had imbibed too deep on that evening.

I kept my chin high, my step even and determined. _Sotto voce_ , I enlightened Maery as to the identities of Macdaw and Davy. Izaak I did not mention, for his mien described him utterly. His gait more doglike than before, his beard an oozing mange, he scurried ahead then back to Macdaw like any browbeat mongrel. Maery's throat began her own low growl, her arms the sway I well recalled from watching her bear wrestling on the _Witch_. Izaak, I dared surmise, could have his life crushed out should he anger Maery Strange.

As we reached the corner of Rattray Street, it occurred to me the sealers may not have learned what had happened to Jemmy. Why pity should thus stay meKim Hjelmgaard

USA TODAY

BERLIN — America decided and the world made clear it was the wrong decision.

Donald Trump entered the 2016 presidential race as an underdog. His surprise victory over Hillary Clinton prompted foreign observers to say that their worst fears about the contentious U.S. election were realized.

"After Brexit and this election, anything is now possible. A world is crumbling before our eyes. Vertigo," France's ambassador to the U.S., Gerard Araud, tweeted as it became clear that the billionaire businessman and reality TV star would win the world's most powerful post.

Araud's reference to Britain's exit from the European Union — Brexit — was a nod to another vote, also fought on a political battlefield that pitted the political establishment's support for open borders and global trade against strong populist


support for nationalism and isolation. In both cases, voters upended pollsters' and pundits' predictions.

"It's not just about him. It's about who he will, and has, emboldened," said Samantha Shannon, a popular British writer. "Everything about this feels identical to Brexit."

World congratulates Trump and frets over his victory

Trump has touted a vision of a more isolationist American foreign policy that would represent a fundamental break with decades of internationalism. His proposals include making U.S. military support for NATO, a cornerstone of global security since World War II, conditioned on the financial support of the alliance's members.

Chinese state media were quick to cast the election as the embodiment of America’s democracy in crisis in contrast to China’s perceived stability under authoritarian rule. "The majority of Americans are rebelling against theit became clear that Trump had won the key battleground states of Florida, Ohio and North Carolina — indicators of his eventual victory. Mexico's central bank had called a Trump win a possible “hurricane” for the peso and created a contingency plan to respond.

"I never thought the American people would vote for someone who is … anti-everyone," said Jennifer Long, a teacher from Kansas who had gathered at a restaurant in Mexico City late Tuesday for what she hoped would be a celebration of a Clinton victory.

Trump has referred to some Mexican migrants as "rapists" and criminals and vowed to build a wall along the U.S. border paid for by Mexico, a pledge that has angered many Mexicans. "The entire country is shocked,” said Esteban Illades, a magazine


editor.

Owen Smith, a British politician who lost to Jeremy Corbyn to lead the opposition Labour Party, said Trump's triumph means there would be a "racist in the White House and a human rights abuser in the Kremlin," where Russian President Vladimir Putin has his office.

Not all foreign observers were hanging their heads following one of the most caustic presidential elections in U.S. history.

"We regard with satisfaction that the better candidate of the two presented to the American voters was victorious," said Vladimir Zhirinovsk, the leader of Russia’s nationalist Liberal Democratic party. Russia's parliament broke into applause when the result was announced. Putin sent Trump a telegram of congratulation.

Russia is one of the few countries were polls show a majority of people favored Trump over Clinton. Trump has saidflattering things about Putin's strong leadership style, while Clinton was very critical of the Russian leader while serving as President Obama's secretary of State.

"I am for Trump because he supports India," said Anil Arora, a Delhi shop owner. "He is also clearly against terrorism. This is good for India. We need a strong man to eradicate this evil." Others in the South Asian economic powerhouse said Clinton and Obama had improved ties between the two nations.

In Tokyo, Japan's government pledged to work closely with Trump even though he is widely perceived there as harboring anti-Japanese sentiment.

Jasmine Dang, who was wearing a Trump T-shirt and a “Make America Great Again” baseball cap in Ho Chi Minh City, said Wednesday that reading Trump’s books helped her in her own career


and that his business leadership would benefit the U.S. "The image of America needs to be tougher and stronger," said Dang, who manages a company that helps Vietnamese apply for business and investment immigration visas to the U.S.

Nimrod Zuta, an ardent Trump supporter in Israel and founder of the "Trump White and Blue" group on Facebook, which has more than 14,000 followers, said Trump's victory would be remembered as "one of the most important dates in the history of mankind" and that he would help "wipe radical Islam from the face of the earth." Trump has called for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the U.S. to ensure they are not terrorists.

Nigel Farage, leader of the anti-immigration United Kingdom Independence Party who helped engineer his nation's surprise voteto withdraw from the EU, said he was handing over his prediction-defying "mantle" to the president-elect. Trump was a strong supporter of Brexit, and Farage appeared at several Trump rallies.

In Berlin, John B. Emerson, the U.S. ambassador to Germany, said strong American-German relations would not change, and he hoped that Trump would start bringing together a "polarized country." Next week, Obama is due to visit Germany, where he will meet with Chancellor Angela Merkel, one of his closest allies.

In France, Marine Le Pen, who leads the far-right National Front party, tweeted her congratulations before Trump had even been declared the winner. Geert Wilders, a fellow anti-immigration politician in the Netherlands, declared that Americans were "taking their country back."

Perhaps the most conciliatory words came from Trump himself.

In his victory


speech, the political novice who vowed to "Make America Great Again," said he wanted the world to know that while he would always put the interests of the U.S. and Americans first, as president he would do something else as well: "Seek partnership not conflict."

Contributing: Anna Arutunyan in Moscow, David Agren in Mexico City, Petra Sorge in New Delhi, Kirk Spitzer in Tokyo, Shira Rubin in Tel Aviv, Thomas Maresca in Ho Chi Minh Cityto feel like you've traveled in time. We are going to take you on a journey around a city created in Spain just a few...

More than six years of excavations and restoration work has given Rome a new tourist attraction in the form of the ancient Circus Maximus. The archaeological ruins were nothing more than an enormous...

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Sunday, June 3, 2018

Wider Is Better: 1987 Alfa Romeo Milano Gold

The Alfa Romeo Milano was the last car fully developed before Fiat's takeover of the company from the Italian govt in 1986. Milano sedans are known for their bizarre non symmetrical styling cues. The Milano was the final iteration of the Alfa type 116 transaxle cars (last weeks Alfetta turbo). They sell for pennies on the dollar compared to BMW E30's these days which is all the more reason to talk about them here. Speaking of BMW, the Alfa Busso V6 and the M20 straight six both share the less than desirable 30k timing belt change intervals. Today's car is not concours condition, but does have a unique flared body kit that would be near impossible to replaceThis international history uncovers an American security program in which Washington reached into fifteen Latin American countries to seize more than 4,000 German expatriates and intern them in the Texas desert. The crowd of Nazi Party members, antifascist exiles, and even Jewish refugees were lumped together in camps riven by strife. The book examines the evolution of governmental policy, its impact on individuals and emigrant communities, and the ideological assumptions that blinded officials in both Washington and Berlin to Latin American realities. Franklin Roosevelt's vaunted Good Neighbor policy was a victim of this effort to force reluctant Latin American governments to hand over their German residents, while the operation ruined an opportunity to rescue victims of the Holocaust. This study makes a very contemporary argument: that security measures


based on group affiliation rather than individual actions are as unjust and ineffective in foreign policy as they are in law enforcement.

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About the Author

Max Paul Friedman is Assistant Professor of History at Florida State University. His work has been published in Diplomatic History, The Americas, and The Oral History Review. Before entering academia he was assistant producer for National Public Radio's All Things Considered and a freelance writer published in the Washington Post, New York Newsday, Atlanta Constitution, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Orlando Sentinel, and other newspapers and magazines.

Reviews

'Without doubt, Nazis and Good Neighbors is eloquently written, free of jargon and commonplaces, and highly accessible. One has to give Friedman credit for providing a lively and gripping account ...'. Journal of Latin American Studies 'Nazis andNaomi and Kate Close Out the Louis Vuitton Menswear Show

The supermodels are longtime friends of artistic director Kim Jones.

by Chrissy Rutherford

Just last week Louis Vuitton’s menswear artistic director, Kim Jones announced the Fall 2018 collection would be his final for the French house. Jones has been the mastermind behind Vuitton’s streetwear sensibility—introducing sneakers and track pants and eventually, the larger than life Supreme collaboration.

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The designer, who has been at the helm since 2011 took his final bow today in Paris with not one but two supermodels. Jones invited longtime friends Naomi Campbell and Kate Moss to close out the show.


Today was Newson’s last football game after 25 years as director of Showtime, Howard’s marching band, as well as the Ooh La La dancers and the Flashy Flag Squad; he plans to retire at the end of this school year. Newson is an institution on campus: At Howard and other historically black colleges and universities, the post of marching band director is a high-profile job. Many people go to games as much for the bands — known for their dance steps and brassy renditions of the latest hits — as for the football. Successful band directors combine the discipline of a drill sergeant, the flair of a wardrobe stylist and the thriftiness of an accountant tasked with stretching dwindling resources.

After Bryant scored within the game’s first 13 seconds,some of the band members groused; the Flashy Flags waved their hands and lowered themselves onto the bleachers with a serpentine flourish. When Howard scored, Showtime’s horns blasted the chorus of “Crew,” by GoldLink, and the drums echoed go-go percussion beats. Not long after the first half ended — with the game tied at 35 — Newson parked himself on the sidelines at the 50-yard line, and the band made its way to the field. Over the sound system came the voice of Bruce Edwards, Howard’s game announcer, heralding the band’s entrance: “It’s Showtime!”

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A few weeks earlier, I had visited Newson's basement office on campus, where the walls were plastered with photos from Showtime's performances and snapshots from band trips to Bermuda. Known affectionately as "Papa New," the


director has a fine white mustache that frames an easygoing smile. Students often pop in before practice or between classes to chat. Still, he said, he feels most at home with his band on the field. "The field work is kind of a relief for me," he said. "I'm in a comfort zone teaching drills and formation. Here, it's work."

When Newson arrived at Howard in the 1980s, the marching band was known as the Howard University Soul Steppers. He brought a fresh style to the uniforms, introducing contrasting colors that would create a different look each time a formation pivoted on the field, and high-water pants that highlighted the instrumentalists’ white spats. He also brought some of the theatrics he picked up from his days as an undergradperforming with the Human Jukebox, the famed marching band at Southern University, a historically black university in Baton Rouge. During his tenure, Showtime and the dancers have performed at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, at Barack Obama’s 2009 inauguration, at the opening of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, and at numerous NFL halftime shows.

Paul Adams, a former band director at Norfolk State who taught Newson at Southern, described him as an ambitious student who hung on to small-town values that emphasized steadiness and reliability. “He was one of the youngest old men I knew,” Adams said, adding that Newson’s tenacity and patience served him well as he guided Showtime through challenging times. At an HBCU, Adams explained, “it’s very difficult to maintain a


on the line,” recalls drum captain Malcolm Henry, who participated in the protest his freshman year. “He definitely encouraged us to do what we had to do because he understands what it means to be a marching band student.” The school capitulated following the protests, though Newson alleged in October that the administration had been slow to award some scholarships this academic year. (A Howard spokesperson said in mid-December that all of the band scholarships had been processed and awarded.)

Now the task of keeping Showtime going will fall to Newson's successor, who has yet to be named. At halftime during the game in November, he beamed from his spot by the 50-yard line as drum major Christian Adkins wielded his silver mace and leaped across the field, followedBerlin has expressed dismay that a German high school in İstanbul has canceled its traditional Christmas celebration, with teachers at the school even being forbidden to mention the topic of Christmas in their classrooms.

DPA reported that the Turkish administrators of the İstanbul Lisesi, established more than 100 years ago, announced that Christmas traditions and the singing of carols would no longer be part of the curriculum.

The move, which has angered German politicians and officials at the country’s foreign ministry, occurred a week after the school’s choir was prevented from singing at the German Consulate General in Istanbul.

“We do not understand the surprising decision of the leadership at İstanbul Lisesi,” said the foreign ministry.

“It is a great pity that the good tradition of the intercultural exchange in the pre-Christmas


period was suspended at a school with a long history of German-Turkish” friendship, the government said, according to Deutsche Welle (DW).

The German Foreign Office called the decision “regrettable” and said it would seek dialogue with its Turkish partners over the incident, according to DPA, which also reported that the school itself denied on its website Sunday night that it had passed a Christmas ban.

Frank Josef Jung, a deputy from Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in charge of religious affairs, called the situation “completely unacceptable” and said that since Germany finances teachers at the school, it should have input into what they teach.

The abrupt cancellation is seen by German politicians as part of a move away from secularism engineered by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

The Die WeltBlue Turtle Hotel Tissamaharama

Home

The 3-star Blue Turtle Hotel is set about 18 km from Bundala Bird Sanctuary. The hotel is a good example of colonial architecture in Tissamaharama.

Blue Turtle Hotel is also placed within a 20-minute walk of Tissa Wewa. The venue is 2 km away from the city center.

Nearby points of interest include a temple and a sanctuary.

The property comprises 14 non-smoking rooms equipped with climate control, cable TV with on-demand movies, an individual safe, a balcony and a work desk. The rooms look on to the garden. Guests can make use of a bathtub, a bidet and bath sheets.

A complimentary continental breakfast is served every morning. New Cabana serve a good range of Asian food and lie 650 meters from the property.

A 30-minute drive will take


The recent protests in Morocco began with a shocking incident that appeared to pit authorities against a poor citizen just trying to make a living.

Protesters take part in a rally after the death of Mouhcine Fikri, a fishmonger who was crushed to death inside a rubbish truck as he tried to retrieve fish confiscated by police, in the northern city of Al Hoceima, October 31, 2016..
(photo credit: REUTERS)

Angry demonstrations in Morocco have raised the question of how stable the kingdom, which survived the Arab spring intact, actually is today.

The trigger for the protests, which have been peaceful thus far, bears similarities to that which set off unrest in Tunisia nearly six years ago and spread into the convulsions that swept up Egypt, Libya and Syria.

The Tunisian uprising beganin December 2010, when a young man set himself on fire after police confiscated fruits and vegetables he was selling. Likewise, the recent protests in Morocco began with a shocking incident that appeared to pit authorities against a poor citizen just trying to make a living.

Mouhcine Fikri, a fish seller in the northern town of Al-Hoceima, was crushed to death inside a garbage truck Friday night, after he entered the back of the truck in an effort to reclaim fish that the police had confiscated from him in punishment for breaking a ban on swordfish sales.

Word spread throughout Morocco that police had ordered the garbage men to “grind” Fikri, something the police denied.

But the grinding allegation has remained, amid a widespread perception that the entire Moroccan system grinds


August 1st

Fullbright, the creators of the 2013 indie hit Gone Home, recently launched Tacoma for Xbox One and PC at the start of August. This story-driven sci-fi adventure takes place on an advanced space station named Tacoma. Players are tasked with exploring the station and replaying audio journals left behind by the crew in an effort to figure out why no one remains. A nice sci-fi twist for the walking sim genre.

Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice

Release Date: August 8th

After years of developer diaries and adjustments, Ninja Theory has finally unleashed Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice to the world. Players have been eager to step into the mind of Senua, a troubled Celtic warrior who must battle her inner demons in an attempt to maintain her sanity. This psychological thriller features hack-and-slash combat,was being competitively bid, citing complaints from Microsoft, Oracle Corp. and International Business Machines Corp. Trump has long criticized Amazon founder Jeff Bezos on everything from the shipping rates his company pays the U.S. Postal Service to his personal ownership of what Trump calls “the Amazon Washington Post.”

A new book by Guy Snodgrass, a speechwriter to former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, alleges that Trump, in the summer of 2018, told Mattis to “screw Amazon” and lock it out of the bid. Mattis didn’t do what Trump asked, Snodgrass wrote. Mattis has criticized the book, but hasn’t commented on the allegation concerning Amazon.

Dana Deasy, the Pentagon’s chief information officer, said during his confirmation hearing in late October that to the best of his knowledge, no one from the White


On Thursday, the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that rights to "Santa Claus is Coming to Town," the all-time most performed holiday song, will revert to the heirs of J. Fred Coots.

Coots, along with fellow songwriter Haven Gillespie, wrote the song in 1934 and made a deal with Leo Feist, who ran a publishing company that was eventually acquired by EMI.

If it was not for copyright term extensions, "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" would be in the public domain, which would come as a relief to the many musicians including Bruce Springsteen, Destiny's Child, Green Day, Justin Bieber, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and the Beach Boys who have made versions and pay royalties.

But thanks to amendments to copyright law, the song will be protected until 2029. This caseSeventy-five years after a distinguished Spitfire pilot crashed during a training flight over Cornwall, his remains have been finally found, identified and returned to his family to be laid to rest, an inquest heard.

Sqn Ldr Daniel Cremin, 25, was killed while testing new Spitfire planes on a clear moonlit night over the far south-west of Britain on 24 March 1942, the inquest in Truro was told.

His family were sent a sealed coffin purportedly carrying his remains and he was buried at Wardour Roman Catholic cemetery in Tisbury, Wiltshire.

But in June last year, Stuart Palmer, a metal detectorist, discovered the Australian-born pilot’s bones after digging down 4ft (1.2 metres) at the crash site near St Erth, Hayle.

Palmer called Devon and Cornwall police, who worked with the Ministry of Defence


and local archaeologists to recover the remains.

They were confirmed as those of Cremin after DNA testing with his son Mark, 78, who now believes that the original remains provided to the family were simply sandbags.

A second service was arranged at the Wiltshire cemetery and Cremin’s remains were interred in his original grave with military honours in November.

Describing the inquest as very interesting and unusual, Barrie van den Berg, the assistant coroner for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, found the pilot’s death had been accidental.

The coroner said: “Daniel Edward Cremin died as a result of a mid-air collision with another Spitfire. The death occurred at Frythens farm, St Erth, and his remains were only discovered 70-odd years later.

“The inquiry into his death makes it clear that the causeof death is an accident and the inquest is going to record that.”

The inquest heard Palmer, who researches crash sites from the second world war, contacted police at 10am on 26 June last year.

The detectorist had dug down at the farm and found human remains. Photographs of the remains were sent to experts, who confirmed that Palmer had discovered part of a pelvis.

The crash site was known and police contacted the MoD, who began investigating. On 27 July, further excavations took place and local archaeologists from Cornwall council discovered other bones.

Police took possession of the remains until DNA testing confirmed they were those of Cremin in September 2017.

DS Nigel Green, of Devon and Cornwall police, said records showed Cremin, in Spitfire AB462, took off from Portreath, where No


for 66 Squadron for the date of the crash.

It read: “Another Cornish spring day. Army cooperation flights, air to ground firing and cine-gun practice was carried out during the day together with routine patrols.

“Sqn Ldr Cremin and Sgt Norman practised dusk landings. They took off again at 21.20 hours on a clear moonlit night for night flying practice.

“They collided near St Erth and both were killed. The planes landed in adjacent fields and were burnt.

“The … evidence of a member of the local home guard who heard a crash and saw one plane spinning down points to the conclusion that they were formatting and hit in mid-air. They crashed at 22.05 hours.”

Cremin was born in Sydney in 1917 and enlisted with the Royal Australian Air Force in 1936.He was commissioned in the Royal Air Force two years later after being part of a pilot exchange scheme between Britain and Australia.

In 1938 he served in the Middle East, being promoted to flight lieutenant two years later. During that time, he met Patricia Whitemore near Cairo and they secretly married in 1939.

She returned to her family in Wiltshire when war broke out. Their son, Mark, was born in February 1940 but Cremin remained on duty in the Middle East.

He won a Distinguished Flying Cross in 1941 for his bravery during the siege of Habbaniya in Iraq. That Christmas, he was able to return to Wiltshire to be with his wife and meet his baby son but then went to Portreath in Cornwall.

The inscription on Cremin’s grave reads:


On June 24, the Turkish daily Cumhuriyet published the images of six Turkish citizens whose names appeared in the Panama Papers. With this simple announcement, the newspaper launched a series of reports on the “Panama’cı Türkler“. All six of the people mentioned were businessmen, and five of them had close or distant ties to Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Shortly after the pictures were published, the phone rang in the Cumhuriyet newsroom. Apparently, the man on the line was Mehmet Cengiz – one of the six businessmen who had appeared in the paper. Cengiz’s company is part of the conglomerate that is building Istanbul’s new airport. The Turkish president himself has been pushing the highly controversial, high profile project forward. Cengiz’s name also appeared in connection with a 2013corruption scandal that forced several ministers to resign.

According to Cumhuriyet, the man on the phone was very clear: “"You put my face on the front page, have you no shame? I will fight you (…) You sons of bitches, don't make a killer out of me.“ This could be, and perhaps should be, interpreted as a death threat – especially in Turkey, where critical journalists have faced sackings, lawsuits, or personal threats for years.

Shortly before Turkey’s parliamentary election in 2015, Cumhuriyet reported on the Turkish secret service’s arms deliveries to Syria. Since then, the daily has become a symbol in the fight for freedom of the press. At the time, the Turkish president personally pressed charges against the paper. A short time later, Can Dündar, the editor-in-chief, and


Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) research network, and the Süddeutsche Zeitung, Cumhuriyet reporters have spent recent weeks combing through the 2.6 terabytes of data to find tracks leading to Turkey.

Until now, the names of 13 current or former heads of state have appeared in the Panama Papers, as have countless relatives and friends of dozens of others. Iceland’s prime minister has already resigned, and revelations have weighed heavily on the prime minister of Pakistan and the president of Argentina.

In Turkey, direct hits have not been as close to the top: neither Turkish President Erdoğan nor Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım has appeared in the leaked Panama Papers documents. However, several powerful business leaders with close links to the AKP have. The party has been in power since 2002, and Erdoğan2002. The people in this group are referred to as the “Anatolian Tigers”. Today, many of them are among Turkey’s economic heavyweights. In some sectors, they have pushed out the old, Kemalist elite that dominated the country’s economy for decades.

Members of the Cengiz family regularly appear in the Forbes ranking of Turkey’s wealthiest. They have good relations with the governing AKP, and with Erdoğan himself. Like the president, the family is from Rize, a city on the Black Sea coast. Erdoğan University is located there, and Bilal Erdoğan, one of the president’s sons, sits on the advisory board of a charitable organization with Mehmet Cengiz.

In recent years, the scale of corruption has worsened

When the AKP came to power 14 years ago, it was elected because people hoped it


ceremony. Shortly after he entered office, Yıldırım dissolved an anti-corruption commission that his predecessor had founded. At the same time, hardly anyone expected the body to have any serious impact on corruption.

And yet corruption was rampant in Turkey long before the AKP. But in recent years, the scale of it has worsened, as the Turkish public became aware in 2013. At the time, determined public prosecutors launched a large-scale operation that saw dozens of people arrested, among them influential business people and three sons of ministers. It addressed illegal gold trading with Iran, bribery, and manipulated public tenders.

The affair shook the government to its core. On December 25, 2013, the prime minister ordered three ministers to step down, among them the minister of urban development. According to investigators,his son received bribes in exchange for building licenses and the awarding of public contracts. A few days later, Erdoğan dismissed another seven ministers, many of whom later faced accusations. One of them was Binali Yıldırım, the current AKP party leader and Turkey’s prime minister. According to investigators, Yıldırım, who was Turkey’s transport minister for many years, engaged in shady dealings when awarding contracts for the state railway. The accused denied any wrongdoing.

The scandal that unfolded in the public eye was not limited to a single company or politician. Rather, it represented the dismantling of the country’s political and economic leadership. Even Erdoğan came under fire. His son Bilal’s name appeared on an investigators’ list that was made public. The former prime minister’s son sits on the board


of a foundation that allegedly acquired public properties in Istanbul at a suspiciously low price. At the time, phone recordings appeared on the internet in which Erdoğan could apparently be heard telling his son to make millions disappear. The authenticity of the recordings has been questioned, and Erdoğan has dismissed them as a shameless smear campaign.

The real-life political thriller climaxed and ended at the very same time. There were no further arrests. Within a few months, the government had thousands of police officers, court employees, and public prosecutors either transferred or dismissed. Erdoğan equated the investigations to an attempted coup by his rival Fethullah Gülen, an Islamic preacher who lives in exile in the United States and has millions of supporters in Turkey, many of whom work forthe state apparatus. The eccentric building contractor and owner of the Rixos hotel chain has allegedly failed to declare his revenues or pay corporate taxes for almost a decade. The tax authorities have apparently granted him this privilege. In the Panama Papers, his name appears as the managing director and owner of several shell companies. He did not respond to SZ’s requests for comment. Tamince is said to be a good friend of the president.

Cihan Kamer, who earned his fortune with diamond trading, is another friend of Erdoğan’s. When the government exempted the diamond trade from the goods and services tax in 2004, one of his companies ostensibly benefited the most. Via a Mossack Fonseca shell company and a Panamanian foundation, Kamer held shares in companies and several


accounts at Swiss banks. He did not respond to SZ’s request for comment. Kamer also did business with Erdoğan’s son Burak and his wife Sema. The three of them were apparently partners at the Atagolf company.

Remzi Gür, a businessman in the textile sector, also maintains an excellent relationship with the president. Turkish media have reported that he financed the university educations of all Erdoğan’s children. In 2008, Gur was sentenced to ten years in prison after he was charged with bribing a politician. He has denied this, stating that he “hates corruption”. The sentence was reduced to a mild fine in 2010. In the Panama Papers, his name appears as the owner of a company called “Excel Energy Trading Limited”, and this could provide a decisive hint. Gurdid not respond to SZ’s request for comment.

As the 2013 corruption scandal was coming to light, the influence that AKP politicians and pro-government business leaders have over Turkey’s media landscape became clear.

Until 2013, Berat Albayrak – who also happens to be Erdoğan’s son in law – was CEO of a conglomerate that owned construction and energy companies, among other things. In 2015, he was elected to parliament with the AKP, and soon went on to become energy minister. Like many other companies, Çalık Holding also entered the media business. In 2008, the conglomerate purchased the ATV television network and Sabah, a Turkish newspaper. Within a very short time, the newspaper became the government’s mouthpiece. Sabah ATV was far from profitable, and Çalık generated a loss worth millions. But


the network served a convenient purpose: outlets that broadcast positive reports about the government increase their chances of being awarded lucrative contracts.

In 2013, Kaylon Group took over Sabah ATV. The network is owned by the Kalyoncu brothers, who are said to have close ties to Erdoğan. The conglomerate was awarded the tender to turn Taksim plaza into a shopping paradise – the project that the Gezi protests were against. Kalyon is also involved in the building of Istanbul’s new airport.

In 2013, the public prosecutors who tried to investigate the corruption scandal also had a close look at the sale of Sabah ATV. Police wiretap transcripts that were eventually leaked appeared to document conversations between Erdoğan, the Kayloncu brothers, and Çalık boss Albayrak. According to investigators, Erdoğan created a“pool” of sorts, into which allied business people paid to finance troubled pro-government media. In exchange, they may have received favors in the form of public contracts. Since then, the term “pool media” has had negative connotations in Turkey.

Mehmet Cengiz, the man who allegedly made a threatening phone call to Cumhuriyet, and whose name appears in the Panama Papers, apparently also appears in the wiretap transcripts. In one spot, he is talking to a business partner about what would happen if plans to finance such pool media were made public.

The answer is now well known: no one was prosecuted.

Collaborator: Pelin Ünker


150,000 vehicles in the U.S. today, according to the U.S. Department of Energy Alternative Fuels Data Center. The average price for compressed-natural gas is lower than petroleum, and some states offer tax incentives for switching to natural gas.

The proposed station would remain open 24 hours a day.

Weuve said the company started using natural gas in its trucks about a year ago.

"We've been pleased," he said. At the moment, the cost of diesel fuel is dropping, but that could change.

The project was developed by The Eastern Pennsylvania Alliance for Clean Transportation and funded by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.New water cycle on Mars discovered

by Staff Writers

Gottingen, Germany (SPX) May 10, 2019

Mars has lost much of its former amounts of water. Even today, hydrogen continues to escape into space. New calculations show how this is possible.

Approximately every two Earth years, when it is summer in the southern hemisphere of Mars, a window opens: only there and only in this season can water vapor efficiently rise from the lower into the upper atmosphere. There, winds carry the rare gas to the north pole. While part of the water vapor decays and escapes into space, the rest sinks back down near the poles.

Researchers from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology and the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (MPS) in Germany describe this unusual Martian water cycle


vapor twice a day - but only at a certain location and at a certain time of year.

The orbit of Mars plays a decisive role in this: its path around the Sun, which lasts about two Earth years, is much more elliptical than that of our planet. At the point closest to the Sun (which roughly coincides with the summer of the southern hemisphere), Mars is approximately 42 million kilometers closer to the Sun than at its furthest point. Summer in the southern hemisphere is therefore noticeably warmer than summer in the northern hemisphere.

"When it is summer in the southern hemisphere, at certain times of day water vapor can rise locally with warmer air masses and reach the upper atmosphere," says Dr. Paul Hartogh from MPS, summarizing theresults of the new study. In the upper atmospheric layers, air flows carry the gas along the longitudes to the north pole, where it cools and sinks down again. However, part of the water vapor escapes this cycle: under the influence of solar radiation, the water molecules disintegrate and hydrogen escapes into space.

Another Martian peculiarity can fortify this unusual hydrological cycle: huge dust storms that span the entire planet and repeatedly afflict Mars at intervals of several years. The last such storms occurred in 2018 and 2007 and were comprehensively documented by space probes orbiting Mars. "The amounts of dust swirling through the atmosphere during such a storm facilitate the transport of water vapor into high air layers," says Dr. Alexander Medvedev from MPS.

The researchers calculated that during


the dust storm of 2007 twice as much water vapor reached the upper atmosphere as during a stormless summer in the southern hemisphere. Since the dust particles absorb sunlight and thus heat up, the temperatures in the entire atmosphere rise by up to 30 degrees. "Our model shows with unprecedented accuracy how dust in the atmosphere affects the microphysical processes involved in the transformation of ice into water vapor," explains Dmitry Shaposhnikov of the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, first author of the new study.

"Apparently, the Martian atmosphere is more permeable to water vapor than that of the Earth," Hartogh concludes. "The new seasonal water cycle that has been found contributes massively to Mars' continuing loss of water."

"Seasonal Water 'Pump' in the Atmosphere of Mars: Vertical TransportParamount Previews ‘Star Trek Into Darkness,’ ‘World War Z,’ and “Pain And Gain’ for Theater Owners in Las Vegas

Movie Talk

Mark DemingApril 16, 2013

The cast of 'Star Trek Into Darkness' at CinemaCon

While DVD, Blu-Ray, cable, Video On Demand and streaming services comprise a large and growing portion of the movie business, the biggest and most prestigious share of the market still belongs to theatrical release, and the major studios are always eager to get on the good side of the folks who own and run America's multiplexes.

Anyone looking for proof need only look to Las Vegas, where CinemaCon, the annual convention of the National Association of Theater Owners (NATO), kicked off Monday at Caesar's Palace. The highlight of Monday's events was a star-studded presentation from Paramount Pictures, who took


the opportunity to show off some major upcoming releases, with several noted actors, writers, and directors on hand to talk up the product.

Paramount's extravaganza, hosted by Vice Chairman Rob Moore, began with Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Alice Eve, and John Cho taking the stage to show off eighteen minutes of highlights from "Star Trek Into Darkness," the upcoming sequel to 2009's wildly successful reboot of the "Stark Trek" franchise. While director J.J. Abrams was reportedly too busy overseeing final post-production details to attend (the movie opens in just over a month), screenwriter Damon Lindelof joined the actors, and discussed how story and characters have evolved from the first film.

Pine said Captain Kirk will deal with bigger challenges here, declaring, "In the first film, Kirk got the chair aWar Z" was a crash course in zombie lore and legend: "Four years ago I knew nothing about Zombies but now I consider myself an expert," he said.

Pitt then introduced several clips from the movie, some in 3D and some in 2D. Exhibitors got to watch several zombie attacks, a siege on Jerusalem, and a sequence where the zombies attack the living trapped aboard an airliner. While "World War Z" reportedly went significantly over schedule and over budget, those at CinemaCon were said to be impressed with what was screened.

And while the previous guests showed bits of upcoming films and tried to butter up the theater owners on hand, Michael Bay opted to show a whole movie and speak his mind about his work and reputation. Bay screened


"Pain and Gain," his new action comedy in which Mark Wahlberg and Dwayne Johnson play a pair of body builders turned kidnappers. While the stars couldn't make it to Vegas, Wahlberg and Johnson did appear in a greeting taped for the occasion, plugging the movie's April 26 release.

Bay, however, seemed defensive, reminding his audience, "I've been helping to fill your theaters for more than a decade." Bay also declared that "Pain and Gain" was intended to be a personal, "small" movie after years of facing criticism that he was only capable of massive special effects epics such as the "Transformers" pictures. That didn't mean Bay wasn't willing to plug such future, non-personal productions as "Transformers 4" and the "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" reboot.

As if to confirm that biggeris generally considered better at CinemaCon, Paramount also announced a five-film partnership with IMAX as the big screen format becomes a growing force for box office returns. And the studio also dropped a few more big names, showing brief clips from a number of other works in progress, such as "Anchorman 2," "Paranormal Activity 5," Martin Scorsese's "The Wolf Of Wall Street," Jason Reitman's "Labor Day," and Alexander Payne's "Nebraska."


The roles and responsibilities of the medical staff organization.
The increasing complexity of hospitals and the emergence of corporate responsibility calls for greater trust amongst the Board, Administration and Medical Staff. Physicians will play a more important role in the hospital decision-making process. Boards will expect the medical staff organization to better define and monitor processes for physician credentialling, evaluation, peer review and discipline. Because these issues are complex and sensitive, only the organized medical staff can appropriately address them. Clarification of roles and responsibilities of the President of the Medical Staff, the Chief of Staff and the medically qualified administrative officer is crucial in the development of appropriate relationships and processes.query the database as the current procedure I am using is not very efficient:
Order the categories by the amount of entries in each category:
SELECT CATEGORY, COUNT(CATEGORY) FROM FRUIT GROUP BY CATEGORY ORDER BY COUNT(CATEGORY);

Then for each category I list the relevant series in order of the series:
SELECT SERIES, COUNT(SERIES) FROM FRUIT WHERE CATEGORY = [current category] GROUP BY SERIES ORDER BY SERIES;

What would be the most efficient way to query the database (Preferably a single SQL statement) in order to get the desired output?

A:

Some shorter version:
select category, series, CntS
from (
  select  distinct count(category) over (partition by category) cntC,
   count(series)  over (partition by category, series ) cntS,
   category, series
from fruit   ) Tab
order by CntC desc, cntS desc;


A member of the notorious MS-13 gang has been sentenced for murdering 14 year old Ariana Funes-Diaz back in spring of 2019.

On October 30, Josue Fuentes-Ponce pleaded guily to charges of first-degree murder, participating in the crime as part of a criminal gang, and conspiracy to commit murder.

Prosecutors said that Josue and other gang members lured the young girl into a tunnel, where they proceeded to beat her with bats before cutting her with a machete.

Fox News reports:

“These individuals had demonstrated violent criminal behavior before, and because they were released in spite of the lawful detainer, they were afforded an opportunity to take a life.” ICE Baltimore Field Office Director Diane Witte previously said in the statement.

Investigators say Fuentes-Ponce and three other gang members attack the victim toprevent her from informing police about a robbery they had taken part in a day prior.

Fuentes-Ponce reportedly used a machete during the attack that was so violent, police needed to use a tattoo on her right hand to identify her body, according to NBC Washington.

Her family reported her missing before she was found floating in a creek last May — nearly a month after she was killed — the outlet said.

The Baltimore Sun says that the gang members committed the attack to prevent the young girl from telling authorities about a previous crime committed by the group.

The teens were afraid Ariana would tell authorities about a kidnapping and robbery the group committed hours earlier, Prince George’s County police said.

Americans concerned for the security of the country are quickly


them lunches.

Wes finally had a complete family. His first words were “Mama! Fing!” due to Ruben’s frequent reminders around him that Star-Bringer was “doing the thing” again. He played a great deal with the souls of children in the Castle Under the Sea and spent a lot of time listening to their stories and how they died; and later sharing them with his family when he had the words for it. He turned out to be an apt helper and very insistent that things be done in the right order. He inherited daddy’s shine; and he spent much of his time with his mother making the stars twinkle. She started occasionally taking him to her place in the sky, where he listened intently to what the stars hadproved too stable for her tastes…

In which the dust settles

Ra wakened, saw that all creation had become foreign to him, and stopped the evening. He called each of the Netjer to order, including Sebamiewet, Abirakhet (who was brought back to life by Isis at Ra’s bidding), Iahkemet, Djedferen, Mesnehnef, and even Ahu. They gathered in Meten-Khai-Ra, tense, waiting. Ra called them in one-by-one, asking each of them to relay their stories about what had happened.

Abirakhet was among the first to be questioned. When he emerged, the utter awe in his expression still lingered. He was dazed when Sebamiewet saw him, and continued to be dazed as time went on. Eventually Sebamiewet was called. Ra invited her into his holy demense and sat her down.

“Sebamiewet. Last time I saw


to speak with every last one of the Netjer. Once that was finished, he emerged from his demense and began handing out assignments. Many were familiar, but changed to accommodate the functions of the New World. Sebamiewet was tasked with learning the history of the stars. Abirakhet was tasked with guarding Ra’s body at night alongside Set; but he would remain alive and active during the day. Iahkemet was to continue her duties with the dead in the Castle Under the Sea. Djedferen was to collect and record the Ren of all things. Mesnehnef was stripped of his powers and left to live the rest of his life as he saw fit. Ahu was not given any tasks, but told to report to Ra at his majority of15 years of age.

They were sent out immediately to begin their assignments. With that, the day finally dawned.

Ragnarök ended, as all things must.

When it was over, they regrouped. Sigyn sought her boys which she had hidden away from the eyes of the world, and brought them back with her. Those who remained went to Idavollr, led by Vidar and Vali the elder. There they found Baldur, Nanna, and Hod waiting for them. They discussed many things: Ragnarök, the runes, and what to do now.

The Vanir — Njord, Freya, Hnoss, Gersmi, and Frigg — were released from their ties to the Aesir. They decided to return to Vanaheim. Ken offered to lead them home; they readily accepted his offer.

Lif and Lifthrasir emerged from Hodmimis Holt and beheld with awe


the renewed World. Abundance waited for them; so they settled in and started on their destiny.

Quipatlatl

Ezmamacateotl

Mahquipia

Ichtacahuazinatl

Necalli

Teyolloihuicac

Shortly after Tlilocelotlpilli met his final fate, every last one of the Teotl (save Huitzilopochtli) gathered together for a council, including Necalli, Ezmamacateotl, Mahquipia, Ichtacahuazinatl, and Quipatlatl’s children.

Together, they helped shape the Sixth World, and sought to find a leader for it, someone suitable to drive the sun across the sky. Quipatlatl, who had successful leadership experience with not one but two nations, embodied the nature of teotl, and exemplified the values of the Teotl, not to mention had successfully secured an alliance with the deadly Tzitztimitl, was by far the most qualified. She accepted the mantle as the Sixth Sun.

However, she would require power to get that far, just as Huitzilopochtli had.So the Teotl began to discuss proper sacrificial rites.

Ezmamacateotl stepped to the fore, stating that calling upon the people to sacrifice the amount that the Teotl would require would irrevocably destroy the people and collapse the Teotl. Instead, he volunteered himself, willingly agreeing to have his throat cut and be hung upside down so that he may bleed out for as long as they need him to. After much conferring, the Teotl agreed. Subdued, Mahquipia offered to guard her husband’s body and blood and tend to the temple.

That arranged, Quipatlatl freed the Found of their obligations to the Teotl. Ichtacahuazinatl would no longer be called upon by the Teotl; Necalli was freed from his betrothal; and Teyolloihuicac would be returned to where his soul belonged.

Amphipyra

Lysandra

Zeus stormed in to


organizing and tending to those who had brought back all of the old gods.

Zeus accepted this and told her to make her case.

Lysandra defended Amphipyra, citing that her place in the cosmos was to carry out retribution at any and all costs to those who ask of it. She called Amphipyra to state what her experience of retribution was. She also called various witnesses to Amphipyra’s vengeful fury, including when she had been called upon to slay Athena. Said witnesses also reported that Ares had claimed the kill for himself.

With the evidence stacked against Ares, Zeus acquitted Amphipyra quickly and ruled that Ares was at fault and sentenced him to execution, and Phobos, Deimos, and Enyo to eternal imprisonment in Tartarus.

After the trial, Aphrodite approached Zeus, begging himto have mercy on her children. Zeus expressed his condolences, but firmly stated that he would not go back on his word. Defeated, Aphrodite and her remaining children returned to the sea, asking Triton if he would allow Adonis to go with her. Triton accepted, and together they left to start a new home.

Artemis, knowing that she had chosen exile, wandered the World until she’d found Apollo. She persuaded him to join her in wandering the cosmos, unbound by the thorny political and social ties of the Theoi; and he accepted.

Later, Zeus met with Ra to reestablish their age-old alliance.

Sweeping Day came.

Clinging to the boughs of the springy but strong young Aspen, the Bogovi experienced the cosmos being swept together, crushed, kneaded, and remolded. They were not spared,


Farther.

Bakersfield’s wall was right there in front of him. The jungle was pulling back, trickling away.

Another step.

His foot caught on a root.

He tumbled. Hit the ground.

Lightning split through his belly.

Solid darkness flickered from him. He’d been impaled on it.

Blood trickled down his legs.

His heart dropped. Broke.

Alejo’s snarl faded. Lips falling slowly back into place over his white teeth. Eyes going wide. Then he let go, his hands shaking.

Back in the jungle. Right in front of his face were some of his insides. Strung over a plant and some roots, jutting out of the ground.

Vision.

He had to make it back.

He pushed himself up. Roared in Russian at the agony, daring it to get worse, daring it to try and take him down. His elbows trembled. He dragged a kneeblurbles that Derrick hadn’t gotten to see in the last few weeks.

MorevukaA few hours pass. Dovile has to talk to the Lord Stribog for an hour and a half and swear an oath before leaving Domobog. She fades into the shadows infront of the library and then walks in. A few twisted minutes later, there is a gentle knock on the door of Sanura’s sitting room.

Star-BringerSanura rises and closes her ‘photo album’ as she walks to the door and then opens it up. She -almost- hugs Dovile then steps back to allow the other woman to enter the room unmolested. She gives a faint smirk “it’s good to see you” she greets with her level of enthusiasm set down to reasonable.

MorevukaDovile looks at her, dark golden eyes under


crossed from them, seeking the morning and evening stars.

Below, the prophet closed each of the four folios scattered around him and gathered them together under an arm. Impact rippled through the earth and a wave of soil pattered at the boulder at his back.

Silvery starmetal rippled and surged forth, its rolling guided by an unseen hand into the beginnings of some kind of shape. Some pushed forward ahead of the rest, drawing itself long and narrow. More began to gather at the tip, spreading wide.

And then a hand grasped it.

Another ripple pushed through.

Starmetal grasped around the hand, fingers gripping. Color swept from where the palms met, and the silver drew back from it, revealing the form that had sought shape.

— Welcome back, my Lord.

Eyes opened, blinking. Ears shifted.a smile pressed at the edge of his mouth.

— It is a good thing you are so useful, Svantovit, otherwise I would smite you.

— I thought it was because you loved me for my wit and charm and good looks.

More humor seeped in, like the heat of a forge. The smile faded in favor of matter-of-factness.

— Do not forget punctuality.

The prophet tilted his head as if in concession.

— Thank you, my Lord. That too.

— Ah, Svantovit. It does my heart good to see you.

Her heart ached at the sight of him.

A bright smile dawned over his features, smooth and youthful. Happiness as clear as a spring sun was a-bloom, from him and around him, chasing back the apprehensive fog that had crept in around the edges.

His gentle hands


cupped his girls’ faces in turn, and brought their brows to his smiling lips. His arms encircled their shoulders and he hugged them close to him.

It was as if he had never been missing. Watching him, all things were right again, and all troubles would fade and be forgotten.

Dazhbog released his girls and reached to her. Sweet words waited on his tongue, a sweet kiss waited on his mouth.

As their lips parted, trouble waited in the spring’s aching heart. Trouble which would not be forgotten.

Could she leave this behind? He loved her. He was gentle, warm, kind, cheerful, bright, and had not wronged her or their daughters once. Nor would he.

And yet… she had been wronged.

Their girls’ brightness dimmed. Concern clouded his brow and covered his lips.

— MyDroplets like a budding rain sprinkled over him.

She was crying.

He knew what to do now.

— Moshka… my darling… come here…

He found his arms and enfolded her. She buried her face in his chest and settled into his hug, trembling with her sobs. He pulled the quiet about him like a thick cloud. All he had to do was ensure that his noise didn’t leak out.

It was being… difficult. Moreso than usual, that was. He had been gone? Where’d he been? Where where they? Where was Dub? What language was the sky speaking? What had happened?

And was that a 2006 Alfa Romeo Spider?

No. Quiet and still. It was once an eon Moshka needed this from him. He would do this, and he would do it well.

Milky white drifted across


the bright, clear blue. Damp winds carried the scent of dewed blooms. Chirping and chattering, bellows and whispers, tentatively began to drift through the air. It was spring. Mid-morning. Nearby, hearthfires chattered to him like the prickling of hair standing on end.

Eventually the shivering and shaking enclosed by his arms began to calm to mild aftershocks.

Now it was safe to start asking questions. Probably.

Something dark crouched at the edge of the crater, just at the edge of view.

— Lady Mokosh, pardon the interruption, but we are mounting the wrong end.

The voice, while as low and whispery as ever, was very near now, rolling down the sides of the crater.

Mokosh began shaking again, hard.

Veles.

Of all the lowest things he could—

Mokosh lifted her face. More tears rolled down her cheeks,The last of the fire just finished melting off of the horizon. The garden of Denmark is a plethoria of greens, but most of the blooms are still sleeping, even with the mild winter.
Inside, Moe is at work, and the hum and smells of a busy kitchen are wafting through the house.
The kitchen is in country style, heavy iron pots on the sides, vases full of flowers on the long, pale wood island counters. The curtains are light blue and white, and the river is visible under the laterns glistering to life. Family pictures (Moe’s memories) are hung, almost like scattered dropplets from the wing of a water bird. Moe must be feeling cozy today.
Dovile eases out of the shadows behind the fire-tools on the mantle. “Good evening.”


Lady Baker had sent word to Senbast, Galen, and Ruben. They all gathered together in short order, quickly laid out a plan, and started forth on solving the problem. Senbast wove a spell of protection and concealment on town hall, Ruben flew Hector straight to MaMa, and Galen flew Phobos to Isaiah Tooley. Morevuka updated Ken on all these events.

Ken found the governer well protected and none the wiser. He quickly informed her what was going on and instructed her not to leave the building until he says it’s okay. She quickly sent word out to the rest of her staff to do the same. He went back to Captain Maria to keep apprised of the situation.

It wasn’t long before Ruben, covered in blood, returned with MaMa’s headHe stated he was still too angry to think of an appropriate consequence — but he knew that he was never going to let her out of his sight again. The Mother of the Lost expressed that was enough of a consequence for Ginger.

Finally, Ken returned to Ginger and asked her why she stole his powers. She mentioned how she really wanted them for a long time, because all the cool people who have them get to go places and do things. Eventually it surfaced that this was partly about feeling powerless when Gianna was wounded. Ken explained to Ginger the nature of power and responsibility, and then told her that he’s going to be supervising her. If she wants to rebuild trust, she’ll have to stay with


soon be lost to her hunger. In desperation, she shaped a new Bakersfield, one which looked the same but was utterly emptied of people, appearing as if it had been abandoned, in the hopes that she would wander lost within it, guided by neither lantern light nor moon nor stars, until dawn came.

This is Elsewhere.

It was not enough.

She-Who-Hungers, though unable to leave, saw that there was nothing around to eat and cast the emptiness out like a net and drew it to herself. Young children felt this call most keenly and journeyed to and through the many doors that led to Elsewhere, and wandered the empty streets at the bidding of their searching hunger.

Among these children were Summer and Leliana. They recognized the dark, oily shadows around themand knew that something was amiss. So Summer called to her fellows with a voice like young spring thunder, breaking them of their trance, and Leliana lit the way with hair of fire to guide them to her. Together they traversed Bakersfield, seeking the lost children. When they had found them all, Leliana called upon her peerless memory to return to the door that had taken them there in the first place.

But the shadows were growing thicker. They had been found, and were being pursued.

Meanwhile, the waters spoke to Galen of something deeply wrong. He sought his brothers, and the three of them conferred about what to do. Ruben knew that they should seek the Drowned King, but knew not why. Galen knew that there was something strange


afoot with She-Who-Hungers, but knew not what. And Senbast was drawn somewhere, but knew not exactly where. So the three of them started by seeking an audience with the Drowned King in the Castle Under the Sea. Indeed, when they told him of their presentiments, he heeded them — it was a new moon evening and his wife had been out of the castle for some time. He strapped on his boots of soil and followed the brothers to Bakersfield, where Senbast led them to the door.

There the lost children were gathered. Summer and Leliana stepped through not long after, and, seeing their brothers, told them what had happened. The Drowned King stepped boldly forth into Elsewhere and lured She-Who-Hungers back to the Castle Under the Sea withhis blood, where he kept her until dawn when she returned to herself.”

So Ken and Ginger awaited dawn before approaching She-Who-Hungers, and he offered to make it harder for hapless wanderers to simply wander into Elsewhere. He also offered to close the doors utterly to Elsewhere to She-Who-Hungers. She-Who-Hungers, though uneasy about the thought of Elsewhere, declined the offer — after all, if others were safe, it would be a good place for her to go when she was overcome by hunger. So, together Ken and Ginger sought all the doors to Elsewhere in Bakersfield and made it so that there would be a greater chance the door would send them somewhere else. For extra assurance, Ken also placed “door chimes” through Elsewhere, in case someone did somehow


mad. It turned out that Ginger and Coyote’s triplets had gotten her drunk and shaved her tail while she was sleeping. True to form, Ken asked her what consequence she thought appropriate. Sekhmet stated that execution was most appropriate. Ken negotiated her down from that, and eventually Sekhmet was willing to settle for the severing of the hand which did the deed. Ken asked Ginger if she thought that was fair. She said no. He asked her if she had any better ideas. She was at a complete loss, unused to punishing herself. So Ken agreed to Sekhmet’s demands, provided he would be the one to chop Ginger’s hand off. In a panic, Ginger was ready to run — but Ken opened a pathway from her mind toshe was uncomfortable with the way Ken handled things, she couldn’t think of anything better. So in the hopes that Ginger would choose her targets with a more discerning eye, she gave Ginger a book about the gods.

And then there was the sound of blazing fire, and a loud explosion. A crater was blown where Mama’s Shoe, with Angela in the middle, dazed and thoughtful, surrounded by the hurt and the dead.

From there, Angela — Fury — went to Danmairge. She began to call out to the Swan Maiden, but the Swan Maiden had already sensed that she’d had a guest and arrived just in time to greet her. When she saw it was Fury, however, she pulled up short. The two of them stared at each other


before Fury decided that she wanted to spend time with her family more than she wanted to not be embarrassed, so she spent the evening expressing all the emotions.

Later, Star-Bringer went about choosing a permanent lucky star for Fury.

Fated to Fall

Five years to the day of the Drowned King’s and She-Who-Hunger’s wedding, the Tuatha marched off to war against Cethlenn’s and Lir’s forces.

Prior to that, Mannanán mac Lir and Fand had approached the Drowned King and asked him to house their daughters, his half-sisters. He agreed, and they bound them to him with a geas.

For the days leading up to the deployment, the Morrígan had sought each of the Tuatha, save the Meaige, those among the Found, and Manannán mac Lir’s daughters, and wordlessly took their clothes andwashed them with the aid of the Meaige. Finally, when that was done, the Morrígan removed her own clothing and presented them to her daughter to wash.

Ken and Ginger were nowhere to be found for the week surrounding the time the Tuatha were marching off to war.

Star-Bringer bestowed her blessings upon the Dagda, Ogma, Brigid, and Manannán mac Lir before they left.

A year and a day later, their Fate came upon them. The Tuatha gathered together, divesting their power utterly unto the Morrígan, becoming as mortals in the process. Lugh and Nuada returned to find their kin in war, and immediately joined the fray. Together, the Morrígan, Lugh, and Nuada sought Cethlenn, and together they managed to bring her down. But they each were lost, and the others


asked Ken on behalf of Frigg, who offered some of his own tears for her. Humbly, Frigg thanked them and continued on her journey.

Fimbulwinter

With the death of Baldur, the Aesir had grown grim. A funeral was held to send Baldur to Helheim, during which Nanna threw herself upon the pyre. Hod was detained, his sentencing awaiting Frigg’s return.

The World descended into the coldest global winter it had experienced to date. Ken, noticing this was occurring, went to every community he could find to let them know that the winter was only going to get colder and harsher and that he was willing to bring everyone to a safer place. Together, him and Ginger began to move towns and cities to near Bakersfield.

Svarozhich Awakens

Svarozhich awakened from his very long(for he was unable to find the rest of Horus). Ken introduced himself and informed Osiris that his family had sent him to find him. He then asked if Osiris would like a ride back. Osiris accepted, and was quickly brought to Meten-Khai-Ra.

Morevuka send word along to Sun-Bearer, who went to break Star-Bringer out of her trance. The other Netjer began flocking to Osiris.

His job done, Ken went to find Ginger (who was utterly excited to see him). The two of them were curious about events, so they unintrusively eavesdropped from afar.

Nephthys was the first to approach Osiris, by far. She was very formal with him, but asked to touch Horus’s head. He allowed her to, presenting the head, and she stroked Horus’s brow, utterly reserved but for


the resigned sorrow in her eyes. Then she turned away and sought some distance as the others approached.

Isis was the next to arrive. Upon seeing Horus’s head, her demeanor closed up instantly. Osiris saw this and touched her face. She opened up just enough to put her hand over his, but soon drew away and took her place by his side.

Soon it was known that Horus was beyond Isis’s abilities to fix. His head had been bitten off by some crocodile beast, and the rest of his body could not be found — presumably eaten. He’d been dead for some time, and being as how his heart, lungs, stomach, and intestines could not be found, Anubis could not call upon his spirit to ask questions. Horus was welland truly lost to oblivion.

Morevuka sought the moist, dark earth for answers. Its response: “The Lord Father decreed that the Bogovi would not get involved in foreign politics.” She apologized and withdrew her assistance to Star-Bringer and Sun-Bearer.

A funeral was held for Horus. She-Who-Hungers and the Drowned King were both invited to attend, which they did. Star-Bringer and Sun-Bearer also attended, but Star-Bringer was troubled by the fact that whatever it was had killed Horus was still unknown and at large; and, moreover, that this clearly meant that the Netjer would not be able to find the stability they had before. Sun-Bearer agreed — they would have to find a new balance. Star-Bringer decided to approach the Mother of the Lost about whatever it was that had killed


be a suitable sun for the time being, and he could continue to do what he had been doing since before Set arrived. But she also expressed that Ares’s involvement only serves to confirm her suspicions about Set intending to turn this to violence. The best thing they can do is not play into Set’s plans. She advised Sun-Bearer to surround himself with capable people whom he trusted while he carried out his duties across the sky. Star-Bringer offered to join Sun-Bearer, but he expressed trepidation for the same reasons as when they were discussing her living with the Found at the first sign of violence. She decided to get started right away on commissioning Sun-Bearer’s lucky star, staying with the Found while she began her communion withthe starry sky.

The Theoi

Immediately after, Star-Bringer went to the Mother of the Lost and demanded to know if she had known this would happen. The Mother of the Lost offered Star-Bringer much sympathy and explained that her trust in the Mother of the Lost would be shaken a great deal in the days to come. But, as she had said before, Ra will come back and set things right.

From there, Star-Bringer asked about how the Theoi were involved, what their involvement in this burgeoning political conflict would look like and entail. It was then Galen arrived astride his pegasus. The Mother of the Lost suggested to Star-Bringer that he might know something.

It turned out that Hera had attempted to talk Ares down but failed. Star-Bringer, alerted to this,


Theoi had lost their credibility — if they truly wished to honor their allegiance with the Netjer, they would join him. Athena refused, stating that the Theoi are to remain neutral. Ares then challenged her right to leadership, and suggested that they engage in single combat until one of them cannot continue fighting. Cornered, Athena agreed.

They fought, and Ares scored many minor wounds on Athena which began to wear on her after some time. However, she managed to wound him seriously. Panicked, Ares pulled back and quickly called upon Fury’s vengeance. Fury attempted to talk Ares down, but he demanded and the cosmos called to her.

Fury, unable to turn away, brought the full force of her retribution upon Athena. Athena was promptly killed.

Ashamed of his cowardice, Ares claimedthat those who had been protecting him before will continue to protect him, and she has already woven her own magical protections upon him. Isis also offered to arrange regular meetings between Sun-Bearer and Star-Bringer, with Ruben continuing to act as chaperone.

(Ruben crossed his arms and said, pleased, “‘Chaperone.’ I could get used to that.”)

With her husband’s help, Star-Bringer decided that she would spend until the 18-week mark of her pregnancy (when her child could hear her voice) in communion with the stars, and then arrange for meetings after that. She asked Ruben if he would mind visiting Sun-Bearer in her stead. He did not object; and neither did Isis. Then Star-Bringer and Sun-Bearer parted with a goodbye kiss, and Star-Bringer returned to her cosmic duties.

Civil War

Set issued


they proved no match for the four war gods. They were subdued and captured, only barely managing to allow Sun-Bearer to escape.

Isis did not deliver; Qebesuenef was killed and his body mutilated and destroyed, thus ensuring he could not rise again. Set issued his next ultimatum: deliver Ra’s body or he will kill Monthu.

Once more Sun-Bearer appealed to Isis. She believed that Set was bluffing: these were powerful cosmic forces he was holding hostage, and not even he would risk disrupting the cosmos.

Desperate, Sun-Bearer came up with a plan to undercut the entire civil war.

The Sun Sets

Two weeks before the specified 18-week mark, Ruben and Angel approached Star-Bringer, breaking her once more from her communion. Angel proceeded to do a routine check-up, during which Ruben made smalltalk.

“How’d itordeal, and offered to watch in her place among the stars. He agreed to this, partially for her sake and partially for his own.

While among the stars, Star-Bringer turned from them to observe the proceedings. As she looked at the world below, she beheld Ra’s glory, beautiful and ineffable and grander than anything in the cosmos, any star in the sky. It was then she knew that he would rise and set things aright.

Unable to focus on anything but Ra in her place in the stars, Star-Bringer decided instead to shift her attention to her husband’s experience of events through their mind link.

Senbast was sent to Set; Set agreed to the initial terms.

When the meeting time came, Set summoned Sun-Bearer via the Ren of his eye. Sun-Bearer composed


Under the Sea. Through She-Who-Hungers’s eyes, she was able to behold Sun-Bearer’s soul. She spent the entire night there, and the entire second night, before returning to the stars.

Disowned

Glutted on victory, Ares returned to the Theoi with Phobos, Deimos, and Enyo, expecting that a place would be waiting for him there. Hera turned him out, firmly reiterating her decree. Stunned, betrayed, and hurt, Ares and his children left in search of Zeus.

Is It Over Yet?

Shortly after the resolution of the Netjer civil war, Morevuka notified Ken of the events that had occurred. He and Ginger returned to Bakersfield to check in on Star-Bringer to offer morale support. However, as they talked to her, Ginger grew increasingly upset and agitated. Star-Bringer extended empathy and support — and Ginger, realizingbut prior to that Loki thrashed in agony, causing violent earthquakes.

Morevuka carefully gossiped (and did NOT offer intel) about this turn of events to Ken, who set a course for Loki right away.

How the Mighty Fall

One day, a black meteor fell out of the sky and crashed just outside of Bakersfield, causing an earthquake. A rain of blood followed it.

Black Sun rose from the crater, severely wounded, and snarled at the sky before disappearing.

Ruben and Resolve appeared not long after. After some quick discussion, Ruben volunteered to seek out Black Sun, and told Resolve to stay home. She reluctantly agreed. He reported in to the Mother of the Lost briefly, grabbed Hector, and started off to go find where the mad god had gone.

The Proposal

Huitzilopochtli, restored to his


place as the Fifth Sun and King of the Teotl, approached the Mother of the Lost to begin negotiations for La Dama’s hand in marriage, offering a large bride price.

Though La Dama and Huitzilopochtli had been raising Summer and Leliana together and seeing each other for four years, nothing had been mentioned to the Mother of the Lost about marriage. She relayed the message to La Dama, who was caught utterly off-guard and very uncertain and uneasy about the suddenness of this proposal. The Mother of the Lost told Huitzilopochtli to come back later after La Dama had a chance to process and come to a decision. Huitzilopochtli accepted this as a matter of course and left.

He returned the next day with a larger bride price. Once morethe Mother of the Lost put him off; and he returned the next day with an even larger bride price.

La Dama decided to take it upon herself to discuss this with Huitzilopochtli. However, while she tried to work out whether or not marriage was right for them, he would not speak of anything except the bride price. They both only grew angrier and angrier at each other; and La Dama was getting more and more alarmed at his sudden forcefulness. Finally, La Dama broke off the relationship.

Enraged, Huitzilopochtli rose his hand as if to strike her. Summer, having been drawn to the argument, jumped in between Huitzilopochtli and her mother. Resolve, sensing that Summer was in danger, moved the earth to get to her and saw Huitzilopochtli poised


to strike.

He stopped himself, but Resolve promptly took La Dama, Summer, and Leliana back to the Mother of the Lost. There they stayed; and La Dama decided for her and her daughters’ safety to never return to Acopa while Huitzilopochtli was in charge. Resolve decided to stay with them for an indefinite period of time.

Later, after Star-Bringer was broken of her communion of the stars, she expressed sympathy to La Dama but was glad for the company.

Tooth and Nail

Galen approached the Mother of the Lost, expressing that he felt strongly that she needed him for something. She instructed him to wait at a specific spot outside of Bakersfield because Ruben was going to return. He did so immediately, without questioning.

Early that evening, Ruben did indeed return, mortally wounded,his entrails spilling through his hands. Galen wasted no time in taking him to Angel for healing; Ruben told him to call for a family meeting pronto.

That night, the Found gathered in the dinner hall and Ruben reported what had happened.

He had in fact found Black Sun: he had created a den of darkness and madness to sit and seethe and plan. By the time Ruben got to him, he was conferring with Malinalxochitl about waging war on Huitzilopochtli. They reached an accord — Malinalxochitl had spent a long time carefully gathering resources and an army to do just that, and Black Sun had a great deal of power himself.

After Malinalxochitl left, Ruben attempted to talk to Black Sun, to appeal to the Alejo in him, so that


he might turn away from this course of action. At this, Black Sun grew enraged and attacked Ruben. He managed to barely escape with his life and began to limp home to inform everyone else of what had occurred.

However, on his way home, Hector saw that he was mortally wounded and bided his time until it looked as if Ruben would collapse. Then he took the opportunity to try and kill him. Ruben was forced to kill Hector and had to drag himself the rest of the way home.

After giving his report, Ruben stated that he’d be returning to Black Sun as soon as possible after cramming his face full of food.

Throughout all this, Resolve listened silently, stonefaced. When Ruben stated his intention to leave, she spoke up.

“I’mLady Baker assured her that she would take the appropriate measures.

The End Times

As Ken traversed the World, he found it inhospitably cold, torn by earthquakes and thoroughly destructive natural disasters back-to-back. All those who had remained behind were now dead, and even the fearsome beasts that had populated the World were now at the mercy of the forces of nature.

Fire giants swarmed from Muspelheim, their armies gathering on the frozen ground of Earth.

The Aesir, knowing their time had come, began to mobilize.

In Bakersfield and Maciticaaltepetl, the sky began to rain blood and gore and body parts throughout the day.

Bond Busting

Realizing that more time had passed than he’d initially thought, Ken stopped his journey in Muspelheim and asked Morevuka to relay to Yesen that he would be sleeping. Morevuka


you.”

Ken waited until he’d lost the game of Go, bid farewell, and then went to Loki to cut through his son’s entrails. Yesen had been waiting there for him, chatting with the two of them casually. Ken checked one last time to make sure that Loki was consenting to his bonds being broken. With a fire in his eyes (that wasn’t from the venom) he confirmed.

Thus freed, Loki shapeshifted and left. Sigyn, stunned, uncertain of what to do, asked Ken to take care of the bowl of venom for her. He agreed, and she went off to find her husband. Ken turned to Yesen and asked if she thought it was safe to maybe dump it in the river, thought twice, and left the bowl on a nearbyknowing what to say. “The only recourse is to order your execution.”

Yesen bowed once more and looked the Lord Father straight in the face with unflinching defiance in her eyes.

“Dobrozhe. The hammer.”

Stonefaced, Dobrozhe looked to his father and summoned The Lady between his hands. She blazed, hungry.

He rubbed his temples, looked at Yesen, and said, “Do you have any final words?”

She said nothing.

Svarozhich ordered Yesen to kneel, which she did, and then ordered Dobrozhe forward and gave him a nod. Dobrozhe, completely unreadable, touched the head of his hammer to the back of Yesen’s head. He held it there, perhaps a moment to long in hesitation, took a deep breath, swung up, and brought the hammer down.

There was a flash, a bang…

And then there was a seed on


in counsel with Yesen. And then they began planting and tending to the Seed of the World Tree.

(On the next Emotion-Having Tuesday, Dobrozhe hugged Yesen tight and cried for a long while.)

What a Tangled Web We Weave

Morevuka, Dobrozhe, Mokosits, Yesen, and Svarozhich worked together to grow the new World Tree.

The fire giants finished gathering their armies and began mobilizing them.

Huitzilopochtli and the Teotl fought Malinalxochitl day after day, neither winning nor losing. Every day it came to single combat between Huitzilopochtli and Malinalxochitl, wherein he would fight her off just to the point of death; and she would return the next day fully healed and filled with ever more wrath.

The people of Bakersfield and the surrounding city-states and settlements and territories began to realize that each of theirsandals. La Dama knew these sandals well. Stunned and not knowing what to say, she looked to her daughters. Summer crossed her arms and Leliana leaned against the nearby wall, both thoroughly convicted in their course of action. And then La Dama drew them close, hugging them and crying.

Huitzilopochtli searched his house for his sandals. He only found the pair that he’d never worn. He took apart his entire home looking for his old sandals, but what he’d suspected only grew more and more certain the closer dawn approached. Given no other recourse, he quietly put on his new sandals and started his course through the sky.

Malinalxochitl challenged him as before. He accepted in silence, fighting her without emotion. In short order he defeated and killed her. Then


he took up her body, continuing his course through the sky. That evening, when he returned to Acopa, he laid her body out before the rest of the Teotl and wordlessly turned and walked away, beginning the long journey to return to his mother in shame.

Shiva stepped out to begin dancing.

Ra stirred.

Zeus returned, Ares, Phobos, Deimos, and Enyo at his side.

The various governing bodies of the Cities of the New World had arranged an International Conference for Matters Concerning the Calendar.

Star-Bringer

Even throughout the battle at the Rift, the stars clamored loudly for Star-Bringer’s attention, seeking to divulge unto her their histories. Alarmed, she sought counsel from Isis. Isis took her aside, touched a star, and advised Sanura to listen. It immediately spoke with a clearer, louder “voice” towas gone. She made clothes for Sigyn’s twins and Lake Isabella’s triplets, and an “official guide” vest and badge for Ginger. She also sought Sun-Bearer about her troubles with Lady Baker becoming one with Bakersfield and whether or not it had been her choice. The answers were inconclusive, and what they could do about it less clear. From there she checked in on Senbast, the Found, Quipatlatl’s family, and the Foundlings. Upon discovering that Jeff and Abel were the primary caretakers of Leliana and Summer, she attempted to impress upon them the importance of early childhood education and attempted to teach them how to do it. She also praised them for their courage and dependability.

Once all matters had been squared away to her satisfaction, she expressed that she


planned to return to listening to the stars — however, not only did she want to be woken again for the wedding and any births in the family, but she wanted to be woken every six months.

Some time following the wedding Sanura was once more awakened. She took a week off to spend with her husband and her family.

The next time Star-Bringer returned, she saw that she missed out on a great deal of events going on in the Foundlings’ lives. Moreover, it was clear that six months was too long for Sun-Bearer to go without her if they were only going to have less than a week together. After discussing further the right balance to strike with Isis and Hathor, Star-Bringer decided to alternate every three months.

Givenall that time, Star-Bringer decided to busy herself with crafting once more. She sought to reverse engineer Daedalus’s crafting table as she remembered it when it was in Bear’s possession. As she did so, the memory came easily and the plans came quickly. It all seemed to be easily within her grasp — every moment she spent was one which moved her project forward, and she saw the future steps and goals with a clarity she’d never experienced before.

And then Sun-Bearer worriedly snapped her out of her trance. She had spent two weeks nonstop working on the project. Immediately Star-Bringer shelved it, terrified that she would lose more time if she kept going (and, indeed, it tempted her deeply). Instead, she spoke to the workers at the shop


about making them all new uniforms — and they agreed wholeheartedly that they would love new uniforms. That idle project occupied the rest of her time off.

The next time she spent away from the stars she decided to continue with Bear’s big project: making a book capable of housing all the collected knowledge of the cosmos for Thoth. She strictly alotted three days a week, from dawn to dusk, to work on the project, asking her husband to break her from her trance when he returned home from his duties as the sun. It was challenging for her, as it felt as if the project was drawn out almost unnecessarily, but she adhered to her schedule. Star-Bringer spent the rest of the time catching up with the restof the Found, checking in on the Netjer, and spending quality time with Sun-Bearer.

Ken

The paths that unfurled beneath Ken’s feet were as insistent as ever — but not nearly as much as the path to the rift had been. Ken contemplated this briefly, but decided to tend to some more immediate matters before pursuing them.

Following the battle at the Rift, Ken gave the holes in the sky and his memory loop one last look-over. Deeming them stable, he checked on the Mother of the Lost. After ensuring her safety and sanity, he proceeded from there to check on Maciticaaltepetl. He found there some devastation — and nearby was a great gorge filled with water pouring from Kahele’s wounds. The wounds appeared to be caused by a machete. Blood


clouded the water, coming from the bodies of Roger and Kahele’s whale spirit companion.

Ken sought Xelhua for answers, and found him bearing similar machete wounds as Kahele. Xelhua explained that after Los Angeles and Baltimore were united, a hole tore in the sky and Alejandra immediately left to fight off the monsters that were pouring out. He does not understand why anything happened as it did, but he described it: Rogers attempted to take sovereignty over the city and violently responded to any naysayers (as Xelhua’s wounds can attest). Javid stepped in and was immediatley struck down. Thereby Kahele seized Rogers and wrangled him out of the city wherein they fought to the death.

Given all that happened, Ken asked if there was any way he could help. Xelhuaon Ginger and her family one last time.

Exploring the paths took him to many a place but not many an event or person. But once explored they became less insistent, or became less insistent with the passing of time.

About eight months into his journey he came across a small subterranean town in South Dakota, wherein he discovered that his youngest daughter (now in her sixties), Diana, had survived the apocalypse and helped this community thrive. After getting to know this town and its people, he asked if they wished to be moved somewhere with fewer monsters and natural disasters. They all readily agreed — and their home was shifted to some ways outside of Bakersfield, wherein they could surface without fear.

Once he’d given her the tour, he decided


Domochlovek, Caer Ùir, and then some. This brought no small amount of excitement to Ginger.

Eventually, Ken left again, expressing that he’d try to be back by December.

On his travels he found himself stopping in Monowi, Nebraska for a week. He met Elsie Eiler, who was still maintaining the city singlehandedly, and befriended her. Before he left he offered to take her to Bakersfield, an offer which she politely declined. He also found himself in the Titanrealm, traveling in endless sky. Luckily he managed to navigate it without attracting the attention of any Titans or titanspawn.

He continued on his journey, returning to Bakersfield once every so often when a path led him there, and lending a hand there where he could. He didn’t notice when Ginger and Coyote’s childrensuccessfully managed some mischief…

Morevuka

Following the Rift battle, Morevuka coordinated clean-up: she got the Mother of the Lost out of Extremity, informed her about the dragon’s request to see her, and checked in on everyone. From there she left food out for Mokosits, started practicing not being a goddess, caught up with the Mother of the Lost, and met her honored nephew Triglav.

A feeling like when she sought the moist, dark earth had overcome her, being a constant, distracting presence despite it having nothing to tell her (and yet somehow everything). Around her the shadows moved with her every movement, as a pack travels. Though they were not insistent, when she was still and listening an odd tension left the various connections.

She consulted Mokosh about this feeling. The normally


sensation of constant burning — not of burning skin, necessarily, and not painful, but very hot. He said that he burned on the outside during the day and on the inside at night. The burning wants to reach — and when he reaches with it he is returned with images and impressions. Sometimes the events are so clear that it’s as if he’s living them in that moment.

With the help of her siblings, they arranged Power Practice Wednesdays (to follow Emotion-Having Tuesdays) and a daily morning meditation.

Morevuka then proceeded to rescuing all the pantheons. Occasionally she quietly checked to ensure Fury was alive and well.

The change with Jarilo and Morena alarmed Morevuka. She consulted the dark earth: it told her that these changes were occurring because Sweeping Daywas coming and, moreover, Yesen, Dobrozhe, Morevuka, and Mokosits were all proponents of this sort of change simply by existing. Morevuka accepted this in her quiet way.

From there she continued her checkup on everyone and made sure that Lady Baker understood that she could use her for intel or interference if needed.

The Found

Star-Bringer and Sun-Bearer were wed at Danmairge, the Swan Maiden’s blessed festhall. There were no attacks and there was much sappiness. Thereafter they spent a week honeymooning at the house Sun-Bearer built singlehandedly for the two of them.

The Drowned King and She-Who-Hungers were approached by the titaness Enodia (and her young son Opheodis, and her legion of tritons), who was delighted to have someone to speak to. She expressed a desire to stay nearby permanently. Lir


was displeased with Enodia encroaching on his territory; therefore, with the consent of the Drowned King and She-Who-Hungers, Enodia pulled Caer Ùir and all its inhabitants into a pocket of the Titanrealm. They, all the spirits of the dead, and the various psychopomps and guardians now enjoy her permanent protection.

After being approached by her sister about Mokosits, the Swan Maiden tracked him down. Some humorous deflection and hurt feelings and contrition later, Mokosits explained his experience with Svarog. The Swan Maiden listened, and then offered him a permanent place in Danmairge.

Lake Isabella gave birth to triplets: Fox, Beaver Kit, and Trout Boy.

The four suns (Black Sun, Sun-Bearer, Sasha!, and Angel) collided, sending forth a blinding flash and then descending the world into darkness. Svantovit and the Mother ofthe Lost were already at the site of the crash, whereby the Mother of the Lost proclaimed that each of the four suns would take turns season-by-season on the Bakersfield route. Black Sun was given summer, Sun-Bearer autumn, Sasha! winter, and Angel spring.

The Mother of the Lost apologized to each of her children for forcefully ascending them. Deep communication and expressions of very mixed, complicated feelings ensued. (For most of them, anyway. The Drowned King expressed that he no longer trusted the Mother of the Lost and expressed a desire for space.)

The Foundlings

Galen kinda unofficially moved in with Aphrodite and the Theoi (though he proceeded to spend a couple nights a week at home with Jeff, Abel, Leliana, Summer, Senbast, and Leanne). Eventually, Athena quietly charged him with


petitioning Triton to house Adonis. Triton accepted.

Some time after the rift, Leanne attempted to approach Mokosits about continuing her lessons. He avoided her. Hurt, she relayed this to the Swan Maiden.

Gianna was hospitalized due to gang violence. She spent some time in critical condition. Though she eventually recovered, her mobility was somewhat restricted. This gave Ginger a great deal more freedom.

Senbast went on another trance quest, accompanied by Leanne, Ginger, and Crook.

Leanne and Ginger began hanging out a lot more.

Fox, Beaver Kit, and Trout Boy began causing mischief. Ginger came across them in the midst of this and joined in on the fun. Afterwards, she approached Lake Isabella about becoming a babysitter for her children.

Ruben continued warrior training and continued attending what family events he could manage.

Summer andLeliana, merely 5 and 4 respectively, slipped away from Jeff and Abel unnoticed. Somehow they made their way out of Bakersfield and crossed the badlands without coming to harm. Together, they made their way from where the Earth Meets the Sky to Acopa and proceeded to La Dama’s dwelling. La Dama brought them back promptly. Of course, they only turned around and did it again a few days later. Soon enough, another arrangement for their custody was reached: La Dama would have them throughout the week and Jeff and Abel would have them on the weekends.

With help from Beaver Kit, Fox, and Trout Boy, Ginger managed to sneakily gain superpowers from Ken. She proceeded to use her superpowers to elude Gianna more easily and visit all the places


she’d wanted to visit, all while somehow managing to fly under the radar. Perhaps something about minor outbreaks of chaos occurring wherever she passed would have something to do with it…

On his 15th birthday, Ruben completed warrior training and returned home. A party was thrown for him, and he took the opportunity to rest and enjoy his freedom. This quickly turned stale, however, as he realized that everyone in his family had parted ways…

The Bogovi

After ensuring the safety of Bakersfield, Mokosits returned to solitude, albeit more as a man than anything else. After some time and space, Mokosh tracked him down and asked him what was wrong. He gave in (like a sucker) and told her. Lots of hugs ensued; and then afterwards Mokosh retired to her saunano choice but to award honors and nobility to all participants, including his ward Necalli, his half-sister Quipatlatl, and Ezmamacateotl.

Quipatlatl’s eldest daughter, Eluia, was given unto Tlazolteotl so as to receive proper instruction as to what was expected of her as the child of a noblewoman.

Huitzilopochtli mounted another attack on Tlilocelotlpilli after he’d crashed from the sky. Crippled as he was (for Tlilocelotlpilli had decreed that he remain thus), however, he was yet unable to defeate Tlilocelotlpilli. Thereafter he was punished to be left with two debilitating wounds daily.

Mahquipia, accompanied by Ichtacahuazinatl, sought her father for permission to ask Ezmamacateotl’s hand in marriage; even as Ezmamacateotl sought the Mother of the Lost to being negotiations for Mahquipia’s hand in marriage. Though Tlilocelotlpilli initially refused, when Ichtacahuazinatl made clear


that he had no good reason to deny his daughter such a politically advantageous marriage Tlilocelotlpilli gave in. Negotiations ensued between the Mother of the Lost and Xochiquetzal (acting as a proxy for Xipe Totec), with Centeotl and Tlazolteotl as cultural intermediaries. The marriage was approved and held in the growing season.

Centeotl and Xilonen bore a daughter who was called Tlacotl.

Upon Necalli’s completion of warrior training, Huitzilopochtli found himself without any duties, and unable to seek new ones due to his daily alottment of two crippling wounds. However, he saw that Ichtacahuazinatl’s daughters were stubbornly risking life and limb to get to her. He persuaded her to allow them to stay — and when she expressed trepidation about balancing her cosmic duties with caring for children, he offeredto watch them for her. Later, he became a sounding board and occasionally offered advice on finding her equilibrium.

Some time after Huitzilopochtli became a regular fixture around Ichtacahuazinatl’s house, Tlazolteotl approached her daughter and expressed her trepidation at the political and social statements this arrangement made. Although Ichtacahuazinatl heeded her, it was not enough for her to want to change anything — and clearly the same was true for Huitzilopochtli.

The Aesir

Bolstered by the battle against the chaosbeasts, the Aesir warriors began training anew for Ragnarok.

Eight months following the rift battle, Sigyn bore twin boys.

Thor stumbled upon the Dagda during his training regimen. They got in a series of competitions as to who was the better warrior. After much hauling, hurling, wrestling, insulting, and out-and-out brawling, they came away


by Ken, who approved of her actions, and helped her formalize this organization, binding them all to a magic oath that charged them to serve and protect.

Word of a bandit king organizing the bandits began to circulate.

Seeing the alliances between Bakersfield and various other cities (such as Domochlovek, Maciticaaltepetl, Yaré, and Villingen-Swinnengen), and the rising prosperity and trade that entailed, Mama took advantage of this opportunity and began restoring her Rapture empire. She sought the bandit king, Isaiah Tooley, and arranged a truce with him in exchange for a cut of her profits. And, just because she’s generous, she threw in a cut of her goods too.

Eventually the bandit king demanded a bigger share of Rapture. Mama convinced him that it was in his best interest to offerher compensation. The bandit king eventually began giving her a cut of his stolen goods, further cemeting her wealth and power.

Domochlovek

A fearsome dragon began plaguing the people of Domochlovek. Despite their best efforts, they could not drive it away. After spending a few days in fasting and prayer, Božena took up sword, ax, bow, and lance, and singlehandedly hunted down the dragon with Svantovit’s blessing. Three days and nights were spent fighting, and then three more hours, and then Božena managed to slay the dragon. She ordered the dragon’s parts harvested: scales, claws, teeth and bones for weapons and armor; blood for poison and antidote alike; meat for food; and spit for forge-fuel.

A smith named Anatoliy Antonovich from a small village on the outskirts of Domochlovek forged a