The evolution of a deal from your first encounter with someone - using our echo system for Nearby, Closr and Closr Dashboard.
The Nearby app is the perfect companion when meeting people. On the street, at the office or at an event. It doesn't matter. You always have your phone in your pocket ready to connect. All you need is an e-mail address. Also add optional location and a quick note to get more context. The important thing here is that you don't automatically request or give out access to any social network when connecting. The only information you give out is what you have put on your digital business card. Like in the "old days".
Your new connection will be sent an introduction e-mail with your details and attached vCard, and you will get a reminder e-mail about the encounter you just had containing a vCard with the information you added + other useful public information from 150+ social sources that Nearby instantly finds for you.
The Closr app let you add information such as notes, voice memos, photos, meetings and encounters to all the contacts on your phone. The app automatically creates a last met contacts list for quick access and notes, and a chronological relationship timeline on every contact with where you met, what you talked about and other important information you add.
It works in the background and scans your calendar for meetings with your contacts and adds some well needed context 15 minutes before every meeting so you can easily pick up where you left.
With every professional relation you have, nicely visible on a relationship timeline with neat reminders exactly when you need them, you're gonna start closing deals like never before!
Ready to multiply the number of deals by introducing your whole team to Nearby and Closr? Sign up your team at https://dashboard.closr.io and invite your colleagues to some sales gamification! Set weekly goals for calls, meetings, encounters and other sales activities and watch your team excel while getting rewarded with badges and trophies on the Closr Dashboard. Get automated coaching and follow-ups through push, mail and even through Slack to visualize your awards throughout the organisation.
Closr Dashboard is a gamification compliment to any CRM system on the market. It taps in to the actions you initiate from your smartphone, and integrates with the calendar to automatically report the meetings you attend.
As stated above, Closr Dashboard works seamlessly beside any CRM system out there since it jacks in to your smartphone through the Closr app. But if you are a smaller organisation, or haven't invested in a CRM yet - we can help you all the way. You can track deals through Opportunity > Negotiation > Proposal > Win/Loss under DEALS in Closr Dashboard. It's an easy to use, light version of a sales tool and together with all the relationship features of Closr, it's really all you need!
Hope you find this easy 4-step guide about how a deal evolves through Nearby and Closr interesting. Nearby and Closr apps are free, and the plan for Closr Dashboard starts at $20 per team member and month with a 30 day free trial. Now, improve your relations and close more deals!
Since 2015 when we started Cloapp, we've always had the vision of helping people to remember important things, connected to the people they meet. It can be simple things like name and age of someone's child, favorite football team or an old story from growing up together.
But of course also things associated with business.
This is what drove us to launch the Closr app back then, and this is still our main drive. The Closr Dashboard (Closr for Business) is an extension of this, and more - for companies and teams.
We believe working with sales should be engaging, fun and rewarding. Since we couldn't find anything delivering on that, we created Closr Dashboard. It's based on our own gamification platform and includes automated sales coaching through push, mail and even through third party such as Slack.
The Closr app will always help you to remember those specific things about people you meet and keep a relationship timeline of all your interactions with that person. For yourself. Used together in a team with Closr Dashboard, it's also about team activity, goals and awards.
Our new website (www.closr.io, launched last week) shifts the focus back to where we came from, but at the same time emphasizes all the good we can do for you as a company when using the app together with our beautiful dashboard.
Read more about what we have accomplished since 2015 on our new website.
Download the app for personal use (free) or sign up your company/sales team for a 30 days trial.
Today we launched Deals in Closr Dashboard.
With Closr Dashboard you can now also track your deals through a sales pipe with; 1. Opportunity - 2. Negotiation - 3. Proposal - 4. Win/Lost. It shows current team velocity on sent proposals and wins, and highlights weekly winners and your team average win ratio.
Used together with the gamification features of Closr Dashboard this really completes the service for small and medium sized companies with mobile sales people.
Closr listed as an interesting Personal CRM app by Ryze.


It is a good bet that you are reading this article because you want to know exactly what is meant by a website hosting review. If you Google the words �web site hosting review� you would probably get around 65,000,000 pages returned to you. Now that is a rather large number of pages to go through for getting some facts and figures on hosting reviews which is why you started the search in the first place. All you needed was someone to guide you through this minefield of information.
Maybe you are a student looking for a free web hosting review for your class project. Your first reflex is to search online for web site hosting reviews. Your second reflex will probably be to click on the first few links labelled website hosting reviews or web host reviews. Just because a page is number one in a search engine query, does not necessarily mean it will give you what you are looking for.
Perhaps you are a business person thinking of acquiring some virtual space for your store front and since you are obviously cost conscious, you want the best possible prices mated to the best possible services. Your first search will invariably be business hosting reviews.
Read on and it could be a real eye opener to the kind of risks and deceptions that you could come across out there.
I am a firm believer of the usefulness of the �sincere customer� hosting review. There is an incredible amount of competition out there amongst web hosting service providers. As this competition in industry grows, many hosts prove to be less than honest and do not provide what they claim upfront. This is unacceptable.
To make matters worse, lots of dishonest �host reviews� and �top 10 web host review� websites have cropped up. They, unashamedly endorse webhosts that are known as �bad apples� by all the major players in the hosting industry.
They specify methods to find honest web hosting companies on your own.
They explain many other important things that you should know about, but are usually unaware of.
They provide a short list of honest web hosting companies, to help you save precious time that you'd otherwise spend on investigating companies that are not entirely straightforward.
OK, enough talk. Let�s get onto it and look at what you actually should look for.
There are tons of websites on the Internet, all sorts of host review websites that list or collect web hosting reviews, sites that are posting all kinds of ratings, or the famous Top 5 or Top 10 web hosting companies� lists or hot lists. If you spend a reasonable length of time comparing those lists, you'll find that most recommend the same companies, a lot of the same names keep coming up.
The first thing that crosses your mind is "Those really are the best! Why else would everyone be talking about them?� Sadly, the real reason that the same companies are always at the "top" is that they, one way or another, pay to be listed there. A lot of these companies invest heavily in keeping their so called ratings up.
If you manage to dig a little further, you will most likely find that these "top web hosting companies" run an affiliate program through some other site. Affiliate programs are an Internet-based marketing exercise in which one business rewards other affiliates for each visitor or customer brought about by their marketing efforts.
Make no mistake; I am not against this concept. It is very well know that the web hosting companies running their affiliate programs through these companies offer some of the highest affiliate commissions in the industry.
What I really object to is, although they claim to, but the fact is that they don't rank them based on the quality of their services. Here rank is nothing more than the accumulated commissions or how easy it is to sell the hosting package. Hosting companies offering some of the highest commissions and the lowest prices get the top positions on these lists.
Here is a simple trick. Grab some of the names of the so call top hosting companies and search their names along with the words �unsatisfied customers� with it. Now you will be faced with a lot of blogs that tell you real customer stories. Some of these are not exactly true but some are. Look for patterns in customers complaints. Chances are, if they are all complaining about more or less the same things, they are probably true. This way you could easily generate a list of your own "top 10 web hosting companies not to go for".
Secondly, browse through web hosting forums. Look at a host review or two. Common dictates that while there are many hosting companies out there who will post their own positive reviews on these forums or pay people to write these for them, nobody would write a negative host review about themselves. It is from these negative reviews that you will actually get the guidance you need. At least you should be able to single out problematic service areas of hosting companies. Don�t discard the positive reviews altogether. They can prove useful too, for identifying the strongest service areas of hosting companies.
So, go ahead and read hosting reviews or two or three. Just remember there are two sides to a picture. Never forget to look at both sides. This might be a little time consuming, but look at the bright side, what are you doing all of this for? To save yourself a lot of grief and money, not to mention all the hair you�ll save by not pulling it out.


Everyone is welcome to bring their family or join our congregational one for our Family Shabbat Service and a pizza/potluck dinner this Friday!
Friday, February 1, 2019, 6:15 p.m.
Note early start time! Potluck oneg; please bring something to share! Please join us for a family service in our new home, Suite 200 of 151 Warren St. in Lowell. (See parking and bus info.) Our 45-minute service will begin promptly at 6:15 p.m., followed by dinner at 7 p.m., and will include lots of songs, some movement and a story. Join us also for a pizza/potluck dinner; please RSVP to klipshires@gmail.com to let us know how many to expect and what you can contribute as a main or side dish.
Rabbi Sparr will be holding office hours Tuesday, Friday, and Sunday this week. Appointments must be made in advance by contacting her at rabbi@temv.org or during business hours at 508-736-5555. In an emergency or urgent need, do phone at any hour.
In session; class begins at 10 a.m.; please plan to arrive at 9:45 and remember your snack and tzedaka. Education Committee meeting at 10:00 a.m.; all parents and caregivers are invited. Please also join us for a school-age focused service this Friday.


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HIPAA Compliance & Enforcement: Is Your Practice Prepare
Mar 14, 2008 | Regulation |
Health care providers are expected to meet the April 14 Privacy Rule deadline.
A significant compliance date for health care providers has passed already and another one quickly is approaching. Many health care providers took advantage of the compliance extension that the 107th Congress provided last year for implementing the electronic transactions regulations, but no such extension should be expected for the upcoming April 14, 2003, Privacy Rule compliance date. That means that health care providers have approximately 3 months until full Privacy Rule compliance is due. Is your practice ready?
Following US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Tommy Thompson's March 2002 call for additional public comment to ensure that compliance with the Privacy Rule would not have the unintended effect of adversely affecting patient access to quality health care, a modified Privacy Rule was published in August 2002 that significantly lowered the administrative burdens health care providers face. This article briefly discusses some of these modifications that are particularly relevant to health care providers, especially in light of the December 3, 2002, guidance document published by the HHS Office of Civil Rights (OCR), the government entity charged with Privacy Rule enforcement. This article also offers practical suggestions on how to prepare for the upcoming April 14 compliance date.
Perhaps the single change most relevant to health care providers is the elimination of the consent requirement. HHS OCR acknowledged in its guidance document that the pre-August 2002 Privacy Rule would have had the "unintended effect of preventing health care providers from providing timely, quality health care to individuals in a variety of circumstances," such as in the areas of prescription fulfillment and preadmission scheduling, and preparation.
Although obtaining consent is now optional for covered entities under the Privacy Rule, state law may still require consent and these laws typically apply to health care providers. As such, health care providers also need to be aware of state privacy requirements that may affect their practice.
To counterbalance the removal of the mandatory consent requirement, the Privacy Rule contains a strengthened notice requirement that affords individuals "the opportunity to engage in important discussions" about how their protected health information (PHI) is used and disclosed. Certain health care providers are required to inform individuals about how PHI is used and disclosed, the manner in which individuals may exercise their privacy rights, and what legal obligations the health care provider must satisfy with respect to such PHI.
Health care providers with a direct treatment relationship must provide notice no later than the date of first service delivery and make a good faith effort to obtain an individual's written acknowledgment of receipt of the notice. Even if an individual refuses to provide the acknowledgment, a health care provider may still use or disclose the individual's PHI for purposes of treatment, payment, and health care operations without risk of being sanctioned, so long as the health care provider documents his or efforts to obtain the acknowledgment and the reason why it was not obtained.
Both the notice distribution and acknowledgment requirements are flexible for the particular needs of the health care provider. For example, an electronic or paper-based system may be utilized to satisfy the notice and acknowledgment requirements. Timing of the provision of notice is also flexible. For example, in emergency situations a health care provider is not required to provide notice and attempt to obtain an individual's acknowledgment on the date of first service delivery, but rather must do so as soon as reasonably practicable after the emergency. Additionally, health care providers that collect information prior to a patient's visit are not required to provide notice and attempt to obtain an individual's acknowledgment at the time when such information is collected, so long as such measures are taken when the patient receives service.
In response to concerns from health care providers that many customary practices in the health care industry technically violated the pre-August 2002 Privacy Rule, HHS modified the Privacy Rule to permit certain incidental uses and disclosures of PHI, provided that covered entities apply reasonable safeguards and implement the minimum necessary standard to limit incidental uses and disclosures to that which is minimally necessary for the intended purpose of such use or disclosure.
As a practical matter, this means that although the Privacy Rule "does not require that all risk of incidental use or disclosure be eliminated to satisfy its standards," certain reasonable protections and limitations must be implemented. For example, OCR believes that major facility redesigns, such as soundproofing walls, generally are not required, but that reasonable safeguards "will vary from covered entity to covered entity depending on factors, such as the size of the covered entity and the nature of its business."
Furthermore, customary practices such as calling a patient's home to confirm an appointment, using sign-in sheets, and maintaining medical charts outside an examination room are permissible so long as the covered entity observes the minimum necessary standard. This may include limiting telephone messages to the physician's name and call-back number, including only the patient name on sign-in sheets (as opposed to including medical condition or reason for visit), and turning a medical chart to face the door so that passersby do not inadvertently review an individual's PHI.
With the compliance date quickly approaching, many health care providers already have significant compliance efforts under way. For those providers that have not begun to assess their compliance needs, and for those that have started but are not yet ready to comply, the following steps should be taken as soon as possible in order to minimize the risk of noncompliance. First, a health care provider must determine whether it is a covered entity and therefore required to comply with the Privacy Rule. If a health care provider conducts certain electronic health care transactions, then it is likely that the provider is a "covered entity" for purposes of Privacy Rule compliance.
Next, the health care provider must understand what type of information constitutes PHI. Generally, PHI is the combination of an individual identifier with some aspect of that individual's health care, but the actual definition is set forth in the Privacy Rule. For example, an individual's social security number, without more, does not constitute PHI. However, tying that individual's social security number with a health care claims transaction would create PHI. And it is this latter type of information that the Privacy Rule protects.
The next step is to map the flow of PHI, both within and outside the health care provider's practice. For each use and disclosure of PHI that is identified, the purpose of each use and disclosure should be assessed to determine whether it satisfies the Privacy Rule's requirements. When PHI is transmitted outside the health care provider's practice in order for the recipient entity to perform some business function on the provider's behalf, such as a disclosure of PHI to a billing or collection company for purposes of the provider's reimbursement, an appropriate business associate contract should be executed between the parties to ensure that the PHI transmitted will be adequately protected. HHS published Sample Business Associate Contract Provisions in the appendix to the August 2002 modificat
ion, which health care providers may modify to their own particular needs in order to satisfy this obligation.
After mapping the flow of PHI, a health care provider should conduct a gap analysis to understand where it is in terms of its current state of HIPAA compliance relative to where it needs to be by the compliance date.
Finally, the organization can begin developing policies and procedures to address the Privacy Rule's substantive requirements.
Although HIPAA compliance is a significant undertaking, the August 2002 modifications to the Privacy Rule and the recent OCR guidance document demonstrate that HHS considers operational feasibility a legitimate concern for health care providers. That noted, however, protection of individual privacy rights carries substantially greater weight than operational feasibility, so health care providers should not anticipate a compliance extension from the 108th Congress, primarily because the current administration has already responded to many concerns in the health care industry by modifying what previously was deemed the "final" Privacy Rule. Moreover, health care providers should be prepared to comply with the Privacy Rule by April 14 of this year because there are both civil and criminal penalties for noncompliance.
Steven D. Morgan is an attorney in the Health Law Department of McDermott, Will & Emery's Washington, DC, office. Morgan can be reached at (202) 756-8205 or [email protected].
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This is one of our best holiday apartments, which are available for holiday rentals in Estepona. The property has 3 bedrooms (it can sleep 8) and is split over two levels. The upstairs master bedroom has an en-suite shower room and boasts a private terrace with extra seating and sea views. There is another bedroom on the same floor with 2 double beds (sleeps 4 max) and a seperate bathroom with bathtub. The third bedroom is located downstairs and has an en-suite shower room. All rooms are extremely large compared with many other properties on the rental market. Downstairs is an additional guest toilet, the modern kitchen and the living room. The living room is very large and has terrace doors leading onto the spacious terrace. The terraces has a very generous size and provides plenty of outdoor space to relax with several sun loungers, a dining table and chairs and a quality barbeque. The apartment is presented throughout with top quality modern furniture. It is fully air conditioned and has English television. The port of Estepona is situated opposite the complex and supermarkets, bars and restaurants are within a few minutes walk. The apartment has pool and beach towels for your use during your stay. A cot and high chair is also available. Altogether if you are looking for high quality accommodation for your holiday in Estepona then this apartment is the perfect choice.
Bedrooms: All bedrooms have double or kingsize beds. The twin room has two double beds.
Bathroom: The upstairs master bedroom is en-suite with shower. There is also a family bathroom upstairs for use by the twin double bedroom with bathtub. Downstairs there is a further en-suite shower room and a separate toilet.
To secure the reservation, we require a 30% deposit by bank transfer (in Sterling or Euro) or by credit card (+1.5% handling fee). The balance can be paid 6 weeks before arrival or on arrival by credit card (+1.5% handling fee). We can also accept cash for the balance, but only to a maximum of 1000€ per adult named in the confirmation. We do NOT accept 500€ notes under any circumstances. Security deposit is payable on arrival by credit card - this is returned to the same card within a week of departure, subject to no damage or breakage (e.g. dirty towels due to make-up). Properties should be left clean as they were found and should be handled with respect. All prices are subject to a 25€ booking fee. American Express cards are not accepted. We do take payments by American Express but they are subject to a 2.85% bank charge. All other card payments are subject to a 1.5% bank charge including debit/credit and charge cards. A late arrival charge of 30€ is charged for arrivals from 8:00PM or 50€ for arrivals after midnight and will be deducted from your security deposit if not paid in cash upon arrival. We do have a key safe at our office in the port of Estepona from which you can collect the keys to your property if you prefer. There is no late night fee for this arrangement; however, all payments will need to be made in advance.


MSNBC's Cenk Uygur and GOProud's Christopher Barron are at it again. You may remember Barron from his last time on the tele. He's the conservative leader of the paradoxical gay, republican organization that has GOP leaders and organizations backing out left and right from the upcoming CPAC convention.
Uygur's (and the rest of the gay community's) position continues to be – Why the hell are you a Republican? They HATE you. And then Barron is all, "Nuh-uh! Neener neener neener!" Oy.
Barron continues to befuddle. He even goes so far as to inadvertently make Uygur's point for him without realizing it. "It speaks volumes about how little power their message actually has if they are afraid to be in the same room as us…So for the folks who are pulling out about this, it's for one reason only. It's because we happen to be gay. That's it. No policy differences really here." Yes, we know. That's what we just said. Is your earpiece not on? This is hardly a debate here.
And on policy – Oh really! No policy differences here? None at all? Not DADT Repeal? Not enactment of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act? Or the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act? Not marriage equality? Not half price drinks during the State of the Union address? No policy differences at all, eh? The Republican Party and America's gays are in complete and total synchronistic agreement on those issues, are they? I see.
Any gay Republicans in our herd? Tell me Why-ee.


"I recently had a great conversation with my teaching colleague Rick about the use of technology to engage children with reading comprehension. This post is about my lesson I taught today as a result of that brief yet productive talk.
Although we have been reasonably successful in addressing how we use our available technology to support the development of times table knowledge, reading comprehension has been much more elusive. This afternoon both Rick and I explored two different ideas we had, regarding the use of technology to engage and support the practice of comprehension skills...."


Some events are subject to change and availability. Please call ahead to confirm details and interest 252.473.3234.
1: consisting of many different and connected parts.
Complex is the best way to describe the aesthetic of this two-day pop up art show. The Elizabethan Gardens (Manteo, NC) brings together over 20 North Carolina artists of distinctive styles, medium, and content; giving the show a unique and overall unified presentation.
Taste what the art community of North Carolina has to offer: paintings: watercolor, acrylic, oils; and mixed media too. Established artists and new emerging artists will be presented together, giving the public a chance to see some favorites and to discover new works too!
This is one show you will not want to miss!!
November 24, 27,28,29,30; December 1, 4,5,6,7,8, 11,12,13,14,15, 18,19,20,21,22,26,27,28,29; January 4,5,11,12,18,19 from 6pm-9pm. Last tickets sold at 8:15pm.
Extended passes available. Extended passes available. Tuesdays to Saturdays in December, Friday and Saturdays in January, November 25 thru January 20 (Closed on Dec 24,25, 31 and Jan 1); For info or details, call 252-473-3234 or visit www.elizabethangardens.org.


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Don't Miss Today's Webinar: What's Next? 2022 Safety and Security Trends
Clery / Title IX
Campus Safety Conference
CSHQ Online Training
University Security
2 Held Hostage by Armed Man in University of Oregon Dorm Room
The armed man used one of the hostage's cell phones to report fake incidents on other parts of the University of Oregon campus.
November 05, 2021 Amy Rock	Jump to Comments
EUGENE, Ore. — A man was taken into custody Thursday morning on the University of Oregon (UO) campus after he allegedly held two people hostage for hours in a dorm after setting off a fire alarm in another campus building.
The suspect, 37-year-old Shawn Scott Densmore, was taken into custody without incident after one of the student hostages was able to text their location to police, reports The Register-Guard. UO Police Chief Matt Carmichael said the man was armed with a loaded 9 mm pistol and had extra ammunition.
The incident began around 3 a.m. Thursday when a fire alarm was pulled in the William Knight Law Center. After no fire was discovered, campus police reviewed security footage and saw a person pull the alarm while holding a gun and "acting erratically," Carmichael described in a news conference Thursday afternoon.
Police from multiple agencies responded and the building was evacuated and locked down. The Lane County Sheriff's Office drone team and a Springfield police canine united conducted a search of the building and sent out an alert to the campus community at 6:30 a.m.
Related: Survey: Campus Emergency Notification Systems Performed Well During the Pandemic
After the fire alarm, Carmichael said they received "odd 911 calls" from the same cellphone reporting alleged incidents from other areas of campus. Police determined the phone belonged to a student in Hamilton Hall, and that student and a friend were being held against their will by the suspect. The suspect used the student's phone to place the 911 calls. After the suspect left the dorm room, Carmichael said texting from the student helped lead police to the suspect.
After Densmore was detained, an "all clear" alert was sent out around 8:05 a.m. Campus community members are concerned about the way the school responded to the incident. Senior Audrey Kalman told the Register-Guard she was upset that the school didn't tell students there was an armed suspect detaining people in their dorm room.
"I can't imagine the experience of those students, but even if I were in that dorm, I'd be like, why the hell weren't we told this?" she exclaimed. "Especially on a college campus where people are out all hours of the night. I just think it should have been communicated to the students at the time instead of this vague 'law enforcement' thing."
Kalman said she felt like the school was downplaying the incident and that past alerts have been more specific. Carmichael said the timing of the alert was around when people were starting to come back onto campus, and when significant police presence had the area well-contained.
"The timeliness was consistent with one, being safe, and then second making sure people are aware there was a pretty large police presence and we're looking for this individual," he said.
Densmore, who has no known affiliation with the university, has been charged with menacing, burglary, criminal trespass, kidnapping, and carrying a concealed firearm, according to NBC. He is currently being held at Lane County Jail.
Tagged with: Emergency Notification Evacuation Guns on Campus Lockdown Student Safety University Security Video Surveillance
Amy Rock, Senior Editor
Amy is Campus Safety's Senior Editor. Prior to joining the editorial team in 2017, she worked in both events and digital marketing.
Amy's mother, brother, sister-in-law, and a handful of cousins are teachers, motivating her to learn and share as much as she can about campus security. She has a minor in education and has worked with children in several capacities, further deepening her passion for keeping students safe.
In her free time, Amy enjoys exploring the outdoors with her husband, her 2 children and her dog.
3 Officers Charged in Fatal Shooting of 8-Year-Old at High School Football Game
23 Guns Found in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools So Far This School Year
2 Teens Injured, 3 in Custody After Shooting Outside Auburn High School
Omnilert Expands Offerings to Include Gun Detection
Student and Staff Safety: Addressing the Significant Rise in Mental Health Needs and Violence
In this webinar, attendees will learn the observable behaviors people exhibit as they head down a path of violence so we can help prevent the preventable.
Beyond Threat Assessment: Managing Threats with Appropriate Follow-up, Monitoring & Training
This discussion will help participants analyze, understand, and assess their own program effectiveness.
Would These People Classify as Campus Security Authorities?
8 Campus Crime Scenarios: Would These Count As Clery Crimes?
Would These Campus Crime Scenarios Need to Be Included in an ASR?
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Buy and look for VOIP minutes, Call Termination and Toll Free Services.
Offer and Request VOIP minutes, Call Termination and Toll Free Services.
Latest world VoIP & VoIP Providers List news.
The list of companies that provide voip service, hardware and software solutions.
This is to report voip fraud companies and individuals in the voip industry.
Any announcements and news of any VoIP related company.
Please specify your offer - model, price, etc.
Please describe what you are looking for, your requirements and desired rate.
Discussion, information and resources about VoIP in the workplace for the IT professional.


I recently had Top Notch do some repair work to the paint of my 1959 MGA roadster. As the name states, Top Notch!!! They did a great job and i would do business with them again.
we loved Valerie she was so helpful ! car running cool thanks again will be seeing you in the future for our car needs M.


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Homechevron_rightKeralachevron_rightFair value of land in...
date_range 1 Oct 2014 8:02 PM GMT
Fair value of land in State enhanced by 50 per cent
Thiruvananthapuram: In yet another measure to mobilise additional revenue to state, Congress-led UDF government in Kerala Wednesday decided to enhance the existing fair value of land by 50 per cent.
Decision to hike the fair value was taken after it was found that the government was incurring heavy loss during land transaction even though market value of land has increased to a large extent, an official release said.
Last month, to mobilise more resources in view of severe financial crisis, government had brought luxury cars and buildings under higher tax rate net, besides revising tax structures of Indian Made Foreign Liquor, tobacco products and cigarettes.
This move was seen as a measure to cover up the revenue loss the government suffered due to its decision to close down 732 liquor bars as parts of its policy to reduce liquor availability in the state with a view to make total prohibition in five years time.


AsianDate is an International Dating site that brings you exciting introductions and direct communication with Asian women. downloaderfastliftop.gq brings you exciting introductions and direct communication with Asian women through downloaderfastliftop.gq. The website promotes long-term relationships and exotic companionship between single men around the world and eligible women from countries like China, Thailand, Japan and the Philippines. On a reader's advice, please note that this is a review of downloaderfastliftop.gq aka downloaderfastliftop.gq, and not of downloaderfastliftop.gq, which might or might not suffer similar problems - I haven't checked it out.. Recently, due to a friend's involvement, I had cause to investigate the authenticity of an Asian dating site.


"Ticks can transmit disease to people and their pets, particularly in the warmer months when they are most active," said lead study author Erin Jones of the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene in Baltimore.
Jones' team analyzed data collected by a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention initiative called TickNET, which aims to prevent tick-borne diseases across the country. Lyme disease is the most common such disease in the U.S.; the risk of exposure is highest in northeastern states, the researchers write in Zoonoses and Public Health.
"Preventing tick bites by avoiding wooded and brushy areas with high grass and leaf litter, appropriately using repellents on skin and clothing, and checking for ticks after going outside are effective prevention methods," Jones said in an email.
Certain property characteristics, such as having a vegetable garden, compost pile, log pile, bird feeder, stone walls and children's play equipment, were associated with higher odds of finding ticks crawling on, or attached to, human household members.
"Lyme disease is getting more attention because the number of human cases has increased, and tick habitats are changing as an indirect consequence of climate change," said Dr. Bruno Chomel, a veterinary researcher at the University of California, Davis who wasn't involved in the study.
One limitation of the study is that tick control use was self-reported, so the research team wasn't sure whether the owners applied the medication accurately and consistently or what brand was used. In addition, the study group may have been too small to detect an increased risk of tick-borne diseases when a household included pets, the authors write.
SOURCE: bit.ly/2tRlZQh Zoonoses and Public Health, online June 19, 2017.


When grass thins or does not grow, weeds can sprout up in its place. Weeds thrive on grass-thinning areas of a lawn and spread to more healthy patches. Lawns full of weeds usually have unhealthy grass or lawn with little grass. When a lawn is overcome with weeds, it you must treat it with a few different substances and landscaping tools. With a bit of care and some persistence, you can restore your lawn.
Mow the lawn, setting the blade at high setting. A weed's worst natural enemy is thick, tall grass. Dense, healthy grass will largely keep weeds from growing. Weeds that do manage to sprout will have to compete with the grass system.
Apply weed killer directly to the weeds in the lawn using a sprayer. Even weed herbicides that are labeled or designed as safe for grass may damage it. To preserve what healthy grass your lawn has, only spray the weeds, following the manufacturer's dosing instructions.
Aerate the lawn with a grass or turf aerator. Work from one end of the lawn to the other in a horizontal direction, and then go across the lawn diagonally starting in one corner and finishing on the opposite corner. This helps air reach the grass roots.
Put down grass seed and pre-emergent weed herbicide, following the manufacturer's application instructions. Mist the entire lawn with a garden hose. Do not saturate the lawn or the herbicide and grass send will run off the soil.
Spread weed-killing lawn fertilizer over all the grass after the lawn has dried. Water on a regular schedule twice a week early in the morning to enhance the dew. This gives your grass much needed water and stop weeds from reinfesting the lawn.


text:
Johann Friedrich Menz (* 7. November 1673 Lütgen-Dortmund; † 19. September 1749 in Leipzig) war ein deutscher Philosoph, Literaturwissenschaftler und Physiker.

Leben
Der Sohn des Theologen Johann Bernhard Menz besuchte das Gymnasium in Dortmund. 1697 begann er ein Studium an der Universität Leipzig. Dort wurde er 1698 Baccalaureus und 1700 Magister der Philosophie. 1711 wurde er Assessor der philosophischen Fakultät, 1725 ordentlicher Professor der Philosophie ohne Sitz und Stimme in der Fakultät, 1730 ordentlicher Professor der Poesie mit Sitz und Stimme, und 1739 ordentlicher Professor der Physik.

Zudem war er Decemvir der Leipziger Hochschule, Senior der philosophischen Fakultät, Senior der sächsischen Nation, Kollegiat des großen Fürstenkollegiums und Ephorus der kurfürstlichen Kollegien. Außerdem beteiligte er sich auch an den organisatorischen Aufgaben der Leipziger Hochschule und war in den Sommersemestern 1743 und 1735 Rektor der Alma Mater.

Menz verstarb unverheiratet an einem Herzinfarkt und hinterließ der Leipziger Universitätsbibliothek einige Manuskripte.

Werke
 Diss. de Sardanapalo, laudabili Assyriorum principe. Leipzig 1700
 Diss. Cogitationes in Gellii Libri II. Cap. 12 de Solonis legibus, et una speciatim. Leipzig 1701
 Diss. de prima  imperii inter  homines  orìgine. Leipzig 1704
 Diss. de plantis, quas ad rem magicam facere crediderut veteres. Leipzig 1705
 Diss. revocans antipathiae physìcae phaenomena ad fuas caussas. Leipzig 1708
 Diss. adserens, normam actionum humanarum in societate improprie dici legem naturae. Leipzig 1711
 Diss. Vita et gesta Patrocli, Martyris, Sufatensium Patroni observattonibus illustrata. Leipzig 1712
 Diss. Fastus philosophicus virtutis colore infucatus. Leipzig 1712
 Vitam Et Gesta Patrocli Martyris Susatensium Patroni Obseruationibus Illustratam. Fleischer, Lipsiae 1712 ()
 Diss. qua probatur, Socratem nec officiosum maritum, nec laudandum patrem familiae fuisse. Leipzig 1716
 Diss. sistens studium partium Gottfridi Arnoldi in historia Novatianorum. Leipzig 1718
 Aristippus, Philosophus Socraticus. Halle/Magdeburg 1719
 Diss. Generatio paradoxa in rana conspicus. Leipzig 1724
 Progr. de eruditorum miseriis, eorumque caussis. Leipzig 1725
 Diss. de delectu militari prudenter habendo. Leipzig 1727
 Diss. Contentiosi Sophistae pusillitas. Leipzig 1728
 Diss. de consecratione templorum Romanorum. Leipzig 1729
 Orationes binae, prima de caussis contemtae Philosophiae, habita, cum munus Professoris Philos. Ordin. adiret, a. 1725 d. 14 Martii: altera de poetico decoro, dicta, cum Poetices provinciam a. 1730 d. 28 Febr. ingrederetur. Leipzig 1735
 Progr. de natura frigoris. Leipzig 1740
 Prog. de primis initiis artis typogiaphicae in urbe Lipsia. Leipzig 1740
 Diss. de Ephetis Atheniensium iudicibua. Leipzig 1740
 Diss. de Socratis methodo docendi e scholis non omnino proscribenda. Leipzig 1740
 Progr. super epigrammata in Anthologia veterum Poètarum L. I. cap. ic. Leipzig  1741
 Progr. de Hermanni a Kerssenbroick Historia belli Anabaptistarum Monasteriensi manuscripta. Leipzig 1743
 Progr. quo Rempublicam litterariam perquirit. Leipzig 1749
 Progr. de pudore erudito. Leipzig 1749
 Progr. de Cornelio Nepote etc. Leipzig 1749

Literatur
 Johann Georg Meusel: Lexikon der vom Jahr 1750 bis 1800 verstorbenen teutschen Schriftsteller. Gerhard Fleischer d. J., Leipzig 1809, 9. Bd., S. 79 (Online).
 Friedrich Carl Gottlob Hirsching: Historisch-literarisches Handbuch berühmter und denkwürdiger Personen, welche in dem 18. Jahrhundert gestorben sind. Leipzig 1800, Band 5, 1. Abt., S. 253 (Online).

Autor
Literaturwissenschaftler
Philosoph (18. Jahrhundert)
Physiker (18. Jahrhundert)
Rektor (Universität Leipzig)
Deutscher
Geboren 1673
Gestorben 1749
Mann
Absolvent der Universität Leipzig

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


41 2250 Folkestone Way, West Vancouver, BC - V7S 2X7 is a Apartment/Condo that currently for sale for $1198000 with 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, with 1353 sq.ft living area. It was built in 1979. It was listed in MLS® under # R2339012 and available for 72 days on Estateblock.com. This listing is located in Panorama Village.
Price : The Median List price for the property is 24.29% lower than comparables in the city and 12.94% lower than similar homes in the neighbourhood.
Public Schools : This home is serviced by Irwin Park Elementary. The property is located 2.20 km from the school. Irwin Park Elementary has a rating of 10/10. This home is also serviced by West Vancouver Secondary and located 1.78 km from it. West Vancouver Secondary has a rating of 7/10.
Private Schools : The closest elementary independent school with good rating is Mulgrave School. The School's rating is 10/10 and it is located 2.87 km.
The closest Secondary Private School with good rating is Mulgrave School. The School's rating is 10/10. The school is located 2.87 km from it.
Unemployment rate : Unemployment rate in the area around Listing # R2339012 is 2.8 which is Low in comparison to the other Lower Mainland neighbourhoods.
Daycares : The closest daycare without violation is West Vancouver Child Development Centre - Group Day Care <36 months. And it is in 2.25km away.
Climate : The closest weather station is West Vancouver - Ballantree Place. It is located 5.75km away. Weather station elevation is 290 mm.
Floodplain Area : According to an official flood area map 41 2250 Folkestone Way home for sale is not located inside floodplain area and it is not subject to flooding based on 200 year history . This information is for general informational purposes only. You should not use such information in determining the chances of this house being flooded.


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text:
Hajsyn ( ; ) är en stad i Vinnytsia oblast i Ukraina. Folkmängden uppgick till 25 727 invånare i början av 2012.

Referenser

Externa länkar

Städer i Ukraina
Orter i Vinnytsia oblast


text:
import type { FC } from 'react';
import type { ModalLayoutProps } from '../../Modal/ModalLayout';
import type { PopoverFooterProps } from './PopoverFooter';
export declare type PopoverLayoutProps = ModalLayoutProps & Pick<PopoverFooterProps, 'closeButton'> & {
    /**
     * Header will not be visually available but it will still properly announced in screen reader scenarios
     * @default false
     */
    hideHeader?: boolean;
};
export declare const PopoverLayout: FC<PopoverLayoutProps>;

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Home » TV & Movies » Jason Watkins can understand parent bereavement in The Catch
Jason Watkins can understand parent bereavement in The Catch
Channel 5's upcoming four-part series The Catch focuses on a local fisherman and his wife who are continuing to deal with the death of their son years later. However, things in the show take a sinister turn when Ed feels threatened he'll lose another child to their new partner.
Jason Watkins is set to star in the new series In The Catch, which is based on the best-selling novel by T.M. Logan.
Although the main storyline focuses on his character Ed, trying to uncover the truth about his daughter Abbie's (Poppy Gilbert) new boyfriend Ryan (Aneurin Barnard) and the web of lies that unfold afterwards, there are also themes of grief throughout.
In the four-part crime drama, Ed and his wife Claire (Cathy Belton) are continuing to deal with the death of their son Josh (Jacob Hickey), for which Ed blames himself.
Exclusively speaking to Express.co.uk and other publications, Jason Watkins touched on why he decided to take on the role following the death of his own child.
In 2011, Jason and his wife Clara tragically lost their two-year-old daughter Maude who died from sepsis.
Speaking about parent bereavement, he said: "We (the character's in the show), as I as a family, have lost a child so I understand very much Ed's feelings and the relationship.
"One of the reasons I wanted to take it on was because I thought it was so well mapped out.
"It was something one could connect with the audience and help them understand about bereaved parents and what they go through because this was so well-written."
Jason revealed he and his wife Clara try to help families reconcile what they've gone through when dealing with a death of a child and try to help them carry it instead of burying what's happened.
He continued: "I do a lot of that, talking to fathers about not burying what has happened and being able to talk about it.
"Not only is this (The Catch) a process that had a little bit of that about it, sharing and talking to the public.
"But, between our characters, it was Clare trying to get Ed to be emotional about things, talk about things."
Although the actor teased emotions pop up in glimmers for his character in the Channel 5 show, his judgement is all over the place following what's happening in their lives.
Jason added: "Their lives have been destroyed by the violence, the financial issues, by their daughter leaving and not being able to reconcile the past.
"He's got to try and come to terms with those things otherwise they will destroy him more than external forces.
"So, it's all that going on which I think is so exciting for audiences, all those complex things and yet you're carried on a really great journey in terms of a thriller."
In the first episode of the series, fans can expect to see the fisherman struggle to keep his head above water after a rival steals his business.
Things go from bad to worse for Ed when his daughter decides to bring her new boyfriend home, although something about him makes Ed immediately suspicious.
Wanting to get to the bottom of his off feeling about Ryan, he teams up with his daughter's ex to dig into the new boyfriend's past but is left alarmed by the truth that's uncovered
The Catch starts Wednesday, January 25 on Channel 5 from 9pm.
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Gentlemen, start your engines! How apt that I pull out the LeMans C64 cartridge on this day, the start of the 2013 Formula 1 (F1) Grand Prix season. I am aware LeMans and F1 are two separate sanctioned sports, but hey, it is a racing game, and that is all there is to it. Perhaps I should have ripped out Checkered Flag on the Atari Lynx. I just have to stop second guessing myself and stick with this old game.
The strategy to doing well in LeMans is to drive as fast as you can for as long as you can, passing computer drivers (watch out as they veer in your path!) and traversing all kinds of terrain. The terrain sections in LeMans is what makes the game quite interesting – there are icy roads (your car slides as if it's on skates), divided highways (squeezing into 2 lanes), night driving (relax, you have headlights) and the famous "LeMans Esses".
Every time your car is hit by another vehicle or if you steer into the walls, your car turns into a wreck and you must "Pit" to the left as the on-screen message tells you to. This kills off precious seconds, so try and avoid hitting or being hit by cars and stop steering into walls. If you can avoid damage to your vehicle, then you will be well on your way to that precious high points score.
The only (fun) way to play this game is with the 'Commodore Paddles'. The Paddles add to the playability of the game as you hold the accelerator button with your left thumb and steer with your right fingertips. There were no "steering wheel" contraptions for the C64 back in the day. The Paddles did (and still do) the job just right.
Well, enough of my ranting, I am off to play another game before the F1 race kicks off.


text:
/ Transportation
Deep-Value Pickings Are Slim, and Not All That Great
There are only a handful of names in my net/net cupboard, and one I wouldn't touch with a 10-foot pole.
Apr 21, 2017 | 11:00 AM EDT
Stocks quotes in this article: RAIL, SHOS, RELL, CVU
As the broad markets continue to plow forward, the deep-value net/net cupboards (companies trading below net current asset value) are becoming even more bare. I did not think that was possible; indeed, I've never seen an environment quite like this one for net/nets, and I feel a bit like a broken record for saying so again. What's more, it has not been a great environment for small value for the year to date, with the Russell 2000 Value and Russell 2000 Microcap indices down 0.5% and 1.6%, respectively. In such an environment, I'd expect to see more companies to be jettisoned to net/net land.
My latest perusal of current net/nets revealed just eight with market caps greater than $50 million. When you throw out the early-stage biotechnology companies that will burn through the cash on their books (which technically helps them qualify for net/net status), that leaves just four.
FreightCar America (RAIL) tops the list and is the only name with a market cap in excess of $100 million. The company has seen some tough times lately, as earnings have disappointed the past couple quarters and orders are not very strong. What is strong, however, is the balance sheet, and it should see the company through to better times.
RAIL ended the latest quarter with $92.8 million, or $7.50 per share, in cash and no debt. It currently trades for 0.99x net current asset value (current assets less all liabilities) and just 0.67x tangible book value per share. Consensus estimates call for losses this year and next, but the company appears to have the wherewithal to make it through to better times. Plus, with so much negativity, any positive news could bolster the shares. RAIL currently yields 2.8%.
The other three net/nets are Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores (SHOS) , Richardson Electronics (RELL) and CPI Aerostructures (CVU) . I would not touch SHOS with a 10-foot pole. Net/net retailers are challenging to begin with, and SHOS continues to struggle. The quality of current assets is not strong as the bulk of them are comprised of inventory (as is common with retailers), and it operates within an increasingly competitive environment. SHOS currently trades at 0.37x net current asset value and 0.29x tangible book value.
I continue to hold RELL, which has $4 a share in cash and no debt, but this one has been disappointing and it is looking more and more like the dreaded value trap. Currently trading at 0.74x net current asset value and 0.62x tangible book value per share, it appeared as though revenue was stabilizing, but the company continues to have difficulty in earning a profit. RELL currently yields 4.1%.
My most recent net/net addition is CPI Aerostructures, which currently trades at 0.93x net current asset value and 0.84x tangible book value. While CVU is not as cash-rich as RAIL and RELL, it is expected to be profitable in 2017 and 2018 and trades at 7.5x next year's "consensus" earnings estimates (note the quotation marks around consensus, as just three analysts cover the company).
Slim pickings, indeed.
Please note that due to factors including low market capitalization and/or insufficient public float, we consider SHOS, RELL and CVU to be a small-cap stocks. You should be aware that such stocks are subject to more risk than stocks of larger companies, including greater volatility, lower liquidity and less publicly available information, and that postings such as this one can have an effect on their stock prices.
At the time of publication, Heller was long RAIL, RELL and CVU.
TAGS: Investing | U.S. Equity | Transportation | Technology | Consumer Discretionary | Stocks
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Gender differences and inequalities are well described in the business world, and traditionally manifest themselves as lower pay, longer intervals to promotion, and less favorable perceptions for women. Our purpose was to determine whether gender differences exist in the perception of surgeons and teamwork in the operating room.
A series of 4 standardized videos, each followed by a 15-item Likert-scale questionnaire (adapted from the OREEM), was administered to surgeons, surgical residents, operating room nurses, and surgical technicians regarding their perceptions of the surgeon's interpersonal skills and the function of the operating room staff as a team. Participant demographic information was collected such as OR role, age, gender, and number of years of experience.
A total of 112 questionnaires were administered. Overall, perception of the white female surgeon's personality and teamwork skills were more favorable than that of the white male surgeon, Hispanic female, and black male (table 1). In subgroup analysis categorized by job title, nurses perceived the black male surgeon less favorably than technicians, residents, and with a trend in surgeons (p=0.07). There was a non-statistically significant trend for participants with more than 30 years experience to score each of the surgeons more favorable than those with less experience.
The results show no surgeon gender differences however the white female video and years of experience showed a more favorable response overall. Given a larger population to sample as well as multiple facilities, we propose that there would be significant differences, as these trends suggest.
Higher scores are less favorable responses. Means are reported with 95% confidence interval.


text:
by Dolash
Part 13: Chapter Ten
The next morning is bright and cool, with a taste of autumn in the air. The voices of merchants and market goers drift into the shared quarters of the Swan from the already-busy market street. Minar and Aria cross paths on the landing between their rooms again and exchange tired nods as they wind their way down the stairs to the common room. There they see Mariam already dressed and nervously sitting at the breakfast table, jittering and pushing sausage about on her plate.
"Look who's here," says Sapphire, placing a pitcher of apple juice on the table. "Don't fret, dear, I'm certain Braxton will be down soon."
"Who's fretting?" says Mariam. "I'm not nervous or anything."
Aria giggles as she pours herself a glass of juice. Sapphire stops by her elbow and says "It's her first day open for business, and a market day at that," explains Sapphire. "Although I don't know why you're opening so soon. You can't be ready for customers yet."
"We already had to delay because of the harvest," explains Mariam. "I should have been open on the market day a week ago. I can't miss today's market as well!" The gnome stands and paces back and forth on the bench as Minar and Aria sit down to a breakfast of sausage, fried apples, and golden cakes with honey. "Where is Braxton? I should go up and get her."
"You're not married yet," chides Sapphire. "Give the young lady her space. I suspect you won't be disappointed."
"I hope not," says Braxton from the stairs. Her usual leathers and mail are gone, replaced with tall, freshly shined boots and a brilliantly white shirt under an embroidered vest. Her hair has been carefully piled up behind her head, held in place with a shining silver pin. She pauses, smiling as she sees the look on Mariam's face.
"That... is not a guard uniform," manages Mariam, at length.
"I thought I'd make an appearance at the shop this morning and help out," says Braxton, settling down at the table and carefully covering up with a napkin. "It's your first day. I wanted to do something special." She accepts a plate of food from Sapphire, then glances at Maram shyly. "Do you like it?"
Mariam breaks into a smile. "I like it very much."
Urk, Urist and Athtar make their own ways down the stairs and to breakfast one after the other. Once all five are seated along with Mariam and Braxton, Deepmind appears seemingly from nowhere, dropping into the last open seat. Only Urist seems surprised, but looking around at everyone else's pointed non-reaction, he chooses not to comment.
The door opens with a jingle of bells, and a number of wool-clad humans come stamping through, kicking the grime of the road from their boots. "Excuse me," says Sapphire, and she moves off to assist the new customers.
"I will need to report to the guard post later in the day," Braxton says to Mariam. "Tweegal wanted to talk to me about something important."
"I'll make do without you, I suppose," says Mariam with a smile. "Somehow."
A) Ask Mariam about the grand opening of her shop
B) Ask Braxton about her position with the village guards
C) Ask about Mariam and Braxton's wedding
"Soooo," says Aria, with a cheeky grin. "When's the big day? It's gotta be soon, right?"
"Oh," says Braxton. "Didn't Mariam invite you?"
"I thought you were going to," protests Mariam.
"I thought - never mind!" Braxton shakes her head. "I'll do it now."
"We're getting married tomorrow afternoon," gushes Mariam, grabbing Braxton's hand and leaning toward Aria with her face aglow. "At the willow grove. Reception to follow at the Swan, of course."
"And we would be very pleased if you would all attend," says Braxton to the group, squeezing her fiancee's hand.
"Just one day to prepare!" Aria grabs Minar's shoulder and yanks him over suddenly. "We need formalware, stat! Let's hit that market!"
"I could use a few supplies," Deepmind muses. "We all probably could. We were a little under-geared the last time we went up against the bandits."
"URK STILL HAVE WAR RUNE." The orc fishes it out of her pocket and drops the magical artifact casually on the table, where it becomes immediately smudged with butter. "SHOULD PROBABLY DO SOMETHING WITH IT BEFORE URK FORGET."
With breakfast finished, Urist stacks their plates for Sapphire to collect later. As they gather their things to prepare for the day, Mariam and Braxton come down the stairs with heavy, bulging bags.
"Thanks for letting us stay here, Aunt Sapphie," says Mariam, leaning in to kiss her aunt on the cheek. "But I'm ready to move in to my new place."
"Of course, hun! You're both welcome anytime," says Sapphire, resting a gentle hand on Braxton's forearm. "Take good care of my niece now," she says with a wink.
Braxton smiles and nods. "Always."
With the pair having departed, that leaves only the party, suitably geared up.
A) Check out the market, since it's a market day
B) Go to the Smithy and see if Fiore can forge the War Rune into something
C) Stay at the Swan and ask Sapphire if she can tailor the War Rune into something
D) Investigate the rumors of a lost hero's crypt to the north (note: I'll let you know up front that this will lead to another quest)
"Let me see that." Fiore takes the runeshard from Urk and holds it up to the light, turning it slowly to examine it from all angles.
Urk and Urist lounge around the smithy's stockroom, both staring intently at the little shard of high magic in the smith's hand. She shifts her chair toward a nearby table, then places the rune on the wooden surface and scrabbles about a bit for a piece of paper and a stick of charcoal. With a few quick strokes, she takes a rubbing of the rune, which she sets aside. "I'm no runemaster, but I think this is the Draconic glyph for 'war,'" she says.
"URK KNEW THAT ALREADY," Urk says, frowning. "EVEN URIST PROBABLY KNEW THAT."
"Well, I heard you say it earlier," Urist mumbles.
Fiore ignores their muttering while she sketches and hums, then nods. "At the crossguard, with a thread of silver running the length of the blade. Yes, I believe I can work with this."
She returns her attention to Urk and Urist. "With this, I can forge you the finest sword you'll ever see in your life. And I'll do the work myself; none of my apprentices are up to this task. One hundred and fifty gold is my fee." She takes up the rune and presents it to Urk. "What do you say?"
Urk nods. "PAY FIORE GOLD."
Urist begins digging in his various satchels again, his face scrunching up as he weighs the cost. "That's rather a sizable cut of the party's purse, eh? Don't you think we should-"
"NAH." Urk leans back in her chair and eyes the rune again. "ONE OF A KIND MAGIC SWORD PROBABLY BETTER INVESTMENT THAN MORE HEALING POTIONS WE NEVER ACTUALLY USE."
"I swear I'm saving them for an emergency," Urist insists as he finally counts out the gold pieces and hands them to Fiore.
"You won't regret it," says the dwarf with a grin. She takes the money and the rune and places it in an iron box, which she closes and locks before tucking the silver key into her smock. "Bryll!" she calls, and the young dwarf apprentice comes running. "Run to the stores and bring me a ten-eight of black iron and a single bar of Brightmaul silver." The apprentice rushes off, and Fiore reaches for her crutch again. "I'll get started straight away. Come back tomorrow, I may have something for you."
The party loses the War Rune and 150 gold
Time passes
A) Visit the market
B) Go check on the Bakery
C) Borrow something nice to wear from Celyse at the Manor
D) Investigate the rumors of the crypt to the north (beginning a sidequest, so I'll make this take two votes just to make sure we're agreed)
The market street hasn't been this crowded since the party came to town, thronged with people and animals and carts inching along. Merchants shout themselves hoarse hawking their wares while customers inspect their goods. Travelers wander the street, gawking at the throngs of people, and two guards in Fairfax livery walk a slow and purposeful patrol.
Several of the crops for sale are from the recent harvest, bushels of round red beans and sheafs of golden grain and baskets piled high with red apples. One end of the row seems to be dominated by carts piled high with black and white wool and thronged with customers haggling so loudly it seems a fight might break out at any moment. A round-faced human woman with a smile and a gaily embroidered dress displays blankets, coats, dresses and other clothes all worked in similar bright colors.
"We shall have to remember that vendor in case Aria demands we all dress up for the wedding," Athtar remarks, nodding at the tailor.
Deepmind scans the crowd nearby, taking in the available goods. "I see one potion stall - 'Al-Emir's Elixirs,' over there - and those two brothers at the fancy table seem to be selling something that's got the crowd's attention, but I can't tell-"
Athtar almost stumbles over his shorter companion, who stops suddenly in the middle of the street.
Not far from the wool merchants, a brown-furred catfolk woman in a red tunic argues with a pinch-faced human woman. The human's stall is laden with dried and salted fish. The catfolk's tufted ears are pointed back and her tail swishes with angry vigor. A prominent tear in her tunic marks where something - a branch, or a bolt - tore a piece clear. She seems to stand at an angle, favouring one leg.
Deepmind stares for a few more moments before collecting herself and making straight for the fishmonger's stall, and Athtar follows.
The catfolk woman growls slightly as they approach. She's holding something in her hands - a mask, fashioned from wood and leather and lacquered green. She leans forward, offering it to the fishmonger. "Please," she yowls. "This is a special mask, blessed by the spirits! It is very valuable. I must have two baskets of fish."
"I don't care if the mask belonged to King Daqan himself," scoffs the fishmonger. "I sell these fish for money, you hear me? This isn't a swap meet."
The hyrrinx woman turns and narrows her eyes at Athtar. At this distance, she is no doubt the woman from the Eventide Forest just a few days ago. She recognizes him and hisses in a low voice, "You again."
Deepmind quickly cuts in. "I'm Deepmind. He's with me , and..." she hesitates. "I was there when we ran into you back in the woods. Just, uh, hiding."
"I'm sorry for the terseness of our previous meeting," says Athtar, bowing. "It was unfair of us to treat you so roughly."
The hyrrinx gives the pair a cool gaze fora few moments, considering. "You," she says looking to Deepmind. "You are hyrrinx, yes? I am Hetharr."
"Nice to meet you." Deepmind looks over at the fishmonger, who seems disinterested in the whole exchange. "Is there some sort of problem?"
"This human refuses to give me her fish, even though I am offering a great treasure in exchange."
"Your 'great treasure' is some manky mask. I'm not going to the countess's masquerade, and I don't want it." The fishmonger sniffs and slaps her hands on the countertop. "It's sixty gold coins for the fish you want and that's final."
"I don't have any coins. But I am offering you something useful," explains Hetharr. "And anyway, I should just take the fish. I'm just doing it this way to be polite."
"Just take my fish? You greedy thief! I won't hear of it."
"No, no, I am not greedy. These fish are not just for me. My whole village needs food. The bandits-"
"Everyone's got a sob story," says the merchant. My fish cost money and that's that."
Hetharr turns to Deepmind, her ears standing up straight and her whiskers twitching. "Please," she says. "Can you help me?"
Deepmind stands still for a few moments, weighing the situation. "We could probably sell the mask to someone else at the market first. Or come back later when the guards are patrolling somewhere else..."
"Sixty gold, you said?" Athtar says to the fishmonger. She nods. The elf swings up his purse and upends it on the grey-weathered countertop. The fishmonger counts out the gold pieces that fall out and nods, satisfied.
"There," she says. "See how easy that was?" Then she turns and, with a grunt, rolls two sizable casks out from behind her stall to Athtar.
Deepmind gawks at the exchange, but only mutters "That's a lot of the party's gold."
"I think our shares should cover it," he replies, rolling one of the casks over to Hetharr. "We can help you move these at least as far as the edge of town."
Between the three of them, they carry the casks to the dragon statues marking the end of Dragonholt. "Thank you for your help," she says. "I will have to see about finding my own coins if I'm going to do any more trading with humans."
"Yeah, that's the real trick," says Deepmind with a wry smile.
Hetharr pulls the green mask from within her tunic and looks at it for a long moment. "You should have this," she says. "It's all I can do to repay you."
"You don't need to repay us," says Athtar. "After our meeting in the forest, it's the least we can do."
Hetharr insists, pressing the mask into Deepmind's hands. Deepmind takes the mask, a bit bemused, before stowing it. "Thanks."
Before they can ask how she plans to carry both casks off to the forest on her own, four more hyrrinx emerge from the shadows of the orchard, stalking forward on silent cat feet. They nod their heads gravely to the two adventurers before hefting the heavy barrels of fish and hauling them to the trees.
As Hetharr departs, Deepmind calls after her. "Sorry about your leg."
Hetharr pauses to turn back toward them. She tests her sore leg once, before nodding back. "It will heal." Then she disappears into the trees after her fellows.
The party gains the Spirit Mask
One progress in heroism
One progress in social practice
A) See how Mariam and Braxton are doing on the Apothecary Shop's first day
B) Borrow something to wear from Celyse at the Manor
C) Check out the bakery
D) Investigate the rumored crypt to the north
The manor house seems deathly quiet compared to the hubbub of the market in the village. After a moment, Tymothi walks through the great hall, carrying a pewter cup. He pauses when he sees Aria and Minar approaching and gestures to the staircase to their left. "Miss Celyse is in the salon, if you're looking to visit." Then, with a bow, he vanishes into his office-cum-library.
They climb the stairs and find Celyse in the large and well appointed salon. In the light spilling through the southern windows, she has surrounded herself with a collection of maps. Some are on large sheets of yellowing paper, others on small scraps of vellum, and some painted carefully on flats of wood.
"Why, hello," says Celyse when she sees them. She rests her teacup on its saucer and places the whole back on the tray nearby. "Can I interest you in some tea? I nipped out to the market earlier and bought some quite acceptable leaves."
"I was actually hoping you could help me out," says Aria, leaning in conspiratorially. "You've heard about Braxton and Mariam's wedding tomorrow, right?"
"The rumor mill has begun to churn on that, yes."
"Well, I've been on the road for months now and I've got nothing to wear for the big day except these worn-out travel clothes. This one's hopeless," she waves toward Minar, "but back in Nerekhall you were a fashion icon!"
Celyse blinks, surprised. "I was?"
"Yes! Definitely! And that's why I was wondering if you could maybe lend me a dress to wear?"
The elf gives her a sideways look before looking past her for support from Minar. He just rolls his eyes and shrugs, so she turns back to Aria. "Well, I suppose I have a few lying around my wardrobe, but we have slightly different... builds. I'm not sure if anything would fit, and there's hardly time to have it tailored."
"Can we take a look? Please? I'll take anything, just don't make go to a big village wedding looking like a muddy drifter."
"We are muddy drifters," Minar mutters.
Celyse looks at Aria's earnest expression, sighs, and picks up her teacup. "I suppose we can have a little look around, but I make no promises."
A few minutes later the three of them sat around Cely'se's quarters, Celyse in her chair and Minar sitting on her travel chest, while Aria dug through Celyse's wardrobe.
"Uh, okay, I think I see what you mean," says Aria, pulling something slim and sparkling out that covers about half of her across. "Let me take another look."
As Aria digs, Minar turns an inquisitive look to Celyse. "I've been meaning to ask you what you've been up to since Nerekhall. No offense, but Dragonholt seems a little... uh, below your paygrade."
"That was almost diplomatic, Minar. You must be learning." Celyse wraps her delicate elven fingers around the teacup and breathes in the steam. "I've been doing as little as possible since that business in Aria's lovely hometown. I vowed to keep myself out of trouble for a decade at least." She smiles through the steam at Aria as she pulls out another traveling cloak. "I'm no better at that than the rest of you, I'm afraid.
"After Nerekhall I went to Greyhaven to make use of the libraries there and offer my services as a tutor. I found the city didn't agree with me that well; very noisy, very crowded. When I heard that a countess in Allerfeldt was requesting a tutor for her estate, I packed my things and set off. I've been serving here in Dragonholt for over a year now, and I find it a considerable improvement over the city. Here, at least, I can go into the forest and find some peace."
"Peace is one word for it," Minar snorts. "How does an elf not get bored of life with humans?"
"I do miss home from time to time, but I won't go back to the Latari just yet."
Aria pulls herself out of the wardrobe long enough to add "You never did tell us why you left in the first place."
She laughs. "No, I didn't. I suppose there's no harm in it. It was my own choice. Or rather, given the circumstances of my birth and what I was forced to do to redress them, I chose to leave. It can take elves more than a century to stop calling you by the wrong name and stop describing you using the wrong gender after you make a change that dramatic, you see."
Minar's eyebrows pop up. "More than a century? I know elves have the time to spare, but damn."
"Remind me not to complain about backward old human ways so much," concurs Aria.
She shrugs. "No hard feelings, though. I'm sure everyone would have meant well. I just thought it would be easier for all of us if I gave everyone a chance to get used to the idea while I got to go and live as my true self straightaway." She stares at her tea and frowns. "Or perhaps I've just delayed the century of fumbling and awkwardness to begin on my return. Ah well. I still made the right choice. I wouldn't have met you two and all our motley friends otherwise."
"Ohhh, now this one might fit!" Aria reaches deep and pulls out a thick wool dress of greyish-blue. "Looks much more my size."
Aria covers a snort of laughter, causing Aria to look up puzzled. "That's my old 'uniform' from the Greyhaven library," she explains, smiling. "True, it was originally cut for a human, but speaking from experience I'm not sure schoolmarm is a look that would suit you."
"Yeah," agrees Minar. "You might have to read a book every once in a while."
Unperturbed, Aria lifts one foot and pushes Minar backward off the chest. "The last book he read was a farmer's almanac with all the hard words sounded out. It's lovely, Celyse, I'lll take it."
Celyse glances at Minar sprawled on the floor, trying to keep his scowl from turning into a smile. "No accounting for taste, I suppose."
B) Check out the bakery
C) Take a second pass at the market and see what those brothers were selling
D) Investigate the rumors of a crypt to the north
The shop has been completely restored, with no sign that it was a gutted ruin only a short time ago. A large banner hangs outside, the words "Grand Opening!" written on it in friendly letters.
As Urist passes inside, he finds the shop decorated with sunflowers and sprigs of lavender in every corner and crowded with patrons and the curious. Braxton emerges through the back door, carrying a wooden crate full of glass bottles, which she carefully unpacks onto a high shelf. Mariam is standing on the counter, talking in rapid-fire sentences to two patrons at once, explaining how her elixir will relieve an elderly human woman's back pain ("willow bark in spring tonic, will reduce the swelling and dull the pain!") and how her cough tonic will cure an orc man's son's cold ("hyssop and elder flower in honey").
After a few moments, Mariam hands over small glass bottles to both customers in exchange for jingling coins, which she tucks into her apron. Then she bounds off the counter and jogs over to Urist. "Good to see you!" she says. "Isn't this great? How can I help you?"
"Marvelous work you've done here," Urist beams, looking around the shop. "Why you'd hardly credit it was all a blasted ruin just a week ago."
"Well, I had a little help," she admits, grinning.
"I was actually wondering," Urist begins, peering toward the back of the shop. "Since you're occupied up front here, big opening day at all, might your labspace be available? It's terribly difficult to get any brewing of my own available at the Swan, and I've brought my own supplies."
"Of course!" says Mariam, before hesitating. "Uh, just... don't go burning down my shop on the first day?"
"I wouldn't dream of it! Thank you kindly, young Mariam," says Urist as he strolls toward the back. Braxton spares a mildly concerned look for Mariam before opening the door to the back room and letting Urist past.
Urist squeezes into the long, narrow back room that serves as Mariam's laboratory. Racks of strange liquids bubble and boil against one wall, and herbs hang from the ceiling to dry. A pair of cauldrons, one iron and one copper, rest neatly on shelves near a large hearth, ready to be put to use. Directly under the room's round window stands a workbench, its tools all neatly arrayed and stowed, with a set of stairs built in for the convenience of gnome-sized folk.
It looks like Mariam already has a number of potions brewing, but there is still plenty of equipment available. Urist reaches slowly into his inside pocket and withdraws the strange mushroom he found in the mines, gazing at it with an almost covetous intensity. "This ought to do."
He sets the strange mushroom on the workbench and searches through the laboratory until he finds Mariam's small collection of books. In the volume titled "Botanica Arcana," he finds a comprehensive description of the fungus and is able to conclusively identify it as a goblin cap mushroom, also known as "death's flower." Armed with that knowledge, it's fairly easy to find a description of its uses and an effective recipe for a potion of swiftness made from it.
He separates the stalk and slices the cap thinly, then sets it to simmer in grapeseed oil in the copper cauldron. He collects and combines the other ingredients, hen's teeth and eye of newt and tincture of wormswort, in the other cauldron, then pours off the mushroom mixture through a sieve, leaving the goblin-cap-infused oil. He adds the oil drop by drop to the potion mixture until the cloudy solution becomes clear.
Removing it from the heat, Urist ladles out just a small amount of the potion and takes a careful sip. The scalding hot liquid sends a chill through his body, and suddenly his surroundings crystallize into perfect sharpness. Urist can feel, see, hear and smell everything. The liquid in the cauldron bubbles with curious slowness. His own movements feel unhurried, but also measurably faster than everything around him.
"Tremendous..." the Dwarf whispers. He looks over to the stalk he separated to begin with. Perhaps it might still be useful...
The party loses the strange mushroom
The party gains three potions of swiftness
Urist gains a far-out funky feeling
A) It's been a full day, get something to eat at the Chatty Archer
B) Go check out the bakery
C) Take a second pass at the market to see what those brothers are selling
D) Investigate the rumors of a crypt north of town
If anyone still wants to weigh in, I'll take a tiebreaker
The bakery's silver bell tinkles every few seconds as patrons come and go. Penny, the baker's young daughter, stands on a stool behind the glass counter, wearing the responsibility of her position like a badge of office. She takes orders and payment with solemnity, then turns to shriek those same orders through the door to the kitchen at the top of her lungs.
"Dah!" she bellows. "Soup in bread!"
"Comin' up!" he hollers back.
The next customer asks for a loaf of honey bread, which Penny dutifully fetches from a basket at her side, and then Urk reaches the front of the line.
"How c'n I help ye?" she asks. Grisbeck stomps in from the kitchen with a steaming boule of brown bread, torn open and filled with rich, chunky soup. He delivers the soup to a man with a wooden leg and only some of his fingers, then brushes flour off his apron and smiles approvingly at his daughter.
Urk reaches into her pack, withdrawing something she received from Aria earlier in the day. "URK'S FRIEND FOUND GIFT FOR LITTLE DWARF GIRL." She offers Ursula's old doll to Penny.
Penny leans over the counter, taking the doll slowly from Urk as if she thinks it might be pulled away at a moment's notice. "For me?" she says. "Oh, thank ye. I love her!" She squeezes the doll tight, then lifts up her stuffed owl from beneath the counter. "Thegn Owl, meet yer new friend. Oh, does she have a name?"
"URK NOT SURE," Urk admits with a shrug. "URK KNOW DOLL BELONGED TO URSULA FROM COUNTESS INN, HOW DOLL WAS URSULA'S FRIEND WHEN URSULA LONELY. SO, URK FIGURE, COULD BE PENNY'S FRIEND NOW."
Penny drinks in the story, nodding sagely. "Oh, yes," she says. "I'll call ye Ursula then," she says to the doll. "Oh! Wait here!" she says to Urk and rushes out the door. The sound of her feet clattering up a stair and then running about the floor above fills the bakery, and soon she's back, holding a whorling shell in her hand.
"I found this," she explains, slightly out of breath. "When we first came t'Dragonholt, me da an' me. It's been me good luck charm." She nods. "I want ye to have it, now."
Urk, uncertain, glances over to Grisbeck. The young Dwarf's father had watched the whole exchange thoughtfully, without interruption, and he gives Urk an imperceptible nod. Urk turns back to Penny and graciously accepts the shell. "URK HONORED. THANK YOU."
"Now, did ye need anything' t'eat?" Grisbeck asks.
At this, Urk grins widely. "MAYBE JUST A SNACK."
The party loses the cloth doll
The party gains the polished shell
Mark one progress in heroism
A) See what all the fuss was about in the market with those two brothers
B) Meditate on the significance of events at the Shrine
C) Get an early dinner at the Chatty Archer
Deepmind steps up to the brothers' market stall, as Athtar, Minar and Aria chat a short distance away. She tries to figure out what they're selling, and discovers the answer is a little bit of everything.
"I picked up this little trinket in Frostgate," says the elder brother. "A charm blessed by a northern witch-woman, guaranteed to make the young ladies flock to you. It worked for me, folks!"
"Works on young men, too," says the younger brother. "And it can be yours for thirty gold coins!" A hand shoots up in the crowd and in moments the transaction is completed. A tall man with broken veins clustered around his nose pushes by Deepmind, clutching a small wooden charm to his chest.
"They certainly have a knack for salesmanship," suggests Athtar as the three go to join Deepmind at the edge of the crowd.
Minar snorts. "You mean they're good hucksters. Although..." his brow furrows. "Now that you mention it, yeah, there's something kinda..."
"Compelling?" Aria finishes. She looks up at the stage. "I think I want to at least see what they've got."
"Now this is a curious specimen, brother of mine," says the elder brother, holding aloft a softly glowing mushroom. "As you know, it grows only on the reflection of the full moon, and its curative powers in the hands of a talented alchemist are second to none."
"Why, that sounds valuable, folks.!" What are we charging, brother, one hundred coins?" The elder brother shakes his head. "Eighty?" Another shake of the head. "What, you mean to tell me we're giving this amazing fungus away for a paltry forty five gold?"
"No wonder our mother called us crazy! But that's not even the most exciting treasure we have available today, is it brother?"
"You've never been more right, brother!" The younger brother unveils, with a flourish, a twisted horn from some tremendous beast, its top sealed with a metal cap. He flips open the cap, and a strange red-black liquid within the horn begins to steam and roil. The crowd 'ooohs' and steps somewhat back. "Now I'm not rightly certain who had to die for us to gain possession of this priceless relic - "
The elder brother claps a hand to his breast and turns his gaze to the heavens. "Alas, great-uncle Vylan."
"- But this, this, folks, is the blood of a dragon!" Another chorus of gasps. "And not just any dragon, but High Lord Margath himself!" The crowd recoils, as if afraid of being burned. The younger brother chuckles. "Never fear, never fear. He's quite dead. but his blood is priceless."
"Could be a goat's horn full of some local goop," mutters Minar.
Athtar shakes his head. "That's dragon blood. I've seen it before."
The others look to him, a little surprised, before Deepmind ventures "Is it useful?"
"Urist might be able to use it," he suggests. "It is a powerful ingredient for alchemy."
Deepmind considers the suggestion before turning back toward the brothers' stall and calling out "Fifty gold for the dragon blood!"
The younger brother looks affronted. "Fifty coins? After our great-uncle Vylan gave his life?"
"My brother is right," says the elder brother. "Who can put a price on familial love and the weight of that obligation? We won't take less than two hundred gold. "The man waggles his eyebrows and the crowd chuckles. This is as much a performance as it is a mercantile transaction.
Deepmind has Streetwise
Deepmind launches into a story of her own, inventing a few key details about how her elven companion used to hunt dragons with Vylan decades ago and how the blood of the dragon from their last battle together would carry significant sentimental value. The brothers do their best to keep up, but Deepmind spies the younger brother laughing behind his hand on more than one occasion, and soon they're argued down to something more reasonable.
"Enough!" groans the older brother. "My grandfather Vylan - "
"Great-Uncle," corrects the younger brother.
"Great-uncle Vylan would want you to have this for a mere eighty gold!"
"Thank you," says Deepmind, briskly handing the gold to the younger brother as he relinquishes the horn of blood. "Pleasure doing business with you."
"Let's get that stuff to Urist and get out of here," says Aria, eyeing the horn uneasily. "I need to work on this dress anyway."
"Right, you'll work on it," says Minar with a half-smirk.
As the group moves to leave, something catches Deepmind's eye: a single stone, resting on a counter at the back of the brothers' stall. It glimmers in the light, and when she looks at it it's almost like she cannot hear or see anything else in the world.
Athtar looks over to her, puzzled. "Are you all right?"
"What's the big deal?" asks Minar, looking over. "It's just... a... stone..."
Glancing back, Athtar realizes Minar and Aria have also been entranced by the mysterious rock.
The elder brother sees them looking at the stone, and his face swiftly becomes grave. "It's not for sale," he says before they can ask.
"But perhaps you'd like to try another of our fine wares?" suggests the younger brother, launching off into another bit of mercantile song and dance. He's ignored.
Once the brothers move on to other customers, Deepmind turns wild eyes to Athtar and snaps. "We need that stone!"
Startled, Athtar takes a step back. "It's just a rock." He looks again, but this time notices an effect - a pull, like gravity, toward the stone. The longer he looks, the harder it draws him in.
Athtar has Willpower
He snaps his vision away from the tugging magic and turns to face down the street. "We should leave."
"No, she's right," murmurs Aria. "We have to get that stone first."
"Maybe we can steal it?" suggests Minar, looking off to the brothers. "Just grab it when they're busy selling something."
Deepmind is becoming agitated, her tail swishing out from under her cloak. "I can start haggling over that mushroom, you be ready to swipe the stone."
"No," insists Athtar. "That... thing is affecting you all. You're not in your right minds. Come on." He reaches down and takes Deepmind by the wrist, and she turns and hisses angrily. Undeterred, he begins pulling his companion away, throwing his arms wide to drag Minar and Aria with him. They offer less resistance, but Athtar still finds he has to drag the three of them for several meters as onlookers give them puzzled looks.
Once clear of the sight of the stone, the spell seems to break over the group. "What was that?" says Aria, more than a little uncomfortable.
"The secret to their success, I suspect," says Athtar. "Though it is clearly not meant to be looked at directly." He pauses, looking down his arm. "Deepmind, did you bite my chainmail?"
Deepmind nurses a small cut on her lip. "No. Now let' s get out of here."
The party gains the Dragon Blood
The party spends 80 gold
A) Return to the Swan to see if Mariam and Braxton are ready for their big day
B) Get dinner at the Chatty Archer
C) Investigate rumors of a crypt north of town
The party trickle back to the Swan as the sun sets, resting around the common room. Mariam and Braxton sit at their usual table not far from the stairs, surrounded by the decimated remains of dinner. Mariam stands on her chair, carefully pouring a goblet of wine. That done, she lifts it into the air and clinks it against Braxton's. "To a successful grand opening," says Braxton.
"To all that money!" sighs Mariam.
Braxton laughs as she set her goblet back down. "It went that well, then?"
"I think this town has been wanting a proper apothecary for a while. The second day won't be as strong." She stares up at the ceiling, running the future out before her.
"But it doesn't have to be. I think this is going to work out."
"To things working out," says Mariam, raising her goblet again. She turns to the party. "Come join us!" she calls. "We're celebrating my grand opening!"
The six partymembers join the happy couple at their table just as Sapphire arrives with more food - hot steaming soup with noodles and vegetables, roast duck, and red cabbage pickled in apple vinegar. "Will I still be seeing you for dinners, dear?" Sapphire asks as she lingers at the table. "At least for the next few weeks?"
"I'm not nearly the cook you are," Braxton says, sniffing at the soup. "But I suppose at some point we should provide for ourselves."
"Providing for yourself is extremely overrated," opines Aria as she scoops more noodles into her bowl. "I say keep sponging."
"Don't you worry, oh future wife," chirps Mariam. "Once we have our kitchen set up properly I'll be able to remind you how good a cook I am."
"I suppose cooking and alchemy have a lot in common," Braxton muses.
"They can," Urist confirms, before looking around. "Does anyone else hear that?"
A moment of silence drifts on as everyone looks to the fidgeting dwarf.
"...You all enjoy," says Sapphire, leaving a bottle of wine on the table and bustling away to tend to other customers.
"Well," says Mariam, pouring the bottle out into a glass for all assembled. "What shall we drink to?"
Athtar swirls his cup, weighing the contents thoughtfully. "How about to your new home?"
"To our new home!" cheers Mariam, swallowing another mouthful of tart red wine. "It feels so good to have my own space. Our own space," she amends, glancing at Braxton. "I'm really looking forward to going back there tonight and breaking in our bed-"
"Mariam!" gasps Braxton.
"By sleeping! Sleeping in our bed!" She turns the same shade as the wine in her cup and hides her face behind another swallow.
Aria laughs so hard she almost falls off her chair, and Sapphire materializes at her side to join her. "I came back at just the right time," she says.
Mariam coughs. "Braxton. Didn't you have something you wanted to tell us when we were all together?" she arches her eyebrows and mouths the word "please?"
Braxton nods and stands, and holds her wine goblet out in front of her. She glances from Mariam to Sapphire and around the room. "Very well, it's time for my announcement. As of today, I am officially her ladyship's next captain of the guard." Everyone claps and cheers and Braxton bows her head and smiles. "Tweegal recommended me for the position, and he's going to stay on for another month or two and teach me everything I need to know. Then he's retiring, and it'll be all my problem."
"That's great!" says Mariam. "I'm so glad they recognize your talents, not like Lord Jerk - "
Sapphire places a hand on her arm and smiles up at Braxton. "I'm so happy for you, dear. Her ladyship is lucky to have you."
"Hear, hear," says Mariam, and she lifts her glass. "Another toast! To Dame Braxton - to Captain Braxton!"
A few more toasts and rounds are had, Aria plays her violin as the soon-to-be-married call out requests, and sooner than expected Mariam is reduced to giggling and singing. Braxton thanks their friends for their support and promises are made for the big day tomorrow, before she scoops up her fiancee and takes her home.
Emptying her goblet, Aria hums with excitement. "I don't know about you guys, but I feel like I'm just getting started." She hunts around for an un-emptied bottle of wine for a moment before snapping her fingers. "I've got it! A bachelorette party!"
"Both the bachelorettes have already gone home," Minar points out.
Aria waves him off. "Details. It's tradition! We need to throw a bachelorette party!" She pauses to consider the possibility before adding "Two parties, technically, one for Braxton and one for Mariam."
"With neither of them there," Deepmind finishes flatly.
"URK FULLY SUPPORT THIS TRANSPARENT EXCUSE TO KEEP DRINKING."
Athtar frowns, resting his empty cup on the table. "I had actually hoped now that the day's business was concluded, we might finally follow the lead on that hero's crypt."
"You want to go dungeoneering?" asks Aria, incredulous. "Now? Two glasses of wine in?"
The elf shrugs. "The wedding will likely take up most of our time tomorrow, better to get it out of the way."
Minar grunts. "And if we die in a haunted graveyard at midnight at least we'll be buzzed, I guess."
After a few moments of quiet, the party turns to Urist, who's busy stacking the empty cups into a pyramid with silent intensity. He notices their stares and pauses in his work. "If we go to the crypt at the end of the day it's more time-efficient, since it can't spill into the next," he states matter-of-factly, before returning to his tower.
The orc gives him a sideways glance. "URK THINK MAYBE URIST COULD USE GLASS OF WATER."
A) Simultaneous honorary bachelorette parties
B) Investigate the crypt north of town
C) Drink a tall glass of water and go to bed
Urist is still feeling unusually observant thanks to his experimentation earlier, so he may be right about that. And as everyone knows, it's always that third drink that splits the difference between dungeon crawling and saying "fuck it, I'm clocking out today".
I have some things to take care of so feel free to take some time and weigh the options, I'll tally the votes tonight.
Tie breakerrrr?
As fun as it would be for half the party to get drunk and the other half to try taking on the crypt on their own.