Happy Holidays folks!
If you are into that sorta thing!
I hope, as always, that this finds you well. The year is almost done, and it has been one hellz of a year, to say the least.
Many ups and downs.
Joys and dreads.
Traumas and triumphs.
I want to thank you all for being here with me for it through it all, and for being loyal readers. You have all been the driving force behind my will and want to write. I couldn't have guessed that a bit over a year out from my first post, my stories would hit 9K Readers in English! and just over 4K on the Spanish side! Yet here we are folks!
And that is all YOU.
I really do love you all.
"Enverdolmal" comes from Afrikaans, and it is written as such: Een vir almal.
This translates to "One for all." And that is truly what I want this world to be. A place that any and everyone is welcome. A world where you can visit and enjoy the weird, wild, strange, crazy, epic, freaky, dorky, nerdy, fresh stories that you have (hopefully) come to love.
I hope you all have an amazing holiday, and if yours turns out to not be so well, I hope the rest of the year makes up for it!
Keep reading folks.
It'll only get better, and I will only keep writing.
I want to get at least one more chapter out before the new year and my Birthday (12-31-88)
And I will pair it with a fresh Character Dive as I tend to do! Gotta make sure my loyal readers have enough meaty content to chew on while I brew up the next batch of stories, and push ever closer to the great start of Part 2: Smoke!
I wont give away more lol
And I wont keep you any longer, I know what you came for! lol
See you back here at the gates!
-------------------------
Oonagi sat cross-legged on the edge of the platform that ringed her treetop home high above the dark, dank swamp below.
The dorpie known as Lorenday was located deep within the ever-foggy bounds of the Enfresecca Swamplands.
Lorenday was a strange village. Its people were secluded and near-physically disconnected from the main land around them by not only the swamp itself, but the strange and powerful binding magics that were perpetually abound.
Oonagi's people had always been in and off the swamp. So such so that they, with time, had become very nearly an essential part of its thriving and ever-shifting ecosystem.
Their hair was ropey and ever-damp like the long, wicked weeping willows that covered nearly every patch of land that so happened to be above the shallow, yet dark waters bellow.
Their skin was a deep, muddy brown, just as the very same patches of land that held the willows.
Their bodies as strong as the roots that tethered those willows to that patched and watered land.
Their minds, as sharp as the long, razor-thin leaf's that clung to those very same willows.
The willows that were perched mightily upon the innumerous patches of land and small "islands" that made up, one-in-all: The Enfresecca Swamplands.
Oonagi was one of the several hundred people of the swamp known only as the Unari.
As stated: The Unari never left their swamp. They never have. Nor will they ever if it can be helped.
For as long as Oonagi has been alive, she had known only Lorenday and the always-wet lands that surround her. She was a Huntress. One of the few that still loved among her people.
Of their total 700, the Hunters made up about 100. They were a rare and elite trained unite.
They were the best at what they did, and what they did was provide for and protect their people and their boarders.
Oonagi was the best amongst them all.
On this day, her skill set and those of many other would be rather thoroughly tested.
The Hunters were a special type.
Outside of their rarity, they were the only known people to ever live peacefully beside the massive Dragonfly/Scorpion-like insectoids called Drakonura.
They and they alone were the keepers and breeders of the strange and beautiful creatures.
They and they alone were the only human or humanoid form that the Drakonura would bother to interact with without bloodshed and/or flat out death.
The Drakonura were essentially what one might imagen the offspring of a Dragonfly and a Scorpion would be.
Their body was mostly that of the first, long and slim. Yet powerful.
Long as in a yard in length from their heads to the base of their tails.
A tail that added an additional four feet to their overall length.
A tail that ended in a long, thin, lethal stinger.
Their segmented form held six legs and four powerful wings.
Their front-most legs ended in jagged, clamping pinchers not unlike those of the scorpion that hade up half of the creatures genetic structure.
Its eyes were nearly the size of the crown of an adult humans head. All three of them.
And each of those eyes were segmented into 20 smaller eyes.
The lethal insectoid was also armor-platted by nature, though thin this armor was, it was covered in tiny ridged and spikes that made it more than enough to fend off arrows, most sword strikes, and many-if-not-all of its very few predators.
The Hunters were better for their Drakonura partners.
The Drakonura were well kept, and cared for by the kind and gentle Unari whose Hunters and Huntress utilized them in their weekly hunts, and even on their daily patrols.
Today Oonagi and her Drakonura would be tested to their very limits.
Oonagi hadn't planned on doing anything in particular this night. The weekly hunt was done and had gone very well, their coffers were filled with all manners of tree-bound creatures and land-side must-haves.
Swamp rat meat, Silk spider eggs, Dank duck meat, goats milk, and a plethora of other ingredients and reagents that her people relied on Oonagi and her Hunter to supply.
Well... outside from the goats milk.
They didn't milk the hairy little, ever-stubborn things.
But that would have actually been preferable to having to track and catch them in Oonagi's mind. Not only were they fleet of foot, they could climb nearly as good as the Swamp cats who also hunted them. Finding them was one thing. Chasing them through the treetops at near-full speed was another by far.
Oonagi's mind wandered as she sat and scanned the outskirts of her dorpie for trouble from the edge of her platform. The night had been quiet.
Too quiet in fact...
She had very nearly dozed off from the at one point, which had been the one and only red flag that she needed to get her up and moving.
Rolling backward, she came about and onto her feet.
She didn't hear any of the tree crickets chirping.
No Night birds singing.
She didn't hear the constant creak of the trees moving around her.
The leaves rustled as the wind slipped between them. Yet there was no sound.
Something was very wrong.
She reached behind herself and yanked her dual blades from their sheaths at the base of her back.
"AAH-NAM-SAY!"
She shouted as she sprinted forward and leapt from the platform, her arms out wide to either side.
From beneath her home in its under-dome nest, came her Drakonura.
It had been awaiting her call all night in its partial slumber.
It awoke instantly and shot out of its home at near-full speed and snapped its four wings open as it rolled in mid-air onto its back.
Oonagi rolled as well, falling for just a split second before the great insectoid snapped its six legs around her midsection from behind.
Two over her shoulders.
Two along her ribcage.
Two around her waist.
As soon as she was secure, Grogoga -for that is his name- completed his roll and its four wind burst into motion.
A dull yet familiar buzzing filled Oonagi's ears and the air around her as she let herself orientate to the sensation of weightlessness.
Grogoga had been her partner since he was just an egg.
They had fought dozens of battles, had completed hundreds of hunts together.
They moved and acted as one by this point with Grogoga being able to pick up on Oonagi's mannerisms and tone of voice, and Oonagi being able to read and interpret the great insectoids body language.
They were the best of all of the Hunter-Bugger pairs in the dorpie.
Her rank of Lead Huntress showed just that.
Her mind cleared with the closer proximity to her loyal companion.
She hadn't heard any responses from her battle-cry.
There should have been at least a dozen, in order, and in rapid succession.
Something was very, very wrong...
Oonagi willed Grogoga to dive a couple of meters before the pair came up and leveled out with the platform below and to the side of her own. There on said platform before her lay Kogu-yah, her second in command.
He was very much dead.
A long, thin arrow protruded from his left eye.
To his side, his Drakonura.
Or what was left of it...
Its wings were gone... cut or chewed down to tiny nubs.
Its head and the three legs on its left side were completely gone.
Oonagi vomited to her side before willing her insectoid to bring her down. She landed silently as Grogoga released his grip and hovered near by.
She knelt at Kogu-yah's side, taking his head gently in her arms and lap.
"What is going on?"
She whispered though clinched teeth and tears.
Something was VERY facking wrong.
She softly brushed the hair from Kogu-yah's fair, slim face. The arrow was so sharp, so well-aimed that there was no blood.
He was beautiful even in death.
Oonagi slowly closed his right eye before gently laying his head back in the platform.
She folded his arms over his chest before picking up her blades and willing Grogoga to her back once more.
It was time to move.
She leapt from the platform and took off at patrol speed, just under half of what Grogoga could achieve. This would be enough for her to not only get around the dorpie safely, but also allow her to comfortably navigate between the trees.
She didn't bother to stop and check on any of the night watch that she came upon, for all she could see from her passing view was death.
Dread and sadness made her chest feel heavy and tight at the same time.
The guards on duty had been killed one and all.
An arrow or two protruded from each of them. Their Drakonura lay dead always either beneath them or very nearby.
But how?
How could they have been caught so unawares?
How had she not heard any of this happening?
She caught movement to her left and instinctively dove to give chase.
The figure had slipped off behind a tree and out of site.
She took the corner at full speed and was nearly knocked from the air by the blast of sound.
he world slowed to a crawl around her...
She had found what was wrong.
Her dread and sadness very suddenly became outrage and anger.
Mantazee soldiers!
Dozens of Mantazee soldiers!
Screams hit Oonagi like the arrows that had killed her night watch guards.
The Mantazee were cutting her people down with no regard and less discrimination.
The bright green blades of their swords flashed in the faery light lanterns.
Vividly red blood splashed and splattered the tress all around the village, dripping from the leaves and shafts of the willows.
Mingling with the murky waters.
It was a raid.
A full-on Mantazee raid.
-------------------------
Kolibree was a strange and alluring woman.
Kolibree was a cold and amoral Witch.
Her goals were her own.
Her whims, beyond just dangerous.
She wasn't ambitious.
She had all that she could want or even need.
She didn't long for or need for power.
She had an ample amount of that as well.
There in fact, was very little that she even had interest in any longer on this mortal coil. Most of what she had invested her time and Aether in these days was all but play to her. She had been alive for nearly four hundred years at this point.
So not much was "new" to her in any regard.
She was bored.
And when Kolibree grew bored, there was nothing more she liked than causing a bit of chaos.
Chaos was fun.
Unpredictable.
Spontaneous.
She needed something, anything new...
She needed to find a way to get out of this accused swamp...
She hadn't always been here, unlike those tree-dwelling bug people.
She had wondered in of her of own curiosity as a child, and had been magically "stuck" ever since.
just over three hundred years.
She had been unable to leave, and worse, unable to figure out why. She could venture to what she thought was the edge of the swamp, but there was some sort of barrier... something physically keeping her here.
It pissed her off.
It had scared her at first.
But that was three facking centuries ago.
Now?
She was cold hearted, detached, bitter, and tired of being here.
But that was something that she couldn't change, so she had begrudgingly excepted the fact s very, very long time ago. This didn't mean she had to like it...
After years and years and decades and more of just surviving, she had learned how to just LIVE.
But neither the years nor the swamp had been kind to her, and thus she had steadily become colder and meaner.
She had been ever alone.
Even the Unari people had refused her...
Yes, they had given her tools and food, and even weapons.
But she was not allowed to stay in their stupid treetop village.
Their culture was just thus.
And even a lone, lost Elven child would not make them see differently.
She grew to hate them for it. To despise and loath them.
Never knowing that all along their Hunters had watched her from afar and had even protected her form some of the worse that the unforgiving swamp had to offer.
Even had she known, she most likely wouldn't have cared...
THEY had refused her...
And so she had decided that tonight, she would make them assist in curing her boredom.
Tonight they would see chaos.
And she would no longer be so dreadfully, utterly bored.
The Mantazee were her minions. She had stumbled upon their mid-sized dorpie over a hundred years ago now. They were a powerful yet naturally skittish and passive type. They were very much like the Praying Mantis from which they had fabricated their entire life after. The very same Praying Mantis that they worshipped as not only their deity, but their very creator.
They were swift, strangely strong for their slender limbs, and fanatically loyal.
They were also quit meek and impressionable.
So when Kolibree showed up one moon-lit night and shrank their former Chieftain down to the size of a Blorp berry before unceremoniously eating him... they quickly feel in line and bowed to their "new" Chieftain.
Their lives and scythe-like blades were dedicated to her.
She hadn't even needed to draw upon any of her manipulation spells.
Win-win for her.
She would use them to her own ends, when and how she pleased.
Kolibree was no fan of their Man/bug-like appearance and tendencies, but she figured that THIS was much better than being the Spider Queen by any stretch of the imagination.
She disliked the mantis and the Mantazee.
She HATED spiders.
The Drakonura were close enough in appearance for her liking.
With that realization, she had set off to make the lives of the Unari peoples just a bit more... complicated. She would see to it that they had one hellz of a night.
From atop her Giant mantis mount, she sat comfortably. She was but yards from the slumbering dorpie. Her custom made saddle let her sit with said comfort atop the armored thing without its many spikes and protrusion slicing her supple thighs and backside. The irritable and ugly thing hissed and spat as it clacked its massive dripping mouth-parts.
From their perch they could see the "fun" taking place as her soldiers silently slipped into the sleeping village under the noses of those "vigilant" Hunters.
Paired with a short-term mass-invisibility spell that had nearly killed her from its Aether requirements, the raiding force was all but nonexistent.
That was...until the slaughter began.
Kolibree smiled her twisted, emotionless smile.
The nights fun was just beginning.
-------------------------
Oonagi hit the muddy ground running at full speed as best she could.
Her faithful companions timing with his release was nearly perfect.
Grogoga zipped off to take an overwatch position.
Her twin blades flashed in deadly arches and swift jabs as she flew past unwary opponents, passing and often killing them in the same breath.
She didn't have time to FULLY process everything that she was seeing, but the mental link that she shared with Grogoga help beyond words.
With it, she could all but see through his eyes, and since his insectoid brain could process information at a fraction of the speed of her own, she could only use this "link" sparingly and for not very long when she did.
Being "inside" of the mental space of a bug would be instantaneously and lethally debilitating to the average human or humanoid.
Luckily, Oonagi and the Unari peoples were far from such.
She moved with a purpose, her mind synchronized with her companions for an essential handful of seconds.
Nine, to be exact.
She couldn't sustain the link beyond that length just yet without it becoming a little to inviting...
The major downside to the link was that if one were to keep it for too long, their mind would began to mold with that of the Drakonura on a permanent level.
This was not good. By any measure.
The Drakonura mind was part Dragonfly, part Scorpion. Just as its hybrid of a body.
That combined mindset tended to quickly overpower and overwrite the mentality of the paired Unari.
This resulted in death just like the linking of an untrained mind to the unique insectoids. The difference was only in the length of time that it took one to die.
In the later case... lets just say, the Unari body cannot do physically what a Drakonura body can. They don't tend to survive the attempts for very long. And if they do? Typically starvation is the cause of death.
The link time lapsed. She released it.
Oonagi's vision darked around the edges for s spit second as her mind completed the acclimation back to her own "mindset"
She could see clearly a group of Mantazee soldiers running towards her now.
Others to either side of her chased after children, women, and elderly.
Many were cut down. They stood in the way of the Mantazee invaders as best they could, but all around them was chaos.
They were gatherers, farmers, trappers, and herders. They, one and all, were strong of back and arm, but untrained in combat nonetheless.
The Hunters that were not killed in the first assault began to decent from their platforms, weapons drawn, Drakonura at their back.
The the tides would turn rather quickly if they could rally and figure out what the hellz was happing.
Oonagi took note of the Soldiers before her.
Four in total.
She kicked off and dove to her right just as the lead Mantazee swung his jagged scythe-sword at empty space where her throat had been.
He wasn't her priority. Yet.
She cartwheeled mid-aid and caught the weapon of another attacker between her own, stopping it before it could cut down a scurrying child.
She landed nimbly and forced the bug-mans curved sword up and to her right in a high cross block.
The Mantazee Soldier was caught off-guard.
That was Oonagi's favorite type of guard. None.
She spun on her left foot, dropping into a low crouch as she did so, and brought her right leg around in a brutal low sweep.
The Mantazee flipped over, landing awkwardly on its head with an audible snap.
The first Soldier that Oonagi had sidestepped caught himself and pivoted, charging her while she was still low. He crashed into her with a crude tackle.
The child was safe. That was all that mattered.
They hit they ground in a heap of limbs.
The bug-mans mandibles snapped and dripped saliva as he constantly went for her face and neck. It seemed as if close quarters combat had made the Soldier relinquish all trace of mental stability, as it simply let its sword fly away in place of simply attempting to bite and grapple with Oonagi.
And it was surely a miracle that She had not been cut or stabbed by either of her own blades so far onto this quick tumble.
Oonagi just happened to be a top-ranked grappler in her village unfortunately for this Mantazee.
This Soldier wasn't privy to any of her people rules she was sure, but he had to at least know that biting was most certainly not allowed.
Oonagi felt a sharp pinch as the bug-mans pincher-like jaws found a grip on her left shoulder. Just barely was it latched on.
"Perfect."
She thought as she grunted away the pain and focused.
Now she knew exactly where the things head was.
A quick glance over its shoulder told her that the three other Mantazee were quickly closing the gap to assist their friend. She had but seconds to react.
The lead Soldier of the three leapt her way, his sword raised and ready.
Oonagi made her move.
She adjusted her blades and thrust them up and into the chin of the Soldier that she was entangled with. The bug-man shuddered as its life-force left its body. They slid to a stop with the Huntress beneath the dead thing.
She forced some Aether of her own into her arms and legs and pushed the Solider up, following the push with a powerful double kick to its stomach. It flew up and back, slamming into the air-born Mantazee and diverting its path.
The pair -alive and dead- tumbled off to her right and out of sight.
The second and third came one, their swords leading the charge.
Aloud buzzing closed in suddenly, and before the closest Soldier could react, Grogoga swooped down and snatched him from his feet, shooting straight up with blinding speed.
Oonagi found a sliver of relief. One less threat to think of.
The last Soldier didn't blink at the disappearance of his fellow bug-man thing.
His place was here. His target was the Unari before him.
Oonagi rolled backward and onto her feet. Her dual lades up and held defensively before her.
She blinked twice and narrowed her eyes.
The gap was closed.
This Soldier was strangely calm and composed unlike the last few she had faced. His moves were clean and controlled.
More man than bug maybe.
Oonagi had little trouble dodging and parrying his opening combination, her blades rang as they ricocheted off of his and spanned back into position in front of her before he could follow up with another move.
He suddenly pushed forward, closing again but much quicker. His curved sword swam before her eyes in a staggered but intentional flurry of slices and chops that had her on her heels for just a second.
A second that was more than enough it seemed. His follow- up attack was a powerful, double handed, downward slash.
Oonagi seen it coming.
She stepped to steppe to her left and turned her body at a sharp angle, letting the weapons blade slip past.
Her right hand blade shot up and met his, her left hand shot out and forward with a precision punch aimed at his espoused face.
The bug-man let go of his own sword with his left hand, and it shot up to meet and catch Oonagi's punch.
She was shook for just a second, long enough to give the surprisingly-skilled Mantazee an opening.
His right right leg shot forward low, and then quickly back, sweeping her legs from beneath her much like she had done to the first Soldier she had stopped what seemed like just moments ago.
She didn't have time to react, let alone catch herself as she was now sideways and air-born.
The Soldier hopped back just a bit, braced, and threw a lightning fast straight kick that connected squarely in Oonagi's stomachs, sending her tumbling across the ground.
Her blades flew wide, skidding across the muddy swamp floor.
She lay still for just a second, processing what had just happened.
How had he countered her parry?
Not just that, but how had he made it seem so easy.
Insulted but calm, Oonagi gathered herself and climbed to her feet.
To her right, the Soldier she had sent reeling earlier was regaining his composure.
She needed to end this and regroup with her Hunters.
-------------------------
From half a dozen yards away, Kolibree sat atop her mantis mount.
It had fed well on a couple of the Drakonura that she and it had managed to catch unawares and slay.
"Nothing so complicated... these must have been newbies."
She thought to herself as she tossed another Drakonura leg to the ever-eager mount. She was actually enjoying herself! That little...tussle? had been her only interaction since this whole thing had gotten underway, but it was enough.
Paired with all of the death and destruction that her small army was amassing, it had been a good night thus far. She played with a rather fancy dagger that she had taken from the body of one of the Hunters that her mount had killed.
"Kaaagoooo-yaaaah."
She read the name aloud.
"A stupid name for a stupid peoples."
She though aloud, flipping the gleaming dagger over several times in mid-air before letting it fall rather gracefully back into its equally gleaming sheath.
Her raid was going well. very well.
But her time here couldn't be much longer. She would have half of her force peel off and grab some loot, while the rest fought to their deaths.
For their beautiful Mantis Queen yes, but more so by her magical enthrallment.
Either way worked for her.
She HAD caught sight of one particular Hunter this night though.
One who seemed a bit more trained, a bit more composed than all the others that she had seen or slayed that night. This one wielded two blades and controlled the flight of her bug with utmost precision.
Kolibree was impressed.
It was indeed rare that she was ever impressed.
She would have a bit more fun before her departure.
She eyed the field and watched as the Hunter finally came down for a landing.
She watched as the skilled fighter cut through just over a dozen of her Soldiers within seconds of that landing.
She enchanted the nearest group of Soldiers and sent them towards her.
She ignored them, moving to save a child?
"Ew...why? Whatever..."
She thought to herself.
She watched the Soldier die upside down. That was even worth a chuckle. This one was creative.
She sent the group after her with a bit more urgency as she felt her Aether pool dip to less than half. She hadn't recovered enough just yet.
"Hmph... maybe a bit to far tonight."
She said between gritted teeth.
She had magically mustered her forces, enchanted them into cooperation, muffled their armor and weapons, and cast an invisibility cloak over the lot of them.
Just over one hundred Soldiers.
All in one night.
Reckless... BUT FUN!
She definitely needed to slip this party, and soon.
The Huntress killed the first and used its dead body to render the second useless in the moment.
The third was taken by her bug companion, and lifted high above the canopy, never to be seen again. Kolibree had seen Dragonflies eat in mid-flight. She didn't envy the Soldier for what she imagined the massive insectoid was doing to him.
All of this had happened in a chaotic matter of seconds. She loved it.
She was down to one Soldier and her other forces were covering the retreat of her looters.
She urged her Mantazee mind slave forward.
the Huntress was swift. Her Soldiers first couple of assaults had been rather easily dodged or parried, but with this ones level of skill, Kolibree had seen that much coming.
She pushed the idea for her counter into the Mantazee mind.
In a second flat, the Huntress was tumbling backward and disarmed. The wind knocked from her chest with one well placed straight kick.
Kolibree was pleased with herself.
the Huntress took to her feet and braced herself for what as to come.
Kolibree willed the bug-man forward.
Suddenly pain exploded across the right side of her head.
So many spells, and with such a high Aether demand
She clasped her hands to her temples and let loose a sharp and piercing shriek against her will.
The Huntresses eyes shot up and locked on her own.
A death glare.
Kolibree had to leave. And now.
She wasn't necessarily frightened or intimidated by the women, but she could feel the Aether pulsating from her very core.
Her pulse quickened for once in a very, very long time.
She leaned forward, her right hand still covering her eye as she grasped the side of her still-pounding head.
"Tsk! I'll play with that one myself next time!"
She thought to herself.
But now was not that time, not the place.
She heard and very much felt the air began to vibrate from above her and behind the lone Hunter that she had been watching and toying with.
Shouts of: "AAH-NAM-SAY!"
Began to reach her well-toned Elven years.
Reinforcements.
More of the Unari had been alerted to the conflagration by those who had managed to flee the initial assault.
Kolibree REALLY , REALLY had to go. She had overstayed her welcome for sure.
She willed one final word into the mind of the soldier before tossing the lone Hunter a kiss and a sly wink.
Her saddle shifted and rotated as her mount adjusted its body and made to leap from the tree. Kolibree lay flat against the back of the massive mantis, crossing her legs and interlocking her fingers behind her wind jostled hair. To either side of her body, the mantises shell split open with a sickening, wet pop, and out shot two six foot long wings.
Orange slime and swamp muck dripped from the glistening parts as light from the faery fires below reflected off of the thin yet powerful membranes.
With a snap of her fingers the insectoid launched itself off of the side of the tree, the pair fell for a second before the large, powerful wings sputtered into action, lifting the mantis mount and its rider up and away.
And with that, Kolibree was gone.
-------------------------
Before Oonagi could react to the strange women in the tree above her, both of the remaining Mantazee Soldiers launched their attacks.
-------------------------
Welcome back to the gates! Oonagi and Kolibree huh?
I hope this pair grows on you soon enough, their story is going to tie into all of the rest, just like al of the rest lol
That chapter was a bit longer than I though it would be! But I hope that it will tide you all over till the next chapter drops!
I don't know if I will have the next one ready before the year is up, but I will do my best to get at least one more World Lore out for you beautiful, loyal folk.
Oh! And the Character Dives for these knew characters and any that I may have missed up till this point lol.
I hope as always that this find you well.
And if for some reason it does not, I am personally sending you my healing Aether. I have more than enough to share!
This year has been many things: weird, fun, challenging, eye-opening, and so much more.
But above all else, it has been another year. Good or bad, I am happy to be alive and able to write for you all.
I hope that you are all happy to be alive as well. Hang in there if you are not, as hard as life can be, pain is temporary. Remember that okay?
I love you all.
Have a safe and Happy Holiday folks.
I will see you all back here soon enough!
As always,
Stay safe.
Stay healthy.
Stay vigilant.
-Redd.