Good morning tuesday gif

Good morning everyone, we have a server that is having massive issues but, due to the nature of what it handles, we can't just rebuild it. At this time, we simply restore to a last known good state as we buy time trying to figure out the issue.
Here's what I'm hoping to find: I need a way to get detailed logs on what happens when the VM boots. It takes roughly 30 minutes for to come back up but we don't know what's causing that. The boot log doesn't give us the info we need.
Does anyone have an idea of how I can accomplish this? I'm new to the sys admin environment and am still learning so please be kind and excuse my ignorance.
Edit: We use vSphere but I don't know if it is capable of logging this information.

First off, I’m grateful to have found this sub. My first post asked the question: Who’s the abuser? I still don’t know the answer, but reading through the various posts and comments is helping recall and re-evaluate the past.
However, this post is about something that happened last night.
I am currently fighting off an illness, which I caught from my spouse. She was sick for several days during which time, I did my best to take care of her. She frequently gets sick whereas I rarely do and typically bounce back pretty fast.
Yesterday, I felt awful and went to bed early. Meanwhile, she’s talking to a friend on the phone. This also means she’s drinking, which terrifies me because that’s when she’s at her very meanest. She also becomes very demanding of my attention and extremely manipulative when I can’t or won’t give her what she wants.
I took a couple of Benadryl hoping that if I’m asleep she won’t bother me. Nope…despite her knowing I’m Ill and having firsthand experience with what that feels like, she comes into my room (we currently sleep apart) and says “Are you going to talk to me?”
She sits down on the bed and takes my hand. “Do you think I didn’t love you enough?” Danger Will Robinson! Fortunately, despite being half asleep, I was wise enough not to respond. She continues “[Friend] says she doesn’t think I loved you enough.”
Friend is a genuinely sweet and loving person, which is what I say in response to this. She says, “She is and she loves you so much.” This is platonic by the way…there’s never been a single spark of attraction between us.
I continue to play the sleepyhead (not difficult really). “But she’s naive,” says my spouse. “And I’m a little offended.” Danger, danger, danger. Thankfully, I didn’t take the bait. She said something about how the conversation wasn’t productive, and she reluctantly left the room. I wish it was relief that I felt, but she fights a guerrilla style war - hit and run again and again until I lose my cool and lash out.
Thankfully, this didn’t happen and she didn’t return, or if she did, I didn’t hear it. I know Friend meant well. Other friends have spoken up for me, and it does more harm than good. My spouse cannot take criticism especially if it calls her precious character into question. She will lash out at them and me while making sweeping statements that she’s a bad person. It’s an absolute cop-out of a response that allows her to abdicate the responsibility of self-examination.
Thinking about it this morning, I realized the most honest answer is “No, I don’t think you love yourself enough.” Genuine self-love requires introspection with a honest eye. It means a willingness to accept loving criticism as intended. It means taking ownership of one’s own self-care and not placing blame or contingencies on the people of around them as an excuse to avoid confronting their flaws.
She is not this kind of person.

I'm just over 4 weeks out of break up. First 9 or 10 days I was a mess, totally broken. Failed a job interview for a job I really wanted because my head was messed up.
3 weeks later, I have lost a stone, succeeded at interview today and got a new job where I'll be much happier (I hate my current job, and the new place seems like a perfect fit for me), and me and my ex are in a weird limbo situation - we're friends but really we're clearly more but not actually a couple - we're basically dating without the label. We text every day. We both initiate. We have some rhythm with it. Lots of positive things have been said and we are on the path to reconciling, but that will take some time... but we are on that path. We have a date next week. We have a date the week after.
Yesterday "our band" announced a show. We saw them last year, our first concert together, truly a magical romantic night. The kind of night you put in your top 5 days of the relationship.... She loves the band, and got me into them and I love them too. They are OUR band. The band neither of you listen to after you break up. The band it's unimaginable to see without being together.... I asked her if she wanted to go and she was all in. I got tickets this morning.
I know that timeline for all of that is fast, but none of it would have been possible if I hadn't taken my agency back. I did the work on myself and the relationship, I figured out what I needed to do to improve my situation, and then I took a deep breath, remembered who the fuck I am, and did it. You HAVE to take control, nobody else can improve your circumstances except you, but you have to suck it up, and force yourself to do stuff, even if you don't want to, even if it's easier to stay in bed crying. My life isn't perfect by any stretch of the imagination, I have more work to do... but you can never get life where you want it to be if you don't take the first step.
That first step is realising nobody is coming to sort everything out for you, you are the ONLY person who can improve your life. Your ex might come back, sure, but if you haven't improved yourself and your life then you can be damn sure they'll leave you again just as quickly. Nobody is responsible for your happiness, nobody is accountable for your life....except YOU.
The break up was shit. I agree, it was shit for all of us... but the question is what are YOU going to do about it?
So this is your wake up call. If you sit there, moping over your ex and letting life happen to you, then don't expect anything good to come from it. You have to dust yourself of, get your shit together and get shit done.
Life happens to all of us, we can't choose that, but we can choose the outcome of it.
I don't know who needs to hear this, but somebody somewhere does.

Hello! I just got out of a meeting with my boss and she said that I seemed disengaged and making mistakes in my emails. And that other people have noticed it too. She asked me if anything was going on and if there was something that she could do to help. I told her that I wasn't trying to disengage, I am just really exhausted and I didn't realize I was making mistakes.
She also mentioned that I need to be more personal in my emails to clients. And, this is something that I have struggled with for the last 5 years of my career. Becuase I switched from for-profit to non-profit spaces. In my last for-profit job, what was important was getting the work out and done. No one really cared if you said good morning, how was your day? the sun is nice out today...
I am not sure what to do. I am getting all my work done on time and I haven't gotten any complaints from anyone else.

Hi everyone. I'm new here, but I'm at my wit's end with my 14 year old daughter and based on some other conversations I've read on here, I thought maybe someone might have some advice for me.
She's in 8th grade and has missed about 25 days this year and always complains of being sick in the morning. Lots of stomach aches and "I feel like I'm going to throw up". It's generally random and doesn't seem to match up with anything, in particular, going on at school that we're aware of. It's generally random and a day or two here and there. She almost always seems to feel fine in the evening and we've only had one recent incident of her actually getting sick.
We've taken her to the doctor multiple times trying to see if there's something actually going on. They've done tons of tests and the only thing that's ever come back is her most recent bloodwork showed her blood sugar slightly high and her iron slightly low. We've now started her on a daily vitamin for iron and have had some conversations about the types of things/ways to eat to help with blood sugar.
She missed Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday this week. The first time we've had 3 days in a row. On Wednesday, she threw up in the afternoon at which point, I'm feeling like the asshole because now she's actually sick and I didn't believe her based on what's been happening the rest of the year. Thursday she says she's still not feeling well and I let it go because she actually got sick this time. Thursday night, she's acting completely normal, eats a normal dinner and we discuss full intentions of going back to school. Friday morning rolls around and we're back to not feeling well enough to go to school again.
We've moved on to taking away all screens and not allowing phone, tv, etc when she stays home from school, but that doesn't seem to make a difference. She is on sertraline for anxiety, but in every other aspect of her life, that seems to be helping immensely now that we've gotten her medication and found a good dosage. She's been on that for about a year now.
She's getting straight As in all of her classes and always keeps up with homework and make-up work when she misses.
I just don't know what to do. Am I overreacting and I'm the asshole? Should I keep taking her back to the doctor and pushing for more tests? What else can I do to get her to go to school?
Any help or advice anyone can offer would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much for taking the time to read!

Good morning, I hope all is well with everybody. I'm currently out of work waiting for hernia surgery early next month and haven't been working since Thanksgiving last year. I ask sincerely and with all humility that I need $118 USD to buy an orthopedic boot for my left foot, as I have 3 fractures in my foot from a recent car accident on March 29. Thank you to everyone for taking the time to read this, I know you are all very busy. I have Virginia state Medicaid insurance, and they do not cover this boot I need

I discovered something that has been a game-changer for me - going for a walk with my dog. It's silly, but boy does it feel good.
Now, every morning before the chaos of the day begins, I take my dog for a walk around the neighborhood. It's a simple thing, but it has had a huge impact on my mental health and well-being.
During those 30 minutes, I am able to disconnect from my phone and the constant stream of notifications. I am able to breathe in the fresh air and feel the sunshine on my face. I am able to watch my dog run around with joy and remember the importance of enjoying the present moment.
And when I return home, I am able to approach my day with a renewed sense of energy and focus. It's like taking that time for myself actually makes me more productive and less stressed in the long run.
So, to all the busy moms out there - I encourage you to find your own way to take a moment for yourself. Maybe it's going for a walk, maybe it's reading a book, maybe it's taking a long bath. Whatever it is, prioritize it. You deserve it.
And if you happen to have a furry friend by your side, even better. They have a way of reminding us to enjoy the simple things in life.
Thanks for reading, and happy walking!

• specific artist bundles (e.g. random Dan Hipp + 500 credits for 750 gold, random artgerm + 1000 credits for 1350 gold)
  
• variant pick (choice between 3 random variants + 500 credits for £5.99)
  
• your choice of any variant in the game for 1600 gold (maybe a once every 2 or 3 months bundle?)
  
• Black, White and Gold casino bundle: 620 boosters for a card of your choice and 6100 credits for 3200 gold (enough to split a card 4 times).
  
• Specific character bundles (e.g. Shuri Sunday: random Shuri variant, 155 boosters, 1600 credits for £13.99)
  

(I haven’t included tokens in any of these because Token Tuesday is in a good place)

Family/friends see you struggling to hold a good sleep pattern & they just chalk it up to you being unmotivated to go to bed early.
Or when you were in middle school and your parents gave you a bedtime, and you'd be trying desperately to fall asleep but you never could, so you'd just lay there in bed and pretend to sleep until morning so you didn't get in trouble for being awake.
The longest I ever kept a sleep schedule in my entire life was about one week. I honestly just opt to stay awake until I'm super tired, and then I go to bed.

We (both 28) were leaving a mutual friend’s birthday when he invited me to his place. We had been chatting the whole night and he seemed interested. When we got to his place it was late and we were incredibly intoxicated so we both said it was probably not a good idea but kept going anyway. But when we were right about to have sex, the topic of our last time came up (among other things) and I said it had been a while - which he then backed out and said maybe we shouldn’t do it then. But then he asked to cuddle for the rest of the night (was still cuddling through to the next morning) and was half initiating, which was confusing.
I wouldn’t say we’re close but we have met a number of times before and we get along well. He’s dropped me off at my place a couple times as well after group catch ups.
I feel like I looked alright since I got a lot of compliments and even my other guy friends commented on how many looks and approaches I was getting.
Not sure if he was just not feeling it anymore and trying to find a reason not to, if I did something wrong or if that is a turn off?
Tldr; Guy invited me over to his place. We were abt to sleep together but stopped when he found out I hadn’t slept with anyone recently. Wondering if that’s a turn off or am I missing something?

As a novice user, a few things I would/should change/add.

1. sliders - everywhere (as far as possible) should be longer - this would allow more precise setting of parameters
   
2. on startup, Hand (H) should be turned on by default, not Move (V) - this is a bit confusing for novice users
   
3. the Hand (H) icon should be at the very top
   
4. the CTRL ALT SHIFT NO TOUCH icons should be permanently on the top bar near the menu - easier access
   
5. the highlighting of CTRL ALT SHIFT NO TOUCH when selected should be much more visible - change the color of the highlighting to something more visible
   
6. in the Enlarge (Z) tool the zoom+ and zoom- buttons do not work, as well as in other pop-up windows
   
7. ability to disable window scrolling in preferences
   
8. with the Ruler tool you can not enter any parameters (sometimes it is difficult to aim precisely by hand), and no singularities in Height, Width, or Length.
   
9. the lack of singularities in many windows with parameters (px, cm, inches?)
   
10. when selecting a rectangle, the crosshair indicator should be "glued" to the corner of the selected rectangle
    
11. in many tools such as Brush (B) or Spot Correction Brush (J) the mouse pointer should be changed to cursor: auto
    

because the default one is often poorly visible

1. error in the translation of the Polish language

LayeJD should be Warstwa/Obiekt Inteligentny
Not all translated messages

1. no notifications when using Copy CTRL+C and Paste CTRL+V
   
2. next to Defringe you can add (Chromatic Aberration) it would be clearer what it is
   
3. export-animation-gif . Ability to enter Speed from 1% (now min is from 10%)
   
4. possibility in options to set ANY time for selected layers -when doing animation (now each frame has 100ms by default)
   
5. own customizable buttons on the top bar with user-settable colors/descriptions/functions
   

- everyone could set the functions they use most often under the button
​
I've already done some of this myself with scripts, but perhaps it would be good to add to the main program or improve

So long story short. Got the Oracle Touch last year. It's a pretty good all in one machine. Did a descale and it killed the machine (common issue).
Breville replaced it with a new one. Since then there's been a bug that's been driving me crazy!
I've dialed in my beans (grinder setting at 19). Shot is good. I'll power off the machine for the day. The next morning I'll turn the machine on and the grinder setting will more often than not be 1 off. Sometimes it will say 18, sometimes it will say 20. I'll set it back to 19 and the shot will either be way too small or way too big.
Has anyone encountered this? I'm contemplating contacting Breville as this doesn't seem to be normal.

I was doing well on Effexor XR for a good part of 10+ years when I was in my 30s and 40s....It worked well for depression and Anxiety for me. I go off it for a few years and depression came back. I started Effexor XR again (generic) and this time it didn't work as well (I started at 75mg all the way to 225mg daily). It seemed like it worked partially for depression and it was ok for anxiety. Anyway, my Pdoc switched me to Cymbalta and then Pristiq and neither of them worked any better. Then I tried Lexapro for a few months with no success and Welbutrin. Switched to Prozac 20mg and that seemed to work the best and I was more stable for a couple of years. Then lost my insurance and stopped taking Prozac after tapering for a month or so.
Since last September 2022, I experienced a lot of anxiety with job and family issues and my new Pdoc again prescribed 20mg Prozac. This time Prozac did NOT work at for my anxiety and I was given Xanax .5mg to calm me down. I was up to 60mg Prozac and still had morning anxiety and had hard time getting up for work. Xanax worked well for my anxiety but I have continue to take Xanax up to this day. I only take .75mg daily (less than 1mg)
Two months ago I switched to Zoloft to anxiety relief now my depression is bad. I'm up to 150mg on Zoloft in the morning but I see no improvement in my depression or anxiety after 2+ months on Zoloft. Side effects include Tinnitus (buzzing in the ears), no motivation, apathy, craving junk food and brain fog most days. I'm trying to taper off Xanax very slowly but this depression is effecting my daily life and work. Morning anxiety & depression are terrible.
So I'm thinking of asking my Pdoc to put me back on Effexor XR and see what happens this time. I can not deal with my depression and I get no improvement from Zoloft. I can deal with my anxiety much better at this point. I'm a male 64 years old.
Any comments or suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Stay healthy.

Tldr:I(20F) cheated on my bf(30M) about a year ago. He forgave me we nearly fixed it but I had drunk sex with a guy a week ago. I don't want to hurt him(bf) anymore or lose him. How do I tell it to him ? I feel very disgusted in myself.
We've been dating for about 2 years. I suffer from multiple mental health issues and also sex addiction. All of it is rooted from my childhood abuse. He was well aware about these when we started to date. He knew I can be very tough to handle. About a year ago, he was working a lot and was away most of the time. My mental health was getting worse because I was dependant on him. I don't know how to feel loved without sex, pathetic I know but I was missing him,I was missing feeling loved. He was away most nights. At that time a guy, let's call him "J(24M)" and I met via social media. I used to talk to him like friends. He knew I had a boyfriend but slowly we started making dirty jokes which resulted in sending and receiving nudes. I felt ashamed everytime I did those things and contemplated killing myself. It lasted 2 months. I told J I can't continue anymore and I'm going to come clean to my bf. I came clean to my boyfriend and didn't try to hide anything, he was furious a both me and J. He hit me which I think was well deserved, I begged and pleaded with him to forgive me. He did and restricted me from going out has my passwords. He was free now so we were having more sex etc. We explored lots of kinks and stuff he wanted. I wanted to make everything right though I had become something so gross, a cheater. I wanted to change it.
A week ago an old friend T(22F) came to my city and asked me to hang out with her. I asked my bf if he'd let me go. I've been able to regain some trust so he let me go but warned me to be back by 12 am. I haven't been out with friends in a long long time so I was happy to meet T. With T there were her friends A(24M) and L(22F). Anyways by 10 we all got drunk(at L's apartment) . I was specifically drunk because I can't tolerate a lot of alcohol. I remember I was trying to hug and kiss A, I was probably flirting with him too. And then my memories are pretty blank. I can only remember some snippets. I was in a dark room and someone(A) was taking off my clothes. I said something like "hey what do you think you are you doing?" . He answered something like " I'll make you feel good ". Another snippet is of A putting me on my stomach and he was having sex with me. I wanted to push him away but it wasn't possible for me. I don't remember anything else. In the morning I was on a bed with A sleeping on the side. It took some time for me to realize we had sex because I couldn't remember anything then I noticed I was naked with dried semen on my body. I went to the bathroom and then left quickly. My bf was already at work but he called me so many times. I told him I got too drunk to drive and apologized. He didn't know there'd be a male with us so he accepted my apology.
I feel so fucking bad because of it! I don't I'd have ever done it if I was sober. Guilt is eating me up. I'm so afraid of being alone . My bf should know that I'm a terrible person, a fucking liar who doesn't deserve him. I love him . Everything is eating me up. Can I fix this? I blew up my second chance . If I can't fix it how do I tell it to him? I've become suicidal once again. I just don't know. I want a break from all this...

Well, my work schedule is dynamic.
I work at nights, sleep at mornings, sometime i have to also sleep at evening to go work at night after i wake up at morning or afternoon and have 5 hours to be awake and go to sleep for 4-5 another to dont fall asleep at the night job. i used weed for that, well. im not sure i want to continiue being hooked up on that idea of smoking before sleep. i think its better to try my melatoning.
So, as i understands melatonin will help me to hold a sleep cycle properly? but what if my schedule and actually my sleep cycle also is fucked up actually. and i have to use weed to make myself tierd, so i dont want to be hookup on weed for that purpose. i have a good quality melatonin 5Mg pills from iherb recomended brand, just bought a while ago and forgot about those pills, my body weight is around 93-98. somewhere around there. i could take half of a pill also, not a problem actually. but should i even take it or not? since i cant fall asleep propery to night shift's without weed at my hands at the evening. its a huge problem for me.
and im going to sleep at 2-3 at night. waking up at 10 at the morning. but for example tomorrow i can work night shift, then go to sleep after 2 hours my shift done. and im sleeping my day till afternoon early. then i have 4-5 hours and go to sleep for another 4 hours atleast by forcing myself cause i have night shift that day. melatonin will help with that? is it a magic pill that will solve my problems after i will start taking it properly? cause im just ripping my bong and im refusing to take any chemical pills. as i know melatonin just a hormone.

https://ibb.co/M9cnmCs

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Chapter 17 - In a Small Clearing There Lived a Mouse
Last Time: Having left Eightside, Laran, Leor, and Aiden began to make their way towards Tripit. Aiden took the opportunity to learn more about his companions, at least partially to distract himself from the less desirable aspects of traveling long distances by foot. Eventually, the three of them come across a strange sight - a chimeric creature drinking in the middle of the road. The creature seemed to desire the group to follow it, so they did. That is how they found Oriwyn, a hunter of spirits who had been paralyzed by her quarry for an entire night and who had sent her companion - the creature Brams, who she referred to as a winged badat - to go find help. Leor was able to remove the paralysis from Oriwyn, who then promptly requested to be added to the group. Seeing no reason to deny her request, Aiden accepted. Before she could completely join them on their travels though, Oriwyn asked to go back home to her mother.
Oriwyn was true to her word. Unless asked a direct question, she stayed quiet for a full twenty minutes. By the end of the time I think Leor felt kind of bad for being so snippy with her, as she immediately tried to strike up a conversation with the eccentric goblin with the oddly-shaped ears.
“So, Oriwyn, why did you just ask to join us without really hearing anything about us? We could be brigands or some other unsavory sort.”
Oriwyn grinned at the dwarf broadly.
“Call me Ori if you want! It’s easier to say! And I joined you because you seemed like good people - are you brigands?”
I watched the interaction with interest. If I was going to be the Commander of this particular outfit, I figured I should take an active interest in how people’s personalities worked together or clashed. Leor could be crabby and sarcastic, and so far Oriwyn seemed like sunshine personified in all ways except her occasionally grim turns of phrase. It was definitely a mix that felt like it could create problems. For the moment though, Leor just gave off a snorting laugh at Ori’s question.
“No, we aren’t brigands. But we could have been!”
Ori smiled sweetly. “Oh, I doubt it. Brams is an excellent judge of character!” Leor’s eyes squinted and I figured she was looking for any hint of sarcasm in our new companion’s answer. To be fair, I was too. For his part, Brams just walked ahead of all of us. He had a bald tail - it reminded me of a rat’s - which he swung around jauntily. At the sound of his name being mentioned he turned back over his shoulder and gave a small grunt. Regardless, both Leor and I came to the conclusion that Oriwyn implicitly trusted Brams’ judgment. I wondered if he was some form of animal companion, which would make Ori some form of Ranger if Earth class tropes still held. I felt like it was a safe bet she was the Wheel of the Shaded Forest at least, given her location and generally nature themed powers. My contemplation reminded me we actually didn’t know much about Oriwyn’s abilities, so I decided to ask about that. I waited for Leor and Ori to finish up whatever they had been discussing while I zoned out.
“Hey Ori, I was wondering what sort of things you could do in a fight. We have a lot of time to talk in fights, but I feel like it’ll be helpful to know before we get into one.”
Oriwyn nearly vibrated in excitement. “Yes! Dad always said that knowing who was at your back was ninety percent of surviving. Let’s see now… Is there any sort of stuff you particularly want to know?”
I thought for a moment. So far, it seemed like Roles were the best indicator of abilities, so I thought I’d start there. Distractedly, I also figured I should scry her to see what that could tell me.
Oriwyn Hawthorne, Level Seven (Shaded Forest)
I sighed - heaven forbid it be too easy for me to get any information in this world. Out of curiosity, I also scried Leor. I hadn’t done so during the fight with Stabby and Shooty, and had been too distracted with preparations to do so since.
Leor Whisper, Level Five (Great Secret)
That was somewhat confusing. Leor had said she was an Augur. Laran had told me he was a geomancer, and when he’d been in my party I could see him marked as such, but despite the same information from Leor she was unmarked. I decided to check to make sure I could still see his Role.
Laran Agana, Level Four (Geomancer)
I reflected that things were weird again, though in the end they probably weren’t any weirder than what I normally dealt with. I debated a few ways to go about trying to figure out what was going on with Leor and Oriwyn and eventually just settled on honesty. My head snapped back to the present moment - Oriwyn had asked me what sort of information I wanted, and I figured I should actually answer.
“If you know it, I’d love to know your role. I’m a Commander - I’ll explain what that is as we walk - and Laran here is a Geomancer. Leor’s an Augur, though I’m admittedly having trouble identifying her at the moment - I’ve got a thing that lets me see information about people, but it just says she is in the Wheel of the Great Secret. For what it’s worth, it seems like you’re in the Wheel of the Shaded Forest.”
Oriwyn looked like she was trying to sponge the knowledge up. She must have held her father’s advice in high esteem, as she seemed to be trying to follow it enthusiastically. As she spoke, she sounded proud.
“Oh, my role? I’m a Ranger like my dad was - or, kind of like he was. He had a hawk named Red, while I’ve got Brams here. Also he was a lot better of a fighter than I was.” Internally, I noted the use of the past tense. Whoever her father had been, it seemed like he was unlikely to be around anymore. I tried not to think about what had gotten him killed - Ori had said her father was an adventurer. Regardless of what had happened to him - or, I wondered, because of what had happened to him - she had sounded very sincerely interested in joining us. Ori continued talking.
“I’ve not really fought a lot of things before, so you’ll need to give me some pointers.” This surprised me. She was level seven - a full two levels ahead of Leor, who was the next highest leveled. As I’d walked around Eightside, I had gotten the sense that most people were between levels one and five. I wondered if Oriwyn was holding something back. After all, we had found her trying to hunt down a spirit. Maybe her father had gotten her started and her own interests had pushed her further? Come to think of it, I didn’t understand how leveling up worked exactly - it would likely be a good idea to try and get us all to roughly the same level range before we got into the thick of things too badly. Oriwyn still had more to say too.
“I’m also a herbalist - Mom taught me. You’ll get to meet her soon! Her name’s Aspen, and she’s not going to like what I have to say. She’ll be grateful you came to get me though, so you’ve got that going for you. Also, I’m not sure I ever said thank you. If I didn’t, thank you! Everything was starting to hurt pretty badly and I’m sure the fact I got soaked in rainwater would have caused problems eventually.”
The speed at which Oriwyn talked had slowed a little. Her words definitely always felt like they were fighting each other to escape from her mouth, but there was more control now than there seemed to have been when she was first awakened. I wondered if she had just been really happy to be rescued? It was definitely possible. Leor seemed to be slightly warming to her, or at least she wasn’t actively trying to hide from Oriwyn anymore. I wondered about that too - had Leor just been overwhelmed? Was she actually annoyed, or was it more like it was just too much for her to deal with? I had noticed she moved quickly to help Oriwyn once the cause of her condition had been made clearer - I figured that could either be because she wanted to trade for Oriwyn’s silence, or because she had felt pity for the goblin with the strange ears. I shook my head - when one’s team was living, breathing people as opposed to digital ones and zeros, handling emotions suddenly became more important. I resolved to bring that up with Laran at some point - I didn’t think he would know much more than me about handling different personalities, but it would feel good to have someone else to rely on instead of trying to take it all on myself.
Conversation continued for a bit as we walked, but eventually we all got too tired to keep talking. I could tell that Oriwyn was very fatigued, as I could see her ears drooping and she would have absent-mindedly collided with a tree had Brams not interposed himself between her and the obstacle and gently redirected her. Laran was mostly fine, as was I - I really must have gotten a stamina upgrade coming to Tal, since the me from Earth would be feeling horrible with how much hiking I’d done in the past few days - but Leor looked rather tired. She had taken a lightning bolt to the gut and burped it out over the trees, so I guess that made sense.
Uncle Iroh made it look so easy though. Maybe the others would find it funny that my thoroughly non-magical world had stories like that.
Finally, we found a game trail. It wasn’t broad, and I didn’t think a cart could make it down the path, but it was clear ground and that meant we didn’t need to plow through low-lying branches and dense foliage to make forward progress. As we moved forward, Oriwyn began to walk a little taller. I could hear her taking deep breaths and wondered what was going through her mind.
“Mom’s house is about ten minutes away. I’ll announce our presence. She’ll probably yell at me a bit for being beat up, but it’s fine. Also, we’ll probably duck away from the rest of you to discuss… things. It’ll be fine, I’ll convince her that it’s a good idea to go with you all!”
This time, I could hear through Oriwyn’s positivity. There was an undercurrent of unease and worry which permeated her words. I spoke up, trying to give her an out.
“You know, Oriwyn, I’m flattered you want to join us, but if it’s going to be a problem you don’t have to. I don’t want to cause trouble with your mother…” As I trailed off, Oriwyn turned back to me and smiled. This smile was tinged with something I couldn’t quite recognize, but which I could partially describe as wistful.
“It’s okay, really. Mom will be sad, and she’ll try and talk me out of it, but this is what I want. She’s not been happy that I’ve kept training like Dad taught me to when I was young, but she hasn’t stopped me. I’m doing this for Dad’s memory, for us as a family, and for myself. I just need to tell her that.”
Oriwyn smiled again, a little sad and a little determined but still very excited to go, and I believed her. She was putting a lot of faith in us - and, though she probably didn’t know it, a lot of faith in me in particular - and I would see that her faith was well-founded.
As we rounded a corner in the road, we came into sight of a clearing. Oriwyn’s face immediately brightened up. The clearing was large and absolutely overgrown with low-lying plants. Small purple flowers grew on clustered stems, reminding me of lavender. Vines wound over and around lattices of wood. Bees buzzed everywhere in the warm spring air, and instantly I felt a sense of calm come over me.
In this ocean of flowers and herbs and life, it felt like nothing could touch us. Time itself seemed to flow around this place, as if it could never be anything other than what it was right now. Overhead, a hawk circled and craned its head down at the clearing - it must be hunting where there was no tree cover. Oriwyn looked up at the hawk and waved to it before taking a deep breath, setting her face, and walking on towards the house.
“Mom, I’m back! I have some companions!”
From behind a wooden door in the stone cabin, a beastkin emerged. She wasn’t very tall and had broad, near-circular ears coming prominently out of her head. I suddenly understood the descriptor of someone having “mousey brown hair” for the first time - something about the color of the hair that flowed around her ears indicated her mouse-like nature. She wore clothes dyed in bright, solid colors with a green belt. All in all, she looked almost exactly what I would have expected a herbalist to look like. It was nearly dark from the time it had taken us to find Ori and walk to her house, so she waited until we were quite close to greet us.
As we stepped into the light that was thrown from the interior of the house, I saw the mouse beastkin - Aspen - tense. I took a look at Oriwyn and was surprised to see how rough she looked. Maybe she had simply looked better earlier because we were comparing her to when she had been paralyzed, but now the large cuts seemed very obvious, as well as the various stains from rain and tree-sap and blood which colored her clothing. Still, Aspen didn’t say anything and nodded to us all cordially.
“Welcome to our house travelers, and unless I am much mistaken, thank you for saving my daughter from her… enthusiasm getting the better of her.”
There was a look passed between Oriwyn and Aspen which lasted a few seconds. I could see the opening salvos of an argument begin, could almost hear the worried protests of the mother and the confident, placating reassurances from the daughter. Eventually, with a sigh, Aspen broke the eye contact and turned to the rest of us.
“How about you come in and rest your weary legs? I know we are far from the road, and I would not have you stand and tire yourselves further if you’ve already come a long way.”
I thanked Aspen, as did Leor and Laran. I was surprised how comfortable it felt to sit down, how much my feet hurt as soon as I thought about it. Oriwyn had instantly scurried off to fetch a few chairs, which we all sank down into gratefully. With that done, Aspen simply motioned for her to sit at the table next to her. With a sigh, she did. Aspen pulled out a large mortar and pestle and began to collect herbs from the walls. Bundles were hung up everywhere, presumably to dry, and they infused the air with a floral, heavy smell which weighed on my eyelids heavily. Satisfied with what she had gathered, Aspen poured a small amount of oil into the mortar, added several of the gathered herbs, and began to mix them. Her posture radiated tension and concern and a slightly uneasy silence fell across the room. She cleared her throat.
“So, Ori, what happened to you?”
I could see Ori wince. I got the impression it wasn’t because of whatever her mother was putting on her wounds.
“So don’t get mad, but there was a lightning spirit, and-”
“Ori!” her mother nearly shouted. There was a look in her eyes and she let her hand drop. “You know better than that! Spirits are dangerous things! If your father was around, he would have-”
“He would have hunted the spirit just like I did, before it got into a town and hurt someone.”
There was silence. I feared to make any noise, and I figured Laran and Leor felt the same. Voices weren’t raised to the point of yelling, but it was clear that the emotions going on between mother and daughter were strong. After a second, Aspen raised her hands back to Oriwyn’s wounds and continued to work on them.
“Your father would have gotten a group together to help him.” There was sadness in Aspen’s voice. Oriwyn nodded along, agreeing with her mother.
“Yes, he would have, but there wasn’t a group of people to gather. That’s why I want to go with Aiden, Laran, and Leor here. They’re a party of adventurers, and they’re looking for more people to join them.”
Aspen’s face went through several emotions in rapid manner. Oriwyn simply held her hands out towards her mother, who took both of them. She leaned forward and rested her head on her mother’s shoulder.
“Please, Mom. I can feel this is right.”
Aspen looked extremely conflicted. She looked over at us, and I could feel the evaluating weight of her gaze. I wanted more than anything to avoid the intensity coming from her eyes, but I steeled myself and met it instead. Aspen slowly shook her head. Looking at her daughter, she spoke in a strained tone of voice.
“Oriwyn, you can’t just… Fine, we’ll talk about it.” She looked back over at the rest of us.
“Could you give us some time to speak? We don’t have lodging in the house for this many, but feel free to set up tents in the clearing. I didn’t see any of the rain-teller plants folded up, so it should be a dry night. Should you need food, please let me know, but for the moment I beg you pardon my breach of hospitality and give me some privacy to speak with my daughter.”
I instantly agreed and got to my feet despite my protesting legs. Leor and Laran swiftly followed - I don’t think any of us could have imagined ignoring her request. As we left, Leor caught Oriwyn’s eye. She nodded once, sharply, and Oriwyn nodded back. We closed the door behind us, and left the family to discuss whatever it was they needed to.
We set up camp quickly and made our own food. None of us felt like intruding in whatever was going on to ask for a meal. The night was pleasant with a slight wind which washed away the remaining mugginess from the previous night’s rain. We sat out and looked at the stars for a bit, occasionally conversing quietly.
“I wonder what happened to her father,” I mused out loud. Laran and Leor just nodded, but none of us speculated past that. It wouldn’t have felt right. Silence stretched out, and I glanced towards the house. There was still light visible from the windows, but we couldn’t hear anything nor see either Oriwyn or her mother. With a sigh, Leor spoke up.
“Well, I think she’s brave.”
I was surprised and raised an eyebrow questioningly at Leor. She just shrugged and went back to staring in the fire while Laran looked thoughtful. I didn’t press, and she didn’t offer any explanation, so the topic died. Shortly thereafter, Leor was the first to go to her tent. When she was gone, I sat next to Laran.
“So, what are you thinking?”
Laran was silent for a bit longer. He had taken his shoes off and had buried his toes into the ground. I had noticed him doing some of the techniques he used when he meditated. When he had found his answer, he looked at me and smiled.
“I had never thought that we would be dealing with so many… emotions. For the whole adventuring party thing that is. I thought it’d be only adventure an’ fighting an’ the like. Not this.”
I nodded silently and leaned against him. He leaned back, and thus we sat supporting each other under the moonlight. Soon I was nearly nodding off, and I excused myself to go back to my tent. Laran nodded and squeezed my hand as I left.
I don’t remember falling asleep, but I do remember waking up the next morning. The day had dawned a little chilly, though it felt bracing instead of cold. The scents of pollen and flowers hung in the air, and I could almost swear that the sun shone in rays through the golden dust that the plants produced.
There was not much fanfare when Oriwyn came out of the house. She had a pack on and a huge grin on her face. Brams was with her, of course, and he also seemed eager to go. Aspen followed her out and came to talk to me.
“Aiden, from what Oriwyn said yesterday you’re the leader of this group. It isn’t my position to restrict my daughter from going anywhere or doing what she pleases but…” Aspen’s voice dropped to a croak and she fell silent, blinking violently and clearing her throat. Her eyes were puffy, likely the result of having cried the night before. “...but please keep her safe. She’s the only family I have left.” Tears ran down Aspen’s face silently as she looked up at me.
“I’ll try, I promise you I will try with all my might.” A thrill of panic shot through me as I was speaking - I was putting us all in possible danger just by adopting the lifestyle of an adventuring party, and I feared the day that I would need to deal with the consequences of that - but my resolve was firm. I was the Commander. I would keep everyone safe.
Aspen’s smile was watery but seemed genuine.
“That’s all you can ask of anyone. Drenza would have loved to have met you - I’m sure he could have told you a story or two about what it’s like to be an adventurer!”
I looked at the rest of my party. Laran was finishing up packing a tent while Leor had nearly instantly gone to talk with Oriwyn. We would be fine. We would work as a team. We would win when we needed to fight.
It was this thought that hardened my resolve. I needed to find a way for all of us to train. Laran, Leor, and I said our goodbyes to Aspen, and Oriwyn hugged her tight for a full thirty seconds. They exchanged words, but none of us listened to them. After that, Oriwyn turned to us, wiper a tear from her eyes, re-affixed her grin to her face, and began to confidently stride away from her home.
Elsewhere: Daisy was wearing a yellow dress which was scandalously low cut. Despite the formal clothes that everyone else wore, she still wore her large, chunky boots. They looked horrid in combination with the dress, and made a lot of noise besides. The boots clomped on the dancefloor like the falling blows of a hammer, and with every footfall her dance partner flinched. He was a very tall human with salt and pepper gray hair and a thin mustache that moved nervously on his lip. As they spun in a stately waltz, Daisy spoke. “Dahling, you look so nahvous - why don’t you relax an’ just ahnjoy the musahc?” Daisy’s partner blanched. He hated it when she did that stupid accent - it meant she was feeling mischievous. As mayor of the city, he should be carting Daisy off to the stockades for all she had done, but here she was at the Duke’s birthday party. Her own goons were serving drinks, and the worst part of it all was that this was normal. This was the twelfth time he had ended up as Daisy’s dance partner, and he had no illusion that she was doing it by accident. Everything from her fake accent to her ridiculous dress to her impeccable dancing conveyed one thing to the beleaguered mayor: “You may be the mayor of the city, but this is my town.”
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Looks like Frank Solich was on 93.7 the Ticket this morning. Really good stuff from the guys. They talk about Solich's time at Ohio and turning the program around as well as coming back for the spring game.
Frank Solich interview