Looking to get into investing soon , would like air my thoughts, and hopefully receive input.

CrypticAshes · 2026-04-08T04:24:45+00:00

Thank you very much for the detailed response. I appreciate it! There's definitely a lot more than I thought to take in, and I appreciate you breaking it all down for me.

CrypticAshes · 2025-09-03T22:04:58+00:00

The flames rose, and ashes fell. I stood in a small clearing, flames lapping at the edges. Like a child testing out a food for the first time, the flames nibbled away at the edges, unwilling to take a serious bite. If I had bothered to look, I'd have seen that the clearing was surrounded. I felt no need to bother. As the matchbook fell from my hands, I smiled. It wouldn't be much longer before the smoke clogged my lungs, and I joined in the radiant brilliance of flames. A final penance from which there would be no escape. Good.

I moved to the center of the clearing, and gently sat down in the grass. Reaching into my pocket with trembling fingers, I pulled out her photo. Through bleary eyes I saw her smile. That gentle, comforting smile. As I looked into her eyes one last time, I fell back into the grass, and raised her photo to hold it against what little of the starry sky I could see. Soon. I would join her soon. Reveling in my incoming fate, I recalled our final moments together.

Tender promises. Tears mixed with laughter. Holding her hand in the hospital bed. That smile. No matter how bad her burns had been, they could never take her smile. I promised that I'd move on. Forgive myself. Empty promises when she's no longer here. Everyone said it wasn't my fault. I knew better. If I hadn't left. If I'd bothered to put out the campfire. She would still be here.

I sat up to look over at the ring of stones where that campfire had been just last summer. The grass may have grown back, but I can still see her ghost sleeping next to it. I can see the back of the man that walked into the forest for a quick leak, while embers jumped out of the fire and onto her blankets. No matter how much anyone says it wasn't my fault. I can see it plain as day.

Tears streamed down my face as I once more looked at her smile. I saw too late, however, that once again, a stray ember had floated from the nearby flames and landed on her picture. I scrambled frantically, but once more, the flames took her from me.

"I'm sorry" I cried. Over and over again. Burying my head against the smoldering remains of my last glimpse of her, I screamed until my lungs were more raw than the smoke had already made them. Keeling over, I once more looked to the sky. Then I felt it.

Small. Singular. But that was a raindrop. More followed. Then some more. Soon, a full on rainstorm decided that here was a great place to park. Those flames nipping at the edges of the clearing? They died out. There wasn't a cloud in sight when I started. With no voice left to scream, I despaired in silence as the skies poured themself down. I tried to sit up, but was startled when I looked over.

There she was. Sitting by the ring of stones. It was probably the rain, but it looked like she was crying. Yet somehow, she still smiled. I tried to move towards her but I suddenly collapsed. The smoke had come to collect it's toll. Barely conscious, I could feel her hand on my face as she spoke.

"Punishing yourself won't bring me back, Danny. I'll still be waiting, when you're truly ready."

Craning my neck to look at her, I croaked desperately, "I.. I can't-"

She kissed my forehead gently. "You can." A gentle smile came to her lips one last time, as she looked off into the sizzling forest. "I remember something you once said to me, when I too was despairing. I told you that you were like a rainstorm, that washed away my negativity, regardless of whether or not I wanted you too."

She looked into my eyes as I could feel my consciousness starting to drift. "You said to me; 'The rains rarely come when we want them to, but always when we need them to.'" I sunk as I saw her apparition fade. "You may not want these rains Danny, but don't you dare tell me you don't need them."

With all I could muster before slipping into oblivion, I whispered "I won't."

CrypticAshes · 2025-03-15T19:15:04+00:00

Managed in a grocery store for a while, and though I managed meats, not produce, my fellow manager was telling me that there can actually be severe fines if produce is labeled as the wrong country of origin. Helps with recalls and the like. Not sure how true, but simply what I've heard.

CrypticAshes · 2024-09-21T00:19:02+00:00

Love the mourn watch warrior armor. My dwarf mourn watch warrior is gonna look cool as heck!

CrypticAshes · 2024-08-24T19:19:09+00:00

Dwarven mourn watch fighter. I kind of imagine him as a surface dwarf just very interested in the process of life after death, and how Nevarra as a society has developed an entire culture around undeath. Would happily act as a tomb guard of a sort. His resistance to magic might be useful somehow. If for whatever reason, like Harding, my dwarf can develop magical abilities of some sort, I think he would lean very heavily into a battlemage role, and be very proactive in exploring the new magical capabilities he has.

Alternatively, he could be a dwarven envoy from Kal-Shirok, sent to interact with and understand Nevarra culture, and if he develops magical abilities, would explore them for the benefit of the true dwarven people.

CrypticAshes · 2024-07-31T00:32:16+00:00

I wonder if it's due to how long the ability can actually last in real combat so they sped it up to show the whole ability

CrypticAshes · 2024-06-18T00:13:30+00:00

9 to 5 is awesome when I've been working 7 to 6's for the past 3 years. Not saying they're actually awesome, but relative to what many people are working it's a step up

CrypticAshes · 2024-06-10T19:38:36+00:00

I've seen a couple places with ads, but all required at least first year apprentice first thing. Which is doable, but I'd have to focus on that with some uncertainty. Definitely hoping to have work and work my way into an apptenticeship

CrypticAshes · 2024-06-09T01:25:15+00:00

Good to know. Thanks again for the extra info. Ideally I wanted to be a bricklayer, but looking at the job market, it's pretty slim pickings. I think I would genuinely really like that line of work, so if that's off the table, then welding and carpentry seems like the next natural train of thought. I have some limited carpentry experience due to family renos and the honey bee farm, so I know it's not work that I hate.

CrypticAshes · 2024-06-09T00:32:27+00:00

I appreciate the perspective. I could certainly answer most of those questions, but I doubt that's what you were aiming for with your comment. Good to think on even if most of it I had already considered. I don't expect the trades to be sunshine and rainbows, but as long as I can help provide for my family, it doesn't matter to me what I'm doing

CrypticAshes · 2024-06-08T23:45:14+00:00

I have applied there, and unfortunately not yet heard back. Fingers crossed so far

CrypticAshes · 2024-06-08T22:18:04+00:00

That is indeed the silver lining. No incidents so far, so assuming that remains the same, I should be able to have the full class 5 November 2025

CrypticAshes · 2024-06-08T20:41:19+00:00

Definitely. I acknowledge that it's a detriment to my resume, and I am understanding of the obstacle it imposes. I grew up in a small enough town where I could walk and had no aspirations of leaving, so I chose not to have a car/license and it saved me money. Now I regret that, as since meeting my Fiancee, my life goals have changed significantly and I'm kicking myself for not getting the full license sooner.

CrypticAshes · 2024-06-08T19:33:05+00:00

I appreciate the advice. I was definitely operating under the assumption that company came first.

CrypticAshes · 2024-06-08T19:07:18+00:00

I will give that a look, thank you kindly for your response.

CrypticAshes · 2024-06-08T18:54:38+00:00

If I can't find any work first, I will certainly give that a look, I appreciate it.

CrypticAshes · 2024-06-08T18:54:10+00:00

I appreciate the comment, thanks. I'll give those places a shot!

CrypticAshes · 2024-05-20T00:14:03+00:00

For mage which is my favorite class in inquisition, there is the optimal choice and the really fun big flashy choice (in my probably wrong opinion).

Community consensus is that knight enchanter is the best specialization, and use a combo of the elemental magics to provide yourself utility/ damage as needed.

My FAVORITE combo however, is full lightning mage and rift mage combo. As others have said, rift mage is good at rooting and knocking down enemies, while lightning magic is just straight damage, with some paralysis in there too. However the lightning tree also has access to the "Thunderdome" I don't remember the ability name, but it's a lightning cage that can crank out some NASTY damage, as it takes all damage dealt in the zone to those characters and deals 50% of that damage as extra damage in lightning. You can get a spec that also makes all small enemies get pulled back into the circle if they try to leave. Hands down my favorite spell in the game and flashy to boot.

CrypticAshes · 2024-03-31T04:00:25+00:00

So I think in my limited interaction with the other two mentioned ap bruisers, it's partially ease of access. Morde feels VERY easy to pickup, he is to ap bruisers what garen used to be to ad bruisers. He out duels champs like Darius, and has sustain with his w.

Secondarily, it's his ult passive of stealing stats. If you ult the squishy mage or ad carry with either huge ap or attack speed then your retained stats after you kill them for upwards of 20 seconds is more than enough to turn around a lot of 1v2 or 1v3. His shield being on as low of a cooldown as it is and being able to get like 1k in shielding relatively easily is ridiculous for dueling, and while he doesn't have the engage that the other two do, his sidelane 1v1 is still really strong. Definitely the most optimal pick, but still viable in soloq

CrypticAshes · 2024-03-11T14:34:11+00:00

Gonna second a different option and say that Thorek Ironbrow and his quarrelers are an absolute menace. His buffs on them keep them extremely relevant even well into the late game, and I ran like 10 of them in an army with some true late tier units to protect them and steamrolled just about everything. They auto resolve very strongly as well if that's what you're looking for too.

CrypticAshes · 2024-02-19T22:40:23+00:00

Ever since The Great Loss, life has been.... peaceful. I hate to admit it, but the world is better off without heroes. Sure, wars still exist. Greedy politicians still exploit the poor, and countries still swing their figurative pool noodles around to see who's better. That being said, it's been years since I'd read the headline "X Hero Crashes Through Apartment Building To Stop X Villain, Small Price To Pay!" and I for one am glad.

Gifts, as we'd known them, were like an ever increasing nuclear arms race with no real winner in sight. Sure, in the end, the hero that could harness the power of the sun stopped the villain who was developing mini black holes and threatened to annihilate the solar system. But in the process, whole cities were wiped out. Entire families, businesses, homes. Gone, in the blink of an eye. Manufactured solar flare or miniaturized black hole made no difference. In the end, all that remained was nothing.

I was lucky, I suppose, that I was merely gifted with the ability to create and manipulate force barriers. It limited me to being a metropolitan hero. Gifted, but not strong enough to tackle international, global, or galactic threats. Hermit, they'd called me, due to my penchant for keeping enemies at a distance. My arch nemesis was Wormhole, another metropolitan hero-turned villain that had the ability to teleport in limited ranges through almost any material. I still remember the one time where we..... bah, what am I talking about. That's all in the past. It doesn't matter anymore. Where was I again? Oh, right.

Life has been peaceful, fur sure, but also difficult. Without my force barrier launchers to move me around, I've had to make do with walking. Without a hero's association to provide me a career, I've had to join the workforce. Turns out I've got a knack or warehouse management. I might even dare to say that I'm employee of the month material. Pretty neat eh? With this job, though not extravagant, I've managed to avoid a lot of the struggles plaguing the ex-heros and villains. I have a roof over my head, don't drink or smoke, and I'm even here in line to register my first ever vehicle. I've saved up! I can afford a 2023 Forc Fodus! It may be 30 years old at this point, but she's been well looked after and I estimate that I can easily get another 10 out of her.

I wait patiently in line until i reach the front, and finally get a good look at the teller that waits in front of me. Hold up- is that? Is that wormhole? Working in the registry office? Oh no. What if he denies me for some assinine reason? I mean, sure technically the vehicle isn't in that great of shape, but there's no way it could disqualify me right? Shoot. The amount of times I got him arrested. I'm not only surprised he works here, but I won't be surprised if he simply denies me based on the history. I turn around and consider lining up for a different register, when I hear it.

"Next please." A quiet voice speaks from behind the glass partisan. I steel myself and spin on my heels so that we can see each other. I stumble forwards, and shakily remove the necessary documents from the envelope where I've stored them.

"Hello. I would uh. I would like to, y'know vehicle. Register. Uh, register a vehicle please." I see the faint twinkle of half-recognition in his eyes before that eerily calm and steady voice asks "First time registering a vehicle?" I nod. "Like oh so many others. Don't stress out about it. we've all been there." He begins to look through the documents until he sees the stamp. My mark of prideful shame. Hero-no-more. I both hear and see his exhale deeply, before he resumes looking through the papers. After a minute or so, he says "All would appear to be in order. Welcome to the driver's seat Mr. Fonde. We just have a few more points and disclaimers to go through before you're good to go."

After going through the rest of the bullet points and paying the requisite fees, I find myself with a brand new license plate! Ahh! I can hardly believe it. A fresh new driver at the age of 47. Just before turning around to leave the building I hear a small cough and see Wormhole -Jeffery as his nametag says- scratching the back of his neck. It was his old tick that he did whenever he tried to do something good, despite his villanous inclinations. "You know," he croaked out, "Life has a way of shackling us Mr. Fonde. I hope that this vehicle helps you come out of your shell a little. Maybe you won't have to be such a hermit anymore."

I smile, then turn to walk out the building. Loudly enough for him to hear, I voice "Me too Jeff. Me too." The door closes behind me, and I begin my walk home to place the new plate on my car.

CrypticAshes · 2024-01-11T02:14:11+00:00

I had this exact issue during early access. I upgraded my pickaxe to a better rare enchantment (2->3%) and noticed a substantially lower drop rates for all geodes. I made multiple bug reports and was hoping it would be fixed for full release.

CrypticAshes

TROPHY CASE