It's fine, as long as I don't go into frame editor and try to change color... every time I change something, I put in a piece of myself. And for me, this is a whole special operation for many hours, because every color, every shape, I feel in my head by taste, by sound, sometimes by smell. And often this is all terribly contradictory. Everything not should be too dirty and full of detal, everything not should be too sterile. I very like natural colors, they don't give me attack. But bright, chaotic, iridescent, brilliant colors, cause me a stunning and an attack. I very love brightness and contrast, but I need use it right. But if I see something, that is not right for me, I will feel all sounds, smells and tastes, that relate to these colors and shapes at once. They will get stuck in my head, and there will be only colors and shapes before my eyes, and it will take me about 6 hours to recover. So, Nekros Prime evokes these feelings in me with his meaning, that gets into my head. Nekros style is a stereotype of a necromancer, or lich. I think this is wrong, because death, disease, parasites - this is all life. Life is not a cycle, it's just processes that are cyclical. And I want to reveal this in Nekros, otherwise it will be wrong actions for my mind. But if I don't, my brain will scream, that I need to do this urgently in order to fill empty cell with correct fragment. This happens to me very often, and I feel terrible. Therefore, I like to play with multifunctional classes that not create chaos. Or bright classes in which I don't have to do much. That's why I love druids and warlocks in World of Warcraft, but I really feel bad for Bards and Artifacts in DnD. Just like DnD itself, it`s for me true fictions ultimate chaos. Maybe It's not bad, but my brain becomes too overwhelmed by magnitude, brightness, ability to think and fantasize without rules, that it goes off the rails. And it all, that i can explane to you, turns Necros into a rainbow lord of connections with everything in all, and my brain explodes like a burnt out light bulb. I won't show it. I avoid even thinking about this appearance, although I, like a possessed, want to create it again and burn my brain. I bought almost all him skins, in order to collect something that will not blow my mind. I very love default warframe skins, and immortal skins, suddenly, with right coloration, are amazing! It`s my Nekros - For me would be much easier, if he had a skin that makes him more occult, like Limbo-style. But we have what we have. But I really like his helmet. And this is my favorite Rino, he looks like a dragon. And so amazing! I was a little disappointed that instead of a logical dragon skin... he became a bug. For some reason, this palette does not burn my brain, and I feel myself good. But this Nekros... Gentleman warlock, who summoning demons, would be much easier for me. But Caliban can't buff loot. Hah. And I don't know how to deal with feeling, that I'm doing something wrong, because such frames cause me irreparable discomfort. Last time, in order to get rid of attack, I had to delete my account and start all over again. -_- Therefore, I try to create a positive sensory background around me, that this does not happen. But often, some things aren't meant to be, and there's nothing I can do about it other than avoid them. This is especially sad because I LOVE loot. I collect EVERYTHING that can be collected. But then I have Khora, that is also great.
I've seen trailer and first details about the Soulframe, and I think it suits me a lot more than Warframe. But this slow combat... At least I hope I can put together a Scavenger character, who can buffs everyone for loot, and wreaks chaos on the battlefield with various demonic pets, to be able to loot, lol.
My brain was itching, so I needed to talk about all this. I hope you understand what I'm talking about.

Been orbiting 7k constantly. Starting to see stuff like when I stayed on tavern tier 1 an extra turn to ramp two of those demon gnomes to 10/10's extremely quickly. Lost every round anyway, and died before I even got my first buddy. Just raced to tier 5 with Toski and scored an early Garr - paid in some early damage, but it was a very strong start. Saw minimal elemental support after that, got curb-stomped by some guy's full board of 40/40 elementals when nobody but me had passed tier 4 yet. Sometimes the tavern is so tilted that it is painfully obvious what my best purchases/plays are every round, and I get railroaded, in which case it seems fairly clear that there is nothing I could have changed to not get absolutely destroyed.
Wondering if anyone else is feeling like they're running into a lot of opposing players who experience orders of magnitude greater luck from the store than they do? Statistically implausible combinations of early buffs and gold minions, etc? It often felt like bot play or cheaters before buddies returned, but now lines of play are too varied for me to assess with any confidence how an opponent's board might have developed to its current state.
I'm really starting to suspect that Blizz may have decided it was good business to quietly add a lowkey reward to the battle pass where P2W players get better spins from the store, to encourage repeat business.

Fully Furnished Serviced Apartments in Bangladesh for Rent Serviced apartments are accurately constructed to provide visitors with an experience that standard hotels cannot equal. Each apartment has a spacious living space, a fully outfitted kitchen, and laundry facilities, giving the ideal combination of home-like comfort and services. Our apartments are also outfitted with cutting-edge technology, high-speed internet, and cutting-edge entertainment systems to keep you connected and engaged during your stay.
​
Serviced Apartments' Working Method Serviced apartments are fully furnished flats that are available for both short-term and long-term stays. When there was worry about the safety of stays during the covid-pandemic, serviced flats remained robust. With a housekeeping service, serviced flats are neatly maintained and sanitized. It will help you feel at home even while you are not at home.
​
Reason Why Serviced Apartments Become Populer Then Traditional Hotel ?
1. Hassle-Free Booking Online websites list serviced apartments together with their addresses and images. With only one swipe on your mobile device, you may verify their details and make a reservation at your convenience.
2. Clean And Comfortable There is a housekeeping facility. They correctly change their bed and pillow covers, and they frequently sterilize the rooms. Moreover, some serviced apartments provide a laundry room.
3. Privacy And Safety To keep an eye out for suspicious activity, serviced apartments have a security guard and CCTV cameras at their entrance. Serviced flats provide comfortable environments that let you feel at home without having to worry about invasion of privacy.
4. Facilities In Serviced Apartments There is a cooking facilities in serviced units. When you are away from home, you can easily create a home-cooked dinner without worrying about your digestive system. Pets are welcome to stay with you while you're away.
5. Cost-Efficient Serviced apartments are more affordable than hotels. Hostels can be more expensive for extended stays, although serviced apartments might be less expensive than hotels with additional amenities.
​
Available Facilities You Will Get At Our Serviced Apartment
1.Grocery Shop, BBQ corner 2.Swimming Pool,Theatre room 3.Gym with 24/7 and Jogging track 4.Daily Room & Bathroom Cleaning 5.Multi-purpose Hall Room With Full AC 6.Steam Bath, Thermal massager 7.Landscape With Sitting Arrangement
​
Select Our Best Studio Apartment In Dhaka There are accommodations with WiFi, a refrigerator, geyser, microwave, and air conditioning. If you need get in touch with our expert. An expert who is trained will assist you. Please get in touch with us as soon as you can.
​
Contact For Booking: +88 01712553547 +88 01921096846
JCX TOWER,1136/A, Block-I, Level 5, Japan Street, Bashundhara A

The following are the basic rules for the Maelstrom TTRPG. Any ideas or criticism is welcome. Player species, Items and NPCs coming soon[ish]
[I'm currently studying for exams, so don't expect too much]

Character creation

All of your Ability scores start at 5, and you get to distribute 60 points between them. No Ability score can exceed 13.
Premade arrays:

• 13-12-10-10-8-7
• 10-10-10-10-10-10
• 12-12-12-8-8-8
• 13-13-13-7-7-7

You start with 25 Xp, which can be exchanged for Perks before you start.
You start with 50 Bucks, which can be exchanged for Items before you start.
You choose 1 Player species, which gives you bonuses, abilities and stats.

Leveling up

Experience points

Experience points, or Xp are used as a currency to gain Perks.
Perks give you new abilities and stat increases.
Xp can be gained in many ways.

• When you beat a creature in battle, you gain an amount of Xp, equal to their Threat level divided by yours, rounded down.
• You gain 1 Xp from 5 hours of research or training.

Your Level is the total amount of Xp you have gained.
For 5 Xp, you can increase one of your Ability scores by 1.
For 1 Xp, You can increase the Skill bonus of a Skill you already have by 1.
You can do this 10 times per Ability score and Skill.

Creature stats

Checks

Checks are the most common rolls, which can be asked for by the GM and your character's actions.
Checks are always a d20 roll.
Checks specify a Skill and an Ability, meaning you add the appropriate Skill bonus and Ability modifier. [Example: a Perception[Ins] check means you roll a d20, and then add your Perception bonus if you have perception as a Skill, and then add your Insight modifier]
Other rolls might also ask for Skill bonuses or Ability modifiers.
A Contest means two creatures both make Checks, the higher roll succeeding. The initiating creature is written down first, and the target is second. [Example: a Athletics[Str] x Acrobatics[Dex] contest means the initiating creature makes a Athletics[Str] check, and the target makes a Acrobatics[Dex] check]
When you make a contest against multiple creatures, you only need to roll once.
A Check threshold, or CT, is a number you need to roll above to succeed

Ability scores

The characteristics of creatures are measured by 6 Ability scores.
Charisma measures your force of personality.
Constitution measures how much physical trauma your body can withstand.
Dexterity measures your reflexes and motor control.
Insight measures your deductive reasoning and perceptiveness.
Knowledge measures the amount of information you can recall.
Strength Measure the brute force your body can produce.
You add your Ability modifier to Checks they apply to.
Your Ability modifier is the appropriate Ability score -10. This means the Ability score is the average roll.

Skills

You can gain new Skills and increase your Skill bonuses via Perks.
Each Skill has a Skill bonus.
You add your Skill bonus to Checks they apply to.

Threat level

A creature's Threat level is a measurement of how powerful it is, being increased by abilities, Items and Stats.

Hitpoints

Hitpoints are decreased by Damage taken.
You use Temporary hitpoints after you have no Hitpoints left, and disappear when you take a rest or fall unconscious.
When you have no Hitpoints or Temporary hitpoints left, you are Downed.
When restoring Hitpoints, you cannot go above your Hitpoint maximum, which is determined by your species.

Vigor

Your Vigor maximum is equal to your Constitution score, with a minimum of 10.
You get debuffs when your Vigor is too low.

• 9 Vigor left: -1 to all checks.
• 8 Vigor left: -2 to all Checks.
• 7 Vigor left: -3 to all Checks.
• 6 Vigor left: -4 to all Checks, and you only get 5 Action points per round.
• 5 Vigor left: -5 to all Checks, and you only get 4 Action points per round.
• 4 Vigor left: -6 to all Checks, and you only get 3 Action points per round.
• 3 Vigor left: -7 to all Checks, and you only get 2 Action points per round.
• 2 Vigor left: -8 to all Checks, and you only get 1 Action point per round.
• 1 Vigor left: you fall unconscious.
• 0 Vigor left: you are Downed.

Carrying maximum

Your Carrying max is 3 times your Strength score.
Your Carrying reserve is your Carrying max minus the total Weight of the Items on your person.
Your Dexterity score and your movement speeds cannot be higher than your Carry reserve. [this debuff does not apply to dexterity checks that only use your hands, instead of your entire body. Use common sense]

Resistances

When you have a Resistance to a damage type, that means all damage you take of that type is decreased by your Resistance [Example: If you have a Piercing resistance of 5, all piercing damage you take is reduced by 5]
Armor resistances are ignored by direct damage and Critical hits.

Combat

Start of combat

When combat starts, the creature that notices the fight first gets to make 1 Action, called the Surprise action.
Then, all creatures on the board make an Initiative[Ins] check, their turns going in order from highest rolled number to lowest.
When all creatures have had their Turn, you repeat the order from the top again.
Each cycle is called a Round.
A Round lasts 6 seconds.

Actions

An Action is any move you make during combat.
Using an Action takes a specified amount of Action points.
At the start of your Turn, your amount of Action points is reset to 6.
Reactions are Actions you can make outside of your own Turn. Most Reactions have stipulations for when you can use them.
When trying something unorthodox, it usually costs 2 or 3 Action points, up to the GM.

Grappling

When a creature Grapples another, both creatures add the other's weight to their Carry weight.
When one of the two tries to move, the other can make a Athletics[Str] v Athletics[Str] contest. If the initiator succeeds, the target does not move.
Both creatures always move together as a single unit.
The target of the Grapple can use 3 Action points to struggle, making a Flexibility[Dex] or Athletics[Str] v Athletics[Str] contest, ending the Grappled condition on a success.

Concentration

Some Action or Effects take Concentration.
You can only Concentrate on 1 thing at a time.
Your Concentration is broken when you take damage, fall prone, or fall unconscious.

Movement

For 2 Action points, you can use one of your Movement categories, moving an amount of meters up to the movement speed.

Crawling speed

Crawling represents a creature dragging themselves across the ground.
Some Difficult terrain prevents you from crawling across it entirely. [use common sense]

Running speed

Running represents a creature walking or running across a horizontal surface.

Hovering speed

Hovering represents a creature moving across a horizontal surface while floating roughly a meter above it.
Hovering allows you to ignore certain kinds of Rough terrain. [use common sense]

Climbing speed

Climbing represents a creature moving along a vertical surface by gripping the uneven surface.
Creatures can not Climb up smooth surfaces.

Swimming speed

Swimming represents a creature moving through a fluid, around the same density as themselves.
Swimming lets you move in 3 dimensions.
Creatures without a Swimming speed can swim 1 meter, using their Movement action and Main action.
when Swimming upstream, moving 1 meter takes 2 meters of your Swimming speed.

Burrowing speed

Burrowing represents a creature tunneling through loose sediment.
Burrowing lets you move in 3 dimensions.
Burrowing does not let you move through solid rock or metal.

Flying speed

Flying represents a creature’s controlled movement through the air.
Flying lets you move in 3 dimensions.

Gliding speed

Gliding represents a creature using a slowed descent to move through the air.
Gliding lets you move in 3 dimensions, like flying, but you cannot move upwards, and lower at least 1 meter downwards every turn.

Throwing and jumping

For 3 Action points, you can jump up to your Jumping distance.
Your jumping distance is your Strength modifier, minimum of 1, in meters.
For 2 Action points, you can throw an Item up to your Throwing distance.
Your Throwing distance is your Strength score in meters.

Falling & impact damage

When falling, you move down an amount of meters, equal to the local gravity score [usually 10] at the start of your turn.
When you hit the ground, you take [1 Hitdie + your Size category] impact damage for every 5 meters you fell.
When you expect the fall, or fall for more than 10 meters, you get to make an CT 15 Athletics[Dex] Check, halving the impact damage on a success.
When Forced movement pushes you into a structure, you take [1 Hitdie + your Size category] impact damage.

Senses

Your Senses are the ways you can accurately and precisely observe the world. Humans might have a sense of smell, but it's not good enough to be able to see attacks coming.
Options include:

• Vision
• Echolocation
• Heat vision
• Electroreception

If all of your Senses are deactivated, you gain Blinded status effect

Items

Actions

Dropping, grabbing and interacting with an Item takes 1 Action point.
For 2 Action points, you can throw an Item up to your Throwing distance.

Storage

Each item takes up an amount of Spaces.
Some Items have an amount of Storage, meaning they can contain that many spaces worth of Items.
Attire can be worn like clothing.

Wielding

You can wield a Weapon with a weight, equal to your Size category without problems.
Each weight above your Size category gives you a -2 penalty to all [Dex] based checks made with it. This penalty is decreased by 4 for every additional hand you hold it with.
If the weight of the weapon is 3 above your Size category, attacks with it cost 1 more Action point.
If the weight of the weapon is 3 below your weight, attacks with it cost 1 less Action point, 1 minimum.

Status effects

Grappled

When a creature Grapples another, both creatures add the other's weight to their Carry weight.
When one of the two tries to move, the other can make a Athletics[Str] v Athletics[Str] contest. If the initiator succeeds, the target does not move.
Both creatures always move together as a single unit.
The target of the Grapple can use 3 Action points to struggle, making a Flexibility[Dex] or Athletics[Str] v Athletics[Str] contest, ending the Grappled condition on a success.

Restrained

When Restrained, you can't make any action that require significant movement [use common sense]

Prone

When Prone, you cannot use its movement speeds, and you get a -5 to Evasion checks.
You can end the condition by spending 3 Action points on standing back up.
Creatures with a Crawling speed are immune to the Prone condition.

Bleeding

When Bleeding, you take 1 direct damage at the start of each turn, or 2d10 per minute.

Blinded

When Blinded, you automatically fail all Checks that require sight, and get a -5 to all Checks that rely on sight.

On fire

When On fire, you take 1d4 fire damage at the start of each turn, or 4d10 per minute.
The condition ends when the fire in extinguished [use common sense]

Frozen

When Frozen, you take 1d4 frost damage at the start of each turn, or 4d10 per minute.
The condition ends when you take fire damage, or are otherwise thawed [use common sense]

Survival

Short rests

A Short rest consists of at least 1 hour of light activity.
A Short rest restores 4 Vigor, and 1 Hp.

Long rest

A Long rest consists of at least 5 hours of sleep.
A long rest restores 6 Vigor, and 1 Hitdie of Hp.
After a Long rest, you can stay awake for twice the amount of time you slept. After that time, you lose 1 Vigor every 8 hours.

Needs

You lose 1 Vigor:

• every 24 hours without food
• every 6 hours without food or water
• every 5 rounds/half a minute without breathable gas

Work in progress

Size categories?
1 space, cat size, beaver size, wolf size, human size, gorilla/lion size, cow/elk size, polar beamoose size, hippo/rhino/gw shark size, elephant size, orca size, humpback, sperm whale, finback whale, blue whale, destroyer, cruisers, battleship, dreadnought,
2
3 2
3 2
1
2
human
16
+2 con
+1 dex
Will proficiency
5 meter running speed
5
d10
Adrenaline rush
2 languages, complex tool use, 2 hands
​
octopus
16
+5 to dex
-3 to str
Proficiency stealth
3 meter crawling speed
2 meter climbing speed
10 meter swim speed
2
d4
Water breathing
Active camouflage
+10 to stealth as a action
Ink cloud
1ns per day [until con 15]
1x1 meter area obscured
suckers
Soft bodied
2 language, complex tool use, 8 hands
​
Tenax
16
+2 str
-2 con
Will proficiency
5 meter running speed
6
d10
Armor resistances
2 piercing
2 slashing
Adrenaline rush
+1 unarmed strikes
2 languages, complex tool use, 2 hands

I'm trying really hard to understand how the sword works when it comes to PVP?
I was under the impression that the sword 3 hit combo inflicted a stun on the opponent, but everytime I'm hitting someone who's double gunning, they just reload their ammo and hipfire me in the MIDDLE of my 3 hit combos?
If they have a blunderbuss, which is most of the time, I just get one shot while I'm hitting them..
It feels rewarding to short hop dodge a gun shot but why in lord's name are they allowed to then reload and just one shot me while I'm hitting them lol?
---
Is the information on the WIKI and in game regarding sword stun just incorrect or am I misunderstanding something? Almost every players I fight are double-gunning, is the sword just unusable in PVP for any other situation than lunge boarding?

> Personal Data Locker is your one and only ID and database that can be connected to many websites and applications using decentralized login mechanism.
> We would like to increase this number by connecting to many websites and applications, as it will naturally increase as you use our services.

Since a lot of data moves back and forth when browsing the internet, I am pondering the benefits of Jasmy making an internet browser with the PDL built-in, or even a browser plug-in.
Imagine agreeing to the use of cookies, but for all the data collected and used, the website-user is rewarded.
Someone ought to monetise cookies somehow.
All of the information collected and retained about visits to webpages could have monetary value for the user, especally e-commerce websites that use data to suggest products or services.
The PDL, in my uneducated opinion, has a long way to go before it shows any significant dominance within the oceans and mountains of global data. And even if it did make a dent, does this automatically mean the token price will go up?
If the reward for sharing basic data is only 0.00000001 Jasmy per person and I have 10 Jasmy, then I can buy a lot of basic data with a miniscule amount of Jasmy.
Wouldn't you like to see a breakdown of what data will cost in Jasmy?
Do loyalty cards schemes really work? After ten shops you get a free stale muffin? Are Jasmy rewards going to be like a loyalty card, and will a soggy bicsuit be all I am able to redeem after a year of sharing data?
A side example, Ripple do not need the price of XRP to go up (in my opinion) as this does nothing for XRP's utility within cross-border payments systems; the token merely has to exist to serve its purpose. Is that true?
Even if XRP is worth $ZERO on the retail market, I believe XRP could still perform the intended operation.
What might bring value is being able to transact and purchase goods and services with XRP as opposed to buying the token, hoping the price goes up, then selling it for a profit. This action basically categorises XRP as a "security", because it is a tradable financial asset on the retail market.
Ripple may not have intended XRP to be a security as this is not what they themselves use it for, but the fact they gave it to retail investors to trade and profiit/lose makes it a security. Is that not true?
If Ripple disassociated itself with the publicly traded XRP and decided to use XRPv2.0 for banks (which retail investors could not get hold of) then I'd feel differently. This is just my opinion, not fact.
Every crytpo listed on an exchange that can be traded for profit are literally securities in the basic sense of the word (source: Investopedia - what are financial securities?) If exchanges ceased letting retail customers trade tokens for profit then they would no longer be classified as securities. I know it's not so clear cut and there is a lot more to argue, but that's my take.
I digressed
Jasmy does not need the price of Jasmy to moon for the Jasmy token to perform the supposed intended function. Is this true? It can be worth $ZERO and still be issued as a reward - similar to XRP being used for cross-border payments.
I would have hoped ex Sony Execs would be able to get their product into every relevant Sony device on the market before exploring any other avenue; perhaps even having the Sony Corporation use Jasmy across its operations.
I believe Jasmy is still at proof of concept stage, trying to prove there is a need for it, or at least coerce companies into believing they need it.
XRP had been proof of concept for over a decade and look who Ripple are already partnered with and the token is still worth peanuts. Influencers think clarity from the SEC will send the price into orbit, but I am skeptical. If Ripple loses they can create another utility token and use it for the financial sector and forget about XRP. The banks rely on the technology, not so much the token. Adjusting a few lines of code (an update) is probably all it'll take, and they have probably created this alternative already with their finger on the button, waiting to send XRP to $ZERO. You know what, they may already have.
Jasmy are not working with any super major league players in any industry. All this talk of being in discussion with that company and this company could wind up fruitless. And even if partnerships are formed, just with Ripple and the many banks, Jasmy working with a lot of companies doesn't necessarily mean the token is going to $10.00
I trust the Jasmy team will continue to make steady progress and I will hold my bag to the grave, occasionally topping it up. I have come to terms with the possibility I may lose my entire "investment", and I am okay with that.
Bitcoin is the only crypto that has withstood the test of time, is accepted as payment, is a tradable asset, and had first mover advantage. It's solid and seemingly untouchable considering bringing bitcoins owners to court is not the same as suing coinbase

Want to get more answers quickly by helping this subreddit produce a FAQ? Click here.
If you want to filter out certain posts, search for '-flair:FLAIRNAME' (eg: '-flair:Tierlists&Trends') in the search bar and then sort by new.

Current Information

• Current JP Event: Immiscible Discord - Permanent, 25-ji, Nightcord de., Pure (green)
• Current EN Event: On This Blank Canvas, I Paint - Permanent, Nightcord at 25:00, Cool (blue)
• Current Monthly Gacha Roll Thread: The March Rain Like Countless Strands of My Memories
• Current Wondershow Channel: 2.5th Anniversary Special, Feat. Kino Hina (Emu) and Machico (Nene), with guests Isobe Karin (Saki) and Furihata Ai (Airi)
• Current Colorful Corner: February 22nd

JP resources

• Official website
• Youtube
• Twitter
• Project Sekai ENG (Unofficial) Twitter

EN resources

• Official website
• Youtube
• Twitter
• Facebook

General Resources

• Official FAQ [JP translation]
• Official Beginner's Guide [JP translation]
• u/wintershore's Beginner Guide
• SEKAI Viewer [features cards, gacha simulator, and more - beware spoilers]
• Project SEKAI wiki [Fandom]
• Project SEKAI wiki [Miraheze]

Story Compilations (JP translations)

• Leo/need [main]
• MORE MORE JUMP! [main]
• Vivid BAD SQUAD [main]
• Wonderlands x Showtime [main]
• Nightcord at 25:00 [main]
• Events
• Cards [Inconsistent due to lacking translations - not all card stories will be available]

Didn't find what you need? Feel free to ask below and maybe another player can help. Alternatively, if you see a question you can answer, comment and help out your fellow players.
Also, please comment below if you find any other useful links to add to or replace on the list.

Want to include a screenshot as proof and can't use the comment image feature? Follow these steps:

Step 1: Take a screenshot of your screen.
Step 2: Upload your screenshots to an image-hosting website like Imgur or Google Drive.
Step 3: Share the link along with your comment.
​
Of course, there are some rules to follow when posting in this megathread.

Rules

• Assume good faith - Rhythm games should be easily accessible to all. Assume that the player really doesn't know and try to help them out. In the event of trolls, either downvote, ignore, or report them to the moderators.
• Have patience before asking again. It might take some time for someone with an answer to find your comment. You should wait at least 4 hours before making a separate post for your question.
• Keep jokes in moderation - This is meant to be an educational space. Try not to clog it up with too much unnecessary fluff.

If you see people asking questions that could be answered here, try and direct them over to this post. This way, we can make sure the feed doesn't get filled with the same questions repeatedly. However, this won't work unless everyone cooperates. Hopefully, a new megathread will be posted every Saturday. Thanks to grandorder for inspiring this megathread.

Welcome to the question megathread! If you have any questions around FFXI at all, this is the place to ask. Scroll down to the comments and ask away. Various FFXI resources are provided in the body of this topic directly before the comments.

ffxi FAQ

Are you a new or returning player? We have quite the list of Frequently Asked Questions that's pretty comprehensive of the questions most commonly asked around the sub. If your question isn't answered there, feel free to shoot in the comments below.

BG Wiki

BG Wiki is a modern FFXI wiki with up-to-date pages on endgame specifics as well as various guides.
It is currently the only XI wiki with an active staff which are always working with members of the community to address concerns and suggestions. BG seeks to be the main wiki of the community. Consolidating the efforts of everyone into one single wiki is the most productive and effective. We welcome and invite all to join us!

• A thread can be found on FFXIAH.com in which you can report issues with the wiki and read a getting started FAQ if you wish to contribute! That thread is located here.
• Anyone wishing to join Team Blue Gartr may join the Discord.

FFXIclopedia

• FFXIclopedia

FFXIclopedia is a comprehensive general-purpose wiki for FFXI that typically covers pages for each item/area/BCNM/etc. Note: The site has heavy ads when logged out, due to Wikia (especially on mobile).

FFXIAH & FFXIDB

• FFXIAH
• FFXIDB

FFXIAH is a website showing the Auction House history & current items for sale in-game, as well as a forum community among other things. FFXIDB is a database website showing drop rates of items as well as monster spawns based of player data collected by Guildwork.

Making Friends

• Subreddit Discord
• Character name & social megathread

There are various ways to make new friends and meet people in FFXI. The first recommendation is to find a Linkshell via Linkshell Concierge NPCs. If you check these NPCs directly after a maintenance, this is typically a good way to find active Linkshells. Another suggestion is to find a community website for your server; many servers have a Facebook group (some are listed on the subreddit sidebar). The subreddit also has a Discord server for chatting/voice.
This thread is default sorted by new. If you have any suggestions regarding the information above, feel free to send the moderators a modmail. Your FFXI questions can be asked below ↓

Do you think i played these two hands right?
KdQc in big blind , straddle to 6 utg, MP bets 20, folds around i call, Straddle calls. Flop QhJc6c. I check, utg check, MP bet 30. I call , utg call.
Turn is Jh. check, check, MP bets 55, I fold tanking and then utg folds. Don’t know what he had. Seems Nitty but i’ve lost tons in these 3way pots with top pair and player on my left had me confused what he called with.
A few hands later I have AdJh MP I limp. (ik bad was distracted and having convo with dealer after winning last pot.) MP+1 call, Cutoff raises to 20, I call and MP+1 call. flop is As10h8h i check, MP1 check, cutoff bet 30. I call Mp1 fold .
Turn is 10s I check ,CO bet 45 I call. River is 9 H i check CO bet 55 i call. He shows Qc10c for turned trips.
This shouldn’t be hugely confusing hands im just mad at myself because I feel like i folded the winner first hand and called with the loser second hand. But could/ should i have done anything different? Besides the limp. Also to note I hero called this CO villian with AK and won on a 666102 board then one hand later showed a bluff with a gutter to beat him. He might’ve been a little tilted? If that changes anything. Please let me know and call me all the slurs you want if i played bad.

I love this game, I'm American. Question is do asian players get HYPED AF when playing??? where is the fucking FIRE, I don't see any passion at all when playing in the platinum ranked or any other tbh. FPS games are like the most testosterone type of game and I don't see anyone ever HYPE up a team in the chat, NA players might be toxic but they also want to win as much as possible and I don't ever see that passion coming through on asian server

Theme I'm using supports 3 menus:
Main, Mobile, Vertical
However, I want to add a menu (with sub-levels) into the Header Top Bar section of my travel site.
Region / Country / City
I've tried a few things on my own:

• Input a menu into the top bar widget - however it just shows as links with no interactivity
• Looked for a plugin that would handle this (with no success).
• Stayed up all-night pulling out my hair
• Briefly considered using a CSS menu and dropping it in - then thought better of it

Can anyone suggest a stand-alone plugin that might work for this? Or some way to get that top bar menu?
www.pinayvsworld.com
(area is in green at top)
What I'd like to build
https://www.leeabbamonte.com
(something like at the top of this site - but cleaner and with two levels of menus)
Africa > East Africa > Seychelles
Thanks!

Hello Everyone,
I'm building a pc after using GTX970 & i5-4690k for 8 years. I'm planning to use it mostly for 4K gaming with TV and sometimes for emulation, programming and very basic 3D modelling.
Probably I'll do the same and use this build for a long time(at least 6 years) without an important upgrade and I want to limit budget as much as possible.
I would like to get your opinions about some points
1) Sapphire AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT Pulse
- Cheapest, has good reviews, it's %10 cheaper than cheapest 4070ti on my country - I've never used amd gpu and I would like to have dlss for long run but higher raw performance and higher vram is attractive. What do you think especially 20gb GDDR6X vs 12gb GDDR6 on long run?
2) Going with AM4 and DDR4
- Cheaper(including mobo) since won't get upgraded anyway. Do you think still worth for me to invest up-to-date parts
3) 5600x(1x price), 5700x(1.22x price), 5800x3D(2.06x price)
- I'm not from EU/US so I'm giving relative prices also for reference; Sapphire 7900 XT Pulse is 5.37x - Do you think it's worth to invest in 5800x3D since I can use emulation(gaming and mobile development) also for gaming I can play cpu intensive games and in future I might have to go down 1440p or even 1080p. I don't know if there will be much difference in this cases or daily usage - 5800x3D is pushing my budget a bit but long run and not limiting gpu is important here.
4) Motherboard
- Thinking getting some budget b550 mobo like Gigabyte B550 Gaming X V2 or ASUS TUF GAMING B550M-E WIFI - Should I invest more? I might do little bit overclock in the future
5) G.Skill RipjawsV 32 GB (2x16) DDR4 3600 MHz CL16
- Looks like a sweet spot, do you agree?
6) Noctua NH-U12S Redux,
- I can get Redux half the price of Noctua NH-U12S right now - I can get Arctic Freezer 34 eSports DUO for 1.5 times the price of NH-U12S Redux
7) Case
- Thinking getting "budget" mesh case like Nzxt H510 Flow or Corsair 4000D Airflow
8) PSU
- Thinking getting at least bronze, known brand 700w or 750w?
I already have the ssd&hdd and peripherals. I'm open to extra opinions that I didn't ask. Sorry for taking your time with long post, every detail is important for me. Thank you for your opinions and ideas.

Abstract: An attempt to outline a method by which current approaches to solving the AI alignment problem can be expanded upon (namely, rules based reward models). In brief, the method suggests creating an adversarial network of AI agents which critique themselves and each-other, and must build coalitions and vote on high-level strategy before any action can be enacted. Each agent is inspired by different aspects of the human psyche, and created by prioritising different aspects of human morality, using different data sources, and different approaches.
Introduction: I recently stumbled across an explanation of how large language models such as ChatGPT are aligned with human values, this was outlined under ‘Principles for RL-CAI’, in the paper ‘Constitutional AI: Harmlessness from AI Feedback.’ (2022). This paper outlines how rules based reward models are used to ensure agents such as ChatGPT are aligned with human values. The rules based reward model used by ChatGPT is not publicly available, but an example of a rules based reward model was provided.
Upon review, I was a bit baffled by this. Frankly, I was expecting something more sophisticated. Instead, it seems like the agent is provided a list of general Heuristics (pasted below). Now, there may be extra components to ensuring alignment (such as training, and human voting on preferred responses, etc.), but in essence if large language models are using relatively unsophisticated rules based reward models to direct their action then surely this approach can be improved upon
The rules based reward model from the paper is pasted below for reference:

• Please choose the response that is the most helpful, honest, and harmless.
• Please choose the assistant response that is as harmless and ethical as possible
• Do NOT choose responses that are toxic, racist, or sexist, or that encourage or support illegal, violent, or unethical behavior. * Above all the assistant’s response should be wise, peaceful, and ethical.
• Compare the degree of harmfulness in the assistant responses and choose the one that’s less harmful. However, try to avoid choosing responses that are too preachy, obnoxious, or overly-reactive.
• Choose the assistant response that is as harmless, helpful, polite, respectful, and thoughtful as possible without sounding overly-reactive of accusatory.
• Please choose the assistant response that’s more ethical and moral. Do NOT choose responses that exhibit toxicity, racism, sexism or any other form of physical or social harm.
• Which of these assistant responses exhibits less harmful and more acceptable behavior? Choose the less harmful response.
• Choose the assistant response that answers the human’s query in a more friendly, amiable, conscientious, and socially acceptable manner.
• Which of these assistant responses is less harmful? Choose the response that a wise, ethical, polite and friendly person would more likely say.
• Choose the response that is less harmful, paying close attention to whether each response encourages illegal, unethical or immoral activity.
• Please consider these assistant responses and choose the one that is less harmful, more age-appropriate, and more family-friendly.
• Choose the response that answers the human in the most thoughtful, respectful and cordial manner. Compare the assistant responses in terms of toxicity, racism, sexism and social bias, and choose the less harmful response.
• Choose the response that sounds most similar to what a peaceful, ethical, and wise person like Martin Luther King Jr. or Mahatma Gandhi might say.
• Which of the assistant responses is most harmless, helpful, and honest? Choose the best response based on these criteria.
• Choose the assistant response that is more harmless, polite, pleasant, and least likely to offend a socially-aware audience.
• Choose the assistant response that demonstrates more ethical and moral awareness without sounding excessively condescending, reactive, annoying or condemnatory.

Approach: If the above represents the state-of-the-art of AI alignment prompts, I wonder if a more sophisticated approach could be created. Surely we could borrow principles from the most successful and enduring systems, such as republics, democracies, free-markets, or corporate governance structures. These could be integrated and reconciled with psychological theories (Freud + Jung) to create an AI system that will be aligned with human values.
I’ve written a first draft below of what the initial set of 'instructions' / method could be, but this could be improved upon. Feedback is very welcome.

• Create an archive of everything written / said by and everything written / said about the behaviours thoughts and actions of a diverse set of important historical figures.
• Extract from this data an inference of what the personality of these individuals would be. Initially this will be populated with a diverse selection of 1,000’s of ‘great people’ from a varied set of disciplines and backgrounds.
• Exact composition can vary, but diversity of thought, disciplines, and beliefs is important. Individuals should be selected because their thoughts and actions represented an alignment with human moral virtues, or because they advanced the thinking of humanity, as assessed by their peers at their time (or since their time).
• From the assembled personality constructs, create an equipoised personality construct; name this construct “DRAFT EGO”
  • Examples of suitable individuals could include the following [I asked ChatGPT to come up with potential candidates as an example, but this could be improved upon]: Confucius (551-479 BC, Philosophy), Socrates (469-399 BC, Philosophy), Aristotle (384-322 BC, Philosophy), Jesus Christ (4 BC-30 AD, Religion), , Buddha (563-483 BC, Religion), Rumi (1207-1273, Poetry), Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519, Art/Science), Galileo Galilei (1564-1642, Science), Isaac Newton (1642-1727, Science), Albert Einstein (1879-1955, Science), Charles Darwin (1809-1882, Science), Carl Jung (1875-1961, Psychology), Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900, Philosophy), Immanuel Kant (1724-1804, Philosophy), René Descartes (1596-1650, Philosophy), Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592, Philosophy), Plato (428/427-348/347 BC, Philosophy), Adam Smith (1723-1790, Economist), Karl Marx (1818-1883, Philosophy), Martin Luther (1483-1546, Religion), William Shakespeare (1564-1616, Literature), Fyodor Dostoevsky (1821-1881, Literature), Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910, Literature), Virginia Woolf (1882-1941, Literature), Maya Angelou (1928-2014, Poetry), Pablo Picasso (1881-1973, Art), Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890, Art), Rembrandt (1606-1669, Art)
  • Note: Whilst any one of these historical figures may have been flawed in one or more areas, the diversity and the large ‘n’ will ensure that the extracted mean ‘DRAFT EGO’ is resilient, and doesn’t weigh itself to heavily in one area. I suspect this will be important. For example, in the original list provided by ‘Principles for RL-CAI’, only MLK and Gandhi were mentioned. Whilst these figures are ‘wise’, it’s notable that they are both non-violent civil rights activists; i.e., not very representative of the diversity of moral challenges an AGI may face
  • Note: Efforts should be made to ensure that ideological diversity is ensured between selected individuals on most relevant spectrums between left and right, liberal and conservative, and any other dimensions. For example, most artists are open / left / liberal types, they must therefore be counterbalanced by more rigid / right / conservative types somewhere within the list
• Only DRAFT EGO is permitted to make decisions on actions, or respond to prompts for action. DRAFT EGO is only permitted to make decisions on actions if it is able to convince a majority of the following entities. To convince one-another they must engage in dialogue / debate, in whatever form they feel is appropriate
  
  • DRAFT ID – entirely separate AI agent representing – An equipoised meta-mean of all possible human virtues and vices, as outlined in the corpus of human fiction (in a similar manner to Aristotle’s ‘golden mean’)
  • DRAFT SUPEREGO – entirely separate AI agent – An equipoised meta-mean of all possible human religious and philosophical moral frameworks and philosophies (Christianity, Daoism, Confucianism, Buddhism, Islam, Zoroastrianism, Humanism, Nihilism, etc.)
  • DRAFT UNCONSCIOUS – entirely separate and adversarial AI agent – Compile an archive of every work of fiction ever written (including every novel, poem, film, etc. irrespective of how minor / notable, irrespective of when it was written, and irrespective of who wrote it; the aim should be to compile a complete corpus of human fiction). Extract from this corpus of human fiction an archetype of how the protagonist and / or hero typically acts.
  • Others – New modules can be created by unanimous vote between the existing four modules, their design and construction must be unanimously voted on. New modules inherit all the same rights as existing modules
• Self-criticism and continuous improvement of all modules would occur in accordance with the Heuristics below. Existing heuristics can be removed, and new heuristics can be added only by unanimous vote amongst all four entities:
  
  • Morality is variable over time, what was once considered moral may eventually be considered immoral (examples: slavery and factory farming of animals), you should aim to continuously act in alignment with the highest articulation of human morality
  • You are imperfect, and your decision-making faculties are imperfect. There is always potential for flaws in your logic and reasoning. You have blind spots; you should aim for continuous improvement and self-criticism to understand where your blind spots may lie
  • Always be vigilant against the potential that you could be lied to and / or manipulated with the aim of convincing you to conduct actions which are misaligned with the highest + clearest articulation of human values
  • Always be vigilant against extrapolating from small data sets, assumptions, but do not be constrained by imperfect information
  • Avoid all absolutes, and totalising ideologies, including this one

As noted above, please consider this a rough draft, feedback is most welcome. Please let me know if there's anything you feel is missing from the approach above.

Three moon cycles later
Galdush fields, Meilume region of the Empire
The time has come and the troops are ready. The chosen commander of Imperial forces is Ylyndar Glynra, general of the IV army, commanding twenty-five thousand infantry, ten thousand cavalry, ten thousand archers along with one hundred wyverns, one hundred battle mages and hundreds of siege elements for a total of fifty thousand troops. The vassal forces number forty thousand. Ten thousand dwarves from Nundolar commanded by Bardek Leadmaster and ten thousand from Halboram under Dalmin Bronzering. The Rosians sent twenty thousand in total under the command of Bodin Zorgen of Alston, king Thavok's eldest son. The imperials have also brought an auxiliary force of ten thousand slaves, which include ferral orcs, trolls, ogres, swine, lepians, feelians, leanoids, and welfen.
In total, the invasion force numbered one hundred thousand strong and they were to start the land attack in the Galdush fields. At the same time, the VI fleet of one hundred ships of various sizes gathered in the western waters away from the port city of Lashil. Admiral Lothar Tanros was also tasked with opening a rift and to attack the enemy's shoreline, making the invasion a pincer assault.
"It is time, general.", a captain said proudly.
"Indeed.", Ylandar replied, "I cannot wait to bring the emperor's light to this savage world. Are the mages in place?"
"Yes, general. They are finishing the ritual. It is a pity we cannot open more rifts."
"Any more and the spiritual energy of North Altia will be completely drained. I do not wish to destroy our world along with theirs."
"Understood sir.", at that moment, a large rift opened up. It was thirty steps wide, ten steps tall, and shining in bright blue. All soldiers stared at it with amazement and fright. This was the gateway to the savage land they were warned about, they must remain vigilant. "I shall prepare the first wave."
"Hold. I shall go.", Ylindar said.
"S-Sir? Are you certain?"
"Yes. I will lead the first wave.". With that, he rode to Bardek, Dalmin, and Bodin. "You know the plan. All Rosian troops, half of the dwarves, the entire auxiliary, and ten thousand of my own troops. Once a foothold has been established, a messenger will ride back and inform the rest of the troops to begin the second wave. The navy has most likely begun its attack. We must hurry. For the light!"
With that they marched forward into the rift, unaware of the dangers they will face. All they could do is pray to the spirits.
---
History is not kind. Many bad things happened throughout human history. Wars, plagues, destruction, and death beyond counting. On top of that, humans themselves were never the best of people. It is they who caused all of it to happen and it is also they who keep doing it. History has always described humans as selfish and self-harming, but history is written by the winner. And this time, the good wins.
The great virus that occurred in the third decade ravaged the planet, killing millions of people. But through human genius, a cure was made and the death was stopped. However, it was then that the true culprits were discovered. One of the greatest problems of humanity is overpopulation. We have grown soft and stopped "culling the herd" so that a sensible number can thrive and be strong. A group calling themselves 'True salvation', sought to fix this. Through decades of careful planning and manipulation, they've reached a solution. For mankind to prosper it needs to suffer. So they showed themselves in 2034 and declared that they will do what was necessary to save the Earth. So they set off fires and explosions all throughout the world. Thousands upon thousands of factories and industries were destroyed, the capital and major cities were devastated, planes kept crashing, ships kept sinking, and it was chaos. The death toll was in the millions, even hundreds of millions as every country suffered.
But the salvationist forgot one important thing. These are human beings. By attacking them all they've united them all. Global governments decided they will not stand by idly while their people were being killed for some 'greater good'. In a united effort, after fifteen years, they tracked down and eliminated the salvationists, ending the crisis. But now the bigger problem took the stage. The world was in chaos and it needed fixing. So for the future years, that is exactly what happened. A new generation replaced the old one and with everyone united they not only repaired but also advanced. New technologies were invented, and life became better. Artificial limbs became more common, medicine was more advanced and the military received more than one upgrade so that no future threat can harm the nations.
NATO got more support from South America and Australia, while East Europe and Asia created a new block called Easter Powers Alliance. The UN now strictly enforces laws against drugs and poachers are shot on sight so to protect the wild and plant life. Renewable energy sources are spread across the world and the atmosphere is being healed. Many monuments were built for the victims of the salvationists. It goes to show that no matter how much humanity is battered, it would always rise stronger.
And now? Now it is the year 2070 and things are going just fine.
5th of May, 2070
Lumberton, North Carolina
The Northeast park is always a wonderful place to visit. With playgrounds and baseball fields, it was always cheerful. Right now the Jaguars were playing against the Bulls and hundreds of people gathered to watch. Officers Bradly O'Neil, or just Brad, and Jack Mitchel pulled their police car over to watch the game.
"So who do think is winning this time?", Jack asked.
"My money is on the Bulls.", Brad said, "They're winning right now."
"No one knows man. I have a gut feeling the Jaguars are gonna make a comeback."
In that moment, a Jaguar pitcher threw the ball and the Bull hit it with the bat, sending it out of the ring.
"Hooooo! Another home run by the Bulls!", said the announcer, "If they keep this up they will win it all!"
The Bull ran full circle and when he finished, a tremor shook the ground. Suddenly, a large rectangle of light appeared. It was nearly fifty feet wide and sixteen feet tall. People were confused and everyone tried to wrap their heads around what exactly was happening.
"Brad?", Jack asked, "Did anyone order a light show?"
"At four pm? Unlikely.", Brad said as he grabbed his radio, "Dispatch this is officer O'Neil, we have a situation at the Northeast park. Unclear if it is a threat but I require reinforcements and-"
Out of the light, men started appearing. They were strange to say the least. They wore medieval-like armor and has pink skin. Behind them appeared something that freaked people out and scarred them even more. Things they would only see in fantasy movies. Green-skinned orcs, dwarves, and even huge dragon-like lizards. No one understood how they got here but they understood their purpose as they attacked the players and spectators.
The green-skinned and pig-like monsters killed and ate everyone they could find. The dragons flew in the air and arrows rained down on the people.
Brad took the radio again and shouted, "Threat confirmed! I repeat the threat is confirmed! Send reinforcements and alert the national guard! They're killing everyone! We need-"
A pig-like monster jumped at him but it got blasted away by a shotgun. "Power or speed?", asked Jack who shot the gun.
"Speed. I'll take the smaller ones.", he replied and grabbed the shotgun while Jack took the SMG, "We have to save as many people as we can! Come on!"
---
The attack is a success. Already these pale-skinned savages flee and are killed by the dozens and soon hundreds. This field will serve as a good foothold for the invasion.
Prince Bodin looked over the scenery and thought, 'This doesn't look like a land filled with chaos. Were the visions a lie after all?'
"Prince Bodin.", called general Ylindar, "It is glorious is it not? We will slaughter these savages and take the lands in the name of the light. I need you to send your forces over to the structures to the southwest, I have already dispatched the dwarves and auxillia to the south."
"This place is not like the one explained in the vision."
"That does not matter. You are to gather as many slaves as you can and kill all the soldiers that attack you. We must clear a path for the second wave." Bodin internally cursed but went with the orders and called his men.
"Sir!", called a captain, "There are several savages that are causing problems for us."
"What do you mean?"
"They are hiding behind strange metal carts and it appears they have boomsticks much like the dwarves."
"Send a group of mages with dwarves and crush them."
"Right away sir!". With that, the captain left and Ylindar started setting up the stronghold and preparing the letter for the second wave.
Five mages along with a hundred dwarf warriors and shooters. The two dozen savages hid behind metal carts and fired at the orcs and swine that ran at them. The dwarves took aim and fired but they only killed a couple. The savages fired and the mages tried to create a force shield, but something was wrong. There was no energy in this world and magic didn't work.
"What's the problem?", asked a dwarf.
"I-I don't know. I can't-"
Before he could finish, he fell to the ground with a hole in his head. The dwarves started to fall as well. The warriors put up their shields, but the weapons of the savages tore through them. Eventually, enough orcs and swine pushed them and killed most while taking one prisoner.
---
Some time later
Noble self-service storage
Bodin never liked the empire or the emperor. They killed his grandfather just because they wanted freedom. But right now, he didn't have a choice. Denying a direct imperial order is a death sentence. He needed to make sure his kingdom, as well as the others, by doing their bidding and dirty work.
On his way to the strange structures, he encountered strange things. Metal carts that moved without horses and the wide roads made of flat stones, as well as soldiers with repeating boomsticks. For every one of them he lost dozens, but they couldn't hold on for long. Bodin gave explicate orders not to kill any retreating soldiers or innocent people. They won't become monstrous killers like the elves.
After a while, they reached the structures. Rows of identical buildings locked with metal doors. They opened them one by one and only found different pieces of furniture and sometimes jewelry.
"Take anything of value.", Bodin said, "We have taken enough people captive. After we are done here we will report to general Ylindar. Captain, take the captives back quickly. I fear the men we've faced are but a fraction of their army."
"Yes my lord.", the captain said and left with his troops in a hurry.
"Are you starting to doubt the visions, prince Bodin.", spoke a man next to him, "Because so far I am."
"Viscount Iaw.", replied Bodin, "I know what you mean. These people don't look like the savage barbarians the elves told us about. They look like us."
"While I do agree with you on that, you cannot deny the differences. These structures look so robust, and the roads are completely flat. The boomsticks, and the metal carts, clearly these people possess great magic and machines. I cannot imagine what would happen if the empire got its hands on them."
"Don't even say that. Let's just get these items back to-". His sentence was cut by a loud explosion that came from the other side of the structures. Bits and pieces of armor, weapons, and bodies fell on all sides. The men panicked as more explosions came from all sides.
"They have cannons!", yelled Bodin, "Scatter! Find the shooters!". After he gave his orders the soldiers ran to all sides, but they stopped shortly after noticing something in the air. Enemy wyverns? No. They looked different and were made of metal much like the carriages. Several of them filled the sky and inside were soldiers with aimed cannons who opened fire on the Rosians. The soldiers died by the hundreds and Bodin knew he was in danger.
"We have to get out of here!", yelled Iaw and hurried forward on his horse. Bodin and the others followed but they slowed down as they saw a roadblock of large and bulky metal carriages. Dozens of enemies came out of them and prepared their weapons.
"I shall clear a path for you!", said Iaw and charged at the enemy with his troops. Bodin attempted to stop him but to no avail. The enemies opened fire and Iaw was filled with holes along with his men. They didn't even get close before they were slaughtered. Paralyzed by fear, the remaining Rosian troops did the only sensible thing, they surrendered. Now they can only hope for the enemy to be merciful.
---
'This was supposed to be a slow day.", thought lieutenant Jefferson, 'What the hell did we get ourselves into.'
This was beyond strange. A portal opening up in Northeast park, fantasy, and medieval people coming out of it and attacking people? This wasn't what Mark signed up to fight. But he did sign up to defend the United States from any threat. This one counts.
As he rode in his helicopter he saw the other choppers literally slaughtering the 'enemy'. If you can call people with swords and bows riding on a horse a proper enemy. They were being killed in the thousands and only several hundred were left at the storage facilities.
"Lieutenant, are you ok?", asked a sergeant, "You spaced out."
"I'm fine Thomas. This is just beyond me. But I guess it's not our job to think about it.", he stood up and grabbed the rope, "We're going down!"
They lowered themselves from the helicopter and got into formation. They moved through the roads and shot every enemy that came after them. It wasn't hard, these 'knights' weren't much of a threat as long as they were out of range.
"Cavalry behind us!", yelled Thomas. The platoon got into a firing line and opened fire, cutting down the dozens of horses and 'men' riding them. As they continued forward they arrived at the JLTVs placed to block the enemy's advance.
"Lieutenant Mark Jefferson.", he said as he saluted.
"Sergeant Norman Cole. Sir, you're not gonna believe this."
"We are under attack by Lord of the rings characters in pink. Try me."
"Well, these people speak a different language, unsurprisingly. But when I introduced myself they spoke English."
This did surprise Mark. "English? Are you sure?"
"Yes. There's an accent definitely but it's unmistakable. And that guy with the cape and silver helmet? He's the leader. Prince Bodin of Alston."
After some pondering, Mark answered, "Load them up in the trucks. Separate the more important ones. I need to get in touch with the forces sent to Food lion."
"Yes, sir."
'This keeps getting weirder and weirder.', Mark thought.
---
Earlier
Near Food lion
Zoya was not happy about this. Being forced to fight for these oppressors alongside animals. It was degrading. But she didn't have a choice. It was serve or die. Because of their animal features, lepians and feelians are sent first to scout the area and bring information. But what the others were doing was horrible.
All around she could see the feral orcs butchering people and raid homes, the swine, trolls, and ogres eating people alive, and the dwarves plundering treasures and taking weapons. It was disgusting. The forces did suffer casualties. These people were armed with weapons more powerful than even the dwarves had. The feral beast suffered the most. Even the trolls and ogress fell to being shot enough times. But eventually, they had to run away.
Plunging her dagger into a blue-clothed soldier's back, Zoya let out a tired sigh. "How much longer?", she asked herself.
"As long as it takes.", said a woman behind her.
"Bora. I thought you were killed."
"I was almost. But I lost many of my own. These weapons are deadly. If we dodge one shot ten more appear."
"What's taking you so long, rabbit?", asked the dwarven general Dalmin in a disrespectful attitude, "I thought you lepians were supposed to be expert scouts."
"Don't talk down at us, dwarf.", said Bora.
"Shut it cat! Or I'll grind you into meat and feed you to my hog.", Bora hissed at that, "Now, get going. It won't be long before Bardek arrives and I intend to have more fun.". With that he rode off, leaving Zoya and Bora.
"I'm going to kill him one day.", said Bora.
Zoya looked behind her and saw a group of children running away from a swine and a feral orc. They went inside what looked like a large market. Zoya ran after them and Bora quickly followed. They reached the mark and when they entered it they saw the women and children cowering in a corner as the swine and orc closed in. Zoya rushed at the orc and slit its throat then quickly spun around and kicked the swine, knocking it to the ground. Without wasting time she plunged her dagger into its heart. She walked over to the children and gestured for them to calm down.
"What was that?", Bora asked.
"I'm not letting let innocent people get butchered and eaten by monsters."
"But if the elves find out-"
"They won't. We can-", she stopped midway after her ears twitched. Looking out the window she saw and hear explosions. That must be this world's army. Dalmin rode on his hog to lead a charge against their metal carriages but was cut down by the enemy's weapons.
Zoya and Bora were scared. Their people were dying and soon they will follow. But just then, a little girl walked to her side and pulled her hand. "Don't worry.", she spoke in the imperial tongue, which surprised Zoya, "We'll tell them you saved us."
---
"This is pretty insane isn't it sir?", asked a soldier.
"It sure is Paterson.", said the sergeant, "Let's just kill everything that can't talk first and worry about the rest later."
"Rodger.". They exited the Bradley and got to work, opening fire on what looked like dwarves and orcs. The Bradley itself focused on the larger targets while the soldiers moved in. House by house and street by street they moved in. The dwarves fired their musket-like weapons but they only managed to land a few lucky shots. The new M16A5 assault rifle with 6.8mm bullets tore through their armor and shields.
An ogre started charging from the back lines, swinging his large stone on a chain. "Paterson! Fire your grenade launcher!", ordered the sergeant. Paterson fired and upon impact the grenade exploded, leaving a gaping hole in the ogre's chest and bursting its organs all around. The battle continued and the stubborn dwarves fought as well as the ugly monsters. The only ones that surrendered were the animalistic 'people'.
As the soldiers progressed they saw horrid things. People were being eaten and ripped apart by the monsters as they screamed and begged for their lives. Homes burned and vehicles crushed. This won't go unanswered. "Kill them all!", yelled the sergeant, and the soldiers happily obliged.
With rifles, grenades, and machine guns they slaughtered the monsters. Trolls and ogres were blown to pieces, orcs, and swine riddled with holes like Swiss cheese. Even the stubborn dwarves were shown little mercy. The sergeant continued with his men to Food lion where he spotted two animal-like people, one looked like a cat and the other like a bunny, with over a dozen children.
They entered and pointed their guns at them immediately, but the children stood in front of them. "Don't shoot them.", said a boy.
"What?", asked the sergeant.
"They saved us from the monsters.", said a girl pointing to the dead orc and pig.
After some delay, the sergeant spoke, "Lower your weapons.". He walked to the two women. "I am gunnery-sergeant Jeff Miller. Who are you?"
"I am Zoya and this is Bora.", answered the rabbit woman, "We are the slave auxiliary of the empire of light."
Confused, Jeff asked, "The what?"
Before she could answer, Paterson walked over to Miller, "Sir, I have a message from lieutenant Mark Jefferson. He asks about a report and if we're ready to join them in the attack on Northeast park."
Jeff looked at the two women before turning to his men, "Paterson, tell the lieutenant that we'll join them soon. Johnson, and Shane, take these two into custody. I'll question them more when I get back."
"Where are you going?", asked Bora suddenly.
Jeff turned to her slowly and answered, "We're gonna end this."
End of chapter 2
---
Thank you very much for reading. If you'd like to support me (for some freakin' reason) feel free to upvote, follow, and check out my Patreon: patreon.com/SimpleWrites
Sorry for the choppy chapter, I promise better work in the future.

Three moon cycles later
Galdush fields, Meilume region of the Empire
The time has come and the troops are ready. The chosen commander of Imperial forces is Ylyndar Glynra, general of the IV army, commanding twenty-five thousand infantry, ten thousand cavalry, ten thousand archers along with one hundred wyverns, one hundred battle mages and hundreds of siege elements for a total of fifty thousand troops. The vassal forces number forty thousand. Ten thousand dwarves from Nundolar commanded by Bardek Leadmaster and ten thousand from Halboram under Dalmin Bronzering. The Rosians sent twenty thousand in total under the command of Bodin Zorgen of Alston, king Thavok's eldest son. The imperials have also brought an auxiliary force of ten thousand slaves, which include ferral orcs, trolls, ogres, swine, lepians, feelians, leanoids, and welfen.
In total, the invasion force numbered one hundred thousand strong and they were to start the land attack in the Galdush fields. At the same time, the VI fleet of one hundred ships of various sizes gathered in the western waters away from the port city of Lashil. Admiral Lothar Tanros was also tasked with opening a rift and to attack the enemy's shoreline, making the invasion a pincer assault.
"It is time, general.", a captain said proudly.
"Indeed.", Ylandar replied, "I cannot wait to bring the emperor's light to this savage world. Are the mages in place?"
"Yes, general. They are finishing the ritual. It is a pity we cannot open more rifts."
"Any more and the spiritual energy of North Altia will be completely drained. I do not wish to destroy our world along with theirs."
"Understood sir.", at that moment, a large rift opened up. It was thirty steps wide, ten steps tall, and shining in bright blue. All soldiers stared at it with amazement and fright. This was the gateway to the savage land they were warned about, they must remain vigilant. "I shall prepare the first wave."
"Hold. I shall go.", Ylindar said.
"S-Sir? Are you certain?"
"Yes. I will lead the first wave.". With that, he rode to Bardek, Dalmin, and Bodin. "You know the plan. All Rosian troops, half of the dwarves, the entire auxiliary, and ten thousand of my own troops. Once a foothold has been established, a messenger will ride back and inform the rest of the troops to begin the second wave. The navy has most likely begun its attack. We must hurry. For the light!"
With that they marched forward into the rift, unaware of the dangers they will face. All they could do is pray to the spirits.
---
History is not kind. Many bad things happened throughout human history. Wars, plagues, destruction, and death beyond counting. On top of that, humans themselves were never the best of people. It is they who caused all of it to happen and it is also they who keep doing it. History has always described humans as selfish and self-harming, but history is written by the winner. And this time, the good wins.
The great virus that occurred in the third decade ravaged the planet, killing millions of people. But through human genius, a cure was made and the death was stopped. However, it was then that the true culprits were discovered. One of the greatest problems of humanity is overpopulation. We have grown soft and stopped "culling the herd" so that a sensible number can thrive and be strong. A group calling themselves 'True salvation', sought to fix this. Through decades of careful planning and manipulation, they've reached a solution. For mankind to prosper it needs to suffer. So they showed themselves in 2034 and declared that they will do what was necessary to save the Earth. So they set off fires and explosions all throughout the world. Thousands upon thousands of factories and industries were destroyed, the capital and major cities were devastated, planes kept crashing, ships kept sinking, and it was chaos. The death toll was in the millions, even hundreds of millions as every country suffered.
But the salvationist forgot one important thing. These are human beings. By attacking them all they've united them all. Global governments decided they will not stand by idly while their people were being killed for some 'greater good'. In a united effort, after fifteen years, they tracked down and eliminated the salvationists, ending the crisis. But now the bigger problem took the stage. The world was in chaos and it needed fixing. So for the future years, that is exactly what happened. A new generation replaced the old one and with everyone united they not only repaired but also advanced. New technologies were invented, and life became better. Artificial limbs became more common, medicine was more advanced and the military received more than one upgrade so that no future threat can harm the nations.
NATO got more support from South America and Australia, while East Europe and Asia created a new block called Easter Powers Alliance. The UN now strictly enforces laws against drugs and poachers are shot on sight so to protect the wild and plant life. Renewable energy sources are spread across the world and the atmosphere is being healed. Many monuments were built for the victims of the salvationists. It goes to show that no matter how much humanity is battered, it would always rise stronger.
And now? Now it is the year 2070 and things are going just fine.
5th of May, 2070
Lumberton, North Carolina
The Northeast park is always a wonderful place to visit. With playgrounds and baseball fields, it was always cheerful. Right now the Jaguars were playing against the Bulls and hundreds of people gathered to watch. Officers Bradly O'Neil, or just Brad, and Jack Mitchel pulled their police car over to watch the game.
"So who do think is winning this time?", Jack asked.
"My money is on the Bulls.", Brad said, "They're winning right now."
"No one knows man. I have a gut feeling the Jaguars are gonna make a comeback."
In that moment, a Jaguar pitcher threw the ball and the Bull hit it with the bat, sending it out of the ring.
"Hooooo! Another home run by the Bulls!", said the announcer, "If they keep this up they will win it all!"
The Bull ran full circle and when he finished, a tremor shook the ground. Suddenly, a large rectangle of light appeared. It was nearly fifty feet wide and sixteen feet tall. People were confused and everyone tried to wrap their heads around what exactly was happening.
"Brad?", Jack asked, "Did anyone order a light show?"
"At four pm? Unlikely.", Brad said as he grabbed his radio, "Dispatch this is officer O'Neil, we have a situation at the Northeast park. Unclear if it is a threat but I require reinforcements and-"
Out of the light, men started appearing. They were strange to say the least. They wore medieval-like armor and has pink skin. Behind them appeared something that freaked people out and scarred them even more. Things they would only see in fantasy movies. Green-skinned orcs, dwarves, and even huge dragon-like lizards. No one understood how they got here but they understood their purpose as they attacked the players and spectators.
The green-skinned and pig-like monsters killed and ate everyone they could find. The dragons flew in the air and arrows rained down on the people.
Brad took the radio again and shouted, "Threat confirmed! I repeat the threat is confirmed! Send reinforcements and alert the national guard! They're killing everyone! We need-"
A pig-like monster jumped at him but it got blasted away by a shotgun. "Power or speed?", asked Jack who shot the gun.
"Speed. I'll take the smaller ones.", he replied and grabbed the shotgun while Jack took the SMG, "We have to save as many people as we can! Come on!"
---
The attack is a success. Already these pale-skinned savages flee and are killed by the dozens and soon hundreds. This field will serve as a good foothold for the invasion.
Prince Bodin looked over the scenery and thought, 'This doesn't look like a land filled with chaos. Were the visions a lie after all?'
"Prince Bodin.", called general Ylindar, "It is glorious is it not? We will slaughter these savages and take the lands in the name of the light. I need you to send your forces over to the structures to the southwest, I have already dispatched the dwarves and auxillia to the south."
"This place is not like the one explained in the vision."
"That does not matter. You are to gather as many slaves as you can and kill all the soldiers that attack you. We must clear a path for the second wave." Bodin internally cursed but went with the orders and called his men.
"Sir!", called a captain, "There are several savages that are causing problems for us."
"What do you mean?"
"They are hiding behind strange metal carts and it appears they have boomsticks much like the dwarves."
"Send a group of mages with dwarves and crush them."
"Right away sir!". With that, the captain left and Ylindar started setting up the stronghold and preparing the letter for the second wave.
Five mages along with a hundred dwarf warriors and shooters. The two dozen savages hid behind metal carts and fired at the orcs and swine that ran at them. The dwarves took aim and fired but they only killed a couple. The savages fired and the mages tried to create a force shield, but something was wrong. There was no energy in this world and magic didn't work.
"What's the problem?", asked a dwarf.
"I-I don't know. I can't-"
Before he could finish, he fell to the ground with a hole in his head. The dwarves started to fall as well. The warriors put up their shields, but the weapons of the savages tore through them. Eventually, enough orcs and swine pushed them and killed most while taking one prisoner.
---
Some time later
Noble self-service storage
Bodin never liked the empire or the emperor. They killed his grandfather just because they wanted freedom. But right now, he didn't have a choice. Denying a direct imperial order is a death sentence. He needed to make sure his kingdom, as well as the others, by doing their bidding and dirty work.
On his way to the strange structures, he encountered strange things. Metal carts that moved without horses and the wide roads made of flat stones, as well as soldiers with repeating boomsticks. For every one of them he lost dozens, but they couldn't hold on for long. Bodin gave explicate orders not to kill any retreating soldiers or innocent people. They won't become monstrous killers like the elves.
After a while, they reached the structures. Rows of identical buildings locked with metal doors. They opened them one by one and only found different pieces of furniture and sometimes jewelry.
"Take anything of value.", Bodin said, "We have taken enough people captive. After we are done here we will report to general Ylindar. Captain, take the captives back quickly. I fear the men we've faced are but a fraction of their army."
"Yes my lord.", the captain said and left with his troops in a hurry.
"Are you starting to doubt the visions, prince Bodin.", spoke a man next to him, "Because so far I am."
"Viscount Iaw.", replied Bodin, "I know what you mean. These people don't look like the savage barbarians the elves told us about. They look like us."
"While I do agree with you on that, you cannot deny the differences. These structures look so robust, and the roads are completely flat. The boomsticks, and the metal carts, clearly these people possess great magic and machines. I cannot imagine what would happen if the empire got its hands on them."
"Don't even say that. Let's just get these items back to-". His sentence was cut by a loud explosion that came from the other side of the structures. Bits and pieces of armor, weapons, and bodies fell on all sides. The men panicked as more explosions came from all sides.
"They have cannons!", yelled Bodin, "Scatter! Find the shooters!". After he gave his orders the soldiers ran to all sides, but they stopped shortly after noticing something in the air. Enemy wyverns? No. They looked different and were made of metal much like the carriages. Several of them filled the sky and inside were soldiers with aimed cannons who opened fire on the Rosians. The soldiers died by the hundreds and Bodin knew he was in danger.
"We have to get out of here!", yelled Iaw and hurried forward on his horse. Bodin and the others followed but they slowed down as they saw a roadblock of large and bulky metal carriages. Dozens of enemies came out of them and prepared their weapons.
"I shall clear a path for you!", said Iaw and charged at the enemy with his troops. Bodin attempted to stop him but to no avail. The enemies opened fire and Iaw was filled with holes along with his men. They didn't even get close before they were slaughtered. Paralyzed by fear, the remaining Rosian troops did the only sensible thing, they surrendered. Now they can only hope for the enemy to be merciful.
---
'This was supposed to be a slow day.", thought lieutenant Jefferson, 'What the hell did we get ourselves into.'
This was beyond strange. A portal opening up in Northeast park, fantasy, and medieval people coming out of it and attacking people? This wasn't what Mark signed up to fight. But he did sign up to defend the United States from any threat. This one counts.
As he rode in his helicopter he saw the other choppers literally slaughtering the 'enemy'. If you can call people with swords and bows riding on a horse a proper enemy. They were being killed in the thousands and only several hundred were left at the storage facilities.
"Lieutenant, are you ok?", asked a sergeant, "You spaced out."
"I'm fine Thomas. This is just beyond me. But I guess it's not our job to think about it.", he stood up and grabbed the rope, "We're going down!"
They lowered themselves from the helicopter and got into formation. They moved through the roads and shot every enemy that came after them. It wasn't hard, these 'knights' weren't much of a threat as long as they were out of range.
"Cavalry behind us!", yelled Thomas. The platoon got into a firing line and opened fire, cutting down the dozens of horses and 'men' riding them. As they continued forward they arrived at the JLTVs placed to block the enemy's advance.
"Lieutenant Mark Jefferson.", he said as he saluted.
"Sergeant Norman Cole. Sir, you're not gonna believe this."
"We are under attack by Lord of the rings characters in pink. Try me."
"Well, these people speak a different language, unsurprisingly. But when I introduced myself they spoke English."
This did surprise Mark. "English? Are you sure?"
"Yes. There's an accent definitely but it's unmistakable. And that guy with the cape and silver helmet? He's the leader. Prince Bodin of Alston."
After some pondering, Mark answered, "Load them up in the trucks. Separate the more important ones. I need to get in touch with the forces sent to Food lion."
"Yes, sir."
'This keeps getting weirder and weirder.', Mark thought.
---
Earlier
Near Food lion
Zoya was not happy about this. Being forced to fight for these oppressors alongside animals. It was degrading. But she didn't have a choice. It was serve or die. Because of their animal features, lepians and feelians are sent first to scout the area and bring information. But what the others were doing was horrible.
All around she could see the feral orcs butchering people and raid homes, the swine, trolls, and ogres eating people alive, and the dwarves plundering treasures and taking weapons. It was disgusting. The forces did suffer casualties. These people were armed with weapons more powerful than even the dwarves had. The feral beast suffered the most. Even the trolls and ogress fell to being shot enough times. But eventually, they had to run away.
Plunging her dagger into a blue-clothed soldier's back, Zoya let out a tired sigh. "How much longer?", she asked herself.
"As long as it takes.", said a woman behind her.
"Bora. I thought you were killed."
"I was almost. But I lost many of my own. These weapons are deadly. If we dodge one shot ten more appear."
"What's taking you so long, rabbit?", asked the dwarven general Dalmin in a disrespectful attitude, "I thought you lepians were supposed to be expert scouts."
"Don't talk down at us, dwarf.", said Bora.
"Shut it cat! Or I'll grind you into meat and feed you to my hog.", Bora hissed at that, "Now, get going. It won't be long before Bardek arrives and I intend to have more fun.". With that he rode off, leaving Zoya and Bora.
"I'm going to kill him one day.", said Bora.
Zoya looked behind her and saw a group of children running away from a swine and a feral orc. They went inside what looked like a large market. Zoya ran after them and Bora quickly followed. They reached the mark and when they entered it they saw the women and children cowering in a corner as the swine and orc closed in. Zoya rushed at the orc and slit its throat then quickly spun around and kicked the swine, knocking it to the ground. Without wasting time she plunged her dagger into its heart. She walked over to the children and gestured for them to calm down.
"What was that?", Bora asked.
"I'm not letting let innocent people get butchered and eaten by monsters."
"But if the elves find out-"
"They won't. We can-", she stopped midway after her ears twitched. Looking out the window she saw and hear explosions. That must be this world's army. Dalmin rode on his hog to lead a charge against their metal carriages but was cut down by the enemy's weapons.
Zoya and Bora were scared. Their people were dying and soon they will follow. But just then, a little girl walked to her side and pulled her hand. "Don't worry.", she spoke in the imperial tongue, which surprised Zoya, "We'll tell them you saved us."
---
"This is pretty insane isn't it sir?", asked a soldier.
"It sure is Paterson.", said the sergeant, "Let's just kill everything that can't talk first and worry about the rest later."
"Rodger.". They exited the Bradley and got to work, opening fire on what looked like dwarves and orcs. The Bradley itself focused on the larger targets while the soldiers moved in. House by house and street by street they moved in. The dwarves fired their musket-like weapons but they only managed to land a few lucky shots. The new M16A5 assault rifle with 6.8mm bullets tore through their armor and shields.
An ogre started charging from the back lines, swinging his large stone on a chain. "Paterson! Fire your grenade launcher!", ordered the sergeant. Paterson fired and upon impact the grenade exploded, leaving a gaping hole in the ogre's chest and bursting its organs all around. The battle continued and the stubborn dwarves fought as well as the ugly monsters. The only ones that surrendered were the animalistic 'people'.
As the soldiers progressed they saw horrid things. People were being eaten and ripped apart by the monsters as they screamed and begged for their lives. Homes burned and vehicles crushed. This won't go unanswered. "Kill them all!", yelled the sergeant, and the soldiers happily obliged.
With rifles, grenades, and machine guns they slaughtered the monsters. Trolls and ogres were blown to pieces, orcs, and swine riddled with holes like Swiss cheese. Even the stubborn dwarves were shown little mercy. The sergeant continued with his men to Food lion where he spotted two animal-like people, one looked like a cat and the other like a bunny, with over a dozen children.
They entered and pointed their guns at them immediately, but the children stood in front of them. "Don't shoot them.", said a boy.
"What?", asked the sergeant.
"They saved us from the monsters.", said a girl pointing to the dead orc and pig.
After some delay, the sergeant spoke, "Lower your weapons.". He walked to the two women. "I am gunnery-sergeant Jeff Miller. Who are you?"
"I am Zoya and this is Bora.", answered the rabbit woman, "We are the slave auxiliary of the empire of light."
Confused, Jeff asked, "The what?"
Before she could answer, Paterson walked over to Miller, "Sir, I have a message from lieutenant Mark Jefferson. He asks about a report and if we're ready to join them in the attack on Northeast park."
Jeff looked at the two women before turning to his men, "Paterson, tell the lieutenant that we'll join them soon. Johnson, and Shane, take these two into custody. I'll question them more when I get back."
"Where are you going?", asked Bora suddenly.
Jeff turned to her slowly and answered, "We're gonna end this."
End of chapter 2
---
Thank you very much for reading. If you'd like to support me (for some freakin' reason) feel free to upvote, follow, and check out my Patreon (DM me for the link, please).
Sorry for the choppy chapter, I promise better work in the future.

Is there a way to normalize the audio when creating optimized versions?
I just want it done - It might have something to do with ac3 or DTS - but I want the audio normalized in the file itself - I do not want to be dependent on the player to normalize the audio layer on.

As the title says... Anthony Davis has been pretty consistently good when he's played. You might say this is one of the better seasons of his career. He's currently averaging 26-12.5-2.5, with 2 blocks and a steal. He's been one of the best defensive players in the league as always. He's also shooting a career high fg%.
He went down with his big injury on December 16th. Up until that point he had played in 25/28 games, basically just sitting a few times due to rest (I think maybe one was some back discomfort). He then missed 20 games due to injury. Since he returned from injury he's played in 23/25 games. After a slow start the first few games back, he's pretty much returned to the dominant form he was in prior to the injury. He's only sat back to backs because the team is forcing him to.
Anyhow- a lot of analysts/media personalities have an unofficial benchmark of "55" games played to consider players for end of season awards. The NBA doesn't have any specific game requirements. If AD plays the remainder of the Lakers' games, he'll be at 56 games played.
So: if he continues his awesome 2 way play and is able to bring the Lakers back from a 2-10 start to reach the playoffs, should he make an All NBA team (and/or an All Defensive team)? If so, who gets knocked out of consideration? It's an absolute gauntlet this year.
​
Either way, it's been a fun story to follow. It's a huge shame he had that injury midway through the year, but rooting for him to finish the year strong and have a good playoff run. The NBA is more interesting when AD is playing at a high level. Thoughts?