[DarK_RaideR]

Tuesday, 2 April

 Charisma: I met an out of town friend after work, who was hanging out with the guy that ran that Mage RPG I used to be in and one of those fellow players. We had a good time.

Nothing else for the day, not even basic cooking. Still struggling to see how all the non-work stuff will fit into my new schedule. On the bright side tho, I did go to my biometrics appointment and handed in my passport, so my visa application is now officially being processed.

[Heidi]

7 hours ago, DarK_RaideR said:

visa application is now officially being processed.

Woo hoo!

Paperwork progress for the win.

 

Very much stalking around for the updates here, and feeling good about where you are, and where you are headed.

I hear you when you say "things at work feel good, but then, they always do at first." I think that having a engineered exit in a few months is ideal for folks like you and me, where the shine of the job wears off only to reveal an unsustainable underbelly. If this job is diffferent, than great. But if it turns out to be More Of The Same, then you're still fine.

 

I beleive in you.

❤️ 

[DarK_RaideR]

Wednesday, 3 April

 Charisma: I... I've sold the motorcycle. We met, wired the money, did the paperwork and I let the man ride into the sunset on it. Feels weird to have money on the side. Either way, I was already walking to and from work on purpose, since I don't really have the capacity for a proper workout on a regular basis at this point, now's another chance to do more walking.

  Cooking: I had leftover spaghetti from a couple of nights back, so I heated it up on a bit of milk and butter, then took it off the heat, mixed in an egg to cook in the heat, added yoghurt and crumbled feta. Rather delicious dinner. I then set off to make a spinach risotto I could take as lunch to work the following day, but in a true Sims moment, I got caught up talking to deffy online and forgot about it. The kitchen did not catch fire, but the bottom still burned. Fortunately, there was enough over the burned bit that could still be salvaged, so my effort was not for nothing.

 Media Production: I meant to do 2 albums, since I'd missed the previous day, but only managed one. Still better than nothing, somedays it be like that.

 Mixology: I had a couple of drinks during aforementioned call, vodka with mango and passionfruit soda.

[DarK_RaideR]

Thursday, 4 April

 Baking: I made some instant pudding, but the oven wasn't involved and I'm not gonna give myself a skill point in any of the culinary skills for simply whisking powder and milk, then letting it settle in the fridge. I did however make meatballs which I cooked in the oven, so giving myself a point for that.

 Cooking: I also made fish and chips for dinner, one point for the day. Lunch was the spinach risotto I'd cooked the day prior.

 Media Production: I listened to the album and posted about it while at work. Then later in the day I promptly forgot about it and heard another album which I posted about. I think I'll count that as two points.

 Wellness: Took the added time for some self care after my shower. It felt really good.

[DarK_RaideR]

Friday, 5 April

 Cooking: It would have been quicker and easier to grab lunch while on the road, but I went the extra distance to take a quick stop at the house to make mine, a sandwich using flatbread for leftover breaded fish and tartar sauce. For dinner, I made a tomato sauce with some of the leftover meatballs to have meatball spaghetti.

 Media Production: It was done late in the evening, but I listened to the day's album to make my post, as well as a few others on my backlog. Decided to just stay in and chill, it's been a while since I've felt the week's exhaustion pour out of me on a Friday evening.

 Mixology: Had a couple of mango passionfruit vodkas while on a videocall.

 

On 4/4/2024 at 10:07 AM, DarK_RaideR said:

I was already walking to and from work on purpose, since I don't really have the capacity for a proper workout on a regular basis at this point, now's another chance to do more walking.

So these last few days, my right knee's been bugging me. At first it would happen after a good amount of walking, so I figured it's my old weightlifting "injury" flaring up again now that my life isn't as sedentary as it used to be. But then it started acting up also when I was sitting at work or on the home computer, feeling like keeping my leg at one angle for too long would also trigger it. My first reaction was to think I'm getting older and will probably never be able to workout at the pace/intensity/level/whatever that I used to, but that's just our heads being our heads, isn't it. Only then I realized the pain was on my right knee, whereas the weightlifting "injury" happened on my left knee all those years ago. That said, I think a couple of weeks back when I took that really slow turn on the motorcycle and lost my balance... think in trying to keep it from falling, or at least crashing too hard on one side, I probably tweaked something in my leg/knee. It's been slowly getting better though, so it's probably a momentary stress thing that's taking too long to heal and not some sort of permanent injury I feel I should be looking more into.

[DarK_RaideR]

Saturday, 6 April

 Cooking: Breakfast was leftover spaghetti meatballs, because I'm an adult and I do what I want! Made me a sandwich for lunch tho to somewhat balance it out.

 Gourmet Cooking: I batch cooked BBQ Pineapple Chicken using this recipe. Wasn't sure if I should file it under Baking or Cooking, since it's not that fancy but it involved cooking the chicken in a pan and grilling the veggies in the oven. In the end, I decided to count it as a Gourmet Cooking skill point instead, since it's technically an intentionally healthy recipe,

 Media Production: More music stuff was seen to.

 Wellness: Yet again, I decided there was no particular reason for me to go out on a Saturday night just because it's a Saturday night. Instead, I treated myself to a hot shower and a good beautification protocol afterwards.

[DarK_RaideR]

Sunday, 7 April

 Cooking: Made my own breakfast, made two tortilla wraps for lunch and had leftover carrot soup with fish fingers for dinner, so three points for moi in a single day. Not giving me any points, but I also chopped a head of cabbage and sliced a bunch of carrots using a peeler, both of which were stored to be used in the future for wraps, salads and whatnot. Setting myself up for success.  Also received an air fryer my fam weren't using back home, it'll save me from having to use the oven for a single person (plus I don't own a microwave). Think I'm slowly finding a footing here, considering to get back into calorie counting and gradually step up my nutrition game now that I feel like I've got the capacity.

 Media Production: Again, did my bit with the day's album, plus a couple from the backlog.

 Video Games: Oh wow, from playing several games a day every day to not having played for a week, who knew having a job would do that to you huh. Anyway, I got a bunch of games off my backlog, specifically

• The Lion's Song: Nice pixelated aesthetic, moderately interesting story, but barely an adventure game, if a game at all. It's just monologue with occasionally having to click on one of the, say, three available items on screen. Finished the first of 4 or 5 stories and decided I've had enough of it, wasn't interested to keep going.
• The Lords of Midnight: Straight out the DOS era of videogames. Not quite sure what I was supposed to do and how. Also, it came with a LotR-esque background story that I just didn't have the capacity to read first.
• Riverbond: I can live with the visuals, but the gameplay was a simplistic endless grind meant for consoles. Gave it up after a bunch of stages.
• Oxenfree: This was supposed to be a Stand By Me meets haunted mansion story but OMG could the characters get any more annoying. Also they would. not. stop. talking. And I'd get pop up baloons with dialogue options appearing above my character, which were time limited, so I'd end up choosing one and have people talking over each other. What a mess.
• Tandem, A Tale of Shadows: Seriously, take a look at the intro. Who is that girl? Why's she suddenly interested (and allowed) to investigate? Also, what the hell is that accent? How does she know that teddy bear's name and why doesn't she even blink when it comes alive and runs off but chases after it instead?  This was comically wrong in so many ways, It struck me the wrong way and I was the opposite of invested from the get go. Also, I got stuck on the second puzzle and didn't even care to look up a walkthrough. Next.
• Orwell: Keeping an Eye on You: Now this is much better. Basically 1984 updated for the internet era. Simple but interesting enough gameplay, solid story posing interesting questions. Took me a little over 4 hours but I finished it and had a good time.

Also, not a part of the challenge but spent most of the evening watching the first night of Wrestlemania while screensharing with my girl and commenting on what we saw via chat ❤️

[WhiteGhost]

3 hours ago, DarK_RaideR said:

who knew having a job would do that to you huh

I am suffering the same "affliction" and haven't had much time for gaming in what seems like a long time

 

Hope the leg feels better soon

[deftona]

8 hours ago, DarK_RaideR said:

Also, not a part of the challenge but spent most of the evening watching the first night of Wrestlemania while screensharing with my girl and commenting on what we saw via chat ❤️

 

and that's alright....!

[DarK_RaideR]

Monday, 8 April

 Cooking: Only counting my breakfast here. Nothing fancy, but still better than grabbing something on the road.

 Gourmet Cooking: Scored two points here, thanks to intentionally healthy meals. I put a flattened pork steak in my brand new-ish air fryer to cook while I was having breakfast. Half of it got chopped and wrapped in a tortilla with a splash of BBQ sauce, plus lots of cabbage and carrot. Got this with me to work for lunch, then turned the other half and some leftover meatballs into a stir fry over rice adding onion, roast pepper, more cabbage and carrot, garlic and soy sauce. I then had my dish while watching night 2 of Wrestlemania with deffy, but fell asleep halfway through so we left the second half for the following evening.

 Media Production: Weirdest thing happened, I listened to the album of the day (plus one from the backlog) during a break from work. Posted my comments and everything on the RYM list, but forgot to actually do the IG post stuff. Still, the work was put in so I'm giving myself a point for it.

 Mixology: Whipped up a drink to go with the night's wrestling.

 

P.S. Pretty sure I won't score a single point of  Fitness this challenge round, but I'm already hammering out plans to do better next challenge, go with a proper plan instead of something hastiliy slapped together just a day before the next challenge begins.

[Laghail]

Looove your emoji's, but please share  recipes when you can.

 

[DarK_RaideR]

10 hours ago, Laghail said:

Looove your emoji's, but please share  recipes when you can.

Sorry to disappoint, but it's nothing fancy. I basically have a bottle of leftover vodka that's only been taking up space, so I'm trying to go through it. Usually it's just vodka with some fizzy mix I've got, whether pink grapefruit and blood orange, pineapple and mint or mango and passion fruit. I left my mood for fancier blends at @deftona's, once I'm back there and having properly mixed stuff, I'll make sure to let you know what's happening!

 

Tuesday, 9 April

 Cooking: One point for making breakfast, another for fish and curry chips dinner in my newly aquired air fryer. With tartare sauce, because I'm classy.

 Gourmet Cooking: So a single wrap didn't cut it the day prior, thus I made 2 to bring to work, which I had in two different times to spread out the eating. One had the leftover stir fry with extra cabbage and carrot, for the other one I tossed a breaded chicken fillet in the air fryer while I was having breakfast, then chopped it into the tortilla with mayo, cabbage and carrot. Both were delicious.

 Media Production: I finished watching Wrestlemania with le deff, then afterwards put the album of the day on while I was brushing my teeth and getting ready for bed, so it was done, even if just barely.

 Mixology: I had a drink with my dinner and wrestling, as mentioned a non fancy vodka with fizzy mango and grapefruit. Can tell there's just enough vodka left for one final drink, as well as a single can of fizz. Will probably get rid of some leftover grape moonshine I have in the freezer, thus leaving me just with a great bottle of Gentleman Jack @darkfoxx and her DH got me when they were around. But that's not the kind of stuff you mix into cocktails, nor do I feel any "pressure" to get it over with.

[DarK_RaideR]

Wednesday, 10 April

Cooking: Made breakfast and some lunch to take with me to work. Dinner was takeout.

 Media Production: Listened to the album while at work and made the post in the evening.

 

Sorry for the brief update, not feeling it but still trying to stick around and update. Last night I basically got home, had dinner and fell asleep real early.

[DarK_RaideR]

Thursday, 11 April

 Cooking: Made some spaghetti for dinner. I think with some leftover stir fry veggies and maybe some spicy meat thing.

 Media Production: Enjoyed hearing the day's album and posted about it, after re-structuring my overall approach a little bit.

 Mixology: Used the final mango passionfruit fizz with whatever little vodka remained and got rid of the bottle.

 

 

Friday, 12 April

 Cooking: Had to go out of town for work, which meant a nice relaxing wake up and ride out but had to grab breakfast on the go. I'm kinda proud I didn't stay in town to hit a restaurant for lunch tho, instead I drove back home to have my batch cooked BBQ chicken pineapple and veggies. Made some mince for dinner, with soy sauce and stir fry veggies, before I drove off to pick my dad up from the airport.

 Media Production: Album of the day was the first Led Zeppelin album, so it was a breeze getting through it.

 

Saturday, 13 April

 Charisma: With my dad around for the day, we walked around town, drove off to meet someone, had lunch at their place, visited a motorcycle expo, then had dinner at a restaurant. It's nice to just have him around for once, no stressing or agendas or big discussions.

 Media Production: Another banger of an album done.

[DarK_RaideR]

Sunday, 14 April

 Charisma: My bestie's in town for a week. Workdays will be hard to meet and my dad was around Saturday, so we met up on Sunday night with him and some of his friends from his uni days.

 Cooking: Had some pork in the fridge I got on... Friday I think? Anyway, cooked that with some veggies so I can have filling for the wraps I take to work.

 Media Production: Quite a productive day, did the album of the day stuff and then listened to 4 or 5 albums from my backlog.

 Research & Debate: Oh wow, thought I'd never get to do this before the end of the challenge but apparently getting a new book lit a fire under me to finish the one I'd already been reading. Somehow I got through another chapter of The Dispossessed and accorfing to Goodreads I'm already 1 book ahead of my yearly target. If I can finish this too by the end of the month I should be good.

[DarK_RaideR]

Monday, 15 April

 Cooking: Made some spaghetti bolognese for dinner.

Media Production: Album of the day was Neil Young's debut, plus I got to hear a jazz album from my backlog while (pretending to be) working.

[DarK_RaideR]

Tuesday, 16 April

 Fitness: OH WOW WHAT HAPPENED WHERE DID THAT COME FROM? I don't know either, no wait, I know, it's probably from binging on trainer winny content lately. Whatever the case may be, I did a dumbbell workout. Or at least tried to, because two thirds into it I felt like I was gonna throw up and stopped. Which is weird, because I don't feel out of shape and I intentionally took it easier than usual, adjusting reps and dropping the dumbbell weight from 10 to 5kg each. What was really surprising though was being strict with my breaks. I stuck to 10' between sets and it really kicked my butt. Still, not even mad about it. It's a start and I'm getting back into the habit, which is better than no workout.

Spoiler

Here's what I did:

3x12 Bench Press (Felt easy, but I focused on form and strict breaks between sets, so I felt it)

3x15 Pull Overs (Again, focused on form, opening my ribcage and ensuring my back was engaged, not my chest or arms. Felt good even with just a 5kg dumbbell)

3x15 Overhead Press (Love training shoulders)

3x15 Biceps Curls (Those 10' breaks between sets really made me feel the burn)

3x15 Skull Crushers (Last set failed at 8, but I cranked out 2 more to stop at 10)

3x15 Rear Delt Flyes (Had to bend my arms and contain the ROM, those felt hard)

3x15 Lat Raises (Ouch)

1x8 Front Squat, then stopped here

 

Not done

The remaining 2x8 Front Squats

3x8 Romanian Deadlift

3x15 Calf Raises

Not too mad. My legs are pretty strong anyway, it's the upper body I need to train more.

 Gourmet Cooking: I made a chicken and broccoli satay. Intentionally put in lots of broccoli so I'd eat the dish as is, sparing me the rice carbs. Counting it as healthy and fancy enough to give me a point in this skill instead of the plain version.

 Media Production: Listened to the album of the day while waiting for my system to cool down and the water to heat up after my workout.

[DarK_RaideR]

Wednesday, 17 April

 Charisma: It was a general strike day (I can't go on strike because I'm technically a freelance worker) so pretty slow. People wanted to leave early and I was invited to after work drinks, so point for socializing. Had an online D&d session later in the evening, which meant takeout for dinner, so no cooking points and no extra charisma point since that wasn't in person. Also no workout because of that. Which is probably for the best, because I woke up pretty sore this morning.

[DarK_RaideR]

Thursday, 18 April

 Fitness: I left work around 20:00, which makes it a 12 hour workday. Add walking back home and it felt like I didn't have enough time for everything I wanted to do. Which kinda pissed me off, so I smartly used that anger to actually fuel a workout. Between that, dinner and a shower, I slept like a baby and this fancy new sleep tracking app I downloaded out of sheer curiosity seems to agree. As far as the workout is concerned, I stuck to 5kg dumbbells, dropped the reps to a minimum and extended my rest time between sets from 10 to 15", which apparently allowed me to do better.

Spoiler

3x8 Overhead Press

3x8 Dumbbell Rows

Decline Pushups (Did two sets of 8, in the third my form got real bad and I stopped after 4, not wanting to half ass this)

3x12 Hammer Curls

3x15 Skull Crushers (because I was too dumb to notice I was actually supposed to do Triceps Kickbacks, but hey, still targeted the right muscle group)

3x15 Rear Delt Flyes

3x15 Lateral Raises (had to slightly bend my elbows and decrease the range of motion)

3x15 Calf Raises

3x8 Front Squats

 Media Production: Listened to the album of the day while at work and typed out my comments, so all I had to do after work was actually set up the video, add the music and make the IG post.

[Jarric]

Nice one getting back on the workout train mate - anger can be a powerful tool.

 

 

On 4/18/2024 at 8:33 AM, DarK_RaideR said:

Had an online D&d session later in the evening

 

I think I've missed this; what D&D are you playing right now?

[DarK_RaideR]

21 hours ago, Jarric said:

Nice one getting back on the workout train mate - anger can be a powerful tool.

Thanks. It was more stubborness than anger if I'm fair

 

21 hours ago, Jarric said:

I think I've missed this; what D&D are you playing right now?

You have not, it's brand new, this was actually the first session! My bestie's started up a campaign set in the height(-ish)  of the Netheril empire, where the desert of Anauroch lies in the modern Forgotten Realms.

 

Friday 19 April

 Cooking: Early in the morning I made a wrap to take to work for lunch, leftover mince bolognese with iceberg lettuce, chopped gherkin and crumbled feta. These are so delicious, I made an extra breakfast burrito with chicken sausage, scrambled egg, lettuce and feta. I also realized I've been making these wraps regularly to take to work for lunch and haven't been counting it towards my skill progression here. Oh well, I'd rather do well in my actual life and sell myself short a few points here than the other way around.  I also cooked a slice of pork (skin on) in the air fryer, with iceberg lettuce and cauliflower couscous for dinner, so two points in a day.

 Media Production: I did listen to a few albums from my backlog, as well as the album of the day which I posted about.

 Research & Debate: I spend a lot of time in front of a screen daily and somehow felt aversion towards the idea of mindlessly firing up my PC as soon as I get home, so I imposed a screen break for myself while I cooked and whatnot. As a result, I got to read another chapter in my book.

 Wellness: Because skincare matters.

[DarK_RaideR]

Saturday 20 April

 Cooking: Was tempted to grab breakfast from outside, but whipped up something instead.

 Fitness: Another workout is in the books, doing better and better with every time.

Spoiler

Used 5kg dumbbells with 15" breaks between sets and exercises again, plus a lot of emphasis on proper technique, full ROM and using the negative reps.

3x15 Rear Delt Flyes

3x15 Lateral Raises

3x8 Overhead Press

3x10 Bench Press

3x10 Pull Overs

3x12 Biceps Curls

3x8 Front Squat

3x15 Skull Crushers

3x8 Romanian (stiff legged) deadlifts

3x15 Calf Raises

 Gourmet Cooking: I sliced and marinaded beef, which I stir fried with mushrooms and served over cauliflower rice. Also, I had a single meal for both lunch and dinner, which probably helped keep my daily calories low.

 Media Production: Barely did this before bedtime (getting Duolingo vibes here).

 Video Gaming: I spent the day mostly playing videogames and going through more of my backlog. Jotun looked good visually but was otherwise a chaotic open world thing with no direction and I have zero patience for this kind of crap right now. I then moved on to Breath of Death VII which is a parody of JRPG tropes, but couldn't really handle the ultra oldschool mechanic and pixelated graphics on a big screen. Up next, Holy Avatar and the Maidens of the Dead, another parody game, this time more of a Diablo-clone-plus-turn-based-"tactical"-combat. Nice, but janky, so I didn't spend much time with it. What caught my attention for hours though was Creature in the Well, which was a lot of fun to play.

[DarK_RaideR]

Sunday 21 April

 Cooking: Not really counting my "breakfast" as "cooking" even though I did not grab anything from the local pastry shop. That'd be like pouring some milk into a bowl of cereal and pretending that's cooking skills. I did however wrap some of the leftover beef and mushroom stir fry with other stuff in a tortilla for lunch/dinner. Again, had a single meal for both, which is probably thermodynamics-approved.

 Fitness: Did another workout and hit my unofficial goal of 4/week

Spoiler

Again, 5kg dumbbells with 15" breaks between sets and exercises, with focus on form, ROM and using the negatives. Bumped up the reps a little bit though, to keep with progressive overload.

3x15 Rear Delt Flyes

3x15 Lat Raises

3x12 Overhead Press

3x12 Dumbbell Rows

3x10 Decline Pushup

In hindsight, pretty sure I forgot the Hammer Curls for the biceps. Oops!

3x15 Skull Crushers (some day I'll remember to do Triceps Kickbacks instead. BUT IT IS NOT TODAY!)

3x8 Front Squats

3x15 Calf Raises (with a slight pause on top of each rep)

 Media Production: No backlog, but I did listen to the daily album and post about it.

 Video Gaming: More videogaming in the day, I progressed Creature in the Well until I hit a point I couldn't realistically advance any further. Quite frankly, I'd lost all excitement by that point and it felt too much of a grind to backtrack and try something else, so after5-6 overall with it (including Saturday) I moved on. Next up was the Alien Breed trilogy. First game wouldn't even play on my computer, so I went through the other two. Good idea, terrible execution. I'd call it a Hotline Miami clone in space, though I hear console kids call such games "Twin Stick Shooters" these days. Whatever. After a couple of hours with both these games in total, I gave Q.U.B.E.2 a go. It's a lot like Portal and the first game I gave up on due to janky controls, but this one was pretty smooth and I actually completed it!

[Jarric]

20 hours ago, DarK_RaideR said:

it's brand new, this was actually the first session! My bestie's started up a campaign set in the height(-ish)  of the Netheril empire, where the desert of Anauroch lies in the modern Forgotten Realms.

 

So super high magic, magocratic setting with flying cities? Sounds like a blast; I await campaign reports.

 

20 hours ago, DarK_RaideR said:

Barely did this before bedtime (getting Duolingo vibes here).

 

Congratulations! You maintained your streak with 16 minutes to go! (This was me this weekend.)

 

4 hours ago, DarK_RaideR said:

 

In hindsight, pretty sure I forgot the Hammer Curls for the biceps. Oops!

 

Gotta work on those guns man - summer is coming!

[DarK_RaideR]

1 hour ago, Jarric said:

So super high magic, magocratic setting with flying cities? Sounds like a blast; I await campaign reports.

There will be campaign reports. Thus far we only did the opening session, a basic adventure to set us up. I'm playing a Netherese (human) wizard, who was tasked by the captain of a flying ship with investigating/repairing a malfunctioning (sabotaged?) elven beacon used by said flying ships in transporting people from the ground to a flying enclave. We came together as a group, went there, botched a roll to restore it, fought some magical copies of ourselves, managed to restore it and ended the session flying up to the enclave. Longer version under spoiler to avoid Wall of Text.

Spoiler

The game is set at the start of the Age of Discovery, which is right after the absolute peak of the Netherese empire. Also when Spelljamming is starting to be a thing (and before everyone involved in it decides the Netherese are arseholes and want nothing to do with them) so we might end up sailing the Planes. Another element of the era is a rising feel of human supremacy, as after repelling the frequent orc raids and deciding they will never be truly safe until they've completely wiped orcs off the face of the planet, the Netherese begin to harbor a more universal human supremacist approach, minus dwarves because they're useful little miners and craftsmen.

 

Our game began at a village under a flying enclave, with all 3 of our characters wanting to get there for their own reasons. However, the aforementioned beacon went off all of a sudden and all the ships except for one came crashing down. Naturally, we had to restore it before the captain would risk losing his final ship, my human wizard out of a sense of duty at least. He was tasked with this by the captain in a very "You're a wizard, right? This is magical, so fix it!" kind of way. He then noticed another PC, a young pointy-eared girl in elaborate armor and swords (more show than practicality) singing next to the resident bard. Sensing she was in need of coin, he offered to reward her (he's only got 10gp on him, but we never got into specifics, I was hoping I'd send the bill to the captain) if she'd join him and provide any necessary insight to elven culture, as my character only speaks the language. In another hilarious moment of racism being utterly stupid, I left the scene thinking I'd scored an elf for the task force, only to hear the third PC, an actual elf, talk to this half elven, actually,  girl. Turns out she has no idea of elven culture and was BSing my character, but the third PC (pretty sure he's a druid or cleric of sorts). We're quite a bunch already. Anyway, he was wise enough to come talk to the captain and offer to join while also asking if there's a reward to be had; there isn't, but normally it costs 100gp to make the travel, so anyone assisting would be getting a free ride as thanks.

 

The following morning we set off towards a nearby hill, where the beacon stands. From the elven glyphs around the base, we understood some sort of magical ritual had to be performed, but it would come at a price. We joined in as the (actual) elf led the ceremony and botched it, costing spellcasters a spell slot and anyone else a bit of their life force. That's when the magical spectres appeared, one for each. I was smart enough to not whack mine (and lucky enough to not get hit when I moved without withdrawing), not expend my last remaining spell slot and trying to flank one with my fellow players. We ended beating them without taking any serious hits, resumed the ritual and finally got it right as I gave away my preserved spell slot while the rest lost more life force. What's also interesting was how the elf girl remained hyped after the fight and actually tried to pick a fight, especially compared to how subservient she acted when we first met her. I suspect she might be a barbarian and that was secretly her still having a few rounds left in the tank after activating Rage for combat. The session ended with us on board and floating upwards.