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Under the Rainbow at Rice Fields Restaurant

My wife’s friend was in town and my neighbors asked us to babysit their new puppy, Pepsi, so we took them to the famous Rice Fields Restaurant at the southwest edge of town near Pullman and Rosewood hotels.

It was an important Buddhist holiday so we dropped by this ancient temple on our way to our meal. I’m a Buddhist, but I don’t believe in any of the ceremonies or praying to the monks so I watched the dogs while they did their thing. If Buddha or God are real, I highly doubt they care if we wear special clothes or if we pray to them or not, but it brings peace of mind for people to do so.

Even though I’ve put the marker on the exact location and told you the general location, I doubt that you can ever find this place. Even if you use Google Maps you’ll have a hard time finding it because it is on a random dirt road with mostly private homes and the sign to turn in is all in Lao language, but if you find this sign then you have made it. They even got all the English letters right which is a rarity here.

They serve mostly beer and Lao or Thai food, but they also have French fries. Do any of you remember the French not supporting the war in Iraq so the military-industrial-complex controlled media tried to change the name to “freedom fries”?

The electric tuk-tuk was popular here about five years ago, but they proved to be unreliable and took too long to charge so they went back to using the same old loud gas-guzzling crappy ones. If you see a tuk-tuk in Thailand you should avoid them like the plague because they are all mafia-connected scammers, but the tuk-tuk drivers in Laos aren’t so bad. You can walk almost everywhere in Luang Prabang or ride a bicycle so they are pretty much unnecessary unless you’re lazy or want some weed.

The restaurant consists of about 30 huts surrounding a rice field and has a great view of the mountains giving it a very chill and natural vibe.

I hated sitting on the ground or on tiny chairs when I first came here, but you get used to it after a while. Each hut has a fan and an outlet for you to charge your phone.

Rapper had a blast running around in the rice field and playing with the other dogs, but Pepsi was out cold once he had some food. They’re not very creative with dog names here. If a dog is all black then it very likely is named “Dom” which means black or “Khow” if they’re white. Brown dogs are often named Pepsi, but I’ve never seen a brown dog named Brown or “Namtang”. Rapper got the next-door neighbor’s dog pregnant and she had 11 puppies so there will be lots of puppy training in the near future, but Rapper is a good alpha leader and daddy-dog so he and I will teach them well.

Thanks for reading about our trip to the Rice Fields Restaurant today. They don’t seem to have a website but their Facebook page is:

You can find them on Google Maps if you search for their Lao name:

ຮ້ານອາຫານຖຽງນານ້ອຍ

coordinates:

19.862369373614598, 102.11187714164635

The Boat Races of Luang Prabang

The boat races of Luang Prabang, Laos 🇱🇦 have many local people and tourists enjoying food, shopping, and cheers from the crowd as they drink 🍺eer, and gamble on their favorite teams or villages as they cross the finish line. Whether you’re looking for a unique cultural experience or simply want to take in some delicious local cuisine, the yearly boat race is an event not to be missed. This year felt very commercial and had me missing the years before when people were sitting in the grass and dirt, but maybe I just felt disappointed that no cute girls invited me to drink with them this time.

The Tradition

The boat race tradition of Luang Prabang has been a beloved part of the city’s culture for centuries. People gather on the banks of the Namkhan River to witness teams of rowers compete. The boats used in this traditional event can be up to 30 meters long and are adorned with vibrant colors that create a festive atmosphere. They will prepare the boats all year long, park them at temples, and have them blessed by the monks for good luck before the race.

History

Luang Prabang is home to the oldest and most traditional boat race in Laos 🇱🇦. The event has been celebrated annually during the Buddhist Lent since the 16th century when it was used as a way for fishermen to demonstrate their skill and strength. Over time, the races have become a source of entertainment while also honoring the riverside culture and fishing tradition of Luang Prabang. The boats used in this event are powered by oarsmen and steered by a captain who will also bark the rowing orders.

I’ve been invited to join a few teams in my younger years, but I felt my strength-to-weight ratio would be a burden rather than an asset to the team so I’ve always politely turned them down even though I was a pretty good kayaker. I would’ve also lacked the endurance for this as most of these guys have been doing this since they were kids.

They would totally lose, but I think there should be a foreign boat team too. Most local foreigners are fat and lazy and would rather drink beer and complain about their wives, but it would still be fun to participate in this ancient tradition.

There was some controversy last year because the winning team had constructed their boat from steel which is of course much lighter and water-tight than the traditional wooden boats. Their prize money was taken back and handed down to the next team and I’m sure they do a better inspection before the races now. If I were going to cheat, I’d just have a diver attach an electric motor, control it from the sidelines, and turn it on for a boost during the final stretch.

Thanks for taking a walk along the Namkhan River with me for this year’s boat race. The event changes the date every year as the Buddhist Lent follows the moon’s cycles and not our Gregorian calendar, but it lasts for a few days as there are many boat teams. Maybe I’ll see you here next year.

Zurich Bread Factory & Cafe

If you’re lucky enough to visit Luang Prabang, Laos then you’ll probably notice this cozy cafe and bakery because it’s in the heart of downtown at the base of Phousi Mountain by the Namkhan River.

I think that putting a leash on your dog is evil. How would you like having a collar around your neck and some dumb human pulling on a rope all the time telling you what to do? The only time I give “commands” to my dog and buddy Rapper is when he needs to get on the sidewalk to avoid some jerk driving their vehicle too fast or when some other dogs are sneaking up on him. If you want your dog to follow you then you need to let them take the lead sometimes too and that’s what happened today when he decided to enter Zurich Bread Factory & Cafe. I’m glad he did because I found a cool new place to chill that is dog friendly.

I’ve walked by this place hundreds of times without entering because it looked expensive, but some things were actually pretty cheap and tasty. The staff was also friendly and spoke English well so I grabbed a beer, pretzel, and a piece of cheesecake.

Good bread can be hard to come by in Asia, but you’ll notice the good smells right when you walk in the door. Laos was a French colony back in the day so they’ve been making good bread for hundreds of years and Zurich Bread Factory & Cafe is keeping with that tradition.

Their alcohol selection was good, but a bit pricey for me so I just went with the local beer, Beerlao. All of these spirits are imported so you can’t really find them cheaply anywhere in Laos. The local beer isn’t much more expensive than water so most people go with that. Beerlao is pretty good. It’s better than any beer you’ll find in Thailand or Vietnam.

I’m an introvert and don’t like being around other people so Rapper and I went upstairs. They have a pretty good view from the second floor which is the highest any building can be in Luang Prabang because it’s a UNESCO World Heritage site that has rules against any buildings looking too modern or being higher than two stories which gives the town a unique mix of Laotian and French architecture.

You can also lie down and enjoy your meal on these Lao-style sofas. Rapper thought he could relax on them too, but I told him they’re not for him. He’s a clean dog, but like all dogs, he sheds. Thanks for checking out Zurich Bread Factory & Cafe with us today.

website: http://zurichbread.com/our-branches/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/explore/locations/478851929133376/zurich-bread-factorycafe-luang-prabang/

The Road to Phousi Moutain

A lot of photographers swear by taking pictures during that “Magic Hollywood Hour” when the sun is setting so you’ll get the best light, but the light rapidly changes and it gets dark so fast you’ll only get a few pictures. It’s not so hot so there will be lots of people ruining your shots with their selfies, but if you go at noon when it’s super hot you’ll have fantastic light and you’ll be alone.

The temperature was 35 C (95 F if you’re American like me) and I wanted to get to the top fast so a jogged up skipping a step to save time. I thought I had developed myocarditis or irregular heartbeats from the virus and I’ve been super lazy and low on energy for years, but I feel good again after running to the top without getting out of breath or feeling dizzy. The negative effects were thankfully temporary. My dog can totally do this sprint up to the top, but he won’t even try when it’s hot so I left him at home.

I wanted to paint the pagoda on top of the hill so I gathered up what art supplies I could find. I only had black paint so it will have to be a dark painting. I can see it from my door, but it’s very small. I did line up the painting with the actual direction and view of the pagado so anyone who sees the painting will also get their bearings.

I’m not happy with it so I tried photoshopping it. They both are OK, but not what I envisioned. Maybe I’ll ask the landlord for the purple paint and touch it up after it’s dried for a few days. What do you think?

CRYPTO-SHOTS: KilliNG DRoNeS and EarNiNg DOOM

How are all of you fellow HiVe GaMeRs doing? Today I’d like to share with you the only game I’ve enjoyed on HiVe so far other than @SplinterLands, Crypto-Shots. It feels like we’re about to leave this long-ass bear market and see some crypto gains this year. Then again this could be the worst year ever for crypto. You can never know. What I do know is that some of the coins I’ve been holding on hive-engine have gone from being worth a few hundred dollars in 2021 to only a few dollars today, so I’m hoping the opposite is true in the future, and have been scooping up as many cheap coins as I can. It’s fun looking at all the random shit-coins available on hive-engine and sometimes you’ll come across interesting projects like Crypto-Shots here.

Crypto-Shots is both free-to-play and play-to-earn. If you go to https://play.crypto-shots.com/ You can jump right into the game and try it out for free and without messing around with any blockchain logins, but you won’t earn anything. It’s a great feature that more games should have. Imagine if @Splinterlands let you play-for-free, but you got access to EVERY card in the game. Of course, you couldn’t make it play-to-earn, but it would show how fun the game can be for new players.

You can even get Crypto-Shots to play on your phone. I can never figure out how to get HiVe Keychain to work on my phone so I just play on my PC which is over ten years old but can play the game just fine in Firefox.

If you are playing the free-to-play trial you’ll be invincible for the first three rounds, but if you log in with HiVe or WaX you’ll take damage when the drones shoot you. I’ve only beaten level 0 on medium one time and it was super difficult so I don’t even dare try playing on hard because I know it will be impossible. You probably won’t even clear the first level on easy until you’ve memorized the map.

These are your enemies. The big drones take more ammunition to take out, but the smaller ones are harder to hit.

If the game runs slowly on your PC or phone you can turn off shadows to make it run more smoothly. If you press the ESC button you will enter the pause menu.

You have to have the gun both in your NFT inventory and find it in the game to use it. The starter pack gets you the pistol, grenade launcher, and shotgun. The shotgun works best but has limited ammunition.

The radar shows the drones in red at the top of the screen, but it doesn’t work in medium or hard mode.

I bought this gun on the HiVe NFT market, but since it’s level 2 and I’m still level 1 I can’t use it yet. I still don’t understand how to get to the next level in the game. In the Discord chat, they said I needed to stake 80 DOOM in the game. I did that, but I’m still stuck playing level 0.

I think I need to purchase a level 2 character like one of these sexy cyber girls, but they are expensive.

Crypto-Shots is still very alpha or beta at the moment, but I think it has a lot of potential. You’ll only earn about a penny for clearing the first round and you can only play about 22 minutes per day so don’t expect to get rich from this new play-to-earn game, but it is fun playing a Doom or Quake-like game again, especially on the HiVe blockchain.

WaX market:
https://wax.atomichub.io/market?collection_name=crypto4shots&order=desc&sort=created&symbol=WAX
play the game:
https://play.crypto-shots.com
whitepaper:
https://www.crypto-shots.com/whitepaper

If you only knew the joy of the DOG life

So many people tell me they want a dog, but their situation won’t allow it. If you don’t have a yard or a nice outdoor place then maybe it’s better not to put a dog into your human jail, but if you can and want a dog then I highly recommend it. They bring so much joy, companionship, security, and health benefits to your life. I love my lovely wife and children, but there is a special place in my heart for my dog, Rapper. It takes forever to see your human children grow up, but dogs get big so fast. Rapper went from a scared little puppy to an alpha male with many puppies from several different bitches in only one year.

If you already had or have a dog then I’m not writing this for you because you already know how great these little creatures are and how much happiness they can bring into your life. I’m writing this to convince those of you who are thinking of or have never thought of K9 parenthood.

I don’t like cats at all, but they seem to like me for some reason. This alpha scrapper of a cat was named Trump because he was orange. I’m guessing his original owner was a Democrat. Well whoever she was, she abandoned Trump here in Laos when she went back home so he just stuck around the only house he ever knew. It took a long time for Trump and me to bond with his bad and aggressive attitude and my dislike for his species, but it got to the point where he would go on walks with me and scratch at my door to be let in. I totally forgot that there was a person named Trump so I was confused a few times as to why the news was talking about my cat.

Trump was not happy at all when we adopted Rapper. I had to keep my eye on him because I was really afraid he was going to murder my new puppy, but I learned something interesting from his hatred: All dogs are scared of hissing cats swiping their claws so I tried it on big dogs who were aggressive towards my baby Rapper. I even got a pitbull to tuck tail and run when I cat hissed and pretended to scratch at it.

Sometimes animals are shocked or confused the first time they see their reflections, but Rapper didn’t seem to care at all.

Even though I give Rapper a bath every few days, never get the warm water or shampoo in his eyes or nose, and blow dry him, he still acts as if it’s the greatest injustice in the world. If I ask him, “Do you wanna take a bath?”, he’ll run away.

Even though I love Rapper with all of my heart, trained him, taught him two languages, feed him, and spend a lot of time with him, he still loves Mom more than me. Maybe it’s because she only gave him a bath a few times. I don’t blame him. I would choose her over me too if I were him.

I promise you that owning a dog will improve your physical and mental health. Recent studies have found that owning a dog has been linked to improved cardiovascular health, increased levels of physical activity, and lower stress levels. I would never in a million years go on three walks a day if it weren’t for my little buddy.

This is one of the first pictures I took of Rapper. I imagine he was missing his real mom and wondering why these humans kidnapped him. I brought him back to see her at six months and one year old and he remembered both his real mom and dad and they him, but he still choose to walk back home with me.

Puppy photography can be a real challenge because they never stay still and if you try to get close for a good shot, they get all excited and try to lick you. You should take as many pictures as you can while they are small because they will get big and not so cute super fast.

Have you ever seen a puppy watching puppies on YouTube under the pale moonlight? After doing a YouTube search for: “TV for dogs”, I was surprised that he actually was interested in watching it. Most of the videos are like eight hours long so if you do have to leave your dog alone at least they have something to look at while you’re gone. They’ll still most likely destroy at least one thing though.

Rapper is your typical deadbeat dad. He’s all lovey-dovey with the girls until they get pregnant then he’ll completely ignore them. He must know that these are his kids because of their scent, but he always seems freaked out and afraid anytime he sees his own offspring. I’m pretty sure that memories or at least familiar scents are passed down from the parent dogs to their puppies because Rapper has gotten about 7 bitches pregnant and has dozens of kids and they all seem to remember me and run up to me even the first time we meet. Has anyone else noticed this too?

I’ve found it is a lot easier to get dogs used to cats than cats used to dogs. Cats just hate dogs deep in their soul. If cats were bigger than dogs they’d surely kill them all. This is one reason why I love dogs more than cats. Imagine if your dog woke up tomorrow ten times their size. They would still love you the same. Now, what would you get if your cat was super big? You’d have a tiger or a lion and we know that is not an animal you could trust.

Take your dog to the beach or let them see snow for the first time and it’s like their inner wolf is released like a kid going to Disneyland.

Thanks for reading about my dog Rapper who can’t rap. If you are a dog lover like me please share some stories, pictures, or parenting tips. If you are thinking of adopting one of these wonderful creatures I hope that my words here may have convinced you to do it. I promise you will be a different person after you do.

Luang Prabang: The secret gem of Asia

I’ve been to about twenty countries, but Luang Prabang, Laos is my favorite spot so far. I’ve been lucky enough to call it home for the last four years and I’d like to share my best photos of it with you today.

Even though it’s a small town it has a very diverse amount of visitors. I’ve met tourists from almost every country, even ones I’ve never heard of before. They love watching Thai shows and listening to Thai music and Lao is very similar to Thai so they can understand Thai, but most people can speak English. Laos was once a French colony so some people can speak French. A lot of people can speak Chinese as well.

Vietnam

Not a lot of people have heard or know about Luang Prabang or even the country of Laos, but everyone knows Vietnam which is next door. Laos is a landlocked country that also borders Cambodia, Thailand, Burma, and China. It’s about a 45-minute flight from Bangkok, but you can also take their new high-speed train from China or Thailand.

When my old Navy buddy invited me to visit him in Hanoi, Vietnam, I had to take him up on the offer so we could talk about our time in Vietnam when we are old men. These guys invited us to drink beers with them. They were some of the best beer drinkers I’ve ever met. When they’d pour a drink they’d always say, “Gombai”, which means buttoms up. When I puked in the street and said, “No more Gombai”, they all laughed heartily.

Kuang Si Waterfall

The first thing we did after arriving in Luang Prabang was visit this fantastic waterfall. If the Garden of Eden were real I imagine it would look a lot like Kuang Si. I recently made a HIVE post and a Youtube video about it.

I’ve spent most of my life as a teacher but realized how much I like working in hospitality after I got a job at Pullman Hotel. It’s an expensive five-star hotel on the way to the waterfall, but there are also many nice guest houses in town that will only cost about $10 a night.

Temples and the King’s House

This beautiful house that looks like a temple was once the king’s home but is a museum today.

You can’t miss Phousi because it’s on top of a hill downtown and can be seen from almost anywhere in Luang Prabang. It also serves as a good marker if you get lost.

La Pistoche Pool and Bar is a great place to bring the kids, have some food and drinks, or just get out of the sun.

They take a lot of pride in their local beer, Beerlao, and rightfully so because it tastes great and usually costs less than a dollar.

Thanks for checking out Luang Prabang today. If you are planning on visiting South East Asia it’s really worth a visit.

Another day in Paradise at Kuang Si Waterfall:
https://peakd.com/hive-184437/@jeremiahcustis/another-day-in-paradise-at-kuang-si-waterfall

Kuang Si Waterfall:
https://www.tourismluangprabang.org/things-to-do/nature/kuang-si-waterfall/

Pullman Hotel:
https://www.pullman-luangprabang.com/

La Pistoche Pool and Bar:
https://lapistochepool.wordpress.com/

Rise of the Commons

Serpentines are naturally sneaky, but their highly-trained spies can infiltrate even the most secure bases in the Splinterlands. They wear minimal armor because they are never caught. Retractable miniature spears are the chosen weapon of the Serpentine Spies; they can be hidden easily and brandished quickly for many uses.

The Antoid Platoon held their ground for this battle victory today, but the Serpentine Spy was the MVP or MVNFT. It had enough speed at level 3 to dodge the enemy’s attacks several times. It has a low amount of health making it the target as it was an Opportunity battle so those misses really gave me the edge.

I am not a fan of the Untamed card set so I was surprised to see that I own so many of them. I think most of the cards are useless and the art looks lame, but I know diversification is important in Splinterlands and you should have at least 1 of every card especially the ones that can fly and the low mana cards. I’m looking forward to seeing the new cards later this year and seeing all of these cards becoming part of Wild.

Both my enemy and I chose the Antoid Platoon as tanks because it was a low mana battle and the Antoid Platoon can really hold its own even though it only uses 4 mana. We both put out the martyr rat so we could boost some stats, but it didn’t work out for either of us. The Radiated Scorcher also came in handy because it only uses up 1 mana, but it can shatter the shields of your enemy. I’m getting pretty good at making these animated GIFs of my Splinterlands battles, but it’s not easy to do the first time. First, you have to screen capture your battle move by move or round by round and make sure everything stays in the same position. Then you have to generate the GIF. I use an app on my phone so I have to email the images to myself and download them in the right order or it gets jumbled up. Then you have to crop the image. I think this should all be done automatically when you get the “share your battle” link. It wouldn’t be that hard to program into the game and it would make sharing battles on social media more interesting than still photos.

I really like the idea of only allowing common cards to be used in battle because it gives non-whales a chance. If you only have one BCX of your cards then this makes sense, but if you are working with MAX level cards it doesn’t seem to be any cheaper to have common cards compared to legendary cards because you only need 11 cards to MAX out the legendaries but you need 400 for common cards so the price to MAX comes out the same. MAX level legendary cards will be more productive on Land so maybe we’ll start to see the prices of legendaries go up soon. I still have a lot of cards I need to MAX so I hope Land gets delayed another month or two, but it’s currently being tested on the Mav server so it’s most likely just around the corner. Are you ready for Land? I’m not. I only have 10,000 DEC so I’ll only be able to stake enough for one card. I figure I’ll just use my earnings to save up for DEC to stake on the other four cards over time. What about you? How many cards and Plots of Land do you have ready?

Check out my battle:
https://splinterlands.com?p=battle&id=sl_c92dab63e62acc3d46e8f06182f33224&ref=jeremiahcustis

This week’s SPLINTERLANDS BATTLE MAGE SECRETS Challenge:
https://peakd.com/hive-13323/@splinterlands/battlemagesecrets-september-20-2023

Check out my original artwork at NFTShowroom:
https://nftshowroom.com/jeremiahcustis/gallery

Check out some amazing art by the Splinterlands community:
https://peakd.com/hive-13323/@splinterlands/splinterlands-art-contest-week-259

by @sephiwolf

by @jordangerderf

The Slow Magic Spam

The fearsome woman now known as Obsidian grew up in the remote village of Stonebluff as the last remaining Earth mage. Each year, Earth elementalists went off to compete in the contest, leaving Obsidian to train the next generation of warriors. She wished to join the contest of champions, but the village elders advised her against it, saying she needed to stay behind and focus on training others to use Earth magic.

How are you fellow Splinterlanders doing today? Are you ready for Land? I’m not. I had enough DEC to stake the five cards I was going to put to work, but when card prices dropped, I feared it would be the last chance to MAX them out before Land jacked the prices up so I spent it all on summoners and cards. I figure I’ll just put one card to work for now and put all the earnings it makes into DEC so I can stake the next card and so on. Can I put my MAXed card to work without the full 10,000 DEC? Well, I guess we’re about to find out because Land is now in testing with the Mavs. What is a Mav anyway? How do you become a Mav?

My battle strategy today was the laziest one possible; a magic spam. If you are underpowered or not sure what to do then choosing all magic cards can work because magic will usually pass by your enemy’s shields. It was a battle where slow cards go first so of course I chose all slow cards and so did my enemy, but I committed to all magic cards except for the first one so that’s why I won. Sometimes you have to KISS or “keep it simple stupid” to win. What’s your favorite go-to Splinterlands battle crutch? I’m a dragon lover so when in doubt I’ll go with the purple splinter.

Obsidian is one of my favorite non-dragon summoners because she boosts the magic attack of all cards by one point. You can counter her with a magic nerfing summoner. There are a few cards that can nerf magic too, but if they die then the nerf dies with them. You can also choose cards that have magic shields and magic reflect to counter the mighty Obsidian. I think getting a bunch of free summoners as reward cards is killing the Chaos core summoner prices, but I am not complaining because I could care less about card prices. I just want to make it to the 💎Diamond💎 and 🏆Champion🏆 leagues. I thought once the bots got kicked out of the Modern League that things would get easier, but that doesn’t seem to be the case because I haven’t stepped foot in 💎Diamond💎 league for over a month now. Thanks for reading about my thoughtless lazy magic spamming battle today. Admit it. You’ve done this before many times too.

Check out my battle:
https://splinterlands.com?p=battle&id=sl_b371f97652a117e84e83e090c8333327&ref=jeremiahcustis

This week’s SPLINTERLANDS BATTLE MAGE SECRETS Challenge:
https://peakd.com/hive-13323/@splinterlands/battlemagesecrets-september-13-2023

Check out my original artwork at NFTShowroom:
https://nftshowroom.com/jeremiahcustis/gallery

Check out some amazing art by the Splinterlands community:
https://peakd.com/hive-13323/@splinterlands/splinterlands-art-contest-week-258

by @catrynart

by @victoradebiyiart

Odd Ones Out with Cruel Sethropod

Sailors tell many tales of the dangers of the Cruel Sethropods. Armed with strong pincers and teeth as sharp as spears, they attack anything that gets within range. It is nearly impossible to remove a Cruel Sethropod once it has latched on, and many a sailor has the scars to show where they ventured too close.

The 🦀Cruel Sethropod🦀 is a card I dismissed as weak and worthless at first, but I was very wrong because it wins a lot in certain situations like today when I used it to win an Odds Out ruleset or in Little League where only cards with 4 mana or less may be used. It may be a soft card at lower levels, but once you get it to MAX level it really shines even though it lacks any abilities. You have to admit that getting 7 life, 3 shield, and 3 melee attack is a pretty good deal for only 3 mana. I was able to pick this card up slowly for about one cent per card for free because I used the HBD I earned from participating in these weekly Splinterlands challenges. I like to go to the market and scoop up as many of the cheapest cards I can that day that I haven’t MAXed out yet. I’ve MAXed most of my common Chaos Legion cards, but I’ve got a way to MAX the whole deck which is something I failed to do in Beta or Untamed, but I feel I need to do If I’m going to eventually compete in the 🏆Champion League🏆.

I don’t usually put my 🦀Cruel Sethropod🦀 into high mana battles, but it worked out today even though it fell in the first round. It used up only 3 mana and put up enough of a roadblock for me to delay the enemy while I used the mana on other cards. There weren’t any magic attacks allowed so I was able to repair armor to the front long enough for my two sneak-attack monsters to destroy my enemy bit by bit from the rear. My enemy relied on ranged attacks. They were strong enough to take out my 🦀Cruel Sethropod🦀 and 🦑Flying Squid🦑 but not fast enough before I took out their team from the back. A lot of Splinterlands players focus too much on their frontal attacks, but forget that sometimes attacking the enemy’s soft rear is the best approach.

Thanks for reading about my Odds Out battle using the 🦀Cruel Sethropod🦀 today. I know a lot of players are getting frustrated with all of the delays with the release of Land 1.5, but I’m happy it’s taking forever because Land will surely jack card prices up and I haven’t prepared my DEC or land workers plus we’ve already waited for years so what’s a few more weeks?

Check out my battle:
https://splinterlands.com?p=battle&id=sl_f70f5d8f519db98ecefcbda32d0dab5f&ref=jeremiahcustis

This week’s SPLINTERLANDS BATTLE MAGE SECRETS Challenge:
https://peakd.com/hive-13323/@splinterlands/battlemagesecrets-september-6-2023

Check out my original artwork at NFTShowroom:
https://nftshowroom.com/jeremiahcustis/gallery

Check out some amazing art by the Splinterlands community:
https://peakd.com/hive-13323/@splinterlands/splinterlands-art-contest-week-257
by @alexa.art

Captain Katie to the Rescue

Not only is Katherine Windrun the best airship pilot in Kyhmeria, but she pioneered the recent creation of these mechanical sky beasts. Because of the crystal propulsion system that can be constructed there alone, Khymeria is the only Splinter that has taken to the skies. Her ship, Windrunner 2 is without a doubt the fastest of the airships. It can be sailed with a crew of as few as four people and a single boiler generates all the steam that is needed to fly the massive vessel.

Captain Katie is a card you can earn only by participating in brawls. You can’t buy her as she is a soulbound card which means you can’t rent or sell her either. You can 🔥burn🔥 her for DEC if you want, but that would be a big mistake as she is a valuable card if you want to win. Like all Gladius cards, she has the Bloodlust which boosts all her stats each time she kills. She’s a pretty strong card out the gate, but once she gets on a roll she can get way too powerful real quick.

My battle today had two rules. Melee Mayhem and Gladius. Melee Mayhem is a fun rule because it allows melee monsters to strike from any position and Gladius lets you use one of your gladiator cards.

My wife is a way better Splinterlands strategist than I am for several reasons. She doesn’t buy or upgrade any of the cards so she lacks any emotional connection to them. She also isn’t stuck in her ways like I am and she doesn’t always follow the rules like I do. I tend to choose speedy cards first and foolishly select cards that I think look cool. Not her. She just uses what works.

If I had played this battle I would have gone with all melee cards for a strong offense, but she didn’t get all excited about using mostly melee attacks as her enemy did. I doubt I would have gone with Captain Katie either because I’m still stuck with the thinking that using legendary cards, is the way to go. Chaos Legion really is chaotic because some of the most winning cards are the common and rare cards but that doesn’t mean the Legendary cards are bad they just don’t always come with a guaranteed victory as they did with the older cards.

This was a fun match to watch because she also defeated the dreaded Chain Golem. I hate that card because I could never afford it and it would always beat me, but luckily it’s not seen on the battlefield as often as before.

Captain Katie doesn’t look scary or tough in any way, but I’ve seen several YouTubers mention her as a winner several times. I doubt if I’ve used her but a few times, but after today I’ll keep her in mind. Thanks for reading about my better half’s battle today. What are some cards that you’ve overlooked that turned out to be winners?

Check out my battle:
https://splinterlands.com?p=battle&id=sl_88b3bb0ff26a6ff65ddac59efe6257e7&ref=jeremiahcustis

This week’s SPLINTERLANDS BATTLE MAGE SECRETS Challenge:
https://peakd.com/hive-13323/@splinterlands/battlemagesecrets-august-23-2023

Check out my original artwork at NFTShowroom:
https://nftshowroom.com/jeremiahcustis/gallery

Check out some amazing art by the Splinterlands community:
https://peakd.com/hive-13323/@splinterlands/splinterlands-art-contest-week-255by @chopiliart

No Magic? No Problems!

Uriel was amongst the many Pelacor that fled Solaki and its military regime when he was young. He found himself in Khymeria, like so many of his brothers and sisters, but even though they practiced with life magic it just didn’t feel quite pure enough for him. So he traveled to different Worlds, seeking somewhere he could find that elusive clarity of virtue. On the bright World of Régalien, he won his armor in brutal combat, gold and silver plates forged together with the strongest metals known and lacquered in the translucent blood of a diamond giant. An armor that could not only heal him but would smite his foes should he ever fall in battle. Still, it was not enough. Then on the fiery World of Temisrok, he fought and slayed the terrible drake, Cizilth, winning favor with the bladesmiths who wrought his sword with fiery runes, instilling an everlasting flame into the weapon. And still, the clean virtue wasn’t sufficient, so the hunt continued.

Uriel the Purifier is one of my favorite tank cards. He can fly at level 1 and self-heal at level 2 and inflicts one point of damage when he dies at MAX level, but I’m doing pretty good with him at level 3. I would like to MAX him before this bear market ends, but I probably won’t because there are other cards that would help me win that are on my shopping list in front of him. If I ever do make it to the 🏆Champion League🏆, I think I’ll do fine with him at level 3 because he’s basically maxed at level 3, but it would be nice having that redemption ability. It’s hard to MAX every card so I’ll get the cheap ones first then the ones that help me win. There are always YouTube streamers sharing their data on which cards win the most so that helps too.

I didn’t think I was going to be able to participate in this week’s Battle Mage Secrets Challenge because I’ve been stuck in 🥈Silver League🥈 and lost every no magic allowed battle that came along until now. I don’t understand why the 🥈Silver League🥈 is harder than the 🥇Gold League🥇 and 💎Diamond League💎 is easier than both 🥇Gold League🥇 or 🥈Silver League🥈. At least we don’t get knocked back three places like we did before because I hate playing in the 🥈Silver League🥈, but I didn’t make it to 💎Diamond League💎 last season so I’ll have to grind through it this season.

The Living Lava was one of the hard-to-beat meta cards back in the day, but I was able to beat him with Uriel the Purifier and my strong dragon reach monster today. It was also an Odds Out battle so I couldn’t use my healer so I had to rely on a strong offense. Uriel the Purifier got pretty low on health, but my enemy had neither a healer nor a self-healer so that’s why I won. Thanks for reading about my battle today. I find that if I get stuck in this game that it’s best to quit playing for a few days because the competition gets weaker, but it’s hard to do because I want to play every day.

Check out my battle:
https://splinterlands.com?p=battle&id=sl_6a1d685561f86b90f0a4c77a9a0748b6&ref=jeremiahcustis

This week’s SPLINTERLANDS BATTLE MAGE SECRETS Challenge:
https://peakd.com/hive-13323/@splinterlands/battlemagesecrets-august-16-2023

Check out my original artwork at NFTShowroom:
https://nftshowroom.com/jeremiahcustis/gallery

Check out some amazing art by the Splinterlands community:
https://peakd.com/hive-13323/@splinterlands/splinterlands-art-contest-week-255by @oscariart

Lost Legends

The family Towershead is a simple, mountain-dwelling clan from the upper Seed Mountains of Anumun. While the family has a long and rich history of involvement in the development of Lyveria and the Maglarian Reformation, sunset has fallen on their line. Quora’s parents, Kurion and Hija, have never had a son and have grown old. Although they continue to try, destiny does not seem to wish for a male heir to carry on their family name. Quora will one day be the last of her clan. Although the name of Towershead will vanish, it will be up to only her to pass on the warriors’ blood that flows in her veins. At 24, she is not eager to go find a husband, but because of her ferocity in battle, her father Kurion has presented a plan in which she has found favor.

Who do you think is the most powerful Splinterlands card? A lot of people would say it’s Quora Towershead. That’s why I blocked my enemy from using her in Brawl battles and am happy to have defeated her today. She really is too much with her dual magic and melee attacks, heart life, and her Bloodlust ability which boosts all of her stats each time she kills. There should be some way to counter or nerf the Bloodlust with a new ability. I wonder how many players have her at MAX level. I’m happy to have her at level two and hope to get her to at least level three before this set of cards is no longer printed.

None of my Soulbound summoners are at MAX level yet so I’m still relying on my core Chaos Legion summoners, but they are better sometimes because they use less mana. I didn’t think I was going to win this battle once I saw Quora and because I failed to use up all of my mana, but Grund was able to get the job done. My enemy and I both chose slow monsters because they went first in this battle. I think luck and strong magic attacks as well as nerfing their magic is why I won.

Lost Legendaries is a great rule because it keeps rich whales from dominating battles with their expensive cards. Chaos Legion is named appropriately because I feel the common cards are the best cards. (As long as they are at MAX level.)

Have you given Genesis League Goals a try yet? There doesn’t seem to be much interest at the moment so you can build a team for super cheap. I’m not one to give financial advice, but I imagine that next year when it’s possible to open Lionel Messi in a pack and more MLS fans find out about it things will be different. I am in no way a soccer fan, but I like this game.

Check out my battle:
https://splinterlands.com?p=battle&id=sl_6702726892b9ece244699bebdaa11d44&ref=jeremiahcustis

This week’s SPLINTERLANDS BATTLE MAGE SECRETS Challenge:
https://peakd.com/hive-13323/@splinterlands/battlemagesecrets-august-9-2023

Check out my original artwork at NFTShowroom:
https://nftshowroom.com/jeremiahcustis/gallery

Check out some amazing art by the Splinterlands community:
https://peakd.com/hive-13323/@splinterlands/splinterlands-art-contest-week-253
by @chopiliart

by @vicente99

by @brataka

GiANT SCoRPioN

Near the eastern edge of the Rayso Range in Mortis, the creepies and crawlies grow quite massive. In this survival of the fittest giant insect situation, the scorpions have thrived, bullying every other species into submission. The Lord of Darkness believes the giant insects result from the strange purple gasses that seep through the cracks of Bren-Ha, and he has plans to throw more giant monsters into the mountain as an experiment.

Blinding Reflectors, also known as Reflects, are unique among Life magic elementalists in that they channel their Life essence into their shields. They are the first units into battle and stand at the front of the line, firing a concentrated beam of Life energy to blind their enemies and reflect any magic attacks against them. If multiple Reflects use their abilities in unison, they can create a ray of light as bright as the sun.

I got beat today in a Little League battle that only allows cards with four mana or less to be selected. The main card my enemy put out front was the Giant Scorpion. I’ve never heard of or seen this card until today so let’s check it out.

I wouldn’t have paid any attention to the Giant Scorpion because I didn’t like the Untamed edition of cards. They are now expensive and will soon be unplayable in Modern League so I don’t even look at most of them. I’ll rent a few Legendary or other OP Untamed cards toward the end of the season, but this Giant Scorpion never appeared on my screen until today.

It’s a strong card when it’s at MAX level, but I could get a few or more great Chaos Legion cards instead of this one expensive Giant Scorpion. It looks cool so I’ll at least get a level one card.

I thought I had this battle because the Giant Scorpion looked weak and all of my cards were well-placed MAX-level cards. My enemy also had mostly MAX-level cards but a better ranged and magic attack strategy. At least I killed their Giant Scorpion before seeing my team slaughtered in battle.

⚽️GLG⚽️ is now playable! I know a lot of the community feels the graphics look lame, but I’ve played the game several times even though I’ve never been a football or soccer fan and felt the gameplay was fun. I tried showing my wife and she watched me play two or three times before she told me I was dumb and to let her play so I’m glad I’ll have my wife-bot attacking this game too. I use a few bots to play the accounts of my kids who’ve lost interest in the game, but my wife is a better player than the bots by at least a factor of two. I think I’m almost as good as a bot so I don’t suck completely, but I’m OG and know some old-school Splintertricks.

What do you like to do when it’s only 4 mana or less allowed? I love going with 🐲Dragon🐲 and then 🔥Fire🔥 choosing the fastest cards first. I’ll blast them with my exploding rats and grind through them with my ants. What about you? What’s your strategy?

Check out my battle:
https://splinterlands.com?p=battle&id=sl_f2e3cf4e50a6bfbd1c37896dcb5dbe0c&ref=jeremiahcustis

This week’s SPLINTERLANDS BATTLE MAGE SECRETS Challenge:
https://peakd.com/hive-13323/@splinterlands/battlemagesecrets-august-2-2023

Check out my original artwork at NFTShowroom:
https://nftshowroom.com/jeremiahcustis/gallery

Check out some amazing art by the Splinterlands community:
https://peakd.com/hive-13323/@splinterlands/splinterlands-art-contest-week-252by @alexa.art

Keep Your Distance

Many centuries ago, the Pelacor followed the prophet, Edalus, on what has become known as the ‘Exile.’ They followed him into the Mountains of Fire surrounding Mount Praetorous. For generations, they lived alone in these mountains, hidden away. They were taught to worship the sun and moon gods, Solaki and Lunaki, deities dreamt into existence from the bones of Edalus’ dead parents and his zealous mind. The scriptures read that the two Gods were carried into the heavens upon pieces of consecrated land, torn from the World to raise them high so that their worshipers would always look up to them and forever be beneath their great heavenly power.

How are all of you fellow Splinterlanders doing today? Have you been enjoying this long dip in the bear cave? How much longer do you think it can last? I hope it continues for another year or at least long enough for me to MAX my entire deck and stock up on SPS. I’ve got three summoners, a few Legendary, and most Common cards MAXed, so if the bull sneaks up on us before the halving, at least I’ll be able to keep battling in the Gold and Diamond Leagues, but what I want is to get back into Champion. I was there in the Beta days, but things were different back then. You couldn’t lock your cards. There wasn’t the community we enjoy today and there weren’t any useful video streamers to learn from. I didn’t take Splinterlands seriously back then because I figured there would be a better blockchain-based play-to-earn game come along so I sold all of my Beta and Alpha cards. I won’t make the same mistake with my Chaos Legion cards. They may not be as valuable, but they look way better and are mostly more powerful. Do you think Rebellion will be even stronger or will it be a dud like most of Untamed? I’m guessing it will be a dud like most TV shows where you have a consequential episode followed by a filler. I’ll make sure to get one of every card, then I’ll wait a few months for prices to drop before I start MAXing anything over one cent per card.

My battle today was played by my wife. She was the Death team and her enemy was the Life team. I was about to do the same thing as the enemy out of habit because the Pelacor Conjurer is the go-to card when mana is limited or melee is not allowed, but this battle also had the rule that all cards lose their abilities so he wasn’t going to reflect magic so my wife’s choice of going with the most health possible for the minimal mana allowed as well as the Death summoner’s nerfing the enemy’s magic was the way to go.

I often joke with her that she would’ve made and maybe was a good general with her strategic mind in the past life, but the universe is punishing her now, so she must be my wife to make up for her past sins. It’s annoying that she doesn’t even know what the Hive Blockchain is and can’t remember her Facebook or Google passwords, but she’s way better at the game than I am. I’m glad she’s on my side and helping our guild win brawls.

Did you see the historic congressional briefing today? It was boring so I fell asleep a few minutes into it. I just remember something about non-human intelligence and how it’s ruining the game so they removed it from Modern ranked battles. Does it seem easier or harder now that the ~~bots~~ are mostly gone? I haven’t really noticed the difference, but I’m glad the ~~bots~~ are gone. What about you? Do you think we should vote to remove ~~bots~~ from Wild too?

Check out my battle:
https://splinterlands.com?p=battle&id=sl_9d171d3a8d535673c5e5ad9e66950cb6&ref=jeremiahcustis

This week’s SPLINTERLANDS BATTLE MAGE SECRETS Challenge:
https://peakd.com/hive-13323/@splinterlands/battlemagesecrets-july-26-2023

Check out my original artwork at NFTShowroom:
https://nftshowroom.com/jeremiahcustis/gallery

Check out some amazing art by the Splinterlands community:
https://peakd.com/hive-13323/@splinterlands/splinterlands-art-contest-week-251by @catrynartby @alexa.art
by @hadley4

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History<img decoding="async" src="https://images.hive.blog/0x0/https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/jeremiahcustis/23x19PAFsMBWHXfTxg4uTUNUA6H3r8Aubeg98riiFfqXvZsFZt1pEEQYFGUXwCAKjnfns.jpg" alt="3.jpg">

Vietnam

Kuang Si Waterfall

Temples and the King’s House

The Tradition

History