The world of the Forgotten Realms is one of high fantasy, populated by elves, dwarves, halflings, humans, and other folk. On the roads and rivers of the Realms travel minstrels and peddlers, merchants and guards, soldiers and sailors. Steel-hearted adventurers from backcountry farmsteads and sleepy villages follow tales of strange, glorious, faraway places. Good maps and clear trails can take even an inexperienced youth with dreams of glory far across the world, but these paths are never safe. Fell magic and deadly monsters are the perils one faces when travelling in the Realms. Even farms and freeholds within a day’s walk of a city can fall prey to monsters, and no place is safe from the sudden wrath of a dragon.
Greetings travellers! I’m Oscar (He/Him), the DM for this new Lost Mine of Phandelver campaign. I'm excited to invite you to join me on an epic journey through the Sword Coast. I'm leaving this form open for ~3-4 days and hope to get back to as many people within a week :) For any questions, DM me or ask them in the comments !
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This game is primarily for newer players, although exceptions can be made with joint/group applications, so let me know if that applies. I'm looking for 4-5 players.
We will be playing using Discord voice chat, D&DBeyond and Roll20 VTT, every WEDNESDAY 6.30-11PM BST.
I’m based in the UK and so primarily looking for people in the UTC +0/+1/+2 time zones. If you’d like me to consider multiple applications together, please DM me about it.
This is an 18+ game and I will not consider anyone younger.
I ask that you have a stable internet connection and a decent microphone to play.
As DM posts can be popular, if you haven’t heard from me within a week after applying, it is very likely I haven’t picked you. I apologise in advance, and wish you the best luck in trying to find a game that you enjoy. Following this, I will try to arrange a brief 1-on-1 video call to try to get to know those on the shortlist better before the final decision is made.
Application form

You begin near Phandalin

We begin your journey on the road to Phandalin, a bustling frontier settlement, recently rebuilt nestled within the foothills of the Sword Mountains, home to farmers, woodcutters, fur traders, and prospectors drawn by stories of gold and platinum in the foothills of the Sword Mountains. Dangerous beings are afoot however, bandits, goblins, orcs and even sightings of a mysterious dragon, your character will quickly become aware as they begin their journey as an adventurer.
Your patron, Gundren Rockseeker, has hired you to escort a wagon to Phandalin. He has gone ahead with a warrior, Sildar Hallwinter, to attend to business in the town while you follow with the supplies. You have been promised 10gp each by the owner of Barthen’s Provisions in Phandalin if you deliver the wagon safely to that trading post.

Your Character in the World

In session 0 all players and the DM will work together for everyone to create a character, 2 NPCs (Preferably one of which will be based in Phandalin, the other further afield), 2 connections to NPCs created by other players, connections to 2 other players, a Personal Goal, and a motivation for why they accepted Gundren’s Contract. This will be visualised using “The Web”. Be prepared to work with me to figure out how your character can be best involved with the world at hand - the main buy-in is that YOU are open to adventure, and be willing to work in a group.
Before coming to session 0, I ask that you do not come with fully developed characters. Touchstones or general ideas are absolutely welcomed but flexibility is needed on both the DM and Player ends to integrate your character with the world.

Character Options

Characters begin at 1st level. I suggest using online tools to visualise your character, such as Heroforge, Picrew or another avatar generator, to help get a better understanding of them.

• As this is a beginner focused campaign, character options are to be chosen from the Player’s Handbook and Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide, with the exception for the Replacement Features for the Ranger appearing in Tasha's Cauldron of Everything.
• Point Buy or Standard Array will be used for stat generation.
• Starting equipment and standard encumbrance rules will be in use (15x your strength score in lbs).
• *Multiclassing is advised against, especially for beginners.

House Rules

The game will typically be run using those set out in the core rules (Player’s Handbook, DM’s Guide). Additionally, here are some extra rules I use.

• No Evil Characters.
• Bonus Action Healing Potions - Healing potions take an action or a bonus action to consume when used on yourself. All other potions require an action.
• Hidden Death saves. Death saves will be made privately to the DM to avoid other players using the results of that to determine their course of action.
• Hit Dice Rerolls. If you roll a 1 when determining HP increase on a level up, you may choose to reroll it and take that roll instead.
• Group Awarded Inspiration. At the end of the session, the players and DM vote to award inspiration to the player who they thought had the best moment; roleplay or otherwise.
• Optional Rules. These rules from the DMG are in use: Diagonals, Feats, Inspiration, Milestone Levelling, Multiclassing*
• “Safe Haven” Long Rests. Long Rests must be completed within a “Safe Haven”. “Safe Havens” are places that are safe (no need for anyone on watch), sheltered (indoors, in a solid building), and comfortable (with actual, comfortable beds).
• Variant Group Checks. When a group check where everybody rolls occurs a single, randomly chosen character’s result is used.

Technical

We will be playing using Discord voice chat and Roll20 VTT, with DnDBeyond to create characters and the Beyond20 chrome/firefox extension to assist with rolling online. I ask that you have a stable internet connection and a decent microphone if you want to play.

Hi everyone, I just have some questions regarding the route in a specific field that i should take. I know there are many options out there and i want to ensure I set myself up for success .
For some background, i am in my mid 20’s . I originally went to school for EMS and obtained my EMT -B. I will be furthering my EMS education and obtaining my A-EMT and Paramedic training and license as well since that seems to be the area of work i most enjoy and environment i work well in. I am currently working in a hospital but aspire to work in other areas of EMS as well (flight , etc)
Another area i love is Forensic Science and Criminal justice . I competed in forensic science competitions in highschool and was a part of the police explorer program until i graduated highschool . I did a shadowing at the morgue in highschool and loved it . I am very interested in search and rescue and public diving as well and am a member of the Coast Guard Auxiliary and provide support with local missions .
I will be graduating with my bachelors in Criminal Justice & Forensic Science next month and am exploring my career options for after graduating , even though i plan to pursue to further my education and career in EMS after completing my bachelors, i wanted to see if anyone has any recommendations of how i can combine all of those things or options i may have that compile those aspects or anything that may be interesting or helpful to me in my career prospects . I know it’s probably not completely possible , but i did want to know my options , if there are any to combine EMS, search and rescue , criminal justice / forensics etc . or just general recommendations for careers that may appeal to me with those interests ?
Thank you in advance

Hi everyone, I just have some questions regarding the route in a specific field that i should take. I know there are many options out there and i want to ensure I set myself up for success .
For some background, i am in my mid 20’s . I originally went to school for EMS and obtained my EMT -B. I will be furthering my EMS education and obtaining my A-EMT and Paramedic training and license as well since that seems to be the area of work i most enjoy and environment i work well in. I am currently working in a hospital but aspire to work in other areas of EMS as well (flight , etc)
Another area i love is Forensic Science and Criminal justice . I competed in forensic science competitions in highschool and was a part of the police explorer program until i graduated highschool . I did a shadowing at the morgue in highschool and loved it . I am very interested in search and rescue and public diving as well and am a member of the Coast Guard Auxiliary and provide support with local missions .
I will be graduating with my bachelors in Criminal Justice & Forensic Science next month and am exploring my career options for after graduating , even though i plan to pursue to further my education and career in EMS after completing my bachelors, i wanted to see if anyone has any recommendations of how i can combine all of those things or options i may have that compile those aspects or anything that may be interesting or helpful to me in my career prospects . I know it’s probably not completely possible , but i did want to know my options , if there are any to combine EMS, search and rescue , criminal justice / forensics etc . or just general recommendations for careers that may appeal to me with those interests ?
Thank you in advance

Disclaimer: I'm not really good at souls-likes. I like story-driven games, and I'd like to be able to focus on making it through a game's story with the least amount of tedium.
I was close to finishing the temple of time when a friend told me I could get the Master Sword from a glitch in an earlier shrine. It sent me down a rabbit hole of duping (and maxing) zonai devices, large zonaite (I sit at about 8 batteries now but green still), and other resources.
After finishing the temple of wind, I proceeded to unlock all the sky towers and doing all the dragon tear quests, all at just 2 full stamina bars and 5 hearts. I then got the real master sword (not that I use it /heh) and went my merry way to (what I though would be) coasting through the rest of the game.
I encountered a Flux Construct III along the way and thought it would be a fun challenge, so I engaged it and beat it after dying a few times. I then proceeded to do the Zora domain quest line, when all of a sudden as I was making my way up, I encountered some soldier constructs...
That one-shot me.
And then it dawned on me - the hidden exp system. I thought I'd get away with trying to make the game easier with all the exploits and stuff (and it is, relatively), but it still isn't a cakewalk. I still find it adequately challenging, and I'm on my toes with trying to fend off monsters or clear dungeons and caves.
It's ironic because despite not liking tedium, I spent so much time just duping and crafting stuff. And despite not enjoying souls-like games, I'm thoroughly enjoying being on my guard and trying to time parries and dodges so that I don't die from random encounters.
I friggin love this game.

Hi, I'm a recent high school graduate who's trying to figure out how to get my mechanical engineering bachelor's degree without bankrupting myself. I wanted to give a very general idea of my current plan so I can get feedback on it to make sure I'm not setting myself up for failure.
Step 1:
I'm going to get a engineering transfer associate's degree from a community college in my local area. My parents said they will pay for tuition, can live at home for those two years, and will help support me so I don't take on debt. I'll hold a part time job over this time so I pay for gas, my phone bill, and other general stuff. I have a good relationship with my parents and I'm comfortable doing this. Do you think this is a good plan, to take advantage of the help I'm offered?
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Step 2:
Once I get the engineering associate's degree after two years, I'll transfer to the state university in my area. The CC is part of the same university system as the big state campus, so all of the classes I'll take will transfer directly to that school. I plan to apply for CSPI (Coast Guard version of ROTC that pays for two years of college then commitment to four to five years in coast guard as an officer), Navy and Air Force ROTC scholarships to pay for school. If not, I'll apply for as many scholarships as possible and take out loans to pay for school. I'm currently in a summer internship at a local farm that pays a monthly stipend to show I'm involved in my community for these programs, going to do marching band at the university, allow CC students to join, to show that I'm active, possibly do venture scouts, and maybe other stuff if I want to do more. I want to do as much as possible to make my chances of getting any of the military scholarships possible, (yes I am willing and have found stuff that I would at least somewhat like doing in the military).
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I'm going to apply for scholarships to pay for CC as well, since the extra money above tuition goes into my pockets. I'll also stay active doing different stuff so I can make friends and have somewhat a social life. What do you think of this plan? Any flaws? Advice? Any feedback would be appreciated.
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Also, last question. The current summer farm internship I'm doing will turn into a youth leadership training internship, still work on the farms three days a week until 1 pm, but they would pay full tuition for the community college on top of a stipend each month. I'm not thinking of continuing to do it though because that limits what time I do classes at, limits what else I can do with my time since my parents can pay for school, and the farm is a 50 minute drive away from my home so it's not close. I don't think I'll keep doing it over the school year, so let me know what you think about it.
I just want to get some feedback on my current plan to make sure I haven't missed anything and to make sure I'm on a good path. Let me know if you have any questions or concerns. Thank you for any feedback you give.

Hi everyone, I just have some questions regarding the route in a specific field that i should take. I know there are many options out there and i want to ensure I set myself up for success .
For some background, i am in my mid 20’s . I originally went to school for EMS and obtained my EMT -B. I will be furthering my EMS education and obtaining my A-EMT and Paramedic training and license as well since that seems to be the area of work i most enjoy and environment i work well in. I am currently working in a hospital but aspire to work in other areas of EMS as well (flight , etc)
Another area i love is Forensic Science and Criminal justice . I competed in forensic science competitions in highschool and was a part of the police explorer program until i graduated highschool . I did a shadowing at the morgue in highschool and loved it . I am very interested in search and rescue and public diving as well and am a member of the Coast Guard Auxiliary and provide support with local missions .
I will be graduating with my bachelors in Criminal Justice & Forensic Science next month and am exploring my career options for after graduating , even though i plan to pursue to further my education and career in EMS after completing my bachelors, i wanted to see if anyone has any recommendations of how i can combine all of those things or options i may have that compile those aspects or anything that may be interesting or helpful to me in my career prospects . I know it’s probably not completely possible , but i did want to know my options , if there are any to combine EMS, search and rescue , criminal justice / forensics etc . or just general recommendations for careers that may appeal to me with those interests ?
Thank you in advance

This is a sort of general discussion post since this subreddit board holds 1.4k members but only displays 2 posts this month and 21 posts in the last 12 months. I love the game and know firsthand of the hundreds of passionate players who have created massive projects, hilarious memes, etc, but it saddens me to see such a barren subreddit. I believe that many gamers visit the subreddit boards of games they might like to try to investigate the community, see what players have accomplished in-game, or find memes to enjoy. I'd like to see a post like this somewhere so when someone new finds this subreddit, they may find what keeps real players spending time and money in the world of Wurm.
I've been loving this game second life for over a decade now and to this day it has a hold over me. No other game I've played comes even close, and that includes all the look-a-likes over the years like Life is Feudal, Haven and Hearth, EVE Online, or Mortal Online (I'm not calling them copies or in any way disparaging them, just sharing that other sandbox MMOs personally don't do a thing for me).
I personally love sharing bred horses with others, allowing neighbors who have zero interest in the in-depth Animal Husbandry to always have a good horse or two. I also really appreciate friendly duels, not-so-friendly murders and thefts, and helping out others wherever I can. Wurm Online allows me to be as creative as I want, using Slate to build a haunted castle, filled with black sheep, ebony horses, and gold lamp posts. It's always been a goal of mine to construct two towers and connect them with a rickety rope bridge and to recreate Falador from RuneScape using gleaming marble. I am fascinated by learning about mechanics in-game, like how the many meditation paths work. By meditating on the Path of Love, you can enchant nature tiles, letting players heal twice as fast while standing on them and letting grass-grazing animals feed on them far longer than regular grass tiles. Another thing I enjoy is spelunking abandoned ruins of old deeds. I have a habit of repairing everything in sight, mostly to train the Repairing skill but also to keep all this junk alive for someone else to wander by and take what they might need.
I will never forget some of the player-built wonders I've seen:

• Rage, a player from Desertion, tamed several mountain peaks, creating a castle that links them all together. I really can't imagine how long it took to plan or how many materials it required.
• Dairuka, from Independence, created his own island out in the middle of a massive lake. He started by pouring dirt into the center, eventually creating his very own island with a land bridge.
• Some folks I don't know the names of paved a 5-tile wide slab highway on a PVP server, and built guard towers along the entire server. Slabs require 533% more stone to make than bricks, which means they intentionally chose to spend that much more time building this road, just to make it look nice.

What is Wurm Online? A sandbox, medieval life simulator where players directly change the world every single day. In the beginning of each server, there are no roads, no buildings. It's an untamed wilderness. Over many years players change the world in real time, adding roads leading to far off vistas, dredging canals to allow fasteconvenient travel and shipping routes, and shave off the tops of mountains to build grand castles. There is an economy that persists between players. Using an in-game currency, anyone can sell anything for any price, allowing players to independently offer goods + services in person, by mail, or an NPC merchant. There is only one type of non-player-owned NPC merchant and they do not buy anything. They sell a very limited stock of magical items that most players ignore entirely.
Wurm Online boasts 129 skills and 10 characteristics which range from 1-99.9999 and allows players to spend as much time as they'd like raising skills without limits. There are no classes or hard caps on skills, like only being able to train a total number of skill points (Mortal Online, EVE, Life is Feudal). Like RuneScape or Skyrim, you can potentially reach 99.9999 in every skill one day! All skill increases also increase characteristics (like Body Strength or Mind Logic) and most skills also increase their parent skill (like Farming increases the Nature skill). Each skill grants a special title at 50, 70, 90, and 99.9999 which allows you to show off your talent to other players!
The vast majority of constructed items and buildings are fully destructible. On PVE servers, you can only destroy your own buildings, but anyone may bash off-deed fences and un-pave highways. On PVP servers, you can mold the entire island to your will, including flattening others' deeds into dust. Everything off-deed decays over time, so as time goes on, tamed lands will become wild once more. Monsters will wander rampantly, and all buildings/roads will eventually disappear.

RE: JFK, Jr's assassination. Friday, July 16, 1999-- 8:39 PM: Kennedy's plane departed. He had checked in with the FAA tower at Martha's Vineyard Airport in Vineyard Haven, Massachusetts, before take-off. 9:33 PM: The plane, still headed northeast, began descending from its cruising altitude of 5,500 feet. 9:38 PM: The plane while still descending began a slight turn to the right so that it was headed due east, lining itself up with the southern coast of Martha’s Vineyard. John Jr. always did this so he could fly over his late mother’s Red Gate Farm. 9:38 PM and 20 seconds: The plane completed the turn and stopped its descent, leveling off at 2200 feet. But it’s against FAA regulations for a plane to fly below 2,500 feet without first contacting the tower. So in a manner that’s typical of John’s carefulness and following procedures, he brought the plane back up to 2,500 feet. 9:38 PM and 50 seconds: With wings level, the plane was on final approach, with 14 miles to go to the airport. At 200 mph, the plane would land in about 5 minutes. 9:39 PM: John contacted the tower. He said he was 13 miles from the airport and 10 miles from the coast. He reportedly said he was making his final approach. In his final approach message, Kennedy told controllers at the airport that he planned to drop off his wife's sister and then take off again between 11 p.m. and 11:30 p.m. for Hyannis Airport. (This information was provided by Coast Guard Petty Officer Todd Burgun, who said he got it from the FAA.) 9:40 PM and 15 seconds: The plane suddenly dove out of the sky, falling 2,500 feet in 45 seconds, crashing into the water at 200 mph. 10:00 PM: A well-dressed couple with a child who had come to the airport to meet Lauren Bessette grew concerned when the plane did not arrive as expected by 10 PM. 10:05 PM: Adam Budd, an employee at Martha’s Vineyard Airport is approached by the friends of Lauren Bessette, who said she should have arrived at 9:44 PM. ''Actually, Kennedy Jr.'s on board. He's, uh, they wanna know, uh, where he is,'' Budd told an unidentified FAA employee at the Bridgeport Automated Flight Service Station. Budd said: During his conversation with the unidentified FAA employee, Budd asked if the FAA could track an airplane. Budd said he was with airport operations at Martha's Vineyard, then mentioned Kennedy's name and provided two possible aircraft numbers for Kennedy's plane. The employee questioned Budd repeatedly about who he was and where he was calling from. After Budd gave his name, the FAA employee asked if he was, in fact, with airport operations. He ultimately told Budd, ''We don't give this information out to people over the phone.'' 11:00 PM: Senator Edward Kennedy contacted the FAA to let them know the plane was missing. The FAA officials did nothing.
Saturday, July 17, 1999-- 2:15 AM: Carol Radziwill (wife of John's maternal cousin a news reporter), fed up with the FAA, called the Coast Guard and set in motion a multiagency search that began with calls to regional airports.
3:28 AM: An official search and rescue mission is launched by the Coast Guard. (more than 4.5 hours after the plane was supposed to arrive!!!)
6:30 AM: Ted Kennedy woke up John Podesta, Clinton’s Chief of Staff. 7:00 AM: Podesta woke up Clinton. 7:15 AM: Clinton told Podesta to call the Air Force and warn them if they didn’t have a search underway in 15 minutes, they shouldn’t bother to come to work Monday morning because they would all be fired, if they weren’t in jail.

RE: JFK, Jr's assassination. Friday, July 16, 1999-- 8:39 PM: Kennedy's plane departed. He had checked in with the FAA tower at Martha's Vineyard Airport in Vineyard Haven, Massachusetts, before take-off. 9:33 PM: The plane, still headed northeast, began descending from its cruising altitude of 5,500 feet. 9:38 PM: The plane while still descending began a slight turn to the right so that it was headed due east, lining itself up with the southern coast of Martha’s Vineyard. John Jr. always did this so he could fly over his late mother’s Red Gate Farm. 9:38 PM and 20 seconds: The plane completed the turn and stopped its descent, leveling off at 2200 feet. But it’s against FAA regulations for a plane to fly below 2,500 feet without first contacting the tower. So in a manner that’s typical of John’s carefulness and following procedures, he brought the plane back up to 2,500 feet. 9:38 PM and 50 seconds: With wings level, the plane was on final approach, with 14 miles to go to the airport. At 200 mph, the plane would land in about 5 minutes. 9:39 PM: John contacted the tower. He said he was 13 miles from the airport and 10 miles from the coast. He reportedly said he was making his final approach. In his final approach message, Kennedy told controllers at the airport that he planned to drop off his wife's sister and then take off again between 11 p.m. and 11:30 p.m. for Hyannis Airport. (This information was provided by Coast Guard Petty Officer Todd Burgun, who said he got it from the FAA.) 9:40 PM and 15 seconds: The plane suddenly dove out of the sky, falling 2,500 feet in 45 seconds, crashing into the water at 200 mph. 10:00 PM: A well-dressed couple with a child who had come to the airport to meet Lauren Bessette grew concerned when the plane did not arrive as expected by 10 PM. 10:05 PM: Adam Budd, an employee at Martha’s Vineyard Airport is approached by the friends of Lauren Bessette, who said she should have arrived at 9:44 PM. ''Actually, Kennedy Jr.'s on board. He's, uh, they wanna know, uh, where he is,'' Budd told an unidentified FAA employee at the Bridgeport Automated Flight Service Station. Budd said: During his conversation with the unidentified FAA employee, Budd asked if the FAA could track an airplane. Budd said he was with airport operations at Martha's Vineyard, then mentioned Kennedy's name and provided two possible aircraft numbers for Kennedy's plane. The employee questioned Budd repeatedly about who he was and where he was calling from. After Budd gave his name, the FAA employee asked if he was, in fact, with airport operations. He ultimately told Budd, ''We don't give this information out to people over the phone.'' 11:00 PM: Senator Edward Kennedy contacted the FAA to let them know the plane was missing. The FAA officials did nothing.
Saturday, July 17, 1999-- 2:15 AM: Carol Radziwill (wife of John's maternal cousin a news reporter), fed up with the FAA, called the Coast Guard and set in motion a multiagency search that began with calls to regional airports.
3:28 AM: An official search and rescue mission is launched by the Coast Guard. (more than 4.5 hours after the plane was supposed to arrive!!!)
6:30 AM: Ted Kennedy woke up John Podesta, Clinton’s Chief of Staff. 7:00 AM: Podesta woke up Clinton. 7:15 AM: Clinton told Podesta to call the Air Force and warn them if they didn’t have a search underway in 15 minutes, they shouldn’t bother to come to work Monday morning because they would all be fired, if they weren’t in jail.

“I just had an idea pop into my head about something to do this coming weekend, and I wanted to bounce it off you two before it slips my mind” My friend Natasha said those words as the three of us sat on my couch one afternoon. I found myself sitting up slightly. Normally, Natasha was the last of our group to suggest things to do, letting Vinny, the third member of our group, or I come up with the plans to keep our free time occupied. The fact she was about to suggest something intrigued me. “What have you got in mind?” I asked her. A smile played over her face as her brown eyes seemed to flash. “How about a little ghost hunting?”
I felt Vinny sit straight up beside me. She had clearly grabbed both our attention now. The three of us were what you might call amateur ghost hunters, using very basic items we bought offline to visit some of the spookier places in the area and posting our adventures on YouTube, sort of like a crappier version of Ghost Adventures. “Now that’s one hell of a good idea” Vinny said, before a puzzled expression spread over his face. “But, I mean, where? We’ve already done most of the places around town. The Tioga building won’t let us in after that…well, what that one resident claims we stirred up in the old ballroom, and I’m not about to make the hours long drive to the Wolf Creek Inn” Natasha’s smile grew wider. “No, we don’t have to even go out of town for this one” she said, her voice dropping low, “What I’m suggesting, is we check out…” her voice trailed off, letting the suspense grow for a few seconds before finishing, “The Egyptian Theatre”
Instantly, Vinny let out a harsh bark of laughter. “HA! Now that’s a good one. You know damn good and well that the society that runs the theater won’t allow us in after hours to ghost hunt. As far as I know, they’ve never allowed any paranormal teams into the place” He pulled a face. “So, how exactly do you propose we get in there? You flutter your eyelashes for the night janitor and use your feminine charms to get us in?” Natasha still grinned, but rolled her eyes at our friend’s quip. “No, actually, I was thinking about using my lock picking skills to get us in” she declared. It was my turn to give her an incredulous look. “You’re joking, right?” I asked. She shook her head. “Nope, I’m dead serious” I let out an incredulous, almost baffled snort of laughter and pulled my glasses off my face, rubbing my eyes.
The country, and, to a large extent, the entire world, became gripped in an interest, sometimes bordering on obsession with all things Egyptian when King Tut’s tomb was discovered over a century ago. Many things came out of this, including the classic 1932 monster movie The Mummy. But, one thing that also came of this fever gripping the country was a desire to build many Egyptian style buildings. And one of the buildings which took this design and ran with it, were the movie theatres. A decade after the legendary discovery, over a hundred theatres had gone up all around the country, their interiors clad with fake temple columns, paintings of sphinxes and Egyptian gods such as Anubis decorating the walls, and hieroglyphs adorning the archways. People flocked in droves to them, both to watch movies, and live performances. But, like all trends, eventually, the interest began to wane, and as the late 20th Century approached, many began to shut down and be either remodeled, or straight up demolished. Today, there’s only between five and eight Egyptian style theatres left in the entire country.
And one just so happens to be right in the town I live in.
When I moved to Coos Bay, Oregon nine years ago, I immediately fell in love with the place. Even though it’s the largest coastal town on the Oregon coast, it’s a place which is more or less perpetually frozen in time, still looking pretty much as it did between thirty and seventy years ago. And, as someone who is not exactly into the modern world, it made a perfect place for me to live and escape away from the 21st Century. I began exploring right away, driving every street of it and the town neighboring it, North Bend, along with walking every alley and back road I could to learn the layout. That’s how I learned about the supernatural element to the town.
There are many places in town which people claim supernatural occurrences take place. From the remains of the old logging buildings on the estuary, to the old Tioga Hotel which has been remodeled into apartments, there is no shortage of ghostly tales. There was even the old McCauley Hospital, which had once been the focal point of the town’s annual ghost walks until it was demolished in 2018. As a side note, I heard a rumor that a couple people broke into that place right before it got torn down. Something sure spooked them, because a friend of mine on the police force told me they gave him a fright, bursting in the night before Easter and rambling about something. I always wondered what they saw in there.
But, for me, the place in town I always loved the most, and enjoyed the most hearing about the ghostly accounts told, was the Egyptian Theatre.
Originally built as a garage in 1922, it was renovated by a man named Charles Noble into a movie theatre in 1925, where it drew in droves of people from around the area to watch films, and enjoy live vaudeville performances. It continued to operate almost to the end of the 20th Century, when other theatres began to attract younger moviegoers, and for a while, it almost seemed as though the historic building might even be closed for good and gutted. But, thanks to the efforts of local preservation societies, it was saved, and now operates as a theatre once again. They mostly play only older movies, along with live performances.
And, of course, it draws curious people for the paranormal rumors surrounding it.
For years, people have reported strange occurrences happening inside the building, both when it’s open, and after hours. Patrons and employees alike have spoken about a pervasive feeling of being watched inside the building, but finding no one there when the place was searched. There have been reports of being touched by invisible hands, a few even pushed slightly. Beyond physical interaction, employees have reported the sounds of old film projectors playing and unseen audiences laughing after hours, along with the eerie playing of the theatre’s Wurlitzer pipe organ, along with a host of other occurrences. No ghost hunting team has ever gone in to try and document these events. And to Natasha, that was too good of an opportunity to pass up. Legal, or not.
“Are you freaking nuts?!” Vinny exclaimed, “Do you have any idea how much trouble we’d be in if we got caught breaking and entering? The cops around here are already a bit twitchy with the druggies and the homeless. You wanna give them a reason to throw us into jail alongside them?” Natasha held up a finger, flipping her black hair over her shoulder. “They won’t find out, because I have not one, but two aces in the hole here. The first is that thanks to being friends with Scott, I know the nighttime police sweeps, where they’re going to be and everything. There’ll be an hour long window where they’re not anywhere near the alley where the back door to the theatre is. We can get in and out with no threat of being spotted at all. And the second is, did you forget I’m dating Dylan now?” The realization washed over me like a wave; she had started dating the man who helped the preservation society run the theatre a month or so ago. Damn, she’s been planning this one for a while, I thought.
Vinny had a thoughtful look on his face, his green eyes darting around rapidly, but not seeing. “Hmm” he muttered, then looked at Natasha. “And you’re sure that there’s no chance of us getting caught?” he asked slowly. “Absolutely none” she said, then looked at both of us. “So, how about it?” For a few moments, there was silence, and then Vinny let out a chuckle. “What the hell, why not? The most exciting thing we’ve done the last few weeks is go down to the farmer’s market. This could shake things up a bit” I suddenly became aware that the two of them were looking at me, waiting for me to make my decision. I was always the most sensible of the three of us, doing all I could to keep us out of trouble with others as well as the law. But, I always had one nasty Achilles Heel ever since I had been a child, and that was peer pressure. So, despite the overwhelming feeling that I should tell them no, that I should say we should just find something else to do, I nodded. “Alright, let’s do it” I said simply, causing grins to break out on both of my friend’s faces.
I wish to God in retrospect that I’d just had the damn spine to stand up and say “No”
The rest of the week seemed to pass by faster than usual. Before I knew it, the weekend had arrived. We’d decided that late Saturday night would be the best time to do this, as most places downtown closed up between eleven and midnight, aside from the bars and strip club. To say I felt anxious about breaking the law, something I wasn’t used to doing at all, would be like calling a Megalodon a goldfish, but my worries about disappointing my friends ended up outweighing it. And so, at eleven-thirty, the three of us piled into my beat up Chevy Tahoe, and made our way towards downtown. As I drove us down Ocean Boulevard, which connected the two sides of town, something settled over me. I can’t exactly place it, even to this day. But it was the most uneasy feeling I’ve ever experienced. But I did my best to push it away. It’s nothing, Troy. It’s just because you’re, understandably, worried about this. Plus, the road being deserted isn’t helping much.
My mental chiding seemed to help center me a bit, which was a good thing. The road was now angling downward, and a moment later, we drove into downtown. The darkened shapes of the closed stores seemed to rise up higher on either side of us than they looked during the daytime. We’d decided to cruise by the front entrance first, just to see if anyone were still inside. As I turned the truck onto the main drag, the sign for the theatre rose high above us, a depiction of an Egyptian pharaoh next to the yellow and white letters which proclaimed its name to everyone who drove through town. I spared a glance as we passed it. The lit up marquee windows showed that The Blues Brothers and Jaws would be shown soon. For whatever reason, though, I couldn’t bring myself to look through the glass doors that showed the building’s darkened interior. The uneasy feeling had returned, and, for a moment, it felt as though if I did look, I would see someone, or something staring back out at me. And then we passed it, taking the next right and looping back around to Anderson Ave.
I turned the truck into the narrow alley drive which ran along the back of the theatre and neighboring buildings. Parking right next to the rear doors would be extremely conspicuous, so I pulled up a bit further and parked in a carport like area. Shutting off the engine, I turned to my two friends. “Well, this is it” I said, “Last chance to turn back if anyone’s having second thoughts” I’d hoped that either Vinny or Natasha would’ve gotten cold feet in the last few minutes, allowing us to go do something else. But there was no such luck. “Are you kidding me?” Natasha said from the passenger seat, “We are far too close to back out now!” Vinny grunted from behind me. Well, shit. Resigning myself to the fact they were determined to go through with this, I let a deep breath out through my nose and nodded. The others opened their doors and hopped out. A moment later, I followed.
The night air was cool and crisp on my skin as we slowly walked back down the alley to the rear of the yellow-ish, tan building. Three different sets of red double doors were built into the back of the theatre. Natasha pulled something out of her coat pocket, and I realized, with a small pang of surprise, that it was a lock pick set. A legitimate lock pick set. “Where the hell did you get that?” I whispered to her. She shrugged and smiled. “I have my ways of getting things” she said simply, then pointed to the far right set of doors. “We’ll have a bit of cover from that electrical box. You two keep an eye out while I deal with the lock” And with that, she scurried forward, bending down in front of the door handles. Vinny and I stood guard, each of us looking down both ends of the alley. As the soft sound of Natasha messing with the lock filtered over to me, I realized just how quiet it was. And how eerie hearing downtown so quiet was. Aside from a few distant booms and bangs, and the far off sound of a dog barking, all I could hear was the whistle of the wind as it whipped between the old buildings.
An involuntary shiver cascaded up my spine, and I tried again to reason myself back to a relative sense of calm. “Get a grip, dude, you’re gonna be fine” I whispered under my breath. But this time, it felt as though I weren’t able to entirely convince myself. I suddenly became aware of a creeping sensation, one which made me shoot a look around. Nothing moved in the stillness, no indication of anyone besides us being in the alley. And, yet…I was overcome with the distinct feeling of being watched. Not by either of my friends. But…by someone else. Before I had a chance to even think about it, I heard a rather loud click, and Natasha let out a soft laugh of triumph. “We’re in, ladies and gentleman!” she declared, standing up and pulling on the door. It opened silently, the streetlight in the alley casting a small shaft of light into the darkness beyond. Turning, she waved an arm at Vinny and I. “Come on, let’s get inside”
Before either of us could say anything, she turned and disappeared into the dark. I shot a look at Vinny, who simply shrugged. “After you, my man” he whispered. I let out a deep sigh, and then moved to the door. Reaching into my pocket, I pulled out the small flashlight, and then pulled on the heavy metal, slipping inside, Vinny right behind me. The darkness swallowed us as the door closed. For a moment, a small rush of panic from not being able to see flashed through me, before a light appeared beside me. It wasn’t from a flashlight, though; instead, a small, orange flame flickered beside me. “Don’t turn on your flashlights yet, just follow me” Natasha said, the flame making her face seem to dance and move behind it. She turned and headed away, leaving us no choice but to follow. I listened to her and didn’t turn on my flashlight. But every fiber of my being was screaming at me to. Because the feeling of being watched out in the alleyway? Had quintupled in here. The best way to describe it, was that we were angrily being stared at. And I didn’t like the sensation one bit.
Natasha led us up a flight of steps and pushed open another door. “We’re here” she said, still keeping her voice low, “You can turn on your flashlights now” Thank you, God, I silently said, snapping mine on and casting a bright white light into the room we’d entered. A moment later, so did my two friends’ lights. The beams played around, and I heard Vinny let out a bit of a gasp. “Ho-lyyyy shit” he muttered.
Natasha had guided us into the main theatre. The ceiling rose high above our heads, almost out of sight of even the flashlights. Rows upon rows of red movie seats stretched out and away from us, seeming almost unending in the shadows. The walls were all covered in hieroglyphs, all still original from the 1920s. To our left, the second story, which housed a smaller row of seats, along with the projection room rose about twenty feet above us. And to the right, was the stage itself. It was flanked by two huge columns, the screen rolled up and revealing a mosaic of an Egyptian building on the back wall, with two men clutching staffs sitting on either side. Directly in front of the stage sat the organ, its seating bench tucked beneath it.
“Okay, this is a trip to be in at night!” Natasha exclaimed excitedly, then pulled the backpack she’d been wearing off her shoulders. Dropping it into a seat, she unzipped it and began pulling items from it. “Guys, here” she said, holding them out. Vinny stepped forward and grabbed the camcorder from her; as someone who’d had a lifelong dream of being a filmmaker, he was our resident cameraman. I stepped forward and took two items from her: an infrared thermometer and an EVP recorder. The rest, she placed on the ground, and then faced Vinny. “Alright, tell me when you’re recording” He fumbled with the camcorder for a second, then shot her a thumbs up. Instantly, she took on a somber, eerie expression, giving an admittedly creepy look at the camera. “Well, well, welcome back to The Three Ghostkuteers, everyone. I hope you all have been well since our last trip. Tonight, you join us in a very, very special place, and one close to home for us. We are currently in the Egyptian Theatre in Coos Bay, Oregon, one of the last remaining in the country. It was built in the 1920s by a man named Charles Noble-“
I turned away, tuning her out as I did. The woman really, really enjoys being in front of the camera. Better her than me. Shining my light around, I looked up at the balcony. I could see the small hole in the projection booth where the movie projector would shine out onto the screen. Something caught the beam’s light, reflecting off it slightly, and I aimed the light at the wall. It was a wrought iron light fixture, one which had been shaped into the figure of a King Cobra, poised to strike. Gazing around, I saw they adorned much of the walls. I let out a small shudder at it. God, do I hate snakes. Thankfully, though, the feeling of being watched I’d had in the alley and the darkened back of the theatre had seemingly disappeared. Yeah, see, what’d I tell you, Troy? Nothing but your nerves.
Natasha had finished her opening monologue and moved to the edge of the stage, on which she placed the small, square spirit box. “And now, let’s see if anyone would like to speak with us” she said, flicking it on. Instantly, the silence of the theatre was shattered by the sound of static, intermittently interrupted by quick snippets of radio shows being picked up. “Is there anyone here who’d like to talk to us?” she called out into the huge room. The static and snippets were the only sound to answer her. After a minute, she tried again. “Are there any spirits who’d like to communicate with us?” There was still nothing. Vinny panned the camera from the box to Natasha as she paced back and forth for a few minutes. A small look of disappointment flooded over her face, but she instantly plastered it over with the same look she’d given the camera before. “Well, it looks like the spirit box isn’t gonna work tonight, so we’re gonna have to try something else” She pulled out an EVP recorder identical to mine and switched it on. “Let’s try this instead, shall we? Remember, by the way guys, if you’re new here and want to see more, to like and subscribe-“
I turned away again, feeling a small pang of irritation flow through me. This is freakin’ ridiculous, man. The longer we stay in here, the more chance we have of getting caught. Truth be told, as much as I enjoyed ghost hunting, I didn’t even really believe in the paranormal. In all the years the three of us had filmed together, not once had we caught anything, on tape or otherwise. In fact, many times we’d had to fake spooky occurrences in order to make sure our videos got any views at all. This is your own fault, man, I silently chided myself, you’re the one who couldn’t stand up to them and say no. You really, seriously need to grown a spine and learn how to say no. The mental self lecture was furthering my rotten mood, and I began to feel a wave of anger at my two friends, as well as myself boil up.
“Hell with this” I finally muttered, then turned and began walking up the aisle. “Troy, where the hell are you going?” I heard Natasha call out behind me. I stopped, not looking over my shoulder, but quietly aiming my voice behind me and allowing a hint of irritation to seep into it. “I’m gonna go check out the second floor balcony, okay? I don’t exactly like just standing here” For a moment, there was silence, and then her voice came, soft and almost apologetic. “Okay, go ahead” Before she could say anything more, I strode away, walking to the open doorway which led out of the theater and into the concession area. I hooded my flashlight beam with one hand to make sure it wouldn’t accidentally shine out of the glass entrance doors into the street and looked around. The lobby and concession stand took up most of the front area, the darkened shape of it stretching along the far wall.
Taking a few steps ahead, I turned and looked up at the wall above me. Large, blue letters stretched out from one side of it to the other. Through these doors pass the most wonderful people. I snorted softly. “Yeah, unfortunately, not tonight” I shook my head, then looked around. And nearly jumped out of my skin. Something also seemed to jump back. I felt my heartbeat begin to race in my chest and my breath quickened. “Shit…” I let out weakly, then slowly moved forward. After a few steps, I suddenly realized what I’d seen and let out a soft laugh of relief.
“Your own damn reflection, you fucking pussy” Shaking my head, I turned away from the glass wall and headed for the stairs to the second floor. At the base of them, I stopped and shone my flashlight up. “Ooh, boy” I said quietly. Sitting next to the stairway like a sentry, was a huge, golden statue of a pharaoh. It towered over me, and I estimated that, were it be standing straight up, it’d easily be between eight and ten feet tall. It stared straight ahead at the wall ahead of it, and I couldn’t help but let out a small shiver as I stared at it. It just seemed so damn eerie in the dark, and I quickly moved past it, heading up the stairs and stepping out onto the second story balcony.
I shone my light around. Red seats again surrounded me, though this time far fewer. Ahead of me, I could see the balcony’s edge and the hulking shape of the main stage beyond. I could also see the beams of my friends’ flashlights playing over it, and hear both of their voices speaking softly. Deciding while I was up here to at least check out the projection booth, I strode over to the door and tried to turn the handle. It was locked. Feeling my irritation bubble over into exasperation, I jiggled the handle in some stupid attempt to open it. But the door stayed shut. I turned away and rubbed my eyes, again hearing the voices of my friends softly filtering up to me from down below.
“Hey, if there really are any ghosts, or spooks, or specters, or whatever in here? If you’re actually real, could you appear to us, please?” I whispered to no one, “That way my friends can get what they want and I can go home” I received only silence in reply. I hadn’t really expected anything, anyways. You know what? Screw this, I’m going back down there and telling them I’m going home, with or without them. This is beyond stupid, I just broke the law for what? For nothing! For something dumb as hell. And with that, I turned to walk away. But I hadn’t even taken a single step when something crashed into me like a wave. The breath was driven from my lungs as I felt a massive chill shoot through me, as though I’d been doused with ice water. “What the fuck?!” I hissed through gritted teeth, then froze, my eyes going wide. The feeling of being watched had returned with a vengeance, and it had seemingly been ramped up in its intensity. I shot a look around, but saw nobody.
Still, the feeling remained, and with each passing second, it almost seemed to grow stronger. Chill after chill rolled up my spine, and even though I didn’t really believe, something deep inside me told me that it was time to get out. Okay, time to leave, I said in my head, and headed quickly for the stairs. As I reached the head, I turned to look back one final time. That’s when I saw something. It disappeared when I aimed my flashlight at it, but I swear a second earlier it had been the outline of a person, standing in the shadows and watching me. The split second sight catapulted me into motion, and I hurried down the steps, shining my light every which way but loose. Believer or not, I knew something wanted us out. I’d planned on jumping off the second to last stair and running for the main theatre floor. But as I reached the bottom, I froze.
For a moment, I couldn’t place why. And then, the realization fell over me like a tsunami. I let out an involuntary gasp, and fear like I’d never felt before surged through me. I didn’t want to turn around and look. I wanted to pretend I hadn’t seen it. I desperately wanted to. But, like a dumbass character in a horror movie, I couldn’t help it. I needed to look. I slowly turned, aiming my flashlight back up. And I couldn’t help but let out a strangled scream, falling backwards over my own feet as I began to backpedal rapidly.
The statue of the pharaoh still sat where it had. It still towered over me, looking as imposing and eerie as ever. But it’s carved and painted eyes were no longer staring straight ahead at the wall. Instead, they had somehow moved. And when I’d turned, I’d come to find they were staring directly at me.
I scrambled to my feet, snatching the flashlight from the floor where I’d dropped it and aiming it at the statue again. It stared straight out at nothing again. But I knew what I’d seen. It hadn’t been a trick of my mind, or the light. The freaking thing’s eyes had moved to watch me as I passed down by it. I began to stammer out as I backed away from it. “Okay, that’s it, no no no no, we’re done here, fuck this shit, I’m officially a believer, we’re leaving, right now” I kept backing towards the doorway to the theatre, never taking my eyes off the statue. I was terrified I’d seen it suddenly stand up and turn to lumber after me like Boris Karloff or something.
The blaring sound of the theatre’s organ slashed through the silence, causing me to let out another strangled scream and jump almost a foot off the ground. I whipped around, thinking I would see my moronic friends tinkering with the instrument. Instead, I froze again. The theatre was no longer dark. Both of my friends had seemingly vanished from the room, as I could no longer see them. The movie screen had somehow been pulled down, and above me, I heard the whir of the movie projector playing. An old, black and white movie, one which had no sound, played on the screen, occasionally changing to show dialogue being displayed in white letters.
It was also no longer empty.
The entire theatre was packed. I saw people sitting at almost every single seat in the huge room. I could only see the backs of their heads as they watched the movie playing. At the edge of the stage, what looked like a man now sat at the organ, playing it in time with the film. A slapstick moment came across the screen, and the audience began laughing. In any other situation, it would’ve been a comforting sound. But at that moment, it was the most spine chilling sound I’d ever heard. Especially as another wave of realization crashed into me. From the little I could see, everyone in the theatre looked to be dressed in long passed fashions.
That’s when the voice, low and quiet, came from behind me. “Good evening, sir” it said. It sounded like a man’s voice, one rather low and deep pitched, but something about it paralyzed me on the spot. The voice continued, putting on an air of pleasant politeness. “We’re so glad you could make it, it’s been so long since we’ve had new patrons arrive at a showing. If I could just see your ticket, please?”
For a moment, I couldn’t speak. Then, I managed to squeak out two words. “Uh, ticket?” The tone of the voice seemed to change somewhat. “Yes, your ticket. That’s the only way you could’ve gotten in. Please, let me verify it and show you to your seat” Ohhh, shit. Whoever, or whatever the voice belonged to, thought I had shown up like a regular moviegoer. The voice’s tone became less polite. “You do have a ticket, right, sir?” I was beyond terrified to answer, but I was more terrified to remain silent. For a moment, I considered lying. But I feared what might happen if I did. So I told the truth.
“I….uh, I, uh….I don’t have a ticket, sir” I stammered out, my voice barely above a whisper. Instantly, all sound stopped in the room like someone had flipped a switch. “You…don’t have a ticket?” the voice said, all pretense of manners vanishing from it, “Then how did you get in here for the late night showing?” Oh, god. I forced myself to speak, still unable to say anything except the truth. “My…my friends and I….broke in…through the back door…to…ghost hunt…” There was silence for a few moments, and then a heavy hand dropped onto my shoulder. My head swiveled to look at it. Oh, fuck me sideways. It wasn’t a regular hand. It was a fucking claw. One with black skin, tipped with what looked like razor sharp nails. It sat there for a moment, then tightened; almost painfully so, making me let out a small whimper of pain.
That’s when I looked up. Everyone in the theatre had turned to look at me. My initial thought had been correct; they all wore clothing from almost a century ago, and not the stuff cosplayers wear, either. They also had very angry expressions on their faces, as if they’d just noticed the intruder among their midst. The voice finally came again, almost directly behind me. Its tone lowered, almost sounding guttural and animal, making my legs almost melt into jelly from the fear. “Then, might I make a suggestion to you and your trespassing little friends?” My breath came in rapid, ragged gasps, and I barely managed to force out the one word. “Yes?”
“LEAVE”
At the single word reply, which now more closely resembled a growl than a word, I did something I will forever wish I hadn’t. I finally turned and looked up at who was addressing me. The only way I can describe what happened is, my mind shattered. The next thing I remember, I was crashing into the back doors of the theatre into the night.
And I was screaming.
That was a month or so ago. When I’d stumbled back into the alley, I’d turned and, in what I can only call blind fear and panic, bolted for my truck. I hadn’t even heard my friends chasing after me. Not until Vinny caught up to me as I scrambled with my keys, grabbing me from behind and turning me to face him. He said the look I’d had on my face scared him and Natasha more than anything ever had before. I’d been pale as a sheet, my eyes wider than they ever thought a human’s could be. I'd been babbling softly. I’d been saying the words “They want us to leave” over and over. They didn’t ask me what had happened. They just pushed me into the backseat of my truck and drove away from there. It was clear, as I found out later on, that both of them hadn’t seen anything. As far as they were concerned before seeing me dash to the rear doors, it was just an empty theatre. Neither one of them ever asked me what I saw that night. And for that, I’m thankful. Because I could never utter from my lips what I did see.
But I’ve had nightmares since then. Horrible ones. Ones that’ve been so bad, I had to let out what happened to me, deciding to just post it here, regardless of whether people believe me or not.
Nightmares about being back in that theatre after hours. About seeing that pharaoh statue’s eyes flick in its painted sockets to look at me. About seeing all those people, people long since dead, sitting and watching the films they did when they were alive. About seeing that hand fall on my shoulder, hearing that voice, telling me not to come back until I have a ticket.
And about turning to see who the hand and voice belonged to.
The Egyptian Theatre will be celebrating its centennial this year. People are planning to show up in 1920s cars, dressed in period clothing. They’re even going to show an old, silent film as part of the festivities. But I won’t be attending it. I won’t ever go anywhere near it again. The one time I tried, a week or so ago, I started trembling with fear. And the mental image played over and over in my head.
The image of turning to see that horrible canine head attached to the human-like body, red, glowing eyes glaring down at me as it’s sharp teeth glinted in the light.
I pray to god I never will end up with a ticket to one of its late night showings.
But I can't help but fear that, like those packed into the theatre, sooner or later, we all will.

What would your thoughts be on a mod that added a bunch of buildings, npc's, notes scattered around, or minor factions based on rumoured history? Most of the expanded lore would be head canon stuff.
Examples of what might be in the mod:
More relics from the First Empire, and First Empire tech. Possibly even a name to go with it.
Closure for the cross mystery. Something like a Cross manufacturing plant, or Cross himself in the form of a skeleton in some ancient Second Empire bar located on a random coast.
Random buildings full of skeletons guarding dilapitated outposts and ruins killing humans on sight, still fighting ever since obedience.
Being able to talk to some skeletons (if youre also one) about the crimes comitted during the Second Empire. And talking to some other key Skeletons will give you info on the Chaos Age, and the War of Behemoths.
Books detailing First Empire and Second Empire lore giving answers to things like the names of the empires, some of the factions going around then, and some more researchable tech.
Info on the Hivers and Shek and what stuff they did back then, or what purposes they served. And why hive queens look the way they do.

I know its been several thousand years, but the Tech Hunters exist, and in all those old ruins they look through, their has to be some more information on what happened.
Most of this would be giving info on the First and Second Empires, and adding NPCs, ruins, and lore from then.

Join the fastest growing RP server on PC. Featuring a unique lore that follows the current events in Russia/Ukraine. The server is based on Chernarus, lore wise a Chechen state that's defunct after the deployment of a bio weapon. The area is riddled with Nato and Chechen/Russo forces. Meanwhile locals and displaced aid workers are now coming together to rebuild communities.
Server Information:-Steady and reliable population, active communities/groups-Communities you can assimilate into and take on roles. Living as a post apocalyptic farmer amongst merchants, peace keepers, a mayor, etc.-Faction traders, which can be leveled up to incorporate full cosmetic kits.-Stary Sobor Trader (Centralized Traders for Ease of Access)-Black Market (Gun Running N' Drugs)-Hunting/Fisher Trader for those who enjoy the simpler things------------------------------------------------------------------------Featuring a completely reworked Custom coast, town and village loot. Custom civilian gear has replaced vanilla items entirelyWW2-Soviet Era weapons can be found in Civilian areas (complete rework of civilian weapons)Redesigned Police Loot - Now featuring SMGs/Riot Control. Purchasable sheriff and police vehicles/outfitsVast weapon rebalance, many one of a kind 556/762 Platforms (Literally one rifle of this variant)Our emphasis has been on unique one of a kind experiences and to reflect that we added an array of RP related vehicles for solos/nomads. Whether you are a solo or a faction, take to the road with RVs, Bases on wheels, you name it. Run a bus service, Taxi service, a mobile doctor with their own ambulance, or a Chernarus capital officer in their patrol cruiser. There's room for those looking to do good and run a community as well as those wishing to swoop in with their militia and demand tribute. Despite this being an RP server without KOS we highly encourage groups to write their own lore and act out their own stories, if that means the local town guard has to muster up to put down bandits: so be it.
Max Players: 70
IP: 66.11.124.98:2303
Restarts: Every 4 Hours starting at 10AM EST
Mods
MoreGrass
CJ187-SummerChernarus
RolePlayMod
Essentials
RUSForma
R22R_Base_Fortifications
R22R_Mechanics_PUBLIC
NatureOverhaul
BuilderItems
RedFalcon Flight System Heliz
CARs
Airdrop-Upgraded
PVEZAirdropZones
DrugsPLUS
CRPMods
LoftDModGR Clothes Pack
THYER5 Sheriff and Police Mod
AdditionalMedicSupplies
RaG_Vehicle_Pack
BulletStackPlusAdditional
MegaFoodPack
FlipTransport
Forward Operator Gear
PVEZ Reloaded
Code Lock
RUSForma_vehicles
Basic Territories
CannabisPlus
AdvancedBanking
Mass'sManyItemOverhaul
Community-Online-Tools
Mortys Weapons
MuchCarKey
CarCover
MuchDecos_Codelock
MuchDecos
MuchStuffPack
NewClothes by rob
BaseBuildingPlus
BBPItemPack
NoMuffle
NoVehicleDamage
Party On !
PVEZMarkersOnVPPMap
SNAFU Weapons
RaG_BaseItems
TraderFixesAndFeatures
Trader
VanillaPlusPlusMap
VPPAdminTools
Modular Vest System DGFix
WindstridesClothingPack
CF
Playstyle - RP
1pp/3pp - both
Discord : https://discord.gg/covenantrp

Active Duty Coast Guard E-5 here. I'm completing the application and I'm at the "Copies of disciplinary record and derogatory information if applicable" part. I have no UCMJ Infractions, NJP, etc. What I do have is 3 Negative 3307's (2 for training. 1 as a FU after telling my higher ups their lack of leadership was one of the reasons for the CG's retention problems, so they nitpicked me for my last 2 months before transferring and made a long 3307 about it after being told they couldn't give me multiple 3307's) Should I include those? or is the derogatory information something else?

Honestly don’t even know how to describe what I saw—was not a UFO or anything like that. Looked like multiple aircraft with Coast Guard markings… hauling something across the sky? Was around 11 am and I was on Shelbyville Road somewhere between Middletown and St. Matthews. Didn’t get a super long look at it, but curious if anyone else did and could identify it.

Follow-up to my last post:
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An Attenborough documentary on dinosaurs with the same CGI that made The Jungle Book so lifelike? I couldn't think of a greater sell. But was it worth it? Would it give me the same sense of wonder that I felt when Walking with Dinosaurs came out 22 years earlier?
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The first episode, "Coasts", is overall the strongest episode of season 1. Starting immediately with a swimming t-rex (Tyrannosaurus rex) leading his children to an island where he smelled a dead archelon (species unknown, as no Maastrichtian-age archelon was ever found in the fossil record), that first scene showed the promise of the show as a whole. Seeing CG baby t-rexes interacting with live-action baby turtles is both concerning (as sea turtles are currently endangered) and entertaining, as they are demonstrated pretty goofily. But after that, we are done with dinosaurs for the rest of the episode.
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We cut to the one scene that, while endearing with a riveting soundtrack by power couple Anže Rozman and Kara Talve, does give me pause. The pterosaurs featured in that episode were based on bones so fragmentary that they couldn't be diagnosed. How can we be sure that Barbaridactylus was a member of the antlerwing family, Phosphatodraco a member of the simurgh family, or even Tethydraco a member of the pteranodon family? How do we even know what Alcione even looked like? Also, the score doesn't really match the slower, less urgent movements of the pterosaurs.
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The next scene was described as "the sunken continent of Zealandia", which is a refresher to see the lost continent bearing recognition for a change. Here, a family of plesiosaurs (Tuarangisaurus keyesi) comes to the coast to gulp themselves on anti-buoyant rocks, while the males ceremoniously poke their long, heavy necks up to the surface, the only good moment in an otherwise generic sequence.
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After a quick focus on coral, we get treated to a Hoffmann's mosasaur (Mosasaurus hoffmanni) relying on fish and shrimp to give him a good, proper scratch, only to be pushed out of turn by a younger male. This sequence sticks out to me because it shows mosasaurs being portrayed as animals, not as monsters to shadow Nigel Marven or kaijuified Blackfish bootlegs.
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The next scene shows a dazzling, mesmerizing mating ceremony of ammonites ("scaphitids", they were called, but that doesn't determine specific species, as it was a very huge family). They glow in the dark and mate very particularly. If the male's flashes don't sync with those of the female, he'd be rejected. Complimenting this alien but still soothing scene is Rozman and Talve's equally alien and soothing score.
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Back in Zealandia, we end with plesiosaur pod mentality, as the whole group defends a pregnant mother from a kaika taniwha (Kaikaifilu hervei). As with the previous plesiosaur scene, it wasn't a scene that I got too crazy about.
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The next episode, "Deserts", isn't really as impactful as the Planet Earth episode of the same name, both in regards to execution and the musical score, and it was riddled with confusing scene decisions. The first scene demonstrates a lek of dreadnoughts (Dreadnoughtus schrani) acting like a combination of elephant seals and frigatebirds, right down to the pops on their necks. The score in that sequence is definitely memorable, as it (literally) highlights the weights that the males take to demonstrate their fitness to attract the gaggle of girls in the audience. Though I'm left wondering--did the upstart beat the veteran because he was stronger, or because he popped one of the veteran's neck balloons, as male frigatebirds would do to ditch the competish?
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Once the sauropod show is over, we now move to what was presumed to be Nemegtia, but it was portrayed to be as dry as Djadochta, which leads to the next problem. While there was evidence of Maastrichtian-age velos in Central Asia, calling them "Velociraptor" is just wrong. I grew up watching Walking with Dinosaurs, which means I watched "Giant of the Skies", which featured Utahraptor in the wrong place at the wrong time. And while the American cut justifies this with a demonstration of a land bridge that connected North America to Europe, I don't know how much water that holds, and that doesn't seem to be relevant anyway, for the damage has already been done. So having in Velociraptor, a genus of velos that went extinct 71 million years ago, in Nemegtia, which was set 66 million years ago, is just a rehash of that previous mistake. In short, Prehistoric Planet has Utahraptor'd the Velociraptor. And besides, hasn't the picture of pack-hunting raptors already been discarded?
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The next scene, the one with the Nemegtian mononych (Mononykus olecranus), is cute but not top-notch memorable, and its color choice is teetering way close to the point of plagiarism.
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Afterwards, the brief but violent rains have created a watering hole in the middle of the desert, luring in dinosaurs and pterosaurs from miles around, including a wandering khan (Tarbosaurus bataar). The reason that scene is so low was that it was just a near-identical rotoscope of the Water Truce sequence from The Jungle Book, right down to the herbivores making a clearing for the khan.
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Then we go high up to see more Barbaridactylus. This scene I wasn't aware was a problem until Unnatural History Channel brought it up in his video, but the females were shown to be oddly consensual towards the similar-looking sneaky males, who use their feminine appearances to sneak past the larger, more impressive males. This is a problem, apparently, because the more extreme the sexual dimorphism, the more likely the sneaky male will be rejected and therefore resort to assaulting the females.
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The last scene is an interesting one, albeit one that suffered an unmemorable score in the soundtrack. Apparently, salty southern duckbills (Secernosaurus koerneri) can thrive on dunes of gypsum, but when rains hit the coast, they rely on both their tenacity and their know-how of the sky to get to more productive grazing. This scene stands out to me because I question why any large animal would choose to thrive on such a taxing environment. It'd make sense for an animal as small as the cryptile, the scrofa and the gryken from The Future is Wild, but not for a duckbill bigger than 16 feet long.
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It is unanimously agreed upon that "Freshwater" is the weakest episode in the first season. Apart from the humpbacked false duckbill (Deinocheirus mirificus) getting a scratch in the swamps of a more accurate Nemegtia and the devil frog (Beelzebufo ampinga) making a snack out of a baby whacktooth (Masiaksaurus knoplferi), the habitat itself has been relegated to the backseat, which is why the mating scene of the t-rex and the laying magnificent simurgh (Quetzalcoatlus northropi) are on the C tier, good scenes that have been damaged by simply being in the wrong episode. Speaking of the latter, memes have popped up in which the faces of dinosaurs have been pasted over two shots of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, with either Masiakasaurus or the Planet Dinosaur model of Majungasaurus being Galahad and the Quetzalcoatlus being the French taunter ("What are you doing in Africa?" "MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS!") when, really, that meme is more applicable to Velociraptor being in the Maastrichtian. On that topic, not only is it STILL in the wrong time, there is another problem, one I didn't pay attention to until Unnatural History Channel brought it up on his video. Instead of showing audiences raptor prey restraint (or "RPR"), the storytellers relied instead on mountain cats to show the velos hunting the pterosaurs (species unknown). Like the Deserts episode, Planet Earth has a far stronger "Freshwater" episode.
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"Ice Worlds" didn't excite me as much as "Spirits of the Ice Forest" did, which is a shame, because dinosaurs in the snow is a refresher by default. We start at Prince Creek, which I couldn't ask for a worse place to start because the cast list is very fragmentary. In the opening scene, a pack of raptors (species unknown, though modeled after the pitbull raptor), shadows a herd of ugrunaaluk (Edmontosaurus sp.) for a long-delayed meal. Again, the picture of raptors hunting in packs has been debunked for a very long time now. Why insist on resorting to old cliches?
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The Ornithomimus scene (can't think of a vernacular for them), while the designs look cool and add distinction to overall character, is still just a rotoscope of the Adelie penguin sequence from "Frozen Planet". Next.
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The sequence with the swanneck (Olorotitan arharensis) is even less impressive. Are horsetails really more nutritious than grass? If so, then why have grasslands been the dominant plains since the Miocene?
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The reason the scene with the tro-o is relatively low on the tier list is that it should have been longer, because a dinosaur with the intellect of a fire hawk is a very interesting prospect. But the final scene was just too short and too bland to show off any real gold.
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We have spent so much time in the north that I question the necessity of a quick detour to Antarctica, rendering the scene with the polar macahutiul (Antarctopelta oliveroi) my least favorite of the series.
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The final scene demonstrates the predator-prey dynamic between the northern boss (Pachyrhinosaurus perotorum) and the nanook (Nanuqsaurus hoglundi). The scene is great, the score has some very rhythmic moments, but what puts it low on the B tier are the nanooks themselves. From a distance, they look as good as most of the others. But in closeup, they look kind of fake, especially when they're running. Which brings up to the next problem--the story is based on fossil footprints of different lines pointing in the same direction. But how do we know that those parallel tracks were made at the same time and not separated within hours, days or even weeks of each other? And while it is true that nanooks were smaller than t-rexes, their portrayals in the show were just too small. More recent consensus shows that one nanook could easily match a boss in size, if not overtop it.
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"Forests" is an everywhere kind of episode. The opening scene with the austroposeidon (Austroposeidon magnificus) is not long enough to get me invested.
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Then a herd of trikes (Triceratops, species unknown) visits a cave to visit a clay lick to neutralize the poisons from their plant food. But why clay? Why not salt? Herbivores can clearly deal with poisonous plants without problem, but plants lack sodium, which is why the elephants of Mount Elgon (the inspiration behind that scene) scrape the caves not for clay, but for salt.
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This next scene has gotten everyone talking. A male minotaur (Carnotaurus sastrei) clears the stage to wave his arms around to impress an impossibly stoic female. Everything about that scene--from the choreography to the score--is very goofy, and that is what makes it work so well.
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While it is nice to finally see the Pinocchio-rex (Qianzhousaurus sinensis) in the flesh, its hunt for bright blue corythoraptors (Corythoraptor jacobsi) is not a scene I'd be in a hurry to revisit.
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The fire scene is oddly slow, the only memorable moment in the whole sequence being my first official introduction to Atrociraptor marshalli...literally just one short week before Jurassic World: Dominion predictably ruined it.
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The scene with the baby Therizinosaurus is passable. While it is cute to imagine babies having a taste for honey, it just wasn't executed memorably.
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The final scene, the one set on Hateg Island, slogs on in pace, with the greatest focus being a bunch of odd-looking baby zalmos (Zalmoxes robustus) running and hiding from the real star of the episode, the robust simurgh (Hatzegopteryx thambena), looking more proper than how it looked in Planet Dinosaur. One question, though--weren't pterosaur wings supposed to be rounded at the tip? Sure, they've got the hands pointing backwards, but the pointed wingtips is now believed to be an outdated picture.
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So it goes without saying that years of watching a moderate quantity of Attenborough documentaries has made the watching experience of Prehistoric Planet, at least in comparison to the original Walking with Dinosaurs, a bit numb. The creature designs are good, the CGI has not faltered in its photorealism from The Jungle Book, and even the soundtrack has enough of a score to make it memorable. But it's the stories that amount to the overall numbness of the first season. They hadn't opened my eyes in the way that Walking with Dinosaurs did.
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When season 2 was announced literally one year after season 1, I had my doubts. Planet Earth 2 came out literally a decade after the first Planet Earth, and the differences in filming technology and musical score clearly show that. Same for the 16 years that separate The Blue Planet from Blue Planet 2. Dynasties 2, by contrast, came way too soon after the first Dynasties, and the end result is sloppy, from the stories being set at the tedious start rather than at the steady prime to the score from the first Dynasties being reused so often that the only episode to have any new music was "Meerkat". So to find Prehistoric Planet 2 come out literally one year after Prehistoric Planet, I was concerned that it'd be as shorthanded as Dynasties 2 was. The opening episode, "Islands", kind of suffered that, but it thankfully wasn't as severe a problem.
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The first segment of that episode struck me as odd because the adult zalmo looks weirdly identical to the baby model from last episode.
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While it is cool to see the robust simurgh being expanded upon, I personally wish we'd stayed at Hateg Island, where they'd hunt the Transylvanian dwarf duckbill (Telmatosaurus transylvanicus) and not the funky combbill (Tethyshadros insularis).
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One of season 1's most recurring complaints is "no crocodiles", which is pretty apt when you consider how diverse they were during the Cretaceous period. So to see the Malagasy armadillo (Simosuchus clarki) at all, let alone stand up against a mahjong (Majungasaurus crenatissimus), is one to remember for the ages.
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This next scene is actually pretty interesting, in which we see Adalatherium, which wasn't a true mammal, but rather something hovering closely outside the taxonomic boundaries. It's a long sequence, which is just as well, because this is as new a clade to me now as the cynodont was when Walking with Dinosaurs came out.
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As with in "Ice Worlds", a quick detour to Antarctica doesn't seem necessary to me, as the hunt between the Imperobator and the Morrosaurus feels more like a skim.
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The last scene in the episode is my personal favorite, in which a male robust simugh stands on a sandbar to do whatever it takes to impress a mate.
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"Badlands" stands out in that there are only two settings. The first one is the strongest because of how the Deccan Traps, long reputed to be the co-culprit to the fall of the dinosaur empire, has been repurposed into prime nesting estate for a herd of sauropods (Isisaurus colberti). The journey seems reckless, but volcanic sand is hot and toasty, something that a modern species of dinosaur, the megapode, also exploits as it lays its egg in the hot volcanic sand of the Solomons.
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The next scene hasn't fixed on last year's problems, in which Velociraptor is still there and it still hasn't performed RPR--it just kicks an herbivore off a cliff, and that was that.
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The nesting Corythoraptor scene didn't interest me, but what really bugged me was that the antagonist of that sequence was a kuru (Kuru kulla), a raptor who, like the pterosaurs on the "Coasts" episode, was based on incomplete, fragmentary specimens.
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The sequence with the tarchias (Tarchia, species unknown), is a refreshing detour from the previous sequence because we have a better idea as to what they would have looked like. And to see them slog around for an oasis is a second highlight (next to the Deccan nursery).
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This next scene has nothing new added from either "Time of the Titans" or "Alpha's Egg", in which a herd of baby sauropods gets picked on by larger predators on their way to the safety of the forest.
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The majority of the "Freshwater" sequences I feel fit better in "Swamps". The same unnamed pterosaurs from "Freshwater" have reappeared, this time trying to fly past an approaching population of alligators (Shamosuchus djadochtaensis).
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The next episode features a grizzly bear gathering of austroraptors (Austroraptor cabazai) hunting gar. It stands out as highly as it does because it shows a species of raptor that looks and acts differently from the usual velo or nych. Plus, we know many miles more about austroraptors than we do about Spinosaurus, so that is a relieving plus.
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The devil frog stands out in this episode, and to see a grumpy male try to fight off a herd of goavambe (Rapetosaurus krausei) is humorous. It also deviates from the usual picture of "the frog that eats dinosaurs".
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This next sequence I was very concerned the moment I saw it in the ads. Thanks to Jack Horner, the poorly-known family Pachycephalosauridae has been under very hot fire with the notion of bone sponginess being a taxonomically viable method of identification, which it really isn't because all amniotes have spongy bones in their teens. But very thankfully, this sequence does not resort to Hornerism. It shows that older males do get longer horns on the backs of their heads, not the other way around. Also, new evidence has shown that the domes may have been covered in shiny skin, so this has me asking--is the dome a boys-only trait? Could that dracorex (Pachycephalosaurus hogwartsia) skull that I saw at the Black Hills Museum just be a girl entering her sweet 16 when she died? Could those stygimoloch (Pachycephalosaurus spinifer) skulls just be those of high school footballers?
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"Swamps" ended on a high note with a couple of t-rexes hunting an anatotitan (Edmontosaurus annectens) in the dark. One just walks to the duckbill, and the animal, in its panic, goes right in the direction of the other t-rex in hiding. This perfectly reflects the current understanding that t-rexes exchanged fast running for better walking. Now can we see some duckbills fighting back, please?
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On May 26, The Little Mermaid came out in theaters. A day earlier, "Oceans" came out. If I were to choose, I'd stick to the latter, simply because we're treated to fresh new stories with a wider variety of mosasaurs and ammonites than any of the Walking with programs ever did. The scene with the hesperorns chasing bait fish only to have themselves be chased by bulldog fish (Xiphactinus) is a classic, but a good one. However, "X-fish"? What's wrong with "bulldog fish"? But the highlight, no doubt, is the final sequence, in which a Hoffmann's mosasaur killed a juvenile plesiosaur simply by ramming it great white style.
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"Freshwater" was weak due to being sorely unfocused. "North America", by contrast, is even weaker for being too rushed. Also, the "scars make the man" narrative with the trikes bugs me the most. What justification is there for that?
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This has been a very exhaustive review of Prehistoric Planet, and it's way too early for me to worry about a season 3 coming out, if there is going to be one.

Spanish occupation of Lima, Peru in the 16th century led to a large amount of wealth amassed in the city during the centuries thereafter by the Roman Catholic Church. In the early 1800s, Spain began to experience difficulties in its South American colonies as revolts took place. Peru followed suit and an evacuation took place in 1820. During the evacuation, the viceroy of Lima ordered the riches collected there to be transported to Mexico for safekeeping.
Captain William Thompson of the Mary Dear was entrusted with this cargo and agreed to transport it. However, it never reached its destination. Captain Thompson and his crew killed the Spanish guards onboard and set off for Cocos Island off the coast of present day Costa Rica, where they were said to have buried their cargo and split up to later reconvene and divvy up the spoils.
After the cargo was offloaded, the Mary Dear was captured by the Spanish and the crew was executed for piracy. Thompson and his first mate were spared in exchange for the location of the treasure, but when the Spanish took them to the supposed place it was hidden, the pirates escaped into the jungle never to be seen again.
It is said that no clues were left behind as to the location of the treasure, lost to time. However, what if there were? What if the pirates left clues so discreet that they could only be found and deciphered by the most clever of treasure hunters? Well that’s where this story begins.
.
Hello! First of all, if you’ve read this far, thank you. I’ve gotten the itch for a globe-trotting, action-packed treasure hunting story in the last couple of days and this is my attempt to scratch it. I realize this is a little barebones, but I was hoping we could flesh out the details together!
I am a literate roleplayer, usually typing around 3-5 paragraphs in 3rd person past-tense. On days I am off work, I can get multiple replies in as I usually don’t do much. However, on days I’m working replies may be more sparse depending on how busy work is. I’m a bartender who keeps an odd sleep schedule so it really just depends.
As far as what I’m looking for, mainly just someone who can supply a good time writing a cool story as well as someone I can get along well with ooc. It’s always a plus to make a new friend.
18+ only, and preferably 21+ as I am 26.
Look forward to hearing from you!

Spanish occupation of Lima, Peru in the 16th century led to a large amount of wealth amassed in the city during the centuries thereafter by the Roman Catholic Church. In the early 1800s, Spain began to experience difficulties in its South American colonies as revolts took place. Peru followed suit and an evacuation took place in 1820. During the evacuation, the viceroy of Lima ordered the riches collected there to be transported to Mexico for safekeeping.
Captain William Thompson of the Mary Dear was entrusted with this cargo and agreed to transport it. However, it never reached its destination. Captain Thompson and his crew killed the Spanish guards onboard and set off for Cocos Island off the coast of present day Costa Rica, where they were said to have buried their cargo and split up to later reconvene and divvy up the spoils.
After the cargo was offloaded, the Mary Dear was captured by the Spanish and the crew was executed for piracy. Thompson and his first mate were spared in exchange for the location of the treasure, but when the Spanish took them to the supposed place it was hidden, the pirates escaped into the jungle never to be seen again.
It is said that no clues were left behind as to the location of the treasure, lost to time. However, what if there were? What if the pirates left clues so discreet that they could only be found and deciphered by the most clever of treasure hunters? Well that’s where this story begins.
.
Hello! First of all, if you’ve read this far, thank you. I’ve gotten the itch for a globe-trotting, action-packed treasure hunting story in the last couple of days and this is my attempt to scratch it. I realize this is a little barebones, but I was hoping we could flesh out the details together!
I am a literate roleplayer, usually typing around 3-5 paragraphs in 3rd person past-tense. On days I am off work, I can get multiple replies in as I usually don’t do much. However, on days I’m working replies may be more sparse depending on how busy work is. I’m a bartender who keeps an odd sleep schedule so it really just depends.
As far as what I’m looking for, mainly just someone who can supply a good time writing a cool story as well as someone I can get along well with ooc. It’s always a plus to make a new friend.
18+ only, and preferably 21+ as I am 26.
Look forward to hearing from you!