Today's NAP, Lucky 15's & Editor's Top Racing Tips GG

top tips for racing today

top tips for racing today - win

Chelmsford City Racecourse: Top tips for today's race meet

Chelmsford City Racecourse: Top tips for today's race meet submitted by Bozzaholic to colchestergazette [link] [comments]

My uncle left me a shifty little bar in his will. The employees here sleep in the backroom.

My uncle was an odd, lonely man. That one guy you try to avoid at family reunions, the one nobody knows too well but loves to talk about nonetheless.
I think he liked me best because I never really enjoyed badmouthing him. I wouldn't say we were close, but we tolerated one another. At least that's how it was when I was little, we never bothered to stay in contact. I forgot about him by the time I left home. That's why the news of his death caught me completely by surprise.
Uncle Mack was alone in his apartment when he had a heart attack causing cardiac arrest. He fell unconscious and died within minutes.
Then there was me at the time. I had just flunked out of college and the only thing I was actually good at was playing video games. When I was contacted by Mack's lawyer, I was even more shocked. Mack had left me three things: a box of sorted letters addressed to me, all the money he used to own, which to me was a lot, and his bar–the one he had inherited from his father and had worked at all his life.
I'll be frank, I had no idea what to do with the bar but I knew from the very start I'd take it over. I felt kind of honored–this had basically been Uncle Mack's entire life and he was giving it to me of all people. Sure, from what I knew there hadn't been many friends or loved ones in his life to choose from, but it was still flattering to me. Once I read the first letter, I was even more convinced.
"Hi Giulia,
If you're reading this, my bad eating habits have probably caught up to me. Or maybe someone killed me, who knows. As of me writing this, you're fifteen years old. You were the only one to talk to me at the family reunion today. Not for long, but more than just an awkward hello. I notice these things and I appreciate it. That's why I'm trusting you with the most important task anyone in this family is ever going to offer you. You are going to take over my bar. Besides, knowing you, you're not gonna have much of a career anyways, so you might as well.
Once you're done reading this, please go to the bar at your earliest convenience. Take the box of letters with you and stash it away somewhere there. It has some valuable advice you're gonna need down the line. In fact, you will need to read the second letter right after your arrival. You'll find my employees are a bit special.
Anyways, I hope you're doing alright, however this letter finds you. You're a good kid, Lia. Always have been. Besides, the only person you could possibly disappoint by screwing this up is dead so there's no pressure to impress.
Sincerely, Your Uncle Mack."
I wiped my eyes. They had actually gotten a bit watery while I was reading the letter. I folded the letter and tucked it back into the box before grabbing my coat and bag. Mack's bar was a train ride and a thirty-minute walk away from my parents' place, which is where I was residing at the moment. I figured I would probably have to look for a place close to the bar if I really would start working there full time.
When I finally arrived at the establishment, it looked almost exactly the way I had expected. It was just another wall in the row of buildings on the street off to the side from the inner city's market square. A large, bright red double door with a neon sign reading "The New Saloon" above it. It would probably glow if I'd find out how to switch it on. At least I hoped it would glow.
It felt weird, unlocking the door and opening it for the first time, all on my own. Entering and looking around inside felt even weirder. The New Saloon was your typical old-style dive bar. Even completely empty it looked overcrowded. The fabric of the cushion seats was stained and frayed, the walls behind and in front of the counter were plastered with neon beer signs and large framed photos of people I didn't know, some were even in black and white. The floors were dirty and my heels stuck to them when I walked further in. This place was small, shabby and smelly and I loved it.
It was so strange but I suddenly just felt like this bar was mine, and that I needed to take care of it and protect it. Remembering what Mack had told me in his first letter, I pulled the second one out from the box and unfolded it.
"Hi Giulia,
If you're reading this, you're probably at the bar for the very first time! How do you like it? Let me guess, it's ugly and gross but it instantly started growing on you?
Don't worry, it's about to get a lot weirder. You'll find the entrance to the backroom behind the counter. The lightswitch is on the inside of the wall, make sure to turn it on before you head inside because there's stairs leading down right behind the door. It's a death trap. Once you're in there, stand in the middle of the room. Stay away from the walls. You may then say out loud the following words:
Spirits of this house, by the power of the spell that has bound you I command you to serve.
You'll see what happens next. Whatever happens, keep in mind you can order them around. When all the work is done, simply tell them to go back into their room. You've got this.
Sincerely, Your Uncle Mack."
I frowned. That was odd. Was this the prelude to some kind of joke? I walked over to the door behind the counter and pressed down the handle. It swung open with a loud creaking noise and I began to grope around for the lightswitch. A single light bulb down in the backroom came flickering on and I proceeded down the rickety wooden stairs. No bannisters. Risky, especially with the shoes I was wearing. By the time I had reached the middle of the room, my heart was already beating faster than it should. Still, if this was a prank, Mack had been planning it for over five years, and I was not about to ruin it. Besides, no one was watching anyways.
I cleared my throat. "Spirits of this house…" I began, a giggle swinging along in my voice. "By the power of the spell that has bound you I command you to serve."
Nothing. Not a single sound for five whole seconds. I looked around the room. It was completely empty, except for a single door in the wall across from me. Maybe I had been supposed to say it in whatever room was behind that one? Just as I was about to walk over to it, a loud noise came from one of the walls to the side. I spun around to find that it had cracked open. Bits of it were beginning to crumble to the floor as the tear widened. I stared at it with my mouth agape, frozen in place and incapable of comprehending what I was seeing there.
From the crack, a set of long, bony pale fingers reached out into the room, gripping the inside of the wall. My throat was too dry to produce a proper scream, but I couldn't contain a gasp as I staggered backwards until my back met with the other wall behind me. It was then that I felt cold palms rubbing against my neck and hands closing around my shoulders from behind. This time, I shrieked. I whirled around again only to see that there was a hole there too, long, skinny arms slowly moving forward from it, grabbing at me, searching for me.
I glanced around the room frantically. Holes had opened in basically every spare spot. I counted four sets of arms pulling themselves out into the light, followed by similarly slender upper bodies. By the time I finally thought to run back up the stairs and save myself, the people from inside the walls were standing in the backroom, fully emerged from their dark hideouts. I didn't risk another look at them. When I finally reached the top stair, I dashed back into the bar and slammed the door shut behind me. I pressed myself up against it just to keep standing. My knees had grown weak beneath me and I was panting heavily, my mind racing.
Then I heard them; slow, light footsteps making their way up the staircase and stop on top of it. I heard calm, steady breathing coming from the other side of the door. I tensed up and shifted my weight on my feet, leaning up against it to keep whomever was in there from getting out. I was sure this person would start to try pushing it open, but to my surprise, nothing happened. Instead, a voice rang out from inside.
"Excuse me, who are you exactly?" It was a man's voice. I had expected something like a growl, or a hiss, or the groans of some decomposing zombie, but this was distinctly more articulate. It sounded almost polite.
I didn't know what to do other than respond. "Giulia," I stammered.
"Giulia?" The man sounded surprised. "What about Mack? Wait, if you're here…" He sounded quite sad now. "Mack's dead, isn't he?"
"Yes," I replied quietly. "His heart stopped."
"That's… good God." He fell silent and I heard him utter a shaky sigh, almost like a sob. "I'm sorry, would you give me a moment? I need to tell the others."
"Go ahead," I murmured.
"Nevermind, they heard us. So, will you let us out now or…?"
"Who are you? Why were you in there?"
"We work here, actually. My name is Andrik… I do most of the organizing here. I take care of the accounting, our profits, our spendings; I place the orders on most of what we need. Back here with me, I've got Bo, who is our bouncer, and Danika and May, both waitresses."
"You work here?" I repeated. "And you live in the walls? After your shift is over, do you just go down there and melt into the room or what?" I couldn't help but let out a nervous chuckle at the mental image. This was just too absurd. At least I was breathing normally now.
"Pretty much, yes."
I shook my head. "What are you?"
"Well, to explain that you would have to go exactly a hundred and twenty-two years back so it's a long story," Andrik replied. "All you need to know for now is that if you let us out, we'll get the bar up and running right away. We've been working under Mack ever since he took over this place though, so you'll have to excuse us if we're a bit gloomy."
"No, that's fine," I muttered, slowly turning away from the door and carefully pulling it open.
The man in front of me was of normal height, slender and looked to be in his thirties. Despite being dressed in jeans and a simple black t-shirt with the bar's name printed on it in white, swirly letters, he had a very official look to him. Maybe it was the way he stood, straight as a rod with a friendly yet matter-of-fact smile on his face.
"Thank you," he said. Turning back to the room, he raised his voice. "You heard it everyone, Mack might be gone and while that's a downer, our work isn't over; so get yourselves up here and let's get this going again!" His tone carried the flat motivation the coach of a youth sports team might have.
Three more people emerged from the backroom, all dressed exactly like Andrik, all of them that same content little grin on their lips. They walked by me offering polite greetings; the first one, a large, bulky guy giving me a curt nod and the two women that followed smiling brightly. The girls were a little younger than Andrik, maybe in their late twenties. Both had blond hair hanging down their shoulders in wavy pigtails.
That first night the bar was open, I merely watched the backroom people work, following them around while they ignored me. It was eerie. They looked almost like automated mannequins, going about their routine by sticking to preplanned paths; like there were set directions painted somewhere I couldn't see. I soon began to notice other distinctive attributes about them. None of the people from the walls had fingernails. I saw it on the waitresses when they reached for the cups handed to them, on Andrik when he scribbled down notes. However that was not the only thing off about them. All those little details in their faces, the kind of thing you'd normally never pay attention to–they didn't add up.
For example, their eyes didn't lign up. One was always slightly lower than the other, just enough for someone to notice. Their nostrils would differ in width and one of the girls' pinky fingers was the same length as her ring finger. Had I not known that they had just crawled out from the backroom walls, I would have chalked these harmless little oddities up to simple, inconspicuous deformities, but knowing what I knew, it made my skin crawl with uncomfort.
I soon found out that Andrik did most of the talking for them. Bo rarely ever said a word, and all the waitresses did was whisper amongst themselves, giggle and chat with the patrons. Eventually, Andrik waved me over to him behind the counter.
"Alright, to give you a rundown of the place, we have a cash-only system. We rely on our local clientele, but once in a while someone new comes by and then we try and keep them around, obviously. Here's some of our regulars." He pointed at a lady sitting in a corner, weeping over an empty glass of whiskey. "That's Shauna. Comes here whenever she can, only ever orders whiskey. Will not stop crying."
His finger wandered over to an old, short man with an almost disproportionately large head and short white hair. He was sitting at one of the tables as well, talking to two younger women who seemed very much out of place. "That's Tommy. He's likely to start fights but he drinks a lot and tips very generously. Bo throws him out a lot but he's very easy on him, so don't worry."
He finally nodded towards a tall glass of wine standing lonely on the counter right in front of us. "And this is Irene. She can't pay but she's always welcome. She's very nice and she's been here ever since Mack's family started this business."
"Andrik, there's nothing there."
The pale man threw me a confused glance. "What do you mean, she's right… oh! Of course. Don't worry, you'll start seeing her with time. Either way, for now there's actually not much for you to do except read up on barkeeping once you get the chance. However you should start getting acquainted with the regulars. After all, the owner of The New Saloon will always be part of the reason why people come here." He paused as his mouth started to twitch into an almost guileful grin. "I have a feeling they're going to love you."
I retreated into the ladies' room for a quick break. I sat down on one of the toilets and buried my face in my palms. I had no idea what was going on or what I was supposed to do. Andrik had made himself pretty clear when it came to the instructions he'd given me, but all of this was so surreal I seriously considered the possibility of me having suffered some kind of blow to the head and dreaming it. I spent the rest of the night standing behind the counter and observing their every move. Andrik kept to my side mostly, looking at me with the kind of suspicion I probably had in my eyes as well. I couldn't figure him out.
I accidentally-on-purpose walked by the waitresses who were talking to each other in hushed voices, picking up on small bits of their conversation.
"Her blood is weaker than his. Do you think she's–?"
"We shouldn't take any chances. Remember what Mack did when we tried to test him?"
"I do, but this could be our chance to have some fun."
Her words sent chills down my spine. Remembering Mack's letter however, I decided this was not the time to show I was frightened. "You're going to do no such thing," I chimed in from behind them. "I don't care what you are but I promise I'll find a way to make this whole thing very uncomfortable for you guys if you try to pull any kind of weird crap on me."
The looks they gave me were worth my initial doubt. They seemed shocked that I had listened in on them at all, let alone spoken up. I glared at them, holding their gaze and ignoring the trembling of my legs. Their heads lowered, they marched off. When the bar began to clear out and we got ready to close down for the night, I told the four of them to clean up. Of course I helped, but I made sure never to lose sight of a single one of them. I felt like they were wild, hungry animals, waiting for their chance to pounce on me. Whenever I looked up from the rag I was wiping the countertop with, I would find one of them staring at me.
By the time we were done, the place really did look a lot more welcoming. It certainly was cleaner, despite the four workers' angry faces spoiling the mood. We carried the cleaning supplies back into the small storage chamber next to the employee restroom before I went to open the backroom door for them. "Okay everyone, good job today! Thanks a lot, now back inside!" I called out, almost enjoying the feeling of authority as they came trodding towards me and made their way down into the dimly lit basement single-file. Andrik was the last one to cross the threshold. Right before descending the staircase, he turned to face me once more.
"You were keeping a close eye on us," he said quietly. "That's clever. But you're going to need to keep it up and… let's see how long you'll last. Who knows what might happen." He gave me a sly wink with the one eye that was a little lower on his face before following his co-workers. I watched from the top of the stairs as they leaned up against the walls. It was almost as I had expected; their bodies seemed to melt into the holes they had come from, sealing them shut and not leaving so much as a thin crack.
Lacking a better option, I stayed at a nearby inn that night. As bizarre and frightening as all of this had been, I got out of it unscathed. The bar workers and I would end up coming to blows in the future though, more than once. And I wouldn't always be that lucky.
X
Part 2: one of the regulars had a doppelgänger
Part 3: My bouncer and I got beaten up by a little girl.
submitted by girl_from_the_crypt to nosleep [link] [comments]

Sexy Space Babes: Chapter Twenty One

AN: I'm back from my seven day ban (Which was entirely justified).
To those that don't know, after I posted the story up on Amazon, I was informed that Kindle Unlimited requires that the story be posted nowhere else. I had assumed that applied only to selling via other publishers, not the free novel.
That was not the case. Hence my rapidly pulling down the story from everywhere in a panic, lest I get my amazon account banned, and my dream of authorhood killed in the cradle.
That was not why I recieved a ban from HFY for seven days. I recieved the ban, because as I pulled the story, I left the Amazon link up. That was a violation of rule seven of the subreddit, which says that any link must be accompanied by 350 words of OC content. A rule I broke nineteen times in ten minutes.
Either way, that is behind us now, and I've put my time to good use setting up a patreon and building up a backlog of chapters.
So without further ado, here's book two, which will be posted up until such time that the book is published, at which point it will be pulled like book one to conform with Amazon, and we will start again with book three.
I'm also sitting at number ten on Space Fleet Sci-Fi right now on the top one hundred list, so I just wanted to thank everyone that bought a copy or left a review.
You guys rock!
​
“Alright ladies, shut up and sit down,” Tisi called over the hubbub of conversation.
To be honest, it was kind of ridiculous that she needed to ask at all, given that she was the captain, and thus the crew should have been jumping up to salute her with obedient silence the moment she entered the ship’s small cafeteria/lounge area. Unfortunately for her, captaining a tiny picket ship like the Whisker didn’t carry that kind of prestige.
More to the point, it was difficult to maintain any kind of professional distance when you were in tight confines with the same group of seven people for weeks at a time.
Fortunately, the group of layabouts she was saddled with were still obedient enough. While they weren’t quite as prompt as she might have liked, the conversation did fall away, allowing her to speak.
“Glider, Rocket, you hearing me up there?” She asked.
“Loud and clear, captain.” The ship’s intercom squawked overhead.
“Good,” she nodded.
Between those two on the bridge and the five before her, the entire crew was present.
“As I’m sure you’ve all already heard, we’ll be getting a replacement for Batna when we next pull into port.”
All around her she saw people nod, though the one who did so most vigorously was Kernathu. Which wasn’t all that surprising given that the poor girl had been running double duty to compensate for the missing member of their complement. To be honest, it was kind of ridiculous that the Whisker had launched at all without a full crew, but then again, she supposed that was just a natural consequence of being posted to Gurathu. It was about as backwater a posting as one could get without literally manning a weather station on an ocean world.
“Please tell me it’s not another Rakiri,” Someone groused from the back. “It’s already bad enough that I’m picking Yaro’s hair out of the drain every other night.”
To her left, the crew’s sole Rakiri crewmate just chuffed in amusement, the furry bipedal woman more amused than offended by the insinuation.
“Forget a Rakiri, I’d kill for another Halkem,” Scales muttered, the aristocratic grey skinned woman running a hand over the eponymous black scales that ran run up and down her forearms. “A lower caste of course. It’s been forever since my scales received a proper buffing.”
“I offered to help,” her fellow marine offered.
Scales gave the muscular Shil’vati sitting next to her a cool-eyed glance. “Yes, and you nearly de-scaled me in the process.”
Assisse just shrugged, as if to say ‘at least I tried’. Tisi coughed, before Scales could respond and allow the crew’s odd couple to get into yet another argument.
“Well, before I have to listen to anymore suggestions as to what you do and don’t want in the latest member of our security contingent, how about I just tell you?”
The crew fell dutifully silent.
Sighing, Tisi continued. “They won’t be a Rakiri, Halkem or even a Shil’vati. We’re getting a Human.”
She’d been expecting it, but it was still kind of surprising how still everyone went. You could have heard a pin drop in the ensuing silence. Even Cerilla looked a little interested. Then the questions came all at once. Tisi didn’t even try to decipher the deluge of blurted words from about half the crew. Instead, she slammed a fist onto a nearby table.
“Quiet,” she hissed, silencing them all instantly as she scowled.
Sighing, she collected herself. As her eyes roamed over the room, she noted with some contentment that most of the crew looked at least a little sheepish about their outburst.
As they should, she thought.
For all that their circumstances allowed for a little laxity in military protocol, this was still a military ship and she was still the captain. They were all well-behaved enough on-planet, but sometimes when they were out in space all of them needed a reminder of what she represented.
She was the captain. Her word was law, and all of them were expected to give her rank the respect it deserved. Content to let the matter lie now that they’d all been reminded of that fact, she continued.
“Yes, they are male.” She answered, figuring it was best to get it over with.
It was fortunate for her that she’d just reminded them all to behave with some decorum, because she had a feeling that if she hadn’t, she’d be listening to them all whooping and jeering right now. Kernathu in particular looked about to explode from joy, and even Cerilla looked interested despite her self-proclaimed disinterest in men.
Of course, there’s disinterest and then there’s disinterest, Tisi thought.
Lots of girls liked to get into relationships devoid of males, but few enough would pass up an opportunity to ‘try one’ if it came up. It was a rare one that abstained entirely.
Of course, from every indication she’d seen, Tisi was pretty sure that Cerilla was one of those rare women. Her gut instinct was that the chief medical officer’s current interest was entirely professional rather than romantic or sexual.
The same could not be said for the rest of her crew however.
“Alright, all of you get your heads out of the gutters,” the captain instructed, before the – thus far – silent excitement could reach a fever pitch.
Not that she could particularly blame them. Even out on a backwater like Gurathu, where weeks could pass between messenger ship circuits, they’d all heard about the Imperium’s latest acquisition.
Tisi was pretty sure that half of it was Turox shit, but then again, even if only a fraction of what she’d heard about the humans was true… well, she could understand what all the hype was about.
Not that she intended to do anything about it when their newest crewmate arrived. She knew some captains liked to play that part of the noble in the parlor, but Tisi was better than that. Her only relationship with the newcomer would be professional.
…well, unless he offered. She had standards, but she wasn’t dead after all.
Snapping her mind away from that line of thought, she fixed the motley crew in front of her with a stern eye.
“Now I don’t need to remind you – but I will anyway,” she began. “We’re an Imperial Naval Vessel. That means you are expected to treat our newest crewmate the same way you treat anyone else.”
She’d gotten a very sternly worded memo with pretty much those exact same words in addition to her newest crewmate’s dossier.
“The last thing the navy wants is another scandal like the Iron Tooth,” she said, which served to put a significant damper on the party-like atmosphere that had been developing.
Which it should. The Iron Tooth incident had been a black mark on the reputation of the navy as a whole, and while those women were now all in military prison, the effect of the scandal on male recruitment rates was still being felt two years later. Still, at least it had brought a number of new rules and regulations into being for active-duty ships.
She knew some members of the military chafed under them, but to her thinking they were just good sense.
“We aren’t a band of Periphery pirates,” Tisi said, echoing her own thoughts. “We’re here to do a job, not just indulge our own whims.”
The crew as a whole nodded, even Assisse, prompting Tisi to smile with pride. Her crew might not have been the most disciplined bunch in this part of the galaxy, but when push came to shove, they were all good people.
-----------------------
Shil’vati, as a race, were predisposed to high temperature conditions. Many of their earliest civilizations had cropped up around the tropical climates of Shil’s equator.
Unfortunately for Assisse, Gurathu was anything but warm.
It was a frigid ice ball of a world, filled with mountains so large it made the ones back home look like a kid’s sandcastle by comparison. Sure, the main-colony had been set up in a valley between two of those mountains, keeping it more or less sheltered from the frigid winds of world, but that didn’t make the freezing temperature any less oppressive to her senses as she and the Captain stepped out of their car and onto the busy streets just outside the space port.
“Ma’am, why am I here?” Asisse asked, as she locked the vehicle and the two started making their way toward the nearby building. A task made marginally harder by the crowds of furry Rakiri colonists that made up an overwhelming majority of Gurathu’s population.
Just last week the space port had been a ghost town. Today that wasn’t the case though. With a large cargo ship coming in, the place had filled up with natives hoping to load up or receive things.
“Upset that I’m taking you away from your away time with Scales, sergeant?” the Captain teased as they strode past two brown coated furry aliens arguing loudly with a tired looking Shil’vati customs officer.
If they were still in space Assisse would have rolled her eyes at her superior’s comment. They were on-planet though, so she refrained, keeping her features studiously neutral. That was part of the strange dichotomy the crew of the Whisker shared.
It was an old joke anyway. For all that the crew liked to joke that the pair of them bickered like two rival wives in a marriage unit, they weren’t together. They were just friends. Which ironically was less than a lot of girls in the services were.
While the reputation for girls ‘enjoying each other’s company’ while out on deployment was a pretty gross exaggeration, it was a stereotype that held some truth. Assisse and Scales had never done anything of the sort though. They were just friends who liked to bicker.
“Not at all, ma’am,” Assisse drawled dutifully.
Tisi hummed thoughtfully as they flashed their credentials at the Shil’vati militia guarding the terminal entrance to the new arrival.
“I assumed that as the leader of our little Marine contingent, you’d be interested in seeing our newest arrival first hand.”
Assisse shrugged. She wasn’t too bothered to be honest. Whether she saw him today or a week from now, when the Whisker set off for patrol again, didn’t really matter. It wasn’t like she could send him back if she didn’t like him for whatever reason. Ignoring the fact that she was pretty sure the crew would mutiny if they didn’t get the human, it would be weeks before the next message ship came through, and they would be out on patrol before that happened.
“Apparently our newest addition is some kind of tactical savant,” the Captain continued, ignorant of her thoughts. “Managed to take on an entire company of Interior elites with just two other recruits during a training exercise.”
“…How?” Assisse asked skeptically. On a purely practical level, she was pretty sure three recruits didn’t have enough ammo to gun down that many of the opposition.
Tisi shrugged. “That, my dossier didn’t say. Probably some kind of guerilla thing. You’ve heard how humans are.”
Assisse nodded warily. Everyone had heard the stories about the latest race to be added to the Imperial fold. Specifically, the fact that they had a fifty/fifty gender ratio and that the males were just as randy as women.
That wasn’t what Tisi was referring to. Earth wasn’t all that dangerous. Ignoring the myriad other advantages the Imperium held over the native population, the fact was that most of the native’s weapons couldn’t penetrate through Shil’vati armor. That made being out on patrol a whole lot less of a daunting prospect.
That didn’t mean it was totally without risk. What the aliens apparently lacked in weapons acumen, they surely made up for in tenacity and creativity. The number of homemade ‘rail-guns’ that had been popping up in recent weeks was proof enough of that.
Crude, sparse and slow to fire as those weapons were, they’d destroyed the assurance of many a patrolwoman that their armor was proof against anything the natives could throw at them.
The place was still considered a pretty sweet posting compared to the likes of the Periphery - practically a vacation, even - but it seemed that with each passing month the number of injuries and casualties amongst the occupation force grew rather than diminished. Which was the opposite of what was supposed to happen.
The numbers were beyond middling to the Imperium, but it was still a worrying trend.
“Here we are,” Tisi said as they passed through another checkpoint and back out onto the recently swept open tarmac of the landing pad.
Personally, Assisse would have preferred to stay in the heated building and watch through the viewing port, but she knew better than to voice that opinion. That they’d be standing outside waiting for the ship to arrive had been a foregone conclusion anyway. As her slightly blue snow-tanned complexion could attest, the captain liked to take every opportunity she could to be out in the open air while they were on planet. It was almost as if she was compensating for all the time they spent in the cramped confines of the ship.
Well, that wasn’t strictly fair. The Whisker was actually pretty spacious for a picket ship, with a fairly large number of amenities for its small size. Of course, all the amenities in the world couldn’t distract from the fact that it was a limited area, and that the crew spent weeks, and occasionally months, stuck there.
So, she supposed she could forgive the captain’s need to stand out in the freezing Gurathu air. Even if Assisse was pretty sure the tips of her ears were beginning to form icicles.
“Anything else I should know, ma’am?” she asked as they peered out into the great blue sky above.
“He’s a boot.”
Assisse glanced at the woman next to her. “I figured as much, ma’am. Being human and all.”
Tisi determinedly kept her eyes on the sky. “No sergeant, I meant basic boot.”
That made the marine pause.
“No vocational, ma’am?” She asked slowly.
“No.”
Now Assisse was fully staring at her superior. “With all due respect ma’am, what the hell?”
Basic training was called that for a reason. It instilled all the basics that any member of the military might need.
That was the key word in that statement: Basics.
Vocational training was where actual skills were developed. Engineers, chefs, medics, hell, even your average riflewoman needed more advanced training to truly be considered competent in their chosen role.
Advanced unit tactics, sweeping and clearing, how to call in orbital support, jump-pack operation…
The list went on and on. All skills that were needed for a team to be able to function correctly during an operation.
Empress, it only got worse on a small picket ship like the Whisker. The ship’s small complement meant most members had multiple roles. Assisse herself was entirely capable of filling in as a medical assistant should it be required, and Scales was an assistant chef.
“I was lead to understand – as was the rest of the crew – that our newest member would be filling in for Bant,” she gritted out, not needing to state that Kernathu would be devastated. The young mechanic was running herself ragged keeping the ship running without aid. The rest of the crew tried to pitch in where they could, but they just didn’t have the skills to be truly useful.
The captain frowned, no doubt thinking the same thing. “I don’t like it much either.” She allowed. “Orders are orders though. Between us, it’s obvious that something funny is going on here.”
Assisse scowled. She knew exactly what that meant.
Politics.
The word felt foul on her tongue. She’d thought having a posting on the ass end of nowhere would get her away from all the politicking of back home. She supposed it just went to show that wherever the Imperium went, politics followed. The nobility were pathologically incapable of keeping their noses out of anything.
The captain being the notable exception of course. She was a fine no-nonsense leader, but even she had her moments where that ingrained aristocratic instinct kicked in.
Though it was unfair, Assise couldn’t help but wonder if this was one of those occasions. If the captain was accepting this human as part of some plot back home.
“It’s not all bad,” the woman continued, completely ignorant to the Sergeant’s thoughts. “Apparently he was going to university on his homeworld. Part of the uplift program to familiarize the humans with our tech so that they can finally start contributing.”
She paused. “He was only part way through the course before he, uh, signed up, but that should give him enough of a foundation to be of use. I’m sure Kernathu will get some use out of him.”
Assisse privately doubted that. Still, it wasn’t her department. Her only concern was how decent he’d be in a firefight. Not that she expected to be in one, but that was neither here nor there. Searching merchant ships for contraband was already tedious enough without worrying if one of her underlings was going to shoot his foot off.
“There it is,” Tisi pointed.
Assisse glanced up, and sure enough there was a blot in the sky above. It started small at first, but as the minutes passed, it only grew in size. Soon enough she could make out individual details. The Grinshaw’s Maw was built in the style of most Shil’vati ships. Which was to say that it was essentially a brick with a set of oversize engines strapped to the back.
The cargo ship was even uglier than most. Where most warships would have at least had a sleek array of laser pods running across the ship, this one had but one, mounted to the front. Instead of holding weapons, the sides of the ship bulged out awkwardly to make room for the vessel’s expanded cargo holds.
As she watched it continue to grow as it got closer, she couldn’t help but marvel at the sight. Nothing that big and cumbersome looking should have been able to move through atmosphere. Nor should it have been so quiet while doing so. Nearly twice the size of the massive super-cargo ships that used to ply Shil’s southern oceans, the thing’s engines should have been blazing away in an attempt to just keep the massive construct in the air. Instead, they were all but silent, only occasionally releasing a small puff as the ship corrected its course.
“Anti-gravity tech can be a real mindfuck,” she murmured, ignoring the way the Captain looked away from the ship to send her an amused glance.
Kernathu had tried to explain it to her once, but it had all come out as gibberish to Assisse’s ears. Like, what the fuck was a ‘graviton’ and why was it only sometimes a wave? She had no clue, and she’d long since given up trying to understand.
Finally, the ship touched down with a clunk. Then a second clunk as the anti-grav field turned off and the full weight off the ship dropped onto the landing struts.
The cargo gates opened with a whirring noise, and massive heavy-duty ramps slid down. Almost immediately cargo vehicles and exo’s began striding out to the behemoth, to begin the gargantuan task of unloading its cargo, before reloading it with exports from Gurathu.
“Shall we go see the latest addition to our little ‘family’?” Tisi said, a hint of genuine excitement peeking through her expression.
Assisse once more resisted the urge to roll her eyes. For all that the captain played the role of the no-nonsense officer, sometimes it was easy to see the excitable young woman that lay beneath. As evidenced by the fact that they were boarding the ship, rather than heading back inside to wait in the passenger terminal.
Instead of doing that, Assisse did what all enlisted throughout history did when saddled with an excitable officer. She grunted and grudgingly followed after her superior.
​
​
First / Next
Another three chapters are also available on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/bluefishcake
We also have a (surprisingly) active Discord where and I and a few other authors like to hang out: https://discord.gg/RctHFucHaq
submitted by BlueFishcake to HFY [link] [comments]

Recommend slim wallet?

I am struggling to find a good slim wallet, this should be easy, but somehow I am still struggling. I don't need room for cash, but about 10 cards. The problems i have with many of the popular ones are.
So any tips, am I too picky or poor at researching, or is this kind of wallet difficult to find?
EDIT: Thanks a lot for the overwhelming response, I will try to summarize it in this post, for people looking at the thread later. With my comments. Not sure if the perfect wallet for me has been suggested yet but some interesting ones have come to the table.
Top contenders so far:
All suggested (Let me know if i missed some)
submitted by flac_rules to onebag [link] [comments]

One of the most powerful demon princes, Orcus is the master of death and pain - Lore & History

You can read the post and see Orcus across the editions on Dump Stat

Due to the length of this post, statblocks have been moved to the comments. Spoilers in 5e for Out of the Abyss adventure

Thanks to the TV series Stranger Things (2016), everyone knows Demogorgon. But what about the other original demon lord, Orcus? Arguably the more famous of the two demon lords, Orcus has never been a creature that any hero in their right mind has gone looking for.
Originally a vile mortal whose dastardly deeds resulted in his death, his soul then manifested upon the Abyss as a larva, and the long trek to demon lord began. Slaving away throughout centuries under the cruel command of ancient, and now dead, demon lords, he eventually managed through sheer will to evolve from a larva, to a mane, rutterkin, nalfeshnee, and finally a balor. Unhappy with just that, Orcus conquered the 113th layer, becoming the great demon lord we know today.
Ruling from the Abyss, Orcus lived, died, and was reborn as an undead god. Not bad for an overweight demon that was banished from Dungeons & Dragons in the 1980s. A being of immense power, not only is this creature virtually unstoppable, but he wields a wand bearing his name that can obliterate you with a touch. How has this magnificent lord of evil changed throughout the editions?

OD&D

Orcus’ beginnings start in Supplement III: Eldritch Wizardry (1976) and let’s start with the obvious; you don’t screw with a demon lord. Orcus was everything you pictured when you thought of a demon lord and then some. Incredibly obese, Orcus is over 15 feet tall with a goat faced head and ram horns. His body is covered in thick and tough goat hair, and from his back are two large bat wings with a long serpent-like tail with a poison-tipped spike on the end. While his arms were human in shape, Orcus’ legs were that of a goat, and if we had to guess, he probably smelled like a goat too.
Orcus is the prince of the undead and could summon many of these creatures at will. A prince among demons doesn’t get its hands dirty unless it really wants to, so Orcus could summon wights, wraiths, specters, and even vampires to do his bidding. Unfortunately for you, that probably entails killing you and your friends slowly while he watched with glee. If Orcus kills and decides he wants to torment you a bit more, he could mock you in death as he can cast speak with the dead, which is just adding insult to injury.
If undead wasn’t enough, probably because you heard that he is the prince of the undead and brought along a cleric for good luck, he can also summon demons. While he only has an 80% chance of summoning a demon at the best of times, well, demons were no joke and even that feels a bit too dangerous for us. If he even just summoned a type III demon, they had a minimum of 8 hit dice, had armor classes ranging from 4 to -4, and a variety of abilities by type that included darkness at will, immunity to nonmagical weapons, powerful fear spells, and the ability to polymorph, all on top of its normal attacks. There is no mention of a maximum number of times per day Orcus may use this ability, leading us to believe you could be fighting several different demons for as long as Orcus desires, or until you killed Orcus which is… well…
Now let’s say you somehow manage to take out all of the Demon Lord’s minions and get to fight the big guy himself. His natural defenses are incredibly formidable, as Orcus was highly resistant to magic and had an armor class of -6, which means you aren’t hitting him unless you had a +3 or greater weapon. If you think those items are rare in the 5th edition, they were nearly impossible to find in the earliest editions. As you were trying to figure out how to draw blood from Orcus, he was probably using one, if not more, of its special abilities. Those abilities include a ton of spells like feeblemind, polymorph, lightning bolt, wall of fire, animate dead, and far more.
If you are still feeling confident by the end of your turn in a fight with him, well you won’t feel confident for much longer. Orcus wields a powerful obsidian wand with a skull on top, which is known as the Wand of Orcus. Unless you were a godling, a demon lord, or some other massively powerful creatures, which you never were in this edition, you should just give up now while you still have your soul. A single touch from this instrument of destruction renders the creature dead at the very least and annihilated into a small pile of ash at the worst. It had other powers in case you were worried, like allowing Orcus to heal himself or even to move at double his normal speed. Who needs a sword when you have an artifact of insane power that you named after yourself?
Now Orcus, like other demon lords, did have one weakness. Their souls were kept in small amulets that protected them from permanent death. Of course, this also makes them quite vulnerable, sort of. First one must find the amulet which was incredibly hard since it was often hidden in plain sight, could look like anything, and was non-magical. Orcus was known sometimes to wear his around his neck, but it was not required, as it was for the lesser princes. If you managed to possess the amulet, you had control over Orcus for a maximum of 24 hours, after which you lost all control over them and you better be quick in destroying it. If you destroyed the amulet, it would banish Orcus, or the demon prince it belonged to, to the Abyss for a whole year. Which doesn’t really seem like a long enough time for you to live out the short remainder of your life for demons are rarely the forgiving type. Regardless of how you used the amulet or if you destroyed it, Orcus would remember you and plot your demise. You could offer up an incredible bounty of riches and lavish Orcus with flattery of the highest praise and then, just maybe, Orcus may only kill you in 10 years or so.

Basic D&D

There is little mention of Orcus in this edition, but he does finally show up in the BECMI Immortal Rules Box Set (1986). Orcus gains a huge number of names in this edition, like The Goat, Master of the Dead, Lord of Darkness, or the Black Prince, and even Masauwu, the Legendary Guardian of Death. He is a 4th level Eternal, putting him a step below Demogorgon, although many consider him to be Demogorgon’s equal. Along with Demogorgon, Orcus ruled the sphere of entropy. What is the sphere of entropy and what is a 4th level Eternal?
Four spheres govern almost all of existence, those sphere being: matter, energy, time, and thought. The fifth sphere is called entropy, and it serves as a balance for the other spheres. Entropy in the real world is the absence of order or predictability, leading to the gradual decline of everything into disorder. For our purposes, the sphere of entropy is the name for any changes leading to reducing the essence of the other spheres. Basically, everything eventually ends, and the whole process is the domain of the sphere of entropy. Our demon-filled sphere takes what the four Spheres give or create and breaks it down and destroys it. No wonder it is filled with demons.
A 4th level Eternal is just one of the rankings in this book and helps the reader understand who is more powerful between creatures. In this example, Orcus is only a 4th level Eternal, whereas Demogorgon is a High Eternal, or a 5th level Eternal. Only a few experience points above Orcus. There are other classifications, like Empyreal, Hierarchs, and more, just know that there are only six levels above Demogorgon, and seven above Orcus, until you hit max level in this ruleset.
Orcus remains the same in appearance, although looking at the picture of it in the text, we think he may have lost a little weight… and his wings. He stands 15 feet tall, remains a chunky goat-like humanoid, with two great curled ram's horns, human arms, and goat legs. While it no longer has giant bat wings on its back, the stats give him a fly speed, so maybe now he soars through the air like Superman. His tail is much deadlier as those who are stung by it, and fail their saving throw, lose 1 Hit Die forever and with that, every power, ability, hit points, etc. that comes with it, Orcus then gains that power if he is down any points.
Orcus continues to reign over all undead mortals and even has a few Immortals who follow him. Since he is a demon, he gains a long list of abilities, which doesn’t change from the previous edition and are about what you might suspect. Resistance to magic, speak any language, regeneration, moving between the different planes of existence, and more. Also, Orcus has all the standard abilities and immunities of other demons, but he’s also immune to poison, paralysis, turn to stone, and fear. Orcus can even polymorph into pretty much anything, like a goat. You’ll still need a +3 or better weapon even to scratch him, but you’ll probably have one by now if you're also an immortal and your DM has decided you have to fight this horrible creature. Finally, Orcus can choose to summon demons, undead, more undead, maybe a few of his immortal followers, and more. If you’re brave, or stupid enough, to search out the Lord of Darkness, be prepared for a long and arduous fight.

AD&D

Orcus appears in the Monster Manual (1977), and his title is now Demon Lord and Prince of the Undead. He is shown the proper respect, recognized as the most powerful of all the Demon lords in existence, in your face Demogorgon. While there are very few changes, we are given a bit more detail, which is worth reviewing.
Orcus is so powerful that the text talks about how he can lazily slap people around, and still kill them in a blow or two. Or if someone, probably you, have annoyed him enough he can begin trying and just obliterate you with punches and might even use weapons if he gets bored with punching the wizard’s head off. Once he decides he wants to relax, he can just use his tail to inject you with poison, and unless you make your saving throw with a hefty penalty tacked on to it, you just die. Poison in 1st edition, for monsters, was a save or insta-death affair, so Orcus isn’t unique in his incredibly potent poison. To put some perspective on it, if a fighter is hit by the poison, they just need to roll a 7 or higher on a d20, clerics require a 6 or higher, while magic-users and thieves need a 12 or higher or they get to make a new character.
If you still feel pretty confident that you’ll survive messing with Orcus, probably because you are a fighter and have hundreds of soldiers under your command. Well, Orcus doesn’t care too much about your hoard of level 0 soldiers as he can summon undead minions like skeletons, zombies, shadows, and vampires. To top it all off, he can still bring in demons to help kill off everyone in case the undead decide to take the day off.
The wand of Orcus is shown off in the Dungeon Master’s Guide (1979) where it is described as the ghastly weapon of Orcus. It allows him to travel the planes and so long as it is in his hands, he can boop people with it and immediately annihilate them… unless they are gods, demon lords, or other powerful beings.
In module H4 - The Throne of Bloodstone (1988), Orcus is the focal point in the series’ culmination though his priests and temples have been a focus through the previous three modules in this series. This specific module is recommended for characters levels 18-100. Yes, level 100. You’ve pretty much ascended to godhood at that point, and it’s a good thing too since you'll be traveling to the Abyss, fighting hordes of demons, and taking on Orcus himself. Your primary goal is to steal his wand and return with it to the Seven Heavens of Mount Celestia. First, you must find a portal in the citadel of a creature known as the Witch King, then travel to the Abyss, find your way to Orcus’ castle on the 333rd level, and then you can finally meet up with Orcus. Along the way, you may run into just about any demon lord you can think of, from Jubilex to Graz’zt to Lolth. You can even meet up with Demogorgon, who might help you with your quest since he’s been locked in a war with The Goat for over 100 years. You’ll find out that Orcus has captured Baphomet, has a tarrasque for a neighbor, and lives in a stupidly big fortress made of bones. Orcus’ stat block is adjusted in its fortress, and let’s just say it’s not to the player’s benefit. It is a bit ridiculous that, even with all his enhanced abilities that the module states that Orcus won’t use his wand, since you know, a single touch kills you. But that’s ok since he still has a plethora of other ways to kill you, like slapping you to the ground and then stabbing you with his tail over and over.
In Dragon Magazine #42 (October 1980), we are presented with Orcus’ favorite horse, Hacamuli. It is actually one of the many messengers of the Demon Lord and it appears as a pale, gaunt horse covered in flies and pestilence. Its eyes are black as night, and those that gaze are drained of three levels of life, we can only assume that these are the most intense puppy dog eyes.

2e

Things get weird in the 2nd edition. Demons and devils were banished from the textbooks in the wake of the Satanic Panic of the early 1980s. In response to this issue, the writers at TSR simply removed the creatures that could be associated with hell, satanic rituals, and demon worship. When demons and devils did make their return, they were called the tanar’ri and the baatezu, respectively. This doesn't mean that Orcus disappeared forever, as the excitement eventually died down and Orcus, along with other demons and devils, slowly crept their way back into the game.
Orcus makes his glorious return though it takes far longer than it should, especially since Demogorgon rises in 1992 in the Monster Mythology book. The Lord of Darkness has a rough start and doesn’t show up until Hellbound: The Blood War (1996), and it is announced that Orcus had been slain by Kiaransalee, a drow demi-goddess of undeath. Later, it is confirmed in On Hallowed Ground (1996), that Orcus is dead and it covers the 113th layer of the Abyss, which is called Thanatos, the Belly of Death. The description of this layer mirrors that of the 333rd layer of the Abyss mentioned in the H4 module from the 1st edition, and so it has had a slight number change. Of course, Kiaransalee is still the undead drow goddess to blame as she dispatched the former Abyssal lord of the undead, casting him into the Astral Plane, and taken over his lands of Thanatos.
It’s not until The Great Modron March (1997) that Orcus begins his epic comeback, but that is all hushed up in the background, with even the DM being left partially in the dark until the next adventure is released. In Dead Gods (1997), we get the entire story of his death and resurrection, and it is a lengthy saga of revenge and trickery.
Orcus was for sure killed by Kiaransalee, who proceeds to take over Thanatos, kill his followers, and hides the Wand of Orcus in a place where she thinks it will never be found, the bottom layer of Pandemonium in a bunch of unreachable stone. Orcus doesn’t remain dead and comes back as an undead godling, taking up the name Tenebrous. Tenebrous plots and schemes to take back Thanatos, but must first begin plotting as he is now incredibly weakened by his brush with death. Eventually, he discovers the Last Word, a declaration that has the power to destroy gods who hear it. The one final item Orcus needed to complete his comeback was his wand. In the process of hunting for the wand, he kills the supreme modron, Primus, and unbeknownst to the other modrons, takes up his position as ruler. He then forces the events that lead up to an early modron march detailed in The Great Modron March adventure anthology, and during this march, the modrons discover the two drow who hid Orcus’ wand. The character’s role in this adventure is simple, find and destroy the wand before Tenebrous catches up to you and kills you. Seriously, Orcus isn’t given a stat block, the DM is just told that if Orcus finds the party before they destroy the wand, he kills them, end the adventure there, there is no fighting Orcus even when he is so weak that a demi-god is stronger than him, that even weakened, he can kill any mortal that would face him.

3e/3.5e

Orcus first appears in the 3rd edition of the Manual of the Planes (2001), and the return of Orcus, or should we say Tenebrous, is expanded upon a little further. When under the moniker Tenebrous, Orcus killed rival gods using the all-powerful Last Word. Orcus found and restored his wand, which allowed the demon to begin a resurrection spell with the help of a faithful servant, the half-ogre Quah-Namog. As adventurers do, they found out about the ritual, swooped in at the last second, and stopped the ritual from being completed. While Orcus did not return at full strength, the ritual was enough to bring him back to life. Besides, the drow deity that originally evicted Orcus from Thanatos is now missing, with many presuming she is dead. Some believe Orcus has now returned to Thanatos and rules it yet again, though very few people are willing to travel the Abyss to find out, and far fewer would ever return from such a trip.
In the text Book of Vile Darkness (2002), Orcus continues his glorious return and the book confirms that he has retaken Thanatos and rules in the city of Naratyr. Of course, there is no rest for the Lord of Darkness and he is immediately back at war against Demogorgon and Graz’zt, attempting to take over their realms and destroy them with his massive army of undead and demons.
While some may know him as the Prince of the Undead, Orcus hates the title, mostly because he hates the undead and sees them only as tools. It probably doesn’t help that many view him as undead-adjacent and he doesn’t like to remember how that one time he got so lazy that someone was actually able to kill him. Intelligent undead, like liches or vampires, won’t worship or venerate Orcus due to his hatred, but that doesn’t bother him in the least. Compared to the other demon lords, Orcus gets the most worship out of all of them, normally from cultists also looking to use undead for their ends and to get some of his power for themselves.
Sometimes, Orcus will relinquish his wand, referred to as a rod, to the world, allowing his cultists to wreak havoc across the world. After a year or two of this, the wand probably switching hands several times, Orcus will call back his wand, and probably the soul of whoever was holding it last so that he has something to play with back in the Abyss. Of course, if you do get this wand, it is quite powerful so we can understand why some people might look at it and think that that was their key to ultimate power and not a way to get Orcus interested in your soul.
The wand of Orcus acts as a powerful mace when wielded in battle, when it touches mortals or weak creatures from the Outer Planes, then it has the chance to immediately kill them. Even the wielder of the wand is in danger as Orcus can just decide that anyone touching his wand right now should die, their soul ripped away and handed to the demon prince who hates to share his toys. Also, the wand can be used to cast a few spells all focused on pain and death, like abyssal might, clutch of Orcus, and other strange spells.
Orcus has legions of followers, priests, and cultists that worship it. Two of the most powerful are the priest Quah-Nomag the Skull King and Orcus’s primary enforcer, the vampire Kauvra. You may recognize Quah-Nomag as the individual that resurrected Orcus, and we aren’t sure whether to thank him or curse his name. Now, if you are captivated by the power of Orcus, you can become a worshipper and gain access to the prestige class Thrall of Orcus. The Demon Lord grants these followers special powers like carrion stench, demon wings, death touch, and the ability to summon greater undead. Is it worth giving up your mortality to Orcus? Probably not, but you’ll never know until you try.
Orcus gets a little bit more information in Libris Mortis: The Book of the Undead (2004), and some of it is even a bit surprising. Orcus gets a lot of worship, especially from demons and necromancers, sometimes even undead that he hasn’t yet subjugated, and is thought to be far closer to ascending to true godhood than any other demon. While Orcus isn’t the most powerful of the demon princes, with Demogorgon thought to be more powerful, that hasn’t stopped Orcus from amassing followers and we’d be shocked if Orcus didn’t send passive-aggressive notes to Demogorgon talking about how he feels so divine and god-like, or maybe Orcus isn’t as petty as us.
In addition, we also find out that while Orcus hates the undead, he also despises the living equally. He views most creatures with revulsion and loathing, only seeking to spread misery and destruction to others all to ensure his increase in power. Despite his utter disgust at creatures, he still pulls in that worship and has temples that span the multiverse. Strongholds of the undead, warring nobles, and even entire tribes of orcs pledge their allegiance to him, which probably means we just need to get to know Orcus, that he isn’t that bad when you get to know him.
Our final book, Fiendish Codex I: Hordes of the Abyss (2006) updates Orcus to 3.5 edition, though much of the demon lord’s abilities remain the same. Orcus’ constant battles against Demogorgon and Graz’zt are given a bit more detail, only detailing the fury that Orcus feels for them. While his primary enemy is Demogorgon, who we are constantly reminded is a bit more powerful than the Prince of the Undead, Orcus really covets the vast empire that Graz’zt controls. This leads Orcus to drive his undead forces deep into the dark prince’s realm while using more subtle means of subterfuge and assassination when battling Demogorgon. Orcus may seem like the least powerful of the three, but his vast empire of loyal followers on the Material Plane dwarfs that of the other two. He uses them to help grow his power and influence, supplying him with a constant supply of undead creatures and sacrifices.
We are also provided with a detailed description of Orcus’ realm, Thanatos. It’s not a vacation spot, as the sun never appears, and the land is covered in gray clouds in a black sky. It is cold and desolate, with moss and fungi as the only plant life. Countless undead minions occupy the plane, traveling in packs on their eternal quest for flesh. You can travel to such wonderful places as the City of Straight Curves, Everlost, The Final Hills, The Frozen Sea, Orcusgate, and many others, but none of these places are bright and shiny places. Of all these places, it is the sprawling city of Orcusgate that attracts the most creatures. Demons comprise most of the population, as they are drawn there by the gate of fire connecting Thanatos to the Pits of Pazunia on the first layer of the Abyss. They are the top demons of Orcus’ cult, holding sway over access to the gate and using it themselves to travel throughout the Abyss to do Orcus’ bidding. Mortals often arrive here but quickly depart for Lash Embrar, a city ruled over by the Skull King Quah-Nomag which is quite far from Orcusgate since Orcus is tired of how self-important Quah-Nomag is getting, it is also much more hospitable to living creatures. All of this, along with the fact that the official name used on the travel brochure is Thanatos, the Belly of Death, makes it a place you don’t want to go unless you truly have to.

4e

Found first in the Monster Manual (2008), Orcus rises in prominence and even graces the cover of the book. You don’t get that privilege if you aren’t the mightiest of the demon lords, and in fact, Demogorgon had to wait until the next Monster Manual. This fat-bellied goat demon gets a cool new title, The Blood Lord, along with the Demon Lord of Undeath and the Demon Prince of the Undead. It’s a strange combination of titles, but we’ll try to explain if we can. If you’re alive, you enrage the Blood Lord because of your very existence and it brings Orcus nothing but suffering and agony for you to be alive. If you are undead, this also causes Orcus a great amount of agony and can only be pacified when he destroys and drinks the blood of his victims. He’s a complicated demon lord, but that’s why you just have to love him.
Looking at his powerful wand, the skull that graces the top of it is now pulled into question. There are two stories behind the possible victim whose skull adorns the top of the obsidian shaft, the first being that the skull belongs to a dead god of virtue and chivalry. The god didn’t die of natural causes, but by the hand of Orcus, who probably lopped off its head, flayed the skin from it, and set it atop the wand. The second story is that the skull is that of a mere human hero, but that must have been one big-headed human since the skull is giant size. No matter the truth, The Blood Lord took the good power from the skull and twisted it into an evil that can kill any creature it touches.
In addition to the information on Orcus, we also get to look at his minions and servants. The Aspect of Orcus allows Orcus to summon a minor version of himself and to send to his followers to help in their endeavors. As for servants, Orcus has several mortal followers that are willing to serve him like the Deathpriest Hierophant, Deathpriest of Orcus, and Crimson Acolyte. The Hierophant is the most powerful of all Orcus’ priests, who can project a vision of death into the mind of its target and invoke the name of Orcus to hurt you while healing any undead around. Deathpriests have mastery over necrotic energies, while the Acolytes wield bloodstained scythes and aspire to the ranks of the Deathpriests. All these servants are members of the various cults of Orcus on the Material Plane, congregating in graveyards, tombs, and other scary and haunted areas. There are several cults, each with their own symbols and icons, although robes of black and crimson are one thing they all have in common. That, and the blood sacrifices they perform in the name of their lord, Orcus.
If you’ve ever wanted to visit Orcus, for some reason, and wish to journey to Thanatos, the Manual of the Planes (2008) provides plenty of information on what you can expect. Ash-gray clouds, blackened skies, hordes of undead thralls, and lots of demons are hallmarks of these lands and little changes from what is revealed in the previous edition. Though Orcus has abandoned his Orcusgate city for a more remote location called Oblivion’s End where his fortress, Everlost, towers over a large desert of powdered bones. This land is rather inhospitable, much to our surprise, and unless you are hoping to curry Orcus’ favor, there isn’t much here beyond Orcus and his elite soldiers.
Orcus’ obsession with the destruction of Demogorgon and Graz’zt is reduced to a dull simmer as Orcus has now set his sights on bigger targets, like the destruction of the Raven Queen and her control over death. This hatred comes to the forefront in almost all of the adventures in this edition. The adventure series is broken into 9 modules starting with characters at level 1 and eventually culminating to 30th level, all the while the party is facing off against the forces of evil, which often, but not always, involves the cult of Orcus who are trying to help him ascend to godhood and kill the Raven Queen. This series involves the heroes jumping across the multiverse, journeying into the Abyss, the Shadowfell and the Feywild, fighting dragons, undead, and more. The main focus of the later adventure, in the E series modules which contain E1 - Death’s Reach (2009), E2 - Kingdom of the Ghouls (2009), and E3 - Prince of Undeath (2009), has the party attempting to foil Orcus’ plans. They must first break the siege against Letherna, where the Raven Queen resides, fighting against Orcus’ elite demons. Eventually, they attract the wrath of Orcus and must deal with his powerful exarch, Doresain the Ghoul King. After that, they continue messing with Orcus’ plans before they finally stop him from destroying the Raven Queen and stealing her godhood.
In The Shadowfell - Gloomwrought & Beyond (2008), Orcus’ relationship with the Raven Queen is further defined and it is revealed that Orcus is constantly trying to send spies and secret cultists to the Raven Queen’s realm to undermine her. Orcus controls huge swaths of the Shadowfell, and the shadar-kai are a constant enemy as they are loyal to the Raven Queen and see anyone who worships the demon prince as only worthy of death. To help his plans move forward, Orcus offers large rewards to any who can kill the shadar-kai and raven knights, and even greater rewards to those who bring them back alive so that Orcus can torture them.

5e

Orcus is first mentioned in the Monster Manual (2014), but no stat block is provided and we only get a few paragraphs, much like all the other demon lords. Described as the Blood Lord and the Demon Prince of Undeath, his hatred of undead creatures seems to have lessened considerably as only living creatures not bound or controlled by him are anathema to his existence. It’s nice that he has finally gotten over hating everything, and now just hates most things. Sadly, little else is revealed about him beyond ghouls and wights seem to like him.
The next drip of information comes in the Dungeon Master’s Guide (2014) which shows off his home in the Abyss, Thanatos. Still described as a horrible place, much of what is written is from 4th edition and is covered in tombs, mausoleums, and more across its landscapes, and that Orcus’ lair is still in Everlost in the wasteland known as Oblivion’s End. This book also contains the Wand of Orcus, a powerful artifact that has a magically enlarged skull, cause we guess there were no giant skulls available when Orcus was working on his art project, and it is actually rather lame. Sure you can cast a bunch of spells from it, like blight or finger of death, but its power has been shrunken considerably. It can no longer kill with a single touch, though if you pick it up and attune to it, it has the potential to kill you outright. You can summon undead with it, and for the first time, it has sentience and wishes to help Orcus’ goals, though it only acts like it likes the wielder, feigning devotion to whoever wields it. There is also some information on the skull Orcus uses on top of the wand, that it is the skull of an ancient hero and that his soul has been imprisoned by Orcus somewhere.
Orcus finally makes his true appearance in the Out of the Abyss (2015) adventure, but as a minor character only, and is immediately killed in a cut scene by Demogorgon. His only purpose in this adventure is to fight Demogorgon at the end, wounding it so that the adventurers have an easier time to kill the demon lord, and is crushed beneath the tentacles of Prince of Demons. It’s a horrific tragedy for Orcus, but at least he gets a stat block at the back of the book that is quite respectable for such a powerful and well-known being. While there is some lore written in there about him, much of it is similar to what we already found out but we do learn that he actually makes his lair in the fortress city of Naratyr, found on Thanatos, and it is surrounded by a moat fed by the River Styx. Seems like, in 1 year, Orcus decided to move from Everlost and Oblivion’s End and head back to his old stomping grounds of Naratyr, this time with a large moat.
In Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes (2018), Orcus finally gets a bit more juicy information, and we can finally start getting his perspective on stuff. We learn that Orcus isn’t hell-bent on the destruction of the world because he hates everything in life, but because he hates all life. To him, life is noisy and messy, that it scratches at his finer sensibilities like a rat scratching through his mind. He just wants the quiet that accompanies death, and we think deep down inside each of us, we can understand that. Aren’t we all just looking for some peace and quiet?
We also get a bit more information on his cultists and those who understand what it is like to live in a cruel, living world. Orcus is revered by individuals who see the gods as the problem, that they can take away the life from loved ones and do nothing to stop death. Orcus is an attractive option, one that can offer them a respite from dealing with the pain of death through undeath. He offers to bring back those who die to undeath, and while it might be a mockery of life, it is far better than the gods who do nothing but sit there and force people to pay hundreds of gold to return the dead to life.
Those who are especially vulnerable include grieving parents, siblings, and others who have recently suffered a great loss. Those who spread his name are rewarded and are granted portions of his power. Those who just spread his name are rewarded with being transformed into ghouls or zombies who serve in his legions, while his favored servants are the cultists and necromancers who murder the living and then manipulate the dead, emulating their dread master. While it might seem a bit greedy that the Blood Lord already has countless ghouls and skeletons under his command, that the only reward he offers is to be turned into more of his mindless legions, for some, undeath is just the peace and quiet they were always looking for.
Orcus might have been misunderstood since the beginning. He is a powerful demon prince of undeath, but not only because he hates all living creatures. It’s because they are noisy and unclean, that their lives cause him physical pain. He only hopes to turn all life into undeath so that he can finally live in a multiverse of peace. The destruction of suns and stars, the destruction of light in the darkness, all these things will eventually end, and then, and only then, will Orcus finally have the rest he so rightfully deserves.

Past Deep Dives

Creatures: Aboleth / Beholder / Chimera / Couatl / Displacer Beast / Djinni / Dragon Turtle / Dryad / Flumph / Frost Giant / Gelatinous Cube / Ghoul / Giff / Gnoll / Grell / Hobgoblin / Kobold / Kraken / Kuo-Toa / Lich / Lizardfolk / Mimic / Mind Flayer / Nothic / Owlbear / Rakshasa / Rust Monster / Sahuagin / Scarecrow / Shadar-Kai / Umber Hulk / Vampire / Werewolf / Xorn
Class: Barbarian Class / Cleric Class / Wizard Class
Spells: Fireball Spell / Lost Spells / Named Spells / Quest Spells / Wish Spell
Other: The History of Bigby / The History of the Blood War / The History of the Raven Queen / The History of Vecna
submitted by varansl to DnDBehindTheScreen [link] [comments]

Vancouver Drama Chronicles – Matchstick Coffee

Hello /Vancouver,
What a trip last week. Introduced a spinoff series called Vancouver Murder Chronicles, and then on Saturday at 3am I posted fresh drama regarding Eastside Boxing Club. That makes 4 articles I’ve posted in a week, and since I don’t have a set schedule for these, ensure you keep an eye out because you never know when one gets posted.
Matchstick Coffee was a highly requested topic for the VDC. Going in, I knew very little about it. I’m not a coffee drinker, the only experience with coffee I have is the Nesspresso I bought on Black Friday last year. While I started doing researching for the article, I thought about making a trip to one of the five Matchstick cafes in Vancouver to try it out, but that would require me to leave my bunker.
A commenter asked me if it was possible to support a business that fucked up and listed Matchstick as an example. The quick answer, and to save you reading the next 2,200 words is yes. I think it’s totally okay to support Matchstick Coffee, and spoilers… HOT TAKE ALERT I don’t think Spencer Viehweger is a evil person, I think he’s just a horrible owner and product of the coffee culture.
TLDR: Matchstick Coffee posted a statement on Instagram saying they value their employees and respect them. Former employees spoke up about their abusive experiences working for owner Spencer Viehweger. Spencer & his wife, Annie, step down from their positions at Matchstick Coffee. Now the chain of coffee cafes are run by an entirely new group.
Too Long, Want to Read:
Passion - A brief history of Matchstick
I spent two hours trying to come up with a pretentious summary to match the beautiful poetic prose in the About Us section on Matchstick’s website. This is what I’ve come up with in those two hours…
Whichever one you like, use it. I spent a few hours on it, I’m not deleting it. The point is, Matchstick Coffee lived up to its reputation as one of the best coffee shops in Vancouver (Yes, Bon Appétit link was on purpose, I like to think businesses who mistreat workers like to stick together). Now? It’s not even mentioned as a contender for Vancouver’s best coffee because of the controversy last year with ex-owners Spencer & Annie Viehweger. It’s pretty impressive when you can’t even buy your way onto a Daily Hive top 10 list… because of their journalistic integrity.
What happened? As someone who recaps drama, I like to think it’s the following…
Passion is a powerful trait to have as a leader, you inspire those around you to do better. But passion can turn toxic, especially when pressured to be the best when stretching yourself too thin. You become stressed, and when you’re stressed, you radiate that energy onto others around you, and suddenly passion can turn into intimidation. I fully believe Spencer & Annie had the best intentions when they started Matchstick, but in the end they didn’t have the experience of managing. Combined with the pressure and growing expansions of business/family, they leaned on the abusive experiences they’ve witnessed in the industry as common practice. Emotionally and professionally, Spencer didn’t know how to interact with those who are his subordinates.
One reason I say this is because in my professional career of ***** **** ***********, I have been that asshole manager. I have intimidated co-workers, and acted emotionally in the workplace. I’ve since worked on my soft skill communication and it’s no longer an issue. I think that’s why I emphasize with *Spencer, or at least say I don’t think he’s a terrible human being. It’s just insight from my personal experience, it’s not an excuse for his actions.
Before we get into Spencer, let’s talk about…
Baristas: Exploitable Workforce
In order to exploit a workforce, you need to have a desirable job. Why is everyone lining up to be a barista? It’s not the pay, benefits, or career opportunities, it’s the cool factor of working in a coffee shop. When did coffee shops become cool then?
I blame video games television. The early millennials grew up with a television culture that focused heavily on coffee culture.
In the 1990s/2000s where the primary job for a young person was to go into retail or McDonalds, a job as a barista seemed cool. The job marketed heavily towards free spirited individuals with each coffee shop having its own unique feel/vibe. It was better than flipping burgers and ringing up customers, and you can say you worked at a hipster coffee shop like Starbucks or Matchstick.
I’m going off topic here, but essentially coffee shops became a popular alternative for young workers, and the entire industry has exploited that. This isn’t just a Matchstick problem, it existed long before Matchstick and still exists today. I fully believe this is where Spencer unconsciously learned that it’s okay to be an asshole. It’s hard to notice something is wrong when all you know is a single industry. Starting as a worker, having a manager not correct him, and watching how other stores are run, I believe Spencer thought the way he acted was appropriate. A great example of this is crunch time. In the software development industry there is a period called crunch time where they’ll spend countless hours of overtime fixing bugs. That sounds fucking awful, doesn’t it? Well, believe it or not, it’s still a problem today because of people with the ideology of I went through it, we made great games, this is just part of the process are in charge. In short, they know it works, and that’s all they know. Similar to the coffee industry, managers know what they can get away with because they’ve experienced it and nobody has given them shit for it, until now.
Just like in software development, there have been movements for baristas to organize and stand together, but they failed to materialize and stick. Probably because of union busting or termination.
Now we understand everyone mistreats coffee house employees, it’s time to talk about 2020 and how they got their cummopence..
Spilling the Beans
BlackLivesMatter is a powerful movement, and it allowed silenced voices to speak up about the injustices around the world. From the rise of the #MeToo movement in wrestling to the protests in the United States, voices and stories about oppression everywhere was being told. Including baristas, it happened all over the world.
For Matchstick Coffee though, it started with an Instagram post talking about their values on July 1st. A week later, Leah Christ was like, Nah and posted her story on social media. It’s a story about Leah’s experiences with Spencer Viehweger as a manipulative boss who doesn’t know how to act rationally and professionally. Here are some things she called out specifically:
  • Spencer has a terrible temperament, he’s hard to read if he’s in a good mood or foul mood.
  • Spencer was very argumentative.
  • Was offered a raise, but was told it would take away from someone else’s paycheck.
  • Brought up racism to Spencer, and was told just act Switzerland about it.
  • Bad experience with 1 on 1s, Spencer made them feel intimidating.
It was the opening salvo in what would be an onslaught of claims against Spencer. Soon after an Instagram called #NotOurMatchstick (Now, #notourcafes) posted a series of confessions about the abuse encountered. Here are some stories, that show how horrible Spencer & Annie Viehweger were as owners.
Even with all of those horrible stories, I believe Spencer Viehweger isn’t a horrible person. He isn’t Nick Rabuchin who was blatantly threatening, racist, and purposely manipulative. Spencer is a product of an abusive coffee culture and terrible manager. He didn’t know how to delegate, trust his employees, and manage people. As Matchstick grew in success, this led to more stress and him lashing out at everyone around him. Again, this isn’t an excuse, just trying to hypothesize why he’s so terrible.
Here are some examples of what I’m talking about:
So, how did Matchstick handle the controversy?
Apology & Action Items
Spencer released an apology on Instagram within a day or two of the accusations. In the apology he stated:
  • Spencer & Annie Viehweger stepped away from the company.
  • Divested themselves of all shares in the company.
  • Mentioned he’s seeking personal help, directly associated to his behaviour.
  • Standard, I didn’t mean to hurt anyone.
Honestly, I thought this apology was good and authentic. He could’ve pulled a Vancouver Candle Company move and gave ownership to his wife, but they both stepped down. It also addressed he was seeking help for behaviour issues, not that he “completed watching a Ted Talk”.
Recently, Matchstick Coffee released a note on Instagram highlighting what they’ve been doing to be part of the community again.
  • Working with local charities such as Vancouver Food Runners, Qmunity, and Rethos(?).
  • New internal health plan for team members.
  • Brought in diverse and inclusive voices to their operational team.
  • Matchstick products are all fully compostable and locally sourced.
  • Large portion of their “food waste” are now going to charities across Vancouver.
Not mentioned on Instagram, Matchstick is officially unionized. They’re members of the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1518.
Conclusion & Musings
To answer my question above, it is possible to support a business that’s been horrible. I think Spencer & Annie did the honourable thing and completely step away from the company (not true for Vancouver Candle Co), the new owners stepped in and turned it around.
I haven’t consumed anything from Matchstick, but I wouldn’t boycott them. Matchstick has turned it around. Business wise, supporting them is taking a stand against the old regime and coffee culture that oppresses our young workers.
Matchstick, please contact me so you can send me a check for this glowing recommendation – ”Your business fucked up, but you turned it around. Gold star.” (I’m an influencer now).
Note
Here is a comment made by someone about the current conditions of matchstick
Stumbled across this and had to chime in.. Matchstick has NOT "turned it around" and supporting them isn't sticking it to the "old regime". It's still just as toxic and crappy as ever and now this "new regime" is cutting corners left and right sacrificing quality and staff/customer safety to increase profits.
"new" owner is one of the old owners (2/3 owners sold their shares. 3rd owner now owns everything). It's just an investment for him. Matchstick is now run by a newly hired president and a board of the owner's inner circle along with store managers of varying levels of competency and tendencies to micromanage.
Spencer was horrible to lots of staff and literally no one is sad that he's gone. But none of the other problems with the company have been magically fixed.
Hours are being cut like mad with workload increasing. Quality down the drain. Training of new staff is a joke same with Covid protocol. Almost all long term staff left after Spencer and Annie left. Most fun to job is long gone.
There is no new "diverse and inclusive voice" to the operational team. Some of the managers are from the Spencer era and some are newly promoted. They don't speak for the staff, they speak for themselves. And laughable that it is being called diverse and inclusive.
Spencer is a big prick but so were a lot of the ex staff who had problems with him. Some of the ex staff who came forward were part of the problem too. Things didn't magically get better when he sold his shares.
This whole piece smells of something written by someone with no actual idea of what is going on within the company now.
Support Matchstick all you want but don't think you are sticking it to the old regime if you do. It's just making a old rich white guy even richer. Tip the staff well if you actually care about making things better.
More Drama?
Hey /Vancouver,
I can admit to when I'm wrong, and I totally deserve to be burned at the stake here.
I've reached out to a few people regarding their comments & Spencer to talk about him.
In short, I didn't mean to gloss over Spencer's actions as a manager. I apologize to people who work for him/matchstick, and I didn't mean to high level their trauma. I wanted to bring in a different perspective and bring up issues around the service industry as well. It was an articulated intertwined thing I thought I pulled off and I didn't.
I'm not going to edit my post though, because I'm not a revisionist.
Light the match, and watch me burn for my penance.
submitted by Perdin to vancouver [link] [comments]

Pre-Match thread, Tottenham vs Liverpool, 28/01/2021: KO: 20:00

Pre-Match thread, Tottenham vs Liverpool
Premier league
Venue: One of those London Stadiums
Referee: Martin Atkinson. Assistants: Lee Betts, Constantine Hatzidakis. Fourth official: Kevin Friend. VAR: Jonathan Moss (well fuck me). Assistant VAR: Dan Robathan.
Team News
Form guide +/-
Liverpool: 37/22 DDLDL
Tottenham: 33/17 LDWDW
Possible line-up from The Gaffer
Alisson Becker
TAA - Fabinho - Matip - Robbo
Gini - Thiago - Henderson
Salah - Bobby - Mane
Match build up
submitted by PM-Me-Salah-Pics to LiverpoolFC [link] [comments]

Chaos and Mayhem: a Sexy Space Babes story part 2

Sexy Space Babes is the creation of BlueFishcake, and I am writing in the SSB universe with their permission.
First
Next
“Hold on- You drive like a crazy person!” I honestly thought I was gonna die as uncle Bill tore between the trees in a truck that was, honestly, almost too big for the road.
“I know!” Uncle Bill jerked the wheel hard as… I don’t know it was some fucked-up alien tank or what- whatever it was, it had a hell of a suspension, rolling over rocks and logs with barely a bump.
And just like that, we were out of the strip of woods, and back on the road. This time, across the guardrail, the ground dropped away in a steep hill.. And coming up was another checkpoint. “Hold onto something!” uncle Bill yelled as he slammed on the gas.
Some of the Shil’vati soldiers scattered; others opened fire before running for it as the truck smashed on through. One bounced off the hood before flopping to a stop in the middle of the road. The crab tank thing, on the other hand, slammed right through as well.
Well that was enough for uncle Bill. He hit the brakes, spinning the truck around and gunning it right towards the tank.
“What the hell are you doing?” I yelled as the tank got closer and closer. “What the hell are you-” At the last moment, uncle Bill jerked the wheel, zooming to the left of the tank. The driver must’ve been distracted; the 8-wheeled vehicle busted through the guardrail with a quick swerve and rolled down the hill.
Uncle Bill skidded to a stop, and we observed the wreck below. The chassis was badly bent, and a fuel line must've been broken or something; a fire had started.
"We should probably get going." I could imagine what would happen once the fire spread.
"Yyyyyyyup…" uncle Bill got back in the truck. I followed as the fire started to smell. Whoever was still in there was probably done for.
Uncle Bill must not’ve had time to observe, because he turned back around and drove the other way.
It was then that I saw the dashboard. The Check Engine light was on, and the gas read less than a quarter tank. More like an eighth tank.
“Dude, I think you need to get gas.”
Uncle Bill looked at his gas gauge. “No kidding. Guess I wore out the old girl.” I could almost imagine my uncle him giving his truck a pat on the hood like a horse. The image made me chuckle.
“What’s so funny?”
I explained exactly what I was imagining, and was treated to a hard breath out of uncle Bill’s nose. “Ok, now. Know where to find a gas station?”
“Ok, yeah… let’s see, that’s Misery Lane there… make a left, then a right on Poplar road, and it’ll take you to the gas station just off Ninety Seven.”
“The Gas 'n' Grill” That old place had been my first job… probably uncle Bill's first job too. We both knew exactly how to get there. And what do you know? We got to the gas station perfectly fine… except even from all the way up the street, we could see it was crawling with Shil’vati.
“Shit. Um…” I pinched the bridge of my nose. This was a bad idea.
“Hold on- see that car there?” There was a red car right on the edge of the property. I could get there from the truck.
"Yeah?"
"You ever siphoned gas before?" Uncle Bill rooted through his bag and pulled out a plastic tube.
"I- uh- uh- I mean-" truth be told? I had never done that, and uncle Bill knew it.
"Don't worry, I'll keep them away from you! Just go get the gas. Here- take this." He pulled a set of radios out of the bag. I took one.
Alright…" I grabbed the hose and the jerry can and hopped out. Uncle Bill got up in a tree with the rifle.
"Any chance of taking the shotgun?" I figured it was worth asking, but uncle Bill shook his head.
"Not near a gas station."
Well, I guess with that, I was off. I ran to the parked car fast as I could before sliding to a stop.
"Alright. Thread the tube into the gas tank." I did as the radio said- pop open the gas cover and thread the tube down. I stuck one end in my mouth and sucked.
And spat the gas back into the can soon as I could. That shit was vile! It was like… steamed carrots… but spicy. I gagged long after the gas left my mouth. With a shudder that slowly calmed back down, I sucked some more- and what do you know? It wasn't as bad the second time.
Unfortunately I heard uncle Bill on the radio. "I think you've been spotted. Hold on- I'm gonna kill two birds with one stone!" A shot rang out, and I could see soldiers taking cover and looking around.
A little while later, uncle Bill spoke up again. "Had to change position. Keep sucking, this distraction won't last forever- shit! They saw me talking on the radio! Run! Run!"
Well that did it. I bolted, mentally cringing when I heard one of the Shil'Vati yelling. With that fate awaiting me, I ran through the door, diving behind the counter… which turned out to be a bad idea. I was cornered. Looking around feverishly, I grabbed the first thing my fingers closed on- a meat cleaver. Someone upstairs must've been looking out for me.
But I couldn't celebrate for long- I heard the alien coming. Uh- where to go… I wouldn't fit under the table- perfect! I tore open the fridge, throwing out the stuff inside before climbing in, stepping over sacks of frozen fries. It was a big walk-in fridge, ok?
And not a minute too soon; the alien was in the kitchen. She- yeah, with curves and boobs like that, the masked alien was most definitely a she- reached her hand under the tables and in the fridges, obviously looking for that pesky insurgent as she said something in a singsong voice. I didn't need a magic alien translator to know she was saying something like "come out, come out, little alien!"
My heart just about stopped as I saw the hand. The alien reached in, feeling around for the light switch. It was only a matter of time till she found me.
I had an idea. Let's see… what was a nice heavy swing in here… ah! I picked up a massive sack of jalapeño poppers and swung it, smashing the soldier's arm against the wall. Fast as I could, I swung the cleaver in my other hand, cutting off the top half of her hand. Her fingers and a good chunk of the hand behind the knuckles fell, dangling by a shred of skin. The tip of her thumb fell to the floor, splattering bright blue blood everywhere.
It took a moment for the Shil'vati to start screaming, almost as if her brain needed a bit to process this. When she did start, though, she sounded surprisingly human. I could imagine the tears as I heard her crying. I felt awful. When we'd been cat-and-mousing around the kitchen, she'd been the big scary alien I had to avoid at all costs.
Now she was an injured girl, probably younger than me, screaming and crying in pain.
"Let her keep screaming," uncle Bill said on the radio. "The others'll come to help. And now you can run."
Good idea. I got the hell out of there soon as I could. Even as I GTFO'd, I could see some of the others running in to help their hurt friend. I don't know if they saw me- a few gave chase. Yeah, they saw me as I burst through the door.
"Drop to the ground," uncle Bill ordered over the radio. I did as he said, and two shots rang out. I would later come to understand that nothing but larger bullets and maybe armor piercing bullets wouldn’t get through Shil'vati body armor, but at the time, I was just mystified that the soldiers weren't dead. They were just clutching their wounds and groaning. I figured uncle Bill had aimed to leave them alive. How nice of him. A few more shots rang out as I crawled away to the car.
"Just… fuckin' keep shooting while I get the rest of the gas!" I yelled into the radio. And that I did. I gritted my teeth, ignored the taste of the gas, the moaning of the Shil'vati soldiers, and my heart racing, and, well, slowly but surely, I got it! Soon there was a decent amount of gasoline in the can.
When I got back to the truck, I went to fill the tank straight away. Little as the tank read, it wasn't going anywhere else otherwise.
"Do you know what you did?" Uncle Bill asked, making me jump a little. Where'd he come from?
"What did I do?" I asked as I braced myself for a "don't get yourself backed into a corner like that" speech.
"You pulled off a decent bit of thinking on your feet and got yourself out of trouble."
Did I? I suppose I did.
"That's gonna come in handy if we ever have to fight the aliens. The- uh- what're they called? Shil'vati?"
"Yeah." I poured in the rest of the gas. "But you helped me out a bunch."
"Suppose I did. But don't you ever let yourself get cornered like that again, ok? That's how your dad died."
I dropped the jerry can. Uncle Bill had been… let's see… my dad's older brother's best friend growing up. He'd also been the first to let mom and I know about the guys cornering dad in an alley and beating him to with an inch of his life. He wound up dying in the ICU.
With that delightful thought, we got back in the truck and drove off.
"There's a bunch of cabins all through the woods," uncle Bill explained as we pulled off the road and made our way into the woods. "Some of these places are really elaborate, too. Generators, sheds with 4-wheelers…"
I wasn't listening. My mind kept going back to the soldier I'd mutilated. "Can we pull over real quick? I think I'm gonna throw up."
Uncle Bill pulled to a stop and I stumbled out. Soon as my head was out the door it came loose, the vomit stream narrowly missing the truck. I hadn't had anything to eat today, so after the first few splatters I just dry heaved.
Then I felt a hand on my back. "It doesn't really get easier."
Well that was a relief.
"You just get numb to it." Uncle Bill sat me down.
Well that was a relief.
"I can't stop just… fuck… when I was in that fridge, she was just some alien soldier I had to fight off… but then I felt guilty, like I saw her as a person. God, I don't know what to think anymore." I could feel the nausea again.
"Hold onto that feeling," uncle Bill said. "Feeling guilty means you're still human. But there's no use worrying either. What's done is done. All the guilt in the world won't bring back the dead." Something about the way he was saying all this made me think he still regretted some of the things he did.
"But right now we just have to concentrate on staying alive- hold on. You hear that?"
I didn't hear anything. Was I going deaf or something?
"I think they followed us into the woods."
Captain Rishi was not having a good day. All morning, she and her troops had been dealing with insurgents, with, admittedly, poor results. First, there had been an incident with an old man and a boy. From what she'd seen, private Creyxh'd had her arm pulled into their vehicle, then the window had closed on her. That little incident had left her where she was now, explaining why insurgents now had Shil'vati weapons.
"From what we're hearing, Captain Rishi, those under your command are unable to deal with two insurgents?" General Vreeh, and most of the high command, had expected this to be an easy conquest.
"No, it's not-" Rishi was fucked, and she knew it.
"Not even females! Males! For the Empress's sake! Males! An elderly male and one who's barely of age! Captain Rishi, if you are unable to deal with two males, perhaps you'd be better off somewhere else. The Icebox, perhaps? Or-"
"We're dealing with them as we speak!" Rishi elected not to mention the incident at the fueling station until later. The same two insurgents had stolen a container of the explosive liquid the people of this world used as fuel- and left half a bomb squad in the hospital in the process. One had even had her hand so badly mutilated the rest of the thing had to be amputated and fitted for cybernetics. Captain Rishi was not looking forward to explaining to the girl's parents why their baby was now missing her right hand.
"We're chasing them into the forest," Captain Rishi explained. "We've sourced a few Reex handlers." The reex was a useful animal with a hell of a nose. They'd sniff out the insurgents.
First
Next
submitted by LordHenry7898 to HFY [link] [comments]

Matched Betting Extra Place Horse Racing - January 21 Profits - £4,707 on top of Full Time Job

Hi all,
I thought I would share my profits for Matched Betting Extra Place Horse Racing for Jan 21. January 2021 has turned into my best month of Matched Betting since I started way back in Summer 2018. This months profits are roughly £4,707. A life changing figure for many and a great figure seeing this is achievable on top of a full time job. Matched Betting is the only decent side hustle I have actually found, compared to doing hundreds of boring online surveys...yuck! (Unless you are a good business person / have 5 lodgers / lots of family money etc.) To see some of my other Matched Betting profits you visit my site: https://cashontheside.co.uk/
I will be investing some of my profits this month in ETF/Shares and putting into house improvements like a new drive way. In addition with Cheltenham horse festival coming up in March, I will be increasing my bank to cover liabilities.
The bulk of my profits came from Extra Place racing, large underlayed winners and BOG (best offer garuntee). Variance was certainly on my side this month and I must have had at least 10 large winners which won upwards of £1600 pounds per bet. As I underlay my bets I made more profit than If I had fully layed of the bets. About 5% of these profits came from low risk casino. After you have completed all welcome offers...in Matched Betting. Ep's become a gold mine...and I truly recommend them to anyone.
Some more of my bets this month illustrating underlayed bets and ep:
https://cashonthesidecouk.files.wordpress.com/2021/02/winnings4.jpg
https://cashonthesidecouk.files.wordpress.com/2021/02/winnings.jpg
https://cashonthesidecouk.files.wordpress.com/2021/02/another-winner.jpg
​
Images of one of my bets illustrative of Best offer guarantee: https://cashonthesidecouk.files.wordpress.com/2021/01/136707133_10159536662702922_8507610622687908137_o-1.jpg?w=544
For those who are starting out on their Match Betting journey in 2021 these sort of figures are achievable to you once you have experience….unfortunately this will not come overnight! I do put a lot of time into it..between 2-5 hours a day, 7 days a week sometimes. For the average person you could earn at least £500 a month.
To learn more about Match Betting please visit my article Boost Your Income with Matched Betting. Alternatively you can start an Odds Monkey free trial where they will teach you step by step and give you the calculators you need: odds monkey trial https://www.oddsmonkey.com/affiliates/affiliate.php?id=64754(affiliate) or www.oddsmonkey.com. (non affiliate)
To those with a little more experience who want to learn about Matched Betting Extra Places you can visit my guide here Extra Place Match Betting tips here or I have copied and pasted it all below.
For those with Matched Betting Experience - my guide and tips to Extra Places:
What is Extra Place Matched Betting?
Extra Places can be a very lucrative technique to learn. Extra Places are available for us to do pretty much every day, increasing the appeal. Extra Place Offers are available to all customers. This means that even if you get gubbed with a bookmaker, in most cases, you can still make money with them by Matched Betting on their Extra Place Offers.
Extra Places are considered an advanced reload offer, as they not risk-free. However once you have gained some experience on more basic horse racing offers, you can start to take advantage of the lucrative profits available. It may sound complicated but as soon as it ‘clicks’, it becomes simple. Essentially we are taking advantage of the bookies and exchanges paying out if the horse you have backed comes a certain ‘place’ in a race e.g. 4th.
Extra Places combined with additional offers such as BOG (Best Offer Guarantee) can mean additional profits. For example, you back a horse at odds of 15 and then the starting odds move up to 23. If that horse wins you win an extra x8 on your bet. You can see some real life scenarios I found of Extra Place combined with BOG below. Depending on the size of the underlay, profits below would range up to £3,000+

What is a ‘place’ in horse racing?

Quite simply a ‘place’ is the position the horse finishes a race in. For example if a horse wins a race it comes 1st, if a horse comes 2nd its 2nd. In some races with a large number of horses some bookies will pay out if a horse finishes the race in 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th position. Horse Racing festivals such as Cheltenham or Ascot are particularly well known for this.

What is an ‘Extra Place’ in horse racing?

Now we’ve understood what a place is in horse racing you may have probably already guessed what an ‘extra place’ is going to be! An ‘extra place’ is where the bookies add one (or more) additional places to their standard place classification on a particular race. For example they may offer to ‘pay 7 places on a race’ instead of the standard 3 places. The ‘extra place’ in this instance cover 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th.
What are my Extra Place top tips?
  1. Some of my biggest profits have come from big underlayed winners and BOG. I typically underlay most of my bets by about 20% sometimes more. If you are starting out I would underlay on the place only by about 10% to play it safe until you learn more.
  2. Don’t bet on more places than a bookmaker is offering. E.g. If the bookmaker is offering 4 places don’t bet on more than that.
  3. Whilst your learning, take horses on implied odds of at least 12 or more on a match of 80%+.
  4. Look to keep qualifying losses down. E.g. for £100 profit, £5 ql.
  5. Please note, the best odds are typically found between 10 minutes up and to race time. You have to be quick on your ‘toes’…learn to walk before you run etc. Start out on easy horse racing officers before doing extra places.
  6. You will need a bank of at least £1000+ for your exchanges, ideally more. The more you have the more of the field you can cover. You can do EP with several hundred in your exchange but you won’t be able to make bigger profits.
  7. Be consistent, don’t take risks, don’t chase your losses and learn from matched betting extra place forums.
  8. Keep the Odds Monkey up throughout the day...and check for good matches.
  9. Use Bookies Boosts to increase your odds and matches.
  10. Do not give in to your fear of missing out on offers…Tomorrow is another day.
  11. Have at least a dual monitoscreen setup. It is important to be able to see exchange, books and calcs.
How do I find Extra Places offers?
I use the the Odds Monkey Extra Place Matcher to find the best opportunities for profit. The Matcher is explained in the below video.
https://youtu.be/oOKAdiSJidg
I am also a regular visitor of the active Odds Monkey community forums. You can sign up for an Odds Monkey free trial today here today https://www.oddsmonkey.com/affiliates/affiliate.php?id=64754 www.oddsmonkey.com (non affiliate). Odds Monkey provide you with the all guides, calculators etc. I have been a member for over 2.4 years now.
Feel free to get in touch or ask below if any questions.
submitted by After-Asparagus1815 to beermoneyuk [link] [comments]

Jean Bart Fic: A Pirate's Crush - Ch.15: Just Me, My Board, and My Thoughts (Jean Bart X Commander)

My name is Jean Bart, the Vichya Dominion's last cutting-edge battleship, who needn't rely on anyone but myself for strength. Yet… I've found myself utterly infatuated with my commander. Just the sight of him makes me weak. Being near him is like a drug. How did this happen? Now he wants me to be next secretary. My heart's racing. How long can I hide my feelings? Or… should I?
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13658606/15/A-Pirate-s-Crush
Hope you enjoy. I’m pumped for the next chapter. I’ve already started writing it, so hopefully it won’t take too long. Thanks for reading and sticking with me. I’m enjoying exploring Jean Bart’s character a lot. Definitely has become my favorite character in the game thanks to this fic. As always, thanks for reading, and thanks for bearing with me on the downtime between chapters. Regardless of how long the next chapter takes, this story ain’t going anywhere, I promise. Cheers.
------------------------------------------
I sighed heavily as I laid on my surfboard out on the sea, waiting for any good wave. I thought I could catch a few before the commander arrived, but it’s been unusually calm today. The commander’s really taking his sweet ass time. He told me to go ahead of him while he wrapped things up, but that was almost a half-hour ago. Whatever. I guess I can wait a bit longer. After all, it’s the commander.
I just wish a good wave would come in. The port beach is usually great for surfing. Ain't sure why it’s so dead today.
I leaned on my hand, drawing circles in the water as my thoughts took over.
I should be happy right now. I get the commander all to myself. No work. No interruptions. Just the two of us on the beach with some crash-course surfing lessons. What more could I ask for?
But... I dunno. I feel so defeated. Hmph... I suppose almost being sunk fresh after repairs might be part of it. Not to mention Richelieu nabbed the MVP. Again. Such a petty thing to bitch about, but it wouldn’t be the first time she’s beat me. I’ve never been able to escape her shadow. It’s a venom-laced sting that never goes away.
One day, I’ll surpass her.
Damn it, I was in such a good mood earlier too. Nothing matches the adrenaline rush from battle, especially after several days of withdrawal. Leading the charge with my fleetmates, kicking ass with the commander watching, looking forward to his praise afterwards... until Akagi ruined everything.
Akagi... just thinking about that bitch made my body simmer.
I think I was too easy on the commander. He should’ve punished her straight away. Anything except that “I’ll think of something” bullshit. Maybe I can talk some sense into him later. He can’t be so soft with her anymore. If it were me in his position, I would’ve slammed her in the brig right then and there. Maybe shave her tails for good measure.
I’ll talk to him before we start. He needs to know ASAP. I’ll give him a day to think about it, though. I want the rest of our time this evening to be for detox.
Speaking of the commander...
I looked behind me again. Damn, still not here. Just the other surfboard I brought for him sitting there with my hat and cooler. Where the hell is he? How much stuff did he have left to do? Can’t surf if it gets too dark out. If swear if he stands me up, I’ll hand him over to Akagi myself... after slapping some sense into him.
Unless... he doesn’t wanna hang with me?
Jean, don’t do this. You’re out here to relax, remember? Not beat yourself up. Ya got enough of a beating today anyway. Besides, this is your chance to show him you’re not a total bitch. I know he’s been on dates with other shipgirls. He should know to never give them the cold shoulder.
Wait... date...?
“Guh!” I yelped. D-Date?! Is this...? Did I accidentally ask him out?! B-But I never said “date” to him! I-I was just hoping to... shit, it feels like I’m gonna have a heart attack!
No! Calm down, Jean. Calm... the hell... down. Deep breaths. In through the nose... out through the mouth. Easy, girl. Easy...
Phew. Okay, now without panicking, let’s think. Is this actually a date? That wasn’t what I was thinking when I asked. I just wanted to show him that I can unwind after busting his balls all week. But... did he think I was asking him out? But what if…
...no. What am I worried about? I never said the word “date”, nor did I ask, “Will you go out with me?” I just invited him to the beach. A guy and a girl can just chill on the beach together as friends, right?
...but I don’t wanna be just “friends” with him, right? Isn’t a date exactly what I want?
Shiver me timbers, why does this crush have to be so damn complicated?
Ugh... I oughta not dwell on that crap. I’m came to relax and have fun, and that’s exactly what I’m gonna do. Maybe blow off some steam too.
My surfboard began to rock more. I perked up when I saw the peak of a bigger wave quickly approaching. A wave perfect to surf on.
“Finally,” I mumbled. Showtime.
I paddled to turn myself around and waited for the wave to pick me up. When it did, I got ready to stand. The refreshing blue water shattered into white all over my body, cooling me as I popped up to my feet. I steadied myself and gazed outward, coasting straight with the wave. Nothing too crazy yet. Just warming up. I took a deep, invigorating breath. Ah... brisk. I almost prefer this to fighting. No Sirens or horny foxgirls trying to kill me. I can just be out on the water and enjoy myself.
This is really helping to brighten a crappy day. Only thing that could make it better is...
...hmph... speak of the devil.
I saw the commander sitting on the beach. Heh... probably the most casual garb I’ve seen in him. Just a T-shirt, swim trunks, and flip flops.
Oh shoot, he’s waving at me.
“Hehe...” I giggled.
...that was the girliest giggle I’ve ever uttered. Well, besides when he asked me to be his secretary. Okay, second girliest. Whatever. Jeez, I must be blushing up a storm. It’s not my fault the dumbass looks so damn cute right now.
I waved back...
“WoaAAhh!” I yelped as my board thrashed a bit. I managed to regain balance.
Phew... that was close. Now ain't the time to wipe out. Just taking it easy, remember?
Although... this wave still has some length and power to it. And I’m a healthy distance away from shore...
Know what? Screw it. I think I’m warmed up enough, and I think I’ve got a second chance to show off for him. I grinned as I crouched...
“Alright, Commander. Lemme show ya what I got.”
With the white water chasing me, I coasted along the trough of the wave, gaining speed. Once I had enough, I turned my board towards the wave’s crest. I skirted on the top of the wave, scattering saltwater to the wind as I crouched and turned the board to accelerate down to the wave’s base. I repeated this a couple times. Up to the crest, down to the trough.
Now this is child’s play. Simple s-bends. But I’m only getting started. Let’s see if I can land one of the tricks I’ve been practicing.
I accelerated towards the edge of the wave. I could feel my ponytail start to thrash behind me as I gained speed. It felt like my heart was beating as fast as I was surfing. When I felt like I had enough speed, I coasted up to the tip of the wave. Before I actually touched the crest, I leaned my body to my side. As if I was surfing in a solid bowl, my board seamlessly carved the edge of the wave as I circled back around, creating a smooth, clear fan of water in my wake.
Now the tricky part. Catching the white water.
C'mon, Jean. You’ve got this. He’s watching...
My board was at full speed. Barely any time to think as I fixated on the wave’s white water. I gotta hit this just right. I grit my teeth as I closed the gap between me and the tip of the wave. Crouching to absorb the punch of the white water, the nose of my board broke through the crest. I quickly leaned to turn the board back around, slicing through the wave’s crest like a knife through butter.
“Kyah!” I grunted, slamming the board down into the water as the wave shattered around me, and I had full control of my board once again.
“Hah!” I did it! Yes! Yes!!! I thought for sure I was gonna wipe out when I saw how close the white water was, but holy crap I nailed it! I don’t even care that it’s one of the easier tricks!
If nothing else, I know I’ve got Richelieu beat at this.
With a big smirk, I allowed the dissipating energy of the wave to carry me back to shore. I waited until the sand below the water was visible before dismounting. A smaller wave rolled up around my shins as I hoisted up my board. I tossed my hair to shake the excess water out as I walked onto shore, greeted by my smiling commander.
“About time you showed up,” I said.
“Jean, that was awesome!” he said.
“Heh... thanks,” I said, undoing the leg rope on my ankle. I hope I’m not blushing too much. Hearing him praise me like that gives me butterflies. “A roundhouse cutback is what that’s called. I still need to perfect it a bit, but I’m glad I could land one for ya.”
“You don’t expect me to do anything like that, right?” he asked.
I chuckled as I reached behind my head to undo my ponytail. “Of course not. Gotta learn to use the board first.”
I tossed and fluffed my hair as it was freed from my hair tie, feeling it gently fall across my back like a cloak. Ah... much better. The ponytail’s nice until it gets wet. Then it feels like it’s tugging on your head.
Wait... was he staring at me while I did that?
“Oh, that’s another thing,” he said before I could call him out for ogling me. “I kinda... don’t have a board...?”
“I figured,” I said, walking over to the second board and swapping it out for my current one. “I was gonna let you borrow my other one. If you like surfing well enough, maybe you can get your own.”
“Sound good to me,” he said. “I’m excited to try it. It looks really fun.”
“Hold on, Commander,” I said. “I’m glad you’re excited, and I know we’re here to chill, but I need to be a secretary one last time before we start.”
“Um... okay?” he said. “What’s up?”
I sighed. I hope this doesn’t kill the vibe too much, but I really do need to lay into him.
“Have you thought of a punishment for Akagi yet?” I asked.
His eyes widened. “Oh... Akagi. Um... not yet.”
“Okay. Well, here’s a follow-up question,” I said. “Have you thought about it at all since training? And don’t lie to me.”
He pursed his lips. His face said it all.
“...no,” he said.
Yep. I figured as much.
“Well, at least you’re honest,” I said. “Look, you were too easy on her. That bitch oughta be punished and you know it.”
“I know, I know,” he said. “It’s just... I...”
“What?” I pressed. “Ya scared of her? Commander, she attacked an ally willingly and with purpose. If ya know ya oughta punish her, then why haven’t ya thought about it?”
“B-But Jean...”
“No no no, don’t ‘But Jean’ me,” I said sternly. “You know damn well that the only reason ya didn’t punish her then and there is because you’re scared of her. Right?”
He was silent, pursing his lips and fidgeting his fingers.
“Ya know I’m right,” I said. “Just admit it.”
He sighed. “...y-yeah.”
That wasn’t so hard, was it? He may be cute as hell, but he can really get on my nerves.
“Well, guess what? She ain't the commander. You are,” I said. “You call the shots. If ya let her control ya like this, it’s only gonna get worse. I reckon if it was anyone else, ya woulda let them have it on the spot. Nobody deserves special treatment for something this severe. I don’t give a damn how scared you are. Ya need to man the hell up and confront her. And I ain’t saying this because it was me she tried to frag. I’d be lecturing ya regardless of who it was. Besides, ain’t nobody gonna respect ya if ya can’t put your foot down.”
He was silent for a moment, looking down at the sand. The only sounds were that of the ocean waves washing onto shore. Ugh... I hate upsetting him, but he needed to know.
“Ergh... you’re right,” he said. “I messed up, didn’t I?”
“Tell ya what. I might be annoyed for what happened, but I know ya didn’t come out here to get lectured, nor is it the reason I invited ya,” I said. “I’ll give ya till the end of the day tomorrow to come up with something. If ya don’t, I’ll punish her myself. And believe me, anything I do will piss her off way more than anything you’d do.”
He didn’t say anything for another minute. I can’t help but wonder what he’s thinking.
“...alright. Deal,” he said.
I nodded. “Good. Alright, I’m done lecturing. You’ve had a long week, so let’s unwind for a bit, huh?”
He chuckled. “Kind of a sudden change of mood.”
I shrugged. “I wanna relax too, but I knew I had to get that out before too much time passed. This is why I’m giving you the whole day tomorrow—so we can relax together tonight. You understand, right?”
He nodded. “Sure.”
“Glad ya see it my way,” I said. “Anyway, enough of that. I don’t wanna think about work anymore. For the rest of the day, I ain’t your secretary. I’m your coach. Ready to get started?”
submitted by nordryd to AzureLane [link] [comments]

top tips for racing today video

Are you looking for the best expert tips for today's horse racing meetings in Dundalk? You're in the right place! Find here all the race-by-race predictions , advised by the most authoritative tipsters and newspapers. We highly recommend to give a look at this article before to bet on your favourite horse! Top Tips Wed 10 Feb 2021. The Top Tips are our Editor’s best horse racing tips for the day, available for free and packaged as a range of popular bets. Get our expert analysis and free horse racing tips, NAP of the day and odds, for today's races throughout the UK and Ireland. Today’s best horse racing tips are at OLBG for free. Many of our top tipsters are in profit over the past 6 months. See what they are predicting today. We cover racing from USA, Ireland and UK as well as other major international meetings. Tip Sheet - Today's Free Horse Racing Tips. Welcome to the Tip Sheet for racing on Tuesday 9 February, bringing you the Timeform Analyst Verdict and betting odds for every race from today's horse racing fixtures at Kempton Park, Southwell, Taunton. > Kempton Park > Southwell > Taunton Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter Yes, if there's racing on today then we'll have expert tips from our resident racing tipster, Alan Thompsom, here at MrFixitsTips. We always try to post our racing preview the night before, to give you the best chance to get on our tips at the best prices, but sometimes our tipsters prefer to wait until the day of the race to see if there's any non-runners or changes to the going which may ... Today's Horse Racing Tips Compare the performance of thousands of horse racing tipsters and professional punters in our very own tipping marketplace. Buy tips from as little as $5 or enter your own tips and get paid for the sales you make. myracing is the home of horse racing tips and greyhound tips.Our experts fully research every race to give you the best tips, stats and trends for every race. We also have the latest horse racing tips from every racecourse and the best free bets to get you started. Please gamble responsibly when following our betting tips and read our responsible gambling guidelines for more information. Our horse racing tips are compiled for us daily by our in-house tipster. We offer a tip on every race, at every course, every day... all for free! We even publish an alternative selection when there is a non-runner. You might also be interested in our Top Tips, the selections our Editor thinks are the best bets of the day. Today’s Free Horse Racing Tips. Get free horse racing tips and the best bets for today’s racing with Timeform, covering every fixture in the UK and Ireland, including the big Festival meetings such as the Grand National, Cheltenham Festival and Royal Ascot, and we even focus on selected International races such as the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe and the Breeders’ Cup.

top tips for racing today top

[index] [2656] [4670] [5723] [6251] [8105] [9162] [3123] [7343] [1062] [8094]

top tips for racing today

Copyright © 2024 top.playrealmoneygametop.xyz