text:
Subscribe To our E-Newsletter
Posted In
September 18, 2013 11:01 AM
Judi Rieder-Siegel and Larry Siegel of Bala Cynwyd are thrilled to announce the engagement of their daughter, Michelle Robin Siegel, to Andrew Robert Magnes, son of Carol Smith and Jeffrey Magnes of Short Hills, N.J.
Michelle graduated cum laude from Miami University, where she earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in graphic design and photography with a minor in art history. She is currently working as a textile designer for Levtex, a bedding company.
Andrew, a graduate with honor from the University of Pennsylvania, holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in cinema studies with a dual minor in cognitive science studies and music. He is currently working as a copywriter and the director of IT for InSync Advertising, a motion picture advertising company.
Michelle is the granddaughter of Miriam Rieder and the late Robert Rieder, and the late Freda and David Siegel. Andrew is the grandson of Esther Smith and the late Leon Smith, and the late Frances and Benedict Magnes.
Sharing in the couple's happiness are siblings Richard Siegel (Dori), and Jonathan and Jason Magnes.
The couple, who lives in Venice Beach, Calif., met through Michelle's brother, Richard and are looking forward to a lifetime of happiness together. They will be married in June 2014.
More Mazel Tovs
October 21, 2016
November 30, 2016
July 1, 2017
July 10, 2016
November 25, 2017


text:
AMEX Online Banking lets you manage your money safely and easily. You can check transactions, balances, and transfer money in and out of your account any time, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. And all the while, you'll enjoy competitive rates, no fees, and superior customer service whenever you need it.
Login to AMEX ONLINE BANKING
Amex Bank of Canada, P.O. Box 3204, Station F, Toronto, ON M1W 3W7
Copyright © 2016 American Express Company

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Hello All,
We are heading out for our second road trip tomorrow and I wanted to ask for some advise on feeding while traveling. Our LO is 3 months this weekend and can go from breast to bottle quite easily.
My questions are...
1. Should I give her a bottle while in her car seat? (Rest stops are sometimes very far apart and it's not safe to pull to the side otherwise on the highway we will be on.)
2. How can I heat the milk? Or can my partner give it to her cold (or room temp.)?
I can still feed her from the breast if we stop but I will be driving the whole trip so it would be a nice break.
Thanks in advance for any advise.
I really enjoy reading everyone's experiences and advise. Even though I don't post questions often I learn so much from all the wonderful people. Thank you.:love


text:
MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- Out-of-state donors are still pouring cash into Republican Gov. Scott Walker's campaign as next week's historic recall election looms.
Walker's latest campaign reports show he collected $5.9 million between April 24 and Wednesday. Almost two-thirds of that -- $3.7 million -- came from donors who listed an out-of-state address. Another $112,778 came from donors who didn't list enough information to determine their address.
State election officials hadn't released reports from Walker's opponent, Democrat Tom Barrett, as of Wednesday morning. Barrett's campaign says he's raised $3.4 million over the last five weeks.
Democrats angry over a Walker proposal to strip public workers of their union rights have forced the governor and four other Republican officeholders into recalls. The elections are set for Tuesday.


text:
Mission Statement
We are committed to providing educational access and opportunities to individuals and families without regard to gender, ethnicity, disability or socioeconomic status. We provide participants and their families' information, support and academic services for post-secondary attendance. Our goal is to increase the number of diverse individuals to complete their high school education and attend and graduate from college. We believe that education empowers communities to inspire future generations to effect change.


text:
Breakfast Muffins-Gundersen Lutheran 500 Club
Savory Breakfast Muffins
Makes 12 muffins
Getting started Equipment you will need: muffin pan, large bowl, spoon, medium bowl, whisk, cutting board/knife, grater, spatula Preheat oven to 400? Do right away when you get home: Action steps 1 & 2
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. butter
2 eggs
1 1/3 cups low-fat buttermilk
3 Tbsp. olive oil
1 cup scallions
3/4 cup Canadian bacon
1/2 cup red bell pepper
1/2 cup cheddar cheese
Cooking spray
1. Combine ingredients in a large bowl.
2. Melt butter in the microwave in a medium bowl. Whisk in remaining ingredients.
3. Thinly slice scallions, dice bacon, and finely dice bell pepper. Grate cheese. Add to wet ingredients (step 2).
4. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients and mix until just moistened. Coat pan with spray and scoop batter into each cup (cups will be full). Bake for 20 to 22 minutes until tops are golden brown. Let cool in pan for 5 minutes before serving.
Suggested Side Items: fresh fruit and a glass of milk
Tips: Freeze leftovers for up to 1 month. Wrap muffins in plastic wrap and place in a ziptop freezer bag. To reheat muffins, remove plastic, wrap in a paper towel, and microwave on High for 30 to 60 seconds. Shopping list: Low-fat buttermilk Canadian bacon (3 oz.) 1 red bell pepper 1 bunch scallions Cheddar cheese
Nutrition Analysis per muffin: 217 calories, 9g fat, 9g protein, 24g carbohydrate, 3g fiber, 339mg sodium
Check for: Whole wheat flour
Baking powder
Black pepper
All-purpose flour
Baking soda
Olive oil
Copyright 2013 by WKBT News8000. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


text:
This story is inappropriate and should be flagged for moderation. Please choose from one of the following options:
You have indicated this comment should be removed.
The comment has been submitted for review. Thank you .
says ... on Tuesday, Nov 2 at 11:35 AM
I have to say that these are the most adorable kids in this contest.The devil is just so cute,the transformer very creative,and the cowgirl is just gorgeous.I love the way they are all smiling for the picture,too! Just awesome!!54989969
Inappropriate? Alert Us!


text:
Square Root Day (and other odd dates)
Published On: Nov 11 2011 08:22:09 AM CST Updated On: Apr 04 2016 10:16:47 AM CDT
With Monday marking Square Root Day, find out more about what makes the day special and learn about some other intriguing dates that have been the source of fascination and speculation.
The views expressed are not those of this company or its affiliated companies. Please note by clicking on "Post" you acknowledge that you have read the Terms Of Service and the comment you are posting is in compliance with such terms.


text:
Investors hoping to renovate the historic Imperial Brewery building in Kansas City said the brick building may be strong enough to survive a massive overnight fire.
No email address was supplied by
To complete your registration on this site, please supply an address.
Please confirm or modify the email address to which you will have subscription offers sent.
For a more personalized experience, please supply the following optional information.


text:
Copyright © 2015 SQLBits. All Rights Reserved.
An in-depth look @ "Waits" Side of the well-known "Waits & Queues" methodology
With focus in this session on interpreting the information in the (DMV) sys.dm_os_wait_stats and which of these "Waits " are experiencing excessive waits and those you can safely ignore.
Using an established methodology like that of "Waits & Queues" to find and eliminate those pesky performance hurdles will only be successful if you can interpret those wait values correctly.
This session requires the attendees to be familiar with many areas of the SQL Server stack and such is aimed @ those experienced DBAs / Developers / Architects with performance tuning duties.
Neil Hambly is the SQL Server Evangelist & lead consultant @ Northdoor PLC (MSFT Data Platform Gold partner), previous roles @ ABN AMRO, Accenture, ASOS, BBC, Confio Software with 15+ years in SQL Server roles
Presented 120+ events, including 50 PASS Summit/24HOP/Rally/SQL Saturday, 20 European events (12 countries), 50 + UK (SQLBits, SQLRelay)
Leader of PASS London (UK) & Professional Development VC, Melissa Data MVP (2015)
SQL Cruise Technical Lead, Likes Guinness, Loves Whisky, Dancing


text:
Rob Lowe
News about Rob Lowe, including commentary and archival articles published in The New York Times.
Review: 'Grandfathered' and 'The Grinder,' Two New Fox Sitcoms
Midlife crisis, writ broadly, is the theme of two comedies that debut back-to-back on Fox Tuesday night.
September 29, 2015, Tuesday
MORE ON ROB LOWE AND: Television , Fox Broadcasting Co , Kasdan, Jake , Lowe, Rob , Stamos, John , Devane, William , Savage, Fred , Grandfathered (TV Program) , The Grinder (TV Program)
Review: Comedy Central's 'Moonbeam City' Recalls the World of 'Miami Vice'
Rob Lowe, Elizabeth Banks and Will Forte provide the voices for the law enforcement characters in this animated satire.
September 16, 2015, Wednesday
MORE ON ROB LOWE AND: Television , Comedy Central , Lowe, Rob , Moonbeam City (TV Program)
Watch Trailers for NBC's New Fall Dramas and Comedies
With shows starring Wesley Snipes, Eva Longoria and Jennifer Lopez.
May 12, 2015, Tuesday
MORE ON ROB LOWE AND: Feldman, Ben , Nelson, Craig T , Wolf, Dick , Ferrera, America , Fischer, Jenna , George, Melissa , Harris, Neil Patrick , Hayes, Sean , Kring, Tim , Longoria, Eva , Lopez, Jennifer , Lowe, Rob , Television
Watch Trailers for Fox's New Fall Dramas and Comedies
With shows starring Rob Lowe, John Stamos and Morris Chestnut.
May 12, 2015, Tuesday
MORE ON ROB LOWE AND: Chestnut, Morris , Lowe, Rob , MacFarlane, Seth , Murphy, Ryan , Savage, Fred , Spielberg, Steven , Stamos, John , Television
Till Death Parts Them
Rob Lowe and Paz Vega star as a hotel heir and the stripper he married.
January 31, 2015, Saturday
MORE ON ROB LOWE AND: Television , Lifetime Television , Lowe, Rob , Beautiful & Twisted (TV Program)
Acting the Part
Celebrities, from Rob Lowe to Diane Keaton, narrate the audiobooks of their memoirs.
May 18, 2014, Sunday
MORE ON ROB LOWE AND: Audiobooks , Keaton, Diane , Greer, Judy , Books and Literature , Lowe, Rob , Perez, Rosie
Rob Lowe on the Problems With Being Pretty
The actor discusses aging into the good roles and cashing in on his scandalous legacy.
April 6, 2014, Sunday
MORE ON ROB LOWE AND: Lowe, Rob , Television , Movies , Books and Literature
Rashida Jones and Rob Lowe Leaving 'Parks and Recreation'
The exits of Rob Lowe and Rashida Jones are the first substantial departures in the run of the NBC comedy.
July 31, 2013, Wednesday
MORE ON ROB LOWE AND: Jones, Rashida , Television , Lowe, Rob , National Broadcasting Co
Leading Off: The Circus Starts Early in Indianapolis
Irsay launches hissing war with Manning in Indianapolis while the Buccaneers confuse everyone by hiring Greg Schiano from Rutgers.
January 27, 2012, Friday
MORE ON ROB LOWE AND: Football , Manning, Peyton , Coaches and Managers , NIKE Inc|NKE|NYSE , Lowe, Rob , Irsay, Jim , Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey , Pennsylvania State University , NIKE Inc , Pagano, Chuck , New York Giants , News , Paterno, Joe , National Football League , Sandusky, Jerry , Indianapolis Colts , Schiano, Greg , Williams, Kyle , Super Bowl
How Tweet It Is (or Is Not)
The actor Rob Lowe sent a Twitter message Wednesday claiming Peyton Manning was going to retire. Meanwhile, Yu Darvish really did sign a big contract with the Rangers.
January 20, 2012, Friday
MORE ON ROB LOWE AND: Lowe, Rob , Washington Wizards , Flacco, Joe , Manning, Peyton , Texas Rangers , Indianapolis Colts , Darvish, Yu , Football , New York Yankees , Baseball , Oklahoma City Thunder , Basketball
Rss Feeds On Rob Lowe
Subscribe to an RSS feed on this topic. What is RSS?
Get Alerts On Rob Lowe
Receive My Alerts e-mails on topics covered on this page.More Alerts >>


text:
The University of Minnesota has declared a wrestler ineligible to compete because he's refused to remove songs and videos that feature him online.
NCAA rules prohibit athletes from using their name or image for commercial use, including songs affiliated with a music career.
University compliance director J.T. Bruett says Joel Bauman was asked to remove his likeness from video and music accounts, but he chose not to comply. If Bauman used an alias or didn't refer to himself as a University of Minnesota wrestler he could continue with the videos.
Bauman tells KARE-TV he's not changing his name and he's not leaving the team. Even though he can't compete, Bauman still attends practice.


text:
Info on the handling of animal waste, including storage, disposal, and environmental impact.
By clicking below, I acknowledge and agree to Penton's Terms of Service
and to Penton's use of my contact information to communicate with me about Penton's or its third-party
partners' products, services, events and research opportunities. Penton's use of the information I
provide will be consistent with Penton's Privacy Policy.
The new Blueprint app is the pork industry's most in-depth view of management practices, production stages and pork industry challenges — now at your fingertips.
Follow @nhf_magazine
National Hog Farmer
Sponsored Introduction Continue on to (or wait seconds) ×


text:
Nearby Attractions
Located in the seaside community of Santa Monica, the Channel Road Inn is minutes away from a wealth of bustling activities.
Bountiful Breakfast Buffet Included
Available from 7:30 am to 10:00 am each morning
Four Sisters Inns Signature Breakfast
Our signature breakfast buffet is included with your stay and features a sumptuous hot entrée prepared by our innkeepers. Blueberry Pancakes, Artichoke Quiche or Grand Marnier French Toast are just a sampling of what you can expect to find at breakfast each morning. We also prepare a fresh baked good such as our delicious Honey-Buttermilk Muffins, Blueberry Sour Cream Scones or Pumpkin Muffins. Breakfast also always includes cereals, breads, fresh fruit, juices, tea and coffee. Most of the dishes we prepare each morning can be found in our new 7th edition The Kitchen Cookbook.
Breakfast in Bed is available for $10 per day. Simply ask the innkeeper for the Breakfast in Bed form at check-in and be sure to return it to the front desk by 7:00 pm the night before you would like to receive Breakfast in Bed. This service may not be available at all inns.
Dietary Restrictions
Guests on special diets generally find many items in our buffet that are suitable to their needs. However, due to the small size of our inn and kitchen, we cannot accommodate all dietary requests (such as gluten-free, vegan, no nuts, etc.). If you are on a restricted diet, you are welcome to store a small bag of your own foods in our refrigerator.


text:
An Official Website of the Commonwealth of Kentucky
Kentucky Completion Report
Reference Document on CIPs
A compiled list of related technical definitions can be found here.
If you are looking for data or research on a topic that is not included on the CPE data portal, links to local, state, and national data websites can be found here.
If you are still unable to find the data you are looking for, contact Data and Information here.


text:
Interior of Settler Cabins
(rooster crowing)
Cabins were small, dark and smelly. Everyone lived and slept in one room with a dirt floor, sharing their lives with mice, rats and insects. The settler's bed, often sleeping the entire family, was merely straw filled ticking lying on a hard wooden frame.
For light, at first we had grease lamps. In a shallow dish we first took a soft rag, twisted it then dipped one end in lard. Laying that one end on the side of the dish, we poured melted lard over it. And it was ready to light.
Windows in the cabin were small, to offer some protection against the bitter winter winds. Though they were covered with an oilpaper to allow just a little light inside. Keeping the wood box filled was a constant duty. The fire was kept going all the time. Flint and steel were used to start the fire. Settlers who chose the open prairie were faced with a shortage of wood and were forced find substitute fuels. In some parts of Iowa, roots and branches of various shrubs, prairie grass, hay and sometimes flax were twisted into knots for fuel. The fireplace was the center of the pioneer home, quite often it occupied an entire wall. Both furnace and stove, it provided warmth during bitter winters and heat for cooking.
Iowa Pathways: Iowa History Resources for Students and Teachers
Home ~ My Path ~ Artifacts ~ Timeline ~ Quest ~ Teacher Resources ~ Project Information ~ SponsorsIowa Pathways © 2005 - 2016 Iowa Public Television


text:
So those of you who like this show... Why? Honest question. I just can't find anything to like. The acting is bad, people are stupidly an unrealistically candid with their feelings, and everytime there's a potentially awesome chance, the story line falls flat and just comes off pretentious and emotionally tugging.
post #91 of 231
9/4/10 at 2:54am


text:
World Tour Playlist for Oct. 10th 2013
Traditional Band from Tura feat. Tibor Szenasi from the Rough Guide to Hungarian Music with Friss Csardas
Ferenc Santa & His Gypsy Band from Hungarian Music with Hungarian Songs
Kalyi Jag from Hungarian Music with Song for Mercy
Kalyi Jag from The Gypsy Road with The Night Girls
Acquaragia Drom from Rough Guide to Gypsy Music with Ussa Sa
Loyko from The Gypsy Road with Jalem
Romanyi Rota from Gypsy Caravan with Diri Diri Can It Be?
Kalyi Jag from Gypsy Caravan with My Daughter, Sabina
members of Taraf de Haidouks from the sound track of When the Road Bends with Jasmina Dromoro
Kalman Balogh from Mastger of the Gypsy Cimbalom with Bulgar Cigany Horo
Zingaros from Cirkari with Opa Tsupa and Mariana
Saban Bajramovic from Gypsy Music with Naninani
Kalman Balogh & the Gypsy Cimbalom Band from Gypsy Jazz with Suite for Trumpet
Saban Bajramovic from Gypsy Caravan with Pena
Slobodan Trkulja from World Music Festival Highlights 2005 with Beautiful Black Eyes
Bande Original du Film Latcho Drom with Kali Sara
Coco Briaval from Gypsy Caravan with Les Yeux Noir
Bande Original du Film Latch Drom with Tchavolo Swing
Romane & Angelo DeBarre from Rough Guide to France with Legende
Thierry Robin from Gypsy Caravan with L'Amour S'Envole
Gerardo Nunez with Ramon El Portuguese from The Gypsy Road with Marques de Porrina
Casta from The Gypsy Road with Le Da Lache de Mi
Pata Negra from Rough Guide to Gypsy Music with Yo Me Quedo En Savilla
Tomatito from Gypsy Music with Mundi


text:
Events » Talks & Tours » Gallery Talk
Gallery Talk
Face to Face
Date: Saturday, May 10, 2014
Time: 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm
Speaker: Judy Dater, Photographer
Type: Gallery Talk
Photographer Judy Dater—one of the most accomplished female artists working today— contributed to photography's breakout moment in the 1960s; she speaks about her work in Face it: The Photographic Portrait and her approach to this genre. Dater also talks about the photographs of other important artists in the exhibition and provides insight into their work, both technically and aesthetically.
Meets in Entrance Gallery | Artist talk is $20 ($16 for members) and includes admission to the Museum on the day of the talk. Space is limited to 15 participants. | Online registration is required. For further information, contact the Education Department at [email protected]


text:
A visual, interactive timeline documenting some of the major milestones in the recovery from the September 2013 flood in Boulder and Larimer counties.
(Cliff Grassmick / Staff Photographer)
Football: Broomfield's magical run ends at Mile High
Pine Creek outscores Broomfield 22-0 in second half
DENVER — Everybody in the Broomfield camp knew it was going to take a nearly flawless effort to knock off Pine Creek on Saturday in the Class 4A title game at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. Full Story
(Matt York / Associated Press)
College footballCU football: Buffs reeling from first blowout loss
Turnovers, sacks allowed pile up in defeats
After many of Colorado's Pac-12 losses over the years, there was a helpless feeling coming from the Buffaloes.Full Story
Second Story Garage: Bandits
Boulder is pretty good at producing rock bands, and by "rock," we mean the in-your-face, guitar-heavy, leather-clad variety — you know, the good kind. For a prime example, look no farther than BANDITS. Full Story
Local & National Video


text:
Registration Deadline Dec. 16th. Escape the big city with Outdoor Adventure to go skiing in New Mexico. Price includes lift ticket, transportation, lodging and most meals. Additional fees will be charged for ski/snowboard rental and instruction. Whether you ski greens or blacks this trip is for you.
Job Description The job combines work for both the WGSS Program and the Friends of Women�s Studies. The new GA will work jointly with a second, experienced GA. Assignments include: Academic advising of undergraduate Women�s Studies & GLBT Studies minors & graduate students enrolled in the Graduate Certificate in Women�s Studies: maintain and update student records, advise students on coursework and progress through program, and attend monthly CLASS academic advisors� meetings. Requires employee security clearance and ability to work with confidential information. Assist with Friends of Women�s Studies events and meetings. Standard office tasks: Check & respond to mail, voicemail and e-mail daily. Photocopying as needed, maintain office supplies, assist faculty and staff. Work with Departmental Business Administrator. Maintain relevant listservs and email lists. Maintain and update the webpage (via IT services). Coordinate course listings. Update WGSS minors, graduate certificate students, departments, and board as needed. Alert public and media about special events and announcements. Advertise events (create and distribute fliers). Assist with program planning, including Spring Open House, Women�s History Month (March) events, Graduate Certificate graduation ceremony, and the Living Archives Series. Attend new student orientations and new faculty orientation as WGSS Program representative. Publicize scholarships, fellowships, grants and essay contests for faculty, undergraduates and graduate students. Special skills needed: Experience working with Word, Excel, and Microsoft Publisher Working with Filemaker Pro (can learn on the job) Writing skills a plus. Experience working with PeopleSoft also a plus. Job term: Spring 2014 semester (begins January 13, 2014). 20 hr/week. Requirements: full-time UH graduate student (9 hours) during the Spring 2014 term Applications due December 6, 2013 Questions: 713-743-3214 Send C.V. and cover letter to: Prof. Elizabeth Gregory /WGSS/UH/ Agnes Arnold Hall 624/ Houston, TX 77204-3005 Or via campus mail: WOST 3005
Creating a budget for your proposal will be an integrated function in InfoEd, and one that will be integrated into PS Grants Management should the award be funded by the sponsor. This training will teach you how to build your budget in InfoEd.


text:
Possibly, the
most important action individuals may take is to actively participate
in the wetland regulatory process. One way this may be done is by
staying aware of local wetland issues and commenting on individual
Section 404 permits as they become available for public review.
Another way individuals may participate is by being on the alert
for possible illegal fill or draining activities in wetlands and
reporting them to the USEPA or local USACE or USDA/NRCS District
Offices. The contact information for USEPA Region 5 office as well
as the regulatory branches of each of the USACE districts and USDA/NRCS
extension offices in Illinois can all be found in the attached presentation
[Introduction |
Voluntary Incentive Programs | Advocacy
Introduction |Financial Contributions
|Public Outreach | Stewardship
| Public Policy | Enforcing Compliance
| Conclusion ]
Return to Wetlands Homepage


text:
Alumni Entrepreneurs
Megan Johnson, BoA/1991
The Animal House
Type of Business
Sales and Related
Contact Information
157 Fillmore St
San Francisco, CA
How did Evergreen prepare you for your professional life?
Evergreen taught me to think confidently for myself. The diversity of the ways thing were taught allowed me to engage and to fall in love with learning. When I think back of being at Evergreen I feel like I never wanted it to end. Working at The Corner restaurant truly gave me collective work experience that taught me to work with other people with respect and good communication. Those were exceptional lessons for me to learn for my professional life.


text:
The Martin Luther King Jr. timeline
Published On: Jan 11 2012 09:53:41 AM CST Updated On: Jan 14 2013 11:52:35 AM CST
Click into our interactive timeline to learn more about civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. and some of the key points in his life.
The views expressed are not those of this company or its affiliated companies. By posting your comments you agree to our Terms of Use.


text:
The Hyades is the nearest open star cluster to our solar system, at 150 light-years from Earth. This image is a color composite of red- and blue-filter observations from the ground-based Digitized Sky Survey. The Hubble Space Telescope's Cosmic Origins Spectrograph was used to study the spectrum of two white dwarfs that are cluster members.
Image Type: Astronomical/Illustration
Credit: NASA, STScI, the Digitized Sky Survey, and Z. Levay (STScI)
To access available information and downloadable versions of images in this news release, click on any of the images below:


text:
Nutrition and Wellness Programs
Illinois Free Lunch and Breakfast Program
Every public school must have a free lunch program that provides free lunches (and breakfasts if a school offers breakfast) to students eligible to receive free meals, per 105 ILCS 125/4 and 23 Illinois Administrative Code 305.10.
Reimbursement to offset a portion of the cost of the meal is available if a site serves a reimbursable meal to a student eligible for a free meal and the site is enrolled in the Illinois Free Program. To become a sponsor of this state-funded school meals program, see the Program Participation page. Note: Sites participating in a federally-funded school meals program, National School Lunch Program and/or School Breakfast Program, are automatically enrolled in the corresponding Illinois Free Program.


text:
"Listening to your programs, I have learned a lot about apologetics and have enjoyed playing broadcasts for my youth group, friends, and family who are looking for answers. Your ministry is invaluable. I hope to continue as a Radio Club member forever."
"If you should acknowledge and love Christ you would give up not only all the treasures of this life, but even the glory of your crown itself to win eternal life."


text:
No Place Like Home
Saturday's Padres FanFest was incredible. Oh my goodness. I had a BLAST!!
I got to the ballpark with my mom and three younger siblings just before 10 in the morning. We parking in one of the FREE parking lots, which was so cool. We've always parked in the convention center underground parking so it was a really neat experience to settle down in the VIP section😉
We walked the short distance to the ballpark and then walked and walked and walked to try to find the end of the line. It started at Home Plate gate and went all the way around almost to the Padres store area on the left field side. Whoo.
We met up with Hyun Young and checked out the schedule and stuff and discussed what we wanted to do. We decided that we wanted to go for the Hairston Brothers autograph session which was from 12:30-1:30.
Once the line got moving, it didn't take long at all to get inside. Once we did, I realized that it might be a little challenging to get our tickets for the autograph session. I didn't agree with the way they distributed those at all. Basically, I think they had to run out of the first few sessions before they put up new ones. So we had no idea of knowing when the Hairston session would become available, and there's no way we were just going to sit there and wait for it. So, we decided to jump on the clubhouse tour right away and come back to try to get the Hairstons later.
I think we were in the first round of people of the day for the clubhouse tour, which was really nice because it wasn't too crowded at all. We walked down the long hallway that was flanked by doors on each side. Some of them were labeled, like the family room and x-ray room, but a lot of them were left to the imagination. We went into the weight room, which is so impressive. Some of that stuff is massive! It would be so cool to have access to that kind of equiptment all the time.
Then we went into the hall that led to the main attraction: the clubhouse itself, the home of our San Diego Padres!
I'd been in there before, but it was so cool to see it again! I was shocked and thrilled to see an empty locker on one side of the room that had a nameplate saying "Hoffman 51" on it. That's so cool!!! I thought that was a great tribute to our guy who needs to come back now. I heard a lady say, "They'd better never take that down." I agree completely.
We spent a lot of time in the clubhouse, taking pictures. There was some very interesting stuff in Everth Cabrera's locker: an "I Heart Nicaragua" sticker and a picture of Kouz. Hmmm.
Something that made me laugh was peeking into the bathroom that was across the room and seeing this:
And we thought it was women who were so worried about their appearance!
I don't know if you can see it, but there's actually an Adrian Gonzalez toothbrush holder in there. LOL!!
After we were done drinking in the clubhouse, we headed out to the dugout, which is so cool. I love it so much! It's kind of hard to imagine being a baseball player with so many people around, but it was amazing just the same. We then walked the bases, which was very cool. There were a lot of people playing catch in the outfield, which was very neat. I hadn't brought my glove but that's something I would love to do someday. When we got to third base, I kind of was sad. I miss Kouz😦
We walked down the third base line and decided to get out pictures taken at home plate. As we stood in line, Ted Leitner walked right past us! I didn't get a chance to say hi, but that was very cool.
I'm a little mixed up on the order of how we did things at this point, but hopefully I'm mostly accurate🙂
I believe that we went to check for the HairBros session again, but it wasn't there. We decided to grab a ticket for an Everth Cabrera signing, just so that we were sure to get an autograph if the HairBros didn't work out. After we got that, we went to the Padres Garage Sale.
Earlier, we had seen a lady looking at a Kevin Kouzmanoff banner thingy while we were walking on the concourse. I was like, ahhh I have to go get that! So once we got into the Garage Sale, I went straight for that front porch thingy to look for it. My sister found it for me. So epic! I'm so glad I was able to get it, but it was filthy! Not the best thing to be carrying around while wearing a white jersey.
This is a picture that I took at a game last year:
And this is the actual one that I bought. Who knows? This might have been the one hanging there!
I also bought a reusable "green" bag that said "Padres Foundation" on it because I never have a big enough bag for all my stuff. Especially when I go to Petco Park. But the selection of stuff this year wasn't as good as last years, I thought.
While we were "shopping" we bumped into John from The Friar Faithful. It was really cool to meet him!
Next we decided to check out the Media Zone and met the guys from RJ's Fro on the way over. They were super cool, and we said "I like BBQ" to them and they gave us these sweet posters signed by the RJ himself, Randy Jones! Thanks so much guys!!
We all decided to go talk to Corey Brock, so we hung out around there for a long time and met the guys from Gaslamp Ball. Now that was seriously cool. It was like a mini-Padres-bloggers meetup, in the media zone, no less! Wow. Anyways, all those guys are very cool and I had a lot of fun talking with them. Man I love Padres bloggers.
Hyun Young and I decided to go try for the HairBros again, but I think we got distracted by taking pictures of players who were in other autograph sessions. Mat Latos and Sean Gallagher cracked me up. They switched nameplates and looked like they were having a lot of fun. I love Mat Latos, and I think he's my new favorite pitcher. Can't wait to see him pitch a whole season!
I think we walked down to the field again (I don't remember why) and then we came back up and spent some time at the 4SD area. Hyun Young got her picture taken with Mark Neely and I got a Cox keychain. At least it wasn't the sunscreen.
It was kind of cool because Adrian and his wife Betsy walked right by and went in the middle of a crowded concourse. I mean, that's not something you see everyday: the face of the organization walking among the fans. I thought that was pretty cool.
So then I got a lemonade and we went to the Everth line to wait for our autographs. It wasn't that long of a wait at all. There was this mom behind us who was telling her little son about who's autograph they were going to get. Then Everth walked by, and the little kid was like, who's that? His mom went, he's Everth Cabrera, we're going to get his autograph. And the kid goes, "Him? I HATE him!!" I was cracking up. Haha it was great!
We got Carlos Hernandez and Everth Cabrera's autographs, which was pretty cool. Everth was pretty shy, but he's adorable.
We took more pictures of players who were signing, but we just missed taking pictures of the HairBros at their session. Sigh. But then we decided to go watch their Q&A session, and I thought that I would FINALLY be able to see them!
The front office session was just ending when we got there, and we met Steve from the Friarhood and talked with him for a while. That was so cool! He loved my jersey and picture of Kouz.
We settled down for the Q&A session. And then my phone rang. My mom said that we needed to meet her at the stairs at 2, which was when the session was supposed to start. Sigh.
So, in the end, I never got to see the Hairstons in person. I was chasing after them all day, but never quite caught up. Oh well. I'm sure that there will be other opportunities to meet them later🙂
As we walked out, I passed right by Mat Latos! I couldn't really see who it was at first because I was walking into the sun, and then suddenly I saw that tattoos on his arm, and I was like, it's Mat Latos! He was probably like five inches away. I didn't have time to react to say anything, but it was still pretty cool.
What a great event. Petco really felt like home that day. I felt so comfortable and like I belonged there. I loved how open the place was. I mean, we could go almost anywhere in the park! I know that place so well and I'm just so comfortable there that it felt like home. I love that place like crazy.
So here's the famous picture I wore on my sleeve the whole day as a tribute to Kouz:
I've got a big announcement to make, but I think I'll wait a few days🙂 Build up the suspense a little. Hehehe I can't wait to tell you guys!!
My inner Padres fan was really renewed by hanging out at the ballpark and interacting with other fans. It's like the baseball side of me has officially been awakened. I seriously can't wait to hear some Padres baseball already!!!! WHOOO HOOOO!!!!!
FanFest was incredible. Great job, Padres.
8 Comments
That sounds awesome..I wish the Sox would do something. I love PETCO, I really wish I had the chance to walk on the field and in the club house. I bet you had a blast!
Kaybee, it looks like you had a great time! And a beautiful sunny day, no less! I'd gladly trade you some of the snow in my yard for a little of that sunshine!
Rants, Raves, and Random Thoughts
Fan Fest was so much fun! I miss it a lot already. Too bad we couldn't get Hairston bros' autographs. But hey, I took pictures for you🙂 Glad you have Kouz banner! It's full of win. Can't wait to go to Petco again during the season!
Awesome post….it was nice meeting you!!
Glad you had a good time at the fanfest🙂. It was a great experience!
Nice photos…and the bathroom shot is awesome! Now I don't feel so bad about the time I spend on my hair…lol
What a great summary of FanFest! My husband and I went also, and we had a great time! We went to the Mat Latos/Sean Gallagher autograph session and I asked Mat to write "Here is your tall latte." on my card because my nickname for him is Mat Latte. He asked me how to spell "latte" (Mat said he's never been to a Starbucks) and Sean said to him, "Dude, you don't know how to spell latte? We need to get you out into the real world!) It was hilarious! And so cute!
The Hairston brothers: We were walking up through the stands back up to the concourse and we ran into a small crowd blocking the stairway. My husband was ahead of me and he was like "why do these guys keep stopping and blocking the stairs? We started to worm our way through the people and we realized it was Scott and Jerry Hairston signing autographs! By that time I was brushing up against Jerry while trying to squeeze through the crowd. We were both like "oh my god! Sorry we were rude!"
I like your tribute to Kevin Kouzmanoff! I miss him too! During Spring Training we went to the Padres/A's game and I wore my Kouz t-shirt, except that on the front I used yellow electrical tape to cross out "Padres" and underneath used the tape to write "A's". I wanted Kevin to see it. It was a split squad day and we saw him running out to his Jeep to go to the other game, but I called out to him and he turned around for a second and I yelled "We miss you!" He yelled back "Thanks!"
Sorry this is so long. I know this is supposed to be a comment section, not a novel, but I thought you would enjoy hearing my stories.
-Miss Smee
Thank you soooo much for sharing those stories, Miss Smee!! Those were so much fun to read about. I miss Kouz so much! I'm still really sad that he got traded😦 But that's so cool that you got to see him at Spring Training. Mat is so funny🙂 I love to hear stories about him and all the pitchers. Did you read the stories about the guys in the bullpen in the Union Tribune yesterday? That was some great stuff. Thanks so much for commenting, come back again soon!


text:
George Kovacs
George Kovacs Chandeliers
George Kovacs Pendant Lighting
George Kovacs Mini Pendants
George Kovacs Island Lighting
Goerge Kovacs Flush Mounts
George Kovacs Semi-Flush Mounts
George Kovacs Vanity Lights
George Kovacs Wall Sconces
George Kovacs Swing Arm Lamps
George Kovacs Table Lamps
Goerge Kovacs Floor Lamps
George Kovacs Lighting
As a part of the Minka Group, George Kovacs Lighting was created to offer a line of fixtures for the contemporary connoisseurs of the world. With the manufacturing expertise of Minka, George Kovacs has established itself as one of the leading specialists in contemporary design. Using the finest materials, they have created an abundance of lights that will inspire your style and allow you to create a living space that accentuates your modernity. The depth of Kovacs fixtures will allow you to decorate your entire house with a unique contemporary feel that is unparalleled by other companies.


text:
Freedom Newspapers
Freedom News Service
IRVINE, Calif. — Freedom Communications Inc., whose fractious family owners have been bitterly divided over how to let some of their shareholders cash out, said Tuesday its board of directors has endorsed a plan that will leave intact the libertarian legacy of company founder and patriarch Raymond C. Hoiles.
Irvine, California-based Freedom, parent of the Portales News-Tribune, had been wooed by such media giants as USA Today publisher Gannett Co. Inc. and Denver-based MediaNews Group, owner of the Denver Post and the Los Angeles Daily News.
Instead, Freedom's board struck an agreement late Monday with two East Coast investment firms, Blackstone Communications Partners and Providence Equity Partners, which would buy up the shares of those family members who want out. The deal, which values Freedom at slightly more than $2 billion, would give Blackstone and Providence a large but non-controlling stake in Freedom.
The agreement, which will be submitted to shareholders for their approval later this year, confounds the expectations of some in the media industry who thought Freedom was likely to be sold outright in the face of seemingly unreconcilable differences among family factions.
"I would say it is out of the ordinary," said Kevin Lavalla, managing director of Jordan, Edmiston Group Inc., a newspaper deal broker. "Usually when something like this happens, another company buys it."
Indeed, Freedom's board turned down a last-minute joint bid by MediaNews and Gannett that, at least on paper, valued Freedom at nearly $120 million more than the winning offer.
Alan Bell, Freedom's chief executive officer, said price was only one of many considerations. The board, he said, had to choose the plan that would be "of the most benefit to shareholders" and the most likely to get done.
At least 40 percent of Freedom's owners wanted to keep their company in family hands — a big disadvantage for the Gannett-Singleton bid. In the end, Bell said, the board decided the Blackstone-Providence proposal was the one most likely to be consummated.
Gannett spokeswoman Tara Connell declined to comment Tuesday. Officials at MediaNews did not return phone calls.
The decision by Freedom's board could mark the resolution of a generation-old dispute over the family-controlled company's direction that simmered under the surface for years but boiled over into public view last summer. That's when a group of restive shareholders, divided on many issues but frustrated with the company's poor performance (including the reported loss of more than $100 million in failed Internet and magazine projects), demanded to be bought out at a fair price. Tim Hoiles, a grandson of the founder and the most vocal of the dissidents, called Freedom's performance "dismal" and said selling Freedom outright was the way to get the highest price.
After months of wrangling, shareholders decided to explore an option that had been considered unthinkable: putting the whole company up for sale and ending nearly seven decades of Hoiles family ownership.
Members of the Hoiles family's fourth generation, backed by some of their elders, partnered early on with Blackstone and Providence in an effort to keep the company from being sold.
Tim Hoiles and his cousin David Hardie were skeptical of the plan, saying an outright sale or merger with a larger media company would be a better bet. But when the bids came in late last month, Blackstone and Providence offered more than many had expected, and both Hoiles and Hardie dropped their objections.
"I liken this to the end of the Civil War and a kind of an armistice day," Bell said.


text:
Contact Us
We welcome your comments and suggestions about the website. While we cannot reply individually to each comment, you are welcome to leave your email address. We may contact you about your comment in order to help us improve our website. We will not sell or share your personal information with outside parties.
If you have questions about a particular diagnosis or therapy, please speak with a licensed practitioner.


text:
States with the most disgruntled workers
Published On: Jun 25 2013 11:09:49 AM CDT Updated On: Jun 25 2013 11:10:55 AM CDT
Hate your job? You're not alone, especially in these 20 states.
The views expressed are not those of this company or its affiliated companies. Please note by clicking on "Post" you acknowledge that you have read the Terms Of Service and the comment you are posting is in compliance with such terms.


text:
NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has been pushing the frontiers of astronomy since its launch in 1990. The orbiting observatory has watched a comet disintegrate as it passed by the Sun and pinpointed a massive star that exploded 10 billion years ago. It has provided a view of a bewildering zoo of young galaxies that existed when the cosmos was a youngster. It has measured the expansion rate of the universe and detected clumps of matter perhaps the seeds of planets swirling around nascent stars.
Now its time to expand Hubble's vision even further during Servicing Mission 3B, scheduled to begin Feb. 28 with the launch of the space shuttle Columbia. During the mission, spacewalking astronauts will install the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS), a powerful instrument that will allow Hubble to that will significantly increase Hubble's abilities and enable a broad array of new astronomical discoveries. Although Hubble was deployed in 1990, it has remained in the forefront of astronomy because frequent visits by astronauts have kept it humming with cutting-edge science instruments.
The ACS covers twice the area, has twice the sharpness, and is up to five times more sensitive to light than Hubble's workhorse camera, the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2). Hubble's deepest visible-light view of the universe, called the Hubble Deep Field, required 10 straight days of observing time with the WFPC2. The ACS will be capable of completing the observation in just a few days.
The ACS is really three cameras in one: a wide-field camera, a high-resolution camera (with a smaller field of view), and a solar-blind camera, which is sensitive to the ultraviolet light. The camera also is equipped with a coronagraph, which blocks out the glare of quasars and stars so that astronomers can examine fainter objects that lie near them. The new camera's vision ranges from ultraviolet to near-infrared light. The wide wavelength range and its three modes of operation make the ACS a very versatile camera. Astronomers will take advantage of this versatility by using the camera for a variety of science observations, from probing far-flung galaxies to hunting for planet-forming disks around nearby stars.
Using the coronagraph, astronomers will hunt for low-mass companions around our nearby stars. A challenging but tantalizing project is to look for small objects orbiting Alpha Centauri A and B. Alpha Centauri A is the nearest Sun-like star to Earth.
The ACS coronagraph is four to six times better than that of Hubble's Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph. Looking far across the universe, the coronagraph will be used to study the host galaxies of distant quasars, brilliant light beacons which astronomers believe are powered by massive black holes. Astronomers hope to pinpoint the types of galaxies that produce them.
In addition to distant quasars, the ACS will search for very young galaxies that existed less than a billion years after the Big Bang, the explosive birth of the universe. Hubble has provided intriguing clues to how galaxies form and evolve. The ACS's greater sensitivity and higher efficiency will allow astronomers to see objects and details that could never have been seen before. The camera, for example, will be able to spot galaxies that are several times fainter than those detected by the WFPC2, providing more details about how matter combines to form galaxies. The ACS has better vision because it can see deeper into the infrared part of the spectrum. Due to the expansion of space, light from distant galaxies is stretched into the spectrum's infrared region.
One way astronomers will hunt for faint, distant galaxies is by using massive clusters of galaxies as large magnifying lenses. Light from faint, remote galaxies that passes through these clusters is bent and magnified, an effect called gravitational lensing. Using this boost from nature, undetectable galaxies become detectable. Astronomers have assembled a large survey program to hunt for hefty clusters. The survey, spanning 300 orbits, represents about 10 percent of the ACS's yearly observational program. For WFPC2, the same program would eat up a year's worth of observation time. The addition of the more efficient ACS enables astronomers to conduct large surveys for the first time with Hubble.
Astronomers have planned several more sky surveys of more than 100 orbits each. Here is a sampling.
Astronomers will use a suite of space- and ground-based observatories, including the ACS, to probe the universe's earliest galaxies. The ambitious program, called Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey (GOODS), will try to reconstruct the history of galaxy and star formation. They also will study the relationship between supermassive black holes and their host galaxies. These hefty black holes are millions to billions times more massive than the Sun. Astronomers hope to answer several questions, such as, which came first: galaxies or black holes? Or, did they grow together? And, is there a relationship between a galaxy's mass and the mass of its black hole?
This survey will encompass the northern and southern skies. The ACS program alone will require 398 orbits to complete. By comparison, the WFPC2 would need more than 6,000 orbits to complete the program. That is more than two years of observational time.
In scrutinizing distant galaxies in the GOODS survey, astronomers hope to nab eight to 20 supernovae that reside about 8 to 10 billion light-years from Earth. Astronomers will analyze those faraway supernovae to obtain more clues about the mysterious "dark energy," which may be shoving galaxies apart at ever-increasing speeds. Last year, Hubble pinpointed an exploding star, called a supernova, about 10 billion light-years from Earth. The supernova appeared brighter than scientists expected, lending support that at an early epoch the universe slowed down but later began to accelerate. Astronomers must analyze more supernovae to confirm their suspicions that the early cosmos was decelerating and to determine whether dark energy actually exists.
The ACS will scrutinize large clusters of galaxies that lie about 1.3 to 8 billion light-years away. They hope that these clusters will surrender clues why star formation has declined dramatically since about 7.5 billion years ago.
Moving to Andromeda, the nearest large galaxy to Earth, the ACS for the first time will resolve the oldest normal stars in a galaxy other than our Milky Way. The stars, which reside in the galaxy's halo, are the best laboratory specimens for testing theories of galaxy formation and evolution. Astronomers hope to use this information to pinpoint the age of the universe.
Astronomers will use the ACS to analyze the mechanism that triggers gamma-ray bursts, the most powerful explosions in sky, to test the standard model that collapsing, massive stars produce the outbursts.
Turning to our solar system, the ACS will take a census of objects in the Kuiper Belt, a vast region of leftover material from the creation of our solar system. Ground-based observations have found a handful of large objects. Theories suggest, however, that the region is populated mostly with smaller bodies. Astronomers will use the ACS to obtain an accurate sampling of the sizes of Kuiper Belt inhabitants.


text:
2009 Buccos close the door on PNC Park….
What a refreshing way to close the door on PNC Park for the 2009 campaign. It is bittersweet for me. I hate the end of baseball season (yes I know the Pirates still have two series of road games to play and yes there is still playoffs, but the fact I gotta wait til April to see a live game puts me in a tizzy) Bu anyway the faith is still there. The Pirates actually have a little life and a fight in them to take 3 of 4 from the mighty Dodgers.
On Friday the Bucs edged the Dodgers 3-1, they struggled on Saturday but remained in the 8-4 defeat, it was 6-5 on Sunday as Lastings Milledge nailed a 3-run walk off double and on Monday the Bucco big bats came out in an 11-1 victory.
It is all bittersweet. I loved the way we played against LA but where was that winning spirit throughout the course of the season. Pittsburgh is swept by the Reds but can win three games against the Dodgers in the same week. It just doesn't come full circle. I honestly believe we have the talent. McCutchen, Jones and Milledge will be cornerstones on this team. However, it takes me than three solid major leaguers to win ballgames. The other regulars on the team have had flashed of brillance but never enough to sustain a winning record.
Andy LaRoche was one of those flashes today
He went 5-5 with a pair of homers, two doubles and a triples. With a showing like that you would think this guy is a superstar but this year he has been far from it. He's batting .259 with 12 homeruns. Totally mediocre and he has played the 3rd base position all year. For a player at that position he should be doing much better. He has been a dissapointment considering the hype around him. After all we basically got him for the price of Jason Bay. He's been off and on all year with a 2 week slump here and a week of greatness there. Emma from CRZblue has been asking about her former top prospect in LA. Emma, what you saw today is really just Andy wearing his "good baseball player" mask. He has a lot of slack to pick up if he wants to guarentee his spot next year. Pedro Alvarez is in the minors and knocking at the PNC Parks doors rapidly.
LaRoche came over from the Dodgers in the three way trade last year. The Dodgers gave the Bucs another key player that has been a starter for Pittsburgh most of the year.
Delwyn Young is a natural corner outfielder. Since the Pittsburgh trade he has been converted
to a second baseman. It took him a while to get adjusted but since he has been more nurtured he has been a soild infielder. He's been seen on top plays and web gems. He's been strong at the plate doing his job as speedy guy and getting on base. He is a pure singles hitter who always seems to get a hit. He's flireted with a .300 batting average for most of the season. He has descended throughout the past 2 months and is now at .261. I'm sure this being his first full time position player season he is winded and will need some much needed R and R this offseason.
The Pirates-Dodgers connection extends beyond the baseball field.
Last week the Pirates took a trip out west to Sunny California and were warmly welcomed by the Dodgers in historic Dodger Stadium.
Like always Cat was at the game showing her pride and watched her Dodgers sweep the Bucs in three games. While she was there she so genuinely picked up a token of memorabilla for me.
She was able to snag an autograph from Pirates reliever Jesse Chavez. Chavez has been very rocky all year and isn't the most liked guy in Pittsburgh. However, he is nice with the fans and always takes time to sign autographs and throw balls to fans in the stands. I'm impressed with him and all the Pirates players. They relaize their not a team like the Dodgers and should be happy with the strong fan base that will always stick with him. I just want to say thanks Cat! I'm definately keeping this on display, my favorite part is actually the Dodgers season ticket stub. It is very cool and add to my baseball collection. I also want to say hey to my friend Steve, he's lurking in the background and got caught in the pic.
9 Comments
It's always good to see players taking some time to sign autographs. Laroche had a huge game, very impressive!
It always feels good when your team finishes the season at home with a win. Last year, the Padres did not. They lost against the Pirates on the final game at Petco. Oh well. Glad you got an autograph from Chavez! I love when guys sign autographs before the game. It shows you straight up that they care for the fans.
Taking the series from the Dodgers was huge! I know the Pirates have had a tough season. I hope they can find some stability so that they can start building for success!
You are welcome, Mr Peaslee. I love the picture of you holding that ticket. The Pirates were very nice and took the time to throw balls to the Dodger fans when they were at Dodger Stadium. Your Pirates outplayed the Dodgers in every way. I thought I asked you to ask your guys to show mercy. Oh well. Would you like one of my postseason tickets after I use it?? You could add it to your memorabilia collection.
Always good to see a win on the last home game of the season. A lot to look forward to for buccos fans for next year.
ITS always fun to win eh Matt? The Indians don't have many of those in their "column."😉
Always great to close out the season at home with a win… well, the last home game that is. It always saddens me a bit when the regular season is over, even if the Sox are lucky enough to go to the playoffs.
It's always a long wait from season end to season start…but you have the Steelers which is better than having the Browns in driving range…now you made me miss being in PA again…nice wins over the Dodgers kept the west fighting to the end…
Outside the Phillies Looking In
thank you for talking about Andy LaRoche! I hope he kicks it up a few notches up competing with Pedro Alvarez. The best of both worlds is for both to do extremely well.


text:
Wis. DNR wants to increase wolf hunt limits
Wisconsin wildlife officials are asking their board to let hunters and trappers kill more wolves this year.
The Department of Natural Resources on Tuesday finalized their proposed kill quotas for the state's second wolf season, setting the mark at 275 wolves. The state's Chippewa tribes are entitled to half of the quota for the ceded territory, which means nontribal hunters and trappers would be able to kill 160 wolves statewide. The DNR would issue 2,750 permits, up from 2,010 last year.
The Natural Resources Board is expected to vote on the quotas at a June 26 meeting in Wausau.
Hunters and trappers killed 117 wolves during last fall's hunt. The DNR estimates as many as 834 wolves roamed the state last winter.
Copyright 2013 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


text:
|Leralt Littlehorn
Leralt shrugs, he would leave it until he had the ability to destroy it once and for all. Undead were hunted and killed by movanic deva's so it would be the same result. At that point if it was in his power he would summon one to take care of its own, seemed fitting.
"I am well aware of what it is, it can not be allowed free. It is a danger not only to us but to the colonist. I suggest we leave it here until we have the ability to deal with it. It can kill us all and the colonist with little effort. I do not wish to gamble my life or those of the colonist."
Turning to the angel.
"I leave you to your mistrust. We have no reason to trust you in turn, we have lives to consider. Oh and if you had any sense, a trait your kind greatly lacks, you would know that by doing nothing you help your enemy. You only assume we are after information Japheel wanted, we never once asked you anything of that nature. Such is the way of angels to judge without reason. You should hope we can undo the damage done by Japheel, before a second colony is lost. Should that happen, your hand will have played a part in it."
He would have liked to reason with the angel but it seemed Japheel had broken him. Currently no one, not even the group could deal with the deva. Leaving it chained was best.
|Dr. Catila Eyesquint
"Leralt! Please cease and desist!" her frustration with the dark mage was growing moment by moment. Why did one so clearly poor at negotiation continue speaking for the group and potentially damaging relations with all their potential allies?? If he continued in such a vien she really was going to punch him.
"Please, peace gentle being. This one here does not speak for the rest of us. Please let us begin again. At least one thing my companion has said though is accurate- we are not your enemies. Can you not tell that we count a Paladin amongst our number? But It is clear you have suffered from unimaginable torture and lonely waiting, on a level I'm sure our merely mortal minds can hardly comprehend. And therefore your reason for distrusting us, or anyone for that, is well founded. For what it is worth, my heart goes out to you and I am so very sorry for your suffering. I am Catila. May we know your name? Also, I think a little more light in here would be nice, yes?" she finishes with a hopeful smile while she conjures four globes of light to hover in near the ceiling of the room.
Diplomacy: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (17) + 8 = 25
From the moment she had entered the room, Catila's eyes had widened dramatically in fascinated curiosity. So many interesting things! It had been that very distraction which had allowed Leralt to almost make a disaster of this encounter.
K Arcana: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (6) + 7 = 13
K Dungeoneering: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (7) + 6 = 13
K History: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (18) + 6 = 24
K Local: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (18) + 8 = 26
Perception: 1d20 + 11 + 1 ⇒ (16) + 11 + 1 = 28
Sense Motive: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (7) + 12 = 19
EDIT: When I first wrote and previewed the post, I had put all the spoilered rolls last. But then I thought it might look more aesthetically pleasing to put them first. But didn't consider how that would mess up my Dip roll! : P So I just move them back down to the bottom again. This is now how all the rolls originally were. Hope that's ok
Songan stands by quietly, having himself been about to interrupt Leralt when Catila does so first. He waits for her to finish before adding his own piece, using the interim time to examine the creature before them, hoping that something in his memory will let him know what exactly this being is and how their group might be able to help him.
Knowledge (Arcana): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (20) + 8 = 28
Knowledge (Religion): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (13) + 8 = 21
Knowledge (Planes): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (9) + 8 = 17
Knowledge (History): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (17) + 8 = 25
Perception: 1d20 + 9 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 9 + 1 = 17
Sense motive: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (20) + 10 = 30
Woo! Heck yeah! That's what I'm talkin about!
"Catila has the right of it, sir. One can only imagine how long you have been sealed down here, forced to dwell in the darkness, with no one but your thoughts as company. As near as we can tell, it has been months since any humans were in this colony. Another group has now been sent to discover what happened to the first, as well as to try re-establishing a colony dedicated to Abadar here. We..." he pauses, gesturing to all those present before continuing,"...were sent with them to protect the new colonists and try to discover what happened to the old. I have never personally heard of this 'Japheel'...though I assume he was the mayor of the previous colonists. We were never given his name by the Arch-canon in Absalom. We have seen many things since coming here, both strange and terrible, but this...a creature of such beauty and grace as yourself being brought to this state...it breaks my heart to see the goodness and loveliness treasured by the likes of Shelyn brought to this. It is my hope that we can help you somehow...do something to reverse this horrible thing that has been done to you. What may we do to prove to you our sincerity? How can we show you that we are not only uninvolved with the one who came before us, but actively seeking to destroy the evil he has wrought?"
Diplomacy (Aid Another): 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (9) + 10 = 19
|Our Mysterious Benefactor
Wracking your brain produces a few items that may be pertinent to the situation. Something about this island, this place, has struck you as not quite right since you arrived. Perhaps the presence of outsiders might help explain it? As for the angel itself, it seems somewhat wasted, rotten and sunken. It does seem hopeless and despondent, but Leralt's words don't seem to have riled it any. It's as if it's reached a certain level of despair and nothing much could force it farther downward.
The circle inset into the stone seems to be adamantine. If so, it would be terribly hard to destroy, and thus free the angel from bondage. But there's some other component that was used in the circle, something special. You're not sure yet what it is. However, it's not only a binding circle; it seems to be siphoning off the angel's vitality as well. But where it's sending this energy, you know not.
Movanic devas, as you recall, are tireless crusaders against evil, caring not much for law or chaos. They're like sheriffs, patrolling the planes to stop evil in its tracks. To see such a creature as this laid so low, it would take a tremendous act of evil.
As for history, you do not yet know enough regarding the history of this island to hazard a guess, but if some great evil were fought against in the past, as the mural showed, it would definitely be the sort of thing to attract devas.
As for the angel's state of mind, it truly believes you are simply illusions sent to torment it. It doesn't seem to bear you any ill will, no more than you would bear ill will against a mosquito that bites you; it's simply following its nature.
"Abadar? Shelyn? You speak the names of gods of good and light? And a paladin? I cannot sense beyond the circle, fae-child. It blunts my immortal senses. If you truly have the faith of a paladin, a holy crusader, let them step into my circle that I might test them. Then I will believe your words."
|Gellius Krupt
Hearing this request, Krupt's eyes go to the circle surrounding the figure.
Knowledge(arcana) check: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (1) + 11 = 12
Gellius must have skipped on the day they covered summoning and binding magics at the Arcanarium... =/
"That sounds like an extraordinarily bad idea. I'm for everyone staying on their sides of the binding magic."
|Leralt Littlehorn
"I think it would be safe for Mevakh to step into the circle. I sense no ill will from the deva; or at least, no more malice or malcontent than a human feels for a gnat."
"Beyond that, there is something curious about this circle. I believe it to be made of adamantine, which would make it all but impossible for us to destroy...but there's something else there, too. I'm not sure what. Something special..unique. Further, the circle is siphoning off the deva's vitality and weakening him as well as trapping him. Devas being the tremendous force for good that they are, the thought of an entity powerful enough to do this...it's beyond chilling. Terrifying. I suspect that the deva's appearance here might have something to do with that mural we saw back in the laboratory...with the humanoids dancing around the insectoid giant with serpent-heads and rat-tails."
"Regardless...I am rambling. Ultimately, the decision of stepping into the circle with the angel is Mevakh's, and Mevakh's alone. So...what say you?" he asks, turning his gaze to their half-orc friend.
|Dr. Catila Eyesquint
Her heart going out to the despondant angel even further, Catila, nearly fearless little being that she is, says "I am no Paladin bright one, but you may test me."
And looking to the big Paladin beside her, she moves to step into the circle. If she seems to hesitate slightly to allow him to enter a fraction before her, well, then that is surely just a trick of the light.
Just to be clear, I'm assuming our Fearless Paladin will enter the circle, but even if he does not do so, Catila still will...gulp!
|Mevakh Ahrask
Diplomacy (Aid to Catila) 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (2) + 9 = 11
Mevakh is a man of faith, and men of faith are sometimes required to take a leap of faith.
Mevakh steps into the circle, taking caution to step over it rather than shuffle his boots over the binding agents. Should he be wrong, it would be better for him to die alone with a bound creature than to set it loose upon the world. However, he does not believe that this will happen. "My poor brother, what has been done to you is a grave sin. Do not let it poison your soul. These are good and righteous allies of the light."
|Our Mysterious Benefactor
Catila bravely steps forward, but Mevakh stops her, stepping into it himself. Although the circle offers no resistance to him, once he steps inside, he feels the air change, as if suddenly heavy before a storm. The deva stares at him, suspiciously, as if not trusting the evidence of his senses, until finally, he steps forward and touches Mevakh's face.
For a moment nothing happens. Then the angel lets out a terrible howl, a sound of such anguish and pain that it breaks your heart to hear it. Then it collapses into Mevakh, sobbing and crying, clearly with relief and pain and anguish long pent up.
In between the sobs it says in gasps, "So long I spent here. So long I thought myself doomed to torment, cursed to anguish. I thought no one would ever come here again. I lost hope... So very long." Inside the circle the angel seems to brighten somewhat, his rotten wings and sunken eyes regaining a measure of their brightness.
Finally he seems to regain himself, and still touching Mevahk lightly, looks to the rest of you. "Please, I am sorry for my words. I thought you a terrible illusion, a trick of that demon Japheel. I am called Ionius. Who are you and how did you come to this place?"
|Leralt Littlehorn
"I am called Songan, a member of the race of catfolk. We all came here from Absalom in the Inner Sea. For some reason or other, we were all given an offer from the church of Abadar by Arch-canon Hausivius, who told us of a colony ship that had been sent to this island that was thought uninhabited by initial surveys. 250 colonists were sent here in the hopes of founding a new city, to be called Abadaria, that would be a shining example of the benefits of the rule of law in the world. When a supply ship for that colony arrived six months later, the colony was gone. Abandoned. It looked as if everyone had simply vanished from the face of Golarion."
"Though foul play was suspected, none of the new colonists were told; only those of us assigned to it as protectors. Since we've arrived...well..let's just say that it hasn't been the best few days. Our ship was destroyed by a bleachling gnome, our new mayor kidnapped, we met the People, a race of giant, long-lived, intelligent animals, our wizard here discovered some sort of daemon-statue, we learned that there is a curse of undeath on the colony and that most of us are already infected by it, there is some very strange place off in the jungle that was once a lake that is now birthing creatures that are...that are...well, we don't know, but certainly evil of the most terrible kind is responsible. Shortly thereafter our colony was beset by an army of vegepygmies calling themselves the Pale Guardians, but we managed to convince them to give us some time to try and solve this undead curse before they annihilate us all. They also returned the mayor. A hurricane then struck the colony, destroying the buildings that were already here, but we all managed to survive with the colonists none the worse for wear."
"Catila here then discovered a weasel calling himself Surrek, apparently with magical abilities, that had been stealing trinkets and knickknacks from the colony. He led us to what we assume was this 'Japheel's' underground, secret laboratory and showed us the secret door that led down here, where we found you." he finishes, drawing in a deep breath before looking to the others.
"Did I leave anything out?"
|Leralt Littlehorn
"You forgot to mention the Bonetakers who are allied or at least connected to the evil of this land. The daemonic statues are in fact part of the sealing system, not only made to contain the daemon with in but use its very life force as fuel to bind the greater evil sealed away in this land. I also suspect the former mayor and Japheel are one and the same or so the clues support that. I may be mistaken but that covers everything, that I am aware of anyways."
|Dr. Catila Eyesquint
The little Gnome's heart breaks with both joy and sorrow over Ionius's terrible plight and torture and his joy over hope finally being restored. Unabashed tears flow freely down her face and her radiant smile.
Listening to the others, Catila looks back and forth until they are done and then, with some surprise says "You both left out the most important part! That at least one of these sealed deamons has been let loose! Presumably this was done by the former mayor, but we as yet have no way of knowing if only one deamon statue has been shattered and released of if, Abadar bless us, just the one. From what I understand of what Leralt has discovered, the breaking and release of enough of these statues may release the great evil they were long ago placed here to bind! Not to mention that we have at least one powerful deamon on the loose to contend with!"
Taking a deep breath, she calms herself and continues, moving forward towards the angel and, if permitted, grabbing it's hands in her small own. "But as dire as these events are, right now, at this moment, my concern is for you Ionius. What...what exactly has been done to you? And most importantly, what can we do to help you?"
|Our Mysterious Benefactor
The deva frowns as the history is spoken, and throughout the conversation still touches Mevakh as if he were a lifeline to something sacred. He sighs and nods at Catila's words. "I will answer as much as I am able. Japheel is a human man, though I know very little of him. He summoned me here... Well, I know not how long ago. He created this circle, he often gloated, to trap me specifically. Except he was incorrect. He used the dust of the bones of my predecessor, Ionius. You see, we devas can be created from the just souls of the dead, but in certain cases, we are given an office. I am called Ionius, of the office Ionius. It is a name and a title. My predecessor died on this island, during a battle against a great evil. His remains were interred here, and when his duty again became active, I was created to serve that duty. So Japheel sought to summon Ionius through his remains, but instead he summoned Ionius the successor. I could not answer his questions, but the circle mixed with the dust of the blood of my predecessor is a powerful binding. The circle must be destroyed for me to be freed, and being of the adamantine, it is quite resistant."
"Japheel is a wicked man. He wanted answers and he tortured me to get them, with spells, with pain, with illusions of escape and hope. He wanted to know how to unbind the Plague Lord. I have none of the memories of my predecessor, simply his duty. I could not and would not answer him. So he tortured me further. Day after day after day. When I would not answer, he altered the spell in this circle, draining me of strength. I know not where my vitality goes, but being in your presence," He smiles warmly at Mevakh, " is like being whole again. I can feel a little like home again." He pauses, as if breathing in clean air for the first time in a long time.
|Dr. Catila Eyesquint
Giving the hands a warm squeeze and a smile, Catila lets go and begins pacing back and forth, pulling on her lip again as is her wont when cogitating. As if just remembering something she suddenly looks up towards the stairs and calls loudly "Surrek! Come down here! I assure you it is completely safe! There is something, someone most wonderful down here that you must see and meet! And as well, as Ambassador to your People, I am sure they will be most glad of the great news you will bring them afterwords!" shrugging her shoulders after this, she leaves it to the weasel whether he wishes to join them or not and continues to pace.
As she asks her questions out loud, her voice rapid in her excitement and the questions following non stop, one after the other, she often glances at Leralt, indicating she seeks his expert opinion as well "Hmm, well, adamantine is indeed a strong metal, but it can certainly be destroyed. But does the entire circle need to be destroyed, or just a part of it? And how long has it been since you have seen Japheel now? Do you have any idea what may have happened to him? And was he always alone, or did he have an assistant? And who, or what is this Plague Lord'? I assume that this is the great evil entity trapped on this island? And what are the responsibilities of the 'Office of Ionius? And why were you recently called to reopen and fill it?" finally seeming to realize that she may be overwhelming the still weakened being she smiles somewhat embarraedly and ends with "Ah, my apologies Ionius! Sometimes my inquisitive nature gets the best of me. But one final question, for now at least, if I may? Please understand and believe that your answer shall have no bearing on our, or at least my desire and intention to free you, but, assuming we can and do, will you then be willing to help us at all in our fight against the evils of this land?"
|Leralt Littlehorn
Leralt holds up a hand at Catila's guess.
"Unless you did not tell me of such a find we have no proof that he has destroyed a statue. I have one that he hid in the mayor hall library and another from our furry friend that was left here in his hidden lab. The circle above is proof that he may have summoned other daemons, but as of yet we have not found the remains of a broken statue or directly encountered a daemon."
He thinks on the first statue's daemon attempting to trick him into destroying it. Yet he was far weaker then Japheel in magical power that was plain to see. Another idea came to mind.
"You know I just realized why would you make such a breakable vessal to bind something so powerful. Time and simple misfortune could wear away or destroy it with ease. Unless they are not as easy to destroy as they appear. After all if his goal was to release the Plague Lord why would he need to ask Ionius, better yet with two statues why not simply break them. His power and knowledge are certainly greater then mine, if I could uncover the statues purpose he should have as well. The only reasonable thought that comes to mind is that he could not destroy them. He needed to find another way around that and so he summoned Ionius to find that way. That makes more sense to me, do you agree?"
Edit-Got ninja'ed by the gnome. Anyways I am still waiting on my knowledge arcana result for the circle from earlier so cant answer you about that right now. xP
|Our Mysterious Benefactor
"Because such statues can't be broken by the guilty, only by the innocent." Ionius says in a much deeper voice, though he seems confused by the words as he speaks them. "Because simply hiding a key leads to someone always finding it. But if you make it impossible for those of vile soul to release it, it is much safer. At least until people who are not meant to be here arrive on an island that is not supposed to exist." The voice seems to echo, seemingly coming from far away. Ionius himself looks shocked and confused by the voice issuing from himself.
|Dr. Catila Eyesquint
|Our Mysterious Benefactor
|Leralt Littlehorn
|Dr. Catila Eyesquint
No worries. But so just to keep things in line IC
At Leralt's statement Catila tips her head to the side curiously and corrects him. The genuine smile on her face though takes away whatever slight sting might be in her words "Leralt, you have been spending too much time with your nose stuck in your books I think. Do you not recall one of the very first things we found on our first forray outside the colony? The shards in the circle? In the field? This is why the matter is so distressing and urgent. For we know for sure that the statues can be broken, if not how. And we don't know how many other unbrokenstatues there might be out there. Or even how many statues, and daemons within, there are on this da.." she glances quickly and somewhat guiltily at the angel "[...this island"
At that moment that angel speaks up, in a Voice that seems to come from somewhere, or someone, other than Ionius himself. As a little shiver runs down her spine she asks quietly "Ionius? Is...is that you? What did that mean?"
|Lena Relani
|Our Mysterious Benefactor
Ionius opens his mouth, but the voice that comes out is not his. "I am Ionius. Speaking like this is difficult. I cannot endure long. This island is a prison..." Suddenly the voice fades in and out and some of its message is lost. "...He must not be allowed to escape. The fungus men were given... serve as guardians of the cage. Starfall brought the... everything more complicated. It weighed down the ethereal nature... sending it into phase with this plane. It is not supposed... You are not supposed to be here. Mortals have introduced a wild element... It must go back. It must be set right. He must not be allowed to escape... find the First Key. Seek the ... fire which does not burn. I will help... but I have expended my strength." Suddenly Ionius collapses in the circle, sweating and breathing heavily. In his normal voice, he whispers "There is no more. I cannot feel him now."
|Gellius Krupt
"It appears that since Ionius is an office, the vacancy has since been filled while this one was imprisoned," says Krupt. He pulls his journal from its pocket, uncorks the ink bottle, and begins to scribble notes. "The celestial bureaucracy is efficient. Here's hoping the prophetic babble will be obvious once we've found what we're looking for."
|Our Mysterious Benefactor
The circle appears to be made of adamantine, but mixed with something else. It functions as a very specific binding circle, with some odd change: it appears to be siphoning the vitality from the angel and sending it somewhere else. You can't be sure exactly where...
Ionis shivers. "I do not believe it was sent from another angel. The presence was very far away, and it was so cold there."
|Leralt Littlehorn
"Adamantine is hard to break, I do not have that ability currently. If we could find something made out of pure adamantine then we could attempt to break it, while I would not approve of that, only a small part of the circle must be broken for the magic to be dispelled. What concerns me is that this circle acts in the same fashsion as the statues, it drains the life force to power something else. I have no idea where or what it powers. Seeing as it was created by this Japheel, I doubt its good. As for the statues, if enough had been broken I am sure we would know. If many were broken then we would also know as daemons seek souls and destruction. They would seek the easy victims of our colony and the release of their brothers. I would guess that the one released etheir fell under Japheel's control or was destroyed. A daemon left on its own will attract attention sooner or later."
|Our Mysterious Benefactor
The angel shakes his head. "I know not what office Japheel held. He wore fine enough clothes when he visited me, but smelled of smoke and ash. He never displayed any sort of holy symbol and the only time he spoke of the people above was to say that unless I helped him, he would see them all slaughtered. I could not answer his questions, I could not save anyone. When he stopped coming down I thought he had fulfilled his plan. I simply waited for either oblivion or his next torture."
|Mevakh Ahrask
Mevakh speaks quietly and gently to the angel. "You will find neither from us, friend. We will see you freed. I pledge this to you." He glares at Leralt, clearly making his wishes known and planting the message that he will not brook any resistance to the idea.
|Leralt Littlehorn
Leralt answers only with a raised eyebrow. The half orc could say what he wanted and glare at him until his eyes popped out of his head. Leralt would not help release something he could not handle, not that it mattered. That circle was made of adamantine and empowered by magic, it would not be broken by anything less.
Anyone got anymore questions cause I got nothing. xP
You never answered my question from the discussion thread.
|Our Mysterious Benefactor
Mevakh's words seem to inspire the angel, who bows his head, tears of joy falling from his eyes. "Thank you so much for bringing hope to me. I believe in you and in this faith, I can endure however long it takes. If there is anything that I can do for you, please you have only to ask."
Surrek meanwhile, has only come down as far as the door, watching the entire exchange. His ears twitch suddenly, and from above you you feel a rumble and hear a boom of something loud, possibly thunder.
|Leralt Littlehorn
Feeling and hearing the disturbance above.
"Oh great with our luck its another disaster. If you would pardon me."
Leralt turns around going back to the surface to check on what is going on. Hopefully it was nothing bad, but he doubted. Passing the weasel.
"Ambassador, are you joining. I am going to pop my head out and see whats going on."
|Gellius Krupt
|Lena Relani
|Our Mysterious Benefactor
Songan, at this point having been entirely enraptured by the conversation with Ionius, seems very put off by the sudden noise from above-ground. "Oh, bother. You finally get your 'save-the-universe' quest and Gozreh decides to interrupt the fun. That's life, I suppose. Ionius, for what my word is worth, I wish to see you freed as quickly as possible. I will do all I can to see you returned to your former glory. I pledge that to you. I feel we will return as soon as we are able and I'm certain will be willing to provide you pleasant company for the remainder of your imprisonment...which shall, with any luck, be short. That said, it was an honor and a pleasure to meet you, Sir Ionius. I look forward to future conversations with you." he adds, then turns to leave, meeting Surrek halfway up the stairs and inviting him to join Songan as he heads back to the hidden panel that brought them down, trying to listen for any further noises above-ground that may give indication of what is going on.
Perception: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (2) + 9 = 11
|Dr. Catila Eyesquint
Catila as well, also taken up in the conversation, is unusually silent. However she is not so enraptured as to not notice the brooding mage's reaction to the idea of freeing the angel. Not wanting to have a confrontation now, she nevertheless determines to have a private discussion with him at some point.
Before the noise and everyone's leaving to investigate it, Catila asks a question, directed mainly at Leralt but open to all "Leralt, you mentioned that part of the magic in this circle is that it serves to drain energy from dear Ionius and send it somewhere else. Even if it takes time to break the circle, can we not devise a way to at least stop, or block, the energy drain and transfer?"
After the big boom:
Turning to the angel Catila again takes his hands, saying "Although it pains me, I must leave as well dear Ionius, as protecting the colony is our prime directive. But I promise I shall visit you frequently! And in the meantime, is there anything, anything at all we might bring you? Books perhaps? Or writing and drawing materials? Torches? Plants? Perhaps some colourful things to brighten up the space here for as long as you must remain here? Or is there anything else you might think of that might, at least in some small way, make your imprisonment easier to bear?" as she speaks she gets a little excited, thinking of all the ways she could brighten up his prison.
After Ionius answers, she gives his hands another squeeze and hurries out and up the stairs after the others. Finding Surrek, she moves near him asking "So, what did you think of all that?"
As she speaks though, he attention is on finding out what may have caused all the racket. Perception: 1d20 + 11 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 11 + 1 = 13
|Leralt Littlehorn
@Catila's Post
Leralt shakes his head.
"If it can get thru all this rock as well as other materials at such a distance then I would say nothing less then a dimensional blocking effect would do. That is beyond my ability, at that point I could break the circle so it would be a moot effort. The statue's are made the same way to reinforce the seal. If they could be easily blocked then their would be no need to break them in the first place."
|Our Mysterious Benefactor
As the party heads upward, Ionius smiles sadly, but for once hopefully and bids them goodbye, holding onto Mevahk's arm until he steps out of the circle.
Running upstairs and up the trapdoor reveals a scene of chaos. Colonists huddle behind walls and rubble to shelter themselves while a few brave souls, soldiers and sailors, wield makeshift weapons while attempting to to fend off a creature of the sort you've seen before...
The creature is as long and tall as a horse, but much wider, covered in heavy armor plates, with four thick clawed legs. At least a third of it is mouth, with rows of razor sharp teeth. It appears to a bulette, although smaller than the one you saw encased in crystal and this one appears not to be demonic. Rather its teeth are covered in blood red stains that resemble some sort of fruit and judging by its breath, the fruit were fermenting before it ate them. The bulette is young, frenzied and dead drunk.
Judging by a quick glance at the destruction, it seems to have broken through one of the gaps in the wall and appears to be headed for the stew currently brewing. The soldiers and sailors have managed to keep it away from the people, but since it drunkenly seems to be ignoring their weapons, they don't look to be able to contain it for much longer. Surrek, popping his head up, sees the thing and dives back down into the caverns with a squeal.
One of the soldiers sees you appear and calls out, "By Abadar's coin, help us! This thing is gone mad!"
Initiative, please.
|Gellius Krupt
|Leralt Littlehorn
|Lena Relani
|Mevakh Ahrask
Initiative 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4
Mevakh is the last to leave Ionius, clasping the rotting angel's hand in a wordless embrace before stepping out over the adamantine circle. He is lost in thought with how to rescue the damned angel when he notices the crazed beast threatening the colonists. He pulls his shield and axe up, ready to interpose himself between them and the creature.
|Dr. Catila Eyesquint
Can't recall if this was brought up before or not, but perhaps it might save a fair bit of time if you just rolled Inits for everyone, OMB?
Initiative: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (16) + 2 = 18
And did Ionius not respond at all to Catila's last questions? And I guess Surrek didn't get a chance to answer?
|Our Mysterious Benefactor
Hmm, it might save time. I'll try it next combat. And Ionius didn't respond as he hasn't really had any time to think about life with hope. He's been alone and despairing for so long that he needs time to process it before he can think of actually improving his quality of life.
20 Lena
18 Catila
18 Songan
17 Gellius
17 Bulette
7 Leralt
4 Mevakh
Bulette: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (9) + 8 = 17
Lena, Catila and Songan are up!
|Lena Relani
Round One
Lena runs out of the tunnel into the daylight, her elven eyes quickly adjusting to the sudden change in luminance. Sensing the situation could turn ugly quickly she darts around the flank, drawing her intricately decorated crossbow.
Aiming at the massive monster, she proclaims a warning
"By the Golden Vault, if you harm this colony you will pay Abadar's price!"
Free: Activate combat expertise (AC 19)
Swift: Activate Judgement (+2 AC)
Move: Move out of doorway and begin to circle around the Bulette while drawing crossbow
Standard: Ready action to shoot the Bulette if it makes a threatening move towards one of us or the colonists.
I'll make the attack roll now to save time later (disregard it if the creature doesn't trigger it)
Crossbow: 1d20 + 5 + 2 - 1 ⇒ (9) + 5 + 2 - 1 = 15
|Dr. Catila Eyesquint
Is it K arcana to get info on the creature? If so: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (10) + 7 = 17
Seeing the formidable creature and witnessing Lena's quick reaction to it, Catila calls out "Wait! This beast may be more than we can handle! And we certainly do not want to fight it here inside the colony. Let me speak with it!"
Before she attempts to speak with it though, the wily Detective knows she must first seek to distract it. Calling upon her blood-born powers, she casts Prestidigitation, using it to cause the stew to smell horrid, while at the same time causing the flavorful smell of the stew to become even more powerful and then begin drifting out of the same hole the bulette came in through, moving as necessary to keep the smell drifting ever further away.
As she works she continues to speak, but much more quietly and calmly "Put away your weapons, they are of little use anyway. Let us see if we can simply calm it and lead it away. Songan, can you fascinate the creature?"
If that wasn't clear, she's basically trying to use her magic to re-locate the smell of the stew which seems to have attracted the bulette here in the first place.
"Took the words right outta my mouth!" Songan answers, immediately beginning to utter a stream of syllables that seem noteworthy for only their repetitiveness, a hypnotic sequence of letters that serve only to lull his target into a trance or a daze. There is no coherence to them, no actual language. It's apparently just some number of syllables that he repeats over and over that he chooses to use when trying to draw someone's (or something's) attention.
Initiating Bardic Performance (Fascinate); Will save DC 15
|Gellius Krupt
At Catila's suggestion that they find a peaceable solution to this encounter, and Songan's agreement, the doctor looks at the two of them as if they'd just sprouted new limbs out of their foreheads. He shakes his head and moves out of the doorway moving to a position where no one blocks the path between him and the monster. As he does so, he pulls a vial from his apron.
Move action to get out and clear. Readying a fire breath extract if the beast attacks.