title: Andrew Divoff

text: Divoff has pursued a number of other business ventures in addition to professional acting, and uses many of these businesses as a springboard for philanthropic and environmentalist efforts. In the early 1990s, he was a co-owner of the blues bar and restaurant Sunset Social Club.


title: Andrew Divoff

text: Divoff is passionate about environmental issues and water rights, and believes that the best form of activism is simply to help people in need. Several years after his move from actor William Boyd's former home in Hollywood to the Lake Arrowhead region of the San Bernardino Mountains in 1992, Divoff formed a logging crew during a time when he described acting opportunities as scarce. Divoff and his crew focused on removing trees that were dead or dying due to a pine beetle infestation. Divoff later became a partner in Verdant Resource and in Alpine Village Water Company that serves a nearby mountain community. Verdant Resource holds a patent for a wind-powered water pump. With the help of a government grant, Divoff and the other partners at the water company provided running water to a small community using Verdant's pump technology.


title: Andrew Divoff

text: in 2014, Divoff developed his own craft beer, the Djinn's Hellabrew, which he has sold to benefit charities, including Smile Train, Operation Provider, and the Hollywood Police Activities League. In 2017, Divoff formed his own brewing company, Three Marm Brewing, a "marm" being the part of a tree trunk that forks into two or more trunks. The partners of Three Marm Brewing are predominantly members of Divoff's former logging crew. Divoff and his partners are planning to open a taproom in Crestline, California, and have other new beer flavors in development, including the Logger Lager and Mystic Mast Stout.


title: Andrew Divoff

text: Divoff was married to Russian actress Raissa Danilova. His hobbies include sculpting and oil-painting.


title: Wikidata

text: Wikidata is a collaboratively edited multilingual knowledge graph hosted by the Wikimedia Foundation. It is a common source of open data that Wikimedia projects such as Wikipedia, and anyone else, can use under the CC0 public domain license. Wikidata is a wiki powered by the software MediaWiki, and is also powered by the set of knowledge graph MediaWiki extensions known as Wikibase.


title: Wikidata

text: Wikidata is a document-oriented database, focused on items, which represent any kind of topic, concept, or object. Each item is allocated a unique, persistent identifier, a positive integer prefixed with the upper-case letter Q, known as a "QID". This enables the basic information required to identify the topic that the item covers to be translated without favouring any language.


title: Wikidata

text: Item labels need not be unique. For example, there are two items named "Elvis Presley": , which represents the American singer and actor, and , which represents his self-titled album. However, the combination of a label and its description must be unique. To avoid ambiguity, an item's unique identifier ("QID") is therefore linked to this combination.


title: Wikidata

text: Statements are how any information known about an item is recorded in Wikidata. Formally, they consist of key–value pairs, which match a "property" (such as "author", or "publication date") with one or more entity "values" (such as "Sir Arthur Conan Doyle" or "1902"). For example, the informal English statement "milk is white" would be encoded by a statement pairing the property with the value under the item .


title: Wikidata

text: Statements may map a property to more than one value. For example, the "occupation" property for Marie Curie could be linked with the values "physicist" and "chemist", to reflect the fact that she engaged in both occupations.


title: Wikidata

text: Values may take on many types including other Wikidata items, strings, numbers, or media files. Properties prescribe what types of values they may be paired with. For example, the property may only be paired with values of type "URL".


title: Wikidata

text: Optionally, "qualifiers" can be used to refine the meaning of a statement by providing additional information. For example, a "population" statement could be modified with a qualifier such as "as of 2011". Values in the statements may also be annotated with "references", pointing to a source backing up the statement's content. As with statements, all qualifiers and references are property–value pairs.


title: Wikidata

text: Each property has a numeric identifier prefixed with a capital P and a page on Wikidata with optional label, description, aliases, and statements. As such, there are properties with the sole purpose of describing other properties, such as .


title: Wikidata

text: Properties may also define more complex rules about their intended usage, termed "constraints". For example, the property includes a "single value constraint", reflecting the reality that (typically) territories have only one capital city. Constraints are treated as testing alerts and hints, rather than inviolable rules.


title: Wikidata

text: In linguistics, a lexeme is a unit of lexical meaning. Similarly, Wikidata's "lexemes" are items with a structure that makes them more suitable to store lexicographical data. Besides storing the language to which the lexeme refers, they have a section for "forms" and a section for "senses".


title: Wikidata

text: In January 2019 development started of a new extension for MediaWiki to enable storing Shape Expressions in a separate namespace.


title: Wikidata

text: Shape Expressions for validating and describing Resource Description Framework data in items and lexemes. Any item or lexeme on Wikidata can be validated against an Entity Schema, and this makes it an important tool for quality assurance.


title: Wikidata

text: The creation of the project was funded by donations from the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, and Google, Inc., totaling €1.3 million. The development of the project is mainly driven by Wikimedia Deutschland under the management of Lydia Pintscher, and was originally split into three phases:


title: Wikidata

text: Wikidata was launched on 29 October 2012 and was the first new project of the Wikimedia Foundation since 2006. At this time, only the centralization of language links was available. This enabled items to be created and filled with basic information: a label – a name or title, aliases – alternative terms for the label, a description, and links to articles about the topic in all the various language editions of Wikipedia (interwikipedia links).


title: Wikidata

text: Historically, a Wikipedia article would include a list of interlanguage links (links to articles on the same topic in other editions of Wikipedia, if they existed). Wikidata was originally a self-contained repository of interlanguage links. Wikipedia language editions were still not able to access Wikidata, so they needed to continue to maintain their own lists of interlanguage links.


title: Wikidata

text: On 14 January 2013, the Hungarian Wikipedia became the first to enable the provision of interlanguage links via Wikidata. This functionality was extended to the Hebrew and Italian Wikipedias on 30 January, to the English Wikipedia on 13 February and to all other Wikipedias on 6 March. After no consensus was reached over a proposal to restrict the removal of language links from the English Wikipedia, they were automatically removed by bots. On 23 September 2013, interlanguage links went live on Wikimedia Commons.


title: Wikidata

text: On 4 February 2013, statements were introduced to Wikidata entries. The possible values for properties were initially limited to two data types (items and images on Wikimedia Commons), with more data types (such as coordinates and dates) to follow later. The first new type, string, was deployed on 6 March.


title: Wikidata

text: The ability for the various language editions of Wikipedia to access data from Wikidata was rolled out progressively between 27 March and 25 April 2013. On 16 September 2015, Wikidata began allowing so-called "arbitrary access", or access from a given article of a Wikipedia to the statements on Wikidata items not directly connected to it. For example, it became possible to read data about Germany from the Berlin article, which was not feasible before. On 27 April 2016 arbitrary access was activated on Wikimedia Commons.


title: Wikidata

text: According to a 2020 study, a large proportion of the data on Wikidata consists of entries imported en masse from other databases by Internet bots, which helps to "break down the walls" of data silos.


title: Wikidata

text: On 7 September 2015, the Wikimedia Foundation announced the release of the Wikidata Query Service, which lets users run queries on the data contained in Wikidata. The service uses SPARQL as the query language. As of November 2018, there are at least 26 different tools that allow querying the data in different ways. It uses Blazegraph as its triplestore and graph database.


title: Wikidata

text: The bars on the contain the word "WIKI" encoded in Morse code. It was created by Arun Ganesh and selected through community decision.


title: Wikidata

text: In November 2014, Wikidata received the Open Data Publisher Award from the Open Data Institute "for sheer scale, and built-in openness".


title: Wikidata

text: , Wikidata information was used in 58.4% of all English Wikipedia articles, mostly for external identifiers or coordinate locations. In aggregate, data from Wikidata is shown in 64% of all Wikipedias' pages, 93% of all Wikivoyage articles, 34% of all Wikiquotes', 32% of all Wikisources', and 27% of Wikimedia Commons's. Usage in other Wikimedia Foundation projects is a testimonial.


title: Wikidata

text: , Wikidata's data was visualized by at least 20 other external tools and over 300 papers have been published about Wikidata.


title: Wikidata

text: Wikidata's structured dataset has been used by virtual assistants such as Apple's Siri and Amazon Alexa.


title: François Arago

text: Arago was born at Estagel, a small village of 3,000 near Perpignan, in the "" of Pyrénées-Orientales, France, where his father held the position of Treasurer of the Mint.


title: François Arago

text: Arago was the eldest of four brothers. Jean (1788–1836) emigrated to North America and became a general in the Mexican army. Jacques Étienne Victor (1799–1855) took part in Louis de Freycinet's exploring voyage in the "Uranie" from 1817 to 1821, and on his return to France devoted himself to his journalism and the drama. The fourth brother, Étienne Vincent (1802–1892), is said to have collaborated with Honoré de Balzac in "The Heiress of Birague", and from 1822 to 1847 wrote a great number of light dramatic pieces, mostly in collaboration.


title: François Arago

text: Showing decided military tastes, François Arago was sent to the municipal college of Perpignan, where he began to study mathematics in preparation for the entrance examination of the École Polytechnique. Within two years and a half he had mastered all the subjects prescribed for examination, and a great deal more, and, on going up for examination at Toulouse, he astounded his examiner by his knowledge of J.-L. Lagrange 's work.


title: François Arago

text: Towards the close of 1803, Arago entered the École Polytechnique, Paris, but apparently found the professors there incapable of imparting knowledge or maintaining discipline. The artillery service was his ambition, and in 1804, through the advice and recommendation of Siméon Poisson, he received the appointment of secretary to the Paris Observatory.


title: François Arago

text: He now became acquainted with Pierre-Simon Laplace, and through his influence was commissioned, with Jean-Baptiste Biot, to complete the meridian arc measurements which had been begun by J. B. J. Delambre, and interrupted since the death of P. F. A. Méchain in 1804 (the meridian arc of Delambre and Méchain).


title: François Arago

text: Biot returned to Paris after they had determined the latitude of Formentera, the southernmost point to which they were to carry the survey.


title: François Arago

text: Arago continued the work until 1809, his purpose being to measure a meridian arc in order to determine the exact length of a metre.


title: François Arago

text: After Biot's departure, the political ferment caused by the entrance of the French into Spain extended to the Balearic Islands, and the population suspected Arago's movements and his lighting of fires on the top of Mount Galatzó (Catalan: Mola de l'Esclop) as the activities of a spy for the invading army. Their reaction was such that he was obliged to give himself up for imprisonment in the fortress of Bellver in June 1808. On 28 July he escaped from the island in a fishing-boat, and after an adventurous voyage he reached Algiers on 3 August. From there he obtained a passage in a vessel bound for Marseille, but on 16 August, just as the vessel was nearing Marseille, it fell into the hands of a Spanish corsair. With the rest the crew, Arago was taken to Roses, and imprisoned first in a windmill, and afterwards in a fortress, until the town fell into the hands of the French, when the prisoners were transferred to Palamos.


title: François Arago

text: After three months' imprisonment, Arago and the others were released on the demand of the dey of Algiers, and again set sail for Marseille on 28 November, but then within sight of their port they were driven back by a northerly wind to Bougie on the coast of Africa. Transport to Algiers by sea from this place would have occasioned a weary delay of three months; Arago, therefore, set out over land, guided by a Muslim priest, and reached it on Christmas Day. After six months in Algiers he once again, on 21 June 1809, set sail for Marseille, where he had to undergo a monotonous and inhospitable quarantine in the lazaretto, before his difficulties were over. The first letter he received, while in the lazaretto, was from Alexander von Humboldt; and this was the origin of a connection which, in Arago's words, "lasted over forty years without a single cloud ever having troubled it."


title: François Arago

text: Arago had succeeded in preserving the records of his survey; and his first act on his return home was to deposit them in the Bureau des Longitudes at Paris. As a reward for his adventurous conduct in the cause of science, he was elected a member of the French Academy of Sciences, at the remarkably early age of twenty-three, and before the close of 1809 he was chosen by the council of the École Polytechnique to succeed Gaspard Monge in the chair of analytical geometry. At the same time he was named by the emperor one of the astronomers of the Paris Observatory, which was accordingly his residence till his death. It was in this capacity that he delivered his remarkably successful series of popular lectures in astronomy, which were continued from 1812 to 1845.


title: François Arago

text: In 1818 or 1819 he proceeded along with Biot to execute geodetic operations on the coasts of France, England and Scotland. They measured the length of the seconds pendulum at Leith, Scotland, and in the Shetland Islands, the results of the observations being published in 1821, along with those made in Spain. Arago was elected a member of the Bureau des Longitudes immediately afterwards, and contributed to each of its Annuals, for about twenty-two years, important scientific notices on astronomy and meteorology and occasionally on civil engineering, as well as interesting memoirs of members of the Academy.


title: François Arago

text: Arago's earliest physical researches were on the pressure of steam at different temperatures, and the velocity of sound, 1818 to 1822. His magnetic observations mostly took place from 1823 to 1826. He discovered rotatory magnetism, what has been called Arago's rotations, and the fact that most bodies could be magnetized; these discoveries were completed and explained by Michael Faraday.


title: François Arago

text: Arago warmly supported Augustin-Jean Fresnel's optical theories, helping to confirm Fresnel's wave theory of light by observing what is now known as the spot of Arago. The two philosophers conducted together those experiments on the polarization of light which led to the inference that the vibrations of the luminiferous ether were transverse to the direction of motion, and that polarization consisted of a resolution of rectilinear propagation into components at right angles to each other. The subsequent invention of the polariscope and discovery of Rotary polarization are due to Arago. He invented the first polarization filter in 1812. He was the first to perform a polarimetric observation of a comet when he discovered polarized light from the tail of the Great Comet of 1819.


title: François Arago

text: The general idea of the experimental determination of the velocity of light in the manner subsequently effected by Hippolyte Fizeau and Léon Foucault was suggested by Arago in 1838, but his failing eyesight prevented his arranging the details or making the experiments.


title: François Arago

text: Arago's fame as an experimenter and discoverer rests mainly on his contributions to magnetism in the co-discovery with Léon Foucault of eddy currents, and still more to optics. He showed that a magnetic needle, made to oscillate over nonferrous surfaces, such as water, glass, copper, etc., falls more rapidly in the extent of its oscillations according as it is more or less approached to the surface. This discovery, which earned him the Copley Medal of the Royal Society in 1825, was followed by another, that a rotating plate of copper tends to communicate its motion to a magnetic needle suspended over it, which he called "magnetism of rotation" but (after Faraday's explanation of 1832) is now known as eddy current. Arago is also fairly entitled to be regarded as having proved the long-suspected connexion between the aurora borealis and the variations of the magnetic elements. In 1827 he was elected an associated member of the Royal Institute of the Netherlands, when that institute became the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1851, he became foreign member. In 1828, he was elected a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.


title: François Arago

text: In optics, Arago not only made important optical discoveries on his own, but is credited with stimulating the genius of Jean-Augustin Fresnel, with whose history, as well as that of Étienne-Louis Malus and Thomas Young, this part of his life is closely interwoven.


title: François Arago

text: Shortly after the beginning of the 19th century the labours of at least three philosophers were shaping the doctrine of the undulatory, or wave, theory of light. Fresnel's arguments in favour of that theory found little favour with Laplace, Poisson and Biot, the champions of the emission theory; but they were ardently espoused by Humboldt and by Arago, who had been appointed by the Academy to report on the paper. This was the foundation of an intimate friendship between Arago and Fresnel, and of a determination to carry on together further fundamental laws of the polarization of light known by their means. As a result of this work, Arago constructed a polariscope, which he used for some interesting observations on the polarization of the light of the sky. He also discovered the power of rotatory polarization exhibited by quartz.


title: François Arago

text: Among Arago's many contributions to the support of the undulatory hypothesis, comes the "experimentum crucis" which he proposed to carry out for measuring directly the velocity of light in air and in water and glass. On the emission theory the velocity should be accelerated by an increase of density in the medium; on the wave theory, it should be retarded. In 1838 he communicated to the Academy the details of his apparatus, which utilized the relaying mirrors employed by Charles Wheatstone in 1835 for measuring the velocity of the electric discharge; but owing to the great care required in the carrying out of the project, and to the interruption to his labours caused by the revolution of 1848, it was the spring of 1850 before he was ready to put his idea to the test; and then his eyesight suddenly gave way. Before his death, however, the retardation of light in denser media was demonstrated by the experiments of H. L. Fizeau and B. L. Foucault, which, with improvements in detail, were based on the plan proposed by him.


title: François Arago

text: In 1830, Arago, who always professed liberal opinions of the republican type, was elected a member of the chamber of deputies for the Pyrénées-Orientales "département", and he employed his talents of eloquence and scientific knowledge in all questions connected with public education, the rewards of inventors, and the encouragement of the mechanical and practical sciences. Many of the most creditable national enterprises, dating from this period, are due to his advocacy – such as the reward to Louis Daguerre for the invention of photography, the grant for the publication of the works of Fermat and Laplace, the acquisition of the museum of Cluny, the development of railways and electric telegraphs, the improvement of the reneile. In 1839, Arago reported the invention of photography to stunned listeners of a joint meeting of the academies of Arts and Sciences.


title: François Arago

text: In 1830, Arago also was appointed director of the Observatory, and as a member of the chamber of deputies he was able to obtain grants of money for rebuilding it in part, and for the addition of magnificent instruments. In the same year, too, he was chosen perpetual secretary of the Academy of Sciences, the place of Joseph Fourier. Arago threw himself into its service, and by his faculty of making friends he gained at once for it and for himself a worldwide reputation. As perpetual secretary it was his duty to pronounce historical eulogies on deceased members; and for this duty his rapidity and facility of thought, and his happy piquancy of style, and his extensive knowledge peculiarly adapted him. He was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1832.


title: François Arago

text: In 1834, Arago again visited Scotland, to attend the meeting of the British Association at Edinburgh. From this time till 1848 he led a life of comparative quiet – although he continued to work within the Academy and the Observatory to produce a multitude of contributions to all departments of physical science – but on the fall of Louis-Philippe he left his laboratory to join the Provisional Government (24 February 1848). He was entrusted with two important functions, that had never before been given to one person, viz. the ministry of marine and colonies (24 February 184811 May 1848) and ministry of war (5 April 184811 May 1848); in the former capacity he improved rations in the navy and abolished flogging. He also abolished political oaths of all kinds and, against an array of moneyed interests, succeeded in procuring the abolition of slavery in the French colonies.


title: François Arago

text: On 10 May 1848, Arago was elected a member of the Executive Power Commission, a governing body of the French Republic. He was made President of the Executive Power Commission (11 May 1848) and served in this capacity as provisional head of state until 24 June 1848, when collective resignation of the commission was submitted to the National Constituent Assembly. At the beginning of May 1852, when the government of Louis Napoleon required an oath of allegiance from all its functionaries, Arago peremptorily refused, and sent in his resignation of his post as astronomer at the Bureau des Longitudes. This, however, the prince president declined to accept, and made "an exception in favour of a savant whose works had thrown lustre on France, and whose existence the government would regret to embitter."


title: François Arago

text: Cape Gregory in Oregon was named by Captain Cook on 12 March 1778 after Saint Gregory, the saint of that day; it was renamed Cape Arago after François Arago.


title: François Arago

text: Arago remained a consistent republican to the end, and after the coup d'état of 1852, though suffering first from diabetes, then from Bright's disease, complicated by dropsy, he resigned his post as astronomer rather than take the oath of allegiance. Napoleon III gave directions that the old man should be in no way disturbed, and should be left free to say and do what he liked. In the summer of 1853 Arago was advised by his physicians to try the effect of his native air, and he accordingly set out to the eastern Pyrenees, but this was ineffective and he died in Paris. His grave is at the famous Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris. Arago was an atheist.


title: François Arago

text: Arago's works were published after his death under the direction J. A. Barral, in 17 vols., 8vo, 1854–1862 (); also separately his "Astronomie populaire", in 4 vols.; "Notices biographiques", in 3 vols.; "Indices scientifiques", in 5 vols.; "Voyages scientifiques", in 1 vol.; "Grimoires scientifiques", in 2 vols.; "Mélanges", in I vol.; and "Tables analytiques et documents importants (with portrait)", in 1 vol.


title: Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes

text: Players select a team of characters from the Marvel and Capcom universes to engage in combat and attempt to knock out their opponents. Unlike the series' previous entry, "Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter", the game features characters from numerous Capcom video game franchises, rather than strictly "Street Fighter" characters. While the gameplay is largely identical to its predecessor, "Clash of Super Heroes" features two distinct changes: the removal of the traditional character assist system and the introduction of the "Variable Cross" attack.


text: The Dreamcast version of the game was praised for its visuals, gameplay, and translation of the original arcade experience. For the PlayStation version, Capcom removed tag team battles due to the console's limited RAM capacity in an attempt to preserve the main game's speed and graphical integrity. Consequently, the PlayStation port received slightly less positive reviews than the Dreamcast version. A sequel, "", was released in 2000.


text: "Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes" is the third entry in the "Marvel vs. Capcom" series of 2D fighting games. The game utilizes similar tag team-based game mechanics to its predecessor, "Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter". Before starting each match, the player selects a team of two fighters to compete in one-on-one combat. The player is free to swap between their characters at any point during battle. While one character fights, their teammate resting off-screen slowly regenerates their life gauge. The first team to exhaust their opponent's vitality wins the match; however, if the timer runs out before either team is knocked out, the player with the most remaining health is declared the winner.


text: "Clash of Super Heroes" features two significant gameplay changes from "Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter". The game removes the "Variable Assist" feature used in the previous installment, which allows the player to summon their offscreen teammate to perform a special attack, in favor of the "Guest Character/Special Partner" system. While similar in function, guest characters are randomly allocated to each player at the beginning of a match. They are also limited to a few uses per round. "Clash of Super Heroes" introduces a new technique called the "Variable Cross", also known as a "Duo Team Attack". When executing a Variable Cross, the player can attack their opponent with both characters simultaneously for a limited time. In addition, the player is given unlimited use of the "Hyper Combo Gauge", a colored meter towards the bottom of the screen which allows the player to perform several special techniques, allowing them to pull off multiple Hyper Combo moves, which deliver heavy damage to the opponent, in quick succession.


text: The Dreamcast version of "Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes" includes five game modes: Arcade, Versus, Training, Survival, and Cross Fever. In Arcade Mode, the player must defeat several artificial intelligence-controlled teams to reach the final boss character, Onslaught, a character from the "X-Men" comic book series. Upon completion, the player views a cinematic ending unique to each playable fighter. In Versus Mode, two players can choose their characters, handicap level, and stages before competing against each other in battle locally. The player can practice moves and combos in Training Mode, where they can also adjust certain settings, such as AI difficulty, and the number of bars available in the Hyper Combo Gauge. In Survival Mode, the player fights through waves of enemies with a time limit; in addition, the player's life gauge is carried over through each round. Cross Fever Mode allows four players to simultaneously compete in a two-on-two match. In place of Cross Fever, the PlayStation version features an exclusive mode called Cross Over. Cross Over is the only mode in the PlayStation port that permits tag team gameplay, which was removed due to the console's limited RAM capacity.


text: "Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes" features a roster of 15 playable fighters. Unlike "Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter", which limited itself to characters from the "Street Fighter" series, "Clash of Super Heroes" uses characters from other Capcom video game franchises, such as "Darkstalkers", "Mega Man", and "Strider". The game features 20 unplayable guest characters, drawn from the Marvel and Capcom universes, which are used for support during battle.


text: Guest characters from Marvel Comics include Colossus, Cyclops, Iceman, Jubilee, Juggernaut, Magneto, Psylocke, Rogue, Sentinel, Storm, Thor, and U.S. Agent, while the Capcom side includes Arthur from "Ghosts 'n Goblins", Anita from "Darkstalkers", Charlie as Shadow from "Street Fighter", Devilotte from "", Lou from "Three Wonders", Michelle Heart from "Legendary Wings", Pure & Fur from "Adventure Quiz: Capcom World 2", Ton Pooh from "Strider", the Unknown Soldier from "Forgotten Worlds", and Saki Omokane from "Quiz Nanairo Dreams". The roster also contains six secret characters, which are accessed by inputting codes on the character select screen. Most of the secret characters are palette swaps of existing fighters with different moveset properties, such as Shadow Lady, a modified version of Chun-Li. The sole exception to this trend is Roll from the "Mega Man" series, who has unique sprites, but mostly shares the same moves as Mega Man.


text: "Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes" was originally developed for the CP System II arcade system board. A direct Dreamcast port was revealed by the Computer Entertainment Software Association at the 1998 Tokyo Game Show. The Dreamcast version added the new game mode, Cross Fever, which permitted four-player gameplay. The game later received a PlayStation port. However, the console's RAM limitations required the developer to remove certain features, most notably the game's tag team element; thus, most game modes were restricted to two-character battles, instead of four. This reduced the player's secondary character to an assist role, similar to guest characters. To overcome the limitations, the PlayStation version had to implement a new gameplay mode called Cross Over. Cross Over Mode allows tag team play by forcing the players to fight with identical teams. For example, if Player 1 chooses Spider-Man and Player 2 chooses Ryu, then Ryu and Spider-Man would automatically be selected as Player 1 and Player 2's secondary characters, respectively. The game also added an art gallery, where players could view game art and ending animations. Many frames of animation were also omitted as a result of insufficient RAM, particularly in larger character sprites.


text: "Clash of Super Heroes" debuted in Japanese and North American arcades in 1998. The game was released on the Dreamcast on March 25, 1999 in Japan, and October 7 in North America. A European version for the Dreamcast, published by Virgin Interactive, was released on June 23, 2000. The game was ported to the PlayStation on November 11, 1999 in Japan, where it was renamed "Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes EX Edition". North America and Europe received the PlayStation version later in January 2000.


text: A high-definition version of the game was released, alongside "Marvel Super Heroes", as part of the "Marvel vs. Capcom Origins" collection. Built using the arcade ROM, the compilation sought to maintain the original's gameplay experience, while adding new features such as online multiplayer, challenges, and replay saving. It was released through the PlayStation Network on September 25 in North America and October 10, 2012 in Europe. The Xbox Live Arcade version was released worldwide on September 26. Following the apparent expiration of Capcom's licensing contracts with Marvel Comics in 2013, "Marvel vs. Capcom Origins" was removed from online stores in December 2014.


text: In June 2020, "Clash of Super Heroes" was re-released as a home arcade cabinet by Arcade1Up, which also included "Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter", "X-Men vs. Street Fighter", and "Marvel Super Heroes in War of the Gems.


text: Toy Biz produced a line of action figures to help promote the game, which consisted of four two-packs, each of which featured one Marvel character and one Capcom character. The two-packs consisted of Captain America and Morrigan, War Machine and Mega Man, Spider-Man and Strider Hiryu and Venom and Captain Commando.


text: In Japan, "Game Machine" listed "Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes" on their April 1, 1998 issue as being the second most-successful arcade game of the month. In the United States, the game sold an estimated 3,000 arcade units, reportedly outperforming "Street Fighter III" (1997) to become Capcom's most successful arcade game in the US during that period. "Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes" received "favorable" reviews on both Dreamcast and PlayStation according to the review aggregation website GameRankings.


text: Upon its release on the Dreamcast, "Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes" received positive reviews for its animation quality and fast gameplay. "Game Informer" lauded the game for its "seamless animation, in-your-face effects, and lightning-quick gameplay". In addition, the magazine praised the Dreamcast version for being a "flawless" translation of the original arcade version. Jeff Gerstmann of GameSpot also praised the visuals and combat, stating that it was "everything you'd expect from an over-the-top, ultra-flashy fighter". Game Revolution, on the other hand, felt that "Clash of Super Heroes" lacked depth. The site criticized the Dreamcast port for not adding any significantly new features from the arcade version. In Japan, "Famitsu" gave it a score of 33 out of 40.


text: The PlayStation port received a bit more mixed reviews than its Dreamcast counterpart. Gerstmann heavily faulted the game for its removal of tag team battles. He claimed that while it had "the same moves as the original game...the shell surrounding those moves [was] completely different". Douglass C. Perry of IGN labeled the PlayStation version as "an average game", praising its gameplay and lasting appeal, while criticizing its selection of fighting styles and soundtrack. "GamePro" praised the developer for making the decision to remove features in order to keep the speed and graphical integrity of the game without overloading the system; however, they still recommended the Dreamcast version over it.


text: A sequel to "Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes" was announced by Capcom on December 1, 1999. The game, titled "Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes", was initially developed for the Sega NAOMI arcade board, marking Capcom's first attempt at a fighting game outside of the CP System II and III hardware systems. It features several significant gameplay changes from "Clash of Super Heroes", such as three-on-three tag team battles, a new character assist system, and a more simplified control scheme. "Marvel vs. Capcom 2" also includes a roster of 56 playable fighters, drawing numerous character sprites from Capcom's previous Marvel-licensed fighting games. Following its release in Japanese arcades in 2000, the game received ports to the Dreamcast, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox, Xbox 360, and iOS devices over the course of twelve years.


title: Saturn IB

text: The Saturn IB (also known as the uprated Saturn I) was an American launch vehicle commissioned by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for the Apollo program. It uprated the Saturn I by replacing the S-IV second stage (, 43,380,000 lb-sec total impulse), with the S-IVB (, 96,000,000 lb-sec total impulse). The S-IB first stage also increased the S-I baseline's thrust from to and propellant load by 3.1%. This increased the Saturn I's low Earth orbit payload capability from to , enough for early flight tests of a half-fueled Apollo command and service module (CSM) or a fully fueled Apollo Lunar Module (LM), before the larger Saturn V needed for lunar flight was ready.


title: Saturn IB

text: By sharing the S-IVB upper stage, the Saturn IB and Saturn V provided a common interface to the Apollo spacecraft. The only major difference was that the S-IVB on the Saturn V burned only part of its propellant to achieve Earth orbit, so it could be restarted for trans-lunar injection. The S-IVB on the Saturn IB needed all of its propellant to achieve Earth orbit.


title: Saturn IB

text: The Saturn IB launched two uncrewed CSM suborbital flights to a height of 162 km, one uncrewed LM orbital flight, and the first crewed CSM orbital mission (first planned as Apollo 1, later flown as Apollo 7). It also launched one orbital mission, AS-203, without a payload so the S-IVB would have residual liquid hydrogen fuel. This mission supported the design of the restartable version of the S-IVB used in the Saturn V, by observing the behavior of the liquid hydrogen in weightlessness.


title: Saturn IB

text: In 1973, the year after the Apollo lunar program ended, three Apollo CSM/Saturn IBs ferried crews to the Skylab space station. In 1975, one last Apollo/Saturn IB launched the Apollo portion of the joint US-USSR Apollo–Soyuz Test Project (ASTP). A backup Apollo CSM/Saturn IB was assembled and made ready for a Skylab rescue mission, but never flown.


title: Saturn IB

text: The remaining Saturn IBs in NASA's inventory were scrapped after the ASTP mission, as no use could be found for them and all heavy lift needs of the US space program could be serviced by the cheaper and more versatile Titan III family and also the Space Shuttle.


title: Saturn IB

text: In 1959, NASA's Silverstein Committee issued recommendations to develop the Saturn class launch vehicles, growing from the C-1. When the Apollo program was started in 1961 with the goal of landing men on the Moon, NASA chose the Saturn I for Earth orbital test missions. However, the Saturn I's payload limit of to 162 km would allow testing of only the command module with a smaller propulsion module attached, as the command and service module would have a dry weight of at least , in addition to service propulsion and reaction control fuel. In July 1962, NASA announced selection of the C-5 for the lunar landing mission, and decided to develop another launch vehicle by upgrading the Saturn I, replacing its S-IV second stage with the S-IVB, which would also be modified for use as the Saturn V third stage. The S-I first stage would also be upgraded to the S-IB by improving the thrust of its engines and removing some weight. The new Saturn IB, with a payload capability of at least , would replace the Saturn I for Earth orbit testing, allowing the command and service module to be flown with a partial fuel load. It would also allow launching the lunar excursion module separately for uncrewed and crewed Earth orbital testing, before the Saturn V was ready to be flown. It would also give early development to the third stage.


title: Saturn IB

text: On May 12, 1966, NASA announced the vehicle would be called the "uprated Saturn I", at the same time the "lunar excursion module" was renamed the lunar module. However, the "uprated Saturn I" terminology was reverted to Saturn IB on December 2, 1967.


title: Saturn IB

text: By the time it was developed, the Saturn IB payload capability had increased to . By 1973, when it was used to launch three Skylab missions, the first-stage engine had been upgraded further, raising the payload capability to .


title: Saturn IB

text: The S-IB stage was built by the Chrysler corporation at the Michoud Assembly Facility, New Orleans. It was powered by eight Rocketdyne H-1 rocket engines burning RP-1 fuel with liquid oxygen (LOX). Eight Redstone tanks (four holding fuel and four holding LOX) were clustered around a Jupiter rocket LOX tank, which earned the rocket the nickname "Cluster's Last Stand". The four outboard engines were mounted on gimbals, allowing them to be steered to control the rocket. Eight fins surrounding the base thrust structure provided aerodynamic stability and control.


title: Saturn IB

text: The S-IVB was built by the Douglas Aircraft Company at Huntington Beach, California. The S-IVB-200 model was similar to the S-IVB-500 third stage used on the Saturn V, with the exception of the interstage adapter, smaller auxiliary propulsion control modules, and lack of on-orbit engine restart capability. It was powered by a single Rocketdyne J-2 engine. The fuel and oxidizer tanks shared a common bulkhead, which saved about ten tons of weight and reduced vehicle length over ten feet.


title: Saturn IB

text: IBM built the instrument unit at the Space Systems Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Located at the top of the S-IVB stage, it consisted of a Launch Vehicle Digital Computer (LVDC), an inertial platform, accelerometers, a tracking, telemetry and command system and associated environmental controls. It controlled the entire rocket from just before liftoff until battery depletion. Like other rocket guidance systems, it maintained its state vector (position and velocity estimates) by integrating accelerometer measurements, sent firing and steering commands to the main engines and auxiliary thrusters, and fired the appropriate ordnance and solid rocket motors during staging and payload separation events.


title: Saturn IB

text: As with other rockets, a completely independent and redundant range safety system could be invoked by ground radio command to terminate thrust and to destroy the vehicle should it malfunction and threaten people or property on the ground. In the Saturn IB and V, the range safety system was permanently disabled by ground command after safely reaching orbit. This was done to ensure that the S-IVB stage would not inadvertently rupture and create a cloud of debris in orbit that could endanger the crew of the Apollo CSM.


title: Saturn IB

text: Acceleration of the Saturn IB increased from 1.24G at liftoff to a maximum of 4.35G at the end of the S-IB stage burn, and increased again from 0G to 2.85G from stage separation to the end of the S-IVB burn.


title: Saturn IB

text: AS-206, 207, and 208 inserted the Command and Service Module in a elliptical orbit which was co-planar with the Skylab one. The SPS engine of the Command and Service Module was used at orbit apogee to achieve a Hohmann transfer to the Skylab orbit at .


title: Saturn IB

text: The first five Saturn IB launches for the Apollo program were made from LC-34 and LC-37, Cape Kennedy Air Force Station.


title: Saturn IB

text: The Saturn IB was used between 1973 and 1975 for three crewed Skylab flights, and one Apollo-Soyuz Test Project flight. This final production run did not have alternating black and white S-IB stage tanks, or vertical stripes on the S-IVB aft tank skirt, which were present on the earlier vehicles. Since LC-34 and 37 were inactive by then, these launches utilized Kennedy Space Center's LC-39B. Mobile Launcher Platform No. 1 was modified, adding an elevated platform known as the "milkstool" to accommodate the height differential between the Saturn IB and the much larger Saturn V. This enabled alignment of the Launch Umbilical Tower's access arms to accommodate crew access, fueling, and ground electrical connections for the Apollo spacecraft and S-IVB upper stage. The tower's second stage access arms were modified to service the S-IB first stage.


title: Lupin Limited

text: Lupin Limited is an Indian multinational pharmaceutical company based in Mumbai. It is one of the largest generic pharmaceutical companies by revenue globally. The company's key focus areas include paediatrics, cardiovascular, anti-infectives, diabetology, asthma and anti-tuberculosis.


title: Lupin Limited

text: Lupin was founded in 1968 by Desh Bandhu Gupta, who was a professor of chemistry at BITS-Pilani, Rajasthan. Gupta moved to Mumbai in the 60s to work on his business enterprise for which initially he had initially borrowed Rs 5000 from his wife to fund his venture. Subsequent funding from Central Bank of India, the company was able to start their manufacturing facility for producing folic acid and iron tablets for Government of India mother and child health program. Later Lupin started manufacturing anti TB drugs which at one point formed 36% of the company sales and was considered as the largest TB drugs manufacturer in the world.


title: Lupin Limited

text: After success with Lupin, in 1988 Gupta founded the group's CSR arm, the Lupin Human Welfare & Research Foundation (LHWRF). This initiative was dedicated to sustainable rural development with the aim to uplift families living below the poverty line.


title: Lupin Limited

text: In July 2015 the company announced its intention to acquire Gavis Pharmaceuticals and Novel Laboratories for $880 million.


title: Lupin Limited

text: The founder, Desh Bandhu Gupta died in June 2017 and was subsequently replaced as chairman by his wife, Manju Deshbandhu Gupta.


title: Lupin Limited

text: In October 2019, Lupin announced the Appointment of Sreeji Gopinatham as Chief Information Officer (CIO).


title: Lupin Limited

text: In March 2019, the US FDA put several Lupin drug plants on notice for quality problems, and indicated it might not approve future Lupin drug applications.


title: Lupin Limited

text: Lupin's research program covers the entire pharma product chain. The company's R&D program is headquartered in the Lupin Research Park located near Pune and Aurangabad that houses over 1,400 scientists. Lupin's R&D covers:


title: Lupin Limited

text: Lupin's businesses encompass the entire pharmaceutical value chain, ranging from branded and generic formulations, APIs, advanced drug delivery systems to biotechnology. The company's drugs reach 70 countries with a footprint that covers advanced markets such as USA, Europe, Japan, Australia as well as emerging markets including India, the Philippines and South Africa to name a few.


title: Lupin Limited

text: Headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland, Lupin Pharmaceuticals Inc. (LPI), the company's US subsidiary is a $891 million enterprise. It has a presence in the branded and generics markets of the US. In the branded business, Lupin operates in the CVS and Pediatric segments. The company is the market leader in 28 products out of the 77 products marketed in the US generics market, of which it is amongst the Top 3 by market share in 57 of these products (IMS Health, December 2014): Suprax (Cefixime), a paediatric antibiotic, is Lupin's top-selling product here. Other products in Lupin's branded portfolio include Antara< (Fenofibrate), Locoid lotion, Alinia (Nitazoxanide) and InspiraChambers (Anti-static valved holding chamber). The company is also the 5th largest and fastest growing generics player in the US (5.3% market share by prescriptions, IMS Health). Lupin's US brands business contributed 9% of total US sales whereas the generics business contributed 91% during FY 2014–15.


title: Lupin Limited

text: Lupin's IRF business focuses on Lifestyle diseases and Chronic disease therapy segments, particularly in Cardiology, Central Nervous System (CNS), Diabetology, Anti-Asthma, Anti-Infective, Gastro Intestinal and Oncology. The IRF business contributed 24% of the company's overall revenues for FY 2014–15, growing by 20% and recording revenues of for FY 2014-15 as compared to for FY 2013–14.


title: Lupin Limited

text: It has 12 manufacturing plants and 2 Research plants in India, as Jammu(J&K), Mandideep & Indore (Madhya pradesh), Ankaleswar & Dabasa (Gujarat), Tarapur, Aurangabad and Nagpur (Maharashtra), Goa, Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) and Sikkim; where research centre at Pune and Aurangabad.


title: Lupin Limited

text: Among these the baby plant is Nagpur plant which will the biggest formulation unit for Lupin in coming year.


title: Lupin Limited

text: Lupin's focus in the European Union encompasses Anti-Infectives, Cardiovascular, and CNS therapy areas, along with niche opportunities in segments like Oral Contraceptives, Dermatology and Ophthalmics. The company's presence in France is by way of a trade partnership; in Germany, it operates through its acquired entity Hormosan Pharma GmbH. ] (Hormosan); while the UK business is a direct-to-market initiative.


title: Lupin Limited

text: Lupin is the fastest-growing Top 10 generic pharmaceuticals player in Japan (IMS) . It operates in Japan through its subsidiary, Kyowa Pharmaceutical Industry Co. Ltd. (Kyowa), a company acquired in 2007, and I’rom, Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd (IP), acquired in 2011. Kyowa has an active presence in Neurology, Cardiovascular, Gastroenterology and the Respiratory therapy segments. I'rom is a niche injectables company.


title: Lupin Limited

text: In 2014, Lupin entered into a strategic joint venture agreement with Toyama-based Japanese pharmaceuticals company, Yoshindo Inc. to create YL Biologics (YLB). YLB will be jointly managed by both partners and will be responsible for conducting clinical development of certain biosimilars including regulatory fillings and obtaining marketing authorization in Japan.


title: Lupin Limited

text: In 2019, Lupin exited the generic pharmaceuticals business in Japan by divesting its stake in Kyowa to private equity firm Unison for an enterprise value of Japanese 57,361 million yen (Rs 3,702.4 crore).


title: Lupin Limited

text: Lupin's South African subsidiary, Pharma Dynamics (PD) is the fastest growing and the 4th largest generic company in the South African market (IMS). The company is a market leader in the Cardiovascular segment and has a growing presence in Neurology, Gastroenterology and the Over the Counter (OTC) segments.


title: Lupin Limited

text: Lupin entered the Australian market through its subsidiary, Generic Health Pte. Ltd. (GH). It subsequently acquired the worldwide marketing rights to the over-100-year-old Australian brand Goanna, used for pain management.


title: Lupin Limited

text: Lupin's Philippines subsidiary Multicare Pharmaceuticals (Multicare), is a branded generic company focused on Women's Health, Pediatrics, Gastro-Intestinal and Diabetes care. FY 2012 also marked its foray into the Neurology segment when it entered into a strategic marketing partnership with Sanofi.


title: Lupin Limited

text: In 2014, Lupin acquired 100% equity stake in Laboratories Grin, S.A. De C.V. (Grin), Mexico, a specialty pharmaceutical company engaged in the development, manufacturing and commercialization of branded ophthalmic products. This marked their entry into Mexico and the larger Latin American pharmaceuticals market. In May 2015, Lupin entered the Brazilian market with its acquisition of 100% stake in Medquímica Indústria Farmacêutica S.A., Brazil, (Medquímica).


title: Lupin Limited

text: Lupin is a global leader in Cephalosporins, Cardiovasculars and the anti-TB space. The company is also a strategic supplier of anti-TB products to the Stop TB Partnership, with its formulations supplied to more than 50 countries through GDF procurement.


title: Lupin Limited

text: Rgwduen is also a global leader in anti-TB APIs, and is associated with the Revised National Tuberculosis Control Program of the Government of India. It supplies to various Government agencies, the Stop TB Partnership and various other international agencies like Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and the Damien Foundation. Ethambutol, Rifampicin and Pyrazinamide are the company's top selling TB molecules.


title: Lupin Limited

text: The Lupin Biotechnology Research Group, based out of Ghotawade & Wakad, near Pune is focussed on developing biosimilars. As of May 2013, it has a pipeline of 10 biosimilar products under development, and is close to getting marketing authorization for 2 of its oncology products for the Indian market. Lupin has competencies for the complete development and manufacture of recombinant protein therapeutic products from high yielding and proprietary microbial and mammalian cell culture platforms. The Biotech R&D infrastructure offers product development capabilities ranging from clone development, process optimization, analytical method development, bioassay, formulation, stability studies, non-clinical and clinical studies backed by a sound understanding of regulatory and IP aspects. The company's biotech development programs are in compliance of and follow ICH, EMEA, and Indian Regulatory guidelines. Company has developed biosimilar versions of Etanercept, Filgrastim, Peg-filgrastim, Ranibizumab.


title: Lupin Limited

text: Lupin forayed into diagnostics business in December 2021 to provide a comprehensive range of diagnostic tests in India which includes molecular diagnostics, cytogenetics, flow cytometry, microbiology and serology among others.


title: Lupin Limited

text: The Lupin Human Welfare & Research Foundation (LHWRF) was set up in 1988. The project began with a set of rural development projects centred around 35 villages in Bharatpur District, Rajasthan. Later this expanded to other regions and states. The initiative has so far reached out to over 2.8 million people across over 3,400 villages in eight states of India including Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, Gujarat and Goa. In July 2018, Lupin foundation signed a statement of Intent with the National Institution for Transforming India (Niti Aayog), a policy think tank of the government of India, to collaborate in the Aspirational Districts Programme and support the development of three backward districts – Nandurbar in Maharashtra, Vidisha in Madhya Pradesh and Dholpur in Rajasthan.


title: The Godfather Saga

text: The Godfather Saga is a 1977 American television miniseries that combines "The Godfather" and "The Godfather Part II" into one film. It originally aired on NBC over four consecutive nights (one three-hour segment and three two-hour segments) in November 1977. "The Godfather Saga" is also known as The Godfather: The Complete Novel for Television, The Godfather: A Novel for Television, The Godfather Novella, The Godfather 1901–1959: The Complete Epic, and The Godfather Epic (on HBO). The television version was the basis for a shorter, 1981 video release known as The Godfather 1902–1959: The Complete Epic. Following the release of "The Godfather Part III" in 1990, a third unified version was released to video in 1992 entitled The Godfather Trilogy: 1901–1980.


title: The Godfather Saga

text: Francis Ford Coppola asked his editor Barry Malkin to make a seven-hour version for television; Coppola reportedly did this project to raise money for "Apocalypse Now", which was severely over-budget at the time. The resulting film was in chronological order. "The Godfather Part II" had cut back and forth between scenes in the early 1900s and the late 1950s, and was therefore both a prequel and a sequel to "The Godfather". Malkin also toned down the violence, sex, and language for a television audience.


title: The Godfather Saga

text: The television film incorporated additional footage not included in the original films, including Don Fanucci being attacked by street thugs, Vito Corleone's first encounter with Hyman Roth, Vito killing two of the mafiosi who worked for Don Ciccio and were instrumental in his family's death, Michael Corleone's reunion with his father after his return from Sicily, Sonny Corleone's taking charge of the family after his father is severely wounded, and Michael's vengeance upon Fabrizio for killing Apollonia. The previously deleted scenes totaled almost 75 minutes.


title: The Godfather Saga

text: Hal Erickson summarized the results as follows, "While this rearrangement was reasonably coherent, the rhythm and pacing of the original theatrical versions of the two films was severely damaged. The inclusion of scenes previously removed from the theatrical prints also stretched out what was already an overlong project. Even allowing for the achievement of pulling off this gargantuan editing assignment, "The Godfather Saga" is a lumpy affair which seems to stop and start at irregular intervals and never truly picks up momentum."


title: The Godfather Saga

text: According to the entry in Les Brown's "Encyclopedia of Television", the Nielsen ratings for the special were supposedly not as high as expected, possibly because both films had already aired (albeit separately) on NBC in previous years.


title: The Godfather Saga

text: On March 3, 2012, the American cable television channel AMC marked the 40th anniversary of the original theatrical release of "The Godfather" by re-broadcasting "The Godfather Saga". It marked the first time the "Saga" was broadcast in high definition. This showing also reinstated the violence that had previously been removed for its original broadcast.


title: The Godfather Saga

text: "The Godfather 1902–1959: The Complete Epic" is a reduced, 386-minute version of "The Godfather Saga" (434 minutes) that was released to video in 1981. Unlike the Saga, which was presented in four segments (each with opening and closing credits), the Epic is presented as a single segment. Lucia Bozzola wrote of this version, "With the freedom of home video, "The Complete Epic" reinstated the violence that had been edited for television; free of commercial breaks, the narrative drive of Part I was mostly restored, but the impact of Part II was still muted by the separation of Vito's rise from Michael's descent." In January 2016, HBO aired the Epic in its uncut and uncensored format, later making it available on its streaming platforms. The HBO showing contained most of the known deleted scenes, thereby lengthening the runtime of the Epic from its video release to 423 minutes. This version carries the title "Mario Puzo's The Godfather: The Complete Epic 1901-1959". It was available to watch through Amazon under the title "The Godfather Epic", but is currently unavailable to purchase. To date, this version has never been released to DVD, Blu-ray, or 4K UHD disc.


title: The Godfather Saga

text: Following the release of "The Godfather Part III" in 1990, Coppola, Barry Malkin, and Walter Murch edited the three "Godfather" movies into chronological order to make the film "The Godfather Trilogy: 1901–1980". As had the earlier compilations, this film incorporated scenes that are not part of the theatrical releases. It was released on VHS and laserdisc in 1992; it has not been released on DVD, and is now rare. The total run time for this version is 583 minutes (9 hours, 43 minutes). There were reviews of this version of the film that were favorable. A "Time" review reads, "This trilogy has a novelistic density, a rueful, unhurried lyricism and a depth that, singly, the films could not achieve. Altogether glorious."


title: Pretty Little Liars (season 7)

text: The seventh and final season of the American mystery drama television series "Pretty Little Liars", based on the books of the same name by Sara Shepard, was renewed on June 10, 2014 for two additional seasons, making the show Freeform's longest running original series.


title: Pretty Little Liars (season 7)

text: The season consisted of 20 episodes, in which ten episodes aired in the summer of 2016, with the remaining ten episodes aired from April 2017. The season premiered on June 21, 2016 and ended on June 27, 2017 on Freeform.


title: Pretty Little Liars (season 7)

text: Production and filming began in the end of March 2016, which was confirmed by showrunner I. Marlene King. The season premiere was written by I. Marlene King and directed by Ron Lagomarsino. King revealed the title of the premiere on Twitter on March 17, 2016. On August 29, 2016, it was confirmed that this would be the final season of the series.


title: Pretty Little Liars (season 7)

text: A.D. gives the Liars 24 hours to find Charlotte's real killer or Hanna dies. While discussing possible suspects, the girls' suspicion fell on Alison. Aria suspects the red jacket blonde she saw entering the church was Alison. Emily finds the jacket in Alison's things and Caleb gives it to A.D. Meanwhile, Hanna manages to escape. Elliot's true motive is later revealed to Alison; she managed to use his phone to alert the girls to her location when he takes her out in his car one night. She jumps out of the car and he gives chase but Hanna accidentally runs him over and they bury him in the woods.


title: Pretty Little Liars (season 7)

text: The Liars find out Jenna is calling Elliot as "Archer" on his burner phone. Mona then traces most of the sent messages from a secret apartment where they find out his real name is "Archer Dunhill". Toby discovers this and gets the cops to release Alison who reveals that she was the red jacket blonde but only tried to comfort Charlotte. Jenna befriends Sara and Noel begins helping them. Emily confronts Jenna and Sara. Jenna reveals that she became Charlotte's friend after feeling sympathy for her in Welby and helped Archer fake his identity to be with Charlotte. Sara reveals that they are all looking for the same thing but is killed soon after. A.D. tricks Hanna into believing Archer is alive and records her digging up his grave.


title: Pretty Little Liars (season 7)

text: The Liars find videos in Noel's cabin of him torturing them in the dollhouse. Hanna kidnaps Noel after negotiating with him doesn't work and films an interrogation video. He manages to escape and lures the Liars to an abandoned blind school. They leave the dollhouse videos on a table and someone takes them but Noel and Jenna attempt to murder them. In the confrontation, Noel is accidentally killed, and Spencer is shot by A.D., while Jenna corners Spencer. Jenna prepares to kill Spencer, but is knocked out by Mary. She then reveals that Spencer is her second child. A.D. saves Jenna who asks if they shot Spencer.


title: Pretty Little Liars (season 7)

text: One week later, Spencer has recovered and A.D. sends Jenna to confess to the cops that Noel wanted money Charlotte left Jenna for another eye surgery, killed Sara and tried to kill Jenna in the blind school. Peter returns and reveals that Mary is the one who killed Jessica. Hanna and Spencer follow the trail of a private investigator he hired to find Mary and bump into Ted who reveals he has been hiding her as she is his college fling with whom he conceived Charles. Mary reveals to Spencer that Peter and Jessica were planning to kill her, thus she used his pills to kill Jessica. A.D. then uses Emily's stolen eggs to impregnate Alison, as a way to further torture the liars. Meanwhile, A.D. hires Sydney Driscoll as their helper and she fakes being A.D. to recruit Aria into joining the A.D. team. Aria is forced into playing and becomes A.D.'s new helper, destroying Emison's baby nursery and leaving an "A" message in Spencer's house, until the Liars catch her in the act and she defects. Mona, who is becoming addicted to the A-game again, reveals that she tried to scare Charlotte into not resuming the A-game but Charlotte attacked her and she killed her in self-defense. Mary confesses to Rollins and Jessica's murder. A.D. ends the game as they have finally learned that Mona was Charlotte's killer.


title: Pretty Little Liars (season 7)

text: One year later, Mary escapes from prison and Mona is released from Welby but rejoins the A-Team and is sent to kidnap Spencer, who comes face-to-face with A.D. – Alex Drake, her twin sister. Mary reveals she sold Alex to a London family to get out of Radley. Alex ran away and met Wren who revealed everything about Spencer to her and introduced her to Charlotte who left her everything. She became A.D. to use the Liars to find Charlotte's killer and killed Wren as he always saw her as Alex while she wanted to become Spencer to have her "perfect life". She explains that Sara was looking for Charlotte's false treasure in the Radley which was actually the secret file and Jenna recruited Noel to look for "Charlotte's sister". Jenna uses her enhanced sense of smell to figure out "Spencer's not Spencer" and alerts Toby who tells the others. Mona reveals to them that Wren was going to kill her but she convinced him she could get Mary out. The Liars, Toby, Mona, and Caleb come face to face with Alex and Spencer as they cannot tell them apart, until Toby makes the distinction by asking what Spencer's favorite poem from a book she gave him. Mona tracked A.D.'s location has a cop arrest her. The Liars then say goodbye to one another as Aria leaves for her honeymoon with Ezra. Mona moves to Paris and the "cop" is revealed to be her boyfriend who has imprisoned Alex and Mary in her basement dollhouse. In the finale moment, a new set of liars are awakened to find their leader, Addison, has just gone missing.


title: Pretty Little Liars (season 7)

text: The seventh season was ordered with the sixth season on June 10, 2014, right before the fifth-season premiere aired, which made the show as ABC Family's longest running original series, surpassing "The Secret Life of the American Teenager", which was ABC Family's previous longest running original series. The season will consist of 20 episodes, in which ten episodes will air in the summer of 2016, with the remaining ten episodes beginning to air in April 2017. Charlie Craig, who served as writer/consulting producer on the second season, will return for the seventh season as executive producer/co-showrunner. I. Marlene King revealed the title of the premiere "Tick-Tock, Bitches" on Twitter. "Variety" announced that season premiere would air on June 21, 2016, the latest for a season premiere in the show's history. Additionally, series star Troian Bellisario would make her directorial debut this season. Bellisario is set to direct the fifteenth episode of the season. A promo was released on May 12, 2016. Freeform released a promotional poster for the season, on June 7, 2016. After the season premiere, Freeform released another poster which included Ashley Benson. On August 29, 2016, I. Marlene King with the principal cast of the show announced that "Pretty Little Liars" would end after the seventh season. King also announced that the show would start airing the second half of the season later than usual, in April 2017 and that the series finale would be a two-hour episode event. It was reported on October 26, 2016, that a tell-all special will air after the series finale "Till Death Do Us Part", where the main cast and showrunner I. Marlene King talked about the show and behind-the-scenes exclusive also the writing assistant bc_emperor has confirmed that.


title: Pretty Little Liars (season 7)

text: The seventh season had been speculated by both fans and the cast and crew of the show to being the final season of "Pretty Little Liars" ever since the show was renewed for two additional seasons. In an interview with "BuzzFeed", Troian Bellisario said “This is the beginning of the end. But the best part about these last two years is that, because it’s the beginning of the end, we can actually start telling the story I think we’ve been waiting to tell for a long time." Regarding the show's ending, Lucy Hale said to "E! News" that "Seven seasons will definitely end the show." Showrunner I. Marlene King commented on these rumors to "TVLine" as she said "We have enough story to take us to the end of Season 7, and we’re going to let the fans tell us if they’re ready to say goodbye to this world and these characters." She confirmed to being open for an eighth season and a movie and a new book.


title: Pretty Little Liars (season 7)

text: In an interview with "Variety" regarding the five-year time-jump from the sixth season, King said "I think that this story when we're back will end next year at the end of Season 7". She later took to Twitter where she confirmed that the current storyline that began in the second half of the sixth season would end after the seventh season, but would not necessarily mean that the show would end after the seventh season. Hale said on "The Late Late Show with James Corden" that the show was ending after the seventh season. Bellisario's fiancé Patrick J. Adams said in June 2016, that the show was ending in 2017, as the couple has decided to get married after the show ends. Freeform gave out a statement not long after saying that "There has been no official decision made for PLL beyond a season 7." It was announced on August 29, 2016, the day before the mid-season finale would air, that "Pretty Little Liars" will end after the seventh season.


title: Pretty Little Liars (season 7)

text: Production began on February 1, 2016, when King announced on Twitter that the writers were in full swing brainstorming and mapping the seventh season. Production and filming began in the end of March 2016 and officially wrapped up in October 2016.


title: Pretty Little Liars (season 7)

text: The seventh season has nine roles receiving star billing, with eight of them returning from the previous season, six of which was part of the original cast from the first season. The season saw the four protagonists of the series continue the roles as they try to take down the new 'A'. Troian Bellisario played Spencer Hastings, who has relationship problems with Caleb, while Ashley Benson played Hanna Marin, who was kidnapped at the end of last season. Lucy Hale continued her role as Aria Montgomery as she is set in a love triangle with Ezra and her boyfriend Liam. Shay Mitchell portrayed Emily Fields who begins to rekindle her relationship with Alison. Sasha Pieterse continued to portray Alison DiLaurentis as Alison struggles with being in a psych-ward. Janel Parrish returned as Mona Vanderwaal who seems to be finally on their side. Tyler Blackburn continues to play Caleb Rivers and Ian Harding also continued his role as Ezra Fitz. Andrea Parker was added as a series regular, playing Jessica DiLaurentis' twin sister Mary Drake.


title: Pretty Little Liars (season 7)

text: After the sixth-season finale, it was announced that Andrea Parker would return to the show as Mary Drake, Jessica DiLaurentis' identical twin sister and biological mother to Charlotte DiLaurentis. "TVLine" later confirmed that Parker was added as a series regular for the upcoming season. "Deadline" reported on May 10, 2016, that actor Nicholas Gonzalez was cast as Detective Vic Furey, a character who will oversee the Rosewood Police Department. The character was later renamed Det. Marco Furey. Tammin Sursok announced that she will return to the show as Jenna Marshall after last appearing in the fifth-season episode "How the 'A' Stole Christmas". On June 2, 2016, "Variety" reported that Brant Daugherty would be returning as Noel Kahn; Brant has not appeared on the show since the beginning of the fifth season.


title: Pretty Little Liars (season 7)

text: On June 10, 2016, "The Hollywood Reporter" reported that Lindsey Shaw would be returning as Paige McCullers after leaving in the fifth season mid-season premiere. The actress playing Sydney Driscoll, Chloe Bridges, posted an image on social media, confirming that she would return to the show after last appearing in the Christmas special episode. On July 28, 2016, "The Hollywood Reporter" reported that Shane Coffey would be returning as Holden Strauss; Shane has not appeared on the show since the beginning of the third season. It was announced on August 8, 2016, that Ava Allan will appear on the show, and will first appear in the second half of the season as Addison. On August 17, 2016, "TVLine" reported that Edward Kerr would be returning to the show as Pastor Ted Wilson in the second half of the season. Kerr had not been on the show since towards the end of the fifth season.


title: Dark Sun

text: Dark Sun is an original "Dungeons & Dragons" (D&D) campaign setting set in the fictional, post-apocalyptic desert world of Athas. "Dark Sun" featured an innovative metaplot, influential art work, dark themes, and a genre-bending take on traditional fantasy role-playing. The product line began with the original "Dark Sun Boxed Set" released for D&D's 2nd edition in 1991, originally ran until 1996, and was one of TSR's most successful releases.


title: Dark Sun

text: "Dark Sun" deviated from the feudalistic backdrops of its Tolkienesque pseudo-medieval contemporaries, such as "Greyhawk" or "Forgotten Realms", in favor of a composite of dark fantasy, planetary romance, and the Dying Earth subgenre. "Dark Sun"s designers presented a savage, magic-ravaged desert world where resources are scarce and survival is a daily struggle. The traditional fantasy races and character classes were altered or omitted to better suit the setting's darker themes. "Dark Sun" differs further in that the game has no deities, arcane magic is reviled for causing the planet's current ecological fragility, and psionics are extremely common. The artwork of Brom established a trend of game products produced under the direction of a single artist. The setting was also the first TSR setting to come with an established metaplot out of the box.


title: Dark Sun

text: "Dark Sun"s popularity endured long after the setting was no longer supported, with a lively online community developing around it. Only third-party material was produced for the third edition D&D rules, but a new official edition of "Dark Sun" was released in 2010 for the fourth edition.


title: Dark Sun

text: "Dark Sun" has been mentioned by developers, most notably Mike Mearls, and appeared in psionics playtest materials for "Dungeons & Dragons" for the fifth edition of the game.


title: Dark Sun

text: TSR released the second edition of "Battlesystem", its mass-combat ruleset, in 1989. In 1990 the company began pre-production on a new campaign setting that would use this ruleset, the working title of which was "War World." The team envisioned a post-apocalyptic world full of exotic monsters and no hallmark fantasy creatures whatsoever. TSR worried about this concept, wondering how to market a product that lacked any familiar elements. Eventually, elves, dwarves, and dragons returned but in warped variations of their standard "AD&D" counterparts. The designers credited this reversion as a pivotal change that launched the project in a new direction.


title: Dark Sun

text: Contributors to this project at its beginnings included Rich Baker, Gerald Brom, Tim Brown, Troy Denning, Mary Kirchoff, James Lowder, and Steve Winter. With the exception of Denning and Kirchoff, design veterans such as David "Zeb" Cook declined to join the conceptual team (though Cook would write the first two adventure modules: "Freedom" and "Road to Urik"). The majority of project members were new to TSR, though not necessarily to the industry (Winter having worked at GDW).


title: Dark Sun

text: Steve Winter suggested the idea of a desert landscape. His inspiration drew partly from "Den" by Richard Corben and the fiction of Clark Ashton Smith. The Dark Sun setting drew much of its makeup from artist Brom's imagery: "I pretty much designed the look and feel of the Dark Sun campaign. I was doing paintings before they were even writing about the setting. I'd do a painting or a sketch, and the designers wrote those characters and ideas into the story. I was very involved in the development process."


title: Dark Sun

text: Game designer Rick Swan described the setting: "Using the desert as a metaphor for struggle and despair, this presents a truly alien setting, bizarre even by "AD&D" game standards. From dragons to spell-casting, from character classes to gold pieces, this ties familiar "AD&D" conventions into knots." He said that Athas "shares the post-apocalyptic desolation of FGU's "Aftermath" game, GDW's "Twilight 2000" game, and other after-the-holocaust RPGs".


title: Dark Sun

text: The original "Dark Sun Boxed Set" released in 1991 presented the base setting details wherein the Tyr Region is on the verge of revolution against the sorcerer-kings. A five-book fiction series, the Prism Pentad, written by Denning and edited by Lowder, was released beginning in 1991, in coordination with the boxed set. Set a decade after the first boxed set, the "Expanded And Revised" boxed set released in 1995 updated the setting to reconcile the events and characters introduced since the initial 1991 release, and gave more details on the world outside the Tyr Region.


title: Dark Sun

text: Following the setting's release, poor sales for "Battlesystem" soon stopped its further inclusion in Dark Sun products. The tie-in with the "Complete Psionics Handbook" proved more successful—all characters and creatures were psionic to a greater or lesser degree—but designers regretted the extra time involved in attaching these rules to practically every living thing in the campaign world.


title: Dark Sun

text: The Dark Sun game line ended abruptly in late 1996. When TSR released its product schedule in "Dragon" #236 (December 1996) no Dark Sun products were included. The final release was "Psionic Artifacts of Athas" (1996) though two books, "Dregoth Ascending" and "Secrets of the Dead Lands" were rumored to have been near completion to the point that early versions were reportedly given to some GMs at the 1997 Gen Con Game Fair before the line ended. Prior to the line's cancellation, designer Kevin Melka claimed that another halfling product, a book on the dwarves, and a book on the Order were part of his official proposals for 1997. An invasion of the Kreen Empire was also being considered, according to Melka, along with the mystery of the Messenger and a product on the Silt Sea.


title: Dark Sun

text: Dark Sun was not officially supported by the third edition of "Dungeons & Dragons", but Paizo Publishing and the fans at Athas.org kept the setting alive through the use of the Open Game License issued by Wizards of the Coast. David Noonan created an updated version of the setting for Paizo in 2004 that was published in "Dragon" magazine and "Dungeon" magazine that presented rules for 3rd edition. This version took place three hundred years after the last published setting details and sought to return the setting's metaplot to something closer to the original boxed set. This version also provided rules and setting details for the new third edition player character races such as elans and maenads.


title: Dark Sun

text: Athas.org presented another update to the setting for 3.5 in 2008. It was a rules-only conversion that provided everything needed to play in the "Dark Sun" world through the non-epic levels. The Athas.org version also condensed the metaplot information and presented a much broader view, allowing players an opportunity to create campaigns in virtually any era of Athas, even as far back as the Blue Age. Athas.org was also given permission to convert and release two unpublished second edition sourcebooks, "Dregoth Ascending" (2005) and "Terrors of the Dead Lands" (2005), which was based on TSR's unpublished "Secrets of the Deadlands".


title: Dark Sun

text: In August 2009, Wizards of the Coast announced at Gen Con Indy that "Dark Sun" would be the next campaign setting to be released for fourth edition. The setting was chosen because designer James Wyatt felt that the setting's grittier, action oriented feel was a good fit for the fourth edition rules and because the setting demonstrated that "Dungeons and Dragons" games could go beyond the tropes and themes of standard medieval fantasy.


title: Dark Sun

text: This version was heralded as a return of the feel of the original 1991 boxed set taking the setting back before the events of the Prism Pentad. The metaplot's timeline is set back to just after the original "Dark Sun"'s first adventure, "Freedom" (1991). The sorcerer-king Kalak is dead and Tyr is a free city-state but the future of Athas beyond that is up to the players. Game designer Richard Baker said the design team wanted the game to begin when Athas had the most possibilities for adventure and offer a version of the setting where the Prism Pentad storyline would be possible but not mandatory.


title: Dark Sun

text: The fourth edition setting strayed far less from the core rules than its "AD&D" counterpart. Rich Baker reported that the design team wanted the campaign setting to mesh closely with the new core rules and source material, such as the "Player's Handbook", than previous editions had. Effort was made, however, to ensure that these more generic elements stayed true to the unique feel of the setting.


title: Dark Sun

text: The most notable fourth edition change expanded character building by introducing themes. Themes were a third way to define a player character identity through archetypes or careers allowing them to more clearly describe their place or role within the world. Some variant classes central to the previous editions, such as gladiators, templars, and elemental priests, were introduced as themes. Themes proved very popular and were widely adopted in other settings. The scale of Athas was reduced slightly but the geography was largely unchanged.


title: Dark Sun

text: The edition change created other notable differences including templars as warlocks, the dray becoming dragonborn, the introduction of new core races such as tieflings and eladrin, and the exclusion of races from previous editions: elans, maenads, pterrans, and aarakocra. The new fourth edition races were given Athasian twists in a similar manner to the original fantasy races.


title: Dark Sun

text: Possibly the most significant change to the setting was the alteration to its cosmology. In previous editions, Athas had a setting specific cosmology that was isolated from the rest of the D&D universe, making it nearly impossible to access via other planes or spacelanes. Fourth edition instead presented Athas squarely within the standard D&D cosmology, though it was still difficult to access or exit.


title: Dark Sun

text: A reviewer for the British magazine "Arcane" commented: "There's plenty of atmosphere in Dark Sun and, despite the seeming uniformity of the geography, a great deal of imagination has gone into detailing its various regions." The reviewer also observed: "Life on Athas is particularly tough and short. Never mind the monsters; failing to take enough water on a desert crossing can be fatal." The reviewer concluded that "if blood in the sand is the bag you're into, you'll find plenty to enjoy under the Dark Sun". Writing in "Dragon" magazine, Rick Swan gave the initial release 4.5 stars out of five. He warned that it would take "a skilled DM to handle the subtleties of the setting, not to mention the psionics rules and the fine points of the new races and character classes, but it ís worth the effort. The "Dark Sun" setting is that good."


title: Dark Sun

text: The original Dark Sun product line was one of TSR's most popular releases with an enduring fan following. In the 1990s, fans formed multiple mailing lists, fan sites, and discussion boards concerning the setting. These fan sites grew to such a size and scale during the 1990s that TSR filed legal paper work against them for infringing on their copyright. TSR eventually relented after fan outcry and established a formal fan site dedicated to Dark Sun fan creations.


title: Dark Sun

text: Reviewers of the fourth edition release of the setting were largely favorable. Christopher W. Richeson of RPG.net gave the setting an excellent rating, saying that update did an "excellent job of incorporating 4E's mythology without losing the harsh feel of the original setting. EN World gave the setting a B+ rating saying that the source book was readable, and introduced innovative new mechanics to the game. The reviewer was critical of the source book reporting that it felt "incomplete" in both content and art work in comparison to the Forgotten Realms source books released two years prior.


title: Dark Sun

text: Looking back at the setting, Chris Wilson writing for "Time" describes the world as a good candidate for television adaptation, "a richly imagined world" with "traces of "Dune" mixed with Jedi-like powers and a healthy side of murderous human-sized praying mantises". John Baichtal of "Wired" described Athas as "the swords and sorcery equivalent of Mad Max: a desert world where water, steel and kindness are in short supply, where magic destroys the environment and the kings and queens are exclusively evil. Elves are untrustworthy merchants and halflings are cannibals. New PC races include muls (half-dwarves) and thri-kreen (insect men) add to the setting's uniqueness. It’s a riot!"


title: Dark Sun

text: The campaign setting "of Dark Sun" is played on the fictional planet Athas. Novels and source books largely take place in the Tyr Region, though other areas are described for play. The exact landmass configuration of the planet or the existence of other continents is unknown.


title: Dark Sun

text: Athas is a devastated world, the result of magic run amok. Most of Athas is an empty desert, interrupted by a handful of corrupt city states controlled by power-mad sorcerer-kings and their spell-wielding lackeys. The brutal climate and the oppressive rule of the sorcerer-kings have created a corrupt, bloodthirsty, and desperate culture that leaves little room for chivalric virtues common to fantasy settings (hence why paladins are excluded). Slavery is commonplace, gladiatorial duels provide entertainment for the elite, and death permeates the culture. As rain falls only once per decade in some areas, water is more precious than gold. Due to the scarcity of natural resources, few wizards have access to books made of paper pages and hard covers; instead, they record their spells with string patterns and complex knots. Metal is also rare, affecting both the economy and the quality of equipment. The ceramic coin, made from clay and glazed in various colors, is the primary medium of exchange, worth about a hundredth of a gold piece. Weapons typically consist of obsidian, bone, and wood, and are prone to breaking. Only a single dragon exists in all of Athas, a monstrosity whose appearance heralds disasters of catastrophic proportions.


title: Dark Sun

text: Arcane magic draws its power from the life force of plants or living creatures, with the potential to cause tremendous harm to the environment. As a result, wizards and other arcane casters are despised and must practice in secret. Psionics are extremely common with nearly every living thing having at least a modicum of psionic ability. Due to a scarcity of metal, weapons and armor are made from natural materials such as bone, stone, wood, carapace or obsidian.


title: Dark Sun

text: Athas has no deities and no formal religions other than the cults created by the sorcerer-kings. There is some contention within the source material as to whether or not there were ever deities in the setting. The "AD&D" source material seems to suggest that there weren't ever any gods involved with Athas, while the 4th edition setting leaves the option open, more explicitly stating that the gods were destroyed or driven away by malevolent elemental spirits. Clerics and druids instead draw power from the Inner Planes/Elemental Chaos.


title: Dark Sun

text: "Dark Sun's" extensive metaplot spans several fictional ages into its past and is described by a fictional narrator called the Wanderer who presents an in-game account of Athas's history in their "Wanderer's Journal". According to this account the planet progressed through several ages roughly corresponding to the color of the sun and the state of the planet.


title: Dark Sun

text: The "Wanderer's Journal" begins with the Edenic Blue Age when Athas was once covered with a vast body of life-giving water under a blue sun. Halflings ruled Athas during this time, building a powerful civilization. They were nature-masters and life-shapers, able to produce anything they needed by manipulating the principles of nature itself. The age came to an end by accident. The halflings of the great city of Tyr’agi tried to increase the sea's fecundity in order to produce more creatures and plants. The experiment failed, however, instead choking the sea with a toxic brown tide that spread across the waters, killing everything it touched.


title: Dark Sun

text: The "Wanderer's Journal" claims that the Green Age began approximately 14,000 years before the setting's starting period. Desperate to save themselves and Athas from the brown tide, the halflings built the Pristine Tower, a powerful talisman that could harness the energies of the sun. The light of the Pristine Tower burned away the brown tide but also changed the planet. The sun changed from blue to yellow. The endless sea receded, revealing a verdant world of plant life. The halflings' civilization came to an end and most of them withdrew from the world and spiraled into savagery. The last of the nature-masters transformed themselves into new races, becoming humans, demihumans, and other humanoids that repopulated the world and built new civilizations.


title: Dark Sun

text: The former halfling center of Tyr’agi was renamed Tyr and the other great cities of the Tyr region, such as Ebe, Bodach and Giustenal, were built during this period. Due to mutations caused by the power of the Pristine Tower, the new people of Athas discovered they were gifted with myriad psionic powers. Soon a high standard of living was achieved for those dwelling in the cities supported by wonders created with psionics.


title: Dark Sun

text: Among the new races were a rare and powerful race known as the pyreens. One of their number, Rajaat, would bring about sweeping changes to Athas. Rajaat discovered magic eight thousand years before the current age. Seeking more power he took possession of the Pristine Tower. Here he mastered this new force and developed two distinct ways; one that preserved nature, known as preserving, and one that exploited it, known as defiling. He taught preserving magic to the public but secretly selected fifteen human students with a potential for both psionics and magic for a darker purpose. Using the power of the Pristine Tower to harness the energy of the yellow sun, he transformed these fifteen into his Champions. Besides their native psionic powers and defiling magic, they were imbued with immortality and the ability to draw magical energy from living creatures through the use of obsidian orbs. The process of creating the Champions turned the sun from yellow to red.


title: Dark Sun

text: Rajaat's ultimate desire was to exterminate all races except the halflings and return Athas to the splendor of the Blue Age. About 3,500 years before the current age, Rajaat assigned each of his Champions a race to exterminate and the ensuing years of struggle were known as the Cleansing Wars. The unbridled use of defiling magic unleashed by Rajaat and his Champions during the wars desolated the land, turning much of it into a savage, desert wasteland under a burning crimson sun. The non-existence of many of the typical D&D races, such as trolls and goblins, is due to these wars.


title: Dark Sun

text: The struggles would have continued to completion had the Champions not discovered that Rajaat's true plans did not include their survival. Approximately 2,000 years before the current age, the Champions, led by Borys of Ebe, rebelled against their creator and used one of Rajaat's talismans, the Dark Lens, to imprison him in a shadow realm known as the Black. With Rajaat imprisoned, the former Champions renamed themselves Sorcerer-Kings and despotically divided up the surviving city-states among themselves. His escape would spell doom for all of them, so the former Champions selected Borys as Rajaat's warden. As warden, Borys would need to be transformed into a true dragon, a creature nearly unheard of in the setting, in order to be able to cast the spells required to maintain Rajaat's prison. The ritual that transformed Borys into a dragon caused him to go mad and embark on a century-long defiling rampage. The defiling during the Cleansing War had been substantial, but Borys's rampage was the tipping point that turned Athas into a hellish desert.


title: Dark Sun

text: "Dark Sun's" second edition metaplot was advanced through its novels and adventure modules. During this era TSR began to expand metaplots in other settings, such as "Forgotten Realms", but "Dark Sun" pioneered the matching of fiction and adventure modules to engender and advance metaplots. The original 1991 boxed set begins at the end of the Brown Age (the Age of the Sorcerer-Kings) with the former Champions of Rajaat now tyrannically ruling over the few pockets of civilization left in the Tyr Region. These city-states tightly control the few remaining reservoirs of fresh water, the food supply, and other precious resources such as obsidian or iron.


title: Dark Sun

text: Troy Denning's "Prism Pentad" novels brought sweeping changes to the metaplot of "Dark Sun" and were also closely tied to playable adventure modules such as "DS1: Freedom" (1991) and "DSQ1: Road to Urik" (1992). This trend continued with the adventure modules tying directly into Denning's fiction and vice versa. The culmination of the tangled metaplot was summarized in "Beyond The Prism Pentad" (1995) in preparation for the release of the revised and expanded boxed set, released a few months later, which presented the setting after the events of the modules and novels. Some advances in the metaplot were controversial among fans as releases such as "Mind Lords of the Last Sea" and "Windriders of the Jagged Cliffs" explicitly introduced more science fiction elements, such as the lifeshaping magics of the halflings, that had previously only been hinted at.


title: Dark Sun

text: At the point the source material lays out for play the beginning of the Age of Heroes when the sorcerer-king's hold on the Tyr Region has recently been challenged with the assassination of Kalak of Tyr in a slave rebellion led by Rikus, Agis, Neeva, Tithian, and Sadira. Over the course of the adventure modules and the novels the metaplot advances radically, changing the Tyr Region with Rikus, Agis, Neeva, Tithian, and Sadira (from the novels), or the player characters at the center of the changes. Borys the Dragon is killed by Rikus and Sadira. Sadira becomes the first sun-wizard through the use of the Pristine Tower, putting her at a level of power equal to the sorcerer-kings. Tithian uses the Dark Lens to free Rajaat, believing he will be transformed into a sorcerer-king as a reward. Several sorcerer-kings are lost or destroyed during the ensuing battle with Rajaat. Andropinis is imprisoned in the Black while Tectuktitlay is killed. Rajaat is ultimately vanquished by Sadira using the Dark Lens as a focus for a spell that burns away Rajaat's shadow, the source of his tremendous power. This spell also causes a tremendous earthquake creating the Great Rift, a passage to the previously unknown Crimson Savannah and the alien Kreen Empire.


title: Dark Sun

text: The "Revised and Expanded" boxed set released in 1995 begins at this point with the destabilization of the Tyr Region's political power structure. The wake of the creation of the Cerulean Storm and the earthquake that caused the Great Rift results in powerful storms and destructive aftershocks. The Wanderer discovers the lost halflings of the Jagged Cliff, as well as the psionic utopians of the Mind Lords of the Last Sea.


title: Dark Sun

text: In May 2004, David Noonan wrote a brief update for the setting for the 3rd edition rules. The setting picked three hundred years after the second edition and the events of the Prism Pentad. The guide outlined some of the important events that had taken place since then, and largely focused on the city-states and the fate of the remaining sorcerer-kings.


title: Dark Sun

text: The city-state of Raam is on the verge of collapse after the death of its sorcerer-queen. The psionic dragon-lich Dregoth, who resurrected himself after being slain by the other Sorcerer-Kings for attempting to become a dragon like Borys, sweeps in and transforms most of the riotous inhabitants into undead. He now rules the city-state where the living walk side by side with undead zombies and skeletons. In Draj, Azetuk the adopted son of the deceased Sorcerer-King Tectuktitlay was installed largely as a figurehead by Tectuktitlay templars, but manages to learn enough to transform himself into a true sorcerer-king. He takes control of Draj and begins to demand regular blood sacrifices in his temples. Balic has also fallen into chaos after the disappearance and reappearance of their sorcerer-king Andropinis.


title: Dark Sun

text: Tyr remains free from sorcerer-king rule and has managed to defend its walls from multiple assaults from Urik. The city-state is now ruled by a council of nobles and preserver mages from the Veiled Alliance.


title: Dark Sun

text: In 2008, Athas.org released a new edition of the "Dark Sun" campaign setting for the 3.5 rules. This edition picks up the metaplot two years after the Wanderer's discovery of the Last Sea. Following prophesied signs, Dregoth takes to the surface and makes his bid for true divinity.