Rurik Harrgath

Several challenges ago I got intimately familiar with writing olfactory senses and very creative with their characterization! I think my Amorentia would be sweet lavender and the sweat of exertion from exercise, with notes of worldly musk and amber speaking to far off adventures and feminine confidence. As far as dosha, I'm Demon Hunter through and through. As much Assassin as Ranger, as much Druid as the aforementioned, I battle my demons with their own powers and yet without falling to the same darkness. I actually coined a fun 'poem' about that the other night, one you might appreciate given the current struggle and our camaraderie on this website... Depression & Fitness: I grew tired of fearing the monsters under my bed and inside my head, so I picked up a barbell one day and became a monster myself.

Challenge Journal: January 20th, 2019. Remember the last time I went on a date and was super excited for potential but simultaneously terrified of the potential impact the development of #feelings could have on fragile mental health? Well, ladies and gentlemen, we're there again... Back in the summer my best gym buddy mentioned a girl from our gym and I paid it no mind. I have a semi-strict rule (well, more of a guideline than actual rule...) about dating in the gym; can't risk my Happy Place being a source of drama. Fast forward to mid-December and she pops up on my Mutual Friends/People You May Known on Facebook and Instagram, so I figure what the heck and add her. Briefly creep, didn't feel super inclined to cold approach through the classic Fuckboy In Your DMs route, and nothing comes of it. Keep in mind, I hadn't met this gal in person yet - she frequents much later classes than I do. Leap forward againt to January 2nd, when I'm wrapping up a 4pm class and spy a flourish of activity near the gym door and a sprig of wavy hair peeking out beneath a toque (Americans: cold weather beanie hat). Granted I was then currently dying to a vehemently dastardly barbell complex, she still caught my eye and I didn't right away recognize her. Beautiful in a classic, almost Duchess Kate (see above) sort of timeless way, it wasn't until I finished up the workout and actually walked past her (without exchanging a word, I might add; we're both terrible for introductions apparently and that's since become a challenge goal). Again, I didn't think twice and went on with my day, until... I receive an Instagram direct message saying it was nice to finally meet me in person, even though we didn't actually meet. That was 18 days ago, one shared workout (Wednesday, when I stuck around for Oly and then did a double WOD after which nearly killed me), one date (Friday, grabbing dinner together, checking out Vice in theaters, and a couple drinks - and by a couple, I mean shutting the Tavern down at 2:30am), and thousands of messages later (we literally text a couple hundred times per day, it seems), and now inspiring over four paragraphs of a hopeless romantic's narrative. I've been on a lot of dates the past year and change. More than most folks probably have in a lifetime, but I can't think of one that went so well. We're both passionate about city sustainable development and heritage sites (literally her career here), share a metropolitan attitude somewhat out of place in this simple prairie city, and frankly both a little damaged, a little anxious and prone to oversharing about past relationships, that kind of indirectly thrust us close together even when we were nothing but Instagram pen pals. But as she said herself, it's like we've known each other for ages already. God I hope I don't fuck it up. But that's why I've been kind of quiet these past several days. Time to sit back and enjoy the ride. Oh, I also finally have a dining table and an industrial shelving unit in my living room, but that's hardly half so exciting. There's a whole bunch of checkmarks and other stuff down below now. Week 2 is a wrap, onto Week 3 full of potential! CRACKIN’ SKULLS & CHAININ’ COMBOS "A delicate balancing act of fuel and activity." [+2 STR, DEX, STA, CON] The Mindful Art of Nutritional Alchemy™: 2238 / 2170 cals. MyFitnessPal tracking streak: 25 days 5 CrossFit classes per week: ☑☑☑☑☑ [Challenge Total: ☑☑☑☐☐] I DON'T BELIEVE IN ANYTHING... "Dump Stat my Charisma until I’m an Extrovert.” [+5 CHA] Partake of 4 sessions of “Be Happy” per week: ☑☑☑☑ Social activity 2 times/week: ☑☑ Moment of Positivity shared (per update): ☑ ...I'M JUST HERE FOR THE VIOLENCE A Self-Improvement Junkie. [+2 WIS] Post a daily challenge update 4 of 7 days/week: ☑☑☑☐ Weekly weigh-in: 224.3 lbs Ongoing To-Do mini-quests… ☐ Read: [In Progress] Kings of the Wyld, Thief Who Pulled on Trouble's Braid,You Are A Badass, Remember your N.U.T.S. ☑ Play: Game out ☐ Play: Hit the slopes snowboarding! ☐ Write: Share one self-authored poem. ☐ Currency: [140g] Sell 250g worth of clutter. ☐ Currency: [Pending] 2-week shopping ban. ☐ Test: CrossFit benchmark metric [TBA] See below! Mini-challenge goals... ☑ Relax Feat: Self-care date. ☐ Distance Feat: 5km ruck. ☐ Social Feat: Introduce myself to every unfamiliar member at my gym this week [Total: 5_ ] ☐ Speed Feat: Complete a CrossFit benchmark WOD for time. I'm sure it's a mental health disorder covered under the umbrella term we know as "Rangerbrain™" but there are far worse things to suffer from! And thank you! The heavens briefly quaked as his Chaplainship was one-upped at his own game! I agree with using the same scale; the nice trait about this digital scale is it requires no zeroing unlike my old analog scale (which has officially been ejected from the house as of tonight). I share a similar disconnect; when I'm concerned about my weight I oftentimes forget just how much muscle I've stacked on my frame compared to where I began and even my contemporaries at the gym who concern themselves even more with their diets than I do. One of my oldest gym friends once commented on how jacked I had gotten and asked what I was eating... to which I sheepishly remarked, "mostly donuts and pizza, John." It wasn't due to fitness journey, but I can relate on being "down a size" after my surgery, haha! Goals indeed are! Mental health, not always so (but that's how hormones go). It's been quite the interesting start to 2019, I dare say! You've met me at the crux of my problem... people I should already know but don't. How do I introduce myself to someone I've seen a dozen times already? It dials social anxiety up to 11, haha I couldn't agree with this more. I hope I'm half so useless as those 'gents when I'm of an advanced age!

How couldn't I? Dang, grrrrrrrrrl. It's official, this thread is bad for my health... but like in a totally good way. Cuz of the extra heartbeats and whatnot. *hyperventilates* I think close to a third of all Rangers seem to have a Druid/mental well-being goal in their challenges this month!

Challenge Journal: January 15th, 2019. Gonna try a new thing this week, instead of Weida Wednesday we're going to forgo the alliteration and start #HemsworthWednesday! I'm over the scale shock. Thank you all for the encouragement and kind words; it's just a new metric to adjust, and if anything, further motivation to stick to my nutrition and tracking guns! And these guns! *points to arms* Boom! Old picture though, I'm probably not as lean right now, plus beard much shorter and sides much balder. I'm killing time until a double class tonight, Weightlifting Team at 7pm and then regular WOD after - pulling a double to workout with a lady friend after, so pretty excited for that. Who knows, could be a terrible idea, but looking forward to it all the same. Playing some Rob Bailey & The Hustle Standard to prep my central nervous system for the two hours of heavy weights and brief conditioning workout... jacked to see what my body can do; the strange thing is I haven't been lifting what I should be capable of lately, but I feel better than ever and I'm really dominating my metabolic conditioning workouts. So maybe, in some ways, I'm feeding into my Ranger sub-type: Scoundrel archetype through losing some of my prodigal Warrior strength and feeding into my Scout conditioning? I'll take it. CRACKIN’ SKULLS & CHAININ’ COMBOS "A delicate balancing act of fuel and activity." [+2 STR, DEX, STA, CON] The Mindful Art of Nutritional Alchemy™: 2126 / 2170 cals. MyFitnessPal tracking streak: 21 days 5 CrossFit classes per week: ☑☑☑☐☐ [Challenge Total: ☑☑☐☐☐] I DON'T BELIEVE IN ANYTHING... "Dump Stat my Charisma until I’m an Extrovert.” [+5 CHA] Partake of 4 sessions of “Be Happy” per week: ☑☑☐☐ Social activity 2 times/week: ☑☐ Moment of Positivity shared (per update): ☑ ...I'M JUST HERE FOR THE VIOLENCE A Self-Improvement Junkie. [+2 WIS] Post a daily challenge update 4 of 7 days/week: ☑☑☐☐ Weekly weigh-in: 224.3 lbs Ongoing To-Do mini-quests… ☐ Read: [In Progress] Kings of the Wyld, Thief Who Pulled on Trouble's Braid,You Are A Badass, Remember your N.U.T.S. ☑ Play: Game out - played a bunch of Overwatch last night! ☐ Play: Hit the slopes snowboarding! ☐ Write: Share one self-authored poem. ☐ Currency: [90g] Sell 250g worth of clutter. ☐ Currency: [Pending] 2-week shopping ban. ☐ Test: CrossFit benchmark metric [TBA] See below! Mini-challenge goals... ☑ Relax Feat: Self-care date. ☐ Distance Feat: 5km ruck. ☐ Social Feat: Introduce myself to every unfamiliar member at my gym this week [Total: 5_ ] ☐ Speed Feat: Complete a CrossFit benchmark WOD for time. I feel I'm leaning out slowly, my uniform fits better (which was the major impetus behind this quest), and I'm performing well. So it's just a matter of Grind™, regardless of what the scale says. It's only there as a guideline to make sure I stay on task and am making progress at a preferred rate. Rawr. Both, actually! Equaled out to the same. She did not appreciate my trying to wrangle her onto the scale of her own accord though, haha! And I've totally done a pregnancy workout with a 14lb medicine ball saran wrapped around my midsection. Probably one of the funniest workouts I've ever had. Quite true. It took an overnight to process, but this really isn't the end of the world. Just another metric to overcome and defeat!

Challenge Journal: January 15th, 2019. Happy belated #MomoaMondayTuesday! So one of my goals this challenge was to follow the In&Out Principle, whereby I can only purchase new superfluous objects/items by purging/selling old ones. Another was to really dial in my nutrition tracking and get back into a weekly weigh-in for progress reporting. With that in mind, I returned some things to Walmart and picked up a digital scale. What followed was most upsetting. My whole Nerd Fitness career I've been using the same crappy $5 analog scale. It guided me from 240ish lbs down to 185lbs and back to 220lbs and now to the realm of 208lbs on my path back down to sub-200 bodyweight. However, judging by Camp Nerd Fitness' powerlifting competition when I came in about 16lbs heavier than I expected, and my gym's weightlifting meet when I was similarly surprised, I've determined that thing was a piece of garbage and tossed it today. What this really means is that I've been misreporting my weight for about 4+ years haha! Whichever device is truly accurate, even weighing my cat resulted in a 2+ lb difference after carefully zeroing my old scale. It now occupies my garbage box, and I will be going by the new digital scale - no matter how disconcerting and frankly downright demoralizing the report was. See my Challenge update below for results because I simply cannot post it twice. Another update: I sold two pairs of lululemon shorts on Facebook Marketplace to a gentleman from Florida for a cool sum but forgot to factor in Paypal's rates and extra shipping so I ended up making exactly what I listed them for in USD as CAD. Not the end of the world, but a good lesson for my foray into online selling. Also I got a nice return on my health benefits spending account; these payed for my new hoodie, dining room table, and an extra payment on my credit card. Now to sell a couple more items to pay for my Ikea shelving unit this weekend. Minimalism can be fun, folks! CRACKIN’ SKULLS & CHAININ’ COMBOS "A delicate balancing act of fuel and activity." [+2 STR, DEX, STA, CON] The Mindful Art of Nutritional Alchemy™: 1970 / 2170 cals. MyFitnessPal tracking streak: 20 days 5 CrossFit classes per week: ☑☑☐☐☐ [Challenge Total: ☑☑☐☐☐] I DON'T BELIEVE IN ANYTHING... "Dump Stat my Charisma until I’m an Extrovert.” [+5 CHA] Partake of 4 sessions of “Be Happy” per week: ☑☐☐☐ Social activity 2 times/week: ☑☐ Moment of Positivity shared (per update): ☑ ...I'M JUST HERE FOR THE VIOLENCE A Self-Improvement Junkie. [+2 WIS] Post a daily challenge update 4 of 7 days/week: ☑☐☐☐ Weekly weigh-in: 224.3 lbs Ongoing To-Do mini-quests… ☐ Read: [In Progress] Kings of the Wyld, Thief Who Pulled on Trouble's Braid,You Are A Badass, Remember your N.U.T.S. ☑ Play: Game out - played a bunch of Overwatch last night! ☐ Play: Hit the slopes snowboarding! ☐ Write: Share one self-authored poem. ☐ Currency: [90g] Sell 250g worth of clutter. ☐ Currency: [Pending] 2-week shopping ban. ☐ Test: CrossFit benchmark metric [TBA] See below! Mini-challenge goals... ☑ Relax Feat: Self-care date. ☐ Distance Feat: 5km ruck. ☐ Social Feat: Introduce myself to every unfamiliar member at my gym this week [Total: 5_ ] ☐ Speed Feat: Complete a CrossFit benchmark WOD for time.

I'm a little behind, still owe the Mini-Challenge gods a 5km Ruck and my Social Feat (in progress, up to 5 new people greeted at my gym!) But I'm not one to NOT bite off more than I can chew, so I'll be adding my Speed Feat: Complete a CrossFit benchmark WOD for time. Which, coincidentally, is also one of my monthly goals are really really needs some motivating to get done! Paging Dr @Big_Show, who's legit character class I discovered is the Swift Hunter, an actual Ranger/Scout hybrid I found in some homebrew D&D online!

Not enough time for a proper update (cuz bed = priority even over challenge updates!) but no fear, for I shall return tomorrow for #MomoaTuesday! Mostly Soldier 76, Junkrat, and a little Orisa/Reinhardt when my team is too DERPY to run a tank. I like to switch up playstyles to stave off boredom! Still working on the hamster too haha

Oh my god. My Monday just got a little better...

An old man, seemingly both ageless beyond time but oddly spry for his venerable grade, occupies a corner booth within Ye New & Fancy Ranger Guildhall. From his build and robe, he doesn't seem like a member of the Rangers, but something about his stature suggests he's more than a mere passerby. You feel like you've seen him around before but certainly haven't exchanged words. Now that you think of it, it seems like no one ever approaches the mysterious old man, almost as if he were a fixture of the Guildhall as much as any table or rafter. The faintly glowing bowl of a long-stemmed clay pipe illuminates his face upon every puff of the rich cherrywood scent, shrouding his features as much as the dim lighting. A stack of parchment texts and a roll of scrolls are arrayed about his table in the haphazardly organized manner of a antiquities scholar. As you walk past with a mug of your favorite imbibement, the Old Stranger takes a final puff on his pipe and tucks the implement away before beckoning toward you. "Stay a while, and listen..." Mini-Challenge tracking sheet Each week will feature one of five separate Feats that cue in with that week's story line. You will select a corresponding goal that aligns with the week's Feat and complete it on your own time. These will be fairly similar to our past mini-challenge formats so don't fret. I hope to see a lot of new and old faces joining the mini-challenge and really starting 2019 off with a bang! Week 0: As you sit and hear what the Old Stranger has to say, let your worries and troubles melt away in his oddly comforting presence. Going into the first challenge of 2019 we want you to forget about the baggage you carry from last year and come into the new one with clarity, determination, and your experiences carried lightly at your hip like a familiar tome containing all the spells you've mastered through the years. Choose your Relax Feat and complete it through Zero Week as you prepare to start your challenge. Tell us about what is driving your first challenge of the New Year and what you are doing to right your mindset. Week 1: You listen to a tale of a lost relic from a far off Eastern province, across the desert. If the Old Stranger is sincere, it holds the key to unimaginable power, and he claims someone has smuggled it back to the local municipality though he cannot be sure. One thing is for certain, he must find out. The security of the Realm could be at stake. The Old Stranger pleads that you journey to nearby Garen's Gate to ascertain these claims. Listen for rumors. Feel out the lay of the land and see if there has been any significant amassing of mercenaries, sherpa porters, or even an Eastern caravan. Journey to Garen's Gate (select a Distance Feat). Scout the settlement and keep an ear open for any information on the mysterious relic from the East (a Social Feat) but lay low! We can't afford to attract any more attention to the matter at hand than necessary. Go now! Week 2: Arriving in Garen’s Gate was a simple matter. The weather was cooperative, no bandits troubled your journey, and the town guard was a familiar face who greeted you warmly despite the unease some townsfolk occasionally feel around the mysterious comings and goings of Rangers. Dusk has fallen and the moon arisen. You spy a lamplighter igniting street lamps and pay the boy no mind, for your mind is attuned to the need of the quest at hand. The Old Stranger required that you must keep an ear open and eye peeled for any information about the artifact form the East. Knowing Garen’s Gate as you do, you make first for the dock, expecting the Port Authority or fishermen gossiping might know of something. Alas, the hour is late and only sleepy security and cabin boys occupy the harbor. Next you journey the cobblestone streets to the Garen’s Final Rest Inn where there’s sure to be some townsfolk enjoy a late libation and bawdy tune or two. Once inside you’re immediately greeted by the door man, but not the usual face you would expect. Gone is your friend, replaced by a mountain of a foreigner keeping security. Now that you notice, there are plenty of new faces you don’t recognize. While Garen’s Gate is a travel hub, it remains a simple settlement that doesn’t see many out-of-towners for any length of time. A bard entertains the colorful audience with a mandola, spinning a tale of a damsel who wasn’t in distress at all, but slew the dragon and rescued her fair prince, only to change her mind after all and leave the poor bastard stranded to begin a life of adventure. Smiling, you couldn’t agree more with the bard, what a refreshing turn of circumstances. At the end of the song the singer seems to be taking a break and eagerly accepts a beverage from the tavernkeeper. Giselda, one of the few familiar faces in the inn, brings you a mug of your favorite beverage. You inquire about the unusual clientele about her establishment and she mentions that the source of so many new faces in the town is due to an unusual ship in the harbor – all black, with yellow sails, and no manifest. At least no manifest that was shared with Port Authority and for some reason no one seemed to question that. As Giselda speaks, you also notice the bard briefly meet with the tall door man, exchange something beneath his cloak, and hurry out in the dark street. Unusual, it catches your attention and you pursue, catching the doorman’s sinister expression as you bolt past him into the night. Your suddenly barging through the inn door startles the fleeing performer, who dashes to your right and toward the pen stabling horses. He rides north for the gate. But to the south lies the harbor, where your friend Giselda mentioned the mysterious obsidian schooner. Choose your own adventure! Do you pursue the Bard? Complete a Speed Feat this week to give chase. Do you ignore the singer and make for the harbor to investigate the ship? Select an Agility Feat to get yourself aboard and poke around for details of its origins. The choice is yours! Week 3: If you chose to follow the Bard: Though the Bard is some years advanced in age, his determination and fervor to escape with whatever knowledge or secrets allows him to cover much ground. He vaults the horse pen enclosure’s gate and attempts to leap onto a particularly proud stallion. Having none of the stranger’s feeble efforts to mount him, the tall horse shakes the man aside and he plummets into the mucky mire at their feet. Vaulting the gate with even greater ease, you land near the struggling singer and tackle him. A brief exchanges of curses and interrogation nets some information: the bard has been spreading details of Duke Kragen’s plot to seize the kingdom’s throne from the child Princess Claire in a violent coup d’etat that would install him as the unquestioned Mage Lord of all the land, and to do so he seeks an artifact of vast potential power. As a matter of fact, the Bard informs you, that very relic arrived just hours before on a foreign schooner and Duke Kragen’s most loyal lieutenants race for Garen’s Gate to intercept it and return that artifact to their lord as you speak. The sound of hoofbeats shake the ground beneath you as dark men arrive on dark steeds, a dire turn of events that speaks to dire consequences if you don’t interrupt their intentions… Courage Feat time! Gather up your 20 seconds of courage, steel your nerves this week to do what must be done and stop Kragen’s men from retrieving the relic. Stand up to that workplace bully, accomplish something you’ve been putting off, do that thing! Instead you investigated the mysterious ship in the harbor: Removing your cloak and hanging it on a low peg in an open doorway, you wade through the shallows at the dock and slowly swim your way to the obsidian schooner moored in the harbor. The air is still, the night dark and deep and haunting, as you near all seems unusually silent. Even the ship’s lumbers don’t seem to creek and the sails don’t flap. You shimmy and scramble up the anchor chain like a silent specter and drop onto the deck without a sound to alert your presence to… an empty deck. There is no one around. No soul guards the deck, no guard or security or deckhand. The nagging feeling of being in the wrong place at the right time raises the hairs on the back of your neck, but you press on and scour the ship. A horse’s whinny alerts you. Hooves pound wood as a cadre of dark men on horseback stampede onto the dock. Without another option, you steel your nerves and leap from the ship into the water to avoid immediate detection… Courage Feat too! Now, both: complete a Strength Feat to challenge yourself this week. We’re all going to need to unite our skills against this coming storm. Week 4:

Welcome one and all, to Ye New & Fancy Leaky Tankard: Ranger Guildhall for all of your general inquiries and conversational needs! As has been tradition throughout our storied history (except those dark times when we were Guildhall-less), make yourselves comfortable while we wade our ways through Week Zero in preparation for the start of another 4 Week Challenge cycle and New Years! There's a rack by the door for your cloak and various equipment, enchanted of course - if you require us to stash anything for you, ensure you hang onto your voucher to reclaim your items! Harold the Blacksmith has forged his final sword blade and retired as of last challenge; but worry not for his daughter and former apprentice Charsi is on scene out back for your assorted repair and smithery needs, and you likely noticed Shem the traveling trinket merchant (we had to retract that 'friendly neighborhood...' title due to some reports of surly behavior in challenges past) on your way in... Shem has set up a bazaar across the muddy road out front. Ranger HQ is that beautiful new rampart structure out in the courtyard (stop by to partake of that fresh new fortress smell) should you have questions or need anything of the Guild Leader or Ambassador team, and Innkeeper Bertrand can handle your nutrition, beverage, and entertainment needs! Glad to have you back, Rangers! We're looking forward to seeing all of your challenges and sharing in your adventures again this round.

SHINY & EXCITING NEW CHALLENGE INTRO:  If last challenge was 'or how Rurik learned to stop worrying and took back his gigantic mirth,' this one is 'or how Rurik spat in luck's good eye and got his mojo back.' It's great to be back regularly participating on the forums again (and if I'm being honest, actually earning that Guild Leader title beneath my user name...) I really want to make 2019 something special after the rough-and-tumble rollercoaster of 2018 and I think I've laid a decent foundation. Gone is the fixation on melancholy and what I cannot control; new is a more optimistic mindset tempered by reality but a horizon full of solid potential. With that in mind... Starting weight baseline: 212 lbs [Dec 23/18] CrossFit Skill Metrics: CrossFit Levels CRACKIN’ SKULLS & CHAININ’ COMBOS "A delicate balancing act of fuel and activity." [+2 STR, DEX, STA, CON] The Mindful Art of Nutritional Alchemy™: ___ / 2170 cals. MyFitnessPal tracking streak: ___ days 5 CrossFit classes per week: ☐☐☐☐☐ [Challenge Total: ☐☐☐☐☐] I DON'T BELIEVE IN ANYTHING... "Dump Stat my Charisma until I’m an Extrovert.” [+5 CHA] Partake of 4 sessions of “Be Happy” per week: ☐☐☐☐ Social activity 2 times/week: ☐☐ Moment of Positivity shared (per update): ☐ ...I'M JUST HERE FOR THE VIOLENCE A Self-Improvement Junkie. [+2 WIS] Post a daily challenge update 4 of 7 days/week: ☐☐☐☐ Ongoing To-Do mini-quests… ☐ Read: [In Progress] Kings of the Wyld, Thief Who Pulled on Trouble's Braid,You Are A Badass, Remember your N.U.T.S. ☐ Play: Game out! ☐ Play: Hit the slopes snowboarding! ☐ Write: Share one self-authored poem. ☐ Currency: [0g] Sell 250g worth of clutter. ☐ Currency: [Pending] 2-week shopping ban. CHALLENGE INSPIRATION: I am whiskey, amber and leather – I am blood, sweat and tears - I am supplements and coping mechanisms and consequences; the barbarian who selfishly sold his soul as a mercenary, the mercenary who fell to the void and became a demon hunter, and the demon hunter who returned from the darkness to live like a scoundrel. A new year means fresh opportunity. Now I'll live a life AMAP (As Momoaly As Possible), perpetuate the charming rogue archetype, keep polishing my devil-may-care heart of gold, and just entirely strive to Live My Best Life. In 2019 I'll be a Magnificent Bastard or I'll die trying; it's a simple matter of adrenaline, new experiences, and living life in the fast lane! So let's dial this shit up to Mother Fucker once again, folks - I'm about to hemorrhage awesome all over the damn place.