PART TWO HUNDRED
Friday
I’d never been to a live concert before, and I think going to Clefton’s has spoiled me for every other concert out there. I could really see why people went insane for him and his music. There wasn’t a genre of music he didn’t at least touch on, and four and a half hours in, he didn’t look like he was ever going to slow down, let alone stop. He kept everyone going, leaving us just enough time to catch our breaths before taking us on another ride.
He wasn’t even breaking into a sweat, though since I knew why that was, it was the only thing I wouldn’t give him bonus points for. How he made a cohesive unit out of all those music genres I’ll never know, but it worked. He had steel guitars right beside steel drums and other traditional instruments from all over the world. A few I’d never even seen before, and as they belted out their weird tunes that blended seamlessly, I found myself wondering if a museum somewhere was missing some of their displays. He even used seedpod rattles that would’ve been more at home in an undiscovered jungle tribe somewhere. If I wasn’t there for the concert itself, the education I was getting in musical sounds was mind-blowing.
With less than an hour to go, I suddenly had a thought. A stupid, dumb thought, but one I just couldn’t let go of once it came to me. Clefton had a presence about him that made us all feel he was singing to us directly, but what if…
Glancing at Gerry, I stretched out my leg and pulled out my phone. Flashes were coming from everywhere (not to mention the light show on the stage itself), so no one was going to notice me powering up my phone. I slipped it between my thighs with the top half poking over my legs and turned on the flashlight, pointing it towards the side of my seat.
I was probably completely wasting my time, but I had nothing to lose by trying. Gerry would lose her mind if this worked. The stage was on its way back to us and she was already surging to her feet once more. Clefton had this wave effect going in time with his spinning stage because not everyone could yell and scream and dance for hours without stopping.
As Clefton came back to us, I was the only one not standing at the front row, which I hoped would be enough to gain a moment of his attention. Cupping my hands one on top of the other against my left side as if I had a stitch, I made sure my right hand was covered by my left as I triggered my ring into its full crest. Then I crept both hands forward so that my left still shielded my right from everyone but those on stage.
Clefton was the only one at the front of the stage, which meant he was the only one who may or may not see my ring glinting in the light of my phone. This time around, he was wearing a broad-brimmed cowboy hat and boots with his thumbs hooked into his belt as he danced, which made him appear even more down to earth with his jeans and shirt.
The heavy beat of the previous song was still present, but now the backup dancers behind him were boot-scooting. I had worked out he had three different sets of background dancers, switching out to give them enough time to change. The backup singers were also switched out, but I think that was only to give them a rest. Singing backup for someone like Clefton had to be hell on the vocal cords.
I saw his eyes drop to my face as the stage swung towards us, and with a shy smile, I wriggled my right hand under my left, hoping the different cuts of the crest would catch the light.
He saw something. His eyes widened, his mouth twitched, and for the briefest moment, he lost the beat. I quickly reverted the ring to normal and shook my head, again hoping he would somehow get what I wasn’t saying.
That momentary reaction was the only one I got as he skipped out onto the star points, moving further into the crowd. On a low, deep beat, he faced our section and gave a sideways shimmy-shuffle that brought him back to the main stage. He met my eyes once more, and I deliberately shifted my gaze to Gerry and mouthed ‘birthday’, not knowing if he would care but willing to give it the old college try.
The show went on and the stage continued to turn away from us. I don’t know what I was expecting, and it was stupid of me to expect anything really. He had a full house of paying customers to entertain and finding a new member of the family probably wasn’t as exciting to those already inside the family as it was to those of us who were suddenly catapulted in from the outside.
Not that I was super comfortable with having that last name, but I thought it was worth seeing if maybe he might be willing to do something special for my girl. On the huge overhead screens, I saw him slip between the members of the band, holding his hand over his beige mic to say something quickly to each of them that wouldn’t be heard by the crowd. I turned my phone’s flashlight off and slipped it back into my pocket. It had been worth a try.
As the stage was completely facing away from us, the music paused and Clefton wiped his brow with his wrist; the first time that night. It was literally the first break he’d taken all night. The music continued to play in the background, but not at its usual intense pace.
He began to address the audience, telling them about the craziness that was his life. How it was a whirlwind that he wouldn’t trade for the world. “No, siree. Definitely not complaining at all. But … you know … there comes a time when you have to slow down and remember the little things are just as important. Wave your lights if you’re here with someone special!”
At least half the arena’s phone lighting waved back and forth, ours included.
“See, that’s what I’m talking about. After tonight, this concert is going to be a memory, but God willing, the people that mean the most to you will be with you for a long time to come. But just in case your God has other plans, it’s important to make time for what’s truly important.”
The stage started to swing back towards us, but he stepped off the rotating part and walked the ring that linked the star spikes. He stopped right in front of us and sat down, crossing his legs and focusing all of his attention on Gerry, just like I’d hoped he would. “A little birdy told me it’s your birthday, honey,” he said, oozing the charm that he was so famous for.
Gerry was frozen in her seat with shock, her hand gripping my knee as if I was the only thing keeping her conscious. “So, here’s my birthday gift to you, sweet pea.”
I blinked in surprise. That was what Robbie called the ladies too, and before that, I’d never heard anyone use the term.
Clefton then broke into a solo of ‘Happy Birthday’ that somehow managed to voice both instruments and the song in a cappella style that had the audience spellbound for almost a minute. Then he leaned forward and curled his finger beckoningly at her.
Gerry rose to unsteady feet and went to the edge of the stage, where Clefton leaned forward, kissed her forehead and dropped his cowboy hat onto her head. “Happy birthday, sweet pea.”
My grin was huge as Geraldine stumbled backwards into my arms. I looked up at Clefton and nodded my appreciation. It was just a minute of his time, but it meant everything to Geraldine and me. He nodded to both of us and sprang back onto his feet, and within seconds the concert was back in full swing. One of the cameras stayed on us as Gerry crawled into my lap and took off the hat, cuddling it against her chest as if it was a newborn child. I stroked her hair and pressed my head to hers, and at that moment, I no longer cared about the concert.
At the stroke of midnight, the overhead screens revealed a giant clock face with its hands over the twelve, chiming with the heavy dongs of Big Ben. The music stopped dead and the screens split into two, showing Clefton looking up at the chiming images with a sigh of defeat.
Everyone booed as they realised what it symbolised.
After five and a half hours of the greatest party atmosphere ever, the ball had come to an end.
But then Clefton looked down at the crowd and grinned. “I think we can squeeze in a couple more before we all turn into pumpkins, don’t you?”
The boos turned into roars of delight and the music started up once more. Everyone (including Gerry and me) were on our feet once more, enjoying the last few songs. I barely noticed the double line of security guards that filed out from the alcoves in the corners of the star prongs, indicating that the step down to where the guards had been was also an access point to under the stage. Clefton was brilliant. He kept the crowd so busy I doubted if anyone noticed their arrival. The only reason I did, was because I recognised Nick standing right in front of me. He had the same granite look that he’d had outside, but somehow it felt as if he were looking straight through me.
On the fourth encore, my grip on Gerry’s elbow tightened. People were already starting to surge forward. “Angel, we need to go. I’ve seen how these events end, and we’ll be crushed.”
“Come with me,” Nick said, stepping forward out of the line. The gap was quickly absorbed by the other security guards, but his focus shifted between Gerry and me, and the crowd behind us. “This way,” he said, beckoning us to precede him.
“But it’s not over yet,” Gerry pouted.
“C’mon, Angel. We can watch from the back without being caught up in the stampede.”
“But…”
“Let’s go,” Nick barked, the whip-like command squashing any argument Gerry had. Herding us ahead of him, he moved us down to the corner of the star, where the security guards parted upon our approach.
The alcove was painted black, as were the stairs that he led us down. The guards snapped back into position, and in a very weird way, it reminded me of the old fable of the parting of the seas, and how they came back together afterwards. Dressed in all black, they honestly looked like non-entities on the move.
“Watch the three stairs,” our guide from the rear said, just as Gerry’s right leg found no solid ground and she fell forward. Both Nick and I caught her together: Nick by a fistful of black leather at her back. He released her as soon as he was sure I had her.
I held my hand out to support Gerry and together we went down the three nearly invisible steps. “Follow the hallway,” Nick said from behind us. I felt a large hand take my left hand by the wrist, lifting it to a wall I couldn’t see. “It’s an S-bend. You’ll see light after the first turn.”
I had to take Nick’s word for that because I couldn’t see shit right now. But I could feel Gerry’s heart pounding against my arm as she clung to me, her head twisting in all directions.
“Sam?”
“I’m here, angel,” I said, feeling my way along the wall. As Nick promised, the wall curved into a sharp bend, almost like a doorway that fed back onto itself. There was still no light in this second portion either, but at the far end, I saw a faint glow from around another corner that reminded me of a distant nightlight. I looked back at Nick, who stood probably half a foot shorter than Boyd, but fifty times more intimidating in the shadows.
“Keep going, kids,” he said, jerking his chin towards the next turn. “Just follow the light.”
“But I don’t believe in Heaven,” I said with a light snicker. Why I chose that moment to be funny with myself, I’ll never know. Gerry certainly didn’t appreciate it, but Nick snorted.
“Funny man,” he said, giving the back of my head a light shove.
Since he’d said something other than bark orders, I decided to try once more to break the ice. “Where are you taking us, Nick?” I could hear yet another encore start up over our heads, but as we made the second turn, the light source was a single bulb over the far doorway.
“How do you know my name?” he asked instead.
“See? I told you, Sam,” Gerry squeaked, gripping my arm. “Not everyone likes it when you use their names.”
I still felt differently, and probably always would. “The lady that met us with the headset at the beginning of the concert. She called you by name when she asked you to move the first time.”
“Oh. Well, that’s okay then.”
Nick then moved past us and led the way through the underground corridors that looked like they were part of the original structure. “I appreciate you showing us how to avoid the crowds,” I said, wanting to fill the void with something.
“That wasn’t my call, Sam,” he said, proving he could name drop as well. And, as if to undermine me (I know it wasn’t intentional, circumstances just played things this way) the very next corridor he led us into was packed with people. “Make a hole, people,” Nick barked, and singers, dancers and staff alike suddenly pressed to either side of the hallway, watching us curiously.
Under so much unexpected scrutiny, I suddenly got a sinking feeling about all of this. “Nick, you are taking us out to the parking lot, aren’t you?” I asked.
“Didn’t promise that,” he said, opening a door that led to a large room with stretch lounges and a bar wall. At one end of the room was an Asian guy with jet-black hair and beady, narrow eyes. He was scrolling through something on his oversized tablet but stopped to look up.
“Sam! That’s Riku Nascerdios!” Gerry whispered excitedly. “Clefton’s twin brother!”
Wow? Those two are twins? Unlike Clefton, this guy had strong Asian features, and he definitely didn’t seem happy to see us. “What the fuck, Nick?!” he roared, in very clear English.
Nick closed the door behind him, sealing us all in the room together. “Want to try that again, cuz, while you still have teeth?” he warned ominously.
Wait … Nick is calling Clefton’s twin brother ‘cousin’?
I whirled to take a better look at Nick, specifically his right hand for something I hadn’t noticed if he was wearing before, but Nick was twisted with his left shoulder forward; his right hand hidden from view. His granite carved face now looked positively lethal.
Riku raised a hand in apology. But then he looked at Gerry. “Wait! You! You’re the reason Clefton went off script in the final quarter!”
I don’t know what came over me, but I took a half step forward and tucked Gerry in behind my shoulder, holding one arm out to keep her there. “No one asked him to,” I said, my own tone matching Nick’s. This guy was being a first-class jerk and I didn’t like the way he was talking to my girl while she was so star-struck.
“Careful, Riku. You’re about to get your face rearranged by a fan’s protective boyfriend,” Nick said with a smirk.
“I could care less about him,” Riku sniffed dismissively. He then walked forward and attempted to insert himself between me and Gerry, only Nick and I wouldn’t let him. When he came close enough, I held Gerry close while Nick reached past me and pushed Riku back two paces.
“Back off, Riku.”
The pair glared at each other, but then Riku snorted and lowered his icy glare to Gerry. “You. Girl. Who are you to disrupt an entire concert like that?”
“I-I didn’t mean to. I’m Geraldine Portsmith.”
“It’s been fun people, but as my dad used to say, ‘You don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here!’ Adios!” I heard Clefton’s voice reverberate through the floor, along with the cheering roar of the crowd.
“That means he’s leaving the stage for good,” Geraldine hissed, her excitement mounting as she gripped my arm and shivered.
Riku was tapping wildly on his tablet. “From Portsmith Electronics?” he asked, ignoring her excitement completely.
Geraldine nodded, her smile growing even wider. “My dad is Tucker Portsmith.”
“That still doesn’t explain our interest in you. Or Clefton’s.” Riku looked across to Nick. “Do you have any idea what’s so special about them?”
Cheering came from outside the door, and seconds later, the man himself walked into the room with a hand towel over one shoulder and an open water bottle in his hand.
“Ahhh, sweet!” Clefton said, taking another mouthful of water before screwing on the lid and tossing the bottle at his twin. Riku juggled it along with his precious tablet, managing to finally capture both safely. “I was hoping you’d grab them before they slipped away.” He slapped Nick in the arm with the back of his hand. “Thanks, cuz.”
Since Clefton had been facing the other way when Nick whisked us under the stage, I wasn’t surprised that he didn’t know for sure what had happened to us. He gestured at the couch behind us. “Take a load off, sweet pea. You look as if you’re about to fall over.”
I helped Geraldine back to the couch, feeling like I needed to sit down too, but for an entirely different reason. Surrounded by Nascerdios as I was, this could go either way and I was no longer in the driver’s seat.
“Sooo,” Clefton drawled, squatting down in front of Geraldine as I slid into the seat beside her. He gave every intention of addressing her … right up until his eyes slid across to me. “What’s your story, slick?”
I looked at all three of them, opening and closing my mouth like a goldfish. Maybe this hadn’t been one of my brightest ideas.
“Why don’t you start with your full name, Sam?” Nick suggested, lowering his arms to his sides so as to not appear so intimidating.
“Umm … I’m … Sam.” I swallowed. “Sam Wilcott.”
Clefton offered me his million-dollar smile as he held out his hand to me. “Well, Sam-Sam Wilcott. I guess it’s a pleasure to finally meet you…” —as I slid my hand into his, his gaze sharpened— “…and you’ve got a fuck-tonne of explaining to do, pally-O. So start singing.”
“Sam?” Geraldine asked, looking across at me as Clefton released my hand.
“Holy shit!” Nick grabbed my hand by the wrist and held it up for Riku to see.
Panicked that he would activate it right in front of Geraldine, I reefed it out of his grip and tucked that hand in between myself and Gerry. “Dude!” I snapped, scowling up at him. “Boundaries!”
“And that takes away any chance of this being a mistake,” Nick added, his hands now on his hips. “He pulled out of my grip on his own.”
“Got him,” Riku said, from further back in the room. He was looking at his tablet. “Only one Caucasian Sam Wilcott between the ages of eighteen and twenty-six on record. Samuel Alexander Wilcott. Born March 27, ninety-six. Mother is Ivy Wilcott. Father is …” he paused, then looked up at me. “Llyr Arnav.”
“That’s not exactly helpful,” Clefton said.
“Oh, yes, it is,” Riku countered. “Especially once I put Arnav through an online translator and it came up as the Sanskrit word for…” he paused for effect, but I could already guess what was coming, given my family’s ties to the open water. “Ocean.”
“Mother-fucker!”
“That cagey bastard went and had another fucking kid…”
“And tried to hide him from us.”
“Tried nothing! Look at him! The prick succeeded!” Nick went to poke me as he spoke, but I batted his hand away, holding one finger up in warning the way Boyd did.
“Don’t touch me, man. I mean it.”
“It says here he’s…”
“Thanks, Riku, but we can take it from here,” Clefton said, and to prove that he rose to his feet and went to Riku’s desk at the back of the room. From there, he took the wheeled office chair in both hands, hoisted it over his head and carried it back to us. Then, positioning it to face both Gerry and I (so as not to exclude her), he dropped his weight into it and then crossed his legs to rest his knees on the chair arms like a giant kid with too much energy. No one would ever suspect from looking at him now that he’d just finished a mammoth five and a half hour, full-on concert.
Nick took up a position to my right between the two chairs, and it wasn’t hard to notice that he was deliberately keeping himself between me and the door. Now that I’d outed myself, I wasn’t disappearing into the woodwork again, no matter how much I wanted to.
Clefton leaned forward, his eyes sparkling with curiosity. “So, Sam-Sam Wilcott, adult son of Llyr who we know nothing about.” With his elbows pressed into his calves, he clapped his hands together and interlocked his fingers, resting his chin on the bridge they created as if he intended to hang from my every word. Much as I had just done for him during the last five and a half hours of his concert. “Where have you been your whole life?”
Looking at all three of them in turn, I didn’t think they were going to settle for the CliffsNotes.
* * *
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PART TWO HUNDRED AND ONE
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Previous Part 199
((All comments welcome))
I made a family tree/diagram of the Mystallian family that can be found here
For more of my work including previous parts or WPs: Angel466 or indexed here
FULL INDEX OF BOB THE HOBO TO DATE CAN BE FOUND HERE!!

In part 3 of this series, we prove that Jesus is to be worshiped as Jehovah God from the very Bible versions, used by the Jehovah’s Witnesses, which can be accessed on their own website for free: Online Bible.
We are quoting primarily using the 2013 revision of their New World Translation (NWT): New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures (2013 Revision). I only employ a different version when the NWT is unclear or inaccurately renders the original languages of the Holy Scriptures, for example Byington's Bible of which they purchased the copyright of after his death (Funnily, they are quoting using a person who was a famous Anarchist). Or alternatively the ASV, also used by the governing body and also on their website as a resource.
According to the inspired Christian writings, the Father not only glorifies and honors his unique Son,
“Jesus answered: ‘If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, the one who you say is your God.’” John 8:54
“When, therefore, he had gone out, Jesus said: ‘Now the Son of man is glorified, and God is glorified in connection with him. God himself will glorify him, and he will glorify him immediately.’” John 13:31-32
“Jesus spoke these things, and raising his eyes to heaven, he said: ‘Father, the hour has come. Glorify your son so that your son may glorify you,’” John 17:1 .
The Father also demands that everyone honor the Son in the exact same way that are to honor him:
“For the Father judges no one at all, but he has entrusted all the judging to the Son, so that all may honor the Son JUST AS they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.” John 5:22-23
This explains why the God-breathed Scriptures portray Christ as receiving the exact same worship that Jehovah God Almighty receives.
For instance, like God,
“As for you, you will be called the priests of Jehovah; They will call you the ministers of our God. You will eat the resources of the nations, And about their glory you will boast.” Isaiah 61:6
“A son honors a father, and a servant his master. So if I am a father, where is the honor due me? And if I am a master, where is the fear due me? Jehovah of armies says to you priests who are despising my name. But you say: ‘How have we despised your name?’ ‘By presenting polluted food on my altar.’ And you say: ‘How have we polluted you? By saying: ‘The table of Jehovah is something to be despised.’ And when you present a blind animal as a sacrifice, you say: ‘It is nothing bad.’ And when you present a lame animal or a sick one: ‘It is nothing bad.’ Try presenting them, please, to your governor. Will he be pleased with you or receive you with favor? says Jehovah of armies. And now, please, appeal to God, that he may show us favor. With such offerings from your own hand, will he receive any of you with favor? says Jehovah of armies. And who among you is willing to shut the doors? For you will not even light my altar without charge. I find no delight in you, says Jehovah of armies, and I take no pleasure in any gift offering from your hand. For from the rising of the sun to its setting, my name will be great among the nations. In every place sacrifices will be made to smoke, and offerings will be made to my name, as a pure gift; because my name will be great among the nations, says Jehovah of armies. But you are profaning it by saying, ‘The table of Jehovah is polluted, and its fruit, its food, is to be despised.’ You also say, ‘Look! How tiresome!’ and you sniff scornfully at it, says Jehovah of armies. And you bring stolen, lame, and sick animals. Yes, you bring such things as a gift! Should I accept it from your hand? says Jehovah. Cursed is the cunning one who has a sound male animal in his flock, but he makes a vow and sacrifices a blemished one to Jehovah. For I am a great King, says Jehovah of armies, and my name will be awe-inspiring among the nations.” Malachi 1:6-14
Jesus has priests and servants who fearevere and minister to him:
“But I write the more boldly unto you in some measure, as putting you again in remembrance, because of the grace that was given me of God, that I should be a minister of Christ Jesus unto the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be made acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:15-16 American Standard Version (ASV)
“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of the Christ, so that each one may be repaid according to the things he has practiced while in the body, whether good or bad. Therefore, since we know the fear of the Lord, we keep persuading men, but we are well-known to God. However, I hope that we are well-known also to your consciences.” 2 Corinthians 5:10-11
“Be in subjection to one another in fear of Christ.” Ephesians 5:21
“Slaves, be obedient to your human masters, with fear and trembling in the sincerity of your hearts, as to the Christ, not only when being watched, just to please men, but as Christ’s slaves doing the will of God whole-souled.” Ephesians 6:5-6
“Servants, obey in all things them that are your masters according to the flesh; not with eye-service, as men-pleasers, but in singleness of heart, fearing the Lord: whatsoever ye do, work heartily, as unto the Lord, and not unto men; knowing that from the Lord ye shall receive the recompense of the inheritance: ye serve the Lord Christ. For he that doeth wrong shall receive again for the wrong that he hath done: and there is no respect of persons.” Colossians 3:22-25 ASV
“Masters, render unto your servants that which is just and equal; knowing that ye also have a Master in heaven.” Colossians 4:1 ASV
“Happy and holy is anyone having part in the first resurrection; over these the second death+ has no authority, but they will be priests of God AND OF THE CHRIST, and they will rule as kings with him for the 1,000 years.” Revelation 20:6
Like God,
“All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to Jehovah. All the families of the nations will bow down before you. For the kingship belongs to Jehovah; He rules over the nations. All the prosperous ones of the earth will eat and will bow down; All those going down to the dust will kneel before him; None of them can preserve their lives. Their descendants will serve him; The generation to come will be told about Jehovah.” Psalm 22:27-30
“There is none like you among the gods, O Jehovah, There are no works like yours. All the nations that you made Will come and bow down before you, O Jehovah, And they will give glory to your name. For you are great and do wondrous things; You are God, you alone.” Psalm 86:8-10
“By myself I have sworn; The word has gone out of my mouth in righteousness, And it will not return: To me every knee will bend, Every tongue will swear loyalty.” Isaiah 45:23
“And from new moon to new moon and from sabbath to sabbath, All flesh will come in to bow down before me, says Jehovah.” Isaiah 66:23
All peoples, in fact, every created thing in existence, shall kneel and bow down to Jesus:
“for which very reason God raised him supremely high and granted him the name above every name, that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE of what is in heaven and what is on earth and what is underground should bend and EVERY TONGUE acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Philippians 2:9-11 The Bible in Living English (BYINGTON)
“When he took the scroll, the four living creatures and the 24 elders fell down before the Lamb, and each one had a harp and golden bowls that were full of incense. (The incense means the prayers of the holy ones.) And they sing a new song, saying: ‘You are worthy to take the scroll and open its seals, for you were slaughtered and with your blood you bought people for God out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and you made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God, and they are to rule as kings over the earth.’ And I saw, and I heard a voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders, and the number of them was myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, and they were saying with a loud voice: ‘The Lamb who was slaughtered is worthy to receive the power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing.’ And I heard EVERY CREATURE in heaven and on earth and underneath the earth and on the sea, and all the things in them, saying: ‘To the One sitting on the throne and to the Lamb be the blessing and the honor and the glory and the might forever and ever.’ The four living creatures were saying: ‘Amen!’ and the elders fell down and worshipped.” Revelation 5:8-14
Like God,
“They exchanged the truth of God for the lie and venerated and rendered sacred service to the creation rather than the Creator, who is praised forever. Amen.” Romans 1:25
“Now to the King of eternity, incorruptible, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.” 1 Timothy 1:17
Doxologies or ascriptions of praise are offered to and through Christ:
“to God, who alone is wise, be the glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen.” Romans 16:26
“If anyone speaks, let him do so as speaking pronouncements from God; if anyone ministers, let him do so as depending on the strength that God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. The glory and the might are his forever and ever. Amen.” 1 Peter 4:11
“to observe the commandment in a spotless and irreprehensible way until the manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ, which the happy and only Potentate will show in its own appointed times. He is the King of those who rule as kings and Lord of those who rule as lords, the one alone having immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal might. Amen.” 1 Timothy 6:14-16
“I solemnly charge you before God and Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his manifestation and his Kingdom… From this time on, there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give me as a reward in that day, yet not to me only, but also to all those who have loved his manifestation… The Lord will rescue me from every wicked work and will save me for his heavenly Kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.” 2 Timothy 4:1, 8, 18
“No, but go on growing in the undeserved kindness and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.” 2 Peter 3:18
“and from Jesus Christ, ‘the Faithful Witness,’ ‘the firstborn from the dead,’ and ‘the Ruler of the kings of the earth.’ To him who loves us and who set us free from our sins by means of his own blood—and he made us to be a kingdom, priests to his God and Father—yes, to him be the glory and the might forever. Amen.” Revelation 1:5-6
Like God,
“After that he planted a tamarisk tree at Beʹer-sheʹba, and there he called on the name of Jehovah, the everlasting God.” Genesis 21:33
“Exalt Jehovah our God and bow down at his footstool; He is holy. Moses and Aaron were among his priests, And Samuel was among those calling on his name. They would call to Jehovah, And he would answer them. He would speak to them from the pillar of cloud. They kept his reminders and the decree that he gave to them.” Psalm 99:5-7
“I love Jehovah Because he hears my voice, my pleas for help. For he inclines his ear to me, And I will call on him as long as I live. The ropes of death encircled me; The Grave had me in its grip. I was overcome by distress and grief. But I called on the name of Jehovah: ‘O Jehovah, rescue me!’… I will take up the cup of salvation, And I will call on the name of Jehovah… I will offer to you the sacrifice of thanksgiving; I will call on the name of Jehovah.” Psalm 116:1-4, 13, 17
All true believers call on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ:
“There was a disciple named An·a·niʹas in Damascus, and the Lord said to him in a vision: ‘An·a·niʹas!’ He said: ‘Here I am, Lord.’ The Lord said to him: ‘Get up, go to the street called Straight, and look for a man named Saul, from Tarsus, at the house of Judas. For look! he is praying, and in a vision he has seen a man named An·a·niʹas come in and lay his hands on him so that he may recover sight.’ But An·a·niʹas answered: ‘Lord, I have heard from many about this man, about all the harm he did to YOUR holy ones in Jerusalem. And here he has authority from the chief priests to arrest all those calling on YOUR name.’ But the Lord said to him: ‘Go! because this man is a chosen vessel to ME to bear MY name to the nations as well as to kings and the sons of Israel. For I will show him plainly how many things he must suffer for MY name.’ So An·a·niʹas went and entered the house, and he laid his hands on him and said: ‘Saul, brother, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road along which you were coming, has sent me so that you may recover sight and be filled with holy spirit.’ And immediately, what looked like scales fell from his eyes, and he recovered his sight. He then got up and was baptized, and he ate some food and gained strength. He stayed for some days with the disciples in Damascus, and immediately in the synagogues he began to preach about Jesus, that this one is the Son of God. But all those hearing him were astonished and were saying: ‘Is this not the man who ravaged those in Jerusalem who call on THIS name? Did he not come here for the purpose of arresting them and taking them to the chief priests?’” Acts 9:10-21
“to the congregation of God that is in Corinth, to you who have been sanctified in union with Christ Jesus, called to be holy ones, together with all those everywhere who are calling on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours:” 1 Corinthians 1:2
“So flee from youthful desires, but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a clean heart.” 2 Timothy 2:22
In light of this, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Jesus is said to have personally existed alongside the Father in the same divine glory from before the creation of the world,
“So now, Father, glorify me at your side with the glory that I had alongside you before the world was… Father, I want those whom you have given me to be with me where I am, in order that they may look upon my glory that you have given me, because you loved me before the founding of the world.” John 17:5, 24
Even though such glory is never to be given to any created thing. Instead, creatures are required to ascribe such glory to Jehovah alone:
“Sons of deity, give to Jehovah, give to Jehovah glory and might. Give to Jehovah the glory that belongs to his name; do reverence to Jehovah in stately sacred garb.” Psalm 29:1-2 BYINGTON
“For my own sake, for my own sake I will act For how could I let myself be profaned? I give my glory to no one else.” Isaiah 48:11

Hey there.
Not native english-speaker and so on, you know the drill. This is another very long one.
​
In my now nearly a year running pathfinder 2 group they (the group) have barely any in-game-time to do stuff. It began without the time beeing in their neck but after introducing the 'BBEG' Daralythxl himself they now have a year and a day - for what? Well, they can either put up a fight or Andoran will fall to the 'Sixth King of the five king mountain'. Basically "doomsday" for their country they live in.
So, because everyone expects that his highborn majesty probably grows an army for himself too, they need allies as well. At least they have their blunt-barian (barbarian) that actually got alone some allies for them. They have a HQ at Droskars Crag now known as "Wolves Hall" which has a lot of very unconventional friends/allies living there.
Also: I twist and work around stereotypes and alignments to come up with unique situations to hit my players off-guard. Well, usually I am the one that is always catched of guard on how they handle those situations with "clearly evil beings".
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Situation
An orc messenger came up to the group as they were heading out to find a much quicker way for overland-movement and told them that Kobolds are running them over as they spill out of the mines opening that broke up entrance. A couple of fighters are wounded but none are reportet dead yet.
They needed to make a decision and my evil dm plans worked. Spend time to get a overland-movement option or save the HQ from being overrun by kobolds and have to deal with it with more disadvantage.
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The story unfolding on the (online) game table
DM: "The orc messenger leads the way and you manage to get back to your hq within 6 days all while the sun is laughing, temperatures are rising and birds are chirping happily. As you come to your hq you see medical tents with wounded orcs in them and victor standing at the staircase down to the lower level within a commanders tent.
'Without a name' the shaman of the orcs comes to you and tells you how happy he is that you're here now since they are out of options"
​
They listened to 'Without a Name' and then to the report of Victor. They got told that Kobolds basically overran them with numbers as they spilled out of the hole into the mine. A few Kobolds were slain and many orcs were wounded.
In my dm's mind I was smiling because I am always very evil. I heard the group talk about 'killing them off quickly' and I prepared a ton of kobold waves to fight to accomodate their level. The difficulty of this fight? Dangerous. I am not a fool and Kobolds are very intelligent and a force to be reckoned with.
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Group: "Well, we need to go down and see what we can do. We will try to talk first and if that doesn't help we will snuff them out as quick as possible"
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My inner grin grew bigger because I informed myself very well about Kobolds and the group failed for their checks. The champion even got wrong informations since he critically failed his roll. How, you might think, would I use my wisdom about Kobolds? There is one thing that made me chuckle and I wanted to see if I can win the Group with it.
What was it? That: "Kobolds look cute in the eyes of everyone else and they know it. They use this as an advantage to get what they want"
So, as the evil dm I am I searched the whole internet for the most cutest, cuddliest, sweetest and big eyed Kobold fighters I could find. Bazinga! I got two pictures from an extremely good artist and they looked so cute it even warmed my stone-cold-dm-heart. Easy prey.
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The hunter announced to make use of his invisibility through the elven cloth he had with him and scouted out the lower level of 'Wolves Hall' former 'Droskars Crag'.
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DM: "You step down and see a lot of Kobolds, with spears bigger as they are in height and many with short-bows, guarding the entry room. You quickly and silently move around to scout and see that they started to work in the mines. Little Kobold childs running around and laughing. You hear a lot of talking and you count for at least a hundred of them, probably more."
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The hunter comes back and explains the situation that there are at least a hundred Kobolds, probably more and they started to plan to first make contact and asked 'Eron' a lizard wizard companion if they could speak the Kobolds tongue. Which he did and reluctantly aggreed to translate for them.
They go down with the Champion in front, shield up, behind him the sorcerer, ready to cast a flaming sphere if he needs to and then Eron, shaking as he normally avoids combat. Lastly the Hunter.
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DM: "Together you go down the stairs - slowly - and are welcomed by the Kobolds lowering their spears into your general direction. Bows are readied, arrows put on. Chatter grows loud and Eron translates it"
Kobolds (Translated): "Who are they? What do they do? Should we attack? They look funny! Get the commander, quick! You there, stop!"
Sorcerer (Translated): "We are here in peace as you took over our domicile. Our home. We demand to speak with your leader!"
Kobold-Guardsmen (Translated): "Its ours now! You go! We will attack if you don't go. We need this place!"
Sorcerer (Translated): "Why do you need this place? Don't you have another place to go?"
Kobold-Guardsmen (Translated): "No! Stop there, don't move!"
​
The group was anxious and thinking about if they should attack until I pulled out my secret weapons. 'Zip' and 'Zap' - Sadly I can't show you the pictures because I am not allowed to but you can search 'kobolds pathfinder cute' and should find a lot of neat pictures.
The two pictures I found were heartmeltingly cute.
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Hunter (Loud): "Oh my god! Look how cute they are! Awwww..."
Others from the Group aggreed.
(Discord from Hunter: Omg, they are super-cute! I need those pictures!)
​
DM: "Two Kobolds are guarding another one, dressed in lot of shinies and armaments. He raises his arm and all the Kobolds ease and relax"
Kobold-King (Translated): "This is our place now. We need it and you have no right to be here."
Sorcerer (Translated): "Your highness, we bought this place and it's ours. You can't stay here. Don't you have somewhere else to go?"
Kobold-King (Translated): "No. We fled from the non-living one attacking us in our homes. We took this place and it's ours now. I know exactly how the overworld-humans work. Everything needs to be documented. If you don't have a document, this is ours!"
Sorcerer (Translated): "Well. We actually have a document..."
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It took a while but they aggreed to let the Kobold-King see the document. He actually checked it and looked if it was forged (It was not) and then nodded.
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Kobold-King (Translated): "Well. This document proofes that you're indeed the owners of this. But you can't have it back! We found a new master and will introduce us to him! This is our place now. Talk is over. You have to leave. We can't go back, we stay."
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They tried to talk to the Kobold-King but they outright refused to talk anymore but handed back the document. It was a tense situation because now this unfolded:
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Hunter: "We can't kill them! They are way too cute!"
Champion: "Yes. Indeed, they looked extremely cute... Well. Killing them is off the plate. Wee need a new tactic to get our hq back"
Group: "How can we figure out who their new master is? Is it the red dragon? How does he know we're here?"
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They discussed with Victor some plans to, if anything else fails, to use some form of gas to knock them out or something. They had to get to talk to the Kobold-King again as all of a sudden, with a white-ish flag a Kobold came up the stairwell.
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DM: "A Kobold waving something that looks like a former white rag, now dirty and grey-ish and they look rather frightened. It's Zap and he explains you they found a 'white master' west-south-west from this place and if you want to have a chance with negotiations or even peace you need to talk with him.
He waves friendly and goes back down the stairs."
Group: "The white master? Wait a minute! He was talking about the white dragon! Rewalt mentioned that they invited them to that cave in the west! We have to talk with him!"
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The back and forth route was 6 extra days. Days that they had not so they talked again if they should try to make the Kobolds friendly towards them and find a solution for their 'non living' problem (Undead, Vampire) or to attack them as they barely have time for long journeys.
They actually decided to talk with Elezeatraz the Adventurer, the white dragon that has some interest in Rewalt (Well. His bluntness secured a friendship between the neutral-good aligned dragon and the group) and got some Equipment he adored and wanted to have.
This was a very epic journey for the group because they now have to speak with the white dragon without Rewalt being there (The player had no time at that evening) and the Hunter not liking the dragon because he was killed once by it (Its too much to explain).
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DM: "You find the new lair. The white dragons lair. The cave-sea now frozen and everything down here is now very cold, despite the fact it had summer temperatures outside. You find Elezeatraz resting ontop of a giant pile of silver-coins"
Sorcerer (ahem's): "Excuse us, Elezeatraz, for entering your lair but we need to talk to you"
Elezeatraz (yawning): "You really don't want to let me nap... How comes you short-lived ones are always so hasty about things. What is it that you want and make it quick, I was disturbed a lot in the past months..."
Sorcerer: "Yes, of course. Well, to make it quick: We have Kobolds in our hq and they are digging a tunnel to your lair now to be in your service"
Elezeatraz: "Kobolds you say? Fun. They love to work and much more to be in service to a dragon - be it an evil overlord or a good kin. The live of a Kobold is filled with service and... they enjoy exactly that. But, I am in no need for Kobolds."
Sorcerer: "Well, they said since you will be their new master we have to talk with you. And... once the tunnel is dug it will be probably not very quiet around here anymore. Right?"
Elezeatraz: "Interesting. Well - yes indeed. Don't worry, I think I have the right thing for you to solve your Kobold 'problem'."
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DM: "The white dragon fills out an document and a small shimmering ice-crust protects the now pergament-scroll as he breathes over it, handing it to the sorcerer."
Elezeatraz: "Give this to the Kobold-King. He will be in your service now. Be aware: Kobolds love to work and they will never stop to grow in numbers and will never stop to work. Its their live. This is a huge gift for you."
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After receiving the scroll they quickly made their way and wished the white dragon a good sleep and they will not visit him again until he is ready and awake. The group never looked into the document but handed it directly to the Kobold-King and that's how the group gained a whole Kobold Clan to be their allies.
They live now in 'Wolfs Hall' former Droskars Crag and after a few months build a giant bath-house below with the magma as heating-element and secured the group the much needed architects for their main buildings.
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Without those two extreme cute Kobolds the probability for a fight was very high and I thought they would do it before I had the chance to pull out my secret weapon... But, I managed. My plan worked. Make the Kobolds happy! And they are! Working their (cute) butts off in the mines, filling the storage room to the brim with gold, silver and other valuable ressources as well as planning blue-prints for buildings.
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"Kobolds are cute to most other races and they know it. They use this to their advantage to get what they want"
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I love it! Thank you for reading this story as I have a lot more of unusual situations the party solved extremely creative and it's extremely fun to see their stories unfold before me. I never know how they take on new problems I throw at them and I am very happy to be their dm.
To be honest: Never had a plan of mine worked out. My plans never survived first contact with the group hehe.
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Again. I really don't know which flair to use. If someone would know what would fit I would asap change it. But I don't want to make a mistake. Thank you.
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Stay crunchy.

Wicked Bunny Rapid RGB Gaming Mouse In-depth review (bring popcorn)

[Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/tLKcpnY.jpg)
***Disclaimer**\*
Before the review I wanted to mention that this mouse was sent out to me for review after contacting Wicked Bunny directly. I will speak honestly about any strengths and weaknesses that I have found while using this mouse.
A Few Quick Things About Me:
My hand size: 19.05 cm x 10.8 cm
Mice owned this year: G-Wolves Skoll, G-Wolves Hati (returned), Logitech G Pro Wireless, Logitech G403, Xtrfy M4 (previous main), Coolermaster MM710 (returned), Logitech G Pro (same shape to the G203 with different cable, LoD, mouse clicks, and sensor)
Current mouse grip/s: Relaxed Fingertip, Fingertip
EDIT: I am revising the description of my grip after more research and talking to more mice enthusiasts. I agree that my main grip should be called Relaxed Fingertip grip rather than Relaxed Claw grip.
Why I HAD To Review This Mouse:
First thing that many players notice (other than just weight and stats) is how the mouse looks. I thought the design and shape of this mouse looked amazing for my play-style. I also really liked the logo a lot (who wouldn't like a cute killer bunny with a carrot scythe?). I think it will be liked by both male and female players. It's genius from a business/marketing standpoint. The representative of Wicked Bunny told me their project manager was the creator of the first generation of ASUS Strix, this intrigued me. Then he told me the lead designer for the company won an A+ Platinum Design Award for his work. After that I was sold. I had to see what they had to offer the mouse community. The cherry-on-top that was equally as intriguing was that they are doing almost everything in-house, including their own molding. Intrigued yet? Let's dive in shall we?
Unboxing:
The packaging here is top notch. I didn't expect the packaging to be this premium. The color scheme this company chose to go with is orange, it's on all of there product packaging and some of the products. This isn't a bad thing as Razor is known for green, and Logitech is known for blue packaging and branding. The box has a magnetic lid to present the mouse inside and also shows you what grips the mouse was designed for on the inside lid. Here I wish the plastic window was a bit bigger so that you could actually put your whole hand on the mouse to try out the shape before purchase (if they ever sell it in Best Buy, Walmart, etc), but it still looks nice nonetheless. The mouse comes sandwiched in-between two REALLY thick pieces of plastic. This is similar to Logitech's packaging, but by adding a second piece of plastic it protects the whole mouse. I would have zero concerns of having this thing shipped to me from over seas. After pulling the mouse out of the box I was surprised to see that the mouse cable was wrapped CORRECTLY! They took another play from Logitech's playbook and wrapped the cord around the protective plastic. This caused the cord to be jank-free right out of the box! This may seem like a small thing, but just ask some of Glorious' early customers to how much proper packaging matters (I'm glad they fixed that by the way). Inside the box you will be greeted with an extra pair of mouse skates, 4 stickers (two are orange and white and two are reflective silver and white), and a really nice card that basically welcomes you to their product family and tells you their company statement. So far, so good.
***The English translation in the instruction booklets and on the packaging is quite good. I never had any problems understanding what they were trying to say. I don't usually see people address this, but it was truly welcome to not spend hours trying to figure out how to program/use the mouse.***
[Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/tcyMw18.jpg)
[Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/EvHXCrg.jpg)
[Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/j53vfoD.jpg?1)
[Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/PiEXcqx.jpg)
Mouse Shape and Dimensions:
I have grown tired of seeing mice that have "safe" shapes. I know that many reviewers love them because they can recommend them to a wide audience, but they end up being jack-of-all-trades master-of-none type of mice. Good, but not perfect for any grip. This mouse is different. As soon as you put your hand on this mouse it grabs you by the shirt-collar and says, "I'm an FPS mouse, deal with it!". This mouse knows what it is and doesn't try to be anything or everything else ***cough*** G Pro Wireless ***cough***. I will say though that this mouse went to college and majored in claw grip and minored in fingertip grip. I say this because when I fingertip grip this mouse I still have to move my thumb upward to hit Mouse 4 and 5 instead of being able to actuate it with the tip of my thumb. This is not an issue with the claw grip. If you don't use your thumb buttons much or at all than it's just as comfortable as relaxed claw grip to me. This mouse was created for smaller hand sizes in mind, so if you have a shorter hand length than mine I think it will be just find for claw grip. The mouse feels like it has an hour glass shape that tapers inward the more you put your fingers further down the mouse. At first glance this may give someone the illusion that it is an ambidextrous mouse. I would say it is not truly ambidextrous or ergo, it's a bit of both. Ergonomic mice like the G502, G403, and G-Wolves Skoll force your hand to roll to the right (or left for left-handed mice) with a steep slope down one side. This is meant to relieve some strain on your wrists and elbows. When you roll your hands completely inward to type or use a mouse you cross the two bones in your forearm which can cause wrist and elbow pain after prolonged use. This mouse has a VERY slight slope down the right side, I didn't even notice it at first but I was coming from the Xtrfy M4 so it felt flat to me. It has ergonomic elements but keeps your hand and wrist mostly flat (but still relieves just enough stress on the wrist/elbows to avoid strain), this is aided by the top of the mouse being almost flat compared to something like the G403. It is 120 mm L x 64 mm W (at the rear hump) x 39 mm H (tallest point) and roughly 54.5 mm at the center (usually the grip-width but not here). However this doesn't tell the whole story as the grip width can change a lot depending on your grip style. For fingertip the grip-width (if you grip the mouse low towards the bottom) is approximately 58mm and for claw the grip-width is approximately 59.5-60mm. These measurements were taken from where my fingers actually grip the mouse. For someone with wide hands I actually find this mouse to be quite comfortable and it feels like I'm holding a pen which is insanely nice for precision games like FPS. This mouse IS an FPS/RTS specialist.
[Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/E0iRgx4.jpg) left side flat
[Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/s4unwH1.jpg) left side front half close-up
[Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/BqFyJb7.jpg) left side middle close-up
[Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/OCOJStm.jpg) left side angled
[Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/cviWPMR.jpg) left side tilted
[Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/WmTQMNP.jpg) right side
[Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/b3BNurs.jpg) ride side angled
[Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/CFyVF4m.jpg) ride side tilted
[Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/PM2ARyo.jpg) length
[Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/iiUVGHk.jpg) width (widest part)
[Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/r9sDdaC.jpg) height
[Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/hfarSfm.jpg) middle width
[Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/YHmALpx.jpg) G403, Xtrfy M4 and Rapid RGB Top view
[Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/P76lCws.jpg) hump
[Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/vqQu3rv.jpg) Xtrfy M4 and Rapid RGB Left side
[Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/6E3TQPv.jpg) Xtrfy M4 and Rapid RGB Right side
[Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/cTGcyST.jpg) Logitech G403 and Rapid RGB Left side
[Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/o5AQEf4.jpg) Logitech G403 and Rapid RGB Right side
Grip pictures:
Relaxed Fingertip grip (my main grip)
[Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/oDTcJA6.jpg) left side view
[Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/dYyvoWT.jpg) bottom view
[Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/Ixj4lOa.jpg) hand gap view
Fingertip grip
[Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/1CBGrzd.jpg) left side view
[Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/xLHoDhI.jpg) bottom view
[Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/g5D4VZF.jpg) hand gap view
Claw grip
[Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/0Lp5tKe.jpg) left side view
[Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/blXQs26.jpg) bottom view
[Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/kBGqAIL.jpg) hand gap view (more relaxed grip, only the meat of the thumb touches the mouse)
[Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/EM2mTmw.jpg) hand gap view (more extreme grip with both sides of the rear of the palm touching the mouse)
Mouse Clicks and Side buttons:
Clicks: These are probably the most interesting things about this mouse. The Mouse click switches are German ZF Cherry Switches. They are rated at 60M clicks and are rated for 180-300 APM (Actuations per minute). I can verify this claim as I was able to reach 281 APM in Kovaak's FPS Aim trainer in 1wall9000 targets. These switches are a twitch shooters dream. I'll be honest I didn't like them at first. The reason is because the actuation and bottom out distance is WAY shorter (it feels like half) than any switch I have ever used. The easiest way I can describe this is going from a standard keyboard switch (usually around 2mm actuation) to a speed switch (shortest I've seen is around 1mm actuation) or even a short-throw laptop switch. The clicks bottom out abruptly and it feels very mechanical. When clicking this mouse fast I can't see my finger move out of the corner of my eye while I can with any other mouse. The mouse clicks DO NOT HAVE ANY SIDE-PLAY! I can't say that about ANY other mouse that I have used or watched a review on this year. They do however have an imperceptible amount of post-travel (I can't feel any while in game).
Side Buttons: These are probably the biggest surprise on this mouse (and some may find it the biggest con). These are NOT mechanical switches. They are very quiet but they do have a nice tactile bump, they feel oddly satisfying to press (NOT MUSHY!). My copy has no pre-travel but does have a small amount of post-travel. There is no side-play or wobble here, just like the clicks. They are really easy to push in and I've had no problems so far in game with them actuating or failing to reset.
[Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/xByfJ35.mp4) side button sounds and speed
Scroll Wheel and Click:
The Mouse wheel has nicely defined steps and scrolls evenly. It isn't syrupy smooth like the Xtrfy M4 but has less bite than the MM710 (however the Rapid RGB takes less effort to scroll). It does get loud when scrolling fast and is even louder when scrolling upward quickly. The Scroll wheel does not sit as low as the one on the Xtrfy M4. It is a similar height to the Logitech G403 which I strongly prefer. The mouse performs much better while gaming than general browsing though, as the sound starts to get to me after fast scrolling more than a few times.
The scroll wheel click is the easiest to actuate on any mouse that I have ever used (I'm looking at you Logitech). It feels more like a side button than many other scroll wheel clicks I've used. This is a welcome surprise as I use my scroll wheel click a lot. I use it for things like tactical grenades in Call of Duty and air dodging in Destiny 2. The scroll wheel button is very satisfying to press and I wouldn't hesitate to use this for a command that you would spam repeatedly since it resets and actuates so fast and effortlessly.
[Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/cFrnqUL.mp4) scroll wheel click sound (top and side actuation)
Cable (and Strain relief):
It's. Insanely. Good. It is one of the best I've tried this year. The cable is soft with a little bit of space between the wires and the cable sheathing. It has no problems fitting in a mouse bungee (you won't need one). I would put it in 3rd place for best cable contender. MM710 being number 1, G-Wolves Skoll/Hati at number 2 and the Rapid RBG at a very close 3rd. This cable destroys the Xtrfy M4 cable and doesn't need to be changed whatsoever unless for aesthetic reasons.
The strain relief is (thankfully) angled correctly, the cable has no issues with dragging on the mouse pad and it feels of nice quality.
[Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/3j5LMN1.jpg)
Mouse Feet:
The mouse feet here are not pure PTFE feet, but they are REALLY close at 99% (newly informed by the WB team). Now, before anyone starts to immediately dismiss this mouse because of that hear me out. These are FAST. I don't know how they did it but these mouse feet are faster than any stock G-Wolves mouse feet (even with the extra big mouse feet you can add), faster than the Xtrfy M4's PTFE feet (and I added the skate around the sensor). I don't even think the MM710's feet were this fast (I returned it just before I got this mouse). The mouse feet are oddly similar to the shape and size of the MM710 mouse feet. Since this mouse is bigger and heavier than the MM710 I expected the mouse to be slower because the mouse skates are so small compared to the body... I was SORELY mistaken. They are nicely rounded and not thin like the MM710 mouse feet. I would say they are close to the Xtrfy M4 in thickness. If you love your mouse to feel fast then DON'T change these. For reference I have been using this on the Artisan Raiden XL 3mm thick pad and the Wicked Bunny's own Cordura extended mouse mat (review of that coming soon).
**Two things about the mouse feet** 1) Remember to take off the plastic film before use. 2) These mouse feet DO require a bit of break-in. They feel a bit scratchy and slow at first, but after a few hours on the cordura pad they felt sublime.**
Sensor and Sensor Position:
The Rapid RGB uses the PMW 3389 sensor. Top end optical that is a standard these days. It feels like a slightly more snappy version of the PMW 3360 to me. However I play about the same with both.
The sensor position actually caught me off guard. It is actually forward of center by approximately 9 mm. That doesn't sound like a lot, but in person it is definitely quite noticeable. I have heard fingertip grip mice enthusiasts complain for years about censors needing to be moved forward on fingertip mice. This is the first company that I have seen to actually listen in recent years. I am fairly new to fingertip gripping so I can not tell you what the optimum distance forward of center the sensor should be, but I think that many fingertip grippers will be happy that a company is listening.
[Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/GtZXjEd.jpg)
RGB/DPI Selector:
The RGB on this mouse is fairly minimal. Only the scroll wheel and the logo light up. The lighting itself changes colors smoothly from color to color. The lighting on the scroll wheel is nice, vibrant and crisp while the logo lighting is more muted in comparison. I think part of this is caused by the RGB lights on the PCB that shine through the logo are further away than the light shown through the scroll wheel, and the other part is the actual plastic they used for the logo (I'll discuss in Aesthetics). This is more apparent during rainbow mode than on static colors. The odd thing about the RGB for the logo is that it has two separate lights providing light for it... which have to be controlled separately. This is a misstep for me as you have to hold the DPI+mouse 1 for one light or press the DPI+mouse 2 for the other. This should have been programmed to have one button control both lights and have the other control the brightness since this mouse has no brightness control what so ever. Other than that the different mouse modes look just fine as RGB goes, you can even turn off the lighting for either the scroll or the logo if you only want lighting on one and not the other. It comes with 6 different modes (7 including off). I would have preferred just a few lighting modes and more intuitive controls like the Xtrfy M4, but these get the job done.
The DPI button is actually the same one that controls the RGB. This I DO like. You quick-tap the top silver button and it will change your dpi. The scroll wheel will change colors briefly to tell you which dpi you are on. The dpi ranges and colors are: 400 (White), 800(Red), 1600 (Orange), 3200 (Yellow), 6400 (Green), 12800 (Blue), and 16000 (Purple). I also feel that this was a misstep as well. I think they should have had more usable DPI steps in there. Something more like this: 400, 600, 800, 1000, 1200, 1600, 3200, 6400, 16000 or just get rid of the 6400 and 16000 DPI's and ad in 1400 and 2400. Most players that I know of play between 400-1200 in the FPS genre. I know there are those that play higher than that but NO ONE plays at 16000. It is common knowledge now that gaming sensors far exceed 12,000 DPI but I still wish companies would stop using that as a preset and wasting a programmable slot on a mouse. I play at 800 DPI so I'm not effected here, but still I think that trend needs to stop.
[Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/tLKcpnY.jpg) (same intro pic from above/amazon)
Software:
NONE. I find this to be a huge pro since I have so much software on my PC already and everything can be set on this mouse without it. However, I have been told that a software suite is in the works.
Polling Rate and Lift Off Distance/Surface Calibration:
The polling rate can be set on this mouse by unplugging the mouse and holding mouse 4 for 500hz or mouse 5 for 1000hz and plugging the mouse back in. Super simple. It comes out of the box at 1000hz (why 500hz is even still an option these days I'll never know)
Lift off distance and surface calibration can also be set here quite easily. While the mouse is unplugged you hold down mouse 1 and 2, and plug the mouse back in. While still holding mouse 1 and 2 you move the mouse in a zigzag pattern across the whole mouse pad to set it. Really easy (unless your computer is far away from you) and simple without software.
Weight/Balance:
I purposefully listed this down low in this review because I did not want people to read the weight early and just say "pass" without reading all the great things about this mouse first. I was one of those ultra-lightweight crazed people not too long ago myself, this mouse changed my mind. This mouse is rated at 88g on the Wicked Bunny website and Amazon. HOWEVER, both copies of this mouse that I have currently weigh in at 81 and 82 grams respectively. Not Ultra-light weight, but definitely in the G Pro Wireless category which is 80g.
The balance of this mouse is fantastic. No matter if I'm using claw or fingertip the mouse always feels planted, no matter how fast I swipe.
[Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/x5gWCWI.jpg)
**Personal Note on Weight** Every newly released mouse that I have purchased this year has been between 53-74g. (G Pro Wireless I bought on release day last year, the G403 is an older mouse now, and so is the G Pro). Each one I thought was going to be my "endgame" because it was going to be lighter than the last and I was going to be even better, faster and more accurate than before. This proved to be false for me. The worst performing mouse for me happened to be the lightest one here, the MM710. The balance didn't seem right on that mouse for me and the build quality left a lot to be desired. I used it for almost a month before I called it quits. The best two new mice for me happened to be the heaviest of the group, the Xtrfy M4 at 74g (I somehow got a heavy copy of it) and the Rapid RGB at 81 and 82g (I have 2 copies of it). I had broken all my previous records that I set with the MM710 with the Xtrfy M4 and then SHATTERED them with the Rapid RGB. My FPS scores and KD/R starting going up even higher than before and I was much more consistent as well. I understand now that weight isn't everything (to a point). What matters more is shape, balance, how good the mouse skates are and the right mouse pad to pair it with. Before someone posts below that I am just saying this because I got this mouse for free, I will say this, you are dead wrong. I liked this mouse so much that I went out and bought one from Amazon the day they launched so that I could compare the demo copy to a retail copy (FYI the retail copy is more refined) and so that I could have one of my own just in case they wanted me to send the mouse back.
Aesthetics:
I chose to put this category close to the bottom because it is so subjective. I actually quite like the look of this mouse, it definitely has character. Like I mentioned above, I really like the scythe bunny logo. It is simple, and easy to recognize. Every time I look at it I picture the bunny from The Secret Life of Pets holding a scythe, it cracks me up. I like the pop the silver buttons give to a mostly dark shell. The pride and joy of this mouse is by far the bottom. I LOVE the look of the carbon fiber print and the embedded logo here, everything looks sharply molded and shows incredible attention to detail (even though the mouse feet and sensor make it look like a smiley face). The grippy side panels make the mouse look rugged and helps distinguish the mouse in a positive way in my opinion. I also like the 2 finishes that are on the mouse. The grippy side panels have a matte dark grey finish while the rest of the mouse has a...we'll call it a semi-gloss black finish. It's not ultra reflective and shiny but it does reflect a bit of light compared to the matte textured panels. I actually like this look, it is subtle but once I noticed it I thought it broke up the semi-gloss body of the mouse nicely. The RGB lighting is done just right for my tastes. Not too much so it doesn't take away from the focus of your setup (even though I can't help but love the RGB on the Xtrfy M4), and not too little so you forget that it's even there. I will say that I'm not the biggest fan of how the logo on this mouse looks when the lights are off. The plastic that is used here is REALLY white, instead of being translucent like many other mice brands like Logitech and Razor which I also think cheapens the look of the mouse. I also think this is part of the reason that the RGB on the logo looks muted compared to the scroll wheel. I can live without the sharp points on the mouse clicks as well. The biggest let down for me aesthetically are the two slashes just behind the mouse clicks. In pictures mouse 1 and 2 look like they are separated from the shell, which I originally thought was an interesting design take on separating the mouse clicks from the body. But in person you soon find out the mouse clicks are not separated and the slashes are just for aesthetics. This design choice cheapens the look of this mouse in my opinion. The view from the front is ok, I could take or leave the "grill" pattern but since I don't have to look at it often I will let that one slide.
[Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/8ePxFgI.jpg) front grill pic
Build Quality and Finish:
The Rapid RGB in this regard has some really stellar high points and has a few problems that has plagued many new mice this year.
I'll start with the good. This mice has ZERO rattle at all. The only other new mouse that I've tried this year that has had no rattle is the Xtrfy M4, not even the mouse wheel has even a hint of wobble on this thing. The bottom of the mouse feels like nice, quality, sturdy plastic. The mouse wheel feels of nice quality, the rubber coating on it looks and feels similar to the MM710 (which I did actually like). The cable as I mentioned before is fantastic and is really well made and flexible. I can't help myself but to reiterate how stupidly good the mouse feet are (especially for not being pure PTFE), they feel like they will have no problem lasting for a long while. The clicks and side-buttons not having any side-wobble has been a joy to use since I was coming from a slew of mice that have had it, it was very distracting in game especially while tracking in FPS games. The grippy side panels here are really nice feeling. They are not rubber like you would find on a Logitech G502 or G403, these feel like a rubberized plastic that is molded into the shell. The panels are nice and grippy without irritating the skin like I've heard reported by some on the Logitech mice. I always feel confident and in control of the mouse, that is something I can't say the same about the Xtrfy M4 which has a fairly slick coating. I also prefer this approach to the Steel Series Rival 600 that had those really slick soft touch pads on the sides that had a tendency to fall off easily. The coating on the main body of the mouse is smooth but has good grip to it, my hand doesn't slide all over it like it did with the G Pro Wireless after I washed my hands or played on a cold day. When I squeeze the sides and top of the mouse I don't hear or feel creaking.
Now for the bad. The silver DPI and side buttons that I mentioned liking the look of earlier, feel and sound cheap. The buttons feel like they are made from thin plastic and the coating on these doesn't help. When the buttons are pressed they have a muted hollow sound to them that makes them also sound... you guessed it, cheap. The beautiful quality plastic that I mentioned on the bottom sadly does not carry over to the top of the mouse. The plastic here feels really thin, almost brittle, and tapping the mouse on top it sounds really hollow and doesn't have the same premium feel and sound as the bottom. The coating on the top does show fingerprints fairly easily after a few days, but this effect is muted by the fact that the finish is only semi-gloss (a minor gripe that a little cleaning wipe can fix). The points on the mouse clicks and the rear seam of the mouse that connects to the side panels have a sharp roughness to them, which doesn't help this product feel polished (even though I never touched it while using the mouse). One random issue that I have never seen before is this mouse doesn't wake up until my PC hits the login screen, so you can't use this mouse in the BIOS. Not a huge deal as I usually use a keyboard to navigate my BIOS, but I know some that do. Revisiting that no creaking statement earlier, that is true. When I squeeze the sides and top of the mouse I do not hear or feel creaking. BUT this suffers from two problems, problem 1 many mice suffered from this year and the MM710 suffered from both. It has side wall flex just below the side buttons, no where else, meaning I can actuate them with my thumb without pressing the side buttons. It takes more pressure than the first run MM710 mice did to actuate the side buttons, but less than the revised version (I tried both). The other problem that is unique (as far as I know) to this mouse and the MM710 is that if you press the mouse just below the sensor and just behind the dpi button at the same time you can clearly hear and feel the mouse 1 and 2 buttons click. Neither of these problems happened in game, EVER, but I had to point that out.
Pricing:
This mouse is coming in at $55 US dollars on Amazon right now. Comparable in price to many new mice that have come out this year.
Conclusion:
This is not a perfect mouse... by any stretch. However, I think the pros far outweigh the cons here (ESPECIALLY for a company's first mouse). It has amazing design choices put into it; from the big things like great shape and flexible cord, to the smaller things like an angled strain relief and easy to press/roll scroll wheel. Every highly anticipated mouse that has come out this year has had QC issues at launch, and some that still do. This one has had fewer than most that I've tried and seen. This mouse is a bit rough around the edges, but with the right polishing this mouse could be on many FPS players short list. BUT, as it stands right now would I recommend this mouse? If you are looking for a mouse for games that require precision and speed then ABSOLUTELY, 100% YES! If you are looking for a mouse that is an all rounder that is good for games other than FPS/RTS, browsing, and other general computing tasks...maybe not. The loud scroll wheel may put some people off and for those of you who also play hours upon hours of MMORPGs at a time without a break, this may prove to be uncomfortable for you after an 8-12 hour raid session (not to mention it doesn't have 189 side buttons). As for me, I have acquired many mice this year (to the dismay of my wallet) and this one has definitely earned its place in my collection. This is the first mouse that I have thoroughly enjoyed despite it's flaws, and I will continue to use this mouse long after this review is finished.
Recommendations For a Future Revision:
-Keep the shape the same and maybe release a second mouse with the same shape but make it slightly bigger, similar to what Glorious did with the Model O/O-. Maybe call it the Rapid RGB XL.
-Make the side buttons mechanical. (I personally don't hate the feeling of the side-buttons, but I know some will)
-Reinforce the sidewall below the side buttons and top shell.
-Smooth out the rough edges on the frame and mouse clicks.
-Experiment with different plastics for the top shell so the mouse can feel more premium (including translucent plastic for the logo), but retain a similar weight and balance.
-Lose the slashes behind the mouse clicks, unless there are plans to separate the clicks from the body.
-Make the RGB controls simpler and more intuitive.
-Make the side buttons taller, move them down, or reshape them so that fingertip users can hit the side-buttons without moving their thumb.
-Consider using more accessible mouse feet shapes since these will be hard to replace after they wear out, unless you plan on selling them separately.
-Consider using more usable DPI steps.
-If there is a lighter version of this mouse in the works PLEASE don't put holes in it, that trend has been beaten to death this year.
Future Products to Be Reviewed:
The next products that I have for review are their full-sized keyboard, headset, and mouse pad. Keep a look out for those as they have some cool tricks up their sleeves! I will be releasing them when the products get closer to being posted on Amazon and other online/physical retailers.
Wicked Bunny Future Products:
The Wicked Bunny team has not stopped fine tuning their existing products and developing new ones. I am not able to share a whole lot of information just yet, but I can say that they are working on a few different mouse designs (I hear whispers of several wireless mice) for different grips and hand sizes. They are also developing a new keyboard that will have a much smaller footprint and some really cool features that they are in the process of patenting before it's revealed, along with many other interesting products. This company seems like they are trying to take steps to innovate in a time when so few companies are. I for one can not wait to see what this hidden-gem of a company has to offer up next!
Wicked Bunny Rapid RGB Amazon link:
https://www.amazon.com/Wicked-Bunny-Optimized-Ergonomic-Precision/dp/B081CMJLPD/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=wicked+bunny+rapid+rgb&qid=1575521244&sr=8-1
If I missed anything that you would like to see added, or any mistakes that I may have made please let me know in the comments below and I will be glad to add or correct them. Questions, comments and opinions are also welcome.

Found in the ruins of Alexandria, ᛒᛟᛟᚴ ᛟᚠ ᛞᛖᚨᛏᚺ was a series of stories and records from various authors that were grouped together under one name. Multiple questions remains to this day as several mysteries enshrouds it.

1. The records were written in Nordic Runes while the grammar seems to be modern English.
2. Locations and other aspects of the book were not found in the real world. The book however, provides extra details on the creatures appeared within the book that seemingly explained the science behind them in detail that were far beyond the knowledge of the era it was written in.

The following is the Transcript of the first Chapter, written by an unnamed Sailor and Scholar
​
The Sea Of Thousand Eyes:
I am old and fragile now. I have seen the things I must see, I have done deeds that shall run horrors in your mind and freeze your blood in silent fears, but I am near the end of my life. I am in danger, Of course I am, a deal with the devils must be paid up with life. Yet before I die, let this record be a warning to those seeking the forbidden knowledge and wealth. Turn back, stop reading this record, and burn it. Else, shall the stories and the records haunt you with the illusions and thirsts for wealth, and knowledge.
I was born in a small northern town, called the Cthu'uhi. (translation note: The pronunciation is "See-Two-U-Hi") People relies on the fishing and hunting for a livelihood. Rarely does anyone get to move to the south and witness the greatness of the Roman Republic. My father was a trader and my mother was a gypsy. Learned of skills on the ocean and much of the Latin literature, I was lucky enough to become one of the Flamen Cerealis Protegees. I was granted access into the great library of Alexandria after the march of Caesar into Egypt.
It was there, that I found the Book. ᛏᚺᛖ ᛋᚲᚱᛟᛚᛚ ᛟᚠ ᛏᚺᛟᚢᛋᚨᚾᛞ ᛖᚤᛖᛋ. It's name must not be spoken, nor shall it's content be known as I have burnt and spread it's ashe into the ocean after I have read it. Do not try to find a second copy, the Book itself was what have drawn me into the dangerous endeavour that doomed me for the rest of my life. The Book told of the story of a great being, how it was chased off the Holy Heaven, and was chased down into a lost city that was forever buried in the vast Ocean of Earth.
A young and ignorant kid I was back then, I was caught on by the story, after doing some extensive research, I realized that the clue to this forbidden city lies in a story that I was told from a young age. A chilling story of a certain King, driven down from the heaven, forced us out from our original village. A song remains to this day:
ᛏᚺᛖ ᛋᛖᚨᛋ ᛚᚨᚤ ᚢᚾᛞᛁᛋᛏᚢᚱᛒᛖᛞ ᛁᚾ ᚨ ᛞᚨᚱᚴᚾᛖᛋᛋ ᛚᛁᚴᛖ ᚾᛟᚾᛖ ᛈᚱᛁᛗᛖᛞ
The seas lay undisturbed in a darkness like none primed
ᚨ ᚲᛟᚾᛋᛏᛖᛚᛚᚨᛏᛁᛟᚾ ᛟᚠ ᚨᚷᛖ ᛟᛚᛞ ᛗᛖᚾ ᛋᛏᛁᛚᛚ ᛈᛚᚨᚤ ᛏᚺᛖ ᛋᛟᚾᚷᛋ ᛟᚠ ᛏᛁᛗᛖ
A constellation of age old men still play the songs of time
ᛖᛪᛈᛚᛟᛞᛁᚾᚷ ᚨᚾᛞ ᚷᚨᛋᛖᛟᚢᛋ, ᚢᚾᛈᛖᚱᛏᚢᚱᛒᛖᛞ ᛒᚤ ᚹᚺᚨᛏ ᛁᛋ ᛞᛖᚨᛞ ᛟᚱ ᚨᛚᛁᚡᛖ
Exploding and gaseous, unperturbed by what is dead or alive
ᚨᚾᛞ ᚺᛖ ᛚᚨᚤᛋ ᚹᚨᛁᛏᛁᚾᚷ, ᛞᚱᛖᚨᛗᛁᚾᚷ ᛁᚾ ᚺᛁᛋ ᚺᛟᚢᛋᛖ ᛟᚠ ᛚᛁᛗᛒᛟ ᚨᚾᛁᛗᚨᛏᛁᛟᚾ
And he lays waiting, dreaming in his house of limbo animation
ᛏᚺᛖ ᚴᛁᚾᚷ ᛟᚠ ᚾᛟᛏ ᚷᛟᛟᛞ ᚾᛟᚱ ᛒᚨᛞ ᛒᚢᛏ ᛏᚺᛖ ᛗᛖᚱᛖ ᛁᛞᛖᚨ ᛟᚠ ᚲᚱᛖᚨᛏᛁᛟᚾ
The king of not good nor bad but the mere idea of creation
​
​
ᛏᚺᛖ ᛁᚾᚠᛁᚾᛁᛏᛖ ᚹᚨᛏᛖᚱ, ᛒᛚᚨᚲᚴ ᚨᛋ ᛏᚺᛖ ᚺᛖᚨᚱᛏ ᛟᚠ ᛖᚨᚱᛏᚺ
The infinite water, black as the heart of earth
ᚺᛟᛚᛞᛋ ᛏᚺᛖ ᛟᛚᛞ ᚷᛟᛞᛋ ᚨᚾᛞ ᛏᚺᛖ ᚲᛟᛚᛟᛋᛋᚨᛚ ᛏᚺᚨᛏ ᛁᛋ ᛏᛟ ᛒᛖ ᛒᛁᚱᛏᚺᛖᛞ
Holds the old gods and the colossal that is to be birthed
ᚺᛖ ᚲᚨᚾᚾᛟᛏ ᛒᛖ ᛋᛁᛗᛈᛚᚤ ᚷᚨᛉᛖᛞ ᚢᛈᛟᚾ ᛟᚱ ᛒᚱᚨᚡᛖᛞ ᛒᚤ ᚡᛁᛟᛚᛖᚾᛏ ᛗᛖᚾ
He cannot be simply gazed upon or braved by violent men
ᚠᛟᚱ ᚺᛖ ᛁᛋ ᚾᛟᛏ ᛏᛁᛗᛖ ᛟᚱ ᛋᛈᚨᚲᛖ ᛟᚱ ᛚᛁᚠᛖ, ᚺᛁᛋ ᛁᛗᚨᚷᛖ ᛁᛋ ᚾᛟᛏ ᛗᚨᛞᛖ ᛋᚨᚾᛖ ᛒᚤ ᛈᛖᚾ
For he is not time or space or life, his image is not made sane by pen
​
ᚺᛖ ᚱᛁᛋᛖᛋ ᛏᛟ ᛏᚺᛖ ᛈᛖᚱᚡᛖᚱᛋᛁᛟᚾᛋ ᛟᚠ ᛗᚨᚾ, ᛈᚨᛋᛋᛖᛞ ᛏᛟ ᚲᚢᛚᛏᛁᛋᛏᛋ ᚤᛟᚢᚾᚷ ᚨᛏ ᛈᛚᚨᚤ
He rises to the perversions of man, passed to cultists young at play
ᚨᚾᛞ ᚹᚺᛖᚾ ᛚᚢᛋᛏ ᚠᛟᚱ ᛒᛚᛟᛟᛞ ᛒᚢᚱᚾᛋ ᛁᚾ ᛏᚺᛖ ᛖᚤᛖᛋ ᛟᚾ ᚺᛁᛋ ᛁᛗᚨᚷᛖ ᛟᚠ ᚲᛚᚨᚤ
And when lust for blood burns in the eyes on his image of clay
ᛞᚨᚾᚲᛁᚾᚷ ᚠᛁᛏᛋ, ᛏᚱᛖᛗᛒᛚᛁᚾᚷ ᛏᚱᛖᛗᛟᚱᛋ ᚨᚾᛞ ᛖᚤᛖᛋ ᛚᛟᛋᛏ ᛏᛟ ᛏᚺᛖ ᛋᚴᚤ ᛟᚠ ᚹᚺᛁᛏᛖ
Dancing fits, trembling tremors and eyes lost to the sky of white
ᚺᛁᛋ ᚹᛁᛚᛚ ᛈᛚᚨᚤᛋ ᛒᛟᚢᚾᛞᛚᛖᛋᛋ ᛏᚺᚱᛟᚢᚷᚺ ᛏᚺᛖ ᛞᚱᛖᚨᛗᛋ ᛟᚠ ᛈᛟᛖᛏᛋ ᚹᚺᛟ ᚲᚱᚤ ᚨᛏ ᚾᛁᚷᚺᛏ
His will plays boundless through the dreams of poets who cry at night
​
​
ᛋᛟ ᛏᚺᛖ ᚨᚷᛖ ᚹᛁᛚᛚ ᛖᚱᚢᛈᛏ ᚨᚾᛞ ᚺᛖᛖᛞ ᛏᚺᛖᛋᛖ ᛈᚱᛟᛈᚺᛖᛏᛁᚲ ᚹᛟᚱᛞᛋ
So the age will erupt and heed these prophetic words
ᛒᛖ ᚹᛖᚨᚱᚤ ᛁᚾ ᛏᚺᛖ ᛗᛟᚡᛖᛗᛖᚾᛏ ᛟᚠ ᛏᚺᛖ ᛋᛖᚨᛋ, ᛏᚺᛖ ᚷᚱᛟᚢᚾᛞᛋ ᚨᚾᛞ ᛒᛁᚱᛞᛋ
Be weary in the movement of the seas, the grounds and birds
ᛚᛟᛋᛏ ᚨᛏ ᛟᚾᚲᛖ ᛁᚾ ᛏᚺᛖ ᛒᛚᛁᚾᛞᚾᛖᛋᛋ ᛟᚠ ᚤᛟᚢᚱ ᛁᚷᚾᛟᚱᚨᚾᚲᛖ
Lost at once in the blindness of your ignorance
ᛁᛏ ᛁᛋ ᚹᚺᛖᚾ ᛏᚺᛖ ᚡᛖᛁᛚ ᛁᛋ ᛚᛁᚠᛏᛖᛞ ᚨᚾᛞ ᛋᛏᚱᚨᚾᚷᛖ ᚨᛖᛟᚾᛋ ᚺᚨᚡᛖ ᚨᚱᚱᛁᚡᛖᛞ
It is when the veil is lifted and strange aeons have arrived
ᚹᚺᛖᚾ ᛏᚺᛖ ᚴᛁᚾᚷ ᛋᚢᚱᛖᛚᚤ ᚹᚨᛚᚴᛋ ᛏᚺᛖ ᛖᚨᚱᛏᚺ ᚨᚾᛞ ᛞᛖᚨᛏᚺ ᚺᚨᛋ ᛋᚢᚱᛖᛚᚤ ᛞᛁᛖᛞ
When The King surely walks the earth and death has surely died
(Translator's note: This poem seems surprisingly linked to one of the modern day Cthulhu Poetry creation online. I will link the website here. https://hellopoetry.com/poem/1784356/the-waking-of-cthulhu/ Johan Nel, the author of this poem please contact me if you are concerned with this problem.)
After much consideration and preparation, I determined that this supposed city, must be a place near the village of my birth. I bought a boat, hired some sailors and boys and to the village I go.
Yet before I left Alexandria, the man in black, a man dressed in all black, a cloak that I can't identify of the material, and a mask, that in itself draws fear and cold from my heart appeared to me.
It was a warm, normal day, just like many others before in my days at Alexandria. I was walking toward the Library of Alexandria to continue my research on the Book when the man came up to me. "Good Day, Sir." The man spoke a strange language, yet somehow, I was able to understand it in Latin terms. "I believe you are on your way to the Alexandrian Library, aren't you?" " Well, Yes as a matter of fact." I responded with cold politeness as anyone shall greet a stranger. "Well, I shall have the honor to accompany you on the way as I also happened to be going that way." The stranger pulls me by the shoulder, and wrapped a hand around my entire body and ushered me on toward the library.
"Well well, looks like our scholar found the Book itself haven't you?" As we are walking in the busy markets of Alexandria, the Man whispered. "No, Of course not, what book are you talking about?" I tried to act normally, and panicked. I had never told anyone about the Book I am reading right now, how did this stranger know?
"There is no denial of that fact, Mister. In fact, if it wasn't for the horrible scent of that Book on you, I wouldn't be able to found you at all. Well, admit it, you have been reading the Book." The Man straight looked through my lie. " Yes, Yes. I had been reading that book, but what does that book have to do with you?!" I panicked and sweated as we continued to get closer to the Library.
" Don't worry, I am not part of those crazy Inquisitors though I am not far from it. I am a representative for the Roman Church, and I have a task for you, scholar." The man said silently as we entered the library. He half dragged, half forced me into a reading room. "Now go borrow that book out and act just like how you would do every single day." He threatened. I was dumbfounded, and mystified by his words. Regardless, I went ahead and borrowed the book out and returned along with a set of candles.
"Now, Scholar, tell me where you have been reading up to." I pointed to him the part II, where I have been trying to decipher without luck. "Good, Good. You are making progress, but not enough to the part where it get serious yet. You still have a chance to back out of this foul business. What is your choice?" Being the young, stupid and ignorant fool I was, I didn't take up his offer and instead just stared at him.
"Very well. A brave one indeed. I believe I had found myself a worthy taskrunner. I have a great task for you. It is hard, but it's reward is also great. There is no other choice between death and accepting the task at this point, Shall you take up my offer?" I nodded yes, as of course I do not yet want to die. "Very well, the Roman Church has known about the Book in Alexandria but lacks the strength to do it. As you are our currently most advanced researcher on this, I would like for you to discover this entity, and destroy it if you can. Is there any questions?"
"Well, If the Roman Church have known about it all along, why didn't you do anything about it?" I asked, out of pure shock as I tried to process about the information. "Simple, because we don't have enough power. Yet, you. You right now, holds the key alone. The Book has been read countless time to all the great saints and bishops of the church, yet only one shall be able to read it during a certain period, the other times it disappears from our vault and seeks a new reader. Yet after so many years of conducting research on it, we have a bit of basic information about this entity and the hidden city." He paused, and took a piece of paper out from his cloak pocket. "Here, is the information that the church have gathered. Do you still have a problem?"
Seeing that I am entirely in shock of this, He bowed his head. "I am very sorry to cause such a shock in you Mister. Yet it is now time for me to retire. My message is delivered. My master shall know of this news. I shall now leave you to contend to your own thoughts." Thus he disappeared, just like the wind, it blows away and was gone in a moment.
That night, I sat down alone. I lighted up 2 candles, and sat there reading the paper the Man has given me. It was no use, the voice of the King spoke in my mind. I tried to calm myself and went to sleep, there was no escape from the voice. The voice boomed in a strange, yet understable language :" Come, mortal, Find me, and my eternal knowledge and wealth shall be yours."
Deciding against better Judgement, I went back home along with the sailors I have recruited. I visited my mother, and my family. My old father died at the sea with his bones riding the wave. I shed no tears. Yet, later, When I alone went back to the village, it was gone, it was as if it never existed.
We sailed on, from the coldness of the Nordic Sea into the Greenland, where I was greeted by the Elders. Yet I cannot stay, my task is urgent, and the voice that calls for me gets stronger everyday.
After 7 days and 7 nights of sailing, We ran out of food. My sailors and boys refused to go, so I gave them the ship, used the small one and took some final water and food from the boat and wished them luck on their way back. I rolled on in my own thought and the small boat that I owned.
Looking back now, I see no reason that the great waves of the Nordic Sea shall not crack and finish my small little canoe. Yet it did not, for some reasons that I cannot explain. Perhaps the King wants me to arrive safely? Or is it God's will? I still don't know to this day.
All I know is that by the Midnight of the Second day, I was starved and thirsty. I was unable to keep my eyes open, and I fainted. When I wake up, my small canoe was resting on the dry land. No, not the dry land.
It was stone slabs. Gigantic ones, like those that were used for runes and Egyptian Hieroglyphics in Alexandria. The stone slabs seems to be continuing on a straight line, Just like in a street that stretches out forever. On the side of these "streets", I saw strange buildings, perhaps what could count as "houses", that were entirely sickening green. There is no one, absolutely no one on the street or in the structures.
I am at the end of my hope, my food is gone, water supply is drained, and I have no ways to survive in this strange building, but just as I was about to give up hope, I found a sign. A HUGE, Gigantic Slab, that was straightened up, and with strange language that I somehow understood.
" All You Who Shall Enter, Give Up Thy Reasons, Strength, Hope and Met The Master Of Life."
For the first time in days, I no longer hear the booming voice in my head. The words draws me in, and a magical sensation washes over me. I lost my thoughts and felt a wave of strange feelings over me. I felt suddenly refreshed, no longer hungry and thirsty, and regained my strength.
I began to walk forward, in hope of searching for more evidence that I can think of, and hopes to meet this certain entity.
Yet as I walked forward, I realized something. The ground I walked are no longer cold, or solid. It is now warm and almost slippery. I looked down, and realized in horror that the Stone slabs have turned into Flesh. My feet is bloody as I walks forward. Yet I do not stop, for I know the roads behind me are gone, they have disappeared as I entered the city.
As i continued walking, the voice in my head began to boom again. This time with a more than sinister feeling. "Yes, mortal, you have finally came. Come, keep walking, come find me and I shall grant you immortal life and wealth. Whatever it is you want, you shall get it....." I continued walking forward.
Finally, I saw something different in front of me. The place was an ancient cemetery. So ancient that I trembled at the entrance sign which holds the great layers of dust that signals to us the amount of it's age. It was plagued with rotten grass, downbeat, and almost a sluggish and rotting flesh smell. Yet I wandered in. On the tombstone, there sits a man, a man in the white cloak.
"Ahhh, It's great to meet you, my friend. Great change of setting from the city of flesh, isn't it?" The man looked up and his face brightened up. "What do you want from me, Lucifer Morningstar?" I recognized his face, and darkened my expression. "You know this is the last place you should be, I will not forgive you for the thing you have done to me in Alexandria."
"Woah woah woah, buddy don't be so cranky. You know, that was all a show. BROTHER." Now standing before me, with a childish grin, Lucifer emphasizes on the word Brother through clenched teeth. " Why are you here? I have no wish for you to be here. Leave now, I can't protect you from them." Mystifyingly, I felt as if I was no longer myself, I cannot control what I want to say, what I want to do. Suddenly, I realized in horror. It was that sheet of paper.
"Ah yes, Brother, I did gave your little scholar that sheet of paper. Well well well. I have done a deal with him, haven't I? Do you want your little scholar to die right now?" Lucifer asked with a fake smile, and taunts the spirits who controls me right now. After much consideration, "I" finally said: "Very well, I shall honor the deal. I will exit his body, but remember, your deal must be done." With that, a sudden feeling washed over me as I suddenly felt weak and stumbles.
Lucifer caught me. "Well well, now we are talking. Have you see that square?" I looked. It disgusts and made me puke at first sight. Made of entirely reddish flesh, the square was flooded with blood and black substances that draws up disgust at first sight. "Yes, that square. Don't worry, you will only see those blood right now because you are within my influence. Once you are there, you won't see them at all. However, remember the task I gave you?" I nodded "Well, I want you to go in that place, face him, find an opportunity to put the sheet of paper i gave you on him. If all goes as planned, I will ensure your survival. But at what cost, my little scholar? Tell me your own price so I can decide."
Silence...... It was entirely silent suddenly. I walked out of Lucifer's graveyard. "A soul, if not the soul of myself." was the sound that I can made under my breath. He laughed, and the entire graveyard disappeared. "The crimson king." I sweared under my breath as I apparoched the central square.
"Thus, you have arrived." The grand booming voice sounded throughout the square.
"Yes, the Crimson King. I have arrived as due our deal." I answered with all my force and strength.
"Very well, do you see that table?" Under his guidance, I saw a huge table with buttons in the centre of the square.
"Very good, go there, press the red button, and free me."
Even though Lucifer might be a moron, but at least he knows when to not mess around. I cussed under my breath, walked over to the table, and press the button.
"Good. Mortal, you have now freed me. I have promised you wealth, immortality, and knowledge. I shall now give you them all." the booming voice suddenly appeared in front of me. " I shall now grant you it." I was shocked, unable to realize what I had released from the prison. With a thousands eyes, I felt danger, and it's horrible looks, disgusts me and my sanity far beyond the pool of blood and flesh.
Before I knew it, I ran.
Running like a mad man, I know that the thing, whatever it is, was after me. Fast like an antelope he was catching up to me. I no longer recollects how i can be so fast, yet I did outrun him during that short time.
We ran through the city of flesh, one running for his life, while the other runs for it's first meal.
As I approach the boundary of the flesh and within sight of my small little boat, I began to slow down. I know this is my one chance at this.
"Do you really think I don't know you pressed the blue button?" The voice behind me loomed.
"Of course I know you know about that," I said with a sudden sense of calmness. "But it was only to delay you."
"But mortal, you have no longer the strength to run. Come, you shall have the honor to be the first mortal I devour." The voices booms through the time and space around me.
"But before all that honor, I have a paper for you." I took the rolled up paper ball in my hand, and throwed with all the strength that I can muster at the thousand eye monster.
With a great lightning flash, and the sudden flowing in of water, I quickly lost my senses.
The next thing I know, I was on a boat. The old captain was kind enough to drop me off at greenland and I was greeted with news of my sailors never returning to the port.
My village was destroyed, erased off the surface of earth without a trace.
The library of Alexandria was burnt.
I have nowhere to go.
Finally, I settled down in a small village by the Nordic sea. Just like the one I growed up in.
I burnt the Book, it's ashes and hide them. The ocean is never safe. The Book must never be opened again.
I am at my end, I can see Lucifer coming for me. My end has come, but do not make your end so. Goodbye, and thus, my story ends.
(This the first scroll from the Scroll of Death. Other scrolls are rapidly being translated. Much of the story lacks geographical proof but contains theological ones that can't be disproven. Please take this with a grain of salt. And As usual, Do not search for the City of Flesh.)
EDIT: I, as the Translator have forgotten to put the supposed / estimated timestamp of this first document in. This was expected to written around Roman time, when Egypt was first conquered by Octavius Caesar.

Alternate title: Who the Hell Were These Guys?
I’m trying pretty hard to be as rigorous as I can here, tying everything back to in-game text or the work of other scholars. To that end, I’ve also included explanations for several things which some of the lore-bears among us may not need. I ask you to bear with me, and to offer correction for anything you spot which is incorrect. But, hopefully, that will make this easier for newbies to follow, if they so desire.
I’ve been nurturing a number of interpretations and extrapolations about the Ayleids for a while now. So I’ll be writing a series of essays to help me organize and share my thoughts on the subject. In this one, I’ll be covering what I consider the most foundational, the divine relationship I see at the heart of Ayleid politics, religion, culture, and their nature as an independent race (more on that momentarily): their understanding of the Dragon God and the Missing God.
As a quick note: I’ll be using the terms “Auri-El” and “Lorkhan” for most of this post, but these aren’t going to be the gods of the Altmer. I think the Ayleids had a very different idea of who these gods were than their Altmer cousins, but establishing that difference will require that I use these names, at least until something better arises.
Also, there’s going to be some discussion of the metaphysical reality of these gods beyond their perception or interpretation by an individual culture. For this, I’m going to be using the terms “Dragon God” and “Missing God.”
And if you don’t know who those names refer to, or how a god can be missing, don’t worry! I’ll be explaining everything when it comes up.
All be forewarned, though, this is a long one.
Part 1: They Aren’t High Elves, Damnit!
There are a handful of sources which refer to the Ayleids as “Heartland High Elves.” For quite a while, this was all the relevant information the games gave us about their nature, so it was reasonable to conclude that they were, in fact, Altmer. They were simply High Elves who lived somewhere other than the Summerset Isles, like the Direnni over around the Ada-Mantia.
It is not reasonable any more. The fact that it still gets repeated a lot is actually a pet peeve of mine.
Now we know how the Elves, once unified as the Aldmer, became a plethora of different races. According to Aurbic Enigma 4: The Elden Tree:

The spike of Ada-Mantia, and its Zero Stone, dictated the structure of reality in its Aurbic vicinity, defining for the Earth Bones their story or nature within the unfolding of the Dragon's (timebound) Tale. The Aldmeri or Merethic Elves were singular of purpose only so long as it took them to realize that other Towers, with their own Stones, could tell different stories, each following rules inscribed by Variorum Architects. And so the Mer self-refracted, each to their own creation, the Chimer following Red-Heart, the Bosmer burgeoning Green-Sap, the Altmer erecting Crystal-Like-Law, et alia

Holy Jargon Batman! Let me translate that into English for you.
The Merethic Aldmer—the elves from right after the beginning of Linear Time—saw the way that Ada-Mantia, also called the Adamantine Tower, defined the Earthbones, aedric et’Ada who lost/sacrificed literally everything about themselves to become the laws of reality, poetically the skeleton upon which the flesh of the world hangs, giving everything else shape and support. Because there wasn’t anything for them to use as building materials other than themselves.
This text attributes the orchestration of this to the “Dragon.” This is a pretty obvious reference to the Dragon God of Time. Put a pin in this for now, I’ll be bringing it back in later.
The Merethic Aldmer also thought it would be fun to try that, too. So they made their own Towers, modeled after Ada-Mantia, to try and rewrite the laws of reality as it pleased them. It… kinda worked. There’s no evidence to suggest that any of them managed to overwrite Ada-Mantia, they were still able to change things within the bounds of Ada-Mantia.
…And it’s never been explained what a “Variorum Architect” is, or what “Variorum” even means, but it’s probably just, like, magical Tower-designing people.
What we’re here for is this: the Towers were what made the different groups of elves into different races. The Aldmer of Valenwood created Green-Sap, Falinesti, and became the Bosmer; the Aldmer of Alinor created Crystal-Like-Law, the Crystal Tower, and became the Altmer; the Aldmer who followed Veloth aligned themselves to Red-Heart, the Red Mountain at the heart of Vaardenfell, and became the Chimer.
And guess who else had a Tower. The Aldmer in the heart of Tamriel raised White-Gold, and it remade them into the Ayleids. Their own race. Not Altmer. Never Altmer.
…When I called it a pet peeve, I meant it. It fills me with a sudden and illogical anger.
Anyways, since it was the Tower which defined them as the Ayleids, let’s take a closer look at that Tower, to see if it might show us who the Ayleids actually were.
Part 2: The Tower in the Heart of the World
Dipping back into Aurbic Enigma 4 for a moment, we see that:

Ayleid magic is about Will, and Shall, and Must

Which I take to mean that the Ayleids were largely focused on how magic could allow the user to impose their will upon the world around them, shaping it to their liking. This fits what information we have about their abilities:

• According to Daughter of the Niben they pioneered the field of Alteration, to the point of shapeshifting if 2920, Second Seed) can be trusted (in doubt only because it’s a work of in-universe historical fiction)
  
• According to Magic from the Sky they were able to work Meteoric Iron and Glass, literally pieces of Aetherius which fall to Mundus through the stars, something which no other groups is ever shown to be capable of doing.
  
• According to Before the Ages of Man, they “preserved the magics of the Dawn,” which in the past I’ve taken to refer to the magical processes by which the Ehlnofey gave shape to the world leading up to Convention. Aetherius being that part of the Elder Scrolls Universe which exists on the other side of Oblivion. I have a handy map of the universe to help you picture it. Nirn is the planet Tamriel is on..
  

…Brief tangent: Ehlnofey translates literally to “Earth Bones.”) (just Ctrl+F “Ehlnofey”). In the community, the term “Ehlnofey” is generally used to refer to those spirits who became the Earth Bones… before they did that. Back when they had things like agency and individuality. “Earth Bones,” meanwhile, refers to those spirits after they lost/sacrificed those things, as we have covered. This happened at an event called Convention, which is when the gods finished creating Mundus—see the map for placement. Convention was also where Linear Time started, and Lorkhan’s Heart got ripped out.
Don’t worry, we’ll get to Lorkhan. And his Heart.
Now, you may be thinking, “gamermanzendrelax, you said this section was going to be about the White-Gold Tower.” And that’s right, I did.
Before the Ages of Man tells us that the Ayleids understood the world-shaping magic of the Ehlnofey better than everybody else. Aurbic Enigma 4 tells us that the Towers were how the Aldmer imitated the world-shaping power of creation. From this, you might expect the Ayleids would go all-out with their Tower. And did they ever.
For this next bit, I’m going to be citing The Nu-Mantia Intercept, a text which has never appeared in any of the games. But it’s also where all of this Tower business got started, and the Tower lore which appears in-game seems to be building on top of it. I think it’s a good one, and most people I’ve seen think the same. So:

Though the Ayleids gave theirs a central Spire as the imago of Ada-mantia, the whole of the polydox resembled the Wheel, with eight lesser towers forming a ring around their primus. To dismiss this mythitecture as being a mockery of the Aurbis is to ignore an important point: this same "jest" gave White-Gold Tower a power over creatia unalike any on this plane(t). It was a triumph of sympathetic megafetish, and the Start of the [Threat! To! Empire!] that brings me to this Council.

If nothing else, Michael Kirkbride is the undisputed King of Jargon.
If you’ll look at the map from earlier, you’ll notice that it’s circular. This is standard for depictions of the Elder Scrolls Universe, the proper name of which is the Aurbis. It’s also referred to as “the Wheel.” What this amounts to is that the White-Gold Tower isn’t just the big tall thing at the center; the walls and watchtowers of the Imperial City are also a part of the magical structure. White-Gold is the Tower surrounded by the Wheel; the Wheel governed by the Tower.
This is a big deal. The Ayleid Tower, the thing which defined them as Ayleid, is a model of Ada-Mantia ruling over all of Aurbis, rather than just Mundus. And this symbolism has power. It makes White-Gold the strongest of the Elf-made Towers. This is what defines them, their ambition. Their magic is Will and Shall and Must; the imposition of individual intention and desire over the world around them, and their Tower is the height of this.
But it is an ambition which did not start with them. This is where Lorkhan comes into the story.
The Missing God is an archetype found throughout the mythologies of the different cultures of Nirn, as The Monomyth tells us. For the Nords, he is Shor; for the Redguards out of Yokuda, he is Sep; for the Imperials, he is Shezzar; for the myriad elves, he is Lorkhan.
Why is he called the Missing God? Because he’s basically gone once the creation of the world is finished. Hence, Missing.
The Monomyth recounts the Altmer story of the beginning of the universe, which they generally regard as a bad idea. Specifically, Lorkhan’s bad idea, which he tricked everyone else into participating in. The Yokudans have a similar take on things, and some of Knight-Paladin Gelebor’s dialogue from Dawnguard suggests the Falmer weren’t big fans either.
But none of them are the Ayleids. Especially the Altmer. So what did the Ayleids think of Lorkhan? Well, they seem to have been pretty big fans, actually.
If the creation of Mundus with Ada-Mantia was Lorkhan’s idea, then it says a lot that the Ayleid Tower is that, but bigger.
That’s not all we’ve got, though. If you’ll remember back to Part 1, Aurbic Enigma 4 mentions something called a Stone, which is an essential part of a Tower. So what did the Ayleids choose for their stone? The only real candidate is a rock—making theirs the only Towers, asides from Ada-Mantia (maybe) to use an actual rock as their Stone—called the Chim-El Adabal. I’ve actually taken a stab at translating that into English, and to summarize:

• Adabal means either “God-stone” or “Spirit-Stone”
  
• Chim-El is probably a reference to Lorkhan. This is where the avalanche of crazy that ultimately led to this post started.
  

But what is the Chim-El Adabal? You might know it better as the Red Diamond in the heart of the Amulet of Kings. And I call it the “heart” of the amulet intentionally. Remember how I mentioned Lorkhan’s Heart getting ripped out earlier? Well…
The origins of the Red Diamond are attested to by a number of sources. You may be familiar with its origins in the Pact between Alessia and Akatosh, in which the Red Diamond… is Alessia. Weird, but not the weirdest thing in the lore. More relevant to this thread, that contradicts the idea that it was the Stone of the Ayleid Tower—. Fortunately, we have two powerful sources, both of which refer to the Red Diamond, by its Ayleid name, and stating it was created by the Ayleids:

• The personal notes of Mannimarco, an impartial observer unlikely to plant lies in journals he didn’t expect others to read. He also emphasizes its connection to Akatosh—the Cyrodiilic Dragon God. We’ll come back to this.
  
• A ballad written by very pro-Alessian author, which says it was created by the Ayleids, and then given to Alessia by Akatosh. And this is from ESO, predating the claim the Red Diamond is Alessia, somehow.
  

That second one also gives us a more specific origin:

When Akatosh slew Lorkhan, He ripped his heart right out, Hurled it across Tamriel, And the heart was heard to shout: […] The laughing heart sprayed blood afar, A gout on Cyrond fell, And like a dart shot to its mark Down in an Ayleid Well.

Returning to Magic From the Sky, one of the texts I reference earlier, the Ayleid Wells were constructs of Meteoric Iron, fragments of Aetherius which fell through the stars (which are holes in Oblivion) to Mundus. The Ballad places this as happening while the Heart of Lorkhan was being shot out from Ada-Mantia, to where it would sprout Red Mountain. So, right at the tail-end of Convention. But there shouldn’t have been any Ayleid Wells yet, so what?
Probably, it’s an oversimplification. The stars already existed (we’ll get into that another time), so what probably happened was that some Meteoric Iron fell to Mundus, leaving a crater. The blood then landed in the crater.
Whatever the case, the ballad is suggesting the Chim-El Adabal was made froma combination of Meteoric Iron and blood straight from the Heart of Lorkhan. Which backs up the idea that the Ayleids were big fans of Lorkhan.
But I’m not done. Where did they put the White-Gold Tower, again? The center of Cyrodiil. The center of Tamriel. The Heart of Cyrodiil and Tamriel. Arguably, the Heart of the World. Touching back into the Nu-Mantia Intercept, the Heart of Lorkhan is also referred to as the “Heart of the World.”
In fact, the discussion in this fine thread by u/TheInducer has led to the probable conclusion that “Cyrodiil” is composed of three smaller words—iil meaning “People/Person (of),”od meaning “land,” and Cyr meaning “Heart.” Cyrod, is “Heartland” and Cyrodiil is “People/Person of the Heartland.” So heart symbolism is pretty strong with the Ayleids.
So, the Ayleid Tower’s architecture is the image of Lorkhan’s ambition, with a Stone and location which also reference the Heart. The Lorkhan references have been laid on pretty thick with this thing.
Except I don’t think they called him Lorkhan. You may remember way back in the beginning when I was being super particular about names? This is where that comes in. To make the connection, we have to talk about Auri-El.
Part 3: Akatosh whut?
Auri-El, what? But that’s the Elven name for the Dragon God of Time, who cast Lorkhan’s heart out across Tamriel! What’s he doing here?
Well, yes. Very much so. We saw it earlier in the Altmer story back in Monomyth. But there is one issue: the Amulet of Kings. Sure, there are some sources saying it’s blood from the Heart of Lorkhan, Mannimarco and that Ballad, and wormy-boy knows his stuff. But remember, the King of Worms also referenced a strong connection between Akatosh and the Amulet of Kings.
Akatosh is the Imperial interpretation of the Dragon God, the other of the two archetypes that occur in every known pantheon, alongside the Missing God. Auri-El is the name used by both the Altmer and the pre-Betrayal Falmer, and I’m using it here for the Ayleids. The Yokudans have Ruptga, more often called Tall Papa, and possibly also Satakal as a reference to Alduin’s office of World-Eater. The Kahjiit have, like, a million dragon gods; we’ve known about their Alkosh for ages, but The Wandering Spirits out of ESO’s Dragonhold DLC also gives us Akha and Alkhan. Alkhan is probably Alduin, and Akha… is there.
Back onto the main thrust of the essay, there are more sources which push the Akatosh claim. The Trials of St. Alessia has Akatosh saying to Alessia:

This shall be my token to you, that so long as your blood and oath hold true, yet so shall my blood and oath be true to you. This token shall be the Amulet of Kings, and the Covenant shall be made between us

And then Akatosh also does something similar with the Dragonfires. From The Amulet of Kings, which we mentioned earlier

In token of this Covenant, Akatosh gave to Alessia and her descendants the Amulet of Kings

Those sources could have been influenced by the Marukhati Selective, their dogged pursuit of monotheism in a polytheistic world overwhelming the Missing God in the glorious light of the One.
But then we have the events of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. Martin tells us:

The Amulet was given to mortals by Akatosh... it contains His divine power

Following which, he uses the Amulet of Kings to transform into a glowing dragon, and defeat the manifestation of Mehrunes Dagon in the Temple of the One. In this shape, he is called the Avatar of Akatosh. So, the Amulet has a very real, very powerful connection to Akatosh, and there’s quite a bit of material establishing a connection with Lorkhan.
So, who really is the patron of the Amulet and the White-Gold Tower? Akatosh or Lorkhan?
Both. Yeah, it’s Enantiomorph time.
Part 4: AKHAT AE LKHAN
This is one of the more esoteric ideas in the lore community. The Enantiomorph is a pattern which recurs at a few points throughout the lore, a story centering around a set of archetypes: the King, the Rebel, the Observer, and the Catalyst. The King controls the Catalyst, but the Rebel wants it, and tries to take it violently. The Observer decides which of the two emerges victorious, and is maimed in the process, with an apparent preference for blindness. And somewhere in there is a prominent betrayal.
To my knowledge, the only in-game reference is one of Vivec’s sermons, which goes without explanation, and a number of forum threads which involved writers for the Elder Scrolls. The most commonly cited explanation is this comment from Kirkbride (Ctrl+F “enantiomorph).
And now, a brief summary of the beginning of the world, synthesized from the various stories of The Monomyth:
When original spirits participating in creation realized that making a Mundus out of yourself isn’t so good for your health, some of them started to freak out a bit. Magnus, who had hitherto been the architect of the Mundus and right hand of the Missing God, fled to Aetherius, tearing a hole in Oblivion, which we call the sun. An multitude of lesser spirits, known collectively as the Magna-Ge, noped out right behind him, carving the stars as Magnus had carved the sun. With Magnus out of the picture, the Dragon God and a number of the other original spirits held the Convention, where the gods sat in judgement of the Missing God. The Missing God’s Heart was ripped out, the Dragon God fired it on an arrow into the sea, and the Red Mountain rose up where it had landed. The Dragon God of Time becomes the King of the Gods, time becomes linear, The End.
And yes, this is expressing events which happened in a period of non-linear time as a linear narrative. Casting The Missing God’s Heart out on an arrow is the only fixed point, being the conclusion of both the Dawn Era and of Convention. The rest is all jumbled—but the elements all manifest in the Monomyth stories we’re given, as well as the out-of-game, Nordic Shor son of Shor. Fortunately, with that one fixed point at the end, jumbling the rest doesn’t really hurt the enantiomorph, so let's keep things in straight lines for the sake of convenience.
The Catalyst is authority over the Nascent Mundus. It’s what Lorkhan has at the beginning, and it’s what Auri-El takes for himself at the end.
It is generally held that, at the beginning of the world, Auri-El, Lorkhan, and Magnus (time, space, and light/magic) were more-or-less equal to one another. It follows, then, that if Magnus had not abandoned Lorkhan, the two of them could have stood against Auri-El, meaning that in his act of betrayal Magnus decided who would win the conflict. And in the process, he seems to have left something behind—a large, floating, blue ball we see in Skyrim, which mortals call the Eye of Magnus. He decided the winner, and was “blinded” by losing an “eye” in the process—textbook Observer.
Lorkhan is, of course, the King, being the one behind the Mundus project. Auri-El, meanwhile, is the Rebel, who usurps control of Mundus and wrecks Lorkhan, becoming King of the Gods himself.
Which leads us into my whole point for bringing this up.
The enantiomorph concludes with the creation of something new out of the King and the Rebel. In the first iteration, Ald-Anu killed his brother, and was transformed by grief and love into the Godhead, becoming the Aurbis—Elder Scrolls Universe, from Aetherius to Oblivion to, eventually, Mundus. You’ll also see a lot of folks with Arcturian Heresy-heavy interpretations of the birth of Talos describe it as an enantiomorph, featuring Zurin Arctus, Ysmir Wulfharth, and Hjalti Early-Beard (who would come to be known as Tiber Septim later in life). I’ve also seen a few references to the birth of Satakal in the myths of the lost Redguard homeland of Yokuda. In each of these, something new is born of the violent union of King and Rebel. It is generally held that the Observer is the only one capable of discerning between them, hence their title, and Magnus is gone.
Thus also, it follows, with the Dragon God and the Missing God. The resulting figure doesn't get talked about a whole lot, but I like to refer to it as AKHAT AE LKHAN. It’s supposed to be in Ehlnofex, the language of the Ehlnofey. You see, some of the Ehlnofey defined what shapes the all the mortal races we see in-game would take, and became mortals after a fashion… except Argonians. Argonians are weird.
Because of its origins before the Law of Reality were set in place, Ehlnofex is believed to posses bizzare properties, from being the verbal componant of some spells, to being written in glyphs (known to the Ayleids, remember) which constant shift and distort, as per Lady Nerevar's Coments on CHIM from their Translation Dictionary, to PSJJJJ being canonically impossible to pronounce
It’s conventional to spell Ehlnofex words in ALL CAPS, something that also bears out with CHIM, which is also an Ehlnofex word. And a colossal mess, which we won’t be getting into here.
AKHAT and LKHAN are the names of the Dragon God and the Missing God, respectively, used by the Dwemer, by way of Vivec, which I here use as Ehlnofex. He’s one of the few people we meet in the games who we might reasonably expect to actually know both much of Ehlnofex and was around back before the Dwemer vanished. And while he isn’t known for always being entirely honest, his deviations from the truth (as I understand it) usually serve a metaphorical or literary purpose, which is something this would not do.
Furthermore, AKHAT also is described by Terran's Notes, a Moth Priest's notes regarding a vision she was gven by an Elder Scroll, as appearing in said vision. Since Ehlnofex probably has magical properties, it would make the most sense if that was language to appear there.
AKHAT is also one letter off from Akha, one of the new Kahjiiti Dragon Gods I mentioned earlier. A lot of people like to use the term AKA for the primordial Dragon God, but as best as I’ve been able to find, that word is Nedic in origin, not Ehlnofex. Rather, I would say it was descended from AKHAT. But, that's really an issue of semantics, and my point holds whichever of the two you use.
Similarly, there are a few sources, such as Fragmentae Abyssum Hermaeus Moruis, which uses LHKAN instead of LKHAN. I would prefer the latter, but that's just more semantics.
Now then, AE is… weird. AE literally translates from Ehlnofex as “and/is”, which is to say it simultaneously means “and” and “is”. It also refers to the continuity of personal identity—the part of a person, probably in their soul, that makes them who they are, rather than somebody else.
Therefore, AKHAT AE LKHAN refers to the union of the Dragon God and the Missing God into a spirit with a single, cohesive identity—a single body, a single AE, with two faces. Put another way, since the Heart of the Missing God is the Heart of the World, AKA AE LKHAN is a union of Time and of the World, of Space, into a single cohesive Space-Time. Which nicely parallels real-world physics.
But what’s the point? Why did I interrupt a post about the Ayleids to provide information on a super esoteric corner of the lore?
For context. In part, because if we’re talking about how the Ayleids interpreted these two gods, it’s useful to know what actually happened to them. But mostly, it was because I think the Ayleids knew.
Part 5: Auri-El ye Tamri-El
This whole mess—with its Kings and Catalysts, its dead magic languages—explains the dilemma we were having earlier. In Parts 2 & 3, we found that the Ayleid Tower, White-Gold, was rife with Lorkhan connections, but other pieces of lore—including events we see in-game—establish an undeniable connection to Akatosh.
However, all that conflict melts away if we take into account the enantiomorph, the union of the two of them after the creation of the world. The White-Gold Tower—through its stone, the Chim-El Adabal, set into the Amulet of Kings—relates to both Akatosh and Lorkhan because they are simply two faces of one essential spirit. Even if one of them is a bit more active, on account of how one of those faces got their Heart ripped out. That tends to make doing things a bit challenging.
That there is a confluence of both of them in the Red Diamond and the White-Gold Tower is actually one of the main lines of argument in favor of their having been merged into one entity at convention. Another piece is Shor son of Shor, which draws a parallel between Missing God Shor and Dragon God Ald(uin).
This is one of the stranger nuances of the Dawn, which makes it very interesting that it popped up around the Ayleids. The Ayleids were known for having preserved Ehlnofex, the language of the Dawn Era soon-to-be-mortals we were talking about a moment ago, as well as their magic. As evidence, we have Before the Ages of Man:
(I cited this earlier, but it’s been ages, so have a new link!)

Wild Elves, also known as the Heartland High Elves, preserved the Dawn Era magics and language of the Ehlnofey.

“Wild Elves” and “Heartland High Elves” being terms used in some places for the Ayleids—the latter being a misnomer, since, as established earlier, the Ayleids were their own race, damnit.
We also have Ahzidal’s Descent

From the Ayleids, the ancient runes and dawn-magic even the elves had begun to forget.

Hrm. At their height, the Ayleids knew things about the Dawn that, as best as we can tell, nobody else did. And one of the more esoteric aspects of the Dawn and its conclusion rears its head around the stuff they left behind. Makes you wonder if maybe they knew. But if they did, surely we wouldn’t be able to tell—so much has been lost, there must only be fragments.
There might be more than you think.
First of all, we know that both were held in reverence in Ayleid society. I can’t imagine the White-Gold Tower being modeled after Lokhanic principles was an accident, and we’re going to see in a moment that Auri-El was tied closely into very important political events, at least for Aedraphile sects.
In Oblivion, there’s a short line of sidequests surrounding an Elf called Umbacano, who collects rare and valuable Ayleid artefacts, and pays the player handsomely for them. In the last of these, Secrets of the Ayleids, Umbacano hires the player to escort them to the ruin of Nenalata, from which the last king of the Ayleids reigned—who, sidenote, we actually meet in ESO.
Once you bring Umbacano to the throne room, Umbacano reveals himself to not merely be a scholar, but is attempting to restore the Ayleid civilization. He attempts to transform himself through magic, using the following invocation in the Ayleid language:

Av Auri-El ye Tamri-El dellevoy an Arpen Aran tarnabye! […] Av sunna Tam Riel arctavoy an Arpen Aran malaburo!

And isn’t that just lovely. According to the quest’s UESP page, it translates to:

By Auri-El and Tamri-El grant the Noble King passage! […] By blessed Tamriel acknowledge the Noble King [in your] loving vassalage!

It’s in the Notes section. Between the two fragments, he speaks normally.
This appears to be an Ayleid coronation ceremony, stripped of any pomp down to its most essential elements: a magical invocation of the Divine. And I use the singular here deliberately. Let’s look more closely at those first few words.

Auri-El ye Tamri-El

Auri-El is the name of the Dragon God, common to the languages of all the mer who worship them. Ye just means “and.” Now, if we were to translate these two words into Ehlnofex, it would say:

AKHAT AE

Look familiar? Remember, the Heart of Lorkhan is the Heart of the World. And this held especial meaning for the Ayleids, because the built their Tower, the White-Gold, at the geographic center of Tamriel, its heart, which mattered to them so much they named it Cyrod, the Heartland. And, if you’ll recall from the Nu-Mantia Intercept back towards the start of the thread, that made their Tower stronger, because the Heart of Tamriel is the Heart of the World. It follows, then, that Lorkhan—or, perhaps more accurately, the Missing God—is the World, which is Tamriel. From here, if we take Tamri-El from Umbacano’s Invocation to refer to the Missing God, and add that to our translation:

AKHAT AE LKHAN

There we go.
There’s also the usage of Tam Riel in the second line, which is also translated as “Tamriel.” He uses it again after being magically transformed into the King of Nenalata”

Arise, my people! The restoration of Tam Riel begins today!

Which makes the most sense to me if Tam Riel refers to the physical continent, with Tamri-El being reserved for the god, being structured similarly to Auri-El and Anui-El.
And that’s not all I’ve got. Feast your eyes!
This artistic motif is very common at Ayleid ruins in Cyrodiil… because they reused the model a lot. But! Its repetition throughout the world nevertheless suggests that whatever this statue is depicting was very important to the Ayleids. So what are we looking at?
The statue has three parts. On the bottom are stone and roots, at the top is a very large bird, and in the middle, gripped by both bird and ground, is a male figure (ears obscured, but probably an elf) wearing armor, with a bow in one hand and a shield in another.
When I’ve seen this discussed in the past, people have taken a very Altmeri view of things. The figure is Auri-El, they say, rising out of the mire of the material world into the splendor of Aetherius. Which is what the Altmer say Auri-El did. Certainly the bird makes sense as a symbol of Aetherius—Link, just Ctrl+f “eagle”:

For the Altmer, the high-soaring eagle represents their ancestors the Aedra, who came from the heavens and were trapped in physical form by the creation of Nirn.

Dirt/rocks and roots makes sense as a symbol of the material world. Auri-El is strongly associated with Archery, having shot the Heart across Tamriel from his bow, which we find in Dawnguard, along with a shield bearing his name.
But for a god’s triumphant ascension into glory, it looks an awful lot like he’s tangled up in that material world. I can hardly tell the difference between that guy’s legs and the ground he’s supposed to be flying out of. Oblivion may have had more limited graphical quality than I’ve grown used to lately, but I can clearly tell the difference between the bird’s feathers, so I should be able to know where the god ends and the icky ground begins.
Besides, we have an alternative. The ground and the roots are the material world, Tamri-El, the Missing God. But I suspect the “bird” is more accurately a Feathered Dragon, a depiction of the Dragon God stylized with a characteristically Ayleid connection of feathers with the splendor of the Dawn—Already wrote that essay. And where they join is the divine union, Dragon God and Missing God as one. AKHAT AE LKHAN. Auri-El ye Tamri-El.
Continued in the comment

Sadly, I do not know ancient Hebrew, and I hope to learn it, but for now I only know English. I already found the Israeli museum site that partnered with Google that let's me a see a photocopy of the great Isaiah scroll, and that gives me the ability to read the masoretic text that corresponds to the text written on the scroll, however I would personally like something other than the masoretic text as it has many apparent flaws, most of which bleed into modern Bibles. I know the sight let's me compare a translation of the first 5 chapters of the scroll with the first 5 chapters of the masoretic text, but Isaiah has 66 chapters, and 5 isn't enough for me. I want it all.
So, does anybody know of a translation of the great Isaiah scroll that I could read? I am fine with an online "Dead sea Bible", but would prefer to be able to buy a physical copy or get one through a library, so books are more appreciated than websites.

[Chapter 0] [Chapter 4][Chapter 6]
Hello readers! I hope everyone had a special valentines day and a special 50% off all chocolates day after! Here is another chapter for you!
Come hang out on discord with me!
[Introduction]
March 14th 2121 A.D.
The young officer straightened his uniform in the mirror. He commanded one of the newest, largest, and most advanced warships ever built; the ‘Lu Bu’ class Titan ‘Excalibur’, and he led the organization of Tau Ceti’s best and brightest military officers, the Round Table Order. Edison finished his outfit draping a white fur lined cloak over his shoulders, and then strapping the ceremonial longsword to his side.
“Merlin?” He acknowledged her presence without turning around seeing the reflection of the intelligence officer.
“Arthur, the table is set, the only knights not present are Bors, Palamedes, and Lancelot, whom are all on duty.” Merlin reported, Her small violet cape fluttered as the intelligence officer saluted the captain.
“Let’s not keep them waiting then.” Edison marched towards the meeting hall with perfect measure.
Every soldier he passed vacated his path and saluted to which he returned each and every one. The pair entered through the double doors of an observation deck, the dimly lit round room allowed full view of the sea of stars outside. In the center was the round table where his knights awaited their arrival.
“Thank you all for coming here today, especially you Charles, I heard you recently married the Governor's daughter...Catherine was it?” Edison sat while addressing the grinning fighter pilot wearing a scarlet cloak.
“Yeah, ya met her durin’ Valentines Day boss, but we can talk ‘bout that another time Arthur. Why are we here early? Somethin’ important?” Gawain gave a carefree answer as he lounged back in his seat.
“Yes, Merlin has the report for the meeting, care to take the floor?”
“Of course Captain,” as Merlin began her briefing she walked around the table and handed each knight a packet of documents. “For the record, I will start from the beginning. The mining rights dispute on the 12th of January, 2120 led to the death of 241 miners and the loss of three vessels. The group responsible was the security firm Babylon Arms, who were sub-contracted by MinTek to patrol assets claimed by the company. The area of the incident was Tau Ceti asteroid ring two on a retro orbit forty one degrees around asteroid OMA-4572, an asteroid not on record being registered as a MinTek holding. BA interdicted and destroyed the three vessels of the Angel Heart Mining Guild. The concession meetings did not recognise the three vessel’s legitimacy due to them not being sponsored by a parent corporation despite being registered at the Angel Heart Guild. The corporate backed faction claims they were pirates, they did not recognise the state sovereignty of Angel Heart or other station backed guilds.”
“And that sparked the ‘Freedom from Government Tyranny’ protests,” The large marine named Galahad added.
“Propagandist crap!” Percival the battlecruiser captain slammed his fist on the metal table, “these corporate conglomerates own entire stations, they violate human rights, have dangerous working conditions, and have been caught undermining station nation groups!”
“Ahem…” Merlin politely voiced her annoyance raising a hand over her mouth.
“I’m sorry Haruka, go on...” Apologised Percival as he settled back into his seat.
“Indeed, this has been quite the hot button topic as of late, protests have elevated to riots and some stations have given into the conglomerate’s demands, Angel Heart is currently the epicenter of the pro-sovereignty movement while Gemini seems the be the conglomerate’s primary conference location.” Merlin finished handing out documents and seated herself next to Edison.
“Practically our neighbor,” Tristan added as the heavy attack craft pilot flipped through the pages of her packet.
“Yes, and that only adds to the tension. Lancelot and I attended another concession meeting on the subject; your packets contain transcripts to that meeting but to summarize: the conglomerate wanted to buy out Angel Heart Station and all related assets and sweep the incident under the rug; the coalition of sovereign stations politely told them to sit on a fusion warhead, and detonate once inserted.” Merlin smirked.
“Excuse me, it seems we have an incoming message from Lancelot.“ Edison tapped his phone. “Lancelot, report.”
“Sky Castle Station has sunk! Those corporate bastards!” Lancelot’s voice rang over the room speakers.
“Slow down Bruce, what is going on out there?” The room hung dead silent in tension.
“Multiple points of incursion, thousands of ships, it’s a damn hostile takeover! I can't believe they sunk a station-” the sound of target warnings blared over the speaker, “under fire engaging hostiles!” the call cut out abruptly.
“You heard the man, Sky Castle was a twin hull station, that means the Corporatists just killed six million people and plan to kill more. Knights, prepare to defend the realm, this is war.”
The knights stood and drew their blades in unison, thus began the first day of the Corporate War.

The Third Species

Chapter 5: The Decisions We Make, The Burdens We Take
[Present day, Enris and Lee]
Just as she was excited to meet more humans it seems they were excited as well. In a cacophony of clapping and cheers the two aliens entered the rest of the barracks with quite the fanfare. The soldiers had taken a liking to the two special guests. Lee had to spend time translating for everyone that had questions about them, and there were a lot of questions. The next couple days was a blur of meet and greets as the barracks made them their unofficial mascots. Lee found himself with a brief moment of respite as he lounged on his bed. Enris decided to claim the desk chair as she spun lazily around.
“Ahh, Huumanns are fun and all, but they really tire you out.” She complained but wore a pleasant smile.
Lee dropped the arm holding the phone rolling to his side to face the girl.
“Enris, I have a question.”
“Not you too! Give a girl a break!” she kicked her feet in mock protest. “But I guessss I could answer a question for you Lee, what is it? If I am available? Would you like me to be?”
“You wish!” Lee laughed, “but in all seriousness, why do you call everyone Human except me? You keep referring to me as ‘Shasu”
“Because you are Shasu,”
“That doesn’t tell me anything, what is a ‘Shasu?” Lee rose shifting his legs over the side of the bed as he sat up.
“The Caruvann have a unified religion, all Gods are said to have come from the Over God, and his helpers are the ‘Shasu’, beings that fly higher than any Caruvann on feathered wings.”
Lee burst into laughter, “Oh that’s rich!”
“What? What’s so funny?” Enris was insulted at his sudden outburst.
Lee tapped his phone a few times and showed it to the curious girl.
“Humans have a similar divine creature called an [Angel.]” He explained with a smirk.
Enris’ ears rose in surprise as she looked upon the image of the winged human.
“I knew it! The Over God sent you here, this must be destiny!’ She fluttered her wings in excitement.
“As if! We’re just normal people, not so different from you.” He ran his hand over the girl’s head and received a delighted squeak.
The PA system in his room chimed. “[Angel Heart Station will begin rotation in one hour, please secure all belongings and follow instructions from your local bunker staff.]”
“Lee, what’s going on?” Enris tilted her head in question.
“The station is coming online, looks like the rotational gravity will be restored to the main sections.”
“Lee, how does this section have gravity?” She popped out of the chair and snuggled up next to the large man.
“Oh, I guess you would have questions about that; the same technology that allows faster than light travel can be applied to create artificial gravity, though it’s power intensive so it's rather weak.” He kept the explanation light, he didn’t even know where to begin trying to teach her the Casimir effect.
“That's so cool! Do your ships have the same system?”
“The larger ones do, hey Enris, want to see the rest of the station?”
“Yes!” She jumped in excitement.
Lee and Enris collected Reish from his room, he was still glued to educational programs, and decided to have a small meal at the mess before their hour was up. The two Caruvann fell in love with fresh cooked human food, a luxury they said was rare with the limited resources of their stations. The trio all grabbed trays as they were served in line. The chef wore a large smile as he placed plates of food on the Caruvann’s trays.
“Lee, what are we eating today?” The eager girl asked wondering what surprise was in store for them.
“[Hamburgers] A common simple meal.”
They seated themselves at the nearest vacant table. Reish immediately buried his sharp teeth into the meal smearing condiments across his cheeks.
“It's so good!” The eager boy took another bite into the sandwich.
Lee wiped his cheek with a napkin, “slow down! There’s plenty of food, enjoy it!”
Rip and Spike entered the mess hall bantering amongst each other. Spike animated his speech with his arms while Rip picked his teeth with a toothpick.
“Riip, Spaik haluu!” Enris waved at the two men entering the mess.
“[Hey its Lee and the fuzzies,]” Spike pointed them out.
After getting their meals they joined the table. Spike and Rip enjoyed interacting with the siblings, often teaching them questionable at best phrases.
“[Come on Reish, say it.]” Spike goaded.
“[I’m Batman!]” Reish announced jumping up and spreading his wings, the mess erupted into laughter.
The conversation continued for a while longer. Lee nodded to his wingmates as the time drew closer to the station coming online. He excused himself and escorted the pair towards the main ship gantry. The group hopped down to to the exit of the barracks. As they approached it slid opened to an uncovered walkway. The three stood directly underneath the main rail system of the main gantry, a structure that ran down the center of the station.
“Wow look at them all!” Reish fluttered in excitement.
Thousands of ships as far as the eye could see, and tens of thousands of people servicing them. Enris and Reish couldn’t believe a shipyard of such a massive scale could exist. The whole gantry was alive as large arms ran across the hulls carrying white suit technicians and large service tools. Reish pointed out a battlecruiser rolling down the tracks to a different area of the gantry. To the sides of the rail systems were cradles where many ships parked.
“How many ships are there Lee?” Enris asked, her head swiveling back and forth taking in the scale of the operation.
“There are 2533 ships in the Space Vessel Corps, and about three times as many guild and service ships.”
“So many ships!” Enris pulled her upper body up on the guard rail, she noticed a ominous black container moving down the rail system. “Lee, what’s that?” She pointed.
“AHMS Phantasmagoria, our newest ship, the details are top secret though.” Lee scooped the pair under his arms as the gantry shuddered. “Hold on, the show is starting.”
Lee directed their attention over the railing of the walkway. Beyond the panes of clear aluminum, road lights flickered to life drawing lines across the land below. A bright crack of starlight peered through as the three large mirrors attached down the length of the station swung open and slowly illuminated the landscape. The first thing the pair saw was rolling fields of forest, as the light traveled over the landscape small structures become visible as the population density increased, and finally they saw the towering building of Angel Heart City at the rear of the station off on the distance. The two marveled at the scale of what they were observing as the light of Haluu reflected onto the landscape. Clouds below them began to form and swirl as the station started to rotate.
“Lee,”
“Yes Reish?”
“How many humans live here?” The boy craned his head looking at the grey towers in the distance.
“Roughly two million, our capacity is three, one million per land strip.”
“This is unreal, it looks like he pictures of Aruvaa, our homeworld.” Enris’ couldn’t contain her excited shiver under his arm.
“You two have never been to your homeworld right?” they both flapped their ears twice in acknowledgement, “well this is just a little piece of what our home Earth used to look like.”
Reish caught on to the word Lee used. “Used to look?”
There was an uncomfortable pause before the man let out a sigh and answered “I suppose you were going to find out sooner or later. Angel Heart’s mission is to find new habitable worlds...because…”
“Because....” Enris had a bad feeling about what he was going to say next.
“Because Earth is dead.”
[Enris]
The siblings have since returned to their room, Enris was a flurry of mixed emotion after they watched the station come alive. The station itself was a dreamland of her wildest imagination, she counted the Fortune God’s blessings for guiding them here, but the dream had an ever present darkness that hung above it. All humans are orphans, a race without a home.
“Six billion people dead, three billion survivors between Sol, Tau Ceti, and Trappist.” Reish translated off the computer screen, he was getting rather good at reading the human script.
“What happened to Earth?” Enris asked tensely, she wasn’t sure she wanted to know the answer.
“Apparently a mining asteroid fell on the planet in an accident [126 years] ago, but these numbers don’t make sense….” He scrolled through the historical record.
“What doesn’t make sense?” Enris joined her brother but she was still severely lacking in her comprehension of English.
“Why they were not able to repopulate, the asteroid mass is too small to cause permanent damage of a planet that size, something else must have stopped them.” Reish ruffled his own ears in frustration. “I am going to need more time.”
“I will leave you to your work, I wanna go check on Lee.”
“He is getting a medical check up with Doctor Salem right?” Reish asked, eyes still glued to the screen.
“Yeah”
Enris left the room and flew down the corridor towards the clinic attached to the barracks. She let herself in and pulled at the privacy curtain to see Jessica and Lee together in an embrace. She remained quiet as she saw their lips locked together.
“[We haven’t has much time together with everything that's been going on.]” Lee said tenderly pulling away from Jessica.
“[That girl is quite enamored with you Lee,]” Jessica said as she fixed her white medical coat.
“[You think?]”
“[I know, I see the way she looks at you Charles.]” She said with a frown on her face.
“[Well. Caruvann are quite clingy,]” He scratched his head.
“[It’s more than that. She is obsessed with you, every checkup my translator assistant says she does nothing but talk about you.]”
“[It can’t be that bad, I did save her life after all, twice.]” Lee pulled his tight shirt over his head, his stitches were gone and the skin patches started to match his normal body tone.
“[Just don’t lead her on Charles, I-]” Lee interrupted Jessica to embrace the woman again.
“[Is that a hint of jealousy I hear?]” Lee touched his lips to hers. “[You are the one I love Jessica.] Now if a certain girl could stop spying on me….”
Enris squeaked in surprise as she slowly came around the curtain.
“Eehee you caught me!” She said cutely trying to play off her mischief.
“Is everything okay Enris?” Lee asked as he kneeled down to her level.
“My stomach hurts…” She made an excuse.
Jessica set to checking the bruise on Enris’ stomach while Lee gave them some privacy.
“[I don’t see anything out of the ordinary unless-]” brrrt, “[Oh, hell Enris, that stinks.]”
“Oh god Enris, I can smell that from here.” Lee laughed. “Is that what made your stomach hurt?”
“Yes…” The girl drooped her ears on embarrassment. Both Jessica and Lee laughed, the doctor waving a hand over her face.
“[Charles what did you feed them!]”
“[It was just hamburgers I swear! Must be that damn cheese!]”
After that disgraceful episode, and a bit of excessive fanning from Dr. Salem, Lee pulled back the curtain and sat down next to Enris.
“They gave me new orders Enris, they want me to escort you and Reish to meet the leader of the Caruvann battlegroup, a man named Grand Coordinator Whuul.” He explained.
“G-Grand Coordinator Whuul!” She yelled, her wing swung open and hit Lee’s side.
“Yes, Do you know him?” Lee raised an eyebrow, a gesture she learned to read.
“Every Caruvann knows him! He’s one of the three leaders of the entire Caruvann people! The Caruvann are lead by Civil World Leader Trann, Intelligence Master Keeper Seruul, and the Military Grand Coordinator Whuul!” She explained with measured fear in her voice. “That means that Super Heavy Leader Vessel is the Shasu Kano Vol!”
Lee knew the words ‘Kano Vol’ translated to ‘Under God’. “The divine messenger of the Under God, I guess that translates to [Angel of Death]” Lee deducted.
“Promise me something Lee,” Enris grabbed Lee with a panicked look in her eyes.
“Woah, slow down Enris, take your time. All I want to do is help.” Lee placed his hands on her shoulders.
“[What’s going on Charles?]” Jessica asked with concern.
“[Let me hear her out, then I will explain.]” Lee looked back to Enris, “What can I do to help?”
“I don’t feel safe having Reish come along, something bad may happen since we are both rankless. Please Lee, keep him on Angel Heart.”
A serious expression hung over Lee like an ominous cloud. “I understand, are you sure you want to go?”
“It would be bad if I didn’t….” Enris settled down bringing her wings close to her body and her hands between her knees.
“Are you sure? You don-”
“I will go Lee, just keep Reish safe.”
The large man took a deep breath before he replied. “I’m going to talk to my commanding officer and see what I can do.”
[Lee, Colonel Graves Office]
“I can’t believe the amount of shit you’re trying to feed me Lee!” Graves pinned Lee against the wall with an arm across his chest.
“With all due respect-”
“What respect? You disobeyed me TWICE Lee! You don't give a rat’s ass unless its a flying rat's ass apparently! What? You wanna put the entire station in danger for some rat pussy, is that it Lee?”
“With...all...due...respect,” Lee clenched his fist trying to temper his anger.
“Can it Lee! If those fuzzy fucks are going to cause us trouble then turn them in and be done with it! I don't need you starting a war because you feel like playing animal shelter WITH MY BARRACKS! For fucks sakes you probably pissed off some other faction out there when you SHOT THEM DOWN! Did you think about that? I do, because Crimson Wing just made contact with another unknown, the shits hitting the fan Lee and it's all because you wanted to play superman you malfunctioning piece of hardware. I already put in a request to scrap you robotic fucks.” Graves spat with contempt.
Lee didn’t even notice as another person entered the room. The quiet assailant cocked the hammer back on the vintage Colt 1911 handgun and held it up to the side of the Colonel’s head.
“I denied that request, now let go of the boy Colonel.” Edison demanded with cold eyes.
“This is none of your business REAR Admir-”
“I’ve pulled the trigger enough times Graves, don’t test me.” Edison shut Graves down.
There was a tense pause in the room before Graves backed away from Lee.
“Now, shall we sit down and discuss this like decent human beings?” Edison holstered his side arm as the three of them took their seats, Graves behind the desk with Edison and Lee in front.
“This incident will be reported to the SOC Generals, Rear Admiral”
“Go ahead, I already have the transfer papers here stationing Miasma Wing on Excalibur. The ‘robotic fucks’ and the ‘flying rats’ will be under my care and out of your barracks soon enough.” Edison handed over the documentation.
“When will the SVC learn to follow the SOC chain of command….” He grumbled as he flipped through the papers.
“The moment the SOC remembers whose ships they serve on Colonel.” Edison shot back before taking a swig from the flask inside his jacket pocket.
“Fine, I’ll let you deal with this mess, though you caused of a lot of it Edison, just get out of my damn office.”
[Barracks Cantina]
Edison took a drag from his cigarette, the young pilot next to him seemed to be fighting his own demons, he had stayed rather quiet since they left the Colonel's office.
“Come on kid, you’re too young to be gloomy like this old man.” Edison said before taking a drink, today it was gin.
“There is some truth to what Graves said, maybe I have been fucking things up.” Lee said staring at a glass of water.
“Bartender, get the man something to drink for god’s sakes.”
“No, my docto-”
“Can wait, right now you need two things; something alcoholic, and an old bastard to listen to ya. So tell me, what’s on your mind?” The bartender replaced the water with covered glass of amber ale.
Lee stared at the sloshing fluid in the glass for a moment in silence. With a flick of his finger he popped it open and had a drink.
“I never thought about the fact I killed someone already. There just, wasn’t a connection between blowing up that ship and thinking about who was inside it.” Lee admitted in shame, his eyes distant as he seemed to peer through the fake wood bar.
“I feel ya kid, the realization takes time to settle it but it’s real. Has your father ever told you about the missions he flew?”
“No.”
“Now you know why, we do what we must but when the dust settles we have to justify to ourselves every life we took. For some of us it comes easy, but for Bruce, and you too I suppose, you are gonna question yourself if what you did was right.” Strands of Edison’s slick back hair fell forward, a fitting image for the mess of a man.
“Was it right?” Lee questioned before taking another drink.
“Would you leave the orphans to die?” Edison asked narrowing his eyes.
“No, absolutely not! But that doesn’t mean what I did was right, what if my actions put the entire station in danger?”
“Bruce said the same thing to me once, I can’t say to know how he handled his burden but I know how I handled mine.”
Lee was sure the answer was probably going to be ‘alcohol’ or ‘anime’ knowing the rumors of the Admiral. “I’m not sure it would help me to be quite honest.”
“It won't, but I feel I missed my chance to say it to Bruce…”
‘Something that he never even told Dad?’ Lee wondered, to say he wasn't curious in a morbid sense would be an outright lie.
“How?”
“Charles…” Lee gave a look of confusion as Edison addressed him by his first name, “I am still here because after the things I’ve done only hell awaits me when it’s over. But if I can take a little piece of that hell upon myself and keep someone else from making those damned soul crushing decisions, then I will gladly pass on with a smile.” He finished with a sick grin, now his eyes were staring off into some faraway memory.
“You’re right,” Edison turned his gaze back onto the young pilot. “That didn’t help me, but I learned something about you that you never even shared with my father, and that does mean something.” Lee put a hand on the older man’s back. “I don’t know what you and my father had to do during the Corporate War, but growing up he smiled every day and made me feel…I guess you could say he loved me very much, and even if saving them was the wrong choice, it was not the wrong one for me.”
Edison let out a chuckle, he knew the kid would be all right. The two men finished their drinks.
“Captain Lee, Gather your wing and prepare to board Excalibur tomorrow at oh-eight-hundred, I will arrange to have Reish stay with Bruce, Enris will be bunking with your team.”
Lee saluted the Admiral. “Sir, yes sir!”
“Dismissed.”
[Chapter 0] [Chapter 4][Chapter 6]