Best hotels in birmingham mi

Birmingham: The Magic Sub-Reddit

2009.07.31 21:38 woodenturkey Birmingham: The Magic Sub-Reddit

This is the Subreddit for Birmingham, AL (the best little dangerous city in the South!).
[link]


2012.03.02 17:24 Michigents

A safe space for Michigan cannabis discussion and community based education
[link]


2010.07.23 18:56 viperphantom Kalamazoo

For all things related to the town of Kalamazoo, MI -- Kalamazoo College, Western Michigan University, and KVCC! Events, happenings, meet-ups, music, etc.
[link]


2023.06.06 04:05 Judge-Weak Blogging about peeing

I'm currently backpacking the Continental Divide Trail and I've been doing a blog so that my friends and family can follow along on my adventure.
I write the blog for three reasons: keep my family informed about what's going on, encourage other veterans to take time off after their service and third let people who suffer from shy bladder know that it's okay to tell everybody about it.
I don't always talk about peeing in my blog but I did this last week and I thought I'd share it with you. I'm sure there are a few of you lurking in Reddit who are still keeping paruresis a secret from their friends and family. I know because I was one of you not that long ago.
I've literally told everyone I know about my shy bladder. And you know what's happened? Nothing. 99% of the people I've told probably don't even think about it again. I've never been asked about it and it doesn't come up unless I bring it up.
So I'd love if you read my blog, but I understand if you don't because it's mediocre at best. Great writing takes time and editing this blog has neither. Writing and editing on my phone in my tent at night is next to impossible.
https://thetrek.co/continental-divide-trail/day-23-26-you-cant-eat-that/
submitted by Judge-Weak to Paruresis [link] [comments]


2023.06.06 04:05 AutoModerator Iman Gadzhi - Agency Navigator (Course Complete)

Contact me to get Iman Gadzhi - Agency Navigator by chatting me on +44 759 388 2116 on Telegram/Whatsapp.
I have Iman Gadzhi - Agency Navigator.
Iman Gadzhi - Agency Navigator course is one of the best products on how to start a marketing agency.
Iman Gadzhi - Agency Navigator includes over 50 hours of step-by-step training covering EVERY aspect of building an agency from scratch. This is almost a plug & play system with enough success stories to back it up! Signing clients, running Facebook ads, building out your team, on-boarding clients, invoicing, sales... this course has everything covered for you.
The topics inside Iman Gadzhi - Agency Navigator course include:
  1. Agency Navigator course Core Curriculum
  2. Custom E-Learning Platform For Agency Owners
  3. Financial Planner, Revenue Calculator, Outreach Tracker & More Tools
  4. Websites Templates, Funnels, Ads & More
  5. Template Contracts, Sales Scripts, Agreements & More
The lessons in Iman Gadzhi - Agency Navigator will teach you how to:
- Starting Your Agency
- Finding Leads
- Signing Clients
- Getting Paid
- Onboarding Clients
- Managing Client Communication...
...and much, much more!
To get Iman Gadzhi - Agency Navigator contact me on:
Whatsapp/Telegram: +44 759 388 2116
Reddit DM to u/RequestCourseAccess
Email: silverlakestore[@]yandex.com (remove the brackets)
submitted by AutoModerator to ImanGadzhiIman [link] [comments]


2023.06.06 04:05 an0malyzero 26 [M4A] here for the week!

Looking to pass the time while I'm here for work. I'm up at a hotel in south Houston and willing to travel or host!
Hookups, threesomes, whatever gender(s), I'd be willing to try ;)
DM for pics
submitted by an0malyzero to houstonr4r [link] [comments]


2023.06.06 04:05 bainbrigge Coalescence: /d/ & /j/ - Connected speech

Hello all,
I made a video on coalescent assimilation of /d/ and /j/. Coalescent assimilation is when two sounds combine, come together, to make a third sound. In this case, the /dʒ/ sound.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HE3cYu4so4o
Try these examples:
Hopefully the video is useful
submitted by bainbrigge to ENGLISH [link] [comments]


2023.06.06 04:05 Giovan_Doza [STORE] Diretide 2022 Collector's CACHE I and II LOWEST PRICE

Selling Diretide 2022 Collector's Cache Sets at a low price
BEST PRICE. Add me to start the 30-day gift cooldown: https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198085975307/
BUYER GOES FIRST and I would aprecciate if you can leave a positive message after the transaction. You will not find a "scammer" message because I want to build up my rep and continue to sell these.
Every price in Team fortress keys (TF key). But I also take immortals or other sets that are worth the same on steam.
I will take into account the first people that write me on STEAM and say the set they want. If you won't buy them please don't add. I will answer as soon as I can.
COLLECTOR'S CACHE
Set Name Hero Price Quantity
Shadowleaf Insurgent Hoodwink 5$ (2 TF key) 1 LEFT
Scarlet Subversion Riki 2.5$ (1 TF key) SOLD
Whippersnapper Snapfire 5$ (2 TF key) 2 LEFT
Hounds of obsession Chen 2.5$ (1 TF key) 10 LEFT
Seadog’s Stash Clockwerk 5$ (2 TF key) 4 LEFT
Starlorn Adjudicator Dawnbreaker 5$ (2 TF key) 1 LEFT
Spoils of the Shadowveil Spectre 2.5$ (1 TF key) SOLD
Chines of the Inquisitor Faceless Void 2.5$ (1 TF key) SOLD
Trophies of the Hallowed Hunt Ursa 2.5$ (1 TF key) SOLD
Crimson Dawn Phoenix 2.5$ (1 TF key) 4 LEFT
Forgotten Station Terrorblade 2.5$ (1 TF key) SOLD
Dirge Amplifier Undying 2.5$ (1 TF key) 10 LEFT
Champion of the Fire Lotus Monkey King 2.5$ (1 TF key) 8 LEFT
Deathstitch Shaman Witch Doctor 2.5$ (1 TF key) 9 LEFT
Angel of Vex (RARE) Invoker 10$ (4 TF key) 3 LEFT
Blue Horizons (RARE) MARCI 10$ (4 TF key) 2 LEFT
Dark Behemoth (VERY RARE) PRIMAL BEAST 20$ (8 TF key) 3 LEFT
COLLECTOR'S CACHE II
Set Name Hero Price Quantity
Bird of Prey Legion Commander 2.5$ (1 TF key) SOLD
Grand Suppressor Silencer 2.5$ (1 TF key) 6 LEFT
Darkbrew´s Transgression Alchemist 2.5$ (1 TF key) 10 LEFT
Transcendent Path Oracle 2.5$ (1 TF key) 7 LEFT
The Wilding Tiger Brewmaster 2.5$ (1 TF key) SOLD
Dawn of Darkness Foretold Doom 2.5$ (1 TF key) 4
Cursed Cryptbreaker Pudge 2.5$ (1 TF key) SOLD
Feasts of Forever Night Stalker 2.5$ (1 TF key) SOLD
Darkfeather Factioneer Phantom Assassin 2.5$ (1 TF key) SOLD
Withering Pain Clinkz 2.5$ (1 TF key) SOLD
Freebot Fortunes Ogre Magi 2.5$ (1 TF key) 10 LEFT
Acrimonioes of Obsession Vengeful Spirit 2.5$ (1 TF key) 11 LEFT
Sacred Chamber Guardian Huskar 2.5$ (1 TF key) 10 LEFT
War Rig Eradicators Techies 2.5$ (1 TF key) 11 LEFT
Grudges of the Gallows Tree (RARE) Treant Protector 10$ (4 TF key) 10 LEFT
Brands of the Reaper (RARE) Antimage 10$ (4 TF key) 7 LEFT
Sublime Equilibrium(VERY RARE) Void Spirit 25$ (10 TF key) 1 LEFT
submitted by Giovan_Doza to Dota2Trade [link] [comments]


2023.06.06 04:05 x3335054 partner accusing me of things i’ve never done

i don’t know what to do about this. i’m constantly being accused of talking to or seeing other people (i don’t) and he denies anything i try to do to prove it to him. i sent a screenshot of the people i’m accused of being with in my blocked section to show him we don’t talk, then he said “you probably just unblocked him”. i didn’t. i’ve offered access to my phone and accounts to show i have nothing to hide and he turned it down. he also tells me that i don’t want him and i’m “making him look stupid”. i don’t know why he doesn’t trust me or what to do about it anymore, i don’t want to leave and this just came up a couple of months ago. i do my best to prove to him that i don’t want or have other people and i give him all of my attention and be as understanding/caring as i possibly can. everything i do or say gets denied or put down by him and he rarely tries to have an actual conversation anymore, everything is an accusation or argument. it’s so tiring but i love him. am i maybe doing something wrong?
submitted by x3335054 to relationships_advice [link] [comments]


2023.06.06 04:04 oknature2 Conflicted about whether to bring my younger partner to coworkers house for a barbecue

Hi all, I'm in a little bit of a pickle. I am a 45F and a highschool calculus teacher in Eastern United States for past couple decades. I've been dating a younger guy (20M)for past two years whom I met on tinder ( He was never a student at the highschool I teach at. But however, he has mentioned that one of my students older brothers (who doesn't go to my school) is one of his close friends.
We have one child together (both our first) and I recently came back to work from maternity leave. It wasn't supposed to be long term relationship but here we are. We are quite happy and things have been working out well so far and we plan to have a quiet small wedding in few months.
My coworkers know I'm in a relationship and obviously about the kid but they don't know about the age difference and they never met him or seen pics of him. Since it's summer and all I've been invited to number of barbecues at my colleagues homes. I've usually gone alone or just with my baby. My colleagues usually bring their partners. I can tell my fiance is getting a little frustrated and all about being excluded. Idk how long I can keep this up tbh
I'm just a little paranoid about my job being in jeopardy if anyone finds out and decide to pass around ridiculous rumors. I've never been nor never will be involved with a student. Is it a good idea to bring my fiance to the social events or is it in my best interest to just keep my private life separate for long as I can?
submitted by oknature2 to Teachers [link] [comments]


2023.06.06 04:04 LiesonBothSides PONDA BABA DENTISTRY IS LOOKING FOR A FEW HYGIENISTS (details in comments)

PONDA BABA DENTISTRY IS LOOKING FOR A FEW HYGIENISTS (details in comments) submitted by LiesonBothSides to SWGOHRecruiting [link] [comments]


2023.06.06 04:04 ogsfernandes Otari's Isometric Map

Otari's Isometric Map
Hi, everyone!
I'm running Menace Under Otari and soon the Troubles in Otari and Abomination Vaults, so I decided to remake Otari's map on Inkarnate. I tried my best to reproduce the original map's proportions in isometric perspective, including almost all streets, blocks and features, but adapting where needed.
I also feel that Otari's arts and maps are a little bit somber and gloomy, and as much as it matches the Abomination Vaults overall mood, I wished the map and the settlement to invoke a sense of a cozy and welcoming town for adventurers needing some respite between struggles, akin to what Sandpoint made me feel in the past.
I hope you guys enjoy!
submitted by ogsfernandes to Pathfinder2e [link] [comments]


2023.06.06 04:04 Ok_Light_6219 Someone from New Dawn reached out asking if I’d like a sample (250grams!) of one of their products. I said yes, of course. Below is an honest review

Strain: Red Maeng Da Price: (free sample) Shipping speed: 3 days Customer Service: Excellent Dose Amount: 3.5g Speed: mid Legs: 3-4 hours Grind: Fine Pain Relief: 10/10 Anxiety Relief: 10/10 Mood Boost: 10/10 Euphoria: 9/10
I’m not going to lie. I was sleeping on New Dawn! I am so happy someone reached out and asked if I wanted a sample. This was some of the best leaf I have ever had. I took the leaf for the first time around 8 pm. I usually take my dose at this time every night and I’m falling asleep by 10. This Red Maeng Da gave me more energy than any Red Maeng Da that I’ve had. I was up until midnight. I’ll be taking this strain during the day time in the future. I don’t have pain but I could tell by my feeling that this would be great for pain relief. In the end I will be a New Dawn customer going forward. Highly recommend the Red Maeng Da if you’re in the market!
submitted by Ok_Light_6219 to Vendorsofkratom [link] [comments]


2023.06.06 04:04 Love_help7 C3G vs Epicatechin for muscle gain

Hey, I'm a 22 year old male who has been lifting for a few years but have never been disciplined enough to eat enough to gain the muscle I desired because I used to be overweight as a child. I've decided to stop that habit and have been eating about 3000 calories for a few months now. Been gaining some weight but slower and not as much in the right places as I thought. I am very on top of my diet and training so I know I am doing many things right and I just want a boost in this. I don't mind spending the extra money on supplements even if they give me a 5% boost. I already take the usuals like creatine, whey, and have tried beta alanine and a few others, including beta-ecdysterone which I currently have and has given me massive strength gains lately.
Im wondering which would be best for my goal, C3G or Epicatechin? I've read C3G is better for cutting while the later is better for bulking. But my particular situation is that when I bulk, I tend to gain weight in my belly region even though I'm still relatively skinny, I still gain muscle, but just not as much as I should at my age. And trust me I have done my fair share of research. So I was thinking the C3G would be better because it is supposedly supposed to increase nutrient partitioning thus leading to reduced belly fat accumulation when bulking.
submitted by Love_help7 to NootropicsDepot [link] [comments]


2023.06.06 04:04 Penguin-C137 😤😮‍💨 Okay okay

My Life so far
I've always felt out of place like a ink blot on a beautiful art work I feel so useless in almost everything I do I've had multiple jobs & FCKed them all up which has made living this life hard for me it seems like I'm not trying hard so I get treated like garbage & when I tell them my situation & try to make it work by being more open I'm even coming on too strong or I'm a nagitive nancy idk why I have a hard time doing the most simplest things am I an idiot or something urgh idk I'm broke have nothing can't even afford gas let alone much food.
I'll be damned I'm such a loser good for nothing ig not much of anything I never was the social type didn't really take part in sports so I just spent my time trying my best in school which isn't much & drawing Or watching anime well I've always told myself never give in which made this cycle of self abuse last much longer because of my beliefs I can't take my own life so I'm stuck to God calls home himself so I've been trying my best despite how worthless I truly feel.
Ik it's probably the stupidest thing I could do rn but I'm desperate so if you can & if you will plz help
Cash app:$yorvalkyrie
To the owners of this sub reddit I'm really sorry I wont ask again I promise 😭
submitted by Penguin-C137 to AdultDepression [link] [comments]


2023.06.06 04:04 mimitchi33 Does the Polynesian still have the Aulani Duffy/Olu Mel merchandise?

Hello, I am going back to Walt Disney World in eight days. Last trip, I fell in love with Duffy and Friends after the hotel I stayed at sold Duffy and Friends merchandise, mainly of Olu Mel. I'm just wondering if they still sell this, as I'm looking forward to buying more of it. I did see a recent video where there was Duffy merchandise at the Disney Character Warehouse, but I'm wondering if the Polynesian has it too.
submitted by mimitchi33 to WaltDisneyWorld [link] [comments]


2023.06.06 04:04 jourdan442 Navigating Multiple Plex Libraries

Hi, not sure if this is just down to user error, but is there a 'best practice' method for navigating multiple Plex libraries? I have one 'music' library for audiobooks and one for actual music - and while ampcast appears to pull playlists from both, only folders from the audiobook libraries are displayed in folder view. The same happens for most played, recently played, etc.
submitted by jourdan442 to ampcast [link] [comments]


2023.06.06 04:04 Healthy-Transition27 Best ways to fly business to Europe from US

Planning a trip to Europe (likely IAD or NYC to Lisbon) next spring with my wife and looking for some way to cheaply upgrade to, or book, business class.
My spend is about $8K per month, and I have CSR, Venture X, Chase Ink Cash, Citi premier, AAdvantage, and a dozen less interesting cards. Likely can get 2 - 3 more cards this year if needed.
Which card and airline would provide the best way to get there in lie flat business without breaking a bank?
submitted by Healthy-Transition27 to CreditCards [link] [comments]


2023.06.06 04:04 AutoModerator Iman Gadzhi Courses (Bundle)

Contact me if you are interested in Iman Gadzhi Courses by chatting me on +44 759 388 2116 on Telegram/Whatsapp.
I have all Iman Gadzhi courses (Agency Navigator, Agency Incubator, Copy Paste Agency).
Iman Gadzhi’s courses are one of the best products on how to start a marketing agency and how to grow it.
Iman Gadzhi - Agency Navigator includes over 50 hours of step-by-step training covering EVERY aspect of building an agency from scratch. This is almost a plug & play system with enough success stories to back it up! Signing clients, running Facebook ads, building out your team, on-boarding clients, invoicing, sales... this course has everything covered for you.
The courses of Iman Gadzhi include the following:
  1. Agency Navigator course Core Curriculum
  2. Financial Planner, Revenue Calculator, Outreach Tracker & More Tools
  3. Websites Templates, Funnels, Ads & More
  4. Template Contracts, Sales Scripts, Agreements, Live calls & More
The core concepts in Iman Gadzhi’c courses include:
- Starting Your Agency
- Finding Leads
- Signing Clients
- Getting Paid
- Onboarding Clients
- Managing Client Communication...
...and much, much more!
If you are interested in Iman Gadzhi’s courses, contact us on:
Whatsapp/Telegram: +44 759 388 2116 (Telegram: multistorecourses)
Reddit DM to u/RequestCourseAccess
Email: silverlakestore[@]yandex.com (remove the brackets)
submitted by AutoModerator to ImanGadzhisClub [link] [comments]


2023.06.06 04:04 Thisistheworstidea I Know I’m in Danger

Logically, I understand I’m in a very bad place.
I have the note.
I know it’s selfish.
I keep stumbling through each day.
I want to tell my best friend, my spouse.
But I know they will insist I go to the hospital.
And I know I’ll snap out of it at the hospital.
And I won’t have any good explanation for why I couldn’t snap out of it on my own.
And I know it’ll be a financial burden when my SO is already stressed.
I’m not doing well.
I’m fighting dammit. I am.
I think about it all the time, and my family and friends don’t have a clue. They tell me all the time how much better I’m doing and I don’t want them to feel fear if I tell them how I’m doing.
submitted by Thisistheworstidea to SuicideWatch [link] [comments]


2023.06.06 04:04 estrader22 Evening journaling in a hotel lobby

Evening journaling in a hotel lobby submitted by estrader22 to Journaling [link] [comments]


2023.06.06 04:03 Artistic_Outside1411 Need help finding title

The Mc is super stuck up and is one of the best hunters but one day he is killed and awakens in the past to find he lost all his skills and has to be a part of the dungeon cleaning crew
submitted by Artistic_Outside1411 to manhwarecommendations [link] [comments]


2023.06.06 04:03 Temporary-Breath3184 [DEVHELP] blocked from an action only available to the Blizzard UI

I'm updating an addon for Dragonflight that I've had for years.
https://www.curseforge.com/wow/addons/adventureguidebosses
It functions just as it should. However, once the Adventure Guide has been opened and closed, once it is reopened I get the error in the title of the post. Everything still works as it should, but the error message gets thrown once, upon opening the guide back up.
My best assumption is that it has something to do with how I am hooking a couple Blizzard widget functions, but I really don't know what else I can try doing. My most recent code can be found here
https://bitbucket.org/hindenburg-ship/adventureguidebosses/src/main/AdventureGuideBosses.lua
Blizzards error doesn't give me any data on how to track down what I'm doing wrong.
submitted by Temporary-Breath3184 to wowaddons [link] [comments]


2023.06.06 04:03 Redqueenhypo Did anyone else watch Abbot Elementary and think “man, if these are supposed to be average parents and kids then the future is bleak”?

Like half of the parents are complete wild dogs: the one who repeatedly berates Jeanine and misses every parent-teacher conference but it’s okay bc she’s the first working mom to ever exist, the two who don’t care that their kid can barely read and believe her when she says she’s read 25 books in a day, the one who teaches swear words to kindergarteners on purpose for some reason, and the rest are just sheep who support whichever school has the best entertainment. No wonder we’re annoyed by kids if this is apparently an accurate portrayal of who’s raising them!
submitted by Redqueenhypo to childfree [link] [comments]


2023.06.06 04:03 Nomyad777 [PI] The Monster Kingdom (1/2)

Part 2
If you travel far enough North on the map, well above where the Civilized Nations stop because no crops grow, you'll find a mountain range. Crossing this range leads to the Monster Kingdom, though for some reason they prefer the name 'TFSU.' Yes, they prefer. The literal forces of anarchy and chaos in the universe have a government. However, ignoring that whole thing, the Monster Kingdom is fine. No armies march on them, mostly because of supply and logistical issues. The Monsters never say how they grow their own food, but given that they don't trade and millions of kobolds worth of food don't go missing every day, it's safe to say they make their own. Now, that doesn't stop the Civilized Nations to send one hero a decade to 'keep them in check.' Four decades ago, the hero closed off a mountain pass, which was supposed to cause a massive flood. Four days later, it was cleared, and the only thing to show for it were the cities that glow like the sun at night. However, yesterday, the Hero returned having burnt one of the bigger cities down. It was empty of all monsters, but the act was the first real damage they had taken in seven hundred years, since their founding. For seven hundred years, the TFSU have taken the beating of seventy heroes and simply moved on. But now. Now, millions of kobolds make up heavy 'machinery' units that march in armored, self-moving caridges that spit fire and metal. Thousands of beastpeople make up scouting and light infantry ranks. The TFSU use hellish 'guns' that hit harder than a catapult from kilometers away, all in a single 'bullet' not the size of a human's thumb. Metal birds and dragonflies join dragons as they assault cities. We poke the very literal sleeping dragon in the eye. Yet the armies don't do much. They march for our capitals and leaders, but on the way our civilians live. Surendees live. People go about their daily lives without too much change. Of course, that fact didn't stop the front line from finally crashing over my small village, located so close to the pass for a while we thought they the monsters had bypassed us entirely. The Civilized Nations had decided to send an entire legion to prevent the Monsters from getting across a nearby canyon pass. We were hit with an air-based assault with only dragons and metal dragonflies, our balista uselessly demolished by pillars of metal and flame thrown out of the metal dragonflies. I blacked out when the legion managed to shoot enough arrows to take down one of the dragonflies. I remember it crashing down onto my house... and then nothing.
-----
The elf stirred as they woke up. I'd been raised in the Terra Firma Sapience Union, so I was... less than familiar with the clothing and lifestyle the Southerners used. The elf groaned again, before their eyes shot open and they looked around, quickly settling on my frame. "A-Are you going to kill me now?" They asked, their voice shaken with fear. I let out a laugh. "If I wanted you dead, you'd already be dead." I decided to transmorph into my secondary form - a cat - to help the conversation go better. In a land where humans lived to forty, elves only lived to a hundred, and that meant that even I was older than this elf, and they were no older than thirty. The elf, to their credit, quickly figured out I wasn't pulling any mindgames. I'd heard tales from my relatives before the Kobolds founded the TFSU. People, especially when panicked, usual acted with more than enough stupidity to make the situation worse. "Where am I?" The elf asked. Their tone told me that they were still suspicious, but it wasn't outright denial of the situation. "My home," I answered bluntly. "Your village tried to fight our ground forces when they moved in, so most of them are currently under house arrest." Still in my cat form, I created a portal into my storage cavern and reached my arm through, while summoning a lab coat around my shoulders and glasses. It was a trick I had only learned to do recently. "Let's see..." I found the clipboard and brought it out, flipping to the elft's page and taping the pen against the paper. "You suffered a collapsed lung, severe burns on the right side of your body, three broken ribs and two fractured ones, shattered three wrist bones, three breaks in your right upper arm and another two in your lower arm, and on the left side you have another fractured rib and three broken fingers. Your left leg was shattered and your left foot was completely torn up. Healing magic stabilized you and surgery did the rest. You've been comatose for the past three days, and was brought to my home yesterday due to a surge in hospital patients from the seige of Trembolorne. "In terms of organ damage, that was also severe. A busted kidney, I already mentioned a collapsed lung, and your entire digestive system was... well, pulverized would be putting it lightly. Also, unrelated to the incident with the helicopter, you had cancer in your liver and kidney. "In terms of medical treatment, you've been given an IV line for the past couple days and several painkillers, and you underwent four separate surgeries. We reconstructed your organs, welded your bones to metal plates, and used a genetic printer to replace your skin. You're lucky to have gotten time with the genetic printer in the first place, you know; those things are expensive, and I mean expensive to run. Though it's all billed on the government anyway, but that just means that they'll only run it if they have to." The elf sat up in bed looking at me as I just stood on two paws on the cave floor. "Right, sorry, you wouldn't understand most of that." I sheepishly scratched the back of my head with my right paw. "Um... put this way, you were crushed by debris and we basically reconstructed your body before you died. So not necromancy, though you did get close to needing more advanced magical treatment." "Oh," The elf replied. The cat thing seemed to have helped, because they were no longer stuttering with their single word response. "Um... do you want anything to drink?" I tried to kickstart a conversation. "Where am I?" The elf asked again. I was silent for a second. "My home? It's right on the edge of TFSU territory, one of the southernmost places you can be while still being with the recognized borders. I chose this place because I like to fly out in the summer over the flowers in the forest at the foot of the mountains. Your village is a couple hour dragon-flight time away." "Mmmhm." The elf commented halfheartedly. "OK, um... who are you?" "My dragonic name isn't something most can pronounce, so my public name is just Vixie Remminie." I answered. "What's yours?" The elf's eyes narrowed. "Why do you want to know my name." I blinked. "Because... It's a name? I'm not a Fey, you know, it's not like I can tie ancient demons to your soul and call it a prank or something ridiculous like that. Besides, you asked for mine; now I get to ask for yours." "And who says you won't just burn my village to the ground and eat me right now!?!" The elf suddenly burst out. "You monsters ruin everything! You trespass on our land, take our resources, and kill our people! All we did was try to defend ourselv-" I cut him off, and poured just a bit of attention in giving myself an aura. Blue fire licked the bottom of my vision as I rebuttaled his point. "Don't forget, you stole the land from us. We were the ones living in the wild when you razed our forests and grew crops. We couldn't even purchase land to live on! So yes, we stole what we could to survive and those who didn't starved and died! And when all was said and done, you tried to kill us and turned it into a war, one where we had no choice but to kill you back. And when we found someplace to run, a spot to hide and do our own thing with our own land? You blistering idiots sent you 'courageous heroes' to try and kill us! What for? Nothing! Just your stupid, moronic fear making, forcing you to decide to 'kill the big thing over there!' We can't even have freaking farmland, we have to grow it all in hydroponic farms and harvest thousand-year-old vines out of caves because this is all we have!" I realized that my aura was burning fully and scorching the ground around me. I let out a long sigh, and it died down. Several memories flashed through my head, but I pushed them away. "Apologies, my parents are still a... sensitive topic for me. It would be best if we just stayed away from talking about the war until the hospital has room for more patients again." "Yeah?" The elf was still enraged. Even sitting down, they were still trying to construct an argument. "You parents who killed how many? Your family killed how many more? You dragons, you monsters are nothing more than one large grouping of murders that deserve to die! As the gods will!" The elf was spitting in rage, but I recognized his determination to hold onto his worldview. It was the one thing I needed to pry away before it got out of hand. "And you elves killed how many more?" I asked in a low voice. "Can you tell me the number of kobold dens exterminated in caves, the number of beastpeople sent to an early grave in slave camps? Because I can tell you ours. My father's was two, my mother's four, and my extended family including deceased relatives is one hundred and thirty seven. "You declared war against monsters, you child of an elf," I growled. "And death the reality of war. We know. The Unification Wars weren't fought with swords and honor. They were fought with artillery barrages and death. They were fought with miniature suns and political backstabbing, with tanks and guns and submarines and warships and all the more death. "You say the gods don't like us! That's put lightly. They forsook us! Abandoned us in our hour of need. So we learned to live without them. There are no gods we pray to anymore, elfling. Only each other, our creations, and the universe itself. They don't want us, we don't need them. It's more than they deserve." My aura was once again charring the floor and I had transformed back into my dragon form, but this time I refused to cool it down. "You call us creations of death, the primal forces of anarchy? We are you. You are us. We are sapient, we are all mortals, no matter our advantages. We are bound to this dimensional plane, forced to serve our betters, and live out our lives not with earnest but with trepredition for when it ends. We are all death incarnate, because we can all die. That is just the way it is. Besides, you've wondered about my kill count; tell me, can you tell me the gods'? Can you tell me how many souls they have cut from fate for their own entertainment? No? I can tell you." I growled, moving closer until the blue flames enveloping my body threatened to light the elf's cot on fire. "More people than are alive on this planet right now." I pulled back, bottling up my aura and reverting to my cat form. "We can talk all we want about death and destruction, and I won't lie and say you aren't victims of the war; pre-unification dragons we're exactly kind and merciful to those with treasure hoards. But perhaps, I implore you to consider that maybe we both are victims of the war, and maybe we can one day work together instead of fighting each other. "Maybe, one day, we can fight for our rights against the gods." I moved into my dragon form and darted deeper into my cave, moving so fast I could hear the howl of the wind against my ears. Only when I had reached my memorial wall for my parents did I stop and take a breath and think over my conversation with the elf. We had a long way to go, but I hoped I had put a little bit of sense into him. I hoped that the world could change.
-----
When the dragon cat thing sped away, I took a moment to survey my surroundings. Only now did the effects of my first question hit my formerly-groggy head. "My home." He said. Dragons live in caves. Oooooh. I'm screwed. However, there were no treasure hoards visible from my perspective; then again, while the Monsters were stupid, they still had brains to them, and carrying me into a treasure room would probably be something they'd be able to tell was a bad idea. Pops said never underestimate you foe, A voice in the back of my head said, and the dragon even launched in a full conversation with you. You're selling the dragon very, very shor- Shut up I growled internally to the treacherous voice in my head. The cave itself was... a cave. There was a metal slab on one end, it went deeper in the other, and that was that. In a 'corner' of the jagged room there were a number of red, glowing rods attached to some kind of giant mechanism three elfs wide and six deep, but the rods glowed against the cave's light- What light source? My eyes darted around looking for one. Only now was I aware of how unnatural each shadow was, how awkward each shining rock looked, how each stalagmite could hide an entire dragon, and that was before they started transfiguring into cats. How bright the ceiling- I looked up. The bright light burned my eyes, but I needed to know what fiendish magic was in play so I could counter it. But the light didn't flicker like fire - they were far too bright for that anyway - but they also didn't have the magical circles surrounding each spell. They were... lights. As if the universe simply willed brightness into existence. Each far-too-bright-hurts-to-look-ats was placed along a main hallway clear of stalagmites running from the metal slab deeper and around a corner where I couldn't see. The lights were only poised above this one hall, and they just... shone one the rest of the cave. Looking closer, I could see thin black lines, too thin to be mana feeds, running along the walls to both the glowing red rods and to the so-shiny-the-lit-up-the-cave. And... that was that. There was no massive pile of treasure in the hall, though I suspected the dragon kept their hoard deeper than... wherever I was. There was no pile of skull trophies or the banner of cities and armies slain, and I noted that while he had told me his parents', the dragon had never told me his own. Then again, the cat thing could be lying. Dragon transfigured into a cat. Probably has Circle Of Truth around his entire den. Nonsense, dragons can only do elemental magic. Evidently not. Would you just shut up already? No- I moved my attention back to the metal slab, cutting off whatever the voice in my head had to say about my current situation; it wasn't every day one just got kidnapped by a nation of monsters, after all. The slab was truly elegant. It was painted with the monster language, and then was painted with some kind of mural. I could barely make out a blue circle with green splotches on it surrounded by twelve rings in the bottom corner because most of the door was taken up by a ice-blue cat with lighter strips engulfed in blue fire. It was a mural of the dragon cat thing. That didn't stop it from being pretty, and someone had obviously put a lot of effort into it. The flames looked realistic from what I had seen minutes ago, and the cat's details were perfectly engraved. It was... acurrate. Yeah, because I think Vixie was just trying to tell you that they built their civilization for a reason, and it wasn't carnage. You don't know what you're talking about. We both know I do. How else to you think- Listen to me, you treasonous voice of a- No, you listen to me, you pathetic excuse for a brain. The dragon was able to hold and win an argument with you, fixed your wounds that would've been a dead write-off for any other hospital, and then you think SHE barely meets the threshold for sapient? THE ABSOLUTE MORON I'M ARGUING WITH IS THE ONE YOU BARELY MEETS IT!!! You moved to your frontier village because the world was changing, Lazerot the Sixth. Congrats, you were right. It did change. Now shut your OVERSIZED EGO up at being bested by a creature ten times older than you, and go appologies before they decide that saving your life wasn't worth it. I... I... OK- No. I'm in control now. Shut up. I....... yes, sir. Good. With new resolve, I stood up. My head throbbed, and the next thing I knew was my face hitting my cot again.
-----
When I heard the thud of something falling in the entrance cave, I carefully moved back into the entrance cave. The elf was face-down in their cot, unconscious again. It looked like they had tried to stand and just.... fallen over. I sighed and used a claw to nudge the elf back onto his pillow, and then covered him with a blanket. I watched him for a minute, and then returned to the deeper parts of my home. The TFSU was completely overloaded with the number of patients needing treatment. Apparently, the Southener's hospitals just... didn't do anything, so in addition to soldiers, there was a massive influx of civilians to our hospitals too. Of course, this meant that they were absolutely overloaded, and the Civilized Nations strategy of fighting to near-death and then surrendering wasn't helping. So, stable recovering civilians like the elf were just... shipped out. When shelters filled up because the Civilized Nations overpopulation crisis was too bad to do anything, people just had to take them into their homes. Long story short, the government was in way over their head attempting upgrade the standard of care in the Civilized Nations while occupying their territory. My job so close to the border was remote infrastructure maintenance, and my ability to change size while not dissolving made me an expert at it - and that was before my two hundred years of experience. And then I didn't need a vehicle to get on-site, and was fast. The alarm pinging me that one of the space radars was down again gave me an excuse to avoid the elf and do some work. I grabbed a pack of supplies, put on my shapeshift-compatible uniform, and wrote down a note on a piece of paper. On my out past the sleeping elf, I dropped it for him.
Space radar system needs repair, as it's returning a false positive. It's my job to repair all the infrastructure around here, so I need to go fix it. I'll be back soon. If you're hungry, my pantry is the first cave on the right. You can just eat anything that's easily open-able in there. If it has a lock or airtight opening mechanism (anything more than a clip, really) then don't eat it. If your thirsty, there's a stream in the entrance cave near the heaters. When the door mechanism beeps, step back. Sometimes pressure in the cave can get a bit wonky, and I don't want you to get hurt. Other than that, feel free to explore. I've locked all the doors to the rooms I don't want you to enter. For toilet necessities, the second cave on the left has a properly-sized toilet. And running water, but stuff I can explain later means don't drink it. See you soon! - Vixie.
Satisfied, I left opened the door. There was a puff as the air from inside flowed out to the lower-pressure atmosphere. I could spot a snow squall to the north, and the pressure meant that it was probably coming my way. I moved out onto the ledge and closed the door behind me. At high altitudes this far north, the air was already near-zero and it was still five in the afternoon. I took just a second to confirm with the weather report that the snowstorm was in fact going to arrive on my doorledge using a smartwatch I had strapped around my wrist. When I found that the storm was coming, I opened my wings and flew. Being an Ice Dragon had its advantages, but being a Water-Ice Combined Dragon was much better. The frosty air curled around my wings as the freedom of ignoring gravity filled my brain. Ice and Water dragons both had large wings to deal with the cold air (and lower pressure leading to the requirement for more surface area to achieve the same amount of lift) and incompressable water physics (to let the wings act like a one-way fan blade as they move back and forth, increasing efficient). Dragons might be magestic creatures, but we were still bound to the physics of the mortal plane, after all. Being part of both, my wings were even bigger, making me one of the best high-altitude fliers on the planet. The ability to use both gills and lungs at said altitudes helped with oxygen also helped. Air Dragons were better at flying in normal air, but I liked to think of it like stats from a video game. Air Dragons min-maxed their stats for low-altitude, but I could go anywhere - even underwater - can keep my speed relatively high. I took full advantage of this on my way to the space radar, soaring well above the cloud ceiling and to the point where I could make out the curvature of the planet below me. The ocean spread out to my west, while more land was to my east. Snow covered the north as to the south was the telltale splotchy color of industrialism. My smartwatch beeped, as I crossed the normal dragonic altitude limit. I hadn't realized I'd gone so high; I had a radar to repair, after all. I dove down towards the surface, ignoring more beeps as I crossed half the way to the speed of sound. The wind howled angrily in my ears, but I flattened those (thank you, streamlined water genetics) and came out of my death dive right over the radar. The repair itself went relativity smoothly, though I couldn't find a broken component and chalked it up to more space anomalies. They weren't infrequent, and usually marked where the gods decided to look over the planet. For my radars, anyway. Further north, ignoring the north pole, almost no gods came out and wanted to deal with us. Our unspoken agreement was held that way. I flew straight back for my return journey. The storm was definitely closer, but fifteen minutes of flying later and I was entering the opening mechanism for my door. As it swung inwards, I heard the high-pitched scream of an elf.
-----
When I awoke, I found myself tucked into some covers. It took all of seven seconds for reality to catch up with me. Right. I got into a heated argument with a dragon. I instinctively touched the part of my face that had been closest to the dragon's flame. I'd read about Auras in books, but never thought I'd get to see one. They were only ever found in the most powerful and competent individuals of a race in an entire plan of existence. I wondered which skill gave the dragon hers - Vixie, I reminded myself. Either way, given that Auras are technically illusions, I wasn't hurt. The flames didn't get close enough to hurt anyway, but that didn't stop me from checking. This time, I was much more careful when I stood up. I sat up first, then started to kick my legs back and forth. That's when I spotted a paper on the other side of my cot. I stood up without thinking, but managed to keep my consciousness this time and moved towards the note. It was handwritten and contained a lot of jargon that I wasn't familiar with. Space. Radar. False positive. Airtight opening mechanism. Heater. Beep. Pressure. Toilet. Running water. I could deduce some of it. A message had come in requesting the services of the local dragon to repair a thing that has an issue, and that she would return shortly. I could wander around as I pleased, besides eating food that wasn't open or contained in a clip bag. From the tone of the message, I could deduce what a 'toilet' was. The heaters would logically be things that produced heat, so all I had to do was look for those. I wasn't able to tell time, but I supposed at this point it didn't matter. I moved over deeper into the cave, and quickly heard the sound of a stream. It led directly into a forest of stalagmites. After clambering over those, the temperature started to increase, which was all I needed to know that I was getting a drink of water. I was only now catching up to the fact that I had been out for three days, and that meant that I was extremely thirsty. I wasn't sure how I wasn't dead of dehydration at this point. I found the stream next to the glowing metal rods, and with it a clear path to my location. Sighing slightly at the wasted effort on climbing through Rock Forest, I snatched an undersized cup off a rack built into a nearby jut in the cave wall and filled it, before entering the bliss of fresh water. Back in the village, we had some of the best and cleanest water in all the land thanks to snow melt, but this took that to a new level. Cold, crisp water melted in the sun only minutes ago. It was... pure. I spent the next couple minutes simply drinking and processing everything over in my mind. The gods might have willed the monster dead, but if even the monster gods had abandoned them and survived... then how come the Pantheon never told us? Religious issues aside, there were more practical issues regarding my own survival. How did I get out. There was a thud at the metal slab, and I moved back towards it, leaving my cup to dry on the rack I pulled it from. The engraving of the cat on the metal slab was- BEEEP! What was that sound? There was a hiss, and the slab started to peel away. A gust of frigid cold air washed over me as a mage Ice-Water hybrid Aura-capable dragon that I had argued with stared me down. I did the instinctive thing and let out the scream of a human three year old, squeezing my eyes shut and waiting for the final blow. When the end of my life didn't arrive, I reopened my eyes to find the sky-blue cat standing in the hole where the metal slab was supposed to be. Then there was another... sound, and the metal slab started to move back into position. The cat was surprised for a single moment before simply charging the door and jumping through, skidding to a halt right in front of me. Which meant that I got a closer look at her. Ocean-blue strips crossed an ice-blue body fur in a fifty-fifty ratio. Small crystals of ice twinkled, floating here her wings would be. One tail was accompanied by two more made of pure blue-white energy, and the cat even had a halo. Six orbs of blue-white light hovered in lazy circles around her back, and even in a diminutive form the size of a cat the being radiated the power of an aura-capable creature. "Oh, right, sorry," Vixie said, and all the ethirial energy disappeared. Now that I knew what I was looking for, however, I could just barely tell, using my power as a mage, that Vixie was using illusion magic to hide her true energy. "You don't need to hide your reserves," I said. "Though if you're shapeshifting into forms so small that you need to expose yours, then you should just burn yours instead. It's not worth the trouble of people bottling yours." Vixie gave some kind of half-shrug. "They're not reserves, no." She said, emphasizing the word. I looked at Vixie with a sharp look, and for a second I forgot I was talking to a dragon. "Then what are they?" "They're..." The cat blushed, something I wasn't even aware was possible. She let the illusion fall away, and the tails, crystals, orbs and halo returned. "They're my regenerative baseline minimum." I looked her up and down for a second, dumbstruck. She really is a creature of power, huh? "Um.... uh..." I stuttered. "Is... that where you get your aura from?" I asked. Vixie closed her eyes with an expression on her face, and this time green flame started to peel off her. "Part of it, yeah." To control an aura like that... two auras. Just how powerful is she? I was so deep in thought that I didn't realize that the expression on her face was pain. "I... uh... what happened?" I asked, shellshocked. "Why aren't you fighting in the war?" The worldwide-powerful dragon masquerading as a cat sighed. "I... haven't told anyone. It's... personal." "I..." Only now did it hit me that I was talking with a dragon, not another person. Not just a monster, but a... creature with emotions. "You don't have to tell me." I quickly backtracked. "No, no, it's a fair question. It..." The cat let out a chuckle, and it filled the cave with a beautiful sound. "I suppose it's kind of ironic... but it starts with a kobold and a god, back when the Firma kobold tribe decided to travel north to escape the civilized nations, shortly before the amassing of all creatures in these same northern mountains and the Unification War. "Back before the gods forsook us."
Original Prompt: [WP] For as long as all the races have known, Dragons have been seen as violent, destructive creatures. After an attack on your village, you black out and find yourself in the den of a dragon. It's rather annoyed that that is how they're seen, and wants to prove that isn't the case.
u/Lycan_Jedi thank you for the prompt!
Part 2
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