Forget it

Dhelessssss could be a Slith name. I usually make my party all human. May have to do a changeup and see what happens.

Okay I misunderstood a little; no actual gold backing on the Swiss Franc. The Swiss do own a lot of hard assets and have, compared to Europe or America, pretty sane fiscal management. Which ironically enough, lends them a disadvantage. Which begs the question - how sane is sane management? With about 8 million people they don't have the luxury of being able to go trillions into debt. If they just print more francs to relieve some upward pressure on its value - well if that were the plan, why not do it and stay pegged to the Euro? So I don't think that's what we're looking at. I'm not sure they have the industrial size to do what Germany did either, in admitting that they are going to have a high currency, and just focusing on quality and efficiency. Of course I have not done a great deal of research into the Swiss economy. It will be interesting to see how the Swiss and the SNB handles all of this in the coming months - and whether there's a massive sell-off of Euros by them. On one hand it may be prudent for them to diversify before the Euro drops lower, and get Dollars, maybe Yuan. On the other hand, selling massive amounts of Euros may exacerbate their local problem. To me what's interesting, and I may be wrong in this line of thinking, is that because the Swiss never actually joined the Euro (even though they artificially did), they are able to pull out of it... while others, say the Dutch for instance, are basically forced to eat whatever happens to the Euro with no recourse. If a relatively wealthy Swiss people are saying they can't afford it anymore, what must people in obligate contributor nations be feeling?

We may see a return of the Drachma. I think there are some clear benefits to a monetary union between countries which have very similar work ethics and similar enough industrial cultures. Like, stick Germany, the Benelux, and Austria together, no problem. Another currency for Spain, Portugal, and Southern Italy - no sweat. Imagine instead of a Eurozone, a Lirazona. Actually that sounds more like a dessert. But I suppose, you get it down to few enough countries and there's almost no point in not just having your own currency. The best benefit I see for a country like Greece in remaining in any given currency bloc is that, they have just 11 million people - and it sure is probably nice to unload or share the burden of operating a mint and press, counter-counterfeicy operations, and the like. On the other hand... it's not like the Euro has done them a big favor. _ As far as what the Swiss have done - they kept their sovereignty instead of joining the Euro and they were pretty wise to have done so; but they ran into a problem. Their currency was actually honestly backed up by gold and other treasure, as well as a relatively sane fiscal policy. So people from all over the world invested in it... the Euro and the $Dollar are both fiat currencies though; they are not hard currencies, and in fact the governments can (and do) simply print more. This made the Swiss Franc go way up in value as compared to other currencies. I would argue it's good to have a somewhat strong dollar/franc/whatever... but their Franc got "too strong" if you will: it caused Swiss Exports to cost a lot of money in other countries. That's a simplistic view but still basically the essence of it. So to solve that problem they artificially locked their Swiss Franc to be valued at €1.20 Euros. This was to protect Swiss Exports (to help them stay competitively priced), as well as to do some other things like prevent price shock to tourists, give a reliable exchange rate for investors, etc. How do you artificially lock the value of your currency relative to another one though? With Europe printing more money and Euros devaluing all the time... to make sure "Franc is worth 1.20 Euro" the Swiss Bank had to keep buying lots of Euros. Switzerland owns a whole lot of euros. Now Europe is primed to to another massive debasement of its currency. Which has, essentially, caused Switzerland to give up its futile effort... it's not going to buy billions and billions of euros again. So they un-pinned the Swiss Franc from the Euro. They cancelled the artificial "1 Swiss Franc = €1.20". And it immediately sent the value of the Swiss Franc soaring. Some investment firms and traders who had floated other currency investments by means of paying with Swiss Francs lost a lot of money. People who invested in Switzerland by means of Euros or Dollars lost money. People who were holding Swiss Francs as investments gained a lot of money - but there weren't a lot of those people since there was confidence that a franc would always be equivalent to 1.20 euros and euro was the bigger market to invest in (so essentially, why invest in Francs directly?). The move came on kind of suddenly and it probably had to. The net effect for most of us: Things at the store that say "Made in Switzerland" will cost more, and it will cost more to go on vacation and buy things in Switzerland. It will be interesting to see how investment in the Franc shakes out now; it's a relatively hard currency that's no longer pegged to a mostly fiat one. I think it will be more surprising and stark to Euro users who live near Switzerland, who will go there and discover that their money is barely worth a hill of beans anymore.

Really there should have been two euro currencies. Euro1 for France, Benelux, Germany, Northern Italy, Austria, Finland, Baltics. Euro2 for Spain, Southern Italy, Portugal, Greece, Balkans. (I don't know which category to put Ireland and Slovakia in) I don't know why anyone thought it was a good idea to cram the general Greek lifestyle into the German fiduciary. I don't really think it was a worse thing, just a different thing, but certainly a worse thing when you make believe that Greece is supposed to be industrially or culturally equivalent to Germany. It was almost doomed from the start. Greece exiting is going to be a blow to Europe too - it's easy to blast Greece as underproducing but when squeezed under a system that doesn't mesh with their cultire - should they? And people tend to forget about the significance of the Greek Navy which does a bangup job keeping the eastern Mediterranean safe. Europe gets a significant benefit from Greece's military spending. Greece has been spending quite a bit on defence, especially navy, ever since Turkey invaded Cyprus in the 70s.

Are you diving into Avernum Escape from the Pit right away? You'll probably have to wait a good six months for Avernum 2 Crystal Souls to go on sale, and it likely won't be a big sale. On the other hand, it's not just likely, I'd wager it's probable, that the Geneforge Saga will hit Steam's Weekly Sale sometime in the next two months, and you'll be able to grab it for $3.99 or some such. So my feeling is you pay up for Avernum 2 which is a recent effort to help support further Spiderweb development (plus get yourself a sweet game to play), and you grab Geneforge when it hits the sale rotation, as it's a game Jeff mostly expects to sell at sale prices anyway. But, whatever works best with you.

It would have something similar to the U.S. Constitution. Except it would really mean it this time. And the commerce clause would be revised. There would be a national sales tax instead of income taxes. 20%. 10% state, 6% federal, 4% local. We would construct an economic bloc with other nations. Free trade among "free peoples" - nations with similar standards of living, human rights, environmental protections, and worker rights, we would have free trade among us. But there would be tariffs and penalties on trade with nations without such rights, standards, and environmental policies. This ensures jobs for the nations "doing the right thing" and gives a compelling reason for other nations to change so they could join us.. It would be foolish to illegally immigrate, because everybody would be welcome - people will be greeted with "welcome, you are one of us" rather than "illegal!" -- however, there will be exams and medical quarantine period when necessary, vaccination programs, and one national language; immigrants and other non-native speakers would have english lessons and courses provided to them free via the community college system. They must also learn and acknowledge our basic civic and legal system. Other than that... welcome, come. Healthcare. There will be national coverage for cancer, stroke, heart attack, broken bone... basically national free (yes I know not really free, taxpayers have to pay) coverage for disaster, emergency, and for life-dependent treatment and medications. Private practice and insurance will be allowed to take care of the rest; it will be quite affordable and optional when the nation covers critical issues. Of course that is a simplistic version but you should get the drift. Education. Free education up through an associate's degree or a trade school completion. We can't forget about trade schools. We need plumbers, pipefitters, welders, electricians, woodworkers, even chefs and beauticians, more than we need another army of people with Associates Degrees who can't find work. No disrespect to associates degrees: in general we need people who are more well versed in history, culture, sociology, you name it. But we also need a workforce with ready skills. Oh and we'd stop using the USDA to tell people they should be eating the same diet and chemicals that ranchers use to fatten livestock. I'm not 100% against GMO research, but I am 100% against... let's pretend a bunch of grains and carbs are good, that we should ingest chemicals and sugar and it's all good and safe! We would also develop thorium power to use as a cheap, much safer alternative to uranium power - and integrate our power grid to solar and nuclear production.

I don't think I played enough of them to do any kind of comprehensive ranking. So instead just here are the ones I played and enjoyed: Enjoyed most: Settlers of Catan, Axis and Allies, Boss Monster Enjoyed medium: Monopoly, Life (classic version... new one terrible), UpWords, Apples to Apples, YuGiOh TCG

I hate how many retailers don't tend to realize that January is also "back to school" time -- thence begins the scavenger hunt for good notebooks and other supplies.

I have my own small collection of Soviet Memorabilia. Both from Sovietski Collection, and random Estonians on E-bay... etc. My Halloween Costumes usually go something about like this: Oddly enough I would not consider myself left or right in the American political sense... perhaps something close to centre-right if I really had to pick. But more of a Ross Perot Centre Right, than what we have. Or maybe if we had a party more concerned with people-socialism than corporate and lobby-socialism. Or... well, our mainstream politics are all so bad that it's hard to even cherry-pick. But I'll never get elected on the "Whig" or "Reform" ticket. So I guess I'll just keep waiting for that revolution against two-party system. I do enjoy communism as an ideal but I've never seen a system in practice that I would really want to live under... of course my fascination of it probably stems from a teenage addiction to Command and Conquer. I drive through your town several times a year and I always make sure to stop at Video Game Underground.

I see Nalyd has been shopping at the Engrish. Slavsya Otechestvo, Komrade.

I have also been a great Spiderweb fan throughout the years, since Exile III first gripped my attention via an "Encyclopedia of Games" shareware compilation. Though I've been visiting this forum only sporadically. Mostly around the time of game releases. I initially created this account to make a novelty "what-if" plot during the speculation for Avadon 2. I seem to have lost the details of my previous "real login" so I just started using this one. In the spirit of all my excitement I had about Avadon 2, and now being satisfied with my purchase of Crystal Souls, I would like to offer to give Avadon 2 to one or two board members who may still need it. I bought the game when it launched, and then I wound up with two spare, valid steam redemptions because I tend to buy and support indie bundles and that kind of thing. (I actually wound up with four spares, but I gave one to a friend, and one to a contest winner already). Just send a PM or tag me in a reply so I don't lose track of it.

Just bought, from the widget on Spiderweb Store. Very satisfying to both show the game off on Steam, and have a DRM-free humble widget version. I hope future releases have this option too; I'll use it.

This is probably a bad idea.

So if I buy it from the site here, I both support Spiderweb the best initially, plus have a Steam Key so I can advertise that I'm playing the game to all my Holklamaniacs out there. Sweet deal.

That makes sense. I remembered reading something by him about residual sales of old content library being a pretty nice thing, but I guess it would be more like a trickle than a waterfall. What I think I'm going to do is buy the game on Steam right when it releases, to help out on the visibility factor. Just a shame that I won't have time to really play until June. I'll eventually buy it on GoG too but not until GoG have a "sale" or a "spiderweb bundle" that lets me get it there for at least half off. (I won't feel bad claiming a big GoG discount if I've already paid up on Steam, right?) I honestly prefer GoG to Steam, but having Crystal Souls in my GoG library first won't get Jeff any visibility, and I want Ruined World to be top notch. Had Jeff said anything about implementing Steam trading cards? They're a stupid thing if you ask me, but tons of people have old Spiderweb content in their steam libraries. It couldn't take more than a couple days apiece to craft a set of cards for each geneforge, nethergate, avernums 4-6. That would be a hell of a lot of residual pennies from the card sale market, and maybe make bundling old titles a little (or lot) less sad to do. He might (or might not?) want one of his artists to do better-quality cards on his newer games though.

Great. I have all the Spiderweb games available on both Steam and GoG. And some real old discs of Exile III (my gateway drug) and Nethergate. Now I'll be buying Escape from the Pit from GoG as well. This is the only company I do this for. A little disappointed to see Avadon 2 popping up lately in things like, Humble $1 Tier, Groupees Bonus Game, etc. I'm not "mad" that others got the game cheaper than I did or anything. I may have even bought a few humbles so I could make some friends (who otherwise wouldn't have bought it) try Avadon. But I feel it devalues the games (in public opinion) beyond a point that they deserve. Here's hoping that Jeff still has success at the new pricing levels he's aiming for, and Crystal Souls, Avadon 3, and Ruined World get more staying power in their pricing structures. I'm not a regular on this forum. I've just been popping in lately because I'm anticipating the release of Crystal Souls so much so I stop by now and again to look for info. That said, it's too bad Crystal Souls got delayed. I'd rather have a finished game than a rushed one for sure. But I was going to buy it and play it over my Christmas break. Now I won't have time to play it until the summer so I'm tempted just to wait for a sale. Faculty are probably not his target audience, though, so it's all good.

You may really enjoy Lords of Xulima. Scratches the itch in a way that Eschalon can't do.

In the legal sense, absolutely. But do you think an alternate construct would arise to replace it - and would that be good or bad? In medicine, the distinction between sex and gender is useful in discussing physiological concerns without mischaracterizing anyone's identity. We don't need to have legal genders for someone to identify as a gender, of course, but to what extent do you mean abolishing?

I never quite completely understood how abortion got the incest qualification appended to it. Let's say you're pregnant by your uncle or something. It was either consensual, or rape. In the former, I would hope an abortion decision would be based on choice instead of stigma. In the latter, lock that [censored]er up on death row. I admit I'm probably missing some part of the big picture. But I never really grasped that incest appendage. Is it to protect women who are stuck in some high pressure kinda tribal thing or, what am I missing?

I realize you couldn't just make a poll with hundreds of options per question. That said, most of the questions I wish I had some room for qualification. I suppose instead of arranging these in a way convenient to me, I'll address them in the order given. Abortion: I am mostly pro-life. But there's got to be more discussion on what pro-life means. Two things we can't try to legislate are religion and morality. I was going to mention the constitution but I have to be less myopic than that and realize that this discussion isn't specific to America - so instead I'll say that ideally, people have not only the freedom to practice religion but also the freedom from religion forced upon them. I don't believe in abortion. So, I won't get one. I'm not the only person in the world though. I am not really religious but I buy the argument that life begins at conception, and the foetus is another human life. However, as a society we have to listen to what science says. I don't know the exact data, and I don't know if science even has it pinned down, but somewhere around 5-6 months or so is when we get basic sentience, so while I would want science to give me a more exact date, I would want the cutoff to be someplace around there. And only allow exceptions under medical advice when the life of the mother is in danger. And I suppose for rape pregnancies but I would think that if a foetus were going to be aborted because of rape, it will have been done already before five months have gone by. Even though I'm tempted to respect a religious organization's right to not pay tax dollars for Plan B, things like this.. we are a society and not a church, and a 10 cent pill will cost society much less than supporting a child that had no support structure. Besides, peace advocates still have to pay for wars. Jews and Muslims still have to pay for farm subsidies to pork ranches. Libertarians still have to pay for highways. I do think most countries have screwed up health system structures, but that's a kind of different argument. LGBT: For instance I voted that we need all laws protecting LGBT. I wouldn't consider myself a hardcore advocate about it though. I'm more in favor of the government getting out of our lives, but I recognize the need for laws to protect people from discrimination. I would prefer government take its hands out of the marriage business altogether... but, we can't leave people to suffer while we spend 60 years trying to make that happen. So I accept the need for gay marriage legalizations, for anti-discrimination laws, for hospital visit rights, powers of attorney, adoption rights, insurance benefits, and the hundreds of things I'm sure I'm leaving out. As a straight man it's easy to think "okay there are still some assholes out there. but by large I think we're cool with the lgbt community now." It might even be true in numerous communities but even where it is, we have lingering little legal issues that, someone who doesn't have to deal with them wouuld easily take for granted. One place I am on the fence and unsure, is whether taxes and insurance ought to pay for transitional surgeries. But I'm willing to listen and be convinced. Extraterrestrials: I am sure there is other life out there - at least in some rudimentary archaea form or some such. Sentient life is another story. I'm not for or against, I don't know, but the universe is vast, and the multiverse is vaster. I'm going to have to be on the side of "yep, it's sure possible." But even if intelligent life is out there, what are the chances we'll make contact or be able to reach them anyway? And if we could, is it a good idea? Would they come plunder earth of water and minerals, and be on their merry way? To me it's all speculation, and I believe in the possibility, but I'm more interested in finding exoplanets capable of human habitation. Won't happen in my lifetime but if humanity had the chance to start over, do everything with clean energy, rigid equality laws, etc... I'd almost prefer to live on the new planet. Globalization: Yes and no. As an American it's a painful topic because we've screwed up so much of the world. While I'm not a strict protectionist, I would prefer tariffs against countries such as China that don't have the same standards of worker rights, living conditions, payscales, monetary policies, etc, as we have. But I would also be in favor of free trade with countries that do - and limited tariff and partnership programs with countries that are trying to get there. "Globalization" as it stands today only means not only exporting jobs... but exporting pollution and then pretending we're doing something good. But I dare you to go outside and take a deep breath in Peking. I believe in environmental controls but they mean very little if there's no pressure on China, Russia, and other places to clean up - instead the jobs just go there, the pollution goes there, and we still suffer the pollution. This is what pisses me off so bad about Nixon. He screwed over basically the entire western world, he and Kissinger, with his trade policies, and the chance to pressure China into worker and environmental standards is pretty much gone. Reagan almost tried to do the right thing with his "free trade among free peoples" -- but you have to ask yourself two things. The first is how much did he really mean that, and the second is, it didn't matter because Nixon already screwed it all up. We even added Mexico and Central America to our screwjob with NAFTA. Canada and Europe are suffering by attrition. So no, right now Globalization means America screwing everyone over. I'd be more in favor of it, almost completely so, if we started building a bloc of nations with similar standards that collectively pressured other nations to get with the program, however. Animal Captivity: Is more or less fine but, just as there are animal abuse laws, we need laws that protect the general wellbeing of the animals. Not like Danish zoos hacking and feeding a giraffe to lions right in front of Children. Or tropical animals in cages in the cold all winter. If we're going to keep animals in captivity, we have to have some standards for how they're treated. I don't have a really large thing to say about this except that, things like zoos are fine, but let's make sure these animals are not abused or neglected either. Feminism: No idea really. I picked middle-of-the-road in the poll but feminism is not something I've become deeply involved in either. I feel a lot of issues are perhaps overemphasized but that doesn't mean they shouldn't be examined. As long as it's not the extreme-wing super-man-hating type of feminism, which I assume this poll is not referring to, then right on. There's no reason to not support women's rights. It would be very interesting and beneficial to see some deep research about, what kind of jobs are predominately men because women are being held back, vs. jobs that are predominately men because women are simply not applying for. And in the latter case ask, why? I think it will be impossible to completely scrub gender roles from society's conscience, but it's very good to promote the notion that "because you're a boy" and "because you're a girl" are not ideas we want to be pushing, even accidentally. But I don't think it's necessary to buy every boy a barbie, and every girl a a G.I. Joe, just to make a point. Yes, give it to them if they want them, and make sure nobody can tell them they're weird for it. Accepting vs forcing... hmm, something to think about. Gun Laws: I picked "it is a human right to own and bear arms" but, this is one I would have heavily qualified. In my opinion highschoolers should have in their curriculum a self-defense and gun handling course. There should be registration process and waiting period, as well as required training before purchasing. And, any crime greater than a misdemeanor or traffic violation, the gun privelege should be suspended. Three strikes and you lose it forever. Commit any felonies and there's only one strike... gun rights lost. As unfair as it is, people with bona fide diagnosed and second-opinion confirmed psychiatric disorders, also gun rights suspended. In short, people should have guns, but they should know what they're doing with them, and be accountable for them. I'm in favor of concealed carry. In school zones, students should not be allowed, but faculty and security, definitely should. Why not hire some veterans (ones without ptsd... sorry but can you imagine a war vet hearing a loud bang at school and flipping out...) to stand as security in schools and government buildings. I want more guns out there. But of course I'd like it to be in conjunction with some of the psychiatric homes re-opening again, thorough background and registration process, and the like. Having to register for a gun in my opinion in no way crosses anyone's right to have one. God: If there is a God, either: 1) He set things in motion, the rest is up to us really; or; 2) He gave us our brains... so we would use them. I say "He" because of English's lack of a proper gender-neutral person pronoun, and I wouldn't call God an "It." But I would assume God to actually be without gender. Now then; I consider myself as agnostic with some Christian tendencies. In some ways, having a Creator makes more sense than all the happy little sequences that would have to line up for life to emerge as a cosmic accident. But I'm not particularly interested in knowing or caring. Religion has produced some beautiful things on this planet... and some pretty terrible ones. If God is out there, I really doubt most of the things that have been done in God's name... are really such. Mankind Ending: Eventually. All is entropy. We likely have a few billion years as a species before the Sun blows up, so I'm sure we'll be able to build starships before that. We already have some idea how to, if we can't strictly find an exoplanet in a "goldilocks zone", to *nudge* it closer or further in orbit. Requires astronomical energy, but, sooner or later we'll know how to harness it. Even if global warming is completely mankind's fault (but I won't start that argument), and lots of people die, not everyone will... outside of some massive meteor collision. But, we can already detect most of those hundreds of years in advance. It probably won't be like the movie "armageddon." America may or may not be headed for collapse, but Russia, China, and India will have decades to plan and shoot a missile at the thing all the same. And tech will only improve from here. Even if Monsanto kills 90% of world crops by some biotoxic accident. Man as a species will survive. The only thing I could see really wiping us out is some massive supervirus but meh... I'm still not counting on an extinction. But, eventually the universe will entropy to its final breath, alas... and if we expire before that, it's likely to be because we've evolved beyond humanity.

I am too busy with the holiday work rush to do an honest job beta testing, but I'm very excited to see that beta testing is under way. Do you think Avernum 2 will be ready for sale in time for me go buy a couple copies for Christmas gifts?

Lightweight and snappy, I'll go ahead and recommend Chromium. http://www.chromium.org/getting-involved/download-chromium Chromium is a cousin to Google Chrome, which is also suitable to what you want, but Chromium is a little less invasive if you're worried about that. I use it for general browsing. You may also take a look at PaleMoon. They take Firefox, strip out some of the junk and re-optimize and repackage it. It's the browser I use for work-related things: http://www.palemoon.org very efficient running browser. And sounds like you already know about Opera. It's the browser I use for gaming type stuff... Steam, GoG, etc, and what I'm postin ghere from.

I fought for the pact. Open arms within, brother! Dheless can run, but he can't hide.

One wish only. HOLKLANDA RUNS WILD, BROTHER!

"Stay a while and listen," the grizzled war veteran spake gently, yet intently, to one of the new Hands, a recent arrival from the Kva. In these trying times, no land save perhaps for Dharam had proven as steadfast in its loyalty to the black fortress, a curious thing considering that Dharam is the furthest Pact territory from Avadon of them all. Ah, but today is no lesson in the politics of the East. "You are to travel to the Beraza Woods, but I won't have you going out there blind," Heart Tristram sat the new recruit down for deposition. "It's too delicate, and..." his eyes briefly betray a hint of emotion, though which one you cannot tell - "and let us say that subterfuge has cost the pact dearly in recent times. Our dealings will be direct, yes?" He unfurls a map highlighting the most recently known intricacies of the ever-shifting borders and immediately extends a gauntlet-laden finger over Castle Vebeaux. "This castle... these woods, they are... they were Kellem lands." The word Kellem rolls off his tongue with moderate distaste. Holklanda took them in the civil war. No, not this one - the last one. Held them for a mere handful of years until the Pact asserted control over the Black Age. Still, they wouldn't hand them back over. But Lynaeus has never seen a war where territory hasn't changed hands; this is the nature of things. Two enemies, bound as allies, But as you know, this no longer is the case." ... It has been weeks now since that first exchange and to their credit, the new team of Hands has made remarkable progress in establishing local and obedient rule in the Beraza Province. The Holklandans value honor. The Kellem value ceremony and prestige. Those things aren't all too different; the two cultures have more in common than either of them deign to admit. Though they must keep vigilant for Tawon infiltration, the success has been a much needed reprieve for Redbeard whose attention is really needed in the South. And the East. And the... well, everywhere. There is a tense, illusory peace, but Avadon is not fooled. Neither is its enemies. That Kellemderiel was able to leave the pact at all has sent a chilling message out into Lynaeus. The walls have been rebuilt. Warriors from all over are lining up to become Hands. But the message lingers: Avadon can be defied. It has been defied. The Titans and the beasts of the Corruption grow more daring by the day. Mysterious forces of the Tawon are ever plotting. And as Redbeard sat in contemplation, moving Eyes and Hands in his desperate attempt to hold the lines in the Wyldrym and counter the machinations of Dheless, the unthinkable happened. Or perhaps the not-so-unthinkable, since there was an infiltration barely a year ago. But this was different. A mage waves his hand and suddenly hundreds of soldiers appear at the north face of the black fortress, armed with catapaults, magic tricks, and... a dragon? In times past, such a force would have been detected when it was days away, but much capability was lost with the last incident, a "reward" for Redbeard's admitted complacency. He has refocused himself since, but alas the defenses had not yet been entirely rebuilt, and the enemy still had reason to be bold. "South!" Redbeard commanded a retreat into the Kva lands, unwilling to risk scrambling a hasty defense and lose much of his personnel to another assault. Enchanted boulders smashed into the side of the black fortress and a dragon unleashed its fiery rage. The evacuation had been forced. Avadon was shattered. As its warriors readied themselves to regroup and defend what seemed like it may have been the Pact's final hours, something unexpected set in play: a massive, powerful dragon flew up from the south and crushed the invading force beneath it. The attacking dragon seemed no more than a drake compared to this heroic creature, and the catapaults were soon crushed, the wizards and archers soon scorched to cinder. It was Zhethron. The dragon landed in Redbeard's path and would not let him pass. "An audience, I insist," it thundered. While the mighty Zhethron had indeed tired of the pact failing it, it was even more crass at the blatant disruptions that has been sent against it by the Tawon and their allies. The Pact had at least tried to appease him, he reasoned, however incompetently. "I have suffered your human affairs for long enough. I am not concerned with your coins and trinkets", he snarled, "when my honor is on the line." True, dragons are a proud species. "I will keep these Tawon away from your keep. But you will cease failing to keep my lair unharmed. Fail me this and my final patience will have been exhausted." There was little choice but to take the dragon's offer. Now Avadon must focus on restoring its fortress yet again and battling against beasts and ogres, when it should be fully focused elsewhere. There are dark times for Avadon, perhaps too dark. But is there a glimmer of hope? Perhaps our new heroes, finally returning from Beraza to a newly re-battered Avadon, will have the answer to that...