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Perpetual War Arc Two: Chapter One – A Brief Detour
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The Town of Bosavan, a place of ruins visited by many for the secrets that it holds. Bryce and Liarie have ventured here in search of an artifact. It is in this town that their true conflict will begin. Thus another chapter of the horrors of Perpetual War has arrived.
I can't stress enough how sorry I am to have taken this long to release this chapter! The next release schedule is every three weeks. I'm hoping the extra week will pay off in allowing me to avoid any huge gaps in releases. We'll see how that pans out… what's important is there are many future chapters that will be releasing in time! Until then, thank you for reading!
Arc One: Chapter Ten | Table of Contents | Next Chapter
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The editing was done by Luke Thompson and here is his – website.
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Perpetual War Arc Two:
Chapter One – A Brief Detour
I urge those who wish to see the result of war and what it does to a nation's people to research the Bosakil Mountain range. Among those mountains and the valleys within it lived a prosperous people under the singular banner of Bosavan. Their capital was popular and brought in many travelers who sought the beauty and history locked within the walls of the mountains. They had a rich culture of art, literature, and innovative designs, and nearly all of it was lost to this maddening war we live in. Nearly a thousand years ago, Derdainia conquered them and subjugated their people to Imperial rule. Since then battles have raged as various nations have come to fight over the rich minerals of the mountains. In the end, nearly every single city, town, and village has been reduced to ruins or flattened entirely. The people of Bosavan, stripped of their nation's identity, second-class citizens in the nations that conquered them, have now been scattered across the continent to try to eke out a living, assuming they have not already died along the way. Books now barely even mention the small nation's name and soon they won't at all. Just another casualty to a war that must end.
-Marlene Vumos, Letters to End the Madness
The stream wove back and forth through the remains lying across the crumbling street. The sections of the road were cracked and ruined, helping to guide the icy stream along its path. The water's journey came to an end in a small lake formed out of a large crater that had swallowed up several homes on the outskirt of the town. The entire scene was frozen along with the rest of the town with a thin layer of snow blanketing everything, except where it had been disturbed by recent shelling.
Gray clouds moved at a snail's pace but were growing in numbers; their heavy appearance promised more flecks of white to further bathe the town. The rays of the sunrise only broke through with rare glimpses to the bright sky above. Warmer days were far off for the town nestled within a valley of the Bosakil Mountains.
At the edge of the crater stood five figures, each covered in thick, dark, navy coats. They began the gradual ascent of the road leading into the town. Eyes scanned each dark window searching for any sign of danger. The variety of vehicles, craters, rubble, and frozen bodies that could provide potential cover were peered over with keen sight. A low, howling wind swept through the tight alleyways. Their boots crunched through the snow, and puffs of smoke blew into the air with each of their breaths.
Bryce walked ahead of the rest of the group, the device in the palm of his left hand leading him on with its needles. His breathing was smooth and consistent, the black scarf around his face helping him breathe warm air. A gust of wind struck at him; its icy tendrils gave him pause for a moment before he pushed onward.
A pile of bones just ahead of his step with a skull looking up did not waver his focus. The fear of what had happened to those who passed through the ruined town barely crossed his mind. His grip tightened on the marker as he looked down at the needles urging him down the road.
The path he walked on rose sharply, cracks in the cement gave glimpses to something metallic that had crashed through several buildings to the right and submerged itself beneath the street. Bryce reached the top and there he stopped to give a chance for his comrades who lagged behind to catch up. He glanced back and saw Liarie at the front, a gust of wind catching at her thick flowing orange hair.
She hooked loose strands behind her black-tipped, furred ears. "Do you see anything, Bryce?" she asked.
He shook his head, "No, I'm starting to wonder if this has been a waste of time." He turned to head down the other end of the slope, eyes scanning for any remaining signs to point him in the right direction through the streets.
Liarie kept pace with him, her elegant fingers taking hold of his arm.
He halted at her touch.
She brushed up close to his body, "You are being hasty; you should take my advice and head to the center. I'm sure there we will find Guidance."
Bryce lowered his shoulders as he relaxed to her smooth tone against his ears. "You may be right, but the marker doesn't point there. Though it hasn't exactly been accurate through these mountains."
"The town's archives, I'm sure of it," she whispered.
"Surely that place has been ransacked of anything valuable?" Bryce asked, glancing down at the small circular device in his left palm, a pair of needles within pointing toward a glow at the outer rim of the device. "What would Guidance find in there?"
She ran a hand along his back. "Knowledge or power, either way he must have found something."
"And now his presence seems to have stopped there, meaning we can finally meet him. I wonder if the scavs in the area got to him first though."
Liarie waved her hand. "It is not scavengers that linger near us, but a scout of the Vlaxtawk."
Bryce looked up abruptly. "You can't be serious!"
"Hush, your raised tone will upset the others," Liarie replied, placing a hand over his heart and looked over his shoulders to the other three reaching the top of the slope.
"It's bad enough we have Luncal descending upon our position soon, but Vlaxtawk too?"
Liarie shook her head. "The scout is merely that, a scout. It knows not our plan nor does it have any intention to confront us; it knows it would mean death."
"We can't let it reach Guidance before us," Bryce grumbled.
"If the Vlaxtawk want what Guidance seeks then they would have sent more than a scout."
"How can you be certain?"
"Who would better understand the culmination of races that embody the Vlaxtawk then a fey such as myself?" Liarie took several steps forward and turned about to face Bryce with a smile. "Now, let's continue on to our goal." She pointed toward a flagpole that could be seen through a gaping hole in a building. "Alright?"
Bryce nodded in understanding and trudged on past Liarie down the streets made tight by the wreckage and death. He looked to the hollow windows above, seeking the Vlaxtawk that dwelled within the shadows. He tightened his hand into a fist and focused on the pulse of blood running through his veins. Warmth flooded his senses as he reached out for any sensation of life within the hollow halls of the ruined buildings, but he found none.
Just as the surge of magic came it quickly went away, along with the comforting warmth, which was replaced by the chill in the air. It amazes me how easily Liarie taps into the world beyond her touch.
Bryce focused his attention forward, his eyes searching for the distant flagpole. He turned down alleyways and streets ignoring the destruction all around him. His heavy boots crunched through the snow and snapped bones as he made his way. The pace was swift, only ever slowing so he could get a bearing on his location with the help of the marker. The occasional sounds of his comrades were distant noises to him. All along the way he felt the comfort of Liarie close by, a warmth always flowing through his heart even with the cold pressing in at every angle.
A light humming tone tickled at his ear and he looked back at Liarie, who wore a thin smile for him. "A song of the fey?"
"One of many," she replied.
Bryce kept on walking, a growing soreness from constant travelling the past several days lingered within his legs. The gentle hum of Liarie's music eased him into a comfort, the worry of whether Guidance was alive, what the Vlaxtawk was doing, when would Luncal attack, if he could protect his comrades, and so much more slipped away for those few moments.
All too quickly he came back to reality and the frigid cold it currently brought.
"Tell me, Liarie, what made you suggest Vonna and Zel over everyone from the company we could have chosen?" Bryce asked, glancing back to make sure the two youths were far enough back to not hear. The wind now at his back helped to conceal his words further.
"They've been with us long enough, that I think it was right to have them prove their worth. Why, do you disagree?"
"No, I was just wondering as you were so persistent about it."
"Of course, else you would have invited the usual pair, Hendrick and Herra."
"And what's wrong with that?" Bryce asked. He reached up to the side of a truck blocking the path and began to climb over.
"You have such lofty goals, Bryce." She took his offered hand and was lifted to the top of the truck, her hooves tapping loudly against the rusted metal. "Yet, you have a tendency to forget the steps necessary to reach those goals."
Bryce climbed down the other side, offering his hand once more to ease her descent. "And what steps are those?"
"Numerous, far too many to name here." She paused as she settled back into the thick snow, her tail swishing across the top to kick up flecks of snow. "But, to name one, the importance of expanding the group of individuals you trust. Thus, here we are with Vonna and Zel." She waved her hand to stop him from replying, "And, anyway, we still brought our trusty sentinel, Murn along."
"I guess that's something," Bryce replied and turned at the beckoning of the marker's needle to stop dead in his tracks at the street widening before him towards the flagpole that stood atop a massive domed building. Its features were battered by constant shelling but through it all, the building still stood at the heart of the town. Its once glistening white color now faded and dirtied with age along with scorch marks of fire.
"Just ahead, Bryce," Liarie said and looked back to the trio coming around the corner. "Come along! We're nearly upon our destination!"
Bryce did not wait, choosing to begin to walk down the snaking path left in the road by the last inhabitants of the town who had tried desperately to maintain some sort of order. The rubble and machinery pushed out of the way were now a tangled mess barely recognizable for their original purposes. The path was ruined in several places where a shell had fallen to leave a crater, or a cargo truck had broken down and ransacked of everything valuable. The snow began to grow thicker, slowing him down with each step. The great central intersection waited before him as he paused in front of it. Scanning from side to side he saw no movement besides the occasional shift of wreckage with a low creak of metal caused by the strong gusts of wind that blew across the wide space.
He felt a pull at his hair from the fiercer gusts of wind. Taking off his officer's cap, Bryce smoothed his hand along his jet-black hair. The tail of longer hair on the back of his hair flapped in the wind before he pulled it back beneath the collar of his thick coat. "I assume everything is still quiet around us, besides rodents, Liarie?"
"What about the scavs, Lead?" Vonna asked.
"There aren't any," Bryce retorted. He met Vonna's brown eyes and noticed her shivering. "Trust me," he said in a softer tone.
Liarie raised her head to the sky and closed her eyes briefly. "We're still safe."
"I'm sorry, there aren't any scavs? The mutilated bodies say otherwise," Zel said.
"I still have not sensed any," Liarie replied.
"Well, something is chewing on the bones that is bigger than some rodent." Zel replied, idly kicking at a dented door hanging by a single hinge. "I'd agree with you that there aren't any, but the stench on some of these bodies seems too fresh."
"Predictable youth, believing the lies that scavengers would be low enough to pick at the remains," Liarie snapped at Zel.
"Maybe not all of them, but I'm sure some of them have when they're hungry enough."
"Then no different than you or me, if placed into a desperation situation."
A loud grumble emitted from behind Murn's emotionless mask, giving pause to Zel before he could reply. Murn shifted, causing some of his muscles to bristle beneath the tight threads of the coat. The metal plates embedded in the uniform bent slightly by his movements.
Bryce crossed his arms and turned away from the others. He's not wrong, something else has been here.
"There is no use speculating" Liarie stepped in front of Bryce and gave him a glint of a smile "It's better we keep moving, yes?"
"Of course." He returned the smile with his own thin version. Marching through the snow he headed through the center his eyes set on the domed building. The statues to either side with their swords and shields stood proudly in defiance to the destruction all around. The grand intersection set before was littered with wreckage of a whole host of various civilian and military vehicles. The bodies that still littered the space were ripped and thrown about, mostly just bones and tattered remains of clothing, the only mark that deemed them as human still. The tails of rodents scurrying into hiding places made him pause before he kept going; the chattering of their teeth left him on edge as he spotted their beady eyes watching with keen interest from beneath a twisted and mangled car.
The wind picked up again as he looked away, tightening the coat as he endured it. Snow blew across any gaps in the space before settling again into another pile of more of the fresh white fluff. Bryce felt his determination grow as he took each step drawing him closer to what lay within the domed halls of the town hall.
"Another esper."
Why now? Bryce turned to see Liarie looking with raised chin towards a three-story building off to the right side of where they all stood. "Raise the shield, we're in the open." He ordered and closed his own eyes to extend his senses out. Where exactly in that building is she?
"No, the esper has already backed off. She's currently sending a message."
"We should get under cover, Lead." Vonna stated, pulling the rifle off her shoulder to hold in her hands.
"Yea, I definitely agree with Vonna. Let's not stay and become a rat's next meal." Zel added, taking a step in the direction and looked towards Bryce waiting.
Bryce nodded and turned to Liarie. "Do you sense the esper anymore?"
"No, she's masking herself to my calls."
He squeezed his fist as tightly as possible as a means of refocusing his own attention. His own extension of magic to reach out becoming silent. "Alright, stop calling out, we don't need her knowing that we're heading inside." He began walking towards the domed structure once more. "Let's move quick to cover. However, be ready to fight. If the esper tries to engage us, we'll have to deal with her."
Reaching the bottom of the steps, Bryce began the ascent. The deep steps were carved out of solid stone that served as the foundation of the structure ahead. The grand entrance was left blasted open to reveal a waiting blackness for him.
At the top of the steps, Bryce paused to take in the darkness. The heavy bronze doors that had once acted as an entrance now lay in shards across the floor leading into the room beyond. A beam of light from the outside pierced through from the hole in the domed roof. Taking care in his steps over the shards, he hid the marker in a pouch, and unholstered his dual shot pistol, and kept his other hand resting on the hilt of the saber. Within the room, the single light illuminated the columns spaced perfectly around the large circular room. Even with the light, the edges of the room were still too dark to see.
"Definitely not a warm welcome," Zel remarked. The young man looking all about with his rifle partially raised, fear crept at his words.
"What did you expect, a waiting feast?" Vonna retorted.
"It would've been nice."
Liarie snapped her hands together. "Silence you two! We need to focus on the task at hand."
"Vonna, see if the esper is approaching from the front." Bryce replied and moved deeper into the dark space. The light coming through the ceiling helped him navigate the farthest reaches of the room. His fingers reached out for the far side wall and trailed his finger down to a cupboard caked in dust. This place surely was beautiful once. He rubbed his index finger and thumb together, feeling the thick dust brush away into the air.
"I don't see her yet."
Bryce turned to see the young woman lying flat across the ground, peering through the scope of her rifle. "What do you think, Liarie? Do you recognize her at all?"
"I don't recognize her, there is no telling how strong she is." Liarie shook her head, "Nor do I know what her game is, but I fear if she ends up heading in our direction, she may disrupt our goal." Liarie replied.
Zel found a column to lean against, his fingers playing with a loose strand in his coat's sleeve. "What will we do if she shows up though? We can't shoot her, cause of whatever is out there hiding. Maybe it'll have the guts to come after something living."
Vonna's rifle lowered slightly as she looked to Bryce, "That is a good point, no telling what we'll attract that's hiding here."
"We'll have to take the risk." Bryce took a deep breath and looked out past the doors to the snowy intersection." We can't risk an Imperial esper learning about Guidance. Dispatch her, Vonna, if she gets too close."
"Are you sure about this?" Vonna asked and looked up to Bryce to see his stern look. With a simple nod she turned her attention to peering through the scope towards the roads leading into the grand intersection.
Bryce turned to Zel and Murn, "be ready to help Vonna with whatever she needs to cut down the esper if they come near here."
"Aren't you staying to deal with her, Lead?" Zel asked.
"There is no telling the condition that Guidance is in, Liarie and I, both need to confront him as soon as possible," Bryce replied.
"It always seems like our situation gets worse and worse," Zel sighed and gave a salute with his fist over his heart.
Murn with no expression gave the same salute and marched over to a corner to wait.
"Let's go, Liarie faster we get to Guidance, the better before there are any more complications," Bryce said.
"Of course, Lead." Liarie replied.
Heading into the darkest part of the room, Bryce reached up to the middle of his chest, pressing down on the wooden charm that lay hidden beneath. I'm going into another tomb, little sis; I know I'll make it through with your luck.
With a deep breath, Bryce reached out for that familiar warmth that ran from his heart and out into his veins. Yenvark, I beseech you both to protect me from what lies within this dark place. He opened the palm of his left hand; above it sparked a burning red ember of light. The smooth, marble surfaces of the columns to either side of him were revealed. Further on, he found the opening of a hallway and set out onto the path.
Liarie produced a curved rod that glistened with a blue glow to help light the path. A sprinkle of blue fell to the ground in the wake of her footsteps.
The hall began a slow descent into a staircase. Cracks lined the steps where pieces of the ceiling above had fallen. They took each step carefully, several shards loosening further to skip down the path. The dark space filled with the sound, echoes dancing along the high ceiling, unable to be seen in the dim light.
Coming to a landing, Bryce grimaced at the next set of stairs blocked by debris. Looking towards an entrance to a hallway, he paused before it at a resounding punctuation in the air from the of a release of a bullet.
"It seems the esper approached our companions," Liarie said.
Bryce closed his eyes and tried reaching out, but he only felt a fuzziness intermixed with the cold of the halls.
Another resounding impact of a bullet echoed down to them.
"It's too far out for me, can you sense if the esper is still alive?"
"Yes, she has revealed herself and still breathes life, but our companions are just as healthy," Liarie replied.
Bryce looked back the way they came, a grimace crossing his lips.
Studying him for the moment, she shifted on her hooves. "We've come this far; I don't think we should let this risk we've taken become in vain."
The spark of flame in the palm of his hand brightened. "I know. It's just they're facing an esper…"
"Calm yourself and you'll see that we must continue. Our time is finite here, Bryce."
He noticed the flame's growth and took a deep breath to calm it. "You're right, we have to trust them to handle it."
He turned his attention back to the hallway and headed off onto the new floor. Bones lined the space along with cracks, scorch marks, bullet casings, and discarded weapons; all cluttering the tight corridors.
The path led them past makeshift barriers of furniture, ripped and torn apart. A skittering of noise drew their attention to see the small bodies of rats before they vanished into holes along the wall. A third gunshot echoed down into the dark place.
"A hole."
Bryce turned at Liarie's voice and saw her peering into a room. Moving past her he saw the hole into the darkness below. With a nod he sent the ember down to illuminate the floor below. Seeing nothing dangerous he hopped down. Regaining the ember in the palm of his hand he moved to the side to create space for Liarie to land. A blue ember falling from Liarie's rod to dissipate into the stone floor.
"More signs of a struggle." Liarie pointed to the doorway broken through with bones littered all about with their ripped clothing and armor.
"The bones have bitemarks just like those above," Bryce observed and nudged his foot against a long shin bone covered in bites. "Zel is right to think that something is here."
"I sense nothing of importance."
Bryce exited into the hallway waiting beyond the door. "But something was here. These soldiers put up quite the fight against whatever it was. A valiant effort. Yet they seemed to not have killed anything."
Liarie extended the rod forward to light up the path covered in more bodies picked clean by hungry rodents. "What occurred here has long since passed, there is no reason for you to get caught up with it, Lead."
"Is that not what we are doing with our search for Guidance? Making the same foolish mistakes as those before us?"
Liarie nodded. "Maybe, but you want to break the cycle." She gently pushed Bryce, "So, let's get to it. We can't waste time here."
"You're always right, aren't you Liarie?"
"I am a familiar to you and I am a fey. I'd be doing a poor job if I was wrong."
"Naturally." Bryce moved into the abating darkness. Boots crunching against the scattered remains. His eyes focused on any movement at the edge of the light. The flicker of a rat's tail here or the sight of beady eyes studying him.
Every floor they descended grew colder. The air becoming harder to breath, the permeating stench of death unable to circulate to the outside.
Down another spiraling staircase, they came into a space with rows of bookshelves; dust seemed to move through the still air. Past the shelving they entered another hall that led them past multitudes of rooms used for study and calculations; desks, pens, and journals all thrown about around complex machines now shattered. Turning down an intersection they found themselves descending further to enter an armory full of weapons. Rifles, machine guns, and pistols, covered in thick cobwebs. Spiders watched from the corners. The webbing was strung along the ceiling as they went down another hall towards an intersection. Whispers fluttered on the air of a distant gunshot before it was overpowered by the echo of their boots on the marble floors now turned stone through their traveling.
Before a heavy metal doorway, they finally stopped. Stretching his hand out, Bryce laid it against the door. He gasped in surprise at the cold which pierced through his leather gloves to touch against his skin.
Liarie crept close and placed her hand over his and brushed up against him. "Relax. You sense it, don't you? Guidance is within." Another ember fell from the glowing rod.
Comforted by her warmth in the cold place, he closed his eyes and focused. He tuned himself to her and his own breathing. Rhythmic and gentle. Extending his sense up the length of his arm and to the door, he felt its cold embrace. The warmth flowed through his body to spread across the door as he turned his attention to envisioning the power he desired.
With a loud hiss and a clasp of metal bending, Bryce smiled at the sight of the hinges breaking under the pressure and the door swinging inward before collapsing against the wall to come to a permanent rest.
"This place… shadows linger within it."
"And what's that supposed to mean to us?"
Liarie shook her head. "I'm not sure exactly. Nonetheless stay close, less we chance being separated in the dark," Liarie said and gently tightened her grip around his hand.
"Of course. We'll make it out. We have to." He smiled to her and began the descent down the staircase.
The echo of their footsteps seemed to become dampened by an invisible presence growing as they descended. Even their own breathing seemed to be affected. The glow of the ember and rod was lessened into a tight sphere around them.
The stairway ended to an opening. The darkness stretched on, seemingly forever. Their sources of light were barely able to pierce the veil of shadows. Noises from above became nonexistent as did the stench of death from before. In its place was nothing.
Liarie looked around with focused eyes, her eyes twitching at the most subtle of changes in the air.
"What is it?" Bryce asked.
"Something is amiss, but…"
"I don't know, it's as if we stepped into a place we should not have."
"That's comforting." Bryce grimaced.
With steady steps, the pair moved forward into the darkness. The shadows moved at the touch of their light with great resistance, constantly threatening to swallow them up. A spark of blue ember trailed off the rod to vanish in the pitch black.
A sudden hiss broke the silence.
Bryce turned about looking for the source of the noise. His eyes darted in every direction as the hiss seemed to echo from multiple directions before it came to a halt. He felt Liarie's hand tighten in his.
"Relax, just keep moving forward."
"Which way?" He paused before seeing the end of the rod pointed for him. He began to walk again. The hair along the back of his neck stood on end as the hiss went off again and was joined by others.
"Ignore them, you mustn't show fear to their anger."
"What are they?" Bryce tightened the grip on his two-shot pistol still held in his right hand. His finger itched to move towards the trigger.
"I now realize where we are."
"And that is?"
"Quiet," she said and urged him onward.
Each step he took brought him deeper into the dark place, no end in sight. The comforting presence of Liarie occasionally turning him in the correct directions needed to navigate the abyss. Numerous clicking sounds tapped across the floor, always keeping a steady distance from the pair. A heavy breathing emanated from the shadows, sending a cold chill to swirl through the air.
Up ahead a light grew within the darkness. As Bryce drew closer, he felt his heart begin to beat faster. "Where is Guidance? I don't see him, Liarie."
"We mustn't worry about that, stay focused." She replied in a hushed tone.
The breathing began to slow as the tension in the air seemed to rise with each step Bryce took towards the light. The haze around it cleared to reveal a stone table with a humanoid figure laying across it. The figure's skin was a sickly pale purple. Bite marks were visible along its body wherever the silver robe did not cover skin. Several fangs were still embedded in holes, the hosts having violently retreated. Within the webbed hands of the figure was the source of the light.
"Did Vlaxtawk kill him? Are they the ones casting these shadows?" Bryce gave his own hiss towards the surrounding darkness.
Liarie shook her head, "No, this is not Vlaxtawk." Her eyes focused on the source of light. "We needn't worry though; Guidance may have fallen but our true goal still lays within his palm."
Bryce looked to her with a raised brow. Yet another horror we must face in this world? Watching her approach, the light, his eyes widened as the light grew with her touch before he was forced to look away at the brilliance.
As the light dimmed, he saw the purple figure now rejuvenated and standing at his full height. His lithe body towered over Bryce and Liarie. The rich glow of his body seemed to repel the very darkness itself as he opened his eyes, a glow to his brilliant pupils. "A human and fey. An esper with a familiar." He stretched his webbed hand out; the source of light was a crystal shard resting in his palm. "How curious."
"How are you alive?" Liarie asked. Her furred tail moved side to side as her hands clasped together. "No, that isn't important right now, what's important is you're here with us, which means you can help us and the Union!"
"I cannot, as I do not reside here." Guidance lowered himself to stare down Bryce. "Nor do I see the need to guide you two. A curious pair yes, but it is not Yen nor Vark who seek my help, not even Union. It is your Lead that does." He gave a smile of his pearly white teeth. "Am I, not right?"
Bryce studied the crystal waiting just within arm's reach. "Whether it is for me or not, in the end it is for Union. We all serve Yenvark."
Guidance closed his eyes, the lids moving horizontally, as he straightened himself. He opened his eyes once more to the darkness all around. "You say that, and you have sacrificed much to come here to this wretched place." He turned back to study the pair. "I'd be curious to meet you two and lend an ear. Maybe if it aligns with the right path, it will once more give hope that Yenvark's light can shine upon this world that nears the brink of destruction."
Abruptly, Guidance vanished along with his light.
A sudden pull at his body made Bryce's heart skip a beat as he took several deep breaths and looked out into that darkness to see the stone table with the sickly pale figure still lying upon it now a fair distance away in the darkness. Teleportation? But when was the spell cast and how so quickly? The glow within the figure's hand beginning to diminish. In that limited remaining light, long pointed shapes poked out from the darkness to pierce into the ground. A hiss of rage vibrated the air.
Bryce felt a shiver run through him as he unholstered his pistol to fire into the darkness. The fiery impact of the two bullets vanished into the darkness giving a further glimpse of more multi-legged shapes crawling towards him.
"It's no use, we have to go, now!"
He felt a tug on his shoulder and turned to see fear in the pure green eyes of Liarie. "But the shard…"
"It's gone! Its magic was sapped away, and we will fall with it if we stay!" Liarie took hold of Bryce's arm to try to turn him back the way they had come. The staircase was illuminated at the touch of the blue glow of Liarie's rod.
With a nod of understanding, Bryce made his way to the staircase, forcing Liarie to begin the climb first while he followed close behind; his attention turning to reloading his pistol. He turned the hinge, ejecting the two empty shells within, the sounds of them clattering to the stone behind lost to the numerous clicking of mandibles. Placing two new heavy slugs in the chamber he clicked the pistol's barrel back into place and holstered it. Alighting a blue ember in the palm of his hand he glanced back to see the shadow of the creatures a few steps behind. He released the ember and created a new one while the first lit up the steps to create a thin barrier of flames. A loud hiss followed him as he made it to the next landing to see Liarie running down the hall.
"I can hear them all over!" Liarie called back as she slid to a halt at an intersection. "Don't bother slowing them down, Bryce. We just have to go!"
"Why didn't you sense them before?" he called out after her.
"They were hiding within that magical realm!" She let forth a wail of frustration. "I knew something was wrong! Why'd I mistake it for just shadows?"
A magical realm, so then it wasn't a teleportation spell; we were kicked out of the realm after Guidance released the hold on the spell. Bryce sprinted down the hall, following behind Liarie as she started down a turn. "Do you remember the way out?" Glancing back, he saw the shadows billowing forth from the stairway in pursuit.
"Of course! I left a trail for us to follow." A brilliant blue flash of light appeared at another intersection, the light directing down a left turn before vanishing. Taking the turn, Liarie passed by several more flashes of light. Her ears twitched at the skittering echoing down the halls in pursuit of their footsteps, and her tail wagged and twisted to maintain her balance as she took each turn tightly.
Bryce took large strides, trying to ignore the fear of taking a wrong step as he tried his best to keep up with the fey. "Remember, I'm just a human!" he called out, his hands balling into fists as he desperately wanted to turn and fight. The horde of noise seemingly growing closer with every passing second.
"We both have a pair of legs; you just got to use them faster, Bryce!" She twisted down another path.
Coming to the doorway, Bryce jumped through the opening and saw a hand lowered down for him from a hole in the ceiling. Releasing the grip on the embers within his hand, he shifted back on his heels and felt a surge of warmth through his legs down to his feet before he jumped. The burst of energy sent him up as he took hold of Liarie's hand and was quickly pulled through the opening. A swarm of blackness snapped at his boots as it quickly began to rise after them. "Thank you, Liarie."
"We aren't out yet, Bryce." Liarie turned and move out of the room and into a new hall.
Following her, Bryce froze up at the vibrations shaking the room. "Just how many are there!" His eyes widened at the dark shapes trying to squeeze past the gap in the floor, mandibles and spiny legs clawing at the floor to get a grip.
"More than enough!"
Bryce exited into the hall and followed Liarie down the path towards a set of stairs. The only light came from the rod in Liarie's hand, its blue glow illuminating the path in a weak attempt to push past the shadows. His chest pounding with the effort of sprinting, Bryce let forth a loud growl as he picked up speed to keep up with Liarie. The stairway exited out into another hall that twisted back and forth, where a dark surging liquid seeped from cracks within the foundation. The tendrils slammed by the swift boots of fey and human stuck to the bottoms in a weak attempt to slow them down.
The rod abruptly shot forward from Liarie's hand to reveal a group of clawing creatures that were abruptly obliterated in a blue inferno. Liarie did not slow in her movements as the rod floated in the midst of the inferno to push the flames away clearing a path for her and Bryce. The inferno was left to its growing chaos as the rod caught up to Liarie's hand.
"What are those?" Bryce asked, his fingers twitching to squeeze a trigger or the pommel of his saber.
"Twisted abominations." Liarie climbed a new set of stairs, her pace slowing as each step shook her legs. "Monsters that we don't want to fight."
"Can you give me more than that?" Bryce asked, exiting into a room from the staircase. The rays of a setting sun shone through a space up ahead.
"Later, we must find our companions." Liarie stopped as a vibration shook the room, dust floating down from the ceiling. Her ears twitched as she closed her eyes to listen. "Luncal await us outside."
"With their commodore?"
"Figures, this day isn't getting better is it." Bryce growled and set forth towards the waiting light at the end of the room. "We best hurry."
"I'll catch up in a moment; I'll slow the creatures behind us."
Bryce turned to protest but paused at her calm look and simply nodded in understanding.
Resuming down the path, Bryce came out into the dimly lit entrance hall with its blasted open doorway and littered debris across the floor.
At the entrance stood Vonna with rifle raised, her body visibly shaking as she jumped in surprise at Bryce's appearance.
"By Yen's fortune, it is fantastic to see you, Lead!" Vonna exclaimed. She lowered her rifle and took a deep breath. "I didn't want to leave, but we're running out of time!"
Vonna glanced to the sky, "An airship flew in, I couldn't see the flag what with all the cloud coverage. I'm sure we'll have company soon."
"It's Luncal." Bryce spat to the side, clearing his mouth of dust, "What about Murn and Zel?"
Vonna looked to the west, towards the outer rim of the grand intersection, "I lost sight of them when they went to cut off the Imperial esper. They should have returned by now."
"Seems Yen isn't gracing us with all of her fortune." Bryce moved past Vonna to the doorway. There he looked out onto the grand intersection at the center of the town to see fresh craters and fires among the wreckage. "All this chaos just for us?" He looked to the sky in search of the source of the shells. That bastard is definitely up there for him to waste so much firepower for us.
"Where's Liarie?"
Bryce turned back to Vonna and began to open his mouth before a flash of blue bloomed out the path he had come from. Another flash blinded them both temporarily before they saw Liarie come running towards them.
"I slowed them temporarily, but we must leave!" Liarie called out. The blue glow of the rod dimmed as she placed it back on her hip. Her hands shook as she came to a halt before Vonna and Bryce. "Now!"
"Not without Murn and Zel. Can you sense them?" Bryce asked.
Her tail swiped back and forth as she ground her teeth. "Sense them now with the torrent of noise that Luncal and those shadows have caused? You must be mad!" She looked to Vonna. "Did you not see where they went?"
"I did but hold up a minute." Vonna looked to the shadows behind Liarie and took a step back. "What is chasing you two?"
"It's not important; we must move quickly to where we can find Zel and Murn."
"Is it Scavs?" Vonna replied.
Bryce shook his head, "No, something else. We can discuss it later, now please, Vonna."
Vonna nodded in understanding and set forth down the stairway. "You know, I said how many times that it was crazy to come to this town. And here we are!"
"No use to regret our decision." Bryce paused midway down the stairway at the audible series of cracks sounding from the domed building. He shivered at the feeling of eyes studying him but saw none within the darkness. "Can they give chase, Liarie?"
Liarie slowed at the bottom of the steps, her hands outstretched as she closed her eyes. Ears twitching. "Quiet, the chaotic noise shifts, I need to focus."
"It has to be scavs," Vonna stated, eying the shadows at the top of the steps in search of the familiar shapes but saw none except for the darkness. "We really need to keep moving," She raised her rifle to peer through the scope to her left, the direction where Murn and Zel had gone. She lowered her rifle again with a frown. "I still don't see them."
Bryce turned in the opposite direction at the abrupt boom that echoed in the distance. "Another volley, get down!" He raised his hands and closed his eyes. Vark shield us! His thoughts drifted to that of a barrier, focusing on the intent of it. Vibrations shook his mind from all directions, shrapnel flinging against the barrier as new craters were added to the town. The rush of noise settled down to be replaced once more by the breeze rushing through the town.
Releasing the grip on the barrier he looked around to see water falling where snow had been melted by the blasts of heat. A pair of fresh craters were close by to their location with more in other parts of the town.
"Damn Luncal getting here faster than we predicted." Bryce ran a hand along his hair and turned to Liarie who was still focused on her spell.
Vonna slowly sat up and eyed either one of them with a concerned look. "Well, can we get the magic working faster so we can leave? I rather not get butchered by those savages this evening."
"Savages is an interesting description," Liarie replied, her hands lowering. With a deep breath she set forth deeper into the intersection.
"Well they are! And we're going to be surrounded by them or killed by the scavs, or whatever is chasing you two!" Vonna exclaimed.
"Come along you two, I can sense them. Murn is hurt, we mustn't waste any more time," Liarie said.
"How did you sense them?" Bryce asked.
"The shadows have settled, for now." Liarie climbed over a set of wreckage without pause. "Though we mustn't waste the sunlight or else we will be forced to deal with them and will surely fall."
"Are these shadows afraid of the sun?" Bryce asked, trying to keep pace with her agile speed through the thick snow.
"Afraid of the light?" Liarie paused to eye both Bryce and Vonna, taking in their concerned looks. "This isn't a fairy tale. They have merely paused due to the fear of the unknown. I can sense their fear and we can thank Luncal'sha Kingdom's bombing for that."
"Ridiculous, all of it." Vonna huffed as she shouldered her rifle and struggled to keep pace through the snow. She nearly stumbled over a long piece of wreckage sticking out from the snow, the iron rusted beyond recognition.
Liarie exited the grand intersection and headed down the main road before turning down a side street. Her tail flicking back and forth helping to guide Bryce and Vonna who brought up the rear at a slower pace. Fresh snow being kicked up by their heavier footsteps.
Slowing, Bryce reached a hand out to the brick wall to steady himself. Moving down the street he came to the hole in the wall where Liarie vanished and walked over the debris. Lying against an overturned shelving unit was Murn with Liarie by his side and Zel standing at attention.
"Glad you found us!" Zel said with a big smile. "Murn got hit hard by that Imperium's volferd. We barely got under cover before the barrage."
"They'll be landing soon and ready to hunt us down in this town," Vonna exclaimed, coming through the opening. She took a deep breath before continuing, "We need to get Murn to his feet fast and move."
Liarie gently rubbed Murn's side with a hand lit with a blue glow, before caressing the side of his face. "You have rested enough. We must move on before you can rest more."
With a simple nod, Murn rose to his full towering height.
"Well, Lead, we going before another barrage?" Zel asked.
Bryce looked to each of them now looking to him for the command. "We're moving northwest. We have the head start. If we move fast enough, we'll keep a good distance from them before the sun sets tonight."
Grabbing their gear, the group filed out of the blown-out shop and quickly made their way through the streets. The distant hum lowered in tone as the airships landed and their pursuers began to enter the town by foot in search of them.
Progress Report 2/25/20
Perpetual War Arc Two: Chapter Two – Route


EU Japan Business. Trade. Investment. M&A.
EU Japan Business: EU Japan trade negotiations were officially launched on 25 March 2013, and negotiations for a free trade agreement (FTA) and an economic partnership agreement (EPA) are in progress.
Background and current status is recorded here.
The European Community – Japan Joint Declaration of 18 July 1991 (The Hague Joint Declaration) declared commonly held values and laid the foundation for many agreements structuring the cooperation between the European Community and Japan.
Today many agreements have been concluded, find a list and explanation of EU-Japan partnership and cooperation agreements here.
Since the First EC-Japan Ministerial Meeting in 1984, and the 1st EC-Japan Summit on 18 July 1991 in The Hague, EU-Japan summit meetings take place regularly, find details here.
EU direct investments in Japan total approximately € 85 billion, while Japanese investments in Europe total about € 150 billion.
Combined trade in goods and services between EU and Japan amounts to approximately EURO 80 billion each each direction, i.e. about EURO 160 billion in total, and is balanced.
Several European companies have been established in Japan for 100 years or longer, but the total number and volume of European companies in Japan is still quite low, and there is a very substantial number of large and small European companies which are not yet engaged in Japan.
In an annex to the 16th EU-Japan Summit in Berlin on 5 June 2007 the EU and Japan expressed intensions to cooperate further in science, technology and innovation, which led to the EU-Japan Science and Technology Cooperation Agreement of 13 November 2009.


Bill Kennedy talks about the challenges in bringing The Singing Bone to life.
About The Singing Bone: Liam Stone operates within a band of emotion that never touches his self imposed safety limits; no severe pain, yet no great joy. The death of his widowed mother in an automobile accident and a meeting with his father's best friend, a Catholic priest, convince him that he is aware of only a small portion of who his parents truly were. He learns of the existence of a group of ledgers that his father had hidden. He finds the ledgers, but can't read # eleven. A severe case of tinnitus stops him every time he touches the book. Each bout with the ledger loosens images of people and events from the 19th and early 20th century, including his father as a young man. He starts to remember names and stories that no one had ever told him. His memories go back three generations to an 1850 North Atlantic crossing from New Ross to New Orleans. He stops work on his second book of poetry and writes a novel formed from these images. After the novel's publication, Liam has a shocking revelation.
6) Al Capone's family and business.
All played a role in the book.
Chapters often started with a document that loosened a memory of my family and then to a dream state with words flowing onto paper, hand written then typed.
I remember pushing myself away from the table the day I wrote the final chapter and felt at peace.
Next I met with a priest to discuss the Catholic church teaching on marriage, divorce and excommunication.
Then came a search for an agent over a six month period that led to signing with Harriet Wasserman, Saul Bellow's agent. I was in heaven until she disappeared shortly thereafter under suspicion of fraud and misappropriation of author's funds.
This eye-opening event led me to research Amazon's Create Space and led to the publishing of the paper-back and e-version of The Singing Bone. Formatting the interior of the book and creating the cover art are challenges that I actually enjoyed. However, for a small fee, these services are readily available on-line.
Barnes & Noble's Nook Press allowed me to publish the hard back version, but without text or images on the dust jacket flaps. Then I discovered IngramSpark's services that included DJ flap printing. I transferred the hard back ISBN's to IngramSpark and now have two printing sources.
I sent a copy of the hard back to Barnes & Noble Galleria in Edina and asked the CRM if I could do a reading in their new store. Much to my surprise and satisfaction, she said yes. The agreement calls for the author to provide the books on consignment and bring them in for the reading, then take them home after the reading. I ordered 35 copies for a reading at the end of April and had them shipped directly to the store. Sounded like a good idea. Then discovered a conflict with scheduling and had to cancel. I am waiting for B&N to ship the books back to me, at my expense of course, and look forward to a rescheduled event in the fall.
I was not expecting to make a living as an author and have not been disappointed.
In the meantime, I raise funds for our local library, love every minute of the job, and continue to write prose and poetry.
William Kennedy started writing stories a long time ago. He hid them in the back of his closet under a shoe box. He realized later that stories could be shared and somebody might enjoy reading them. He has published some of those short stories in literary magazines and webzines. A few years ago, he received his MFA in creative writing for children and young adults at Hamline University in St. Paul. He now focuses his writing on middle grade novels that feature Tramp, the world's best dog detective. He was born in Peoria, Illinois. He had a dog and lost a dog. He went to the library a lot and now works in one.


text:
Hrad Čabraď (též hrad Litava, hrad Litva či hrad Lietava, maď. Csábrág vára) stojí v Krupinské planině asi 8 km od hradu Bzovík, nad obcí Čabradský Vrbovok.

Historie

Hrad byl vystavěn ve 13. století na skalisku nad říčkou Litavou. Přesný rok však není znám. Jeho funkcí bylo střežit obchodní báňskou cestu do báňských měst na středním Slovensku. O několik kilometrů dál se nacházel hrad stejného jména, který ale zcela zanikl. Ve starých písemných pramenech se hrad Čabraď objevuje jako Haradnuk, castrum Lutya, castrum Lyta či castrum Chabrad. Od začátku své existence byl předmětem řady majetkových sporů. Na začátku 14. století se jej zmocnil Matúš Čák Trenčianský. Po jeho smrti roku 1318 nebyl vrácen původním majitelům Huntům, ale dostal se do vlastnictví uherského krále. Roku 1335 se novými majiteli stali synové Vavřince z Dobrakuty. Ti se brzy dostali do sporu s klášterem na Bzovíku. Vyvrcholení sporu přinesla smrt bzovického probošta a jeho sluhů, po niž byl hrad Čabraď i s blízkým stejnojmenným hradem majitelům zkonfiskován. V 15. století byl hrad obsazen Janem Jiskrou z Brandýsa, který si z něj vytvořil předsunutý opěrný bod. Druhý hrad je v této době již označován jako pustý. V roce 1462 se v písemných pramenech poprvé objevuje název Čabraď. V dalších letech se zde vystřídal celá řada majitelů. V 16. století se novým majitelem stal Ján Krušič, který jej rozšířil a opevnil. Bylo postaveno vnější opevnění s bastiony pro dělostřelce, takže se dokázalo ubránit útokům Turků. V roce 1622 mění hrad majitele znovu, tentokrát se jím stal Peter Koháry. V držení Koháryů zůstal do roku 1812, kdy jej majitel zapálil. Během stavovských povstání byl hrad několikrát dobyt, poškozen byl však až na konci povstání, kdy jej dobyli a poškodili Rákocziho kuruci. Císařská vojska jej získala až po těžkých bojích a pomocí lstí. V současné době je hrad částečně zakonzervován a pečuje o něj občanské sdružení] Rondel.

Přístup
Pro turisty je hrad přístupný po modré turistické značce od jihu z Hrušova. Ze severu vede cesta od obce Čabradský Vrbovok údolím Konštianského potoka.

Odkazy

Literatura

Související články
 Seznam hradů na Slovensku

Externí odkazy

 Čabraď na webu treking.cz
 Občanské sdružení Rondel pečující o hrad
 Hrad Čabraď, slovenskehrady.sk

Zříceniny hradů na Slovensku
Čabradský Vrbovok

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


The lecture PERTH FREIGH LINK: making the right investment in Perth's freight task, by transport and sustainability expert Professor Peter Newman at the Fremantle Townhall on July 14, 6-7 pm becomes even more interesting in context to the just released report by the Federal Infrastructure Department.
The report confirms a "substantial growth" of Fremantle Port of up to 5.5 per cent over the past decade, and it states that the biggest issue is transport around our cities.
The number of passenger vehicle kilometres travelled on Perth roads grew five times over the past ten years to 16.2 billion kilometres, and Perth has the biggest increase in traffic delays of all Australian cities. It took 31 seconds longer to drive one kilometre over the last decade.
With the population of Perth estimated to grow to up to 5,5 million residents transport and congestion issues will only get worse with the Federal Infrastructure Department reports saying that investment will need to be made to improve road, rail, bike paths, public transport, ports and airports, but that funding to build all the necessary infrastructure won't be available. That will create a huge headache for future generations and governments, so prioritising funding for essential infrastructure should be demanded by voters at the next state and federal elections.


1 Artists Limited is registered as a Private Limited Company, is located in London, and has been registered since 10/02/2015.
The registration number for 1 Artists Limited is 09432972 in Great Britain.
The status of 1 Artists Limited as it currently stands according to Companies House is: Dissolved.
The accounts for 1 Artists Limited are due on .
The detailed company information for 1 Artists Limited can be viewed below.


text:
package chapter04_io.t01_socket.server;

import static chapter04_io.t01_socket.Commons.DEFAULT_BUFFER_LENGTH;
import static chapter04_io.t01_socket.Commons.DEFAULT_MESSAGE_CHARSET;
import static chapter04_io.t01_socket.Commons.GET_FILE;
import static chapter04_io.t01_socket.Commons.SEND_B_FILE;
import static chapter04_io.t01_socket.Commons.SEND_FILE;
import static chapter04_io.t01_socket.Commons.SEND_MESSAGE;
import static chapter04_io.t01_socket.Commons.SERVER_SAVE_BASE_PATH;
import static chapter04_io.t01_socket.Commons.closeStream;
import static chapter04_io.t01_socket.Commons.logInfo;
import static chapter04_io.t01_socket.Commons.print;

import java.io.EOFException;
import java.io.File;
import java.io.FileNotFoundException;
import java.io.FileOutputStream;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.io.UnsupportedEncodingException;
import java.net.SocketException;

import chapter04_io.t01_socket.Commons;
import chapter04_io.t01_socket.SocketWrapper;
import chapter04_io.t01_socket.client.exceptions.DownloadNotExistsFileException;
import chapter04_io.t01_socket.client.exceptions.SaveExistsFileException;

public class Worker extends Thread {

	private SocketWrapper socketWrapper;

	private String name;

	public Worker(SocketWrapper socketWrapper, String name) {
		this.socketWrapper = socketWrapper;
		this.name = name;
		logInfo("ÎÒÊÇỊ̈߳º" + name + " , ¿ªÊ¼Æô¶¯½ÓÊÕ¿Í»§¶Ë´«À´Êý¾Ý......");
		this.start();// Æô¶¯
	}

	public void run() {
		while (true) {
			try {
				if (this.isInterrupted())
					break;
				byte type = socketWrapper.readByte();
				switch (type) {
				case SEND_MESSAGE:
					processMessage();
					break;
				case SEND_FILE:
					processFile();
					break;
				case SEND_B_FILE:
					uploadFileContent(null);
					break;
				case GET_FILE:
					downloadFile();
					break;
				default:
				}
			} catch (SaveExistsFileException e) {
				logInfo(e.getMessage());
			} catch (DownloadNotExistsFileException e) {
				logInfo(e.getMessage());
			} catch (EOFException e) {
				logInfo("¿Í»§¶Ë¹Ø±Õsocket£¬Ïß³Ì :" + name + " ½áÊøÖ´ÐÐ.");
				break;// ¶Ô·½socketÒѾ¶Ï¿ª
			} catch (SocketException e) {
				logInfo("SocketÒì³££º" + e.getMessage() + "£¬Ïß³Ì :" + name + " ½áÊøÖ´ÐÐ.");
				break;// socketÒì³£
			} catch (Exception e) {
				e.printStackTrace();
				logInfo("Ïß³Ì :" + name + " ½áÊøÖ´ÐÐ.");
				break;
			}
		}
		this.socketWrapper.close();
	}

	public void interrupt() {
		if (this.isAlive())
			super.interrupt();
	}

	/**
	 * ´¦Àí¿Í»§¶Ë´«À´µÄÐÅÏ¢Á÷
	 *
	 * @throws IOException
	 */
	private void processMessage() throws IOException {
		int length = socketWrapper.readInt();
		byte[] message = new byte[length];
		socketWrapper.read(message);
		logInfo("Ị̈߳º" + name + " ½ÓÊܵ½À´×Ô¿Í»§¶Ë´«À´messageÐÅÏ¢£º" + new String(message, DEFAULT_MESSAGE_CHARSET));
	}

	/**
	 * ´¦Àí¿Í»§¶Ë´«À´µÄÆÕͨÎļþ
	 *
	 * @throws IOException
	 */
	private void processFile() throws IOException {
		// »ñÈ¡×Ö·û¼¯
		String charset = Commons.getCharsetNameByCode(socketWrapper.readByte());
		logInfo("Ị̈߳º" + name + "½ÓÊÜÀ´Ô´¿Í»§¶Ë·¢ËÍÎļþ£¬×Ö·û¼¯Îª£º" + charset);

		uploadFileContent(charset);
	}

	/**
	 * ÉÏ´«Îļþ´¦ÀíÃ÷ϸ
	 *
	 * @param charset
	 * @throws IOException
	 * @throws UnsupportedEncodingException
	 * @throws FileNotFoundException
	 */
	private void uploadFileContent(String charset) throws IOException, UnsupportedEncodingException, FileNotFoundException {
		FileOutputStream out = null;
		try {
			// »ñÈ¡ÎļþÃû³¤¶ÈÒÔ¼°ÎļþÃû
			short length = socketWrapper.readShort();
			byte[] bytes = new byte[length];
			socketWrapper.readFull(bytes);
			String fileName = new String(bytes, DEFAULT_MESSAGE_CHARSET);
			logInfo("Ị̈߳º" + name + "½ÓÊÜÀ´Ô´¿Í»§¶Ë·¢ËÍÎļþ£¬À´Ô´ÎļþÃûΪ£º" + fileName);

			String path = SERVER_SAVE_BASE_PATH + fileName;
			File file = new File(path);
			if (file.exists()) {
				throw new SaveExistsFileException(path);
			}
			socketWrapper.write(1);// ±íʾÎļþ¿ÉÒÔ´´½¨
			out = new FileOutputStream(file);

			// »ñÈ¡ÎļþÄÚÈÝ£¬Êä³öÇ°Ã沿·ÖÄÚÈÝ
			long fileLength = socketWrapper.readLong();
			logInfo("Ị̈߳º" + name + "½ÓÊÜÀ´Ô´¿Í»§¶Ë·¢ËÍÎļþ£¬Îļþ³¤¶ÈΪ£º" + fileLength);
			bytes = new byte[DEFAULT_BUFFER_LENGTH];
			int allLength = 0, i = 0;
			while (allLength < fileLength) {
				int len = socketWrapper.read(bytes);
				allLength += len;
				out.write(bytes, 0, len);
				if (charset != null) {
					print(new String(bytes, charset));
				}
				if (i++ % 1024 == 0) {
					print(".");
				}
			}
			logInfo("\nÎļþ½ÓÊÕÍê±Ï²¢±£´æ£¬Ïò¿Í»§¶Ë·¢ËÍÈ·ÈÏÐÅÏ¢ , ʵ¼Ê½ÓÊÜÄÚÈݳ¤¶ÈΪ£º" + fileLength);
			socketWrapper.write(1);
		} catch (SaveExistsFileException e) {
			socketWrapper.write(-1);
			throw e;
		} catch (RuntimeException e) {
			logInfo("\nÎļþ½ÓÊÕʧ°Ü£¬Ïò¿Í»§¶Ë·¢ËÍ´íÎóÏûÏ¢¡£");
			socketWrapper.write(-2);
			throw e;
		} finally {
			closeStream(out);
		}
	}

	/**
	 * ÏÂÔØÎļþ¹¦ÄÜ
	 *
	 * @throws IOException
	 * @throws UnsupportedEncodingException
	 * @throws FileNotFoundException
	 */
	private void downloadFile() throws IOException, UnsupportedEncodingException, FileNotFoundException {
		short fileNameLength = socketWrapper.readShort();
		byte[] fileNameBytes = new byte[fileNameLength];
		socketWrapper.read(fileNameBytes);
		String fileName = new String(fileNameBytes, DEFAULT_MESSAGE_CHARSET);
		logInfo("Ị̈߳º" + name + "½ÓÊÜ¿Í»§¶ËÏÂÔØÎļþ£¬ÏÂÔØÎļþÃûΪ£º" + fileName);

		String absolatePath = SERVER_SAVE_BASE_PATH + fileName;
		File file = new File(absolatePath);
		if (file.exists()) {
			socketWrapper.write(1);
		} else {
			socketWrapper.write(-1);
			throw new DownloadNotExistsFileException(absolatePath);
		}
		socketWrapper.write(file.length());// Îļþ³¤¶È
		socketWrapper.writeFile(absolatePath);// Îļþ
	}
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
How to memefy your dog? – KittenGuru.com
Famous Dogs
How to memefy your dog?
Corey Farrugia2017-08-06T22:24:42+02:00
By Corey Farrugia Famous Dogs 0 Comments
It's been some time now but for those who are not really meme aficionados here comes a sad piece of old news. Gabe the dog died. For most it might have gone under the radar but Gabe died on the 20th of January this year. You might be asking yourselves who's Gabe the dog? Well one might say that besides the cute shiba inu that turned into the Dogge meme, Gabe was the next most popular pupper meme out there. Gabe is famous for his Bork song remixes.
It all started with Gabe's owner posting two innocent videos of Gabe being slightly unreasonable on youtube. The videos posted are called "the new dog source" and "newest dog source", both obscure titles that seem to have no particular reason behind them. Despite the erratic name choice, both videos had accumulated a significant amount of views and likes over the span of three years. A couple of days after the first dog source video was posted on youtube, some internet user used Gabe's bark and remixed it into a song and there was no stopping the avalanche that followed. Youtube videos with other song remixes started to be posted on youtube at a steady rate. Catching on this, Gabe's owner, even started to make remixes of his or her own. Among the most popular of Gabe's remix memes were those of "The midnight Tango" by Herp Alber, "I am a God" by Kanye West and "I speak no Americano" by Yolanda Be Cool (the last one being one of those remixes done by Gabe's owner himself).
So how did Gabe get memefied?
The word "meme" might be new but the concept is nothing novel. It is best to view memes as somewhat living entities. Memes become memes depending on survivability and their ability to weather the passage of time while still staying relevant to as many social contexts as possible. Like actual animal species memes survive depending on the niches that they occupy and to what extent those niches can be exploited. In order for a meme to survive and stay relevant to these niches it needs to outperform or hold its own against other memes that seek to occupy the same niche.
In order to achieve this a meme needs to be intense, memorable, and yet random enough to transcend contexts and therefore occupy as many niches as the social environment has to offer.
Gabe got memefied because he satisfied most of these criteria to one extent or another. Gabe's "the new dog source" and "newest dog source" videos shows us a feisty and intense yet small and adorable, white, Pomeranian – American eskimo mix with a hoarse but piercing "bork". Gabe ticked most of the boxes. Gabe ended up being reinvented in as many popular songs as possible. Music being an integral part of modern society ended up being fertile ground for memefied Gabe. In this manner Gabe percolated every other niche and context that could be remixed and therefore this ensured his survivability. Although at a slower pace, even after his death, Gabe still lives on and propagates in the form of new remixes. It is inevitable that the "bork" meme will eventually fizzle out, outcompeted by other newer memes that resonate better with the times, but until then Gabe is somewhat of a survivor.
How can I memefy my dog?
Who knows maybe your dog can be meme material. The recipe is not rocket science. Most dogs are cute but for your dog to be memefied you must catch your dog doing something odd but relatable and random enough to percolate contexts and become one of the colloquial social vocabulary that people can use to express how they feel about everyday situations. Grab your camera and take as many pictures and videos of your dog as humanly possible, and maybe … just maybe you'll get that golden picture or piece of footage that can turn your dog from ordinary to meme.
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


In short, I really don't think it matters much who gets elected in November because there isn't a tinkers damn worth of difference between the left and the right anymore.
Many pundits have been preaching that the upcoming November elections are a kind of litmus test for the future. I'm not so sure.


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Deleted excerpt from the first draft of Joseph A. Adler, Chinese Religious Traditions (Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 2002), ch. 3.
The final Confucian thinker of the classical period to be discussed here is Xunzi, or Master Xun, whose given name was Xun Qing. His dates are uncertain, but he was probably born a few years before Mencius died (the end of the 4th century BCE), and he lived roughly until the time that the Qin dynasty reunited China in 221 BCE. So he was able to look back at the entire extent of the Warring States period and survey all the philosophers who came before him. He was also intimately involved with the intellectual currents of his time, as he was a leading figure at the Jixia Academy -- a kind of think-tank in the state of Qi.
Xunzi was a sceptical, rationalist thinker, who nevertheless argued forcefully for the importance of ritual. He is mainly known for his theory, directly contradicting Mencius, that human nature is evil. But as we shall see, Mencius and Xunzi had more in common than their differences. His book, unlike those of Confucius and Mencius, is not a record of conversations but a series of essays, each on a single topic. Here we shall discuss only a few of them.
On Heaven (ch. 17)
In Xunzi=s essay on Heaven, he departs radically from the ideas of Confucius and Mencius. In fact, he refutes the doctrine of the Mandate of Heaven by saying that Heaven does not care about human affairs. Heaven, for him, is nothing more than the natural world; it has no moral will, and its activities are entirely unrelated to human activities. Those who pray for rain, for example, are wasting their time. Those who believe that comets and other extraordinary natural events indicate Heaven=s displeasure with those in power are foolish. AOnly the sage,@ he says with deliberate irony, Aacts without seeking to understand Heaven.@ [1]
Xunzi=s attitude toward Heaven is more than just scepticism. His real point is that human beings are in control of their own destinies; we must not fool ourselves into thinking that Heaven can intervene to help us or that Heaven is responsible for our troubles. True, he says, natural events such as floods or droughts are Heaven=s doing, and they certainly affect us, but they have no inherently human meaning. Heaven is responsible for how things are (the realm of facts), not how they ought to be (the realm of values). Heaven, Earth, and Mankind are three independent spheres of activity, Heaven and Earth being morally neutral. We must live with the effects and limitations imposed on us by Heaven and Earth, but essentially our lives are what we make of them. Therein lies the real challenge, for Xunzi, and in that respect he is completely in agreement with Confucius and Mencius.
On Ritual (ch. 19)
Despite his departure from a formative Confucian doctrine, Xunzi was a devoted follower of Confucius. He laid great stress on education, self-cultivation, statecraft, and formal ritual. His theory of ritual, in particular, was one of his great contributions to Chinese thought. He said that the formal rituals, especially those practiced in ordinary life, such as marriage, funerals, and ancestral sacrifice, were devised by the great Sages of the past in order to embellish or adorn human life by giving us structures through which we can fully develop and express our natural emotions. Such feelings as joy, grief, and reverence are distinctly human characteristics, and so to fully realize them is to be fully human. Ritual is a means of bringing into existence a fully human world from the raw material of our emotions; it is a means of satisfying certain psychological needs and desires without encroaching on those of others. Only the ancient Sages could have achieved this delicate balance.
Xunzi=s astute psychological insight is evident in his discussion of sacrifice:
Sacrificial rites give expression to the feelings of remembrance and longing for the dead. There inevitably come times when one is overwhelmed by emotions of grief and loss, and a loyal minister or a filial son finds that, even while others are given to the enjoyment of congenial company, these sorrowful emotions arrive. If when they come to him, and he is greatly moved, he nonetheless represses them, his feelings of remembrance and longing will be thwarted and unfulfilled, and his ritual practice will be deficient and incomplete. Therefore the ancient kings established certain forms so that the duty of honoring those who deserve honor and demonstrating affection for those who deser e affection might be fulfilled. Therefore I say that the sacrificial rites give expression to the feelings of remembrance and longing. They are the perfection of loyalty, good faith, love, and reverenced, and the flourishing of ritual deportment and refined demeanor... The noble [superior] person understands them as the human way; the hundred names [common people] think of them as matters having to do with spirits. [2]
Xunzi=s theory of repression clearly anticipates Sigmund Freud by over two millennia. In the last sentence he also makes an interesting point concerning ritual and belief. Since the Sages had a psychological purpose in creating the rituals, their efficacy does not depend upon belief in the existence of ancestral spirits or their ability to respond to sacrifice. Common people believe in those things, but a junzi understands their importance and efficacy in psychological, not theological, terms. In this respect and others, Xunzi sounds extremely modern to our ears.
Human nature is evil (ch. 23)
Xunzi=s most famous essay begins as follows:
Human nature is evil; goodness derives from conscious activity. Now it is human nature to be born with a fondness for profit. Indulging this leads to contention and strife, and the sense of modesty and yielding with which one was born disappears. One is born with feelings of envy and hate, and, by indulging these, one is led into banditry and theft, so that the sense of loyalty and good faith with which one was born disappears. One is born with the desires of the ears and eyes and with a fondness for beautiful sights and sounds, and, by indulging these, one is led to licentiousness and chaos, so that the sense of ritual, rightness, refinement, and principle with which one was born is lost. Hence, following human nature and indulging human emotions will inevitably lead to contention and strife, causing one to rebel against one=s proper duty, reduce principle to chaos, and revert to violence. Therefore one must be transformed by the example of a teacher and guided by the way of ritual and rightness before one will attain modesty and yielding, accord with refinement and rituaol, and return to order. From this perspective it is apparent that human nature is evil and that its goodness is the result of conscious activity. [3]
Notice that Xunzi does not refute Mencius= claim that human beings are born with certain emotions that can lead to morality. So why, then, does he come to the opposite conclusion about human nature? He is quite explicit about his disagreement with Mencius:
Mencius said, The fact that human beings learn shows that their nature is good. I say this is not so; this comes of his having neither understood human nature nor perceived the distinction between the nature and conscious activity. The nature is what is given by Heaven: one cannot learn it; one cannot acquire it by effort. Ritual and rightness are created by sages: people learn them and are capable, through effort, of bringing them to completion. What cannot be learned or acquired by effort but is within us is called the nature. What can be learned and, through effort, brought to completion is called conscious activity. [4]
This passage holds the key to the disagreement between Mencius and Xunzi: they have different understandings of the general concept of the nature of a thing (xing). Recall that Mencius= implicit understanding of the nature of a thing seemed to be that it is something that is innate and unique to that species. Since moral inclinations or moral potential fits those criteria, that constitutes human nature. But Xunzi defines the term as that which is innate and does not require effort to complete. The fact that Mencius= Afour beginnings@ must be cultivated rules them out of consideration. For Xunzi, only innate and spontaneous developed traits can count as human nature. And what fits this bill are the selfish, violent emotions, not moral inclinations. While Mencius is clear about offering a theory of potential goodness (above, 6A:6) -- recognizing that moral potential, in the form of the four beginnings, is something that actually exists and is not mere possibility -- any human trait that spontaneously appears only in potential form cannot be considered human nature for Xunzi. Thus the claims about human nature made by Mencius and Xunzi are like ships passing in the night.
So the fundamental difference between Mencius and Xunzi on this point concerns their definitions of the word xing, which lead them to look for psychological traits fitting different criteria. But do they really differ in their theories of human personality? They both acknowledge that human beings have both bad or selfish emotions and good ones. And more importantly, they both believe in the moral perfectibility of human beings. The difference between them on this score is that for Mencius it is a matter of cultivation or nourishment, while for Xunzi it is a matter of transformation. Without the external influence of sages and teachers to effect that transformation, human beings continue to indulge their selfish and violent emotions. Like warped wood that Amust be laid against a straightening board, steamed, and bent into shape before it can become straight,@ only exposure to the teachings and rituals of the sages and moral examples of teachers can counter this natural tendency.
Thus, for Xunzi, education is even more important than it is for Mencius; it is the only counterforce to the natural tendencies that lead to competition, strife, and aggression. But this, of course, raises the questions: what is the ultimate origin of goodness? Xunzi=s answer is that Aritual and rightness are always created by the conscious activity of the sages: essentially they are not created by human nature.@ [5] Sages create ritual and rightness like a potter molds a pot, or a woodcarver creates a tool: not from their own natures, but by transforming some raw material into something new. The nature of a sage is the same as the nature of anyone else, and so Athe man in the street can become a Yu.@ Why then do ordinary people need external help to become good?
What made the sage emperor Yu a Yu was the fact that he practiced humaneness and rightness and took uprightness as his standard. This being so, humaneness, rightness, and proper standards must be based upon principles that can be known practiced. Any man in the street has the natural endowment needed to understand humaneness, rightness, proper standards, and uprightness and the ability to practice humaneness, rightness, proper standares,and uprightness. Therefore it is clear that he can become a Yu. [6]
Xunzi does not give an explanation of the difference between the sage and the ordinary person, the crucial factor that allowed sages -- particularly the first sages -- to overcome their evil natures. This is a serious weakness in his theory. A good environment would suffice to explain how later people could become good, but not how goodness (ritual and rightness, etc.) originated. Fourteen centuries later, the Neo-Confucian thinker Zhu Xi would fill in the gaps in Xunzi=s theory -- although he considered himself a follower of Mencius.
[1] Trans. Irene Bloom, Sources of Chinese Tradition, ed. Wm Theodore de Bary and Irene Bloom (NY: Columbia University Press, 1999), 2nd ed., vol. 1, p. 171.
[2] Sources, p. 177.
[6] Sources, p. 182. Mencius said basically the same thing (6B:2).


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NHL Daily Odds & Picks (Sunday, May 16): Our Best Bets for Islanders vs. Penguins, Wild vs. Golden Knights & Panthers vs. Lightning
Eliot J. Schechter/NHLI via Getty Images. Pictured: Sergei Bobrovsky
Action Network Staff
May 15, 2021, 03:07 PM EDT
The 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs are underway with a bang and the action continues on Sunday with a trio of Game 1's starting at noon ET:
New York Islanders (+110) at Pittsburgh Penguins (-127), 12 p.m. ET
Minnesota Wild (+155) at Vegas Golden Knights (-180), 3 p.m. ET
Tampa Bay Lightning (-121) at Florida Panthers (+105), 7:30 p.m. ET
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Pete Truszkowski: Islanders-Penguins Under 5.5 Goals
Puck Drop: 12 p.m. ET
Coming into these playoffs, there might not be a team with more question marks than the New York Islanders. The Isles spent the first two-thirds of the season near the top of the league standings. Additionally, they were a top-five team in terms of expected goal rate, suggesting their success was well-deserved. Many considered the Islanders as a legitimate Stanley Cup contender.
However, the Isles have been a shell of their former selves since the beginning of April. They won just 10 of their last 20 games. Those results were also deserved, as New York has played to just a 49.4% expected goal rate in that span. The Isles spent the first two-thirds of the season at the very top of the league in terms of defensive metrics, but over the past month-and-a-half they sit in the bottom third of the league.
Many expect Barry Trotz's group will be able to flip the switch come playoff time, and that would make them an extremely hard out. Their style of play is perfect for the postseason and they have the ability to grind any team down. Personally, I think this team will turn their game up. However, even if the Isles are at their best, the Penguins would be a tough matchup. If you think the Islanders can regain their form, the moneyline might not be necessarily the best method of attack. If New York is able to find its game, it will be on the back of its defensive effort. Even with their poor finish, New York had the third-best expected goals against per hour at 5-on-5 this season and only the Carolina Hurricanes allowed fewer 5-on-5 goals.
These two teams met in the first round in 2019 with the Islanders sweeping the Penguins. One of the main storylines of that series was how the defensive pairing of Ryan Pulock and Adam Pelech shut down Sidney Crosby and his linemates. Pelech and Pulock have only improved since then. They played over 770 minutes together at 5-on-5 this season and posted a 62.7% expected goal rate. They are allowing just 1.57 expected goals against per hour at 5-on-5, which is the best mark of any defensive pairing in the league that has played at least 300 minutes together.
Expected goals (also known as xG) is a predictive statistic that gives an indication of whether results are based on sustainable factors like a steady creation of scoring chances, or whether it is down to aspects such as shooting luck or outstanding goaltending.
Simply put, an expected goals rate (xGF%) above 50% is considered good because it means a team is creating the majority of the scoring chances. Anything below 50% is usually a sign that a team is struggling to control play.
xG numbers and advanced stats cited from Evolving Hockey, MoneyPuck and Natural Stat Trick.
Offensively, the Islanders have struggled to replace the presence of Anders Lee. Kyle Palmieri was bought in at the trade deadline to help fill the void, but he has just two goals since moving to the Island. Overall, the Isles rank middle of the pack when it comes to generating shot attempts and quality chances. The Penguins defense similarly ranks near the middle of the league when it comes to preventing scoring chances.
Goaltending has once again been a strength for the Isles. Semyon Varlamov has put together a terrific season and even though he's battling a slight injury, it's hard not to be confident in the Russian after he posted a +9.55 Goals Saved Above Expectation in 2021.
I expect the Isles to get back to their game as the playoffs begin. That means a recommitment to team defense and frustrating their opponents. Their offense doesn't scare many, so I wouldn't expect them to fill the scoresheet themselves. The noon start also doesn't hurt the Under here as the body isn't programmed to play at that time.
I think goals will be at a premium in Game 1 on Sunday.
Elsa/Getty Images. Pictured from left: Anthony Beauvillier (#18) and Matthew Barzal (#13).
Mike Ianniello: Islanders-Penguins Under 5.5
The Penguins finished the regular season second in the league in scoring with 3.45 goals per game. When you look at some of the advanced metrics, they tell a slightly different story about the Pittsburgh offense. The Pens were just 18th in league in xGF and 20th in high-danger scoring chances at 5-on-5.
Sure the Penguins have the fourth-best power play percentage, but the New York Islanders have the sixth-best penalty killing unit.
The Islanders might play "boring" hockey under Barry Trotz, but that style is ideal for the Stanley Cup playoffs, as evident by New York's run to the Eastern Conference Finals last season. The Isles were second in the league, allowing just 2.23 goals per game this season.
Part of what makes the Islanders so sturdy defensively, is they don't take risks on the offensive end or play a run-and-gun style. Matthew Barzal is an electric factory and led the team in scoring, but 17 goals in 55 games is a bit underwhelming given his skill set.
New York ranked 20th in the league in goals per game and have the 21st-ranked power play. The Islanders really struggled to score late in the season, ranking 25th in the league in goals and 22nd in xGF over the last 15 games of the year.
Goaltender Semyon Varlamov was excellent in his second year on Long Island, posting a .929 save percentage and 2.04 goals against average. Varlamov was terrific during last season's playoff run, holding a .921 save percentage and 2.14 goals against average to lead the Islanders to the ECF.
For the Penguins, Tristan Jarry was solid down the stretch of the season, finishing the year 8-2 in his final 10 games, allowing 2.5 goals per game with two shutouts.
Things tend to tighten up and slow down during the Stanley Cup playoffs, especially when the Islanders are involved. The under was 32-21-3 in Islanders game this season. During the 2020 Playoffs, the under was 12-9 in Islanders games and when these two teams met in the 2019 playoffs, the under went 3-1 and New York held the Penguins to just one goal of three of the four games.
A great defensive team that struggles to score? What more can you ask for when playing an under!
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Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images. Pictured: Sidney Crosby
Matt Russell: New York Islanders (+110) vs. Pittsburgh Penguins
Maybe it's because I spent too much time this week listening to Leboff wax poetically hopeful about his Islanders on our Action Network Stanley Cup Playoff Preview podcast, or maybe it's because the numbers in my "Let's Do That Hockey" model, as heard on THE WINDOW: Sports Betting Podcast, scream "bet New York", but I can't pass up the plus-money price on the Isles here.
According to my model, the Islanders should be favored in this series thanks to their stellar 5-on-5 metrics this season, and the fact that the Penguins numbers at even-strength show them as rating around average for their division. However, the Islanders are short underdogs in the series because of the branding of the Penguins, and their division championship that earned them home-ice advantage for the first two rounds.
Islanders enthusiasts have grown concerned about their club after struggling to the finish line with losses to Buffalo and New Jersey. The conspiracy theorist in me thinks that the Islanders lackadaisical finish to the regular season was due to a lack of motivation to finish in the top-3 of the division, as they may have been quite content with a first round matchup with the Penguins, instead of facing the Capitals or Bruins.
While the Penguins appear to have made a charge for the division title, going 19-7 in the last 26 games of the season, exactly half of those games came against the lowly Sabres and Devils, where they went 11-2. That leaves just an 8-5 record against everyone else. From a metrics standpoint, the Penguins even-strength numbers were actually worse than the Islanders during that successful stretch.
Unlike the NBA, having the best player or two on your team doesn't guarantee you much in hockey. Mainly because the best players aren't even on the ice for half the game. As such, teams like the Penguins who are top-heavy can be beaten by smart, disciplined teams that roll four lines and stay out of the penalty box.
The Islanders showed this capability two seasons ago when they swept right through the Penguins in the first round. Last season, the Islanders made a run to the Conference Finals through teams that couldn't match their patience. They were beaten by a Tampa Bay Lightning team that not only had top-end talent, but also the depth and plan to match.
Meanwhile, the Penguins followed up that early exit in 2019, with another one in 2020, when the Montreal Canadiens did their best Islanders impression to shutdown Sidney Crosby and company.
While no one will do a better job against 'Sid the Kid' than the Isles did in 2019, holding him to just 1 assist in the four game sweep, Barry Trotz has years of experience dealing with the Pens' star going back to his days with the Washington Capitals, so the 2019 containment was no fluke. Crosby had more success this season, with 3 goals and 6 assists against the Islanders, but the two teams haven't met since March.
The playoffs are a different animal though, where the well-coached teams have time to concoct a game plan around stopping one or two key cogs. With Trotz, the Islanders certainly are that. While the injury to Anders Lee wasn't what the Isles would have hoped for, their style of play lends itself to them being able to move on without him, as they aim to keep the games as low-scoring as possible. Hence why the under is so popular here.
Dave Sandford/NHLI via Getty Images. Pictured: Robin Lehner
Michael Leboff: Minnesota Wild (+190) to win the series vs. Vegas Golden Knights
Puck Drop: 3 p.m. ET
The Minnesota Wild were a betting darling during the regular season. Assumed to battle for the No. 4 spot in the West before the season, Minnesota stormed out of the gate and never really looked back, finishing just seven points shy of Colorado and Vegas.
What's more is that the Wild were able to achieve those results thanks to stellar 5-on-5 play. Minnesota finished fourth in the NHL in expected goals allowed, ninth in goal share and 11th in expected goals rate. While those aren't dominant numbers, they tell you that this is a consistent team that is able to stifle opponents.
What's more is that the Wild are one of a few teams that is capable of shutting down Vegas' high-flying offense. The Knights generated the third-most high-danger scoring chances at 5-on-5 this season but the Wild were the best team in the NHL at preventing high-danger chances.
The Knights are the better team, have a decided edge in goal and are deserving favorites, but the gap between these two teams is not as wide as these odds suggest. Minnesota's defense can turn a game with any opponent into a coin flip and that will create a lot of value on the Wild at this price.
Dave Sandford/NHLI via Getty Images. Pictured: Brayden Point, Nikita Kucherov.
Michael Leboff: Tampa Bay Lightning (-121) vs. Florida Panthers
Puck Drop: 7:30 p.m. ET
Perhaps the most fascinating matchup in Round 1, the defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning are -152 favorites to advance past the Florida Panthers in the first-ever playoff meeting between these in-state rivals.
While most casual bettors and fans will know that the Lightning are a force to be reckoned with, the Florida Panthers were one of the league's best surprises this season. The Cats finished with the fourth-best record in the entire circuit and were just one point shy of first-place Carolina in the Central Division. The results were legitimate, too, as the Panthers finished with the fifth-best goal differential and third-best expected goal rate at 5-on-5.
Florida's offense did most of the heavy lifting as the Panthers finished fourth in the NHL in goals per game and fifth in expected goals for per 60 minutes. Hockey can be a cruel game, however, as all that hard work earned the Panthers a date with the juggernaut Lightning in Round 1.
Tampa's 5-on-5 metrics were not at the elite level this season, but the Bolts were dealing with a couple of key injuries throughout the season. Nikita Kucherov, one of the league's best wingers, didn't play a single regular season game. Steven Stamkos was limited to 38 games. Both of them are good to go for Game 1 and should provide a boost to a team that "only" scored 3.21 goals per contest in 2021.
With Stamkos, Kucherov, Brayden Point and Ondrej Palat in the fold the Lightning are known as an offensive dynamo. The truth, though, is that Tampa's team defense and goaltending is its best asset. Tampa Bay allowed 2.59 goals per game (sixth) and 2.05 expected goals per hour at 5-on-5 (sixth) this season. Victor Hedman may have had a bit of a down year, but the Lightning still were one of the league's stingiest defenses and they are backed up by the league's best goaltender, Andrei Vasilevskiy.
In a matchup that projects to be pretty close, the goaltending edge could prove vital for the Bolts. While Vasilevskiy finished fourth in the NHL with a +12.01 Goals Saved Above Expectation (GSAx), Sergei Bobrovsky rated out as one of the league's worst goaltenders again this season with a -10.65 GSAx. Florida head coach Joel Quenneville confirmed Bobrovsky will start Game 1, but the numbers show that to be a possible mistake considering that Chris Driedger was not that far behind Vasilevskiy with a +7.03 GSAx in 23 games.
Considering the mismatch in goal and the fact that Tampa's defense is well-equipped to handle Florida's offense, I'm happy to back the Lightning at anything better than -130 for Game 1.
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