Chapter 4: A New Life

If there is one thing Congue didn’t think to prepare for was…an adventure, she had little to no food with her. Her civilian clothing and simple equipment didn’t lend itself properly for the long haul. Having walked at the edge of the forest for several hours now she thought there was a second way across the river, she was sure there was a way…somewhere. It was likely that the river simply took the natural walkway away with it eventually, walking back to the bridge was not an option for her either, especially after her resolve to get away from it.

Standing even longer around the edges of the forest her big companion noticed how the other was starring seemingly on the other side, without thinking twice or making much noise other than her natural body movement Coal was bringing her hand down, fingers moving over each side of Congues torso, who in turn was jerking her head back in surprise.

“whoa whoa whoa!”

The huge hand was wrapping around Congue, gently, calmly, like holding a newborn chick, slowly bringing her up the amphibian girl was finding out that height….wasn’t her strongest suit. Her stomach was feeling quite empty and falling. She was meters up in the air, slightly turning her neck to look upwards and behind her to see Coal emitting an aura of kindness. Holding onto the huge hand holding her a little too tight one huge wooden foot was placed in the roaring river, followed by the other one and…nothing, the water was going its way around like the two stumps have always been there. Slow steady and strong steps through the thick river, as quick as it happened so it was over, coming back out on the other side on a larger crossroad Coal brought Congue back down on the ground.

“wow, that was…thanks Coal”

Back on the safe ground on a washed up crossroad it was fairly easy to see which way was towards her old home, turning to the other two paths Congue could only choose the one through the flatter planes, she wanted to go as far away as possible. Walking to the other end of the crossroad was a road leading through the plains, surrounded by mountains on one side while the river is still going along the other.

Congue didn’t know how long her journey through this even path was but she sure hoped to not have to start living in the wilderness for eternity. Her stomach was starting to grumble, the tarpaulin she has isnt doing much against the harsh cold this weather is providing. Her big friend who was trotting alongside her, fairly loudly thanks to their size and weight, even leaving tree-stump imprints on the beaten path.

“ugh…im so hungry….”

The pair has been travelling for half a day now, all that Congue had left in her was the residue energy of the leftover food from hours ago, Coal seemed to notice this fact and felt a little worried about her friend. As if fate itself was on her side, or Congue was just lucky as the river started to travel to the left the path was starting to wander to the right towards the hills, looking past the path Congue could notice some lights on a small hill, even through the rain, it really gave Congue renewed energy to move forward, warmth, food, shelter it was only a hand reach away.

But nothing is as easy as it first looks, the closer the lights get the more Congue realised this was a small wooden settlement in their way, sure she wanted to go forward but the constant ever-present stomping of her companion made her realise it might not be the best idea to enter a village with such a huge companion.

Leading the big loaf onto the plain there was the occasional lonely treepatch, with a lot of body movements, pointing and demonstration Congue was able to tell Coal, some what, to blend into the trees so both of them would be save, the footprints where vanishing away from the beaten path and Congue was waving at Coal with a smile before making her away towards the small settlement.

The closer she came the more different it looked to her multistory massive home, it was tiny in comparison, small tiny wooden houses so-rounded by a tiny fence, it looked pretty cute to Congue. There was only one guard at the front of the gate and they already looked weird to her, they where covered in similar weather protecting armor but their skin looked…strangely smooth. Congue couldn’t help but look at them as she passed them, who looked only at the front.

The two dozen or so wooden houses where all over the places behind the middle path, some where aligned on the road for merchants while the more civilian housing was behind, the small bazar had some people trading their local wares, most notable for Congue was again..some of these peoples skins where so smooth that she almost felt out of place. All she had in her pocket where a few leftover coins which she hoped she could use for some food and a better weapon.

Advertising of services food and items was loud and boisterous to try and outdo the loud storm and rain. Congue quickly realized than a few loose silver coins meant next to nothing in a market, every advertised meal would take away all of her loose coins and leave nothing for equipment, she couldn’t buy full adventurer gear or a weapon which would leave her with nothing for the other things. It made the poor girl look lost and out of place in the mid of the buzzing bazar and wandering locals.

Hunger, a great adversary in the face of several fresh produce, meats and other delicacy, it was getting increasingly unruly in this place to the point Congue was holding her stomach for a moment as if to tell it to just be quiet. But as much as she was hungry her decision was soon made for her, from one second to another the entire small village is filled with a massive loud wail, overshadowing whatever the thunder could have done, many looked into the direction of the entrance with worry and fear.

“T..t..this is….”

“It cant be, it never was this close before!”

“Lets hope this monster isnt gonna get any closer….”

“Nonsense, people said it never goes outside of forests!”

Murmurs where going about the plaza, the market was standing still for a few moments at these loud worrying wails, however, it was entirely different, the first wail stung her heart the subsequent wails where making this feeling only worse, her friends voice didn’t sound scared, or angry but….sad. It made her choice of what to buy with her little money a quicker forced choice.

She didn’t want to consider things too much longer, there was no time for much food, Congue quickly chose between two things, first was running to the other side and quickly call out to the gear attendant for a cloak and a tunic, the cheapest ones they had, leaving the girl with only a coin or two left which she quickly called out towards a food vendor for whatever she can get, thanks to congue still trying to buy stuff the market was slowly going back to their routine. Congues desperation might have helped get her some food since she got more than she thought she would with the last coins she had. It certainly wasn’t enough to really fill a stomach, but enough to calm it down.

Congue didn’t care she was in a city, she quickly removed her shirt, leaving her in her cloth underwear and putting on her new cheap tunic and cloak. Shoddily folding together her old shirt she was fastening ti around her buckle since she doesn’t have a bag or anything to properly transport equipment yet, for possible later use. With a cloak now better hiding her from the rain she ran outside again towards the patch of trees and the source of the wail, coal was lucky in a sense that her wails where intimidating to most people but not her friend. Running up to the patch coal looked down to congue who was running inside and quickly hugging one of Coals large treefeet.

“Sorry Coal….im here, its okay……”

“…..roooooooo….”

A smaller almost dormant wail followed, a more relieved one, happy knowing that nothing had happened to her friend. It was like a lost child who desperately searched for its mother. Congue didn’t let go for a good while before deciding to let go and going back on the road. Technically, for Congue knew she cant exactly wander through a small village with a companion bigger than any of the buildings in it. They would go this safe distance they are around the entire thing, through as many patches of trees as possible just in case.

Once they where on the other side next to the beaten path the hills where getting increasingly higher, leading to a huge mountain Congue previously only barely saw the top of when the weather was occasionally not as terrible as it is right now.

“hmmmm….”

Seeing this mountain and her own desire to experience more things, it was almost natural for her to want and climb this thing and see more of this land then she ever has before. It was a long journey ahead but a journey she wanted to experience nonetheless. Armed with better gear and a enhanced wooden knife she had gotten as a present years ago they started to venture forth directly down the slow slope towards the faraway mountain.

Chapter 3: Monotony Departure

It is a cold harsh World, a world with never changing weather, always the same wooden buildings, the same forest, the same people, it was surprisingly refreshing to have found a weird gemstone in the forest, never could Congue have known that it turned out to be such an infamously known species of a creature, Congue always was interested in the story’s she heard and read but never truly believed them until now. Coal was right in front of her, Congues finger was held in this weirdly warm embrace that she just couldn’t put into words, her stomach was all warm and fuzzy, a smile was even spreading across her hurt face, until faint calls and screams make her pull back and jerk her head behind the tree she was leaning against.

“CONGUE, CONGUE ARE YOU THERE? CONGUE!”

Coal looked at the general directions Congue did, followed by looking down at her new friend, who looked relieved a little for a second upon hearing this voice only to start sinking into a face of worry looking up at Coal. Congue knew somewhat who they would send into the woods to rescue someone and she didn’t like it one bit, not just for herself but also her newly named friend.

“we gotta hide you Coal, stay still!”

Bending down Congue was quickly grabbing all the mud and loose twigs she can to smear it all over the large core Coal had that connected the bottom and top half of this walking tree. It was a shoddy and quick job that Coal just watched the other do with a puzzled tilted head. But with the weather and the darkness of the forest Congue hoped it was good enough to hide from the encroaching person who seemed to have several other people in tow.

“Congue? Is that you?”

“……”

With the last two days being the most exciting thing Congue had ever experienced hearing the faraway voice of her some of her people felt like she was being dragged back into the boring monotony of her everyday life. There was no movement from Congue, there was no peep when being called out, standing in front of the shoddily covered glowing stone she tried to shield it even more.

“Congue?….CONGUE!”

The search party looked into the general direction of Congues position, the rain, the storm, the trees, everything was working against the group, eventually they continued on their search into another direction when it didn’t look like Congue was there. She could have called out to them but returning to such monotony is akin to a nightmare for her. She wanted to have more exciting stuff happen, she wanted to see, feel and experience and no such thing would be possible in that wooden prison.

Meanwhile Coal had been looking down puzzled, getting the glow covered had her confused, seeing Congue turn around and feel so worried about something in the distance there was only one thing Coal knew to do, getting rid of whatever scary thing was worrying her new friend so much. Loud far-reaching creeks started to permeate the area, Congue quickly turned around to see Coal start getting up, Which she wanted to prevent by trying to point down.

At the same time the group trying to find Congue where turning around as well, thinking this to be a simple approaching pack of wolfs or a single monster they readied their weapons, a deafening loud wailing rorar from high atop the trees, any nearby animal brave enough to brace this weather was fleeing from its source. The nearest person, Congue, was holding her ears shut. The group tasked to find Congue had it the worst, for the instantly recognized this loud voice from above and the loud creaking of wood as a quick sign for one of the most dangerous creatures in the land, tempestas arbor.

“GET BACK, RETREAT!”

No small group of scouts, warriors or adventures with a sound mind would take on a huge beast like this without the proper preparations, a group of scouts has just enough to get to and fro their assigned location. Only a few moments later the deafening sound of the wail had stopped as quickly as it came up. The huge walking tree bend down through the thick of the woods to see if their little companion was alright, Congue was both worried and relieved, on one hand she realized she had made a powerful friend, on the other, there was no way she could bring them near any highly populated area.

“…..thanks Coal…”

Being left alone by some people she may have known, Congue didn’t feel to inclined to return right now, she wanted to spend some more time with her new friend and see how things are going. Congue was exhausted and Coal would soon realized that, in a slow and long motion Coal was sprawling wooden legs on the floor to make sure the warmth of the Core was as close to the ground as possible, the mud has already partially washed off. With the large hands held over the space between the wooden grown legs to shield some of the rain away.

“…..”

There was nothing else said from Congue, with a warm smile like no other she stepped under the makeshift hand-tent to sit down and lean against the warm core. A lot has been happening for Congue today, it took a bit of a toll, Congue fell asleep in the warm light of the glowing core. Her dreams where pleasant, almost weirdly serene, when she woke up it was not from the harsh constant stormy weather, it was naturally from her own body having enough.

It was a strange feeling to sleep properly, yawning, stretching gently against the giant wooden creatures core until she actually realised again what had happened. Quickly getting up Congue looked up at Coal, who in turn was pulling away their hands to “Look” back at the compatibly tiny girl. There was a lot of time to think for Coal, nobody seemed to be searching for her right now, her mind has been in shambles the last two days because of the very thing that made her sleep so soundly. The last two days, while very dangerous where more exciting than anything she had ever done or seen before, it was truly exhilarating.

Looking back, literally to where her wooden home should be, there was little she felt binding her to this place, the same people, the same tasks, the same environment, painfully boring. It was than and there Congue decided she wanted a more drastic change, no, she needed that change, there was no going back to the same boring day to day life. Congue wanted to go back a little internally but she also knew if she where to do that she likely wont have a chance to truly escape this life again, at least not such a good chance as right now.

Having gained a friend like this, it only gave Congue that much more incentive to escape, what friends lie ahead? What plants, trees, people may she see? It was giving her the biggest smile she could have ever had, so much so it was showing her jagged teeth. Turning back around towards her new friend Congue looked up with the same happy smile, saying confidently:

“Wanna go Somewhere far away?”

Coal seemed to partially understand what the little one wanted from her, judging by how they looked at each other, followed by a nod from the amphibious girl who pointed towards the direction of the river was going, which was the opposite of her home.

“Than lets see what the path leads us to Coal!”

Congue had little to call her own on hand right now, a tarpaulin, basic leather gear, a wooden knife and a huge legendary companion. She didn’t need more right, she didn’t want more. When Congue began to walk forward Coal needed a moment to actually follow suit, due to their size difference Congue was making fast small steps, meanwhile Coal was making slow loud stomping steps, any and all trees or plants in her wake where gently pushed aside by sheer size, rarely if any trees or bushes are broken, Coal was a defender of nature and hurting her fellow trees was not an option.

Coal took notice of that as soon as they reached the end of the forest where the loud roaring river lay only a meter away from them. Looking out Congue could barely see her wooden home anymore, while on the other side her smaller hills and empty planes. There was little choice Congue need to do as she sat her blue eyes towards the planes next to the forest they where in, which was the exact opposite of her PREVIOUS home.

“Lets go Coal, a Trip awaits!”

Chapter 2: Wailing Coal

During the rest of the day Congue just couldn’t stop thinking about this strange yellow glow she saw in the deep woods, during her daily tasks of cleaning the halls and helping in the kitchens Congue was taking longer than she usually does. Almost daydreaming about what it was that she truly saw. When the supposed night came the amphibious girl couldn’t go to sleep properly, instead of laying down Congue sprawled her hands on the windowsill, laying her head on top and looking outside at the roaring thunder and pouring rain. She was in a prime position to look towards the Expansive mass of trees, thinking about what other mysteries lie beyond, as the girl looked over the trees Congue had to blink once or twice before rubbing her eyes, for a split second the teen thought she saw a small glimpse of the yellow light from earlier today but when looking again there was nothing. With this strange light now everything she could think about Congue yawned out aloud, giving the trees one last look before she finally laid down on the bed to give it a rest, happy to know she can return tomorrow.

The night was as short like any other day, but unlike previous days or even weeks, the weather was particularly violent today, so violent and unforgiving that Congue woke up so harshly she had fallen out of the bed as a sheer reacting. Congue was not the only one who would wake up so roughly, several others including adults where forced awake. It sounded like a battlefield, a war of gods in the heavens raining down. Some where worried, a few where scared, but Congue didn’t worry about safety right now, her true care was about glowing thing she saw, a gem, a crystal, whatever it was the thing was far more interesting than any other thing in and around here.

Sure Congue was worried about what was going on over the forest, foggy thoughts where forced aside to get up and prepare herself a little better than last time, or at least she tried to, having never been on the job as a scout of adventurer, sans her own willing explorations she had little equipment to call her own. Having put on her usual trusty leather-gear Congue planned to take one of the tarpaulins usually used by the guards outside. Being on cleaning duty almost every day caused the teen to not be seen as strange when walking around almost anywhere in the massive wooden complex.

Travelling further down to the barracks and supplies Congue opened the door to the designated guard equipment area, taking too much would have been far to suspicious, choosing to only take the tarpaulin from a rack of many, one missing surely wouldn’t be noticed. The real challenge was not sneaking past other residents, the tarpaulin was small enough Congue was able to wrap it around her stomach under the leathery gear. The problem was gonna be the guards who rarely let anyone go out with weather as bad as this.

Getting outside Congue was immediately hit by the ear rupturing sound of the increased thunder, the strong wind was hitting her in the face, stomping towards the gate the two guards where hugging the wall to escape as much of this weather as possible. Calling out to the pair the amphibious teen was loudly speaking to them to out drown the sound of the weather.

“Let me out!”

“Are you out of your mind? Cant you feel this weather??”

“I don’t care! I have to know what this light in the forest was!”

“The forest? Right now? You are going to the heart of the storm! This is outrageous!”

“Id rather get slapped around by the weather before I die of boredom in here! Now open the gate!

“……”

The two guards where looking at each other with concern, Congue was known by the guard already to be a stubborn old mule in the worst situation, neither wanted to leave their post to drag Congue back to the elder for proper scolding. They also know this stubbornness was helping the girl come out of some bad situations before, praying to the gods above internally that Congue was gonna be alright. Slowly opening the gates, fighting against the wind to actually make it open a gap for Congue to slowly waddle through. Both gatekeepers slowly watched Congue with worry vanish in the darkness of the storms before the gate was slammed shut from the strong wind.

Once she was out of sight the drenching wet girl took out the tarpaulin and wrapped it around herself. Trying to go down the beaten path she usually does it was more difficult than ever, logs and stones are nowhere to be seen, once helping people get down the narrow winding path Congue couldn’t use her claws to hold anything but wet mud. Going down took long careful steps, careful to not slip or be blown away. Eventually down on more even ground Congue was occasionally lightly jumping from the worst sudden sounds of the constant storms.

Of course with such a weather Congue wanted to use the fastest path available to her, the sturdy bridge over the overflowing river, but the closer she got the more worried the girl got, never has she seen the bridge almost engulfed by the water below. Every streaming wave was hitting the bridge, making it rattle but not buckle under such intense pressure. Standing a few meters away from this danger Congue hesitated a little, internally battling her fear with the desire to find some entertainment in her boring life.

Steeling her brittle nerves Congue charged forward a little too fast, a few steps on the rattling bridge, followed by a wave hitting the underside had caused Congue to slip and fall to her knees, trying to get on the floor, looking over the reinforced rails Congues eyes where widening as she saw a wave higher than the railing start approaching the bridge. If this girl weren’t light on her clawed feet it might have ended worse for her, having gotten up the claws digging into the bridge helped keep her movements quick and nimble despite how drenched everything was.

A few steps off the bridge into the wet grimy dirt Congue was throwing herself against a tree to get some leverage without falling face first into the mud, again. Looking back the wave just splashed over the entire bridge, Congue could have seriously hurt herself, or worse, getting swept away into the watery abyss. This was quite enough danger for the girls liking, being over such a dangerous path there was little she could do without having to go back the same way, or risk a beast going the long way around.

Letting go of the tree the unforgiving weather was shielded away a little bit by the thick tress again, the path was little more muddy than it was yesterday Congue thought such stormy at least would stave away animals and beasts away from the action to find shelter, the longer she wadded through the path this theory was believed to be more and more true. Quite a naive way of thinking in an area like a thick forest, proven wrong only three thirds on the way there, a familiar roar followed by a second one can be heard somewhere around. Quickly turning her head in every possible direction to find the source, nothing to be seen Congue had to choose to either run to the bridge for safety, or quickly find the way towards the dim light from before.

Nonlogical to the teen herself she chose to go for the curious object instead of the bridge, knowing roughly where she went to last time Congue ran for her dear short life into the thick of the woods against the beaten path, stormy above, two growls and roars behind her and finally, a distant dim yellow light in front. Each sensory overload was getting worse with each fast step, the beasts hungry growls are encroaching, the dim yellow light is getting closer and the roaring thunder above was increasingly loud and frequent.

Slowly Congue was able to partly see what the dim light actually came from, a head-sized stone was engulfed in a slender smooth barked tree, still a got bit away from the stone Congue started to reach out with her sharp nailed hand, not once looking back at the loud growls of two beasts about to pounce her from behind, just a little bit more and she can die knowing her effort to get rid of the boredom in her life was successful.

An ear rupturing deafening sounds of thunder followed, the light blinding both Congue and the beast behind, each wincing in slight pain, barely gracing the large stone the blinding light traveled down , the thunder striking the stone, white light of the thunder replacing with the blinding yellow shine of the struck thing. The hit alone had created a force powerful enough to throw Congue back and into the muddy ground against the roots of a tree, two unknown beasts scared by what was happening where starting to quickly retreat.

Congue was dizzy, her vision was starting to fade, the last two things she was able to perceive was a seemingly massive brown hand reaching out to her, followed by what she can only describe as a sad scream, than everything went black.

Wet, darkness, nothingness….Congue had been knocked out by the created blast for an untold number of hours, at the verge of waking up from the forced slumber Congue felt strangely warm, almost thinking she just had a bad dream, slowly opening her eyes she quickly closed them again, having gone from nothing to yellow light all up in her face was a little too much, pushing herself away from something strangely smooth but hard a sad sounding cry louder than the surrounding thunder can be heard directly from above.

Holding her ears for a second her eyes started opening again to the yellow head-sized glowing stone engulfed in smooth bark right in front of her, as more of her vision started to return it looked like a very weirdly shaped tree was right around it, there was some curves a split below into two normal tree long stumps, further up Congue couldn’t believe what she was seeing, eyes going truly wide in astonishment and frankly, fear. It was no ordinary tree, a vaguely humanoid shape, massive tree legs, branches intertwining to form humongous arms, smooth as skin bark almost looking like a human unmoving face. Half burned head, partially burned shoulders, it was something Congue had only read about, a thing some adults claim to have seen from afar, Tunitrua Arbor, a legendary famed creature told to wander through almost all woods in the land, protecting nature first and foremost.

Backed up against a tree Congue had never feared for her life more than she did at this very moment, some smaller monsters where one thing but this thing taller than most trees around the area could kill her with a single finger. Another loud sad sounding cry followed, the source now being clear, this massive tree was making this sound. The thing started to move its entire body lower, every small movements making its smooth bark creek loudly, Congue in a vain attempt to protect herself was holding both of her hands over her head in fear.

The loud creaking soon stopped and the teen thought she was a second away from death…only nothing came, for moments there was no movements from either side until the girl VERY slowly started to remove her hands to see what was going on, only to let out a small gasp upon seeing the frozen bark of a face in front of her, looking from side to side not knowing what to do she started to look back at what where small holes for eyes. A much less loud wail of sadness coming from the things frozen bark-lips, only for one of the hands to creek forwards, slowly the closer it got the more Congue could feel the sheer size difference between the two, the branch intertwined jagged index finger? Of the beast was stopping a hand-reach away from the girl.

Congue was looking at the somewhat burned hand, than at the face and back, there was a certain feeling in the amphibian, that this person? felt…..not happy, slowly reaching out her own hands towards the huge finger, stopping for a second a centimetre before contact just in case. With nothing happening again Congue finally reached out and very gently touched the barked finger, there was this strange warm feeling again, it caused Congue to pull back in response. Congue tried reaching out a second time and sure enough, this nice warm feeling was there again.

“what is this….you feel lonely…want me to give you a name?”

No idea if this thing can even understand her Congue tried to talk, the fact it wasnt moving away still and the warm feeling was not vanishing gave her enough of a push to give it a name, after having seen the rumoured things entire being there was only one thing coming to her mind.

“you know what? Im going to call you…..Coal, Im Congue, its nice to meet you.”

Chapter 1: Woodland Dangers

The night was loud, every few seconds the rumble of thunder was breaking its silence, the pouring rain endlessly drenching the outside world in its cold embrace, Yes it was quite the normal night.

The blinding light of the constantly roaring thunder was illuminating every wooden room unfortunate enough to have a window to shine through, every single blast appeared to be bigger than the previous, striking random trees outside, accompanied by the occasional roar of a nearby beast. Most Adults had gotten used to the never ending unforgiving nature of the weather, rarely do they wake up from such commotion outside. While teens and children still have to get used to it, causing them to often wake up in the middle of the night.

Yellow eyelids shot open after a particularly close thunder struck down, followed quickly by another making the young girl jerk up from the wooden bed, quickly turning her head towards the only window in the room. She continued to watch the gods angrily smite the earth for a few minutes, not knowing how late, or early it is for that matter she was in a little bit of a loss. Not feeling that tired after being woken up so violently her nictating membrane wet the girls dark blue filled eyes a few times before finally deciding that sitting in bed just wasnt enough anymore.

Pulling the single brown cloth sheet aside, putting both 3 toed, clawed feet on the wooden ground, sighing out Congue stood up and walked towards the smaller cupboard on the other side of the room. Rummaging through the first drawer Congue took out a fresh pair of underwear. On top of the cupboard was Congues trusty pair of leather pants, an old hand me down that she will wear until the very last thread can hold. While she started to put on her pair of somewhat rubbery cloth-shirt the creek of her wooden door alter her to a familiar presence, making the girl slightly hunch over and wince knowing who it was already*

“Going out alone again…you think you can really find it?” It was quite the imposing figure compared to the smaller yellow scaled teen. dark green scaled from top the bottom, a thick leathery rubber coated pair of pants and blouse, long nailed hands crossed in a neutral questioning gaze.

“Maybe, just the woods this time, im gonna be careful, proooomise” Drawing out her last syllable Congue wasnt entirely sure she was going to hold up her own word, the imposing figure likely knew so as well, as they only sighed out in defeat and left the room again, leaving Congue to her own devices, after having put on her leather rubber coated gear, armed with little more than a small wooden knife she closed the room to her door from the outside.

The halls are and narrow, not a single stone or metal nearby, Congue did wonder about why stone was so taboo, she understood metal, but stone? nobody could ever tell her a proper answer. Not many people where out and about during this time of the day, minus the occasional amphibious comrade here and there. Of course the main entrance was wood as well, protected on both sides by at least two guards in near fully rubber armour, wooden weapons and a rubber helmet.

“Going out?”, one of the guards was address Congue directly, neither where raising their arms or making an attempt to inquire more about the young girl going out.

“Just open the door already.” Slowly getting impatient with the checkups the guards looked at each other before each got closer to the door to slowly open the door to the wild outside. This wasn’t the first time Congue was getting out to explore her surroundings but it was still intimidating seeing such unfiltered weather up close. The rain was pouring down hard, drenching anything and anyone in moments once they step out. The thunder was now closer than ever, harsh, loud, unyielding. Holding one arm over her eyes around her forehead to shield herself a little from the weather she stepped outside, the wooden doors closing behind her with a barely audible creek.

The wooden structure was situated on top of a smaller hill, requiring Congue to traverse down a narrow path with care, logs and some occasional natural stones are buried into the ground to make it easier to hold onto the ground with their clawed 3 toed feet. After a few minutes Congue reached the flatter grounds, looking to her right she saw the woods beyond a small flooding river, on the other side she some mountains. There where only two ways for her to go, between the mountains and the river to find an easier path over the river, or go directly over the small bridge right next to her.

Congue likes to claim she was a brave explorer and adventurer but in reality Congue was very much a young teen in both body and mind, heart racing faster, beating in the chest like the harsh percussion of drums but her sense of wonder and curiosity was stronger. Choosing to go over the quicker more dangerous wooden reinforced bridge Congue stepped closer until only a few meters away. The water overflowing in the raging river was almost out drowning the sounds of the constantly banging thunder around the land.

With two fences on each side the bridge had some increased minor protection for whoever dared to cross it. First clawed step from wet dirt onto the bridge the teen claws where digging harshly into wood, a little worried that she could be swept away at any moment, long nailed hands never letting go of the fenced railings, not until she would reach the other side, each step was slow, methodical, right around reaching the middle of the long bridge it was shaking a little when a particularly strong current hit the underside. Congue was kneeling down between the railings in case the bridge would be engulfed, luckily there was little more afterwards.

Slowly getting up again Congue continued her slow clawed steps to reach the other side, full of trees in increasingly bigger sizes. The ground was rough and coarse, much easier to traverse for her race, Feeling a massive amount of relieve when fresh new ground was under both of her feet she looked back at the river again for a moment almost as if taunting nature itself that she made it out unscathed. Children where often taught to not go out alone, even less to the more dangerous places, but Congue could never help herself, even as a small child getting herself in trouble was a daily routine. The last time she went to the woods the weather wasn’t as bad as it is today, being with a group also helped stave of the more dangerous creatures in the deep ends.

Some trees where showing sideways, a few where fallen or had oddly numbered branches, the seemingly unending woods where no at all ordinary in shape and size. On the other hand it did make finding landmarks somewhat easier for the more attentive soul. It was finally time to continue the girls search for the famed wailing tree, a tree that rumours say had been crying out so loud it was reaching the small mountain buildings during the darkest most dangerous nights. In the last few years however the wailing has fallen silent, for Congue the wailing sounded sad whenever she heard it, which caused her to go out in the first place.

Waddling her first steps through the oddly shaped trees the occasional sound of birds and critters was barely audible over the constant thunder yet again, it made exploring such a place for specific sounds very difficult. Thanks to how thick the tress where the drenched girl didn’t have to deal with that much more rain until the journey back.

Congue looked onto the ground constantly despite the natural agility her feet had possessed, in case she found something interesting buried in the ground, despite rubble, wet dirt and some broken branches there was little interesting for her so far. Going further into the deep forest, making sure to remember the weirdest landmarks to make it back. The tree branches weren’t the only thing oddly shaped, the ground often had different kinds of roots jutting out from below which caused Congue to eventually stumble forward, falling onto knees and palms, legs and hands now not only wet but grimy with dirt Congue could do little to clean herself until getting back home.

Once having gotten back up the amphibious teen heard a loud ripping of wood scarily nearby, quickly jerking her head towards the sound the only thing noticeable was trees, trees and more trees. Such a sound sparked the girls curiosity again, despite the red flags raised in her head she wanted to see where this came from. Going away from a more clearer path Congue heard another loud creek, now getting more clearer it was soon accompanied by the faraway hue of something glowing a dim yellow, before the teen could get a better look at what this glowing thing was a loud howling growl was right next to her eyes. Moving to the left she could only catch the glimpse of something fast moving between the trees, Like many of her kind Congue has been taught when real danger was a foot, to run away as fast as possible, turning around using the claws on her 3 toed feet to their fullest she sprinted back to where she departed from the path.

The growling was seemingly getting closer, soon followed by the constant creaking and breaking of branches in the trees. Back o the small wilderness path she came from Congue didn’t stop to run, breathing getting heavier, heart pounding in her chest the girl was neglecting the spot she stumbled over, letting her feet push against the root a second time, only this time she landed face first in the dirt, painting her entire front brown. Eyes filled with mud, jagged teeth tasting the wet dirt, be it a stroke of luck or random genius as the growling was almost right behind her Congue turned around, now dirty on all sides she attempted to hide herself in the wet dirt from the beast dashing over her.

The growling was still nearby, the beast was sniffing and prowling the area around the beaten path, Congue didn’t dare to open her eyes, laying still as if life had left her body, minus her heart that was beating so loudly it felt it was drowning out the very thunder. Several agonizing minutes would pass but the beast had eventually given up on finding this prey, leaving it to howl aloud angrily before running into the deeper parts of the oddly shaped woods.

Many more minutes would pass before Congue was finally opening her set of eyes to see if the coast was clear, seeing no beast, hearing nothing but the nature, the creaking seemingly gone as well she got up from the wet dirt and started waddling back to the bridge. Congue was not the best in properly preparing herself for scouting’s and adventures but she now had something she actually wanted to find. Whatever this yellow dimly glowing thing was it was something soon to be called her own.

The bridge was as ever shaky as before, the river neither more or less raging, the path back home over it was only a little faster thanks to the beast who had just chased her. Back onto the mainland it felt as if a lot of danger sense was flying off of her. Something that was starting to be replaced with a bit of shame knowing she had to get back looking like a little mudmonster.

Closer to the gate tow guard on top of either side of the wooden gates watchtowers where raising their eyebrows at the muddy girl. Giving the signal to the other set of guards behind the door it would slowly start to creek open again. The mudmonster was sheepishly stepping into safety as one of the guards failed to hold back a chuckle. “what an adventure you must have been on Mudpie”

“Yeah yeah, save it for another time!” Really talking back to one of these guards neither took the girls backhand that serious, letting her wander to the lower parts of the building where the shared bathroom resides. There was little but none around outside, stepping into the bathroom there was only one other adult woman already rinsing herself with the water from the middle wooden bowl. Water was falling of the womans scaled, taking whatever dirt was on them with them.

Congue didn’t care another women was present, having been taught that bathing together was perfectly normal, dirty mudfilled clothed where falling to the ground at the edge of the the other side of the waterbowl. Sitting down on the stool Congue sighed out, turning the attention from this woman towards her, neither knew each other much than the occasional passing*

“You look awfully dirty”

“Gonna make fun of me as well?”

“I didn’t intend to, I have been young once as well.”

“Good, just let me clean myself in peace, please”

“Alright than, but just let me say one thing, be careful alright?”

Standing up from her own stool the older woman was done cleaning herself, Congue could only roll her eyes, of course she knew “to be careful” but if she where to be only that all the time she wouldnt never find interesting stuff outside again. The water in the bowl was cold, using a smaller plate to take water out of the bowl she let it splash over her eyes and almost hairless head, letting out a breath of relieve to get clean. Following with the rest of the scaled on her body and soon feet she cleaned herself up as good as she could while thinking aloud about what she saw, already making plans on trying to find the same place tomorrow again.

“Sigh, just what was that yellow thing….”

Before i loose anyone right at the beginning, this is not to bash Microsoft or windows, but solely to highlight linux but not put it above windows either. Both have their uses in their own right. With that out of the way let us start with a small history lesson.

Linux has been around for a very long time, in 1991 Linus Torvalds created a system kernel for his own personal use, at first there was no real intention to make it usable on any other platform but only a short time later the kernel has expanded to a huge array of different devices, from pcs to routers to phones, it is used in many devices you probably wouldn’t even think of. It was free of use the moment it has gone public, everybody could use it and alter it to their own wishes and is another huge factor that made it so widely used. all 500 of the top supercomputers all run linux.
But lets not get to far ahead, what IS the Linux kernel exactly? The linux kernel can be considered the brain and skeleton of an operating system, without the kernel it can not function properly. On top of said kernel all Linux operating systems build on to make their own unique OS.

Distributions (distros for short) and package managers

If an operating system is built on top of the linux kernel it isnt really referred to as an OS, one such “OS” is usually referred to as a “distribution” since its build on preexisting lines of codes.
There is one last thing a distro needs to fully function, a package manager, without the package manager you would not be able to install programs. for example, it could be compared to windows and their exe file format, it functions only in windows and without it no program could be installed or work correctly, in the same way a linux distro has their own file format it needs to function, unless said distro is built on top of an already existing distro. Let me give some examples of distros that have been made on top of the linux kernel, and than well shall dive deeper into what makes linux even more unique.

Distributions build on the linux kernel.

Here i will provide a few examples of “made from scratch” linux distros, there are quite a few so i will only go over a few popular ones.
let us start with the de facto linux distro, the oldest still in development distro to this day and the one distro msot often used as a base for others.

Debian

Debian has been released in 1992 and is in development to this day. from 1994 to 1995 debian was funded by FSF (free software foundation) both parties keeping the free nature of linux. When the partnership ended debian formed their own nonprofit so they could continue working on debian while always keeping it free at the same time.

Red Hat linux

Red hat linux, developed in 1994, a popular distro that is not only for the regular user but is often used by companys and smaller independent studios. 20 years ago when graphical installers have not been very common yet red hat introduced the g-installer known as Anaconda to make installations a little easier.

Arch linux

Arch linux can be considered an outliner in the linux world, it does not offer a graphical installer like most distros today, developed in 2002 arch follows what is known as the KISS principle, K-eep I-i S-imple S-stupid, as such when one decides to install arch they have to do by hand what graphical installers offer, it doesnt have its own desktop either, but due to its “simple” nature many users swear by it as it inevitable makes you more understanding of the linux system and your own pc as a result.
It is not recommend for beginners at all.
The biggest thing that sets it apart is its package manager and wiki, the AUR ( arch user repository) is considered the holy grail of programs, if there is a niche program you need its very likely someone made it available on the AUR, its very uncommon to not find something on the AUR. The AUR very possibly dwarfs any other package manager with the sheer amount of things it has.

Solus

Even under original linux distros solus can be considered a little special, it is a very young system only existing since 2015, but in that short amount of time it managed to garner its own devoted following due to its clean interface and their original in house developed desktop known as budgie.

Opensuse

opensuse is another longtime runner of original distros, most popular in enterprise spaces this can be considered the de facto distro for companys due to how widely its used by them.

Distributions made over others distros

Here is where the real beauty of linux shines, 99% of distros are all free, no charges to use the distro in question and their free natures allows them to be altered in any way, and A LOT have done so, there are easily hundreds of different distros that all have one of the earlier or others as their base. here we will dive into popular choices once more and what makes them unique.

Ubuntu

Ubuntu is another de facto distro that is build on top of debian, on its own its an easy to use distro but not only that ubuntu is one of the most widely forked distros to date, right after debian itself.

Linux Mint Cinnamon

A pleasing to the eye classical distro build on top of ubuntu which in turn is build on debian, it touts itself as very easy to use and an easy switch for newcomers and previous windows users, it uses its in house developed “cinnamon” desktop reminiscent of older version desktops and the windows desktop. It is without a doubt one of the most popular distros due to how easy and out of the box the experience with it is.

Manjaro Linux

Another very popular distro which it build on arch linux, making it able to pull from the very popular Arch user repository and its vast software resources. Manjaro does not have its own desktop but offers a handful of version with different desktops maintained by the official team and the community.

Elementary OS

This one is very different early on, unlike most distros its desktop is less reminiscent of windows but more of apples mac os. Elementary is by many considered one of the most beautiful distro due to how is uses its own interface and graphical fidelity, if you are a mac user and want to switch this is the easiest choice.

Last words and summary

I could go on for practically forever about how many different distributions are out there, if there is one specific user-case you will most likely find a distro for it and that is the real beauty of linux, its extremely versatile and can be altered for any user-case you want. Dont like any of the choices? you can make your own build on the one closest to your needs, there is literally no end to what someone can do with linux.
Want it to look like windows? linux can do that, want it to look like mac? linux can do that to.
To show you how many distros there really are i will leave you with a link to a comprehensive picture, thank you for reading.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1b/Linux_Distribution_Timeline.svg

The Nintendo Wars series, or more commonly knows titles “Advance wars” is a series of turn based strategy games made by Intelligent system, the same people that are behind Fire emblem. The series itself has been going since 1988 until the last title came out in 2008. here i will explore all titles a little and what separates them, how it is similar to fire emblem and how the franchise came to an end.

Similarities and differentiation:

Let us start with the most obvious, both wars and fire emblem feature basically the same top down strategy view, when two units attack each other a zoomed in view will let you see a small animation how the battle turned out.

When it comes to the series releases, both have not been released outside of japan until their respective Gameboy advance titles, said titles have garnered each series their respective claim to fame, but this is where both titles similarities start to spread and make both unique in their own way.

Where FE features unique characters as units Wars has like a classic strategy game units to buy, said units do not have names nor personalities, however that does not mean Wars is without unique characters, this is where Commanders come in, providing special powers to help their units gain an edge.

Wars titles:

Here i will provide a short summary of each title in chronological order and what they brought to the franchise.

Famicom Wars 1988

Famicom wars starts the series out in a very simple 15 map campaign between orange star and blue moon, there is no notable commander yet to speak of other than a guest appearance of samus aran as an opposing commander in the map called “donut island”.

Gameboy Wars 1991

In gameboy wars we have red star and white moon fighting against each instead, unlike most other titles in the series gameboy wars features hexagonal tile-sets, allowing for more movement other than just 4 directions.

Gameboy Wars TURBO 1997

An enhanced version of gameboy wars with 50 new maps and a quicker decision making algorithm, allowing for quicker matches and improved general AI strategy’s.

Super Famicom Wars 1998

Due to better hardware this title not only has improved sound and graphics, but better AI and 2 new feature to the franchise that became available in all following titles, fog of war and 4 way multiplayer. AN early demo has been released for the satella view called “Super Famicom Wars BS Han” said demo had some limitation on commaders and some missing animation when seizing forts.

Gameboy Wars 2 1998

First gameboy wars title to work with the gameboy color, AI has been improved once again, 54 new maps and thhis was also the first game to indicate the movement and attack ranges of units when selected. However for unknown reason artillery 2 has been removed.

Gameboy Wars 3 2001

Last title for the gameboy, this time developed not just by IS but later handed over to Hudson soft. Mobile System GB has been included, which allowed people to download new maps designed by gaming magazine editors and new units from the wars net centre.

Advance Wars 2001 (2004in japan)

The first GBA title and the first to be released internationally, it was first knwon in japan as gameboy wars advance which was later cancelled, the game came out everywhere else in 2001 and only later came back to japan with the compilation released on the wii virtual console in 2004. This title feature a variety of new modes, tutorial modes, a campaign, vs modes, battle maps, design maps and link maps where you can link GBAs to play against others. Previous titles features pretty basic commanders but AW is the first to feature truly unique COs all with their own quirks and personality.

The international and japan release have certain differences in design and names but are otherwise the same.
Said differences are from the international version to the japanese version
Drake is named Mop
Olaf has a brown beard in the international version and a white one in japan, named Whip
Grit is named Billy
kanbei is named Kikuchiyo
sonja is named asuka and features more of a school girl look in japan
Nell is named Catherine
Andy is named Ryo
Sami is named Domino
Sturm is named Hell-Bouze

Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising 2003 (2004 in japan)

There are no mayor difference like earlier games but it features new maps, new campaigns and new commanders and updated design to them.

The differences are once more between the international version and the Japanese version:
Colin is named Ewan
Adder is named Snake
Flak is named Kong
Jess is named Hannah
Lash is named cat
Sensei is named Yamamoto

Advance Wars: Dual Strike 2005

Unlike the previous naming convention this title still holds the “Advance” part as this continues the story of the previous two advance titles in the series, despite being released on the Nintendo DS. gameplay wise it shows one more addition thanks to the dual screen setup, “dual front” gives you two separate parts of one big battle requiring you to navigate both at the same time, sometimes this feature is used specifically for ground and air battles Once mroe it features new maps, a new campaign and a new set of commanders.

Naming differences are as followed:
Grimm is named Kouzou
Jake is named John
Javier is named Bittman
Jugger is named Zipo
Koal is named Chakka
Kindle is named Candle
Von Bolt is named Hell Volt

Battalion Wars 2005 ( Advance Wars: Under fire in japan)

This Gamecube title and its sequel are considered spin offs removed enough from the franchise that the names where changed in the international versions. Instead of the traditional TBS this game features more of an action approach, one can take control of a single unit and command it similar to any other shooter, however strategy in positioning is still required to win consistently. No naval units are present in this spin off, COs only provide mission intel and cutscene and do not give any gameplay advantages. Unlike advance wars the COs are more bland and not noteworthy like the earlier titles.

Battalion Wars 2 2007 in NA ( 2008 in the rest of the world)

Released for the WII this title has no notable outstanding features other than the now available Naval units. Otherwise it plays exactly the same like the previous title.

Advance Wars: Days of Ruin, the black sheep to end a franchise (2008, 2013 in japanese e-shop)

Now we are nearly at and end and what an end it is, Days of Ruin is universally seen as the worst title in the entire series, bearing little to no resemblance to the titular “advance” wars series other than the strategy elements. From a cartoony artstyle it changed to a more “anime” or rather “realistic” style. The fun from advance wars is all but gone and has been replaced with an overbearingly grim atmosphere lasting through the entire game. Commanders with powerful abilities have been reduced to simple units with little range to their now passive powers. The game took 5 years to even come out back in japan, the story is as basic as it comes and will bore you after only a few minutes.

Even the games cover art shows you that it doesn’t bother to stand out, instead riding on the coattails of what made the franchise what it is. One can not stress enough how mediocre this game truly is compared to the entire series itself. Dual strike while well received had seen declining sales, battalion wars put the series at an all time low and to put the final nail into the coffin this last cash grab has been made. With previous titles one can see in just the design itself that the developers behind it tried but with Days of ruin there is just nothing one can consider any real effort to make the game good.

Last Words:

Well what more is there to say? a franchise that had started out as a simple strategy game has developed into a quirky cartoonish TBS game full of character only to end up as a generic “we are in war and the world is ending” title. When the wars series died other titles tried to pick up the slack, games like Tiny Metal come in mind but not a single one was able to capture the same essence as advance wars had.
Intelligent System has given an interview once what would it take them to bring the series back, to quote Yamagimi himself “”Personally, I’d love to do Advance Wars, but since it’s harder to create relationships between its characters compared to Fire Emblem, I don’t have a clear idea of what kind of setting it could have,”.
Essentially to bring the franchise back they would want to integrate the relationship system that saved FE from its grave, but that is not what Wars is about, or ever was about. Both series had their own uniqueness that separated them, said feature would put that as an end.
All in all Wars is a beloved gem of TBS games that ended sooner than it should ending it on a sour note, it does not bring the previous titles down and said titles should be played and enjoyed for what they are.

Unavoidable spoilers ahead, proceed at your own risk.

Introduction:

Claymore is set on a fictional medieval universe where monsters roam the land feasting on humans. To combat these monsters an organization stepped in with an elite group of warriors known as the claymore. With enhanced strength speed and durability these female only warriors have the mission to go after these monsters so protect the humans of this land.

Characters:

The star of the show: Clare

Clare has the title of “claymore” one of the elite enhanced warriors to battle the monsters called “yoma”, her ability, strength and durability is far higher than any human would be capable of but yet not overpowering as it might sound. The placements to battle the yoma does not give them en edge, it makes for a more even playing field.
Clares has only one goal in her life and she is dead set to accomplish it by any means necessary. On her quest to achieve her goal she meets a variety of interesting and engaging characters that for the most part flesh out her character and the world around her.

The unseen: Raki

Ill be frank here, this character seemed to play a mayor role since it is one of the first characters we are introduced to, but as important as his role is in the story he is barely seen, even less than some of the side characters. His personality can be described as cookie cutter goodie two shoes. However he serves that purpose pretty well and turns it on its head later on.

The Handler: Rubel

Not much is known about this mysterious man in black, as a handler from the organization he acts as an informant and quest giver for assigned claymores. He is not the only one, however it is also never known how many claymore a single handler informs.

The big bad herself: Priscilla

There is a lot that can be said about The villain of this series but to keep crucial spoilers at bay most it it will be left open ended.
Priscilla is one of those villains you probably love to hate, to hate to love, possibly even both. Like in a few villain cases, good intentions turned awry as the very thing that enhanced a claymores body takes over her body, transforming this almost frail looking girl into a large beast with unmatched powers yet to be seen. Most of the series is about just trying to find/locate and in the end kill this monster but despite how long this venture takes it does not bore for even a single second.

There are a lot, A LOT of characters to this series, more than a dozen or two, many of them pretty crucial to the main story at large but to not make this an entire novel there is only one thing left to introduce:

The monsters: Yoma

The very reason of the claymores existence, the yoma that plague the land and terrorize the humans around them. Thirsty for flesh these creatures can hide under humans with the appearance of what they once where. Only claymore are capable of snuffing them out as they can sense their energy to varying degrees of success.

There are many different types of yoma, most of the time they not only look different, giving them some sort of personality to them to make them stand out a little bit more other than fodder for the hero. The yoma can be born not jsut from humans however and depending on how strong the turned individual is they can come out as large beasts of destruction.

The meat of the matter: The story

(here are the most spoilers, but i will try to keep them as little as possible)

The most important part of any medium, the story itself. There is a lot of it around every corner and it will keep you engaged from beginning to the end. It starts out with clare on a mission to rid a town of yoma, in this town she meets Raki, the other main character. Clare is not impressed by Raki trying to get near what for him is a mysterious but nice woman. But over time Clare starts to warm up to Raki, her initial cold attitude slowly but surely breaking thanks to his efforts.
But due to an incident they had to separate and Clares initial life goal of killing Priscilla started to heavily sidetrack into finding Raki, the boy Clare warmed up to. Trying to juggle three goals (killing Priscilla, finding raki, obeying the organization) Clare travels all over the country but meets adversary far stronger than her threatening the state of the entire land.
This constant sidetracking of goals may sound pretty distracting but the clear overarching main goals loom over the story, like an open ended RPG you’ll find yourself engaged in all of the little nooks and cranny’s claymore holds. You’ll be worried about characters, happy about events and often you’ll even be frustrated or sad the state some situations present but you’ll eventually arrive at the end, satisfied and content as pretty much nothing is left open ended.

Art:

If there is one thing that deserves to be mentioned is the art of the manga and the anime (animated by the mad lads at Madhouse).
Both are down right gorgeous and beautiful, you will not find a manga/anime that looks as good as Claymore does.
Claymore has an extreme amount of detail in character and monster design to easily separate them apart. Even the scenery has not been left behind, it may not be as detailed sometimes as the characters but that is something that wont affect you at all unless you actively look for it.

Honourable Mention: Anime adaption

The general consensus among “purists” is that the anime adaption is always inferior to the original product but Claymore is one of the cases where its anime adaption does the original justice in all the right places.
Animated by Madhouse one can expect top notch animation, not only have they brought the manga alive they have kept it as close as they could in the style of animation and art, they have kept it so close that some scene look like they have been taken straight out of the manga.
The anime deserves to be watched alongside the manga the only caveat is the ending, it ends right before the manga take a huge leap in events so they had to give it an ending that is not inline with the manga.
The ending is the weakest part of the anime but it should not deter you of the sheer quality it has.

Ratings:

Story: 8/10

Characters: 9/10

Art: 10/10

Personal Summary:

if it weren’t clear from the very beginning i like Claymore, i REALLY like claymore.
There is not often a manga or anime comes along that has captivated me to the point Claymore has done, it is outmatching almost every single other manga i have read and is only beaten by a certain anime.
Every single character is engaging in their own right, many of them given their own screen time at suitable moments so you wont get bored of the same thing over and over again.
The art as previously mentioned is gorgeous and really brings Claymore to life, often i was in awe at the detail that has been put into the scene i was presented with.
The story may have an average premise but the creator knew what they where doing and turns a lot of the common tropes you see around and circumvents them altogether, it will keep you on your toes when you least expect it.
There is nothing to complain about other than a tiny detail that most wont even notice so i will keep it at that.

The very first post and the most original of them all.
I am Amanda, a nobody on the internet cataloguing the random thoughts that may come up in the mess that is called a brain, proceed at your own risk.