u/centaur98
This is the essay i made, i pinged you here cause my DMs weren't working and i couldn't private message you.
I wanted to see if this post is factually accurate or not.
Start:
The story of NORTHEPTION. An APAC Japanese rags to riches story.
Disclaimer: This org has a very long history and im not really familiar with the Pre-BLAST system of Japanese R6 History. There may be a few parts i get wrong or looked over incorrectly so please forgive my errors as Japan is not a region i actively monitor.
I'm also not gonna go thru the whole history of this organization since this org has been in siege for 4 years with 4 years of constant roster changes. If i were to describe everything here, it would be a 10K word post and I'm not doing that lol.
So, why did i make this post? It's cause this roster story is INSANE. As i was researching more and more, I found myself to be baffled at what this roster did. This roster has it all. Upsets, revenge, failure, redemption, high stake moments, rags to riches. It's one of the most beautiful stories I have ever seen in Esports and i hope you will enjoy me explaining it to you!
Enjoy the post!
So your starting your day. You get your premium coffee because your a relatively wealthy Japanese citizen. Your looking into siege esports for a possible investment. As weeks go by, you finally see this team, this Japanese roster. A team just won the Japenese CL S10 Qualifiers. They are orgless. They look promising so you decide to sign the team on October 5th, 2019. You feel happy as your are now in the Siege ecosystem and the players are delighted by having their first org. Little did you know, that this would be the most roller-coaster of a decision you have ever made in your life.

2019-2021

The team is formidable but they aren't dominant either. As the league gets incrementally more competitive, NORTHEPTION are forced to make more and more roster changes. They made 10+ roster changes in these 3 years.
They threw stuff at the wall and tried to see what sticks but nothing was sticking. Eventually, they aren't good enough for Japanese T2 and they don't win relegations for Japanese tournaments. They get grouped at Japanese Nationals. The roster has run it's course.
The only player that you need to know from this hectic constant roster change frenzy time period is Febar. He joined this roster on June 5th 2020 after the original roster was already signed. He's on-and-off with the roster until he leaves to go join a promising T2 Japanese team. This team will head to relegation against a Tier-1 team at the end of 2021.
Disclaimer- It's not really clear when they signed the roster since the history of CL Open Quals aren't registed on Liquidpedia.

1st half of 2022 (Core Roster Rebuild)

So, you've just been relegated. What do u do? You scrap the roster of it's worst parts, probably keep the best player on the roster and rebuild.
Remember the Fmr player i was talking about earlier? Rebar? Well, he got dropped just before relegations and the team didn't wanna play with him over another player. Ironically, that T2 roster ends up losing to a team called "Reject" and they end up getting promoted to PL.
So what now? You scrap the whole roster and start a foundation with Fmr player RebaCurrent player Marol and pick up 3 of the best players that you saw promise in.

• There was another T2 roster called "ORTHROS GRIT" in the 2021 Japanese national league. This group of ragtags aspiring new players qualified thru Opens which was surprising. Even more surprising, they beat NORTHEPTION and top their group to go to playoffs. They are against Tier-1 FAV Gaming in round 1. Everyone thinks, oh, FAV are gonna destroy them 2-0. What ends up happening is that FAV get 0-7'd on their first map then bring it back 8-6, 8-6 on the 2 other maps to win it. These rookies had potential. (2/5ths of Orth Grit had joined Fnatic later on and 1 other is in PL)

NORTHEPTION during the rebuild sign the 2 promising rookies from the Orthros Grit roster Vbort and Tyopi and then they finish it off with a signing of CoPaHiPo who previously played with Febar on NORTHEPTION years ago.
NORTHEPTION basically starts over again in T4 with an experienced trio from the old North roster + 2 new promising rookies. This is the roster in March.
1 month later in April... Turmoil strikes the roster in the heart. Vbort is so good that he gets invited to a Japanese Tier-2 team named IGZIST so he obviously takes that offer. The now 4 man roster decides to drop Marol too. It turns to a 3 man roster. What makes the timing so harsh is that the open quals for Japan's national league is in 2 weeks so they need to find players FAST.
They do open tryouts, similar to the one Beastcoast/CAG did in 2022 where they put out a google docs page on twitter and ask for your rank and any scrim clips you have. From these open tryouts, they signed a player with no competitive experience, "Nina", on April 28th of 2022. Little did they know at the time that this high risk pickup ended up becoming the best player on the roster. A very similar story in North America with DarkZero player Panbazou.

Testing this new roster out. (2nd half of 2022)

• NORTHEPTION's 5th ended up being a temporary Ex-CAG Pro player named "Shokei". He had experience and would make a good temporary slot in. Sort of like J90/Lags slotting in for Soniqs in North America. It was never supposed to be permanent, only to make sure that they could play.

This was the most important tournament. This was where all the pressure was building up towards. So with the 2 new additions to the roster that they added in a rush, they nervously went into the open qualifiers for T2 Japan not knowing how it would go.
NORTHEPTION with their new roster, get into Japan Nationals thru an open qualfier. They play Bo3s and do decent. They aren't dominant since they lose a map and went overtime alot but they 2-0'd most teams. They get 1st in opens which surprises the Japanese community. They have now qualified for Japanese relegations at the end of the year just from getting 1st at the beginning of the year in this tournament. They already secured a huge W but the W doesn't end here yet.
After they get 1st in their T2 group, they go to Japanese playoffs where they are put into groups with better teams and a Tier-1 team named Reject. They beat the Tier-1 APAC North team in 2 Bo1s. 7-2, 8-6.
They also throw 2 rounds against the worst team in their group, leading them to winning in overtime. They get 2 points instead of 3 points. They end up missing getting out of groups by a single point, because they threw 2 rounds. It's expected to throw rounds if your a new team since your comms aren't perfect. They showed their glimpse of potential with this new roster from beating this 8th place Tier-1 APAC North team twice but sadly it wasn't enough.

Post-Japan National Stage 1

So since Shokei was just a sub, they have to pick up another player to replace him. While they did well and had upsets, they still weren't content with barely getting eliminated in groups.
They do open tryouts, again! to get the new 5th player. Post a tryout google docs on twitter, run the scrim partners, evaluate, yada yada yada, you know, the usual. They told themselves, Since the no-experience player Nina was such an insane pickup, then why wouldn't a second fresh rookie be good? Lets take a fresh new mechanical promising player with lots of motivation to play and teach them how to play comp. So they picked up a second person with no experience.
They pick up ShuReap from the google docs tryout page. The guy has never played competitive before or been on a team. All the team knows is that this guy is mechanically gifted and has high ranked stats. Little did they know that they got even more lucky and this guy is better than Nina who was already a monster 🤣🤣🤣🤣

Japan Nationals. Stage 2

They have this new roster. Time for Japan Nationals for stage 2 of 2022. They're eager to test this new roster.
They have to go thru the open qualifiers again. Instead of losing a map and constantly going into overtime like last time, they utterly massacre the competition. They don't even go into O.T to win games like last time. You can visually see the improvement.
Now that they finished destroying the open qualifiers to get 1st, they go into groups where they got grouped last time. This was the real test to see if the roster improved, by hitting a new high. So what happened in groups with this new T3 team?
Well, They dominate their group. They only lose once and it's in overtime 6-8 against a good team. They win most other games in regulation and come out comfortably on top with a first place group finish. Now what? Well now they move out of the pan into the fire, literally... They have to verse 2 APAC Pro League teams. Fnatic and then, if they win that, Reject who has since made roster changes to become better.
So what happens? They 2-0 Fnatic and 2-0 Reject 😭. Granted, they were close maps but it was still a 2-0. So now they're at the Grandfinals after 2-0'ing 2 pro Teams. They are up against SCARZ, who are a T2 Japanese team. You'd think that this T3 team would win after beating 2 Tier-1 teams dominantly right? Nope. SCARZ 2-0'd NORTHEPTION in the grand final. Not even a map going to O.T. They came in a disappointing 2nd place after having a miracle run in their home league.
They massively improved but would they be able to conquer a relegation battle?

Preparing for a relegation battle

After stage 2, the Japanese Nationals format changes. Stage 3 playoffs for Japan Nationals doesn't exist for non-tier 2 teams like NORTHEPTION. All that exists are relegations for the bottom 5 Japanese Nationals teams. Reject is in this list.
"B-b-but u/ArcanicTruth i thought there were no relegations?" Yeah that confused me too, it's what i thought too lmao. It's apparently not for Tier-2 leagues. There's gonna be "auto-promotions" to get into the "Tier-2" league for 2023. It ended up being code for saying there are still relegations for Japan since they're gonna directly get the 8 best Japanese teams so were gonna find out who they are thru Japanese nationals.
Remember their first Japan Nationals with a new rushed Nina pickup where they ended up getting first in the open qualifiers? Yep, the reward for that was getting invited to a relegation battle for T2 Japan League. Stage 3 of Japanese nationals had no playoffs because it invited BDS/Damwon for an even bigger inter-continental playoffs. You had to play the open quals to get to relegations but NORTHEPTION already qualified so there was no point.
The reject roster that came in 3rd place in APAC North ended up being bottom 5 in the Japanese Nationals league. So they ended up having to play relegations 😭. If they wanted to get auto-promoted, there's a chance would have to relegate this team in a Tier-1 vs Tier-3 match.
Format: There are 2 groups of five. The 5 bottom Nationals teams and the top 5 winners of the open qualifiers for stage 1, 2, and 3 of Japanese nationals. These teams will end up in different groups. If you get 1st in your group, you get auto qualified (2 teams). If you get 2nd in your group, you verse the 2nd placed team in the other group in a Bo3. If you place 3rd-5th in your group then you get eliminated from the tournament.

Despair, Doubt, and Fear

Now, beating 2 pro league teams as a T3 team is a major accomplishment. If Japan's richest orgs were not keeping an eye on the roster before, they were now after the nationals performance. So, Fnatic decides to pick up one of NORTHEPTION's players. "Tyopi". One of their best players are now suddenly gone. NORTHEPTION were in trouble having such a deep impactful roster change a month before the most important esports match of their lives. They've had pressure before but definitely not like this.
Here's where it gets even more crazy. NORTHEPTION, for months, prepared for relegations. Their long-time player, CoPaHiPo, LEAVES the team to go to the reject roster they were training months to beat. Bro just abandoned his friends for the enemy 😭.
All that is left of this former T3 David vs Goliath roster is Febar and his insanely gifted ranked stars that he taught how to play the entry role competitively, Nina and ShuReap.
Most of the experience on the roster is gone and they decide to do tryouts again. This time, they don't pick up a complete ranked star but someone who has at least some comp experience. NORTHEPTION picked up the best player from the 2nd best T3 Japanese roster "Father's Back", Sayochan. This guy was a top 5 rated entry player in Japanese Nationals league with T1 pros in it. He's the only who went overwhelmingly positive on entry when his whole team went negative on entry. He has lots of experience too so he was needed. He's also a rookie too, guess they just love their rookies 😭😭😭m
NORTHEPTION can't resist their ways and pick up ANOTHER unknown player called "YuKiz". This guy has at least been recorded to be on a team by Liquidpedia. He's definitely extremely inexperienced enough to be counted as a new competitive player.

The final battle

The groups get announced and the pro league team is in the other group. For them, this is a blessing. If they can beat some of middle of the pack Tier-1 teams then they can surely beat Tier-2 teams, right? Well... No. They barely survive groups and end up getting 2nd place. Now they have to verse the 2nd place teams on the other group. The NORTHEPTION players check to see who it is, and the gods have a laugh. It's the reject roster, a Tier-1 team, TIES in points with the t2 IGZIST team. Both have 10 points. So the tiebreaker goes to round count and IGZIST won ONLY 1 MORE ROUND to get first 🤣🤣🤣. The gods wanted a drama filled revenge relegation match. A match where careers would end are against former teamates, a Fmr teamate who abandoned this roster to go to another roster.
They get to work against a former teamate who left them at their most crucial moment together as a team. It reminds Febar of when he was dropped just before relegations in 2021. As much as this is an Esports match, it's also deeply personal and has drama. NORTHEPTION with a new roster have only a couple weeks to practice for an important relegation match.
The match happens:

• Map 1. NORTHEPTION wins 7-4
• Map 2. Reject wins 7-5
• Map 3. NORTHEPTION wins 7-3

NORTHEPTION relegated a top 3 APAC North team from Tier-1 while being a T3 roster.
The "reject" roster was a roster that was 8th place in stage 1, 5th place in stage 2, and 3rd place in stage 3. NORTHEPTION relegated a top 4 APAC.N team and stole their spot like a bunch of badasses.

The Present

We move to the present with enough history. NORTHEPTION get grouped with Fav Gaming and then they beat them too getting them grouped. NORTHEPTION move into playoffs and have to fight CAG, the best Japanese team historically.
I, again, kid you not, come into playoffs and 2-0 the historical best Japanese team, CAG. It's not even close, it's dominant.
This team will verse CREST for a major spot in Europe on April 1st. Personally, i think NORTHEPTION are actually gonna lose because they always win against Tier-1 teams and lose against Tier-2 teams. I know crest is technically Tier-1 but still, it's Tier-1 in name only since they literally just got into Tier-1. They still have Tier-2 tendencies.
NORTHEPTION will go down as one of the most inspiring APAC stories in Rainbow six siege if they can make it to the major. They skipped Tier-2 and relegated a top 3 APAC North team as a Tier-3 team. They decided that they weren't gonna try to get failed players who's only choice it was to join a T3 team but instead try to develop their own talent from mechanically gifted players they found thru an open tryout method.
Out of all the APAC rosters in siege, i like this one the most.

Note: If you're a long-time reader, I decided to retcon the name of the official language of Nusantara to "Bahasa" instead of "Neo-Malay." If you're new, hi.
First Previous
Memory Transcription Subject: Vani, venlil foreign exchange participant
Date [Standardized Human Reckoning]: 2136–09-18
Upon telling her our concern. Snop suggested that we talk to her acquaintance named Mowww Daywant in Surabaya who made a name for himself in the community as a cooling vest producer. She put us in touch with the tiger furry, who was excited to design a vest for me and he asked permission to get the model of my body from Snop.
Since Surabaya also hosted one of the twelve universities on the list we decided it would be our destination for my weekly checkup too.
Johan and I took our time on our trip to Surabaya, making stops to explore the sights along the way. The day after my assessment, we visited the Prambanan Temple. As usual, as soon as we got near the fenced temple complex, an eager tour guide approached us, offering to explain the history and significance of the temple. She explained that Prambanan is a Hindu temple and the second-largest Hindu temple complex on the planet, after Angkor Wat in Cambodia. The complex comprised six inner temples surrounded by two hundred smaller ones. Due to neglect, many of the smaller temples had fallen into ruin over the years, but one had been reconstructed to give visitors a glimpse of what it looked like in its original state.
The tour guide mentioned that her Hinduism is not the same as the one practiced in the temple back when it was erected.
"So there are different kinds of Hinduism?"
"That's true for pretty much any religion on Earth? Don't your religions have denominations too?" Johan asked.
"Not in the homeworld, but I suppose perhaps there are religions in the rest of the Federation who do have variations like that."
Moving forward on our way to Surabaya, my human decided to take a detour to a couple of caves. In my homeworld, caves are considered dangerous due to their darkness. With little use for them, we explore them using drones. However, humans see caves differently and they explore caves not only for research but also for the enjoyment it provides to them. Our first stop was the Gong Cave, where a well-maintained walking path had been installed in the cave. It allowed us to stroll inside and gaze at the geological features. Various colored lights had been set to highlight the rock formations.
Next, we visited the Tabuhan Cave, whose extraordinary stalactites and stalagmites had been turned into lithophones. When we entered the cave, we were treated to a beautiful percussive symphony created by striking the rocks. The sound made by a band of humans echoed through the cave, and it was hard to believe that these sounds were coming from natural formations.
Johan and I also made significant progress in our language learning. Being the fragmented species they are, humans have developed several writing systems, and one system, in particular, is used in many languages. He explained that sometimes, a group of people would adopt a neighboring writing system of their own will, but often what happened was that the writing systems of the colonizer were imposed on the colonized such as in the case of Bahasa. Perhaps because they were introduced much later, while English orthography is a complicated mess, Bahasa has a regular orthography.
After my overheating incident a week ago, Johan was cautious about the intensity of my exercises until we got the cooling vest that Snop's acquaintance could provide. He researched various exercises that would help me build my muscles without putting too much strain on my body. I no longer tire as I did when I first arrived on Earth. I could match the stamina of humans, but I was still susceptible to hyperthermia.
Speaking of heat, the other kind of heat I experienced dissipated a few days ago. Although my biological quirks no longer distracted me, I found that I could still be coaxed well out of my schedule, which was a welcome discovery for us. We hypothesized that it might be the result of something in human food or perhaps the presence of pheromones emitted by humans (i.e. Johan). I would not need to disclose this during my weekly checkup unless it led to any issues with my quality of life.
Right before reaching Surabaya, we visited the ancient city of Trowulan where the capital of an old empire used to reside. Instead of being made out of stone like the temples we have visited, everything there was made out of clay brick. The ruins of the once imperial capital were spread out over a vast area, with remnants of buildings, palaces, and temples all around. As usual, a tour guide jumped upon us and took us around to explain the history and significance of structures that survived the ravage of time. We even stumbled upon an old market square, where vendors once sold their wares to the people of the empire.
Walking through the city, I wondered how my ancestors lived and what their civilizations might have been like.
I could tell that we reached Surabaya when we passed a large gate saying "Welcome to Surabaya". I have switched my visual translator to the annotation mode to better learn the language. This way, I could see the translation of any human text alongside the original, helping me to better understand their language. Surabaya is the second largest city in Java and it felt like a little sibling to Jakarta. Despite its smaller size, its skyline was also adorned with tall glass towers just like in Jakarta, there are parts of the city that still maintain their colonial-era architecture.
When we approached Mowww Daywant's apartment building, I noticed that the surrounding buildings were sleek and the streets were spotless. I can surmise that this was a posh part of the city, reserved for the wealthy. Stepping into the building's lobby, I could see that the humans there were wearing neat fabric, unlike Johan's shabby ones. On our way to Mowww's flat, we encountered several indoor waterfalls pouring into a human-made canal which then cascade to an even lower floor. I have never seen such a feature in a building before.
After Johan pressed the bell in front of Mowww's apartment a long, muffled howling came out from behind the door.
"Oh, man..." Johan sighed. "He has a dog.
I know dogs. I have seen dogs before when we were outside. They can be seen almost always leashed with a human holding the other end of the rope.
When I delved deeper into my research on Earth's history, I discovered that humans and dogs had a much longer and deeper relationship. Humans met the wolves, ancestors of the dogs', tens of thousands of years before they settled and began agriculture. That means they used to hunt together with the wolves assisting in tracking and fetching prey while the humans provided food and shelter in return. Nowadays, dogs are utilized for things other than hunting. Some are trained to perform tasks such as guiding those with sight problems, detecting medical conditions, or providing security. Others serve as emotional support animals, providing comfort and companionship to their owners.
The door slid open. A human with whiskers above their lips greeted us. Their mane is trimmed on the side but kept long on top.
"I need to let you know that I have a dog with me right now. She's in a locked crate though."
"How do you think she'll react if she sees Vani?" Johan asked.
"I think she's pretty mellow?" The human looked back and then returned his gaze to us.
"Can I see the dog?" I wondered what kind of dog was inside that flat. In public, the few times I saw a dog, its owner always tugged on their leash and forced the beast to walk away from me and Johan.
"Okay, if she shows any sort of aggression toward Vani, we can go down to the lobby." Said Mowww.
The human let us into his flat and when I entered the temperature dropped much lower than the usual temperature of a human's building interior. The air was cool and crisp, almost resembling the temperature of a morgue. Once inside, we were greeted by an intense-looking living room. The walls were painted in the color of blood and a sculpture of a rotund tiger lay on the glass table in the middle. In one corner of the room, I spotted a large cage with the fluffiest thing ever lying down inside.
The beast's long thick fur hid its features, making it look like a soft, white capsule with four legs and a snout sticking out. As soon as it sensed our presence, the fluff beast stood up and stared at me, its tongue falling out of its mouth, panting.
"Is it smiling at me? It looks like it is smiling." The beast's beady eyes stared at me. The fluff beast was nothing like the ferocious-looking wolves I saw in the human network. It was fascinating but also terrifying that humans have modified an apex predator into something that looked like a giant doll.
"Oh, this breed of dog used to live in the arctic region. They have an upturned mouth like that to prevent saliva from pooling and freezing."
The beast approached the edge of the crate and its nose, wet and glistening, poked out through the metal bars, twitching as it sniffed in my direction.
"Isn't that a samoyed?" Johan asked. "Why are you keeping a dog like that in Surabaya of all places?"
"She's my friend's furbaby and they live in Batu where the climate is more suitable for her. Right now their household is going to Convention in Taipei for a while."
"You're not going there too?" Johan asked.
"I'm... recovering my finance after a weeklong trip to Fiesta de Furros a month back." He said, looking a bit embarrassed.
The fluffy dog pawed on the cage lock. "Is it safe to let her out?" I asked.
"I think so? She doesn't look aggressive toward you."
I slid the lock of the cage and before both humans can react, the fluff beast came out with a bang, running at lightning speed around the living room. Her claws made a tapping sound against the floor as they frolicked around. It disappeared behind the kitchen and I heard a high-pitched squeak not long after. A few moments later, she came back with a tiger-shaped object in her mouth. Her curved tail looked more like a mound behind her back that vibrated as she approached me. She dropped the toy in front of me before coming closer to sniff me.
"I can't believe you just did that!" Johan said. "That could've gone wrong in all sorts of ways!"
The dog went around and nudged me from behind, making me step on the plaything it had deposited. Hearing the high-pitched sound, the fluffy white beast lifted its head and let out a long, piercing howl that filled the room. The sound was both beautiful and haunting at the same time, sending shivers down my spine.
"Mofu, stop," Mowww commanded.
As if it understood the human's command, the dog stopped emitting the noise and began sniffing around my feet. It then picked up the toy again and bumped my paw with its snout. Thinking that it tried to make me take the toy, I grabbed the tiger doll. As soon as I pulled the object from its mouth, the dog released its bite. It stared at me and it didn't take long before the tongue came out again.
"She wants you to throw the toy," said Mowww, smiling at Mofu's antics.
I threw the toy towards the couch and watched as Mofu chased after it, her fluffy fur bouncing with every step. It hopped up onto the couch and picked up the toy with its mouth. The beast then curled into a giant furball.
The fluff beast's behavior made me consider that… perhaps sapience is a spectrum. The dog's behavior seemed to show an understanding of people, something that I did not expect from a non-sapient animal.
"Yeah, Mofu is a couch potato. You need to convince her to go for a walkies. Well... you're lucky the good girl likes you. Now, wait here."
Mowww disappeared into his room, before emerging with a vest in hand. The vest looked almost identical to the one that Beer had worn back in Jakarta, but this one seemed to be tailor-made for someone of my proportions. As Mowww helped me put on the vest, Johan was lounging on the couch absent-mindedly stroking Mofu. The beast seemed to take a liking to Johan because she uncurled and plopped herself onto his lap before curling into a fluff ball again. Johan chuckled, continuing to pet the dog as Mowww made some final adjustments to the vest.
"Right now I use the twenty degrees mix. But I'll give you the fifteen degrees too."
The vest felt cool against my body and I could not wait to try exercising with this.
Mowww insisted on hosting us for the rest of the day. The furry brewed some tea and brought out some snacks while I attended my class and Johan did his work.
When we sat together to eat, Mowww told us about his work in the field of astronautics, an area that had been impacted positively by the first contact between our species. He spoke with pride about the innovative designs that he had been testing thanks to the wealth of knowledge and ideas that had been exchanged between our species. Once we finished our meal, Mowww took us to his home office where he showed us some of his current projects. He also had various models of human spacecraft from the past and he explained them like a tour guide in a mini museum.
The furry even showed us a few of his recent designs that were approved for public view.
When our day neared its end, Mowww mentioned that he was expecting the arrival of his friend from the Republic of China, who was the actual owner of the fluff beast. He invited us to join him at the airport to greet his friend and exchange dogs. It was Johan's turn to extend hospitality and after some convincing, Mowww agreed to go to the airport in Johan's van. We piled into the vehicle with the fluff beast sitting beside me.
On our way to the airport, I tried to stroke the creature's back and this made the beast lay on my lap. The dog seemed content to trap me there, sometimes nuzzling my hand for more pets when I stopped. Somehow petting the soft predator felt therapeutic. Halfway, when I stopped and it did not react I realized that the beast had fallen asleep.
In the airport, it didn't take us long to see Mofu's owner. Mowww waved to a group of people with suitcases piled high on a couple of trolleys. Upon seeing its owner, the fluff beast darted away, snatching the leash from Mowww's hand, the dog jumped and tried to jab the humans with its snout, and the humans kneeled, with one of them trying to hug the beast. They laughed when the dog fell on the floor and presented its belly. When one of the humans rubbed that particular anatomy the tongue came out again.
Is this the power of domestication? The wolf looked like an actual predator, but the white fluffy thing that was being tickled by its owners looked more like a mockery of a wolf in the same way the humans themselves are a mockery of predators.
I wonder if the humans, on another timeline, would be able to domesticate the arxur.
After a few minutes of fussing over the dog and exchanging gifts, we said our goodbyes ready for the next day.
Today we came to the university of the week. When I consulted the map, it was clear that our destination, Airlangga University, is an educational institution geared toward medicine and public health. The university's sprawling campus was divided into two distinct sections: the north and south areas, each with its own set of dedicated buildings and resources. Nestled between the north and south sections of the campus lies an impressive hospital complex, which serves as both a practical training ground for students and a fully-functioning medical center for the local city.
Just like Gajah Mada university, Airlangga University is named after a monarch who lived eleven hundred years ago. I was not surprised to learn that his name means "Jumping Water". The monarch was born on another island and "Jumping Water" is an allusion to him sailing from his birthplace to the island of Java.
The faculty of medicine comprises several buildings, and I would go to the department of surgery as usual. In the lab, a professor named Nurhayat greeted me. We went through the procedure of wearing a suit just like in Gajah Mada, and afterward, he whisked me to a familiar-looking lab with four tables. When I approached the table, I could feel my heart racing with anticipation. I had been studying and practicing appendectomy through laparoscopy for a week, but performing it in real space is a whole different story.
Professor Nurhayat explained what I would need to prepare for and I listened, trying to commit every detail to memory. Laparoscopy, it seemed, was similar to remote surgery back on my Homeworld. I would be controlling a small device while looking through a camera, which would allow me to see the surgical area. It was a challenging task, as I had to be careful about how deep I inserted the instrument through the small hole in the dummy.
I felt like I was making a lot of tiny missteps during the procedure because, unlike the appendectomy practice in Yogyakarta, Professor Nurhayat kept offering advice and guidance as I navigated the device through the dummy. In the end, the professor overseeing my laparoscopy assessment nodded with approval, but I could sense that it was just a passable performance. I feel disappointed, considering how much effort I have been putting into studying the procedure. Since I have never practiced remote surgery back in my homeworld, laparoscopy on Earth posed some challenges.
After the assessment, I felt mentally and physically drained. My paws ached from having to maintain a steady position for a prolonged amount of time.
Walking out of the building, Johan patted my back. "You did great, Vani. Don't be too hard on yourself."
He reminded me that this was just the beginning of my studies and I still had a whole semester ahead of me to practice and learn.
The student overseeing my sample gathering said the same thing about exercising and decreasing my intake so I told them that I have begun doing the exercise, which they put into their note. Looking at my test result so far, I think it can be said with good confidence that a venlil can thrive on earth. After the next weekly check, the student said that we will decrease the frequency to monthly medical checks instead.
It did not free us up that much, since the assessment with an educational practitioner would still take place once a week.
Since we had to deliver the fluff best to its owners, we could not try the cooling vest that Mowww had made for me. But we made sure to set aside time today. The vest had been kept in a mini fridge in Johan's van to ensure the maximum cooling effect. Once I had the vest on, I could feel the difference right away. It helped me maintain a comfortable body temperature and increased my endurance up to a human level. Mowww had also given me a vest with a water pump. This method did not cool as much as the one with the temperature-constant polymer, but it can go on and on for two days before the battery need to be replaced. Perhaps this will be useful too one day.
All in all, despite the setback in the assessment, I am thankful for the humans and their willingness to help me adapt to this strange world.

What a freakin' tour huh?! It all started in Wrightsville Beach, included an insane 10-date stretch with the wonderful Hayley Jane (complete with more than a few debuts/FTPs) and finished on the big stage at The Cap. I can't claim to be an OG fan, but being around since early last year... this tour truly felt like a changing of the guard. There's no stopping this train now.
Here are my personal highlights:
2/15/23 - Wrightsville Beach - Exactly what you can imagine it to be if you weren't there. A tried and true beach show at a beachside venue. Lots of locals. GREAT sound. FTP on No Quarter (Sam mentioned before the song that they didn't really know how to play it fully yet... safe to say, it was a success). Great Samba > Fenway > Samba sandwich. I don't believe I'll ever see the guys at a place this chill and small again... so I'll cherish this one! Also, $2 beers! WHAT?! Long live The Palm Room.
3/4/23 - Chicago - A marathon run of a night in which the very talented local act Lunar Ticks opened. Someone gave Mr. Tooker a bubble gun. Getting Chicago moving with a funky People Say > Craig and Pat combo. Way To Be first set closer ripper. Second set Apple song combo (I can't tell you enough how much I love Applesauce) and a Phishy encore — Julius!
3/5/23 - Kalamazoo - Jimmy Law's birthday! 24 years young, but already a rising guitar legend, Michigan showed Jimmy some Midwest love. Great versions of Feel Like A Stranger, Look Johnny, Bent Strange. Samba for Sam all-timer.
3/8/23 - Covington - First night with Hayley Jane! Four debuts with Hayley. She explained on stage that she visited the guys in NJ and spent some time with all of them to write songs. The songs came together quickly and organically. And it definitely showed from the first note. Favorites include Jungle Foot (Hayley/Joey song), Little Bird (Hayley/Brian song) and Paper Fly (Hayley/Jimmy song). Crazy Fingers FTP with Jimmy sounding almost *too* much like Jerry. Goosebumps. Four-song encore to complete a ripping night in Northern Kentucky.
3/9/23 - Lakewood - Second night with Hayley. Hayley let the Dogs in on one of her old tunes Cosmic Katrina. A fun poppy, quirky and even heavy (at times) song. This Woman (Hayley/Jeremy song) debut. Intense and a special song to Hayley personally — she later mentioned at another date (think it was Pembroke) how empowering it was to write and perform. CHARLIE. Out of the 13 dates that I attended on the tour, this still stands out as the best jam I saw. Those that were there were left speechless. The roar following the jam from the Cleveland crowd was thunderous. A flawless Samba > Pedro > Samba sandwich. The Dogs certainly gained a whole slew of new fans in Ohio.
3/10/23 - Ann Arbor - Any Led Zeppelin fans in here? FTP (w/ Hayley) on Trampled Under Foot > Long Train Runnin' (Doobie Bros) > Trampled. Brand New Key > Hey Pocky A-Way played for the third straight night w/ Hayley, but this is an amazing thing. Such a great cover to get the crowd grooving. Bent Strange monster — similar crowd reaction as the Lakewood Charlie. El Sonidito dance party > Thriller 161 show bustout!
3/15/23 - Rochester - Upstate NY came to get down! This was a sellout. Packed room in an old-school club. Bubble lit the space on fire and they didn't let up for the next few hours. In contention for one of my favorite Dogs shows attended. Excellent crowd vibes. Other highlights include Applesauce, Blues for Brian, Back to the Start (love the placement), G Song, Nicolette debut... pretty much the entire show. Just head to bandcamp and take a listen for yourself.
3/17/23 - Saratoga Springs - Another sellout! Another birthday! This time, sir Sam Lucid turned 25. It sounds redundant given what I said about Rochester, but this is also a contender for my top-attended Dogs show ever. Wire-to-wire fire. Cats Under the Stars all-timer. Ben Pinnola (from "Benny had a bugle on his shelf") joined them for a few tunes including an intense Bugle on the Shelf that had an amazing high-energy finishing section. FTP on Steely Dan's Deacon Blues (birthday boy Sam on vocals) and New York State of Mind (Jeremy on vocals). Say Something to close out St. (Craig and) Patrick's Day in epic style.
What are your favorite memories from this tour? Where did you see the Dogs? Where will you see them next?!

I have been thinking about making an analog horror series, since I have so much free time and my artistic and writing abilities are capable. However, I just don’t know where to start. I have a few ideas for plot and such, and I want it to revolve around a cast of characters that slowly go from happy to creepy. The inspiration would definitely come from FNAF and TWF, however it wouldn’t jump into the horror aspect right away. I’m thinking to start it off with commercial/promotional type video’s for the location of said [insert place that these characters reside, weather it be a restaurant, amusement park, resort. Etc.]. The videos would start by showcasing the characters/animatronics in their finest form, then by the third or fourth video, they begin to wither, and so on. Perhaps flashes of horror elements into the sooner videos, and small audio rewinds that have been chopped up to just ‘a mistake in the tape’. This would work as sort of an easter egg trail, and thus ultimately lead to another YouTube account with ‘found footage’, as the first account would mainly be animations (very short, promotional, comedic. Sort of like TWF plushies commercials. Short and sweet.). The second account would be where the horror takes off, with whatever plot is cemented, and these loveable and hilarious characters are revealed to have a much more malicious intent behind themselves.
I need help with plot and world building, I also have NO idea how to edit- I feel like I’d have the art part under control, but artists are still welcome to reach out. Needing editors, story writers/editors, script writers, voice actors (don’t have to be professional), artists, producers (silly little soundtracks), and perhaps website coders? Fo if we decide to embed any easter egged websites!
This will hopefully just be a small community on discord to work on this project and talk amongst ourselves. It’s more just for personal development rather than a project I’m hoping takes off. Though I’m not offering pay, I’m looking for those who are willing to just have fun and be creative. I’m asking for an age range of 16+ for anyone that wants to be a part of the project! Thanks for your time, and I’d love to hear some opinions. If interested, please dm me on Reddit for my discord C:

Today I was walking through Tokyo Station when a plain clothed man approached me and flashed me a Police badge and ID. I continued walking as he kept pace with me. He kept saying "I'm real police." I said "No thank you no thank you." I walked toward the Information kiosk and asked the woman there for help. I asked her if this was a real police officer. She looked at him. He paused, kind of reluctantly then said something to her in Japanese. She smiled, looked at me and nodded. He said I had to show him my passport. I took out my passport and showed him the ID page. He kept saying show it to me and trying to touch it. I said "I show it to you but I don't give it to you." He then asked to see my entry stamp so I flipped the pages and he looked at the dates. He then held out his phone and looked to be tapping the screen. I leaned my head toward him to see what he was doing and the screen was just on google maps. He was just tapping nonsense. He then said "Everything ok." and walked away.
Later in the day, I met up a local and we talked to two police officers. I told them the story through my Japanese friend. One of the officers pulled out his ID and badge and asked me if it looked the same. It clearly did not. They told me they can't confirm what I experienced but they did say some police officers dress in plain clothes and not uniforms.
My friend asked me if the guy took a photo of my passport with his phone? I'm pretty sure he didn't.
What the heck happened?

Had a dream last night where I was Michael Myers in a DbD match where there were a few interesting things happened like the survivors could speak to each other and I as the killer could hear them, also I was able to use my arms as in I could fling myself to get a massive lunge or climb up a tree to get some stalk off. At one point I 1v1 a pyramid head which was pretty goofy. To top it all off a fun game mode of running away from the killer like in subway surfers. In the end this got me thinking that maybe some features like proximity VC could be fun (like the VC system "in silence") or maybe a killer that could somehow get a view of the map could be cool ( don't care if these ideas sound sounds op rn just thought it would be fun to share my wacky dream) what are your thoughts on this or any ideas you guys have?

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Synopsis:
Juliette Contzen is a lazy, good-for-nothing princess. Overshadowed by her siblings, she's left with little to do but nap, read … and occasionally cut the falling raindrops with her sword. Spotted one day by an astonished adventurer, he insists on grading Juliette's swordsmanship, then promptly has a mental breakdown at the result.
Soon after, Juliette is given the news that her kingdom is on the brink of bankruptcy. At threat of being married off, the lazy princess vows to do whatever it takes to maintain her current lifestyle, and taking matters into her own hands, escapes in the middle of the night in order to restore her kingdom's finances.
Tags: Comedy, Adventure, Action, Fantasy, Copious Ohohohohos.
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Chapter 7: Royal Requisition
The draft horse responded well. Likely since he knew I liked his name.
'Apple'.
It was a simple reminder of my orchard, but just in case I ever forgot, I could reach into one of my many saddlebags and draw out a crisp, delicious red fruit. The horse whinnied in joy. No doubt it could smell the aroma tucked away. He'd be able to enjoy them too—after they were used as projectiles to incapacitate any miscreant or monster hoping to invite themselves onto our day's itinerary.
We certainly weren't going to outpace any adversaries, much less any knights that were sent to usher me back to my impending poverty.
This was no battle steed bred for unmatched pace. Rather, the only thing this draft horse would outrun was a cart. And that's if it was the one pulling it.
Still, I stroked the horse's outrageously shaggy mane and declared myself satisfied.
I was fond of horses. They galloped, plodded and stood still. The three functions I required a horse to do. They did not spill wine over my dresses, straighten the wrong strands of my hair or serve me carrots while trembling with tears and apologies. They had their jobs, and unlike my waiting staff, they did it with exceptional prowess.
Beside me, the barkeeper checked the saddle and bridle.
He went about his task efficiently, tugging at the clasps and ensuring the comfort of both horse and rider. My opinion of village barkeepers rose considerably.
“Do you often require a horse for your line of work?” I queried, noting the way he was carefully inspecting the position of the tack.
The barkeeper didn't look up.
“Not often,” he replied.
The man chose not to annotate. I nodded and looked ahead.
Even the fields around this insignificant village looked modestly impressive when beneath such a welcoming moonlit sky.
“There are provisions, but not for longer than a straight ride to Rolstein. You'd best stop by a village on your way. Your … borrowed money is in a separate pouch, as is my letter.”
“Excellent.”
“Both the letter and the horse is to be delivered to Marina, the local alchemist in Rolstein. You'll find her in her store, if it's still there.”
“If?”
“It's been some time.”
“And if this alchemist isn't available?”
“Then Apple will find his way back. He's a smart one.”
The horse gave a small snort. I took that to be agreement.
“All ready,” said the barkeeper, stepping back. “You've my horse and my night's earnings. Anything else you require before you make for the lowlands?”
“That'll be all. Thank you for your service.”
“And yours, young lady.”
I raised an eyebrow.
A deeply seated part of me wished to remind this commoner about the necessity of referring to proper titles, but I'd declared myself to be Juliette and nobody else.
If my masterful deception were to succeed, then I'd need to maintain the persona of a … well, not a commoner, obviously not, but perhaps some countryside lord's daughter? Or would that arouse too much suspicion?
A problem. I was clearly far too beautiful and well-heeled to be anything less than a duke's favoured child. And all of them were accounted for. Do I pose as somebody else? But who? How should I introduce myself? What questions could I reasonably consider likely to be asked?
For two long seconds, I considered this possible issue.
And then I tossed it to the wayside.
Really now! This is why the kingdom was in the state it was. Why think and stay still when I can think and move? I'd surely come up with an answer by the time I needed to provide one. In fact, why dedicate thoughts to mere possibilities at all?
I was supremely confident in my problem-solving skills. Therefore, once this actually became a problem, it was more efficient to simply come up with the answer there and then as required. My head was too precious to fill up with hypothetical concerns. I had real ones to consider.
Such as figuring out which road was the one south.
“Also, I've provided a map alongside the provisions,” said the barkeeper, his stoic exterior looking progressively more haggled. “It's incomplete, but will help where the roads most often disappear where the woodlands overgrow. Though I'm sure you're well acquainted with the land, there are many areas where even experienced hunters have found themselves suddenly lost.”
This ... This barkeeper!
Once I was back, I would promote him to the royal court! He was far too competent to be serving frothy liquor in a pub with customers that disgraced the floorboards beneath his tables. Why, he should be serving the finest fae wine to dignitaries! Those people only soiled themselves in their guest rooms!
However, that was in the future. Right now, I had to provide him with the only reward I could offer.
Asking his name. And maybe remembering it.
“I … I see! Thank you. Thank you most kindly. I'll use it well in the days ahead. I must say, you've been of considerable service. What is your name, Sir Barkeeper?”
“Thomas.”
I gestured at him to continue.
He paused, seeming to hesitate before doing so. An action I saw frequently. Those of lesser status were always fretful to reveal their family name, for fear of open admonishment.
In truth, this barkeeper had nothing to fear. I already ranked him above every nobleman to have ever visited the Royal Villa. Why, if I requisitioned their horse and crowns, they'd protest as if I was some brigand!
“Thomas Lainsfont.”
“... Lainsfont?”
The man nodded.
Curiously, I found myself eyeing some distant cloud as my mind was struck by a hint of recognition. How strange that this should be the case.
Lainsfont.
I didn't recognise it. Nor should I. I had far too many names to forget as it was before I needed to start including the names of commoners as well.
Even so, this one tickled my memory like a word on the tip of my tongue, even where most others failed.
“Thomas Lainsfont. Now why does that name sound … familiar?”
“I wouldn't know. I'm a barkeeper.”
I eyed him, for what was the very first time, and in doing so officially upgraded him from barkeeper to known person of use.
A man in his forties with the beginnings of grey hair in his stubble. Still, he boasted remarkably young eyes. And his stature. It wasn't lowered by the pouring of mead or the hauling kegs for inebriated louts.
Indeed, his frame remained remarkably tall. And proud.
Hmm.
Interesting.
“Were you ever in service to the kingdom, Mr. Lainsfont?”
The man raised an eyebrow.
“By ensuring the layabouts of this village have somewhere to sleep off their drunkenness, certainly.”
“... I see. Well, if you ever wish to hone your skills on better dressed clientele, I may have a prospective offer of employment for you as soon as I return. Note that better dressed does not mean more palatable, however. Just less … unidentifiable stains involved.”
“I'll look forward to it.”
“Good, good.”
Turning my attention from this known person of use, I gently tugged on the horse's reins. He set off on a slow trot. Eventually, he'd need to test his pace. Rolstein was some distance away, while our knights were closer. I intended to ride through the night and into the next day.
It was only then that I realised something very important.
… I hadn't used the restroom yet.
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Another chapter down! I was initially worried about this one after how the prologue ended. Ethlyn was out of money and running low on slim sword uses. Fortunately, chapter 1 introduces our saving grace: the arena. As a Paladin, Ethlyn breezed through it and earned enough money to buy Sigurd’s silver sword, repair her slim sword, and buy one of the other boy’s iron sword for good measure (and still had a decent sum after that). Like the prologue, this chapter can be broken up into clear sections.
First: saving Edain and Dew. Edain might not have any combat capabilities yet but having someone who can heal Ethlyn is important so we want to save her. I was able to do a similar strategy to what I had to do for Lex and Azelle, except much easier to execute. Edain and Dew can safely outrun the enemies chasing them and the layout of the map makes it pretty easy to stay out of range of the enemies attacking the castle. It takes a little naked bodyguard action at the end to get everyone IN the castle, but we get it done. A slight problem arises with Ethlyn’s evasion (namely that with the slim sword it’s so high that she won’t be targeted), but swapping her to the silver sword fixes that when she’s outside of the castle.
Second: Defending the castle. This is a very familiar position, but we’re significantly stronger now. It’s not hard, just tedious. The enemy is so afraid of Ethlyn’s power that they won’t attack her, so it’s a lot of hit and runs to take them out (slowed down by no pursuit). Once we finally clear the enemies out, it’s time for the biggest challenge of the map.
Third: taking the first castle and recruiting Ayra. For this type of run, we absolutely HAVE to get Ayra. We need a more consistent boss killer and I am dying for a unit with pursuit. This is a very slow run anyway so her not being mounted isn’t an issue. Problem is, she’s actively hostile and can’t be talked to until AFTER the castle has been seized. So, we’ll need to distract her. We send naked Alec, Noishe, and Midayle to the western side of the castle, with Noishe exactly in range of the left most axe user. This sends the entire group (well minus one which Ethlyn takes down on her way to setup at the castle) west so Ethlyn and her boys can take the castle. We set them up like before, Sigurd and Quan on either side of her, and she quickly gets a pair of crits to take the castle. Meanwhile, Noishe is killed by an axe man and Alec bravely sacrifices himself to draw Ayra back towards the castle once Sigurd seizes it. RIP Christmas Cavs, your sacrifice will not be in vein.
Fourth: the second castle. From here, it’s an absolute cake walk. We let Ayra clear the arena and then have her buy the silver sword. We no longer need Quan or Sigurd’s support service as Ethlyn and Ayra easily take out the castle (with Edain healing their wounds). We’ve also had Dew talk to Edain so she now has a warp staff for more exp (will she end up promoting this run? Jury’s still out).
Fifth: the last castle. We let Jamke’s gang head towards us. Edain recruits him as soon as he gets close (he gets a few hits on Ayra but fortunately no crits). We might not be able to use him, but we may need an extra body at some point (especially since we lost Alec and Noishe) or something he can give to one of the ladies (if nothing else Brigid might like the killer bow). Then we recruit Deirdre, backtrack to let her get some levels/gold in the arena, and take on the last castle. Deirdre’s silence neuters his magic and the sword girls clean up.
Total turn count: 163
The turn count’s not as bad as it looks. Most of that’s from the pre-Ayra portion and it noticeably sped up afterwards. We actually have an army now! Ethlyn did her job and now we have tools to handle the rest. The silver sword has hit the 50 kill mark and the slim sword is just shy at 48.
Now we have to start really thinking about the kids and fathers. Chapter 2 is where I’ll really have to start attaching people to the hip to make sure they fall for who I want them to fall for. I’d rather not have to murder someone for falling for the wrong person. At this point the silver sword stays with Ayra. Lachesis will love it and so will I when I’m having to solo with her. The slim sword could be very useful…Nanna could use it for turtling chapter 7, but maybe Patty would also like it to increase her survivability. We’ll see what else we can get.
At this point, the hardest part should be over. My biggest concern now is chapter 7 and trying to keep Patty and Nanna alive.

after extracting what is probably a hundred weapons cases from al mazrah for rewards, faction missions, or to invite pvp), ive figured out the easiest ways to get the al mazrah weapons case in all three locations, given the juggernaut hasn’t been aggroed and pulled to a different area (had him chase me all the way to the middle of akhdar from al sharim pass once)
zaya observatory: the easiest weapons case spawn, approach the observatory from the northwest, and climb onto the radio tower as silently as you can and make your way to the second level. the juggernaut spawns on the highest railing of the dome in the center of the POI. shoot him with a sniper, preferably with a friend or two or five, but when alone you may need to bring a munitions box depending on your aim and sniper of choice. sometimes he’ll flinch and get stuck in the dome, but not to worry, headshots will get you through. it’s also the easiest exfil because of the automatic high ground, a squad member can fly off to another exfil, which will probably be in parachute range, call it, and then you can pick up the weapons case (to delay the alert) when the chopper arrives, and fly to the exfil with no interference.
zarqwa hydroelectric: similar strategy, arrive from the northeast and climb onto the radio tower. juggernaut spawns on the back end of the island in the middle. if you look between the two buildings on the island, he’ll be standing in the open side of the left building, near the pool of water. once dead, parachute down, grab the case, dive into the pool of water and get to the river. head northeast or southwest from there (depending on closest exfil) and you can swim to the bridge and get out with less resistance. in a perfect world, exfil would be close by, but because of the lack of high ground, escape from hydro tends to be a little harder. easiest when done early in the game while everyone is near the outer edge of the map.
al sharim pass: approach from the northwest, and climb up the tower in the center of the POI. there will be ai around but it tends to be tier 1s so make quick work of them and get up the tower. the juggernaut is a bit harder to spot, but he spawns at the top of the POI. kill some of the tier 3 ai, and he’ll eventually poke his head out and stand near the tree at the courtyard at the highest point. clear out as much tier 3 ai as you can before killing the jugg, since they can be a struggle when parachuting down to pick up the case. like observatory, high ground lets a squad member parachute early to call an exfil before the case is picked up, to reduce player interference.
side notes: you can tell the weapons case is in play before it is picked up by looking the map periodically and checking to see if the weapons case circle has disappeared yet, and the case icon appeared. if a team engages you with the weapons case, feel free to drop the case, no need for them to be able to see where you are at all times.
hope this helps anyone wanting to extract the case for rewards or faction missions, and feel free to ask me to help extract cases as a squadmate, will gladly accept a 302 key in exchange

Upright and Balanced - On the Trail and in Life This past summer, my daughter and I planned to hike a section of the Appalachian Trail. Although we both loved the outdoors and were frequent day hikers, neither of us had attempted an overnight backpacking experience. After watching numerous on-line videos for advice, studying trail maps, and loading our packs, we set off for adventure, compass in hand and a smile on our faces.
Seasoned backpackers will tell you that “newbies” on the trail are easily recognized by the size of their packs, carrying everything but the kitchen sink. We were no exception. Our packs were easily half our body weight and towered over our heads. After the first mile, we got the hang of balancing our loads and conquered one steep ascent after another.
All was well until I had the misfortune to misstep and “roll” on a stick. I was thrown off balance, my feet went out from under me, and I found myself looking up at the sky, my fall cushioned by my pack. My daughter ran to my aid but was quickly overcome with fits of laughter at the sight of me attempting to get back on my feet. ​ Every effort to stand up was negated by the heavy pack. No matter how I tried, I was stuck, much like an overturned turtle. After valiant efforts to right myself, I lay exhausted by the situation, needing some kind of helping hand to stand. Once I gave up fighting the pack weight, a thought came to me. If I just unclipped my pack, I would be able to stand. I did. Now free from the weight of my burden, I stood upright.
My experience on the trail holds many lessons for me when compared to Al-Anon. Many of us carried a burden from the effects of alcoholism, causing us to lose our balance and get stuck. Our best efforts were ineffective in “righting” ourselves in our relationships and lives. For me, the experience, strength, and hope provided by the program are the freeing solutions to the family disease of alcoholism. The Steps and Traditions help me unclip the burden of the effects of growing up with alcoholism, allowing me to proceed down the trail of life upright and balanced.
By Mary Jo H. May, 2016 Reprinted with permission of The Forum Al-Anon Family Groups Incorporated, Virginia Beach, VA

IMDb Movie! Here are options for downloading or watching Missing HD & 4k streaming the full movie online for free on 123movies & Reddit, including where to watch the anticipated thriller movie at home. Missing 2023 available to stream? Is watching Missing on Disney Plus, HBO Max, Netflix or Amazon Prime? Yes, we have found an authentic streaming option.
Watch Now>> Missing HD & 4k Quality Free Online
‘Missing’ is a mystery thriller movie that revolves around a teenager who uses all kinds of technology at her disposal in order to find her missing mother after she loses all contact with her. Co-written and co-directed by Nick Johnson and Will Merrick, the suspense movie serves as the standalone sequel to the 2018 movie ‘Searching‘ helmed by Aneesh Chaganty.
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Hailing from the creators of Searching is Missing, which is sure to quench the thirst of anyone looking for a new mystery thriller to immerse themselves in.
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Directed by Nick Johnson and Will Merrick, Missing follows teenage June (Euphoria star Storm Reid) as she uses the technology available to her to track down her mother, who went missing while vacationing in Colombia with her new boyfriend. However, June is in for an awakening as she uncovers secrets about her mom that she never knew.
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So where can you watch Missing? Is it available to stream on HBO Max? What about Netflix? Here’s everything we know about the upcoming movie:
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When Is the Release Date of Missing?
The eagerly awaited follow-up was initially scheduled to hit theaters on February 24, 2023. However, Missing’s premiere was pushed back to an earlier date. Missing will now premiere at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival on January 19, 2023, after which it will have a theatrical release on January 20, 2023. The release of Missing now coincides with a few notable films, including The Son, When You Finish Saving the World, and Alice, Darling.
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How to Stream Missing For Free?
As mentioned above, ‘Missing’ is unavailable on any of the digital platforms, which simply means that there is currently no way for you to stream the mystery movie for free. All you can do is hope that it arrives on any of the online platforms offering a free trial to its new subscribers. Nevertheless, we urge our readers to pay for the content they wish to consume and not resort to illegal methods to do the same.
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Where to Watch Missing Online?
As of now, the only way to watch Missing is to head out to a movie theater when it releases on Friday, Jan. 20. You can find a local showing on Fandango. Otherwise, you’ll just have to wait for it to become available to rent or buy on digital platforms such as Amazon, Vudu, Apple and YouTube, or become available to stream on Netflix. Read on for more information.
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‘Missing’ has been released exclusively in theaters, which means that, as of now, you don’t have the option to watch the movie online, be it by streaming or purchasing. For those who want to get an immersive viewing experience, you can check out show timings and book tickets on the movie’s official website and Fandango.
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Will Missing Be Streaming Online?
Though the production company has not yet announced an official streaming release for Missing, the film is likely to become available on multiple platforms eventually. Sony has streaming deals with Netflix and Disney+ for Pay 1 and Pay 2 windows. What does that mean? It means that after the theatrical window, Missing will probably make its way to Netflix first and then eventually to Disney+. This isn’t guaranteed though so keep an eye on this space for updates.
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Will Missing Be On Netflix?
Yes, Missing will eventually be on Netflix as a result of a deal inked between the streaming platform and the movie’s distributor, Sony Pictures. The deal gives the streamer U.S. rights to all the company’s theatrical films starting in 2022.
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While a streaming release date has not yet been announced, we can make an estimate based on another recent Sony film. Where the Crawdads Sing was released in theaters on July 15, 2022, before it came to Netflix on Nov. 12 — around four months after it debuted. If Missing follows the same pattern, we could be watching from the comfort of our homes by late May 2023.
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Is Missing 2023 Streaming On HBO MAX?
No, Missing will not be HBO Max since it’s not a Warner Bros. movie. In the meantime, you’ll just have to head out to a movie theater or wait for it to become available to stream on Netflix.
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Is Missing Available On Hulu?
Viewers are saying that they want to view the new thriller movie Missing on Hulu. Unfortunately, this is not possible since Hulu currently does not offer any of the free episodes of this series streaming at this time. It will be exclusive to the MTV channel, which you get by subscribing to cable or satellite TV services. You will not be able to watch it on Hulu or any other free streaming service.
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Is Missing on Amazon Prime?
No, Amazon Prime Video does not include ‘Missing’ in its extensive catalog of content. However, don’t let it stop you from checking out some excellent alternatives that the streaming giant houses, including ‘What We Found‘ and ‘Gone Missing.’
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What is Missing About?
What starts as some fun home-alone time for June Allen when her mother, Grace, goes to Colombia on vacation with her new boyfriend turns into a worrying situation when her mom doesn’t return home. Restricted by international red tape, June uses her creative brain to search for her lost mother with the help of technology, even though they are separated by thousands of miles. However, she comes across some dark secrets about Grace during her investigation, making June wonder if she ever knew her. Do you wish to get to the bottom of the truth with June? For that, you will have to watch the thriller film yourself, and here are all the ways you can do so!

Brynnhildr is a bruiseassassin with disruptive short ranged skills and the ability to enter battle on her own terms. She starts out as a high impact assassin and transitions into a disruptive bruiser.

Lore

Frodnar stood up, blinking, with much effort. Why was he on the ground? Where were his axe and shield? Why did everything seem so unreal and dreamlike? The sounds of battle seemed distant and the muddy field was steeped in an unearthly glow. As he slowly pondered these questions, still stunned from that mace blow, someone behind him put a hand on his shoulder. "Frodnar, it is time", she spoke.
"They got me, didn't they?"
She nodded silently, waiting for his bearsmead trance to wear off. As the blood left his body, so would the elixir leave his mind. They had made it farther than the enemy must have expected, just the twenty of them with axes and wolfskins going up against the entire legion. The ambush was flawless, but it was not enough. She knew it was never going to be enough.
"Where is the warband? How many of the rooster draggers did I take down with me?"
She shook her head, with not a hint of sadness in her eyes. "Grapeshot."
"But I can't... The village needs me! The women and children...!"
She remained silent.
"You can skewer their whole legion on that god-spear of yours. Do something!"
"The Gods wove the tapestry of fate to be admired, not touched. Your death was prophesised." She handed him his axe and shield back and coolly continued, "Come with me, einherjer. Your time on Runeterra is over, but one final battle awaits," as the earth quietly dropped out from under the pair and the skies faded into a brilliant white glow and gave way to the myriad stars of Nivheim.

Lying on the floor of a hastily dug trench, a young woman looked up at the stars, watching the glare of a falling star streak past overhead. A portent from the heavens; a sign of victory or doom? She did not dare to hope for much more than a bitter victory, and even that would be a miracle. The legion was still advancing on their position and her brothers were probably already dead. Their only hope was that the men had done enough damage to dissuade them from a frontal attack.
"Mom, the falling star, what does it mean?", a boy asked, no older than fifteen.
"It means we will win this, Bjarn. The Gods are with us. Maybe you'll get to kill a war elephant!", she said, gesturing to the makeshift crossbow he was holding in his knuckles.
It sounded very unconvincing, and Bjarn knew it, and so did the falling star descending invisibly on the small group of defenders. Unbeknowst to the mortals in the trenches, the enemy already knew their position and were loading their cannons. Bjarn would never even get to shoot his crossbow, and then she would rush the enemy ranks in a suicidal charge and that would be that. Wrong place, wrong time, as fate ordained.
As she gave her son a hug, the falling star landed silently on the ruins, watching the small group of defenders in the trench that would be their tomb. A single ethereal tear fell and vanished as the cannons flared in the distance.

Behind the thunder of the barrage, a faint ripple in the tapestry drew the messenger's eye, a single thread unwinding far behind enemy lines. The defenders were still alive: one of the cannons had not fired. Through the din of battle, she listened.
I will not shoot at women and children so the high command can add a few more miles to their borders. Fire! Fire, soldier! This is an order! We can just put down our weapons and walk away. We can put an end to this. Hands in the air! Drop the match! Drop it!
She cast one last glance at the stars she would never touch again and landed at Bjarn's side, taking care not to startle the boy.
"Be not afraid, Bjarn. You need to do something. You know how to use that crossbow?" "Yes, I... shot a rat... just yesterday..." "Good. See that star up there, just a bit brighter than the others? Aim straight at it and shoot." "Who are..." "Do not sit here waiting to die. Shoot. Follow my last prophecy. Unravel the tapestry."
And Bjorn did as she asked, and watched the crude dart arc into the distance, carried by a lucky wind.
This is bigger than you, soldier. If you don't fire, someone else will, and if they don't, someone else will. You are nothing!
Suddenly, unexpectedly, but exactly as the messenger had prophesised, a crossbow bolt fell from the sky, knocking the lit match out of the soldier's hand, sending it tumbling through the air and into a nearby barrel.

As the echoes of the bombardment faded, the mother gripped her sword, awaiting the charge. In the distance, the enemy line rushed towards them, then hesitated, stumbled; swept off their horses and knocked to the ground by a scorching wind as the horizon lit up with a brilliant glow. Burning debris and a cloud of gunpowder smoke filled the sky.
"The cannons! Bjarn, the cannons!" She turned to her son and who is that wait is that a--
"Is... is Bjarn dead?" "Not right now. Maybe later," the messenger replied. "Are we going to die?" "I do not know. The tapestry is unwoven, your fate is now in your hands alone. I have broken my oath; the power of prophecy is no longer mine."
The messenger looked around the trench, pointing her spear at the enemy line where the soldiers were clambering around, disoriented, searching for their weapons and horses. "Listen up! The children stay here and watch for ambushes. The adults join me! We strike that wagon over there before they remember which way to point their swords. That's their carrier pigeon cage. We take that out, we cut their communication lines."
"We can actually win this?", the mother asked.
"We have been given a chance. Nothing more, nothing less. The rest is up to us," the valkyrie replied.
And when her warhorn sounded and she took to the air, the villagers rose up from the trenches and the einherjer with them, rushing the enemy line, as flaming debris rained down from the heavens like falling stars.

Model

Brynnhildr is a valkyrie who has broken her oath and is doomed to remain in Runeterra. She has gray feathered wings with hints of iridescent starlight and wears elegant gray starmetal armor, a deep blue feather cloak and a circlet decorated with starmetal wings over long blonde hair streaming behind her.
She uses her wings to hover just above the ground, but walks when slowed.
Her weapon of choice is a long starmetal spear. She usually holds it one-handed, but grips it in two hands during [Q] Star of Hope.
When she dies, her corpse burns away with starlight flames, leaving no body.

• Easter egg: On her left hand she wears an enchanted ring, forged by Ornn out of stolen Runegold.

Skins

• Death-Fate Brynnhildr: Raven feathers and a black hooded cloak; one of the Greek Keres.
• Merciful Brynnhildr: Old soldiers may fade, but HEROES NEVER DIE.
• Biblically Accurate Brynnhildr: Be not afraid. (Legendary skin; three lion heads and flaming wheels rotating like helicopter blades.)

Abilities

[Passive] Taker of the Slain

"I have good news and bad news. The good news is that the Gods have taken an interest in you."
Doom-Sight: Brynnhildr has vision of all allied champion corpses on the map.
Guide the Einherjer: Brynnhildr can right click an allied champion corpse within range to fly to its location and carry off its spirit. For each spirit chosen this way, she gains bonus damage and defence until that champion respawns. This can only be performed once per corpse.

Stat	Value
Guide the Fallen: Range	400
Guide the Fallen: Buff: Bonus attack damage	5 (+level/2) (=5-14 to 20-56 total)
Guide the Fallen: Buff: Bonus armoMR	3 (+level/3) (=3-9 to 12-36 total)
Guide the Fallen: Mana cost	30

[Passive] Gray Swan

hums 'Ride of the Valkyries'
Brynnhildr can fly at a higher altitude, assuming a more streamlined pose and gaining bonus movement speed, ghosting and increased vision range.

• To activate, Brynnhildr must move in the same direction for a certain distance to attain enough lift, after which she automatically flaps her wings to climb.
• The ability ends when Brynnhildr attacks, casts an ability or takes damage.

Stat	Value
Movement speed	+30% (+2/level) (=32-66%)
Vision range	+150
Activates when moving in the same direction for a distance of	1250

[Q] Star of Hope

"Remember the dead, but fight for the living."
Brynnhildr performs a short dash with her spear, damaging the first enemy unit in her path. On impact, she flaps her starlight infused wings, dealing area effect damage to enemy units next to the target in a line perpendicular to its travel path. The dash can collide with terrain obstacles.
If Brynnhildr is in [Passive] Gray Swan mode, she performs a much longer ranged point-and-click "Swan Dive", swooping down with a shrieking cry and crashing into the target with a spear attack followed by a wing spin that deals area effect damage in a radius around the target. This version of the ability can travel over terrain obstacles.
The "Swan Dive" can also target allied champion corpses at an even longer distance, immediately applying [Passive] Taker of the Slain to the corpse.

Stat	Value
Range (Regular)	450
Range (Swan Dive)	900 (1350 if corpse targetted)
Wing strike (Regular): Width	250
Wing strike (Swan Dive): Radius	300
Wing strike: Physical damage	40/70/100/130/160 (+1.15 total AD)
Cooldown	12/11/10/9/8 seconds
Mana cost	70/75/80/85/90

[W] Between Worlds

"It is not yet your time. Return whence you came."
Brynnhildr grabs an enemy unit in melee range and carries them into the sky, making both herself and the target untargettable for a short time before dive bombing the target back down for major damage and a slow. If this is the last enemy unit and the damage kills it, she then immediately goes into [Passive] Gray Swan mode.
If Brynnhildr activates this ability during [Q] Star of Hope, it immediately casts on impact instead of waiting for the animation to finish. This deletes the wing strike and its area effect damage, dealing the damage only to the direct target, but prevents the target from escaping after the dash lands.

Stat	Value
Duration	Up to 1.25 seconds (impact occurs 0.25 seconds before the end)
Impact: Physical damage	30/50/70/90/110 (+1.0 total AD)
Impact: Slow	50% fading over 1.1/1.2/1.3/1.4/1.5 seconds
Cooldown	18/16/14/12/10 seconds
Mana cost	80/85/90/95/100

[E] Valravn

"Your fall was preordained. Come with me."
Passive: The enchantment on her Ring of Runegold increases Brynnhildr's attack speed against enemy champions and applies a stacking "Doomed" mark to the target, up to 3 stacks.
Active: Must be cast at a target in melee range with 3 "Doomed" stacks on it. Brynnhildr grabs the target and leaps backwards with a flap of her wings, taking the target with her. If she jumps over a terrain obstacle this way, the target is pulled into the obstacle and stunned, allowing her to escape.

Stat	Value
Passive: Bonus attack speed	20/25/30/35/40%
Passive: Mark duration	2 seconds (refreshed on attack)
Active: Backwards leap distance	350
Active: Terrain collision stun to target	1.5 seconds
Active: Cooldown	12/11/10/9/8 seconds
Active: Mana cost	60/65/70/75/80

[R] Götterdämmerung

"Fight. Go. Take back this world from the Gods."
Brynnhildr sends the einherjer, the immortal spirits of her chosen champions, to attack her opponents.
The einherjer are invulnerable and intangible flying warrior spirits with swords and axes (canonically they are the champions she has chosen with [Passive] Taker of the Slain). They appear behind Brynnhildr, seek out an enemy champion with "Doomed" stacks from [E] Valravn and fly into the target while swinging their weapon for damage. They pass through their target several times, turning around with wide arcs to attack again before dissipating when their attack limit is reached.

• If more than one enemy champion has stacks, the attacks are split between them depending on their relative number of stacks (if one has 3 stacks and one has 1 stack, the damage is split 75-25%).
• The stacks on the target(s) do not fall off while the spirits are attacking them.
• If the target dies, the spirits will find other targets with stacks to exhaust their remaining attacks.
• The spirits will pursue targets indefinitely, but have a maximum duration and will dissipate when it runs out regardless of how many attacks remain.
• This ability cannot be cast if there are no enemy champions with stacks within its detection radius.

The number of spirits increases based on the number of champions she has chosen with [Passive] Taker of the Slain.

Stat	Value
Detection radius	800
Number of Einherjer	3 + Number of champions currently chosen with [Passive] Taker of the Slain
Einherjer: Movement speed	600
Einherjer: Attack limit	3 (destroyed after 5 seconds)
Einherjer: Physical damage	15/25/35 (+0.1 bonus AD) (=45/75/105 (+0.3 bonus AD) per spirit) (=135/225/315 (+0.9 bonus AD) to 315/525/735 (+2.1 bonus AD) total)
Cooldown	180/140/100 seconds

Gameplay

Brynnhildr goes top or jungle, starting with [Q] Star of Hope in top lane and [E] Valravn in the jungle.
In either role, her lack of sustain hampers her ability to passively farm and she should hunt for early kills instead. Engaging with [Q] Star of Hope into [W] Between Worlds results in decent damage and delays their escape, potentially leading to a pull from [E] Valravn to stall them further while she auto attacks them.
In the jungle, she is very mobile thanks to [Passive] Gray Swan. It does need a runway to activate and turns off when she gets hit, making it much harder to use in top lane and mitigating the potentially abusive scenario of being able to hard engage from outside the opponent's range.
At level 6, the ultimate comes online. It only deals damage, and not a lot of it at first, but the spirits continue to pursue the target until their duration or attack limit runs out. It is primarily useful for counterganking and dragon fights because the damage scales up if her allies die first and [Q] Star of Hope has a very long range when aimed at an allied corpse.
Her weakest point is the mid game. Her AD scaling is not the greatest and she lacks defensive buffs and therefore needs [W] Between Worlds as an aggro dump, using it like Playful/Trickster instead of as part of her combo. This is a transitional phase and she should build hard defence at this point.
In the end game, her role shifts into a disruptive bruiser tank of sorts. Damage falls off, but her attack speed gets fast enough to chain [E] Valravn after [W] Between Worlds, trapping the target in a CC combo if they don't manage to escape the slow. Furthermore, she now benefits from staying longer in the fight due to [Passive] Taker of the Slain and the power of [R] Götterdämmerung to turn a losing teamfight around if she waits until the last moment (but no longer) to cast it.

Champion Creation Contest

• Late: I thought it said "Fate" until I read the following paragraph, but I like my version better.
• Ability with multiple distinct uses: [Q] Star of Hope can be a tactical dash with damage perpendicular to its path, or a point and click long ranged dash with splash damage.

I'm from EU,so GAMES SHOULD work pretty much anywhere
NOT BUYING GAMES,ONLY TRADES - games for games or selling for paypal
No interest in TF2 keys
BUYER covers the FEES (if outside EU,EU F&F only)
My Steam account so you don't offer me something I own
My Wishlist
My SGSRep
My IGSRep
​
​
Only looking for Steam games - so don't offer origin,uplay,rockstar,bnet or ANY other launcher
100% of my games keys are bought by me from official stores & I expect the same in return,so don't offer me keyshop games or game keys you got in a trade as I will decline
I retain the right to ask for proof of ownership for ANY game I want - just like you have the right to ask me the same
Don't offer me VR games as I don't own a VR headset
​
​
List of games I have:
Also have the Earthquake Relief bundle,but reddit wont let me write all the games cause my topic would be too big - just ask
7 Billion Humans
8Doors Arum's Afterlife Adventure
10 Second Ninja X
60 Seconds!
112 Operator
140
198X
911 Operator
A Case Of Distrust
A Year Of Rain
Absolver
Aeolis Tournament
Age Of Wonders III
Ageless
Airport CEO
AI War 2
Alien Spidy
Aliens Vs Predator Collection
All You Can Eat
Almost There The Platformer
American Fugitive
Amnesia A Machine For Pigs + The Dark Descent (1 key for both games)
Amnesia Fortnight 2012
Amnesia Fortnight 2014
Amnesia Fortnight 2017
Amnesia Rebirth (X2)
Among Us (X2)
Ancestors The Humankind Odyssey (EU & Africa lock)
Aragami (X2)
Archamon
Armello
Army Men RTS
Attack Of The Earthlings
Automobilista
Aven Colony
Avernum 3 Ruined World
Azkend 2 The World Beneath
Back 4 Blood (EU region lock)
Backbone
Band Of Defenders
Banished
Baseball Riot
Batora Lost Haven NEW
Battlestar Galactica Deadlock
Beholder 2
Bendy And The Dark Revival
Bendy And The Ink Machine
Betrayer (delisted)
Between The Stars (X2)
Beyond Eyes
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Biomutant NEW
Bionic Commando
Bird Of Light
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Blasphemous
Bohemian Killing
Book Of Demons
Bomber Crew Deluxe
Borderlands 3 + Director's Cut (EMEA region lock)
Boreal Blade
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Brothers A Tale Of Two Sons (X2)
Butcher
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Call To Arms Basic Edition
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Car Mechanic Simulator 2018
Chenso Club
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Cities In Motion 2
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Cook Serve Delicious 3
Command & Conquer Remastered Collection (Origin key)
Company Of Heroes Complete Edition
Control Ultimate Edition NEW
Corridor Z
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Dagon The Eldritch Box
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Day Of Infamy
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Dead By Daylight
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Deadly Premonition Director's Cut
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Death Squared
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Dimension Drifter
Distraint 2 + Soundtrack
Divekick
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Double Fine Adventures Complete Series Deluxe
Downwell
Drawful 2
Draw Slasher
Dreadlands
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Dread X Collection
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Duke Nukem Forever Collection
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Dwarfs!?
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Edge Of Eternity NEW
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Farming Simulator 17
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theHunter Call Of The Wild (X3)
The Journey Down Chapter Three
The King Of Fighters 2002 Unlimited Match
The Last Blade
The Long Dark Survival Edition (X2)
The Manhole Masterpiece Edition
The Mims Beginning
The Mortuary Assistant NEW
The Night Of The Rabbit
The Serpent Rogue
The Signifier Director's Cut
The Textorcist The Story of Ray Bibbia (X2)
The Uncertain Last Quiet Day (X2)
The USB Stick Found In The Grass
The Walking Dead Season 1 + 400 Days
The Wild Eight (X2)
Them And Us NEW
There Is No Game Wrong Dimension
They Bleed Pixels
Think Of The Children
This War Of Mine
Thronebreaker The Witcher Tales
THOTH
Through The Darkest Of Times
Timeshift
Time Recoil
Titan Quest Anniversary
Toejam & Earl Back In The Groove
TOEM
Tohu
Tools Up
Tooth And Tail (X2)
Torchlight (X2)
Total Tank Simulator
Toto Temple Deluxe
Tower Of Time (X2)
Tower Unite
Townscaper (X2)
Townsmen A Kingdom Rebuilt
Toybox Turbos
Tracks The Train Set Game
Train Station Renovation
Treasure Hunter Simulator (X2)
Tribes Of Midgard
Tropico 4
True Fear Forsaken Souls Part 1
Tyranny Deluxe Edition
Ultra Street Fighter IV
Unexplored
Unloved
Unmetal
Unshaded NEW
Vambrace Cold Soul
Vane
Velocibox
Verdun (X2)
Vikings Wolves Of Midgard
Visage NEW
Volcanoids (X2)
V Rally 4
Wanderlust Travel Stories (GOG key)
Wandersong
Warhammer End Times Vermintide
Warlock Master Of The Arcane
Warpips
Warsaw
Wasteland 2 Director's Cut
We Are The Dwarves
We Should Talk
West Of Dead
Western Press
We Were Here Together
When Ski Lifts Go Wrong
Where The Water Tastes Like Wine
While True: Learn() Chief Technology Officer Edition
White Day: A Labyrinth Named School
Wooden Sen'SeY
Worms Rumble + Legends DLC
Wrath Aeon Of Ruin
XCOM Complete Pack
XCOM Ultimate Collection
Xenoraid The First Space War
X Morph Defense + European Assault + Last Bastion + Survival Of The Fittest (1 key for all)
XIII Classic
Xuan-Yuan Sword The Gate Of Firmament
Yet Another Zombie Defense HD
Ylands Exploration Pack
Yoku's Island Express
Yooka-Laylee And The Impossible Lair
Zack 2 Celestine's Map
ZIC Zombies In City NEW
Zombie Kill Of The Week Reborn
​
​
DONT TRY TO SEND A PM BEFORE YOU POST IN THIS TOPIC - WILL NOT DEAL WITH YOU!

I'm from EU,so GAMES SHOULD work pretty much anywhere
NOT BUYING GAMES,ONLY TRADES - games for games or selling for paypal
No interest in TF2 keys
BUYER covers the FEES (if outside EU,EU F&F only)
My Steam account so you don't offer me something I own
My Wishlist
My SGSRep
My IGSRep
​
​
Only looking for Steam games - so don't offer origin,uplay,rockstar,bnet or ANY other launcher
100% of my games keys are bought by me from official stores & I expect the same in return,so don't offer me keyshop games or game keys you got in a trade as I will decline
I retain the right to ask for proof of ownership for ANY game I want - just like you have the right to ask me the same
Don't offer me VR games as I don't own a VR headset
​
​
List of games I have:
Also have the Earthquake Relief bundle,but reddit wont let me write all the games cause my topic would be too big - just ask
7 Billion Humans
8Doors Arum's Afterlife Adventure
10 Second Ninja X
60 Seconds!
112 Operator
140
198X
911 Operator
A Case Of Distrust
A Year Of Rain
Absolver
Aeolis Tournament
Age Of Wonders III
Ageless
Airport CEO
AI War 2
Alien Spidy
Aliens Vs Predator Collection
All You Can Eat
Almost There The Platformer
American Fugitive
Amnesia A Machine For Pigs + The Dark Descent (1 key for both games)
Amnesia Fortnight 2012
Amnesia Fortnight 2014
Amnesia Fortnight 2017
Amnesia Rebirth (X2)
Among Us (X2)
Ancestors The Humankind Odyssey (EU & Africa lock)
Aragami (X2)
Archamon
Armello
Army Men RTS
Attack Of The Earthlings
Automobilista
Aven Colony
Avernum 3 Ruined World
Azkend 2 The World Beneath
Back 4 Blood (EU region lock)
Backbone
Band Of Defenders
Banished
Baseball Riot
Batora Lost Haven NEW
Battlestar Galactica Deadlock
Beholder 2
Bendy And The Dark Revival
Bendy And The Ink Machine
Betrayer (delisted)
Between The Stars (X2)
Beyond Eyes
Beyond The Wire
Biomutant NEW
Bionic Commando
Bird Of Light
Black Paradox
Blade Assault
Blasphemous
Bohemian Killing
Book Of Demons
Bomber Crew Deluxe
Borderlands 3 + Director's Cut (EMEA region lock)
Boreal Blade
Broken Age (X2)
Brothers A Tale Of Two Sons (X2)
Butcher
Call Of Juarez
Call Of The Sea (X2)
Call To Arms Basic Edition
Call To Arms Gates Of Hell Ostfront
Car Mechanic Simulator 2018
Chenso Club
Chernobylite Enhanced Edition (X2)
Cities In Motion 2
CivCity Rome
Clone Drone In The Danger Zone
Clouds & Sheep 2
Coffin Dodgers
Cook Serve Delicious 3
Command & Conquer Remastered Collection (Origin key)
Company Of Heroes Complete Edition
Control Ultimate Edition NEW
Corridor Z
Cosmic Osmo And The World Beyond The Mackerel
Crash Drive 3
Creatures Inc
Crookz The Big Heist
Crossbow Bloodnight
Crusader Kings Complete
Crying Suns
Dagon The Eldritch Box
Danger Scavenger
Day Of Infamy
Dead Age
Dead By Daylight
Dead In Vinland
Deadly Premonition Director's Cut
Deadbeat Heroes (X2)
Dear Ester Landmark Edition
Death Squared
Deep Dungeons Of Doom
Deep Sky Derelicts
Demon Turf NEW
Deployment
Desert Child
Diaries Of A Spaceport Janitor
Dicey Dungeons (X2)
Dimension Drifter
Distraint 2 + Soundtrack
Divekick
Dog Sled Saga
Double Fine Adventures Complete Series Deluxe
Downwell
Drawful 2
Draw Slasher
Dreadlands
Dread Templar
Dread X Collection
Dreamscaper NEW
Driftland The Magic Revival
Dry Downing
Duke Nukem Forever Collection
Dungeon Marathon
Dungeon Of The Endless
Dungeons 2
Dungeons 2 Complete
Dungeons 3
Dusk
Dwarfs!?
Eador Imperium
EarthX
Eastside Hockey Manager
ECHO
Edge Of Eternity NEW
Effie
Elderborn
Eldest Souls
Elden Path Of The Forgotten
Embr
Emily Is Away
Empyrion Galactic Survival
Epic Manager
E.T. Armies Deluxe Edition
Etherborn (X2)
Euro Truck Simulator 2
Europa Universalis IV
Evergarden
Expeditions Viking
F1 2018 (delisted)
Family Man
Fantasy Blacksmith
Fantasy Versus
Farmer's Dynasty
Farming Simulator 17
FIA European Truck Racing
Figment (X2)
Finding Paradise
Fire Ungh's Quest
First Class Trouble
Five Dates
Fling To The Finish
Fluffy Horde
Fobia St. Dinfna Hotel
Forgive Me Father
Framed Collection (X2)
Friday the 13th: The Game (X2)
Frog Detective 1 The Haunted Island (X2)
Full Throttle Remastered
Fun With Ragdolls The Game
Fury Unleashed (X2)
Gang Beasts
Garage Bad Trip (X2)
Gas Guzzlers Extreme
Gas Station Simulator
Gauge
Genesis Noir
Ghostrunner
Giana Sisters Twisted Dreams + Rise Of The Owlverlord
GNOG
Go Home Dinosaurs!
Goat Of Duty
Goetia (X2)
Going Under (X2)
Golden Light
Golf Gang
GoNNER
Gotham Knights
Grand Ages Medieval
Grand Pigeon's Duty
Greak Memories Of Azur
Gremlins Inc.
Grip Combat Racing + Cygon + Nyvoss + Terra + Vintek DLC (X2)
Guts And Glory (X2)
Hack'n'Slash
Haiku The Robot (X2)
Hamilton's Great Adventure
Hammerfight
Headlander
Heal
Hedon Bloodrite
Hell Let Loose
Hellblade Senua's Sacrifice NEW
Hello Neighbor
Hellbound
Hero Defense
Hero's Hour NEW (EU region lock)
Hexologic
Hidden & Dangerous Action Pack
Hidden & Dangerous 2 Courage Under Fire
Hive Jump (X2)
Hiveswap Act 2
Hiveswap Friend Sim
Hiveswap Friend Sim Complete
Homeworld Deserts Of Kharak
Hotshot Racing
Hot Tin Roof The Cat That Wore A Fedora
Hot Wheels Unleashed
Hover (X2)
Human Resource Machine
Hurtworld
I Am Bread
I Am Not A Monster First Contact
Ice Lakes
If Found...
Ikenfell
Impact Winter (delisted)
In Between
Industria
Inexistence Rebirth NEW
Infinite Air With Mark McMorris (delisted)
Influent NEW
Inmost
Internet Cafe Simulator
Interplanetary Enhanced Edition
Intruder
Ion Fury
Iron Danger
Iron Harvest
Jack Axe
Jalopy
Jet Set Knights
Juanito Arcade Mayhem
Jump Stars
Jurassic World Evolution
Jurassic World Evolution 2 NEW
Just Die Already
KartKraft
Kathy Rain Directors Cut
Keep Talking And Nobody Explodes (X2)
Kill To Collect
Kingdom Classic (X2)
Kingdom New Lands
Kingdoms Of Amalur Re-Reckoning Fate Edition
King Oddball
Labyrinthine NEW
Last Oasis
Last Tide
Lawn Mowing Simulator
Lead And Gold Gangs Of Wild West (X2)
Legacy Of Dorn Herald Of Oblivion (delisted)
Legend Of Keepers Career Of A Dungeon Master
LEGO Movie Videogame
Leisure Suit Larry Retro Bundle (1 to 7)
Lethal League Blaze
Liberated (GOG key)
Lifeless Planet Premium Edition
Light Fall
Little Big Workshop
Love Is Dead
Lust For Darkness
Lust From Beyond M Edition
Magicka
Magrunner Dark Pulse
Maid Of Sker
Main Assembly (X2)
Mainlining
Mars Horizon
Masquerade The Baubles Of Doom
Max Payne 3 (Rockstar Launcher)
Midnight Protocol
Mind Scanners
Mini Metro
Miscreated (X2)
Monster Crown NEW
Monster Train Collectors Edition
Moon Hunters
Morbid The Seven Acolytes
Mordhau
Mosaic
Motorcycle Mechanic Simulator 2021
Motorsport Manager
Mount And Blade Warband
Mountain
My Lovely Daughter
Nairi Tower Of Shirin
Naruto To Boruto Shinobi Striker
Nascar Heat 5 Ultimate
Nebuchadnezzar
NecroVisioN Lost Company
NecroWorn
Neighbours Back From Hell
Neo Cab
Neon Abyss
NeuroVoider
Neverout
Niche
Nickelodeon All Star Brawl (X2)
Ninjin Clash Of Carrots
No Time To Relax
Not Tonight
Numba Deluxe
Obduction
Observation
Octahedron
Odyssey The Story Of Science
Of Orcs And Men
Old School Musical
OlliOlli World Rad Edition
On Rusty Trails
One Finger Death Punch 2
Onikira Demon Killer
Orbital Racer
Orcs Must Die 2 Complete
Original War
Orwell Ignorance Is Strength
Out Of Reach Treasure Royal
Overlord II
Overpass
Override Mech City Brawl
Oxenfree
Pacer
Paint The Town Red
Paper Fire Rookie
Paradise Lost
Pathfinder Wrath Of The Righteous
Pathologic 2
Path Of Giants
Paw Paw Paw
Payday 2 + Big Mike mask
Peaky Blinders Mastermind (delisted)
Penarium
People Playground (X2)
Perfect Heist 2
PGA Tour 2K21 (X2)
Phoenix Point Year One Edition
Pikuniku
Pine
Pinstripe (X2)
Pixplode
Plane Mechanic Simulator
Playne The Meditation Game
Poöf
Popup Dungeon
Post Void
Pound Of Ground (X2)
PowerSlave Exhumed
Prehistoric Kingdom
Primal Carnage Extinction (X2)
Project Cars GOTY (delisted)
Project Hospital
Project Warlock
Propnight NEW
Pumped BMX+
Punch Club
Purrfect Date
Quest Of Dungeons
RAD (X2)
Radio Commander
Rad Rodgers Radical Edition
Railroad Tycoon 2
Railroad Tycoon 3
Railway Empire
Raji An Ancient Epic
Rebel Cops
Rec Center Tycoon
Red Faction Armageddon
Red Solstice 2 Survivors
Redeemer Enhanced Edition
Redout Enhanced Edition
Re-Legion
Relicta
Remothered Broken Porcelain
Resident Evil 4
Resident Evil 5 Gold Edition
Resident Evil 6
Resident Evil Revelations (X2)
Resident Evil Revelation 2 Deluxe Edition
Retimed
Retrowave
Reventure
Ring Of Pain
Rings Of Saturn
Riot Civil Unrest
Rise Of Industry
Rise Of Insanity
Riven The Sequel To MYST
Roarr! The Adventures Of Rampage Rex
Roboquest
Rogue Heroes Ruins Of Tasos
Rogue Lords NEW
Rogue Stormers
Rover Mechanic Simulator
RPG Maker VX
Rustler
Sable NEW
Salt And Sanctuary
Satellite Reign
Satisfactory
Saturday Morning RPG
Say No! More
SCP 5K NEW
SCUM (X2)
ScourgeBringer
Serious Sam 2
Serious Sam BFE (X2)
Serious Sam Classics Revolution
Serious Sam Double D XXL
Serious Sam HD The First & Second Encounter (1 key for both)
Serious Sam HD The Second Encounter Legend Of The Beast
Serious Sam HD The Second Encounter Serious 8
Serious Sam Kamikaze Attack
Serious Sam The Random Encounter
Serious Sam Bogus Detour
Shadow Tactics Aiko's Choice
Shady Part Of Me
She Remembered Caterpillars
She Will Punish Them
Shing!
Shock Troopers
Shogun's Empire Hex Commander NEW
Shuyan Saga
Sid Meier's Civilization VI
Sid Meier's Railroads
Simulacra Collection
Skullgirls 2nd Encore
Skully
Slay The Spire
Slime Rancher
Slinger VR
Smoke And Sacrifice (X2)
Sniper Elite V2 Remastered
Sniper Elite 4 Deluxe + Season Pass
SOMA
Song Of Iron
Soulblight
Spacebase DF-9
Space Hulk Ascension (delisted)
Sparkle 2
Sparkle Unleashed
Spellcaster University
Spelunx And The Caves Of Mr. Seudo
Stacking
Starsand (X2)
Star Wars Jedi Knight Jedi Academy
Star Wars Knights Of The Old Republic
Stasis
State Of Decay 2 Juggernaut Edition (X2)
State Of Mind
Steel Rats
Stick Fight The Game (X3)
Stories Untold
Streets Of Fury EX
Strider
Struggling
Stubbs The Zombie
Styx Shards Of Darkness
Submerged Hidden Depths
Suchart Genius Artist Simulator
Super Indie Carts
Super Magbot
Supraland
SurrounDead (X2)
Surviving The Aftermath
Suzerain
Swag And Sorcery
Sword Legacy Omen
Swords And Soldiers 2 Shawarmageddon
Swords And Souls Neverseen (X2)
Syberia II
Syberia 3 Deluxe Edition
Syberia The World Before NEW
Syndrome
System Shock Enhanced Edition
Table Manners The Physics-Based Dating Game
Tabletop Playground
Tacoma
Take On Helicopters
Tales From Candlekeep Tomb Of Annihilation (delisted)
Tales Of Monkey Island Complete
Talisman Digital Edition + City,Frostmarch,Sacred Pool (trading only as a bundle)
Talisman Origins
Tank Mechanic Simulator
Tannenberg
Telefrag VR
Teleglitch Die More Edition
Tennis In The Face
Tennis World Tour (X2)
Tesla Vs Lovecraft
Tharsis (X2)
The Amazing American Circus
The Ambassador Fractured Timelines
The Adventure Pals
The Battle Of Polytopia
The Battle Of Polytopia Moonrise Deluxe
The Blackout Club NEW
The Count Lucador
The Dark Pictures Anthology Little Hope
The Dark Pictures Anthology Man Of Medan
The Free Ones (delisted)
The Golf Club 2019 featuring PGA Tour
theHunter Call Of The Wild (X3)
The Journey Down Chapter Three
The King Of Fighters 2002 Unlimited Match
The Last Blade
The Long Dark Survival Edition (X2)
The Manhole Masterpiece Edition
The Mims Beginning
The Mortuary Assistant NEW
The Night Of The Rabbit
The Serpent Rogue
The Signifier Director's Cut
The Textorcist The Story of Ray Bibbia (X2)
The Uncertain Last Quiet Day (X2)
The USB Stick Found In The Grass
The Walking Dead Season 1 + 400 Days
The Wild Eight (X2)
Them And Us NEW
There Is No Game Wrong Dimension
They Bleed Pixels
Think Of The Children
This War Of Mine
Thronebreaker The Witcher Tales
THOTH
Through The Darkest Of Times
Timeshift
Time Recoil
Titan Quest Anniversary
Toejam & Earl Back In The Groove
TOEM
Tohu
Tools Up
Tooth And Tail (X2)
Torchlight (X2)
Total Tank Simulator
Toto Temple Deluxe
Tower Of Time (X2)
Tower Unite
Townscaper (X2)
Townsmen A Kingdom Rebuilt
Toybox Turbos
Tracks The Train Set Game
Train Station Renovation
Treasure Hunter Simulator (X2)
Tribes Of Midgard
Tropico 4
True Fear Forsaken Souls Part 1
Tyranny Deluxe Edition
Ultra Street Fighter IV
Unexplored
Unloved
Unmetal
Unshaded NEW
Vambrace Cold Soul
Vane
Velocibox
Verdun (X2)
Vikings Wolves Of Midgard
Visage NEW
Volcanoids (X2)
V Rally 4
Wanderlust Travel Stories (GOG key)
Wandersong
Warhammer End Times Vermintide
Warlock Master Of The Arcane
Warpips
Warsaw
Wasteland 2 Director's Cut
We Are The Dwarves
We Should Talk
West Of Dead
Western Press
We Were Here Together
When Ski Lifts Go Wrong
Where The Water Tastes Like Wine
While True: Learn() Chief Technology Officer Edition
White Day: A Labyrinth Named School
Wooden Sen'SeY
Worms Rumble + Legends DLC
Wrath Aeon Of Ruin
XCOM Complete Pack
XCOM Ultimate Collection
Xenoraid The First Space War
X Morph Defense + European Assault + Last Bastion + Survival Of The Fittest (1 key for all)
XIII Classic
Xuan-Yuan Sword The Gate Of Firmament
Yet Another Zombie Defense HD
Ylands Exploration Pack
Yoku's Island Express
Yooka-Laylee And The Impossible Lair
Zack 2 Celestine's Map
ZIC Zombies In City NEW
Zombie Kill Of The Week Reborn
​
​
DONT TRY TO SEND A PM BEFORE YOU POST IN THIS TOPIC - WILL NOT DEAL WITH YOU!

I'm from EU,so GAMES SHOULD work pretty much anywhere
NOT BUYING GAMES,ONLY TRADES - games for games or selling for paypal
No interest in TF2 keys
BUYER covers the FEES (if outside EU,EU F&F only)
My Steam account so you don't offer me something I own
My Wishlist
My SGSRep
My IGSRep
​
​
Only looking for Steam games - so don't offer origin,uplay,rockstar,bnet or ANY other launcher
100% of my games keys are bought by me from official stores & I expect the same in return,so don't offer me keyshop games or game keys you got in a trade as I will decline
I retain the right to ask for proof of ownership for ANY game I want - just like you have the right to ask me the same
Don't offer me VR games as I don't own a VR headset
​
​
List of games I have:
Also have the Earthquake Relief bundle,but reddit wont let me write all the games cause my topic would be too big - just ask
7 Billion Humans
8Doors Arum's Afterlife Adventure
10 Second Ninja X
60 Seconds!
112 Operator
140
198X
911 Operator
A Case Of Distrust
A Year Of Rain
Absolver
Aeolis Tournament
Age Of Wonders III
Ageless
Airport CEO
AI War 2
Alien Spidy
Aliens Vs Predator Collection
All You Can Eat
Almost There The Platformer
American Fugitive
Amnesia A Machine For Pigs + The Dark Descent (1 key for both games)
Amnesia Fortnight 2012
Amnesia Fortnight 2014
Amnesia Fortnight 2017
Amnesia Rebirth (X2)
Among Us (X2)
Ancestors The Humankind Odyssey (EU & Africa lock)
Aragami (X2)
Archamon
Armello
Army Men RTS
Attack Of The Earthlings
Automobilista
Aven Colony
Avernum 3 Ruined World
Azkend 2 The World Beneath
Back 4 Blood (EU region lock)
Backbone
Band Of Defenders
Banished
Baseball Riot
Batora Lost Haven NEW
Battlestar Galactica Deadlock
Beholder 2
Bendy And The Dark Revival
Bendy And The Ink Machine
Betrayer (delisted)
Between The Stars (X2)
Beyond Eyes
Beyond The Wire
Biomutant NEW
Bionic Commando
Bird Of Light
Black Paradox
Blade Assault
Blasphemous
Bohemian Killing
Book Of Demons
Bomber Crew Deluxe
Borderlands 3 + Director's Cut (EMEA region lock)
Boreal Blade
Broken Age (X2)
Brothers A Tale Of Two Sons (X2)
Butcher
Call Of Juarez
Call Of The Sea (X2)
Call To Arms Basic Edition
Call To Arms Gates Of Hell Ostfront
Car Mechanic Simulator 2018
Chenso Club
Chernobylite Enhanced Edition (X2)
Cities In Motion 2
CivCity Rome
Clone Drone In The Danger Zone
Clouds & Sheep 2
Coffin Dodgers
Cook Serve Delicious 3
Command & Conquer Remastered Collection (Origin key)
Company Of Heroes Complete Edition
Control Ultimate Edition NEW
Corridor Z
Cosmic Osmo And The World Beyond The Mackerel
Crash Drive 3
Creatures Inc
Crookz The Big Heist
Crossbow Bloodnight
Crusader Kings Complete
Crying Suns
Dagon The Eldritch Box
Danger Scavenger
Day Of Infamy
Dead Age
Dead By Daylight
Dead In Vinland
Deadly Premonition Director's Cut
Deadbeat Heroes (X2)
Dear Ester Landmark Edition
Death Squared
Deep Dungeons Of Doom
Deep Sky Derelicts
Demon Turf NEW
Deployment
Desert Child
Diaries Of A Spaceport Janitor
Dicey Dungeons (X2)
Dimension Drifter
Distraint 2 + Soundtrack
Divekick
Dog Sled Saga
Double Fine Adventures Complete Series Deluxe
Downwell
Drawful 2
Draw Slasher
Dreadlands
Dread Templar
Dread X Collection
Dreamscaper NEW
Driftland The Magic Revival
Dry Downing
Duke Nukem Forever Collection
Dungeon Marathon
Dungeon Of The Endless
Dungeons 2
Dungeons 2 Complete
Dungeons 3
Dusk
Dwarfs!?
Eador Imperium
EarthX
Eastside Hockey Manager
ECHO
Edge Of Eternity NEW
Effie
Elderborn
Eldest Souls
Elden Path Of The Forgotten
Embr
Emily Is Away
Empyrion Galactic Survival
Epic Manager
E.T. Armies Deluxe Edition
Etherborn (X2)
Euro Truck Simulator 2
Europa Universalis IV
Evergarden
Expeditions Viking
F1 2018 (delisted)
Family Man
Fantasy Blacksmith
Fantasy Versus
Farmer's Dynasty
Farming Simulator 17
FIA European Truck Racing
Figment (X2)
Finding Paradise
Fire Ungh's Quest
First Class Trouble
Five Dates
Fling To The Finish
Fluffy Horde
Fobia St. Dinfna Hotel
Forgive Me Father
Framed Collection (X2)
Friday the 13th: The Game (X2)
Frog Detective 1 The Haunted Island (X2)
Full Throttle Remastered
Fun With Ragdolls The Game
Fury Unleashed (X2)
Gang Beasts
Garage Bad Trip (X2)
Gas Guzzlers Extreme
Gas Station Simulator
Gauge
Genesis Noir
Ghostrunner
Giana Sisters Twisted Dreams + Rise Of The Owlverlord
GNOG
Go Home Dinosaurs!
Goat Of Duty
Goetia (X2)
Going Under (X2)
Golden Light
Golf Gang
GoNNER
Gotham Knights
Grand Ages Medieval
Grand Pigeon's Duty
Greak Memories Of Azur
Gremlins Inc.
Grip Combat Racing + Cygon + Nyvoss + Terra + Vintek DLC (X2)
Guts And Glory (X2)
Hack'n'Slash
Haiku The Robot (X2)
Hamilton's Great Adventure
Hammerfight
Headlander
Heal
Hedon Bloodrite
Hell Let Loose
Hellblade Senua's Sacrifice NEW
Hello Neighbor
Hellbound
Hero Defense
Hero's Hour NEW (EU region lock)
Hexologic
Hidden & Dangerous Action Pack
Hidden & Dangerous 2 Courage Under Fire
Hive Jump (X2)
Hiveswap Act 2
Hiveswap Friend Sim
Hiveswap Friend Sim Complete
Homeworld Deserts Of Kharak
Hotshot Racing
Hot Tin Roof The Cat That Wore A Fedora
Hot Wheels Unleashed
Hover (X2)
Human Resource Machine
Hurtworld
I Am Bread
I Am Not A Monster First Contact
Ice Lakes
If Found...
Ikenfell
Impact Winter (delisted)
In Between
Industria
Inexistence Rebirth NEW
Infinite Air With Mark McMorris (delisted)
Influent NEW
Inmost
Internet Cafe Simulator
Interplanetary Enhanced Edition
Intruder
Ion Fury
Iron Danger
Iron Harvest
Jack Axe
Jalopy
Jet Set Knights
Juanito Arcade Mayhem
Jump Stars
Jurassic World Evolution
Jurassic World Evolution 2 NEW
Just Die Already
KartKraft
Kathy Rain Directors Cut
Keep Talking And Nobody Explodes (X2)
Kill To Collect
Kingdom Classic (X2)
Kingdom New Lands
Kingdoms Of Amalur Re-Reckoning Fate Edition
King Oddball
Labyrinthine NEW
Last Oasis
Last Tide
Lawn Mowing Simulator
Lead And Gold Gangs Of Wild West (X2)
Legacy Of Dorn Herald Of Oblivion (delisted)
Legend Of Keepers Career Of A Dungeon Master
LEGO Movie Videogame
Leisure Suit Larry Retro Bundle (1 to 7)
Lethal League Blaze
Liberated (GOG key)
Lifeless Planet Premium Edition
Light Fall
Little Big Workshop
Love Is Dead
Lust For Darkness
Lust From Beyond M Edition
Magicka
Magrunner Dark Pulse
Maid Of Sker
Main Assembly (X2)
Mainlining
Mars Horizon
Masquerade The Baubles Of Doom
Max Payne 3 (Rockstar Launcher)
Midnight Protocol
Mind Scanners
Mini Metro
Miscreated (X2)
Monster Crown NEW
Monster Train Collectors Edition
Moon Hunters
Morbid The Seven Acolytes
Mordhau
Mosaic
Motorcycle Mechanic Simulator 2021
Motorsport Manager
Mount And Blade Warband
Mountain
My Lovely Daughter
Nairi Tower Of Shirin
Naruto To Boruto Shinobi Striker
Nascar Heat 5 Ultimate
Nebuchadnezzar
NecroVisioN Lost Company
NecroWorn
Neighbours Back From Hell
Neo Cab
Neon Abyss
NeuroVoider
Neverout
Niche
Nickelodeon All Star Brawl (X2)
Ninjin Clash Of Carrots
No Time To Relax
Not Tonight
Numba Deluxe
Obduction
Observation
Octahedron
Odyssey The Story Of Science
Of Orcs And Men
Old School Musical
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DONT TRY TO SEND A PM BEFORE YOU POST IN THIS TOPIC - WILL NOT DEAL WITH YOU!

Final part in the series about the mirroring act between the three Aen Elle elves & their Continental counterparts. Previous works: Black Knights: Parallels Between Eredin & Cahir Love(less) Sorcerers: Parallels Between Avallac'h & Vilgefortz
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“Emperors rule their empires, but two things they cannot rule: their hearts and their time. Those two things belong to the empire.”
“The end justifies the means.”
Leaders of the highest order for their people, both rulers pursue the greater good at the expense of decency and their own humanity. A greater good to be achieved through similar means – by begetting the child who is prophesised.

Intent

In the Witcher, both Auberon and Emhyr are embroiled in a plot of siring the child of prophecy with Cirilla Fiona Elen Riannon – their blood relative. Genetically, the incest is a matter of degree: Emhyr is Ciri’s biological father, Auberon Ciri’s ancestor 8 generations past. Symbolically, however, the degree collapses with Auberon because a few human generations are meaningless to elves. They call Ciri Lara’s daughter, effectively deeming Ciri Auberon’s granddaughter. But the reader – not unlike Ciri herself – won’t know about this until the very end of the tale.
Notionally, both rulers bind their actions with Ithlinne’s prophecy. The problem with prophecies is they decouple arguments from verification, lending themselves to the rationalization of all and any action. At least insofar as knowing the future accurately is impossible. This is the case for humanity, it is not the case for elves. Elven prophecies were made by the elves and for the elves in the first place. Consequently, the degree to which each ruler knows the prophecy to be true and believes in it differs. For Emhyr, mystical secret knowledge of the universe is irrelevant in comparison to political expedience: reason of state is what the tomorrow will bring. The Nilfgaardian Emperor is neither a mystic nor a fatalist. Contrary to the Alder King – a Sage, a ruler, and an elder – who has witnessed and likely verified some of what the Seers have prophesised. Elves conceive of the nature of time as cyclical in which the fate of things is tied up in the endless repetition of endings giving birth to new beginnings, the dance of attraction between life and death, two sides of the same coin which form the singular eternal truth of existence – change is only an eternal reoccurrence and re-arrangement of all. Auberon, you see, is a bit of a mystic. And even without Seers privy to secret knowledge, an extraordinary life span reduces the elves’ proclivity to black swan fallacy, or at least pushes the error probabilities. But at the end of the day, mysticism takes the cake.
The idea that either ruler must be the progenitor, however, comes at the instigation of an outside force.
Shortly after Ciri’s birth Emhyr is visited by a sorcerer. Emhyr has a strong aversion to mages; he was cursed by one. Even so, Vilgefortz proves himself capable of helping him regain the Nilfgaardian throne and is straightforward about what he wishes in exchange – gratitude, favours, privileges, power. Vilgefortz tells Emhyr about Ithlinne’s prophecy – a version about the fate of the world; a human interpretation. Then he plants the seed as to what Emhyr should do to steer the fate of this world. Naturally, he has his own agenda. It is not a huge leap of imagination to conceive of Auberon having been similarly persuaded by Avallac’h (an elven Knowing One who thematically parallels the human Vilgefortz). Not only are Avallac’h and Auberon tied by broken familial bonds, they are each a participant of the Elder Blood programme; and each, a Sage. Avallac’h serves nearly as a double for Auberon, his own fate also tied with Ciri’s. And Auberon is a “willing unwilling” in his arrangement with Ciri; implied so in his rage when he reveals Ciri ought to be grateful to him for lowering himself to the endeavour at all. There is an alternative.
Neither the Emperor nor the Alder King is pursuing the incestuous course of action out of lust. But both have the option to waive being the sire. Ithlinne’s prophecy is not explicit about the father of the Swallow’s child. For elves the match is backed by science. For humanity – pragmatism.
Emhyr has ordered to wipe out the Usurper’s name from the annals of history and is cementing his earthly power, conquering and ensuring the succession laws play out in his favour. Not only is he legitimatizing his rule over Cintra – the gateway to the North – by marrying its last monarch’s granddaughter, by keeping it in the family, he is also consolidating his rule among the Nilfgaardian aristocracy. The Emperor’s concern lies with the dynastic struggle for power: it is his blood that should rule the world and because history is bending its arc according to Nilfgaard’s dictation that means surmounting the Nilfgaardian succession laws. From such perspective, not fathering Ciri’s child would create numerous problems. Ciri as Emhyr’s heir would remain behind any other male offspring he might have (with any Nilfgaardian aristocrat). Ciri might not be acknowledged as a legitimate successor in Nilfgaard in the first place as she is a foreigner, born in Cintra at a time when her father was not yet an emperor; a bastard, effectively, and a girl besides. Ciri’s husband, moreover, may have designs on power himself and his remaining under Emhyr’s control, or Ciri’s control, is not a guarantee. It is difficult to be the correctly-shaped chess piece in a game of interests of the state. That a widely recited prophecy about the fate of the world can lend an aura of destiny to the brutal political machinations undertaken to seek retribution and pursue earthly power is convenient; a descendant who will be the ruler of the world – a bonus. But to get there sacrifices must be made.

‘Cirilla,’ continued the emperor, ‘will be happy, like most of the queens I was talking about. It will come with time. Cirilla will transfer the love that I do not demand at all onto the son I will beget with her. An archduke, and later an emperor. An emperor who will beget a son. A son, who will be the ruler of the world and will save the world from destruction. Thus speaks the prophecy whose exact contents only I know.’ ’What I am doing, I am doing for posterity. To save the world.’ - Lady of the Lake

Notably, the manner in which the Emperor claims to understand Ithlinne’s prophecy does not make guarantees that a father’s incest with his daughter will ensure his progeny will one day save the world. The saviour is a few generations away and the causal arrow between now and then is not direct: the son could die, could father a child with a genetically non-fitting partner, could be sterile, or could turn out to be a daughter altogether. Not to even begin with what the world needs saving from in the first place; again, elven prophecies were written by the elves and for the elves. Emhyr var Emreis is neither an elf, a geneticist, an idealist nor a mystic. He is an autocrat.
Elder Blood is the creation of elves and it is elves who understand how their genetic abilities play into handling what was foretold by Ithlinne. Emhyr’s daughter, the Lady of Time and Space, is the descendant of an Alder King who has utilized Hen Ichaer in the past and whose ambitions lie in an altogether different ball park than that of an Emperor of one single world. Appropriately to the Saga’s love for subversion, it is ironic that human understanding of elven prophecies remains on the level of poetry, while elves – the irritatingly poetic, mystical species – can read the science elevating the prophetic jargon into something more. Which regardless does not invalidate the problem with prophecies: they lend themselves to the rationalization of action, frequently covering up the real horses the powerful might have in the race. Legitimatization of the ruler’s right to remain the leader of their people is relevant in Auberon’s life too. More on that when we return to the Fisher King parable and the nature of curses upon the two rulers.

Role & Relationships

Let’s take a look at the characters’ personalities.
Appearance: a play of contrasts
A very tall, slender elf with long fingers and ashen hair shot with snow-white streaks. An elf with the most extraordinary eyes – as on all Elder Blood carriers – reminiscent of molten lead. A man with black, shiny, wavy hair bordering an angular, masculine face that is dominated by a prominent nose (hooked, presumably, or Roman if you like). The Emperor of Nilfgaard does not resemble an androgynous elf by any means. But this does not mean nothing remains in him of the elven gene pool. Not only does Emhyr’s etymological origin link with the Romano-Celtic world underpinning all things elven in the Witcher. Nilfgaardians are effectively the Romano-Brytons. The human population in the South of the Continent mixed with elves heavily, retaining a lot of elven law, customs, language, and DNA. As Avallac’h says about heritability, “the father matters,” and Emhyr was one half of the equation for getting Ciri.
Rex Regum - King of Kings
The readers are probably more familiar with the imperial system and how that features in the depiction of Nilfgaard. Auberon Muircetach’s position as the Supreme Leader of the Aen Elle – as opposed to merely a “king” – is instead much more reminiscent of the station of a High King.
Ancient and early kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland boast many High Kings (e.g. Ard Rí Érenn Brian Boru, Ard Rí Alban Macbeth, Vortigern, King of the Britons, etc). The High King was usually elected and set above lesser rulers and warlords as an overlord in a land that shared a high degree of cultural unity. Emperors usually ruled over culturally different lands (regularly obtained through recent or ongoing conquests). In character such high kingship was sacred: the duties of the ruler were largely ceremonial and somewhat restricted, unless war, natural disaster or any other realm-wide occasion created a need for a unified command structure. The Irish High King, for example, was quite straightforwardly a ruler who laid claim to all of the land of the Emerald Isle. Noteworthy, because the ruler is frequently seen as the embodiment of the land, associated with the health and well-being of the realm that the land sustains. In quasi-religious terms, High Kings gained their power through a marriage to, or sexual relationship with, a sovereignty goddess; frequently, a mother goddess who was associated with the life-giving land. As one of the most frequently studied elements of the Celtic cosmology, this feature is instantly recognisable in the outlook of the elves in the Witcher and factors heavily into Auberon’s relationship with Ciri. Ciri who is the avatar of the Triple Goddess – the Virgin, the Pregnant Mother, and the Old Woman Death. As Sapkowski notes in Swiat króla Artura. Maladie:

“…no Wiccan mystery in honour of the Great Triple, cannot be performed, [without] the goblet and the sword. Grail and Excalibur. The rest is silence.”

Through the Triple Goddess’ interaction with her God-counterpart (a ruler who briefly assumes the role of the god) is showcased the eternal cycle of life – one which cannot be realised without the interaction of the cup (feminine) & the sword (male). Excalibur is the symbol of rightful sovereignty and its wielders are frequently powerful men, but Ciri is a woman and a woman is the Grail, bringing salvation and new life. To possess the Grail is to legitimize oneself as the ruler, as the leader, protector, and father figure of the realm. Thus a King of Kings must do exactly that. A protector, a father figure, and a druid (wise man) merge into a symbolic whole in the Supreme Leader of the elves.
(But Ciri is also the witcher girl and owns a sword, unyielding before the matter of her gender. And though many a men might take her for the Lady of the Lake, she is not about to part with her sword.)
The realm is all
From early age, Emhyr’s father instilled an understanding in his heir that nothing counts more than the interest of the state. The blood of the Emreis family must be on the throne. Fergus never abdicated, not after torture, not even after his son was turned into a mutant hedgehog in front of his eyes. Love for his child did not sway Fergus from having his son suffer in the interests of power and the realm. This is how the shard of ice in Emhyr’s heart forms. Auberon, equally, “thinks of England” when attempting to regain his daughter’s legacy and restore their people’s power. The circumstances of Lara’s demise, however, beg the question about the Alder King’s role in facilitating or enabling the conditions that let things spiral out of control and break beyond repair. The stakes were infinitely higher for Auberon than they are for Emreis’ dynastic struggle. But what would an answer to this question change? In their cold hearts these characters see themselves each as duty-bound.
Ambitious and gloried, they nevertheless occupy different stages in their lives.
Emhyr’s ambition burns bright and fresh. Auberon’s has dwindled into a shadow of the past; buried under having witnessed and lived through the sacrifices that a ruler makes in the name of power. Emhyr chooses to seek retribution and power beyond what would befall him should he accept his life as Duny (the cursed, pitiful Duny), the prince consort of Cintra. Never losing sight of his goal, love and human happiness become temporary phases and means to an end, and Emhyr returns to Cintra only in the form of flames and death to pursue his daughter in insane ambition. The White Flame retains an active disposition; a lust for life. Neither Emhyr nor Auberon gallop at the head of their armies though, leading instead from the rear. They have lackeys for carrying out their will remotely (e.g. Cahir and Eredin). Emhyr, however, is said to be otherwise highly involved in the ruling of his empire, even if many revolutionaries who had helped him on the throne had hoped he would remain but a banner of the revolution. In contrast, the Alder King has more or less withdrawn from life and active service. In presence of Avallac’h and Eredin, Auberon appears much more like the standard Emhyr had refused to become. Of course, many decisions the equivalent of which Auberon has already made are still ahead of Emhyr, including as concerns the freedom of his daughter.
A ruler’s heart
Did Emhyr believe that he would be able to see Pavetta in Ciri and thus push through with the incest? Did Auberon hope to glance the memory of his wife in the eyes of Lara’s “daughter” and manage in this way? As already noted, neither ruler is pursuing their plans out of lust, but as lust must be induced for the act to bear fruit I cannot help but wonder what these characters must do to themselves to follow through with their plans. Because the love that is called for between a woman and a man in order for new life and hope to be born is in this instance abnormal. Yet it is undoubtedly love that plays a huge role in determining both Emhyr’s and Auberon’s eventual fate.
Until the emergence of false-Ciri, Emhyr var Emreis is said to have had numerous ladies in the imperial court. Little is known about Auberon’s disposition, but by the time Ciri starts frequenting his bed chamber it has become evident the image of a dowager king fits the elf like a glove; disaffected with romantic dalliance, he is still aware of the courtly intrigue and expectations surrounding it.

The next evening, for the first time, the Alder King betrayed his impatience. She found him hunched over the table where a looking glass framed in amber was lying. White powder had been sprinkled on it. It’s beginning, she thought. … At one moment Ciri was certain it was about to happen. But it didn’t. At least not all the way. And once again he became impatient. He stood up and threw a sable fur over his shoulders. He stood like that, turned away, staring at the window and the moon. - Lady of the Lake

Emhyr’s marriage to Pavetta, Ciri’s mother, was an unhappy one. In his own words, he did not love “the melancholy wench with her permanently lowered eyes,” and eventually would have had the vigilant Pavetta killed. Inadvertently, Emhyr caused Pavetta’s death anyway.

‘I wonder how a man feels after murdering his wife,’ the Witcher said coldly. ‘Lousy,’ replied Emhyr without delay. ‘I felt and I feel lousy and bloody shabby. Even the fact that I never loved her doesn’t change that. The end justifies the means, yet I sincerely do regret her death. I didn’t want it or plan it. Pavetta died by accident.’ ‘You’re lying,’ Geralt said dryly, ‘and that doesn’t befit an emperor. Pavetta could not live. She had unmasked you. And would never have let you do what you wanted to do to Ciri.’ ‘She would have lived,’ Emhyr retorted. ‘Somewhere … far away. There are enough castles … Darn Rowan, for instance. I couldn’t have killed her.’ ‘Even for an end that was justified by the means?’ ‘One can always find a less drastic means.’ The emperor wiped his face. ‘There are always plenty of them.’ ‘Not always,’ said the Witcher, looking him in the eyes. Emhyr avoided his gaze. ‘That’s exactly what I thought,’ Geralt said, nodding. - Lady of the Lake

After Pavetta’s demise Emhyr hounds his own daughter to the ends of the earth, killing her grandmother, burning down her home, and driving Ciri into an exile from which she never fully recovers. An exile which kills the innocence in her; the snow-white streaks in Ciri’s hair are from the trauma. In contrast, Auberon does not seem to even know what became of Shiadhal – his partner and the mother of their daughter together. On the verge of death he confuses Ciri for Shiadhal and says, “I am glad you are here. You know, they told me you had died.” The Alder King recalls Shiadhal affectionately, in the same loving breath as he recalls their daughter Lara. Lara whose exile – voluntary or not – killed her.
When Ciri was six years old, Emhyr took a lock of hair from her and held onto it; out of sentiment and for his court sorcerers to use. One of Auberon’s last lines to Ciri involves tying a loose ribbon back into Lara’s hair.
In regard to their brides-to-be, both rulers are saddled with fakes. A fake Ciri-Pavetta and a fake Shiadhal-Lara. But Emhyr’s and Auberon’s attitude toward the fake is diametrically opposite. Emhyr sees false-Cirilla as “a diamond in the rough.” Auberon calls Ciri “a pearl in pig shit, a diamond on the finger of a rotting corpse.” For Emhyr, a diamond is the essence of his poor peasant girl. While a pearl in pig shit, for Auberon, remains the essence of Ciri. Neither ruler can entirely ignore the social vigilance extended toward the ruler’s bedchamber either. The idea of a “foreign bride” is frowned upon among the Nilfgaardian aristocracy; it decreases their ability to influence the Emperor. Ciri’s social status at Tir ná Lia is never explicitly addressed, but the presence of human servants – all of whom that the reader sees are female – and casual xenophobia from Auberon himself does not make it hard to venture a guess.

‘If I were … the real Cirilla … the emperor would look more favourably on me. But I’m only a counterfeit. A poor imitation. A double, not worthy of anything. Nothing …’ - False-Cirilla Lady of the Lake
‘It’s all my fault,’ she mumbled. ‘That scar blights me, I know. I know what you see when you look at me. There’s not much elf left in me. A gold nugget in a pile of compost—’ - Ciri Lady of the Lake

The Alder King is unable to bring himself to love Ciri. The Emperor relents, caring for his daughter at last as a father should at the very end, in the one moment where it matters. Moreover, Emhyr ends up eventually marrying his own reason of state and comes to love the false-Cirilla. The contrasts do not end here. Real Ciri threatens to tear Emhyr’s throat out for what he is planning to do to her (unknowing that he is her father), yet with Auberon Ciri turns submissive and grows attached. She weeps over Auberon’s corpse and vows vengeance on Eredin for killing the Alder King. Ironic as Auberon never intended to let Ciri go, while Emhyr does let his daughter walk free. The shard in Auberon’s heart never melts. It shifts in Emhyr’s.
In their last meeting with the girl, both rulers implicitly reveal their blood relation to Ciri.

Cursed Rulers of the World

Emhyr’s tale begins and is framed with a curse. Likewise Auberon’s. And for both it is love in its different manifestations that will shift the curse just enough to offer closure. For healing largely entails obtaining closure.

‘They were silent for a long time. The scent of spring suddenly made them feel light-headed. Both of them. ‘In spite of appearances,’ Emhyr finally said dully, ‘being empress is not an easy job. I don’t know if I’ll be able to love you.’ She nodded to show she also knew. He saw a tear on her cheek. Just like in Stygga Castle, he felt the tiny shard of cold glass lodged in his heart shift.’ - Lady of the Lake

The reference to H. C. Andersen’s fairy tale of the Snow Queen is self-evident. Emhyr var Emreis is an Emperor whose heart has been pierced by a shard of ice. In the Saga the legend is elven and refers to the Winter Queen who conducts a Wild Hunt as she travels the land, casting hard, sharp, tiny shards of ice around her. Whose eye or heart is pierced by one of them is lost; they will abandon everything and will set off after the Queen, the one who wounded them so gravely as to become the sole aim and end of their life.
There are two ways in which to interpret the way Sapkowski applies the legend of the Snow Queen in the Saga. First, as a complement to the author’s stance that in life - where most things are shit - the Holy Grail is a woman, because it is the love of a woman and the hope a woman instils that often makes men act in inconceivable ways; love is the great motivator and the great balancer of scales. Almost as powerful as death. Or more so?

‘I would not like to put forward the theory that hunting for the wild pig was the primordial example of the search for the Grail. I don’t want to be so trivial. I will - after Parnicki and Dante - identify the Grail with the real goal of the great effort of mythical heroes. I prefer to identify the Grail with Olwen, from under whose feet, as she walked, white clovers grew. I prefer to identify the Grail with Lydia, who was loved by Parry. I like New York in June… How about you? Because I think the Grail is a woman. It is worth investing a lot of time and effort in order to find it and gain it, to understand it. And that’s the moral.’ - A. Sapkowski Swiat króla Artura. Maladie

In this reading, we find the framing to the stories of Geralt and Yennefer, Lara and Cregennan, Avallac’h and Lara, and many others. Including the story of Ciri herself – for Ciri is ultimately the author’s Grail in more ways than one. More than one party goes to great lengths to solicit her favour in a guise that includes elements of a love relationship but not the heart of it.
Secondly, we can interpret the legend in universal terms: the shard of ice is the definitive experience of our lives which distorts reality and makes the rest of our lives spin around it in one way or another. For Emhyr, such an experience could have been the trauma experienced in his youth. Fergus’ uncompromising death conditioned the boy early on to sacrifice personal feelings to the cause and let the only true feeling in his heart remain forever locked behind the ends a ruler must go to unthinkable lengths to achieve. Fergus did not deem his son above suffering for a cause and the son learned the lesson. Until…
In Andersen’s Snow Queen, Gerda manages to find her brother Kai in the Snow Queen’s castle, but despite her calls his heart remains cold as ice. Only when Gerda cries in despair do her tears finally melt the ice and remove the piece of glass from Kai’s eyes and heart. In the Witcher, the shard in Emhyr’s heart moves first upon witnessing his true daughter’s angry tears. For the second time – in thanks to the bogus princess of Cintra; his poor raison d’etat.
It brings us to the defining contrast in Emhyr’s and Auberon’s stories, and it concerns alleviating the suffering of those are bound to you by blood or love.
Recalling another case of incest that resulted in Adda the strigga, we may remember that the Temerian king recognises that his daughter is suffering and insists on disenchanting her instead of killing her. Realising that your own blood – who has been thrown into this world of suffering thanks to you – is suffering and consequently choosing to do something to alleviate this suffering fortifies the Saga’s faith in enduring human decency. Geralt himself is thoroughly vexed by the prospect of letting the same evil happen to Ciri that happened to himself and does everything within his power to prevent it (failing, trying anyway). Here lives the redemption of man, and in redemption his rebirth.

‘They passed a pond, empty and melancholy. The ancient carp released by Emperor Torres had died two days earlier. “I’ll release a new, young, strong, beautiful specimen,” thought Emhyr var Emreis, “I’ll order a medal with my likeness and the date to be attached to it. Vaesse deireadh aep eigean. Something has ended, something is beginning. It’s a new era. New times. A new life. So let there be a new carp too, dammit.”’ - Lady of the Lake

As Emhyr and false-Cirilla take a stroll in the gardens after Stygga, they pass a sculpture of a pelican pecking open its own breast to feed its young on its blood. An allegory of noble sacrifice and also of great love – as False-Ciri tells us.

‘Do you think—’ he turned her to face him and pursed his lips ‘—that a torn-open breast hurts less because of that?’ ‘I don’t know …’ she stammered. ‘Your Imperial Majesty … I …’ He took hold of her hand. He felt her shudder; the shudder ran along his hand, arm and shoulder. ‘My father,’ he said, ‘was a great ruler, but never had a head for legends or myths, never had time for them. And always mixed them up. Whenever he brought me here, to the park, I remember it like yesterday, he always said that the sculpture shows a pelican rising from its ashes.’ - Lady of the Lake

It is difficult to set aside our trauma and not pass it on to our children. Letting our children be free to choose and not sacrificing them on the altar of our fate is to rip open ourselves, calcified and bound to our path, and to feel all of it as we grope in the dark to feel for them. Emhyr’s father might not have gotten it entirely wrong, though his mind at the time was set on making his child an extension of himself. The cycle of death and rebirth begins and ends within that to which we give birth. Giving our children a chance before it is too late, we also give a chance to ourselves. By finding it in his heart to extend to his daughter the courtesy his father Fergus never extended to him - by letting Ciri free - Emhyr lets the part of himself that has defined his entire life die. His end stops justifying the means. He breaks the cycle on the edge of the precipice to which he has brought them and thus allows for the possibility of new beginnings for himself and for Ciri.
In a sense, False-Cirilla and Emhyr get the ending Ciri and Auberon might have gotten if –
If.
The story of Auberon Muircetach achieves a fundamentally different resolution.

‘What does the spear with the bloody blade mean? Why does the King with the lanced thigh suffer and what does it mean? What is the meaning of the maiden in white carrying a grail, a silver bowl—?’ - Galahad Lady of the Lake

Galahad asks the questions that the innocent Perceval in his Story of the Grail failed to ask, thus losing his chance at freeing the Fisher King from his curse. And the Fisher King is the guardian of mysteries, among them the Holy Grail. But it is not because of gain that a chivalric knight with a shining sword should seek to free the Fisher King from his curse, but rather because it is a human thing to do. Sapkowski claims to be partial to Wolfram von Eschenbach’s rendition of the Grail myth in Parsifal. Wolfram’s message, according to Sapkowski, is the following:

‘Let’s not wait for the revelation and the command that comes from above, let’s not wait for any Deus vult. Let’s look for the grail in ourselves. Because the Grail is nobility, it is the love of a neighbor, it is an ability for compassion. Real chivalric ideals, towards which it is worth looking for the right path, cutting through the wild forest, where, as they quote, “there is no road, no path”. Everyone has to find their path on their own. But it is not true that there is only one path. There are many of them. Infinitely many. … Being human is important. Heart.’ ‘I prefer the humanism of Wolfram von Eschenbach and Terry Gilliam from the idiosyncrasies of bitter Cistercian scribes and Bernard of Clairvaux…’ - A. Sapkowski Swiat króla Artura: Maladie

The unimaginable sadness in Auberon’s eyes belies the suffering of the Alder King who is the avatar of the Fisher King. In the Witcher’s story between elves and humans, it is the elven males who all share aspects of the Fisher King’s fate, because they are the keepers of their Grail – the protectors of elven women. Auberon’s wound is wrought by time: by surviving his wife and daughter, by the witnessing of the fading of his ambitions and the results of pursuing them without success. He has lost his line. The Fisher King’s injury represents the inability to produce an heir. A ruler who is the protector and physical embodiment of his land, yet remains barren, sterile, or without a true-born successor, bodes ill for the realm. The Alder King’s injury consists in having lost control of the source of his people’s power, leaving the elves imprisoned and scattered across two worlds. Auberon’s personal tragedy, however, subsists in the lost power having been functionally manifest in a daughter.

‘Lara.’ The Alder King moved his head, and touched his neck as though his royal torc’h was garrotting him. ‘Caemm a me, luned. Come to me, daughter. Caemm a me, elaine.’ Ciri sensed death in his breath. - Lady of the Lake

Elder Blood is indeed an accursed blood because it enslaves its carriers to its purpose. Emhyr has a theoretical chance to walk away from the pursuit of earthly power; the construct is social. Elder Blood, however, has a particular and real, magical function, and in virtue of being a genetic mutation it is embedded in the gene-carrying individuals. Functionally, Elder Blood allows to shape fate with degrees of freedom unimaginable for an ordinary individual. It’s a difference comparable to the one between a character in a story and the story’s author. Therefore the Aen Saevherne – the carriers of the gene – are bound to the thing they carry within their DNA that allows them to a greater and lesser degree shape the fate of reality. However dearly Auberon, or Lara, might have ever wished to untie themselves from their own essence, it seems impossible. The loss of control over power then is quite simply so pivotal as to necessitate a moment of original sin.
As already witnessed by way of the legend of the Winter Queen, the original “myths” of the Witcher world usually originate among elves; humans, the interlopers, push themselves into those myths only later. This creates an interesting conundrum. In Parsifal, the Fisher King is injured as punishment for taking a wife who is not meant for him. A Grail keeper is to marry the woman the Grail determines for him, which – if we equate woman with the Grail – is what the woman determines. Unfortunately, we know nothing about Shiadhal, so we cannot verify if this part of the legend dovetails. But generally, in a wholly elven world which may have matriarchal tendencies, in lieu of worshipping the mother Goddess, such cosmology is relatively unproblematic. Except suddenly there are humans too. And Auberon – the highest leader of elves and the father of the new scion of Elder Blood – is indirectly injured because a human sorcerer – Cregennan – turns himself into a Grail keeper (in place of another, special elf) by taking a woman not meant for him.

‘Witcher,’ she whispered, kissing his cheek, ‘there’s no romance in you. And I… I like elven legends, they are so captivating. What a pity humans don’t have any legends like that. Perhaps one day they will? Perhaps they’ll create some? But what would human legends deal with? All around, wherever one looks, there’s greyness and dullness. Even things which begin beautifully lead swiftly to boredom and dreariness, to that human ritual, that wearisome rhythm called life.’ - Yennefer Sword of Destiny

Cregennan’s injury is to die. But what about the original Fisher King figure? What is Auberon’s original sin in this?
I see two possibilities. It could be that Auberon in his ambition hastened his daughter’s way into exile and, in a display of his displeasure, never made any effort to ease his daughter in to the personal sacrifices they, as Aen Saevherne, must make; walking without blinking to the end of the path Emhyr turned away from. It could equally be that Auberon, instead of locking Lara up in a tower to protect her from the folly of youth, let her go to Cregennan. It could be an amalgam of both, and the misjudgement of a father who allows freedom, who feels for his child, and is rewarded with an irreversible injury is probably the greater tragedy.
Because, regardless of the origin of the curse upon Auberon, one thing does not change – the icy eternity in the Alder King’s heart never fractures.

‘‘Zireael,’ he said. ‘Loc’hlaith. You are indeed destiny, O Lady of the Lake. Mine too, as it transpires.’ - Auberon Lady of the Lake

Ciri passes through the shadow world of the Alders; a manifestation of fate. Her footsteps sowing discord and movement and change into the immutable, time-locked amber of the elven utopia. Her presence providing the trigger that will unshackle the past from future in a world where for a long time nothing has changed, died, or been reborn. She is destined and destiny, annihilation and rebirth, the grain of sand in the gears of the great mechanism; a strange girl. The child of hope and the Goddess who ought to be Three. Lara, the true daughter of the Alder King, is dead. Emhyr’s daughter still lives. There is nothing Auberon can do for Lara anymore and thus the ice in Auberon’s heart has crystallised. Emhyr still has a chance; he is where Auberon once was. And yet, there is one thing Ciri, the witcher girl with a sword of her own, can still do for the Alder King.

‘Va’esse deireadh aep eigean… But,’ he finished with a sigh, ‘it’s good that something is beginning.’ They heard a long-drawn-out peal of thunder outside the window. The storm was still far away. But it was approaching fast. ‘In spite of everything,’ he said, ‘I very much don’t want to die, Zireael. And I’m so sorry that I must. Who’d have thought it? I thought I wouldn’t regret it. I’ve lived long, I’ve experienced everything. I’ve become bored with everything … but nonetheless I feel regret. And do you know what else? Come closer. I’ll tell you in confidence. Let it be our secret.’ She bent forward. ‘I’m afraid,’ he whispered. ‘I know.’ ‘Are you with me?’ ‘Yes, I am.’ - Auberon Lady of the Lake

The only way Ciri the Grail knight will be able to find her true self – the Grail – is to cure the suffering Alder King from his curse. Ciri’s presence in the world of the Alders is after all also part of her coming of age story. Through becoming Auberon’s destiny, Ciri must close the circle for him and bring closure. He would never let her go because the shard in Auberon’s heart is no longer able to melt. Auberon does not follow the motif of alleviating the suffering of one’s blood and/or love; and he dies. The roles are reversed, in fact. It is Ciri who realises Auberon is suffering. So Ciri must do what only she can do, because remaining human is important. Heart is important. The sacrifice a ruler makes on the altar of power includes his own heart, which is why there should never be only one, but always two; always.

‘Time is like the ancient Ouroboros. Time is fleeting moments, grains of sand passing through an hourglass. Time is the moments and events we so readily try to measure. But the ancient Ouroboros reminds us that in every moment, in every instant, in every event, is hidden the past, the present and the future. Eternity is hidden in every moment. Every departure is at once a return, every farewell is a greeting, every return is a parting. Everything is simultaneously a beginning and an end. ‘And you too,’ he said, not looking at her at all, ‘are at once the beginning and the end. And because we are discussing destiny, know that it is precisely your destiny. To be the beginning and the end. Do you understand?’ She hesitated for a moment. But his glowing eyes forced her to answer. ‘I do.’ - Lady of the Lake

Death Crone to Auberon Muircetach, Ciri never becomes the Mother Goddess in the Saga. It is a choice she must make for herself and the choice still lies ahead of her. The predicate to making such a choice at least for now, however, she achieves; she goes her own way. In a sense then, both rulers are father figures, who through their choices “beget” the child who is destined. Perhaps this too the Knowing Ones knew, and for this reason Auberon never could have budged, never could have changed his mind in regard to his purpose in the long and winding story of his life. Something is ending, but something is also beginning. A good ruler is responsible for the flourishing of their realm, for providing hope. It is Ciri’s role to be the beginning and the end, and though there might be ways in which to nudge the hand of Fate, whatever is destined must happen. Destiny, however accursed, must run its course.
That is the hope and the release.

Although dueling was most frequently practiced among rich aristocrats, the unification of the social elite during the mid-1800s led to a revised perception of violence. Slave uprisings and social discontent among the poor immigrant class solidified violence as a unique trait of those in poverty, making duels an act of self-flagellation for an elite class that aimed to separate itself from the “commons.” As the United States Congress was composed of elites, legislation reflected this new taboo; by the start of the American Civil War, several states had already outlawed dueling. However, this would not mark the end of duels.
While dueling lost popularity in elite circles, lower classes–particularly in the lawless West and South U.S.–embraced it. By coming with the added bonus of defying the law, dueling became a means of both rejecting authority and settling disputes. Deaths as a result of dueling skyrocketed, and by 1862, dueling was the third most common cause of death for settlers traversing the Oregon Trail (with the two leading causes being dysentery and heat exhaustion). In the South, a “vigilante culture” of cowboys, bandits, and ranchers enabled dueling to be utilized for property acquisition. Nameless sheriffs invaded small towns and laid claim to farm properties, goading the owners of the property into accepting a duel. Upon the farmers’ defeat and consequent death, these “sheriffs” would take the property for themselves, usually with the intent of selling the land to the highest bidder.
Even at their most popular within the aristocracy, adversaries aimed to de-escalate conflict, and duels were treated as more of a “last resort.” This did not carry over to the middle and lower classes; the mere threat of a duel from an antagonistic sheriff or gruff rancher meant that an ensuing duel was almost certain. They were inescapable.With a rapidly mounting death toll, working-class citizens grew desperate to find a solution to rampant dueling. They found their answer during the construction of North America’s first transcontinental railroad.
The exploitation of Chinese immigrant labor was a key factor in the transcontinental railroad’s completion. Working long hours for minimal pay, laborers could barely afford food and water, let alone a firearm. This meant that dueling was inaccessible—but conflicts still needed to be solved quickly and conclusively. Consequently, disputes between workers were solved by playing a game called shoushiling, which dates back to the Han dynasty, and shares the rock-paper-scissors system that is used today.
American workers that supervised the immigrant labor saw shoushiling in practice, and took note of the game’s simplicity and efficacy. One anonymous construction manager composed an open letter in 1866 to his local sheriff, declaring (with a hefty dosage of mockery) that “the Chinese have invented eternal Life!” Exaggeration or not, shoushiling reached the American public at an extraordinary rate of cultural osmosis, and quickly usurped dueling as the ideal way to solve disputes (while the occasional false sheriff remained, their coercive methods of starting a duel stopped resonating when aimed at an audience that was privy to the existence of rock-paper-scissors).
Duels were universally outlawed in the U.S. in the following decades, but it was done as a formality, rather than a necessity. The prevalence of rock-paper-scissors had relegated duels to a position of obsolescence, saving thousands of lives in the American Frontier.

I have a 5 PM appointment in Sandy that I cannot be late. There is no snow in the forecast for this coming Tuesday, what time should we stop skiing and head back to SLC? We are heading up there after our flight lands 10:50. The Maps app shows a 34-37 minutes drive.

Hello everyone I wrote this level some time ago and I was wondering whether to dedicate a video to it on youtube tell me if you think it is valid and deserves a video, thanks
LEVEL 44009 Survival level Class 2 DESCRIPTION: This level consists of an abandoned school with orange walls tending to pink, they are now ruined by time, they are indestructible by the tests reported by the M.E.G. agents. ditto for the stained glass windows; near the structure there are brightly colored toy houses for children but strangely they are not worn out, the structure and the houses are bordered by a green fence; all this is surrounded by a verdant countryside, you can find fields of which what is cultivated is unknown, the M.E.G. is investigating, the fields are delimited by ditches in which almond water flows there are also wild meadows with weeds similar to those of level 10, there are also dirt, cobbled and more rarely paved roads, however they will be very worn and the cloth will interrupt after a while, you can also find huts made of rusty metal sheets, with rudimentary wooden tables inside, more rarely there are tools (saws, hammers, axes); entering the main structure is relatively simple, given that a part of the fence has already been broken down, to enter the actual structure you can access from a window which with little chance will be semi-sperta, or otherwise by breaking in or forcing the main door once opened, if it is not locked it will close after a few seconds leaving you locked inside, the lighting in the structure is poor, any window seen from the outside (even the one from which you entered) will be replaced by a continuous wall, the only window that it is possible to find (in a random place in the building), inside the structure there will be various dirt, in the wet areas also weeds, on the walls there are graffiti some written by Timmy fanatics, there are rooms with broken desks and chairs and piled up; going down a dark staircase you enter an almost completely unlit cellar, however there are shelves with bottles of almond water or cashew water (it is advisable to be very careful as the bottles in which these liquids are contained are almost identical) , after the cellar there is an almost unexplored area where the rooms of the structure repeat themselves endlessly, in addition to the risk of getting lost in this area there are also many more entities; At this level it is constantly day without a single cloud just the same monotonous blue.
ENTITIES: outside the structure the count of entities is minimal there are mastiffs under the effect of level 11, RedHead a humanoid figure of blue cor with a helmet that covers their face this sort of helmet seems to be glued to the facial tissues they they roam around the outside of the structure, they are very fast but not very intelligent and almost blind, with a minimum of cunning it is easy to escape them, you can also hear the howls of howlers; inside the structure there are facelings for children who, however, will be kind and will behave like children of 6-7 years, if you play with them and tell them a story with a lot of possibility they will make you no-clip outside the structure if instead the they won't like the story they will start crying attracting all the entities towards you, in the wetter areas of the structure there are wormlings, while venturing into the area after the cellar you will find smilers and the other entities listed more frequently; Adult facelings can also occasionally be found at this facility which will protect the child facelings.
BASES & OUTPOSTS: - This first outpost is a squad of around 30 M.E.G agents. they have settled in the areas surrounding the cultivated fields to precisely investigate what is grown inside them, at the moment they have no other assignments, they live inside shelters built with pieces of sheet metal obtained from the huts scattered throughout the level; they are available to provide free almond water to the vagabonds, being that they have developed a method composed of complex networks of underground pipes that lead to a large cistern to extract it from the ditches and preserve it, the M.E.G. under request they can also provide maps with the coordinates of the main places written on them, the coordinates start from their outpost M.E.G. (such as the abandoned school and the M.E.G. outpost) - "The Farmers" are a group of about 8 people, their leader, called Tom, says that while exploring the level he found a tin container with beans inside a hut, this container according to what he has reportedly Tom was very similar to those sold in the frontrooms supermarkets, above it there was a large writing "BEANS" and behind the coordinates, he using the map provided by the M.E.G. he found a small garden of beans, so he expanded it with the help of pieces of sheet metal with which he created the tools and his 7 helpers created a real plantation; This community is in favor of bartering almond water, beans, and utensils. - this community has no real name, although they are often called "facelyngs educators" this is a group of 3 more developed adult facelyngs able to communicate with gestures, they are passive unless you attack the child facelyngs in the main facility they in fact they will protect them at any cost, but often for completely random time intervals they disappear, it is not known why or what they are going to do, naturally they are not open to exchanges. - "Timmy's sect" this group or rather sect is a set of people whose number of members is to be defined in fact they are very aggressive and shy, they are people with probable traumas created by levels in which they have wandered previously in fact these people venerate and hate a toy pickup truck which is thought to have been found near the main structure, this is a red plastic pickup truck about 10cm long, with "TIMMY" written on it, the substances or ink that was used is to be defined as people outside this sect are not even allowed to approach Timmy; it is not known if the pickup truck is an entity capable of manipulation or if in reality the members of this sect are completely out of their minds; graffiti has also been reported inside and outside the structure, it is presumed to be the work of these people.
ENTRANCE and EXIT ENTRANCE: - Noclip in a lawn of a park in level 11. - Open a bit of wood, quite ruined, in level 1207 this will noclip you inside the structure, however you will still have a few seconds before the door blocks you inside of. - Interact with a can of beans in level 6.1. - Detach or break a greengrocer's sign in level 33. EXITS: - Walk away across fields until the fog is so thick that you won't see your hand clippera there in level 10. - Walk away along a road it will cause you to spot some kind of city this will not clippera you in level 215, or less likely in level 9. - Entering a seemingly glitchy pink structure will take you to level 974. - Riding on an abandoned car will take you to level 1900. - No clipping inside the plastic houses for children will take you to level 283. - Exiting the previously mentioned white window will no-clip you to a random point in the level.

Ace was stunned. She almost felt disassociated from her own scaled hide; mentally she was still processing, even as, somehow, she found herself smoothly walking down the ramp to the navigation console, relieving the human who was at it.
She recovered quickly as she found herself reviewing the controls. They were all laid out, smooth and reasonably intuitively so. It wasn't even that she was entirely unfamiliar with taking command of a capital starship; she had, from time to time, taken the captain's post of the Arcadian Endeavour, to say nothing of the helm, but still, she was gobsmacked that Najia trusted her so readily as to just ask her to take the helm.
She looked the controls over again. The ship seemed ready to sail. "The helm is operative," she said. She was, however, unfamiliar with the ship class; fortunately, her station included a comprehensive overview. As Large vessels went, it was on the small size; the Arcadian Endeavour would handily outgun it; two Large Pulse Turrets, eight Medium Bolt turrets, and, on her stick, 2 'Medium Meson Streams'. She was vaguely familiar with Meson Streams as being the Protectorate's special signature weapon, but she thought that M weapons might be a bit lightweight to be the 'main armament' on an L vessel. "All systems seem to be reporting operational."
Ace looked uncertainly at the human woman standing the gunnery console next to her. She, too, had a slightly uncertain look, but, after a moment's double-checking, nodded firmly. "Gunnery confirms, all stations reporting green, C-Captain," she said, looking back up at Najia, who nodded firmly. "Ace, take us out. Let's track down Boso Ta's mysterious interloper."
Ace nodded firmly, and throttled the Destroyer-class vessel in reverse. The ship accelerated with surprising speed; nothing at all like the ponderous heft of the Empyrean Curs' home. The mammoth headquarters station receded into the distance, and she made a slight hiss to clear her throat. "We are away, Najia. We should begin scanning for this interloper if you wish to locate them." "Right. That's... Actually on this console," Najia recalled after a moment, her hands flying over the console. She'd done this before, a few times, but she still felt like such an imposter standing on the bridge of a ship this large and giving orders, even though she could - and did - order fleets of such ships around. Still, the long-range sensors came up, and in moments a ping found itself. She pushed it to Ace's station. "Let's go see who, or what, is creating such a fuss around here," she said. She felt vaguely self-conscious, running down what was probably some Teladi smugglers with a high-powered transmitter rig in some M freighter with a fast escort frigate.
Ace, meanwhile, was quite enjoying herself. The ship she was testing was spritely, responsive, without having the ponderous over-steer problem the Baku-class M Freighters had. Even the mighty Terran engines couldn't push a ship this large into T-drive immediately, but in regular drive it accelerated and decelrated rapidly. She quickly brought the ship to the appropriate course to intercept the sensor return, and, swooping past the headquarters station on course, activated her Travel drive. As with any large vessel, there was a considerable charge-up period while the ship's engines built power. However, it was rather less considerable than that of most ships in its class. She had time for a glance at the shipyard slips, and noted that a very large ship was under construction, and quite rapidly too - from its lines, it could only be one of old Professor Nakagawa's Nagoya-class Battleships. Ace found that amusing; Najia's people certainly worked fast.
The ship took off with suddenness that surprised her, the pitch of the T-Drive warmup reaching its crescendo. All attention back to the fore, Ace sucked in a sharp breath as they accelerated, rapidly intercepting the interloping signal. It wasn't hiding very well, Ace thought; if indeed it intended to hide at all. She targeted it as soon as it was within range; to the bridge the computer announced "Okinawa: Research Vessel."
Najia groaned audibly, glancing down; there was a transponder with a name. Oberth. "Dick Feynman," she muttered to herself, suddenly feeling a welling-up of outrage. What, she wanted to know, was Dr. Feynman doing in her system, lurking around her anomalies, without so much as dropping by to say hello? Woah girl, Najia thought to herself, taking a half-step back and a deep breath, wondering where that outburst had come from. Then she thought back to all the tiny little microaggressions Professor Feynman had bestowed upon all of his students; to say nothing of his research assistants. She snorted, loudly, as Ace pulled the Koshirae up alongside the Oberth, and she commed it. The skipper's face appeared on-screen.
"Yes; this is the research vessel Oberth. Can we help you?" Najia nodded to him. "Please put me in contact with the commander of your expedition," she said, firmly but politely. "Very well, one moment." The captain passed her through without further comment; he was clearly annoyed with the professor, since he didn't seem to recognize her, but he was still passing a random passer-by - in a destroyer admittedly - straight to the Professor.
Moments later, the professor himself appeared in the comms window, also on the bridge; just as she recalled him from before. "I am Dr. Rick Feynman, Chief Scientist of the Oberth and in charge of Project Genesis," he said, annoyedly and hurriedly. Najia waited for the other shoe to drop. It did so in a few moments, and he gawped openly at her. "Wait, Najia Takio?! Is it really you?" Najia smirked. "In the flesh, Professor." Unsaid, was that he hadn't even tried to contact her. He was either as oblivious as the Maestro of the Empyrean Curs, or he hadn't wanted to contact her. She was actually betting on the former. "Well, I'm glad you made it," he said. "We didn't expect biological matter to have survived this transition."
Najia blinked, and felt disassociated for a moment; she could just about feel the weightlessness of being cast adrift in her suit again. He had expected the transition, and hadn't warned her, or any of the others he had sent out in suits - whose fates she still didn't know? She was on the verge of exploding at him, quite possibly more literally than figuratively, but he continued on speaking blithely. "As I was saying, we are looking into how this station got here. Our research vessel is currently observing anomalies and gravimetric shears in this region."
That's it? That's... It? Najia felt stunned, and she shook her head. She felt on the verge of a schoolgirl explosion of anger, but looked to her side. Marta looked just as furious as she did, but she was maintaining. Selaia, the shipyard temporary master, was standing ramrod-straight, disciplined. Composed, with military bearing. Najia filed that away to ask her about later, but she looked back to the comms panel, and willed herself to the composture that Captain Kevlin had adopted. Be like her, she told herself. The Commander.
"Professor Feynman, I think it's time you told me exactly what Project Genesis is; after all, I almost died for it." There was a blink. He had, at least, the good graces to look somewhat embarrassed. "I'm sorry to inform you that you currently lack the required clearance to access that information, Najia."
Najia had very minimal military training; just the three-week Segaris reserve militia training course that every Pioneer university student got. Between that and the example of Captain Kevlin standing to her side with her feet braced proudly, her face schooled and her arms crossed behind her back as an example, however, Najia managed not to erupt in fury. Below, she saw Ace's tail lash in agitation, but Ace, too, was remaining face-forward, eyes on her controls.
"Is there anything else, Ms. Takio?" Najia considered laying down all the reasons she felt she should be granted clearance to access that information, ranging from the fact that her ships and her production facillities were providing the majority of the Pioneers' construction supplies and she had fantastic trading relations with them, to - again - the fact that she'd almost died for the project - to the fact that, within five minutes, she could have a fleet - a literal fleet of warships training their guns on Oberth.
That last one was, she thought, an argument most compelling. Part of her - a part of her she quickly pushed down - was inclined to simply order the boarding ships in-system to seize the research vessel Oberth by force and have Dr. Feynman dragged before her in irons. That was a sentiment every university student who'd ever had to deal with an insufferable professor would certainly sympathize with. She very much doubted that anyone she knew would even object, but she simply took a deep breath, letting it out slowly.
"In that case, Professor, what are you doing here; what do you need?" She somehow managed to maintain the composure she was projecting, she thought; though if she could involuntarily kill with her eyes over a comm screen, she was sure he'd fall dead with his head vaporized to a stump. Obliviously, or else with such a remarkable degree of awareness that he pretended to be oblivious, Dr. Feynman brightened and said, "we are currently lacking antimatter cells we need to complete our observations. If you can organize a delivery to this vessel, we'll be able to greatly advance our timetable."
Najia nodded, curtly, and cut the comm channel. She let out the seething huff she wasn't aware she had been holding in, and took a step back. "Captain, you have the Conn," she said, quietly. "I have the Conn," Captain Kevlin said, taking the center console as Najia walked to the aft railing of the 'smoke pit,' taking it in her hands and squeezing for a long few moments. "There's a conference room aboard, ma'am, if you need long-range communications capability," the captain said to her, with a glance over her shoulder. "Also, your two personal S-class craft were loaded onto our pads before you arrived. Should you require them." Najia recognized what the Captain was saying to her; she was semi-subtly suggeting that Najia take her anger somewhere the crew couldn't see it. Najia half-seethed at that, but she recognized the wisdom - and nodded. "Thank you, Captain. I do need the comms, in fact. Ace, Marta, with me please."
"I could kill him," Najia said, the moment the door closed behind her. Marta, ahead of her, sat on the edge of the conference table and snorted. The room was essentially a copy of their ships' standardized mess halls, but without the kitchen. "You and me both. Sanctimonious little..." "Why do you not, then," Ace asked, turning a chair around and sitting in it, drawing her feet up to the edge of it, curling her tail around her legs. "He has clearly given you cause for outrage; not mere ire or annoyance, but clear outrage. He is also utterly oblivious to the fact that, whatever you were relative to him when last you met, you are, now, the master of a vast organization and due far more respect - and information - than he provided. The Maestro would likely order his ship siezed, that he himself be seized, respect beaten into him, and then have brought before him in chains to answer the questions he refused to answer before."
Najia paused for a moment, and leaned back on the wall of the conference room, taking a deep breath, huffing and letting it out slowly, hugging herself self-consciously. Less the 'ordering a beating to a prisoner' part, she had considered that very course of action. "Is that what you want me to do, Ace?" Ace let out a soft, hissing trill, and shook her head. "No. That would be... Very out-of-character for you, I think." She blinked at that, unsure why she didn't want to see Najia order that course of action, when it was what her piratical upbringing was telling her that Najia should do - would be within every right to do.
"Yeah, well... I considered it," Najia said, "less the beating part, anyway." "He's keepin' secrets from you. Spook stuff," Marta pointed out. "Considering how you almost died in the name of this Project Genesis, you damn well deserve some answers. Frankly, I wouldn't blame you in the slightest if you did order the ship seized and searched for those answers. And if we took Doc Dick prisoner in the process, well... I mean, I wouldn't, you know, condone it if you happened to say that they shouldn't be too concerned with being gentle when they grabbed him, I don't think I'd raise a fuss about it, either."
Najia broke into a laugh, and then face-palmed, sighing heavily, and grinning. "No. As cathartic as it might be..." She sighed, heavily. "As deeply, deeply cathartic as it might be..." She trailed off, then shook her head vehemently. "No. He is a prick, though." Marta snorted. "No arguments from me there. I can't tell you how many times I daydreamed about force-feeding him his own lectern in class." She smirked at Najia. "And I know you felt the same way."
"Mmmhmm. So, fie." She pushed off from the wall, sat in the chair next to Ace, and pulled up the comms, back to the station, intending to explain the matter to Boso Ta. The Boron's head appeared in hologram above the table. "Ah, Assistant! It appears that they are researching the same anomaly which brought the station over here," Boso Ta said, preempting her. He continued on, quickly, "Most of the gravimetric charge dispersed during that event, but they brought quite an array of equipment to examine the traces. Let us hope that this satisfies their curiosity and leads to their departure." Najia snorted at that. "Don't bet on it. I know this asshole, he's... Well, he's up to something. I'll arrange to deliver him the stuff he wants and get this moving, but, don't get your hopes up." She sighed, and decided to be nicer to Boso Ta, if only because she had been reminded of just how not-nice Dr. Feynman had been to her. "Is there anything else you need, Boso Ta, that we can act on at present?"
"Ah, yes," Boso Ta said, brightly. "We are prepared for teleportation trials to begin. Well, we have already tested them," he admitted, "with nonsapient life forms; your Professor Nakagawa is quite the researcher. He and Station Manager Peterson have quite ably assisted my research here whilst you were off endeavoring in Avarice. We've been waiting to offer you the opportunity to be the first sapient teleportation subject of our revived teleport project."
Najia blinked. "Well..." She paused, and huffed, and the table's comm system chirr-upped. It was Peterson, and Najia added her to the conference call. "Tsukiko, what's this about me being a guinea pig?" Tsukiko let out a huff, interrupted in the middle of something she was about to say; her shoulders slumped, and she grinned, wryly. "Okay, not really a guinea pig," she said. "We've tested it in-system with mice, and dogs. We sedated them first," she said, "and then sent them through un-sedated, too. No ill effects we could find. I hate to say it, but Boso Ta is... Kind of a genius."
Najia held back a snort at that, and Tsukiko smirked at her. "So, it's safe, as near as anyone can tell?" "Oh yes. There's no evidence of any sort of atomic or molecular irregularities in scans of the animals taken on either side of the teleport, and a veterinary specialist who examined the animals before and afterwards indicated there was no sign of any lasting trauma from the experience," Boso Ta interrupted. "I felt that being the first sapient to go through the system would be your due, for the work you've put in to bringing us to the point where it is possible. Najia Takio; first human to use a teleport intentionally... Developed by us, anyway."
Najia snorted at that, and smirked. "I'll think about it. Do we need to retrofit anything?" "Oh, no," Tsukiko said. "Or, rather - and this is actually kind of mind-blowing - the actual teleport hardware itself is... Frankly miniscule. There is a refit needed, but it's already been done; we just started fitting them into the lifts of larger ships and the airlocks of Small-classes."
Najia blinked at that. She hadn't even known about it? "As a standard...?" "Indeed, as a standard option! This would, needless to say, greatly simplify personnel transfer logistics."
Najia laughed at that, and looked at Ace. Ace was stroking her crest, and looked... Thoughtful. Marta looked fascinated. "Shit, Ninja Taco, if you ain't gonna go for it, I will. But what'd you want, Professor Peterson?" Tsukiko laughed, blushing slightly. "Please, Marta, how many times do I have to tell you to just call me Tsukiko? You're harder to break of that habit than Najia was. Anyway, I called because the Golden Flea and the ship Ninja Taco are getting coded comms signals from the Empyrean Curs."
Ace let out a high-pitched trill at that. "Please, you must tunnel the comm from the Flea here with all haste." Tsukiko punched a button on her desk, out of view, and a holographic comms-panel came up in front of Ace. Ace studied it - it looked to Najia like gibberish - for a moment. "This is the recall signal. Maestro wants us back on the Arcadian Endeavour immediately, unless we are presently under surveillance by the authorities." Ace looked back to her. "It looks like the Maestro has his plans aligned and is ready to do something adventuresome."
Najia took in a deep breath, and nodded. "Alright." She squeezed her hand in a fist, and stood up. "We - or, I at least - are going to teleport back to the station. Boso Ta will get his test - and Boso Ta... Good work. Please proceed with teleportation research as far as you can take it." Boso Ta did a somersault in his tank, gleefully, at that request. "Oh, with pleasure, Assistant!" Najia looked at Ace. "Shall we try this teleport thing?" "Yes, let's!" Ace stood, and had a positively gleeful look. "This sounds... Fun."
Najia could only smile at that, and nod. "Right. Have the Flea and 'Chipmunk's' ships brought to the pads," she directed. "Actually, no; send all of my Chipmunk ships ahead; have them dock on the defense platform at the 18B gate, the Endeavor tends to hang out there anyway." She stood. "So... Just... The lift?" "Just the lift," Boso Ta confirmed. "Though, in the very near future, we suspect we'll be able to initiate the teleport from arbitrary locations."
Najia nodded. "Alright. A quick stop before we go." She smiled, heading for the lift.
A scant few minutes later, Najia was in the as-yet-impersonal-and-unfinished ready room, with Captain Kevlin. The two of them eyed one another warily, for a long few moments, and Najia pointed two fingers at her, starting the conversation. "You're not just some shipyard-working spacer," she said. "You stand like you're professional military." "And you stand like you're a free-wheeling, over-inflated sorority sister who lucked out and won the lottery," Kevlin shot back at her, smirking.
Najia blinked. She blinked again. Then she laughed, hard, curling her arm around her belly, the other hand reaching out to rest on the hull next to the window. When she looked up, she grinned. "Okay, now I know you're not a spy. No spy with a brain in their head would say something that's as likely to get them fired as anything else." Selaia smirked at her. "Unless I'm a very good spy who's compiled a massive psych profile on you."
"Which I strongly doubt," Najia shot back. "But you're also not afraid of being fired." Selaia shrugged. "No, I'm not. Working in your shipyard is nice, yes; probably the second-best job I've ever had, but I'm not going to kiss your ass and be a yes-woman. I won't do that for anyone."
Najia straightened up, and peered into Selaia's eyes. They were, not hostile, but hard with resolve. She smirked slightly, and nodded. "Good. I don't like yes-women, they fuck things up. So, you think I'm, what -" "An irresponsible, idealistic child who managed to, through luck and probably some skill, wind up controlling a growing paramilitary business empire," Selaia shot back, walking around her, eyeing her up. Najia snorted at that. "Child? Seriously?"
"You're not a veteran. You're not a politician. You're not a businesswoman. You might be doing a credible job pretending to be those latter two, but you're a university student who got lucky, and is good at putting on faces." Najia bristled, but shoved it down; the Argon-born starship operator was abrasively blunt... But she was airing doubts Najia herself had. "Harsh," Najia said. "But... Not entirely untrue. So, why are you still here, if you don't like me?" There was a long, quiet moment. "I didn't say I didn't like you," Selaia said, softly. "But you are all of those things." She smirked.
"And you like that, then?" Najia smirked back. "What got you discharged, presumably dishonorably, from the Argon navy? Your big mouth that can't seem to shut up? Called a superior out on some bullshit that you couldn't stand to let stand?" "You'd think that, but no; fraternization." Selaia met her gaze, levelly. "Though I was on the thinnest of ice before that for, as you say, speaking my mind." She walked around Najia, appraising her. "Are you planning to sack me? Should I grab my go bag and begone?" Laughing, Najia shook her head. "No! I was actually going to ask if you wanted the ship for real, not just for the trials."
That, at least, took Kevlin aback for a moment. She walked away, paused, turned. Looked Najia up and down again, slowly. Najia felt self-conscious about it, raising her eyebrow, as the other woman crossed her arms over her chest. "Do I have to get on my knees for the job?" Najia blinked at that. It struck her out of left field, and she rocked back on her heels. "I - I'm sorry... What?" "Do you expect me to put out - sexually - for the position," Selaia repeated, slowly, her voice... Almost unnervingly neutral; uncannily, composedly so. Najia gawped at her for a long few moments, her mouth hanging open. Closed. Open. Closed. She reached up and rubbed her face with her hands for a few moments. "I... I'm sorry, I - what kind of - where did you - what gave you..." She took a deep breath. "No. Emphatically no. What on or off Earth gave you that idea?"
A few moments that seemed like almost an eternity passed, then Selaia shrugged, and seemed to shrink in a bit, relaxing. "Frankly? You have a reputation as a party girl that goes back to Segaris and has followed you here what with all the Segaris Pioneers you're hiring away, preferentially beginning with your old circle of school pals - with whom you're pretty obviously in a, what did the Segaris call it, 'polycule' with. Your politics can only be described as 'liberal to an extreme,' given the way you run your stations domestically, and I overheard a snippet of one of your small craft pilots describing, very bluntly, you going down on her in the cockpit, after offering her the job. She was discussing this with the captain of Fenrir, who compared notes with her. I took that to infer that you liked to be sexual with those captains you personally offered a job to."
Najia flushed red, her jaw dropping, and looked out the window again, at the gas giant hanging in the distance. She groaned-and-laughed at the same time. "Fatimah and Xiaowen... I am going to scold them for gossiping somewhere public," she said, laughing so hard it brought tears to her eyes, and rubbed them out of her eyes. Then she heaved a heavy sigh. "And that didn't chase you away?" "I didn't expect I'd ever run into you personally," the shipyard expert said, "and frankly, given the dizzying breadth of corruption a kid with suddenly-unlimited power could get up to, being a little skeevy with grown adults is on the low end." Najia face-palmed again, harder. "Alright, look," she said, turning around. "Fatimah, Xiaowen and I are old friends from Segaris University. Yes, we're a thing, a big, messy, multi-tentacular thing that we're not ashamed of, but you've rather taken the wrong end of the stick there. It was roleplay, what they were discussing, pure and simple. A few moments of kink snatched from the jaws of some really messy, pressy schedules, between attempts to make the galaxy an overall better place and setbacks. Yes, I pretended to abuse my position and money to make them, for want of another word, perform to keep their jobs. And later, Fatimah turned that exact position around on me, while Xiaowen tied me up and -"
"Enough," Selaia said, laughing; finally her composure had broken, and she'd flushed, chuckling and holding her hand up. "Okay, I get it... I apologize, miss Takio. Clearly, I was badly mistaken." "... Najia, please," Najia said, blushing and grinning. "Since you already know me so well anyway."
Selaia snorted at her, and smiled, wryly, nodding. Najia met her eyes, for a long few moments. "So, that fraternization that got you kicked out of the Argon military..." "When you're a military intelligence lieutenant and a famous, well-liked starship captain insinuates that your career might stall out by standing on your feet but might go places on your knees, you weigh your options," Selaia said, bluntly. She pushed off the desk, and pushed past Najia, staring out the window herself. "So I started delivering reports from under his desk instead of in front of it. I hated myself a little, at first... Then he started telling me to sit up on his desk after. That was a little..." She huffed. "I dunno. Then his wife found out."
Najia winced. "Oh, damn. And monogamy is a big thing in Argon space, I take it?" "Well, yes, but she didn't blow up quite like you're expecting. She blew up at him all right - for not telling her and sharing me with her immediately. I got caught by my immediate superior - the one who didn't like my mouth - going to her home, who tried to use the thing to bring me, the captain and his wife - a defense industrial contractor - down. They had political connections, and when all was said and done, I basically took the fall for everything. The Lt.C who found out I was basically being half-bribed, half-blackmailed into being a kinky, connected couple's toy got to quietly resign, the captain got promoted to commodore, and I got the option to take an administrative discharge with my commission revoked for conduct unbecoming, or get totally shafted at a court martial and take the fall for everything, doing prison time."
Najia blinked at that, and winced. "That's... That's..." "If you give me a pity look, I swear I will punch you in the loins and tell you to take your offer and shove it." Proper fire glared in the skipper's eyes as she turned to look at Najia. Najia stepped back, her jaw half-dropping, and then she shook her head, laughing. "No - no! I was saying, 'that's a shit sandwich.'"
Selaia snorted roughly at her, and turned back to look out the window. "Yeah... Yeah, it was. Anyway, that was then, then I wound up here. I signed on a freighter to forget my past, made port here, decided to take a job in the shipyard because it paid better than the freighter, was work I could do, and the habs here are wonderful. Then I found myself in front of you, and, well... Sorry, for thinking you might be kind of a hump."
Najia snorted. "But not so much of a hump that it was an automatic deal-breaker, huh?" She scratched her head, craning to look up at the Oberth hanging 'above' them. "Yes... No... Maybe? I don't honestly know what I was going to say if you said yes," the Argon woman admitted. "At first, when I first... When I found the whole 'prostitution is legal and regulated' here thing, I was skeeved out. I tried to leave, but, there weren't actually any ships that would take me that day. Then I wound up actually finding out that one of my coworkers - someone I was kind of chummy with - was turning tricks on the side, and... Well, we had a chat about it. He was from Segaris, and thought it was no big deal. And, well... I... Kind of... Had whored myself. I didn't feel good about it then. I still don't, but... I was... Well, willing, I suppose, to at least see if the offer you made, the way you made it, made me feel greasy about it like it did back then, or if it was... I don't know; open? Honest?"
"Well, I'm glad to have pleasantly surprised you - though I am totally going to kill Fatimah and Xiaowen for gossiping in public," Najia muttered without sincere heat, continuing "and no... I'm really not going to demand that someone put out for a job. You just... Impressed me with what I saw, in the admittedly very brief time that I've known you, but hey, I'm the kind of impulsive idiot who takes a leap of faith based on her gut instinct."
"Then, in that case..." Selaia turned to her, and smirked. "I'll skipper this ship for you for now, but I want something bigger when it's available. And not assigned to a reaction force or routine escort or defense duty or something." Najia snorted again, and laughed. She took a step back, and looked Selaia up and down again, smirking and grinning. The formerly-Argon military intelligence woman didn't look particularly extraordinary, but she shifted to stand at 'parade rest,' arms folding behind her back, eyes piercing and patient. "Setting terms, huh?" Najia smirked. She looked like she was considering it, but Selaia had impressed her - and she was also the first hire she'd had who had a formal military background outside the Segaris Pioneers. That perspective could be useful. She crossed her arms. "It just so happens I'm planning to build more ships," she said. "Some of them will be quite large." She extended her hand to Selaia, who took and shook it, firmly. "You wouldn't happen to be planning to construct a Centaur II Battleship, would you?" Selaia asked, grinning at her. Najia laughed. "That depends; if you have the full plans for a Centaur II* in your back pocket, I'll make sure you get the first one out of the yard."
Laughing now, the other woman reached back with her free hand, and dramatically patted one of her rear pockets. "Damn, I appear to have left those plans in my other trousers." She let go, grinning and shaking her head, sighing. "Sorry, again, for... You know." Najia shook her head. "Jeeze, are you ever gonna stop beating yourself up for it?" She shook her head, laughing exasperatedly. "I don't know," the Captain answered bluntly, laughing and wryly face-palming. "I thought for sure that you were either going to say yes, or you'd fire me on the spot for even asking. And now I'm asking myself, do I even deserve the post?"
"For, what? Being willing to entertain the idea?" Najia shook her head, and, taking a bit of a risk, reached out and laid her hand heavily on Captain Kevlin's shoulder, squeezing it. "It's not like I'm running a state military with rules against fraternization or anything. What I care about is; can you do it, and are you someone whose general... Mmmmmh... It's not exactly right to say 'someone whose morals I like,' so much as..." Najia trailed off for a moment; Ace's morals were certainly questionable, even by her standards - in some cases especially by her standards - but she had bonded with her, trusted her. "Someone I feel I can trust to continue to be someone whose actions I like. If you wanna be woo-woo about it, someone whose spirit I like. And you? I have a good feeling about you; I've been wrong before, but... Not often."
Selaia snorted at her, looking at her, then looking back to the window. "And you'd trust someone who was willing to go down on you to get the post?" "As its own qualification, no. But it doesn't make me distrust you," Najia said. "Especially with how you were prepared to evaluate how a 'yes' answer made you feel and then tell me to take that offer and shove it. So, we good? You want to skipper a ship for me?" "Just that simply? No... Strings attached?"
Najia laughed, and turned, leaning against the windowsill and looking at the other woman's head in profile, smirking. "Do you want strings attached?" Selaia started at the question, turning to look at her. She worked her mouth a few times, but couldn't seem to find words; she did, however, flush warmly, looking somewhat guilty, and swallowed. "Okay, look; you're conflicted, obviously." Najia took the professional spacer's hand, squeezing it carefully. "Like I said, the job is yours if you say yes, no strings attached. Completely separately from that, if you are interested in, you know, the idea of getting to know me more thoroughly, that's, you know, a matter we can bring up later. And if you're not, then I'm not going to mention it again."
Flushing, Selaia turned away from her, but kept her hands in hers; squeezing Najia's hand, tightly. "This is so fucking unprofessional of me to even be considering," she huffed. "Sure it is. And you impressed me by being able to put on and take off the 'Professional Selaia' almost instantly. I bet you could summon 'Captain Kevlin' back in a moment."
Selaia blinked at her, turning her head to look at her. She drew her hand back, took a deep breath, and faced the window again. Folded her arms behind her back, and executed a crisp right-face, her face schooled into stern impassivity. Her eyes were mirthful, but the rest was the very picture of the woman Najia had seen standing by at attention while she indulged herself in helming the ship personally. "Just like that," Najia said, grinning brightly. Her grin softened Selaia's demeanor, and she smiled in turn. "You're a deep well of passion who can put on 'military bearing' in a moment. And you're not a yes-woman. That's what I need."
Working her jaw slightly, Selaia relaxed, chuckling and sighing; she flushed again, and sighed. "Thank you," she said. "For the opportunity; for not getting pissed at me, for... Well, for being understanding, and tolerating me being an aggro neurotic about it when things didn't go the ways I'd seen them going." "It's fine," Najia assured her, holding her hands up, placatingly, and to her surprise, Selaia took them, squeezing. "I, um... I..." Flushing and looking away, Selaia swallowed. "Is that offer going to be on the table if I need to sleep on it?"
Najia laughed, grinning and shaking her head. "Oh, you're amazing. Yes, absolutely; sleep on it. Hell, I have to get going; places to go, pirate clans to infiltrate. Fun stuff! Speaking of which, please make the ship combat-ready and take it to the Windfall/Eighteen B hardpoint to dock. I'm not saying I expect anything to go down, but..."
"Understood." Selaia looked back up; she remained flushed, but smiled. "That, I can do." She squeezed Najia's hands, and Najia squeezed back, then let go. She pivoted on her heel, slipping out of the Ready Room and headed for the lift; Ace and Marta had disembarked said left and were standing to the side of the corridor, with Marta telling Ace an anecdote from when they were still young class-taking students at Segaris U. "Well that took longer than expected," Marta said. "Everything good?" "Everything's good," Najia said. "And we have a new captain. I figured she should keep Koshirae for now. So, how does this lift-teleporter work?"
"Like this," Ace said, stepping into the lift. She pressed a button, and Najia felt a strange, yet familiar sensation start to take hold; like the feeling she got just before the headquarters had transported itself. Like falling in all directions at once; then, with a bright flash, she found herself in another lift. Blinking, Najia felt herself up for a few moments, then strode out; they were on one of the landing pads at the headquarters, and standing above them was the Golden Flea. Her jaw dropped. "That... That... Was both incredible, and..." "Somehow underwhelming," Ace concluded with her. "It was not wholly without fanfare, yet somehow, I anticipated... More."
Najia nodded. "Right. So, how should we do this?" She looked to Ace, who smiled at her. "We stagger the arrival of Chipmunk's ships and mine in the vicinity of the Arcadian Endeavour, as though we had scattered, lain low, and were returning from somewhat different places." Najia nodded. "Right. And, I wonder... Would it be possible to fit the Flea with a teleporter?"
"Indeed it would," Ace agreed. "I asked Boso Ta if this was possible and he said it was very simple. He delivered the equipment to the Flea before I had finished asking, in fact, though I do not think I will be able to install it and fly home simultaneously." Najia grinned at Ace, and Ace grinned back at her, adding, "but, if you wished to fly back with me, one of us could tinker, while the other flies."
Najia grinned at Ace, and looked back to Marta. "That sounds good to me. Would you please take the Jackdaw and -" "Head on ahead while the two of you fiddle with Ace's ship and snuggle up naked while the ship is on autopilot?" Marta asked back, smirking. Najia flushed, glancing around; there was nobody within earshot. "Mmmm-hmmmm. You ain't foolin' noone, sister." Marta grasped Najia, pulled her close, and kissed her. Najia felt herself melt into the grasp, kissing back instinctually, embracing her oldest friend and turning her head to meet the kiss. Then it ended, Marta pulled back, and stepped back, looking down at Ace with her hands on her hips.
Ace blinked, peering up at the far-taller, stronger human. For a moment, she was concerned she would be threatened again, then she sucked in a sharp breath as Marta reached under her arms, grasped her chest, and simply lifted her to eye-level, then hugged her tightly. Ace let the breath out slowly, tentatively returning the embrace, and asked, "I... thought you distrusted me," she commented. "I did," Marta said, bluntly. "But Najia, apparently, took a chance on you, and figures you're alright. She's been right about that kind of thing a lot more often than I have." Marta squeezed her, and Ace sucked in a breath in alarm; the human could probably squeeze her so strongly that she passed out, yet she didn't squeeze so hard she hurt. It rather felt like being in Najia's arms, in fact. "So, I'm guessing you're one of us now. That ain't gonna be a problem with, you know, the whole pirate clan, is it?"
There it was; the proverbial shoe. Najia swallowed, glad that Ace couldn't see. She had been studiously not raising that point. "It will not be, provided... Provided I am not asked to betray the Curs. Membership in a pirate clan is... Voluntary, for the most part," Ace said. "I will not betray them." She looked back at Najia. "And, I think, neither will you." "But you are willing to leave them... For us?"
"For you," Ace said, reaching out with her tail, wrapping it around Najia's arm. "And, perhaps, the rest of you, in time," she added, looking at Marta, trilling softly. "But I will have to see the Maestro's big scheme through." "Family. I get that," Marta opined, setting Ace down. "Y'all fly safe. We'll filter in like a disorganized rabble."
Ace nodded, and turned to board the Flea. "What took you so long, anyway?" "Oh geeze." Najia followed the Teladi pilot. "It's a long story."

*h2loupehk^- > G. alṓpēx, Arm. ałuēs, Skt. lopāśá-s, A. luumóo ‘fox’, Ni. livaša, Kt. řavéki, Kv. vříka, *-aka > Is. urvesok
*rompek’ > *rompec’ > *repomc’ > *repäns’ > F. repo, Es. rebane, Mv. r’ives’, Hn. raasz
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These have been seen as loans, but no Iranian word matches completely (various Dardic ones also given for comparison), so either not a loan or some changes in PU obscured its origin. The *-ns’ (if original) would match G. as a C-stem (with -C > -0 in nom. for PU). If related, evidence that u was w after V, vp > mp (maybe like A. luumóo, other ev. that Dardic m \ v alternated). In *h2loupehk^- > G. alṓpēx, *ovp > *o_p > *ōp (like dáphnē \ daukhnā- ‘laurel’, with u disappearing before ph but not kh showing it was *v even in very old dialects). The k^ : c’ found in so many words seems to support their relation.
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Skt. caṭaka- ‘sparrow’, Hi. ciṛā, Ben. côṛai, B. čOṛkuṛi ‘bird’, Rom. čiriklo
*či(n)čä > Sm. cicce ‘sparrow / small bird’, *či(n)čikä > Skp. čičik(a)
*c’iNc’V(kV) > Nen. s’inc’ek ‘small bird’
*c’Vlc’V > Mi. c’ül’c’ ‘wading bird (redshank?)’
*čäčkä > Z. čakčej, Mv. šekšej ‘spotted woodpecker’
*čac’kV > Sm. cisku ‘falcon’
*s’äRkc’e > Z čikči, F. sääksi ‘kite’, Es. sääsk
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It is hard to think all these words are unrelated. Only a small group of Indo-Iran. languages have the basic word for ‘bird’ contain č-k-R. Dardic languages often show assim. of affricates (c-č > č-č , etc.) if *ki > *c’i in *čaṛkiṛu > čaṛc’iṛu etc. It is again likely r > R > k in some.
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*k^h2anku- > Skt. śaŋkú- ‘twig/peg/post/stake/spike/stick/arrow’
*čxeŋkV > Sm. *cэŋkē prop/strut/support’, Ud. čog ‘nail’, Hn. csegely ‘wedge-shaped field/meadow’
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This supposes *cseg ‘wedge’ >> csegely. The cs- instead of s- in Hn. might be caused by a cluster instead of plain č (reasonaly it would be čx or c’x ) and the IE words have -a-, meaning h2 should be there. This is unlikely to be chance.
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Skt. nā́man-, G. ónuma, Lac. énuma-, Arm. anun, TA ñom, TB ñem; *nime > F. nimi ‘name’
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This is a hard one. There’s a vague similarity, but what kind of strange changes could have brought this *nime about? It’s a little too much for me. I’ll have to come back to this later, using all my faculties to their fullest.
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*dhuh2tó- ‘shaken / fanned’, *dhuh2ti-s ‘smoke’ > Skt. dhūtá- \ dhutá- ‘shaken / agitated’, B. dukti ‘soul / last breath’; *dhuxti > *dhwati > *lwali > *lewle > F. löyly ‘spirit / steam from the sauna stove’, Hn. lélëk ‘soul’
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More t > l. That it is closest to Dardic with Toch. uh2 > ua > wa would be important.
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*-es, *V-:s (pl); *-t
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This would make the most sense if s > θ in some environments in PU (after V but not before C, for ex.). If s could merge with t, the odd treatment of t in PU, like t > l, could be from the same change. This would mean t > l could come from t > θ > l. This means s > l would be possible between V’s (that is, for -s- and -s, the difference is > l but not after C, not word-final).
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*wes- > OE wesan ‘be/remain’, Skt. vásati ‘dwell’, TB woloktär ‘dwells’; *wole- > F. ole- ‘be’
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This is what would be required if they were related; the similarity to TB is clear, but this is usually taken as contamination with koloktär (below)
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*kWelh- > G. pélomai ‘move’, Skt. cárati ‘move/wander’, TB koloktär ‘follows’; F. kulke- ‘go/walk/travel’
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If they were related; the similarity to TB is clear. Toch. had k / 0 (which I say came from *x in
>
*memsuxā- > *pesukā- > TA puskāñ
*memsuxā- > *pesuā- > *peswā- > TB passoñ ‘muscles’
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*lewax^- > *lewa(k)- > TA lu, pl. lwāk
*lewax^- > *lewa(s)- > TB luwo, pl. lwāsa ‘animal’
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*gWHoluwxo- > *guluxo- > Arm. glux ‘head/summit/end / chief’
*gWHoluwāx > *golwā > R. golová ‘head’, Li. galvà
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*mxulto:(n) > *mxëlto > TA mkälto ‘young’, malto ‘in the first place’
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Toch. and Arm. having some *x > k / 0 would match *k > *x > 0 in:
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Skt. srákva- \ sṛkvaṇ- ‘corner of mouth’, TB *sǝrkwan- > *sǝrxwan- > särwāna (pl. tan.) ‘face’
>
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L. dingua, TA käntu, TB kantwo; *kääle > F. kieli
or
Li. liežùvis, Kh. ligìni ‘tongue’ (reanalyzed with *leig^h- ‘lick’ ); *leikwi > *läike > *kääle > F. kieli
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If close to Toch., similar to *mntis > L. menti-; *manti > *menle > *meele > F. mieli ‘reason/understanding’). That it is closest to Toch. would be important.
If close to Dardic, the long *ää would correspond to *ei (which would need to be shortened before CC elsewhere). That it is closest to IE with reanalyzed forms would be important.
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*h2anti- \ -o- \ -0- > Skt. ánta- ‘end/limit’, Go. andeis, H. hanz() = xant-s ‘front’, TA ānt, TB ānte ‘surface/forehead’; *anli > *ajŋe ‘brain/temple’ F. aivo(t), H. agy
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This seems to show nt > ŋl then l > l’ before front, l’ > j after N (before nl > _l ). A similar case, with no fronting in tu vs. ti
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*pett(u)ro- > Arm. pHetur ‘feather’, Skt. pátatra- ‘wing/feather’, pátra- / páttra-
*pewturo > *pimtulo > *piŋlule > *piŋul \ *piŋe > Es. püvi, F. pyy ‘hazelhen’, Mv. povo, H. fogoly \ fogor-\fogu-madár
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In which dissim. of l-l in *piŋlule > *piŋul prevented loss of ŋ. The opt. change of tt > wt in Arm. is similar (see Skt. aṃ-vitti- ‘not finding’, Arm. an-giwt ‘not found’; *wid-ti- >Arm. giwt -i- ‘finding / invention’, git -i- ‘finding / gift’). The alt. of w \ m \ ŋ seen in others (*pilŋ- \ *pilm- \ *pilv- ‘dark, cloud’; *xaŋ’t’a- > ŋ \ n’ \ m > X. âŋǝt ‘horn/antler’, Mi. ān’t, Nen. n’amtǝ). Other met. might have created:
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*pimtula > *limputa > *linta \ *lunta > F. lintu ‘bird’, X. lont \ tunt ‘goose’, Hn. lúd
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in which the alt. of 2 V’s in i \ u come from *i-u in the older form, just like i \ u for ‘fly’:
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*pimtula > *pimlula > *limpula > *limplä \ *lum(p)lä > *lum(p)ä(l)- \ *lim(p)ä(l)- > H. libëg- \ lebëg- ‘float’, libben- ‘fly up / flutter’, levegöö ‘air’, Ud. lob-, lobal- ‘fly’, Z. leb-, le.bal-
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*polh1o- ‘broad’ > OCS polŭ ‘side/shore’; *päxlä > Mv. päl’ ‘side’, Sm. bælle ‘side/half (lengthwise)’, F. -piele
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If h1 = x^ this palatal would opt. change V > front. Met. of lx > xl
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*pah2g^s(a)lo- > G. pássalos ‘peg’, L. *pakslos > pālus ‘stake’; *paaK^lo > *pääK^lo > *peele > Es. peel ‘pole/post’, F. pieli ‘(door)post/jamb’, Hn. ajtó-fél
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If native, h2 = x would prevent xg^ from becoming xd^; after VxC > V:C, this palatal g^ would opt. change V > front. It’s possible the double K(^) here caused both length, then long V before a C > 0 was raised. This explanation would be unavailable if a loan from L. (or indirectly).
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*gWrh2ur- > Go. kaurus, G. barús, Skt. gurú- ‘heavy’; *gWraxur > *gWraurǝ > *läwlǝ > F. läyli ‘heavy’
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As in Arm., old *-ur in u-stems. If final -V added after all -r, it might only remain in those words that would become monosyl. if lost. It’s also possible -x- was lost in Vxu and Vxi first ( > Vwu and Vji ), hard to tell. Looking at this, it’s possible that TB krāmär did not come from a derivative in *-mr or *-wr but instead directly:
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*gWrh2ur- > *gWraxur > *gWrawur > *gwrawur > *grawur > *gramur >TB krāmär ‘weight’, kramartse ‘heavy’
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with w-w dissim., then w > m by u.
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*wedo- > Arm. get ‘river’, *do-are-wedo- > W. darwedd ‘bubbling/fountain/spring’
*wete > F. vesi, g. veden, Mi. wit(’), Hn. víz, acc. vizet
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*wediko- > *wed’iko- > *woð’kV > Z. vol’ ‘small river’
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Now, if *wete means ‘water’ and *woð’kV ‘small river’, doesn’t that imply the existence of *-kV as a diminutive? As in F. poika ‘son/boy’? The alt. of e / o here would show either ablaut or optional rounding; whichever you pick, both seen in IE in this word (*wodo:r > *wudo:r in G.). The sound that became either *t or *ð’ implies either d > t / ð’ in different environments or ð > t / ð’ (and voicing as original would be preferred, since *tk > *dk would not be ususal).
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Skt. putraká- ‘little son/boy/child’, *pütRak^á > *pöxäc^a > Kt. pe-éts \ pe-éz, Dm. paai, A. phay- / phoó ‘boy’; *polraka > F. poika ‘son/boy’
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V-harmony u-a > o-a again. The change of t > l after V as before could give *polraka > *porlaka > *porlka > *pojka > F. poika (with no more ex.), but the palatalization in Dardic could be responsible instead (it could be that the suffix was *-akx^a- not *-aka- , etc., hard to tell).
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*webh- > OE webb ‘web/weft/woven work’, *webhto- ‘cloth’ > Av. ubdaēna-; *wepte- ‘catch with a net’ > Mr. wapte-, Ud. votes
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If this shows the existence of PU *weptV- ‘net’ to a verb *wepte- ‘catch with a net’, it would be hard not to see IE.
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*syuh1- ’sew / stitch’, L. sūtor ‘shoemaker’, OPr schumeno ‘shoemaker’s filament’
*syuh1to- > OHG siut ‘suture/seam’, Skt. syūtá-, Li. siútas; *s(j)ukto > *sukse > F. suksi ‘ski / snowshoe’
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If t > θ first, kθ > ks before θ > l. The many matches of h : k don’t seem like chance.
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G. kurtía ‘wickerwork shield’, kúrtē ‘fish-basket’, Skt. kuti(:)- ‘hut’
*kuta > *kota > F. kota, Sm. goatte ‘tent / Lapp hut’
*külä > F. kylä ‘village/dwelling’, Mi. kül ‘house’
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If rt only opt. > rl, it would fit. There are too many words with the same meaning showing front vs. back harmony to be coincidence. Some are caused by *jV (jalka ‘foot / leg’ vs. *jelkä > jälki ‘footprint’), this would require opt. u > ü > u / i as in Arm., Dardic. The same in *wülä below.
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*ud- > Go. ut, Skt. ud-; *wülä \ *wilä \ *wile > ylä- ‘uppehigh(er)’, yle-mpi
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With d > l, u- > wu-; if not a derivative, it would require opt. u > ü > u / i as in Arm., Dardic. The same in Skt. kuti(:)- ‘hut’; *kuta > *kota > F. kota, Sm. goatte ‘tent / Lapp hut’, *külä > Mi. kül ‘house’)
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*ud-t(e)ro- > Skt. úttara- ‘upper’; *udteRo > *uðtego > *tuðego > *tuð’ka > F. tutka ‘tip/peak’, Mi. tal’ǝk
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Met. before any further changes of dt (if the same as tt).
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*(s)kermn- > Skt. cárman- ‘skin/hide’; *k’er’man > *c’eð’mä > *c’ämd’e > *c’äpte > Sm. čävddë ‘skin/bark’, Nen. s’āpt
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The same change in G. pérdix ‘partridge’; *perdā > *pað’ta > Mi. pal’tā ‘black grouse’, Hn. fajd, then met. (maybe d’m > md’ > bd > pt was regular).
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*septǝmó- ‘7th’ > G. hebdomós, OPr sep(t)mas, L. septimus; *s’eŋ’c’emä > F. seitsemä- ‘7’, Z. s’iz’im
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The great similarity and possibility of Ce > C’e being so strong makes a relation nearly certain. Now, if this might come from a word with -pt- and it contains -ŋ’c’- there instead (or whatever cluster you prefer), shouldn’t this be taken as evidence that pt could change into mt \ ŋt before palatalization? This is because of he alt. of w \ m \ ŋ seen in others (*pilŋ- \ *pilm- \ *pilv- ‘dark, cloud’; *xaŋ’t’a- > ŋ \ n’ \ m > X. âŋǝt ‘horn/antler’, Mi. ān’t, Nen. n’amtǝ; *petturo- > *pewturo > *pimtulo > *piŋlule > *piŋul \ *piŋe > Es. püvi, F. pyy ‘hazelhen’, Mv. povo, H. fogoly \ fogor-\fogu-madár). That tt and pt could become mt matches Arm. (with tt / pt > wt(H) all possible). This kind of coincidence is not believable.
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If the ‘7th’ > ‘7’ change was shared in the higher numbers, the clusters *-tt- in both ‘5’ and ‘6’ would be from *-CCto- in ‘5th’ and ‘6th’ in IE. Some also added *-ti-, which might be closer.
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*y(e)mho- > ON Ymir, Skt. yamá- ‘twin’; *jaxma > F. jama \ jaama ‘joint’, Sm. juomek ‘twin lamb’
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If this is a loan, it would show metathesis and IE *h > *x in reconstructions, good evidence for its existence for those who have made a case for Vx vs V: or V > V: in the past.
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*wag^- > G. ágnūmi ‘break/shatter’, Skt. vájra-s ‘Indra’s thunderbolt’, Av. vazra- ‘Mithra’s club’; *vas’ara > F. vasara ‘hammer’, TB bhaśīr ‘lightning’
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These seem like loans into both PU and Toch. The V’s in both probably come from *vadz’ǝra- with various V’s (ǝ > i is expected in Indic, Skt. vs. Pkt). Likely Iran. *vadz’ǝra- > *vaz’ǝra- > PU *vas’ara, Indic *vadz’ǝra- > *vadžǝra- > *vadžira- etc. A loan of this age does not show that *Kr would become KVr in PU in native words (or earlier loans).
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*k^oh3no-s ? > G. kônos ‘(pine-)cone / spinning top? / bullroarer?’, Skt. śān(.)a-s ‘whetstone’, MP afsān, Shu. pisēn, Os. insōn(ë), Kh. usàn, Rom. (y)asan; *päxnV > Ud. penon, Hn. fen- ‘sharpen/whet / whetstone’
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If a loan, it is closest to Shu. pisēn which would show CVC- > CC- (like Skt. pāṃsulá- ‘dusty’, Ni. pasalä ‘dust’, *psulá > Dk. phúla ‘ashes’; *psora > Hn. por ‘dust/powdeashes’). If native, it would show the unexplained *pk^- or *nk^- \ *mk^- in Indo-Iran. was old (many different affixes attached to a noun make little sense). Note the *h causing opt. n > ṇ (maybe a similar hn > nHnH in Dv.).
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*hanhtukāh \ *hanhtikāh > Li. antuka ‘snipe’, Slavic *ontĭka > R. utka ‘duck’; *s’oðka > F. sotka ‘scaup (diving duck)’, Mv. s’ulgo
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If utka ‘duck’ : sotka ‘scaup (diving duck)’ is wrong, it would be odd. If right, it would show V > 0 creating *tuk > *θuk > *ðk or similar in the middle syllables. If syllabic h > a, a sequence
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*hanhtukāh
*hanatukāh
*hnatukāh
*hnaθukāh
*hnaθkāh
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might work. It depends on the nature of the first *h- (whether x or x^ > s^ (or dissim. of x-x earlier)). If *x^ > *s’ here, *Cn- > C- at some point. In H. lahanza(n)-, it’s possible that *h- > *R- > l- (instead of n-n, which did not exist in PIE at least).
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Since *toktaŋ’ > X. taxtǝŋ, F. tohtaja \ tohtava ‘Arctic loon / black-throated diver’ seems to be met. of the form that also gave *s’oðka > F. sotka ‘scaup (diving duck)’ (both similar diving birds), it’s likely:
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*x^anxtukāx ( = *hanhtukāh )
*x^aŋxtukāx
*x^aŋatukāx
*x^aŋaθukāx
*x^aŋaθukā
*x^aŋaθokā u-a > o-a
*x^ŋaθokā
*x^ŋaθkā *x^ŋoθkā
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with V1-V2 > either when middle V > 0 (like *pimtula > *limputa > *linta \ *lunta > F. lintu ‘bird’, X. lont \ tunt ‘goose’). Then, the very odd form would undergo several cases of met. and assim., which were regular would be hard to tell:
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*x^ŋoθkā
*s^ŋoθkā
*s^oθkā
*s’oðka
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*x^ŋoθkā
*s^ŋoθkā
*θ^ŋoθkā fric-assim.
*θ^ŋokθā met.
*t^ŋoktā reg.?
*tŋ^oktā
*toktāŋ^
*toktaŋ’
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This also seems to be behind the various words for types of duck, all very similar and showing met., assim., even if not IE:
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*xaŋV(t’)- ‘polar duck’ > Sm. haŋŋā, Nen. ŋāŋū, En. ŋau, Nna. ŋaŋod’a ‘duck’
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*ka(n)c’V
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*če(n)čV
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*wajc’V
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The likeness of these words to each other and *xaŋV(t’)- to IE *hanht(i)-, etc., seems like more than chance. Some of the likely changes:
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*kaŋ’c’V > *k’aŋc’V > *čanc’V
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*k’aŋc’V > *k’amc’V > *k’awc’V > *wak’c’V > *wajc’V
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with some of the developments not certain due to the unique clusters.
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*mangyo- ‘man’ > Slavic *monžjo- > R. muž; *man’c’V > F. mies, Mi. man’s’i, OHn. mogy-, H. magy-
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This has been seen as a loan; whatever source would still show a change within PU.
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Iran. *muxšti- ‘fist’ > Avestan mušti-, *müRšti- > Kv. mř'üšt, *muxštika- > Ni. mustik; *mučkV > Ud. mïžïk, Mv. mokšna
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This has been seen as a loan; whatever source would still show a change V > 0 in mid. syllable, št(‘) > č.
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*peu- / *pau- ‘cut / divide’ >> L. putāre ‘cut/trim/prune’, *ambi- > amputāre ‘cut off’, *pautsk^- > TA putk- ‘cut / divide/distinguish/separate/share’, TB pautk-; *päčkä- > Mv. pečke- ‘cut’, F. pätki- ‘cut into pieces’, *püčkV- > pytki- ‘cut into long slices’, *pučkV- > puhkaise- ‘pierce/puncture’, Mr. püškä- ‘sting/bite (of insects)’
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The alt. in PU could show *au / *aü > *äü etc. That *pautsk^- > pautk- : *päčkä- : *püčkV- : *pučkV- might not be true, with all the other similarities between PU and Toch. (*kWelh- > G. pélomai ‘move’, Skt. cárati ‘move/wander’, TB koloktär ‘follows’; F. kulke- ‘go/walk/travel’; *pedyāx > TA päts, TB patsa ‘bottom’; *potsjä > *pesä > F. pesä ‘nest’; etc.) requires some explanation; the alt. within PU would need *au or *aü independent of this, but its match is telling.
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*g^hans(o\i)- > OHG gans, E. goose, Skt. haṃsá- ‘goose / swan’, OIr géis ‘swan’; *jomkc’e(n) > F. joutsen ‘swan’, Sm. njuk’čâ, Mr. jükšǝ; Y. jaŋdže ‘goose’
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These are much too similar to be unrelated. The nasal in Nkc’ can’t be determined from internal ev., but either IE or Y. would require a > o by m. The changes to k^ in *h2ag^- > L. agō ‘drive/act’; *aja- > F. aja- ‘drive/chase’; *h2ak^ma:h2 > G. akmḗ ‘point/edge’; *äjmä ‘needle’; show that k^ > x^ or γ^ / V_V or V_N were matched by g^h > j (except before i ). Palatalized nT > ŋT’ also in *h2anti- > TB ānte ‘surface/forehead’; *anli > *ajŋe ‘brain/temple’ > F. aivo(t). This differing from *mangyo- : *man’c’V might show different timing of pal. by y vs. i or alt. in the pronunciation of n’ (like for m / ng, etc.).
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Likely that this includes:
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*γ’ansi- = *g^hansi-
*γ’ans’i-
*γ’aŋs’i-
*γ’aŋks’i-
*γ’amks’i-
*γ’omks’i-
*jomks’i-
*jomkc’i-
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with the same changes seen elsewhere (ŋ > m opt., rounding by P, pal. before front); it’s likely n’ > ŋ’ after a V, ŋ’- > n’- word-initial, if reg.).
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*yuhs(o)- ‘soup’ > Skt. yu(:)s.á-, Li. júšė, *yuhmo- > G. zū́mē ‘leaven’, zōmós ‘broth’; *jamV > Mv. jam ‘soup’, Nga. jamâ ‘gruel of blood/meat/flouwater’
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This would show uh > wa as in *dhuh2ti-s > B. dukti ‘soul / last breath’; *dhuxti > *dhwati > *lwali > *lewle > F. löyly ‘spirit / steam from the sauna stove’, Hn. lélëk ‘soul’; then *jwama > *jama.
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*gWiyó- > G. biós, Skt. jiyā́-, Av. jyā- ‘bowstring / sinew’; *jijä > *jäji > *jäje > je ‘broad strap’, Skp. tjyy, Kam. t’ī; Y. juo ‘girdle/belt’
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*gWiy(e)tlo- > L. fīlum \ fīlus ‘string/cord’, Li. gīsla ‘vein/sinew’; *jetlax > *jätnex > *jäntek > F. jänne ‘bowstring / sinew’, *jätnex > *jänne > jänni ‘frenulum of tongue’
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*gWiyó- : *jäje is not in need of great thought. Obviously these words look very much like IE ones (a 2-syllable word with j-y vs. y-y in such a specialized meaning would be unlikely, and this is unlikely match # 45), and the existence of extensions with t in both (or s > t or t > s, if needed) would be hard to explain. This shows merger of g^h and gW before front (if not an assim. of C-j > j-j after palatalization). Some of this could depend on opt. gW > gw (as previous). Again, for CVC- > CC-, this would give *jij- > *j- in *jetlax (or similar depending on timing); both *-etlo- and *-tlo- are seen in tool-words, maybe ablaut in IE. Other words show n / l within PU, so if tl > tn was not regular, the same here. The fem. *-āh > *-ax seems needed to explain ev. of other words in Samoyed with -’ (glottal stop) where the rest have -0.
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*sh2ai- > H. ishiya- ‘bind’, ishuzzi- ‘belt/sash’, *sh2aito- > L. saeta ‘coarse haibristle’, Arm. haytHem ‘attach’; *sitV > F. sito- ‘bind/fasten’, side, gen. siteen ‘bandage’
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Either original ai > i(i) or ablaut.
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More opt. ŋ > m in
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*y(e)mho- > ON Ymir, Skt. yamá- ‘twin’; *jaxma > F. jama \ jaama ‘joint’, Sm. juomek ‘twin lamb’
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*jäsŋe > Mv. jäz’n’ä, Mr. ježǝŋ, F. jäsen ‘joint/limb’
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which might show ŋ’ > n’ in some (if *ymho- = *ymx^o- > *yax^ma- with met. of palatalization after x^ > s^).
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The existence of alt. within PU is clear; these words require an explanation no matter what their source:
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*yah2giyo- > *yagi- \ *yago- > OIr aig ‘ice’, ON jaki ‘piece of ice’, Wx. yaz ‘glacier’, Kh. yòz ‘ice’; *jäxŋje > *jäŋxe > F. jää ‘ice’, Sm. jiekŋa
*jaŋka ‘ice hole’ in Samoyed (showing *ja- ( > *jä- ) was opt. in all )
*jäxkšV > Mr. jükše- ‘become cold’, F. jä(ä)hty- ‘cool (down)’
*jänte- > Mi. jant-, Z. jed- ‘freeze’
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If g or γ > ŋ in *jäŋe, the lack of a nasal in *jäxkšV is explained as the oldest form. This shows opt. *ja > *jä (*jäŋe ‘ice’, *jaŋka ‘ice hole’), matching other *a-i, *a-j. PIE *ya(h2)giyo- giving the *eh > *ah ( > *a ) and opt. dissim. of y-y > y-0 (to explain o- vs. i-stems) would allow similar variants in PU with *x and *j > C to be related. As in opt. j > s’ previously, this would show kj > ks’ > kš (like xj > xs’ > š for *pekW-ye\o- > *pek’-yo- > *pix’yo- > *pišä- ‘bake/roast’). The 2 C’s in *jaŋka vs. *jänte- also come from changes to j; since this shows γ > ŋ in *jäŋe, j > γ’ would also be able to become ŋ’, and other words show this. If some of this created ŋŋ’, a change > ŋŋ > ŋk is possible (other paths exist). With g^ > d^ > t^ > t in others, *jänte- could come from ŋγ ‘> ŋg’ (and a shift of palatalization to ŋ’g might be the source of ŋk also, hard to tell). This would also show that *ä-o > *ä-e occurred, and if for all front V, it would explain the many *-e and *-a in PU as partly from *-o-.
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These same changes in F. jalka ‘foot / leg’, jälki ‘footprint, etc., seem to show more ev. of ja \ jä (and fronting caused by j or front V’s in general). With the l > n in *gWiy(e)tlāh > *jijetlax > *jetlax > *jätnex, it makes sense that these words were related (some say loans):
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*g^heh1- > *gēn- > E. go, G. kikhā́nō ‘reach/find / overtake’, Alb. ngah ‘run/hasten’, Skt. jáhāti ‘*leave > abandon / renounce’
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Skt. jáŋghā- ‘ankle/shank’, Os. zëng(ë) ‘shin/stalk’ >> L. zanga \ zancha ‘Parthian shoe’, It. zanca ‘leg’
*jalka > F. jalka ‘foot / leg’
*jelkä > F. jälki ‘footprint / track/trace/trail’
*jVCka > *jokkV-tta > *jo:h-ta > F. juohtua ‘come up / arise’, Mv. jaka- ‘walk’
*jänxe- > *jäŋV > F. jää- ‘remain’, Hn. jön \ jő \ jöv- \ jö- \ győn \ gyün(n) ‘come’, Mi. ji- \ jäj- \ jüw- \ jin’kve ‘(be)come’
*jekkV- ‘dance’ > Mi. jēk-
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The many changes are, again, needed even if not a loan, not related, but only within PU. Since a root is often called by the word for ‘foot’ in other languages (even zëng(ë) ‘shin/stalk’ is part of this range of meaning), the similar changes in these words are likely ev. of other alternation:
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*jekkVrV ‘root’ > Ms. jükäär, Hn. gyökér
*jälŋV ‘stump’ > Sm. jâlŋes
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*(s)kermn- > Skt. cárman- ‘skin/hide’; *k’er’man > *c’eð’mä > *c’ämd’e > *c’äpte > Sm. čävddë ‘skin/bark’, Nen. s’āpt
*k’er’man > *kelmä > F. kelmä ‘membrane/surface’, kelme(e-) ‘white surface layer of birchbark’, Z. ken’
*kal’we > F. kalvo ‘membrane’, Mi. khal’p ‘*skin (flakes) > dandruff’, xal’ǝp ‘white surface layer of birchbark’
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It is not reasonable that so many words for ‘skin/bark’ with the same shape be considered unrelated. I’ll add that in many languages, simply translating these as ‘skin’ not ‘membrane/surface (layer)’ is done, but since the distinction exists in English I avoided this to keep from appearing to only give data favoring my interpretation. These show m > w (as previous), and probably k’-r’ > k-r’ before k’ > c’ (compare opt. n’-l’ in *n’el’ja \ *nel’ja ‘4’ )
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There are many examples of metathesis of K-P and P-K in Balto-Slavic. This has led to a loan being used to explain some of:
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*pekW- ‘cook’ > Skt. pácyate, L. coquere, R. pekú, Li. kepù
*pexje- \ *pexije- > Mv. pije-, Hn. fő- ‘cook/boil’, En. feri’a-
*pišä- > Sm. bâsse- ‘roast on a spit’, Ud. pïž ‘bake/roast’, Mi. pīt- ‘cook/brew’
*kewje- \ *keje-? > F. keittä- ‘boil/cook’, Hn. köved- ‘boiled down’
*kips’ä > F. kypsä ‘ripe/cooked/baked’
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I do not think 4 different IE languages happened to give 4 different loans at 4 different times into Uralic. There is no IE with e-y > i-y, p > w / 0, etc., needed for all (or maybe any) of these. The met. in R. pekú, Li. kepù is tempting, but this would still need pj > wj ( > j ), pj > ps’, e-j > i-j or some set of changes to explain all this. Since some of these are ‘ripe’ vs. ‘cook’ by itself, the odd cluster in *pekWwó- > Skt. pakvá- ‘cooked/baked/ripe’ might be responsible for met. to fix kWw, creating 2 sets. The alt. of e \ i in both groups is unlikely to be from separate causes; no IE with e > i here could be responsible, and there aren’t two IE with e > i AND k-p < p-k in one, not in the other. The same alt. in both groups then shows both groups were native, with a change not seen elsewher, more V-harmony. What I think happened:
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*pekW-ye\o- > *pekwye- > *pekweye- > *pekwiye- > *pexije- ‘cook/boil’
*pekW-ye\o- > *pek’-yo- > *pix’yo- > *pišä- ‘bake/roast’
*pekW-wó- > *kWep-wó- > *kWep-yó- > *k(w)ipja > *kips’ä ‘ripe/cooked/baked’
*kWep-yó- > *kWew-yó- > *kewje- ‘boil/cook’
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This requires alt. of kW \ kw and p \ f \ w (elsewhere), with j > dz’ > s’ opt. This p / w is required here in PU even for the alt. in F. keittä- ‘boil/cook’, kypsä ‘ripe/cooked/baked’. No matter what the source is, it exists, and has never been applied to other words. Knowing that p > w (or p > 0, depending on the timing and which reconstruction of PU is right) is possible, but never looking for matches of p : w when checking for cognates is not a useful method. The other examples of alt. also are needed within PU, even if ALL of these are loans, due to not being found in known IE languages. This means that we can get *witte ‘5’ from *penkWto- (as *septǝmó- ‘7th’ > L. septimus; *s’eŋ’c’emä > F. seitsemä- ‘7’). If the ‘7th’ > ‘7’ change was shared in the higher numbers, the clusters *-tt- in both ‘5’ and ‘6’ would be from *-CCto- in ‘5th’ and ‘6th’ in IE. This *(k)swek^sto- > *kutte ‘6’ might show a common set of changes:
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*penkWto- *kswek^sto-
*fenxWto- *xswex^sto-
*fenxWto- *xwex^sto-
*finxWto- *xwex^sto-
*finxWto- *xwox^sto-
*finxWto- *xwox^xto-
*finxWto- *xwojxto-
*fixWto- *xwojxto-
*fitto- *xwojtto-
*fitto- *xojtto-
*witto- *xojtto-
*witto- *xujtto-
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Though the details are not clear due to clusters like nkWt and k^st only occurring here (more on the other changes below), Cxt > Ctt probably is best.
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Other oddities created by *kWw in IE include:
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*pekWwó- > Skt. pakvá- ‘cooked/baked/ripe’, *pekWpó- > *mekpo > TB map(p)e ‘ripe’
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with the same kWw > kp > p in *leikW- > Latin (re)linquere, *likWwotor > *likpotor > TB lipetär ‘is left over’. Usually, p-p > m-p would seem odd, but with the other changes of m > p in Toch. for no reason, the opposite caused by dissim. fits.
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In the same way, PU makes other changes in Toch. understandable. The closest match of:
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*pedyāx > TA päts, TB patsa ‘bottom’; *potsjä > *pesä > F. pesä ‘nest’
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*ped(y)o- \ *pod(y)o- ‘place, ground, soil’ > G. pedíon ‘plain’, pédon ‘ground’, OCS podŭ ‘ground/foundation’, Ni. pad ‘foundation’, *eni- > MIr ined ‘place’, *enpodyo- > *yäpoy > TB yapoy, TA ype ‘land/country’
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shows that PU dy > s (not s’ or c’ ) which seems to be from the difference of T before front V vs. j. It is easiest to explain if te > t’e, tj > t’j > ts’j first, before any other palatals > affricates, ts’j > č (deleting j ), later č > š > s before ṣ > š etc. (Skt. mákṣā- ‘fly’; *mekše > Mv. mekš ‘bee’). This same type could occur before loss of voicing, so dj and tj might differe in some way if only dy > ǰ > s. If the same sequence happened in Toch., then č or ǰ as an intermediate leading to ts would allow the apparent loss of d in *enpodyo- > *yenpoǰo- > *yäpoy to be explained y the same assim. of y-ǰ > y-y that I see in:
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Skt. prayuj- ‘yoke/join/harness to / unite with’, also fem. noun ‘team’ >> *prayuyo- > *pyauryo > TB pyorye (fem.) ‘yoke’
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which is probably an early loan before devoicing in Toch. It is unlikely a complicated sequence like this could be made more clear by PU data if patsa : pesä were unrelated.
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*puk^syo- > Av. pusa-, NP fuš, Skt. púccha-m ‘tail/rod’, Hi. pūñch ‘tail/rear’, B. punzuṛO ‘tail’, *pačhoóḍ > Dk. p(h)ačoó \ čipóoy.
*po(n)čoxa > Mr. pač, X. poč, Mi. ponš-pun ‘tailfeather’, Nen. panco ‘tail’, En. batu’o
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The *-x- is retained in Samoyed, others > 0 (opt. or between unstressed V’s?). Sine the suffix in Dardic and Dk. is probably -ula- > -uḍa- (as in Skt. lāNgūla-m & Sh. lʌmúṭi ‘tail’), probably analogy added it. This would require either a loan or a shared descent within IE. The similar words would then show met. in:
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*poksyora > *pksyora > *poryaks > *pol’akš > Mi. pōl’ǝx ‘tail of reindeers’, Mh. pula ‘tail’, Mr. pulŭkš *behind/back > ‘shoulder(joint)’
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The opt. p > w might merge with w > m in
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*mä(n)c’Vx > Mi. man’s’ik ‘tail of reindeers’, Skp. mätjä
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The origin of -N- in the Indic words (Hi. pūñch ‘tail/rear’, B. punzuṛO ‘tail’) being shared by PU would require either a loan or a shared descent within IE. The origin of this seems to be y > y~ (nasalized). This is seen in Indo-Iran.:
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Bu. kHakHā́yo ‘shelled walnut’, Shina kHakHaái~
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*h2loupehk^- > Skt. lopāśá-s > *lovāyá- > Kh. ḷòw, Dk. ló(o)i ‘fox’, Sh. lo(o)i~
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*madhy~a- ‘middle’ > Braj māhi~ ‘in’, Hi. māñjh
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*puk^syo- > Skt. púccha-m ‘tail/rod’, Hi. pūñch ‘tail/rear’, B. punzuṛO ‘tail’
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This seems to become n in causatives like *kōreye- > Dk. (g)uráa- \ (g)uraaná ‘make _ do’, and apparent old causatives like *lōgheye- > Dk. lukh(ā)na ‘hide’. Also, old loans from Dardic (or related) to Bu. show y > n also:
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Skt. méṣī- ‘ewe’, *méṣiy- > *méṣiy~ >> *méṣin > Bu. meénis ‘ewe over one year but not a mother’
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Skt. videś[í]ya- ‘foreign’, Kv. vičó ‘guest’, Ni. vidišä, Kt. vadašó, *vadišiy~a >> *waišin > Bu. aíšen \ oóšin
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This could come from intermediate y > ŋ^ > n^ > n. Other PU words show y > ŋ (and opt. ŋ > m, as previously). It is impossible for such an odd set of changes to be independent in supposedly unrelated languages that seem more like sub-branches to me.

Hi, I am looking into getting an adventure motorcycle, because I want something that I can ride to and on the trails. I also like the idea of long trips, like the Backcountry Discovery Routes although I have no experience with such.
I have a little offroad experience, about a year's worth on a small dirt bike and I have ridden a crf 450 a few times with out much issue. I have tons of experience on large trail four-wheelers for whatever that is worth.
I am 5' 8" inches tall 215 lbs with about a 31.5" inseam but on the crf 450 I have ridden I can at least touch both toes on the ground (it has a lowering kit) and I think I can be comfortable with that. Given all of this, I think it would be foolish and unsafe to get a bike that is too much for me to handle. I think that I would like not to be hindered by the performance of the bike offroad but I also realize that my skill level will likely reach its limit first so I am more concerned with getting a bike that is too much for me than I am with getting one that is too small, at least for my first bike.
On KSL classifieds (a local buy and sell website) I have found a few options that I think be a good fit for me. Starting from the lowest cost to the highest there are as follows.
2011 klr with 14k miles for $2600 that looks mostly stock except for a skid plate and maybe hand guards,
a 2020 versys x300 with 20k miles for $3200 with an aftermarket skid plate,
a 2000 KTM 640 adventure for $3799 with aftermarket skid plate and hard guards (apparently it is getting a bunch of service rn, fork seals head gaskets, etc.),
A 2008 v-strom dl 650 with 60k miles for $4500 and tons of after-market parts including panniers and such,
and lastly, a 2020 KTM 390 adventure with 5k miles for $5499 looks bone stock but comes with stock crash bars, unlike the others.
What do you think about these choices I am leaning toward the x300 because it is small not too powerful and has a low seat height or maybe the v-strom for the aftermarket parts making it a good package.
TLDR: What do you think about the bikes listed above for a beginner like myself?