They are brought into our office and thrown onto the floor like garbage. Our technicians certainly don’t have the time to sort through, label, and re-package the old Nortel phones, so, they pile them up, stuff all of them into big boxes, and bring them back to the office. Many times they leave the common equipment (phone system cabinet, and voice mail system) at the customer’s office for them to dispose. Unfortunately, the old Nortel Meridian phone isn’t given the respect it deserves.

What respect is it due ?

20 years of solid, hard work, thousands of hours of phone calls, a slightly cracked display, a reliable voice mail light that still works, and – it now finds itself stacked like garbage waiting to find a new home (don’t worry, we don’t throw them in the garbage). More on that in a moment.

But, I am having fun reminiscing in the mean time.

I started in the Telecom business in 1990. 19 years ago. Way before I got married, and way way before I had my first kid (Jordan, who is now 11, Jessica who is now 9). At the time the Norstar was THE phone system in the market. Nortel had the number one market share in the phone system business with their Meridian Norstar and Option 11 (and previously SL-1) phone system. They maintained that number ONE market position for many years.

And quite the fall from glory.

One of the folks in my office pointed out the irony of the picture. The old garbage Nortel phone is sitting in an Avaya box (take a close look at the picture) – looks like the Nortel phone has been taken over by the box.

And where do we send those old Nortel phones ?

Avaya gives us some amazing credits for the old Nortel hardware. We pack it up, call Fedex, and say good-bye to our old faithful friend who finds it’s way to an e-waste processing plant.

Written by: Jeff Wiener. www.digitcom.ca. Follow TheTelecomBlog.com by: RSS, Twitter, Identi.ca, or Friendfeed

Trained well in shortened days and ready
the bands timbre for striking songs heroic,
now on traveller’s eve the shield hand steady
finds in darken’d hole the remains of Kai.
Scriven’d remains in blue’d forefather’s tongue
Speak now the volumes lost to killing silence
of future deeds, her people’s love long gone.
Then too stood ready hands to spell violence
onto strange minions of temples far keep
and pen in strongest verse the party’s hist’ry.
Then foul warning gave wrack and cause to weep
the loss of Kai, woven to tragedy.
Then eight stood close the count of vet’ran.
Shall we don fresh the frowned mask again?

Since I’ve seen a lot of my friends start looking for notebook computers recently, I thought I would publish my thoughts on what to look for when buying a notebook for business school. I’ll separate this into four categories: form factor, specifications, brand and value.

Form factor:

In my mind there are four that you can select from:

a) mini notebook / netbook (screens smaller than 12 inches – most common size is 10.1 inch)

b) portable (12 or 13 inch screens)

c) mainstream (14 or 15 inch screens)

d) multimedia / gaming / semi-portable (larger than 15 inches)

As a business school student, the possible uses could be taking the notebook to study group sessions and taking it while traveling (which MBAs do very frequently). This would basically remove option d) and leave the first three.

Based on my personal experience, the smallest screen size that you want to use as your “only” notebook is 12 (for some this will be no less than 13). The reason for this: a 10 inch screen doesn’t leave a lot of real estate for using things like large spreadsheets or opening multiple windows side by side to look at a document while editing another, etc. Also, 15 inch notebooks are also starting to stretch things in the opposite direction: not very comfortable for use on a plane, not as easy to carry around and the larger screen size will take a toll on battery life.

Something to keep in mind though is that you could potentially purchase a monitor and external keyboard and use these in conjunction with a netbook to get around the limitations of a small screen while still getting the benefits of portability. However, this will add around $200 to the cost of the system (bringing costs almost in line with mainstream notebooks), will give you something you will have to lug around if you move and even then you will have a system that will be barely enough to do the things you want it to do. For example, most mini notebooks do not come with DVD / optical drives. If you had to access something off a CD or a DVD for a class, you would have trouble doing so. Also, even the best netbook keyboards are cramped and offer less space than the full sized keyboards on larger notebooks.

I think a business school student should really limit there search to notebooks in the 12, 13 and 14 inch screen size. If you’ve never used a 12 inch notebook, limit it to 13 and 14 inch unless you can use a 12 incher for a lengthy period of time to make sure you are comfortable with it. A 13 inch notebook is the smallest size that will usually have a full sized keyboard (although there are some 12 inchers that have full sized keyboards too).

Specifications (June 2009)

Processor

Processors and computer specs change very quickly. Therefore what I say below will probably be outdated within just a few months. I will also limit this to the choices that most people will face, and exclude processor brands that are not as common.

Computer manufacturers love to quote speeds of processors in Ghz, a 2GHz notebook, a 2.4 GHz notebook etc. What they don’t want you to know is that even at a fixed frequency (2Ghz for example) Intel has a very broad spectrum of processors, some have lower cache sizes which affect performance, some have lower bus speeds, others work with older components so you will still be stuck with a subpar system.

For a business school student who travels frequently, battery life is important. I think having a notebook that can sit on your lap easily without heating up significantly is important as well.

Taking these considerations into account, I would recommend staying with an Intel Montevina P class processor. How will you recognize these processors? Look for the processor number that starts with a P: P7350, P8400, P8600, P9500, etc.

Ignore other labels such as centrino 2, core 2 duo etc. If you get a processor labeled as above, you’ll be fine.

The slowest of the processors above, the P7350 is still fast enough for most tasks and can handle a lot of multitasking. So don’t feel compelled to spend extra to get a faster processor. I haven’t seen many manufacturers adopt the P7350 so you might have to get a P8400 or a P8600 processor.

Memory

The amount of memory on the system has a huge impact on its performance, especially if like me you like to have a lot of windows open and switch between them. But this is also one of the components that most notebook manufacturers make a lot of money marking up.

It’s also something you can very easily upgrade yourself after purchasing: very easy to do.

The amount of memory I would recommend is 3GB to 4GB. But don’t buy this directly unless they are charging you very little for it. Currently at Newegg you can buy 2GB of memory for about $25 and 4GB for about $40.

Remember that most notebooks will have two slots to insert memory into. So if you buy a notebook that has 2GB of RAM and want to upgrade it, if they have used both slots of memory by using two 1GB memory “sticks”, you will have to discard one when you add your memory. Most manufacturers will let you pay a small premium to get the memory in 1 slot, so that you have the other one open to upgrade. So for example if you got 2GB in one slot, you can just buy another 2GB stick from newegg (www.newegg.com) for ~$25 (will probably be less by the time I hit publish!) you can upgrade to 4GB.

Hard Drive

At today’s costs I would say the minimum should be about 120GB. Most notebook manufacturers will give you 200+ GB as part of their standard configurations. In general a 7200 RPM drive will be faster than a 5400 RPM drive but it could also be a little noisier and warmer. I think the 5400 RPM drive is fine for most purposes.

Wireless Card

I recommend you buy a notebook that supports N wireless. This will typically be listed as “a/g/n wireless card”. Should be a low cost upgrade from the standard “b/g” card. This card will allow you to access faster N wireless networks once they become more popular at airports, coffee shops etc. If a manufacturer lets you get a WiMAX compatible card without paying a lot for it you should go for that.

Screen Resolution

Typically the 12 and 13 inch screens should have at least WXGA screen resolution. WXGA means that you will have 1280×800 pixels on the screens. If you are going for a 14 incher a wxga+ screen is a nice option although not absolutely necessary. WXGA+ gives you 1440×900 pixels on the screen, giving you more room for excel spreadsheets and the like.

Battery

Don’t go for anything less than 6 cells. Usually manufacturers will also offer 9 cells, on most small notebooks this will extend a little way out of the notebook body but give you better battery life. A 6 cell should be fine for most purposes.

Optical Drive

Go with the DVD burner or DVD – RW drive.

Wireless Broadband Card

If the manufacturer you’ve chosen allows you to have wireless mobile broadband built-in, this is an option you could consider. If you don’t plan to subscribe to a wireless data plan, this will not really do anything. These plans typically cost $60+ per month and provide access to data from anywhere that the selected cell phone provider has data coverage.

You could do things like check your email, connect to the library or read news while you are commuting. I think for students who will spend most of their time in areas that have wifi coverage the $60+ a month is not really worth it. However if the notebook manufacturer allows you to get mobile broadband built in for a small cost you can select this (small cost being $0-$80 or so) and have the option of subscribing to a mobile broadband plan on a future date. Verizon and Sprint have the best data coverage in the US. I would select one of these. Sprint I believe has cheaper data plans and also allows no contract plans through companies like Millenicom (www.millenicom.com) which makes it a good choice. AT&T has terrible data coverage and is currently suffering from a deluge of iPhones on to their network so I would stay away from them as a mobile broadband provider. Remember you can always get a USB adapter and get mobile broadband on a later date, so don’t worry about this option too much.

Ports

An HDMI port or Displayport is nice to have. This will allow you to connect your notebook to a TV easily using an HDMI cable and do things like presentations, watch netflix movies, watch TV etc through your television but using your computer. Displayport has a small adapter that costs about $10 that lets you connect it to most digital video formats. These ports are very convenient because they let you transmit a high quality signal while the cable carries Audio as well so you don’t need to connect multiple cables. I love being able to watch movies from netflix from my computer through HDMI.

Operating System

If you are a current MAC user then you will likely be going for one of the new macbooks with Snow Leopard installed.

For those of us who are PC users, any system purchased after June 26th with Windows Vista Home Premium or above will qualify for a free upgrade to Windows 7 (which I hear should be very good). So don’t buy a system that has Windows Vista basic. If you can get one that is labeled Windows Vista Business – XP Downgrade, that means you will get Windows XP installed but a Vista license as well so that you can change to Vista if you wanted to.

Other Options

Manufacturers will give you a lot of other options like backlit keyboards, built-in webcams, etc.

The only one I think is pretty useful to have is the built-in webcam. The back-lit keyboard is a cool extra but not a necessity.

Brand

In selecting a brand, you should stick to a name that will give you a good low cost warranty. Notebook computers are not easy to fix if you have problems. Over say a 3 year time frame you could run into problems that make you wish you had a warranty. Most businessess use Dell or Lenovo (Thinkpad) because their business notebook lines are known for reliability and good support. The problem there is that business class notebooks will also cost quite a bit.

For most non Apple users: you will really be selecting between Dell, Lenovo and HP. If you are going with a business class notebook you will be choosing between a Thinkpad T series and Dell’s Latitude E line. With the sale to Lenovo, Thinkpads are not the premium brand that they used to be and can actually be had for almost the same price if not cheaper than Latitudes. The advantage with Dell’s business notebooks is that they all come with a solid 3 year warranty.

I would stay away from the bottom of the line home models like the Dell Inspiron which are relatively bulky and heavy and not as reliable.  The same goes to Lenovo’s Ideapad series.

Try to get a hold of a couple of notebooks and see what feels right for you. Talk to students you know and ask them about their experiences with warranty and service. I personally can say that Dell definitely stands behind their notebook if you have a warranty.

Get a notebook with at least a 2 year warranty on it: yes I know this will add to the cost but I think its worth it.

Value

Check if your school has good deals with a certain notebook manufacturer. For example www.dell.com/”your school name” will typically take you to the dell page customized for your school. Note that this doesn’t always work and Dell is notorious for sometimes having more expensive prices in their “discounted” sections than available for general consumers. So check prices from a number of sources before buying. Dell will sometimes have one price through dell.com/smallbusiness and another if you just go through dell.com.

Lenovo has a shareholder discount program which you can register for online.

Sites like Logicbuy compile the deals out there and allow users to vote on what the best are here: http://www.logicbuy.com/subcategorydeals/13/Computers/35/Laptops.aspx?order=hottest

This could be a possible starting point.

If you read this and disagree with any of my recommendations please add a comment below to let me know.

Picture: Dell’s E Series Latitude.

Words overwrought, stay for fallen Moonleaf,
Simple of Beorn’s first rose he to call
of Mother’s duty, mending her ancient weave
with blue birds song and whipporwill the wall
against temples foul entropy until
winds chilled, darkening autumnal skies
in icy shafts of hail did claim the kill
of copper’d veins and Black Jay’s child; why
Warren? Except in passing say to teach
the spiral’d trace of sad palms drop doth speak
of darkness rising, plain words to fair reaches
for patched walls, arms rais’d to ward the weak.
Now rest, Celene’s young veil, your work be done;
your lesson taught, our geas yet begun.

ibibo’s karaoke like competition iSinger is the focus of a dispute between the MIH, TenCent and famous music label T-Series.

iSinger is a contest wherein the users submit a song via mobile. Other community members can then vote for their favorite singer.
Full Press Release

Tracklist

Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi – Dance Pe Chance (Video)
Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi – Haule Haule (Video)
Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi – Phir Milenge Chalte Chalte (Video)
Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi – Tujh Mein Rab – Slow Version (Video)
Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi – Tujh Mein Rab Dikhta Hai (Video)

Screenshots

Download Free Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi (2009) Indian Movie Music Videos

http://rapidshare.com/files/222614249/RabNeBanaDiJodi.DancePeChance.Video_GLOOMX.com_.mkv
http://rapidshare.com/files/222614526/RabNeBanaDiJodi.HauleHaule.Video_GLOOMX.com_.mkv

http://rapidshare.com/files/222615127/RabNeBanaDiJodi.PhirMilengeChalteChalte.Video_GLOOMX.com_.mkv

http://rapidshare.com/files/222613742/RabNeBanaDiJodi.TujhMeinRab.SlowVersion.Video_GLOOMX.com_.mkv

http://rapidshare.com/files/222614280/RabNeBanaDiJodi.TujhMeinRabDikhtaHai.Video_GLOOMX.com_.mkv

]]> http://gurmatgiangroup.wordpress.com/2009/04/15/release-of-sundri-the-brave-kaur-in-india/ Wed, 15 Apr 2009 12:16:50 +0000 Manbir Singh http://gurmatgiangroup.wordpress.com/2009/04/15/release-of-sundri-the-brave-kaur-in-india/

Release of  ’Sundri: The Brave Kaur’

Release of ‘Sundri: The Brave Kaur’

A function was organized by National Institute of Punjab Studies at the India International Centre New Delhi on Saturday April 11^th 2009. The occasion was the release of Dr. J.S. Neki’s book ‘In the Footsteps of Guru Gobind Singh’ and ‘Sundri: The Brave Kaur’ the animated adaptation of Sundri: a revolutionary literary masterpiece of Bhai Vir Singh Ji, by Sardarni Gursharan Kaur wife of Dr. Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of India.

After the function the film ‘Sundri’ was screened for the benefit of the selected gathering. Sardarni Gursharan Kaur saw the movie.

The DVD of ‘Sundri’ is being marketed in India by T Series.  ‘Sundri: The Brave Kaur’ is a wonderful movie and a must see for all of us and especially for our children. Every family should purchase a copy of this animation film.

Gurpreet Kaur and Rana Inderjit Singh & family with Sardarni Gursharan Kaur wife of Dr. Manmohan Singh.

Gurmat Gian Group musicians are the main Gurbani singers for this movie. Gurpreet Kaur presented a set of 5CDs of Gurmat Gian Group to Sardarni Gursharan Kaur wife of Dr. Manmohan Singh Prime Minister of India, and the moment she saw the CDs her first reaction was ” I hear them daily !” It was indeed a cherish able moment for all of us present there and particularly for Gurpreet Kaur the main conductor of the Gurmat Gian Group.

Also known as (AKA) / Was earlier titled : Tasveer

Banner : Percept Picture Company

Color : C

Release Date : April 3, 2009

Language : Hindi

Genre : Suspense

Shooting Locations (City & Country) : Canada

Producer : Shailendra Singh

Executive Producer / Co-Producer : Elahe Hiptoola

Director : Nagesh Kukunoor

Star Cast

Akshay Kumar…… Jai Puri

Ayesha Takia…… Sheela Patel

Sharmila Tagore…… Savitri Puri

Javed Jaffrey

Girish Karnad…… Anil Sharma

Anant Mahadevan…… Sundar Puri

Benjamin Gilani…… Jatin Puri

Rushad Rana…… Adit

Utara Pawkar

Rapidshare Links

01. 8×10 Tasveer – Nazaara Hai

02. 8×10 Tasveer – Haafiz Khuda

03. 8×10 Tasveer – Aaja Maahi

04. 8×10 Tasveer – I Got The Picture

05. 8×10 Tasveer – Kuchh Is Tarah

06. 8×10 Tasveer – Haafiz Khuda (Remix)

07. 8×10 Tasveer – Nazaara Hai (Remix)

08. 8×10 Tasveer – Aaja Maahi (Remix)

09. 8×10 Tasveer – I Got The Picture (Remix)

10. 8×10 Tasveer – Kuchh Is Tarah (Remix)

The impact of global financial crunch is starting to tell on one of world’s largest entertainment industry, Bollywood . And the fallout of the impact is none other than Bollywood’s biggest hunk, Salman Khan.

Salman Khan has reportedly walked out a T-Series production after refusing to cut his acting fees. Salman was first offered a massive sum of Rs 50 crores for a film to be produced by T-Series and directed by Anees Bazmee.

Feeling the pinch of the economy slowdown, Bhushan Kumar, head of T-Series, approached Salman Khan, asking him for a reduction in his fees. Salman Khan agreed to take a pay cut of Rs 10 crores, which made his fee at Rs 40 Crore. However, when Bhushan Kumar requested Salman for a further price cut, Salman flatly refused to do so. Bhushan Kumar had to ultimately take the cruel decision of replacing Salman Khan with another actor, who would be ready to work at a much cheaper rate.

This is just one of those posts where I sit and compain about things. This time it’s my computer. It’s being such a little bitch.

First of all, the actual computer. I got my laptop as a graduation gift in June of last year. With my computers I always have trouble. This is a GatewayT-1623. In other words, it’s crap! It’s a fairly new computer but the keyboard. When I type, it takes a long time for the words to show up on the screen after I type them. I have no idea how to fix it. It just gets slow at times. Second, Some of the keys get stuck down and dont pop back up as they should. I’ll push it and it may take 3-4 seconds to come back up which is in matter of fact a long time when you’re trying to type something.

On the buttons that would be a mouse (i have no idea what that whole things called) I’ll push it and nothing happens on my screen. So I’ll try to open something and it clicks but nothing happens on the screen. Another thing would be that there are screws inside holding the computer togeather and one of them on the corner come out. So now the corner of my laptop pops open. Ughh. Just another complain about the computer is that for the boarder of the screen, they used a shiney black plastic that gets all dirty and it’s basically a fingerprint collector. I wish they would have used something else so it doesnt get all dirty and reflect the light.

Now on to the problems with Windows. I use Windows Vista and there’s the little taskbar at the bottom which you can set to auto-hide so it hides while you’re working. Well, it won’t stay hidden. I’ll start up the computer and the taskbar stays on view. So here’s what I have to do each time so I can work: Go to the taskbar properities, uncheck auto-hide, click apply, then click auto-hide again and click ok. It’s a pain in the ass. I extreemely hate the person who was told to design the taskbar. Or maybe I really hate Windows with a passion.

Another issue I’ve been having is that Windows Media Player will automatically open itself for no reason. Now when this happens three or four times a week it starts getting old and you start wishing you could punch every douchebag who made the computer.

And another problem would be that the little taskbar thing for the Gateway Web Camera camera automatically pops up whenever I log on to my desktop. It covers everything else so I have to close it every time I log on.

Another problem that happens is that whenever the latop freezes (about once a month) I have to unplug the laptop and pull the battery out of the back. When I pull it out, it like gets stuck – where it doesnt want to come out.

Seriously, there’s more wrong with this computer. Eff Gateway and Windows! lol. I’m gonna cut this short cause I don’t like complaining or talking about computers.

Have fun on your nice Mac!! Unless you’re stuck with a PC like me.

Step 1 Cleanser
Secara efektif menyingkirkan bekas make-up, kotoran dan sel kulit mati

- Basahi tangan dan wajah dengan air dingin atau suam suam kuku (jangan pakai air panas)
- letakkan cleanser di telapak tangan, dengan porsi kira kira 1.5 cm lingkaran.
- Gosok dengan tangan secara lembut sehingga membentuk busa tipis
- Usapkan kedua tangan keseluruh muka sekitar 5-6 putaran, perhatikan kulit disekitar mulut dan daerah mata.
- Bilaslah dengan air dan usap dengan tangan secara lembut ke seluruh wajah, supaya cleanser yang masih ada bisa hilang.
- Pergunakan tissue yang halus untuk mengeringkan nya.

Step 2 Toner T2 (untuk T series)
Mengembalikan PH normal kulit dan menghaluskan permukaan kulit.

Sesudah dibersihkan, tuangkan beberapa tetes Toner T2 pada tangan, dan pakailah secara lembut pada wajah dan di usapkan secara merata menggunakan jari anda. Untuk hasil yang optimal, ikuti dengan aturan perawatan kulit DR’s Secret.
Note : Untuk T2 (T series) ini tidak perlu menggunakan kapas seperti Toner generasi sebelumnya.

Step 3 Skinlight T3 (untuk T series)
Perawatan intensive untuk mendapat hasil bagus secara total untuk kulit bersinar.

Kulit Normal dan Kering
- Campur 2 – 3 tetes dari Skinlight T3 dengan jumlah yang sama dengan Skinrecon T4 dan usapkan secara merata keseluruh wajah setelah cleansing dan toning setiap malam.
- Untuk hasil yang lebih cepat, kenakan 3-4 tetes dari Skinlight T3 setiap pagi berselang.

Kulit Berminyak.
- kenakan 3-5 tetes dari Skinlight T3 di wajah setiap malam, perhatikan pada daerah yang warna nya lain

Step 4 Skinrecon T4 (untuk T series)
Formula yang baik untuk memperbaiki dan memberi makan pada kulit

Pergunakan secara jumlah yang tepat untuk pagi dan malam untuk hampir semua type kulit.
Kulit kering dan sensitif – Campur Skinrecon T4 dengan Skinlight T3 untuk mengurangi efek pengelupasan kulit dari skinlight T3.

Please contact for more detail :
FELLINA LINGGAWATI
email address : fellinaLinggawati@yahoo.com

Lyricist : Prasoon Joshi, Vivinenne Pocha, Claire

Music Director : A R Rahman, Rajat Dholakia

Cinematography : Binod Pradhan

Choreography : Saroj Khan, Vaibhavi Merchant

Action : Allan Amin

Editor : P S Bharathi

Screenplay : Rakesh Mehra, Prasoon Joshi, Kamlesh Pandey

Sound : Nakul Kamte

Dialogue : Prasoon Joshi

Costume : Arjun Bhasin

Story / Writer : Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, Kamlesh Pandey

Download Free Delhi 6 (2009)  Mp3 Songs Music Album

Rapidshare Links

01. Delhi 6 – Bhor Bhaye

02. Delhi 6 – Masakali

03. Delhi 6 – Noor

04. Delhi 6 – Aarti Tumre Bhavan Mein

05. Delhi 6 – Genda Phool

06. Delhi 6 – Dil Gira Dafatan

07. Delhi 6 – Hey Kaala Bandar

08. Delhi 6 – Rehna Tu

09. Delhi 6 – Delhi 6

10. Delhi 6 – Arziyan

Film Remorques – Watch new film trailers and movie trailers, clips, teasers and previews including the latest cinema releases.

Sangeet yadav: please add my 2 link on your blogs

MP3 Players – Get the latest MP3 player today at Deals Direct. Offering the best and most affordable prices, Deals Direct is a leader in online shopping in Australia.

MP3 & FLV Player

XML Powered FLV Video and MP3 Audio player is finished and ready to download.

XML Powered External FLV Progressive Video Player

XML Powered External MP3 Progressive Audio Player

www.blip.fm  (Music Site)

http://blip.fm/all?p=1

Kabar Gembira ! sekarang sudah hadir DR Secret T Series !

DR’s Secret T Series sangat sesuai untuk kulit wanita dewasa, mengurangi proses penuaan dengan penyerapan vitamin vitamin yang alami dan mineral kedalam kulit. Kombinasi Vitamin C, D dan E, mengembalikan kecantikan alami kulit anda.

Waktu kulit kita bertambah tua, perawatan kulit perlu tetap menjaga kecerahan kulit seperti muda kembali. T Series ini sudah terbukti secara klinis dapat merawat wajah. Sangat cocok untuk semua jenis kulit di segala iklim yang berbeda. Dia hanya mengandung bahan alami dan tanpa bahan pengawet.

Kulit kita di penuhi oleh sel kulit mati dan kotoran pada lapisan atas nya. Dengan menghilangkan kotoran, kulit akan semakin bersinar, halus dan cantik.

DR’s Secret T Series membangkitkan kemudaan pada sel kulit anda. Coba T Series hari ini dan rasakan hasilnya !

Please contact for more detail :
FELLINA LINGGAWATI
email address : fellinaLinggawati@yahoo.com

Came they murmurs along the Old Bend Road; to Grove, to Church, on Godsday morning.  Heroes smashed, lifeless rising and what hear we now, the loss of Ogre’s bane?  Flow’d and mixing blending this wind of chorus’d worry did wash the heat from Hommlet,  and usher fell chills from Bellringer’s Feast.  Among oak pews and on bluegrass’d lawns did the chill hasten, sad tales of yesters eve binding shared view from pulpit and pole.  Pride, did Canon cry, exacted fair price;  fresh  delvers slain by hubris of fair deed.  Tempted were they by Fortunes varied play, so fairly counseled circles fifth Initiate, and leaving Brewmeister’s walk did fated Freecastle find Chances curtains aside.  Warded from gaze of Ralishaz the circle drew sage wisdom from pains fresh lesson.  And thus arising from their oaken pews, walking from bluegrass’d field of pleasant grove, fielded joints rumbling from harvest cycles, mistaking lesson’s learn’d with courage earn’d the farmers, of Church, of field roamed home.  One  comfort soft stood proof to common chill: kin Freecastle, concern’d for weeping widow with justice did describe lost brothers deeds.  How else but Mayaheine’s need could march the Castle free and on to seventh plane?  Yet as with years anon did such wisdom not carry past Freecastles inner demesnes, whilst Wenta blew free Fears’ chilling whisper, unmet across the Hommlet rolling hills.  Where hero’s rejoinder some voices asked?  Lost, lost to shame some voices sweet did say, paved secret their way by fell’d temple in bloody gold and lusts freedom unbound.  To this untruth no challenge remained.

Nine now there was to blaze the moathouse just, embolden’d by their new found fame they were! Tonguely and Zert, Rufus and Kai and Orr’n, Selaphora walking by and close, flank’d too by Luther brave head high and Moonleaf, returned by his good friends love. All these warden’d wide by a runners eye, Farthammer, of the wild coast guarded close by. Gain drawbridge, gain hall, and gain again stairs; saw there no sign of treachery foul they, in freshman bravery, to larder Lubash went! Beyond, beyond now down more stairs spill’d they, and doom made they rushing onward. Foolish!

The Grinder begins

Gnolls here made good their threats of red revenge. Sprung was theirs first feather’d traps did fly to home, as iron jaw clench’d to snap the party twain. First Kai leapt brave to glory’s side striking left now right to clear the trail of foe! Yet fail’d her friends to form the timely line, to melee her alone the Gnolls snared, scoring wounds grave past names of blue’d ancestry. Zert, to adventure fresh did come too soon, and fall gath’ring shares of shafte laurels. Oh the warped gnolls harp did sing timely! To that tune came Orrin running bravely, worried for his true friends health unproofed. Wounded, healing, wounded again was he. To this call’d Selaphora crying, trap’d! Trapped and sunder’d from good friends we! And gnollish blades rejoic’d the coming bane!

Those shut fast ‘hind iron wrought freedom quick. Belts, ropes leverag’d fast, arms arm’d in twisting, three men work’d the trick to breaking their own, and so rush’d dropped bars to save their friends. Rufus left, Luther right the fight they join’d, braving feather’d marshal flights in true form. Finally freed did Farthammer spring to flight, leasing back and quick those shafts Gnollish sprung and so flung back to gnolls a promis’d bane. Where Kai did fall to place did Luther rise. Where Orrin fell did Rufus hell extract. Moonleaf, stunn’d by ferocious fang’d foe, did extend Orrin’s first handed rescue, and reach’d Tonguely’s help yond the desp’rate fray. Out came Zert, out came Kai by druid’s kind hand, but lifeblood runneth quick, and following said trail did Kai now ‘tain her people’s grace.

Act Second releas’d, and ill received now our troupes fine play wore tired down. Yet here to dismay’d cries did foe reprise, and bring crashing down our bands hop’d triumph. For to said fray did they call the Bugbears, demons foul wrought in racked wombs equipp’d, birthed to the ancient wizards’ evil. Their bare members bared in strong retort for sport the ‘Bugs flung back the Gnolls retreat, forcing second guessing from our fair group. Too did Zert the newcome friend choose this time to show true color to his new found friends. Like dawn in hell he rose, unfetter’d, to run through elvin frame to hilt cold iron, spilling he to the killing floor Tonguely, and there the fair mage expired. This villian then fled through the bended gate, closing it with brook of mage’s dead frame.

Moonleaf, Unawares of dear friends passage, cognizant now of dangers fore and aft, tender work’d poor Tonguely through the iron bars to more the mend this breach with ally Kai. Alive perhaps, alive still for salvation! The whiles our remainder played rearguard cutting careless the Bugbear’s whisker stray’d to close the veteran pole of angry Luther Freecastle or flirted Rufus’ extended blade. Above sang hafts feather’d from angry harps pluck’d tiredly by fingers

A bloody retreat

Farthammer, join’d by Celaphora in dirge fearful. Yet onward Bugbears pushed the failing line. And to the ‘hind did Moonleaf find foe plus! Zert, returned, wounded, still eyed gleeful evil demise of our fairly wounded group, and so did suit to slay Moonleaf at once! Down, defenseless Moonleaf dodg’d the angry blow. Zert, foe determin’d did wind another when, wound ’round by sounds treacherous Farthammer’s arrow ultimate ended traitor’s play.

The endplay, o’er strange buzzing Bugbear’s noise did sound a fateful note to friends reduc’d. Arrow mark’d, lessen’d yet still they pressed, worse to show one wove past Luther’s pik’d front, and as hero scrambl’d to a bladed flank did near rend the lad in bloody twain! Luther! Freecastle! Hommlet’s paragon! Dim, dim the light now show’d the bands remain as Rufus, working brother’s memory, worked a weav’d steel violent front. Celaphora div’d first through bended bars, Farthammer to follow on bended knee and, to Rufus’ relief, turned the pike to strike the Bugbears cursed yellow hides.

Oh the sounds, the sighs the horrible cries did follow heroes wounded remainder. Lifeless walls read little to olven eyes, those that still in half measure could espy fresh corpses moving past their final sleep. Horrors fanged, horrors closing to strike!? Flee! Flee! And in cut time to drawbridge fly! There did bloody trunk’d party rest, no! Exhausted, chasten’d, hasten’d by foul memoirs they scream’d away from that cursed moathouse.

And now there were four.

XP: Six Hundred and Sixty Six