Rurik Harrgath

I wish they would do gender-alternate skins. But I think I'll give Sonya another go. I love me some barbarians!

As I collapsed to my knees then, it was if an eerie solitude had enveloped the universe. I glanced around and saw the world about me move with exaggerated slowness, as if a heavy blanket were set over each embattled man and each flicker of flame. The sharp, pounding pulse of pain in my breast and the warm trickle of blood from the arrow wound were the only sensations my mind could process as my eyes glanced here and there, attempting to reason through the images it was receiving. These tribesmen, these wolves of men, with their savage curved blades and short iron bows, slew indiscriminately. Before me I saw the lives cut short of every man, woman, and child I had come to know in recent months. Some had been as close as family to me, now their life blood was spilled on the ground and soaking into the harsh earth beneath their battered bodies. To my left I saw the clan chieftain Borruk give way beneath the onslaught of three adversaries. He fell beneath the rhythmic hack and slash of those wicked, terrible blades. He, who had taken me in, an outsider, and treated me as brother. My head jerked to the right, sweat-soaked hair greasy as it clung to my face over a veneer of filth and grime. I urged my mind to cut through the haze of battle and the fog that had overtaken my senses. Brave, steadfast Korragh, the same village shaman who some called Earth-Fury on account of his prodigous strength and battle rage, who had been my closest friend for some months now and the first to speak for me when the clan met to determine my fate, heaved his great axe and with it cleft through the bodies of both wolf and man in one mighty sweep of his blade. Something broke in my chest when I saw the first sword take him in the side. I was undone when the next four or five blades rained down on him as they had the clan chief. I was scarcely aware of my own actions, so lost to the stupor of grief, yet I found myself standing over the shattered body of Korragh, my friend, whose guidance and lessons had been held so dearly to my heart. No light shone behind those dark eyes now as I knelt down beside the corpse, ignoring the miasma of ichor and mud that covered the ground and soaked through the leather of my ragged legguards. Discarded nearby lay his battleaxe, Korragh's outstretched hand still reaching for the weapon whose touch he knew better than any woman's. My eyes followed the lifeless arm and settled on the worn haft of the weapon that rested just inches beyond the reach of what should have been its master's confident grip. A great fury overcame me then, a primal fire so wild and so fierce that I could neither resist nor control its havoc-call. Though true flame whipped about me and threatened to consume the entire village, it was if the combined rage, every grievous injury suffered by my ancestors and these unfortunate folk around me, had been set about my shoulders like a molten yoke, and it was at that exact moment I was to exact their collective revenge. That ancient axe was in my hand now, its well-worn haft feeling natural in my grip. It whirled around with a mind of its own, ferocious and terrible as the unchained beast, and I felt no stir in my soul then, save the savage song of war. Week 6 and End Challenge Summary Goal/Quest 1: Foraging to Survive, Part III: "Nature provides me all the nourishment I could ever require... I need only seek it out, and master it." (+3 CON) I enjoyed the hell out of my cheat night this week but to be honest I definitely went overboard. So while that might be a personal fail it doesn't count so in the eyes of this challenge. Otherwise this has been an excellent 6 weeks for nutrition and I've taken the time to learn a lot. I now know that my body is much more functional on a serving of 25-50 carbs before my workout, and though I haven't tested it as closely, likely post-workout too. I have slowly increased my carbohydrate intake in, loading around my workouts, but have kept it as Paleo as possible using bananas and sweet potato.My idea schedule for meal preparation is getting most of the meals for my days off completed on my first day off, my meals for day shifts on my last day off, and meals for my nights put together on my long change. This seems to be best for my sanity, and I'll be keeping to it going forward, I suspect. Score: A.Goal/Quest 2: "I found myself among the Barbarian tribes of the North, and having much in common, we traded meat and mead and skills alike." (+3 STR, +2 DEX) I mentioned having a quicksand moment or two earlier in the week but seemed to bounce back well enough. No one is more their own worst critic than I can be, so I know my single-minded harsh judgement is something I need to work on. It is poor self-talk and doesn't really do me any favors. Everyone has a bad day and I am clever enough to know 'mind over matter.' Those bad days will be a valuable memory and training tool going forward. Score: A.Goal/Quest 3: "Home to me is the mountains, and the forests, and the crags, and all the rough places of the earth." (+4 STA) Three days of work down and one to go, all of which spent on the bicycle before and after. The weather has been something straight out of the desert level of your video game of choice (and my work undershirt is black as night) but I ranger on through the heat and pedal my ass to my destination. Now that the sun is starting to rise earlier and there's more than just a subtle blue haze on the horizon, I've enjoyed some beautiful vistas over the river on my way home, as well as some cool, relaxing temperatures that early in the morning. Score: A+.Unfortunately my overnight camping excursion was a busy for the purposes of this challenge, but that taught me a lesson. I shouldn't use a challenge goal that is dependent on someone else. So while technically a failure it was also foolhardy of me to believe I could carve someone else's schedule into stone and expect it to set, I am just going to scrub this quest and set it aside for a future date. Look for pictures in my Battle Log in the coming weeks as I am still hoping to get out among the trees and beasts.Life Goal/Quest: "A Ranger lives simply, without clutter, and keeps ready his tent." (+1 WIS, +1 CHA) Library organized and packed into storage. I have three big totes for my books because I don't have the space for a library. What I did was organize my books into those three totes based on their importance to me. Into one tote went everything I have no desire to ever read or never liked to begin with. These I will donate at soonest convenience. The other two totes are one I don't want to give up just yet and one for those books I could not live without. The best part of this latest purge and organization adventure was that I found some new books to add to my reading pile. Now I just need to finish reading my way through Ranger's Apprentice and I can move on to some new material. Score: B+.Mini-Life Quest : "Trade amongst the Barbarian tribes is different than the 'civilized' folk of the south. They treasure relics and artifacts, and take pride in their food and drink rather than the hollow comforts provided by gold, jewels, and baubles." (+1 CHA) All bills up to date and debt payments have been made. Unfortunately it was an expensive months and I didn't really get as far with my credit card as I had wanted. So while it is significantly lower than it was when thus I started, it isn't nearly as low as it had ought to be. Pass, but a work in progress. Score: B+.This was a good challenge, all things considered. Looking back I'm not sure if I could call it my best but I am inclined to admit that it would rate high enough alongside the other challenges. In talking to other Rebels around here, I've noticed that a lot of people seem to go through a humbling at some point, when they realize that their goals outreach their reality. I think that could be said for this challenge. Nothing was an outright failure (other than my would-be camping excursion, but I commented on that earlier) but I've definitely learned that you cannot always expect to aim for your target and still hit the bull's eye every time, especially when you aren't a master archer yet. So the benefit of introspection and hindsight has given me some valuable insight toward my own goals, and now I can take this knowledge for future applicable purposes. I am looking forward to the two-weeks break we have here. I'm going to take a week or relaxed nutrition since I have another mini stay-cation coming up after tonight. I have no intention of sabotaging my efforts but I will allow a break or two in the next seven days, and likely a beer night. But starting on week two and into my next challenge, it will be back into strict cutting program and hopefully crush those last few pounds I have left. July will see the start of my bulking program and a focus on Crossfit performance targeted toward strength. Now it is time to sit down and figure out both my Bye Weeks Challenge goals and those of my next challenge. I want to change my goals up again, if at least in spirit and not in execution. But I have a short break to figure that out. Bring on the new day. I'm ready for the next round of trials! The chronicles of Rurik will continue in the next challenge.

It was. But next week's cheat meal is definitely going to be some sort of ultimate peanut butter and jelly. Maybe on a bagel of some sort.

OLY Snatch 1 X 8 @ 55% E20s 1 X 6 @ 65% E20s 1 X 4 @ 75% E30s 2 X 2 @ 85% E30s CONDITIONING In teams of 2, complete 2 rounds of: AMRAP in 3-minutes of: 10 OHS + 5 Bar Hopping Burpees Calorie Row AMRAP in 2-minutes of: 10 OHS + 5 Bar Hopping Burpees Calorie Row AMRAP in 1-minute of: 10 OHS + 5 Bar Hopping Burpees Calorie Row *Rest 1-minute between rounds. 1 Partner will row while the other completes the OHS and burpees.

There's not much of a reason for you to keep tuning in, is there really? Haha. I'm a huge fan of Jon Snow and I really enjoy Kit Harrington's portrayal of him. Also like the TV version of Stannis and Davos, and I'm liking where HBO is taking Jorah. Although the King's Landing story arch is frustrating as hell, it's still interesting to see what subtle nuances the writers will add in to deviate from the literature. Not a fan of Arya or Bran, so I'm mostly ahead there, and I don't really care for Daenarys' storyline except where it concerns Daario, who I find wildly entertaining in the show. So basically this season is almost entirely suited toward my interests. Oh, and Bronn with Jamie in Dorne has been an enjoyable diversion so far as well. Here's to hoping we see a lot more of Tormund Giantsbane in the episodes to come!

My Spartan cannot come soon enough... really. I'm so deadly serious, I am deliriously excited for this race. I've already offered to carry my sister if her hip keeps giving her grief.

My coach leaves for Regionals next week and coincidentally I took my day shifts off next weekend, so I'll be glued to Crossfit.com to watch him compete live. My favorite CF athlete also competes in the same Region, Mr Lucas Parker. Must be beard thing. Hmmm... I'll definitely need some treats to see me through the long waits between events. What is the Crossfit-friendly/Paleo version of popcorn and beer?

90% of my enjoyment from this game is Transmog. I love brainstorming and then farming different thematic outfits for my characters. Currently farming the last piece of my Enhancement transmog set (Sanctified Frost Witch chest from ICC25H, just need the bloody token to drop) and Doom's Edge, an ultra low drop axe from BWL (which I actually had on my Paladin back in Vanilla... wish I had been playing Horde then!). After that I get a great deal of joy from running old content, heroics, and LFR even after they offer no upgrades. I would love to find a social/minor raiding guild to enjoy some Normal difficulty raiding, but it would need to have a very relaxed attendance policy with my job. So don't let anyone judge you. Play the game however you want to!

Tonight was cheat day. Steak, green beans, but most importantly... an entire box of peanut butter fudge bites!

Another MOBA newbie here. I got into the closed beta for HotS and must say, I'm a huge fan. I just need to log enough hours now to figure out what kind of class I prefer to play and then start crushing some levels on that bad-boy!

I'm a huge fiend for Rooibos and Oolong teas, but my ultimate poison will always be Chai. I just find it more of a seasonal tea, preferring it in autumn and winter. On topic, tonight is cheat night. So i crushed a bunch of no bake peanut butter fudge cookies and then on to the ribeye with green beans!

No, but now I definitely will be checking that out. Tonight is my official end of challenge cheat night, so I annihilated my calorie goals with a bunch of no bake peanut butter fudge cookies. Yes, they were as amazing as they sound. Now the guilt is slowly settling in though...

Okay, fine. Post-workout beer is not ideal. But what about cake? Can I scarf down cake for my carb source?

I have finally made a plan of sorts. My Spartan Sprint is in the middle of July which means I have two months until race time. We have two weeks off between Challenges and then another 6 week challenge. So these next 8 weeks will be the end of my current cutting and weight loss season. The week before the Spartan Race I will gradually reinforcement carbohydrates into my diet for workout and race fuel to begin a long, slow bulking and performance program. So I'm definitely on board with the Bye Weeks Challenge and I'll have to come up with some quirky, interesting, and off-beat in-between challenge goals. Try to force myself out of my comfort zone and start buckling down for crunch time. There's now an end in sight so I'll really need to push myself to be absolutely pleased with my results by July. I'm damn glad to see everybody so motivated, enthusiastic, and supportive around these parts. The Rangers really are the best guild here!

I haven't attempted cold-brewing but I ought to and likely will sometime this summer. For the most part I brew my tea the traditional way, fill my cup full of ice, and then pour the hot steeped tea over the ice and allow to cool. Yesterday's poison was a white tea called Mango Madness. It was the perfect hot day cool down after my run.

That sounds pretty close to Zone, D_R. Do you portion and weigh everything fairly exact? I've checked out a few Zone videos and meal plans but mostly just eyeball my portions, or use a combination of MyFItnessPal with an actual measuring cup. But for the most part I have a semi-accurate idea of my protein portions and only guess at my vegetables and carb sources. Thanks for the wonderful ideas and insight, fearless leader!

That sounds fantastic. I would love an excuse to do something completely offbeat and unusual for me. Now, I haven't got a right clue what that looks like, but... I like the sound of it anyway. In theory.

Stuffed peppers (ground turkey, celery, and mushrooms, smothered in an egg) for post-workout afternoon breakfast today: Surrounded by a cacophony of meal preparation and my daily [homemade] iced tea.

I'm fortunate to work amongst the absolute worst of society and, generally speaking, really don't have to be any more nice than "barely civil/polite" on a given day. It's the secret to my success, really.

Keep discussing folks, I'm logging all of this info away in the memory safe for future use. One more Challenge here that focuses on another cut to finish off my tummy loss and I'm hitting the bulk train to Gains City! I'm going to bury myself under a mountain of delicious carbohydrates.

That might be a realistic goal for GRRM. Might be. Still I'm loving Season 5. That being said I'm wary and only cautiously excited to see which direction the creative team at HBO is going to take for the rest of the season. Definitely entering uncharted territory here.

1.2km in WOD runs Tuesday and heavy Front Squats (of imaginary rocks). Lots of heavy Cleans today (more imaginary rocks).

I love me some Hunter action. But I'm definitely "maining" my Shaman right now. Damn I love Enhancement in WoD... even if the power level drops off toward competitive content. Won't be my problem any time soon though! I spent the last two days working my way through regular and Heroic dungeons and now I'm finally set to start HM LFR. I'm taking my time and going about things slowly (I still need to gather all of my Cores for the legendary ring quest line) and I'm really enjoying myself.

I checked out the Decked app and must say it's quite a bit more advanced than I am. I think I'll show up at the card night and just start off as a complete noobie. Still, I'm enjoying the looks of some of the decks I've found just casually perusing some of my favorite cards so far.