Mighty Networks

... worked to quarantine the city's networks to prevent major Abyssal contamination... make sense to Hannah that networks and the internet were considered... and I'll summon forth a mighty ally! Just don't complain to ...

...Digital Communities & Paid Membership Networks The Fit: Subscription-based mastermind ...(Peergroup – used for executive networks, therapeutic circles, or data .... Substack, Circle.so, and Mighty Networks Directories The Target: High-earning, paid ... running premium, paid membership networks often use default subdomains (e.... Target: Medical practices, dental networks, legal partnerships, and real estate ...

... storm into the swarm, his mighty fists sending them flying. "Those... hijack the Mobian Army's security networks and even their robots. Put... of some of my own networks, too. But, she's still a...

... in iGaming affiliate marketing. CPA networks help affiliates launch fast, test... scale, the math changes. CPA networks usually focus on speed and... benchmarks look like this: CPA networks: usually $50-$300 for Tier-1 markets.... When Affiliates Usually Move Beyond Networks​ Networks make sense for: testing new..., capped setups start to feel mighty small. Final Word​ At scale...

... using one of the other networks and use that at home... to have allowed their once mighty “Cellnet” network fall into disrepair...

... Origin that even automated monitoring networks and master-level detection skills cannot.... To protect the cosmos, a mighty four-headed dragon named Landia claimed ...

... views. We outperform the major networks in digital views. And we... are fueled by the Meidas Mighty, and they are extraordinary. They...

... shall have to rebuild our networks, and endure the aftershocks as... wield to pressure someone so mighty and to quell such ambitions...

... shall have to rebuild our networks, and endure the aftershocks as... wield to pressure someone so mighty and to quell such ambitions...

... will be reforged into a mighty hive that will serve to... livestreams of cooking and shopping networks."

... that. Marquis's talent for building networks out of seedy places would... ships. Braavos's Arsenal housed a mighty defense fleet. It also birthed... the temerity to breach the mighty Eyrie. Tavian wished him luck. ... boats, to pleasure barges, to mighty war galleys. Beyond them rose ...

... that. Marquis's talent for building networks out of seedy places would... ships. Braavos's Arsenal housed a mighty defense fleet. It also birthed... the temerity to breach the mighty Eyrie. Tavian wished him luck. ... boats, to pleasure barges, to mighty war galleys. Beyond them rose ...

... one took note that the Mighty Runt had taken on another ... from their collapsed ice tunnel networks, some had begun clearing out ...

... them into the surviving underground networks and the former drainage systems... do so against such a mighty and terrible foe! Become a...

... telecom companies could beat the mighty Bells -- the most damaging... dozen companies to build expensive networks as they rushed to claim... could ever compete against the mighty Bell (or, I guess, AT&T). ...

... world. That or use others' networks, although that was its own... the spring air. "That's a mighty fine ass you have their ...

... can easily connect to most networks and systems if within range... about Mouse girl or the Mighty Mouse Girl as she calls...

... despairing at the horrendous wireless networks that exist, forging a digital... type before. All high and mighty, maybe actually able to back...

... nets, and glide between their mighty starships to take up position... battle drills and map their networks with our magnificent lady." Crimson...

... hardest-line elements or Shi’i-aligned extremist networks. We are running the same... on Iran’s electronic-warfare and jamming networks to keep that information lifeline... goal. But “forever” is a mighty long time, as Prince once ...

... sun did glint off her mighty armored form as the riot... seems to be behind the networks day to day operations, but...

... once-great people drowning as their mighty works slipped forever beneath the... prophet Zul. Even now the mighty and enigmatic troll empire slides ... to fund the construction of networks of rail transport to better ...

... persona. "And what does the mighty Justice League want with us?" ... operations and has the intel networks you do should be very...

... the hidden and encrypted data networks of the world, using hidden... into the local social media networks and excitedly leaking everything Serpent... floods almost the whole global networks with so much popup ads... arm wielding sinners form a mighty militia. -[X] Protect your...

Mighty Networks vs. Discord + DoorFee: Which Is Better for Course Creators? Comparing a $41–$360/month all-in-one platform to a flexible stack that costs a fraction of the price. Mighty Networks markets itself as the all-in-one platform for course creators who want to build a community around their content. It combines courses, community forums, events, and memberships into a single branded experience. For creators coming from Facebook Groups or teachable-style course platforms, Mighty Networks looks like an upgrade. But there’s a cost to all-in-one convenience, and it’s not just financial. Mighty Networks locks you into their ecosystem, their engagement model, and their pricing structure. And for many course creators, the platform they overlook (Discord) paired with a monetization tool (DoorFee) delivers better engagement, more flexibility, and significantly lower costs. This comparison is for course creators evaluating whether Mighty Networks is worth the investment, or whether Discord + DoorFee achieves the same goals at a fraction of the price. Pricing: The Numbers Speak Mighty Networks’ pricing has several tiers, and they add up quickly. Mighty Networks Pricing On top of these monthly fees, Mighty Networks takes a transaction fee on payments processed through their platform (typically 2–3% on top of Stripe’s processing fees, depending on your plan). Discord + DoorFee Pricing ComponentCostDiscord server$0Discord Nitro (optional, for server perks)$0–$9.99/moDoorFee3.9% per transaction, $0/monthStripe processing2.9% + 30¢ per transaction Total fixed monthly cost: $0. Your only costs are percentage-based fees that scale with your revenue. If you earn $0, you pay $0. If you earn $5,000/month, you pay approximately $340 in combined fees (DoorFee + Stripe). Cost Comparison Over 12 Months Let’s say you’re a course creator with 150 paying members at $25/month ($3,750/month in revenue). At this revenue level, Discord + DoorFee saves about $500/year. The gap widens if you’re on Mighty Networks’ Business or Path-to-Pro plans. And if you’re just starting out with 20 members and $500/month in revenue, you’d pay $1,188/year in fixed Mighty Networks fees versus $0 in fixed fees with Discord + DoorFee. For creators who aren’t yet profitable, Mighty Networks’ monthly fee is money going out before money comes in. That pressure to “earn enough to cover the platform” can push you toward premature launches or underpriced offerings. Engagement: Where Discord Wins Convincingly Community engagement is the lifeblood of any course creator’s business. Higher engagement means lower churn, better outcomes for students, and more word-of-mouth referrals. This is where Discord has a massive structural advantage. Mighty Networks’ Engagement Problem Mighty Networks uses a feed-based format similar to Facebook Groups. Members post updates, others react and comment, and the algorithm determines what surfaces. This design works for casual scrolling but creates several problems for courses and active communities: Low daily engagement. Mighty Networks doesn’t have the pull of a platform people already use daily. Members need to specifically open the Mighty Networks app or website, log in, and check for updates. Most don’t do this regularly. Community managers on Mighty Networks frequently report that only 5–15% of members engage weekly. Notification fatigue. Push notifications from a standalone app compete with every other app on your phone. Most people disable them after the first week. Email notifications end up in promotional tabs or spam folders. No real-time conversation. Mighty Networks supports posts and comments, not real-time chat. A discussion that would take 5 minutes on Discord takes 2 days as a comment thread on Mighty Networks. This kills momentum and makes the community feel slow. Discord’s Engagement Advantage Discord was built for real-time communication. People already use it daily for gaming, socializing, and professional communities. Your course community sits in the same app they’re already checking throughout the day. Always-on presence. Discord shows who’s online. Members see other students active in channels. This creates a sense of community that feed-based platforms can’t replicate. When someone sees 20 members online in a study group channel, they’re more likely to jump in. Real-time chat. Questions get answered in minutes, not days. A student stuck on a concept can ask in the course channel and get help from peers or instructors within the hour. This dramatically improves the learning experience and course completion rates. Voice and video channels. Discord’s voice channels are always available. You can run impromptu office hours, study groups, or co-working sessions. Students can drop into a voice channel to discuss the material, just like they would in a physical classroom. Mighty Networks has live events, but they need to be scheduled in advance and don’t have the spontaneity of Discord voice channels. Thread support. Discord threads let conversations branch off from main channels without cluttering the feed. A question about Module 3 can become its own thread, keeping the main channel clean while allowing an in-depth discussion. Bots and integrations. Discord’s bot ecosystem lets you add gamification (XP for participation), automated welcomes, resource libraries, poll systems, and more. These tools increase engagement by rewarding participation and making the community interactive. Average engagement stats for Discord communities vs. Mighty Networks: These numbers vary by community, but the pattern is consistent: real-time platforms generate more frequent and deeper engagement than feed-based ones. Course Delivery: Mighty Networks’ Strength (and How Discord Handles It) Mighty Networks has native course hosting. You can create modules, upload videos, add quizzes, track completion, and issue certificates. It’s a proper LMS (Learning Management System) built into the community platform. Discord doesn’t have native course features. But that doesn’t mean you can’t deliver courses through a Discord-centered stack. You just need to pair Discord with a course delivery tool. Option 1: Discord Channels as Your Course Structure For text-based courses, guides, and resource libraries, Discord channels work perfectly: 📚 COURSE: Social Media Marketing ├── #module-1-foundations (read-only, content pinned) ├── #module-1-discussion ├── #module-2-content-strategy (read-only) ├── #module-2-discussion ├── #module-3-analytics (read-only) ├── #module-3-discussion ├── #assignments (members post their work) ├── #office-hours (voice channel, weekly schedule) └── #wins (members share results) Each module’s content goes in a read-only channel with the material pinned. Discussion channels let students ask questions and interact. You control who can see which modules by assigning roles with DoorFee, so different tiers can access different course content. Option 2: External Course Platform + Discord Community For video-heavy courses, pair a course platform with Discord: Teachable, Thinkific, or Kajabi for video hosting and course structure. Discord for community interaction, Q&A, accountability, and live sessions. DoorFee for managing payment and Discord role assignment. When someone buys through your DoorFee sales page, they get access to both the course platform (via an emailed link) and the Discord server (via automatic role assignment). This gives you a professional course experience with best-in-class community engagement. Many successful course creators use exactly this model. The course platform handles content delivery; Discord handles everything social. Students get the structured learning experience they need and the community support that keeps them engaged. Option 3: Free Video Hosting + Discord If you want to keep costs minimal: Host course videos on Vimeo (with privacy settings) or as unlisted YouTube videos. Organize video links in dedicated Discord channels. Use DoorFee to gate access to the course channels. This approach costs nothing beyond DoorFee’s 3.9% transaction fee and your Vimeo account ($12–$20/month for Pro). No course platform fees. No Mighty Networks subscription. The Ecosystem Lock-in Problem Mighty Networks builds everything into their platform. Your courses, your community, your members, your content, your payment history. It’s all inside Mighty Networks. This is convenient until you want to leave. If you decide to switch platforms (or Mighty Networks raises prices, changes features, or shuts down), migrating is painful: Your course content needs to be manually moved to another platform. Your member list may or may not be exportable (depending on your plan and their current policies). Your payment relationships need to be re-established on a new platform. Your community’s history (posts, discussions, resources) is left behind. With Discord + DoorFee, your community lives on Discord (which you control), your payments process through your own Stripe account (which you control), and DoorFee collects email addresses (which you own). If you ever wanted to switch from DoorFee to another payment tool, your Discord server stays exactly the same. Your members don’t notice. Your Stripe account stays yours. This isn’t a hypothetical concern. Platform migrations happen regularly. Creators who built their business on a single platform and then had to move wish they’d kept more control from the start. Who Should Choose Mighty Networks Mighty Networks is the better choice in specific situations: You need a branded, white-label experience. If having your own app with your logo in the app store matters for your brand (or your clients’ expectations), Mighty Networks delivers that. Discord is always Discord-branded. Your audience isn’t on Discord. If your target students are professionals in their 50s and 60s who’ve never used Discord and would find the interface confusing, Mighty Networks’ simpler interface might convert better. Discord’s learning curve is real for non-technical audiences. You want everything in one login. If the idea of managing multiple tools (Discord + course platform + payment tool) feels overwhelming, Mighty Networks’ all-in-one approach reduces complexity. You trade flexibility for simplicity. You need native course completion tracking with certificates. If your course requires formal completion certificates (for CPE credits, professional development, etc.), Mighty Networks handles this natively. Replicating it on Discord requires additional tools. Who Should Choose Discord + DoorFee Discord + DoorFee is the better choice if: You want to keep costs low while starting out. Zero fixed monthly cost means you’re not bleeding money while you build your audience. Every dollar you earn goes to you (minus transaction fees), not to a platform subscription. Engagement is your priority. If your course depends on student interaction, peer learning, and active Q&A, Discord’s real-time environment produces significantly higher engagement than Mighty Networks’ feed-based approach. Your audience already uses Discord. If your students are under 35, tech-savvy, or part of gaming/crypto/creative communities, they already have Discord installed. Zero friction to join your community. You want to own the relationship. Your Discord server, your Stripe account, your email list. You’re not dependent on any single platform’s continued existence or pricing decisions. You plan to scale. DoorFee’s percentage-based pricing means your costs scale linearly with revenue. Mighty Networks’ fixed monthly cost is great when you’re earning a lot, but the percentage-based model is friendlier during the growth phase when every dollar counts. You want an affiliate program. DoorFee’s built-in affiliate system lets you grow through referrals. This is one of the most effective growth channels for course creators, and it costs nothing until it produces revenue. A Practical Setup: Course Creator on Discord + DoorFee Here’s what a complete setup looks like for a course creator using Discord and DoorFee: Server Structure WELCOME ├── #welcome (public, rules and info) ├── #how-to-get-started (public, links to DoorFee sales page) FREE COMMUNITY ├── #general-chat (open to everyone) ├── #introductions COURSE: FUNDAMENTALS (Tier 1 - $29/mo) ├── #module-1 (read-only, pinned content) ├── #module-2 (read-only) ├── #module-3 (read-only) ├── #course-discussion ├── #assignments MASTERMIND (Tier 2 - $79/mo) ├── #mastermind-chat ├── #hot-seats (weekly voice channel) ├── #accountability-partners ├── #resource-vault VIP COACHING (Tier 3 - $199/mo) ├── #vip-lounge ├── #1on1-scheduling ├── #direct-feedback Revenue Model Platform costs at this revenue: DoorFee (3.9%): $268/month Stripe processing: ~$240/month Total: ~$508/month On Mighty Networks’ Business plan ($179/month + transaction fees), you’d pay roughly $650/month for the same revenue. And you’d have lower engagement, no affiliate program, and no way to run impromptu voice sessions. Growth Strategy with DoorFee’s Tools Sales page on DoorFee linked from your YouTube descriptions, Twitter bio, website, and email signature. Affiliate program giving existing students 20% commission for referrals. Ten active affiliates each bringing 2 referrals per month = 20 new members/month. Email marketing to your subscriber list announcing new modules, live events, and testimonials from successful students. Free Discord community that gives a taste of your teaching style and community culture, with clear upgrade paths to paid tiers. The Migration Path (If You’re Currently on Mighty Networks) If you’re considering moving from Mighty Networks to Discord + DoorFee: Set up your Discord server with the channel structure described above. Configure roles and permissions. Set up DoorFee with your tiers and pricing. Connect Stripe. Customize your sales page. Move your course content to Discord channels (for text content) or an external platform (for video courses). Announce the move to your Mighty Networks community. Give 30 days’ notice. Offer a migration discount (first month free or 25% off) to encourage the switch. Export your member list from Mighty Networks (if available on your plan). Email them the new Discord invite and DoorFee purchase links. Run both platforms in parallel for 30–60 days. This gives everyone time to transition. Shut down Mighty Networks once the majority of active members have moved. Most creators who’ve made this switch report that the transition takes 4–6 weeks and they lose 10–20% of members in the process. But engagement from the remaining members typically doubles within the first month on Discord, and the lower costs improve margins immediately. The Bottom Line Mighty Networks is a polished product that does a lot of things well. For creators who need an all-in-one platform and don’t mind paying $41–$360/month for the convenience, it’s a valid choice. But for course creators who prioritize engagement, flexibility, and cost efficiency, Discord + DoorFee is the stronger combination. You get a community platform that people actually use daily, payment processing with lower overall costs, and growth tools (sales pages, email collection, affiliates) that help you scale. The best part? You can test the Discord + DoorFee approach for free. Set up a server, create a DoorFee account, and see how your audience responds before committing to anything. Want to build your course community on Discord? Get started with DoorFee and have your paid membership live in under 10 minutes. submitted by /u/NEEEEEEEEEEEET to r/PaidDiscord [link] [comments]

Want a place where you can connect your audience, host courses, and grow a membership business — all under one platform? 🔥 Community + Courses + Events in one app 📱 Easy to use on mobile & desktop 💬 Great for creators, coaches, brands & entrepreneurs 💸 Monetize your audience with memberships and exclusive content 🆓 Start with a FREE trial ⭐ Upgrade to paid plans anytime for advanced features and scaling tools If you’ve been thinking about building your own private community, this is one of the easiest platforms to start with.Comment INTERESTED if you want to participate submitted by /u/Time-Neighborhood780 to r/freelance_forhire [link] [comments]

First | Previous | Next Patreon | Official Subreddit | Series Wiki | Royal Road Thalmin I’d already surmised that I was in the presence of a legend being written. Though whether or not I chose to participate, whether I would choose this to be my epic, and not some mere aberrant chapter, would all hinge on my assessment of the earthrealmer and her claims. Though frankly, this process had begun long, long before this point. “I wish to know where you stand when the calls for apocalypse summon the righteous, Prince Thalmin? I wish to know, should your assertions bear truth, and should the newrealm move from a position of a mere contemporary to one of an active adversary — where shall your loyalties lie?” Ilunor’s words have always been vapid. Yet there was one rare instance — one tiny sliver of genuine questioning — that defied this trend, leaving behind a thought so pervasive it remained lodged in my mind ever since. This seedling of a question, once planted, took root in the soil of my contempt, watered by the rains of Emma’s revelations, and warmed beneath the sun of every offense committed by the Nexus. Under these conditions, it thrived. With each social slight, it spread wider. With every dishonor it flourished and grew, until the soil that bore my contempt was cast beneath its comforting shade. Yet there was something else amidst the growing branches that I dared not yet touch; a fruit born of hate, contempt, vitriol, and the indignancy of a people scorned. It beckoned me with its smiles. It called with soft and fair-seeming wiles. It cooed like a silent siren song, the promise of escape… a temptation I knew could not slake for fear of fate. Yet still my hunger grew, all for that fruit that tempted me with its shimmering hue. … It was with Ilunor’s words still fresh in my mind that I made my choice. A decision that could, and assuredly would, come to haunt me for years past my mortal life. I reached for that apple. And ‘Nexian Sacrifice’ I was no longer. From the moment I uttered my litany of titles, I committed myself to the fruit of rebellion. And when I reforged my sacrificial title to my own resolve— Royal Emissary for the Havenbrockian Cause. —did I taste the sweetness of the fruit I’d just bitten. That one reimagining, that single rephrasing of a title so confined to its fate, was in equal measures liberating as much as it was terrifying. This was in spite of the lack of witnesses save for allies under oath, which perhaps proved just how pervasive the Nexian dogma was, even in the confines of my own mind. But what compelled me, what pushed my otherwise duty-bound self over the edge of indecision, wasn’t just the memories of Emma’s bardic regalings or the proof of her capacity to kill. No. It was something far more innocuous, something that perhaps could both be overlooked and taken for granted in passing conversation. It was the candid reactions of her superiors, her betters, and her seniors — those with the authority, the responsibility, and the knowledge of her realm’s true capabilities. Or more accurately… it was their restraint for reaction. The pointed manner in which this Captain Li had just casually listed the Nexus’ threshold of destruction — ‘city-killers, continent busters’ — it beckoned forth the imagery of an officer listing off a weapons manifest for a city garrison… not a man coming to terms with a mighty adversary’s realm-shattering capabilities. Indeed, the analytical nature that followed in the practical consideration of the bag-of-holding ‘bombs’ felt almost too cold, too calculated, and too mundane. It felt… as if they were considering something that they themselves not only held the capacity for, but had entirely normalized within their own manaless arsenals. Moreover, there was no sense of ego mixed in with these discussions. There was no boasting or grandstanding, or any internal political plays as far as I could tell. If anything, the restraint at play spoke far louder than any posturing. For it called upon both a seriousness of intent and simply reinforced the relative normalcy of such capacities for destruction. It was only at the mention of portals that the humans found themselves in uncharted waters, as fear — genuine fear — started to color their voices. And even then, such a revelation didn’t start from its offensive capabilities, but its logistical angle; a fact beckoning the words of my sister. There is something your Uncle, your Brothers, and even your own Father won’t ever give enough credit to, Thalmin. Though it is to no fault of their own, but to the reductive image they craft. That something… is the manner in which you keep a war won. Even in the most mage-centric of armies, logistics still win wars. Oh you can have the most boastful of Dukes, Barons, and Lords go on and on about simply circumventing such ‘trifling’ topics by concocting magical solutions… but at the end of the day, when you wish to consolidate your holdings? When you have successfully laid claim to new lands and fiefs? You find that you alone cannot stitch together a civilization. For that, you need logisticians. For that, you need people like me. Kalim was right, as she often was. Though I could only begin to imagine what she’d make of a realm built entirely on the will of logisticians. This Captain Li had perfectly embodied the mindset of Earthrealm. A people so lacking in any capacity to will forth their desires, and thus necessitating complexities to underpin everything those desires may need for actualization. A people who not only knew the mechanisms of war, but placed emphasis where those mechanisms truly mattered. A people… who likewise considered the realm-shattering capacities of the Nexus a point worth discussing, and not a point that shattered spirits. This was the proof I needed from Emma. These were the people I could consider a worthy adversary to the Nexus. These were a people deserving of Ilunor’s prophecy, a civilization deserving of the title of the Adversary, the Great Other. Laura Weir First a dragon, and now an anthropomorphic wolf. Though I wouldn’t be as reductive as some others, just by appearances and sights alone. Convergent evolution aside, it was his manner of dress that gave me more pause for thought than the nature of his physiology. What’s more, my focus quickly shifted towards a palpable pause in the EVI’s translations, a fact reflected in the underlying inflections of the prince’s own native speech. His latter title, that loaded sentiment, was a calculated maneuver for this eventuality. This royal wanted to play ball. And judging by many of Emma’s reports, it was clear what angle we needed to take. The Adjacent Realms… were the only receptive party open to diplomacy, and the only party with the capacity for receptive change. This was where the conflict was to be waged, in the kingdoms and nations under the jackboot of Nexian imperialism. And it all would start — at least on our end — with a smile the wolf could not see. “It is a great privilege and an incredible honor to hear your voice, Prince Thalmin Havenbrock of Havenbrockrealm. My name is Dr. Laura Weir, Director of the Institute of Anomalous Studies, United Nations Science Advisory. Professor of Theoretical Physics at Luna University, Armstrong Campus. On behalf of the Greater United Nations, and on behalf of the people of Earth, Luna, Venus, Mercury, Mars, Saturn, Jupiter, to the entirety of Sol, and to all the corners of this galaxy that humanity calls home, we receive you with full respect, and acknowledge the sovereignty of the state from which you hail.” I announced with genuine, brimming excitement and a warmness that came naturally at the hope of our first ally. Thalmin There it was. The litany of titles bound to Academia, not to blood nor landed holdings. However, that point of cultural contention bothered me no longer. No. It was instead overshadowed, outshone, and entirely dwarfed by what were ostensibly two passing remarks. The first, a statement of power, all wrapped within an unassuming warmth of amicability and diplomacy so genuine it felt paradoxically bubbly in its delivery. The second was a declaration of intent, an acknowledgement in shocking but refreshing bluntness in reception to vague allusions I’d communicated with my self-appointed title. These simple preambles, when taken critically, painted an image of an Earthrealm far more mature than what Emma could have ever conveyed. For as much as she was able to deliver, and as much as she was able to spout in her long and informative tirades, none of it could have compared to the rawness of action. It was one thing to be told the greatness and enlightenment of a realm. It was another to be interacting with an actor within that state, and a senior one at that. “The honor is all mine, Director Laura Weir. Though the privilege of this communique is one I must defer to the talents of your envoy, and the mercy of Matriarch Kaelthyr.” I responded instinctively, reflexively, though within that calculated nothingness of diplomatic politeness, a more turbulent storm brewed just beneath the surface. One which I knew not how to rectify, especially in the midst of an active dialogue for the legends. That first statement. That statement of calculated power. My mind had grappled with it well enough, or at least I’d assumed it had. At first glance, the list seemed to be a regaling of places. And indeed it probably was. Though the nature of those places was what was in question. For despite what my mind had immediately assigned them to — towns, cities, regions, perhaps entire continents — I knew that not to be the case the instant I heard Luna. … That was the name Emma had assigned her moon. The realm that hung above her realm, floating within that sea of void-filled nothingness. What came after, if syntax and logic were to be believed, were the names of not cities nor towns on the surface of either Earth or Luna… but categorically equivalent to their significance. In short… the director wasn’t listing off fiefs, dukedoms, and kingdoms. No. She was listing off the names of entire realms. Other realms Emma had not yet broached. Realms that perhaps floated just as listlessly within the inky and empty abyss. Realms whose sizes must rival… well… REALMS. But what’s more… the director listed them as if they were a mere formality, trailing off not into a finite list but an appended footnote. Venus, Mercury, Mars, Saturn, Jupiter… That had already accounted for five additional realms. What’s more, this painted an image far removed from what Emma had shown me of Luna. For at that point in her illustrative sight-seer’s history lesson, that realm was but a barren and lifeless desert of white sands and rock. But what was being implied here was anything but. What was instead being implied were not frontiers on the fringe of permanent habitation. Instead… the manner in which everything was listed was beckoning an established culture and civilization, all distinct from her home realm of Earth. I did not know how to broach this. I did not know how to even begin filling the rest of the air once Weir replied to my diplomatic response of empty platitudes. That was… until I recalled my sister’s words. Don’t act dumb. That’s the first rule of stately dialogue, Nexian or otherwise. But do you also remember the lesson I told you about apologetics? Reframe it as gratitude? Correct. Now apply it to ignorance. How do you rectify this? … by reframing the question? Exactly! Frame the question not as a point of clarification, but as a point of expounding disambiguation. Ask for elaboration, and expand outwards. Do not ask for clarification and risk compromising your own position. Never show weakness, ever*.* And so I did just that, clearing my throat as I awaited Weir’s response to my diplomatic platitudes. “I appreciate the tentative performance review of our envoy, Prince Thalmin Havenbrock.” The director responded to my earlier response with a jocular bent, returning the floor back to me, which I would now use to press my curiosities. “I assure you, Director, if Cadet Booker had been anything short of a shining beacon of honor and integrity, we would certainly not be having this conversation.” I began respectfully before bridging the conversation back to address the earlier point of internal contention. “Though if I may, Director. I would like to address a point left somewhat ambiguous by your opening statements.” “Do tell?” Weir acknowledged curiously. “While the Cadet has made excellent headway in unveiling the unconventional nature of your realm, she has yet to have expanded beyond what I know as Earth and Luna. And considering you claim to represent the entirety of your people, I believe that it is prudent to clarify exactly whom you are representing.” I broached openly, perhaps even a bit too brazenly. An opening this brazen would have not only been shot down but utterly annihilated by any Nexian envoy. However, instead of contempt or derision, this human merely responded first with a clarification of her own. “You mean Venus, Mercury, Mars, Saturn, Jupiter, and so on and so forth?” “Correct, Director.” I nodded. “With pleasure, Prince Havenbrock.” She acknowledged excitedly. “These places I allude to are — as you describe in your vernacular — realms unto their own. Or as we refer to them — stellar bodies. These worlds stand comparable to the Earth by their own right, and if you’ll allow me this anecdotal inference, they all possess populations sharing in the prosperity of the sights you’ve seen from Acela.” … I felt a weight being applied and then lifted off my chest in rapid succession. I felt… a new yearning, to see with my own eyes through Emma’s sight-seer once more. Moreover, and perhaps more importantly, I now knew the authority with whom I was in conversation. And that authority… if all was to be believed… possessed holdings only comparable to the Nexus proper. The Director’s words faded into the background for a moment, as the dawning of this realization settled amidst an uneasy wariness. Because whilst elation did flood me, justifying me in my otherwise brazen actions in initiating this seditious line of dialogue, an untempered sense of awe started to flood me in a way I’d only felt once before. That being my first sight-seer into the sheer scale of Nexian primacy. I wasn’t just talking to an upstart newrealm. I wasn’t even in the presence of the long-since-forgotten adjacent rebellions from the bygone wars. I… was in direct communication with a realm of realms, one whose raw potential was as intoxicating as it was unfathomable to anything but the Nexus itself. And I… now had the ear of one of its leaders. The very first adjacent realm to make contact with a new Status Nexica. The director’s words soon returned to me as I recovered from this… realization. And once again, the allusions she made in passing conversation gave both hope and genuine belief in what could be discussed henceforth. “You see, we humans have a propensity to poke our noses where we weren’t meant to. Indeed, the more inhospitable a place may seem, the more it becomes a challenge rather than a discouragement. From the toxic and acidic atmospheres of Venus to the utter vacuum of Luna, we’ve forged ourselves a unique nook amidst the void. And now, with the revelations we currently face, we intend on forging ourselves a new direction between realities. A direction beginning first and foremost with the spirit of universal friendship and respectful reciprocity.” The shock, excitement, awe, and eagerness of a lupinor frothing at the mouth for change urged me to chomp at the bit. Indeed, I had nothing but an urgency to reach for such an agreement lest fate or happenstance curtail this one chance for liberation. And yet… I could not. At least, not without prodding this sleeping dragon some. Overeagerness and a desire for regime change had already resulted in the introduction of the Nexus into Havenbrock. And while I doubted the same pattern would befall a relationship with earthrealm, I couldn’t just discount the threat without challenge. I needed to at least test the human’s logic, pitting it against the unfeeling blades of pragmatism. All of which led me to my first play. One which I knew Kalim would disapprove of. “But what is reciprocity without mutual gain?” I posited abruptly, my posture tensing just imagining Emma’s superiors recoiling with confusion at the sudden tonal shift. “I do not discount what we would have to gain from such a friendship, but I seek to know how these gains would be mutual. What exactly would Earth and its adjacencies have to gain? What possible benefit is there from allying with a realm with nothing to offer?” That tonal dissonance, one that should’ve shattered any and all hope of Nexian diplomacy, was barely even met by even a second’s worth of hesitation on the part of the Director. In fact, instead of offense or indignant frustration, her response carried that same overture of calm collectedness; a desire to explain without annoyance or impatience. “You disparage yourself needlessly, Prince Havenbrock. If anything, I can assert that your mere presence alone brings so much to the table already.” “I’m afraid I don’t follow.” “Prince Havenbrock, I understand the necessity for pragmatism. Indeed, it would be wholly unwise of you to not challenge what could at first seem like an offer without drawbacks. Realpolitik is, unfortunately, oftentimes the predominant mentality throughout much of history. Which is why I will address your concerns with two categories of answers. One which lays the foundation of a practical relationship, and the other, a narrative most outside our bubble may deem fantastical in nature. The former is simple — we both share a collective… adversary.” She stated bluntly. So abruptly, in fact, that it contrasted sharply with the rest of her rhetoric. “And while I am unable to make grand sweeping statements over our foreign exo-reality policy moving forward — given that this authority lies within my superiors — what I can promise you is my guarantee and the outcome I foresee. In short, the GUN will be taking on a proactive preventative posture. We do not seek war or conflict, nor bloodshed of any kind. But seeing as the Nexus refuses all channels of productive and good-faith diplomacy, we thus must look towards preventative measures outside of the Nexus proper.” My eyes narrowed before I closed them, nodding in understanding. “So you wish to form your own Nexus.” “No, heavens no.” Weir rebuked. “If anything, we wish to seek what we always have — friendship. Or in this case, an alliance of equals and peers. Which leads me to my next point.” The director took a deep audible breath. “There exists a far less practical reason for this friendship. A reason rooted not in any practical considerations of territorial expansion, political dominance, or any such shortsighted drives measured in policies lasting decades and centuries. Instead, this reason is rooted in a dream, a collective narrative that we maintain as a real possibility. We seek community. We yearn for something other than the deafening silence and intolerable emptiness that we’ve found in our trek into the stars. And while we have accomplished this in our own right, forging an interconnected union of countless states, we still seek meaningful connections with others outside of our own kind.” “Moreover—” Another voice interjected; this time, it was the Captain’s. “—we seek to carry and accomplish the hopes and aspirations of countless generations prior. To finally accomplish one of our earliest directives, one issued by our fourth Secretary-General, a message etched into a golden record that never arrived to its intended recipients.” The Captain cleared his throat, and so did Emma, as they both spoke in unison, with Emma in particular shifting to clasp a hand across her chest. “We step out of our solar system, into the universe seeking only peace and friendship, to teach if we are called upon, to be taught if we are fortunate. We know full well that our planet, and all its inhabitants are but a small part of this immense universe that surrounds us. And it is with humility and hope that we take this step. Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim, circa 1977.” The pair uttered with both deference and a degree of reverence bordering on ritualistic creeds. I… was already convinced just hearing the practical considerations of this alliance. But to be met with pseudo-religious recitations of ancestral promises and idealistic aspirations? It not only answered a great deal about Emma’s eccentric character but also cemented my working trust with humanity. With all that being said, I felt a newfound weight bearing down on my shoulders. Though unlike the weights prior, I now felt a different sort of pressure. One where the ancestors of my own kin and the echoes of Emma’s predecessors now observed me from beyond the veil. “To honor an ancestor’s wishes is the greatest faculty a living mortal can aspire to. I can only hope that I am worthy of being the first to hear your general’s wishes spoken.” I began with a resonant sort of reverence in my voice. “So from the ancestors that came before me, and to the legacy of the Havenbrockian pantheon, let the voices of our collective pasts — both human and lupinor — echo into a harmony that reaches across the realms.” I placed both hands across my heart in a ritual shared only in close company, to which a moment of silence was observed by those on the other side. Kaelthyr Were the voidlings fools? Or were they truly this misguided. Perhaps they were spared hardship, to the point where pointless idealism dominated their doomed rhetoric. These words, these recitations, each and every step into their psyche brought forth more questions than answers. Was this a grand and elaborate trap? A soft and honeyed facade, hiding the darkness lurking within? Or was this truly who they were? … It couldn’t be. For this softness would’ve spawned a people lacking in drive, lost without initiative, but what’s more… it would have incurred a massive debt on their ability to stomach war. And yet that wasn’t the case. These were the same blind clockmakers that had forced crystals into an endless chorus of screams. These were the same ambitious builders that had crafted not just my crystal’s enclosure, but a room of materials so meticulous in its perfection that it would’ve driven any manaless metallurgists mad. What’s more… these were the weaponsmiths who’d crafted weapons of war that proved effective in their lethality, in spite of their ‘manaless’ nature, and in spite of these overtures to softness. How was it then that they held themselves with such… frailty? Why was it then that they did not demand fealty from this clearly lesser being? What was it that compelled them to speak not just on equal terms, but on terms that beckoned weakness and vulnerability? It was as perplexing as it was frustrating to witness. But witness it I did. Laura Weir There was a reason why the LREF had a direct line with sociologists and diplomats. This latest incident is a precise example of it. I wouldn’t act like I understood the implications of what had just transpired. But what I could tell from inference was that a deeply spiritual, perhaps even quasi-religious exchange had just transpired. I would have called for a recess at this point. But given the time limit we were working with, I just had to keep rolling with the punches. What’s more, the Captain was now regarding me with that signature cocksure grin of his. Something which tempted my frustrations… though I couldn’t deny the sheer effectiveness of his little sentimental stunt. Regardless, now that the bridge had been laid, it was finally time to start crossing it. “Standard protocol would dictate that we begin by laying down lines of permanent diplomatic channels through direct, tangible lines of communication between our two states. However, given the rather… limited circumstances of our engagements, I will have to defer matters to Cadet Emma Booker should all other channels fail.” “Understandable.” Came the prince’s response. And yet again, I noted that about half of the room seemed enamored whenever and wherever he spoke or even flinched. “And while we physically may not be able to reach your world currently, once again given the time constraints, I propose that we enter into what we originally set forth to do.” “Providing my insight on Nexian military capabilities, I’m assuming?” “Correct, Prince Havenbrock.” “Very well. What would you like to know?” “The portals, primarily.” Captain Li came in swiftly, his eyes locking with the wolf who was kept blind of our visual presence. “We need you to corroborate Emma’s findings and hypotheses. In short, we need clarity on the capability of portals. Control, throughput, and range. Whether they can support sustained logistics or only limited transit windows. Whether they permit precise insertion of forces, or mass deployment, or both, and if so, the differences between these two mechanisms of action or lack thereof. Finally, we need to know their capacity — known, hypothetical, and historical examples, if applicable — of their use in the delivery of strategic weapons.” The LREF officer rattled on, his mind clearly focused and in his element now as he brought up what was labeled on the virtual workspace simply as The Six Pillars. “Starting with Establishment, Access, and Control. Who’s responsible for the creation of these networks, who has access to this system, and under what conditions?” “It depends, Captain.” The prince started plainly. “The establishment of portals is the same across both civilian and martial paths, namely — mages specializing in portal magic or simply assigned to the role. These are, naturally, nobles. As for who has the authority for their deployment? At a strategic level, it’s the Grand Marshals or Field Marshals assigned to whatever theater of war happens to be active. At the tactical level, it’s field commanders who have the authority and initiative to tunnel portals at their own discretion. All that aside, what you need to know is this — portals are ubiquitous, Captain. They work as the backbone, the core, and the very skeletal framework by which the Nexus projects its infinite power.” The Captain quickly nodded. “Thank you, Prince Havenbrock. Now, onto—” I felt a shiver, and heard a hard resonant chime. Or was it the other way around? Both had occurred so suddenly, so abruptly, so… thoroughly that it pulled me from any coherent train of thought and into the realm of confusion and disorientation. The chimes passed like a wave, pulsating in intensity from a barely audible pin drop that paradoxically consumed the entirety of my attention, to something as ‘close’ as a breathy whisper. I looked around, and so did the Captain, as well as a few other members of staff. We all paused, glancing in momentary confusion. “Static?” Someone uttered. “No, it kinda sounded like chimes? Someone’s ringto—” “Alright, whose alarm went off? All personal devices are to be shut off prior to entry!” A security officer cried out. I quickly turned to the signals intelligence officer, who narrowed his eyes across both his physical and virtual workstations. “Sig-int?” Li questioned. “I’m…” The man paused, moving his hands across both his physical keyboard and the virtual workspace in front of him. Frantic clacks joined the otherwise silent wooshing of a hundred virtual displays until finally, it all went silent. The officer’s features darkened, though more out of confusion and frustration than any sense of dread. “I’m not reading any other audio signatures. Just baseline ambients and standard vocal traffic. No other signals observed, no other exo-reality entanglement episodes triggered, nothing over-the-baseline or any other abnormalities noted, sir.” The whole room went silent at that report, all eyes momentarily locking on the otherwise invisible member of the support staff, prompting him to double, triple, and quadruple check his findings. “Findings are consistent across all timestamps and throughout both sides of the transmission. Sampling error is within acceptable limits. Baseline deviations are within normal limits with no statistical significance noted. We’re clear sir.” He reiterated, prompting most in the room to breathe a sigh of relief, some to turn towards each other in confusion, but leaving only me to ruminate in a stew of simmering anxiety. This sentiment seemed to be shared across realities, as Matriarch Kaelthyr’s pupils dilated, her features for the first time dipping into something resembling a look of genuine concern. First | Previous | Next (Author's Note: And there we have it! I really hope you guys are enjoying the earthside of things haha! :D) [If you guys want to help support me and these stories, here's my ko-fi ! And my Patreon for early chapter releases (Chapter 161, Chapter 162, and Chapter 163 of this story are already out on there!)] submitted by /u/Jcb112 to r/HFY [link] [comments]

Since internet comes into my living room directly above my basement workspace, I drilled through the floor to run cables down and mounted a small network cabinet on the wall. Keeps everything out of the living room and gives me direct access for maintenance. What's in the cabinet: Synology DS923+ – the heart of it all 10GbE direct connection to Mac Studio (via Synology E10G22-T1-Mini) 2.5GbE to FRITZ!Box via expansion card Dual 1GbE ports as redundancy TP-Link 2.5GbE switch Various HomeKit bridges (Hue, Eve, etc.) Eve Room sensor – temperature and humidity monitoring for the cabinet Paulmann LED strip – because if it's going to be visible, it might as well look good Cable management: My ADHD brain made me label every single ethernet cable. Took forever, zero regrets. When something breaks at 2am, I know exactly what's what. The setup it serves: Mac Studio + Pro Display XDR workstation for photography work (Lightroom Classic). The 10GbE direct connection to the NAS makes working with large RAW files feel local. Everything else in the house runs through the 2.5GbE path via the FRITZ!Box. Why it's in a basement: I'm self-employed and spend most of my time down here anyway. Having the homelab literally next to my desk means quick diagnostics and no trips upstairs when something needs attention. The room also has acoustic treatment and ambient lighting, so it's become my favorite place to work. Happy to answer questions about the setup or the Synology network configuration! submitted by /u/sel3ction to r/homelab [link] [comments]

Hey peps, I was a 10 year backend and when gpt came out I switched to learning ML and Gen AI and for the last three years I`ve been working as a AI Engineer, and compared to traditional backend development this role is the worst. I wanna know are there more people out there with the same gig and hows the experience so far. My main problem is that team leads, directors and VP`s usually don't have basic ml or ai knowledge, they watch a hyped up video or presentation and assume that everything can be done by the all-mighty LLM and it just work with putting in minimal effort in the code. Unfortunately technical interviews are the same. Here are some of my best takes in the last year My VP wants me to make anomaly detection for network traffic on a network device and network interface, but he wants me to do it with an LLM. - I`ve explained that this is done via anomaly detection models, but no his stance is that it should just work by saying to llm "Please detect network anomaly in the following data" and then dump raw RRD graph data on the LLM. On one of my latest interviews is subcontractor working on a startup project and they are doing text sentiment analysis via LLM and Langchain. After discussing that sentiment analysis is done via specialized models not LLM`s and certainly not using Langchain their feedback is that I don't know shit Also recent technical interview I`ve been discussing questions like How do you filter out PII Info from the prompts, my answer with a NER model then the interviews starts talking about LLM Guardrails as if thats something special and precise. I personally would not even dream on relying on guardrails or prompt instructions to filter out PII data. And this is a pinnacle of my interviews, a scenario made by the interviewer in which he says we have an agent thats 91% accuracy and whats the technique to make id 100% accurate. I first told him that this being ML and AI 91% is a very good result and that 100% accuracy is unachievable but I list him techniques and strategies that can be applied to improve accuracy. He said no there is a technique called "human in the loop" that will boost the accuracy to 100% and a Honorable mention is AWS Day. AWS holds their AI day at our company all the VP`s are there, pre sales people from AWS and two AI engineer. They present fairytales and all the VP`s are buying, it. I ask AWS AI engineers how much tool calls can you stack in a single prompt they respond 150 - which is total nonsense around 15 tool calls is ok everything more LLM performance degrades. They start presenting Amazon Q coding agent, they present a feature of an agent to start docker, one of the engineers instead going to terminal and typing docker-compose up goes to the agent and types "Can you please start docker compose for me", it does its job, all the VP`s go into state of trance as if they seen something unbelievable and then they start discussing how with this thing they can replace some of the devops people. After all this nonsense I`m thinking about switching back to regular backend dev roles, but the market is brutal for both traditional backend and frontend positions, maybe doing a post on reddit and getting replies from people that have same experiences could give me more strenght to hold down to this types of roles submitted by /u/LastDayz123 to r/AI_Agents [link] [comments]

​Do you think this is normal? One online community platform used to offer some features for free and some as paid add-ons. That made it possible to build and configure my community before moving to a paid plan. But today they suddenly cut the free plan in a way that’s critical for me. As a result, all my previous setup work and progress is basically wasted. I can’t even get the project minimally configured and launched anymore. ​On top of that, they’re not offering the next plan up for $20–30 or $100 per month. They’re pushing me straight to a $425/month plan. And even that still doesn’t fully solve it, because realistically I’d need to pay $33,000 per year, even though I haven’t finished setting things up and I haven’t started monetizing the project yet. And even on the free plan, they still take a 2% fee on all payments. Before this, I was already paying approximately $59/month. I paused the subscription to wrap up the setup, planning to upgrade to the $120 plan later. But now, I’m stuck getting severely stripped-down features for $425/month, or I have to commit to $33,000 a year. ​To me, this feels like Facebook suddenly charging $1 for every friend you already have, and if you don’t pay, you can’t message the people you’ve already been talking to. Thankfully Meta doesn’t do that, but this service basically did exactly that. It’s simply destroying what I’ve been building on their platform. I understand any business can make decisions it believes are necessary for growth, but this feels like it’s killing their customers. Maybe am I wrong? But building a business on a platform that can raise prices 5-100x overnight seems way too risky. Can you help me find a reliable platform to build my community on? I need a partner I can actually trust. submitted by /u/traveligion to r/CommunityManager [link] [comments]

submitted by /u/jonobacon to r/Stateshift [link] [comments]

First | Previous | Next Patreon | Official Subreddit | Series Wiki | Royal Road The Nexus. Just outside of the South-Eastern edge of the North Rythian Forests. Local Time: 1700 Hours. Emma [‘QUEST’ Time Elapsed: 76 Hours. Time Remaining: 92 Hours] [SURVEY PROGRESS… 12.5%. Estimated Time to Completion… 21 Hours. Data Fidelity: Nominal. Network Integrity: Stable. Primary Objective… Pending.] [Crystal Shards… Not found.] [AMETHYST DRAGON… Not found.] “Welp. Progress is progress. But as long as we keep up this pace, we should be on schedule.” I let out a tired sigh, gesturing to a screen that had once again caught Thalmin off guard. Though it wasn’t as if he was still in awe of either the screen itself or battlenet, nor was he surprised by the disappointing lack of progress, no. In fact, this squint… was a reaction I was used to seeing from both friends and family back home. It was a squint of judgement — whether by intention or biological reflexes — at the horrors of my personal preferences. Or to put it more accurately, at a certain screen setting that seemed to be the source of so many grievances — light mode. I’d practically flashbanged Thalmin, because unlike the brightness of the day, the growing evening had since sensitized his eyes to the dark. “I much prefer it when the ink itself is what glows against the natural tones of the parchment.” He mumbled out, my eyes narrowing at the allusions to the existence of a magical dark mode. “I don’t know how you humans do it, though I do know of more than a handful of species who have quite a natural inclination towards the light…” He muttered that latter line out in much the same way he did with the rest of his inside jokes; a trend that I was slowly learning to brush off. “In any case, we should be done with a full sweep of the forest by 1400 hours tomorrow. After which, we’ll have enough intel to dictate our next course of action. Hopefully we’ll find a stray shard by then, but if not… just under two days should be enough to snipe the dragon, no?” “We’d have to track it first, Emma.” Thalmin responded with a sigh. “Yeah, yeah. But that’s what battlenet is for! We have eyes in the sky looking not just at the ground, but the airspace above—” [PRIORITY ALERT! MULTIPLE AERIAL CONTACTS ENTERING THE AO. APPROACH VECTOR CONFIRMED: GRID SECTOR A-1-4-D; NORTHWEST QUADRANT!] My eyes lit up, as did Thalmin’s. All prior thoughts took a backseat to protocol, as operational algorithms drilled into me during drone operator training were immediately brought to the forefront. “Active camo and evasive flight paths, now.” [Acknowledged.] “Defer active ops and initiate threat-range scans.” [Acknowledged. Instructions relayed. Network Integrity: Stable. Redirecting assets. Standby…] The map shifted as the game changed in a matter of seconds. The familiar top-down perspective of the forest was promptly replaced by a panoramic view of the skies immediately in front of the drones, as individual status readouts, flight paths, and flight instrument indicators came to join the collage of tactical displays that had Thalmin’s eyes darting left and right. I couldn’t blame him, though. I had the same reaction despite the false confidence mil-sim titles had instilled in me. That’s why drone operator training took a sizable chunk of basic. The role of Swarm Queen wasn’t inherited but earned. Owing in no small part to the tried and true grind of experience, forged through the accumulation of FPV and C&C hours. The rest was good, old-fashioned neural plasticity, allowing one to get used to perceiving the world beyond the restriction of one’s own two eyes. [Fleet Redirection… complete. New flight paths… mapped. Network Integrity: Stable. Awaiting Orders.] “QSR: Identify contacts.” [Collating… Processing… Confirming… 3 Large Contacts… 12 Light Contacts accompanying in formation.] [TRACK ID: Winged Heavy 1-1, 1-2, 1-3] [TRACK ID: Winged Light 2-1 through 2-12.] “QSR: Signature profile.” [Visual: Winged Heavy 1-1, 1-2, 1-3, inconsistent with AMETHYST DRAGON and other recorded flight-capable species in the WORKING SPECIES REGISTRY. Winged Light 2-1 through 2-12 consistent with Local Aerial Asset: ‘DRAKE RIDER’.] [Thermal: Elevated, inconsistent with known aircraft. Consistent with local mounted air asset analogues.] [Mass/Volume: Large Contacts approx. 5 - 10 metric tons. Smaller Contacts approx. 400 - 700 kilograms.] [Payload: Underbelly Stowage Compartments Noted on Large Contacts. Repositioning for better analysis. Standby… Parsing… Updating visual feed… Analyzing… Design and configuration congruent with cargo/passenger cabins. Summary: Potential personnel and/or equipment transport.] “QSR: Tactical Profile.” [Unable to parse… Insufficient contextual data. Profile is beneath acceptable inference limits.] “QSR: Visual Tactical Readout.” [Winged Light 2-1 through 2-12. Ranged Air-to-Air Assets: > 24 Spears; Ammo Count: 24. > 12 Bows; Ammo Count: Variable, approx. 30. > Melee Arms: 12 Swords. > Armor: Plate Steel. ADDENDUM: Possibly augmented with exotic mana-materials and radiation. Capabilities unknown.] “Maintain current instructions. Continue monitoring.” [Acknowledged.] “Live feed readout. I want to see where this goes.” [Acknowledged.] Our eyes remained glued to the screen as the situation developed surprisingly quickly. The three large contacts simply dropped off their wood-and-steel-reinforced ‘cabins,’ unlatching leather and steel straps before departing without much fanfare. Meanwhile, 8 of the 12 drake riders departed soon after, acting as escorts for their large but lumbering cousins. The initial shock and preliminary concern that hit us eventually died down, especially as the remaining drake riders landed on the forest floor, taking up ‘resting’ positions with their wings flared and their heads tucked. Their two legs eventually folded in on themselves as well, giving them a sort of ‘loaf-like’ shape once their wings too were nestled beneath them. “Must be another group of adventurers.” I offered. “Sym did mention how he encountered a few dead parties in the forest.” “No. These must be men-at-arms, or a proper mercenary company at the very least. No adventurer, no matter how ostentatious, would ever in their right mind charter a greater drake.” Thalmin countered. “Right. Well… that might complicate things then.” I acknowledged with a sigh. “I don’t see anyone resembling a proper noble in the camp, though.” Thalmin offered, as he gestured for me to zoom in on several people down beneath the canopy. “There may be one from the looks of it. But I highly doubt that. No Nexian noble would oversee an operation of a diminutive scale. I’d wager this quest is being led by a few chosen ones, if not more.” The prince shrugged. “Either way, what this means for us is simple — expect slow progress on behalf of these interlopers. But given their numbers and outfitting, we shouldn’t leave anything to chance. You said we had 21 more hours until the forest is fully surveyed, correct?” “Yeah.” I nodded. “Then this changes nothing. Just make haste if you can, Emma. If we are to initiate ‘Plan B,’ as you call it, then we must act swiftly. We cannot allow these interlopers to take the dragon before we can extract what we need from it.” “Right. Okay. I’ll get the drones back in their original flight paths. Though if those drakes ever take flight again, I will have to reconfigure them to more evasive flight patterns, if only to avoid detection.” “Understandable.” Thalmin nodded. However, before he could move on, a question suddenly spawned. “Before—” “I’d like to—” Or more accurately, two questions simultaneously, as the both of us spoke at more or less exactly the same time. Thalmin “You go first.” Emma urged. “This may be a bit of a tangent, so I’d suggest you go first, Emma.” I countered politely. “Trust me, mine’s a tangent as well, so—” “To avoid an endless loop, I will take that offer.” I interjected with a harsh breath, before gesturing to the tablet in front of us. “That entire… exchange. Between your commands and the messages on your artifices, is this how you typically communicate between you and your swarm?” “Yeah.” Emma nodded. “Remember how I changed the scenery in the ZNK-19? This is more or less the same concept, just scaled up.” I narrowed my eyes, pondering a response as I once more leaned into the manaless window. A window… into the eyes and ears of what was frankly a swarm. Thoughts upon thoughts abounded one atop the other, with practical concerns clashing against the shore of intrigue, eroding what was already firm suspicion into outright conspiracy about the nature of Earthrealm. Or more accurately, the nature of their military capabilities. However, in spite of everything, all I allowed out of my mouth was a simple acknowledgement. “I see.” Instead, I took a moment to pause, to ponder, as I watched through the looking glass at the world through the eyes of a swarm queen. Each ‘perspective’ was composited — a mosaic of sights that resembled the world as seen through the eyes of bees, wasps, and any number of oddly eyed insects, their vision as alien as the manaless artifice through which it was relayed. I let out another breath before shifting my perspective back to Emma. “I simply feel the need to ask, as the abilities displayed here seem… seamless, practiced, rehearsed, and dare I say it, second nature. This wasn’t a simple command relayed to a static sightseer. This was the direct control of multiple manaless golems, as seamlessly as if they were an extension of yourself.” “Yeah, well, that’s because it kind of is! As in, mental adaptability is something that’s useful for us. You put someone in charge of a bunch of far-seers in a building, and they eventually come to ‘feel’ as if the building itself is an extension of them, you know? Same goes for helmsmen and ships, pilots and aircraft, and so on and so forth. Drone operators — i.e. most frontline personnel — are trained similarly. We have to integrate seamlessly into battlenet, because a second’s hesitation or delay might be what makes or breaks an engagement.” I took a moment to ponder that, to truly examine the seemingly spiritual connection between the human and their constructs. In a sense, it wasn’t unlike the bond between myself and Emberstride, or the soulstitched or soulbound bonds in many other battlemages, warriors, and knights. Yet as similar as it was, there was still… an unnerving alienness to it. Whatever the case was, I simply acknowledged the swarm queen’s sentiments with a nod before throwing the proverbial talking stick back to her court. “Your turn.” Emma “So, you mentioned chosen ones. I’ve heard this term thrown around a lot, especially at the adventuring guild. But no one’s really… explained it to me. So I've just kinda been going off of context clues and what we’ve learned about gifted commoners so far. Are chosen ones just another, more ‘fancier’ way of saying ‘gifted commoners’ or…?” “Correct, Emma.” Thalmin nodded. “Although, the term ‘chosen one’ is more often synonymous with gifted commoners who enter more martial paths. As opposed to, say, our elf server in the grand dining hall who’s only committed to using his magic for parlor tricks.” “How big of a threat are we talking about here? Because up to this point, I’ve only gone up against mages in challenges and whatnot. A proper fight is something I’ve only encountered once with Mal’tory and that was—” Thalmin snickered, stopping me in my tracks. “What’s so funny?” “If you survived an encounter with a Black-Robed Professor, I doubt you’ll have any issues against a mere Chosen One, Emma.” Thalmin bellowed out confidently, patting me on the shoulder. “Though, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be on our toes, of course. I’ve met many a chosen one who punched well above their weight class — using enchanted weapons and tools as crutch for their magical limitations, seamlessly integrating with them. To the point where the typical commoner might even mistake them for a mage at first glance. Though, typically, once you see a chosen one in action, you’ll know exactly what to expect. Since in the same vein that gifted commoners are ‘gifted’ with a single narrow sliver of magical acumen, so too are chosen ones confined to a very small sliver of magical potential.” “Right.” I nodded, my mind racing through the implications of this newfound intel. “Just so we’re on the same page, supposing there’s a guy who’s able to do fire magic, he’d more or less be locked to just fire magic, right?” “That’s simplifying the matter, but for our purposes, you’ve struck the kobold on the head there, Emma. There are, however, always exceptions to the rule. Such is the case with the jack-of-all-trades. But those are exceptionally rare, and usually only seen in illegitimate offspring between nobles and commoners.” The prince explained bluntly. “Even then, these individuals are still very much orders of magnitude weaker than true mages, but I digress. Suffice it to say, Emma, we’ll be fine.” Thalmin beamed, thumping his chest. “Look who you’ve partnered with, after all.” “Yeah, fair enough, my mercenary prince.” I chuckled. The next few moments were finally punctuated by silence as we watched the camp grow tent by tent. The drones counted at least a hundred or so contacts, and as dusk fully settled, quite a few peculiarities popped up. Most notable among these was the erection of some sort of altar at least half a click from the camp, with offerings wrapped in parchment carefully placed on each pedestal. “Erm… care to fill me in on that, Thalmin?” I pointed. “Oh, that’s just an offering, Emma.” The prince explained casually. To which I could only respond with an accentuated cock of my head. “Elaborate.” “An offering to placate the forest itself, Emma. To ward off potential… negative reactions to what could otherwise be perceived as an incursion of its territory.” I blinked rapidly, cocking my head. “Is that an actual thing, or a superstition?” “You’ve interacted with the forest face-to-face with one of its avatars, have you not, Emma?” The prince countered, as it took a second for my mind to finally register what the prince was getting at. “OH RIGHT! THE WEREBEAST!” I attempted to snap my fingers, only to elicit an unsatisfying motion that puzzled the lupinor. “Right, yeah, I remember now. So that actually was the forest talking through it, then? It never occurred to me to follow up on that, thinking it was just like, the werebeast being all high and mighty about himself.” “The werebeast might’ve merely been the most convenient enforcer at the time, I suppose. Though I can’t say for certain. Frankly, a forest is often an enigmatic force of nature unto itself. With some primitive cultures even going so far as to consider them gods of sorts.” Thalmin shrugged. “Though, given His Eternal Majesty refused to consume them — instead forging some sort of an alliance or some such — I doubt they’re anywhere near the level of deities.” “So what can we expect from the forest?” I immediately shot back, my mind still very much stuck in rapid response and assessment mode. “Are we looking at, like… an immune reaction or something? Vines and tendrils shooting up, moss to consume us whole, sinkholes forming, and slime creatures attacking?” “We’re not facing a druid, Emma.” Thalmin responded with a hefty chuckle. “If anything, we have no need to worry given the makeup of our current party. Forests typically do not target small groups, so long as they do not actively seek out their destruction. Moreover, with you being effectively lifeless in its eyes, there’s even less chance of it targeting us. Indeed, the presence of a far larger, more unsightly group in its Northwest region, will take up much of its attention.” I narrowed my eyes at Thalmin, crossing my arms to make up for the lack of facial expression to convey a certain level of doubt in the prince’s claims. “So… burning a good few acres of forest doesn’t count as actively seeking out its destruction, huh?” I chuckled darkly, alluding to a certain fight against a vorpal chimera. The prince surprisingly didn’t immediately counter this with an excuse or a loophole. Instead, he let out a nervous chuckle, a sly grin forming on his face in short order. “Heh, well… you could say I overlooked the potential consequences of my actions in the heat of the moment.” I placed a hand on the prince’s shoulder, gripping it tightly. “Spoken like a true orbital ordnance officer.” The prince’s brows quirked at this, possibly at the EVI’s attempts to translate the joke, but I counted it as fair game given the inside jokes he’d been leveling at me for the past week. Things wound down after a few more back-and-forths, our eyes still very much monitoring the situation over in the camp from above, until we finally noticed something else that caught our attention. “Huh. That’s a heck of a lot of cheese.” I noted. “I guess they had a run-in with our new friend.” Thalmin smiled brightly. “He’s quite a salesman, so it stands to reason that he must’ve made quite an impression on our interlopers here. Probably sold most of his stock from the looks of it.” “Yeah! Honestly, good for him.” I beamed as I quickly patted the pouch that held the little notebook the kobold had gifted me. I can’t wait to see the upgrades to your cart and wares once we meet again. I thought brightly to myself. Dragon’s Heart Tower, Level 23, Residence 29. Ilphius and Kamil’s Room. Local Time: 1730 Hours Ilphius “Kamil.” I announced firmly, making my presence known with a SLAM of the doors. “It’s time you came out of hiding.” … Yet no answer came. I let out a frustrated sigh, clenching my fists, before unleashing fury in the form of disruption, disorientation, and dispelling magics which would’ve caused even the most stoic of mages to lose their footing. The result was immediate. Though not in the way I’d expected. Yaaaawwwwwnnnnnnnn! A voice strained from within one of the corners of the room as the lazy layabout finally uncloaked, focusing his two beady eyes on me. “I’m guessing your second and final proposal with Lady Airit did not go as planned?” The coward spoke with a lizard-like lisp, as a smug, self-satisfied giggle colored his voice. “At least I had the courage and mental fortitude to take chances.” I rebutted. “At least I exist in the material world.” I continued as I leveled both ire and frustration firmly against the wayward noble. “Yes, yes. Exist you do. Perhaps you should allow me to return to my immaterial world then—” “Stop.” I urged, my voice colored not by desperation, but authority. This did the trick, as the barely present lizard reacted without a second’s hesitation. His instinctive response to authority, true authority, was laid bare to me. “Whilst Lady Airit may lack vision, playing things safe as her master tends to do, I am unwilling to let this opportunity slip us by. This is why I am reassessing the situation, and requesting your cooperation in enacting my plans.” I stated firmly, eliciting a disgusting and debased roll of the lizard’s tongue as he seemed to mock my occasional tongue-flared hiss. “I sssseeeee.” He responded jeeringly before stretching his arms and legs lazily in all directions. “Convince me.” “Excuse me?!” “You heard what I said: convince me. I have no horse in this race, Lady Ilphius. The worst you can do is to interrupt my sleep and scatter my belongings… but it isn’t as if you aren’t already doing that now, are you?” He chuckled derisively, causing my whole body to tense and burn from the inside out. “When my plan succeeds—” “If.” “No, when it does.” I seethed. “When it does succeed… I will be in a better position to retake the peer group’s throne from that wretched merchant. And when that time comes, I will make sure to elevate our group, to push us forward, and to place us in a position where we can challenge the earthrealmer’s group for a position in the house we were robbed of.” … “Sounds quite ambitious…” “Indeed it is.” I acknowledged. “And by ambitious I mean tiresome, Lady Ilphius.” The man yawned. “I’m sorry, but you’re going to have to do this on your own.” “I’ll unmask Teleos Lophime’s secret. I will uncover what it is he’s hiding in the healing wing.” I offered. “Hmm… now you’re speaking my language. Though you’ll have to give me more than just juicy drama to eat up.” Kamil chuckled darkly. “Coin.” I spat out. “Coin, you lazy, whiny, layabout—” “Carte blanche.” He countered. “Whatever spoils we may potentially earn from this escapade, yes.” I pushed forth a secondary counteroffer. To which the man finally relented with a long, drawn-out nod. “What’s your plan?” “I know there must be something that might incriminate the pair. That wretched and tainted avinor is most obviously a beacon of darkness. And the Vunerian? I’ve heard whispers of him slithering off to the libraries for some enigmatic purposes. Our task is to follow these two blighted beasts, and to determine once and for all what devious rule-breaking, or perhaps even law-breaking schemes they may be up to.” “Huh.” Kamil responded simply. “That’s easy enough.” “Indeed, and with your masterful camouflage skills, this will be even more—” “We’ll start tomorrow then. I’m tired from today’s classes.” He yawned once more. “No.” I seethed, grabbing him by the half-transparent arm. “We’re starting today.” The Transgracian Academy for the Magical Arts. The Grand Dining Hall. Local Time: 2000 Hours Ilphius “Ahem.” Kamil interrupted, tugging at my uniform as he did so. “Are you certain the pair are up to anything—” “It’s just dinner, Kamil. Maybe if we trail them after this, we will see just what illicit activities they’re up to.” I intercepted the man’s concerns before he had a chance to fully voice them, as I continued eating, bite by agonizing bite, while maintaining a careful sentry on the pair. “You know you’re only resorting to such passive actions because without Lady Airit or Lady Ladona, you simply don’t have the power to go toe-to-toe against—” “Keep quiet!” Dragon’s Heart Tower, Level 23, Hallway. Local Time: 2200 Hours Ilphius “It’s curfew now. We have to go back.” “I was certain they’d have gone anywhere but back to their room! Are you sure we did not follow phantoms? Or maybe we might have missed their subtle exit through some other—” “Yes, I’m certain, Lady Ilphius. You’re talking to the master of camouflage here.” Kamil responded lazily. “Alright. We’ll just resume our sentry tomorrow.” “And if nothing comes of tomorrow?” He countered. “I have other avenues…” The Next Day The Transgracian Academy for the Magical Arts. The Grand Dining Hall en Route to ???. Local Time: 0900 Hours Ilphius “Still nothing, Lady Ilphius.” “Patience, Kamil! Look! They’re leaving!” “And what makes you think they’re not just heading back to their dormitory?” “Because look—” I pointed urgently at their path. “—they’re taking the main stairwell this time around.” “Which means what exactly?” “They’re headed to the student lounge.” “Oh joy.” Kamil sighed quietly. The Transgracian Academy for the Magical Arts. Student Lounge. Local Time: 1200 Hours Ilphius “And I said, ‘Panned cakes! It should be called panned cakes! For the cakes were made in a pan.’ But my private chef, in their infinite stupidity, refuses to acknowledge this, pushing forth a narrative of pan-cakes instead! Tell me, my dear fellows, are the cakes not panned? For a cake to be a pan-cake, it should somehow resemble a pan or in some way—” “He’s been at this, on the speaker’s chair, for hours now, Lady Ilphius.” Kamil bemoaned. “Are you certain this is what you seek?” “No… but what of the avinor—” “She’s been silently reading a book, sipping tea and eating nuts, occasionally being interrupted by the freaks from the fourth nook only to be rebuked. I’ve kept my other eye on her this entire time.” “Patience. Patience, Kamil. We will have our evidence.” The Transgracian Academy for the Magical Arts. En Route to the Library. Local Time: 1400 Hours. Ilphius “There it is, there it is! We must follow him!” I urged, as we both silently scouted our way forwards, ducking in illusory magics until the Vunerian had entered that most unholy of places. We waited for several minutes more until we made our move, walking across the bridge and then entering the den of unspeakable evils to continue our investigation. Yet upon entry, we were met not by the scurrying of the increasingly pale-blue Vunerian, or any sign of him whatsoever. Instead, what awaited us was a small fox that looked up at both of us expectantly. “State your business! Do you wish to browse or to trade?” The fox questioned before moving up to sniff at the both of us, as if our illusory magics weren’t even there. “Hmm… neither of you seem to have anything to trade. Rather stale, honestly.” “How dare you—” “I’ve heard it much before, yes yes. Grumble and grumble, moan and whine. Let’s skip to the end now, shall we? Are you here to browse or to trade?” We both looked at each other before nodding. “Kamil, you—” “I’ll browse, please.” The man sighed, eliciting a nod from the fox, who simply… vanished the moment I turned to look back. “I’ll keep an eye on the avinor. We’ll meet for dinner.” “Right.” The Transgracian Academy for the Magical Arts. The Grand Dining Hall. Local Time: 1900 Hours Ilphius “Well look who finally decided to show up…” I hissed softly at an exhausted-looking Kamil. “Found anything?” “No. I barely got out of that impossible labyrinth!” He seethed. “The deal’s off, by the way. There’s nothing in it for me. The fun’s over.” He crossed his arms. “And I doubt you found anything interesting about the avinor either.” I moved to speak… but found that I had nothing at all to say. “No, I have not.” I stated plainly. “But I have one final plan to enact…” I offered, garnering the man’s attention. “...what is it this time?” “The pair, they are both here, are they not?” “Yes, they are. What of it?” “This makes for the perfect opportunity to… investigate their den of sin.” “You can’t be serious. You can’t just break into another dorm.” He countered. “Au contraire. I can… and I will. And whatever is in there… I shall have my spoils.” The Nexus. Southeastern Quadrant of the North Rythian Forests. Local Time: 1900 Hours. Emma The relative ‘downtime’ that was the past 26 hours felt a heck of a lot like the fulfillment of one of Aunty Ran’s sayings. A lot of war is a whole load of sitting around doing nothing. Except for the one percent of times where all hell breaks loose and you’re fighting within an inch of your life. You use that 99% to prepare for the 1%. Or at least that’s what they say. I just prayed that we wouldn’t experience the latter half of that anecdote. [‘QUEST’ Time Elapsed: 102 Hours. Time Remaining: 66 Hours] [SURVEY PROGRESS… 100%. Estimated time to Completion… 0 Hours. Data Fidelity: N/A. Network Integrity: N/A. Charging. Primary Objective… Pending.] [Fleet Status: Charging.] [Crystal Shards… Not found.] [AMETHYST DRAGON… Not found.] “Right, do you want the good news or the bad news, Thalmin?” “We’ve been sitting around waiting for your drones to do most of the work. Let’s at least get some good news, Emma.” The prince grumbled. “Right, well, good news! Our interloper friends have not detected our presence, nor our drones. That’s even with their Shatorealmer flying around. Also, the drakes seem to be in hibernate mode or something. They’ve only flown them once, though granted it knocked a good few hours off of our survey time.” “Okay… I’m assuming the bad news is that there’s no stray crystal shard.” Thalmin sighed out. “Correct.” I nodded. “Damnit.” Thalmin cursed. “Well then, it seems like we’ll just have to go dragon hunting now, won’t we?” He managed bravely under a nervous grin. “Once the drones are charged up, I’ll be redirecting survey efforts towards tracking down the amethyst dragon’s lair. Given we have the whole forest mapped out now, it shouldn’t be too long before we narrow down a list of POI’s—” [PRIORITY ALERT! MULTIPLE AERIAL CONTACTS ENTERING THE AO! RANGE… 1400 METERS!] My blood ran cold as I tapped Thalmin on the shoulder, shooting him a look which he could not interpret. Though I wouldn’t need to, because what happened next brought the man up to his feet. “AGHGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!” As a bloodcurdling scream, followed by the unmistakable FWOOOOSH! of fire erupted about a click north of our position. We had only one drone in the air, but that’d have to do. “QSR: Identify contacts.” [Estimated Count: 1 Large Contact] [TRACK ID: AMETHYST DRAGON] I felt my stomach clench as my arm moved to activate the railgun. Though I only did so out of precaution— [Estimated Count: 2 Small Contacts] [TRACK ID: Winged Light 2-1, 2-2.] —because we weren’t alone in this engagement. We didn’t need to watch what was transpiring on the tablet, as the action was close enough that the light foliage of the canopy allowed for a near-unimpeded view of the skies. Two drake riders were attempting desperate sorties against the dragon, as they moved to corral, slash, and even ensnare the dragon with rope, netting, and just about everything but the kitchen sink. This was all in a desperate attempt to save their ground forces from the brunt of the dragon’s fury, as we saw a small group of elves, dwarves, satyrs, kobolds, and even baxi desperately attempting to flee from the dragon’s ire — away from the wall of flames that halted their advance. However, with every advance towards a potential exfil route, the dragon shot out another line of fire, corralling them towards a path of its own design. It was as if the dragon was doing this on purpose, as if it was actively playing with its prey, giving them a false sense of hope of escape… only to snip that thin thread of reprieve away with the unbridled fury of dragonflame. We both watched in silence as this group of mercenaries was eventually boxed in, their last exfil route completely bathed in flames, leaving them in a literal box of fire that only grew closer and closer, with no potential of being put out. Though it wasn’t as if they didn’t try. As one of them — a blue-robed satyr — attempted to spray down the flames with some healthy jets of water, all to the tune of some weak bursts of mana radiation. The dragon, noticing this, flew low and slow, almost hovering in front of the satyr. The bassy BOOMS of its wingbeats shook the air, accelerating the ferocity of the raging inferno, sending even Thalmin’s fur into a shiver and my gut into a knot. Their eyes met, and in what I could only describe as a snort of amethyst embers and soot, it roared. SKREEAAAUUUUUCHHHHHHH!!!! A crackling noise soon followed, sparks haphazardly illuminating the dark of its throat. Then, a subtle ping of a mana radiation spike. Finally, a sudden FWOOOOSH enveloped all auditory channels. … Bright blue dragonflame, orders of magnitude larger than the satyr’s jet of water, vaporized everything it came into contact with… The water— Skkksshhhhhhhh —the foliage— Crackle! Hiss! —and finally, the satyr and his forward scouting party. Their screams were short-lived. But even so, the chorus of guttural bellows and bloodcurdling shrieks echoed into the night, each note and octave searing deep into my core. “Emma—” I heard a distant voice calling. But my body was frozen, my eyes staring blankly at the impressions of boots and hooves rendered into baked clay on the forest floor. “EMMA! We have to move!” Thalmin shouted, breaking through the haze of shock, as he attempted to shake me out of it. I blinked rapidly, staring at his finger as he gestured to the dragon moving to gain altitude, with the two drake riders in hot pursuit. This was our chance to tag and follow it. So without a second thought, I acknowledged Thalmin’s urgings. “Right.” Before quickly turning to the EVI. “EVI. Send the survey drone after it. Observe maximum threat range and stay clear of its sightline." “Query: Specify survey drone.” “The one we currently have in the air! SUR-DRONE03B—” I paused, my heart skipping a beat as I noticed something pop up on my HUD. [SUR-DRONE03… STATUS… CRITICAL DAMAGE… REQUESTING RETRIEVAL AND EXFIL] I craned my head up, following the ping of the lost survey drone, until I was met with the dragon roaring overhead. ROOOOOOOAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRR! And while its roar tore across the silence of the night, a familiar red pulse emanated from a crevice on its back — a tiny antenna piercing deep into the empty dark. First | Previous | Next (Author's Note: And there we have it! :D The dragon makes its appearance, alongside a certain missing drone from back during the warehouse explosion! :D I hope you guys enjoy the chapter! :D The next Two Chapters are already up on Patreon if you guys are interested in getting early access to future chapters.) (Author's Note 2: Here's the Updated Map for Emma and Thalmin's progress so far! :D) [If you guys want to help support me and these stories, here's my ko-fi ! And my Patreon for early chapter releases (Chapter 150 and Chapter 151 of this story is already out on there!)] submitted by /u/Jcb112 to r/HFY [link] [comments]

Translation: courtesy of u/zikkoru Original post in russian: https://www.reddit.com/r/Pikabu/comments/1mcevb6/странная_планета_северная_корея_пхеньян/ Previous post in english (removed due non-OC rule): https://www.reddit.com/r/travel/comments/1mcxyoo/weird_planet_russian_tourist_tells_about_his/ The airspace is only available for Korean planes, and there's only one air company named Air Koryo. We were flying on an old Tu-154, and the ventilation didn't work on ground, so the cabin was basically a sauna. The patriotic songs were played loudly during the flight. Flights are made by air company Nordwind, and the first ever plane from Russia to North Korea landed there two days ago. There are only montly flights, so they're likely not really aimed for tourists, but for workers. Surprisingly, the airport had a business class lounge. Although inside the only "business class" stuff is a fridge with water bottles and a muffin bowl. You can't go there unless you have the "VIP-ticket", whatever this is, and there were no visitors at all. Only Russia and China citizens can enter the country. Tourists can only travel in organized groups, and only Russian tourists are allowed. Some people from the both countries come here for work. I saw a couple of them, and they were heading to cities far from the capital. The visa is single-entry only for the duration of stay. Only 1200 people visit North Korea each year. You have to fill a customs declaration on entry. Tech stuff over $10k is prohibited. One guy tried to pass with a super expensive camera lens, and he was forced to leave it in the airport for storage with the pretext of exceeding the cost. Customs officers didn't ask to unlock the phones and tablets, they didn't connect them to their PCs, although they did ask to show the phones without cases to see the logo on the backside (they were comparing it to the declaration). They were concerned when they saw our USB flash drive on the X-ray. There were a lot of USB adapters connected to the drive, but after due explaining they let us pass. Mobile phones don't connect to any of the local networks, the whole time in the country we had no connection at all. When you move out you don't have to fill any declarations or show any of your stuff. The travel agency said that 85% of our group would be old people nostalgic about USSR, 10% would be bloggers, trying to film something interesting, and 5% would be young people that are impressed by North Korean hackers, trying to see how do they live here. We were surprised to see that most of the people in our group were experienced travelers who have some knowledge about this country and its regime, wanting to compare it to other countries and get their own impression of it. Our group was followed by 5 people: a guide who could speak Russian, two guides who couldn't, and two assistants. Wandering off is prohibited: senior guide goes in front of the group, another two guides go closely behind, and assistants go from the sides. If you try to step a couple meters aside from the route, the assistants say "you can't go there, come back here". Sometimes when we tried to film something they said "you can't film it". The restaurants, the museums, the memorials – everything is closed for special service and isolated from the locals. After our group was brought to hotel, the porter locked the door with his key. The next evening some people went outside to have a cigarette, but the guides went outside with them: one was smoking too, other were keeping people from wandering away from the hotel. The hotel lobby was pretty neat. Interior looks like it's from 1960s. Lifts look like old japanese ones. All the rooms are for smokers, and they're soaked with the smoke smell. The only requirement is to not smoke in the bed. The toilet in the bathroom is american, as well as the power sockets (although they may be japanese, idk). On the top floor there was a restaurant. The windows there are panoramic, but 1/3 of them are closed, we couldn't look there. Wikimapia shows that there's a bunker somewhere in that direction. The breakfast is like in a three-star hotel: a bun, a cabbage salad, kimchi, smoked fish, fried eggs and coffee. The dishes were cold. The milk for coffee was powdered and not regular liquid one. According to rumors, our rooms were listened 24/7. There was a whole floor for employees. One brave fella asked the guide: "Is it true that you have a floor for wiretapping officers there?". He answered with pokerface: "There's no such floor". Another tourist then jokingly said: "But we went there by stairs", and the guide answered: "It's impossible, you can't just get there". There was no TV or radio. Anywhere. Not in hotel, not somewhere else. We couldn't see the media the locals see. The only information source were the newspapers from the stands, and they've only been placed on the metro stations, not on the street. The newspaper in english with partially colored print were given to us on the plane, but they took it back later. The local newspaper is in black and white, and the paper quality is low. The newspaper for foreigners said something like "We grew even more war power", the local one – something like "The respected leader opened the new greenhouse" or "Our farmers have harvested even more rice". Taking pictures from height is prohibited, because you can see the city layout. Taking pictures of the metro scheme is prohibited as well. Taking pictures of construction sites in the city is prohibited too. My guess is that's because 90% of them are frozen: the cranes don't move, there are no people, and by comparing the pictures from different years you could see that the construction sites are basically abandoned. You get the apartment for your merits for the party (the main requirement is working in one place for 40 years). You can't choose where your apartment will be. There are no single houses, only apartments. The class of your apartment depends on how much you did for the party. We saw a lot of ceremonies: in the city people walk in columns in the morning to see the flag raising, in the fields they go in columns to work. Everyone have the party badges. On the badges – two of the dead leaders: Kim Il-Sung and Kim Jong Il. The badges are sacred: we tried to get some for the collecting purposes, but the guides wouldn't gift or sell them. We only saw one hobo-looking guy without the badge. All the achievements are connected to the leaders, i.e.: "Our leader once walked here and told us to plant flowers here". When the leaders are mentioned, people always use servile words like "honourable comrade", with their eyes subserviently shining and their voice being truly ecstatic. Very often we could hear about N. Korean achievements in a context of "excellence over capitalistic states". If we take a picture of something with the leaders, like a monument, the rules are very strict: no cropping (the leaders must be standing in their full height), no selfies. If you want to have a shot of yourself by the leader, you must be standing at attention. Smiling during photo is prohibited. The monuments and images are sacred. Note that almost all of the traditional Korean churches are destroyed. Since 5 AM on the outside the music is being played from the speakers. It's loud, and it wakes people up: it's time to go to work! The tourists are settled on the hotel's top floors (30+), but the music is clearly heard from there. The school education lasts for 12 years and is free. Then a citizen can go to army, university, or to factory or farm. The salary is assigned by government. The most highly-paid jobs are doctors, teachers, and engineers. Pension is being paid after a citizen reaches 55/60 years (women/men; physical labor) or 58/63 years (women/men; non-physical labor, like in office). Marriage requires parents' agreement. If a guy or a girl can't find themselves a partner, the parents find it. The groom's family gifts a ring, the bride's – a watch. Divorce is possible, but rare. It is openly stated that people are sent to labor camps for life if they commit serious crimes. In the city, there are a lot of lifeless buildings (no movement inside, no curtains on the windows, no lights, no furniture inside, etc.) On the first floors of the buildings there are shops sometimes. 98% of them are closed, in 1% of them have someone inside, and 1% are completely empty. We were wondering: how can it be that there's no one in the shop choosing goods or paying for them? During rides to the landmarks outside of Pyongyang, we were mostly traveling by tunnels. Later we realised that these tunnels were laid under small towns. On the one hand, we didn't stop at traffic lights; on the other, we couldn't see other cities aside from the capital. There are very few cars. We mostly saw pretty modern chinese and european models. The cars never give way to pedestrians, not even on the crossings: looks like they're only being driven by party elite, so the regular rabble must step aside. The roads are bad; in fact, max speed on the highway was 70 km/h. There were roadblocks with soldiers. After controlling our passage they saluted to us. In the metro: the cars are pretty similar to those that we had in Moscow in 1950s, but they're a little different. For example, the legs are heated everywhere with hot air. The foreigners were put in a separate car. On the stations the door didn't open for locals. We could see the railroads sometimes. They were all single-track. There were no trains, only one service/repair locomotive. The local beer is truly disgusting, although it's popular booze for locals. The second in popularity is rice vodka with a questionable taste. There was a very bad lager with low percentage (abv 4%) with rotgut notes in taste. There was a restaurant with 8 sorts of the "best" beer (yuck!) with differentially proportioned hops, barley, and rice oilcake. They sold the beer to foreigners for $1/bottle. I suppose that locals get it much cheaper. The prices in tourist shops are high, similar to international, like in a duty free zone. Payment – USD cash bills (they don't take coins) and cash yuans. Everyone know or learn by heart the leader's birth day and month, but it's forbidden to know/talk about the leader's age or birth year. Everyone knows that his age will be announced after his death, but before that the leader is forever young. (Right now he's 43 years old.) In a frank conversation, one of the locals said: "I studied to become an engineer and I did. I started working in that sphere, but then I realised that our tech and science are so backward, that it's just despairing. So I requalified into tourism". Photos: * In the hotel: suddenly an american toilet. Everywhere else they're the "Genoa bowl" type (toilet in the floor). * You can smoke everywhere except for the bed * Power sockets. American type (or japanese?) * The sewer manhole is additionally closed to keep away the spies * Shitty local beer * Typical content of a bookshop. (from translator: top books are about Kim Chong Un's speeches, about "a period of great prosperity in construction", and about building a mighty state. * Extracts from the leader's quotes * Local artist's picture * Typical poster * Children toy * Another toy * Children doll * Ominous connection hardware in the hotel * Locals can pay by QR code * Payment by local bank's cards * North Korean lego * Press for the foreigners * Departure screen in the airport AMA. submitted by /u/NMi_ru to r/travel [link] [comments]

First | Previous | Next Patreon | Official Subreddit | Series Wiki | Royal Road The Crown Herald Town of Elaseer. Riverfront. His Eternal River Boat (HERB) Pursuit of Constance. Pleasure and Recreation Deck. Local Time 1400 Hours. Emma If you’d have asked me a day ago what I expected to be doing at the start of the dragon quest, then receiving the honorary rank and title of siege lord definitely wouldn’t have been on my radar, let alone on my list. “And to you, Cadet Emma Booker, goes the masquerade title of Emirius Bokero — first of her name, Knight-Regent of Arthmilian, Grand Protector of the Realm, and last but not least… SIEGE LORD of the House of Bokero.” Lord Etale spoke, his voice echoing throughout the domed hall as he stood high and triumphantly atop a glorified stool. The silence that followed was punctuated by the awkward clapping of the curiously named pleasure hall’s staff. Their claps eventually filled the ridiculously proportioned game room that dominated a good chunk of the riverboat’s central atrium. While this questionable use of space brought about a litany of questions regarding the peculiar layout of the boat, I had neither the time nor chance to really dig into it. Especially given how quick the twins were to drag us and our respective mounts onto the riverboat as soon as we’d agreed to their terms. Their excitement and enthusiasm for this challenge was palpable. So palpable, in fact, that it had even caught the crew on board off guard as they all struggled to receive — let alone accommodate — the elven pair’s very particular list of requests. But accommodate they did, which was precisely how I found myself standing awkwardly in the center of this domed room, beneath a fresco of tabletop role-playing elves staring down at us from the dome above; creating an impression that it was us who were the pawns of some grand and eclectic game of Castles and Wyverns. The magically-imbued art didn’t really help with that assertion, as their painted eyes quite literally followed our every movement. “And to you, mercenary prince, usurper, and savage barbarian of the Havenbrockian hinterlands, goes the masquerade title of Talnin Heavrockis — first of his name, War Chief of Rockis, and SIEGE LORD of the House of Heavrockis.” Lord Etale continued, spraying both of us in a mist of some ritualistic mana water, but not before Thalmin gave off a startling growl and a stern glare at his ‘masquerade title.’ A fine haze quickly formed around us as a result, before suddenly and quite abruptly, we found the entirety of the mosaic floor we stood upon glowing a fluorescent blue hue. I quickly craned my head up to see that the dome itself had transformed from a fresco to something more resembling stained glass. The reason for this was quickly made clear to me, as this glass allowed for a projector-like effect to be cast upon the floor beneath its circumference. Everything outside of the dome’s light faded into the darkness at this point, after which the glowing floor beneath us started to change. What had been flat and two-dimensional mosaics of rolling hills, grand mountains, meandering rivers, and roaring seas suddenly rose upwards. It started small, as I felt the floor beneath us starting to bubble and creak, the formerly smooth surface becoming bumpy and uneven, like the result of a shoddy DIY-er’s first attempt at tiling their bathroom floors. Then came the visible changes, as waves and protrusions started popping up here and there like cracks and splinters on a wood floor snapping under immense strain. Fissures started to form along very specific patterns, while water from some unknown source started to fill them the moment they reached a certain size. CRACK! Tile and grout shattered. FWOOOSH! While large boulders and rock formations quickly took their place. It didn’t take long for me to realize that these weren’t just any plain old boulders. Because while we were distracted with the largest and most impressive changes, the finer details bubbling beneath our feet had just as quickly accentuated this flourishing topography. The cracks that had been filled with water now resembled grand rivers and rapids, whilst larger fissures continued to sink even deeper, forming valleys and canyons that dominated their own region of the floor. Eventually, the plains and rolling hills were coated with a soft and velvety surface of grass. With swathes of shrub and woodlands emerging soon after; tying the whole scene together as a living, breathing simulation. “Welcome to the Realm of Israphel.” Lady Evrail spoke through a magically assisted shout. “A land of vibrant life, breathtaking scenery… and warring factions.” Her tone suddenly turned grim as the distant sound of drums echoed somewhere ‘off-screen’. “This adjacent realm is a battleground of intrigue, spilling over into outright conflict and bloodshed. All to fulfil that which is the inherent trend of all realms.” She soon turned to Lord Etale as he nodded firmly. “To fight for dominance and primacy. To determine the rightful ruling family in this battle for the…” The orange haired elf paused, turning to his counterpart as they raised both hands upwards, before conjuring a glowing title card that read— “LINES OF SUCCESSION!” They both shouted theatrically. “While we typically would provide a tutorial, we simply do not have such luxuries given the condensed nature of this game owing to our fixed departure schedule.” Lord Etale explained. “This will make this game a… trial by fire of sorts.” Lady Evrail continued. “Though we are nothing if not fair in our games.” Soon enough, a list of basic game rules appeared before us, hovering ominously over the landscape as the music in the background evolved. The basic tempo of the drums was quickly joined in by a quartet of shrilly brass and meandering string instruments, creating this soft and melodic classical tune that rose and fell with the opening title crawl. I was too focused on the rules to realize what this was, and only when the music was over did I figure it out. This was the game’s menu theme… However, before I was able to fully grapple with that amusing interdimensional parallel, both the EVI and Evrail quickly chimed in. The former promptly condensed the rules into a neat little annotated list, while the latter moved on to point out the four quadrants of the map and their borders. “Each player takes charge of their own kingdom. Each kingdom consists of a crown capital, two regional capital cities, and four towns. While a typical game may involve the expansion of these settlements in both size and quantity, this hastened ruleset has removed that dimension of the game.” The map in front of us quickly came to reflect Evrail’s words, as a large city consisting of high walls and large towers came to form near the very edge of the map where we stood. While two smaller cities formed further away, closer to the center of the map. Between those and the geographic center of the map were rolling farmlands, punctuated occasionally by the four aforementioned towns. These miniature settlements, each coming up to about ankle height — save for the capital with its larger towers — were quiet and dormant at first. That was, until little lights started appearing at each and every little window as high-pitched chatter started filling the air, most of which were confirmed as utter gibberish by the EVI. “Furthermore, each player will start off with a total of ten nobles, instead of the typical five. Though it should be noted that arcane scholastics have not been fully researched. Thus the arcane development web will start out at its base level.” Evrail spoke informatively as yet another magical projection appeared above us. … I couldn’t help but to snicker at what I saw. “A fricking tech tree…” I mumbled quietly under a muted breath to the EVI, who simply beeped in affirmation. “Your nobles are not fixed to either the martial or civil path.” Evrail added. “You may thus assign your nobles as you see fit.” Etale quickly chimed in as yet another projection appeared in front of us. This one… was about as un-fantastical as they came. It was an org chart… Dividing up the nobles in the game into two distinct categories, the aforementioned military path and the latter civilian path. The former had all the obvious callings of a typical ‘hero unit’ in an RTS game. This came complete with choices of specialization into frontline battle mages, and all sorts of support mages that came with a heavy emphasis on both indirect military support, and surprisingly complex military logistics roles. This… game… was starting to resemble a major intel-leak on the part of the Nexus. And it was oh so eye-opening. However, it would be the latter that truly visualized something that was admittedly somewhat still murky and vague. A concept that, whilst I understood in theory, I haven't yet seen in practice. At least, not on a grand scale. Within the ‘civilian’ side of the org chart came a whole host of roles that Ilunor, Thacea, Thalmin, and even Sorecar had alluded to — all divided amongst three distinct trees. Industry. Academia. And ‘Diplomacy.’ It was the first amongst these that truly made Nexian society click, as within that specific branch came anything and everything from Agriculture to Mining to Weapons Industries and beyond. I raised a hand just to confirm my suspicions, Evrail acknowledging it with a nod of her head. “Yes, newrealmer?” “Is there a way to assign anyone other than nobles to industry? Like, Academia I get. That’s magical research so it naturally requires mages to staff it. Diplomacy… sure, that’s inherently within a noble’s political authority. But with industry? Couldn’t you have commoners, heck, even merchants participate?” “You’re misconstruing industry for commerce, newrealmer.” Evrail answered bluntly, though not dismissively. “Commerce, in both the game and in real life, is capable of accommodating commoners. Industry, however, is entirely within the realm of the working nobility, simplified here under the umbrella unit of nobility.” “The means of production — or at least, production at the scale of advanced societies — relies entirely on magic. And while this magic can be extracted and then divided into niche and specific work for chosen ones, it’s only mages — the nobility — that can truly and unequivocally command mana. Ergo, the keys to industry are contingent on nobles and nobles alone.” I couldn’t help but to stare blankly at the ten elven miniatures standing in front of the capital’s gates ready to fulfil these roles, whilst the words of one of the scientists in the IAS’ social sciences division echoed loudly in the back of my mind. “It is worth noting that out of all media, it is perhaps interactive and participatory media that are the most damning out of them all. For within these interactive experiences — these games — is a living, breathing universe. One whose very rules of reality are dictated in their entirety by equal parts objective truth, and equal parts perceived truths of the culture it belongs to. We too are not immune to this phenomenon, so it is going to be fascinating to dissect this if you do encounter this on the other side, Cadet.” Dr. Tully’s words rang loudly in my mind at this point, though I was just as quickly brought back to reality by Evrail once she’d finished her ramblings on the specifics behind the battlemage’s spec tree. “Special martial mages such as Aethraship Skylords, Landship Landlords, and Drake Wing Lord-Commanders are likewise locked behind their respective branches within the arcane development web.” Evrail spoke. “Well thank ancestors for that.” Thalmin sighed as I craned my head towards him. “What? I too dabble in the occasional Lines of Succession game.” “Fair enough.” I spoke, somewhat relieved that I had a veteran on my side. “Speaking of, you said we have full points unlocked, correct?” He addressed the two elves. “Yes.” Evrail responded. This prompted the prince to turn towards me with a nod. “This means that you can recruit all the commoner units you want to, Emma.” “So the points are basically population cap?” “In a sense, yes.” Thalmin answered. “Peasant militias, adventurers, town guards, men-at-arms, and all the way to chosen ones. Though of course, the point value for each and what each unit is capable of doing and wielding varies.” My brain started running at full speed following that. Especially after the realization that battle mages couldn’t just immediately be specced but required time to train. The EVI’s summary of the ruleset clearly indicated as such, at least. “Just so I’m clear on this, this game also has a logistics supply line thing that reflects real life, right? As in, adventurers, chosen ones, commoners, they all need to be armed with enchanted weapons before going out?” “And training time too, yes.” Thalmin nodded. I quickly turned back EVI’s condensed ruleset, noticing the not-too-insignificant gap between the production and training time for the peasantry versus the noble’s battle mages. It was around that point that it all clicked. “And what’s the victory condition?” I quickly asked. “Given the condensed nature of this game, we’ve limited it to two options. One — the capture and/or destruction of all enemy cities. Or two — the capturing and/or defeat of all enemy nobles.” Etale responded promptly. The gears inside my head shifted up a notch at that confirmation, as a wide grin formed beneath my poker-faced faceplate. “Any further questions, newrealmer?” Lady Evrail asked, prompting me to simply nod once in response. “Yeah, just one. How exactly do I play this game without being able to well… interact with magic?” “Ah, yes. That limitation. We have taken that into account!” The elf beamed, as she snapped her fingers and brought in one of the many game room attendants to my side. “I shall act as your intermediary, my lady.” The brown-haired elven attendant spoke as he bowed deeply. “Your wish is my command.” “Literally in this instance.” Lady Evrail noted. “Will that be all?” “Yup!” I beamed. “Let’s start.” Local Time 1410 Hours. Lady Evrail We tried to keep this as fair as possible. This was an attempt to gauge the newrealmer’s ability to plan, direct, and dictate the course of battle, after all. Moreover, this entire venture would grant invaluable insight into this savage newrealm’s grasp of war. Testing it, probing it, and projecting it over a truly modern battlefield. Whilst testing this on a typical newrealmer would have been all for nought — as many would’ve simply fumbled at the sight of the most condensed and basic battle mage’s specialization web — the earthrealmer in particular proved that she was anything but typical. But whether this anomalous nature would extend beyond mere words, presence, and physicality would be decided here. On the stage of that most civilized of high-stakes activities — contemporary warfare. This would determine if the newrealmer was as advanced as she purports and alludes to be. This would bring to light the sort of training in the art of war she received and would define so much of her realm’s capacity and competence for war. Excitement filled me, as both Etale and I stuck to our typical opening moves. Allowing us to divide our attention between the buildup of our own forces, specialization of our battle mages, and the all-important monitoring of the earthrealmer’s starting decisions. Decisions which currently proved not to disappoint, but in all the wrong ways. We spotted a ridiculous buildup of both chosen ones and guardsmen, leaving none to populate the civil path. Conversely, all but two of the newrealmer’s nobility were placed into the civil path, creating a lopsided polity that teetered on collapse. We both turned to each other upon that realization, scoffing at it with a series of soft chuckles. Indeed, the ludicrousness continued as we analyzed the earthrealmer’s two and only martial nobles. Both of which had been relegated to support mages. “Neither are true battle mages.” I commented, turning towards Lord Etale. “Is the newrealmer daft? Or does she think she’s being clever?” He responded, letting out a wispy breath as he shook his head. “Or perhaps… due to her realm’s mana deficiency, battle mages are a foreign concept to her?” I offered, garnering a bit of a raised brow from the man. “Consider it, Lord Etale. With faint mana and weak manafields, just how could a battle mage truly function? Perhaps this limitation is coloring the way in which her realm wages war.” “Perhaps… but this does mean she lacks the true elements necessary with which to win said war, let alone wage a sustained battle.” He scoffed. “Yes… though you must admit one thing, Lord Etale.” I spoke ominously, garnering a questioning look. “What?” “She’s establishing a robust industry already.” I pointed towards the complexes forming around the newrealmer’s capital. Local Time 1415 Hours. Thalmin “Emma… what are you doing?” I growled in utter bewilderment at the strategies being employed that were… aberrant, to say the least. “Trust me, Thalmin. I know what I’m doing.” Emma responded cheekily. “This is no time to test out novel theories of war. We must focus on the tried and true. If you follow my lead, we can reach some means of assured victory—” “Trust in the process, Thalmin!” She once more beamed out. “I’m going to insect swarm the enemy…” My eyes narrowed as my mouth hung open at that response. My mind quickly raced back to Ilunor’s wild theories of the earthrealmer’s potential insectoid nature. “You’re going to do what, Emma?” Local Time 1415 Hours. Apprentice Antisonzia the Second I took a deep breath as I sat high upon the elegant saddle of a mighty drake golem steed. Indeed, dressed in both fine armor and the mighty badges denoting my station, I ordered the beast beneath me to prance its way forward, my head held high whilst the rabble gawked and watched on with envy and despair. Woe be upon ye of lesser standing… you may watch, but not too closely. For the brightness of my being may blind you to your future. I thought to myself as I continued on the path set for me. This shall be a simple task. A most wondrous task! A task in which there exists no potential for failure. Though strangely… it would seem as if this task would take me on something of a detour, as I noted a gradual but noticeable shift in the path laid out before me. Hmm… strange… an unexpected visit into town? Hmmph. The pair must simply be reaping the rewards of their self-directed journey. Gallivanting through town when they should be questing! I followed the path without question, slowly this time and forging distance between their pace and my own, so as to not alert my prey… Local Time 1420 Hours. Lady Evrail “She isn’t stopping.” I pointed once again to the growing horde. Many of whom were now mounted on horseback, and many of whom were now supplied with some form of enchanted weapon. “Neither are we.” Etale responded lackadaisically while pointing at his academies. “As I said, this truly is a bizarre path, but novelty should not be conflated with effectiveness.” “I’m taking my battle mages out of the Academy.” I reasoned, though this only resulted in a wide-eyed glare from Etale. “For what? We are still in the preparatory stages. Just look at Prince Havenbrock! He’s in the same stage as us. If you open with a half-cooked battle mage, then we’re done for.” I thought long and hard about those words before nodding in acknowledgement. “Right. You’re right. Besides, if she continues specializing all of her point count into martial commoners, she won’t have much of a base economy to support a protracted engagement.” I nodded… though I couldn’t help but to stare warily at the rapidly growing horde swarming outside the newrealmer’s capital. Local Time 1425 Hours. Emma The stage was set, and my path was clear. I didn’t need a hyper-advanced virtual intelligence to gauge what the pair’s strategy was going to be. If anything, the intel from binge-watching hour-long video essays dissecting the intersection between game mechanics and culture had suddenly become practical at this very moment. It was painfully obvious how this game was supposed to be played. It was mage-centric, a hero-game, a cross between an RTS, civ-builder, and one of those MOBAs. Yet… it was the RTS element of it that gave me a unique opening, especially if my gamble paid off. Which, given how no one had made any opening moves as of yet, was a sure-fire indicator that my hunch had indeed come to pass. With neither party having completed their preparatory stages, this left a narrow sliver of time before their mages were fully specced into the first-tier martial form. Meanwhile, with most of my own mages specced into either industry or research, I was churning out weapons by the crate-load. Plus, with the full pop-cap unlocked, I ignored all semblance of a sustainable economy and pushed hard into churning out ranged and advanced units; all supported by the full-on unsustainable war economy brewing in the capital. With a deep breath, I watched as the last of the mounted cavalry were armed. Following which, I ordered the game staff elf to move my pieces forward. A questioning look was shot from both them and Thalmin. However, after a solid insistence, they eventually and reluctantly acknowledged my command. All the pieces were in place for a xerg rush as my hoards of commoner units moved up towards the center of the map, first in one solid mass, then… Local Time 1430 Hours. Lady Evrail “She’s moving.” I spoke under a dark breath. “Hmm?” Was Lord Etale’s only answer. “Oh dear. That… that just won’t do.” He began chuckling, shaking his head as he did so. “Are you telling me you don’t see that?!” I pointed vehemently, merely garnering a series of flippant hand waves from the elf. “Yes, but look… they’re marching at a snail’s pace!” He exclaimed. “Even their mounted units will arrive here far too late. By the time they reach the second-tier cities, our battle mages will be ready to annihilate them.” “That’s not what I’m saying…” I urged sharply, my finger pointing towards the one support mage currently leading the charge. “Yes? She’s clearly misappropriated the position of a battle mage for that of a support mage. I do not see your—” A fwoosh interrupted Etale’s ramblings as, in short order, we were met with the earthrealmer’s armies… At our doorstep. Local Time 1435 Hours. Thalmin “Bold.” Was all I said as I watched the disastrous scene unfolding before me. Though that was all I could manage out before the gates of infernium were unleashed upon our elven foes, as hoards of commoners flooded the frontlines through the support mage’s grand portal. Elvaire’s scouting forces, headed by chosen ones and flanked by adventurers, were overrun in an instant as… what I could only describe as swarm tactics were brought down upon Evrail’s frontlines. Footmen and skirmishers ran forwards and encircled any and all units, while cavalry moved behind to prevent their retreat. Finally, archers rained hellfire whenever the opportunity arose, blotting out the skies as Emma fought to defeat by detail each and every defensive formation in her way. About half of the elf’s points were used on martial commoners, with the rest relegated to the homefront economy. Moreover, they were spread thin whilst Emma’s forces had, in effect, condensed their numbers towards the front. While this left her homefront utterly vulnerable, the sheer surprise and brazenness of Emma’s tactics, as well as the aggression she showed, seemed to be enough of a distraction for the pair to play defensively. Soon enough, Emma’s forces, aided by the support mage’s portal-magic specializations, raced forward towards Evrail’s towns. At which point, another concern quickly dawned on me. Local Time 1440 Hours. Lady Evrail “See that?!” Etale beamed. “She’s losing the initiative!” He cackled, crossing his arms as he did so. I hated to admit it, especially with the mounting losses on the front, but the man was right… The mana-hungry weapons of the common foot soldier were running out, equipment was slowly deteriorating due to heavy overuse, and what chosen ones there were simply could not sustain even their own enchanted weapons. The advance slowed to a crawl as the encroaching hoard stopped just at the gates of my first town. However, just before I was able to mobilize the rest of my common forces, something unexpected happened. The second support mage returned. This time… with carts. A trail of carts had emerged, popping in and out of existence between the capital and the frontlines, forging forwards through a hastily-constructed transportium network maintained entirely by one support mage. This was an extreme waste of a noble unit… I thought to myself. And though the tactic wasn’t unfounded, it was typically used in the late game when nobles were plentiful and some could be relegated to such a superfluous role. To use such a tactic during the opening stages however? For a pure commoner army, no less? It was madness. But it was madness that was promptly paying off. The hoards were resupplied in short order, as manufactoriums staffed by nobles back in the capitals churned out an overabundance of enchanted weapons and manavials. Soon, the siege began on my first town. … The skies above were blotted out by an endless swarm of arrows— SWOOSH! —lit up only by the catapulted fireballs that followed— CRACKLE —before finally ending in the first town’s defense points being ground down to oblivion. Toot…tooot….toooot. The first town fell, and what happened next was nothing short of barbaric. Local Time 1445 Hours. Thalmin “So that’s how you’re sustaining your units.” I muttered out under a ponderous breath. “Barbaric… but practical.” I nodded slowly. “I approve, Emma.” “Thanks, Thalmin.” The earthrealmer replied as I watched on at what I could only describe as a locust swarm. The first and second towns that had been felled… were promptly picked clean of any and all supplies. What’s more, the farms around them were looted, plundered, and sacked. What agricultural spoils could not be processed on the frontlines were promptly funneled back to her capital, where it was promptly processed and then sent back in short order. There were few things I could liken this to. The savagery of nomadic conquerors… or more worryingly… the unquenchable hunger and ruthless efficiency of locusts, insects, and other such arachnous elements. Soon enough, Evrail’s two remaining towns were sacked, their farms razed and the earth left but a barren brown wasteland. Finally satisfied and satiated, Emma’s armies marched onwards towards Evrails’s second-rate cities, both of which proved to be a harder nut to crack. “Do you require aid, Emma?” I asked. “No, not yet. Hold back and keep your guys fresh, especially your mages. This is going to be a bloodbath once their mages are done baking. So I gotta press the advantage.” “How do you expect to break through these two cities? Surely you can’t sustain—” Emma suddenly pushed her forces forward, swarming one of the cities from all sides as her archers began pouring down arrows without mercy. Eventually, my worst fears were actualized as much of her foot soldiers were felled by the city’s defenses. “Emma… what are you—” Then it clicked. “The martial gap means that the city’s own defenses can decimate my archers and catapults, no?” She asked with a chuckle. “Yes.” I nodded. “Well… since their mages are still cooking, it seems like the cities are just relying on the same sorts of enchanted weapons we have, albeit a lot bigger. Which means they can’t just level the land or perform big AOE attacks. All of this is to say…” The earthrealmer paused, pointing at the gradual decline of the city’s health. “... they can’t stop all of us. Either they shoot the foot soldiers and allow the archers to rain hell on them, or they shoot the archers and allow the foot soldiers to start scaling the walls.” I watched not in horror, but in abject satisfaction at the ensuing onslaught. “And this is… sustainable?” I shot back. “No.” Emma answered bluntly. “But this whole thing is a big gamble.” “You’re betting on their defeat before your own fall?” “Bingo. Either they are defeated or I starve and run out of men. It’s all or nothing.” The earthrealmer spoke with a terrifying glee. “Gosh I love insect swarm tactics.” Local Time 1450 Hours. Lady Evrail I turned to Lord Etale expectantly. However, all I saw within his eyes was the same revulsion brewing within me. Moreover, the man was too focused, too fixated on pressing his own advantage; pushing his forces and harassing the lupinor’s. This didn’t work. If anything, the lupinor was simply stalling him, micro-managing his units in such a way that took his attention away from my disastrous situation. It was only after I tugged at his sleeves did he finally turn back towards me, at which point did he notice the barbarians now crowding outside my lone capital’s gates. However, this realization came at the same time that an angelic tune emerged from his capital, as four battle mages now hovered triumphantly overhead. This… was in stark contrast to my own capital, as without food and resources from the now-razed towns and cities, my battle mages were effectively trapped in academic purgatory. Despite this, it was clear Etale still had something up his sleeve. A card which he was so confident in playing that he remained undeterred by the lupinor’s own battle mages rising out of his capital. “The earthrealmer’s folly is truly a shame.” He spoke ominously. “For her tactics shall now backfire in the flames of the underworld…” Local Time 1500 Hours. Emma Evrail’s capital was sitting at half health… but my own supply and manpower situation was also looking bleak. Still, the math showed that this tactic would work. I just needed to— DING… DING… DING… What sounded like some sort of death knell echoed throughout the battlefield. At which point… my heart quickly sank. A single battle mage hovered ominously towards my units, my archers doing barely any damage at all, and my foot soldiers unable to even touch them. That wasn’t the real worry here however. Instead, it was what was forming behind my lines. Bbuuurrrrr…. A haunting sound echoed throughout the room. Bbbbrrrrrr… Then came another. Soon, I realized Etale’s whole game plan. And it was one that I simply had no counter for. “BEHOLD!” He commanded loudly. “THE FOLLY OF YOUR FOOLISH AMBITIONS! WHAT WAS ONCE YOUR ARMY IS NOW MY OWN!” “Necromancy and undead summoning.” Thalmin reasoned with a disappointed sigh. “I should’ve seen that coming.” All hell broke loose following that proclamation, as the undead moved to swiftly battle my own forces. It wasn’t a direct one-to-one scaling of power however, as the dead’s living counterparts seemed at least twice more powerful. However, it was their sheer number that really devastated my forces, pushing me back into a pocket that was impossible to resupply. I could see the writing on the wall at that point and so, I decided to cut my losses. But not without a fight. I fought tooth and nail while giving Thalmin a subtle nod, micro-managing every unit as far as I could to maximize their fighting potential, buying the lupinor time. Meanwhile, I made sure to do what was possible to fortify the homefront, but given I’d exhausted my resources… there wasn’t much I could do. Except for one thing. “Thalmin.” I whispered. “Take the wheel.” With those words, I began funneling what few available resources I had left, as the lupinor now grinned widely with wild intent. “The pleasure is all mine, Emma.” Local Time 1510 Hours. Lady Evrail It all happened far too quickly. If anything, it was Etale’s myopic focus that led to this outcome. The newrealmer’s forces were defeated. Indeed, four of her villages burned at the hands of those very men who had once hailed from them. However, this came at the price of the mercenary prince’s crusade. A crusade that managed to overcome the undead, and the contemporary forces Etale had left. It was a simple matter of mathematics. With my own inability to supply neither resources nor first-tier battle mages, the battle devolved into a one-on-one match between two competitive powers. Though it should be noted that only one of those powers simply had more to gain, by virtue of their ally’s relatively untouched territories. The mercenary prince made short work of Etale’s towns and cities through a series of conventional siege tactics made possible by a balanced and proper deck. If anything, Etale’s undead deck was starting to backfire as a result of their inability to gain experience and rise in rank. He tried compensating for this, of course, with battle mages that fought hard against the lupinor’s own. But with both being equally matched in this dimension of the war… the writing was already on the wall. The rest of the battle played out like a typical game — Etale only managing to draw things out before their ultimate end. A SHADOW HAS FALLEN UPON ISRAPHEL… A far off voice announced, as the final ounce of health was knocked from Etale’s capital. We both stood there… unable to grapple with what had just happened. The lupinor… that was obvious. Nothing needed to be said about a conventional war. But the newrealmer… Whilst ultimately a fruitless venture, the sheer audacity — the alienness — of her tactics… her first choice of tactics at that… … If this truly was her first inclination — her natural approach to war? … It was unsettling. First | Previous | Next (Author's Note: And there we have it! A full match! I poured a lot of thought and time into this one haha, as I tried my best to balance the delivery of the game mechanics with the unique strategies and tactics Emma would bring forth to the table! It was a bit tricky to do, and I just hope I was able to convey things in a way that both makes sense and was fun to read! :D The next Two Chapters are already up on Patreon if you guys are interested in getting early access to future chapters.) [If you guys want to help support me and these stories, here's my ko-fi ! And my Patreon for early chapter releases (Chapter 136 and Chapter 137 of this story is already out on there!)] submitted by /u/Jcb112 to r/HFY [link] [comments]

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/16/opinion/sports-nba-mlb-leagues-streaming-fan.html Key quotes: “For most of my life, sports was one of the most accessible forms of entertainment in America. You turned on the TV, flipped to the game and cheered or booed — with your family, your neighborhood, your city. Being a fan was simple. It was community.” “This community is dying, because some of its shared moments are disappearing. Take the N.B.A. playoffs. Wanted to watch the Denver Nuggets? You needed to shell out at least $8.99 a month for NBA TV — unless you happened to live in Denver, in which case you had to spend an additional $20 a month for a regional basketball streaming subscription.” “For decades, our national sports leagues — the National Football League, the National Basketball Association, Major League Baseball, the National Hockey League — operated more like civic institutions. These organizations may have always chased the mighty dollar, but they also wanted their sports to last. And as such, they cared about strengthening such powerful intangibles as local pride, generational fandom and public ritual. Tradition was good business. Community built loyalty. Loyalty built value. Then came the streaming wars. Starting in the early 2010s, live sports events were one of the last types of programming that guaranteed hundreds of thousands if not millions of real-time viewers, and the leagues began to be flooded with requests from streamers, such as Amazon Prime, Peacock and Max, begging for a piece of the pie. At the same time, the leagues were looking for a way to raise the cash required to invest in the lucrative opportunities offered by overseas expansion. And that’s when the business of sustaining sports in America took a back seat, and our country’s sports leagues stopped acting like caretakers and started thinking like asset managers. The result is that dozens if not hundreds of games that make up America’s national pastimes are being sliced and diced and sold off to the highest bidder — be that a cable giant, or a streaming upstart, or a regional sports network or a subscription app. Games jump from one service to another with so little notice or apparent logic that even some of the biggest superfans struggle to track what’s available where.” submitted by /u/Proof-Umpire-7718 to r/nba [link] [comments]

submitted by /u/CannabisCowboy to r/minilab [link] [comments]

submitted by /u/Speedwagon1738 to r/TopCharacterDesigns [link] [comments]

submitted by /u/BigButter7 to r/baseball [link] [comments]

submitted by /u/TheBiasedSportsLover to r/CartoonNetwork [link] [comments]

https://x.com/cnschedules/status/1812934130050486623?s=46 Not a YouTuber per say but given some of these likely aren’t backed up and are now lost media, and at the very least it’s relating to YouTube, thought it was interesting to share submitted by /u/DrAwesomeX to r/youtubedrama [link] [comments]

submitted by /u/ilovewater100 to r/cartoons [link] [comments]

submitted by /u/Watcher2020 to r/entertainment [link] [comments]

Hi everyone, Brett from MeidasTouch here! With Twitter in free fall, we figure that Reddit can be a great place to discuss all the things on our minds. Let's use this thread as a form for introductions, let people know what your username is on other platforms, etc... and make this a thriving platform for us all to connect! We're grateful to have you here! submitted by /u/MeidasBrett to r/MeidasTouch [link] [comments]

Many years ago, I worked for a company that hired an incredibly obtuse financial department who took over when they first organized. It used to be a loose collection of managers, but the year after I started, they went for a more organized and separate structure. To be fair, this is more about my boss than myself. We had a travel team: a group of volunteers from sales and IT who would go, en masse, with equipment and techs to do setups, displays, and network at trade shows. We had a booth, some sales guys would be there, and networking would commence. There was always a set of volunteers from the IT department, because some of the shows would be in big cities, and you'd get to attend vendor events, parties, and hang out with the sales guys who were mostly gay alcoholics for some reason and super-fun. There was a kind of seniority to who got to volunteer, but nobody really complained, and everyone got rotated who got to go. "You got to go to DEFCON last year, it's my turn now." "Okay, fair." The "travel team lead" was also a volunteer position, but commonly someone high up, like a manager. Their job was to orchestrate equipment, rentals, expenses, travel plans, convention center fees, and shipping. They also ended up getting a lot of free stuff, too, from sales and our partners, which they'd pass along to the travel team. It was all kind of a "perk," to be fair, for everyone involved. But when the new Director of Finance started, she put in some new and strict policies. Some of their polices started with: Travel team is not allowed to get reimbursed without explicit approval, and nobody was approved post-event. Travel team does not get a credit card of their own, or even a company card. Travel team gets gift cards for a set amount (like $150), which was to be used for all expenses. Sadly, places we needed it for like airlines, rental agencies, hotel rooms, gas pumps, and toll booths do not accept gift cards. Finance denied these were "gift cards" and even specifically disallowed people in meetings to refer to them as such ("pre-approved credit balances" I think we had to say), but to the rest of the world? They were 100% exactly the same as gift cards with gift card restrictions. No matter how early you asked for it, often Finance waited until the very, very last minute (and usually after half a dozen reminders) to get anything approved, which incurred a lot of unneccesary costs, like expedited shipping, same-day rental penalties, or inflated air fares. If they forgot, it was your fault or your manager's fault for not "reminding them enough." Okay, you reminded them 4 times to buy the team airline tickets and it wasn't done? Should have reminded them 5 times, so, your fault. This was ALL in response to the Director of Finance's claim it would "reduce fraud," an issue that, as far as anyone could tell, had never happened. The director had this Dolores Umbridge approach that somebody, somewhere, "might get away with something." She was a patronizing git with a smug grin and this annoying head waggle when she "down-splained" something to you. So we'll call her Dolores. Before her, the travel team would just submit receipts and get reimbursed. Dolores put an end to that, specifically saying the the previous lead of the travel team was "just going to spend all the money on steaks and wine." He, understandably, told her to go fuck herself, and quit the company when the dust settled. In his wake, Dolores used his "free stuff from vendors" as a shining example of stolen opulence and schwag hoarding that she put an end to. Oh, behold the mighty on his throne of Airborne Express stress squishies and free Uline catalogs! That left my manager to take over his duties, and he'd never done travel team, so he wasn't really sure how it all worked and didn't push back on Dolores at first until he was forced to travel with the team. He was surprised he didn't have an expense account or corporate card, and when he asked for one, he got the gift card. When he tried to use it, it was rejected pretty much everywhere he needed it except various restaurants. He paid for everything else on his personal American Express card, including stuff for the rest of the team, and was rejected for reimbursements because he didn't ask for it beforehand. He was on the hook for $40k+ in various things from two week-long trips. Of course, he complained to the top management. Dolores threatened to quit if she wasn't allowed to do her job, and the top managers never had to deal with her before, and were kind of wishy washy about "being the bad guy here." Like, "well, she says she lets you use gift cards, so..." and when my manager said they were rejected, Dolores said, "he's not trying hard enough; he's afraid of confrontation. He needs to be a big boy and fight back." But in the end, the top management reimbursed him under pressure from the legal department. After that happened, Dolores "settled" on having certain things "pre-paid for," like hotel, travel, truck rentals, and shipping. But they waited so long to do them, that often they tried to get hotel rooms or truck rental the day of a popular event (sold out), or got the wrong hotel (Washington DC is not the same as Washington State), or waited so long for shipping, it cost $250 to send something overnight that would have cost $40 to send it a few weeks prior. They also didn't understand how much ANYTHING actually cost, and how we saved money by doing things ourselves. And in some cases, Finance did everything wrong, so the team would arrive at the right hotel, and found out that Finance didn't submit an authorized approval for a card (for, say, incidentals, a requirement for most hotels for trade shows), and nobody could reach them, so again, people got dinged on their personal cards. Again, Dolores said, "they just can't accept what the hotel desk, convention center union, or dumb minimum wage bunny at the toll booth tells them, they have to fight back! We can't spoon feed and coddle these guys because they are too scared of conflict!" Ever fight with a Jersey Turnpike toll booth collector? Yeah, neither had she. After two of these disasters, my manager said, "Just stop. Stop volunteering for these events. I will not approve time off for it." He declined being travel lead for future trips because he just couldn't afford it. This was an unpopular move, at best, but he told us "just wait. Let her do things her way." He was a master at malicious compliance, and with no resistance, Dolores went into 5th gear with the smug grin, "Now we're going to act like a REAL company." That leads to the next issue: some of these travels were in major cities, like Chicago, New York City, Washington DC, etc. Dolores, again, said that people "were just going to these events to get the company to pay for a drinking vacation." Management was like, "uh, yeah? We wouldn't get volunteers, otherwise." Well, Dolores didn't like THAT idea. So she decided that she would hold a "staff lottery" and you could enter your name, and she'd have a drawing on who got to go "to be fair to everyone." This "fairness" seems awfully slanted on her own staff, by the way, which we'll get to shortly. The point of these trade shows was NOT to take a vacation, something Dolores made absolutely sure to point out, but she didn't grasp the entire reason we went: to increase our business. It had to be IT folk for setup, and sales folk for the schmoozing, but that concept never got past her ears into her cognitive understanding. Well, since those IT and tech folk who already couldn't go didn't want to pay for it, we didn't volunteer. So the travel team ended up being other company staff who had no idea how to work, act, or deal with trade shows which was a horrific expense disaster. Imagine the administrative assistant for Marketing on the 5th floor winning a ticket, only to find out she had to pay for everything. Plus, Dolores ALWAYS sent one of her own to keep "an eye on everyone" but none of them knew how trade shows worked, either. They only knew how to kowtow to Dolores and her control issues. "What is a union fee? What is corkage? No, we did not approve some union to give us power, you plug your booth stuff into an outlet or something. They won't let you? Who is THEY? Well, then stop using TV screens in the booth. You don't need them, we do not sell TVs, anyway." Did you know that if you have a conflict with a event center union and declined their "help" they charge you anyway at max rate? Yeah, Dolores and her team didn't know that, either. And let me tell you, paying those guys a few thousand bucks ahead of time is a LOT cheaper than just letting them charge you fines afterwards. Oh, she tried to fight back, because she was "not afraid of a little conflict," but lost heavily. Ironically, despite Dolores stating otherwise, at great length, the non-IT-or-salespeople who went actually thought it WAS company paid vacation-ish, just like Dolores warned about, making it a kind of self-fulfilling prophecy. The fact they had to work was surprising at first. Then after that word got out, NOBODY would enter into the "lottery," so now they had NO volunteers. So Dolores assigned them to interns. INTERNS. I could write and entire novel from that disaster alone. Imagine sending a bunch of college kids to Vegas, telling them they had to pay for things, and putting them in a job conflict situation where they were guaranteed to lose? I am sure many laws were broken. Dolores then had to send along "chaperones" to manage it, who were more of her finance department flunkies, and our company ended up with massive fines for various issues, including paying bail for the interns. Because the interns got into so much trouble, Delores started hiring room monitors for the hotels and fully legal adults had to go to the show, work the entire day at the show on their feet, then check back in to their room. She also put 4-6 people to a room, too. Like they were a high school band or something. She even had breathalyzers bought for it to make sure nobody was drinking. Adults. She treated adults like this. This was brought up by the sales teams as a PR nightmare, and my boss said, "just wait. Okay? Let her hang herself." The first year of this, the travel team's expenses increased by over 4000% You heard me, four THOUSAND percent. Trips that used to cost $3600 were now costing $144k or more, often because of late-minute fees and penalties. The travel team expenses went from $110k annual on average to over 2-point-something million. Because shit was so badly mishandled, we lost a lot of our booths slots and booth renewals, so we lost half our trade shows, and looked like idiots to our clients. But the main reason we went to those trade shows in the FIRST PLACE was for networking, so there was literally no reason to go anymore. This was pointed out to Dolores multiple times by the sales team, so she doubled down and "canceled" the travel team after just one year. Finally top management got involved, who actually fought with Dolores for a year until she "retired for personal reasons/to dedicate herself to her family." Then it took nearly two years to rebuild the travel team from scratch. People got corporate cards, travel team lead became an actual job, and when we hired one, she handled all the financial stuff for us, so it was much better, and saved the company a TON of money in her first year. And there was much rejoicing. ---- EDIT: So, some edits, based on some common questions: Q: You're really talking about [some name], aren't you? ​ A: There are a lot of "Dolores Umbridges" out there, apparently. Only three people, former coworkers, got it right. ​ Q: Why was she not fired when the spending went from $110k to $2.1mil? ​ A: Several reasons, the biggest being she was Director of Finance. So I am sure when she gave her fiscal report, she downplayed the mistakes. We also had some really good years in the early 2000s, so if we made $2mil in profit the previous year, and $3mil the next, that loss would have gone unnoticed until someone realized we should have made $6mil instead. That's my theory, at any rate, based on the aftermath. Dolores was friends of two of the top managers, and supposedly had a "come to Jesus" meeting with them about the state of our company's financial standings, so that's why they hired her in the first place. By the second year, several directors had quit, including friends of top management who took them for drinks later and got the entire scoop. "Dolores has got to go." The trade show thing was only one of the cases she fucked things up: she also completely hosed one of our major supply chains by low-balling them, and making a few enemies that nearly destroyed the company and gave away some of our more lucrative contracts with vendors to competitors because that broke their anti-competitive clauses. There were more issues, but that comes closer to identifying some people, which is a huge no-no here. ​ Q: What happened to the Christmas party? ​ A: The Christmas Party wasn't nearly as interesting: she just didn't have one. This was near the tail end of the whole "now we're going to run this like a REAL company" fiasco, but once the budget for events was $2.1mil from $110k, the Christmas party was probably far down her list of worries. I don't even think she knew she was supposed to have one. Some people think she was funneling that money to cover up the massive expense increase for the trade show fiascos, but I can't imagine that those budgets were from the same pool. I think around November, people started asking, "don't they have a Holiday Party every year?" but nobody knew who was doing it. Usually it the three people who were a huge part of it in previous years we no longer with the company (they had quit, mostly because of Dolores). But even they didn't run it, per se, they hired and catered it out at some fancy hotel locally. Our fiscal year was Jan-Dec, so December was huge for tying things up, and this was her first year running "Fiscal Year End" stuff (she came on board late in the previous year) and so the Finance would have been normally very occupied, anyway. ​ Q: How was she let go? ​ A: She just gained too many enemies in the company. It took a while, but after she had been with us for a year and a half, she accumulated too much negative drag on her inertia to get things done because there started to be a very strong passive resistance. This caused her to spiral out of control, and try to start a coup which gained no traction and singled her out as being mildly unhinged to say the least. By the time her second anniversary came and went, she started taking "sabbaticals" until one of them became permanent. Her assistant took over, but then was let go, and they brought in some consultant group who started a new finacial team. They were the ones that suggested someone have the "table team lead" as an actual, separate, paid job. The woman who got hired and ran that was AMAZING. ​ Q: Is it true she tried to sell keychains and pens? ​ A: No one asked this, but a former coworker reminded me that she was appalled we were just "giving away" some of our normal booth freebies like stickers, pens, shirts, and keychain flashlights. She demanded we charge at least a nominal fee for them, but IIRC, nobody followed that mandate. I only personally know she sent out a memo admonishing employees that a lot of the keychains went missing and she was seeing them on people's desks. "Those cost the company money," and wanted to charge employees $3.00 for them. But apparently she wanted to charge people at the booth as well. submitted by /u/punklinux to r/MaliciousCompliance [link] [comments]

(this is a second half of Pt 1 of the endgame series, find the first half of Pt 1 here) Updated Complete Table of Contents: Part 1.0: The Global Monetary System Part 1.5: Triffin’s Dilemma and the New Rome (YOU ARE HERE) Part 2.0: Reflexivity and the Shadows of Black Monday Part 2.5: Derivatives and the Alchemy of Risk Part 3.0: Debt Cycles and Great Depression Part 3.5: The Money Illusion Part 4.0: The Weimar Republic Part 4.1: Nightmare of Hyperinflation Part 4.2: Financial Gravity & The Fed’s Dilemma Part 4.3: Economic Warfare & The End of Bretton Woods ​ Dollar Hegemony Ok, let’s go over this for a second. Let us say you are the President of a country like Liberia, a small West African nation, looking to enter global trade. You go talk to the International Monetary Fund, whose economists tell you in order to be a modern economy you need to have your own currency. Thus, you need a Central Bank to print your own currency (LD), which will be used as legal tender, enforced by your government. Your Central bank will act as a lender of last resort for all the commercial and investment banks in your country, and will be responsible for stabilizing monetary policy. But, there’s an issue-the economists tell you that you CANNOT have your Central Bank store up your own currency as the majority of its foreign exchange reserves. Why? Well, if your currency comes under attack in the global Forex markets, you will have to defend it. If your currency trade value is too high, it’s easy to fight- you just print your own currency and buy Euros (EU) or Dollars (USD), flooding the market with your currency and taking other currencies out of the market- “devaluing your currency” . However, if the inverse is true, and your currency is losing value in the market, printing more to flood the market will only make it worse. You need a stable currency, like bullets in the chamber, to utilize to buy your currency at the market rate, to support its value and drive it back up. This form of currency defense is called “defending the peg” (Post-1971, the peg is floating, so it’s more of a range, but it's still referred to loosely as a peg). This exact phenomenon played out during the Asian Financial Crisis of 1997, a classic case study in global monetary crises. Thailand had grown rapidly as world trade boomed in the 1980s and 90s, and its corporate and real estate sectors took on massive amounts of debt. A massive real estate and financial bubble formed (does this sound familiar)? Soon, the bubble started to pop: ​ Thai Financial Crisis Thailand’s hand was forced, and the Thai Central Bank decided to devalue its currency relative to the US dollar. This development, which followed months of speculative downward pressures on their currency that had substantially depleted Thailand’s official foreign exchange reserves, marked the beginning of a deep financial crisis across much of East Asia. In subsequent months, Thailand’s currency, equity, and property markets weakened further as its difficulties evolved into a twin balance-of-payments and banking crisis. Malaysia, the Philippines, and Indonesia also allowed their currencies to weaken substantially in the face of market pressures, with Indonesia gradually falling into a multifaceted financial and political crisis. ​ Asian Financial Crisis As the president of Liberia, you see what can happen when a country, especially a small third-world country, doesn't have enough dollar reserves to defend its own currency. Rippling currency devaluations, inflation, social and political unrest, widening economic inequality- the beginning of a death spiral of a country if you aren’t careful. So, you tell the IMF that you agree to their terms. They impress upon you that you need to get your bank to buy up some other stable currency to hold as reserves, to defend against this very scenario. As the US dollar is the World Reserve Currency, you’re going to hold it as the majority of your reserve position. We’ve established the need for a small country to hold another currency on their balance sheet. If ONE small country does this, there is little impact on the US Dollar. However, under the current system, virtually EVERY country has a central bank, and they all use the Dollar as their main reserve currency. This creates MASSIVE buying pressure on Treasuries and USDs. Using Liberia as an example, the process works like this: ​ Dollar Recycling THIS is what French Finance Minister Valéry Giscard d’Estaing meant when during the 1960’s he had contemptuously called this benefit the US enjoyed le privilège exorbitant, or the “Exorbitant privilege”. He understood that the United States would never face a Balance of Payments (currency) crisis (*AS LONG AS THE USD IS THE WORLD RESERVE CURRENCY*) due to forced buying of Treasuries (from Central Banks) and Dollars (from Petrodollar system). The US could borrow cheaply, spend lavishly, and not pay for it immediately. Instead, the payment for this privilege would build up in the form of debt and dollars overseas, held by foreigners all around the world. One day, the Piper HAS to be paid- but as long as the music is playing, and the punchbowl is out, everyone gets to party, dance & drink to their hearts’ content, and the US can remain the belle of the ball. Effectively, the US can print money, and get real goods. This means we can import consumer products for cheap, and the inflation we create gets exported to other countries. (ONE of the reasons why developing countries tend to have higher inflation). Another way to explain it: ​ Exporting Inflation, importing goods As it is the WRC, other countries' Central Banks NEED to have US dollars on their balance sheet. Thus, the US has to run persistent current account deficits in order to send out more dollars to the global system, on net, than it receives back. A major byproduct is constant large and increasing trade deficits for the WRC holder (in a fiat money system). This is what is known as Triffin’s dilemma: the WRC is HAS to run constant trade deficits. There are no immediate negative impacts, but in the long run this process is unsustainable, as the WRC country becomes unproductive (ever wonder why US manufacturing left) because the system forces the WRC holder to be a net importer. As world trade grows, the current account deficit/trade deficit grows, and the benefits (more goods to the US) and drawbacks (more dollars build up overseas) increase over time. Eventually the imbalance becomes so great that something snaps, just like it did for the Pound post WWI, where policymakers chose the route of deflation in 1921, creating a Great depression for the UK long before the US ever experienced it. ​ US Trade Deficit broken down by Goods/Services This is why I laughed out loud when I heard Trump rail against our trade deficits in one of the 2016 presidential debates. He clearly did not understand how our system works, and that this issue was beneficial in the short term, but detrimental in the long term. Our trade deficits were symptoms of our system working exactly as intended. In fact, a large part of the reason why he was elected was the de-industrialization of the American heartland, where loss of economic vitality from manufacturing jobs was leading to rampant drug abuse, depression, and societal decay. I knew this process of deindustrialization would only get worse with time, and nothing he did (short of taking us off the WRC status) would change that. (Not political, other politicians say the same shit. They just don't understand the very system in which we operate). Fast forward to today- After decades of this process playing out, Foreign Central Banks collectively hold huge amounts of Forex reserves, as you can see below where countries are sized depending on their reserves of foreign currency exchange assets: ​ Central Banks FX Reserves ​ The majority of these reserves are held in dollars, mainly in the form of Treasuries, T-bills, and other US government debt. Furthermore, the US Dollar continues to dominate global trade through the SWIFT network (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication). SWIFT is a payments system used by multinational banks, institutions, and corporations to settle trade worldwide. USD is the preferred payment method within the system, thus forcing other countries to adopt the dollar in international trade. This is one of the results of the petrodollar system we described earlier. Petrodollars originally were exclusively used to refer to oil contracts priced in USD from Saudi Arabia, but over time the name grew to mean any oil contract, transacted by non-US countries, using the US Dollar as the denomination. ​ Most FX Reserves in Dollars When Chile and South Africa trade copper, for example, they have to transact in dollars, because a SWIFT member bank in South Africa will not accept Chilean Pesos as payment, as there is a smaller, less liquid market for it and it doesn't want to take a trading loss when converting to a more usable currency. The contract itself is priced in USD, so if that merchant bank wants to sell it, they can quickly find a buyer. In fact, SWIFT itself published a report in 2014, and found that the USD accounts for almost 80% of all world trade! (see top left) ​ Currencies as a % of Trade This process is called dollarization, whereby the dollar is used as the medium of exchange for a contract, in place of some other currency, even between non-US trading partners (Iran and China for example). Dollarization (capital D) of a country occurs when a government switches from managing their own currency to just using the US dollar for trade settlement and tax revenue- like Ecuador, El Salvador, and Panama have done. The US Dollar reserves from the petro-dollar system show up on the balance sheets of these overseas financial institutions; they are called Euro-Dollars, and these USD denominated deposits are not under the jurisdiction of the Treasury or Federal Reserve. If you want to read a brief history of the Euro-dollar market, check out this paper from the Federal Reserve bank of St. Louis here. In 2016, the total value of the Eurodollar Market was estimated to be around 13.83 Trillion. Through this process, the United States was able to become the largest and most dominant military force in the history of man, able to fight simultaneous two-theater wars with overseas supply lines. The Treasury could borrow and spend, unimpeded by the normal constraints of market discipline that were hoisted on other countries. Despite not declaring war since 1941, the US has been in a state of near-continuous warfare. ​ American Military Budget At every turn, the US defended this system at all costs, even going so far as to directly invade and occupy the Middle East in the Gulf War in 1991 and the Iraq/Afghanistan War (2001-Present). As a result there are over 800 US military bases around the world, in locales ranging from Turkey to Japan. American institutions like the Senate, Presidency, and Courts were modeled after their Roman antecedents, to the point that the American symbol, the Eagle, is the spitting image of the Roman Aquila) adorned on the Standard of the centurions. ​ Rome Most scholars tout the story of Rome as a tale of triumphalism; of valiant centurions battling in the steppes of Asia, of brilliant generals laying traps for enemy armies, of scheming senators fighting battles of political intrigue, and of a sophisticated and well-functioning empire that harnessed engineering to create marvels such as the Colosseum and the Roman Aqueducts. More sober historians, however, point out that the story of Rome is one that also echoes a warning through the annals of history. A complex society, with mighty political, legal, and financial institutions, supported by a massive military, fell not to a crushing enemy invasion, but to collapse and decay from within. An elite ruling class, detached from the realities of daily life of the citizens, oversaw an empire with growing income inequality, environmental degradation, political corruption, social deterioration, and economic despair, and did nothing to stop it. The Roman Treasury, facing insurmountable debts from years of fruitless war, started “clipping coins” an early form of currency debasement that led to the Roman denarii losing 25% of it’s value every year. This eventually led to uprisings in Roman provinces and the Sacking of Rome)- the coup de grace, the final nail in the coffin for what had become the decadent Western Roman empire. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Smooth Brain Overview: Petrodollars: Oil contracts priced in dollars means foreign companies need to have dollars to buy oil. This creates artificial demand for dollars as companies sell their local currency to buy USD. Triffin Dillema: As the US is WRC, other countries' Central banks need USDs. US thus runs deficits to push more $ out to the world to satisfy demand. This means cheap goods in the short term, but debt/dollar buildup overseas long term. Because of this, no country can remain WRC holder forever. Eurodollars: Due to the petrodollar system, USDs build up in overseas bank accounts. These dollars are used by SWIFT for most international payments, and are called Eurodollars (due to the fact that most US dollars after WW2 ended up in Europe). The size of this market is roughly $14T. Foreign Exchange Reserves: Due to the Triffin Dilemma & structure of WRC system, dollars build up in reserve accounts of foreign central banks. Wanting to earn interest on this cash, CBs invest in treasuries, effectively lending to the US Govt at low interest rate. $4T of these treasuries are held by these CBs, and $2T of these treasuries are held by private institutions. Conclusion: If the US loses World Reserve Currency status, two things happen. 1) Foreign central banks start massively dumping their huge Treasury/Dollar debt positions and 2) SWIFT member banks who hold USDs for cross-border payments (EuroDollars) decide to dump them as they see the writing on the wall and see the value of their assets decreasing by the day. This is the one of the many Swords of Damocles hanging over the global financial system. The unraveling of these massive currency positions would truly be catastrophic. Interest rates could effectively jump to +30% or more overnight, creating an immediate solvency crisis for the US Government and most banks, corporations, and state governments who rely on low interest rate borrowing. DXY would be whipsawed violently upwards for a period of time before being forced downwards by massive selling pressure from the Eurodollar market. Other currencies would be pulled higher and then lower in volatile moves matching the worst days of the early Nixon crisis. But, this is only part of the story. We will come back to this later. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Epilogue: We’ve gone over a brief history of the Bretton Woods system, and it’s transformation to a complete fiat money system starting in 1971. The US as a World Reserve Currency holder is allowed to borrow almost indefinitely without immediate consequence, but this creates massive amounts of US dollar debts overseas. The last time global creditors started to lose faith in the US dollar, we saw massive inflation, unemployment, and stagnation in the US, in a period of rapid demographic and economic growth in the rest of the world. If creditors become worried again, and signs are showing up that they are (more on this in PT4) the results could be catastrophic. BUY, HODL, BUCKLE UP. >>>>>TO BE CONTINUED >>>>> PART TWO ​ (Adding this to clear up FUD- My argument is for hyperinflation to begin in a few years- this is a years- long PROCESS, and will take a long time to play out. It won't happen tomorrow, but we are in the same situation as Germany after WW1. Hyperinflation is GOOD FOR GME--- DEBT VALUE COLLAPSES, MONEY CHASES ASSETS (EQUITIES) pushing the price UP, so shorts will have to cover) BUY AND HOLD. Nothing on this Post constitutes investment advice, performance data or any recommendation that any security, portfolio of securities, investment product, transaction or investment strategy is suitable for any specific person. From reading my Post I cannot assess anything about your personal circumstances, your finances, or your goals and objectives, all of which are unique to you, so any opinions or information contained on this Post are just that – an opinion or information. Please consult a financial professional if you seek advice. *If you would like to learn more, check out my recommended reading list here submitted by /u/peruvian_bull to r/Superstonk [link] [comments]

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