Fleet-Cardinal Krenn watched from the bridge of his flagship as the planet below burned, and he was pleased. The cities of the Unworthy made for the perfect inaugural pyre for the renewal of the Holy Endeavor. They would continue to serve Kra as they had before the Mortification.
He shook his head in thought as he remembered those days. He had been a child when their Endeavor had first begun.
Initially, the Chosen's Holy Endeavor had met with success. Over a period of twenty years, a dozen unclean worlds had been discovered and cleansed, ready for the servants of Kra to purify. Three species of his Unworthy Children had even been fully extinguished! A triumph!
Kra had been pleased by his Chosen Children's attempts to aid his Great Servants, and rewarded them greatly. As their Endeavor progressed, His Great Servants had purified five unclean worlds very close to the Home Systems, each a blank slate, ready to be remade in the image of Kra's greatest work, Krathig-yar.
New homes and resources for the Chosen.
Then, disaster had struck. A large group of Unworthy species had been encountered, that worked together. They began coordinating their forces with others to oppose righteous cleansing. But the true depth of their depravity was revealed when they began employing unholy synthetic life against the Chosen; Thou Shalt Not Create Life, For That Is The Domain Of Kra.
The Chosen had despaired, as their fleets had been destroyed, corrupted by the Unworthy's unholy familiars, and been pushed back to the Home Systems.
It had taken what became known as The Mortification to stop them, so named because it was both a humiliation and a penance. Humiliated by their defeats at the hands of the Unworthy, The Chosen had thrown themselves at their enemy in the millions, using ramshackle, quickly built ships with as little automation as possible to prevent corruption.
It had required the sacrifice of twenty percent of their population to stop the Unworthy, but they had done it. He remembered, as a young priest-captain, watching from the bridge of his ship as their enemy finally withdrew.
The massive funeral pyres on the surface of Krathig-yar after.
Two decades of salvaging and rebuilding their fleet.
But this time, they would not fail. The Mortification had purged the weakness from the Cho
... keep reading on reddit ➡There is a way for us to get the full truth about the UFO cover-up and reverse-engineering program on our own terms. No more waiting on someone else's timeline for 'disclosure'; no more playing guessing games about what vague statements might mean; no more hiding behind NDAs or security oaths; no more bullshit, no more disinformation, and no more grifting.
The Law
There are two pieces of law to understand: (1) the prohibition against illegal domestic propaganda; and (2) conspiracy.
First, the National Security Act of 1947 makes government-sponsored propaganda against Americans illegal.
Section 503(f) of the Act states:
>No covert action may be conducted which is intended to influence United States political processes, public opinion, policies, or media.
(Emphasis added.)
The exact same language prohibiting covert actions intended to influence U.S. public opinion is repeated in the Intelligence Authorization Act of 1991, President Reagan's original Executive Order 12333 (as well as President Bush's amendment to the order), and is codified in federal law under Title 50 U.S.C. § 3093(f).
Second, a conspiracy charge has three elements. Conspiracy is (1) an agreement (2) between two or more persons (3) to commit a crime [i.e., the target offense].
Conspiracy is the most powerful charge in a prosecutor's arsenal for several reasons:
- A conspiracy charge makes everyone who is part of the conspiracy (viz., who has agreed to commit the target offense) guilty of all crimes committed in furtherance of the conspiracy, regardless of which individual conspirators or sub-groups of conspirators actually commit the crime(s) to advance the conspiracy.
- Once the target offense is complete, none of the conspirators can withdraw from the conspiracy to avoid criminal liability.
- A conspirator's ignorance of the fact that their conduct amounts to an illegal target offense does not excuse them from criminal liability.
- Attempting to cover-up a conspiracy is in-and-of-itself a crime.
Lastly, "PSYOP" or "psychological operation" is defined as:
>[A]ny action which is practiced mainly by psychological methods with the aim of evoking a planned psychological reaction in other people. Various techniques are used, and are aimed at influencing a target audience's value system, belief system, emotions, motives, reasoning, or behavior. It is used to induce confessio
... keep reading on reddit ➡Education
As cited in Perspectives in Male Psychology, Louise Liddon & John Barry, page 79: > An Israeli study of nearly 30,000 pupils in more than 300 schools examined data for three cohorts of Jewish secular high-school seniors in the years 2000-2002 (Lavy, 2004). Student matriculation exams were routinely graded in two ways: an external grade which is blind to name and sex of the pupil, and an internal grade which is non-blind. The pupil's final grade is a mean of the internal and external grades. This study found that boys were given lower grades in the non-blind assessments across all nine subjects studied. The researcher, having ruled out the other possible explanations, concluded the discrepancy in scoring was a result of bias in the unblinded grading. A strength of this study is that it is a natural experiment.
The 2004 papers is freely available here. See also an updated version of the paper: Do gender stereotypes reduce girls' or boys' human capital outcomes? Evidence from a natural experiment (Lavy, 2008)
In PISA 2012 results: The ABC of Gender Equality in Education: Aptitude, Behaviour, Confidence (OECD, 2015) it was found that "teachers generally award girls higher marks than boys [for the same exact work]" (page 159): > The report also shows that teachers generally award girls higher marks than boys [for the same exact work], given what would be expected after considering their performance in PISA. This practice is particularly apparent in language-of-instruction courses. Girls’ better marks may reflect the fact that they tend to be “better students” than boys: they tend to do what is required and expected of them, thanks to better self-regulation skills, and they are more driven to excel in school. In additi
... keep reading on reddit ➡#Absolution Patch Notes and Megathread
#Patch Notes • Livestream • Overview
##Flair New Champion: Azaan, The Eternal
Once the king of a long-forgotten kingdom, the Eternal has existed to see countless reigns end. Forged in the crucible of the Pyre’s flames as the embodiment of all that Persists, Azaan is tasked with maintaining the existence of a Realm kept free from Abyssal influence. Few still alive have ever had cause to engage with the one of the oldest of the Pyre Lords, but those who have know that his purifying flames care not for friend or foe, only for the complete eradication of the Abyss. Events in the Realm have upset the balance, leading to the Abyss’ influence creeping ever closer, and so the Eternal descends from on high to deliver a final warning to the Realm: deal with the Abyss, or have it be dealt with, by any means deemed necessary.
Flair Frontline
Health: 4500
Abilities
| Name | Skill Type | Description | Cooldown |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ire | Passive | Taking and dealing damage increases your Ire, which reduces the damage you take by up to 20% at 100% Ire. While you are above 85% Ire, you deal 12% increased damage. Using a basic ability above the Ire threshold augments that ability. Using any basic ability consumes Ire. | - |
| Judgement | Weapon | Throw your hammer in an attack chain of medium, medium, heavy, dealing 540 damage on medium hits and 660 on heavy hits. | - |
| Reckoning | Alt-Fire | After a brief windup, send out a projectile that explodes into an area in front of you, dealing 300 damage and Lifting enemies hit for 0.3s. Ire threshold: Reduce the Cooldown of this ability. | - |
| Sanctuary | Ability 1 | Create a series of 5 wall segments in a semi-circle, each with 2500 Health. Carrying an enemy into your wall with your movement ability will deal additional damage and Stun them. Ire threshold: |
This is an adventure of 1-2 sessions for lower level PCs. It may take longer depending on your group etc. It formed part of the beginning of a campaign we have been running for nearly two years now. I have tried putting my notes into an intelligible form for others, hopefully it works for you. The Map I have drawn for this scenario is available on my site here. There are versions with and without the room key.
Description
The wind whips up as distant shapes duck behind low clouds. In the distance, an ill-maintained guard tower sits atop a bleak looking hill with rocky sides. A small courtyard appears to house a couple of small buildings. Several stories high, the tower likely gives a good view of the surrounding countryside, forest and the foothills of the mountains. Like the town of Gallow, the tower displays slabs of red marble and elements of ancient dwarven and goblin workmanship. However, some aspects appear to be more recent repair work. A disgusting odor of pelt tanning drifts on the breeze and a stray dog traverses the nearby landscape.
Scene Colouring
Broken and decaying stonework crudely repaired, the smell of animal products and cured skins, a strange calmness
Recent Events
After petitioning the Lord of Gallow, members of the Brotherhood of the Claw obtained a writ to occupy an abandoned watch tower. From there, they hunted out into the mountains to capture Hippogriff eggs to trade back in Stok. Hippogriff eggs are worth a princely sum and Gallow saw some of that in tax. The Hunters didn’t realise the tower remained abandoned for a reason. An unsettling feeling permeated from the cellar, so they spent little time there. Sealed inside a hidden escape tunnel was a stash of ancient void eggs. The hunters sold one of these in town after misidentifying it. After changing hands several times, the egg was acquired by the traitorous High-Priest of Gallow Bondur Azkramund. He then passed the information to his master the Troglodyte sorcerer Url-Kass.
Several huntsmen had already been corrupted by Bondur and they betrayed their own with glee when asked. After waiting for some of the hunters to leave on a hunt, the traitors dispatched the watch. A troglodyte force then struck in a night raid, killing many of the huntsmen and dragging off some of the survivors. At the head of the attack force was Url-Kass himself, a huge scaled Troglodyte carrying a
... keep reading on reddit ➡It really does, I swear!
For context I'm a Refuse Driver (Garbage man) & today I was on food waste. After I'd tipped I was checking the wagon for any defects when I spotted a lone pea balanced on the lifts.
I said "hey look, an escaPEA"
No one near me but it didn't half make me laugh for a good hour or so!
Edit: I can't believe how much this has blown up. Thank you everyone I've had a blast reading through the replies 😂
They’re on standbi
Buenosdillas
The supernatural elements of the show remind me of being impressionable with groups of friends and wanting to believe in ghosts and other things that go bump in the night.
I had different groups of female friends throughout my childhood to my early twenties. It wasn't uncommon at slumber parties to scare each other with ghost stories, play games like Bloody Mary, "light as a feather, stiff as a board," or bust out the Ouija board. When I started driving, we would investigate "haunted" places and play hide and seek in the cemetery. Maybe this was mostly something groups of girls did. My brother's sleepovers seemed to mainly involve D&D, bad movies, and jolt cola.
***Potential spoilers below if you haven't watched episodes 1-3***
One can't help but wonder if the supernatural elements of the show are just kids scaring each other and coming up with a mythology, influenced by the presence of a body in the cabin, which is legit spooky, and maybe Lottie having hallucinations.
I've been thinking about the characters in this context and how impressionable they could be based on what we already know about them. The jump from believing in ghosts to starting a cannibal cabal is pretty far. So add in some collective hysteria and starvation, both make people do unimaginable things.
Taissa: had an experience of death in her childhood where her grandmother hallucinated and she thought she saw the same thing. This was a defining moment in her life and one that might make her lean into believing in things that aren't real. There are also hints that she might have dissociative fugue states, episodes where she becomes someone or something else.
Natalie: a burnout with seemingly absent parents who has been shown using hallucinogens. Psilocybin mushrooms grow in the wild, right?
Misty: she would get a kick out of everyone else believing in the supernatural, knowing it's a lie and going along because she belongs for the first time in her life. Or in a sadistic way, she likes manipulating people and making them believe in things that aren't real.
Shauna: she is dark and we don't know to what extent. She feels powerful when she exacts revenge, but usually in a secretive way. We don't just see her vengeful towards Jackie, Jeff, and the bunny. Masturbating on her daughter's bed was a display of covert aggression. Maybe she sees the power vacuum and takes an opportunity to be leader because everyone else is vulnerable, much like the bunny,
... keep reading on reddit ➡I'm surprised it hasn't decade.
Prologue
Fire. Alarms. Pain. PAIN.
The Zoig awoke, its self preservation instincts telling it to remedy the agony stemming from the bloody stump at the end of its right appendage. It saw the hunk of twisted metal that was formerly its right claw across the hall, next to the breached bulkhead where the aliens were beginning to pour through.
I am SC-0x00F17A, the Zoig thought, it is my purpose to defend this ship’s Command Center from all threats, internal and external. I MUST fight.
With great effort, SC-0x00F17A lifted itself to its four legs, and charged at the nearest alien, catching it off guard.
How are these creatures managing to defeat us? SC-0x00F17A thought. These aliens were so smaller and softer than even a hygienist class Zoig, but yet they were able to defeat a soldier class such as itself in single combat if it came to it. SC-0x00F17A tore through the alien’s battle armor with its left blade, and bludgeoned another with the stump on its right arm. As it turned to face the horde emerging through the breach, it felt a sudden sharp pain in its thorax. SC-0x00F17A looked down to see a claw, no its claw emerging from its chest. It fell. As the plane of existence faded to black, SC-0x00F17A heard the aliens cheer: Or `eh ‘Rhen ip’Ere!
Chapter 1
“Well what about Drusas?” “What about him?” “Top of his class, fluent in four Zoig class dialects, and he’s human.” Captain Plintoo’s maw folded downwards. A human on his crew? What could the Admiral be thinking? “A pacifist? Are you insane? This is a covert op into ZOIG territory we’re talking about here, and you want me to bring a linguist who worships peace?” “The Zoig won’t know that,” replied Admiral Kana’Ghen, “they don’t care about other species’ ideologies. Hell, they don’t even catalogue other species’ physiologies. They take one look at a non-Zoig and all they see is a threat or a hurdle. One look at a human and it will think twice about attacking your crew. Humans are downright intimidating.” “It’s one thing to look intimidating, but another to act on it. Sure humans are behemoths compared to most, but will one really raise an arm to defend itself?”
The Admiral furrowed zer brow at this and ruffled zer neck feathers. “You know their history as well as I do. Those things are every bit as tough as they look when it comes down to it. Their affinity for peace is only a recent development in their history, you know.” The captain’s three eyes
... keep reading on reddit ➡
Pilot on me!!
I thought as written it was boring, so I rewrote it. Instead it's a prison, with one angel holding the chains to a bunch of vrocks. The vrocks were once devas who shapeshifted while in the abyss as part of a covert mission and got stuck in that form, and the angel holding the chains was the captain of the group who felt responsible for them. Rather than kill them like his superiors demanded he swore to look after them and was banished from the divine realms. I had a human paladin in the group so the plan was they would encounter the prison early on, be gifted the sun sword (from the tomb) by the angel, and it would be a big tragic mess later when they had to come back to slaughter the vrocks so they would revert to their angel form for the feathers.
Well I am a victim of my own success. The angel mumbled some things about being true to your friends as he handed off the sword and gosh darn if this paladin hasn't taken it to heart and become the most wholesome self-sacrificing ray of sunshine the underdark has ever seen in a party of antiheros. He recently received a brief dream-vision which let him in on the backstory and now he's praying for and to the angel daily to help him keep faith and let him know he's not alone.
I am not going to wuss out and pull punches - all the players were on board with a dark and bitter campaign - but I feel like the player deserves something more for his RP at the end of this than a fist full of feathers and tears. I want to let him know all his prayers and devotion had an impact somehow.
If you were this precious cinnamon roll of a paladin, what could cheer you up after killing your guardian angel?
Dad jokes are supposed to be jokes you can tell a kid and they will understand it and find it funny.
This sub is mostly just NSFW puns now.
If it needs a NSFW tag it's not a dad joke. There should just be a NSFW puns subreddit for that.
Edit* I'm not replying any longer and turning off notifications but to all those that say "no one cares", there sure are a lot of you arguing about it. Maybe I'm wrong but you people don't need to be rude about it. If you really don't care, don't comment.
I won't be doing that today!
You take away their little brooms
This morning, my 4 year old daughter.
Daughter: I'm hungry
Me: nerves building, smile widening
Me: Hi hungry, I'm dad.
She had no idea what was going on but I finally did it.
Thank you all for listening.
There hasn't been a post all year!
Do your worst!
When I got home, they were still there.
What did 0 say to 8 ?
" Nice Belt "
So What did 3 say to 8 ?
" Hey, you two stop making out "
